1?00NOMIO$ IN ANCIENT INDIA 8? we will reproduce in English ? few passages on the hnpor?nce of wealth. "Man accumulates wealth be- cause it is the root of the world.. I see no difference between the desd snd poor. thst men sre not sisyes of Do remember, 0 king, -men but of weslth. It is by reason of riches and poverty that men are h/gh and in low, hence you producing wealth. should lesve no stone unturned Poverty, beggsry and sisvery sre the fruits of sins, they should be shunned by every- body. The poor sre disregsrded by all--even by their wives snd children, snd relstives. the setions of summer sesson. The fruits of sll the poor dry up like rivers in the On seecunt of this wretched poverty, some tske refuge in forests or lonely mountains, f?l' into the clutches of their enemies, some some sell themselves into sisvery, some lose their senses, wMle others commit suicide. snd sinful, while the The poor sre cslled misersbic weslthy sre sddressed by all ss hsppy snd righteous souls. High birth, good chsrsc- ter, lesrning, puri?y, contentment, intelligence, of ?ongue, snd even s ?houssnd no? shine in ?he 'sbsence of riches. $ ?he foundstion of all quslificsfions. msn of high intelligence but without his in?ellec? wesrs ou? by ?he cons?sn? snxie?y ?o pro- cure the vsrious srticles of his food. Verily, s poor msn is like s bird without wings, s tsnk without water, s serpent without fsngs snd like s tree thst is dried up.. Poverty is the esuse of shsme, shsme hurls. down s msn from his lswful position. Then he is dishonored by sll, this gives rise to snguish snd fluency other quslities do Weslth slone is Think of the weslth; how mortificstion snd consequently to the obscuring o! his intelligence, this in 'its turn leads him to ruin. Thus hellish poverty is the root of sll misery. In short, the very existence of s msn is precarious without wealth, which is the true source of piessure snd hesvenly bliss.
