The Great Epic of the Bhārata dynasty 13.9: navamo'dhyāyaḥ

13.9.1

yudhiṣṭhira uvāca |
brāhmaṇānāṃ tu ye loke pratiśrutya pitāmaha |
na prayacchanti mohātte ke bhavanti mahāmate || 1 ||

"Yudhisthira said, 'O grandsire, O thou of great splendour, what do those men become who, through stupefaction of intellect, do not make gifts unto Brahmanas after having promised to make those gifts? O thou that art the foremost of all righteous persons, do tell me what the duties are in this respect. Indeed, what becomes the end of those wicked wights that do not give after having promised to give.'"

13.9.2

etanme tattvato brūhi dharmaṃ dharmabhṛtāṃ vara |
pratiśrutya durātmāno na prayacchanti ye narāḥ || 2 ||

13.9.3

bhīṣma uvāca |
yo na dadyātpratiśrutya svalpaṃ vā yadi vā bahu |
āśāstasya hatāḥ sarvāḥ klībasyeva prajāphalam || 3 ||

"Bhishma said, 'The person that, after having promised, does not give, be it little or much, has the mortification to see his hopes (in every direction) become fruitless like the hopes of a eunuch in respect of progeny. Whatever good acts such a person does between the day of his birth and that of his death, O Bharata, whatever libations he pours on the sacrificial fire, whatever gifts he makes, O chief of Bharata's race, and whatever penances he performs all become fruitless. They that are conversant with the scriptures declare this as their opinion, arriving at it, O chief of the Bharatas, with the aid of a well-ordered understanding. Persons conversant with the scriptures are also of opinion that such a man may be cleansed by giving away a thousand horses with ears of a dark hue. In this connection is cited the old narrative of the discourse between a jackal and an ape. While both were human beings, O scorcher of foes, they were intimate friends. After death one of them became a jackal and the other an ape. Beholding the jackal one day eating an animal carcase in the midst of a crematorium, the ape, remembering his own and his friend's former birth as human beings, addressed him, saying,--Verily, what terrible sin didst thou perpetrate in thy former birth in consequence of which thou art obliged in this birth to feed in a crematorium upon such repulsive fare as the putrid carcase of an animal?--Thus addressed, the jackal replied unto the ape, saying,--Having promised to give unto a Brahmana I did not make him the gift. It is for that sin, O ape, that I have fallen into this wretched order of existence. It is for that reason that, when hungry, I am obliged to eat such food.'

13.9.4

yāṃ rātriṃ jāyate pāpo yāṃ ca rātriṃ vinaśyati |
etasminnantare yadyatsukṛtaṃ tasya bhārata |
yacca tasya hutaṃ kiṃcitsarvaṃ tasyopahanyate || 4 ||

13.9.5

atraitadvacanaṃ prāhurdharmaśāstravido janāḥ |
niśamya bharataśreṣṭha buddhyā paramayuktayā || 5 ||

13.9.6

api codāharantīmaṃ dharmaśāstravido janāḥ |
aśvānāṃ śyāmakarṇānāṃ sahasreṇa sa mucyate || 6 ||

13.9.7

atraivodāharantīmamitihāsaṃ purātanam |
sṛgālasya ca saṃvādaṃ vānarasya ca bhārata || 7 ||

13.9.8

tau sakhāyau purā hyāstāṃ mānuṣatve paraṃtapa |
anyāṃ yoniṃ samāpannau sārgālīṃ vānarīṃ tathā || 8 ||

13.9.9

tataḥ parāsūnkhādantaṃ sṛgālaṃ vānaro'bravīt |
śmaśānamadhye saṃprekṣya pūrvajātimanusmaran || 9 ||

13.9.10

kiṃ tvayā pāpakaṃ karma kṛtaṃ pūrvaṃ sudāruṇam |
yastvaṃ śmaśāne mṛtakānpūtikānatsi kutsitān || 10 ||

13.9.11

evamuktaḥ pratyuvāca sṛgālo vānaraṃ tadā |
brāhmaṇasya pratiśrutya na mayā tadupākṛtam || 11 ||

13.9.12

tatkṛte pāpikāṃ yonimāpanno'smi plavaṃgama |
tasmādevaṃvidhaṃ bhakṣyaṃ bhakṣayāmi bubhukṣitaḥ || 12 ||

