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 NO. 23233 
 
 CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 
 924 075 056 071 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924075056071 
 
THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
The Song Celestial 
 
 BHAGAVAD-GITA. 
 
 hut, - „ 
 
 (FROM THE MA HABHARATA) 
 
 JBetng a Discourse between 
 
 ARJUNA, Prince of India, AND THE SUPREME BEING 
 Under the Form of KRISHNA 
 
 ^Translates from tTje Sanskrit ffert 
 
 EY 
 
 SIR EDWIN ARNOLD, M.A., K.C.I.E., C.S.I. 
 SIXTH EDITION 
 
 LONDON 
 
 KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER, & CO. L^ D 
 
 PATERNOSTER HOUSE, CHARING CROSS ROAD 
 1893 ^ 
 

 77« rights of translation and of reproduction are reserved.- 
 
Dedication. 
 
 TO INDIA. 
 
 ■awe 'sr w fwa* ««(<.^: fy *m O ^f^ n 
 
 So tare / r«ai (Ins wonderful and spirit-thrilling speech, 
 
 By Krishna and Prince Arjun held, discoursing each with each ; 
 
 So have I writ its wisdom here, — its. hidden mystery,. 
 
 For England ; O our India I as dear to me as She ! 
 
 EDWIN ARNOLD. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Tmstfamous and marvellous Sanskrit poem occurs 
 
 as anlepisode of the MahMh&rata, in the sixth— or 
 
 " Bhislma " — Parva of the great Hindoo epic. It 
 
 enjoys limmense popularity and authority in India, 
 
 wher| it is reckoned as one of the "Five Jewels," 
 
 — pahharatndni — of Devanagiri literature- In plain 
 
 but nble language it unfolds a philosophical system 
 
 whicliremains to this day the prevailing Brahmanic 
 
 belief,blending as it does the doctrines of Kapila, 
 
 PatanjK, and the Vedas. So lofty are many of 
 
 its dearations, so sublime its aspirations, so pure 
 
 and tener its piety, that Schlegel, after his study 
 
viii PREFACE. 
 
 of the poem, breaks forth into this outburst of 
 delight and praise towards its unknown author : 
 " Magistrorum reverentia a JBrachmanis inter sanctis- 
 sima pietatis officio, refertur. Ergo te primum, Vctcs 
 sanctissime, Numinisque hypojpheta ! quisquis taniem 
 inter mortales dictus tu f uteris, carminis hujus awtor, 
 cujus oraculis mens ad excelsa quceque, (sterna dque, 
 divina, cum inenarraoili quddam delectatione rapiUr — 
 te primvm, inquam, solvere jubeo, et vestigia tua temper 
 adoro.'' Lassen re-echoes this splendid tributf; and 
 indeed, so striking are some of the moralitits here 
 inculcated, and so close the parallelism — ofttimes 
 actually verbal — between its teachings and tbse of 
 the New Testament, that a controversy has arisen 
 between Pandits and Missionaries on the point wiether 
 the author borrowed from Christian sources, or the 
 Evangelists and Apostles from him. 
 
 This raises the question of its date, whicl cannot 
 be positively settled. It must have been iraid into 
 the ancient epic at a period later than tht of the 
 
PREFACE. it 
 
 original MaMbh&rata, but Mr. KuSinath Telang has 
 offered some fair arguments to prove it anterior to the 
 Christian era. The weight of evidence, however, tends 
 to place its composition at about the third century 
 after Christ ; and perhaps there are really echoes in 
 this Brahmanic poem of the lessons of Galilee, and of 
 the Syrian incarnation. 
 
 Its scene is the level country between the Jumna 
 and the Sarsooti rivers — now Kurnul and Jheend. Its 
 simple plot consists of a dialogue held by Prince Arjuna, 
 the brother of King Tudhisthira, with Krishna, the 
 Supreme Deity, wearing the disguise of a charioteer. 
 A great battle is impending between the armies of 
 the Kauravas and Pandavas, and this conversation is 
 maintained in a war-chariot drawn up between the 
 opposing hosts. 
 
 The poem has been turned into French by Burnouf, 
 into Latin by Lassen, into Italian by Stanislav Gatti, 
 into Greek by Galanos, and into English by Mr. 
 Thomson and Mr. Davies, the prose transcript of the 
 
x PREFA CB. 
 
 last-named being truly beyond praise for its fidelity 
 and clearness. Mr. Telang has also published at Bom- 
 bay a version in colloquial rhythm, eminently learned 
 and intelligent, but not conveying the dignity or grace 
 of the original. If I venture to offer a translation of 
 the wonderful poem after so many superior scholars, it 
 is in grateful recognition of the help derived from their 
 labours, and because English literature would certainly 
 be incomplete without possessing in popular form a 
 poetical and philosophical work so dear to India. 
 
 There is little else to say which the " Song Celes- 
 tial " does not explain for itself. The Sanskrit original 
 is written in the Anushtubh metre, which cannot be 
 successfully reproduced for Western ears. I have 
 therefore cast it into our flexible blank verse, chan<r- 
 ing into lyrical measures where the text itself similarly 
 breaks. For the most part, I believe the sense to be 
 faithfully preserved in the following pages ; but 
 Schlegel himself had to say : " In reconditioribus me 
 semper poetce mentem rede divinasse affirmare non 
 
PREFACE. xi 
 
 ausim." Those who would read more upon the philo- 
 sophy of the poem may find an admirable introduc- 
 tion in the volume of Mr. Davies, printed by Messrs. 
 Triibner & Co. 
 
 EDWIN AENOLD, C.S.L 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 I. THE DISTRESS OF ARJUNA 
 
 II. THE BOOK OF DOCTRINES . 
 
 III. VIRTUE IN WORK . ... 
 
 IV. THE RELIGION OF KNOWLEDGE . 
 V. RELIGION OF RENOUNCING WORKS 
 
 VI. RELIGION BY SELF-RESTRAINT . 
 VII. RELIGION BY DISCERNMENT 
 VIII. RELIGION BY SERVICE OF THE SUPREME . 
 IX. RELIGION BY THE KINGLY KNOWLEDGE AND TH 
 
 KINGLY MYSTERY 
 
 X. RELIGION BY THE HEAVENLY PERFECTIONS 
 XI. THE MANIFESTING OF THE ONE AND MANIFOLD 
 
 XII. RELIGION OF FAITH 
 
 XIII. RELIGION BY SEPARATION OF MATTER AND SPIRIT 
 
 PAOR 
 1 
 
 9 
 
 25 
 
 34 
 43 
 So 
 6o 
 
 67 
 
 74 
 
 83 
 
 94 
 
 118 
 
 123 
 
xiv CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. PAOE 
 
 XIV. RELIGION BY SEPARATION FROM THE QUALITIES . 131 
 
 XV. RELIGION BY ATTAINING THE SUPREME . . • 1 38 
 
 XVI. THE SEPARATENESS OF THE DIVINE AND UNDIVINE I44 
 
 XVII. RELIGION BY THE THREEFOLD FAITH . . .ISO 
 
 XVIII. RELIGION BY DELIVERANCE AND RENUNCIATION . 156 
 
THE SONG CELESTIAL; 
 
 OR, 
 
 BHAGAVAD-GITA. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 DHRITIRASHTRA: 
 
 Eanged thus for battle on the sacred plain — 
 
 On Kurukshetra — say, Sanjaya ! say 
 
 What wrought my people, and the Pandavas ? 
 
