" To show
forbearance
and gentleness in teaching others ; and not to revenge unreasonable conduct : this is the energy of Southern regions, and the good man makes it his study.
Universal Anthology - v01
Let a day be given to thy ser vant, to consider with his queen and his counselors what it shall be that the king shall give unto us for a reward.
" And King Solomon said, "Be it so.
"
And it was so.
But the king of the hoopoes flew away; and he went to his queen, who was a dainty hen, and he told her what had happened, and desired her advice as to what they should ask of the king for a reward ; and he called together his council, and they sat upon a tree, and they each of them desired a different thing. Some wished for a long tail ; some wished for blue and green feathers ; some wished to be as large as ostriches ; some wished for one thing, and some for another ; and they debated till the going down of the sun, but they could not agree together. Then the queen took the king of the hoopoes apart and said to him, "My dear lord and hus band, listen to my words ; and as we have preserved the head of King Solomon, let us ask for crowns of gold on our heads, that we may be superior to all other birds. "
And the words of the queen and the princesses, her daugh ters, prevailed ; and the king of the hoopoes presented him self before the throne of Solomon, and desired of him that all hoopoes should wear golden crowns upon their heads. Then Solomon said, " Hast thou considered well what it is that thou desirest? " And the hoopoe said, "I have considered well,
182 SOLOMON AND THE HOOPOES.
and we desire to"have golden crowns upon our heads. " So Solomon replied, Crowns of gold shall ye have : but, behold, thou art a foolish bird ; and when the evil days shall come upon thee, and thou seest the folly of thy heart, return here to me, and I will give thee help. " So the king of the hoopoes left the presence of King Solomon with a golden crown upon his head, and all the hoopoes had golden crowns ; and they were exceeding proud and haughty. Moreover, they went down by the lakes and the pools, and walked by the margin of the water, that they might admire themselves, as it were, in a glass. And the queen of the hoopoes gave herself airs, and sat upon a twig ; and she refused to speak to the merops, her cousins, and the other birds who had been her friends, because they were but vulgar birds, and she wore a crown of gold upon her head.
Now there was a certain fowler who set traps for birds ; and he put a piece of a broken mirror into his trap, and a hoopoe that went in to admire itself was caught. And the fowler looked at it, and saw the shining crown upon its head ; so he wrung off its head, and took the crown to Issachar, the son of Jacob, the worker in metal, and he asked him what it was. So Issachar, the son of Jacob, said, "It is a crown of brass," and he gave the fowler a quarter of a shekel for it, and desired him, if he found any more, to bring them to him, and to tell no man thereof. So the fowler caught some more hoopoes, and sold their crowns to Issachar, the son of Jacob ; until one day he met another man who was a jeweler, and he showed him several of the hoopoes' crowns. Whereupon the jeweler told him that they were of pure gold, and he gave the fowler a talent of gold for four of them.
Now when the value of these crowns was known, the fame of them got abroad, and in all the land of Israel was heard the twang of bows and the whirling of slings ; bird lime was made in every town, and the price of traps rose in the mar ket, so that the fortunes of the trapmakers increased. Not a hoopoe could show its head but it was slain or taken captive, and the days of the hoopoes were numbered. Then their minds were filled with sorrow and dismay, and before long few were left to bewail their cruel destiny.
At last, flying by stealth through the most unfrequented places, the unhappy king of the hoopoes went to the court of King Solomon, and stood again before the steps of the golden
GONE IN THE WIND. 183
throne, and with tears and groans related the misfortunes which had happened to his race.
So King Solomon looked kindly upon the king of the hoopoes, and said unto him: "Behold, did I not warn thee of thy folly, in desiring to have crowns of gold ? Vanity and pride have been thy ruin. But now, that a memorial may remain of the service which thou didst render unto me, your crowns of gold shall be changed into crowns of feathers, that ye may walk unharmed upon the earth. " Now, when the fowlers saw that the hoopoes no longer wore crowns of gold upon their heads, they ceased from the persecution of their race ; and from that time forth the family of the hoopoes have nourished and increased, and have continued in peace even to the present day.
GONE IN THE WIND. By FRIEDRICH RUCKERT. (Translated by James Clarence Mangan. )
[Friedbicb Ruckert, German poet and Orientalist, was born at Schwein- furt, May 16, 1788, and was professor of Oriental languages at Erlangen 1826- 1841, and at Berlin 1841-1848. After resigning his position at the latter place, he lived at Neusses, near Coburg, and there died January 31, 1866. He recast in German verse several of the famous books of the East, among them the " AbuSeid" of Hariri and the "Nal and Damajanti" from the Mahabharata. His original poems include: " Geharnischte Sonnette " ("Mailed Sonnets," 1814), inspired by the national movement of 1813, and "Liebesfruhling "
("Love's Spring," 1822).
James Clarence Manoan, an Irish poet, was born in Dublin, May 1, 1803.
As a boy he was a copyist and attorney's clerk, and worked at the former trade intermittently all his life. Extreme poverty, overwork, bohemian irregularity and exposure, and opium, made him a physical wreck ; and he died of cholera June 20, 1849. Several partial editions of his poems have been published. The bulk of them, and his best work, are translations. ]
Solomon ! where is thy throne ? It is gone in the wind. Babylon ! where is thy might ? It is gone in the wind.
Like the swift shadows of Noon, like the dreams of the Blind, Vanish the glories and pomps of earth in the wind.
Man ! canst thou build upon aught in the pride of thy mind ? Wisdom will teach thee that nothing can tarry behind;
184 GONE IN THE WIND.
Though there be thousand bright actions embalmed and enshrined, Myriads and millions of brighter are snow in the wind.
Solomon ! where is thy throne ? It is gone in the wind. Babylon ! where is thy might ? It is gone in the wind. All that the genius of man hath achieved or designed, Waits but its hour to be dealt with as dust by the wind.
Say, what is Pleasure ? a phantom, a mask undefined ; Science ? an almond, whereof we can pierce but the rind ; Honor and Affluence ? Firmans and Fortune hath signed Only to glitter and pass on the wings of the wind.
Solomon ! where is thy throne ? It is gone in the wind. Babylon ! where is thy might ? It is gone in the wind. Who is the Fortunate ? He who in anguish hath pined ! He shall rejoice when his relics are dust in the wind !
Mortal ! be careful with what thy best hopes are entwined ;
Woe to the miners for Truth — where the Lampless have mined ! Woe to the seekers on earth for — what none ever find !
They and their trust shall be scattered like leaves on the wind.
Solomon ! where is thy throne ? It is gone in the wind. Babylon ! where is thy might ? It is gone in the wind. Happy in death are they only whose hearts have consigned All Earth's affections and longings and cares to the wind.
Pity, thou, reader ! the madness of poor Humankind,
Raving of Knowledge, — and Satan so busy to blind !
Raving of Glory, — like me, — for the garlands I bind (Garlands of song) are but gathered, and — strewn in the wind.
Solomon ! where is thy throne ? It is gone in the wind. Babylon ! where is thy might ? It is gone in the wind. I, Abul-Namez, must rest ; for my fire hath declined, And I hear voices from Hades like bells on the wind.
CLASSIC CHINESE POEMS. 185
CLASSIC CHINESE POEMS. (From the Shi-King : translated by William Jennings. ) A Challenge.
[This is a parallel, from the woman's side, to George Wither's " Shall I, pining in despair. "]
If, boy, thy thoughts of me were kind, I'd lift my skirts and wade the Tsin ;
But if thou be of other mind,
Is there none else my love would win ?
O craziest of crazy boys !
Ay, if thy thoughts of me were kind, I'd lift my skirts and wade the Wei ;
But if thy thoughts are else inclined, Is there none other gallant nigh ?
O craziest of crazy boys !
The Absent Husband.
I picked and picked the mouse ears, Nor gained one basket load ;
My heart was with my husband : I flung them on the road.
