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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:40:58 -0700 |
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diff --git a/12894-h/12894-h.htm b/12894-h/12894-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9ce7a9a --- /dev/null +++ b/12894-h/12894-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,17971 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Sacred Books of the East, by Various, et al</title> +<style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[*/ + + <!-- + body {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + p {text-align: justify;} + blockquote {text-align: justify;} + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 {text-align: center;} + + hr {text-align: center; width: 50%;} + hr.full { width: 100%; } + a:link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:visited {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:hover {color:red} + pre {font-size: 9pt;} + html>body hr {margin-right: 25%; margin-left: 25%; width: 50%;} + + .note, .footnote + {margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%; font-size: 0.9em;} + + span.pagenum + {position: absolute; left: 1%; right: 91%; font-size: 8pt;} + + .poem + {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: left;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem p {margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem p.i2 {margin-left: 1em;} + .poem p.i4 {margin-left: 2em;} + .poem p.i6 {margin-left: 3em;} + .poem p.i8 {margin-left: 4em;} + .poem p.i10 {margin-left: 5em;} + --> +/*]]>*/ +</style> +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12894 ***</div> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Sacred Books of the East, by Various, et al</h1> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<hr class="full" /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<h1>SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST</h1> +<h2>INCLUDING SELECTIONS FROM THE VEDIC HYMNS, ZEND-AVESTA, +DHAMMAPADA, UPANISHADS, THE KORAN, AND THE LIFE OF BUDDHA</h2> +<h2>WITH CRITICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES BY EPIPHANIUS WILSON, +A.M.</h2> +<h2>REVISED EDITION</h2> +<center>1900</center> +<br /> +<br /> +<hr /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> +<br /> +<h3><a href="#vedic">VEDIC HYMNS</a></h3> +<p><a href="#vedic-intro">Introduction</a></p> +<p><a href="#vedic-unknown">To the Unknown God</a></p> +<p><a href="#vedic-maruts">To the Maruts</a></p> +<p><a href="#vedic-maruts-indra">To the Maruts and Indra</a></p> +<p><a href="#vedic-indra-maruts">To Indra and the Maruts</a></p> +<p><a href="#vedic-agni-maruts">To Agni and the Maruts</a></p> +<p><a href="#vedic-rudra">To Rudra</a></p> +<p><a href="#vedic-rudra-2">To Rudra</a></p> +<p><a href="#vedic-agni-maruts-2">To Agní and the +Maruts</a></p> +<p><a href="#vedic-vayu">To Vâyu</a></p> +<p><a href="#vedic-vayu-2">To Vâyu</a></p> +<p><a href="#vedic-indra-agastya">Indra and Agastya: A +Dialogue</a></p> +<p><a href="#vedic-soma-rudra">To Soma and Rudra</a></p> +<p><a href="#vedic-rudra-3">To Rudra</a></p> +<p><a href="#vedic-vata">To Vâta</a></p> +<p><a href="#vedic-vata">To Vâta</a></p> +<h3><a href="#avesta">THE ZEND-AVESTA</a></h3> +<p><a href="#avesta-introduction">Introduction</a></p> +<p><a href="#avesta-discovery">Discovery of the Zend-Avesta</a></p> +<p><a href="#avesta-creation">The Creation</a></p> +<p><a href="#avesta-yima">Myth of Yima</a></p> +<p><a href="#avesta-earth">The Earth</a></p> +<p><a href="#avesta-contracts">Contracts and Outrages</a></p> +<p><a href="#avesta-uncleanness">Uncleanness</a></p> +<p><a href="#avesta-funerals">Funerals and Purification</a></p> +<p><a href="#avesta-cleansing">Cleansing the Unclean</a></p> +<p><a href="#avesta-spells">Spells Recited During the +Cleansing</a></p> +<p><a href="#avesta-fires">To Fires, Waters, Plants</a></p> +<p><a href="#avesta-to-earth">To the Earth and the Sacred +Waters</a></p> +<p><a href="#avesta-helpers">Prayer for Helpers</a></p> +<p><a href="#avesta-sanctity">A Prayer for Sanctity and its +Benefits</a></p> +<p><a href="#avesta-to-fire">To the Fire</a></p> +<p><a href="#avesta-immortals">To the Bountiful Immortals</a></p> +<p><a href="#avesta-bull">Praise of the Holy Bull</a></p> +<p><a href="#avesta-rain">To Rain as a Healing Power</a></p> +<p><a href="#avesta-waters-sun">To the Waters and Light of the +Sun</a></p> +<p><a href="#avesta-waters-moon">To the Waters and Light of the +Moon</a></p> +<p><a href="#avesta-waters-stars">To the Waters and Light of the +Stars</a></p> +<h3><a href="#dhammapada">THE DHAMMAPADA</a></h3> +<p><a href="#dhammapada-introduction">Introduction</a></p> +<p><a href="#dhammapada-i">I.—The Twin-Verses</a></p> +<p><a href="#dhammapada-ii">II.—On Earnestness</a></p> +<p><a href="#dhammapada-iii">III.—Thought</a></p> +<p><a href="#dhammapada-iv">IV.—Flowers</a></p> +<p><a href="#dhammapada-v">V.—The Fool</a></p> +<p><a href="#dhammapada-vi">VI.—The Wise Man</a></p> +<p><a href="#dhammapada-vii">VII.—The Venerable</a></p> +<p><a href="#dhammapada-viii">VIII.—The Thousands</a></p> +<p><a href="#dhammapada-ix">IX.—Evil</a></p> +<p><a href="#dhammapada-x">X.—Punishment</a></p> +<p><a href="#dhammapada-xi">XI.—Old Age</a></p> +<p><a href="#dhammapada-xii">XII.—Self</a></p> +<p><a href="#dhammapada-xiii">XIII.—The World</a></p> +<p><a href="#dhammapada-xiv">XIV.—The Buddha—The +Awakened</a></p> +<p><a href="#dhammapada-xv">XV.—Happiness</a></p> +<p><a href="#dhammapada-xvi">XVI.—Pleasure</a></p> +<p><a href="#dhammapada-xvii">XVII.—Anger</a></p> +<p><a href="#dhammapada-xviii">XVIII.—Impurity</a></p> +<p><a href="#dhammapada-xix">XIX.—The Just</a></p> +<p><a href="#dhammapada-xx">XX.—The Way</a></p> +<p><a href="#dhammapada-xxi">XXI.—Miscellaneous</a></p> +<p><a href="#dhammapada-xxii">XXII.—The Downward +Course</a></p> +<p><a href="#dhammapada-xxiii">XXIII.—The Elephant</a></p> +<p><a href="#dhammapada-xxiv">XXIV.—Thirst</a></p> +<p><a href="#dhammapada-xxv">XXV.—The Bhikshu</a></p> +<p><a href="#dhammapada-xxvi">XXVI.—The +Brâhmana</a></p> +<h3><a href="#upanishads">THE UPANISHADS</a></h3> +<p><a href="#u-intro">Introduction</a></p> +<p><a href= +"#u-kaushitaki">KAUSHÍTAKI-UPANISHAD.</a>—</p> +<p><a href="#u-couch">The Couch of Brahman</a></p> +<p><a href="#u-knowledge">Knowledge of the Living Spirit</a></p> +<p><a href="#u-life">Life and Consciousness</a></p> +<h3><a href="#koran">SELECTIONS FROM THE KORAN</a></h3> +<p><a href="#koran-intro">Introduction</a></p> +<p><a href="#koran-mohammed">Mohammed and Mohammedanism</a></p> +<p><a href="#koran-i">Chapter I.—Entitled, the +Preface</a></p> +<p><a href="#koran-ii">Chapter II.—Entitled, the Cow</a></p> +<p><a href="#koran-iii">Chapter III.—Entitled, the Family of +Imran</a></p> +<p><a href="#koran-iv">Chapter IV.—Entitled, Women</a></p> +<p><a href="#koran-v">Chapter V.—Entitled, the Table</a></p> +<h3><a href="#life">LIFE OF BUDDHA</a></h3> +<p><a href="#life-intro">Introduction</a></p> +<p><a href="#life-i">CHAPTER I.</a>—</p> +<p><a href="#life-i-birth">The Birth</a></p> +<p><a href="#life-i-living">Living in the Palace</a></p> +<p><a href="#life-i-disgust">Disgust at Sorrow</a></p> +<p><a href="#life-i-desire">Putting Away Desire</a></p> +<p><a href="#life-i-leaving">Leaving the City</a></p> +<p><a href="#life-ii">CHAPTER II.</a>—</p> +<p><a href="#life-ii-return">The Return of Kandaka</a></p> +<p><a href="#life-ii-entering">Entering the Place of +Austerities</a></p> +<p><a href="#life-ii-grief">The General Grief of the Palace</a></p> +<p><a href="#life-ii-mission">The Mission to Seek the +Prince</a></p> +<p><a href="#life-iii">CHAPTER III.</a>—</p> +<p><a href="#life-iii-bimbisara">Bimbisara Râga Invites the +Prince</a></p> +<p><a href="#life-iii-reply">The Reply to Bimbisara +Râga</a></p> +<p><a href="#life-iii-visit">Visit to Ârada Udrarama</a></p> +<p><a href="#life-iii-defeats">Defeats Mara</a></p> +<p><a href="#life-iii-abhisambodhi">O-wei-san-pou-ti +(Abhisambodhi)</a></p> +<p><a href="#life-iii-turning">Turning the Law-wheel</a></p> +<p><a href="#life-iv">CHAPTER IV.</a>—</p> +<p><a href="#life-iv-bimbisara">Bimbisara Râga Becomes a +Disciple</a></p> +<p><a href="#life-iv-disciple">The Great Disciple Becomes a +Hermit</a></p> +<p><a href="#life-iv-conversion">Conversion of the "Supporter of +the Orphans and Destitute"</a></p> +<p><a href="#life-iv-interview">Interview Between Father and +Son</a></p> +<p><a href="#life-iv-receiving">Receiving the Getavana +Vihara</a></p> +<p><a href="#life-iv-escaping">Escaping the Drunken Elephant and +Devadatta</a></p> +<p><a href="#life-iv-amra">The Lady Âmra Sees Buddha</a></p> +<p><a href="#life-v">CHAPTER V.</a>—</p> +<p><a href="#life-v-power">By Spiritual Power Fixing His Term of +Years</a></p> +<p><a href="#life-v-differences">The Differences of the +Likkhavis</a></p> +<p><a href="#life-v-parinirvana">Parinirvana</a></p> +<p><a href="#life-v-mahaparinirvana">Mahaparinirvana</a></p> +<p><a href="#life-v-praising">Praising Nirvana</a></p> +<p><a href="#life-v-division">Division of the Sariras</a></p> +<h2><a id="vedic" name="vedic">VEDIC HYMNS</a></h2> +<h3>Translation by F. Max Müller.</h3> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page3" name="page3"></a>[pg 3]</span> +<h3><a id="vedic-intro" name="vedic-intro">INTRODUCTION</a></h3> +<p>The Vedic Hymns are among the most interesting portions of +Hindoo literature. In form and spirit they resemble both the poems +of the Hebrew psalter and the lyrics of Pindar. They deal with the +most elemental religious conceptions and are full of the imagery of +nature. It would be absurd to deny to very many of them the +possession of the truest poetic inspiration. The scenery of the +Himalayas, ice and snow, storm and tempest, lend their majesty to +the strains of the Vedic poet. He describes the storm sweeping over +the white-crested mountains till the earth, like a hoary king, +trembles with fear. The Maruts, or storm-gods, are terrible, +glorious, musical, riding on strong-hoofed, never-wearying steeds. +There is something Homeric, Pindaric in these epithets. Yet Soma +and Rudra are addressed, though they wield sharp weapons; and sharp +bolts, i.e., those of the lightning, are spoken of as kind friends. +"Deliver us," says the poet, "from the snare of Varuna, and guard +us, as kind-hearted gods." One of the most remarkable of these +hymns is that addressed to the Unknown God. The poet says: "In the +beginning there arose the Golden Child. As soon as he was born he +alone was the lord of all that is. He established the earth and +this heaven." The hymn consists of ten stanzas, in which the Deity +is celebrated as the maker of the snowy mountains, the sea and the +distant river, who made fast the awful heaven, He who alone is God +above all gods, before whom heaven and earth stand trembling in +their mind. Each stanza concludes with the refrain, "Who is the God +to whom we shall offer sacrifice?"</p> +<p>We have in this hymn a most sublime conception of the Supreme +Being, and while there are many Vedic hymns whose tone is +pantheistic and seems to imply that the wild forces of nature are +Gods who rule the world, this hymn to the Unknown <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page4" name="page4"></a>[pg 4]</span> God is as +purely monotheistic as a psalm of David, and shows a spirit of +religious awe as profound as any we find in the Hebrew +Scriptures.</p> +<p>It is very difficult to arrive at the true date of the Vedas. +The word Veda means knowledge, and is applied to unwritten +literature. The Vedas are therefore the oldest Sanscrit writings +which exist, and stand in the same class with regard to Hindoo +literature as Homer does with regard to Greek literature. Probably +the earliest Vedas were recited a thousand years before Christ, +while the more recent of the hymns date about five hundred before +Christ. We must therefore consider them to be the most primitive +form of Aryan poetry in existence.</p> +<p>There is in the West a misunderstanding as to the exact meaning +of "Vedic" and "Sanscrit"; for the latter is often used as if it +were synonymous with Indian; whereas, only the later Indian +literature can be classed under that head, and "Vedic" is often +used to indicate only the Vedic Hymns, whereas it really denotes +Hymns, Bráhmanas, Upanishads, and Sutras; in fact, all +literature which orthodox Hindoos regard as sacred. The correct +distinction then between the Vedic and the Sanscrit writings is +that of holy writ and profane literature.</p> +<p>E.W.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page5" name="page5"></a>[pg 5]</span> +<h2>VEDIC HYMNS</h2> +<h3><a id="vedic-unknown" name="vedic-unknown">TO THE UNKNOWN +GOD</a></h3> +<p>In the beginning there arose the Golden Child. As soon as born, +he alone was the lord of all that is. He established the earth and +this heaven:—Who is the God to whom we shall offer +sacrifice?</p> +<p>He who gives breath, he who gives strength, whose command all +the bright gods revere, whose shadow is immortality, whose shadow +is death:—Who is the God to whom we shall offer +sacrifice?</p> +<p>He who through his might became the sole king of the breathing +and twinkling world, who governs all this, man and beast:—Who +is the God to whom we shall offer sacrifice?</p> +<p>He through whose might these snowy mountains are, and the sea, +they say, with the distant river; he of whom these regions are +indeed the two arms:—Who is the God to whom we shall offer +sacrifice?</p> +<p>He through whom the awful heaven and the earth were made fast, +he through whom the ether was established, and the firmament; he +who measured the air in the sky:—Who is the God to whom we +shall offer sacrifice?</p> +<p>He to whom heaven and earth, standing firm by his will, look up, +trembling in their mind; he over whom the risen sun shines +forth:—Who is the God to whom we shall offer sacrifice?</p> +<p>When the great waters went everywhere, holding the germ, and +generating light, then there arose from them the breath of the +gods:—Who is the God to whom we shall offer sacrifice?</p> +<p>He who by his might looked even over the waters which held power +and generated the sacrifice, he who alone is God above all +gods:—Who is the God to whom we shall offer sacrifice?</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page6" name="page6"></a>[pg 6]</span> +<p>May he not hurt us, he who is the begetter of the earth, or he, +the righteous, who begat the heaven; he who also begat the bright +and mighty waters:—Who is the God to whom we shall offer +sacrifice?</p> +<p>Pragâpati, no other than thou embraces all these created +things. May that be ours which we desire when sacrificing to thee: +may we be lords of wealth!</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page7" name="page7"></a>[pg 7]</span> +<h3><a id="vedic-maruts" name="vedic-maruts">TO THE +MARUTS</a><a id="footnotetag1" name="footnotetag1"></a><a href= +"#footnote1"><sup>1</sup></a></h3> +<h4>I</h4> +<p>Come hither, Maruts, on your chariots charged with lightning, +resounding with beautiful songs, stored with spears, and winged +with horses! Fly to us like birds, with your best food, you mighty +ones! They come gloriously on their red, or, it may be, on their +tawny horses which hasten their chariots. He who holds the axe is +brilliant like gold;—with the tire of the chariot they have +struck the earth. On your bodies there are daggers for beauty; may +they stir up our minds as they stir up the forests. For yourselves, +O well-born Maruts, the vigorous among you shake the stone for +distilling Soma. Days went round you and came back, O hawks, back +to this prayer, and to this sacred rite; the Gotamas making prayer +with songs, pushed up the lid of the cloud to drink. No such hymn +was ever known as this which Gotama sounded for you, O Maruts, when +he saw you on golden wheels, wild boars rushing about with iron +tusks. This comforting speech rushes sounding towards you, like the +speech of a suppliant: it rushed freely from our hands as our +speeches are wont to do.</p> +<h4>II</h4> +<p>Let us now proclaim for the robust host, for the herald of the +powerful Indra, their ancient greatness! O ye strong-voiced Maruts, +you heroes, prove your powers on your march, as with a torch, as +with a sword! Like parents bringing a dainty to their own son, the +wild Maruts play playfully at the sacrifices. The Rudras reach the +worshipper with their protection, strong in themselves, they do not +fail the sacrificer. For him to whom the immortal guardians have +given fulness of wealth, and who is himself a giver of oblations, +the Maruts, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page8" name= +"page8"></a>[pg 8]</span> who gladden men with the milk of rain, +pour out, like friends, many clouds. You who have stirred up the +clouds with might, your horses rushed forth, self-guided. All +beings who dwell in houses are afraid of you, your march is +brilliant with your spears thrust forth. When they whose march is +terrible have caused the rocks to tremble, or when the manly Maruts +have shaken the back of heaven, then every lord of the forest fears +at your racing, each shrub flies out of your way, whirling like +chariot-wheels. You, O terrible Maruts, whose ranks are never +broken, favorably fulfil our prayer! Wherever your glory-toothed +lightning bites, it crunches cattle, like a well-aimed bolt. The +Maruts whose gifts are firm, whose bounties are never ceasing, who +do not revile, and who are highly praised at the sacrifices, they +sing their song for to drink the sweet juice: they know the first +manly deeds of the hero Indra. The man whom you have guarded, O +Maruts, shield him with hundredfold strongholds from injury and +mischief—the man whom you, O fearful, powerful singers, +protect from reproach in the prosperity of his children. On your +chariots, O Maruts, there are all good things, strong weapons are +piled up clashing against each other. When you are on your +journeys, you carry the rings on your shoulders, and your axle +turns the two wheels at once. In their manly arms there are many +good things, on their chests golden chains, flaring ornaments, on +their shoulders speckled deer-skins, on their fellies sharp edges; +as birds spread their wings, they spread out splendors behind. +They, mighty by might, all-powerful powers, visible from afar like +the heavens with the stars, sweet-toned, soft-tongued singers with +their mouths, the Maruts, united with Indra, shout all around. This +is your greatness, O well-born Maruts!—your bounty extends +far, as the sway of Aditi. Not even Indra in his scorn can injure +that bounty, on whatever man you have bestowed it for his good +deeds. This is your kinship with us, O Maruts, that you, immortals, +in former years have often protected the singer. Having through +this prayer granted a hearing to man, all these heroes together +have become well known by their valiant deeds. That we may long +flourish, O Maruts, with your wealth, O ye racers, that our men may +spread in the camp, therefore let me achieve the rite with these +offerings. May this praise, O Maruts, this song of +Mândârya, the son of Mâna, the poet, ask you with +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page9" name="page9"></a>[pg 9]</span> +food for offspring for ourselves! May we have an invigorating +autumn, with quickening rain!</p> +<h4>III</h4> +<p>For the manly host, the joyful, the wise, for the Maruts bring +thou, O Nodhas, a pure offering. I prepare songs, like as a handy +priest, wise in his mind, prepares the water, mighty at sacrifices. +They are born, the tall bulls of heaven, the manly youths of Rudra, +the divine, the blameless, pure, and bright like suns; scattering +raindrops, full of terrible designs, like giants. The youthful +Rudras, they who never grow old, the slayers of the demon, have +grown irresistible like mountains. They throw down with their +strength all beings, even the strongest, on earth and in heaven. +They deck themselves with glittering ornaments for a marvellous +show; on their chests they fastened gold chains for beauty; the +spears on their shoulders pound to pieces; they were born together +by themselves, the men of Dyu. They who confer power, the roarers, +the devourers of foes, they made winds and lightnings by their +powers. The shakers milk the heavenly udders, they sprinkle the +earth all round with milk. The bounteous Maruts pour forth water, +mighty at sacrifices, the fat milk of the clouds. They seem to lead +about the powerful horse, the cloud, to make it rain; they milk the +thundering, unceasing spring. Mighty they are, powerful, of +beautiful splendor, strong in themselves like mountains, yet +swiftly gliding along;—you chew up forests, like wild +elephants, when you have assumed your powers among the red flames. +Like lions they roar, the wise Maruts, they are handsome like +gazelles, the all-knowing. By night with their spotted rain-clouds +and with their spears—lightnings—they rouse the +companions together, they whose ire through strength is like the +ire of serpents. You who march in companies, the friends of man, +heroes, whose ire through strength is like the ire of serpents, +salute heaven and earth! On the seats on your chariots, O Maruts, +the lightning stands, visible like light. All-knowing, surrounded +with wealth, endowed with powers, singers, men of endless prowess, +armed with strong rings, they, the archers, have taken the arrow in +their fists. The Maruts who with the golden tires of their wheels +increase the rain, stir up the clouds like wanderers <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page10" name="page10"></a>[pg 10]</span> on the +road. They are brisk, indefatigable, they move by themselves; they +throw down what is firm, the Maruts with their brilliant spears +make everything to reel. We invoke with prayer the offspring of +Rudra, the brisk, the pure, the worshipful, the active. Cling for +happiness-sake to the strong company of the Maruts, the chasers of +the sky, the powerful, the impetuous. The mortal whom ye, Maruts, +protected, he indeed surpasses people in strength through your +protection. He carries off booty with his horses, treasures with +his men; he acquires honorable wisdom, and he prospers. Give, O +Maruts, to our lords strength glorious, invincible in battle, +brilliant, wealth-acquiring, praiseworthy, known to all men. Let us +foster our kith and kin during a hundred winters. Will you then, O +Maruts, grant unto us wealth, durable, rich in men, defying all +onslaughts?—wealth a hundred and a thousand-fold, always +increasing?—May he who is rich in prayers come early and +soon!</p> +<h4>IV</h4> +<p>Sing forth, O Kanvas, to the sportive host of your Maruts, +brilliant on their chariots, and unscathed,—they who were +born together, self-luminous, with the spotted deer, the spears, +the daggers, the glittering ornaments. I hear their whips, almost +close by, when they crack them in their hands; they gain splendor +on their way. Sing forth the god-given prayer to the wild host of +your Maruts, endowed with terrible vigor and strength. Celebrate +the bull among the cows, for it is the sportive host of the Maruts; +he grew as he tasted the rain. Who, O ye men, is the strongest +among you here, ye shakers of heaven and earth, when you shake them +like the hem of a garment? At your approach the son of man holds +himself down; the gnarled cloud fled at your fierce anger. They at +whose racings the earth, like a hoary king, trembles for fear on +their ways, their birth is strong indeed: there is strength to come +forth from their mother, nay, there is vigor twice enough for it. +And these sons, the singers, stretched out the fences in their +racings; the cows had to walk knee-deep. They cause this long and +broad unceasing rain to fall on their ways. O Maruts, with such +strength as yours, you have caused men to tremble, you have caused +the mountains to <span class="pagenum"><a id="page11" name= +"page11"></a>[pg 11]</span> tremble. As the Maruts pass along, they +talk together on the way: does anyone hear them? Come fast on your +quick steeds! there are worshippers for you among the Kanvas: may +you well rejoice among them. Truly there is enough for your +rejoicing. We always are their servants, that we may live even the +whole of life.</p> +<h4>V</h4> +<p>To every sacrifice you hasten together, you accept prayer after +prayer, O quick Maruts! Let me therefore bring you hither by my +prayers from heaven and earth, for our welfare, and for our great +protection; the shakers who were born to bring food and light, +self-born and self-supported, like springs, like thousandfold waves +of water, aye, visibly like unto excellent bulls, those Maruts, +like Soma-drops, which squeezed from ripe stems dwell, when drunk, +in the hearts of the worshipper—see how on their shoulders +there clings as if a clinging wife; in their hands the quoit is +held and the sword. Lightly they have come down from heaven of +their own accord: Immortals, stir yourselves with the whip! The +mighty Maruts on dustless paths, armed with brilliant spears, have +shaken down even the strong places. O ye Maruts, who are armed with +lightning-spears, who stirs you from within by himself, as the jaws +are stirred by the tongue? You shake the sky, as if on the search +for food; you are invoked by many, like the solar horse of the day. +Where, O Maruts, is the top, where the bottom of the mighty sky +where you came? When you throw down with the thunderbolt what is +strong, like brittle things, you fly across the terrible sea! As +your conquest is violent, splendid, terrible, full and crushing, +so, O Maruts, is your gift delightful, like the largess of a +liberal worshipper, wide-spreading, laughing like heavenly +lightning. From the tires of their chariot-wheels streams gush +forth, when they send out the voice of the clouds; the lightnings +smiled upon the earth, when the Maruts shower down fatness. Prisni +brought forth for the great fight the terrible train of the +untiring Maruts: when fed they produced the dark cloud, and then +looked about for invigorating food. May this praise, O Maruts, this +song of Mândârya, the son of Mâna, the poet, ask +you with food for offspring for ourselves! May we have an +invigorating autumn, with quickening rain!</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page12" name="page12"></a>[pg +12]</span> +<h4>VI</h4> +<p>The Maruts charged with rain, endowed with fierce force, +terrible like wild beasts, blazing in their strength, brilliant +like fires, and impetuous, have uncovered the rain-giving cows by +blowing away the cloud. The Maruts with their rings appeared like +the heavens with their stars, they shone wide like streams from +clouds as soon as Rudra, the strong man, was born for you, O +golden-breasted Maruts, in the bright lap of Prisni. They wash +their horses like racers in the courses, they hasten with the +points of the reed on their quick steeds. O golden-jawed Maruts, +violently shaking your jaws, you go quick with your spotted deer, +being friends of one mind. Those Maruts have grown to feed all +these beings, or, it may be, they have come hither for the sake of +a friend, they who always bring quickening rain. They have spotted +horses, their bounties cannot be taken away, they are like headlong +charioteers on their ways. O Maruts, wielding your brilliant +spears, come hither on smooth roads with your fiery cows whose +udders are swelling; being of one mind, like swans toward their +nests, to enjoy the sweet offering. O one-minded Maruts, come to +our prayers, come to our libations like Indra praised by men! +Fulfil our prayer, like the udder of a barren cow, and make the +prayer glorious by booty to the singer. Grant us this strong horse +for our chariot, a draught that rouses our prayers, from day to +day, food to the singers, and to the poet in our homesteads luck, +wisdom, inviolable and invincible strength. When the gold-breasted +Maruts harness the horses to their chariots, bounteous in wealth, +then it is as if a cow in the folds poured out to her calf copious +food, to every man who has offered libations. Whatever mortal enemy +may have placed us among wolves, shield us from hurt, ye Vasus! +Turn the wheels with burning heat against him, and strike down the +weapon of the impious fiend, O Rudras! Your march, O Maruts, +appears brilliant, whether even friends have milked the udder of +Prisni, or whether, O sons of Rudra, you mean to blame him who +praises you, and to weaken those who are weakening Trita, O +unbeguiled heroes. We invoke you, the great Maruts, the constant +wanderers, at the offering of the rapid Vishnu; holding ladles and +prayerful we ask the golden-colored and exalted Maruts for glorious +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page13" name="page13"></a>[pg +13]</span> wealth. The Dasagvas carried on the sacrifice first; may +they rouse us at the break of dawn. Like the dawn, they uncover the +dark nights with the red rays, the strong ones, with their +brilliant light, as with a sea of milk. With the morning clouds, as +if with glittering red ornaments, these Maruts have grown great in +the sacred places. Streaming down with rushing splendor, they have +assumed their bright and brilliant color. Approaching them for +their great protection to help us, we invoke them with this +worship, they whom Trita may bring near, like the five Hotri +priests for victory, descending on their chariot to help. May that +grace of yours by which you help the wretched across all anguish, +and by which you deliver the worshipper from the reviler, come +hither, O Maruts; may your favor approach us like a cow going to +her calf!</p> +<h4>VII</h4> +<p>I come to you with this adoration, with a hymn I implore the +favor of the quick Maruts. O Maruts, you have rejoiced in it +clearly, put down then all anger and unharness your horses! This +reverent praise of yours, O Maruts, fashioned in the heart, has +been offered by the mind, O gods! Come to it, pleased in your mind, +for you give increase to our worship. May the Maruts when they have +been praised be gracious to us, and likewise Indra, the best giver +of happiness, when he has been praised. May our lances through our +valor stand always erect, O Maruts! I am afraid of this powerful +one, and trembling in fear of Indra. For you the offerings were +prepared—we have now put them away, forgive us! Thou through +whom the Mânas see the mornings, whenever the eternal dawns +flash forth with power, O Indra, O strong hero, grant thou glory to +us with the Maruts, terrible with the terrible ones, strong and a +giver of victory. O Indra, protect thou these bravest of men, let +thy anger be turned away from the Maruts, for thou hast become +victorious together with those brilliant heroes. May we have an +invigorating autumn, with quickening rain!</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page14" name="page14"></a>[pg +14]</span> +<h4>VIII</h4> +<p>O Maruts, that man in whose dwelling you drink the Soma, ye +mighty sons of heaven, he indeed has the best guardians. You who +are propitiated either by sacrifices or from the prayers of the +sage, hear the call, O Maruts! Aye, the powerful man to whom you +have granted a sage, he will live in a stable rich in cattle. On +the altar of this strong man Soma is poured out in daily +sacrifices; praise and joy are sung. To him let the mighty Maruts +listen, to him who surpasses all men, as the flowing rain-clouds +pass over the sun. For we, O Maruts, have sacrificed at many +harvests, through the mercies of the storm-gods. May that mortal be +blessed, O chasing Maruts, whose offerings you carry off. You take +notice either of the sweat of him who praises you, ye men of true +strength, or of the desire of the suppliant. O ye of true strength, +make this manifest with might! strike the fiend with your +lightning! Hide the hideous darkness, destroy every tusky fiend. +Make the light which we long for!</p> +<h4>IX</h4> +<p>Endowed with exceeding vigor and power, the singers, the never +flinching, the immovable, the impetuous, the most beloved and most +manly, have decked themselves with their glittering ornaments, a +few only, like the heavens with the stars. When you have seen your +way through the clefts, like birds, O Maruts, on whatever road it +be, then the clouds on your chariots trickle everywhere, and you +pour out the honey-like fatness for him who praises you. At their +racings the earth shakes, as if broken, when on the heavenly paths +they harness their deer for victory. They the sportive, the +roaring, with bright spears, the shakers of the clouds have +themselves glorified their greatness. That youthful company, with +their spotted horses, moves by itself; hence it exercises lordship, +invested with powers. Thou indeed art true, thou searchest out sin, +thou art without blemish. Therefore the manly host will help this +prayer. We speak after the kind of our old father, our tongue goes +forth at the sight of the Soma: when the singers had joined Indra +in deed, then only they took their <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page15" name="page15"></a>[pg 15]</span> holy names;—these +Maruts, armed with beautiful rings, obtained splendors for their +glory, they obtained rays, and men to celebrate them; nay, armed +with daggers, speeding along, and fearless, they found the beloved +domain of the Maruts.</p> +<h4>X</h4> +<p>What then now? When will you take us as a dear father takes his +son by both hands, O ye gods, for whom the sacred grass has been +trimmed? Where now? On what errand of yours are you going, in +heaven, not on earth? Where are your cows sporting? Where are your +newest favors, O Maruts? Where the blessings? Where all delights? +If you, sons of Prisni, were mortals, and your praiser an immortal, +then never should your praiser be unwelcome, like a deer in pasture +grass, nor should he go on the path of Yama. Let not one sin after +another, difficult to be conquered, overcome us; may it depart +together with greed. Truly they are terrible and powerful; even to +the desert the Rudriyas bring rain that is never dried up. The +lightning lows like a cow, it follows as a mother follows after her +young, when the shower of the Maruts has been let loose. Even by +day the Maruts create darkness with the water-bearing cloud, when +they drench the earth. Then from the shouting of the Maruts over +the whole space of the earth, men reeled forward. Maruts on your +strong-hoofed, never-wearying steeds go after those bright ones, +which are still locked up. May your fellies be strong, the +chariots, and their horses, may your reins be well-fashioned. Speak +forth forever with thy voice to praise the Lord of prayer, Agni, +who is like a friend, the bright one. Fashion a hymn in thy mouth! +Expand like the cloud! Sing a song of praise. Worship the host of +the Maruts, the terrible, the glorious, the musical. May they be +magnified here among us.</p> +<h4>XI</h4> +<p>Let your voice-born prayers go forth to the great Vishnu, +accompanied by the Maruts, Evayâmarut, and to the chasing +host, adorned with good rings, the strong, in their jubilant +throng, to the shouting power of the Maruts. O Maruts, you who are +born great, and proclaim it yourselves by knowledge, <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page16" name="page16"></a>[pg 16]</span> +Evayâmarut, that power of yours cannot be approached by +wisdom, that power of theirs cannot be approached by gift or might; +they are like unapproachable mountains. They who are heard with +their voice from the high heaven, the brilliant and strong, +Evayâmarut, in whose council no tyrant reigns, the rushing +chariots of these roaring Maruts come forth, like fires with their +own lightning. The wide-striding Vishnu strode forth from the great +common seat, Evayâmarut. When he has started by himself from +his own place along the ridges, O ye striving, mighty Maruts, he +goes together with the heroes, conferring blessings. Impetuous, +like your own shout, the strong one made everything tremble, the +terrible, the wanderer, the mighty, Evayâmarut; strong with +him you advanced self-luminous, with firm reins, golden colored, +well armed, speeding along. Your greatness is infinite, ye Maruts, +endowed with full power, may that terrible power help, +Evayâmarut. In your raid you are indeed to be seen as +charioteers; deliver us therefore from the enemy, like shining +fires. May then these Rudras, lively like fires and with vigorous +shine, help, Evayâmarut. The seat of the earth is stretched +out far and wide, when the hosts of these faultless Maruts come +quickly to the races. Come kindly on your path, O Maruts, listen to +the call of him who praises you, Evayâmarut. Confidants of +the great Vishnu, may you together, like charioteers, keep all +hateful things far, by your wonderful skill. Come zealously to our +sacrifice, ye worshipful, hear our guileless call, +Evayâmarut. Like the oldest mountains in the sky, O wise +guardians, prove yourselves for him irresistible to the enemy.</p> +<h4>XII</h4> +<p>O Syâvâsva, sing boldly with the Maruts, the singers +who, worthy themselves of sacrifice, rejoice in their guileless +glory according to their nature. They are indeed boldly the friends +of strong power; they on their march protect all who by themselves +are full of daring. Like rushing bulls, these Maruts spring over +the dark cows, and then we perceive the might of the Maruts in +heaven and on earth. Let us boldly offer praise and sacrifice to +your Maruts, to all them who protect the generation of men, who +protect the mortal from injury. They who are worthy, bounteous, men +of perfect strength, to those <span class="pagenum"><a id="page17" +name="page17"></a>[pg 17]</span> heavenly Maruts who are worthy of +sacrifice, praise the sacrifice! The tall men, coming near with +their bright chains, and their weapon, have hurled forth their +spears. Behind these Maruts there came by itself the splendor of +heaven, like laughing lightnings. Those who have grown up on earth, +or in the wide sky, or in the realm of the rivers, or in the abode +of the great heaven, praise that host of the Maruts, endowed with +true strength and boldness, whether those rushing heroes have by +themselves harnessed their horses for triumph, or whether these +brilliant Maruts have in the speckled cloud clothed themselves in +wool, or whether by their strength they cut the mountain asunder +with the tire of their chariot; call them comers, or goers, or +enterers, or followers, under all these names, they watch on the +straw for my sacrifice. The men watch, and their steeds watch. +Then, so brilliant are their forms to be soon, that people say, +Look at the strangers! In measured steps and wildly shouting the +gleemen have danced towards the cloud. They who appeared one by one +like thieves, were helpers to me to see the light. Worship, +therefore, O seer, that host of Maruts, and keep and delight them +with your voice, they who are themselves wise poets, tall heroes +armed with lightning-spears. Approach, O seer, the host of Maruts, +as a woman approaches a friend, for a gift; and you, Maruts, bold +in your strength, hasten hither, even from heaven, when you have +been praised by our hymns. If he, after perceiving them, has +approached them as gods with an offering, then may he for a gift +remain united with the brilliant Maruts, who by their ornaments are +glorious on their march. They, the wise Maruts, the lords, who, +when there was inquiry for their kindred, told me of the cow, they +told me of Prisni as their mother, and of the strong Rudra as their +father. The seven and seven heroes gave me each a hundred. On the +Yamunâ I clear off glorious wealth in cows, I clear wealth in +horses.</p> +<h4>XIII</h4> +<p>Those who glance forth like wives and yoke-fellows, the powerful +sons of Rudra on their way, they, the Maruts, have indeed made +heaven and earth to grow; they, the strong and wild, delight in the +sacrifices. When grown up, they attained to greatness; the Rudras +have established their seat in the sky. <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page18" name="page18"></a>[pg 18]</span> While +singing their song and increasing their vigor, the sons of Prisni +have clothed themselves in beauty. When these sons of the cow adorn +themselves with glittering ornaments, the brilliant ones put bright +weapons on their bodies. They drive away every adversary; fatness +streams along their paths;—when you, the powerful, who shine +with your spears, shaking even what is unshakable by +strength—when you, O Maruts, the manly hosts, had yoked the +spotted deer, swift as thought, to your chariots;—when you +had yoked the spotted deer before your chariots, hurling +thunderbolt in the fight, then the streams of the red-horse rush +forth: like a skin with water they water the earth. May the +swiftly-gliding, swift-winged horses carry you hither! Come forth +with your arms! Sit down on the grass-pile; a wide seat has been +made for you. Rejoice, O Maruts, in the sweet food. Strong in +themselves, they grew with might; they stepped to the firmament, +they made their seat wide. When Vishnu saved the enrapturing Soma, +the Maruts sat down like birds on their beloved altar. Like heroes +indeed thirsting for fight they rush about; like combatants eager +for glory they have striven in battles. All beings are afraid of +the Maruts; they are men terrible to behold, like kings. When the +clever Tvashtar had turned the well-made, golden, thousand-edged +thunderbolt, Indra takes it to perform his manly deeds; he slew +Vritra, he forced out the stream of water. By their power they +pushed the well aloft, they clove asunder the rock, however strong. +Blowing forth their voice the bounteous Maruts performed, while +drunk of Soma, their glorious deeds. They pushed the cloud athwart +this way, they poured out the spring to the thirsty Gotama. The +Maruts with beautiful splendor approach him with help, they in +their own ways satisfied the desire of the sage. The shelters which +you have for him who praises you, grant them threefold to the man +who gives! Extend the same to us, O Maruts! Give us, ye heroes, +wealth with valiant offspring!</p> +<h4>XIV</h4> +<p>Who are these resplendent men, dwelling together, the boys of +Rudra, also with good horses? No one indeed knows their births, +they alone know each other's birthplace. They plucked each other +with their beaks; the hawks, rushing like the wind, <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page19" name="page19"></a>[pg 19]</span> strove +together. A wise man understands these secrets, that Prisni, the +great, bore an udder. May that clan be rich in heroes by the +Maruts, always victorious, rich in manhood! They are quickest to +go, most splendid with splendor, endowed with beauty, strong with +strength. Strong is your strength, steadfast your powers, and thus +by the Maruts is this clan mighty. Resplendent is your breath, +furious are the minds of the wild host, like a shouting maniac. +Keep from us entirely your flame, let not your hatred reach us +here. I call on the dear names of your swift ones, so that the +greedy should be satisfied, O Maruts, the well-armed, the swift, +decked with beautiful chains, who themselves adorn their bodies. +Bright are the libations for you, the bright ones, O Maruts, a +bright sacrifice I prepare for the bright. In proper order came +those who truly follow the order, the bright born, the bright, the +pure. On your shoulders, O Maruts, are the rings, on your chests +the golden chains are fastened; far-shining like lightnings with +showers, you wield your weapons, according to your wont. Your +hidden splendors come forth; spread out your powers, O racers! +Accept, O Maruts, this thousandfold, domestic share, as an offering +for the house-gods. If you thus listen, O Maruts, to this praise, +at the invocation of the powerful sage, give him quickly a share of +wealth in plentiful offspring, which no selfish enemy shall be able +to hurt. The Maruts, who are fleet like racers, the manly youths, +shone like Yakshas; they are beautiful like boys standing round the +hearth, they play about like calves who are still sucking. May the +bounteous Maruts be gracious to us, opening up to us the firm +heaven and earth. May that bolt of yours which kills cattle and men +be far from us! Incline to us, O Vasus, with your favors. The Hotri +priest calls on you again and again, sitting down and praising your +common gift, O Maruts. O strong ones, he who is the guardian of so +much wealth, he calls on you with praises, free from guile. These +Maruts stop the swift, they bend strength by strength, they ward +off the curse of the plotter, and turn their heavy hatred on the +enemy. These Maruts stir up even the sluggard, even the vagrant, as +the gods pleased. O strong ones, drive away the darkness, and grant +us all our kith and kin. May we not fall away from your bounty, O +Maruts, may we not stay behind, O charioteers, in the distribution +of your gifts. Let us share in the <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page20" name="page20"></a>[pg 20]</span> brilliant wealth, the +well-acquired, that belongs to you, O strong ones. When valiant men +fiercely fight together, for rivers, plants, and houses, then, O +Maruts, sons of Rudra, be in battles our protectors from the enemy. +O Maruts, you have valued the praises which our fathers have +formerly recited to you; with the Maruts the victor is terrible in +battle, with the Maruts alone the racer wins the prize. O Maruts, +may we have a strong son, who is lord among men, a ruler, through +whom we may cross the waters to dwell in safety, and then obtain +our own home for you. May Indra then, Varuna, Mitra, Agni, the +waters, the plants, the trees of the forest be pleased with us. Let +us be in the keeping, in the lap of the Maruts; protect us always +with your favors.</p> +<h4>XV</h4> +<p>Sing to the company of the Maruts, growing up together, the +strong among the divine host: they stir heaven and earth by their +might, they mount up to the firmament from the abyss of Nirriti. +Even your birth was with fire and fury, O Maruts! You, terrible, +wrathful, never tiring! You who stand forth with might and +strength; everyone who sees the sun, fears at your coming. Grant +mighty strength to our lords, if the Maruts are pleased with our +praise. As a trodden path furthers a man, may they further us; help +us with your brilliant favors. Favored by you, O Maruts, a wise man +wins a hundred, favored by you a strong racer wins a thousand, +favored by you a king also kills his enemy: may that gift of yours +prevail, O ye shakers. I invite these bounteous sons of Rudra, will +these Maruts turn again to us? Whatever they hated secretly or +openly, that sin we pray the swift ones to forgive. This praise of +our lords has been spoken: may the Maruts be pleased with this +hymn. Keep far from us, O strong ones, all hatred, protect us +always with your favors!</p> +<h4>XVI</h4> +<p>Come hither, do not fail, when you march forward! Do not stay +away, O united friends, you who can bend even what is firm. O +Maruts, Ribhukshans, come hither on your flaming strong fellies, O +Rudras, come to us to-day with food, you <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page21" name="page21"></a>[pg 21]</span> +much-desired ones, come to the sacrifice, you friends of the +Sobharis. For we know indeed the terrible strength of the sons of +Rudra, of the vigorous Maruts, the liberal givers of rain. The +clouds were scattered, but the monster remained, heaven and earth +were joined together. O you who are armed with bright rings, the +tracts of the sky expanded, whenever you stir, radiant with your +own splendor. Even things that cannot be thrown down resound at +your race, the mountains, the lord of the forest—the earth +quivers on your marches. The upper sky makes wide room, to let your +violence pass, O Maruts, when these strong-armed heroes display +their energies in their own bodies. According to their wont these +men, exceeding terrible, impetuous, with strong and unbending +forms, bring with them beautiful light. The arrow of the Sobharis +is shot from the bowstrings at the golden chest on the chariot of +the Maruts. They, the kindred of the cow, the well-born, should +enjoy their food, the great ones should help us. Bring forward, O +strongly-anointed priests, your libations to the strong host of the +Maruts, the strongly advancing. O Maruts, O heroes, come quickly +hither, like winged hawks, on your chariot with strong horses, of +strong shape, with strong naves, to enjoy our libations. Their +anointing is the same, the golden chains shine on their arms, their +spears sparkle. These strong, manly, strong-armed Maruts, do not +strive among themselves; firm are the bows, the weapons on your +chariot, and on your faces are splendors. They whose terrible name, +wide-spreading like the ocean, is the one of all that is of use, +whose strength is like the vigor of their father, worship these +Maruts, and praise them! Of these shouters, as of moving spokes, no +one is the last; this is theirs by gift, by greatness is it theirs. +Happy is he who was under your protection, O Maruts, in former +mornings, or who may be so even now. Or he, O men, whose libations +you went to enjoy; that mighty one, O shakers, will obtain your +favors with brilliant riches and booty. As the sons of Rudra, the +servants of the divine Dyu, will it, O youths, so shall it be. +Whatever liberal givers may worship the Maruts, and move about +together as generous benefactors, even from them turn towards us +with a kinder heart, you youths! O Sobhari, call loud with your +newest song the young, strong, and pure Maruts, as the plougher +calls the cows. Worship the Maruts with a song, <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page22" name="page22"></a>[pg 22]</span> they who +are strong like a boxer, called in to assist those who call for him +in all fights; worship them the most glorious, like bright-shining +bulls. Yes, O united friends, kindred, O Maruts, by a common birth, +the oxen lick one another's humps. O ye dancers, with golden +ornaments on your chests, even a mortal comes to ask for your +brotherhood; take care of us, ye Maruts, for your friendship lasts +forever. O bounteous Maruts, bring us some of your Marut-medicine, +you friends, and steeds. With the favors whereby you favor the +Sindhu, whereby you save, whereby you help Krivi, with those +propitious favors be our delight, O delightful ones, ye who never +hate your followers. O Maruts, for whom we have prepared good +altars, whatever medicine there is on the Sindhu, on the +Asiknî, in the seas, on the mountains, seeing it, you carry +it all on your bodies. Bless us with it! Down to the earth, O +Maruts, with what hurts our sick one—straighten what is +crooked!</p> +<h4>XVII</h4> +<p>Full of devotion like priests with their prayers, wealthy like +pious men, who please the gods with their offerings, beautiful to +behold like brilliant kings, without a blemish like the youths of +our hamlets—they who are gold-breasted like Agni with his +splendor, quick to help like self-harnessed winds, good leaders +like the oldest experts, they are to the righteous man like Somas, +that yield the best protection. They who are roaring and hasting +like winds, brilliant like the tongues of fires, powerful like +mailed soldiers, full of blessings like the prayers of our fathers, +who hold together like the spokes of chariot-wheels, who glance +forward like victorious heroes, who scatter ghrita like wooing +youths, who chant beautifully like singers, intoning a hymn of +praise, who are swift like the best of horses, who are bounteous +like lords of chariots on a suit, who are hastening on like water +with downward floods, who are like the manifold Angiras with their +numerous songs. These noble sons of Sindhu are like +grinding-stones, they are always like Soma-stones, tearing +everything to pieces; these sons of a good mother are like playful +children, they are by their glare like a great troop on its march. +Illumining the sacrifice like the rays of the dawn, they shone +forth in their ornaments like triumphant warriors; the Maruts with +bright spears seem <span class="pagenum"><a id="page23" name= +"page23"></a>[pg 23]</span> like running rivers, from afar they +measure many miles. O gods, make us happy and rich, prospering us, +your praisers, O Maruts! Remember our praise and our friendship, +for from of old there are always with you gifts of treasures.</p> +<h4>XVIII</h4> +<p>O Indra, a thousand have been thy helps accorded to us, a +thousand, O driver of the bays, have been thy most delightful +viands. May thousands of treasures richly to enjoy, may goods come +to us a thousandfold. May the Maruts come towards us with their +aids, the mighty ones, or with their best aids from the great +heaven, now that their furthest steeds have rushed forth on the +distant shore of the sea; there clings to the Maruts one who moves +in secret, like a man's wife,<a id="footnotetag2" name= +"footnotetag2"></a><a href="#footnote2"><sup>2</sup></a> and who is +like a spear carried behind, well grasped, resplendent, +gold-adorned; there is also with them Vâk,<a id= +"footnotetag3" name="footnotetag3"></a><a href= +"#footnote3"><sup>3</sup></a> like unto a courtly, eloquent woman. +Far away the brilliant, untiring Maruts cling to their young maid, +as if she belonged to them all; but the terrible ones did not drive +away Rodasi, for they wished her to grow their friend. When the +divine Rodasi with dishevelled locks, the manly-minded, wished to +follow them, she went, like Sûryâ,<a id="footnotetag4" +name="footnotetag4"></a><a href="#footnote4"><sup>4</sup></a> to +the chariot of her servant, with terrible look, as with the pace of +a cloud. As soon as the poet with the libations, O Maruts, had sung +his song at the sacrifice, pouring out Soma, the youthful men +placed the young maid in their chariot as their companion for +victory, mighty in assemblies. I praise what is the praiseworthy +true greatness of those Maruts, that the manly-minded, proud, and +strong one drives with them towards the blessed mothers. They +protect Mitra and Varuna from the unspeakable, and Aryaman also +finds out the infamous. Even what is firm and unshakable is being +shaken; but he who dispenses treasures, O Maruts, has grown in +strength. No people indeed, whether near to us, or from afar, have +ever found the end of your strength, O Maruts! The Maruts, strong +in daring strength, have, like the sea, boldly surrounded their +haters. May we to-day, may we tomorrow in battle be called the most +beloved of Indra. We were so formerly, may we truly be so day by +day, and may the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page24" name= +"page24"></a>[pg 24]</span> lord of the Maruts be with us. May this +praise, O Maruts, this song of Mândârya, the son of +Mâna, the poet, ask you with food for offspring for +ourselves! May we have an invigorating autumn, with quickening +rain!</p> +<h4>XIX</h4> +<p>Who knows their birth? or who was of yore in the favor of the +Maruts, when they harnessed the spotted deer? Who has heard them +when they had mounted their chariots, how they went forth? For the +sake of what liberal giver did they run, and their comrades +followed, as streams of rain filled with food? They themselves said +to me when day by day they came to the feast with their birds: they +are manly youths and blameless; seeing them, praise them thus; they +who shine by themselves in their ornaments, their daggers, their +garlands, their golden chains, their rings, going on their chariots +and on dry land. O Maruts, givers of quickening rain, I am made to +rejoice, following after your chariots, as after days going with +rain. The bucket which the bounteous heroes shook down from heaven +for their worshipper, that cloud they send along heaven and earth, +and showers follow on the dry land. The rivers having pierced the +air with a rush of water, went forth like milk-cows; when your +spotted deer roll about like horses that have hasted to the +resting-place on their road. Come hither, O Maruts, from heaven, +from the sky, even from near; do not go far away! Let not the +Rasâ, the Anitabhâ, the Kubhâ, the Krumu, let not +the Sindhu delay you! Let not the marshy Sarayu prevent you! May +your favor be with us alone! The showers come forth after the host +of your chariots, after the terrible Marut-host of the +ever-youthful heroes. Let us then follow with our praises and our +prayers each host of yours, each troop, each company. To what +well-born generous worshipper have the Maruts gone to-day on that +march, on which you bring to kith and kin the never-failing seed of +corn? Give us that for which we ask you, wealth and everlasting +happiness! Let us safely pass through our revilers, leaving behind +the unspeakable and the enemies. Let us be with you when in the +morning you shower down health, wealth, water, and medicine, O +Maruts! That mortal, O men, O Maruts, whom you protect, may well be +always beloved <span class="pagenum"><a id="page25" name= +"page25"></a>[pg 25]</span> by the gods, and rich in valiant +offspring. May we be such! Praise the liberal Maruts, and may they +delight on the path of this man here who praises them, like cows in +fodder. When they go, call after them as for old friends, praise +them who love you, with your song!</p> +<h4>XX</h4> +<p>You have fashioned this speech for the brilliant Marut-host +which shakes the mountains: celebrate then the great manhood in +honor of that host who praises the warm milk of the sacrifice, and +sacrifices on the height of heaven, whose glory is brilliant. O +Maruts, your powerful men came forth searching for water, +invigorating, harnessing their horses, swarming around. When they +aim with the lightning, Trita shouts, and the waters murmur, +running around on their course. These Maruts are men brilliant with +lightning, they shoot with thunderbolts, they blaze with the wind, +they shake the mountains, and suddenly, when wishing to give water, +they whirl the hail; they have thundering strength, they are +robust, they are ever-powerful. When you drive forth the nights, O +Rudras, the days, O powerful men, the sky, the mists, ye shakers, +the plains, like ships, and the strongholds, O Maruts, you suffer +nowhere. That strength of yours, O Maruts, that greatness extended +as far as the sun extends its daily course, when you, like your +deer on their march, went down to the western mountain with +untouched splendor. Your host, O Maruts, shone forth when, O sages, +you strip, like a caterpillar, the waving tree. Conduct then, O +friends, our service to a good end, as the eye conducts the man in +walking. That man, O Maruts, is not overpowered, he is not killed, +he does not fail, he does not shake, he does not drop, his goods do +not perish, nor his protections, if you lead him rightly, whether +he be a seer or a king. The men with their steeds, like conquerors +of clans, like Aryaman, the Maruts, carrying waterskins, fill the +well; when the strong ones roar, they moisten the earth with the +juice of sweetness. When the Maruts come forth this earth bows, the +heaven bows, the paths in the sky bow, and the cloud-mountains with +their quickening rain. When you rejoice at sunrise, O Maruts, +toiling together, men of sunlight, men of heaven, your horses never +tire in running, and you <span class="pagenum"><a id="page26" name= +"page26"></a>[pg 26]</span> quickly reach the end of your journey. +On your shoulders are the spears, on your feet rings, on your +chests golden chains, O Maruts, on your chariot gems; fiery +lightnings in your fists, and golden headbands tied round your +heads. O Maruts, you shake the red apple from the firmament, whose +splendor no enemy can touch; the hamlets bowed when the Maruts +blazed, and the pious people intoned their far-reaching shout. O +wise Maruts, let us carry off the wealth of food which you have +bestowed on us; give us, O Maruts, such thousandfold wealth as +never fails, like the star Tishya from heaven! O Maruts, you +protect our wealth of excellent men, and the seer, clever in song; +you give to the warrior a strong horse, you make the king to be +obeyed. O you who are quickly ready to help, I implore you for +wealth whereby we may overshadow all men, like the sky. O Maruts, +be pleased with this word of mine, and let us speed by its speed +over a hundred winters!</p> +<h4>XXI</h4> +<p>The chasing Maruts with gleaming spears, the golden-breasted, +have gained great strength, they move along on quick, well-broken +horses;—when they went in triumph, the chariots followed. You +have yourselves, you know, acquired power; you shine bright and +wide, you great ones. They have even measured the sky with their +strength;—when they went in triumph, the chariots followed. +The strong heroes, born together, and nourished together, have +further grown to real beauty. They shine brilliantly like the rays +of the sun;—when they went in triumph, the chariots followed. +Your greatness, O Maruts, is to be honored, it is to be yearned for +like the sight of the sun. Place us also in immortality;—when +they went in triumph, the chariots followed. O Maruts, you raise +the rain from the sea, and rain it down, O yeomen! Your milch-cows, +O destroyers, are never destroyed;—when they went in triumph, +the chariots followed. When you have joined the deer as horses to +the shafts, and have clothed yourselves in golden garments, then, O +Maruts, you scatter all enemies;—when they went in triumph, +the chariots followed. Not mountains, not rivers have kept you +back, wherever you see, O Maruts, there you go. You go even round +heaven and earth;—when they went in triumph, the chariots +followed. Be <span class="pagenum"><a id="page27" name= +"page27"></a>[pg 27]</span> it old, O Maruts, or be it new, be it +spoken, O Vasus, or be it recited, you take cognizance of it +all;—when they went in triumph, the chariots followed. Have +mercy on us, O Maruts, do not strike us, extend to us your manifold +protection. Do remember the praise, the friendship;—when they +went in triumph, the chariots followed. Lead us, O Maruts, towards +greater wealth, and out of tribulations, when you have been +praised. O worshipful Maruts, accept our offering, and let us be +lords of treasures!</p> +<h4>XXII</h4> +<p>O Agni, on to the strong host of the Maruts, bedecked with +golden chains and ornaments. To-day I call the folk of the Maruts +down from the light of heaven. As thou, Agni, thinkest in thine +heart, to the same object my wishes have gone. Strengthen thou +these Maruts, terrible to behold, who have come nearest to thy +invocations. Like a bountiful lady, the earth comes towards us, +staggering, yet rejoicing; for your onslaught, O Maruts, is +vigorous, like a bear, and fearful, like a wild bull. They who by +their strength disperse wildly like bulls, impatient of the yoke, +they by their marches make the heavenly stone, the rocky mountain +cloud to shake. Arise, for now I call with my hymns the troop of +these Maruts, grown strong together, the manifold, the +incomparable, as if calling a drove of bulls. Harness the red mares +to the chariot, harness the ruddy horses to the chariots, harness +the two bays, ready to drive in the yoke, most vehement to drive in +the yoke. And this red stallion too, loudly neighing, has been +placed here, beautiful to behold; may it not cause you delay on +your marches, O Maruts; spur him forth on your chariots.</p> +<p>We call towards us the glorious chariot of the Maruts, whereon +there stands also Rodasî, carrying delightful gifts, among +the Maruts.</p> +<p>I call hither this your host, brilliant on chariots, terrible +and glorious, among which she, the well-born and fortunate, the +bounteous lady, is also magnified among the Maruts.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page28" name="page28"></a>[pg +28]</span> +<h4>XXIII</h4> +<p>O Rudras, joined by Indra, friends on golden chariots, come +hither for our welfare! This prayer from us is acceptable to you +like the springs of heaven to a thirsty soul longing for water. O +you sons of Prisni, you are armed with daggers and spears, you are +wise, carrying good bows and arrows and quivers, possessed of good +horses and chariots. With your good weapons, O Maruts, you go to +triumph! You shake the sky and the mountains for wealth to the +liberal giver; the forests bend down out of your way from fear. O +sons of Prisni, you rouse the earth when you, O terrible ones, have +harnessed the spotted deer for triumph! The Maruts, blazing with +the wind, clothed in rain, are as like one another as twins, and +well adorned. They have tawny horses, and red horses, they are +faultless, endowed with exceeding vigor; they are in greatness wide +as the heaven. Rich in rain-drops, well adorned, bounteous, +terrible to behold, of inexhaustible wealth, noble by birth, +golden-breasted, these singers of the sky have obtained their +immortal name. Spears are on your two shoulders, in your arms are +placed strength, power, and might. Manly thoughts dwell in your +heads, on your chariots are weapons, and every beauty has been laid +on your bodies. O Maruts, you have given us wealth of cows, horses, +chariots, and heroes, golden wealth! O men of Rudra, bestow on us +great praise, and may I enjoy your divine protection! Hark, O +heroes, O Maruts! Be gracious to us! You who are of great bounty, +immortal, righteous, truly listening to us, poets, young, dwelling +on mighty mountains, and grown mighty.</p> +<h4>XXIV</h4> +<p>I praise now the powerful company of these ever-young Maruts, +who drive violently along with quick horses; aye, the sovereigns +are lords of Amrita the immortal. The terrible company, the +powerful, adorned with quoits on their hands, given to roaring, +potent, dispensing treasures, they who are beneficent, infinite in +greatness, praise, O poet, these men of great wealth! May your +water-carriers come here to-day, all the Maruts who stir up the +rain. That fire which has been lighted for you, O Maruts, accept +it, O young singers! O <span class="pagenum"><a id="page29" name= +"page29"></a>[pg 29]</span> worshipful Maruts, you create for man +an active king, fashioned by Vibhvan; from you comes the man who +can fight with his fist, and is quick with his arm, from you the +man with good horses and valiant heroes. Like the spokes of a +wheel, no one is last, like the days they are born on and on, not +deficient in might. The very high sons of Prisni are full of fury, +the Maruts cling firmly to their own will. When you have come forth +with your speckled deer as horses on strong-fellied chariots, O +Maruts, the waters gush, the forests go asunder;—let Dyu roar +down, the bull of the Dawn. At their approach, even the earth +opened wide, and they placed their own strength as a husband the +germ. Indeed they have harnessed the winds as horses to the yoke, +and the men of Rudra have changed their sweat into rain. Hark, O +heroes, O Maruts! Be gracious to us! You who are of great bounty, +immortal, righteous, truly listening to us, poets, young, dwelling +on mighty mountains, and grown mighty.</p> +<h4>XXV</h4> +<p>They truly tried to make you grant them welfare. Do thou sing +praises to Heaven, I offer sacrifice to the Earth. The Maruts wash +their horses and race to the air, they soften their splendor by +waving mists. The earth trembles with fear from their onset. She +sways like a full ship, that goes rolling. The heroes who appear on +their marches, visible from afar, strive together within the great +sacrificial assembly. Your horn is exalted for glory, as the horns +of cows; your eye is like the sun, when the mist is scattered. Like +strong racers, you are beautiful, O heroes, you think of glory, +like manly youths. Who could reach, O Maruts, the great wise +thoughts, who the great manly deeds of you, great ones? You shake +the earth like a speck of dust, when you are carried forth for +granting welfare. These kinsmen are like red horses, like heroes +eager for battle, and they have rushed forward to fight. They are +like well-grown manly youths, and the men have grown strong, with +streams of rain they dim the eye of the sun. At their outbreak +there is none among them who is the eldest, or the youngest, or the +middle: they have grown by their own might, these sons of Prisni, +noble by birth, the boys of Dyaus; come hither to us!</p> +<p>Those who like birds flew with strength in rows from the ridge +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page30" name="page30"></a>[pg +30]</span> of the mighty heaven to its ends, their horses shook the +springs of the mountain cloud, so that people on both sides knew +it. May Dyaus Aditi roar for our feast, may the dew-lighted Dawns +come striving together; these, the Maruts, O poet, the sons of +Rudra, have shaken the heavenly bucket cloud, when they had been +praised.</p> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote1" name= +"footnote1"></a><b>Footnote 1:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag1">(return)</a> +<p>The Maruts are the "Storm-Gods".</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote2" name= +"footnote2"></a><b>Footnote 2:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag2">(return)</a> +<p>The lightning.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote3" name= +"footnote3"></a><b>Footnote 3:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag3">(return)</a> +<p>The voice of thunder.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote4" name= +"footnote4"></a><b>Footnote 4:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag4">(return)</a> +<p>The dawn.</p> +</blockquote> +<h3><a id="vedic-maruts-indra" name="vedic-maruts-indra">TO THE +MARUTS AND INDRA</a></h3> +<h4>The Prologue</h4> +<p>The sacrificer speaks:</p> +<p>To what splendor do the Maruts all equally cling, they who are +of the same age, and dwell in the same nest? With what +thoughts?—from whence are they come? Do these heroes sing +forth their own strength, wishing for wealth? Whose prayers have +the youths accepted? Who has turned the Maruts to his own +sacrifice? By what strong desire may we arrest them, they who float +through the air like hawks?</p> +<h4>The Dialogue</h4> +<p>The Maruts speak:</p> +<p>From whence, O Indra, dost thou come alone, thou who art mighty? +O lord of men, what has thus happened to thee? Thou greetest us +when thou comest together with us. Tell us then, thou with thy bay +horses, what thou hast against us!</p> +<p>Indra speaks:</p> +<p>The sacred songs are mine, the prayers; sweet are the libations! +My strength rises, my thunderbolt is hurled forth. They call for +me, the hymns yearn for me. Here are my horses, they carry me +hither.</p> +<p>The Maruts speak:</p> +<p>From thence, in company with our strong friends, having adorned +our bodies, we now harness our fallow deer with all our +might;—for, Indra, according to custom, thou hast come to be +with us.</p> +<p>Indra speaks:</p> +<p>Where, O Maruts, was that custom with you, when you left +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page31" name="page31"></a>[pg +31]</span> me alone in the killing of Ahi? I indeed am terrible, +powerful, strong,—I escaped from the blows of every +enemy.</p> +<p>The Maruts speak:</p> +<p>Thou hast achieved much with us as companions. With equal valor, +O hero! let us achieve then many things, O thou most powerful, O +Indra! whatever we, O Maruts, wish with our mind.</p> +<p>Indra speaks:</p> +<p>I slew Vritra, O Maruts, with Indra's might, having grown +powerful through my own vigor; I, who hold the thunderbolt in my +arms, have made these all-brilliant waters to flow freely for +man.</p> +<p>The Maruts speak:</p> +<p>Nothing, O mighty lord, is strong before thee: no one is known +among the gods like unto thee. No one who is now born comes near, +no one who has been born. Do what thou wilt do, thou who art grown +so strong.</p> +<p>Indra speaks:</p> +<p>Almighty strength be mine alone, whatever I may do, daring in my +heart; for I indeed, O Maruts, am known as terrible: of all that I +threw down, I, Indra, am the lord.</p> +<p>O Maruts, now your praise has pleased me, the glorious hymn +which you have made for me, ye men!—for me, for Indra, for +the joyful hero, as friends for a friend, for your own sake, and by +your own efforts.</p> +<p>Truly, there they are, shining towards me, bringing blameless +glory, bringing food. O Maruts, wherever I have looked for you, you +have appeared to me in bright splendor: appear to me also now!</p> +<h4>The Epilogue</h4> +<p>The sacrificer speaks:</p> +<p>Who has magnified you here, O Maruts? Come hither, O friends, +towards your friends. Ye brilliant Maruts, welcoming these prayers, +be mindful of these my rites. The wisdom of Mânya has brought +us hither, that he should help as the poet helps the performer of a +sacrifice: turn hither quickly! Maruts, on to the sage! the singer +has recited these prayers for you. May this your praise, O Maruts, +this song of Mândârya, the son of Mâna, the poet, +bring offspring for ourselves with food. May we have an +invigorating autumn, with quickening rain.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page32" name="page32"></a>[pg +32]</span> +<h3><a id="vedic-indra-maruts" name="vedic-indra-maruts">TO INDRA +AND THE MARUTS</a></h3> +<p>Those who stand around him while he moves on, harness the bright +red steed; the lights in heaven shine forth. They harness to the +chariot on each side his two favorite bays, the brown, the bold, +who can carry the hero. Thou who createst light where there was no +light, and form, O men! where there was no form, hast been born +together with the dawns. Thereupon they (the Maruts), according to +their wont, assumed again the form of new-born babes, taking their +sacred name. Thou, O Indra, with the swift Maruts, who break even +through the stronghold, hast found even in their hiding-place the +bright ones. The pious singers have, after their own mind, shouted +towards the giver of wealth, the great, the glorious Indra. Mayest +thou, host of the Maruts, be verily seen coming together with +Indra, the fearless: you are both happy-making, and of equal +splendor. With the beloved hosts of Indra, with the blameless, +hasting (Maruts), the sacrificer cries aloud. From yonder, O +traveller, Indra, come hither, or from the light of heaven; the +singers all yearn for it;—or we ask Indra for help from here, +or from heaven, or from above the earth, or from the great sky.</p> +<h3><a id="vedic-agni-maruts" name="vedic-agni-maruts">TO AGNI AND +THE MARUTS</a><a id="footnotetag5" name="footnotetag5"></a><a href= +"#footnote5"><sup>5</sup></a></h3> +<p>Thou art called forth to this fair sacrifice for a draught of +milk; with the Maruts come hither, O Agni! No god indeed, no +mortal, is beyond the might of thee, the mighty one; with the +Maruts come hither, O Agni! They who know of the great sky, the +Visve Devas without guile; with those Maruts come hither, O Agni! +The strong ones who sing their song, unconquerable by force; with +the Maruts come hither, O Agni! They who are brilliant, of terrible +designs, powerful, and devourers of foes; with the Maruts come +hither, O Agni! They who in heaven are enthroned as gods, in the +light of the firmament; with the Maruts come <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page33" name="page33"></a>[pg 33]</span> hither, O +Agni! They who toss the clouds across the surging sea; with the +Maruts come hither, O Agni! They who shoot with their darts across +the sea with might; with the Maruts come hither, O Agni! I pour out +to thee for the early draught the sweet juice of Soma; with the +Maruts come hither, O Agni!</p> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote5" name= +"footnote5"></a><b>Footnote 5:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag5">(return)</a> +<p>Agni is the "God of Fire."</p> +</blockquote> +<h3><a id="vedic-rudra" name="vedic-rudra">TO RUDRA</a><a id= +"footnotetag6" name="footnotetag6"></a><a href= +"#footnote6"><sup>6</sup></a></h3> +<p>We offer these prayers to Rudra, the strong, whose hair is +braided, who rules over heroes that he may be a blessing to man and +beast, that everything in this our village may be prosperous and +free from disease. Be gracious to us, O Rudra, and give us joy, and +we shall honor thee, the ruler of heroes, with worship. What health +and wealth father Manu acquired by his sacrifices, may we obtain +the same, O Rudra, under thy guidance. O bounteous Rudra, may we by +sacrifice obtain the good-will of thee, the ruler of heroes; come +to our clans, well-disposed, and, with unarmed men, we shall offer +our libation to thee. We call down for our help the fierce Rudra, +who fulfils our sacrifice, the swift, the wise; may he drive far +away from us the anger of the gods; we desire his good-will only. +We call down with worship the red boar of the sky, the god with +braided hair, the blazing form; may he who carries in his hand the +best medicines grant us protection, shield, and shelter! This +speech is spoken for the father of the Maruts, sweeter than sweet, +a joy to Rudra; grant to us also, O immortal, the food of mortals, +be gracious to us and to our kith and kin! Do not slay our great or +our small ones, our growing or our grown ones, our father or our +mother, and do not hurt our own bodies, O Rudra! O Rudra, hurt us +not in our kith and kin, nor in our own life, not in our cows, nor +in our horses! Do not slay our men in thy wrath: carrying +libations, we call on thee always. Like a shepherd, I have driven +these praises near to thee; O father of the Maruts, grant us thy +favor! For thy good-will is auspicious, and most gracious, hence we +desire thy protection alone. Let thy cow-slaying <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page34" name="page34"></a>[pg 34]</span> and thy +man-slaying be far away, and let thy favor be with us, O ruler of +heroes! Be gracious to us, and bless us, O god, and then give us +twofold protection. We have uttered our supplication to him, +desiring his help; may Rudra with the Maruts hear our call. May +Mitra, Varuna, Aditi, the River, Earth, and the Sky, grant us +this!</p> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote6" name= +"footnote6"></a><b>Footnote 6:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag6">(return)</a> +<p>Rudra is the "Father of the Maruts."</p> +</blockquote> +<h3><a id="vedic-rudra-2" name="vedic-rudra-2">TO RUDRA</a></h3> +<p>O father of the Maruts, let thy favor come near, and do not +deprive us of the sight of the sun; may the hero (Rudra) be +gracious to our horse, and may we increase in offspring, O Rudra! +May I attain to a hundred winters through the most blissful +medicines which thou hast given! Put away far from us all hatred, +put away anguish, put away sickness in all directions! In beauty +thou art the most beautiful of all that exists, O Rudra, the +strongest of the strong, thou wielder of the thunderbolt! Carry us +happily to the other shore of our anguish, and ward off all +assaults of mischief. Let us not incense thee, O Rudra, by our +worship, not by bad praise, O hero, and not by divided praise! +Raise up our men by thy medicines, for I hear thou art the best of +all physicians. He who is invoked by invocations and libations, may +I pay off that Rudra with my hymns of praise. Let not him who is +kind-hearted, who readily hears our call, the tawny, with beautiful +cheeks, deliver us to this wrath! The manly hero with the Maruts +has gladdened me, the suppliant, with more vigorous health. May I +without mischief find shade, as if from sunshine, may I gain the +favor of Rudra! O Rudra, where is thy softly stroking hand which +cures and relieves? Thou, the remover of all heaven-sent mischief, +wilt thou, O strong hero, bear with me? I send forth a great, great +hymn of praise to the bright tawny bull. Let me reverence the fiery +god with prostrations; we celebrate the flaring name of Rudra. He, +the fierce god, with strong limbs, assuming many forms, the tawny +Rudra, decked himself with brilliant golden ornaments. <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page35" name="page35"></a>[pg 35]</span> From +Rudra, who is lord of this wide world, divine power will never +depart. Worthily thou bearest arrows and bow, worthily, O +worshipful, the golden, variegated chain; worthily thou cuttest +every fiend here to pieces, for there is nothing indeed stronger +than thou, O Rudra. Praise him, the famous, sitting in his chariot, +the youthful, who is fierce and attacks like a terrible lion. And +when thou hast been praised, O Rudra, be gracious to him who +magnifies thee, and let thy armies mow down others than us! O +Rudra, a boy indeed makes obeisance to his father who comes to +greet him: I praise the lord of brave men, the giver of many gifts, +and thou, when thou hast been praised, wilt give us thy medicines. +O Maruts, those pure medicines of yours, the most beneficent and +delightful, O heroes, those which Manu, our father, chose, those I +crave from Rudra, as health and wealth. May the weapon of Rudra +avoid us, may the great anger of the flaring one pass us by. +Unstring thy strong bows for the sake of our liberal lords, O +bounteous Rudra, be gracious to our kith and kin. Thus, O tawny and +manly god, showing thyself, so as neither to be angry nor to kill, +be mindful of our invocations, and, rich in brave sons, we shall +magnify thee in the congregation.</p> +<h3><a id="vedic-agni-maruts-2" name="vedic-agni-maruts-2">TO AGNI +AND THE MARUTS</a></h3> +<p>I implore Agni, the gracious, with salutations, may he sit down +here, and gather what we have made. I offer him sacrifice as with +racing chariots; may I, turning to the right, accomplish this hymn +to the Maruts. Those who approached on their glorious deer, on +their easy chariots, the Rudras, the Maruts—through fear of +you, ye terrible ones, the forests even bend down, the earth +shakes, and also the mountain cloud. At your shouting, even the +mountain cloud, grown large, fears, and the ridge of heaven +trembles. When you play together, O Maruts, armed with spears, you +run together like waters. Like rich suitors the Maruts have +themselves adorned their bodies with golden ornaments; more +glorious for glory, and powerful on their chariots, they have +brought together splendors on their bodies. As brothers, no one +being the eldest or the youngest, they have grown up together to +happiness. <span class="pagenum"><a id="page36" name= +"page36"></a>[pg 36]</span> Young is their clever father Rudra, +flowing with plenty is Prisni, always kind to the Maruts. O happy +Maruts, whether you are in the highest, or in the middle, or in the +lowest heaven, from thence, O Rudras, or thou also, O Agni, take +notice of this libation which we offer. When Agni, and you, wealthy +Maruts, drive down from the higher heaven over the ridges, give +then, if pleased, you roarers, O destroyers of enemies, wealth to +the sacrificer who prepares Soma-juice. Agni, be pleased to drink +Soma with the brilliant Maruts, the singers, approaching in +companies, with the men, who brighten and enliven everything; do +this, Agni, thou who art always endowed with splendor.</p> +<h3><a id="vedic-vayu" name="vedic-vayu">TO VÂYU</a></h3> +<p>Come hither, O Vâyu, thou beautiful one! These Somas are +ready, drink of them, hear our call! O Vâyu, the praisers +celebrate thee with hymns, they who know the feast-days, and have +prepared the Soma. O Vâyu, thy satisfying stream goes to the +worshipper, wide-reaching, to the Soma-draught. O Indra and +Vâyu, these libations of Soma are poured out; come hither for +the sake of our offerings, for the drops of Soma long for you. O +Indra and Vâyu, you perceive the libations, you who are rich +in booty; come then quickly hither! O Vâyu and Indra, come +near to the work of the sacrificer, quick, thus is my prayer, O ye +men! I call Mitra, endowed with holy strength, and Varuna, who +destroys all enemies; who both fulfil a prayer accompanied by fat +offerings. On the right way, O Mitra and Varuna, you have obtained +great wisdom, you who increase the right and adhere to the right; +These two sages, Mitra and Varuna, the mighty, wide-ruling, give us +efficient strength.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page37" name="page37"></a>[pg +37]</span> +<h3><a id="vedic-vayu-2" name="vedic-vayu-2">TO VÂYU</a></h3> +<p>O Vâyu, may the quick racers bring thee towards the +offerings, to the early drink here, to the early drink of Soma! May +the Dawn stand erect, approving thy mind! Come near on thy +harnessed chariot to share, O Vâyu, to share in the +sacrifice! May the delightful drops of Soma delight thee, the drops +made by us, well-made, and heaven-directed, yes, made with milk, +and heaven-directed. When his performed aids assume strength for +achievement, our prayers implore the assembled steeds for gifts, +yes, the prayers implore them. Vâyu yokes the two ruddy, +Vâyu yokes the two red horses, Vâyu yokes to the +chariot the two swift horses to draw in the yoke, the strongest to +draw in the yoke. Awake Purandhi (the morning) as a lover wakes a +sleeping maid, reveal heaven and earth, brighten the dawn, yes, for +glory brighten the dawn. For thee the bright dawns spread out in +the distance beautiful garments, in their houses, in their rays, +beautiful in their new rays. To thee the juice-yielding cow pours +out all treasures. Thou hast brought forth the Maruts from the +flanks, yes, from the flanks of heaven. For thee the white, bright, +rushing Somas, strong in raptures, have rushed to the whirl, they +have rushed to the whirl of the waters. The tired hunter asks luck +of thee in the chase; thou shieldest by thy power from every being, +yes, thou shieldest by thy power from powerful spirits. Thou, O +Vâyu, art worthy as the first before all others to drink +these our Somas, thou art worthy to drink these poured-out Somas. +Among the people also who invoke thee and have turned to thee, all +the cows pour out the milk, they pour out butter and milk for the +Soma.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page38" name="page38"></a>[pg +38]</span> +<h3><a id="vedic-indra-agastya" name="vedic-indra-agastya">INDRA +AND AGASTYA: A DIALOGUE</a><a id="footnotetag7" name= +"footnotetag7"></a><a href="#footnote7"><sup>7</sup></a></h3> +<p>Indra: There is no such thing to-day, nor will it be so +to-morrow. Who knows what strange thing this is? We must consult +the thought of another, for even what we once knew seems to +vanish.</p> +<p>Agastya: Why dost thou wish to kill us, O Indra? the Maruts are +thy brothers; fare kindly with them, and do not strike us in +battle.</p> +<p>The Maruts: O Brother Agastya, why, being a friend, dost thou +despise us? We know quite well what thy mind was. Dost thou not +wish to give to us?</p> +<p>Agastya: Let them prepare the altar, let them light the fire in +front! Here we two will spread for thee the sacrifice, to be seen +by the immortal.</p> +<p>Agastya: Thou rulest, O lord of treasures; thou, lord of +friends, art the most generous. Indra, speak again with the Maruts, +and then consume our offerings at the right season.</p> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote7" name= +"footnote7"></a><b>Footnote 7:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag7">(return)</a> +<p>Agastya is a worshipper of Indra.</p> +</blockquote> +<h3><a id="vedic-soma-rudra" name="vedic-soma-rudra">TO SOMA AND +RUDRA</a></h3> +<p>Soma and Rudra, may you maintain your divine dominion, and may +the oblations reach you properly. Bringing the seven treasures to +every house, be kind to our children and our cattle. Soma and +Rudra, draw far away in every direction the disease which has +entered our house. Drive far away Nirriti, and may auspicious +glories belong to us! Soma and Rudra, bestow all these remedies on +our bodies. Tear away and remove from us whatever evil we have +committed, which clings to our bodies. Soma and Rudra, wielding +sharp weapons and sharp bolts, kind friends, be gracious unto us +here! Deliver us from the snare of Varuna, and guard us, as +kind-hearted gods!</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page39" name="page39"></a>[pg +39]</span> +<h3><a id="vedic-rudra-3" name="vedic-rudra-3">TO RUDRA</a></h3> +<p>Offer ye these songs to Rudra whose bow is strong, whose arrows +are swift, the self-dependent god, the unconquered conqueror, the +intelligent, whose weapons are sharp—may he hear us! For, +being the lord, he looks after what is born on earth; being the +universal ruler, he looks after what is born in heaven. Protecting +us, come to our protecting doors, be without illness among our +people, O Rudra! May that thunderbolt of thine, which, sent from +heaven, traverses the earth, pass us by! A thousand medicines are +thine, O thou who art freely accessible; do not hurt us through our +kith and kin! Do not strike us, O Rudra, do not forsake us! May we +not be in thy way when thou rushest forth furiously. Let us have +our altar and a good report among men—protect us always with +your favors!</p> +<h3><a id="vedic-vata" name="vedic-vata">TO VÂTA</a></h3> +<p>Now for the greatness of the chariot of Vâta. Its roar +goes crashing and thundering. It moves touching the sky, and +creating red sheens, or it goes scattering the dust of the earth. +Afterwards there rise the gusts of Vâta, they go towards him, +like women to a feast. The god goes with them on the same chariot, +he, the king of the whole of this world. When he moves on his paths +along the sky, he rests not even a single day; the friend of the +waters, the first-born, the holy, where was he born, whence did he +spring? The breath of the gods, the germ of the world, that god +moves wherever he listeth; his roars indeed are heard, not his +form—let us offer sacrifice to that Vâta!</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page40" name="page40"></a>[pg +40]</span> +<h3><a id="vedic-vata-2" name="vedic-vata-2">TO VÂTA</a></h3> +<p>May Vâta waft medicine, healthful, delightful to our +heart; may he prolong our lives! Thou, O Vâta, art our +father, and our brother, and our friend; do thou grant us to live! +O Vâta, from that treasure of the immortal which is placed in +thy house yonder, give us to live!</p> +<h4>I</h4> +<p>I magnify Agni, the Purohita, the divine ministrant of the +sacrifice, the Hotri priest, the greatest bestower of treasures. +Agni, worthy to be magnified by the ancient Rishis and by the +present ones—may he conduct the gods hither. May one obtain +through Agni wealth and welfare day by day, which may bring glory +and high bliss of valiant offspring. Agni, whatever sacrifice and +worship thou encompassest on every side, that indeed goes to the +gods. May Agni the thoughtful Hotri, he who is true and most +splendidly renowned, may the god come hither with the gods. +Whatever good thou wilt do to thy worshipper, O Agni, that work +verily is thine, O Angiras. Thee, O Agni, we approach day by day, O +god who shinest in the darkness; with our prayer, bringing +adoration to thee who art the king of all worship, the guardian of +Rita, the shining one, increasing in thy own house. Thus, O Agni, +be easy of access to us, as a father is to his son. Stay with us +for our happiness.</p> +<h4>II</h4> +<p>We implore with well-spoken words the vigorous Agni who belongs +to many people, to the clans that worship the gods, whom other +people also magnify. Men have placed Agni on the altar as the +augmenter of strength. May we worship thee, rich in sacrificial +food. Thus be thou here to-day gracious to us, a helper in our +striving for gain, O good one! We choose thee, the all-possessor, +as our messenger and as our Hotri. The flames of thee, who art +great, spread around; thy rays touch the heaven. The gods, Varuna, +Mitra, Aryaman, kindle thee, the ancient messenger. The mortal, O +Agni, who <span class="pagenum"><a id="page41" name= +"page41"></a>[pg 41]</span> worships thee, gains through thee every +prize. Thou art the cheerful Hotri and householder, O Agni, the +messenger of the clans. In thee all the firm laws are comprised +which the gods have made. In thee, the blessed one, O Agni, +youngest god, all sacrificial food is offered. Sacrifice then thou +who art gracious to us to-day and afterwards, to the gods that we +may be rich in valiant men. Him, the king, verily the adorers +approach reverentially. With oblations men kindle Agni, having +overcome all failures. Destroying the foe, they victoriously got +through Heaven and Earth and the waters; they have made wide room +for their dwelling. May the manly Agni, after he has received the +oblations, become brilliant at the side of Kanva; may he neigh as a +horse in battles. Take thy seat; thou art great. Shine forth, thou +who most excellently repairest to the gods. O Agni, holy god, emit +thy red, beautiful smoke, O glorious one! Thou whom the gods have +placed here for Manu as the best performer of the sacrifice, O +carrier of oblations, whom Kanva and Medhyâtithi, whom +Vrishan and Upastuta have worshipped, the winner of prizes. That +Agni's nourishment has shone brightly whom Medhyâtithi and +Kanva have kindled on behalf of Rita. Him do these hymns, him do we +extol. Fill us with wealth, thou self-dependent one, for thou, O +Agni, hast companionship with the gods. Thou art lord over glorious +booty. Have mercy upon us; thou art great. Stand up straight for +blessing us, like the god Savitri, straight a winner of booty, when +we with our worshippers and with ointments call thee in emulation +with other people. Standing straight, protect us by thy splendor +from evil; burn down every ghoul. Let us stand straight that we may +walk and live. Find out our worship among the gods. Save us, O +Agni, from the sorcerer, save us from mischief, from the niggard. +Save us from him who does us harm or tries to kill us, O youngest +god with bright splendor! As with a club smite the niggards in all +directions, and him who deceives us, O god with fiery jaws. The +mortal who makes his weapons very sharp by night, may that impostor +not rule over us. Agni has won abundance in heroes. Agni and the +two Mitras have blessed Medhyâtithi. Agni has blessed +Upastuta in the acquirement of wealth. Through Agni we call hither +from afar Turvasa, Yadu, and Ugradeva. May Agni, our strength +against the Dasyu, conduct hither Navavâstva, Brihadratha, +and Turvîti.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page42" name="page42"></a>[pg +42]</span> +<p>Manu has established thee, O Agni, as a light for all people. +Thou hast shone forth with Kanva, born from Rita, grown strong, +thou whom the human races worship. Agni's flames are impetuous and +violent; they are terrible and not to be withstood. Always burn +down the sorcerers, and the allies of the Yâtus, every +ghoul.</p> +<h4>III</h4> +<p>We choose Agni as our messenger, the all-possessor, as the Hotri +of this sacrifice, the highly wise. Agni and Agni! again they +constantly invoked with their invocations, the lord of the clans, +the bearer of oblations, the beloved of many. Agni, when born, +conduct the gods hither for him who has strewn the sacrificial +grass; thou art our Hotri, worthy of being magnified. Awaken them, +the willing ones, when thou goest as messenger, O Agni. Sit down +with the gods on the Barhis. O thou to whom Ghrita oblations are +poured out, resplendent god, burn against the mischievous, O Agni, +against the sorcerers. By Agni Agni is kindled, the sage, the +master of the house, the young one, the bearer of oblations, whose +mouth is the sacrificial spoon. Praise Agni the sage, whose +ordinances for the sacrifice are true, the god who drives away +sickness. Be the protector, O Agni, of a master of sacrificial food +who worships thee, O god, as his messenger. Be merciful, O +purifier, unto the man who is rich in sacrificial food, and who +invites Agni to the feast of the gods. Thus, O Agni, resplendent +purifier, conduct the gods hither to us, to our sacrifice and to +our food. Thus praised by us with our new Gâyatra hymn, bring +us wealth of valiant men and food. Agni with thy bright splendor be +pleased, through all our invocations of the gods, with this our +praise.</p> +<h4>IV</h4> +<p>With reverence I shall worship thee who art long-tailed like a +horse, Agni, king of worship. May he, our son of strength, +proceeding on his broad way, the propitious, become bountiful to +us. Thus protect us always, thou who hast a full life, from the +mortal who seeks to do us harm, whether near or afar. And mayest +thou, O Agni, announce to the gods this our newest efficient +Gâyatra song. Let us partake of all booty that is highest and +that is middle; help us to the wealth that is nearest. <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page43" name="page43"></a>[pg 43]</span> O god +with bright splendor, thou art the distributor. Thou instantly +flowest for the liberal giver in the wave of the river, near at +hand. The mortal, O Agni, whom thou protectest in battles, whom +thou speedest in the races, he will command constant nourishment: +Whosoever he may be, no one will overtake him, O conqueror Agni! +His strength is glorious. May he, known among all tribes, win the +race with his horses; may he with the help of his priests become a +gainer. O Garâbodha! Accomplish this task for every house: a +beautiful song of praise for worshipful Rudra. May he, the great, +the immeasurable, the smoke-bannered, rich in splendor, incite us +to pious thoughts and to strength. May he hear us, like the rich +lord of a clan, the banner of the gods, on behalf of our hymns, +Agni with bright light. Reverence to the great ones, reverence to +the lesser ones! Reverence to the young, reverence to the old! Let +us sacrifice to the gods, if we can. May I not, O gods, fall as a +victim to the curse of my better.</p> +<h4>V</h4> +<p>I press on for you with my prayer to the all-possessing +messenger, the immortal bearer of offerings, the best sacrificer. +He, the great one, knows indeed the place of wealth, the ascent to +heaven; may he conduct the gods hither. He, the god, knows how to +direct the gods for the righteous worshipper, in his house. He +gives us wealth dear to us. He is the Hotri; he who knows the +office of a messenger, goes to and fro, knowing the ascent to +heaven. May we be of those who have worshipped Agni with the gift +of offerings, who cause him to thrive and kindle him. The men who +have brought worship to Agni, are renowned as successful by wealth +and by powerful offspring. May much-desired wealth come to us day +by day; may gains arise among us. He, the priest of the tribes, the +priest of men, pierces all hostile powers by his might as with a +tossing bow.</p> +<h4>VI</h4> +<p>He has brought down the wisdom of many a worshipper, he who +holds in his hand all manly power. Agni has become the lord of +treasures, he who brought together all powers of immortality. All +the clever immortals when seeking did not find <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page44" name="page44"></a>[pg 44]</span> the calf +though sojourning round about us. The attentive gods, wearying +themselves, following his footsteps, stood at the highest, +beautiful standing-place of Agni. When the bright ones had done +service to thee, the bright one, Agni, with Ghrita through three +autumns, they assumed worshipful names; the well-born shaped their +own bodies. Acquiring for themselves the two great worlds, the +worshipful ones brought forward their Rudra-like powers. The +mortal, when beings were in discord, perceived and found out Agni +standing in the highest place. Being like-minded they reverentially +approached him on their knees. Together with their wives they +venerated the venerable one. Abandoning their bodies they made them +their own, the one friend waking when the other friend closed his +eyes. When the worshipful gods have discovered the thrice seven +secret steps laid down in thee, they concordantly guard with them +immortality. Protect thou the cattle and that which remains +steadfast and that which moves. Knowing, O Agni, the established +orders of human dwellings, distribute in due order gifts that they +may live. Knowing the ways which the gods do, thou hast become the +unwearied messenger, the bearer of oblations. They who knew the +right way and were filled with good intentions, beheld from heaven +the seven young rivers and the doors of riches. Saramâ found +the strong stable of the cows from which human clans receive their +nourishment. The Earth has spread herself far and wide with them +who are great in their greatness, the mother Aditi, for the +refreshment of the bird, with her sons who have assumed all powers +of their own dominion, preparing for themselves the way to +immortality. When the immortals created the two eyes of heaven, +they placed fair splendor in him. Then they rush down like streams +let loose. The red ones have recognized, O Agni, those which are +directed downwards.</p> +<h4>VII</h4> +<p>Forward goes your strength tending heavenward, rich in +offerings, with the ladle full of ghee. To the gods goes the +worshipper desirous of their favor. I magnify with prayer Agni who +has knowledge of prayers, the accomplisher of sacrifice, who hears +us, and in whom manifold wealth has been laid down. O Agni, may we +be able to bridle thee the strong god; <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page45" name="page45"></a>[pg 45]</span> may we overcome all +hostile powers. Agni, inflamed at the sacrifice, the purifier who +should be magnified, whose hair is flame—him we approach with +prayers. With his broad stream of light the immortal Agni, clothed +in ghee, well served with oblations, is the carrier of offerings at +the sacrifice. Holding the sacrificial ladles, performing the +sacrifice they have with right thought, pressingly brought Agni +hither for help. The Hotri, the immortal god goes in front with his +secret power, instigating the sacrifices. The strong is set at the +races. He is led forth at the sacrifices, the priest, the +accomplisher of sacrifice. He has been produced by prayer, the +excellent one. I have established him, the germ of beings, forever +the father of Daksha. I have laid thee down, the excellent one, +with the nourishment of Daksha, O thou who art produced by power, O +Agni, thee the resplendent one, O Usig. The priests, eager to set +to work the Rita, kindle with quick strength Agni the governor, him +who crosses the waters. I magnify the child of vigor at this +sacrifice, who shines under the heaven, the thoughtful Agni. He who +should be magnified and adored, who is visible through the +darkness, Agni, the manly, is kindled. Agni, the manly, is kindled, +he who draws hither the gods like a horse. The worshippers rich in +offerings magnify him. We the manly ones will kindle thee the manly +god, O manly Agni, who shinest mightily.</p> +<h4>VIII</h4> +<p>Produce thy stream of flames like a broad onslaught. Go forth +impetuous like a king with his elephant, thou art an archer; shoot +the sorcerers with thy hottest arrows. Thy whirls fly quickly. +Fiercely flaming touch them. O Agni, send forth with the ladle thy +heat, thy winged flames; send forth unfettered thy firebrands all +around. Being the quickest, send forth thy spies against all +evildoers. Be an undeceivable guardian of this clan. He who attacks +us with evil spells, far or near, may no such foe defy thy track. +Rise up, O Agni! Spread out against all foes! Burn down the foes, O +god with the sharp weapon! When kindled, O Agni, burn down like dry +brushwood, the man who exercises malice against us. Stand upright, +strike the foes away from us! Make manifest thy divine powers, O +Agni! Unbend the strong bows of those <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page46" name="page46"></a>[pg 46]</span> who incite demons against +us. Crush all enemies, be they relations or strangers. He knows thy +favor, O youngest one, who makes a way for a sacred speech like +this. Mayest thou beam forth to his doors all auspicious days and +the wealth and the splendor of the niggard. Let him, O Agni, be +fortunate and blessed with good rain, who longs to gladden thee +with constant offerings and hymns through his life in his house. +May such longing ever bring auspicious days to him. I praise thy +favor; it resounded here. May this song, which is like a favorite +wife, awaken for thee. Let us brighten thee, being rich in horses +and chariots. Mayest thou maintain our knightly power day by day. +May the worshipper here frequently of his own accord approach thee, +O god who shinest in darkness, resplendent day by day. Let us +worship thee sporting and joyous, surpassing the splendor of other +people. Whoever, rich in horses and rich in gold, approaches thee, +O Agni, with his chariot full of wealth—thou art the +protector and the friend of him who always delights in showing thee +hospitality. Through my kinship with thee I break down the great +foes by my words. That kinship has come down to me from my father +Gotama. Be thou attentive to this our word, O youngest, highly wise +Hotri, as the friend of our house. May those guardians of thine, +infallible Agni, sitting down together protect us, the never +sleeping, onward-pressing, kind, unwearied ones, who keep off the +wolf, who never tire. Thy guardians, O Agni, who seeing have saved +the blind son of Mamatâ from distress—He the possessor +of all wealth has saved them who have done good deeds. The +impostors, though trying to deceive, could not deceive. In thy +companionship we dwell, protected by thee. Under thy guidance let +us acquire gain. Accomplish both praises, O thou who art the truth! +Do so by thy present power, O fearless one! May we worship thee, O +Agni, with this log of wood. Accept the hymn of praise which we +recite. Burn down those who curse us, the sorcerers. Protect us, O +god who art great like Mitra, from guile, from revilement, and from +disgrace.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page47" name="page47"></a>[pg +47]</span> +<h4>IX</h4> +<p>Bright, flaming, like the lover of the Dawn,<a id="footnotetag8" +name="footnotetag8"></a><a href="#footnote8"><sup>8</sup></a> he +has, like the light of the sky, filled the two worlds of Heaven and +Earth which are turned towards each other. As soon as thou wert +born thou hast excelled by thy power of mind; being the son of the +gods thou hast become their father. Agni is a worshipper of the +gods, never foolish, always discriminating; he is like the udder of +the cows; he is the sweetness of food. Like a kind friend to men, +not to be led astray, sitting in the midst, the lovely one, in the +house; like a child when born, he is delightful in the house; like +a race-horse which is well cared for, he has wandered across the +clans. When I call to the sacrifice the clans who dwell in the same +nest with the heroes, may Agni then attain all divine powers. When +thou hast listened to these heroes, no one breaks those laws of +thine. That verily is thy wonderful deed that thou hast killed, +with thy companions, all foes; that, joined by the heroes, thou +hast accomplished thy works. Like the lover of the Dawn, +resplendent and bright, of familiar form: may he thus pay attention +to this sacrificer. Carrying him they opened by themselves the +doors of heaven. They all shouted at the aspect of the sun.</p> +<h4>X</h4> +<p>Like unto excellent wealth, like unto the shine of the sun, like +unto living breath, like unto one's own son, like unto a quick +takvan Agni holds the wood, like milk, like a milch cow, bright and +shining. He holds safety, pleasant like a homestead, like ripe +barley, a conqueror of men; like a Rishi uttering sacred shouts, +praised among the clans; like a well-cared-for race-horse, Agni +bestows vigor. He to whose flame men do not grow accustomed, who is +like one's own mind, like a wife on a couch, enough for all +happiness. When the bright Agni has shone forth, he is like a white +horse among people, like a chariot with golden ornaments, impetuous +in fights. Like an army which is sent forward he shows his +vehemence, like an archer's shaft with sharp point. He who is born +is one twin; he who will be born is the other twin—the lover +of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page48" name="page48"></a>[pg +48]</span> maidens, the husband of wives. As cows go to their +stalls, all that moves and we, for the sake of a dwelling, reach +him who has been kindled. Like the flood of the Sindhu he has +driven forward the downward-flowing waters. The cows lowed at the +sight of the sun.</p> +<h4>XI</h4> +<p>The Hotri goes forward in order to fulfil his duty by his +wonderful power, directing upwards the brightly adorned prayer. He +steps towards the sacrificial ladles which are turned to the right, +and which first kiss his foundation. They have greeted with shouts +the streams of Rita which were hidden at the birthplace of the god, +at his seat. When He dwelt dispersed in the lap of the waters, he +drank the draughts by the power of which he moves. Two beings of +the same age try to draw that wonderful shape towards themselves, +progressing in turns towards a common aim. Then he is to be +proclaimed by us like a winner in a contest. The charioteer governs +all things as if pulling in the reins of a draught-horse. He whom +two beings of the same age serve, two twins dwelling together in +one common abode, the gray one has been born as a youth by night as +by day, the ageless one who wanders through many generations of +men. The prayers, the ten fingers stir him up. We, the mortals, +call him, the god, for his protection. From the dry land he hastens +to the declivities. With those who approached him he has +established new rules. Thou indeed, O Agni, reignest by thy own +nature over the heavenly and over the terrestrial world as a +shepherd takes care of his cattle. These two variegated, great +goddesses striving for gloriousness, the golden ones who move +crookedly, have approached thy sacrificial grass. Agni! Be +gratified and accept graciously this prayer, O joy-giver, +independent one, who art born in the Rita, good-willed one, whose +face is turned towards us from all sides, conspicuous one, gay in +thy aspect, like a dwelling-place rich in food.</p> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote8" name= +"footnote8"></a><b>Footnote 8:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag8">(return)</a> +<p>The sun.</p> +</blockquote> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page49" name="page49"></a>[pg +49]</span> +<h2><a id="avesta" name="avesta">SELECTIONS FROM THE +ZEND-AVESTA</a></h2> +<h3>Translation by James Darmestetter</h3> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page51" name="page51"></a>[pg +51]</span> +<h3><a id="avesta-introduction" name= +"avesta-introduction">INTRODUCTION</a></h3> +<p>The study of religion, like the study of poetry, brings us face +to face with the fundamental principles of human nature. Religion, +whether it be natural religion or that which is formulated in a +book, is as universal as poetry, and like poetry, existed before +letters and writing. It is only in a serious and sympathetic frame +of mind that we should approach the rudest forms of these two +departments of human activity. A general analysis of the +"Zend-Avesta" suggests to us the mind of the Persian sage +Zarathustra, or Zoroaster, fixed upon the phenomena of nature and +life, and trying to give a systematized account of them. He sees +good and evil, life and death, sickness and health, right and +wrong, engaged in almost equal conflict. He sees in the sun the +origin of light and heat, the source of comfort and life to man. +Thus he institutes the doctrine of Dualism and the worship of Fire. +The evil things that come unexpectedly and irresistibly, he +attributes to the Devas: the help and comfort that man needs and +often obtains by means which are beyond his control, he attributes +to the "Holy Immortal Ones," who stand around the Presence of +Ormuzd. As he watches the purity of the flame, of the limpid +stream, and of the sweet smelling ground, he connects it with the +moral purity which springs from innocence and rectitude, and in his +code it is as reprehensible to pollute the fire by burning the +dead, or the stream by committing the corpse to its waves, or the +earth by making it a burial-place, as it is to cheat or lie or +commit an act of violence. The wonders of Nature furnish abundant +imagery for his hymns or his litanies, and he relies for his +cosmogony on the faint traditions of the past gathered from +whatever nation, and reduced into conformity with his Dualistic +creed.</p> +<p>"Zend-Avesta" is the religious book of the Persians who +professed the creed of Zarathustra, known in classic and modern +times as Zoroaster. Zoroaster is to be classed with <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page52" name="page52"></a>[pg 52]</span> such +great religious leaders as Buddha and Mohammed. He was the +predecessor of Mohammed and the worship and belief which he +instituted were trampled out in Persia by the forces of Islam in +the seventh century of our era. The Persian Zoroastrians fled to +India, where they are still found as Parsis on the west coast of +Hindostan. The religion of Zoroaster was a Dualism. Two powerful +and creative beings, the one good the one evil, have control of the +universe. Thus, in the account of the creation, the two deities are +said to have equal though opposite share in the work. This is +indicated by the following passage—</p> +<blockquote> +<p>The third of the good lands and countries which I, Ahura Mazda +(Ormuzd) created, was the strong, holy Môuru (Merv).</p> +<p>Thereupon came Angra Mainyu (Ahriman), who is all death, and he +counter-created plunder and sin.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>This constant struggle of the two divinities with their armies +of good and bad spirits formed the background of Zoroastrian +supernaturalism. The worship of the Persians was the worship of the +powers of Nature, and especially of fire, although water, earth, +and air, are also addressed in the litanies of the "Zend-Avesta." +The down-falling water and the uprising mist are thus spoken of in +one passage:—</p> +<blockquote> +<p>As the sea (Vouru-kasha) is the gathering place of the waters, +rising up and going down, up the aërial way and down the +earth, down the earth and up the aërial way: thus rise up and +roll along! thou in whose rising and growing Ahura Mazda made the +aërial way.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The sun is also invoked:—</p> +<blockquote> +<p>Up! rise up and roll along! thou swift-horsed Sun, above Hara +Berezaiti, and produce light for the world.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The earth was considered to be polluted by the burial of the +dead, who are to be exposed in high places to be devoured by the +birds of the air and swept away by the streams into which the rain +should wash their remains. But the principal subjects of +Zoroaster's teaching was the struggle between Ormuzd and Ahriman +and their hosts "The Holy Immortal Ones" and the Devas, or evil +spirits. This is the basis of all the activities of the world and, +according to Zoroaster, is to result in a triumph of the good.</p> +<p>Zoroaster taught that the life of man has two parts, that on +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page53" name="page53"></a>[pg +53]</span> earth and that beyond the grave. After his earthly life +each one should be punished or rewarded according to his deeds.</p> +<p>The "Zend-Avesta" cannot be dated earlier than the first century +before our era. It consists of four books, of which the chief one +is the Vendîdâd; the other three are the liturgical and +devotional works, consisting of hymns, litanies, and songs of +praise, addressed to the Deities and angels of Goodness.</p> +<p>The Vendîdâd contains an account of the creation and +counter-creation of Ormuzd and Ahriman, the author of the good +things and of the evil things in the world. After this follows what +we may call a history of the beginnings of civilization under Yima, +the Persian Noah. The revelation is described as being made +directly to Zoroaster, who, like Moses, talked with God. Thus, in +the second fargard, or chapter, we read:—</p> +<blockquote> +<p>Zarathustra (Zoroaster) asked Ahura Mazda (Ormuzd):—</p> +<p>"O Ahura Mazda (Ormuzd), most beneficent Spirit, Maker of the +material world, thou Holy One! Who was the first mortal, before +myself, Zarathustra, with whom thou, Ahura Mazda, didst converse, +whom thou didst teach the religion of Ahura, the Religion of +Zarathustra?"</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"The fair Yima, the good shepherd, O holy Zarathustra! he was +the first mortal before thee, Zarathustra, with whom I, Ahura +Mazda, did converse, whom I taught the Religion of Ahura, the +Religion of Zarathustra. Unto him, O Zarathustra, I, Ahura Mazda, +spake, saying: 'Well, fair Yima, son of Vîvanghat, be thou +the Preacher and the bearer of my Religion!' And the fair Yima, O +Zarathustra, replied unto me, saying: 'I was not born, I was not +taught to be the preacher and the bearer of thy Religion.'"</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The rest of the Vendîdâd is taken up with the +praises of agriculture, injunctions as to the care and pity due to +the dog, the guardian of the home and flock, the hunter and the +scavenger. It includes an elaborate code of ceremonial +purification, resembling on this point the Leviticus of the Bible, +and it prescribes also the gradations of penance for sins of +various degrees of heinousness.</p> +<p>E.W.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page55" name="page55"></a>[pg +55]</span> +<h3><a id="avesta-discovery" name="avesta-discovery">DISCOVERY OF +THE ZEND-AVESTA</a></h3> +<p>The "Zend-Avesta" is the sacred book of the Parsis; that is to +say, of the few remaining followers of that religion which reigned +over Persia at the time when the second successor of Mohammed +overthrew the Sassanian dynasty (A.D. 642), and which has been +called Dualism, or Mazdeism, or Magism, or Zoroastrianism, or +Fire-worship, according as its main tenet, or its supreme God, or +its priests, or its supposed founder, or its apparent object of +worship has been most kept in view. In less than a century after +their defeat, most of the conquered people were brought over to the +faith of their new rulers, either by force, or policy, or the +attractive power of a simpler form of creed. But many of those who +clung to the faith of their fathers, went and sought abroad for a +new home, where they might freely worship their old gods, say their +old prayers, and perform their old rites. That home they found at +last among the tolerant Hindoos, on the western coast of India and +in the peninsula of Guzerat. There they throve and there they live +still, while the ranks of their co-religionists in Persia are daily +thinning and dwindling away.<a id="footnotetag9" name= +"footnotetag9"></a><a href="#footnote9"><sup>9</sup></a></p> +<p>As the Parsis are the ruins of a people, so are their sacred +books the ruins of a religion. There has been no other great belief +in the world that ever left such poor and meagre monuments of its +past splendor. Yet great is the value which that small book, the +"Avesta," and the belief of that scanty people, the Parsis, have in +the eyes of the historian and theologian, as they present to us the +last reflex of the ideas which prevailed in Iran during the five +centuries which preceded and the seven which followed the birth of +Christ, a period which gave to the world the Gospels, the Talmud, +and the Qur'ân. Persia, it is known, had much influence on +each of the movements which <span class="pagenum"><a id="page56" +name="page56"></a>[pg 56]</span> produced, or proceeded from, those +three books; she lent much to the first heresiarchs, much to the +Rabbis, much to Mohammed. By help of the Parsi religion and the +"Avesta," we are enabled to go back to the very heart of that most +momentous period in the history of religious thought, which saw the +blending of the Aryan mind with the Semitic, and thus opened the +second stage of Aryan thought.</p> +<p>Inquiries into the religion of ancient Persia began long ago, +and it was the old enemy of Persia, the Greek, who first studied +it. Aristotle, Hermippus, and many others wrote of it in books of +which, unfortunately, nothing more than a few fragments or merely +the titles have come down to us. We find much valuable information +about it, scattered in the accounts of historians and travellers, +extending over ten centuries, from Herodotos down to Agathias and +Procopius (from B.C. 450 to A.D. 550). The clearest and most +faithful account of the Dualist doctrine is found in the treatise +<i>De Iside et Osiride</i>, ascribed to Plutarch. But +Zoroastrianism was never more eagerly studied than in the first +centuries of the Christian era, though without anything of the +disinterested and almost scientific curiosity of the earlier times. +Religious and philosophic sects, in search of new dogmas, eagerly +received whatever came to them bearing the name of Zoroaster. As +Xanthos the Lydian, who is said to have lived before Herodotos, had +mentioned Zoroastrianism, there came to light, in those later +times, scores of oracles, styled "Oracula Chaldaïca sive +Magica," the work of Neo-Platonists who were but very remote +disciples of the Median sage. As his name had become the very +emblem of wisdom, they would cover with it the latest inventions of +their ever-deepening theosophy. Zoroaster and Plato were treated as +if they had been philosophers of the same school, and Hierocles +expounded their doctrines in the same book. Proclus collected +seventy Tetrads of Zoroaster and wrote commentaries on them; but we +need hardly say that Zoroaster commented on by Proclus was nothing +more or less than Proclus commented on by himself. Prodicus, the +Gnostic, possessed secret books of Zoroaster; and, upon the whole, +it may be said that in the first centuries of Christianity, the +religion of Persia was more studied and less understood than it had +ever been before. The real object aimed at, in studying the old +religion, was to form a new one.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page57" name="page57"></a>[pg +57]</span> +<p>Throughout the Middle Ages nothing was known of Mazdeism but the +name of its founder, who from a Magus was converted into a magician +and master of the hidden sciences. It was not until the Renaissance +that real inquiry was resumed. The first step was to collect all +the information that could be gathered from Greek and Roman +writers. That task was undertaken and successfully completed by +Barnabé Brisson. A nearer approach to the original source +was made in the following century by Italian, English, and French +travellers in Asia. Pietro della Valle, Henry Lord, Mandelslo, +Ovington, Chardin, Gabriel du Chinon, and Tavernier, found +Zoroaster's last followers in Persia and India, and made known +their existence, their manners, and the main features of their +belief to Europe. Gabriel du Chinon saw their books and recognized +that they were not all written in the same language, their original +holy writ being no longer understood except by means of +translations and commentaries in another tongue.</p> +<p>In the year 1700, a professor at Oxford, Thomas Hyde, the +greatest Orientalist of his time in Europe, made the first +systematic attempt to restore the history of the old Persian +religion by combining the accounts of the Mohammedan writers with +"the true and genuine monuments of ancient Persia." Unfortunately +the so-called genuine monuments of ancient Persia were nothing more +than recent Persian compilations or refacimenti. But +notwithstanding this defect, which could hardly be avoided then, +and a distortion of critical acumen, the book of Thomas Hyde was +the first complete and true picture of modern Parsîism, and +it made inquiry into its history the order of the day. A warm +appeal made by him to the zeal of travellers, to seek for and +procure at any price the sacred books of the Parsis, did not remain +ineffectual, and from that time scholars bethought themselves of +studying Parsîism in its own home.</p> +<p>Eighteen years later, a countryman of Hyde, George Boucher, +received from the Parsis in Surat a copy of the +Vendîdâd Sâda, which was brought to England in +1723 by Richard Cobbe. But the old manuscript was a sealed book, +and the most that could then be made of it was to hang it by an +iron chain to the wall of the Bodleian Library, as a curiosity to +be shown to foreigners. A few years later, a Scotchman, named +Fraser, went to Surat, with the view of obtaining from the +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page58" name="page58"></a>[pg +58]</span> Parsis, not only their books, but also a knowledge of +their contents. He was not very successful in the first +undertaking, and utterly failed in the second.</p> +<p>In 1754 a young man, twenty years old, Anquetil Duperron, a +scholar of the <i>École des Langues Orientales</i> in Paris, +happened to see a fac-simile of four leaves of the Oxford +Vendîdâd, which had been sent from England, a few years +before, to Etienne Fourmont, the Orientalist. He determined at once +to give to France both the books of Zoroaster and the first +European translation of them. Too impatient to set off to wait for +a mission from the government which had been promised to him, he +enlisted as a private soldier in the service of the French East +India Company; he embarked at Lorient on February 24, 1755, and +after three years of endless adventures and dangers through the +whole breadth of Hindostan, at the very time when war was waging +between France and England, he arrived at last in Surat, where he +stayed among the Parsis for three years more. Here began another +struggle, not less hard, but more decisive, against the same +mistrust and ill-will which had disheartened Fraser; but he came +out of it victorious, and prevailed at last on the Parsis to part +both with their books and their knowledge. He came back to Paris on +March 14, 1764, and deposited on the following day at the +<i>Bibliothèque Royale</i> the whole of the "Zend-Avesta," +and copies of several traditional books. He spent ten years in +studying the material he had collected, and published in 1771 the +first European translation of the "Zend-Avesta."</p> +<p>A violent dispute broke out at once, as half the learned world +denied the authenticity of this "Avesta," which it pronounced a +forgery. It was the future founder of the Royal Asiatic Society, +William Jones, a young Oxonian then, who opened the war. He had +been wounded to the quick by the scornful tone adopted by Anquetil +towards Hyde and a few other English scholars: the "Zend-Avesta" +suffered for the fault of its introducer, Zoroaster for Anquetil. +In a pamphlet written in French, with a <i>verve</i> and in a style +which showed him to be a good disciple of Voltaire, William Jones +pointed out, and dwelt upon, the oddities and absurdities with +which the so-called sacred books of Zoroaster teemed. It is true +that Anquetil had given full scope to satire by the style he had +adopted: he cared very little for literary elegance, and did not +mind writing <span class="pagenum"><a id="page59" name= +"page59"></a>[pg 59]</span> Zend and Persian in French; so the new +and strange ideas he had to express looked stranger still in the +outlandish garb he gave them. Yet it was less the style than the +ideas that shocked the contemporary of Voltaire. His main argument +was that books, full of such silly tales, of laws and rules so +absurd, of descriptions of gods and demons so grotesque, could not +be the work of a sage like Zoroaster, nor the code of a religion so +much celebrated for its simplicity, wisdom, and purity. His +conclusion was that the "Avesta" was a rhapsody of some modern +Guebre. In fact, the only thing in which Jones succeeded was to +prove in a decisive manner that the ancient Persians were not equal +to the <i>lumières</i> of the eighteenth century, and that +the authors of the "Avesta" had not read the +"Encyclopédie."</p> +<p>Jones's censure was echoed in England by Sir John Chardin and +Richardson, in Germany by Meiners. Richardson tried to give a +scientific character to the attacks of Jones by founding them on +philological grounds. That the "Avesta" was a fabrication of modern +times was shown, he argued, by the number of Arabic words he +fancied he found both in the Zend and Pahlavi dialects, as no +Arabic element was introduced into the Persian idioms earlier than +the seventh century; also by the harsh texture of the Zend, +contrasted with the rare euphony of the Persian; and, lastly, by +the radical difference between the Zend and Persian, both in words +and grammar. To these objections, drawn from the form, he added +another derived from the uncommon stupidity of the matter.</p> +<p>In Germany, Meiners, to the charges brought against the +newly-found books, added another of a new and unexpected kind, +namely, that they spoke of ideas unheard of before, and made known +new things. "Pray, who would dare ascribe to Zoroaster books in +which are found numberless names of trees, animals, men, and +demons, unknown to the ancient Persians; in which are invoked an +incredible number of pure animals and other things, which, as +appears from the silence of ancient writers, were never known, or +at least never worshipped, in Persia? What Greek ever spoke of +Hôm, of Jemshîd, and of such other personages as the +fabricators of that rhapsody exalt with every kind of praise, as +divine heroes?"</p> +<p>Anquetil and the "Avesta" found an eager champion in the person +of Kleuker, professor in the University of Riga. As <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page60" name="page60"></a>[pg 60]</span> soon as +the French version of the "Avesta" appeared, he published a German +translation of it, and also of Anquetil's historical dissertations. +Then, in a series of dissertations of his own, he vindicated the +authenticity of the Zend books. Anquetil had already tried to show, +in a memoir on Plutarch, that the data of the "Avesta" fully agree +with the account of the Magian religion given in the treatise on +"Isis and Osiris." Kleuker enlarged the circle of comparison to the +whole of ancient literature.</p> +<p>In the field of philology, he showed, as Anquetil had already +done, that Zend has no Arabic elements in it, and that Pahlavi +itself, which is more modern than Zend, does not contain any +Arabic, but only Semitic words of the Aramean dialect, which are +easily accounted for by the close relations of Persia with Aramean +lands in the time of the Sassanian kings. He showed, lastly, that +Arabic words appear only in the very books which Parsi tradition +itself considers modern.</p> +<p>Another stanch upholder of the "Avesta" was the numismatologist +Tychsen, who, having begun to read the book with a prejudice +against its authenticity, quitted it with a conviction to the +contrary. "There is nothing in it," he writes, "but what befits +remote ages, and a man philosophizing in the infancy of the world. +Such traces of a recent period as they fancy to have found in it, +are either due to misunderstandings, or belong to its later +portions. On the whole there is a marvellous accordance between the +'Zend-Avesta' and the accounts of the ancients with regard to the +doctrine and institutions of Zoroaster. Plutarch agrees so well +with the Zend books that I think no one will deny the close +resemblance of doctrines and identity of origin. Add to all this +the incontrovertible argument to be drawn from the language, the +antiquity of which is established by the fact that it was necessary +to translate a part of the Zend books into Pahlavi, a language +which was growing obsolete as early as the time of the Sassanides. +Lastly, it cannot be denied that Zoroaster left books which were, +through centuries, the groundwork of the Magic religion, and which +were preserved by the Magi, as shown by a series of documents from +the time of Hermippus. Therefore I am unable to see why we should +not trust the Magi of our days when they ascribe to Zoroaster those +traditional books of their ancestors, in which nothing is found to +indicate fraud or a modern hand."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page61" name="page61"></a>[pg +61]</span> +<p>Two years afterwards, in 1793, was published in Paris a book +which, without directly dealing with the "Avesta," was the first +step taken to make its authenticity incontrovertible. It was the +masterly memoir by Sylvestre de Sacy, in which the Pahlavi +inscriptions of the first Sassanides were deciphered for the first +time and in a decisive manner. De Sacy, in his researches, had +chiefly relied on the Pahlavi lexicon published by Anquetil, whose +work vindicated itself thus—better than by heaping up +arguments—by promoting discoveries. The Pahlavi inscriptions +gave the key, as is well-known, to the Persian cuneiform +inscriptions, which were in return to put beyond all doubt the +genuineness of the Zend language.</p> +<p>Tychsen, in an appendix to his Commentaries, pointed to the +importance of the new discovery: "This," he writes, "is a proof +that the Pahlavi was used during the reign of the Sassanides, for +it was from them that these inscriptions emanated, as it was by +them—nay, by the first of them, Ardeshîr +Bâbagân—that the doctrine of Zoroaster was +revived. One can now understand why the Zend books were translated +into Pahlavi. Here, too, everything agrees, and speaks loudly for +their antiquity and genuineness."</p> +<p>About the same time Sir William Jones, then president of the +Royal Asiatic Society, which he had just founded, resumed in a +discourse delivered before that society the same question he had +solved in such an off-hand manner twenty years before. He was no +longer the man to say, "<i>Sied-il à un homme né dans +ce siècle de s'infatuer de fables indiennes?</i>" and +although he had still a spite against Anquetil, he spoke of him +with more reserve than in 1771. However, his judgment on the +"Avesta" itself was not altered on the whole, although, as he +himself declared, he had not thought it necessary to study the +text. But a glance at the Zend glossary published by Anquetil +suggested to him a remark which makes Sir William Jones, in spite +of himself, the creator of the comparative grammar of Sanscrit and +Zend. "When I perused the Zend glossary," he writes, "I was +inexpressibly surprised to find that six or seven words in ten are +pure Sanscrit, and even some of their inflexions formed by the +rules of the Vyácaran, as yushmácam, the genitive +plural of yushmad. Now M. Anquetil most certainly, and the Persian +compiler most probably, had no knowledge of Sanscrit, and could +not, therefore, have invented a list of Sanscrit <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page62" name="page62"></a>[pg 62]</span> words; it +is, therefore, an authentic list of Zend words, which has been +preserved in books or by tradition; it follows that the language of +the Zend was at least a dialect of the Sanscrit, approaching +perhaps as nearly to it as the Prácrit, or other popular +idioms, which we know to have been spoken in India two thousand +years ago." This conclusion, that Zend is a Sanscrit dialect, was +incorrect, the connection assumed being too close; but it was a +great thing that the near relationship of the two languages should +have been brought to light.</p> +<p>In 1798 Father Paulo de St. Barthélemy further developed +Jones's remark in an essay on the antiquity of the Zend language. +He showed its affinity with the Sanscrit by a list of such Zend and +Sanscrit words as were least likely to have been borrowed, viz., +those that designate the degrees of relationship, the limbs of the +body, and the most general and essential ideas. Another list, +intended to show, on a special topic, how closely connected the two +languages are, contains eighteen words taken from the liturgic +language used in India and Persia. This list was not very happily +drawn up, as out of the eighteen instances there is not a single +one that stands inquiry; yet it was a happy idea, and one which has +not even yet yielded all that it promised. His conclusions were +that in a far remote antiquity Sanscrit was spoken in Persia and +Media, that it gave birth to the Zend language, and that the +"Zend-Avesta" is authentic: "Were it but a recent compilation," he +writes, "as Jones asserts, how is it that the oldest rites of the +Parsis, that the old inscriptions of the Persians, the accounts of +the Zoroastrian religion by the classical writers, the liturgic +prayers of the Parsis, and, lastly, even their books do not reveal +the pure Sanscrit, as written in the land wherein the Parsis live, +but a mixed language, which is as different from the other dialects +of India as French is from Italian?" This amounted, in fact, to +saying that the Zend is not derived from the Sanscrit, but that +both are derived from another and older language. The Carmelite had +a dim notion of that truth, but, as he failed to express it +distinctly, it was lost for years, and had to be rediscovered.