‘Droupadi said, “O lord of men! Therefore, I think that the time for displaying your energy has come. The avaricious sons of Dhritarashtra are always engaged in doing harm. This is not the time to exhibit forgiveness towards the Kurus. The time has come to show energy, and punishment must be displayed. The mild are always disregarded. But people are careful of those who are harsh. He who knows the right time to employ both of these is a true lord of the earth.”’
327(30)
‘Yudhishthira said, “Anger destroys men and anger again leads to prosperity. O immensely intelligent one! Know therefore that both well-being and ill-being find their source in anger. O beautiful one! He who always restrains his anger obtains prosperity. O beautiful one! But he who never controls his anger, never obtains prosperity. The terrible anger contributes to his downfall. It has been seen that anger is the root of destruction for all beings. How can someone like me indulge in anger, when it brings about the destruction of the worlds? The angry man commits sin. The angry man may even murder his superiors. The angry man abuses his superiors with harsh words. When angered, one cannot distinguish between what should be said and what should not be said. There is nothing that such a person cannot do or say. From anger, one can kill someone who should not be killed, or honour someone who should be killed. An angry person can even send himself to Yama’s abode. On realizing these faults, the learned ones have said that anger must be conquered, if one wishes for supreme welfare in this world and the hereafter. The wise have controlled anger. O Droupadi! Thinking about this, why should someone like me also not act accordingly? That is the reason my anger does not increase.
‘“One who does not retaliate in anger against someone who is angered, saves himself and the other person from great fear. He is like a physician for both. A weak man may be oppressed by men who are stronger. But if he is angered in his folly, he brings about his own destruction. In the hereafter, there is no world for one who does not control one’s own self and destroys one’s own self. O Droupadi! It has therefore been said that those who are weak should control their anger. And though powerful, the wise one is not angered when oppressed. Having destroyed his oppressor, he finds delight in the next world. It is for this reason that wise men who have the knowledge, be they strong or weak, always forgive, even if they are in difficulties. O Krishna! The righteous always praise those who have controlled anger. The virtuous hold the view that victory comes to the forgiving and the good. Truth is superior to falsehood and gentleness to cruelty. For the sake of killing someone like Suyodhana,182 how can someone like me show the anger, with its many faults, that is shunned by the virtuous? It is certain that learned and far-sighted ones call someone controlled when he has no anger in him. If a person uses wisdom to check an anger that has arisen, those who know the truth call such a person powerful. O one with the beautiful hips! An angry one cannot see the course of action accurately. An angry man does not see his tasks or his limits. The angry one kills those who should not be killed. He exhibits harshness towards his superiors. Therefore, it is the duty of anyone with power to keep anger at a distance. For one overcome with anger, it is not easily possible to attain courtesy, tolerance, valour, swiftness, energy and other qualities. By forsaking anger, a man can attain his true energy. O immensely wise one! But it is extremely difficult for an angry one to exhibit his energy when the time is right. Those who have no learning always think that anger is the same as energy. Passion has been given to humankind for the destruction of the world.
‘“Therefore, a person who wishes to live appropriately must always forsake anger. It is certain that it is better to give up one’s own dharma than fall prey to anger. It is all those who have no intelligence and limited senses who transgress this. O unblemished lady! How can someone like me do this? If men equal to the earth in forgiveness did not exist, there would be no peace among men, but dissension caused by anger. If injured ones return the injury and those oppressed by seniors return the oppression, the outcome will be a destruction of all beings and the establishment of that which is not dharma. O Krishna! O one with the beautiful face! If every man who is abused immediately abuses back, if one who is injured returns violence with violence, if fathers oppress their sons and sons oppress their fathers, if husbands oppress their wives and wives oppress their husbands, there can be no birth in a world thus angered. Know that the birth of all beings is conditional on conciliation. O Droupadi! All beings will be swiftly destroyed in such a world. Thus anger leads to the destruction and non-existence of all beings. It is because people as forgiving as the earth are seen in this world that beings keep getting born and there is existence. O beautiful one! A man must be forgiving in all his difficulties. It has been said that the birth of all beings results from forgiveness. If a man is insulted and oppressed by a stronger person, but always pacifies his anger and controls his anger, he is said to be learned and supreme. Such a man has influence in the eternal worlds. But one who has little knowledge and falls prey to anger is destroyed in this world and the next.
