shall, therefore, retire into the woods from
desire of earning merit. Laying aside the rod of chastisement, and
subduing my senses, I shall go to the woods which are sacred and seek to
acquire the merit of righteousness by becoming an ascetic subsisting upon
fruit and roots."

"'Bhishma said, "I know, O Yudhishthira, what the nature of thy heart is,
and how inoffensive is thy disposition. Thou wilt not, however, by
inoffensiveness alone, succeed in ruling thy kingdom. Thy heart is
inclined to mildness, thou art compassionate, and thou art exceedingly
righteous. Thou art without energy, and thou art virtuous and full of
mercy. People, therefore, do not regard thee much. Follow the conduct of
thy sire and grandsire. Kings should never adopt that conduct which thou
desirest to adopt. Never be touched by such anxiety (after doing thy
duty), and never adopt such inoffensiveness of conduct. By becoming so,
thou wouldst not succeed in earning that merit of righteousness which
arises from protecting subjects. The behaviour thou wishest to adopt,
impelled by thy own intelligence and wisdom, is not consistent with those
blessings which thy sire Pandu or thy mother Kunti used to solicit for
thee. Thy sire always solicited for thee courage, might, and truth. Kunti
always solicited for thee high-mindedness and liberality. The offerings
with Swaha and Swadha in Sraddhas and sacrifices are always asked from
children by the Pitris and the deities. Whether gifts and study and
sacrifices and the protection of subjects be meritorious or sinful, thou
hast been born to practise and perform them. The fame, O son of Kunti, is
never tarnished of men that even fail in bearing the burdens which are
placed on them and unto which they are yoked in life. Even a horse, if
properly trained, succeeds in bearing, without falling down, a burden.
(What need then be said of thee that art a human being?) One incurs no
censure if only one's acts and words be proper, for success is said to
depend upon acts (and words). No person, be he a man virtuously following
the domestic mode of life, or be he a king, or be he a Brahmacharin, has
ever succeeded in conducting himself without tripping. It is better to do
an act which is good and in which there is small merit than to totally
abstain from all acts, for total abstention from acts is very sinful.
When a high-born and righteous person succeeds in obtaining affluence,
the king then succeeds in obtaining prosperi