to me as I
tell thee what the ordinance is that has been laid down for the
Kshatriyas. They do not incur any fault by eating flesh that has been
acquired by expenditure of prowess. All deer of the wilderness were
dedicated to the deities and the Pitris in days of old, O king, by
Agastya. Hence, the hunting of deer is not censured. There can be no
hunting without risk of one's own life. There is equality of risk between
the slayer and the slain. Either the animal is killed or it kills the
hunter. Hence, O Bharata, even royal sages betake themselves to the
practice of hunting. By such conduct they do not become stained with sin.
Indeed, the practice is not regarded as sinful. There is nothing, O
delighter of the Kurus, that is equal in point of merit, either here or
hereafter, to the practice of compassion to all living creatures. The man
of compassion has no fear. Those harmless men that are endued with
compassion have both this world and the next. Persons conversant with
duty say that that Religion is worthy of being called Religion which has
abstention from cruelty for its indication. The man of cleansed soul
should do only such acts as have compassion for their soul. That flesh
which is dedicated in sacrifices performed in honour of the deities and
the Pitris is called Havi (and, as such, is worthy of being eaten). That
man who is devoted to compassion and who behaves with compassion towards
others, has no fear to entertain from any creature. It is heard that all
creatures abstain from causing any fear unto such a creature. Whether he
is wounded or fallen down or prostrated or weakened or bruised, in
whatever state he may be, all creatures protect him. Indeed, they do so,
under all circumstances, whether he is on even or uneven ground. Neither
snakes nor wild animals, neither Pisachas nor Rakshasas, ever slay him.
When circumstances of fear arise, he becomes freed from fear who frees
others from situations of fear. There has never been, nor will there ever
be, a gift that is superior to the gift of life. It is certain that there
is nothing dearer to oneself than one's life. Death, O Bharata, is a
calamity or evil unto all creatures. When the time comes for Death, a
trembling of the whole frame is seen in all creatures. Enduring birth in
the uterus, decrepitude and afflictions of diverse kinds, in this ocean
of the world, living creatures may be seen to be continually going
forward and coming back. Every creature is aff