Ancient thinker

[Operacast]

Originally Posted by bob x

Or it could be taken as a Confucian-like concern for how the entirety of society is impacted: that is, the wise one should act for the benefit of all as in #3, while being wary of "welfare-state" actions like #1 that may just create unhealthy dependencies and sloth.

I thought of that, so I applied to two or three Sanskrit specialists, including the leading Sanskrit specialist at the New York Public Library. The translation of #3 that I was using actually soft-pedaled the extreme self-orientation of the sentiment. You already see above the idiomatic translation that the NYPL specialist gave me. In addition, though, to my considerable chagrin, the specialist took me through the original of #3 in its literal form as well:

The unidiomatic but even more literal word-for-word meaning of #3 reads "The wise one should pleasure for oneself in the world's appropriate visible means of agriculture, keeping cattle, trade, political administration, etc."

Questionable English, true, but perhaps -- since it comes as a conclusion to #s 1 & 2 -- this may be questionable ethics too?...........

Best,

Operacast