Brihaspati Teaches Non-Violence

Verse 1 (13.175.1)

अहिंसा वैदिकं कर्म ध्यानमिन्द्रियसंयमः । तपोऽथ गुरुशुश्रूषा किं श्रेयः पुरुषं प्रति ॥

ahiṃsā vaidikaṃ karma dhyānamindriyasaṃyamaḥ | tapo'tha guruśuśrūṣā kiṃ śreyaḥ puruṣaṃ prati

Non-violence, Vedic rites, meditation, restraint of the senses, austerity, and service to the teacher: which of these is best for a man?

Verse 2 (13.175.2)

सर्वाण्येतानि धर्मस्य पृथग्द्वाराणि नित्यशः । शृणु संकीर्त्यमानानि षडेव भरतर्षभ ॥

sarvāṇyetāni dharmasya pṛthagdvārāṇi nityaśaḥ | śṛṇu saṃkīrtyamānāni ṣaḍeva bharatarṣabha

All these are always separate doors to dharma. Listen as they are recounted to you; there are six of them, O best of the Bharatas.

Verse 3 (13.175.3)

हन्त निःश्रेयसं जन्तोरहं वक्ष्याम्यनुत्तमम् । अहिंसापाश्रयं धर्मं दान्तो विद्वान्समाचरेत् ॥

hanta niḥśreyasaṃ jantorahaṃ vakṣyāmyanuttamam | ahiṃsāpāśrayaṃ dharmaṃ dānto vidvānsamācaret

Come, I shall tell you the highest good of a living being. A self-controlled, learned man should practise the dharma that rests on non-violence.

Note on the text: First line = CE 13,114.003a; second line is a recension variant of CE 003c ('ahiṃsāpāśrayaṃ dharmaṃ yaḥ sādhayati vai naraḥ'); Wikisource reading kept.

Verse 4 (13.175.4)

त्रिदण्डं सर्वभूतेषु निधाय पुरुषः शुचिः । कामक्रोधौ च संयम्य ततः सिद्धिमवाप्नुते ॥

tridaṇḍaṃ sarvabhūteṣu nidhāya puruṣaḥ śuciḥ | kāmakrodhau ca saṃyamya tataḥ siddhimavāpnute

Having laid down the threefold rod toward all beings, a pure man, restraining desire and anger, then attains perfection.

Note on the text: = CE 13,114.004 with a variant in the first line (Wikisource 'त्रिदण्डं … निधाय', CE 'trīn doṣān … nidhāya'); Wikisource reading kept.

Verse 5 (13.175.5)

अहिंसकानि भूतानि दण्डेन विनिहन्ति यः । आत्मनः सुखमन्विच्छन्स प्रेत्य न सुखी भवेत् ॥

ahiṃsakāni bhūtāni daṇḍena vinihanti yaḥ | ātmanaḥ sukhamanvicchansa pretya na sukhī bhavet

He who strikes down with the rod beings that do no harm, seeking happiness for himself, will not be happy after death.

Verse 6 (13.175.6)

आत्मोपमस्तु भूतेषु यो वै भवति पूरुषः । त्यक्तदण्डो जितक्रोधः स प्रेत्य सुखमेधते ॥

ātmopamastu bhūteṣu yo vai bhavati pūruṣaḥ | tyaktadaṇḍo jitakrodhaḥ sa pretya sukhamedhate

But the man who is like himself toward all beings, who has laid down the rod and conquered anger, thrives in happiness after death.

Verse 7 (13.175.7)

सर्वभूतात्मभूतस्य सर्वभूतानि पश्यतः । देवाऽपि मार्गे मुह्यन्ति ह्यपदस्य पदेषिणः ॥

sarvabhūtātmabhūtasya sarvabhūtāni paśyataḥ | devā'pi mārge muhyanti hyapadasya padeṣiṇaḥ

Even the gods are bewildered on the path of one who has become the self of all beings and sees all beings as himself, as they seek the footprints of one who leaves no footprint.

Note on the text: Wikisource's 'देवाऽपि' (CE 'devāpi') is a spelling of the same word; kept. A footnote printed after the colophon on the page (13-175-7) is a commentary gloss; not added.

Verse 8 (13.175.8)

न तत्परस्य संदध्यात्प्रतिकूलं यदात्मनः । एष संक्षेपतो धर्मः कामादन्यः प्रवर्तते ॥

na tatparasya saṃdadhyātpratikūlaṃ yadātmanaḥ | eṣa saṃkṣepato dharmaḥ kāmādanyaḥ pravartate

One should not do to another what is contrary to one's own self. This, in brief, is dharma; any other conduct arises from desire.

Verse 9 (13.175.9)

प्रख्यापने च दाने च सुखदुःखे प्रियाप्रिये । आत्मौपम्येन पुरुषः प्रमाणमधिगच्छति ॥

prakhyāpane ca dāne ca sukhaduḥkhe priyāpriye | ātmaupamyena puruṣaḥ pramāṇamadhigacchati

In making known and in giving, in pleasure and pain, in the dear and the unpleasant, a man arrives at the true measure by treating others as himself.

Note on the text: = CE 13,114.009 with variants (Wikisource 'प्रख्यापने … प्रमाणमधिगच्छति', CE 'pratyākhyāne … samādhim adhigacchati'); Wikisource reading kept.

Verse 10 (13.175.10)

यथा परः प्रक्रमते परेषु । तथा परे प्रक्रमन्ते परस्मिन् । निषेवते स्वसमां जीवलोके । यथा धर्मो नैपुणेनोपदिष्टः ॥

yathā paraḥ prakramate pareṣu | tathā pare prakramante parasmin | niṣevate svasamāṃ jīvaloke | yathā dharmo naipuṇenopadiṣṭaḥ

As one acts toward others, so others act toward him. In the world of the living each receives what matches himself; in this way dharma has been skilfully taught.

Note on the text: Four-line verse as printed (13-175-10a,b,c,d) = CE 13,114.010a, 010c (each CE line holds two Wikisource lines, with variants). The page prints no verse-end mark after the last line; ॥ added.

Verse 11 (13.175.11)

इत्युक्त्वा तं सुरगुरुधर्मराजं युधिष्ठिरम् । दिवमाचक्रमे धीमान्पश्यतामेव नस्तदा ॥

ityuktvā taṃ suragurudharmarājaṃ yudhiṣṭhiram | divamācakrame dhīmānpaśyatāmeva nastadā

Having said this to Yudhishthira, king of dharma, the wise preceptor of the gods rose into the sky while we looked on.

Note on the text: Corrected दिवामचक्रमे → दिवमाचक्रमे (misprint in Wikisource; a doubled vowel and a wrong case ending; CE reads 'divam ācakrame').