"'Yudhishthira said, "What, indeed, is good for a man that is sunk in dire
distress, when loss of friends or loss of kingdom, O monarch has
occurred? In this world, O bull of Bharata's race, thou art the foremost
of our instructors. I ask thee this. It behoveth thee to tell me what I
ask."
"'Bhishma said, "For one that has been deprived of sons and wives and
pleasures of every kind and wealth, and that has been plunged into dire
distress, fortitude is of the highest good, O king! The body is never
emaciated of one that is always possessed of fortitude. Grieflessness
bears happiness within it, and also health that is a superior possession.
In consequence again of this health of body, once may again acquire
prosperity. That wise man, O sire, who adheres to a course of righteous
conduct (while afflicted by distress) succeeds in acquiring prosperity,
patience, and perseverance in the accomplishment of all his objects. In
this connection is once more cited the old narrative of the discourse
between Vali and Vasava, O Yudhishthira! After the battle between the
gods and the Asuras, in which a large number of Daityas and Danavas fell,
had come to an end, Vali became king. He was deceived by Vishnu who once
more established his sway over all the worlds. He of a hundred
sacrifices was once more invested with the sovereignty of the deities.
After the rule of the deities had thus been re-established, and the four
orders of men had been re-established in the practice of their respective
courses of duty, the three worlds once more swelled with prosperity, and
the Self-born became glad at heart. At that time, accompanied by the
Rudras, the Vasus, the Adityas, the Aswins, the celestial Rishis, the
Gandharvas, the Siddhas, and other superior orders of beings, the
puissant Sakra, seated in splendour on his four-tusked prince of
elephants, called Airavata, made a progress through all the worlds. One
day, while thus engaged, the wielder of the thunderbolt beheld
Virochana's son Vali within a certain mountain cave on the sea-shore.
Seeing the prince of Danavas, he approached him. Beholding the chief of
the deities, viz., Indra, thus seated on the back of Airavata and
surrounded by the several orders of the celestials, the prince of the
Daityas showed no signs of sorrow or agitation. Indra also, seeing Vali
staying unmoved and fearless, addressed him from the back of his foremost
of elephants, saying, 'How is it, O Daitya, that thou art so unmoved? Is
it due to thy heroism or thy having waited with reverence upon aged
persons? Is it due to thy mind having been cleansed by penances? To
whatever cause it may be due, this frame of mind is certainly very
difficult of attainment. Hurled from a position that was certainly the
highest, thou art now divested of all thy possessions, and thou hast been
brought under the sway of thy foes. O son of Virochana, what is that by
having recourse to which thou dost not grieve although the occasion is
for grief? Formerly, when thou wert invested with the sovereignty of thy
own order, unrivalled pleasures were thine. Now, however, thou art
divested of thy wealth and jewels and sovereignty. Tell us why thou art
so unmoved. Thou wert before this a god, seated on the throne of thy sire
and grandsires. Beholding thyself stripped today by thy foes, why dost
thou not grieve? Thou art bound in Varuna's noose and hast been struck
with my thunderbolt. Thy wives have been taken away and thy wealth also.
Tell us why thou dost not indulge in grief. Divested of prosperity and
fallen away from affluence, thou indulgest not in grief. This, indeed, is
something that is very remarkable. Who else, O Vali, than one like thee,
could venture to bear the burthen of existence after being shorn of the
sovereignty of the three worlds?' Hearing without any pain these and
other cutting speeches that Indra addressed to him, asserting the while
his own superiority over him, Vali, the son of Virochana, fearlessly
answered his interrogator, saying the following words.
