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DECEMBER, 1874.]
MAXIMS FROM INDIAN WRITERS.
335
RELIGIOUS AND MORAL SENTIMENTS FREELY TRANSLATED
FROM INDIAN WRITERS. BY J. MUIR, D.C.L., LL.D., Ph.D., EDINBURGH.
(Continued from page 242.) Such of the following texts as are not from Sârngadhara's Paddhati Niti, 2. Daily the Mahabharata, -and probably a portion of
self-examination. these also,-are derived from Böhtlingk's In- With daily scrutinizing ken dische Sprüche. It will be seen that the an- Let every man his actions try, cient epic poem has furnished the substance of Inquiring "What with brutes have I many of the maxims elaborated by later authors. In common, what with noble men ?" Vikramacharita, 232. Piety to the God of Gods. O God of Gods, thou art to me
Panchatantra, II. 117. (Ed. Bomb.) A small A father, mother, kinsmen, friends ; part of the pains bestowed on worldly objects I knowledge, riches, find in thee;
would suffice to gain heaven. All good thy being comprehends.
Fools endless labour, pains, and moil Mahabh XII., 12084, and 9. "Lay up for
In storing earthly wealth endure, yourselves treasures in heaven, where thieves do
The hundredth part of all that toil not break through and steal."
Would everlasting bliss ensure. Before decay thy body wears,
Mahâbh. XI. 116. No distinctions in the grave. And with it strength and beauty bears;
Enslaved by various passions, men Before disease, stern charioteer,
Profound self-knowledge fail to gain; Th, frame's dissolver, death, brings near.
Some yield to pride of birth, and scorn Those noblest treasures hoard in haste
All those in humbler stations born; Which neither time nor chance can waste.
By wealth elated, some look down With ceaseless care amass that wealth
On mortals cursed by fortune's frown; Which neither thieves can filch by stes ih,
While others, trained in learning's schools, Nor greedy tyrants snatch away,
Contemn the unlearn'd, and call them fools. Which even in death shall with thee stay.
All quickly others' faults discern; Santiśataka, 3, 5. Remember thy mortality.
Their own to check they cannot learn. Thou hear'st that from thy neighbour's stores
But soon a time arrives when all, - Some goods by theft have vanished; so,
The wise, the foolish, great and small, That none of thine by stealth may go,
The rich, the poor, the high, the low, Thou sett'st a watch, and barr'st thy doors.
The proud, the humble,-hence must go. "Tis well: but know'st thou never fear,
Within the graveyard lone reclined, When thou dost learn that every day
Their pomp, their rags, they leave behind. Stern death from many a dwelling near
Soon, soon their lifeless frames a prey A helpless victim tears away?
Become to sure and sad decay. Deluded mortals, warning take,
When forms, once fair, of flesh are reft, From such insensate slumber wake!
And only skeletons are left, Chanakya, 5. Knowledge a treasure which
Say, then, of all the bones around cannot be lost.
That strow the sad funereal ground, With knowledge, say, what other wealth
What eye has power to recognize Can vie, which neither thieves by stealth Those of the rich, the great, the wise ? Can take, nor greedy kinsmen seize,
When all by death's impartial blow Which, lavished, suffers no decrease ?
Shall, undistinguished, soon lie low, Mahâbh. V. 1474. Never do what would Why, why should now the proud, the strong, distress thee on a sick-bed.
The weak, the lowly, seek to wrong; Such deeds as thou with fear and grief
Whoe'er, before the eyes of men, Would'st, on a sick-bed laid, recall,
And when removed beyond their ken, In youth and health eschew them all,
Will heed this warning kind, though stern, Remembering life is frail and brief.
| The highest future bliss shall earn.
