Placing virtue above all other concerns of life, a man shines like the sun when his splendor is great. A man devoid of virtue and of wicked soul meets ruin, even though he may gain the whole earth. You have studied the Vedas, lived the life of a holy brahmacārī, performed sacrificial rites, and given alms to brāhmaṇas. Yet even while bearing in mind the highest state attainable by beings, you have also for long years devoted your soul to the pursuit of pleasures. One who, giving himself over immoderately to pleasures and the joys of life, never practices religious meditation, must become exceedingly unhappy. His joys desert him once his wealth is spent, and strong impulses drive him back to his accustomed craving for pleasure. In the same way, one who, never having lived a life of restraint, abandons the path of virtue and commits sin, has no faith in the existence of the world to come. However wretched he may be after death, he suffers torment for his share of it. In the world hereafter, good deeds or evil, these deeds are never destroyed.