The Chariot of the Body and the Gift of Fearlessness

Verse 1 (11.7.1)

अहोऽभिहितमाख्यानं भवता तत्त्वदर्शिना । भूय एव तु मे हर्षः श्रोतुं वागमृतं तव ॥

aho'bhihitamākhyānaṃ bhavatā tattvadarśinā | bhūya eva tu me harṣaḥ śrotuṃ vāgamṛtaṃ tava

Dhritarashtra said: Ah, what a tale you have told, seer of truth! My delight at hearing your nectar-like words grows ever greater.

Note on the text: Corrected आख्यान → आख्यानं (misprint in Wikisource; dropped anusvara; the critical edition reads ākhyānaṃ).

Verse 2 (11.7.2)

शृणु भूयः प्रवक्ष्यामि मार्गस्यैतस्य विस्तरम् । यच्छ्रुत्वा विप्रमुच्यन्ते संसाराद्धि विचक्षणाः ॥

śṛṇu bhūyaḥ pravakṣyāmi mārgasyaitasya vistaram | yacchrutvā vipramucyante saṃsārāddhi vicakṣaṇāḥ

Vidura said: Listen, I shall tell you more of this path at length, hearing which the discerning are wholly freed from worldly existence.

Note on the text: Corrected संसाराद्वि → संसाराद्धि (misprint in Wikisource; द्व for द्ध, which leaves no word; the rest of line 2 differs from CE saṃsārebhyo as a recension variant, kept).

Verse 3 (11.7.3)

यथा तु पुरुषो राजन्दीर्घमध्वानमास्थितः । क्वचित्क्वचिच्छ्रमस्थानं कुरुते वासमेव वा ॥

yathā tu puruṣo rājandīrghamadhvānamāsthitaḥ | kvacitkvacicchramasthānaṃ kurute vāsameva vā

Just as a man who has set out on a long road, O king, halts to rest here and there, or even makes his stay,

Note on the text: Recension variant, kept: Wikisource क्वचित्क्वचिच्छ्रमस्थानं कुरुते against CE kva cit kva cic chramāt sthātā kurute.

Verse 4 (11.7.4)

एवं संसारपर्याये गर्भवासेषु भारत । कुर्वन्ति दुर्बुधा वासं मुच्यन्ते तत्र पण्डिताः ॥

evaṃ saṃsāraparyāye garbhavāseṣu bhārata | kurvanti durbudhā vāsaṃ mucyante tatra paṇḍitāḥ

so, in the round of worldly existence, in the stays in the womb, O Bharata, the foolish make their dwelling, while the wise are freed from it.

Verse 5 (11.7.5)

तस्मादध्वानमेवैतमाहुः शास्त्रविदो जनाः । यत्तत्संसारगहनं वनमाहुर्मनीषिणः ॥

tasmādadhvānamevaitamāhuḥ śāstravido janāḥ | yattatsaṃsāragahanaṃ vanamāhurmanīṣiṇaḥ

Therefore the knowers of the scriptures call this a road, and what is the thicket of worldly existence the thoughtful call the forest.

Verse 6 (11.7.6)

सोयं लोकसमावर्तो मर्त्यानां भरतर्षभ । चराणां स्थावराणां च न गृध्येत्तत्र पण्डितः ॥

soyaṃ lokasamāvarto martyānāṃ bharatarṣabha | carāṇāṃ sthāvarāṇāṃ ca na gṛdhyettatra paṇḍitaḥ

This is the whirl of the world of mortals, O best of the Bharatas. A wise man would not be greedy for anything here, moving or unmoving.

Note on the text: Corrected पाण्डितः → पण्डितः (misprint in Wikisource; long ā for a; the critical edition reads paṇḍitaḥ).

Verse 7 (11.7.7)

शारीरा मानसाश्चैव मर्त्यानां व्याधयश्च ये । प्रत्यक्षाश्च परोक्षाश्च ते व्यालाः कथिता बुधैः ॥

śārīrā mānasāścaiva martyānāṃ vyādhayaśca ye | pratyakṣāśca parokṣāśca te vyālāḥ kathitā budhaiḥ

The ailments of mortals, of body and of mind, seen and unseen, are what the sages call the beasts.

