THE GARUDA PURANA 22 страница

Horses and elephants carry out the orders given. But a scholar infeg what is not expressly stated. Intellect is fruitful in being able to comprehend other’s gestures.

54. Deprived of wealth one should go on a pilgrimage;

going astray from truth one cannot but fall Into the hell Raurava; though failing in the initial attempt in the Yogi c practice one shall continue to be strictly truthful; a king divested of his royal splendour has no other alternative but go ahunting.

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND TEN.

Brhaspati-niti-sara.

SUta said:

1. If a person forsakes things of sure results in his pursuit of things of uncertain results he loses both — the certain as well as the uncertain.

2. No thrilling pleasure is felt by a man bereft of the mechanism of speech though he may be learned as in the case of a coward holding the sword in his hand or of a blind man wedded to a beautiful wife.

3. It is the fruit of no small penance to possess both delicious foodstuffs and good appetite; sexual virility and healthy as well as handsome wives, extensive wealth and desire to give it to others.

4. The aim of the study of Vedas is the ability to perform Agnihotra; everything auspicious should have the invariable results of good conduct and purposeful life; a good wife must yield perfect sexual pleasure and good offsprings and wealth is for both charity and personal enjoyment.

5. An intelligent man should marry a girl of noble family though not very beautiful; he shall' not marry a girl of low descent though she may be beautiful and have developed hips.

6. Of what avail is the wealth which brings disaster in its wake? Who will dare to remove the crest-jewel of a serpent embedded in its hood?

7. Butter for sacrificial purposes can be taken even from the family of wicked persons; a wise saying uttered by even a child shall be listened to; gold can be taken even from the heap of rubbish and a jewel of a girl can be brought even from a mean family.

8. Nectar may be taken from even a poison-infested spot; gold can be taken even from a heap of rubbish; good learning may be received even from a mean-minded pci son and a girl of low parentage can be wedded if she has good qualities.

9. Friendship with a king is an impossibility; a serpent devoid of poison is unheard of; a household cannot remain pure if too many women flock there together.

1 0. A devoted servant should be engaged in household duties; a son should be engaged in study; an enemy should be employed in acts of vice and a friend in virtuous acts.

11. Servants and ornaments should be put in proper places; a crest-jewel worn on the foot will never shine.

12. Crest-jewel, ocean, fire, bell, the vast expanse of the firmament and a king — these have to be at the head; it is wrong to keep them at the foot.

13. A man of stuff will have access to one of the two goals like a bunch of flowers. Either he is at the head of everyone or he fades in a forest.

14. If a fine jewel worthy of being set in a fine earring is worn on the foot it will not take away the brilliance. It is only the wearer who will be criticised by others.

15. Great is the difference between any two members of each of these: — horses, elephants, iron, wood, stone, cloth, women, men and water.

16. It is impossible to deprive a courageous man of his good qualities though he may be tortured and tormented. Even if it is suppressed by a rogue the flame of a fire does not shoot downwards.

1 7. A horse of good breed does not brook a cut from the whip; a lion cannot bear to hear the trumpeting sound of an elephant. A true hero does not coolly listen to the loud boasts of his enemy.

18. None shall deign to serve the wicked or the base even if unfortunately deprived of wealth or fallen from a high position. Even though oppressed by hunger the lion docs not stoop to graze the grass. It is satisfied only when it drinks the hot blood of elephants.

19. He who tries to cultivate again the friendship of one who has once deceived him really seeks his own death like the she-mule that conceives.

20. The children of an enemy shall never be neglected or treated with indifference by sane men in spite of the fact that they may be speaking sweet words. After the lapse of some time they may be very dangerous and terrible like vessels of poison.

21. If a thorn pricks the foot, another thorn is held in the hand with which the former one is removed. Similarly, an enemy should be wiped off by another enemy whose help for the nonce can be secured by an act of gratification.

22. None need worry about. a man who constantly harasses him. Such people will fall off themselves like the trees on the banks of rivers.