I climbed yon rugged mountain, My ponies all broke down ;
I filled my golden goblet
Long anxious thought to drown.
I climbed yon lofty ridges,
With my ponies black and bay ;
I filled for me my horn cup Long torture to allay.
I climbed yon craggy uplands, My steeds grew weak and ill ; My footmen were exhausted ; —
And here I sorrow still !
CLASSIC CHINESE POEMS.
Lament of a Discarded Wife.
When east winds blow unceasingly, They bring but gloominess and rain.
Strive, strive to live unitedly,
And every angry thought restrain.
Some plants we gather for their leaves, But leave the roots untouched beneath ;
So, while unsullied was my name,
I should have lived with you till death.
With slow, slow step I took the road, My inmost heart rebelling sore,
You came not far with me, indeed, You only saw me to the door.
Who calls the lettuce bitter fare,
The cress is not a whit more sweet.
Ay, feast there with your new-found bride, Well pleased, as when fond brothers meet.
The Wei, made turbid by the king, Grows limpid by the islets there.
There, feasting with your new-found bride For me no longer now you care.
Yet leave to me my fishing dam ; My wicker nets, remove them not.
My person spurned — some vacant hour May bring compassion for my lot.
Where ran the river full and deep, With raft or boat I paddled o'er ;
And where it flowed in shallower stream, I dived or swam from shore to shore.
And what we had, or what we lost, For that I strained my every nerve ;
When other folks had loss, I'd crawl Upon my knees, if aught 'twould serve.
!
And you can show me no kind care,
Nay, treated like a foe am I My virtue stood but in your way,
Like traders' goods that none will buy. Once it was feared we could not live ;
In your reverses then I shared :
CLASSIC CHINESE POEMS.
And now, when fortune smiles on you, To very poison I'm compared.
I have laid by a goodly store, —— For winter's use it was to be ;
Feast on there with your new-found bride,—
I
Rude fits of anger you have shown,
was for use in poverty !
Now left me to be sorely tried. Ah, you forget those days gone by,
When you came nestling to my side !
Comrades in War Time.
How say we have no clothes ? One plaid for both will do.
Let but the king, in raising men, Our spears and pikes renew, — We'll fight as one, we two !
How say we have no clothes ? One skirt our limbs shall hide. Let but the king, in raising men,
Halberd and lance provide, — We'll do side by side
How say we have no clothes My kirtle thou shalt wear.
Let but the king, in raising men, Armor and arms prepare, — The toils of war we'll share.
Trust tht Last Friend against the World.
A babbling current fails — To float a load of thorns away,
Of brothers, few are left us now, Yet we remain, myself and thou
Believe not others' tales, Others will lead thee far astray.
The babbling current fails — To float the firewood fagots far.
Of brothers there are left but few, Yet and thou remain, we two
Believe not others' tales, For verily untrue they are
I
! ! ?
:
:
it,
188 THE DOCTRINE OF THE MEAN.
THE DOCTRINE OF THE MEAN. By CONFUCIUS.
(Translated by James Legge, in " Chinese Classics. ")
Chapter I. 1. What Heaven has conferred is called the Nature ; an accordance with this nature is called the path of duty ; the regulation of this path is called instruc tion.
2. The path may not be left for an instant. If it could be left, it would not be the path. On this account, the superior man does not wait till he sees things, to be cautious, nor till he hears things, to be apprehensive.
3. There is nothing more visible than what is secret, and nothing more manifest than what is minute. Therefore the superior man is watchful over himself, when he is alone.
4. While there are no stirrings of pleasure, anger, sorrow, or joy, the mind may be said to be in the state of equilibrium. When those feelings have been stirred, and they act in their due degree, there ensues what may be called the state of Harmony. This Equilibrium is the great root from which grow all the human actings in the world, and this harmony is the universal path which they all should pursue.
5. Let the states of Equilibrium and harmony exist in per fection, and a happy order will prevail throughout heaven and earth, and all things will be nourished and flourish.
Chapter II. 1. Chung-ne said, " The superior man embodies the course of the Mean; the mean man acts contrary to the course of the Mean.
2. " The superior man's embodying the course of the Mean is because he is a superior man, and so always maintains the Mean. The mean man's acting contrary to the course of the Mean is because he is a mean man, and has no caution. "
Chapter III. The Master said : " Perfect is the virtue which is according to the Mean ! Rare have they long been among the people, who could practice it ! "
Chapter IV. 1. The Master said, " I know how it is that the path of the Mean is not walked in : The Knowing go beyond it, and the stupid do not come up to it. I know how it is that the path of the Mean is not understood : The men of
THE DOCTRINE OF THE MEAN. 189
talents and virtue go beyond it, and the worthless do not come ap to it.
2. " There is no body but eats and drinks. But they are few who can distinguish flavors. " "
Chapter V. The Master said, Alas ! How is the path of the Mean untrodden ! "
Chapter VI. The Master said : " There was Shun : He in deed was greatly wise ! Shun loved to question others, and to study their words, though they might be shallow. He con cealed what was bad in them, and displayed what was good. He took hold of their two extremes, determined the Mean, and employed it in his government of the people. It was by this that he was Shun ! "
Chapter VII. The Master said : " Men all say, ' We are wise ; ' but being driven forward and taken in a net, a trap, or a pitfall, they know not how to escape. Men all say, ' We are wise ; ' but happening to choose the course of the Mean, they are not able to keep it for a round month. "
Chapter VIII. The Master said, " This was the manner of Hwuy : he made choice of the Mean, and whenever he got hold of what was good, he clasped it firmly, as if wearing it on his breast, and did not lose it. " "
Chapter IX. The Master said,
its families may be perfectly ruled ; dignities and emoluments may be declined ; naked weapons may be trampled under the feet; but the course of the Mean cannot be attained to. "
Chapter X. 1. Tsze-loo asked about energy.
2. The Master said, " Do you mean the energy of the South, the energy of the North, or the energy which you should culti vate yourself?
3.
" To show forbearance and gentleness in teaching others ; and not to revenge unreasonable conduct : this is the energy of Southern regions, and the good man makes it his study.
4. " To lie under arms ; and meet death without regret : this is the energy of Northern regions, and the forceful make it their study.
5. " Therefore, the superior man cultivates a friendly har mony, without being weak. How firm is he in his energy ! He stands erect in the middle, without inclining to either side. How firm is he in his energy! When good principles prevail in the government of his country, he does not change from what he was in retirement. How firm he is in his energy ! When
The empire, its States, and
190 THE DOCTRINE OF THE MEAN.
bad principles prevail in the country, he maintains his course to death without changing. How firm is his energy ! "
Chapter XI. 1. The Master said, " To live in obscurity, and yet practice wonders, in order to be mentioned with honor in future ages ; this is what I do not do.
2. " The good man tries to proceed according to the right
path, but when he has gone halfway, he abandons it ; able so to stop.
I am not
8. " The superior man accords with the course of the Mean. Though he may be well unknown, unregarded by the world, he feels no regret. It is only the sage who is able for this. "
Chapter XII. 1. The way which the superior man pur sues, reaches wide and far, and yet is secret.
2. Common men and women, however ignorant, may inter meddle with the knowledge of it ; yet in its utmost reaches, there is that which even the sage does not know. Common men and women, however much below the ordinary standard of character, can carry it into practice ; yet in its utmost reaches there is that which even the sage is not able to carry into practice. Great as heaven and earth are, men still find some things in them with which to be dissatisfied. Thus it is, that were the superior man to speak of his way in all its great ness, nothing in the world would be found able to embrace and were he to speak of in its minuteness, nothing in the world would be found able to split it. "
It said in the Book of Poetry, The hawk flies up to heaven the fishes leap in the deep. " This expresses how this way seen above and below.
