ing represented this
they once more spoke of the jackal's act of robbing the king of his food.
And they said, 'Such then is his act! What is there that he would not
venture to do? He is not as thou hadst heard. He is righteous in speech
but his real disposition is sinful. A wretch in reality, he has disguised
himself by putting on a garb of virtue. His behaviour is really sinful.
For serving his own ends he had practised austerities in the matter of
diet and of vows. If thou disbelievest this, we will give thee ocular
proof.' Having said this, they immediately caused that meat to be
discovered by entering the jackal's abode. Ascertaining that the meat was
brought back from the jackal's house and hearing all those
representations of his old servants, the king ordered, saying, 'Let the
jackal be slain.' Hearing these words of the tiger, his mother came to
that spot for awakening son's good sense with beneficial counsels. The
venerable dame said, 'O son, thou shouldst not accept this accusation
fraught with deceit. Wicked individuals impute faults to even an honest
person, moved by envy and rivalry. Enemies desirous of a quarrel cannot
endure the elevation of an enemy brought about by his high feats. Faults
are ascribed to even a person of pure soul engaged in penances. With
respect to even an ascetic living in the woods and employed in his own
(harmless) acts, are raised three parties, viz., friends, neutrals, and
foes. They that are rapacious hate them that are pure. The idle hate the
active. The unlearned hate the learned. The poor hate the rich. The
unrighteous hate the righteous. The ugly hate the beautiful. Many amongst
the learned, the unlearned, the rapacious, and the deceitful, would
falsely accuse an innocent person even if the latter happens to be
possessed of the virtues and intelligence of Vrihaspati himself. If meat
had really been stolen from thy house in thy absence, remember, the
jackal refuses to take any meat that is even given to him. Let this fact
be well considered (in finding out the thief). Wicked persons sometimes
put on the semblance of the good, and they that are good sometimes wear
the semblance of the wicked. Diverse kinds of aspect are noticeable in
creatures. It is, therefore, necessary to examine which is which. The
firmament seems to be like the solid base of a vessel. The fire-fly seems
to be like the actual spark of fire. In reality, however, the sky has no
base and there is no fire in the