Ascetic Virtue

Pope (1886)The law of 'grace' fulfil, by methods good due trial made, Though many systems you explore, this is your only aid

Meaning(Stand) in the good path, consider, and be kind. Even considering according to the conflicting tenets of the different sects, kindness will be your best aid, (in the acquisition of heavenly bliss.)

Pope (1886)They in whose breast a 'gracious kindliness' resides, See not the gruesome world, where darkness drear abides

MeaningThey will never enter the world of darkness and wretchedness whose minds are the abode of kindness

Pope (1886)Who for undying souls of men provides with gracious zeal, In his own soul the dreaded guilt of sin shall never feel

Meaning(The wise) say that the evils, which his soul would dread, will never come upon the man who exercises kindness and protects the life (of other creatures)

Pope (1886)The teeming earth's vast realm, round which the wild winds blow, Is witness, men of 'grace' no woeful want shall know

MeaningThis great rich earth over which the wind blows, is a witness that sorrow never comes upon the kindhearted

Pope (1886)Gain of true wealth oblivious they eschew, Who 'grace' forsake, and graceless actions do

Meaning(The wise) say that those who neglect kindness and practise cruelties, neglected virtue (in their former birth), and forgot (the sorrows which they must suffer.)

Pope (1886)As to impoverished men this present world is not; The 'graceless' in you world have neither part nor lot

MeaningAs this world is not for those who are without wealth, so that world is not for those who are without kindness

Pope (1886)Who lose the flower of wealth, when seasons change, again may bloom; Who lose 'benevolence', lose all; nothing can change their doom

MeaningThose who are without wealth may, at some future time, become prosperous; those who are destitute of kindness are utterly destitute; for them there is no change

Pope (1886)When souls unwise true wisdom's mystic vision see, The 'graceless' man may work true works of charity

MeaningIf you consider, the virtue of him who is without kindness is like the perception of the true being by him who is without wisdom

Pope (1886)When weaker men you front with threat'ning brow, Think how you felt in presence of some stronger foe

MeaningWhen a man is about to rush upon those who are weaker than himself, let him remember how he has stood (trembling) before those who are stronger than himself

Pope (1886)No use of wealth have they who guard not their estate; No use of grace have they with flesh who hunger sate

MeaningAs those possess no property who do not take care of it, so those possess no kindness who feed on flesh

Pope (1886)Like heart of them that murderous weapons bear, his mind, Who eats of savoury meat, no joy in good can find

MeaningLike the (murderous) mind of him who carries a weapon (in his hand), the mind of him who feasts with pleasure on the body of another (creature), has no regard for goodness

Pope (1886)'What's grace, or lack of grace'? 'To kill' is this, that 'not to kill'; To eat dead flesh can never worthy end fulfil

MeaningIf it be asked what is kindness and what its opposite, the answer would be preservation and destruction of life; and therefore it is not right to feed on the flesh (obtained by taking away life)

Pope (1886)If flesh you eat not, life's abodes unharmed remain; Who eats, hell swallows him, and renders not again

MeaningNot to eat flesh contributes to the continuance of life; therefore if a man eat flesh, hell will not open its mouth (to let him escape out, after he has once fallen in)

Pope (1886)'We eat the slain,' you say, by us no living creatures die; Who'd kill and sell, I pray, if none came there the flesh to buy

MeaningIf the world does not destroy life for the purpose of eating, then no one would sell flesh for the sake of money

Pope (1886)With other beings' ulcerous wounds their hunger they appease; If this they felt, desire to eat must surely cease

MeaningIf men should come to know that flesh is nothing but the unclean ulcer of a body, let them abstain from eating it

Pope (1886)Whose souls the vision pure and passionless perceive, Eat not the bodies men of life bereave

MeaningThe wise, who have freed themselves from mental delusion, will not eat the flesh which has been severed from an animal

Pope (1886)Than thousand rich oblations, with libations rare, Better the flesh of slaughtered beings not to share

MeaningNot to kill and eat (the flesh of) an animal, is better than the pouring forth of ghee etc, in a thousand sacrifices

Pope (1886)Who slays nought,- flesh rejects- his feet beforeAll living things with clasped hands adore

MeaningAll creatures will join their hands together, and worship him who has never taken away life, nor eaten flesh

Pope (1886)To 'penitents' sincere avails their 'penitence'; Where that is not, 'tis but a vain pretence

MeaningAusterities can only be borne, and their benefits enjoyed, by those who have practised them (in a former birth); it will be useless for those who have not done so, to attempt to practise them (now)

Pope (1886)Have other men forgotten 'penitence' who striveTo earn for penitents the things by which they live

MeaningIt is to provide food etc, for the ascetics who have abandoned (the desire of earthly possessions) that other persons have forgotten (to practise) austerity ?

