Jabali's Counsel of Unbelief

Shloka 1 (ayodhya.108.1)

आश्वासयन्तम् भरतम् जाबालिर् ब्राह्मण उत्तमः। उवाच रामम् धर्मज्ञम् धर्म अपेतम् इदम् वचः॥ 108.1 ॥

āśvāsayantam bharatam jābālir brāhmaṇa uttamaḥ| uvāca rāmam dharmajñam dharma apetam idam vacaḥ

To Rama, the knower of dharma, who was consoling Bharata, the excellent brahmin Jabali spoke these words devoid of righteousness.

Shloka 2 (ayodhya.108.2)

साधु राघव मा भूत् ते बुद्धिर् एवम् निरर्थका। प्राकृतस्य नरस्य इव आर्य बुद्धेः तपस्विनः॥ 108.2 ॥

sādhu rāghava mā bhūt te buddhir evam nirarthakā| prākṛtasya narasya iva ārya buddheḥ tapasvinaḥ

"Enough, O Raghava! Let your understanding not become as futile as this, like that of some common man — you who are of noble intellect and ascetic discipline.

Shloka 3 (ayodhya.108.3)

कः कस्य पुरुषो बन्धुः किम् आप्यम् कस्य केनचित्। यद् एको जायते जन्तुर् एक एव विनश्यति॥ 108.3 ॥

kaḥ kasya puruṣo bandhuḥ kim āpyam kasya kenacit| yad eko jāyate jantur eka eva vinaśyati

What man is truly kin to what other, and what can any being gain through any other? For every creature is born alone, and alone it perishes.

Shloka 4 (ayodhya.108.4)

तस्मान् माता पिता च इति राम सज्जेत यो नरः। उन्मत्त इव स ज्ञेयो न अस्ति काचिद्द् हि कस्यचित्॥ 108.4 ॥

tasmān mātā pitā ca iti rāma sajjeta yo naraḥ| unmatta iva sa jñeyo na asti kācidd hi kasyacit

Therefore, O Rama, the man who clings, saying 'this is my mother, this is my father,' should be known as one out of his senses — for truly, no one belongs to anyone.

Shloka 5 (ayodhya.108.5)

यथा ग्राम अन्तरम् गच्छन् नरः कश्चिद् क्वचिद् वसेत्। उत्सृज्य च तम् आवासम् प्रतिष्ठेत अपरे अहनि॥ 108.5 ॥

yathā grāma antaram gacchan naraḥ kaścid kvacid vaset| utsṛjya ca tam āvāsam pratiṣṭheta apare ahani

Just as a traveller journeying to another village lodges somewhere for a night, and the next day leaves that shelter and continues on his way —

Shloka 6 (ayodhya.108.6)

एवम् एव मनुष्याणाम् पिता माता गृहम् वसु। आवास मात्रम् काकुत्स्थ सज्जन्ते न अत्र सज्जनाः॥ 108.6 ॥

evam eva manuṣyāṇām pitā mātā gṛham vasu| āvāsa mātram kākutstha sajjante na atra sajjanāḥ

— even so, O Kakutstha, are father, mother, home, and wealth to men: mere resting-places along the way. The wise do not become attached to them.

Shloka 7 (ayodhya.108.7)

पित्र्यम् राज्यम् समुत्सृज्य स न अर्हसि नर उत्तम। आस्थातुम् कापथम् दुह्खम् विषमम् बहु कण्टकम्॥ 108.7 ॥

pitryam rājyam samutsṛjya sa na arhasi nara uttama| āsthātum kāpatham duhkham viṣamam bahu kaṇṭakam

O best of men, having given up your father's kingdom, you ought not to dwell instead upon a wretched, painful path, rugged and full of thorns.

Shloka 8 (ayodhya.108.8)

समृद्धायाम् अयोध्यायाम् आत्मानम् अभिषेचय। एक वेणी धरा हि त्वाम् नगरी सम्प्रतीक्षते॥ 108.8 ॥

samṛddhāyām ayodhyāyām ātmānam abhiṣecaya| eka veṇī dharā hi tvām nagarī sampratīkṣate

Have yourself consecrated in prosperous Ayodhya; that city, its hair braided in a single plait of mourning, waits for you even now.

Shloka 9 (ayodhya.108.9)

राज भोगान् अनुभवन् महा अर्हान् पार्थिव आत्मज। विहर त्वम् अयोध्यायाम् यथा शक्रः त्रिविष्टपे॥ 108.9 ॥

rāja bhogān anubhavan mahā arhān pārthiva ātmaja| vihara tvam ayodhyāyām yathā śakraḥ triviṣṭape

O son of a king, enjoying the royal pleasures worthy of you, disport yourself in Ayodhya as Shakra does in heaven.

