This is one of the simpler stories in Mahabharata with a seemingly simple message at first, but then the slight twist at the end makes you ponder about the deep significance of detachment, almost like a stepping stone to attaining moksha (nirvana).  As a side note, this is the last story from the third volume, and I am happy to have finished the third volume well within March, and I feel optimistic that I will be able to read all ten volumes by the end of the year.

There are several stories between this one and my last one that I have skipped because they are more commonly known.

The two main ones are Jayadratha abducting Draupadi and after the Pandavas free Draupadi, a brief summary of Ramayana is told to Yudhisthara because he is lamenting the grief caused to Draupadi due to him.

The second one is of Karna giving Indra his celestial armor in return for an invincible spear. The story of Karna’s birth is told here as well.

Then there are two minor ones – one of Draupadi telling Krishna’s wife how to be a good wife, and a very small strange one where the king of deers come to Yudhishthara in his dream, and begs him to move to another forest because the deer population is dwindling due to their hunting.  I found it a bit out of place, and maybe this had some factual significance where the Pandavas did have to move between forests because hunting became harder.

And, now to the main story of this post.

Yudhisthara is having sleepless nights because he has caused great misery to his brothers and Draupadi by losing at dice, and he is tormented by that.

The sage Vyasa visits him, and tells him not to worry because no one can experience continuous happiness in his life, a wise man knows that fortune rises and sets, and he does not rejoice or sorrow at this. He enjoys happiness, and endures unhappiness just as a man who ploughs and waits for the rain.

Vyasa tells Yudhishthara that since he follows dharma and austerities, truthfulness, charity, non violence etc. he will soon be out of this unhappiness and reinstated in his kingdom.

Yudhisthara asks Vyasa which is superior – austerity or charity?

Vyasa says that people go through great difficulties to obtain riches, and it is difficult to part with something that has been obtained with great difficulty, therefore charity is superior to austerity.

He tells him that if riches are obtained rightly, then giving even a small amount at the right time to the right person accrues a lot of merit. He then proceeds to tell him the story of Mudgala.

Mudgala used to collect the leftover rice (vrihi) in the market, and used that drona (small measure) of rice (vrihi) to feed his wife, son and himself. In addition to this he fed guests, and gods in his house. He ate for a fortnight, and lived like a pigeon the next fortnight, collecting one drona of vrihi.

At the new moon, Indra along with other gods came to partake their share, and he fed them and all other guests without any envy. Due to his great charity and way of life, whenever he fed one guest, the share increased so that he could feed another one, and he fed a lot of brahamanas this way.

One day the sage Durvasa assumed the form of a naked, disheveled lunatic and came to Mudgala and asked him for food. Mudgala gave him all the food he had carefully collected, and Durvasa ate all of that and smeared the leftovers on his body, and left. This did not anger Mudgala who went out to collect more food, to feed himself and the others.

Durvasa did this on six full moons, and Mudgala didn’t get angry with the lunatic, but performed his dharma of feeding the lunatic without envy or complaints.

The sage Durvasa was extremely happy at this and told Mudgala that he had done an extremely difficult thing, and that he will go to heaven in his body.

At this, a celestial chariot appeared yoked to swans and and cranes, and the messenger of the chariot told Mudgala that he has come to Mudgala to take him to heaven.

Mudgala surprised the messenger by asking him to tell Mudgala about the divine happiness of heaven and of its shortcomings as well. The messenger said that only the very few who have followed dharma can attain heaven, and in heaven there is no hunger, thirst, fatigue, cold, heat or fear. Everything is fragrant, and pleasing to the touch, there is no disease, dirt, sorrow or old age.

He recounted other qualities, and then thought to himself and said that in heaven one must enjoy the fruits right up to the roots, and one can’t perform any other deeds. He said that it was a blemish because there is a fall at the end of it. The fall must be very hard to endure by people who have been enjoying this blissful place, and that must cause great agitation. Here he tells him that after the good deeds are over, the resident of the heaven must be born as a human, this is not true for all people and some people do deeds and live beyond heaven up to the abode of Brahma but for others they must fall down to be born as human, and perform deeds, and it is said that this is the world of deeds, and the next one of fruits.

