05042001a tato rAjA dhRtarASTro manISI 'Then the illustrious and wise king dhRtarASTra,
05042001b samMpUjya vAkyaM vidureritanM tat having applauded the words spoken by vidura,
05042001c sanatsujAtaM rahite mahAtmA questioned sanatsujAta in secret,
05042001d papraccha buddhimM paramAmM bubhUSan desirous of obtaining the highest of all knowledge.
05042002 dhRtarASTra uvAca And the king questioned the RSi saying,
05042002a sanatsujAta yadIdaM zRNomi 'O sanatsujAta, I hear that
05042002b mRtyur hi nAstIti tavopadezam thou art of the opinion that there is no Death.
05042002c devAsurA hy Acaran brahmacaryam Again it is said that the gods and the asuras, practise ascetic austerities
05042002d amRtyave tat kataran nu satyam in order to avoid death. Of these two opinions, then, which is true?'
05042003 sanatsujAta uvAca 'sanatsujAta said,
05042003a amRtyuH karmaNA ke cin mRtyur nAstIti cApare 'Some say, death is avertable by particular acts; others' opinion there is no death;
05042003c zRNu me bruvato rAjan yathaitan mA vizaGkithAH thou hast asked me which of these is true. Listen to me, O king, as I discourse to thee on this, so that thy doubts may be removed.
05042004c pramAdaM vai mRtyum ahamM bravImi sadApramAdam amRtatvamM bravImi Know, O kSatriya, that both of these are true. The learned are of opinion that death results from ignorance. I say that ignorance is Death, and so the absence of ignorance (Knowledge) is immortality.
05042005a pramAdAd vai asurAH parAbhavann apramAdAd brahmabhUtA bhavanti It is from ignorance that the asuras became subject to defeat and death, and it is from the absence of ignorance that the gods have attained the nature of brahma.
05042005c na vai mRtyur vyAghra ivAtti jantUn na hy asya rUpam upalabhyate ha Death doth not devour creatures like a tiger; its form itself is unascertainable.
05042006a yamanM tv eke mRtyum ato 'nyam Ahur AtmAvasannam amRtamM brahmacaryam
05042006c pitRloke rAjyam anuzAsti devazH zivazH zivAnAm azivo 'zivAnAm Besides this, some imagine yama to be Death. This, however, is due to the weakness of the mind. The pursuit of brahma or self-knowledge is immortality. That (imaginary) god (yama) holdeth his sway in the region of the pitRs, being the source of bliss to the virtuous and of woe to the sinful.
05042007a AsyAd eSa nisHsarate narANAGM krodhaH pramAdo moharUpaz ca mRtyuH It is at his command that death in the form of wrath, ignorance, and covetousness, occurreth among men. Swayed by pride, men always walk in unrighteous path. None amongst them succeeds in attaining to his real nature.
05042007c te mohitAs tadvaze vartamAnA itaH pretAs tatra punaH patanti With their understanding clouded, and themselves swayed by there passions, they cast off their bodies and repeatedly fall into hell.
05042008a tatas tanM devA anu viplavante ato mRtyur maraNAkhyAm upaiti They are always followed by their senses. It is for this that ignorance receives the name of death.
05042008c karmodaye karmaphalAnurAgAs tatrAnu yAnti na taranti mRtyum Those men that desire the fruits of action when the time cometh for enjoying those fruits, proceed to heaven, casting off their bodies. Hence they cannot avoid death. Embodied creatures, from inability to attain the knowledge of brahma and from their connection with earthly enjoyments, are obliged to sojourn in a cycle of re-births, up and down and around, The natural inclination of man towards pursuits that are unreal is alone the cause of the senses being led to error.
05042009a yo 'bhidhyAyann utpatiSNUn nihanyAd anAdareNApratibudhyamAnaH
05042009c sa vai mRtyur mRtyur ivAtti bhUtvA evaM vidvAn yo vinihanti kAmAn
05042011a tamo 'prakAzo bhUtAnAnM narako 'yamM pradRzyate
05042011c gRhyanta iva dhAvanti gacchantazH zvabhram unmukhAH The soul that is constantly affected by the pursuit of objects that are unreal, remembering only that with which it is always engaged, adoreth only earthly enjoyments that surround it. The desire of enjoyments first killeth men. Lust and wrath soon follow behind it.
05042012a abhidhyA vai prathamaM hanti cainaGM kAmakrodhau gRhya cainanM tu pazcAt
05042012c ete bAlAn mRtyave prApayanti dhIrAs tu dhairyeNa taranti mRtyum These three, viz., the desire of enjoyments, lust, and wrath, lead foolish men to death. They, however, that have conquered their souls, succeed by self-restraint, to escape death.
05042013a amanyamAnaH kSatriya kiM cid anyan nAdhIyate tArNa ivAsya vyAghraH
05042013c krodhAl lobhAn mohamayAntarAtmA sa vai mRtyus tvac charIre ya eSaH
05042014a evamM mRtyuJM jAyamAnaM viditvA jJAne tiSThan na bibhetIha mRtyoH
05042014c vinazyate viSaye tasya mRtyur mRtyor yathA viSayamM prApya martyaH He that hath conquered his soul without suffering himself to be excited by his ambitious desire, conquereth these, regarding them as of no value, by the aid of self-knowledge. Ignorance, assuming the form of yama, cannot devour that learned man who controlled his desires in this manner. That man who followeth his desires is destroyed along with his desires. He, however, that can renounce desire, can certainly drive away all kinds of woe. Desire is, indeed, ignorance and darkness and hell in respect of all creatures, for swayed by it they lose their senses. As intoxicated persons in walking along a street reel towards ruts and holes, so men under the influence of desire, misled by deluding joys, run towards destruction. What can death do to a person whose soul hath not been confounded or misled by desire? To him, death hath no terrors, like a tiger made of straw. Therefore, O kSatriya, if the existence of desire, which is ignorance, is to be destroyed, no wish, not even the slightest one, is either to be thought of or pursued. That soul, which is in thy body, associated as it is with wrath and covetousness and filled with ignorance, that is death. Knowing that death arises in this way, he that relies on knowledge, entertaineth no fear of death. Indeed, as the body is destroyed when brought under the influence of death, so death itself is destroyed when it comes under the influence of knowledge.'
