Mahabharata 12.8: aṣṭamo'dhyāyaḥ

12.8.1

vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca |
athārjuna uvācedamadhikṣipta ivākṣamī |
abhinītataraṃ vākyaṃ dṛḍhavādaparākramaḥ || 1 ||

Vaisampayana said, "Like a person unwilling to forgive an insult, Arjuna of keen speech and prowess, and possessed of energy, betraying great fierceness and licking the Corners of his mouth, said these words of grave import, smiling the while: 'Oh, how painful, how distressing! I grieve to see this great agitation of thy heart, since having achieved such a superhuman feat, thou art bent upon forsaking this great prosperity. Having slain thy foes, and having acquired the sovereignty of the earth which has been won through observance of the duties of thy own order, why shouldst thou abandon everything through fickleness of heart? Where on earth hath a eunuch or a person of procrastination ever acquired sovereignty? Why then didst thou, insensate with rage, slay all the kings of the earth? He that would live by mendicancy, cannot, by any act of his, enjoy the good things of the earth. Divested of prosperity and without resources, he can never win fame on earth or acquire sons and animals. If, O king, abandoning this swelling kingdom, thou livest in the observance of the wretched mode of life led by a mendicant, what will the world say of thee? Why dost thou say that abandoning all the good things of the earth, divested of prosperity, and reft of resources, thou wilt lead a life of mendicancy like a vulgar person? Thou art born in this race of kings.

12.8.2

darśayannaindrirātmānamugramugraparākramaḥ |
smayamāno mahātejāḥ sṛkkiṇī saṃlihanmuhuḥ || 2 ||

12.8.3

aho duḥkhamaho kṛcchramaho vaiklavyamuttamam |
yatkṛtvāmānuṣaṃ karma tyajethāḥ śriyamuttamām || 3 ||

12.8.4

śatrūnhatvā mahīṃ labdhvā svadharmeṇopapāditām |
hatāmitraḥ kathaṃ sarvaṃ tyajethā buddhilāghavāt || 4 ||

12.8.5

klībasya hi kuto rājyaṃ dīrghasūtrasya vā punaḥ |
kimarthaṃ ca mahīpālānavadhīḥ krodhamūrchitaḥ || 5 ||

12.8.6

yo hyājijīviṣedbhaikṣyaṃ karmaṇā naiva kenacit |
samārambhānbubhūṣeta hatasvastirakiṃcanaḥ |
sarvalokeṣu vikhyāto na putrapaśusaṃhitaḥ || 6 ||

12.8.7

kāpālīṃ nṛpa pāpiṣṭhāṃ vṛttimāsthāya jīvataḥ |
saṃtyajya rājyamṛddhaṃ te loko'yaṃ kiṃ vadiṣyati || 7 ||

12.8.8

sarvārambhānsamutsṛjya hatasvastirakiṃcanaḥ |
kasmādāśaṃsase bhaikṣyaṃ cartuṃ prākṛtavatprabho || 8 ||

12.8.9

asminrājakule jāto jitvā kṛtsnāṃ vasuṃdharām |
dharmārthāvakhilau hitvā vanaṃ mauḍhyātpratiṣṭhase || 9 ||

Having won by conquest the whole earth, wishest thou from folly to live in the woods after abandoning everything of virtue and profit? If thou retirest into the woods, in thy absence, dishonest men will destroy sacrifices. That sin will certainly pollute thee. King Nahusha, having done many wicked acts in a state of poverty, cried fie on that state and said that poverty is for recluses. Making no provision for the morrow is a practice that suits Rishis. Thou knowest this well. That, however, which has been called the religion of royalty depends entirely on wealth. One who robs another of wealth, robs him of his religion as well. Who amongst us, therefore, O king, would forgive an act of spoliation that is practised on us? It is seen that a poor man, even when he stands near, is accused falsely. Poverty is a state of sinfulness. It behoveth thee not to applaud poverty, therefore. The man that is fallen, O king, grieveth, as also he that is poor. I do not see the difference between a fallen man and a poor man. All kinds of meritorious acts flow from the possession of great wealth like a mountain. From wealth spring all religious acts, all pleasures, and heaven itself, O king! Without wealth, a man cannot find the very means of sustaining his life. The acts of a person who, possessed of little intelligence, suffers himself to be divested of wealth, are all dried up like shallow streams in the summer season. He that has wealth has friends. He that has wealth has kinsmen.

