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transformed into a snake, O wretch of wicked understanding!' Thus cursed by Bhrigu who had not been seen. Nahusha |
immediately became transformed into a snake and fell down on the earth, O chief of Bharata's race! If O monarch, Nahusha |
had seen Bhrigu, the latter would not then have succeeded, by his energy, in hurling the former down on the earth. In |
consequence of the various gifts that Nahusha had made, as also his penances and religious observances though hurled down |
on the earth, O king, he succeeded in retaining his memory. He then began to propitiate Bhrigu with a view to the working out |
of the course. Agastya also, filled with compassion, joined Nahusha in pacifying Bhrigu for bringing about an end of the |
course. At last Bhrigu felt compassion for Nahusha and provided' for the working out of the course.' |
'Bhrigu said, 'There will appear a king (on earth) of the name of Yudhishthira, the foremost of his race. He will rescue thee |
from this curse.' Having said this, the Rishi vanished in the very sight of Nahusha. Agastya also, of mighty energy, having thus |
accomplished the business of the true Indra, that performer of a hundred sacrifices, returned to his own asylum, worshipped by |
all members of the regenerate order. Thou hast, O king, rescued Nahusha from Bhrigu's curse. Verily, rescued by thee, he |
ascended to the region of Brahman in thy sight. As regards Bhrigu, having hurled Nahusha on the earth, he went to the region |
of Brahman and informed the Grandsire of it. The Grandsire, having called Indra back, addressed the deities, saying. 'Ye |
deities, through the boon I had granted him, Nahusha had obtained the sovereignty of heaven. Deprived, however, of that |
sovereignty by the enraged Agastya, he has been hurled on the earth. Ye deities, ye will not succeed in living without a chief. |
Do ye, therefore, once more install Indra in the sovereignty of Heaven.' Unto the Grandsire, O son of Pritha, who said so unto |
them, the deities filled with joy, replied, saying, 'So be it!' The divine Brahman then, O best of monarchs, installed Indra in the |
sovereignty of heaven. Made once more the chief' of the deities, Vasava began to shine in beauty and resplendence. Even this is |
what occurred in days of yore through the transgression of Nahusha. In consequence, however, of the merits he had acquired |
through acts of the kind I have mentioned Nahusha succeeded in once more regaining his lost position. Hence, when evening |
comes, persons leading the domestic mode of life should give lights. The giver of lights is sure to acquire celestial sight after |
death. Verily, givers of light become as resplendent as the full moon. The giver of lights becomes endued with beauty of form |
and strength for as many years as correspond with the number of twinkles for which the lights given by him burn or |
blaze.'"[448] |
SECTION CI |
"Yudhishthira said, 'Where do those foolish, wretched, and sinful men go, O chief of men, that steal or misappropriate such |
articles as belong to Brahmanas?' |
"Bhishma said, 'I shall, in this connection, O Bharata, recite to thee the old narrative of a conversation between a Chandala and |
a low Kshatriya.'[449] |
"The person of the royal order said, 'Thou seemest, O Chandala, to be old in years, but thy conduct seems to be like that of a |
boy! Thy body is besmeared with the dust raised by dogs and asses, but without minding that dust thou art anxious about the |
little drops of vine milk that have fallen upon thy body! It is plain that such acts as are censured by the pious are ordained for |
the Chandala. Why, indeed, dost thou seek to wash off the spots of milk from thy body?'[450] |
"The Chandala said, 'Formerly, O king, certain kine belonging to Brahmana were stolen. While they were being carried away, |
some milk from their udders fell upon a number of Soma plants that grew by the roadside. Those Brahmanas that drank the |
juice of the plants thus bedewed with milk, as also the king who performed the sacrifice in which that Soma was drunk, had to |
sink in hell. Indeed, for having thus appropriated some thing that had belonged to a Brahmana, the king with all the Brahmanas |
that had assisted him had to go to hell. All those men also, Brahmanas and Kshatriyas, that drank milk or ghee or curds, in the |
palace of the king who had stolen the Brahmana's kine, had to fall into hell. The stolen kine also, shaking their bodies, slew |
with their milk the sons and grandsons of those that had stolen them, as also the king and the queen although the latter treated |
the animals with great care and attention. As regards myself, O king, I used to live in the observance of the vow of |
Brahmacharya in that place where these kine were placed after they had been stolen away. The food I had obtained by begging |
became sprinkled over with the milk of those kine. Having taken that food, O thou of the royal order, I have, in this life, |
become a Chandala. The king who had stolen the kine belonging to a Brahmana obtained an infamous end. Hence, one should |
never steal or appropriate anything that belongs to a Brahmana. Behold to what state I am reduced in consequence of my |
