text stringlengths 0 182 |
|---|
attains to great honours in heaven. Listen now to me, O lord of Earth, as I expound to thee the merits of Brahmacharya. That |
man, who practises the vow of Brahmacharya from his birth to the time of his death, know, O king, has nothing unattainable! |
Many millions of Rishis are residing in the region of Brahma. All of them, while here, were devoted to Truth, and self- |
restrained and had their vital seed drawn up. The vow of Brahmacharya, O king, duly observed by a Brahmana, is sure to burn |
all his sins. The Brahmana is said to be a blazing fire. In those Brahmanas that are devoted to penances, the deity of fire |
becomes visible. If a Brahmacharin yields to wrath in consequence of any slight the chief of the deities himself trembles in |
fear. Even this is the visible fruit of the vow of Brahmacharya that is observed by the Rishis. Listen to me, O Yudhishthira, |
what the merit is that attaches to the worship of the father and the mother. He, who dutifully serves his father without ever |
crossing him in anything, or similarly serves his mother or (elder) brother or other senior or preceptor, it should be known, O |
king, earns a residence in heaven. The man of cleansed soul, in consequence of such service rendered to his seniors, has never |
even to behold hell.'" |
SECTION LXXVI |
"Yudhishthira said, 'I desire, O king, to hear thee discourse in detail upon those high ordinances which regulate gifts of kine, |
for it is by making gifts (of kine) according to those ordinances that one attains to innumerable regions of eternal felicity.' |
"Bhishma said, 'There is no gift, O lord of Earth, that is higher in point of merit than the gift of kine. A cow, lawfully acquired, |
if given away, immediately rescues the whole race of the giver. That ritual which sprang for the benefit of the righteous, was |
subsequently declared for the sake of all creatures. That ritual has come down from primeval time. It existed even before it was |
declared. Verily, O king, listen to me as I recite to thee that ritual which affects the gift of kine.[366] In days of yore when a |
number of kine (intended to be given away) was brought (before him), king Mandhatri, filled with doubt in respect of the ritual |
he should observe (in actually giving them away), properly questioned Vrihaspati (the preceptor of the celestials) for an |
explanation of that doubt. Vrihaspati said, 'Duly observing restraints the while, the giver of kine should, on the previous day, |
properly honour the Brahmanas and appoint the (actual) time of gift. As regards the kine to be given away, they should be of |
the class called Rohini. The kine also should be addressed with the words--Samange and Vahule--Entering the fold where the |
kine are kept, the following Srutis should be uttered,--The cow is my mother. The bull is my sire. (Give me) heaven and earthly |
prosperity! The cow is my refuge!--Entering the fold and acting in this way, the giver should pass the night there.' He should |
again utter the formula when actually giving away the kine.[367] The giver, thus residing with the kine in the fold without |
doing anything to restrain their freedom, and lying down on the bare earth (without driving away the gnats and other insects |
that would annoy him as they annoy the kine), becomes immediately cleansed of all his sins in consequence of his reducing |
himself to a state of perfect similitude with the kine. When the sun rises in the morning, thou shouldst give away the cow, |
accompanied by her calf and a bull. As the reward of such an act, heaven will certainly become attainable to thee. The |
blessings also that are indicated by the Mantras will also be thine. The Mantras contain these references to kine: Kine are |
endued with the elements of strength and energetic exertion. Kine have in them the elements of wisdom. They are the source of |
that immortality which sacrifice achieves. They are the refuge of all energy. They are the steps by which earthly prosperity is |
won. They constitute the eternal course of the universe. They lead to the extension of one's race. Let the kine (I give away) |
destroy my sins. They have that in them which partakes in the nature of both Surya, and Soma. Let them be aids to my |
attainment of heaven. Let them betake themselves to me as a mother takes to her offspring. Let all other blessings also be mine |
that have not been named in the Mantras I have uttered! In the alleviation or cure of phthisis and other wasting diseases, and in |
the matter of achieving freedom from the body, if a person takes the help of the five products of the cow, kine become inclined |
to confer blessings upon the person like the river Saraswati--Ye kine, ye are always conveyers of all kinds of merit! Gratified |
with me, do ye appoint a desirable end for me! I have today become what ye are! By giving you away, I really give myself |
away. (After these words have been uttered by giver, the receiver should say),--Ye are no longer owned by him who gives you |
away! Ye have now become mine. Possessed of the nature of both Sutya and Soma, do ye cause both the giver and the receiver |
to blaze forth with all kinds of prosperity!--(As already indicated), the giver should duly utter the words occurring in the first |
part of the above verse. The regenerate recipient, conversant with the ritual that regulates the gift of kine, should, when |
receiving the kine in gift, utter (as already) said the words occurring in the latter half of the above verse. The man who, instead |
of a cow, gives away the usual value thereof or cloths or gold, comes to be regarded as the giver of a cow The giver, when |