Shloka 10 (ayodhya.108.10)

न ते कश्चिद् दशरतहः त्वम् च तस्य न कश्चन। अन्यो राजा त्वम् अन्यः च तस्मात् कुरु यद् उच्यते॥ 108.10 ॥

na te kaścid daśaratahaḥ tvam ca tasya na kaścana| anyo rājā tvam anyaḥ ca tasmāt kuru yad ucyate

Dasharatha is nothing at all to you, nor you to him; that king is one person, and you another — therefore do as I say.

Shloka 11 (ayodhya.108.11)

बीजमात्रम् पिता जन्तोः शुक्लं रुधिरमेव च। संयुक्तमृतुमन्मात्रा पुरुषस्येह जन्म तत्॥ 108.11 ॥

bījamātram pitā jantoḥ śuklaṃ rudhirameva ca| saṃyuktamṛtumanmātrā puruṣasyeha janma tat

A father is merely the seed of a creature; the semen and the mother's blood, uniting at the fertile season within her, become that from which a man is born into this world.

Shloka 12 (ayodhya.108.12)

गतः स नृपतिः तत्र गन्तव्यम् यत्र तेन वै। प्रवृत्तिर् एषा मर्त्यानाम् त्वम् तु मिथ्या विहन्यसे॥ 108.12 ॥

gataḥ sa nṛpatiḥ tatra gantavyam yatra tena vai| pravṛttir eṣā martyānām tvam tu mithyā vihanyase

That king has gone where he was bound to go — such is the course of all mortal beings; you distress yourself over it for nothing.

Shloka 13 (ayodhya.108.13)

अर्थ धर्म परा ये ये तान् तान् शोचामि न इतरान्। ते हि दुह्खम् इह प्राप्य विनाशम् प्रेत्य भेजिरे॥ 108.13 ॥

artha dharma parā ye ye tān tān śocāmi na itarān| te hi duhkham iha prāpya vināśam pretya bhejire

I pity only those who are devoted to wealth and to dharma, not others; for having endured suffering here, they meet with utter extinction after death.

Shloka 14 (ayodhya.108.14)

अष्टका पितृ दैवत्यम् इत्य् अयम् प्रसृतो जनः। अन्नस्य उपद्रवम् पश्य मृतो हि किम् अशिष्यति॥ 108.14 ॥

aṣṭakā pitṛ daivatyam ity ayam prasṛto janaḥ| annasya upadravam paśya mṛto hi kim aśiṣyati

People at large go about saying, 'the ashtaka rite is sacred to the ancestors' — see what a waste of food that is! What indeed can a dead man eat?

Shloka 15 (ayodhya.108.15)

यदि भुक्तम् इह अन्येन देहम् अन्यस्य गच्छति। दद्यात् प्रवसतः श्राद्धम् न तत् पथ्य् अशनम् भवेत्॥ 108.15 ॥

yadi bhuktam iha anyena deham anyasya gacchati| dadyāt pravasataḥ śrāddham na tat pathy aśanam bhavet

If food eaten here by one person could reach the body of another, then one ought to perform the shraddha for a man setting out on a journey — would it not then serve as provisions on his road?

Shloka 16 (ayodhya.108.16)

दान सम्वनना ह्य् एते ग्रन्था मेधाविभिः कृताः। यजस्व देहि दीक्षस्व तपः तप्यस्व सम्त्यज॥ 108.16 ॥

dāna samvananā hy ete granthā medhāvibhiḥ kṛtāḥ| yajasva dehi dīkṣasva tapaḥ tapyasva samtyaja

'Perform sacrifice, give gifts, undergo consecration, practise austerity, renounce' — these scriptures were composed by clever men only to entice others into giving.

Shloka 17 (ayodhya.108.17)

स न अस्ति परम् इत्य् एव कुरु बुद्धिम् महा मते। प्रत्यक्षम् यत् तद् आतिष्ठ परोक्षम् पृष्ठतः कुरु॥ 108.17 ॥

sa na asti param ity eva kuru buddhim mahā mate| pratyakṣam yat tad ātiṣṭha parokṣam pṛṣṭhataḥ kuru

O highly wise one, hold firmly the conviction that nothing exists beyond this — rely only on what is directly seen, and turn your back on the unseen.

Shloka 18 (ayodhya.108.18)

सताम् बुद्धिम् पुरः कृत्य सर्व लोक निदर्शिनीम्। राज्यम् त्वम् प्रतिगृह्णीष्व भरतेन प्रसादितः॥ 108.18 ॥

satām buddhim puraḥ kṛtya sarva loka nidarśinīm| rājyam tvam pratigṛhṇīṣva bharatena prasāditaḥ

Placing foremost the counsel of the good, approved by all the world, accept the kingdom, entreated as you are by Bharata."