"'Yudhishthira said, "Thou hast laid it down, O mighty one, that no trust
should be placed upon foes. But how would the king maintain himself if he
were not to trust anybody? From trust, O king, thou hast said, great
danger arises to kings. But how, O monarch, can a king, without trusting
others, conquer his foes? Kindly remove this doubt of mine. My mind has
become confused, O grandsire, at what I have heard thee say on the
subject of mistrust."
"'Bhishma said, "Listen, O king, to what happened at the abode of
Brahmadatta, viz., the conversation between Pujani and king Brahmadatta.
There was a bird named Pujani who lived for a long time with king
Brahmadatta in the inner apartments of his palace at Kampilya. Like the
bird Jivajivaka, Pujani could mimic the cries of all animals. Though a
bird by birth, she had great knowledge and was conversant with every
truth. While living there, she brought forth an offspring of great
splendour. At the very same time the king also got by his queen a son.
Pujani, who was grateful for the shelter of the king's roof, used every
day to go to the shores of the ocean and bring a couple of fruits for the
nourishment of her own young one and the infant prince. One of those
fruits she gave to her own child and the other she gave to the prince.
The fruits she brought were sweet as nectar, and capable of increasing
strength and energy. Every day she brought them and everyday she disposed
of them in the same way. The infant prince derived great strength from
the fruit of Pujani's giving that he ate. One day the infant prince,
while borne on the arms of his nurse, saw the little offspring of Pujani.
Getting down from the nurse's arms, the child ran towards the bird, and
moved by childish impulse, began to play with it, relishing the sport
highly. At length, raising the bird which was of the same age with
himself in his hands, the prince pressed out its young life and then came
back to his nurse. The dam, O king, who had been out in her search after
the accustomed fruits, returning to the palace, beheld her young one
lying on the ground, killed by the prince. Beholding her son deprived of
life, Pujani, with tears gushing down her cheeks, and heart burning with
grief, wept bitterly and said, 'Alas, nobody should live with a Kshatriya
or make friends with him or take delight in any intercourse with him.
When they have any object to serve, they behave with courtesy. When that
object has been served they cast off the instrument. The Kshatriyas do
evil unto all. They should never be trusted. Even after doing an injury
they always seek to soothe and assure the injured for nothing. I shall
certainly take due vengeance, for this act of hostility, upon this cruel
and ungrateful betrayer of confidence. He has been guilty of a triple sin
in taking the life of one that was born on the same day with him and that
was being reared with him in the same place, that used to eat with him,
and that was dependent on him for protection.' Having said these words
unto herself, Pujani, with her talons, pierced the eyes of the prince,
and deriving some comfort from that act of vengeance, once more said, 'A
sinful act, perpetrated deliberately, assails the doer without any loss
of time. They, on the other hand, who avenge themselves of an injury,
never lose their merit by such conduct. If the consequence of a sinful
act be not seen in the perpetrator himself, they would certainly be seen,
O king, in his sons or son's sons or daughter's sons.' Brahmadatta,
beholding his son blinded by Pujani and regarding the act to have been a
proper vengeance for what his son had done, said these words unto Pujani.
"'"Brahmadatta said, 'An injury was done by us to thee. Thou hast avenged
it by doing an injury in return. The account has been squared. Do not
leave thy present abode. On the other hand, continue to dwell here, O
Pujani.'
