Varuna! The saying is true which I shall refer to
before thee, O sinless one! I refer to it for example's sake and not from
evil motives. Therefore, it behoveth thee to pardon me after thou hast
heard it. An ugly person considereth himself handsomer than others until
he sees his own face in the mirror. But when he sees his own ugly face in
the mirror, it is then that he perceiveth the difference between himself
and others. He that is really handsome never taunts anybody. And he that
always talketh evil becometh a reviler. And as the swine always look for
dirt and filth even when in the midst of a flower-garden, so the wicked
always choose the evil out of both evil and good that others speak.
Those, however, that are wise, on hearing the speeches of others that are
intermixed with both good and evil, accept only what is good, like geese
that always extract the milk only, though it be mixed with water. As the
honest are always pained at speaking ill of others, so do the wicked
always rejoice in doing the same thing. As the honest always feel
pleasure in showing regard for the old, so do the wicked always take
delight in aspersing the good. The honest are happy in not seeking for
faults. The wicked are happy in seeking for them. The wicked ever speak
ill of the honest. But the latter never injure the former, even if
injured by them. What can be more ridiculous in the world than that those
that are themselves wicked should represent the really honest as wicked?
When even atheists are annoyed with those that have fallen off from truth
and virtue and who are really like angry snakes of virulent poison, what
shall I say of myself who am nurtured in faith? He that having begotten a
son who is his own image, regardeth him not, never attaineth to the
worlds he coveteth, and verily the gods destroy his good fortune and
possessions. The Pitris have said that the son continueth the race and
the line and is, therefore, the best of all religious acts. Therefore,
none should abandon a son. Manu hath said that there are five kinds of
sons; those begotten by one's self upon his own wife, those obtained (as
gift) from others, those purchased for a consideration, those reared with
affection and those begotten upon other women than upon wedded wives.
Sons support the religion and achievements of men, enhance their joys,
and rescue deceased ancestors from hell. It behoveth thee not, therefore,
O tiger among kings, to abandon a son who is such.