The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa (4 vols., libros 1–18) · 3 · 44

"'"Brahmadatta said, 'It is necessary that a union should take place between an injurer and the avenger of that injury. Mutual animosity, upon such a union, has been seen to cool. No fresh injury also has followed in such cases.'

"'"Pujani said, 'Animosity (springing from mutual injuries) can never die. The person injured should never trust his foes, thinking, "O, I have been soothed with assurances of goodwill." In this world, men frequently meet with destruction in consequence of (misplaced) confidence. For this reason it is necessary that we should no longer meet each other. They who cannot be reduced to subjection by the application of even force and sharp weapons, can be conquered by (insincere) conciliation like (wild) elephants through a (tame) she-elephant.'

"'"Brahmadatta said, 'From the fact of two persons residing together, even if one inflicts upon the other deadly injury, an affection arises naturally between them, as also mutual trust as in the case, of the Chandala and the dog. Amongst persons that have injured one another, co-residence blunts the keenness of animosity. Indeed, that animosity does not last long, but disappears quickly like water poured upon the leaf of a lotus.'

"'"Pujani said, 'Hostility springs from five causes. Persons possessed of learning know it. Those five causes are woman, land, harsh words, natural incompatibility, and injury.[414] When the person with whom hostility occurs happens to be a man of liberality, he should never be slain, particularly by a Kshatriya, openly or by covert means. In such a case, the man's fault should be properly weighed.[415] When hostility has arisen with even a friend, no further confidence should be reposed upon him. Feelings of animosity lie hid like fire in wood. Like the Aurvya fire within the waters of the ocean, the fire of animosity can never be extinguished by gifts of wealth, by display of prowess, by conciliation, or by scriptural learning. The fire of animosity, once ignited, the result of an injury once inflicted, is never extinguished, O king, without consuming outright one of the parties. One, having injured a person, should never trust him again as one's friend, even though one might have (after the infliction of the injury) worshipped him with wealth and honours. The fact of the injury inflicted fills the injurer with fear. I never injured thee. Thou also didst never do me an injury. For this reason I dwelt in thy abode. All that is changed, and at present I cannot trust thee.'

"'"Brahmadatta said, 'It is Time that does every act. Acts are of diverse kinds, and all of them proceed from Time. Who, therefore, injures whom?[416] Birth and Death happen in the same way. Creatures act (i.e., take birth and live) in consequence of Time, and it is in consequence also of Time that they cease to live. Some are seen to die at once. Some die one at a time. Some are seen to live for long periods. Like fire consuming the fuel, Time consumes all creatures. O blessed lady, I am, therefore, not the cause of your sorrow, nor art thou the cause of mine. It is Time that always ordains the weal and woe of embodied creatures. Do thou then continue to dwell here according to thy pleasure, with affection for me and without fear of any injury from me. What thou hast done has been forgiven by me. Do thou also forgive me, O Pujani!'

"'"Pujani said, 'If Time, according to thee, be the cause of all acts, then of course nobody can cherish feelings of animosity towards anybody on earth. I ask, however, why friends and kinsmen, seek to avenge themselves the slain. Why also did the gods and the Asuras in days of yore smite each other in battle? If it is Time that causes weal and woe and birth and death, why do physicians then seek to administer medicines to the sick? If it is Time that is moulding everything, what need is there of medicines? Why do people, deprived of their senses by grief, indulge in such delirious rhapsodies? If Time, according to thee, be the cause of acts, how can religious merit be acquired by persons performing religious acts? Thy son killed my child. I have injured him for that. I have by that act, O king, become liable to be slain by thee. Moved by grief for my son, I have done this injury to thy son. Listen now to the reason why I have become liable to be killed by thee. Men wish for birds either to kill them for food or to keep them in cages for sport. There is no third reason besides such slaughter or immurement for which men would seek individuals of our species. Birds, again, from fear of being either killed or immured by men seek safety in flight. Persons conversant with the Vedas have said that death and immurement are both painful. Life is dear unto all. All creatures are made miserable by grief and pain. All creatures wish for happiness. Misery arises from various sources. Decrepitude, O Brahmadatta, is misery. The loss of wealth is misery. The adjacence of anything disagreeable or evil is misery. Separation or dissociation from friends and agreeable objects is misery. Misery arises from death and immurement. Misery arises from causes connected with women and from other natural causes. The misery that arises from the death of children alters and afflicts all creatures very greatly. Some foolish persons say that there is no misery in others' misery.[417] Only he who has not felt any misery himself can say so in the midst of men. He, however, that has felt sorrow and misery, would never venture to say so. One that has felt the pangs of every kind of misery feels the misery of others as one's own. What I have done to thee, O king, and what thou has done to me, cannot be washed away by even a hundred years. After what we have done to each other, there cannot be a reconciliation. As often as thou wilt happen to think of thy son, thy animosity towards me will become fresh. If a person after avenging oneself of an injury, desires to make peace with the injured, the parties cannot be properly reunited even like the fragments of an earthen vessel. Men conversant with scriptures have laid it down that trust never produces happiness. Usanas himself sang two verses unto Prahlada in days of old. He who trusts the words, true or false, of a foe, meets with destruction like a seeker of honey, in a pit covered with dry grass.[418] Animosities are seen to survive the very death of enemies, for persons would speak of the previous quarrels of their deceased sires before their surviving children. Kings extinguish animosities by having recourse to conciliation but, when the opportunity comes, break their foes into pieces like earthen jars full of water dashed upon stone. If the king does injury to any one, he should never trust him again. By trusting a person who has been injured, one has to suffer great misery.'

