SECTION CLXVIII
"Yudhishthira said, 'It is seen that if a person happens to be
unfortunate, he fails to acquire wealth, how great so ever his strength.
On the other hand, if one happens to be fortunate, he comes to the
possession of wealth, even if he be a weakling or a fool. When, again,
the time does not come for acquisition, one cannot make an acquisition
with even one's best exertion. When, however, the time comes for
acquisition, one wins great wealth without any exertion. Hundreds of men
may be seen who achieve no result even when they exert their best. Many
persons, again, are seen to make acquisitions without any exertion. If,
wealth were the result of exertion, then one could, with exertion,
acquire it immediately. Verily, if the case were so, no man of learning
could then be seen to take the protection for the sake of his livelihood,
of one destitute of learning, Among men, that which is not (destined) to
be attained, O chief of the Bharatas, is never attained. Men are seen to
fail in achieving results even with the aid of their best exertions. One
may be seen to seek wealth by hundreds of means (and yet failing to
acquire it); while another, without at all seeking it, becomes happy in
its possession. Men may be seen doing evil acts continually (for wealth)
and yet failing to acquire it. Others are in the enjoyment of wealth
without doing any evil act whatever. Others, again, who are observant of
the duties assigned to them by the scriptures, are without wealth. One
may be seen to be without any knowledge of the science of morals and
policy even after one has studied all the treatises on that science. One,
again, may be seen appointed as the prime minister of a king without
having at all studied the science of morals and policy. A learned man may
be seen that is possessed of wealth. One destitute of learning may be
seen owning wealth. Both kinds of men, again, may be seen to be entirely
destitute of wealth. If, by the acquisition of learning one could acquire
the happiness of wealth, then no man of learning could be found living,
for the very means of his subsistence, under the protection of one
destitute of learning. Indeed, if one could obtain by the acquisition of
learning, all desirable objects like a thirsty individual having his
thirst slaked upon obtaining water, then none in this world would have
shown idleness in acquiring learning. If, one's time has not come, one
does not die even if one be pierced with hundreds of shafts. On the other
hand, one lays down one's life, if one's hour has come, even if it be a
blade of grass with which one is struck.'
"Bhishma said, 'If one, setting oneself to undertaking involving even
great exertions, fails to earn wealth, one should then practise severe
austerities. Unless seeds be sown, no crops appear. It is by making gifts
(to deserving persons in this life) that one acquires (in one's next
life) numerous objects of enjoyment, even as one becomes possessed of
intelligence and wisdom by waiting upon those that are venerable for
years. The wise have said that one becomes possessed of longevity by
practising the duty of abstention from cruelty to all creatures. Hence,
one should make gifts and not solicit (or accept them when made by
others). One should worship those individuals that are righteous. Verily,
one should be sweet-speeched towards all, and always do what is agreeable
to others. One should seek to attain to purity (both mental and
external). Indeed, one should always abstain from doing injury to any
creature. When in the matter of the happiness and woe of even insects and
ants, their acts (of this and past lives) and Nature constitute the
cause, it is meet, O Yudhishthira, that thou shouldst he tranquil!'"[627]
