Arjuna Argues for Wealth and Kingship

Verse 1 (12.8.1)

अथार्जुन उवाचेदमधिक्षिप्त इवाक्षमी । अभिनीततरं वाक्यं दृढवादपराक्रमः ॥

athārjuna uvācedamadhikṣipta ivākṣamī | abhinītataraṃ vākyaṃ dṛḍhavādaparākramaḥ

Vaishampayana said: Then Arjuna, as if stung by an insult and unable to bear it, spoke these very forceful words, he whose strength lay in firm argument,

Verse 2 (12.8.2)

दर्शयन्नैन्द्रिरात्मानमुग्रमुग्रपराक्रमः । स्मयमानो महातेजाः सृक्किणी परिसंलिहन् ॥

darśayannaindrirātmānamugramugraparākramaḥ | smayamāno mahātejāḥ sṛkkiṇī parisaṃlihan

showing his fierce self, that fierce-valiant son of Indra, of great radiance, smiling and licking the corners of his mouth.

Verse 3 (12.8.3)

अहो दुःखमहो कृच्छ्रमहो वैक्लव्यमुत्तमम् । यत्कृत्वाऽमानुषं कर्म त्यजेथाः श्रियमुत्तमाम् ॥

aho duḥkhamaho kṛcchramaho vaiklavyamuttamam | yatkṛtvā'mānuṣaṃ karma tyajethāḥ śriyamuttamām

Arjuna said: Oh, what sorrow, what hardship, what supreme unmanliness, that after doing deeds beyond human power you should abandon the highest fortune!

Verse 4 (12.8.4)

शत्रून्हत्वा महीं लब्ध्वा स्वधर्मेणोपपादिताम् । हतामित्रः कथं स त्वं त्यजेथा बुद्धिलाघवात् ॥

śatrūnhatvā mahīṃ labdhvā svadharmeṇopapāditām | hatāmitraḥ kathaṃ sa tvaṃ tyajethā buddhilāghavāt

Having slain your enemies and won the earth, lawfully gained by your own dharma, how can you, a destroyer of foes, give it up through lightness of mind?

Verse 5 (12.8.5)

क्लीबस्य हि कुतो राज्यं दीर्घसूत्रस्य वा पुनः । किमर्थं च महीपालानवधीः क्रोधमूर्च्छितः ॥

klībasya hi kuto rājyaṃ dīrghasūtrasya vā punaḥ | kimarthaṃ ca mahīpālānavadhīḥ krodhamūrcchitaḥ

What kingdom can there be for an unmanly man, or for one who is slow to act? Why then did you kill the earth's rulers, dazed with anger?

Verse 6 (12.8.6)

यो ह्याजिजीविषेद्भैक्षं कर्मणा नैव कस्य चित् । समारम्भान्बुभूषेत हतस्वस्तिरकिञ्चनः । सर्वलोकेषु विख्यातो न पुत्रपशुसंहितः ॥

yo hyājijīviṣedbhaikṣaṃ karmaṇā naiva kasya cit | samārambhānbubhūṣeta hatasvastirakiñcanaḥ | sarvalokeṣu vikhyāto na putrapaśusaṃhitaḥ

Only the man who has lost his fortune and owns nothing, who is not famed in all the worlds and has neither sons nor cattle, would wish to live on alms and not by anyone's labour, and would not seek to prosper through enterprises.

Note on the text: Three-line verse, as on the page (labelled 8-6a/b/c): CE 12.8.6a, 6c, 6e. Recension variant, kept: कस्य चित् (CE kena cit).

Verse 7 (12.8.7)

कापालीं नृप पापिष्ठां वृत्तिमासाद्य जीवतः । संत्यज्य राज्यमृद्धं ते लोकोऽयं किं वदिष्यति ॥

kāpālīṃ nṛpa pāpiṣṭhāṃ vṛttimāsādya jīvataḥ | saṃtyajya rājyamṛddhaṃ te loko'yaṃ kiṃ vadiṣyati

O king, when you give up your prosperous kingdom and live by the most wretched of ways, that of the beggar with his bowl, what will this world say?

Note on the text: Recension variant, kept: वृत्तिमासाद्य (CE vṛttim āsthāya).

Verse 8 (12.8.8)

सर्वारम्भान्समुत्सृज्य हतस्वस्तिरकिञ्चनः । कस्मादाशंससे भैक्षं चर्तुं प्राकृतवत्प्रभो ॥

sarvārambhānsamutsṛjya hatasvastirakiñcanaḥ | kasmādāśaṃsase bhaikṣaṃ cartuṃ prākṛtavatprabho

Casting aside every undertaking, with your fortune lost and nothing left to you, why, O lord, do you hope to go about begging like a common man?

