"'"The vulture said, 'Dreadful is this spot, this wilderness, that resounds with the screech of owls and teems with spirits and Yakshas and Rakshasas. Terrible and awful, its aspect is like that of a mass of blue clouds. Casting off the dead body, finish the funeral rites. Indeed, throwing away the body, accomplish those rites before the sun sets and before the points of the horizon become enveloped in gloom. The hawks are uttering their harsh cries. Jackals are howling fiercely. Lions are roaring. The sun is setting. The trees on the crematorium are assuming a dark hue in consequence of the blue smoke of the funeral pyres. The carnivorous denizens of this place, afflicted with hunger, are yelling in rage. All those creatures of horrible forms that live in this frightful place, all those carnivorous animals of grim features that haunt this desert, will soon assail you. This wilderness is certainly frightful. Danger will overtake you. Indeed, if you listen to these false and fruitless words of the jackal against your own good sense, verily, all of you are sure to be destroyed.'Mbh 12.153.10 · Mahabharata · SANTI PARVA
Mbh 12.153.10
Mahabharata · translated by Kisari Mohan Ganguli
Themes in this passage
NatureAngerDeathKarmaSpeechSufferingTruth
Nature in other traditions
The same theme, as Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Taoism address it.
The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:Joel 2:10 · Bible · Joel
Hast thou not seen that unto Allah payeth adoration whosoever is in the heavens and whosoever is in the earth, and the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and the hills, and the trees, and the beasts, and many of mankind, while there are many unto whom the doom is justly due. He whom Allah scorneth, there is none to give him honour. Lo! Allah doeth what He will.Quran 22:18 · Quran · The Pilgrimage
Cut down the whole forest (of lust), not a tree only! Danger comes out of the forest (of lust). When you have cut down both the forest (of lust) and its undergrowth, then, Bhikshus, you will be rid of the forest and free!Dhp 20.283 · Dhammapada · The Way
Abstaining from speech marks him who is obeying the spontaneity of his nature. A violent wind does not last for a whole morning; a sudden rain does not last for the whole day. To whom is it that these (two) things are owing? To Heaven and Earth. If Heaven and Earth cannot make such (spasmodic) actings last long, how much less can man!Tao Te Ching 23.1 · Tao Te Ching
See what all six traditions say about nature →
Search every tradition at once
Ask a question in your own words and see how six traditions answer it.