Note on the text: Recension variant, kept: Wikisource व्याधयश्च ये against CE ye tu vyādhayaḥ.

Verse 8 (11.7.8)

क्लिश्यमानाश्च तैर्नित्यं मार्यमाणाश्च भारत । स्वकर्मभिर्महाव्यालैर्नोद्विजन्त्यल्पबुद्धयः ॥

kliśyamānāśca tairnityaṃ māryamāṇāśca bhārata | svakarmabhirmahāvyālairnodvijantyalpabuddhayaḥ

Always tormented and slain by them, by the great beasts of their own deeds, the dull-witted are not alarmed.

Note on the text: Recension variant, kept: Wikisource मार्यमाणाः against CE hanyamānāḥ (the page's own note cites वार्यमाणाः).

Verse 9 (11.7.9)

अथापि तैर्विमुच्येत व्याधिभिः पुरुषो नृप । आवृणोत्येव तं पश्चाज्जरा रूपविनाशिनी ॥

athāpi tairvimucyeta vyādhibhiḥ puruṣo nṛpa | āvṛṇotyeva taṃ paścājjarā rūpavināśinī

And even if a man is freed from those diseases, O king, old age, destroyer of beauty, then closes round him.

Verse 10 (11.7.10)

शब्दरूपरसस्पर्शगन्धैश्च विविधैरपि । मज्जमानं महापङ्के निरालम्बे समन्ततः ॥

śabdarūparasasparśagandhaiśca vividhairapi | majjamānaṃ mahāpaṅke nirālambe samantataḥ

Through sounds, forms, tastes, touches and smells of every kind, he sinks into a great mire, with nothing to hold on to on any side.

Verse 11 (11.7.11)

संवत्सरर्तवो मासाः पक्षाहोरात्रसन्धयः । क्रमेणास्य प्रलुम्पन्ति रूपमायुस्तथैव च ॥

saṃvatsarartavo māsāḥ pakṣāhorātrasandhayaḥ | krameṇāsya pralumpanti rūpamāyustathaiva ca

Years, seasons, months, fortnights, days and nights and the junctures between them, one after another rob him of his beauty and his span of life.

Note on the text: Corrected प्रवृज्जन्ति → प्रलुम्पन्ति (misprint in Wikisource; प्रवृज्जन्ति is not a Sanskrit form; followed the critical edition, which reads pralumpanti, "rob").

Verse 12 (11.7.12)

एते कालस्य विधयो नैताञ्जानन्ति दुर्बुधाः । धात्राऽभिलिखितान्याहुः सर्वभूतानि कर्मणा ॥

ete kālasya vidhayo naitāñjānanti durbudhāḥ | dhātrā'bhilikhitānyāhuḥ sarvabhūtāni karmaṇā

These are the ways of Time; the dull-witted do not know them. They say all beings are written down here by the Ordainer according to their deeds.

Note on the text: Corrected जानान्ति → जानन्ति (misprint in Wikisource; the third-person plural of ज्ञा is जानन्ति; the critical edition reads jānanti). Recension variant, kept: Wikisource धात्राऽभिलिखितानि against CE atrābhilikhitāni.

Verse 13 (11.7.13)

रथः शरीरं भूतानां सत्वमाहुस्तु सारथिम् । इन्द्रियाणि हयानाहुः कर्मबुद्धिस्तु रश्मयः ॥

rathaḥ śarīraṃ bhūtānāṃ satvamāhustu sārathim | indriyāṇi hayānāhuḥ karmabuddhistu raśmayaḥ

The body of beings, they say, is the chariot; the mind is the charioteer; the senses are the horses, and the reins are the understanding that guides action.

Note on the text: Corrected कर्मबुद्विस्तु → कर्मबुद्धिस्तु (misprint in Wikisource; dropped ध; the critical edition reads karma buddhiś ca).

