Page:The Kural or The Maxims Of Tiruvalluvar.pdf/117

 266. It is the men that do tapas that look after their own interests : the rest are caught in the snares of desire and only do themselves harm.

267. The fiercer the fire in which it is melted the more brilliant becometh the lustre of the gold: even so the severer the sufferings endured by the austere, the purer their nature shineth.

268. Behold the man who hath attained mastery over himself: all other men worship him.

269. Behold the men that have acquired power by austerities: they can succeed even in conquering death.

270. If the needy are the many in the world, it is because those that do tapas are few, and those that do not, the larger number.

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