but is never desirous to punish ones own self.  Since the wise and the ignorant, the rich and the poor, the high-born and the lowborn, the honoured and the dishonoured, all go to the place of the dead and sleep there freed from every anxiety, with bodies divested of flesh and full only of bones united by dried-up tendons, whom amongst them would the survivors look upon as distinguished above the others and by what signs would they ascertain the attributes of birth and beauty?  When all, stretched after the same fashion, sleep on the bare ground, why then should men, taking leave of their senses, desire to deceive one another?  He that, looking at this saying (in the scriptures) with his own eyes or hearing it from others, practiseth virtue in this unstable world of life and adhereth to it from early age, attaineth to the highest end.  Learning all this, he that adhereth to Truth, O king, succeedeth in passing over all paths.”

5

“Dhritarashtra said, Tell me in detail everything about the ways of that intelligence by which this wilderness of duties may be safely covered.

“Vidura said, Having bowed down to the Self-create, I will obey thy behest by telling thee how the great sages speak of the wilderness of life.  A certain brahmana, living in the great world, found himself on one occasion in a large inaccessible forest teeming with beasts of prey.  It abounded on every side with lions and other animals looking like elephants, all of which were engaged in roaring aloud.  Such was the aspect of that forest that Yama himself would take fright at it.  Beholding the forest, the heart of the brahmana became exceedingly agitated.  His hair stood on end, and other signs of fear manifested themselves, O scorcher of foes!  Entering it, he began to run hither and thither, casting his eyes on every point of the compass for finding out somebody whose shelter he might seek.  Wishing to avoid those terrible creatures, he ran in fright.  He could not succeed, however, in distancing them or freeing himself from their presence.  He then saw that that terrible forest was surrounded with a net, and that a frightful woman stood there, stretching her arms.  That large forest was also encompassed by many five-headed snakes of dreadful forms, tall as cliffs and touching the very heavens.  Within it was a pit whose mouth was covered with many hard and unyielding creepers and herbs.  The brahmana, in course of his wanderings, fell into that invisible pit.  He became entangled in those clusters of creepers that were interwoven with one another, like the large fruit of a jack tree hanging by its stalk.  He continued to hang there, feet upwards and head downwards.  While he was in that posture, diverse other calamities overtook him.  He beheld a large and mighty snake within the pit.  He also saw a gigantic elephant near its mouth.  That elephant, dark in complexion, had six faces and twelve feet.  And the animal gradually approached that pit covered