 SANJAYA s 
 
 When he. beheld the host of Pandavas, 
 
 Eaja Dury6dhana to Drona drew, 
 
 And spake these words : " Ah, Guru ! see this, line, 
 
 How vast it is of Pandu fighting-men, 
 
 Embattled by the son of Drupada, 
 
2 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Thy scholar in the war I Therein stand ranked 
 Chiefs like Arjuna, like to Bhima chiefs, 
 Benders of hows ; Virata, Yuyudhan, 
 Drupada, eminent upon his car, 
 Dhrishtaket, Chekitan, Kali's stout lord, 
 Purujit, Kuntibh&j, and Saivya, 
 With Yudhamanyu, and TJttamauj 
 Subhadra's child ; and Drupadi's ; — all famed ! 
 All mounted on their shining chariots ! 
 On our side, too, — thou best of Brahmans ! see 
 Excellent chiefs, commanders of my line, 
 Whose names I joy to count : thyself the first, 
 Then Bhishma, Kama, Kripa fierce in fight, 
 Vikarna, AsVatthaman ; next to these 
 Strong Saumadatti, with full many more 
 Valiant and tried, ready this day to die 
 For me their king, each with his weapon grasped, 
 Each skilful in the field. Weakest — meseems — 
 Our battle shows where Bhishma holds command, 
 And Bhima, fronting him, something too stron" ! 
 
BOOK THE FIRST. 3 
 
 Have care our captains nigh to Bhishma's ranks 
 Prepare what help they may ! Now, blow my shell! 
 
 Then, at the signal of the as;ed king, 
 "With blare to wake the blood, rolling around 
 Like to a lion's roar, the trumpeter 
 Blew the great Conch ; and, at the noise of it, 
 Trumpets and drums, cymbals and gongs and horns 
 Burst into sudden clamour ; as the blasts 
 Of loosened tempest, such the tumult seemed ! 
 Then might be seen, upon their car of gold 
 Yoked with white steeds, blowing their battle-shells, 
 Krishna the God, Arjuna at his side : 
 Krishna, with knotted locks, blew his great conch 
 Carved of the " Giant's bone ; " Arjuna blew 
 Indra's loud gift ; Bhima the terrible — 
 Wolf-bellied Bhima — blew a long reed-conch; 
 And Yudhisthira, Kunti's blameless son, 
 Winded a mighty shell, " Victory's Voice ; " 
 And Nakula blew shrill upon his conch 
 
THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 Named the " Sweet-sounding," Sahadev on his 
 Called " Gem-bedecked," and Kali's Prince on his. 
 Sikhandi on his car, Dhrishtadyumn, 
 Virata, Satyaki the Unsubdued, 
 Drupada, with his sons, (0 Lord of Earth!) 
 Long-armed Subhadra's children, all blew loud, 
 So that the clangour shook their foemen's hearts, 
 With quaking earth and thundering heav'n. 
 
 Then 'twas — 
 Beholding Dhritirashtra's battle set, 
 Weapons unsheathing, bows drawn forth, the war 
 Instant to break — Arjun, whose ensign-badge 
 Was Hanuman the monkey, spake this thing 
 To Krishna the Divine, his charioteer : 
 " Drive, Dauntless One ! to yonder open ground 
 Betwixt the armies ; I would see more nigh 
 These who will fight with us, those we must slay 
 To-day, in war's arbitrament ; for, sure, 
 On bloodshed all are bent who throng this plain, 
 Obeying Dhritirashtra's sinful son." 
 
BOOK THE FIRST. 5 
 
 Thus, by Arjuna prayed, (0 Bharata !) 
 Between the hosts that heavenly Charioteer 
 Drove the bright car, reining its milk-white steeds 
 Where Bhishma led, and Drona, and their Lords. 
 " See ! " spake he to Arjuna, " where they stand, 
 Thy kindred of the Kurus : " and the Prince 
 Marked on each hand the kinsmen of his house, 
 Grandsires and sires, uncles and brothers and sons, 
 Cousins and sons-in-law and nephews, mixed 
 With friends and honoured elders ; some this side, 
 Some that side ranged : and, seeing those opposed, 
 Such kith grown enemies — Arjuna's heart 
 Melted with pity, while he uttered this : 
 
 ARJUNA: 
 
 Krishna ! as I behold, come here to shed 
 Their common blood, yon concourse of our kin, 
 My members fail, my tongue dries in my mouth, 
 A shudder thrills my body, and my hair 
 Bristles with horror; from my weak hand slips 
 
THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Gandlv, the goodly bow ; a fever burns 
 
 My skin to parching ; hardly may I stand ; 
 
 The life within me seems to swim and faint ; 
 
 Nothing do I foresee save woe and wail ! 
 
 It is not good, Keshav ! nought of good 
 
 Can spring from mutual slaughter ! Lo, I hate 
 
 Triumph and domination, wealth and ease, 
 
 Thus sadly won ! Aho ! what victory 
 
 Can bring delight, Govinda ! what rich spoils 
 
 Could profit ; what rule recompense ; what span 
 
 Of life itself seem sweet, bought with such blood ? 
 
 Seeing that these stand here, ready to die, 
 
 For whose sake life was fair, and pleasure pleased, 
 
 And power grew precious: — grandsires, sires, and 
 
 sons, 
 Brothers, and fathers-in-law, and sons-in-law, 
 Elders and friends ! Shall I deal death on these 
 Even though they seek to slay us ? Not one blow, 
 O Madhusudan ! will I strike to gain 
 The rule of all Three Worlds ; then, how much less 
 
BOOK THE FIRST. 7 
 
 To seize an earthly kingdom ! Killing these 
 
 Must breed but anguish, Krishna ! If they be 
 
 Guilty, we shall grow guilty by their deaths ; 
 
 Their sins will light on us, if we shall slay 
 
 Those sons of Dhritirashtra, and our kin ; 
 
 What peace could come of that, Madhava ? 
 
 For if indeed, blinded by lust and wrath, 
 
 These cannot see, or will not see, the sin 
 
 Of kingly lines o'erthrown and kinsmen slain, 
 
 How should not we, who see, shun such a crime — 
 
 We who perceive the guilt and feel the shame — 
 
 thou Delight of Men, Janardana ? 
 
 By overthrow of houses perisheth 
 
 Their sweet continuous household piety, 
 
 And' — rites neglected, piety extinct — 
 
 Enters impiety upon that home ; 
 
 Its women grow unwomaned, whence there spring 
 
 Mad passions, and the mingling-up of castes, 
 
 Sending a Hell-ward road that family, 
 
 And whoso wrought its doom by wicked wrath. 
 
THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 Nay, and the souls of honoured ancestors 
 Fall from their place of peace, being bereft 
 Of funeral-cakes and the wan death-water. 
 So teach our holy hymns. Thus, if we slay 
 Kinsfolk and friends for love of earthly power, 
 Ahovat ! what an evil fault it were ! 
 Better I deem it, if my kinsmen strike, 
 To face them weaponless, and bare my breast 
 To shaft and spear, than answer blow with blow. 
 
 So speaking, in the face of those two hosts, 
 Arjuna sank upon his chariot-seat, 
 And let fall bow and arrows, sick at heart. 
 
 here endeth chapter i. of the 
 Bhagavad-GItA, 
 
 Entitled. " Arjun-Vish&d," 
 Or " The Book of the Distress of Arjuna." 
 
 1 Some repetitionary lines are here omitted. 
 
( 9 ) 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 SANJAYA: 1 
 
 Him, filled with such compassion and such grief, 
 With eyes tear-dimmed, despondent, in stern words 
 The Driver, Madhusudan, thus addressed : 
 
 KRISHNA: 
 
 How hath this weakness taken thee? Whence springs 
 The inglorious trouble, shameful to the brave, 
 Barring the path of virtue ? Nay, Arjun ! 
 Forbid thyself to feebleness! it mars 
 Thy warrior-name ! cast off the coward-fit ! 
 Wake ! Be thyself ! Arise, Scourge of thy Foes ! 
 
 ARJUNA: 
 
 How can I, in the battle, shoot with shafts 
 
THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 On Bhishma, or on Drona — thou Chief I— * 
 Both worshipful, both honourable men ? 
 
 Better to live on beggar's bread 
 
 With those we love alive, 
 Than taste their blood in rich feasts spread, 
 
 And guiltily survive ! 
 Ah ! were it worse — who knows ? — to be 
 
 Victor or vanquished here, 
 When those confront us angrily 
 
 Whose death leaves living drear ? 
 In pity lost, by doubtings tossed, 
 
 My thoughts — distracted — turn 
 To Thee, the Guide I reverence most, 
 
 That I may counsel learn : 
 I know not what would heal the grief 
 
 Burned into soul and sense, 
 If I were earth's unchallenged chief — 
 
 A god — and these gone thence ! 
 
BOOK THE SECOND. n 
 
 SANJAYA: 
 
 So spake Arjuna to the Lord of Hearts, 
 
 And sighing, " I will not fight ! " held silence then. 
 
 To whom, with tender smile, (0 Bharata !) 
 
 While the Prince wept despairing 'twixt those hosts, 
 
 Krishna made answer in divinest verse : 
 
 KRISHNA: 
 
 Thou grievest where no grief should be! thou 
 
 speak'st 
 Words lacking wisdom ! for the wise in heart 
 Mourn not for those that live, nor those that die. 
 Nor I, nor thou, nor any one of these, 
 Ever was not, nor ever, will not be, 
 For ever and for ever afterwards. 
 All, that doth live, lives always ! To man's frame 
 As there come infancy and youth and age, 
 So come there raisings-up and layings-down 
 Of other and of other life-abodes, 
 Which the wise know, and fear not. This that irks — 
 
THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Thy sense-life, thrilling to the elements — <■ 
 
 Bringing thee heat and cold, sorrows and joys, 
 
 'Tis brief and mutable ! Bear with it, Prince ! 
 
 As the wise bear. The soul which is not moved, 
 
 The soul that with a strong and constant calm 
 
 Takes sorrow and takes joy indifferently, 
 
 Lives in the life undying ! That which is 
 
 Can never cease to be ; that which is not 
 
 Will not exist. To see this truth of both 
 
 Is theirs who part essence from accident, 
 
 Substance from shadow. Indestructible, 
 
 Learn thou ! the Life is, spreading life through all ; 
 
 It cannot anywhere, by any means, 
 
 Be anywise diminished, stayed, or changed. 
 
 But for these fleeting frames which it informs 
 
 With spirit deathless, endless, infinite, 
 
 They perish. Let them perish, Prince ! and fight ! 
 
 He who shall say, " Lo ! I have slain a man ! " 
 
 He who shall think, " Lo ! I am slain ! " those both 
 
 Know naught ! Life cannot slay. Life is not slain ! 
 
BOOK THE SECOND. 13 
 
 Never the spirit wa3 born ; the spirit shall cease to be 
 never ; 
 Never was time it was not ; End and Beginning are 
 dreams ! 
 Birthless and deathless and changeless remaineth the 
 spirit for ever ; 
 Death hath not touched it at all, dead though the 
 house of it seems ! 
 
 Who knoweth it exhaustless, self-sustained, 
 
 Immortal, indestructible, — shall such 
 
 Say, " I have killed a man, or caused to kill ? " 
 
 Nay, but as when one layeth 
 
 His worn-out robes away, 
 And, taking new ones, sayeth, 
 
 " These will I wear to-day ! " 
 So putteth by the spirit 
 
 Lightly its garb of flesh, 
 And passeth to inherit 
 
 A residence afresh. 
 
i 4 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 I say to thee weapons reach not the Life ; 
 Flame burns it not, waters cannot o'erwhelm, 
 Nor dry winds wither it. Impenetrable, 
 Unentered, unassailed, unharmed, untouched, 
 Immortal, all-arriving, stable, sure, 
 Invisible, ineffable, by word 
 And thought uncompassed, ever all itself, 
 Thus is the Soul declared ! How wilt thou, then,— 
 Knowing it so, — grieve when thou shouldst not 
 
 grieve ? 
 How, if thou hearest that the man new-dead 
 Is, like the man new-born, still living man — 
 One same, existent Spirit — w,ilt thou weep ? 
 The end of birth is death ; the end of death 
 Is birth : this is ordained ! and rnournest thou, 
 Chief of the stalwart arm! for what befalls 
 Which could not otherwise befall ? The birth 
 Of living things comes unperceived ; the death 
 Comes unperceived ; between them, beings perceive: 
 What is there sorrowful herein, dear Prince ? 
 
BOOK THE SECOND. 15 
 
 Wonderful, wistful, to contemplate ! 
 
 Difficult, doubtful, to speak upon ! 
 Strange and great for tongue to relate, 
 
 Mystical hearing for every one ! 
 Nor wotteth man this, what a marvel it is, 
 
 When seeing, and saying, and hearing are done ! 
 
 This Life within all living things, my Prince ! 
 Hides beyond harm ; scorn thou to suffer, then, 
 For that which cannot suffer. Do thy part ! 
 Be mindful of thy name, and tremble not ! 
 Nought better can betide a martial soul 
 Than lawful war ; happy the warrior 
 To whom comes joy of battle — comes, as now, 
 Glorious and fair, unsought ; opening for him 
 A gateway unto Heav'n. But, if thou shunn'st 
 This honourable field — a Kshattriya — 
 If, knowing thy duty and thy task, thou bidd'st 
 Duty and task go by — that shall be sin ! 
 And those to come shall speak thee infamy 
 
1 6 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 From age to age ; but infamy is worse 
 
 For men of noble blood to bear than death ! 
 
 The chiefs upon their battle-chariots 
 
 Will deem 'twas fear that drove thee from the fray. 
 
