व्रीहिद्रौणिक पर्व — दान दिनुको कठिनाइ

Vaishampayana said : O best of the Bharata race, thus living in the forest, the high-souled Pandavas spent eleven years in great misery.

Although deserving of happiness, those best of men, brooding over their miserable plight, passed their days in misery living on fruits and roots.

That royal sage, the illustrious Yudhishthira, reflecting that the extremity of misery which had befallen his brothers was owing to his own fault and remembering also the sufferings that had arisen from his act of gambling, could not sleep in peace. He felt as if his heart had been pierced with a lance.

Remembering the harsh words of the Suta's son, the Pandava, repressing the venom of his wrath passed his days in humble guise and he often sighed heavily.

Arjuna and both the twins and the illustrious Draupadi and the mighty Bhima, he that was strongest of all men, felt the greatest pain in casting their eyes on Yudhishthira.

Thinking that only a short time remained (of their exile) those foremost of men, influenced by rage and hope and by resorting to various exertions and endeavours made their bodies assume almost different shapes.

After a while the son of Satyavati, Vyasa, the great Yogi came there to see the Pandavas. Seeing him coming, the son of Kunti, Yudhishthira, went forward and duly received that high-souled one.

Having gratified Vyasa by bowing down to him, the self-controlled Pandava (Yudhishthira), when the Rishi sat down, sat down before him with the desire of listening to him.

Seeing his grandson lean and living on forest produce, that great Rishi, moved by compassion spoke thus in accents choked with tears.

"O mighty armed Yudhishthira, O foremost of all virtuous men, lear; those men who do not perform asceticism never obtain great happiness in this world; men experience happiness and misery by turn.

O foremost of the Bharatas, no man ever enjoys unmixed happiness. A wise man, possessing high wisdom, knowing that life has its ups and downs, is neither filled with joy nor with grief.

When happiness comes one should enjoy it and when misery comes one should bear it. As a sower of crops must wait for the (proper) season (to gather his crops).

There is nothing superior to asceticism. Asceticism produces great results. descendant of Bharata, know that there is nothing which asceticism cannot produce.

Truth, sincerity, freedom from anger, justice, self-control, restraint of faculties, immunity from malice, guilelessness, sanctity and mortification of the senses, these, O great king, purify a man of pure acts.

Foolish persons, addicted to vice and bestial ways, obtain the birth of beasts in after life and they never enjoy happiness.

The fruits of acts done in this world are obtained in the next world. Therefore one restrains his body by asceticism and the observance of vows.

O king, being free from guile and with a cheerful spirit, one, according to his power, bestows gifts after bowing down to the recipient and paying him homage.

A truthful man obtains a life which is free from all trouble. A person, free from anger, attains to sincerity and one free from malice obtains supreme contentments. A man who has subdued his senses and his inner faculties never knows tribulation, nor is a person of subdued senses affected by sorrow at the sight of other's prosperity.

A man who gives every one his due and he who gives boons obtains happiness and every object of enjoyment, while a man who is free from envy reaps perfect ease.

He who honours those to whom honour is due obtains birth in an illustrious family and he who has subdued his senses never mects with any misfortune.

A man whose mind follows good after death is born on that account possessing a virtuous mind.

Yudhishthira said : O great Rishi, O exalted one, of the bestowal of gifts and asceticism which is of greater efficacy in the next world and which is more difficult to be practised.

Vyasa said : O child, there is nothing in this world more difficult to practise than charity. Men thirst for wealth and obtain it with great difficulty.

O high-minded one, even abandoning (the hope of) dear life itself, heroic men enter into the depths of the sea and the forest for wealth.

For wealth some take to agriculture, some to the tending of the kine and some serve others. Therefore it is extremely difficult to part with wealth which is obtained with such great difficulty.

As there is nothing harder to practise than charity, in my opinion, even bestowal of boons is superior to every thing.

Specially this is to be remembered that wellgotten gains should in proper time and place be given away to pious men.

But the bestowal of ill-gotten wealth can never rescue the giver from the great fear (of the evil of rebirth).

O Yudhishthira, it has been said that by bestowing in a pure spirit even a slight gift in due time and to a fit recipient a man obtains inexhaustible fruits in the next world. In this connection a story is told about the fruit obtained by Mudgala by giving away only a Drona of corn.