Pope (1886)Destruction to his foes, to friends increase of joyThe 'penitent' can cause, if this his thoughts employ

MeaningIf (the ascetic) desire the destruction of his enemies, or the aggrandizement of his friends, it will be effected by (the power of) his austerities

Pope (1886)That what they wish may, as they wish, be won, By men on earth are works of painful 'penance' done

MeaningReligious dislipline is practised in this world, because it secures the attainment of whatever one may wish to enjoy (in the world to come)

Pope (1886)Who works of 'penance' do, their end attain, Others in passion's net enshared, toil but in vain

MeaningThose discharge their duty who perform austerities; all others accomplish their own destruction, through the entanglement of the desire (of riches and sensual pleasure)

Pope (1886)The hotter glows the fining fire, the gold the brighter shines; The pain of penitence, like fire, the soul of man refines

MeaningJust as gold is purified as heated in the fire, will those shine, who have endured the burning of pain (in frequent austerities)

Pope (1886)Who gains himself in utter self-control, Him worships every other living soul

MeaningAll other creatures will worship him who has attained the control of his own soul

Pope (1886)E'en over death the victory he may gain, If power by penance won his soul obtain

MeaningThose who have attained the power which religious discipline confers, will be able also to pass the limit of Yama, (the God of death)

Pope (1886)The many all things lack! The cause is plain, The 'penitents' are few The many shun such pain

MeaningBecause there are few who practise austerity and many who do not, there are many destitute and few rich in this world

Pope (1886)Who with deceitful mind in false way walks of covert sin, The five-fold elements his frame compose, decide within

MeaningThe five elements (of his body) will laugh within him at the feigned conduct of the deceitful minded man

Pope (1886)What gain, though virtue's semblance high as heaven his fame exalt, If heart dies down through sense of self-detected fault

MeaningWhat avails an appearance (of sanctity) high as heaven, if his mind suffers (the indulgence) of conscious sin

Pope (1886)As if a steer should graze wrapped round with tiger's skin, Is show of virtuous might when weakness lurks within

MeaningThe assumed appearance of power, by a man who has no power (to restrain his senses and perform austerity), is like a cow feeding on grass covered with a tiger's skin

Pope (1886)'Tis as a fowler, silly birds to snare, in thicket lurksWhen, clad in stern ascetic garb, one secret evil works

MeaningHe who hides himself under the mask of an ascetic and commits sins, like a sportsman who conceals himself in the thicket to catch birds

Pope (1886)'Our souls are free,' who say, yet practise evil secretly,'What folly have we wrought!' by many shames o'er-whelmed, shall cry

MeaningThe false conduct of those who say they have renounced all desire will one day bring them sorrows that will make them cry out, "Oh! what have we done, what have we done."

Pope (1886)In mind renouncing nought, in speech renouncing every tie, Who guileful live,- no men are found than these of 'harder eye'

MeaningAmongst living men there are none so hard-hearted as those who without to saking (desire) in their heart, falsely take the appearance of those who have forsaken (it)

Pope (1886)Outward, they shine as 'kunri' berry's scarlet bright; Inward, like tip of 'kunri' bead, as black as night

Meaning(The world) contains persons whose outside appears (as fair) as the (red) berry of the Abrus, but whose inside is as black as the nose of that berry

Pope (1886)Many wash in hollowed waters, living lives of hidden shame; Foul in heart, yet high upraised of men in virtuous fame

MeaningThere are many men of masked conduct, who perform their ablutions, and (make a show) of

Pope (1886)Cruel is the arrow straight, the crooked lute is sweet, Judge by their deeds the many forms of men you meet

MeaningAs, in its use, the arrow is crooked, and the curved lute is straight, so by their deeds, (and not by their appearance) let (the uprightness or crookedness of) men be estimated

Pope (1886)'Tis sin if in the mind man but thought conceive;'By fraud I will my neighbour of his wealth bereave.'

