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  40. Learning

  391.

  Learn well what should be learnt, and then

  Live your learning.*

  392.

  Those called figures and letters, the wise declare,

  Are eyes to live with.

  393.

  Only the learned have eyes—others

  Two sores on their face!

  394.

  It is a pleasure to meet a scholar,

  A pain to part with him.

  395.

  A scholar seeking knowledge stoops and is lofty;

  The ignorant never stoop and are low.

  396.

  A well dug in sand yields water as dug—

  So learning, wisdom.*

  397.

  Why does one stop learning till he dies

  When it makes all lands and places his?

  398.

  The learning acquired in one birth

  Helps a man in seven.*

  399.

  That what delights him delights others

  Delights a scholar.

  400.

  The wealth which never declines

  Is not riches but learning.

  41. Ignorance

  401.

  To address an assembly ill-equipped

  Is to play at dice without a board.

  402.

  As well might a child flat-chested pass for a woman

  As one unlearned for an orator.

  403.

  Let him but hold his tongue before the wise,

  And even a fool is fine!

  404.

  The learned will not acknowledge

  An ignoramus’ occasional knowledge.

  405.

  A fool’s assurance collapses

  When engaged in a discussion.

  406.

  The ignorant are like saline soil:

  They are there, but useless.

  407.

  A handsome man with an untrained mind

  Has the beauty of a mud-doll.

  408.

  The wealth of the ignorant does more harm

  Than the want of the learned.

  409.

  The ignorant however high-born is lower

  Than the low-born learned.

  410.

  The ignorant are to the learned

  As beasts to men.

  42. Hearing

  411.

  The wealth of wealths is the ear:

  That wealth outtops all else.

  412.

  When there is no food for the ear

  We may think of some food for the stomach.

  413.

  As gods in heaven are fed through fire

  So men on earth are fed through their ears.

  414.

  Though unlettered, listen; you will find this

  A great help in distress.

  415.

  The counsel of the just

  Is like a staff on slippery land.

  416.

  Listen to the good however little

  And gain that much.

  417.

  Those who have sought and heard much

  Will not talk nonsense even by mistake.

  418.

  The ear shut to learning

  Though open is deaf.

  419.

  Ears strange to refinement

  Seldom go with modest mouths.

  420.

  What matters if they live or die

  Whose taste is in their tongues, not ears?

  43. Wisdom

  421.

  Wisdom is a weapon of defence,

  An inner fortress no foe can raze.

  422.

  Wisdom checks the wandering mind

  And pulls it from ill to good.

  423.

  Wisdom grasps the truth

  Of whatever and by whomever said.

  424.

  Wisdom simplifies its subtlety to others

  And others’ subtlety to itself.

  425.

  Prudence goes with the world, but wisdom

  Is not a water-flower, now open, now shut.*

  426.

  As the world goes, so with the world to go

  Is wise.*

  427.

  The wise know what comes next—

  Fools cannot.

  428.

  Not to fear what should be feared is folly:

  The wise know better.

  429.

  To the wise with foresight

  There are no shocks.

  430.

  Those who have wisdom have all:

  Fools with all have nothing.

  44. Faults

  431.

  Those are truly noble who are free

  From arrogance, wrath and pettiness.

  432.

  To be niggardly, touchy and biased

  Are faults in a king.

  433.

  To one who would avoid a bad name

  A millet of fault is as big as a palm fruit.

  434.

  Guard against error as you would guard wealth,

  For error is a foe that kills.

  435.

  A life that does not guard against faults

  Is a heap of straw before fire.

  436.

  How can a king be faulted who removes

  His own fault before seeing that of others?

  437.

  A miser’s wealth unused does not increase

  But is lost.

  438.

  Clinging miserliness stands out

  Among other sins.

  439.

  Never flatter yourself, nor delight

  In empty deeds.

  440.

  Keep your attachments secret,

  And your foes’ plots will fail.*

  45. Elders’ Help

  441.

  Value and secure the friendship

  Of the virtuous, mature and wise.

  442.

  Seek them who can remove present ills

  And prevent those to come.

  443.

  The rarest of rare things is to seek and secure

  The friendship of the great.

  444.

  The greatest strength is kinship

  With one greater.

