Simhasanadvatrimshika 12.p1

12.p1

When the king came again to mount the throne, another statuette said: 'O King, this is the throne of Vikrama. He who possesses the qualities such as generosity of that Vikrama—let him sit upon this throne.' Bhoja said: 'Tell the account of his generosity and other virtues.' The statuette said: 'Listen, O King. While Vikramārka was ruling the kingdom, there was in his city a merchant named Bhadrasena. His son was Purandara. There was no limit to the riches of that Bhadrasena, but he was not of a spending nature. Then, in the course of time, Bhadrasena died, and Purandara, having acquired his father's entire estate, began to make expenditures suitable to the occasion. Once his dear friend Dhanada said: 'O Purandara, though being a merchant's son, you spend wealth like a prince of the great kṣatriya class. This is not the characteristic of one born into a merchant family. A merchant's son, even when alone, ought to amass wealth, and not spend even a cowrie. Wealth acquired comes in useful to a man in some calamity or other; therefore a wise man should amass wealth against calamity.' And it is said: