TO THE BOUNTIFUL IMMORTALS

I would worship these with my sacrifice, those who rule aright, and who dispose of all aright, and this one especially I would approach with my praise (Ahura Mazda). He is thus hymned in our praise-songs. Yea, we worship in our sacrifice that deity and lord, who is Ahura Mazda, the Creator, the gracious helper, the maker of all good things; and we worship in our sacrifice Spitama Zarathustra, that chieftain of the rite. And we would declare those institutions established for us, exact and undeviating as they are. And I would declare forth those of Ahura Mazda, those of the Good Mind, and of Asha Vahista, and those of Khshatra-vairya, and those of the Bountiful Âramaiti, and those of Weal and Immortality, and those which appertain to the body of the Kine, and to the Kine's soul, and those which appertain to Ahura Mazda's Fire, and those of Sraosha the blessed, and of Rashnu the most just, and those of Mithra of the wide pastures, and of the good and holy Wind, and of the good Mazdayasnian Religion, and of the good and pious Prayer for blessings, and those of the good and pious Prayer which frees one from belying, and the good and pious Prayer for blessing against unbelieving words. And these we would declare in order that we may attain unto that speech which is uttered with true religious zeal, or that we may be as prophets of the provinces, that we may succor him who lifts his voice for Mazda, that we may be as prophets who smite with victory, the befriended of Ahura Mazda, and persons the most useful to him, holy men who think good thoughts, and speak good words, and do good deeds. That he may approach us with the Good Mind, and that our souls may advance in good, let it thus come; yea, "how may my soul advance in good? let it thus advance."

PRAISE OF THE HOLY BULL

Hail, bounteous bull! Hail to thee, beneficent bull! Hail to thee, who makest increase! Hail to thee, who makest growth! Hail to thee, who dost bestow his part upon the righteous faithful, and wilt bestow it on the faithful yet unborn! Hail to thee, whom the Gahi kills, and the ungodly Ashemaogha, and the wicked tyrant.

TO RAIN AS A HEALING POWER

"Come, come on, O clouds, from up above, down on the earth, by thousands of drops, by myriads of drops"—thus say, O holy Zarathustra! "to destroy sickness, to destroy death, to destroy the sickness that kills, to destroy death that kills, to destroy Gadha and Apagadha. If death come after noon, may healing come at eve! If death come at eve, may healing come at night! If death come at night, may healing come at dawn! And showers shower down new water, new earth, new plants, new healing powers, and new healing."

TO THE WATERS AND LIGHT OF THE SUN

"As the sea Vouru-kasha is the gathering place of the waters, rising up and going down, up the aërial way and down the earth, down the earth and up the aerial way: thus rise up and roll along! thou in whose rising and growing Ahura Mazda made the aerial way. Up! rise up and roll along! thou swift-horsed Sun, above Hara Berezaiti, and produce light for the world, and mayest thou, O man! rise up there, if thou art to abide in Garô-nmânem, along the path made by Mazda, along the way made by the gods, the watery way they opened. And the Holy Word shall keep away the evil. Of thee, O child! I will cleanse the birth and growth; of thee, O woman! I will make the body and the strength pure; I make thee rich in children and rich in milk; rich in seed, in milk, in fat, in marrow, and in offspring. I shall bring to thee a thousand pure springs, running towards the pastures that give food to the child."

TO THE WATERS AND LIGHT OF THE MOON

As the sea Vouru-kasha is the gathering place of the waters, rising up and going down, up the aërial way and down the earth, down the earth and up the aërial way: Thus rise up and roll along! thou in whose rising and growing Ahura Mazda made the earth. Up! rise up, thou Moon, that dost keep in thee the seed of the bull; rise up above Hara Berezaiti, and produce light for the world, and mayest thou, O man! rise up there, if thou art to abide in Garô-nmânem, along the path made by Mazda, along the way made by the gods, the watery way they opened. And the Holy Word shall keep away the evil: Of thee, O child! I will cleanse the birth and growth; of thee, O woman! I will make the body and the strength pure; I make thee rich in children and rich in milk; rich in seed, in milk, in fat, in marrow, and in offspring. I shall bring to thee a thousand pure springs, running towards the pastures that give food to the child.

TO THE WATERS AND LIGHT OF THE STARS

As the sea Vouru-kasha is the gathering place of the waters, rising up and going down, up the aërial way and down the earth, down the earth and up the aërial way: Thus rise up and roll along! thou in whose rising and growing Ahura Mazda made everything that grows. Up! rise up, ye deep Stars, that have in you the seed of waters; rise up above Hara Berezaiti, and produce light for the world, and mayest thou, O man! rise up there, if thou art to abide in Garô-nmânem, along the path made by Mazda, along the way made by the gods, the watery way they opened. Thus rise up and roll along! ye in whose rising and growing Ahura Mazda made everything that rises. In your rising, away will the Kahvuzi fly and cry; away will the Ayêhi fly and cry; away will the Gahi, who follows the Yâtu, fly and cry.

