102. Possession of Modesty

For fair-faced maidens, modesty means bashfulness,
but the deeper modesty shies away from shameful karmas.

Food, clothing and such do not differ much among people;
what distinguishes good men from others is modesty.

All life clings to a body;
perfect goodness clings to all that is modest.

Is not modesty a jewel adorning perfect men? 
Without it, is not their strut an awful blemish to behold? 

The world decrees that men who are as ashamed 
by others' disgrace as by their own are modesty's fondest home. 

The great would rather hold themselves behind 
modesty's barricade than breach it to acquire the vast world.

Those who prize unpretentiousness will forsake life to preserve it.
But they never forsake modesty for the sake of life.

If a man does not feel ashamed of what makes others feel ashamed,
virtue itself will be ashamed of him. 

Failing to observe good conduct, one sets his family on fire.
Living in shamelessness, he incinerates everything good.

The movements of men devoid of modesty mock life,
like wooden puppets suspended on a string.