Verse 14 (11.7.14)

तेषां हयानां यो वेगं धावतामनु धावति । सतु संसारचक्रेऽस्मिंश्चक्रवत्परिवर्तते ॥

teṣāṃ hayānāṃ yo vegaṃ dhāvatāmanu dhāvati | satu saṃsāracakre'smiṃścakravatparivartate

Whoever runs after the speed of those racing horses turns like a wheel in this wheel of worldly existence.

Verse 15 (11.7.15)

यस्तान्संयमते बुद्ध्या संयतो न निवर्तते । यस्तु संसारचक्रेऽस्मिंश्चक्रवत्परिवर्तते ॥

yastānsaṃyamate buddhyā saṃyato na nivartate | yastu saṃsāracakre'smiṃścakravatparivartate

He who holds them in check with his understanding, being restrained himself, does not turn back; but the other, in this wheel of rebirth, goes on turning like a wheel.

Note on the text: Line 1 = CE 11.7.15a (CE yas tān yamayate buddhyā sa yantā na nivartate). Line 2 is not in the critical edition (vulgate recension; it repeats the sense of the previous verse's second line, and the CE's own second line 15c, yāmyam āhū rathaṃ hy enaṃ …, appears here as the first line of Wikisource verse 19).

Verse 16 (11.7.16)

भ्रममाणा न मुह्यन्ति संसारे न भ्रमन्ति ते । संसारे भ्रमतां राजन्दुःखमेतद्धि जायते ॥

bhramamāṇā na muhyanti saṃsāre na bhramanti te | saṃsāre bhramatāṃ rājanduḥkhametaddhi jāyate

Those who go round without being bewildered do not truly go round in worldly existence. It is for those who wander in worldly existence, O king, that this sorrow arises.

Note on the text: Removed the opening square bracket that Wikisource prints (it opens the bracketed passage of verses 16–18, which the page marks as an interpolation). Not in the critical edition's constituted text (found in the vulgate recension); the critical edition gives these lines as the star passage 11.7.14d*0023, lines 01–02 (CE bhramamāṇā na muhyanti …).

Verse 17 (11.7.17)

तस्मादस्य निवृत्त्यर्थं यत्नमेवाचरेद्बुधः । उपेक्षा नात्र कर्तव्या शतशाखः प्रवर्धते ॥

tasmādasya nivṛttyarthaṃ yatnamevācaredbudhaḥ | upekṣā nātra kartavyā śataśākhaḥ pravardhate

Therefore a wise man should make every effort to end it. There must be no neglect in this: it grows with a hundred branches.

Note on the text: Corrected तस्पादस्य → तस्मादस्य (misprint in Wikisource; the critical edition reads tasmād asya). Not in the critical edition's constituted text; star passage 11.7.14d*0023, lines 03–04, which the page marks as bracketed.

Verse 18 (11.7.18)

यतेन्द्रियो नरो राजन्क्रोधलोभनिराकृतः । सन्तुष्टः सत्यवादी यः स शान्तिमधिगच्छति ॥

yatendriyo naro rājankrodhalobhanirākṛtaḥ | santuṣṭaḥ satyavādī yaḥ sa śāntimadhigacchati

The man who has mastered his senses, O king, free from anger and greed, content and truthful, attains peace.

Note on the text: Removed the closing square bracket Wikisource prints here, and the stray double daṇḍa before it (the bracket closes the passage of verses 16–18). Not in the critical edition's constituted text; star passage 11.7.14d*0023, lines 05–06.

Verse 19 (11.7.19)

याम्यमाहू रथं ह्येनं मुह्यन्ते येन दुर्बुधाः । स चैतत्प्राप्नुयाद्राजन्यत्त्वं प्राप्तो नराधिप ॥

yāmyamāhū rathaṃ hyenaṃ muhyante yena durbudhāḥ | sa caitatprāpnuyādrājanyattvaṃ prāpto narādhipa

They call it the chariot of Yama, by which the dull-witted are bewildered; and he who rides it comes to what you have come to, O king, O lord of men:

Note on the text: Line 1 = CE 11.7.15c (yāmyam āhū rathaṃ hy enaṃ muhyante yena durbudhāḥ); line 2 = CE 11.7.16a (sa caitat prāpnute rājan yat tvaṃ prāpto narādhipa). The alignment found no match.

