ho giveth everyone his due, and the
bestower of boons, attain happiness, and come by every object of
enjoyment; while a man free from envy reapeth perfect ease. He that
honoureth those to whom honour is due, attaineth birth in an illustrious
line; and he that hath subdued his senses, never cometh by misfortune. A
man whose mind followeth good, after having paid his debt to nature, is
on this account, born again endued with a righteous mind.'

"Yudhishthira said, 'O eminently virtuous one, O mighty sage, of the
bestowal of gifts and the observance of asceticism, which is of greater
efficacy in the next world, and which, harder of practice?'

"Vyasa said, 'There is nothing, O child, in this world harder to practise
than charity. Men greatly thirst after wealth, and wealth also is gotten
with difficulty. Nay, renouncing even dear life itself, heroic men, O
magnanimous one, enter into the depths of the sea and the forest for the
sake of wealth. For wealth, some betake themselves to agriculture and the
tending of kine, and some enter into servitude. Therefore, it is
extremely difficult to part with wealth that is obtained with such
trouble. Since nothing is harder to practise than charity, therefore, in
my opinion, even the bestowal of boons is superior to everything.
Specially is this to be borne in mind that well-earned gains should, in
proper time and place, be given away to pious men. But the bestowal of
ill-gotten gains can never rescue the giver from the evil of rebirth. It
hath been declared, O Yudhishthira, that by bestowing, in a pure spirit,
even a slight gift in due time and to a fit recipient, a man attaineth
inexhaustible fruit in the next world. In this connection is instanced
the old story regarding the fruit obtained by Mudgala, for having given
away only a drona[85] of corn.'"

SECTION CCLVIII

Yudhishthira said, "Why did that high-souled one give away a drona of
corn? And, O eminently pious one, to whom and in what prescribed way did
he give it? Do thou tell me this. Surely, I consider the life of that
virtuous person as having borne fruit with whose practices the possessor
himself of the six attributes, witnessing everything, was well pleased."

"Vyasa said, 'There lived, O king, in Kurukshetra a virtuous man (sage),
Mudgala by name. And he was truthful, and free from malice, and of
subdued senses. And he used to lead the Sila and Unchha modes of
life.[86] And although living like a pigeon, yet tha