"'"Brahmadatta said, 'No man can obtain the fruition of any object by withholding his trust (from others). By cherishing fear one is always obliged to live as a dead person.'

"'"Pujani said, 'He whose feet have become sore, certainly meets with a fall if he seeks to move, move he may howsoever cautiously. A man who has got sore eyes, by opening them against the wind, finds them exceedingly pained by the wind. He who, without knowing his own strength, sets foot on a wicked path and persists in walking along it, soon loses his very life as the consequence. The man who, destitute of exertion, tills his land, disregarding the season of rain, never succeeds in obtaining a harvest. He who takes every day food that is nutritive, be it bitter or astringent or palatable or sweet, enjoys a long life. He, on the other hand, who disregards wholesome food and takes that which is injurious without an eye to consequences, soon meets with death. Destiny and exertion exist, depending upon each other. They that are of high souls achieve good and great feats, while eunuchs only pay court to Destiny. Be it harsh or mild, an act that is beneficial should be done. The unfortunate man of inaction, however, is always overwhelmed by all sorts of calamity. Therefore, abandoning everything else, one should put forth his energy. Indeed, disregarding everything, men should do what is productive of good to themselves. Knowledge, courage, cleverness, strength, and patience are said to be one's natural friends. They that are possessed of wisdom pass their lives in this world with the aid of these five. Houses, precious metals, land, wife, and friends,—these are said by the learned to be secondary sources of good. A man may obtain them everywhere. A person possessed of wisdom may be delighted everywhere. Such a man shines everywhere. He never inspires anybody with fear. If sought to be frightened, he never yields to fear himself. The wealth, however little, that is possessed at any time by an intelligent man is certain to increase. Such a man does every act with cleverness. In consequence of self-restraint, he succeeds in winning great fame. Home-keeping men of little understanding have to put up with termagant wives that eat up their flesh like the progeny of a crab eating up their dam. There are men who through loss of understanding become very cheerless at the prospect of leaving home. They say unto themselves,—These are our friends! This is our country! Alas, how shall we leave these?—One should certainly leave the country of one's birth, if it be afflicted by plague or famine. One should live in one's own country, respected by all, or repair to a foreign country for living there. I shall, for this reason, repair to some other region. I do not venture to live any longer in this place, for I have done a great wrong to thy child. O king, one should from a distance abandon a bad wife, a bad son, a bad king, a bad friend, a bad alliance, and a bad country. One should not place any trust on a bad son. What joy can one have in a bad wife? There cannot be any happiness in a bad kingdom. In a bad country one cannot hope to obtain a livelihood. There can be no lasting companionship with a bad friend whose attachment is very uncertain. In a bad alliance, when there is no necessity for it, there is disgrace. She indeed, is a wife who speaks only what is agreeable. He is a son who makes the sire happy. He is a friend in whom one can trust. That indeed, is one's country where one earns one's living. He is a king of strict rule who does not oppress, who cherishes the poor and in whose territories there is no fear. Wife, country, friends, son, kinsmen, and relatives, all these one can have if the king happens to be possessed of accomplishments and virtuous eyes. If the king happens to be sinful, his subjects, inconsequence of his oppressions, meet with destruction. The king is the root of one's triple aggregate (i.e., Virtue, Wealth, and Pleasure). He should protect his subjects with heedfulness. Taking from his subjects a sixth share of their wealth, he should protect them all. That king who does not protect his subjects is truly a thief. That king who, after giving assurances of protection, does not, from rapacity, fulfil them,—that ruler of sinful soul,—takes upon himself the sins of all his subjects and ultimately sinks into hell. That king, on the other hand, who, having given assurances of protection, fulfils them, comes to be regarded as a universal benefactor in consequence of protecting all his subjects. The lord of all creatures, viz., Manu, has said that the king has seven attributes: he is mother, father, preceptor, protector, fire, Vaisravana and Yama. The king by behaving with compassion towards his people is called their father. The subject that behaves falsely towards him takes birth in his next life as an animal or a bird. By doing good to them and by cherishing the poor, the king becomes a mother unto his people. By scorching the wicked he comes to be regarded as fire, and by restraining the sinful he comes to be called Yama. By making gifts of wealth unto those that are dear to him, the king comes to be regarded as Kuvera, the grantor of wishes. By giving instruction in morality and virtue, he becomes a preceptor, and by exercising the duty of protection he becomes the protector. That king who delights the people of his cities and provinces by means of his accomplishments, is never divested of his kingdom in consequence of such observance of duty. That king who knows how to honour his subjects never suffers misery either here or hereafter. That king whose subjects are always filled with anxiety or overburdened with taxes, and overwhelmed by evils of every kind, meets with defeat at the hands of his enemies. That king, on the other hand, whose subjects grow like a large lotus in a lake succeeds in obtaining every reward here and at last meets with honour in heaven. Hostility with a person that is powerful is, O king, never applauded. That king who has incurred the hostility of one more powerful than himself, loses both kingdom and happiness.'"

