"'Yudhishthira said, "Tell me, O chief of Bharata's race, how the eldest
brother should behave towards his younger brothers and how the younger
brothers should behave towards their eldest brother."
"'Bhishma said, "Do thou, O son, always behave towards thy younger
brothers as their eldest brother should. Thou art always the eldest of
all these thy brothers. That high conduct which the preceptor should
always adopt towards his disciples should be adopted by thee towards thy
younger brothers. If the preceptor happens to be unendued with wisdom,
the disciple cannot possibly behave towards him in a respectful or proper
way. If the preceptor happens to be possessed of purity and highness of
conduct, the disciple also succeeds in attaining to conduct of the same
kind, O Bharata. The eldest brother should at times be blind to the acts
of his younger brothers, and though possessed of wisdom should at times
act as if he does not understand their acts. If the younger brothers be
guilty of any transgression, the eldest brother should correct them by
indirect ways and means. If there be good understanding among brothers
and if the eldest brother seek to correct his younger brothers by direct
or ostensible means, persons that are enemies, O son of Kunti, that are
afflicted with sorrow at the sight of such good understanding and who,
therefore, always seek to bring about a disunion, set themselves to
disunite the brothers and cause dissension among them. It is the eldest
brother that enhances the prosperity of the family or destroys it
entirely. If the eldest brother happens to be unendued with sense and
wicked in behaviour, he brings about the destruction of the whole family.
The eldest brother who injures his younger brothers ceases to be regarded
as the eldest and forfeits his share in the family property and deserves
to be checked by the king. That man who acts deceitfully, has, without
doubt, to go to regions of grief and every kind of evil. The birth of
such a person serves no useful purpose even as the flowers of the
cane.[486] That family in which a sinful person takes birth becomes
subject to every evil. Such a person brings about infamy, and all the
good acts of the family disappear. Such among the brothers as are wedded
to evil acts forfeit their shares of the family property. In such a case,
the eldest brother may appropriate the whole Yautuka property without
giving any portion thereof to his younger brothers. If the eldest brother
makes any acquisition, without using the paternal property and by going
to a distant place he may appropriate for his own use, such acquisitions,
without giving any share thereof to his younger brothers. If unseparated
brothers desire (during the lifetime of their father) to portion the
family property, the father should give equal shares unto all his sons.
If the eldest brother happens to be of sinful acts and undistinguished by
accomplishments of any kind he may be disregarded by his younger
brothers. If the wife or the younger brother happens to be sinful, her or
his good must still be looked after. Persons conversant with the efficacy
of righteousness say that righteousness is the highest good. The
Upadhyaya is superior to even ten Acharyas. The sire is equal to ten
Upadhyayas. The mother is equal to ten sires or even the whole earth.
There is no senior equal to the mother. Verily, she transcends all in
respect of the reverence due to her.[487] It is for this reason that
people regard the mother to deserve so much reverence. After the father
has ceased to breathe, O Bharata, the eldest brother should be regarded
as the father. It is the eldest brother who should assign unto them their
means of support and protect and cherish them. All the younger brothers
should bow to him and obey his authority. Indeed, they should live in
dependence upon him even as they did upon their father while he was
alive. So far as the body is concerned, O Bharata, it is the father and
the mother that create it. That birth, however, which the Acharya
ordains, is regarded as the true birth, that is, besides, really unfading
and immortal. The eldest sister, O chief of Bharata's race, is like unto
the mother. The wife of the eldest brother also is like unto the mother,
for the younger brother, in infancy, receives suck from her."'"[488]