 Of those who held thee mighty-souled the scorn 
 
 Thou must abide, while all thine enemies 
 
 Will scatter bitter speech of thee, to mock 
 
 The valour whieh thou hadst ; what fate could fall 
 
 More grievously than this ? Either — being killed — 
 
 Thou wilt win Swarga's safety, or — alive 
 
 And victor — thou wilt reign an earthly king. 
 
 Therefore, arise, thou Son of Kunti ! brace 
 
 Thine arm for conflict, nerve thy heart to meet — 
 
 As things alike to thee — pleasure or pain, 
 
 Profit or ruin, victory or defeat : 
 
 So minded, gird thee to the fight, for so 
 
 Thou shalt not sin ! 
 
 Thus far I speak to thee 
 As from the " Sankhya " — unspiritually — 
 
BOOK THE SECOND. 17 
 
 Hear now the deeper teaching of the Ydg, 
 Which holding, understanding, thou shalt burst 
 Thy Karmabandh, the bondage of wrought 
 
 deeds. 
 Here shall no end be hindered, no hope marred, 
 No loss be feared : faith — yea, a little faith — 
 Shall save thee from the anguish of thy dread. 
 Here, Glory of the Kurus ! shines one rule — 
 One steadfast rule — while shifting souls have laws 
 Many and hard. Specious, but wrongful deem 
 The speech of those ill-taught ones who extol 
 The letter of their Vedas, saying, " This 
 Is all we have, or need ; " being weak at heart. 
 With wants, seekers of Heaven: which comes — 
 
 they say — 
 As " fruit of good deeds done ; " promising men 
 Much profit, in new births for works of faith ; 
 In various rites abounding ; following whereon 
 Large merit shall accrue towards wealth and 
 
 power ; 
 
r8 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Albeit, who wealth and power do most desire 
 Least fixity of soul have such, least hold 
 On heavenly meditation. Much these teach, 
 From Veds, concerning the " three qualities ; " 
 But thou, be free of the " three qualities," 
 Free of the " pairs of opposites," * and free 
 From that sad righteousness which calculates ; 
 Self-ruled, Arjuna ! simple, satisfied ! 2 
 Look ! like as when a tank pours water forth 
 To suit all needs, so do these Brahmans draw 
 
 Texts for all wants from tank of Holy Writ. 
 
 ■ r \ 
 
 But thou, want not ! ask not ! ( Find full reward 
 
 Of doing right in right ! Let right deeds be 
 
 Thy motive, not the fruit which comes from them. 
 
 And live in action ! Labour ! Make thine acts 
 
 Thy piety, casting all self aside, 
 
 Contemning gain and merit ; equable 
 
 1 Technical phrases of Vedic religion. 
 
 2 The whole of this passage is highly involved and difficult to 
 render. 
 
BOOK THE SECOND. 19 
 
 In good or evil : equability 
 Is Yog, is piety ! 
 
 Yet, the right act 
 Is less, far less, than the right-thinking mind. 
 Seek refuge in thy soul ; have there thy heaven ! 
 Scorn them that follow virtue for her gifts \j 
 The mind of pure devotion — even here — 
 Casts equally aside good deeds and bad, 
 Passing above them. '■ Unto pure devotion 
 Devote thyself : with perfect meditation 
 Comes perfect act, and the right-hearted rise — 
 More certainly because they seek no gain — 
 Forth from the bands of body, step by step, 
 To highest seats of bliss. When thy firm soul 
 Hath shaken off those tangled oracles 
 Which ignorantly guide, then shall it soar 
 To high neglect of what's denied or said, 
 This way or that way, in doctrinal writ. 
 Troubled no longer by the priestly lore, 
 
so THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Safe shall it live, and sure ; steadfastly bent 
 On meditation. This is Y6g — and Peace ! J 
 
 ARJUNA: 
 
 "What is his mark who hath that steadfast heart, 
 
 Confirmed in holy meditation ? How 
 
 Know we his speech, Kes"ava ? Sits he, moves he 
 
 Like other men ? 
 
 KRISHNA: 
 
 (When one, Prithas Son !— 
 Abandoning desires which shake the mind — 
 Finds in his soul full comfort for his soul, 
 He hath attained the Yog — that man is such ! 
 In sorrows not dejected, and in joys 
 Not overjoyed ; dwelling outside the stress 
 Of passion, fear, and anger ; fixed in calms 
 Of lofty contemplation ; — such an one 
 Is Muni, is the Sage, the true Eecluse ! 
 He, who to none and nowhere overbound 
 
BOOK THE SECOND. 21 
 
 ■By ties of flesh, takes evil things and good 
 Neither desponding nor exulting, such 
 Bears wisdom's plainest mark l) He who shall draw 
 As the wise tortoise draws its four feet safe 
 Under its shield, his five frail senses back 
 Under the spirit's buckler from the world 
 Which else assails them, such an one, my Prince ! 
 Hath wisdom's mark ! Things that solicit sense 
 Hold off from the self-governed ; nay, it comes, 
 The appetites of him who lives beyond 
 Depart, — aroused no more. Yet may it chance, 
 Son of Kunti ! that a governed mind 
 Shall some time feel the sense-storms sweep, and 
 
 wrest 
 Strong self-control by the roots. Let him regain 
 His kingdom ! let him conquer this, and sit 
 On Me intent. / That man alone is wise 
 Who keeps the mastery of himself 1 If one 
 Ponders on objects of the sense, there springs 
 Attraction; from attraction grows desire 
 
THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Desire flames to fierce passion, passion breeds 
 Eecklessness ; then the memory — all betrayed — 
 Lets noble purpose go, and saps the mind, 
 Till purpose, mind, and man are all undone. 
 But, if one deals with objects of the sense 
 Not loving and not hating, making them 
 Serve bis free soul, which rests serenely lord, 
 Lo ! such a man comes to tranquillity ; 
 And out of that tranquillity shall rise 
 The end and healing of his earthly pains, 
 Since the will governed sets the soul at peace. 
 The soul of the ungoverned is not his, 
 Nor hath he knowledge of himself ; which lacked, 
 How grows serenity ? and, wanting that, 
 Whence shall he hope for happiness ? / 
 
 The mind 
 That gives itself to follow shows of sense 
 Seeth its helm of wisdom rent away, 
 And, like a ship in waves of whirlwind, drives 
 To wreck and death. Only with him, great Prince! 
 
BOOK THE SECOND. 23 
 
 Whose senses are not swayed by things of sense — 
 
 Only with him who holds his mastery, 
 
 Shows wisdom perfect. What is midnight-gloom 
 
 To unenlightened souls shines wakeful day 
 
 To his clear gaze ; what seems as wakeful day 
 
 Is known for night, thick night of ignorance, 
 
 To his true-seeing eyes. Such is the Saint ! 
 
 And like the ocean, day by day receiving 
 
 Floods from all lands, which never overflows ; 
 
 Its boundary-line not leaping, and not leaving, 
 Fed by the rivers, but unswelled by those ; — 
 
 So is the perfect one ! to his soul's ocean 
 
 The world of sense pours streams of witchery ; 
 
 They leave him as they find, without commotion, 
 Taking their tribute, but remaining sea. 
 
