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2024-03-29, 3:39 AM |
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Chapter
14: The
Supreme of the Householder's Life
(1) S'rî Yudhishthhira said: 'Can you please
explain to me how householders [grihasthas] like me not
conversant with the goal of life, also easily may achieve this position
of liberation in accord with the scriptures oh devarishi.'
(2) Nârada Muni said: 'Oh King someone who maintains
a household should honor the great devotees [or sages] by properly engaging in activities in service
of the visible form of Vâsudeva [the avatâra]. (3-4) When one according to time [on 'sundays'],
in the
company of others completely being relieved of material [karmic]
activities, hears the nectar of the narrations about the Lord His avatâras,
one
will by such good company being separated from the physical association
with one's wife and children, gradually be freed from one's desires
[and pride] like awakening from a dream [see also 5.5:
1 and B.G. 18:
54]. (5) As long as he is dedicated to earning his
living, he
should, being knowledgeable about the physical affair of his family
life, therein [thus on 'sundays' being devoted] not be attached, even
though he appears to be so. That is the way for him to be a human being
in human society. (6) Without being selfish he
should [try to] have peace with, sympathize with, or even be pleased
with whatever
his relatives, parents, children, brothers, friends and others might say or wish. (7) [To meet this demand] the
intelligent person must utilize everything that is created by the Infallible One and was
obtained without effort: all the
things that are divine [like fruits], all that is obtained from the
earth [like minerals] and all that is won by chance [donations,
cast-offs]. (8) The
stomach
one
may
fill
as
much
as
is
needed
and
not
more,
because
claiming
more
than one is entitled to makes one a thief deserving
punishment. (9)
Deer, camels, asses, monkeys, mice, snakes, birds and flies one should
consider as one's children. How little difference is there between
these animals and children? (10) On the threefold path [of dharma,
artha and kâma] not being too zealous [not engaging
in ugra-karma] a person, notwithstanding his concerns about his
household, should obtain only as much as the grace of God would provide according to time and circumstance [see also 4.8:
54]. (11) Up to the dog, the
fallen soul and the outcast, one should divide what is necessary
according to the need. Even one's wife so close to one's heart,
should be shared so that she can be there [as a mother] for all the
people [e.g. for one's guests]. (12) One may give up the claim of owning her, a notion for
which one was prepared to kill oneself or others or abandon one's
parents or spiritual master. Thus one may conquer Him who cannot be
conquered [but by sacrifice]. (13) What
is [the value
of] the attachment to this insignificant vehicle of time that is doomed to be
eaten by the insects, to turn into stool or into ashes? What is the value of being attracted to the
body of one's
wife, compared to
[the value of one's attraction for] the soul that is as all-pervading
as the ether? (14) That what the Lord provides, that what one acquires
through one's sacrifices, one should consider the means of one's
livelihood. They who are wise ultimately give up all their claims of proprietorship for the sake of the soul. It is [not about acquiring
possessions, it is] about achieving the position of the great ones. (15) With the means that someone
naturally
acquired with his dutiful engagements, he must next to the daily
sacrifices for the gods, the sages, for mankind, all other living
beings, the forefathers and for himself, separately be of worship for
the Original Person present in everyone's heart. (16) The moment one [as a
householder] has everything under control including oneself, one
should, with sacrifices in the fire according to the
regulations as laid down in the scriptures, be of worship with all the
means available for pleasing the Lord [see B.G. 4: 24-29]. (17) Oh
King, the Supreme Lord, the
enjoyer of all sacrifices is not worshiped by the offerings of
ghee in the mouth of the fire as much as he is by offerings to the
mouths of the scholars [see
also 3.16: 8]. (18) Be therefore according to your ability of worship for the
knower of the field
[the Lord, see B.G. 13: 3], by
offering all that is desired first of all to the brahminical demigods,
and then to all
the ordinary human beings and the other living entities.
