Page:Echoes from East and West.pdf/31

"'A thousand sacrifices set against one Truth I've weigh'd,
And found, O men, in weight and worth by far the latter sway'd.'

"So, sacrificing their own lives, one Truth the wise uphold;
A greater thing than Truth, my lord, these three worlds do not hold.

"By Truth alone the Sun gives heat, the Moon grows phase by phase,
By Truth alone was Nectar churn'd, on Truth is Nature's base.

"Nay, Virtue with its fourfold form to Truth doth always cling,
Just as a meek four-footed ox doth to the post, O King.

"The wise, my lord, speak of two paths to Virtue—Grace and Truth,
Whereon, I say, all Virtue here is based in very sooth.

"Thy fame is marr'd, thy name is lost, for having left my child;
Thou settest down for him thy crown, but him thou hast exiled.

"The odour of a blossom spreads towards the draft of air;
But the sweet scent of a man's fame is wafted ev'rywhere.

"The fragrance of the sandal-wood is not so lasting here
As that of fame; so pious men to virtue oft adhere.

"But the bad smell of this bad deed, destroying all thy fame,
Will ever run from place to place and render foul thy name.