"'Yudhishthira said, "The path of duty is long. It has also, O Bharata,
many branches. What, however, according to thee, are those duties that
most deserve to be practised? What acts, according to thee, are the most
important among all duties, by the practice of which I may earn the
highest merit both here and hereafter?"
"'Bhishma said, "The worship of mother, father, and preceptor is most
important according to me. The man who attends to that duty here,
succeeds in acquiring great fame and many regions of felicity. Worshipped
with respect by thee, whatever they will command thee, be it consistent
with righteousness or inconsistent with it, should be done
unhesitatingly, O Yudhishthira! One should never do what they forbid.
Without doubt, that which they command should always be done.[332] They
are the three worlds. They are the three modes of life. They are the
three Vedas. They are the three sacred fires. The father is said to be
the Garhapatya fire, the mother, the Dakshina fire, and the preceptor is
that fire upon which libations are poured. These three fires are, of
course, the most eminent. If thou attendest with heedfulness to these
three fires, thou wilt succeed in conquering the three worlds. By serving
the father with regularity, one may cross this world. By serving the
mother in the same way, one may attain to regions of felicity in the
next. By serving the preceptor with regularity one may obtain the region
of Brahma. Behave properly towards these three, O Bharata, thou shalt
then obtain great fame in the three worlds, and blessed be thou, great
will be thy merit and reward. Never transgress them in any act. Never eat
before they eat, nor eat anything that is better than what thy eat. Never
impute any fault to them. One should always serve them with humility.
That is an act of high merit. By acting in that way, O best of kings,
thou mayst obtain fame, merit, honour, and regions of felicity hereafter.
He who honours these three is honoured in all the worlds. He, on the
other hand, who disregards these three, fails to obtain any merit from
any of his acts. Such a man, O scorcher of foes, acquires merit neither
in this world nor in the next. He who always disregards these three
seniors never obtains fame either here or hereafter. Such a man never
earns any good in the next world. All that I have given away in honour of
those three has become a hundredfold or a thousandfold of its actual
measure. It is in consequence of that merit that even now, O
Yudhishthira, the three worlds are clearly before my eyes. One Acharya is
superior to ten Brahmanas learned in the Vedas. One Upadhyaya is again
superior to ten Acharyas. The father, again, is superior to ten
Upadhyayas. The mother again, is superior to ten fathers, or perhaps, the
whole world, in importance. There is no one that deserves such reverence
as the mother. In my opinion, however, the preceptor is worthy of greater
reverence than the father or even the mother. The father and the mother
are authors of one's being. The father and the mother, O Bharata, only
create the body. The life, on the other hand, that one obtains from one's
preceptor, is heavenly. That life is subject to no decay and is immortal.
The father and the mother, however much they may offend, should never be
slain. By not punishing a father and a mother, (even if they deserve
punishment), one does not incur sin. Indeed, such reverend persons, by
enjoying impunity, do not stain the king. The gods and the Rishis do not
withhold their favours from such persons as strive to cherish even their
sinful fathers with reverence. He who favours a person by imparting to
him true instruction, by communicating the Vedas, and giving knowledge
which is immortal, should be regarded as both a father and a mother. The
disciple, in grateful recognition of what the instructor has done, should
never do anything that would injure the latter. They that do not
reverence their preceptors after receiving instruction from them by
obeying them dutifully in thought and deed, incur the sin of killing a
foetus. There is no sinner in this world like them.[333] Preceptors
always show great affection for their disciples. The latter should,
therefore, show their preceptors commensurate reverence. He, therefore,
that wishes to earn that high merit which has existed from ancient days,
should worship and adore his preceptors and cheerfully share with them
every object of enjoyment. With him who pleases his father is pleased
Prajapati himself. He who pleases his mother gratifies the earth herself.
He who pleases his preceptor gratifies Brahma by his act. For this
reason, the preceptor is worthy of greater reverence than either the
father or the mother. If preceptors are worshipped, the very Rishis, and
the gods, together with the Pitris, are all pleased. Therefore, the
preceptor is worthy of the highest reverence. The preceptor should never
be disregarded in any manner by the disciple. Neither the mother nor the
father deserves such regard as the preceptor. The father, the mother, and
the preceptor, should never be insulted. No act of theirs should be found
fault with. The gods and the great Rishis are pleased with him that
behaves with reverence towards his preceptors. They that injure in
thought and deed their preceptors, or fathers, or mothers, incur the sin
of killing a foetus. There is no sinner in the world equal to them. That
son of the sire's loins and the mother's womb, who, being brought up by
them and when he comes to age, does not support them in his turn, incurs
the sin of killing a foetus. There is no sinner in the world like unto
him. We have never heard that these four, viz., he who injures a friend,
he who is ungrateful, he who slays a woman, and he who slays a preceptor,
ever succeed in cleansing themselves. I have now told thee generally all
that a person should do in this world. Besides those duties that I have
indicated, there is nothing productive of greater felicity. Thinking of
all duties, I have told thee their essence."'"