Section XCIII

"'Yudhishthira said, "If Brahmanas that are in the observance of a vow (viz., fast) eat, at the invitation of a Brahmana, the Havi (offered at a Sraddha), can they be charged with the transgression or a violation of their vow, or should they refuse the invitation of a Brahmana when such invitation is received by them? Tell me this, O grandsire!"

"'Bhishma said, "Let those Brahmanas eat, impelled by desire, who are observant of such vows as are not indicated in the Vedas. As regards those Brahmanas, however, that are observant of such vows are indicated in the Vedas, they are regarded as guilty of a breach of their vow, O Yudhishthira, by eating the Havi of a Sraddha at the request of him who performs the Sraddha."

"'Yudhishthira said, "Some people say that fast is a penance. Is penance really identifiable with fast or is it not so? Tell me this, O grandsire!"

"'Bhishma said, "People do regard a regular fast for a month or a half month as a penance. The truth, however, is that one who mortifies one's own body is not to be regarded either as an ascetic or as one conversant with duty. Renunciation, however, is regarded as the best of penances. A Brahmana should always be an abstainer from food, and observe the vow called Brahmacharya. A Brahmana should always practise self-denial restraining even speech, and recite the Vedas. The Brahmana should marry and surround himself with children and relatives, from desire of achieving righteousness. He should never sleep. He should abstain from meat. He should always read the Vedas and the scriptures. He should always speak the truth, and practise self-denial. He should eat Vighasa (viz., what remains after serving the deities and guests). Indeed, he should be hospitable towards all that come to his abode. He should always eat Amrita (viz., the food that remains in the house after all the family, including guests and servants have eaten) He should duly observe all rites and perform sacrifices."

"'Yudhishthira said, "How may one come to be regarded as always observant of fasts? How may one become observant of vows? How, O king, may one come to be an eater of Vighasa? By doing what may one be said to be found of guest?"

"'Bhishma said, "He who takes food only morning and evening at the prescribed hours and abstains from all food during the interval between, is said to be an abstainer from food. He who has congress with only his wedded wife and that only at her season, is said to be observant of the vow of Brahmacharya. By always making gifts, one comes to be regarded as truthful in speech. By abstaining from all meat obtained from animals slaughtered for nothing, one becomes an abstainer from meat. By making gifts one becomes cleansed of all sins, and by abstaining from sleep during daytime one comes to be regarded as always awake. He who always eats what remains after serving the needs of guests and servants is said to always eat Amrita. He who abstains from eating till Brahmanas have eaten (of that food), is regarded as conquering heaven by such abstention. He who eats what remains after serving the deities, the Pitris, and relatives and dependants, is said to eat Vighasa. Such men acquire many regions of felicity in the abode of Brahman himself. There, O king, they dwell in the company of Apsaras and Gandharvas. Indeed, they sport and enjoy all sports of delight in those regions, with the deities and guests and the Pitris in their company, and surrounded by their own children and grandchildren. Even such becomes their high end."

"'Yudhishthira said, "People are seen to make diverse kinds of gifts unto the Brahmanas. What, however, is the difference, O grandsire, between the giver and the receiver?"

"'Bhishma said, "The Brahmana accepts gifts from him that is righteous, and from him that is unrighteous. If the giver happens to be righteous, the receiver incurs little fault. If on the other hand, the giver happens to be unrighteous the receiver sinks in hell. In this connection is cited an old history of the conversation between Vrishadarbhi and the seven Rishis, O Bharata. Kasyapa and Atri and Vasishtha and Bharadwaja and Gautama and Viswamitra and Jamadagni, and the chaste Arundhati (the wife of Vasishtha), all had a common maidservant whose name was Ganda. A Sudra of the name of Pasusakha married Ganda and became her husband. Kasyapa and others, in days of old, observed the austerest penances and roved over the world, desirous of attaining to the eternal region of Brahman by the aid of Yoga-meditation. About that time, O delighter of the Kurus, there occurred a severe drought. Afflicted by hunger, the whole world of living creatures became exceedingly weak. At a sacrifice which had been performed in former times by Sivi's son he had given away unto the Ritwiks a son of his as the sacrificial present. About this time, unendued with longevity as the prince was, he died of starvation. The Rishis named, afflicted with hunger, approached the dead prince and sat surrounding him. Indeed, those foremost of Rishis, beholding the son of him at whose sacrifice they had officiated, O Bharata, thus dead of starvation, began to cook the body in a vessel, impelled by the pangs of hunger. All food having disappeared from the world of men, those ascetics, desirous of saving their lives, had recourse, for purposes of sustenance, to such a miserable shift. While they were thus employed. Vrishadarbha's son, viz., king Saivya, in course of his roving, came upon those Rishis. Indeed, he met them on his way, engaged in cooking the dead body, impelled by the pangs of hunger.