23. When fate is adverse, disastrous harmful things may seem to be auspicious and vice versa. This attitude shall eventually bring destruction too.

24. If the fate is favourable, naturally, good fruitful thoughts befitting the matter on hand occur to everyone everywhere.

25. Unnecessary bashfulness and reserve need not be felt in monetary transactions, acquisition of knowledge, taking food and dealings (with the wife in the bed chamber).

26. None shall stay in a place where these five do not live, viz: — rich men, Vedic scholar, king, river and a physician.

27. Even a day’s stay shall be avoided in places where means of livelihood, fear of law, sense of shame, courteousness and liberal-mindedness are not available.

28. One shall not think of staying permanently in a place where these five are not available: — An astrologer, a Vedic scholar, a king, a river and a saint.

29. O Saunaka, knowledge is not the monopoly of any one. All do not know everything; there is no omniscient being anywhere.

30. In this world we cannot find an omniscient man nor a person utterly foolish. A man can be considered base, middling, or highly intelligent in accordance with the type of. knowledge he possesses.

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN, BrhaspatVs nitisdra, SUta said:

1. I should now mention the characteristic features of the king as well as the servants. A king should examine the following carefully.

2. He should protect the kingdom with devotion to truth and virtue. He should righteously rule over the earth after conquering the enemy.

3. A florist collects flower after flower but does not uproot the plant. The king should also do likewise but not like the maker of charcoal who burns the entire tree in the forest.

4. Those who milk the cow and drink milk do not do so if it is turned sour. So also the king should not defile the kingdom of the enemy which is expected to be enjoyed.

5. The man who wants cow’s milk does not cut off its udders. He draws the milk no doubt. Similarly, the king who wants to tap the resources of a kingdom shall avoid injury to the same.

6. Hence, the king should rule over the earth with care and exertion. In that case the earth, the fame longevity, re nown and strength shall all be truly his.

7. The king of well controlled sense-organs will be able to protect the subjects only if his rule is righteous and if he, worships Lord Vi$nu and is eager to render service to cows and brahmins.

8. After acquiring prosperity which is not permanent it is essential that a king should turn his attention to virtue. All riches will perish in a moment but not the wealth of the soul.

9. Indeed, it is pleasing to gratify the lust. It is true that riches are highly pleasant. But life is as fickle as the roving glances of a winsome maiden.

10 Threatening us like the tigress, old age is waiting for an attack on us. Diseases like enemies crop up ail over the body. Life flows out like water from a broken pot. Still no one in the world does ever think of redeeming the soul.

11. O Men! do service unto others. Do what will be beneficent, later on. Why do you rejoice now, without any suspicion whatsoever, along with the bevy of beautiful damsels, smitten by the arrows of Cupid, with yom eyes very slow (to see what is in store for you)? Do not commit sins. Taking brahmins and Lord Visnu as your refuge begin worship. Your life is slowly coming to an end like water in a pot. In the guise of death a great spirit will pounce upon you.

12. He is a wise man who regards another man’s wife as his mother, another man’s wealth as a lump of clay and all living beings like himself.

13. It is for this that brahmins wish their kings to be rich, that in all their rites their words should be heeded and never slighted.

14. It is for this that kings board wealth that after serving themselves they shall give unto the brahmins what is left over.

15. The king in whose realm the sound of Om uttered by the brahmins is resonant, flourishes. Getting whatever he wants he is never tormented by sickness.

16. Even the apparently incompetent sages can gather riches and articles of daily use. Then why cannot a king who protects his subjects like his children?

17. He who has riches has many friends. He who has riches has many kins. People consider him who has riches fit to be called a Man and a Scholar.

18. Friends, sons, wives and relatives abandon a man devoid of wealth. When he regains his lost wealth they come back to Urn. Hence, wealth alone is a man’s kith and kin and none other.

19) The king who has discarded the Sacred Code is no better than a blind man. A blind man may well see through spies but not so a man devoid of sacred codes.

20. The kingdom of that king is indeed unstable whose sons, servants, ministers, priests and sense-organs are not active and alert but always asleep.

