s to the ground. If, again, thou canst act up to thy
resolution of abandoning everything, then who am I to thee, who art thou
to me, and what can be thy grace to me?[58] If thou beest inclined to
grace, rule then this Earth! They that are desirous of happiness but are
very poor and indigent and abandoned by friends may adopt renunciation.
But he who imitates those men by abandoning palatial mansions and beds
and vehicles and robes and ornaments, acts improperly, indeed. One always
accepts gifts made by others; another always makes gifts. Thou knowest
the difference between the two. Who, indeed, of these two shouldst be
regarded the superior? If a gift be made to one who always accepts gifts,
or to one that is possessed of pride, that gift becomes bootless like the
clarified butter that is poured upon a forest-conflagration.[59] As a
fire, O king, never dies till it has consumed all that has been thrown
into it, even so a beggar can never be silenced till he receives a
donative. In this world, the food that is given by a charitable person is
the sure support of the pious. If, therefore, the king does not give
(food) where will the pious that are desirous of salvation go?[60] They
that have food (in their houses) are house-holders. Mendicants are
supported by them. Life flows from food. Therefore, the giver of food is
the giver of life. Coming out from among those that lead a domestic mode
of life, mendicants depend upon those very persons from whom they come.
Those self-restrained men, by doing this, acquire and enjoy fame and
power. One is not to be called a mendicant for his having only renounced
his possessions, or for his having only adopted a life of dependence on
eleemosynary charity. He who renounces the possessions and pleasures of
the world in a sincere frame of mind is to be regarded a true
mendicant.[61] Unattached at heart, though attached in outward show,
standing aloof from the world, having broken all his bonds, and regarding
friend and foe equally, such a man, O king, is regarded to be
emancipated! Having shaved their heads clean and adopted the brown robe,
men may be seen to betake themselves to a life of wandering mendicancy,
though bound by various ties and though ever on the lookout for bootless
wealth. They who, casting off the three Vedas, their usual occupations,
and children, adopt a life of mendicancy by taking up the triple-headed
crutch and the brown robe, are really persons of little understandin