"'"The son of Vrishadarbha said, 'The acceptance of a gift (from me) will immediately relieve you all. Do you, therefore, accept a gift for the support of your bodies! Ye ascetics endued with wealth of penances, listen to me as I declare what wealth I have! That Brahmana who solicits me (for gifts) is ever dear to me. Verily, I shall give unto you a thousand mules. Unto each of you I shall give a thousand kine of white hair, foremost in speed, each accompanied by a bull, and each having a well-born calf, and, therefore, yielding milk. I shall also give unto you a thousand bulls of white complexion and of the best breed and capable of bearing heavy burdens. I shall also give you a large number of kine, of good disposition, the foremost of their kind, all fat, and each of which, having brought forth her first calf, is quick with her second. Tell me what else I shall give of foremost villages, of grain, of barley, and of even the rarer and costly jewels. Do not seek to eat this food that is inedible. Tell me what I should give unto you for the support of your bodies!'

"'"The Rishis said, 'O king, an acceptance of gifts from a monarch is very sweet at first but it is poison in the end. Knowing this well, why do you, O king, tempt us then with these offers? The body of the Brahmana is the field of the deities. By penance, it is purified. Then again, by gratifying the Brahmana, one gratifies the deities. If a Brahmana accepts the gifts made to him by the king, he loses, by such acceptance, the merit that he would otherwise acquire by his penances that day. Indeed, such acceptance consumes that merit even as a blazing conflagration consumes a forest. Let happiness be thine, O king, as the result of the gifts thou makest to those that solicit thee!' Saying these words unto them, they left the spot, proceeding by another way. The flesh those high-souled ones had intended to cook remained uncooked. Indeed, abandoning that flesh, they went away, and entered the woods in search of food. After this, the ministers of the king, urged by their master, entered those woods and plucking certain figs endeavoured to give them away unto those Rishis. The officers of the king filled some of those figs with gold and mixing them with others sought to induce those ascetics to accept them. Atri took up some of those figs, and finding them heavy refused to take them. He said, 'We are not destitute of knowledge. We are not fools! We know that there is gold within these figs. We have our senses about us. Indeed, we are awake instead of being asleep. If accepted in this world, those will produce bitter consequence hereafter. He who seeks happiness both here and hereafter should never accept these.'

"'"Vasishtha said, 'If we accept even one gold coin, it will be counted as a hundred or even a thousand (in assigning the demerit that attaches to acceptance). If, therefore, we accept many coins, we shall surely attain to an unhappy end hereafter!'

"'"Kasyapa said, 'All the paddy and barley on earth, all the gold and animals and women that occur in the world, are incapable of gratifying the desire of a single person. Hence, one possessed of wisdom should dispelling cupidity, adopt tranquillity!'

"'"Bharadwaja said, 'The horns of a Ruru, after their first appearance, begin to grow with the growth of the animal. The cupidity of man is even like this. It has no measure!'

"'"Gautama said, 'All the objects that exist in the world are incapable of gratifying even a single person. Man is even like the ocean, for he can never be filled (even as the ocean can never be filled by all the waters that are discharged into it by the rivers).'

"'"Viswamitra said, 'When one desire cherished by a person becomes gratified, there springs up immediately another whose gratification is sought and which pierces him like a shaft.'

"'"Jamadagni said, 'Abstention from accepting gifts supports penances as their foundation. Acceptance, however, destroys that wealth (viz., the merit of penances).'

"'"Arundhati said, 'Some people are of opinion that things of the world may be stored with a view to spend them upon the acquisition of righteousness (by gifts and sacrifices). I think, however, that the acquisition of righteousness is better than that of worldly wealth.'

"'"Ganda said, 'When these my lords, who are endued with great energy, are so very much afraid of this which seems to be a great terror a weak man as I am fear it the more.'

"'"Pasusakha said, 'The wealth there is in righteousness is very superior. There is nothing superior to it. That wealth is known to the Brahmans. I wait upon them as their servant, only for learning to value that wealth.'

"'"The Rishis (all together) said, 'Let happiness be his, as the result of the gifts he makes, who is the king of the people of this land. Let his gift be successful who has sent these fruits to us, enclosing gold within them.'"

"'Bhishma continued, "Having said these words, those Rishis of steadfast vows, abandoning the figs having gold within them, left that spot and proceeded to whatever destination they liked.

"'"The ministers said, 'O king, coming to know of the existence of gold within the figs, the Rishis have gone away! Let this be known to thee!'"

"'Bhishma continued, "Thus addressed by his ministers, king Vrishadarbhi became filled with wrath against all those Rishis. Indeed, to take vengeance upon them, the monarch entered his own chamber. Observing the austerest of penances, he poured on his sacred fire libations of ghee, accompanying each with Mantras uttered by him. From that fire there then arose as the result of the incantation, a form capable of striking every one with fear. Vrishadarbhi named her as Yatudhani. That form which had been from the incantations of the king, looking as terrible as the Last Night, appeared with joined hands before the monarch. Addressing king Vrishadarbhi, she said, 'What shall I accomplish?'

"'"Vrishadarbhi said, 'Go and follow the seven Rishis, as also Arundhati, and the husband of their maid-servant, and the maid-servant herself, and comprehend what the meanings are of their names. Having ascertained their names, do thou slay all of them. After slaying them thou mayst go whatever destination thou likest.'"

"'Bhishma continued, "Saying, 'So be it!' the Rakshasi who had been named Yatudhani, in her proper form, proceeded to that forest in which the great Rishis wandered in search of food. Indeed, O king, those great Rishis, with Atri among them, roved within the forest, subsisting upon fruits and roots. In course of their wanderings they saw a mendicant of broad shoulders, and plump arms and legs and well-nourished face and abdomen. Of limbs that were all adipose, he was wandering with a dog in his company. Beholding that mendicant whose limbs were all well-developed and handsome, Arundhati exclaimed, addressing the Rishis, 'None of you will ever be able to show such well-developed features!'

"'"Vasishtha said, 'The sacred fire of this person is not like ours for while he is able to pour libations on it, morning and evening, none of us are able to do the same. It is for this reason that we see both him and his dog so well-developed.'

"'"Atri said, 'This man does not, like us, feel the pangs of hunger. His energy has not sustained, like ours, any diminution. Acquired with the greatest difficulty, his Vedas have not, like ours, disappeared. Hence, it is that we see both him and his dog so well-developed.'

"'"Viswamitra said, 'This man is not, like us, unable to observe the eternal duties inculcated in the scriptures. I have become idle. I feel the pangs of hunger. I have lost the knowledge I had acquired. This man is not like us in this respect. Hence I see both him and his dog so well-developed.'

"'"Jamadagni said, 'This man has not to think of storing his annual grain and fuel as we are compelled to do. Hence I see both him and his dog so well-developed!'

"'"Kasyapa said, 'This man has not, like us, four brothers of the whole blood who are begging from house to house, uttering the words, "Give--Give!" Hence it is that I see him and his dog so well-developed.'

"'"Bharadwaja said, 'This man hath no regret like ours for having condemned and cursed his spouse. He hath not acted so wickedly and senselessly. Hence I see both him and his dog so well-developed!'

"'"Gautama said, 'This man hath not like us only three pieces of covering made of Kusa grass, and a single Ranku-skin, each of which again, is three years old. Hence it is that I see both him and his dog so well-developed!'"