33(B). BHIMA ATTEMPTS TO MOTIVATE YUDHISHTHIRA

SRIMAD MAHABHARATA > AARANYA PARVA > ARJUNAABHIGAMANA PARVA > CHAPTER 33(B) - BHIMA ATTEMPTS TO MOTIVATE YUDHISHTHIRA

“Bhimasena continued, ‘O son of the Kuru race (Yudhishthira), whether independence of these (three), or their possession is the better for those that desire happiness, should be settled by you after careful thought. You should then, O king (Yudhishthira), unhesitatingly act either for acquiring them, or abandoning them all. For he who lives wavering between the two doubtingly, leads a wretched life. It is well known that your behaviour is always regulated by Dharma. Knowing this your friends counsel you to act. Gift (Daanam in Sanskrit), Yagna, respect for the wise, study of the Vedas, and honesty, these, O king (Yudhishthira), constitute the highest Dharma and are successful in producing desired result both here and hereafter. These virtues (Gunaa in Sanskrit), however, cannot be attained by one that has no wealth, even if, O tiger among men (Yudhishthira), he may have infinite other accomplishments. The whole universe, O king, depends upon Dharma. There is nothing higher than Dharma. Dharma, O king (Yudhishthira), is attainable by one that has plenty of wealth. Wealth cannot be earned by leading a life of begging, nor by a life of feebleness. Wealth, however, can be earned by intelligence directed by Dharma. In your case, O king, begging, which is successful with Brahmanas, has been forbidden. Therefore, O bull among men (Yudhishthira), strive for the acquisition of wealth by exerting your might and energy.

“Neither begging (Bhiksha in Sanskrit) (life of a Brahmana), nor the life of a Shoodra is what is proper for you. Might and energy constitute the Dharma of the Kshatriya is exceptional (Vishesham in Sanskrit). You adopt, therefore, the Dharma of your order (Swadharma in Sanskrit) and slay the enemies. Destroy the might of Dhritarashtra’s sons, O Paarthaa (Yudhishthira), with my and Arjuna’s aid. They that are learned and wise say that sovereignty (Udaaram in Sanskrit) is Dharma. Acquire sovereignty, therefore, for it is your duty not to live in a state of inferiority.

“Awake, O king (Yudhishthira), and understand the Sanatana Dharma. By birth you belong to an order (Jaati in Sanskrit) whose deeds are cruel (Kroora Karma in Sanskrit) and are a source of pain to man. Cherish your subjects and reap the fruit thereof. That can never be a criticism. This, O king (Yudhishthira), is the Dharma ordained by God (Dhaataa in Sanskrit) Himself for the (Kshatriya) order to which you belong! If you move away from that, you will make yourself a laughter stock (Haasyam in Sanskrit). Deviation from the Dharma of one’s own order (Swadharma in Sanskrit) is never applauded. Therefore, O Kauravya (Yudhishthira), making your heart what it ought to be, agreeably to the order to which you belong, and casting away this course of weakness, summon your energy and bear your weight like one that bears it manfully.

“No king, O monarch (Yudhishthira), could ever acquire the sovereignty of the earth or prosperity or affluence by means of Dharma alone. Like a hunter earning his food in the form of large number of little easily-tempted game, by offering them some attractive food, does one that is intelligent acquire a kingdom, by offering bribes to low and greedy enemies. O bull among kings (Yudhishthira), look at Asuras, though elder brothers in possession of power and affluence, were all vanquished by Devas through stratagy. Thus, O king, everything belongs to those that are mighty.

“O mighty-armed one (Yudhishthira), slay your enemies, having recourse to strategy. There is none equal to Arjuna in wielding the bow in battle. Nor is there anybody that may be equal to me in wielding the mace (Gada in Sanskrit). Strong men, O monarch (Yudhishthira), engage in battle depending on their might (Bala in Sanskrit), and not on the force of numbers nor on information of the enemy’s plans procured through spies. Therefore, O Paandavaa, exert your might. Might is the root of wealth. Whatever else is said to be its root is really not such. As the shade of the tree in winter goes for nothing, so without might everything else becomes fruitless.

