Canto 7 - Chapter 14: An inquiry into right conduct (continued)

Discourse XIV

An inquiry into right conduct (continued)

Yudhiṣṭhira submitted : O celestial sage, (pray) tell me the method (course of conduct) by which a householder like me, whose mind is excessively attached to his household, may easily attain the said state (final beatitude). (1)

Nārada replied : Staying in his house, O king (Yudhiṣṭhira), and (duly) performing the duties proper to the life of a householder as an offering to Lord Viṣṇu Himself for His pleasure alone (expecting no reward for them), a man should wait upon great sages (devotees of the Lord). (2)
Surrounded by (associating with) men who are tranquil (by nature) and reverently hearing again and again according to his leisure the nectar-like stories of the Lord's descents, he should gradually give up through the fellowship of saints attachment to his body, wife, progeny, etc., who are themselves going to be severed (from him), (even) as he who has woke up (from a dream) gives up attachment to (the objects seen in) a dream. (3-4)
Serving his body and household only to the extent it is (absolutely) necessary to do so and (outwardly) appearing like one attached to them, though (inwardly) disgusted (with them), a wise man should exhibit (his) humanity (behave like ordinary men) in the midst of men. (5)
And not recognizing anything as his own, he should give his assent to whatever his kinsmen, parents, sons, brothers and other relations say and whatever they desire (so that there may be no occasion for tussle with them). (6)
A wise man (aware of the infinite resources of the Lord) should do (all) this (the duties enjoined on a householder) while enjoying the wealth acquired by the grace of the Lord as well as that obtained from the earth, nay, (even) that got as a windfall, everything having been produced by Viṣṇu (the immortal Lord). (7)
That much (and not more) constitutes the (rightful) due of living beings (men), with which their belly may be filled (their body and soul may be kept together). He who claims more is a thief and deserves punishment. (8)
He should look upon deer, camels, donkeys, monkeys, rats, reptiles, birds and flies as though they were their (own) children What is that which distinguishes these from those (children)? (They deserve his fostering care as much as his own children). (9)
Even a householder should not seek after the (first) three objects of human pursuit (viz., religious merit, worldly possessions and sensuous enjoyment) with great pains, but (only) as much (of them) as has been assigned (to him) by fate and (that too) with due regard to place and time. (10)
He should unsparingly divide in due proportion (all) objects of enjoyment among all including dogs, sinful creatures and those belonging to the lowest strata of society (lit., those living at the end of a town or village); (nay, not minding his own inconvenience,) he should allow those deserving of service the (legitimate) use (unobjectionable services) even of his only wife, whom people regard as their (sole) possession. (11)
The Lord (who is conquered by none) is veritably conquered by him who (inwardly) relinquishes his claim on that (his) wife for whose sake a man is prone to lay down his own life or (even) to kill his (own) father and teacher (in the event of their being suspected to have illicit connection with her). (12)
How despicable (on the one hand) is this worthless body, which is sure to be reduced in the end (after death) to the state of worms (on getting decomposed if interred) or converted into ordure (if left unprotected and devoured by carnivorous animals) or into ashes (if cremated) and equally despicable is (the body of) a wife, who is loved for the sake of such a body; and how exalted (on the other hand) is this soul (our real Self), which is all-pervading (lit., covers the entire space by its glory)! (13)