</p> +<p>The first twenty-five years of this century were void of +results, but the old and sterile discussions as to the authenticity +of the texts continued in England. In 1808 John Leyden regarded +Zend as a Prácrit dialect, parallel to Pali; Pali being +identical with the Magadhi dialect and Zend with the Sauraseni. +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page63" name="page63"></a>[pg +63]</span> In the eyes of Erskine, Zend was a Sanscrit dialect, +imported from India by the founders of Mazdeism, but never spoken +in Persia. His main argument was that Zend is not mentioned among +the seven dialects which were current in ancient Persia according +to the Farhang-i Jehangiri, and that Pahlavi and Persian exhibit no +close relationship with Zend.</p> +<p>In Germany, Meiners had found no followers. The theologians +appealed to the "Avesta," in their polemics, and Rhode sketched the +religious history of Persia after the translations of Anquetil.</p> +<p>Erskine's essay provoked a decisive answer from Emmanuel Rask, +one of the most gifted minds in the new school of philology, who +had the honor of being a precursor of both Grimm and Burnouf. He +showed that the list of the Jehangiri referred to an epoch later +than that to which Zend must have belonged, and to parts of Persia +different from those where it must have been spoken; he showed +further that modern Persian is not derived from Zend, but from a +dialect closely connected with it; and, lastly, he showed what was +still more important, that Zend was not derived from Sanscrit. As +to the system of its sounds, Zend approaches Persian rather than +Sanscrit; and as to its grammatical forms, if they often remind one +of Sanscrit, they also often remind one of Greek and Latin, and +frequently have a special character of their own. Rask also gave +the paradigm of three Zend nouns, belonging to different +declensions, as well as the right pronunciation of the Zend +letters, several of which had been incorrectly given by Anquetil. +This was the first essay on Zend grammar, and it was a masterly +one.</p> +<p>The essay published in 1831 by Peter von Bohlen on the origin of +the Zend language threw the matter forty years back. According to +him, Zend is a Prácrit dialect, as it had been pronounced by +Jones, Leyden, and Erskine. His mistake consisted in taking +Anquetil's transcriptions of the words, which are often so +incorrect as to make them look like corrupted forms when compared +with Sanscrit. And, what was worse, he took the proper names in +their modern Parsi forms, which often led him to comparisons that +would have appalled Ménage. Thus Ahriman became a Sanscrit +word ariman, which would have meant "the fiend"; yet Bohlen might +have seen in Anquetil's work itself that Ahriman is nothing but the +modern <span class="pagenum"><a id="page64" name="page64"></a>[pg +64]</span> form of Angra Mainyu, words which hardly remind one of +the Sanscrit ariman. Again, the angel Vohu-manô, or "good +thought," was reduced, by means of the Parsi form Bahman, to the +Sanscrit bâhumân, "a long-armed god."</p> +<p>At length came Burnouf. From the time when Anquetil had +published his translation, that is to say during seventy years, no +real progress had been made in knowledge of the Avesta texts. The +notion that Zend and Sanscrit are two kindred languages was the +only new idea that had been acquired, but no practical advantage +for the interpretation of the texts had resulted from it. +Anquetil's translation was still the only guide, and as the doubts +about the authenticity of the texts grew fainter, the authority of +the translation became greater, the trust reposed in the "Avesta" +being reflected on to the work of its interpreter. The Parsis had +been the teachers of Anquetil; and who could ever understand the +holy writ of the Parsis better than the Parsis themselves? There +was no one who even tried to read the texts by the light of +Anquetil's translation, to obtain a direct understanding of +them.</p> +<p>About 1825 Eugène Burnouf was engaged in a course of +researches on the geographical extent of the Aryan languages in +India. After he had defined the limits which divide the races +speaking Aryan languages from the native non-brahmanical tribes in +the south, he wanted to know if a similar boundary had ever existed +in the northwest; and if it is outside of India that the origin of +the Indian languages and civilization is to be sought for. He was +thus led to study the languages of Persia, and, first of all, the +oldest of them, the Zend. But as he tried to read the texts by help +of Anquetil's translation, he was surprised to find that this was +not the clue he had expected. He saw that two causes had misled +Anquetil: on the one hand, his teachers, the Parsi dasturs, either +knew little themselves or taught him imperfectly, not only the +Zend, but even the Pahlavi intended to explain the meaning of the +Zend; so that the tradition on which his work rested, being +incorrect in itself, corrupted it from the very beginning; on the +other hand, as Sanscrit was unknown to him and comparative grammar +did not as yet exist, he could not supply the defects of tradition +by their aid. Burnouf, laying aside tradition as found in +Anquetil's translation, consulted it as found in a much older and +purer form, in a Sanscrit translation of the Yasna made in the +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page65" name="page65"></a>[pg +65]</span> fifteenth century by the Parsi Neriosengh in accordance +with the old Pahlavi version. The information given by Neriosengh +he tested, and either confirmed or corrected, by a comparison of +parallel passages and by the help of comparative grammar, which had +just been founded by Bopp, and applied by him successfully to the +explanation of Zend forms. Thus he succeeded in tracing the general +outlines of the Zend lexicon and in fixing its grammatical forms, +and founded the only correct method of interpreting the "Avesta." +He also gave the first notions of a comparative mythology of the +"Avesta" and the "Veda," by showing the identity of the "Vedic +Yama" with the "Avesta Yima," and of Traitâna with +Thraêtaona and Ferìdûn. Thus he made his +"Commentaire sur le Yasna" a marvellous and unparalleled model of +critical insight and steady good sense, equally opposed to the +narrowness of mind which clings to matters of fact without rising +to their cause and connecting them with the series of associated +phenomena, and to the wild and uncontrolled spirit of comparison, +which, by comparing everything, confounds everything. Never +sacrificing either tradition to comparison or comparison to +tradition he knew how to pass from the one to the other, and was so +enabled both to discover facts and to explain them.</p> +<p>At the same time the ancient Persian inscriptions at Persepolis +and Behistun were deciphered by Burnouf in Paris, by Lassen in +Bonn, and by Sir Henry Rawlinson in Persia. Thus was revealed the +existence, at the time of the first Achaemenian kings, of a +language closely connected with that of the "Avesta," and the last +doubts as to the authenticity of the Zend books were at length +removed. It would have required more than an ordinary amount of +scepticism to look still upon the Zend as an artificial language, +of foreign importation, without root in the land where it was +written, and in the conscience of the people for whom it was +written, at the moment when a twin language, bearing a striking +likeness to it in nearly every feature, was suddenly making itself +heard from the mouth of Darius, and speaking from the very tomb of +the first Achaemenian king. That unexpected voice silenced all +controversies, and the last echoes of the loud discussion which had +been opened in 1771 died away unheeded.</p> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote9" name= +"footnote9"></a><b>Footnote 9:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag9">(return)</a> +<p>A century ago, it is said, they still numbered nearly 100,000 +souls; but there now remain no more than 8,000 or 9,000, scattered +in Yazd and the surrounding villages. Houtum-Schindler gave 8,499 +in 1879; of that number there were 6,483 in Yazd, 1,756 in +Kirmân, 150 in Teherân.</p> +</blockquote> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page67" name="page67"></a>[pg +67]</span> +<h2>SELECTIONS FROM THE ZEND-AVESTA</h2> +<h3><a id="avesta-creation" name="avesta-creation">THE +CREATION</a><a id="footnotetag10" name="footnotetag10"></a><a href= +"#footnote10"><sup>10</sup></a></h3> +<p>Ahura Mazda spake unto Spitama Zarathustra, saying:—</p> +<p>"I have made every land dear to its people, even though it had +no charms whatever in it: had I not made every land dear to its +people, even though it had no charms whatever in it, then the whole +living world would have invaded the Airyana Vaêgô. The +first of the good lands and countries which I, Ahura Mazda, +created, was the Airyana Vaêgô, by the Vanguhi +Dâitya. Thereupon came Angra Mainyu, who is all death, and he +counter-created the serpent in the river and Winter, a work of the +Devas. There are ten winter months there, two summer months; and +those are cold for the waters, cold for the earth, cold for the +trees. Winters fall there, the worst of all plagues. The second of +the good lands and countries which I, Ahura Mazda, created, was the +plain which the Sughdhas inhabit. Thereupon came Angra Mainyu, who +is all death, and he counter-created the locust, which brings death +unto cattle and plants. The third of the good lands and countries +which I, Ahura Mazda, created, was the strong, holy Môuru. +Thereupon came Angra Mainyu, who is all death, and he +counter-created plunder and sin. The fourth of the good lands and +countries which I, Ahura Mazda, created, was the beautiful +Bâkhdhi with high-lifted banners. Thereupon came Angra +Mainyu, who is all death, and he counter-created the ants and the +ant-hills. The fifth of the good lands and countries which I, Ahura +Mazda, created, was Nisâya, that lies <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page68" name="page68"></a>[pg 68]</span> between +Môuru and Bâkhdhi. Thereupon came Angra Mainyu, who is +all death, and he counter-created the sin of unbelief. The sixth of +the good lands and countries which I, Ahura Mazda, created, was the +house-deserting Harôyu. Thereupon came Angra Mainyu, who is +all death, and he counter-created tears and wailing. The seventh of +the good lands and countries which I, Ahura Mazda, created, was +Vaêkereta, of the evil shadows. Thereupon came Angra Mainyu, +who is all death, and he counter-created the Pairika +Knâthaiti, who clave unto Keresâspa. The eighth of the +good lands and countries which I, Ahura Mazda, created, was Urva of +the rich pastures. Thereupon came Angra Mainyu, who is all death, +and he counter-created the sin of pride. The ninth of the good +lands and countries which I, Ahura Mazda, created, was Khnenta +which the Vehrkânas inhabit. Thereupon came Angra Mainyu, who +is all death, and he counter-created a sin for which there is no +atonement, the unnatural sin. The tenth of the good lands and +countries which I, Ahura Mazda, created, was the beautiful +Harahvaiti. Thereupon came Angra Mainyu, who is all death, and he +counter-created a sin for which there is no atonement, the burying +of the dead. The eleventh of the good lands and countries which I, +Ahura Mazda, created, was the bright, glorious Haêtumant. +Thereupon came Angra Mainyu, who is all death, and he +counter-created the evil work of witchcraft. And this is the sign +by which it is known, this is that by which it is seen at once: +wheresoever they may go and raise a cry of sorcery, there the worst +works of witchcraft go forth. From there they come to kill and +strike at heart, and they bring locusts as many as they want. The +twelfth of the good lands and countries which I, Ahura Mazda, +created, was Ragha of the three races. Thereupon came Angra Mainyu, +who is all death, and he counter-created the sin of utter unbelief. +The thirteenth of the good lands and countries which I, Ahura +Mazda, created, was the strong, holy Kakhra. Thereupon came Angra +Mainyu, who is all death, and he counter-created a sin for which +there is no atonement, the cooking of corpses. The fourteenth of +the good lands and countries which I, Ahura Mazda, created, was the +four-cornered Varena, for which was born Thraêtaona, who +smote Azi Dahâka. Thereupon came Angra Mainyu, who is all +death, and he counter-created abnormal issues in women and +barbarian oppression. The fifteenth <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page69" name="page69"></a>[pg 69]</span> of the good lands and +countries which I, Ahura Mazda, created, was the Seven Rivers. +Thereupon came Angra Mainyu, who is all death, and he +counter-created abnormal issues in women and excessive heat. The +sixteenth of the good lands and countries which I, Ahura Mazda, +created, was the land by the sources of the Rangha, where people +live who have no chiefs. Thereupon came Angra Mainyu, who is all +death, and he counter-created Winter, a work of the Devas. There +are still other lands and countries, beautiful and deep, longing +and asking for the good, and bright."</p> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote10" name= +"footnote10"></a><b>Footnote 10:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag10">(return)</a> +<p>This chapter is an enumeration of sixteen perfect lands created +by Ahura Mazda, and of as many plagues created in opposition by +Angra Mainyu. Many attempts have been made, not only to identify +these sixteen lands, but also to draw historical conclusions from +their order of succession, as representing the actual order of the +migrations and settlements of the old Iranian tribes. But there is +nothing in the text to support such wide inferences. We have here +nothing more than a geographical description of Iran, seen from the +religious point of view.</p> +</blockquote> +<h3><a id="avesta-yima" name="avesta-yima">MYTH OF YIMA</a></h3> +<p>Zarathustra asked Ahura Mazda:—</p> +<p>"O Ahura Mazda, most beneficent Spirit, Maker of the material +world, thou Holy One! Who was the first mortal, before myself, +Zarathustra, with whom thou, Ahura Mazda, didst converse, whom thou +didst teach the Religion of Ahura, the Religion of +Zarathustra?"</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"The fair Yima, the good shepherd, O holy Zarathustra! he was +the first mortal, before thee, Zarathustra, with whom I, Ahura +Mazda, did converse, whom I taught the Religion of Ahura, the +Religion of Zarathustra. Unto him, O Zarathustra, I, Ahura Mazda, +spake, saying: 'Well, fair Yima, son of Vîvanghat, be thou +the preacher and the bearer of my Religion!' And the fair Yima, O +Zarathustra, replied unto me, saying: 'I was not born, I was not +taught to be the preacher and the bearer of thy Religion.' Then I, +Ahura Mazda, said thus unto him, O Zarathustra, 'Since thou dost +not consent to be the preacher and the bearer of my Religion, then +make thou my world increase, make my world grow: consent thou to +nourish, to rule, and to watch over my world.' And the fair Yima +replied unto me, O Zarathustra, saying: 'Yes! I will make thy world +increase, I will make thy world grow. Yes! I will nourish, and +rule, and watch over thy world. There shall be, while I am king, +neither cold wind nor hot wind, neither disease nor death.' Then I, +Ahura Mazda, brought two implements unto him: a golden seal and a +poniard <span class="pagenum"><a id="page70" name="page70"></a>[pg +70]</span> inlaid with gold. Behold, here Yima bears the royal +sway! Thus, under the sway of Yima, three hundred winters passed +away, and the earth was replenished with flocks and herds, with men +and dogs and birds and with red blazing fires, and there was room +no more for flocks, herds, and men. Then I warned the fair Yima, +saying: 'O fair Yima, son of Vîvanghat, the earth has become +full of flocks and herds, of men and dogs and birds and of red +blazing fires, and there is room no more for flocks, herds, and +men.' Then Yima stepped forward, in light, southwards, on the way +of the sun, and afterwards he pressed the earth with the golden +seal, and bored it with the poniard, speaking thus: 'O Spenta +Ârmaiti, kindly open asunder and stretch thyself afar, to +bear flocks and herds and men.' And Yima made the earth grow larger +by one-third than it was before, and there came flocks and herds +and men, at their will and wish, as many as he wished. Thus, under +the sway of Yima, six hundred winters passed away, and the earth +was replenished with flocks and herds, with men and dogs and birds +and with red blazing fires, and there was room no more for flocks, +herds, and men. And I warned the fair Yima, saying: 'O fair Yima, +son of Vîvanghat, the earth has become full of flocks and +herds, of men and dogs and birds and of red blazing fires, and +there is room no more for flocks, herds, and men.'</p> +<p>"Then Yima stepped forward, in light, southwards, on the way of +the sun, and afterwards he pressed the earth with the golden seal, +and bored it with the poniard, speaking thus: 'O Spenta +Ârmaiti, kindly open asunder and stretch thyself afar, to +bear flocks and herds and men.' And Yima made the earth grow larger +by two-thirds than it was before, and there came flocks and herds +and men, at their will and wish, as many as he wished. Thus, under +the sway of Yima, nine hundred winters passed away, and the earth +was replenished with flocks and herds, with men and dogs and birds +and with red blazing fires, and there was room no more for flocks, +herds, and men. And I warned the fair Yima, saying: 'O fair Yima, +son of Vîvanghat, the earth has become full of flocks and +herds, of men and dogs and birds and of red blazing fires, and +there is room no more for flocks, herds, and men.' Then Yima +stepped forward, in light, southwards, on the way of the sun, and +afterwards he pressed the earth with the golden seal, and bored it +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page71" name="page71"></a>[pg +71]</span> with the poniard, speaking thus: 'O Spenta +Ârmaiti, kindly open asunder and stretch thyself afar, to +bear flocks and herds and men.' And Yima made the earth grow larger +by three-thirds than it was before, and there came flocks and herds +and men, at their will and wish, as many as he wished."</p> +<h3><a id="avesta-earth" name="avesta-earth">THE EARTH</a></h3> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which is the first +place where the Earth feels most happy? Ahura Mazda answered: "It +is the place whereon one of the faithful steps forward, O Spitama +Zarathustra! with the log in his hand, the Baresma in his hand, the +milk in his hand, the mortar in his hand, lifting up his voice in +good accord with religion, and beseeching Mithra, the lord of the +rolling country-side, and Râma Hvâstra." O Maker of the +material world, thou Holy One! Which is the second place where the +Earth feels most happy? Ahura Mazda answered: "It is the place +whereon one of the faithful erects a house with a priest within, +with cattle, with a wife, with children, and good herds within; and +wherein afterwards the cattle continue to thrive, virtue to thrive, +fodder to thrive, the dog to thrive, the wife to thrive, the child +to thrive, the fire to thrive, and every blessing of life to +thrive." O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which is the +third place where the Earth feels most happy? Ahura Mazda answered: +"It is the place where one of the faithful sows most corn, grass, +and fruit, O Spitama Zarathustra! where he waters ground that is +dry, or drains ground that is too wet." O Maker of the material +world, thou Holy One! Which is the fourth place where the Earth +feels most happy? Ahura Mazda answered: "It is the place where +there is most increase of flocks and herds." O Maker of the +material world, thou Holy One! Which is the fifth place where the +Earth feels most happy? Ahura Mazda answered: "It is the place +where flocks and herds yield most dung."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which is the first +place where the Earth feels sorest grief? Ahura Mazda answered: "It +is the neck of Arezûra, whereon the hosts of fiends rush +forth from the burrow of the Drug." O <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page72" name="page72"></a>[pg 72]</span> Maker of the material +world, thou Holy One! Which is the second place where the Earth +feels sorest grief? Ahura Mazda answered: "It is the place wherein +most corpses of dogs and of men lie buried." O Maker of the +material world, thou Holy One! Which is the third place where the +Earth feels sorest grief? Ahura Mazda answered: "It is the place +whereon stand most of those Dakhmas on which the corpses of men are +deposited." O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which is +the fourth place where the Earth feels sorest grief? Ahura Mazda +answered: "It is the place wherein are most burrows of the +creatures of Angra Mainyu." O Maker of the material world, thou +Holy One! Which is the fifth place where the Earth feels sorest +grief? Ahura Mazda answered: "It is the place whereon the wife and +children of one of the faithful, O Spitama Zarathustra! are driven +along the way of captivity, the dry, the dusty way, and lift up a +voice of wailing."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Who is the first +that rejoices the Earth with greatest joy? Ahura Mazda answered: +"It is he who digs out of it most corpses of dogs and men." O Maker +of the material world, thou Holy One! Who is the second that +rejoices the Earth with greatest joy? Ahura Mazda answered: "It is +he who pulls down most of those Dakhmas on which the corpses of men +are deposited. Let no man alone by himself carry a corpse. If a man +alone by himself carry a corpse, the Nasu rushes upon him. This +Drug Nasu falls upon and stains him, even to the end of the nails, +and he is unclean, thenceforth, forever and ever." O Maker of the +material world, thou Holy One! What shall be the place of that man +who has carried a corpse alone? Ahura Mazda answered: "It shall be +the place on this earth wherein is least water and fewest plants, +whereof the ground is the cleanest and the driest and the least +passed through by flocks and herds, by the fire of Ahura Mazda, by +the consecrated bundles of Baresma, and by the faithful." O Maker +of the material world, thou Holy One! How far from the fire? How +far from the water? How far from the consecrated bundles of +Baresma? How far from the faithful? Ahura Mazda answered: "Thirty +paces from the fire, thirty paces from the water, thirty paces from +the consecrated bundles of Baresma, three paces from the faithful. +There, on that place, shall the <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page73" name="page73"></a>[pg 73]</span> worshippers of Mazda +erect an enclosure, and therein shall they establish him with food, +therein shall they establish him with clothes, with the coarsest +food and with the most worn-out clothes. That food he shall live +on, those clothes he shall wear, and thus shall they let him live, +until he has grown to the age of a Hana, or of a Zaurura, or of a +Pairista-khshudra. And when he has grown to the age of a Hana, or +of a Zaurura, or of a Pairista-khshudra, then the worshippers of +Mazda shall order a man strong, vigorous, and skilful, to cut the +head off his neck, in his enclosure on the top of the mountain: and +they shall deliver his corpse unto the greediest of the +corpse-eating creatures made by the beneficent Spirit, unto the +vultures, with these words: 'The man here has repented of all his +evil thoughts, words, and deeds. If he has committed any other evil +deed, it is remitted by his repentance: if he has committed no +other evil deed, he is absolved by his repentance, forever and +ever.'" O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Who is the +third that rejoices the Earth with greatest joy? Ahura Mazda +answered: "It is he who fills up most burrows of the creatures of +Angra Mainyu." O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Who is +the fourth that rejoices the Earth with greatest joy? Ahura Mazda +answered: "It is he who sows most corn, grass, and fruit, O Spitama +Zarathustra! who waters ground that is dry, or drains ground that +is too wet. Unhappy is the land that has long lain unsown with the +seed of the sower and wants a good husbandman, like a well-shapen +maiden who has long gone childless and wants a good husband. He who +would till the earth, O Spitama Zarathustra! with the left arm and +the right, with the right arm and the left, unto him will she bring +forth plenty of fruit: even as it were a lover sleeping with his +bride on her bed; the bride will bring forth children, the earth +will bring forth plenty of fruit. He who would till the earth, O +Spitama Zarathustra! with the left arm and the right, with the +right arm and the left, unto him thus says the Earth: 'O thou man! +who dost till me with the left arm and the right, with the right +arm and the left, here shall I ever go on bearing, bringing forth +all manner of food, bringing corn first to thee.' He who does not +till the Earth, O Spitama Zarathustra! with the left arm and the +right, with the right arm and the left, unto him thus says the +Earth: 'O thou man! who dost not till me with the left arm and the +right, with <span class="pagenum"><a id="page74" name= +"page74"></a>[pg 74]</span> the right arm and the left, ever shalt +thou stand at the door of the stranger, among those who beg for +bread; the refuse and the crumbs of the bread are brought unto +thee, brought by those who have profusion of wealth.'"</p> +<p>O maker of the material world, thou Holy One! What is the food +that fills the Religion of Mazda?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"It is sowing corn again and again, O Spitama Zarathustra! He +who sows corn, sows righteousness: he makes the Religion of Mazda +walk, he suckles the Religion of Mazda; as well as he could do with +a hundred man's feet, with a thousand woman's breasts, with ten +thousand sacrificial formulas. When barley was created, the Devas +started up; when it grew, then fainted the Devas' hearts; when the +knots came, the Devas groaned; when the ear came, the Devas flew +away. In that house the Devas stay, wherein wheat perishes. It is +as though red hot iron were turned about in their throats, when +there is plenty of corn. Then let people learn by heart this holy +saying: 'No one who does not eat, has strength to do heavy works of +holiness, strength to do works of husbandry, strength to beget +children. By eating every material creature lives, by not eating it +dies away.'"</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Who is the fifth +that rejoices the Earth with greatest joy?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"It is he who kindly and piously gives to one of the faithful +who tills the earth, O Spitama Zarathustra! He who would not kindly +and piously give to one of the faithful who tills the earth, O +Spitama Zarathustra! Spenta Ârmaiti will throw him down into +darkness, down into the world of woe, the world of hell, down into +the deep abyss."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man shall +bury in the earth either the corpse of a dog or the corpse of a +man, and if he shall not disinter it within half a year, what is +the penalty that he shall pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"Five hundred stripes with the Aspahê-astra, five hundred +stripes with the Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man shall +bury in the earth either the corpse of a dog or the corpse +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page75" name="page75"></a>[pg +75]</span> of a man, and if he shall not disinter it within a year, +what is the penalty that he shall pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"A thousand stripes with the Aspahê-astra, a thousand +stripes with the Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man shall +bury in the earth either the corpse of a dog or the corpse of a +man, and if he shall not disinter it within the second year, what +is the penalty for it? What is the atonement for it? What is the +cleansing from it?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"For that deed there is nothing that can pay, nothing that can +atone, nothing that can cleanse from it; it is a trespass for which +there is no atonement, forever and ever."</p> +<p>When is it so?</p> +<p>"It is so, if the sinner be a professor of the Religion of +Mazda, or one who has been taught in it. But if he be not a +professor of the Religion of Mazda, nor one who has been taught in +it, then his sin is taken from him, if he makes confession of the +Religion of Mazda and resolves never to commit again such forbidden +deeds.</p> +<p>"The Religion of Mazda indeed, O Spitama Zarathustra! takes away +from him who makes confession of it the bonds of his sin; it takes +away the sin of breach of trust; it takes away the sin of murdering +one of the faithful; it takes away the sin of burying a corpse; it +takes away the sin of deeds for which there is no atonement; it +takes away the worst sin of usury; it takes away any sin that may +be sinned. In the same way the Religion of Mazda, O Spitama +Zarathustra! cleanses the faithful from every evil thought, word, +and deed, as a swift-rushing mighty wind cleanses the plain. So let +all the deeds he doeth be henceforth good, O Zarathustra! a full +atonement for his sin is effected by means of the Religion of +Mazda."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page76" name="page76"></a>[pg +76]</span> +<h3><a id="avesta-contracts" name="avesta-contracts">CONTRACTS AND +OUTRAGES</a><a id="footnotetag11" name="footnotetag11"></a><a href= +"#footnote11"><sup>11</sup></a></h3> +<p>"He that does not restore a loan to the man who lent it, steals +the thing and robs the man. This he doeth every day, every night, +as long as he keep in his house his neighbor's property, as though +it were his own."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! How many in number +are thy contracts, O Ahura Mazda?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"They are six in number, O holy Zarathustra. The first is the +word-contract; the second is the hand-contract; the third is the +contract to the amount of a sheep; the fourth is the contract to +the amount of an ox; the fifth is the contract to the amount of a +man; the sixth is the contract to the amount of a field, a field in +good land, a fruitful one, in good bearing. The word-contract is +fulfilled by words of mouth. It is cancelled by the hand-contract; +he shall give as damages the amount of the hand-contract. The +hand-contract is cancelled by the sheep-contract; he shall give as +damages the amount of the sheep-contract. The sheep-contract is +cancelled by the ox-contract; he shall give as damages the amount +of the ox-contract. The ox-contract is cancelled by the +man-contract; he shall give as damages the amount of the +man-contract. The man-contract is cancelled by the field-contract; +he shall give as damages the amount of the field-contract."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man break the +word-contract, how many are involved in his sin?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"His sin makes his Nabânazdistas answerable for three +hundred years."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man break the +hand-contract, how many are involved in his sin?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"His sin makes his Nabânazdistas answerable for six +hundred years."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man break the +sheep-contract, how many are involved in his sin? <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page77" name="page77"></a>[pg 77]</span></p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"His sin makes his Nabânazdistas answerable for seven +hundred years."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man break the +ox-contract, how many are involved in his sin?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"His sin makes his Nabânazdistas answerable for eight +hundred years."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man break the +man-contract, how many are involved in his sin?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"His sin makes his Nabânazdistas answerable for nine +hundred years."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man break the +field-contract, how many are involved in his sin?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"His sin makes his Nabânazdistas answerable for a thousand +years."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man break the +word-contract, what is the penalty that he shall pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"Three hundred stripes with the Aspahê-astra, three +hundred stripes with the Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man break the +hand-contract, what is the penalty that he shall pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"Six hundred stripes with the Aspahê-astra, six hundred +stripes with the Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man break the +sheep-contract, what is the penalty that he shall pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"Seven hundred stripes with the Aspahê-astra, seven +hundred stripes with the Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man break the +ox-contract, what is the penalty that he shall pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"Eight hundred stripes with the Aspahê-astra, eight +hundred stripes with the Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man break the +man-contract, what is the penalty that he shall pay? <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page78" name="page78"></a>[pg 78]</span></p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"Nine hundred stripes with the Aspahê-astra, nine hundred +stripes with the Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man break the +field-contract, what is the penalty that he shall pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"A thousand stripes with the Aspahê-astra, a thousand +stripes with the Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>If a man rise up with a weapon in his hand, it is an +Âgerepta. If he brandish it, it is an Avaoirista. If he +actually smite a man with malicious aforethought, it is an Aredus. +Upon the fifth Aredus he becomes a Peshôtanu.</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! He that committeth +an Âgerepta, what penalty shall he pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"Five stripes with the Aspahê-astra, five stripes with the +Sraoshô-karana; on the second Âgerepta, ten stripes +with the Aspahê-astra, ten stripes with the +Sraoshô-karana; on the third, fifteen stripes with the +Aspahê-astra, fifteen stripes with the Sraoshô-karana; +on the fourth, thirty stripes with the Aspahê-astra, thirty +stripes with the Sraoshô-karana; on the fifth, fifty stripes +with the Aspahê-astra, fifty stripes with the +Sraoshô-karana; on the sixth, sixty stripes with the +Aspahê-astra, sixty stripes with the Sraoshô-karana; on +the seventh, ninety stripes with the Aspahê-astra, ninety +stripes with the Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>If a man commit an Âgerepta for the eighth time, without +having atoned for the preceding, what penalty shall he pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"He is a Peshôtanu: two hundred stripes with the +Aspahê-astra, two hundred stripes with the +Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>If a man commit an Âgerepta, and refuse to atone for it, +what penalty shall he pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"He is a Peshôtanu: two hundred stripes with the +Aspahê-astra, two hundred stripes with the +Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man commit an +Avaoirista, what penalty shall he pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"Ten stripes with the Aspahê-astra, ten stripes with the +Sraoshô-karana; on the second Avaoirista, fifteen stripes +with the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page79" name="page79"></a>[pg +79]</span> Aspahê-astra, fifteen stripes with the +Sraoshô-karana; on the third, thirty stripes with the +Aspahê-astra, thirty stripes with the Sraoshô-karana; +on the fourth, fifty stripes with the Aspahê-astra, fifty +stripes with the Sraoshô-karana; on the fifth, seventy +stripes with the Aspahê-astra, seventy stripes with the +Sraoshô-karana; on the sixth, ninety stripes with the +Aspahê-astra, ninety stripes with the +Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man commit an +Avaoirista for the seventh time, without having atoned for the +preceding, what penalty shall he pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"He is a Peshôtanu: two hundred stripes with the +Aspahê-astra, two hundred stripes with the +Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man commit an +Avaoirista, and refuse to atone for it, what penalty shall he +pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"He is a Peshôtanu: two hundred stripes with the +Aspahê-astra, two hundred stripes with the +Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man commit an +Aredus, what penalty shall he pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"Fifteen stripes with the Aspahê-astra, fifteen stripes +with the Sraoshô-karana.</p> +<p>"On the second Aredus, thirty stripes with the +Aspahê-astra, thirty stripes with the Sraoshô-karana; +on the third, fifty stripes with the Aspahê-astra, fifty +stripes with the Sraoshô-karana; on the fourth, seventy +stripes with the Aspahê-astra, seventy stripes with the +Sraoshô-karana; on the fifth, ninety stripes with the +Aspahê-astra, ninety stripes with the +Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man commit an +Aredus for the sixth time, without having atoned for the preceding, +what penalty shall he pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"He is a Peshôtanu: two hundred stripes with the +Aspahê-astra, two hundred stripes with the +Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man commit an +Aredus, and refuse to atone for it, what penalty shall he pay? +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page80" name="page80"></a>[pg +80]</span></p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"He is a Peshôtanu: two hundred stripes with the +Aspahê-astra, two hundred stripes with the +Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man smite +another and hurt him sorely, what is the penalty that he shall +pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"Thirty stripes with the Aspahê-astra, thirty stripes with +the Sraoshô-karana; the second time, fifty stripes with the +Aspahê-astra, fifty stripes with the Sraoshô-karana; +the third time, seventy stripes with the Aspahê-astra, +seventy stripes with the Sraoshô-karana; the fourth time, +ninety stripes with the Aspahê-astra, ninety stripes with the +Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>If a man commit that deed for the fifth time, without having +atoned for the preceding, what is the penalty that he shall +pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"He is a Peshôtanu: two hundred stripes with the +Aspahê-astra, two hundred stripes with the +Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>If a man commit that deed and refuse to atone for it, what is +the penalty that he shall pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"He is a Peshôtanu: two hundred stripes with the +Aspahê-astra, two hundred stripes with the +Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man smite +another so that the blood come, what is the penalty that he shall +pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"Fifty stripes with the Aspahê-astra, fifty stripes with +the Sraoshô-karana; the second time, seventy stripes with the +Aspahê-astra, seventy stripes with the Sraoshô-karana; +the third time, ninety stripes with the Aspahê-astra, ninety +stripes with the Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>If he commit that deed for the fourth time, without having +atoned for the preceding, what is the penalty that he shall +pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"He is a Peshôtanu: two hundred stripes with the +Aspahê-astra, two hundred stripes with the +Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man smite +another so that the blood come, and if he refuse to atone for it, +what is the penalty that he shall pay? <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page81" name="page81"></a>[pg 81]</span></p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"He is a Peshôtanu: two hundred stripes with the +Aspahê-astra, two hundred stripes with the +Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man smite +another so that he break a bone, what is the penalty that he shall +pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"Seventy stripes with the Aspahê-astra, seventy stripes +with the Sraoshô-karana; the second time, ninety stripes with +the Aspahê-astra, ninety stripes with the +Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>If he commit that deed for the third time, without having atoned +for the preceding, what is the penalty that he shall pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"He is a Peshôtanu: two hundred stripes with the +Aspahê-astra, two hundred stripes with the +Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man smite +another so that he break a bone, and if he refuse to atone for it, +what is the penalty that he shall pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"He is a Peshôtanu: two hundred stripes with the +Aspahê-astra, two hundred stripes with the +Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man smite +another so that he give up the ghost, what is the penalty that he +shall pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"Ninety stripes with the Aspahê-astra, ninety stripes with +the Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>If he commit that deed again, without having atoned for the +preceding, what is the penalty that he shall pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"He is a Peshôtanu: two hundred stripes with the +Aspahê-astra, two hundred stripes with the +Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man smite +another so that he give up the ghost, and if he refuse to atone for +it, what is the penalty that he shall pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"He is a Peshôtanu: two hundred stripes with the +Aspahê-astra, two hundred stripes with the +Sraoshô-karana.</p> +<p>"And they shall thenceforth in their doings walk after the way +of holiness, after the word of holiness, after the ordinance of +holiness.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page82" name="page82"></a>[pg +82]</span> +<p>"If men of the same faith, either friends or brothers, come to +an agreement together, that one may obtain from the other either +goods, or a wife, or knowledge, let him who desires goods have them +delivered to him; let him who desires a wife receive and wed her; +let him who desires knowledge be taught the holy word, during the +first part of the day and the last, during the first part of the +night and the last, that his mind may be increased in intelligence +and wax strong in holiness. So shall he sit up, in devotion and +prayers, that he may be increased in intelligence: he shall rest +during the middle part of the day, during the middle part of the +night, and thus shall he continue until he can say all the words +which former Aêthra-paitis have said.</p> +<p>"Before the boiling water publicly prepared, O Spitama +Zarathustra! let no one make bold to deny having received from his +neighbor the ox or the garment in his possession.</p> +<p>"Verily I say it unto thee, O Spitama Zarathustra! the man who +has a wife is far above him who lives in continence; he who keeps a +house is far above him who has none; he who has children is far +above the childless man; he who has riches is far above him who has +none. And of two men, he who fills himself with meat receives in +him Vohu Manô much better than he who does not do so; the +latter is all but dead; the former is above him by the worth of an +Asperena, by the worth of a sheep, by the worth of an ox, by the +worth of a man. This man can strive against the onsets of +Astô-vidhôtu; he can strive against the well-darted +arrow; he can strive against the winter fiend, with thinnest +garment on; he can strive against the wicked tyrant and smite him +on the head; he can strive against the ungodly fasting +Ashemaogha.</p> +<p>"On the very first time when that deed has been done, without +waiting until it is done again, down there the pain for that deed +shall be as hard as any in this world: even as if one should cut +off the limbs from his perishable body with knives of brass, or +still worse; down there the pain for that deed shall be as hard as +any in this world: even as if one should nail his perishable body +with nails of brass, or still worse; down there the pain for that +deed shall be as hard as any in this world: even as if one should +by force throw his perishable body headlong down a precipice a +hundred times the height of a man, or still worse; down there the +pain for that deed shall be <span class="pagenum"><a id="page83" +name="page83"></a>[pg 83]</span> as hard as any in this world: even +as if one should by force impale his perishable body, or still +worse; down there the pain for this deed shall be as hard as any in +this world: to-wit, the deed of a man, who, knowingly lying, +confronts the brimstoned, golden, truth-knowing water with an +appeal unto Rashnu and a lie unto Mithra."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! He who, knowingly +lying, confronts the brimstoned, golden, truth-knowing water with +an appeal unto Rashnu and a lie unto Mithra, what is the penalty +that he shall pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"Seven hundred stripes with the Aspahê-astra, seven +hundred stripes with the Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote11" name= +"footnote11"></a><b>Footnote 11:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag11">(return)</a> +<p>This chapter is the only one in the Vendîdâd that +deals with legal subjects.</p> +</blockquote> +<h3><a id="avesta-uncleanness" name= +"avesta-uncleanness">UNCLEANNESS</a><a id="footnotetag12" name= +"footnotetag12"></a><a href="#footnote12"><sup>12</sup></a></h3> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Here is a man +watering a corn-field. The water streams down the field; it streams +again; it streams a third time; and the fourth time, a dog, a fox, +or a wolf carries some Nasu into the bed of the stream: what is the +penalty that this man shall pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"There is no sin upon a man for any Nasu that has been brought +by dogs, by birds, by wolves, by winds, or by flies. For were there +sin upon a man for any Nasu that might have been brought by dogs, +by birds, by wolves, by winds, or by flies, how soon all this +material world of mine would be only one Peshôtanu, bent on +the destruction of righteousness, and whose soul will cry and wail! +so numberless are the beings that die upon the face of the +earth."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Does water +kill?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"Water kills no man: Astô-vîdhôtu binds him, +and, thus bound, Vayu carries him off; and the flood takes him up, +the flood takes him down, the flood throws him ashore; then birds +feed upon him. When he goes away, it is by the will of Fate he +goes."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page84" name="page84"></a>[pg +84]</span> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Does fire +kill?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"Fire kills no man: Astô-vîdhôtu binds him, +and, thus bound, Vayu carries him off; and the fire burns up life +and limb. When he goes away, it is by the will of Fate he +goes."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If the summer is +past and the winter has come, what shall the worshippers of Mazda +do?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"In every house, in every borough, they shall raise three rooms +for the dead."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! How large shall be +those rooms for the dead?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"Large enough not to strike the skull of the man, if he should +stand erect, or his feet or his hands stretched out: such shall be, +according to the law, the rooms for the dead. And they shall let +the lifeless body lie there, for two nights, or for three nights, +or a month long, until the birds begin to fly, the plants to grow, +the hidden floods to flow, and the wind to dry up the earth. And as +soon as the birds begin to fly, the plants to grow, the hidden +floods to flow, and the wind to dry up the earth, then the +worshippers of Mazda shall lay down the dead on the Dakhma, his +eyes towards the sun. If the worshippers of Mazda have not, within +a year, laid down the dead on the Dakhma, his eyes towards the sun, +thou shalt prescribe for that trespass the same penalty as for the +murder of one of the faithful; until the corpse has been rained on, +until the Dakhma has been rained on, until the unclean remains have +been rained on, until the birds have eaten up the corpse."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Is it true that +thou, Ahura Mazda, seizest the waters from the sea Vouru-kasha with +the wind and the clouds? That thou, Ahura Mazda, takest them down +to the corpses? that thou, Ahura Mazda, takest them down to the +Dakhmas? that thou, Ahura Mazda, takest them down to the unclean +remains? that thou, Ahura Mazda, takest them down to the bones? and +that then thou, Ahura Mazda, makest them flow back unseen? that +thou, Ahura Mazda, makest them flow back to the sea +Pûitika?</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page85" name="page85"></a>[pg +85]</span> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"It is even so as thou hast said, O righteous Zarathustra! I, +Ahura Mazda, seize the waters from the sea Vouru-kasha with the +wind and the clouds. I, Ahura Mazda, take them to the corpses; I, +Ahura Mazda, take them down to the Dakhmas; I, Ahura Mazda, take +them down to the unclean remains; I, Ahura Mazda, take them down to +the bones; then I, Ahura Mazda, make them flow back unseen; I, +Ahura Mazda, make them flow back to the sea Pûitika. The +waters stand there boiling, boiling up in the heart of the sea +Pûitika, and, when cleansed there, they run back again from +the sea Pûitika to the sea Vouru-kasha, towards the +well-watered tree, whereon grow the seeds of my plants of every +kind by hundreds, by thousands, by hundreds of thousands. Those +plants, I, Ahura Mazda, rain down upon the earth, to bring food to +the faithful, and fodder to the beneficent cow; to bring food to my +people that they may live on it, and fodder to the beneficent +cow.</p> +<p>"This is the best, this is the fairest of all things, even as +thou hast said, O pure Zarathustra!"</p> +<p>With these words, the holy Ahura Mazda rejoiced the holy +Zarathustra: "Purity is for man, next to life, the greatest good, +that purity, O Zarathustra, that is in the Religion of Mazda for +him who cleanses his own self with good thoughts, words, and +deeds."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! This Law, this +fiend-destroying Law of Zarathustra, by what greatness, goodness, +and fairness is it great, good, and fair above all other +utterances?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"As much above all other floods as is the sea Vouru-kasha, so +much above all other utterances in greatness, goodness, and +fairness is this Law, this fiend-destroying Law of Zarathustra. As +much as a great stream flows swifter than a slender rivulet, so +much above all other utterances in greatness, goodness, and +fairness is this Law, this fiend-destroying Law of Zarathustra. As +high as the great tree stands above the small plants it +overshadows, so high above all other utterances in greatness, +goodness, and fairness is this Law, this fiend-destroying Law of +Zarathustra. As high as heaven is above the earth that it compasses +around, so high above all other utterances is this Law, this +fiend-destroying Law of Mazda. <span class="pagenum"><a id="page86" +name="page86"></a>[pg 86]</span> Therefore, he will apply to the +Ratu, he will apply to the Srao-shâ-varez; whether for a +draona-service that should have been undertaken and has not been +undertaken; or for a draona that should have been offered up and +has not been offered up; or for a draona that should have been +intrusted and has not been intrusted. The Ratu has power to remit +him one-third of his penalty: if he has committed any other evil +deed, it is remitted by his repentance; if he has committed no +other evil deed, he is absolved by his repentance forever and +ever."</p> +<p>How long shall the piece of ground lie fallow whereon dogs or +men have died?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"A year long shall the piece of ground lie fallow whereon dogs +or men have died, O holy Zarathustra! A year long shall no +worshipper of Mazda sow or water that piece of ground whereon dogs +or men have died; he may sow as he likes the rest of the ground; he +may water it as he likes. If within the year they shall sow or +water the piece of ground whereon dogs or men have died, they are +guilty of the sin of 'burying the dead' towards the water, towards +the earth, and towards the plants."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If worshippers of +Mazda shall sow or water, within the year, the piece of ground +whereon dogs or men have died, what is the penalty that they shall +pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"They are Peshôtanus: two hundred stripes with the +Aspahê-astra, two hundred stripes with the +Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If worshippers of +Mazda want to till that piece of ground again, to water it, to sow +it, and to plough it, what shall they do?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"They shall look on the ground for any bones, hair, dung, urine, +or blood that may be there."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If they shall not +look on the ground for any bones, hair, dung, urine, or blood that +may be there, what is the penalty that they shall pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"They are Peshôtanus: two hundred stripes with the +Aspahê-astra, two hundred stripes with the +Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page87" name="page87"></a>[pg +87]</span> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man shall +throw on the ground a bone of a dead dog, or of a dead man, as +large as the top joint of the little finger, and if grease or +marrow flow from it on to the ground, what penalty shall he +pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"Thirty stripes with the Aspahê-astra, thirty stripes with +the Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man shall +throw on the ground a bone of a dead dog, or of a dead man, as +large as the top joint of the fore-finger, and if grease or marrow +flow from it on to the ground, what penalty shall he pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"Fifty stripes with the Aspahê-astra, fifty stripes with +the Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man shall +throw on the ground a bone of a dead dog, or of a dead man, as +large as the top joint of the middle finger, and if grease or +marrow flow from it on to the ground, what penalty shall he +pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"Seventy stripes with the Aspahê-astra, seventy stripes +with the Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man shall +throw on the ground a bone of a dead dog, or of a dead man, as +large as a finger or as a rib, and if grease or marrow flow from it +on to the ground, what penalty shall he pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"Ninety stripes with the Aspahê-astra, ninety stripes with +the Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man shall +throw on the ground a bone of a dead dog, or of a dead man, as +large as two fingers or as two ribs, and if grease or marrow flow +from it on to the ground, what penalty shall he pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"He is a Peshôtanu: two hundred stripes with the +Aspahê-astra, two hundred stripes with the +Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man shall +throw on the ground a bone of a dead dog, or of a dead <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page88" name="page88"></a>[pg 88]</span> man, as +large as an arm-bone or as a thigh-bone, and if grease or marrow +flow from it on to the ground, what penalty shall he pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"Four hundred stripes with the Aspahê-astra, four hundred +stripes with the Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man shall +throw on the ground a bone of a dead dog, or of a dead man, as +large as a man's skull, and if grease or marrow flow from it on to +the ground, what penalty shall he pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"Six hundred stripes with the Aspahê-astra, six hundred +stripes with the Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man shall +throw on the ground the whole body of a dead dog, or of a dead man, +and if grease or marrow flow from it on to the ground, what penalty +shall he pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"A thousand stripes with the Aspahê-astra, a thousand +stripes with the Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a worshipper of +Mazda, walking, or running, or riding, or driving, come upon a +corpse in a stream of running water, what shall he do?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"Taking off his shoes, putting off his clothes, while the others +wait, O Zarathustra! he shall enter the river, and take the dead +out of the water; he shall go down into the water ankle-deep, +knee-deep, waist-deep, or a man's full depth, till he can reach the +dead body."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If, however, the +body be already falling to pieces and rotting, what shall the +worshipper of Mazda do?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"He shall draw out of the water as much of the corpse as he can +grasp with both hands, and he shall lay it down on the dry ground; +no sin attaches to him for any bone, hair, grease, dung, urine, or +blood, that may drop back into the water."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! What part of the +water in a pond does the Drug Nasu defile with corruption, +infection, and pollution?</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page89" name="page89"></a>[pg +89]</span> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"Six steps on each of the four sides. As long as the corpse has +not been taken out of the water, so long shall that water be +unclean and unfit to drink. They shall, therefore, take the corpse +out of the pond, and lay it down on the dry ground. And of the +water they shall draw off the half, or the third, or the fourth, or +the fifth part, according as they are able or not; and after the +corpse has been taken out and the water has been drawn off, the +rest of the water is clean, and both cattle and men may drink of it +at their pleasure, as before."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! What part of the +water in a well does the Drug Nasu defile with corruption, +infection, and pollution?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"As long as the corpse has not been taken out of the water, so +long shall that water be unclean and unfit to drink. They shall, +therefore, take the corpse out of the well, and lay it down on the +dry ground. And of the water in the well they shall draw off the +half, or the third, or the fourth, or the fifth part, according as +they are able or not; and after the corpse has been taken out and +the water has been drawn off, the rest of the water is clean, and +both cattle and men may drink of it at their pleasure, as +before."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! What part of a +sheet of snow or hail does the Drug Nasu defile with corruption, +infection, and pollution?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"Three steps on each of the four sides. As long as the corpse +has not been taken out of the water, so long shall that water be +unclean and unfit to drink. They shall, therefore, take the corpse +out of the water, and lay it down on the dry ground. After the +corpse has been taken out, and the snow or the hail has melted, the +water is clean, and both cattle and men may drink of it at their +pleasure, as before."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! What part of the +water of a running stream does the Drug Nasu defile with +corruption, infection, and pollution?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"Three steps down the stream, nine steps up the stream, six +steps across. As long as the corpse has not been taken out of the +water, so long shall the water be unclean and unfit to <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page90" name="page90"></a>[pg 90]</span> drink. +They shall, therefore, take the corpse out of the water, and lay it +down on the dry ground. After the corpse has been taken out and the +stream has flowed three times, the water is clean, and both cattle +and men may drink of it at their pleasure, as before."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Can the Haoma that +has been touched with Nasu from a dead dog, or from a dead man, be +made clean again?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"It can, O holy Zarathustra! If it has been prepared for the +sacrifice, there is to it no corruption, no death, no touch of any +Nasu. If it has not been prepared for the sacrifice, the stem is +defiled the length of four fingers: it shall be laid down on the +ground, in the middle of the house, for a year long. When the year +is past, the faithful may drink of its juice at their pleasure, as +before."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Whither shall we +bring, where shall we lay the bodies of the dead, O Ahura +Mazda?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"On the highest summits, where they know there are always +corpse-eating dogs and corpse-eating birds, O holy Zarathustra! +There shall the worshippers of Mazda fasten the corpse, by the feet +and by the hair, with brass, stones, or clay, lest the +corpse-eating dogs and the corpse-eating birds shall go and carry +the bones to the water and to the trees."</p> +<p>If they shall not fasten the corpse, so that the corpse-eating +dogs and the corpse-eating birds may go and carry the bones to the +water and to the trees, what is the penalty that they shall +pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"They shall be Peshôtanus: two hundred stripes with the +Aspahê-astra, two hundred stripes with the +Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Whither shall we +bring, where shall we lay the bones of the dead, O Ahura Mazda?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"The worshippers of Mazda shall make a receptacle out of the +reach of the dog, of the fox, and of the wolf, and wherein +rain-water cannot stay. They shall make it, if they can afford it, +with stones, plaster, or earth; if they cannot afford it, they +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page91" name="page91"></a>[pg +91]</span> shall lay down the dead man on the ground, on his carpet +and his pillow, clothed with the light of heaven, and beholding the +sun."</p> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote12" name= +"footnote12"></a><b>Footnote 12:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag12">(return)</a> +<p>This chapter deals chiefly with uncleanness arising from the +dead, and with the means of removing it from men and things.</p> +</blockquote> +<h3><a id="avesta-funerals" name="avesta-funerals">FUNERALS AND +PURIFICATION</a></h3> +<p>If a dog or a man die under a hut of wood or a hut of felt, what +shall the worshippers of Mazda do?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"They shall search for a Dakhma, they shall look for a Dakhma +all around. If they find it easier to remove the dead, they shall +take out the dead, they shall let the house stand, and shall +perfume it with Urvâsna or Vohú-gaona, or +Vohú-kereti, or Hadhâ-naepata, or any other +sweet-smelling plant. If they find it easier to remove the house, +they shall take away the house, they shall let the dead lie on the +spot, and shall perfume the house with Urvâsna, or +Vohú-gaona, or Vohú-kereti, or +Hadhâ-naêpata, or any other sweet-smelling plant."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If in the house of +a worshipper of Mazda a dog or a man happens to die, and it is +raining, or snowing, or blowing, or it is dark, or the day is at +its end, when flocks and men lose their way, what shall the +worshippers of Mazda do?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"The place in that house whereof the ground is the cleanest and +the driest, and the least passed through by flocks and herds, by +the fire of Ahura Mazda, by the consecrated bundles of Baresma, and +by the faithful."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! How far from the +fire? How far from the water? How far from the consecrated bundles +of Baresma? How far from the faithful?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"Thirty paces from the fire; thirty paces from the water; thirty +paces from the consecrated bundles of Baresma; three paces from the +faithful;—on that place they shall dig a grave, half a foot +deep if the earth be hard, half the height of a man if it be soft; +they shall cover the surface of the grave with ashes or cow-dung; +they shall cover the surface of it with dust of bricks, of stones, +or of dry earth. And they shall let the lifeless body lie there, +for two nights, or three nights, or a month long, <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page92" name="page92"></a>[pg 92]</span> until the +birds begin to fly, the plants to grow, the hidden floods to flow, +and the wind to dry up the earth. And when the birds begin to fly, +the plants to grow, the hidden floods to flow, and the wind to dry +up the earth, then the worshippers of Mazda shall make a breach in +the wall of the house, and two men, strong and skilful, having +stripped their clothes off, shall take up the body from the clay or +the stones, or from the plastered house, and they shall lay it down +on a place where they know there are always corpse-eating dogs and +corpse-eating birds. Afterwards the corpse-bearers shall sit down, +three paces from the dead, and the holy Ratu shall proclaim to the +worshippers of Mazda thus: 'Worshippers of Mazda, let the urine be +brought here wherewith the corpse-bearers there shall wash their +hair and their bodies.'"</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which is the urine +wherewith the corpse-bearers shall wash their hair and their +bodies? Is it of sheep or of oxen? Is it of man or of woman?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"It is of sheep or of oxen; not of man nor of woman, except a +man or a woman who has married the next-of-kin: these shall +therefore procure the urine wherewith the corpse-bearers shall wash +their hair and their bodies."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Can the way, +whereon the carcasses of dogs or corpses of men have been carried, +be passed through again by flocks and herds, by men and women, by +the fire of Ahura Mazda, by the consecrated bundles of Baresma, and +by the faithful?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"It cannot be passed through again by flocks and herds, nor by +men and women, nor by the fire of Ahura Mazda, nor by the +consecrated bundles of Baresma, nor by the faithful. They shall +therefore cause a yellow dog with four eyes,<a id="footnotetag13" +name="footnotetag13"></a><a href="#footnote13"><sup>13</sup></a> or +a white dog with yellow ears, to go three times through that way. +When either the yellow dog with four eyes, or the white dog with +yellow ears, is brought there, then the Drug Nasu flies away to the +regions of the north, in the shape of a raging fly, with knees and +tail sticking out, droning without end, and like unto the foulest +Khrafstras. If the dog goes unwillingly, O Spitama Zarathustra, +they shall cause the yellow dog with four <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page93" name="page93"></a>[pg 93]</span> eyes, or +the white dog with yellow ears, to go six times through that way. +When either the yellow dog with four eyes, or the white dog with +yellow ears, is brought there, then the Drug Nasu flies away to the +regions of the north, in the shape of a raging fly, with knees and +tail sticking out, droning without end, and like unto the foulest +Khrafstras. If the dog goes unwillingly, they shall cause the +yellow dog with four eyes, or the white dog with yellow ears, to go +nine times through that way. When either the yellow dog with four +eyes, or the white dog with yellow ears, has been brought there, +then the Drug Nasu flies away to the regions of the north, in the +shape of a raging fly, with knees and tail sticking out, droning +without end, and like unto the foulest Khrafstras. An +Âthravan shall first go along the way and shall say aloud +these victorious words: 'Yathâ ahû +vairyô:—The will of the Lord is the law of +righteousness. The gifts of Vohu-manô to the deeds done in +this world for Mazda. He who relieves the poor makes Ahura king. +What protector hast thou given unto me, O Mazda! while the hate of +the wicked encompasses me? Whom but thy Âtar and +Vohu-manô, through whose work I keep on the world of +righteousness? Reveal therefore to me thy Religion as thy rule! Who +is the victorious who will protect thy teaching? Make it clear that +I am the guide for both worlds. May Sraosha come with +Vohu-manô and help whomsoever thou pleasest, O Mazda! Keep us +from our hater, O Mazda and Spenta Ârmaiti! Perish, O +fiendish Drug! Perish, O brood of the fiend! Perish, O creation of +the fiend! Perish, O world of the fiend! Perish away, O Drug! Rush +away, O Drug! Perish away, O Drug! Perish away to the regions of +the north, never more to give unto death the living world of +Righteousness!' Then the worshippers of Mazda may at their will +bring by those ways sheep and oxen, men and women, and Fire, the +son of Ahura Mazda, the consecrated bundles of Baresma, and the +faithful. The worshippers of Mazda may afterwards prepare meals +with meat and wine in that house; it shall be clean, and there will +be no sin, as before."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man shall +throw clothes, either of skin or woven, upon a dead body, enough to +cover the feet, what is the penalty that he shall pay?</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page94" name="page94"></a>[pg +94]</span> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"Four hundred stripes with the Aspahê-astra, four hundred +stripes with the Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man shall +throw clothes, either of skin or woven, upon a dead body, enough to +cover both legs, what is the penalty that he shall pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"Six hundred stripes with the Aspahê-astra, six hundred +stripes with the Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man shall +throw clothes, either of skin or woven, upon a dead body, enough to +cover the whole body, what is the penalty that he shall pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"A thousand stripes with the Aspahê-astra, a thousand +stripes with the Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man, by +force, commits the unnatural sin, what is the penalty that he shall +pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"Eight hundred stripes with the Aspahê-astra, eight +hundred stripes with the Sraoshô-karana."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man +voluntarily commits the unnatural sin, what is the penalty for it? +What is the atonement for it? What is the cleansing from it?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"For that deed there is nothing that can pay, nothing that can +atone, nothing that can cleanse from it; it is a trespass for which +there is no atonement, forever and ever."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Who is the man +that is a Deva? Who is he that is a worshipper of the Devas? that +is a male paramour of the Devas? that is a female paramour of the +Devas? that is a wife to the Deva? that is as bad as a Deva? that +is in his whole being a Deva? Who is he that is a Deva before he +dies, and becomes one of the unseen Devas after death?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"The man that lies with mankind as man lies with womankind, or +as woman lies with mankind, is the man that is a Deva; <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page95" name="page95"></a>[pg 95]</span> this one +is the man that is a worshipper of the Devas, that is a male +paramour of the Devas, that is a female paramour of the Devas, that +is a wife to the Deva; this is the man that is as bad as a Deva, +that is in his whole being a Deva; this is the man that is a Deva +before he dies, and becomes one of the unseen Devas after death: so +is he, whether he has lain with mankind as mankind, or as +womankind."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Shall the man be +clean who has touched a corpse that has been dried up and dead more +than a year?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"He shall. The dry mingles not with the dry. Should the dry +mingle with the dry, how soon all this material world of mine would +be only one Peshôtanu, bent on the destruction of +righteousness, and whose soul will cry and wail! so numberless are +the beings that die upon the face of the earth."</p> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote13" name= +"footnote13"></a><b>Footnote 13:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag13">(return)</a> +<p>A dog with two spots above the eyes.</p> +</blockquote> +<h3><a id="avesta-cleansing" name="avesta-cleansing">CLEANSING THE +UNCLEAN</a></h3> +<p>Zarathustra asked Ahura Mazda:—</p> +<p>O most beneficent Spirit, Maker of the material world, thou Holy +One! To whom shall they apply here below, who want to cleanse their +body defiled by the dead?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"To a pious man, O Spitama Zarathustra! who knows how to speak, +who speaks truth, who has learned the Holy Word, who is pious, and +knows best the rites of cleansing according to the law of Mazda. +That man shall fell the trees off the surface of the ground on a +space of nine Vibâzus square; in that part of the ground +where there is least water and where there are fewest trees, the +part which is the cleanest and driest, and the least passed through +by sheep and oxen, and by the fire of Ahura Mazda, by the +consecrated bundles of Baresma, and by the faithful."</p> +<p>How far from the fire? How far from the water? How far from the +consecrated bundles of Baresma? How far from the faithful?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"Thirty paces from the fire, thirty paces from the water, thirty +paces from the consecrated bundles of Baresma, three <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page96" name="page96"></a>[pg 96]</span> paces +from the faithful. Then thou shalt dig a hole, two fingers deep if +the summer has come, four fingers deep if the winter and ice have +come." How far from one another? "One pace." How much is the pace? +"As much as three feet. Then thou shalt dig three holes more, two +fingers deep if the summer has come, four fingers deep if the +winter and ice have come." How far from the former six? "Three +paces." What sort of paces? "Such as are taken in walking." How +much are those three paces? "As much as nine feet. Then thou shalt +draw a furrow all around with a metal knife. Then thou shalt draw +twelve furrows; three of which thou shalt draw to surround and +divide from the rest the first three holes; three thou shalt draw +to surround and divide the first six holes; three thou shalt draw +to surround and divide the nine holes; three thou shalt draw around +the three inferior holes, outside the six other holes. At each of +the three times nine feet, thou shalt place stones as steps to the +holes; or potsherds, or stumps, or clods, or any hard matter. Then +the man defiled shall walk to the holes; thou, O Zarathustra! shalt +stand outside by the furrow, and thou shalt recite, 'Nemaskâ +yâ ârmaitis izâkâ'; and the man defiled +shall repeat, 'Nemaskâ yâ ârmaitis +izâkâ.' The Drug becomes weaker and weaker at every one +of those words which are a weapon to smite the fiend Angra Mainyu, +to smite Aeshma of the murderous spear, to smite the Mâzainya +fiends, to smite all the fiends. Then thou shalt take for the +gômêz a spoon of brass or of lead. When thou takest a +stick with nine knots, O Spitama Zarathustra! to sprinkle the +gômêz from that spoon, thou shalt fasten the spoon to +the end of the stick. They shall wash his hands first. If his hands +be not washed first, he makes his whole body unclean. When he has +washed his hands three times, after his hands have been washed, +thou shalt sprinkle the forepart of his skull; then the Drug Nasu +rushes in front, between his brows. Thou shalt sprinkle him in +front between the brows; then the Drug Nasu rushes upon the back +part of the skull. Thou shalt sprinkle the back part of the skull; +then the Drug Nasu rushes upon the jaws. Thou shalt sprinkle the +jaws; then the Drug Nasu rushes upon the right ear. Thou shalt +sprinkle the right ear; then the Drug Nasu rushes upon the left +ear. Thou shalt sprinkle the left ear; then the Drug Nasu rushes +upon the right shoulder. Thou shalt sprinkle the right shoulder; +then the Drug Nasu <span class="pagenum"><a id="page97" name= +"page97"></a>[pg 97]</span> rushes upon the left shoulder. Thou +shalt sprinkle the left shoulder; then the Drug Nasu rushes upon +the right arm-pit. Thou shalt sprinkle the right arm-pit; then the +Drug Nasu rushes upon the left arm-pit. Thou shalt sprinkle the +left armpit; then the Drug Nasu rushes upon the chest. Thou shalt +sprinkle the chest; then the Drug Nasu rushes upon the back. Thou +shalt sprinkle the back; then the Drug Nasu rushes upon the right +nipple. Thou shalt sprinkle the right nipple; then the Drug Nasu +rushes upon the left nipple. Thou shalt sprinkle the left +nippíe; then the Drug Nasu rushes upon the right rib. Thou +shalt sprinkle the right rib; then the Drug Nasu rushes upon the +left rib. Thou shalt sprinkle the left rib; then the Drug Nasu +rushes upon the right hip. Thou shalt sprinkle the right hip; then +the Drug Nasu rushes upon the left hip. Thou shalt sprinkle the +left hip; then the Drug Nasu rushes upon the sexual parts. Thou +shalt sprinkle the sexual parts. If the unclean one be a man, thou +shalt sprinkle him first behind, then before; if the unclean one be +a woman, thou shalt sprinkle her first before, then behind; then +the Drug Nasu rushes upon the right thigh. Thou shalt sprinkle the +right thigh; then the Drug Nasu rushes upon the left thigh. Thou +shalt sprinkle the left thigh; then the Drug Nasu rushes upon the +right knee. Thou shalt sprinkle the right knee; then the Drug Nasu +rushes upon the left knee. Thou shalt sprinkle the left knee; then +the Drug Nasu rushes upon the right leg. Thou shalt sprinkle the +right leg; then the Drug Nasu rushes upon the left leg. Thou shalt +sprinkle the left leg; then the Drug Nasu rushes upon the right +ankle. Thou shalt sprinkle the right ankle; then the Drug Nasu +rushes upon the left ankle. Thou shalt sprinkle the left ankle; +then the Drug Nasu rushes upon the right instep. Thou shalt +sprinkle the right instep; then the Drug Nasu rushes upon the left +instep. Thou shalt sprinkle the left instep; then the Drug Nasu +turns round under the sole of the foot; it looks like the wing of a +fly. He shall press his toes upon the ground and shall raise up his +heels; thou shalt sprinkle his right sole; then the Drug Nasu +rushes upon the left sole. Thou shalt sprinkle the left sole; then +the Drug Nasu turns round under the toes; it looks like the wing of +a fly. He shall press his heels upon the ground and shall raise up +his toes; thou shalt sprinkle his right toe; then the Drug Nasu +rushes upon the left toe. Thou shalt sprinkle the <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page98" name="page98"></a>[pg 98]</span> left toe; +then the Drug Nasu flies away to the regions of the north, in the +shape of a raging fly, with knees and tail sticking out, droning +without end, and like unto the foulest Khrafstras. And thou shalt +say these victorious, most healing words: 'The will of the Lord is +the law of righteousness. The gifts of Vohu-manô to deeds +done in this world for Mazda. He who relieves the poor makes Ahura +king. What protector hadst thou given unto me, O Mazda! while the +hate of the wicked encompasses me? Whom, but thy Âtar and +Vohu-manô, through whose work I keep on the world of +Righteousness? Reveal therefore to me thy Religion as thy rule! Who +is the victorious who will protect thy teaching? Make it clear that +I am the guide for both worlds. May Sraosha come with +Vohu-manô and help whomsoever thou pleasest, O Mazda! Keep us +from our hater, O Mazda and Spenta Ârmaiti! Perish, O +fiendish Drug! Perish, O brood of the fiend! Perish, O world of the +fiend! Perish away, O Drug! Rush away, O Drug! Perish away, O Drug! +Perish away to the regions of the north, never more to give unto +death the living world of Righteousness.'</p> +<p>"Afterwards the man defiled shall sit down, inside the furrows, +outside the furrows of the six holes, four fingers from those +furrows. There he shall cleanse his body with thick handfuls of +dust. Fifteen times shall they take up dust from the ground for him +to rub his body, and they shall wait there until he is dry even to +the last hair on his head. When his body is dry with dust, then he +shall step over the holes containing water. At the first hole he +shall wash his body once with water; at the second hole he shall +wash his body twice with water; at the third hole he shall wash his +body thrice with water. Then he shall perfume his body with +Urvâsna, or Vohû-gaona, or Vohû-kereti, or +Hadhâ-naêpata, or any other sweet-smelling plant; then +he shall put on his clothes, and shall go back to his house. He +shall sit down there in the place of infirmity, inside the house, +apart from the other worshippers of Mazda. He shall not go near the +fire, nor near the water, nor near the earth, nor near the cow, nor +near the trees, nor near the faithful, either man or woman. Thus +shall he continue until three nights have passed. When three nights +have passed, he shall wash his body, he shall wash his clothes with +gômêz and water to make them clean. Then he shall +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page99" name="page99"></a>[pg +99]</span> sit down again in the place of infirmity, inside the +house, apart from the other worshippers of Mazda. He shall not go +near the fire, nor near the water, nor near the earth, nor near the +cow, nor near the trees, nor near the faithful, either man or +woman. Thus shall he continue until six nights have passed. When +six nights have passed, he shall wash his body, he shall wash his +clothes with gômêz and water to make them clean. Then +he shall sit down again in the place of infirmity, inside the +house, apart from the other worshippers of Mazda. He shall not go +near the fire, nor near the water, nor near the earth, nor near the +cow, nor near the trees, nor near the faithful, either man or +woman. Thus shall he continue, until nine nights have passed. When +nine nights have passed, he shall wash his body, he shall wash his +clothes with gômêz and water to make them clean. He may +thenceforth go near the fire, near the water, near the earth, near +the cow, near the trees, and near the faithful, either man or +woman.</p> +<p>"Thou shalt cleanse a priest for a blessing of the just. Thou +shalt cleanse the lord of a province for the value of a camel of +high value. Thou shalt cleanse the lord of a town for the value of +a stallion of high value. Thou shalt cleanse the lord of a borough +for the value of a bull of high value. Thou shalt cleanse the +master of a house for the value of a cow three years old. Thou +shalt cleanse the wife of the master of a house for the value of a +ploughing cow. Thou shalt cleanse a menial for the value of a +draught cow. Thou shalt cleanse a young child for the value of a +lamb. These are the heads of cattle—flocks or +herds—that the worshippers of Mazda shall give to the man who +has cleansed them, if they can afford it; if they cannot afford it, +they shall give him any other value that may make him leave their +houses well pleased with them, and free from anger. For if the man +who has cleansed them leave their houses displeased with them, and +full of anger, then the Drug Nasu enters them from the nose of the +dead, from the eyes, from the tongue, from the jaws, from the +sexual organs, from the hinder parts. And the Drug Nasu rushes upon +them even to the end of the nails, and they are unclean thenceforth +forever and ever. It grieves the sun indeed, O Spitama Zarathustra! +to shine upon a man defiled by the dead; it grieves the moon, it +grieves the stars. That man delights them, O Spitama Zarathustra! +who <span class="pagenum"><a id="page100" name="page100"></a>[pg +100]</span> cleanses from the Nasu the man defiled by the dead; he +delights the fire, he delights the water, he delights the earth, he +delights the cow, he delights the trees, he delights the faithful, +both men and women."</p> +<p>Zarathustra asked Ahura Mazda:—</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! What shall be his +reward, after his soul has parted from his body, who has cleansed +from the Nasu the man defiled by the dead?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"The welfare of Paradise thou canst promise to that man, for his +reward in the other world."</p> +<p>Zarathustra asked Ahura Mazda:—</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! How shall I fight +against that Drug who from the dead rushes upon the living? How +shall I fight against that Nasu who from the dead defiles the +living?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"Say aloud those words in the Gâthas that are to be said +twice. Say aloud those words in the Gâthas that are to be +said thrice. Say aloud those words in the Gâthas that are to +be said four times. And the Drug shall fly away like the +well-darted arrow, like the felt of last year, like the annual +garment of the earth."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a man who does +not know the rites of cleansing according to the law of Mazda, +offers to cleanse the unclean, how shall I then fight against that +Drug who from the dead rushes upon the living? How shall I fight +against that Drug who from the dead defiles the living?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"Then, O Spitama Zarathustra! the Drug Nasu appears to wax +stronger than she was before. Stronger then are sickness and death +and the working of the fiend than they were before."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! What is the +penalty that he shall pay?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"The worshippers of Mazda shall bind him; they shall bind his +hands first; then they shall strip him of his clothes, they shall +cut the head off his neck, and they shall give over his corpse unto +the greediest of the corpse-eating creatures <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page101" name="page101"></a>[pg 101]</span> made +by the beneficent Spirit, unto the vultures, with these words: 'The +man here has repented of all his evil thoughts, words, and deeds. +If he has committed any other evil deed, it is remitted by his +repentance; if he has committed no other evil deed, he is absolved +by his repentance forever and ever.'"</p> +<p>Who is he, O Ahura Mazda! who threatens to take away fulness and +increase from the world, and to bring in sickness and death?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"It is the ungodly Ashemaogha, O Spitama Zarathustra! who in +this material world cleanses the unclean without knowing the rites +of cleansing according to the law of Mazda. For until then, O +Spitama Zarathustra! sweetness and fatness would flow out from that +land and from those fields, with health and healing, with fulness +and increase and growth, and a growing of corn and grass."</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! When are sweetness +and fatness to come back again to that land and to those fields, +with health and healing, with fulness and increase and growth, and +a growing of corn and grass?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"Sweetness and fatness will never come back again to that land +and to those fields, with health and healing, with fulness and +increase and growth, and a growing of corn and grass, until that +ungodly Ashemaogha has been smitten to death on the spot, and the +holy Sraosha of that place has been offered up a sacrifice for +three days and three nights, with fire blazing, with Baresma tied +up, and with Haoma prepared. Then sweetness and fatness will come +back again to that land and to those fields, with health and +healing, with fulness and increase and growth, and a growing of +corn and grass."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page102" name="page102"></a>[pg +102]</span> +<h3><a id="avesta-spells">SPELLS RECITED DURING THE +CLEANSING</a></h3> +<p>Zarathustra asked Ahura Mazda:—</p> +<p>O Ahura Mazda! most beneficent Spirit, maker of the material +world, thou Holy One! How shall I fight against that Drug who from +the dead rushes upon the living? How shall I fight against that +Drug who from the dead defiles the living?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"Say aloud those words in the Gâthas that are to be said +twice. 'I drive away Angra Mainyu from this house, from this +borough, from this town, from this land; from the very body of the +man defiled by the dead, from the very body of the woman defiled by +the dead; from the master of the house, from the lord of the +borough, from the lord of the town, from the lord of the land; from +the whole of the world of Righteousness. I drive away the Nasu, I +drive away direct defilement, I drive away indirect defilement, +from this house, from this borough, from this town, from this land; +from the very body of the man defiled by the dead, from the very +body of the woman defiled by the dead; from the master of the +house, from the lord of the borough, from the lord of the town, +from the lord of the land; from the whole of the world of +Righteousness.'"</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which are those +words in the Gâthas that are to be said thrice?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"'I drive away Indra, I drive away Sauru, I drive away the Deva +Naunghaithya from this house, from this borough, from this town, +from this land; from the very body of the man defiled by the dead, +from the very body of the woman defiled by the dead; from the +master of the house, from the lord of the borough, from the lord of +the town, from the lord of the land; from the whole of the world of +Righteousness. I drive away Tauru, I drive away Zairi, from this +house, from this borough, from this town, from this land; from the +very body of the man defiled by the dead, from the very body of the +woman defiled by the dead; from the master of the house, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page103" name="page103"></a>[pg +103]</span> from the lord of the borough, from the lord of the +town, from the lord of the land; from the whole of the holy +world.'"</p> +<p>O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which are those +words in the Gâthas that are to be said four times?</p> +<p>Ahura Mazda answered:—</p> +<p>"These are the words in the Gâthas that are to be said +four times, and thou shalt four times say them aloud: 'I drive away +Aêshma, the fiend of the murderous spear, I drive away the +Deva Akatasha, from this house, from this borough, from this town, +from this land; from the very body of the man defiled by the dead, +from the very body of the woman defiled by the dead; from the +master of the house, from the lord of the borough, from the lord of +the town, from the lord of the land; from the whole of the world of +Righteousness. I drive away the Varenya Devas, I drive away the +Wind-Deva, from this house, from this borough, from this town, from +this land; from the very body of the man defiled by the dead, from +the very body of the woman defiled by the dead; from the master of +the house, from the lord of the borough, from the lord of the town, +from the lord of the land; from the whole of the world of +Righteousness.'"</p> +<h3><a id="avesta-fires" name="avesta-fires">TO FIRES, WATERS, +PLANTS</a></h3> +<p>We worship thee, the Fire, O Ahura Mazda's son! We worship the +fire Berezi-savangha (of the lofty use), and the fire +Vohu-fryâna (the good and friendly), and the fire +Urvâ-zista (the most beneficial and most helpful), and the +fire Vâzista (the most supporting), and the fire Spenista +(the most bountiful), and Nairya-sangha the Yazad of the royal +lineage, and that fire which is the house-lord of all houses and +Mazda-made, even the son of Ahura Mazda, the holy lord of the +ritual order, with all the fires. And we worship the good and best +waters Mazda-made, holy, all the waters Mazda-made and holy, and +all the plants which Mazda made, and which are holy. And we worship +the Mâthra-spenta (the bounteous word-of-reason), the +Zarathustrian law against the Devas, and its long descent. And we +worship Mount Ushi-darena which is Mazda-made and shining with its +holiness, and all the mountains shining with holiness, and of +abundant <span class="pagenum"><a id="page104" name= +"page104"></a>[pg 104]</span> glory, and which Mazda made. And we +worship the good and pious prayer for blessings, and these waters +and these lands, and all the greatest chieftains, lords of the +ritual order; and I praise, invoke, and glorify the good, heroic, +bountiful Fravashis of the saints, those of the house, the +Vîs, the Zantuma, the Dahvyuma, and the +Zarathustrôtema, and all the holy Yazads!</p> +<h3><a id="avesta-to-earth" name="avesta-to-earth">TO THE EARTH AND +THE SACRED WATERS</a></h3> +<p>And now we worship this earth which bears us, together with Thy +wives, O Ahura Mazda! yea, those Thy wives do we worship which are +so desired from their sanctity. We sacrifice to their zealous +wishes, and their capabilities, their inquiries, and their wise +acts of pious reverence, and with these their blessedness, their +full vigor and good portions, their good fame and ample wealth. O +ye waters! now we worship you, you that are showered down, and you +that stand in pools and vats, and you that bear forth our loaded +vessels, ye female Ahuras of Ahura, you that serve us in helpful +ways, well forded and full-flowing, and effective for the bathings, +we will seek you and for both the worlds! Therefore did Ahura Mazda +give you names, O ye beneficent ones! when He who made the good +bestowed you. And by these names we worship you, and by them we +would ingratiate ourselves with you, and with them would we bow +before you, and direct our prayers to you with free confessions of +our debt. O waters, ye who are productive, and ye maternal ones, ye +with heat that suckles the frail and needy before birth, ye waters +that have once been rulers of us all, we will now address you as +the best, and the most bountiful; those are yours, those good +objects of our offerings, ye long of arm to reach our sickness, or +misfortune, ye mothers of our life!</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page105" name="page105"></a>[pg +105]</span> +<h3><a id="avesta-helpers" name="avesta-helpers">PRAYER FOR +HELPERS</a></h3> +<p>And now in these Thy dispensations, O Ahura Mazda! do Thou +wisely act for us, and with abundance with Thy bounty and Thy +tenderness as touching us; and grant that reward which Thou hast +appointed to our souls, O Ahura Mazda! Of this do Thou Thyself +bestow upon us for this world and the spiritual; and now as part +thereof do Thou grant that we may attain to fellowship with Thee, +and Thy Righteousness for all duration. And do Thou grant us, O +Ahura! men who are righteous, and both lovers and producers of the +Right as well. And give us trained beasts for the pastures, broken +in for riding, and for bearing, that they may be in helpful +companionship with us, and as a source of long enduring vigor, and +a means of rejoicing grace to us for this. So let there be a +kinsman lord for us, with the laborers of the village, and so +likewise let there be the clients. And by the help of those may we +arise. So may we be to You, O Ahura Mazda! holy and true, and with +free giving of our gifts.</p> +<h3><a id="avesta-sanctity" name="avesta-sanctity">A PRAYER FOR +SANCTITY AND ITS BENEFITS</a></h3> +<p>I pray with benedictions for a benefit, and for the good, even +for the entire creation of the holy and the clean; I beseech for +them the generation which is now alive, for that which is just +coming into life, and for that which shall be hereafter. And I pray +for that sanctity which leads to prosperity, and which has long +afforded shelter, which goes on hand in hand with it, which joins +it in its walk, and of itself becoming its close companion as it +delivers forth its precepts, bearing every form of healing virtue +which comes to us in waters, appertains to cattle, or is found in +plants, and overwhelming all the harmful malice of the Devas, and +their servants who might harm this dwelling and its lord, bringing +good gifts, and better blessings, given very early, and later +gifts, leading to successes, and for a long time giving shelter. +And so the greatest, and the best, and most beautiful benefits of +sanctity fall likewise to our lot for the sacrifice, homage, +propitiation, and the praise of the Bountiful Immortals, for +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page106" name="page106"></a>[pg +106]</span> the bringing prosperity to this abode, and for the +prosperity of the entire creation of the holy, and the clean, and +as for this, so for the opposition of the entire evil creation. And +I pray for this as I praise through Righteousness, I who am +beneficent, those who are likewise of a better mind.</p> +<h3><a id="avesta-to-fire" name="avesta-to-fire">TO THE +FIRE</a></h3> +<p>I offer my sacrifice and homage to thee, the Fire, as a good +offering, and an offering with our hail of salvation, even as an +offering of praise with benedictions, to thee, the Fire, O Ahura +Mazda's son! Meet for sacrifice art thou, and worthy of our homage. +And as meet for sacrifice, and thus worthy of our homage, mayest +thou be in the houses of men who worship Mazda. Salvation be to +this man who worships thee in verity and truth, with wood in hand, +and Baresma ready, with flesh in hand, and holding too the mortar. +And mayest thou be ever fed with wood as the prescription orders. +Yea, mayest thou have thy perfume justly, and thy sacred butter +without fail, and thine andirons regularly placed. Be of full-age +as to thy nourishment, of the canon's age as to the measure of thy +food, O Fire, Ahura Mazda's son! Be now aflame within this house; +be ever without fail in flame; be all a-shine within this house; be +on thy growth within this house; for long time be thou thus to the +furtherance of the heroic renovation, to the completion of all +progress, yea, even till the good heroic millennial time when that +renovation shall have become complete. Give me, O Fire, Ahura +Mazda's son! a speedy glory, speedy nourishment, and speedy booty, +and abundant glory, abundant nourishment, abundant booty, an +expanded mind, and nimbleness of tongue for soul and understanding, +even an understanding continually growing in its largeness, and +that never wanders, and long enduring virile power, an offspring +sure of foot, that never sleeps on watch, and that rises quick from +bed, and likewise a wakeful offspring, helpful to nurture, or +reclaim, legitimate, keeping order in men's meetings, yea, drawing +men to assemblies through their influence and word, grown to power, +skilful, redeeming others from oppression, served by many +followers, which may advance my line in prosperity and fame, and my +Vîs, and my <span class="pagenum"><a id="page107" name= +"page107"></a>[pg 107]</span> Bantu, and my province, yea, an +offering which may deliver orders to the Province as firm and +righteous rulers. And mayest thou grant me, O Fire, Ahura Mazda's +Son! that whereby instructors may be given me, now and for +evermore, giving light to me of Heaven, the best life of the +saints, brilliant, all glorious. And may I have experience of the +good reward, and the good renown, and of the long forecasting +preparation of the soul. The Fire of Ahura Mazda addresses this +admonition to all for whom he cooks the night and morning meal. +From all these, O Spitama! he wishes to secure good care, and +healthful care as guarding for salvation, the care of a true +praiser. At both the hands of all who come by me, I, the Fire, +keenly look: What brings the mate to his mate, the one who walks at +large, to him who sits at home? We worship the bounteous Fire, the +swift-driving charioteer. And if this man who passes brings him +wood brought with sacred care, or if he brings the Baresma spread +with sanctity, or the Hadhâ-naêpata plant, then +afterwards Ahura Mazda's Fire will bless him, contented, not +offended, and in its satisfaction saying thus: May a herd of kine +be with thee, and a multitude of men, may an active mind go with +thee, and an active soul as well. As a blest soul mayest thou live +through thy life, the nights which thou shall live. This is the +blessing of the Fire for him who brings it wood well dried, sought +out for flaming, purified with the earnest blessing of the sacred +ritual truth. We strive after the flowing on of the good waters, +and their ebb as well, and the sounding of their waves, desiring +their propitiation; I desire to approach them with my praise.</p> +<h3><a id="avesta-immortals" name="avesta-immortals">TO THE +BOUNTIFUL IMMORTALS</a></h3> +<p>I would worship these with my sacrifice, those who rule aright, +and who dispose of all aright, and this one especially I would +approach with my praise (Ahura Mazda). He is thus hymned in our +praise-songs. Yea, we worship in our sacrifice that deity and lord, +who is Ahura Mazda, the Creator, the gracious helper, the maker of +all good things; and we worship in our sacrifice Spitama +Zarathustra, that chieftain of <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page108" name="page108"></a>[pg 108]</span> the rite. And we would +declare those institutions established for us, exact and +undeviating as they are. And I would declare forth those of Ahura +Mazda, those of the Good Mind, and of Asha Vahista, and those of +Khshatra-vairya, and those of the Bountiful Âramaiti, and +those of Weal and Immortality, and those which appertain to the +body of the Kine, and to the Kine's soul, and those which appertain +to Ahura Mazda's Fire, and those of Sraosha the blessed, and of +Rashnu the most just, and those of Mithra of the wide pastures, and +of the good and holy Wind, and of the good Mazdayasnian Religion, +and of the good and pious Prayer for blessings, and those of the +good and pious Prayer which frees one from belying, and the good +and pious Prayer for blessing against unbelieving words. And these +we would declare in order that we may attain unto that speech which +is uttered with true religious zeal, or that we may be as prophets +of the provinces, that we may succor him who lifts his voice for +Mazda, that we may be as prophets who smite with victory, the +befriended of Ahura Mazda, and persons the most useful to him, holy +men who think good thoughts, and speak good words, and do good +deeds. That he may approach us with the Good Mind, and that our +souls may advance in good, let it thus come; yea, "how may my soul +advance in good? let it thus advance."</p> +<h3><a id="avesta-bull" name="avesta-bull">PRAISE OF THE HOLY +BULL</a></h3> +<p>Hail, bounteous bull! Hail to thee, beneficent bull! Hail to +thee, who makest increase! Hail to thee, who makest growth! Hail to +thee, who dost bestow his part upon the righteous faithful, and +wilt bestow it on the faithful yet unborn! Hail to thee, whom the +Gahi kills, and the ungodly Ashemaogha, and the wicked tyrant.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page109" name="page109"></a>[pg +109]</span> +<h3><a id="avesta-rain" name="avesta-rain">TO RAIN AS A HEALING +POWER</a></h3> +<p>"Come, come on, O clouds, from up above, down on the earth, by +thousands of drops, by myriads of drops"—thus say, O holy +Zarathustra! "to destroy sickness, to destroy death, to destroy the +sickness that kills, to destroy death that kills, to destroy Gadha +and Apagadha. If death come after noon, may healing come at eve! If +death come at eve, may healing come at night! If death come at +night, may healing come at dawn! And showers shower down new water, +new earth, new plants, new healing powers, and new healing."</p> +<h3><a id="avesta-waters-sun" name="avesta-waters-sun">TO THE +WATERS AND LIGHT OF THE SUN</a></h3> +<p>"As the sea Vouru-kasha is the gathering place of the waters, +rising up and going down, up the aërial way and down the +earth, down the earth and up the aerial way: thus rise up and roll +along! thou in whose rising and growing Ahura Mazda made the aerial +way. Up! rise up and roll along! thou swift-horsed Sun, above Hara +Berezaiti, and produce light for the world, and mayest thou, O man! +rise up there, if thou art to abide in Garô-nmânem, +along the path made by Mazda, along the way made by the gods, the +watery way they opened. And the Holy Word shall keep away the evil. +Of thee, O child! I will cleanse the birth and growth; of thee, O +woman! I will make the body and the strength pure; I make thee rich +in children and rich in milk; rich in seed, in milk, in fat, in +marrow, and in offspring. I shall bring to thee a thousand pure +springs, running towards the pastures that give food to the +child."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page110" name="page110"></a>[pg +110]</span> +<h3><a id="avesta-waters-moon" name="avesta-waters-moon">TO THE +WATERS AND LIGHT OF THE MOON</a></h3> +<p>As the sea Vouru-kasha is the gathering place of the waters, +rising up and going down, up the aërial way and down the +earth, down the earth and up the aërial way: Thus rise up and +roll along! thou in whose rising and growing Ahura Mazda made the +earth. Up! rise up, thou Moon, that dost keep in thee the seed of +the bull; rise up above Hara Berezaiti, and produce light for the +world, and mayest thou, O man! rise up there, if thou art to abide +in Garô-nmânem, along the path made by Mazda, along the +way made by the gods, the watery way they opened. And the Holy Word +shall keep away the evil: Of thee, O child! I will cleanse the +birth and growth; of thee, O woman! I will make the body and the +strength pure; I make thee rich in children and rich in milk; rich +in seed, in milk, in fat, in marrow, and in offspring. I shall +bring to thee a thousand pure springs, running towards the pastures +that give food to the child.</p> +<h3><a id="avesta-waters-stars" name="avesta-waters-stars">TO THE +WATERS AND LIGHT OF THE STARS</a></h3> +<p>As the sea Vouru-kasha is the gathering place of the waters, +rising up and going down, up the aërial way and down the +earth, down the earth and up the aërial way: Thus rise up and +roll along! thou in whose rising and growing Ahura Mazda made +everything that grows. Up! rise up, ye deep Stars, that have in you +the seed of waters; rise up above Hara Berezaiti, and produce light +for the world, and mayest thou, O man! rise up there, if thou art +to abide in Garô-nmânem, along the path made by Mazda, +along the way made by the gods, the watery way they opened. Thus +rise up and roll along! ye in whose rising and growing Ahura Mazda +made everything that rises. In your rising, away will the Kahvuzi +fly and cry; away will the Ayêhi fly and cry; away will the +Gahi, who follows the Yâtu, fly and cry. <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page111" name="page111"></a>[pg 111]</span></p> +<h2><a id="dhammapada" name="dhammapada">THE DHAMMAPADA</a></h2> +<h3>Translation by F. Max Müller</h3> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page113" name="page113"></a>[pg +113]</span> +<h3><a id="dhammapada-introduction" name= +"dhammapada-introduction">INTRODUCTION</a></h3> +<p>The "Dhammapada," or "Path to Virtue," is one of the most +practical ethical hand-books of Buddhism. It is included in the +canon of Buddhistic Scriptures, and is one of the Eastern books +which can be read with delight to-day by those who are classed as +general readers. It is divided into twenty-six chapters, and the +keynote of it is struck by the sentence "The virtuous man is happy +in this world, and he is happy in the next; he is happy in both. He +is happy when he thinks of the good he has done; he is still more +happy when going on the good path." The first step in the "good +path" is earnestness, for as the writer says, "Earnestness is the +path of immortality (Nirvana), thoughtlessness the path of death; +those who are in earnest do not die, those who are thoughtless are +as if dead already." Earnestness, in this connection, evidently +means the power of reflection, and of abstracting the mind from +mundane things. There is something very inspiring in the sentence, +"When the learned man drives away vanity by earnestness, he, the +wise, climbing the terraced heights of wisdom, looks down upon the +fools: free from sorrow he looks upon the sorrowing crowd, as one +that stands on a mountain looks down upon them that stand upon the +plain." This reminds us of Lucretius,</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"How sweet to stand, when tempests tear the main,</p> +<p>On the firm cliff, and mark the seaman's toil!</p> +<p>Not that another's danger soothes the soul,</p> +<p>But from such toil how sweet to feel secure!</p> +<p>How sweet, at distance from the strife, to view</p> +<p>Contending hosts, and hear the clash of war!</p> +<p>But sweeter far on Wisdom's height serene,</p> +<p>Upheld by Truth, to fix our firm abode;</p> +<p>To watch the giddy crowd that, deep below,</p> +<p>Forever wander in pursuit of bliss;</p> +<p>To mark the strife for honors, and renown,</p> +<p>For wit and wealth, insatiate, ceaseless urged,</p> +<p>Day after day, with labor unrestrained."</p> +</div> +</div> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page114" name="page114"></a>[pg +114]</span> +<p>It is curious to see the atheistic Epicurean and the devout +Buddhist meeting on a common ground. But the beauties of the +"Dhammapada" can only be realized by a careful study of this +charming work. We would point out, for instance, in the chapter on +Flowers, what is a piece of golden advice to all readers of books: +"The disciple will find out the plainly shown path of virtue, as a +clever man finds the right flower."</p> +<p>Neither the date nor the authorship of the "Dhammapada" is +known, but there is conclusive evidence that this canon existed +before the Christian era. Many scholars agree in ascribing its +utterances to Buddha himself, while others are of the opinion that +it is a compilation made by Buddhist monks from various +sources.</p> +<p>E.W.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page115" name="page115"></a>[pg +115]</span> +<h2>THE DHAMMAPADA</h2> +<h3><a id="dhammapada-i" name="dhammapada-i">CHAPTER I</a></h3> +<h4>THE TWIN-VERSES</h4> +<p>All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is +founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man +speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him, as the wheel +follows the foot of the ox that draws the carriage.</p> +<p>All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is +founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man +speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a +shadow that never leaves him.</p> +<p>"He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed +me"—in those who harbor such thoughts hatred will never +cease.</p> +<p>"He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed +me"—in those who do not harbor such thoughts hatred will +cease.</p> +<p>For hatred does not cease by hatred at any time: hatred ceases +by love—this is an old rule.</p> +<p>The world does not know that we must all come to an end here; +but those who know it, their quarrels cease at once.</p> +<p>He who lives looking for pleasures only, his senses +uncontrolled, immoderate in his food, idle, and weak, Mâra +(the tempter) will certainly overthrow him, as the wind throws down +a weak tree.</p> +<p>He who lives without looking for pleasures, his senses well +controlled, moderate in his food, faithful and strong, him +Mâra will certainly not overthrow, any more than the wind +throws down a rocky mountain.</p> +<p>He who wishes to put on the yellow dress without having +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page116" name="page116"></a>[pg +116]</span> cleansed himself from sin, who disregards also +temperance and truth, is unworthy of the yellow dress.</p> +<p>But he who has cleansed himself from sin, is well grounded in +all virtues, and endowed also with temperance and truth: he is +indeed worthy of the yellow dress.</p> +<p>They who imagine truth in untruth, and see untruth in truth, +never arrive at truth, but follow vain desires.</p> +<p>They who know truth in truth, and untruth in untruth, arrive at +truth, and follow true desires.</p> +<p>As rain breaks through an ill-thatched house, passion will break +through an unreflecting mind.</p> +<p>As rain does not break through a well-thatched house, passion +will not break through a well-reflecting mind.</p> +<p>The evil-doer mourns in this world, and he mourns in the next; +he mourns in both. He mourns and suffers when he sees the evil +result of his own work.</p> +<p>The virtuous man delights in this world, and he delights in the +next; he delights in both. He delights and rejoices, when he sees +the purity of his own work.</p> +<p>The evil-doer suffers in this world, and he suffers in the next; +he suffers in both. He suffers when he thinks of the evil he has +done; he suffers more when going on the evil path.</p> +<p>The virtuous man is happy in this world, and he is happy in the +next; he is happy in both. He is happy when he thinks of the good +he has done; he is still more happy when going on the good +path.</p> +<p>The thoughtless man, even if he can recite a large portion of +the law, but is not a doer of it, has no share in the priesthood, +but is like a cow-herd counting the cows of others.</p> +<p>The follower of the law, even if he can recite only a small +portion of the law, but, having forsaken passion and hatred and +foolishness, possesses true knowledge and serenity of mind, he, +caring for nothing in this world or that to come, has indeed a +share in the priesthood.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page117" name="page117"></a>[pg +117]</span> +<h3><a id="dhammapada-ii" name="dhammapada-ii">CHAPTER II</a></h3> +<h4>ON EARNESTNESS</h4> +<p>Earnestness is the path of immortality (Nirvâna), +thoughtlessness the path of death. Those who are in earnest do not +die, those who are thoughtless are as if dead already.</p> +<p>Having understood this clearly, those who are advanced in +earnestness delight in earnestness, and rejoice in the knowledge of +the elect.</p> +<p>These wise people, meditative, steady, always possessed of +strong powers, attain to Nirvâna, the highest happiness.</p> +<p>If an earnest person has roused himself, if he is not forgetful, +if his deeds are pure, if he acts with consideration, if he +restrains himself, and lives according to law—then his glory +will increase.</p> +<p>By rousing himself, by earnestness, by restraint and control, +the wise man may make for himself an island which no flood can +overwhelm.</p> +<p>Fools follow after vanity. The wise man keeps earnestness as his +best jewel.</p> +<p>Follow not after vanity, nor after the enjoyment of love and +lust! He who is earnest and meditative, obtains ample joy.</p> +<p>When the learned man drives away vanity by earnestness, he, the +wise, climbing the terraced heights of wisdom, looks down upon the +fools: free from sorrow he looks upon the sorrowing crowd, as one +that stands on a mountain looks down upon them that stand upon the +plain.</p> +<p>Earnest among the thoughtless, awake among the sleepers, the +wise man advances like a racer, leaving behind the hack.</p> +<p>By earnestness did Maghavan (Indra) rise to the lordship of the +gods. People praise earnestness; thoughtlessness is always +blamed.</p> +<p>A Bhikshu (mendicant) who delights in earnestness, who looks +with fear on thoughtlessness, moves about like fire, burning all +his fetters, small or large.</p> +<p>A Bhikshu (mendicant) who delights in reflection, who looks with +fear on thoughtlessness, cannot fall away from his perfect +state—he is close upon Nirvâna.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page118" name="page118"></a>[pg +118]</span> +<h3><a id="dhammapada-iii" name="dhammapada-iii">CHAPTER +III</a></h3> +<h4>THOUGHT</h4> +<p>As a fletcher makes straight his arrow, a wise man makes +straight his trembling and unsteady thought, which is difficult to +guard, difficult to hold back.</p> +<p>As a fish taken from his watery home and thrown on the dry +ground, our thought trembles all over in order to escape the +dominion of Mâra, the tempter.</p> +<p>It is good to tame the mind, which is difficult to hold in and +flighty, rushing wherever it listeth; a tamed mind brings +happiness.</p> +<p>Let the wise man guard his thoughts, for they are difficult to +perceive, very artful, and they rush wherever they list: thoughts +well guarded bring happiness.</p> +<p>Those who bridle their mind which travels far, moves about +alone, is without a body, and hides in the chamber of the heart, +will be free from the bonds of Mâra, the tempter.</p> +<p>If a man's faith is unsteady, if he does not know the true law, +if his peace of mind is troubled, his knowledge will never be +perfect.</p> +<p>If a man's thoughts are not dissipated, if his mind is not +perplexed, if he has ceased to think of good or evil, then there is +no fear for him while he is watchful.</p> +<p>Knowing that this body is fragile like a jar, and making his +thought firm like a fortress, one should attack Mâra, the +tempter, with the weapon of knowledge, one should watch him when +conquered, and should never rest.</p> +<p>Before long, alas! this body will lie on the earth, despised, +without understanding, like a useless log.</p> +<p>Whatever a hater may do to a hater, or an enemy to an enemy, a +wrongly-directed mind will do him greater mischief.</p> +<p>Not a mother, not a father, will do so much, nor any other +relatives; a well-directed mind will do us greater service.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page119" name="page119"></a>[pg +119]</span> +<h3><a id="dhammapada-iv" name="dhammapada-iv">CHAPTER IV</a></h3> +<h4>FLOWERS</h4> +<p>Who shall overcome this earth, and the world of Yama, the lord +of the departed, and the world of the gods? Who shall find out the +plainly shown path of virtue, as a clever man finds the right +flower?</p> +<p>The disciple will overcome the earth, and the world of Yama, and +the world of the gods. The disciple will find out the plainly shown +path of virtue, as a clever man finds the right flower.</p> +<p>He who knows that this body is like froth, and has learnt that +it is as unsubstantial as a mirage, will break the flower-pointed +arrow of Mâra, and never see the king of death.</p> +<p>Death carries off a man who is gathering flowers, and whose mind +is distracted, as a flood carries off a sleeping village.</p> +<p>Death subdues a man who is gathering flowers, and whose mind is +distracted, before he is satiated in his pleasures.</p> +<p>As the bee collects nectar and departs without injuring the +flower, or its color or scent, so let a sage dwell in his +village.</p> +<p>Not the perversities of others, not their sins of commission or +omission, but his own misdeeds and negligences should a sage take +notice of.</p> +<p>Like a beautiful flower, full of color, but without scent, are +the fine but fruitless words of him who does not act +accordingly.</p> +<p>But, like a beautiful flower, full of color and full of scent, +are the fine and fruitful words of him who acts accordingly.</p> +<p>As many kinds of wreaths can be made from a heap of flowers, so +many good things may be achieved by a mortal when once he is +born.</p> +<p>The scent of flowers does not travel against the wind, nor that +of sandal-wood, or of Tagara and Mallikâ flowers; but the +odor of good people travels even against the wind; a good man +pervades every place.</p> +<p>Sandal-wood or Tagara, a lotus-flower, or a Vassikî, among +these sorts of perfumes, the perfume of virtue is unsurpassed.</p> +<p>Mean is the scent that comes from Tagara and sandal-wood; +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page120" name="page120"></a>[pg +120]</span> the perfume of those who possess virtue rises up to the +gods as the highest.</p> +<p>Of the people who possess these virtues, who live without +thoughtlessness, and who are emancipated through true knowledge, +Mâra, the tempter, never finds the way.</p> +<p>As on a heap of rubbish cast upon the highway the lily will grow +full of sweet perfume and delight, thus among those who are mere +rubbish the disciple of the truly enlightened Buddha shines forth +by his knowledge above the blinded worldling.</p> +<h3><a id="dhammapada-v" name="dhammapada-v">CHAPTER V</a></h3> +<h4>THE FOOL</h4> +<p>Long is the night to him who is awake; long is a mile to him who +is tired; long is life to the foolish who do not know the true +law.</p> +<p>If a traveller does not meet with one who is his better, or his +equal, let him firmly keep to his solitary journey; there is no +companionship with a fool.</p> +<p>"These sons belong to me, and this wealth belongs to me," with +such thoughts a fool is tormented. He himself does not belong to +himself; how much less sons and wealth?</p> +<p>The fool who knows his foolishness, is wise at least so far. But +a fool who thinks himself wise, he is called a fool indeed.</p> +<p>If a fool be associated with a wise man even all his life, he +will perceive the truth as little as a spoon perceives the taste of +soup.</p> +<p>If an intelligent man be associated for one minute only with a +wise man, he will soon perceive the truth, as the tongue perceives +the taste of soup.</p> +<p>Fools of poor understanding have themselves for their greatest +enemies, for they do evil deeds which bear bitter fruits.</p> +<p>That deed is not well done of which a man must repent, and the +reward of which he receives crying and with a tearful face.</p> +<p>No, that deed is well done of which a man does not repent, and +the reward of which he receives gladly and cheerfully.</p> +<p>As long as the evil deed done does not bear fruit, the fool +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page121" name="page121"></a>[pg +121]</span> thinks it is like honey; but when it ripens, then the +fool suffers grief.</p> +<p>Let a fool month after month eat his food (like an ascetic) with +the tip of a blade of Ku['s]a-grass, yet is he not worth the +sixteenth particle of those who have well weighed the law.</p> +<p>An evil deed, like newly-drawn milk, does not turn suddenly; +smouldering, like fire covered by ashes, it follows the fool.</p> +<p>And when the evil deed, after it has become known, turns to +sorrow for the fool, then it destroys his bright lot, nay, it +cleaves his head.</p> +<p>Let the fool wish for a false reputation, for precedence among +the Bhikshus, for lordship in the convents, for worship among other +people!</p> +<p>"May both the layman and he who has left the world think that +this is done by me; may they be subject to me in everything which +is to be done or is not to be done," thus is the mind of the fool, +and his desire and pride increase.</p> +<p>"One is the road that leads to wealth, another the road that +leads to Nirvâna"—if the Bhikshu, the disciple of +Buddha, has learnt this, he will not yearn for honor, he will +strive after separation from the world.</p> +<h3><a id="dhammapada-vi" name="dhammapada-vi">CHAPTER VI</a></h3> +<h4>THE WISE MAN</h4> +<p>If you see a man who shows you what is to be avoided, who +administers reproofs, and is intelligent, follow that wise man as +you would one who tells of hidden treasures; it will be better, not +worse, for him who follows him.</p> +<p>Let him admonish, let him teach, let him forbid what is +improper!—he will be beloved of the good, by the bad he will +be hated.</p> +<p>Do not have evil-doers for friends, do not have low people for +friends: have virtuous people for friends, have for friends the +best of men.</p> +<p>He who drinks in the law lives happily with a serene mind: the +sage rejoices always in the law, as preached by the elect. +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page122" name="page122"></a>[pg +122]</span></p> +<p>Well-makers lead the water wherever they like; fletchers bend +the arrow; carpenters bend a log of wood; wise people fashion +themselves.</p> +<p>As a solid rock is not shaken by the wind, wise people falter +not amidst blame and praise.</p> +<p>Wise people, after they have listened to the laws, become +serene, like a deep, smooth, and still lake.</p> +<p>Good men indeed walk warily under all circumstances; good men +speak not out of a desire for sensual gratification; whether +touched by happiness or sorrow wise people never appear elated or +depressed.</p> +<p>If, whether for his own sake, or for the sake of others, a man +wishes neither for a son, nor for wealth, nor for lordship, and if +he does not wish for his own success by unfair means, then he is +good, wise, and virtuous.</p> +<p>Few are there among men who arrive at the other shore (become +Arhats); the other people here run up and down the shore.</p> +<p>But those who, when the law has been well preached to them, +follow the law, will pass over the dominion of death, however +difficult to cross.</p> +<p>A wise man should leave the dark state of ordinary life, and +follow the bright state of the Bhikshu. After going from his home +to a homeless state, he should in his retirement look for enjoyment +where enjoyment seemed difficult. Leaving all pleasures behind, and +calling nothing his own, the wise man should purge himself from all +the troubles of the mind.</p> +<p>Those whose mind is well grounded in the seven elements of +knowledge, who without clinging to anything, rejoice in freedom +from attachment, whose appetites have been conquered, and who are +full of light, they are free even in this world.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page123" name="page123"></a>[pg +123]</span> +<h3><a id="dhammapada-vii" name="dhammapada-vii">CHAPTER +VII</a></h3> +<h4>THE VENERABLE</h4> +<p>There is no suffering for him who has finished his journey, and +abandoned grief, who has freed himself on all sides, and thrown off +all fetters.</p> +<p>They exert themselves with their thoughts well-collected, they +do not tarry in their abode; like swans who have left their lake, +they leave their house and home.</p> +<p>Men who have no riches, who live on recognized food, who have +perceived void and unconditioned freedom (Nirvâna), their +path is difficult to understand, like that of birds in the air.</p> +<p>He whose appetites are stilled, who is not absorbed in +enjoyment, who has perceived void and unconditioned freedom +(Nirvâna), his path is difficult to understand, like that of +birds in the air.</p> +<p>The gods even envy him whose senses, like horses well broken in +by the driver, have been subdued, who is free from pride, and free +from appetites; such a one who does his duty is tolerant like the +earth, or like a threshold; he is like a lake without mud; no new +births are in store for him.</p> +<p>His thought is quiet, quiet are his word and deed, when he has +obtained freedom by true knowledge, when he has thus become a quiet +man.</p> +<p>The man who is free from credulity, but knows the uncreated, who +has cut all ties, removed all temptations, renounced all desires, +he is the greatest of men.</p> +<p>In a hamlet or in a forest, on sea or on dry land, wherever +venerable persons (Arahanta) dwell, that place is delightful.</p> +<p>Forests are delightful; where the world finds no delight, there +the passionless will find delight, for they look not for +pleasures.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page124" name="page124"></a>[pg +124]</span> +<h3><a id="dhammapada-viii" name="dhammapada-viii">CHAPTER +VIII</a></h3> +<h4>THE THOUSANDS</h4> +<p>Even though a speech be a thousand (of words), but made up of +senseless words, one word of sense is better, which if a man hears, +he becomes quiet.</p> +<p>Even though a Gâthâ (poem) be a thousand (of words), +but made up of senseless words, one word of a Gâthâ is +better, which if a man hears, he becomes quiet.</p> +<p>Though a man recite a hundred Gâthâs made up of +senseless words, one word of the law is better, which if a man +hears, he becomes quiet.</p> +<p>If one man conquer in battle a thousand times a thousand men, +and if another conquer himself, he is the greatest of +conquerors.</p> +<p>One's own self conquered is better than all other people; not +even a god, a Gandharva, not Mâra (with Brâhman) could +change into defeat the victory of a man who has vanquished himself, +and always lives under restraint.</p> +<p>If a man for a hundred years sacrifice month by month with a +thousand, and if he but for one moment pay homage to a man whose +soul is grounded in true knowledge, better is that homage than a +sacrifice for a hundred years.</p> +<p>If a man for a hundred years worship Agni (fire) in the forest, +and if he but for one moment pay homage to a man whose soul is +grounded in true knowledge, better is that homage than sacrifice +for a hundred years.</p> +<p>Whatever a man sacrifice in this world as an offering or as an +oblation for a whole year in order to gain merit, the whole of it +is not worth a quarter a farthing; reverence shown to the righteous +is better.</p> +<p>He who always greets and constantly reveres the aged, four +things will increase to him: life, beauty, happiness, power.</p> +<p>But he who lives a hundred years, vicious and unrestrained, a +life of one day is better if a man is virtuous and reflecting.</p> +<p>And he who lives a hundred years, ignorant and unrestrained, a +life of one day is better if a man is wise and reflecting.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page125" name="page125"></a>[pg +125]</span> +<p>And he who lives a hundred years, idle and weak, a life of one +day is better if a man has attained firm strength.</p> +<p>And he who lives a hundred years, not seeing beginning and end, +a life of one day is better if a man sees beginning and end.</p> +<p>And he who lives a hundred years, not seeing the immortal place, +a life of one day is better if a man sees the immortal place.</p> +<p>And he who lives a hundred years, not seeing the highest law, a +life of one day is better if a man sees the highest law.</p> +<h3><a id="dhammapada-ix" name="dhammapada-ix">CHAPTER IX</a></h3> +<h4>EVIL</h4> +<p>A man should hasten towards the good, and should keep his +thought away from evil; if a man does what is good slothfully, his +mind delights in evil.</p> +<p>If a man commits a sin, let him not do it again; let him not +delight in sin: the accumulation of evil is painful.</p> +<p>If a man does what is good, let him do it again; let him delight +in it: the accumulation of good is delightful.</p> +<p>Even an evil-doer sees happiness so long as his evil deed does +not ripen; but when his evil deed ripens, then does the evil-doer +see evil.</p> +<p>Even a good man sees evil days so long as his good deed does not +ripen; but when his good deed ripens, then does the good man see +good things.</p> +<p>Let no man think lightly of evil, saying in his heart, It will +not come nigh unto me. Even by the falling of water-drops a +water-pot is filled; the fool becomes full of evil, even if he +gather it little by little.</p> +<p>Let no man think lightly of good, saying in his heart, It will +not come nigh unto me. Even by the falling of water-drops a +water-pot is filled; the wise man becomes full of good, even if he +gather it little by little.</p> +<p>Let a man avoid evil deeds, as a merchant, if he has few +companions and carries much wealth, avoids a dangerous road; as a +man who loves life avoids poison.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page126" name="page126"></a>[pg +126]</span> +<p>He who has no wound on his hand, may touch poison with his hand; +poison does not affect one who has no wound; nor is there evil for +one who does not commit evil.</p> +<p>If a man offend a harmless, pure, and innocent person, the evil +falls back upon that fool, like light dust thrown up against the +wind.</p> +<p>Some people are born again; evil-doers go to hell; righteous +people go to heaven; those who are free from all worldly desires +attain Nirvâna.</p> +<p>Not in the sky, not in the midst of the sea, not if we enter +into the clefts of the mountains, is there known a spot in the +whole world where a man might be freed from an evil deed.</p> +<p>Not in the sky, not in the midst of the sea, not if we enter +into the clefts of the mountains, is there known a spot in the +whole world where death could not overcome the mortal.</p> +<h3><a id="dhammapada-x" name="dhammapada-x">CHAPTER X</a></h3> +<h4>PUNISHMENT</h4> +<p>All men tremble at punishment, all men fear death; remember that +you are like unto them, and do not kill, nor cause slaughter.</p> +<p>All men tremble at punishment, all men love life; remember that +thou art like unto them, and do not kill, nor cause slaughter.</p> +<p>He who, seeking his own happiness, punishes or kills beings who +also long for happiness, will not find happiness after death.</p> +<p>He who, seeking his own happiness, does not punish or kill +beings who also long for happiness, will find happiness after +death.</p> +<p>Do not speak harshly to anyone; those who are spoken to will +answer thee in the same way. Angry speech is painful: blows for +blows will touch thee.</p> +<p>If, like a shattered metal plate (gong), thou utter nothing, +then thou hast reached Nirvâna; anger is not known to +thee.</p> +<p>As a cow-herd with his staff drives his cows into the stable, so +do Age and Death drive the life of men.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page127" name="page127"></a>[pg +127]</span> +<p>A fool does not know when he commits his evil deeds: but the +wicked man burns by his own deeds, as if burnt by fire.</p> +<p>He who inflicts pain on innocent and harmless persons, will soon +come to one of these ten states:—</p> +<p>He will have cruel suffering, loss, injury of the body, heavy +affliction, or loss of mind.</p> +<p>A misfortune coming from the king, or a fearful accusation, or +loss of relations, or destruction of treasures.</p> +<p>Lightning-fire will burn his houses; and when his body is +destroyed, the fool will go to hell.</p> +<p>Not nakedness, not platted hair, not dirt, not fasting, or lying +on the earth, not rubbing with dust, not sitting motionless, can +purify a mortal who has not overcome desires.</p> +<p>He who, though dressed in fine apparel, exercises tranquillity, +is quiet, subdued, restrained, chaste, and has ceased to find fault +with all other beings, he indeed is a Brâhmana, an ascetic +(Sramana), a friar (Bhikshu).</p> +<p>Is there in this world any man so restrained by shame that he +does not provoke reproof, as a noble horse the whip?</p> +<p>Like a noble horse when touched by the whip, be ye strenuous and +eager, and by faith, by virtue, by energy, by meditation, by +discernment of the law, you will overcome this great pain, perfect +in knowledge and in behavior, and never forgetful.</p> +<p>Well-makers lead the water wherever they like; fletchers bend +the arrow; carpenters bend a log of wood; good people fashion +themselves.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page128" name="page128"></a>[pg +128]</span> +<h3><a id="dhammapada-xi" name="dhammapada-xi">CHAPTER XI</a></h3> +<h4>OLD AGE</h4> +<p>How is there laughter, how is there joy, as this world is always +burning? Do you not seek a light, ye who are surrounded by +darkness?</p> +<p>Look at this dressed-up lump, covered with wounds, joined +together, sickly, full of many schemes, but which has no strength, +no hold!</p> +<p>This body is wasted, full of sickness, and frail; this heap of +corruption breaks to pieces, life indeed ends in death.</p> +<p>After one has looked at those gray bones, thrown away like +gourds in the autumn, what pleasure is there left in life!</p> +<p>After a stronghold has been made of the bones, it is covered +with flesh and blood, and there dwell in it old age and death, +pride and deceit.</p> +<p>The brilliant chariots of kings are destroyed, the body also +approaches destruction, but the virtue of good people never +approaches destruction—thus do the good say to the good.</p> +<p>A man who has learnt little, grows old like an ox; his flesh +grows, but his knowledge does not grow.</p> +<p>Looking for the maker of this tabernacle, I have run through a +course of many births, not finding him; and painful is birth again +and again. But now, maker of the tabernacle, thou hast been seen; +thou shalt not make up this tabernacle again. All thy rafters are +broken, thy ridge-pole is sundered; the mind, approaching the +Eternal (Visankhâra, Nirvâna), has attained to the +extinction of all desires.</p> +<p>Men who have not observed proper discipline, and have not gained +wealth in their youth, perish like old herons in a lake without +fish.</p> +<p>Men who have not observed proper discipline, and have not gained +wealth in their youth, lie, like broken bows, sighing after the +past.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page129" name="page129"></a>[pg +129]</span> +<h3><a id="dhammapada-xii" name="dhammapada-xii">CHAPTER +XII</a></h3> +<h4>SELF</h4> +<p>If a man hold himself dear, let him watch himself carefully; +during one at least out of the three watches a wise man should be +watchful.</p> +<p>Let each man direct himself first to what is proper, then let +him teach others; thus a wise man will not suffer.</p> +<p>If a man make himself as he teaches others to be, then, being +himself well subdued, he may subdue others; for one's own self is +difficult to subdue.</p> +<p>Self is the lord of self, who else could be the lord? With self +well subdued, a man finds a lord such as few can find.</p> +<p>The evil done by one's self, self-forgotten, self-bred, crushes +the foolish, as a diamond breaks even a precious stone.</p> +<p>He whose wickedness is very great brings himself down to that +state where his enemy wishes him to be, as a creeper does with the +tree which it surrounds.</p> +<p>Bad deeds, and deeds hurtful to ourselves, are easy to do; what +is beneficial and good, that is very difficult to do.</p> +<p>The foolish man who scorns the rule of the venerable (Arhat), of +the elect (Ariya), of the virtuous, and follows a false doctrine, +he bears fruit to his own destruction, like the fruits of the +Katthaka reed.</p> +<p>By one's self the evil is done, by one's self one suffers; by +one's self evil is left undone, by one's self one is purified. The +pure and the impure stand and fall by themselves, no one can purify +another.</p> +<p>Let no one forget his own duty for the sake of another's, +however great; let a man, after he has discerned his own duty, be +always attentive to his duty.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page130" name="page130"></a>[pg +130]</span> +<h3><a id="dhammapada-xiii" name="dhammapada-xiii">CHAPTER +XIII</a></h3> +<h4>THE WORLD</h4> +<p>Do not follow the evil law! Do not live on in thoughtlessness! +Do not follow false doctrine! Be not a friend of the world.</p> +<p>Rouse thyself! do not be idle! Follow the law of virtue! The +virtuous rest in bliss in this world and in the next.</p> +<p>Follow the law of virtue; do not follow that of sin. The +virtuous rest in bliss in this world and in the next.</p> +<p>Look upon the world as you would on a bubble, look upon it as +you would on a mirage: the king of death does not see him who thus +looks down upon the world.</p> +<p>Come, look at this world, glittering like a royal chariot; the +foolish are immersed in it, but the wise do not touch it.</p> +<p>He who formerly was reckless and afterwards became sober +brightens up this world, like the moon when freed from clouds.</p> +<p>He whose evil deeds are covered by good deeds, brightens up this +world, like the moon when freed from clouds.</p> +<p>This world is dark, few only can see here; a few only go to +heaven, like birds escaped from the net.</p> +<p>The swans go on the path of the sun, they go miraculously +through the ether; the wise are led out of this world, when they +have conquered Mâra and his train.</p> +<p>If a man has transgressed the one law, and speaks lies, and +scoffs at another world, there is no evil he will not do.</p> +<p>The uncharitable do not go to the world of the gods; fools only +do not praise liberality; a wise man rejoices in liberality, and +through it becomes blessed in the other world.</p> +<p>Better than sovereignty over the earth, better than going to +heaven, better than lordship over all worlds, is the reward of +Sotâpatti, the first step in holiness.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page131" name="page131"></a>[pg +131]</span> +<h3><a id="dhammapada-xiv" name="dhammapada-xiv">CHAPTER +XIV</a></h3> +<h4>THE BUDDHA—THE AWAKENED</h4> +<p>He whose conquest cannot be conquered again, into whose conquest +no one in this world enters, by what track can you lead him, the +Awakened, the Omniscient, the trackless?</p> +<p>He whom no desire with its snares and poisons can lead astray, +by what track can you lead him, the Awakened, the Omniscient, the +trackless?</p> +<p>Even the gods envy those who are awakened and not forgetful, who +are given to meditation, who are wise, and who delight in the +repose of retirement from the world.</p> +<p>Difficult to obtain is the conception of men, difficult is the +life of mortals, difficult is the hearing of the True Law, +difficult is the birth of the Awakened (the attainment of +Buddhahood).</p> +<p>Not to commit any sin, to do good, and to purify one's mind, +that is the teaching of all the Awakened.</p> +<p>The Awakened call patience the highest penance, long-suffering +the highest Nirvâna; for he is not an anchorite (Pravra-gita) +who strikes others, he is not an ascetic (Sramana) who insults +others.</p> +<p>Not to blame, not to strike, to live restrained under the law, +to be moderate in eating, to sleep and sit alone, and to dwell on +the highest thoughts—this is the teaching of the +Awakened.</p> +<p>There is no satisfying lusts, even by a shower of gold pieces; +he who knows that lusts have a short taste and cause pain, he is +wise; even in heavenly pleasures he finds no satisfaction, the +disciple who is fully awakened delights only in the destruction of +all desires.</p> +<p>Men, driven by fear, go to many a refuge, to mountains and +forests, to groves and sacred trees.</p> +<p>But that is not a safe refuge, that is not the best refuge; a +man is not delivered from all pains after having gone to that +refuge.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page132" name="page132"></a>[pg +132]</span> +<p>He who takes refuge with Buddha, the Law, and the Church; he +who, with clear understanding, sees the four holy truths: pain, the +origin of pain, the destruction of pain, and the eightfold holy way +that leads to the quieting of pain;—that is the safe refuge, +that is the best refuge; having gone to that refuge, a man is +delivered from all pain.</p> +<p>A supernatural person (a Buddha) is not easily found: he is not +born everywhere. Wherever such a sage is born, that race +prospers.</p> +<p>Happy is the arising of the Awakened, happy is the teaching of +the True Law, happy is peace in the church, happy is the devotion +of those who are at peace.</p> +<p>He who pays homage to those who deserve homage, whether the +awakened (Buddha) or their disciples, those who have overcome the +host of evils, and crossed the flood of sorrow, he who pays homage +to such as have found deliverance and know no fear, his merit can +never be measured by anyone.</p> +<h3><a id="dhammapada-xv" name="dhammapada-xv">CHAPTER XV</a></h3> +<h4>HAPPINESS</h4> +<p>We live happily indeed, not hating those who hate us! among men +who hate us we dwell free from hatred! We live happily indeed, free +from ailments among the ailing! among men who are ailing let us +dwell free from ailments!</p> +<p>We live happily indeed, free from greed among the greedy! among +men who are greedy let us dwell free from greed!</p> +<p>We live happily indeed, though we call nothing our own! We shall +be like the bright gods, feeding on happiness!</p> +<p>Victory breeds hatred, for the conquered is unhappy. He who has +given up both victory and defeat, he, the contented, is happy.</p> +<p>There is no fire like passion; there is no losing throw like +hatred; there is no pain like this body; there is no happiness +higher than rest.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page133" name="page133"></a>[pg +133]</span> +<p>Hunger is the worst of diseases, the elements of the body the +greatest evil; if one knows this truly, that is Nirvâna, the +highest happiness.</p> +<p>Health is the greatest of gifts, contentedness the best riches; +trust is the best of relationships, Nirvâna the highest +happiness.</p> +<p>He who has tasted the sweetness of solitude and tranquillity, is +free from fear and free from sin, while he tastes the sweetness of +drinking in the law.</p> +<p>The sight of the elect (Ariya) is good, to live with them is +always happiness; if a man does not see fools, he will be truly +happy.</p> +<p>He who walks in the company of fools suffers a long way; company +with fools, as with an enemy, is always painful; company with the +wise is pleasure, like meeting with kinsfolk.</p> +<p>Therefore, one ought to follow the wise, the intelligent, the +learned, the much enduring, the dutiful, the elect; one ought to +follow such a good and wise man, as the moon follows the path of +the stars.</p> +<h3><a id="dhammapada-xvi" name="dhammapada-xvi">CHAPTER +XVI</a></h3> +<h4>PLEASURE</h4> +<p>He who gives himself to vanity, and does not give himself to +meditation, forgetting the real aim of life and grasping at +pleasure, will in time envy him who has exerted himself in +meditation.</p> +<p>Let no man ever cling to what is pleasant, or to what is +unpleasant. Not to see what is pleasant is pain, and it is pain to +see what is unpleasant.</p> +<p>Let, therefore, no man love anything; loss of the beloved is +evil. Those who love nothing, and hate nothing, have no +fetters.</p> +<p>From pleasure comes grief, from pleasure comes fear; he who is +free from pleasure knows neither grief nor fear.</p> +<p>From affection comes grief, from affection comes fear; he who is +free from affection knows neither grief nor fear.</p> +<p>From lust comes grief, from lust comes fear; he who is free from +lust knows neither grief nor fear.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page134" name="page134"></a>[pg +134]</span> +<p>From love comes grief, from love comes fear; he who is free from +love knows neither grief nor fear.</p> +<p>From greed comes grief, from greed comes fear; he who is free +from greed knows neither grief nor fear.</p> +<p>He who possesses virtue and intelligence, who is just, speaks +the truth, and does what is his own business, him the world will +hold dear.</p> +<p>He in whom a desire for the Ineffable (Nirvâna) has sprung +up, who in his mind is satisfied, and whose thoughts are not +bewildered by love, he is called ûrdhvamsrotas (carried +upwards by the stream).</p> +<p>Kinsmen, friends, and lovers salute a man who has been long +away, and returns safe from afar.</p> +<p>In like manner his good works receive him who has done good, and +has gone from this world to the other;—as kinsmen receive a +friend on his return.</p> +<h3><a id="dhammapada-xvii" name="dhammapada-xvii">CHAPTER +XVII</a></h3> +<h4>ANGER</h4> +<p>Let a man leave anger, let him forsake pride, let him overcome +all bondage! No sufferings befall the man who is not attached to +name and form, and who calls nothing his own.</p> +<p>He who holds back rising anger like a rolling chariot, him I +call a real driver; other people are but holding the reins.</p> +<p>Let a man overcome anger by love, let him overcome evil by good; +let him overcome the greedy by liberality, the liar by truth!</p> +<p>Speak the truth, do not yield to anger; give, if thou art asked +for little; by these three steps thou wilt go near the gods.</p> +<p>The sages who injure nobody, and who always control their body, +they will go to the unchangeable place (Nirvâna), where, if +they have gone, they will suffer no more.</p> +<p>Those who are ever watchful, who study day and night, and who +strive after Nirvâna, their passions will come to an end.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page135" name="page135"></a>[pg +135]</span> +<p>This is an old saying, O Atula, this is not as if of to-day: +"They blame him who sits silent, they blame him who speaks much, +they also blame him who says little; there is no one on earth who +is not blamed."</p> +<p>There never was, there never will be, nor is there now, a man +who is always blamed, or a man who is always praised.</p> +<p>But he whom those who discriminate praise continually day after +day, as without blemish, wise, rich in knowledge and virtue, who +would dare to blame him, like a coin made of gold from the +Gambû river? Even the gods praise him, he is praised even by +Brâhman.</p> +<p>Beware of bodily anger, and control thy body! Leave the sins of +the body, and with thy body practise virtue!</p> +<p>Beware of the anger of the tongue, and control thy tongue! Leave +the sins of the tongue, and practise virtue with thy tongue!</p> +<p>Beware of the anger of the mind, and control thy mind! Leave the +sins of the mind, and practise virtue with thy mind!</p> +<p>The wise who control their body, who control their tongue, the +wise who control their mind, are indeed well controlled.</p> +<h3><a id="dhammapada-xviii" name="dhammapada-xviii">CHAPTER +XVIII</a></h3> +<h4>IMPURITY</h4> +<p>Thou art now like a sear leaf, the messengers of death (Yama) +have come near to thee; thou standest at the door of thy departure, +and thou hast no provision for thy journey.</p> +<p>Make thyself an island, work hard, be wise! When thy impurities +are blown away, and thou art free from guilt, thou wilt enter into +the heavenly world of the elect (Ariya).</p> +<p>Thy life has come to an end, thou art come near to death (Yama), +there is no resting-place for thee on the road, and thou hast no +provision for thy journey.</p> +<p>Make thyself an island, work hard, be wise! When thy impurities +are blown away, and thou art free from guilt, thou wilt not enter +again into birth and decay.</p> +<p>Let a wise man blow off the impurities of himself, as a smith +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page136" name="page136"></a>[pg +136]</span> blows off the impurities of silver, one by one, little +by little, and from time to time.</p> +<p>As the impurity which springs from the iron, when it springs +from it, destroys it; thus do a transgressor's own works lead him +to the evil path.</p> +<p>The taint of prayers is non-repetition; the taint of houses, +non-repair; the taint of complexion is sloth; the taint of a +watchman, thoughtlessness.</p> +<p>Bad conduct is the taint of woman, niggardliness the taint of a +benefactor; tainted are all evil ways, in this world and in the +next.</p> +<p>But there is a taint worse than all taints—ignorance is +the greatest taint. O mendicants! throw off that taint, and become +taintless!</p> +<p>Life is easy to live for a man who is without shame: a crow +hero, a mischief-maker, an insulting, bold, and wretched +fellow.</p> +<p>But life is hard to live for a modest man, who always looks for +what is pure, who is disinterested, quiet, spotless, and +intelligent.</p> +<p>He who destroys life, who speaks untruth, who in the world takes +what is not given him, who goes to another man's wife; and the man +who gives himself to drinking intoxicating liquors, he, even in +this world, digs up his own root.</p> +<p>O man, know this, that the unrestrained are in a bad state; take +care that greediness and vice do not bring thee to grief for a long +time!</p> +<p>The world gives according to their faith or according to their +pleasure: if a man frets about the food and the drink given to +others, he will find no rest either by day or by night.</p> +<p>He in whom that feeling is destroyed, and taken out with the +very root, finds rest by day and by night.</p> +<p>There is no fire like passion, there is no shark like hatred, +there is no snare like folly, there is no torrent like greed.</p> +<p>The fault of others is easily perceived, but that of one's self +is difficult to perceive; a man winnows his neighbor's faults like +chaff, but his own fault he hides, as a cheat hides the bad die +from the player.</p> +<p>If a man looks after the faults of others, and is always +inclined to be offended, his own passions will grow, and he is far +from the destruction of passions.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page137" name="page137"></a>[pg +137]</span> +<p>There is no path through the air, a man is not a Samana +outwardly. The world delights in vanity, the Tathâgatas (the +Buddhas) are free from vanity.</p> +<p>There is no path through the air, a man is not a Samana +outwardly. No creatures are eternal; but the awakened (Buddha) are +never shaken.</p> +<h3><a id="dhammapada-xix" name="dhammapada-xix">CHAPTER +XIX</a></h3> +<h4>THE JUST</h4> +<p>A man is not just if he carries a matter by violence; no, he who +distinguishes both right and wrong, who is learned and guides +others, not by violence, but by the same law, being a guardian of +the law and intelligent, he is called just.</p> +<p>A man is not learned because he talks much; he who is patient, +free from hatred and fear, he is called learned.</p> +<p>A man is not a supporter of the law because he talks much; even +if a man has learnt little, but sees the law bodily, he is a +supporter of the law, a man who never neglects the law.</p> +<p>A man is not an elder because his head is gray; his age may be +ripe, but he is called "Old-in-vain."</p> +<p>He in whom there is truth, virtue, pity, restraint, moderation, +he who is free from impurity and is wise, he is called an +elder.</p> +<p>An envious, stingy, dishonest man does not become respectable by +means of much talking only, or by the beauty of his complexion.</p> +<p>He in whom all this is destroyed, and taken out with the very +root, he, when freed from hatred, is called respectable.</p> +<p>Not by tonsure does an undisciplined man who speaks falsehood +become a Samana; can a man be a Samana who is still held captive by +desire and greediness?</p> +<p>He who always quiets the evil, whether small or large, he is +called a Samana (a quiet man), because he has quieted all evil.</p> +<p>A man is not a mendicant (Bhikshu) simply because he asks others +for alms; he who adopts the whole law is a Bhikshu, not he who only +begs.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page138" name="page138"></a>[pg +138]</span> +<p>He who is above good and evil, who is chaste, who with care +passes through the world, he indeed is called a Bhikshu.</p> +<p>A man is not a Muni because he observes silence if he is foolish +and ignorant; but the wise who, as with the balance, chooses the +good and avoids evil, he is a Muni, and is a Muni thereby; he who +in this world weighs both sides is called a Muni.</p> +<p>A man is not an elect (Ariya) because he injures living +creatures; because he has pity on all living creatures, therefore +is a man called Ariya.</p> +<p>Not only by discipline and vows, not only by much learning, not +by entering into a trance, not by sleeping alone, do I earn the +happiness of release which no worldling can know. O Bhikshu, he who +has obtained the extinction of desires has obtained confidence.</p> +<h3><a id="dhammapada-xx" name="dhammapada-xx">CHAPTER XX</a></h3> +<h4>THE WAY</h4> +<p>The best of ways is the eightfold; the best of truths the four +words; the best of virtues passionlessness; the best of men he who +has eyes to see.</p> +<p>This is the way, there is no other that leads to the purifying +of intelligence. Go on this path! This is the confusion of +Mâra, the tempter.</p> +<p>If you go on this way, you will make an end of pain! The way +preached by me, when I had understood the removal of the thorns in +the flesh.</p> +<p>You yourself must make an effort. The Tathâgatas (Buddhas) +are only preachers. The thoughtful who enter the way are freed from +the bondage of Mâra.</p> +<p>"All created things perish," he who knows and sees this becomes +passive in pain; this is the way to purity.</p> +<p>"All created things are grief and pain," he who knows and sees +this becomes passive in pain; this is the way that leads to +purity.</p> +<p>"All forms are unreal," he who knows and sees this becomes +passive in pain; this is the way that leads to purity.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page139" name="page139"></a>[pg +139]</span> +<p>He who does not rouse himself when it is time to rise, who, +though young and strong, is full of sloth, whose will and thought +are weak, that lazy and idle man never finds the way to +knowledge.</p> +<p>Watching his speech, well restrained in mind, let a man never +commit any wrong with his body! Let a man but keep these three +roads of action clear, and he will achieve the way which is taught +by the wise.</p> +<p>Through zeal knowledge is gained, through lack of zeal knowledge +is lost; let a man who knows this double path of gain and loss thus +place himself that knowledge may grow.</p> +<p>Cut down the whole forest of desires, not a tree only! Danger +comes out of the forest of desires. When you have cut down both the +forest of desires and its undergrowth, then, Bhikshus, you will be +rid of the forest and of desires!</p> +<p>So long as the desire of man towards women, even the smallest, +is not destroyed, so long is his mind in bondage, as the calf that +drinks milk is to its mother.</p> +<p>Cut out the love of self, like an autumn lotus, with thy hand! +Cherish the road of peace. Nirvâna has been shown by Sugata +(Buddha).</p> +<p>"Here I shall dwell in the rain, here in winter and summer," +thus the fool meditates, and does not think of death.</p> +<p>Death comes and carries off that man, honored for his children +and flocks, his mind distracted, as a flood carries off a sleeping +village.</p> +<p>Sons are no help, nor a father, nor relations; there is no help +from kinsfolk for one whom death has seized.</p> +<p>A wise and well-behaved man who knows the meaning of this should +quickly clear the way that leads to Nirvâna.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page140" name="page140"></a>[pg +140]</span> +<h3><a id="dhammapada-xxi" name="dhammapada-xxi">CHAPTER +XXI</a></h3> +<h4>MISCELLANEOUS</h4> +<p>If by leaving a small pleasure one sees a great pleasure, let a +wise man leave the small pleasure, and look to the great.</p> +<p>He who, by causing pain to others, wishes to obtain pleasure for +himself, he, entangled in the bonds of hatred, will never be free +from hatred.</p> +<p>What ought to be done is neglected, what ought not to be done is +done; the desires of unruly, thoughtless people are always +increasing.</p> +<p>But they whose whole watchfulness is always directed to their +body, who do not follow what ought not to be done, and who +steadfastly do what ought to be done, the desires of such watchful +and wise people will come to an end.</p> +<p>A true Brâhmana goes scathless, though he have killed +father and mother, and two valiant kings, though he has destroyed a +kingdom with all its subjects.</p> +<p>A true Brâhmana goes scathless, though he have killed +father and mother, and two holy kings, and an eminent man +besides.</p> +<p>The disciples of Gotama (Buddha) are always well awake, and +their thoughts day and night are always set on Buddha.</p> +<p>The disciples of Gotama are always well awake, and their +thoughts day and night are always set on the law.</p> +<p>The disciples of Gotama are always well awake, and their +thoughts day and night are always set on the church.</p> +<p>The disciples of Gotama are always well awake, and their +thoughts day and night are always set on their body.</p> +<p>The disciples of Gotama are always well awake, and their mind +day and night always delights in compassion.</p> +<p>The disciples of Gotama are always well awake, and their mind +day and night always delights in meditation.</p> +<p>It is hard to leave the world to become a friar, it is hard to +enjoy the world; hard is the monastery, painful are the houses; +painful it is to dwell with equals to share everything in common, +and the itinerant mendicant is beset with pain. Therefore +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page141" name="page141"></a>[pg +141]</span> let no man be an itinerant mendicant, and he will not +be beset with pain.</p> +<p>A man full of faith, if endowed with virtue and glory, is +respected, whatever place he may choose.</p> +<p>Good people shine from afar, like the snowy mountains; bad +people are not seen, like arrows shot by night.</p> +<p>Sitting alone, lying down alone, walking alone without ceasing, +and alone subduing himself, let a man be happy near the edge of a +forest.</p> +<h3><a id="dhammapada-xxii" name="dhammapada-xxii">CHAPTER +XXII</a></h3> +<h4>THE DOWNWARD COURSE</h4> +<p>He who says what is not goes to hell; he also who, having done a +thing, says I have not done it. After death both are equal: they +are men with evil deeds in the next world.</p> +<p>Many men whose shoulders are covered with the yellow gown are +ill-conditioned and unrestrained; such evil-doers by their evil +deeds go to hell.</p> +<p>Better it would be to swallow a heated iron ball, like flaring +fire, than that a bad unrestrained fellow should live on the +charity of the land.</p> +<p>Four things does a reckless man gain who covets his neighbor's +wife—demerit, an uncomfortable bed, thirdly, punishment, and +lastly, hell.</p> +<p>There is demerit, and the evil way to hell: there is the short +pleasure of the frightened in the arms of the frightened, and the +king imposes heavy punishment; therefore let no man think of his +neighbor's wife.</p> +<p>As a grass-blade, if badly grasped, cuts the arm, +badly-practised asceticism leads to hell.</p> +<p>An act carelessly performed, a broken vow, and hesitating +obedience to discipline (Brâhma-kariyam), all these bring no +great reward.</p> +<p>If anything is to be done, let a man do it, let him attack it +vigorously! A careless pilgrim only scatters the dust of his +passions more widely.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page142" name="page142"></a>[pg +142]</span> +<p>An evil deed is better left undone, for a man repents of it +afterwards; a good deed is better done, for having done it, one +does not repent.</p> +<p>Like a well-guarded frontier fort, with defences within and +without, so let a man guard himself. Not a moment should escape, +for they who allow the right moment to pass, suffer pain when they +are in hell.</p> +<p>They who are ashamed of what they ought not to be ashamed of, +and are not ashamed of what they ought to be ashamed of, such men, +embracing false doctrines, enter the evil path.</p> +<p>They who fear when they ought not to fear, and fear not when +they ought to fear, such men, embracing false doctrines, enter the +evil path.</p> +<p>They who see sin where there is no sin, and see no sin where +there is sin, such men, embracing false doctrines, enter the evil +path.</p> +<p>They who see sin where there is sin, and no sin where there is +no sin, such men, embracing the true doctrine, enter the good +path.</p> +<h3><a id="dhammapada-xxiii" name="dhammapada-xxiii">CHAPTER +XXIII</a></h3> +<h4>THE ELEPHANT</h4> +<p>Silently I endured abuse as the elephant in battle endures the +arrow sent from the bow: for the world is ill-natured.</p> +<p>They lead a tamed elephant to battle, the king mounts a tamed +elephant; the tamed is the best among men, he who silently endures +abuse.</p> +<p>Mules are good, if tamed, and noble Sindhu horses, and elephants +with large tusks; but he who tames himself is better still.</p> +<p>For with these animals does no man reach the untrodden country +(Nirvâna), where a tamed man goes on a tamed animal—on +his own well-tamed self.</p> +<p>The elephant called Dhanapâlaka, his temples running with +pungent sap, and who is difficult to hold, does not eat a morsel +when bound; the elephant longs for the elephant grove.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page143" name="page143"></a>[pg +143]</span> +<p>If a man becomes fat and a great eater, if he is sleepy and +rolls himself about, that fool, like a hog fed on grains, is born +again and again.</p> +<p>This mind of mine went formerly wandering about as it liked, as +it listed, as it pleased; but I shall now hold it in thoroughly, as +the rider who holds the hook holds in the furious elephant.</p> +<p>Be not thoughtless, watch your thoughts! Draw yourself out of +the evil way, like an elephant sunk in mud.</p> +<p>If a man find a prudent companion who walks with him, is wise, +and lives soberly, he may walk with him, overcoming all dangers, +happy, but considerate.</p> +<p>If a man find no prudent companion who walks with him, is wise, +and lives soberly, let him walk alone, like a king who has left his +conquered country behind—like an elephant in the forest.</p> +<p>It is better to live alone: there is no companionship with a +fool; let a man walk alone, let him commit no sin, with few wishes, +like an elephant in the forest.</p> +<p>If the occasion arises, friends are pleasant; enjoyment is +pleasant, whatever be the cause; a good work is pleasant in the +hour of death; the giving up of all grief is pleasant.</p> +<p>Pleasant in the world is the state of a mother, pleasant the +state of a father, pleasant the state of a Samana, pleasant the +state of a Brâhmana.</p> +<p>Pleasant is virtue lasting to old age, pleasant is a faith +firmly rooted; pleasant is attainment of intelligence, pleasant is +avoiding of sins.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page144" name="page144"></a>[pg +144]</span> +<h3><a id="dhammapada-xxiv" name="dhammapada-xxiv">CHAPTER +XXIV</a></h3> +<h4>THIRST</h4> +<p>The thirst of a thoughtless man grows like a creeper; he runs +from life to life, like a monkey seeking fruit in the forest.</p> +<p>Whomsoever this fierce poisonous thirst overcomes, in this +world, his sufferings increase like the abounding Bîrana +grass.</p> +<p>But from him who overcomes this fierce thirst, difficult to be +conquered in this world, sufferings fall off, like water-drops from +a lotus leaf.</p> +<p>This salutary word I tell you, "Do ye, as many as are here +assembled, dig up the root of thirst, as he who wants the +sweet-scented Usîra root must dig up the Bîrana grass, +that Mâra, the tempter, may not crush you again and again, as +the stream crushes the reeds."</p> +<p>As a tree, even though it has been cut down, is firm so long as +its root is safe, and grows again, thus, unless the feeders of +thirst are destroyed, this pain of life will return again and +again.</p> +<p>He whose thirty-six streams are strongly flowing in the channels +of pleasure, the waves—his desires which are set on +passion—will carry away that misguided man.</p> +<p>The channels run everywhere, the creeper of passion stands +sprouting; if you see the creeper springing up, cut its root by +means of knowledge.</p> +<p>A creature's pleasures are extravagant and luxurious; given up +to pleasure and deriving happiness, men undergo again and again +birth and decay.</p> +<p>Beset with lust, men run about like a snared hare; held in +fetters and bonds, they undergo pain for a long time, again and +again.</p> +<p>Beset with lust, men run about like a snared hare; let therefore +the mendicant drive out thirst, by striving after passionlessness +for himself.</p> +<p>He who, having got rid of the forest of lust (after having +reached Nirvâna), gives himself over to forest-life (to +lust), and who, when free from the forest (from lust), runs to the +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page145" name="page145"></a>[pg +145]</span> forest (to lust), look at that man! though free, he +runs into bondage.</p> +<p>Wise people do not call that a strong fetter which is made of +iron, wood, or hemp; passionately strong is the care for precious +stones and rings, for sons and a wife.</p> +<p>That fetter wise people call strong which drags down, yields, +but is difficult to undo; after having cut this at last, people +leave the world, free from cares, and leaving the pleasures of love +behind.</p> +<p>Those who are slaves to passions, run down the stream of +desires, as a spider runs down the web which he has made himself; +when they have cut this, at last, wise people go onwards, free from +cares, leaving all pain behind.</p> +<p>Give up what is before, give up what is behind, give up what is +between, when thou goest to the other shore of existence; if thy +mind is altogether free, thou wilt not again enter into birth and +decay.</p> +<p>If a man is tossed about by doubts, full of strong passions, and +yearning only for what is delightful, his thirst will grow more and +more, and he will indeed make his fetters strong.</p> +<p>If a man delights in quieting doubts, and, always reflecting, +dwells on what is not delightful, he certainly will remove, nay, he +will cut the fetter of Mâra.</p> +<p>He who has reached the consummation, who does not tremble, who +is without thirst and without sin, he has broken all the thorns of +life: this will be his last body.</p> +<p>He who is without thirst and without affection, who understands +the words and their interpretation, who knows the order of letters +(those which are before and which are after), he has received his +last body, he is called the great sage, the great man.</p> +<p>"I have conquered all, I know all, in all conditions of life I +am free from taint; I have left all, and through the destruction of +thirst I am free; having learnt myself, whom should I indicate as +my teacher?"</p> +<p>The gift of the law exceeds all gifts; the sweetness of the law +exceeds all sweetness; the delight in the law exceeds all delights; +the extinction of thirst overcomes all pain.</p> +<p>Riches destroy the foolish, if they look not for the other +shore; the foolish by his thirst for riches destroys himself, as if +he were destroying others.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page146" name="page146"></a>[pg +146]</span> +<p>The fields are damaged by weeds, mankind is damaged by passion: +therefore a gift bestowed on the passionless brings great +reward.</p> +<p>The fields are damaged by weeds, mankind is damaged by hatred: +therefore a gift bestowed on those who do not hate brings great +reward.</p> +<p>The fields are damaged by weeds, mankind is damaged by vanity: +therefore a gift bestowed on those who are free from vanity brings +great reward.</p> +<p>The fields are damaged by weeds, mankind is damaged by lust: +therefore a gift bestowed on those who are free from lust brings +great reward.</p> +<h3><a id="dhammapada-xxv" name="dhammapada-xxv">CHAPTER +XXV</a></h3> +<h4>THE BHIKSHU</h4> +<p>Restraint in the eye is good, good is restraint in the ear, in +the nose restraint is good, good is restraint in the tongue.</p> +<p>In the body restraint is good, good is restraint in speech, in +thought restraint is good, good is restraint in all things. A +Bhikshu, restrained in all things, is freed from all pain.</p> +<p>He who controls his hand, he who controls his feet, he who +controls his speech, he who is well controlled, he who delights +inwardly, who is collected, who is solitary and content, him they +call Bhikshu.</p> +<p>The Bhikshu who controls his mouth, who speaks wisely and +calmly, who teaches the meaning and the law, his word is sweet.</p> +<p>He who dwells in the law, delights in the law, meditates on the +law, recollects the law: that Bhikshu will never fall away from the +true law.</p> +<p>Let him not despise what he has received, nor ever envy others: +a mendicant who envies others does not obtain peace of mind.</p> +<p>A Bhikshu who, though he receives little, does not despise what +he has received, even the gods will praise him, if his life is +pure, and if he is not slothful.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page147" name="page147"></a>[pg +147]</span> +<p>He who never identifies himself with name and form, and does not +grieve over what is no more, he indeed is called a Bhikshu.</p> +<p>The Bhikshu who behaves with kindness, who is happy in the +doctrine of Buddha, will reach the quiet place (Nirvâna), +happiness arising from the cessation of natural inclinations.</p> +<p>O Bhikshu, empty this boat! if emptied, it will go quickly; +having cut off passion and hatred, thou wilt go to +Nirvâna.</p> +<p>Cut off the five fetters, leave the five, rise above the five. A +Bhikshu, who has escaped from the five fetters, he is called +Oghatinna—"saved from the flood."</p> +<p>Meditate, O Bhikshu, and be not heedless! Do not direct thy +thought to what gives pleasure, that thou mayest not for thy +heedlessness have to swallow the iron ball in hell, and that thou +mayest not cry out when burning, "This is pain."</p> +<p>Without knowledge there is no meditation, without meditation +there is no knowledge: he who has knowledge and meditation is near +unto Nirvâna.</p> +<p>A Bhikshu who has entered his empty house, and whose mind is +tranquil, feels a more than human delight when he sees the law +clearly.</p> +<p>As soon as he has considered the origin and destruction of the +elements of the body, he finds happiness and joy which belong to +those who know the immortal (Nirvâna).</p> +<p>And this is the beginning here for a wise Bhikshu: watchfulness +over the senses, contentedness, restraint under the law; keep noble +friends whose life is pure, and who are not slothful.</p> +<p>Let him live in charity, let him be perfect in his duties; then +in the fulness of delight he will make an end of suffering.</p> +<p>As the Vassikâ plant sheds its withered flowers, men +should shed passion and hatred, O ye Bhikshus!</p> +<p>The Bhikshu whose body and tongue and mind are quieted, who is +collected, and has rejected the baits of the world, he is called +quiet.</p> +<p>Rouse thyself by thyself, examine thyself by thyself, thus +self-protected and attentive wilt thou live happily, O Bhikshu!</p> +<p>For self is the lord of self, self is the refuge of self; +therefore curb thyself as the merchant curbs a noble horse.</p> +<p>The Bhikshu, full of delight, who is happy in the doctrine of +Buddha will reach the quiet place (Nirvâna), happiness +consisting in the cessation of natural inclinations.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page148" name="page148"></a>[pg +148]</span> +<p>He who, even as a young Bhikshu, applies himself to the doctrine +of Buddha, brightens up this world, like the moon when free from +clouds.</p> +<h3><a id="dhammapada-xxvi" name="dhammapada-xxvi">CHAPTER +XXVI</a></h3> +<h4>THE BRÂHMANA</h4> +<p>Stop the stream valiantly, drive away the desires, O +Brâhmana! When you have understood the destruction of all +that was made, you will understand that which was not made.</p> +<p>If the Brâhmana has reached the other shore in both laws, +in restraint and contemplation, all bonds vanish from him who has +obtained knowledge.</p> +<p>He for whom there is neither the hither nor the further shore, +nor both, him, the fearless and unshackled, I call indeed a +Brâhmana.</p> +<p>He who is thoughtful, blameless, settled, dutiful, without +passions, and who has attained the highest end, him I call indeed a +Brâhmana.</p> +<p>The sun is bright by day, the moon shines by night, the warrior +is bright in his armor, the Brâhmana is bright in his +meditation; but Buddha, the Awakened, is bright with splendor day +and night.</p> +<p>Because a man is rid of evil, therefore he is called +Brâhmana; because he walks quietly, therefore he is called +Samana; because he has sent away his own impurities, therefore he +is called Pravragita (Pabbagita, a pilgrim).</p> +<p>No one should attack a Brâhmana, but no Brâhmana, if +attacked, should let himself fly at his aggressor! Woe to him who +strikes a Brâhmana, more woe to him who flies at his +aggressor!</p> +<p>It advantages a Brâhmana not a little if he holds his mind +back from the pleasures of life; the more all wish to injure has +vanished, the more all pain will cease.</p> +<p>Him I call indeed a Brâhmana who does not offend by body, +word, or thought, and is controlled on these three points.</p> +<p>He from whom he may learn the law, as taught by the +Well-awakened <span class="pagenum"><a id="page149" name= +"page149"></a>[pg 149]</span> (Buddha), him let him worship +assiduously, as the Brâhmana worships the sacrificial +fire.</p> +<p>A man does not become a Brâhmana by his plaited hair, by +his family, or by birth; in whom there is truth and righteousness, +he is blessed, he is a Brâhmana.</p> +<p>What is the use of plaited hair, O fool! what of the raiment of +goat-skins? Within thee there is ravening, but the outside thou +makest clean.</p> +<p>The man who wears dirty raiments, who is emaciated and covered +with veins, who meditates alone in the forest, him I call indeed a +Brâhmana.</p> +<p>I do not call a man a Brâhmana because of his origin or of +his mother. He is indeed arrogant, and he is wealthy: but the poor, +who is free from all attachments, him I call indeed a +Brâhmana.</p> +<p>Him I call indeed a Brâhmana who, after cutting all +fetters, never trembles, is free from bonds and unshackled.</p> +<p>Him I call indeed a Brâhmana who, after cutting the strap +and the thong, the rope with all that pertains to it, has destroyed +all obstacles, and is awakened.</p> +<p>Him I call indeed a Brâhmana who, though he has committed +no offence, endures reproach, stripes, and bonds: who has endurance +for his force, and strength for his army.</p> +<p>Him I call indeed a Brâhmana who is free from anger, +dutiful, virtuous, without appetites, who is subdued, and has +received his last body.</p> +<p>Him I call indeed a Brâhmana who does not cling to sensual +pleasures, like water on a lotus leaf, like a mustard seed on the +point of a needle.</p> +<p>Him I call indeed a Brâhmana who, even here, knows the end +of his own suffering, has put down his burden, and is +unshackled.</p> +<p>Him I call indeed a Brâhmana whose knowledge is deep, who +possesses wisdom, who knows the right way and the wrong, and has +attained the highest end.</p> +<p>Him I call indeed a Brâhmana who keeps aloof both from +laymen and from mendicants, who frequents no houses, and has but +few desires.</p> +<p>Him I call indeed a Brâhmana who without hurting any +creatures, whether feeble or strong, does not kill nor cause +slaughter.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page150" name="page150"></a>[pg +150]</span> +<p>Him I call indeed a Brâhmana who is tolerant with the +intolerant, mild with the violent, and free from greed among the +greedy.</p> +<p>Him I call indeed a Brâhmana from whom anger and hatred, +pride and hypocrisy have dropped like a mustard seed from the point +of a needle.</p> +<p>Him I call indeed a Brâhmana who utters true speech, +instructive and free from harshness, so that he offend no one.</p> +<p>Him I call indeed a Brâhmana who takes nothing in the +world that is not given him, be it long or short, small or large, +good or bad.</p> +<p>Him I call indeed a Brâhmana who fosters no desires for +this world or for the next, has no inclinations, and is +unshackled.</p> +<p>Him I call indeed a Brâhmana who has no interests, and +when he has understood the truth, does not say How, how? and who +has reached the depth of the Immortal.</p> +<p>Him I call indeed a Brâhmana who in this world has risen +above both ties, good and evil, who is free from grief, from sin, +and from impurity.</p> +<p>Him I call indeed a Brâhmana who is bright like the moon, +pure, serene, undisturbed, and in whom all gayety is extinct.</p> +<p>Him I call indeed a Brâhmana who has traversed this miry +road, the impassable world, difficult to pass, and its vanity, who +has gone through, and reached the other shore, is thoughtful, +steadfast, free from doubts, free from attachment, and content.</p> +<p>Him I call indeed a Brâhmana who in this world, having +abandoned all desires, travels about without a home, and in whom +all concupiscence is extinct.</p> +<p>Him I call indeed a Brâhmana who, having abandoned all +longings, travels about without a home, and in whom all +covetousness is extinct.</p> +<p>Him I call indeed a Brâhmana who, after leaving all +bondage to men, has risen above all bondage to the gods, and is +free from all and every bondage.</p> +<p>Him I call indeed a Brâhmana who has left what gives +pleasure and what gives pain, who is cold, and free from all germs +of renewed life: the hero who has conquered all the worlds.</p> +<p>Him I call indeed a Brâhmana who knows the destruction and +the return of beings everywhere, who is free from bondage, +welfaring (Sugata), and awakened (Buddha). <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page151" name="page151"></a>[pg 151]</span></p> +<p>Him I call indeed a Brâhmana whose path the gods do not +know, nor spirits (Gandharvas), nor men, whose passions are +extinct, and who is an Arhat.</p> +<p>Him I call indeed a Brâhmana who calls nothing his own, +whether it be before, behind, or between; who is poor, and free +from the love of the world.</p> +<p>Him I call indeed a Brâhmana, the manly, the noble, the +hero, the great sage, the conqueror, the indifferent, the +accomplished, the awakened.</p> +<p>Him I call indeed a Brâhmana who knows his former abodes, +who sees heaven and hell, has reached the end of births, is perfect +in knowledge, a sage, and whose perfections are all perfect. +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page153" name="page153"></a>[pg +153]</span></p> +<h2><a id="upanishads" name="upanishads">THE UPANISHADS</a></h2> +<h3>Translation by F. Max Müller</h3> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page155" name="page155"></a>[pg +155]</span> +<h3><a id="u-intro" name="u-intro">INTRODUCTION</a></h3> +<p>The "Upanishads" are reckoned to be from a hundred and fifty to +a hundred and seventy in number. The date of the earliest of them +is about B.C. 600; that is an age anterior to the rise of Buddha. +They consist of various disquisitions on the nature of man, the +Supreme Being, the human soul, and immortality. They are part of +Sanscrit Brahmanic literature, and have the authority of revealed, +in contradistinction to traditional truth. We see in these books +the struggle of the human mind to attain to a knowledge of God and +the destiny of man. The result is the formulation of a definite +theosophy, in which we find the Brahman in his meditation trusting +to the intuitions of his own spirit, the promptings of his own +reason, or the combinations of his own fancy, for a revelation of +the truth. The result is given us in these wonderful books. We call +them wonderful, because the unaided mind of man never attained, in +any other literature, to a profounder insight into spiritual +things. The Western reader may find in an "Upanishad" many things +that seem to him trifling and absurd, many things obscure and +apparently meaningless. It is very easy to ridicule this kind of +literature. But as a matter of fact these ancient writings well +repay study, as the most astounding productions of the human +intellect. In them we see the human mind wrestling with the +greatest thoughts that had ever yet dawned upon it, and trying to +grasp and to measure the mighty vision before which it was humbled +to the dust. The seer, in order to communicate to the world the +result of his meditations, seems to catch at every symbol and every +word hallowed by familiar usage, in order to set out in concrete +shape the color and dimensions of mystic verities; he is employing +an old language for the expression of new truths; he is putting new +wine into old wine-skins, which burst and the wine is spilt; words +fail, and the meaning is lost. It is not lost, however, to those +who will try to study the "Upanishads" <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page156" name="page156"></a>[pg 156]</span> from within, and not +from without: who will try to put himself in the attitude of those +earnest and patient explorers who brought so much light into the +human life of the East, and so much joy and tranquillity to the +perturbed spirit of their fellow-men. Those who thus study these +ancient writings will find in them the fundamental principles of a +definite theology, and, more wonderful still, the beginnings of +that which became afterwards known to the Greeks, and has been +known ever since, as metaphysics: that is, scientific +transcendentalism. This much will be apparent to anyone who will +read and study the "Kaushîtaki-Upanishad," which is one of +the most wonderful of the religious books of the East. Laying aside +the doctrine of metempsychosis and the idea of reincarnation, there +is something sublime and inspiring in the imagery with which the +destiny of the soul after death is described, while in the +metaphysical subtlety of this book we find an argument against +materialism which is just as fresh now as when it was first +stated.</p> +<p>E.W.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page157" name="page157"></a>[pg +157]</span> +<h2>THE UPANISHADS</h2> +<h3><a id="u-kaushitaki" name= +"u-kaushitaki">KAUSHÎTAKI-UPANISHAD</a></h3> +<h4><a id="u-couch" name="u-couch">THE COUCH OF BRAHMAN</a></h4> +<p>Kitra Gângyâyani, wishing to perform a sacrifice, +chose Âruni Uddâlaka, to be his chief priest. But +Âruni sent his son, Svetaketu, and said: "Perform the +sacrifice for him." When Svetaketu had arrived, Kitra asked him: +"Son of Gautama, is there a hidden place in the world where you are +able to place me, or is it the other way, and are you going to +place me in the world to which that other way leads?"<a id= +"footnotetag14" name="footnotetag14"></a><a href= +"#footnote14"><sup>14</sup></a></p> +<p>He answered and said: "I do not know this. But, let me ask the +master." Having approached his father, he asked: "Thus has Kitra +asked me; how shall I answer?"</p> +<p>Âruni said: "I also do not know this. Only after having +learnt the proper portion of the Veda in Kitra's own dwelling, +shall we obtain what others give us, i.e., knowledge. Come, we will +both go." <span class="pagenum"><a id="page158" name= +"page158"></a>[pg 158]</span></p> +<p>Having said this he took fuel in his hand, like a pupil, and +approached Kitra Gângyâyani, saying: "May I come near +to you?" He replied: "You are worthy of Brahman, O Gautama, because +you were not led away by pride. Come hither, I shall make you know +clearly."</p> +<p>And Kitra said: "All who depart from this world go to the moon. +In the former, the bright half, the moon delights in their spirits; +in the other, the dark half, the moon sends them on to be born +again. Verily, the moon is the door of the Svarga, i.e., the +heavenly world. Now, if a man objects to the moon and is not +satisfied with life there, the moon sets him free. But if a man +does not object, then the moon sends him down as rain upon this +earth. And according to his deeds and according to his knowledge he +is born again here as a worm, or as an insect, or as a fish, or as +a bird, or as a lion, or as a boar, or as a serpent, or as a tiger, +or as a man, or as something else in different places. When he has +thus returned to the earth, someone, a sage, asks: 'Who art thou?' +And he should answer: 'From the wise moon, who orders the seasons, +when it is born consisting of fifteen parts, from the moon who is +the home of our ancestors, the seed was brought. This seed, even +me, they, the gods, mentioned in the +Pañkâgnividyâ, gathered up in an active man, and +through an active man they brought me to a mother. Then I, growing +up to be born, a being living by months, whether twelve or +thirteen, was together with my father, who also lived by years of +twelve or thirteen months, that I might either know the true +Brahman or not know it. Therefore, O ye seasons, grant that I may +attain immortality, i.e., knowledge of Brahman. By this my true +saying, by this my toil, beginning with the dwelling in the moon +and ending with my birth on earth, I am like a season, and the +child of the seasons.' 'Who art thou?' the sage asks again. 'I am +thou,' he replies. Then he sets him free to proceed onward.</p> +<p>"He, at the time of death, having reached the path of the gods, +comes to the world of Agni, or fire, to the world of Vâyu, or +air, to the world of Varuna, to the world of Indra, to the world of +Pragâpati, to the world of Brahman. In that world there is +the lake Âra, the moments called Yeshtiha, the river +Vigarâ, i.e., age-less, the tree Ilyâ, the city +Sâlagya, the palace Aparâgita, i.e., unconquerable, the +door-keepers Indra <span class="pagenum"><a id="page159" name= +"page159"></a>[pg 159]</span> and Pragâpati, the hall of +Brahman, called Vibhu (built by vibhu, egoism), the throne +Vikakshanâ, i.e., perception, the couch Amitaugas or endless +splendor, and the beloved Mânasî, i.e., mind, and her +image Kâkshushî, the eye, who, as if taking flowers, +are weaving the worlds, and the Apsaras, the Ambâs, or sacred +scriptures, and Ambâyavîs, or understanding, and the +rivers Ambayâs leading to the knowledge of Brahman. To this +world he who knows the Paryanka-vidyâ approaches. Brahman +says to him: 'Run towards him, servants, with such worship as is +due to myself. He has reached the river Vigarâ, the age-less, +he will never age.'</p> +<p>"Then five hundred Apsaras go towards him, one hundred with +garlands in their hands, one hundred with ointments in their hands, +one hundred with perfumes in their hands, one hundred with garments +in their hands, one hundred with fruit in their hands. They adorn +him with an adornment worthy of Brahman, and when thus adorned with +the adornment of Brahman, the knower of Brahman moves towards +Brahman. He comes to the lake Âra, and he crosses it by the +mind, while those who come to it without knowing the truth, are +drowned. He comes to the moments called Yeshtiha, they flee from +him. He comes to the river Vigarâ, and crosses it by the mind +alone, and there shakes off his good and evil deeds. His beloved +relatives obtain the good, his unbeloved relatives the evil he has +done. And as a man, driving in a chariot, might look at the two +wheels without being touched by them, thus he will look at day and +night, thus at good and evil deeds, and at all pairs, all +correlative things, such as light and darkness, heat and cold. +Being freed from good and freed from evil, he, the knower of +Brahman, moves towards Brahman.</p> +<p>"He approaches the tree Ilya, and the odor of Brahman reaches +him. He approaches the city Sâlagya, and the flavor of +Brahman reaches him. He approaches the palace Aparâgita, and +the splendor of Brahman reaches him. He approaches the door-keepers +Indra and Pragâpati, and they run away from him. He +approaches the hall Vibhu, and the glory of Brahman reaches him and +he thinks, 'I am Brahman.' He approaches the throne +Vikakshanâ. The Sâman verses, Brihad and Rathantara, +are the eastern feet of that throne; the Sâman verses, Syaita +and Naudhasa, its western feet; the Sâman verses, +Vairûpa and Vairâga, its sides lengthways, <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page160" name="page160"></a>[pg 160]</span> south +and north; the Sâman verses, Sâkvara and Raivata, its +sides crossways, east and west. That throne is Pragñâ, +knowledge, for by knowledge, self-knowledge, he sees clearly. He +approaches the couch Amitaugas. That is Prâna, i.e., speech. +The past and the future are its eastern feet; prosperity and earth +its western feet; the Sâman verses, Brihad and Rathantara, +are the two sides lengthways of the couch, south and north; the +Sâman verses, Bhadra and Yagñâyagñiya, +are its cross-sides at the head and feet, east and west; the Rik +and Sâman are the long sheets, east and west; the Yagus the +cross-sheets, south and north; the moon-beam the cushion; the +Udgîtha the white coverlet; prosperity the pillow. On this +couch sits Brahman, and he who knows himself one with Brahman, +sitting on the couch, mounts it first with one foot only. Then +Brahman says to him: 'Who art thou?' and he shall answer: 'I am +like a season, and the child of the seasons, sprung from the womb +of endless space, from the light, from the luminous Brahman. The +light, the origin of the year, which is the past, which is the +present, which is all living things, and all elements, is the Self. +Thou art the Self. What thou art, that am I.' Brahman says to him: +'Who am I?' He shall answer: 'That which is, the true.' Brahman +asks: 'What is the true?' He says to him: 'What is different from +the gods and from the senses that is Sat, but the gods and the +senses are Tyam. Therefore, by that name Sattya, or true, is called +all this whatever there is. All this thou art.' This is also +declared by a verse: 'This great Rishi, whose belly is the Yagus, +the head the Sâman, the form the Rik, is to be known as being +imperishable, as being Brahman.'</p> +<p>"Brahman says to him: 'How dost thou obtain my male names?' He +should answer: 'By breath.' Brahman asks: 'How my female names?' He +should answer: 'By speech.' Brahman asks: 'How my neuter names?' He +should answer: 'By mind.' 'How smells?' 'By the nose.' 'How forms?' +'By the eye.' 'How sounds?' 'By the ear.' 'How flavors of food?' +'By the tongue.' 'How actions?' 'By the hands.' 'How pleasures and +pain?' 'By the body.' 'How joy, delight, and offspring?' 'By the +organ.' 'How journeyings?' 'By the feet.' 'How thoughts, and what +is to be known and desired?' 'By knowledge alone.'</p> +<p>"Brahman says to him: 'Water indeed is this my world, the whole +Brahman world, and it is thine.'</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page161" name="page161"></a>[pg +161]</span> +<p>"Whatever victory, whatever might belongs to Brahman, that +victory and that might he obtains who knows this, yea, who knows +this."<a id="footnotetag15" name="footnotetag15"></a><a href= +"#footnote15"><sup>15</sup></a></p> +<h4><a id="u-knowledge" name="u-knowledge">KNOWLEDGE OF THE LIVING +SPIRIT</a></h4> +<p>"Prâna, or breath,<a id="footnotetag16" name= +"footnotetag16"></a><a href="#footnote16"><sup>16</sup></a> is +Brahman," thus says Kaushîtaki. "Of this prâna, which +is Brahman, the mind is the messenger, speech the housekeeper, the +eye the guard, the ear the informant. He who knows mind as the +messenger of prâna, which is Brahman, becomes possessed of +the messenger. He who knows speech as the housekeeper, becomes +possessed of the housekeeper. He who knows the eye as the guard, +becomes possessed of the guard. He who knows the ear as the +informant, becomes possessed of the informant.</p> +<p>"Now to that prâna, which is Brahman, all these deities, +mind, speech, eye, ear, bring an offering, though he asks not for +it, and thus to him who knows this all creatures bring an offering, +though he asks not for it. For him who knows this, there is this +Upanishad, or secret vow, 'Beg not!' As a man who has begged +through a village and got nothing sits down and says, 'I shall +never eat anything given by those people,' and as then those who +formerly refused him press him to accept their alms, thus is the +rule for him who begs not, but the charitable will press him and +say, 'Let us give to thee.'"</p> +<p>"Prâna, or breath, is Brahman," thus says Paingya. "And in +that prâna, which is Brahman, the eye stands firm behind +speech, the ear stands firm behind the eye, the mind stands firm +behind the ear, and the spirit stands firm behind the mind.<a id= +"footnotetag17" name="footnotetag17"></a><a href= +"#footnote17"><sup>17</sup></a> To that prâna, which is +Brahman, all these deities bring an offering, though he asks not +for it, and thus to him who knows this, all creatures bring an +offering, though he asks not for it. For him who knows this, there +is this Upanishad, or secret vow, <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page162" name="page162"></a>[pg 162]</span> 'Beg not!' As a man +who has begged through a village and got nothing sits down and +says, 'I shall never eat anything given by those people,' and as +then those who formerly refused him press him to accept their alms, +thus is the rule for him who begs not, but the charitable will +press him and say, 'Let us give to thee.'</p> +<p>"Now follows the attainment of the highest treasure, i.e., +spirit.<a id="footnotetag18" name="footnotetag18"></a><a href= +"#footnote18"><sup>18</sup></a> If a man meditates on that highest +treasure, let him on a full moon or a new moon, or in the bright +fortnight, under an auspicious Nakshatra, at one of these proper +times, bending his right knee, offer oblations of ghee with a +ladle, after having placed the fire, swept the ground, strewn the +sacred grass, and sprinkled water. Let him say: 'The deity called +Speech is the attainer, may it attain this for me from him who +possesses and can bestow what I wish for. Svâhâ to it!' +'The deity called prâna, or breath, is the attainer, may it +attain this for me from him. Svâhâ to it!' 'The deity +called the eye is the attainer, may it attain this for me from him. +Svâhâ to it!' 'The deity called the ear is the +attainer, may it attain this for me from him. Svâhâ to +it!' 'The deity called mind is the attainer of it, may it attain +this for me from him. Svâhâ to it!' 'The deity called +knowledge is the attainer of it, may it attain this for me from +him. Svâhâ to it!'</p> +<p>"Then having inhaled the smell of the smoke, and having rubbed +his limbs with the ointment of ghee, walking on in silence, let him +declare his wish, or let him send a messenger. He will surely +obtain his wish.</p> +<p>"Now follows the Daiva Smara, the desire to be accomplished by +the gods. If a man desires to become dear to any man or woman, or +to any men or women, then at one of the fore-mentioned proper times +he offers, in exactly the same manner as before, oblations of ghee, +saying: 'I offer thy speech in myself, I this one here, +Svâhâ.' 'I offer thy ear in myself, I this one here, +Svâhâ.' 'I offer thy mind in myself, I this one here, +Svâhâ.' 'I offer thy knowledge in myself, I this one +here, Svâhâ.' Then having inhaled the smell of the +smoke, and having rubbed his limbs with the ointment of ghee, +walking on in silence, let him try to come in contact or let him +stand speaking in the wind, so that the wind may carry his +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page163" name="page163"></a>[pg +163]</span> words to the person by whom he desires to be loved. +Surely he becomes dear, and they think of him.</p> +<p>"Now follows the restraint instituted by Pratardana, the son of +Divodâsa: they call it the inner Agni-hotri. So long as a man +speaks, he cannot breathe, he offers all the while his breath in +his speech. And so long as a man breathes, he cannot speak, he +offers all the while his speech in his breath. These two endless +and immortal oblations he offers always, whether waking or +sleeping. Whatever other oblations there are (those, e.g., of the +ordinary Agni-hotri, consisting of milk and other things), they +have an end, for they consist of works which, like all works, have +an end. The ancients, knowing this the best Agni-hotri, did not +offer the ordinary Agni-hotri.</p> +<p>"Uktha is Brahman, thus said Sushkabhringâra. Let him +meditate on the uktha as the same with the Rik, and all beings will +praise him as the best. Let him meditate on it as the same with the +Yagus, and all beings will join before him as the best. Let him +meditate on it as the same with the Sâman, and all beings +will bow before him as the best. Let him meditate on it as the same +with might, let him meditate on it as the same with glory, let him +meditate on it as the same with splendor. For as the bow is among +weapons the mightiest, the most glorious, the most splendid, thus +is he who knows this among all beings the mightiest, the most +glorious, the most splendid. The Adhvaryu conceives the fire of the +altar, which is used for the sacrifice, to be himself. In it he the +Adhvaryu weaves the Yagus portion of the sacrifice. And in the +Yagus portion the Hotri weaves the Rik portion of the sacrifice. +And in the Rik portion the Udgâtri weaves the Sâman +portion of the sacrifice. He, the Adhvaryu, or prâna, is the +self of the threefold knowledge; he indeed is the self of +prâna. He who knows this is the self of it, i.e., becomes +prâna.</p> +<p>"Next follow the three kinds of meditation of the all-conquering +Kaushîtaki. The all-conquering Kaushîtaki adores the +sun when rising, having put on the sacrificial cord,<a id= +"footnotetag19" name="footnotetag19"></a><a href= +"#footnote19"><sup>19</sup></a> having brought water, and having +thrice sprinkled the water-cup, saying: 'Thou art the deliverer, +deliver me from sin.' In the same manner he adores the sun when in +the zenith, saying: 'Thou art the highest deliverer, deliver me +highly from sin.' <span class="pagenum"><a id="page164" name= +"page164"></a>[pg 164]</span> In the same manner he adores the sun +when setting, saying: 'Thou art the full deliverer, deliver me +fully from sin.' Thus he fully removes whatever sin he committed by +day and by night. And in the same manner he who knows this, +likewise adores the sun, and fully removes whatever sin he +committed by day and by night.</p> +<p>"Then, secondly, let him worship every month in the year at the +time of the new moon, the moon as it is seen in the west in the +same manner as before described with regard to the sun, or let him +send forth his speech towards the moon with two green blades of +grass, saying: 'O thou who art mistress of immortal joy, through +that gentle heart of mine which abides in the moon, may I never +weep for misfortune concerning my children.'</p> +<p>"The children of him who thus adores the moon do not indeed die +before him. Thus it is with a man to whom a son is already +born.</p> +<p>"Now for one to whom no son is born as yet. He mutters the three +Rik verses. 'Increase, O Soma! may vigor come to thee.' 'May milk, +may food go to thee.' 'That ray which the Âdityas +gladden.'</p> +<p>"Having muttered these three Rik verses, he says: 'Do not +increase by our breath, by our offspring, by our cattle; he who +hates us and whom we hate, increase by his breath, by his +offspring, by his cattle. Thus I turn the turn of the god, I return +the turn of Âditya.' After these words, having raised the +right arm towards Soma, he lets it go again.</p> +<p>"Then, thirdly, let him worship on the day of the full moon the +moon as it is seen in the east in the same manner, saying: 'Thou +art Soma, the king, the wise, the five-mouthed, the lord of +creatures. The Brahmana is one of thy mouths; with that mouth thou +eatest the kings; make me an eater of food by that mouth! The king +is one of thy mouths; with that mouth thou eatest the people; make +me an eater of food by that mouth! The hawk is one of thy mouths; +with that mouth thou eatest the birds; make me an eater of food by +that mouth! Fire is one of thy mouths; with that mouth thou eatest +this world; make me an eater of food by that mouth! In thee there +is the fifth mouth; with that mouth thou eatest all beings; make me +an eater of food by that mouth! Do not decrease by our life, by our +offspring, by our cattle; he who hates us and whom we <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page165" name="page165"></a>[pg 165]</span> hate, +decrease by his life, by his offspring, by his cattle. Thus I turn +the turn of the god, I return the turn of Âditya.' After +these words, having raised the right arm, he lets it go again.</p> +<p>"Next, having addressed these prayers to Soma, when being with +his wife, let him stroke her heart, saying: 'O fair one, who hast +obtained immortal joy by that which has entered thy heart through +Pragâpati, mayest thou never fall into sorrow about thy +children.' Her children then do not die before her.</p> +<p>"Next, if a man has been absent and returns home, let him kiss +his son's head, saying: 'Thou springest from every limb, thou art +born from the heart, thou, my son, art my self indeed: live thou a +hundred harvests.' He gives him his name, saying: 'Be thou a stone, +be thou an axe, be thou solid gold; thou, my son, art light indeed: +live thou a hundred harvests.' He pronounces his name. Then he +embraces him, saying: 'As Pragâpati the lord of creatures +embraced his creatures for their welfare, thus I embrace thee,' +(pronouncing his name). Then he mutters into his right ear, saying: +'O thou, quick Maghavan, give to him.' 'O Indra, bestow thy best +wishes'—thus he whispers into his left ear. Let him then +thrice kiss his head, saying: 'Do not cut off the line of our race, +do not suffer. Live a hundred harvests of life; I kiss thy head, O +son, with thy name.' He then thrice makes a lowing sound over his +head, saying: 'I low over thee with the lowing sound of cows.'</p> +<p>"Next follows the Daiva Parimara, the dying around of the gods, +the absorption of the two classes of gods, mentioned before, into +prâna or Brahman. This Brahman shines forth indeed when the +fire burns, and it dies when it burns not. Its splendor goes to the +sun alone, the life prâna, the moving principle, to the +air.</p> +<p>"This Brahman shines forth indeed when the sun is seen, and it +dies when it is not seen. Its splendor goes to the moon alone, the +life to the air.</p> +<p>"This Brahman shines forth indeed when the moon is seen, and it +dies when it is not seen. Its splendor goes to the lightning alone, +its life to the air.</p> +<p>"This Brahman shines forth indeed when the lightning flashes, +and it dies when it flashes not. Its splendor goes to the air, and +the life to the air.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page166" name="page166"></a>[pg +166]</span> +<p>"Thus all these deities (fire, sun, moon, lightning), having +entered the air, though dead, do not vanish; and out of the very +air they rise again. So much with reference to the deities. Now +then, with reference to the body.</p> +<p>"This Brahman shines forth indeed when one speaks with speech, +and it dies when one does not speak. His splendor goes to the eye +alone, the life to breath.</p> +<p>"This Brahman shines forth indeed when one sees with the eye, +and it dies when one does not see. Its splendor goes to the ear +alone, the life to breath.</p> +<p>"This Brahman shines forth indeed when one hears with the ear, +and it dies when one does not hear. Its splendor goes to the mind +alone, the life to breath.</p> +<p>"This Brahman shines forth indeed when one thinks with the mind, +and it dies when one does not think. Its splendor goes to the +breath alone, and the life to breath.</p> +<p>"Thus all these deities (the senses, etc.), having entered +breath or life alone, though dead, do not vanish; and out of very +breath they rise again. And if two mountains, the southern and +northern, were to move forward trying to crush him who knows this, +they would not crush him. But those who hate him and those whom he +hates, they die around him.</p> +<p>"Next follows the Nihsreyasâdâna, i.e., the +accepting of the preeminence of breath or life by the other gods. +The deities, speech, eye, ear, mind, contending with each for who +was the best, went out of this body, and the body lay without +breathing, withered, like a log of wood. Then speech went into it, +but speaking by speech, it lay still. Then the eye went into it, +but speaking by speech, and seeing by the eye, it lay still. Then +the ear went into it, but speaking by speech, seeing by the eye, +hearing by the ear, it lay still. Then mind went into it, but +speaking by speech, seeing by the eye, hearing by the ear, thinking +by the mind, it lay still. Then breath went into it, and thence it +rose at once. All these deities, having recognized the preeminence +in life, and having comprehended life alone as the conscious self, +went out of this body with all these five different kinds of life, +and resting in the air, knowing that life had entered the air and +merged in the ether, they went to heaven. And in the same manner he +who knows this, having recognized the preëminence in +prâna, and having comprehended life alone as the conscious +self, goes out of this body <span class="pagenum"><a id="page167" +name="page167"></a>[pg 167]</span> with all these, does no longer +believe in this body, and resting in the air, and merged in the +ether, he goes to heaven: he goes to where those gods are. And +having reached this heaven, he, who knows this, becomes immortal +with that immortality which those gods enjoy.</p> +<p>"Next follows the father's tradition to the son, and thus they +explain it. The father, when going to depart, calls his son, after +having strewn the house with fresh grass, and having laid the +sacrificial fire, and having placed near it a pot of water with a +jug, full of rice, himself covered with a new cloth, and dressed in +white. He places himself above his son, touching his organs with +his own organs, or he may deliver the tradition to him while he +sits before him. Then he delivers it to him. The father says: 'Let +me place my speech in thee.' The son says: 'I take thy speech in +me.' The father says: 'Let me place my scent in thee.' The son +says: 'I take thy scent in me.' The father says: 'Let me place my +eye in thee.' The son says: 'I take thy eye in me.' The father +says: 'Let me place my ear in thee.' The son says: 'I take thy ear +in me.' The father says: 'Let me place my tastes of food in thee.' +The son says: 'I take thy tastes of food in me.' The father says: +'Let me place my actions in thee.' The son says: 'I take thy +actions in me.' The father says: 'Let me place my pleasure and pain +in thee.' The son says: 'I take thy pleasure and pain in me.' The +father says: 'Let me place happiness, joy, and offspring in thee.' +The son says: 'I take thy happiness, joy, and offspring in me.' The +father says: 'Let me place my walking in thee.' The son says: 'I +take thy walking in me.' The father says: 'Let me place my mind in +thee.' The son says: 'I take thy mind in me.' The father says: 'Let +me place my knowledge in thee.' The son says: 'I take thy knowledge +in me.' But if the father is very ill, he may say shortly: Let me +place my spirits in thee,' and the son: 'I take thy spirits in +me.'</p> +<p>"Then the son walks round his father, keeping his right side +towards him, and goes away. The father calls after him: 'May fame, +glory of countenance, and honor always follow thee.' Then the other +looks back over his left shoulder, covering himself with his hand +or the hem of his garment, saying: 'Obtain the heavenly worlds and +all desires.'</p> +<p>"If the father recovers, let him be under the authority of his +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page168" name="page168"></a>[pg +168]</span> son, or let him wander about as an ascetic. But if he +departs, then let them despatch him, as he ought to be despatched, +yea, as he ought to be despatched."</p> +<h4><a id="u-life" name="u-life">LIFE AND CONSCIOUSNESS</a></h4> +<p>Pratardana, the son of Divodâsa, King of Kâsî, +came by means of fighting and strength to the beloved abode of +Indra. Indra said to him: "Pratardana, let me give you a boon to +choose." And Pratardana answered: "Do you yourself choose that boon +for me which you deem most beneficial for a man." Indra said to +him: "No one who chooses, chooses for another; choose thyself." +Then Pratardana replied: "Then that boon to choose is no boon for +me."</p> +<p>Then, however, Indra did not swerve from the truth, for Indra is +truth. Indra said to him: "Know me only; that is what I deem most +beneficial for man, that he should know me. I slew the three-headed +son of Tvashtri; I delivered the Arunmukhas, the devotees, to the +wolves; breaking many treaties, I killed the people of +Prahlâda in heaven, the people of Puloma in the sky, the +people of Kâlakañga on earth. And not one hair of me +was harmed there. And he who knows me thus, by no deed of his is +his life harmed: not by the murder of his mother, not by the murder +of his father, not by theft, not by the killing of a Brahman. If he +is going to commit a sin, the bloom does not depart from his face. +I am prâna, meditate on me as the conscious self, as life, as +immortality. Life is prâna, prâna is life. Immortality +is prâna, prâna is immortality. As long as prâna +dwells in this body, so long surely there is life. By prâna +he obtains immortality in the other world, by knowledge true +conception. He who meditates on me as life and immortality, gains +his full life in this world, and obtains in the Svarga world +immortality and indestructibility."</p> +<p>Pratardana said: "Some maintain here, that the prânas +become one, for otherwise no one could at the same time make known +a name by speech, see a form with the eye, hear a sound with the +ear, think a thought with the mind. After having become one, the +prânas perceive all these together, one by one. While speech +speaks, all prânas speak after it. While the eye sees, all +prânas see after it. While the ear hears, all prânas +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page169" name="page169"></a>[pg +169]</span> hear after it. While the mind thinks, all prânas +think after it. While the prâna breathes, all prânas +breathe after it."</p> +<p>"Thus it is indeed," said Indra, "but nevertheless there is a +preëminence among the prânas. Man lives deprived of +speech, for we see dumb people. Man lives deprived of sight, for we +see blind people. Man lives deprived of hearing, for we see deaf +people. Man lives deprived of mind, for we see infants. Man lives +deprived of his arms, deprived of his legs, for we see it thus. But +prâna alone is the conscious self, and having laid hold of +this body, it makes it rise up. Therefore it is said, 'Let man +worship it alone as uktha.' What is prâna, that is +pragñâ, or self-consciousness; what is +pragñâ (self-consciousness), that is prâna, for +together they live in this body, and together they go out of it. Of +that, this is the evidence, this is the understanding. When a man, +being thus asleep, sees no dream whatever, he becomes one with that +prâna alone. Then speech goes to him, when he is absorbed in +prâna, with all names, the eye with all forms, the ear with +all sounds, the mind with all thoughts. And when he awakes, then, +as from a burning fire sparks proceed in all directions; thus from +that self the prânas proceed, each towards its place: from +the prânas the gods, from the gods the worlds.</p> +<p>"Of this, this is the proof, this is the understanding. When a +man is thus sick, going to die, falling into weakness and +faintness, they say: 'His thought has departed, he hears not, he +sees not, he speaks not, he thinks not.' Then he becomes one with +that prâna alone. Then speech goes to him who is absorbed in +prâna, with all names, the eye with all forms, the ear with +all sounds, the mind with all thoughts. And when he departs from +this body, he departs together with all these.</p> +<p>"Speech gives up to him who is absorbed in prâna all +names, so that by speech he obtains all names. The nose gives up to +him all odors, so that by scent he obtains all odors. The eye gives +up to him all forms, so that by the eye he obtains all forms. The +ear gives up to him all sounds, so that by the ear he obtains all +sounds. The mind gives up to him all thoughts, so that by the mind +he obtains all thoughts. This is the complete absorption in +prâna. And what is prâna is pragñâ, or +self-consciousness; what is pragñâ, is prâna. +For together do these two live in the body, and together do they +depart.</p> +<p>"Now we shall explain how all things become one in that +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page170" name="page170"></a>[pg +170]</span> self-consciousness. Speech is one portion taken out of +pragñâ, or self-conscious knowledge: the word is its +object, placed outside. The nose is one portion taken out of it, +the odor is its object, placed outside. The eye is one portion +taken out of it, the form is its object, placed outside. The ear is +one portion taken out of it, the sound is its object, placed +outside. The tongue is one portion taken out of it, the taste of +food is its object, placed outside. The two hands are one portion +taken out of it, their action is their object, placed outside. The +body is one portion taken out of it, its pleasure and pain are its +object, placed outside. The organ is one portion taken out of it, +happiness, joy, and offspring are its object, placed outside. The +two feet are one portion taken out of it, movements are their +object, placed outside. Mind is one portion taken out of it, +thoughts and desires are its object, placed outside.</p> +<p>"Having by self-conscious knowledge taken possession of speech, +he obtains by speech all words. Having taken possession of the +nose, he obtains all odors. Having taken possession of the eye, he +obtains all forms. Having taken possession of the ear, he obtains +all sounds. Having taken possession of the tongue, he obtains all +tastes of food. Having taken possession of the two hands, he +obtains all actions. Having taken possession of the body, he +obtains pleasure and pain. Having taken possession of the organ, he +obtains happiness, joy, and offspring. Having taken possession of +the two feet, he obtains all movements. Having taken possession of +mind, he obtains all thoughts.</p> +<p>"For without self-consciousness speech does not make known to +the self any word.<a id="footnotetag20" name= +"footnotetag20"></a><a href="#footnote20"><sup>20</sup></a> 'My +mind was absent,' he says, 'I did not perceive that word.' Without +self-consciousness the nose does not make known any odor. 'My mind +was absent,' he says, 'I did not perceive that odor.' Without +self-consciousness the eye does not make known any form. 'My mind +was absent,' he says, 'I did not perceive that form.' <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page171" name="page171"></a>[pg 171]</span> +Without self-consciousness the ear does not make known any sound. +'My mind was absent,' he says, 'I did not perceive that sound.' +Without self-consciousness the tongue does not make known any +taste. 'My mind was absent,' he says, 'I did not perceive that +taste.' Without self-consciousness the two hands do not make known +any act. 'Our mind was absent,' they say, 'we did not perceive any +act.' Without self-consciousness the body does not make known +pleasure or pain. 'My mind was absent,' he says, 'I did not +perceive that pleasure or pain.' Without self-consciousness the +organ does not make known happiness, joy, or offspring. 'My mind +was absent,' he says, 'I did not perceive that happiness, joy, or +offspring.' Without self-consciousness the two feet do not make +known any movement. 'Our mind was absent,' they say, 'we did not +perceive that movement.' Without self-consciousness no thought +succeeds, nothing can be known that is to be known.</p> +<p>"Let no man try to find out what speech is, let him know the +speaker. Let no man try to find out what odor is, let him know him +who smells. Let no man try to find out what form is, let him know +the seer. Let no man try to find out what sound is, let him know +the hearer. Let no man try to find out the tastes of food, let him +know the knower of tastes. Let no man try to find out what action +is, let him know the agent. Let no man try to find out what +pleasure and pain are, let him know the knower of pleasure and +pain. Let no man try to find out what happiness, joy, and offspring +are, let him knew the knower of happiness, joy, and offspring. Let +no man try to find out what movement is, let him know the mover. +Let no man try to find out what mind is, let him know the thinker. +These ten objects (what is spoken, smelled, seen, felt) have +reference to self-consciousness; the ten subjects (speech, the +senses, mind) have reference to objects. If there were no objects, +there would be no subjects; and if there were no subjects, there +would be no objects. For on either side alone nothing could be +achieved. But the self of pragñâ, consciousness, and +prâna, life, is not many, but one. For as in a car the +circumference of a wheel is placed on the spokes, and the spokes on +the nave, thus are these objects, as a circumference, placed on the +subjects as spokes, and the subjects on the prâna. And that +prâna, the living and breathing power, indeed is the self of +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page172" name="page172"></a>[pg +172]</span> pragñâ, the self-conscious self: blessed, +imperishable, immortal. He does not increase by a good action, nor +decrease by a bad action. For the self of prâna and +pragñâ makes him, whom he wishes to lead up from these +worlds, do a good deed; and the same makes him, whom he wishes to +lead down from these worlds, do a bad deed. And he is the guardian +of the world, he is the king of the world, he is the lord of the +universe—and he is my (Indra's) self; thus let it be known, +yea, thus let it be known!"</p> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote14" name= +"footnote14"></a><b>Footnote 14:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag14">(return)</a> +<p>The question put by Kitra to Svetaketu is very obscure, and was +probably from the first intended to be obscure in its very wording. +Kitra wished to ask, doubtless, concerning the future life. That +future life is reached by two roads; one leading to the world of +Brahman (the conditioned), beyond which there lies one other stage +only, represented by knowledge of, and identity with the +unconditioned Brahman; the other leading to the world of the +fathers, and from thence, after the reward of good works has been +consumed, back to a new round of mundane existence. There is a +third road for creatures which live and die, worms, insects, and +creeping things, but they are of little consequence. Now it is +quite clear that the knowledge which King Kitra possesses, and +which Svetaketu does not possess, is that of the two roads after +death, sometimes called the right and the left, or the southern and +northern roads. The northern or left road, called also the path of +the Devas, passes on from light and day to the bright half of the +moon; the southern or right road, called also the path of the +fathers, passes on from smoke and night to the dark half of the +moon. Both roads therefore meet in the moon, but diverge +afterwards. While the northern road passes by the six months when +the sun moves towards the north, through the sun, moon, and the +lightning to the world of Brahman, the southern passes by the six +months when the sun moves towards the south, to the world of the +fathers, the ether, and the moon. The great difference, however, +between the two roads is, that while those who travel on the former +do not return again to a new life on earth, but reach in the end a +true knowledge of the unconditioned Brahman, those who pass on to +the world of the fathers and the moon return to earth to be born +again and again. The speculations on the fate of the soul after +death seem to have been peculiar to the royal families of India, +while the Brahmans dwelt more on what may be called the shorter +cut, a knowledge of Brahman as the true Self. To know, with them, +was to be, and, after the dissolution of the body, they looked +forward to immediate emancipation, without any further +wanderings.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote15" name= +"footnote15"></a><b>Footnote 15:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag15">(return)</a> +<p>Who knows the conditioned and mythological form of Brahman as +here described, sitting on the couch.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote16" name= +"footnote16"></a><b>Footnote 16:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag16">(return)</a> +<p>In the first chapter it was said, "He approaches the couch +Amitaugas, that is prâna" (breath, spirit, life). Therefore +having explained in the first chapter the knowledge of the couch +(of Brahman), the next subject to be explained is the knowledge of +prâna, the living spirit, taken for a time as Brahman, or the +last cause of everything.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote17" name= +"footnote17"></a><b>Footnote 17:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag17">(return)</a> +<p>Speech is uncertain, and has to be checked by the eye. The eye +is uncertain, taking mother of pearl for silver, and must be +checked by the ear. The ear is uncertain, and must be checked by +the mind, for unless the mind is attentive, the ear hears not. The +mind, lastly, depends on the spirit, for without spirit there is no +mind.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote18" name= +"footnote18"></a><b>Footnote 18:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag18">(return)</a> +<p>The vital spirits are called the highest treasure, because a man +surrenders everything to preserve his vital spirits or his +life.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote19" name= +"footnote19"></a><b>Footnote 19:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag19">(return)</a> +<p>This is one of the earliest, if not the earliest mention of the +yagñopavîta, the sacred cord as worn over the left +shoulder for sacrificial purposes.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote20" name= +"footnote20"></a><b>Footnote 20:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag20">(return)</a> +<p>Professor Cowell has translated a passage from the commentary +which is interesting as showing that its author and the author of +the Upanishads too had a clear conception of the correlative nature +of knowledge. "The organ of sense," he says, "cannot exist without +pragñâ (self-consciousness), nor the objects of sense +be obtained without the organ, therefore—on the principle, +that when one thing cannot exist without another, that thing is +said to be identical with the other—as the cloth, for +instance, being never perceived without the threads, is identical +with them, or the (false perception of) silver being never found +without the mother of pearl is identical with it, so the objects of +sense being never found without the organs are identical with them, +and the organs being never found without pragñâ +(self-consciousness) are identical with it."</p> +</blockquote> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page173" name="page173"></a>[pg +173]</span> +<h2><a id="koran" name="koran">SELECTIONS FROM THE KORAN</a></h2> +<h3>Translation by George Sale</h3> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page175" name="page175"></a>[pg +175]</span> +<h3><a id="koran-intro" name="koran-intro">INTRODUCTION</a></h3> +<p>The importance of the "Koran" lies in the fact that it is a +religious book of the East, read and stored in the memory of a +hundred millions of people of different races and civilizations, +inhabiting countries extending from the western borders of China to +the pillars of Hercules. It is considered by the Mohammedan to +contain all the knowledge and all the literature necessary for men. +When it was demanded of Mohammed to confirm the authority of his +mission by some work of wonder, he pointed to the "Koran," and +exclaimed, "Behold the greatest miracle of all." The learned men of +Alexandria asked the Caliph Omar to give to them the vast library +at Alexandria. "If those books," he replied, "contain anything +which is contrary to the 'Koran' they deserve to be destroyed. If +they contain what is written in the 'Koran,' they are unnecessary." +He ordered them to be distributed among the baths of the city, to +serve as fuel for their furnaces.</p> +<p>The composition of the "Koran" is all the work of Mohammed. He +himself claimed that he spoke merely as the oracle of God. The +commands and injunctions are in the first person, as if spoken by +the Divine Being. The passionate enthusiasm and religious +earnestness of the prophet are plainly seen in these strange +writings. Sometimes, however, he sinks into the mere Arabian +story-teller, whose object is the amusement of his people. He is +not a poet, but when he deals with the unity of God, with the +beneficence of the Divine Being, with the wonders of Nature, with +the beauty of resignation, he exhibits a glowing rhetoric, a power +of gorgeous imagery, of pathos, and religious devotion, that make +the "Koran" the first written work in the Arabian tongue.</p> +<p>If we take Mohammed's own account of the composition of the +volume, we must believe that the completed "Koran" existed from all +eternity, on a tablet preserved in the upper heavens. Once a year, +during the period of the prophet's active work, fragments of this +tablet were brought down by the angel <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page176" name="page176"></a>[pg 176]</span> Gabriel to the lower +heavens of the moon, and imparted to the prophet, who was +periodically transported to that celestial sphere. The words were +recited by the angel, and dictated by the prophet to his scribe. +These detached scraps were written on the ribs of palm leaves, or +the shoulder-blades of sheep, or parchment, and were stored in a +chest, in which they were kept until the caliphat of Abu Bekr, in +the seventh century, when they were collected in one volume. Such +marvels of revelation were made at different periods to the +prophet, and were called Surahs, and formed separate chapters in +the Koran as we have it to-day. Some of these Surahs contradict +what had previously been uttered by the prophet, but this +discrepancy is obviated by the expedient of what is called +"abrogation," and the more recent utterances were held to supersede +and rescind those which were contradictory to it in the earlier +revelation.</p> +<p>It may well be believed that these sibylline leaves of +Mohammedanism make up a heterogeneous jumble of varied elements. +Some of the chapters are long, others are short; now the prophet +seems to be caught up by a whirlwind, and is brought face to face +with ineffable mysteries, of which he speaks in the language of +rhapsody. At other times he is dry and prosaic, indulging in +wearisome iterations, and childish trivialities. Now he assumes the +plain, clear voice of the law-giver, or raises his accents into the +angry threatenings of the relentless and bloodthirsty fanatic. Yet +throughout the whole volume there is a strain of religious +resignation, of trust in God, of hopefulness under adversity, of +kindliness towards men, which reveal a nobility of ideal, a +simplicity and purity in the conception of the Divine Being, and +the relations of human life, which make the work not without +inspiration, even to the thoughtful man of the nineteenth century. +The Koran must always be considered one of the most potent of +religious books, one of the greatest documents which reveal the +struggle of the human heart after a knowledge of God, and of +faithful accomplishment of the Divine will. Perhaps the essence of +the work as furnishing a philosophy of life, is contained in the +axioms of Abu Bekr, one of the most exalted in character of +Mohammed's successors. "Good actions," he says, "are a guard +against the blows of adversity." And again, "Death is the easiest +of all things after it, and the hardest of all things before it." +To which we may add the sentence of Ali, "Riches without God are +the greatest poverty and misery."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page177" name="page177"></a>[pg +177]</span> +<p>There are twenty-nine chapters of the "Koran," which begin with +certain letters of the alphabet: some with a single one, others +with more. These letters the Mohammedans believe to be the peculiar +marks of the "Koran," and to conceal several profound mysteries, +the certain understanding of which, the more intelligent confess, +has not been communicated to any mortal, their prophet only +excepted. Notwithstanding which, some will take the liberty of +guessing at their meaning by that species of Cabbala called by the +Jews, Notarikon, and suppose the letters to stand for as many words +expressing the names and attributes of God, his works, ordinances, +and decrees; and therefore these mysterious letters, as well as the +verses themselves, seem in the "Koran" to be called signs. Others +explain the intent of these letters from their nature or organ, or +else from their value in numbers, according to another species of +the Jewish Cabbala called Gematria; the uncertainty of these +conjectures sufficiently appears from their disagreement. Thus, for +example, five chapters, one of which is the second, begin with the +letters A.L.M., which some imagine to stand for <i>Allah +latîf magîd</i>—"God is gracious and to be +glorified"—or, <i>Ana li minni</i>—"to me and from +me"—belongs all perfection, and proceeds all good; or else +for <i>Ana Allah âlam</i>—"I am the most wise +God"—taking the first letter to mark the beginning of the +first word, the second the middle of the second word, and the third +the last of the third word: or for "Allah, Gabriel, Mohammed," the +author, revealer, and preacher of the "Koran." Others say that as +the letter A belongs to the lower part of the throat, the first of +the organs of speech; L to the palate, the middle organ: and M to +the lips, which are the last organs; so these letters signify that +God is the beginning, middle, and end, or ought to be praised in +the beginning, middle, and end of all our words and actions; or, as +the total value of those three letters in numbers is seventy-one, +they signify that in the space of so many years, the religion +preached in the "Koran" should be fully established. The conjecture +of a learned Christian is, at least, as certain as any of the +former, who supposes those letters were set there by the +amanuensis, for <i>Amar li Mohammed</i>—"at the command of +Mohammed"—as the five letters prefixed to the nineteenth +chapter seem to be there written by a Jewish scribe, for <i>Cob +yaas</i>—"thus he commanded."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page178" name="page178"></a>[pg +178]</span> +<p>The general contents of the "Koran" may be divided under three +heads: First, precepts and laws in matters of religion, such as +prayer, fasting, pilgrimage; there are laws also given in the +affairs of the civil life, such as marriage, the possession and +bequeathing of property, and the administration of justice. The +second division would include histories, which consist in a great +part of incidents from the Bible, as Christians know it. Mohammed +probably picked up a good deal of hearsay knowledge in this +department from Jews and Christians. Some of his historical +incidents are purely fabulous, others are perversions or +falsifications of the Scriptural narrative. This portion of the +"Koran," interesting and anecdotic as it is, is the least +satisfactory of the work, and shows the writer in his true +ignorance, and disregard for historic verification. When, for +instance, he confounds Miriam, the sister of Moses, with Mary the +Mother of Christ, he shows himself lost in truly Oriental clouds of +mystic error. The third element in the "Koran" is a large body of +admonitions, many of them addressed to the outside world, and to +unbelievers who are exhorted to accept the creed that there is one +God and Mohammed is His prophet. War is put forth as a legitimate +method of propagating the faith. The duties of life, such as +justice, temperance, resignation and industry, are enforced. Hell +is threatened to infidels and immoral people; and from whatever +sources the writer derived his materials there can be no doubt that +the moral scheme he promulgated was in every sense a revelation to +the degraded idolaters and fire-worshippers, amongst whom he +discharged the mission of his life. Mohammed preached what he +called the truth, with the sword in one hand and the "Koran" in the +other. But the empire established by the sword would long since +have crumbled into dust like that of Alexander or Augustus, unless +the "Koran" had fixed its teaching in the minds of the conquered, +had regulated by its precepts their social and political life, had +supported and exalted their faith with the doctrine of one Almighty +and beneficent God; had cheered them with the hope of a +Resurrection, and illuminated their minds with the vision of a +Paradise, the grossest of whose delights were afterwards to be +interpreted by Arabic commentators in accordance with the highest +spiritual capabilities of the human race.</p> +<p>E.W.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page179" name="page179"></a>[pg +179]</span> +<h3><a id="koran-mohammed" name="koran-mohammed">MOHAMMED AND +MOHAMMEDANISM</a></h3> +<h4>By Thomas Carlyle</h4> +<p>From the first rude times of Paganism among the Scandinavians in +the North, we advance to a very different epoch of religion, among +a very different people: Mohammedanism among the Arabs. A great +change; what a change and progress is indicated here, in the +universal condition and thoughts of men!</p> +<p>The Hero is not now regarded as a God among his fellow-men; but +as one God-inspired, as a Prophet. It is the second phasis of +Hero-worship: the first or oldest, we may say, has passed away +without return; in the history of the world there will not again be +any man, never so great, whom his fellow-men will take for a god. +Nay we might rationally ask, Did any set of human beings ever +really think the man they <i>saw</i> there standing beside them a +god, the maker of this world? Perhaps not: it was usually some man +they remembered, or <i>had</i> seen. But neither can this any more +be. The Great Man is not recognized henceforth as a god any +more.</p> +<p>It was a rude gross error, that of counting the Great Man a god. +Yet let us say that it is at all times difficult to know +<i>what</i> he is, or how to account of him and receive him! The +most significant feature in the history of an epoch is the manner +it has of welcoming a Great Man. Ever, to the true instincts of +men, there is something godlike in him. Whether they shall take him +to be a god, to be a prophet, or what they shall take him to be? +that is ever a grand question; by their way of answering that, we +shall see, as through a little window, into the very heart of these +men's spiritual condition. For at bottom the Great Man, as he comes +from the hand of Nature, is ever the same kind of thing: Odin, +Luther, Johnson, Burns; I hope to make it appear that these are all +originally of one stuff; that only by the world's reception of +them, and the shapes they assume, <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page180" name="page180"></a>[pg 180]</span> are they so +immeasurably diverse. The worship of Odin astonishes us,—to +fall prostrate before the Great Man, into <i>deliquium</i> of love +and wonder over him, and feel in their hearts that he was a denizen +of the skies, a god! This was imperfect enough: but to welcome, for +example, a Burns as we did, was that what we can call perfect? The +most precious gift that Heaven can give to the Earth; a man of +"genius" as we call it; the Soul of a Man actually sent down from +the skies with a God's-message to us,—this we waste away as +an idle artificial firework, sent to amuse us a little, and sink it +into ashes, wreck, and ineffectuality: <i>such</i> reception of a +Great Man I do not call very perfect either! Looking into the heart +of the thing, one may perhaps call that of Burns a still uglier +phenomenon, betokening still sadder imperfections in mankind's +ways, than the Scandinavian method itself! To fall into mere +unreasoning <i>deliquium</i> of love and admiration, was not good; +but such unreasoning, nay irrational supercilious no-love at all is +perhaps still worse!—It is a thing forever changing, this of +Hero-worship: different in each age, difficult to do well in any +age. Indeed, the heart of the whole business of the age, one may +say, is to do it well.</p> +<p>We have chosen Mohammed not as the most eminent Prophet; but as +the one we are freest to speak of. He is by no means the truest of +Prophets; but I do esteem him a true one. Further, as there is no +danger of our becoming, any of us, Mohammedans, I mean to say all +the good of him I justly can. It is the way to get at his secret: +let us try to understand what <i>he</i> meant with the world; what +the world meant and means with him, will then be a more answerable +question. Our current hypothesis about Mohammed, that he was a +scheming Impostor, a Falsehood incarnate, that his religion is a +mere mass of quackery and fatuity, begins really to be now +untenable to any one. The lies, which well-meaning zeal has heaped +round this man, are disgraceful to ourselves only. When Pococke +inquired of Grotius where the proof was of that story of the +pigeon, trained to pick peas from Mohammed's ear, and pass for an +angel dictating to him, Grotius answered that there was no proof! +It is really time to dismiss all that. The word this man spoke has +been the life-guidance now of a hundred-and-eighty millions of men +these twelve-hundred years. These hundred-and-eighty millions were +made by God as well as we. <span class="pagenum"><a id="page181" +name="page181"></a>[pg 181]</span> A greater number of God's +creatures believe in Mohammed's word at this hour than in any other +word whatever. Are we to suppose that it was a miserable piece of +spiritual legerdemain, this which so many creatures of the Almighty +have lived by and died by? I, for my part, cannot form any such +supposition. I will believe most things sooner than that. One would +be entirely at a loss what to think of this world at all, if +quackery so grew and were sanctioned here.</p> +<p>Alas, such theories are very lamentable. If we would attain to +knowledge of anything in God's true Creation, let us disbelieve +them wholly! They are the product of an Age of Scepticism; they +indicate the saddest spiritual paralysis, and mere death-life of +the souls of men: more godless theory, I think, was never +promulgated in this Earth. A false man found a religion? Why, a +false man cannot build a brick house! If he do not know and follow +<i>truly</i> the properties of mortar, burnt clay and what else he +works in, it is no house that he makes, but a rubbish-heap. It will +not stand for twelve centuries, to lodge a hundred-and-eighty +millions; it will fall straightway. A man must conform himself to +Nature's laws, <i>be</i> verily in communion with Nature and the +truth of things, or Nature will answer him, No, not at all! +Speciosities are specious—ah me!—a Cagliostro, many +Cagliostros, prominent world-leaders, do prosper by their quackery, +for a day. It is like a forged bank-note; they get it passed out of +<i>their</i> worthless hands: others, not they, have to smart for +it. Nature bursts-up in fire-flames, French Revolutions and +suchlike, proclaiming with terrible veracity that forged notes are +forged.</p> +<p>But of a Great Man especially, of him I will venture to assert +that it is incredible he should have been other than true. It seems +to me the primary foundation of him, and of all that can lie in +him, this. No Mirabeau, Napoleon, Burns, Cromwell, no man adequate +to do anything, but is first of all in right earnest about it; what +I call a sincere man. I should say <i>sincerity</i>, a deep, great, +genuine sincerity, is the first characteristic of all men in any +way heroic. Not the sincerity that calls itself sincere; ah no, +that is a very poor matter indeed;—a shallow braggart +conscious sincerity; oftenest self-conceit mainly. The Great Man's +sincerity is of the kind he cannot speak of, is not conscious of; +nay, I suppose, he is <span class="pagenum"><a id="page182" name= +"page182"></a>[pg 182]</span> conscious rather of +<i>in</i>sincerity; for what man can walk accurately by the law of +truth for one day? No, the Great Man does not boast himself +sincere, far from that; perhaps does not ask himself if he is so: I +would say rather, his sincerity does not depend on himself; he +cannot help being sincere! The great Fact of Existence is great to +him. Fly as he will, he cannot get out of the awful presence of +this Reality. His mind is so made; he is great by that, first of +all. Fearful and wonderful, real as Life, real as Death, is this +Universe to him. Though all men should forget its truth, and walk +in a vain show, he cannot. At all moments the Flame-image glares-in +upon him; undeniable, there, there!—I wish you to take this +as my primary definition of a Great Man. A little man may have +this, it is competent to all men that God has made: but a Great Man +cannot be without it.</p> +<p>Such a man is what we call an <i>original</i> man; he comes to +us at first-hand. A messenger he, sent from the Infinite Unknown +with tidings to us. We may call him Poet, Prophet, God;—in +one way or other, we all feel that the words he utters are as no +other man's words. Direct from the Inner Fact of things:—he +lives, and has to live, in daily communion with that. Hearsays +cannot hide it from him; he is blind, homeless, miserable, +following hearsays; <i>it</i> glares-in upon him. Really his +utterances, are they not a kind of "revelation";—what we must +call such for want of other name? It is from the heart of the world +that he comes; he is portion of the primal reality of things. God +has made many revelations: but this man too, has not God made him, +the latest and newest of all? The "inspiration of the Almighty +giveth <i>him</i> understanding": we must listen before all to +him.</p> +<p>This Mohammed, then, we will in no wise consider as an Inanity +and Theatricality, a poor conscious ambitious schemer; we cannot +conceive him so. The rude message he delivered was a real one +withal; an earnest confused voice from the unknown Deep. The man's +words were not false, nor his workings here below; no Inanity and +Simulacrum; a fiery mass of Life cast-up from the great bosom of +Nature herself. To <i>kindle</i> the world; the world's Maker had +ordered it so. Neither can the faults, imperfections, insincerities +even, of Mohammed, if such were never so well proved against him, +shake this primary fact about him.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page183" name="page183"></a>[pg +183]</span> +<p>On the whole, we make too much of faults; the details of the +business hide the real centre of it. Faults? The greatest of +faults, I should say, is to be conscious of none. Readers of the +Bible above all, one would think, might know better. Who is called +there "the man according to God's own heart"? David, the Hebrew +King, had fallen into sins enough; blackest crimes; there was no +want of sins. And thereupon the unbelievers sneer and ask, Is this +your man according to God's heart? The sneer, I must say, seems to +me but a shallow one. What are faults, what are the outward details +of a life; if the inner secret of it, the remorse, temptations, +true, often-baffled, never-ended struggle of it, be forgotten? "It +is not in man that walketh to direct his steps." Of all acts, is +not, for a man, <i>repentance</i> the most divine? The deadliest +sin, I say, were that same supercilious consciousness of no +sin;—that is death; the heart so conscious is divorced from +sincerity, humility, and fact; is dead: it is "pure" as dead dry +sand is pure. David's life and history, as written for us in those +Psalms of his, I consider to be the truest emblem ever given of a +man's moral progress and warfare here below. All earnest souls will +ever discern in it the faithful struggle of an earnest human soul +towards what is good and best. Struggle often baffled, sore +baffled, down as into entire wreck; yet a struggle never ended; +ever, with tears, repentance, true unconquerable purpose, begun +anew. Poor human nature! Is not a man's walking, in truth, always +that: "a succession of falls"? Man can do no other. In this wild +element of a Life, he has to struggle onwards; now fallen, +deep-abased; and ever, with tears, repentance, with bleeding heart, +he has to rise again, struggle again still onwards. That his +struggle <i>be</i> a faithful unconquerable one: that is the +question of questions. We will put-up with many sad details, if the +soul of it were true. Details by themselves will never teach us +what it is. I believe we misestimate Mohammed's faults even as +faults: but the secret of him will never be got by dwelling there. +We will leave all this behind us; and assuring ourselves that he +did mean some true thing, ask candidly what it was or might be.</p> +<p>These Arabs Mohammed was born among are certainly a notable +people. Their country itself is notable; the fit habitation for +such a race. Savage inaccessible rock-mountains, <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page184" name="page184"></a>[pg 184]</span> great +grim deserts, alternating with beautiful strips of verdure: +wherever water is, there is greenness, beauty; odoriferous +balm-shrubs, date-trees, frankincense-trees. Consider that wide +waste horizon of sand, empty, silent, like a sand-sea, dividing +habitable place from habitable. You are all alone there, left alone +with the Universe; by day a fierce sun blazing down on it with +intolerable radiance; by night the great deep Heaven with its +stars. Such a country is fit for a swift-handed, deep-hearted race +of men. There is something most agile, active, and yet most +meditative, enthusiastic in the Arab character. The Persians are +called the French of the East; we will call the Arabs Oriental +Italians. A gifted noble people; a people of wild strong feelings, +and of iron restraint over these: the characteristic of +noblemindedness, of genius. The wild Bedouin welcomes the stranger +to his tent, as one having right to all that is there; were it his +worst enemy, he will slay his foal to treat him, will serve him +with sacred hospitality for three days, will set him fairly on his +way;—and then, by another law as sacred, kill him if he can. +In words too, as in action. They are not a loquacious people, +taciturn rather; but eloquent, gifted when they do speak. An +earnest, truthful kind of men. They are, as we know, of Jewish +kindred: but with that deadly terrible earnestness of the Jews they +seem to combine something graceful, brilliant, which is not Jewish. +They had "poetic contests" among them before the time of Mohammed. +Sale says, at Ocadh, in the South of Arabia, there were yearly +fairs, and there, when the merchandising was done, Poets sang for +prizes:—the wild people gathered to hear that.</p> +<p>One Jewish quality these Arabs manifest; the outcome of many or +of all high qualities: what we may call religiosity. From of old +they had been zealous worshippers, according to their light. They +worshipped the stars, as Sabeans; worshipped many natural +objects—recognized them as symbols, immediate manifestations, +of the Maker of Nature. It was wrong; and yet not wholly wrong. All +God's works are still in a sense symbols of God. Do we not, as I +urged, still account it a merit to recognize a certain +inexhaustible significance, "poetic beauty" as we name it, in all +natural objects whatsoever? A man is a poet, and honored, for doing +that, and speaking or singing it—a kind of diluted worship. +They <span class="pagenum"><a id="page185" name="page185"></a>[pg +185]</span> had many Prophets, these Arabs; Teachers each to his +tribe, each according to the light he had. But indeed, have we not +from of old the noblest of proofs, still palpable to every one of +us, of what devoutness and noblemindedness had dwelt in these +rustic thoughtful peoples? Biblical critics seem agreed that our +own <i>Book of Job</i> was written in that region of the world. I +call that, apart from all theories about it, one of the grandest +things ever written with pen. One feels, indeed, as if it were not +Hebrew; such a noble universality, different from noble patriotism +or sectarianism, reigns in it. A noble Book; all men's Book! It is +our first, oldest statement of the never-ending +Problem,—man's destiny, and God's ways with him here in this +earth. And all in such free flowing outlines; grand in its +sincerity, in its simplicity; in its epic melody, and repose of +reconcilement. There is the seeing eye, the mildly understanding +heart. So <i>true</i> everyway; true eyesight and vision for all +things; material things no less than spiritual: the +Horse—"hast thou clothed his neck with +<i>thunder</i>?"—he "<i>laughs</i> at the shaking of the +spear!" Such living likenesses were never since drawn. Sublime +sorrow, sublime reconciliation; oldest choral melody as of the +heart of mankind;—so soft, and great; as the summer midnight, +as the world with its seas and stars! There is nothing written, I +think, in the Bible or out of it, of equal literary +merit.—</p> +<p>To the idolatrous Arabs one of the most ancient universal +objects of worship was that Black Stone, still kept in the building +called Caabah at Mecca. Diodorus Siculus mentions this Caabah in a +way not to be mistaken, as the oldest, most honored temple in his +time; that is, some half-century before our Era. Silvestre de Sacy +says there is some likelihood that the Black Stone is an aerolite. +In that case, some man might <i>see</i> it fall out of Heaven! It +stands now beside the Well Zemzem; the Caabah is built over both. A +Well is in all places a beautiful affecting object, gushing out +like life from the hard earth;—still more so in those hot dry +countries, where it is the first condition of being. The Well +Zemzem has its name from the bubbling sound of the waters, +<i>zem-zem</i>; they think it is the Well which Hagar found with +her little Ishmael in the wilderness: the aerolite and it have been +sacred now, and had a Caabah over them, for thousands of years. A +curious object, that Caabah! There it stands at this hour, in the +black cloth-covering <span class="pagenum"><a id="page186" name= +"page186"></a>[pg 186]</span> the Sultan sends it yearly; +"twenty-seven cubits high;" with circuit, with double circuit of +pillars, with festoon rows of lamps and quaint ornaments: the lamps +will be lighted again <i>this</i> night—to glitter again +under the stars. An authentic fragment of the oldest Past. It is +the <i>Keblah</i> of all Moslem: from Delhi all onwards to Morocco, +the eyes of innumerable praying men are turned towards <i>it</i>, +five times, this day and all days: one of the notablest centres in +the Habitation of Men.</p> +<p>It had been from the sacredness attached to this Caabah Stone +and Hagar's Well, from the pilgrimings of all tribes of Arabs +thither, that Mecca took its rise as a Town. A great town once, +though much decayed now. It has no natural advantage for a town; +stands in a sandy hollow amid bare barren hills, at a distance from +the sea; its provisions, its very bread, have to be imported. But +so many pilgrims needed lodgings: and then all places of pilgrimage +do, from the first, become places of trade. The first day pilgrims +meet, merchants have also met: where men see themselves assembled +for one object, they find that they can accomplish other objects +which depend on meeting together. Mecca became the Fair of all +Arabia. And thereby indeed the chief staple and warehouse of +whatever Commerce there was between the Indian and the Western +countries, Syria, Egypt, even Italy. It had at one time a +population of 100,000; buyers, forwarders of those Eastern and +Western products; importers for their own behoof of provisions and +corn. The government was a kind of irregular aristocratic republic, +not without a touch of theocracy. Ten Men of a chief tribe, chosen +in some rough way, were Governors of Mecca, and Keepers of the +Caabah. The Koreish were the chief tribe in Mohammed's time; his +own family was of that tribe. The rest of the Nation, fractioned +and cut-asunder by deserts, lived under similar rude patriarchal +governments by one or several: herdsmen, carriers, traders, +generally robbers too; being oftenest at war one with another, or +with all: held together by no open bond, if it were not this +meeting at the Caabah, where all forms of Arab Idolatry assembled +in common adoration;—held mainly by the <i>inward</i> +indissoluble bond of a common blood and language. In this way had +the Arabs lived for long ages, unnoticed by the world; a people of +great qualities, unconsciously waiting for the day when they +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page187" name="page187"></a>[pg +187]</span> should become notable to all the world. Their +Idolatries appear to have been in a tottering state; much was +getting into confusion and fermentation among them. Obscure tidings +of the most important Event ever transacted in this world, the Life +and Death of the Divine Man in Judea, at once the symptom and cause +of immeasurable change to all people in the world, had in the +course of centuries reached into Arabia too; and could not but, of +itself, have produced fermentation there.</p> +<p>It was among this Arab people, so circumstanced, in the year 570 +of our Era, that the man Mohammed was born. He was of the family of +Hashem, of the Koreish tribe as we said; though poor, connected +with the chief persons of his country. Almost at his birth he lost +his Father; at the age of six years his Mother too, a woman noted +for her beauty, her worth and sense: he fell to the charge of his +Grandfather, an old man, a hundred years old. A good old man: +Mohammed's Father, Abdallah, had been his youngest favorite son. He +saw in Mohammed, with his old life-worn eyes, a century old, the +lost Abdallah come back again, all that was left of Abdallah. He +loved the little orphan Boy greatly; used to say they must take +care of that beautiful little Boy, nothing in their kindred was +more precious than he. At his death, while the boy was still but +two years old, he left him in charge to Abu Thaleb the eldest of +the Uncles, as to him that now was head of the house. By this +Uncle, a just and rational man as everything betokens, Mohammed was +brought-up in the best Arab way.</p> +<p>Mohammed, as he grew up, accompanied his Uncle on trading +journeys and suchlike; in his eighteenth year one finds him a +fighter following his Uncle in war. But perhaps the most +significant of all his journeys is one we find noted as of some +years' earlier date: a journey to the Fairs of Syria. The young man +here first came in contact with a quite foreign world,—with +one foreign element of endless moment to him: the Christian +Religion. I know not what to make of that "Sergius, the Nestorian +Monk," whom Abu Thaleb and he are said to have lodged with; or how +much any monk could have taught one still so young. Probably enough +it is greatly exaggerated, this of the Nestorian Monk. Mohammed was +only fourteen; had no language but his own: much in Syria must have +been a strange unintelligible whirlpool to him. But <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page188" name="page188"></a>[pg 188]</span> the +eyes of the lad were open; glimpses of many things would doubtless +be taken-in, and lie very enigmatic as yet, which were to ripen in +a strange way into views, into beliefs and insights one day. These +journeys to Syria were probably the beginning of much to +Mohammed.</p> +<p>One other circumstance we must not forget: that he had no +school-learning; of the thing we call school-learning none at all. +The art of writing was but just introduced into Arabia; it seems to +be the true opinion that Mohammed never could write! Life in the +Desert, with its experiences, was all his education. What of this +infinite Universe he, from his dim place, with his own eyes and +thoughts, could take in, so much and no more of it was he to know. +Curious, if we will reflect on it, this of having no books. Except +by what he could see for himself, or hear of by uncertain rumor of +speech in the obscure Arabian Desert, he could know nothing. The +wisdom that had been before him or at a distance from him in the +world, was in a manner as good as not there for him. Of the great +brother souls, flame-beacons through so many lands and times, no +one directly communicates with this great soul. He is alone there, +deep down in the bosom of the Wilderness; has to grow up +so,—alone with Nature and his own Thoughts.</p> +<p>But, from an early age, he had been remarked as a thoughtful +man. His companions named him "<i>Al Amin</i>, the Faithful." A man +of truth and fidelity; true in what he did, in what he spake and +thought. They noted that <i>he</i> always meant something. A man +rather taciturn in speech; silent when there was nothing to be +said; but pertinent, wise, sincere, when he did speak; always +throwing light on the matter. This is the only sort of speech +<i>worth</i> speaking! Through life we find him to have been +regarded as an altogether solid, brotherly, genuine man. A serious, +sincere character; yet amiable, cordial, companionable, jocose +even;—a good laugh in him withal: there are men whose laugh +is as untrue as anything about them; who cannot laugh. One hears of +Mohammed's beauty: his fine sagacious honest face, brown florid +complexion, beaming black eyes;—I somehow like too that vein +on the brow, which swelled-up black when he was in anger: like the +"horse-shoe vein" in Scott's <i>Red-gauntlet</i>. It was a kind of +feature in the Hashem family, this black swelling vein in the brow; +Mahomet had it prominent, as would appear. <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page189" name="page189"></a>[pg 189]</span> A +spontaneous, passionate, yet just, true-meaning man! Full of wild +faculty, fire and light; of wild worth, all uncultured; working out +his life-task in the depths of the Desert there.</p> +<p>How he was placed with Kadijah, a rich Widow, as her Steward, +and travelled in her business, again to the Fairs of Syria; how he +managed all, as one can well understand, with fidelity, adroitness; +how her gratitude, her regard for him grew: the story of their +marriage is altogether a graceful intelligible one, as told us by +the Arab authors. He was twenty-five; she forty, though still +beautiful. He seems to have lived in a most affectionate, +peaceable, wholesome way with this wedded benefactress; loving her +truly, and her alone. It goes greatly against the impostor theory, +the fact that he lived in this entirely unexceptionable, entirely +quiet and commonplace way, till the heat of his years was done. He +was forty before he talked of any mission from Heaven. All his +irregularities, real and supposed, date from after his fiftieth +year, when the good Kadijah died. All his "ambition," seemingly, +had been, hitherto, to live an honest life; his "fame," the mere +good opinion of neighbors that knew him, had been sufficient +hitherto. Not till he was already getting old, the prurient heat of +his life all burnt out, and <i>peace</i> growing to be the chief +thing this world could give him, did he start on the "career of +ambition"; and, belying all his past character and existence, +set-up as a wretched empty charlatan to acquire what he could now +no longer enjoy! For my share, I have no faith whatever in +that.</p> +<p>Ah no: this deep-hearted Son of the Wilderness, with his beaming +black eyes and open social deep soul, had other thoughts in him +than ambition. A silent great soul; he was one of those who cannot +<i>but</i> be in earnest; whom Nature herself has appointed to be +sincere. While others walk in formulas and hearsays, contented +enough to dwell there, this man could not screen himself in +formulas; he was alone with his own soul and the reality of things. +The great Mystery of Existence, as I said, glared-in upon him, with +its terrors, with its splendors; no hearsays could hide that +unspeakable fact, "Here am I!" Such <i>sincerity</i>, as we named +it, has in very truth something of divine. The word of such a man +is a Voice direct from Nature's own Heart. Men do and must +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page190" name="page190"></a>[pg +190]</span> listen to that as to nothing else;—all else is +wind in comparison. From of old, a thousand thoughts, in his +pilgrimings and wanderings, had been in this man: What am I? What +<i>is</i> this unfathomable Thing I live in, which men name +Universe? What is Life; what is Death? What am I to believe? What +am I to do? The grim rocks of Mount Hara, of Mount Sinai, the stern +sandy solitudes answered not. The great Heaven rolling silent +overhead, with its blue-glancing stars, answered not. There was no +answer. The man's own soul, and what of God's inspiration dwelt +there, had to answer!</p> +<p>It is the thing which all men have to ask themselves; which we +too have to ask, and answer. This wild man felt it to be of +<i>infinite</i> moment; all other things of no moment whatever in +comparison. The jargon of argumentative Greek Sects, vague +traditions of Jews, the stupid routine of Arab Idolatry: there was +no answer in these. A Hero, as I repeat, has this first +distinction, which indeed we may call first and last, the Alpha and +Omega of his whole Heroism, that he looks through the shows of +things into <i>things</i>. Use and wont, respectable hearsay, +respectable formula: all these are good, or are not good. There is +something behind and beyond all these, which all these must +correspond with, be the image of, or they +are—<i>Idolatries</i>; "bits of black wood pretending to be +God"; to the earnest soul a mockery and abomination. Idolatries +never so gilded waited on by heads of the Koreish, will do nothing +for this man. Though all men walk by them, what good is it? The +great Reality stands glaring there upon <i>him</i>. He there has to +answer it, or perish miserably. Now, even now, or else through all +Eternity never! Answer it; <i>thou</i> must find an +answer.—Ambition? What could all Arabia do for this man; with +the crown of Greek Heraclius, of Persian Chosroes, and all crowns +in the Earth;—what could they all do for him? It was not of +the Earth he wanted to hear tell; it was of the Heaven above and of +the Hell beneath. All crowns and sovereignties whatsoever, where +would <i>they</i> in a few brief years be? To be Sheik of Mecca or +Arabia, and have a bit of gilt wood put into your hand,—will +that be one's salvation? I decidedly think, not. We will leave it +altogether, this impostor hypothesis, as not credible; not very +tolerable even, worthy chiefly of dismissal by us.</p> +<p>Mohammed had been wont to retire yearly, during the <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page191" name="page191"></a>[pg 191]</span> month +Ramadhan, into solitude and silence; as indeed was the Arab custom; +a praiseworthy custom, which such a man, above all, would find +natural and useful. Communing with his own heart, in the silence of +the mountains; himself silent; open to the "small still voices": it +was a right natural custom! Mohammed was in his fortieth year, when +having withdrawn to a cavern in Mount Hara, near Mecca, during this +Ramadhan, to pass the month in prayer, and meditation on those +great questions, he one day told his wife Kadijah, who with his +household was with him or near him this year, that by the +unspeakable special favor of Heaven he had now found it all out; +was in doubt and darkness no longer, but saw it all. That all these +Idols and Formulas were nothing, miserable bits of wood; that there +was One God in and over all; and we must leave all idols, and look +to Him. That God is great; and that there is nothing else great! He +is the Reality. Wooden Idols are not real; He is real. He made us +at first, sustains us yet; we and all things are but the shadow of +Him; a transitory garment veiling the Eternal Splendor. "<i>Allah +akbar</i>," God is great;—and then also "<i>Islam</i>," that +we must <i>submit</i> to God. That our whole strength lies in +resigned submission to Him, whatsoever He do to us. For this world, +and for the other! The thing He sends to us, were it death and +worse than death, shall be good, shall be best; we resign ourselves +to God.—"If this be <i>Islam</i>," says Goethe, "do we not +all live in <i>Islam</i>?" Yes, all of us that have any moral life; +we all live so. It has ever been held the highest wisdom for a man +not merely to submit to Necessity,—Necessity will make him +submit,—but to know and believe well that the stern thing +which Necessity had ordered was the wisest, the best, the thing +wanted there. To cease his frantic pretension of scanning this +great God's-World in his small fraction of a brain; to know that it +<i>had</i> verily, though deep beyond his soundings, a Just Law, +that the soul of it was Good;—that his part in it was to +conform to the Law of the Whole, and in devout silence follow that; +not questioning it, obeying it as unquestionable.</p> +<p>I say, this is yet the only true morality known. A man is right +and invincible, virtuous and on the road towards sure conquest, +precisely while he joins himself to the great deep Law of the +World, in spite of all superficial laws, temporary appearances, +profit-and-loss calculations; he is victorious <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page192" name="page192"></a>[pg 192]</span> while +he coöperates with that great central Law, not victorious +otherwise:—and surely his first chance of coöperating +with it, or getting into the course of it, is to know with his +whole soul that it <i>is</i>; that it is good, and alone good! This +is the soul of Islam; it is properly the soul of +Christianity;—for Islam is definable as a confused form of +Christianity; had Christianity not been, neither had it been. +Christianity also commands us, before all, to be resigned to God. +We are to take no counsel with flesh-and-blood; give ear to no vain +cavils, vain sorrows and wishes: to know that we know nothing; that +the worst and crudest to our eyes is not what it seems; that we +have to receive whatsoever befalls us as sent from God above, and +say, It is good and wise, God is great! "Though He slay me, yet +will I trust in Him." Islam means in its way Denial of Self, +Annihilation of Self. This is yet the highest Wisdom that Heaven +has revealed to our Earth.</p> +<p>Such light had come, as it could, to illuminate the darkness of +this wild Arab soul. A confused dazzling splendor as of life and +Heaven, in the great darkness which threatened to be death: he +called it revelation and the angel Gabriel;—who of us yet can +know what to call it? It is the "inspiration of the Almighty that +giveth us understanding." To <i>know</i>; to get into the truth of +anything, is ever a mystic act,—of which the best Logics can +but babble on the surface. "Is not Belief the true god-announcing +Miracle?" says Novalis.—That Mohammed's whole soul, set in +flame with this grand Truth vouchsafed him, should feel as if it +were important and the only important thing, was very natural. That +Providence had unspeakably honored <i>him</i> by revealing it, +saving him from death and darkness; that he therefore was bound to +make known the same to all creatures: this is what was meant by +"Mohammed is the Prophet of God"; this too is not without its true +meaning.—</p> +<p>The good Kadijah, we can fancy, listened to him with wonder, +with doubt: at length she answered: Yes, it was <i>true</i> this +that he said. One can fancy too the boundless gratitude of +Mohammed; and how of all the kindnesses she had done him, this of +believing the earnest struggling word he now spoke was the +greatest. "It is certain," says Novalis, "my Conviction gains +infinitely, the moment another soul will believe in it." It is a +boundless favor.—He never forgot this good Kadijah. +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page193" name="page193"></a>[pg +193]</span> Long afterwards, Ayesha his young favorite wife, a +woman who indeed distinguished herself among the Moslem, by all +manner of qualities, through her whole long life; this young +brilliant Ayesha was, one day, questioning him: "Now am not I +better than Kadijah? She was a widow; old, and had lost her looks: +you love me better than you did her?"—"No, by Allah!" +answered Mohammed: "No, by Allah! She believed in me when none else +would believe. In the whole world I had but one friend, and she was +that!"—Seid, his Slave, also believed in him; these with his +young Cousin Ali, Abu Thaleb's son, were his first converts.