Mahabharata VOL I2 - HolyBooks.com

50 MAHABHABATAto cover her body, and while she was in her menses and in the presenceof all the Pandavas. And it is not meet that thou shouldst brood overthy departure from the city, and thy exile with the hide of the antelopefor thy robe, and thy wanderings in tha great forest, nor shouldst thourecall to thy mind the affliction from Jatasura,the fight with Chitrasena,and thy troubles from the Saindhavas. Nor it is proper, O son of Pritha,and conqueror of thy foes, that thou shouldst recall the incident ofKichaka's kicking Draupadi, during the period of thy exile passed inabsolute concealment, nor the incidents of the fight which took placebetween thyself and Drona and Bhishma. The time has now arrived,when thou must fight the battle which each must fight single-handedwith his mind. Therefore, O chief of Bharata's race, thou must nowprepare to carry the struggle against thy mind ; and by dint of abstractionand the merit of thine own Karma, thou must reach the other sideof (overcome) the mysterious and unintelligible (mind). In this warthere will be no need for any missiles, nor for friends, nor attendants.The battle which is to be fought alone and single-handed has now arrivedfor thee. And if vanquished in this struggle, thou shalt find thyself inthe most wretched plight, and O son of Kunti, knowing this, and actingaccordingly, shalt thou attain success. And knowing this wisdom andthe destiny of all creatures, and following the conduct of thy ancestors,do thou duly administer thy kingdom."SECTION XIIIVasudevas aid, "O scion of Bharata's race, salvation is not attainedby foregoing the external things (like kingdom, etc), it is only attainedby giving up things which pander to the flesh (body). The virtue andhappiness which are attainable by the person who has renounced onlythe external objects, but who is at the same time engrossed by passionsand weakness of the flesh, let these be the portion of our enemies. Theword with two letters is Mrit-yu (death of the soul or perdition), and theword with three letters is Sas-wa-ta (Brahman) or the eternal spirit. Theconsciousness that this or that thing is mine, or the state of being addictedto worldly objects is Mrityuand the absence of that feeling is Saswatam.And these two, Brahman and Mrityu, O king, have their seats inthe souls of all creatures, and remaining unseen, they, without doubt,wage war with each other. And if, O Bharata, it be true that no creatureis ever destroyed, then one doth not make oneself guilty of thedeath of a creature by piercing (destroying) its body. What mattersthe world to a man, if having acquired the sovereignty of the wholeearth with its mobile and immobile creation, he does not become attachedto it, or engrossed in its enjoyment. But the man who having renouncedthe world, has taken to the life of the recluse in the forest,