Dindimus to Alexander. Of the goodly ways of the Brahmins. 87

your lives and your manners come more from [fondness?] than
from wisdom. Since you are men, you should have the virtues of
reasonable creatures, but you do not. When Dindimus
read this letter, he wrote another one to king Alexander
of the same intent.
Dindimus was the ruler of the Brahmins until Alexander
the Great. We understood the intent of the letters, and as such, we
answered. We are not the rulers of this world, and this we should
know and live according to everymore. But we are the pilgrims of this world, and when death comes we will leave to other habitations. Our sins
do not hurt us, nor do we dwell on the tabernacles of
sinners. We do not steal. And [in regards to] the conscience that we
have, we [don't bring it up publically?]. We don't say that we are
gods, and we envy no one. God, who made all that
is in this world, has created many diverse things. Beware,
without diversities of things the world might not
continue. God gave man free will, so that he may discern all things
that are in the world, and choose those which he likes. Wherefore,
he who loves the bad and hates the good--[who believes] not [in] God, but gods--
may be called a friend. Because we love contently,
in restfulness, you say that we are gods, or at least
that we must envy the gods. But this idea that you
have of us pertains to yourselves. For you are filled with
the wind of pride, you adorn your bodies with glorious clothing,
and your fingers with swaths of gold and precious
stones. But I ask you this: What profit does this bring to you? Gold and silver
saves not a man's soul, nor sustains his body. But
for we that know the [evil?] meaning of gold, and the kind thereof,
when we thirst, and look to the river to take a
drink, if we find gold to be in the way, we tread upon it with our
feet. For gold neither fills us up when we hunger, nor quenches
our thirst, whereas when we drink water, it quenches our thirst. Also, if a
man is hungry and eats meat, it does away with his hunger. But if
gold did the same, and also son and man had it, the vice
of greed should be satisfied in him. Be this because gold is evil.