 Yea ! whoso, shaking off the yoke of flesh 
 Lives lord, not servant, of his lusts ; set free 
 
24 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 From pride, from passion, from the sin of " Self," 
 Toucheth tranquillity ! Prith&'s Son ! 
 That is the state of Brahm ! There rests no dread 
 When that last step is reached ! Live where he 
 
 will, 
 Die when he may, such passeth from all 'plaininj, 
 To blest Nirv&na, with the Gods, attaining. 
 
 here endeth chapter ii. of the 
 Bhagavad-GM, 
 
 Entitled " Sdnlhya-Y6g," 
 Or " Tlie Booh of Doctrines." 
 
I 25 ) 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ARJUNA: 
 
 Thou whom all mortals praise, Janardana ! 
 If meditation be a nobler thing 
 Than action, wherefore, then, great KeSava ! 
 Dost thou impel me to this dreadful fight ? 
 Now am I by thy doubtful speech disturbed ! 
 Tell me one thing, and tell me certainly ; 
 By what road shall I find the better end ? 
 
 KRISHNA: 
 
 I told thee, blameless Lord ! there be two paths 
 Shown to this world ; two schools of wisdom. First 
 The Sankhya's, which doth save in way of works 
 Prescribed 1 by reason ; next, the Y6g, which bids 
 
 1 I feel convinced sdnkhydndn and yogindn must be transposed here 
 in sense. 
 
26 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Attain by meditation, spiritually : 
 
 Yet these are one ! No man shall 'scape from act 
 
 By shunning action ; nay, and none shall come 
 
 By mere renouncements unto perfectness. 
 
 Nay, and no jot of time, at any time, 
 
 Eests any actionless; his nature's law 
 
 Compels him, even unwilling, into act; 
 
 [For thought is act in fancy]. He who sits 
 
 Suppressing all the instruments of flesh, 
 
 Yet in his idle heart thinking on them, 
 
 Plays the inept and guilty hypocrite : 
 
 But he who, with strong body serving mind, 
 
 Gives up his mortal powers to worthy work, 
 
 Not seeking gain, Arjuna ! such an one 
 
 Is honourable. Do thine allotted task ! 
 
 Work is more excellent than idleness ; 
 
 The body's life proceeds not, lacking work. 
 
 There is a task of holiness to do, 
 
 Unlike world-binding toil, which bindeth not 
 
 The faithful soul ; such earthly duty do 
 
BOOK THE THIRD. 27 
 
 Free from desire, and thou shalt well perform 
 Thy heavenly purpose. Spake Prajapati — 
 In the beginning, when all men were made, 
 And, with mankind, the sacrifice — " Do this ! 
 Work ! sacrifice ! Increase and multiply 
 With sacrifice ! This shall be Kamaduk, 
 Your ' Cow of Plenty,' giving back her milk 
 Of all abundance. Worship the gods thereby ; 
 The gods shall yield ye grace. Those meats ye crave 
 The gods will grant to Labour, when it pays 
 Tithes in the altar-flame. But if one eats 
 Fruits of the earth, rendering to kindly Heaven 
 No gift of toil, that thief steals from his world." 
 
 Who eat of food after their sacrifice 
 Are quit of fault, but they that spread a feast 
 All for themselves, eat sin and drink of sin. 
 By food the living live ; food comes of rain, 
 And rain comes by the pious sacrifice, 
 And sacrifice is paid with tithes of toil ; 
 
28 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Thus action is of Brahma, who is One, 
 
 The Only, All-pervading ; at all times 
 
 Present in sacrifice. He that abstains 
 
 To help the rolling wheels of this great world, 
 
 Glutting his idle sense, lives a lost life, 
 
 Shameful and vain. Existing for himself, 
 
 Self-concentrated, serving self alone, 
 
 No part hath he in aught ; nothing achieved, 
 
 Nought wrought or unwrought toucheth him; no 
 
 hope 
 Of help for all the living things of earth 
 Depends from him. 1 Therefore, thy task prescribed 
 With spirit unattached gladly perform, 
 Since in performance of plain duty man 
 Mounts to his highest bliss. By works alone 
 Janak and ancient saints reached blessedness! 
 Moreover, for the upholding of thy kind, 
 Action thou should'st embrace. What the wise 
 
 choose 
 
 1 I am doubtful of accuracy here. 
 
BOOK THE THIRD. 29 
 
 The unwise people take ; what best men do 
 The multitude will follow. Look on me, 
 Thou Son of Pritha! in the three wide worlds 
 I am not bound to any toil, no height 
 Awaits to scale, no gift remains to gain, 
 Yet I act here ! and, if I acted not — 
 Earnest and watchful — those that look to me 
 For guidance, sinking back to sloth again 
 Because I slumbered, would decline from good, 
 And I should break earth's order and commit 
 Her offspring unto ruin, Bharata ! 
 Even as the unknowing toil, wedded to sense, 
 So let the enlightened toil, sense-freed, but set 
 To bring the world deliverance, and its bliss ; 
 Not sowing in those simple, busy hearts 
 Seed of despair. Yea ! let each play his part 
 In all he , finds to do, with unyoked soul. 
 All things, are everywhere by Nature wrought 
 In interaction of the qualities. 
 The fool, cheated by self, thinks, " This I did " 
 
3 o THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 And "That I wrought;" but — ah, thou strong-armed 
 
 Prince ! — 
 A better-lessoned mind, knowing the play 
 Of visible things within the world of sense, 
 And how the qualities must qualify, 
 Standeth aloof even from his acts. Th' untaught 
 Live mixed with them, knowing not Nature's way, 
 Of highest aims unwitting, slow and dull. 
 Those make thou not to stumble, having the 
 
 light; 
 But all thy dues discharging, for My sake, 
 With meditation centred inwardly, 
 Seeking no profit, satisfied, serene, 
 Heedless of issue — fight ! They who shall keep 
 My ordinance thus, the wise and willing hearts, 
 Have quittance from all issue of their acts ; 
 But those who disregard My ordinance, 
 Thinking they know, know nought, and fall to 
 
 loss, 
 Confused and foolish. 'Sooth, the instructed one 
 
BOOK THE THIRD. 3 i 
 
 Doth of his kind, following what fits him most ; 
 
 And lower creatures of their kind ; in vain 
 
 Contending 'gainst the law. Needs must it be 
 
 The objects of the sense will stir the sense 
 
 To like and dislike, yet th' enlightened man 
 
 Yields not to these, knowing them enemies. 
 
 Finally, this is better, that one do 
 
 His own task as he may, even though he fail, 
 
 Than take tasks not his own, though they seem good. 
 
 To die performing duty is no ill ; 
 
 But who seeks other roads shall wander still. 
 
 ARJUNAs 
 
 Yet tell me, Teacher ! by what force doth man 
 Go to his ill, unwilling ; as if one 
 Pushed him that evil path ? 
 
 KRISHNA! 
 
