Simhasanadvatrimshika 21.p1

21.p1

punar api rājā yāvat siṅhāsana upaviśati, tāvad anyā puttalikā bhaṇati: bho rājan, asmin siṅhāsane tenai 'vā 'dhyāsitavyam, yasya vikramasyau 'dāryaṃ bhavati. rājā 'vadat: kathaya tasyau 'dāryavṛttāntam. sā 'bravīt: śrūyatāṃ rājan. vikrame rājyaṃ kurvati sati buddhisindhur nāma mantrī samabhavat. tasya putro 'nargalaḥ. sa ghṛtaudanaṃ bhuṅktvā kumāravṛttyā tiṣṭhati, kimapi vidyābhyāsaṃ na karoti. ekadā pitrā bhaṇitam: bho anargala, tvaṃ mamo 'darāj jāto 'pi param atīvadurvidheyaḥ; vidyābhyāsaṃ na karoṣi; hṛdayaśūnyo mūrkhaḥ saṃs tiṣṭhasi. uktaṃ ca:

When the king was again ascending the throne, another statue said: "O king, only he who has the magnanimity of Vikrama may mount upon this throne." The king said: "Tell me a tale of his magnanimity." And she said: "Hear, O king.

While Vikrama was king he had a minister named Buddhisindhu ['Ocean of Wisdom'], who had a son named Anargala ['Wilful']. The same lived the life that young men will, feasting on gruel with ghee, and not applying himself to study at all. One time his father said: "Anargala, tho you are sprung from my loins you are very unruly; you do not apply yourself to study, and are empty of wit, being a fool. And it is said: 1. Empty is the house of a sonless man; empty is a place where there are no kinsfolk; empty is the mind of a fool; empty in all respects is poverty. I have no profit of you at all. 2. What profit is there in the birth of a son, if he be neither wise nor virtuous? What can be done with a cow which neither gives milk nor has calves? And so: 3. What is the use of a quantity of sons which count in numbers alone? Better is a single son who furnishes support to the family, on whom the family can depend. What then? 4. Better is a miscarriage, better no cohabitation at the proper seasons (for procreation), better a son born dead, better even that a daughter should be born, better a sterile wife, better to abstain from the life of a (married) householder, if your son is not wise, even if he be endowed with beauty, riches, and power."