  445.

  A king’s ministers are his eyes

  To be chosen with care.

  446.

  No foe can do anything to one

  Who has fit counsel and acts right.

  447.

  Who can injure a king who employs

  Men who can rebuke him roundly?

  448.

  A king unguarded by trenchant counsel

  Needs no foes to come to grief.

  449.

  There can be no gain without capital,

  And no stability unpropped by wise counsel.

  450.

  Foregoing good counsel is tenfold worse

  Than facing an army alone.

  46. Mean Company

  451.

  The great avoid the low in whom

  The low find their kin.

  452.

  The soil colours water, and one’s company

  One’s mind.

  453.

  Perceptions spring from nature,

  Character from company.

  454.

  Wisdom which seems to come from the mind

  Comes really from one’s company.

  455.

  The pure thought and the pure deed

  Come from pure company.

  456.

  The pure-hearted will leave a pure progeny

  And bad deeds never spring from good fellowship.

  457.

  A good mind is an asset to everyone

  While good company contributes to glory.

  458.

  A good mind is good, but is strengthened

  By good company.

  459.

  A pure mi
nd ensures heaven, but even that

  Is doubly ensured by good company.

  460.

  There is no greater aid than good company

  Nor worse affliction than bad.

  47. Action

  461.

  Act after taking into account

  The cost, the benefit and the net.

  462.

  Nothing is impossible to those who act

  After wise counsel and careful thought.

  463.

  It is not wisdom to lose the capital

  For the sake of interest.

  464.

  Those who fear disgrace

  Will not launch thoughtless ventures.

  465.

  A thoughtless foray only dresses

  The enemy’s field for him.

  466.

  It is ruinous to do what should not be done

  And ruinous to leave undone what should be done.

  467.

  Think and act; to act and then to think

  Is folly.

  468.

  An ill-planned scheme, though aided much,

  Will go awry.

  469.

  Even a good scheme ill-apportioned

  Goes awry.

  470.

  None will approve what is not proper:

  Act without incurring scorn.

  48. Strength

  471.

  Weigh the strength of these before you act—

  The deed’s, your own, your enemy’s and ally’s.

  472.

  Nothing is impossible for him

  Who knows his task and strength, and is well set.

  473.

  Many led not by knowledge but zeal

  Have perished midway.

  474.

  The unadaptable, ignorant and proud

  Have speedy ends.

  475.

  A peacock’s feather can break the axle-tree

  Of an over-loaded cart.

  476.

  A climber’s zeal taking one step more on a tree

  Breaks the branch and kills him.

  477.

  Give within your means: that way

  Wealth is preserved.

  478.

  No harm if income is narrow

  If outgoings are not broad.

  479.

  A spendthrift’s life

  Is a phantom that will fade.

  480.

  The limits of his fortune are soon reached

  Who is generous beyond his means.

  49. Time

  481.

  A crow can defeat an owl by day:

  Kings need the right time to win.

  482.

  The rope that binds Fortune

  Is deeds done at the right time.

  483.

  What is impossible

  For right means at the right time?

  484.

  The whole world is his who chooses

  The right time and place.

  485.

  A world-conqueror bides his time

  Unperturbed.

  486.

  The backward step of a battering ram

  Is vigour restrained.

  487.

  The wise do not burst with rage—

  They hold it for the right time.

  488.

  Bear with your enemy till the time comes

  To topple him.

  489.

  When the rare chance comes, seize it

  To do the rare deed.

  490.

  Bide your time like the stork, and like it

  When time serves, stick your prey.

  50. Place

  491.

  Don’t despise your foe, nor start action

  Till you find a place to hem in and finish him.

  492.

  A fortress is a great advantage

  Even to men of valour.

  493.

  Even a weak man will win if he chooses

  The right place for defence and attack.

  494.

  A careful approach from the right place

  Will outwit the enemy.

  495.

  The crocodile wins in deep waters—

  Coming out others win against it.

  496.

  A mighty chariot cannot run in the sea,

  Nor a boat navigate land.

  497.

  With details not neglected and place well-chosen

  Courage is enough to win.

  498.

  A large army in a small place

  Is demoralized and ruined.

  499.

  Men on their own ground are hard to tackle

  Even when they lack fortress and strength.

