MAHABHARATA Bk 12:Santi Parva-P 1-CLIV Apaddharmanusasana

[Anne Terri]

"GOD'S LIVING BIBLE ---- THE THIRD TESTAMENT ----- RESEARCH LIBRARY" ©*
The Mahabharata
of
Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa
BOOK 12 SANTI PARVA
Translated into English Prose from the Original Sanskrit Text
by
Kisari Mohan Ganguli
[1883-1896]

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THE MAHABHARATA
Book 12: Santi Parva
Part 1 Apaddharmanusasana
SECTIONS CXXXI-CLX

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SECTION CLIV

"Yudhishthira said, "If a person, weak, worthless, and light-hearted, O grand sire, doth from folly provoke, by means of unbecoming and boastful speeches, a powerful foe always residing in his vicinity, competent to do good (when pleased) and chastise (when displeased), and always ready for action, how should the former, relying on his own strength, act when the latter advances against him in anger and from desire of exterminating him?'

"Bhishma said, 'In this connection is cited, O chief of the Bharatas, the old story of the discourse between Salmali and Pavana. There was a lordly (Salmali) tree on one of the heights of Himavat. Having grown for many centuries, he had spread out his branches wide around. His trunk also was huge and his twigs and leaves were innumerable. Under his shade toil-worn elephants in rut, bathed in sweat, used to rest, and many animals of other

p. 342

species also. The girth of his trunk was four hundred cubits, and dense was the shade of his branches and leaves. Loaded with flowers and fruits, it was the abode of innumerable parrots, male and female. In travelling along their routes, caravans of merchants and traders, and ascetics, residing in the woods, used to rest under the shade of that delightful monarch of the forest. One day, the sage Narada, O bull of Bharata's race, seeing the wide-extending and innumerable branches of that tree and the circumference of his trunk, approached and addressed him, saying, 'O thou art delightful! O thou art charming! O foremost of trees, O Salmali, I am always delighted at thy sight! O charming tree, delightful birds of diverse kinds, and elephants and other animals, cheerfully live; on thy branches and under their shade. Thy branches, O wide-branched monarch of the forest, and thy trunk are gigantic. I never see any of them broken by the god of the wind. Is it, O child, the case that Pavana is pleased with thee and is thy friend so that he protects thee always in these woods? The illustrious Pavana possessed of great speed and force moveth from their sites the tallest and strongest trees, and even mountain summits. That sacred bearer of perfumes, blowing (when he wills) drieth up rivers and takes and seas, including the very nether region. Without doubt, Pavana protects thee through friendship. It is for this reason that, though possessed of innumerable branches, thou art still graced with leaves and flowers. O monarch of the forest, this thy verdure is delightful since these winged creatures, O child, filled with joy, sport on thy twigs and branches. During the season when thou puttest forth thy blossoms, the sweet notes of all these denizens of thy branches are heard separately when they indulge in their melodious songs. Then, again, O Salmali, these elephants that are the ornaments of their species, bathed in sweat and indulging in cries (of delight), approach thee and find happiness here. Similarly, diverse other species of animals inhabiting the woods, contribute to adorn thee. Indeed, O tree, thou lookest beautiful even like the mountains of Meru peopled by creatures of every kind. Resorted to also by Brahmanas crowned with ascetic success, by others engaged in penances, and by Yatis devoted to contemplation, 1 this thy region, I think, resembles heaven itself.'"

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Footnotes

342:1 The word sramana is used in Brahmanical literature to signify a certain order of ascetics or yatis that have renounced work for meditation. It is also frequently employed to mean a person of low life or profession. It should be noted, however, that in Buddhistic literature the word came to be exclusively used for Buddhist monks.


[b]NEXT SECTION CLV [/b]

THE MAHABHARATA of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

The Santi Parva is a huge interpolation in the Mahabharata, in the genre known as 'wisdom literature.' The narrative progression is placed on hold almost from the first page. Instead we get a long and winding recapitulation of Brahmanic lore, including weighty treatises on topics such as kingcraft, metaphysics, cosmology, geography, and mythology. There are discussions of the Sankya and Yoga philosophical schools, and mentions of Buddhism. It is apparent that the Santi Parva was added to the Mahabharata at a later time than the main body of the epic.

PRODUCTION NOTES: (11/30/2004) The printed edition we used divides this book into three (apparently arbitrary) parts. Note that each part's page numbering starts at page one, so if you cite a page number in this etext for some reason, you will also need to cite the part. There was no 'Section CCCCLXIV' in the source edition I used. --John Bruno Hare.

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“God / Brahman Speaking To Anne Terri Through The Holy Spirit: This will be an ongoing endeavor, which will take many hours to build. I Begin this new section within The Third Testament - Research Library, to Bring forward one of the most important ancient texts of Hinduism, The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa as translated into English from Sanskrit. by Kisari Mohan Ganguli [1883-1896] In doing so, I have Asked of Anne to begin advanced studies on this, for the purposes of future links with other Hindu Study Guides currently in process. It is important to note that
The Mahabharata was written between 540 and 300 B.C. Most credit has been given to Vyasa. The Bhagavad Gita appears in Book 6. .... Juliet Sutherland, Project Manager. at sacred-texts.com, 2003, has asked that the Attribution appear with this public domain work as it is written below. AMEN”

*© NOTICE OF ATTRIBUTION
Scanned at sacred-texts.com, 2003. Proofed at Distributed Proofing, Juliet Sutherland, Project Manager. Additional proofing and formatting at sacred-texts.com, by J. B. Hare. This text is in the public domain. These files may be used for any non-commercial purpose, provided this notice of attribution is left intact.