"'"Vali said, 'When calamities have oppressed me, O Sakra, what dost thou
gain by such brag now? Today I behold thee, O Purandara, stand before me
with the thunderbolt upraised in thy hand! Formerly, however, thou
couldst not bear thyself so. Now thou hast by some means gained that
power. Indeed, who else than thou could utter such cruel speeches? That
person who, though able to punish, shows compassion towards a heroic foe
vanquished and brought under his sway, is truly a very superior
individual. When two persons fight, victory in the battle is certainly
dubious. One of the two certainly becomes victorious, and the other
becomes vanquished. O chief of the deities, let not thy disposition be
such! Do not imagine that thou hast become the sovereign of all creatures
after having conquered all with thy might and prowess! That we have
become so is not, O Sakra, the result of any act of ours.[855] That thou
hast become so, O wielder of the thunderbolt, is not the result of any
act of thine. What I am now thou wilt be in the future. Do not disregard
me, thinking that thou hast done an exceedingly difficult feat. A person
obtains happiness and misery one after another in course of Time. Thou
hast, O Sakra, obtained the sovereignty of the universe in course of Time
but not in consequence of any especial merit in thee. It is Time that
leads me on in his course. That same Time leads thee also onward. It is
for this that I am not what thou art today, and thou also art not what we
are! Dutiful services done to parents, reverential worship of deities,
due practice of any good quality,--none of these can bestow happiness on
any one. Neither knowledge, nor penances, nor gifts, nor friends, nor
kinsmen can rescue one that is afflicted by Time. Men are incapable of
averting, by even a thousand means, an impending calamity. Intelligence
and strength go for nothing in such cases. There is no rescuer of men
that are afflicted by Time's course. That thou, O Sakra, regarded thyself
as the actor lies at the root of all sorrow. If the ostensible doer of an
act is the real actor thereof, that doer then would not himself be the
work of some one else (viz., the Supreme Being). Hence, because the
ostensible doer is himself the product of another, that another is the
Supreme Being above whom there is nothing higher. Aided by Time I had
vanquished thee. Aided by Time thou hast vanquished me. It is Time that
is the mover of all beings that move. It is Time that destroys all
beings. O Indra, in consequence of thy intelligence being of the vulgar
species thou seest not that destruction awaits all things. Some, indeed,
regard thee highly as one that has acquired by his own acts the
sovereignty of the universe. For all that, how can one like us that know
the course of the world, indulge in grief in consequence of having been
afflicted by Time, or suffer our understanding to be stupefied, or yield
to the influence of error? Shall my understanding or that of one like me,
even when we are overwhelmed by Time, coming in contact with a calamity,
suffer itself to be destroyed like a wrecked vessel at sea?[856] Myself,
thyself, and all those who will in future become the chiefs of the
deities, shall have, O Sakra, to go the way along which hundreds of
Indras have gone before thee. When thy hour matures itself, Time will
surely destroy thee like me,--thee that art now so invincible and that
now blazest with unrivalled splendour. In Time's course many thousands of
Indras and of deities have been swept off yuga after yuga. Time, indeed,
is irresistible. Having attained to thy present position, thou regardest
thyself very highly, even as the Creator of all beings, the divine and
eternal Brahman. This position of thine had been attained by many before
thee. With none did it prove stable or unending. In consequence, however,
of a foolish understanding, thou alone regardest it to be immutable and
eternal. Thou trustest in that which is not deserving of trust. Thou
deemest that to be eternal which is not eternal. O chief of the deities,
one that is overwhelmed and stupefied by Time really regards oneself
after this manner. Led by folly thou regardest thy present regal
prosperity to be thine. Know, however, that it is never stable in respect
of either thee or me or others. It had belonged to innumerable persons
before thee. Passing over them, it has now become thine. It will stay
with thee, O Vasava, for some time and then prove its instability. Like a
cow abandoning one drinking ditch for another, it will surely desert thee
for somebody else. So many sovereigns have gone before thee that I
venture not to make an enumeration. In the future also, O Purandara,
innumerable sovereigns will rise after thee. I do not behold those rulers
now that had formerly enjoyed this earth with her trees and plants and
gems and living creatures and waters and mines. Prithu, Aila, Maya,
Bhima, Naraka, Samvara, Aswagriva, Puloman, Swarbhanu, whose standard was
of immeasurable height, Prahlada, Namuchi, Daksha, Vipprachitti,
Virochana, Hrinisheva, Suhotra, Bhurihan, Pushavat, Vrisha, Satyepsu,
Rishava, Vahu, Kapilaswa, Virupaka, Vana, Kartaswara, Vahni,
Viswadanshtra, Nairiti, Sankocha, Varitaksha, Varaha, Aswa, Ruchiprabha,
Viswajit, Pratirupa, Vrishanda, Vishkara, Madhu, Hiranyakasipu, the
Danava Kaitabha, and many others that were Daityas and Danavas and
Rakshasas, these and many more unnamed, belonging to remote and remoter
ages, great Daityas and foremost of Danavas, whose names we have
heard,--indeed, many foremost of Daityas of former times,--having gone
away, leaving the Earth. All of them were afflicted by Time. Time proved
stronger than all of them. All of them had worshipped the Creator in
hundreds of sacrifices. Thou art not the one person that hast done so.
All of them were devoted to righteousness and all of them always
performed great sacrifices. All of them were capable of roaming through
the skies, and all were heroes that never showed their backs in battle.
All of them had very strong frames and all had arms that resembled heavy
bludgeons. All of them were masters of hundreds of illusions, and all
could assume any form they wished. We have never heard that having
engaged themselves in battle any of them had ever sustained a defeat. All
were firm observers of the vow of truth, and all of them sported as they
wished. Devoted to the Vedas and Vedic rites, all of them were possessors
of great learning. Possessed of great might, all of them had acquired the
highest prosperity and affluence. But none of those high-souled
sovereigns had the least tincture of pride in consequence of sovereignty.
