Anushasanika Parva — Persons worthy of adoration

Yudhishthira said Who are deserving of adoration? Who are they to whom one may bow? Who are they, O Bharata, to whom you would lower your head? Who, again, are they whom you like? Tell me all this, O prince.

What is that upon which your mind turn when affliction overwhelms you. Do you describe to me what is beneficial here, that is, in this region of human beings, as also hereafter.

Bhishma said I like those twiceborn persons whose highest wealth is Brahma, whose heaven is their knowledge of the soul, and whose penances are formed by their diligent study of the Vedas.

My heart longs for those in whose family persons young and old diligently bear the, ancestral burthens without languishing under them.

Brahmanas well-trained in several branches of knowledge, self-controlled, mild-speeched, conversant with the scriptures, well-bchaved, possessed of the knowledge of Brahma, and righteous in conduct, discourse in respectable assemblies like flights of swans. They in a voice deep as the muttering of clouds give vent to auspicious, sweet, excellent, and wellpronounced words, O Yudhishthira. In the courts of monarchs, they spoke these words fraught with happiness both temporal and spiritual, themselves being received with honour and attention and served with respect by those kings.

Indeed, my heart longs after them who endued with knowledge and all desirable attributes, and honoured by others, listen to such words when uttered in assemblies or the courts of kings.

My heart, O king, always yearns after them who, for the satisfaction of Brahmanas, O Yudhishthira, give to them, with devotion, food that is well-cooked and clean and wholesome.

It is easy to fight in battle, but not so to make a gift without pride or vanity.

In this world, O Yudhishthira, there are hundreds of brave men and heroes. While counting them, he who is a hero in gifts should be considered as superior.

O amiable one, if I had been even a vulgar Brahmana I would have considered myself as very great, not to speak of one born in a good family, gifted with righteousness of conduct, and given to penances and learning.

There is no one, O son of Pandu, in this world, who is dearer to me than you, O chief of Bharats's race, but Brahmans are dearer to me than you.

And since, O best of the Kurus, the Brahmanas are very much dearer to me than you, it is by that truth that I expect to go to all those regions of happiness which have been gained by my father Shantanu.

Neither my father, nor my grandfather, nor any one else connected with me by blood, is dearer to me than the Brahmanas.

I do not expect any fruit, small or great, from my adoration of the Brahmanas.

On account of what I have done to the Brahmanas in thought, word, and deed, I do not feel any pain now.

People used to call me as one devoted to the Brahmanas. This address always pleased me highly. To do good to the Brahmanas is the most sacred of all sacred duties.

I see many regions of beatitude waiting for me who have respectfully followed the Brahmanas. Very soon shall I go to these regions for good, O son.

In this world, O Yudhishthira, the duties of women depend upon their husbands. To a woman, verily, the husband is the god and he is the highest end for which she should try. As the husband to wife, so are the Brahmanas to Kshatriyas.

If there be a Kshatriya hundred years old and a good Brahmana child of only ten years, the latter should be considered as a father and the former as a son, for among the two, the Brahmana is superior.

A woman, in the absence of her husband, takes his younger brother for her lord; so the Earth, not having obtained Brahmana, made the Kshatriya her king.

The Brahmanas should be protected like sons and adored like fathers or preceptors. Indeed, O best of the Kurus, they served reverentially as people wait with respect upon their sacrificial or Homa fires.

The Brahmanas are gifted with simplicity and righteousness. They are given to truth. They are always engaged in the behalf of all creatures. Yet when angry they are like snakes of dreadful venom. They should, for these reasons, be always waited upon and served with respect and humility.

One should, O Yudhishthira, always fear these two, viz., Energy and Penances. Both these should be shirked or kept at a distance.

The effects of both are quick, There is this superiority, however, of Penances, viz., that Brahmanas gifted with Penances, O king, can, if angry, kill the object of their anger.

Even greatest Energy and Penances, become neutralised if applied against a Brahmana who has conquered anger. If the two that is, Energy and Penances-be set against each other, then both of them would be destroyed. Again when Energy, is set against Penances, it is sure to be destroyed without leaving a remnant. Penances applied against Energy cannot be destroyed completely.

As the herdsman, stick in hand, protects the herd, so should the Kshatriya always protect the Vedas and the Brahmanas.

The Kshatriya should protect all pious Brahmanas as a father protects his sons. He should always look after the houses of the Brahmanas for finding out that the means of subsistence may not be wanting.