  500.

  A tusker which defies spearmen

  Is killed in a bog by jackals.

  51. Selection

  501.

  Choose your men after the quadruple test—

  Virtue, wealth, enjoyment and fear of death.*

  502.

  Choose one well-born, free of fault

  And afraid of sin and scandal.

  503.

  Even the widely-read and faultless

  When scrutinized show gaps.

  504.

  Examine merits and defects,

  Strike a balance, and choose.

  505.

  A man’s conduct is the touchstone

  Of his greatness and littleness.

  506.

  Do not choose men who have no commitments—

  Unattached they dread no shame.

  507.

  To favour the incompetent out of love

  Breeds inefficiency.

  508.

  To choose a stranger untried

  Will trouble one’s line without end.

  509.

  Trust none untried, and after trial

  Assign without distrust.

  510.

  Trust without trial and distrust of the tried

  Lead to endless trouble.

  52. Employment

  511.

  Scan the good and the bad, and then employ

  Those who have done good.

  512.

  Employ those who widen income’s ways,

  Add wealth and remove checks.

  513.

  Loyalty, wisdom, a clear head and contentment—

  These four well-possessed are the right qualifications.

  514.

  Many pass all tests and yet

  Change in office.

  515.

  To prefer personal loyalty to knowledge and diligence

  Is not the way to employ.

  516.

  Weigh well the agent, the task and the time

  Before you act.

  517.

  Assured this man will do this task this way,

  Leave it to him.

  518.

  Having found the man for the task

  Make him responsible.

  519.

  Fortune deserts him who distrusts

  A diligent worker.

  520.

  Let the king be alert, his servants upright,

  And the state will not swerve.

  53. Kindred

  521.

  Only our kin stick for old sake’s sake

  Even in adversity.

  522.

  Unestranged kinship breeds

  Unabating wealth.

  523.

  The life of an unattached man

  Is a pond unpounded running to waste.

  524.

  The use of wealth is that it draws

  A man’s kin around him.

  525.

  Gifts and sweet words enable a man

  To be circled by circles of kin.

  526.

  None has a larger kinship than he

  Who is liberal and curbs his wrath.

  527.

  Crows trumpet their finds and share them—


  Gains accrue to such natures.

  528.

  A king with discrimination

  Attracts followers.

  529.

  Deserters will come back

  When the cause is removed.

  530.

  A king should be careful before taking back those

  Who leave him without cause and return.*

  54. Slackness

  531.

  Worse than too much wrath is the laxity

  Due to too much exultation.

  532.

  Laxity kills fame as a hand-to-mouth life

  Kills the intellect.

  533.

  All writings in the world conclude,

  “Fame is not for the lax”.

  534.

  There is no fortress for the coward,

  Nor luck for the lax.

  535.

  Too late he repents who is lax

  Against impending danger.

  536.

  Nothing can equal never being lax

  With anyone at any time.

  537.

  Nothing is impossible to a man

  Armed with vigilance.

  538.

  Pursue excellence—there is nothing but ill

  In all seven births for the slack.

  539.

  Remember when drunk with happiness

  Those who fell through laxity.

  540.

  All aims are easy to achieve

  To those that persist.

  55. The Unswerving Sceptre

  541.

  Searching enquiry, an impartial eye, punishment as prescribed

  Are the ways of justice.

  542.

  The world looks up to heaven for rain

  And his subjects to their king for justice.

  543.

  The king’s sceptre provides the base

  For scripture and right conduct.

  544.

  The king who rules cherishing his people

  Has the world at his feet.

  545.

  The king who rules according to the law

  Never lacks rain and corn.

  546.

  Not his spear but a straight sceptre

  Is what gives a monarch his triumph.

  547.

  The king guards the land, and his own rule

  Will guard him if he is straight.

  548.

  A king inaccessible, unprobing and unjust

  Will sink and be ruined.

  549.

  For a king who would guard and cherish his people

  To punish crimes is a duty, not defect.

  550.

  The king who punishes wicked men with death

  Is a farmer weeding the tender crops.*

  56. Misrule

  551.

  A sinful and oppressive king is worse

  Than a murderer.

  552.

  A king’s request for gifts is a bandit’s demand,