Verse 20 (11.7.20)

अनुतर्षुलमेवैतद्दुःखं भवति मारिष । राज्यनाशः सुहृन्नाशः सुतनाशश्च भारत । साधुः परमदुःखानां दुःखभैषज्यमारभेत् ॥

anutarṣulamevaitadduḥkhaṃ bhavati māriṣa | rājyanāśaḥ suhṛnnāśaḥ sutanāśaśca bhārata | sādhuḥ paramaduḥkhānāṃ duḥkhabhaiṣajyamārabhet

This sorrow, my lord, is a thing that breeds craving: the loss of the kingdom, the loss of friends, the loss of sons, O Bharata. A good man should set about the remedy for his heaviest sorrows.

Note on the text: Line 1 is a variant of CE 11.7.17a (CE anutarṣulam evaitad duḥkhaṃ bhavati bhārata); line 2 = CE 11.7.16c (rājyanāśaṃ suhṛnnāśaṃ sutanāśaṃ ca bhārata); line 3 = CE 11.7.17c (sādhuḥ paramaduḥkhānāṃ duḥkhabhaiṣajyam ācaret, where the page reads आरभेत्). The page puts the lines in this order. The alignment found no match.

Verse 21 (11.7.21)

ज्ञानौषधमवाप्येह दूरपारं महौषधम् । छिन्द्याद्दुःखमहाव्याधिं नरः संयतमानसः ॥

jñānauṣadhamavāpyeha dūrapāraṃ mahauṣadham | chindyādduḥkhamahāvyādhiṃ naraḥ saṃyatamānasaḥ

Having obtained here the medicine of knowledge, the great medicine that carries far, a man of controlled mind should cut away the great disease of sorrow.

Note on the text: Not in the critical edition's constituted text (found in the vulgate recension); the critical edition gives these lines as the star passage 11.7.17d*0024, lines 01–02 (jñānauṣadham avāpyeha dūrapāraṃ mahauṣadham / chindyād duḥkhamahāvyādhiṃ naraḥ saṃyatamānasaḥ).

Verse 22 (11.7.22)

न विक्रमो न चाप्यर्थो न मित्रं न सुहृज्जनः । तस्मान्मोचयते दुःखाद्यथात्मा स्थिरनिश्चयः ॥

na vikramo na cāpyartho na mitraṃ na suhṛjjanaḥ | tasmānmocayate duḥkhādyathātmā sthiraniścayaḥ

Neither valour, nor wealth, nor a friend, nor a kinsman frees a man from sorrow as his own self does when its resolve is steady.

Note on the text: Recension variant, kept: Wikisource तस्मान्मोचयते … यथात्मा स्थिरनिश्चयः against CE tathonmocayate … yathātmā sthirasaṃyamaḥ.

Verse 23 (11.7.23)

तस्मान्मैत्रं समास्थाय शीलमापदि भारत । दमस्त्यागोऽप्रमादश्च ते त्रयो ब्रह्मणो हयाः ॥

tasmānmaitraṃ samāsthāya śīlamāpadi bhārata | damastyāgo'pramādaśca te trayo brahmaṇo hayāḥ

Therefore, resorting to friendliness, and to good conduct in time of calamity, O Bharata, self-control, renunciation and heedfulness are the three horses of Brahma.

Verse 24 (11.7.24)

शीलरश्मिसमायुक्ते स्थितो यो मानसे रथे । त्यक्त्वा मृत्युभयं राजन्ब्रह्मलोकं स गच्छति ॥

śīlaraśmisamāyukte sthito yo mānase rathe | tyaktvā mṛtyubhayaṃ rājanbrahmalokaṃ sa gacchati

He who stands in the chariot of the mind yoked with the reins of good conduct casts off the fear of death, O king, and goes to the world of Brahma.

