Mahabharata — Volume VIII (Dutt edition) — Chapter 87

MBh 8 87.1

युधिष्ठिर उवाच सूक्ष्मं साधु समादिष्टं भवता धर्मलक्षणम्। प्रतिभा त्वस्ति मे काचित् तां ब्रूयामनुमानतः॥

yudhiṣṭhira uvāca sūkṣmaṃ sādhu samādiṣṭaṃ bhavatā dharmalakṣaṇam| pratibhā tvasti me kācit tāṃ brūyāmanumānataḥ||

Yudhisthira said You say that virtue or duty depends upon delicate consideration, that it is marked out by the conduct of the good, that it is fraught with restraints, and that its characteristics are also contained in the Vedas. It appears to me, however, that I have a certain inward light by virtue of which I can differentiate between right and wrong by inferences.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 87.2

भूयांसो हृदये ये मे प्रश्नास्ते व्याहृतास्त्वया। इदं त्वन्यत् प्रवक्ष्यामि न राजन् निग्रहादिव॥

bhūyāṃso hṛdaye ye me praśnāste vyāhṛtāstvayā| idaṃ tvanyat pravakṣyāmi na rājan nigrahādiva||

Numberless questions which I had wished to ask you have all been answered by you. There is one question, however, that I shall just now put. It is not prompted, O king, by desire of mere discussion.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 87.3

इमानि हि प्राणयन्ति सृजन्त्युत्तारयन्ति च। न धर्मः परिपाठेन शक्यो भारत वेदितुम्॥

imāni hi prāṇayanti sṛjantyuttārayanti ca| na dharmaḥ paripāṭhena śakyo bhārata veditum||

All these embodied creatures, it seems, take birth, exist, and renounce their bodies, of their own nature. Duty and its opposite, therefore, cannot be determined, O Bharata, by study of the scriptures alone.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 87.4

अन्यो धर्मः समस्थस्य विषमस्थस्य चापरः। आपदस्तु कथं शक्याः परिपाठेन वेदितुम्॥

anyo dharmaḥ samasthasya viṣamasthasya cāparaḥ| āpadastu kathaṃ śakyāḥ paripāṭhena veditum||

The duties of a rich person are of one sort. Those of a person who has fallen into distress are of another sort. How can duty in the time of poverty be determined by reading the scriptures alone?

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 87.5

सदाचारो मतो धर्मः सन्तस्त्वाचारलक्षणाः। साध्यासाध्यं कथं शक्यं सदाचारो ह्यलक्षणः॥

sadācāro mato dharmaḥ santastvācāralakṣaṇāḥ| sādhyāsādhyaṃ kathaṃ śakyaṃ sadācāro hyalakṣaṇaḥ||

The acts of the good, as you have said, form virtue. The good, however, are to be known by their acts. The definition, therefore, has at the bottom a begging of the question, and the result is that what is meant by conduct of the good remains unsettled.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 87.6

दृश्यते हि धर्मारूपेणाधर्मं प्राकृतश्चरन्। धर्मं चाधर्मरूपेण कश्चिदप्राकृतश्चरन्॥

dṛśyate hi dharmārūpeṇādharmaṃ prākṛtaścaran| dharmaṃ cādharmarūpeṇa kaścidaprākṛtaścaran||

It is seen that some ordinary man commits sin while apparently achieving virtue. Some extraordinary person again may be seen who achieves virtue by committing acts which are seemingly sinful.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 87.7

पुनरस्य प्रमाणं हि निर्दिष्टं शास्त्रकोविदैः। वेदवादाश्चानुयुगं ह्रसन्तीतीह नः श्रुतम्॥ अन्ये कृतयुगे धर्मास्त्रेतायां द्वापरे परे। अन्ये कलियुगे धर्मा यथाशक्ति कृता इव॥

punarasya pramāṇaṃ hi nirdiṣṭaṃ śāstrakovidaiḥ| vedavādāścānuyugaṃ hrasantītīha naḥ śrutam|| anye kṛtayuge dharmāstretāyāṃ dvāpare pare| anye kaliyuge dharmā yathāśakti kṛtā iva||

Then, again, the proof has been given by even those who are well-conversant with the scriptures themselves, for we have heard that the ordinances of the Vedas disappear gradually in every successive cycle. The duties in the Krita age are of one sort. Those in the Treta are of another sort, and those in the Dvapara are of a different sort. The duties in the Kali age, again, are entirely of a different character. It seems, therefore, that duties have been sanctioned for the respective cycles according to the powers of human beings in the different ages.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 87.8

आम्नायवचनं सत्यमित्ययं लोकसंग्रहः। आम्नायेभ्यः पुनर्वेदाः प्रसृताः सर्वतोमुखाः॥

āmnāyavacanaṃ satyamityayaṃ lokasaṃgrahaḥ| āmnāyebhyaḥ punarvedāḥ prasṛtāḥ sarvatomukhāḥ||

When, therefore, all the declarations in the Vedas do not suit equally all the ages, the saying that the Vedas are true is only a popular parlance given vent to for popular satisfaction. whose range From the Shrutis have originated the Smritis is very wide.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 87.9