A householder should sustain himself with (live on) articles (of food etc.) obtained by force of destiny and left after (the performance of) the five great sacrifices (respectful offerings to the animal kingdom, human beings, manes, Rṣis and gods). Forgoing his claim on everything else, a wise man bids fair to attain the position of exalted souls (ascetics of the highest order). (14)
With the wherewithal earned through one's own vocation he should daily worship the (highest) Puruṣa (the Inner Controller of all) separately in the form of the gods (the divine intelligences presiding over the various departments of Nature), Rṣis (seers), human beings, the animal kingdom, manes (the spirits of the departed) and his own self. (15)
When all the requisites for (the performance of) a sacrifice including his eligibility for it are forthcoming, he should worship the Deity by means of oblations poured into the (sacred) fire and other sacrificial rites in accordance with the procedure laid down in the sacred texts detailing such procedure, (16)
Indeed the said almighty Lord, the enjoyer of all sacrifices is not (so) fully propitiated by oblations offered through the (sacrificial) fire, O Yudhiṣṭhira, as by offerings (in the shape of morsels of cooked food) dropped into the mouth of a Brāhmaṇa (a member of the priestly class). (17)
Therefore, worship the aforesaid Lord (the Inner Controller of all) through the Brāhmaṇas and the gods, as well as through other human beings and other living creatures, (of course) after the Brāhmaṇas, according to their respective worth, through various objects of enjoyment. (18)
A Dwija (a member of the twice-born classes) possessed of the wherewithal should perform, in the (lunar) month of Prauṣṭhapada (i.e., Bhādrapada, if a month is taken to commence with the bright fortnight, or Āświna if it is taken to commence with the dark fortnight) according to his means, the Śrāddha pertaining to the dark fortnight (and known by the name of Mahālaya) in honour of his (deceased) parents as well as of their relations and others. (19)
He should (similarly) perform their Śrāddha at the time of the summer and winter solstices and the vernal and autumnal equinoxes; during the particular (seventeenth) astronomical division of time called Vyatipāta; on the day when a Tithi (a lunar day begins and ends without one sunrise or between two sunrises; during a lunar or solar eclipse; on a twelfth lunar day as well as during the period when the constellations known by the name of Śravaṇa, Dhaniṣṭhā and Satabhiṣā are ascendant; on the third (lunar day) of the bright half of Vaiśākha as well as on the ninth (lunar day) of the bright half of Kārtika; on the four Aṣṭakās (the eighth lunar days of the dark fortnight) during the seasons known by the name of Hemanta and Śiśira (the months of Mārgaśīrṣa, Pauṣa, Māgha and Phālguna); on the seventh (lunar day) of the bright fortnight of the month of Māgha; on the full-moon day (of Māgha) when the constellation called Maghā is ascendant; (nay,) even when the constellations associated with (and accounting for the names of) the (other) lunar months (also) appear on a full moon or even when the moon rises one digit less than the full on that day; on any twelfth lunar day when (the constellations of) Anurādhā, Śravaṇa and (any of) the three constellation associated with the name of Uttarā (namely, Uttarā Phalguni, Uttarāṣādhā and Uttarā Bhādrapada) are ascendant; or when the eleventh lunar day (of any month) is conjoined with (any of) these (constellations); (and lastly) on any day when the constellation under which one was born or (the constellation of) Śravaṇa is ascendant. (20—23)
These aforesaid periods are suitable (not only for Śrāddha but) for all virtuous acts to be performed by men inasmuch as they enhance to a large extent the merit of the performer. One should practise virtue (in any form or shape) on (all) these days with all one's being; (for) there lies the fruitfulness of one's life. (24)
Ablution, Japa (the muttering of prayers), Homa (offering oblations into the sacred fire), any sacred vow and worship of the gods and the Brāhmaṇas that may be undertaken, and any gift that may be made to the manes, gods, human beings and (other) living beings on these occasions surely become imperishable (bring everlasting good). (25)
(Nay,) one should undertake such acts of virtue (even) when the time comes for (the performance of) any purificatory rite for the benefit of one's wife or son, nay, of one's own self, the cremation of a dead body and the death anniversary of one's parents and others and (also) on the occasion of any (other) ceremony intended to promote one's welfare, O Yudhiṣṭhira ! (26)

