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turn themselves away from indulgence in sexual pleasure, succeed in ascending to Heaven Conduct marked by charity and |
penances, and characterised by righteousness of deeds and purity of both body and heart, should be followed by those that are |
wise for the sake of adding to their merit or for earning their means of subsistence. Those who wish to ascend to Heaven should |
follow in this track and not in any other.' |
"Uma said, 'Tell me, O illustrious deity, O sinless lord of all creatures, what are those words by which one becomes enchained |
and what are those words by uttering which one may be freed from one's bonds.' |
"Maheswara said, 'Those men who never tell lies for either themselves or for others, or in jest or for exciting laughter, succeed |
in ascending to Heaven. They who never tell lies for earning their subsistence or for earning merit or through mere caprice, |
succeed in ascending to Heaven. They who utter words that are smooth and sweet and faultless, and who welcome all whom |
they meet with sincerity, succeed in ascending to Heaven. They who never utter words that are harsh and bitter and cruel. and |
who are free from deceitfulness and evil of every kind, succeed in ascending to Heaven. Those men who never utter words that |
are fraught with deceit or that cause breach of understanding between friends, and who always speak what is true and what |
promotes good feelings, succeed in ascending to Heaven. Those men who avoid harsh speeches and abstain from quarrels with |
others, who are impartial in their behaviour to all creatures, and who have subjugated their souls, succeed in ascending to |
Heaven. They who abstain from evil speech or sinful conversation, who avoid such speeches as are disagreeable, and who utter |
only such words as are auspicious and agreeable, succeed in ascending to Heaven. They who never utter, under anger, such |
words as tear the hearts of other people, and who, even when under the influence of wrath, speak words that are peaceful and |
agreeable, succeed in ascending to Heaven. The religion, O goddess, appertaining to speech, should always be followed by |
men. It is auspicious and characterised by truth. They that are possessed of wisdom should always avoid untruth.' |
"Uma said, 'Do thou tell me, O god of gods, O wielder of Pinaka, O thou that art highly blessed, what those mental acts or |
thoughts are by which a person may be enchained.' |
"Maheswara said, 'Endued with merit that arises from mental acts, O goddess, one ascends to Heaven. Listen to me, O |
auspicious one, as I recite to thee what those acts are. Listen to me, O thou of sweet face, how also a mind of ill-regulated |
features becomes enchained by ill-regulated or evil thoughts. Those men who do not seek even mentally, to take what belongs |
to others even when they see it lying in a lone forest, succeed in ascending to Heaven. Those men who care not to appropriate |
what belongs to others even when they see it lying in a house or a village that has been deserted, ascend to Heaven. Those men |
that do not seek, even mentally, to associate with the wedded spouses of others even when they behold them in deserted places |
and under the influence of desire, succeed in ascending to Heaven. Those men who, meeting with friends or foes, behave in the |
same friendly way towards all, succeed in ascending to Heaven. Those men that are possessed of learning and compassion, that |
are pure in body and mind, that are firm in their adherence to truth, and that are contented with what belongs to them, succeed |
in ascending to Heaven. Those men that do not bear ill-will to any creature, that do not stand in need of labour for their |
subsistence, that bear friendly hearts towards all beings, and that entertain compassion towards all, succeed in ascending to |
Heaven. Those men that are endued with faith, that have compassion, that are holy, that seek the company of holy men, and |
that are conversant with the distinctions between right and wrong, succeed in ascending to Heaven. Those men, O goddess, that |
are conversant with what the consequences are of good and bad deeds, succeed in ascending to Heaven. Those men that are just |
in all their dealings, that are endued with all desirable accomplishments, that are devoted to the deities and the Brahmanas, and |
that are endued with perseverance in the doing of good acts, succeed in ascending to Heaven. All these men, O goddess, |
succeed in ascending to Heaven through the meritorious consequences of their deeds. What else dost thou wish to hear?' |
"Uma said, 'I have a great doubt, O Maheswara, on a subject connected with human beings. It behoveth thee to explain it to me |
carefully. By what acts does a man succeed, O puissant deity, in acquiring a long life? By what penances also does one acquire |
a long life? By what acts does one become shortlived on earth? O thou that art perfectly stainless, it behoveth thee to tell me |
what the consequences are of acts (in the matter of bestowing a long or a short life on the doer). Some are seen to be possessed |
of great good fortune and some weighted with misfortune. Some are of noble birth while others of ignoble birth. Some are of |
such repulsive features as if they are made of wood, while others are of very agreeable features at even the first sight. Some |
appear to be destitute of wisdom while others are possessed of it. Some, again, are seen endued with high intelligence and |
