'
"Indra said, 'What are the indications, O best of regenerate ones, of a
wicked person? Questioned by me, tell me how I am to know who is wicked.'
"Vrihaspati said, A wicked person is he who proclaims the faults of
others at their back, who is inspired with envy at the accomplishments of
others, and who remains silent when the merits of other people are
proclaimed in his presence, feeling a reluctance to join in the chorus.
Mere silence on such occasions is no indication of wickedness. A wicked
person, however, at such times breathe heavily, bites his lips, and
shakes his head. Such a person always mixes in society and speaks
irrelevantly.[316] Such a man never does what he promises, when the eye
of the person to whom he has given the assurance is not upon him. When
the eye of the person assured is on him, the wicked man does not even
allude to the subject. The wicked man eats by himself (and not with
others on the same board), and finds fault with the food placed before
him, saying, 'All is not right today as on other days.' His disposition
shows itself in the circumstances connected with his sitting, lying, and
riding. Sorrowing on occasions of sorrow and rejoicing on occasions of
joy, are the indications of a friend. An opposite behaviour furnishes the
indications of an enemy. Keep in thy heart these sayings, O ruler of the
gods! The disposition of wicked men can never be concealed. I have now
told thee, O foremost of deities, what the indications of a wicked person
are.
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