sbands, and
as such duty constitutes their only end, even so is the service to
Brahmanas our eternal duty and end. If, at sight of cruelties and other
sinful acts in Kshatriyas, the Brahmanas, O son, unhonoured by us,
forsake us all, I say, of what use would life be to us, in the absence of
all contact with the Brahmanas, especially as we shall then have to drag
on our existence without being able to study the Vedas to perform
sacrifices, to hope for worlds of bliss hereafter, and to achieve great
feats? I shall, in this connection, tell thee what the eternal usage is.
In days of yore, O king, the Kshatriyas used to serve the Brahmanas. The
Vaisya in a similar manner used in those days to worship the royal order,
and the Sudra to worship the Vaisya. Even this is what is heard. The
Brahmana was like a blazing fire. Without being able to touch him or
approach his presence, the Sudra used to serve the Brahmana from a
distance. It was only the Kshatriya and the Vaisya who could serve the
Brahmana by touching his person or approaching his presence. The
Brahmanas are endued with a mild disposition. They are truthful in
behaviour. They are followers of the true religion. When angry, they are
like snakes of virulent poison. Such being their nature, do thou, O
Yudhishthira, serve and attend upon them with obedience and reverence.
The Brahmanas are superior to even those that are higher than the high
and the low. The energy and penances of even those Kshatriyas who blaze
forth with energy and might, become powerless and neutralised when they
come in contact with the Brahmanas. My sire himself is not dearer to me
than the Brahmanas. My mother is not dearer to me than they. My
grandsire, O king, is not dearer, my own self is not dearer, my life
itself is not dearer, O king, to me than the Brahmanas! On earth there is
nothing, O Yudhishthira, that is dearer to me than thou. But, O chief of
Bharata's race, the Brahmanas are dearer to me than even thou. I tell
thee truly, O son of Pandu! I swear by this truth, by which I hope to
acquire all those regions of bliss that have been Santanu's. I behold
those sacred regions with Brahma shining conspicuously before them. I
shall repair thither, O son, and reside in them for unending days.
Beholding these regions, O best of the Bharatas (with my spiritual eyes),
I am filled with delight at the thought of all these acts which I have
done in aid and honour of the Brahmanas, O monarch!"'"

S