4. The way of the superior man may be found, in its simple elements, in the intercourse of common men and women but in its utmost reaches shines brightly through heaven and earth.
Chapter XIII. The Master said " The path not far from man. When men try to pursue course, which far from the common indications of consciousness, this course can not be considered the path.
2. "In the Book of Poetry, said, 'In hewing an ax handle, the pattern not far off. ' We grasp one ax handle to hew the other, and yet, we look askance from the one to the other, we may consider them as apart. Therefore, the supe rior man governs men, according to their nature, with what proper to them and as soon as they change what wrong, he stops.
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THE DOCTRINE OF THE MEAN. 191
3. " When one cultivates to the utmost the principles of his nature, and exercises them on the principle of reciprocity, he is not far from the path. What you do not like, when done to yourself, do not do to others.
4. " In the way of the superior man there are four things, to not one of which have I as yet attained : To serve my father, as I would require my son to serve me ; to this I have not attained. To serve my prince, as I would require my min ister to serve me ; to this I have not attained. To serve my elder brother, as I would require my younger brother to serve me ; to this I have not attained. To set the example in behav ing to a friend, as I would require him to behave to me ; to this I have not attained. Earnest in practicing the ordinary virtues, and careful in speaking about them, in his practice, he has anything defective, the superior man dares not but ex ert himself and if, in his words, he has any excess, he dares not allow himself such license. Thus his words have respect to his actions, and his actions have respect to his words
not just an entire sincerity which marks the superior man
Chapter XIV. The superior man does what proper to the station in which he he does not desire to go beyond this.
2. In position of wealth and honor, he does what proper to position of wealth and honor. In poor and low position, he does what proper to poor and low position. Situated among barbarous tribes, he does what proper to situation among barbarous tribes. In position of sorrow and difficulty, he does what proper to position of sorrow and difficulty. The superior man can find himself in no situation in which he not himself.
3. In high situation, he does not treat with contempt his inferiors. In low situation, he does not court the favor of his superiors. He rectifies himself, and seeks for nothing from others, so that he has no dissatisfactions. He does not mur mur against heaven, nor grumble against men.
4. Thus that the superior man quiet and calm, wait ing for the appointments of Heaven; while the mean man walks in dangerous paths, looking for lucky occurrences.
The Master said " In archery we have something like the way of the superior man. When the archer misses the center of the target, he turns round and seeks for the cause of his failure in himself. "
Chapter XV. The way of the superior man may bo
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192 THE DOCTRINE OF THE MEAN.
compared to what takes place in traveling, when to go to a distance we must first traverse the space that is near, and in ascending a height, when we must begin from the lower ground.
2. It is said in the Book of Poetry : " Happy union with wife and children is like the music of lutes and harps. When there is concord among brethren, the harmony is delightful and enduring. Thus may you regulate your family, and enjoy the pleasure of your wife and children. "
3. The Master said, "In such a state of things, parents have entire complacence ! "
Chapter XVI. 1. The Master said, " How abundantly do spiritual beings display the powers that belong to them !
2. " We look for them, but do not see them ; we listen to, but do not hear them ; yet they enter into all things, and there is nothing without them.
3. "They cause all the people in the empire to fast and purify themselves, and array themselves in their richest dresses, in order to attend at their sacrifices. Then, like overflowing water, they seem to be over the heads, and on the right and left of their worshipers.
4. " It is said in the Book of Poetry, ' The approaches of the spirits, you cannot surmise ; and can you treat them with indifference ? '
5. " Such is the manifestness of what is minute ! Such is the impossibility of repressing the outgoings of sincerity ! "
Chapter XVII. 1. The Master said : " How greatly filial was Shun ! His virtue was that of a sage ; his dignity was the imperial throne ; his riches were all within the four seas. He offered his sacrifices in his ancestral temple, and his descend ants preserved the sacrifices to himself.
2. "Therefore having such great virtue, it could not but be that he should obtain the throne, that he should obtain those riches, that he should obtain his fame, that he should at tain to his long life.
3. " Thus it is that Heaven, in the production of things, is surely bountiful to them, according to their qualities. Hence the tree that is flourishing, it nourishes ; while that which is ready to fall, it overthrows.
4. " In the Book of Poetry, it is said, ' The admirable, ami able prince displayed conspicuously his excelling virtue, ad justing his people and adjusting his officers. Therefore, he received from Heaven the emoluments of dignity. It pro
VEDIC HYMNS. 193
tected him, assisted him, decreed him the throne ; sending from heaven these favors, as it were repeatedly. '
5. " We may say, therefore, that he who is greatly virtu ous will be sure to receive the appointment of Heaven. "
VEDIC HYMNS.
By Sib MONIEB MONIER-WILLIAMS.
[Sib Monieb Monier-Williams : A leading Anglo-Indian lexicographer and Orientalist ; born at Bombay, India, November 12, 1819 ; died 1889. From 1860 on he was professor of Sanskrit in Oxford. He published several Sanskrit dictionaries, a Sanskrit and a Hindustani grammar; "Indian Epic Poetry"
(1863), "Indian Wisdom" (1875), "Hinduism" (1877), "Modern India and the Indians" (1878), "Buddhism," etc. , 1889. ]
To what deities were the prayers and hymns of the Vedas addressed? This is an interesting inquiry, for these were probably the very deities worshiped under similar names by our Aryan progenitors in their primeval home. The answer is : They worshiped those physical forces before which all nations, if guided solely by the light of nature, have in the early period of their life instinctively bowed down, and before which even the more civilized and enlightened have always been compelled to bend in awe and reverence if not in adoration.
To our Aryan forefathers God's power was exhibited in the forces of nature even more evidently than to ourselves. Lands, houses, flocks, herds, men, and animals were more frequently than in Western climates at the mercy of winds, fire, and water ; and the sun's rays appeared to be endowed with a potency quite beyond the experience of any European country. We cannot be surprised, then, that these forces were regarded by our Eastern progenitors as actual manifestations, either of one deity in different moods or of separate rival deities con tending for supremacy. Nor is it wonderful that these mighty agencies should have been at first poetically personified, and afterwards, when invested with forms, attributes, and individu ality, worshiped as distinct gods. It was only natural, too, that a varying supremacy and varying honors should have been accorded to each deified force — to the air, the rain, the storm, the sun, or fire — according to the special atmospheric influences to which particular localities were exposed, or according to the
seasons of the year when the dominance of each was to be prayed for or deprecated.
194 VEDIC HYMNS.
This was the leligion represented in the Vedas and the primitive creed of the Indo-Aryans about twelve or thirteen centuries before Christ. The first forces deified seem to have been those manifested in the sky and air. These were at first generalized under one rather vague personification, as was natural in the earliest attempts at giving shape to religious ideas. For it may be observed that all religious systems, even the most polytheistic, have generally grown out of some unde fined original belief in a divine power or powers controlling and regulating the universe. And although innumerable gods and goddesses, gifted with a thousand shapes, now crowd the Hindu Pantheon, appealing to the instincts of the unthinking millions whose capacity for religious ideas is supposed to require the aid of external symbols, it is probable that there existed for the first Aryan worshipers a similar theistic creed ; even as the thoughtful Hindu of the present day looks through the maze of his mythology to the philosophical background of one eternal self-existent Being, one universal Spirit, into whose unity all visible symbols are gathered, and in whose essence all entities are comprehended.
In the Veda this unity soon diverged into various ramifica tions. Only a few of the hymns appear to contain the simple conception of one divine self-existent omnipresent Being, and even in these the idea of one God present in all nature is some what nebulous and undefined.