When Mudgala had heard all this, he told the messenger that he must decline entry into heaven because of the taints associated with it, and Mudgala continued living on earth collecting rice, and living a life of supreme serenity. He looked on blame and praise equally, a brick, a stone and a piece of gold were the same to him, and through the yoga of meditation he attained supreme wisdom.

Vyasa told Yudhishthara to discard the fever from his mind and know that happiness follows unhappiness and unhappiness follows happiness around a man in circles like the rim of a wheel. He told him that he will be reinstated to the kingdom of his forefathers and that he should not worry about this.

This is one of the most complicated stories that I’ve come across so far in the Mahabharata. There are three elements that make Mahabharata stories complicated in my opinion. First is the fantasy aspect to them, which makes you do a double take.

Second is the violent contradiction between the Mahabharata and other books like the Puranas that have given birth to stories that may be more commonly known to us. Such contradiction makes you wonder if you understand what’s written correctly or not.

And finally, the use of different names for the same character, and being able to understand who is referred to from the context, which is nearly impossible for a normal person, so you have to rely on footnotes of the author, and that takes a lot of time. For example, in this story, a woman has been referred to as Manimata who was Garuda, but the woman assumed the form of Garudi earlier, so it must be inferred from the context that they are talking about Svaha who did this, and not a new character.

Having said that, all this makes you appreciate the book a lot more, and enjoy them a lot more once you spend the effort to understand them holistically. Now, to the birth of Skanda, or as more commonly known – Kartikeya.

Karitekeya is commonly known as the son of Lord Shiva and Parvati, the Hindu god of war, and Commander in Chief of the devas’ (god’s) armies.

The story begins when Indra is worried about finding a commander for his armies as the asuras (bad demigods) are constantly defeating the devas, and he needs to find a solution to this. At this time he hears a woman’s lamentation on Mount Manasa and goes towards her.

The asura Keshi appears, and says that he’s going to abduct this woman. A battle ensues between Indra and Keshi in which Keshi is defeated and runs away. Indra asks the woman who she is, and she tells him that she is Devasana the daughter of Prajapati, and that through her father she has the boon that her husband will be strong and valorous, and will vanquish all devas and asuras along with Indra.

Indra was unhappy because he could not think of anyone who could be that powerful, and was left wondering who her husband could be. While he was contemplating this, Indra saw the moon enter the sun, and thought that if either of them beget a son, they could be Devasena’s husband. He goes to Brahma with that thought in mind, and asks him for a husband for Devasena. Brahma grants him his wish and says that she will find a husband who will lead Indra’s armies and together they will defeat everyone.

Indra then takes Devasena to the ashram of the Saptarishis who are engaged in performing a yajna and since the yajna is successful, according to what is prescribed, Agni appears there in the sacrificial fire.

When Lord Agni emerges, he sees the seven beautiful wives of the Saptarishis bathing in the hermitage and he is full of lust, and overcome with desire. He knows this to be wrong as they are married to the great sages so he leaves for the forest, and gives up his body.

Svaha was Daksha‘s (one of Brahma’s sons) daughter and had desired Agni for a long time. She decided to make the most of this opportunity.

Svaha changed her form into Shiva (not lord Shiva, but Shiva who was the sage Angiras’ wife, and Angiras was one of the seven Saptarishis), and went to Agni.

She told Agni that like Agni, the wives have also desired him, but they were afraid of Agni. Now that they know that Agni also desires them, they have decided to have sex with him. She tells him to have sex with him, and satisfy her desire or she will kill herself. Agni is happy at this prospect, and they have sex. Svaha catches Agni’s semen in her hands and decides that she needs to throw it away someplace far, so she becomes a garudi (bird), and flies to Mount Shveta, and throws the semen in a golden well.

