आपद्धर्मानुशासन पर्व — क्या मनुष्य मृत्यु के पश्चात् पुनः जीवित होता है; गिद्ध और सियार का संवाद

Yudhishthira said Have you, O grandfather, ever seen or heard of any mortal restored to life after having met with death.

'Listen, O king, to the discourse between a vulture and a jackal as it took place in days of yore. This incident happened in the forest of Naimisha.

Once upon a time a Brahmana had, after great difficulties, got a son of large eyes. The child died of infantile convulsions.

Violently agitated by grief and bewailing aloud, some of his kinsmen took up the little boy who was the only wealth of his family.

Taking the dead child they went in the direction of the crematorium. Going there they began to take the child from one another's breast and cry more bitterly in sorrow.

Remembering with sorrowful hearts the former speeches of their minion again and again, they could not return home casting the body on the naked earth.

Hearing their cries, a vulture came there and said-Go away, and do not delay, you who have to cast off but one child!

Kinsmen always go away leaving here thousands of men and women brought here in course of time.

See, the entire universe is subject to happiness and misery. Union and disunion are seen in turns.

They who have come to the crematorium with the dead bodies of their relatives, and they who sit by those bodies themselves go away from the world for their own acts when the allotted periods of their own lives expire.

There is no necessity of your waiting in the crematorium, this dreadful place, which abounds with vultures, jackals and skeletons and fills every creature with fear.

Whether friend or enemy, no one becomes alive having once yielded to the power of Time. Such, indeed, is the destiny of all creatures.

In this world of mortals, everyone who is born is sure to die. Who shall restore to life one that is dead and gone on the way ordained by the destroyer?

At this hour when men are about to terminate their daily labours, the Sun is retiring to the setting hills. Go to your homes, renouncing this love for the child.

Hearing these words of the vulture, the grief of the kinsmen seemed to decrease, and placing the child on the naked earth they were about to go away.

Knowing very well that the child had died and giving up every hope to see him again, they began to go back, bewailing loudly.

Firmly assured, and giving up all hopes of restoring the dead to life, they cast off that offspring of their family and prepared to turn back from that spot.

At this time a jackal, black as a raven, came out of his hole and said to those departing kinsmen, forsooth, you who are kinsmen of that dead child have no affection.

There the Sun still shines in the sky, ye fools! Give vent to your feelings, fearlessly! Many are the virtues of the hour. This child may regain its life.

Spreading a few blades of Kusha grass on the ground and leaving that dear child on the crematorium, why do you go away with hearts of steel and renouncing every affection for the darling.

Surely, you have no love for that sweetspeeched little child, whose words, as soon as they left his lips, used to please you greatly!

Mark the affection that even birds and beasts cherish for their young ones. They get no return for rearing up their young ones!

Like the sacrifice of the Rishis, the love of quadrupeds, of birds, and insects, yields no reward in heaven.

Though they love their children, they are never seen to derive any benefit from the latter either in this world or in the next. Yet they love their young ones.

Growing up, their children never maintain them in age. Still do they not feel pained when they do not see their title ones?

How is affection to be seen in human beings since they only indulge in grief? Where would you go leaving here this child who is the perpetuator of his family.

Do you shed tears for him for some time, and look at him a little longer with affection. It is difficult to cast off objects which are so dear.

It is friends and not others who wait by the side of the weak, of the prosecuted in a court of law, and of him who is borne towards the burning place.

Life is dear to all, and all feel the influence of love. See the affection that is cherished by beasts and birds.

How can you go away, casting off this boy having eyes large as the lotus petal, and beautiful as a newly-wedded youth washed clean and bedecked with garlands.

Hearing these words of the jackal who had been thus giving vent to expressions of grief, the men turned back for the sake of the dead body.

The Vulture said Alas, you men shorn of strength of mind, why do you turn back at the call of a cruel, nmean and little-witted jackal.

Why do you lament for that compound of five elements deserted by their presiding gods, no longer occupied (by the soul), motionless, and stiff as a piece of wood? Why do you not grieve for your own selves.

Do you practise austerities by which you will succeed in purifying yourselves from sin! Everything may be got by penances. What will lamentations do?

Death is born with the body. It is for ill-luck that this boy has departed, plunging you into infinite grief!

Wealth, kine, gold, precious gems, children, all originate from penances. Penances again are the outcome of Yoga.

Amongst creatures, the measure of happiness or misery depends on pristine deeds. Every creature is born in the world, taking with him his own measure of happiness and misery.

The son is not fettered by the acts of the father, or the father by those of the son. Fettered by their own acts good and bad, all have to wend this common road.

Duly follow all the duties, and abstain from acts of unrighteousness! Reverentially wait, according to scriptural injunctions, upon the gods and the Brahmanas!

Shake off sorrow and cheerlessness, and abstain from parental affection! Lcave the child on this open ground, and go away forthwith.

The doer alone reaps the fruits of his good or bad acts. What concern have kinsmen with them.

