75
to incur several expenses which look unnecessary to the ordinary man. The thirst for saving causes misery. Of course, if any one is fortunate enough to discover precious stones or minerals in his estate or to be one who has a large mercantile business, the matter will be different. Then Narada's principle of saving more than one-fourth of the income may be easily observed. It was perhaps in view of these different circumstances that he, we may presume, prescribed so wide a range as from one-fourth to three-fourths of the net income to be saved so as to suit people of different ranks and positions. Without laying ourselves open to the charge of meanness, we can easily save one-fourth or at least one-fifth of our income every year.
There was a Maharaja in the north of India who made it a rule that so many lakhs of rupees should be added to his treasury every year. In case he could not save so
