Know, too, from Me Shineth the gathered glory of the suns Which lighten all the world: from Me the moons Draw silvery beams, and fire fierce loveliness.I penetrate the clay, and lend all shapes Their living force; I glide into the plant-- Root, leaf, and bloom--to make the woodlands green With springing sap.Becoming vital warmth, I glow in glad, respiring frames, and pass, With outward and with inward breath, to feed The body by all meats.The "soothfast" souls adore true gods; the souls Obeying Rajas worship RakshasasOr Yakshas; and the men of Darkness pray To Pretas and to Bhutas.Yea, and those Who practise bitter penance, not enjoined By rightful rule--penance which hath its root In self-sufficient, proud hypocrisies-- Those men, passion-beset, violent, wild, Torturing-- the witless ones--My elements Shut in fair company within their flesh, (Nay, Me myself, present within the flesh!) Know them to devils devoted, not to Heaven! For like as foods are threefold for mankind In nourishing, so is there threefold way Of worship, abstinence, and almsgiving! Hear this of Me! there is a food which brings Force, substance, strength, and health, and joy to live, Being well-seasoned, cordial, comforting, The "Soothfast" meat.And there be foods which bring Aches and unrests, and burning blood, and grief, Being too biting, heating, salt, and sharp, And therefore craved by too strong appetite.And there is foul food--kept from over-night,Savourless, filthy, which the foul will eat, A feast of rottenness, meet for the lips Of such as love the "Darkness."Thus with rites;-- A sacrifice not for rewardment made, Offered in rightful wise, when he who vows Sayeth, with heart devout, "This I should do!" Is "Soothfast" rite.But sacrifice for gain, Offered for good repute, be sure that this, O Best of Bharatas! is Rajas-rite, With stamp of "passion." And a sacrifice Offered against the laws, with no due dole Of food-giving, with no accompaniment Of hallowed hymn, nor largesse to the priests, In faithless celebration, call it vile, The deed of "Darkness!"--lost!
Worship of gods Meriting worship; lowly reverence Of Twice-borns, Teachers, Elders; Purity, Rectitude, and the Brahmacharya's vow, And not to injure any helpless thing,-- These make a true religiousness of Act.
Words causing no man woe, words ever true, Gentle and pleasing words, and those ye say In murmured reading of a Sacred Writ,-- These make the true religiousness of Speech.
Serenity of soul, benignity, Sway of the silent Spirit, constant stress To sanctify the Nature,--these things make Good rite, and true religiousness of Mind.
Such threefold faith, in highest piety Kept, with no hope of gain, by hearts devote, Is perfect work of Sattwan, true belief.
Religion shown in act of proud display To win good entertainment, worship, fame, Such--say I--is of Rajas, rash and vain.
Religion followed by a witless will To torture self, or come at power to hurt Another,--'tis of Tamas, dark and ill.
The gift lovingly given, when one shall say "Now must I gladly give!" when he who takes Can render nothing back; made in due place, Due time, and to a meet recipient, Is gift of Sattwan, fair and profitable.
The gift selfishly given, where to receive Is hoped again, or when some end is sought, Or where the gift is proffered with a grudge, This is of Rajas, stained with impulse, ill.
The gift churlishly flung, at evil time, In wrongful place, to base recipient, Made in disdain or harsh unkindliness, Is gift of Tamas, dark; it doth not bless!Some repetitionary lines are here omitted.
Technical phrases of Vedic religion.
The whole of this passage is highly involved and difficult to render.
I feel convinced sankhyanan and yoginan must be transposed here in sense.
I am doubtful of accuracy here.
A name of the sun.
Without desire of fruit.
That is,"joy and sorrow, success and failure, heat and cold,"&c.
i.e., the body.
The Sanskrit has this play on the double meaning of Atman.
So in original.
Beings of low and devilish nature.
Krishna.I read here janma, "birth;" not jara,"age"
I have discarded ten lines of Sanskrit text here as an undoubted interpolation by some Vedantist
The Sanskrit poem here rises to an elevation of style and manner which I have endeavoured to mark by change of metre.
Ahinsa.
The nectar of immortality.
Called "The Jap."
The compound form of Sanskrit words.
"Kamalapatraksha"
These are all divine or deified orders of the Hindoo Pantheon.
"Hail to Thee, God of Gods! Be favourable!"
The wind."Not peering about,"anapeksha.
The Calcutta edition of the Mahabharata has these three opening lines.
This is the nearest possible version of Kshetrakshetrajnayojnanan yat tajnan matan mama.
I omit two lines of the Sanskrit here, evidently interpolated by some Vedantist.
Wombs.
I do not consider the Sanskrit verses here- which are somewhat freely rendered--"an attack on the authority of the Vedas," with Mr Davies, but a beautiful lyrical episode, a new "Parable of the fig-tree."
I omit a verse here, evidently interpolated.
"Of the Asuras,"lit.
I omit the ten concluding shlokas, with Mr Davis.
Rakshasas and Yakshas are unembodied but capricious beings of great power, gifts, and beauty, same times also of benignity.
These are spirits of evil wandering ghosts.
Yatayaman, food which has remained after the watchesof the night.In India this would probably "go bad."
I omit the concluding shlokas, as of very doubtful authenticity.
