He who trusts the words, true or
false, of a foe, meets with destruction like a seeker of honey, in a pit
covered with dry grass.[418] Animosities are seen to survive the very
death of enemies, for persons would speak of the previous quarrels of
their deceased sires before their surviving children. Kings extinguish
animosities by having recourse to conciliation but, when the opportunity
comes, break their foes into pieces like earthen jars full of water
dashed upon stone. If the king does injury to any one, he should never
trust him again. By trusting a person who has been injured, one has to
suffer great misery.
"Brahmadatta said, 'No man can obtain the fruition of any object by
withholding his trust (from others). By cherishing fear one is always
obliged to live as a dead person.'
"Pujani said, 'He whose feet have become sore, certainly meets with a
fall if he seeks to move, move he may howsoever cautiously. A man who has
got sore eyes, by opening them against the wind, finds them exceedingly
pained by the wind. He who, without knowing his own strength, sets foot
on a wicked path and persists in walking along it, soon loses his very
life as the consequence. The man who, destitute of exertion, tills his
land, disregarding the season of rain, never succeeds in obtaining a
harvest. He who takes every day food that is nutritive, be it bitter or
astringent or palatable or sweet, enjoys a long life. He, on the other
hand, who disregards wholesome food and takes that which is injurious
without an eye to consequences, soon meets with death.
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