</p> +<p>He spoke of his Doctrine to this man and that; but the most +treated it with ridicule, with indifference; in three years, I +think, he had gained but thirteen followers. His progress was slow +enough. His encouragement to go on, was altogether the usual +encouragement that such a man in such a case meets. After some +three years of small success, he invited forty of his chief kindred +to an entertainment; and there stood-up and told them what his +pretension was: that he had this thing to promulgate abroad to all +men; that it was the highest thing, the one thing: which of them +would second him in that? Amid the doubt and silence of all, young +Ali, as yet a lad of sixteen, impatient of the silence, started-up, +and exclaimed in passionate fierce language that he would! The +assembly, among whom was Abu Thaleb, Ali's Father, could not be +unfriendly to Mohammed; yet the sight there, of one unlettered +elderly man, with a lad of sixteen, deciding on such an enterprise +against all mankind, appeared ridiculous to them; the assembly +broke-up in laughter. Nevertheless it proved not a laughable thing; +it was a very serious thing! As for this young Ali, one cannot but +like him. A noble-minded creature, as he shows himself, now and +always afterwards; full of affection, of fiery daring. Something +chivalrous in him; brave as a lion; yet with a grace, a truth and +affection worthy of Christian knighthood. He died by assassination +in the Mosque at Bagdad; a death occasioned by his own generous +fairness, confidence in the fairness of others: he said if the +wound proved not unto death, they must pardon the Assassin; but if +it did, then they must slay him straightway, that so they two in +the same hour might appear before God, and see which side of that +quarrel was the just one!</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page194" name="page194"></a>[pg +194]</span> +<p>Mohammed naturally gave offence to the Koreish, Keepers of the +Caabah, superintendents of the Idols. One or two men of influence +had joined him: the thing spread slowly, but it was spreading. +Naturally he gave offence to everybody: Who is this that pretends +to be wiser than we all; that rebukes us all, as mere fools and +worshippers of wood! Abu Thaleb the good Uncle spoke with him: +Could he not be silent about all that; believe it all for himself, +and not trouble others, anger the chief men, endanger himself and +them all, talking of it? Mohammed answered: If the Sun stood on his +right hand and the Moon on his left, ordering him to hold his +peace, he could not obey! No: there was something in this Truth he +had got which was of Nature herself; equal in rank to Sun, or Moon, +or whatsoever thing Nature had made. It would speak itself there, +so long as the Almighty allowed it, in spite of Sun and Moon, and +all Koreish and all men and things. It must do that, and could do +no other. Mohammed answered so; and, they say, "burst into tears." +Burst into tears: he felt that Abu Thaleb was good to him; that the +task he had got was no soft, but a stern and great one.</p> +<p>He went on speaking to who would listen to him; publishing his +Doctrine among the pilgrims as they came to Mecca; gaining +adherents in this place and that. Continual contradiction, hatred, +open or secret danger attended him. His powerful relations +protected Mohammed himself; but by and by, on his own advice, all +his adherents had to quit Mecca, and seek refuge in Abyssinia over +the sea. The Koreish grew ever angrier; laid plots, and swore oaths +among them, to put Mohammed to death with their own hands. Abu +Thaleb was dead, the good Kadijah was dead. Mohammed is not +solicitous of sympathy from us; but his outlook at this time was +one of the dismallest. He had to hide in caverns, escape in +disguise; fly hither and thither; homeless, in continual peril of +his life. More than once it seemed all-over with him; more than +once it turned on a straw, some rider's horse taking fright or the +like, whether Mohammed and his Doctrine had not ended there, and +not been heard of at all. But it was not to end so.</p> +<p>In the thirteenth year of his mission, finding his enemies all +banded against him, forty sworn men, one out of every tribe, +waiting to take his life, and no continuance possible at Mecca +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page195" name="page195"></a>[pg +195]</span> for him any longer, Mohammed fled to the place then +called Yathreb, where he had gained some adherents; the place they +now call Medina, or "<i>Medinat al Nabi</i>, the City of the +Prophet," from that circumstance. It lay some 200 miles off, +through rocks and deserts; not without great difficulty, in such +mood as we may fancy, he escaped thither, and found welcome. The +whole East dates its era from this Flight, <i>Hegira</i> as they +name it: the Year 1 of this Hegira is 622 of our Era, the +fifty-third of Mohammed's life. He was now becoming an old man; his +friends sinking round him one by one; his path desolate, +encompassed with danger: unless he could find hope in his own +heart, the outward face of things was but hopeless for him. It is +so with all men in the like case. Hitherto Mohammed had professed +to publish his Religion by the way of preaching and persuasion +alone. But now, driven foully out of his native country, since +unjust men had not only given no ear to his earnest +Heaven's-message, the deep cry of his heart, but would not even let +him live if he kept speaking it,—the wild Son of the Desert +resolved to defend himself, like a man and Arab. If the Koreish +will have it so, they shall have it. Tidings, felt to be of +infinite moment to them and all men, they would not listen to +these; would trample them down by sheer violence, steel and murder: +well, let steel try it then! Ten years more this Mohammed had; all +of fighting, of breathless impetuous toil and struggle; with what +result we know.</p> +<p>Much has been said of Mohammed's propagating his Religion by the +sword. It is no doubt far nobler what we have to boast of the +Christian Religion, that it propagated itself peaceably in the way +of preaching and conviction. Yet withal, if we take this for an +argument of the truth or falsehood of a religion, there is a +radical mistake in it. The sword indeed: but where will you get +your sword! Every new opinion, at its starting, is precisely in a +<i>minority of one</i>. In one man's head alone, there it dwells as +yet. One man alone of the whole world believes it; there is one man +against all men. That <i>he</i> take a sword, and try to propagate +with that, will do little for him. You must first get your sword! +On the whole, a thing will propagate itself as it can. We do not +find, of the Christian Religion either, that it always disdained +the sword, when once it had got one. Charlemagne's conversion of +the Saxons was not by preaching. I care little about the sword: +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page196" name="page196"></a>[pg +196]</span> I will allow a thing to struggle for itself in this +world, with any sword or tongue or implement it has, or can lay +hold of. We will let it preach, and pamphleteer, and fight, and to +the uttermost bestir itself, and do, beak and claws, whatsoever is +in it; very sure that it will, in the long-run, conquer nothing +which does not deserve to be conquered. What is better than itself, +it cannot put away, but only what is worse. In this great Duel, +Nature herself is umpire, and can do no wrong: the thing which is +deepest-rooted in Nature, what we call <i>truest</i>, that thing +and not the other will be found growing at last.</p> +<p>Here however, in reference to much that there is in Mohammed and +his success, we are to remember what an umpire Nature is; what a +greatness, composure of depth and tolerance there is in her. You +take wheat to cast into the Earth's bosom: your wheat may be mixed +with chaff, chopped straw, barn-sweepings, dust and all imaginable +rubbish; no matter: you cast it into the kind just Earth; she grows +the wheat,—the whole rubbish she silently absorbs, shrouds +<i>it</i> in, says nothing of the rubbish. The yellow wheat is +growing there; the good Earth is silent about all the +rest,—has silently turned all the rest to some benefit too, +and makes no complaint about it! So everywhere in Nature! She is +true and not a lie; and yet so great, and just, and motherly in her +truth. She requires of a thing only that it <i>be</i> genuine of +heart; she will protect it if so; will not, if not so. There is a +soul of truth in all the things she ever gave harbor to. Alas, is +not this the history of all highest Truth that comes or ever came +into the world? The <i>body</i> of them all is imperfection, an +element of light <i>in</i> darkness: to us they have to come +embodied in mere Logic, in some merely <i>scientific</i> Theorem of +the Universe; which <i>cannot</i> be complete; which cannot but be +found, one day, incomplete, erroneous, and so die and disappear. +The body of all Truth dies; and yet in all, I say, there is a soul +which never dies; which in new and ever-nobler embodiment lives +immortal as man himself! It is the way with Nature. The genuine +essence of Truth never dies. That it be genuine, a voice from the +great Deep of Nature, there is the point at Nature's judgment-seat. +What <i>we</i> call pure or impure, is not with her the final +question. Not how much chaff is in you; but whether you have any +wheat. Pure? I might say to many a man: Yes, you are pure; pure +enough; but you are <span class="pagenum"><a id="page197" name= +"page197"></a>[pg 197]</span> chaff,—insincere hypothesis, +hearsay, formality; you never were in contact with the great heart +of the Universe at all; you are properly neither pure nor impure; +you <i>are</i> nothing, Nature has no business with you.</p> +<p>Mohammed's Creed we called a kind of Christianity; and really, +if we look at the wild rapt earnestness with which it was believed +and laid to heart, I should say a better kind than that of those +miserable Syrian Sects, with their vain janglings about +<i>Homoiousion</i> and <i>Homoousion</i>, the head full of +worthless noise, the heart empty and dead! The truth of it is +imbedded in portentous error and falsehood; but the truth of it +makes it be believed, not the falsehood: it succeeded by its truth. +A bastard kind of Christianity, but a living kind; with a heartlife +in it; not dead, chopping barren logic merely! Out of all that +rubbish of Arab idolatries, argumentative theologies, traditions, +subtleties, rumors and hypotheses of Greeks and Jews, with their +idle wiredrawings, this wild man of the Desert, with his wild +sincere heart, earnest as death and life, with his great flashing +natural eyesight, had seen into the kernel of the matter. Idolatry +is nothing: these Wooden Idols of yours, "ye rub them with oil and +wax, and the flies stick on them,"—these are wood, I tell +you! They can do nothing for you; they are an impotent blasphemous +pretence; a horror and abomination, if ye knew them. God alone is; +God alone has power; He made us, He can kill us and keep us alive: +"<i>Allah akbar</i>, God is great." Understand that His will is the +best for you; that howsoever sore to flesh-and-blood, you will find +it the wisest, best: you are bound to take it so; in this world and +in the next, you have no other thing that you can do!</p> +<p>And now if the wild idolatrous men did believe this, and with +their fiery hearts lay hold of it to do it, in what form soever it +came to them, I say it was well worthy of being believed. In one +form or the other, I say it is still the one thing worthy of being +believed by all men. Man does hereby become the high-priest of this +Temple of a World. He is in harmony with the Decrees of the Author +of this World; cooperating with them, not vainly withstanding them: +I know, to this day, no better definition of Duty than that same. +All that is <i>right</i> includes itself in this of cooperating +with the real Tendency of the World: you succeed by this (the +World's Tendency will succeed), you are good, and in the right +course there. <span class="pagenum"><a id="page198" name= +"page198"></a>[pg 198]</span> <i>Homoiousion, Homoousion</i>, vain +logical jangle, then or before or at any time, may jangle itself +out, and go whither and how it likes: this is the <i>thing</i> it +all struggles to mean, if it would mean anything. If it do not +succeed in meaning this, it means nothing. Not that Abstractions, +logical Propositions, be correctly worded or incorrectly; but that +living concrete Sons of Adam do lay this to heart: that is the +important point. Islam devoured all these vain jangling Sects; and +I think had right to do so. It was a Reality, direct from the great +Heart of Nature once more. Arab idolatries, Syrian formulas, +whatsoever was not equally real, had to go up in flame,—mere +dead <i>fuel</i>, in various senses, for this which was +<i>fire</i>.</p> +<p>It was during these wild warfarings and strugglings, especially +after the Flight to Mecca, that Mohammed dictated at intervals his +Sacred Book, which they name <i>Koran</i>, or <i>Reading</i>, +"Thing to be read." This is the Work he and his disciples made so +much of, asking all the world, Is not that a miracle? The +Mohammedans regard their Koran with a reverence which few +Christians pay even to their Bible. It is admitted everywhere as +the standard of all law and all practice; the thing to be gone-upon +in speculation and life: the message sent direct out of Heaven, +which this earth has to conform to, and walk by; the thing to be +read. Their Judges decide by it; all Moslem are bound to study it, +seek in it for the light of their life. They have mosques where it +is all read daily; thirty relays of priests take it up in +succession, get through the whole each day. There, for +twelve-hundred years, has the voice of this Book, at all moments, +kept sounding through the ears and the hearts of so many men. We +hear of Mohammedan Doctors that had read it seventy-thousand +times!</p> +<p>Very curious: if one sought for "discrepancies of national +taste," here surely were the most eminent instance of that! We also +can read the Koran; our Translation of it, by Sale, is known to be +a very fair one. I must say, it is as toilsome reading as I ever +undertook. A wearisome confused jumble, crude, incondite; endless +iterations, long-windedness, entanglement; most crude, +incondite;—insupportable stupidity, in short! Nothing but a +sense of duty could carry any European through the Koran. We read +in it, as we might in the State-Paper Office, unreadable masses of +lumber, that perhaps we <span class="pagenum"><a id="page199" name= +"page199"></a>[pg 199]</span> may get some glimpses of a remarkable +man. It is true we have it under disadvantages: the Arabs see more +method in it than we. Mohammed's followers found the Koran lying +all in fractions, as it had been written-down at first +promulgation; much of it, they say, on shoulder-blades of mutton +flung pell-mell into a chest; and they published it, without any +discoverable order as to time or otherwise;—merely trying, as +would seem, and this not very strictly, to put the longest chapters +first. The real beginning of it, in that way, lies almost at the +end: for the earliest portions were the shortest. Read in its +historical sequence it perhaps would not be so bad. Much of it, +too, they say, is rhythmic; a kind of wild chanting song, in the +original. This may be a great point; much perhaps has been lost in +the Translation here. Yet with every allowance, one feels it +difficult to see how any mortal ever could consider this Koran as a +Book written in Heaven, too good for the Earth; as a well-written +book, or indeed as a <i>book</i> at all; and not a bewildered +rhapsody; <i>written</i>, so far as writing goes, as badly as +almost any book ever was! So much for national discrepancies, and +the standard of taste.</p> +<p>Yet I should say, it was not unintelligible how the Arabs might +so love it. When once you get this confused coil of a Koran fairly +off your hands, and have it behind you at a distance, the essential +type of it begins to disclose itself; and in this there is a merit +quite other than the literary one. If a book come from the heart, +it will contrive to reach other hearts; all art and authorcraft are +of small amount to that. One would say the primary character of the +Koran is this of its <i>genuineness</i>, of its being a +<i>bona-fide</i> book. Prideaux, I know, and others, have +represented it as a mere bundle of juggleries; chapter after +chapter got-up to excuse and varnish the author's successive sins, +forward his ambitions and quackeries: but really it is time to +dismiss all that. I do not assert Mohammed's continual sincerity: +who is continually sincere? But I confess I can make nothing of the +critic, in these times, who would accuse him of deceit +<i>prepense</i>; of conscious deceit generally, or perhaps at +all;—still more, of living in a mere element of conscious +deceit, and writing this Koran as a forger and juggler would have +done! Every candid eye, I think, will read the Koran far otherwise +than so. It is the confused ferment of a great rude human soul; +rude, untutored, that cannot <span class="pagenum"><a id="page200" +name="page200"></a>[pg 200]</span> even read; but fervent, earnest, +struggling vehemently to utter itself in words. With a kind of +breathless intensity he strives to utter himself; the thoughts +crowd on him pell-mell: for very multitude of things to say, he can +get nothing said. The meaning that is in him shapes itself into no +form of composition, is stated in no sequence, method, or +coherence;—they are not <i>shaped</i> at all, these thoughts +of his; flung-out unshaped, as they struggle and tumble there, in +their chaotic inarticulate state. We said "stupid": yet natural +stupidity is by no means the character of Mohammed's Book; it is +natural un-cultivation rather. The man has not studied speaking; in +the haste and pressure of continual fighting, has not time to +mature himself into fit speech. The panting breathless haste and +vehemence of a man struggling in the thick of battle for life and +salvation; this is the mood he is in! A headlong haste; for very +magnitude of meaning, he cannot get himself articulated into words. +The successive utterances of a soul in that mood, colored by the +various vicissitudes of three-and-twenty years; now well uttered, +now worse: this is the Koran.</p> +<p>For we are to consider Mohammed, through these three-and-twenty +years, as the centre of a world wholly in conflict, Battles with +the Koreish and Heathen, quarrels among his own people, +backslidings of his own wild heart; all this kept him in a +perpetual whirl, his soul knowing rest no more. In wakeful nights, +as one may fancy, the wild soul of the man, tossing amid these +vortices, would hail any light of a decision for them as a +veritable light from Heaven; <i>any</i> making-up of his mind, so +blessed, indispensable for him there, would seem the inspiration of +a Gabriel. Forger and juggler? No, no! This great fiery heart, +seething, simmering like a great furnace of thoughts, was not a +juggler's. His life was a Fact to him; this God's Universe an awful +Fact and Reality. He has faults enough. The man was an uncultured +semi-barbarous Son of Nature, much of the Bedouin still clinging to +him: we must take him for that. But for a wretched Simulacrum, a +hungry Impostor without eyes or heart, practising for a mess of +pottage such blasphemous swindlery, forgery of celestial documents, +continual high-treason against his Maker and Self, we will not and +cannot take him.</p> +<p>Sincerity, in all senses, seems to me the merit of the Koran; +what had rendered it precious to the wild Arab men. It is, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page201" name="page201"></a>[pg +201]</span> after all, the first and last merit in a book; gives +rise to merits of all kinds,—nay, at bottom, it alone can +give rise to merit of any kind. Curiously, through these incondite +masses of tradition, vituperation, complaint, ejaculation in the +Koran, a vein of true direct insight, of what we might almost call +poetry, is found straggling. The body of the Book is made up of +mere tradition, and as it were vehement enthusiastic extempore +preaching. He returns forever to the old stories of the Prophets as +they went current in the Arab memory: how Prophet after Prophet, +the Prophet Abraham, the Prophet Hud, the Prophet Moses, Christian +and other real and fabulous Prophets, had come to this Tribe and to +that, warning men of their sin; and been received by them even as +he Mohammed was,—which is a great solace to him. These things +he repeats ten, perhaps twenty times; again and ever again, with +wearisome iteration; has never done repeating them. A brave Samuel +Johnson, in his forlorn garret, might con-over the Biographies of +Authors in that way! This is the great staple of the Koran. But +curiously, through all this, comes ever and anon some glance as of +the real thinker and seer. He has actually an eye for the world, +this Mohammed: with a certain directness and rugged vigour, he +brings home still, to our heart, the thing his own heart has been +opened to. I make but little of his praises of Allah, which many +praise; they are borrowed I suppose mainly from the Hebrew, at +least they are far surpassed there. But the eye that flashes direct +into the heart of things, and <i>sees</i> the truth of them; this +is to me a highly interesting object. Great Nature's own gift; +which she bestows on all; but which only one in the thousand does +not cast sorrowfully away: it is what I call sincerity of vision; +the test of a sincere heart.</p> +<p>Mohammed can work no miracles; he often answers impatiently: I +can work no miracles. I? "I am a Public Preacher"; appointed to +preach this doctrine to all creatures. Yet the world, as we can +see, had really from of old been all one great miracle to him. Look +over the world, says he; is it not wonderful, the work of Allah; +wholly "a sign to you," if your eyes were open! This Earth, God +made it for you; "appointed paths in it"; you can live in it, go to +and fro on it.—The clouds in the dry country of Arabia, to +Mohammed they are very wonderful: Great clouds, he says, born in +the deep <span class="pagenum"><a id="page202" name= +"page202"></a>[pg 202]</span> bosom of the Upper Immensity, where +do they come from! They hang there, the great black monsters; +pour-down their rain-deluges "to revive a dead earth," and grass +springs, and "tall leafy palm-trees with their date-clusters +hanging round. Is not that a sign?" Your cattle too,—Allah +made them; serviceable dumb creatures; they change the grass into +milk; you have your clothing from them, very strange creatures; +they come ranking home at evening-time, "and," adds he, "and are a +credit to you"! Ships also,—he talks often about ships: Huge +moving mountains, they spread-out their cloth wings, go bounding +through the water there, Heaven's wind driving them; anon they lie +motionless, God has withdrawn the wind, they lie dead, and cannot +stir! Miracles? cries he; What miracle would you have? Are not you +yourselves there? God made <i>you</i>, "shaped you out of a little +clay." Ye were small once; a few years ago ye were not at all. Ye +have beauty, strength, thoughts, "ye have compassion on one +another." Old age comes-on you, and gray hairs; your strength fades +into feebleness; ye sink down, and again are not. "Ye have +compassion on one another": this struck me much: Allah might have +made you having no compassion on one another,—how had it been +then! This is a great direct thought, a glance at first-hand into +the very fact of things. Rude vestiges of poetic genius, of +whatsoever is best and truest, are visible in this man. A strong +untutored intellect; eyesight, heart: a strong wild +man,—might have shaped himself into Poet, King, Priest, any +kind of Hero.</p> +<p>To his eyes it is forever clear that this world wholly is +miraculous. He sees what, as we said once before, all great +thinkers, the rude Scandinavians themselves, in one way or other, +have contrived to see: That this so solid-looking material world +is, at bottom, in very deed, Nothing; is a visual and tactual +Manifestation of God's-power and presence,—a shadow hung-out +by Him on the bosom of the void Infinite; nothing more. The +mountains, he says, these great rock-mountains, they shall +dissipate themselves "like clouds"; melt into the Blue as clouds +do, and not be! He figures the Earth, in the Arab fashion, Sale +tells us, as an immense Plain or flat Plate of ground, the +mountains are set on that to <i>steady</i> it. At the Last Day they +shall disappear "like clouds"; the whole Earth shall go spinning, +whirl itself off into wreck, and <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page203" name="page203"></a>[pg 203]</span> as dust and vapor +vanish in the Inane. Allah withdraws his hand from it, and it +ceases to be. The universal empire of Allah, presence everywhere of +an unspeakable Power, a Splendor, and a Terror not to be named, as +the true force, essence and reality, in all things whatsoever, was +continually clear to this man. What a modern talks-of by the name, +Forces of Nature, Laws of Nature; and does not figure as a divine +thing; not even as one thing at all, but as a set of things, +undivine enough,—saleable, curious, good for propelling +steamships! With our Sciences and Cyclopaedias, we are apt to +forget the <i>divineness</i>, in those laboratories of ours. We +ought not to forget it! That once well forgotten, I know not what +else were worth remembering. Most sciences, I think, were then a +very dead thing; withered, contentious, empty;—a thistle in +late autumn. The best science, without this, is but as the dead +<i>timber</i>; it is not the growing tree and forest,—which +gives ever-new timber, among other things! Man cannot <i>know</i> +either, unless he can <i>worship</i> in some way. His knowledge is +a pedantry, and dead thistle, otherwise.</p> +<p>Much has been said and written about the sensuality of +Mohammed's Religion; more than was just. The indulgences, criminal +to us, which he permitted, were not of his appointment; he found +them practised, unquestioned from immemorial time in Arabia; what +he did was to curtail them, restrict them, not on one but on many +sides. His Religion is not an easy one: with rigorous fasts, +lavations, strict complex formulas, prayers five times a day, and +abstinence from wine, it did not "succeed by being an easy +religion." As if indeed any religion, or cause holding of religion, +could succeed by that! It is a calumny on men to say that they are +roused to heroic action by ease, hope of pleasure, +recompense,—sugar-plums of any kind, in this world or the +next! In the meanest mortal there lies something nobler. The poor +swearing soldier, hired to be shot, has his "honor of a soldier," +different from drill-regulations and the shilling a day. It is not +to taste sweet things, but to do noble and true things, and +vindicate himself under God's Heaven as a god-made Man, that the +poorest son of Adam dimly longs. Show him the way of doing that, +the dullest daydrudge kindles into a hero. They wrong man greatly +who say he is to be seduced by ease. Difficulty, abnegation, +martyrdom, death are the <i>allurements</i> that act on +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page204" name="page204"></a>[pg +204]</span> the heart of man. Kindle the inner genial life of him, +you have a flame that burns-up all lower considerations. Not +happiness, but something higher: one sees this even in the +frivolous classes, with their "point of honor" and the like. Not by +flattering our appetites; no, by awakening the Heroic that slumbers +in every heart, can any Religion gain followers.</p> +<p>Mohammed himself, after all that can be said about him, was not +a sensual man. We shall err widely if we consider this man as a +common voluptuary, intent mainly on base enjoyments,—nay on +enjoyments of any kind. His household was of the frugalest; his +common diet barley-bread and water: sometimes for months there was +not a fire once lighted on his hearth. They record with just pride +that he would mend his own shoes, patch his own cloak. A poor, +hard-toiling, ill-provided man; careless of what vulgar men toil +for. Not a bad man, I should say; something better in him than +<i>hunger</i> of any sort,—or these wild Arab men, fighting +and jostling three-and-twenty years at his hand, in close contact +with him always, would not have reverenced him so! They were wild +men, bursting ever and anon into quarrel, into all kinds of fierce +sincerity; without right worth and manhood, no man could have +commanded them. They called him Prophet, you say? Why, he stood +there face to face with them; bare, not enshrined in any mystery; +visibly clouting his own cloak, cobbling his own shoes; fighting, +counselling, ordering in the midst of them: they must have seen +what kind of a man he <i>was</i>, let him be <i>called</i> what you +like! No emperor with his tiara was obeyed as this man in a cloak +of his own clouting during three-and-twenty years of rough actual +trial. I find something of a veritable Hero necessary for that, of +itself.</p> +<p>His last words are a prayer; broken ejaculations of a heart +struggling up, in trembling hope, towards its Maker. We cannot say +that his religion made him <i>worse</i>; it made him better; good, +not bad. Generous things are recorded of him: when he lost his +Daughter, the thing he answers is, in his own dialect, everyway +sincere, and yet equivalent to that of Christians, "The Lord +giveth, and the Lord taketh away; blessed be the name of the Lord." +He answered in like manner of Seid, his emancipated well-beloved +Slave, the second of the believers. Seid had fallen in the War of +Tabûc, the first of Mohammed's fightings with the Greeks. +Mohammed said, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page205" name= +"page205"></a>[pg 205]</span> It was well; Seid had done his +Master's work, Seid had now gone to his Master: it was all well +with Seid. Yet Seid's daughter found him weeping over the +body;—the old gray-haired man melting in tears! "What do I +see?" said she.—"You see a friend weeping over his +friend."—He went out for the last time into the mosque, two +days before his death; asked, If he had injured any man? Let his +own back bear the stripes. If he owed any man? A voice answered, +"Yes, me three drachms," borrowed on such an occasion. Mohammed +ordered them to be paid: "Better be in shame now," said he, "than +at the Day of Judgment."—You remember Kadijah, and the "No, +by Allah!" Traits of that kind show us the genuine man, the brother +of us all, brought visible through twelve centuries,—the +veritable Son of our common Mother.</p> +<p>Withal I like Mohammed for his total freedom from cant. He is a +rough self-helping son of the wilderness; does not pretend to be +what he is not. There is no ostentatious pride in him; but neither +does he go much upon humility: he is there as he can be, in cloak +and shoes of his own clouting; speaks plainly to all manner of +Persian Kings, Greek Emperors, what it is they are bound to do; +knows well enough, about himself, "the respect due unto thee." In a +life-and-death war with Bedouins, cruel things could not fail; but +neither are acts of mercy, of noble natural pity and generosity, +wanting. Mohammed makes no apology for the one, no boast of the +other. They were each the free dictate of his heart; each +called-for, there and then. Not a mealy-mouthed man! A candid +ferocity, if the case call for it, is in him; he does not mince +matters! The War of Tabûc is a thing he often speaks of: his +men refused, many of them, to march on that occasion; pleaded the +heat of the weather, the harvest, and so forth; he can never forget +that. Your harvest? It lasts for a day. What will become of your +harvest through all Eternity? Hot weather? Yes, it was hot; "but +Hell will be hotter!" Sometimes a rough sarcasm turns-up: He says +to the unbelievers, Ye shall have the just measure of your deeds at +that Great Day. They will be weighed-out to you; ye shall not have +short weight!—Everywhere he fixes the matter in his eye; he +<i>sees</i> it: his heart, now and then, is as if struck dumb by +the greatness of it. "Assuredly," he says; that word, in +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page206" name="page206"></a>[pg +206]</span> the Koran, is written-down sometimes as a sentence by +itself: "Assuredly."</p> +<p>No <i>Dilettanteism</i> in this Mohammed; it is a business of +Reprobation and Salvation with him, of Time and Eternity: he is in +deadly earnest about it! Dilettanteism, hypothesis, speculation, a +kind of amateur-search for Truth, toying and coquetting with Truth: +this is the sorest sin. The root of all other imaginable sins. It +consists in the heart and soul of the man never having been +<i>open</i> to Truth;—"living in a vain show." Such a man not +only utters and produces falsehoods, but <i>is</i> himself a +falsehood. The rational moral principle, spark of the Divinity, is +sunk deep in him, in quiet paralysis of life-death. The very +falsehoods of Mohammed are truer than the truths of such a man. He +is the insincere man: smooth-polished, respectable in some times +and places; inoffensive, says nothing harsh to anybody; most +<i>cleanly</i>,—just as carbonic acid is, which is death and +poison.</p> +<p>We will not praise Mohammed's moral precepts as always of the +superfinest sort; yet it can be said that there is always a +tendency to good in them; that they are the true dictates of a +heart aiming towards what is just and true. The sublime forgiveness +of Christianity, turning of the other cheek when the one has been +smitten, is not here: you <i>are</i> to revenge yourself, but it is +to be in measure, not overmuch, or beyond justice. On the other +hand, Islam, like any great Faith, and insight into the essence of +man, is a perfect equalizer of men: the soul of one believer +outweighs all earthly kingships; all men, according to Islam too, +are equal. Mohammed insists not on the propriety of giving alms, +but on the necessity of it: he marks-down by law how much you are +to give, and it is at your peril if you neglect. The tenth part of +a man's annual income, whatever that may be, is the <i>property</i> +of the poor, of those that are afflicted and need help. Good all +this: the natural voice of humanity, of pity and equity dwelling in +the heart of this wild Son of Nature speaks <i>so</i>.</p> +<p>Mohammed's Paradise is sensual, his Hell sensual: true; in the +one and the other there is enough that shocks all spiritual feeling +in us. But we are to recollect that the Arabs already had it so; +that Mohammed, in whatever he changed of it, softened and +diminished all this. The worst sensualities, too, are the work of +doctors, followers of his, not his work. In the <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page207" name="page207"></a>[pg 207]</span> Koran +there is really very little said about the joys of Paradise; they +are intimated rather than insisted on. Nor is it forgotten that the +highest joys even there shall be spiritual; the pure Presence of +the Highest, this shall infinitely transcend all other joys. He +says, "Your salutation shall be, Peace." <i>Salam</i>, Have +Peace!—the thing that all rational souls long for, and seek, +vainly here below, as the one blessing. "Ye shall sit on seats, +facing one another: all grudges shall be taken away out of your +hearts." All grudges! Ye shall love one another freely; for each of +you, in the eyes of his brothers, there will be Heaven enough!</p> +<p>In reference to this of the sensual Paradise and Mohammed's +sensuality, the sorest chapter of all for us, there were many +things to be said; which it is not convenient to enter upon here. +Two remarks only I shall make, and therewith leave it to your +candor. The first is furnished me by Goethe; it is a casual hint of +his which seems well worth taking note of. In one of his +Delineations, in <i>Meister's Travels</i> it is, the hero +comes-upon a Society of men with very strange ways, one of which +was this: "We require," says the Master, "that each of our people +shall restrict himself in one direction," shall go right against +his desire in one matter, and <i>make</i> himself do the thing he +does not wish, "should we allow him the greater latitude on all +other sides." There seems to me a great justness in this. Enjoying +things which are pleasant; that is not the evil: it is the reducing +of our moral self to slavery by them that is. Let a man assert +withal that he is king over his habitudes; that he could and would +shake them off, on cause shown: this is an excellent law. The Month +Ramadhan for the Moslem, much in Mohammed's Religion, much in his +own Life, bears in that direction; if not by forethought, or clear +purpose of moral improvement on his part, then by a certain healthy +manful instinct, which is as good.</p> +<p>But there is another thing to be said about the Mohammedan +Heaven and Hell. This namely, that, however gross and material they +may be, they are an emblem of an everlasting truth, not always so +well remembered elsewhere. That gross sensual Paradise of his; that +horrible flaming Hell; the great enormous Day of Judgment he +perpetually insists on: what is all this but a rude shadow, in the +rude Bedouin imagination, of that grand spiritual Fact, and +Beginning of Facts, which it <span class="pagenum"><a id="page208" +name="page208"></a>[pg 208]</span> is ill for us too if we do not +all know and feel: the Infinite Nature of Duty? That man's actions +here are of <i>infinite</i> moment to him, and never die or end at +all; that man, with his little life, reaches upwards high as +Heaven, downwards low as Hell, and in his threescore years of Time +holds an Eternity fearfully and wonderfully hidden: all this had +burnt itself, as in flame-characters, into the wild Arab soul. As +in flame and lightning, it stands written there; awful, +unspeakable, ever present to him. With bursting earnestness, with a +fierce savage sincerity, halt, articulating, not able to +articulate, he strives to speak it, bodies it forth in that Heaven +and that Hell. Bodied forth in what way you will, it is the first +of all truths. It is venerable under all embodiments. What is the +chief end of man here below? Mohammed has answered this question, +in a way that might put some of <i>us</i> to shame! He does not, +like a Bentham, a Paley, take Right and Wrong, and calculate the +profit and loss, ultimate pleasure of the one and of the other; and +summing all up by addition and subtraction into a net result, ask +you, Whether on the whole the Right does not preponderate +considerably? No; it is not <i>better</i> to do the one than the +other; the one is to the other as life is to death,—as Heaven +is to Hell. The one must in nowise be done, the other in nowise +left undone. You shall not measure them; they are incommensurable: +the one is death eternal to a man, the other is life eternal. +Benthamee Utility, virtue by Profit and Loss; reducing this +God's-world to a dead brute Steam-engine, the infinite celestial +Soul of Man to a kind of Hay-balance for weighing hay and thistles +on, pleasures and pains on:—if you ask me which gives, +Mohammed or they, the beggarlier and falser view of Man and his +Destinies in this Universe, I will answer, It is not +Mohammed!—</p> +<p>On the whole, we will repeat that this Religion of Mohammed's is +a kind of Christianity; has a genuine element of what is +spiritually highest looking through it, not to be hidden by all its +imperfections. The Scandinavian God <i>Wish</i>, the god of all +rude men,—this has been enlarged into a Heaven by Mohammed; +but a Heaven symbolical of sacred Duty, and to be earned by faith +and well-doing, by valiant action, and a divine patience which is +still more valiant. It is Scandinavian Paganism, and a truly +celestial element super-added to that. Call it not false; look not +at the falsehood of it, look at the <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page209" name="page209"></a>[pg 209]</span> truth of it. For these +twelve centuries, it has been the religion and life-guidance of the +fifth part of the whole kindred of Mankind. Above all things, it +has been a religion heartily <i>believed</i>. These Arabs believe +their religion, and try to live by it! No Christians, since the +early ages, or only perhaps the English Puritans in modern times, +have ever stood by their Faith as the Moslem do by +theirs,—believing it wholly, fronting Time with it, and +Eternity with it. This night the watchman on the streets of Cairo +when he cries, "Who goes?" will hear from the passenger, along with +his answer, "There is no God but God." <i>Allah akbar, Islam</i>, +sounds through the souls, and whole daily existence, of these dusky +millions. Zealous missionaries preach it abroad among Malays, black +Papuans, brutal Idolaters;—displacing what is worse, nothing +that is better or good.</p> +<p>To the Arab Nation it was as a birth from darkness into light; +Arabia first became alive by means of it. A poor shepherd people, +roaming unnoticed in its deserts since the creation of the world: a +Hero-Prophet was sent down to them with a word they could believe: +see, the unnoticed becomes world-notable, the small has grown +world-great; within one century afterwards, Arabia is at Grenada on +this hand, at Delhi on that;—glancing in valor and splendor +and the light of genius, Arabia shines through long ages over a +great section of the world. Belief is great, life-giving. The +history of a Nation becomes fruitful, soul-elevating, great, so +soon as it believes. These Arabs, the man Mohammed, and that one +century,—is it not as if a spark had fallen, one spark, on a +world of what seemed black unnoticeable sand; but lo, the sand +proves explosive powder, blazes heaven-high from Delhi to Grenada! +I said, the Great Man was always as lightning out of Heaven; the +rest of men waited for him like fuel, and then they too would +flame.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page211" name="page211"></a>[pg +211]</span> +<h2>THE KORAN</h2> +<h3><a id="koran-i" name="koran-i">CHAPTER I</a></h3> +<h4>Entitled, the Preface, or Introduction—Revealed at +Mecca</h4> +<p><i>In the Name of the Most Merciful God</i>.</p> +<p>Praise be to God, the Lord of all creatures, the most merciful, +the king of the day of judgment. Thee do we worship, and of thee do +we beg assistance. Direct us in the right way, in the way of those +to whom thou hast been gracious; not of those against whom thou art +incensed, nor of those who go astray.<a id="footnotetag21" name= +"footnotetag21"></a><a href="#footnote21"><sup>21</sup></a></p> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote21" name= +"footnote21"></a><b>Footnote 21:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag21">(return)</a> +<p>This chapter is a prayer, and held in great veneration by the +Mohammedans, who give it several other honorable titles; as the +chapter of prayer, of praise, of thanksgiving, of treasure. They +esteem it as the quintessence of the whole Koran, and often repeat +it in their devotions both public and private, as the Christians do +the Lord's Prayer.</p> +</blockquote> +<h3><a id="koran-ii" name="koran-ii">CHAPTER II</a></h3> +<h4>Entitled, the Cow<a id="footnotetag22" name= +"footnotetag22"></a><a href= +"#footnote22"><sup>22</sup></a>—Revealed Partly at Mecca, and +Partly at Medina</h4> +<p><i>In the Name of the Most Merciful God</i>,</p> +<p>A.L.M. There is no doubt in this book; it is a direction to the +pious, who believe in the mysteries of faith, who observe the +appointed times of prayer, and distribute alms out of what we have +bestowed on them; and who believe in that revelation, which hath +been sent down unto thee, and that which hath been sent down unto +the prophets before thee, and have firm assurance in the life to +come: these are directed by their Lord, and they shall prosper. As +for the unbelievers, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page212" name= +"page212"></a>[pg 212]</span> it will be equal to them whether thou +admonish them, or do not admonish them; they will not believe. God +hath sealed up their hearts and their hearing; a dimness covereth +their sight, and they shall suffer a grievous punishment. There are +some who say, We believe in God and the last day, but are not +really believers; they seek to deceive God, and those who do +believe, but they deceive themselves only, and are not sensible +thereof. There is an infirmity in their hearts, and God hath +increased that infirmity; and they shall suffer a most painful +punishment because they have disbelieved. When one saith unto them, +Act not corruptly in the earth, they reply, Verily, we are men of +integrity. Are not they themselves corrupt doers? but they are not +sensible thereof. And when one saith unto them, Believe ye as +others believe; they answer, Shall we believe as fools believe? Are +not they themselves fools? but they know it not. When they meet +those who believe, they say, We do believe: but when they retire +privately to their devils, they say, We really hold with you, and +only mock at those people: God shall mock at them, and continue +them in their impiety; they shall wander in confusion. These are +the men who have purchased error at the price of true direction: +but their traffic hath not been gainful, neither have they been +rightly directed. They are like unto one who kindleth a fire, and +when it hath enlightened all around him, God taketh away their +light and leaveth them in darkness, they shall not see; they are +deaf, dumb, and blind, therefore will they not repent. Or like a +stormy cloud from heaven, fraught with darkness, thunder, and +lightning, they put their fingers in their ears, because of the +noise of the thunder, for fear of death; God encompasseth the +infidels: the lightning wanteth but little of taking away their +sight; so often as it enlighteneth them, they walk therein, but +when darkness cometh on them, they stand still; and if God so +pleased, He would certainly deprive them of their hearing and their +sight, for God is almighty. O men of Mecca! serve your Lord who +hath created you, and those who have been before you: peradventure +ye will fear him; who hath spread the earth as a bed for you, and +the heaven as a covering, and hath caused water to descend from +heaven, and thereby produced fruits for your sustenance. Set not up +therefore any equals unto God, against your own knowledge. If ye be +in doubt concerning that revelation which we have sent down unto +our servant, produce <span class="pagenum"><a id="page213" name= +"page213"></a>[pg 213]</span> a chapter like unto it, and call upon +your witnesses, besides God, if ye say truth. But if ye do it not, +nor shall ever be able to do it, justly fear the fire whose fuel is +men and stones, prepared for the unbelievers. But bear good tidings +unto those who believe, and do good works, that they shall have +gardens watered by rivers; so often as they eat of the fruit +thereof for sustenance, they shall say, This is what we have +formerly eaten of; and they shall be supplied with several sorts of +fruit having a mutual resemblance to one another. There shall they +enjoy wives subject to no impurity, and there shall they continue +forever. Moreover God will not be ashamed to propound in a parable +a gnat, or even a more despicable thing: for they who believe will +know it to be the truth from their Lord; but the unbelievers will +say, What meaneth God by this parable? he will thereby mislead +many, and will direct many thereby: but he will not mislead any +thereby, except the transgressors, who make void the covenant of +God after the establishing thereof, and cut in sunder that which +God hath commanded to be joined, and act corruptly in the earth; +they shall perish. How is it that ye believe not in God? Since ye +were dead, and he gave you life; he will hereafter cause you to +die, and will again restore you to life; then shall ye return unto +him. It is he who hath created for you whatsoever is on earth, and +then set his mind to the creation of heaven, and formed it into +seven heavens; he knoweth all things. When thy Lord said unto the +angels, I am going to place a substitute on earth,<a id= +"footnotetag23" name="footnotetag23"></a><a href= +"#footnote23"><sup>23</sup></a> they said, Wilt thou place there +one who will do evil therein, and shed blood? but we celebrate thy +praise, and sanctify thee. God answered, Verily I know that which +ye know not; and he <span class="pagenum"><a id="page214" name= +"page214"></a>[pg 214]</span> taught Adam the names of all things, +and then proposed them to the angels, and said, Declare unto me the +names of these things if ye say truth. They answered, Praise be +unto thee, we have no knowledge but what thou teachest us, for thou +art knowing and wise. God said, O Adam, tell them their names. And +when he had told them their names, God said, Did I not tell you +that I know the secrets of heaven and earth, and know that which ye +discover, and that which ye conceal? And when we said unto the +angels, Worship Adam, they all worshipped him, except Eblis, who +refused, and was puffed up with pride, and became of the number of +unbelievers.<a id="footnotetag24" name="footnotetag24"></a><a href= +"#footnote24"><sup>24</sup></a> And we said, O Adam, dwell thou and +thy wife in the garden, and eat of the fruit thereof plentifully +wherever ye will; but approach not this tree, lest ye become of the +number of the transgressors. But Satan caused them to forfeit +paradise, and turned them out of the state of happiness wherein +they had been; whereupon we said, Get ye down, the one of you an +enemy unto the other; and there shall be a dwelling-place for you +on earth, and a provision for a season. And Adam learned words of +prayer from his Lord, and God turned unto him, for he is easy to be +reconciled and merciful. We said, Get ye all down from hence; +hereafter shall there come unto you a direction from me, and +whoever shall follow my direction, on them shall no fear come, +neither shall they be grieved; but they who shall be unbelievers, +and accuse our signs of falsehood, they shall be the companions of +hell fire, therein shall they remain forever. O children of +Israel,<a id="footnotetag25" name="footnotetag25"></a><a href= +"#footnote25"><sup>25</sup></a> remember my favor wherewith I have +favored you; and perform your covenant with me and I will perform +my covenant with you; and revere me; and believe in the revelation +which I have sent down, confirming that which is with you, and be +not the first who believe not therein, neither exchange my signs +for a small price; and fear me. Clothe not the truth with vanity, +neither conceal the truth against your own knowledge; observe the +stated times of prayer, and pay your legal alms, and bow down +yourselves with those who bow down. Will ye command <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page215" name="page215"></a>[pg 215]</span> men to +do justice, and forget your own souls? yet ye read the book of the +law: do ye not therefore understand? Ask help with perseverance and +prayer; this indeed is grievous, unless to the humble, who +seriously think they shall meet their Lord, and that to him they +shall return. O children of Israel, remember my favor wherewith I +have favored you, and that I have preferred you above all nations: +dread the day wherein one soul shall not make satisfaction for +another soul, neither shall any intercession be accepted from them, +nor shall any compensation be received, neither shall they be +helped. Remember when we delivered you from the people of Pharaoh, +who grievously oppressed you, they slew your male children, and let +your females live: therein was a great trial from your Lord. And +when we divided the sea for you and delivered you, and drowned +Pharaoh's people while ye looked on. And when we treated with Moses +forty nights; then ye took the calf<a id="footnotetag26" name= +"footnotetag26"></a><a href="#footnote26"><sup>26</sup></a> for +your God, and did evil; yet afterwards we forgave you, that +peradventure ye might give thanks. And when we gave Moses the book +of the law, and the distinction between good and evil, that +peradventure ye might be directed. And when Moses said unto his +people, O my people, verily ye have injured your own souls, by your +taking the calf for your God; therefore be turned unto your +Creator, and slay those among you who have been guilty of that +crime; this will be better for you in the sight of your Creator; +and thereupon he turned unto you, for he is easy to be reconciled, +and merciful. And when ye said, O Moses, we will not believe thee, +until we see God manifestly; therefore a punishment came upon you, +while ye looked on; then we raised you to life after ye had been +dead, that peradventure ye might give thanks. And we caused clouds +to overshadow you, and manna and quails<a id="footnotetag27" name= +"footnotetag27"></a><a href="#footnote27"><sup>27</sup></a> to +descend upon you, saying, Eat of the good things which we have +given you for food: <span class="pagenum"><a id="page216" name= +"page216"></a>[pg 216]</span> and they injured not us, but injured +their own souls. And when we said, Enter into this city, and eat of +the provisions thereof plentifully as ye will; and enter the gate +worshipping, and say, Forgiveness! we will pardon you your sins, +and give increase unto the well-doers. But the ungodly changed the +expression into another, different from what had been spoken unto +them; and we sent down upon the ungodly indignation from heaven, +because they had transgressed. And when Moses asked drink for his +people, we said, Strike the rock with thy rod; and there gushed +thereout twelve fountains according to the number of the tribes, +and all men knew their respective drinking-place. Eat and drink of +the bounty of God, and commit not evil in the earth, acting +unjustly. And when ye said, O Moses, we will by no means be +satisfied with one kind of food; pray unto thy Lord therefore for +us, that he would produce for us of that which the earth bringeth +forth, herbs, and cucumbers, and garlic, and lentils, and onions; +Moses answered, Will ye exchange that which is better, for that +which is worse? Get ye down into Egypt, for there shall ye find +what ye desire; and they were smitten with vileness and misery, and +drew on themselves indignation from God. This they suffered, +because they believed not in the signs of God, and killed the +prophets unjustly; this, because they rebelled and transgressed. +Surely those who believe, and those who Judaize, and Christians, +and Sabeans, whoever believeth in God, and the last day, and doth +that which is right, they shall have their reward with their Lord; +there shall come no fear on them, neither shall they be grieved. +Call to mind also when we accepted your covenant, and lifted up the +mountain of Sinai over you, saying, Receive the law which we have +given you, with a resolution to keep it, and remember that which is +contained therein, that ye may beware. After this ye again turned +back, so that if it had not been for God's indulgence and mercy +towards you, ye had certainly been destroyed. Moreover, ye know +what befell those of your nation who transgressed on the Sabbath +day: We said unto them, Be ye changed into apes, driven away from +the society of men. And we made them an example unto those who were +contemporary with them, and unto those who came after them, and a +warning to the pious. And when Moses said unto his people, Verily +God commandeth you to sacrifice a cow;<a id="footnotetag28" name= +"footnotetag28"></a><a href="#footnote28"><sup>28</sup></a> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page217" name="page217"></a>[pg +217]</span> they answered, Dost thou make a jest of us? Moses said, +God forbid that I should be one of the foolish. They said, Pray for +us unto thy Lord, that he would show us what cow it is. Moses +answered, He saith, She is neither an old cow, nor a young heifer, +but of a middle-age between both: do ye therefore that which ye are +commanded. They said, Pray for us unto the Lord, that he would show +us what color she is of. Moses answered, He saith, She is a red +cow, intensely red, her color rejoiceth the beholders. They said, +Pray for us unto thy Lord, that he would further show us what cow +it is, for several cows with us are like one another, and we, if +God please, will be directed. Moses answered, He saith, She is a +cow not broken to plough the earth, or water the field: a sound +one, there is no blemish in her. They said, Now hast thou brought +the truth. Then they sacrificed her; yet they wanted little of +leaving it undone. And when ye slew a man, and contended among +yourselves concerning him, God brought forth to light that which ye +concealed. For we said, Strike the dead body with part of the +sacrificed cow; so God raiseth the dead to life, and showeth you +his signs, that peradventure ye may understand. Then were your +hearts hardened after this, even as stones, or exceeding them in +hardness: for from some stones have rivers burst forth, others have +been rent in sunder, and water hath issued from them, and others +have fallen down for fear of God. But God is not regardless of that +which ye do. Do ye therefore desire that the Jews should believe +you? yet a part of them <span class="pagenum"><a id="page218" name= +"page218"></a>[pg 218]</span> heard the word of God, and then +perverted it, after they had understood it, against their own +conscience. And when they meet the true believers, they say, We +believe: but when they are privately assembled together, they say, +Will ye acquaint them with what God hath revealed unto you, that +they may dispute with you concerning it in the presence of your +Lord? Do ye not therefore understand? Do not they know that God +knoweth that which they conceal as well as that which they publish? +But there are illiterate men among them, who know not the book of +the law, but only lying stories, although they think otherwise. And +woe unto them who transcribe corruptly the book of the law with +their hands, and then say, This is from God: that they may sell it +for a small price. Therefore woe unto them because of that which +their hands have written; and woe unto them for that which they +have gained. They say, The fire of hell shall not touch us but for +a certain number of days. Answer, Have ye received any promise from +God to that purpose? for God will not act contrary to his promise: +or do ye speak concerning God that which ye know not? Verily whoso +doth evil, and is encompassed by his iniquity, they shall be the +companions of hell fire, they shall remain therein forever: but +they who believe and do good works, they shall be the companions of +paradise, they shall continue therein forever. Remember also, when +we accepted the covenant of the children of Israel, saying, Ye +shall not worship any other except God, and ye shall show kindness +to your parents and kindred, and to orphans, and to the poor, and +speak that which is good unto men, and be constant at prayer, and +give alms. Afterwards ye turned back, except a few of you, and +retired afar-off. And when we accepted your covenant, saying, Ye +shall not shed your brother's blood, nor dispossess one another of +your habitations, then ye confirmed it, and were witnesses thereto. +Afterwards ye were they who slew one another, and turned several of +your brethren out of their houses, mutually assisting each other +against them with injustice and enmity; but if they come captives +unto you, ye redeem them: yet it is equally unlawful for you to +dispossess them. Do ye therefore believe in part of the book of the +law, and reject other parts thereof? But whoso among you doth this, +shall have no other reward than shame in this life, and on the day +of resurrection they shall be sent to a most grievous punishment; +for God is not regardless <span class="pagenum"><a id="page219" +name="page219"></a>[pg 219]</span> of that which ye do. These are +they who have purchased this present life, at the price of that +which is to come; wherefore their punishment shall not be +mitigated, neither shall they be helped. We formerly delivered the +book of the law unto Moses, and caused apostles to succeed him, and +gave evident miracles to Jesus the son of Mary, and strengthened +him with the holy spirit. Do ye therefore, whenever an apostle +cometh unto you with that which your souls desire not, proudly +reject him, and accuse some of imposture, and slay others? The Jews +say, Our hearts are uncircumcised: but God hath cursed them with +their infidelity, therefore few shall believe. And when a book came +unto them from God, confirming the scriptures which were with them, +although they had before prayed for assistance against those who +believed not, yet when that came unto them which they knew to be +from God, they would not believe therein: therefore the curse of +God shall be on the infidels. For a vile price have they sold their +souls, that they should not believe in that which God hath sent +down; out of envy, because God sendeth down his favors to such of +his servants as he pleaseth: therefore they brought on themselves +indignation on indignation; and the unbelievers shall suffer an +ignominious punishment. When one saith unto them, Believe in that +which God hath sent down; they answer, We believe in that which +hath been sent down unto us: and they reject what hath been +revealed since, although it be the truth, confirming that which is +with them. Say, Why therefore have ye slain the prophets of God in +times past, if ye be true believers? Moses formerly came unto you +with evident signs, but ye afterwards took the calf for your god +and did wickedly. And when we accepted your covenant, and lifted +the mountain of Sinai over you, saying, Receive the law which we +have given you, with a resolution to perform it, and hear; they +said, We have heard, and have rebelled: and they were made to drink +down the calf into their hearts for their unbelief. Say, A grievous +thing hath your faith commanded you, if ye be true believers. Say, +If the future mansion with God be prepared peculiarly for you, +exclusive of the rest of mankind, wish for death, if ye say truth: +but they will never wish for it, because of that which their hands +have sent before them; God knoweth the wicked doers; and thou shalt +surely find them of all men the most covetous of life, even more +than the idolaters: one of them <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page220" name="page220"></a>[pg 220]</span> would desire his life +to be prolonged a thousand years, but none shall reprieve himself +from punishment, that his life may be prolonged: God seeth that +which they do. Say, Whoever is an enemy to Gabriel (for he hath +caused the Koran to descend on thy heart, by the permission of God, +confirming that which was before revealed, a direction, and good +tidings to the faithful); whosoever is an enemy to God, or his +angels, or his apostles, or to Gabriel, or Michael, verily God is +an enemy to the unbelievers. And now we have sent down unto thee +evident signs, and none will disbelieve them but the evil-doers. +Whenever they make a covenant, will some of them reject it? yea, +the greater part of them do not believe. And when there came unto +them an apostle from God, confirming that scripture which was with +them, some of those to whom the scriptures were given, cast the +book of God behind their backs, as if they knew it not: and they +followed the device which the devils devised against the kingdom of +Solomon; and Solomon was not an unbeliever; but the devils believed +not, they taught men sorcery, and that which was sent down to the +two angels at Babel, Harût, and Marût: yet those who +taught no man until they had said, Verily we are a temptation, +therefore be not an unbeliever. So men learned from those two a +charm by which they might cause division between a man and his +wife; but they hurt none thereby, unless by God's permission; and +they learned that which would hurt them, and not profit them; and +yet they knew that he who bought that art should have no part in +the life to come, and woful is the price for which they have sold +their souls, if they knew it. But if they had believed and feared +God, verily the reward they would have had from God would have been +better, if they had known it. O true believers, say not to our +apostle, Raina; but say, Ondhorna;<a id="footnotetag29" name= +"footnotetag29"></a><a href="#footnote29"><sup>29</sup></a> and +hearken: the infidels shall suffer a grievous punishment. It is not +the desire of the unbelievers, either among those unto whom the +scriptures have been given, or among the idolaters, that any good +should be sent down unto you from your Lord: but God will +appropriate his mercy unto whom he pleaseth; for God is exceeding +beneficent. Whatever verse we shall abrogate, or cause thee to +forget, we will bring a better than it, or one like <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page221" name="page221"></a>[pg 221]</span> unto +it. Dost thou not know that God is almighty? Dost thou not know +that unto God belongeth the kingdom of heaven and earth? neither +have ye any protector or helper except God. Will ye require of your +apostle according to that which was formerly required of Moses? but +he that hath exchanged faith for infidelity, hath already erred +from the straight way. Many of those unto whom the scriptures have +been given, desire to render you again unbelievers, after ye have +believed; out of envy from their souls, even after the truth is +become manifest unto them; but forgive them, and avoid them, till +God shall send his command; for God is omnipotent. Be constant in +prayer, and give alms; and what good ye have sent before for your +souls, ye shall find it with God; surely God seeth that which ye +do. They say, Verily none shall enter paradise, except they who are +Jews or Christians: this is their wish. Say, Produce your proof of +this, if ye speak truth. Nay, but he who resigneth himself to God, +and doth that which is right, he shall have his reward with his +Lord; there shall come no fear on them, neither shall they be +grieved. The Jews say, The Christians are grounded on nothing; and +the Christians say, The Jews are grounded on nothing; yet they both +read the scriptures. So likewise say they who know not the +scripture, according to their saying. But God shall judge between +them on the day of the resurrection, concerning that about which +they now disagree. Who is more unjust than he who prohibiteth the +temples of God, that his name should be remembered therein, and who +hasteth to destroy them? Those men cannot enter therein, but with +fear: they shall have shame in this world, and in the next a +grievous punishment. To God belongeth the east and the west; +therefore, whithersoever ye turn yourselves to pray, there is the +face of God; for God is omnipresent and omniscient. They say God +hath begotten children. God forbid! To him belongeth whatever is in +heaven, and on earth; all is possessed by him, the Creator of +heaven and earth; and when he decreeth a thing, he only saith unto +it, Be, and it is. And they who know not the scriptures say, Unless +God speak unto us, or thou show us a sign, we will not believe. So +said those before them, according to their saying: their hearts +resemble each other. We have already shown manifest signs unto +people who firmly believe; we have sent thee in truth, a bearer of +good tidings, and a preacher; and thou shalt not be questioned +concerning <span class="pagenum"><a id="page222" name= +"page222"></a>[pg 222]</span> the companions of hell. But the Jews +will not be pleased with thee, neither the Christians, until thou +follow their religion; say, The direction of God is the true +direction. And verily if thou follow their desires, after the +knowledge which hath been given thee, thou shalt find no patron or +protector against God. They to whom we have given the book of the +Koran, and who read it with its true reading, they believe therein; +and whoever believeth not therein, they shall perish. O children of +Israel, remember my favor wherewith I have favored you, and that I +have preferred you before all nations; and dread the day wherein +one soul shall not make satisfaction for another soul, neither +shall any compensation be accepted from them, nor shall any +intercession avail, neither shall they be helped. Remember when the +Lord tried Abraham by certain words, which he fulfilled: God said, +Verily I will constitute thee a model of religion unto mankind; he +answered, And also of my posterity; God said, My covenant doth not +comprehend the ungodly. And when we appointed the holy house of +Mecca to be the place of resort for mankind, and a place of +security; and said, Take the station of Abraham for a place of +prayer; and we covenanted with Abraham and Ismael, that they should +cleanse my house for those who should compass it, and those who +should be devoutly assiduous there, and those who should bow down +and worship. And when Abraham said, Lord, make this a territory of +security, and bounteously bestow fruits on its inhabitants, such of +them as believe in God and the last day; God answered, And whoever +believeth not, I will bestow on him little: afterwards I will drive +him to the punishment of hell fire; an ill journey shall it be! And +when Abraham and Ismael raised the foundations of the house, +saying, Lord, accept it from us, for thou art he who heareth and +knoweth: Lord, make us also resigned unto thee, and of our +posterity a people resigned unto thee, and show us our holy +ceremonies, and be turned unto us, for thou art easy to be +reconciled, and merciful; Lord, send them likewise an apostle from +among them, who may declare thy signs unto them, and teach them the +book of the Koran and wisdom, and may purify them; for thou art +mighty and wise. Who will be averse to the religion of Abraham, but +he whose mind is infatuated? Surely we have chosen him in this +world, and in that which is to come he shall be one of the +righteous. When his Lord said unto him, Resign thyself unto me, he +answered, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page223" name= +"page223"></a>[pg 223]</span> I have resigned myself unto the Lord +of all creatures. And Abraham bequeathed this religion to his +children, and Jacob did the same, saying, My children, verily, God +hath chosen this religion for you, therefore die not, unless ye +also be resigned. Were ye present when Jacob was at the point of +death? when he said to his sons, Whom will ye worship after me? +They answered, We will worship thy God, and the God of thy fathers, +Abraham and Ismael, and Isaac, one God, and to him will we be +resigned. That people are now passed away, they have what they have +gained, and ye shall have what ye gain; and ye shall not be +questioned concerning that which they have done. They say, Become +Jews or Christians that ye may be directed. Say, Nay, we follow the +religion of Abraham the orthodox, who was no idolater. Say, We +believe in God, and that which hath been sent down unto us, and +that which hath been sent down unto Abraham, and Ismael, and Isaac, +and Jacob, and the tribes, and that which was delivered unto Moses, +and Jesus, and that which was delivered unto the prophets from +their Lord: We make no distinction between any of them, and to God +are we resigned. Now if they believe according to what ye believe, +they are surely directed, but if they turn back, they are in +schism. God shall support thee against them, for he is the hearer, +the wise. The baptism of God<a id="footnotetag30" name= +"footnotetag30"></a><a href="#footnote30"><sup>30</sup></a> have we +received, and who is better than God to baptize? him do we worship. +Say, Will ye dispute with us concerning God, who is our Lord, and +your Lord? we have our works, and ye have your works, and unto him +are we sincerely devoted. Will ye say, Truly Abraham, and Ismael, +and Isaac, and Jacob, and the tribes were Jews or Christians? Say, +Are ye wiser, or God? And who is more unjust than he who hideth the +testimony which he hath received from God? But God is not +regardless of that which ye do. That people are passed away, they +have what they have gained, and ye shall have what ye gain, nor +shall ye be questioned concerning that which they have done. The +foolish men will say, What hath turned them from their Keblah, +towards which they formerly prayed?<a id="footnotetag31" name= +"footnotetag31"></a><a href="#footnote31"><sup>31</sup></a> Say, +Unto God belongeth the east <span class="pagenum"><a id="page224" +name="page224"></a>[pg 224]</span> and the west: he directeth whom +he pleaseth into the right way. Thus have we placed you, O +Arabians, an intermediate nation, that ye may be witnesses against +the rest of mankind, and that the apostle may be a witness against +you. We appointed the Keblah towards which thou didst formerly +pray, only that we might know him who followeth the apostle, from +him who turneth back on his heels; though this change seem a great +matter, unless unto those whom God hath directed. But God will not +render your faith of no effect; for God is gracious and merciful +unto man. We have seen thee turn about thy face towards heaven with +uncertainty, but we will cause thee to turn thyself towards a +Keblah that will please thee. Turn, therefore, thy face towards the +holy temple of Mecca; and wherever ye be, turn your faces towards +that place. They to whom the scripture hath been given, know this +to be truth from their Lord. God is not regardless of that which ye +do. Verily although thou shouldst show unto those to whom the +scripture hath been given all kinds of signs, yet they will not +follow thy Keblah, neither shalt thou follow their Keblah; nor will +one part of them follow the Keblah of the other. And if thou follow +their desires, after the knowledge which hath been given thee, +verily thou wilt become one of the ungodly. They to whom we have +given the scripture know our apostle, even as they know their own +children; but some of them hide the truth, against their own +knowledge. Truth is from thy Lord, therefore thou shalt not doubt. +Every sect hath a certain tract of heaven to which they turn +themselves in prayer; but do ye strive to run after good things: +wherever ye be, God will bring you all back at the resurrection, +for God is almighty. And from what place soever thou comest forth, +turn thy face towards the holy temple; for this is truth from thy +Lord; neither is God regardless of that which ye do. From what +place soever thou comest forth, turn thy face towards the holy +temple; and wherever ye be, thitherward turn your faces, lest men +have matter of dispute against you; but as for those among them who +are unjust doers, fear them not, but fear me, that I may accomplish +my grace upon you, and that ye may be directed. As we have sent +unto you an apostle from among you, to rehearse our signs unto you, +and to purify you, and to teach you the book of the Koran and +wisdom, and to teach you that which ye knew not: therefore remember +me, and I will remember you, and give thanks unto me, and be +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page225" name="page225"></a>[pg +225]</span> not unbelievers. O true believers, beg assistance with +patience and prayer, for God is with the patient. And say not of +those who are slain in fight for the religion of God, that they are +dead; yea, they are living: but ye do not understand. We will +surely prove you by afflicting you in some measure with fear, and +hunger, and decrease of wealth, and loss of lives, and scarcity of +fruits; but bear good tidings unto the patient, who when a +misfortune befalleth them, say, We are God's, and unto him shall we +surely return. Upon them shall be blessings from their Lord and +mercy, and they are the rightly directed. Moreover Safa and Merwah +are two of the monuments of God: whoever therefore goeth on +pilgrimage to the temple of Mecca or visiteth it, it shall be no +crime in him if he compass them both. And as for him who +voluntarily performeth a good work; verily God is grateful and +knowing. They who conceal any of the evident signs, or the +direction which we have sent down, after what we have manifested +unto men in the scripture, God shall curse them; and they who curse +shall curse them. But as for those who repent and amend, and make +known what they concealed, I will be turned unto them, for I am +easy to be reconciled and merciful. Surely they who believe not, +and die in their unbelief, upon them shall be the curse of God, and +of the angels, and of all men; they shall remain under it forever, +their punishment shall not be alleviated, neither shall they be +regarded. Your God is one God, there is no God but He, the most +merciful. Now in the creation of heaven and earth, and the +vicissitude of night and day, and in the ship which saileth in the +sea, laden with what is profitable for mankind, and in the +rain-water which God sendeth from heaven, quickening thereby the +dead earth, and replenishing the same with all sorts of cattle, and +in the change of winds, and the clouds that are compelled to do +service between heaven and earth, are signs to people of +understanding: yet some men take idols beside God, and love them as +with the love due to God; but the true believers are more fervent +in love towards God. Oh that they who act unjustly did perceive, +when they behold their punishment, that all power belongeth unto +God, and that he is severe in punishing! When those who have been +followed, shall separate themselves from their followers, and shall +see the punishment, and the cords of relation between them shall be +cut asunder; the followers shall say, If we could return to life, +we would separate ourselves <span class="pagenum"><a id="page226" +name="page226"></a>[pg 226]</span> from them, as they have now +separated themselves from us. So God will show them their works; +they shall sigh grievously, and shall not come forth from the fire +of hell. O men, eat of that which is lawful and good on the earth; +and tread not in the steps of the devil, for he is your open enemy. +Verily he commandeth you evil and wickedness, and that ye should +say that of God which ye know not. And when it is said unto them +who believe not, Follow that which God hath sent down; they answer, +Nay, but we will follow that which we found our fathers practised. +What? though their fathers knew nothing, and were not rightly +directed? The unbelievers are like unto one who crieth aloud to +that which heareth not so much as his calling, or the sound of his +voice. They are deaf, dumb, and blind, therefore they do not +understand. O true believers, eat of the good things which we have +bestowed on you for food, and return thanks unto God, if ye serve +him. Verily he hath forbidden you to eat that which dieth of +itself, and blood, and swine's flesh, and that on which any other +name but God's hath been invocated.<a id="footnotetag32" name= +"footnotetag32"></a><a href="#footnote32"><sup>32</sup></a> But he +who is forced by necessity, not lusting, nor returning to +transgress, it shall be no crime in him if he eat of those things, +for God is gracious and merciful. Moreover they who conceal any +part of the scripture which God hath sent down unto them, and sell +it for a small price, they shall swallow into their bellies nothing +but fire; God shall not speak unto them on the day of resurrection, +neither shall he purify them, and they shall suffer a grievous +punishment. These are they who have sold direction for error, and +pardon for punishment: but how great will their suffering be in the +fire! This they shall endure, because God sent down the book of the +Koran with truth, and they who disagree concerning that book, are +certainly in a wide mistake. It is not righteousness that ye turn +your faces in prayer towards the east and the west, but +righteousness is of him who believeth in God and the last day, and +the angels, and the scriptures, and the prophets; who giveth money +for God's sake unto his kindred, and unto orphans, and the needy, +and the stranger, and those who ask, and for redemption of +captives; who is constant at prayer, and giveth alms; and of those +who perform their covenant, when they have covenanted, and who +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page227" name="page227"></a>[pg +227]</span> behave themselves patiently in adversity, and +hardships, and in time of violence: these are they who are true, +and these are they who fear God. O true believers, the law of +retaliation is ordained you for the slain: the free shall die for +the free, and the servant for the servant, and a woman for a woman; +but he whom his brother shall forgive, may be prosecuted, and +obliged to make satisfaction according to what is just, and a fine +shall be set on him<a id="footnotetag33" name= +"footnotetag33"></a><a href="#footnote33"><sup>33</sup></a> with +humanity. This is indulgence from your Lord, and mercy. And he who +shall transgress after this, by killing the murderer, shall suffer +a grievous punishment. And in this law of retaliation ye have life, +O ye of understanding, that peradventure ye may fear. It is +ordained you, when any of you is at the point of death, if he leave +any goods, that he bequeath a legacy to his parents and kindred, +according to what shall be reasonable.<a id="footnotetag34" name= +"footnotetag34"></a><a href="#footnote34"><sup>34</sup></a> This is +a duty incumbent on those who fear God. But he who shall change the +legacy, after he hath heard it bequeathed by the dying person, +surely the sin thereof shall be on those who change it, for God is +he who heareth and knoweth. Howbeit he who apprehendeth from the +testator any mistake or injustice, and shall compose the matter +between them, that shall be no crime in him, for God is gracious +and merciful. O true believers, a fast is ordained you, as it was +ordained unto those before you, that ye may fear God. A certain +number of days shall ye fast: but he among you who shall be sick, +or on a journey, shall fast an equal number of other days. And +those who can keep it, and do not, must redeem their neglect by +maintaining of a poor man. And he who voluntarily dealeth better +with the poor man than he is obliged, this shall be better for him. +But if ye fast it will be better for you, if ye knew it. The month +of Ramadhan shall ye fast, in which the Koran was sent down from +heaven, a direction unto men, and declarations of direction, and +the distinction between good and evil. Therefore let him among you +who shall be present in this month, fast the same month; but he who +shall be sick, or on a journey, shall fast the like number of other +days. God would make this an ease unto you, and would not make it a +difficulty unto you; that ye may fulfil the number of days, and +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page228" name="page228"></a>[pg +228]</span> glorify God, for that he hath directed you, and that ye +may give thanks. When my servants ask thee concerning me, Verily I +am near; I will hear the prayer of him that prayeth, when he +prayeth unto me: but let them hearken unto me, and believe in me, +that they may be rightly directed. It is lawful for you on the +night of the fast to go in unto your wives: they are a garment unto +you, and ye are a garment unto them. God knoweth that ye defraud +yourselves therein, wherefore he turneth unto you and forgiveth +you. Now therefore go in unto them; and earnestly desire that which +God ordaineth you, and eat and drink, until ye can plainly +distinguish a white thread from a black thread by the daybreak: +then keep the fast until night, and go not in unto them, but be +constantly present in the places of worship. These are the +prescribed bounds of God, therefore draw not near them to +transgress them. Thus God declareth his signs unto men, that ye may +fear him. Consume not your wealth among yourselves in vain; nor +present it unto judges, that ye may devour part of men's substance +unjustly, against your own consciences. They will ask thee +concerning the phases of the moon. Answer, They are times appointed +unto men, and to show the season of the pilgrimage to Mecca. It is +not righteousness that ye enter your houses by the back part +thereof, but righteousness is of him who feareth God. Therefore +enter your houses by their doors; and fear God, that ye may be +happy. And fight for the religion of God against those who fight +against you, but transgress not by attacking them first, for God +loveth not the transgressors. And kill them wherever ye find them, +and turn them out of that whereof they have dispossessed you; for +temptation to idolatry is more grievous than slaughter: yet fight +not against them in the holy temple, until they attack you therein; +but if they attack you, slay them there. This shall be the reward +of the infidels. But if they desist, God is gracious and merciful. +Fight therefore against them, until there be no temptation to +idolatry, and the religion be God's: but if they desist, then let +there be no hostility, except against the ungodly. A sacred month +for a sacred month, and the holy limits of Mecca, if they attack +you therein, do ye also attack them therein in retaliation; and +whoever transgresseth against you by so doing, do ye transgress +against him in like manner as he hath transgressed against you, and +fear God, and know that God is with those who fear him. Contribute +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page229" name="page229"></a>[pg +229]</span> out of your substance towards the defence of the +religion of God, and throw not yourselves with your own hands into +perdition; and do good, for God loveth those who do good. Perform +the pilgrimage of Mecca, and the visitation of God; if ye be +besieged, send that offering which shall be the easiest; and shave +not your heads, until your offering reacheth the place of +sacrifice. But whoever among you is sick, or is troubled with any +distemper of the head, must redeem the shaving his head by fasting, +or alms, or some offering. When ye are secure from enemies, he who +tarrieth in the visitation of the temple of Mecca until the +pilgrimage, shall bring that offering which shall be the easiest. +But he who findeth not anything to offer, shall fast three days in +the pilgrimage, and seven when ye are returned: they shall be ten +days complete. This is incumbent on him whose family shall not be +present at the holy temple. And fear God, and know that God is +severe in punishing. The pilgrimage must be performed in the known +months; whosoever therefore purposeth to go on pilgrimage therein, +let him not know a woman, nor transgress, nor quarrel in the +pilgrimage. The good which ye do, God knoweth it. Make provision +for your journey; but the best provision is piety: and fear me, O +ye of understanding. It shall be no crime in you, if ye seek an +increase from your Lord, by trading during the pilgrimage. And when +ye go in procession from Arafat, remember God near the holy +monument; and remember him for that he hath directed you, although +ye were before this of the number of those who go astray. Therefore +go in procession from whence the people go in procession, and ask +pardon of God, for God is gracious and merciful. And when ye have +finished your holy ceremonies, remember God, according as ye +remember your fathers, or with a more reverent commemoration. There +are some men who say, O Lord, give us our portion in this world; +but such shall have no portion in the next life: and there are +others who say, O Lord, give us good in this world, and also good +in the next world, and deliver us from the torment of hell fire. +They shall have a portion of that which they have gained: God is +swift in taking an account. Remember God the appointed number of +days; but if any haste to depart from the valley of Mina in two +days, it shall be no crime in him. And if any tarry longer, it +shall be no crime in him, in him who feareth God. Therefore fear +God, and know that unto him ye <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page230" name="page230"></a>[pg 230]</span> shall be gathered. +There is a man who causeth thee to marvel<a id="footnotetag35" +name="footnotetag35"></a><a href="#footnote35"><sup>35</sup></a> by +his speech concerning this present life, and calleth God to witness +that which is in his heart, yet he is most intent in opposing thee; +and when he turneth away from thee, he hasteth to act corruptly in +the earth, and to destroy that which is sown, and springeth +up;<a id="footnotetag36" name="footnotetag36"></a><a href= +"#footnote36"><sup>36</sup></a> but God loveth not corrupt doing. +And if one say unto him, Fear God; pride seizeth him, together with +wickedness; but hell shall be his reward, and an unhappy couch +shall it be. There is also a man who selleth his soul for the sake +of those things which are pleasing unto God;<a id="footnotetag37" +name="footnotetag37"></a><a href="#footnote37"><sup>37</sup></a> +and God is gracious unto his servants. O true believers, enter into +the true religion wholly, and follow not the steps of Satan, for he +is your open enemy. If ye have slipped after the declarations of +our will have come unto you, know that God is mighty and wise. Do +the infidels expect less than that God should come down to them +overshadowed with clouds, and the angels also? but the thing is +decreed, and to God shall all things return. Ask the children of +Israel how many evident signs we have showed them; and whoever +shall change the grace of God, after it shall have come unto him, +verily God will be severe in punishing him. The present life was +ordained for those who believe not, and they laugh the faithful to +scorn; but they who fear God shall be above them, on the day of the +resurrection: for God is bountiful unto whom he pleaseth without +measure. Mankind was of one faith, and God sent prophets bearing +good tidings, and denouncing threats; and sent down with them the +scripture in truth, that it might judge between men of that +concerning which they disagreed: and none disagreed concerning it, +except those to whom the same scriptures were delivered, after the +declarations of God's will had come unto them, out of envy among +themselves. And God directed those who believed, to that truth +concerning which they disagreed, by his will: for God directeth +whom he pleaseth into the right way. Did ye think ye should enter +paradise, when as yet no such thing had happened unto you, as hath +happened unto those who have been before you? They suffered +calamity and tribulation, and were afflicted; so that the apostle, +and they who believed <span class="pagenum"><a id="page231" name= +"page231"></a>[pg 231]</span> with him, said, When will the help of +God come? Is not the help of God nigh? They will ask thee what they +shall bestow in alms: Answer, The good which ye bestow, let it be +given to parents, and kindred, and orphans, and the poor, and the +stranger. Whatsoever good ye do, God knoweth it. War is enjoined +you against the Infidels; but this is hateful unto you: yet +perchance ye hate a thing which is better for you, and perchance ye +love a thing which is worse for you: but God knoweth and ye know +not. They will ask thee concerning the sacred month, whether they +may war therein: Answer, To war therein is grievous; but to +obstruct the way of God, and infidelity towards him, and to keep +men from the holy temple, and to drive out his people from thence, +is more grievous in the sight of God, and the temptation to +idolatry is more grievous than to kill in the sacred months. They +will not cease to war against you, until they turn you from your +religion, if they be able: but whoever among you shall turn back +from his religion, and die an infidel, their works shall be vain in +this world and the next; they shall be the companions of hell fire, +they shall remain therein forever. But they who believe, and who +fly for the sake of religion, and fight in God's cause, they shall +hope for the mercy of God; for God is gracious and merciful. They +will ask thee concerning wine<a id="footnotetag38" name= +"footnotetag38"></a><a href="#footnote38"><sup>38</sup></a> and +lots:<a id="footnotetag39" name="footnotetag39"></a><a href= +"#footnote39"><sup>39</sup></a> Answer, In both there is great sin, +and also some things of use unto men, but their sinfulness is +greater than their use. They will ask thee also what they shall +bestow in alms: Answer, What ye have to spare. Thus God showeth his +signs unto you, that peradventure ye might seriously think of this +present world, and of the next. They will also ask thee concerning +orphans: Answer, To deal righteously with them is best; and if ye +intermeddle with the management of what belongs to them, do them no +wrong; they are your brethren: God knoweth the corrupt dealer from +the righteous; and if God please, he will surely distress you, for +God is mighty and wise. Marry not women who are idolaters, until +they believe: verily a maid-servant who believeth is better than an +idolatress, although she please you more. And give not women who +believe in marriage to the idolaters, until they believe; for +verily a servant who is a true believer, is better than +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page232" name="page232"></a>[pg +232]</span> an idolater, though he please you more. They invite +into hell fire, but God inviteth unto paradise and pardon through +his will, and declareth his signs unto men, that they may remember. +They will ask thee also concerning the courses of women: Answer, +They are a pollution: therefore separate yourselves from women in +their courses, and go not near them until they be cleansed. But +when they are cleansed, go in unto them as God hath commanded you, +for God loveth those who repent, and loveth those who are clean. +Your wives are your tillage; go in therefore unto your tillage in +what manner soever ye will: and do first some act that may be +profitable unto your souls; and fear God, and know that ye must +meet him; and bear good tidings unto the faithful. Make not God the +object of your oaths, that ye may deal justly, and be devout, and +make peace among men;<a id="footnotetag40" name= +"footnotetag40"></a><a href="#footnote40"><sup>40</sup></a> for God +is he who heareth and knoweth. God will not punish you for an +inconsiderate word in your oaths; but he will punish you for that +which your hearts have assented unto: God is merciful and gracious. +They who vow to abstain from their wives, are allowed to wait four +months: but if they go back from their vow, verily God is gracious +and merciful; and if they resolve on a divorce, God is he who +heareth and knoweth. The women who are divorced shall wait +concerning themselves until they have their courses thrice, and it +shall not be lawful for them to conceal that which God hath created +in their wombs, if they believe in God and the last day; and their +husbands will act more justly to bring them back at this time, if +they desire a reconciliation. The women ought also to behave +towards their husbands in like manner as their husbands should +behave towards them, according to what is just: but the men ought +to have a superiority over them. God is mighty and wise. Ye may +divorce your wives twice; and then either retain them with +humanity, or dismiss them with kindness. But it is not lawful for +you to take away anything of what ye have given them, unless both +fear that they cannot observe the ordinances of God. And if ye fear +that they cannot observe the ordinances of God, it shall be no +crime in either of them on account of that for which the wife shall +redeem herself. These <span class="pagenum"><a id="page233" name= +"page233"></a>[pg 233]</span> are the ordinances of God; therefore +transgress them not; for whoever transgresseth the ordinances of +God, they are unjust doers. But if the husband divorce her a third +time, she shall not be lawful for him again, until she marry +another husband. But if he also divorce her, it shall be no crime +in them, if they return to each other, if they think they can +observe the ordinances of God; and these are the ordinances of God: +he declareth them to people of understanding. But when ye divorce +women, and they have fulfilled their prescribed time, either retain +them with humanity, or dismiss them with kindness; and retain them +not by violence, so that ye transgress; for he who doth this, +surely injureth his own soul. And make not the signs of God a jest: +but remember God's favor towards you, and that he hath sent down +unto you the book of the Koran, and wisdom, admonishing you +thereby; and fear God, and know that God is omniscient. But when ye +have divorced your wives, and they have fulfilled their prescribed +time, hinder them not from marrying their husbands, when they have +agreed among themselves according to what is honorable. This is +given in admonition unto him among you who believeth in God, and +the last day. This is most righteous for you, and most pure. God +knoweth, but ye know not. Mothers, after they are divorced, shall +give suck unto their children two full years, to him who desireth +the time of giving suck to be completed; and the father shall be +obliged to maintain them and clothe them in the meantime, according +to that which shall be reasonable. No person shall be obliged +beyond his ability. A mother shall not be compelled to what is +unreasonable on account of her child, nor a father on account of +his child. And the heir of the father shall be obliged to do in +like manner. But if they choose to wean the child before the end of +two years, by common consent and on mutual consideration, it shall +be no crime in them. And if ye have a mind to provide a nurse for +your children, it shall be no crime in you, in case ye fully pay +what ye offer her, according to that which is just. And fear God, +and know that God seeth whatever ye do. Such of you as die, and +leave wives, their wives must wait concerning themselves four +months and ten days, and when they shall have fulfilled their term, +it shall be no crime in you, for that which they shall do with +themselves, according to what is reasonable. God well knoweth that +which ye do. And it shall be no crime <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page234" name="page234"></a>[pg 234]</span> in you, whether ye +make public overtures of marriage unto such women, within the said +four months and ten days, or whether ye conceal such your designs +in your minds: God knoweth that ye will remember them. But make no +promise unto them privately, unless ye speak honorable words; and +resolve not on the knot of marriage, until the prescribed time be +accomplished; and know that God knoweth that which is in your +minds, therefore beware of him, and know that God is gracious and +merciful. It shall be no crime in you, if ye divorce your wives, so +long as ye have not touched them, nor settled any dowry on them. +And provide for them (he who is at his ease must provide according +to his circumstances, and he who is straitened according to his +circumstances) necessaries, according to what shall be reasonable. +This is a duty incumbent on the righteous. But if ye divorce them +before ye have touched them, and have already settled a dowry on +them, ye shall give them half of what ye have settled, unless they +release any part, or he release part in whose hand the knot of +marriage is; and if ye release the whole, it will approach nearer +unto piety. And forget not liberality among you, for God seeth that +which ye do. Carefully observe the appointed prayers, and the +middle prayer,<a id="footnotetag41" name= +"footnotetag41"></a><a href="#footnote41"><sup>41</sup></a> and be +assiduous therein, with devotion towards God. But if ye fear any +danger, pray on foot or on horseback; and when ye are safe, +remember God, how he hath taught you what as yet ye knew not. And +such of you as shall die and leave wives, ought to bequeath their +wives a year's maintenance, without putting them out of their +houses: but if they go out voluntarily, it shall be no crime in +you, for that which they shall do with themselves, according to +what shall be reasonable; God is mighty and wise. And unto those +who are divorced, a reasonable provision is also due; this is a +duty incumbent on those who fear God. Thus God declareth his signs +unto you, that ye may understand. Hast thou not considered those +who left their habitations (and they were thousands) for fear of +death? And God said unto them, Die; then he restored them to life, +for God is gracious towards mankind; but the greater part of men do +not give thanks. Fight for the religion of God, and know that God +is he who heareth and knoweth. Who is he that will lend unto God on +good usury? verily he will double it unto him manifold; +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page235" name="page235"></a>[pg +235]</span> for God contracteth and extendeth his hand as he +pleaseth, and to him shall ye return. Hast thou not considered the +assembly of the children of Israel, after the time of Moses; when +they said unto their prophet Samuel, Set a king over us, that we +may fight for the religion of God? The prophet answered, If ye are +enjoined to go to war, will ye be near refusing to fight? They +answered, And what should ail us that we should not fight for the +religion of God, seeing we are dispossessed of our habitations, and +deprived of our children? But when they were enjoined to go to war, +they turned back, except a few of them: and God knew the ungodly. +And their prophet said unto them, Verily God hath set Talût +king over you: they answered, How shall he reign over us, seeing we +are more worthy of the kingdom than he, neither is he possessed of +great riches? Samuel said, Verily God hath chosen him before you, +and hath caused him to increase in knowledge and stature, for God +giveth his kingdom unto whom he pleaseth; God is bounteous and +wise. And their prophet said unto them, Verily the sign of his +kingdom shall be, that the ark shall come unto you: therein shall +be tranquillity from your Lord, and the relics which have been left +by the family of Moses, and the family of Aaron; the angels shall +bring it. Verily this shall be a sign unto you, if ye believe. And +when Talût departed with his soldiers, he said, Verily God +will prove you by the river: for he who drinketh thereof, shall not +be on my side (but he who shall not taste thereof he shall be on my +side) except he who drinketh a draught out of his hand. And they +drank thereof, except a few of them. And when they had passed the +river, he and those who believed with him, they said, We have no +strength to-day against Jalut and his forces. But they who +considered that they should meet God at the resurrection, said, How +often hath a small army discomfited a great army, by the will of +God? and God is with those who patiently persevere. And when they +went forth to battle against Jalut and his forces, they said, O +Lord, pour on us patience, and confirm our feet, and help us +against the unbelieving people. Therefore they discomfited them, by +the will of God, and David slew Jalut. And God gave him the kingdom +and wisdom, and taught him his will; and if God had not prevented +men, the one by the other, verily the earth had been corrupted: but +God is beneficent towards his creatures. These are the signs of +God: we <span class="pagenum"><a id="page236" name= +"page236"></a>[pg 236]</span> rehearse them unto thee with truth, +and thou art surely one of those who have been sent by God. These +are the apostles; we have preferred some of them before others: +some of them hath God spoken unto, and hath exalted the degree of +others of them. And we gave unto Jesus the son of Mary manifest +signs, and strengthened him with the holy spirit. And if God had +pleased, they who came after those apostles would not have +contended among themselves, after manifest signs had been shown +unto them. But they fell to variance; therefore some of them +believed, and some of them believed not; and if God had so pleased, +they would not have contended among themselves, but God doeth what +he will. O true believers, give alms of that which we have bestowed +on you, before the day cometh wherein there shall be no +merchandising, nor friendship, nor intercession. The infidels are +unjust doers. God! there is no God but he;<a id="footnotetag42" +name="footnotetag42"></a><a href="#footnote42"><sup>42</sup></a> +the living, the self-subsisting: neither slumber nor sleep seizeth +him; to him belongeth whatsoever is in heaven, and on earth. Who is +he that can intercede with him, but through his good pleasure! He +knoweth that which is past, and that which is to come unto them, +and they shall not comprehend anything of his knowledge, but so far +as he pleaseth. His throne is extended over heaven and earth,<a id= +"footnotetag43" name="footnotetag43"></a><a href= +"#footnote43"><sup>43</sup></a> and the preservation of both is no +burden unto him. He is the high, the mighty. Let there be no +violence in religion. Now is right direction manifestly +distinguished from deceit: whoever therefore shall deny Tagut, and +believe in God, he shall surely take hold on a strong handle, which +shall not be broken; God is he who heareth and seeth. God is the +patron of those who believe; he shall lead them out of darkness +into light: but as to those who believe not, their patrons are +Tagut; they shall lead them from the light into darkness; they +shall be the companions of hell fire, they shall remain therein +forever. Hast thou not considered him who disputed with Abraham +concerning his Lord, because God had given him the kingdom? When +Abraham said, My Lord is he who giveth life, and killeth: he +answered, I give life, and I kill. Abraham said, Verily God +bringeth the sun from the east, now do thou bring <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page237" name="page237"></a>[pg 237]</span> it +from the west. Whereupon the infidel was confounded; for God +directeth not the ungodly people. Or hast thou not considered how +he behaved who passed by a city which had been destroyed, even to +her foundations? He said, How shall God quicken this city, after +she hath been dead? And God caused him to die for a hundred years, +and afterwards raised him to life. And God said, How long hast thou +tarried here? He answered, A day, or part of a day. God said, Nay, +thou hast tarried here a hundred years. Now look on thy food and +the drink, they are not yet corrupted; and look on thine ass: and +this have we done that we might make thee a sign unto men. And look +on the bones of thine ass, how we raise them, and afterwards clothe +them with flesh. And when this was shown unto him, he said, I know +that God is able to do all things. And when Abraham said, O Lord, +show me how thou wilt raise the dead; God said, Dost thou not yet +believe? He answered, Yea; but I ask this that my heart may rest at +ease. God said, take therefore four birds, and divide them; then +lay a part of them on every mountain; then call them, and they +shall come swiftly unto thee: and know that God is mighty and wise. +The similitude of those who lay out their substance for advancing +the religion of God, is as a grain of corn which produceth seven +ears, and in every ear a hundred grains; for God giveth twofold +unto whom he pleaseth: God is bounteous and wise. They who lay out +their substance for the religion of God, and afterwards follow not +what they have so laid out by reproaches or mischief, they shall +have their reward with their Lord; upon them shall no fear come, +neither shall they be grieved. A fair speech, and to forgive, is +better than alms followed by mischief. God is rich and merciful. O +true believers, make not your alms of no effect by reproaching, or +mischief, as he who layeth out what he hath to appear unto men to +give alms, and believeth not in God and the last day. The likeness +of such a one is as a flint covered with earth, on which a violent +rain falleth, and leaveth it hard. They cannot prosper in anything +which they have gained, for God directeth not the unbelieving +people. And the likeness of those who lay out their substance from +a desire to please God, and for an establishment for their souls, +is as a garden on a hill, on which a violent rain falleth, and it +bringeth forth its fruits twofold; and if a violent rain falleth +not on it, yet the dew falleth thereon: and God seeth that which +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page238" name="page238"></a>[pg +238]</span> ye do. Doth any of you desire to have a garden of +palm-trees and vines, through which rivers flow, wherein he may +have all kinds of fruits, and that he may attain to old age, and +have a weak offspring? then a violent fiery wind shall strike it, +so that it shall be burned. Thus God declareth his signs unto you, +that ye may consider. O true believers, bestow alms of the good +things which ye have gained, and of that which we have produced for +you out of the earth, and choose not the bad thereof, to give it in +alms, such as ye would not accept yourselves, otherwise than by +connivance: and know that God is rich and worthy to be praised. The +devil threateneth you with poverty, and commandeth you filthy +covetousness; but God promiseth you pardon from himself and +abundance: God is bounteous and wise. He giveth wisdom unto whom he +pleaseth; and he unto whom wisdom is given, hath received much +good: but none will consider, except the wise of heart. And +whatever alms ye shall give, or whatever vow ye shall vow, verily +God knoweth it; but the ungodly shall have none to help them. If ye +make your alms to appear, it is well; but if ye conceal them, and +give them unto the poor, this will be better for you, and will +atone for your sins: and God is well informed of that which ye do. +The direction of them belongeth not unto thee; but God directeth +whom he pleaseth. The good that ye shall give in alms shall redound +unto yourselves; and ye shall not give unless out of desire of +seeing the face of God. And what good thing ye shall give in alms, +it shall be repaid you, and ye shall not be treated unjustly; unto +the poor who are wholly employed in fighting for the religion of +God, and cannot go to and fro in the earth; whom the ignorant man +thinketh rich, because of their modesty: thou shalt know them by +this mark, they ask not men with importunity; and what good ye +shall give in alms, verily God knoweth it. They who distribute alms +of their substance night and day, in private and in public, shall +have their reward with the Lord; on them shall no fear come, +neither shall they be grieved. They who devour usury shall not +arise from the dead, but as he ariseth whom Satan hath infected by +a touch: this shall happen to them because they say, Truly selling +is but as usury: and yet God hath permitted selling and forbidden +usury. He therefore who, when there cometh unto him an admonition +from his Lord, abstaineth from usury for the future, shall have +what is past forgiven him, and his affair belongeth unto God. But +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page239" name="page239"></a>[pg +239]</span> whoever returneth to usury, they shall be the +companions of hell fire, they shall continue therein forever. God +shall take his blessing from usury, and shall increase alms: for +God loveth no infidel, or ungodly person. But they who believe and +do that which is right, and observe the stated times of prayer, and +pay their legal alms, they shall have their reward with their Lord: +there shall come no fear on them, neither shall they be grieved. O +true believers, fear God, and remit that which remaineth of usury, +if ye really believe; but if ye do it not, hearken unto war, which +is declared against you from God and his apostle: yet if ye repent, +ye shall have the capital of your money. Deal not unjustly with +others, and ye shall not be dealt with unjustly. If there be any +debtor under a difficulty of paying his debt, let his creditor wait +till it be easy for him to do it; but if ye remit it as alms, it +will be better for you, if ye knew it. And fear the day wherein ye +shall return unto God; then shall every soul be paid what it hath +gained, and they shall not be treated unjustly. O true believers, +when ye bind yourselves one to the other in a debt for a certain +time, write it down; and let a writer write between you according +to justice, and let not the writer refuse writing according to what +God hath taught him; but let him write, and let him who oweth the +debt dictate, and let him fear God his Lord, and not diminish aught +thereof. But if he who oweth the debt be foolish, or weak, or be +not able to dictate himself, let his agent dictate according to +equity; and call to witness two witnesses of your neighboring men; +but if there be not two men, let there be a man and two women of +those whom ye shall choose for witnesses: if one of those women +should mistake, the other of them will cause her to recollect. And +the witnesses shall not refuse, whensoever they shall be called. +And disdain not to write it down, be it a large debt, or be it a +small one, until its time of payment: this will be more just in the +sight of God, and more right for bearing witness, and more easy, +that ye may not doubt. But if it be a present bargain which ye +transact between yourselves, it shall be no crime in you, if ye +write it not down. And take witnesses when ye sell one to the +other, and let no harm be done to the writer, nor to the witness; +which if ye do, it will surely be injustice in you: and fear God, +and God will instruct you, for God knoweth all things. And if ye be +on a journey, and find no writer, let pledges be taken: but if one +of you trust the other, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page240" name= +"page240"></a>[pg 240]</span> let him who is trusted return what he +is trusted with, and fear God his Lord. And conceal not the +testimony, for he who concealeth it hath surely a wicked heart: God +knoweth that which ye do. Whatever is in heaven and on earth is +God's; and whether ye manifest that which is in your minds, or +conceal it, God will call you to account for it, and will forgive +whom he pleaseth, and will punish whom he pleaseth; for God is +almighty. The apostle believeth in that which hath been sent down +unto him from his Lord, and the faithful also. Every one of them +believeth in God, and his angels, and his scriptures, and his +apostles: we make no distinction at all between his apostles.<a id= +"footnotetag44" name="footnotetag44"></a><a href= +"#footnote44"><sup>44</sup></a> And they say, We have heard, and do +obey: we implore thy mercy, O Lord, for unto thee must we return. +God will not force any soul beyond its capacity: it shall have the +good which it gaineth, and it shall suffer the evil which it +gaineth. O Lord, punish us not, if we forget, or act sinfully: O +Lord, lay not on us a burden like that which thou hast laid on +those who have been before us;<a id="footnotetag45" name= +"footnotetag45"></a><a href="#footnote45"><sup>45</sup></a> neither +make us, O Lord, to bear what we have not strength to bear, but be +favorable unto us, and spare us, and be merciful unto us. Thou art +our patron, help us therefore against the unbelieving nations.</p> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote22" name= +"footnote22"></a><b>Footnote 22:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag22">(return)</a> +<p>This title was occasioned by the story of the red heifer, +mentioned <a href="#page217">p. 217</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote23" name= +"footnote23"></a><b>Footnote 23:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag23">(return)</a> +<p>Concerning the creation of Adam, here intimated, the Mohammedans +have several peculiar traditions. They say the angels, Gabriel, +Michael, and Israfil, were sent by God, one after another, to fetch +for that purpose seven handfuls of earth from different depths, and +of different colors (whence some account for the various complexion +of mankind); but the earth being apprehensive of the consequence, +and desiring them to represent her fear to God that the creature he +designed to form would rebel against him, and draw down his curse +upon her, they returned without performing God's command; whereupon +he sent Azraïl on the same errand, who executed his commission +without remorse, for which reason God appointed that angel to +separate the souls from the bodies, being therefore called the +angel of death. The earth he had taken was carried into Arabia, to +a place between Mecca and Tayef, where, being first kneaded by the +angels, it was afterwards fashioned by God himself into a human +form, and left to dry for the space of forty days, or, as others +say, as many years, the angels in the meantime often visiting it, +and Eblis (then one of the angels who are nearest to God's +presence, afterwards the devil) among the rest; but he, not +contented with looking on it, kicked it with his foot, and knowing +God designed that creature to be his superior, took a secret +resolution never to acknowledge him as such. After this, God +animated the figure of clay and endued it with an intelligent soul, +and when he had placed him in paradise, formed Eve out of his left +side.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote24" name= +"footnote24"></a><b>Footnote 24:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag24">(return)</a> +<p>This occasion of the devil's fall has some affinity with an +opinion which has been pretty much entertained among Christians, +viz., that the angels being informed of God's intention to create +man after his own image, and to dignify human nature by Christ's +assuming it, some of them, thinking their glory to be eclipsed +thereby, envied man's happiness, and so revolted.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote25" name= +"footnote25"></a><b>Footnote 25:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag25">(return)</a> +<p>The Jews are here called upon to receive the Koran, as verifying +and confirming the Pentateuch, particularly with respect to the +unity of God, and the mission of Mohammed. And they are exhorted +not to conceal the passages of their law which bear witness to +those truths, nor to corrupt them by publishing false copies of the +Pentateuch, for which the writers were but poorly paid.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote26" name= +"footnote26"></a><b>Footnote 26:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag26">(return)</a> +<p>The person who cast this calf, the Mohammedans say, was (not +Aaron but) al Sâmeri, one of the principal men among the +children of Israel, some of whose descendants it is pretended still +inhabit an island of that name in the Arabian Gulf. It was made of +the rings and bracelets of gold, silver, and other materials, which +the Israelites had borrowed of the Egyptians; for Aaron, who +commanded in his brother's absence, having ordered al Sâmeri +to collect those ornaments from the people, who carried on a wicked +commerce with them, and to keep them together till the return of +Moses; al Sâmeri, understanding the founder's art, put them +into a furnace to melt them down into one mass, which came out in +the form of a calf.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote27" name= +"footnote27"></a><b>Footnote 27:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag27">(return)</a> +<p>The eastern writers say these quails were of a peculiar kind, to +be found nowhere but in Yaman, from whence they were brought by a +south wind in great numbers to the Israelites' camp in the desert. +The Arabs call these birds Salwä, which is plainly the same +with the Hebrew Salwim, and say they have no bones, but are eaten +whole.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote28" name= +"footnote28"></a><b>Footnote 28:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag28">(return)</a> +<p>The occasion of this sacrifice is thus related: A certain man at +his death left his son, then a child, a cow-calf, which wandered in +the desert till he came to age; at which time his mother told him +the heifer was his, and bid him fetch her, and sell her for three +pieces of gold. When the young man came to the market with his +heifer, an angel in the shape of a man accosted him, and bid him +six pieces of gold for her; but he would not take the money till he +had asked his mother's consent; which when he had obtained, he +returned to the market-place, and met the angel, who now offered +him twice as much for the heifer, provided he would say nothing of +it to his mother; but the young man refusing, went and acquainted +her with the additional offer. The woman perceiving it was an +angel, bid her son go back and ask him what must be done with the +heifer; whereupon the angel told the young man that in a little +time the children of Israel would buy that heifer of him at any +price. And soon after it happened that an Israelite, named Hammiel, +was killed by a relation of his, who, to prevent discovery, +conveyed the body to a place considerably distant from that where +the act was committed. The friends of the slain man accused some +other persons of the murder before Moses; but they denying the +fact, and there being no evidence to convict them, God commanded a +cow, of such and such particular marks, to be killed; but there +being no other which answered the description except the orphan's +heifer, they were obliged to buy her for as much gold as her hide +would hold; according to some, for her full weight in gold, and as +others say, for ten times as much. This heifer they sacrificed, and +the dead body being, by divine direction, struck with a part of it, +revived, and standing up, named the person who had killed Him; +after which it immediately fell down dead again. The whole story +seems to be borrowed from the red heifer which was ordered by the +Jewish law to be burnt, and the ashes kept for purifying those who +happened to touch a dead corpse; and from the heifer directed to be +slain for the expiation of an uncertain murder. See Deut. xxi. +1-9.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote29" name= +"footnote29"></a><b>Footnote 29:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag29">(return)</a> +<p>Those two Arabic words have both the same signification, viz., +Look on us; and are a kind of salutation. Mohammed had a great +aversion to the first, because the Jews frequently used it in +derision, it being a word of reproach in their tongue. They +alluded, it seems, to the Hebrew verb <i>ruá</i>, which +signifies to be bad or mischievous.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote30" name= +"footnote30"></a><b>Footnote 30:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag30">(return)</a> +<p>By baptism is to be understood the religion which God instituted +in the beginning; because the signs of it appear in the person who +professes it, as the signs of water appear in the clothes of him +that is baptized.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote31" name= +"footnote31"></a><b>Footnote 31:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag31">(return)</a> +<p>At first, Mohammed and his followers observed no particular rite +in turning their faces towards any certain place, or quarter, of +the world, when they prayed; it being declared to be perfectly +indifferent.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote32" name= +"footnote32"></a><b>Footnote 32:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag32">(return)</a> +<p>For this reason, whenever the Mohammedans kill any animal for +food, they always say, <i>Bismi allah</i>, or "In the name of God"; +which, if it be neglected, they think it not lawful to eat of +it.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote33" name= +"footnote33"></a><b>Footnote 33:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag33">(return)</a> +<p>This is the common practice in Mohammedan countries, +particularly in Persia, where the relations of the deceased may +take their choice, either to have the murderer put into their hands +to be put to death, or else to accept of a pecuniary +satisfaction.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote34" name= +"footnote34"></a><b>Footnote 34:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag34">(return)</a> +<p>That is, the legacy was not to exceed a third part of the +testator's substance, nor to be given where there was no necessity. +But this injunction is abrogated by the law concerning +inheritances.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote35" name= +"footnote35"></a><b>Footnote 35:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag35">(return)</a> +<p>This person was al Akhnas Ebn Shoraik, a fair-spoken dissembler, +who swore that he believed in Mohammed, and pretended to be one of +his friends, and to contemn this world. But God here reveals to the +prophet his hypocrisy and wickedness.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote36" name= +"footnote36"></a><b>Footnote 36:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag36">(return)</a> +<p>Setting fire to his neighbor's corn, and killing his asses by +night.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote37" name= +"footnote37"></a><b>Footnote 37:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag37">(return)</a> +<p>The person here meant was one Soheib, who being persecuted by +the idolaters of Mecca forsook all he had and fled to Medina.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote38" name= +"footnote38"></a><b>Footnote 38:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag38">(return)</a> +<p>Under the name of wine all sorts of strong and inebriating +liquors are comprehended.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote39" name= +"footnote39"></a><b>Footnote 39:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag39">(return)</a> +<p>The original word, <i>al Meiser</i>, properly signifies a +particular game performed with arrows, and much in use with the +pagan Arabs. But by lots we are here to understand all games +whatsoever, which are subject to chance or hazard, as dice and +cards.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote40" name= +"footnote40"></a><b>Footnote 40:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag40">(return)</a> +<p>Some commentators expound this negatively, "That ye will not +deal justly, nor be devout ..." For such wicked oaths, they say, +were customary among the idolatrous inhabitants of Mecca; which +gave occasion to the following saying of Mohammed: "When you swear +to do a thing, and afterwards find it better to do otherwise, do +that which is better, and make void your oath."</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote41" name= +"footnote41"></a><b>Footnote 41:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag41">(return)</a> +<p>Yahya interprets this from a tradition of Mohammed, who, being +asked which was the middle prayer, answered, The evening prayer, +which was instituted by the prophet Solomon.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote42" name= +"footnote42"></a><b>Footnote 42:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag42">(return)</a> +<p>The following seven lines contain a magnificent description of +the divine majesty and providence; but it must not be supposed the +translation comes up to the dignity of the original. This passage +is justly admired by the Mohammedans, who recite it in their +prayers; and some of them wear it about them, engraved on an agate +or other precious stone.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote43" name= +"footnote43"></a><b>Footnote 43:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag43">(return)</a> +<p>This throne, in Arabic called Corsi, is by the Mohammedans +supposed to be God's tribunal, or seat of justice.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote44" name= +"footnote44"></a><b>Footnote 44:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag44">(return)</a> +<p>But this, say the Mohammedans, the Jews do, who receive Moses +but reject Jesus; and the Christians, who receive both those +prophets, but reject Mohammed.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote45" name= +"footnote45"></a><b>Footnote 45:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag45">(return)</a> +<p>That is, on the Jews, who, as the commentators tell us, were +ordered to kill a man by way of atonement, to give one-fourth of +their substance in alms, and to cut off an unclean ulcerous part, +and were forbidden to eat fat, or animals that divided the hoof, +and were obliged to observe the Sabbath, and other particulars +wherein the Mohammedans are at liberty.</p> +</blockquote> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page241" name="page241"></a>[pg +241]</span> +<h3><a id="koran-iii" name="koran-iii">CHAPTER III</a></h3> +<h4>Entitled, the Family of Imran<a id="footnotetag46" name= +"footnotetag46"></a><a href= +"#footnote46"><sup>46</sup></a>—Revealed at Medina</h4> +<p><i>In the Name of the Most Merciful God</i>.</p> +<p>A.L.M.