“Sakuntala replied, ’Thou seest, O king, the fault of others, even though they be as small as a mustard seed.  But seeing, thou noticest not thy own faults even though they be as large as the Vilwa fruit.  Menaka is one of the celestials.  Indeed, Menaka is reckoned as the first of celestials.  My birth, therefore, O Dushmanta, is far higher than thine.  Thou walkest upon the Earth, O king, but I roam in the skies!  Behold, the difference between ourselves is as that between (the mountain) Meru and a mustard seed!  Behold my power, O king!  I can repair to the abodes of Indra, Kuvera, Yama, and Varuna!  The saying is true which I shall refer to before thee, O sinless one!  I refer to it for example’s sake and not from evil motives.  Therefore, it behoveth thee to pardon me after thou hast heard it.  An ugly person considereth himself handsomer than others until he sees his own face in the mirror.  But when he sees his own ugly face in the mirror, it is then that he perceiveth the difference between himself and others.  He that is really handsome never taunts anybody.  And he that always talketh evil becometh a reviler.  And as the swine always look for dirt and filth even when in the midst of a flower-garden, so the wicked always choose the evil out of both evil and good that others speak.  Those, however, that are wise, on hearing the speeches of others that are intermixed with both good and evil, accept only what is good, like geese that always extract the milk only, though it be mixed with water.  As the honest are always pained at speaking ill of others, so do the wicked always rejoice in doing the same thing.  As the honest always feel pleasure in showing regard for the old, so do the wicked always take delight in aspersing the good.  The honest are happy in not seeking for faults.  The wicked are happy in seeking for them.  The wicked ever speak ill of the honest.  But the latter never injure the former, even if injured by them.  What can be more ridiculous in the world than that those that are themselves wicked should represent the really honest as wicked?  When even atheists are annoyed with those that have fallen off from truth and virtue and who are really like angry snakes of virulent poison, what shall I say of myself who am nurtured in faith?  He that having begotten a son who is his own image, regardeth him not, never attaineth to the worlds he coveteth, and verily the gods destroy his good fortune and possessions.  The Pitris have said that the son continueth the race and the line and is, therefore, the best of all religious acts.  Therefore, none should abandon a son.  Manu hath said that there are five kinds of sons; those begotten by one’s self upon his own wife, those obtained (as gift) from others, those purchased for a consideration, those reared with affection and those begotten upon other women than upon wedded wives.  Sons support the religion and achievements of men, enhance their joys, and rescue deceased ancestors from hell.  It behoveth