wisdom, enlightened by knowledge and science. Some have to endure little pain, while others there are that are weighted with |
heavy calamities. Even such diverse sights are seen with respect to men. It behoveth thee, O illustrious one, to tell me the |
reason of all this.' |
"The god of gods said, 'Verily, O goddess, I shall discourse to thee on the manifestation of the fruits of acts. It is by the rules of |
that manifestation that all human beings in this world enjoy or endure the consequences of their acts. That man who assumes a |
fierce aspect for the purpose of taking the lives of other creatures, who arms himself with stout sticks for injuring other |
creatures, who is seen with uplifted weapons, who slays living creatures, who is destitute of compassion, who always causes |
agitation to living beings, who refuses to grant protection to even worms and ants, who is endued with cruelty,--one who is |
such, O goddess, sinks in Hell. One who is endued with an opposite disposition and who is righteous in acts, is born as a |
handsome man. The man who is endued with cruelty, goes to Hell, while he that is endued with compassion ascends to |
Heaven. The man who goes to Hell has to endure excruciating misery. One who, having sunk in Hell, rises therefrom, take |
birth as a man endued with short life. That man who is addicted to slaughter and injury, O goddess, becomes, through his sinful |
deeds, liable to destruction. Such a person becomes disagreeable to all creatures and endued with a short life. That man who |
belongs to what is called the White class, who abstains from the slaughter of living creatures, who has thrown away all |
weapons, who never inflicts any chastisement on any body, who never injures any creatures, who never causes any body to |
slay creatures for him, who never slays or strikes even when struck or attempted to be slain, who never sanctions or approves |
an act of slaughter, who is endued with compassion towards all creatures, who behaves towards others as towards his own |
self,--such a superior man, O goddess, succeeds in attaining to the status of a deity. Filled with joy, such a man enjoys diverse |
kinds of luxurious articles. If such a person ever takes birth in the world of men, he becomes endued with longevity and enjoys |
great happiness. Even this is the way of those that are of righteous conduct and righteous deeds and that are blessed with |
longevity, the way that was indicated by the Self-born Brahman himself and that is characterised by abstention from the |
slaughter of living creatures.'" |
SECTION CXLV |
"Uma said, 'By what disposition, what conduct, what acts, and what gifts, does a man succeed in attaining to Heaven?' |
"Maheswara said, 'He who is endued with a liberal disposition, who honours Brahmanas and treats them with hospitality, who |
makes gifts of food and drink and robes and other articles of enjoyment unto the destitute, the blind, and the distressed, who |
makes gifts of houses, erects halls (for use of the public), digs wells, constructs shelters whence pure and cool water is |
distributed (during the hot months unto thirsty travellers), excavates tanks, makes arrangements for the free distribution of gifts |
every day, gives to all seekers what each solicits, who makes gifts of seats and beds and conveyances, wealth, jewels and gems, |
houses, all kinds of corn, kine, fields, and women,--verily, he who always makes these gifts with a cheerful heart, becomes a |
denizen, O goddess, of Heaven. He resides there for a long period, enjoying diverse kinds of superior articles. Passing his time |
happily in the company of the Apsaras, he sports in the woods of Nandana and other delightful regions. After the exhaustion of |
his merits he falls down from Heaven and takes birth in the order of humanity, in a family, O goddess, that is possessed of |
wealth in abundance and that has a large command of every article of enjoyments. In that life he becomes endued with all |
articles for gratifying his wishes and appetites. Indeed, blessed with the possession of such articles, he becomes endued with |
affluence and a well-filled treasury. The self-born Brahman himself declared it in days of old that it is even such persons, O |
goddess, that become highly blessed and possessed of liberal dispositions and agreeable features. There are others, O goddess, |
that are incapable of making gifts. Endued with small understandings, they cannot make gifts even when solicited by |
Brahmanas and possessed of abundant wealth. Beholding the destitute, the blind, the distressed, and mendicants, and even |
guests arrived at their abodes, those persons, always filled with the desire of gratifying the organ of taste, turn away, even when |
expressly solicited by them. They never make gifts of wealth or robes, or viands, or gold, or kine, or any kind of food. Those |
men who are disinclined to relieve the distress of others, who are full of cupidity, who have no faith in the scriptures, and who |
never make gifts,--verily, these men of little understanding, O goddess, have to sink in Hell. In course of time, when their |
sufferings in Hell come to an end, they take birth in the order of humanity, in families that are entirely destitute of wealth. |
Always suffering from hunger and thirst, excluded from all decent society, hopeless of ever enjoying good things, they lead |
lives of great wretchedness. Born in families that are destitute of all articles of enjoyment, these men never succeed in enjoying |
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