"'Bhishma continued, "The bird, having said these words, O monarch, unto king Brahmadatta, took the king's leave and proceeded to the region she chose. I have thus recited to thee, O foremost of kings, the discourse between Brahmadatta and Pujani. What else dost thou wish to hear?"'"

"'Yudhishthira said, "When both righteousness and men, O Bharata, decay in consequence of the gradual lapse of Yuga, and when the world becomes afflicted by robbers, how, O Grandsire, should a king then behave?"[419]

"'Bhishma said, "I shall tell thee, O Bharata, the policy the king should pursue at such distressful times. I shall tell thee how he should bear himself at such a time, casting off compassion. In this connection is cited the old story of the discourse between Bharadwaja and king Satrunjaya. There was a king named Satrunjaya among the Sauviras. He was a great car-warrior. Repairing to Bharadwaja, he asked the Rishi about the truths of the science of Profit,—saying,—How can an unacquired object be acquired? How again, when acquired, can it be increased? How also, when increased, can it be protected? And how, when protected, should it be used?—Thus questioned about the truths of the science of Profit, the regenerate Rishi said the following words fraught with excellent reason unto that ruler for explaining those truths.

"'"The Rishi said, 'The king should always stay with the rod of chastisement uplifted in his hand. He should always display his prowess. Himself without laches, he should mark the laches of his foes. Indeed, his eyes should ever be used for that purpose. At the sight of a king who has the rod of chastisement ever uplifted in his hand, every one is struck with fear. For this reason, the king should rule all creatures with the rod of chastisement. Men possessed of learning and knowledge of truth applaud Chastisement. Hence, of the four requisites of rule, viz., Conciliation, Gift, Disunion, and Chastisement, Chastisement is said to be the foremost. When the foundation of that which serves for a refuge is cut away, all the refugees perish. When the roots of a tree are cut away, how would the branches live? A king possessed of wisdom should cut away the very roots of his foe. He should then win over and bring under his sway the allies and partisans of that foe. When calamities overtake the king, he should without losing time, counsel wisely, display his prowess properly, fight with ability, and even retreat with wisdom. In speech only should the king exhibit his humility, but at heart he should be sharp as a razor. He should cast off lust and wrath, and speak sweetly and mildly. When the occasion comes for intercourse with an enemy, a king possessed of foresight should make peace, without reposing blind trust on him. When the business is over, he should quickly turn away from the new ally. One should conciliate a foe with sweet assurances as if he were a friend. One, however, should always stand in fear of that foe as living in a room within which there is a snake. He whose understanding is to be dominated by thee (with the aid of thine intellect) should be comforted by assurances given in the past. He who is of wicked understanding should be assured by promises of future good. The person, however, that is possessed of wisdom, should be assured by present services. The person who is desirous of achieving prosperity should join hands, swear, use sweet words, worship by bending down his head, and shed tears.[420] One should bear one's foe on one's shoulders as long as time is unfavourable. When however, the opportunity has come, one should break him into fragments like an earthen jar on a stone. It is better, O monarch that a king should blaze up for a moment like charcoal of ebony-wood than that he should smoulder and smoke like chaff for many years. A man who has many purposes to serve should not scruple to deal with even an ungrateful person. If successful, one can enjoy happiness. If unsuccessful, one loses esteem. Therefore in accomplishing the acts of such persons, one should, without doing them completely, always keep something unfinished. A king should do what is for his good, imitating a cuckoo, a boar, the mountains of Meru, an empty chamber, an actor, and a devoted friend.[421] The king should frequently, with heedful application, repair to the houses of his foes, and even if calamities befall them, ask them about their good. They that are idle never win affluence; nor they that are destitute of manliness and exertion; nor they that are stained by vanity; nor they that fear unpopularity; nor they that are always procrastinating. The king should act in such a way that his foe may not succeed in detecting his laches. He should, however, himself mark the laches of his foes. He should imitate the tortoise which conceals its limbs. Indeed, he should always conceal his own holes. He should think of all matters connected with finance like a crane.