Like a hunter piercing a deer with
his shafts, the king then punishes that wicked wight that robber of other
people's possessions, that transgressor of law and rule. Without
attaining to a hundred years (the usual period of human life), such men
scarcely live beyond twenty or thirty years. Carefully observing the
behaviour of all creatures, a king should, by the exercise of his
intelligence, apply remedies for alleviating the great sorrows of his
subjects. The causes of all mental sorrow are two, viz., delusion of the
mind and the accession of distress. No third cause exists. All these
diverse kinds of woe as also those arising from attachment to earthly
enjoyments, that overtake man, are even such.[79] Decrepitude and Death,
like a pair of wolves, devour all creatures, strong or weak, short or
tall. No man can escape decrepitude and death, not even the subjugator of
the whole earth girt by the sea. Be it happiness or be it sorrow that
comes upon creatures., it should be enjoyed or borne without elation or
depression. There is no method of escape from them. The evils of life, O
king, overtake one in early or middle or old age. They can never he
avoided, while those (sources of bliss) that are coveted never come.[80]
The absence, of what is agreeable, the presence of what is disagreeable,
good and evil, bliss and woe, follow Destiny. Similarly, the birth of
creatures and their death, and the accessions of gain and loss, are all
pre-ordained. Even as scent, colour, taste, and touch spring naturally,
happiness and misery arise from what has been pre-ordained.
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