be no doubt then in thy mind.
Where, however, wealth that is more or even equal is not to be gained,
there should be no expenditure of wealth. For investment of wealth are
like the ass, scratching, pleasurable at first but painful afterwards.
Thus, O king of men, the person who throweth away like seeds a little of
his virtue in order to gain a larger measure of virtue, is regarded as
wise. Beyond doubt, it is as I say. They that are wise alienate the
friends of the foe that owneth such, and having weakened him by causing
those friends to abandon him thus, they then reduce him to subjection.
Even they that are strong, engage in battle depending on their courage.
One cannot by even continued efforts (uninspired by courage) or by the
arts of conciliation, always conquer a kingdom. Sometimes, O king, men
that are weak, uniting in large numbers, slay even a powerful foe, like
bees killing the despoiler of the honey by force of numbers alone. (As
regards thyself), O king, like the sun that sustaineth as well as slayeth
creatures by his rays, adopt thou the ways of the sun. To protect one's
kingdom and cherish the people duly, as done by our ancestors, O king,
is, it hath been heard by us, a kind of asceticism mentioned even in the
Vedas. By ascetism, O king, a Kshatriya cannot acquire such regions of
blessedness as he can by fair fight whether ending in victory or defeat.
Beholding, O king, this thy distress, the world hath come to the
conclusion that light may forsake the Sun and grace the Moon. And, O
king, good men separately as well as assembling together, converse with
one another, applauding thee and blaming the other. There is this,
moreover, O monarch, viz., that both the Kurus and the Brahmanas,
assembling together, gladly speak of thy firm adherence to truth, in that
thou hast never, from ignorance, from meanness, from covetousness, or
from fear, uttered an untruth. Whatever sin, O monarch, a king committeth
in acquiring dominion, he consumeth it all afterwards by means of
sacrifices distinguished by large gifts. Like the Moon emerging from the
clouds, the king is purified from all sins by bestowing villages on
Brahmanas and kine by thousands. Almost all the citizens as well as the
inhabitants of the country, young or old, O son of the Kuru race, praise
thee, O Yudhishthira! This also, O Bharata, the people are saying amongst
themselves, viz., that as milk in a bag of dog's hide, as the Vedas in a
Sudra, as truth in