The World of Valmiki-28

The World of Valmiki-28

Rama consoles Tara and speaks of inevitability of death:

लोकवृत्तमनुष्ठेयं कृतं वो बाष्पमोक्षणम् ।
न कालादुत्तरं किञ्चित्कर्म शक्यमुपासितुम् ॥
नियतिः कारणं लोके नियतिः कर्मसाधनम् ।
नियतिः सर्वभूतानां नियोगेष्विह कारणम् ॥
न कर्ता कस्यचित् कश्चिन्नियोगे चापि नेश्वरः ।
स्वभावे वर्तते लोकस्तस्य कालः परायणम् ॥
न कालः कालमत्येति न कालः परिहीयते ।
स्वभावं च समासाद्य न कश्चिदतिवर्तते ॥
न कालस्यास्ति बन्धुत्वं न हेतुर्नपराक्रमः ।
न मित्रज्ञातिसंबन्धः कारणं नात्मनो वशः ॥
किन्तु कालपरीणामो द्रष्टव्यः साधु पश्यता ।
धर्मश्चार्थश्च कामश्च कालक्रमसमाहिताः ॥४/२५/२-८॥
Custom of the land has to be followed. You have shed tears. After death, there is nothing that can be done. Destiny is the cause in this world. Destiny is the instrument of work. It is destiny which causes actions of all beings. No one does anything. No one is the lord of any action. The world stays in its natural state and it is Time which drives it. Time does not transgress itself nor does it fall behind. No one transgresses ones innate nature. Time does not recognize kith,reason or valour. The ultimate Cause is not under the control of an individual. A person of foresight has to see that everything undergoes transformation over time. Dharma, wealth and desire are all consequences of Time.


A disillusioned Lakshmana laments on the futility of following dharma,seeing Rama grieving over the news that Sita is beheaded by Indrajit
शुभे वर्त्मनि तिष्ठन्तं त्वामार्य विजितेन्द्रियम् ।
अनर्थेभ्यो न शक्नोति त्रातुं धर्मो निरर्थकः ॥
भूतानां स्थावराणां च जङ्गमानां च दर्शनम् ।
यथास्ति न तथा धर्मस्तेन नास्तीति मे मतिः ॥
यथैव स्थावरं व्यक्तं जङ्ग्ममं च तथाविधम् ।
नायमर्थस्तथा युक्तस्त्वद्विधो न विपद्यते ॥
यद्यधर्मो भवेद्भूतो राबणो नरकं व्रजेत् ।
भवांश्च धर्मयुल्तो वै नैवं व्यसनमाप्नुयात् ॥
तस्य च व्यसनाभावाद् व्यसनं च गते त्वयि ।
धर्मो भवत्यधर्मश्च परस्परवोरोधिनौ ॥
Useless dharma is unable to protect you from calamities although you tread the virtuous path and have control over your senses. The way you can perceive the static and mobile beings, you cannot perceive dharma. Therefore dharma does not exist. In the manner that a static or mobile being is visible, this dharma is not visible. If it were visible you would not suffer. If adharma were a factual entity, Ravana should have gone to hell and you following dharma should not come  to grief. As he (Ravana) has no suffering and as you are suffering, what you call dharma becomes adharma and adharma becomes dharma. Dharma and adharma become reversed.

धर्मेणोपलभेद्धर्ममधर्मं चाप्यधर्मतः ।
यध्यधर्मेण युज्येयुर्येष्वधर्मः प्रतिष्ठितः ॥
यदि धर्मेण युज्येरन्नाधर्मरुचयो जनाः ।
धर्मेण चरताम् धर्मस्तथा चैषां फलं भवेत् ॥
यस्मादर्था विवर्धन्ते येष्वधर्मः प्रतिष्ठितः ।
क्लिश्यन्ते धर्मशीलाश्च तस्मादेतौ निरर्थकौ ॥
वध्यन्ते पापकर्माणो यद्यधर्मेण राघव ।
वधकर्महतोऽधर्मः स हतः कं वधिष्यति ॥
अथवा विहितेनायं हन्यते हन्ति वा परम् ।
विधिरालप्यते तेन न स पापेन कर्मणा ॥
Those on the path of adharma should get the fruits of adharma and those following dharma should reap the benefits of dharma. Now that those on the path of adharma are flourishing and those following dharma are suffering, these concepts of dharma and adharma are meaningless. If you say that those who commit sins are destroyed by their own actions, a momentary action of committing a sin will itself get destroyed and how can adharma destroy one who commits adharma? Prompted by a divine entity if a person kills another or gets killed, the fruits of killing will only be reaped by the divine entity only and not by the person who is merely an instrument.  