 Kama it is ! 
 Passion it is !. born of the Darknesses, 
 
32 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Which pusheth him. Mighty of appetite, 
 Sinful, and strong is this ! — man's enemy ! 
 As smoke blots the white fire, as clinging rust 
 Mars the bright mirror, as the womb surrounds 
 The babe unborn, so is the world of things 
 Foiled, soiled, enclosed in this desire of flesh. 
 The wise fall, caught in it ; the unresting foe 
 It is of wisdom, wearing countless forms, 
 Fair but deceitful, subtle as a flame. 
 Sense, mind, and reason — these, Kunti's Son ! 
 Are booty for it ; in its play with these 
 It maddens man, beguiling, blinding him. 
 Therefore, thou noblest child of Bharata ! 
 Govern thy heart! Constrain th' entangled sense! 
 Eesist the false, soft sinfulness which saps 
 Knowledge and judgment ! Yea, the world is 
 
 strong, 
 
 But what discerns it stronger, and the mind 
 Strongest ; and high o'er all the ruling SouL 
 Wherefore, perceiving Him who reigns supreme, 
 
BOOK THE THIRD. 33 
 
 Put forth full force of Soul in thy own soul ! 
 Fight ! vanquish foes and doubts, dear Hero ! slay 
 "What haunts thee in fond shapes, and would 
 betray ! 
 
 here endeth chapter iii. of the 
 Bhagavad-GItA, 
 
 Entitled " Karma- T6g," 
 Or " The Book of Virtue in Work." 
 
( 34 ) 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 KRISHNA: 
 
 This deathless Yoga, this deep union, 
 I taught Vivaswata, 1 the Lord of Light; 
 Vivaswata to Manu gave it ; he 
 To Ikshw&ku ; so passed it down the line 
 Of all my royal Eishis. Then, with years, 
 The truth grew dim and perished, noble Prince ! 
 Now once again to thee it is declared — 
 This ancient lore, this mystery supreme — 
 Seeing I find thee votary and friend. 
 
 ARJUNA: 
 
 Thy birth, dear Lord, was in these later days, 
 And bright Vivaswata's preceded time ! 
 
 1 A name of the sun. 
 
BOOK THE FOURTH. 35 
 
 How shall I comprehend this thing thou sayest, 
 " From the beginning it was I who taught ? " 
 
 KRISHNA: 
 
 Manifold the renewals of my birth 
 
 Have been, Arjuna ! and of thy births, too ! 
 
 But mine I know, and thine thou knowest not, 
 
 Slayer of thy Foes ! Albeit I be 
 Unborn, undying, indestructible, 
 
 The Lord of all things living ; not the less — 
 
 By Maya, by my magic which I stamp 
 
 On floating Nature-forms, the primal vast — 
 
 1 come, and go, and come. When Eighteousness 
 Declines, Bharata ! when Wickedness 
 
 Is strong, I rise, from age to age, and take 
 Visible shape, and move a man with men, 
 Succouring the good, thrusting the evil back, 
 And setting Virtue on her seat again. 
 Who knows the truth touching my births on earth 
 And my divine work, when he quits the flesh 
 
36 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Puts on its load no more, falls no more down 
 To earthly birth : to Me he comes, dear Prince ! 
 
 Many there be who come ! from fear set free, 
 From anger, from desire ; keeping their hearts 
 Fixed upon me — my Faithful — purified 
 By sacred flame of Knowledge. Such as these 
 Mix with my being. "Whoso worship me, 
 Them I exalt ; but all men everywhere 
 Shall fall into my path ; albeit, those souls 
 Which seek reward for works, make sacrifice 
 Now, to the lower gods. I say to thee 
 Here have they their reward. But I am He 
 Made the Four Castes, and portioned them a place 
 After their qualities and gifts. Yea, I 
 Created, the Eeposeful ; I that live 
 Immortally, made all those mortal births : 
 For works soil not my essence, being works 
 Wrought uninvolved. 1 "Who knows me acting thua 
 
 1 Without desire of fruit. 
 
BOOK THE FOURTH. 37 
 
 Unchained by action, action binds not hiin ; 
 And, so perceiving, all those saints of old 
 Worked, seeking for deliverance. "Work thou 
 As, in the days gone by, thy fathers did. 
 
 Thou sayst, perplexed, It hath been asked before 
 By singers and by sages, " What is act, 
 And what inaction ? " I will teach thee this, 
 And, knowing, thou shalt learn which work doth save. 
 Needs must one rightly meditate those three — 
 Doing, — not doing, — and undoing. Here 
 Thorny and dark the path is ! He who sees 
 How action may be rest, rest action — he 
 Is wisest 'mid his kind ; he hath the truth ! 
 He doeth well, acting or resting. Freed 
 In all his works from prickings of desire, 
 Burned clean in act by the white fire of truth, 
 The wise call that man wise ; and such an one, 
 Eenouncing fruit of deeds, always content, 
 Always self-satisfying, if he works, 
 
38 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Doth nothing that shall stain his separate soul, 
 Which — quit of fear and hope — subduing self— 
 Eejecting outward impulse — yielding up 
 To body's need nothing save body, dwells 
 Sinless amid all sin, with equal calm 
 Taking what may befall, by grief unmoved, 
 Unmoved by joy, unenvyingly ; the same 
 In good and evil fortunes ; nowise bound 
 By bond of deeds. Nay, but of such an one, 
 "Whose crave is gone, whose soul is liberate, 
 Whose heart is set on truth — of such an one 
 What work he does is work of sacrifice, 
 Which passeth purely into ash and smoke 
 Consumed upon the altar ! All's then God ! 
 The sacrifice is Brahm, the ghee and grain 
 Are Brahm, the fire is Brahm, the flesh it eats 
 Is Brahm, and unto Brahm attaineth he 
 Who, in such office, meditates on Brahm. 
 Some votaries there be who serve the gods 
 With flesh and altar-smoke ; but other some 
 
BOOK THE FOURTH. 33 
 
 Who, lighting subtler fires, make purer rite 
 
 "With will of worship. Of the which be they 
 
 Who, in white flame of continence, consume 
 
 Joys of the sense, delights of eye and ear, 
 
 Foregoing tender speech and sound of song : 
 
 And they who, kindling fires with torch of Truth, 
 
 Burn on a hidden altar-stone the bliss 
 
 Of youth and love, renouncing happiness : 
 
 And they who lay for offering there their wealth, 
 
 Their penance, meditation, piety, 
 
 Their steadfast reading of the scrolls, their lore 
 
 Painfully gained with long austerities : 
 
 And they who, making silent sacrifice, 
 
 Draw in their breath to feed the flame of thought, 
 
 And breathe it forth to waft the heart on high, 
 
 Governing* the ventage of each entering air 
 
 Lest one sigh pass which helpeth not the soul : 
 
 And they who, day by day denying needs, 
 
 Lay life itself upon the altar-flame, 
 
 Burning the body wan. Lo ! all these keep 
 
4 o THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 The rite of offering, as if they slew 
 
 Victims ; and all thereby efface much sin. 
 
 Yea ! and who feed on the immortal food 
 
 Left of such sacrifice, to Brahma pass, 
 
 To The Unending. But for him that makes 
 
 No sacrifice, he hath nor part nor lot 
 
 Even in the present world. How should he share 
 
 Another, thou Glory of thy Line ? 
 