<a id="footnotetag47" name="footnotetag47"></a><a href= +"#footnote47"><sup>47</sup></a> There is no God but God, the +living, self-subsisting: He hath sent down unto thee the book of +the Koran with truth, confirming that which was revealed before it; +for he had formerly sent down the law and the gospel, a direction +unto men; and he had also sent down the distinction between good +and evil. Verily those who believe not the signs of God, shall +suffer a grievous punishment; for God is mighty, able to revenge. +Surely nothing is hidden from God, of that which is on earth, or in +heaven: it is he who formeth you in the wombs, as he pleaseth; +there is no God but he, the mighty, the wise. It is he who hath +sent down unto thee the book, wherein are some verses clear to be +understood, they are the foundation of the book; and others are +parabolical. But they whose hearts are perverse will follow that +which is parabolical therein, out of love of schism, and a desire +of the interpretation thereof; yet none knoweth the interpretation +thereof, except God. But they who are well grounded in knowledge +say, We believe therein, the whole is from our Lord; and none will +consider except the prudent. O Lord, cause not our hearts to swerve +from truth, after thou hast directed us: and give us from thee +mercy, for thou art he who giveth. O Lord, thou shalt surely gather +mankind together, unto a day of resurrection: there is no doubt of +it, for God will not be contrary to the promise. As for the +infidels, their wealth shall not profit them anything, nor their +children, against God: they shall be the fuel of hell fire. +According to the wont of the people of Pharaoh, and of those who +went before them, they charged our signs with a lie; but God caught +them in their wickedness, and God is severe in punishing. Say unto +those who believe not, Ye shall be overcome, and thrown together +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page242" name="page242"></a>[pg +242]</span> into hell; an unhappy couch shall it be. Ye have +already had a miracle shown you in two armies, which attacked each +other:<a id="footnotetag48" name="footnotetag48"></a><a href= +"#footnote48"><sup>48</sup></a> one army fought for God's true +religion, but the other were infidels; they saw the faithful twice +as many as themselves in their eyesight; for God strengthened with +his help whom he pleaseth. Surely herein was an example unto men of +understanding. The love and eager desire of wives, and children, +and sums heaped up of gold and silver, and excellent horses, and +cattle, and land, is prepared for men: this is the provision of the +present life; but unto God shall be the most excellent return. Say, +Shall I declare unto you better things than this? For those who are +devout are prepared with their Lord, gardens through which rivers +flow; therein shall they continue forever: and they shall enjoy +wives free from impurity, and the favor of God; for God regardeth +his servants; who say, O Lord, we do sincerely believe; forgive us +therefore our sins, and deliver us from the pain of hell fire: the +patient, and the lovers of truth, and the devout, and the +alms-givers, and those who ask pardon early in the morning. God +hath borne witness that there is no God but he; and the angels, and +those who are endowed with wisdom, profess the same; who executed +righteousness; there is no God but he; the mighty, the wise. Verily +the true religion in the sight of God, is Islam;<a id= +"footnotetag49" name="footnotetag49"></a><a href= +"#footnote49"><sup>49</sup></a> and they who had received the +scriptures dissented not therefrom, until after the knowledge of +God's unity had come unto them, out of envy among themselves; but +whosoever believeth not in the signs of God, verily God will be +swift in bringing him to account. If they dispute with thee, say, I +have resigned myself unto God, and he who followeth me doth the +same: and say unto them who have received the scriptures, and to +the ignorant, Do ye profess the religion of Islam? Now if they +embrace Islam, they are surely directed; but if they turn their +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page243" name="page243"></a>[pg +243]</span> backs, verily unto thee belongeth preaching only; for +God regardeth his servants. And unto those who believe not in the +signs of God, and slay the prophets without a cause, and put those +men to death who teach justice; denounce unto them a painful +punishment. These are they whose works perish in this world, and in +that which is to come; and they shall have none to help them. Hast +thou not observed those unto whom part of the scripture was given? +They were called unto the book of God, that it might judge between +them; then some of them turned their backs, and retired afar-off. +This they did because they said, The fire of hell shall by no means +touch us, but for a certain number of days: and that which they had +falsely devised, hath deceived them in their religion. How then +will it be with them, when we shall gather them together at the day +of judgment,<a id="footnotetag50" name="footnotetag50"></a><a href= +"#footnote50"><sup>50</sup></a> of which there is no doubt; and +every soul shall be paid that which it hath gained, neither shall +they be treated unjustly? Say, O God, who possessest the kingdom; +thou givest the kingdom unto whom thou wilt, and thou takest away +the kingdom from whom thou wilt: thou exaltest whom thou wilt, and +thou humblest whom thou wilt: in thy hand is good, for thou art +almighty. Thou makest the night to succeed the day: thou bringest +forth the living out of the dead, and thou bringest forth the dead +out of the living; and providest food for whom thou wilt without +measure. Let not the faithful take the infidels for their +protectors, rather than the faithful: he who doth this shall not be +protected of God at all; unless ye fear any danger from them: but +God warneth you to beware of himself; for unto God must ye return. +Say, Whether ye conceal that which is in your breasts, or whether +ye declare it, God knoweth it: for he knoweth whatever is in +heaven, and whatever is on earth: God is almighty. On the last day +every soul shall find the good which it hath wrought, present; and +the evil which it hath wrought, it shall wish that between itself +and that were a wide distance: but God warneth you to beware of +himself; for God is gracious unto his servants. Say, If ye love +God, follow me: then God shall love you, and forgive you your sins; +for God is gracious and merciful. Say, Obey God, and his apostle: +but if ye go back, verily God loveth not the unbelievers. +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page244" name="page244"></a>[pg +244]</span> God hath surely chosen Adam, and Noah, and the family +of Abraham, and the family of Imran above the rest of the world; a +race descending the one from the other: God is he who heareth and +knoweth. Remember when the wife of Imran said, Lord, verily I have +vowed unto thee that which is in my womb, to be dedicated to thy +service: accept it therefore of me; for thou art he who heareth and +knoweth. And when she was delivered of it, she said, Lord, verily I +have brought forth a female (and God well knew what she had brought +forth), and a male is not as a female: I have called her Mary; and +I commend her to thy protection, and also her issue, against Satan +driven away with stones. Therefore the Lord accepted her with a +gracious acceptance, and caused her to bear an excellent offspring. +And Zacharias took care of the child; whenever Zacharias went into +the chamber to her, he found provisions with her; and he said, O +Mary, whence hadst thou this? she answered, This is from God: for +God provideth for whom he pleaseth without measure. There Zacharias +called on his Lord, and said, Lord, give me from thee a good +offspring, for thou art the hearer of prayer. And the angels called +to him, while he stood praying in the chamber, saying, Verily God +promiseth thee a son named John, who shall bear witness to the Word +which cometh from God; an honorable person, chaste, and one of the +righteous prophets. He answered, Lord, how shall I have a son, when +old age hath overtaken me, and my wife is barren? The angel said, +So God doth that which he pleaseth. Zacharias answered, Lord, give +me a sign. The angel said, Thy sign shall be, that thou shalt speak +unto no man for three days, otherwise than by gesture: remember thy +Lord often, and praise him evening and morning. And when the angels +said, O Mary, verily God hath chosen thee, and hath purified thee, +and hath chosen thee above all the women of the world: O Mary, be +devout towards thy Lord, and worship, and bow down with those who +bow down. This is a secret history: we reveal it unto thee, +although thou wast not present with them when they threw in their +rods to cast lots which of them should have the education of Mary: +neither wast thou with them, when they strove among themselves. +When the angels said, O Mary, verily God sendeth thee good tidings, +that thou shalt bear the Word, proceeding from himself; his name +shall be Christ Jesus the son of Mary, honorable in this world and +in <span class="pagenum"><a id="page245" name="page245"></a>[pg +245]</span> the world to come, and one of those who approach near +to the presence of God; and he shall speak unto men in the cradle, +and when he is grown up;<a id="footnotetag51" name= +"footnotetag51"></a><a href="#footnote51"><sup>51</sup></a> and he +shall be one of the righteous: she answered, Lord, how shall I have +a son, since a man hath not touched me? the angel said, So God +createth that which he pleaseth: when he decreeth a thing, he only +saith unto it, Be, and it is: God shall teach him the scripture, +and wisdom, and the law, and the gospel; and shall appoint him his +apostle to the children of Israel; and he shall say, Verily I come +unto you with a sign from your Lord; for I will make before you, of +clay, as it were the figure of a bird; then I will breathe thereon, +and it shall become a bird, by the permission of God: and I will +heal him that hath been blind from his birth, and the leper: and I +will raise the dead by the permission of God: and I will prophesy +unto you what ye eat, and what ye lay up for store in your houses. +Verily herein will be a sign unto you, if ye believe. And I come to +confirm the Law which was revealed before me, and to allow unto you +as lawful, part of that which hath been forbidden you:<a id= +"footnotetag52" name="footnotetag52"></a><a href= +"#footnote52"><sup>52</sup></a> and I come unto you with a sign +from your Lord; therefore fear God, and obey me. Verily God is my +Lord, and your Lord: therefore serve him. This is the right way. +But when Jesus perceived their unbelief, he said, Who will be my +helpers towards God? The apostles<a id="footnotetag53" name= +"footnotetag53"></a><a href="#footnote53"><sup>53</sup></a> +answered, We will be the helpers of God; we believe in God, and do +thou bear witness that we are true believers. O Lord, we believe in +that which thou has sent down, and we have followed thy apostle; +write us down therefore with those who bear witness of him. And the +Jews devised a stratagem against him; but God devised a stratagem +against them; and God is the best deviser of stratagems. When God +said, O Jesus, verily I will cause thee to die, and I will take +thee up unto me,<a id="footnotetag54" name= +"footnotetag54"></a><a href="#footnote54"><sup>54</sup></a> and I +will deliver thee from the unbelievers; and I will place those who +follow thee above the unbelievers, until the day of resurrection: +then unto me shall ye return, and I will judge between you of that +concerning which ye disagree. Moreover, as for the infidels, I will +punish them with a grievous punishment in this <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page246" name="page246"></a>[pg 246]</span> world, +and in that which is to come; and there shall be none to help them. +But they who believe, and do that which is right, he shall give +them their reward; for God loveth not the wicked doers. These signs +and this prudent admonition do we rehearse unto thee. Verily the +likeness of Jesus in the sight of God is as the likeness of Adam: +he created him out of the dust, and then said unto him, Be; and he +was. This is the truth from thy Lord; be not therefore one of those +who doubt: and whoever shall dispute with thee concerning him, +after the knowledge which hath been given thee, say unto them, +Come, let us call together our sons, and your sons, and our wives, +and your wives, and ourselves, and yourselves; then let us make +imprecations, and lay the curse of God on those who lie. Verily +this is a true history: and there is no God but God; and God is +most mighty, and wise. If they turn back, God well knoweth the +evil-doers. Say, O ye who have received the scripture, come to a +just determination between us and you; that we worship not any +except God, and associate no creature with him; and that the one of +us take not the other for lords, beside God. But if they turn back, +say, Bear witness that we are true believers. O ye to whom the +scriptures have been given, why do ye dispute concerning Abraham, +since the Law and the Gospel were not sent down until after him? Do +ye not therefore understand? Behold ye are they who dispute +concerning that which ye have some knowledge in; why therefore do +ye dispute concerning that which ye have no knowledge of? God +knoweth, but ye know not. Abraham was neither a Jew, nor a +Christian; but he was of the true religion, one resigned unto God, +and was not of the number of the idolaters. Verily the men who are +the nearest of kin unto Abraham, are they who follow him; and this +prophet, and they who believe on him: God is the patron of the +faithful. Some of those who have received the scriptures desire to +seduce you; but they seduce themselves only, and they perceive it +not. O ye who have received the scriptures, why do ye not believe +in the signs of God, since ye are witnesses of them? O ye who have +received the scriptures, why do ye clothe truth with vanity, and +knowingly hide the truth? And some of those to whom the scriptures +were given, say, Believe in that which hath been sent down unto +those who believe, in the beginning of the day, and deny it in the +end thereof; that they may go back from their <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page247" name="page247"></a>[pg 247]</span> faith: +and believe him only who followeth your religion. Say, Verily the +true direction is the direction of God, that there may be given +unto some other a revelation like unto what hath been given unto +you. Will they dispute with you before your Lord? Say, Surely +excellence is in the hand of God, he giveth it unto whom he +pleaseth; God is bounteous and wise: he will confer peculiar mercy +on whom he pleaseth; for God is endued with great beneficence. +There is of those who have received the scriptures, unto whom if +thou trust a talent, he will restore it unto thee; and there is +also of them, unto whom if thou trust a dinar,<a id="footnotetag55" +name="footnotetag55"></a><a href="#footnote55"><sup>55</sup></a> he +will not restore it unto thee, unless thou stand over him +continually with great urgency. This they do because they say, We +are not obliged to observe justice with the heathen: but they utter +a lie against God, knowingly. Yea; whoso keepeth his covenant, and +feareth God, God surely loveth those who fear him. But they who +make merchandise of God's covenant, and of their oaths, for a small +price, shall have no portion in the next life, neither shall God +speak to them or regard them on the day of resurrection, nor shall +he cleanse them; but they shall suffer a grievous punishment. And +there are certainly some of them, who read the scriptures +perversely, that ye may think what they read to be really in the +scriptures, yet it is not in the scripture; and they say, This is +from God; but it is not from God: and they speak that which is +false concerning God, against their own knowledge. It is not fit +for a man, that God should give him a book of revelations, and +wisdom, and prophecy; and then he should say unto men, Be ye +worshippers of me, besides God; but he ought to say, Be ye perfect +in knowledge and in works, since ye know the scriptures, and +exercise yourselves therein. God hath not commanded you to take the +angels and the prophets for your Lords: Will he command you to +become infidels, after ye have been true believers? And remember +when God accepted the covenant of the prophets, saying, This verily +is the scripture and the wisdom which I have given you: hereafter +shall an apostle come unto you, confirming the truth of that +scripture which is with you; ye shall surely believe on him, and ye +shall assist him. God said, Are ye firmly resolved, and do ye +accept my covenant on this condition? They answered, We are firmly +resolved: God <span class="pagenum"><a id="page248" name= +"page248"></a>[pg 248]</span> said, Be ye therefore witnesses; and +I also bear witness with you: and whosoever turneth back after +this, they are surely the transgressors. Do they therefore seek any +other religion but God's? since to him is resigned whosoever is in +heaven or on earth, voluntarily, or of force: and to him shall they +return. Say, We believe in God, and that which hath been sent down +unto us, and that which was sent down unto Abraham, and Ismael, and +Isaac, and Jacob, and the tribes, and that which was delivered to +Moses, and Jesus, and the prophets from their Lord; we make no +distinction between any of them; and to him are we resigned. +Whoever followeth any other religion than Islam, it shall not be +accepted of him: and in the next life he shall be of those who +perish. How shall God direct men who have become infidels after +they had believed, and borne witness that the apostle was true, and +manifest declarations of the divine will had come unto them? for +God directeth not the ungodly people. Their reward shall be, that +on them shall fall the curse of God, and of angels, and of all +mankind: they shall remain under the same forever; their torment +shall not be mitigated, neither shall they be regarded; except +those who repent after this, and amend; for God is gracious and +merciful. Moreover they who become infidels after they have +believed, and yet increase in infidelity, their repentance shall in +no wise be accepted, and they are those who go astray. Verily they +who believe not, and die in their unbelief, the world full of gold +shall in no wise be accepted from any of them, even though he +should give it for his ransom; they shall suffer a grievous +punishment, and they shall have none to help them. Ye will never +attain unto righteousness, until ye give in alms of that which ye +love: and whatever ye give, God knoweth it. All food was permitted +unto the children of Israel, except what Israel forbade unto +himself before the Pentateuch was sent down. Say unto the Jews, +Bring hither the Pentateuch and read it, if ye speak truth. Whoever +therefore contriveth a lie against God after this, they will be +evil-doers. Say, God is true: follow ye therefore the religion of +Abraham the orthodox; for he was no idolater. Verily the first +house appointed unto men to worship in was that which is in +Becca;<a id="footnotetag56" name="footnotetag56"></a><a href= +"#footnote56"><sup>56</sup></a> blessed, and a direction to all +creatures. Therein are manifest signs: <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page249" name="page249"></a>[pg 249]</span> the place where +Abraham stood; and whoever entereth therein, shall be safe. And it +is a duty towards God, incumbent on those who are able to go +thither, to visit this house; but whosoever disbelieveth, verily +God needeth not the service of any creature. Say, O ye who have +received the scriptures, why do ye not believe in the signs of God? +Say, O ye who have received the scriptures, why do ye keep back +from the way of God him who believeth? Ye seek to make it crooked, +and yet are witnesses that it is the right: but God will not be +unmindful of what ye do. O true believers, if ye obey some of those +who have received the scripture, they will render you infidels, +after ye have believed: and how can ye be infidels, when the signs +of God are read unto you, and his apostle is among you? But he who +cleaveth firmly unto God, is already directed into the right way. O +believers, fear God with his true fear; and die not unless ye also +be true believers. And cleave all of you unto the covenant of God, +and depart not from it, and remember the favor of God towards you: +since ye were enemies, and he reconciled your hearts, and ye became +companions and brethren by his favor: and ye were on the brink of a +pit of fire, and he delivered you thence. Thus God declareth unto +you his signs, that ye may be directed. Let there be people among +you, who invite to the best religion; and command that which is +just, and forbid that which is evil; and they shall be happy. And +be not as they who are divided, and disagree in matters of +religion, after manifest proofs have been brought unto them: they +shall suffer a great torment. On the day of resurrection some faces +shall become white, and other faces shall become black. And unto +them whose faces shall become black, God will say, Have ye returned +unto your unbelief, after ye had believed? therefore taste the +punishment, for that ye have been unbelievers: but they whose faces +shall become white shall be in the mercy of God, therein shall they +remain forever. These are the signs of God: we recite them unto +thee with truth. God will not deal unjustly with his creatures. And +to God belongeth whatever is in heaven and on earth; and to God +shall all things return. Ye are the best nation that hath been +raised up unto mankind: ye command that which is just, and ye +forbid that which is unjust, and ye believe in God. And if they who +have received the scriptures had believed, it had surely been the +better for them: there are believers among them, but <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page250" name="page250"></a>[pg 250]</span> the +greater part of them are transgressors. They shall not hurt you, +unless with a slight hurt; and if they fight against you, they +shall turn their backs to you, and they shall not be helped. They +are smitten with vileness wheresoever they are found; unless they +obtain security by entering into a treaty with God, and a treaty +with men: and they draw on themselves indignation from God, and +they are afflicted with poverty. This they suffer, because they +disbelieved the signs of God, and slew the prophets unjustly; this, +because they were rebellious, and transgressed. Yet they are not +all alike: there are of those who have received the scriptures, +upright people; they meditate on the signs of God in the night +season, and worship; they believe in God and the last day; and +command that which is just, and forbid that which is unjust, and +zealously strive to excel in good works: these are of the +righteous. And ye shall not be denied the reward of the good which +ye do; for God knoweth the pious. As for the unbelievers, their +wealth shall not profit them at all, neither their children, +against God: they shall be the companions of hell fire; they shall +continue therein forever. The likeness of that which they lay out +in this present life, is as a wind wherein there is a scorching +cold: it falleth on the standing corn of those men who have injured +their own souls, and destroyeth it. And God dealeth not unjustly +with them; but they injure their own souls. O true believers, +contract not an intimate friendship with any besides yourselves: +they will not fail to corrupt you. They wish for that which may +cause you to perish: their hatred hath already appeared from out of +their mouths; but what their breasts conceal is yet more +inveterate. We have already shown you signs of their ill-will +towards you, if ye understand. Behold, ye love them, and they do +not love you: ye believe in all the scriptures, and when they meet +you, they say, We believe; but when they assemble privately +together, they bite their fingers' ends out of wrath against you. +Say unto them, Die in your wrath: verily God knoweth the innermost +part of your breasts. If good happen unto you, it grieveth them; +and if evil befall you, they rejoice at it. But if ye be patient, +and fear God, their subtlety shall not hurt you at all; for God +comprehendeth whatever they do. Call to mind when thou wentest +forth early from thy family, that thou mightest prepare the +faithful a camp for war; and God heard and knew it; when two +companies of you were anxiously <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page251" name="page251"></a>[pg 251]</span> thoughtful, so that ye +became faint-hearted; but God was the supporter of them both; and +in God let the faithful trust. And God had already given you the +victory at Bedr, when ye were inferior in number; therefore fear +God, that ye may be thankful. When thou saidst unto the faithful, +Is it not enough for you, that your Lord should assist you with +three thousand angels, sent down from heaven? Verily if ye +persevere, and fear God, and your enemies come upon you suddenly, +your Lord will assist you with five thousand angels, distinguished +by their horses and attire. And this God designed only as good +tidings for you that your hearts might rest secure: for victory is +from God alone, the mighty, the wise. That he should cut off the +uttermost part of the unbelievers, or cast them down, or that they +should be overthrown and unsuccessful, is nothing to thee. It is no +business of thine; whether God be turned unto them, or whether he +punish them; they are surely unjust doers. To God belongeth +whatsoever is in heaven and on earth: he spareth whom he pleaseth, +and he punisheth whom he pleaseth; for God is merciful. O true +believers, devour not usury, doubling it twofold; but fear God, +that ye may prosper: and fear the fire which is prepared for the +unbelievers; and obey God, and his apostle, that ye may obtain +mercy. And run with emulation to obtain remission from your Lord, +and paradise, whose breath equalleth the heavens and the earth, +which is prepared for the godly; who give alms in prosperity and +adversity; who bridle their anger and forgive men: for God loveth +the beneficent.<a id="footnotetag57" name= +"footnotetag57"></a><a href="#footnote57"><sup>57</sup></a> And +who, after they have committed a crime, or dealt unjustly with +their own souls, remember God, and ask pardon for their sins (for +who forgiveth sins except God?) and persevere not in what they have +done knowingly: their reward shall be pardon from their Lord, and +gardens wherein rivers flow, they shall remain therein forever: and +how excellent is the reward of those who labor! There have already +been before you examples of punishment of infidels, therefore go +through the earth, and behold what hath been the end of those who +accuse God's apostles of imposture. <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page252" name="page252"></a>[pg 252]</span> This book is a +declaration unto men, and a direction and an admonition to the +pious. And be not dismayed, neither be ye grieved; for ye shall be +superior to the unbelievers if ye believe. If a wound hath happened +unto you in war, a like wound hath already happened unto the +unbelieving people: and we cause these days of different success +interchangeably to succeed each other among men; that God may know +those who believe, and may have martyrs from among you (God loveth +not the workers of iniquity); and that God might prove those who +believe, and destroy the infidels. Did ye imagine that ye should +enter paradise, when as yet God knew not those among you who fought +strenuously in his cause; nor knew those who persevered with +patience? Moreover ye did some time wish for death before that ye +met it; but ye have now seen it, and ye looked on, but retreated +from it. Mohammed is no more than an apostle; the other apostles +have already deceased before him: if he die therefore, or be slain, +will ye turn back on your heels? but he who turneth back on his +heels, will not hurt God at all; and God will surely reward the +thankful. No soul can die unless by the permission of God, +according to what is written in the book containing the +determinations of things. And whoso chooseth the reward of this +world, we will give him thereof: but whoso chooseth the reward of +the world to come, we will give him thereof; and we will surely +reward the thankful. How many prophets have encountered those who +had many myriads of troops: and yet they desponded not in their +mind for what had befallen them in fighting for the religion of +God, and were not weakened, neither behaved themselves in an abject +manner? God loveth those who persevere patiently. And their speech +was no other than that they said, Our Lord forgive us our offences, +and our transgressions in our business; and confirm our feet, and +help us against the unbelieving people. And God gave them the +reward of this world, and a glorious reward in the life to come; +for God loveth the well-doers. O ye who believe, if ye obey the +infidels, they will cause you to turn back on your heels, and ye +will be turned back and perish: but God is your Lord; and he is the +best helper. We will surely cast a dread into the hearts of the +unbelievers, because they have associated with God that concerning +which he sent them down no power: their dwelling shall be the fire +of hell; and the receptacle of the wicked shall be miserable. God +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page253" name="page253"></a>[pg +253]</span> had already made good unto you his promise, when ye +destroyed them by his permission, until ye became faint-hearted, +and disputed concerning the command of the apostle, and were +rebellious; after God had shown you what ye desired. Some of you +chose this present world, and others of you chose the world to +come. Then he turned you to flight from before them, that he might +make trial of you (but he hath now pardoned you; for God is endued +with beneficence towards the faithful); when ye went up as ye fled, +and looked not back on any; while the apostle called you, in the +uttermost part of you. Therefore God rewarded you with affliction +on affliction, that ye be not grieved hereafter for the spoils +which ye fail of, nor for that which befalleth you; for God is well +acquainted with whatever ye do. Then he sent down upon you after +affliction security; soft sleep which fell on some part of you; but +other parts were troubled by their own souls; falsely thinking of +God a foolish imagination, saying, Will anything of the matter +happen unto us? Say, Verily the matter belongeth wholly unto God. +They concealed in their minds what they declared not unto thee; +saying, If anything of the matter had happened unto us, we had not +been slain here. Answer, If ye had been in your houses, verily they +would have gone forth to fight, whose slaughter was decreed, to the +places where they died, and this came to pass that God might try +what was in your breasts, and might discern what was in your +hearts; for God knoweth the innermost parts of the breasts of men. +Verily they among you who turned their backs on the day whereon the +two armies met each other at Ohod, Satan caused them to slip, for +some crime which they had committed: but now hath God forgiven +them; for God is gracious and merciful. O true believers, be not as +they who believe not, and said of their brethren, when they had +journeyed in the land or had been at war, If they had been with us, +those had not died, nor had these been slain: whereas what befell +them was so ordained that God might make it matter of sighing in +their hearts. God giveth life, and causeth to die: and God seeth +that which ye do. Moreover, if ye be slain, or die in defence of +the religion of God; verily pardon from God, and mercy, is better +than what they heap together of worldly riches. And if ye die, or +be slain, verily unto God shall ye be gathered. And as to the mercy +granted unto the disobedient from God, thou, O Mohammed, hast been +mild towards them; but if thou <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page254" name="page254"></a>[pg 254]</span> hadst been severe and +hard-hearted, they had surely separated themselves from about thee. +Therefore forgive them, and ask pardon for them: and consult them +in the affair of war; and after thou hast deliberated, trust in +God; for God loveth those who trust in him. If God help you, none +shall conquer you; but if he desert you, who is it that will help +you after him? Therefore in God let the faithful trust. It is not +the part of a prophet to defraud, for he who defraudeth, shall +bring with him what he hath defrauded anyone of, on the day of the +resurrection.<a id="footnotetag58" name= +"footnotetag58"></a><a href="#footnote58"><sup>58</sup></a> Then +shall every soul be paid what he hath gained; and they shall not be +treated unjustly. Shall he therefore who followeth that which is +well pleasing unto God, be as he who bringeth on himself wrath from +God, and whose receptacle is hell? an evil journey shall it be +thither. There shall be degrees of rewards and punishments with +God, for God seeth what they do. Now hath God been gracious unto +the believers when he raised up among them an apostle of their own +nation,<a id="footnotetag59" name="footnotetag59"></a><a href= +"#footnote59"><sup>59</sup></a> who should recite his signs unto +them, and purify them, and teach them the book of the Koran and +wisdom; whereas they were before in manifest error. After a +misfortune hath befallen you at Ohod (ye had already obtained two +equal advantages), do ye say, Whence cometh this? Answer, This is +from yourselves: for God is almighty. And what happened unto you, +on the day whereon the two armies met, was certainly by the +permission of God; and that he might know the faithful, and that he +might know the ungodly. It was said unto them, Come, fight for the +religion of God, or drive back the enemy: they answered, If we had +known ye went out to fight, we had certainly followed you. They +were on that day nearer unto unbelief than they were to faith; they +spake with their mouths what was not in their hearts; but God +perfectly knew what they concealed; who said of their brethren, +while themselves stayed at home, if they had obeyed us, they had +not been slain. Say, Then keep back death from yourselves, if ye +say truth. Thou shalt in no wise reckon those who have been slain +at Ohod in the cause of God, dead; nay, they are sustained alive +with their Lord, rejoicing for what God of his favor hath granted +them; and being glad for those who, coming after them, have not as +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page255" name="page255"></a>[pg +255]</span> yet overtaken them, because there shall no fear come on +them, neither shall they be grieved. They are filled with joy for +the favor which they have received from God, and his bounty; and +for that God suffereth not the reward of the faithful to perish. +They who hearkened unto God and his apostle, after a wound had +befallen them at Ohod, such of them as do good works, and fear God, +shall have a great reward; unto whom certain men said, Verily the +men of Mecca have already gathered forces against you, be ye +therefore afraid of them: but this increaseth their faith, and they +said, God is our support, and the most excellent patron. Wherefore +they returned with favor from God, and advantage; no evil befell +them: and they followed what was well pleasing unto God; for God is +endowed with great liberality. Verily that devil would cause you to +fear his friends: but be ye not afraid of them; but fear me, if ye +be true believers. They shall not grieve thee, who emulously hasten +unto infidelity; for they shall never hurt God at all. God will not +give them a part in the next life, and they shall suffer a great +punishment. Surely those who purchase infidelity with faith, shall +by no means hurt God at all, but they shall suffer a grievous +punishment. And let not the unbelievers think, because we grant +them lives long and prosperous, that it is better for their souls: +we grant them long and prosperous lives only that their iniquity +may be increased; and they shall suffer an ignominious punishment. +God is not disposed to leave the faithful in the condition which ye +are now in, until he sever the wicked from the good; nor is God +disposed to make you acquainted with what is a hidden secret, but +God chooseth such of his apostles as he pleaseth, to reveal his +mind unto: believe, therefore, in God, and his apostles; and if ye +believe, and fear God, ye shall receive a great reward. And let not +those who are covetous of what God of his bounty hath granted them, +imagine that their avarice is better for them: nay, rather it is +worse for them. That which they have covetously reserved shall be +bound as a collar about their neck,<a id="footnotetag60" name= +"footnotetag60"></a><a href="#footnote60"><sup>60</sup></a> on the +day of the resurrection; unto God belongeth the inheritance of +heaven and earth; and God is well acquainted with what ye do. God +hath already heard the saying of those who said, Verily God is +poor, and we are <span class="pagenum"><a id="page256" name= +"page256"></a>[pg 256]</span> rich: we will surely write down what +they have said, and the slaughter which they have made of the +prophets without a cause; and we will say unto them, Taste ye the +pain of burning. This shall they suffer for the evil which their +hands have sent before them, and because God is not unjust towards +mankind; who also say, Surely God hath commanded us, that we should +not give credit to any apostle, until one should come unto us with +a sacrifice, which should be consumed by fire. Say, Apostles have +already come unto you before me, with plain proofs, and with the +miracle which ye mention: why therefore have ye slain them, if ye +speak truth? If they accuse thee of imposture, the apostles before +thee have also been accounted impostors, who brought evident +demonstrations, and the scriptures, and the book which enlightened +the understanding. Every soul shall taste of death, and ye shall +have your rewards on the day of resurrection; and he who shall be +far removed from hell fire, and shall be admitted into paradise, +shall be happy: but the present life is only a deceitful provision. +Ye shall surely be proved in your possessions, and in your persons; +and ye shall bear from those unto whom the scripture was delivered +before you, and from the idolaters, much hurt: but if ye be +patient, and fear God, this is a matter that is absolutely +determined. And when God accepted the covenant of those to whom the +book of the law was given, saying, Ye shall surely publish it unto +mankind, ye shall not hide it; yet they threw it behind their +backs, and sold it for a small price; but woful is the price for +which they have sold it.<a id="footnotetag61" name= +"footnotetag61"></a><a href="#footnote61"><sup>61</sup></a> Think +not that they who rejoice at what they have done, and expect to be +praised for what they have not done; think not, O prophet, that +they shall escape from punishment, for they shall suffer a painful +punishment; and unto God belongeth the kingdom of heaven and earth; +God is almighty. Now in the creation of heaven and earth, and the +vicissitude of night and day, are signs unto those who are endued +with understanding; who remember God standing, and sitting, and +lying on their sides; and meditate on the creation of heaven and +earth, saying, O Lord, thou hast not created this in vain; far be +it from thee: therefore deliver us from the torment of hell fire. O +Lord, surely whom thou shalt throw into the fire, thou wilt also +cover with shame; nor shall the ungodly have any to help +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page257" name="page257"></a>[pg +257]</span> them. O Lord, we have heard of a preacher<a id= +"footnotetag62" name="footnotetag62"></a><a href= +"#footnote62"><sup>62</sup></a> inviting us to the faith, and +saying, Believe in your Lord: and we believed. O Lord, forgive us +therefore our sins, and expiate our evil deeds from us, and make us +to die with the righteous. O Lord, give us also the reward which +thou hast promised by thy apostles; and cover us not with shame on +the day of resurrection; for thou art not contrary to the promise. +Their Lord therefore answereth them, saying, I will not suffer the +work of him among you who worketh to be lost, whether he be male or +female: the one of you is from the other. They therefore who have +left their country, and have been turned out of their houses, and +have suffered for my sake, and have been slain in battle; verily I +will expiate their evil deeds from them, and I will surely bring +them into gardens watered by rivers; a reward from God: and with +God is the most excellent reward. Let not the prosperous dealing of +the unbelievers in the land deceive thee: it is but a slender +provision; and then their receptacle shall be hell; an unhappy +couch shall it be. But they who fear their Lord shall have gardens +through which rivers flow, they shall continue therein forever: +this is the gift of God; for what is with God shall be better for +the righteous than short-lived worldly prosperity. There are some +of those who have received the scriptures, who believe in God, and +that which hath been sent down unto you, and that which hath been +sent down to them, submitting themselves unto God; they tell not +the signs of God for a small price: these shall have their reward +with their Lord; for God is swift in taking an account. O true +believers, be patient, and strive to excel in patience, and be +constant-minded, and fear God, that ye may be happy.</p> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote46" name= +"footnote46"></a><b>Footnote 46:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag46">(return)</a> +<p>This name is given in the Koran to the father of the Virgin +Mary.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote47" name= +"footnote47"></a><b>Footnote 47:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag47">(return)</a> +<p>The word Koran, derived from the verb <i>Karaa</i>, i.e., to +read, signifies in Arabic "the reading," or rather "that which is +to be read." The syllable <i>Al</i>, in the words Al Koran, is only +the Arabic article signifying "the," and ought to be omitted when +the English article is prefixed.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote48" name= +"footnote48"></a><b>Footnote 48:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag48">(return)</a> +<p>The miracle, it is said, consisted in three things: (1.) +Mohammed, by the direction of the angel Gabriel, took a handful of +gravel and threw it towards the enemy in the attack, saying, "May +their faces be confounded"; whereupon they immediately turned their +backs and fled. But, though the prophet seemingly threw the gravel +himself, yet it is told in the Koran that it was not he, but God, +who threw it, that is to say, by the ministry of his angel. (2.) +The Mohammedan troops seemed to the infidels to be twice as many in +number as themselves, which greatly discouraged them. (3.) God sent +down to their assistance first a thousand, and afterwards three +thousand angels, led by Gabriel, mounted on his horse Haizum; and, +according to the Koran, these celestial auxiliaries really did all +the execution, though Mohammed's men imagined themselves did it, +and fought stoutly at the same time.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote49" name= +"footnote49"></a><b>Footnote 49:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag49">(return)</a> +<p>The proper name of the Mohammedan religion, which signifies the +resigning or devoting one's self entirely to God and his service. +This they say is the religion which all the prophets were sent to +teach, being founded on the unity of God.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote50" name= +"footnote50"></a><b>Footnote 50:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag50">(return)</a> +<p>The Mohammedans have a tradition that the first banner of the +infidels that shall be set up, on the day of judgment, will be that +of the Jews; and that God will first reproach them with their +wickedness, over the heads of those who are present, and then order +them to hell.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote51" name= +"footnote51"></a><b>Footnote 51:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag51">(return)</a> +<p>This phrase signifies a man in full age, that is, between thirty +and thirty-four.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote52" name= +"footnote52"></a><b>Footnote 52:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag52">(return)</a> +<p>Such as the eating of fish that have neither fins nor scales, +the caul and fat of animals, and camel's flesh, and to work on the +Sabbath.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote53" name= +"footnote53"></a><b>Footnote 53:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag53">(return)</a> +<p>In Arabic, <i>al Hawâriyûn</i>: which word they +derive from <i>Hâra</i>, "to be white," and suppose the +apostles were so-called either from the candor and sincerity of +their minds, or because they were princes and wore white garments, +or else because they were by trade fullers.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote54" name= +"footnote54"></a><b>Footnote 54:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag54">(return)</a> +<p>Some Mohammedans say this was done by the ministry of Gabriel; +but others that a strong whirlwind took him up from Mount +Olivet.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote55" name= +"footnote55"></a><b>Footnote 55:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag55">(return)</a> +<p>A gold coin worth about $2.50.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote56" name= +"footnote56"></a><b>Footnote 56:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag56">(return)</a> +<p>Becca is another name of Mecca. Al Beidâwi observes that +the Arabs used the "M" and "B" promiscuously in several words.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote57" name= +"footnote57"></a><b>Footnote 57:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag57">(return)</a> +<p>It is related of Hasan the son of Ali that a slave having once +thrown a dish on him boiling hot, as he sat at table, and fearing +his master's resentment, fell immediately on his knees, and +repeated these words, "Paradise is for those who bridle their +anger." Hasan answered, "I am not angry." The slave proceeded, "and +for those who forgive men." "I forgive you," said Hasan. The slave, +however, finished the verse, adding, "for God loveth the +beneficent." "Since it is so," replied Hasan, "I give you your +liberty, and four hundred pieces of silver." A noble instance of +moderation and generosity.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote58" name= +"footnote58"></a><b>Footnote 58:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag58">(return)</a> +<p>According to a tradition of Mohammed, whoever cheateth another +will on the day of judgment carry his fraudulent purchase publicly +on his neck.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote59" name= +"footnote59"></a><b>Footnote 59:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag59">(return)</a> +<p>Some copies, instead of <i>min anfosihim</i>, i.e., of +themselves, read <i>min anfasihim</i>, i.e., of the noblest among +them; for such was the tribe of Koreish, of which Mohammed was +descended.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote60" name= +"footnote60"></a><b>Footnote 60:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag60">(return)</a> +<p>Mohammed is said to have declared, that whoever pays not his +legal contribution of alms duly shall have a serpent twisted about +his neck at the resurrection.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote61" name= +"footnote61"></a><b>Footnote 61:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag61">(return)</a> +<p>That is, dearly shall they pay hereafter for taking bribes to +stifle the truth. "Whoever concealeth the knowledge which God has +given him," says Mohammed, "God shall put on him a bridle of fire +on the day of resurrection."</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote62" name= +"footnote62"></a><b>Footnote 62:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag62">(return)</a> +<p>Namely, Mohammed, with the Koran.</p> +</blockquote> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page258" name="page258"></a>[pg +258]</span> +<h3><a id="koran-iv" name="koran-iv">CHAPTER IV</a></h3> +<h4>Entitled, Women<a id="footnotetag63" name= +"footnotetag63"></a><a href= +"#footnote63"><sup>63</sup></a>—Revealed at Medina</h4> +<p><i>In the Name of the Most Merciful God.</i></p> +<p>O men, fear your Lord, who hath created you out of one man, and +out of him created his wife, and from them two hath multiplied many +men and women: and fear God by whom ye beseech one another; and +respect women who have borne you, for God is watching over you. And +give the orphans when they come to age their substance; and render +them not in exchange bad for good: and devour not their substance, +by adding it to your substance; for this is a great sin. And if ye +fear that ye shall not act with equity towards orphans of the +female sex, take in marriage of such other women as please you, +two, or three, or four, and not more. But if ye fear that ye cannot +act equitably towards so many, marry one only, or the slaves which +ye shall have acquired. This will be easier, that ye swerve not +from righteousness. And give women their dowry freely; but if they +voluntarily remit unto you any part of it, enjoy it with +satisfaction and advantage. And give not unto those who are weak of +understanding, the substance which God hath appointed you to +preserve for them; but maintain them thereout, and clothe them, and +speak kindly unto them. And examine the orphans until they attain +the age of marriage: but if ye perceive they are able to manage +their affairs well, deliver their substance unto them; and waste it +not extravagantly, or hastily, because they grow up. Let him who is +rich abstain entirely from the orphan's estates; and let him who is +poor take thereof according to what shall be reasonable. And when +ye deliver their substance unto them, call witnesses thereof in +their presence: God taketh sufficient account of your actions. Men +ought to have a part of what their parents and kindred leave behind +them when they die: and women also ought to have a part of what +their parents and kindred leave, whether it be little, or whether +it be much; a determinate part is due to them. And when they who +are of kin are present at <span class="pagenum"><a id="page259" +name="page259"></a>[pg 259]</span> the dividing of what is left, +and also the orphans, and the poor; distribute unto them some part +thereof; and if the estate be too small, at least speak comfortably +unto them. And let those fear to abuse orphans, who if they leave +behind them a weak offspring, are solicitous for them: let them +therefore fear God, and speak that which is convenient. Surely they +who devour the possessions of orphans unjustly, shall swallow down +nothing but fire into their bellies, and shall broil in raging +flames. God hath thus commanded you concerning your children. A +male shall have as much as the share of two females: but if they be +females only, and above two in number, they shall have two +third-parts of what the deceased shall leave; and if there be but +one, she shall have the half. And the parents of the deceased shall +have each of them a sixth part of what he shall leave, if he have a +child: but if he have no child, and his parents be his heirs, then +his mother shall have the third part. And if he have brethren, his +mother shall have a sixth part, after the legacies<a id= +"footnotetag64" name="footnotetag64"></a><a href= +"#footnote64"><sup>64</sup></a> which he shall bequeath, and his +debts be paid. Ye know not whether your parents or your children be +of greater use unto you. This is an ordinance from God, and God is +knowing and wise. Moreover, ye may claim half of what your wives +shall leave, if they have no issue; but if they have issue, then ye +shall have the fourth part of what they shall leave, after the +legacies which they shall bequeath, and the debts be paid. They +also shall have the fourth part of what ye shall leave, in case ye +have no issue; but if ye have issue, then they shall have the +eighth part of what ye shall leave, after the legacies which ye +shall bequeath and your debts be paid. And if a man or woman's +substance be inherited by a distant relation, and he or she have a +brother or sister; each of them two shall have a sixth part of the +estate. But if there be more than this number, they shall be equal +sharers in a third part, after payment of the legacies which shall +be bequeathed, and the debts, without prejudice to the heirs. This +is an ordinance from God: and God is knowing and gracious. These +are the statutes of God. And whoso obeyeth God and his apostle, God +shall lead him into gardens wherein rivers flow, they shall +continue therein forever; and this shall be great happiness. But +whoso disobeyeth God, and his apostle, and transgresseth his +statutes, God shall cast him <span class="pagenum"><a id="page260" +name="page260"></a>[pg 260]</span> into hell fire; he shall remain +therein forever, and he shall suffer a shameful punishment. If any +of your women be guilty of whoredom, produce four witnesses from +among you against them, and if they bear witness against them, +imprison them in separate apartments until death release them, or +God affordeth them a way to escape.<a id="footnotetag65" name= +"footnotetag65"></a><a href="#footnote65"><sup>65</sup></a> And if +two of you commit the like wickedness, punish them both: but if +they repent and amend, let them both alone; for God is easy to be +reconciled and merciful. Verily repentance will be accepted with +God, from those who do evil ignorantly, and then repent speedily; +unto them will God be turned: for God is knowing and wise. But no +repentance shall be accepted from those who do evil until the time +when death presenteth itself unto one of them, and he saith, +Verily, I repent now; nor unto those who die unbelievers: for them +have we prepared a grievous punishment. O true believers, it is not +lawful for you to be heirs of women against their will, nor to +hinder them from marrying others, that ye may take away part of +what ye have given them in dowry; unless they have been guilty of a +manifest crime: but converse kindly with them. And if ye hate them, +it may happen that ye may hate a thing wherein God hath placed much +good. If ye be desirous to exchange a wife for another wife, and ye +have already given one of them a talent; take not away anything +therefrom: will ye take it by slandering her, and doing her +manifest injustice? And how can ye take it, since the one of you +hath gone in unto the other, and they have received from you a firm +covenant? Marry not women whom your fathers have had to wife +(except what is already past): for this is uncleanness, and an +abomination, and an evil way. Ye are forbidden to marry your +mothers, and your daughters, and your sisters, and your aunts both +on the father's and on the mother's side, and your brother's +daughters, and your sister's daughters, and your mothers who have +given you suck, and your foster-sisters, and your wives' mothers, +and your daughters-in-law which are under your tuition, born of +your wives unto whom ye have gone in (but if ye have not gone in +unto them, it shall be no sin in you to marry them), and the wives +of your sons who proceed out of your loins; and ye are also +forbidden to take to wife two sisters; <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page261" name="page261"></a>[pg 261]</span> except what is already +past: for God is gracious and merciful. Ye are also forbidden to +take to wife free women who are married, except those women whom +your right hands shall possess as slaves.<a id="footnotetag66" +name="footnotetag66"></a><a href="#footnote66"><sup>66</sup></a> +This is ordained you from God. Whatever is beside this, is allowed +you; that ye may with your substance provide wives for yourselves, +acting that which is right, and avoiding whoredom. And for the +advantage which ye receive from them, give them their reward, +according to what is ordained: but it shall be no crime in you to +make any other agreement among yourselves, after the ordinance +shall be complied with; for God is knowing and wise. Whoso among +you hath not means sufficient that he may marry free women, who are +believers, let him marry with such of your maid-servants whom your +right hands possess, as are true believers; for God well knoweth +your faith. Ye are the one from the other; therefore marry them +with the consent of their masters; and give them their dower +according to justice; such as are modest, not guilty of whoredom, +nor entertaining lovers. And when they are married, if they be +guilty of adultery, they shall suffer half the punishment which is +appointed for the free women.<a id="footnotetag67" name= +"footnotetag67"></a><a href="#footnote67"><sup>67</sup></a> This is +allowed unto him among you, who feareth to sin by marrying free +women; but if ye abstain from marrying slaves, it will be better +for you; God is gracious and merciful. God is willing to declare +these things unto you, and to direct you according to the +ordinances of those who have gone before you, and to be merciful +unto you. God is knowing and wise. God desireth to be gracious unto +you; but they who follow their lusts, desire that ye should turn +aside from the truth with great deviation. God is minded to make +his religion light unto you: for man was created weak. O true +believers, consume not your wealth among yourselves in vanity; +unless there be merchandising among you by mutual consent: neither +slay yourselves; for God is merciful towards you: and whoever doth +this maliciously and wickedly, he will surely cast him to be +broiled in hell <span class="pagenum"><a id="page262" name= +"page262"></a>[pg 262]</span> fire; and this is easy with God. If +ye turn aside from the grievous sins,<a id="footnotetag68" name= +"footnotetag68"></a><a href="#footnote68"><sup>68</sup></a> of +those which ye are forbidden to commit, we will cleanse you from +your smaller faults; and will introduce you into paradise with an +honorable entry. Covet not that which God hath bestowed on some of +you preferably to others.<a id="footnotetag69" name= +"footnotetag69"></a><a href="#footnote69"><sup>69</sup></a> Unto +the men shall be given a portion of what they shall have gained, +and unto the women shall be given a portion of what they shall have +gained: therefore ask God of his bounty; for God is omniscient. We +have appointed unto everyone kindred, to inherit part of what their +parents and relations shall leave at their deaths. And unto those +with whom your right hands have made an alliance, give their part +of the inheritance; for God is witness of all things. Men shall +have the preeminence above women, because of those advantages +wherein God hath caused the one of them to excel the other, and for +that which they expend of their substance in maintaining their +wives. The honest women are obedient, careful in the absence of +their husbands, for that God preserveth them, by committing them to +the care and protection of the men. But those, whose perverseness +ye shall be apprehensive of, rebuke; and remove them into separate +apartments, and chastise them.<a id="footnotetag70" name= +"footnotetag70"></a><a href="#footnote70"><sup>70</sup></a> But if +they shall be obedient unto you, seek not an occasion of quarrel +against them; for God is high and great. And if ye fear a breach +between the husband and wife, send a judge out of his family, and a +judge out of her family: if they shall desire a reconciliation, God +will cause them to agree; for God is knowing and wise. Serve God, +and associate no creature with him; and show kindness unto parents, +and relations, and orphans, and the poor, and your neighbor who is +of kin to you, and also your neighbor who is a stranger, and to +your familiar companion, and the traveller, and the captives whom +your right hands shall possess; for God loveth not the proud or +vain-glorious, who are covetous, and recommend covetousness unto +men, and conceal that which God of his bounty hath given them (we +have prepared a shameful punishment for the unbelievers); and +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page263" name="page263"></a>[pg +263]</span> who bestow their wealth in charity to be observed of +men, and believe not in God, nor in the last day; and whoever hath +Satan for a companion, an evil companion hath he! And what harm +would befall them if they should believe in God and the last day, +and give alms out of that which God hath bestowed on them? since +God knoweth them who do this. Verily God will not wrong anyone even +the weight of an ant: and if it be a good action, he will double +it, and will recompense it in his sight with a great reward. How +will it be with the unbelievers when we shall bring a witness out +of each nation against itself, and shall bring thee, O Mohammed, a +witness against these people? In that day they who have not +believed, and have rebelled against the apostle of God, shall wish +the earth was levelled with them; and they shall not be able to +hide any matter from God. O true believers, come not to prayers +when ye are drunk, until ye understand what ye say; nor when ye are +polluted by emission of seed, unless ye be travelling on the road, +until ye wash yourselves. But if ye be sick, or on a journey, or +any of you come from easing nature, or have touched women, and find +no water; take fine clean sand and rub your faces and your hands +therewith; for God is merciful and inclined to forgive. Hast thou +not observed those unto whom part of the scriptures was delivered? +they sell error, and desire that ye may wander from the right way; +but God well knoweth your enemies. God is a sufficient patron, and +God is a sufficient helper. Of the Jews there are some who pervert +words from their places; and say, We have heard, and have +disobeyed; and do thou hear without understanding our meaning, and +look upon us: perplexing with their tongues, and reviling the true +religion. But if they had said, We have heard, and do obey; and do +thou hear, and regard us: certainly it were better for them, and +more right. But God hath cursed them by reason of their infidelity; +therefore a few of them only shall believe. O ye to whom the +scriptures have been given, believe in the revelation which we have +sent down, confirming that which is with you; before we deface your +countenances, and render them as the back parts thereof; or curse +them, as we cursed those who transgressed on the Sabbath day; and +the command of God was fulfilled. Surely God will not pardon the +giving him an equal; but will pardon any other sin, except that, to +whom he pleaseth; and whoso giveth a companion unto God, hath +devised a great wickedness. <span class="pagenum"><a id="page264" +name="page264"></a>[pg 264]</span> Hast thou not observed those who +justify themselves? But God justifieth whomsoever he pleaseth, nor +shall they be wronged a hair. Behold, how they imagine a lie +against God; and therein is iniquity sufficiently manifest. Hast +thou not considered those to whom part of the scripture hath been +given? They believe in false gods and idols,<a id="footnotetag71" +name="footnotetag71"></a><a href="#footnote71"><sup>71</sup></a> +and say of those who believe not, These are more rightly directed +in the way of truth than they who believe on Mohammed. Those are +the men whom God hath cursed; and unto him whom God shall curse, +thou shalt surely find no helper. Shall they have a part of the +kingdom, since even then they would not bestow the smallest matter +on men? Do they envy other men that which God of his bounty hath +given them? We formerly gave unto the family of Abraham a book of +revelations and wisdom; and we gave them a great kingdom. There is +of them who believeth on him; and there is of them who turneth +aside from him: but the raging fire of hell is a sufficient +punishment. Verily, those who disbelieve our signs, we will surely +cast to be broiled in hell fire; so often as their skins shall be +well burned, we will give them other skins in exchange, that they +may taste the sharper torment; for God is mighty and wise. But +those who believe and do that which is right, we will bring into +gardens watered by rivers: therein shall they remain forever, and +there shall they enjoy wives free from all impurity; and we will +lead them into perpetual shades. Moreover, God commandeth you to +restore what ye are trusted with, to the owners; and when ye judge +between men, that ye judge according to equity: and surely an +excellent virtue it is to which God exhorteth you; for God both +heareth and seeth. O true believers, obey God, and obey the +apostle, and those who are in authority among you: and if ye differ +in anything, refer it unto God<a id="footnotetag72" name= +"footnotetag72"></a><a href="#footnote72"><sup>72</sup></a> and the +apostle, if ye believe in God and the last day: this is better, and +a fairer method of determination. Hast thou not observed those who +pretend they believe in what hath been revealed unto thee, and what +hath been revealed before thee? They desire to go to judgment +before Taghût, although they have been commanded not to +believe in him; and Satan desireth to seduce them into a wide +error. And when it is said unto them, Come unto the book +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page265" name="page265"></a>[pg +265]</span> which God hath sent down, and to the apostle; thou +seest the ungodly turn aside from thee, with great aversion. But +how will they behave when a misfortune shall befall them, for that +which their hands have sent before them? Then will they come unto +thee, and swear by God, saying, We intended no other than to do +good, and to reconcile the parties. God knoweth what is in the +hearts of these men; therefore let them alone, and admonish them, +and speak unto them a word which may affect their souls. We have +not sent any apostle, but that he might be obeyed by the permission +of God: but if they, after they have injured their own souls, come +unto thee, and ask pardon of God, and the apostle ask pardon for +them, they shall surely find God easy to be reconciled and +merciful. And by thy Lord they will not perfectly believe, until +they make thee judge of their controversies; and shall not +afterwards find in their own minds any hardship in what thou shalt +determine, but shall acquiesce therein with entire submission. And +if we had commanded them, saying, Slay yourselves, or depart from +your houses, they would not have done it, except a few of them. And +if they had done what they were admonished, it would certainly have +been better for them, and more efficacious for confirming their +faith; and we should then have surely given them in our sight an +exceeding great reward, and we should have directed them in the +right way. Whoever obeyeth God and the apostle, they shall be with +those unto whom God hath been gracious, of the prophets, and the +sincere, and the martyrs, and the righteous; and these are the most +excellent company. This is bounty from God; and God is sufficiently +knowing. O true believers, take your necessary precaution against +your enemies, and either go forth to war in separate parties, or go +forth all together in a body. There is of you who tarrieth behind; +and if a misfortune befall you, he saith, Verily God hath been +gracious unto me, that I was not present with them: but if success +attend you from God, he will say (as if there was no friendship +between you and him), Would to God I had been with them, for I +should have acquired great merit. Let them therefore fight for the +religion of God, who part with the present life in exchange for +that which is to come; for whosoever fighteth for the religion of +God, whether he be slain, or be victorious, we will surely give him +a great reward. And what ails you, that ye fight not for God's true +religion, and in defence of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page266" +name="page266"></a>[pg 266]</span> the weak among men, women, and +children, who say, O Lord, bring us forth from this city, whose +inhabitants are wicked; grant us from before thee a protector, and +grant us from thee a defender. They who believe fight for the +religion of God; but they who believe not fight for the religion of +Taghût. Fight therefore against the friends of Satan, for the +stratagem of Satan is weak. Hast thou not observed those unto whom +it was said, Withhold your hands from war, and be constant at +prayers, and pay the legal alms? But when war is commanded them, +behold, a part of them fear men as they should fear God, or with a +greater fear, and say, O Lord, wherefore hast thou commanded us to +go to war, and hast not suffered us to wait our approaching end? +Say unto them, The provision of this life is but small; but the +future shall be better for him who feareth God; and ye shall not be +in the least injured at the day of judgment. Wheresoever ye be, +death will overtake you, although ye be in lofty towers. If good +befall them, they say, This is from God; but if evil befall them, +they say, This is from thee, O Mohammed: say, All is from God; and +what aileth these people, that they are so far from understanding +what is said unto them? Whatever good befalleth thee, O man, it is +from God; and whatever evil befalleth thee, it is from +thyself.<a id="footnotetag73" name="footnotetag73"></a><a href= +"#footnote73"><sup>73</sup></a> We have sent thee an apostle unto +men, and God is a sufficient witness thereof. Whoever obeyeth the +apostle, obeyeth God; and whoever turneth back, we have not sent +thee to be a keeper over them. They say, Obedience: yet when they +go forth from thee, part of them meditate by night a matter +different from what thou speakest; but God shall write down what +they meditate by night: therefore let them alone, and trust in God, +for God is a sufficient protector. Do they not attentively consider +the Koran? If it had been from any besides God, they would +certainly have found therein many contradictions. When any news +cometh unto them, either of security or fear, they immediately +divulge it; but if they told it to the apostle and to those who are +in authority among them, such of them would understand the truth of +the matter, as inform themselves thereof from the apostle and his +chiefs. And if the favor of God and his mercy had not been upon +you, ye had followed the devil, except a few of you. Fight +therefore for the religion of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page267" +name="page267"></a>[pg 267]</span> God, and oblige not any to what +is difficult, except thyself; however, excite the faithful to war, +perhaps God will restrain the courage of the unbelievers; for God +is stronger than they, and more able to punish. He who intercedeth +between men with a good intercession shall have a portion thereof; +and he who intercedeth with an evil intercession shall have a +portion thereof; for God overlooketh all things. When ye are +saluted with a salutation, salute the person with a better +salutation, or at least return the same; for God taketh an account +of all things. God! there is no God but he; he will surely gather +you together on the day of resurrection; there is no doubt of it: +and who is more true than God in what he saith? Why are ye divided +concerning the ungodly into two parties; since God hath overturned +them for what they have committed? Will ye direct him whom God hath +led astray; since for him whom God shall lead astray, thou shalt +find no true path? They desire that ye should become infidels, as +they are infidels, and that ye should be equally wicked with +themselves. Therefore take not friends from among them, until they +fly their country for the religion of God; and if they turn back +from the faith, take them, and kill them wherever ye find them; and +take no friend from among them, nor any helper, except those who go +unto a people who are in alliance with you, for those who come unto +you, their hearts forbidding them either to fight against you, or +to fight against their own people. And if God pleased he would have +permitted them to have prevailed against you, and they would have +fought against you. But if they depart from you, and fight not +against you and offer you peace, God doth not allow you to take or +kill them. Ye shall find others who are desirous to enter into a +confidence with you, and at the same time to preserve a confidence +with their own people: so often as they return to sedition, they +shall be subverted therein; and if they depart not from you, and +offer you peace, and restrain their hands from warring against you, +take them and kill them wheresoever ye find them; over these have +we granted you a manifest power. It is not lawful for a believer to +kill a believer, unless it happen by mistake; and whoso killeth a +believer by mistake, the penalty shall be the freeing of a believer +from slavery, and a fine to be paid to the family of the +deceased,<a id="footnotetag74" name="footnotetag74"></a><a href= +"#footnote74"><sup>74</sup></a> unless they remit it as alms: and +if the slain person be <span class="pagenum"><a id="page268" name= +"page268"></a>[pg 268]</span> of a people at enmity with you, and +be a true believer, the penalty shall be the freeing of a believer; +but if he be of a people in confederacy with you, a fine to be paid +to his family, and the freeing of a believer. And he who findeth +not wherewith to do this, shall fast two months consecutively, as a +penance enjoined from God; and God is knowing and wise. But whoso +killeth a believer designedly, his reward shall be hell; he shall +remain therein forever; and God shall be angry with him, and shall +curse him, and shall prepare for him a great punishment. O true +believers, when ye are on a march in defence of the true religion, +justly discern such as ye shall happen to meet, and say not unto +him who saluteth you, Thou art not a true believer; seeking the +accidental goods of the present life; for with God is much spoil. +Such have ye formerly been, but God hath been gracious unto you; +therefore make a just discernment, for God is well acquainted with +that which ye do. Those believers who sit still at home, not having +any hurt, and those who employ their fortunes and their persons for +the religion of God, shall not be held equal. God hath preferred +those who employ their fortunes and their persons in that cause, to +a degree of honor above those who sit at home: God hath indeed +promised everyone paradise, but God hath preferred those who fight +for the faith before those who sit still, by adding unto them a +great reward, by degrees of honor conferred on them from him, and +by granting them forgiveness and mercy; for God is indulgent and +merciful. Moreover, unto those whom the angels put to death, having +injured their own souls,<a id="footnotetag75" name= +"footnotetag75"></a><a href="#footnote75"><sup>75</sup></a> the +angels said, Of what religion were ye? they answered, We were weak +in the earth. The angels replied, Was not God's earth wide enough, +that ye might fly therein to a place of refuge? Therefore their +habitation shall be hell; and an evil journey shall it be thither: +except the weak among men, and women, and children, who were not +able to find means, and were not directed in the way; these +peradventure God will pardon, for God is ready to forgive and +gracious. Whosoever flieth from his country for the sake of God's +true religion, shall find in the earth many forced to do the same, +and plenty of provisions. And whoever departeth from his house, and +flieth unto God <span class="pagenum"><a id="page269" name= +"page269"></a>[pg 269]</span> and his apostle, if death overtake +him in the way, God will be obliged to reward him, for God is +gracious and merciful. When ye march to war in the earth, it shall +be no crime in you if ye shorten your prayers, in case ye fear the +infidels may attack you; for the infidels are your open enemy. But +when thou, O prophet, shalt be among them, and shalt pray with +them, let a party of them arise to prayer with thee, and let them +take their arms; and when they shall have worshipped, let them +stand behind you, and let another party come that hath not prayed, +and let them pray with thee, and let them be cautious and take +their arms. The unbelievers would that ye should neglect your arms +and your baggage while ye pray, that they might turn upon you at +once. It shall be no crime in you, if ye be incommoded by rain, or +be sick, that ye lay down your arms; but take your necessary +precaution. God hath prepared for the unbelievers an ignominious +punishment. And when ye shall have ended your prayer, remember God, +standing, and sitting, and lying on your sides. But when ye are +secure from danger, complete your prayers; for prayer is commanded +the faithful, and appointed to be said at the stated times. Be not +negligent in seeking out the unbelieving people, though ye suffer +some inconvenience; for they also shall suffer, as ye suffer, and +ye hope for a reward from God which they cannot hope for; and God +is knowing and wise. We have sent down unto thee the book of the +Koran with truth, that thou mayest judge between men through that +wisdom which God showeth thee therein; and be not an advocate for +the fraudulent; but ask pardon of God for thy wrong intention, +since God is indulgent and merciful. Dispute not for those who +deceive one another, for God loveth not him who is a deceiver or +unjust. Such conceal themselves from men, but they conceal not +themselves from God; for he is with them when they imagine by night +a saying which pleaseth him not, and God comprehendeth what they +do. Behold, ye are they who have disputed for them in this present +life; but who shall dispute with God for them on the day of +resurrection, or who will become their patron? yet he who doth +evil, or injureth his own soul, and afterwards asketh pardon of +God, shall find God gracious and merciful. Whoso committeth +wickedness, committeth it against his own soul: God is knowing and +wise. And whoso committeth a sin or iniquity, and afterwards layeth +it on <span class="pagenum"><a id="page270" name="page270"></a>[pg +270]</span> the innocent, he shall surely bear the guilt of calumny +and manifest injustice. If the indulgence and mercy of God had not +been upon thee, surely a part of them had studied to seduce thee; +but they shall seduce themselves only, and shall not hurt thee at +all. God hath sent down unto thee the book of the Koran and wisdom, +and hath taught thee that which thou knewest not; for the favor of +God hath been great towards thee. There is no good in the multitude +of their private discourses, unless in the discourse of him who +recommendeth alms, or that which is right, or agreement amongst +men; whoever doth this out of a desire to please God we will surely +give him a great reward. But whoso separateth himself from the +apostle, after true direction hath been manifested unto him, and +followeth any other way than that of the true believers, we will +cause him to obtain that to which he is inclined, and will cast him +to be burned in hell; and an unhappy journey shall it be thither. +Verily God will not pardon the giving him a companion, but he will +pardon any crime besides that, unto whom he pleaseth: and he who +giveth a companion unto God, is surely led aside into a wide +mistake: the infidels invoke beside him only female deities, and +only invoke rebellious Satan. God cursed him; and he said, Verily I +will take of thy servants a part cut off from the rest, and I will +seduce them, and will insinuate vain desires into them, and I will +command them, and they shall cut off the ears of cattle; and I will +command them, and they shall change God's creature. But whoever +taketh Satan for his patron, besides God, shall surely perish with +a manifest destruction. He maketh them promises, and insinuateth +into them vain desires; yet Satan maketh them only deceitful +promises. The receptacle of these shall be hell, they shall find no +refuge from it. But they who believe, and do good works, we will +surely lead them into gardens, through which rivers flow; they +shall continue therein forever, according to the true promise of +God; and who is more true than God in what he saith? It shall not +be according to your desires, nor according to the desires of those +who have received the scriptures. Whoso doeth evil, shall be +rewarded for it; and shall not find any patron or helper, beside +God; but whoso doeth good works, whether he be male or female, and +is a true believer, they shall be admitted into paradise, and shall +not in the least be unjustly dealt with. Who is better in point of +religion <span class="pagenum"><a id="page271" name= +"page271"></a>[pg 271]</span> than he who resigneth himself unto +God, and is a worker of righteousness, and followeth the law of +Abraham the orthodox? since God took Abraham for his friend: and to +God belongeth whatsoever is in heaven and on earth; God +comprehendeth all things. They will consult thee concerning women; +Answer, God instructeth you concerning them, and that which is read +unto you in the book of the Koran concerning female orphans, to +whom ye give not that which is ordained them, neither will ye marry +them, and concerning weak infants, and that ye observe justice +towards orphans: whatever good ye do, God knoweth it. If a woman +fear ill usage, or aversion, from her husband, it shall be no crime +in them if they agree the matter amicably between themselves; for a +reconciliation is better than a separation. Men's souls are +naturally inclined to covetousness: but if ye be kind towards +women, and fear to wrong them, God is well acquainted with what ye +do. Ye can by no means carry yourselves equally between women in +all respects, although ye study to do it; therefore turn not from a +wife with all manner of aversion, nor leave her like one in +suspense: if ye agree, and fear to abuse your wives, God is +gracious and merciful; but if they separate, God will satisfy them +both of his abundance; for God is extensive and wise, and unto God +belongeth whatsoever is in heaven and on earth. We have already +commanded those unto whom the scriptures were given before you, and +we command you also, saying, Fear God; but if ye disbelieve, unto +God belongeth whatsoever is in heaven and on earth; and God is +self-sufficient, and to be praised; for unto God belongeth +whatsoever is in heaven and on earth, and God is a sufficient +protector. If he pleaseth he will take you away, O men, and will +produce others in your stead; for God is able to do this. Whoso +desireth the reward of this world, verily with God is the reward of +this world, and also of that which is to come; God both heareth and +seeth. O true believers, observe justice when ye bear witness +before God, although it be against yourselves, or your parents, or +relations; whether the party be rich, or whether he be poor; for +God is more worthy than them both: therefore follow not your own +lust in bearing testimony, so that ye swerve from justice. And +whether ye wrest your evidence, or decline giving it, God is well +acquainted with that which ye do. O true believers, believe in God +and his apostle, and the book which he hath caused <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page272" name="page272"></a>[pg 272]</span> to +descend unto his apostle, and the book which he hath formerly sent +down. And whosoever believeth not in God, and his angels, and his +scriptures, and his apostles, and the last day, he surely erreth in +a wide mistake. Moreover, they who believed, and afterwards became +infidels, and then believed again, and after that disbelieved, and +increased in infidelity, God will by no means forgive them, nor +direct them into the right way. Declare unto the ungodly that they +shall suffer a painful punishment. They who take the unbelievers +for their protectors, besides the faithful, do they seek for power +with them? since all power belongeth unto God. And he hath already +revealed unto you, in the book of the Koran, the following passage: +When ye shall hear the signs of God, they shall not be believed, +but they shall be laughed to scorn. Therefore sit not with them who +believe not, until they engage in different discourse; for if ye +do, ye will certainly become like unto them. God will surely gather +the ungodly and the unbelievers together in hell. They who wait to +observe what befalleth you, if victory be granted you from God, +say, Were we not with you? But if any advantage happen to the +infidels, they say unto them, Were we not superior to you, and have +we not defended you against the believers? God shall judge between +you on the day of resurrection; and God will not grant the +unbelievers means to prevail over the faithful. The hypocrites act +deceitfully with God, but he will deceive them; and when they stand +up to pray, they stand carelessly, affecting to be seen of men, and +remember not God, unless a little, wavering between faith and +infidelity, and adhering neither unto these nor unto those: and for +him whom God shall lead astray, thou shalt find no true path. O +true believers, take not the unbelievers for your protectors, +besides the faithful. Will ye furnish God with an evident argument +of impiety against you? Moreover, the hypocrites shall be in the +lowest bottom of hell fire, and thou shalt not find any to help +them thence. But they who repent and amend, and adhere firmly unto +God, and approve the sincerity of their religion to God, they shall +be numbered with the faithful; and God will surely give the +faithful a great reward. And how should God go about to punish you, +if ye be thankful and believe? for God is grateful and wise. God +loveth not the speaking ill of anyone in public, unless he who is +injured call for assistance; and God heareth and knoweth: whether +ye publish a good action, or <span class="pagenum"><a id="page273" +name="page273"></a>[pg 273]</span> conceal it, or forgive evil, +verily God is gracious and powerful. They who believe not in God +and his apostles, and would make a distinction between God and his +apostles, and say, We believe in some of the prophets, and reject +others of them, and seek to take a middle way in this matter; these +are really unbelievers, and we have prepared for the unbelievers an +ignominious punishment. But they who believe in God and his +apostles, and make no distinction between any of them, unto those +will we surely give their reward; and God is gracious and merciful. +They who have received the scriptures will demand of thee, that +thou cause a book to descend unto them from heaven: they formerly +asked of Moses a greater thing than this; for they said, Show us +God visibly. Wherefore a storm of fire from heaven destroyed them, +because of their iniquity. Then they took the calf for their God: +after that evident proofs of the divine unity had come unto them; +but we forgave them that, and gave Moses a manifest power to punish +them. And we lifted the mountain of Sinai over them, when we +exacted from them their covenant; and said unto them, Enter the +gate of the city worshipping. We also said unto them, Transgress +not on the Sabbath day. And we received from them a firm covenant, +that they would observe these things. Therefore for that<a id= +"footnotetag76" name="footnotetag76"></a><a href= +"#footnote76"><sup>76</sup></a> they have made void their covenant, +and have not believed in the signs of God, and have slain the +prophets unjustly, and have said, Our hearts are uncircumcised (but +God hath sealed them up, because of their unbelief; therefore they +shall not believe, except a few of them): and for that they have +not believed on Jesus, and have spoken against Mary a grievous +calumny; and have said, Verily we have slain Christ Jesus the son +of Mary, the apostle of God; yet they slew him not, neither +crucified him, but he was represented by one in his likeness; and +verily they who disagreed concerning him,<a id="footnotetag77" +name="footnotetag77"></a><a href="#footnote77"><sup>77</sup></a> +were in a doubt as to this matter, and had no sure knowledge +thereof, but followed only an uncertain opinion. They did not +really kill him; but God took him up unto himself: and God is +mighty and wise. And there shall not be one of those who have +received the scriptures, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page274" +name="page274"></a>[pg 274]</span> who shall not believe in him, +before his death;<a id="footnotetag78" name= +"footnotetag78"></a><a href="#footnote78"><sup>78</sup></a> and on +the day of resurrection he shall be a witness against them. Because +of the iniquity of those who Judaize, we have forbidden them good +things, which had been formerly allowed them; and because they shut +out many from the way of God, and have taken usury, which was +forbidden them by the law, and devoured men's substance vainly: we +have prepared for such of them as are unbelievers a painful +punishment. But those among them who are well grounded in +knowledge, and the faithful, who believe in that which hath been +sent down unto thee, and that which hath been sent down unto the +prophets before thee, and who observe the stated times of prayer, +and give alms, and believe in God and the last day; unto these will +we give a great reward. Verily we have revealed our will unto thee, +as we have revealed it unto Noah and the prophets who succeeded +him; and as we revealed it unto Abraham, and Ismael, and Isaac, and +Jacob, and the tribes, and unto Jesus, and Job, and Jonas, and +Aaron, and Solomon; and we have given thee the Koran, as we gave +the Psalms unto David: some apostles have we sent, whom we have +formerly mentioned unto thee; and other apostles have we sent, whom +we have not mentioned unto thee; and God spake unto Moses, +discoursing with him; apostles declaring good tidings, and +denouncing threats, lest men should have an argument of excuse +against God, after the apostles had been sent unto them; God is +mighty and wise. God is witness of that revelation which he hath +sent down unto thee; he sent it down with his special knowledge: +the angels also are witnesses thereof; but God is a sufficient +witness. They who believe not, and turn aside others from the way +of God, have erred in a wide mistake. Verily those who believe not, +and act unjustly, God will by no means forgive, neither will he +direct them into any other way than the way of hell; they shall +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page275" name="page275"></a>[pg +275]</span> remain therein forever: and this is easy with God. O +men, now is the apostle come unto you, with truth from your Lord; +believe therefore, it will be better for you. But if ye disbelieve, +verily unto God belongeth whatsoever is in heaven and on earth; and +God is knowing and wise. O ye who have received the scriptures, +exceed not the just bounds in your religion, neither say of God any +other than the truth. Verily Christ Jesus the son of Mary is the +apostle of God, and his Word, which he conveyed into Mary, and a +spirit proceeding from him. Believe, therefore, in God, and his +apostles, and say not, There are three Gods;<a id="footnotetag79" +name="footnotetag79"></a><a href="#footnote79"><sup>79</sup></a> +forbear this; it will be better for you. God is but one God. Far be +it from him that he should have a son! unto him belongeth +whatsoever is in heaven and on earth; and God is a sufficient +protector. Christ doth not proudly disdain to be a servant unto +God; neither the angels who approach near to his presence: and +whoso disdaineth his service, and is puffed up with pride, God will +gather them all to himself, on the last day. Unto those who +believe, and do that which is right, he shall give their rewards, +and shall superabundantly add unto them of his liberality: but +those who are disdainful and proud, he will punish with a grievous +punishment; and they shall not find any to protect or to help them, +besides God. O men, now is an evident proof come unto you from your +Lord, and we have sent down unto you manifest light. They who +believe in God and firmly adhere to him, he will lead them into +mercy from him, and abundance; and he will direct them in the right +way to himself. They will consult thee for thy decision in certain +cases; say unto them, God giveth you these determinations, +concerning the more remote degrees of kindred. If a man die without +issue, and have a sister, she shall have the half of what he shall +leave:<a id="footnotetag80" name="footnotetag80"></a><a href= +"#footnote80"><sup>80</sup></a> and he shall be heir to her,<a id= +"footnotetag81" name="footnotetag81"></a><a href= +"#footnote81"><sup>81</sup></a> in case she have no issue. But if +there be two sisters, they shall have between them two third-parts +of what he shall leave; and if there be several, both brothers and +sisters, a male shall have as much as the portion of two females. +God declareth unto you these precepts, lest ye err: and God knoweth +all things.</p> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote63" name= +"footnote63"></a><b>Footnote 63:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag63">(return)</a> +<p>This title was given to this chapter because it chiefly treats +of matters relating to women: as marriages, divorces, dower, +prohibited degrees.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote64" name= +"footnote64"></a><b>Footnote 64:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag64">(return)</a> +<p>By legacies in this and the following passages, are chiefly +meant those bequeathed to pious uses; for the Mohammedans approve +not of a person's giving away his substance from his family and +near relations on any other account.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote65" name= +"footnote65"></a><b>Footnote 65:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag65">(return)</a> +<p>Their punishment, in the beginning of Mohammedanism, was to be +immured till they died, but afterwards this cruel doom was +mitigated, and they might avoid it by undergoing the punishment +ordained in its stead by the Sonna, according to which the maidens +are to be scourged with a hundred stripes, and to be banished for a +full year; and the married women to be stoned.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote66" name= +"footnote66"></a><b>Footnote 66:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag66">(return)</a> +<p>According to this passage it is not lawful to marry a free woman +that is already married, be she a Mohammedan or not, unless she be +legally parted from her husband by divorce; but it is lawful to +marry those who are slaves, or taken in war, after they shall have +gone through the proper purifications, though their husbands be +living. Yet, according to the decision of Abu Hanifah, it is not +lawful to marry such whose husbands shall be taken, or in actual +slavery with them.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote67" name= +"footnote67"></a><b>Footnote 67:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag67">(return)</a> +<p>The reason of this is because they are not presumed to have had +so good education. A slave, therefore, in such a case, is to have +fifty stripes, and to be banished for half a year; but she shall +not be stoned, because it is a punishment which cannot be inflicted +by halves.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote68" name= +"footnote68"></a><b>Footnote 68:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag68">(return)</a> +<p>These sins al Beidâwi, from a tradition of Mohammed, +reckons to be seven (equalling in number the sins called deadly by +Christians), that is to say, idolatry, murder, falsely accusing +modest women of adultery, wasting the substance of orphans, taking +of usury, desertion in a religious expedition, and disobedience to +parents.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote69" name= +"footnote69"></a><b>Footnote 69:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag69">(return)</a> +<p>Such as honor, power, riches, and other worldly advantages.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote70" name= +"footnote70"></a><b>Footnote 70:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag70">(return)</a> +<p>By this passage the Mohammedans are in plain terms allowed to +beat their wives, in case of stubborn disobedience; but not in a +violent or dangerous manner.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote71" name= +"footnote71"></a><b>Footnote 71:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag71">(return)</a> +<p>The Arabic is, in Tibt and Taghût. The former is supposed +to have been the proper name of some idol; but it seems rather to +signify any false deity in general. The latter we have explained +already.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote72" name= +"footnote72"></a><b>Footnote 72:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag72">(return)</a> +<p>That is, to the decision of the Koran.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote73" name= +"footnote73"></a><b>Footnote 73:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag73">(return)</a> +<p>These words are not to be understood as contradictory to the +preceding, "That all proceeds from God," since the evil which +befalls mankind, though ordered by God, is yet the consequence of +their own wicked actions.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote74" name= +"footnote74"></a><b>Footnote 74:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag74">(return)</a> +<p>Which fine is to be distributed according to the laws of +inheritance given in the beginning of this chapter.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote75" name= +"footnote75"></a><b>Footnote 75:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag75">(return)</a> +<p>These were certain inhabitants of Mecca, who held with the hare +and ran with the hounds, for though they embraced Mohammedanism, +yet they would not leave that city to join the prophet, as the rest +of the Moslems did, but on the contrary went out with the +idolaters, and were therefore slain with them at the battle of +Bedr.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote76" name= +"footnote76"></a><b>Footnote 76:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag76">(return)</a> +<p>There being nothing in the following words of this sentence, to +answer to the causal "for that," Jallalo'ddin supposes something to +be understood to complete the sense, as "therefore we have cursed +them," or the like.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote77" name= +"footnote77"></a><b>Footnote 77:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag77">(return)</a> +<p>For some maintained that he was justly and really crucified; +some insisted that it was not Jesus who suffered, but another who +resembled him in the face, pretending the other parts of his body, +and by their unlikeness plainly discovered the imposition; some +said he was taken up into heaven; and others, that his manhood only +suffered, and that his godhead ascended into heaven.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote78" name= +"footnote78"></a><b>Footnote 78:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag78">(return)</a> +<p>This passage is expounded two ways. Some, referring the relative +his to the first antecedent, take the meaning to be that no Jew or +Christian shall die before he believes in Jesus: for they say, that +when one of either of those religions is ready to breathe his last, +and sees the angel of death before him, he shall then believe in +that prophet as he ought, though his faith will not then be of any +avail. According to a tradition of Hejâj, when a Jew is +expiring, the angels will strike him on the back and face, and say +to him, "O thou enemy of God, Jesus was sent as a prophet unto +thee, and thou didst not believe on him;" to which he will answer, +"I now believe him to be the servant of God"; and to a dying +Christian they will say, "Jesus was sent as a prophet unto thee, +and thou hast imagined him to be God, or the son of God," whereupon +he will believe him to be the servant of God only, and his apostle. +Others, taking the above-mentioned relative to refer to Jesus, +suppose the intent of the passage to be, that all Jews and +Christians in general shall have a right faith in that prophet +before his death, that is, when he descends from heaven and returns +into the world, where he is to kill Antichrist, and to establish +the Mohammedan religion, and a most perfect tranquillity and +security on earth.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote79" name= +"footnote79"></a><b>Footnote 79:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag79">(return)</a> +<p>Namely, God, Jesus, and Mary—as the eastern writers +mention a sect of Christians which held the Trinity to be composed +of those three; but it is allowed that this heresy has been long +since extinct. The passage, however, is equally levelled against +the Holy Trinity, according to the doctrine of the orthodox +Christians, who, as al Beid[=a]wi acknowledges, believe the divine +nature to consist of three persons, the Father, the Son, and the +Holy Ghost; by the Father understanding God's essence, by the Son +his knowledge, and by the Holy Ghost his life.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote80" name= +"footnote80"></a><b>Footnote 80:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag80">(return)</a> +<p>And the other half will go to the public treasury.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote81" name= +"footnote81"></a><b>Footnote 81:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag81">(return)</a> +<p>That is, he shall inherit her whole substance.</p> +</blockquote> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page276" name="page276"></a>[pg +276]</span> +<h3><a id="koran-v" name="koran-v">CHAPTER V</a></h3> +<h4>Entitled, the Table<a id="footnotetag82" name= +"footnotetag82"></a><a href= +"#footnote82"><sup>82</sup></a>—Revealed at Medina</h4> +<p><i>In the Name of the Most Merciful God.</i></p> +<p>O True believers, perform your contracts. Ye are allowed to eat +the brute cattle,<a id="footnotetag83" name= +"footnotetag83"></a><a href="#footnote83"><sup>83</sup></a> other +than what ye are commanded to abstain from; except the game which +ye are allowed at other times, but not while ye are on pilgrimage +to Mecca; God ordaineth that which he pleaseth. O true believers, +violate not the holy rites of God, nor the sacred month,<a id= +"footnotetag84" name="footnotetag84"></a><a href= +"#footnote84"><sup>84</sup></a> nor the offering, nor the ornaments +hung thereon, nor those who are travelling to the holy house, +seeking favor from their Lord, and to please him. But when ye shall +have finished your pilgrimage, then hunt. And let not the malice of +some, in that they hindered you from entering the sacred temple, +provoke you to transgress, by taking revenge on them in the sacred +months. Assist one another according to justice and piety, but +assist not one another in injustice and malice: therefore fear God; +for God is severe in punishing. Ye are forbidden to eat that which +dieth of itself, and blood, and swine's flesh, and that on which +the name of any besides God hath been invocated, and that which +hath been strangled, or killed by a blow, or by a fall, or by the +horns of another beast, and that which hath been eaten by a wild +beast, except what ye shall kill yourselves; and that which hath +been sacrificed unto idols. It is likewise unlawful for you to make +division by casting lots with arrows.<a id="footnotetag85" name= +"footnotetag85"></a><a href="#footnote85"><sup>85</sup></a> This is +an impiety. On this day, woe be unto those who have apostatized +from their religion; therefore fear not them, but fear me. This day +have I perfected your religion for you, and <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page277" name="page277"></a>[pg 277]</span> have +completed my mercy upon you; and I have chosen for you Islam, to be +your religion. But whosoever shall be driven by necessity through +hunger to eat of what we have forbidden, not designing to sin, +surely God will be indulgent and merciful unto him. They will ask +thee what is allowed them as lawful to eat? Answer, Such things as +are good are allowed you; and what ye shall teach animals of prey +to catch, training them up for hunting after the manner of dogs, +and teaching them according to the skill which God hath taught you. +Eat therefore of that which they shall catch for you; and +commemorate the name of God thereon; and fear God, for God is swift +in taking an account. This day are ye allowed to eat such things as +are good, and the food of those to whom the scriptures were given +is also allowed as lawful unto you; and your food is allowed as +lawful unto them. And ye are also allowed to marry free women that +are believers, and also free women of those who have received the +scriptures before you, when ye shall have assigned them their +dower; living chastely with them, neither committing fornication, +nor taking them for concubines. Whoever shall renounce the faith, +his work shall be vain, and in the next life he shall be of those +who perish. O true believers, when ye prepare yourselves to pray, +wash your faces, and your hands unto the elbows; and rub your +heads, and your feet unto the ankles; and if ye be polluted and ye +find no water, take fine clean sand, and rub your faces and your +hands therewith; God will not put a difficulty upon you; but he +desireth to purify you, and to complete his favor upon you, that ye +may give thanks. Remember the favor of God towards you, and his +covenant which he hath made with you, when ye said, We have heard, +and will obey. Therefore fear God, for God knoweth the innermost +parts of the breasts of men, O true believers, observe justice when +ye appear as witnesses before God, and let not hatred towards any +induce you to do wrong: but act justly; this will approach nearer +unto piety; and fear God, for God is fully acquainted with what ye +do. God hath promised unto those who believe, and do that which is +right, that they shall receive pardon and a great reward. But they +who believe not, and accuse our signs of falsehood, they shall be +the companions of hell. O true believers, remember God's favor +towards you, when certain men designed to stretch forth their hands +against you, but he restrained their <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page278" name="page278"></a>[pg 278]</span> hands from hurting +you; therefore fear God, and in God let the faithful trust. God +formerly accepted the covenant of the children of Israel, and we +appointed out of them twelve leaders: and God said, Verily, I am +with you: if ye observe prayer, and give alms, and believe in my +apostles, and assist them, and lend unto God on good usury, I will +surely expiate your evil deeds from you, and I will lead you into +gardens, wherein rivers flow: but he among you who disbelieveth +after this, erreth from the straight path. Wherefore because they +have broken their covenant, we have cursed them, and hardened their +hearts; they dislocate the words of the Pentateuch from their +places, and have forgotten part of what they were admonished; and +thou wilt not cease to discover deceitful practices among them, +except a few of them. But forgive them and pardon them, for God +loveth the beneficent. And from those who say, We are Christians, +we have received their covenant; but they have forgotten part of +what they were admonished; wherefore we have raised up enmity and +hatred among them, till the day of resurrection; and God will then +surely declare unto them what they have been doing. O ye who have +received the scriptures, now is our apostle come unto you, to make +manifest unto you many things which ye concealed in the scriptures; +and to pass over many things. Now is light and a perspicuous book +of revelations come unto you from God. Thereby will God direct him +who shall follow his good pleasure, into the paths of peace; and +shall lead them out of darkness into light, by his will, and shall +direct them in the right way. They are infidels, who say, Verily +God is Christ the son of Mary. Say unto them, And who could obtain +anything from God to the contrary, if he pleased to destroy Christ +the son of Mary, and his mother, and all those who are on the +earth? For unto God belongeth the kingdom of heaven and earth, and +whatsoever is contained between them; he createth what he pleaseth, +and God is almighty. The Jews and the Christians say, We are the +children of God, and his beloved. Answer, Why therefore doth he +punish you for your sins? Nay, but ye are men, of those whom he +hath created. He forgiveth whom he pleaseth, and punisheth whom he +pleaseth; and unto God belongeth the kingdom of heaven and earth, +and of what is contained between them both; and unto him shall all +things return. O ye who have received the scriptures, now is our +apostle come unto you, declaring unto you the true <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page279" name="page279"></a>[pg 279]</span> +religion, during the cessation of apostles<a id="footnotetag86" +name="footnotetag86"></a><a href="#footnote86"><sup>86</sup></a>, +lest ye should say, There came unto us no bearer of good tidings, +nor any warner: but now is a bearer of good tidings and a warner +come unto you; and God is almighty. Call to mind when Moses said +unto his people, O my people, remember the favor of God towards +you, since he hath appointed prophets among you, and constituted +you kings, and bestowed on you what he hath given to no other +nation in the world. O my people, enter the holy land, which God +hath decreed you, and turn not your backs, lest ye be subverted and +perish. They answered, O Moses, verily there are a gigantic people +in the land; and we will by no means enter it, until they depart +thence; but if they depart thence, then will we enter therein. And +two men of those who feared God, unto whom God had been gracious, +said, Enter ye upon them suddenly by the gate of the city; and when +ye shall have entered the same, ye shall surely be victorious: +therefore trust in God, if ye are true believers. They replied, O +Moses, we will never enter the land, while they remain therein: go +therefore thou, and thy Lord, and fight; for we will sit here. +Moses said, O Lord, surely I am not master of any except myself, +and my brother; therefore make a distinction between us and the +ungodly people. God answered, Verily the land shall be forbidden +them forty years; during which time they shall wander like men +astonished in the earth; therefore be not thou solicitous for the +ungodly people. Relate also unto them the history of the two sons +of Adam, with truth. When they offered their offering, and it was +accepted from one of them, and was not accepted from the other, +Cain said to his brother, I will certainly kill thee. Abel +answered, God only accepteth the offering of the pious; if thou +stretchest forth thy hand against me, to slay me, I will not +stretch forth my hand against thee, to slay thee; for I fear God +the Lord of all creatures. I choose that thou shouldst bear my +iniquity and thine own iniquity; and that thou become a companion +of hell fire; for that is the reward of the unjust. But his soul +suffered him to slay his brother, and he slew him; wherefore he +became of the number of those who perish. And God sent a raven, +which scratched the earth, to show him how he should hide the shame +of his <span class="pagenum"><a id="page280" name="page280"></a>[pg +280]</span> brother, and he said, Woe is me! am I unable to be like +this raven, that I may hide my brother's shame? and he became one +of those who repent. Wherefore we commanded the children of Israel, +that he who slayeth a soul, without having slain a body, or +committed wickedness in the earth, shall be as if he had slain all +mankind: but he who saveth a soul alive, shall be as if he had +saved the lives of all mankind. Our apostles formerly came unto +them, with evident miracles; then were many of them, after this, +transgressors on the earth. But the recompense of those who fight +against God and his apostles, and study to act corruptly in the +earth, shall be, that they shall be slain, or crucified, or have +their hands and their feet cut off on the opposite sides, or be +banished the land. This shall be their disgrace in this world, and +in the next world they shall suffer a grievous punishment; except +those who shall repent, before ye prevail against them; for know +that God is inclined to forgive, and be merciful. O true believers, +fear God, and earnestly desire a near conjunction with him, and +fight for his religion, that ye may be happy. Moreover, they who +believe not, although they had whatever is in the earth, and as +much more withal, that they might therewith redeem themselves from +punishment on the day of resurrection: it shall not be accepted +from them, but they shall suffer a painful punishment. They shall +desire to go forth from the fire, but they shall not go forth from +it, and their punishment shall be permanent. If a man or a woman +steal, cut off their hands,<a id="footnotetag87" name= +"footnotetag87"></a><a href="#footnote87"><sup>87</sup></a> in +retribution for that which they have committed; this is an +exemplary punishment appointed by God; and God is mighty and wise. +But whoever shall repent after his iniquity, and amend, verily God +will be turned unto him, for God is inclined to forgive and be +merciful. Dost thou not know that the kingdom of heaven and earth +is God's? He punisheth whom he pleaseth, and he pardoneth whom he +pleaseth; for God is almighty. O apostle, let them not grieve thee, +who hasten to infidelity, either of those who say, We believe, with +their mouths, but whose hearts believe not; or of the Jews, who +hearken to a lie, and hearken to other people; who come not unto +thee: they pervert the words of the law from their true +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page281" name="page281"></a>[pg +281]</span> places, and say, If this be brought unto you, receive +it; but if it be not brought unto you, beware of receiving aught +else; and in behalf of him whom God shall resolve to reduce, thou +shalt not prevail with God at all. They whose hearts God shall not +please to cleanse, shall suffer shame in this world, and a grievous +punishment in the next: who hearken to a lie, and eat that which is +forbidden. But if they come unto thee for judgment, either judge +between them, or leave them; and if thou leave them, they shall not +hurt thee at all. But if thou undertake to judge, judge between +them with equity; for God loveth those who observe justice. And how +will they submit to thy decision, since they have the law, +containing the judgment of God? Then will they turn their backs, +after this; but those are not true believers. We have surely sent +down the law, containing direction, and light: thereby did the +prophets, who professed the true religion, judge those who +Judaized; and the doctors and priests also judged by the book of +God, which had been committed to their custody; and they were +witnesses thereof. Therefore fear not men, but fear me; neither +sell my signs for a small price. And whoso judgeth not according to +what God hath revealed, they are infidels. We have therein +commanded them, that they should give life for life, and eye for +eye, and nose for nose, and ear for ear, and tooth for tooth; and +that wounds should also be punished by retaliation: but whoever +should remit it as alms, it should be accepted as an atonement for +him. And whoso judgeth not according to what God hath revealed, +they are unjust. We also caused Jesus, the son of Mary, to follow +the footsteps of the prophets, confirming the law which was sent +down before him; and we gave him the gospel, containing direction +and light; confirming also the law which was given before it, and a +direction and admonition unto those who fear God: that they who +have received the gospel might judge according to what God hath +revealed therein: and whoso judgeth not according to what God hath +revealed, they are transgressors. We have also sent down unto thee +the book of the Koran with truth, confirming that scripture which +was revealed before it; and preserving the same safe from +corruption. Judge, therefore, between them according to that which +God hath revealed; and follow not their desires, by swerving from +the truth which hath come unto thee. Unto every one of you have we +given a law, and an open path; and if God had <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page282" name="page282"></a>[pg 282]</span> +pleased, he had surely made you one people; but he hath thought fit +to give you different laws, that he might try you in that which he +hath given you respectively. Therefore strive to excel each other +in good works: unto God shall ye all return, and then will he +declare unto you that concerning which ye have disagreed. Wherefore +do thou, O prophet, judge between them according to that which God +hath revealed, and follow not their desires; but beware of them, +lest they cause thee to err from part of those precepts which God +hath sent down unto thee; and if they turn back, know that God is +pleased to punish them for some of their crimes; for a great number +of men are transgressors. Do they therefore desire the judgment of +the time of ignorance? but who is better than God, to judge between +people who reason aright? O true believers, take not the Jews or +Christians for your friends; they are friends the one to the other; +but whoso among you taketh them for his friends, he is surely one +of them: verily God directeth not unjust people. Thou shalt see +those in whose hearts there is an infirmity, to hasten unto them, +saying, We fear lest some adversity befall us; but it is easy for +God to give victory, or a command from him, that they may repent of +that which they concealed in their minds. And they who believe will +say, Are these the men who have sworn by God, with a most firm +oath, that they surely held with you? their works are become vain, +and they are of those who perish. O true believers, whoever of you +apostatizeth from his religion, God will certainly bring other +people to supply his place, whom he will love, and who will love +him; who shall be humble towards the believers, but severe to the +unbelievers; they shall fight for the religion of God, and shall +not fear the obloquy of the detractor. This is the bounty of God, +he bestoweth it on whom he pleaseth: God is extensive and wise. +Verily your protector is God, and his apostle, and those who +believe, who observe the stated times of prayer, and give alms, and +who bow down to worship. And whoso taketh God, and his apostle, and +the believers for his friends, they are the party of God, and they +shall be victorious. O true believers, take not such of those to +whom the scriptures were delivered before you, or of the infidels, +for your friends, who make a laughing-stock and a jest of your +religion; but fear God, if ye be true believers; nor those who, +when ye call to prayer, make a laughing-stock and a jest of it; +this they do because they are people who do not <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page283" name="page283"></a>[pg 283]</span> +understand. Say, O ye who have received the scriptures, do ye +reject us for any other reason than because we believe in God, and +that revelation which hath been sent down unto us, and that which +was formerly sent down, and for that the greater part of you are +transgressors? Say, Shall I denounce unto you a worse thing than +this, as to the reward which ye are to expect with God? He whom God +hath cursed, and with whom he hath been angry, having changed some +of them into apes and swine, and who worship Taghût, they are +in the worse condition, and err more widely from the straightness +of the path. When they came unto you, they said, We believe: yet +they entered into your company with infidelity, and went forth from +you with the same; but God well knew what they concealed. Thou +shalt see many of them hastening unto iniquity and malice, and to +eat things forbidden; and woe unto them for what they have done. +Unless their doctors and priests forbid them uttering wickedness, +and eating things forbidden; woe unto them for what they shall have +committed. The Jews say, the hand of God is tied up. Their hands +shall be tied up, and they shall be cursed for that which they have +said. Nay, his hands are both stretched forth; he bestoweth as he +pleaseth: that which had been sent down unto thee from thy Lord, +shall increase the transgression and infidelity of many of them; +and we have put enmity and hatred between them, until the day of +resurrection. So often as they shall kindle a fire for war, God +shall extinguish it; and they shall set their minds to act +corruptly in the earth, but God loveth not the corrupt doers. +Moreover, if they who have received the scriptures believe, and +fear God, we will surely expiate their sins from them, and we will +lead them into gardens of pleasure; and if they observe the law, +and the gospel, and the other scriptures which have been sent down +unto them from their Lord, they shall surely eat of good things +both from above them and from under their feet. Among them there +are people who act uprightly; but how evil is that which many of +them do work! O apostle, publish the whole of that which hath been +sent down unto thee from thy Lord: for if thou do not, thou dost +not in effect publish any part thereof; and God will defend thee +against wicked men; for God directeth not the unbelieving people. +Say, O ye who have received the scriptures, ye are not grounded on +anything, until ye observe the law and the gospel, and that which +hath been <span class="pagenum"><a id="page284" name= +"page284"></a>[pg 284]</span> sent down unto you from your Lord. +That which hath been sent down unto thee from thy Lord shall surely +increase the transgression and infidelity of many of them: but be +not thou solicitous for the unbelieving people. Verily they who +believe, and those who Judaize,—and the Sabeans, and the +Christians, whoever of them believeth in God and the last day, and +doth that which is right, there shall come no fear on them, neither +shall they be grieved. We formerly accepted the covenant of the +children of Israel, and sent apostles unto them. So often as an +apostle came unto them with that which their souls desired not, +they accused some of them of imposture, and some of them they +killed: and they imagined that there should be no punishment for +those crimes, and they became blind and deaf. Then was God turned +unto them; afterwards many of them again became blind and deaf; but +God saw what they did. They are surely infidels, who say, Verily +God is Christ the son of Mary; since Christ said, O children of +Israel, serve God, my Lord and your Lord; whoever shall give a +companion unto God, God shall exclude him from paradise, and his +habitation shall be hell fire; and the ungodly shall have none to +help them. They are certainly infidels, who say, God is the third +of three: for there is no God besides one God; and if they refrain +not from what they say, a painful torment shall surely be inflicted +on such of them as are unbelievers. Will they not therefore be +turned unto God, and ask pardon of him? since God is gracious and +merciful. Christ, the son of Mary, is no more than an apostle; +other apostles have preceded him; and his mother was a woman of +veracity: they both ate food. Behold, how we declare unto them the +signs of God's unity; and then behold, how they turn aside from the +truth. Say unto them, Will ye worship, besides God, that which can +cause you neither harm nor profit? God is he who heareth and seeth. +Say, O ye who have received the scriptures, exceed not the just +bounds in your religion, by speaking beside the truth; neither +follow the desires of people who have heretofore erred, and who +have seduced many, and have gone astray from the straight path. +Those among the children of Israel who believed not, were cursed by +the tongue of David, and of Jesus the son of Mary. This befell them +because they were rebellious and transgressed: they forbade not one +another the wickedness which they committed; and woe unto them for +what they committed. Thou shalt see <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page285" name="page285"></a>[pg 285]</span> many of them take for +their friends those who believe not. Woe unto them for what their +souls have sent before them, for that God is incensed against them, +and they shall remain in torment forever. But, if they had believed +in God, and the prophet, and that which hath been revealed unto +him, they had not taken them for their friends; but many of them +are evil-doers. Thou shalt surely find the most violent of all men +in enmity against the true believers, to be the Jews and the +idolaters: and thou shalt surely find those among them to be the +most inclinable to entertain friendship for the true believers, who +say, We are Christians. This cometh to pass, because there are +priests and monks among them; and because they are not elated with +pride. And when they hear that which hath been sent down to the +apostle read unto them, thou shalt see their eyes overflow with +tears, because of the truth which they perceive therein, saying, O +Lord, we believe; write us down, therefore, with those who bear +witness to the truth: and what should hinder us from believing in +God, and the truth which hath come unto us, and from earnestly +desiring that our Lord would introduce us into paradise with the +righteous people. Therefore hath God rewarded them, for what they +have said, with gardens through which rivers flow; they shall +continue therein forever; and this is the reward of the righteous. +But they who believe not, and accuse our signs of falsehood, they +shall be the companions of hell. O true believers, forbid not the +good things which God hath allowed you; but transgress not, for God +loveth not the transgressors. And eat of what God hath given you +for food that which is lawful and good: and fear God, in whom ye +believe. God will not punish you for an inconsiderate word in your +oaths; but he will punish you for what ye solemnly swear with +deliberation. And the expiation of such an oath shall be the +feeding of ten poor men with such moderate food as ye feed your own +families withal; or to clothe them; or to free the neck of a true +believer from captivity: but he who shall not find wherewith to +perform one of these three things, shall fast three days. This is +the expiation of your oaths, when ye swear inadvertently. Therefore +keep your oaths. Thus God declareth unto you his signs, that ye may +give thanks. O true believers, surely wine, and lots, and images, +and divining arrows, are an abomination of the work of Satan; +therefore avoid them, that ye may prosper. Satan seeketh to sow +dissension <span class="pagenum"><a id="page286" name= +"page286"></a>[pg 286]</span> and hatred among you, by means of +wine and lots, and to divert you from remembering God, and from +prayer; will ye not therefore abstain from them? Obey God, and obey +the apostle, and take heed to yourselves: but if ye turn back, know +that the duty of our apostle is only to preach publicly. In those +who believe and do good works, it is no sin that they have tasted +wine or gaming before they were forbidden; if they fear God, and +believe, and do good works, and shall for the future fear God, and +believe, and shall persevere to fear him, and to do good; for God +loveth those who do good. O true believers, God will surely prove +you in offering you plenty of game, which ye may take with your +hands or your lances, that God may know who feareth him in secret; +but whoever transgresseth after this, shall suffer a grievous +punishment. O true believers, kill no game while ye are on +pilgrimages; whosoever among you shall kill any designedly, shall +restore the like of what ye shall have killed, in domestic animals, +according to the determination of two just persons among you, to be +brought as an offering to the Caabah; or in atonement thereof shall +feed the poor; or instead thereof shall fast, that he may taste the +heinousness of his deed. God hath forgiven what is past, but +whoever returneth to transgress, God will take vengeance on him; +for God is mighty and able to avenge. It is lawful for you to fish +in the sea,<a id="footnotetag88" name="footnotetag88"></a><a href= +"#footnote88"><sup>88</sup></a> and to eat what ye shall catch, as +a provision for you and for those who travel; but it is unlawful +for you to hunt by land, while ye are performing the rites of +pilgrimage; therefore fear God, before whom ye shall be assembled +at the last day. God hath appointed the Caabah, the holy house, an +establishment for mankind; and hath ordained the sacred month, and +the offering, and the ornaments hung thereon. This hath he done +that ye might know that God knoweth whatsoever is in heaven and on +earth, and that God is omniscient. Know that God is severe in +punishing, and that God is ready to forgive and be merciful. The +duty of our apostle is to preach only; and God knoweth that which +ye discover, and that which ye conceal. Say, Evil and Good shall +not be equally esteemed of, though the abundance of evil pleaseth +thee; therefore fear God, O ye of understanding, that ye may be +happy. O true believers, inquire not <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page287" name="page287"></a>[pg 287]</span> concerning things +which, if they be declared unto you, may give you pain; but if ye +ask concerning them when the Koran is sent down, they will be +declared unto you: God pardoneth you as to these matters; for God +is ready to forgive and gracious. People who have been before you +formerly inquired concerning them; and afterwards disbelieved +therein. God hath not ordained anything concerning Bahîra, +nor Sâïba, nor Wasîla, nor Hâmi;<a id= +"footnotetag89" name="footnotetag89"></a><a href= +"#footnote89"><sup>89</sup></a> but the unbelievers have invented a +lie against God: and the greater part of them do not understand. +And when it was said unto them, Come unto that which God hath +revealed, and to the apostles; they answered, That religion which +we found our fathers to follow is sufficient for us. What though +their fathers knew nothing, and were not rightly directed? O true +believers, take care of your souls. He who erreth shall not hurt +you, while ye are rightly directed: unto God shall ye all return, +and he will tell you that which ye have done. O true believers, let +witnesses be taken between you, when death approaches any of you, +at the time of making the testament; let there be two witnesses, +just men, from among you; or two others of a different tribe or +faith from yourselves, if ye be journeying in the earth, and the +accident of death befall you. Ye shall shut them both up, after the +afternoon prayer, and they shall swear by God, if ye doubt them, +and they shall say, We will not sell our evidence for a bribe, +although the person concerned be one who is related to us, neither +will we conceal the testimony of God, for then should we certainly +be of the number of the wicked. But if it appear that both have +been guilty of iniquity, two others shall stand up in their place, +of those who have convicted them of falsehood, the two nearest in +blood, and they shall swear by God, saying, Verily our testimony is +more true than the testimony of these two, neither have we +prevaricated; for then should we become of the number of the +unjust. This will be easier, that men may give testimony according +to the plain intention thereof, or fear lest a different oath be +given, after their oath. Therefore fear God, and hearken; for God +directeth not the unjust people. On a certain day shall God +assemble the apostles, and shall say unto them, What answer was +returned you, when ye preached unto the people to whom <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page288" name="page288"></a>[pg 288]</span> ye +were sent? They shall answer, We have no knowledge but thou art the +knower of secrets. When God shall say, O Jesus, son of Mary, +remember my favor towards thee, and towards thy mother; when I +strengthened thee with the holy spirit, that thou shouldst speak +unto men in the cradle, and when thou wast grown up; and when I +taught thee the scripture, and wisdom, and the law and the gospel; +and when thou didst create of clay as it were the figure of a bird, +by my permission, and didst breathe thereon, and it became a bird +by my permission; and thou didst heal one blind from his birth and +the leper, by my permission; and when thou didst bring forth the +dead from their graves, by my permission; and when I withheld the +children of Israel from killing thee, when thou hadst come unto +them with evident miracles, and such of them as believed not, said, +This is nothing but manifest sorcery. And when I commanded the +apostles of Jesus, saying, Believe in me and in my messenger; they +answered, We do believe; and do thou bear witness that we are +resigned unto thee. Remember when the apostles said, O Jesus, son +of Mary, is thy Lord able to cause a table to descend unto us from +heaven?<a id="footnotetag90" name="footnotetag90"></a><a href= +"#footnote90"><sup>90</sup></a> He answered, hear God, if ye be +true believers. They said, We desire to eat thereof, and that our +hearts may rest at ease, and that we may know that thou hast told +us the truth, and that we may be witnesses thereof. Jesus, the son +of Mary, said, O God our Lord, cause a table to descend unto us +from heaven, that the day of its descent may become a festival day +unto us, unto the first of us, and unto the last of us, and a sign +from thee; and do thou provide food for us, for thou art the best +provider. God said, Verily I will cause it to descend unto you; but +whoever among you shall disbelieve hereafter, I will surely punish +him with a punishment wherewith I will not punish any other +creature. And when God shall say unto Jesus, at the last day, O +Jesus, son of Mary, hast thou said unto men, Take me and my mother +for two gods, beside God? He shall answer, Praise be unto thee! it +is not for me to say that which I ought not; if I had said so, thou +wouldst surely have known it: thou knowest what is in me, but I +know not what is in thee; for thou art the knower of secrets. I +have <span class="pagenum"><a id="page289" name="page289"></a>[pg +289]</span> not spoken to them any other than what thou didst +command me; namely, Worship God, my Lord and your Lord: and I was a +witness of their actions while I stayed among them; but since thou +hast taken me to thyself, thou hast been the watcher over them; for +thou art witness of all things. If thou punish them, they are +surely thy servants; and if thou forgive them, thou art mighty and +wise. God will say, This day shall their veracity be of advantage +unto those who speak truth; they shall have gardens wherein rivers +flow, they shall remain therein forever: God hath been well pleased +in them, and they have been well pleased in him. This shall be +great felicity. Unto God belongeth the kingdom of heaven and of +earth, and of whatever therein is; and he is almighty.</p> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote82" name= +"footnote82"></a><b>Footnote 82:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag82">(return)</a> +<p>This title is taken from the Table, which, towards the end of +the chapter, is fabled to have been let down from heaven to Jesus. +It is sometimes also called the chapter of Contracts, which word +occurs in the first verse.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote83" name= +"footnote83"></a><b>Footnote 83:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag83">(return)</a> +<p>As camels, oxen, and sheep; and also wild cows, antelopes, but +not swine, nor what is taken in hunting during the pilgrimage.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote84" name= +"footnote84"></a><b>Footnote 84:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag84">(return)</a> +<p>The sacred months in the Mohammedan calendar were the first, the +seventh, the eleventh, and the twelfth.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote85" name= +"footnote85"></a><b>Footnote 85:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag85">(return)</a> +<p>A game similar to raffling, arrowheads being used as +counters.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote86" name= +"footnote86"></a><b>Footnote 86:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag86">(return)</a> +<p>The Arabic word <i>al Fatra</i> signifies the intermediate space +of time between two prophets, during which no new revelation or +dispensation was given; as the interval between Moses and Jesus, +and between Jesus and Mohammed, at the expiration of which last, +Mohammed pretended to be sent.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote87" name= +"footnote87"></a><b>Footnote 87:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag87">(return)</a> +<p>But this punishment, according to the Sonna, is not to be +inflicted, unless the value of the thing stolen amount to four +dinars, or about $10. For the first offence, the criminal is to +lose his right hand, which is to be cut off at the wrist; the +second offence, his left foot, at the ankle; for the third, his +left hand; for the fourth, his right foot; and if he continue to +offend, he shall be scourged at the discretion of the judge.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote88" name= +"footnote88"></a><b>Footnote 88:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag88">(return)</a> +<p>This is to be understood of fish that live altogether in the +sea, and not of those that live in the sea and on land both, as +crabs. The Turks, who are Hanifites, never eat this sort of fish; +but the sect of Malec Ebn Ans, and perhaps some others, make no +scruple of it.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote89" name= +"footnote89"></a><b>Footnote 89:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag89">(return)</a> +<p>These were the names given by the pagan Arabs to certain camels +or sheep which were turned loose to feed, and exempted from common +services, in some particular cases; having their ears slit, or some +other mark, that they might be known; and this they did in honor of +their gods. Which superstitions are here declared to be no +ordinances of God, but the inventions of foolish men.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote90" name= +"footnote90"></a><b>Footnote 90:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag90">(return)</a> +<p>This miracle is thus related by the commentators: Jesus having, +at the request of his followers, asked it of God, a red table +immediately descended, in their sight, between two clouds, and was +set before them; whereupon he rose up, and having made the +ablution, prayed, and then took off the cloth which covered the +table, saying, "In the name of God, the best provider of food."</p> +</blockquote> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page291" name="page291"></a>[pg +291]</span> +<h2><a id="life" name="life">LIFE OF BUDDHA</a></h2> +<h3>BY ASVAGHOSHA BODHISATTVA</h3> +<h4>Translated from Sanscrit into Chinese by Dharmaraksha, A.D. +420; from Chinese into English by Samuel Beal</h4> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page293" name="page293"></a>[pg +293]</span> +<h3><a id="life-intro" name="life-intro">INTRODUCTION</a></h3> +<p>Buddha is undoubtedly the most potent name as a religious +teacher, in the whole of Asia. The propaganda of the Buddhistic +faith passed from the valley of the Indus to the valley of the +Ganges, and from Ceylon to the Himalayas; thence it traversed +China, and its conquests seem to have been permanent. The religion +of Buddha is so far different from that of Confucius, and so far +resembles Christianity, that it combines mysticism with +asceticism—a practical rule of personal conduct with a +consistent transcendentalism. It has, moreover, the great advantage +of possessing a highly fascinating and romantic gospel, or +biography, of its founder. Gautama, as the hero of Arnold's "Light +of Asia," is very well known to English readers, and, although Sir +Edwin Arnold is not by any means a poet of the first order, he has +done a great deal to familiarize the Anglo-Saxon mind with Oriental +life and thought. A far more faithful life of Buddha is that +written some time in the first century of our era by the twelfth +Buddhist patriarch Asvaghosha. This learned ecclesiastic appears to +have travelled about through different districts of India, +patiently collecting the stories and traditions which related to +the life of his master. These he wove into a Sanscrit poem, which +three hundred years later was translated into Chinese, from which +version our present translation is made. There can be no doubt that +the author of the Sanscrit poem was a famous preacher and musician. +Originally living in central India, he seems to have wandered far +and wide exercising his office, and reciting or singing his +poem—a sacred epic, more thrilling to the ears of India than +the wrath of Achilles, or the voyages of Ulysses. We are told that +Asvaghosha took a choir of musicians with him, and many were +converted to Buddhism through the combined persuasiveness of poetry +and preaching. The present life of Buddha, although it labors under +the disadvantage of transfusion <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page294" name="page294"></a>[pg 294]</span> from Sanscrit into +Chinese, and from Chinese into English, is by no means destitute of +poetic color and aroma. When, for instance, we read of the +grief-stricken Yasodhara that "her breath failed her, and sinking +thus she fell upon the dusty ground," we come upon a stately +pathos, worthy of Homer or Lucretius. And what can be more +beautiful than the account of Buddha's conversion and sudden +conviction, that all earthly things were vanity. The verses once +heard linger in the memory so as almost to ring in the ears: "Thus +did he complete the end of self, as fire goes out for want of +grass. Thus he had done what he would have men do: he first had +found the way of perfect knowledge. He finished thus the first +great lesson; entering the great Rishi's house, the darkness +disappeared, light burst upon him; perfectly silent and at rest, he +reached the last exhaustless source of truth; lustrous with all +wisdom the great Rishi sat, perfect in gifts, whilst one convulsive +throe shook the wide earth."</p> +<p>E.W.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page295" name="page295"></a>[pg +295]</span> +<h2>LIFE OF BUDDHA</h2> +<h3><a id="life-i" name="life-i">CHAPTER I</a></h3> +<h4><a id="life-i-birth" name="life-i-birth">The Birth</a></h4> +<p>There was a descendant of the Ikshvâku family, an +invincible Sâkya monarch, pure in mind and of unspotted +virtue, called therefore Pure-rice, or Suddhodana. Joyously +reverenced by all men, as the new moon is welcomed by the world, +the king indeed was like the heaven-ruler Sakra, his queen like the +divine Saki. Strong and calm of purpose as the earth, pure in mind +as the water-lily, her name, figuratively assumed, +Mâyâ, she was in truth incapable of class-comparison. +On her in likeness as the heavenly queen descended the spirit and +entered her womb. A mother, but free from grief or pain, she was +without any false or illusory mind. Disliking the clamorous ways of +the world, she remembered the excellent garden of Lumbini, a +pleasant spot, a quiet forest retreat, with its trickling +fountains, and blooming flowers and fruits. Quiet and peaceful, +delighting in meditation, respectfully she asked the king for +liberty to roam therein; the king, understanding her earnest +desire, was seized with a seldom-felt anxiety to grant her request. +He commanded his kinsfolk, within and without the palace, to repair +with her to that garden shade; and now the queen Mâyâ +knew that her time for child-bearing was come. She rested calmly on +a beautiful couch, surrounded by a hundred thousand female +attendants; it was the eighth day of the fourth moon, a season of +serene and agreeable character.</p> +<p>Whilst she thus religiously observed the rules of a pure +discipline, Bodhisattva was born from her right side, come to +deliver the world, constrained by great pity, without causing his +mother pain or anguish. As king Yu-liu was born from the thigh, as +King Pi-t'au was born from the hand, as King Man-to <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page296" name="page296"></a>[pg 296]</span> was +born from the top of the head, as King Kia-k'ha was born from the +arm-pit, so also was Bodhisattva on the day of his birth produced +from the right side; gradually emerging from the womb, he shed in +every direction the rays of his glory. As one born from recumbent +space, and not through the gates of life, through countless kalpas, +practising virtue, self-conscious he came forth to life, without +confusion. Calm and collected, not falling headlong was he born, +gloriously manifested, perfectly adorned, sparkling with light he +came from the womb, as when the sun first rises from the East.