It is interesting to note how this idea, vaguely stated as it was in the Veda, gradually developed and became more clearly defined in the time of Manu. In the last verses of the twelfth book (123-125) we have the following : "Him some adore as transcendently present in fire ; others in Manu, lord of crea tures ; some as more distinctly present in Indra, others in pure air, others as the most high eternal Spirit. Thus the man who perceives in his own soul, the supreme soul, present in all creatures, acquires equanimity towards them all, and shall be absorbed at last in the highest essence. "
In the Purusha-sukta of the Rig-veda, which is one of the later hymns, — probably not much earlier than the earliest Brahmana, — the one Spirit is called Purusha. The more common name is Atman or Paratman, and in the later system Brahman, neut. (nom. BrahmS), derived from root brih, to expand, and denoting the universally expanding essence or universally diffused substance of the universe. It was thus
VEDIC HYMNS. 195
that the later creed became not so much monotheistic (by which I mean the belief in one God regarded as a personal Being external to the universe, though creating and governing it) as pantheistic : Brahman is the neuter being, " simple infi nite being," — the only real eternal essence, — which, when it passes into universal manifested existence, is called Brahma ; when it manifests itself on the earth, is called Vishnu ; and when it again dissolves itself into simple being, is called Siva ; all the other innumerable gods and demigods being also mere manifestations of the neuter Brahman, who alone is eternal. This, at any rate, appears to be the genuine pantheistic creed of India at the present day. —
To return to the Vedic hymns perhaps the most ancient and beautiful Vedic deification was that of Dyaus, the sky, as Dyaush-pitar, " Heavenly Father " (the Zeus or Jupiter of the Greeks and Romans). Then closely connected with Dyaus was a goddess, Aditi, " the Infinite Expanse," conceived of sub sequently as the mother of all the gods. Next " came a devel opment of the same conception called Varuna, the Investing
Sky," said to answer to Ahura Mazda, the Ormazd of the ancient Persian mythology, and to the Greek Ouranos — but a more spiritual conception, leading to a worship which rose to the nature of a belief in the great Our-Father-who-art-in- Heaven. This Varuna, again, was soon thought of in connec tion with another vague personification called Mitra (= the Persian Mithra), god of day. After a time these impersona tions of the celestial sphere were felt to be too vague to suit the growth of religious ideas in ordinary minds. Soon, there fore, the great investing firmament resolved itself into separate cosmical entities with separate powers and attributes. First, the watery atmosphere, personified under the name of Indra, ever seeking to dispense his dewy treasures (indu), though ever restrained by an opposing force or spirit of evil called Vritra ; and, secondly, the wind, thought of either as a single personality named Vagu, or as a whole assemblage of moving powers coming from every quarter of the compass, and imper sonated as Maruts or " Storm-gods. " At the same time in this process of decentralization — if I may use the term — the once purely celestial Varuna became relegated to a position among seven secondary deities of the heavenly sphere called Adityas (afterwards increased to twelve, and regarded as diversified forms of the sun in the several months of the year), and sub
196 VEDIC HYMNS.
sequently to a dominion over the waters when they had left the air and rested on the earth.
Of these separately deified physical forces, by far the most favorite object of adoration was the deity supposed to yield the dew and rain, longed for by Eastern cultivators of the soil with even greater cravings than by Northern agriculturists. Indra, therefore, — the Jupiter Pluvius of early Indian mythology, — is undoubtedly the principal divinity of Vedic worshipers, in so far at least as the greater number of their prayers and hymns are addressed to him.
What, however, could rain effect without the aid of heat ? a force, the intensity of which must have impressed an Indian mind with awe, and led him to invest the possessor of it with divine attributes. Hence the other great god of Vedic wor shipers, and in some respects the most important in his connec tion with sacrificial rites, is Agni (Latin Ignis), the god of fire. Even Siirya, the sun (Greek Helios), who was probably at first adored as the original source of heat, came to be regarded as only another form of fire. He was merely a manifestation of the same divine energy removed to the heavens and consequently less accessible. Another deity, Ushas, goddess of the dawn, — the Eos of the Greeks, — was naturally connected with the sun, and regarded as daughter of the sky. Two other deities, the Acvins, were fabled as connected with Ushas, as ever young and handsome, traveling in a golden car, and precursors of the dawn. They are sometimes called Dasras, as divine physicians, destroyers of diseases; sometimes Uasatyas, as "never untrue. " They appear to have been personifications of two luminous rays imagined to precede the break of day. These, with Yama, " the God of departed spirits," are the principal deities of the Mantra portion of the Veda.
We find, therefore, no trace in the Mantras of the Trimurti or Triad of deities (Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva), afterwards so popular. Nor does the doctrine of transmigration, afterwards an essential element of the Hindu religion, appear in the Mantra portion of the Veda, though there is a clear declaration of it in the Aranyaka of the Aitareya Brahmana. Nor is caste clearly alluded to, except in the later Purusha-sukta.
But here it may be asked, if sky, air, water, fire, and the sun were thus worshiped as manifestations of the supreme universal God of the universe, was not the earth also an object of adora tion with the early Hindus ? And unquestionably in the earlier
VEDIC HYMNS. 197
system the earth, under the name of Prithivi, " the broad one," does receive divine honors, being thought of as the mother of all beings. Moreover, various deities were regarded as the progeny resulting from the fancied union of earth with Dyaus, heaven. This imaginary marriage of heaven and earth was indeed a most natural idea, and much of the later mythology may be explained by it. But it is remarkable that as religious worship became of a more selfish character, the earth, being more evidently under man's control, and not seeming to need propitiation so urgently as the more uncertain air, fire, and water, lost impor tance among the gods, and was rarely addressed in prayer or hymn.
In all probability the deified forces addressed in the hymns were not represented by images or idols in the Vedic period, though doubtless the early worshipers clothed their gods with human form in their own imaginations.
I now begin my examples with a nearly literal translation of the well-known sixteenth hymn of the fourth book of the Atharva-veda, in praise of Varuna or the Investing Sky : —
HYMN TO THE INVESTING SKY.
The mighty Varuna, who rules above, looks down
Upon these worlds, his kingdom, as if close at hand.
When men imagine they do aught by stealth, he knows it. No one can stand or walk or softly glide along
Or hide in dark recess, or lurk in secret cell,
But Varuna detects him and his movements spies.
Two persons may devise some plot, together sitting
In private and alone ; but he, the king, is there —
A third — and sees it all. This boundless earth is his,
His the vast sky, whose depth no mortal e'er can fathom. Both oceans [air and sea] find a place within his body, yet In that small pool he lies contained. Whoe'er should flee Far, far beyond the sky, would not escape the grasp
Of Varuna, the king. His messengers descend
Countless from his abode — forever traversing
This world and scanning with a thousand eyes its inmates. Whate'er exists within this earth, and all within the sky, Yea, all that is beyond, King Varuna perceives.
The winking of men's eyes are numbered all by him.
He wields the universe, as gamesters handle dice.
May thy destroying snares cast sevenfold round the wicked, Entangle liars, but the truthful spare, O king !
198 VEDIC HYMNS.
I pass from the ancient Aryan deity Varuna to the more thoroughly Indian god Indra.
The following metrical lines bring together various scattered texts relating to this Hindu Jupiter Pluvius : —
TO THE RAIN GOD.
Indra, twin brother of the god of fire,
When thou wast born, thy mother Aditi
Gave thee, her lusty child, the thrilling draught
Of mountain-growing Soma — source of life
And never-dying vigor to thy frame.
Then at the Thunderer's birth, appalled with fear, Dreading the hundred-jointed thunderbolt —
Forged by the cunning Trastivri — mountain rocked, Earth shook, and heaven trembled. Thou wast born Without a rival, king of gods and men —
The eye of living and terrestrial things.
Immortal Indra, unrelenting foe
Of drought and darkness, infinitely wise,
Terrific crusher of thy enemies,
Heroic, irresistible in might,
Wall of defense to us thy worshipers,
We sing thy praises, and our ardent hymns
Embrace thee, as a loving wife her lord.
Thou art our guardian, advocate, and friend,
A brother, father, mother, all combined.
Most fatherly of fathers, we are thine,
And thou art ours ; oh ! let thy pitying soul
Turn to us in compassion, when we praise thee,
And slay us not for one sin or for many.
Deliver us to-day, to-morrow, every day. — Armed for the conflict, see !
And it was so.
But the king of the hoopoes flew away; and he went to his queen, who was a dainty hen, and he told her what had happened, and desired her advice as to what they should ask of the king for a reward ; and he called together his council, and they sat upon a tree, and they each of them desired a different thing. Some wished for a long tail ; some wished for blue and green feathers ; some wished to be as large as ostriches ; some wished for one thing, and some for another ; and they debated till the going down of the sun, but they could not agree together. Then the queen took the king of the hoopoes apart and said to him, "My dear lord and hus band, listen to my words ; and as we have preserved the head of King Solomon, let us ask for crowns of gold on our heads, that we may be superior to all other birds. "
And the words of the queen and the princesses, her daugh ters, prevailed ; and the king of the hoopoes presented him self before the throne of Solomon, and desired of him that all hoopoes should wear golden crowns upon their heads. Then Solomon said, " Hast thou considered well what it is that thou desirest? " And the hoopoe said, "I have considered well,
182 SOLOMON AND THE HOOPOES.
and we desire to"have golden crowns upon our heads. " So Solomon replied, Crowns of gold shall ye have : but, behold, thou art a foolish bird ; and when the evil days shall come upon thee, and thou seest the folly of thy heart, return here to me, and I will give thee help. " So the king of the hoopoes left the presence of King Solomon with a golden crown upon his head, and all the hoopoes had golden crowns ; and they were exceeding proud and haughty. Moreover, they went down by the lakes and the pools, and walked by the margin of the water, that they might admire themselves, as it were, in a glass. And the queen of the hoopoes gave herself airs, and sat upon a twig ; and she refused to speak to the merops, her cousins, and the other birds who had been her friends, because they were but vulgar birds, and she wore a crown of gold upon her head.
Now there was a certain fowler who set traps for birds ; and he put a piece of a broken mirror into his trap, and a hoopoe that went in to admire itself was caught. And the fowler looked at it, and saw the shining crown upon its head ; so he wrung off its head, and took the crown to Issachar, the son of Jacob, the worker in metal, and he asked him what it was. So Issachar, the son of Jacob, said, "It is a crown of brass," and he gave the fowler a quarter of a shekel for it, and desired him, if he found any more, to bring them to him, and to tell no man thereof. So the fowler caught some more hoopoes, and sold their crowns to Issachar, the son of Jacob ; until one day he met another man who was a jeweler, and he showed him several of the hoopoes' crowns. Whereupon the jeweler told him that they were of pure gold, and he gave the fowler a talent of gold for four of them.
Now when the value of these crowns was known, the fame of them got abroad, and in all the land of Israel was heard the twang of bows and the whirling of slings ; bird lime was made in every town, and the price of traps rose in the mar ket, so that the fortunes of the trapmakers increased. Not a hoopoe could show its head but it was slain or taken captive, and the days of the hoopoes were numbered. Then their minds were filled with sorrow and dismay, and before long few were left to bewail their cruel destiny.
At last, flying by stealth through the most unfrequented places, the unhappy king of the hoopoes went to the court of King Solomon, and stood again before the steps of the golden
GONE IN THE WIND. 183
throne, and with tears and groans related the misfortunes which had happened to his race.
So King Solomon looked kindly upon the king of the hoopoes, and said unto him: "Behold, did I not warn thee of thy folly, in desiring to have crowns of gold ? Vanity and pride have been thy ruin. But now, that a memorial may remain of the service which thou didst render unto me, your crowns of gold shall be changed into crowns of feathers, that ye may walk unharmed upon the earth. " Now, when the fowlers saw that the hoopoes no longer wore crowns of gold upon their heads, they ceased from the persecution of their race ; and from that time forth the family of the hoopoes have nourished and increased, and have continued in peace even to the present day.
GONE IN THE WIND. By FRIEDRICH RUCKERT. (Translated by James Clarence Mangan. )
[Friedbicb Ruckert, German poet and Orientalist, was born at Schwein- furt, May 16, 1788, and was professor of Oriental languages at Erlangen 1826- 1841, and at Berlin 1841-1848. After resigning his position at the latter place, he lived at Neusses, near Coburg, and there died January 31, 1866. He recast in German verse several of the famous books of the East, among them the " AbuSeid" of Hariri and the "Nal and Damajanti" from the Mahabharata. His original poems include: " Geharnischte Sonnette " ("Mailed Sonnets," 1814), inspired by the national movement of 1813, and "Liebesfruhling "
("Love's Spring," 1822).
James Clarence Manoan, an Irish poet, was born in Dublin, May 1, 1803.
As a boy he was a copyist and attorney's clerk, and worked at the former trade intermittently all his life. Extreme poverty, overwork, bohemian irregularity and exposure, and opium, made him a physical wreck ; and he died of cholera June 20, 1849. Several partial editions of his poems have been published. The bulk of them, and his best work, are translations. ]
Solomon ! where is thy throne ? It is gone in the wind. Babylon ! where is thy might ? It is gone in the wind.
Like the swift shadows of Noon, like the dreams of the Blind, Vanish the glories and pomps of earth in the wind.
Man ! canst thou build upon aught in the pride of thy mind ? Wisdom will teach thee that nothing can tarry behind;
184 GONE IN THE WIND.
Though there be thousand bright actions embalmed and enshrined, Myriads and millions of brighter are snow in the wind.
Solomon ! where is thy throne ? It is gone in the wind. Babylon ! where is thy might ? It is gone in the wind. All that the genius of man hath achieved or designed, Waits but its hour to be dealt with as dust by the wind.
Say, what is Pleasure ? a phantom, a mask undefined ; Science ? an almond, whereof we can pierce but the rind ; Honor and Affluence ? Firmans and Fortune hath signed Only to glitter and pass on the wings of the wind.
Solomon ! where is thy throne ? It is gone in the wind. Babylon ! where is thy might ? It is gone in the wind. Who is the Fortunate ? He who in anguish hath pined ! He shall rejoice when his relics are dust in the wind !
Mortal ! be careful with what thy best hopes are entwined ;
Woe to the miners for Truth — where the Lampless have mined ! Woe to the seekers on earth for — what none ever find !
They and their trust shall be scattered like leaves on the wind.
Solomon ! where is thy throne ? It is gone in the wind. Babylon ! where is thy might ? It is gone in the wind. Happy in death are they only whose hearts have consigned All Earth's affections and longings and cares to the wind.
Pity, thou, reader ! the madness of poor Humankind,
Raving of Knowledge, — and Satan so busy to blind !
Raving of Glory, — like me, — for the garlands I bind (Garlands of song) are but gathered, and — strewn in the wind.
Solomon ! where is thy throne ? It is gone in the wind. Babylon ! where is thy might ? It is gone in the wind. I, Abul-Namez, must rest ; for my fire hath declined, And I hear voices from Hades like bells on the wind.
CLASSIC CHINESE POEMS. 185
CLASSIC CHINESE POEMS. (From the Shi-King : translated by William Jennings. ) A Challenge.
[This is a parallel, from the woman's side, to George Wither's " Shall I, pining in despair. "]
If, boy, thy thoughts of me were kind, I'd lift my skirts and wade the Tsin ;
But if thou be of other mind,
Is there none else my love would win ?
O craziest of crazy boys !
Ay, if thy thoughts of me were kind, I'd lift my skirts and wade the Wei ;
But if thy thoughts are else inclined, Is there none other gallant nigh ?
O craziest of crazy boys !
The Absent Husband.
I picked and picked the mouse ears, Nor gained one basket load ;
My heart was with my husband : I flung them on the road.
I climbed yon rugged mountain, My ponies all broke down ;
I filled my golden goblet
Long anxious thought to drown.
