Indeed, the dominions of that king spread on every direction, like the
light of the lord of the stars, who makes alliances of friendship with
such superior men. Alliances should be formed with men that are
well-practised in weapons, that have completely subdued their anger, that
are always strong in battle and possessed of high birth, good behaviour,
and varied accomplishments. Amongst those vicious men, O sinless one,
that I have mentioned, the vilest, O king, are those that are ungrateful
and that injure friends. Those persons of wicked behaviour should be
avoided by all. This, indeed, is a settled conclusion.'
"Yudhishthira said, 'I desire to hear in detail this description. Tell me
who they are that are called injurers of friends and ungrateful persons.'
"Bhishma said, 'I shall recite to thee an old story whose incidents
occurred in the country, O monarch, of the Mlecchas that lies to the
north. There was a certain Brahmana belonging to the middle country. He
was destitute of Vedic learning. (One day), beholding a prosperous
village, the man entered it from desire of obtaining charity.'[490] In
that village lived a robber possessed of great wealth, conversant with
the distinctive features of all the orders (of men), devoted to the
Brahmanas, firm in truth, and always engaged in my king gifts. Repairing
to the abode of that robber, the Brahmana begged for a alms. Indeed, he
solicited a house to live in and such necessaries of life as would last
for one year.
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