XIV

Purity of Conduct

  1. The man whose conduct is pure is honoured by all: purity of conduct is therefore to be prized even above life.

  2. Watch anxiously over thy conduct: for wheresoever thou mayest search thou canst not find a firmer ally than right conduct.

  3. Good conduct bespeaketh an honourable family: but low conduct placeth a man amongst the ignoble.

  4. Even the Vedas if forgotten can be learned again: but once fallen from virtuous conduct the Brahman is fallen from his place forever.

  5. Prosperity is not for the envious: even so dignity is not for men of ill conduct.

  6. The firm-minded swerve not from virtuous conduct: for they know the evils brought on by such swerving.

  7. The man of right conduct is honoured among men: but ignominy alone is the portion of those who fall therefrom.

  8. Good conduct soweth the seed of prosperity: but an evil course is the mother of endless ills.

  9. Foul words can never fall from the lips of the well-bred even when off their guard.

  10. Fools may be as instructed as thou pleasest: but they never learn to conform to the ways of the Righteous.