as a mediocre in goodness who never consoleth others by saying what is
not true; who giveth having promise; and who keepeth an eye over the
weakness of others. These, however, are the indications of a bad man,
viz., incapacity to be controlled; liability to be afflicted by dangers;
proneness to give way to wrath, ungratefulness; inability to become
another's friend, and wickedness of heart. He too is the worst of men,
who is dissatisfied with any good that may come to him from others who is
suspicious of his own self, and who driveth away from himself all his
true friends. He that desireth prosperity to himself, should wait upon
them that are good, and at times upon them that are indifferent, but
never upon them that are bad. He that is wicked, earneth wealth, it is
true, by putting forth his strength, by constant effort, by intelligence,
and by prowess, but he can never win honest fame, nor can he acquire the
virtues and manners of high families (in any of which he may be born).'

"Dhritarashtra said, 'The gods, they that regard both virtue and profit
without swerving from either, and they that are possessed of great
learning, express a liking for high families. I ask thee, O Vidura, this
question,--what are those families that are called high?'

"Vidura said, 'Asceticism, self-restraint, knowledge of the Vedas,
sacrifices, pure marriages, and gifts of food,--those families in which
these seven exist or are practised duly, are regarded as high. There are
high families who deviate not from the right course whose deceased
ancestors are never pained (by witnessing the wrong-doings of their
descendants), who cheerfully practise all the virtues, who desire to
enhance the pure fame of the line in which they are born, and who avoid
every kind of falsehood. Families that are high, fall down and become low
owing to the absence of sacrifices, impure marriages, abandonment of the
Vedas, and insults offered to Brahmanas. High families fall off and