SECTION LXIV

“Bhishma said, ’The duties in respect of all the four modes of life, those of yatis, O son of Pandu, and the customs relating to the conduct of men in general, are all included in kingly duties.  All these acts, O chief of the Bharatas, occur in Kshatriya duties.  If the functions of royalty are disturbed, all creatures are overtaken by evil.  The duties of men are not obvious.  They have, again, many outlets.[200] Led by many (false) systems, their eternal nature is sometimes offended against.  Others who pin their faith to the conclusions arrived at by men, without really knowing anything about the truths of duties (as declared in the scriptures), find themselves at last landed and confounded on faiths whose ultimate ends are unknown.  The duties imposed upon Kshatriyas are plain, productive of great happiness, evident in respect of their results, free from deceit, and beneficial to the whole world.  As the duties of the three orders, as also of Brahmanas and of those that have retired from the world, O Yudhishthira, have before this been said to be all included within those of that sacred mode of life (called Garhasthya), even so, the whole world, with all good actions, are subject to kingly duties.  I have told thee, O monarch, how many brave kings had, in days of old, repaired to that lord of all creatures, viz., the divine and puissant Vishnu of great prowess, for resolving their doubts about the science of chastisement.  Those kings, mindful of the declarations of the scriptures enforced by examples, waited in days of old upon Narayana, after having weighed each of their acts against the duties of each of the modes of life.[201] Those deities, viz., the Sadhyas, the Vasus, the Aswins, the Rudras, the Viswas, the Maruts, and the Siddhas, created in days of old by the first of gods, are all observant of Kshatriya duties.  I shall now recite to thee a history fraught with the conclusions of both morality and profit.  In days of old when the Danavas had multiplied and swept away all barriers and distinctions[202] the powerful Mandhatri, O monarch, became king.  That ruler of the earth, viz., king Mandhatri, performed a great sacrifice from desire of beholding the puissant Narayana, that god of gods, without beginning, middle, and end.  In that sacrifice he worshipped with humility the great Vishnu.[203] The Supreme Lord, assuming the form of Indra, showed himself unto him.  Accompanied by many good kings he offered his adorations to that puissant deity.  The high discourse took place between that lion among kings and that illustrious god in the form of Indra, touching Vishnu of great effulgence.’