1. The scholar who has
acquired knowledge by studying innumerable books
without the blessings of
a bonafide spiritual master does not shine in an
assembly of truly
learned men just as an illegitimate child is not honoured in
2. We should repay the
favours of others by acts of kindness; so also should
we return evil for evil
in which there is no sin, for it is necessary to pay a
wicked man in his own
coin.
3. That thing which is
distant, that thing which appears impossible, and that
which is far beyond our
reach, can be easily attained through tapasya
(religious austerity),
for nothing can surpass austerity.
4. What vice could be
worse than covetousness? What is more sinful than
slander? For one who is
truthful, what need is there for austerity? For one
who has a clean heart,
what is the need for pilgrimage? If one has a good
disposition, what other
virtue is needed? If a man has fame, what is the value
of other ornamentation?
What need is there for wealth for the man of practical
knowledge? And if a man
is dishonoured, what could there be worse than
death?
5. Though the sea, which
is the reservoir of all jewels, is the father of the
conch shell, and the
Goddess of fortune Lakshmi is conch's sister, still the
conch must go from door
to door for alms (in the hands of a beggar). It is true,
therefore, that one
gains nothing without having given in the past.
6. When a man has no
strength left in him he becomes a sadhu, one without
wealth acts like a
brahmacari, a sick man behaves like a devotee of the Lord,
and when a woman grows
old she becomes devoted to her husband.
8. There is poison in
the fang of the serpent, in the mouth of the fly and in the
sting of a scorpion; but
the wicked man is saturated with it.
9. The woman who fasts
and observes religious vows without the permission
of her husband shortens
his life, and goes to hell.
10. A woman does not
become holy by offering charity, by observing hundreds
of fasts, or by sipping
sacred water, as by sipping the water used to wash her
husbands feet.
12. The hand is not so
well adorned by ornaments as by charitable offerings;
one does not become
clean by smearing sandalwood paste upon the body as
by taking a bath; one
does not become so much satisfied by dinner as by
having respect shown to
him; and salvation is not attained by self-adornment
as by cultivation of
spiritual knowledge.
14. The eating of tundi
fruit deprives a man of his sense, while the vacha root
administered revives his
reasoning immediately. A woman at once robs a man
of his vigour while milk
at once restores it.
15. He who nurtures
benevolence for all creatures within his heart overcomes
all difficulties and
will be the recipient of all types of riches at every step.
16. What is there to be
enjoyed in the world of Lord Indra for one whose wife
is loving and virtuous,
who possesses wealth, who has a well-behaved son
endowed with good
qualities, and who has grandchildren born of his children?
17. Men have eating,
sleeping, fearing and mating in common with the lower
animals. That in which
men excel the beasts is discretionary knowledge;
hence, indiscreet men
who are without knowledge should be regarded as
beasts.
18. If the bees that
seek the liquid oozing from the head of a lust-intoxicated
elephant are driven away
by the flapping of his ears, then the elephant has
lost only the ornament
of his head. The bees are quite happy in the lotus filled
lake.
19. A king, a
prostitute, Lord Yamaraja, fire, a thief, a young boy, and a beggar
cannot understand the
suffering of others. The eighth of this category is the
tax collector.
20. O lady, why are you
gazing downward? Has something of yours fallen on
the ground? (She
replies) O fool, can you not understand the pearl of my
youth has slipped away?
21. O ketki flower!
Serpents live in your midst, you bear no edible fruits, your
leaves are covered with
thorns, you are crooked in growth, you thrive in mud,
and you are not easily
accessible. Still for your exceptional fragrance you are
as dear as kinsmen to
others. Hence, a single excellence overcomes a
multitude of blemish
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