“Wealth should be spent by one who wishes to increase his wealth, O Kaunteya (Yudhishthira), 

similar to scattering of seeds on the ground. Let there be no doubt then in your mind. Where, however, wealth that is more or even equal is not to be gained, there should be no expenditure of wealth. For investment of wealth are like donkey, scratching, pleasurable at first but painful afterwards.

“Thus, O king of men (Yudhishthira), the person who throws away like seeds a little of his Dharma in order to gain a larger measure of Dharma, is regarded as wise. Beyond doubt, it is as I say. They that are wise alienate the friends of the enemy owned by the enemy and having weakened him by causing those friends to abandon him thus, they then reduce him to subjection. They that are strong, engage in battle depending on their courage. One cannot even by continued efforts (uninspired by courage) or by the arts of peacemaking, always conquer a kingdom.

“Sometimes, O king (Yudhishthira), men that are weak, uniting in large numbers, slay a powerful enemy, like bees killing the despoiler of the honey by force of numbers alone. (As regards yourself), O king (Yudhishthira), like the Sun that sustains as well as slays creatures by his rays, you adopt the ways of the Sun. To protect one’s kingdom and cherish the people duly, as done by our ancestors, O king (Yudhishthira), is, it has been heard by us, a kind of asceticism (Tapas in Sanskrit) mentioned in the Vedas. By Tapas, O king, a Kshatriya cannot acquire such regions of blessedness as he can by fair fight whether ending in victory or defeat. Seeing, O king (Yudhishthira), this your distress, the world has come to the conclusion that light may forsake the Sun and grace the Moon.

“O king (Yudhishthira), good men separately as well as assembling together, converse with one another, applauding you and blaming the other. There is this, moreover, O monarch (Yudhishthira) – that both the Kurus and the Brahmanas, assembling together, gladly speak of your firm adherence to truth, in that you have never, from ignorance, from meanness, from greed, or from fear, uttered an untruth. Whatever sin, O monarch (Yudhishthira), a king commits in acquiring territory, he consumes it all afterwards by means of yagnas distinguished by large gifts (Dakshina in Sanskrit). Like the Moon emerging from the clouds, the king is purified from all sins by giving villages on Brahmanas and cows by thousands.

“Almost all the citizens as well as the inhabitants of the country, young or old, O son of the Kuru race, praise you, O Yudhishthira! This also, O Bharata, the people are saying among themselves, viz., that as milk in a bag of dog’s house, as Vedas in a Shoodra, as truth in a robber, as strength in a woman, so is sovereignty in Duryodhana. Women and children are repeating this, as if it were a lesson they seek to commit to memory. O represser of enemies, you have fallen into this state along with ourselves.

“Alas, we also are lost with you for this calamity of yours. Therefore, ascending in your chariot furnished with every implement, and making the best of Dwijas utter blessings on you, you march with speed, this very day, upon Haastinapura, in order that you may be able to give to Brahmanas the spoils of victory. Surrounded by your brothers, who are firm wielders of the bow, by heroes skilled in weapons and like to snakes of deadly poison, you set out like the slayer Vritra (Lord Indra) surounded by the Marutas.

“O Kaunteya (Yudhishthira), as you are powerful, you grind with your might your weak enemies, like (Lord) Indra grinding the Asuras; you snatch from Dhritarashtra’s son the prosperity he enjoys. There is no mortal that can bear the touch of arrows furnished with the feathers of the vulture and resembling snakes of deadly poison, that would be shot from the Gaandiva. O Bharata (Yudhishthira), there is not a warrior, nor an elephant, nor a horse, that is able to bear the force of my mace (Gada in Sanskrit) when I am angry in battle.

“Why, O Kaunteya (Yudhisthira), should we not snatch our kingdom from the enemy, fighting with the aid of the Srinjayas, Kaikeyas, and the bull of the Vrishni race (Sri Krishna)? Why, O king (Yudhishthira), should we not succeed in snatching the (sovereignty of the) earth that is now in the hands of the enemy, if, aided by a large force, we do but strive?’”