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Mahabharata 12.348.7

Mahābhārata 12.348.7

Language
Sanskrit

12.348.7

na hi tvā daivataṃ kiṃcidvivignaṃ pratipālayet |
tulye hyabhijane jāto na kaścitparyupāsate || 7 ||

"The spouse of the Naga chief said, 'Judging by his simplicity and candour I know that that Brahmana is not any deity who subsists on air. O thou of great wrath, I also know this, viz., that he reveres thee with all his heart. His heart is set upon the accomplishment of some object that depends upon thy aid. As the bird called Chataka, which is fond of rain, waits in earnest expectation of a shower (for slaking its thirst), even so is that Brahmana waiting in expectation of a meeting with thee. Let no calamity betake him in consequence of his inability to obtain a sight of thee. No person born like thee in a respectable family can be regarded to remain respectable by neglecting a guest arrived at his house. Casting off that wrath which is natural to thee, it behoveth thee to go and see that Brahmana. It behoveth thee not to suffer thyself to be consumed by disappointing that Brahmana. The king or the prince, by refusing to wipe the tears of persons that come to him from hopes of relief, incurs the sin of foeticide. By abstaining from speech one attains to wisdom. By practising gifts one acquires great fame. By adhering to truthfulness of speech, one acquires the gift of eloquence and comes to be honoured in heaven. By giving away land one attains to that high end which is ordained for Rishis leading the sacred mode of life. By earning wealth through righteous means, one succeeds in attaining to many desirable fruits. By doing in its entirety what is beneficial for oneself, one can avoid going to hell. That is what the righteous say.

Kisari Mohan Ganguli 1883, The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

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