ADMONITION OF BRAHMÁ.
Argument. The defeated Devas have recourse to Brahmá in their danger,
who tells them the way of their averting it.
Vasishtha related:—As the war of the gods and Titans, was raging
violently on both sides, and their bodies were pierced by the weapons
of one another:—
2. Streams of blood, gushed out of their wounds like water-falls in the
basin of Ganges; and the gods caught into the snares of the demigods,
groaned and roared aloud like lions.
3. Vyála (Baal) with his stretching arms, was crushing the bodies of
the gods; and Kata was harassing them in their unequal challenge with
them.
4. The Daityas waged their battle with the rage of the mid-day sun, and
put to flight the Airávata elephant of Indra—the leader of the gods.
5. The Devas dropped down with their bodies gored with wounds, and
spouting with blood; and their armies fled on all sides, like the
currents of a river overflowing and breaking down its bank.
6. Dáma, Vyála and Kata pursued the flying and run away gods, in the
same manner as a raging fire runs after the wood for its fuel.
7. The Asuras sought and searched long after the gods in vain, for they
had disappeared like the deer and lions, among the thickets after
breaking loose of their snares.
8. Failing to find out the gods, the generals Dáma, Vyála and Kata,
repaired with cheerful hearts to their chief in his abode in the
infernal region.
9. The defeated gods after halting awhile, had then their recourse to
the almighty Brahmá, in order to consult him on the means of gaining
their victory over the demons.
10. Brahmá then appeared to the blood besmeared Devas with his purple
countenance, as the bright and cooling moonbeams appear in the evening
on the surface of the sea, tinged with the crimson hues of the setting
sun.
11. They bowed down before him, and complained of the danger that was
brought upon them by Sambara, through his generals Dáma, Vyála and
Kata, whose doings they fully related to him.
12. The judging-Brahmá having heard and considered all this, delivered
the following encouraging words to the host of gods before him.
13. Brahmá said:—“You shall have to wait a hundred thousand years more,
for the destruction of Sambara under the arms of Hari in an open
engagement.”[4]
14. You have been put to flight to-day by the demoniac Dáma, Vyála and
Kata, who have been fighting with their magical art (and deceitful
weapons).
15. They are elated with pride at their great skill in warfare, but it
will soon vanish like the shadow of a man in a mirror.
16. These demons who are led by their ambition to annoy you, will soon
be reduced under your might, like birds caught in a snare.
17. The gods being devoid of ambition, are freed from the vicissitudes
of pain and pleasure; and have become invincible by destroying the
enemy by their patience.
18. Those that are caught and bound fast in the net of their ambition,
and led away by the thread of their expectation, are surely defeated in
their aims, and are caught as birds by a string.
19. The learned that are devoid of desire, and are unattached to
anything in their minds, are truly great and invincible, as nothing can
elate or depress them at any time.
20. A man however great and experienced he may be, is easily overcome
by a boy, when he is enticed to pursue after every thing by his avarice.
21. The knowledge that, this is I and these are mine (and apart from
all others), is the bane of human life; and one with such knowledge of
his self and egoism, becomes the receptacle of evils like the sea of
briny waters.
22. He who confines his mind within a narrow limit, for want of his
great and extended views, is called dastardly and narrow-minded man
notwithstanding with all his learning and wisdom. (Why then do you
compress the unlimited soul, within the limited nut-shell of your
body?).
23. He that puts a limit to his soul or _átmá_, which is unbounded and
infinite, both surely reduce his magnanimity or _garimá_ to the
minuteness or anima by his own making.
24. If there be anything in the world beside the oneself, that may be
thine or worth thy desiring, thou mayst long to have it; but all things
being but parts of the universe, there is nothing particular for any
one to have or seek.
25. Reliance on earthly things is the source of unhappiness, while our
disinterestedness with all things, is the fountain of everlasting
felicity.
26. As long as the Asuras are independent of worldly things, they must
remain invincible; but being dependent on them, they will perish as a
swarm of gnats in the flame of wild fire.
27. It is the inward desire of man that makes him miserable in himself,
and became subdued by others; otherwise the worm-like man is as firm as
a rock. (Cringing avarice makes one a slave to others, but its want
makes a lion of a weak man).
28. Where there is any desire in the heart, it is thickened and
hardened in time; as every thing in nature increases in its bulk in
time; but not so the things that are not in existence, as the want of
desires (_i.e._ all what exists, has its increase likewise, but a
nullity can have no increase).
29. Do you, O Indra! try to foster both the egoistic selfishness, as
well as the ambition of Dáma and others for their universal dominion,
if you want to cause their destruction.
30. Know, it is avarice which is the cause of the poverty, and all
dangers to mankind; just as the _Karanja_ tree is the source of its
bitter and pernicious fruits.
31. All those men who rove about under the bondage of avarice, have bid
farewell to their happiness, by subjecting themselves to misery.
32. One may be very learned and well-informed in every thing, he may be
a noble and great man also, but he is sure to be tied down by his
avarice, as a lion is fettered by his chain.
33. Avarice is known as the snare of the mind, which is situated like a
bird in its nest of the heart, as it is within the hollow of the tree
of the body.
34. The miserable man becomes an easy prey to the clutches of death by
his avarice, as a bird is caught in the birdlime by a boy; and lies
panting on the ground owing to its greediness.
35. You gods, need not bear the burden of your weapons any more, nor
toil and moil in the field of war any longer; but try your best to
inflame the pernicious avarice of your enemies to the utmost.
36. Know, O chief of the gods, that no arm nor weapon, nor any polity
or policy, is able to defeat the enemy, until they are defeated of
themselves by their want of patience, through excess of their avarice.
37. These Dáma, Vyála and Kata, that have become elated with their
success in warfare, must now cherish their ambition and foster their
avarice to their ruin.
38. No sooner these ignorant creatures of Sambara, shall have gained
their high desires, than they are sure to be foiled by you in their
vain attempts. (The great height must have its fall).
39. Now ye gods! excite your enemies to the war by your policy, of
creating in them an ambition and intense desire for conquest, and by
this you will gain your object.
40. They being subjected by their desire, will be easily subdued by
you; for nobody that is led blindfold by his desires in this world, is
ever master of himself.
41. The path of this world, is either even or rugged, according to the
good or restless desires of our hearts. The heart is like the sea in
its calm after storm, when its waves are still as our subsided desires,
or as boisterous as the stormy sea with our increasing rapacity.