How should a righteous king, who is proposed by his own officers whose treasury and army are not under his control, and who has no wealth, act for acquiring happiness?"

Bhishma said “Regarding it the story of Kshemadarshin is often related. I shall describe that story to you. Listen to it, O Yudhishthira.

We have heard that in days of yore, when prince Kshemadarshin had become weak in strength and fallen into great distress, he went to the sage Kalakavrikshiva and saluting him humbly, said him these words,

What should a person like me who is worthy to have wealth, but who has, after repeated attempts, failed to regain his kingdom, do, O Brahmana, excepting suicide, thieving and robbery, secking refuge with others, and other acts of meanness of a similar nature? O best of men, tell me this.

One like you who are conversant with morality and full of gratefulness is the refuge of a person suffering from disease mental or physical.

Man should renounce his desires. By acting in that way, by casting off joy and sorrow, and acquiring the wealth of knowledge, he succeeds in acquiring happiness.

I am sorry for them who follow worldly happiness accruing from wealth. All that, however, disappears like a dream.

They who can renounce vast wealth achieve a most difficult task. As for ourselves we are unable to renounce that wealth which exists no longer.

I am shorn of prosperity and have been reduced to a miserable and unhappy plight! Instruct me, O Brahmana, what happiness I may yet try to secure.

Thus accosted by the intelligent prince of Koshala, the sage Kalakavrikshiya gave the following answer,

The sage said-You have, it appears, already understood it. Endued with knowledge as you are, you should act as you think. Your belief is correct, namely,-All this that I see is brittle, myself as also everything that I have!

Know, O prince, that those things which you consider as existing do not in reality exist. The wise know this very well, and are, therefore, never pained with the distress whatever that may be.

What has taken place and what will bring to pass are all unreal, When you will know this which should be known by all, you will be shorn of unrighteousness.

Whatever things had been acquired by those that came before, and whatever acquired by their successors, have all perished. Thinking of all this, who is there that will give way to grief?

Things that were, are no more. Things that are, will again be no more. Grief cannot restore them. One should not, therefore, succumb to grief.

Where, O king, is your father to-day and where your grandfather? To-day you see them not, nor do they now see you!

Meditating on your own instability, why do you grieve for them? Think with the help of your intelligence, and you will understand that you will cease to be!

Myself, yourself, O king, your friends, and your foes, shall forsooth, cease to be. Indeed, everything will cease to be.

Those men who are now twenty or thirty years old, will, forsooth, all die within the next hundred years.

If a man cannot willingly relinquish his immense wealth, he should then try to think that his belongings, are not his own and by that means seek to do good to himself.

Future acquisitions should be considered by one as not one's own. Lost properties, should also be regarded by one as not his own. Destiny should be deemed as all powerful. They who think in this wise are considered wise. This mood of regarding all things is an attribute of the good.

Many persons who are equal of superior to you in intelligence and inanliness, though bereft of wealth, are not kings but are still alive.

They are not, like you. They do not indulge in grief like you. Therefore, ceases to grieve in this wise! Are you not superior to those men, or at least equal to them in intelligence and inanliness?

The king said I consider the kingdom which I had with all its parapharnalia to have been acquired by me without any exertion. Omnipotent Time, however, twice-born one, has swept it away.

The result, however, that I see, of my kingdom having been carried away by Time as by a stream, is that I am obliged to subsist upon whatever I get as alms.

The sage said Actuated by the knowledge of what is true, one should never grieve for either the past or the future. Be you of such a mood of mind, o prince of Koshala, regarding every affair that may arrest your attention!

Wishing to possess only that which is obtainable and not what is unobtainable, do you enjoy your present belongings and never grieve for what is absent.

Be you satisfied, O prince of Koshala, with whatever you can easily get. Even if divested of prosperity, do not grieve for it but try to maintain a pure character.

Only an unfortunate and foolish wight when divested of former prosperity, blames the supreme Ordainer, without being contented with his present position.

Such a person consider others however undeserving, as men blessed with prosperity. Therefore, those who are possessed of malice and vanity and puffed up with a sense of egoism, suffer more misery still. You however, O king, are not sullied by such vices.

Bear the prosperity of others, inspite of your being divested of the same. Clever and expert men succeed in enjoying the prosperity of their enemies.

Prosperity relinquishes the person that hates others. Pious and wise men conversant with the duties of Yoga renounce prosperity and sons and grandsons of their own accord.

Others, considering earthly possessions to be exceedingly unstable and unobtainable, and dependent upon continued exertion, are also scen to renounce it.

You seem to be endued with wisdom. Why, then, do you grieve so piteously, seeking for things which should not be sought for, since they are unstable and dependent on others?

You wish to know the temperament of mind which would give you happiness. The advice I give you is to renounce all objects of desire! Objects which should be discarded appear to one as those which he should seek to secure, while those which should be secured appear to him as objects which should be avoided.

Some loss their wealth while seeking the same. Others consider wealth, as the source of endless happiness, and, therefore pursue it eagerly.

Some again, overjoyed with wealth, think that there is nothing superior to it. While cagerly seeking for the acquisition of wealth, such a person loses all other objects of life. renounce

If, O prince of Koshala, a person loses that wealth which had been acquired with difficulty and after which he had hankered, he then, overcome by despair, gives up all desire of wealth.

Some righteous and highly-born persons devote themselves to the acquisitions of virtue. These every king of worldly happiness from securing the same in the other world.

Some persons sacrifice life itself, actuated by the desire of acquiring wealth. These do not think that life without wealth has any use.

Mark at their pitiable condition! Witness their foolishness! When life is so short and uncertain, these men, actuated by ignorance, seek wealth.

Who is there that would busy himself with boarding when destruction is its end, hanker after life when death is its end, and after union when separation is its end?

Sometimes man renounces wealth, and sometimes wealth renounces man. What man endued with knowledge is there who would grieve at the loss of wealth? There are many other persons in the world who lose wealth and friends.

See, O king, with your intelligence, and you will come to learn that the calamities which befall men are all owing to their own conduct! Do you, therefore, control your senses, mind and speech.

For, if these become weak and productive of evil there is no man who can stand aloof from temptation of external objects by which he is always surrounded. As no one can from a good idea of the past nor of the future, there being many intervals of time and place, a person like you who are endued with such wisdom and such prowess, never grieve for union and separation, for good or evil.

A person so mild by nature, of controlled self, and settled conclusions, and observant of Brahmacharya vows, never grieve and never becomes restless from the desire of acquiring from the fear of losing anything insignificant.

It is not proper that such a man should follow a deceitful life of mendicancy, a life that is sinful and wicked and cruel and which benefits only a human wretch.

Do you go to the great forest and lead a life of happiness there, all alone and subsisting upon fruits and roots, restraining words and soul, and filled with mercy for all creatures.

Or He, who cheerfully leads such a life in the forest, having elephants of large tusks for companions, with no human being by his side, and contented with the produce of the forest, is said to follow the footsteps of the wise.

A large lake, when it becomes disturbed, becomes silent itself. Likewise, a wise men, when disturbed in such matters, becomes tranquil of himself. I see that a person, who has been reduced to such a plight as yours, may live happily even thus.

When it is impossible for you to recover your prosperity and when you are without ministers and counsellors, such a course is open to you. Do you expect to reap any benefit by depending upon destiny?