"'Bhimasena said, "Thy understanding, O king, has become blind to the
truth, like that of a foolish and unintelligent reciter of the Veda in
consequence of his repeated recitation of those scriptures. If censuring
the duties of kings thou wouldst lead a life of idleness, then, O bull of
Bharata's race, this destruction of the Dhartarashtras was perfectly
uncalled for. Are forgiveness and compassion and pity and abstention from
injury not to be found in anybody walking along the path of Kshatriya
duties? If we knew that this was thy intention, we would then have never
taken up arms and slain a single creature. We would then have lived by
mendicancy till the destruction of this body. This terrible battle
between the rulers of the earth would also have never taken place. The
learned have said this all that we see is food for the strong. Indeed,
this mobile and immobile world is our object of enjoyment for the person
that is strong. Wise men acquainted with Kshatriya duties have declared
that they who stand in the way of the person taking the sovereignty of
the earth, should be slain. Guilty of that fault, those that stood as
enemies of our kingdom have all been slain by us. Having slain them, O
Yudhishthira, righteously govern this earth. This our act (in refusing
the kingdom) is like that of a person who having dug a well stops in his
work before obtaining water and comes up smutted with mire. Or, this our
act is like that of a person who having climbed up a tall tree and taken
honey there from meets with death before tasting it. Or, it is like that
of a person who having set out on a long way comes back in despair
without having reached his destination. Or, it is like that of a person
who having slain all his foes, O thou of Kuru's race, at last falls by
his own hand. Or, it is like that of a person afflicted with hunger, who
having obtained food, refuses to take it, or of a person under the
influence of desire, who having obtained a woman reciprocating his
passion, refuses to meet with her. We have become objects of censure, O
Bharata, because, O king, we follow thee that art of feeble
understanding, in consequence of thyself being our eldest brother. We are
possessed of mighty arms; we are accomplished in knowledge and endued
with great energy. Yet we are obedient to the words of a eunuch as if we
were entirely helpless. We are the refuge of all helpless persons. Yet,
when people see us so, why would they not say that in respect of the
acquisition of our objects we are entirely powerless? Reflect on this
that I say. It has been laid down that (a life of) renunciation should be
adopted, only in times of distress, by kings overcome with decrepitude or
defeated by foes. Men of wisdom, therefore, do not applaud renunciation
as the duty of a Kshatriya. On the other hand, they that are of clear
sight think that the adoption of that course of life (by a Kshatriya)
involves even the loss of virtue. How can those that have sprung from
that order, that are devoted to the practices of that order, and that
have refuge in them, censure those duties? Indeed, if those duties be
censurable, then why should not the Supreme Ordainer be censured?[15] It
is only those persons that are reft of prosperity and wealth and that are
infidels in faith, that have promulgated this precept of the Vedas (about
the propriety of a Kshatriya's adoption of a life of renunciation) as the
truth. In reality, however, it is never proper for a Kshatriya to do so.
He who is competent to support life by prowess, he who can support
himself by his own exertions, does not live, but really falls away from
his duty, by the hypocritical externals of a life of renunciation. That
man only is capable of leading a solitary life of happiness in the woods
who is unable to support sons and grandsons and the deities and Rishis
and guests and Pitris. As the deer and boars and birds (though they lead
a forest life) cannot attain to heaven, even so those Kshatriyas that are
not bereft of prowess yet not given to doing good turns cannot attain to
heaven by leading only a forest life. They should acquire religious merit
by other ways. If, O king, anybody were to obtain success from
renunciation, then mountains and trees would surely obtain it! These
latter are always seen to lead lives of renunciation. They do not injure
any one. They are, again, always aloof from a life of worldliness and are
all Brahmacharins. If it be the truth that a person's success depends
upon his own lot in life and not upon that of other, then (as a person
born in the Kshatriya order) thou shouldst betake thyself to action. He
that is reft of action can never have success. If they that fill only
their own stomachs could attain to success, then all aquatic creatures
would obtain it, for these have none else to support save their own
selves. Behold, the world moves on, with every creature on it employed in
acts proper to its nature. Therefore, one should betake oneself to
action. The man reft of action can never obtain success."'"