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JULT, 1875.]
MAXIMS FROM INDIAN WRITERS.
199
RELIGIOUS AND MORAL SENTIMENTS FREELY TRANSLATED FROM
SANSKRIT WRITERS. BY J. MUIR, D.C.L., LL.D., PH.D., EDINBURGH. (Continued from vol. III. page 337.)
SECOND SERIES. 1. Svetasvatara Upanishad, iii. 19. The Great I never act to earn reward; Spirit.
I do what I am bound to do, No hands has He, nor feet, nor eyes, nor ears,
Indifferent whether fruit accrue; And yet he grasps, and moves, and sees, and
'Tis duty I alone regard. hears.
Of all the men who care profess He all things knows, Himself unknown to all; For virtue-love of that to speakHim men the great primeval Spirit call.
The unworthiest far are those who seek 2. Mahabharata, iii. 1140 ff.* Impeachment
To make a gain of righteousness. anni Vindication of the Divine Government. Who thus-to every lofty sense Draupadi speaks :
Of duty dead-from each good act Beholding noble men distrest,
Its full return would fain extract; Ignoble men enjoying good,
He forfeits every recompense. Thy righteous self by woe pursued,
Love duty, thus, for duty's sake, Thy wicked foe by fortune blest,
Not careful what return it brings : I charge the Lord of all-the strong,
Yet doubt not, bliss from virtue springs, The partial Lord-with doing wrong.
While woe shall sinners overtake. His dark, mysterious, sovereign will
By ships the perilous sea is crossed ; To men their several lots decrees;
So men on virtue's stable bark He favours some with health and ease,
Pass o'er this mundane ocean dark, Some dooms to every form of ill.
And reach the blessed heavenly coast. As puppets' limbs the touch obey
If holy actions bore no fruits ; Of him whose fingers hold the strings,
If self-command, beneficence, So God directs the secret springe
Received no fitting recompense; Which all the deeds of creatures sway.
Then men would lead the life of brutes : In vain those birds which springes hold
Who then would knowledge toil to gain ? Would seek to fly: so man a thrall,
Or after noble aims aspire ? Fast fettered, ever lives, in all
O'er all the earth delusion dire He does or thinks by God controlled.
And darkness dense and black would reign. As trees from river-banks are riven
But 'tis not so: for saints of old And swept away, when rains have swelled Well knew that every righteous deed The streams, so men by God impelled
From God obtains its ample meed: To action, helpless, on are driven.
They therefore strove pure lives to lead, God does not show for all mankind
As ancient sacred books have told. A parent's love and wise concern;
The gods-for such their sovereign willBut acts like one un feeling, stern,
Have veiled from our too curious ken Whose eyes caprice and passion blind.
The laws by which the deeds of men Yudhishthira replies :
Are recompensed with good and ill. I've listened, loving spouse, to thee,
No common mortal comprehends I've marked thy charming, kind discourse, The wondrous power, mysterious skill,
Thy phrases turned with grace and force, With which these lords of all fulfil But know, thou utterest blasphemy.
Their high designs, their hidden ends. • Vide ante, vol. III. pp. 163, 164.