Verse 9 (12.8.9)

कस्माद्राजकुले जातो जित्वा कृत्स्नां वसुंधराम् । धर्मार्थावखिलौ हित्वा वनं मौढ्यात्प्रतिष्ठसे ॥

kasmādrājakule jāto jitvā kṛtsnāṃ vasuṃdharām | dharmārthāvakhilau hitvā vanaṃ mauḍhyātpratiṣṭhase

Born in a royal house, having conquered the whole earth, why do you, through folly, abandon both dharma and wealth in their entirety and set out for the forest?

Note on the text: Recension variant, kept: कस्माद्राजकुले (CE asmin rājakule).

Verse 10 (12.8.10)

यदीमानि हवींषीह विमथिष्यन्त्यसाधवः । भवता विप्रहीणत्वात्प्राप्तं त्वामेव किल्विषम् ॥

yadīmāni havīṃṣīha vimathiṣyantyasādhavaḥ | bhavatā viprahīṇatvātprāptaṃ tvāmeva kilviṣam

If wicked men were to ruin these oblations here, because they have been abandoned by you, the guilt will fall on you alone.

Verse 11 (12.8.11)

आकिञ्चन्यं मुनीनां च इति वै नहुषोऽब्रवीत् । कृत्वा नृशंसं ह्यधने धिगस्त्वधनतामिह ॥

ākiñcanyaṃ munīnāṃ ca iti vai nahuṣo'bravīt | kṛtvā nṛśaṃsaṃ hyadhane dhigastvadhanatāmiha

‘Owning nothing is for sages,’ so Nahusha said; ‘but a man without wealth is driven to cruel acts. Shame, then, on poverty in this world!’

Note on the text: Recension variants, kept: आकिञ्चन्यं मुनीनां च (CE ākiṃcanyam anāśāsyam) and कृत्वा नृशंसं (CE kṛtyā nṛśaṃsā).

Verse 12 (12.8.12)

आश्वस्तन्यमृषीणां हि विद्यते वेद तद्भवान् । यं त्विमं धर्ममित्याहुर्धनादेष प्रवर्तते ॥

āśvastanyamṛṣīṇāṃ hi vidyate veda tadbhavān | yaṃ tvimaṃ dharmamityāhurdhanādeṣa pravartate

Among the sages there is, as you know, the practice of providing nothing for the morrow. But what they call dharma proceeds from wealth.

Note on the text: आश्वस्तन्यम् is as printed (CE aśvastanam); read as 'not providing for the morrow'. Not changed.

Verse 13 (12.8.13)

धर्मं स हरते तस्य धनं हरति यस्य यः । ह्रियमाणे धने राजन्वयं कस्य क्षमेमहि ॥

dharmaṃ sa harate tasya dhanaṃ harati yasya yaḥ | hriyamāṇe dhane rājanvayaṃ kasya kṣamemahi

He who seizes a man's wealth seizes that man's dharma too. When wealth is being taken away, O king, whom could we forgive?

Verse 14 (12.8.14)

अभिशस्तं प्रपश्यन्ति दरिद्रं पार्श्वतः स्थितम् । दारिद्र्यं पातकं लोके कस्तच्छंसितुमर्हति ॥

abhiśastaṃ prapaśyanti daridraṃ pārśvataḥ sthitam | dāridryaṃ pātakaṃ loke kastacchaṃsitumarhati

People look on the poor man standing at their side as though he were an accused man. Poverty is a sin in the world: who could praise it?

Note on the text: Recension variant, kept: अभिशस्तं (CE abhiśastavat).

Verse 15 (12.8.15)

पतितः शोच्यते राजन्निर्धनश्चापि शोच्यते । विशेषं नाधिगच्छामि पतितस्याधनस्य च ॥

patitaḥ śocyate rājannirdhanaścāpi śocyate | viśeṣaṃ nādhigacchāmi patitasyādhanasya ca

The fallen man is pitied, O king, and the poor man too is pitied. I see no difference between the fallen man and the one without wealth.