12.8.10

yadīmāni havīṃṣīha vimathiṣyantyasādhavaḥ |
bhavatā viprahīṇāni prāptaṃ tvāmeva kilbiṣam || 10 ||

12.8.11

ākiṃcanyamanāśāsyamiti vai nahuṣo'bravīt |
kṛtyā nṛśaṃsā hyadhane dhigastvadhanatāmiha || 11 ||

12.8.12

aśvastanamṛṣīṇāṃ hi vidyate veda tadbhavān |
yaṃ tvimaṃ dharmamityāhurdhanādeṣa pravartate || 12 ||

12.8.13

dharmaṃ saṃharate tasya dhanaṃ harati yasya yaḥ |
hriyamāṇe dhane rājanvayaṃ kasya kṣamemahi || 13 ||

12.8.14

abhiśastavatprapaśyanti daridraṃ pārśvataḥ sthitam |
dāridryaṃ pātakaṃ loke kastacchaṃsitumarhati || 14 ||

12.8.15

patitaḥ śocyate rājannirdhanaścāpi śocyate |
viśeṣaṃ nādhigacchāmi patitasyādhanasya ca || 15 ||

12.8.16

arthebhyo hi vivṛddhebhyaḥ saṃbhṛtebhyastatastataḥ |
kriyāḥ sarvāḥ pravartante parvatebhya ivāpagāḥ || 16 ||

12.8.17

arthāddharmaśca kāmaśca svargaścaiva narādhipa |
prāṇayātrā hi lokasya vinārthaṃ na prasidhyati || 17 ||

12.8.18

arthena hi vihīnasya puruṣasyālpamedhasaḥ |
vyucchidyante kriyāḥ sarvā grīṣme kusarito yathā || 18 ||

12.8.19

yasyārthāstasya mitrāṇi yasyārthāstasya bāndhavāḥ |
yasyārthāḥ sa pumām̐lloke yasyārthāḥ sa ca paṇḍitaḥ || 19 ||

He that has wealth is regarded as a true man in the world. He that has wealth is regarded as a learned man. If a person who hath no wealth desires to achieve a particular purpose, he meets with failure. Wealth brings about accessions of wealth, like elephants capturing (wild) elephants. Religious acts, pleasures, joy, courage, wrath, learning, and sense of dignity, all these proceed from wealth, O king! From wealth one acquires family honour. From wealth, one's religious merit increases. He that is without wealth hath neither this world, nor the next, O best of men! The man that hath no wealth succeeds not in performing religious acts, for these latter spring from wealth, like rivers from a mountain. He that is lean in respect of (his possession of) steeds and kine and servants and guests, is truly lean and not he whose limbs alone are so. Judge truly, O king, and look at the conduct of the gods and the Danavas. O king, do the gods ever wish for anything else than the slaughter of their kinsmen (the Asuras)? If the appropriation of wealth belonging to others be not regarded as righteous, how, O monarch, will kings practise virtue on this earth? Learned men have, in the Vedas, laid down this conclusion. The learned have laid it down that kings should live, reciting every day the three Vedas, seeking to acquire wealth, and carefully performing sacrifices with the wealth thus acquired. The gods, through internecine quarrels, have obtained footing in heaven.

12.8.20

adhanenārthakāmena nārthaḥ śakyo vivitsatā |
arthairarthā nibadhyante gajairiva mahāgajāḥ || 20 ||

12.8.21

dharmaḥ kāmaśca svargaśca harṣaḥ krodhaḥ śrutaṃ damaḥ |
arthādetāni sarvāṇi pravartante narādhipa || 21 ||

12.8.22

dhanātkulaṃ prabhavati dhanāddharmaḥ pravartate |
nādhanasyāstyayaṃ loko na paraḥ puruṣottama || 22 ||

12.8.23

nādhano dharmakṛtyāni yathāvadanutiṣṭhati |
dhanāddhi dharmaḥ sravati śailādgirinadī yathā || 23 ||

