1. A man may live but
for a moment, but that moment should be spent in doing
auspicious deeds. It is
useless living even for a kalpa (4,320,000 *1000 years)
2. We should not fret
for what is past, nor should we be anxious about the
future; men of
discernment deal only with the present moment.
3. It certainly is
nature of the demigods, men of good character, and parents
to be easily pleased.
Near and distant relatives are pleased when they are
hospitably received with
bathing, food, and drink; and pandits are pleased
with an opportunity for
giving spiritual discourse.
4 Even as the unborn
babe is in the womb of his mother, these five are fixed
as his life destiny: his
life span, his activities, his acquisition of wealth and
knowledge, and his time
of death.
5. Oh, see what a wonder
it is! The doings of the great are strange: they treat
wealth as light as a
straw, yet, when they obtain it, they bend under its weight
6. He who is overly
attached to his family members experiences fear and
sorrow, for the root of
all grief is attachment. Thus one should discard
attachment to be happy.
7. He who is prepared
for the future and he who deals cleverly with any
situation that may arise
are both happy; but the fatalistic man who wholly
depends on luck is
ruined.
8. If the king is virtuous,
then the subjects are also virtuous. If the king is
sinful, then the
subjects also become sinful. If he is mediocre, then the
subjects are mediocre.
The subjects follow the example of the king. In short,
as is the king so are
the subjects.
9. I consider him who
does not act religiously as dead though living, but he
who dies acting
religiously unquestionably lives long though he is dead.
10. He who has acquired
neither virtue, wealth, satisfaction of desires nor
salvation (dharma,
artha, kama, moksa), lives an utterly useless life, like the
"nipples"
hanging from the neck of a goat.
11. The hearts of base
men burn before the fire of other's fame, and they
slander them being
themselves unable to rise to such a high position.
12. Excessive attachment
to sense pleasures leads to bondage, and
detachment from sense
pleasures leads to liberation; therefore it is the mind
alone that is
responsible for bondage or liberation
13. He who sheds bodily
identification by means of knowledge of the
indwelling Supreme Self
(Paramatma), will always be absorbed in meditative
trance (samadhi)
wherever his mind leads him.
14. Who realises all the
happiness he desires? Everything is in the hands of
God. Therefore one
should learn contentment.
15. As a calf follows
its mother among a thousand cows, so the (good or bad)
deeds of a man follow
him.
16. He whose actions are
disorganised has no happiness either in the midst
of men or in a jungle --
in the midst of men his heart burns by social contacts,
and his helplessness
burns him in the forest.
17. As the man who digs
obtains underground water by use of a shovel, so
the student attains the
knowledge possessed by his preceptor through his
service
18. Men reap the fruits
of their deeds, and intellects bear the mark of deeds
performed in previous
lives; even so the wise act after due circumspection.
19. Even the man who has
taught the spiritual significance of just one letter
ought to be worshiped.
He who does not give reverence to such a guru is
born as a dog a hundred
times, and at last takes birth as a chandala (dogeater).
20. At the end of the
yuga, Mount Meru may be shaken; at the end of the
kalpa, the waters of the
seven oceans may be disturbed; but a sadhu will
never swerve from the
spiritual path.
21. There are three gems
upon this earth; food, water, and pleasing words --
fools (mudhas) consider
pieces of rocks as gems.
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