having eaten food that had been sprinkled over with milk belonging to a Brahmana! It is for this reason that Soma plants |
become unsaleable by a person possessed of wisdom. They who sell the Soma plant are censured by the wise. Indeed, O son, |
they who purchase Soma and they who sell it, both sink in the hell called Raurava when, departing from this world, they repair |
to the region of Yama. That man who, possessing a knowledge of the Vedas, duly sells Soma, becomes in his next life a usurer |
and quickly meets with destruction. For three hundred times he has to sink into hell and become transformed into an animal |
that subsists upon human ordure. Serving a person that is vile and low, pride, and rape upon a friend's wife, if weighed against |
one another in a balance, would show that pride, which transcends all restraints, is the heaviest. Behold this dog, so sinful and |
disagreeably pale and lean! (He was a human being in his former life). It is through pride that living creatures attain to such a |
miserable end. As regards myself, I was born in a large family, in a former birth of mine. O lord, and I was a thorough master |
of all branches of knowledge and all the sciences. I knew the gravity of all these faults, but influenced by pride, I became |
blinded and ate the meat attached to the vertebral columns of animals. In consequence of such conduct and such food, I have |
come to this state. Behold the reverses brought about by Time! Like a person whose cloth has taken fire at one end, or who is |
pursued by bees, behold, I am running, penetrated with fear, and smeared with dust! They that lead the domestic mode of life |
are rescued from all sins by a study of the Vedas, as also by gifts of other kinds, as declared by the wise.[451] O thou of the |
royal order, a Brahmana that is sinful in conduct, becomes rescued from all his sins by the study of the Vedas if he betakes |
himself to the forest mode of life and abstains from attachment of every kind. O chief of Kshatriyas, I am in this life, born in a |
sinful older! I fail to see clearly how I may succeed in cleansing myself from all sins. In consequence of some meritorious act |
of a former life, I have not lost the memory of my previous lives. O king, I throw myself on the mercy! I ask thee! Do thou |
resolve my doubt. By what auspicious course of conduct should I wish to achieve my emancipation? O foremost of men, by |
what means shall I succeed in getting rid of my status as a Chandala?' |
"The person of the royal order said, 'Know, O Chandala, the means by which thou mayst be able to attain to emancipation. By |
casting off thy life-breaths for the sake of a Brahmana thou mayst attain a desirable end! By throwing thy body on the fire of |
battle as a libation to the beasts and birds of prey for the sake of a Brahmana, indeed, by casting off thy life-breaths thus, thou |
mayst achieve emancipation! By no other means wilt thou succeed in achieving it!' |
"Bhishma continued, 'Thus addressed, that Chandala, O scorcher of foes, poured his life-breaths as a libation on the fire of |
battle for the sake of protecting a Brahmana's wealth and as the consequence of that act attained to a very desirable end. Hence, |
O son, thou shouldst always protect the property of the Brahmanas, if, O chief of Bharata's race, thou desirest, O thou of |
mighty arms, an end that is eternal felicity!'" |
SECTION CII |
"Yudhishthira said, 'O grandsire, it has been said that all pious men attain to the same region after death. Is it true, O Bharata, |
that there is difference of position or status among them?' |
"Bhishma said, 'By different deeds, O son of Pritha, men attain to different regions. They who are righteous in conduct attain to |
regions of felicity, while they who are sinful attain to regions that are fraught with misery. In this connection is cited the old |
narrative of the discourse, O son, between the ascetic Gautama and Vasava. A certain Brahmana of the name of Gautama, mild |
and self-restrained and with all his senses under complete control, beheld an infant elephant that had lost his mother and that |
was exceedingly cheerless on that account. Full of compassion and steady in the observance of his vows, the ascetic nursed that |
infant animal. After a long time the little beast grew up into a large and mighty elephant. One day, Indra, assuming the form of |
king Dhritarashtra, seized that mighty elephant which was as huge as a hill and from whose rent temples the juice was trickling |
down. Beholding the elephant dragged away, the great ascetic Gautama of rigid vows addressed king Dhritarashtra and said, 'O |
ungrateful Dhritarashtra, do not rob me of this elephant. It is looked upon by me as a son and I have reared it with much pain. It |
is said that between the righteous, friendship springs up if only they exchange seven words.[452] Thou shouldst see, O king, |
that the sin of injuring a friend does not touch thee! It behoveth thee not, O king, to take away by force this elephant that brings |
me my fuel and water, that protects my asylum when I am away, that exceedingly docile and obedient to his instructor, that is |
mindful of doing all the offices that his preceptor commands, that is mild and well-broken, and that is grateful and very dear to |
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