She changes herself into another wife the next night, and the cycle repeats six times. She is not able to change her form to Arundhati (Vasistha’s wife) because of Arundhati’s austerities and her devotion to her husband.

On the first day of the lunar fortnight, the energy of the semen that had fallen down the well gave birth to a son and because the semen had fallen down he became Skanda. Skanda is another name for Kartikeya and is derived from Skanna which means fallen.

Skanda had six heads, twelve ears, twelve eyes, twelve arms, but one neck and torso. He was surrounded by red clouds filled with lightening, and looked like the sun rising on a gigantic red cloud. He held a huge bow in his hand which was kept there by Lord Shiva for the destruction of enemies.

Skanda uttered loud roars, and with his bow and spears caused much destruction to the animals living in the mountains, and the mountains themselves. He rent asunder Mount Krouncha who was the son of the Himalayas, and he cleft the peak of Mount Shveta. The mountains lamented terribly, and left the earth to go heavenwards. At this the earth was terribly pained, and was trembling on all sides, and in distress it sought refuge with Skanda who made it strong again, and then the mountains started worshipping him, and soon all beings on earth worshipped Skanda.

The forest dwellers said that because Agni had sex with the wives of the Saptarishis, this terrible calamity had befallen everyone and they blamed the wives and Agni. However, when Svaha heard that a son had been born she went to the sages, and to Skanda himself to tell them that she is the mother but they didn’t listen to her.

The Saptarishi Vishwamitra was the only one who knew what happened because he had pursued Agni into the forest without being seen, and had himself seen everything that unfolded. Vishwamitra performed all the birth rites of Skanda, spoke of his greatness, and came to be loved by Skanda.

Vishwamitra also told the other sages about what Svaha had done, and that their wives had committed no crime, but the sages left their wives anyway.

The sages of the earth went to Indra and asked him to kill Skanda without delay because the child was extremely powerful and capable of causing great destruction to the worlds, and even take Indra’s place.

They told him that “the mothers” (these are known as companions of Shiva or Skanda based on different texts) have the ability to kill Skanda so send them there.

The mothers did go to Skanda but when they saw him they too sought refuge with him instead of killing him. Then his father, Agni, himself appeared and they all started living in that mountain. One of the mothers who was the daughter of an ocean of blood, lived on blood herself, and was created out of anger started treating Skanda as her own son and protected him like his own son.

Now Indra ascended Airavata and along with the thirty gods and their armies decided to attack Skanda and kill him. However, during battle Skanda overpowered the armies and the thirty gods sought refuge with him. This angered Indra who hurled his vajra at Skanda and cleft open his right side. However, instead of causing damage, another being was born, and other companions were born out of that.

This scared Indra and he too sought refuge with Skanda who now became the refuge of all the devas, and all beings of earth. There is now a brief description of all the companions who were born out of Skanda and also that the sixth face of Skanda is that of a goat.

After this Indra and the other brahmans tell Skanda that since he has defeated Indra in battle, he should become Indra himself. Skanda however refuses this, and tells Indra that he alone should be Indra and Skanda will be happy to serve him.

Indra then makes him the commander of his armies, and thinking of Devasena decides that Brahma must have ordained Skanda to marry Devasena and asks Skanda to marry her. They marry in the presence of brahmans, gods, and Lord Shiva, Parvati, and Agni and oddly enough the text here describes how Agni is Rudra, which is contrary to what is commonly known (Shiva is Rudra). The text here gives this explanation for Skanda to be called Rudra Putra at times.

Now, the six wives who were deserted by their husbands come to Skanda, and tell him that he is under their debt since their husbands have left them for no fault of their own.

They ask him to reinstate them, and Skanda consults Indra on what to do, and Indra redirects him to Brahma who tells Skanda that at the opportune time, these six wives will become the Krittika nakshatra or the star cluster Pleiadas. This star cluster looks like a cart and is presided over by Lord Agni.

