Chapter 108 - A brahmin utters words contrary to dharma

As Shri Rama thus instructed Bharata, a brahmin named Javali uttered these words contrary to dharma: “Well-spoken, O Raghava, but it is not for you to think as common men, for you are a man of understanding and also a philosopher. Consider well, O Prince, a man has neither a real friend nor an enemy, he enters the world alone and leaves it alone also. He who thinks ‘This is my father’ or ‘This is my mother’ and becomes attached to this relationship is without sense. From the standpoint of right reasoning, none belongs to any. As a man travelling from his own village to another, remains for the night somewhere on the way and leaves at dawn, so father, mother, wealth and family remain with a man for a brief space and the wise do not become attached to them.

“O Chief of Men, you dost not, being youthful, merit the path of suffering spt with thorns; it ill becomes you to abandon your father’s kingdom. Return to Ayodhya and rule over that prosperous land. The goddess protecting Ayodhya, devoted to you, awaits your return. O Prince, enjoy those chosen pleasures which befit a king and divert thyself in the capital as Indra in Amaravati. Dasaratha is nought to you nor you to him, the king is one person and you another, therefore, follow the advice I give you.

“The father’s seed is but the remote cause of man’s birth, since if it does not enter the mother’s womb, it cannot fructify; the true source of conception is the womb of the mother. The king has departed to the place destined for all mortals. Why dost you claim this false relationship and distress thyself in vain, O Rama? I grieve for those who, abandoning the pleasures of the world, seek to acquire merit for felicity hereafter and sink to an untimely death, I do not grieve for others. Men waste food and other precious things by offering them up yearly, as sacrifices in honour of their departed ancestors. O Rama, has a dead man ever partaken of food? If food that is eaten by one, nourishes another, then those who journey need never carry provision on the way. Relatives might feed a brahmin, in his name, at home!

“O Ramacandra, these scriptural injunctions were laid down by learned men, skilled in inducing others to give, and finding other means of obtaining wealth, thus subjugating the simple-minded. Their doctrine is ‘Sacrifice, give in charity, consecrate yourselves, undergo austerities and become ascetics’. O Rama, be wise, there exists no world but this, that is certain! Enjoy that which is present and cast behind you that which is unpleasant! Adopting the principle acceptable to all, do you receive the kingdom offered you by Bharata.”