Ayodhya Kanda · Sarga 108 of 119 · 18 verses
Jabali’s Argument
As Rama comforts Bharata, Jabali, the excellent brahmana, says to Rama, who knows dharma, words that depart from dharma: “Well, Raghava, do not let your mind be so useless, like an ordinary man’s, you who are noble-minded and wise. Who is anyone’s kinsman? What can anyone gain from anyone? A creature is born alone and perishes alone. So, Rama, the man who clings to ‘mother’ and ‘father’ should be thought of as mad; no one belongs to anyone. As a man going to another village stays somewhere for a night and leaves that lodging the next day, so a man’s father, mother, house and wealth are only lodgings, Kakutstha; the good do not cling to them. You should not give up your father’s kingdom, best of men, and take a bad road, painful, rough and full of thorns. Have yourself consecrated in prosperous Ayodhya; the city, wearing a single braid like a widow, is waiting for you. Enjoy costly royal pleasures, prince, and amuse yourself in Ayodhya, as Shakra does in heaven. Dasharatha is nothing to you, and you are nothing to him; the king was one person and you are another; so do what you are told. The father is only the seed of a creature; seed and blood joined in the mother in her season: that is a man’s birth here. The king has gone where he had to go; that is the way of mortals. You are tormenting yourself for nothing. I grieve for all those who are devoted to dharma and wealth, and for no others; for they suffer here and perish after death. People are wholly given to the eighth-day offerings to the ancestors and the gods; see the waste of food! What will a dead man eat? If what one person eats here went into another’s body, then give a shraddha for someone travelling: he would not need food for the road. These scriptures, which say ‘sacrifice, give, take initiation, practise austerity, renounce’, were made by clever men to get gifts. Make up your mind that there is no other world, very wise one. Hold to what is before your eyes, and put what is beyond them behind you. Putting first this understanding, which all the world shows, take the kingdom, as Bharata begs you.”
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आश्वासयन्तं भरतं जाबालिर्ब्राह्मणोत्तमः । उवाच रामं धर्मज्ञं धर्मापेतमिदं वचः ॥ १ ॥
To Rama, who knew dharma, as he comforted Bharata, Jabali, the best of brahmanas, said these words that departed from dharma:
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साधु राघव माभूत्ते बुद्धिरेवं निरर्थिका । प्राकृतस्य नरस्येव ह्यार्यबुद्धेर्मनस्विनः ॥ २ ॥
“Well, Raghava; let not your mind be so pointless, like that of an ordinary man, you who are noble-minded and wise.
कः कस्य पुरुषो बन्धुः किमाप्यं कस्य केनचित् । यदेको जायते जन्तुरेक एव विनश्यति ॥ ३ ॥
“Who is whose kinsman? What is there to be gained by anyone from anyone? For a creature is born alone and perishes alone.
तस्मान्माता पिता चेति राम सज्जेतयो नरः । उन्मत्त इव स ज्ञेयो नास्ति कश्चिद्धि कस्यचित् ॥ ४ ॥
“So, Rama, the man who clings to ‘mother’ and ‘father’ should be known as mad; for no one belongs to anyone.
यथा ग्रामान्तरं गच्छन् नरः कश्चित् क्वचिद्वसेत् । उत्सृज्य च तमावासं प्रतिष्ठेतापरे ऽहनि ॥ ५ ॥
“As a man going to another village might stay somewhere, and leaving that lodging, set out the next day,
एवमेव मनुष्याणां पिता माता गृहं वसु । आवासमात्रं काकुत्स्थ सज्जन्ते नात्र सज्जनाः ॥ ६ ॥
“so father, mother, house and wealth are only lodgings for men, Kakutstha; the good do not cling to them.
पित्र्यं राज्यं परित्यज्य स नार्हसि नरोत्तम । आस्थातुं कापथं दुःखं विषमं बहुकण्टकम् ॥ ७ ॥
“You should not give up your father’s kingdom, best of men, and take to a bad road, painful, rough, full of thorns.
समृद्धायामयोध्यायामात्मानमभिषेचय । एकवेणी धरा हि त्वां नगरी सम्प्रतीक्षते ॥ ८ ॥
“Have yourself consecrated in prosperous Ayodhya; the city, wearing a single braid, awaits you.
राजभोगाननुभवन् महार्हान् पार्थिवात्मज । विहर त्वमयोध्यायां यथा शक्रस्त्रिविष्टपे ॥ ९ ॥
“Enjoying very costly royal pleasures, prince, amuse yourself in Ayodhya, as Shakra does in heaven.
न ते कश्चिद्दशरथस्त्वं च तस्य न कश्चन । अन्यो राजा त्वमन्यः स तस्मात् कुरु यदुच्यते ॥ १० ॥
“Dasharatha is nothing to you, and you are nothing to him. The king was another, and you are another; so do what is said.
बीजमात्रं पिता जन्तोः शुक्लं रुधिरमेव च । संयुक्तमृतुमन्मात्रा पुरुषस्येह जन्म तत् ॥ ११ ॥
“The father is merely the seed of a creature, semen and blood joined in the mother in her season: that is the birth of a man here.
गतः स नृपतिस्तत्र गन्तव्यं यत्र तेन वै । प्रवृत्तिरेषा मर्त्त्यानां त्वं तु मिथ्या विहन्यसे ॥ १२ ॥
“That king has gone where he had to go; this is the course of mortals. But you are tormenting yourself for nothing.
अर्थधर्मपरा ये ये तांस्तान् शोचामि नेतरान् । ते हि दुःखमिह प्राप्य विनाशं प्रेत्य भेजिरे ॥ १३ ॥
“Those who are devoted to wealth and dharma, all of them I grieve for, and not the others; for having found sorrow here, they meet destruction after death.
अष्टका पितृदैवत्यमित्ययं प्रसृतो जनः । अन्नस्योपद्रवं पश्य मृतो हि किमशिष्यति ॥ १४ ॥
“’The eighth-day rite is for the ancestors and gods’: so these people are engaged. See the waste of food! For what will a dead man eat?
यदि भुक्तमिहान्येन देहमन्यस्य गच्छति । दद्यात् प्रवसतः श्राद्धं न तत् पथ्यशनं भवेत् ॥ १५ ॥
“If what is eaten here by one goes into another’s body, let a shraddha be given for one who is travelling; that would be his food for the road.
दानसंवनना ह्येते ग्रन्था मेधाविभिः कृताः । यजस्व देहि दीक्षस्व तपस्तप्यस्व सन्त्यज ॥ १६ ॥
“’Sacrifice, give, be initiated, practise austerity, renounce’: these books were made by clever men to win gifts.
स नास्ति परमित्येव कुरु बुद्धिं महामते । प्रत्यक्षं यत्तदातिष्ठ परोक्षं पृष्ठतः कुरु ॥ १७ ॥
“So make up your mind that there is nothing beyond, very wise one. Stand by what is visible; put what is invisible behind you.
स तां बुद्धिं पुरस्कृत्य सर्वलोकनिदर्शिनीम् । राज्यं त्वं प्रतिगृह्णीष्व भरतेन प्रसादितः ॥ १८ ॥
“Putting first that understanding, which all the world displays, accept the kingdom, being entreated by Bharata.”