THE DHAMMAPADA

Translation by F. Max Müller

INTRODUCTION

The "Dhammapada," or "Path to Virtue," is one of the most practical ethical hand-books of Buddhism. It is included in the canon of Buddhistic Scriptures, and is one of the Eastern books which can be read with delight to-day by those who are classed as general readers. It is divided into twenty-six chapters, and the keynote of it is struck by the sentence "The virtuous man is happy in this world, and he is happy in the next; he is happy in both. He is happy when he thinks of the good he has done; he is still more happy when going on the good path." The first step in the "good path" is earnestness, for as the writer says, "Earnestness is the path of immortality (Nirvana), thoughtlessness the path of death; those who are in earnest do not die, those who are thoughtless are as if dead already." Earnestness, in this connection, evidently means the power of reflection, and of abstracting the mind from mundane things. There is something very inspiring in the sentence, "When the learned man drives away vanity by earnestness, he, the wise, climbing the terraced heights of wisdom, looks down upon the fools: free from sorrow he looks upon the sorrowing crowd, as one that stands on a mountain looks down upon them that stand upon the plain." This reminds us of Lucretius,

 
"How sweet to stand, when tempests tear the main,
On the firm cliff, and mark the seaman's toil!
Not that another's danger soothes the soul,
But from such toil how sweet to feel secure!
How sweet, at distance from the strife, to view
Contending hosts, and hear the clash of war!
But sweeter far on Wisdom's height serene,
Upheld by Truth, to fix our firm abode;
To watch the giddy crowd that, deep below,
Forever wander in pursuit of bliss;
To mark the strife for honors, and renown,
For wit and wealth, insatiate, ceaseless urged,
Day after day, with labor unrestrained."
 

It is curious to see the atheistic Epicurean and the devout Buddhist meeting on a common ground. But the beauties of the "Dhammapada" can only be realized by a careful study of this charming work. We would point out, for instance, in the chapter on Flowers, what is a piece of golden advice to all readers of books: "The disciple will find out the plainly shown path of virtue, as a clever man finds the right flower."

Neither the date nor the authorship of the "Dhammapada" is known, but there is conclusive evidence that this canon existed before the Christian era. Many scholars agree in ascribing its utterances to Buddha himself, while others are of the opinion that it is a compilation made by Buddhist monks from various sources.

E.W.

THE DHAMMAPADA

CHAPTER I

THE TWIN-VERSES

All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him, as the wheel follows the foot of the ox that draws the carriage.

All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.

"He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed me"—in those who harbor such thoughts hatred will never cease.

"He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed me"—in those who do not harbor such thoughts hatred will cease.

For hatred does not cease by hatred at any time: hatred ceases by love—this is an old rule.

The world does not know that we must all come to an end here; but those who know it, their quarrels cease at once.

He who lives looking for pleasures only, his senses uncontrolled, immoderate in his food, idle, and weak, Mâra (the tempter) will certainly overthrow him, as the wind throws down a weak tree.

He who lives without looking for pleasures, his senses well controlled, moderate in his food, faithful and strong, him Mâra will certainly not overthrow, any more than the wind throws down a rocky mountain.

He who wishes to put on the yellow dress without having cleansed himself from sin, who disregards also temperance and truth, is unworthy of the yellow dress.

But he who has cleansed himself from sin, is well grounded in all virtues, and endowed also with temperance and truth: he is indeed worthy of the yellow dress.

They who imagine truth in untruth, and see untruth in truth, never arrive at truth, but follow vain desires.

They who know truth in truth, and untruth in untruth, arrive at truth, and follow true desires.

As rain breaks through an ill-thatched house, passion will break through an unreflecting mind.

As rain does not break through a well-thatched house, passion will not break through a well-reflecting mind.

The evil-doer mourns in this world, and he mourns in the next; he mourns in both. He mourns and suffers when he sees the evil result of his own work.

The virtuous man delights in this world, and he delights in the next; he delights in both. He delights and rejoices, when he sees the purity of his own work.

The evil-doer suffers in this world, and he suffers in the next; he suffers in both. He suffers when he thinks of the evil he has done; he suffers more when going on the evil path.

The virtuous man is happy in this world, and he is happy in the next; he is happy in both. He is happy when he thinks of the good he has done; he is still more happy when going on the good path.

The thoughtless man, even if he can recite a large portion of the law, but is not a doer of it, has no share in the priesthood, but is like a cow-herd counting the cows of others.

The follower of the law, even if he can recite only a small portion of the law, but, having forsaken passion and hatred and foolishness, possesses true knowledge and serenity of mind, he, caring for nothing in this world or that to come, has indeed a share in the priesthood.