Behold the man that hath won a lasting, worldwide fame: the Gods on high prefer him even before saints.
The ruin that addeth unto fame and the death that bringeth glory belong only to the great-souled.
If men must needs be born into the world, let them earn glory: as to those who earn it not, it were better for them not to have been born at all.
Those that are not free from blemish chafe not at themselves: why then are they wroth against their calumniators?
It is a disgrace for all men if they earn not the memory called fame.
Behold the land weighed down beneath the tread of an inglorious people: its riches, even though renowned in the past, will wane away.
They alone live who live without blemish: and they alone die who have lived without glory.
Section II
The Life of the Ascetic
Subdivision A
Discipline
XXV
Mercy
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The chiefest wealth is a heart that is rich in mercy: for material wealth is found even in the hands of vile men.
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Reason by the right method and take up Mercy: and if thou inquire of all religions also, thou shalt see that Mercy is the only salvation.
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They enter not into the dark and bitter world whose heart is joined unto mercy.
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The results of actions at which the soul trembleth pursue not him who is kind and merciful to all life.
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Affliction is not for the merciful: the teeming air-encircled earth is a witness thereto.
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Behold the man that hath forsaken mercy and doth iniquity: though he must have suffered cruelly in past births for abandoning virtue, he hath forgotten the lesson, say the wise.
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The other world is not for those that have not mercy, even as this world is not for them that are without riches.
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The poor in substance may one day thrive and prosper: but they that lack pity are poor indeed and their day cometh never.
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It is as easy for the hard of heart to do deeds of righteousness as for the confused in mind to realise the Truth.
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When thou art tempted to oppress the weak, consider how it would be for thee to tremble before a stronger.
XXVI
Abjuring of Flesh-Meat
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How can he feel pity, who eateth other flesh in order to fatten his own?
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Riches are not for the thriftless: even so pity is not for those that eat meat.
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The heart of the man that tasteth flesh turneth not towards good, even as the heart of him that is armed with steel.
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The killing of animals is veritable hardness of heart: but the eating of their flesh is iniquity indeed.
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In non-eating of flesh is Life: if thou eat, the pit of hell will not open its mouth to let thee out.
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If the world desireth not meat for eating, there will be none to offer it for sale.
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If a man can only realise to himself the agony and pain suffered by other living beings, he would not desire to eat flesh-meat.
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Behold the men who have escaped from the bonds of illusion and ignorance: they eat not the flesh from which life hath flown out.
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To abstain from the killing and eating of living things is better than to perform a thousand sacrifices in the sacrificial fire.
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Behold the man who killeth not and abstaineth from flesh-meat: all the world joineth hands to do him reverence.
XXVII
Tapas16
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Patient endurance of suffering and non-injuring of life, in these is contained the whole of tapas.
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Austerities are for the austere of heart: it is profitless for others to take them up.
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Is it because there should be some people to tend and feed ascetics that all the rest have forgotten tapas?
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It thou wouldst destroy thy foes and exalt those that love thee, know that such a power belongeth unto tapas.
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Tapas fulfilleth all desires even in the very manner that is desired: therefore is it that men endeavour after tapas in this world.
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It is the men that do tapas that look after their own interests: the rest are caught in the snares of desire and only do themselves harm.
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The fiercer the fire in which it is melted the more brilliant becometh the lustre of the gold: even so the severer the sufferings endured by the austere, the purer their nature shineth.
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Behold the man who hath attained mastery over himself: all other men worship him.
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Behold the men that have acquired power by austerities: they can succeed even in conquering death.
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If the needy are the many in the world, it is because those that do tapas are few, and those that do not, the larger number.
XXVIII
Imposture
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The five17 principles of his own body smile within themselves when they see the imposture of the hypocrite.
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Of what avail is an imposing presence when evil is in the heart and the heart is conscious thereof?
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Behold the ungodly man putting on the puissant look of the austere: he is like a cow that grazeth about wearing a tiger’s skin.
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Behold the man who taketh cover under a saintly garb and doth evil: he is like a fowler hiding in the bush and catching birds.
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The hypocrite pretendeth unto sanctity and sayeth, I have vanquished my passions: but he will come to grief and cry, What have I done? and what have I done?
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Behold the man that hath not renounced in his heart, but walketh about like one that hath renounced, and cheateth men: there is none more hard of heart than he.
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The kunri seed is fair on one side, but the other side of it is black: there are men who are like unto it: they are fair on the outside, but their inside is all black.
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Many there be whose heart is impure but who bathe in holy streams and prowl about.
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The arrow is straight and the lute hath a bend: judge
