The Mahabharata/Book 1: Adi Parva/Section 87

Section LXXXVII. ( Sambhava Parva continued )

Vaisampayana said, "While that king of kings dwelt in heaven—the home of the celestials—he was reverenced by the gods, the Sadhyas, the Marutas, and the Vasus. Of sacred deeds, and mind under complete control, the monarch used to repair now and then from the abode of the celestials unto the region of Brahma. And it hath been heard by me that he dwelt for a long time in heaven.

"One day that best of kings Yayati went to Indra and there in course of conversation the lord of the Earth was asked by Indra as follows:—

'What didst thou say, O king, when thy son Puru took thy decrepitude on earth and when thou didst bestow upon him thy kingdom?'

"Yayati answered, 'I told him that the whole country between the rivers Ganges and the Yamuna is thine. That is, indeed, the central region of the Earth while the outlying regions are to be the dominions of thy brothers. I also told him that those without anger are ever superior to those under its sway: those disposed to forgive are ever superior to the unforgiving. Man is superior to the lower animals. Among men again the learned are superior to the unlearned. If wronged thou shouldst not wrong in return. One's wrath, if disregarded, burneth one's own self; while he that regardeth it not taketh away all the virtues of him that exhibiteth it. Never shouldst thou pain others by cruel speeches. Never subdue thy foes by despicable means; and never utter such scorching and sinful words as may torture others. He that pricketh as with thorns men by means of hard and cruel words, thou must know ever carrieth in his mouth a Rakshasa. Prosperity and luck fly away at his very sight. Thou shouldst ever keep the virtuous before thee as thy models: thou shouldst ever in retrospect compare thy acts with those of the virtuous: thou shouldst ever disregard the hard words of the wicked. Thou shouldst ever make the conduct of the wise the model upon which thou art to act thyself. The man hurt by the arrows of cruel speech emitted from one's lips, weepeth day and night. Indeed, these strike at the core of the body. Therefore the wise never fling these around at others. There is nothing in the three worlds by which thou canst worship and adore the dieties better than by kindness, friendship, charity, and sweet speeches unto all. Therefore shouldst thou always utter words that soothe, never those that scorch. And thou shouldst regard those that deserve thy regards; thou shouldst always give but never beg.'"

Thus ends the eighty-seventh Section in the Sambhava of the Adi Parva.