MeaningEven the thought (of sin) is sin; think not then of crafiily stealing the property of another

Pope (1886)The gain that comes by fraud, although it seems to growWith limitless increase, to ruin swift shall go

MeaningThe property, which is acquired by fraud, will entirely perish, even while it seems to increase

Pope (1886)The lust inveterate of fraudful gain, Yields as its fruit undying pain

MeaningThe eager desire of defrauding others will, when it brings forth its fruit, produce undying sorrow

Pope (1886)'Grace' is not in their thoughts, nor know they kind affection's power, Who neighbour's goods desire, and watch for his unguarded hour

MeaningThe study of kindness and the exercise of benevolence is not with those who watch for another's forgetfulness, though desire of his property

Pope (1886)They cannot walk restrained in wisdom's measured bound, In whom inveterate lust of fraudful gain is found

MeaningThey cannot walk steadfastly, according to rule, who eagerly desire to defraud others

Pope (1886)Practice of fraud's dark cunning arts they shun, Who long for power by 'measured wisdom' won

MeaningThat black-knowledge which is called fraud, is not in those who desire that greatness which is called rectitude

Pope (1886)As virtue dwells in heart that 'measured wisdom' gains; Deceit in hearts of fraudful men established reigns

MeaningDeceit dwells in the mind of those who are conversant with fraud, even as virtue in the minds of those who are conversant with rectitude

Pope (1886)Who have no lore save that which fraudful arts supply, Acts of unmeasured vice committing straightway die

MeaningThose, who are acquainted with nothing but fraud, will perish in the very commission of transgression

Pope (1886)The fraudful forfeit life and being here below; Who fraud eschew the bliss of heavenly beings know

MeaningEven their body will fail the fraudulent; but even the world of the gods will not fail those who are free from fraud

Pope (1886)Falsehood may take the place of truthful word, If blessing, free from fault, it can afford

MeaningEven falsehood has the nature of truth, if it confer a benefit that is free from fault

Pope (1886)Speak not a word which false thy own heart knowsSelf-kindled fire within the false one's spirit glows

MeaningLet not a man knowingly tell a lie; for after he has told the lie, his mind will burn him (with the memory of his guilt)

Pope (1886)True to his inmost soul who lives,- enshrinedHe lives in souls of all mankind

MeaningHe who, in his conduct, preserves a mind free from deceit, will dwell in the minds of all men

Pope (1886)Greater is he who speaks the truth with full consenting mindThan men whose lives have penitence and charity combined

MeaningHe, who speaks truth with all his heart, is superior to those who make gifts and practise austerities

Pope (1886)No praise like that of words from falsehood free; This every virtue yields spontaneously

MeaningThere is no praise like the praise of never uttering a falsehood: without causing any suffering, it will lead to every virtue

Pope (1886)If all your life be utter truth, the truth alone,'Tis well, though other virtuous acts be left undone

MeaningIf a man has the power to abstain from falsehood, it will be well with him, even though he practise no other virtue

Pope (1886)Outward purity the water will bestow; Inward purity from truth alone will flow

MeaningPurity of body is produced by water and purity of mind by truthfulness

Pope (1886)Every lamp is not a lamp in wise men's sight; That's the lamp with truth's pure radiance bright

MeaningAll lamps of nature are not lamps; the lamp of truth is the lamp of the wise

Pope (1886)Of all good things we've scanned with studious care, There's nought that can with truthfulness compare

MeaningAmidst all that we have seen (described) as real (excellence), there is nothing so good as truthfulness

Pope (1886)Where power is none to wreak thy wrath, wrath importent is ill; Where thou hast power thy will to work, 'tis greater, evil still

MeaningAnger is bad, even when it cannot injure; when it can injure; there is no greater evil

Pope (1886)If any rouse thy wrath, the trespass straight forget; For wrath an endless train of evils will beget

MeaningForget anger towards every one, as fountains of evil spring from it

Pope (1886)Wrath robs the face of smiles, the heart of joy, What other foe to man works such annoy

MeaningWhat other foe to man works such annoy?