Leaving dead kinsman however dear, kinsman leave this spot. With eyes full of tcars, they go away, ccasing to show affection for the dead.

Wise or ignorant, rich or poor, every one yields to Time, endued with good and bad acts.

Of what use is mourning? Why do you grieve for the dead? Time is the master of all, and he by his very nature looks impartially on all things.

In proud youth or in helpless infancy, in age or while lying in the mother's womb, every one is subject to be attacked by Death. Such is the course of the world.

Alas, the love which you entertain for your dead child, and manifested in your sorrowing cyes and mournful looks, has been lessened by that foolish vulture.

It is, indeed, so, since influenced by his well-applied words teaching tranquility and capable of producing conviction, that man there returns to the town, casting off affection that is so hard to throw off.

Alas, I had thought that the grief felt by men bewailing aloud for the death of a child and for the corpse on a creinatorium, is great like that of kine bereft of calves.

To-day, however, I perceive the extent of grief of human beings on earth. Seeing their great affection I had shed tears myself.

One should always exert. From it and through destiny one succeeds. Exertion and destiny, joining together, yield fruits.

One should always exert hopefully. How can happiness be secured from despondency? Objects of desire may be acquired by resolution. Why then do you return so heartlessly?

Where do you go, leaving in the forest this your own begotten son, this perpetuator of the race of his father.

Stay here till the sun sets and the evening comes. You may then take away this boy with yourselves or remain here with him.

I am, Ye men, thousand years old this day, but I have never seen a dead creature, male or female or eunuch, revive after death.

Some die in the womb; some die soon after birth; some die while crawling; some die in youth; and some in old age.

The fortunes of all creatures, including beasts and birds, are fickle. The extent of life of all mobile and immobile creatures is fixed beforehand.

Shorn of wives and dear ones and filled with sorrow for children, men leave this spot every day with aggrieved hearts for returning home.

Leaving here thousands of both friends and enemies, kinsmen stricken with grief go back to their homes.

Leave off this dead body which has no longer any animal heat in it and which is as stiff as a piece of wood. Why then do you not go away, leaving the body of this child which is like a piece of wood and whose life had entered a new body?

This your love has no meaning, and this caressing of the child is useless. He does not see with his eyes or hear with ears.

Leaving him here go away forthwith. Thus addressed by me in words which are seemingly cruel but which in reality are reasonable and are directly connected with the great religion of emancipation, return he to your respective homes.

Addressed thus by the vulture gifted with wisdom and knowledge and capable of giving intelligence and awakening the understanding, those men were about to go away from the crematorium. Grief becomes two-fold two-fold on seeing its object and on remembering the acts of that object (in life).

Having heard these words of the vulture, the men resolved to leave that place. Just at that time the jackal, coming there quickly, spied the child lying in the sleep of death.

Why, indeed, do you leave, at the vulture's suggestion, this child bearing golden hue, adorned with ornaments, and capable of giving the obsequial cake to his departed manes?

If you abandon him, your love will not terminate, nor these piteous cries. On the other hand, your grief will multiply itself.

We have heard that a Shudra named Shambuka having been killed and virtue having been upheld by the powerful Rama, a (dead, Brahmana child was restored to life.

Likewise the son of the royal sage Shveta had died (prematurely). But the virtuous monarch succeeded in reviving his dead child.

Similarly, in your case also, some sage or god may be willing to grant your desire and show mercy to you that are crying piteously.

Thus accosted by the jackai, the men, stricken with grief and full of affection for the child, returned, and placing the child's head on their laps one after another, began the bewail piteously. Hearing their cries, the vulture, coming there, once more spoke to them as follows.

The Vulture said Why are you bathing this child with your tears? Why are you pressing him with your palms in this way? At the behest of the grim king of justice the child has been sent to that sleep which will never be broken.

Those who have acquired the merit of penances, those who are gifted with wealth, those who are endued with great intelligence, in fact, all yield to death. This is the place intended for the dead.

It is always seen that casting off thousands of kinsmen, young and old kinsmen pass their nights and days in grief, rolling on the naked earth.

Stop this ardour in putting on the trappings of woe. It is impossible that this child would be restored to life again.

He will not regain his life ai the call of the jackal. If a person once dies and deserts his body, this body never regains animation.

By sacrificing their own lives, hundreds of jackals will not be able to revive this child in hundreds of years.

If, however, Rudra, Kumara, Brahma, or Vishnu, grant him a boon, then only may this child be restored to life.

Neither the shedding of tears, nor the heaving of long sighs, nor profuse lamentations, will restore this one to life.

Myself, the jackal, you all, and all the relatives of this one, with all our virtues and sins, are vending the same way. Seek with care virtue, truth, the good of others justice, mercy for all creature, sincerity and honesty. They incur sin who, while living, do not take care of their parents, kinsmen and friends.

What will you profit by crying, for him after death, who does not see with his eyes and stir in the least.

Thus addressed, the men, laden with sorrow and burning with grief on account of their love for the child, departed for their homes, leaving the body.

