Medhāvī Pitā Saṃvāda

The Medhāvī Pitā Saṃvāda is a dialogue between a boy and his father. Bhīshma tells it to Yudhishṭhira in the Mokshadharma Parva, within the Śānti Parva of the Mahābhārata. The boy, Medhāvī, is the son of a brāhmaṇa who is absorbed in the study of the Veda. He tells his father that the usual order of the four āśramas (stages of life) is a luxury, because human life is short. One should begin the search for moksha (liberation) now. In the end the father accepts the teaching of his son.

The question

Yudhishṭhira asked Bhīshma whether the person who skips the usual āśrama stages and seeks moksha at once is in error. Time is relentless, and Mṛtyu (Death) does not wait. Or can one begin the work of liberation at any point, without finishing every stage laid down?

Bhīshma answered with the account of Medhāvī.

The father

The father was a brāhmaṇa who loved svādhyāya (study and recitation of the Veda). He was learned, disciplined and good in the usual way. But his mind was on the karmakāṇḍa (the part of the Veda that teaches ritual action) and on the order of the āśramas, not on moksha as a matter of urgency. He lived as if he had unlimited time to go through each stage in order.

Medhāvī’s challenge

Medhāvī’s name means one gifted with intelligence and discernment. He went to his father and spoke very plainly.

“Father, this world is struck by Mṛtyu on every side and surrounded by jarā (old age). Every night that passes cuts our āyus (span of life) shorter. Time is a river that flows without a pause. What wise person, who truly knows this, would act like someone with all the time in the world? Do tomorrow’s work today. Do the afternoon’s work in the morning. Mṛtyu does not ask whether you have finished what you meant to do.”

The surprised father asked, “What are you frightening me with?” Medhāvī explained.

• Mṛtyu surrounds this world on all sides.
• Jarā is always drawing near.
• Days and nights fall on us like arrows, and nothing can stop them.
• No one knows whose hour of death this day will bring.
• Even if all a person’s wishes are unfinished, Mṛtyu takes him as a wolf takes a goat.
• What is not done in youth will not be done, for the body grows weak and the chance grows narrow.

The teaching on now

Medhāvī’s main teaching was this verse.

śvaskāryam adya kurvīta

“What is to be done tomorrow, do today.” The person of viveka (discernment) sees that the time left is truly short. He takes up moksha-sādhanā (practice for liberation) at whatever point he stands.

Medhāvī spoke against the paśu-yajña (a yajña with an animal offering) as a path of dharma. He said: “How can a jñānī (knower) perform yajñas that kill animals? I will practise the ātma-yajña, the inner yajña of speech, mind and action. It is offered to the ātmā, which is the true fire and the true receiver of every yajña.”

He also named what the brāhmaṇa should hold highest.

• Brahma-aikya-bhāva: the inner knowing that one is one with Brahman.
• Samatā: equanimity toward all.
• Satya-parāyaṇatā: firm devotion to truth.
• Sadācāra: right conduct as an inner disposition, not only an outer rule.
• Daṇḍa-nidhāna: not using punishment.
• Ārjava: straightforwardness.

These, Medhāvī declared, are the true wealth of a brāhmaṇa. Property, family and position are not.

The father’s response

The father heard Medhāvī’s words and saw that they were true. He changed his course and took up the search for liberation at once, instead of putting it off to a later āśrama. Bhīshma praised both Medhāvī and his father to Yudhishṭhira as models of the right turn toward moksha.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Mokshadharma Parva, Chapter 277