From Heaven to Siva'a head, and thence to Himalaya's snows,
To India's plain, thence to the main, the sacred Ganges flows — -
A sad descent! but rivers go astray, like foolish men,
From heaven's crown they tumble down, and never rise again.
- Deem him who verse and music scorns
- A beast without the tail and horns;
- What though he never feed on grass,
- I hold him none the less an ass.
- Those slaves who neither fast nor give,
- Unjust, unthinking, idle live,
- Are beasts, though men by right of birth,
- Unwieldy burdens, cumbering earth.
I'd sooner live in mountain caves with lions, bears, and apes,
Than dwell in Indra's heavenly halls with brainless human shapes.
(Here ends the section devoted to the censure of fools.)
SECOND SECTION.
Here follows the praise of the wise man.
Kings in whose country tuneful bards are found
Naked and starving, though for lore renowned,
Are voted dullards by all men of sense;
Poets are ever lords, though short of pence,
And he who Spurns the diamond's flawless ray
Himself degrades, not that he flings away.
Those who possess that treasure which no thief can take away,
Which, though on suppliants freely spent, increaseth day by day,
A source of inward happiness which shall outlast the earth —
To them e'en kings should yield the palm, and own their higher worth.
Scorn not those sages who have scaled the topmost heights of truth,
- Nor seek to bind their might with bands of straw,
- For lotus-strings will never hold in awe
Th' infuriate sovereign of the herd, drunk with the pride of youth,
- Heaven, if the swan deserve no quarter,
- May drive him from his lotus-bower,
- But cannot take away the power
- By which he severs milk from water.*
Neither rings, bright chains, nor bracelets, perfumes, flowers, nor well-trimmed hair,
Grace a man like polished language, th' only jewel he should wear.
Knowledge is man's highest beauty, knowledge is his hidden treasure,
Chief of earthly blessings, bringing calm contentment, fame, and pleasure;
Friends in foreign lands procuring, love of mighty princes earning;
Man is but a beast without it : such a glorious god is Learning.
- Better silence far than speaking,
- Worse are kinsmen oft than fire,
- There's no balm like friendly counsel,
- There's no enemy like ire,
- Rogues have keener teeth than vipers,
- Brains outweigh the miser's hoard,
- Better modesty than jewels,
- Tuneful lyre than kingly sword.
Ever liberal to kinsmen, to the stranger ever kind,
Ever stern to evil-doers, ever frank to men of mind,
Ever loving to the virtuous, ever loyal to the crown, brave against his foemen, ever honouring the gown,
Womankind distrusting ever — such the hero I would see, —
Such uphold the world in order ; without them 'twould cease to be.
What blessings flow from converse with the wise '
All dulness leaves us, truth we learn to prize,
Our hearts expand with consciousness of worth,
Our minds enlarge, our glory fills the earth.
- Those bards of passion who unfold
- The secrets of the heart,
- Their glory never groweth old,
- Nor feels Death's fatal dart.
A duteous son, a virtuous wife, a lord to kindness prone,
A loving friend, a kinsman true, a mind of cheerful tone,
- According to Dr. KiaUiora on the Panctotantra, I. p. 2, 1. 1C, it ia only the hearenlj swans that possew this power.
