reature acquired in this life, or that acquired in
previous lives (and called Destiny), is the more potent in shaping his
life. Then, O king, the great god Brahma, who had sprung from the
primeval lotus, answered him in these exquisite and well-reasoned words,
full of meaning.

"'"Brahma said, 'Nothing comes into existence without seed. Without seed,
fruits do not grow. From seeds spring other seeds. Hence are fruits known
to be generated from seeds. Good or bad as the seed is that the
husbandman soweth in his field, good or bad are the fruits that he reaps.
As, unsown with seed, the soil, though tilled, becomes fruitless, so,
without individual Exertion, Destiny is of no avail. One's own acts are
like the soil, and Destiny (or the sum of one's acts in previous births)
is compared to the seed. From the union of the soil and the seed doth the
harvest grow. It is observed every day in the world that the doer reaps
the fruit of his good and evil deeds; that happiness results from good
deeds, and pain from evil ones; that acts, when done, always fructify;
and that, if not done, no fruit arises. A man of (good) acts acquires
merits with good fortune, while an idler falls away from his estate, and
reaps evil like the infusion of alkaline matter injected into a wound. By
devoted application, one acquires beauty, fortune, and riches of various
kinds. Everything can be secured by Exertion: but nothing can be gained
through Destiny alone, by a man that is wanting in personal Exertion.
Even so does one attain to heaven, and all the objects of enjoyment, as
also the fulfilment of one's heart's desires by well-directed individual
Exertion. All the luminous bodies in the firmament, all the deities, the
Nagas, and the Rakshasas, as also the Sun and the Moon and the Winds,
have attained to their high status by evolution from man's status,
through dint of their own action. Riches, friends, prosperity descending
from generation to generation, as also the graces of life, are difficult
of attainment by those that are wanting in Exertion. The Brahmana attains
to prosperity by holy living, the Kshatriya by prowess, the Vaisya by
manly exertion, and the Sudra by service. Riches and other objects of
enjoyment do not follow the stingy, nor the impotent, nor the idler. Nor
are these ever attained by the man that is not active or manly or devoted
to the exercise of religious austerities. Even he, the adorable Vishnu,
who created the three worlds w