"Yudhishthira said, 'Living creatures always stand in fear of sorrow and
death. Tell me, O grandsire, how the occurrence of these two may be
prevented.'

"Bhishma said, 'In this connection, O Bharata, is cited the old narrative
of the discourse between Narada and Samanga.'

"Narada said, '(While others salute their superiors by only a bend of the
head) thou salutest thy superiors by prostrating thyself on the ground
till thy chest comes into contact with the ground. Thou seemest to be
engaged in crossing (the river of life) with thy hands.In the second line the word is Gadhamavidwansah, i.e., 'ignorant of its bottom or depth.' K.P. Singha gives the meaning correctly, without translating the verse literally, The Burdwan translator makes nonsense of it. Both however, wrongly take agadha as the final word in yathagadha, forgetting that agadham is a masculine adjective incapable of qualifying nadim which is feminine. Ayam is Jiva. The last clause is to be taken as buddhiyogam anuprachyuta ayam tatha. Thou
seemest to be always free from sorrow and exceedingly cheerful. I do not
see that thou hast the least anxiety. Thou art always content and happy
and thou seemest to sport (in felicity) like a child.'

"Samanga said, 'O giver of honours, I know the truth about the Past, the
Present, and the Future. Hence I never become cheerless.This is not a difficult verse, yet both the vernacular translators have misunderstood it. What is said in the first line is this: yat vahudosham karoti, yat (cha) purakritam, ekatah cha dushyati. Both the finite verbs have jnanin (the man of knowledge) for their nominative understood. Dushyati means nasyati or destroys. The meaning then is that the man of Knowledge destroys his sinful acts of both this and past lives. The commentator cites the well-known simile of the lotus leaf not being drenched or soaked with water even when dipped in water. Now, this is that unseen fruit of Knowledge. In the second line, the visible fruits are indicated. The man of Knowledge refrains from censuring the wicked acts of others and from perpetrating any wicked act himself. Yat cha dushyati means yat parakritam anishtam dushyati or nindati, yat karoti means yat swayam ragadi-doshat karoti; tadubhayam apriyam (sa) na karoti, the reason being dwaitadarsana-bhavah. Such a man truly regards the universe as identifiable with himself. I know
also what the beginning of acts is in this world, what the accession of
their fruits, and how varied are those fruits. Hence I never yield to
sorrow.i.e., in even thy direst distress thou dependest on thyself. To cross the fearful river of life without a raft and with the aid of only one's bare arms implies great self-dependence. Behold, the illiterate, the destitute, the prosperous, O
Narada, the blind, idiots and madmen, and ourselves also, all live.That which did not exist and will not exist, exists not at the present moment. Everything, therefore, which is of the nature of asat is non-existent. Our sorrows are connected with the asat. Knowing this, I have cast off all sorrows.
These live by virtue of their acts of past lives. The very deities, who
exist freed from diseases, exist (in that state) by virtue of their past
acts. The strong and the weak, all, live by virtue of past acts. It is
fitting, therefore, that thou shouldst hold us in esteem. The owners of
thousands live. The owners of hundreds also live. They that are
overwhelmed with sorrow live. Behold, we too are living! When we, O
Narada, do not give way to grief, what can the practice of the duties (of
religion) or the observance of (religious) acts do to us? And since all
joys and sorrows also are not unending, they are, therefore, unable to
agitate us at all.I have understood that acts are for sorrow; that the fruits also of acts are for sorrow in spite of the apparent character of some; and that the fruits of acts are varied, sometimes other fruits appearing than those expected. Hence, I do not indulge in sorrow, for I avoid acts and do not grieve for not obtaining the fruits of acts or for the accession of fruits other than those apparently agreeable. That for which men are said to be wise, indeed,
the very root of wisdom, is the freedom of the senses from error. It is
the senses that yield to error and grief. One whose senses are subject to
error can never be said to have attained wisdom. That pride which is
indulged in by a man subject to error is only a form of the error to
which he is subject. As regards the man of error, he has neither this
world nor the next. It should be remembered that griefs do not last for
ever and that happiness cannot be had always.The sense is that we who avoid acts, are not dead; in fact, we live quite as others do; and those others, how unequally circumstanced! The Burdwan translator makes nonsense of the first line simple though it is. Worldly life with all
its vicissitudes and painful incidents, one like me would never adopt.
Such a one would not care for desirable objects of enjoyments, and would
not think at all of the happiness their possession may bring about, or,
indeed, of the griefs that present themselves.Ignorance lies at the root of sorrow. By casting off ignorance, we have avoided sorrow. Hence, neither religion or religious acts such as Sacrifices, etc., can do us any good or harm. As regards happiness and misery again, these two cannot agitate us at all, since we know their value, both being ephemeral in comparison with the period for which we are to exist. One capable of
resting on one's own self would never covet the possessions of others;
would not think of gains unacquired, would not feel delighted at the
acquisition of even immense wealth; and would not yield to sorrow at the
loss of wealth. Neither friends, nor wealth, nor high birth, nor
scriptural learning, nor mantras, nor energy, can succeed in rescuing one
from sorrow in the next world. It is only by conduct that one can attain
to felicity there. The Understanding of the man unconversant with Yoga
can never be directed towards Emancipation. One unconversant with Yoga
can never have happiness. Patience and the resolution to cast off sorrow,
these two indicate the advent of happiness. Anything agreeable leads to
pleasure. Pleasure induces pride. Pride, again, is productive of sorrow.
For these reasons, I avoid all these. Grief, Fear, Pride,—these that
stupefy the heart,—and also Pleasure and Pain, I behold as (an
unconcerned) witness since my body is endued with life and moves
about.Hence, no one should indulge in pride, saying, 'I am happy,' nor yield to sorrow, saying, 'I am miserable.' Both happiness and misery are transitory. The man of wisdom should never suffer himself to be agitated by these transitory states of his mind. Casting off both wealth and pleasure, and thirst and error,
I wander over the earth, freed from grief and every kind of anxiety of
heart. Like one that has drunk nectar I have no fear, here or hereafter,
of death, or iniquity, or cupidity, or anything of that kind. I have
acquired this knowledge, O Brahmana, as the result of my severe and
indestructible penances. It is for this reason, O Narada, that grief,
even when it comes to me, does not succeed in afflicting me.'"