If the virtues that are practised by the virtuous had no fruits, this universe then would be enveloped in infamous darkness. No one then would pursue salvation, no one would seek to acquire knowledge not even wealth, but men would live like beasts. If asceticism, the austerities of celibate life, sacrifices, study of the Vedas, charity, honesty, these all were fruitless, men would not have practised virtue generation after generation. If acts were all fruitless, a dire confusion would ensue. For what then do Rishis and gods and Gandharvas <https://www.vyasaonline.com/encyclopedia/gandharvas/> and Rakshasas <https://www.vyasaonline.com/encyclopedia/rakshasas/> who are all independent of human conditions, cherish virtue with such affection? Knowing it for certain that God is the giver of fruits in respect of virtue, they practise virtue in this world. This is the eternal source of prosperity. When the fruits of both knowledge and asceticism are seen, virtue and vice cannot be fruitless. Call to your mind the circumstances of your own birth as you that heard of them, and recall also the manner in which Dhrishtadyumna of great prowess was born! These are the best proofs! They that have their minds under control, reap the fruits of their acts and are content with little. Ignorant fools are not content with even that much they get here, because they have no happiness born of virtue to acquire to in the world hereafter.
“The fruitlessness of virtuous acts ordained in the Vedas, as also of all transgressions, the origin and destruction of acts are mysterious even to the gods. These are not known to any body and everybody. Ordinary men are ignorant in respect of these. The gods keep up the mystery, for the illusion covering the conduct of the gods is unintelligible. Those regenerate ones that have destroyed all aspirations, that have built all their hopes on vows and asceticism, that have burnt all their sins and have acquired minds where quest and peace and holiness dwell, understand all these. Therefore, though you may not see the fruits of virtue, you should not yet doubt Dharma or gods. You must perform sacrifices with a will, and practise charity without insolence. Acts in this world have their fruits, and virtue also is eternal. Brahma himself told this unto his sons, as testified to by Kashyapa. Let your doubt, therefore, be dispelled like mist. Reflecting upon all this, let your scepticism give way to faith. Slander not God, who is the lord of all creatures. Learn how to know him. Bow down unto him. Let not your mind be such. O Krishna! Never disregard that Supreme Being through whose grace mortal man, by piety, acquires immortality!” Draupadi said: “I do not ever disregard or slander Dharma, O son of Pritha <https://www.vyasaonline.com/encyclopedia/pritha/>! Why should I disregard God, the lord of all creatures? Afflicted with woe, know me, to be only raving. I will once more indulge in lamentations; listen to me with attention. every conscious creature should certainly act in this world. It is only the immobile, and not other creatures, that may live without acting. The calf, immediately after its birth, sucks the mothers' teat. Persons feel pain in consequence of incantations performed with their statues. It seems, therefore, that creatures derive the character of their lives from their acts of former lives. Amongst mobile creatures man differs in this respect that he aspires, to affect his course of life in this and the other world by means of his acts. Impelled by the inspiration of a former life, all creatures visibly reap in this world the fruits of their acts. Indeed, all creatures live according to the inspiration of a former life, even the Creator and the Ordainer of the universe, like a crane that lives on the water untaught by any one. If a creature acts not, its course of life is impossible. In the case of a creature, therefore, there must be action and not inaction. You also should act, and not incur censure by abandoning action. Cover yourself up, as with an armour, with action. There may or may not be even one in a thousand who truly knows the utility of acts or work. One must act for protecting as also increasing his wealth; for if without seeking to earn, one continues to only spend, his wealth, even if it were a hoard huge as Himavat, would soon be exhausted. All the creatures in the world would have been exterminated, if there were no action. If also acts bore no fruits, creatures would never have multiplied. It is even seen that creatures sometimes perform acts that have no fruits, for without acts the course of life itself would be impossible. Those persons in the world who believe in destiny, and those again who believe in chance, are both the worst among men. Those only that believe in the efficacy of acts are laudable. He that lies at ease, without activity, believing in destiny alone, is soon destroyed like an unburnt earthen pot in water. So also he that believes in chance, i.e., sits inactive though capable of activity lives not long, for his life is one of weakness and helplessness. If any person accidentally acquires any wealth, it is said he derives it from chance, for no one's effort has brought about the result. Whatever of good fortune a person obtains in consequence of religious rites, that is called providential. The fruit, however that a person obtains by acting himself, and which is the direct result of those acts of his, is regarded as proof of personal ability. Know that the wealth one obtains spontaneously and without cause is said to be a spontaneous acquisition. Whatever is thus obtained by chance, by providential dispensation, spontaneously, of as the result of one's acts is, however, the consequence of the acts of a former life. God, the Ordainer of the universe, judging according to the acts of former lives, distributes among men their portions in this world. Whatever acts, good or bad, a person performs, know that they are the result of