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desirous of earning merit (by protecting this pigeon), it is thy duty to look at me also (and do what is proper for enabling me to |
appease my hunger and save my life)! |
"Bhishma continued, 'Hearing these words of the hawk, the royal sage became filled with wonder. Without disregarding these |
words of his, the king, desirous of attending to his comforts, replied unto him saying the following words.' |
"The king said, 'Let a bovine bull or boar or deer or buffalo be dressed today for thy sake. Do thou appease thy hunger on such |
food today. Never to desert one that has sought my protection in my firm vow. Behold, O bird, this bird does not leave my lap!' |
"The hawk said, 'I do not, O monarch, eat the flesh of the boar or the ox or of any of the diverse kinds of fowl. What need have |
I of food of this or that kind? My concern is with that food which has been eternally ordained for beings of my order? Hawks |
feed on pigeons,--this is the eternal ordinance. O sinless, Usinara, if thou feelest such affection for this pigeon, do thou then |
give me flesh from thy own body, of weight equal to that of this pigeon.' |
"The king said, 'Great is the favour thou showiest me today by speaking to me in this strain. Yes, I shall do what thou biddest. |
Having said this, that best of monarchs began to cut off his own flesh and weigh it in a balance against the pigeon. Meanwhile, |
in the inner apartments of the palace, the spouses of king, adorned with jewels and gems, hearing what was taking place, |
uttered exclamations of woe and came out, stricken with grief. In consequence of those cries of the ladies, as also of the |
ministers and servants, a noise deep as the roar of the clouds arose in the palace. The sky that had been very clear became |
enveloped with thick clouds on every side. The Earth began to tremble, as the consequence of that act of truth which the |
monarch did. The king began to cut off the flesh from his flanks from the arms, and from his thighs, and quickly fill one of the |
scales for weighing it against the pigeon. In spite of all that, the pigeon continued to weigh heavier. When at last the king |
became a skeleton of bones, without any flesh, and covered with blood, he desired to give up his whole body and, therefore, |
ascended the scale in which he had placed the flesh that he had previously cut off. At that time, the three worlds, with Indra at |
their head, came to that spot for beholding him. Celestial kettle-drums and diverse drums were struck and played upon by |
invisible beings belonging to the firmament. King Vrishadarbha was bathed in a shower of nectar that was poured upon him. |
Garlands of celestial flowers, of delicious fragrance and touch, were also showered upon him copiously and repeatedly. The |
deities and Gandharvas and Apsaras in large bands began to sing and dance around him even as they sing and dance around the |
Grandsire Brahma. The king then ascended a celestial car that surpassed (in grandeur and beauty) a mansion made entirely of |
gold, that had arches made of gold and gems, and that was adorned with columns made of lapis lazuli. Through the merit of his |
act, the royal sage Sivi proceeded to eternal Heaven. Do thou also, O Yudhishthira, act in the same way towards those that seek |
thy protection. He who protects those that are devoted to him, those that are attached to him from love and affection, and those |
that depend upon him, and who has compassion for all creatures, succeeds in attaining to great felicity hereafter. That king who |
is of righteous behaviour and who is observant of honesty and integrity, succeeds by his acts of sincerity in acquiring every |
valuable reward. The royal sage Sivi of pure soul and endued with great wisdom and unbaffled prowess, that ruler of the |
kingdom of Kasi, became celebrated over the three worlds for his deeds of righteousness. Anybody who would protect in the |
same way a seeker for protection, would certainly attain (like Sivi himself) to the same happy end, O best of the Bharatas. He |
who recites this history of the royal sage Vrishadarbha is sure to become cleansed of every sin, and the person who hears this |
history recited by another is sure to attain to the same result.'" |
SECTION XXXIII |
"Yudhishthira said, 'Which act, O grandsire, is the foremost of all those that have been laid down for a king? What is that act |
by doing which a king succeeds in enjoying both this world and the next?' |
"Bhishma said, 'Even this viz., the worship of the Brahmanas, is the foremost of all those act, O Bharata, which have been laid |
down for a king duly installed on the throne, if, indeed, he is desirous of obtaining great happiness. Even this is what the |
foremost of all kings should do. Know this well, O chief of Bharata's race. The king should always worship with reverence all |
righteous Brahmanas possessed of Vedic lore.[255] The king should, with bows and comforting speeches and gifts of all |
articles of enjoyment, worship all Brahmanas possessed of great learning who may dwell in his city or provinces. This is the |
foremost of all acts laid down for the king. Indeed, the king should always keep his eyes fixed on this. He should protect and |
cherish these, even as he protects his own self or his own children. The king should worship with greater reverence those |
amongst the Brahmanas that may be worthy of it (for their superior sanctity and learning). When such men are freed from all |
