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when deprived of the warmth which wealth gives him, he becomes some one altogether different. This is indeed. wonderful!

41. If a man be wealthy, he is of good family, he is wise, he is learned in the Scriptures, he is virtuous, eloquent, beautiful. All the virtues attach themselves to gold.

42. A king is ruined through evil counsellors: an ascetic through society: a child by spoiling: a priest by not studying the Sacred Scriptures: a family by the evil behaviour of children: good manners by evil habits: modesty by wine: agriculture by want of care: affection by absence from home: friendship by want of love: possessions by mismanagement: money by waste and prodigality.

43. Giving, consuming, and loss, are the three ways by which wealth is diminished. The man who neither gives nor spends has yet the third way open to him.

44. A jewel is cut by the polishing stone; a conqueror in war is killed by weapons; the elephant is weakened by passion; the islands in a river become dry in the autumn; the moon wanes; young women become languid through pleasure, yet is their beauty nothing lessened : so noble men who have diminished their wealth by giving to the needy are still illustrious.

45. A man who is famishing longs for a handful of grain; but when he has revived, he looks on the whole earth as a mere handful of grass. So objects seem great or small according to the condition of the men who possess them: it is the change in men's fortune which makes things seem greater or smaller.

46. If, O king! if you would enjoy this earth, which is as fruitful as a cow, nourish it as carefully as you would a calf. The earth brings forth fruits without end like the creeper of plenty if it is perpetually and carefully cultivated.

47. The behaviour of kings is as uncertain as the way of a courtesan. Now it is false, now true-now with

harsh, now with agreeable words-now cruel, now merciful-at one time liberal, at another covetous—either always squandering money or heaping it together.

48. Authority, fame, the guarding of Brâhmans, liberality, feasting, protection of friends: what profit is there to those who serve kings if they have not gained these six blessings?

49. Whatever fate has written on the forehead of each, that shall he obtain, whether it be poverty or riches. His abode may be the desert, but he shall gain no more if he live even on Mount Meru. Let your mind be constant. Do not be miserable through envy of the rich. The pitcher takes up the same quantity of water whether it be from the well or the ocean.

50. "Who does not know that thou, O cloud, art the one support of the Châtaka? Why, O most beneficent cloud! dost thou wait for our cry of misery?"

51. "Ah! beloved Châtaka, hear and listen attentively to what I tell thee. The heavens have many clouds, but they are not all alike; some water the earth, others thunder and pour forth no rain." Do not degrade yourself by asking alms of any one whom you may chance to meet.

Concerning Evil Men.

52. Cruelty, causeless quarrels, the desire for another's wife or money, envy of the good, or of one's own relatives. These are the natural characteristics of wicked men.

53. An evil man should be avoided though he be adorned with learning. Is a snake less feared because it is ornamented with jewels?

54. The moderate man's virtue is called dulness; the man who lives by rigid vows is considered arrogant; the pure-minded is deceitful; the hero is called unmerciful; the sage is contemptuous; the polite man is branded as servile, the noble man as proud; the eloquent man is called a chatterer; freedom from passion is said to be

feebleness. Thus do evil-minded persons miscall the virtues of the good.

55. If a man be greedy, what further vice can he have? What sin can be worse than backbiting? What need has the truthful man of penances? What need has the pureminded man of a sacred bathing-place? What virtue is beyond generosity? If there be greatness of mind, what adornment is required? If a man be learned, what necessity is there of the society of others? If disgrace overtake a man, why need he fear death?

56. The moon obscured by the daylight, a woman no longer young, a pond destitute of water-lilies, a handsome man who talks nonsense, a prince entirely devoted to money, a good man always in calamity, an evil man dwelling in a king's court-these are seven thorns in my mind.

57. A king full of wrath hath no friend. The sacred fire burns even the priest who offers the sacrifice if he touches it.

58. The man who preserves a respectful silence is considered dumb; the man who talks agreeably is considered forward; the man who stands close by is thought troublesome; he who stands far off, cold-hearted; the patient man is counted as faint-hearted; the impetuous man is called ill-bred. So difficult, indeed, are the laws by which behaviour is regulated, impossible to be learnt even by an ascetic.

59. Is it possible to take pleasure in the society of a low man, dissolute, whose evil is all evident, whose wicked acts are the result of former births, who hates virtue, and who lives by chance?

60. The friendships formed between good and evil men differ. The friendship of the good, at first faint like the morning light, continually increases; the friendship of the evil at the very beginning is great, like the light of midday, and dies away like the light of evening.

61. Deer, fish, and virtuous men, who only require grass,

water, and peace in the world, are wantonly pursued by huntsmen, fishermen, and envious people.

The Character of the Good.

62. Desire for the companionship of the good, love for the virtues of others, reverence for spiritual teachers, diligence in acquiring wisdom, love for their own wives, fear of the world's blame, reverence for Śiva, self-restraint, freedom from the acquaintance with evil men—wherever men dwell endowed with virtues like these, they are always reverenced.

63. Firmness in adversity, restraint in prosperity, eloquence in the assembly, boldness in war, the desire of glory, study in the Scriptures-these are the natural characteristics of the virtuous.

64. Secret generosity, cheerful hospitality to strangers, not speaking in public about one's own good deeds, proclaiming the benefits received from others, freedom from pride in prosperity, due respect in speaking of others— this is the vow of exceeding difficulty, taught by the good.

65. Liberality is the fitting virtue for the hand, reverence towards spiritual teachers for the head, true speech for the mouth, surpassing power for the arms of a mighty man, content for the heart, the holy Veda rightly understood for the ears; the man of noble mind who is the possessor of these adornments has no need of outward pomp.

66. The heart of the wise is soft as a lotus flower in prosperity, but in adversity it is as firm as a mountain rock.

67. Water will not remain on hot iron, but standing on a lotus leaf it shines with the beauty of a pearl; and if a drop of water fall under a favourable star into the middle of an oyster in the sea, it straightway becomes a pearl. So is the disposition of men, good, tolerable, or bad, according to the society in which they live.

68. The son who delights his father by his good actions, the wife who seeks only her husband's good, the friend who is the same in prosperity and in adversity-these three things are the reward of virtue.

69. Those who are ennobled by humility: those who display their own virtues by relating the virtues of other men: those who in their own business always consider the interests of others: those who hate the evil speaker, and the mouth that continually utters harsh and impatient words:-good men whose admirable behaviour is shown in virtues like these are always held in reverence. Who would not respect them?

The Way of Liberality.

70. Trees loaded with fruit are bent down; the clouds when charged with fresh rain hang down near the earth: even so good men are not uplifted through prosperity. Such is the natural character of the liberal.

71. The ears of such men as these are adorned with hearing revelation, not with earrings; their hands with liberality, not with bracelets; their bodies shine through doing kind deeds to others, not with ointment of sandalwood.

72. The good man shuns evil and follows good: he keeps secret that which ought to be hidden: he makes his virtues manifest to all: he does not forsake one in adversity: he gives in season.

Such (according to the

wise) are the marks of a worthy friend.

73. The sun opens the lotuses; the moon illuminates the beds of water-lilies; the cloud pours forth its water unasked: even so the liberal of their own accord are occupied in benefiting others.

74. Those men are good men who study the good of others without regarding themselves. Those men are ordinary men who, while they benefit others, do not neglect their own interests. Those men are demons who

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