I climbed yon lofty ridges,
With my ponies black and bay ;
I filled for me my horn cup Long torture to allay.
I climbed yon craggy uplands, My steeds grew weak and ill ; My footmen were exhausted ; —
And here I sorrow still !
CLASSIC CHINESE POEMS.
Lament of a Discarded Wife.
When east winds blow unceasingly, They bring but gloominess and rain.
Strive, strive to live unitedly,
And every angry thought restrain.
Some plants we gather for their leaves, But leave the roots untouched beneath ;
So, while unsullied was my name,
I should have lived with you till death.
With slow, slow step I took the road, My inmost heart rebelling sore,
You came not far with me, indeed, You only saw me to the door.
Who calls the lettuce bitter fare,
The cress is not a whit more sweet.
Ay, feast there with your new-found bride, Well pleased, as when fond brothers meet.
The Wei, made turbid by the king, Grows limpid by the islets there.
There, feasting with your new-found bride For me no longer now you care.
Yet leave to me my fishing dam ; My wicker nets, remove them not.
My person spurned — some vacant hour May bring compassion for my lot.
Where ran the river full and deep, With raft or boat I paddled o'er ;
And where it flowed in shallower stream, I dived or swam from shore to shore.
And what we had, or what we lost, For that I strained my every nerve ;
When other folks had loss, I'd crawl Upon my knees, if aught 'twould serve.
!
And you can show me no kind care,
Nay, treated like a foe am I My virtue stood but in your way,
Like traders' goods that none will buy. Once it was feared we could not live ;
In your reverses then I shared :
CLASSIC CHINESE POEMS.
And now, when fortune smiles on you, To very poison I'm compared.
I have laid by a goodly store, —— For winter's use it was to be ;
Feast on there with your new-found bride,—
I
Rude fits of anger you have shown,
was for use in poverty !
Now left me to be sorely tried. Ah, you forget those days gone by,
When you came nestling to my side !
Comrades in War Time.
How say we have no clothes ? One plaid for both will do.
Let but the king, in raising men, Our spears and pikes renew, — We'll fight as one, we two !
How say we have no clothes ? One skirt our limbs shall hide. Let but the king, in raising men,
Halberd and lance provide, — We'll do side by side
How say we have no clothes My kirtle thou shalt wear.
Let but the king, in raising men, Armor and arms prepare, — The toils of war we'll share.
Trust tht Last Friend against the World.
A babbling current fails — To float a load of thorns away,
Of brothers, few are left us now, Yet we remain, myself and thou
Believe not others' tales, Others will lead thee far astray.
The babbling current fails — To float the firewood fagots far.
Of brothers there are left but few, Yet and thou remain, we two
Believe not others' tales, For verily untrue they are
I
! ! ?
:
:
it,
188 THE DOCTRINE OF THE MEAN.
THE DOCTRINE OF THE MEAN. By CONFUCIUS.
(Translated by James Legge, in " Chinese Classics. ")
Chapter I. 1. What Heaven has conferred is called the Nature ; an accordance with this nature is called the path of duty ; the regulation of this path is called instruc tion.
2. The path may not be left for an instant. If it could be left, it would not be the path. On this account, the superior man does not wait till he sees things, to be cautious, nor till he hears things, to be apprehensive.
3. There is nothing more visible than what is secret, and nothing more manifest than what is minute. Therefore the superior man is watchful over himself, when he is alone.
4. While there are no stirrings of pleasure, anger, sorrow, or joy, the mind may be said to be in the state of equilibrium. When those feelings have been stirred, and they act in their due degree, there ensues what may be called the state of Harmony. This Equilibrium is the great root from which grow all the human actings in the world, and this harmony is the universal path which they all should pursue.
5. Let the states of Equilibrium and harmony exist in per fection, and a happy order will prevail throughout heaven and earth, and all things will be nourished and flourish.
Chapter II. 1. Chung-ne said, " The superior man embodies the course of the Mean; the mean man acts contrary to the course of the Mean.
2. " The superior man's embodying the course of the Mean is because he is a superior man, and so always maintains the Mean. The mean man's acting contrary to the course of the Mean is because he is a mean man, and has no caution. "
Chapter III. The Master said : " Perfect is the virtue which is according to the Mean ! Rare have they long been among the people, who could practice it ! "
Chapter IV. 1. The Master said, " I know how it is that the path of the Mean is not walked in : The Knowing go beyond it, and the stupid do not come up to it. I know how it is that the path of the Mean is not understood : The men of
THE DOCTRINE OF THE MEAN. 189
talents and virtue go beyond it, and the worthless do not come ap to it.
2. " There is no body but eats and drinks. But they are few who can distinguish flavors. " "
Chapter V. The Master said, Alas ! How is the path of the Mean untrodden ! "
Chapter VI. The Master said : " There was Shun : He in deed was greatly wise ! Shun loved to question others, and to study their words, though they might be shallow. He con cealed what was bad in them, and displayed what was good. He took hold of their two extremes, determined the Mean, and employed it in his government of the people. It was by this that he was Shun ! "
Chapter VII. The Master said : " Men all say, ' We are wise ; ' but being driven forward and taken in a net, a trap, or a pitfall, they know not how to escape. Men all say, ' We are wise ; ' but happening to choose the course of the Mean, they are not able to keep it for a round month. "
Chapter VIII. The Master said, " This was the manner of Hwuy : he made choice of the Mean, and whenever he got hold of what was good, he clasped it firmly, as if wearing it on his breast, and did not lose it. " "
Chapter IX. The Master said,
its families may be perfectly ruled ; dignities and emoluments may be declined ; naked weapons may be trampled under the feet; but the course of the Mean cannot be attained to. "
Chapter X. 1. Tsze-loo asked about energy.
2. The Master said, " Do you mean the energy of the South, the energy of the North, or the energy which you should culti vate yourself?
3.
" To show forbearance and gentleness in teaching others ; and not to revenge unreasonable conduct : this is the energy of Southern regions, and the good man makes it his study.
4. " To lie under arms ; and meet death without regret : this is the energy of Northern regions, and the forceful make it their study.
5. " Therefore, the superior man cultivates a friendly har mony, without being weak. How firm is he in his energy ! He stands erect in the middle, without inclining to either side. How firm is he in his energy! When good principles prevail in the government of his country, he does not change from what he was in retirement. How firm he is in his energy ! When
The empire, its States, and
190 THE DOCTRINE OF THE MEAN.
bad principles prevail in the country, he maintains his course to death without changing. How firm is his energy ! "
Chapter XI. 1. The Master said, " To live in obscurity, and yet practice wonders, in order to be mentioned with honor in future ages ; this is what I do not do.
2. " The good man tries to proceed according to the right
path, but when he has gone halfway, he abandons it ; able so to stop.
I am not
8. " The superior man accords with the course of the Mean. Though he may be well unknown, unregarded by the world, he feels no regret. It is only the sage who is able for this. "
Chapter XII. 1. The way which the superior man pur sues, reaches wide and far, and yet is secret.
2. Common men and women, however ignorant, may inter meddle with the knowledge of it ; yet in its utmost reaches, there is that which even the sage does not know. Common men and women, however much below the ordinary standard of character, can carry it into practice ; yet in its utmost reaches there is that which even the sage is not able to carry into practice. Great as heaven and earth are, men still find some things in them with which to be dissatisfied. Thus it is, that were the superior man to speak of his way in all its great ness, nothing in the world would be found able to embrace and were he to speak of in its minuteness, nothing in the world would be found able to split it. "
It said in the Book of Poetry, The hawk flies up to heaven the fishes leap in the deep. " This expresses how this way seen above and below.
4. The way of the superior man may be found, in its simple elements, in the intercourse of common men and women but in its utmost reaches shines brightly through heaven and earth.
