Those who are charitably disposed attain
prosperity in this world, as also the regions of bliss (hereafter). The
virtuous man when solicited for assistance by good men bestow alms on
them by straining to the utmost, even to the deprivation of the comforts
of his wife and servants. Good men having an eye to their own welfare,
as also virtue and the ways of the world, act in this way and thereby
grow in virtue through endless ages. Good persons possessing the virtues
of truthfulness, abstention from doing injury to any one, rectitude,
abstention from evil towards any one, want of haughtiness, modesty,
resignation, self-restraint, absence of passion, wisdom, patience, and
kindness towards all creatures, and freedom from malice and lust, are
the witnesses of the world. These three are said to constitute the
perfect way of the virtuous, viz., a man must not do wrong to any body,
he must bestow alms, and must always be truthful. Those high-souled good
men of virtuous conduct, and settled convictions, who are kind to all
and are full of compassion, depart with contentment from this world to
the perfect way of virtue. Freedom from malice, forbearance, peace of
mind, contentment, pleasant speech, renunciation of desire and anger,
virtuous conduct and actions regulated according to the ordinances of
holy writ, constitute the perfect way of the virtuous. And those who are
constant in virtue follow these rules of virtuous conduct, and having
reached the pinnacle of knowledge, and discriminating between the
various phases of human conduct, which are either very virtuous or the
reverse, they escape from the great danger.
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