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"Yudhishthira said, 'Whom do the eternal Brahmanas strictly observing religious rites call a proper object of gifts? Is a |
Brahmana that bears the symbols of the order of life he follows to be regarded as such or one who does not bear such |
indications is to be so regarded?'[202] |
"Bhishma said, 'O monarch, it has been said that gifts should be made unto a Brahmana that adheres to the duties of his own |
order, whether, he bears the indications of a Brahmachari or not, for both are faultless, viz., he that bears such indications and |
he that is divested of them.' |
"Yudhishthira said, 'What fault does an uncleansed person incur, if he makes gifts of sacrificial butter or food with great |
devotion unto persons of the regenerate order?' |
"Bhishma said, 'Even one that is most destitute of self-restraint becomes, without doubt, cleansed by devotion. Such a man, O |
thou of great splendour, becomes cleansed in respect of every act (and not with reference to gift alone).' |
"Yudhishthira said, 'It has been said that a Brahmana that is sought to be employed in an act having reference to the deities, |
should never be examined. The learned, however, say that with respect to such acts as have reference to the Pitris, the |
Brahmana that is sought to be employed, should be examined (in the matter of both his conduct and competence).' |
"Bhishma said, 'As regards acts that have reference to the deities, these fructify not in consequence of the Brahmana that is |
employed in doing the rites but through the grace of the deities themselves. Without doubt, those persons that perform sacrifice |
obtain the merit attached to those acts, through the grace of the deities.[203] The Brahmanas, O chief of the Bharatas, are |
always devoted of Brahman. The Rishi Markandeya, one of the greatest Rishis endued with intelligence in all the worlds, said |
this in days of yore.' |
"Yudhishthira said, 'Why, O grandsire, are there five viz., he that is a stranger, he that is endued with learning (connected with |
the duties of his order), he that is connected by marriage, he that is endued with penances, and he that adheres to the |
performance of sacrifices, regarded as proper persons?'[204] |
"Bhishma said, 'The first three, viz., strangers, relatives, and ascetics, when possessed of these attributes, viz., purity of birth, |
devotion to religious acts, learning, compassion, modesty, sincerity, and truthfulness, are regarded as proper persons. The other |
two, viz., men of learning and those devoted to sacrifices, when endued with five of these attributes, viz., purity of birth, |
compassion, modesty, sincerity, truthfulness, are also regarded as proper persons. Listen now to me, O son of Pritha, as I recite |
to thee the opinions of these four persons of mighty energy, viz., the goddess Earth, the Rishi Kasyapa, Agni (the deity of fire) |
and the ascetic Markandeya.' |
"The Earth said, 'As a clod of mud, when thrown into the great ocean quickly dissolves away, even so every kind of sin |
disappears in the three high attributes viz., officiation at sacrifices, teaching and receiving of gifts.[205] |
"Kasyapa said, 'The Vedas with their six branches, the Sankhya philosophy, the Puranas, and high birth, these fail to rescue a |
regenerate person if he falls away from good conduct.'[206] |
"Agni said, 'That Brahmana who, engaged in study and regarding himself learned, seeks with the aid of his learning to destroy |
the reputation of others, falls away from righteousness, and comes to be regarded as dissociated from truth. Verily regions of |
felicity herein-after are never attained to by such a person of destructive genius.' |
"Markandeya said, 'If a thousand Horse-sacrifices and Truth were weighed in the balance, I do not know whether the former |
would weigh even half as heavy as the latter.' |
"Bhishma continued, 'Having spoken these words, those four persons, each of whom is endued with immeasurable energy, viz., |
the goddess Earth, Kasyapa, Agni, and Bhrigu's son armed with weapons, quickly went away.' |
"Yudhishthira said, 'If Brahmanas observant of the vow of Brahmacharyya in this world solicit the offerings one makes (unto |
one's deceased ancestors in Sraddhas) I ask, can the Sraddha be regarded well-performed, if the performer actually makes over |
those offerings unto such Brahmanas. |
"Bhishma said, 'If, having practised the vow of Brahmacharyya for the prescribed period (of twelve years) and acquired |
proficiency in the Vedas and their branches, a Brahmana himself solicits the offering made in Sraddhas and eats the same, he is |
regarded to fall away from his vow. The Sraddha, however, is not regarded as stained in any way.' |
"Yudhishthira said, 'The wise have said that duty of righteousness has many ends and numerous doors. Tell me, O grandsire, |
what however are the settled conclusions in this matter.'[207] |
Bhishma said, 'Abstention from injury to others, truthfulness, the absence of wrath (forgiveness), compassion, self-restraint, |
and sincerity or candour, O monarch, are the indications of Righteousness. There are persons who wander over the earth, |
praising righteousness but without practising what they preach and engaged all the while in sin. O king, He who gives unto |
such persons gold or gems or steeds, has to sink in hell and to subsist there for ten years, eating the while the faeces of such |
persons as live upon the flesh of dead kine and buffalos, of men called Pukkasas, of others that live in the outskirts of cities and |
villages, and of men that publish, under the influence of wrath and folly, the acts and the ommissions of others.[208] Those |
foolish men who do give unto a Brahmana observant of the vow of Brahmacharyya the offerings made in Sraddhas (unto one's |
deceased ancestors), have to go, O monarch into regions of great misery.' |
"Yudhishthira said, 'Tell me, O grandsire, what is superior to Brahmacharyya? What is the highest indication of virtue? What is |
the highest kind of purity?' |
"Bhishma said,--'I tell thee, O son, that abstention from honey and meat is even superior to Brahmacharyya. Righteousness |
consists in keeping within boundaries or in self-restraint, the best indication of Righteousness is Renunciation (which is also |
the highest kind of purity).[209] |
"Yudhishthira said, 'In what time should one practise Righteousness? In what time should wealth be sought? In what time |
should pleasure be enjoyed? O grandsire, do tell me this.' |
"Bhishma said,--'One should earn wealth in the first part of one's life. Then should one earn Righteousness, and then enjoy |
pleasure. One should not, however, attach oneself to any of these. One should regard the Brahmanas, worship one's preceptor |
and seniors, show compassion for all creatures, be of mild disposition and agreeable speech. To utter false-hood in a court of |
justice, to behave deceitfully towards the king, to act falsely towards preceptors and seniors, are regarded as equivalent (in |
heinousness) to Brahmanicide. One should never do an act of violence to the king's person. Nor should one ever strike a cow. |
Both these offences are equivalent to the sin of foeticide. One should never abandon one's (homa) fire. One should also never |
cast off one's study of the Vedas. One should never assail a Brahmana by words or acts. All these offences are equivalent to |
Brahmanicide.' |
"Yudhishthira said,--'What kind of Brahmanas should be regarded as good? By making presents unto (what kind of) |
Brahmanas one may acquire great merit? What kind of Brahmanas are they whom one should feed? Tell me all this, O |
grandsire!' |
"Bhishma said, 'Those Brahmanas that are freed from wrath, that are devoted to acts of righteousness, that are firm in Truth, |
and that practise self-restraint are regarded as good. By making gifts unto them one acquires great merit. One wins great merit |
by making presents unto such Brahmanas as are free from pride, capable of bearing everything, firm in the pursuit of their |
objects, endued with mastery over their senses, devoted to the good of all creatures, and disposed to be friendly towards all. |
One earns great merit by making gifts unto such Brahmanas as are free from cupidity, as are pure of heart and conduct, |
possessed of learning and modesty, truthful in speech and observant of their own duties as laid down in the scriptures. The |
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