Chapter XIII. The Master said " The path not far from man. When men try to pursue course, which far from the common indications of consciousness, this course can not be considered the path.
2. "In the Book of Poetry, said, 'In hewing an ax handle, the pattern not far off. ' We grasp one ax handle to hew the other, and yet, we look askance from the one to the other, we may consider them as apart. Therefore, the supe rior man governs men, according to their nature, with what proper to them and as soon as they change what wrong, he stops.
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THE DOCTRINE OF THE MEAN. 191
3. " When one cultivates to the utmost the principles of his nature, and exercises them on the principle of reciprocity, he is not far from the path. What you do not like, when done to yourself, do not do to others.
4. " In the way of the superior man there are four things, to not one of which have I as yet attained : To serve my father, as I would require my son to serve me ; to this I have not attained. To serve my prince, as I would require my min ister to serve me ; to this I have not attained. To serve my elder brother, as I would require my younger brother to serve me ; to this I have not attained. To set the example in behav ing to a friend, as I would require him to behave to me ; to this I have not attained. Earnest in practicing the ordinary virtues, and careful in speaking about them, in his practice, he has anything defective, the superior man dares not but ex ert himself and if, in his words, he has any excess, he dares not allow himself such license. Thus his words have respect to his actions, and his actions have respect to his words
not just an entire sincerity which marks the superior man
Chapter XIV. The superior man does what proper to the station in which he he does not desire to go beyond this.
2. In position of wealth and honor, he does what proper to position of wealth and honor. In poor and low position, he does what proper to poor and low position. Situated among barbarous tribes, he does what proper to situation among barbarous tribes. In position of sorrow and difficulty, he does what proper to position of sorrow and difficulty. The superior man can find himself in no situation in which he not himself.
3. In high situation, he does not treat with contempt his inferiors. In low situation, he does not court the favor of his superiors. He rectifies himself, and seeks for nothing from others, so that he has no dissatisfactions. He does not mur mur against heaven, nor grumble against men.
4. Thus that the superior man quiet and calm, wait ing for the appointments of Heaven; while the mean man walks in dangerous paths, looking for lucky occurrences.
The Master said " In archery we have something like the way of the superior man. When the archer misses the center of the target, he turns round and seeks for the cause of his failure in himself. "
Chapter XV. The way of the superior man may bo
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192 THE DOCTRINE OF THE MEAN.
compared to what takes place in traveling, when to go to a distance we must first traverse the space that is near, and in ascending a height, when we must begin from the lower ground.
2. It is said in the Book of Poetry : " Happy union with wife and children is like the music of lutes and harps. When there is concord among brethren, the harmony is delightful and enduring. Thus may you regulate your family, and enjoy the pleasure of your wife and children. "
3. The Master said, "In such a state of things, parents have entire complacence ! "
Chapter XVI. 1. The Master said, " How abundantly do spiritual beings display the powers that belong to them !
2. " We look for them, but do not see them ; we listen to, but do not hear them ; yet they enter into all things, and there is nothing without them.
3. "They cause all the people in the empire to fast and purify themselves, and array themselves in their richest dresses, in order to attend at their sacrifices. Then, like overflowing water, they seem to be over the heads, and on the right and left of their worshipers.
4. " It is said in the Book of Poetry, ' The approaches of the spirits, you cannot surmise ; and can you treat them with indifference ? '
5. " Such is the manifestness of what is minute ! Such is the impossibility of repressing the outgoings of sincerity ! "
Chapter XVII. 1. The Master said : " How greatly filial was Shun ! His virtue was that of a sage ; his dignity was the imperial throne ; his riches were all within the four seas. He offered his sacrifices in his ancestral temple, and his descend ants preserved the sacrifices to himself.
2. "Therefore having such great virtue, it could not but be that he should obtain the throne, that he should obtain those riches, that he should obtain his fame, that he should at tain to his long life.
3. " Thus it is that Heaven, in the production of things, is surely bountiful to them, according to their qualities. Hence the tree that is flourishing, it nourishes ; while that which is ready to fall, it overthrows.
4. " In the Book of Poetry, it is said, ' The admirable, ami able prince displayed conspicuously his excelling virtue, ad justing his people and adjusting his officers. Therefore, he received from Heaven the emoluments of dignity. It pro
VEDIC HYMNS. 193
tected him, assisted him, decreed him the throne ; sending from heaven these favors, as it were repeatedly. '
5. " We may say, therefore, that he who is greatly virtu ous will be sure to receive the appointment of Heaven. "
VEDIC HYMNS.
By Sib MONIEB MONIER-WILLIAMS.
[Sib Monieb Monier-Williams : A leading Anglo-Indian lexicographer and Orientalist ; born at Bombay, India, November 12, 1819 ; died 1889. From 1860 on he was professor of Sanskrit in Oxford. He published several Sanskrit dictionaries, a Sanskrit and a Hindustani grammar; "Indian Epic Poetry"
(1863), "Indian Wisdom" (1875), "Hinduism" (1877), "Modern India and the Indians" (1878), "Buddhism," etc. , 1889. ]
To what deities were the prayers and hymns of the Vedas addressed? This is an interesting inquiry, for these were probably the very deities worshiped under similar names by our Aryan progenitors in their primeval home. The answer is : They worshiped those physical forces before which all nations, if guided solely by the light of nature, have in the early period of their life instinctively bowed down, and before which even the more civilized and enlightened have always been compelled to bend in awe and reverence if not in adoration.
To our Aryan forefathers God's power was exhibited in the forces of nature even more evidently than to ourselves. Lands, houses, flocks, herds, men, and animals were more frequently than in Western climates at the mercy of winds, fire, and water ; and the sun's rays appeared to be endowed with a potency quite beyond the experience of any European country. We cannot be surprised, then, that these forces were regarded by our Eastern progenitors as actual manifestations, either of one deity in different moods or of separate rival deities con tending for supremacy. Nor is it wonderful that these mighty agencies should have been at first poetically personified, and afterwards, when invested with forms, attributes, and individu ality, worshiped as distinct gods. It was only natural, too, that a varying supremacy and varying honors should have been accorded to each deified force — to the air, the rain, the storm, the sun, or fire — according to the special atmospheric influences to which particular localities were exposed, or according to the
seasons of the year when the dominance of each was to be prayed for or deprecated.
194 VEDIC HYMNS.
This was the leligion represented in the Vedas and the primitive creed of the Indo-Aryans about twelve or thirteen centuries before Christ. The first forces deified seem to have been those manifested in the sky and air. These were at first generalized under one rather vague personification, as was natural in the earliest attempts at giving shape to religious ideas. For it may be observed that all religious systems, even the most polytheistic, have generally grown out of some unde fined original belief in a divine power or powers controlling and regulating the universe. And although innumerable gods and goddesses, gifted with a thousand shapes, now crowd the Hindu Pantheon, appealing to the instincts of the unthinking millions whose capacity for religious ideas is supposed to require the aid of external symbols, it is probable that there existed for the first Aryan worshipers a similar theistic creed ; even as the thoughtful Hindu of the present day looks through the maze of his mythology to the philosophical background of one eternal self-existent Being, one universal Spirit, into whose unity all visible symbols are gathered, and in whose essence all entities are comprehended.
In the Veda this unity soon diverged into various ramifica tions. Only a few of the hymns appear to contain the simple conception of one divine self-existent omnipresent Being, and even in these the idea of one God present in all nature is some what nebulous and undefined.
