203. Hunger is the worst of diseases, the body the greatest of pains;
if one knows this truly, that is Nirvana, the highest happiness.

204. Health is the greatest of gifts, contentedness the best riches;
trust is the best of relationships, Nirvana the highest happiness.

205. He who has tasted the sweetness of solitude and tranquillity, is
free from fear and free from sin, while he tastes the sweetness of
drinking in the law.

206. The sight of the elect (Arya) is good, to live with them is
always happiness; if a man does not see fools, he will be truly happy.

207. He who walks in the company of fools suffers a long way; company
with fools, as with an enemy, is always painful; company with the wise
is pleasure, like meeting with kinsfolk.

208. Therefore, one ought to follow the wise, the intelligent, the
learned, the much enduring, the dutiful, the elect; one ought to
follow a good and wise man, as the moon follows the path of the stars.


Chapter XVI
Pleasure

209. He who gives himself to vanity, and does not give himself to
meditation, forgetting the real aim (of life) and grasping at
pleasure, will in time envy him who has exerted himself in meditation.

210. Let no man ever look for what is pleasant, or what is unpleasant.