‘“O Krishna! The great-souled and forgiving Kashyapa sung this hymn in honour of those who are eternally forgiving: ‘Forgiveness is dharma. Forgiveness is sacrifices. Forgiveness is the Vedas. Forgiveness is the sacred texts. He who knows this is capable of forgiving everything. Forgiveness is the brahman. Forgiveness is the truth. Forgiveness is the past and the future. Forgiveness is austerities. Forgiveness is purity. Forgiveness holds up the entire world. Forgiving ones attain the worlds of ascetic ones who know the brahman and those who know about sacrifices. Forgiveness is the energy of the energetic. Forgiveness is the brahman of the ascetics. Forgiveness is the truth of those who are truthful. Forgiveness is alms. Forgiveness is fame.’ O Krishna! The brahman, truth, sacrifices and the world are established in forgiveness and how can someone like me give up something like that? Those who perform sacrifices enjoy their worlds and those who forgive enjoy other ones. A man who is wise must always forgive. Whoever forgives everything attains the brahman. This world belongs to those who forgive. The next belongs to those who forgive. They are honoured here and in the hereafter and attain the pure goal. Men who always overcome their wrath through forgiveness obtain the supreme worlds. Therefore, forgiveness is considered supreme.
‘“In praise of those who are forgiving, Kashyapa always chanted these verses. O Droupadi! Now that you have heard these verses about forgiveness, do not be angered. Our grandfather,183 Shantanu’s son, always praises peace. The preceptor184 and Kshatta Vidura also speak about peace. Kripa and Sanjaya also speak about peace. Somadatta, Yuyutsu, Drona’s son185 and our grandfather Vyasa always speak about peace. Always urged by all of them towards peace, I think the king186 will return the kingdom. If he does not, he will face destruction. A terrible time has come about. It will lead to the destruction of the Bharatas. O beautiful one! I am certain that this has been decreed by destiny a long time ago, and thereafter. Suyodhana is undeserving of forgiveness and therefore he finds none. I deserve it and therefore, forgiveness has taken possession of me. Forgiveness and gentleness are eternal dharma and the conduct of those who have control over their own selves. Therefore, that is the way I will act.”’
328(31)
‘Droupadi said, “I bow before Dhata and Vidhata,187 who have confused you. You should follow the conduct of your father and grandfather. But your mind leads you in a different direction. A man never obtains prosperity in this world through dharma, gentleness, forgiveness, uprightness and tenderness. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Else, this miserable calamity would not have befallen you. Neither you, nor your immensely energetic brothers, deserve this. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Then, and even now, they know that nothing is as loved by you as dharma, which is more dear to you than even life. The brahmanas, the superiors and even the gods know that your kingdom is for dharma and your life is also for dharma. I think that you can give up Bhimasena, Arjuna, Madri’s two sons and me, but you will never forsake dharma. I have heard from aryas188 th
at a king protects dharma and dharma in turn protects him. But I think it does not protect you. O tiger among men! Like a man is followed by his own shadow, you have always steadily followed dharma. You have never disparaged your equals or your inferiors, not to speak of your superiors. Even after conquering the entire earth, your vanity did not increase. O Partha! You have always served the gods, the ancestors and the brahmanas through svahas,189 svadhas190 and other forms of worship. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! You have always satisfied brahmanas, ascetics, those who desire salvation and householders with every object that they desire. You have given forest-dwellers iron191 vessels. In your house, there is nothing to be seen that cannot be given to brahmanas. O king! Every morning and every evening, at the end of the vaishvadeva ritual,192 you give to guests and servants and survive on what remains. Sacrifices to obtain wishes, sacrifices with animals, sacrifices to gratify desires, sacrifices connected with cooking and other sacrificial tasks are always performed. Even in this great and deserted forest, populated by bandits, your recourse to dharma has not diminished, even though you have been deprived of your kingdom. You have observed great sacrifices like the horse sacrifice, the rajasuya, the lotus sacrifice and the cow sacrifice and offered large quantities of dakshina.
‘“O king! But after that, your intelligence was confounded and you were vanquished in an unequal game of dice. You lost your kingdom, riches, weapons, brothers and even me. You are upright, gentle, benevolent, humble and truthful. How could this attachment to dice degrade your intelligence? On witnessing your great unhappiness and your misfortune, my mind is agitated and extremely bewildered. I will recount an ancient tale to show how all the worlds are under the control of the supreme god.193 Even before the seed is released, the lord Ishana194 determines in advance happiness and unhappiness and pleasure and displeasure for all beings. O brave man! O king! These subjects are like wooden puppets and he controls their bodies and limbs. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Covering all these beings like the sky, the supreme god decides on all that is good and all that is evil. A bird tied to a string is not its own master. Like that, they are under the control of the supreme god and are not their own master or anyone else’s. Like a pearl on a string, like a bull with a rope through its nose, a man is under the control of the creator, is part of him and is given to him. Like a tree that has fallen from the bank into the middle of a river, he is at no time under his own control. Creatures are ignorant. Their happiness or unhappiness is not determined by themselves. They are sent by the supreme god to heaven or hell. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! All beings are under the control of the creator, like the tips of straws are under the control of the strong wind. Yet again, the supreme god yokes himself to good deeds and evil ones. He pervades and roams in all beings, but is not noticed. This physical body is only the field. It is only the creator’s instrument and the illustrious one uses it to perform deeds, good and evil. Look at the powers of maya the supreme god exhibits. He confounds them with illusion and makes beings kill other beings. The sages who know the truth visualize this in a different way and alter their course, like the wind in the sky. But men think of it in a different way and the lord creates and alters them in a different way. O Yudhishthira! Like wood is broken with wood, stone again with stone, iron with iron and that which is insensate with that which has senses, like that, the great grandfather, the self-created one, the illustrious god is not detected, and kills beings with other beings. The lord unites and disunites them, as he desires. The illustrious one plays with all beings, like a child with his toys. O king! The creator does not act towards beings like a father or a mother. Like an inferior person, he seems to be driven by rage.