21. He who has acquired the valuable support of the three sons, servants and kins has actually conquered the earth girdled by the four oceans along with the kings.

22. The king who transgresses the injunctions of scriptures and the dictates of reason perishes here in this world and forfeits the right to Heaven.

23. A king surrounded by calamities should not lose heart. He should maintain equanimity both in happiness and sorrow and should never lose enlightened delight of the soul.

24. Courageous souls never become grief-stricken when mishaps occur. Does not the moon rise again though gobbled up by Rahu?

25. Fie, Fie upon men who yearn for the pleasures of body. Do not grieve over the thinness of body or loss of wealth. It is well known that the sons of Pantju 1 and their wife suffered poverty for some time but came unscathed through it and were happy for ever.

26. A king should maintain teams of courtesans and patronize their arts of music and dance. He should give sufficient protection to the science of archery and Economics too.

27. The king who becomes angry with his servants without sufficient cause actually takes in the poison vomited by a black serpent.

28. A king should avoid fickleness and false utterances towards all men and especially to Vedic Scholars and his personal attendants.

29. Proud of his servants and kinsmen, if a king remains complacent and begins sports and dalliance he is sure to be outwitted by the enemy.

1. The son of Vidtra-Vlrya and the brother of Dhftar£ $tra. His five sons are- known as P& ntfavas — Yudhitthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and SahadeVa.

30. It is despicable on his part to fret and fume without faults in others. He who punishes servants unjustifiably becomes a victim of the enemie’s attack.

31. A king should abandon sensuous enjoyments and pleasures. Such people become easy targets of enemies who are always on the alert.

32. Enterprise, adventurousness, courage, intellect, prowess and valour — he who possesses these six is viewed with suspicious awe even by Devas.

33. Where results are not remarkable even after energetic exertion it is due to an adverse fate. Still man should put up endeavour and take resort to fruitful activities.

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND TWELVE.

Brhaspati's nitisara.

S' Uta said:

1. Servants are of various types — the excellent, the middling and the base. They should be employed befittingly in the three types of jobs.

2. I shall narrate the mode of test for servants and the qualities necessary for different jobs as narrated by authorities on them.

3. Just as gold is tested in the four ways by rubbing on the touchstone, cutting, beating and melting, so also a servant is tested by his appearance, conduct, parentage and activities.

4. A man of noble family, endowed with good character and qualities, truthful and virtuous, handsome and pleasantmannered should be appointed as the officer-in-charge of the Treasury.

5. He who can appraise the value, shape and size, ( of gold, gems, etc. ) should be appointed as the chief jeweller# A man who can understand strength and weakness of the soldiers should be appointed as the Commander-in-Chief.

6. The chief of watch and ward should be a mind-reader who can understand each and every gesture, is strong, comely to look at, unerring and competent to strike a timely blow.

7. The chief secretary to the king should be intelligent, clever in conversation shrewd, truthful in speech, with senseorgans under his control, and acquainted with all & astras.

8. The chief Ambassador should be intelligent, sensible, a reader of others’ minds, ruthless and blunt in speaking facts.

9. The officer-in-charge virtue should be well versed in Smrti texts, a scholar of great erudition, with good control over his sense-organs and equipped with the qualities of heroism, valour and other good qualities.

10. The Head Cook should be a man whose father and grandfather had served in a similar capacity. He should be skilful, truthful and acquainted with Sastras. He should be clean in person and capable of hard work.

11. The Royal physician shall be well-versed in Ayurveda 1 with enough practical experience. He should have all the qualities of a decent man and look comely in appearance.

12. The Royal Priest should be a great scholar in Vedas and their ancillaries. He should be observing Japas and Homas.

He should readily bless everyone.

13. Whether he is a writer, or a reciter, an accountant or a chief executive, if any one is found to be lazy, he should at once be dismissed.

14. The mouths of a wicked man and a serpent are sources of distress — since they are double-tongued, causing pain, ruthless and terrific.

