The gods have not decreed that hunger should be our end; even the well-fed meet death in various forms. The generous man’s wealth never runs out, but the miser finds no one to comfort him.
The man who stores food and refuses to share it, when a needy beggar comes asking for bread, Hardens his heart against him—though he once served him well—and finds no one to comfort him.
Generous is he who gives to the beggar in need, who is weak and hungry. Success attends him in battle. He makes a friend for him in future troubles.
No friend is he who refuses to feed his friend and comrade, who comes begging for food. Let him go—he has no home to rest in—and seek a stranger to support him instead.
Let the rich satisfy the poor beggar and look upon a longer path ahead. Wealth comes to one and then to another, like the wheels of carriages that roll on endlessly.
The fool labours for food without success; I tell you truly, that food will be his downfall. He feeds no true friend, no one to love. All guilt is on him who eats alone.
The plowshares make the food we eat, and with their feet cut through the paths they follow. Better the talkative than the silent Brahmin; the generous friend outweighs him who gives not.
He with one foot has run far ahead of the two-legged, and the two-legged catches the three-legged. Four-legged creatures come when two-leggeds call them, and five meet where they stand and look.
Both hands are alike, but their work differs. Sister milch-kine yield unequal milk. Twins differ in strength and vigor; even kinsmen differ in their bounty.