O king, there cannot but be a grave reason for all this
since it is seen that the whole world bows down to one man as to a god.
"Bhishma said, 'With concentrated attention, O tiger among kings, listen
to it in detail as to how in the Krita age sovereignty first began. At
first there was no sovereignty, no king, no chastisement, and no
chastiser. All men used to protect one another righteously. As they thus
lived, O Bharata, righteously protecting one another, they found the task
(after some time) to be painful. Error then began to assail their hearts.
Having become subject to error, the perceptions of men, O prince, came to
be clouded, and thence their virtue began to decline. When their
perceptions were dimmed and when men became subject to error, all of them
became covetous. O chief of the Bharatas! And because men sought to
obtain objects, which they did not possess, another passion called lust
(of acquisition) got hold of them. When they became subject to lust,
another passion, named anger, soon soiled them. Once subject to wrath,
they lost all consideration of what should be done and what should not.
Unrestrained sexual indulgence set in. Men began to utter what they
chose. All distinctions between food that is clean and unclean and
between virtue and vice disappeared. When this confusion set in amongst
men, the Vedas disappeared. Upon the disappearance of the Vedas,
Righteousness was lost. When both the Vedas and righteousness were lost,
the gods were possessed by fear.
Pages:
1218
1219
1220
1221
1222
1223
1224
1225
1226
1227
1228
1229
1230
1231
1232
1233
1234
1235
1236
1237
1238
1239
1240
1241
1242