[422] He should put forth his prowess like a lion. He should lie in wait like a wolf and fall upon and pierce his foes like a shaft. Drink, dice, women, hunting, and music,—these he should enjoy judiciously. Addiction to these is productive of evil. He should make bows with bamboos, etc.; he should sleep cautiously like the deer; he should be blind when it is necessary that he should be so, or he should even be deaf when it is necessary to be deaf. The king possessed of wisdom should put forth his prowess, regardful of time and place. If these are not favourable, prowess becomes futile. Marking timeliness and untimeliness reflecting upon his own strength and weakness, and improving his own strength by comparing it with that of the enemy, the king should address himself to action. That king who does not crush a foe reduced to subjection by military force, provides for his own death like the crab when she conceives. A tree with beautiful blossoms may be lacking in strength. A tree carrying fruits may be difficult of climbing; and sometimes trees with unripe fruits look like trees with ripe fruits. Seeing all these facts a king should not allow himself to be depressed. If he conducts himself in such a way, then he would succeed in upholding himself against all foes. The king should first strengthen the hopes (of those that approach him as suitors). He should then put obstacles in the way of the fulfilment of those hopes. He should say that those obstacles are merely due to occasion. He should next represent that those occasions are really the results of grave causes. As long as the cause of fear does not actually come, the king should make all his arrangements like a person inspired with fear. When, however, the cause of fear comes upon him, he should smite fearlessly. No man can reap good without incurring danger. If, again, he succeeds in preserving his life amid danger, he is sure to earn great benefits.[423] A king should ascertain all future dangers; when they are present, he should conquer them; and lest they grow again, he should, even after conquering them, think them to be unconquered. The abandonment of present happiness and the pursuit of that which is future, is never the policy of a person possessed of intelligence. The king who having made peace with a foe sleeps happily in truthfulness is like a man who sleeping on the top of a tree awakes after a fall. When one falls into distress, one should raise one's self by all means in one's power, mild or stern; and after such rise, when competent, one should practise righteousness. The king should always honour the foes of his foes. He should take his own spies as agents employed by his foes. The king should see that his own spies are not recognised by his foe. He should make spies of atheists and ascetics and send them to the territories of his enemies. Sinful thieves, who offend against the laws of righteousness and who are thorns in the side of every person, enter gardens and places of amusement and houses set up for giving drinking water to thirsty travellers and public inns and drinking spots and houses of ill fame and holy places and public assemblies. These should be recognised and arrested and put down. The king should not trust the person that does not deserve to be trusted nor should he trust too much the person that is deserving of trust. Danger springs from trust. Trust should never be placed without previous examination. Having by plausible reasons inspired confidence in the enemy, the king should smite him when he makes a false step. The king should fear him, from whom there is no fear; he should also always fear them that should be feared. Fear that arises from an unfeared one may lead to total extermination. By attention (to the acquisition of religious merit), by taciturnity, by the reddish garb of ascetics, and wearing matted locks and skins, one should inspire confidence in one's foe, and then (when the opportunity comes) one should jump upon him like the wolf. A king desirous of prosperity should not scruple to slay son or brother or father or friend, if any of these seek to thwart his objects. The very preceptor, if he happens to be arrogant, ignorant of what should be done and what should not, and a treader of unrighteous paths, deserves to be