15. A wicked man should be avoided even if he happens to be a scholar. Is not a serpent terrific though its head is bedecked with a precious gem?

16. Who is not afraid of the wicked? Who is furious without provocation? It is the wicked from whose mouth the poison of a great serpent in the form of unbearable words flows put continuously.

17. If a salaried servant of the king becomes so rich as to vie with him, is of equal competency, who knows his inner secrets and vulnerable points, who is very industrious and puts up a claim to half of his kingdom there is no harm if the king puts him to death.

1. The ancient Indian medical science propagated and practised by Caraka^Susruta, V& gbhafa and others is still recognized by Indian Government and put to use by the people in India.

18. Those servants are not to be retained who were at first valorous, slow and gentle of speech, truthful and selfcontrolled but later on proved to be otherwise.

19. Servants of this type are very rare — servants who are not lazy, who are satisfied, who can be easily roused from sleep in emergency, who have the equanimity in happiness and sorrow and who are courageous.

20. A servant suffering from all these bad points or from any one of them should be summarily dismissed — devoid of patience, dishonest, cruel-tcmpered, speaking ill of others, haughty, gluttonous, roguish, greedy inefficient and cowardly.

21. The king shall keep in his fort strong weapons of all types and then try to conquer his enemies.

22. If he is not well-equipped he should make peace with his enemy for a period of six months or a year and when he is well equipped he shall attack the enemy.

23. If a king engages foolish persons in various offices the results will be ignominy, loss of wealth and hell after death.

24. Whatever the king does himself or whatever his servants do meritorious or sinful acts, the king has to reap the fruits thereof. He will flourish or fall as the case may be.

25. Hence, a king should employ intelligent and capable men in offices of virtue or wealth for the welfare of cows and brahmins in the State.

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTEEN.

Brhaspati's nitis& ra.

S Ota said:

1. One should employ only the capable servant and not the inefficient. All good qualities can be found in a scholar and all faults in a fool.

2. One should always sit in the company of the good and associate with them. Discussions and friendship should ever be with the good and not with the wicked.

3. Even in a prison one should associate only w r ith the learned, the humble, the virtuous and the truthful. Outside, he should never associate with the wicked.

4. Completing all works left unfinished he shall become wealthy. He should make it a point to complete un-finished tasks.

5. Like the honey bee that sucks honey but does not cause the fall of the flower the king should take revenue from the realm without harming it. The cowherd leaves something for the calf and milks the rest. Similarly, the king should milk the earth but leave plenty for the calves i. e. the subjects.

6. Just as the honeybee collects honey from a number of flowers so the king shall gather wealth taking a little from each.

7. The anthill, honey, the moon in the bright half and alms wax little by little.

8. Seeing that collyrium and ink, used though very little every day, become exhausted after some time, and that the anthill flourishes day by day, one should be careful in not wasting one’s time. One should engage oneself in activities of charity or self-study.

9. A vicious and lustful man shall find hundreds of obstacles even in a forest; but if he can control his five senses he can practise penance even in his house. He who is engaged in activities not censurable and he who is free from passion can make his house a hermitage.

10. Virtue is protected by truth. Knowledge by further acquisition; a pot by frequent cleaning and a family by good conduct.

11. It is better to stay in the forest of Vindhya, todie without partaking of food; it is better to sleep in a spot infested by serpents or to leap into a well; it is better to plunge into a whirlpool or a dangerous water current, than to say “Please give” or beg for a sum of money from one’s own kindred.

12. Riches dwindle when fortune dwindles and not by enjoyment; if merit had been acquired before, riches will never perish.

13. Knowledge is an ornament to a brahmin; a king is the beautifier of the world; the moon is an ornament of the sky; a good conduct is an ornament to every one.

14. Bhlma, Arjuna and others were born as princes, they were pleasing and delightful like the moon; they were valorous, truthful, brilliant like the sun and were kindly protected by Lord Krsna. Even they were subjected to abject misery by the influence of evil planets; they had to beg for alms.; if fate is adverse who is capable of what? The current of previous actions tosses every one about.