(19) During [for instance] the dark fortnight of
the month Âs'vina [October-November] the twice-born ones with
sufficient wealth should offer oblations to the
forefathers and also make
offerings to their relatives during
the
month
Bhâdra
[August-September]
if
they
can
afford
it. (20-23) One is also advised to
perform one's ceremonies at the
solstices when the sun moves to the south and north or when it enters
Aries or
Capricorn [during the equinoxes], in the yoga [12.3 degrees of
arc] named
Vyatîpâta, on the days covering three lunar days [tithis]
and
on
days
of
solar
and
lunar
eclipses
and
on
the
twelfth
lunar
day
and
when the moon passes the constellation [nakshatra]
of
S'ravana. Also suitable for the s'raddha-ceremony is the day of
Akshaya-tritîyâ, the ninth lunar day of the bright
fortnight of the month Kârtika, the four ashthakâs
[the 'eight days'] in the winter season and cool season, the
seventh lunar day of the bright fortnight of the month of Mâgha,
the day of a conjunction of Maghâ-nakshatra and the waxing moon,
on the days when the moon is completely full or not completely
full when they coincide with the nakshatras from
which the names of certain months are derived, on every twelfth lunar
day in conjunction with any of the nakshatras named
Anurâdhâ, S'ravana, Uttara-phalgunî,
Uttarâshâdhâ or Uttara-bhâdrapadâ, on the
eleventh lunar day that is in conjunction with either
Uttara-phalgunî, Uttarâshâdhâ or
Uttara-bhâdrapadâ and on days in conjunction with one's
own birth star [janma-nakshatra] or the S'ravana-nakshatra. (24) It is
by these auspicious times [of being
regular to natural occurrences] that the fate of human beings is
improved. For the human being during all seasons to have auspiciousness,
success
and
longevity,
one
therefore
on
those days must perform all kinds of ceremonies [*]. (25) At
all these natural times taking a holy
bath, doing japa [the Vedic rosary], performing fire sacrifices
and keeping to vows, constitutes with whatever that is given in respect
of the Supreme Lord, the
twice-born ones managing the deities, the forefathers, the godly ones,
the
human
beings in general and all other living beings, a permanent benefit. (26) Oh
King, the purification
rituals that serve the interest of [having days with] the wife, the
children and oneself
as
also the interest of having funerals, memorial days and days for doing
fruitive labor must be performed at the [natural] times [relative to
sun
and moon] meant for them.
(27-28) Let
me now describe the places suitable for religious practices. The
place most conducive to the sacred purpose is one where a
follower of truth is available [the hermitage of a saint, a Vaishnava,
a guru], a place [a temple] where
an image [a representative form] is available of the Supreme Lord of
all the moving and nonmoving entities in this universe or a place [a
school, an âs'rama] where an association of brahmins is
found endowed with education, penance and mercy. (29) Every
place where the form of
the
Supreme Lord is worshiped is an all-auspicious refuge, [especially] in
combination with a river like the Ganges or one of the other famous
rivers that are mentioned in the Purânas. (30-33) Lakes
as
Pushkara and celebrated places that harbor the saints like Kurukshetra,
Gayâ, Prayâga [Allahabad] and Pulaha-âs'rama;
Naimishâranya [near Lucknow], Phâlgunam, Setubhanda
[towards Lankâ], Prabhâsa, Dvârakâ, Benares,
Mathurâ, Pampâ, Bindu-sarovara, Badarikâs'rama,
Nandâ, the places of Sîtâ Devî and Lord
Râma like Citrakûtha and oh King, all hillsides such as
Mahendra and Malaya, all belong to the holiest places. These places and
all the
places where the Lord and His deities are worshiped [thus also places
outside
of India] should by someone who
desires the auspiciousness time
and again be visited because the
religious activities performed there are a thousand times more
effective.
(34) Oh controller of the earth, the Supreme Lord, in whom
all that moves and not moves rests, is the
only person in the world worthy to receive the honor. This is the
conclusion of all scholars expert in determining to whom one should
make one's offering [see also 4.31: 14]. (35) The
sons of Brahmâ as also others faithful to the truth [at
Yudhishthhira's
Râjasûya sacrifice] oh King, decided that from
the most venerable,
saintly personalities of God, the
Infallible
One
[Krishna]
was
to
be
selected
as
the
best
one,
as the first one among them to be
worshiped. (36)
The countless souls populating the entire
universe are like a giant tree and because He is the root of
that tree the worship of the Infallible One will satisfy all
living
entities
[viz.
the
entire
tree
is
satisfied
by
watering
the
root].
(37) He, as
the Original Person [the Purusha] lies down among
the
ones created, in
the form of their life principle [jîva].
Man, the saints, the gods and the other living beings whom He gave a
place to live in the form of a body, are His residential
places [see also B.G. 18:
61]. (38) Oh
King, the Lord is
present in them in different degrees so that a person is eligible
for being honored as far as the [quality
of the] soul [in the sense of understanding and penance and such] is
manifest [compare B.G. 15:
15]. (39) When
the
scholars
saw
how
since
Tretâ-yuga
there
was
mutual
disrespect
in human society oh King,
they
introduced deities of the Lord in order to exercise respect [see also 12.3: 52]. (40) Since
then one worships with
great
faith and all requirements the deity of the Lord, even
though that reverence shown in contempt of the person yields no results
[only loving the person will, see also 3.29: 25 and B.G. 18:
68 & 69]. (41) Oh
best of kings, know that
the brahmin
is the most worthy person of all
people to receive the grace, for
he embodies with
his austerity, education and satisfaction the Vedic knowledge of Hari, the Supreme Personality. (42) The
brahmins are [in the eyes] of Him, Lord
Krishna who is the life and soul of the universe oh King, the
most important and worshipable
persons, for they sanctify by
the dust [the grace] of their
feet all the three
worlds.'
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