Svaha herself tells Skanda that she wishes to live with him forever, and Skanda grants her that wish. The story continues after this about different stars, and how they afflict humans, and about Skanda’s other mothers who say they want to devour the offsprings of other humans because they have been deprived of their own offspring, and he grants that but places several conditions.

After this, Svaha appears before Skanda and tells him that she loves Agni eternally and wishes that Agni should understand this, and that she should reside with Agni eternally.

Skanda grants her the boon that henceforth the recital of mantras will be concluded with the word “svaha” and in this way she will live with her Agni eternally.

Then Brahma told Skanda that go to your father Mahadeva, and this is really surprising because so far it was known that Agni was his father, but here Brahma is saying that Shiva is his father. Brahma tells Skanda that for the welfare of the worlds, Skanda is born invincible, and it was Shiva who entered Agni, and Uma who entered Svaha and caused his birth.  The great-souled Rudra moistened Uma’s vagina with his semen. This was thrown on the mountain and created two beings – feminine and masculine, the remaining semen flowed in the red river, other parts in the rays of the sun, and others fell on the earth, still others went to the trees, and thus it went into five different directions.

Skanda goes to Shiva, and offers his respects, and Shiva tells him to always protect the Maruts. The army of asuras attack them at this point, and Indra tries to repel this attack but they are soon overpowered by the asuras.

The asura Mahisha who has a boon from Brahma then attacks Shiva’s chariot but Shiva restrains himself because he knows that it is Skanda’s destiny to kill Mahisha. Skanda then starts attacking the asuras and along with his followers kills the asuras and drink their blood.

This battle becomes the first famous deed of Skanda, and Shiva leaves for his abode after telling Skanda that the gods will be under your suzerainty, and to the gods that they must regard Skanda as they regard Shiva.

This chapter, and the following few sections go into a little bit of a philosophical discussion and deviate away from the extraordinary stories that were told before this.

Some of these discussions are surprising because of how different the text is from the common perception about the concept. For instance, this is the first time I’ve heard that deeds not birth determines what caste you are and that there is a whole section to it shows how important that concept was at the time.

Other things are laugh out loud funny; for instance in describing Kaliyuga it is said that “When the destruction of the yuga is near, women use their mouths as their vaginas.”  

The recurring theme however is that dharma is subtle, and not only is following dharma difficult, it is also difficult to know what your true dharma is.

Now, to the content of this chapter.

Nahusha was the son of Ayu and Bhima’s ancestor, he was fifth in line in the lunar dynasty which starts from the moon. He was cursed by sage Agastya and hence became an ajagara (python).
However Agastya had mercy on him and gave him the boon that whomever was in his grip would lose his strength. He also gave him the boon that when someone answers all his questions correctly, he will get his previous form.

Nahusha coils around Bhima and is ready to devour him. Bhima is lamenting what his brothers and mother will do without his protection, and at the same time telling Nahusha that he shouldn’t be remorseful because he is about to eat his descendant as this is driven by destiny, and that is  much more powerful than the will of beings.

At this time Yudhishthara appears there, and they have a conversation between themselves where each asks the other some questions.

The crux of this conversation is that karma, and not birth decides which varna or class a person should belong to. Yudhishthara says all men are born equal, and it is their conduct that determines whether they are a shudra or a brahmin, in short conduct is much more important than birth and lineage.

But there are other questions as well, and Yudhishthara asks Nahusha what are the supreme deeds that one does to go to heaven?

Nahusha tells him that the deeds of charity, truthfulness and non violence, are the supreme deeds, and Yudhishthara asks him which of these deeds are ranked higher than the others?

To this Nahusha replies that it depends on the effect of the action, and no single action is better than the other. Further he tells him that there can be three outcomes of a life — attaining heaven, rebirth as human, or rebirth as an inferior species.

He tells Yudhishthara that doing good deeds leads you to heaven whereas getting addicted to desire and anger, being overcome by violence and avarice leads you to rebirth as an inferior species. Further, he tells him that even inferior species can be reborn as human or attain divine status.