15. Obeisance to Karma which forces Brahma to work like a potter in the bowls of cosmos by which Visnu was cast into distress of ten incarnations; by which Rudra was compelled to beg for alms with a skull in his hand and at the behest of which the sun goes round and round in the sky.

16. The donor was King Bali, the receiver Lord Visnu himself, the gift consisted of whole Earth and that too in the presence of learned brahmins. What did he get in return? Only bondage. O Fate! obeisance to Thee — who workest as it pleascst thee.

17. The mother is Goddess Laksmi herself; the father is Lord Visnu; still if the son (cupid) were to be of crooked mind, who is to be punished for the same?

18. Man enjoys only the fruits of his previous actions; whatever he has done in the previous births has its reactions now.

19. The happiness is enjoined by oneself, the sorrow too is enjoined by oneself; even the womb selected by him is in accordance with the action of the previous birth.

20. A man can never forsake the action done by him far into the sky, or deep into the sea or high on the mountain; whether he is held by his mother on her head or kept in her lap.

21. Even Ravana perished at the hands of Time. Ravana whose fortress was the mountain Trikuta 1, the moat — the very ocean; soldiers — Rak? asas; the action of the highest order; and the Sastra propounded by Usanas.

1. The mountain on which the city of Lank& was situated.

22. Everything happens in the age, time, day, night, hour or moment as is ordained beforehand; not otherwise.

23. Whether people go up in the sky, or deep in the nether world; whether they traverse all quarters, they will not get what is not given by Karma.

24. The learning of by-gone-days, the money made over as gift and the actions done before — these run ahead of a person who walks at speed.

25. Actions alone are of consequence. See Janaki (Sita), whose marriage was celebrated when the stars and planets were ascendant and the lagna (i. e. auspicious hour) was decided by sage Vasi$$ha himself, had to undergo miseries.

26. Auspicious signs, characteristic marks are of no avail when Karma comes into clash; for Rama who had stout muscular calves, Laksmana who was as swift as sound and Sita who had thickly grown glossy hair — all these had to suffer a lot.

27-28. Neither the son with Pinda-dana and other rites nor the father with various rites for the welfare of the son can ward off the adverse influence of Karma. In the physical bodies born as a result of Karma, different kinds of illness physical or mental fall in quick succession like the shafts discharged by a skilful archer. Hence, a courageous man should view objects in the light of Sastraic injunctions and not otherwise.

29. In every birth, a man reaps the fruits of his previous merits and demerits in the respective ages of infancy, youth or old age at which the actions had been performed.

30. Just as a gale blows a boat, the Karma drags a man against his wish even from foreign countries to the place where he has to reap the fruits.

31. A man necessarily gets what he is destined to get.

Even a god is incapable of stopping it. Hence, I do not bewail or am not surprised at the events. The line of fate cannot be erased.

32. When chased, a serpent escapes into a well; an elephant to the trunk ( to which it can be tethered); a mouse to its hole; but who can fly from Karma which is quicker than all time?

33. A well-assimilated knowledge never diminishes; it increases on being imparted to others like the water in a well which increases when water is drawn out.

34. Riches acquired virtuously become stable; they flourish still more with virtue. Hence, when you aim at riches, remember this and seek virtue. You thus become great in the world.

35. None becomes miserable if, seeking virtue, he undergoes the same hardships as a poor layman does seeking food.

36. Of all purities, purity of food is excellent. If a man incurs impurity by taking unwholesome food, he cannot be cleansed with clay or water or any other substance of cleanliness.

37. There are five cleansing agents — truthfulness, pure mind, suppression of sense-organs, sympathy with all living beings and water the fifth of the series.

38. He who maintains truthfulness and purity finds an easy access to heaven. Truthfulness is superior to even Horsesacrifice.

39. A man habitually wicked in deeds, with his conscience benumbed with evil thoughts cannot be cleansed with a thousand lumps of clay or a hundred pots of water.

40. He who keeps his hands and feet clean, his mind under perfect control, and acquires learning penance and fame reaps the fruit of pilgrimage.

