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thou bring the individual I have in view. He should be worshipped with respect (instead of being dragged hither with |
irreverence).' The messenger having come to the place, did the very reverse of what he had been bidden to do. Attacking that |
person, he brought him who had been forbidden by Yama to be brought. Possessed of great energy, Yama rose up at the sight |
of the Brahmana and worshipped him duly. The king of the dead then commanded his messenger, saying, 'Let this one be taken |
back, and let the other one be brought to me.' When the great judge of the dead said these words, that Brahmana addressed him |
and said, 'I have completed my study of the Vedas and am no longer attached to the world. Whatever period may yet remain of |
my mortal existence, I wish to pass, dwelling even here, O thou of unfading glory![346] |
"Yama said, 'I cannot ascertain the exact period, ordained by Time, of one's life, and hence, unurged by Time, I cannot allow |
one to take up one's residence here. I take note of the acts of righteousness (or otherwise) that one does in the world. Do thou, |
O learned Brahmana of great splendour return immediately to thy abode. 'I ell me what also is in thy mind and what I can do |
for thee, O thou of unfading glory!' |
"The Brahmana said, 'Do thou tell me what those acts are by accomplishing which one may earn great merit. O best of all |
beings, thou art the foremost of authorities (on the subject) even in the three worlds.' |
"Yama said, 'Do thou hear, O regenerate Rishi, the excellent ordinances regarding gifts. The gift of sesame seeds is a very |
superior one. It produces everlasting merit. O foremost of regenerate ones, one should make gifts of as much sesame as one |
can. By making gifts of sesame every day, one is sure to attain the fruition of one's every wish. The gift of sesame at Sraddhas |
is applauded. Verily the gift of sesame is a very superior one. Do thou make gifts of sesame unto the Brahmanas according to |
the rites ordained in the scriptures. One should on the day of the full moon of the month of Vaisakha, make gilts of sesame unto |
the Brahmanas. They should also be made to eat and to touch sesame on every occasion that one can afford. They that are |
desirous of achieving what is beneficial to them should, with their whole souls, do this in their houses.[347] Without doubt, |
men should similarly make gifts of water and establish resting places for the distribution of drinking water.[348] One should |
cause tanks and lakes and wells to be excavated. Such acts are rare in the world, O best of regenerate persons! Do thou always |
make gifts of water. This act is fraught with great merit. O best of regenerate persons, thou shouldst establish resting places |
along the roads for the distribution of water. After one has eaten, the gift unto one should especially be made of water for |
drink.' |
"Bhishma continued, 'After Yama had said these words unto him, the messenger who had borne him from his abode conveyed |
him back to it. The Brahmana, on his return, obeyed the instructions he had received. Having thus conveyed him back to his |
abode the messenger of Yama fetched Sarmin who had really been sought by Yama. Taking Sarmin unto him, he informed his |
master. Possessed of great energy, the judge of the dead worshipped that righteous Brahmana, and having conversed with him a |
while dismissed him for being taken back to his abode. Unto him also Yama gave the same instructions. Sarmin, too, coming |
back into the world of men, did all that Yama had said. Like the gift of water, Yama, from a desire of doing good to the Pitris, |
applauds the gift of lamps to light dark places. Hence, the giver of a lamp for lighting a dark place is regarded as benefiting the |
Pitris. Hence, O best of the Bharatas, one should always give lamps for lighting dark spots. The giving of lamps enhances the |
visual power of the deities, the Pitris, and one's own self.[349] It has been said, O king, that the gift of gems is a very superior |
gift. The Brahmana, who, having accepted a gift of gems, sells the same for performing a sacrifice, incurs no fault. The |
Brahmana, who, having accepted a gift of gems makes a gift of them unto Brahmanas. acquires inexhaustible merit himself and |
confers inexhaustible merit upon him from whom he had originally received them. Conversant with every duty Manu himself |
has said that he, who, observant of proper restraints, earns makes a gift of gems unto a Brahmana observant of proper restraints |
earns inexhaustible merit himself and confers inexhaustible merit upon the recipient. The man who is content with his own |
wedded wife and who makes a gift of robes, earns an excellent complexion and excellent vestments for himself. I have told |
thee, O foremost of men, what the merits are that attach to gifts of kine, of gold, and the sesame agreeably to deserve precepts |
of the Vedas and the scriptures One should marry and raise offspring upon one's wedded wives. Of all acquisitions, O son of |
Kuru's race, that of male issue is regarded as the foremost.'" |
SECTION LXIX |
"Yudhishthira said, 'Do thou, O foremost one of Kuru's race, discourse unto me once again of the excellent ordinance regarding |
gifts, with especial reference, O thou of great wisdom, to the gift of earth. A Kshatriya should make gifts of earth unto a |