</p> +<p>Men indeed regarded his exceeding great glory, yet their sight +remained uninjured: he allowed them to gaze, the brightness of his +person concealed for the time, as when we look upon the moon in the +heavens. His body, nevertheless, was effulgent with light, and like +the sun which eclipses the shining of the lamp, so the true +gold-like beauty of Bodhisattva shone forth, and was diffused +everywhere. Upright and firm and unconfused in mind, he +deliberately took seven steps, the soles of his feet resting evenly +upon the ground as he went, his footmarks remained bright as seven +stars.</p> +<p>Moving like the lion, king of beasts, and looking earnestly +towards the four quarters, penetrating to the centre the principles +of truth, he spake thus with the fullest assurance: This birth is +in the condition of a Buddha; after this I have done with renewed +birth; now only am I born this once, for the purpose of saving all +the world.</p> +<p>And now from the midst of heaven there descended two streams of +pure water, one warm, the other cold, and baptized his head, +causing refreshment to his body. And now he is placed in the +precious palace hall, a jewelled couch for him to sleep upon, and +the heavenly kings with their golden flowery hands hold fast the +four feet of the bed. Meanwhile the Devas in space, seizing their +jewelled canopies, attending, raise in responsive harmony their +heavenly songs, to encourage him to accomplish his perfect +purpose.</p> +<p>Then the Nâga-râgas filled with joy, earnestly +desiring to show their reverence for the most excellent law, as +they had paid honor to the former Buddhas, now went to meet +Bodhisattva; they scattered before him Mandâra flowers, +rejoicing with heartfelt joy to pay such religious homage; and so, +again, Tathâgata having appeared in the world, the Suddha +angels rejoiced with <span class="pagenum"><a id="page297" name= +"page297"></a>[pg 297]</span> gladness; with no selfish or partial +joy, but for the sake of religion they rejoiced, because creation, +engulfed in the ocean of pain, was now to obtain perfect +release.</p> +<p>Then the precious Mountain-râga, Sumeru, firmly holding +this great earth when Bodhisattva appeared in the world, was swayed +by the wind of his perfected merit. On every hand the world was +greatly shaken, as the wind drives the tossing boat; so also the +minutest atoms of sandal perfume, and the hidden sweetness of +precious lilies floated on the air, and rose through space, and +then commingling, came back to earth; so again the garments of +Devas descending from heaven touching the body, caused delightful +thrills of joy; the sun and moon with constant course redoubled the +brilliancy of their light, whilst in the world the fire's gleam of +itself prevailed without the use of fuel. Pure water, cool and +refreshing from the springs, flowed here and there, self-caused; in +the palace all the waiting women were filled with joy at such an +unprecedented event. Proceeding all in company, they drink and +bathe themselves; in all arose calm and delightful thoughts; +countless inferior Devas, delighting in religion, like clouds +assembled.</p> +<p>In the garden of Lumbinî, filling the spaces between the +trees, rare and special flowers, in great abundance, bloomed out of +season. All cruel and malevolent kinds of beings, together +conceived a loving heart; all diseases and afflictions among men +without a cure applied, of themselves were healed. The various +cries and confused sounds of beasts were hushed and silence +reigned; the stagnant water of the river-courses flowed apace, +whilst the polluted streams became clear and pure. No clouds +gathered throughout the heavens, whilst angelic music, self caused, +was heard around; the whole world of sentient creatures enjoyed +peace and universal tranquillity.</p> +<p>Just as when a country visited by desolation, suddenly obtains +an enlightened ruler, so when Bodhisattva was born, he came to +remove the sorrows of all living things.</p> +<p>Mâra,<a id="footnotetag91" name= +"footnotetag91"></a><a href="#footnote91"><sup>91</sup></a> the +heavenly monarch, alone was grieved and rejoiced not. The Royal +Father (Suddhodana), beholding his son, strange and miraculous, as +to his birth, though self-possessed and assured in his soul, was +yet moved with astonishment and <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page298" name="page298"></a>[pg 298]</span> his countenance +changed, whilst he alternately weighed with himself the meaning of +such an event, now rejoiced and now distressed.</p> +<p>The queen-mother beholding her child, born thus contrary to laws +of nature, her timorous woman's heart was doubtful; her mind, +through fear, swayed between extremes: Not distinguishing the happy +from the sad portents, again and again she gave way to grief; and +now the aged women of the world, in a confused way supplicating +heavenly guidance, implored the gods to whom their rites were paid, +to bless the child; to cause peace to rest upon the royal child. +Now there was at this time in the grove, a certain soothsayer, a +Brahman, of dignified mien and wide-spread renown, famed for his +skill and scholarship: beholding the signs, his heart rejoiced, and +he exulted at the miraculous event. Knowing the king's mind to be +somewhat perplexed, he addressed him with truth and earnestness: +"Men born in the world, chiefly desire to have a son the most +renowned; but now the king, like the moon when full, should feel in +himself a perfect joy, having begotten an unequalled son, (for by +this the king) will become illustrious among his race; let then his +heart be joyful and glad, banish all anxiety and doubt, the +spiritual omens that are everywhere manifested indicate for your +house and dominion a course of continued prosperity. The most +excellently endowed child now born will bring deliverance to the +entire world: none but a heavenly teacher has a body such as this, +golden-colored, gloriously resplendent. One endowed with such +transcendent marks must reach the state of Samyak-Sambodhi, or, if +he be induced to engage in worldly delights, then he must become a +universal monarch; everywhere recognized as the ruler of the great +earth, mighty in his righteous government, as a monarch ruling the +four empires, uniting under his sway all other rulers; as among all +lesser lights, the sun's brightness is by far the most excellent. +But if he seek a dwelling among the mountain forests, with single +heart searching for deliverance, having arrived at the perfection +of true wisdom, he will become illustrious throughout the world; +for as Mount Sumeru is monarch among all mountains, or, as gold is +chief among all precious things; or, as the ocean is supreme among +all streams; or, as the moon is first among the stars; or, as the +sun is brightest of all luminaries, so Tathâgata, born in the +world, is the most eminent of men; his eyes clear <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page299" name="page299"></a>[pg 299]</span> and +expanding, the lashes both above and below moving with the lid, the +iris of the eye of a clear blue color, in shape like the moon when +half full, such characteristics as these, without contradiction, +foreshadow the most excellent condition of perfect wisdom."</p> +<p>At this time the king addressed the twice-born,<a id= +"footnotetag92" name="footnotetag92"></a><a href= +"#footnote92"><sup>92</sup></a> "If it be as you say, with respect +to these miraculous signs, that they indicate such consequences, +then no such case has happened with former kings, nor down to our +time has such a thing occurred." The Brahman addressed the king +thus, "Say not so; for it is not right; for with regard to renown +and wisdom, personal celebrity, and worldly substance, these four +things indeed are not to be considered according to precedent or +subsequence; but whatever is produced according to nature, such +things are liable to the law of cause and effect: but now whilst I +recount some parallels let the king attentively +listen:—Bhrigu, Angira, these two of Rishi family, having +passed many years apart from men, each begat an excellently endowed +son; Brihaspati with Sukra, skilful in making royal treatises, not +derived from former families (or tribes); Sârasvata, the +Rishi, whose works have long disappeared, begat a son, Po-lo-sa, +who compiled illustrious Sûtras and Shâstras; that +which now we know and see, is not therefore dependent on previous +connection; Vyâsa, the Rishi, the author of numerous +treatises, after his death had among his descendants Poh-mi +(Vâlmîki), who extensively collected Gâthâ +sections; Atri, the Rishi, not understanding the sectional treatise +on medicine, afterwards begat Âtreya, who was able to control +diseases; the twice-born Rishi Kusi (Kusika), not occupied with +heretical treatises, afterwards begat Kia-ti-na-râga, who +thoroughly understood heretical systems; the sugar-cane monarch, +who began his line, could not restrain the tide of the sea, but +Sagara-râga, his descendant, who begat a thousand royal sons, +he could control the tide of the great sea so that it should come +no further. Ganaka, the Rishi, without a teacher acquired power of +abstraction. All these, who obtained such renown, acquired powers +of themselves; those distinguished before, were afterwards +forgotten; those before forgotten, became afterwards distinguished; +kings like these and god-like Rishis have no need of family +inheritance, and therefore the world need not regard those going +before or following. <span class="pagenum"><a id="page300" name= +"page300"></a>[pg 300]</span> So, mighty king! is it with you: you +should experience true joy of heart, and because of this joy should +banish forever doubt or anxiety." The king, hearing the words of +the seer, was glad, and offered him increased gifts.</p> +<p>"Now have I begotten a valiant son," he said, "who will +establish a wheel authority, whilst I, when old and gray-headed, +will go forth to lead a hermit's life, so that my holy, king-like +son may not give up the world and wander through mountain +forests."</p> +<p>And now near the spot within the garden, there was a Rishi, +leading the life of an ascetic; his name was Asita, wonderfully +skilful in the interpretation of signs; he approached the gate of +the palace; the king beholding him exclaimed, "This is none other +but Brahmadeva, himself enduring penance from love of true +religion, these two characteristics so plainly visible as marks of +his austerities." Then the king was much rejoiced; and forthwith he +invited him within the palace, and with reverence set before him +entertainment, whilst he, entering the inner palace, rejoiced only +in prospect of seeing the royal child.</p> +<p>Although surrounded by the crowd of court ladies, yet still he +was as if in desert solitude; and now they place a preaching throne +and pay him increased honor and religious reverence, as Antideva +râga reverenced the priest Vasishtha. Then the king, +addressing the Rishi, said: "Most fortunate am I, great Rishi! that +you have condescended to come here to receive from me becoming +gifts and reverence; I pray you therefore enter on your +exhortation."</p> +<p>Thus requested and invited, the Rishi felt unutterable joy, and +said, "All hail, ever victorious monarch! possessed of all noble, +virtuous qualities, loving to meet the desires of those who seek, +nobly generous in honoring the true law, conspicuous as a race for +wisdom and humanity, with humble mind you pay me homage, as you are +bound. Because of your righteous deeds in former lives, now are +manifested these excellent fruits; listen to me, then, whilst I +declare the reason of the present meeting. As I was coming on the +sun's way, I heard the Devas in space declare that the king had +born to him a royal son, who would arrive at perfect intelligence; +moreover I beheld such other portents, as have constrained me now +to seek your presence; desiring to see the Sâkya monarch who +will erect the standard of the true law."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page301" name="page301"></a>[pg +301]</span> +<p>The king, hearing the Rishi's words, was fully assured; escaping +from the net of doubt, he ordered an attendant to bring the prince, +to exhibit him to the Rishi. The Rishi, beholding the prince, the +thousand-rayed wheel on the soles of his feet, the web-like +filament between his fingers, between his eyebrows the white +wool-like prominence, his complexion bright and lustrous; seeing +these wonderful birth-portents, the seer wept and sighed +deeply.</p> +<p>The king beholding the tears of the Rishi, thinking of his son, +his soul was overcome, and his breath fast held his swelling heart. +Thus alarmed and ill at ease, unconsciously he arose from his seat, +and bowing his head at the Rishi's feet, he addressed him in these +words: "This son of mine, born thus wonderfully, beautiful in face, +and surpassingly graceful, little different from the gods in form, +giving promise of superiority in the world, ah! why has he caused +thee grief and pain? Forbid it, that my son should die! or should +be short-lived!—the thought creates in me grief and anxiety; +that one athirst, within reach of the eternal draught,<a id= +"footnotetag93" name="footnotetag93"></a><a href= +"#footnote93"><sup>93</sup></a> should after all reject and lose +it! sad indeed! Forbid it, he should lose his wealth and treasure! +dead to his house! lost to his country! for he who has a prosperous +son in life, gives pledge that his country's weal is well secured; +and then, coming to die, my heart will rest content, rejoicing in +the thought of offspring surviving me; even as a man possessed of +two eyes, one of which keeps watch, while the other sleeps; not +like the frost-flower of autumn, which, though it seems to bloom, +is not a reality. A man who, midst his tribe and kindred, deeply +loves a spotless son, at every proper time in recollection of it +has joy; O! that you would cause me to revive!"</p> +<p>The Rishi, knowing the king-sire to be thus greatly afflicted at +heart, immediately addressed the Mahârâga: "Let not the +king be for a moment anxious! the words I have spoken to the king, +let him ponder these, and not permit himself to doubt; the portents +now are as they were before, cherish then no other thoughts! But +recollecting I myself am old, on that account I could not hold my +tears; for now my end is coming on. But this son of thine will rule +the world, born for the sake of all that lives! this is indeed one +difficult to meet with; he shall give up his royal estate, escape +from the domain of the five desires, <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page302" name="page302"></a>[pg 302]</span> with resolution and +with diligence practise austerities, and then awakening, grasp the +truth. Then constantly, for the world's sake (all living things), +destroying the impediments of ignorance and darkness, he shall give +to all enduring light, the brightness of the sun of perfect wisdom. +All flesh submerged in the sea of sorrow; all diseases collected as +the bubbling froth; decay and age like the wild billows; death like +the engulfing ocean; embarking lightly in the boat of wisdom he +will save the world from all these perils, by wisdom stemming back +the flood. His pure teaching like to the neighboring shore, the +power of meditation, like a cool lake, will be enough for all the +unexpected birds; thus deep and full and wide is the great river of +the true law; all creatures parched by the drought of lust may +freely drink thereof, without stint; those enchained in the domain +of the five desires, those driven along by many sorrows, and +deceived amid the wilderness of birth and death, in ignorance of +the way of escape, for these Bodhisattva has been born in the +world, to open out a way of salvation. The fire of lust and +covetousness, burning with the fuel of the objects of sense, he has +caused the cloud of his mercy to rise, so that the rain of the law +may extinguish them. The heavy gates of gloomy unbelief, fast kept +by covetousness and lust, within which are confined all living +things, he opens and gives free deliverance. With the tweezers of +his diamond wisdom he plucks out the opposing principles of lustful +desire. In the self-twined meshes of folly and ignorance all flesh +poor and in misery, helplessly lying, the king of the law has come +forth, to rescue these from bondage. Let not the king in respect of +this his son encourage in himself one thought of doubt or pain; but +rather let him grieve on account of the world, led captive by +desire, opposed to truth; but I, indeed, amid the ruins of old age +and death, am far removed from the meritorious condition of the +holy one, possessed indeed of powers of abstraction, yet not within +reach of the gain he will give, to be derived from his teaching as +the Bodhisattva; not permitted to hear his righteous law, my body +worn out, after death, alas! destined to be born as a Deva<a id= +"footnotetag94" name="footnotetag94"></a><a href= +"#footnote94"><sup>94</sup></a> still liable to the three +calamities, old age, decay, and death, therefore I weep."</p> +<p>The king and all his household attendants, hearing the words +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page303" name="page303"></a>[pg +303]</span> of the Rishi, knowing the cause of his regretful +sorrow, banished from their minds all further anxiety: "And now," +the king said, "to have begotten this excellent son, gives me rest +at heart; but that he should leave his kingdom and home, and +practise the life of an ascetic, not anxious to ensure the +stability of the kingdom, the thought of this still brings with it +pain."</p> +<p>At this time the Rishi, turning to the king with true words, +said, "It must be even as the king anticipates, he will surely +arrive at perfect enlightenment." Thus having appeased every +anxious heart among the king's household, the Rishi by his own +inherent spiritual power ascended into space and disappeared.</p> +<p>At this time Suddhodana râga, seeing the excellent marks +(predictive signs) of his son, and, moreover, hearing the words of +Asita, certifying that which would surely happen, was greatly +affected with reverence to the child: he redoubled measures for its +protection, and was filled with constant thought; moreover, he +issued decrees through the empire, to liberate all captives in +prison, according to the custom when a royal son was born, giving +the usual largess, in agreement with the directions of the Sacred +Books, and extending his gifts to all; or, all these things he did +completely. When the child was ten days old, his father's mind +being now quite tranquil, he announced a sacrifice to all the gods, +and prepared to give liberal offerings to all the religious bodies; +Srâmanas and Brahmanas invoked by their prayers a blessing +from the gods, whilst he bestowed gifts on the royal kinspeople and +the ministers and the poor within the country; the women who dwelt +in the city or the villages, all those who needed cattle or horses +or elephants or money, each, according to his necessities, was +liberally supplied. Then, selecting by divination a lucky time, +they took the child back to his own palace, with a double-feeding +white-pure-tooth, carried in a richly-adorned chariot (cradle), +with ornaments of every kind and color round his neck; shining with +beauty, exceedingly resplendent with unguents. The queen embracing +him in her arms, going around, worshipped the heavenly spirits. +Afterwards she remounted her precious chariot, surrounded by her +waiting women; the king, with his ministers and people, and all the +crowd of attendants, leading the way and following, even as the +ruler of heaven, Sakra, is surrounded by crowds of Devas; as +Mahesvara, when suddenly his six-faced child was born; arranging +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page304" name="page304"></a>[pg +304]</span> every kind of present, gave gifts, and asked for +blessings; so now the king, when his royal son was born, made all +his arrangements in like manner. So Vaisravana, the heavenly king, +when Nalakûvara was born, surrounded by a concourse of Devas, +was filled with joy and much gladness; so the king, now the royal +prince was born, in the kingdom of Kapila, his people and all his +subjects were likewise filled with joy.</p> +<h4><a id="life-i-living" name="life-i-living">Living in the +Palace</a></h4> +<p>And now in the household of Suddhodana râga, because of +the birth of the royal prince, his clansmen and younger brethren, +with his ministers, were all generously disposed, whilst elephants, +horses and chariots, and the wealth of the country, and precious +vessels, daily increased and abounded, being produced wherever +requisite; so, too, countless hidden treasures came of themselves +from the earth. From the midst of the pure snowy mountains, a wild +herd of white elephants, without noise, of themselves, came; not +curbed by any, self-subdued, every kind of colored horse, in shape +and quality surpassingly excellent, with sparkling jewelled manes +and flowing tails, came prancing round, as if with wings; these +too, born in the desert, came at the right time, of themselves. A +herd of pure-colored, well-proportioned cows, fat and fleshy, and +remarkable for beauty, giving fragrant and pure milk with equal +flow, came together in great number at this propitious time. Enmity +and envy gave way to peace; content and rest prevailed on every +side; whilst there was closer union amongst the true of heart, +discord and variance were entirely appeased; the gentle air +distilled a seasonable rain, no crash of storm or tempest was +heard, the springing seeds, not waiting for their time, grew up +apace and yielded abundant increase; the five cereals grew ripe +with scented grain, soft and glutinous, easy of digestion; all +creatures big with young, possessed their bodies in ease and their +frames well gathered. All men, even those who had not received the +seeds of instruction derived from the four holy ones;<a id= +"footnotetag95" name="footnotetag95"></a><a href= +"#footnote95"><sup>95</sup></a> all these, throughout the world, +born under the control of selfish appetite, without any thought for +others' goods, had no proud, envious longings; <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page305" name="page305"></a>[pg 305]</span> no +angry, hateful thoughts. All the temples of the gods and sacred +shrines, the gardens, wells, and fountains, all these like things +in heaven, produced of themselves, at the proper time, their +several adornments. There was no famishing hunger, the soldiers' +weapons were at rest, all diseases disappeared; throughout the +kingdom all the people were bound close in family love and +friendship; piously affectioned they indulged in mutual pleasures, +there were no impure or polluting desires; they sought their daily +gain righteously, no covetous money-loving spirit prevailed, but +with religious purpose they gave liberally; there was no thought of +any reward or return, but all practised the four rules of purity; +and every hateful thought was suppressed and destroyed. Even as in +days gone by, Manu râga begat a child called "Brilliancy of +the Sun," on which there prevailed through the country great +prosperity, and all wickedness came to an end; so now the king +having begotten a royal prince, these marks of prosperity were +seen; and because of such a concourse of propitious signs, the +child was named Siddhârtha.<a id="footnotetag96" name= +"footnotetag96"></a><a href="#footnote96"><sup>96</sup></a> And now +his royal mother, the queen Mâyâ, beholding her son +born under such circumstances, beautiful as a child of heaven, +adorned with every excellent distinction, from excessive joy which +could not be controlled died, and was born in heaven. Then +Pragâ-pati Gautami, beholding the prince, like an angel, with +beauty seldom seen on earth, seeing him thus born and now his +mother dead, loved and nourished him as her own child; and the +child regarded her as his mother.</p> +<p>So as the light of the sun or the moon, little by little +increases, the royal child also increased each day in every mental +excellency and beauty of person; his body exhaled the perfume of +priceless sandal-wood, decorated with the famed Gambunada gold +gems; divine medicines there were to preserve him in health, +glittering necklaces upon his person; the members of tributary +states, hearing that the king had an heir born to him, sent their +presents and gifts of various kinds: oxen, sheep, deer, horses, and +chariots, precious vessels and elegant ornaments, fit to delight +the heart of the prince; but though presented with such pleasing +trifles, the necklaces and other pretty ornaments, the mind of the +prince was unmoved, his bodily frame small indeed, <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page306" name="page306"></a>[pg 306]</span> but +his heart established; his mind at rest within its own high +purposes, was not to be disturbed by glittering baubles.</p> +<p>And now he was brought to learn the useful arts, when lo! once +instructed he surpassed his teachers. His father, the king, seeing +his exceeding talent, and his deep purpose to have done with the +world and its allurements, began to inquire as to the names of +those in his tribe who were renowned for elegance and refinement. +Elegant and graceful, and a lovely maiden, was she whom they called +Yasodharâ; in every way fitting to become a consort for the +prince, and to allure by pleasant wiles his heart. The prince with +a mind so far removed from the world, with qualities so +distinguished, and with so charming an appearance, like the elder +son of Brahmadeva, Sanatkumâra (She-na Kiu-ma-lo); the +virtuous damsel, lovely and refined, gentle and subdued in manner; +majestic like the queen of heaven, constant ever, cheerful night +and day, establishing the palace in purity and quiet, full of +dignity and exceeding grace, like a lofty hill rising up in space; +or as a white autumn cloud; warm or cool according to the season; +choosing a proper dwelling according to the year, surrounded by a +return of singing women, who join their voices in harmonious +heavenly concord, without any jarring or unpleasant sound, exciting +in the hearers forgetfulness of worldly cares. As the heavenly +Gandharvas of themselves, in their beauteous palaces, cause the +singing women to raise heavenly strains, the sounds of which and +their beauty ravish both eyes and heart—so Bodhisattva dwelt +in his lofty palace, with music such as this. The king, his father, +for the prince's sake, dwelt purely in his palace, practising every +virtue; delighting in the teaching of the true law, he put away +from him every evil companion, that his heart might not be polluted +by lust; regarding inordinate desire as poison, keeping his passion +and his body in due control, destroying and repressing all trivial +thoughts; desiring to enjoy virtuous conversation, loving +instruction fit to subdue the hearts of men, aiming to accomplish +the conversion of unbelievers; removing all schemes of opposition +from whatever source they came by the enlightening power of his +doctrine, aiming to save the entire world; thus he desired that the +body of people should obtain rest; even as we desire to give peace +to our children, so did he long to give rest to the world. He also +attended to his religious duties, sacrificing by fire to all the +spirits, with clasped hands adoring the moon, bathing <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page307" name="page307"></a>[pg 307]</span> his +body in the waters of the Ganges; cleansing his heart in the waters +of religion, performing his duties with no private aim, but +regarding his child and the people at large; loving righteous +conversation, righteous words with loving aim; loving words with no +mixture of falsehood, true words imbued by love, and yet withal so +modest and self-distrustful, unable on that account to speak as +confident of truth; loving to all, and yet not loving the world; +with no thought of selfishness or covetous desire: aiming to +restrain the tongue and in quietness to find rest from wordy +contentions, not seeking in the multitude of religious duties to +condone for a worldly principle in action, but aiming to benefit +the world by a liberal and unostentatious charity; the heart +without any contentious thought, but resolved by goodness to subdue +the contentious; desiring to mortify the passions, and to destroy +every enemy of virtue; not multiplying coarse or unseemly words, +but exhorting to virtue in the use of courteous language; full of +sympathy and ready charity, pointing out and practising the way of +mutual dependence; receiving and understanding the wisdom of +spirits and Rishis; crushing and destroying every cruel and hateful +thought. Thus his fame and virtue were widely renowned, and yet +himself finally (or, forever) separate from the ties of the world, +showing the ability of a master builder, laying a good foundation +of virtue, an example for all the earth; so a man's heart composed +and at rest, his limbs and all his members will also be at ease. +And now the son of Suddhodana, and his virtuous wife +Yasodharâ, as time went on, growing to full estate, their +child Râhula was born; and then Suddhodana râga +considered thus: "My son, the prince, having a son born to him, the +affairs of the empire will be handed down in succession, and there +will be no end to its righteous government; the prince having +begotten a son, will love his son as I love him, and no longer +think about leaving his home as an ascetic, but devote himself to +the practice of virtue; I now have found complete rest of heart, +like one just born to heavenly joys."</p> +<p>Like as in the first days of the kalpa, Rishi-kings by the way +in which they walked, practising pure and spotless deeds, offered +up religious offerings, without harm to living thing, and +illustriously prepared an excellent karma, so the king excelling in +the excellence of purity in family and excellence of wealth, +excelling in strength and every exhibition of prowess, reflected +the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page308" name="page308"></a>[pg +308]</span> glory of his name through the world, as the sun sheds +abroad his thousand rays. But now, being the king of men, or a king +among men, he deemed it right to exhibit his son's prowess, for the +sake of his family and kin, to exhibit him; to increase his +family's renown, his glory spread so high as even to obtain the +name of "God begotten;" and having partaken of these heavenly joys, +enjoying the happiness of increased wisdom; understanding the truth +by his own righteousness, derived from previous hearing of the +truth. Would that this might lead my son, he prayed, to love his +child and not forsake his home; the kings of all countries, whose +sons have not yet grown up, have prevented them exercising +authority in the empire, in order to give their minds relaxation, +and for this purpose have provided them with worldly indulgences, +so that they may perpetuate the royal seed; so now the king, having +begotten a royal son, indulged him in every sort of pleasure; +desiring that he might enjoy these worldly delights, and not wish +to wander from his home in search of wisdom. In former times the +Bodhisattva kings, although their way (life) has been restrained, +have yet enjoyed the pleasures of the world, and when they have +begotten a son, then separating themselves from family ties, have +afterwards entered the solitude of the mountains, to prepare +themselves in the way of a silent recluse.</p> +<h4><a id="life-i-disgust" name="life-i-disgust">Disgust at +Sorrow</a></h4> +<p>Without are pleasant garden glades, flowing fountains, pure +refreshing lakes, with every kind of flower, and trees with fruit, +arranged in rows, deep shade beneath. There, too, are various kinds +of wondrous birds, flying and sporting in the midst, and on the +surface of the water the four kinds of flowers, bright colored, +giving out their floating scent; minstrel maidens cause their songs +and chorded music, to invite the prince. He, hearing the sounds of +singing, sighs for the pleasures of the garden shades, and +cherishing within these happy thoughts, he dwelt upon the joys of +an outside excursion; even as the chained elephant ever longs for +the free desert wilds.</p> +<p>The royal father, hearing that the prince would enjoy to wander +through the gardens, first ordered all his attendant officers to +adorn and arrange them, after their several offices:—To make +level and smooth the king's highway, to remove from the path +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page309" name="page309"></a>[pg +309]</span> all offensive matter, all old persons, diseased or +deformed, all those suffering through poverty or great grief, so +that his son in his present humor might see nothing likely to +afflict his heart. The adornments being duly made, the prince was +invited to an audience; the king seeing his son approach, patted +his head, and looking at the color of his face, feelings of sorrow +and joy intermingled, bound him. His mouth willing to speak, his +heart restrained.</p> +<p>Now see the jewel-fronted gaudy chariot; the four equally +pacing, stately horses; good-tempered and well trained; young and +of graceful appearance; perfectly pure and white, and draped with +flowery coverings. In the same chariot stands the stately driver; +the streets were scattered over with flowers; precious drapery +fixed on either side of the way, with dwarfed trees lining the +road, costly vessels employed for decoration, hanging canopies and +variegated banners, silken curtains, moved by the rustling breeze; +spectators arranged on either side of the path. With bodies bent +and glistening eyes, eagerly gazing, but not rudely staring, as the +blue lotus flower they bent drooping in the air, ministers and +attendants flocking round him, as stars following the chief of the +constellation; all uttering the same suppressed whisper of +admiration, at a sight so seldom seen in the world; rich and poor, +humble and exalted, old and young and middle-aged, all paid the +greatest respect, and invoked blessings on the occasion.</p> +<p>So the country-folk and the town-folk, hearing that the prince +was coming forth, the well-to-do not waiting for their servants, +those asleep and awake not mutually calling to one another, the six +kinds of creatures not gathered together and penned, the money not +collected and locked up, the doors and gates not fastened, all went +pouring along the way on foot; the towers were filled, the mounds +by the trees, the windows and the terraces along the streets; with +bent body fearing to lift their eyes, carefully seeing that there +was nothing about them to offend, those seated on high addressing +those seated on the ground, those going on the road addressing +those passing on high, the mind intent on one object alone; so that +if a heavenly form had flown past, or a form entitled to highest +respect, there would have been no distraction visible, so intent +was the body and so immovable the limbs. And now beautiful as the +opening lily, he advances towards the garden glades, wishing to +accomplish <span class="pagenum"><a id="page310" name= +"page310"></a>[pg 310]</span> the words of the holy prophet +(Rishi). The prince, seeing the ways prepared and watered and the +joyous holiday appearance of the people; seeing too the drapery and +chariot, pure, bright, shining, his heart exulted greatly and +rejoiced. The people (on their part) gazed at the prince, so +beautifully adorned, with all his retinue, like an assembled +company of kings gathered to see a heaven-born prince. And now a +Deva-râga of the Pure abode, suddenly appears by the side of +the road; his form changed into that of an old man, struggling for +life, his heart weak and oppressed. The prince seeing the old man, +filled with apprehension, asked his charioteer, "What kind of man +is this? his head white and his shoulders bent, his eyes bleared +and his body withered, holding a stick to support him along the +way. Is his body suddenly dried up by the heat, or has he been born +in this way?" The charioteer, his heart much embarrassed, scarcely +dared to answer truly, till the pure-born (Deva) added his +spiritual power, and caused him to frame a reply in true words: +"His appearance changed, his vital powers decayed, filled with +sorrow, with little pleasure, his spirits gone, his members +nerveless, these are the indications of what is called 'old age.' +This man was once a sucking child, brought up and nourished at his +mother's breast, and as a youth full of sportive life, handsome, +and in enjoyment of the five pleasures; as years passed on, his +frame decaying, he is brought now to the waste of age."</p> +<p>The prince, greatly agitated and moved, asked his charioteer +another question and said, "Is yonder man the only one afflicted +with age, or shall I, and others also, be such as he?" The +charioteer again replied and said, "Your highness also inherits +this lot: as time goes on, the form itself is changed, and this +must doubtless come, beyond all hindrance. The youthful form must +wear the garb of age, throughout the world, this is the common +lot."</p> +<p>Bodhisattva, who had long prepared the foundation of pure and +spotless wisdom, broadly setting the root of every high quality, +with a view to gather large fruit in his present life, hearing +these words respecting the sorrow of age, was afflicted in mind, +and his hair stood upright. Just as the roll of the thunder and the +storm alarm and put to flight the cattle, so was Bodhisattva +affected by the words; shaking with apprehension, he deeply sighed; +constrained at heart because of the pain of age; with shaking head +and constant gaze, he thought upon this <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page311" name="page311"></a>[pg 311]</span> misery +of decay; what joy or pleasure can men take, he thought, in that +which soon must wither, stricken by the marks of age; affecting all +without exception; though gifted now with youth and strength, yet +not one but soon must change and pine away. The eye beholding such +signs as these before it, how can it not be oppressed by a desire +to escape? Bodhisattva then addressed his charioteer: "Quickly turn +your chariot and go back. Ever thinking on this subject of old age +approaching, what pleasures now can these gardens afford, the years +of my life like the fast-flying wind; turn your chariot, and with +speedy wheels take me to my palace." And so his heart keeping in +the same sad tone, he was as one who returns to a place of +entombment; unaffected by any engagement or employment, so he found +no rest in anything within his home.</p> +<p>The king hearing of his son's sadness urged his companions to +induce him again to go abroad, and forthwith incited his ministers +and attendants to decorate the gardens even more than before. The +Deva then caused himself to appear as a sick man; struggling for +life, he stood by the wayside, his body swollen and disfigured, +sighing with deep-drawn groans; his hands and knees contracted and +sore with disease, his tears flowing as he piteously muttered his +petition. The prince asked his charioteer, "What sort of man, +again, is this?"</p> +<p>Replying, he said, "This is a sick man. The four elements all +confused and disordered, worn and feeble, with no remaining +strength, bent down with weakness, looking to his fellow-men for +help." The prince hearing the words thus spoken, immediately became +sad and depressed in heart, and asked, "Is this the only man +afflicted thus, or are others liable to the same calamity?" In +reply he said, "Through all the world, men are subject to the same +condition; those who have bodies must endure affliction, the poor +and ignorant, as well as the rich and great." The prince, when +these words met his ears, was oppressed with anxious thought and +grief; his body and his mind were moved throughout, just as the +moon upon the ruffled tide. "Placed thus in the great furnace of +affliction, say! what rest or quiet can there be! Alas! that +worldly men, blinded by ignorance and oppressed with dark delusion, +though the robber sickness may appear at any time, yet live with +blithe and joyous hearts!" On this, turning his chariot back again, +he grieved to think upon the pain of sickness. As a man beaten and +wounded sore, with <span class="pagenum"><a id="page312" name= +"page312"></a>[pg 312]</span> body weakened, leans upon his staff, +so dwelt he in the seclusion of his palace, lone-seeking, hating +worldly pleasures.</p> +<p>The king, hearing once more of his son's return, asked anxiously +the reason why, and in reply was told—"he saw the pain of +sickness." The king, in fear, like one beside himself, roundly +blamed the keepers of the way; his heart constrained, his lips +spoke not; again he increased the crowd of music-women, the sounds +of merriment twice louder than aforetime, if by these sounds and +sights the prince might be gratified; and indulging worldly +feelings, might not hate his home. Night and day the charm of +melody increased, but his heart was still unmoved by it. The king +himself then went forth to observe everything successively, and to +make the gardens even yet more attractive, selecting with care the +attendant women, that they might excel in every point of personal +beauty; quick in wit and able to arrange matters well, fit to +ensnare men by their winning looks; he placed additional keepers +along the king's way, he strictly ordered every offensive sight to +be removed, and earnestly exhorted the illustrious coachman, to +look well and pick out the road as he went. And now that Deva of +the Pure abode, again caused the appearance of a dead man; four +persons carrying the corpse lifted it on high, and appeared (to be +going on) in front of Bodhisattva; the surrounding people saw it +not, but only Bodhisattva and the charioteer. Once more he asked, +"What is this they carry? with streamers and flowers of every +choice description, whilst the followers are overwhelmed with +grief, tearing their hair and wailing piteously." And now the gods +instructing the coachman, he replied and said, "This is a dead man: +all his powers of body destroyed, life departed; his heart without +thought, his intellect dispersed; his spirit gone, his form +withered and decayed; stretched out as a dead log; family ties +broken—all his friends who once loved him, clad in white +cerements, now no longer delighting to behold him, remove him to +lie in some hollow ditch tomb." The prince hearing the name of +Death, his heart constrained by painful thoughts, he asked, "Is +this the only dead man, or does the world contain like instances?" +Replying thus he said, "All, everywhere, the same; he who begins +his life must end it likewise; the strong and lusty and the +middle-aged, having a body, cannot but decay and die." The prince +was now harassed and perplexed in mind; his body bent upon the +chariot leaning-board, with bated breath <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page313" name="page313"></a>[pg 313]</span> and +struggling accents, stammered thus, "Oh worldly men! how fatally +deluded! beholding everywhere the body brought to dust, yet +everywhere the more carelessly living; the heart is neither +lifeless wood nor stone, and yet it thinks not 'all is vanishing!'" +Then turning, he directed his chariot to go back, and no longer +waste his time in wandering. How could he, whilst in fear of +instant death, go wandering here and there with lightened heart! +The charioteer remembering the king's exhortation feared much nor +dared go back; straightforward then he pressed his panting steeds, +passed onward to the gardens, came to the groves and babbling +streams of crystal water, the pleasant trees, spread out with gaudy +verdure, the noble living things and varied beasts so wonderful, +the flying creatures and their notes melodious; all charming and +delightful to the eye and ear, even as the heavenly Nandavana.</p> +<h4><a id="life-i-desire" name="life-i-desire">Putting Away +Desire</a></h4> +<p>On the prince entering the garden the women came around to pay +him court; and to arouse in him thoughts frivolous; with ogling +ways and deep design, each one setting herself off to best +advantage; or joining together in harmonious concert, clapping +their hands, or moving their feet in unison, or joining close, body +to body, limb to limb; or indulging in smart repartees, and mutual +smiles; or assuming a thoughtful saddened countenance, and so by +sympathy to please the prince, and provoke in him a heart affected +by love. But all the women beheld the prince, clouded in brow, and +his god-like body not exhibiting its wonted signs of beauty; fair +in bodily appearance, surpassingly lovely, all looked upwards as +they gazed, as when we call upon the moon Deva to come; but all +their subtle devices were ineffectual to move Bodhisattva's +heart.</p> +<p>At last commingling together they join and look astonished and +in fear, silent without a word. Then there was a Brahmaputra, whose +name was called Udâyi (Yau-to-i). He, addressing the women, +said, "Now all of you, so graceful and fair, see if you cannot by +your combined power hit on some device; for beauty's power is not +forever. Still it holds the world in bondage, by secret ways and +lustful arts; but no such loveliness in all the world as yours, +equal to that of heavenly nymphs; the gods beholding it would leave +their queens, spirits and Rishis would <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page314" name="page314"></a>[pg 314]</span> be misled by it; why +not then the prince, the son of an earthly king? why should not his +feelings be aroused? This prince indeed, though he restrains his +heart and holds it fixed, pure-minded, with virtue uncontaminated, +not to be overcome by power of women; yet of old there was +Sundarî (Su-to-li) able to destroy the great Rishi, and to +lead him to indulge in love, and so degrade his boasted eminence; +undergoing long penance, Gautama fell likewise by the arts of a +heavenly queen; Shing-kü, a Rishi putra, practising lustful +indulgences according to fancy, was lost. The Brahman Rishi +Visvâmitra (Pi-she-po), living religiously for ten thousand +years, deeply ensnared by a heavenly queen, in one day was +completely shipwrecked in faith; thus those enticing women, by +their power, overcame the Brahman ascetics; how much more may ye, +by your arts, overpower the resolves of the king's son; strive +therefore after new devices, let not the king fail in a successor +to the throne; women, though naturally weak, are high and potent in +the way of ruling men. What may not their arts accomplish in +promoting in men a lustful desire?" At this time all the attendant +women, hearing throughout the words of Udâyi, increasing +their powers of pleasing, as the quiet horse when touched by the +whip, went into the presence of the royal prince, and each one +strove in the practice of every kind of art. They joined in music +and in smiling conversation, raising their eyebrows, showing their +white teeth, with ogling looks, glancing one at the other, their +light drapery exhibiting their white bodies, daintily moving with +mincing gait, acting the part of a bride as if coming gradually +nearer, desiring to promote in him a feeling of love, remembering +the words of the great king, "With dissolute form and slightly +clad, forgetful of modesty and womanly reserve." The prince with +resolute heart was silent and still, with unmoved face he sat; even +as the great elephant-dragon, whilst the entire herd moves round +him; so nothing could disturb or move his heart, dwelling in their +midst as in a confined room. Like the divine Sakra, around whom all +the Devîs assemble, so was the prince as he dwelt in the +gardens; the maidens encircling him thus; some arranging their +dress, others washing their hands or feet, others perfuming their +bodies with scent, others twining flowers for decoration, others +making strings for jewelled necklets, others rubbing or striking +their bodies, others resting, or lying, one beside the other; +others, with head inclined, whispering secret words, others +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page315" name="page315"></a>[pg +315]</span> engaged in common sports, others talking of amorous +things, others assuming lustful attitudes, striving thus to move +his heart. But Bodhisattva, peaceful and collected, firm as a rock, +difficult to move, hearing all these women's talk, unaffected +either to joy or sorrow, was driven still more to serious thought, +sighing to witness such strange conduct, and beginning to +understand the women's design, by these means to disconcert his +mind, not knowing that youthful beauty soon falls, destroyed by old +age and death, fading and perishing! This is the great distress! +What ignorance and delusion (he reflected) overshadow their minds: +"Surely they ought to consider old age, disease, and death, and day +and night stir themselves up to exertion, whilst this sharp +double-edged sword hangs over the neck. What room for sport or +laughter, beholding those monsters, old age, disease, and death? A +man who is unable to resort to this inward knowledge, what is he +but a wooden or a plaster man, what heart-consideration in such a +case! Like the double tree that appears in the desert, with leaves +and fruit all perfect and ripe, the first cut down and destroyed, +the other unmoved by apprehension, so it is in the case of the mass +of men: they have no understanding either!"</p> +<p>At this time Udâyi came to the place where the prince was, +and observing his silent and thoughtful mien, unmoved by any desire +for indulgence, he forthwith addressed the prince, and said, "The +Mahâraga, by his former appointment, has selected me to act +as friend to his son; may I therefore speak some friendly words? an +enlightened friendship is of three sorts: that which removes things +unprofitable, promotes that which is real gain, and stands by a +friend in adversity. I claim the name of 'enlightened friend,' and +would renounce all that is magisterial, but yet not speak lightly +or with indifference. What then are the three sources of advantage? +listen, and I will now utter true words, and prove myself a true +and sincere adviser. When the years are fresh and ripening, beauty +and pleasing qualities in bloom, not to give proper weight to +woman's influence, this is a weak man's policy. It is right +sometimes to be of a crafty mind, submitting to those little +subterfuges which find a place in the heart's undercurrents, and +obeying what those thoughts suggest in way of pleasures to be got +from dalliance: this is no wrong in woman's eye! even if now the +heart has no desire, yet it is fair to follow such devices; +agreement is the joy of woman's <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page316" name="page316"></a>[pg 316]</span> heart, acquiescence is +the substance (the full) of true adornment; but if a man reject +these overtures, he's like a tree deprived of leaves and fruits; +why then ought you to yield and acquiesce? that you may share in +all these things. Because in taking, there's an end of +trouble—no light and changeful thoughts then worry +us—for pleasure is the first and foremost thought of all, the +gods themselves cannot dispense with it. Lord Sakra was drawn by it +to love the wife of Gautama the Rishi; so likewise the Rishi +Agastya, through a long period of discipline, practising +austerities, from hankering after a heavenly queen (Devî), +lost all reward of his religious endeavors, the Rishi Brihaspati, +and Kandradeva putra; the Rishi Parâsara, and +Kavañgara (Kia-pin-ke-lo). All these, out of many others, +were overcome by woman's love. How much more then, in your case, +should you partake in such pleasant joys; nor refuse, with wilful +heart, to participate in the worldly delights, which your present +station, possessed of such advantages, offers you, in the presence +of these attendants."</p> +<p>At this time the royal prince, hearing the words of his friend +Udâyi, so skilfully put, with such fine distinction, cleverly +citing worldly instances, answered thus to Udâyi: "Thank you +for having spoken sincerely to me; let me likewise answer you in +the same way, and let your heart suspend its judgment whilst you +listen:—It is not that I am careless about beauty, or am +ignorant of the power of human joys, but only that I see on all the +impress of change; therefore my heart is sad and heavy; if these +things were sure of lasting, without the ills of age, disease, and +death, then would I too take my fill of love; and to the end find +no disgust or sadness. If you will undertake to cause these women's +beauty not to change or wither in the future, then, though the joy +of love may have its evil, still it might hold the mind in +thraldom. To know that other men grow old, sicken, and die, would +be enough to rob such joys of satisfaction; yet how much more in +their own case (knowing this) would discontentment fill the mind; +to know such pleasures hasten to decay, and their bodies likewise; +if, notwithstanding this, men yield to the power of love, their +case indeed is like the very beasts. And now you cite the names of +many Rishis, who practised lustful ways in life; their cases +likewise cause me sorrow, for in that they did these things, they +perished. Again, you cite the name of that illustrious king, who +freely gratified his passions, but he, <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page317" name="page317"></a>[pg 317]</span> in like way, perished +in the act; know, then, that he was not a conqueror; with smooth +words to conceal an intrigue, and to persuade one's neighbor to +consent, and by consenting to defile his mind; how can this be +called a just device? It is but to seduce one with a hollow +lie—such ways are not for me to practise; or, for those who +love the truth and honesty; for they are, forsooth, unrighteous +ways, and such a disposition is hard to reverence; shaping one's +conduct after one's likings, liking this or that, and seeing no +harm in it, what method of experience is this! A hollow compliance, +and a protesting heart, such method is not for me to follow; but +this I know, old age, disease, and death, these are the great +afflictions which accumulate, and overwhelm me with their presence; +on these I find no friend to speak, alas! alas! Udâyi! these, +after all, are the great concerns; the pain of birth, old age, +disease, and death; this grief is that we have to fear; the eyes +see all things falling to decay, and yet the heart finds joy in +following them; but I have little strength of purpose, or command; +this heart of mine is feeble and distraught, reflecting thus on +age, disease, and death. Distracted, as I never was before; +sleepless by night and day, how can I then indulge in pleasure? Old +age, disease, and death consuming me, their certainty beyond a +doubt, and still to have no heavy thoughts, in truth my heart would +be a log or stone." Thus the prince, for Uda's sake, used every +kind of skilful argument, describing all the pains of pleasure; and +not perceiving that the day declined. And now the waiting women +all, with music and their various attractions, seeing that all were +useless for the end, with shame began to flock back to the city; +the prince beholding all the gardens, bereft of their gaudy +ornaments, the women all returning home, the place becoming silent +and deserted, felt with twofold strength the thought of +impermanence. With saddened mien going back, he entered his +palace.</p> +<p>The king, his father, hearing of the prince, his heart estranged +from thoughts of pleasure, was greatly overcome with sorrow, and +like a sword it pierced his heart. Forthwith assembling all his +council, he sought of them some means to gain his end; they all +replied, "These sources of desire are not enough to hold and +captivate his heart."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page318" name="page318"></a>[pg +318]</span> +<h4><a id="life-i-leaving" name="life-i-leaving">Leaving the +City</a></h4> +<p>And so the king increased the means for gratifying the appetite +for pleasure; both night and day the joys of music wore out the +prince, opposed to pleasure; disgusted with them, he desired their +absence, his mind was weaned from all such thoughts, he only +thought of age, disease, and death; as the lion wounded by an +arrow.</p> +<p>The king then sent his chief ministers, and the most +distinguished of his family, young in years and eminent for beauty, +as well as for wisdom and dignity of manners, to accompany and rest +with him, both night and day, in order to influence the prince's +mind. And now within a little interval, the prince again requested +the king that he might go abroad.</p> +<p>Once more the chariot and the well-paced horses were prepared, +adorned with precious substances and every gem; and then with all +the nobles, his associates, surrounding him, he left the city +gates. Just as the four kinds of flower, when the sun shines, open +out their leaves, so was the prince in all his spiritual splendor; +effulgent in the beauty of his youth-time. As he proceeded to the +gardens from the city, the road was well prepared, smooth, and +wide, the trees were bright with flowers and fruit, his heart was +joyous, and forgetful of its care.</p> +<p>Now by the roadside, as he beheld the ploughmen, plodding along +the furrows, and the writhing worms, his heart again was moved with +piteous feeling, and anguish pierced his soul afresh; to see those +laborers at their toil, struggling with painful work, their bodies +bent, their hair dishevelled, the dripping sweat upon their faces, +their persons fouled with mud and dust; the ploughing oxen, too, +bent by the yokes, their lolling tongues and gaping mouths. The +nature of the prince, loving, compassionate, his mind conceived +most poignant sorrow, and nobly moved to sympathy, he groaned with +pain; then stooping down he sat upon the ground, and watched this +painful scene of suffering; reflecting on the ways of birth and +death! "Alas! he cried, for all the world! how dark and ignorant, +void of understanding!" And then to give his followers chance of +rest, he bade them each repose where'er they list, whilst he +beneath the shadow of a Gambu tree, gracefully seated, gave himself +to thought. He pondered on the fact of life and death, inconstancy, +and endless progress to decay. His heart thus fixed without +confusion, the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page319" name= +"page319"></a>[pg 319]</span> five senses covered and clouded over, +lost in possession of enlightenment and insight, he entered on the +first pure state of ecstasy. All low desire removed, most perfect +peace ensued; and fully now in Samâdhi he saw the misery and +utter sorrow of the world; the ruin wrought by age, disease, and +death; the great misery following on the body's death; and yet men +not awakened to the truth! oppressed with others' suffering (age, +disease, and death), this load of sorrow weighed his mind. "I now +will seek," he said, "a noble law, unlike the worldly methods known +to men. I will oppose disease and age and death, and strive against +the mischief wrought by these on men."</p> +<p>Thus lost in tranquil contemplation, he considered that youth, +vigor, and strength of life, constantly renewing themselves, +without long stay, in the end fulfil the rule of ultimate +destruction. Thus he pondered, without excessive joy or grief, +without hesitation or confusion of thought, without dreaminess or +extreme longing, without aversion or discontent, but perfectly at +peace, with no hindrance, radiant with the beams of increased +illumination. At this time a Deva of the Pure abode, transforming +himself into the shape of a Bhikshu, came to the place where the +prince was seated; the prince with due consideration rose to meet +him, and asked him who he was. In reply he said, "I am a +Shâman, depressed and sad at thought of age, disease, and +death; I have left my home to seek some way of rescue, but +everywhere I find old age, disease, and death; all things hasten to +decay and there is no permanency. Therefore I search for the +happiness of something that decays not, that never perishes, that +never knows beginning, that looks with equal mind on enemy and +friend, that heeds not wealth nor beauty; the happiness of one who +finds repose alone in solitude, in some unfrequented dell, free +from molestation, all thoughts about the world destroyed; dwelling +in some lonely hermitage, untouched by any worldly source of +pollution, begging for food sufficient for the body." And forthwith +as he stood before the prince, gradually rising up he disappeared +in space.</p> +<p>The prince, with joyful mind, considering, recollected former +Buddhas, established thus in perfect dignity of manner; with noble +mien and presence, as this visitor. Thus calling things to mind +with perfect self-possession, he reached the thought of +righteousness, and by what means it can be gained. Indulging thus +for some time in thoughts of religious solitude, he now +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page320" name="page320"></a>[pg +320]</span> suppressed his feelings and controlled his members, and +rising turned again towards the city. His followers all flocked +after him, calling him to stop and not go far from them, but in his +mind these secret thoughts so held him, devising means by which to +escape from the world, that though his body moved along the road, +his heart was far away among the mountains; even as the bound and +captive elephant ever thinks about his desert wilds. The prince now +entering the city, there met him men and women, earnest for their +several ends; the old besought him for their children, the young +sought something for the wife, others sought something for their +brethren; all those allied by kinship or by family, aimed to obtain +their several suits, all of them joined in relationship dreading +the pain of separation. And now the prince's heart was filled with +joy, as he suddenly heard those words "separation and association." +"These are joyful sounds to me," he said, "they assure me that my +vow shall be accomplished." Then deeply pondering the joy of +"snapped relationship," the idea of Nirvâna, deepened and +widened in him, his body as a peak of the Golden Mount, his +shoulder like the elephant's, his voice like the spring-thunder, +his deep-blue eye like that of the king of oxen; his mind full of +religious thoughts, his face bright as the full moon, his step like +that of the lion king, thus he entered his palace; even as the son +of Lord Sakra, or Sakra-putra, his mind reverential, his person +dignified, he went straight to his father's presence, and with head +inclined, inquired, "Is the king well?" Then he explained his dread +of age, disease, and death, and sought respectfully permission to +become a hermit. "For all things in the world," he said, "though +now united, tend to separation." Therefore he prayed to leave the +world; desiring to find "true deliverance."</p> +<p>His royal father hearing the words "leave the world," was +forthwith seized with great heart-trembling, even as the strong +wild elephant shakes with his weight the boughs of some young +sapling; going forward, seizing the prince's hands, with falling +tears, he spake as follows: "Stop! nor speak such words, the time +is not yet come for 'a religious life;' you are young and strong, +your heart beats full, to lead a religious life frequently involves +trouble; it is rarely possible to hold the desires in check, the +heart not yet estranged from their enjoyment; to leave your home +and lead a painful ascetic life, your heart can hardly yet resolve +on such a course. To dwell amidst the desert wilds or <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page321" name="page321"></a>[pg 321]</span> lonely +dells, this heart of yours would not be perfectly at rest, for +though you love religious matters, you are not yet like me in +years; you should undertake the kingdom's government, and let me +first adopt ascetic life; but to give up your father and your +sacred duties, this is not to act religiously; you should suppress +this thought of 'leaving home,' and undertake your worldly duties, +find your delight in getting an illustrious name, and after this +give up your home and family."</p> +<p>The prince, with proper reverence and respectful feelings, again +besought his royal father; but promised if he could be saved from +four calamities, that he would give up the thought of "leaving +home." If he would grant him life without end, no disease, nor +undesirable old age, and no decay of earthly possessions, then he +would obey and give up the thought of "leaving home."</p> +<p>The royal father then addressed the prince, "Speak not such +words as these, for with respect to these four things, who is there +able to prevent them, or say nay to their approach; asking such +things as these, you would provoke men's laughter! But put away +this thought of 'leaving home,' and once more take yourself to +pleasure."</p> +<p>The prince again besought his father, "If you may not grant me +these four prayers, then let me go I pray, and leave my home. O! +place no difficulties in my path; your son is dwelling in a burning +house, would you indeed prevent his leaving it! To solve a doubt is +only reasonable, who could forbid a man to seek its explanation? Or +if he were forbidden, then by self-destruction he might solve the +difficulty, in an unrighteous way: and if he were to do so, who +could restrain him after death?"</p> +<p>The royal father, seeing his son's mind so firmly fixed that it +could not be turned, and that it would be waste of strength to +bandy further words or arguments, forthwith commanded more +attendant women, to provoke still more his mind to pleasure; day +and night he ordered them to keep the roads and ways, to the end +that he might not leave his palace. He moreover ordered all the +ministers of the country to come to the place where dwelt the +prince, to quote and illustrate the rules of filial piety, hoping +to cause him to obey the wishes of the king.</p> +<p>The prince, beholding his royal father bathed with tears and +o'erwhelmed with grief, forthwith returned to his abode, and sat +himself in silence to consider; all the women of the palace, coming +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page322" name="page322"></a>[pg +322]</span> towards him, waited as they circled him, and gazed in +silence on his beauteous form. They gazed upon him not with furtive +glance, but like the deer in autumn brake looks wistfully at the +hunter; around the prince's straight and handsome form, bright as +the mountain of true gold (Sumeru). The dancing women gathered +doubtingly, waiting to hear him bid them sound their music; +repressing every feeling of the heart through fear, even as the +deer within the brake; now gradually the day began to wane, the +prince still sitting in the evening light, his glory streaming +forth in splendor, as the sun lights up Mount Sumeru; thus seated +on his jewelled couch, surrounded by the fumes of sandal-wood, the +dancing women took their places round; then sounded forth their +heavenly music, even as Vaisaman produces every kind of rare and +heavenly sounds. The thoughts which dwelt within the prince's mind +entirely drove from him desire for music, and though the sounds +filled all the place, they fell upon his ear unnoticed. At this +time the Deva of the Pure abode, knowing the prince's time was +come, the destined time for quitting home, suddenly assumed a form +and came to earth, to make the shapes of all the women +unattractive, so that they might create disgust, and no desire +arise from thought of beauty. Their half-clad forms bent in +ungainly attitudes, forgetful in their sleep, their bodies crooked +or supine, the instruments of music lying scattered in disorder; +leaning and facing one another, or with back to back, or like those +beings thrown into the abyss, their jewelled necklets bound about +like chains, their clothes and undergarments swathed around their +persons; grasping their instruments, stretched along the earth, +even as those undergoing punishment at the hands of keepers, their +garments in confusion, or like the broken kani flower; or some with +bodies leaning in sleep against the wall, in fashion like a hanging +bow or horn, or with their hands holding to the window-frames, and +looking like an outstretched corpse. Their mouths half opened or +else gaping wide, the loathsome dribble trickling forth, their +heads uncovered and in wild disorder, like some unreasoning +madman's; the flower wreaths torn and hanging across their face, or +slipping off the face upon the ground; others with body raised as +if in fearful dread, just like the lonely desert bird; or others +pillowed on their neighbor's lap, their hands and feet entwined +together, whilst others smiled or knit their brows in turn; some +with eyes closed and open mouth, their bodies lying in wild +disorder, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page323" name= +"page323"></a>[pg 323]</span> stretched here and there, like +corpses thrown together. And now the prince seated, in his beauty, +looked with thought on all the waiting women; before, they had +appeared exceeding lovely, their laughing words, their hearts so +light and gay, their forms so plump and young, their looks so +bright; but now, how changed! so uninviting and repulsive. And such +is woman's disposition! how can they, then, be ever dear, or +closely trusted; such false appearances! and unreal pretences; they +only madden and delude the minds of men.</p> +<p>"And now," he said, "I have awakened to the truth! Resolved am I +to leave such false society." At this time the Deva of the Pure +abode descended and approached, unfastening the doors. The prince, +too, at this time rose and walked along, amid the prostrate forms +of all the women; with difficulty reaching the inner hall, he +called to Kandaka, in these words, "My mind is now athirst and +longing for the draught of the fountain of sweet dew; saddle then +my horse, and quickly bring it here. I wish to reach the deathless +city; my heart is fixed beyond all change, resolved I am and bound +by sacred oath; these women, once so charming and enticing, now +behold I altogether loathsome; the gates, which were before +fast-barred and locked, now stand free and open! these evidences of +something supernatural, point to a climax of my life."</p> +<p>Then Kandaka stood reflecting inwardly, whether to obey or not +the prince's order, without informing his royal father of it, and +so incur the heaviest punishment.</p> +<p>The Devas then gave spiritual strength; and unperceived the +horse equipped came round, with even pace; a gallant steed, with +all his jewelled trappings for a rider; high-maned, with flowing +tail, broad-backed, short-haired and eared, with belly like the +deer's, head like the king of parrots, wide forehead, round and +claw-shaped nostrils, breath like the dragon's, with breast and +shoulders square, true and sufficient marks of his high breed. The +royal prince, stroking the horse's neck, and rubbing down his body, +said, "My royal father ever rode on thee, and found thee brave in +fight and fearless of the foe; now I desire to rely on thee alike! +to carry me far off to the stream (ford) of endless life, to fight +against and overcome the opposing force of men, the men who +associate in search of pleasure, the men who engage in the search +after wealth, the crowds who follow and flatter such persons; in +opposing sorrow, friendly help <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page324" name="page324"></a>[pg 324]</span> is difficult to find, +in seeking religious truth there must be rare enlightenment, let us +then be knit together thus as friends; then, at last, there will be +rest from sorrow. But now I wish to go abroad, to give deliverance +from pain; now then, for your own sake it is, and for the sake of +all your kind, that you should exert your strength, with noble +pace, without lagging or weariness." Having thus exhorted him, he +bestrode his horse, and grasping the reins proceeded forth; the man +like the sun shining forth from his tabernacle, the horse like the +white floating cloud, exerting himself but without exciting haste, +his breath concealed and without snorting; four spirits (Devas) +accompanying him, held up his feet, heedfully concealing his +advance, silently and without noise; the heavy gates fastened and +barred, the heavenly spirits of themselves caused to open. +Reverencing deeply the virtuous father, loving deeply the +unequalled son, equally affected with love towards all the members +of his family these Devas took their place.</p> +<p>Suppressing his feelings, but not extinguishing his memory, +lightly he advanced and proceeded beyond the city, pure and +spotless as the lily flowers which spring from the mud; looking up +with earnestness at his father's palace, he announced his +purpose—unwitnessed and unwritten—"If I escape not +birth, old age, and death, for evermore I pass not thus along." All +the concourse of Devas, the space-filling Nâgas and spirits +followed joyfully and exclaimed, "Well! well!" in confirmation of +the true words he spoke. The Nâgas and the company of Devas +acquired a condition of heart difficult to obtain, and each with +his own inherent light led on the way shedding forth their +brightness. Thus man and horse, both strong of heart, went onwards, +lost to sight like streaming stars, but ere the eastern quarter +flashed with light, they had advanced three yoganas.</p> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote91" name= +"footnote91"></a><b>Footnote 91:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag91">(return)</a> +<p>Mâra, the king of the world of desire. According to the +Buddhist theogony he is the god of sensual love. He holds the world +in sin. He was the enemy of Buddha, and endeavored in every way to +defeat him. He is also described as the king of death.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote92" name= +"footnote92"></a><b>Footnote 92:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag92">(return)</a> +<p>That is, the Brahman wearing the twice-born thread.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote93" name= +"footnote93"></a><b>Footnote 93:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag93">(return)</a> +<p>The "eternal draught" or "sweet dew" of Ambrosia. This +expression is constantly used in Buddhist writings. It corresponds +with the Pali amatam, which Childers explains as the "drink of the +gods."</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote94" name= +"footnote94"></a><b>Footnote 94:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag94">(return)</a> +<p>The condition of the highest Deva, according to Buddhism, does +not exempt him from re-birth; subject to the calamities incident on +such a renewal of life.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote95" name= +"footnote95"></a><b>Footnote 95:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag95">(return)</a> +<p>This seems to mean that those who had not received benefit from +the teaching of the four previous Buddhas, that even these were +placable and well-disposed.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote96" name= +"footnote96"></a><b>Footnote 96:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag96">(return)</a> +<p>The description here given of the peace and content prevailing +in the world on the birth of Bodhisattva (and his name given to him +in consequence) resembles the account of the golden age in classic +authors.</p> +</blockquote> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page325" name="page325"></a>[pg +325]</span> +<h3><a id="life-ii" name="life-ii">CHAPTER II</a></h3> +<h4><a id="life-ii-return" name="life-ii-return">The Return of +Kandaka</a></h4> +<p>And now the night was in a moment gone, and sight restored to +all created things, when the royal prince looked through the wood, +and saw the abode of Po-ka, the Rishi. The purling streams so +exquisitely pure and sparkling, and the wild beasts all unalarmed +at man, caused the royal prince's heart to exult. Tired, the horse +stopped of his own will, to breathe. "This, then," he thought, "is +a good sign and fortunate, and doubtless indicates divine +approval." And now he saw belonging to the Rishi, the various +vessels used for asking charity, and other things arranged by him +in order, without the slightest trace of negligence. Dismounting +then he stroked his horse's head, and cried, "You now have borne me +well!"</p> +<p>With loving eyes he looked at Kandaka: eyes like the pure cool +surface of a placid lake and said, "Swift-footed! like a horse in +pace, yea! swift as any light-winged bird, ever have you followed +after me when riding, and deeply have I felt my debt of thanks, but +not yet had you been tried in other ways; I only knew you as a man +true-hearted, my mind now wonders at your active powers of body; +these two I now begin to see are yours; a man may have a heart most +true and faithful, but strength of body may not too be his; bodily +strength and perfect honesty of heart, I now have proof enough are +yours. To be content to leave the tinselled world, and with swift +foot to follow me, who would do this but for some profit; if +without profit to his kin, who would not shun it? But you, with no +private aim, have followed me, not seeking any present recompense; +as we nourish and bring up a child, to bind together and bring +honor to a family, so we also reverence and obey a father, to gain +obedience and attention from a begotten son; in this way all think +of their own advantage; but you have <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page326" name="page326"></a>[pg 326]</span> come with me +disdaining profit; with many words I cannot hold you here, so let +me say in brief to you, we have now ended our relationship; take, +then, my horse and ride back again; for me, during the long night +past, that place I sought to reach now I have obtained."</p> +<p>Then taking off his precious neck-chain, he handed it to +Kandaka. "Take this," he said, "I give it you, let it console you +in your sorrow." The precious jewel in the tire that bound his +head, bright-shining, lighting up his person, taking off and +placing in his extended palm, like the sun which lights up Sumeru, +he said, "O Kandaka! take this gem, and going back to where my +father is, take the jewel and lay it reverently before him, to +signify my heart's relation to him; and then, for me, request the +king to stifle every fickle feeling of affection, and say that I, +to escape from birth and age and death, have entered on the wild +forest of painful discipline; not that I may get a heavenly birth, +much less because I have no tenderness of heart, or that I cherish +any cause of bitterness, but only that I may escape this weight of +sorrow. The accumulated long-night weight of covetous desire +(love), I now desire to ease the load so that it may be overthrown +forever; therefore I seek the way of ultimate escape; if I should +obtain emancipation, then shall I never need to put away my +kindred, to leave my home, to sever ties of love. O! grieve not for +your son! The five desires of sense beget the sorrow; those held by +lust themselves induce the sorrow. My very ancestors, victorious +kings, thinking their throne established and immovable, have handed +down to me their kingly wealth; I, thinking only on religion, put +it all away; the royal mothers at the end of life their cherished +treasures leave for their sons, those sons who covet much such +worldly profit; but I rejoice to have acquired religious wealth; if +you say that I am young and tender, and that the time for seeking +wisdom is not come, you ought to know that to seek true religion, +there never is a time not fit; impermanence and fickleness, the +hate of death, these ever follow us, and therefore I embrace the +present day, convinced that now is time to seek religion. With such +entreaties as the above, you must make matters plain on my behalf; +but, pray you, cause my father not to think longingly after me; let +him destroy all recollection of me, and cut out from his soul the +ties of love; and you, grieve not because of what I say, but +recollect to give the king my message."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page327" name="page327"></a>[pg +327]</span> +<p>Kandaka hearing respectfully the words of exhortation, blinded +and confused through choking sorrow, with hands outstretched did +worship; and answering the prince, he spoke, "The orders that you +give me will, I fear, add grief to grief, and sorrow thus increased +will deepen, as the elephant who struggles into deeper mire. When +the ties of love are rudely snapped, who, that has any heart, would +not grieve! The golden ore may still by stamping be broken up, how +much more the feelings choked with sorrow! the prince has grown up +in a palace, with every care bestowed upon his tender person, and +now he gives his body to the rough and thorny forest; how will he +be able to bear a life of privation? When first you ordered me to +equip your steed, my mind was indeed sorely troubled, but the +heavenly powers urged me on, causing me to hasten the preparation +of the horse, but what is the intention that urges the prince, to +resolve thus to leave his secure palace? The people of Kapilavastu, +and all the country afflicted with grief; your father, now an old +man, mindful of his son, loving him moreover tenderly; surely this +determination to leave your home, this is not according to duty; it +is wrong, surely, to disregard father and mother—we cannot +speak of such a thing with propriety! Gotami, too, who has +nourished you so long, fed you with milk when a helpless child, +such love as hers cannot easily be forgotten; it is impossible +surely to turn the back on a benefactor; the highly gifted virtuous +mother of a child, is ever respected by the most distinguished +families; to inherit distinction and then to turn round, is not the +mark of a distinguished man. The illustrious child of +Yasodharâ, who has inherited a kingdom, rightly governed, his +years now gradually ripening, should not thus go away from and +forsake his home; but though he has gone away from his royal +father, and forsaken his family and his kin, forbid it he should +still drive me away, let me not depart from the feet of my master; +my heart is bound to thee, as the heat is bound up in the boiling +water. I cannot return without thee to my country; to return and +leave the prince thus, in the midst of the solitude of the desert, +then should I be like Sumanta, who left and forsook Râma; and +now if I return alone to the palace, what words can I address to +the king? How can I reply to the reproaches of all the dwellers in +the palace with suitable words? Therefore let the prince rather +tell me, how I may truly describe, and with what <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page328" name="page328"></a>[pg 328]</span> +device, the disfigured body, and the merit-seeking condition of the +hermit! I am full of fear and alarm, my tongue can utter no words; +tell me then what words to speak; but who is there in the empire +will believe me? If I say that the moon's rays are scorching, there +are men, perhaps, who may believe me; but they will not believe +that the prince, in his conduct, will act without piety; for the +prince's heart is sincere and refined, always actuated with pity +and love to men. To be deeply affected with love, and yet to +forsake the object of love, this surely is opposed to a constant +mind. O then, for pity's sake! return to your home, and thus +appease my foolish longings."</p> +<p>The prince having listened to Kandaka, pitying his grief +expressed in so many words, with heart resolved and strong in its +determination, spoke thus to him once more, and said: "Why thus on +my account do you feel the pain of separation? you should overcome +this sorrowful mood, it is for you to comfort yourself; all +creatures, each in its way, foolishly arguing that all things are +constant, would influence me to-day not to forsake my kin and +relatives; but when dead and come to be a ghost, how then, let them +say, can I be kept? My loving mother when she bore me, with deep +affection painfully carried me, and then when born she died, not +permitted to nourish me. One alive, the other dead, gone by +different roads, where now shall she be found? Like as in a +wilderness, on some high tree, all the birds living with their +mates assemble in the evening and at dawn disperse, so are the +separations of the world; the floating clouds rise like a high +mountain, from the four quarters they fill the void, in a moment +again they are separated and disappear; so is it with the +habitations of men; people from the beginning have erred thus, +binding themselves in society and by the ties of love, and then, as +after a dream, all is dispersed; do not then recount the names of +my relatives; for like the wood which is produced in spring, +gradually grows and brings forth its leaves, which again fall in +the autumn-chilly-dews—if the different parts of the same +body are thus divided—how much more men who are united in +society! and how shall the ties of relationship escape rending? +Cease therefore your grief and expostulation, obey my commands and +return home; the thought of your return alone will save me, and +perhaps after your return I also may come back. The men of +Kapilavastu, hearing that my heart is fixed, will dismiss from +their minds <span class="pagenum"><a id="page329" name= +"page329"></a>[pg 329]</span> all thought of me, but you may make +known my words, 'when I have escaped from the sad ocean of birth +and death, then afterwards I will come back again; but I am +resolved, if I obtain not my quest, my body shall perish in the +mountain wilds.'" The white horse hearing the prince, as he uttered +these true and earnest words, bent his knee and licked his foot, +whilst he sighed deeply and wept. Then the prince with his soft and +glossy palm, fondly stroking the head of the white horse, said, "Do +not let sorrow rise within, I grieve indeed at losing you, my +gallant steed—so strong and active, your merit now has gained +its end; you shall enjoy for long a respite from an evil birth, but +for the present take as your reward these precious jewels and this +glittering sword, and with them follow closely after Kandaka." The +prince then drawing forth his sword, glancing in the light as the +dragon's eye, cut off the knot of hair with its jewelled stud, and +forthwith cast it into space; ascending upwards to the firmament, +it floated there as the wings of the phoenix; then all the Devas of +the Trayastrimsa heavens seizing the hair, returned with it to +their heavenly abodes; desiring always to adore the feet (offer +religious service), how much rather now possessed of the crowning +locks, with unfeigned piety do they increase their adoration, and +shall do till the true law has died away.</p> +<p>Then the royal prince thought thus, "My adornments now are gone +forever, there only now remain these silken garments, which are not +in keeping with a hermit's life."</p> +<p>Then the Deva of the Pure abode, knowing the heart-ponderings of +the prince, transformed himself into a hunter's likeness, holding +his bow, his arrows in his girdle, his body girded with a +Kashâya-colored robe, thus he advanced in front of the +prince. The prince considering this garment of his, the color of +the ground, a fitting pure attire, becoming to the utmost the +person of a Rishi, not fit for a hunter's dress, forthwith called +to the hunter, as he stood before him, in accents soft, and thus +addressed him: "That dress of thine belikes me much, as if it were +not foul, and this my dress I'll give thee in exchange, so please +thee."</p> +<p>The hunter then addressed the prince, "Although I ill can spare +this garment, which I use as a disguise among the deer, that +alluring them within reach I may kill them, notwithstanding, as it +so pleases you, I am now willing to bestow it in exchange +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page330" name="page330"></a>[pg +330]</span> for yours." The hunter having received the sumptuous +dress, took again his heavenly body.</p> +<p>The prince and Kandaka, the coachman, seeing this, thought +deeply thus: "This garment is of no common character, it is not +what a worldly man has worn"—and in the prince's heart great +joy arose, as he regarded the coat with double reverence, and +forthwith giving all the other things to Kandaka, he himself was +clad in it, of Kashâya color; then like the dark and lowering +cloud, that surrounds the disc of the sun or moon, he for a moment +gazed, scanning his steps, then entered on the hermit's grot; +Kandaka following him with wistful eyes, his body disappeared, nor +was it seen again. "My lord and master now has left his father's +house, his kinsfolk and myself," he cried; "he now has clothed +himself in hermit's garb, and entered the painful forest." Raising +his hands he called on Heaven, o'erpowered with grief he could not +move; till holding by the white steed's neck, he tottered forward +on the homeward road, turning again and often looking back, his +body going on, his heart back-hastening; now lost in thought and +self-forgetful, now looking down to earth, then raising up his +drooping eye to heaven, falling at times and then rising again, +thus weeping as he went, he pursued his way homewards.</p> +<h4><a id="life-ii-entering" name="life-ii-entering">Entering the +Place of Austerities</a></h4> +<p>The prince having dismissed Kandaka, as he entered the Rishis' +abode, his graceful body brightly shining, lit up on every side the +forest "place of suffering"; himself gifted with every excellence, +according to his gifts, so were they reflected. As the lion, the +king of beasts, when he enters among the herd of beasts, drives +from their minds all thoughts of common things, as now they watch +the true form of their kind, so those Rishi masters assembled +there, suddenly perceiving the miraculous portent, were struck with +awe and fearful gladness, as they gazed with earnest eyes and hands +conjoined. The men and women, engaged in various occupations, +beholding him, with unchanged attitudes, gazed as the gods look on +King Sakra, with constant look and eyes unmoved; so the Rishis, +with their feet fixed fast, looked at him even thus; whatever in +their hands they held, without releasing it, they stopped and +looked; even as the ox when yoked to the wain, his body bound, his +mind <span class="pagenum"><a id="page331" name="page331"></a>[pg +331]</span> also restrained; so also the followers of the holy +Rishis, each called the other to behold the miracle. The peacocks +and the other birds with cries commingled flapped their wings; the +Brahmakârins holding the rules of deer, following the deer +wandering through mountain glades, as the deer coarse of nature, +with flashing eyes, regard the prince with fixed gaze; so following +the deer, those Brahmakârins intently gaze likewise, looking +at the exceeding glory of the Ikshvâku. As the glory of the +rising sun is able to affect the herds of milch kine, so as to +increase the quantity of their sweet-scented milk, so those +Brahmakârins, with wondrous joy, thus spoke one to the other: +"Surely this is one of the eight Vasu Devas"; others, "this is one +of the two Asvins"; others, "this is Mâra"; others, "this is +one of the Brahmakâyikas"; others, "this is Sûryadeva +or Kandradeva, coming down; are they not seeking here a sacrifice +which is their due? Come let us haste to offer our religious +services!"</p> +<p>The prince, on his part, with respectful mien addressed to them +polite salutation. Then Bodhisattva, looking with care in every +direction on the Brahmakârins occupying the wood, each +engaged in his religious duties, all desirous of the delights of +heaven, addressed the senior Brahmakârin, and asked him as to +the path of true religion. "Now having just come here, I do not yet +know the rules of your religious life. I ask you therefore for +information, and I pray explain to me what I ask."</p> +<p>On this that twice-born (Brahman) in reply explained in +succession all the modes of painful discipline, and the fruits +expected as their result. How some ate nothing brought from +inhabited places but that produced from pure water, others edible +roots and tender twigs, others fruits and flowers fit for food, +each according to the rules of his sect, clothing and food in each +case different; some living amongst bird-kind, and like them +capturing and eating food; others eating as the deer the grass and +herbs; others living like serpents, inhaling air; others eating +nothing pounded in wood or stone; some eating with two teeth, till +a wound be formed; others, again, begging their food and giving it +in charity, taking only the remnants for themselves; others, again, +who let water continually drip on their heads and those who offer +up with fire; others who practise water-dwelling like fish; thus +there are Brahmakârins of <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page332" name="page332"></a>[pg 332]</span> every sort, who +practise austerities, that they may at the end of life obtain a +birth in heaven, and by their present sufferings afterwards obtain +peaceable fruit.</p> +<p>The lord of men, the excellent master, hearing all their modes +of sorrow-producing penance, not perceiving any element of truth in +them, experienced no joyful emotion in his heart; lost in thought, +he regarded the men with pity, and with his heart in agreement his +mouth thus spake: "Pitiful indeed are such sufferings! and merely +in quest of a human or heavenly reward, ever revolving in the cycle +of birth or death, how great your sufferings, how small the +recompense! Leaving your friends, giving up honorable position; +with a firm purpose to obtain the joys of heaven, although you may +escape little sorrows, yet in the end involved in great sorrow; +promoting the destruction of your outward form, and undergoing +every kind of painful penance, and yet seeking to obtain another +birth; increasing and prolonging the causes of the five desires, +not considering that herefrom birth and death, undergoing suffering +and, by that, seeking further suffering; thus it is that the world +of men, though dreading the approach of death, yet strive after +renewed birth; and being thus born, they must die again. Although +still dreading the power of suffering, yet prolonging their stay in +the sea of pain. Disliking from their heart their present kind of +life, yet still striving incessantly after other life; enduring +affliction that they may partake of joy; seeking a birth in heaven, +to suffer further trouble; seeking joys, whilst the heart sinks +with feebleness. For this is so with those who oppose right reason; +they cannot but be cramped and poor at heart. But by earnestness +and diligence, then we conquer. Walking in the path of true wisdom, +letting go both extremes, we then reach ultimate perfection; to +mortify the body, if this is religion, then to enjoy rest, is +something not resulting from religion. To walk religiously and +afterwards to receive happiness, this is to make the fruit of +religion something different from religion; but bodily exercise is +but the cause of death, strength results alone from the mind's +intention; if you remove from conduct the purpose of the mind, the +bodily act is but as rotten wood; wherefore, regulate the mind, and +then the body will spontaneously go right. You say that to eat pure +things is a cause of religious merit, but the wild beasts and the +children of poverty ever feed on these fruits and medicinal herbs; +these <span class="pagenum"><a id="page333" name="page333"></a>[pg +333]</span> then ought to gain much religious merit. But if you say +that the heart being good then bodily suffering is the cause of +further merit, then I ask why may not those who live in ease, also +possess a virtuous heart? If joys are opposed to a virtuous heart, +a virtuous heart may also be opposed to bodily suffering; if, for +instance, all those heretics profess purity because they use water +in various ways, then those who thus use water among men, even with +a wicked mind, yet ought ever to be pure. But if righteousness is +the groundwork of a Rishi's purity, then the idea of a sacred spot +as his dwelling, being the cause of his righteousness is wrong. +What is reverenced, should be known and seen. Reverence indeed is +due to righteous conduct, but let it not redound to the place or +mode of life."</p> +<p>Thus speaking at large on religious questions, they went on till +the setting sun. He then beheld their rites in connection with +sacrifice to fire, the drilling for sparks and the fanning into +flame, also the sprinkling of the butter libations, also the +chanting of the mystic prayers, till the sun went down. The prince +considering these acts, could not perceive the right reason of +them, and was now desirous to turn and go. Then all those +Brahmakârins came together to him to request him to stay; +regarding with reverence the dignity of Bodhisattva, very desirous, +they earnestly besought him: "You have come from an irreligious +place, to this wood where true religion flourishes, and yet, now, +you wish to go away; we beg you, then, on this account, to stay." +All the old Brahmakârins, with their twisted hair and bark +clothes, came following after Bodhisattva, asking him as a god to +stay a little while. Bodhisattva seeing these aged ones following +him, their bodies worn with macerations, stood still and rested +beneath a tree; and soothing them, urged them to return. Then all +the Brahmakârins, young and old, surrounding him, made their +request with joined hands: "You who have so unexpectedly arrived +here, amid these garden glades so full of attraction, why now are +you leaving them and going away, to seek perfection in the +wilderness? As a man loving long life, is unwilling to let go his +body, so we are even thus; would that you would stop awhile. This +is a spot where Brahmans and Rishis have ever dwelt, royal Rishis +and heavenly Rishis, these all have dwelt within these woods. The +places on the borders of the snowy mountains, where men of high +birth undergo their penance, those places are not to be compared +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page334" name="page334"></a>[pg +334]</span> to this. All the body of learned masters from this +place have reached heaven; all the learned Rishis who have sought +religious merit, have from this place and northwards found it; +those who have attained a knowledge of the true law, and gained +divine wisdom come not from southwards; if you indeed see us remiss +and not earnest enough, practising rules not pure, and on that +account are not pleased to stay, then we are the ones that ought to +go; you can still remain and dwell here; all these different +Brahmakârins ever desire to find companions in their +penances. And you, because you are conspicuous for your religious +earnestness, should not so quickly cast away their society: if you +can remain here, they will honor you as god Sakra, yea! as the +Devas pay worship to Brihaspati."</p> +<p>Then Bodhisattva answered the Brahmakârins and told them +what his desires were: "I am seeking for a true method of escape, I +desire solely to destroy all mundane influences; but you, with +strong hearts, practise your rules as ascetics, and pay respectful +attention to such visitors as may come. My heart indeed is moved +with affection towards you, for pleasant conversation is agreeable +to all, those who listen are affected thereby; and so hearing your +words, my mind is strengthened in religious feeling; you indeed +have all paid me much respect, in agreement with the courtesy of +your religious profession; but now I am constrained to depart, my +heart grieves thereat exceedingly: first of all, having left my own +kindred, and now about to be separated from you. The pain of +separation from associates, this pain is as great as the other; it +is impossible for my mind not to grieve, as it is not to see +others' faults. But you, by suffering pain, desire earnestly to +obtain the joys of birth in heaven; whilst I desire to escape from +the three worlds, and therefore I give up what my reason tells me +must be rejected. The law which you practise, you inherit from the +deeds of former teachers, but I, desiring to destroy all +combination, seek a law which admits of no such accident. And, +therefore, I cannot in this grove delay for a longer while in +fruitless discussions."</p> +<p>At this time all the Brahmakârins, hearing the words +spoken by Bodhisattva, words full of right reason and truth, very +excellent in the distinction of principles, their hearts rejoiced +and exulted greatly, and deep feelings of reverence were excited +within them.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page335" name="page335"></a>[pg +335]</span> +<p>At this time there was one Brahmakârin, who always slept +in the dust, with tangled hair and raiment of the bark of trees, +his eyes bleared, preparing himself in an ascetic practice called +"high-nose."<a id="footnotetag97" name="footnotetag97"></a><a href= +"#footnote97"><sup>97</sup></a> This one addressed Bodhisattva in +the following words: "Strong in will! bright in wisdom! firmly +fixed in resolve to escape the limits of birth, knowing that in +escape from birth there alone is rest, not affected by any desire +after heavenly blessedness, the mind set upon the eternal +destruction of the bodily form, you are indeed miraculous in +appearance, as you are alone in the possession of such a mind. To +sacrifice to the gods, and to practise every kind of austerity, all +this is designed to secure a birth in heaven, but here there is no +mortification of selfish desire, there is still a selfish personal +aim; but to bend the will to seek final escape, this is indeed the +work of a true teacher, this is the aim of an enlightened master; +this place is no right halting-place for you; you ought to proceed +to Mount Pinda: there dwells a great Muni, whose name is A-lo-lam. +He only has reached the end of religious aims, the most excellent +eye of the law. Go, therefore, to the place where he dwells, and +listen there to the true exposition of the law. This will make your +heart rejoice, as you learn to follow the precepts of his system. +As for me, beholding the joy of your resolve, and fearing that I +shall not obtain rest, I must once more let go those following me, +and seek other disciples; straighten my head and gaze with my full +eyes; anoint my lips and cleanse my teeth; cover my shoulders and +make bright my face, smooth my tongue and make it pliable. Thus, O +excellently marked sir! fully drinking at the fountain of the water +you give, I shall escape from the unfathomable depths. In the world +nought is comparable to this, that which old men and Rishis have +not known, that shall I know and obtain."</p> +<p>Bodhisattva having listened to these words, left the company of +the Rishis, whilst they all, turning round him to the right, +returned to their place.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page336" name="page336"></a>[pg +336]</span> +<h4><a id="life-ii-grief" name="life-ii-grief">The General Grief of +the Palace</a></h4> +<p>Kandaka leading back the horse, opening the way for his heart's +sorrow, as he went on, lamented and wept: unable to disburden his +soul. First of all with the royal prince, passing along the road +for one night, but now dismissed and ordered to return. As the +darkness of night closed on him, irresolute he wavered in mind. On +the eighth day approaching the city, the noble horse pressed +onwards, exhibiting all his qualities of speed; but yet hesitating +as he looked around and beheld not the form of the royal prince; +his four members bent down with toil, his head and neck deprived of +their glossy look, whinnying as he went on with grief, he refused +night and day his grass and water, because he had lost his lord, +the deliverer of men. Returning thus to Kapilavastu, the whole +country appeared withered and bare, as when one comes back to a +deserted village; or as when the sun hidden behind Sumeru causes +darkness to spread over the world. The fountains of water sparkled +no more, the flowers and fruits were withered and dead, the men and +women in the streets seemed lost in grief and dismay. Thus Kandaka +with the white horse went on sadly and with slow advance, silent to +those inquiring, wearily progressing as when accompanying a +funeral; so they went on, whilst all the spectators seeing Kandaka, +but not observing the royal Sâkya prince, raised piteous +cries of lamentation and wept; as when the charioteer returned +without Râma.</p> +<p>Then one by the side of the road, with his body bent, called out +to Kandaka: "The prince, beloved of the world, the defender of his +people, the one you have taken away by stealth, where dwells he +now?" Kandaka, then, with sorrowful heart, replied to the people +and said: "I with loving purpose followed after him whom I loved; +'tis not I who have deserted the prince, but by him have I been +sent away; by him who now has given up his ordinary adornments, and +with shaven head and religious garb, has entered the sorrow-giving +grove."</p> +<p>Then the men hearing that he had become an ascetic, were +oppressed with thoughts of wondrous boding; they sighed with +heaviness and wept, and as their tears coursed down their cheeks, +they spake thus one to the other: "What then shall we do?" Then +they all exclaimed at once, "Let us haste after <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page337" name="page337"></a>[pg 337]</span> him in +pursuit; for as when a man's bodily functions fail, his frame dies +and his spirit flees, so is the prince our life, and he our life +gone, how shall we survive? This city, perfected with slopes and +woods; those woods, that cover the slopes of the city, all deprived +of grace, ye lie as Bharata when killed!"</p> +<p>Then the men and women within the town, vainly supposing the +prince had come back, in haste rushed out to the heads of the way, +and seeing the horse returning alone, not knowing whether the +prince was safe or lost, began to weep and to raise every piteous +sound; and said, "Behold! Kandaka advancing slowly with the horse, +comes back with sighs and tears; surely he grieves because the +prince is lost." And thus sorrow is added to sorrow!</p> +<p>Then like a captive warrior is drawn before the king his master, +so did he enter the gates with tears, his eyes filled so that he +said nought. Then looking up to heaven he loudly groaned; and the +white horse too whined piteously; then all the varied birds and +beasts in the palace court, and all the horses within the stables, +hearing the sad whinnying of the royal steed, replied in answer to +him, thinking "now the prince has come back." But seeing him not, +they ceased their cries!</p> +<p>And now the women of the after-palace, hearing the cries of the +horses, birds, and beasts, their hair dishevelled, their faces wan +and yellow, their forms sickly to look at, their mouths and lips +parched, their garments torn and unwashed, the soil and heat not +cleansed from their bodies, their ornaments all thrown aside, +disconsolate and sad, cheerless in face, raised their bodies, +without any grace, even as the feeble little morning star; their +garments torn and knotted, soiled like the appearance of a robber, +seeing Kandaka and the royal horse shedding tears instead of the +hoped-for return, they all, assembled thus, uttered their cry, even +as those who weep for one beloved just dead. Confused and wildly +they rushed about, as a herd of oxen that have lost their way.</p> +<p>Mahâpragâpati Gotamî, hearing that the prince +had not returned, fell fainting on the ground, her limbs entirely +deprived of strength, even as some mad tornado wind crushes the +golden-colored plantain tree; and again, hearing that her son had +become a recluse, deeply sighing and with increased sadness she +thought, "Alas! those glossy locks turning to the right, each hair +produced from each orifice, dark and pure, gracefully shining, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page338" name="page338"></a>[pg +338]</span> sweeping the earth when loose,<a id="footnotetag98" +name="footnotetag98"></a><a href="#footnote98"><sup>98</sup></a> or +when so determined, bound together in a heavenly crown, and now +shorn and lying in the grass! Those rounded shoulders and that lion +step! Those eyes broad as the ox-king's, that body shining bright +as yellow gold; that square breast and Brahma voice; that you! +possessing all these excellent qualities, should have entered on +the sorrow-giving forest; what fortune now remains for the world, +losing thus the holy king of earth? That those delicate and pliant +feet, pure as the lily and of the same color, should now be torn by +stones and thorns; O how can such feet tread on such ground! Born +and nourished in the guarded palace, clad with garments of the +finest texture, washed in richly scented water, anointed with the +choicest perfumes, and now exposed to chilling blasts and dews of +night, O! where during the heat or the chilly morn can rest be +found! Thou flower of all thy race! Confessed by all the most +renowned! Thy virtuous qualities everywhere talked of and exalted, +ever reverenced, without self-seeking! why hast thou unexpectedly +brought thyself upon some morn to beg thy food for life! Thou who +wert wont to repose upon a soft and kingly couch, and indulge in +every pleasure during thy waking hours: how canst thou endure the +mountain and the forest wilds, on the bare grass to make thyself a +resting-place!"</p> +<p>Thus thinking of her son—her heart was full of sorrow, +disconsolate she lay upon the earth. The waiting women raised her +up, and dried the tears from off her face, whilst all the other +courtly ladies, overpowered with grief, their limbs relaxed, their +minds bound fast with woe, unmoved they sat like pictured-folk.</p> +<p>And now Yasodharâ, deeply chiding, spoke thus to Kandaka: +"Where now dwells he, who ever dwells within my mind? You two went +forth, the horse a third, but now two only have returned! My heart +is utterly o'erborne with grief, filled with anxious thoughts, it +cannot rest. And you, deceitful man! Untrustworthy and false +associate! evil contriver! plainly revealed a traitor, a smile +lurks underneath thy tears! Escorting him in going; returning now +with wails! Not one at heart—but in league against +him—openly constituted a friend and well-wisher, concealing +underneath a treacherous purpose; so thou <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page339" name="page339"></a>[pg 339]</span> hast +caused the sacred prince to go forth once and not return again! No +questioning the joy you feel! Having done ill you now enjoy the +fruit; better far to dwell with an enemy of wisdom, than work with +one who, while a fool, professes friendship. Openly professing +sweetness and light, inwardly a scheming and destructive enemy. And +now this royal and kingly house, in one short morn is crushed and +ruined! All these fair and queen-like women, with grief +o'erwhelmed, their beauty marred, their breathing choked with tears +and sobs, their faces soiled with crossing tracks of grief! Even +the queen (Mâyâ) when in life, resting herself on him, +as the great snowy mountains repose upon the widening earth, +through grief in thought of what would happen, died. How sad the +lot of these—within these open lattices—these weeping +ones, these deeply wailing! Born in another state than hers in +heaven, how can their grief be borne!" Then speaking to the horse +she said, "Thou unjust! what dulness this—to carry off a man, +as in the darkness some wicked thief bears off a precious gem. When +riding thee in time of battle, swords, and javelins and arrows, +none of these alarmed or frighted thee! But now what fitfulness of +temper this, to carry off by violence, to rob my soul of one, the +choicest jewel of his tribe. O! thou art but a vicious reptile, to +do such wickedness as this! to-day thy woeful lamentation sounds +everywhere within these palace walls, but when you stole away my +cherished one, why wert thou dumb and silent then! if then thy +voice had sounded loud, and roused the palace inmates from their +sleep, if then they had awoke and slumbered not, there would not +have ensued the present sorrow."</p> +<p>Kandaka, hearing these sorrowful words, drawing in his breath +and composing himself, wiping away his tears, with hands clasped +together, answered: "Listen to me, I pray, in +self-justification—be not suspicious of, nor blame the royal +horse, nor be thou angry with me, either. For in truth no fault has +been committed by us. It is the gods who have effected this. For I, +indeed, extremely reverenced the king's command, it was the gods +who drove him to the solitudes, urgently leading on the horse with +him: thus they went together fleet as with wings, his breathing +hushed! suppressed was every sound, his feet scarce touched the +earth! The city gates wide opening of themselves! all space +self-lighted! this was the work <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page340" name="page340"></a>[pg 340]</span> indeed of the gods; +and what was I, or what my strength, compared with theirs?"</p> +<p>Yasodharâ hearing these words, her heart was lost in deep +consideration! the deeds accomplished by the gods could not be laid +to others' charge, as faults; and so she ceased her angry chiding, +and allowed her great consuming grief to smoulder. Thus prostrate +on the ground she muttered out her sad complaints, "That the two +doves should be divided! Now," she cried, "my stay and my support +is lost, between those once agreed in life, separation has sprung +up! those who were at one as to religion are now divided! where +shall I seek another mode of life? In olden days the former +conquerors greatly rejoiced to see their kingly retinue; these with +their wives in company, in search of highest wisdom, roamed through +groves and plains. And now, that he should have deserted me! and +what is the religious state he seeks! the Brahman ritual respecting +sacrifice, requires the wife to take part in the offering, and +because they both share in the service they shall both receive a +common reward hereafter! but you O prince! art niggard in your +religious rites, driving me away, and wandering forth alone! Is it +that you saw me jealous, and so turned against me! that you now +seek someone free from jealousy! or did you see some other cause to +hate me, that you now seek to find a heaven-born nymph! But why +should one excelling in every personal grace seek to practise +self-denying austerities! is it that you despise a common lot with +me, that variance rises in your breast against your wife! Why does +not Râhula fondly repose upon your knee. Alas! alas! unlucky +master! full of grace without, but hard at heart! The glory and the +pride of all your tribe, yet hating those who reverence you! O! can +it be, you have turned your back for good upon your little child, +scarce able yet to smile! My heart is gone! and all my strength! my +lord has fled, to wander in the mountains! he cannot surely thus +forget me! he is then but a man of wood or stone." Thus having +spoken, her mind was dulled and darkened, she muttered on, or spoke +in wild mad words, or fancied that she saw strange sights, and +sobbing past the power of self-restraint, her breath grew less, and +sinking thus, she fell asleep upon the dusty ground! The palace +ladies seeing this, were wrung with heartfelt sorrow, just as the +full-blown lily, struck by the wind and hail, is broken down and +withered.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page341" name="page341"></a>[pg +341]</span> +<p>And now the king, his father, having lost the prince, was +filled, both night and day, with grief; and fasting, sought the +gods for help. He prayed that they would soon restore him, and +having prayed and finished sacrifice, he went from out the sacred +gates; then hearing all the cries and sounds of mourning, his mind +distressed became confused, as when heaven's thundering and +lightning put to bewildering flight a herd of elephants. Then +seeing Kandaka with the royal steed, after long questioning, +finding his son a hermit, fainting he fell upon the earth, as when +the flag of Indra falls and breaks. Then all the ministers of +state, upraising him, exhort him, as was right, to calm himself. +After awhile, his mind somewhat recovered, speaking to the royal +steed, he said: "How often have I ridden thee to battle, and every +time have thought upon your excellence! but now I hate and loathe +thee, more than ever I have loved or praised thee! My son, renowned +for noble qualities, thou hast carried off and taken from me; and +left him 'mid the mountain forests; and now you have come back +alone; take me, then, quickly hence and go! And going, never more +come back with me! For since you have not brought him back, my life +is worth no more preserving; no longer care I about governing! My +son about me was my only joy; as the Brahman Gayanta met death for +his son's sake, so I, deprived of my religious son, will of myself +deprive myself of life. So Manu, lord of all that lives, ever +lamented for his son; how much more I, a mortal man deprived of +mine, must lose all rest! In old time the king Aga, loving his son, +wandering through the mountains, lost in thought, ended life, and +forthwith was born in heaven. And now I cannot die! Through the +long night fixed in this sad state, with this great palace round +me, thinking of my son, solitary and athirst as any hungry spirit; +as one who, thirsty, holding water in his hand, but when he tries +to drink lets all escape, and so remains athirst till death ensues, +and after death becomes a wandering ghost; so I, in the extremity +of thirst, through loss, possessed once of a son, but now without a +son, still live and cannot end my days! But come! tell me at once +where is my son! let me not die athirst for want of knowing this +and fall among the Pretas. In former days, at least, my will was +strong and firm, difficult to move as the great earth; but now I've +lost my son, my mind is dazed, as was in old time the king +Dasaratha's."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page342" name="page342"></a>[pg +342]</span> +<p>And now the royal teacher (Purohita), an illustrious sage, with +the chief minister, famed for wisdom, with earnest and considerate +minds, both exhorted with remonstrances, the king. "Pray you (they +said) arouse yourself to thought, and let not grief cramp and hold +your mind! in olden days there were mighty kings, who left their +country, as flowers are scattered; your son now practises the way +of wisdom; why then nurse your grief and misery; you should recall +the prophecy of Asita, and reasonably count on what was probable! +Think of the heavenly joys which you, a universal king, have +inherited! But now, so troubled and constrained in mind, how will +it not be said, 'The Lord of earth can change his +golden-jewel-heart!' Now, therefore, send us forth, and bid us seek +the place he occupies, then by some stratagem and strong +remonstrances, and showing him our earnestness of purpose, we will +break down his resolution, and thus assuage your kingly +sorrow."</p> +<p>The king, with joy, replied and said: "Would that you both would +go in haste, as swiftly as the Saketa bird flies through the void +for her young's sake; thinking of nought but the royal prince, and +sad at heart—I shall await your search!"</p> +<p>The two men having received their orders, the king retired among +his kinsfolk, his heart somewhat more tranquillized, and breathing +freely through his throat.</p> +<h4><a id="life-ii-mission" name="life-ii-mission">The Mission to +Seek the Prince</a></h4> +<p>The king now suppressing his grief, urged on his great teacher +and chief minister, as one urges on with whip a ready horse, to +hasten onwards as the rapid stream; whilst they fatigued, yet with +unflagging effort, come to the place of the sorrow-giving grove; +then laying on one side the five outward marks of dignity and +regulating well their outward gestures, they entered the Brahmans' +quiet hermitage, and paid reverence to the Rishis. They, on their +part, begged them to be seated, and repeated the law for their +peace and comfort.</p> +<p>Then forthwith they addressed the Rishis and said: "We have on +our minds a subject on which we would ask for advice. There is one +who is called Suddhodana râga, a descendant of the famous +Ikshvâku family, we are his teacher and his minister, who +instruct him in the sacred books as required. The king indeed is +like Indra for dignity; his son, like Ke-yan-to, in order +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page343" name="page343"></a>[pg +343]</span> to escape old age, disease, and death, has become a +hermit, and depends on this; on his account have we come hither, +with a view to let your worships know of this."</p> +<p>Replying, they said: "With respect to this youth, has he long +arms and the signs of a great man? Surely he is the one who, +inquiring into our practice, discoursed so freely on the matter of +life and death. He has gone to the abode of Arâda, to seek +for a complete mode of escape."</p> +<p>Having received this certain information, respectfully +considering the urgent commands of the anxious king, they dared not +hesitate in their undertaking, but straightway took the road and +hastened on. Then seeing the wood in which the royal prince dwelt, +and him, deprived of all outward marks of dignity, his body still +glorious with lustrous shining, as when the sun comes forth from +the black cloud; then the religious teacher of the country and the +great minister holding to the true law, put off from them their +courtly dress, and descending from the chariot gradually advanced, +like the royal Po-ma-ti and the Rishi Vasishtha, went through the +woods and forests, and seeing the royal prince Râma, each +according to his own prescribed manner, paid him reverence, as he +advanced to salute him; or as Sukra, in company with Angiras, with +earnest heart paid reverence, and sacrificed to Indra +râga.</p> +<p>Then the royal prince in return paid reverence to the royal +teacher and the great minister, as the divine Indra placed at their +ease Sukra and Angiras; then, at his command, the two men seated +themselves before the prince, as Pou-na and Pushya, the twin stars +attend beside the moon; then the Purohita and the great minister +respectfully explained to the royal prince, even as Pi-li-po-ti +spoke to that Gayanta: "Your royal father, thinking of the prince, +is pierced in heart, as with an iron point; his mind distracted, +raves in solitude; he sleeps upon the dusty ground; by night and +day he adds to his sorrowful reflections; his tears flow down like +the incessant rain; and now to seek you out, he has sent us hither. +Would that you would listen with attentive mind; we know that you +delight to act religiously; it is certain, then, without a doubt, +this is not the time for you to enter the forest wilds; a feeling +of deep pity consumes our heart! You, if you be indeed moved by +religion, ought to feel some pity for our case; let your kindly +feelings flow abroad, to comfort us who are worn at heart; let not +the tide of sorrow <span class="pagenum"><a id="page344" name= +"page344"></a>[pg 344]</span> and of sadness completely overwhelm +the outlets of our heart; as the torrents which roll down the +grassy mountains; or the calamities of tempest, fiery heat, and +lightning; for so the grieving heart has these four sorrows, +turmoil and drought, passion and overthrow. But come! return to +your native place, the time will arrive when you can go forth again +as a recluse. But now to disregard your family duties, to turn +against father and mother, how can this be called love and +affection? that love which overshadows and embraces all. Religion +requires not the wild solitudes; you can practise a hermit's duties +in your home; studiously thoughtful, diligent in expedients, this +is to lead a hermit's life in truth. A shaven head, and garments +soiled with dirt—to wander by yourself through desert +wilds—this is but to encourage constant fears, and cannot be +rightly called 'an awakened hermit's life.' Would rather we might +take you by the hand, and sprinkle water on your head, and crown +you with a heavenly diadem, and place you underneath a flowery +canopy, that all eyes might gaze with eagerness upon you; after +this, in truth, we would leave our home with joy. The former kings, +Teou-lau-ma, A-neou-ke-o-sa, Po-ke-lo-po-yau, Pi-po-lo-'anti, +Pi-ti-o-ke-na, Na-lo-sha-po-lo, all these several kings refused not +the royal crown, the jewels, and the ornaments of person; their +hands and feet were adorned with gems, around them were women to +delight and please, these things they cast not from them, for the +sake of escape; you then may also come back home, and undertake +both necessary duties; your mind prepare itself in higher law, +whilst for the sake of earth you wield the sceptre; let there be no +more weeping, but comply with what we say, and let us publish it; +and having published it with your authority, then you may return +and receive respectful welcome. Your father and your mother, for +your sake, in grief shed tears like the great ocean; having no stay +and no dependence now—no source from which the Sâkya +stem may grow—you ought, like the captain of the ship, to +bring it safely across to a place of safety. The royal prince +Pi-san-ma, as also Lo-me-po-ti, they respectfully attended to the +command of their father: you also should do the same! Your loving +mother who cherished you so kindly, with no regard for self, +through years of care, as the cow deprived of her calf, weeps and +laments, forgetting to eat or sleep; you surely ought to return to +her at once, to protect her life from evil; as <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page345" name="page345"></a>[pg 345]</span> a +solitary bird, away from its fellows, or as the lonely elephant, +wandering through the jungle, losing the care of their young, ever +think of protecting and defending them, so you the only child, +young and defenceless, not knowing what you do, bring trouble and +solicitude; cause, then, this sorrow to dissipate itself; as one +who rescues the moon from being devoured, so do you reassure the +men and women of the land, and remove from them the consuming +grief, and suppress the sighs that rise like breath to heaven, +which cause the darkness that obscures their sight; seeking you, as +water, to quench the fire; the fire quenched, their eyes shall +open."</p> +<p>Bodhisattva, hearing of his father the king, experienced the +greatest distress of mind, and sitting still, gave himself to +reflection; and then, in due course, replied respectfully: "I know +indeed that my royal father is possessed of a loving and deeply +considerate mind, but my fear of birth, old age, disease, and +death, has led me to disobey, and disregard his extreme kindness. +Whoever neglects right consideration about his present life, and +because he hopes to escape in the end, therefore disregards all +precautions in the present: on this man comes the inevitable doom +of death. It is the knowledge of this, therefore, that weighs with +me, and after long delay has constrained me to a hermit's life; +hearing of my father, the king, and his grief, my heart is affected +with increased love; but yet, all is like the fancy of a dream, +quickly reverting to nothingness. Know then, without fear of +contradiction, that the nature of existing things is not uniform; +the cause of sorrow is not necessarily the relationship of child +with parent, but that which produces the pain of separation, +results from the influence of delusion; as men going along a road +suddenly meet midway with others, and then a moment more are +separated, each one going his own way, so by the force of +concomitance, relationships are framed, and then, according to each +one's destiny, there is separation; he who thoroughly investigates +this false connection of relationship ought not to cherish in +himself grief; in this world there is rupture of family love, in +another life it is sought for again; brought together for a moment, +again rudely divided, everywhere the fetters of kindred are formed! +Ever being bound, and ever being loosened! who can sufficiently +lament such constant separations; born into the world, and then +gradually changing, constantly separated by death and then born +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page346" name="page346"></a>[pg +346]</span> again. All things which exist in time must perish; the +forests and mountains, all things that exist; in time are born all +sensuous things, so is it both with worldly substance and with +time. Because, then, death pervades all time, get rid of death, and +time will disappear. You desire to make me king, and it is +difficult to resist the offices of love; but as a disease is +difficult to bear without medicine, so neither can I bear this +weight of dignity; in every condition, high or low, we find folly +and ignorance, and men carelessly following the dictates of lustful +passion; at last, we come to live in constant fear; thinking +anxiously of the outward form, the spirit droops; following the +ways of men, the mind resists the right; but, the conduct of the +wise is not so. The sumptuously ornamented and splendid palace I +look upon as filled with fire; the hundred dainty dishes of the +divine kitchen, as mingled with destructive poisons; the lily +growing on the tranquil lake, in its midst harbors countless +noisome insects; and so the towering abode of the rich is the house +of calamity; the wise will not dwell therein. In former times +illustrious kings, seeing the many crimes of their home and +country, affecting as with poison the dwellers therein, in +sorrowful disgust sought comfort in seclusion; we know, therefore, +that the troubles of a royal estate are not to be compared with the +repose of a religious life; far better dwell in the wild mountains, +and eat the herbs like the beasts of the field; therefore I dare +not dwell in the wide palace, for the black snake has its dwelling +there. I reject the kingly estate and the five desires; to escape +such sorrows I wander through the mountain wilds. This, then, would +be the consequence of compliance: that I, who, delighting in +religion, am gradually getting wisdom, should now quit these quiet +woods, and returning home, partake of sensual pleasures, and thus +by night and day increase my store of misery. Surely this is not +what should be done! that the great leader of an illustrious tribe, +having left his home from love of religion, and forever turned his +back upon tribal honor, desiring to confirm his purpose as a +leader—that he—discarding outward form, clad in +religious garb, loving religious meditation, wandering through the +wilds—should now reject his hermit vestment, tread down his +sense of proper shame and give up his aim. This, though I gained +heaven's kingly state, cannot be done! how much less to gain an +earthly, though distinguished, home!</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page347" name="page347"></a>[pg +347]</span> +<p>"For having spewed forth lust, passion, and ignorance, shall I +return to feed upon it? as a man might go back to his vomit! such +misery, how could I bear? Like a man whose house has caught fire, +by some expedient finds a way to escape, will such a man forthwith +go back and enter it again? such conduct would disgrace a man! So +I, beholding the evils, birth, old age, and death, to escape the +misery, have become a hermit; shall I then go back and enter in, +and like a fool dwell in their company? He who enjoys a royal +estate and yet seeks rescue, cannot dwell thus, this is no place +for him; escape is born from quietness and rest; to be a king is to +add distress and poison; to seek for rest and yet aspire to royal +condition are but contradictions; royalty and rescue, motion and +rest, like fire and water, having two principles, cannot be united. +So one resolved to seek escape cannot abide possessed of kingly +dignity! And if you say a man may be a king, and at the same time +prepare deliverance for himself, there is no certainty in this! to +seek certain escape is not to risk it thus; it is through this +uncertain frame of mind that once a man gone forth is led to go +back home again; but I, my mind is not uncertain; severing the +baited hook of relationship, with straightforward purpose, I have +left my home. Then tell me, why should I return again?"</p> +<p>The great minister, inwardly reflecting, thought, "The mind of +the royal prince, my master, is full of wisdom, and agreeable to +virtue, what he says is reasonable and fitly framed." Then he +addressed the prince and said: "According to what your highness +states, he who seeks religion must seek it rightly; but this is not +the fitting time for you; your royal father, old and of declining +years, thinking of you his son, adds grief to grief; you say +indeed, 'I find my joy in rescue. To go back would be apostasy.' +But yet your joy denotes unwisdom, and argues want of deep +reflection; you do not see, because you seek the fruit, how vain to +give up present duty. There are some who say, There is 'hereafter'; +others there are who say, 'Nothing hereafter.' So whilst this +question hangs in suspense, why should a man give up his present +pleasure? If perchance there is 'hereafter,' we ought to bear +patiently what it brings; if you say, 'Hereafter is not,' then +there is not either salvation! If you say, 'Hereafter is,' you +would not say, 'Salvation causes it.' As earth is hard, or fire is +hot, or water moist, or wind is mobile, 'Hereafter' is just so. It +has its own distinct nature. <span class="pagenum"><a id="page348" +name="page348"></a>[pg 348]</span> So when we speak of pure and +impure, each comes from its own distinctive nature. If you should +say, 'By some contrivance this can be removed,' such an opinion +argues folly. Every root within the moral world has its own nature +predetermined; loving remembrance and forgetfulness, these have +their nature fixed and positive; so likewise age, disease, and +death, these sorrows, who can escape by strategy? If you say, +'Water can put out fire,' or 'Fire can cause water to boil and pass +away,' then this proves only that distinctive natures may be +mutually destructive; but nature in harmony produces living things; +so man when first conceived within the womb, his hands, his feet, +and all his separate members, his spirit and his understanding, of +themselves are perfected; but who is he who does it? Who is he that +points the prickly thorn? This too is nature, self-controlling. And +take again the different kinds of beasts, these are what they are, +without desire on their part; and so, again, the heaven-born +beings, whom the self-existent (Isvara) rules, and all the world of +his creation; these have no self-possessed power of expedients; for +if they had a means of causing birth, there would be also means for +controlling death, and then what need of self-contrivance, or +seeking for deliverance? There are those who say, 'I' (the soul) is +the cause of birth, and others who affirm, 'I' (the soul) is the +cause of death. There are some who say, 'Birth comes from +nothingness, and without any plan of ours we perish.' Thus one is +born a fortunate child, removed from poverty, of noble family, or +learned in testamentary lore of Rishis, or called to offer mighty +sacrifices to the gods, born in either state, untouched by poverty, +then their famous name becomes to them 'escape,' their virtues +handed down by name to us; yet if these attained their happiness, +without contrivance of their own, how vain and fruitless is the +toil of those who seek 'escape.' And you, desirous of deliverance, +purpose to practise some high expedient, whilst your royal father +frets and sighs; for a short while you have essayed the road, and +leaving home have wandered through the wilds, to return then would +not now be wrong; of old, King Ambarisha for a long while dwelt in +the grievous forest, leaving his retinue and all his kinsfolk, but +afterwards returned and took the royal office; and so Râma, +son of the king of the country, leaving his country occupied the +mountains, but hearing he was acting contrary to usage, returned +and governed righteously. And so the king of <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page349" name="page349"></a>[pg 349]</span> +Sha-lo-po, called To-lo-ma, father and son, both wandered forth as +hermits, but in the end came back again together; so Po-'sz-tsau +Muni, with On-tai-tieh, in the wild mountains practising as +Brahmakârins, these too returned to their own country. Thus +all these worthies of a by-gone age, famous for their advance in +true religion, came back home and royally governed, as lamps +enlightening the world. Wherefore for you to leave the mountain +wilds, religiously to rule, is not a crime."</p> +<p>The royal prince, listening to the great minister's loving words +without excess of speaking, full of sound argument, clear and +unconfused, with no desire to wrangle after the way of the schools, +with fixed purpose, deliberately speaking, thus answered the great +minister: "The question of being and not being is an idle one, only +adding to the uncertainty of an unstable mind, and to talk of such +matters I have no strong inclination; purity of life, wisdom, the +practice of asceticism, these are matters to which I earnestly +apply myself, the world is full of empty studies which our teachers +in their office skilfully involve; but they are without any true +principle, and I will none of them! The enlightened man +distinguishes truth from falsehood; but how can truth be born from +such as those? For they are like the man born blind, leading the +blind man as a guide; as in the night, as in thick darkness both +wander on, what recovery is there for them? Regarding the question +of the pure and impure, the world involved in self-engendered doubt +cannot perceive the truth; better to walk along the way of purity, +or rather follow the pure law of self-denial, hate the practice of +impurity, reflect on what was said of old, not obstinate in one +belief or one tradition, with sincere mind accepting all true +words, and ever banishing sinful sorrow (i.e. sin, the cause of +grief). Words which exceed sincerity are vainly spoken; the wise +man uses not such words. As to what you say of Râma and the +rest, leaving their home, practising a pure life, and then +returning to their country, and once more mixing themselves in +sensual pleasures, such men as these walk vainly; those who are +wise place no dependence on them. Now, for your sakes, permit me, +briefly, to recount this one true principle of action: The sun, the +moon may fall to earth, Sumeru and all the snowy mountains +overturn, but I will never change my purpose; rather than enter a +forbidden place, let me be cast into the fierce fire; not to +accomplish rightly what I have entered on, and to return +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page350" name="page350"></a>[pg +350]</span> once more to my own land, there to enter the fire of +the five desires, let it befall me as my own oath records." So +spake the prince, his arguments as pointed as the brightness of the +perfect sun; then rising up he passed some distance off.</p> +<p>The Purohita and the minister, their words and discourse +prevailing nothing, conversed together, after which, resolving to +depart on their return, with great respect they quietly inform the +prince, not daring to intrude their presence on him further; and +yet regarding the king's commands, not willing to return with +unbecoming haste. They loitered quietly along the way, and +whomsoever they encountered, selecting those who seemed like wise +men, they interchanged such thoughts as move the learned, hiding +their true position, as men of title; then passing on, they speeded +on their way.</p> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote97" name= +"footnote97"></a><b>Footnote 97:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag97">(return)</a> +<p>That is, raising his nose to look up at the sun.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote98" name= +"footnote98"></a><b>Footnote 98:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag98">(return)</a> +<p>This description of the prince's hair seems to contradict the +head arrangement of the figures of Buddha, unless the curls denote +the shaven head of the recluse.</p> +</blockquote> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page351" name="page351"></a>[pg +351]</span> +<h3><a id="life-iii" name="life-iii">CHAPTER III</a></h3> +<h4><a id="life-iii-bimbisara" name= +"life-iii-bimbisara">Bimbisâra Raga Invites the +Prince</a></h4> +<p>The royal prince, departing from the court-master (i.e. the +Purohita) and the great minister, Saddharma, keeping along the +stream, then crossing the Ganges, he took the road towards the +Vulture Peak,<a id="footnotetag99" name= +"footnotetag99"></a><a href="#footnote99"><sup>99</sup></a> hidden +among the five mountains, standing alone a lovely peak as a roof +amid the others. The trees and shrubs and flowers in bloom, the +flowing fountains, and the cooling rills; all these he gazed +upon—then passing on, he entered the city of the five peaks, +calm and peaceful, as one come down from heaven. The country folk, +seeing the royal prince, his comeliness and his excessive grace, +though young in years, yet glorious in his person, incomparable as +the appearance of a great master, seeing him thus, strange thoughts +affected them, as if they gazed upon the banner of Isvara. They +stayed the foot, who passed athwart the path; those hastened on, +who were behind; those going before, turned back their heads and +gazed with earnest, wistful look. The marks and distinguishing +points of his person, on these they fixed their eyes without +fatigue, and then approached with reverent homage, joining both +their hands in salutation. With all there was a sense of wondrous +joy, as in their several ways they offered what they had, looking +at his noble and illustrious features; bending down their bodies +modestly, correcting every careless or unseemly gesture, thus they +showed their reverence to him silently; those who with anxious +heart, seeking release, were moved by love, with feelings composed, +bowed down the more. Great men and women, in their several +engagements, at the same time arrested on their way, paid to his +person and his presence homage: and following him as they gazed, +they went not back. For the white circle between his eyebrows +adorning his wide and violet-colored eyes, his noble body bright as +gold, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page352" name="page352"></a>[pg +352]</span> his pure and web-joined fingers, all these, though he +were but a hermit, were marks of one who was a holy king; and now +the men and women of Râgagriha, the old and young alike, were +moved, and cried, "This man so noble as a recluse, what common joy +is this for us!" At this time Bimbisâra Râga, placed +upon a high tower of observation, seeing all those men and women, +in different ways exhibiting one mark of surprise, calling before +him some man outside, inquired at once the cause of it; this one +bending his knee below the tower, told fully what he had seen and +heard, "That one of the Sâkya race, renowned of old, a prince +most excellent and wonderful, divinely wise, beyond the way of this +world, a fitting king to rule the eight regions, now without home, +is here, and all men are paying homage to him."</p> +<p>The king on hearing this was deeply moved at heart, and though +his body was restrained, his soul had gone. Calling his ministers +speedily before him, and all his nobles and attendants, he bade +them follow secretly the prince's steps, to observe what charity +was given. So, in obedience to the command, they followed and +watched him steadfastly, as with even gait and unmoved presence he +entered on the town and begged his food, according to the rule of +all great hermits, with joyful mien and undisturbed mind, not +anxious whether much or little alms were given; whatever he +received, costly or poor, he placed within his bowl, then turned +back to the wood, and having eaten it and drunk of the flowing +stream, he joyous sat upon the immaculate mountain. There he beheld +the green trees fringing with their shade the crags, the scented +flowers growing between the intervals, whilst the peacocks and the +other birds, joyously flying, mingled their notes; his sacred +garments bright and lustrous, shone as the sun-lit mulberry leaves; +the messengers beholding his fixed composure, one by one returning, +reported what they had seen; the king hearing it, was moved at +heart, and forthwith ordered his royal equipment to be brought, his +god-like crown and his flower-bespangled robes; then, as the +lion-king, he strode forth, and choosing certain aged persons of +consideration, learned men, able calmly and wisely to discriminate, +he, with them, led the way, followed by a hundred thousand people, +who like a cloud ascended with the king the royal mountain.</p> +<p>And now beholding the dignity of Bodhisattva, every outward +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page353" name="page353"></a>[pg +353]</span> gesture under government, sitting with ease upon the +mountain crag, as the moon shining limpid in the pure heavens, so +was his matchless beauty and purity of grace; then as the +converting presence of religion dwelling within the heart makes it +reverential, so, beholding him, he reverently approached, even as +divine Sâkara comes to the presence of Mo-hi-su-ma, so with +every outward form of courtesy and reverence the king approached +and asked him respectfully of his welfare.</p> +<p>Bodhisattva, answering as he was moved, in his turn made similar +inquiries. Then the king, the questioning over, sat down with +dignity upon a clean-faced rock. And so he steadfastly beheld the +divine appearance of the prince, the sweetness and complacency of +his features revealing what his station was and high estate, his +family renown, received by inheritance; the king, who for a time +restrained his feelings, now wishful to get rid of doubts, inquired +why one descended from the royal family of the sun-brightness +having attended to religious sacrifices through ten thousand +generations, whereof the virtue had descended as his full +inheritance, increasing and accumulating until now, why he so +excellent in wisdom, so young in years, had now become a recluse, +rejecting the position of a Kakravartin's son, begging his food, +despising family fame, his beauteous form, fit for perfumes and +anointings, why clothed with coarse Kasâya garments; the hand +which ought to grasp the reins of empire, instead thereof, taking +its little stint of food; if indeed (the king continued) you were +not of royal descent, and would receive as an offering the transfer +of this land, then would I divide with you my empire; saying this, +he scarcely hoped to excite his feelings, who had left his home and +family, to be a hermit. Then forthwith the king proceeded thus: +"Give just weight I pray you to my truthful words: desire for power +is kin to nobleness, and so is just pride of fame or family or +wealth or personal appearance; no longer having any wish to subdue +the proud, or to bend others down and so get thanks from men, it +were better, then, to give to the strong and warlike martial arms +to wear, for them to follow war and by their power to get +supremacy; but when by one's own power a kingdom falls to hand, who +would not then accept the reins of empire? The wise man knows the +time to take religion, wealth, and worldly pleasure. But if he +obtains not the threefold profit, then in the end he abates his +earnest efforts, and reverencing <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page354" name="page354"></a>[pg 354]</span> religion, he lets go +material wealth. Wealth is the one desire of worldly men; to be +rich and lose all desire for religion, this is to gain but outside +wealth. But to be poor and even thus despise religion, what +pleasure can indulgence give in such a case! But when possessed of +all the three, and when enjoyed with reason and propriety, then +religion, wealth, and pleasure make what is rightly called a great +master; permit not, then, your perfectly endowed body to lay aside +its glory, without reward; the Kakravartin, as a monarch, ruled the +four empires of the world, and shared with Sakra his royal throne, +but was unequal to the task of ruling heaven. But you, with your +redoubtable strength, may well grasp both heavenly and human power; +I do not rely upon my kingly power, in my desire to keep you here +by force, but seeing you change your comeliness of person, and +wearing the hermit's garb, whilst it makes me reverence you for +your virtue, moves me with pity and regret for you as a man; you +now go begging your food, and I offer you the whole land as yours; +whilst you are young and lusty enjoy yourself. During middle life +acquire wealth, and when old and all your abilities ripened, then +is the time for following the rules of religion; when young to +encourage religious fervor, is to destroy the sources of desire; +but when old and the breath is less eager, then is the time to seek +religious solitude; when old we should avoid, as a shame, desire of +wealth, but get honor in the world by a religious life; but when +young, and the heart light and elastic, then is the time to partake +of pleasure, in boon companionship to indulge in gayety, and +partake to the full of mutual intercourse; but as years creep on, +giving up indulgence, to observe the ordinances of religion, to +mortify the five desires, and go on increasing a joyful and +religious heart, is not this the law of the eminent kings of old, +who as a great company paid worship to heaven, and borne on the +dragon's back received the joys of celestial abodes? All these +divine and victorious monarchs, glorious in person, richly adorned, +thus having as a company performed their religious offering, in the +end received the reward of their conduct in heaven." Thus +Bimbasâra Râga used every kind of winning expedient in +argument The royal prince, unmoved and fixed, remained firm as +Mount Sumeru.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page355" name="page355"></a>[pg +355]</span> +<h4><a id="life-iii-reply" name="life-iii-reply">The Reply to +Bimbasâra Râga</a></h4> +<p>Bimbasâra Râga, having, in a decorous manner, and +with soothing speech, made his request, the prince on his part +respectfully replied, in the following words, deep and +heart-stirring: "Illustrious and world-renowned! Your words are not +opposed to reason, descendant of a distinguished family—an +Aryan—amongst men a true friend indeed, righteous and sincere +to the bottom of your heart, it is proper for religion's sake to +speak thus. In all the world, in its different sections, there is +no chartered place for solid virtue, for if virtue flags and folly +rules, what reverence can there be, or honor paid, to a high name +or boast of prowess, inherited from former generations! And so +there may be in the midst of great distress, large goodness, these +are not mutually opposed. This then is so with the world in the +connection of true worth and friendship. A true friend who makes +good use of wealth—is rightly called a fast and firm +treasure, but he who guards and stints the profit he has made, his +wealth will soon be spent and lost; the wealth of a country is no +constant treasure, but that which is given in charity is rich in +returns, therefore charity is a true friend: although it scatters, +yet it brings no repentance; you indeed are known as liberal and +kind, I make no reply in opposition to you, but simply as we meet, +so with agreeable purpose we talk. I fear birth, old age, disease, +and death, and so I seek to find a sure mode of deliverance; I have +put away thought of relatives and family affection, how is it +possible then for me to return to the world and not to fear to +revive the poisonous snake, and after the hail to be burned in the +fierce fire; indeed, I fear the objects of these several desires, +this whirling in the stream of life troubles my heart, these five +desires, the inconstant thieves—stealing from men their +choicest treasures, making them unreal, false, and fickle—are +like the man called up as an apparition; for a time the beholders +are affected by it, but it has no lasting hold upon the mind; so +these five desires are the great obstacles, forever disarranging +the way of peace; if the joys of heaven are not worth having, how +much less the desires common to men, begetting the thirst of wild +love, and then lost in the enjoyment, as the fierce wind fans the +fire, till the fuel be spent and the fire expires; of all +unrighteous things in the world, <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page356" name="page356"></a>[pg 356]</span> there is nothing worse +than the domain of the five desires; for all men maddened by the +power of lust, giving themselves to pleasure, are dead to reason. +The wise man fears these desires, he fears to fall into the way of +unrighteousness; for like a king who rules all within the four +seas, yet still seeks beyond for something more, so is lust; like +the unbounded ocean, it knows not when and where to stop. Mandha, +the Kakravartin, when the heavens rained yellow gold, and he ruled +all within the seas, yet sighed after the domain of the +thirty-three heavens; dividing with Sakra his seat, and so through +the power of this lust he died; Nung-Sha, whilst practising +austerities, got power to rule the thirty-three heavenly abodes, +but from lust he became proud and supercilious; the Rishi whilst +stepping into his chariot, through carelessness in his gait, fell +down into the midst of the serpent pit. Yen-lo, the universal +monarch (Kakravartin), wandering abroad through the Trayastrimsas +heaven, took a heavenly woman (Apsara) for a queen, and unjustly +extorted the gold of a Rishi; the Rishi, in anger, added a charm, +by which the country was ruined, and his life ended. Po-lo, and +Sakra king of Devas, and Nung-Sha returning to Sakra; what +certainty is there, even for the lord of heaven? Neither is any +country safe, though kept by the mighty strength of those dwelling +in it. But when one's clothing consists of grass, the berries one's +food, the rivulets one's drink, with long hair flowing to the +ground, silent as a Muni, seeking nothing, in this way practising +austerities, in the end lust shall be destroyed. Know then, that +the province of the five desires is avowedly an enemy of the +religious man. Even the one-thousand-armed invincible king, strong +in his might, finds it hard to conquer this. The Rishi Râma +perished because of lust; how much more ought I, the son of a +Kshatriya, to restrain lustful desire; but indulge in lust a +little, and like the child it grows apace, the wise man hates it +therefore; who would take poison for food? every sorrow is +increased and cherished by the offices of lust. If there is no +lustful desire, the risings of sorrow are not produced, the wise +man seeing the bitterness of sorrow, stamps out and destroys the +risings of desire; that which the world calls virtue, is but +another form of this baneful law; worldly men enjoying the pleasure +of covetous desire then every form of careless conduct results; +these careless ways producing hurt, at death, the subject of them +reaps perdition. But by the diligent <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page357" name="page357"></a>[pg 357]</span> use of means, and +careful continuance therein, the consequences of negligence are +avoided, we should therefore dread the non-use of means; +recollecting that all things are illusory, the wise man covets them +not; he who desires such things, desires sorrow, and then goes on +again ensnared in love, with no certainty of ultimate freedom; he +advances still and ever adds grief to grief, like one holding a +lighted torch burns his hand, and therefore the wise man enters on +no such things. The foolish man and the one who doubts, still +encouraging the covetous and burning heart, in the end receives +accumulated sorrow, not to be remedied by any prospect of rest; +covetousness and anger are as the serpent's poison; the wise man +casts away the approach of sorrow as a rotten bone; he tastes it +not nor touches it, lest it should corrupt his teeth, that which +the wise man will not take, the king will go through fire and water +to obtain, the wicked sons labor for wealth as for a piece of +putrid flesh, o'er which the hungry flocks of birds contend. So +should we regard riches; the wise man is ill pleased at having +wealth stored up, the mind wild with anxious thoughts, guarding +himself by night and day, as a man who fears some powerful enemy, +like as a man's feelings revolt with disgust at the sights seen +beneath the slaughter post of the East Market; so the high post +which marks the presence of lust, and anger, and ignorance, the +wise man always avoids; as those who enter the mountains or the +seas have much to contend with and little rest, as the fruit which +grows on a high tree, and is grasped at by the covetous at the risk +of life, so is the region of covetous desire, though they see the +difficulty of getting it, yet how painfully do men scheme after +wealth, difficult to acquire, easy to dissipate, as that which is +got in a dream: how can the wise man hoard up such trash! Like +covering over with a false surface a hole full of fire, slipping +through which the body is burnt, so is the fire of covetous desire. +The wise man meddles not with it. Like that Kaurava, or Pih-se-ni +Nanda, or Ni-k'he-lai Danta, as some butcher's appearance, such +also is the appearance of lustful desire; the wise man will have +nothing to do with it; he would rather throw his body into the +water or fire, or cast himself down over a steep precipice. Seeking +to obtain heavenly pleasures, what is this but to remove the place +of sorrow, without profit. Sün-tau, Po-sun-tau, brothers of +Asura, lived together in great affection, but on account of lustful +desire <span class="pagenum"><a id="page358" name="page358"></a>[pg +358]</span> slew one another, and their name perished; all this +then comes from lust; it is this which makes a man vile, and lashes +and goads him with piercing sorrow; lust debases a man, robs him of +all hope, whilst through the long night his body and soul are worn +out; like the stag that covets the power of speech and dies, or the +winged bird that covets sensual pleasure, or the fish that covets +the baited hook, such are the calamities that lust brings; +considering what are the requirements of life, none of these +possess permanency; we eat to appease the pain of hunger, to do +away with thirst we drink, we clothe ourselves to keep out the cold +and wind, we lie down to rest to get sleep, to procure locomotion +we seek a carriage, when we would halt we seek a seat, we wash to +cleanse ourselves from dirt; all these things are done to avoid +inconvenience; we may gather therefore that these five desires have +no permanent character; for as a man suffering from fever seeks and +asks for some cooling medicine, so covetousness seeks for something +to satisfy its longings; foolish men regard these things as +permanent, and as the necessary requirements of life, but, in +sooth, there is no permanent cessation of sorrow; for by coveting +to appease these desires we really increase them; there is no +character of permanency therefore about them. To be filled and +clothed are no lasting pleasures, time passes, and the sorrow +recurs; summer is cool during the moon-tide shining; winter comes +and cold increases; and so through all the eightfold laws of the +world they possess no marks of permanence, sorrow and joy cannot +agree together, as a person slave-governed loses his renown. But +religion causes all things to be of service, as a king reigning in +his sovereignty; so religion controls sorrow, as one fits on a +burden according to power of endurance. Whatever our condition in +the world, still sorrows accumulate around us. Even in the +condition of a king, how does pain multiply, though bound to others +by love, yet this is a cause of grief; without friends and living +alone, what joy can there be in this? Though a man rules over the +four kingdoms, yet only one part can be enjoyed; to be concerned in +ten thousand matters, what profit is there in this, for we only +accumulate anxieties. Put an end to sorrow, then, by appeasing +desire, refrain from busy work, this is rest. A king enjoys his +sensual pleasures; deprived of kingship there is the joy of rest; +in both cases there are pleasures but of different kinds; why then +be a king! Make then no <span class="pagenum"><a id="page359" name= +"page359"></a>[pg 359]</span> plan or crafty expedient, to lead me +back to the five desires; what my heart prays for, is some quiet +place and freedom; but you desire to entangle me in relationships +and duties, and destroy the completion of what I seek; I am in no +fear of family hatred, nor do I seek the joys of heaven; my heart +hankers after no vulgar profit, so I have put away my royal diadem; +and contrary to your way of thinking, I prefer, henceforth, no more +to rule. A hare rescued from the serpent's mouth, would it go back +again to be devoured? holding a torch and burning himself, would +not a man let it go? A man blind and recovering his sight, would he +again seek to be in darkness? the rich, does he sigh for poverty? +the wise, does he long to be ignorant? Has the world such men as +these? then will I again enjoy my country. But I desire to get rid +of birth, old age, and death, with body restrained, to beg my food; +with appetites moderated, to keep in my retreat; and then to avoid +the evil modes of a future life, this is to find peace in two +worlds: now then I pray you pity me not. Pity, rather, those who +rule as kings! their souls ever vacant and athirst, in the present +world no repose, hereafter receiving pain as their meed. You, who +possess a distinguished family name, and the reverence due to a +great master, would generously share your dignity with me, your +worldly pleasures and amusements; I, too, in return, for your sake, +beseech you to share my reward with me; he who indulges in the +threefold kinds of pleasure, this man the world calls 'Lord,' but +this is not according to reason either, because these things cannot +be retained, but where there is no birth, or life, or death, he who +exercises himself in this way, is Lord indeed! You say that while +young a man should be gay, and when old then religious, but I +regard the feebleness of age as bringing with it loss of power to +be religious, unlike the firmness and power of youth, the will +determined and the heart established; but death as a robber with a +drawn sword follows us all, desiring to catch his prey; how then +should we wait for old age, ere we bring our mind to a religious +life? Inconstancy is the great hunter, age his bow, disease his +arrows, in the fields of life and death he hunts for living things +as for the deer; when he can get his opportunity, he takes our +life; who then would wait for age? And what the teachers say and +do, with reference to matters connected with life and death, +exhorting the young, mature, or middle-aged, all to contrive by any +means, to prepare <span class="pagenum"><a id="page360" name= +"page360"></a>[pg 360]</span> vast meetings for sacrifices, this +they do indeed of their own ignorance; better far to reverence the +true law, and put an end to sacrifice to appease the gods! +Destroying life to gain religious merit, what love can such a man +possess? even if the reward of such sacrifices were lasting, even +for this, slaughter would be unseemly; how much more, when the +reward is transient! Shall we, in search of this, slay that which +lives, in worship? this is like those who practise wisdom, and the +way of religious abstraction, but neglect the rules of moral +conduct. It ill behooves us then to follow with the world, and +attend these sacrificial assemblies, and seek some present good in +killing that which lives; the wise avoid destroying life! Much less +do they engage in general sacrifices, for the purpose of gaining +future reward! the fruit promised in the three worlds is none of +mine to choose for happiness! All these are governed by transient, +fickle laws, like the wind, or the drop that is blown from the +grass; such things therefore I put away from me, and I seek for +true escape. I hear there is one O-lo-lam who eloquently discourses +on the way of escape; I must go to the place where he dwells, that +great Rishi and hermit. But in truth, sorrow must be banished; I +regret indeed leaving you; may your country have repose and quiet! +safely defended by you as by the divine Sakra râga! May +wisdom be shed abroad as light upon your empire, like the +brightness of the meridian sun! may you be exceedingly victorious +as lord of the great earth, with a perfect heart ruling over its +destiny! May you direct and defend its sons! ruling your empire in +righteousness! Water and snow and fire are opposed to one another, +but the fire by its influence causes vapor, the vapor causes the +floating clouds, the floating clouds drop down rain; there are +birds in space, who drink the rain, with rainless bodies.<a id= +"footnotetag100" name="footnotetag100"></a><a href= +"#footnote100"><sup>100</sup></a> Slaughter and peaceful homes are +enemies! those who would have peace hate slaughter, and if those +who slaughter are so hateful, then put an end, O king, to those who +practise it! And bid these find release, as those who drink and yet +are parched with thirst."</p> +<p>Then the king, clasping together his hands, with greatest +reverence and joyful heart, said, "That which you now seek, may you +obtain quickly the fruit thereof; having obtained the perfect +fruit, return I pray and graciously receive me!"</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page361" name="page361"></a>[pg +361]</span> +<p>Bodhisattva, his heart inwardly acquiescing, purposing to +accomplish his prayer, departing, pursued his road, going to the +place where Ârâda Kâlâma dwelt; whilst the +king with all his retinue, their hands clasped, themselves followed +a little space, then with thoughtful and mindful heart, returned +once more to Râgagriha!</p> +<h4><a id="life-iii-visit" name="life-iii-visit">Visit to +Ârâda Udrarâma</a></h4> +<p>The child of the glorious sun of the Ikshvâku race, going +to that quiet peaceful grove, reverently stood before the Muni, the +great Rishi Ârâda Râma; the dark-clad followers +of the Kalam (Sanghârâma) seeing afar-off Bodhisattva +approaching, with loud voice raised a joyful chant, and with +suppressed breath muttered "Welcome," as with clasped hands they +reverenced him. Approaching one another, they made mutual +inquiries; and this being done, with the usual apologies, according +to their precedence in age they sat down; the Brahmakârins +observing the prince, beheld his personal beauty and carefully +considered his appearance; respectfully they satisfied themselves +of his high qualities, like those who, thirsty, drink the "pure +dew." Then with raised hands they addressed the prince: "Have you +been long an ascetic, divided from your family and broken from the +bonds of love, like the elephant who has cast off restraint? Full +of wisdom, completely enlightened, you seem well able to escape the +poisonous fruit of this world. In old time the monarch Ming Shing +gave up his kingly estate to his son, as a man who has carried a +flowery wreath, when withered casts it away: but such is not your +case, full of youthful vigor, and yet not enamoured with the +condition of a holy king; we see that your will is strong and +fixed, capable of becoming a vessel of the true law, able to embark +in the boat of wisdom, and to cross over the sea of life and death. +The common class, enticed to come to learn, their talents first are +tested, then they are taught; but as I understand your case, your +mind is already fixed and your will firm; and now you have +undertaken the purpose of learning, I am persuaded you will not in +the end shrink from it."</p> +<p>The prince hearing this exhortation, with gladness made reply: +"You have with equal intention, illustrious! cautioned me with +impartial mind; with humble heart I accept the advice, <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page362" name="page362"></a>[pg 362]</span> and +pray that it may be so with me as you anticipate; that I may in my +night-journey obtain a torch, to guide me safely through +treacherous places; a handy boat to cross over the sea;—may +it be so even now with me! But as I am somewhat in doubt and +anxious to learn, I will venture to make known my doubts, and ask, +with respect to old age, disease, and death, how are these things +to be escaped?"</p> +<p>At this time O-lo-lam hearing the question asked by the prince, +briefly from the various Sutras and Sâstras quoted passages +in explanation of a way of deliverance. "But thou," he said, +"illustrious youth! so highly gifted, and eminent among the wise! +hear what I have to say, as I discourse upon the mode of ending +birth and death; nature, and change, birth, old age, and death, +these five attributes belong to all; nature is (in itself) pure and +without fault; the involution of this with the five elements, +causes an awakening and power of perception, which, according to +its exercise, is the cause of change; form, sound, order, taste, +touch, these are called the five objects of sense; as the hand and +foot are called the two ways, so these are called the roots of +action (the five skandhas); the eye, the ear, the nose, the tongue, +the body, these are named the roots (instruments) of understanding. +The root of mind (manas) is twofold, being both material, and also +intelligent; nature by its involutions is the cause, the knower of +the cause is I (the soul); Kapila the Rishi and his numerous +followers, on this deep principle of soul, practising wisdom +(Buddhi), found deliverance. Kapila and now Vâkaspati, by the +power of Buddhi perceiving the character of birth, old age, and +death, declare that on this is founded true philosophy; whilst all +opposed to this, they say, is false. Ignorance and passion, causing +constant transmigration, abiding in the midst of these (they say) +is the lot of all that lives. Doubting the truth of soul is called +excessive doubt, and without distinguishing aright, there can be no +method of escape. Deep speculation as to the limits of perception +is but to involve the soul; thus unbelief leads to confusion, and +ends in differences of thought and conduct. Again, the various +speculations on soul, such as 'I say,' 'I know and perceive,' 'I +come' and 'I go,' or 'I remain fixed,' these are called the +intricacies of soul. And then the fancies raised in different +natures, some saying 'this is so,' others denying it, and this +condition of uncertainty is called the state of darkness. Then +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page363" name="page363"></a>[pg +363]</span> there are those who say that outward things are one +with soul, who say that the objective is the same as mind, who +confuse intelligence with instruments, who say that number is the +soul. Thus not distinguishing aright, these are called excessive +quibbles, marks of folly, nature changes, and so on. To worship and +recite religious books, to slaughter living things in sacrifice, to +render pure by fire and water, and thus awake the thought of final +rescue, all these ways of thinking are called without right +expedient, the result of ignorance and doubt, by means of word or +thought or deed; involving outward relationships, this is called +depending on means; making the material world the ground of soul, +this is called depending on the senses. By these eight sorts of +speculation are we involved in birth and death. The foolish masters +of the world make their classifications in these five ways: +Darkness, folly, and great folly, angry passion, with timid fear. +Indolent coldness is called darkness; birth and death are called +folly; lustful desire is great folly; because of great men +subjected to error, cherishing angry feelings, passion results; +trepidation of the heart is called fear. Thus these foolish men +dilate upon the five desires; but the root of the great sorrow of +birth and death, the life destined to be spent in the five ways, +the cause of the whirl of life, I clearly perceive, is to be placed +in the existence of 'I'; because of the influence of this cause, +result the consequences of repeated birth and death; this cause is +without any nature of its own, and its fruits have no nature; +rightly considering what has been said, there are four matters +which have to do with escape, kindling wisdom—opposed to dark +ignorance—making manifest—opposed to concealment and +obscurity—if these four matters be understood, then we may +escape birth, old age, and death. Birth, old age, and death being +over, then we attain a final place; the Brahmans all depending on +this principle, practising themselves in a pure life, have also +largely dilated on it, for the good of the world."</p> +<p>The prince hearing these words again inquired of +Ârâda: "Tell me what are the expedients you name, and +what is the final place to which they lead, and what is the +character of that pure Brahman life; and again what are the stated +periods during which such life must be practised, and during which +such life is lawful; all these are principles to be inquired into; +and on them I pray you discourse for my sake."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page364" name="page364"></a>[pg +364]</span> +<p>Then that Ârâda, according to the Sutras and +Sâstras, spoke: "Yourself using wisdom is the expedient; but +I will further dilate on this a little; first by removing from the +crowd and leading a hermit's life, depending entirely on alms for +food, extensively practising rules of decorum, religiously adhering +to right rules of conduct; desiring little and knowing when to +abstain, receiving whatever is given in food, whether pleasant or +otherwise, delighting to practise a quiet life, diligently studying +all the Sûtras and Sâstras; observing the character of +covetous longing and fear, without remnant of desire to live in +purity, to govern well the organs of life, the mind quieted and +silently at rest; removing desire, and hating vice, all the sorrows +of life put away, then there is happiness; and we obtain the +enjoyment of the first dhyâna.<a id="footnotetag101" name= +"footnotetag101"></a><a href="#footnote101"><sup>101</sup></a> +Having obtained this first dhyâna, then with the illumination +thus obtained, by inward meditation is born reliance on thought +alone, and the entanglements of folly are put away; the mind +depending on this, then after death, born in the Brahma heavens, +the enlightened are able to know themselves; by the use of means is +produced further inward illumination; diligently persevering, +seeking higher advance, accomplishing the second dhyâna, +tasting of that great joy, we are born in the Kwong-yin heaven; +then by the use of means putting away this delight, practising the +third dhyâna, resting in such delight and wishing no further +excellence, there is a birth in the Subhakritsna heaven; leaving +the thought of such delight, straightway we reach the fourth +dhyâna, all joys and sorrows done away, the thought of escape +produced; we dwell in this fourth dhyâna, and are born in the +Vrihat-phala heaven; because of its long enduring years, it is thus +called Vrihat-phala (extensive-fruit); whilst in that state of +abstraction rising higher, perceiving there is a place beyond any +bodily condition, adding still and persevering further in +practising wisdom, rejecting this fourth dhyâna, firmly +resolved to persevere in the search, still contriving to put away +every desire after form, gradually from every pore of the body +there is perceived a feeling of empty release, and in the end this +extends to every solid part, so that the whole is perfected in an +apprehension of emptiness. In brief, perceiving no limits to this +emptiness, there is opened to the view boundless knowledge. Endowed +with inward <span class="pagenum"><a id="page365" name= +"page365"></a>[pg 365]</span> rest and peace, the idea of 'I' +departs, and the object of 'I'—clearly discriminating the +non-existence of matter, this is the condition of immaterial life. +As the Muñga (grass) when freed from its horny case, or as +the wild bird which escapes from its prison trap, so, getting away +from all material limitations, we thus find perfect release. Thus +ascending above the Brahmans, deprived of every vestige of bodily +existence, we still endure. Endued with wisdom! let it be known +this is real and true deliverance. You ask what are the expedients +for obtaining this escape; even as I have before detailed, those +who have deep faith will learn. The Rishis Gaigîshavya, +Ganaka, Vriddha Parâsara, and other searchers after truth, +all by the way I have explained, have reached true +deliverance."</p> +<p>The prince hearing these words, deeply pondering on the outline +of these principles, and reaching back to the influences produced +by our former lives, again asked with further words: "I have heard +your very excellent system of wisdom, the principles very subtle +and deep-reaching, from which I learn that because of not 'letting +go' (by knowledge as a cause), we do not reach the end of the +religious life; but by understanding nature in its involutions, +then, you say, we obtain deliverance; I perceive this law of birth +has also concealed in it another law as a germ; you say that the +'I' (i.e. the soul of Kapila) being rendered pure, forthwith there +is true deliverance; but if we encounter a union of cause and +effect, then there is a return to the trammels of birth; just as +the germ in the seed, when earth, fire, water, and wind seem to +have destroyed in it the principle of life, meeting with favorable +concomitant circumstances will yet revive, without any evident +cause, but because of desire; so those who have gained this +supposed release, likewise keeping the idea of 'I' and living +things, have in fact gained no final deliverance; in every +condition, letting go the three classes and again reaching the +three excellent qualities, because of the eternal existence of +soul, by the subtle influences of that (influences resulting from +the past), the heart lets go the idea of expedients, and obtains an +almost endless duration of years. This, you say, is true release; +you say 'letting go the ground on which the idea of soul rests,' +that this frees us from 'limited existence,' and that the mass of +people have not yet removed the idea of soul, and are therefore +still in bondage. But what is this letting go gunas (cords +fettering the soul); if one is fettered <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page366" name="page366"></a>[pg 366]</span> by +these gunas, how can there be release? For gunî (the object) +and guna (the quality) in idea are different, but in substance one; +if you say that you can remove the properties of a thing and leave +the thing by arguing it to the end, this is not so. If you remove +heat from fire, then there is no such thing as fire, or if you +remove surface from body, what body can remain? Thus guna is as it +were surface, remove this and there can be no gunî. So that +this deliverance, spoken of before, must leave a body yet in bonds. +Again, you say that by clear knowledge you get rid of body; there +is then such a thing as knowledge or the contrary; if you affirm +the existence of clear knowledge, then there should be someone who +possesses it (i.e. possesses this knowledge); if there be a +possesor, how can there be deliverance from this personal 'I'? If +you say there is no 'knower,' then who is it that is spoken of as +'knowing'? If there is knowledge and no person, then the subject of +knowledge may be a stone or a log; moreover, to have clear +knowledge of these minute causes of contamination and reject them +thoroughly, these being so rejected, there must be an end, then, of +the 'doer.' What Ârâda has declared cannot satisfy my +heart. This clear knowledge is not universal wisdom, I must go on +and seek a better explanation."</p> +<p>Going on then to the place of Udra Rishi, he also expatiated on +this question of "I." But although he refined the matter to the +utmost, laying down a term of "thought" and "no thought" taking the +position of removing "thought" and "no thought," yet even so he +came not out of the mire; for supposing creatures attained that +state, still (he said) there is a possibility of returning to the +coil, whilst Bodhisattva sought a method of getting out of it. So +once more leaving Udra Rishi, he went on in search of a better +system, and came at last to Mount Kia-ke (the forest of +mortification), where was a town called Pain-suffering forest. Here +the five Bhikshus had gone before. When then he beheld these five, +virtuously keeping in check their senses, holding to the rules of +moral conduct, practising mortification, dwelling in that grove of +mortification; occupying a spot beside the Nairañgana river, +perfectly composed and filled with contentment, Bodhisattva +forthwith by them selecting one spot, quietly gave himself to +thought. The five Bhikshus knowing him with earnest heart to be +seeking escape, offered him their services with devotion, as if +reverencing Isvara Deva.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page367" name="page367"></a>[pg +367]</span> +<p>Having finished their attentions and dutiful services, then +going on he took his seat not far off, as one about to enter on a +course of religious practice, composing all his members as he +desired. Bodhisattva diligently applied himself to "means," as one +about to cross over old age, disease, and death. With full purpose +of heart he set himself to endure mortification, to restrain every +bodily passion, and give up thought about sustenance, with purity +of heart to observe the fast-rules, which no worldly man can bear; +silent and still, lost in thoughtful meditation; and so for six +years he continued, each day eating one hemp grain, his bodily form +shrunken and attenuated, seeking how to cross the sea of birth and +death, exercising himself still deeper and advancing further; +making his way perfect by the disentanglements of true wisdom, not +eating, and yet not looking to that as a cause of emancipation, his +four members although exceedingly weak, his heart of wisdom +increasing yet more and more in light; his spirit free, his body +light and refined, his name spreading far and wide, as "highly +gifted," even as the moon when first produced, or as the Kumuda +flower spreading out its sweetness. Everywhere through the country +his excellent fame extended; the daughters of the lord of the place +both coming to see him, his mortified body like a withered branch, +just completing the period of six years, fearing the sorrow of +birth and death, seeking earnestly the method of true wisdom, he +came to the conviction that these were not the means to extinguish +desire and produce ecstatic contemplation; nor yet the means by +which in former time, seated underneath the Gambu tree, he arrived +at that miraculous condition, that surely was the proper way, he +thought, the way opposed to this of "withered body."</p> +<p>"I should therefore rather seek strength of body, by drink and +food refresh my members, and with contentment cause my mind to +rest. My mind at rest, I shall enjoy silent composure; composure is +the trap for getting ecstasy (dhyâna); while in ecstasy +perceiving the true law, then the force of truth obtained, +disentanglement will follow. And thus composed, enjoying perfect +quiet, old age and death are put away; and then defilement is +escaped by this first means; thus then by equal steps the excellent +law results from life restored by food and drink."</p> +<p>Having carefully considered this principle, bathing in the +Nairañgana river, he desired afterwards to leave the water, +but <span class="pagenum"><a id="page368" name="page368"></a>[pg +368]</span> owing to extreme exhaustion was unable to rise; then a +heavenly spirit holding out a branch, taking this in his hand he +raised himself and came forth. At this time on the opposite side of +the grove there was a certain chief herdsman, whose eldest daughter +was called Nandâ. One of the Suddhavâsa Devas +addressing her said, "Bodhisattva dwells in the grove, go you then, +and present to him a religious offering."</p> +<p>Nandâ Balada (or Balaga or Baladhya) with joy came to the +spot, above her hands (i.e. on her wrists) white chalcedony +bracelets, her clothing of a gray color; the gray and the white +together contrasted in the light, as the colors of the rounded +river bubble; with simple heart and quickened step she came, and, +bowing down at Bodhisattva's feet, she reverently offered him +perfumed rice milk, begging him of his condescension to accept it. +Bodhisattva taking it, partook of it at once, whilst she received, +even then, the fruits of her religious act. Having eaten it, all +his members refreshed, he became capable of receiving Bodhi; his +body and limbs glistening with renewed strength, and his energies +swelling higher still, as the hundred streams swell the sea, or the +first quartered moon daily increases in brightness. The five +Bhikshus having witnessed this, perturbed, were filled with +suspicious reflection; they supposed that his religious zeal was +flagging, and that he was leaving and looking for a better abode, +as though he had obtained deliverance, the five elements entirely +removed.</p> +<p>Bodhisattva wandered on alone, directing his course to that +"fortunate" tree,<a id="footnotetag102" name= +"footnotetag102"></a><a href="#footnote102"><sup>102</sup></a> +beneath whose shade he might accomplish his search after complete +enlightenment. Over the ground wide and level, producing soft and +pliant grass, easily he advanced with lion step, pace by pace, +whilst the earth shook withal; and as it shook, Kâla +nâga aroused, was filled with joy, as his eyes were opened to +the light. Forthwith he exclaimed: "When formerly I saw the Buddhas +of old, there was the sign of an earthquake as now; the virtues of +a Muni are so great in majesty, that the great earth cannot endure +them; as step by step his foot treads upon the ground, so is there +heard the sound of the rumbling earth-shaking; a brilliant light +now illumes the world, as the shining of the rising sun; five +hundred bluish-tinted birds I see, wheeling round to the right, +flying through space; a gentle, soft, and cooling breeze blows +around <span class="pagenum"><a id="page369" name="page369"></a>[pg +369]</span> in an agreeable way; all these auspicious signs are the +same as those of former Buddhas; wherefore I know that this +Bodhisattva will certainly arrive at perfect wisdom. And now, +behold! from yonder man, a grass cutter, he obtains some pure and +pliant grass, which spreading out beneath the tree, with upright +body, there he takes his seat; his feet placed under him, not +carelessly arranged, moving to and fro, but like the firmly fixed +and compact body of a Nâga; nor shall he rise again from off +his seat till he has completed his undertaking." And so he (the +Nâga) uttered these words by way of confirmation. The +heavenly Nâgas, filled with joy, caused a cool refreshing +breeze to rise; the trees and grass were yet unmoved by it, and all +the beasts, quiet and silent, looked on in wonderment.</p> +<p>These are the signs that Bodhisattva will certainly attain +enlightenment.</p> +<h4><a id="life-iii-defeats" name="life-iii-defeats">Defeats +Mara</a></h4> +<p>The great Rishi, of the royal tribe of Rishis, beneath the Bodhi +tree firmly established, resolved by oath to perfect the way of +complete deliverance.</p> +<p>The spirits, Nâgas, and the heavenly multitude, all were +filled with joy; but Mâra Devarâga, enemy of religion, +alone was grieved, and rejoiced not; lord of the five desires, +skilled in all the arts of warfare, the foe of those who seek +deliverance, therefore his name is rightly given Pisuna. Now this +Mâra râga had three daughters, mincingly beautiful and +of a pleasant countenance, in every way fit by artful ways to +inflame a man with love, highest in this respect among the Devis. +The first was named Yuh-yen, the second Neng-yueh-gin, the third +Ngai-loh. These three, at this time, advanced together, and +addressed their father Pisuna and said: "May we not know the +trouble that afflicts you?"</p> +<p>The father, calming his feelings, addressed his daughters thus: +"The world has now a great Muni, he has taken a strong oath as a +helmet, he holds a mighty bow in his hand, wisdom is the diamond +shaft he uses. His object is to get the mastery in the world, to +ruin and destroy my territory; I am myself unequal to him, for all +men will believe in him, and all find refuge in the way of his +salvation; then will my land be desert and unoccupied. But as when +a man transgresses the laws of morality, <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page370" name="page370"></a>[pg 370]</span> his +body is then empty. So now, the eye of wisdom, not yet opened in +this man, whilst my empire still has peace, I will go and overturn +his purpose, and break down and divide the ridge-pole of his +house."</p> +<p>Seizing then his bow and his five arrows, with all his retinue +of male and female attendants, he went to that grove of "fortunate +rest" with the vow that the world should not find peace. Then +seeing the Muni, quiet and still, preparing to cross the sea of the +three worlds, in his left hand grasping his bow, with his right +hand pointing his arrow, he addressed Bodhisattva and said: +"Kshatriya! rise up quickly! for you may well fear! your death is +at hand; you may practise your own religious system, but let go +this effort after the law of deliverance for others; wage warfare +in the field of charity as a cause of merit, appease the tumultuous +world, and so in the end reach your reward in heaven. This is a way +renowned and well established, in which former saints have walked, +Rishis and kings and men of eminence; but this system of penury and +alms-begging is unworthy of you. Now then if you rise not, you had +best consider with yourself, that if you give not up your vow, and +tempt me to let fly an arrow, how that Aila, grandchild of Soma, by +one of these arrows just touched, as by a fanning of the wind, lost +his reason and became a madman. And how the Rishi Vimala, +practising austerities, hearing the sound of one of these darts, +his heart possessed by great fear, bewildered and darkened he lost +his true nature; how much less can you—a late-born +one—hope to escape this dart of mine. Quickly arise then! if +hardly you may get away! This arrow full of rankling poison, +fearfully insidious where it strikes a foe! See now! with all my +force, I point it! and are you resting in the face of such +calamity? How is it that you fear not this dread arrow? say! why do +you not tremble?" Mâra uttered such fear-inspiring threats, +bent on overawing Bodhisattva. But Bodhisattva's heart remained +unmoved; no doubt, no fear was present. Then Mâra instantly +discharged his arrow, whilst the three women came in front. +Bodhisattva regarded not the arrow, nor considered aught the women +three. Mâra râga now was troubled much with doubt, and +muttered thus 'twixt heart and mouth: "Long since the maiden of the +snowy mountains, shooting at Mahesvara, constrained him to change +his mind; and yet Bodhisattva is unmoved, and heeds not even this +dart of mine, nor the three <span class="pagenum"><a id="page371" +name="page371"></a>[pg 371]</span> heavenly women! nought prevails +to move his heart or raise one spark of love within him. Now must I +assemble my army-host, and press him sore by force;" having thought +thus awhile, Mâra's army suddenly assembled round. Each +assumed his own peculiar form; some were holding spears, others +grasping swords, others snatching up trees, others wielding diamond +maces; armed with every sort of weapon. Some had heads like hogs, +others like fishes, others like asses, others like horses; some +with forms like snakes or like the ox or savage tiger; lion-headed, +dragon-headed, and like every other kind of beast. Some had many +heads on one body-trunk, with faces having but a single eye, and +then again with many eyes; some with great-bellied mighty bodies. +And others thin and skinny, belly-less; others long-legged, +mighty-kneed; others big-shanked and fat-calved; some with long and +claw-like nails. Some were headless, breastless, faceless; some +with two feet and many bodies; some with big faces looking every +way; some pale and ashy-colored; others colored like the bright +star rising, others steaming fiery vapor, some with ears like +elephants, with humps like mountains, some with naked forms covered +with hair. Some with leather skins for clothing, their faces +parti-colored, crimson, and white; some with tiger skins as robes, +some with snake skins over them, some with tinkling bells around +their waists, others with twisted screw-like hair, others with hair +dishevelled covering the body, some breath-suckers, others +body-snatchers, some dancing and shrieking awhile, some jumping +onwards with their feet together, some striking one another as they +went. Others waving in the air, others flying and leaping between +the trees, others howling, or hooting, or screaming, or whining, +with their evil noises shaking the great earth; thus this wicked +goblin troop encircled on its four sides the Bodhi tree; some bent +on tearing his body to pieces, others on devouring it whole; from +the four sides flames belched forth, and fiery steam ascended up to +heaven; tempestuous winds arose on every side; the mountain forests +shook and quaked. Wind, fire, and steam, with dust combined, +produced a pitchy darkness, rendering all invisible. And now the +Devas well affected to the law, and all the Nâgas and the +spirits, all incensed at this host of Mâra, with anger fired, +wept tears of blood; the great company of Suddhavâsa gods, +beholding Mâra tempting Bodhisattva, free from low-feeling, +with hearts undisturbed by passion, <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page372" name="page372"></a>[pg 372]</span> moved by pity towards +him and commiseration, came in a body to behold the Bodhisattva, so +calmly seated and so undisturbed, surrounded with an uncounted host +of devils, shaking the heaven and earth with sounds ill-omened. +Bodhisattva silent and quiet in the midst remained, his countenance +as bright as heretofore, unchanged; like the great lion-king placed +amongst all the beasts howling and growling round him so he sat, a +sight unseen before, so strange and wonderful! The host of +Mâra hastening, as arranged, each one exerting his utmost +force, taking each other's place in turns, threatening every moment +to destroy him. Fiercely staring, grinning with their teeth, flying +tumultuously, bounding here and there; but Bodhisattva, silently +beholding them, watched them as one would watch the games of +children. And now the demon host waxed fiercer and more angry, and +added force to force, in further conflict; grasping at stones they +could not lift, or lifting them, they could not let them go. Their +flying spears, lances, and javelins, stuck fast in space, refusing +to descend; the angry thunderdrops and mighty hail, with these, +were changed into five-colored lotus flowers, whilst the foul +poison of the dragon snakes was turned to spicy-breathing air. Thus +all these countless sorts of creatures, wishing to destroy the +Bodhisattva, unable to remove him from the spot, were with their +own weapons wounded. Now Mâra had an aunt-attendant whose +name was Ma-kia-ka-li, who held a skull-dish in her hands, and +stood in front of Bodhisattva, and with every kind of winsome +gesture, tempted to lust the Bodhisattva. So all these followers of +Mâra, possessed of every demon-body form, united in +discordant uproar, hoping to terrify Bodhisattva; but not a hair of +his was moved, and Mâra's host was filled with sorrow. Then +in the air the crowd of angels, their forms invisible, raised their +voices, saying: "Behold the great Muni; his mind unmoved by any +feeling of resentment, whilst all that wicked Mâra race, +besotted, are vainly bent on his destruction; let go your foul and +murderous thoughts against that silent Muni, calmly seated! You +cannot with a breath move the Sumeru mountain. Fire may freeze, +water may burn, the roughened earth may grow soft and pliant, but +ye cannot hurt the Bodhisattva! Through ages past disciplined by +suffering. Bodhisattva rightly trained in thought, ever advancing +in the use of 'means,' pure and illustrious for wisdom, loving and +merciful to all. These four <span class="pagenum"><a id="page373" +name="page373"></a>[pg 373]</span> conspicuous virtues cannot with +him be rent asunder, so as to make it hard or doubtful whether he +gain the highest wisdom. For as the thousand rays of yonder sun +must drown the darkness of the world, or as the boring wood must +kindle fire, or as the earth deep-dug gives water, so he who +perseveres in the 'right means,' by seeking thus, will find. The +world without instruction, poisoned by lust and hate and ignorance; +because he pitied 'flesh,' so circumstanced, he sought on their +account the joy of wisdom. Why then would you molest and hinder one +who seeks to banish sorrow from the world? The ignorance that +everywhere prevails is due to false pernicious books, and therefore +Bodhisattva, walking uprightly, would lead and draw men after him. +To obscure and blind the great world-leader, this undertaking is +impossible, for 'tis as though in the Great Desert a man would +purposely mislead the merchant-guide. So 'all flesh' having fallen +into darkness, ignorant of where they are going, for their sakes he +would light the lamp of wisdom; say then! why would you extinguish +it? All flesh engulfed and overwhelmed in the great sea of birth +and death, this one prepares the boat of wisdom; say then! why +destroy and sink it? Patience is the sprouting of religion, +firmness its root, good conduct is the flower, the enlightened +heart the boughs and branches. Wisdom supreme the entire tree, the +'transcendent law' the fruit, its shade protects all living things; +say then! why would you cut it down? Lust, hate, and ignorance, are +the rack and bolt, the yoke placed on the shoulder of the world; +through ages long he has practised austerities to rescue men from +these their fetters. He now shall certainly attain his end, sitting +on this right-established throne; as all the previous Buddhas, firm +and compact like a diamond. Though all the earth were moved and +shaken, yet would this place be fixed and stable; him, thus fixed +and well assured, think not that you can overturn. Bring down and +moderate your mind's desire, banish these high and envious +thoughts, prepare yourselves for right reflection, be patient in +your services."</p> +<p>Mâra hearing these sounds in space, and seeing Bodhisattva +still unmoved, filled with fear and banishing his high and +supercilious thoughts, again took up his way to heaven above. +Whilst all his host were scattered, o'erwhelmed with grief and +disappointment, fallen from their high estate, bereft of their +warrior pride, their warlike weapons and accoutrements thrown +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page374" name="page374"></a>[pg +374]</span> heedlessly and cast away 'mid woods and deserts. Like +as when some cruel chieftain slain, the hateful band is all +dispersed and scattered, so the host of Mara disconcerted, fled +away. The mind of Bodhisattva now reposed peaceful and quiet. The +morning sunbeams brighten with the dawn, the dust-like mist +dispersing, disappears; the moon and stars pale their faint light, +the barriers of the night are all removed, whilst from above a fall +of heavenly flowers pay their sweet tribute to the Bodhisattva.</p> +<h4><a id="life-iii-abhisambodhi" name= +"life-iii-abhisambodhi">O-wei-san-pou-ti (Abhisambodhi)</a></h4> +<p>Bodhisattva having subdued Mâra, his firmly fixed mind at +rest, thoroughly exhausting the first principle of truth, he +entered into deep and subtle contemplation. Every kind of +Sâmadhi in order passed before his eyes. During the first +watch he entered on "right perception" and in recollection all +former births passed before his eyes. Born in such a place, of such +a name, and downwards to his present birth, so through hundreds, +thousands, myriads, all his births and deaths he knew. Countless in +number were they, of every kind and sort; then knowing, too, his +family relationships, great pity rose within his heart.</p> +<p>This sense of deep compassion passed, he once again considered +"all that lives," and how they moved within the six portions of +life's revolution, no final term to birth and death; hollow all, +and false and transient as the plantain tree, or as a dream, or +phantasy. Then in the middle watch of night, he reached to +knowledge of the pure Devas, and beheld before him every creature, +as one sees images upon a mirror; all creatures born and born again +to die, noble and mean, the poor and rich, reaping the fruit of +right or evil doing, and sharing happiness or misery in +consequence. First he considered and distinguished evil-doers' +works, that such must ever reap an evil birth. Then he considered +those who practise righteous deeds, that these must gain a place +with men or gods; but those again born in the nether hells, he saw +participating in every kind of misery; swallowing molten brass, the +iron skewers piercing their bodies, confined within the boiling +caldron, driven and made to enter the fiery oven dwelling, food for +hungry, long-toothed dogs, or preyed upon by brain-devouring birds; +dismayed by fire, then they wander through thick woods, with +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page375" name="page375"></a>[pg +375]</span> leaves like razors gashing their limbs, while knives +divide their writhing bodies, or hatchets lop their members, bit by +bit; drinking the bitterest poisons, their fate yet holds them back +from death. Thus those who found their joy in evil deeds, he saw +receiving now their direst sorrow; a momentary taste of pleasure +here, a dreary length of suffering there. A laugh or joke because +of others' pain, a crying out and weeping now at punishment +received. Surely if living creatures saw the consequence of all +their evil deeds, self-visited, with hatred would they turn and +leave them, fearing the ruin following—the blood and death. +He saw, moreover, all the fruits of birth as beasts, each deed +entailing its own return; and when death ensues born in some other +form (beast shape), different in kind according to the deeds. Some +doomed to die for the sake of skin or flesh, some for their horns +or hair or bones or wings; others torn or killed in mutual +conflict, friend or relative before, contending thus; some burdened +with loads or dragging heavy weights, others pierced and urged on +by pricking goads. Blood flowing down their tortured forms, parched +and hungry—no relief afforded; then, turning round, he saw +one with the other struggling, possessed of no independent +strength. Flying through air or sunk in deep water, yet no place as +a refuge left from death. He saw, moreover, those, misers and +covetous, born now as hungry ghosts; vast bodies like the towering +mountain, with mouths as small as any needle-tube, hungry and +thirsty, nought but fire and poisoned flame to enwrap their burning +forms within. Covetous, they would not give to those who sought, or +duped the man who gave in charity, now born among the famished +ghosts, they seek for food, but cannot find withal. The refuse of +the unclean man they fain would eat, but this is changed and lost +before it can be eaten. Oh! if a man believes that covetousness is +thus repaid, as in their case, would he not give his very flesh in +charity even as Sivi râga did! Then, once more he saw, those +reborn as men, with bodies like some foul sewer, ever moving 'midst +the direst sufferings, born from the womb to fear and trembling, +with body tender, touching anything its feelings painful, as if cut +with knives. Whilst born in this condition, no moment free from +chance of death, labor, and sorrow, yet seeking birth again, and +being born again, enduring pain. Then he saw those who by a higher +merit were enjoying heaven; a thirst for love ever consuming +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page376" name="page376"></a>[pg +376]</span> them, their merit ended with the end of life, the five +signs warning them of death. Just as the blossom that decays, +withering away, is robbed of all its shining tints; not all their +associates, living still, though grieving, can avail to save the +rest. The palaces and joyous precincts empty now, the Devis all +alone and desolate, sitting or asleep upon the dusty earth, weep +bitterly in recollection of their loves. Those who are born, sad in +decay; those who are dead, belovéd, cause of grief; thus +ever struggling on, preparing future pain, covetous they seek the +joys of heaven, obtaining which, these sorrows come apace; +despicable joys! oh, who would covet them! using such mighty +efforts to obtain, and yet unable thence to banish pain. Alas, +alas! these Devas, too, alike deceived—no difference is +there! through lapse of ages bearing suffering, striving to crush +desire and lust, now certainly expecting long reprieve, and yet +once more destined to fall! in hell enduring every kind of pain, as +beasts tearing and killing one the other, as Pretas parched with +direst thirst, as men worn out, seeking enjoyment; although, they +say, when born in heaven, "then we shall escape these greater +ills." Deceived, alas! no single place exempt, in every birth +incessant pain! Alas! the sea of birth and death revolving +thus—an ever-whirling wheel—all flesh immersed within +its waves cast here and there without reliance! thus with his pure +Deva eyes he thoughtfully considered the five domains of life. He +saw that all was empty and vain alike! with no dependence! like the +plantain or the bubble. Then, on the third eventful watch, he +entered on the deep, true apprehension; he meditated on the entire +world of creatures, whirling in life's tangle, born to sorrow; the +crowds who live, grow old, and die, innumerable for multitude. +Covetous, lustful, ignorant, darkly-fettered, with no way known for +final rescue. Rightly considering, inwardly he reflected from what +source birth and death proceed. He was assured that age and death +must come from birth as from a source. For since a man has born +with him a body, that body must inherit pain. Then looking further +whence comes birth, he saw it came from life-deeds done elsewhere; +then with his Deva-eyes scanning these deeds, he saw they were not +framed by Isvara. They were not self-caused, they were not personal +existences, nor were they either uncaused; then, as one who breaks +the first bamboo joint finds all the rest easy to separate, having +discerned the cause of birth <span class="pagenum"><a id="page377" +name="page377"></a>[pg 377]</span> and death, he gradually came to +see the truth; deeds come from upâdâna, like as fire +which catches hold of grass; upâdâna comes from +trishnâ, just as a little fire inflames the mountains; +trishnâ comes from vedanâ, the perception of pain and +pleasure, the desire for rest; as the starving or the thirsty man +seeks food and drink, so "sensation" brings "desire" for life; then +contact is the cause of all sensation, producing the three kinds of +pain or pleasure, even as by art of man the rubbing wood produces +fire for any use or purpose; contact is born from the six +entrances.<a id="footnotetag103" name="footnotetag103"></a><a href= +"#footnote103"><sup>103</sup></a> The six entrances are caused by +name and thing, just as the germ grows to the stem and leaf; name +and thing are born from knowledge, as the seed which germinates and +brings forth leaves. Knowledge, in turn, proceeds from name and +thing, the two are intervolved leaving no remnant; by some +concurrent cause knowledge engenders name and thing, whilst by some +other cause concurrent, name and thing engender knowledge. Just as +a man and ship advance together, the water and the land mutually +involved; thus knowledge brings forth name and thing; name and +thing produce the roots. The roots engender contact; contact again +brings forth sensation; sensation brings forth longing desire; +longing desire produces upâdâna. Upâdâna is +the cause of deeds; and these again engender birth; birth again +produces age and death; so does this one incessant round cause the +existence of all living things. Rightly illumined, thoroughly +perceiving this, firmly established, thus was he enlightened; +destroy birth, old age and death will cease; destroy bhava then +will birth cease; destroy "cleaving" then will bhava end; destroy +desire then will cleaving end; destroy sensation then will +trishnâ end. Destroy contact then will end sensation; destroy +the six entrances, then will contact cease; the six entrances all +destroyed, from this, moreover, names and things will cease. +Knowledge destroyed, names and things will cease; names and things +destroyed, then knowledge perishes; ignorance destroyed, then the +constituents of individual life will die; the great Rishi was thus +perfected in wisdom. Thus perfected, Buddha then devised for the +world's benefit the eightfold path, right sight, and so on, the +only true path for the world to tread. Thus did he complete the end +of "self," as fire goes out for want of grass; thus he had done +what he would have men do; he first had found the way of +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page378" name="page378"></a>[pg +378]</span> perfect knowledge. He finished thus the first great +lesson; entering the great Rishi's house (dreamless sleep), the +darkness disappeared; light coming on, perfectly silent, all at +rest, he reached at last the exhaustless source of truth; lustrous +with all wisdom the great Rishi sat, perfect in gifts, whilst one +convulsive throe shook the wide earth. And now the world was calm +again and bright, when Devas, Nâgas, spirits, all assembled, +amidst the void raise heavenly music, and make their offerings as +the law directs. A gentle cooling breeze sprang up around, and from +the sky a fragrant rain distilled; exquisite flowers, not +seasonable, bloomed; sweet fruits before their time were ripened. +Great Mandâras, and every sort of heavenly precious flower, +from space in rich confusion fell, as tribute to the illustrious +monk. Creatures of every different kind were moved one towards the +other lovingly; fear and terror altogether put away, none +entertained a hateful thought, and all things living in the world +with faultless men consorted freely; the Devas giving up their +heavenly joys, sought rather to alleviate the sinner's sufferings. +Pain and distress grew less and less, the moon of wisdom waxed +apace; whilst all the Rishis of the Ikshvâku clan who had +received a heavenly birth, beholding Buddha thus benefitting men, +were filled with joy and satisfaction; and whilst throughout the +heavenly mansions religious offerings fell as raining flowers, the +Devas and the Nâga spirits, with one voice, praised the +Buddha's virtues; men seeing the religious offerings, hearing, too, +the joyous hymn of praise, were all rejoiced in turn; they leapt +for unrestrained joy; Mâra, the Devarâga, only, felt in +his heart great anguish. Buddha for those seven days, in +contemplation lost, his heart at peace, beheld and pondered on the +Bodhi tree, with gaze unmoved and never wearying:—"Now +resting here, in this condition, I have obtained," he said, "my +ever-shifting heart's desire, and now at rest I stand, escaped from +self." The eyes of Buddha then considered "all that lives," and +forthwith rose there in him deep compassion; much he desired to +bring about their welfare, but how to gain for them that most +excellent deliverance, from covetous desire, hatred, ignorance, and +false teaching, this was the question; how to suppress this sinful +heart by right direction; not by anxious use of outward means, but +by resting quietly in thoughtful silence. Now looking back and +thinking of his mighty vow, there rose once more within his mind a +wish <span class="pagenum"><a id="page379" name="page379"></a>[pg +379]</span> to preach the law; and looking carefully throughout the +world, he saw how pain and sorrow ripened and increased everywhere. +Then Brahma-deva knowing his thoughts, and considering it right to +request him to advance religion for the wider spread of the +Brahma-glory, in the deliverance of all flesh from sorrow, coming, +beheld upon the person of the reverend monk all the distinguishing +marks of a great preacher, visible in an excellent degree; fixed +and unmoved he sat in the possession of truth and wisdom, free from +all evil impediments, with a heart cleansed from all insincerity or +falsehood. Then with reverent and a joyful heart, great Brahma +stood and with hands joined, thus made known his +request:—"What happiness in all the world so great as when a +loving master meets the unwise; the world with all its occupants, +filled with impurity and dire confusion, with heavy grief +oppressed, or, in some cases, lighter sorrows, waits deliverance; +the lord of men, having escaped by crossing the wide and mournful +sea of birth and death, we now entreat to rescue others—those +struggling creatures all engulfed therein; as the just worldly man, +when he gets profit, gives some rebate withal. So the lord of men +enjoying such religious gain, should also give somewhat to living +things. The world indeed is bent on large personal gain, and hard +it is to share one's own with others. O! let your loving heart be +moved with pity towards the world burdened with vexing cares." Thus +having spoken by way of exhortation, with reverent mien he turned +back to the Brahma heaven. Buddha, regarding the invitation of +Brahma-deva, rejoiced at heart, and his design was strengthened; +greatly was his heart of pity nourished, and purposed was his mind +to preach. Thinking he ought to beg some food, each of the four +kings offered him a Pâtra; Tathâgata, in fealty to +religion, received the four and joined them all in one. And now +some merchant men were passing by, to whom "a virtuous friend," a +heavenly spirit, said: "The great Rishi, the venerable monk, is +dwelling in this mountain-grove, affording in the world a noble +field for merit; go then and offer him a sacrifice!" Hearing the +summons, joyfully they went, and offered the first meal +religiously. Having partaken of it, then he deeply pondered, who +first should hear the law; he thought at once of Ârâda +Kâlâma and Udraka Râmaputra, as being fit to +accept the righteous law; but now they both were dead. Then next he +thought of the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page380" name= +"page380"></a>[pg 380]</span> five men, that they were fit to hear +the first sermon. Bent then on this design to preach Nirvâna, +as the sun's glory bursts through the darkness, so went he on +towards Benares, the place where dwelt the ancient Rishis. With +eyes as gentle as the ox king's, his pace as firm and even as the +lion's, because he would convert the world he went on towards the +Kâsi city. Step by step, like the king of beasts, did he +advance watchfully through the grove of wisdom.</p> +<h4><a id="life-iii-turning" name="life-iii-turning">Turning the +Law-wheel</a></h4> +<p>Tathâgata piously composed and silent, radiant with glory, +shedding light around, with unmatched dignity advanced alone, as if +surrounded by a crowd of followers. Beside the way he encountered a +young Brahman whose name was Upâka; struck with the +deportment of the Bhikshu, he stood with reverent mien on the +roadside. Joyously he gazed at such an unprecedented sight, and +then, with closed hands, he spake as follows:—"The crowds who +live around are stained with sin, without a pleasing feature, void +of grace, and the great world's heart is everywhere disturbed; but +you alone, your senses all composed, with visage shining as the +moon when full, seem to have quaffed the water of the immortals' +stream. The marks of beauty yours, as the great man's, the strength +of wisdom, as an all-sufficient, independent king's; what you have +done must have been wisely done: what then your noble tribe and who +your master?" Answering he said, "I have no master; no honorable +tribe; no point of excellence; self-taught in this profoundest +doctrine, I have arrived at superhuman wisdom. That which behooves +the world to learn, but through the world no learner found, I now +myself and by myself have learned throughout; 'tis rightly called +Sambodhi. That hateful family of griefs the sword of wisdom has +destroyed; this then is what the world has named, and rightly +named, the 'chiefest victory.' Through all Benares soon will sound +the drum of life, no stay is possible—I have no +name—nor do I seek profit or pleasure. But simply to declare +the truth; to save men from pain, and to fulfil my ancient oath, to +rescue all not yet delivered. The fruit of this my oath is ripened +now, and I will follow out my ancient vow. Wealth, riches, self all +given up, unnamed, I still am named 'Righteous Master.' And +bringing profit to the world, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page381" +name="page381"></a>[pg 381]</span> I also have the name 'Great +Teacher'; facing sorrows, not swallowed up by them, am I not +rightly called 'Courageous Warrior?' If not a healer of diseases, +what means the name of 'Good Physician?' Seeing the wanderer, not +showing him the way, why then should I be called 'Good +Master-guide?' Like as the lamp shines in the dark, without a +purpose of its own, self-radiant, so burns the lamp of the +Tathâgata, without the shadow of a personal feeling. Bore +wood in wood, there must be fire; the wind blows of its own free +self in space; dig deep and you will come to water; this is the +rule of self-causation. All the Munis who perfect wisdom, must do +so at Gayâ; and in the Kâsi country they must first +turn the Wheel of Righteousness." The young Brahman Upâka, +astonished, breathed the praise of such strange doctrine, and +called to mind like thoughts he had before experienced; lost in +thought at the wonderful occurrence, at every turning of the road +he stopped to think; embarrassed in every step he took, +Tathâgata proceeding slowly onwards, came to the city of +Kâsi. The land so excellently adorned as the palace of +Sakradevendra; the Ganges and Baranâ, two twin rivers flowed +amidst; the woods and flowers and fruits so verdant, the peaceful +cattle wandering together, the calm retreats free from vulgar +noise, such was the place where the old Rishis dwelt. +Tathâgata, glorious and radiant, redoubled the brightness of +the place; the son of the Kaundinya tribe, and next +Dasabalakâsyapa, and the third Vâshpa, the fourth +Asvagit, the fifth called Bhadra, practising austerities as +hermits, seeing from far Tathâgata approaching, sitting +together all engaged in conversation, said: "This Gautama, defiled +by worldly indulgence, leaving the practice of austerities, now +comes again to find us here, let us be careful not to rise in +salutation, nor let us greet him when he comes, nor offer him the +customary refreshments. Because he has broken his first vow, he has +no claim to hospitality"—for men on seeing an approaching +guest by rights prepare things for his present and his after wants. +They arrange a proper resting-couch, and take on themselves care +for his comfort. Having spoken thus and so agreed, each kept his +seat, resolved and fixed. And now Tathâgata slowly +approached, when, lo! these men unconsciously, against their vow, +rose and invited him to take a seat; offering to take his robe and +Pâtra. They begged to wash and rub his feet, and asked him +what he required more; <span class="pagenum"><a id="page382" name= +"page382"></a>[pg 382]</span> thus in everything attentive, they +honored him and offered all to him as teacher. They did not cease +however to address him still as Gautama, after his family. Then +spake the Lord to them and said: "Call me not after my private +name, for it is a rude and careless way of speaking to one who has +obtained Arhat-ship; but whether men respect or disrespect me, my +mind is undisturbed and wholly quiet. But you—your way is not +so courteous: let go, I pray, and cast away your fault. Buddha can +save the world; they call him, therefore, Buddha. Towards all +living things, with equal heart he looks as children, to call him +then by his familiar name is to despise a father; this is sin." +Thus Buddha, by exercise of mighty love, in deep compassion spoke +to them; but they, from ignorance and pride, despised the only wise +and true one's words. They said that first he practised +self-denial, but having reached thereby no profit, now giving rein +to body, word, and thought, how by these means, they asked, has he +become a Buddha? Thus equally entangled by doubts, they would not +credit that he had attained the way. Thoroughly versed in highest +truth, full of all-embracing wisdom, Tagâgata on their +account briefly declared to them the one true way; the foolish +masters practising austerities, and those who love to gratify their +senses, he pointed out to them these two distinctive classes, and +how both greatly erred. "Neither of these," he said, "has found the +way of highest wisdom, nor are their ways of life productive of +true rescue. The emaciated devotee by suffering produces in himself +confused and sickly thoughts, not conducive even to worldly +knowledge, how much less to triumph over sense! For he who tries to +light a lamp with water, will not succeed in scattering the +darkness, and so the man who tries with worn-out body to trim the +lamp of wisdom shall not succeed, nor yet destroy his ignorance or +folly. Who seeks with rotten wood to evoke the fire will waste his +labor and get nothing for it; but boring hard wood into hard, the +man of skill forthwith gets fire for his use. In seeking wisdom +then it is not by these austerities a man may reach the law of +life. But to indulge in pleasure is opposed to right: this is the +fool's barrier against wisdom's light. The sensualist cannot +comprehend the Sûtras or the Sâstras, how much less the +way of overcoming all desire! As some man grievously afflicted eats +food not fit to eat, and so in ignorance aggravates his sickness, +so can he get rid of lust who pampers lust? Scatter <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page383" name="page383"></a>[pg 383]</span> the +fire amid the desert grass, dried by the sun, fanned by the +wind—the raging flames who shall extinguish? Such is the fire +of covetousness and lust. I, then, reject both these extremes: my +heart keeps in the middle way. All sorrow at an end and finished, I +rest at peace, all error put away; my true sight greater than the +glory of the sun, my equal and unvarying wisdom, vehicle of +insight—right words as it were a +dwelling-place—wandering through the pleasant groves of right +conduct, making a right life my recreation, walking along the right +road of proper means, my city of refuge in right recollection, and +my sleeping couch right meditation; these are the eight even and +level roads by which to avoid the sorrows of birth and death. Those +who come forth by these means from the slough, doing thus, have +attained the end; such shall fall neither on this side or the +other, amidst the sorrow-crowd of the two periods. The tangled +sorrow-web of the three worlds by this road alone can be destroyed; +this is my own way, unheard of before; by the pure eyes of the true +law, impartially seeing the way of escape, I, only I, now first +make known this way; thus I destroy the hateful company of +Trishnâ's host, the sorrows of birth and death, old age, +disease, and all the unfruitful aims of men, and other springs of +suffering. There are those who warring against desire are still +influenced by desire; who whilst possessed of body, act as though +they had none; who put away from themselves all sources of true +merit—briefly will I recount their sorrowful lot. Like +smothering a raging fire, though carefully put out, yet a spark +left, so in their abstraction, still the germ of 'I,' the source of +great sorrow still surviving, perpetuates the suffering caused by +lust, and the evil consequences of every kind of deed survive. +These are the sources of further pain, but let these go and sorrow +dies, even as the seed of corn taken from the earth and deprived of +water dies; the concurrent causes not uniting, then the bud and +leaf cannot be born; the intricate bonds of every kind of +existence, from the Deva down to the evil ways of birth, ever +revolve and never cease; all this is produced from covetous desire; +falling from a high estate to lower ones, all is the fault of +previous deeds. But destroy the seed of covetousness and the rest, +then there will be no intricate binding, but all effect of deeds +destroyed, the various degrees of sorrow then will end for good. +Having this, then, we must inherit that; destroying this, then +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page384" name="page384"></a>[pg +384]</span> that is ended too; no birth, old age, disease, or +death; no earth, or water, fire, or wind. No beginning, end, or +middle; and no deceptive systems of philosophy; this is the +standpoint of wise men and sages; the certain and exhausted +termination, complete Nirvâna. Such do the eight right ways +declare; this one expedient has no remains; that which the world +sees not, engrossed by error I declare, I know the way to sever all +these sorrow-sources; the way to end them is by right reason, +meditating on these four highest truths, following and perfecting +this highest wisdom. This is what means the 'knowing' sorrow; this +is to cut off the cause of all remains of being; these destroyed, +then all striving, too, has ended, the eight right ways have been +assayed.</p> +<p>"Thus, too, the four great truths have been acquired, the eyes +of the pure law completed. In these four truths, the equal, true or +right, eyes not yet born, there is not mention made of gaining true +deliverance; it is not said what must be done is done, nor that all +is finished, nor that the perfect truth has been acquired. But now +because the truth is known, then by myself is known 'deliverance +gained,' by myself is known that 'all is done,' by myself is known +'the highest wisdom.'" And having spoken thus respecting truth, the +member of the Kaundinya family, and eighty thousand of the Deva +host, were thoroughly imbued with saving knowledge. They put away +defilement from themselves, they got the eyes of the pure law; +Devas and earthly masters thus were sure, that what was to be done +was done. And now with lion-voice he joyfully inquired, and asked +Kaundinya, "Knowest thou yet?" Kaundinya forthwith answered Buddha, +"I know the mighty master's law." And for this reason, knowing it, +his name was Âgnâta Kaundinya. Amongst all the +disciples of Buddha, he was the very first in understanding. Then +as he understood the sounds of the true law, hearing the words of +the disciple—all the earth spirits together raised a shout +triumphant, "Well done! deeply seeing the principles of the law, +Tathâgata, on this auspicious day, has set revolving that +which never yet revolved, and far and wide, for gods and men, has +opened the gates of immortality. Of this wheel the spokes are the +rules of pure conduct; equal contemplation, their uniformity of +length; firm wisdom is the tire; modesty and thoughtfulness, the +rubbers (sockets in the nave in which the axle is fixed); right +reflection is the nave; the wheel itself the law of perfect truth; +the right truth now <span class="pagenum"><a id="page385" name= +"page385"></a>[pg 385]</span> has gone forth in the world, not to +retire before another teacher."</p> +<p>Thus the earth spirits shouted, the spirits of the air took up +the strain, the Devas all joined in the hymn of praise, up to the +highest Brahma heaven. The Devas of the triple world, now hearing +what the great Rishi taught, in intercourse together spoke, "The +widely honored Buddha moves the world! Widespread, for the sake of +all that lives, he turns the wheel of the law of complete purity!" +The stormy winds, the clouds, the mists, all disappeared; down from +space the heavenly flowers descended. The Devas revelled in their +joys celestial, filled with unutterable gladness.</p> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote99" name= +"footnote99"></a><b>Footnote 99:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag99">(return)</a> +<p>The distance from the place of the interview with the ministers +to the Vulture Peak would be, in a straight line, about 150 +miles.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote100" name= +"footnote100"></a><b>Footnote 100:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag100">(return)</a> +<p>The sense of the text and context appears to be this, that as +there are those who drink the rain-clouds and yet are parched with +thirst, so there are those who constantly practise religious duties +and yet are still unblest.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote101" name= +"footnote101"></a><b>Footnote 101:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag101">(return)</a> +<p>The dhyânas are the conditions of ecstasy, enjoyed by the +inhabitants of the Brahmaloka heavens.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote102" name= +"footnote102"></a><b>Footnote 102:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag102">(return)</a> +<p>The "fortunate tree," the tree "of good omen," the Bodhi +tree.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote103" name= +"footnote103"></a><b>Footnote 103:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag103">(return)</a> +<p>The six organs of sense.</p> +</blockquote> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page386" name="page386"></a>[pg +386]</span> +<h3><a id="life-iv" name="life-iv">CHAPTER IV</a></h3> +<h4><a id="life-iv-bimbisara" name= +"life-iv-bimbisara">Bimbisâra Râga Becomes a +Disciple</a></h4> +<p>And now those five men, Asvagit Vâshpa, and the others, +having heard that he (Kaundinya) "knew" the law, with humble mien +and self-subdued, their hands joined, offered their homage, and +looked with reverence in the teacher's face. Tathâgata, by +wise expedient, caused them one by one to embrace the law. And so +from first to last the five Bhikshus obtained reason and subdued +their senses, like the five stars which shine in heaven, waiting +upon the brightening moon. At this time in the town of Ku-i there +was a noble's son called Yasas; lost in night-sleep suddenly he +woke, and when he saw his attendants all, men and women, with +ill-clad bodies, sleeping, his heart was filled with loathing; +reflecting on the root of sorrow, he thought how madly foolish men +were immersed in it. Clothing himself, and putting on his jewels, +he left his home and wandered forth; then on the way he stood and +cried aloud, "Alas! alas! what endless chain of sorrows." +Tathâgata, by night, was walking forth, and hearing sounds +like these, "Alas! what sorrow," forthwith replied, "You are +welcome! here, on the other hand, there is a place of +rest—the most excellent, refreshing, Nirvâna, quiet and +unmoved, free from sorrow." Yasas hearing Buddha's exhortation, +there rose much joy within his heart. And in the place of the +disgust he felt, the cooling streams of holy wisdom found their +way, as when one enters first a cold pellucid lake. Advancing then, +he came where Buddha was—his person decked with common +ornaments, his mind already freed from all defects; by power of the +good root obtained in other births, he quickly reached the fruit of +an Arhat. The secret light of pure wisdom's virtue enabled him to +understand, on listening to the law; just as a pure silken fabric +with ease is dyed a different color. Thus having attained to +self-illumination, and done that which was to be done, he was +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page387" name="page387"></a>[pg +387]</span> converted; then looking at his person richly +ornamented, his heart was filled with shame. Tathâgata +knowing his inward thoughts, in gâthas spoke the following +words: "Though ornamented with jewels, the heart may yet have +conquered sense; looking with equal mind on all that lives, in such +a case the outward form does not affect religion; the body, too, +may wear the ascetic's garb, the heart, meanwhile, be immersed in +worldly thoughts; dwelling in lonely woods, yet covetous of worldly +show, such men are after all mere worldlings; the body may have a +worldly guise, the heart mount high to things celestial. The layman +and the hermit are the same, when only both have banished thought +of 'self,' but if the heart be twined with carnal bonds, what use +the marks of bodily attention? He who wears martial decorations, +does so because by valor he has triumphed o'er an enemy—so he +who wears the hermit's colored robe, does so for having vanquished +sorrow as his foe." Then he bade him come, and be a member of his +church; and at the bidding, lo! his garments changed! and he stood +wholly attired in hermit's dress, complete; in heart and outward +look, a Sramana. Now Yasas had in former days some light +companions, in number fifty and four; when these beheld their +friend a hermit, they, too, one by one, attained true wisdom. By +virtue of deeds done in former births, these deeds now bore their +perfect fruit. Just as when burning ashes are sprinkled by water, +the water being dried, the flame bursts forth. So now, with those +above, the disciples were altogether sixty, all Arhats; entirely +obedient and instructed in the law of perfect discipleship. So +perfected he taught them further:—"Now ye have passed the +stream and reached 'the other shore,' across the sea of birth and +death; what should be done, ye now have done! and ye may now +receive the charity of others. Go then through every country, +convert those not yet converted; throughout the world that lies +burnt up with sorrow, teach everywhere; instruct those lacking +right instruction. Go, therefore! each one travelling by himself; +filled with compassion, go! rescue and receive. I too will go +alone, back to yonder Kia-ke mountain; where there are great +Rishis, royal Rishis, Brahman Rishis too, these all dwell there, +influencing men according to their schools. The Rishi +Kâsyapa, enduring pain, reverenced by all the country, making +converts too of many, him will I visit and convert." Then the sixty +Bhikshus respectfully receiving orders to preach, <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page388" name="page388"></a>[pg 388]</span> each +according to his fore-determined purpose, following his +inclination, went through every land. The honored of the world went +on alone, till he arrived at the Kia-ke mountain, then entering a +retired religious dell, he came to where the Rishi Kâsyapa +was. Now this one had a "fire grot" where he offered sacrifice, +where an evil Nâga dwelt, who wandered here and there in +search of rest, through mountains and wild places of the earth. The +honored of the world, wishing to instruct this hermit and convert +him, asked him, on coming, for a place to lodge that night. +Kâsyapa, replying, spake to Buddha thus:—"I have no +resting-place to offer for the night, only this fire grot where I +sacrifice; this is a cool and fit place for the purpose, but an +evil dragon dwells there, who is accustomed, as he can, to poison +men." Buddha replied, "Permit me only, and for the night I'll take +my dwelling there." Kâsyapa made many difficulties, but the +world-honored one still asked the favor. Then Kâsyapa +addressed Buddha, "My mind desires no controversy, only I have my +fears and apprehensions, but follow you your own good pleasure." +Buddha forthwith stepped within the fiery grot, and took his seat +with dignity and deep reflection; and now the evil Nâga +seeing Buddha, belched forth in rage his fiery poison, and filled +the place with burning vapor. But this could not affect the form of +Buddha. Throughout the abode the fire consumed itself, the honored +of the world still sat composed: Even as Brahma, in the midst of +the kalpa-fire that burns and reaches to the Brahma heavens, still +sits unmoved, without a thought of fear or apprehension, so Buddha +sat; the evil Nâga seeing him, his face glowing with peace, +and still unchanged, ceased his poisonous blast, his heart +appeased; he bent his head and worshipped. Kâsyapa in the +night seeing the fire-glow, sighed:—"Ah! alas! what misery! +this most distinguished man is also burnt up by the fiery +Nâga." Then Kâsyapa and his followers at morning light +came one and all to look. Now Buddha having subdued the evil +Nâga, had straightway placed him in his pâtra, +beholding which, and seeing the power of Buddha, Kâsyapa +conceived within him deep and secret thoughts:—"This Gotama," +he thought, "is deeply versed in religion, but still he said, 'I am +a master of religion.'" Then Buddha, as occasion offered, displayed +all kinds of spiritual changes, influencing Kâsyapa's +heart-thoughts, changing and subduing them, making his mind pliant +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page389" name="page389"></a>[pg +389]</span> and yielding, until at length prepared to be a vessel +of the true law, he confessed that his poor wisdom could not +compare with the complete wisdom of the world-honored one. And so, +convinced at last, humbly submitting, he accepted right +instruction. Thus U-pi-lo Uravilva Kâsyapa, and five hundred +of his followers following their master, virtuously submissive, in +turn received the teaching of the law. Kâsyapa and all his +followers were thus entirely converted. The Rishi then, taking his +goods and all his sacrificial vessels, threw them together in the +river, which floated down upon the surface of the current. Nadi and +Gada, brothers, who dwelt down the stream, seeing these articles of +clothing and the rest floating along the stream disorderly, said, +"Some great change has happened," and deeply pained, were +restlessly concerned. The two, each with five hundred followers, +going up the stream to seek their brother. Seeing him now dressed +as a hermit, and all his followers with him, having got knowledge +of the miraculous law—strange thoughts engaged their +minds—"our brother having submitted thus, we too should also +follow him." Thus the three brothers, with all their band of +followers, were brought to hear the lord's discourse on the +comparison of a fire sacrifice: and in the discourse he taught, +"How the dark smoke of ignorance arises, whilst confused thoughts, +like wood drilled into wood, create the fire. Lust, anger, +delusion, these are as fire produced, and these inflame and burn +all living things. Thus the fire of grief and sorrow, once +enkindled, ceases not to burn, ever giving rise to birth and death; +but whilst this fire of sorrow ceases not, yet are there two kinds +of fire, one that burns but has no fuel left. So when the heart of +man has once conceived distaste for sin, this distaste removing +covetous desire, covetous desire extinguished, there is rescue; if +once this rescue has been found, then with it is born sight and +knowledge, by which distinguishing the streams of birth and death, +and practising pure conduct, all is done that should be done, and +hereafter shall be no more life." Thus the thousand Bhikshus +hearing the world-honored preach, all defects forever done away, +their minds found perfect and complete deliverance. Then Buddha for +the Kâsyapas' sakes, and for the benefit of the thousand +Bhikshus, having preached, and done all that should be done, +himself with purity and wisdom and all the concourse of high +qualities excellently adorned, he gave them, as in charity, rules +for cleansing sense. <span class="pagenum"><a id="page390" name= +"page390"></a>[pg 390]</span> The great Rishi, listening to reason, +lost all regard for bodily austerities, and, as a man without a +guide, was emptied of himself, and learned discipleship. And now +the honored one and all his followers go forward to the royal city +(Râgagriha), remembering, as he did, the Magadha king, and +what he heretofore had promised. The honored one when he arrived, +remained within the "staff grove"; Bimbisâra Râga +hearing thereof, with all his company of courtiers, lords and +ladies all surrounding him, came to where the master was. Then at a +distance seeing Buddha seated, with humbled heart and subdued +presence, putting off his common ornaments, descending from his +chariot, forward he stepped; even as Sakra, king of gods, going to +where Brahmadeva-râga dwells. Bowing down at Buddha's feet, +he asked him, with respect, about his health of body; Buddha in his +turn, having made inquiries, begged him to be seated on one side. +Then the king's mind reflected silently:—"This Sâkya +must have great controlling power, to subject to his will these +Kâsyapas who now are round him as disciples." Buddha, knowing +all thoughts, spoke thus to Kâsyapa, questioning +him:—"What profit have you found in giving up your +fire-adoring law?" Kâsyapa hearing Buddha's words, rising +with dignity before the great assembly, bowed lowly down, and then +with clasped hands and a loud voice addressing Buddha, +said:—"The profit I received, adoring the fire spirit, was +this—continuance in the wheel of life, birth and death, with +all their sorrows growing—this service I have therefore cast +away. Diligently I persevered in fire-worship, seeking to put an +end to the five desires, in return I found desires endlessly +increasing: therefore have I cast off this service. Sacrificing +thus to fire with many Mantras, I did but miss escape from birth; +receiving birth, with it came all its sorrows, therefore I cast it +off and sought for rest. I was versed, indeed, in self-affliction, +my mode of worship largely adopted, and counted of all most +excellent, and yet I was opposed to highest wisdom. Therefore have +I discarded it, and gone in quest of the supreme Nirvâna. +Removing from me birth, old age, disease, and death, I sought a +place of undying rest and calm. And as I gained the knowledge of +this truth, then I cast off the law of worshipping the fire."</p> +<p>The honored-of-the-world, hearing Kâsyapa declaring his +experience of truth, wishing to move the world throughout to +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page391" name="page391"></a>[pg +391]</span> conceive a heart of purity and faith, addressing +Kâsyapa further, said: "Welcome! great master, welcome! +Rightly have you distinguished law from law, and well obtained the +highest wisdom; now before this great assembly, pray you! exhibit +your excellent endowments; as any rich and wealthy noble opens for +view his costly treasures, causing the poor and sorrow-laden +multitude to increase their forgetfulness awhile; and honor well +your lord's instruction." Forthwith in presence of the assembly, +gathering up his body and entering Samâdhi, calmly he +ascended into space, and there displayed himself, walking, +standing, sitting, sleeping, emitting fiery vapor from his body, on +his right and left side water and fire, not burning and not +moistening him. Then clouds and rain proceeded from him, thunder +with lightning shook the heaven and earth; thus he drew the world +to look in adoration, with eyes undazzled as they gazed; with +different mouths, but all in language one, they magnified and +praised this wondrous spectacle, then afterwards drawn by spiritual +force, they came and worshipped at the master's feet, +exclaiming:—"Buddha is our great teacher! we are the honored +one's disciples." Thus having magnified his work and finished all +he purposed doing, drawing the world as universal witness, the +assembly was convinced that he, the world-honored, was truly the +"Omniscient!" Buddha, perceiving that the whole assembly was ready +as a vessel to receive the law, spoke thus to Bimbisâra +Râga: "Listen now and understand: The mind, the thoughts, and +all the senses are subject to the law of life and death. This fault +of birth and death, once understood, then there is clear and plain +perception. Obtaining this clear perception, then there is born +knowledge of self; knowing oneself and with this knowledge laws of +birth and death, then there is no grasping and no sense-perception. +Knowing oneself, and understanding how the senses act, then there +is no room for 'I' (soul) or ground for framing it; then all the +accumulated mass of sorrow, sorrows born from life and death, being +recognized as attributes of body, and as this body is not 'I,' nor +offers ground for 'I,' then comes the great superlative, the source +of peace unending. This thought of 'self' gives rise to all these +sorrows, binding as with cords the world, but having found there is +no 'I' that can be bound, then all these bonds are severed. There +are no bonds indeed—they disappear—and seeing this +there is deliverance. The <span class="pagenum"><a id="page392" +name="page392"></a>[pg 392]</span> world holds to this thought of +'I,' and so, from this, comes false apprehension. Of those who +maintain the truth of it, some say the 'I' endures, some say it +perishes; taking the two extremes of birth and death, their error +is most grievous! For if they say the 'I' is perishable, the fruit +they strive for, too, will perish; and at some time there will be +no hereafter: this is indeed a meritless deliverance. But if they +say the 'I' is not to perish, then in the midst of all this life +and death there is but one identity as space, which is not born and +does not die. If this is what they call the 'I,' then are all +things living, one—for all have this unchanging +self—not perfected by any deeds, but self-perfect. If so, if +such a self it is that acts, let there be no self-mortifying +conduct, the self is lord and master; what need to do that which is +done? For if this 'I' is lasting and imperishable, then reason +would teach it never can be changed. But now we see the marks of +joy and sorrow, what room for constancy then is here? Knowing that +birth brings this deliverance then I put away all thought of sin's +defilement; the whole world, everything, endures! what then becomes +of this idea of rescue? We cannot even talk of putting self away, +truth is the same as falsehood; it is not 'I' that do a thing, and +who, forsooth, is he that talks of 'I'? But if it is not 'I' that +do the thing, then there is no 'I' that does it, and in the absence +of these both, there is no 'I' at all, in very truth. No doer and +no knower, no lord, yet notwithstanding this, there ever lasts this +birth and death, like morn and night ever recurring. But now attend +to me and listen: The senses six and their six objects united cause +the six kinds of knowledge, these three united bring forth contact, +then the intervolved effects of recollection follow. Then like the +burning glass and tinder through the sun's power cause fire to +appear, so through the knowledge born of sense and object, the lord +of knowledge (self) is born. The shoot springs from the seed, the +seed is not the shoot, not one and yet not different: such is the +birth of all that lives." The honored of the world preaching the +truth, the equal and impartial paramârtha, thus addressed the +king with all his followers. Then King Bimbisâra filled with +joy, removing from himself defilement, gained religious sight, a +hundred thousand spirits also, hearing the words of the immortal +law, shook off and lost the stain of sin.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page393" name="page393"></a>[pg +393]</span> +<h4><a id="life-iv-disciple" name="life-iv-disciple">The Great +Disciple Becomes a Hermit</a></h4> +<p>At this time Bimbisâra Râga, bowing his head, +requested the honored of the world to change his place of abode for +the bamboo grove; graciously accepting it, Buddha remained silent. +Then the king, having perceived the truth, offered his adoration +and returned to his palace. The world-honored, with the great +congregation, proceeded on foot, to rest for awhile in the bamboo +garden. There he dwelt to convert all that breathed, to kindle once +for all the lamp of wisdom, to establish Brahma and the Devas, and +to confirm the lives of saints and sages. At this time Asvagit and +Vâshpa, with heart composed and every sense subdued, the time +having come for begging food, entered into the town of +Râgagriha. Unrivalled in the world were they for grace of +person, and in dignity of carriage excelling all. The lords and +ladies of the city seeing them, were filled with joy; those who +were walking stood still, those before waited, those behind +hastened on. Now the Rishi Kapila amongst all his numerous +disciples had one of wide-spread fame, whose name was +Sâriputra; he, beholding the wonderful grace of the Bhikshus, +their composed mien and subdued senses, their dignified walk and +carriage, raising his hands, inquiring, said: "Young in years, but +pure and graceful in appearance, such as I before have never seen. +What law most excellent have you obeyed? and who your master that +has taught you? and what the doctrine you have learned? Tell me, I +pray you, and relieve my doubts." Then of the Bhikshus, one, +rejoicing at his question, with pleasing air and gracious words, +replied: "The omniscient, born of the Ikshvâku family, the +very first 'midst gods and men, this one is my great master. I am +indeed but young, the sun of wisdom has but just arisen, how can I +then explain the master's doctrine? Its meaning is deep and very +hard to understand, but now, according to my poor wisdom, I will +recount in brief the master's doctrine:—'Whatever things +exist all spring from cause, the principles of birth and death may +be destroyed, the way is by the means he has declared.'" Then the +twice-born Upata, embracing heartily what he had heard, put from +him all sense-pollution, and obtained the pure eyes of the law. The +former explanations he had trusted, respecting cause and what was +not the cause that there was nothing that was <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page394" name="page394"></a>[pg 394]</span> made, +but was made by Isvara; all this, now that he had heard the rule of +true causation, understanding the wisdom of the no-self, adding +thereto the knowledge of the minute dust troubles, which can never +be overcome in their completeness but by the teaching of +Tathâgata, all this he now forever put away; leaving no room +for thought of self, the thought of self will disappear. Who, when +the brightness of the sun gives light, would call for the dimness +of the lamp? for, like the severing the lotus, the stem once cut, +the pods will also die. "So Buddha's teaching cutting off the stem +of sorrow, no seeds are left to grow or lead to further increase." +Then bowing at the Bhikshu's feet, with grateful mien, he wended +homewards. The Bhikshus after having begged their food, likewise +went back to the bamboo grove. Sâriputra on his arrival home +rested with joyful face and full of peace. His friend, the honored +Mugalin, equally renowned for learning, seeing Sâriputra in +the distance, his pleasing air and lightsome step, spoke +thus:—"As I now see thee, there is an unusual look I notice; +your former nature seems quite changed, the signs of happiness I +now observe, all indicate the possession of eternal truth: these +marks are not uncaused." Answering he said: "The words of the +Tathâgata are such as never yet were spoken," and then, +requested, he declared what he had heard. Hearing the words and +understanding them, he too put off the world's defilement, and +gained the eyes of true religion, the reward of a long-planted +virtuous cause; and, as one sees by a lamp that comes to hand, so +he obtained an unmoved faith in Buddha; and now they both set out +for Buddha's presence, with a large crowd of followers. Buddha +seeing the two worthies coming, thus spoke to his +disciples:—"These two men who come shall be my two most +eminent followers, one unsurpassed for wisdom, the other for powers +miraculous." And then with Brahma's voice, profound and sweet, he +forthwith bade them "Welcome!" Here is the pure and peaceful law, +he said; here the end of all discipleship! Their hands grasping the +triple-staff, their twisted hair holding the water-vessel, hearing +the words of Buddha's welcome, they forthwith changed into complete +Sramanas; the leaders two and all their followers, assuming the +complete appearance of Bhikshus, with prostrate forms fell down at +Buddha's feet, then rising, sat beside him, and with obedient heart +listening to the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page395" name= +"page395"></a>[pg 395]</span> word, they all became Arhats. At this +time there was a twice-born sage, Kâsyapa Shi-ming-teng, +celebrated and perfect in person, rich in possessions, and his wife +most virtuous. But all this he had left and become a hermit, +seeking the way of salvation. And now in the way by the To-tseu +tower he suddenly encountered Sâkya Muni, remarkable for his +dignified and illustrious appearance, as the embroidered flag of a +temple. Respectfully and reverently approaching, with head bowed +down, he worshipped his feet, whilst he said: "Truly, honored one, +you are my teacher, and I am your follower: much and long time have +I been harassed with doubts, oh! would that you would light the +lamp of knowledge." Buddha knowing that this twice-born sage was +heartily desirous of finding the best mode of escape, with soft and +pliant voice, he bade him come and welcome. Hearing his bidding and +his heart complying, losing all listlessness of body or spirit, his +soul embraced the terms of this most excellent salvation. Quiet and +calm, putting away defilement, the great merciful, as he alone knew +how, briefly explained the mode of this deliverance, exhibiting the +secrets of his law, ending with the four indestructible +acquirements. The great sage, everywhere celebrated, was called +Mahâ Kâsyapa. His original faith was that "body and +soul are different," but he had also held that they are the same; +that there was both "I" and a place for "I"; but now he forever +cast away his former faith, and considered only that "sorrow" is +ever accumulating; so by removing sorrow there will be "no +remains"; obedience to the precepts and the practice of discipline, +though not themselves the cause, yet he considered these the +necessary mode by which to find deliverance. With equal and +impartial mind, he considered the nature of sorrow, for evermore +freed from a cleaving heart. Whether we think "this is" or "this is +not" he thought, both tend to produce a listless, idle mode of +life. But when with equal mind we see the truth, then certainty is +produced and no more doubt. If we rely for support on wealth or +form, then wild confusion and concupiscence result: inconstant and +impure. But lust and covetous desire removed, the heart of love and +equal thoughts produced, there can be then no enemies or friends, +but the heart is pitiful and kindly disposed to all, and thus is +destroyed the power of anger and of hate. Trusting to outward +things and their relationships, then <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page396" name="page396"></a>[pg 396]</span> crowding thoughts of +every kind are gendered. Reflecting well, and crushing out +confusing thought, then lust for pleasure is destroyed. Though born +in the Arûpa world he saw that there would be a remnant of +life still left; unacquainted with the four right truths, he had +felt an eager longing for this deliverance, for the quiet resulting +from the absence of all thought. And now putting away forever +covetous desire for such a formless state of being, his restless +heart was agitated still, as the stream is excited by the rude +wind. Then entering on deep reflection in quiet he subdued his +troubled mind, and realized the truth of there being no "self," and +that therefore birth and death are no realities; but beyond this +point he rose not: his thought of "self" destroyed, all else was +lost. But now the lamp of wisdom lit, the gloom of every doubt +dispersed, he saw an end to that which seemed without an end; +ignorance finally dispelled, he considered the ten points of +excellence; the ten seeds of sorrow destroyed, he came once more to +life, and what he ought to do, he did. And now regarding with +reverence the face of his lord, he put away the three and gained +the three; so were there three disciples in addition to the three; +and as the three stars range around the Trayastrimsas heaven, +waiting upon the three and five, so the three wait on Buddha.</p> +<h4><a id="life-iv-conversion" name="life-iv-conversion">Conversion +of the "Supporter of the Orphans and Destitute"</a></h4> +<p>At this time there was a great householder whose name was +"Friend of the Orphaned and Destitute"; he was very rich and widely +charitable in helping the poor and needy. Now this man, coming far +away from the north, even from the country of Kosala, stopped at +the house of a friend whose name was Sheu-lo. Hearing that Buddha +was in the world and dwelling in the bamboo grove near at hand, +understanding moreover his renown and illustrious qualities, he set +out that very night for the grove. Tathâgata, well aware of +his character, and that he was prepared to bring forth purity and +faith, according to the case, called him by his true name, and for +his sake addressed him in words of religion:—"Having rejoiced +in the true law, and being humbly desirous for a pure and believing +heart, thou hast overcome desire for sleep, and art here to pay me +reverence. Now then will I for your sake discharge fully the duties +of a first meeting. In your former <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page397" name="page397"></a>[pg 397]</span> births the root of +virtue planted firm in pure and rare expectancy, hearing now the +name of Buddha, you rejoiced because you are a vessel fit for +righteousness, humble in mind, but large in gracious deeds, +abundant in your charity to the poor and helpless. The name you +possess widespread and famous, the just reward of former merit, the +deeds you now perform are done of charity: done with the fullest +purpose and of single heart. Now, therefore, take from me the +charity of perfect rest, and for this end accept my rules of +purity. My rules are full of grace, able to rescue from +destruction, and cause a man to ascend to heaven and share in all +its pleasures. But yet to seek for these is a great evil, for +lustful longing in its increase brings much sorrow. Practise then +the art of 'giving up' all search, for 'giving up' desire is the +joy of perfect rest. Know then! that age, disease, and death, these +are the great sorrows of the world. Rightly considering the world, +we put away birth and old age, disease and death; but now because +we see that men at large inherit sorrow caused by age, disease, and +death, we gather that when born in heaven, the case is also thus; +for there is no continuance there for any, and where there is no +continuance there is sorrow, and having sorrow there is no 'true +self.' And if the state of 'no continuance' and of sorrow is +opposed to 'self,' what room is there for such idea or ground for +self? Know then! that 'sorrow' is this very sorrow and its +repetition is 'accumulation'; destroy this sorrow and there is joy, +the way is in the calm and quiet place. The restless busy nature of +the world, this I declare is at the root of pain. Stop then the end +by choking up the source. Desire not either life or its opposite; +the raging fire of birth, old age, and death burns up the world on +every side. Seeing the constant toil of birth and death we ought to +strive to attain a passive state: the final goal of Sammata, the +place of immortality and rest. All is empty! neither 'self,' nor +place for 'self,' but all the world is like a phantasy; this is the +way to regard ourselves, as but a heap of composite qualities."</p> +<p>The nobleman, hearing the spoken law, forthwith attained the +first degree of holiness: he emptied as it were, the sea of birth +and death, one drop alone remaining. By practising, apart from men, +the banishment of all desire, he soon attained the one impersonal +condition, not as common folk do now-a-day who speculate upon the +mode of true deliverance; for he who does <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page398" name="page398"></a>[pg 398]</span> not +banish sorrow-causing samskâras does but involve himself in +every kind of question; and though he reaches to the highest form +of being, yet grasps not the one and only truth. Erroneous thoughts +as to the joy of heaven are still entwined by the fast cords of +lust. The nobleman attending to the spoken law the cloud of +darkness opened before the shining splendor. Thus he attained true +sight, erroneous views forever dissipated; even as the furious +winds of autumn sway to and fro and scatter all the heaped-up +clouds. He argued not that Isvara was cause, nor did he advocate +some cause heretical, nor yet again did he affirm there was no +cause for the beginning of the world. "If the world was made by +Isvara deva, there should be neither young nor old, first nor +after, nor the five ways of birth; and when once born there should +be no destruction. Nor should there be such thing as sorrow or +calamity, nor doing wrong nor doing right; for all, both pure and +impure deeds, these must come from Isvara deva. Again, if Isvara +deva made the world there should be never doubt about the fact, +even as a son born of his father ever confesses him and pays him +reverence. Men when pressed by sore calamity ought not to rebel +against him, but rather reverence him completely, as the +self-existent. Nor ought they to adore more gods than one. Again, +if Isvara be the maker he should not be called the self-existent, +because in that he is the maker now he always should have been the +maker; but if ever making, then ever self-remembering, and +therefore not the self-existent one—and if he made without a +purpose then is he like the sucking child; but if he made having an +ever prompting purpose, then is he not, with such a purpose, +self-existent? Sorrow and joy spring up in all that lives, these at +least are not the works of Isvara; for if he causes grief and joy, +he must himself have love and hate; but if he loves unduly, or has +hatred, he cannot properly be named the self-existent. Again, if +Isvara be the maker, all living things should silently submit, +patient beneath the maker's power, and then what use to practise +virtue? Twere equal, then, the doing right or wrong: there should +be no reward of works; the works themselves being his making, then +all things are the same with him, the maker, but if all things are +one with him, then our deeds, and we who do them, are also +self-existent. But if Isvara be uncreated, then all things, being +one with him, are uncreated. But if you say there is another cause +beside him as creator, then <span class="pagenum"><a id="page399" +name="page399"></a>[pg 399]</span> Isvara is not the 'end of all'; +Isvara, who ought to be inexhaustible, is not so, and therefore all +that lives may after all be uncreated—without a maker. Thus, +you see, the thought of Isvara is overthrown in this discussion; +and all such contradictory assertions should be exposed; if not, +the blame is ours. Again, if it be said self-nature is the maker, +this is as faulty as the first assertion; nor has either of the +Hetuvidyâ sâstras asserted such a thing as this, till +now. That which depends on nothing cannot as a cause make that +which is; but all things round us come from a cause, as the plant +comes from the seed; we cannot therefore say that all things are +produced by self-nature. Again, all things which exist spring not +from one nature as a cause; and yet you say self-nature is but one: +it cannot then be cause of all. If you say that that self-nature +pervades and fills all places, if it pervades and fills all things, +then certainly it cannot make them too; for there would be nothing, +then, to make, and therefore this cannot be the cause. If, again, +it fills all places and yet makes all things that exist, then it +should throughout 'all time' have made forever that which is. But +if you say it made things thus, then there is nothing to be made +'in time'; know then, for certain, self-nature cannot be the cause +of all. Again, they say that that self-nature excludes all +modifications, therefore all things made by it ought likewise to be +free from modifications. But we see, in fact, that all things in +the world are fettered throughout by modifications; therefore, +again, we say that self-nature cannot be the cause of all. If, +again, you say that that self-nature is different from such +qualities, we answer, since self-nature must have ever caused, it +cannot differ in its nature from itself; but if the world be +different from these qualities, then self-nature cannot be the +cause. Again, if self-nature be unchangeable, so things should also +be without decay; if we regard self-nature as the cause, then cause +and consequence of reason should be one; but because we see decay +in all things, we know that they at least are caused. Again, if +self-nature be the cause, why should we seek to find 'escape'? for +we ourselves possess this nature; patient then should we endure +both birth and death. For let us take the case that one may find +'escape,' self-nature still will reconstruct the evil of birth. If +self-nature in itself be blind, yet 'tis the maker of the world +that sees. On this account, again, it cannot be the maker, because, +in this case, cause and effect would <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page400" name="page400"></a>[pg 400]</span> differ in their +character, but in all the world around us, cause and effect go hand +in hand. Again, if self-nature have no aim, it cannot cause that +which has such purpose. We know on seeing smoke there must be fire, +and cause and result are ever classed together thus. We are +forbidden, then, to say an unthinking cause can make a thing that +has intelligence. The gold of which the cup is made is gold +throughout from first to last, self-nature, then, that makes these +things, from first to last must permeate all it makes. Once more, +if 'time' is maker of the world, 'twere needless then to seek +'escape,' for 'time' is constant and unchangeable: let us in +patience bear the 'intervals' of time. The world in its successions +has no limits, the 'intervals' of time are boundless also. Those +then who practise a religious life need not rely on 'methods' or +'expedients.' The To-lo-piu Kiu-na, the one strange Sâstra in +the world, although it has so many theories, yet still, be it +known, it is opposed to any single cause. But if, again, you say +that 'self' is maker, then surely self should make things +pleasingly; but now things are not pleasing for oneself, how then +is it said that self is maker? But if he did not wish to make +things so, then he who wishes for things pleasing, is opposed to +self, the maker. Sorrow and joy are not self-existing, how can +these be made by self? But if we allow that self was maker, there +should not be, at least, an evil karman; but yet our deeds produce +results both good and evil; know then that 'self' cannot be maker. +But perhaps you say 'self' is the maker according to occasion, and +then the occasion ought to be for good alone. But as good and evil +both result from 'cause,' it cannot be that 'self' has made it so. +But if you adopt the argument—there is no maker—then it +is useless practising expedients; all things are fixed and certain +of themselves: what good to try to make them otherwise? Deeds of +every kind, done in the world, do, notwithstanding, bring forth +every kind of fruit; therefore we argue all things that exist are +not without some cause or other. There is both 'mind' and 'want of +mind'—all things come from fixed causation; the world and all +therein is not the result of 'nothing' as a cause." The nobleman, +his heart receiving light, perceived throughout the most excellent +system of truth. Simple, and of wisdom born; thus firmly settled in +the true doctrine he lowly bent in worship at the feet of Buddha +and with closed hands made his request:—</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page401" name="page401"></a>[pg +401]</span> +<p>"I dwell indeed at Srâvasti, a land rich in produce, and +enjoying peace; Prasenagit is the great king thereof, the offspring +of the 'lion' family; his high renown and fame spread everywhere, +reverenced by all both far and near. Now am I wishful there to +found a Vihâra, I pray you of your tenderness accept it from +me. I know the heart of Buddha has no preferences, nor does he seek +a resting-place from labor, but on behalf of all that lives refuse +not my request."</p> +<p>Buddha, knowing the householder's heart, that his great charity +was now the moving cause—untainted and unselfish charity, +nobly considerate of the heart of all that lives—he said:</p> +<p>"Now you have seen the true doctrine, your guileless heart loves +to exercise its charity: for wealth and money are inconstant +treasures, 'twere better quickly to bestow such things on others. +For when a treasury has been burnt, whatever precious things may +have escaped the fire, the wise man, knowing their inconstancy, +gives freely, doing acts of kindness with his saved possessions. +But the niggard guards them carefully, fearing to lose them, worn +by anxiety, but never fearing 'inconstancy,' and that accumulated +sorrow, when he loses all! There is a proper time and a proper mode +in charity; just as the vigorous warrior goes to battle, so is the +man 'able to give'—he also is an able warrior; a champion +strong and wise in action. The charitable man is loved by all, +well-known and far-renowned! his friendship prized by the gentle +and the good, in death his heart at rest and full of joy! He +suffers no repentance, no tormenting fear, nor is he born a +wretched ghost or demon! this is the opening flower of his reward, +the fruit that follows—hard to conjecture! In all the six +conditions born there is no sweet companion like pure charity; if +born a Deva or a man, then charity brings worship and renown on +every hand; if born among the lower creatures, the result of +charity will follow in contentment got; wisdom leads the way to +fixed composure without dependence and without number, and if we +even reach the immortal path, still by continuous acts of charity +we fulfil ourselves in consequence of kindly charity done +elsewhere. Training ourselves in the eightfold path of +recollection, in every thought the heart is filled with joy; firm +fixed in holy contemplation, by meditation still we add to wisdom, +able to see aright the cause of birth and death; having beheld +aright the cause of these, then follows in due order perfect +deliverance. The <span class="pagenum"><a id="page402" name= +"page402"></a>[pg 402]</span> charitable man discarding earthly +wealth, nobly excludes the power of covetous desire; loving and +compassionate now, he gives with reverence and banishes all hatred, +envy, anger. So plainly may we see the fruit of charity, putting +away all covetous and unbelieving ways, the bands of sorrow all +destroyed: this is the fruit of kindly charity. Know then! the +charitable man has found the cause of final rescue; even as the man +who plants the sapling thereby secures the shade, the flowers, the +fruit of the tree full grown; the result of charity is even so, its +reward is joy and the great Nirvâna. The charity which +un-stores wealth leads to returns of well-stored fruit. Giving away +our food we get more strength, giving away our clothes we get more +beauty, founding religious rest-places we reap the perfect fruit of +the best charity. There is a way of giving, seeking pleasure by it; +there is a way of giving, coveting to get more; some also give away +to get a name for charity, others to get the happiness of heaven, +others to avoid the pain of being poor hereafter, but yours, O +friend! is a charity without such thoughts: the highest and the +best degree of charity, without self-interest or thought of getting +more. What your heart inclines you now to do, let it be quickly +done and well completed! The uncertain and the lustful heart goes +wandering here and there, but the pure eyes of virtue opening, the +heart comes back and rests!" The nobleman accepting Buddha's +teaching, his kindly heart receiving yet more light.</p> +<p>He invited Upatishya, his excellent friend, to accompany him on +his return to Kosala; and then going round to select a pleasant +site, he saw the garden of the heir-apparent, Geta, the groves and +limpid streams most pure. Proceeding where the prince was dwelling, +he asked for leave to buy the ground; the prince, because he valued +it so much, at first was not inclined to sell, but said at +last:—"If you can cover it with gold then, but not else, you +may possess it."</p> +<p>The nobleman, his heart rejoicing, forthwith began to spread his +gold. Then Geta said: "I will not give, why then spread you your +gold?" The nobleman replied, "Not give; why then said you, 'Fill it +with yellow gold'?" And thus they differed and contended both, till +they resorted to the magistrate.