God's, arrangements agreeably to the acts of a former life. This body is only the instruments in the hands of God, for doing the acts that are done. Itself, inert, it does as God urges it to do. It is the Supreme Lord of all who makes all creatures do what they do. The creatures themselves are inert. Man, having first settled some purpose in his mind, accomplishes it, himself working with the aid of his intelligence. We, therefore, say that man is himself the cause of what he does. It is impossible to number the acts of men, for mansions and towns are the result of man's acts. Intelligent men know, by help of their intellect, that oil may be had from sesame, curds from milk, and that food may be cooked by means of igniting fuel. They know also the means for accomplishing all these. Knowing them, they afterwards set themselves, with proper appliances, to accomplish them. Creatures support their lives by the results achieved in these directions by their own acts. If a work is executed by a skilled workman, it is executed well. From differences in characteristics, another work may be said to be that of an unskilful hand. If a person were not, in the matter of his acts, himself the cause thereof, then sacrifices would not bear any fruits in his case nor would anybody be a disciple or a master. It is because a person is himself the cause of his work that he is applauded when he achieved success. So the doer is censured if he fails. If a man were not himself the cause of his acts, how would all this be justified? Some say that everything is the result of Providential dispensation; others again, that this is not so, but that everything which is supposed to be the result of destiny or chance is the result of the good or the bad acts of former lives. It is seen, possessions are obtained from chance, as also from destiny Something being from destiny and something from chance, something is obtained by exertion. In the acquisition of his objects, there is no fourth cause in the case of man. Thus say those that are acquainted with truth and skilled in knowledge. If, however, God himself were not the giver of good and bad fruits, then amongst creatures there would not be any that was miserable. If the effect of former acts be a myth, then all purposes for which man would work should be successful. They, therefore, that regard the three alone mentioned above as the doors of all success and failure in the world, without regarding the acts of former life, are dull and inert like the body itself. For all this, however, a person should act. This is the conclusion of Manu himself. The person that does not act, certainly succumbs. The man of action in this world generally meets with success. The idle, however, never achieves success. If success, becomes impossible, then should one seek to remove the difficulties that bar his way to success. If a person works hard, his debt to the gods is cancelled whether he achieves success or not. The person that is idle and lies at his length, is overcome by adversity; while he that is active and skillful is sure to reap success and enjoy prosperity. Intelligent persons engaged in acts with confidence in themselves regard all who are diffident as doubting and unsuccessful. The confident and faithful, however, are regarded by them as successful. This moment misery has overtaken us. If, however, you betakes to action, that misery will certainly be removed. If you meet failure, then that will furnish a proof unto you and Bhimasena and Bibatsu and the twins that you are unable to snatch the kingdom from the foe. The acts of others, it is seen, are crowned with success. It is probable that ours also will be successful. How can one know beforehand what the consequence will be? Having exerted yourself you will know what the fruit of your exertion will be. The tiller tills with the plough the soil and sows the seeds thereon. He then sits silent, for the clouds after that are the cause that would help the seeds to grow into plants. If however, the clouds favour him not, the tiller is absolved from all blame. He says unto himself, “What others do, I have done. If, notwithstanding this, I meet with failure, no blame can attach to me.” Thinking so, he contains himself and never indulges in self-reproach. No one should despair saying, “Oh, I am acting, yet success is not mine! For there are two other causes, besides exertion, towards success. Whether there be success or failure, there should be no despair, for success in acts depends upon the union; of many circumstances. If one important element is wanting, success does not become commensurate, or does not come at all. If however, no exertion is made, there can be no success. Nor is there anything to applaud in the absence of all exertion. The intelligent, aided by their intelligence, and according to their full might bring place, time, means, auspicious rites, for the acquisition of prosperity. With carefulness and vigilance should one set himself to work, his chief guide being his prowess. In the union of qualities necessary for success in work, prowess seems to be the chief. When the man of intelligence sees his enemy superior to him in many qualities, he should seek the accomplishment of his purposes by means, of the arts of conciliation and proper appliances. He should also wish evil unto his foe and his banishment. Without speaking of mortal man, if his foe were even the ocean or the hills, he should be guided by such motives. A person by his activity in searching for the holes of his enemies, discharges his debt to himself as also to his friends. No man should ever disparage himself for the man that disparages himself never earns high prosperity. Success in this world is attainable on such conditions! In fact, success in the world is said to depend on acting according to time and circumstances. My father formerly kept a learned Brahmana <https://www.vyasaonline.com/encyclopedia/brahmana/> with him. He said all this unto my father. Indeed, these