"'"Pujani said, 'If a person having once injured another continues to
reside with that other, they that are possessed of learning never applaud
his conduct. Under such circumstances it is always better for the injurer
to leave his old place. One should never place one's trust upon the
soothing assurances received from an injured party. The fool that trusts
such assurances soon meets with destruction. Animosity is not quickly
cooled. The very sons and grandsons of persons that have injured each
other meet with destruction (in consequence of the quarrel descending
like an inheritance). In consequence again of such destruction of their
offspring, they lose the next world also. Amongst men that have injured
one another, mistrust would be productive of happiness. One that has
betrayed confidence should never be trusted in the least. One who is not
deserving of trust should not be trusted; nor should too much trust be
placed upon a person deserving of trust. The danger that arises from
blind confidence brings about a destruction that is complete. One should
seek to inspire others with confidence in one's self. One, however,
should never repose confidence on others. The father and the mother only
are the foremost of friends. The wife is merely a vessel for drawing the
seeds. The son is only one's seed. The brother is a foe. The friend or
companion requires to have his palms oiled if he is to remain so. One's
own self it is that enjoys or suffers one's happiness or misery. Amongst
persons that have injured one another, it is not advisable there should
be (real) peace. The reasons no longer exist for which I lived here. The
mind of a person who has once injured another becomes naturally filled
with mistrust, if he sees the injured person worshipping him with gifts
and honours. Such conduct, especially when displayed by those that are
strong, always fills the weak with alarm. A person possessed of
intelligence should leave that place where he first meets with honour in
order to meet only with dishonour and injury next. In spite of any
subsequent honour that he might obtain from his enemy, he should behave
in this way. I have dwelt in thy abode for a long time, all along honoured
by thee. A cause of enmity, however, has at last arisen. I should,
therefore, leave this place without any hesitation.'
"'"Brahmadatta said, 'One who does an injury in return for an injury
received is never regarded as offending. Indeed, the avenger squares his
account by such conduct. Therefore, O Pujani, continue to reside here
without leaving this place.'
"'"Pujani said, 'No friendship can once more be cemented between a person
that has injured and him that has inflicted an injury in return. The
hearts of neither can forget what has happened.'
"'"Brahmadatta said, 'It is necessary that a union should take place
between an injurer and the avenger of that injury. Mutual animosity, upon
such a union, has been seen to cool. No fresh injury also has followed in
such cases.'
"'"Pujani said, 'Animosity (springing from mutual injuries) can never die.
The person injured should never trust his foes, thinking, "O, I have been
soothed with assurances of goodwill." In this world, men frequently meet
with destruction in consequence of (misplaced) confidence. For this
reason it is necessary that we should no longer meet each other. They who
cannot be reduced to subjection by the application of even force and
sharp weapons, can be conquered by (insincere) conciliation like (wild)
elephants through a (tame) she-elephant.'
"'"Brahmadatta said, 'From the fact of two persons residing together, even
if one inflicts upon the other deadly injury, an affection arises
naturally between them, as also mutual trust as in the case, of the
Chandala and the dog. Amongst persons that have injured one another,
co-residence blunts the keenness of animosity. Indeed, that animosity
does not last long, but disappears quickly like water poured upon the
leaf of a lotus.'
"'"Pujani said, 'Hostility springs from five causes. Persons possessed of
learning know it. Those five causes are woman, land, harsh words, natural
incompatibility, and injury.[414] When the person with whom hostility
occurs happens to be a man of liberality, he should never be slain,
particularly by a Kshatriya, openly or by covert means. In such a case,
the man's fault should be properly weighed.[415] When hostility has
arisen with even a friend, no further confidence should be reposed upon
him. Feelings of animosity lie hid like fire in wood. Like the Aurvya
fire within the waters of the ocean, the fire of animosity can never be
extinguished by gifts of wealth, by display of prowess, by conciliation,
or by scriptural learning. The fire of animosity, once ignited, the
result of an injury once inflicted, is never extinguished, O king,
without consuming outright one of the parties. One, having injured a
person, should never trust him again as one's friend, even though one
might have (after the infliction of the injury) worshipped him with
wealth and honours. The fact of the injury inflicted fills the injurer
with fear. I never injured thee. Thou also didst never do me an injury.
For this reason I dwelt in thy abode. All that is changed, and at present
I cannot trust thee.'
"'"Brahmadatta said, 'It is Time that does every act. Acts are of diverse
kinds, and all of them proceed from Time. Who, therefore, injures
whom?[416] Birth and Death happen in the same way. Creatures act (i.e.,
take birth and live) in consequence of Time, and it is in consequence
also of Time that they cease to live. Some are seen to die at once. Some
die one at a time. Some are seen to live for long periods. Like fire
consuming the fuel, Time consumes all creatures. O blessed lady, I am,
therefore, not the cause of your sorrow, nor art thou the cause of mine.
It is Time that always ordains the weal and woe of embodied creatures. Do
thou then continue to dwell here according to thy pleasure, with
affection for me and without fear of any injury from me. What thou hast
done has been forgiven by me. Do thou also forgive me, O Pujani!'
