ome of the merits of
abstention from cruelty. Altogether, the merits that attach to it are so
many that they are incapable of being exhausted even if one were to speak
for a hundred years."'"

SECTION CXVII

"'Yudhishthira said, "Desiring to die or desiring to live, many persons
give up their lives in the great sacrifice (of battle). Tell me, O
grandsire, what is the end that these attain to. To throw away life in
battle is fraught with sorrow for men. O thou of great wisdom, thou
knowest that to give up life is difficult for men whether they are in
prosperity, or adversity, in felicity or calamity. In my opinion, thou
art possessed of omniscience. Do thou tell me the reason of this."

"'Bhishma said, "In prosperity or adversity, in happiness or woe, living
creatures, O lord of the earth, coming into this world, live according to
a particular tenor. Listen to me as I explain the reason to thee. The
question thou hast asked me is excellent, O Yudhishthira! In this
connection, O king, I shall explain to thee the old narrative of the
discourse that took place in former times between the Island-born Rishi
and a crawling worm. In days of old, when that learned Brahmana, viz.,
the Island-born Krishna, having identified himself with Brahma, roamed
over the world, he beheld, on a road over which cars used to pass, a worm
moving speedily. The Rishi was conversant with the course of every
creature and the language of every animal. Possessed of omniscience, he
addressed the worm he saw in these words.

"'"Vyasa said, 'O worm, thou seemest to be exceedingly alarmed, and to be
in great haste. Tell me, whither dost thou run, and whence hast thou been
afraid.'

"'"The worm said, 'Hearing the rattle of yonder large car I am filled with
fear. O thou of great intelligence, fierce is the roar it makes. It is
almost come! The sound is heard. Will it not kill me? It is for this that
I am flying away. The sound, as it is heard from a near point, I catch,
of the bulls I hear. They are breathing hard under the whip of the
driver, as they are drawing the heavy burden. I hear also the diverse
sounds made by the men who are driving the bulls. Such sounds are
incapable of being heard by a creature that like us has taken his birth
in the order of worms. It is for this reason that I am flying from this
situation of great fright. Death is felt by all creatures to be fraught
with pain. Life is an acquisition difficult to make. Hence, I fly aw