Brahmana of righteous deeds. Such a Brahmana should accept the gift with due rites. None else, however, than a Kshatriya is |
competent to make gifts of earth. It behoves thee now to tell me what these objects are that persons of all classes are free to |
bestow if moved by the desire of earning merit. Thou shouldst also tell me what has been said in the Vedas on this subject.' |
"Bhishma said, 'There are three gifts that go by the same name and that are productive of equal merits. Indeed, these three |
confer the fruition of every wish. The three objects whose gifts are of such a character are kine, earth, and knowledge.[350] |
That person who tells his disciple words of righteous import drawn from the Vedas acquires merit equal to that which is won |
by making gifts of earth and kine. Similarly are kine praised (as objects of gifts). There is no object of gift higher than they. |
Kine are supposed to confer merit immediately. They are also, O Yudhishthira, such that a gift of them cannot but lead to great |
merit. Kine are the mothers of all creatures. They bestow every kind of happiness. The person that desires his own prosperity |
should always make gifts of kine. No one should kick at kine or proceed through the midst of kine. Kine are goddesses and |
homes of auspiciousness. For this reason, they always deserve worship. Formerly, the deities, while tilling the earth whereon |
they performed a sacrifice, used the goad for striking the bullocks yoked to the plough. Hence, in tilling earth for such a |
purpose, one may, without incurring censure or sin, apply the goad to bullocks. In other acts, however, bullocks should never |
be struck with the goad or the whip When kine are grazing or lying down no one should annoy them in any way. When the |
cows are thirsty and they do not get water (in consequence of any one obstructing their access to the pool or tank or river), |
they, by merely looking at such a person, can destroy him with all his relatives and friends. What creatures can be more sacred |
than kine when with the very dung of kine altars whereon Sraddhas are performed in honour of the Pitris, or those whereon the |
deities are worshipped, are cleansed and sanctified? That man, who, before eating himself gives every day, for a year, only a |
handful of grass unto a cow belonging to another, is regarded as undergoing a vow or observance which bestows the fruition of |
every wish. Such a person ac-quires children and fame and wealth and prosperity, and dispels all evils and dreams.' |
"Yudhishthira said, 'What should be the indications of those kine that deserve to be given away? What are those kine that |
should be passed over in the matter of gifts? What should be the character of those persons unto whom kine should be given? |
Who, again, are those unto whom kine should not be given? |
"Bhishma said, 'A cow should never be given unto one that is not righteous in behaviour, or one that is sinful, or one that is |
covetous or one that is untruthful in speech, or one that does not make offerings unto the Pitris and deities. A person, by |
making a gift of ten kine unto a Brahmana learned in the Vedas, poor in earthly wealth, possessed of many children, and |
owning a domestic are, attains to numerous regions of great felicity. When a man performs any act that is fraught with merit |
assisted by what he has got in gift from another, a portion of the merit attaching to that act becomes always his with whose |
wealth the act has been accomplished. He that procreates a person, he that rescues a person, and he that assigns the means of |
sustenance to a person are regarded as the three sires. Services dutifully rendered to the preceptor destroys sin. Pride destroys |
even great fame. The possession of three children destroys the reproach of childlessness, and the possession of ten kine dispels |
the reproach of poverty. Unto one that is devoted to the Vedanta, that is endued with great learning, that has been filled with |
wisdom, that has a complete control over his senses, that is observant of the restraints laid down in the scriptures, that has |
withdrawn himself from all worldly attachments, unto him that says agreeable words unto all creatures, unto him that would |
never do an evil act even when impelled by hunger, unto one that is mild or possessed of a peaceful disposition, unto one that is |
hospitable to all guests,--verily unto such a Brahmana should a man, possessed of similar conduct and owning children and |
wives, assign the means of sustenance. The measure of merit that attaches to the gift of kine unto a deserving person is exactly |
the measure of the sin that attaches to the act of robbing a Brahmana of what belongs to him. Under all circumstances should |
the spoliation of what belongs to a Brahmana be avoided, and his spouses kept at a distance.'" |
SECTION LXX |
"Bhishma said, 'In this connection, O perpetuator of Kuru's race, is recited by the righteous the narrative of the great calamity |
that overtook king Nriga in consequence of his spoliation of what had belonged to a Brahmans. Some time before, certain |
young men of Yadu's race, while searching for water, had come upon a large well covered with grass and creepers. Desirous of |
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