restrained by chastisement. Even as certain insects of sharp stings cut off all flowers and fruits of the trees on which they sit, the king should, after having inspired confidence in his foe by honours and salutations and gifts, turn against him and shear him of everything. Without piercing the very vitals of others, without accomplishing many stern deeds, without slaughtering living creatures after the manner of the fisherman, one cannot acquire great prosperity. There is no separate species of creatures called foes or friends. Persons become friends or foes according to the force of circumstances. The king should never allow his foe to escape even if the foe should indulge piteous lamentations. He should never be moved by these; on the other hand, it is his duty to destroy the person that has done him an injury. A king desirous of prosperity should take care to attach to himself as many men as he can, and to do them good. In behaving towards his subjects he should always be free from malice. He should also, with great care, punish and check the wicked and disaffected. When he intends to take wealth, he should say what is agreeable. Having taken wealth, he should say similar things. Having struck off one's head with his sword, he should grieve and shed tears. A king desirous of prosperity should draw others unto himself by means of sweet words, honours, and gifts. Even thus should he bind men unto his service. The king should never engage in fruitless disputes. He should never cross a river with the aid only of his two arms. To eat cow-horns is fruitless and never invigorating. By, eating them one's teeth are broken while the taste is not gratified. The triple aggregate has three disadvantages with three inseparable adjuncts. Carefully considering those adjuncts, the disadvantages should be avoided.[424] The unpaid balance of a debt, the unquenched remnant of a fire, and the unslain remnant of foes, repeatedly grow and increase. Therefore, all those should be completely extinguished and exterminated. Debt, which always grows, is certain to remain unless wholly extinguished. The same is the cause with defeated foes and neglected maladies. These always produce great feats. (One should, therefore, always eradicate them). Every act should be done thoroughly. One should be always heedful. Such a minute thing as a thorn, if extracted badly, leads to obstinate gangrene. By slaughtering its population, by tearing up its roads and otherwise injuring them, and by burning and pulling down its houses, a king should destroy a hostile kingdom. A kings should be far-sighted like the vulture, motionless like a crane, vigilant like a dog, valiant like a lion, fearful like a crow, and penetrate the territories of his foes like a snake with ease and without anxiety. A king should win over a hero by joining his palms, a coward by inspiring him with fear, and a covetous man by gifts of wealth while with an equal he should wage war. He should be mindful of producing disunion among the leaders of sects and of conciliating those that are dear to him. He should protect his ministers from disunion and destructions. If the king becomes mild, the people disregard him. If he becomes stern, the people feel it as an affliction. The rule is that he should be stern when the occasion requires sternness, and mild when the occasion requires mildness. By mildness should the mild be cut. By mildness one may destroy that which is fierce. There is nothing that mildness cannot effect. For this reason, mildness is said to be sharper than fierceness. That king who becomes mild when the occasion requires mildness and who becomes stern when sternness is required, succeeds in accomplishing all his objects, and in putting down his foes. Having incurred the animosity of a person possessed of knowledge and wisdom, one should not draw comfort from the conviction that one is at a distance (from one's foe). Far-reaching are the arms of an intelligent man by which he injures when injured. That should not be sought to be crossed which is really uncrossable. That should not be snatched from the foe which the foe would be able to recover. One should not seek to dig at all if by digging one would not succeed in getting at the root of the thing for which one digs. One should never strike him whose head one would not cut off. A king should not always act in this way. This course of conduct that I have laid down should be pursued only in seasons of distress. Inspired by the motive of doing thee good I have said this for instructing thee as to how thou shouldst bear thyself when assailed by foes.'"

