SECTION
IV
Yudhishthira said, "Ye have already
said what offices ye will respectively perform. I also, according to the
measure of my sense, have said what office I will perform. Let our priest,
accompanied by charioteers and cooks, repair to the abode of Drupada, and there
maintainour Agnihotra fires. And let Indrasena and the others, taking with then
the empty cars, speedily proceeded to Dwaravati. Even this is my wish.
And let all these maid-servants of
Draupadi go to the Panchalas, with our charioteers and cooks. And let all of them
say,--We do not know where the Pandavas have gone leaving us at the lake of
Dwaitavana."
Vaisampayana said, "Having thus taken
counsel of one another and told one another the offices they would discharge,
the Pandavas sought Dhaumya's advice. And Dhaumya also gave them advice in the
following words, saying, Ye sons of Pandu, the arrangements ye have made
regarding the Brahmanas, yours friends, cars, weapons, and the (sacred) fires,
are excellent. But it behoveth thee, O Yudhishthira, and Arjuna specially, to
make provision for the protection of Draupadi. Ye king, ye are well-acquainted
with the characters of men. Yet whatever may be your knowledge, friends may
from affection be permitted to repeat what is already known. Even this is subservient
to the eternal interests of virtue, pleasure, and profit. I shall, therefore
speak to you something. Mark ye. To dwell with a king is, alas, difficult. I
shall tell you, ye princes, how ye may reside in the royal household, avoiding
every fault. Ye Kauravas, honourably or otherwise, ye will have to pass this
year in the king's palace, undiscovered by those that know you. Then in the
fourteenth year, ye will live happy. O son of Pandu, in this world, that
cherisher and protector of all beings, the king, who is a deity in an embodied
form, is as a great fire sanctified with all the mantras. [6] One should
present himself before the king, after having obtained his permission at the gate.
No one should keep contact with royal secrets. Nor should one desire a seat
which another may covet. He who doth not, regarding himself to be a favourite,
occupy (the king's) car, or coach, or seat, or vehicle, or elephant, is alone
worthy of dwelling in a royal household. He that sits not upon a seat the occupation
of which is calculated raise alarm in the minds of malicious people, is alone
worthy of dwelling in a royal household. No one should, unasked offer counsel
(to a king). Paying homage in season unto the king, one should silently and
respectfully sit beside the king, for kings take umbrage at babblers, and
disgrace laying counsellors. A wise person should not contact friendship with
the king's wife, nor with the inmates of the inner apartments, nor with those
that are objects of royal displeasure. One about the king should do even the most
unimportant acts and with the king's knowledge. Behaving thus with a sovereign,
one doth not come by harm. Even if an individual attain the highest office, he
should, as long as he is not asked or commanded, consider himself as
born-blind, having regard to the king's dignity, for
O
repressers of foes, the rulers of men do not forgive even their sons and
grandsons and brothers when they happen to tamper with their dignity. Kings
should be served with regardful care, even as Agni and other god; and he that
is disloyal to his sovereign, is certainly destroyed by him. Renouncing anger,
and pride, and negligence, it behoveth a man to follow the course directed by
the monarch. After carefully deliberating on all things, a person should set
forth before the king those topics that are both profitable and pleasant; but
should a subject be profitable without being pleasant, he should still
communicate it, despite its disagreeableness. It behoveth a man to be well-disposed
towards the king in all his interests, and not to indulge in speech that is
alike unpleasant and profitless. Always thinking--I am not liked by the king--one
should banish negligence, and be intent on bringing about what is agreeable and
advantageous to him. He that swerveth not from his place, he that is not
friendly to those that are hostile to the king, he that striveth not to do
wrong to the king, is alone worthy to dwell in a royal household. A learned man
should sit either on the king's right or the left; he should not sit behind him
for that is the place appointed for armed guards, and to sit before him is
always interdicted. Let none, when the king is engaged in doing anything (in
respect of his servants) come forward pressing himself zealously before others,
for even if the aggrieved be very poor, such conduct would still be
inexcusable.[7] It behoveth no man to reveal to others any lie the king may
have told inasmuch as the king bears ill will to those that report his falsehoods.
Kings also always disregard persons that regard themselves as learned. No man
should be proud thinking--I am brave, or, I am intelligent, but a person
obtains the good graces of a king and enjoys the good things of life, by
behaving agreeably to the wishes of the king. And, O Bharata, obtaining things
agreeable, and wealth also which is so hard to acquire, a person should always
do what is profitable as well as pleasant to the king. What man that is
respected by the wise can even think of doing mischief to one whose ire is
great impediment and whose favour is productive of mighty fruits? No one should
move his lips, arms and thighs, before the king. A person should speak and spit
before the king only mildly. In the presence of even laughable objects, a man
should not break out into loud laughter, like a maniac; nor should one show (unreasonable)
gravity by containing himself, to the utmost. One should smile modestly, to
show his interest (in what is before him). He that is ever mindful of the
king's welfare, and is neither exhilarated by reward nor depressed by disgrace,
is alone worthy of dwelling in a royal household. That learned courtier who
always pleaseth the king and his son with agreeable speeches, succeedeth in
dwelling in a royal household as a favourite. The favourite courtier who, having
lost the royal favour for just reason, does not speak evil of the king, regains
prosperity. The man who serveth the king or liveth in his domains, if
sagacious, should speak in praise of the king, both in his presence and
absence. The courtier who attempts to obtain his end by employing force on the
king, cannot keep his place long and incurs also the risk of death. None
should, for the purpose of self-interest, open communications with the king's
enemies.[8] Nor should one distinguish himself above the king in matters
requiring ability and talents. He that is always cheerful and strong, brave and
truthful, and mild, and of subdued senses, and who followeth his master like
his shadow, is alone worthy to dwell in a royal household. He that on being
entrusted with a work, cometh forward, saying,--I will do this--is alone worthy
of living in a royal household. He that on being entrusted with a task, either
within the king's dominion or out of it, never feareth to undertake it, is alone
fit to reside in a royal household. He that living away from his home, doth no
remember his dear ones, and who undergoeth (present) misery in expectation of
(future) happiness, is alone worthy of dwelling in a royal household. One
should not dress like the king, nor should one indulge, in laughter in the king's
presence nor should one disclose royal secrets. By acting thus one may win
royal favour. Commissioned to a task, one should not touch bribes for by such
appropriation one becometh liable to fetters or death. The robes, ornaments,
cars, and other things which the king may be pleased to bestow should always be
used, for by this, one winneth the royal favour. Ye children, controlling your minds,
do ye spend this year, ye sons of Pandu, behaving in this way. Regaining your
own kingdom, ye may live as ye please."
Yudhishthira
said, "We have been well taught by thee. Blessed be thou. There is none
that could say so to us, save our mother Kunti and Vidura of great wisdom. It
behoveth thee to do all that is necessary now for our departure, and for
enabling us to come safely through this woe, as well as for our victory over
the foe."
Vaisampayana continued, "Thus
addressed by Yudhishthira, Dhaumya, that best of Brahmanas, performed according
to the ordinance the rites ordained in respect of departure. And lighting up
their fires, he offered, with mantras, oblations on them for the prosperity and
success of the Pandavas, as for their reconquest of the whole world. And
walking round those fires and round the Brahmanas of ascetic wealth, the six
set out, placing Yajnaseni in their front. And when those heroes had departed,
Dhaumya, that best of ascetics, taking their sacred fires, set out for the
Panchalas. And Indrasena, and others already mentioned, went to the Yadavas,
and looking after the horses and the cars of the Pandavas passed their time
happily and in privacy."
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