 In sight of Brahma all these offerings 
 Are spread and are accepted ! Comprehend 
 That all proceed by act ; for knowing this, 
 Thou shalt be quit of doubt. The sacrifice 
 Which Knowledge pays is better than great gifts 
 Offered by wealth, since gifts' worth — my Prince ! 
 Lies in the mind which gives, the will that serves: 
 And these are gained by reverence, by strong search, 
 By humble heed of those who see the Truth 
 And teach it. Knowing Truth, thy heart no more 
 "Will ache with error, for the Truth shall show 
 
BOOK THE FOURTH. 41 
 
 All things subdued to thee, as thou to Me. 
 
 Moreover, Son of Pandu ! wert thou worst 
 
 Of all wrong-doers, this fair ship of Truth 
 
 Should hear thee safe and dry across the sea 
 
 Of thy transgressions. As the kindled flame 
 
 Feeds on the fuel till it sinks to ash, 
 
 So unto ash, Arjuna ! unto nought 
 
 The flame of Knowledge wastes works' dross away ! 
 
 There is no purifier like thereto 
 
 In all this world, and he who seeketh it 
 
 Shall find it — being grown perfect — in himself. 
 
 Eelieving, he receives it when the soul 
 
 Masters itself, and cleaves to Truth, and comes — 
 
 Possessing knowledge — to the higher peace, 
 
 The uttermost repose. But those untaught, 
 
 And those without full faith, and those who fear 
 
 Are shent ; no peace is here or other where, 
 
 No hope, nor happiness for whoso doubts. 
 
 He that, being self-contained, hath vanquished doubt, 
 
 Disparting self from service, soul from works, 
 
42 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Enlightened and emancipate, my Prince ! 
 Works fetter him no more ! Cut then atwain 
 With sword of wisdom, Son of Bharata ! 
 This doubt that binds thy heart-beats ! cleave the 
 
 bond 
 Born of thy ignorance ! Be bold and wise ! 
 Give thyself to the field with me ! Arise ! 
 
 here endeth chapter iv. of the 
 Bhagavad-GM, 
 
 Untitled " Jnana-Y6g'' 
 Or " The Book of the Religion of Knowledge.' 
 
( n ) 
 
 CHAPTEE V. 
 
 ARJUNA: 
 
 Yet, Krishna ! at the one time thou dost laud 
 Surcease of works, and* at another time, 
 Service through work. Of these twain plainly tell 
 Which is the better way ? 
 
 KRISHNA: 
 
 To cease from works 
 Is well, and to do works in holiness 
 Is well ; and both conduct to bliss supreme ; 
 But of these twain the better way is his 
 Who working piously refraineth not. 
 
 That is the true Eenouncer, firm and fixed, 
 
44 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Who — seeking nought, rejecting nought — dwells 
 
 proof 
 Against the " opposites." 1 valiant Prince ! 
 In doing, such breaks lightly from all deed : 
 'Tis the new scholar talks as they were two, 
 This Sankhya and this Y6ga : wise men know > 
 Who husbands one plucks golden fruit of both ! 
 The region of high rest which Sankhyans reach 
 Yogins attain. Who sees these twain as one 
 Sees with clear eyes ! Yet such abstraction, Chief ! 
 Is hard to win without much holiness. 
 Whoso is fixed in holiness, self-ruled, 
 Pure-hearted, lord of senses and of self, 
 Lost in the common life of all which lives — 
 A " Y6gayukt " — he is a Saint who wends 
 Straightway to Brahm. Such an one is not 
 
 touched 
 By taint of deeds. " Nought of myself I do ! " 
 Thus will he think — who holds the truth of truths — 
 
 1 That is, " joy and sorrow, success and failure, heat aud cold," &c. 
 
BOOK TUB FIFTH. 45 
 
 In seeing, hearing, touching, smelling ; wlien 
 
 He eats, or goes, or breathes ; slumbers or 
 
 talks, 
 Holds fast or loosens, opes his eyes or shuts ; 
 Always assured " This is the sense-world plays 
 With senses." He that acts in thought of 
 
 Brahm, 
 Detaching end from act, with act content, 
 The world of sense can no more stain his soul 
 Than waters mar th' enamelled lotus-leaf. 
 With life, with heart, with mind, — nay, with the 
 
 help 
 Of all five senses — letting selfhood go — 
 Yogins toil ever towards their souls' release. 
 Such votaries, renouncing fruit of deeds, 
 Gain endless peace : the unvowed, the passion- 
 bound, 
 Seeking a fruit from works, are fastened down. 
 The embodied sage, withdrawn within his soul, 
 At every act sits godlike in " the town 
 
46 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Which hath nine gateways," l neither doing aught 
 Nor causing any deed. This world's Lord makes 
 Neither the work, nor passion for the work, 
 Nor lust for fruit of work ; the man's own self 
 Pushes to these ! The Master of this "World 
 Takes on himself the good or evil deeds 
 Of no man — dwelling beyond ! Mankind errs here 
 By folly, darkening knowledge. But, for whom 
 That darkness of the soul is chased by light, 
 Splendid and clear shines manifest the Truth 
 As if a Sun of Wisdom sprang to shed 
 Its beams of dawn. Him meditating still, 
 Him seeking, with Him blended, stayed on Him, 
 The souls illuminated take that road 
 Which hath no turning back — their sins flung off 
 By strength of faith. [Who will may have this 
 
 Light; 
 Who hath it sees.] To him who wisely sees, 
 The Brahman with his scrolls and sanctities, 
 1 ».e., the body. 
 
BOOK THE FIFTH. 47 
 
 The cow, the elephant, the unclean dog, 
 The Outcast gorging dog's meat, are all one. 
 
 The world is overcome — aye ! even here ! 
 By such as fix their faith on Unity. 
 The sinless Brahma dwells in Unity, 
 And they in Brahma, Be not over-glad 
 Attaining joy, and be not over-sad 
 Encountering grief, but, stayed on Brahma, still 
 Constant let each abide ! The sage whose soul 
 Holds off from outer contacts, in himself 
 Finds bliss ; to Brahma joined by piety, 
 His spirit tastes eternal peace. The joys 
 Springing from sense-life are but quickening 
 
 wombs 
 "Which breed sure griefs : those joys begin and end ! 
 The wise mind takes no pleasure, Kunti's Son ! 
 In such as those ! But if a man shall learn, 
 Even while he lives and bears his body's chain, 
 To master lust and anger, he is blest ! 
 
48 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 He is the Tukta; he hath happiness, 
 Contentment, light, within : his life is merged 
 In Brahma's life ; he doth Nirvana touch ! 
 Thus go the Eishis unto rest, who dwell 
 With sins effaced, with doubts at end, with hearts 
 Governed and calm. Glad in all good they live, 
 Nigh to the peace of God ; and all those live 
 Who pass their days exempt from greed and wrath, 
 Subduing self and senses, knowing the Soul ! 
 