अदृष्टप्रतिकारेण त्वव्यक्तेनासता सता ।
कथं शक्यम् परं प्राप्तुं धर्मेणारिविकर्षण ॥
यदि सत्स्यात् सतां मुख्य नासत्स्यात् तव किञ्चन ।
त्वया यदीदृशं प्राप्तं तस्मात् सन्नोपपद्यते ॥
अथवा दुर्बलः क्लीबो बलं धर्मोऽनुवर्तते ।
दुर्बलो हृतमर्यादो न सेव्य इति मे मतिः ॥
बलस्य यदिचेद्धर्मो गुणभूतः पराक्रमे ।
धर्ममुत्सृज्य वर्तस्व यथा धर्मे तथा बले ॥
अथ चेत् सत्यवचनं धर्मः किल परन्तप ।
अनृतस्त्वय्यकरुणः किं न बद्धस्त्वया पिता ॥
यदि धर्मो भवेद्भूतो अधर्मो वा परन्तप ।
न स्म हत्वा मुनिं वज्री कुर्यादिज्याम् शतक्रतुः ॥
O slayer of enemies, how can dharma which is non-existent and whose fruits are not visible accomplish anything great? O foremost among the good, if there is something like dharma, no calamity should befall a person like you. Therefore it does not exist. Dharma (even if it exists) is too weak and powerless and therefore follows the mighty. It appears to me that this weak dharma which has lost respect should not be followed. As dharma is subsidiary to might, you adopt might abandoning dharma. If truthfulness is dharma, why did you not arrest your father who was untruthful ( as he did not adhere to his declaration in the assembly that you would be made the heir-apparent) and was unkind to you? If either dharma or adharma were existing, Indra did not have to kill a Brahmin and also perform sacrifices. (A king has to be pragmatic and has to adopt dharma or adharma depending on the circumstances).

अधर्मसंश्रितो धर्मो विनाशयति राघव ।
सर्वमेतद्यथाकामं काकुत्स्थ कुरुते नरः ॥
मम चेदं मतं तात धर्मोऽयमिति राघव ।
धर्ममूलं त्वया छिन्नं राज्यमुत्सृजता तदा ॥
अर्थेभ्यो हि विवृद्धेभ्यः संवृत्तेभ्यस्ततस्ततः ।
क्रियाः सर्वाः प्रवर्तन्ते पर्वतेभ्य इवापगाः ॥
अर्थेन हि वियुक्तस्य पुरुषस्याल्पतेजसः ।
व्युच्छिद्य्न्ते क्रियाः सर्वा ग्रीष्मे कुसरितो यथा ॥
सोऽयमर्थं परित्यज्य सुखकामः सुखैधितः ।
पापमारभते कर्तुं ततो दोषः प्रवर्तते ॥
O Kakutstha, if either Dharma or adharma is followed (at the exclusion of the other) it will lead to calamity. Therefore one follows dharma or adharma depending on circumstances. In my view this pragmatism is the dharma. In refusing the kingdom, you struck at the root of this dharma. All activities emanate from continuously augmented wealth like rivers emanating from mountains. All actions of a person of low calibre and devoid of wealth get destroyed like small streams in summer. If a person well brought up and desirous of pleasures forsakes wealth, he will later take to sinful acts and thus earn demerit.  

यस्यार्थास्तस्य मित्राणि यस्यार्थास्तस्य बान्धवाः ।
यस्याथाः स पुमान् लोके यस्यार्थाः स च पण्डितः ॥
यस्यार्थाः स च विक्रान्तो यस्यार्थाः स च बुद्धिमान् ।
यस्यार्थाः स महाभागो यस्यार्थाः स महागुणः ॥
अर्थस्यैते परित्यागे दोषाः प्रव्याहृता मया ।
राज्यमुत्सृजता वीर येन बुद्धिस्त्वया कृता ॥
यस्यार्था धर्मकामार्थास्तस्य सर्वं प्रदक्षिणम् ।
अधनेनार्थकामेन नार्थः शक्यो विचिन्वता ॥
हर्षः कामश्च दर्पश्च धर्मः क्रोधः शमो दमः ।
अर्थादेतानि सर्वाणि प्रवर्तन्ते नराधिप ॥
येषां नश्यत्ययं लोकश्चरतां धर्मचारिणाम् ।
तेऽर्थास्त्वयि न दृश्यन्ते दुर्दिनेषु यथा ग्रहाः ॥ ६/८३/१४-४०॥
One who has wealth has friends, relatives and is considered manly and scholarly. One who has wealth is considered valourous, intelligent, fortunate and endowed with all good qualities. The disadvantages of abandoning wealth have been already explained. I do not know why you abandoned the kingdom. Dharma, artha and kama all these become right for a person who has wealth. A person without wealth seeking wealth cannot get it. O king, happiness, desires, grandeur, righteousness, anger, peace all these are the result of wealth only. This world of the righteous neglecting wealth destroys itself. And no wealth can be seen in you like the planets in a clouded sky.

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