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312
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[NOVEMBER, 1876.
Are nothing more than zealous fools; The learn'd are those who act aright. More vile than one of Sudra race
That Brâhman deem, whose learned store
Embraces all the Vedic lore, If evil deeds his life disgrace. That man deserves the Brâhman's name Who offerings throws on Agni's flame,
And knows his senses how to tame. 24. The true Brahman. iii. 14075.
No better than a Sudra deem
The Brahmaņ wise in sin, the slave
Of low degrading vice, the knave Who fain a holy man would seem. But rank with men of priestly birth,
The Sudra truthful, self-restrained,
By constant acts in virtue trained :
A twice-born man is he by worth. 25. The value of rites depends on the inward purity of the performer. Vayu Purana, viii. 190.
No sacred lore, howe'er profound, Nor all the long and varied round Of sacred rites, can bliss procure For worthless men, in heart impure. Although a man with zeal and skill Should all external rites fulfil, He reaps no fruit of all his toil, If sin his inner man should soil. Ev'n he his all in alms who spends With heart defiled, secures no meed: The disposition, not the deed, Has value, -all on it depends. 26. Virtue of more value than high birth.
Mahabharata, v. 1492. The man of high or humble birth,
Whose life with virtue's laws accords, The righteous, modest man, is worth
A hundred merely high-born lords. 27. The real ascetics. iii. 13448 ff. The high-souled men who never sin
In thought, or word, or action-they,
They are the true ascetics: pray, What virtue's in a shrivelled skin ? 28. The recluse less meritorious than virtuous
men who live in the world. xii. 12126. From every vicious taint though pure,
A hermit's virtue cannot vie + Although in subsequent verses (8967 f.), systema founded on reasoning, and ignorance of the Vedas, are con demned, we seem to have in the passage before us a recogni-
With theirs who ne'er from trials fly, But faoe and conquer every lure. 29. Generous impartiality. xii. 8752. With equal eye the truly wise
View learned Brahmans, nobly born, Cows, dogs, and outcast men forlorn,
Whom thoughtless fools as vile despise. For both in objects fixed, and things
Which inward motive force impels,
In all, the one great Spirit dwells, From whom this frame of nature springs. 30. Final beatitude; and the self-evidencing power of the doctrine regarding it. xii. 8959 ff.
Let men all worldly longings quell, And sunk in contemplation dwell On th' inmost, deepest truth of things, From which the spirit's freedom springs. Composed and calm, ascetics feel No longer outward woe and weal: Within themselves enclosed they rest, And, self-sufficing, live most blest. Their state resembles placid sleep, 'Mid men who troubled vigils keep. 'Tis as, when winds by night repose, A lamp's clear flame unflickering glows. And thus, as seasons onward roll, The saint, with meagre fare content, On deep self-contemplation bent, Within himself beholds the Soul. Now see in this most wholesome lore The Vedas' deep esoteric core. On no tradition old it rests: Its truth at once itself attests. Whatever precious gems you find In sacred tales, are here combined. Extracted here, you taste distilled
The nectar thousand verses yield. 31. Final beatitude attainable even by low caste
men, and women. xiv. 392. Know this, the highest good, the final rest,
To gain with Brahmå union ;—this the goal:
Then freed from hard corporeal bonds, the soul Enjoys immortal life supremely blest. This end parsuing, e'en the lowest men, With women, reach that blissful state; much
more Shall Brâhmans, Kshatriyas, versed in sacred
lore, Who Brahmâ seek, this good transcendent gain. tion of the self-evidencing power of certain doctrines, independently of any revealed authority. In the piece following next but one (No. 32) strict orthodoxy is required.
