of severe power, and thus was he propitiated by me.  Then, O good Brahmana, I extricated the arrow from his body, and took him into the hermitage, but he was not deprived of his life (recovered).  O good Brahmana, I have thus described to thee what happened to me of old, and also how I can go to heaven hereafter.”  The Brahmana said, “O thou of great intelligence, all men are thus subject to happiness or misery, thou shouldst not therefore grieve for that.  In obedience to the customs of thy (present) race, thou hast pursued these wicked ways, but thou art always devoted to virtue and versed in the ways and mysteries of the world.  And, O learned man, these being the duties of thy profession, the stain of evil karma will not attach to thee.  And after dwelling here for some little time, thou shalt again become a Brahmana; and even now, I consider thee to be a Brahmana, there is no doubt about this.  For the Brahmana who is vain and haughty, who is addicted to vices and wedded to evil and degrading practices, is like a Sudra.  On the other hand, I consider a Sudra who is always adorned with these virtues,—­righteousness, self-restraint, and truthfulness,—­as a Brahmana.  A man becomes a Brahmana by his character; by his own evil karma a man attains an evil and terrible doom.  O good man.  I believe that sin in thee has now died out.  Thou must not grieve for this, for men, like thee who art so virtuous and learned in the ways and mysteries of the world, can have no cause for grief.”

“’The fowler replied, “The bodily afflictions should be cured with medicines, and the mental ones with spiritual wisdom.  This is the power of knowledge.  Knowing this, the wise should not behave like boys.  Men of low intelligence are overpowered with grief at the occurrence of something which is not agreeable to them, or non-occurrence of something which is good or much desired.  Indeed, all creatures are subject to this characteristic (of grief or happiness).  It is not merely a single creature or class that is subject to misery.  Cognisant of this evil, people quickly mend their ways, and if they perceive it at the very outset they succeed in curing it altogether.  Whoever grieves for it, only makes himself uneasy.  Those wise men whose knowledge has made them happy and contented, and who are indifferent to happiness and misery alike, are really happy.  The wise are always contented and the foolish always discontented.  There is no end to discontentment, and contentment is the highest happiness.  People who have reached the perfect way, do not grieve, they are always conscious of the final destiny of all creatures.  One must not give way to discontent[17] for it is like a virulent poison.  It kills persons of undeveloped intelligence, just as a child is killed by an enraged snake.  That man has no manliness whose energies have left him and who is overpowered with perplexity when an occasion for the exercise of vigour presents itself.  Our actions are surely followed by their consequences.