There is also a discussion on the difference between mind, intelligence and soul, but it is a difficult passage, and I wasn’t able to understand most of it.

Section 34

Follows Tirthayatra and Bhima kills a rakshasa who abduct the other four.

Section 35
Yaksha Yuddha Parva

Draupadi asks Bhima to get him a flower from a mountain top full of Yakshas and Rakshasas and Bhima goes to the mountain kills thousands of Yakshas and Rakshasas including their leader Manimata who was Kubera’s friend.

When Yudhishthara finds this he tells Bhima that he has committed a sin killing all of them for no reason, but Kubera tells them there’s no sin because this was driven by destiny.

In earlier times Manimata had spat on sage Agastya’s head and Agastya had cursed him that he’ll die at the hands of a human. He had also cursed Kubera that since this happened in Kubera’s presence, he will suffer the death of thousands of his companions and only when he meets the killer, will he be freed of his sin.

However, Kubera tells Yudhishthara that Bhima is very powerful, but his intelligence is like that of a child and he does not know dharma. Kubera also tells him that perseverance, steadfastness, place, time and valor are five principles that determine results in this world, and that he should follow them. 

Arjuna returns and Indra descends on earth to tell them to go back to Kamyaka’s hermitage and live there. Yudhishthara asks Arjuna to show him the use of his newly acquired weapons and when Arjuna tries to do it, Narada appears and stops him saying they should never be used without a target and even then only when there’s no other option. Do not attempt this again. He tells Yudhishthara that he will see the use of these weapons in the war. This concludes the section.

Lord Hanuman makes two appearances in the Mahabharata, and the first one concludes the Tirthayatra parva. While the morals and lessons of the mini stories within Mahabharata can be quite subtle, this one is fairly obvious. The context of the story itself shows that this is a lesson in humility, and then Hanuman goes to explain the four yugas, and how one should conduct oneself, and gives a lesson on governing to Bhima.

It starts when a breeze carries the ‘Saugandha’ lotus to Draupadi and she asks Bhima to get more of these beautiful divine flowers with a thousand petals and lovely fragrance.

Bhima starts walking the direction of where the flower has flown in by following the wind.
He’s walking hurriedly and angrily, letting out roars, uprooting trees and killing elephants and lions that come in his way. He blew his conch shell which made the lions roar and that made the elephants trumpet.

All this noise woke up lord Hanuman who was sleeping in the forest and he yawns and hits the ground with his tail that causes such a thunderous noise that the whole mountain echoes and Bhima gets goosebumps. Bhima searches for the source of the sound and finds Hanuman. He lets out a loud roar and that scares all birds and animals but Hanuman only opens one eye a little and smiles at Bhima and asks him why he woke Hanuman up? He says that Bhima is acting against dharma by injuring animals and is acting like a child, he asks him who he is and tells him that after this point the forest is inaccessible to humans and that he should return.

Bhima says he’s a kshatriya, son of Kunti and Vayu and that he just wants to cross the forest and is not interested in learning about right or wrong from the ape.

Hanuman tells him that he’s old and ill and can’t move so Bhima should jump over him.
Bhima says that the parmatmam resides in the ape and Bhima can’t jump over him without showing disrespect otherwise he would have jumped over him like Hanuman jumped over the ocean. (This is a difficult paragraph and I feel that I’ve missed the subtlety of the text.)

Hanuman asks Bhima who this Hanuman is and Bhima tells him that he’s his brother and is very strong, intelligent and powerful, and Bhima is his equal, so if the ape wants to live he should let Bhima pass.
Hanuman smiles and says he’s old and weak and Bhima can move his tail out of the way and go forward.
Bhima tries very hard to move the tail but is unable to budge it even a little, and is filled with shame.
He now bows down to Hanuman and asks who he truly is and then Hanuman tells him who he is. Interestingly enough, there’s a very tiny summary with the highlights of Ramayana that Hanuman tells Bhima here. Hanuman tells Bhima that after the war, he asked Lord Rama that he should live as long as the tales of Lord Rama are recounted, and that wish had been granted, and that’s how he lives in this forest. He also tells him that the forest ahead is inaccessible to mortals but the lake he is searching for is not very far.
Bhima then tells Hanuman that he wants to see the form that Hanuman took to jump over the ocean. Hanuman laughs and says that’s not possible because that happened in a different yuga. Bhima then asks Hanuman to explain the difference between the yugas and Hanuman does this in great detail.

