Imprudence

The fifth strategy begins with the following verse:

“Whoever without judgment
Does what the foolish barber
In this chapter did
Comes to eternal grief.”

This is the story that shows how true is the above verse. Manibhadra was a merchant living in the southern city of Pataliputra. He was a man of principles who had lost all his wealth. His poverty made him very sad and one night he reflected on his condition and thought:

“Neither character nor patience
Neither humility nor pedigree
Dispels a poor man’s gloom.”

Even if a man has merit, the pressures of earning a livelihood overshadow such merit. The need to look after the family wears out one’s brilliance. A poor man’s house is like a sky without stars, a lake without water.

“A poor man is shunned even if
He has character and pedigree.
A wealthy man shines in society
Without merit and caste roots.
What he does is never shameful
But to be poor is always a crime.”