Draupadi Urges Yudhishthira to Take Action

Draupadi began by clearing the ground. She had not insulted dharma, she said. She had not censured the supreme god. She was simply incoherent with grief, and she needed Yudhishthira to listen. Everything that is born must act. Even the lowest creatures act. Only the immobile — trees, stones — can live without doing anything. From the moment an infant suckles at its mother's breast to the moment it lies supine before death, every mobile being acts according to its nature. Among men especially, action is what ensures conduct in this life and the next. All beings know this. The world itself is a witness: they reap the fruits of their actions directly. So why was Yudhishthira doing nothing? She told him: you should do your own task without becoming fatigued. You should be armed through your deeds. He who knows his own task is one in a thousand, if not rarer. Act to protect what you have and to extend it. If a crop is eaten up without a new one being sown, it dwindles like the Himalayas. All subjects would have been destroyed had they not performed their tasks. Do we ever see people act without their acts leading to fruits? No one in this world makes a living without action. Then she named the two errors. Those who believe in destiny are wrong. Those who believe in chance are wrong. What is praised is intelligence based on action. The man who is happily asleep, believing in destiny, making no effort — that evil-minded one soon sinks like a pot in water. The same is true of the one who believes in chance and, though capable of action, fails to act. His seat is not permanent. He lives like a weak one without a protector. She dismantled the arguments one by one. If a man obtains something unexpectedly and calls it chance, his efforts have not been successful. If he calls it destiny, he decides it was divine decree and nothing but fate. But the fruit a man obtains through his own acts is directly seen through the eyes and is regarded as manliness. One who is naturally active obtains results without any obvious reason — and that is only natural. Whatever is obtained through chance, destiny, or as the natural outcome of deeds — all of it is the fruit of the man's earlier deeds. She had learned this from a learned brahmana in her father's house, who had recited the teachings of Brihaspati, the preceptor of the gods. She had overheard it as a girl, and she had never forgotten. She pressed further. According to the deeds men have earlier done, the preserver and the supreme god distribute them and their fruits in their respective tasks. Whatever task a man performs, good or bad, know that this has been decided by the preserver in accordance with the fruits of earlier deeds. The body is only an instrument. Under his control, one helplessly acts accordingly. It is the great lord who appoints us to this task or that one. All beings are made to act, though they are themselves inert. But that did not mean man was powerless. Having fixed the objective in one's mind, one subsequently undertakes the task. A man who himself uses his intelligence first is therefore the cause, because of his resolution. It is not possible to count the number of deeds. Man is the reason behind the success of houses and towns. There is oil in sesame seeds. There is milk in cows. There is fire in wood. Using one's intelligence, one should cleverly understand the means for attaining success. Thereafter one undertakes action, after ascertaining the reasons for success. It is on the success of their deeds that beings survive. An act well performed by a skilled actor is certainly different from an act performed by one who is not skilled. Had man not been the reason behind the success of acts, there would have been no oblations and sacrifices, no disciples or preceptors. It is because a man is himself the actor that he is praised for the success of his deeds and blamed in the case of failure. How can one's deeds be destroyed? Some say everything is the outcome of chance. Others say everything is the outcome of destiny. There are those who think it results from a man's efforts. Others say the reason is threefold. But everything invisible — be it chance or destiny — results in fruits that are seen. Some of it is chance, some of it is destiny, some of it is the outcome of one's own deeds. This is how a man obtains the fruits. There is no fourth reason. Tasks must always be performed. This is what Manu had decided. A man who does not act is always defeated. If a man acts, he is usually successful. Those who are lazy rarely attain success. If there is a reason for failure, propitiation is indicated. But if the act is undertaken, one is freed from one's debts. Misfortune characterizes the lazy man who sleeps. But a skilled one certainly obtains the fruits and attains prosperity. Intelligent men committed to acting never have doubts and are successful. She turned to their present situation. They had been overtaken by misfortune. But if Yudhishthira engaged in action, there was no doubt this misfortune would be removed. Even if he was unsuccessful, he would have the pride — and this was also true of Vrikodara (Bhima), Bibhatsu (Arjuna), and the twin brothers. The tasks of others had obtained success. Theirs might also. Without undertaking the task first, how could one know what the outcome would be? She gave him the image of a farmer: having cleaved the earth with his plough and sown the seed, the farmer waits silently for the rains to be the cause. If the rains do not favour him, the farmer is not to be blamed. He knows he has done everything any other man could have. Even if they did not obtain the fruits of success, the slightest bit of blame would not attach to them. The intelligent one keeps this in mind and does not blame himself. Even if the objective is not attained, though one has acted, there is no reason to despair. There is success and there is failure. But lack of inclination is a different thing altogether. Success in a task is the united outcome of many factors. If the required attributes are deficient, the fruit may be incomplete or non-existent. But if the task is not begun, neither fruit nor attributes can be seen. According to his strength and power, the intelligent one brings together time, place, means, and auspicious rites for prosperity. Those who are not deluded must act. Valour will be the instructor. Among the qualities required for action, valour is the most important. If an intelligent person sees an enemy who is superior in many qualities, he should employ conciliation and other kinds of tasks. He should wish for his misery and destruction. This is true of oceans and mountains, not to speak of mortal men. By looking for the weaknesses in an enemy, a man satisfies a debt to himself, as well as to the enemy. A man should never think ill of himself. Prosperity does not come to one who thinks of himself as having become overpowered. She had said everything she could. The argument was complete. Now it was Yudhishthira's turn to act.