I have taken that excerpt from the book here:

‘Hanuman replied, “O son! Krita is the yuga when dharma is eternal. At the time of krita, supreme among yugas, there are no deeds to be done. Dharma knew no decay then. Nor were beings destroyed. That is the reason this yuga was known as krita. Those qualities have gone now. O son! In krita yuga, there are no gods, demons, gandharvas, yakshas, rakshasas or serpents. There is no buying or selling. The sounds of Rig, Sama and Yajur did not exist. Nor did rites, or manual labour. When thought of, the desired fruits appeared. The only dharma was sannyasa. At the conjunction of the yugas, there is no disease, or decay of the senses. There is no discontentment, no lamentation, no insolence, no wickedness, no strife, no laziness, no enmity, no distortion, no fear, no sorrow, no envy and no jealousy. The supreme brahman, the supreme objective of all yogis, and the white Narayana were then in the souls of all beings. Brahmanas, kshatriyas, vaishyas and shudras were all auspiciously marked in krita yuga and were equal in deportment. All beings were engaged in their own tasks. The stages of life, conduct, knowledge, wisdom and deed were equally distributed among the varnas and all of them obtained equal dharma. All of them were united with one Veda. All rituals were performed with one mantra. Though they may have followed different forms of dharma, they actually followed one Veda and one dharma. They followed the four ashramas and performed tasks without seeking the fruits, in accordance with the dictates of that time. They attained the supreme objective. Everyone sought for yoga in one’s soul and being united with dharma, attained the objective. In krita yuga, the four varnas had four eternal feet. This was known as krita yuga, devoid of the three qualities.” ‘“Now hear about treta yuga. Sacrifices were introduced then. Dharma decayed by one quarter then and Achyuta assumed a red complexion. Men were always addicted to the truth and devoted to the dharma of rituals. Sacrifices were introduced and many rituals became part of dharma in treta. These were motivated by reasons and rituals and donations were because of the fruits that they would bring. People never deviated from the path of dharma and were devoted to austerities and donations. In treta yuga, people performed deeds in accordance with their own dharma. ‘“In dvapara yuga, dharma decayed by half. Vishnu assumes a yellow complexion and there are four Vedas. Some people know four Vedas. Others know three, or two, or one. Still others know no hymns. The sacred texts have thus been divided into many parts and there are many rituals. Beings are engaged in austerities and donations because of their passions. Because the single Veda is no longer known, the Vedas have been divided into many parts. There has been a deviation from the truth and there are only a few who are established in the truth. When one deviates from the truth, one becomes a prey to many diseases. One resorts to desire and there are many natural disasters. Being afflicted by these, some men resort to terrible austerities. Others, motivated by a desire to attain heaven, resort to deeds. Thus, having attained dvapara, beings decay because they are no longer devoted to dharma. ‘“O Kounteya! Only one quarter of dharma remains in kali yuga. When this yuga arrives, Keshava’s complexion becomes black. The rituals of the Vedas, dharma, sacrifices and deeds fall into disuse. There is excessive rain, disease, sin and vices like anger. There are many natural calamities. There are ailments and sicknesses. As the yugas proceed, dharma repeatedly decays. As dharma decays, beings repeatedly deteriorate. As beings deteriorate, the forces that sustain the world also go into a decline. As the yugas decay, even tasks performed in the name of dharma lead to perverse outcomes. This is the name of kali yuga, which will soon manifest itself. Even those who live for a long time must conform to the changes in the yugas.