Verse 25 (11.7.25)

अभयं सर्वभूतेभ्यो यो ददाति महीपते । स गच्छति परं स्थानं विष्णोः पदमनामयम् ॥

abhayaṃ sarvabhūtebhyo yo dadāti mahīpate | sa gacchati paraṃ sthānaṃ viṣṇoḥ padamanāmayam

He who gives freedom from fear to all beings, O lord of the earth, goes to the supreme state, the stainless abode of Vishnu.

Note on the text: Not in the critical edition's constituted text (found in the vulgate recension); the critical edition gives these lines as the star passage 11.7.20d*0026, lines 01–02 (abhayaṃ sarvabhūtebhyo yo dadāti mahīpate …).

Verse 26 (11.7.26)

न तत्क्रतुसहस्रेण नोपवासैश्च नित्यशः । अभयस्य च दानेन यत्फलं प्राप्नुयान्नरः ॥

na tatkratusahasreṇa nopavāsaiśca nityaśaḥ | abhayasya ca dānena yatphalaṃ prāpnuyānnaraḥ

Neither by a thousand sacrifices nor by constant fasting does a man gain the fruit that he gains by the gift of fearlessness.

Note on the text: Not in the critical edition's constituted text (found in the vulgate recension); star passage 11.7.20d*0026, lines 03–04.

Verse 27 (11.7.27)

न ह्यात्मनः प्रियतरं किञ्चिद्भूतेषु निश्चितम् । अनिष्टं सर्वभूतानां मरणं नाम भारत ॥

na hyātmanaḥ priyataraṃ kiñcidbhūteṣu niścitam | aniṣṭaṃ sarvabhūtānāṃ maraṇaṃ nāma bhārata

Nothing among beings is established as dearer than one's own self; and death, O Bharata, is what all creatures like least.

Note on the text: Not in the critical edition's constituted text (found in the vulgate recension); star passage 11.7.20d*0026, lines 05–06.

Verse 28 (11.7.28)

तस्मात्सर्वेषु भूतेषु दया कार्या विपश्चिता ॥

tasmātsarveṣu bhūteṣu dayā kāryā vipaścitā

Therefore a wise man should show compassion toward all beings.

Note on the text: A single line in the page's division. Not in the critical edition's constituted text (found in the vulgate recension); star passage 11.7.20d*0026, line 07.

Verse 29 (11.7.29)

नानायोगसमायुक्ता बुद्धिजालेन संवृताः । असूक्ष्मदृष्टयो मन्दा भ्राम्यन्ते तत्रतत्र ह । सुसूक्ष्मदृष्टयो राजन्व्रजन्ति ब्रह्मसाम्यताम् ॥

nānāyogasamāyuktā buddhijālena saṃvṛtāḥ | asūkṣmadṛṣṭayo mandā bhrāmyante tatratatra ha | susūkṣmadṛṣṭayo rājanvrajanti brahmasāmyatām

Joined to many pursuits, wrapped in a net of thought, the dull-sighted fools wander here and there; but those of very keen sight, O king, attain likeness with Brahman.

Note on the text: Not in the critical edition's constituted text (found in the vulgate recension); star passage 11.7.20d*0026, lines 08–10, with variants (CE nānāmohasamāyuktā …, and susūkṣmadṛṣṭayo dhīrā vrajanti brahma śāśvatam for the page's third line).

Verse 30 (11.7.30)

एवं ज्ञात्वा महाप्राज्ञ स तेषामौर्ध्वदैहिकम् । कर्तुमर्हति तेनैव फलं प्राप्स्यति वै भवान् ॥

evaṃ jñātvā mahāprājña sa teṣāmaurdhvadaihikam | kartumarhati tenaiva phalaṃ prāpsyati vai bhavān

Knowing this, O greatly wise one, you ought to perform for them the rites for the departed; by that alone you will obtain the reward.

Note on the text: Corrected फल → फलं (misprint in Wikisource; dropped anusvara; the critical edition reads phalaṃ). Not in the critical edition's constituted text; star passage 11.7.20d*0027, lines 01–02, with variants (CE kartum arhasi … prāpsyasi vai sukham). The page prints nothing further before the colophon except commentary glosses and variant readings (not added).