"'Bhishma continued, "The ruler of the kingdom of the Sauviras, hearing these words spoken by that Brahmana inspired with the desire of doing him good, obeyed those instructions cheerfully and obtained with his kinsmen and friends blazing prosperity."'"

"'Yudhishthira said, "When the high righteousness suffers decay and is transgressed by all, when unrighteousness becomes righteousness, and righteousness assumes the form of its reverse, when all wholesome restraints disappear, and all truths in respect of righteousness are disturbed and confounded, when people are oppressed by kings and robbers, when men of all the four modes of life become stupefied in respect of their duties, and all acts lose their merit, when men see causes of fear on every direction in consequence of lust and covetousness and folly, when all creatures cease to trust one another, when they slay one another by deceitful means and deceive one another in their mutual dealings, when houses are burnt down throughout the country, when the Brahmanas become exceedingly afflicted, when the clouds do not pour a drop of rain, when every one's hand is turned against every one's neighbour, when all the necessaries of life fall under the power of robbers, when, indeed, such a season of terrible distress sets in, by what means should a Brahmana live who is unwilling to cast off compassion and his children? How, indeed, should a Brahmana maintain himself at such a time? Tell me this, O grandsire! How also should the king live at such a time when sinfulness overtakes the world? How, O scorcher of foes, should the king live so that he might not fall away from both righteousness and profit?"

"'Bhishma said, "O mighty-armed one, the peace and prosperity of subjects,[425] sufficiency and seasonableness of rain, disease, death and other fears, are all dependent on the king.[426] I have no doubt also in this. O bull of Bharata's race, that Krita, Treta, Dwapara, and Kali, as regards their setting in, are all dependent on the king's conduct. When such a season of misery as has been described by thee sets in, the righteous should support life by the aid of judgment. In this connection is cited the old story of the discourse between Viswamitra and the Chandala in a hamlet inhabited by Chandalas. Towards the end of Treta and the beginning of Dwapara, a frightful drought occurred, extending over twelve years, in consequence of what the gods had ordained. At that time which was the end of Treta and the commencement of Dwapara, when the period came for many creatures superannuated by age to lay down their lives, the thousand-eyed deity of heaven poured no rain. The planet Vrihaspati began to move in a retrograde course, and Soma abandoning his own orbit, receded towards the south. Not even could a dew-drop be seen, what need then be said of clouds gathering together? The rivers all shrank into narrow streamlets. Everywhere lakes and wells and springs disappeared and lost their beauty in consequence of that order of things which the gods brought about. Water having become scarce, the places set up by charity for its distribution became desolate.[427] The Brahmanas abstained from sacrifices and recitation of the Vedas. They no longer uttered Vashats and performed other propitiatory rites. Agriculture and keep of cattle were given up. Markets and shops were abandoned. Stakes for tethering sacrificial animals disappeared. People no longer collected diverse kinds of articles for sacrifices. All festivals and amusements perished. Everywhere heaps of bones were visible and every place resounded with the shrill cries and yells of fierce creatures.[428] The cities and towns of the earth became empty of inhabitants. Villages and hamlets were burnt down. Some afflicted by robbers, some by weapons, and some by bad kings, and in fear of one another, began to fly away. Temples and places of worship became desolate. They that were aged were forcibly turned out of their houses. Kine and goats and sheep and buffaloes fought (for food) and perished in large numbers. The Brahmanas began to die on all sides. Protection was at an end. Herbs and plants were dried up. The earth became shorn of all her beauty and exceedingly awful like the trees in a crematorium. In that period of terror, when righteousness was nowhere, O Yudhishthira, men in hunger lost their senses and began to eat one another. The very Rishis, giving up their vows and abandoning their fires and deities, and deserting their retreats in woods, began to wander hither and thither (in search of food). The holy and great Rishi Viswamitra, possessed of great intelligence, wandered homeless and afflicted with hunger. Leaving his wife and son in some place of shelter, the Rishi wandered, fireless[429] and homeless, and regardless of food clean and unclean. One day he came upon a hamlet, in the midst of a forest, inhabited by cruel hunters addicted to the slaughter of living creatures. The little hamlet abounded with broken jars and pots made of earth. Dog-skins were spread here and there. Bones and skulls, gathered in heaps, of boars and asses, lay in different places. Cloths stripped from the dead lay here and there, and the huts were adorned with garlands of used up flowers.[430] Many of the habitations again were filled with sloughs cast off by snakes. The place resounded with the loud crowing of cocks and hens and the dissonant bray of asses. Here and there the inhabitants disputed with one another, uttering harsh words in shrill voices. Here and there were temples of gods bearing devices of owls and other birds. Resounding with the tinkle of iron bells, the hamlet abounded with canine packs standing or lying on every side. The great Rishi Viswamitra, urged by pangs of hunger and engaged in search after food, entered that hamlet and endeavoured his best to find something to eat. Though the son of Kusika begged repeatedly, yet he failed to obtain any meat or rice or fruit or root or any other kind of food. He then, exclaiming, 'Alas, great is the distress that has overtaken me!' fell down from weakness in that hamlet of the Chandalas. The sage began to reflect, saying to himself, 'What is best for me to do now?' Indeed, O best of kings, the thought that occupied him was of the means by which he could avoid immediate death. He beheld, O king, a large piece of flesh, of a dog that had recently been slain with a weapon, spread on the floor of a Chandala's hut. The sage reflected and arrived at the conclusion that he should steal that meat. And he said unto himself, 'I have no means now of sustaining life. Theft is allowable in a season of distress for even an eminent person. It will not detract from his glory. Even a Brahmana for saving his life may do it. This is certain. In the first place one should steal from a low person. Failing such a person one may steal from one's equal. Failing an equal, one may steal from even an eminent and righteous man. I shall then, at this time when my life itself is ebbing away, steal this meat. I do not see demerit in such theft. I shall, therefore, rob this haunch of dog's meat.' Having formed this resolution, the great sage Viswamitra laid himself down for sleep in that place where the Chandala was. Seeing some time after that the night had advanced and that the whole Chandala hamlet had fallen asleep, the holy Viswamitra, quietly rising up, entered that hut. The Chandala who owned it, with eyes covered with phlegm, was lying like one asleep. Of disagreeable visage, he said these harsh words in a broken and dissonant voice.

