The jackal’s innocence being made manifest, he was acquitted and honoured by his master. The king of beasts affectionately embraced him again and again. The jackal, however, who was conversant with the science of policy, burning with grief, saluted the king of beasts and solicited his permission for throwing away his life by observing the Praya vow. The tiger, casting upon the virtuous jackal his eyes expanded with affection and honouring hit’ with reverential worship, sought to dissuade him from the accomplishment of his wishes. The jackal, beholding his master agitated with affection, bowed down to him and in a voice choked with tears said these words: ‘Honoured by thee first, I have afterwards been insulted by thee. Thy behaviour towards me is calculated to make me an enemy of thine. It is not proper therefore, that I should any longer dwell with thee. Servants that are discontented, that have been driven from their offices, or degraded from the honours that were theirs, that have brought destitution upon themselves, or have been ruined by their enemies (through the wrath of their master).
That have been weakened, that are rapacious, or enraged, or alarmed, or deceived (in respect of their employers), that have suffered confiscation, that are proud and desirous of achieving great feats but deprived of the means or earning wealth, and that burn with grief or rage in consequence of any injury done to them, always wait for calamities to overtake their masters. Deceived, ‘they leave their masters and become effective instruments in the hands of foes.[343] I have been insulted by thee and pulled down from my place. How wilt thou trust me again? How shall I (on my part) continue to dwell with thee? Thinking me to be competent thou tookest me, and having examined me thou hadst placed me in office. Violating the compact then made (between us) thou hast insulted me. If one speaks of a certain person before others as possessed of righteous behaviour, one should not, if desirous of maintaining one’s consistency. afterwards describe the same person as wicked. I who have thus been disregarded by thee cannot any longer enjoy thy confidence. On my part, when I shall see thee withdraw thy confidence from me, I shalt be filled with alarm and anxiety. Thyself suspicious and myself in alarm, our enemies will be on the look-out for opportunities for injuring us.
Thy subjects will, as a consequence, become anxious and discontented. Such a state of things has many faults. The wise do not regard that situation happy in which there is honour first and dishonour afterwards. It is difficult to reunite the two that have been separated, as, indeed, it is difficult to separate the two that are united. If persons reunited after separation approach one another again, their behaviour cannot be affectionate. No servant is to be seen who is moved (in what he does) by only the desire of benefiting his master. Service proceeds from the motive of doing good to the master as also one’s own self. All acts are undertaken from selfish motives. Unselfish acts or motives are very rare. Those kings whose hearts are restless and unquiet cannot acquire a true knowledge of men. Only one in a hundred can be found who is either able or fearless. The prosperity of men, as also their fall, comes of itself. Prosperity and adversity, and greatness, all proceed from weakness of understanding.”[344]
“Bhishma continued, ‘Having said these conciliatory words fraught with virtue, pleasure, and profit, and having gratified the king, the jackal retired to the forest. Without listening to the entreaties of the king of beasts, the intelligent jackal cast off his body by sitting in praya and proceeded to heaven (as the reward of his good deeds on earth).'”
SECTION CXII
“Yudhishthira said, ‘What acts should be done by a king, and what are those acts by doing which a king may become happy? Tell me this in detail, O thou that art the foremost of all persons acquainted with duties.’
“Bhishma said, ‘I shall tell thee what thou wishest to know. Listen to the settled truth about what should be done in this world by a king and what those acts are by doing which a king may become happy. A king should not behave after the manner disclosed in the high history of a camel of which we have heard. Listen to that history then, O Yudhishthira! There was, in the Krita age, a huge camel who had recollection of all the acts of his former life. Observing the most rigid vows, that camel practised very severe austerities in the forest. Towards the conclusion of his penances, the puissant Brahman became gratified with him. The Grandsire, therefore, desired to grant him boons.’
“The camel said, ‘Let my neck, O holy one, become long through thy grace, so that, O puissant lord, I may be able to seize any food that may lie even at the end of even a hundred Yojanas.’ The high-souled giver of boons said, ‘Let it be so.’ The camel then, having obtained the boon, returned to his own forest. The foolish animal, from the day of obtaining the boon, became idle. Indeed, the wretch, stupefied by fate, did not from that day go out for grazing. One day, while extending his long neck of a hundred Yojanas, the animal was engaged in picking his food without any labour, a great storm arose. The camel, placing his head and a portion of the neck within the cave of a mountain, resolved to wait till the storm would be over. Meanwhile it began to pour in torrents, deluging the whole earth. A jackal, with his wife, drenched by the rain and shivering with cold, dragged himself with difficulty towards that very cave and entered it quickly for shelter. Living as he did upon meat, and exceedingly hungry and tired as he was, O bull of Bharata’s race, the jackal, seeing the camel’s neck, began to eat as much of it as he could.
The camel, when he perceived that his neck was being eaten, strove in sorrow to shorten it. But as he moved it up and down, the jackal and his wife, without losing their hold of it, continued to eat it away. Within a short time the camel was deprived of life. The jackal then, having (thus) slain and eaten the camel, came out of the cave after the storm and shower had ceased. Thus did that foolish camel meet with his death. Behold, what a great evil followed in the train of idleness. As regards thyself, avoiding idleness and restraining thy senses, do everything in the world with proper means. Manu himself has said that victory depends upon intelligence. All acts that are accomplished with the aid of intelligence are regarded as the foremost, those achieved with the aid of arms are middling, those achieved with the aid of feet are inferior, while those done by carrying loads are the lowest. If the king is clever in the transaction of business and restrains his senses, his kingdom endures. Manu himself has said that it is with the aid of the intelligence that an ambitious person succeeds in achieving victories.
In this world, O Yudhishthira, they who listen to wise counsels that are not generally known, that are, O sinless one, possessed of allies, and that act after proper scrutiny, succeed in achieving all their objects. A person possessed of such aids succeeds in ruling the entire earth. O thou that art possessed of prowess like that of Indra himself, this has been said by wise men of ancient times conversant with the ordinances laid down in the scriptures. I, also, with sight directed to the scriptures, have said the same to thee. Exercising thy intelligence, do thou act in this world, O king!'”
SECTION CXIII
“Yudhishthira said, ‘Tell me O bull of Bharata’s race, how a king, without the usual aids, having obtained a kingdom that is so precious a possession, behave himself towards a powerful foe.’
“Bhishma said, In this connection is cited the old story of the discourse between the Ocean and the Rivers. In days of old, eternal Ocean, that lord of Rivers, that refuge of the foes of the celestials, asked all the Rivers for resolving this doubt that had arisen in his mind.’
“The Ocean said, ‘Ye Rivers, I see that all of you, with your full currents, bring away trees of large trunks, tearing them off with their roots and branches. Ye do not, however, ever bring to me a cane. The canes that grow on your banks are of mean stems and destitute of strength. Do you refuse to wash them down through contempt, or are they of any use to you? I desire, therefore, to hear what the motive is that inspires all of you. Indeed, why is it that canes are not washed down by any of you, uprooted from the banks where they grow?’ Thus addressed, the River Ganga, replied unto Ocean, that lord of all Rivers, in these words of grave import, fraught with reason, and, therefore, acceptable to all.’