</p> +<p>Meanwhile the people whispered much about his unwonted charity, +and Geta too, knowing the man's sincerity, asked more about the +matter: what his reasons were. On his reply, "I <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page403" name="page403"></a>[pg 403]</span> wish +to found a Vihâra, and offer it to the Tathâgata and +all his Bhikshu followers," the prince, hearing the name of Buddha, +received at once illumination, and only took one-half the gold, +desiring to share in the foundation: "Yours is the land," he said, +"but mine the trees; these will I give to Buddha as my share in the +offering." Then the noble took the land, Geta the trees, and +settled both in trust on Sâriputra. Then they began to build +the hall, laboring night and day to finish it. Lofty it rose and +choicely decorated, as one of the four kings' palaces, in just +proportions, following the directions which Buddha had declared the +right ones. Never yet so great a miracle as this! the priests shone +in the streets of Srâvasti! Tathâgata, seeing the +divine shelter, with all his holy ones resorted to the place to +rest. No followers there to bow in prostrate service, his followers +rich in wisdom only. The nobleman reaping his reward, at the end of +life ascended up to heaven, leaving to sons and grandsons a good +foundation, through successive generations, to plough the field of +merit.</p> +<h4><a id="life-iv-interview" name="life-iv-interview">Interview +between Father and Son</a></h4> +<p>Buddha in the Magadha country employing himself in converting +all kinds of unbelievers, entirely changed them by the one and +self-same law he preached, even as the sun drowns with its +brightness all the stars. Then leaving the city of the five +mountains with the company of his thousand disciples, and with a +great multitude who went before and came after him, he advanced +towards the Ni-kin mountain, near Kapilavastu; and there he +conceived in himself a generous purpose to prepare an offering +according to his religious doctrine to present to his father, the +king. And now, in anticipation of his coming, the royal teacher and +the chief minister had sent forth certain officers and their +attendants to observe on the right hand and the left what was +taking place; and they soon espied him (Buddha) as he advanced or +halted on the way. Knowing that Buddha was now returning to his +country they hastened back and quickly announced the tidings, "The +prince who wandered forth afar to obtain enlightenment, having +fulfilled his aim, is now coming back." The king hearing the news +was greatly rejoiced, and forthwith went out with his gaudy +equipage to meet his son; and the whole body of gentry belonging to +the country, went forth with him in his company. Gradually +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page404" name="page404"></a>[pg +404]</span> advancing he beheld Buddha from afar, his marks of +beauty sparkling with splendor twofold greater than of yore; placed +in the middle of the great congregation he seemed to be even as +Brahma râga. Descending from his chariot and advancing with +dignity, the king was anxious lest there should be any religious +difficulty in the way of instant recognition; and now beholding his +beauty he inwardly rejoiced, but his mouth found no words to utter. +He reflected, too, how that he was still dwelling among the +unconverted throng, whilst his son had advanced and become a saint; +and although he was his son, yet as he now occupied the position of +a religious lord, he knew not by what name to address him. +Furthermore he thought with himself how he had long ago desired +earnestly this interview, which now had happened unawares. Meantime +his son in silence took a seat, perfectly composed and with +unchanged countenance. Thus for some time sitting opposite each +other, with no expression of feeling the king reflected thus, "How +desolate and sad does he now make my heart, as that of a man, who, +fainting, longs for water, upon the road espies a fountain pure and +cold; with haste he speeds towards it and longs to drink, when +suddenly the spring dries up and disappears. Thus, now I see my +son, his well-known features as of old; but how estranged his +heart! and how his manner high and lifted up! There are no grateful +outflowings of soul, his feelings seem unwilling to express +themselves; cold and vacant there he sits; and like a thirsty man +before a dried-up fountain so am I."</p> +<p>Still distant thus they sat, with crowding thoughts rushing +through the mind, their eyes full met, but no responding joy; each +looking at the other, seemed as one thinking of a distant friend +who gazes by accident upon his pictured form. "That you," the king +reflected, "who of right might rule the world, even as that +Mândhâtri râga, should now go begging here and +there your food! what joy or charm has such a life as this? +Composed and firm as Sumeru, with marks of beauty bright as the +sunlight, with dignity of step like the ox king, fearless as any +lion, and yet receiving not the tribute of the world, but begging +food sufficient for your body's nourishment!"</p> +<p>Buddha, knowing his father's mind, still kept to his own filial +purpose. And then to open out his mind, and moved with pity for the +multitude of people, by his miraculous power <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page405" name="page405"></a>[pg 405]</span> he +rose in mid-air and with his hands appeared to grasp the sun and +moon. Then he walked to and fro in space, and underwent all kinds +of transformation, dividing his body into many parts, then joining +all in one again. Treading firm on water as on dry land, entering +the earth as in the water, passing through walls of stone without +impediment, from the right side and the left water and fire +produced! The king, his father, filled with joy, now dismissed all +thought of son and father; then upon a lotus throne, seated in +space, he (Buddha) for his father's sake declared the +law:—</p> +<p>"I know that the king's heart is full of love and recollection, +and that for his son's sake he adds grief to grief; but now let the +bands of love that bind him, thinking of his son, be instantly +unloosed and utterly destroyed. Ceasing from thoughts of love, let +your calmed mind receive from me, your son, religious nourishment +such as no son has offered yet to father: such do I present to you +the king, my father. And what no father yet has from a son +received, now from your son you may accept, a gift miraculous for +any mortal king to enjoy, and seldom had by any heavenly king! The +way superlative of life immortal I offer now the +Mahârâga; from accumulated deeds comes birth, and as +the result of deeds comes recompense. Knowing then that deeds bring +fruit, how diligent should you be to rid yourself of worldly deeds! +how careful that in the world your deeds should be only good and +gentle! Fondly affected by relationship or firmly bound by mutual +ties of love, at end of life the soul goes forth alone—then, +only our good deeds befriend us. Whirled in the five ways of the +wheel of life, three kinds of deeds produce three kinds of birth, +and these are caused by lustful hankering, each kind different in +its character. Deprive these of their power by the practice now of +proper deeds of body and of word; by such right preparation, day +and night strive to get rid of all confusion of the mind and +practise silent contemplation; only this brings profit in the end, +besides this there is no reality; for be sure! the three worlds are +but as the froth and bubble of the sea. Would you have pleasure, or +would you practise that which brings it near? then prepare yourself +by deeds that bring the fourth birth: but still the five ways in +the wheel of birth and death are like the uncertain wandering of +the stars; for heavenly beings too must suffer change: how shall we +find with men a hope of constancy; Nirvâna! that <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page406" name="page406"></a>[pg 406]</span> is the +chief rest; composure! that the best of all enjoyments! The five +indulgences enjoyed by mortal kings are fraught with danger and +distress, like dwelling with a poisonous snake; what pleasure, for +a moment, can there be in such a case? The wise man sees the world +as compassed round with burning flames; he fears always, nor can he +rest till he has banished, once for all, birth, age, and death. +Infinitely quiet is the place where the wise man finds his abode; +no need of arms or weapons there! no elephants or horses, chariots +or soldiers there! Subdued the power of covetous desire and angry +thoughts and ignorance, there's nothing left in the wide world to +conquer! Knowing what sorrow is, he cuts away the cause of sorrow. +This destroyed, by practising right means, rightly enlightened in +the four true principles, he casts off fear and escapes the evil +ways of birth."</p> +<p>The king when first he saw his wondrous spiritual power of +miracle rejoiced in heart; but now his feelings deeply affected by +the joy of hearing truth, he became a perfect vessel for receiving +true religion, and with clasped hands he breathed forth his praise: +"Wonderful indeed! the fruit of your resolve completed thus! +Wonderful indeed! the overwhelming sorrow passed away! Wonderful +indeed, this gain to me! At first my sorrowing heart was heavy, but +now my sorrow has brought forth only profit! Wonderful indeed! for +now, to-day, I reap the full fruit of a begotten son. It was right +he should reject the choice pleasures of a monarch, it was right he +should so earnestly and with diligence practise penance; it was +right he should cast off his family and kin; it was right he should +cut off every feeling of love and affection. The old Rishi kings +boasting of their penance gained no merit; but you, living in a +peaceful, quiet place, have done all and completed all; yourself at +rest now you give rest to others, moved by your mighty sympathy for +all that lives! If you had kept your first estate with men, and as +a Kakravartin monarch ruled the world, possessing then no +self-depending power of miracle, how could my soul have then +received deliverance? Then there would have been no excellent law +declared, causing me such joy to-day; no! had you been a universal +sovereign, the bonds of birth and death would still have been +unsevered, but now you have escaped from birth and death; the great +pain of transmigration overcome, you are able, for the sake of +every creature, widely to <span class="pagenum"><a id="page407" +name="page407"></a>[pg 407]</span> preach the law of life immortal, +and to exhibit thus your power miraculous, and show the deep and +wide power of wisdom; the grief of birth and death eternally +destroyed, you now have risen far above both gods and men. You +might have kept the holy state of a Kakravartin monarch; but no +such good as this would have resulted." Thus his words of praise +concluded, filled with increased reverence and religious love, he +who occupied the honored place of a royal father, bowed down +respectfully and did obeisance. Then all the people of the kingdom, +beholding Buddha's miraculous power, and having heard the deep and +excellent law, seeing, moreover, the king's grave reverence, with +clasped hands bowed down and worshipped. Possessed with deep +portentous thoughts, satiated with sorrows attached to lay-life, +they all conceived a wish to leave their homes. The princes, too, +of the Sâkya tribe, their minds enlightened to perceive the +perfect fruit of righteousness, entirely satiated with the +glittering joys of the world, forsaking home, rejoiced to join his +company. Ânanda, Nanda, Kin-pi, Anuruddha, Nandupananda, with +Kundadana, all these principal nobles and others of the Sâkya +family, from the teaching of Buddha became disciples and accepted +the law. The sons of the great minister of state, Udâyin +being the chief, with all the royal princes following in order +became recluses. Moreover, the son of Atalî, whose name was +Upâli, seeing all these princes and the sons of the chief +minister becoming hermits, his mind opening for conversion, he, +too, received the law of renunciation. The royal father seeing his +son possessing the great qualities of Riddhi, himself entered on +the calm flowings of thought, the gate of the true law of eternal +life. Leaving his kingly estate and country, lost in meditation, he +drank sweet dew. Practising his religious duties in solitude, +silent and contemplative he dwelt in his palace, a royal Rishi. +Tathâgata following a peaceable life, recognized fully by his +tribe, repeating the joyful news of religion, gladdened the hearts +of all his kinsmen hearing him. And now, it being the right time +for begging food, he entered the Kapila country; in the city all +the lords and ladies, in admiration, raised this chant of praise: +"Siddhârtha! fully enlightened! has come back again!" The +news flying quickly in and out of doors, the great and small came +forth to see him; every door and every window crowded, climbing on +shoulders, bending down the eyes, they gazed upon the marks +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page408" name="page408"></a>[pg +408]</span> of beauty on his person, shining and glorious! Wearing +his Kashâya garment outside, the glory of his person from +within shone forth, like the sun's perfect wheel; within, without, +he seemed one mass of splendor. Those who beheld were filled with +sympathizing joy; their hands conjoined, they wept for gladness; +and so they watched him as he paced with dignity the road, his form +collected, all his organs well-controlled! His lovely body +exhibiting the perfection of religious beauty, his dignified +compassion adding to their regretful joy; his shaven head, his +personal beauty sacrificed! his body clad in dark and sombre +vestment, his manner natural and plain, his unadorned appearance; +his circumspection as he looked upon the earth in walking! "He who +ought to have had held over him the feather-shade," they said, +"whose hands should grasp 'the reins of the flying dragon,' see how +he walks in daylight on the dusty road! holding his alms-dish, +going to beg! Gifted enough to tread down every enemy, lovely +enough to gladden woman's heart, with glittering vesture and with +godlike crown reverenced he might have been by servile crowds! But +now, his manly beauty hidden, with heart restrained, and outward +form subdued, rejecting the much-coveted and glorious apparel, his +shining body clad with garments gray, what aim, what object, now! +Hating the five delights that move the world, forsaking virtuous +wife and tender child, loving the solitude, he wanders friendless; +hard, indeed, for virtuous wife through the long night, cherishing +her grief; and now to hear he is a hermit! She inquires not now of +the royal Suddhodana if he has seen his son or not! But as she +views his beauteous person, to think his altered form is now a +hermit's! hating his home, still full of love; his father, too, +what rest for him! And then his loving child Râhula, weeping +with constant sorrowful desire! And now to see no change, or +heart-relenting; and this the end of such enlightenment! All these +attractive marks, the proofs of a religious calling, whereas, when +born, all said, these are marks of a 'great man,' who ought to +receive tribute from the four seas! And now to see what he has come +to! all these predictive words vain and illusive."</p> +<p>Thus they talked together, the gossiping multitude, with +confused accents. Tathâgata, his heart unaffected, felt no +joy and no regret. But he was moved by equal love to all the world, +his one desire that men should escape the grief of lust; to cause +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page409" name="page409"></a>[pg +409]</span> the root of virtue to increase, and for the sake of +coming ages, to leave the marks of self-denial behind him, to +dissipate the clouds and mists of sensual desire.</p> +<p>He entered, thus intentioned, on the town to beg. He accepted +food both good or bad, whatever came, from rich or poor, without +distinction; having filled his alms-dish, he then returned back to +the solitude.</p> +<h4><a id="life-iv-receiving" name="life-iv-receiving">Receiving +the Getavana Vihâra</a></h4> +<p>The lord of the world, having converted the people of +Kapilavastu according to their several circumstances, his work +being done, he went with the great body of his followers, and +directed his way to the country of Kosala, where dwelt King +Prasenagit. The Getavana was now fully adorned, and its halls and +courts carefully prepared. The fountains and streams flowed through +the garden which glittered with flowers and fruit; rare birds sat +by the pools, and on the land they sang in sweet concord, according +to their kind.</p> +<p>Beautiful in every way as the palace of Mount Kilas, such was +the Getavana. Then the noble friend of the orphans, surrounded by +his attendants, who met him on the way, scattering flowers and +burning incense, invited the lord to enter the Getavana. In his +hand he carried a golden dragon-pitcher, and bending low upon his +knees he poured the flowing water as a sign of the gift of the +Getavana Vihâra for the use of the priesthood throughout the +world. The lord then received it, with the prayer that "overruling +all evil influences it might give the kingdom permanent rest, and +that the happiness of Anâthapindada might flow out in +countless streams." Then the king Prasenagit, hearing that the lord +had come, with his royal equipage went to the Getavana to worship +at the lord's feet. Having arrived and taken a seat on one side, +with clasped hands he spake to Buddha thus:—</p> +<p>"O that my unworthy and obscure kingdom should thus suddenly +have met such fortune! For how can misfortunes or frequent +calamities possibly affect it, in the presence of so great a man? +And now that I have seen your sacred features, I may perhaps +partake of the converting streams of your teaching. A town although +it is composed of many sections, yet both ignoble and holy persons +may enter the surpassing stream; and <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page410" name="page410"></a>[pg 410]</span> so the wind which fans +the perfumed grove causes the scents to unite and form one pleasant +breeze; and as the birds which collect on Mount Sumeru are many, +and the various shades that blend in shining gold, so an assembly +may consist of persons of different capacities: individually +insignificant, but a glorious body. The desert master by nourishing +the Rishi, procured a birth as the three leg, or foot star; worldly +profit is fleeting and perishable, religious profit is eternal and +inexhaustible; a man though a king is full of trouble, a common +man, who is holy, has everlasting rest."</p> +<p>Buddha knowing the state of the king's heart—that he +rejoiced in religion as Sakrarâga—considered the two +obstacles that weighted him—viz., too great love of money and +of external pleasures, then seizing the opportunity, and knowing +the tendencies of his heart, he began, for the king's sake, to +preach: "Even those who, by evil karma, have been born in low +degree, when they see a person of virtuous character, feel +reverence for him; how much rather ought an independent king, who +by his previous conditions of life has acquired much merit, when he +encounters Buddha, to conceive even more reverence. Nor is it +difficult to understand, that a country should enjoy more rest and +peace, by the presence of Buddha, than if he were not to dwell +therein. And now, as I briefly declare my law, let the +Mahârâga listen and weigh my words, and hold fast that +which I deliver! See now the end of my perfected merit, my life is +done, there is for me no further body or spirit, but freedom from +all ties of kith or kin! The good or evil deeds we do from first to +last follow us as shadows; most exalted then the deeds of the king +of the law. The prince who cherishes his people, in the present +life gains renown, and hereafter ascends to heaven; but by +disobedience and neglect of duty, present distress is felt and +future misery! As in old times Lui-'ma râga, by obeying the +precepts, was born in heaven, whilst Kin-pu râga, doing +wickedly, at the end of life was born in misery. Now then, for the +sake of the great king, I will briefly relate the good and evil +law. The great requirement is a loving heart! to regard the people +as we do an only son, not to oppress, not to destroy; to keep in +due check every member of the body, to forsake unrighteous doctrine +and walk in the straight path; not to exalt one's self by treading +down others, but to comfort and befriend those in suffering; not to +exercise one's self in false theories, <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page411" name="page411"></a>[pg 411]</span> nor to ponder much on +kingly dignity, nor to listen to the smooth words of false +teachers. Not to vex one's self by austerities, not to exceed or +transgress the right rules of kingly conduct, but to meditate on +Buddha and weigh his righteous law, and to put down and adjust all +that is contrary to religion; to exhibit true superiority by +virtuous conduct and the highest exercise of reason, to meditate +deeply on the vanity of earthly things, to realize the fickleness +of life by constant recollection; to exalt the mind to the highest +point of reflection, to seek sincere faith (truth) with firm +purpose; to retain an inward sense of happiness resulting from +one's self, and to look forward to increased happiness hereafter; +to lay up a good name for distant ages, this will secure the favor +of Tathâgata, as men now loving sweet fruit will hereafter be +praised by their descendants. There is a way of darkness out of +light, there is a way of light out of darkness; there is darkness +which follows after the gloom, there is a light which causes the +brightening of light. The wise man, leaving first principles, +should go on to get more light; evil words will be repeated far and +wide by the multitude, but there are few to follow good direction: +It is impossible, however, to avoid result of works, the doer +cannot escape; if there had been no first works, there had been in +the end no result of doing—no reward for good, no hereafter +joy; but because works are done, there is no escape. Let us then +practise good works; let us inspect our thoughts that we do no +evil, because as we sow so we reap. As when enclosed in a +four-stone mountain, there is no escape or place of refuge for +anyone, so within this mountain-wall of old age, birth, disease, +and death, there is no escape for the world. Only by considering +and practising the true law can we escape from this sorrow-piled +mountain. There is, indeed, no constancy in the world, the end of +the pleasures of sense is as the lightning flash, whilst old age +and death are as the piercing bolts; what profit, then, in doing +iniquity! All the ancient conquering kings, who were as gods on +earth, thought by their strength to overcome decay; but after a +brief life they too disappeared. The Kalpa-fire will melt Mount +Sumeru, the water of the ocean will be dried up, how much less can +our human frame, which is as a bubble, expect to endure for long +upon the earth! The fierce wind scatters the thick mists, the sun's +rays encircle Mount Sumeru, the fierce fire licks up the place of +moisture, so things are ever <span class="pagenum"><a id="page412" +name="page412"></a>[pg 412]</span> born once more to be destroyed! +The body is a thing of unreality, kept through the suffering of the +long night pampered by wealth, living idly and in carelessness, +death suddenly comes and it is carried away as rotten wood in the +stream! The wise man, expecting these changes, with diligence +strives against sloth; the dread of birth and death acts as a spur +to keep him from lagging on the road; he frees himself from +engagements, he is not occupied with self-pleasing, he is not +entangled by any of the cares of life, he holds to no business, +seeks no friendships, engages in no learned career, nor yet wholly +separates himself from it; for his learning is the wisdom of +not-perceiving wisdom, but yet perceiving that which tells him of +his own impermanence; having a body, yet keeping aloof from +defilement, he learns to regard defilement as the greatest evil. He +knows that, though born in the Arûpa world, there is yet no +escape from the changes of time; his learning, then, is to acquire +the changeless body; for where no change is, there is peace. Thus +the possession of this changeful body is the foundation of all +sorrow. Therefore, again, all who are wise make this their +aim—to seek a bodiless condition; all the various orders of +sentient creatures, from the indulgence of lust, derive pain; +therefore all those in this condition ought to conceive a heart, +loathing lust; putting away and loathing this condition, then they +shall receive no more pain; though born in a state with or without +an external form, the certainty of future change is the root of +sorrow; for so long as there is no perfect cessation of personal +being, there can be, certainly, no absence of personal desire; +beholding, in this way, the character of the three worlds, their +inconstancy and unreality, the presence of ever-consuming pain, how +can the wise man seek enjoyment therein? When a tree is burning +with fierce flames how can the birds congregate therein? The wise +man, who is regarded as an enlightened sage, without this knowledge +is ignorant; having this knowledge, then true wisdom dawns; without +it, there is no enlightenment. To get this wisdom is the one aim, +to neglect it is the mistake of life. All the teaching of the +schools should be centred here; without it is no true reason. To +recount this excellent system is not for those who dwell in family +connection; nor is it, on that account, not to be said, for +religion concerns a man individually. Burned up with sorrow, by +entering the cool stream, all may obtain relief and ease; the light +of a <span class="pagenum"><a id="page413" name="page413"></a>[pg +413]</span> lamp in a dark coom lights up equally objects of all +colors, so is it with those who devote themselves to +religion—there is no distinction between the professed +disciple and the unlearned. Sometimes the mountain-dweller falls +into ruin, sometimes the humble householder mounts up to be a +Rishi; the want of faith is the engulfing sea, the presence of +disorderly belief is the rolling flood. The tide of lust carries +away the world; involved in its eddies there is no escape; wisdom +is the handy boat, reflection is the hold-fast. The drum-call of +religion, the barrier of thought, these alone can rescue from the +sea of ignorance."</p> +<p>At this time the king, sincerely attentive to the words of the +All-wise, conceived a distaste for the world's glitter and was +dissatisfied with the pleasures of royalty, even as one avoids a +drunken elephant, or returns to right reason after a debauch. Then +all the heretical teachers, seeing that the king was well affected +to Buddha, besought the king, with one voice, to call on Buddha to +exhibit his miraculous gifts. Then the king addressed the lord of +the world: "I pray you, grant their request!" Then Buddha silently +acquiesced. And now all the different professors of religion, the +doctors who boasted of their spiritual power, came together in a +body to where Buddha was; then he manifested before them his power +of miracle: ascending up into the air, he remained seated, +diffusing his glory as the light of the sun he shed abroad the +brightness of his presence. The heretical teachers were all +abashed, the people all were filled with faith. Then for the sake +of preaching to his mother, he forthwith ascended to the heaven of +the thirty-three gods, and for three months dwelt in heavenly +mansions. There he converted the occupants of that abode, and +having concluded his pious mission to his mother, the time of his +sojourn in heaven finished, he forthwith returned, the angels +accompanying him on wing; he travelled down a seven-gemmed ladder, +and again arrived at Gambudvîpa. Stepping down he alighted on +the spot where all the Buddhas return, countless hosts of angels +accompanied him, conveying with them their palace abodes as a +gift.</p> +<p>The people of Gambudvipa, with closed hands, looking up with +reverence, beheld him.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page414" name="page414"></a>[pg +414]</span> +<h4><a id="life-iv-escaping" name="life-iv-escaping">Escaping the +Drunken Elephant and Devadatta</a></h4> +<p>Having instructed his mother in heaven with all the angel host, +and once more returned to men, he went about converting those +capable of it. Gutika, Gîvaka, Sula, and Kûrna, the +noble's son Anga and the son of the fearless king Abhaya Nyagrodha +and the rest; Srîkutaka, Upâli the Nirgrantha; all +these were thoroughly converted. So also the king of +Gandhâra, whose name was Fo-kia-lo; he, having heard the +profound and excellent law, left his country and became a recluse. +So also the demons Himapati and Vâtagiri, on the mountain +Vibhâra, were subdued and converted. The Brahmakârin +Prayantika, on the mountain Vagana, by the subtle meaning of half a +gâtha, he convinced and caused to rejoice in faith; the +village of Dânamati had one Kûtadanta, the head of the +twice-born Brahmans; at this time he was sacrificing countless +victims; Tathâgata by means converted him, and caused him to +enter the true path. On Mount Bhatika a heavenly being of eminent +distinction, whose name was Pañkasikha, receiving the law, +attained Dhyâna; in the village of Vainushta, he converted +the mother of the celebrated Nanda. In the town of Añkavari, +he subdued the powerful mahâbâla spirit; Bhanabhadra, +Sronadanta, the malevolent and powerful Nâgas, the king of +the country and his harem, received together the true law, as he +opened to them the gate of immortality. In the celebrated Viggi +village, Kina and Sila, earnestly seeking to be born in heaven, he +converted and made to enter the right path. The Angulimâla, +in that village of Sumu, through the exhibition of his divine +power, he converted and subdued; there was that noble's son, +Purigîvana, rich in wealth and stores as Punavatî, +directly he was brought to Buddha, accepting the doctrine, he +became vastly liberal. So in that village of Padatti he converted +the celebrated Patali, and also Patala, brothers, and both demons. +In Bhidhavali there were two Brahmans, one called Great-age, the +other Brahma-age. These by the power of a discourse he subdued, and +caused them to attain knowledge of the true law; when he came to +Vaisâlî, he converted all the Raksha demons, and the +lion of the Likkhavis, and all the Likkhavis, Saka the Nirgrantha, +all these he caused to attain the true law. Hama kinkhava had a +demon Potala, and another Potalaka, these he converted. +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page415" name="page415"></a>[pg +415]</span> Again he came to Mount Ala, to convert the demon Alava, +and a second called Kumâra, and a third Asidaka; then going +back to Mount Gaga he converted the demon Kañgana, and Kamo +the Yaksha, with the sister and son. Then coming to Benares, he +converted the celebrated Katyâyana; then afterwards going, by +his miraculous power, to Sruvala, he converted the merchants +Davakin and Nikin, and received their sandalwood hall, exhaling its +fragrant odors till now. Going then to Mahîvatî, he +converted the Rishi Kapila, and the Muni remained with him; his +foot stepping on the stone, the thousand-spoked twin-wheels +appeared, which never could be erased.</p> +<p>Then he came to the place Po-lo-na, where he converted the demon +Po-lo-na; coming to the country of Mathurâ, he converted the +demon Godama. In the Thurakusati he also converted Pindapâla; +coming to the village of Vairañga, he converted the Brahman; +in the village of Kalamasa, he converted Savasasin, and also that +celebrated Agirivasa. Once more returning to the +Srâvastî country, he converted the Gautamas +Gâtisruna and Dakâtili; returning to the Kosala +country, he converted the leaders of the heretics Vakrapali and all +the Brahmakârins. Coming to Satavaka, in the forest retreat, +he converted the heretical Rishis, and constrained them to enter +the path of the Buddha Rishi. Coming to the country of +Ayodhyâ, he converted the demon Nâgas; coming to the +country of Kimbila, he converted the two Nâgarâgas; one +called Kimbila, the other called Kâlaka. Again coming to the +Vaggi country, he converted the Yaksha demon, whose name was Pisha, +the father and mother of Nâgara, and the great noble also, he +caused to believe gladly in the true law. Coming to the +Kausârubî country, he converted Goshira, and the two +Upasikâs, Vaguttarâ and her companion Uvari; and +besides these, many others, one after the other. Coming to the +country of Gandhâra he converted the Nâga +Apalâla; thus in due order all these air-going, water-loving +natures he completely converted and saved, as the sun when he +shines upon some dark and sombre cave. At this time Devadatta, +seeing the remarkable excellences of Buddha, conceived in his heart +a jealous hatred; losing all power of thoughtful abstraction he +ever plotted wicked schemes, to put a stop to the spread of the +true law; ascending the Gridhrakûta mount he rolled down a +stone to hit Buddha; the stone divided into two parts, each part +passing <span class="pagenum"><a id="page416" name= +"page416"></a>[pg 416]</span> on either side of him. Again, on the +royal highway he loosed a drunken, vicious elephant. With his +raised trunk trumpeting as thunder he ran, his maddened breath +raising a cloud around him, his wild pace like the rushing wind, to +be avoided more than the fierce tempest; his trunk and tusks and +tail and feet, when touched only, brought instant death. Thus he +ran through the streets and ways of Râgagriha, madly wounding +and killing men; their corpses lay across the road, their brains +and blood scattered afar. Then all the men and women filled with +fear, remained indoors; throughout the city there was universal +terror, only piteous shrieks and cries were heard; beyond the city +men were running fast, hiding themselves in holes and dens. +Tathâgata, with five hundred followers, at this time came +towards the city; from tops of gates and every window, men, fearing +for Buddha, begged him not to advance; Tathâgata, his heart +composed and quiet, with perfect self-possession, thinking only on +the sorrow caused by hate, his loving heart desiring to appease it, +followed by guardian angel-nâgas, slowly approached the +maddened elephant. The Bhikshus all deserted him, Ânanda only +remained by his side; joined by every tie of duty, his steadfast +nature did not shake or quail. The drunken elephant, savage and +spiteful, beholding Buddha, came to himself at once, and bending, +worshipped at his feet just as a mighty mountain falls to earth. +With lotus hand the master pats his head, even as the moon lights +up a flying cloud. And now, as he lay crouched before the master's +feet, on his account he speaks some sacred words: "The elephant +cannot hurt the mighty dragon, hard it is to fight with such a one; +the elephant desiring so to do will in the end obtain no happy +state of birth; deceived by lust, anger, and delusion, which are +hard to conquer, but which Buddha has conquered. Now, then, this +very day, give up this lust, this anger and delusion! You! +swallowed up in sorrow's mud! if not now given up, they will +increase yet more and grow."</p> +<p>The elephant, hearing Buddha's words, escaped from drunkenness, +rejoiced in heart; his mind and body both found rest, as one +athirst finds joy who drinks of heavenly dew. The elephant being +thus converted, the people around were filled with joy; they all +raised a cry of wonder at the miracle, and brought their offerings +of every kind. The scarcely-good arrived at middle-virtue, the +middling-good passed to a higher grade, the <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page417" name="page417"></a>[pg 417]</span> +unbelieving now became believers, those who believed were +strengthened in their faith. Agâtasatru, mighty king, seeing +how Buddha conquered the drunken elephant, was moved at heart by +thoughts profound; then, filled with joy, he found a twofold growth +of piety. Tathâgata, by exercise of virtue, exhibited all +kinds of spiritual powers; thus he subdued and harmonized the minds +of all, and caused them in due order to attain religious truth, and +through the kingdom virtuous seeds were sown, as at the first when +men began to live. But Devadatta, mad with rage, because he was +ensnared by his own wickedness, at first by power miraculous able +to fly, now fallen, dwells in lowest hell.</p> +<h4><a id="life-iv-amra" name="life-iv-amra">The Lady Âmra +Sees Buddha</a></h4> +<p>The lord of the world having finished his wide work of +conversion conceived in himself a desire for Nirvana. Accordingly +proceeding from the city of Râgagriha, he went on towards the +town of Pâtaliputra.</p> +<p>Having arrived there, he dwelt in the famous Pâtali +ketiya. Now this town of Pâtaliputra is the frontier town of +Magadha, defending the outskirts of the country. Ruling the country +was a Brahman of wide renown and great learning in the scriptures; +and there was also an overseer of the country, to take the omens of +the land with respect to rest or calamity. At this time the king of +Magadha sent to that officer of inspection a messenger, to warn and +command him to raise fortifications in the neighborhood of the town +for its security and protection. And now the lord of the world, as +they were raising the fortifications, predicted that in consequence +of the Devas and spirits who protected and kept the land, the place +should continue strong and free from calamity or destruction. On +this the heart of the overseer greatly rejoiced, and he made +religious offerings to Buddha, the law, and the church. Buddha now +leaving the city gate went on towards the river Ganges. The +overseer, from his deep reverence for Buddha, named the gate +through which the lord had passed the "Gautama gate." Meanwhile the +people all by the side of the river Ganges went forth to pay +reverence to the lord of the world. They prepared for him every +kind of religious offering, and each one with his gaudy boat +invited him to cross over. The lord of the world, considering +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page418" name="page418"></a>[pg +418]</span> the number of the boats, feared lest by an appearance +of partiality in accepting one, he might hurt the minds of all the +rest. Therefore in a moment, by his spiritual power, he transported +himself and the great congregation across the river, leaving this +shore he passed at once to that, signifying thereby the passage in +the boat of wisdom from this world to Nirvâna: a boat large +enough to transport all that lives to save the world, even as +without a boat he crossed without hindrance the river Ganges. Then +all the people on the bank of the river, with one voice, raised a +rapturous shout, and all declared this ford should be called the +Gautama ford. As the city gate is called the Gautama gate, so this +Gautama ford is so known through ages; and shall be so called +through generations to come. Then Tathâgata, going forward +still, came to that celebrated Kuli village, where he preached and +converted many; again he went on to the Nâdi village, where +many deaths had occurred among the people. The friends of the dead +then came to the lord and asked, "Where have our friends and +relatives deceased, now gone to be born, after this life ended?" +Buddha, knowing well the sequence of deeds, answered each according +to his several needs. Then going forward to Vaisâlî, he +located himself in the Âmrâ grove. The celebrated Lady +Âmrâ, well affected to Buddha, went to that garden +followed by her waiting women, whilst the children from the schools +paid her respect. Thus with circumspection and self-restraint, her +person lightly and plainly clothed, putting away all her ornamented +robes and all adornments of scent and flowers, as a prudent and +virtuous woman goes forth to perform her religious duties, so she +went on, beautiful to look upon, like any Devî in appearance. +Buddha seeing the lady in the distance approaching, spake thus to +all the Bhikshus:—</p> +<p>"This woman is indeed exceedingly beautiful, able to fascinate +the minds of the religious; now then, keep your recollection +straight! let wisdom keep your mind in subjection! Better fall into +the fierce tiger's mouth, or under the sharp knife of the +executioner, than to dwell with a woman and excite in yourselves +lustful thoughts. A woman is anxious to exhibit her form and shape, +whether walking, standing, sitting, or sleeping. Even when +represented as a picture, she desires most of all to set off the +blandishments of her beauty, and thus to rob men of their steadfast +heart! How then ought you to guard <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page419" name="page419"></a>[pg 419]</span> yourselves? By +regarding her tears and her smiles as enemies, her stooping form, +her hanging arms, and all her disentangled hair as toils designed +to entrap man's heart. Then how much more should you suspect her +studied, amorous beauty; when she displays her dainty outline, her +richly ornamented form, and chatters gayly with the foolish man! +Ah, then! what perturbation and what evil thoughts, not seeing +underneath the horrid, tainted shape, the sorrows of impermanence, +the impurity, the unreality! Considering these as the reality, all +lustful thoughts die out; rightly considering these, within their +several limits, not even an Apsaras would give you joy. But yet the +power of lust is great with men, and is to be feared withal; take +then the bow of earnest perseverance, and the sharp arrow points of +wisdom, cover your head with the helmet of right-thought, and fight +with fixed resolve against the five desires. Better far with +red-hot iron pins bore out both your eyes, than encourage in +yourselves lustful thoughts, or look upon a woman's form with such +desires. Lust beclouding a man's heart, confused with woman's +beauty, the mind is dazed, and at the end of life that man must +fall into an 'evil way.' Fear then the sorrow of that 'evil way!' +and harbor not the deceits of women. The senses not confined within +due limits, and the objects of sense not limited as they ought to +be, lustful and covetous thoughts grow up between the two, because +the senses and their objects are unequally yoked. Just as when two +ploughing oxen are yoked together to one halter and cross-bar, but +not together pulling as they go, so is it when the senses and their +objects are unequally matched. Therefore, I say, restrain the +heart, give it no unbridled license."</p> +<p>Thus Buddha, for the Bhikshus' sake, explained the law in +various ways. And now that Âmrâ lady gradually +approached the presence of the lord; seeing Buddha seated beneath a +tree, lost in thought and wholly absorbed by it, she recollected +that he had a great compassionate heart, and therefore she believed +he would in pity receive her garden grove. With steadfast heart and +joyful mien and rightly governed feelings, her outward form +restrained, her heart composed, bowing her head at Buddha's feet, +she took her place as the lord bade her, whilst he in sequence +right declared the law:—</p> +<p>"Your heart, O lady! seems composed and quieted, your form +without external ornaments; young in years and rich, you +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page420" name="page420"></a>[pg +420]</span> seem well-talented as you are beautiful. That one, so +gifted, should by faith be able to receive the law of righteousness +is, indeed, a rare thing in the world! The wisdom of a master +derived from former births, enables him to accept the law with joy: +this is not rare; but that a woman, weak of will, scant in wisdom, +deeply immersed in love, should yet be able to delight in piety, +this, indeed, is very rare. A man born in the world, by proper +thought comes to delight in goodness, he recognizes the +impermanence of wealth and beauty, and looks upon religion as his +best ornament. He feels that this alone can remedy the ills of life +and change the fate of young and old; the evil destiny that cramps +another's life cannot affect him, living righteously; always +removing that which excites desire, he is strong in the absence of +desire; seeking to find, not what vain thoughts suggest, but that +to which religion points him. Relying on external help, he has +sorrow; self-reliant, there is strength and joy. But in the case of +woman, from another comes the labor, and the nurture of another's +child. Thus then should everyone consider well, and loathe and put +away the form of woman."</p> +<p>Âmrâ, the lady, hearing the law, rejoiced. Her +wisdom strengthened, and still more enlightened, she was enabled to +cast off desire, and of herself dissatisfied with woman's form, was +freed from all polluting thoughts. Though still constrained to +woman's form, filled with religious joy, she bowed at Buddha's feet +and spoke: "Oh! may the lord, in deep compassion, receive from me, +though ignorant, this offering, and so fulfil my earnest vow." Then +Buddha knowing her sincerity, and for the good of all that lives, +silently accepted her request, and caused in her full joy, in +consequence; whilst all her friends attentive, grew in knowledge, +and, after adoration, went back home.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page421" name="page421"></a>[pg +421]</span> +<h3><a id="life-v" name="life-v">CHAPTER V</a></h3> +<h4><a id="life-v-power" name="life-v-power">By Spiritual Power +Fixing His Term of Years</a></h4> +<p>At this time the great men among the Likkhavis, hearing that the +lord of the world had entered their country and was located in the +Âmrâ garden, went thither riding in their gaudy +chariots with silken canopies, and clothed in gorgeous robes, both +blue and red and yellow and white, each one with his own +cognizance. Accompanied by their body guard surrounding them, they +went; others prepared the road in front; and with their heavenly +crowns and flower-bespangled robes they rode, richly dight with +every kind of costly ornament. Their noble forms resplendent +increased the glory of that garden grove; now taking off the five +distinctive ornaments, alighting from their chariots, they advanced +afoot. Slowly thus, with bated breath, their bodies reverent they +advanced. Then they bowed down and worshipped Buddha's foot, and, a +great multitude, they gathered round the lord, shining as the sun's +disc, full of radiance.</p> +<p>There was the lion Likkhavi, among the Likkhavis the senior, his +noble form bold as the lion's, standing there with lion eyes, but +without the lion's pride, taught by the Sâkya lion, who thus +began: "Great and illustrious personages, famed as a tribe for +grace and comeliness! put aside, I pray, the world's high thoughts, +and now accept the abounding lustre of religious teaching. Wealth +and beauty, scented flowers and ornaments like these, are not to be +compared for grace with moral rectitude! Your land productive and +in peaceful quiet—this is your great renown; but true +gracefulness of body and a happy people depend upon the heart +well-governed. Add but to this a reverent feeling for religion, +then a people's fame is at its height! a fertile land and all the +dwellers in it, as a united body, virtuous! To-day then learn this +virtue, cherish with carefulness the people, lead them as a body in +the right way of rectitude, even <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page422" name="page422"></a>[pg 422]</span> as the ox-king leads +the way across the river-ford. If a man with earnest recollection +ponder on things of this world and the next, he will consider how +by right behavior right morals he prepares, as the result of merit, +rest in either world. For all in this world will exceedingly revere +him, his fame will spread abroad through every part, the virtuous +will rejoice to call him friend, and the outflowings of his +goodness will know no bounds forever. The precious gems found in +the desert wilds are all from earth engendered; moral conduct, +likewise, as the earth, is the great source of all that is good. By +this, without the use of wings, we fly through space, we cross the +river needing not a handy boat; but without this a man will find it +hard indeed to cross the stream of sorrow or stay the rush of +sorrow. As when a tree with lovely flowers and fruit, pierced by +some sharp instrument, is hard to climb, so is it with the +much-renowned for strength and beauty, who break through the laws +of moral rectitude! Sitting upright in the royal palace, the heart +of the king was grave and majestic; with a view to gain the merit +of a pure and moral life, he became a convert of a great Rishi. +With garments dyed and clad with hair, shaved, save one spiral +knot, he led a hermit's life, but, as he did not rule himself with +strict morality, he was immersed in suffering and sorrow. Each morn +and eve he used the three ablutions, sacrificed to fire and +practised strict austerity, let his body be in filth as the brute +beast, passed through fire and water, dwelt amidst the craggy +rocks, inhaled the wind, drank from the Ganges' stream, controlled +himself with bitter fasts—but all! far short of moral +rectitude. For though a man inure himself to live as any brute, he +is not on that account a vessel of the righteous law; whilst he who +breaks the laws of right behavior invites detraction, and is one no +virtuous man can love; his heart is ever filled with boding fear, +his evil name pursues him as a shadow. Having neither profit nor +advantage in this world, how can he in the next world reap content? +Therefore the wise man ought to practise pure behavior; passing +through the wilderness of birth and death, pure conduct is to him a +virtuous guide. From pure behavior comes self-power, which frees a +man from many dangers; pure conduct, like a ladder, enables us to +climb to heaven. Those who found themselves on right behavior, cut +off the source of pain and grief; but they who by transgression +destroy this mind, may mourn the loss of every virtuous principle. +To <span class="pagenum"><a id="page423" name="page423"></a>[pg +423]</span> gain this end first banish every ground of 'self'; this +thought of 'self' shades every lofty aim, even as the ashes that +conceal the fire, treading on which the foot is burned. Pride and +indifference shroud this heart, too, as the sun is obscured by the +piled-up clouds; supercilious thoughts root out all modesty of +mind, and sorrow saps the strongest will. As age and disease waste +youthful beauty, so pride of self destroys all virtue; the Devas +and Asuras, thus from jealousy and envy, raised mutual strife. The +loss of virtue and of merit which we mourn, proceeds from 'pride of +self' throughout; and as I am a conqueror amid conquerors, so he +who conquers self is one with me. He who little cares to conquer +self, is but a foolish master; beauty, or earthly things, family +renown and such things, all are utterly inconstant, and what is +changeable can give no rest of interval. If in the end the law of +entire destruction is exacted, what use is there in indolence and +pride? Covetous desire is the greatest source of sorrow, appearing +as a friend in secret 'tis our enemy. As a fierce fire excited from +within a house, so is the fire of covetous desire: the burning +flame of covetous desire is fiercer far than fire which burns the +world. For fire may be put out by water in excess, but what can +overpower the fire of lust? The fire which fiercely burns the +desert grass dies out, and then the grass will grow again; but when +the fire of lust burns up the heart, then how hard for true +religion there to dwell! for lust seeks worldly pleasures, these +pleasures add to an impure karman; by this evil karman a man falls +into perdition, and so there is no greater enemy to man than lust. +Lusting, man gives way to amorous indulgence, by this he is led to +practise every kind of lustful longing; indulging thus, he gathers +frequent sorrow. No greater evil is there than lust. Lust is a dire +disease, and the foolish master stops the medicine of wisdom. The +study of heretical books not leading to right thought, causes the +lustful heart to increase and grow, for these books are not correct +on the points of impermanency, the non-existence of self, and any +object ground for 'self.' But a true and right apprehension through +the power of wisdom, is effectual to destroy that false desire, and +therefore our object should be to practise this true apprehension. +Right apprehension once produced then there is deliverance from +covetous desire, for a false estimate of excellency produces a +covetous desire to excel, whilst a false view of demerit produces +anger and regret; <span class="pagenum"><a id="page424" name= +"page424"></a>[pg 424]</span> but the idea of excelling and also of +inferiority (in the sense of demerit) both destroyed, the desire to +excel and also anger (on account of inferiority) are destroyed. +Anger! how it changes the comely face, how it destroys the +loveliness of beauty! Anger dulls the brightness of the eye, chokes +all desire to hear the principles of truth, cuts and divides the +principle of family affection, impoverishes and weakens every +worldly aim. Therefore let anger be subdued, yield not to the angry +impulse; he who can hold his wild and angry heart is well entitled +'illustrious charioteer.' For men call such a one 'illustrious +team-breaker' who can with bands restrain the unbroken steed; so +anger not subdued, its fire unquenched, the sorrow of repentance +burns like fire. A man who allows wild passion to arise within, +himself first burns his heart, then after burning adds the wind +thereto which ignites the fire again, or not, as the case may be. +The pain of birth, old age, disease, and death, press heavily upon +the world, but adding 'passion' to the score, what is this but to +increase our foes when pressed by foes? But rather, seeing how the +world is pressed by throngs of grief, we ought to encourage in us +love, and as the world produces grief on grief, so should we add as +antidotes unnumbered remedies." Tathâgata, illustrious in +expedients, according to the disease, thus briefly spoke; even as a +good physician in the world, according to the disease, prescribes +his medicine. And now the Likkhavis, hearing the sermon preached by +Buddha, arose forthwith and bowed at Buddha's feet, and joyfully +they placed them on their heads. Then they asked both Buddha and +the congregation on the morrow to accept their poor religious +offerings. But Buddha told them that already Âmrâ had +invited him. On this the Likkhavis, harboring thoughts of pride and +disappointment, said: "Why should that one take away our profit?" +But, knowing Buddha's heart to be impartial and fair, they once +again regained their cheerfulness. Tathâgata, moreover, nobly +seizing the occasion, appeasing them, produced within a joyful +heart; and so subdued, their grandeur of appearance came again, as +when a snake subdued by charms glistens with shining skin. And now, +the night being passed, the signs of dawn appearing, Buddha and the +great assembly go to the abode of Âmrâ, and having +received her entertainment, they went on to the village of Pi-nau, +and there he rested during the rainy season; the three months' rest +being ended, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page425" name= +"page425"></a>[pg 425]</span> again he returned to Vaisâli, +and dwelt beside the Monkey Tank; sitting there in a shady grove, +he shed a flood of glory from his person; aroused thereby, +Mâra Pisuna came to the place where Buddha was, and with +closed palms exhorted him thus: "Formerly, beside the +Nairañganâ river, when you had accomplished your true +and steadfast aim, you said, 'When I have done all I have to do, +then will I pass at once to Nirvâna'; and now you have done +all you have to do, you should, as then you said, pass to +Nirvâna."</p> +<p>Then Buddha spake to Pisuna: "The time of my complete +deliverance is at hand, but let three months elapse, and I shall +reach Nirvâna." Then Mâra, knowing that Tathâgata +had fixed the time for his emancipation, his earnest wish being +thus fulfilled, joyous returned to his abode in heaven. +Tathâgata, seated beneath a tree, straightway was lost in +ecstasy, and willingly rejected his allotted years, and by his +spiritual power fixed the remnant of his life. On this, +Tathâgata thus giving up his years, the great earth shook and +quaked through all the limits of the universe; great flames of fire +were seen around, the tops of Sumeru were shaken, from heaven there +rained showers of flying stones, a whirling tempest rose on every +side, the trees were rooted up and fell, heavenly music rose with +plaintive notes, whilst angels for a time were joyless. Buddha +rising from out his ecstasy, announced to all the world: "Now have +I given up my term of years; I live henceforth by power of faith; +my body like a broken chariot stands, no further cause of 'coming' +or of 'going'; completely freed from the three worlds, I go +enfranchised, as a chicken from its egg."</p> +<h4><a id="life-v-differences" name="life-v-differences">The +Differences of the Likkhavis</a></h4> +<p>The venerable Ânanda, seeing the earth shaking on every +side, his heart was tearful and his hair erect; he asked the cause +thereof of Buddha.</p> +<p>Buddha replied: "Ânanda! I have fixed three months to end +my life, the rest of life I utterly give up; this is the reason why +the earth is greatly shaken."</p> +<p>Ânanda, hearing the instruction of Buddha, was moved with +pity and the tears flowed down his face, even as when an elephant +of mighty strength shakes the sandal-wood tree. Thus was +Ânanda shaken and his mind perturbed, whilst down his +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page426" name="page426"></a>[pg +426]</span> cheeks the tears, like drops of perfume, flowed; so +much he loved the lord his master, so full of kindness was he, and, +as yet, not freed from earthly thoughts. Thinking then on these +four things alone, he gave his grief full liberty, nor could he +master it, but said, "Now I hear the lord declare that he has fixed +for good his time to die, my body fails, my strength is gone, my +mind is dazed, my soul is all discordant, and all the words of +truth forgotten; a wild deserted waste seems heaven and earth. Have +pity! save me, master! perish not so soon! Perished with bitter +cold, I chanced upon a fire—forthwith it disappeared. +Wandering amid the wilds of grief and pain, deceived, confused, I +lost my way—suddenly a wise and prudent guide encountered me, +but hardly saved from my bewilderment, he once more vanished. Like +some poor man treading through endless mud, weary and parched with +thirst, longs for the water, suddenly he lights upon a cool +refreshing lake, he hastens to it—lo! it dries before him. +The deep blue, bright, refulgent eye, piercing through all the +worlds, with wisdom brightens the dark gloom, the darkness for a +moment is dispelled. As when the blade shoots through the yielding +earth, the clouds collect and we await the welcome shower, then a +fierce wind drives the big clouds away, and so with disappointed +hope we watch the dried-up field! Deep darkness reigned for want of +wisdom, the world of sentient creatures groped for light, +Tathâgata lit up the lamp of wisdom, then suddenly +extinguished it—ere he had brought it out."</p> +<p>Buddha, hearing Ânanda speaking thus, grieved at his +words, and pitying his distress, with soothing accents and with +gentle presence spake with purpose to declare the one true +law:—</p> +<p>"If men but knew their own nature, they would not dwell in +sorrow; everything that lives, whate'er it be, all this is subject +to destruction's law; I have already told you plainly, the law of +things 'joined' is to 'separate'; the principle of kindness and of +love is not abiding, 'tis better then to reject this pitiful and +doting heart. All things around us bear the stamp of instant +change; born, they perish; no self-sufficiency; those who would +wish to keep them long, find in the end no room for doing so. If +things around us could be kept for aye, and were not liable to +change or separation, then this would be salvation! where then can +this be sought? You, and all that lives, can seek in me this great +deliverance! That which you may <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page427" name="page427"></a>[pg 427]</span> all attain I have +already told you, and tell you, to the end. Why then should I +preserve this body? The body of the excellent law shall long +endure! I am resolved; I look for rest! This is the one thing +needful. So do I now instruct all creatures, and as a guide, not +seen before, I lead them; prepare yourselves to cast off +consciousness, fix yourselves well in your own island. Those who +are thus fixed mid-stream, with single aim and earnestness striving +in the use of means, preparing quietly a quiet place, not moved by +others' way of thinking, know well, such men are safe on the law's +island. Fixed in contemplation, lighted by the lamp of wisdom, they +have thus finally destroyed ignorance and gloom. Consider well the +world's four bounds, and dare to seek for true religion only; +forget 'yourself,' and every 'ground of self,' the bones, the +nerves, the skin, the flesh, the mucus, the blood that flows +through every vein; behold these things as constantly impure, what +joy then can there be in such a body? every sensation born from +cause, like the bubble floating on the water. The sorrow coming +from the consciousness of birth and death and inconstancy, removes +all thought of joy—the mind acquainted with the law of +production, stability, and destruction, recognizes how again and +once again things follow or succeed one another with no endurance. +But thinking well about Nirvâna, the thought of endurance is +forever dismissed; we see how the samskâras from causes have +arisen, and how these aggregates will again dissolve, all of them +impermanent. The foolish man conceives the idea of 'self,' the wise +man sees there is no ground on which to build the idea of 'self,' +thus through the world he rightly looks and well concludes, all, +therefore, is but evil; the aggregate amassed by sorrow must perish +in the end! if once confirmed in this conviction, that man +perceives the truth. This body, too, of Buddha now existing soon +will perish: the law is one and constant, and without exception." +Buddha having delivered this excellent sermon, appeased the heart +of Ânanda.</p> +<p>Then all the Likkhavis, hearing the report, with fear and +apprehension assembled in a body; devoid of their usual ornaments, +they hastened to the place where Buddha was. Having saluted him +according to custom, they stood on one side, wishing to ask him a +question, but not being able to find words. Buddha, knowing well +their heart, by way of remedy, in the right use of means, spake +thus:—</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page428" name="page428"></a>[pg +428]</span> +<p>"Now I perfectly understand that you have in your minds unusual +thoughts, not referring to worldly matters, but wholly connected +with subjects of religion; and now you wish to hear from me, what +may be known respecting the report about my resolve to terminate my +life, and my purpose to put an end to the repetition of birth. +Impermanence is the nature of all that exists, constant change and +restlessness its conditions; unfixed, unprofitable, without the +marks of long endurance. In ancient days the Rishi kings, Vasishtha +Rishi, Mândhâtri, the Kakravartin monarchs, and the +rest, these and all others like them, the former conquerors, who +lived with strength like Îsvara, these all have long ago +perished, not one remains till now; the sun and moon, Sakra +himself, and the great multitude of his attendants, will all, +without exception, perish; there is not one that can for long +endure; all the Buddhas of the past ages, numerous as the sands of +the Ganges, by their wisdom enlightening the world, have all gone +out as a lamp; all the Buddhas yet to come will also perish in the +same way; why then should I alone be different? I too will pass +into Nirvana; but as they prepared others for salvation, so now +should you press forward in the path; Vaisâli may be glad +indeed, if you should find the way of rest! The world, in truth, is +void of help, the 'three worlds' not enough for joy—stay then +the course of sorrow, by engendering a heart without desire. Give +up for good the long and straggling way of life, press onward on +the northern track, step by step advance along the upward road, as +the sun skirts along the western mountains."</p> +<p>At this time the Likkhavis, with saddened hearts, went back +along the way; lifting their hands to heaven and sighing bitterly: +"Alas! what sorrow this! His body like the pure gold mountain, the +marks upon his person so majestic, ere long and like a towering +crag he falls; not to live, then why not, 'not to love'? The powers +of birth and death, weakened awhile, the lord Tathâgata, +himself the fount of wisdom appeared, and now to give it up and +disappear! without a saviour now, what check to sorrow? The world +long time endured in darkness, and men were led by a false light +along the way—when lo! the sun of wisdom rose; and now, +again, it fades and dies—no warning given. Behold the +whirling waves of ignorance engulfing all the world! Why is the +bridge or raft of wisdom in a moment cut away? The loving and the +great physician king came with <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page429" name="page429"></a>[pg 429]</span> remedies of wisdom, +beyond all price, to heal the hurts and pains of men—why +suddenly goes he away? The excellent and heavenly flag of love +adorned with wisdom's blazonry, embroidered with the diamond heart, +the world not satisfied with gazing on it, the glorious flag of +heavenly worship! Why in a moment is it snapped? Why such +misfortune for the world, when from the tide of constant +revolutions a way of escape was opened—but now shut again! +and there is no escape from weary sorrow! Tathâgata, +possessed of fond and loving heart, now steels himself and goes +away; he holds his heart so patient and so loving, and, like the +Wai-ka-ni flower, with thoughts cast down, irresolute and tardy, he +goes depressed along the road. Or like a man fresh from a loved +one's grave, the funeral past and the last farewell taken, comes +back with anxious look."</p> +<h4><a id="life-v-parinirvana" name= +"life-v-parinirvana">Parinirvâna</a></h4> +<p>When Buddha went towards the place of his Nirvâna, the +city of Vaisâli was as if deserted, as when upon a dark and +cloudy night the moon and stars withdraw their shining. The land +that heretofore had peace, was now afflicted and distressed; as +when a loving father dies, the orphan daughter yields to constant +grief. Her personal grace unheeded, her clever skill but lightly +thought of, with stammering lips she finds expression for her +thoughts; how poor her brilliant wit and wisdom now! Her spiritual +powers ill regulated without attractiveness, her loving heart faint +and fickle, exalted high but without strength, and all her native +grace neglected; such was the case at Vaisâli; all outward +show now fallen, like autumn verdure in the fields bereft of water, +withered up and dry; or like the smoke of a half-smouldering fire, +or like those who having food before them yet forget to eat, so +these forgot their common household duties, and nought prepared +they for the day's emergencies. Thinking thus on Buddha, lost in +deep reflection, silent they sat nor spoke a word. And now the lion +Likkhavis manfully enduring their great sorrow, with flowing tears +and doleful sighs, signifying thereby their love of kindred, +destroyed forever all their books of heresy, to show their firm +adherence to the true law. Having put down all heresy, they left it +once for all; severed from the world and the world's doctrines, +convinced that non-continuance was the great disease. Moreover thus +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page430" name="page430"></a>[pg +430]</span> they thought: "The lord of men now enters the great +quiet place (Nirvâna), and we are left without support, and +with no saviour; the highest lord of 'means' is now about to +extinguish all his glory in the final place of death. Now we indeed +have lost our steadfast will, as fire deprived of fuel; greatly to +be pitied is the world, now that the lord gives up his +world-protecting office, even as a man bereft of spiritual power +throughout the world is greatly pitied. Oppressed by heat we seek +the cooling lake, nipped by the cold we use the fire; but in a +moment all is lost, the world is left without resource; the +excellent law, indeed, is left, to frame the world anew, as a +metal-caster frames anew his work. The world has lost its +master-guide, and, men bereaved of him, the way is lost; old age, +disease, and death, self-sufficient, now that the road is missed, +pervade the world without a way. What is there now throughout the +world equal to overcome the springs of these great sorrows? The +great cloud's rain alone can make the raging and excessive fire, +that burns the world, go out. So only he can make the raging fire +of covetous desire go out; and now he, the skilful maker of +comparisons, has firmly fixed his mind to leave the world! And why, +again, is the sword of wisdom, ever ready to be used for an +uninvited friend, only like the draught of wine given to him about +to undergo the torture and to die? Deluded by false knowledge the +mass of living things are only born to die again; as the sharp +knife divides the wood, so constant change divides the world. The +gloom of ignorance like the deep water, lust like the rolling +billow, sorrow like the floating bubbles, false views like the +Makara fish, amidst all these the ship of wisdom only can carry us +across the mighty sea. The mass of ills are like the flowers of the +sorrow-tree, old age and all its griefs, the tangled boughs; death +the tree's tap-root, deeds done in life the buds, the diamond sword +of wisdom only strong enough to cut down the mundane tree! +Ignorance the burning-glass, covetous desire the scorching rays, +the objects of the five desires the dry grass, wisdom alone the +water to put out the fire. The perfect law, surpassing every law, +having destroyed the gloom of ignorance, we see the straight road +leading to quietness and rest, the end of every grief and sorrow. +And now the loving one, converting men, impartial in his thoughts +to friend or foe, the all-knowing, perfectly instructed, even he is +going to leave the world! He with his soft and finely modulated +voice, his <span class="pagenum"><a id="page431" name= +"page431"></a>[pg 431]</span> compact body and broad shoulders, he, +the great Rishi, ends his life! Who then can claim exemption? +Enlightened, now he quickly passes hence! let us therefore seek +with earnestness the truth, even as a man meets with the stream +beside the road, then drinks and passes on. Inconstancy, this is +the dreaded enemy—the universal destroyer—sparing +neither rich nor poor; rightly perceiving this and keeping it in +mind, this man, though sleeping, yet is the only ever-wakeful."</p> +<p>Thus the Likkhavi lions, ever mindful of the Buddha's wisdom, +disquieted with the pain of birth and death, sighed forth their +fond remembrance of the man-lion. Retaining in their minds no love +of worldly things, aiming to rise above the power of every lustful +quality, subduing in their hearts the thought of light or trivial +matters, training their thoughts to seek the quiet, peaceful place; +diligently practising the rules of unselfish, charitable conduct; +putting away all listlessness, they found their joy in quietness +and seclusion, meditating only on religious truth. And now the +all-wise, turning his body round with a lion-turn, once more gazed +upon Vaisâli, and uttered this farewell verse:—</p> +<p>"Now this, the last time this, I leave Vaisâli—the +land where heroes live and flourish! Now am I going to die." Then +gradually advancing, stage by stage he came to Bhoga-nagara, and +there he rested in the Sâla grove, where he instructed all +his followers in the precepts:—</p> +<p>"Now having gone on high I shall enter on Nirvana: ye must rely +upon the law—this is your highest, strongest, vantage ground. +What is not found in Sûtra, or what disagrees with rules of +Vinaya, opposing the one true system of my doctrine, this must not +be held by you. What opposes Dharma, what opposes Vinaya, or what +is contrary to my words, this is the result of ignorance: ye must +not hold such doctrine, but with haste reject it. Receiving that +which has been said aright, this is not subversive of true +doctrine, this is what I have said, as the Dharma and Vinaya say. +Accepting that which I, the law, and the Vinaya declare, this is to +be believed. But words which neither I, the law, nor the Vinaya +declare, these are not to be believed. Not gathering the true and +hidden meaning, but closely holding to the letter, this is the way +of foolish teachers, but contrary to my doctrine and a false way of +teaching. Not separating the true from false, accepting in the dark +without <span class="pagenum"><a id="page432" name= +"page432"></a>[pg 432]</span> discrimination, is like a shop where +gold and its alloys are sold together, justly condemned by all the +world. The foolish masters, practising the ways of superficial +wisdom, grasp not the meaning of the truth; but to receive the law +as it explains itself, this is to accept the highest mode of +exposition. Ye ought, therefore, thus to investigate true +principles, to consider well the true law and the Vinaya, even as +the goldsmith does who melts and strikes and then selects the true. +Not to know the Sûtras and the Sâstras, this is to be +devoid of wisdom; not saying properly that which is proper, is like +doing that which is not fit to see. Let all be done in right and +proper order, according as the meaning of the sentence guides, for +he who grasps a sword unskilfully, does but inflict a wound upon +his hand. Not skilfully to handle words and sentences, the meaning +then is hard to know; as in the night-time travelling and seeking +for a house, if all be dark within, how difficult to find. Losing +the meaning, then the law is disregarded, disregarding the law the +mind becomes confused; therefore every wise and prudent master +neglects not to discover the true and faithful meaning."</p> +<p>Having spoken these words respecting the precepts of religion, +he advanced to the town of Pâvâ, where all the Mallas +prepared for him religious offerings of every kind. At this time a +certain householder's son whose name was Kunda, invited Buddha to +his house, and there he gave him, as an offering, his very last +repast. Having partaken of it and declared the law, he onward went +to the town of Kusi, crossing the river Tsae-kieuh and the +Hiranyavati. Then in that Sâla grove, a place of quiet and +seclusion, he took his seat: entering the golden river he bathed +his body, in appearance like a golden mountain. Then he spake his +bidding thus to Ânanda: "Between those twin Sâla trees, +sweeping and watering, make a clean space, and then arrange my +sitting-mat. At midnight coming, I shall die."</p> +<p>Ânanda hearing the bidding of his master, his breath was +choked with heart-sadness; but going and weeping he obeyed the +instruction, and spreading out the mat he came forthwith back to +his master and acquainted him. Tathâgata having lain down +with his head towards the north and on his right side, slept thus. +Resting upon his hand as on a pillow with his feet crossed, even as +a lion-king; all grief is passed, his last-born <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page433" name="page433"></a>[pg 433]</span> body +from this one sleep shall never rise. His followers round him, in a +circle gathered, sigh dolefully: "The eye of the world is now put +out!" The wind is hushed, the forest streams are silent, no voice +is heard of bird or beast. The trees sweat out large flowing drops, +flowers and leaves out of season singly fall, whilst men and Devas, +not yet free from desire, are filled with overwhelming fear. Thus +were they like men wandering through the arid desert, the road full +dangerous, who fail to reach the longed-for hamlet; full of fear +they go on still, dreading they might not find it, their heart +borne down with fear they faint and droop. And now Tathâgata, +aroused from sleep, addressed Ânanda thus: "Go! tell the +Mallas, the time of my decease is come; they, if they see me not, +will ever grieve and suffer deep regret." Ânanda listening to +the bidding of his master, weeping went along the road. And then he +told those Mallas all—"The lord is near to death." The Mallas +hearing it, were filled with great, excessive grief. The men and +women hurrying forth, bewailing as they went, came to the spot +where Buddha was; with garments torn and hair dishevelled, covered +with dust and sweat they came. With piteous cries they reached the +grove, as when a Deva's day of merit comes to an end, so did they +bow weeping and adoring at the feet of Buddha, grieving to behold +his failing strength. Tathâgata, composed and quiet, spake: +"Grieve not! the time is one for joy; no call for sorrow or for +anguish here; that which for ages I have aimed at, now am I just +about to obtain; delivered now from the narrow bounds of sense, I +go to the place of never-ending rest and peace. I leave these +things, earth, water, fire, and air, to rest secure where neither +birth nor death can come. Eternally delivered there from grief, oh! +tell me! why should I be sorrowful? Of yore on Sirsha's mount, I +longed to rid me of this body, but to fulfil my destiny I have +remained till now with men in the world; I have kept this sickly, +crumbling body, as dwelling with a poisonous snake; but now I am +come to the great resting-place, all springs of sorrow now forever +stopped. No more shall I receive a body, all future sorrow now +forever done away; it is not meet for you, on my account, for +evermore, to encourage any anxious fear."</p> +<p>The Mallas hearing Buddha's words, that he was now about to die, +their minds confused, their eyes bedimmed, as if they saw before +them nought but blackness, with hands conjoined, <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page434" name="page434"></a>[pg 434]</span> spake +thus to Buddha: "Buddha is leaving now the pain of birth and death, +and entering on the eternal joy of rest; doubtless we ought to +rejoice thereat. Even as when a house is burnt a man rejoices if +his friends are saved from out the flames; the gods! perhaps they +rejoice—then how much more should men! But—when +Tathâgata has gone and living things no more may see him, +eternally cut off from safety and deliverance—in thought of +this we grieve and sorrow. Like as a band of merchants crossing +with careful steps a desert, with only a single guide, suddenly he +dies! Those merchants now without a protector, how can they but +lament! The present age, coming to know their true case, has found +the omniscient, and looked to him, but yet has not obtained the +final conquest; how will the world deride! Even as it would laugh +at one who, walking o'er a mountain full of treasure, yet ignorant +thereof, hugs still the pain of poverty."</p> +<p>So spake the Mallas, and with tearful words excuse themselves to +Buddha, even as an only child pleads piteously before a loving +father. Buddha then, with speech most excellent, exhibited and +declared the highest principle of truth, and thus addressed the +Mallas:—</p> +<p>"In truth, 'tis as you say; seeking the way, you must exert +yourselves and strive with diligence—it is not enough to have +seen me! Walk, as I have commanded you; get rid of all the tangled +net of sorrow; walk in the way with steadfast aim; 'tis not from +seeing me this comes—even as a sick man depending on the +healing power of medicine, gets rid of all his ailments easily +without beholding the physician. He who does not do what I command +sees me in vain, this brings no profit; whilst he who lives far off +from where I am, and yet walks righteously, is ever near me! A man +may dwell beside me, and yet, being disobedient, be far away from +me. Keep your heart carefully—give not place to listlessness! +earnestly practise every good work. Man born in this world is +pressed by all the sorrows of the long career, ceaselessly +troubled—without a moment's rest, as any lamp blown by the +wind!" The Mallas all, hearing Buddha's loving instruction, +inwardly composed, restrained their tears, and, firmly +self-possessed, returned.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page435" name="page435"></a>[pg +435]</span> +<h4><a id="life-v-mahaparinirvana" name= +"life-v-mahaparinirvana">Mahâparinirvâna</a></h4> +<p>At this time there was a Brahmakârin whose name was +Su-po-to-lo; he was well-known for his virtuous qualities, leading +a pure life according to the rules of morality, and protecting all +living things. When young he had adopted heretical views, and +become a recluse among unbelievers—this one, wishing to see +the lord, spake to Ânanda thus:—</p> +<p>"I hear that the system of Tathâgata is of a singular +character and very profound, and that he has reached the highest +wisdom in the world, the first of all horse-tamers. I hear moreover +that he is now about to die, it will be difficult indeed to meet +with him again, and difficult to see those who have seen him with +difficulty, even as it is to catch in a mirror the reflection of +the moon. I now desire respectfully to see him the greatest and +most virtuous guide of men, because I seek to escape this mass of +sorrow and reach the other shore of birth and death. The sun of +Buddha now about to quench its rays, O! let me for a moment gaze +upon him." The feelings of Ânanda now were much affected, +thinking that this request was made with a view to controversy, or +that he felt an inward joy because the lord was on the eve of +death. He was not willing therefore to permit the interview with +Buddha. Buddha, knowing the man's earnest desire and that he was a +vessel fit for true religion, therefore addressed Ânanda +thus: "Permit that heretic to advance; I was born to save mankind, +make no hindrance therefore, or excuse!"</p> +<p>Subhadra, hearing this, was overjoyed at heart, and his +religious feelings were much enlarged, as with increased reverence +he advanced to Buddha's presence. Then, as the occasion required, +he spoke becoming words and with politeness made his salutation, +his features pleasing and with hands conjoined he said:—</p> +<p>"Now I desire to ask somewhat from thee; the world has many +teachers of religion, those who know the law as I am myself; but I +hear that Buddha has attained a way which is the end of all +complete emancipation. O that you would, on my account, briefly +explain your method, moisten my empty, thirsty soul! not with a +view to controversy or from a desire to gain the mastery, but with +sincerity I ask you so to do."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page436" name="page436"></a>[pg +436]</span> +<p>Then Buddha, for the Brahmakârin's sake, in brief +recounted the eight "right ways"—on hearing which, his empty +soul accepted it, as one deceived accepts direction in the right +road. Perceiving now, he knew that what he had before perceived was +not the final way of salvation, but now he felt he had attained +what he had not before attained, and so he gave up and forsook his +books of heresy. Moreover, now he rejected the gloomy hindrances of +doubt, reflecting how by his former practices, mixed up with anger, +hate, and ignorance, he had long cherished no real joy. For if, he +argued, the ways of lust and hate and ignorance are able to produce +a virtuous karman, then "hearing much" and "persevering wisdom," +these, too, are born from lust, which cannot be. But if a man is +able to cut down hate and ignorance, then also he puts off all +consequences of works, and these being finally destroyed, this is +complete emancipation. Those thus freed from works are likewise +freed from subtle questionings, such as what the world says "that +all things, everywhere, possess a self-nature." But if this be the +case and therefore lust, hate, and ignorance, possess a +self-implanted nature, then this nature must inhere in them; what +then means the word "deliverance"? For even if we rightly cause the +overthrow of hate and ignorance, yet if lust remains, then there is +a return of birth; even as water, cold in its nature, may by fire +be heated, but when the fire goes out then it becomes cold again, +because this is its constant nature; so we may ever know that the +nature which lust has is permanent, and neither hearing wisdom nor +perseverance can alter it. Neither capable of increase or +diminution, how can there be deliverance? I held aforetime that +birth and death resulted thus, from their own innate nature; but +now I see that such a belief excludes deliverance; for what is born +by nature must endure so, what end can such things have? Just as a +burning lamp cannot but give its light; the way of Buddha is the +only true one, that lust, as the root-cause, brings forth the +things that live; destroy this lust then there is Nirvana; the +cause destroyed then the fruit is not produced. I formerly +maintained that "I" was a distinct entity, not seeing that it has +no maker. But now I hear the right doctrine preached by Buddha, +there is no "self" in all the world, for all things are produced by +cause, and therefore there is no creator. If then sorrow is +produced by cause, the cause may likewise be destroyed; for if the +world is cause-produced, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page437" +name="page437"></a>[pg 437]</span> then is the view correct, that +by destruction of the cause, there is an end. The cause destroyed, +the world brought to an end, there is no room for such a thought as +permanence, and therefore all my former views are "done away," and +so he deeply "saw" the true doctrine taught by Buddha.</p> +<p>Because of seeds well sown in former times, he was enabled thus +to understand the law on hearing it; thus he reached the good and +perfect state of quietness, the peaceful, never-ending place of +rest. His heart expanding to receive the truth, he gazed with +earnest look on Buddha as he slept, nor could he bear to see +Tathâgata depart and die; "ere yet," he said, "Buddha shall +reach the term I will myself first leave the world;" and then with +hands close joined, retiring from the holy form, he took his seat +apart, and sat composed and firm. Then giving up his life, he +reached Nirvâna, as when the rain puts out a little fire. +Then Buddha spake to all his followers: "This my very last disciple +has now attained Nirvâna, cherish him properly."</p> +<p>Then Buddha, the first night watch passed, the moon bright +shining and all the stars clear in their lustre, the quiet grove +without a sound, moved by his great compassionate heart, declared +to his disciples this his bequeathed precepts: "After my +Nirvâna, ye ought to reverence and obey the Pratimoksha, as +your master, a shining lamp in the dark night, or as a great jewel +treasured by a poor man. These injunctions I have ever given, these +you ought to obey and follow carefully, and treat in no way +different from myself. Keep pure your body, words, and conduct, put +from you all concerns of daily life, lands, houses, cattle, storing +wealth or hoarding grain. All these should be avoided as we avoid a +fiery pit; sowing the land, cutting down shrubs, healing of wounds +or the practice of medicine, star-gazing and astrology, forecasting +lucky or unfortunate events by signs, prognosticating good or evil, +all these are things forbidden. Keeping the body temperate, eat at +proper times; receive no mission as a go-between; compound no +philteries; abhor dissimulation; follow right doctrine, and be kind +to all that lives; receive in moderation what is given; receive but +hoard not up; these are, in brief, my spoken precepts. These form +the groundwork of my rules, these also are the ground of full +emancipation. Enabled thus to live this is rightly to receive all +other things. This is true wisdom which embraces <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page438" name="page438"></a>[pg 438]</span> all, +this is the way to attain the end; this code of rules, therefore, +ye should hold and keep, and never let it slip or be destroyed. For +when pure rules of conduct are observed then there is true +religion; without these, virtue languishes; found yourselves +therefore well on these my precepts; grounded thus in rules of +purity, the springs of feeling will be well controlled, even as the +well-instructed cow-herd guides well his cattle. Ill-governed +feelings, like the horse, run wild through all the six domains of +sense, bringing upon us in the present world unhappiness, and in +the next, birth in an evil way. So, like the horse ill-broken, +these land us in the ditch; therefore the wise and prudent man will +not allow his senses license. For these senses are, indeed, our +greatest foes, causes of misery; for men enamoured thus by sensuous +things cause all their miseries to recur. Destructive as a +poisonous snake, or like a savage tiger, or like a raging fire, the +greatest evil in the world, he who is wise, is freed from fear of +these. But what he fears is only this—a light and trivial +heart, which drags a man to future misery—just for a little +sip of pleasure, not looking at the yawning gulf before us; like +the wild elephant freed from the iron curb, or like the ape that +has regained the forest trees, such is the light and trivial heart; +the wise man should restrain and hold it therefore. Letting the +heart go loose without restraint, that man shall not attain +Nirvâna; therefore we ought to hold the heart in check, and +go apart from men and seek a quiet resting-place. Know when to eat +and the right measure; and so with reference to the rules of +clothing and of medicine; take care you do not by the food you +take, encourage in yourselves a covetous or an angry mind. Eat your +food to satisfy your hunger and drink to satisfy your thirst, as we +repair an old or broken chariot, or like the butterfly that sips +the flower destroying not its fragrance or its texture. The +Bhikshu, in begging food, should beware of injuring the faithful +mind of another; if a man opens his heart in charity, think not +about his capabilities, for 'tis not well to calculate too closely +the strength of the ox, lest by loading him beyond his strength you +cause him injury. At morning, noon, and night, successively, store +up good works. During the first and after-watch at night be not +overpowered by sleep, but in the middle watch, with heart composed, +take sleep and rest—be thoughtful towards the dawn of day. +Sleep not the whole night through, making the body and the life +relaxed <span class="pagenum"><a id="page439" name= +"page439"></a>[pg 439]</span> and feeble; think! when the fire +shall burn the body always, what length of sleep will then be +possible? For when the hateful brood of sorrow rising through +space, with all its attendant horrors, meeting the mind o'erwhelmed +by sleep and death, shall seize its prey, who then shall waken +it?</p> +<p>"The poisonous snake dwelling within a house can be enticed away +by proper charms, so the black toad that dwells within his heart, +the early waker disenchants and banishes. He who sleeps on +heedlessly without plan, this man has no modesty; but modesty is +like a beauteous robe, or like the curb that guides the elephant. +Modest behavior keeps the heart composed, without it every virtuous +root will die. Who has this modesty, the world applauds; without +it, he is but as any beast. If a man with a sharp sword should cut +the body bit by bit, let not an angry thought, or of resentment, +rise, and let the mouth speak no ill word. Your evil thoughts and +evil words but hurt yourself and not another; nothing so full of +victory as patience, though your body suffer the pain of +mutilation. For recollect that he who has this patience cannot be +overcome, his strength being so firm; therefore give not way to +anger or evil words towards men in power. Anger and hate destroy +the true law; and they destroy dignity and beauty of body; as when +one dies we lose our name for beauty, so the fire of anger itself +burns up the heart. Anger is foe to all religious merit, he who +loves virtue let him not be passionate; the layman who is angry +when oppressed by many sorrows is not wondered at. But he who has +'left his home' indulging anger, this is indeed opposed to +principle, as if in frozen water there were found the heat of fire. +If indolence arises in your heart, then with your own hand smooth +down your head, shave off your hair, and clad in sombre garments, +in your hand holding the begging-pot, go ask for food; on every +side the living perish, what room for indolence? the worldly man, +relying on his substance or his family, indulging in indolence, is +wrong; how much more the religious man, whose purpose is to seek +the way of rescue, who encourages within an indolent mind; this +surely is impossible!</p> +<p>"Crookedness and straightness are in their nature opposite and +cannot dwell together more than frost and fire; for one who has +become religious, and practises the way of straight behavior, a +false and crooked way of speech is not becoming. False and +flattering speech is like the magician's art; but he who ponders +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page440" name="page440"></a>[pg +440]</span> on religion cannot speak falsely. To 'covet much,' +brings sorrow; desiring little, there is rest and peace. To procure +rest, there must be small desire—much more in case of those +who seek salvation. The niggard dreads the much-seeking man lest he +should filch away his property, but he who loves to give has also +fear, lest he should not possess enough to give; therefore we ought +to encourage small desire, that we may have to give to him who +wants, without such fear. From this desiring-little-mind we find +the way of true deliverance; desiring true deliverance we ought to +practise knowing-enough contentment.</p> +<p>"A contented mind is always joyful, but joy like this is but +religion; the rich and poor alike, having contentment, enjoy +perpetual rest. The ill-contented man, though he be born to +heavenly joys, because he is not contented would ever have a mind +burned up by the fire of sorrow. The rich, without contentment, +endures the pain of poverty; though poor, if yet he be contented, +then he is rich indeed! That ill-contented man, the bounds of the +five desires extending further still, becomes insatiable in his +requirements, and so through the long night of life gathers +increasing sorrow. Without cessation thus he cherishes his careful +plans, whilst he who lives contented, freed from anxious thoughts +about relationships, his heart is ever peaceful and at rest. And so +because he rests and is at peace within, the gods and men revere +and do him service. Therefore we ought to put away all cares about +relationship.</p> +<p>"For like a solitary desert tree in which the birds and monkeys +gather, so is it when we are cumbered much with family +associations; through the long night we gather many sorrows. Many +dependents are like the many bands that bind us, or like the old +elephant that struggles in the mud. By diligent perseverance a man +may get much profit; therefore night and day men ought with +ceaseless effort to exert themselves; the tiny streams that trickle +down the mountain slopes by always flowing eat away the rock. If we +use not earnest diligence in drilling wood in wood for fire, we +shall not obtain the spark, so ought we to be diligent and +persevere, as the skilful master drills the wood for fire. A +'virtuous friend' though he be gentle is not to be compared with +right reflection—right thought kept well in the mind, no evil +thing can ever enter there.</p> +<p>"Wherefore those who practise a religious life should always +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page441" name="page441"></a>[pg +441]</span> think about 'the body'; if thought upon one's self be +absent, then all virtue dies. For as the champion warrior relies +for victory upon his armor's strength, so 'right thought' is like a +strong cuirass, able to withstand the six sense-robbers. Right +faith enwraps the enlightened heart, so that a man perceives the +world throughout is liable to birth and death; therefore the +religious man should practise faith.</p> +<p>"Having found peace in faith, we put an end to all the mass of +sorrows, wisdom then can enlighten us, and so we put away the rules +by which we acquire knowledge by the senses. By inward thought and +right consideration following with gladness the directions of the +'true law,' this is the way in which both laymen of the world and +men who have left their homes should walk.</p> +<p>"Across the sea of birth and death, 'wisdom' is the handy bark; +'wisdom' is the shining lamp that lightens up the dark and gloomy +world. 'Wisdom' is the grateful medicine for all the defiling ills +of life; 'wisdom' is the axe wherewith to level all the tangled +forest trees of sorrow. 'Wisdom' is the bridge that spans the +rushing stream of ignorance and lust—therefore, in every way, +by thought and right attention, a man should diligently inure +himself to engender wisdom. Having acquired the threefold wisdom, +then, though blind, the eye of wisdom sees throughout; but without +wisdom the mind is poor and insincere; such things cannot suit the +man who has left his home.</p> +<p>"Wherefore let the enlightened man lay well to heart that false +and fruitless things become him not, and let him strive with single +mind for that pure joy which can be found alone in perfect rest and +quietude.</p> +<p>"Above all things be not careless, for carelessness is the chief +foe of virtue; if a man avoid this fault he may be born where +Sakra-râga dwells. He who gives way to carelessness of mind +must have his lot where the Asuras dwell. Thus have I done my task, +my fitting task, in setting forth the way of quietude, the proof of +love. On your parts be diligent! with virtuous purpose practise +well these rules, in quiet solitude of desert hermitage nourish and +cherish a still and peaceful heart. Exert yourselves to the utmost, +give no place to remissness, for as in worldly matters when the +considerate physician prescribes fit medicine for the disease he +has detected, should the sick man <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page442" name="page442"></a>[pg 442]</span> neglect to use it, +this cannot be the physician's fault, so I have told you the truth, +and set before you this the one and level road. Hearing my words +and not with care obeying them, this is not the fault of him who +speaks; if there be anything not clearly understood in the +principles of the 'four truths,' you now may ask me, freely; let +not your inward thoughts be longer hid." The lord in mercy thus +instructing them, the whole assembly remained silent.</p> +<p>Then Anuruddha, observing that the great congregation continued +silent and expressed no doubt, with closed hands thus spake to +Buddha:—</p> +<p>"The moon may be warm, the sun's rays be cool, the air be still, +the earth's nature mobile; these four things, though yet unheard of +in the world, may happen; but this assembly never can have doubt +about the principles of sorrow, accumulation, destruction, and the +incontrovertible truths, as declared by the lord. But because the +lord is going to die, we all have sorrow; and we cannot raise our +thoughts to the high theme of the lord's preaching. Perhaps some +fresh disciple, whose feelings are yet not entirely freed from +other influences might doubt; but we, who now have heard this +tender, sorrowful discourse, have altogether freed ourselves from +doubt. Passed the sea of birth and death, without desire, with +nought to seek, we only know how much we love, and, grieving, ask +why Buddha dies so quickly?"</p> +<p>Buddha regarding Anuruddha, perceiving how his words were full +of bitterness, again with loving heart, appeasing him, +replied:—</p> +<p>"In the beginning things were fixed, in the end again they +separate; different combinations cause other substances, for there +is no uniform and constant principle in nature. But when all mutual +purposes be answered, what then shall chaos and creation do! the +gods and men alike that should be saved, shall all have been +completely saved! Ye then! my followers, who know so well the +perfect law, remember! the end must come; give not way again to +sorrow!</p> +<p>"Use diligently the appointed means; aim to reach the home where +separation cannot come; I have lit the lamp of wisdom, its rays +alone can drive away the gloom that shrouds the world. The world is +not forever fixed! Ye should rejoice therefore! as when a friend, +afflicted grievously, his sickness healed, escapes <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page443" name="page443"></a>[pg 443]</span> from +pain. For I have put away this painful vessel, I have stemmed the +flowing sea of birth and death, free forever now, from pain! for +this you should exult with joy! Now guard yourselves aright, let +there be no remissness! that which exists will all return to +nothingness! and now I die. From this time forth my words are done, +this is my very last instruction."</p> +<p>Then entering the Samâdhi of the first Dhyâna, he +went successively through all the nine in a direct order; then +inversely he returned throughout and entered on the first, and then +from the first he raised himself and entered on the fourth. Leaving +the state of Samâdhi, his soul without a resting-place, +forthwith he reached Nirvâna. And then, as Buddha died, the +great earth quaked throughout. In space, on every hand, was fire +like rain, no fuel, self-consuming. And so from out the earth great +flames arose on every side.</p> +<p>Thus up to the heavenly mansions flames burst forth; the crash +of thunder shook the heavens and earth, rolling along the mountains +and the valleys, even as when the Devas and Asuras fight with sound +of drums and mutual conflict. A wind tempestuous from the four +bounds of earth arose—whilst from the crags and hills, dust +and ashes fell like rain. The sun and moon withdrew their shining; +the peaceful streams on every side were torrent-swollen; the sturdy +forests shook like aspen leaves, whilst flowers and leaves untimely +fell around, like scattered rain. The flying dragons, carried on +pitchy clouds, wept down their tears; the four kings and their +associates, moved by pity, forgot their works of charity. The pure +Devas came to earth from heaven, halting mid-air they looked upon +the changeful scene, not sorrowing, not rejoicing. But yet they +sighed to think of the world, heedless of its sacred teacher, +hastening to destruction. The eightfold heavenly spirits, on every +side filled space: cast down at heart and grieving, they scattered +flowers as offerings. Only Mâra-râga rejoiced, and +struck up sounds of music in his exultation. Whilst Gambudvipa +shorn of its glory, seemed to grieve as when the mountain tops fall +down to earth, or like the great elephant robbed of its tusks, or +like the ox-king spoiled of his horns; or heaven without the sun +and moon, or as the lily beaten by the hail; thus was the world +bereaved when Buddha died!</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page444" name="page444"></a>[pg +444]</span> +<h4><a id="life-v-praising" name="life-v-praising">Praising +Nirvâna</a></h4> +<p>At this time there was a Devaputra, riding on his thousand +white-swan palace in the midst of space, who beheld the +Parinirvâna of Buddha. This one, for the universal benefit of +the Deva assembly, sounded forth at large these verses on +impermanence:—</p> +<p>"Impermanency is the nature of all things, quickly born, they +quickly die. With birth there comes the rush of sorrows, only in +Nirvâna is there joy. The accumulated fuel heaped up by the +power of karman, this the fire of wisdom alone can consume. Though +the fame of our deeds reach up to heaven as smoke, yet in time the +rains which descend will extinguish all, as the fire that rages at +the kalpa's end is put out by the judgment of water."</p> +<p>Again there was a Brahma-Rishi-deva, like a most exalted Rishi, +dwelling in heaven, possessed of superior happiness, with no taint +in his bliss, who thus sighed forth his praises of +Tathâgata's Nirvâna, with his mind fixed in abstraction +as he spoke:</p> +<p>"Looking through all the conditions of life, from first to last +nought is free from destruction. But the incomparable seer dwelling +in the world, thoroughly acquainted with the highest truth, whose +wisdom grasps that which is beyond the world's ken, he it is who +can save the worldly-dwellers. He it is who can provide lasting +escape from the destructive power of impermanence. But, alas! +through the wide world, all that lives is sunk in unbelief."</p> +<p>At this time Anuruddha, "not stopped" by the world, "not +stopped" from being delivered, the stream of birth and death +forever "stopped," sighed forth the praises of Tathâgata's +Nirvâna:—</p> +<p>"All living things completely blind and dark! the mass of deeds +all perishing, even as the fleeting cloud-pile! Quickly arising and +as quickly perishing! the wise man holds not to such a refuge, for +the diamond mace of inconstancy can overturn the mountain of the +Rishi hermit. How despicable and how weak the world! doomed to +destruction, without strength! Impermanence, like the fierce lion, +can even spoil the Nâga-elephant-great-Rishi. Only the +diamond curtain of Tathâgata can overwhelm inconstancy! How +much more should those not yet <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page445" name="page445"></a>[pg 445]</span> delivered from desire, +fear and dread its power? From the six seeds there grows one +sprout, one kind of water from the rain, the origin of the four +points is far removed: five kinds of fruit from the two +'Koo'—the three periods, past, present, future, are but one +in substance; the Muni-great-elephant plucks up the great tree of +sorrow, and yet he cannot avoid the power of impermanence. For like +the crested bird delights within the pool to seize the poisonous +snake, but when from sudden drought he is left in the dry pool, he +dies; or as the prancing steed advances fearlessly to battle, but +when the fight has passed goes back subdued and quiet; or as the +raging fire burns with the fuel, but when the fuel is done, +expires; so is it with Tathâgata, his task accomplished he +returns to find his refuge in Nirvâna: just as the shining of +the radiant moon sheds everywhere its light and drives away the +gloom, all creatures grateful for its light, it disappears +concealed by Sumeru; such is the case with Tathâgata, the +brightness of his wisdom lit up the gloomy darkness, and for the +good of all that lives drove it away, when suddenly it disappears +behind the mountain of Nirvâna. The splendor of his fame +throughout the world diffused, had banished all obscurity, but like +the stream that ever flows, it rests not with us; the illustrious +charioteer with his seven prancing steeds flies through the host +and disappears.</p> +<p>"The bright-rayed Sûrya-deva, entering the Yen-tsz' cave, +was, with the moon, surrounded with fivefold barriers; 'all things +that live,' deprived of light, present their offerings to heaven; +but from their sacrifice nought but the blackened smoke ascends; +thus it is with Tathâgata, his glory hidden, the world has +lost its light. Rare was the expectancy of grateful love that +filled the heart of all that lives; that love, reached its full +limit, then was left to perish! The cords of sorrow all removed, we +found the true and only way; but now he leaves the tangled mesh of +life, and enters on the quiet place! His spirit mounting through +space, he leaves the sorrow-bearing vessel of his body! the gloom +of doubt and the great darkness all dispelled, by the bright rays +of wisdom! The earthy soil of sorrow's dust his wisdom's water +purifies! no more, no more, returns he here! forever gone to the +place of rest!</p> +<p>"The power of birth and death destroyed, the world instructed in +the highest doctrine! he bids the world rejoice in knowledge of his +law, and gives to all the benefit of wisdom! Giving <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page446" name="page446"></a>[pg 446]</span> +complete rest to the world, the virtuous streams flow forth! his +fame known throughout the world, shines still with increased +splendor! How great his pity and his love to those who opposed his +claims, neither rejoicing in their defeat nor exulting in his own +success. Illustriously controlling his feelings, all his senses +completely enlightened, his heart impartially observing events, +unpolluted by the six objects of sense! Reaching to that unreached +before! obtaining that which man had not obtained! with the water +which he provided filling every thirsty soul! Bestowing that which +never yet was given, and providing a reward not hoped for! his +peaceful, well-marked person, perfectly knowing the thoughts of +all.</p> +<p>"Not greatly moved either by loving or disliking! overcoming all +enemies by the force of his love! the welcome physician for all +diseases, the one destroyer of impermanency! All living things +rejoicing in religion, fully satisfied! obtaining all they need, +their every wish fulfilled! The great master of holy wisdom once +gone returns no more! even as the fire gone out for want of fuel! +Declaring the eight rules without taint; overcoming the five +senses, difficult to compose! with the three powers of sight seeing +the three precious ones; removing the three robbers (i.e. lust, +anger, ignorance); perfecting the three grades of a holy life, +concealing the one (himself) and obtaining the one +saintship—leaping over the seven 'bodhyangas' and obtaining +the long sleep; the end of all, the quiet, peaceful way; the +highest prize of sages and of saints!</p> +<p>"Having himself severed the barriers of sorrow, now he is able +to save his followers, and to provide the draught of immortality +for all who are parched with thirst! Armed with the heavy cuirass +of patience, he has overcome all enemies! by the subtle principles +of his excellent law to satisfy every heart. Planting a sacred seed +in the hearts of those practising virtue; impartially directing and +not casting off those who are right or not right in their views! +Turning the wheel of the superlative law! received with gladness +through the world by those who have in former conditions implanted +in themselves a love for religion, these all saved by his +preaching! Going forth among men converting those not yet +converted; those who had not seen the truth, causing them to see +the truth! All those practising a false method of religion, +delivering to them deep principles of his religion! preaching the +doctrines of birth and <span class="pagenum"><a id="page447" name= +"page447"></a>[pg 447]</span> death and impermanency; declaring +that without a master teacher there can be no happiness! Erecting +the standard of his great renown, overcoming and destroying the +armies of Mâra! advancing to the point of indifference to +pleasure or pain, caring not for life, desiring only rest! Causing +those not yet converted to obtain conversion! those not yet saved +to be saved! those not yet at rest to find rest! those not yet +enlightened to be enlightened!</p> +<p>"Thus the Muni taught the way of rest for the direction of all +living things! alas! that any transgressing the way of holiness +should practise impure works. Even as at the end of the great +kalpa, those holding the law who die, when the rolling sound of the +mysterious thunder-cloud severs the forests, upon these there shall +fall the rain of immortality. The little elephant breaks down the +prickly forest, and by cherishing it we know that it can profit +men; but the cloud that removes the sorrow of the elephant old-age, +this none can bear. He by destroying systems of religion has +perfected his system, in saving the world and yet saving! he has +destroyed the teaching of heresy, in order to reach his independent +mode of doctrine.</p> +<p>"And now he enters the great quiet place! no longer has the +world a protector or saviour! the great army host of +Mâra-râga, rousing their warrior, shaking the great +earth, desired to injure the honored Muni: but they could not move +him, whom in a moment now the Mâra 'inconstancy' destroys. +The heavenly occupants everywhere assemble as a cloud! they fill +the space of heaven, fearing the endless birth and death! their +hearts are full of grief and dread! His Deva eyes clearly behold, +without the limitations of near or distant, the fruits of works +discerned throughout, as an image perceived in a mirror! His Deva +ears perfect and discriminating throughout, hear all, though far +away, mounting through space he teaches all the Devas, surpassing +his method of converting men! He divides his body still one in +substance, crosses the water as if it were not weak (to bear)! +remembers all his former births, through countless kalpas none +forgotten! His senses wandering through the fields of sense, all +these distinctly remembered; knowing the wisdom learned in every +state of mind, all this perfectly understood! By spiritual +discernment and pure mysterious wisdom equally surveying all +things! every vestige of imperfection removed! thus he has +accomplished all he had to <span class="pagenum"><a id="page448" +name="page448"></a>[pg 448]</span> do. By wisdom rejecting other +spheres of life, his wisdom now completely perfected, lo! he dies! +let the world, hard and unyielding, still, beholding it, +relent!</p> +<p>"All living things though blunt in sense, beholding him, receive +the enlightenment of wisdom! their endless evil deeds long past, as +they behold, are cancelled and completely cleansed! In a moment +gone! who shall again exhibit qualities like his? no saviour now in +all the world—our hope cut off, our very breath is stopped +and gone! Who now shall give us life again with the cool water of +his doctrine? his own great work accomplished, his great compassion +now has ceased to work for long: has long ceased or stopped! The +world ensnared in the toils of folly, who shall destroy the net? +who shall, by his teaching, cause the stream of birth and death to +turn again? Who shall declare the way of rest to instruct the heart +of all that lives, deceived by ignorance? Who will point out the +quiet place, or who make known the one true doctrine?</p> +<p>"All flesh suffering great sorrow, who shall deliver, like a +loving father? Like the horse changing his master loses all +gracefulness, as he forgets his many words of guidance! as a king +without a kingdom, such is the world without a Buddha! as a +disciple with no power of dialectic left, or like a physician +without wisdom, as men whose king has lost the marks of royalty, +so, Buddha dead, the world has lost its glory! the gentle horses +left without a charioteer, the boat without a pilot left! The three +divisions of an army left without a general! the merchantman +without a guide! the suffering and diseased without a physician! a +holy king without his seven insignia. The stars without the moon! +the loving years without the power of life! such is the world now +that Buddha, the great teacher, dies!"</p> +<p>Thus spake the Arhat, all done that should be done, all +imperfections quite removed, knowing the meed of gratitude, he was +grateful therefore. Thus thinking of his master's love he spake! +setting forth the world's great sorrow; whilst those, not yet freed +from the power of passion, wept with many tears, unable to control +themselves. Yet even those who had put away all faults, sighed as +they thought of the pain of birth and death. And now the Malla host +hearing that Buddha had attained Nirvâna, with cries +confused, wept piteously, greatly moved, as when a flight of herons +meet a hawk. In a body now they reach the twin trees, and as they +gaze upon Tathâgata <span class="pagenum"><a id="page449" +name="page449"></a>[pg 449]</span> dead, entered on his long sleep, +those features never again to awake to consciousness, they smote +their breasts and sighed to heaven; as when a lion seizing on a +calf, the whole herd rushes on with mingled sounds.</p> +<p>In the midst there was one Malla, his mind enamoured of the +righteous law, who gazed with steadfastness upon the holy law-king, +now entered on the mighty calm, and said: "The world was everywhere +asleep, when Buddha setting forth his law caused it to awake; but +now he has entered on the mighty calm, and all is finished in an +unending sleep. For man's sake he had raised the standard of his +law, and now, in a moment, it has fallen; the sun of +Tathâgata's wisdom spreading abroad the lustre of its 'great +awakening,' increasing ever more and more in glory, spreading +abroad the thousand rays of highest knowledge, scattering and +destroying all the gloom of earth, why has the darkness great come +back again? His unequalled wisdom lightening the three worlds, +giving eyes that all the world might see, now suddenly the world is +blind again, bewildered, ignorant of the way; in a moment fallen +the bridge of truth that spanned the rolling stream of birth and +death, the swelling flood of lust and rage and doubt, and all flesh +overwhelmed therein, forever lost."</p> +<p>Thus all that Malla host wept piteously and lamented; whilst +some concealed their grief nor spoke a word; others sank prostrate +on the earth; others stood silent, lost in meditation; others, with +sorrowful heart, groaned deeply. Then on a gold and silver +gem-decked couch richly adorned with flowers and scents, they +placed the body of Tathâgata; a jewelled canopy they raised +above, and round it flags and streamers and embroidered banners; +then using every kind of dance and music, the lords and ladies of +the Mallas followed along the road presenting offerings, whilst all +the Devas scattered scents and flowers, and raised the sound of +drums and music in the heavens. Thus men and Devas shared one +common sorrow, their cries united as they grieved together. +Entering the city, there the men and women, old and young, +completed their religious offerings. Leaving the city, then, and +passing through the Lung-tsiang gate, and crossing over the +Hiranyavati river, they repaired to where the former Buddhas, +having died, had Kaityas raised to them. There collecting ox-head +sandal-wood and every famous scented wood, they placed the whole +above the Buddha's body, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page450" +name="page450"></a>[pg 450]</span> pouring various scented oils +upon the pyre; then placing fire beneath to kindle it, three times +they walked around; but yet it burned not. At this time the great +Kâsyapa had taken his abode at Râgagriha, and knowing +Buddha was about to die was coming thence with all his followers; +his pure mind, deeply moved, desired to see the body of the lord; +and so, because of that his sincere wish, the fire went out and +would not kindle. Then Kâsyapa and his followers coming, with +piteous sighs looked on the sight and reverenced at the master's +feet; and then, forthwith, the fire burst out. Quenched the fire of +grief within; without, the fire has little power to burn. Or though +it burn the outside skin and flesh, the diamond true-bone still +remains. The scented oil consumed, the fire declines, the bones +they place within a golden pitcher; for as the mystic world is not +destroyed, neither can these, the bones of Buddha, perish; the +consequence of diamond wisdom, difficult to move as Sumeru. The +relics which the mighty golden-pinioned bird cannot remove or +change, they place within the precious vase, to remain until the +world shall pass away; and wonderful! the power of men can thus +fulfil Nirvâna's laws, the illustrious name of one far +spread, is sounded thus throughout the universe; and as the ages +roll, the long Nirvâna, by these, the sacred relics, sheds +through the world its glorious light, and brightens up the abodes +of life. He perished in a moment! but these relics, placed within +the vase, the imperishable signs of wisdom, can overturn the mount +of sorrow; the body of accumulated griefs this imperishable mind +can cause to rest, and banish once forever all the miseries of +life. Thus the diamond substance was dealt with at the place of +burning. And now those valiant Mallas, unrivalled in the world for +strength, subduing all private animosities, sought escape from +sorrow in the true refuge. Finding sweet comfort in united love, +they resolved to banish every complaining thought. Beholding thus +the death of Tathâgata, they controlled their grieving +hearts, and with full strength of manly virtue dismissing every +listless thought, they submitted to the course of nature. Oppressed +by thoughts of grievous sorrow, they entered the city as a deserted +wild: holding the relics thus they entered, whilst from every +street were offered gifts. They placed the relics then upon a tower +for men and Devas to adore.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page451" name="page451"></a>[pg +451]</span> +<h4><a id="life-v-division" name="life-v-division">Division of the +Sariras</a></h4> +<p>Thus those Mallas offered religious reverence to the relics, and +used the most costly flowers and scents for their supreme act of +worship. Then the kings of the seven countries, having heard that +Buddha was dead, sent messengers to the Mallas asking to share the +sacred relics of Buddha. Then the Mallas reverencing the body of +Tathâgata, trusting to their martial renown, conceived a +haughty mind: "They would rather part with life itself," they said, +"than with the relics of the Buddha"—so those messengers +returned from the futile embassage. Then the seven kings, highly +indignant, with an army numerous as the rain-clouds, advanced on +Kusinagara; the people who went from the city filled with terror +soon returned and told the Mallas all: that the soldiers and the +cavalry of the neighboring countries were coming, with elephants +and chariots, to surround the Kusinagara city. The gardens, lying +without the town, the fountains, lakes, flower and fruit-trees were +now destroyed by the advancing host, and all the pleasant +resting-places lay in ruins.</p> +<p>The Mallas, mounting on the city towers, beheld the great +supports of life destroyed; they then prepared their warlike +engines to crush the foe without: balistas and catapults and +"flying torches," to hurl against the advancing host. Then the +seven kings entrenched themselves around the city, each army host +filled with increasing courage; their wings of battle shining in +array as the sun's seven beams of glory shine; the heavy drums +rolling as the thunder, the warlike breath rising as the full cloud +mist. The Mallas, greatly incensed, opening the gates command the +fray to begin; the aged men and women whose hearts had trust in +Buddha's law, with deep concern breathed forth their vow, "Oh! may +the victory be a bloodless one!" Those who had friends used mutual +exhortations not to encourage in themselves a desire for +strife.</p> +<p>And now the warriors, clad in armor, grasping their spears and +brandishing their swords 'midst the confused noise and heavy drums +advanced. But ere the contest had begun, there was a certain +Brahman whose name was Drona, celebrated for penetration, honored +for modesty and lowliness, whose loving heart took pleasure in +religion. This one addressed those kings <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page452" name="page452"></a>[pg 452]</span> and +said: "Regarding the unequalled strength of yonder city, one man +alone would be enough for its defence; how much less when with +determined heart they are united, can you subdue it! In the +beginning mutual strife produced destruction, how now can it result +in glory or renown? The clash of swords and bloody onset done, 'tis +certain one must perish! and therefore whilst you aim to vanquish +those, both sides will suffer in the fray. Then there are many +chances, too, of battle: 'tis hard to measure strength by +appearances; the strong, indeed, may overcome the weak, the weak +may also overcome the strong; the powerful champion may despise the +snake, but how will he escape a wounded body? there are men whose +natures bland and soft, seem suited for the company of women or of +children, but when enlisted in the ranks, make perfect soldiers. As +fire when it is fed with oil, though reckoned weak, is not +extinguished easily, so when you say that they are weak, beware of +leaning overmuch on strength of body; nought can compare with +strength of right religion. There was in ancient times a Gina king, +whose name was Kârandhama, his graceful upright presence +caused such love in others that he could overcome all animosity; +but though he ruled the world and was high renowned, and rich and +prosperous, yet in the end he went back and all was lost! So when +the ox has drunk enough, he too returns. Use then the principles of +righteousness, use the expedients of good will and love. Conquer +your foe by force, you increase his enmity; conquer by love, and +you will reap no after-sorrow. The present strife is but a thirst +for blood, this thing cannot be endured! If you desire to honor +Buddha, follow the example of his patience and long-suffering!" +Thus this Brahman with confidence declared the truth; imbued with +highest principles of peace, he spake with boldness and +unflinchingly.</p> +<p>And now the kings addressed the Brahman thus: "You have chosen a +fitting time for giving increase to the seed of wisdom: the essence +of true friendship is the utterance of truth. The greatest force of +reason lies in righteous judgment. But now in turn hear what we +say: The rules of kings are framed to avoid the use of force when +hatred has arisen from low desires, or else to avoid the sudden use +of violence in trifling questions where some trifling matter is at +stake. But we for the sake of law are about to fight. What wonder +is it! Swollen pride is a principle to be opposed, for it leads to +the overthrow of society; <span class="pagenum"><a id="page453" +name="page453"></a>[pg 453]</span> no wonder then that Buddha +preached against it, teaching men to practise lowliness and +humility. Then why should we be forbidden to pay our reverence to +his body-relics? In ancient days a lord of the great earth, +Pih-shih-tsung and Nanda, for the sake of a beautiful woman fought +and destroyed each other; how much more now, for the sake of +religious reverence to our master, freed from passion, gone to +Nirvâna, without regard to self, or careful of our lives, +should we contend and assert our rights! A former king, Kaurava, +fought with a Pândava king, and the more they increased in +strength the more they struggled, all for some temporary gain; how +much more for our not-coveting master should we contend, coveting +to get his living relics? The son of Râma, too, the Rishi, +angry with King Dasa-ratha, destroyed his country, slew the people, +because of the rage he felt; how much less for our master, freed +from anger, should we be niggard of our lives! Râma, for +Sita's sake, killed all the demon-spirits; how much more for our +lord, heaven-received, should we not sacrifice our lives! The two +demons A-lai and Po-ku were ever drawn into contention; in the +first place, because of their folly and ignorance, causing wide +ruin among men; how much less for our all-wise master should we +begrudge our lives! Wherefore if from these examples we find others +ready to die for no real principle, how shall we for our teacher of +gods (Devas) and men, reverenced by the universe, spare our bodies +or begrudge our lives, and not be earnest in desire to make our +offerings! Now then, if you desire to stay the strife, go and for +us demand within the city that they open wide the relics, and so +cause our prayer to be fulfilled. But because your words are right +ones, we hold our anger for a while; even as the great, angry +snake, by the power of charms is quieted."</p> +<p>And now the Brahman, having received the kings' instruction, +entering the city, went to the Mallas, and saluting them, spoke +these true words: "Without the city those who are kings among men +grasp with their hands their martial weapons, and with their bodies +clad in weighty armor wait eagerly to fight; glorious as the sun's +rays, bristling with rage as the roused lion. These united are, to +overthrow this city. But whilst they wage this religious war, they +fear lest they may act irreligiously, and so they have sent me here +to say what they require: 'We have come, not for the sake of +territory, much <span class="pagenum"><a id="page454" name= +"page454"></a>[pg 454]</span> less for money's sake, nor on account +of any insolent feeling, nor yet from any thought of hatred; but +because we venerate the great Rishi, we have come on this account. +You, noble sirs! know well our mind! Why should there be such +sorrowful contention! You honor what we honor, both alike, then we +are brothers as concerns religion. We both with equal heart revere +the bequeathed spiritual relics of the lord. To be miserly in +hoarding wealth, this is an unreasonable fault; how much more to +grudge religion, of which there is so little knowledge in the +world! The exclusive and the selfishly inclined, should practise +laws of hospitality; but if ye have not rules of honor such as +these, then shut your gates and guard yourselves.' This is the +tenor of the words, be they good or bad, spoken by them. But now +for myself and my own feelings, let me add these true and sincere +words:—Let there be no contention either way; reason ought to +minister for peace, the lord when dwelling in the world ever +employed the force of patience. Not to obey his holy teaching, and +yet to offer gifts to him, is contradiction. Men of the world, for +some indulgence, some wealth or land, contend and fight, but those +who believe the righteous law should obediently conform their lives +to it; to believe and yet to harbor enmity, this is to oppose +'religious principle' to 'conduct.' Buddha himself at rest, and +full of love, desired to bestow the rest he enjoyed on all. To +adore with worship the great merciful, and yet to gender wide +destruction, how is this possible? Divide the relics, then, that +all may worship them alike; obeying thus the law, the fame thereof +widespread, then righteous principles will be diffused; but if +others walk not righteously, we ought by righteous dealing to +appease them, in this way showing the advantage of religion, we +cause religion everywhere to take deep hold and abide. Buddha has +told us that of all charity 'religious charity' is the highest; men +easily bestow their wealth in charity, but hard is the charity that +works for righteousness."</p> +<p>The Mallas hearing the Brahman's words with inward shame gazed +at one another; and answered the Brahmakârin thus: "We thank +you much for purposing to come to us, and for your friendly and +religious counsel—speaking so well, and reasonably. Yours are +words which a Brahman ought to use, in keeping with his holy +character; words full of reconciliation, pointing out the proper +road; like one recovering a wandering <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page455" name="page455"></a>[pg 455]</span> horse brings him back +by the path which he had lost. We then ought to adopt the plan of +reconciliation such as you have shown us; to hear the truth and not +obey it brings afterwards regretful sorrow."</p> +<p>Then they opened out the master's relics and in eight parts +equally divided them. Themselves paid reverence to one part, the +other seven they handed to the Brahman; the seven kings having +accepted these, rejoiced and placed them on their heads; and thus +with them returned to their own country, and erected Dâgobas +for worship over them. The Brahmakârin then besought the +Mallas to bestow on him the relic-pitcher as his portion, and from +the seven kings he requested a fragment of their relics, as an +eighth share. Taking this, he returned and raised a Kaitya, which +still is named "the Golden Pitcher Dâgoba." Then the men of +Kusinagara collecting all the ashes of the burning, raised over +them a Kaitya, and called it "the Ashes Dâgoba." The eight +Stûpas of the eight kings, "the Golden Pitcher" and "the +Ashes Stûpa."</p> +<p>Thus throughout Gambudvipa there first were raised ten +Dâgobas. Then all the lords and ladies of the country holding +gem-embroidered canopies, paid their offerings at the various +shrines, adorning them as any golden mountain. And so with music +and with dancing through the day and night they made merry, and +sang. And now the Arhats numbering five hundred, having forever +lost their master's presence, reflecting there was now no ground of +certainty, returned to Gridhrakûta mount; assembling in King +Sakra's cavern, they collected there the Sûtra Pitaka; all +the assembly agreeing that the venerable Ânanda should say, +for the sake of the congregation, the sermons of Tathâgata +from first to last: "Great and small, whatever you have heard from +the mouth of the deceased Muni."</p> +<p>Then Ânanda in the great assembly ascending the lion +throne, declared in order what the lord had preached, uttering the +words "Thus have I heard."</p> +<p>The whole assembly, bathed in tears, were deeply moved as he +pronounced the words "I heard"; and so he announced the law as to +the time, as to the place, as to the person; as he spoke, so was it +written down from first to last, the complete Sûtra Pitaka. +By diligent attention in the use of means, practising wisdom, all +these Arhats obtained Nirvâna; those now able so to do, or +hereafter able, shall attain Nirvâna in the same way. +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page456" name="page456"></a>[pg +456]</span> King Asoka born in the world when strong, caused much +sorrow; when feeble, then he banished sorrow; as the Asoka-flower +tree, ruling over Gambudvipa, his heart forever put an end to +sorrow, when brought to entire faith in the true law; therefore he +was called "the King who frees from sorrow." A descendant of the +Mayûra family, receiving from heaven a righteous disposition, +he ruled equally over the world; he raised everywhere towers and +shrines, his private name the "violent Asoka," now called the +"righteous Asoka."</p> +<p>Opening the Dâgobas raised by those seven kings to take +the Sarîras thence, he spread them everywhere, and raised in +one day eighty-four thousand towers; only with regard to the eighth +pagoda in Râmagrama, which the Nâga spirit protected, +the king was unable to obtain those relics; but though he obtained +them not, knowing they were spiritually bequeathed relics of Buddha +which the Nâga worshipped and adored, his faith was increased +and his reverent disposition. Although the king was ruler of the +world, yet was he able to obtain the first holy fruit; and thus +induced the entire empire to honor and revere the shrines of +Tathâgata.</p> +<p>In the past and present, thus there has been deliverance for +all. Tathâgata, when in the world; and now his +relics—after his Nirvana; those who worship and revere these, +gain equal merit; so also those who raise themselves by wisdom, and +reverence the virtues of the Tathâgata, cherishing religion, +fostering a spirit of almsgiving, they gain great merit also. The +noble and superlative law of Buddha ought to receive the adoration +of the world. Gone to that undying place, those who believe his law +shall follow him there; therefore let all the Devas and men, +without exception, worship and adore the one great loving and +compassionate, who mastered thoroughly the highest truth, in order +to deliver all that lives. Who that hears of him, but yearns with +love! The pains of birth, old age, disease and death, the endless +sorrows of the world, the countless miseries of "hereafter," +dreaded by all the Devas, he has removed all these accumulated +sorrows; say, who would not revere him? to escape the joys of after +life, this is the world's chief joy! To add the pain of other +births, this is the world's worst sorrow! Buddha, escaped from pain +of birth, shall have no joy of the "hereafter"!</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page457" name="page457"></a>[pg +457]</span> +<p>And having shown the way to all the world, who would not +reverence and adore him? To sing the praises of the lordly monk, +and declare his acts from first to last, without self-seeking or +self-honor, without desire for personal renown, but following what +the scriptures say, to benefit the world, has been my aim.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12894 ***</div> +</body> +</html> |