to wisdom, may all be had by practising the duty of harmlessness.  That person who gives unto all creatures the assurance of harmlessness obtains the merit of all sacrifices and at last wins fearlessness for himself as his reward.  There is no duty superior to the duty of abstention from injuring other creatures.  He of whom, O great ascetic, no creature is frightened in the least, obtains for himself fearlessness of all creatures.  He of whom everybody is frightened as one is of a snake ensconced within one’s (sleeping) chamber, never acquires any merit in this world or in the next.  The very gods, in their search after it, become stupefied in the track of that person who transcends all states, the person, viz., who constitutes himself the soul of all creatures and who looketh upon all creatures as identical with his own self.[1157] Of all gifts, the assurance of harmlessness to all creatures is the highest (in point of merit).  I tell thee truly, believe me, O Jajali!  One who betakes himself to acts at first wins prosperity, but then (upon the exhaustion of his merit) he once more encounters adversity.  Beholding the destruction of (the merits of) acts, the wise do not applaud acts.  There is no duty, O Jajali, that is not prompted by some motive (of happiness).  Duty, however, is very subtile.  Duties have been laid down in the Vedas for the sake of both Brahma and heaven.[1158] The subject of duties hath many secrets and mysteries.  It is so subtile that it is not easy to understand it fully.  Amongst diverse conflicting ordinances, some succeed in comprehending duty by observing the acts of the good.[1159] Why dost thou not consume them that emasculate bulls and bore their noses and cause them to bear heavy burthens and bind them and put them under diverse kinds of restraint, and that eat the flesh of living creatures after slaying them?  Men are seen to own men as slaves, and by beating, by binding, and by otherwise subjecting them to restraints, cause them to labour day and night.  These people are not ignorant of the pain that results from beating and fastening in chains.[1160] In every creature that is endued with the five senses live all the deities.  Surya, Chandramas, the god of wind, Brahman, Prana, Kratu, and Yama (these dwell in living creatures), There are men that live by trafficking in living creatures!  When they earn a living by such a sinful course, what scruples need they feel in selling dead carcases?  The goat is Agni.  The sheep is Varuna.  The horse is Surya.  Earth is the deity Virat.  The cow and the calf are Soma.  The man who sells these can never obtain success.  But what fault can attach to the sale of oil, or of Ghrita, or honey, or drugs, O regenerate one?  There are many animals that grow up in ease and comfort in places free from gnats and biting insects.  Knowing that they are loved dearly by their mothers, men persecute them in diverse ways, and lead them into miry spots abounding with biting insects.  Many draft animals are oppressed