# Ancient Proverbs and Maxims From Burmese Sources; or, The Nîti Literature/Chapter 1/Section 3

Section III. The Evil-Doer.
68.
A wicked man should not be loved much, being as unstable as a jar half-full of water carried along on the head.
69.
A snake is harmful; a wicked man is harmful, a wicked man being more harmful than a snake: a snake is brought to subjection by charms and drugs—how can a wicked man be subdued?
70.
The fool who knows his ignorance is a wise man on that very account; a fool who deems himself wise, he is called a fool indeed!
71.
So long as his sin does not ripen, a fool considers it as sweet as honey; when his sin ripens, he then undergoes suffering.
72.
It is not good for a foolish man to be strong; he obtains his possessions by force: on the dissolution of the body he goes to hell, being of little understanding.
73.
A mouse is destructive in a house, a monkey in the forest; injurious among birds is the crow, among men a Brahman.
74.
The night is long to one awake, a stage to one who is weary; to fools not knowing the true Law, transmigration, too, is long.
75.
One of vile nature notices the trivial fault of others though small as a grain of sessamum, but his own fault, as large as a cocoa-nut, he does not see.
76.
A wise man should not make known his fault to others; he should, however, notice the defects of another; as a tortoise conceals the members of its body, so should he conceal his own blemishes, but discover those of others.
77.
Punishment is awarded to a wise man when praised by a fool; a wise man praised by a wise man is well praised.
78.
One should win over an avaricious person by money, one presumptuous by a salutation, an ignorant man by giving him his way, and a wise one by speaking the truth.
* ↑ This is stanza 63 of the Dhammapada.
* ↑ Compare Dhammapada, 69: "Does not ripen," i.e., "when the consequence has not been developed." The verb paccati is used in this sense.
* ↑ At the time of Gotama there were two religious parties—the Samaṇas and Brâhmaṇas. Gotama himself belonged to the former, and the latter, therefore, were considered as heretical by him and his disciples, and looked upon with contempt. Hence the aspersion against them. When Buddhism was fully established, the word brâhmaṇa was employed as a term for an Arhat, or "one who has obtained final sanctification."
* ↑ "A stage," i.e., the distance of a yojana (eight miles). This stanza is the 60th of the Dhammapada.
* ↑ "True law," i.e., religious duty.
* ↑ Compare the following metrical translation by Muir:— "Thou mark'st the faults of other men, Although as mustard-seeds minute: Thine own escape thy partial ken, Though each in size a bilva fruit." —Mahâbhârata, i. 3069. "All men are very quick to spy Their neighbours' faults, but very slow To note their own; when these they know, With self-deluding art they eye." —Mahâbhârata, viii. 2116. The following is adapted from Subhâshitârṇava, 275:— "Men soon the faults of others learn: A few their virtues, too, find out; But is there one—I have a doubt— Who can his own defects discern?" Compare also Matthew vii. 3 and 4: "And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?" &c. The Burmese version makes a comparison with the cocoa-nut (nâḷikera), the Sanskrit version with the bilva or Bengal quince (Ægle Marmelos), which is sacred to Mahâdeva.
* ↑ Compare Manu, vii. 104 and 105, with reference to a king's duties:— "He should indeed act guilelessly, never by guile; but he, self-guarded, should be aware of the frauds used by his enemy. Let another know his weak point; like a tortoise, he should protect his members and guard his own defect."
* ↑ Compare Mahâbhârata, xii. 4217.
* ↑ Compare Hitopadeśa, iv. 108, where we find "the haughty by joining the hands," the Oriental method of showing respect.