Pope (1886)If thou would'st guard thyself, guard against wrath alway;'Gainst wrath who guards not, him his wrath shall slay

MeaningIf a man would guard himself, let him guard against anger; if he do not guard it, anger will kill him

Pope (1886)Wrath, the fire that slayeth whose draweth near, Will burn the helpful 'raft' of kindred dear

MeaningThe fire of anger will burn up even the pleasant raft of friendship

Pope (1886)The hand that smites the earth unfailing feels the sting; So perish they who nurse their wrath as noble thing

MeaningDestruction will come upon him who ragards anger as a good thing, as surely as the hand of him who strikes the ground will not fail

Pope (1886)Though men should work thee woe, like touch of tongues of fire'Tis well if thou canst save thy soul from burning ire

MeaningThough one commit things against you as painful (to bear) as if a bundle of fire had been thrust upon you, it will be well, to refrain, if possible, from anger

Pope (1886)If man his soul preserve from wrathful fires, He gains with that whate'er his soul desires

MeaningIf a man never indulges anger in his heart, he will at once obtain whatever he has thought of

Pope (1886)Men of surpassing wrath are like the men who've passed away; Who wrath renounce, equals of all-renouncing sages they

MeaningThose, who give way to excessive anger, are no better than dead men; but those, who are freed from it, are equal to those who are freed (from death)

Pope (1886)Though ill to neighbour wrought should glorious pride of wealth secure, No ill to do is fixed decree of men in spirit pure

MeaningIt is the determination of the spotless not to cause sorrow to others, although they could (by so causing) obtain the wealth which confers greatness

Pope (1886)Though malice work its worst, planning no ill return, to endure, And work no ill, is fixed decree of men in spirit pure

MeaningIt is the determination of the spotless not to do evil, even in return, to those who have cherished enmity and done them evil

Pope (1886)Though unprovoked thy soul malicious foes should sting, Retaliation wrought inevitable woes will bring

MeaningIn an ascetic inflict suffering even on those who hate him, when he has not done them any evil, it will afterwards give him irretrievable sorrow

Pope (1886)From wisdom's vaunted lore what doth the learner gain, If as his own he guard not others' souls from pain

MeaningWhat benefit has he derived from his knowledge, who does not endeavour to keep off pain from another as much as from himself ?

Pope (1886)What his own soul has felt as bitter pain, From making others feel should man abstain

MeaningLet not a man consent to do those things to another which, he knows, will cause sorrow

Pope (1886)To work no wilful woe, in any wise, through all the days, To any living soul, is virtue's highest praise

MeaningIt is the chief of all virtues not knowingly to do any person evil, even in the lowest degree, and at any time

Pope (1886)Whose soul has felt the bitter smart of wrong, how canHe wrongs inflict on ever-living soul of man

MeaningWhy does a man inflict upon other creatures those sufferings, which he has found by experience are sufferings to himself ?

Pope (1886)If, ere the noontide, you to others evil do, Before the eventide will evil visit you

MeaningIf a man inflict sorrow upon others in the morning, it will come upon him unsought in the very evening

Pope (1886)O'er every evil-doer evil broodeth still; He evil shuns who freedom seeks from ill

MeaningSorrow will come upon those who cause pain to others; therfore those, who desire to be free from sorrow, give no pain to others

Pope (1886)Let those that need partake your meal; guard every-thing that lives; This the chief and sum of lore that hoarded wisdom gives

MeaningThe chief of all (the virtues) which authors have summed up, is the partaking of food that has been shared with others, and the preservation of the mainfold life of other creatures

Pope (1886)Alone, first of goods things, is 'not to slay'; The second is, no untrue word to say

MeaningNot to destroy life is an incomparably (great) good next to it in goodness ranks freedom from falsehood

Pope (1886)You ask, What is the good and perfect way?'Tis path of him who studies nought to slay

MeaningGood path is that which considers how it may avoid killing any creature

Pope (1886)Of those who 'being' dread, and all renounce, the chief are they, Who dreading crime of slaughter, study nought to slay

MeaningOf all those who, fearing the permanence of earthly births, have abandoned desire, he is the chief who, fearing (the guilt of) murder, considers how he may avoid the destruction of life

Pope (1886)Ev'n death that life devours, their happy days shall spare, Who law, 'Thou shall not kill', uphold with reverent care

MeaningYama, the destroyer of life, will not attack the life of him, who acts under the determination of never destroying life