"'"Pujani said, 'If Time, according to thee, be the cause of all acts, then
of course nobody can cherish feelings of animosity towards anybody on
earth. I ask, however, why friends and kinsmen, seek to avenge themselves
the slain. Why also did the gods and the Asuras in days of yore smite
each other in battle? If it is Time that causes weal and woe and birth
and death, why do physicians then seek to administer medicines to the
sick? If it is Time that is moulding everything, what need is there of
medicines? Why do people, deprived of their senses by grief, indulge in
such delirious rhapsodies? If Time, according to thee, be the cause of
acts, how can religious merit be acquired by persons performing religious
acts? Thy son killed my child. I have injured him for that. I have by
that act, O king, become liable to be slain by thee. Moved by grief for
my son, I have done this injury to thy son. Listen now to the reason why
I have become liable to be killed by thee. Men wish for birds either to
kill them for food or to keep them in cages for sport. There is no third
reason besides such slaughter or immurement for which men would seek
individuals of our species. Birds, again, from fear of being either
killed or immured by men seek safety in flight. Persons conversant with
the Vedas have said that death and immurement are both painful. Life is
dear unto all. All creatures are made miserable by grief and pain. All
creatures wish for happiness. Misery arises from various sources.
Decrepitude, O Brahmadatta, is misery. The loss of wealth is misery. The
adjacence of anything disagreeable or evil is misery. Separation or
dissociation from friends and agreeable objects is misery. Misery arises
from death and immurement. Misery arises from causes connected with women
and from other natural causes. The misery that arises from the death of
children alters and afflicts all creatures very greatly. Some foolish
persons say that there is no misery in others' misery.[417] Only he who
has not felt any misery himself can say so in the midst of men. He,
however, that has felt sorrow and misery, would never venture to say so.
One that has felt the pangs of every kind of misery feels the misery of
others as one's own. What I have done to thee, O king, and what thou has
done to me, cannot be washed away by even a hundred years. After what we
have done to each other, there cannot be a reconciliation. As often as
thou wilt happen to think of thy son, thy animosity towards me will
become fresh. If a person after avenging oneself of an injury, desires to
make peace with the injured, the parties cannot be properly reunited even
like the fragments of an earthen vessel. Men conversant with scriptures
have laid it down that trust never produces happiness. Usanas himself sang
two verses unto Prahlada in days of old. He who trusts the words, true or
false, of a foe, meets with destruction like a seeker of honey, in a pit
covered with dry grass.[418] Animosities are seen to survive the very
death of enemies, for persons would speak of the previous quarrels of
their deceased sires before their surviving children. Kings extinguish
animosities by having recourse to conciliation but, when the opportunity
comes, break their foes into pieces like earthen jars full of water
dashed upon stone. If the king does injury to any one, he should never
trust him again. By trusting a person who has been injured, one has to
suffer great misery.'
"'"Brahmadatta said, 'No man can obtain the fruition of any object by
withholding his trust (from others). By cherishing fear one is always
obliged to live as a dead person.'
"'"Pujani said, 'He whose feet have become sore, certainly meets with a
fall if he seeks to move, move he may howsoever cautiously. A man who has
got sore eyes, by opening them against the wind, finds them exceedingly
pained by the wind. He who, without knowing his own strength, sets foot
on a wicked path and persists in walking along it, soon loses his very
life as the consequence. The man who, destitute of exertion, tills his
land, disregarding the season of rain, never succeeds in obtaining a
harvest. He who takes every day food that is nutritive, be it bitter or
astringent or palatable or sweet, enjoys a long life. He, on the other
hand, who disregards wholesome food and takes that which is injurious
without an eye to consequences, soon meets with death. Destiny and
exertion exist, depending upon each other. They that are of high souls
achieve good and great feats, while eunuchs only pay court to Destiny. Be
it harsh or mild, an act that is beneficial should be done. The
unfortunate man of inaction, however, is always overwhelmed by all sorts
of calamity. Therefore, abandoning everything else, one should put forth
his energy. Indeed, disregarding everything, men should do what is
productive of good to themselves. Knowledge, courage, cleverness,
strength, and patience are said to be one's natural friends. They that
are possessed of wisdom pass their lives in this world with the aid of
these five. Houses, precious metals, land, wife, and friends,--these are
said by the learned to be secondary sources of good. A man may obtain
them everywhere. A person possessed of wisdom may be delighted
everywhere. Such a man shines everywhere. He never inspires anybody with
fear. If sought to be frightened, he never yields to fear himself. The
wealth, however little, that is possessed at any time by an intelligent
man is certain to increase. Such a man does every act with cleverness. In
consequence of self-restraint, he succeeds in winning great fame.
