"'Bhishma said, "In this connection is cited the old history of the oaths
(taken by many Rishis one after another) on the occasion of a sojourn to
the sacred waters. O best of the Bharatas, the act of theft had been done
by Indra, and the oaths were taken by many royal and regenerate Rishis.
Once on a time, the Rishis, having assembled together, proceeded to the
western Prabhasa. They held a consultation there which resulted in a
resolve on their part to visit all the sacred waters on earth. There were
Sakra and Angiras and Kavi of great learning and Agastya and Narada and
Pravata; and Bhrigu and Vasishtha and Kasyapa and Gautama and Viswamitra
and Jamadagni, O king! There were also the Rishi Galava, and Ashtaka and
Bharadwaja and Arundhati and the Valakhilyas; and Sivi and Dilipa and
Nahusha and Amvarisha and the royal Yayati and Dhundhumara and Puru.
These foremost of men, placing the high-souled Satakratu, the slayer of
Vritra, at their head, went to all the sacred waters one after another,
and at last reached the highly sacred Kausiki on the day of the full moon
in the month of Magha. Having cleansed themselves of all sins by
ablutions performed in all the sacred waters, they at last proceeded to
the very sacred Brahmasara. Bathing in that lake, those Rishis endued
with energy like that of fire began to gather and eat the stalks of the
lotus. Amongst those Brahmanas, some had extracted the stalks of the
lotus and some the stalks of the Nymphoea stellata. Soon they found that
the stalks extracted by Agastya (and deposited on the bank) had been
taken away by somebody. The foremost of Rishis, Agastya, addressing them
all, said, 'Who has taken away the good stalks which I had extracted and
deposited here? I suspect some one amongst you must have done the act.
Let him who has taken them away give them back to me. It behoves you not
thus to misappropriate my stalks! It is heard that Time assails the
energy of Righteousness. That Time has come upon us. Hence, Righteousness
is afflicted. It is meet that I should go to heaven for good, before
unrighteousness assails the world and establishes itself here![427]
Before the time comes when Brahmanas, loudly uttering the holy Vedas,
within the precincts of villages and inhabited places, cause the Sudras
to hear them, before the time comes when kings often against the rules of
Righteousness from motives of policy, I shall go to heaven for good!
Before men cease to regard the distinctions between the lower, the
middle, and the higher classes, I shall go to heaven for good. Before
Ignorance assails the world and envelops all things in darkness, I shall
go to heaven for good.[428] Before the time comes when the strong begin
to lord it over the weak and treat them as slaves, I shall go to heaven
for good. Indeed, I dare not remain on earth for witnessing these
things.' The Rishis, much concerned at what he said, addressed that great
ascetic and said, 'We have not stolen thy stalks! Thou shouldst not
harbour these suspicions against us. O great Rishi, we shall take the
most frightful oaths!' Having said these words, conscious of their own
innocence, and desirous of upholding the cause of righteousness, those
Rishis and sages of royal descent then began to swear, one after another,
the following oaths.
"'"Bhrigu said, 'Let him who has stolen thy stalks censure when censured,
assail when assailed, and eat the flesh that is attached to the back-bone
of animals (slaughtered in sacrifice)!'[429]
"'"Vasishtha said, 'Let him who has stolen thy stalks neglect his Vedic
studies, leash hounds, and having taken himself to the mendicant order
live in a city or town!'[430]
"'"Kasyapa said, 'Let him who has stolen thy stalks sell all things in all
places, misappropriate deposits, and give false evidence!'
"'"Gautama said, 'Let him who has stolen thy stalks live, displaying pride
in all things, with an understanding that does not see all creatures with
an equal eye, and always yielding himself to the influence of desire and
wrath! Let him be a cultivator of the soil, and let him be inspired by
malice!'[431]
"'"Angiras said, 'Let him who has stolen thy stalks be always impure! Let
him be a censurable Brahmana (for his misdeeds)! Let him leash hounds.
Let him be guilty of Brahmanicide. Let him be averse to expiations after
having committed transgressions!'
"'"Dhundhumara said, 'Let him who has stolen thy stalks be ungrateful to
his friends! Let him take birth in a Sudra woman! Let him eat alone any
good food (coming to the house), without sharing it with others!'[432]
"'"Dilipa said, 'Let him who has stolen thy stalks descend to those regions
of misery and infamy which are reserved for that Brahmana who resides in
a village having but one well and who has sexual congress with a Sudra
woman!'[433]
"'"Puru said, 'Let him who has stolen thy stalks adopt the occupation of a
physician! Let him be supported by the earnings of his wife! Let him draw
his sustenance from his father-in-law!'
"'"Sukra said, 'Let him who has stolen thy stalks eat the flesh of animals
not slain in sacrifices! Let him have sexual congress at day-time! Let
him be a servant of the king!'
"'"Jamadagni said, 'Let him who has stolen thy stalks study the Vedas on
forbidden days or occasions! Let him feed friends at Sraddhas performed
by him! Let him eat at the Sraddha of a Sudra!'
"'"Sivi said, 'Let him who has stolen thy stalks die without having
established a fire (for daily worship)! Let him be guilty of obstructing
the performance of sacrifices by others! Let him quarrel with those that
are observant of penances!'
"'"Yayati said, 'Let him who has stolen thy stalks be guilty of having
sexual congress with his wife when she is not in her season and when he
is himself in the observance of a vow and bears matted locks on his head!
Let him also disregard the Vedas!'