Pope (1886)Though thine own life for that spared life the price must pay, Take not from aught that lives gift of sweet life away

MeaningLet no one do that which would destroy the life of another, although he should by so doing, lose his own life

Pope (1886)Though great the gain of good should seem, the wiseWill any gain by staughter won despise

MeaningThe advantage which might flow from destroying life in sacrifice, is dishonourable to the wise (who renounced the world), even although it should be said to be productive of great good

Pope (1886)Whose trade is 'killing', always vile they show, To minds of them who what is vileness know

MeaningTo minds of them who what is vileness know

Pope (1886)Who lead a loathed life in bodies sorely pained, Are men, the wise declare, by guilt of slaughter stained

Meaning(The wise) will say that men of diseased bodies, who live in degradation and in poverty, are those who separated the life from the body of animals (in a former birth)

Pope (1886)Lowest and meanest lore, that bids men trust secure, In things that pass away, as things that shall endure

MeaningThat ignorance which considers those things to be stable which are not so, is dishonourable (to the wise)

Pope (1886)As crowds round dancers fill the hall, is wealth's increase; Its loss, as throngs dispersing, when the dances cease

MeaningThe acquisition of wealth is like the gathering together of an assembly for a theatre; its expenditure is like the breaking up of that assembly

Pope (1886)Unenduring is all wealth; if you wealth enjoy, Enduring works in working wealth straightway employ

MeaningWealth is perishable; let those who obtain it immediately practise those (virtues) which are imperishable

Pope (1886)As 'day' it vaunts itself; well understood, 'tis knife', That daily cuts away a portion from thy life

MeaningTime, which shows itself (to the ignorant) as if it were something (real) is in the estimation of the wise (only) a saw which cuts down life

Pope (1886)Before the tongue lie powerless, 'mid the gasp of gurgling breath, Arouse thyself, and do good deeds beyond the power of death

MeaningLet virtuous deeds be done quickly, before the hiccup comes making the tongue silent

Pope (1886)Who know not if their happy lives shall last the day, In fancies infinite beguile the hours away

MeaningInnumerable are the thoughts which occupy the mind of (the unwise), who know not that they shall live another moment

Pope (1886)Birds fly away, and leave the nest deserted bare; Such is the short-lived friendship soul and body share

MeaningThe love of the soul to the body is like (the love of) a bird to its egg which it flies away from and leaves empty

Pope (1886)Death is sinking into slumbers deep; Birth again is waking out of sleep

MeaningDeath is like sleep; birth is like awaking from it

Pope (1886)The soul in fragile shed as lodger courts repose:-Is it because no home's conclusive rest it knows

MeaningIt seems as if the soul, which takes a temporary shelter in a body, had not attained a home

Pope (1886)From whatever, aye, whatever, man gets free, From what, aye, from that, no more of pain hath he

MeaningWhatever thing, a man has renounced, by that thing; he cannot suffer pain

Pope (1886)'Renunciation' made- ev'n here true pleasures men acquire;'Renounce' while time is yet, if to those pleasures you aspire

MeaningAfter a man has renounced (all things), there will still be many things in this world (which he may enjoy); if he should desire them, let him, while it is time abandon (the world)

Pope (1886)'Perceptions of the five' must all expire;-Relinquished in its order each desire

MeaningLet the five senses be destroyed; and at the same time, let everything be abandoned that (the ascetic) has (formerly) desired

Pope (1886)'Privation absolute' is penance true;'Possession' brings bewilderment anew

MeaningTo be altogether destitute is the proper condition of those who perform austerities; if they possess anything, it will change (their resolution) and bring them back to their confused state

Pope (1886)To those who sev'rance seek from being's varied strife, Flesh is burthen sore; what then other bonds of life

MeaningWhat means the addition of other things those who are attempting to cut off (future) births, when even their body is too much (for them)

Pope (1886)Who kills conceit that utters 'I' and 'mine', Shall enter realms above the powers divine

MeaningShall enter realms above the powers divine

Pope (1886)Who cling to things that cling and eager clasp, Griefs cling to them with unrelaxing grasp

MeaningSorrows will never let go their hold of those who give not up their hold of desire

Pope (1886)Who thoroughly 'renounce' on highest height are set; The rest bewildered, lie entangled in the net