‘“My thoughts are agitated when I see that those who are good, righteous and modest suffer in their conduct, while evil ones are happy. O Partha! On witnessing your calamity and Suyodhana’s prosperity, I blame the creator who tolerates such inequality. He confers prosperity on Dhritarashtra’s cruel and avaricious son,195 who lowers dharma and transgresses what the virtuous sacred texts say. What fruits does the creator obtain from this? If a performed deed follows its performer and no one else, then the supreme god has certainly been tainted by this evil deed. Or if the evil that is done does not taint the performer, then strength alone is the cause of everything and I grieve for those who are weak.”’
329(32)
‘Yudhishthira said, “O Yajnaseni! We have heard the words that you have spoken. They are sweet, well crafted and full of good expressions. But what you have said is atheism. O princess! I do not follow dharma because of its fruits. I give what should be given. I sacrifice what should be sacrificed. O Krishna! Without bothering about whether there is fruit or not, and to the best of my abilities, I do what a man who is a householder is supposed to do. O one with the beautiful hips! I do not follow dharma because of the fruits of dharma, but because I do not want to transgress the traditional texts and wish to follow the conduct of the virtuous. O Krishna! My mind is naturally fixed on dharma. He who wishes to milk dharma does not obtain the fruits of dharma. Nor does the evil-minded atheist, who having performed a task, has doubts. Do not doubt dharma, driven by pride, or in an attempt to debate. A man who doubts dharma is destined to be born as inferior species. Like shudras have no access to the Vedas, weak-minded ones who are doubtful about dharma and the ways of the rishis are barred from the undecaying and immortal worlds. O famous one! If one studies the Vedas, follows dharma and is born in a noble lineage, then kings who follow dharma refer to him as old.196 Vile ones who transgress the sacred texts and have doubts about dharma in their evil-mindedness, are worse than even shudras and thieves.
‘“With your own eyes, you have seen the immensely ascetic rishi Markandeya. Rendered immortal by dharma, the one whose soul is immeasurable had come here. Vyasa, Vasishtha, Maitreya, Narada, Lomasha, Shuka and other rishis, whose minds are virtuous, have obtained success through dharma alone. You have yourself seen them, possessing the powers of divine yoga, capable of every curse and boon, and superior to the gods themselves. They have always told me that dharma alone is the task to be followed. They are like the immortals and clearly have knowledge of the traditional texts. O fortunate one! Therefore, out of the confusion of passion or because your mind is agitated, you should not doubt the creator or dharma, or censure them. He who doubts dharma finds nothing else against which he can measure himself. He considers himself as the measure and proudly debases the superior. He thinks like a child that the world connected with pleasuring the senses alone is real, and is deluded about everything else. There is no atonement for one who doubts dharma. Despite all his reflections, there are no worlds for such a mean and evil one. The ignorant one, who does not acknowledge what has been proved, criticizes the meaning given to the Vedas and the sacred texts and is addicted to desire and avarice, descends into hell. O fortunate one! But he who unquestioningly and with a steady mind follows the path of dharma, obtains eternity in the hereafter. O Krishna! He who transgresses the proof given by the rishis, does not follow dharma and transgresses all the sacred texts, that deluded one doesn’t obtain bliss in a hundred births. O Krishna! Do not doubt the dharma followed by the righteous, which has been recounted by the ancient rishis who know everything and can see everything. O Droupadi! Like a boat to a merchant who wishes to cross to the other shore of an ocean, dharma is the only boat that takes one to heaven and there is nothing else. O unblemished one! If the dharma followed by those who observe dharma had no fruit, then this entire universe would have been immersed in darkness and would not have been established. No one would have progressed towards salvation. Everyone would have lived the life of animals. There would only have been restraints and nothing would have been earned or gained. If austerities, brahmacharya, sacrifices, studying, generosity and honesty did not have their fruits, then the ancient ones and those who came before them, would not have observed these. If these deeds did not have fruits, there would have been extreme confusion.
Mahabharata Vol. 2 (Penguin Translated Texts) Page 34