"Vidura said, 'O sinless one, in nothing else than knowledge and
asceticism, in nothing else than restraining the senses, in nothing else
than complete abandonment of avarice, do I see thy good. Fear is
dispelled by self-knowledge; by asceticism one winneth what is great and
valuable; by waiting upon superiors learning is acquired; and peace is
gained by self-restraint. They that desire salvation without having
acquired the merit attainable by gifts, or that which is attainable by
practising the ritual of the Vedas, do not sojourn through life, freed
from anger and aversion. The happiness that may be derived from a
judicious course of study, from a battle fought virtuously, from ascetic
austerities performed rigidly, always increaseth at the end. They that
are no longer in peace with their relatives, obtain no steep even if they
have recourse to well-made beds; nor do they, O king, derive any plea.
sure from women, or the laudatory hymns of bards and eulogists. Such
persons can never practise virtue. Happiness can never be theirs, in this
world. Honours can never be theirs, and peace hath no charm for them.
Counsels that are for their benefit please them not. They never acquire
what they have not, nor succeed in retaining what they have, O king,
there is no other end for such men save destruction. As milk is possible
in kine, asceticism in Brahmanas, and inconstancy in women, so fear is
possible from relatives. Numerous thin threads of equal length, collected
together, are competent to bear, from the strength of numbers, the
constant rolling of the shuttle-cock over them. The case is even so with
relatives that are good, O bull of the Bharata race, separated from one
another, burning brands produce only smoke; but brought together they
blaze forth into a powerful flame. The case is even so, O Dhritarashtra,
with relatives. They, O Dhritarashtra, who tyrannise over Brahmanas,
women, relatives, and kine, soon fall off their stalks, like fruits that
are ripe. And the tree that stands singly, though gigantic and strong and
deep-rooted, hath its trunk soon smashed and twisted by a mighty wind.