“Vaisampayana continued, ’Having listened to all these foremost words fraught with reason and acceptable to the heart, Bhima and others were filled with delight and joining their hands, bowed unto that prince o f Kuru’s race.  Indeed, those foremost of men, O king, having heard that speech of the monarch, well adorned with sweet letters and syllables, acceptable to the heart, and divested of dissonant sounds and words, began to applaud Yudhishthira highly.  The high-souled son of Dharma, in return, possessed of great energy, praised his convinced auditors; and once more the king addressed the son of the foremost of rivers, possessed of a high soul, for enquiring about duties.’”

SECTION CLXVIII

“Yudhishthira said, ’O grandsire, O thou that art possessed of great wisdom, I shall ask thee a question.  It behoveth thee, O enhancer of the happiness of the Kurus, to discourse to me fully upon it.  What kind of men are said to be of gentle disposition?  With whom may the most delightful friendship exist?  Tell us also who are able to do good in the present time and in the end.  I am of opinion that neither swelling wealth, nor relatives, nor kinsmen, occupy that place which well-wishing friends occupy.  A friend capable of listening to beneficial counsels, and also of doing good, is exceedingly rare.  It behoveth thee, O foremost of virtuous men, to discourse fully on these topics.’

“Bhishma said, ’Listen to me, O Yudhishthira, as I speak to thee, in detail, of those men with whom friendships may be formed and those with whom friendships may not be formed.  One that is covetous, one that is pitiless, one that has renounced the duties of his order, one that is dishonest, one that is a knave, one that is mean, one that is of sinful practices, one that is suspicious of all, one that is idle, one that is procrastinating, one that is of a crooked disposition, one that is an object of universal obloquy, one that dishonours the life of his preceptor, one that is addicted to the seven well-known vices, one that casts off distressed friends, one possessed of a wicked soul, one that is shameless, one whose sight is ever directed towards sin, one that is an atheist, one that is a slanderer of the Vedas, one whose senses are not restrained, one that gives free indulgence to lust, one that is untruthful, one that is deserted by all, one that transgresses all restraints, one that is deceitful, one that is destitute of wisdom, one that is envious, one that is wedded to sin, one whose conduct is bad, one whose soul has not been cleansed, one that is cruel, one that is a gambler, one that always seeks to injure friends, one that covets wealth belonging to others, that wicked-souled wight who never expresses satisfaction with what another may give him according to the extent of his means, one that is never pleased with his friends, O bull among men, one that becomes angry on occasions that