13.9.13

ityetadbruvato rājanbrāhmaṇasya mayā śrutam |
kathāṃ kathayataḥ puṇyāṃ dharmajñasya purātanīm || 13 ||

"Bhishma continued, 'I heard this, O king, from my preceptor while he was engaged in discoursing upon the subject of Brahmanas. I heard this from that righteous person when he recited the old and sacred declaration on this topic. I heard this from Krishna also, O king, while he was engaged in discoursing, O son of Pandu, upon Brahmanas. The property of a Brahmana should never be appropriated. They should always be let alone. Poor, or miserly, or young in years, they should never be disregarded. The Brahmanas have always taught me this. Having promised to make them a gift, the gift should be made. A superior Brahmana should never be disappointed in the matter of his expectations. A Brahmana, O king, in whom an expectation has been raised, has, O king, been said to be like a blazing fire. That man upon whom a Brahmana with raised expectations casts his eye, is sure, O monarch, to be consumed even as a heap of straw is capable of being consumed by a blazing fire. When the Brahmana, gratified (with honours and gifts) by the king addresses the king in delightful and affectionate words, he becomes, O Bharata, a source of great benefit to the king, for he continues to live in the kingdom like a physician combating against diverse ills of the body. Such a Brahmana is sure to maintain by his puissance and good wishes, the sons and grandsons and animals and relatives and ministers and other officers and the city and the provinces of the king. Even such is the energy, so great, of the Brahmana like unto that of the thousand-rayed Surya himself, on the Earth. There-fore, O Yudhishthira, if one wishes to attain to a respectable or happy order of being in one's next birth, one should, having passed the promise to a Brahmana, certainly keep it by actually making the gift to him. By making gifts to a Brahmana one is sure to attain to the highest heaven. Verily, the making of gifts is the highest of acts that one can achieve. By the gifts one makes to a Brahmana, the deities and the pitris are supported. Hence one possessed of knowledge should ever make gifts unto the Brahmanas. O chief of the Bharatas, the Brahmana is regarded as the highest object unto whom gifts should be made. At no time should a Brahmana be received without being properly worshipped."

13.9.14

śrutaṃ cāpi mayā bhūyaḥ kṛṣṇasyāpi viśāṃ pate |
kathāṃ kathayataḥ pūrvaṃ brāhmaṇaṃ prati pāṇḍava || 14 ||

13.9.15

evameva ca māṃ nityaṃ brāhmaṇāḥ saṃdiśanti vai |
pratiśrutya bhaveddeyaṃ nāśā kāryā hi brāhmaṇaiḥ || 15 ||

13.9.16

brāhmaṇo hyāśayā pūrvaṃ kṛtayā pṛthivīpate |
susamiddho yathā dīptaḥ pāvakastadvidhaḥ smṛtaḥ || 16 ||

13.9.17

yaṃ nirīkṣeta saṃkruddha āśayā pūrvajātayā |
pradaheta hi taṃ rājankakṣamakṣayyabhugyathā || 17 ||

13.9.18

sa eva hi yadā tuṣṭo vacasā pratinandati |
bhavatyagadasaṃkāśo viṣaye tasya bhārata || 18 ||

13.9.19

putrānpautrānpaśūṃścaiva bāndhavānsacivāṃstathā |
puraṃ janapadaṃ caiva śāntiriṣṭeva puṣyati || 19 ||

13.9.20

etaddhi paramaṃ tejo brāhmaṇasyeha dṛśyate |
sahasrakiraṇasyeva saviturdharaṇītale || 20 ||

13.9.21

tasmāddātavyameveha pratiśrutya yudhiṣṭhira |
yadīcchecchobhanāṃ jātiṃ prāptuṃ bharatasattama || 21 ||

13.9.22

brāhmaṇasya hi dattena dhruvaṃ svargo hyanuttamaḥ |
śakyaṃ prāptuṃ viśeṣeṇa dānaṃ hi mahatī kriyā || 22 ||

13.9.23

ito dattena jīvanti devatāḥ pitarastathā |
tasmāddānāni deyāni brāhmaṇebhyo vijānatā || 23 ||

13.9.24

mahaddhi bharataśreṣṭha brāhmaṇastīrthamucyate |
velāyāṃ na tu kasyāṃcidgacchedvipro hyapūjitaḥ || 24 ||