anxiety, the whole kingdom blazes forth in beauty. Such individuals are worthy of adoration. Unto such the king should bow |
his head. Verily, they should be honoured, even as one honours one's sires and grandsires. Upon them depends the course of |
conduct followed by men, even as the existence of all creatures depends upon Vasava. Of prowess incapable of being baffled |
and endued with great energy, such men, if enraged, are capable of consuming the entire kingdom to ashes by only fiat of their |
will, or by acts of incantation, or by other means (derived from the power of penance). I do not see anything that can destroy |
them. Their power seems to be uncontrolled, being capable of reaching to the farthest end of the universe. When angry, their |
glances fall upon men and things like a blazing flame of fire upon a forest. The most courageous men are struck with fear at |
their men. Their virtues and powers are extraordinary and immeasurable. Some amongst them are like wells and pits with |
mouths covered by grass and creepers, while others resemble the firmament cleared of clouds and darkness. Some amongst |
them are of fierce dispositions (like Durvasas and others of that stamp). Some are as mild and soft in disposition as cotton (like |
Gautama and others). Some amongst them are very cunning (like Agastya who devoured the Asura Vatapi, and Rishis of that |
class). Some amongst them are devoted to the practice of penances. Some amongst them are employed in agricultural pursuits |
(like the preceptor of Uddalaka). Some amongst them are engaged in the keep of kine (as Upamanyu while attending his |
preceptor). Some amongst them live upon eleemosynary alms. Some amongst them are even thieves (like Valmiki in his early |
years and Viswamitra during a famine). Some amongst them are fond of fomenting quarrels and disputes (like Narada). Some, |
again, amongst them are actors and dancers (like Bharata). Some amongst them are competent to achieve all feats, ordinary and |
extraordinary (like Agastya drinking up the entire ocean, as if it were a palmful of water). The Brahmanas, O chief of Bharata's |
race are of diverse aspects and behaviour. One should always utter the praises of the Brahmanas who are conversant with all |
duties, who are righteous of behaviour, who are devoted to diverse kinds of act, and who are seen to derive their sustenance |
from diverse kinds of occupations.[256] The Brahmanas, O ruler of men, who are highly blessed, are elder in respect of their |
origin than the Pitris, the deities, human beings (belonging to the three other orders), the Snakes and the Rakshasas. These |
regenerate persons are incapable of being vanquished by the deities or the Pitris, or the Gandharvas or the Rakshasas, or the |
Asuras or the Pisachas. The Brahmanas are competent to make him a deity that is not a deity They can, again, divest one that is |
a deity of his status as such. He becomes a king whom they wish to make a king. He, on the other hand, goes to the wall whom |
they do not love or like. I tell thee truly, O king, that those foolish persons, without doubt, meet with destruction who |
calumniate the Brahmanas and utter their dispraise. Skilled in praise and dispraise, and themselves the origin or cause of other |
people's fame and ignominy the Brahmanas, O king, always become angry with those that seek to injure others. That man |
whom the Brahmanas praise succeeds in growing in prosperity. That man who is censured and is cast off by the Brahmanas |
soon meets with discomfiture. It is in consequence of the absence of Brahmanas from among them that the Sakas, the Yavanas, |
the Kamvojas and other Kshatriya tribes have become fallen and degraded into the status of Sudras. The Dravidas, the |
Kalingas, the Pulandas, the Usinaras, the Kolisarpas, the Mahishakas and other Kshatriyas, have, in consequence of the |
absence of Brahmanas from among their midst, become degraded into Sudras. Defeat at their hands is preferable to victory |
over them, O foremost of victorious persons. One slaying all other living creatures in the world does not incur a sin so heinous |
as that of slaying a single Brahmana. The great Rishis have said that Brahmanicide is a heinous sin. One should never utter the |
dispraise or calumny of the Brahmanas. Where the dispraise of Brahmanas is uttered, one should sit with face hanging down or |
leave that spot (for avoiding both the utterer and his words). That man has not as yet been born in this world or will not take |
birth here, who has been or will be able to pass his life in happiness after quarrelling with the Brahmanas. One cannot seize the |
wind with one's hands. One cannot touch the moon with one's hand. One cannot support the Earth on one's arms. After the |
same manner, O king, one is not able to vanquish the Brahmanas in this world.'" |
SECTION XXXIV |
"Bhishma said, 'One should always offer the most reverent worship unto the Brahmanas. They have Soma for their king, and |
they it is who confer happiness and misery upon others. They, O king, should always be cherished and protected as one |
cherishes and protects one's own sires and grandsires, and should be adored with bows and gifts of food and ornaments and |
other articles of enjoyment, as also with such things as they may desire. The peace and happiness of the kingdom flow from |
such respect shown to the Brahmanas even as the peace and happiness of all living creatures flow from Vasava, the chief of the |
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