12.8.24

yaḥ kṛśāśvaḥ kṛśagavaḥ kṛśabhṛtyaḥ kṛśātithiḥ |
sa vai rājankṛśo nāma na śarīrakṛśaḥ kṛśaḥ || 24 ||

12.8.25

avekṣasva yathānyāyaṃ paśya devāsuraṃ yathā |
rājankimanyajjñātīnāṃ vadhādṛdhyanti devatāḥ || 25 ||

12.8.26

na ceddhartavyamanyasya kathaṃ taddharmamārabhet |
etāvāneva vedeṣu niścayaḥ kavibhiḥ kṛtaḥ || 26 ||

12.8.27

adhyetavyā trayī vidyā bhavitavyaṃ vipaścitā |
sarvathā dhanamāhāryaṃ yaṣṭavyaṃ cāpi yatnataḥ || 27 ||

12.8.28

drohāddevairavāptāni divi sthānāni sarvaśaḥ |
iti devā vyavasitā vedavādāśca śāśvatāḥ || 28 ||

When, the very gods have won their prosperity through internecine quarrels, what fault can there be in such quarrels? The gods, thou seest, act in this way. The eternal precepts of the Vedas also sanction it. To learn, teach, sacrifice, and assist at other's sacrifices,--these are our principal duties. The wealth that kings take from others becomes the means of their prosperity. We never see wealth that has been earned without doing some injury to others. It is even thus that kings conquer this world. Having conquered, they call that wealth theirs, just as sons speak of the wealth of their sires as their own. The royal sages that have gone to heaven have declared this to be the duty of kings. Like water flowing on every direction from a swollen ocean, that wealth runs on every direction from the treasuries of kings. This earth formerly belonged to king Dilipa, Nahusha, Amvarisha, and Mandhatri. She now belongs to thee! A great sacrifice, therefore, with profuse presents of every kind and requiring a vast heap of the earth's produce, awaits thee. If thou dost not perform that sacrifice, O king, then the sins of this kingdom shall all be thine. Those subjects whose king performs a horse-sacrifice with profuse presents, become all cleansed and sanctified by beholding the ablutions at the end of the sacrifice. Mahadeva himself, of universal form, in a great sacrifice requiring libations of all kinds of flesh, poured all creatures as sacrificial libations and then his own self.

12.8.29

adhīyante tapasyanti yajante yājayanti ca |
kṛtsnaṃ tadeva ca śreyo yadapyādadate'nyataḥ || 29 ||

12.8.30

na paśyāmo'napahṛtaṃ dhanaṃ kiṃcitkvacidvayam |
evameva hi rājāno jayanti pṛthivīmimām || 30 ||

12.8.31

jitvā mamatvaṃ bruvate putrā iva piturdhane |
rājarṣayo jitasvargā dharmo hyeṣāṃ nigadyate || 31 ||

12.8.32

yathaiva pūrṇādudadheḥ syandantyāpo diśo daśa |
evaṃ rājakulādvittaṃ pṛthivīṃ pratitiṣṭhati || 32 ||

12.8.33

āsīdiyaṃ dilīpasya nṛgasya nahuṣasya ca |
ambarīṣasya māndhātuḥ pṛthivī sā tvayi sthitā || 33 ||

12.8.34

sa tvāṃ dravyamayo yajñaḥ saṃprāptaḥ sarvadakṣiṇaḥ |
taṃ cenna yajase rājanprāptastvaṃ devakilbiṣam || 34 ||

12.8.35

yeṣāṃ rājāśvamedhena yajate dakṣiṇāvatā |
upetya tasyāvabhṛthaṃ pūtāḥ sarve bhavanti te || 35 ||

12.8.36

viśvarūpo mahādevaḥ sarvamedhe mahāmakhe |
juhāva sarvabhūtāni tathaivātmānamātmanā || 36 ||

12.8.37

śāśvato'yaṃ bhūtipatho nāsyāntamanuśuśruma |
mahāndāśarathaḥ panthā mā rājankāpathaṃ gamaḥ || 37 ||

Eternal is this auspicious path. Its fruits are never destroyed. This is the great path called Dasaratha. Abandoning it, O king, to what other path wouldst thou betake thyself?'