41. The characteristics of a saintly man are: — he is not elated much when honoured, he does not become angry when slighted, he does not speak harsh words in anger.

42. No one feels satisfied at the outset on hearing wholesome advice at the proper time from a poor man though intelligent and sweet- voiced.

43. What men are not destined to get cannot be secured by them through mantras, strength, valour, intellect or manliness. What is there to lament over?

44. I have secured something unsolicited. When I sent it back, it went away from where it had come. What is there to lament over?

45. During nights birds flock together on a tree for rest.

In the mornings they go to different quarters. What is there to lament over?

46. All have the same destination. All are proceeding there. If one among them goes more quickly what is there to lament over?

47. O Saunaka, the living beings arise from the unmanifest; at their death they dissolve themselves in the unmanifest.

In between they remain manifest. What is there to lament over?

48. If the time of death has not been reached no one dies even if pierced with a hundred arrows. If the same has arrived he does not survive even a slight prick with the tip of a Kuia grass.

49. A man gets only those things he is destined to get;

he goes only to those places where he has to go (at the behest of Karma) and whether misery or pleasure he gets only what he has to get.

50. A man gets things from Karma only. Why should he shout and cry? Even if prodded, flowers and fruits do not transgress their stipulated time [they do not come out earlier or later]. So is the case with Karma of the previous birth.

51. Neither conduct, nor parentage, neither learning nor knowledge, neither the qualities nor the purity of seed fructifies in man. As in the case of trees, good deeds acquired by austerities fructify in men.

52. A man meets with de^th where there is a slayer or riches where there is plenty. Goaded by Karma a man goes to the respective places.

53-56. Just as a calf can recognize its mother in the midst of a thousand cows, the previous Karma approaches the doer. Enjoy your merits, O fool 1 Why should you feel aggrieved? What you do now will certainly follow you hereafter whether good or bad.

57. The vicious and the mean observe other’s faults, be they so little as the jnustard seeds. They see but pretend not to see their own faults as big as Bilva fruits.

58. O Brahmin I Nowhere can they find happiness, who are defiled by lust and hatred. After careful considers tioni see that there is pleasure where there is enlightened bliss.

59. Attachment is a cause of misery; since apprehension follows in the wake of attachment. If, therefore, attachment is eschewed one should be happy.

60. The body is the base for misery and happiness. Life and body are born together.

61. Pleasure and pain can be defined briefly. Whatever goes in the possession of otliei s is misery, whatever remains in one’s own possession is pleasure.

62. After pleasure comes the pain and after pain comes the pleasure. Pleasure and pain whirl like wheels in human life.

63. What has passed has gone for ever; if anything is to happen it is still far off. He who minds the present alone is not afflicted by sorrow.

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN.

Brhaspatis instructions.

Suta said:

1. None is friend or enemy to any other person by nature. Friendship and enmity arise from special causes.

2. The two syllables “Mitram” (Friend) signify solace in sorrow, freedom from fear and preservation of love and confidence. By whom has this jewel been created?

3. If any one says for once the two letters “Hari” he has everything made ready for his journey to salvation.

4. Men cannot have as much confidence in mothers, wives, brothers or sons as in a friend of kindred nature.

5. If you wish for a prolonged friendship, avoid the following three, gambling with him, monetary transactions with him and seeing his wife in his absence.

6. One should not sit in the same seat with one’s mother, sister and daughter in an isolated place. The powerful sense-organs can drag even an erudite man (into the mire of lust). What of common men?

7. God of love compels persons to turn their attention to such spots as provide risks, death, and punishments and not to one’s own? [i. e. People do not love their wives but run after other women risking even death].

8. It is easier to gauge the velocity of the hailstorm at the time of the final dissolution, the speed of the racing horse and the depth of the great ocean than the heart of the person who does not love.

9. O Saunaka, if there is no opportune moment, if there is no privacy and if there is no one to make overtures women shall preserve chastity.

10. She serves one man but cherishes love for another.

In the absence of man a woman can very well be chaste.

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