Mahabharata 12.28.7

12.28.7

abhijāto'smi siddho'smi nāsmi kevalamānuṣaḥ |
ityevaṃ hetubhistasya tribhiścittaṃ prasicyati || 7 ||

"Asma said, 'Immediately after the formation of a man's body, joys and griefs attach themselves to it. Although there is a possibility of either of the two overtaking the person, yet whichever actually overtakes him quickly robs him of his reason like the wind driving away gathering clouds. (In times of prosperity) one thinks in this strain, viz., 'I am of high birth! I can do whatever I like!--I am not an ordinary man!' His mind becomes soaked with such triple vanity. Addicted to all earthly enjoyments, he begins to waste the wealth hoarded by his ancestors. Impoverished in course of time, he regards the appropriation of what belongs to others as even laudable. Like a hunter piercing a deer with his shafts, the king then punishes that wicked wight that robber of other people's possessions, that transgressor of law and rule. Without attaining to a hundred years (the usual period of human life), such men scarcely live beyond twenty or thirty years. Carefully observing the behaviour of all creatures, a king should, by the exercise of his intelligence, apply remedies for alleviating the great sorrows of his subjects. The causes of all mental sorrow are two, viz., delusion of the mind and the accession of distress. No third cause exists. All these diverse kinds of woe as also those arising from attachment to earthly enjoyments, that overtake man, are even such. Decrepitude and Death, like a pair of wolves, devour all creatures, strong or weak, short or tall.