The Mahābhārata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa QUOTES

1 " Existence and non-existence, pleasure and pain all have Time for their root. Time createth all things and Time destroyeth all creatures. It is Time that burneth creatures and it is Time that extinguisheth the fire. All states, the good and the evil, in the three worlds, are caused by Time. Time cutteth short all things and createth them anew. Time alone is awake when all things are asleep: indeed, Time is incapable of being overcome. Time passeth over all things without being retarded. Knowing, as thou dost, that all things past and future and all that exist at the present moment, are the offspring of Time, it behoveth thee not to throw away thy reason. "

― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa , The Mahābhārata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

2 " Those unacquainted with any language but their own are generally very exclusive in matters of taste. "

― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa , The Mahābhārata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

3 " Having no knowledge of models other than what they meet with in their own tongue, the standard they have formed of purity and taste in composition must necessarily be a narrow one. "

― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa , The Mahābhārata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

4 " The Yaksha asked, 'What is weightier than the earth itself? What is higher than the heavens?' What is fleeter than the wind? And what is more numerous than grass?' Yudhishthira answered, 'The mother is weightier than the earth; the father is higher than the heaven; the mind is fleeter than the wind; and our thoughts are more numerous than grass. "

― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa , The Mahābhārata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

5 " Those kinds of food that increase life's period, energy, strength, health, well-being, and joy, which are savoury, oleaginous, nutritive, and agreeable, are liked by God. "

― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa , The Mahābhārata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

6 " The Yaksha asked, 'What enemy is invincible? What constitutes an incurable disease for man? What sort of a man is called honest and what dishonest?' Yudhishthira answered, 'Anger is an invincible enemy. Covetousness constitutes an incurable disease. He is honest that desires the weal of all creatures, and he is dishonest who is unmerciful. "

― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa , The Mahābhārata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

7 " said, 'While the (Kuru) host was shaken by the grandson of Sini in these places (through which he proceeded), the son of Bharadwaja covered him with a dense shower of arrows. The encounter that then took place between Drona and Satwata in the very sight of all the troops was extremely fierce, like that between Vali and Vasava (in days of old). Then Drona pierced the grandson of Sini on the forehead with three beautiful arrows made entirely of iron and resembling' snakes of virulent poison. Thus pierced on the forehead with those straight shafts, Yuyudhana, O king, looked beautiful like a mountain with three summits. The son of Bharadwaja always on the alert for an opportunity, then sped in that battle many other arrows of Satyaki which resembled the roar of Indra's thunder. Then he of Dasarha's race, acquainted with the highest weapons, cut off all those arrows shot from Drona's bow, with two beautifully winged arrows of his. Beholding that lightness of hand (in Satyaki), Drona, O king, smiling the while, suddenly pierced that bull among the Sinis with thirty arrows. Surpassing by his own lightness the lightness of Yuyudhana, Drona, once more, pierced "

― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa , The Mahābhārata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

8 " is born of (the womb of) a she-snake that had drunk my vital fluid. "

― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa , The Mahābhārata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

9 " Health, unindebtedness, living at home, companionship with good men, certainty as regards the means of livelihood, and living without fear, these six. O king, conduce to the happiness of men. "

― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa , The Mahābhārata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

10 " Weapons, such as arrows, bullets, and bearded darts, can be easily extracted from the body, but a wordy dagger plunged deep into the heart is incapable of being taken out. Wordy arrows are shot from the mouth; smitten by them one grieveth day and night. "

― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa , The Mahābhārata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

11 " Wisdom, good lineage, self-control, acquaintance with the scriptures, prowess, absence of garrulity, gift to the extent of one's power, and gratefulness, these eight qualities shed a lustre upon their possessor. "

― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa , The Mahābhārata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

12 " The Yaksha asked, 'What is the soul of man? Who is that friend bestowed on man by the gods? What is man's chief support? And what also is his chief refuge?' Yudhishthira answered, 'The son is a man's soul: the wife is the friend bestowed on man by the gods; the clouds are his chief support; and gift is his chief refuge. "

― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa , The Mahābhārata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

13 " The Yaksha asked, 'What is that which, if renounced, maketh one agreeable? What is that which, if renounced, leadeth to no regret? What is that which, if renounced, maketh one wealthy? And what is that which if renounced, maketh one happy?' Yudhishthira answered, 'Pride, if renounced, maketh one agreeable; wrath, if renounced leadeth to no regret: desire, if renounced, maketh one wealthy: and avarice, if renounced, maketh one happy. "

― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa , The Mahābhārata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

14 " The Yaksha asked, 'By what, O king, birth, behaviour, study, or learning doth a person become a Brahmana? Tell us with certitude!' Yudhishthira answered,-'Listen, O Yaksha! It is neither birth, nor study, nor learning, that is the cause of Brahmanahood, without doubt, it is behaviour that constitutes it. One's behaviour should always be well-guarded, especially by a Brahmana. He who maintaineth his conduct unimpaired, is never impaired himself. Professors and pupils, in fact, all who study the scriptures, if addicted to wicked habits, are to be regarded as illiterate wretches. He only is learned who performeth his religious duties. He even that hath studied the four Vedas is to be regarded as a wicked wretch scarcely distinguishable from a Sudra (if his conduct be not correct). "

― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa , The Mahābhārata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

15 " a man who cooketh in his own house, on the fifth or the sixth part of the day, with scanty vegetables, but who is not in debt and who stirreth not from home, is truly happy. Day after day countless creatures are going to the abode of Yama, yet those that remain behind believe themselves to be immortal. What can be more wonderful than this? "

― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa , The Mahābhārata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

16 " without being able to arrive at its end, then, O Sanjaya, I had no hope of success. When I heard that Yudhishthira, beaten by Saubala at the game of dice and deprived of his kingdom as a consequence thereof, had still been attended upon by his brothers of "

― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa , The Mahābhārata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

17 " These six forget those who have bestowed obligations on them, viz., educated disciples, their preceptors; married persons, their mothers; persons whose desires have been gratified, women; they who have achieved success, they who had rendered aid; they who have crossed a river, the boat (that carried them over); and patients that have been cured, their physicians. "

― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa , The Mahābhārata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

18 " These six, O king, comprise the happiness of men, viz., acquirement of wealth, uninterrupted health, a beloved and a sweet-speeched wife, an obedient son, and knowledge that is lucrative. "

― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa , The Mahābhārata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

19 " Gold is tested by fire; a well-born person, by his deportment; an honest man, by his conduct. A brave man is tested during a season of panic; he that is self-controlled, in times of poverty; and friends and foes, in times of calamity and danger. "

― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa , The Mahābhārata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

20 " The Yaksha asked, 'Who is the friend of the exile? Who is the friend of the householder? Who is the friend of him that ails? And who is the friend of one about to die?' Yudhishthira answered, 'The friend of the exile in a distant land is his companion, the friend of the householder is the wife; the friend of him that ails is the physician: and the friend of him about to die is charity "

― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa , The Mahābhārata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa