Yudhishthira said If any person, desirous of accomplishing acts of charity and sacrifices, fails to find (the necessary) wealth, and thirst of wealth gets the better of him, what course should he pursue to obtain happiness?

He who makes no difference between two opposite agents, viz., pleasure and pain, honour and insult, etc., who never troubles himself for the gratification of his desire for worldly possessions, who observes veracity of speech, who has freed himself from all kinds of attachment, and who has renounced his desire for action, is, O Bharata, a happy man.

The ancients say these are the five means by which perfect tranquility or emancipation could be obtained. These are called Heaven. These are Religion. These form the highest happiness.

Regarding it is cited the old story of what Manki had sung, when freed from attachments. Hear it, O Yudhishthira.

Manki, desirous of wealth, found that he was doomed to an unending series of disappointinents. With a little remnant of his property hc purchased at last a couple of young bulls with a yoke for training them (to pastoral labour).

One day the two bulls, properly yoked, were taken out for training (in the fields). Shying at the sight of a camel which was lying down on the road, the animals suddenly ran towards the camel, and fell upon its neck. Enraged at finding the bulls fall upon its neck, the camel, possessed of great speed, got up and ran with full speed, bearing away the two helpless creatures dangling on either side of its neck.

Beholding his two bulls thus carried away by the strong camel, and seeing that they were: on the point of death, Manki began to say,-If it is not ordained by destiny, wealth can never be obtained even by a clever man strenuously and confidently striving and skilfully doing all that is necessary towards the accomplishment of his object.

I had, all along, tried by all manner and means, and with great devotion, to acquire riches. But all this misfortune to my property is due to Destiny.

My bulls are carried away, rising and falling, as the camel is running in the uneven course. This event seems to be an accident like the one brought about by the crow to a ripe fruit while perching on a palmyra free.

Alas, those dear bulls of mine are dangling on the camel's neck like a couple of gems! This is the result of Destiny alone. Exertion is of no avail in what is due to Chance.

Or, if the existence of anything like Exertion (as a resulting factor) be admitted, a little more scrutiny would find that Destiny is at the bottom.

Therefore, he who is desirous of happiness, should renounce all attachment. He who is indifferent to worldly surroundings, has renounced all desires for acquiring wealth, can sleep happily.

He, it was well-said by Shuka while going to the great forest from his father's house, renouncing everything.

Amongst these two, viz., one who obtains the fruition of all his desires, and one who renounces all desires, the latter, who casts off everything is superior to the first who obtains the fruition of all his desires.

No one could ever attain to the end of desire. Only he who is destitute of knowledge and judgement feels and avidity for protecting his body and life.

Renounce all desire for action. O my Soul which has become a prey of cupidity, adopt tranquillity by freeling yourself from all worldly attachments. Repeatedly have you been cheated (by phantomis of hope). How is it that you do not still free yourself from attachments?

If I am not one who deserves to be crushed by you, if I am one with whom you should play in delight, then, O my wealth-coveting Soul, do not induce me towards cupidity.

You have now and again lost your hoarded wealth! O my wealth-covering and foolish Soul, when will you succeed in getting rid of your desire for wealth?

Shame on my foolishness. I have become a toy of yours. It is thus that one becomes a slave of others.

No one born on Earth did ever attain to the end of desire, and no one who will be born hereafter will succeed in attaining to it. Renouncing all acts, I have at last been roused from sleep. I am now awake.

Without doubt, O Desire, your heart is hard like that of an adamant, since though affected by a hundred reverses, you do not break into as many fragments.

I know you, O Desire, and all those things that are dear to you. Seeking what is dear to you, I shall feel happiness in my own Self.

O desire, I know your origin. You originate from Will. I shall, therefore, avoid Will. You will then be rooted out.

The desire for wealth can never yield happiness. If acquired, the acquirer feels great anxiety. If lost after acquisition it is felt like death. Again acquisition itself, is very uncertain.

Wealth cannot be secured by even the surrender of one's person. What can be more painful than this? When acquired, one is never gratified with its quantity, but one continues to hanker after it.

