Page:The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa (1884).djvu/297

Rh told him that those without anger are ever superior to those under its sway: those disposed to forgive are ever superior to the unforgiving. Man is superior to the lower animals. Among men again the learned are superior to the unlearned. If wronged thou shouldst not wrong in return. One's wrath, if disregarded, burneth one's own self; while he that regardeth it not taketh away all the virtues of him that exhibiteth it. Never shouldst thou pain others by cruel speeches. Never subdue thy foes by despicable means; and never utter such scorching and sinful words as may torture others. He that pricketh as with thorns men by means of hard and cruel words, thou must know ever carrieth in his mouth a Rakshasa. Prosperity and luck fly away at his very sight. Thou shouldst ever keep the virtuous before thee as thy models: thou shouldst ever in retrospect compare thy acts with those of the virtuous: thou shouldst ever disregard the hard words of the wicked. Thou shouldst ever make the conduct of the wise the model upon which thou art to act thyself. The man hurt by the arrows of cruel speech emitted from one's lips, weepeth day and night. Indeed, these strike at the core of the body. Therefore the wise never fling these around at others. There is nothing in the three worlds by which thou canst worship and adore the [sic]dieties better than by kindness, friendship, charity, and sweet speeches unto all. Therefore shouldst thou always utter words that soothe, never those that scorch. And thou shouldst regard those that deserve thy regards; thou shouldst always give but never beg.

Thus ends the eighty-seventh Section in the Sambhava of the Adi Parva.

 

( Sambhava Parva continued. )

Vaisampayana said, "After this, Indra again asked Yayati, 'Thou hadst retired into the woods, O king, after accomplishing all thy duties. O Yayati son of Nahusha, I would ask thee, with whom art thou equal in ascetic austerities?' Yayati then answered, 'O Vasava, I do not, in ascetic austerities,