They should never be usurers, and should always be simple and
sincere. One that is peaceful in temper, destitute of vanity, modest,
charitable, self-restrained, and contented, possessed of intelligence,
truthful, observant of vows, and harmless to all creatures, without lust
and malice, and endued with the three excellent qualities, devoid of envy
and possessed of knowledge, deserves the seat of Brahman himself. Persons
with such qualities, O sire, are the best of priests and deserve every
respect.'
"Yudhishthira said, 'There are Vedic texts about the gift of Dakshina in
sacrifices. There is no ordinance, however, which lays down that so much
should be given. This ordinance (about the gift of Dakshina) has not
proceeded from motives connected with the distribution of wealth. The
command of the ordinance, in consequence of the provision in cases of
incapacity, is terrible. That command is blind to the competence of the
sacrificer.[237] The audition occurs in the Vedas that a person should,
with devotion, perform a sacrifice. But what can devotion do when the
sacrificer is stained by falsehood?[238]
"Bhishma said, 'No man acquires blessedness or merit by disregarding the
Vedas or by deceit or falsehood. Never think that it is otherwise.
Dakshina constitutes one of the limbs of sacrifice and conduces to the
nourishment of the Vedas. A sacrifice without Dakshina can never lead to
salvation. The efficacy, however, of a single Purnapatra is equal to that
of any Dakshina, however rich.
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