Not Killing (197-198)
197: Don’t Kill Even an Atom of Life
Flowers many to dear, loved Master’s worship;
Even one atom of life, kill not:
The lovely garland, the steady flame, the firm will,
The passionate heart–such the worship’s crowning part.
198: They Who Kill Reach Hell
The men who shouted,”Kill and stab,”
Them with strong ropes Death’s ruffians bind;
And stationing them at the fire-gates of Hell
The agents yell, “Stand, go; and in the fire pit roast.”
Meat Eating–forbidden (199-200)
199: Meat Eaters Will Have to Face Hell’s Torments
The ignoble ones who base flesh do eat,
Death’s agents bind them fast for all to see;
And push them quick into tthe fiery jaws of hell,
And fling them down there for ever to be.
200: Shun Sinful Living
Killing, theiving, drinking, lusting, lying
These horrid sins detest and shun; to those
Who Siva’s Holy Feet attain and the Bliss eternal,
They come not; such men in Wisdom’s bliss ever repose.
Not Committing Adultery (201-203)
201: Seek not the Thorney Date; Ripened Jack-Fruit is at Hand
The dear, wedded wife pines within the home,
But the lusting youth covets the guarded neighbour’s mate;
Even as one, declining the luscious ripeness of the jack,
Yearns for the tamer taste of the thorny date.
202: Seek Not the Sour Tamarind: Sweet Mango is at Hand
The sweet, ripe mango, tended with loving care,
They bury deep, deeming it unripe still;
And up the gnarled tamarind they climb for the sour fruit,
Only to break their limbs–they whom the senses beguile.
203: Adulterers Rush to Doom
The king of treasures vast, and the lordly souls
Whose light of wisdom dispels the encircling gloom
Even such yield to woman’s sensuous charms;
Their judgment thus enslaved, they rush to their doom.
Evil Women’s Ignominy (204-208)
204: Pledge not Your Heart to Lust
Fine though the leaves be of the nux vomica tree,
Its wealth of fruit is bitter on tongue, unfit to eat;
To them with rounded breasts and luring smile,
Pledge not your wavering heart in passion’s heat.
205: Incontinent Passion Spells Ruin
The worldly folk who seek connubial delights
Are, like eddying water, sucked into whirling pool;
Such is passion, incontinent, fleeting as a dream;
Real it is not; let not its siren spell you befool.
206: Lust Destroys
Decoyed into passion’s snare by tender woman’s grace,
They fell into her arms and swooned in the warm embrace;
“This is life’s crowning glory, fit for the gods to share–“
Thus speaking, they parted leaving not a trace.
207: Sweet Beginning, Bitter End
“What are the joys that in woman’s charms we seek or find?”
The truly wise of heart pronounce thus their course:
“In the hand like the sugary juice from crushing mills,
But in the body bitterer than bitterest neem.”
208: Irretrievable Loss in Lust
Those unfirm of mind who, in folly vain,
Struggle to plant seeds deep in moss-covered tank
If such betimes we bind not and restrain,
Irretrievably lost are they in lust of sex, sordid and rank.
In Vain Pursuit Of Accumulation (209-213)
209: Misery of Making a Living
Garments to tatters torn, life a joyless desert becomes;
Loved ones and dear friends forsake, with no more love to spare
Nothing more to give or ask, void of glory and pomp,
Neglected, like automatons they walk, sad and bare.
210: Pre-Occupation With Filling Stomach-Pit
Even as the day dawns, men strive the stomach-pit to fill;
With needed tools, they seek hard the hungry void to stop;
But our only way is to praise Him whatever the way of life we pursue;
Sure then that pit is filled when, what in us is impure, is swept off.
211: Seek not to Fill Stomach’s Pit; Fill the Birth’s Pit
To fill the stomach’s stony pit, they seek the precious gold;
But little do they know how hard it is to fill births’ pit;
Only when true wisdom you attain that pit to rule,
Then that pit is filled, when life is washed clean and rendered fit.
212: Light of Wisdom’s Lamp in Good Time
Our kith and kin, unrelenting, like Karma stern,
Unrelaxing us pursue; so, ere life from body goes,
In good time, light thou Wisdom’s lamp,
And intent thus, to that new-lit track, keep close.
213: Lord Alone is Refuge from Harrying Births
Him the Six harried, Passion’s form assuming,
Him the Five maligned, countless miseries giving,
Him Karma tortured through birth after birth pursuing
Thus he learned to despise life–in the Lord alone refuge finding.
Relating To Sacrificial Fire (214-223)
214: Prosperity Springs From Sacrifice
Riches from obloquy free, the spreading sky and earth,
The directions all, and the godly hosts who there hold sway,
All flourish in Victory’s wake when Brahmins true,
With Vedas commencing, pursue the sacrificial way.
215: They Give Before They Eat
The Vedic Brahmins who holy sacrifices perform,
On Salvation intent, give before they eat;
Even as in knowledge true, supreme they stand,
So in conduct they lead–to the One Goal headed straight.
216: Sacrifices Lead to Heaven
They who invoke our Lord–the Fire within the Fire,
The Brahmins true are they and our goodly support;
Who, night and day, raise the Sacrificial flame
Guiding us along the pure Path to our heavenly port.
217: Karma’s Depart When Mantras are Chanted
Morn and eve, when in devotion rapt they chant,
The two damsels (Gayatri and Savitri) with them in smiling grace stand;
Then do the two birds of one seed sprung
Karmas, good and bad, fluttering, in haste depart.
218: Sacrificial Fires Consume Sins
They who know in the sacrificial ghee’s steady flame,
All dark things are for ever consumed;
They also know when from Karma’s hold we’re freed,
That day is our day of abiding wealth,
The holy Fire’s truest meed.
219: It Scorches Karmic Evils
All sins fly like wick fast consumed in flame,
All diseases fade that Karma brings in its wake;
They fade and fall in the rising sacrificial fire.
And all evils are scorched that our Karmas make.
220: Sacrifices Give Wealth Imperishable
Firmly holding that vast riches are a grievous curse,
They hungered for the Lord who to us richest treasure gave;
Hoping and dreaming they waited for the immortal prize,
All sacrifices performed, the undying wealth to achieve.
221: Lord is the Sacrificial Flame of the Heart
The Pure Flame is He, the immortal Lord is He,
The Radiant Flame who in my heart’s core resides;
The Lord whose eyes are the Three Fires,
Who the Seven Worlds transcends,
The Lord of Homa’s Cool Flame, and my heart’s King besides.
222: He is the Fire Within All Fires
Inside the Fire of the Homa is my Lord,
Inside too is He seated in the flame of the funeral pyre;
The Fire of Homa which scorches Karma’s surging sea,
The Fire, that the mighty Churner in the sea begot, still abides.
223: Sacrificial Flame is Undying
In true penance striving, to Vedic rites conforming
They, who everywhere raise the sacrificial flame,
Tireless, unsparing in kindling the Holy Fire–
Theirs the true flame eternal, theirs the undying name.