All of them were liberal, giving unto each what each deserved. All of
them behaved properly and duly towards all creatures. All of them were
the offspring of Daksha's daughters. Endued with great strength, all were
lords of the creation. Scorching all things with the energy all of them
blazed with splendour. Yet all of them were swept off by time. As regards
thee, O Sakra, it is evident that when thou shalt have, after enjoying
the earth, to leave her, thou wilt not be able to control thy grief. Cast
off this desire that thou cherishest for objects of affection and
enjoyment. Cast off this pride that is born of prosperity. If thou actest
in this manner, thou wilt then be able to bear the grief that attends the
loss of sovereignty. When the hour of sorrow comes, do not yield to
sorrow. Similarly, when the hour of joy comes, do not rejoice.
Disregarding both the past and the future, live contentedly with the
present. When Time that never sleeps came upon me that had always been
heedful of my duties, turn thy heart to the ways of peace, O Indra, for
that same Time will very soon come over thee! Thou piercest me with thy
words, and thou seemest to be bent upon inspiring dread in me. Indeed,
finding me collected, thou regardest thy own self very highly. Time had
first assailed me. It is even now behind thee. I was at first vanquished
by Time. It was for that reason that thou didst afterwards succeed in
vanquishing me for which thou roarest in pride thus. Formerly, when I
happened to become angry, what person was there on earth that could stand
before me in battle? Time, however, is stronger. He has overwhelmed me.
It is for this reason, O Vasava, that thou art able to stand before me!
Those thousand (celestial years), that are the measure of thy sway, will
surely come to an end. Thou shalt then fall and thy limbs will become as
miserable as mine now even though I am possessed of mighty energy. I have
fallen away from the high place that is occupied by the sovereign of the
three worlds. Thou art now the actual Indra in heaven. In this delightful
world of living beings, thou art now, in consequence of Time's course, an
object of universal adoration. Canst thou say what is that by having done
which thou hast become Indra today and what also is that by having done
which we have fallen off from the position we had? Time is the one
creator and destroyer. Nothing else is cause (in the universe for the
production of any effect). Decline, fall, sovereignty, happiness, misery,
birth and death,--a learned person by encountering any of these neither
rejoices nor indulges in sorrow. Thou, O Indra, knowest us. We also, O
Vasava, know thee. Why then dost thou brag in this fashion before me,
forgetting, O shameless one, that it is Time that hath made thee what
thou art? Thou didst thyself witness what my prowess was in those days.
The energy and might I used to display in all my battles, furnish
sufficient evidence. The Adityas, the Rudras, the Sadhyas, the Vasus, and
the Maruts, O lord of Sachi, were all vanquished by me. Thou knowest it
well thyself, O Sakra, that in the great encounter between the gods and
the Asuras, the assembled deities were quickly routed by me by the fury
of my attack. Mountains with their forests and the denizens that lived in
those forests, were repeatedly hurled by us. Many were the mountain
summits with craggy edges that I broke on thy head. What, however, can I
do now? Time is incapable of being resisted. If it were not so, do not
think that I would not have ventured to kill thee with that thunderbolt
of thine with even a blow of my fist. The present, however, is not the
hour with me for the display of prowess. The hour that hath come is such
that I should adopt tranquillity now and tolerate everything. It is for
this reason, O Sakra, that I put up with all this insolence of thine.
Know, however, that I am less able to bear insolence than even thou. Thou
braggest before one who, upon his time having matured, is surrounded on
all sides by Time's conflagration and bound strongly in Time's cords.
Yonder stands that dark individual who is incapable of being resisted by
the world. Of fierce form, he stands there, having bound me like an
inferior animal bound with cords. Gain and loss, happiness and misery,
lust and wrath, birth and death, captivity and release,--these all one
encounters in Time's course. I am not the actor. Thou art not the actor.
He is the actor who, indeed, is omnipotent. That Time ripens me (for
throwing me down) like a fruit that has appeared on a tree. There are
certain acts by doing which one person obtains happiness in Time's
course. By doing those very acts another obtains misery in the course of
Time. Versed as I am with the virtues of Time, it behoves me not to
indulge in grief when it is Time that has assailed me. It is for this
reason, O Sakra, that I do not grieve. Grief cannot do us any good. The
grief of one that indulges in grief never dispels one's calamity. On the
other hand, grief destroys one's power. It is for this that I do not
indulge in grief.'
"'"Thus addressed by the chief of the Daityas, he of a hundred sacrifices,
viz., the puissant and thousand-eyed chastiser of Paka, restrained his
wrath and said these words.
