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220 THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY pelled to lean for support on a staff, while they j are indistinct in speech, walk not in the path | of virtue, which is a fortress to its possessor. j 4. To those men who conceive useless de- 1 sires towards her who is ready to die, stooping, ( staggering, shaking her head, leaning on a staff , and stumbling, shall ^rouble come; when the staff she holds in her hand becomes her mother’s, 1 i.e. when she exchanges her own staff for her j mother’s, on account of age. 0. She who was my mother, having borne me in this world, had departed seeking a ( mother for herself; if this be the case also j with her mother, one mother seeking after j another mother, then is this w'orld wretched | indeed. j 6. Unstable joy like that of a sheep, which j when the fragrant garland, thick with leaves, is waved in front of it, in the hands of the priest in the horrid place where he exorcises devils, eats thereof as though it were fodder, such joy wise men have not. 7. Since the season of youth is like the ripe fruit, which being loosed falls from the trees in the cool grove, desire ye not greatly the damsel, saying she has eyes like a lance, for she will hereafter stoop in her gait and havo to use a staff in lieu of her eyes. 8. How old are you ? What is the state of your teeth ? Do you eat twice a day ? Thus with one question after another do they inquire about the state of the body. The wise, who understand its nature, care not about it. 9. Say not, We will look to virtue bye-and- bye, we are young; but do good while you have wealth, without concealing it. Not only does the ripe fruit which has come to maturity, but strong green fruit also falls down during a storm. 10. Truly relentless death wanders about seeking after men. Oh, take ye the shoulder wallet betimes and be ready. He even thrusts forth the foetus and takes away the child amidst the cries of its mother. So it is well always to remember his subtlety. Chapter 3.—The unstable body. 1. Even of the lords of the umbrella held over the head of the elephant, like the moon when seen over the hills, none are left in this world without its being proclaimed upon earth that they have died. 2. The orb of shining light rises as the [August, 187o. measure of the day of life without one day’s omission. Therefore perform your duty before the day of life be finished. No person will abide in the earth beyond it. 3. The mind of the excellent will urge them along the path of safety. by the suggestion that the marriage drum that is beaten in their house may that very day become the funeral drum for the inmates and sound accordingly. 4. Once they go and beat the drum, they beat a little and beat it again; behold how brave it is. And in beating it the third time, they rise and cover up the corpse and take the fune¬ ral fire, the dying carrying the dead. 5. To him who though he has seen the re¬ latives assemble together and with loud lamen¬ tations take the corpse and convey it to the burning-place, does nevertheless marry, and say to himself this is happiness, It is, It is the funeral drum speaking out in warning tones. 6. When the soul which carries the skin bay, i. e. the body, to experience joy and sorrow, and dwelling in it operates secretly but perfectly, has left the body, what does it matter whether it be dragged about with a rope, or be buried in some carefully selected place, or whether it be cast into any hole dug in the centre, or whe¬ ther it is left to be.contemned by all ? 7. Who are they upon this wide world who can be compared with the men of profound wisdom, who look upon the body as nothing more than a thing which is like the bubbles caused by the falling rain, appearing for a moment and then vanishing ; and who say, We are the persons who will remove this evil of births ? 8. Let those who have got a vigorous body enjoy the benefit which is to be derived from it; fordlie body is like a cloud which quivers on the mountain—it appears for a time and almost directly vanishes. 9. Practise virtue even now, acknowledging the instability of the body, which is like the drop of dew on the point of grass; for it is daily said, This very moment he stood, he sat down, he reclined, and amidst the cries of rela¬ tions he died. 10. Men come into the world unasked for, appear in the house as relations and quietly de¬ part, as the bird which goes far off, its nest-tree being forsaken, leaving their body without saying a word to relatives.