406. It is always reproachful to accept gifts from persons of questionable character.
407. The king should similarly, by punishing the wicked, cherish the good.
408. The sense seems to be that sacrifice proceeds more from an internal desire than from a large sum of money lying in the treasury. If the desire exists, money comes gradually for accomplishing it. The force of the simile consists in the fact that ants (probably white ants) are seen to gather and multiply from no ostensible cause.
409. The meaning is that as regards good men, they become friends in no time. By taking only seven steps in a walk together, two such men become friends.
410. Virtue prolongs life, and sin and wickedness always shorten it. This is laid down almost everywhere in the Hindu scriptures.
411. i.e., if ex-casted for irreligious practices.
412. The correct reading is Jatakilwishat.
413. The sense, of course, is that such a man, when filled with fear, becomes unable to ward off his dangers and calamities. Prudence requires that one should fear as long as the cause of fear is not at hand. When, however, that cause has actually presented itself, one should put forth one’s courage.
414. The hostility between Krishna and Sisupala was due to the first of these causes; that between the Kurus and the Pandavas to the second; that between Drona and Drupada to the third; that between the cat and the mouse to the fourth; and that between the bird and the king (in the present story) to the fifth.
415. The sense seems to be that the act which has led to the hostility should be calmly considered by the enemy before he gives way to anger.
416. If it is Time that does all acts, there can be no individual responsibility.
417. i.e., they are indifferent to other people’s sorrow.
418. Honey-seekers direct their stops through hill and dale by marking intently the course of the flight of bees. Hence they meet with frequent falls.
419. Everything decays in course of time. Vide the characteristics of the different Yugas, ante.
420. i.e., do any of these or all as occasion may require.
421. The king should imitate the cuckoo by causing his own friends or subjects to be maintained by others; he should imitate the boar by tearing up his foes by their very roots; he should imitate the mountains of Meru by presenting such a front that nobody may transgress him he should imitate an empty chamber by keeping room enough for storing acquisitions he should imitate the actor by assuming different guises; and lastly, he should imitate devoted friend in attending to the interests of his loving subjects.
422. The crane sits patiently by the water side for hours together in expectation of fish.
423. i.e., if he passes safely through the danger.
424. The triple aggregate consists of Virtue, Wealth, and Pleasure. The disadvantages all arise from an injudicious pursuit of each. Virtue stands as an impediment in the way of Wealth; Wealth stands in the way of Virtue; and Pleasure stands in the way of both. The inseparable adjuncts of the three, in the case of the vulgar, are that Virtue is practised as a Means of Wealth, Wealth is sought as a means of Pleasure; and Pleasure is sought for gratifying the senses. In the case of the truly wise, those adjuncts are purity of the soul as the end of virtue, performance of sacrifices as the end of Wealth; and upholding of the body as the end of Pleasure.
425. Literally, ‘preservation of what has been got, and acquisition of what is desired.’
426. These depend on the king, i.e., if the king happens to be good,
prosperity, etc., are seen. On the other hand, if the king becomes oppressive and sinful, prosperity disappears, and every kind of evil sets in.
427. In India, during the hot months, charitable persons set up shady thatches by the sides of roads for the distribution of cool water and raw sugar and oat soaked in water. Among any of the principal roads running through the country, one may, during the hot months, still see hundreds of such institutions affording real relief to thirsty travellers.
428. Such as Rakshasas and Pisachas and carnivorous birds and beasts.
429. Abandoning his Homa fire.
430. i.e., flowers already offered to the deities.
431. No one of the three regenerate orders should take dog’s meat. It thou takest such meat, where would then the distinction be between persons of those orders and men like Chandalas?
432. Agastya was a Rishi. He could not do what was sinful.
433. The idea that man comes alone into the world and goes out of it alone. Only the wife is his true associate for she alone is a sharer of his merits, and without her no merit can be won. The Hindu idea of marriage is a complete union. From the day of marriage the two persons become one individual for the performance of all religious and other acts.
434. The sense seems to be that our strength, though little, should be employed by us in attending to the duties of hospitality in our own way.
435. Literally, ‘thou art at home,’ meaning I will not spare any trouble in making thee feel and enjoy all the comforts of home in this place.
436. Mahaprasthana is literally an unreturning departure. When a person leaves home for wandering through the world till death puts a stop to his wanderings, he is said to go on Mahaprasthana.
437. The theory is that all distresses arise originally from mental error which clouds the understanding. Vide Bhagavadgita.
438. Making gifts, etc.
439. Here amum (the accusative of adas) evidently means ‘that’ and not ‘this.’ I think the reference, therefore, is to heaven and not to this world.
440. These are Mleccha tribes of impure behaviour.
441. i.e., for my instructions.
442. So great was the repugnance felt for the slayer of a Brahmana that to even talk with him was regarded a sin. To instruct such a man in the truths of the Vedas and of morality was to desecrate religion itself.
443. The version of 5 is offered tentatively. That a person possessed of affluence should become charitable is not wonderful. An ascetic, again, is very unwilling to exercise his power. (Witness Agastya’s unwillingness to create wealth for gratifying his spouse.) What is meant by these two persons not living at a distance from each other is that the same cause which makes an affluent person charitable operates to make an ascetic careful of the kind of wealth he has.
444. That which is asamikshitam is samagram karpanyam.
445. Nilakantha explains that vala here means patience (strength to bear) and ojas (energy) means restraints of the senses.