"'"Sakra said, 'Beholding this upraised arm of mine, equipped with the
thunderbolt, and those nooses of Varuna, who is there whose understanding
would not be agitated, including the very Destroyer himself that
compasses the death of all beings? Thy understanding, however, so firm
and so endued with vision of the truth, hath not been agitated. O thou of
invincible prowess, verily, thou art unmoved today in consequence of thy
fortitude. Beholding all things in this universe to be fleeting, who is
there in it, endued with body, that would venture to repose confidence on
either his body or all the objects of his desire? Like thyself I also
know that this universe is not eternal, and that it has been thrown into
Time's conflagration that is dreadful though hidden from the view, that
is continuously burning, and that is truly endless. Every one is assailed
here by Time. Nothing among beings that are subtile or gross enjoys an
immunity from Time's sway. All things are being cooked in Time's
cauldron. Time has no master. Time is ever heedful. Time is always
cooking all things within itself. No one who has once entered the domain
of Time which is ceaselessly going on, can escape therefrom. All embodied
beings may be heedless of Time, but Time is heedful and is broad awake
behind them. No one has ever been seen to have driven off Time from him.
Ancient and eternal, and the embodiment of justice, Time is uniform in
respect of all living creatures. Time cannot be avoided, and there is no
retrogression in its course. Like a usurer adding up his interest, Time
adds up its subtile portions represented by kalas, and lavas, and
kashthas, and kshanas, and months, and days and nights. Like the current
of a river washing away a tree whose roots are reached by it, Time,
getting at him who says, "This I will do today but this other act I will
do tomorrow" sweeps him away. Time sweeps away one and men exclaim, "I
saw him a little while ago. How has he died?" Wealth, comforts, rank,
prosperity, all fall a prey to Time. Approaching every living creature,
Time snatches away his life. All things that proudly raise their heads
high are destined to fall down. That which is existent is only another
form of the non-existent. Everything is transitory and unstable. Such a
conviction is, however, difficult to come at. Thy understanding, so firm
and endued with true vision, is unmoved. Thou dost not, even mentally,
realise what thou wert some time ago. Time that is strong, assailing the
universe, cooks it within itself and sweeps away everything without
consideration of seniority of years or the reverse. For all that, one
that is being dragged by Time is unconscious of the noose thrown round
one's neck. People, given to jealousy and vanity and cupidity to lust,
wrath, and fear, to desire, heedlessness, and pride, suffer themselves to
be stupefied. Thou, however, art acquainted with the truth of existence.
Thou art possessed of learning and endued with wisdom and penance. Thou
beholdest Time as clearly as if it were an emblic myrobalan on the palm
of thy hand. O son of Virochana, fully conversant art thou with the topic
of Time's conduct. Thou art well-versed in all branches of knowledge.
Thou art of cleansed Soul and a thorough master of thy persons. Thou art,
for this, an object of affection with all persons endued with wisdom.
Thou hast, with thy understanding, fully comprehended the whole universe.
Though thou hast enjoyed every kind of happiness, thou art never attached
to anything, and hence thou hast not been stained by anything. The
qualities of Passion and Darkness do not soil thee for thou hast
conquered thy senses. Thou waitest only upon thy Soul which is divested
of both joy and sorrow. The friend of all creatures, without animosity,
with thy heart set upon tranquillity, beholding thee thus, my heart is
inclined to compassion towards thee. I do not desire to afflict an
enlightened person like thee by keeping him in an enchained condition.
Abstention from injury is the highest religion. I feel compassion towards
thee. These nooses of Varuna, with which thou hast been bound, will
loosen Time's course in consequence of the misconduct of men. Blessed be
thou, O great Asura! When the daughter-in-law will set the aged
mother-in-law to work, when the son, through delusion, will command the
sire to work for him, when Sudras will have their feet washed by
Brahmanas and have sexual congress fearlessly with women of regenerate
families, when men will discharge the vital seed into forbidden wombs,
when the refuse of houses will begin to be carried upon plates and
vessels made of white brass, and when sacrificial offerings intended for
the deities will begin to be borne upon forbidden vessels, when all the
four orders will transgress all restraints, then these bonds of thine
will begin one by one, to loosen. From us thou hast no fear. Wait
quietly. Be happy. Be divested of all sorrow. Let thy heart be cheerful.
Let no illness be thine.' Having said these words unto him, the divine
Indra, having the prince of elephants for his vehicle, left that spot.
Having vanquished all the Asuras, the chief of the deities rejoiced in
gladness and became the one sole lord of all the worlds. The great Rishis
hymned the praises of that lord of all mobile and immobile creatures. The
deity of fire once more began to bear the libations of clarified butter
that were poured (by all) into his visible form, and the great god took
charge of the nectar that was committed to his care. His praises hymned
by the foremost of Brahmanas engaged in sacrifices, the lord Indra,
blazing with splendour, his wrath pacified, and his heart tranquillised,
became gladdened, and returning to his own abode in heaven, began to pass
his days in great happiness."'"[857]