formably to the truth by the sage,
Janaka, that foremost of righteous persons, O king, heard everything the
Rishi said and obtained great happiness from it."'"

SECTION CCC

"'Yudhishthira said, "O grandsire, learned men praise truth,
self-restraint, forgiveness, and wisdom. What is thy opinion of these
virtues?"

"'Bhishma said, "In this connection I shall recite to thee an old
narrative, O Yudhishthira, of the discourse between the Sadhyas and a
Swan. Once on a time the Unborn and eternal Lord of all creatures (viz.,
Brahman), assuming the form of a golden Swan, wandered through the three
worlds till in course of his wanderings he came upon the Sadhyas.

"'"The Sadhyas said, 'O lord, we are the deities called Sadhyas. We like to
question thee. Indeed, we would ask thee about the religion of
Emancipation. Thou art well-acquainted with it. We have heard, O bird,
that thou art possessed of great learning, and eloquent and wise of
speech. O bird, what dost thou think is the highest of all objects? O
high-souled one, in what does thy mind find pleasure? Do thou, therefore,
O foremost of birds, instruct us as to what that one act is which thou
regardest as the foremost of all acts, and by doing which, O chief of the
feathery creation, one may soon be freed from all bonds.'

"'"The Swan said, 'Ye who have drunk Amrita, I have heard that one should
have recourse to these, viz., penances, self-restraint, truth, and
subjugation of the mind. Untying all the knots of the heart, one should
also bring under one's control both what is agreeable and what is
disagreeable.[1576] One should not wound the vitals of others. One should
not be an utterer of cruel speeches. One should never take scriptural
lectures from a person that is mean. One should never utter such words as
inflict pain on others, as cause others to burn (with misery), and as
lead to hell. Wordy shafts fall from the lips. Pierced therewith one (to
whom they are directed) burns incessantly. Those shafts do not strike any
part other than the very vitals of the person aimed. Hence he that is
possessed of learning should never aim them at others. If a person deeply
pierces a man of wisdom with wordy shafts, the wise man should then
adopt peace (without giving way to wrath). The man who, though sought to
be angered, rejoices without yielding to anger, taketh away from the
provoker all his merits. That man of righteous soul, who, full of joy and
freed from malice, su