Like the sweet water of the Ganges, riches only enhances one's hankering. It is my destruction. I am now awakened. Do you, O desire, leave me.

May that desire which resides in this my body,-this compound of (five), elements,-go wherever it likes and live happily wherever it likes.

I do not like you all who are not of the Soul, for you bring on Desire and Cupidity! Forsaking all of you I shall seek refuge with the quality of Goodness.

Seeing all creatures in my own body and my own mind, and devoting my reason to Yoga, my life to the instructions of the wise, and soul to Brahma, I shall happily rove through the world, without attachment and without calamities of any kind, so that you may not be able to plunge me again into such sorrows.

If I continue to be unruffled by you, O desire, I shall necessarily be without a path (by which to effect my salvation). You O desire, are always the parent of thirst, of sorrow, and of fatigue and toil.

I consider the sorrow that one feels at the loss of wealth is proportionately greater than what one feels under any other adverse circumstance. Relatives and friends forsake him who has lost his wealth.

With all sorts of humiliation numbering by thousands, there are many other faults in property which are even much more painful. On the other hand, the very small happiness that resides in wealth is mingled with pain and sorrow.

Robbers kill, in the sight of all, the person who has riches, or torment him with all sorts of severity, or put him into fright now and again.

At last, after a long time, I have realised that the desire for wealth is attended with sorrow. Whatever the object, O desire, upon which you set your heart, you force me to follow it! You are without judgement. You are a fool. You are difficult of being satisfied. You can never be contented. You burn like fire.

You do not enquire when following the object you pursue, whether it is easy or difficult of attainment. Like the nether region you cannot be filled to the brim. You wish to cast into grief. From this day, O desire, I am incapable of living with you.

I who was disappointed, at first, at the loss of my property, have now attained to the high state of perfect freedom from attachments. At this moment I no longer think of you and your train. I

I had, before this, felt great misery on your account. I do not (now) regard myself as devoid of intelligence. Having taken to Renunciation on account of the loss of my property, I now can .rest, being freed from every kind of fever.

I cast you off, O Desire, with all the passions of my heart. You shall not, again, find any place in me nor shall you sport with me.

I shall forgive them who will slander or speak ill of me. I shall not harm even when I am injured. If anybody from aversion speaks disparagingly of me, without caring for those disagrccable words shall greet him courteously. With a contented heart and with an easy mind, I shall always live upon what I may obtain for myself.

I shall not gratify those wishes of yours which are inimical to me. Indifference to worldly concerns, renunciation, contentment, tranquillity, veracity, self-control, forgiveness, and universal mercy, have now come to be my qualifications.

Therefore, let Desire, Cupidity, Thirst, and Miserliness, bid me aided. I have now taken to the path of Goodness.

Having renounced Desire and Cupidity, my happiness has now been great. I shall no longer surrender myself to the influence of Cupidity, nor shall I undergo the pangs of misery like a person of impure soul.

Inasmuch as one renounces his desires so sure is he to reap his deserts. Truly he who surrenders himself to Desire always undergoes the pangs of misery.

Whatever passions arising from Desire are cast off by a person, all come under the category of Passion. Sorrow and shamelessness, as also discontent, all owe their origin to Desire and Wealth.

As in the hot summery a person plunges himself into a cool lake, I have now merged myself into Brahma. I have renounced work. I have extricated myself from grief. Unalloyed happiness has now come to my share.

The happiness which results from the fruition of Desire, or the serene happiness which one enjoys in heaven, is not equal to a sixteenth part of that which springs from renunciation of all kinds of thirst.

Laying axe at the root of desire, which with the body makes an aggregate of seven, and which is a bitter foe, I have made my way to the immortal city of Brahma and there shall I pass my days in happiness like a king.

Putting his faith upon such, intelligence, Manki succeeded in freeing himself from attachments, by his self-renunciation and obtained the blissful region of Brahma.

Forsooth, on account of the loss of his two bulls, Manki attained to immortality. In fact, because he laid the axe at the very roots of desire, he succeeded, through that means to obtain for himself supreme happiness.