After Hanuman reveals all this, Bhima again asks him to show his earlier form, and at this Hanuman takes a gigantic form, and Bhima is delighted and scared at the same time seeing this form, and Hanuman gives Bhima a lesson to conduct his life and then contracts himself.

This is what Hanuman says:

O son! Therefore, do not act out of bravery. Observe your own dharma. Abiding by your own dharma, know and follow the supreme dharma. Without knowing dharma and without serving the aged, even the likes of Brihaspati are incapable of comprehending dharma and artha. One should carefully discriminate among situations where that which is not dharma goes by the name of dharma, and that which is dharma goes by the name of that which is not dharma. Those who are deluded in intelligence cannot distinguish. Dharma results from conduct. The Vedas are established on dharma. Sacrifices originate from the Vedas. The gods are established in sacrifices. The gods are sustained through sacrifices and rituals prescribed in the Vedas. Even men sustain themselves through the ordinances decreed by Brihaspati and Ushanas — buying and selling, mining, trading, agriculture and animal husbandry. Everything is sustained through such vocations and dharma. For the three varnas, three pursuits have been indicated in the sacred texts—study of the three Vedas, following a vocation and governing. When these are properly followed, the world’s welfare is ensured. But if there is no pursuit of dharma and these three routes to dharma are not followed, this earth is not controlled and there is no governance. If beings do not follow dharma and their vocations, they will perish. By regularly following the three pursuits, beings prosper. There is one characteristic that marks the eternal dharma of the three varnas—sacrificing, studying and giving. These are three pursuits that are common to everyone. Performing sacrifices, studying and accepting constitute the dharma of brahmanas. Protection is that of kshatriyas and providing sustenance is the dharma of vaishyas. Servitude to the other three varnas is known to be the dharma of shudras, as it is of those who are in their preceptor’s house and cannot therefore beg for alms or perform oblations and vows. O Kounteya! Your dharma is that of a kshatriya. Your dharma is protection. Be humble. Control your senses and follow your own dharma. He who has consulted elders, the honest, the intelligent and the learned, and then resorts to punishment by the staff, governs well. But a decadent one suffers. When a king punishes and rewards according to what is needed, it is then that the contours of the world are properly laid out. Therefore, spies must constantly be used to ascertain the state of the nation, the fortifications, the forces of friends and enemies, and their conditions of prosperity and adversity. Kings possess four means that lead to success—wise counsel, valour, punishment and reward and sagacity. Whether applied together or in isolation, sama, dana, danda and bheda can lead to success. O bull among the Bharata lineage! Spies and counsel are the source of policies. Good counsel leads to success and one should consult with those who are skilled. In secret matters, one should not consult with a woman, with a fool, with a child, with one who is greedy, with one who is mean and with one who is touched by insanity. One should only consult with wise ones and get tasks undertaken by those who are capable. Policies must be devised by those who are gentle. Fools must always be avoided. Those who follow dharma must be engaged in matters related to dharma, learned ones in matters connected to artha, eunuchs in matters connected to women and cruel ones for the performance of cruel deeds. The nature of action, what should be done and what should not be done and the reasons behind any particular task, should be decided on the basis of the relative strengths and weaknesses of one’s enemy, as well as one’s own. Using one’s intelligence, favours should be shown to righteous ones who have sought refuge. However, evil and unskilled ones must be repressed. When a king follows reward and chastisement properly, the boundaries of the world are laid out properly. O Partha! This is the difficult and terrible dharma that I have delineated for you.

Now Hanuman asks Bhima what else does Bhima desire, does he want Hanuman to go and destroy the Kauravas? Bhima says that he is fortunate enough to have witnessed Hanuman’s form and see him, and he only wants that when they go to battle with the Kauravas, Hanuman is at their side. Hanuman promises him this, and then goes away from that forest.

After that Bhima continues to the lake of the lotuses, gets them for Draupadi and returns. This also marks the end of this parva.