from generation to generation, as also the graces of life, are difficult
of attainment by those that are wanting in Exertion. The Brahmana attains
to prosperity by holy living, the Kshatriya by prowess, the Vaisya by
manly exertion, and the Sudra by service. Riches and other objects of
enjoyment do not follow the stingy, nor the impotent, nor the idler. Nor
are these ever attained by the man that is not active or manly or devoted
to the exercise of religious austerities. Even he, the adorable Vishnu,
who created the three worlds with the Daityas and all the gods, even He
is engaged in austere penances in the bosom of the deep. If one's Karma
bore no fruit, then all actions would become fruitless, and relying on
Destiny men would become idlers. He who, without pursuing the human modes
of action, follows Destiny only, acts in vain, like unto the woman that
has an impotent husband. In this world the apprehension that accrues from
performance of good or evil actions is not so great if Destiny be
unfavourable as one's apprehension of the same in the other world if
Exertion be wanting while here.[9] Man's powers, if properly exerted,
only follow his Destiny, but Destiny alone is incapable of conferring any
good where Exertion is wanting. When it is seen that even in the
celestial regions, the position of the deities themselves is unstable,
how would the deities maintain their own position or that of others
without proper Karma? The deities do not always approve of the good deeds
of others in this world, for, apprehending their own overthrow, they try
to thwart the acts of others. There is a constant rivalry between the
deities and the Rishis, and if they all have to go through their Karma,
still it can never be averted that there is no such thing as Destiny, for
it is the latter that initiates all Karma. How does Karma originate, if
Destiny form the prime spring of human action? (The answer is) that by
this means, an accretion of many virtues is made even in the celestial
regions. One's own self is one's friend and one's enemy too, as also the
witness of one's good and evil deeds. Good and evil manifest themselves