Fire is born from water; kshatriyas from brahmins; and iron from stone. The energy of these — fire, kshatriyas, and iron — can act upon all things, yet it is neutralized as soon as these things come into contact with that from which they sprang. Fire lies hidden in wood without showing itself outwardly. Good and all-forgiving men, born into noble families and endowed with a fiery energy, betray no outward sign of what lies within them. That king whose counsels remain unknown both to outsiders and to those around him, but who learns the counsels of others through his spies, long enjoys his prosperity. One should never speak of what one is about to do. Let whatever you do for the sake of virtue, gain, and desire remain unknown until it is accomplished. Let your counsels never be disclosed. Climbing to a mountain summit, or to a palace terrace, or going out into a wilderness bare of trees and plants, one should ripen one's counsels there in secret. O Bharata, neither an uneducated friend nor a learned friend who cannot govern his senses is fit to be the keeper of affairs of state.