ते चेत् सर्वप्रमाणं वै प्रमाणं ह्यत्र विद्यते। प्रमाणेऽप्यप्रमाणेन विरुद्ध शास्त्रता कुतः॥

te cet sarvapramāṇaṃ vai pramāṇaṃ hyatra vidyate| pramāṇe'pyapramāṇena viruddha śāstratā kutaḥ||

If the Vedas be considered authoritative everywhere, then the Smritis also would be considered authoritative, for the latter are based on the former. But when the Shrutis and the Smritis contradict each other, how can either be authoritative.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 87.10

धर्मस्य क्रियमाणस्य बलवद्भिर्दुरात्मभिः। या या विक्रियते संस्था ततः सापि प्रणश्यति॥

dharmasya kriyamāṇasya balavadbhirdurātmabhiḥ| yā yā vikriyate saṃsthā tataḥ sāpi praṇaśyati||

Then, again, it is seen, that when some wicked wights of great power cause certain portions of religious acts to be stopped, these are destroyed for ever.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 87.11

विद्म चैवं न वा विद्म शक्यं वा वेदितुं न वा। अणीयान् क्षुरधाराया गरीयानपि पर्वतात्॥

vidma caivaṃ na vā vidma śakyaṃ vā vedituṃ na vā| aṇīyān kṣuradhārāyā garīyānapi parvatāt||

Whether we know it or not, whether we are able to determine it or not, the course of duty is sharper than the edge of a razor and grosser than even a mountain.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 87.12

गन्धर्वनगराकारः प्रथमं सम्प्रदृश्यते। अन्वीक्ष्यमाणः कविभिः पुनर्गच्छत्यदर्शनम्॥

gandharvanagarākāraḥ prathamaṃ sampradṛśyate| anvīkṣyamāṇaḥ kavibhiḥ punargacchatyadarśanam||

Virtue at first appears in the form of the romantic house of vapour seen in the distant sky. When, however, it is examined by the ! learned, it disappears.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 87.13

निपानानीव गोभ्योऽपि क्षेत्रे कुल्ये च भारत। स्मृतिर्हि शाश्वते धर्मो विप्रहीणो न दृश्यते॥

nipānānīva gobhyo'pi kṣetre kulye ca bhārata| smṛtirhi śāśvate dharmo viprahīṇo na dṛśyate||

Like the small ponds at which cattle drink or the shallow canals along cultivated fields, that dry up very soon, the eternal practices laid down in the Smrities, falling into discontinuance, at last disappear for good.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 87.14

कामादन्येच्छया चान्ये कारणैरपरैस्तथा। असन्तोऽपि वृथाचारं भजन्ते बहवोऽपरे॥

kāmādanyecchayā cānye kāraṇairaparaistathā| asanto'pi vṛthācāraṃ bhajante bahavo'pare||

Amongst good men, some are seen to become hypocrites by allowing themselves to be moved by desire. Some become so, desiring by others. Many others tread in the same path, moved by various other motives of a similar nature.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 87.15

धर्मो भवति स क्षिप्रं प्रलापस्त्वेव साधुषु। अथैतानाहुरुन्मत्तानपि चावहसन्त्युत॥

dharmo bhavati sa kṣipraṃ pralāpastveva sādhuṣu| athaitānāhurunmattānapi cāvahasantyuta||

It cannot be gainsaid that such acts are righteous. Fools, again, hold that virtue is an empty sound among those called good. They ridicule such persons and consider them as men bereft of reason.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 87.16

महाजना छुपावृत्ता राजधर्म समाश्रिताः। न हि सर्वहितः कश्चिदाचारः सम्प्रवर्तते॥

mahājanā chupāvṛttā rājadharma samāśritāḥ| na hi sarvahitaḥ kaścidācāraḥ sampravartate||

Many great men, again, neglecting the duties of their own order, follow those of the Kshatriyas. No such conduct, therefore, is to be seen, which is for universal benevolence.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 87.17

तेवैवान्यः प्रभवति सोऽपरं बाधते पुनः। दृश्यते चैव स पुनस्तुल्यरूपो यदृच्छया॥

tevaivānyaḥ prabhavati so'paraṃ bādhate punaḥ| dṛśyate caiva sa punastulyarūpo yadṛcchayā||

By a certain action, one becomes really meritorious. The same actions prevent another from the acquisition of merit. Another, by performing those actions at his pleasure, it is seen, remains unchanged.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 87.18

येनैवान्यः प्रभवति सोऽपरानपि बाधते। आचाराणामनैकाम्यं सर्वेषामुपलक्षयेत्॥

yenaivānyaḥ prabhavati so'parānapi bādhate| ācārāṇāmanaikāmyaṃ sarveṣāmupalakṣayet||

Thus that action by which one reaps merit, obstructs another in the acquisition of merit. One may thus seen that all actions are not peculiar in motive and character.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 87.19

चिराभिपन्नः कविभिः पूर्वं धर्म उदाहृतः। तेनाचारेण पूर्वेण संस्था भवति शाश्वती॥

cirābhipannaḥ kavibhiḥ pūrvaṃ dharma udāhṛtaḥ| tenācāreṇa pūrveṇa saṃsthā bhavati śāśvatī||

It seems, therefore, that only that which the learned of old denominated righteousness is righteousness to this day; and through that course of conduct the distinctions and limitations have become eternal.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)