"'"Nahusha said, 'Let him who has stolen thy stalks live in domesticity
after having betaken himself to the vow of mendicancy! Let him act in
whatever way he pleases (and without restraint of any kind), after having
undergone the initiatory rites in view of a sacrifice or some solemn
observance! Let him take pecuniary gratification for prelections to
disciples (on any branch of knowledge that the latter come to learn)!'
"'"Amvarisha said, 'Let him who has stolen thy stalks be cruel and
unrighteous in his behaviour towards women and kinsmen and kine! Let him
be guilty also of Brahmanicide!'
"'"Narada said, 'Let him who has stolen thy stalks be one that identifies
the body with the soul! Let him study the scriptures with a preceptor
that is censurable! Let him chant the Vedas, offending at each step
against the rules of orthoepy! Let him disregard all his seniors!'
"'"Nabhaga said, 'Let him who has stolen thy stalks always speak
false-hoods and quarrel with those that are righteous! Let him bestow his
daughter in marriage after accepting a pecuniary gratification offered by
his son-in-law!'
"'"Kavi said, 'Let him who has stolen thy stalks he guilty of striking a
cow with his foot! Let him make water, facing the sun! Let him cast off
the person that seeks shelter at his hands!'
"'"Viswamitra said, 'Let him who has stolen thy stalks become a servant
that behaves with deceit towards his master! Let him be the priest of a
king! Let him be the Ritwik of one that should not be assisted at his
sacrifices!'
"'"Parvata said, 'Let him who has stolen thy stalks be the chief of a
village! Let him make journeys on asses! Let him leash hounds for a
living!'
"'"Bharadwaja said, 'Let him who has stolen thy stalks be guilty of all the
demerits that become his who is cruel in his behaviour and untruthful in
speech!'
"'"Ashtaka said, 'Let him who has stolen thy stalks be a king destitute of
wisdom capricious and sinful in his behaviour, and disposed to rule the
Earth unrighteously!'
"'"Galava said, 'Let him who has stolen thy stalks be more infamous than a
sinful man! Let him be sinful in his acts towards his kinsmen and
relatives! Let him proclaim the gifts he makes to others!'
"'"Arundhati said, 'Let her who has stolen thy stalks speak ill of her
mother-in-law! Let her feel disgust for her lord. Let her eat alone any
good food that comes to her house!'
"'"The Valakhilyas said, 'Let him who has stolen thy stalks stand on one
foot at the entrance of a village (for earning his subsistence)! Let him.
while knowing all duties, be guilty of every breach!'[434]
"'"Sunahsakha said, 'Let him who has stolen thy stalks be a Brahmana that
sleeps in happiness, having disregarded his daily Homa! Let him, after
becoming a religious mendicant, behave in whatever way he pleases,
without observing any restraint!'
"'"Surabhi said, 'Let her who has stolen thy stalks be milked, with her
(hind) legs bound with a rope of human hair, and with the aid of a calf
not her own, and, while milked, let her milk be held in a vessel of white
brass!'"[435]
"'Bhishma continued, "After the Rishis and the royal sages had sworn these
diverse oaths, O Kuru king, the thousand-eyed chief of the deities,
filled with joy, cast his looks on the angered Rishi Agastya. Addressing
the Rishi who was very angry at the disappearance of his lotus-stalks,
Maghavat thus declared what was passing in his mind. Hear, O king, what
the words were that Indra spoke in the midst of those regenerate and
celestial Rishis and royal sages.
"'"Sakra said, 'Let him who has stolen thy stalks be possessed of the merit
of him who bestows his daughter in marriage upon a Brahmana that has duly
observed the vow of Brahmacharya or that has duly studied the Samans and
the Yajuses! Let him also have the merit of one that undergoes the final
bath after completing one's study of the Atharva Veda! Let him who has
stolen thy stalks have the merit of having studied all the Vedas. Let him
be observant of all duties and righteous in his behaviour! Indeed, let
him go to the region of Brahman!'
"'"Agastya said, 'Thou hast, O slayer of Vala, uttered a benediction
instead of a curse! (It is evident), thou hast taken my stalks! Give
them to me, for that is the eternal duty!'
"'"Indra said, 'O holy one, I did not remove thy stalks, led by cupidity!
Indeed, I removed them from desire of hearing this conclave recite what
the duties are that we should observe. It behoveth thee not to give way
to anger! Duties are the foremost of Srutis. Duties constitute the
eternal path (for crossing the sea of the world)! I have listened to this
discourse of the Rishis (on duties) that is eternal and immutable, and
that transcends all change![436] Do thou then, O foremost of learned
Brahmanas, take back these stalks of thine! O holy one, it behoves thee
to forgive my transgression, O thou that art free from every fault!'"
"'Bhishma continued, "Thus addressed by the chief of the deities, the
ascetic, viz., Agastya, who had been very angry, took back his stalks.
Endued with great intelligence, the Rishi became cheerful. After this,
those denizens of the woods proceeded to diverse other sacred waters.
Indeed, repairing to those sacred waters they performed their ablutions
everywhere. The man who reads this narrative with close attention on
every Parva day, will not have to become the progenitor of an ignorant
and wicked son. He will never be destitute of learning. No calamity will
ever touch him. He will, besides, be free from every kind of sorrow.
Decrepitude and decay will never be his. Freed from stains and evil of
every kind, and endued with merit, he is sure to attain to Heaven. He who
studies this Sastra observed by the Rishis, is sure, O prince of men, to
attain to the eternal region of Brahman that is full of felicity!"'"[437]