34.
Does a frog, seated on its haunches, become a lion?—a hog, grunting, become a leopard? Does a cat, by its similarity to a tiger, become a tiger? Are all wise men alike in knowledge?
35.
A king is not satisfied with his wealth,[1] a wise man with well-uttered discourse; the eye in seeing a lover, and the sea with its water.
36.
They who, being of little knowledge, are full of youth and beauty and have a noble lineage, do not appear to advantage; like the Butea frondosa, they are without fragrance.[2]
- ↑ Mahabhârata, xii. 6713, says: "Men, after obtaining riches, desire royal power; after getting kingly power, they desire godhead; obtaining that, they desire the rank of Indra. Thou art wealthy, but neither a king nor a god; but even shouldst thou attain to godhead and to the rank of Indra, thou wouldst not be be content."
- ↑ This is an often-quoted saying of Ćâṇakya. The apothegm has received various developments. We quote from Long's "Eastern Emblems and Mottoes":—
"Men are foolish in cherishing the gay blossoms of the palas tree, fair to see, but without scent."—Hindu Dramatist.
"A bad person, though decorated, remains the same as cow-dung, which, though it be fertilising, does not become pleasing.".—Drishtanta Shatak.
"Outside smooth and painted, inside only straw—like Hindu idols stuffed with straw."—Bengal.
"The fruit of the colocynth is good to look at, not to taste."—Urdu.
"Like a broom bound with a silk thread."—Malay.
"Beauty in the ignorant as a jewel in a swine's snout."—Prov. xi. 22.
The kimsuko or palâso is the Butea frondosa. Southern Behar was formerly called Palâsa on account of the luxuriant of the tree from which it got its name. Behar signifies the "land of monasteries (vihâras)," of which a large number were erected in the reign of Asoka. The bright-red flowers of the palâsa have furnished many an imagery to Indian poets and prose writers. The following is from the Mahâbharata (vide Monier Williams' "Indian Wisdom," page 406):—"Anon the clashing iron met, and scattered round
A fiery shower; then fierce as elephants
Or butting bulls they battered each the other.
Thick fell the blows, and soon each stalwart frame,
Spattered with gore, glowed like the kiṉśuka,
Bedeck'd with scarlet blossoms."