MeaningThose who have entirely renounced (all things and all desire) have obtained (absorption into God); all others wander in confusion, entangled in the net of (many) births

Pope (1886)When that which clings falls off, severed is being's tie; All else will then be seen as instability

MeaningAt the moment in which desire has been abandoned, (other) births will be cut off; when that has not been done, instability will be seen

Pope (1886)Of things devoid of truth as real things men deem;-Cause of degraded birth the fond delusive dream

MeaningInglorious births are produced by the confusion (of mind) which considers those things to be real which are not real

Pope (1886)Darkness departs, and rapture springs to men who see, The mystic vision pure, from all delusion free

MeaningA clear, undimmed vision of things will deliver its possessors from the darkness of future births, and confer the felicity (of heaven)

Pope (1886)When doubts disperse, and mists of error rollAway, nearer is heav'n than earth to sage's soul

MeaningHeaven is nearer than earth to those men of purified minds who are freed from from doubt

Pope (1886)Five-fold perception gained, what benefits accrueTo them whose spirits lack perception of the true

MeaningEven those who have all the knowledge which can be attained by the five senses, will derive no benefit from it, if they are without a knowledge of the true nature of things

Pope (1886)Who learn, and here the knowledge of the true obtain, Shall find the path that hither cometh not again

MeaningThey, who in this birth have learned to know the True Being, enter the road which returns not into this world

Pope (1886)The mind that knows with certitude what is, and ponders well, Its thoughts on birth again to other life need not to dwell

MeaningLet it not be thought that there is another birth for him whose mind having thoroughly considered (all it has been taught) has known the True Being

Pope (1886)When folly, cause of births, departs; and soul can viewThe truth of things, man's dignity- 'tis wisdom true

MeaningTrue knowledge consists in the removal of ignorance; which is (the cause of) births, and the perception of the True Being who is (the bestower of) heaven

Pope (1886)The true 'support' who knows- rejects 'supports' he sought before-Sorrow that clings all destroys, shall cling to him no more

MeaningHe who so lives as to know Him who is the support of all things and abandon all desire, will be freed from the evils which would otherwise cleave to him and destroy (his efforts after absorption)

Pope (1886)When lust and wrath and error's triple tyranny is o'er, Their very names for aye extinct, then pain shall be no more

MeaningIf the very names of these three things, desire, anger, and confusion of mind, be destroyed, then will also perish evils (which flow from them)

Pope (1886)If desire you feel, freedom from changing birth require!'I' will come, if you desire to 'scape, set free from all desire

MeaningIf anything be desired, freedom from births should be desired; that (freedom from births) will be attained by desiring to be without desire

Pope (1886)No glorious wealth is here like freedom from desire; To bliss like this not even there can soul aspire

MeaningThere is in this world no excellence equal to freedom from desire; and even in that world, there is nothing like it

Pope (1886)Desire's decease as purity men know; That, too, from yearning search for truth will grow

MeaningPurity (of mind) consists in freedom from desire; and that (freedom from desire) is the fruit of the love of truth

Pope (1886)Men freed from bonds of strong desire are free; None other share such perfect liberty

MeaningThey are said to be free (from future birth) who are freed from desire; all others (who, whatever else they may be free from, are not freed from desire) are not thus free

Pope (1886)Desire each soul beguiles; True virtue dreads its wiles

MeaningIt is the chief duty of (an ascetic) to watch against desire with (jealous) fear; for it has power to deceive (and destroy) him

Pope (1886)Who thoroughly rids his life of passion-prompted deed, Deeds of unfailing worth shall do, which, as he plans, succeed

MeaningIf a man thoroughly cut off all desire, the deeds, which confer immortality, will come to him, in the path in which he seeks them

Pope (1886)Affliction is not known where no desires abide; Where these are, endless rises sorrow's tide

MeaningThere is no sorrow to those who are without desire; but where that is, (sorrow) will incessantly come, more and more

Pope (1886)When dies away desire, that woe of woesEv'n here the soul unceasing rapture knows

MeaningEven while in this body, joy will never depart (from the mind, in which) desire, that sorrow of sorrows, has been destroyed

Pope (1886)Drive from thy soul desire insatiate; Straight'way is gained the moveless blissful state

MeaningThe removal of desire, whose nature it is never to be satisfied, will immediately confer a nature that can never be changed