]' AND GOLD

RENUNCIATION 0]' L~ND AND GOLD 507 and the landed properties that a man can acquire in the course of his life, the possession of a whole kingdom not excepted. They had so completely severed themselves from the temporal blessings of this world, and had showed themselves so entirely disinterested, that their exhortations and example sometimes induced even kings to leave their dominions in contempt for the pomp and circumstance by which they were surrounded, and to join with them in leading an ascetic life in the jungle. Hindu books mention with approbation several cases of this sort. These anchorite princes sometimes outdid the Vanaprasthas themselves in fervour and austerity; and the latter, far from showing themselves jealous, as a reward for such great zeal granted the princes the signal favour of allowing them to become penitent Brahmins, thus enrolling them in their own caste.