Now I shall fully enumerate the places conducive to religious merit and other good. That is unquestionably the most sacred tract where can be found a worthy man, the (very) likeness of the almighty Lord—in whom dwells the whole of this creation, animate as well as inanimate—and where stays the Brāhmaṇa race endowed with austerity, learning and compassion. (27-28)
(Again,) that area is the abode of (all) blessings, wherever there is an image of Śrī Hari, and where there are rivers like the (holy) Gaṅgā celebrated in the Purāṇas and other sacred works. (29)
Lakes such as Puṣkara and sacred spots inhabited by venerable souls Kuruṣetra, Gayā (the spot where fell the head of the demon Gaya), Prayāga (the confluence of the Gaṅgā and the Yamunā rivers), the hermitage (known by the name of Śālagrāma-Kṣetra), of the sage Pulaha, (the forest of) Naimiṣa (the modern Nim-sar or Misrikh), Phālguna (the Kanyātirtha, now known as Cape Comerin), the (holy) bridge (attributed to Śrī Rāma and existing at Rāmeśwaram), Prabhāsa (also known by the name of Śaṅkhoddhāra and famous for its historical shrine of Somanātha) and Kuśasthali (Dwārakā), Vārāṇasi (the modern Banaras), Mathurā (the capital of the demon chief Madhu, killed by Satrughna, Śrī Rāma's youngest brother, and the birth-place of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa), lake Pampā and Bindusara (on whose strand stood the hermitage of the sage Kardama, father of Lord Kapila), Badarikāśrama (the modern Badrinātha, the hermitage of the sage Nārāyaṇa), the river Nandā (better known as Alakanandā), Citrakūṭa (the hermitage of Sītā and Rāma) and so on, O king, and all the principal mountain-ranges such as Mahendra and Malaya and places which are consecrated by the (fixed) idols of Śrī Hari—these are (by far) the holiest tracts. Surely one desirous of blessedness should repeatedly sojourn in these places. For virtue practised here yields fruit a thousand times more than at other places. (30—33)

By the seers standing foremost among the judges of worthy souls, indeed, Śrī Hari and Śrī Hari alone, of whom the mobile and immobile creation is surely constituted, O ruler of the earth, has been concluded to be really worthy of honour in this world. (34)
For in that (Rājasūya) sacrifice (performed by you the other day), in the presence even of gods, Ṛṣis (seers) and adepts (in austerity and Yoga etc.) such as Sanaka and his (three) brothers (the mind-born sons of Brahmā, the creator), O king, Śrī Kṛṣṇa (the immortal Lord) was recognized as worthy of being adored in the first instance. (35)
The great tree in the shape of the egg-shaped universe is crowded with multitudes of Jivas (embodied souls). He being the root of this tree, to worship Śrī Kṛṣṇa (the immortal Lord) is to gratify all living beings as well as one's own self. (36)
The (varied) dwellings in the form of (the bodies of) human beings, animals, Ṛṣis (the mind-born sons of Brahmā, the creator) and gods have been evolved by Him. He is (known as) the Puruṣa (the dweller in these habitations) inasmuch as He dwells in these abodes in the form of the embodied soul (and also as their Inner Controller). (37)
In these aforementioned bodies, O king, the Lord is present in different degrees (according to the proportion of intelligence, power etc., manifest in them). Hence (because according to this principle, a human soul manifests divinity in a greater degree than the sub-human creation,) a human being (alone) is really deserving of honour. (Even) human beings are worthy of respect more or less in proportion to the degree of self-consciousness manifest in each (individual case)*.(38)

Perceiving the inclination among the aforesaid human souls to despise one another, O Yudhiṣṭhira, the image of Śrī Hari was instituted by the wise for worship in Tretā and the following Yugas. (39)
Thenceforward some people began to worship Śrī Hari in images with (various) articles of worship, viewing them with great reverence. Though (reverently) worshipped, an image does not yield the desired result to misanthropes. (40)
Even among men, O king of kings, the wise recognize a Brāhmaṇa (a member of the priestly class) as eminently worthy of respect. (For) by virtue of (his) asceticism, learning and contentment he preserves the Veda, constituting the body of Śrī Hari. (41)
Sanctifying the three worlds (heaven, earth and the aerial region) with the (very) dust of their feet, the Brāhmaṇas, O king are indeed worthy of great adoration even in the eyes of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Soul of the universe. (42)

Thus ends the fourteenth discourse entitled "An inquiry into right conduct (continued)", in Book Seven of the great and glorious Bhāgavata-Purāṇa, otherwise known as the Paramahamsa-Sarhhitā.