"'"The Chandala said, 'Who is there, engaged in undoing the latch? The whole Chandala hamlet is asleep. I, however, am awake and not asleep. Whoever thou art, thou art about to be slain.' These were the harsh words that greeted the sage's ears. Filled with fear, his face crimson with blushes of shame, and his heart agitated by anxiety caused by that act of theft which he had attempted, he answered, saying, 'O thou that art blest with a long life, I am Viswamitra. I have come here oppressed by the pangs of hunger. O thou of righteous understanding, do not slay me, if thy sight be clear.' Hearing these words of that great Rishi of cleansed soul, the Chandala rose up in terror from his bed and approached the sage. Joining his palms from reverence and with eyes bathed in tears, he addressed Kusika's son, saying, 'What do you seek here in the night, O Brahmana?' Conciliating the Chandala, Viswamitra said, 'I am exceedingly hungry and about to die of starvation. I desire to take away that haunch of dog's meat. Being hungry, I have become sinful. One solicitous of food has no shame. It is hunger that is urging me to this misdeed. It is for this that I desire to take away that haunch of dog's meat. My life-breaths are languishing. Hunger has destroyed my Vedic lore. I am weak and have lost my senses. I have no scruple about clean or unclean food. Although I know that it is sinful, still I wish to take away that haunch of dog's meat. After I had failed to obtain any alms, having wandered from house to house in this your hamlet, I set my heart upon this sinful act of taking away this haunch of dog's meat. Fire is the mouth of the gods. He is also their priest. He should, therefore, take nothing save things that are pure and clean. At times, however, that great god becomes a consumer of everything. Know that I have now become even like him in that respect.' Hearing these words of the great Rishi, the Chandala answered him, saying, 'Listen to me. Having heard the words of truth that I say, act in such a way that thy religious merit may not perish. Hear, O regenerate Rishi, what I say unto thee about thy duty. The wise say that a dog is less clean than a jackal. The haunch, again, of a dog is a much worse part than other parts of his body. This was not wisely resolved by thee, therefore, O great Rishi, this act that is inconsistent with righteousness, this theft of what belongs to a Chandala, this theft, besides, of food that is unclean. Blessed be thou, do thou look for some other means for preserving thy life. O great sage, let not thy penances suffer destruction in consequence of this thy strong desire for dog's meat. Knowing as thou dost the duties laid down in the scriptures, thou shouldst not do an act whose consequence is a confusion of duties.[431] Do not cast off righteousness, for thou art the foremost of all persons observant of righteousness.' Thus addressed, O king, the great Rishi Viswamitra, afflicted by hunger, O bull of Bharata's race, once more said, 'A long time has passed away without my having taken any food. I do not see any means again for preserving my life. One should, when one is dying, preserve one's life by any means in one's power without judging of their character. Afterwards, when competent, one should seek the acquisition of merit. The Kshatriyas should observe the practices of Indra. It is the duty of the Brahmanas to behave like Agni. The Vedas are fire. They constitute my strength. I shall, therefore, eat even this unclean food for appeasing my hunger. That by which life may be preserved should certainly be accomplished without scruple. Life is better than death. Living, one may acquire virtue. Solicitous of preserving my life, I desire, with the full exercise of my understanding, to eat this unclean food. Let me receive thy permission. Continuing to live I shall seek the acquisition of virtue and shall destroy by penances and by knowledge the calamities consequent on my present conduct, like the luminaries of the firmament destroying even the thickest gloom.'

