Viduraniti Part 2 – Success and Happiness

Success and Prosperity
1. The following brings happiness in life
a. Health,
b. Un-indebtedness,
c. living at home,
d. Companionship with good men,
e. certainty as regards the means of livelihood,
f. Living without fear.
g. acquirement of wealth,
h. a beloved and a sweet-speaking wife,
i. an obedient son,
j. knowledge that is lucrative
k. meeting with friends,
l. conversation with friends in proper times,
m. the advancement of persons belong to one’s own party,
n. the acquisition of what had been anticipated,
o. respect in society
2. Prosperity takes its birth in good deeds, growth in consequence of activity, drives its roots deep in consequence of skill, and acquires stability owing to self-control.
3. He that accepts the teaching of the wise; he that is acquainted with the rules of morality; he that is liberal; he that eats having first dedicated the food to the gods and Pitris; he that envies none; he that is incapable of doing anything that injures others; he that is grateful, truthful, humble and learned, succeeds in attaining to heaven.
4. Success – He who with a firm resolution strives to accomplish by a virtuous policy purposes that have once been frustrated, is said to possess real manhood. That man attains all his objects, who is conversant with remedies to be applied in the future, who is firmly resolved in the present, and who could anticipate in the past how an act begun would end. That, which a man pursues in word, deed, and thought, wins him for its own; therefore, one should always seek that which is for his good.
5. Effort after securing what is good, the properties of time, place, and means, acquaintance with the scriptures, activity, straightforwardness, and frequent meetings with those that are good, these bring about prosperity. Perseverance is the root of prosperity, of gain, and of what is beneficial. The man that pursues an object with perseverance and without giving it up in vexation, is really great, and enjoys happiness that is unending.
6. Prosperity never approaches from fear the person that is excessively liberal, that gives away without measure, that is possessed of extraordinary bravery, that practises the most rigid vows, and that is very proud of his wisdom. Prosperity does not reside in one that is highly accomplished, nor in one that is without any accomplishment. She does not desire a combination of all the virtues, nor is she pleased with the total absence of all virtues. Blind, like a mad cow, prosperity resides with someone who is not remarkable.

Kings and Managers – How to be successful
1. A king (Manager) should renounce these seven faults that are productive of calamity, inasmuch as they are able to effect the ruin of even monarchs firmly established; these are women, dice, hunting, drinking, harshness of speech, severity of punishment, and misuse of wealth.
2. Before one engages in an act, one should consider the competence of the agent, the nature of the act itself, and its purpose, for all acts are dependent on these. Considering these one should begin an act, and not take it up on a sudden impulse.

3. Kings (Managers) duties and responsibilities and way of operation.
a. That king whose counsels cannot be known by either outsiders or those about him, but who knows the counsels of others through his spies, enjoys his prosperity long.
b. One should never speak of what one intends to do.
c. Let anything you do in respect of virtue, profit, and desire, be not known till it is done.
d. Let counsels be not divulged. Ascending on the mountain-top or on the terrace of a palace, or proceeding to a wilderness devoid of trees and plants, one should, in secrecy, mature his counsels.
e. Neither a friend who is without learning, nor a learned friend who has no control over his senses, deserves to be a repository of state secrets.
f. Never make one your minister without examining him well, for a king’s finances and the keeping of his counsels both depend on his minister.
g. That king is the foremost of rulers, whose ministers know his acts in respect of virtue, profit and desire, only after they are done.
h. The king, whose counsels are kept close, without doubt, commands success.
i. He that from ignorance commits acts that are censurable loses his very life in consequence of the untoward results of those acts. The doing of acts that are praise-worthy is always attended with ease. Omission to do such acts leads to repentance.
j. As a Brahmin without having studied the Vedas is not fit to officiate at a Sraddha (in honour of the Pitris), so he that has not heard of the six (means for protecting a kingdom) deserves not to take part in political deliberations.
k. He that has an eye upon increase, decrease, and surplus, he that is conversant with the six means and knows also his own self, he whose conduct is always applauded, brings the whole earth under subjection to himself.
l. He whose anger and joy are productive of consequences, he who looks over personally what should be done, he who has his treasury under his own control, brings the whole earth under subjection to himself.
m. The king should be content with the name he wins and the umbrella that is held over his head. He should divide the wealth of the kingdom among these that serve him. Alone he should not appropriate everything.
n. A foe that deserves death, when brought under subjection should never be set free.
o. If one be weak one should pay court to one’s foe that is stronger, even if the latter deserves death; but one should kill that foe as soon as one commands sufficient strength, for, if not killed, dangers soon arise from him.
p. One should, with an effort, control his wrath against the gods, kings, Brahmins, old men, children, and those that are helpless.
q. He that is wise should avoid unprofitable quarrels such as fools only engage in. By this one wins great fame in this world and avoids misery and unhappiness.
r. People never desire him for a master whose grace is fruitless and whose wrath goes for nothing, like women never desiring him for a husband who is a eunuch.
s. Intelligence does not exist for the acquisition of wealth, nor is idleness the cause of adversity; the man of wisdom only knows, and not others, the cause of the diversities of condition in this world.
4. Learned men have declared that a king, although powerful, should never consult with these four,
a. men of small sense,
b. men that are procrastinating,
c. men that are indolent, and
d. men that are flatterers
5. A king should cherish a counsellor that worships persons of wisdom, is endued with learning, virtue, agreeable appearance, friends, sweet speech, and a good heart. Whether of low or high birth, he who does not transgress the rules of polite intercourse, who hath an eye on virtue, who is endued with humility and modesty, is superior to a hundred persons of high birth.