Dhammapada

SR No.: 007674
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Max Muller
Publisher: Oxford
Publication Year: 1881
Total Pages: 2540
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 45 MB

Page 2023

II, 6, 11.
THE FOUR ORDERS.
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Striving with the gods, he made these divisions. A wise man should not take heed of them.'
29. Because no other meaning is) perceptible, (the text) 'Four paths,' &c., refers to sacrificial rites, (viz.) to Ishtis, animal sacrifices, Soma sacrifices, Darvihomas.
30. With respect to this (question the following verse also) is quoted : ‘That eternal greatness of the Brâhmana is neither increased by works, nor diminished. The soul knows the nature of that (greatness); knowing that, he is not stained by evil deeds.'
31. If he says that, (let him reflect on the following verse): 'He who knows not the Veda, does not at death think of that great, all-perceiving soul, through which the sun, resplendent with brilliancy, gives warmth, and the father has a father through the son at his birth from the womb.'
32. (Moreover), 'Those who, being neither true Brâhmanas nor performers of Soma sacrifices, work not for that which is near, nor for that which is far, take hold of the word and with sinful (speech) ignorantly perform the rites.
33. There are innumerable (passages in the Veda) which refer to the debts (to be paid by a Brâhmana), such as, “May I obtain, O Agni, immor
30–31. Taitt. Brâhmana III, 12, 9, 7.
32. Rig-veda X, 71, 9. My rendering of the difficult verse is merely tentative, and I have left out the word sirih, for which I am as little able as other Sanskritists to offer a safe explanation. The general meaning of the verse, I think, has been rightly understood by Sâyana and Govinda, who both say that it contains a reproach, addressed to those Brahmanas who, contented with the letter of the Veda, do not master its meaning.
33-34. The commentary omits these two Satras, which, however, seem necessary for the completion of the discussion. The
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