Such a person
loses all his regions in heaven and the fruits of any knowledge and
virtue that he may have.[350] The man who speaks ill of one when one's
eye is not upon him, loses without delay the fruits of all his libations
on fire and of the gifts he may make unto even a hundred persons. A man
of wisdom, therefore, should unhesitatingly avoid a person of such sinful
heart who deserves to be avoided by all honest men, as he would avoid the
flesh of the dog. That wicked-souled wretch who proclaims the faults of a
high-souled person, really publishes (by that act) his own evil nature
even as a snake displays his hood (when interfered with by others). The
man of sense who seeks to counteract such a back-biter ever engaged in an
occupation congenial to himself, finds himself in the painful condition
of a stupid ass sunk in a heap of ashes. A man who is ever engaged in
speaking ill of others should be avoided like a furious wolf, or an
infuriated elephant roaring in madness, or a fierce dog. Fie on that
sinful wretch who has betaken himself to the path of the foolish and has
fallen away from all wholesome restraints and modesty, who is always
engaged in doing what is injurious to others, and who is regardless of
his own prosperity. If an honest man wishes to exchange words with such
wretches when they seek to humiliate him, he should be counselled in
these words: Do not suffer thyself to be afflicted. A wordy encounter
between a high and a low person is always disapproved by persons of
tranquil intelligence.
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