foremost duty! It behoveth thee
not, therefore, O amiable Queen, to either doubt or censure God or act,
with a foolish heart. The fool that doubteth religion and disregardeth
virtue, proud of the proof derived from his own reasoning, regardeth not
other proofs and holdeth the Rishis, who are capable of knowing the
future as present as mad men. The fool regardeth only the external world
capable of gratifying his senses, and is blind to everything else. He
that doubteth religion hath no expiation for his offence. That miserable
wretch is full of anxiety and acquireth not regions of bliss hereafter. A
rejector of proofs, a slanderer of the interpretation of the Vedic
scriptures, a transgressor urged by lust and covetousness, that fool
goeth to hell. O amiable one, he on the other hand, who ever cherisheth
religion with faith, obtaineth eternal bliss in the other world. The fool
who cherisheth not religion, transgressing the proofs offered by the
Rishis, never obtaineth prosperity in any life, for such transgression of
the scriptures. It is certain, O handsome one, that with respect to him
who regardeth not the words of the Rishis or the conduct of the virtuous
as proof, neither this nor the other world existeth. Doubt not, O
Krishna, the ancient religion that is practised by the good and framed by
Rishis of universal knowledge and capable of seeing all things! O
daughter of Drupada, religion is the only raft for those desirous of
going to heaven, like a ship to merchants desirous of crossing the ocean.
O thou faultless one, if the virtues that are practised by the virtuous
had no fruits, this universe then would be enveloped in infamous
darkness. No one then would pursue salvation, no one would seek to
acquire knowledge not even wealth, but men would live like beasts. If
asceticism, the austerities of celibate life, sacrifices, study of the
Vedas, charity, honesty,--these all were fruitless, men would not have
practised virtue generation after generation. If acts were all fruitless,
a dire confusion would ensue. For what then do Rishis and gods and
Gandharvas and Rakshasas who are all independent of human conditions,
cherish virtue with such affection? Knowing it for certain that God is
the giver of fruits in respect of virtue, they practise virtue in this
world. This, O Krishna, is the eternal (source of) prosperity. When the
fruits of both knowledge and asceticism are seen, virtue and vice cannot
be fruitless. Call to thy