Mahābhārata

M. N. Dutt: Yudhishthira said Which among these three persons, O grandfather should be regarded as the best for making gifts, viz., one who is a thorough stranger, or one who is living with and known to the giver for a long time, or one who comes to the giver from a long distance?

M. N. Dutt: Bhishma said All these are equal. The fitness of some consists in their soliciting alms for celebrating sacrifices or for paying the preceptor's fee or for maintaining their wives and children. The fitness of some, for receiving gifts, consists in their following the vow of wandering over the Earth, never soliciting anything but receiving when given. We should also give to one what one seeks.

M. N. Dutt: We should however, make gifts without afflicting those who depend upon us. This is what we have heard. By afflicting one's dependants, one afflicts his own self.

M. N. Dutt: The stranger, one, that is who has come for the first time, should be considered as a proper object of gifts. He who is familiar and wellknown and has been living with the giver, should also be considered in the same light. The learned know that he too who comes from a distant place should be considered in an equal light.

M. N. Dutt: Yudhishthira said It is true that we should make gifts to others without afflicting any one and without going against the ordinances of scriptures. One should, however, correctly determine who the person is that should be considered as a proper object for making gifts. He should be such that the gift itself, when made over to him, may not grieve.

M. N. Dutt: Bhishma said If the Ritvij, the Purohita, the preceptor, the Acharya, the disciple, the relative (by marriage), and kinsmen, happen to be endued with learning and free from malice, then should they be considered worthy of respect and adoration.

M. N. Dutt: Those persons who do not possess such qualifications cannot be considered as worthy of gifts or hospitality. Hence, one should with deliberation examine persons who one meets.

M. N. Dutt: Absence of anger, truthfulness of speech, abstention from injury, sincerity, peacefulness of conduct, the absence of pride, modesty, renunciation, selfcontrol and tranquillity or contentment of soul he in whom these are by nature, and in whom there are no wicked acts, should be considered as a proper object. Such a person deserves honours.

M. N. Dutt: Whether the person be one who is wellknown and familiar or one who has come newly, whether he has or has not been seen before, if he happens to possess these qualifications, he should be considered as worthy of honors and hospitality.

M. N. Dutt: He who denies the authority of the Vedas, or tries to show that the scriptures should be disregarded, or approves of all breaches of control in society, simply brings about his own ruin.

M. N. Dutt: That Brahinana who is proud of his learning, who speaks ill of the Vedas or who is given to the science of useless disputation, or who is desirous of acquiring victory in disputations) in assemblies of good men by disproving the reasons that exist for morality and religion and attributing everything to chance, or who indulges in censuring and reproaching others who reproves Brahmanas, or who is suspicious of all persons, or who is foolish and bereft of judgment, or who is bitter of speech, should be known to be as hateful as a dog.

M. N. Dutt: As a dog, meets others, barking the while and seeking to bite, such a person is even so, for he spends his breath in vain and tries to destroy the authority of all the scriptures.

Corresponding verse not found in M. N. Dutt's version.

M. N. Dutt: or Those practices that support society, the duties of virtue, and all those acts which yield benefit to one's own self, should be attended to. A person that lives, attending to these, becomes prosperous for good.

M. N. Dutt: By satisfying the debt one owes to the deities by performing sacrifices, that to the Rishis by studying the Vedas, that to the departed manes by procreating children, that to the Brahmanas by making presents to them, and that to guests by feeding them, in due order, and with purity of motive, and properly attending to the ordinances of the scriptures, a householder does not fall away from virtue.