Wealth invariably meets with one of the following three fates: it is either devoted to some charitable purpose, squandered away on luxury and enjoyment or lost. Evidently the first of these is the best use of it. The wealth of the miser who neither devotes it to the service of the needy, nor spends it on his own comforts meets with the third, which is the worst fate. I have told you this narrative according to my own lights, although at first I kept it secret. I saw excessive fondness for the same in your heart and then I narrated to you the story of Ýr¶ RŒma (the Lord of the Raghus). This story, however, should not be repeated to a perverse knave, who does not listen attentively to the story of Ýr¶ Hari; nor should it be recited to a greedy, irascible or lustful man who worship not the Lord of all animate and inanimate creation. It should never be repeated to a BrŒhma˜a-hater, be he a monarch as great as Indra (the lord of the celestials). They alone are qualified to hear Ýr¶ RŒma’s narrative, who are extremely fond of communion with holy men. They alone are fit to hear it, who are devoted to the feet of their preceptor, and are lovers of propriety and votaries of the BrŒhma˜as. The story affords special delight to them who hold the graceful Lord of the Raghus dear as life. (1—4)