The jackal said Alas, dreadful is this world of mortals! Here no creature can escape. Every creature's life is short. Beloved friends are always going.

It is full of vanities and falsehoods, accusations and evil reports! Witnessing again this incident which increases pain and grief, I do not for a moment like this world of men.

Alas, shame on you, you men, who thus return like foolish persons, on hearing the vulture's words, though you are burning with grief on account of the death of this child. You cruel men, how can you go away, renouncing parental affection upon hearing the words of a sinful vulture of impure soul.

Happiness is followed by misery, and misery by happiness. In this world which has both happiness and misery, none of these two exists without break. You little-witted men, where will go, casting off on the naked earth this beautiful child, this son who is a13 ornament of your family. Verily, I cannot conceive that this child endued with grace, youth and beauty is dead.

It is not proper that he should die. It seems that you are sure to gain happiness. You who are stricken with grief for the death of this child will, forsooth, have good luck to-day.

Anticipating inconvenience and pain and seeking your own comfort, where will you, like persons of little intelligence, go, leaving this darling.

Bhishma said Thus, O king, the kinsmen of the dead child, unable to settle what they should do, were, for fulfilling his own purpose, induced by that sinful jackal who uttered sweet falsehoods-that dweller of the crematorium who went there every night in search of food.

Dreadful is that spot, this wilderness, which resounds with the screams of owls and is filled with spirits and Yakshas and Rakshasas.

It appears dreadful like a mass of blue clouds. Casting off the body, perform the funeral rites.

Throwing away the body, perform those rites before the sun sets and before the points of compass are covered with darkness.

The hawks are uttering hideous cries. Jackals are howling hideously. Lions are roaring. The sun is setting.

The trees on the crematorium are appearing dark for the blue smoke of the funeral pyres. Stricken with hunger the carnivorous animals are yelling in rage.

All those creatures of dreadful forms which live in this fearful place, all those grim-visaged animals that haunt this desert, will soon attack you.

This forest is certainly dreadful. Danger will beset you. The child is like a dry wood. Indeed, if you listen to these false and useless words of the jackal against your own good sense, all of your will surely meet with death.

Remain where you are. There is no fear even in this desert as long as the sun shines. Do you remain herc hopefully, moved by parental affection till the sun sets.

Without any fear, bewailing as you please, continue to look at this child with loving eyes. Though this forest is dreadful, no danger will overtake you. In sooth, this wilderness is quiet and peaceful. It is here that the Pitris by thousands departed from the world. Wait as long as the sun shines. Of what avail are this vulture's words to you?

If, being stupefied, you follow the cruel and harsh words of the vulture, then your child will never regain life.

Bhishma said The vulture then said to those men, that the sun had set. The jackal said that it was not so. Both the vulture and the jackal fell hungry and thus addressed thc kinsmen of the dead child.

Both of them were deterinined upon accomplishing their respective purposes. Exhausted with hunger and thirst, they thus quarrelled, taking advantage of the scriptures.

Moved by these words, sweet as ambrosia, of those two creatures, viz., the bird and the beast, both of whom had wisdom and knowledge, the kinsmen at one time desired to go away and at another to remain there.

At last, actuated by sorrow and depression, they waited there, bewailing piteously. They did not know that the beast and the bird, very clever in achieving their ends, had only stupefied them (by their words).

While both the bird and the beast were thus disputing and while the kinsmen of the dead child sat listening to them, the great god Shankara, urged by his divine consort (Uma), arrived there with eyes bathed in tears of mercy.

Addressing the kinsmen of the dead child, the god said,-I am Shankara the granter of boons!-With hearts laden with grief, those men laid themselves low before the great god and said to him in reply,-Bereft of this our only child, all of us are on the brink of death. Be you pleased to grant us life by granting life to this our son.

Thus begged, the illustrious god, taking up some water in his hands, granted to that dead child life extending for a hundred years.

Ever engaged in the behoof of all creatures, the illustrious holder of Pinaka granted a boon to both the jackal and the vulture for which their hunger was appeased.

Filled with joy and having gained great prosperity, the men bowed to the god. Gaining success, they then, O king, left that spot in great glee. Through continued hopefulness and firm determination and the grace of the great god, the fruits of one's acts are gained forthwith.

Mark the combination of circumstances and the determination of those kinsmen. While crying with heavy hearts, their tears were wiped and dried up.

See, how within only a short time, through their firmness of resolution, they gained the grace of Shankara, and their sorrows removed, they were made happy.

Indeed, through Shankara's favour, O chief of the Bharatas, those sorrowing kinsmen were filled with wonder and joy at the restoration of their child to life.

Then, O king, shaking off that grief caused by their child, those Brahmanas, filled with joy, quickly returned to their town; taking the restored child with them. Such a conduct has been laid down for all the four castes.

By frequently listening to this auspicious story fraught with virtue, profit, and emancipation, a man acquires happiness both in this world and the next.'