Verse 16 (12.8.16)

अर्थेभ्यो हि विवृद्धेभ्यः संभृतेभ्यस्ततस्ततः । क्रियाः सर्वाः प्रवर्तन्ते पर्वतेभ्य इवापगाः ॥

arthebhyo hi vivṛddhebhyaḥ saṃbhṛtebhyastatastataḥ | kriyāḥ sarvāḥ pravartante parvatebhya ivāpagāḥ

From riches that have grown and been gathered from here and there, all undertakings proceed, as rivers flow from mountains.

Verse 17 (12.8.17)

अर्थाद्धर्मश्च कामश्च स्वर्गश्चैव नराधिप । प्राणयात्राऽपि लोकस्य विना ह्यर्थं न सिद्ध्यति ॥

arthāddharmaśca kāmaśca svargaścaiva narādhipa | prāṇayātrā'pi lokasya vinā hyarthaṃ na siddhyati

From wealth come dharma, desire and heaven, O lord of men; without wealth the very sustenance of the world cannot be achieved.

Note on the text: Corrected सिध्द्यति → सिद्ध्यति (misprint in Wikisource; broken conjunct, CE prasidhyati). Recension variant, kept: न सिद्ध्यति (CE na prasidhyati).

Verse 18 (12.8.18)

अर्थेन हि विहीनस्य पुरुषस्याल्पमेधसः । विच्छिद्यन्ते क्रियाः सर्वा ग्रीष्मे कुसरितो यथा ॥

arthena hi vihīnasya puruṣasyālpamedhasaḥ | vicchidyante kriyāḥ sarvā grīṣme kusarito yathā

For a man without wealth, a man of small understanding, all undertakings dry up, as little streams do in summer.

Verse 19 (12.8.19)

यस्यार्थास्तस्य मित्राणि यस्यार्थास्तस्य बान्धवाः । यस्यार्थाः स पुमाँल्लोके यस्यार्थाः स च पण्डितः ॥

yasyārthāstasya mitrāṇi yasyārthāstasya bāndhavāḥ | yasyārthāḥ sa pumām̐lloke yasyārthāḥ sa ca paṇḍitaḥ

He who has wealth has friends; he who has wealth has kinsmen; he who has wealth is a man in the world; he who has wealth is a scholar.

Verse 20 (12.8.20)

अधनेनार्थकामेन नार्थः शक्यो विधित्सितुम् । अर्थैरर्था निबध्यन्ते गजैरिव महागजाः ॥

adhanenārthakāmena nārthaḥ śakyo vidhitsitum | arthairarthā nibadhyante gajairiva mahāgajāḥ

A man without wealth who desires wealth cannot make wealth his aim; riches are bound by riches, as great elephants are bound by elephants.

Note on the text: Recension variant, kept: विधित्सितुम् (CE vivitsatā).

Verse 21 (12.8.21)

धर्मः कामश्च स्वर्गश्च हर्षः क्रोधः श्रुतं दमः । अर्थादेतानि सर्वाणि प्रवर्तन्ते नराधिप ॥

dharmaḥ kāmaśca svargaśca harṣaḥ krodhaḥ śrutaṃ damaḥ | arthādetāni sarvāṇi pravartante narādhipa

Dharma, desire, heaven, joy, anger, learning and self-restraint: all these proceed from wealth, O lord of men.

Verse 22 (12.8.22)

धनात्कुलं प्रभवति धनाद्धर्मः प्रवर्धते । नाधनस्यास्त्ययं लोको न परः पुरुषोत्तम ॥

dhanātkulaṃ prabhavati dhanāddharmaḥ pravardhate | nādhanasyāstyayaṃ loko na paraḥ puruṣottama

From wealth a family arises; from wealth dharma grows. For the man without wealth there is neither this world nor the next, O best of men.

Verse 23 (12.8.23)

नाधनो धर्मकृत्यानि यथावदनुतिष्ठति । धनाद्धि धर्मः स्रवति शैलादभिनदी यथा ॥

nādhano dharmakṛtyāni yathāvadanutiṣṭhati | dhanāddhi dharmaḥ sravati śailādabhinadī yathā

A poor man cannot properly carry out acts of dharma; for dharma flows from wealth as a river from a mountain.

Note on the text: Recension variant, kept: शैलादभिनदी (CE śailād girinadī).

Verse 24 (12.8.24)

यः कृशार्थः कृशगवः कृशभृत्यः कृशातिथिः । स वै राजन्कृशो नाम न शरीरकृशः कृशः ॥

yaḥ kṛśārthaḥ kṛśagavaḥ kṛśabhṛtyaḥ kṛśātithiḥ | sa vai rājankṛśo nāma na śarīrakṛśaḥ kṛśaḥ

He whose wealth is slight, whose cattle are few, whose dependants are few and whose guests are few: he, O king, is the one called lean, not he who is lean in body.

