z:\ ambedkar\vol 011\vol11 05.indd MK SJ+YS 5 10 2013/YS 18 11 2013 388
388 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
§ 2. Need for Righteousness
- Then the Exalted One addressed the lay brethren of Pataligama:
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“There are losses, householders, which attend the wicked and immoral man.
“The wicked, immoral man, as the result of sloth, comes to great loss of wealth.
“Then again, an evil report prevails about him which defames him in the eyes of the world.
“Whatever company he may enter, be it a company of the nobles, or the Brahmins, or the housefathers, or a company of recluses, he enters shyly and confused in mind. He is not fearless. This is the third loss.
“Again, he has no peace of mind and is troubled in mind when he dies. This is the fourth loss.
“Such, householders, are the losses that attend the wicked and immoral man.
“Consider the profits which attend the righteous man who lives virtuously.
“The righteous man who lives virtuously comes by a great mass of wealth, due to his own exertions.
“Then, again, a good reputation prevails about him. He is honoured everywhere.
“Into whatsoever company he enters, be it of the nobles or the Brahmins or the housefathers or the recluses, he enters bold and confident.
“Again, he enjoys peace of mind and makes an end with mind untroubled.
“The fool in doing ill knows not his folly: His own deeds like a fire, the fool consume.
He who offends the harmless innocent soon reaches grievous disaster, or a mind distraught, loss of relations, loss of all his wealth.
§ 3. Righteousness and the Claims of the World
- Once when the Lord was staying at Rajagraha in the Bamboo grove where the squirrels were fed, the