arity one may obtain the region
of Brahma. Behave properly towards these three, O Bharata, thou shalt
then obtain great fame in the three worlds, and blessed be thou, great
will be thy merit and reward. Never transgress them in any act. Never eat
before they eat, nor eat anything that is better than what thy eat. Never
impute any fault to them. One should always serve them with humility.
That is an act of high merit. By acting in that way, O best of kings,
thou mayst obtain fame, merit, honour, and regions of felicity hereafter.
He who honours these three is honoured in all the worlds. He, on the
other hand, who disregards these three, fails to obtain any merit from
any of his acts. Such a man, O scorcher of foes, acquires merit neither
in this world nor in the next. He who always disregards these three
seniors never obtains fame either here or hereafter. Such a man never
earns any good in the next world. All that I have given away in honour of
those three has become a hundredfold or a thousandfold of its actual
measure. It is in consequence of that merit that even now, O
Yudhishthira, the three worlds are clearly before my eyes. One Acharya is
superior to ten Brahmanas learned in the Vedas. One Upadhyaya is again
superior to ten Acharyas. The father, again, is superior to ten
Upadhyayas. The mother again, is superior to ten fathers, or perhaps, the
whole world, in importance. There is no one that deserves such reverence
as the mother. In my opinion, however, the preceptor is worthy of greater
reverence than the father or even the mother. The father and the mother
are authors of one's being. The father and the mother, O Bharata, only
create the body. The life, on the other hand, that one obtains from one's
preceptor, is heavenly. That life is subject to no decay and is immortal.
The father and the mother, however much they may offend, should never be
slain. By not punishing a father and a mother, (even if they deserve
punishment), one does not incur sin. Indeed, such reverend persons, by
enjoying impunity, do not stain the king. The gods and the Rishis do not
withhold their favours from such persons as strive to cherish even their
sinful fathers with reverence. He who favours a person by imparting to
him true instruction, by communicating the Vedas, and giving knowledge
which is immortal, should be regarded as both a father and a mother. The
disciple, in grateful recognition of what the instructor has done, should
never d