Bhishma’s teachings from his bed of arrows starts from
Section 55 of Book 12. Since there are books in several languages on these
discourses, I plan to cover only certain sections. I am sure you will seek out
books which cover the entire teachings of Bhishma in detail, if you are
interested.
Section 56 to 69 deal with the duties of a king (Raja
dharma). Here are some points that caught my attention.
Raja dharma is necessary to control
one’s subjects – it is like the reins for a horse and iron hook (called
ankusam, in Tamil) to control an elephant.
Both destiny and human efforts are
needed for success. Effort is more important.
A king
should not be too friendly with his servants. If he does so, the servants will
behave without respect and this will include belching and spitting in front of
the king himself. Belching and spitting in public are bad and disrespectful
habits.
Bhishma
quotes a poem from Ramacharitra as follows: “One should first chose a king in
whose territory he wants to live; then choose a wife and then amass wealth.
Because, without a just ruler, who will protect your wife and your wealth”?
A king
cannot rule his kingdom and protect his subjects if he is completely candor all
the time. He has to use both candor and crookedness to be a good ruler.
Kings are reincarnation of gods on
earth. They are god’s representatives and should use the rod to keep people
honest (?obedient).
Kshatriyas are there to protect
everyone, but specially Brahmanas, because they are special. Together Kashtriyas and Brahmanas appease the
gods with oblations and help keep the gods in the heaven. The gods in turn send
rains for the people.
This above narrative is repeated
over and over and particularly so in sections 71 and 72.
These passages which repeatedly
emphasize the relationship between the Kshatriyas and the Brahmans make some
scholars believe that this part of book 12 was not part of Maha Bharata but
inserted by someone with a vested interest.
Bhishma describes a book called
Dandaniti (Rule of Law) attributed to the Self-Generated (Brahma?). Brahma is
said to have established the “do’s and don’ts” for a king and passed it on to
Siva, then to Indra and to Brhaspati until it reached Pritha through Vishnu.
The origin of the words, Raja,
Kshatriya and Prithvi are based on Prithu as the first king of this earth. Raja
is one who gratifies (rajas) everyone. Kshatriya is one who heels the wounds
(kshat) of everyone. Prithvi is the land of the king Pritha.
Bhishma also mentions dharma, artha
and kama (virtue, wealth and desire) as one unit with moksha (liberation) as
the opposite of these three. The three qualities of satwa, rajas and tamas
(goodness, passion and ignorance) also form a triplet and moksha (liberation) is
the opposite of these three. Moksha is the practice of the virtues and goodness
just for its sake, not expecting any reward or bliss.
Yudhishtra asks Bhishma about the
four varnas and four ashramas and Bhishma’s answers are in Section 60. His
discourse establishes the long-standing traditions of the four varnsa, wrongly
interpreted as castes by the westerners. It also places the Brahmanas high up in
the pecking order. Some interesting points from my point of view are:
1.
Before detailing the duties for each of the
varnas, Bhishma lists nine duties applicable to
people of all varnas. They are: truth, control of anger, forgiveness,
justice, children only through marriage, pure conduct, avoiding quarrels,
simplicity and taking care of dependents.
2.
It is clear where the sudra varna was placed.
It says that sudras are to serve their master at all times, even if the master has no wealth.
In fact, sudra is expected to support his master, if he becomes poor. Sudra has
no right to property; if he gets any, it belongs to the master.
3.
“Brahmanas are the gods of the very gods”.
4.
The four ashramas unlike what we traditionally
hear about are: brahmacharya (bachelor), garhapatya (householder), bhaikshya
(living on alms) and vanaprasta (life in forest). It is interesting to note
that one can go from brahmacharya to bhaikshya or to garhapatya. From
garhapatya one goes to vanaprasta.
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