Note on the text: Corrected कृशांतिथिः → कृशातिथिः (misprint in Wikisource; अंतिथि is not a word, CE kṛśātithiḥ). कृशार्थः (CE kṛśāśvaḥ) is a recension variant, kept.

Verse 25 (12.8.25)

अवेक्षस्व यथान्यायं पश्य देवासुरं यथा । राजन्किमन्यज्ज्ञातीनां वधाद्गृध्यन्ति देवताः ॥

avekṣasva yathānyāyaṃ paśya devāsuraṃ yathā | rājankimanyajjñātīnāṃ vadhādgṛdhyanti devatāḥ

Look into it as is proper; see how it was with the gods and the demons. What else, O king, do the gods hunger after but the slaying of their kin?

Verse 26 (12.8.26)

न चेद्धर्तव्यमन्यस्य कथं तद्धर्ममारभेत् । एतावानेव वेदेषु निश्चयः कविभिः कृतः ॥

na ceddhartavyamanyasya kathaṃ taddharmamārabhet | etāvāneva vedeṣu niścayaḥ kavibhiḥ kṛtaḥ

If another's wealth were not to be taken, how could a king set about that dharma? This much is the conclusion the sages have drawn in the Vedas.

Verse 27 (12.8.27)

अध्येतव्या त्रयी नित्यं भवितव्यं विपश्चिता । सर्वथा धनमाहार्यं यष्टव्यं चापि यत्नतः ॥

adhyetavyā trayī nityaṃ bhavitavyaṃ vipaścitā | sarvathā dhanamāhāryaṃ yaṣṭavyaṃ cāpi yatnataḥ

The threefold Veda must be studied, a wise man must prosper, wealth must be gathered by every means, and sacrifice performed with diligence.

Verse 28 (12.8.28)

द्रोहाद्देवैरवाप्तानि दिवि स्थानानि सर्वशः । द्रोहात्किमन्यज्ज्ञातीनां गृध्यन्ते येन देवताः ॥

drohāddevairavāptāni divi sthānāni sarvaśaḥ | drohātkimanyajjñātīnāṃ gṛdhyante yena devatāḥ

By treachery the gods have won every one of their stations in heaven. What is it, if not treachery against their kin, that the gods thirst for?

Note on the text: Line 1 = CE 12.8.28a; line 2 is the CE star passage 12.8.28b*0009_01 (drohāt kim anyaj jñātīnāṃ gṛdhyante yena devatāḥ).

Verse 29 (12.8.29)

इति देवा व्यवसिता वेदवादाश्च शाश्वताः । अधीयन्तेऽध्यापयन्ते यजन्ते याजयन्ति च ॥

iti devā vyavasitā vedavādāśca śāśvatāḥ | adhīyante'dhyāpayante yajante yājayanti ca

So the gods have resolved, and so say the eternal words of the Veda; these are studied and taught, and men sacrifice and have sacrifices performed.

Note on the text: Line 1 = CE 12.8.28c; line 2 = CE 12.8.29a, with अध्यापयन्ते against CE tapasyanti (a recension variant, kept).

Verse 30 (12.8.30)

कृत्स्नं तदेव तच्छ्रेयो यदप्याददतेऽन्यतः । न पश्यामोऽनपकृतं धनं किंचित्क्वचिद्वयम् ॥

kṛtsnaṃ tadeva tacchreyo yadapyādadate'nyataḥ | na paśyāmo'napakṛtaṃ dhanaṃ kiṃcitkvacidvayam

All of that is itself the highest good, even when men take from others. We nowhere see any wealth whatever that has been gained without wronging someone.

Note on the text: Line 1 = CE 12.8.29c; line 2 = CE 12.8.30a, with अनपकृतम् against CE anapahṛtam (a recension variant, kept).

Verse 31 (12.8.31)

एवमेव हि राजानो यजन्ति पृथिवीमिमाम् । जित्वा ममेयं ब्रुवते पुत्रा इव पितुर्धनम् ॥

evameva hi rājāno yajanti pṛthivīmimām | jitvā mameyaṃ bruvate putrā iva piturdhanam

Just so do kings sacrifice for this earth; having conquered it, they say, ‘This is mine,’ as sons speak of their father's wealth.

