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Viktors Ivbulis. Dvîòu satikðanâs
the Soul– his breaths do not depart…As the slough of snake lies on an ant–hill, dead,
cast off, even so lies his body. But this incorporal, immortal Life (prâna) is Brahma
indeed, is light indeed. 15 . From this idea it naturally follows that there is no joy in the
finite– be it even one’s own son. Yet Manu, by far not being the defender of the importance
of wordly life, indicates: “Acting out of desire is not aproved of, but here
on earth there is no such thing as no desire; for even studying the Veda and engaging
in the rituals enjoined in the Veda are based upon desire.” 16 Long life as a reward for
good behaviour also cannot be regarded but as the satisfaction of every living being’s
most basic desire: “A man who follows the conduct of the virtuous, has faith and is
free from envy, lives a hundred years, though he be entirely destitute of auspicious
marks.” 17 It is also Manu – the spiritual teacher who establishes the ratio between
highest and lowest wages as six to one. In what contemporary country is anything
like that established? The same law– giver also declares: “Anything that a man does
with the eye on the afterlife, and that is done at the expense of his dependants, has an
unhappy consequence for him both while he is living and after he dies.” 18 One also
should remember that both Shiva and Vishnu’s heaven offers its happy inhabitants by
far not only spiritual but also wordly pleasures. So much so that one starts wandering
how, for instance, a person whose body has been discarded (obligatorily cremated if
he is not a sanyâsî) can enjoy the pleauses offered by heavenly beauties.
It seems at least to me that in the enumerations of duties or among the traits of
recommended good behaviour almost purely mundane and generally human aspects
even in later religeous literature often predominate. What else can be said about
“Vishnu Purâna’s” mentioning the obligations of all four varnas: “These are, the acquisition
of property, for the suport of their families; cohabitation with their wives,
for the sake of progeny; tenderness towards all creatures, patience, humility, truth,
purity, contentment, decency of decoration, gentleness of speech, friendliness; and
freedom from envy and repining, from avarice, and from detraction. These are also
the duties of every condition of life.” 19 . Different but hardly more otherwordly are the
ten sins mentioned by another Purâna: “Not giving a gift on auspicious days, doing
forbidden things, violence, commiting adultery, speaking harsh words, uttering falsehood,
scandalising words, nonsensical words, coveting another man’s death, wishing
evil of others” 20 .
There is much supernatural “Mahâbhârata”. Yet the main action is driven ahead
by purely worldly motives, it is only superficially covered by a veil of religious injunctions.
The Pândavas and Kauravas fight for power, the enlargement of the state
and personal gains, be it wealth or fame. Even to us – people of different cultural
background is understandable what Bhîshma tells Yudhisthira: “Pride, malice, slander,
wiliness and incapacity to hear other peoples good, are vices, o Kuru chief, that
are to be seen in persons of impure soul under the influence of covetousness.” 21 .
Regardless of Judhisthira’s pious but unconvincing speeches and Bhîshmas sermons,
which were hardly a part of the original epic, artha – worldly gains practically is the
only aim of the warrior varna. This is well revealed in Arjuna’s, Bhîma’s, Draupadî’s
and even Krishna’s utterances at the end of the epic. The warriors of both sides know
that if they die, the heaven will keep its doors open to them, yet none is ready to part
with his body and to end the supposed sufferings it causes. All Krishna’s tricks with
the help of which Arjuna kills his most outstanding enemies are also of a purely
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