Home-keeping men of little understanding have to put up with termagant
wives that eat up their flesh like the progeny of a crab eating up their
dam. There are men who through loss of understanding become very
cheerless at the prospect of leaving home. They say unto
themselves,--These are our friends! This is our country! Alas, how shall
we leave these?--One should certainly leave the country of one's birth,
if it be afflicted by plague or famine. One should live in one's own
country, respected by all, or repair to a foreign country for living
there. I shall, for this reason, repair to some other region. I do not
venture to live any longer in this place, for I have done a great wrong
to thy child. O king, one should from a distance abandon a bad wife, a
bad son, a bad king, a bad friend, a bad alliance, and a bad country. One
should not place any trust on a bad son. What joy can one have in a bad
wife? There cannot be any happiness in a bad kingdom. In a bad country
one cannot hope to obtain a livelihood. There can be no lasting
companionship with a bad friend whose attachment is very uncertain. In a
bad alliance, when there is no necessity for it, there is disgrace. She
indeed, is a wife who speaks only what is agreeable. He is a son who
makes the sire happy. He is a friend in whom one can trust. That indeed,
is one's country where one earns one's living. He is a king of strict
rule who does not oppress, who cherishes the poor and in whose
territories there is no fear. Wife, country, friends, son, kinsmen, and
relatives, all these one can have if the king happens to be possessed of
accomplishments and virtuous eyes. If the king happens to be sinful, his
subjects, inconsequence of his oppressions, meet with destruction. The
king is the root of one's triple aggregate (i.e., Virtue, Wealth, and
Pleasure). He should protect his subjects with heedfulness. Taking from
his subjects a sixth share of their wealth, he should protect them all.
That king who does not protect his subjects is truly a thief. That king
who, after giving assurances of protection, does not, from rapacity,
fulfil them,--that ruler of sinful soul,--takes upon himself the sins of
all his subjects and ultimately sinks into hell. That king, on the other
hand, who, having given assurances of protection, fulfils them, comes to
be regarded as a universal benefactor in consequence of protecting all
his subjects. The lord of all creatures, viz., Manu, has said that the
king has seven attributes: he is mother, father, preceptor, protector,
fire, Vaisravana and Yama. The king by behaving with compassion towards
his people is called their father. The subject that behaves falsely
towards him takes birth in his next life as an animal or a bird. By doing
good to them and by cherishing the poor, the king becomes a mother unto
his people. By scorching the wicked he comes to be regarded as fire, and
by restraining the sinful he comes to be called Yama. By making gifts of
wealth unto those that are dear to him, the king comes to be regarded as
Kuvera, the grantor of wishes. By giving instruction in morality and
virtue, he becomes a preceptor, and by exercising the duty of protection
he becomes the protector. That king who delights the people of his cities
and provinces by means of his accomplishments, is never divested of his
kingdom in consequence of such observance of duty. That king who knows
how to honour his subjects never suffers misery either here or hereafter.
That king whose subjects are always filled with anxiety or overburdened
with taxes, and overwhelmed by evils of every kind, meets with defeat at
the hands of his enemies. That king, on the other hand, whose subjects
grow like a large lotus in a lake succeeds in obtaining every reward here
and at last meets with honour in heaven. Hostility with a person that is
powerful is, O king, never applauded. That king who has incurred the
hostility of one more powerful than himself, loses both kingdom and
happiness.'"
"'Bhishma continued, "The bird, having said these words, O monarch, unto
king Brahmadatta, took the king's leave and proceeded to the region she
chose. I have thus recited to thee, O foremost of kings, the discourse
between Brahmadatta and Pujani. What else dost thou wish to hear?"'"