"'"The Chandala said, 'By eating this food one (like thee) cannot obtain long life. Nor can one (like thee) obtain strength (from such food), nor that gratification which ambrosia offers. Do thou seek for some other kind of alms. Let not thy heart incline towards eating dog's meat. The dog is certainly an unclean food to members of the regenerate classes.'

"'"Viswamitra said, 'Any other kind of meat is not to be easily had during a famine like this. Besides, O Chandala, I have no wealth (wherewith to buy food). I am exceedingly hungry. I cannot move any longer. I am utterly hopeless. I think that all the six kinds of taste are to be found in that piece of dog's meat.'

"'"The Chandala said, 'Only the five kinds of five-clawed animals are clean food for Brahmanas and Kshatriyas and Vaisyas, as laid down in the scriptures. Do not set thy heart upon what is unclean (for thee).'

"'"Viswamitra said, 'The great Rishi Agastya, while hungry, ate up the Asura named Vatapi. I am fallen into distress. I am hungry. I shall therefore, eat that haunch of dog's meat.'

"'"The Chandala said, 'Do thou seek some other alms. It behoves thee not to do such a thing. Verily, such an act should never be done by thee. If however, it pleases thee, thou mayst take away this piece of dog's meat.'

"'"Viswamitra said, 'They that are called good are authorities in matters of duty. I am following their example. I now regard this dog's haunch to be better food than anything that is highly pure.'

"'"The Chandala said, 'That which is the act of an unrighteous person can never be regarded as an eternal practice. That which is an improper act can never be a proper one. Do not commit a sinful act by deception.'

"'"Viswamitra said, 'A man who is a Rishi cannot do what is sinful.[432] In the present case, deer and dog, I think, are same (both being animals). I shall, therefore, eat this dog's haunch.'

"'"The Chandala said, 'Solicited by the Brahmanas, the Rishi (Agastya) did that act. Under the circumstances it could not be a sin. That is righteousness in which there is no sin. Besides, the Brahmanas, who are the preceptors of three other orders, should be protected and preserved by every means.'

"'"Viswamitra said, 'I am a Brahmana. This my body is a friend of mine. It is very dear to me and is worthy of the highest reverence from me. It is from the desire of sustaining the body that the wish is entertained by me of taking away that dog's haunch. So eager have I become that I have no longer any fear of thee and thy fierce brethren.'

"'"The Chandala said, 'Men lay down their lives but they still do not set their hearts on food that is unclean. They obtain the fruition of all their wishes even in this world by conquering hunger. Do thou also conquer thy hunger and obtain those rewards.'

"'"Viswamitra said, 'As regards myself, I am observant of rigid vows and my heart is set on peace. For preserving the root of all religious merit, I shall eat food that is unclean. It is evident that such an act would be regarded as righteous in a person of cleansed soul. To a person, however, of uncleansed soul, the eating of dog's flesh would appear sinful. Even if the conclusion to which I have arrived be wrong, (and if I eat this dog's meat) I shall not, for that act, become one like thee.'

"'"The Chandala said, 'It is my settled conclusion that I should endeavour my best to restrain thee from this sin. A Brahmana by doing a wicked act falls off from his high state. It is for this that I am reproving thee.'

"'"Viswamitra said, 'Kine continue to drink, regardless of the croaking of the frogs. Thou canst lay no claim to what constitutes righteousness (and what not). Do not be a self-eulogiser.'