instructions as to duty, uttered by Brihaspati himself, were first taught to my brothers. It was from them that I heard these afterwards while in my father's house. While at intervals of business, I went out of the inner apartments and sat on the lap of my father, that learned Brahmana used to recite unto me these truths, sweetly consoling me therewith!" II Conversation between Bhimasena and Yudhishthira Listening to the conversation between Draupadi and Yudhishthira, Bhimasena, sighing in wrath, approached the king and addressed him, saying: “O monarch! Walk in the customary path trodden by good men before you, in respect of kingdoms. What do we gain by living in the Ashram of ascetics, thus deprived of virtue, pleasure, and profit? It is not by virtue, nor by honesty, nor by might, but by unfair dice, that our kingdom has been snatched by Duryodhana. Like a weak offal-eating jackal snatching the prey from mighty lions, he has snatched away our kingdom. Why do you suffer such distress, in obedience to the merit of sticking to a promise, abandoning that wealth which is the source of both virtue and enjoyments? It was for your carelessness that our kingdom protected by Arjuna, the wielder of the Gandiva <https://www.vyasaonline.com/encyclopedia/gandiva/> and therefore, incapable of being wrested by Indra <https://www.vyasaonline.com/encyclopedia/indra/> himself, was snatched from us in our very sight. It was for you that, ourselves living, our prosperity was snatched away from us like a fruit from one unable to use his arms, or like kine from one incapable of using his legs. You are faithful in the acquisition of virtue. It was to please you that we have suffered ourselves to be overwhelmed with such dire calamity. It was because we were subject to your control that we are thus tearing the hearts of our friends and gratifying our foes. That we did not, in obedience to you, even then slay the sons of Dhritarashtra, is an act of folly on our part that grieves me sorely. This your abode, in the woods, like that of any wild animal, is what a man of weakness alone would submit to. Surely, no man of might would ever lead such a life. This your course of life is approved neither by Krishna, nor Arjuna, nor by Abhimanyu <https://www.vyasaonline.com/encyclopedia/abhimanyu/>, nor by the Srinjayas, nor by myself, nor by the sons of Madri. Afflicted with the vows, your cry is Dharma! Dharma! Have you, from despair, been deprived of your manliness? Cowards alone, unable to win back their prosperity, cherish despair, which is fruitless and destructive of one's purposes. You have ability and eyes. You see that manliness dwell in us. It is because you have adopted a life of peace that you feel not this distress. “These sons of Dhritarashtra regard us who are forgiving, as really incompetent. This, grieves me more than death in battle. If we all die in fair fight without turning our backs on the foe, even that would be better than this exile, for then we should obtain regions of bliss in the other world. Or, if, having slain them all, we acquire the entire earth, that would be prosperity worth the trial. “We who always adhere to the customs of our order, who always desire grand achievements, who wish to avenge our wrongs, have this for our bounden duty. Our kingdom wrested from us, if we engage in battle, our deeds when known to the world will procure for us fame and not slander. That virtue, which tortures one's own self and friends, is really no virtue. It is rather vice, producing calamities. Virtue is sometimes also the weakness of men. Though such a man might ever be engaged in the practice of virtue, yet both virtue and profit forsake him, like pleasure and pain forsaking a person that is dead. He that practises virtue for virtue's sake always suffers. He can scarcely be called a wise man, for he knows not the purposes of virtue like a blind man incapable of perceiving the solar light. He that regards his wealth to exist for himself alone, scarcely understands the purposes of wealth. He is really like a servant that tends kine in a forest. He that pursues wealth too much without pursuing virtue and enjoyments, deserves to be censured and slain by all men. He that always pursues enjoyments without pursuing virtue and wealth, loses his friends and virtue and wealth also. Destitute of virtue and wealth such a man, indulging in pleasure at will, at the expiration of his period of indulgence, meets with certain death, like a fish when the water in which it lives has been dried up. It is for these reasons that the wise are always careful of both virtue and wealth, for a union of virtue and wealth is the essential requisite of pleasure, as fuel is the essential requisite of fire. Pleasure has always virtue for its root, and virtue also is united with pleasure. Know that both are dependent on each other like the ocean and the clouds, the ocean causing the clouds and the clouds filling the ocean. The joy that one feels in consequence of contact with objects of touch or of possession of wealth, is what is called pleasure. It exists in the mind, having no corporeal existence that one can see. He that wishes to obtain wealth, seeks for a large share of virtue to crown his wish with success. He that wishes for pleasure, seeks wealth, so that his wish may be realised. Pleasure however, yields nothing in its turn. One pleasure cannot lead to another, being its own fruit, as ashes may be had from wood, but nothing from those ashes in their turn. As a fowler kills the birds we see, so does sin slay the creatures of the world. He, therefore, who is misled by pleasure or covetousness, beholds not the nature of virtue, deserves to be slain by all, and becomes wretched both here and here-after. PART 3 21524//22524 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to thatha_patty+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/CAL5XZoppxvZAR6enSVJ0Cw5hRBimj%3DGq_o%2B5gca1%3DdAiiXj%2BNg%40mail.gmail.com.
