MAHABHARATA Bk 12:Santi Parva-P 3-CCCXXIII
Apr 30, 2018 13:44:32 GMT 1
Post by Anne Terri on Apr 30, 2018 13:44:32 GMT 1
"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]
THE MAHABHARATA
Book 12: Santi Parva (SECTIONS CXXXI-CLXV-encompass Parts 1-3)
Part 3 (CCCII-CCCLXV)
Book 12: Santi Parva (SECTIONS CXXXI-CLXV-encompass Parts 1-3)
Part 3 (CCCII-CCCLXV)
SECTION CCCXXIII
"Yudhishthira said, 'If there is any efficacy in gifts, in sacrifices, in penances well-performed, and in dutiful services rendered to preceptors and other reverend seniors, do thou, O grandsire, speak of the same to me. "Bhishma said, 'An understanding associated with evil causes the mind to fall into sin. In this state one stains one's acts, and then falls into great distress. Those that are of sinful acts have to take birth as persons of very indigent circumstances. From famine to famine, from pain to pain, from fear to fear, is their change. They are more dead than those that are dead. Possessed of affluence, from joy to joy, from heaven to heaven, from happiness to happiness, proceed they that are possessed of faith, that are self-restrained, and that are devoted to righteous deeds. They that are unbelievers have to pass, with groping hands, through regions infested by beasts of prey and elephants and pathless tracts teeming with snakes and robbers and other causes of fear. What more need be said of these? They, on the other hand, that are endued with reverence for gods and guests, that are liberal, that have proper regard for persons that are good, and that make gifts in sacrifices, have for theirs the path (of felicity) that belongs to men of cleansed and subdued souls. Those that
p. 81
are not righteous should not be counted among men even as grains without kernel are not counted among grain and as cockroaches are not counted among birds. The acts that one does, follow one even when one runs fast. Whatever acts one does, lie down with the doer who lays himself down. Indeed, the sins one does, sit when the doer sits, and run when he runs. The sins act when the doer acts, and, in fact follow the doer like his shadow. Whatever the acts one does by whatever means and under whatever circumstances, are sure to be enjoyed and endured (in respect of their fruits) by the doer in his next life. From every side Time is always dragging all creatures, duly observing the rule in respect of the distance to which they are thrown and which is commensurate with their acts. 1 As flowers and fruits, without being urged, never suffer their proper time to pass away without making their appearance, even so the acts one has done in past life make their appearance at the proper time. Honour and dishonour, gain and loss, destruction and growth, are seen to set in. No one can resist them (when they come). One of them is enduring, for disappear it must after appearance. The sorrows one suffers is the result of one's acts. The happiness one enjoys flows from one's acts. From the time when one lies within the mother's womb one begins to enjoy and endure one's acts of a past life. Whatever acts good and bad one does in childhood, youth, or old age, one enjoys and endures their consequences in one's next life in similar ages. As the calf recognises its dam even when the latter may stand among thousands of her species, after the same manner the acts done by one in one's past life come to one n one's next life (without any mistake) although one may live among thousands of one's species. As a piece of dirty cloth is whitened by being washed in water, after the same manner, the righteous, cleansed by continuous exposure unto the fire of fasts and penances, at last attain to unending happiness. O thou of high intelligence, the desires and purposes of those whose sins have been washed off by long-continued penances well-performed, become crowned with fruition. The track of the righteous cannot be discerned even as that of birds in the, sky or that of fishes in the water. There is no need of speaking ill of others, nor of reciting the instances in which others have tripped. On the other hand, one should always do what is delightful, agreeable, an beneficial to one's own self.'" 2
Footnotes
81:1 Time, as a personified agent, is throwing all creatures at unequal distances. Some are thrown near and some to a great distance. These distances are regulated by the nature of the acts done by the creatures thrown. Some are cast among animals, some among men. Throwing or hurling them thus, Time drags them again, the binding-cords being always in his hands.
81:2 Both the vernacular translators have misunderstood the first line of this verse although there is no difficulty in it. Apastamva says drishto dharma-vyatikrama; Sahasancha purvesham. What Bhishma says here is that one should not speak of those instances of Vyatikramah and Sahasam.
NEXT SECTION CCCXXIV
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.
“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.
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.