It is interesting to note how this idea, vaguely stated as it was in the Veda, gradually developed and became more clearly defined in the time of Manu. In the last verses of the twelfth book (123-125) we have the following : "Him some adore as transcendently present in fire ; others in Manu, lord of crea tures ; some as more distinctly present in Indra, others in pure air, others as the most high eternal Spirit. Thus the man who perceives in his own soul, the supreme soul, present in all creatures, acquires equanimity towards them all, and shall be absorbed at last in the highest essence. "
In the Purusha-sukta of the Rig-veda, which is one of the later hymns, — probably not much earlier than the earliest Brahmana, — the one Spirit is called Purusha. The more common name is Atman or Paratman, and in the later system Brahman, neut. (nom. BrahmS), derived from root brih, to expand, and denoting the universally expanding essence or universally diffused substance of the universe. It was thus
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that the later creed became not so much monotheistic (by which I mean the belief in one God regarded as a personal Being external to the universe, though creating and governing it) as pantheistic : Brahman is the neuter being, " simple infi nite being," — the only real eternal essence, — which, when it passes into universal manifested existence, is called Brahma ; when it manifests itself on the earth, is called Vishnu ; and when it again dissolves itself into simple being, is called Siva ; all the other innumerable gods and demigods being also mere manifestations of the neuter Brahman, who alone is eternal. This, at any rate, appears to be the genuine pantheistic creed of India at the present day. —
To return to the Vedic hymns perhaps the most ancient and beautiful Vedic deification was that of Dyaus, the sky, as Dyaush-pitar, " Heavenly Father " (the Zeus or Jupiter of the Greeks and Romans). Then closely connected with Dyaus was a goddess, Aditi, " the Infinite Expanse," conceived of sub sequently as the mother of all the gods. Next " came a devel opment of the same conception called Varuna, the Investing
Sky," said to answer to Ahura Mazda, the Ormazd of the ancient Persian mythology, and to the Greek Ouranos — but a more spiritual conception, leading to a worship which rose to the nature of a belief in the great Our-Father-who-art-in- Heaven. This Varuna, again, was soon thought of in connec tion with another vague personification called Mitra (= the Persian Mithra), god of day. After a time these impersona tions of the celestial sphere were felt to be too vague to suit the growth of religious ideas in ordinary minds. Soon, there fore, the great investing firmament resolved itself into separate cosmical entities with separate powers and attributes. First, the watery atmosphere, personified under the name of Indra, ever seeking to dispense his dewy treasures (indu), though ever restrained by an opposing force or spirit of evil called Vritra ; and, secondly, the wind, thought of either as a single personality named Vagu, or as a whole assemblage of moving powers coming from every quarter of the compass, and imper sonated as Maruts or " Storm-gods. " At the same time in this process of decentralization — if I may use the term — the once purely celestial Varuna became relegated to a position among seven secondary deities of the heavenly sphere called Adityas (afterwards increased to twelve, and regarded as diversified forms of the sun in the several months of the year), and sub
196 VEDIC HYMNS.
sequently to a dominion over the waters when they had left the air and rested on the earth.
Of these separately deified physical forces, by far the most favorite object of adoration was the deity supposed to yield the dew and rain, longed for by Eastern cultivators of the soil with even greater cravings than by Northern agriculturists. Indra, therefore, — the Jupiter Pluvius of early Indian mythology, — is undoubtedly the principal divinity of Vedic worshipers, in so far at least as the greater number of their prayers and hymns are addressed to him.
What, however, could rain effect without the aid of heat ? a force, the intensity of which must have impressed an Indian mind with awe, and led him to invest the possessor of it with divine attributes. Hence the other great god of Vedic wor shipers, and in some respects the most important in his connec tion with sacrificial rites, is Agni (Latin Ignis), the god of fire. Even Siirya, the sun (Greek Helios), who was probably at first adored as the original source of heat, came to be regarded as only another form of fire. He was merely a manifestation of the same divine energy removed to the heavens and consequently less accessible. Another deity, Ushas, goddess of the dawn, — the Eos of the Greeks, — was naturally connected with the sun, and regarded as daughter of the sky. Two other deities, the Acvins, were fabled as connected with Ushas, as ever young and handsome, traveling in a golden car, and precursors of the dawn. They are sometimes called Dasras, as divine physicians, destroyers of diseases; sometimes Uasatyas, as "never untrue. " They appear to have been personifications of two luminous rays imagined to precede the break of day. These, with Yama, " the God of departed spirits," are the principal deities of the Mantra portion of the Veda.
We find, therefore, no trace in the Mantras of the Trimurti or Triad of deities (Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva), afterwards so popular. Nor does the doctrine of transmigration, afterwards an essential element of the Hindu religion, appear in the Mantra portion of the Veda, though there is a clear declaration of it in the Aranyaka of the Aitareya Brahmana. Nor is caste clearly alluded to, except in the later Purusha-sukta.
But here it may be asked, if sky, air, water, fire, and the sun were thus worshiped as manifestations of the supreme universal God of the universe, was not the earth also an object of adora tion with the early Hindus ? And unquestionably in the earlier
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system the earth, under the name of Prithivi, " the broad one," does receive divine honors, being thought of as the mother of all beings. Moreover, various deities were regarded as the progeny resulting from the fancied union of earth with Dyaus, heaven. This imaginary marriage of heaven and earth was indeed a most natural idea, and much of the later mythology may be explained by it. But it is remarkable that as religious worship became of a more selfish character, the earth, being more evidently under man's control, and not seeming to need propitiation so urgently as the more uncertain air, fire, and water, lost impor tance among the gods, and was rarely addressed in prayer or hymn.
In all probability the deified forces addressed in the hymns were not represented by images or idols in the Vedic period, though doubtless the early worshipers clothed their gods with human form in their own imaginations.
I now begin my examples with a nearly literal translation of the well-known sixteenth hymn of the fourth book of the Atharva-veda, in praise of Varuna or the Investing Sky : —
HYMN TO THE INVESTING SKY.
The mighty Varuna, who rules above, looks down
Upon these worlds, his kingdom, as if close at hand.
When men imagine they do aught by stealth, he knows it. No one can stand or walk or softly glide along
Or hide in dark recess, or lurk in secret cell,
But Varuna detects him and his movements spies.
Two persons may devise some plot, together sitting
In private and alone ; but he, the king, is there —
A third — and sees it all. This boundless earth is his,
His the vast sky, whose depth no mortal e'er can fathom. Both oceans [air and sea] find a place within his body, yet In that small pool he lies contained. Whoe'er should flee Far, far beyond the sky, would not escape the grasp
Of Varuna, the king. His messengers descend
Countless from his abode — forever traversing
This world and scanning with a thousand eyes its inmates. Whate'er exists within this earth, and all within the sky, Yea, all that is beyond, King Varuna perceives.
The winking of men's eyes are numbered all by him.
He wields the universe, as gamesters handle dice.
May thy destroying snares cast sevenfold round the wicked, Entangle liars, but the truthful spare, O king !
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I pass from the ancient Aryan deity Varuna to the more thoroughly Indian god Indra.
The following metrical lines bring together various scattered texts relating to this Hindu Jupiter Pluvius : —
TO THE RAIN GOD.
Indra, twin brother of the god of fire,
When thou wast born, thy mother Aditi
Gave thee, her lusty child, the thrilling draught
Of mountain-growing Soma — source of life
And never-dying vigor to thy frame.
Then at the Thunderer's birth, appalled with fear, Dreading the hundred-jointed thunderbolt —
Forged by the cunning Trastivri — mountain rocked, Earth shook, and heaven trembled. Thou wast born Without a rival, king of gods and men —
The eye of living and terrestrial things.
Immortal Indra, unrelenting foe
Of drought and darkness, infinitely wise,
Terrific crusher of thy enemies,
Heroic, irresistible in might,
Wall of defense to us thy worshipers,
We sing thy praises, and our ardent hymns
Embrace thee, as a loving wife her lord.
Thou art our guardian, advocate, and friend,
A brother, father, mother, all combined.
Most fatherly of fathers, we are thine,
And thou art ours ; oh ! let thy pitying soul
Turn to us in compassion, when we praise thee,
And slay us not for one sin or for many.
Deliver us to-day, to-morrow, every day. — Armed for the conflict, see !