giving away the usual value of a cow (as the substitute of a cow) should utter the words,--This cow with face upturned is being |
given away. Do thou accept her!--The man who gives away cloths (as the substitute of a cow) should utter the words,-- |
Bhavitavya--(meaning that the gift should be regarded as representing a cow). The man who gives away gold (as the substitute |
of a cow) should utter the word,--Vaishnavi (meaning, this gold that I give away is of the form and nature of a cow).--Even |
these are the words that should be uttered in the order of the kind of gift mentioned above. The reward that is reaped by making |
such vicarious gifts of kine is residence in Heaven for six and thirty thousand years, eight thousand years, and twenty thousand |
years respectively. Even these are the merits, respectively, of gifts of things as substitute of kine. While as regards him who |
gives an actual cow all the merits that attach to vicarious gifts of kine become his at only the eight step (homewards) of the |
recipient.[368] He that gives an actual cow becomes endued with righteous behaviour in this world. He that gives the value of a |
cow becomes freed from every kind of fear. He that gives a cow (as a substitute in way for a real cow) never meet with sorrow. |
All the three, as also they that regularly go through their ablutions and other acts at early dawn, and he that is well-conversant |
with the Mahabharata, it is well-known, attain to the regions of Vishnu and Soma. Having given away a cow, the giver should, |
for three nights, adopt the vaccine vow, and pass one night with kine. Commencing again from that lunation, numbering the |
eight, which is known by the name of Kamya, he should pass three nights, supporting himself entirely on milk and urine and |
dung of the cow.[369] By giving away a bull, one attains to the merit that attaches to the divine vow (Brahmacharya). By |
giving away a couple of kine, one acquires the mastery of the Vedas. That man who performs a sacrifice and makes gifts of |
kine agreeably to the ritual laid down, attains to many regions of a superior character. These, however, are not attainable by the |
person who is unacquainted with that ritual (and who, therefore, gives away kine without observing the scriptural declarations). |
That man who gives away even a single cow that yields a copious measure of milk, acquires the merit of giving away all |
desirable things on Earth collected together. What need, therefore, be said of the gift of many such kine as yield Havya and |
Kavya in consequence of their full udders? The merit that attaches to the gift of superior oxen is greater than that which |
attaches to the gift of kine. One should not, by imparting a knowledge of this ritual, benefit a person that is not one's disciple or |
that is not observant of vows or that is bereft of faith or that is possessed of a crooked understanding. Verily, this religion is a |
mystery, unknown to most people. One that knows it should not speak of it at every place. There are, in the world, many men |
that are bereft of faith. There are among men many persons that are mean and that resemble Rakshasas. This religion, if |
imparted unto them, would lead to evil. It would be productive of equal evil if imparted to such sinful men as have taken |
shelter in atheism.--Listen to me, O king, as I recite to thee the names of those righteous monarchs that have attained to regions |
of great felicity as the reward of those gifts of kine which they made agreeable to the instructions of Vrihaspati, Usinara, |
Viswagaswa, Nriga, Bhagiratha, the celebrated Mandhatri the son of Yuvanaswa, king Muchukunda, Bhagiratha, Naishadha. |
Somaka, Pururavas, Bharata of imperial sway to whose race belongs all the Bharatas, the heroic Rama the son of Dasaratha, |
and many other celebrated kings of great achievement, and also king Dilipa of widely known deeds, all, in consequence of their |
gifts of kine agreeable to the ritual, attained to Heaven. King Mandhatri was always observant of sacrifices, gifts, penances, |
kingly duties, and gifts of kine. Therefore, O son of Pritha, do thou also bear in mind those instructions of Vrihaspati which I |
have recited unto thee (in respect of gifts of kine). Having obtained the kingdom of the Kurus, do thou, with a cheerful heart, |
make gifts of good kine unto foremost of Brahmanas!' |
"Vaisampayana continued, 'Thus addressed by Bhishma on the subject of properly making gifts of kine, king Yudhishthira did |
all that Bhishma wished. Verily, king Yudhishthira bore in mind the whole of that religion which the preceptor of the deities |
imparted unto the royal Mandhatri. Yudhishthira from that time began to make always gifts of kine and to support himself on |
grains of barley and on cowdung as both his food and drink. The king also began to sleep from that day on the bare earth, and |
possessed of restrained soul and resembling a bull in conduct, he became the foremost of monarchs.[370] The Kuru king from |
that day became very attentive to kine and always worshipped them, hymning their praises. From that day, the king gave up the |
practice of yoking kine unto his vehicles. Wheresoever he had occasion to go, he proceeded on cars drawn by horses of good |
mettle.'" |
SECTION LXXVII |
"Vaisampayana said, 'King Yudhishthira endued with humility, once again questioned the royal son of Santanu on the subject |
of gifts of kine in detail.' |
"The king said, 'Do thou, O Bharata, once more discourse to me in detail on the merits of giving away kine. Verily, O hero, I |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.