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156
LECTURES ON THE SCIENCE OF RELIGION.
Dhîrâ tv asya mahinâ ganûmshi, vi yas tastambha rodasî kid urvî, pra nākam rishvam nunude brihantam,
dvitâ nakshatram paprathak ka bhûma. Wise and mighty are the works of him who stemmed asunder the wide firmaments (heaven and earth). He lifted on high the bright and glorious heaven; he stretched out apart the starry sky and the earth.
Do I say this to my own self? How can I get near unto Varuna ? Will he accept my offering without displeasure? When shall I, with a quiet mind, see him propitiated ?
'I ask, O Varuna, wishing to know this my sin; I go to ask the wise. The sages all tell me the same: “Varuna it is who is angrywith thee."
Was it for an old sin, O Varuna, that thou wishest to destroy thy friend, who always praises thee? Tell me, thou unconquerable Lord ! and I will quickly turn to thee with praise, freed from sin.
Absolve us from the sins of our fathers, and from those which we committed with our own bodies. Release Vasishtha, O King, like a thief who has feasted on stolen cattle; release him like a calf from the rope.
'It was not our own doing, O Varuna, it was a slip; an intoxicating draught, passion, dice, thoughtlessness. The old is there to 'mislead the young; even sleep is not free from mischief.
Let me, freed from sin, do service to the angry god, like a slave to his lord 1. The lord god enlighteneth the foolish; he, the wisest, leads his worshipper to wealth.
1 See Benfey, Göttinger Gelehrte Nachrichten,' 1874, p. 370.