Note on the text: Corrected पितृर्धनम् → पितुर्धनम् (misprint in Wikisource; CE pitur dhane). Line 1 = CE 12.8.30c, with यजन्ति against CE jayanti (kept as printed; a good Sanskrit word, though the CE reading is 'conquer'); line 2 = CE 12.8.31a (जित्वा ममेयं against CE jitvā mamatvaṃ).

Verse 32 (12.8.32)

राजर्षयोऽपि ते स्वर्ग्या धर्मो ह्येषां निरुच्यते ॥

rājarṣayo'pi te svargyā dharmo hyeṣāṃ nirucyate

Those royal sages too are worthy of heaven, and this is called their dharma.

Note on the text: One-line verse, as on the page (labelled 8-32a): the last line of the CE verse 12.8.31 (CE 31c rājarṣayo jitasvargā dharmo hy eṣāṃ nigadyate); ते स्वर्ग्याः is a recension variant, kept. The CE's lines 31a and 31c are split between Wikisource verses 31 and 32.

Verse 33 (12.8.33)

यथैव पूर्णादुदधेः स्यन्दन्त्यापो दिशो दश । एवं राजकुलाद्वित्तं पृथिवीं प्रतितिष्ठति ॥

yathaiva pūrṇādudadheḥ syandantyāpo diśo daśa | evaṃ rājakulādvittaṃ pṛthivīṃ pratitiṣṭhati

Just as waters stream in the ten directions from a full ocean, so wealth spreads over the earth from the royal house.

Note on the text: = CE 12.8.32.

Verse 34 (12.8.34)

आसीदियं दिलीपस्य नृगस्य नहुषस्य च । अंबरीषस्य मान्धातुः पृथिवी सा त्वयि स्थिता ॥

āsīdiyaṃ dilīpasya nṛgasya nahuṣasya ca | aṃbarīṣasya māndhātuḥ pṛthivī sā tvayi sthitā

This earth belonged to Dilipa, to Nriga, to Nahusha, to Ambarisha and to Mandhata; and now that earth is yours.

Note on the text: Corrected अंबरीपस्य → अंबरीषस्य (misprint in Wikisource; प for ष, CE ambarīṣasya). = CE 12.8.33.

Verse 35 (12.8.35)

स त्वां द्रव्यमयो यज्ञः संप्राप्तः सर्वदक्षिणः । तं चेन्न यजसे राजन्प्राप्तस्त्वं राज्यकिल्बिषम् ॥

sa tvāṃ dravyamayo yajñaḥ saṃprāptaḥ sarvadakṣiṇaḥ | taṃ cenna yajase rājanprāptastvaṃ rājyakilbiṣam

A sacrifice rich in wealth, carrying every fee, has come to you. If, O king, you do not perform it, you incur the guilt of kingship.

Note on the text: = CE 12.8.34. Recension variant, kept: राज्यकिल्बिषम् (CE devakilbiṣam).

Verse 36 (12.8.36)

येषां राजाऽश्वमेधेन यजते दक्षिणावता । उपेत्य तस्यावभृथे पूताः सर्वे भवन्ति ते ॥

yeṣāṃ rājā'śvamedhena yajate dakṣiṇāvatā | upetya tasyāvabhṛthe pūtāḥ sarve bhavanti te

Those for whom a king sacrifices with the horse sacrifice and its ample fees are all made pure when they come to its concluding bath.

Note on the text: = CE 12.8.35.

Verse 37 (12.8.37)

विश्वरूपो महादेवः सर्वमेधे महामखे । जुहाव सर्वभूतानि तथैवात्मानमात्मना ॥

viśvarūpo mahādevaḥ sarvamedhe mahāmakhe | juhāva sarvabhūtāni tathaivātmānamātmanā

In the sacrifice of all, the great rite, the all-formed great god made an offering of all beings, and of himself as well, by himself.

Note on the text: = CE 12.8.36.

Verse 38 (12.8.38)

शाश्वतोऽयं भूतिपथो नास्त्यन्तमनुशुश्रुम । महाजनपथं गन्ता मा राजन्कुपथं गमः ॥

śāśvato'yaṃ bhūtipatho nāstyantamanuśuśruma | mahājanapathaṃ gantā mā rājankupathaṃ gamaḥ

This path of prosperity is eternal; we have heard of no end to it. You walk the way of great men: do not, O king, take an evil road.

Note on the text: = CE 12.8.37. Recension variants, kept: नास्त्यन्तम् (CE nāsyāntam) and महाजनपथं गन्ता (CE mahān dāśarathaḥ panthā).