SECTION CVIII.
As Rāma cognizant of righteousness was thus encouraging Bharata, Javali—best of Brāhmanas—addressed him in words divorced from morality, saying, "O Rāghava, endowed with a noble understanding and leading a life of asceticism, do not suffer thy intellect to entertain inanities, like any low person. Who is whose friend? And to what is one entitled and by virtue of what relation? And who is such? Since a creature is born alone and dies alone, a person that cherishes his father and mother with affection, must, O Rāma, be looked upon as a madman. No individual hath any one (in this world). As on the eve of setting out for another country, a person stays somewhere (outside the village he lives in), and the next day goes away, renouncing that abode, even such are a man's father and mother, house and wealth. O Kākutshta, worthy people never bear affection towards a mere abode. Therefore, O best of men, leaving thy ancestral kingdom, thou ought not to abide in the disagreeable forest filled with dangers and difficulties. Do thou get thyself sprinkled in the prosperous Ayodhyā. The city expects thee wearing a single woven braid. O king's son, enjoying costly regal pleasures, do thou sport in Ayodhyā, like Sakra in the celestial regions. Daçarātha is none unto thee, and thou too art none unto Daçarātha: He is quite other than thy sire; and thou hast no connection with him. Therefore, do thou act as I tell thee. A father is merely an instrumental cause (touching the generation of his child). A father's semen coming in contact with a mother's blood, at the time befitting conception, a person is brought into being. The king hath gone the way he should. This is the nature of all creatures. But thou for naught denyest thyself (the manliness of monarchal power). Those that disregarding interest are devoted to virtue, do I mourn—and not others; for having suffered misery here, they in the end meet with extinction. People engage in Ashtaka[191] in behalf of ancestors and deities. Behold the waste of edibles. Doth any dead person feed? If food partaken by one is transferred to the body of another, offer Srāddha unto one going to a distant land, and that shall serve for his provender on the way. Works (on morality) enjoining—'Worship,' 'Give away,' 'Be initiated,' 'Observe rites,' 'Renounce',—have been composed by intelligent persons, for inducing people to be charitable. O magnanimous one, assure thyself there is no hereafter. Do thou remain grounded in the evident, turning thy back on what is beyond our ken. Placing in front the intellect of the good, and approved by all, do thou, propitiated by Bharata, accept the monarchy."