 The Saint who shuts outsjde his placid soul 
 All touch of sense, letting no contact through ; 
 Whose quiet eyes gaze straight from fixed brows, 
 Whose outward breath and inward breath are drawn 
 Equal and slow through nostrils still and close ; 
 That one — with organs, heart, and mind constrained, 
 Bent on deliverance, having put away 
 Passion, and fear, and rage ; — hath, even now, 
 Obtained deliverance, ever and ever freed. 
 Yea ! for he knows Me Who am He that heeds 
 
BOOK THE FIFTH. 49 
 
 The sacrifice and worship, God revealed ; 
 And He who heeds not, being Lord of Worlds, 
 Lover of all that lives, God unrevealed, 
 Wherein who will shall find surety and shield ! 
 
 HERE ENDS CHAPTER V. OF THE 
 
 Bhagavad GM., 
 
 Entitled " Karmascmydsayog," 
 Or " The Book of Religion by Renouncing Fruit of Works." 
 
3° > 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 KRISHNA: 
 
 Therefore, who doeth work rightful to do, 
 
 Not seeking gain from work, that man, 
 
 Prince ! 
 Is Sanyasi and Y6gi — both in one 
 And he is neither who lights not the flame 
 Of sacrifice, nor setteth hand to task. 
 
 Eesrard as true Eenouncer him that makes 
 "Worship by work, for who renounceth not 
 "Works not as Y6gic. So is that well said : 
 " By works the votary doth rise to saith, 
 And saintship is the ceasing from all works ; " 
 Because the perfect Yogin acts — but acts 
 
BOOK THE SIXTH. 51 
 
 Unmoved by passions and unbound by deeds, 
 
 Setting result aside. 
 
 Let eacb man raise 
 The Self by Soul, not trample down his Self, 
 Since Soul that is Self's friend may grow Self's 
 
 foe. 
 Soul is Self's friend when Self doth rule o'er Self, 
 But Self turns enemy if Soul's own self 
 Hates Self as not itself. 1 
 
 The sovereign soul 
 Of him who lives self-governed and at peace 
 Is centred in itself, taking alike 
 Pleasure and pain ; heat, cold ; glory and shame. 
 He is the Y6gi, he is Yukta, glad 
 "With joy of light and truth ; dwelling apart 
 Upon a peak, with senses subjugate 
 Whereto the clod, the rock, the glistering gold 
 Show all as one. By this sign is he known 
 
 1 The Sanskrit has this play on the double meaning of Atman. 
 
52 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Being of equal grace to comrades, friends, 
 Chance-comers, strangers, lovers, enemies, 
 Aliens and kinsmen ; loving all alike, 
 Evil or good. 
 
 Sequestered should he sit, 
 Steadfastly meditating, solitary, 
 His thoughts controlled, his passions laid away, 
 Quit of belongings. In a fair, still spot 
 Having his fixed abode, — not too much raised, 
 Nor yet too low, — let him abide, his goods 
 A cloth, a deerskin, and the Kusa-grass. 
 There, setting hard his mind upon The One, 
 Eestraining heart and senses, silent, calm, 
 Let him accomplish Y6ga, and achieve 
 Pureness of soul, holding immovable 
 Body and neck and head, his gaze absorbed 
 Upon his nose-end, 1 rapt from all around, 
 Tranquil in spirit, free of fear, intent 
 Upon his Brahmacharya vow, devout, 
 1 So in original. 
 
BOOK THE SIXTH. 53 
 
 Musing on Me, lost in the thought of Me. 
 That Yojin, so devoted, so controlled, 
 Comes to the peace beyond, — My peace, the peace 
 Of high Nirvana ! 
 
 But for earthly needs 
 Keligion is not his who too much fasts 
 Or too much feasts, nor his who sleeps away 
 An idle mind ; nor his who wears to waste 
 His strength in vigils. Nay, Arjuna ! call 
 That the true piety which most removes 
 Earth-aches and ills, where one is moderate 
 In eating and in resting, and in sport ; 
 Measured in wish and act ; sleeping betimes, 
 Waking betimes for duty. 
 
 When the man, 
 So living, centres on his soul the thought 
 Straitly restrained — untouched internally 
 By stress of sense — then is he TuJcia. See ! 
 Steadfast a lamp burns sheltered from the wind ; 
 Such is the likeness of the Y6<ji's mind 
 
54 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Shut from sense - storms and burning bright to 
 
 Heaven. 
 When mind broods placid, soothed with holy wont; 
 When Self contemplates self, and in itself 
 Hath comfort ; when it knows the nameless joy 
 Beyond all scope of sense, revealed to soul — 
 Only to soul! and, knowing, wavers not, 
 True to the farther Truth ; when, holding this, 
 It deems no other treasure comparable, 
 But, harboured there, cannot be stirred or shook 
 By any gravest grief, call that state " peace," 
 That happy severance Y6ga ; call that man 
 The perfect Y6gin ! 
 
 Steadfastly the will 
 Must toil thereto, till efforts end in ease, 
 And thought has passed from thinking. Shaking off 
 All longings bred by dreams of fame and gain, 
 Shutting the doorways of the senses close 
 With watchful ward ; so, step by step, it comes 
 To gift of peace assured and heart assuaged, 
 
BOOK THE SIXTH. 55 
 
 When the mind dwells self-wrapped, and the soul 
 
 broods 
 Cumberless. But, as often as the heart 
 Breaks — wild and wavering — from control, so oft 
 Let him re- curb it, let him rein it back 
 To the soul's governance ; for perfect bliss 
 Grows only in the bosom tranquillised, 
 The spirit passionless, purged from offence, 
 Vowed to the Infinite. He who thus vows 
 His soul to the Supreme Soul, guitting sin, 
 Passes unhindered to the endless bliss 
 Of unity with Brahma. He so vowed, 
 So blended, sees the Life-Soul resident 
 In all things living, and all living things 
 In that Life-Soul contained. And whoso thus 
 Discerneth Me in all, and all in Me, 
 I never let him go ; nor looseneth he 
 Hold upon Me ; but, dwell he where he may, 
 Whate'er his life, in Me he dwells and lives, 
 Because he knows and worships Me, "Who dwell 
 
S 6 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 In all which lives, and cleaves to Me in all. 
 Arjuna ! if a man sees everywhere — 
 Taught by his own similitude — one Life, 
 One Essence in the Evil and the Good, 
 Hold him a Y6gi, yea ! well-perfected ! 
 
 ARJUNA: 
 
 Slayer of Madhu ! yet again, this Y6g, 
 This Peace, derived from equanimity, 
 Made known by thee — I see no fixity 
 Therein, no rest, because the heart of men 
 Is unfixed, Krishna ! rash, tumultuous, 
 Wilful and strong. It were all one, I think, 
 To hold the wayward wind, as tame man's 
 heart. 
 
 KRISHNA: 
 
 Hero long-armed ! beyond denial, hard 
 Man's heart is to restrain, and wavering ; 
 Yet may it grow restrained by habit, Prince! 
 
BOOK THE SIXTH. 57 
 
 By wont of self-command. This Y6g, I say, 
 Cometh not lightly to th' ungoverned ones ; 
 But he who will be master of himself 
 Shall win it, if he stoutly strive thereto. 
 
 ARJUNA: 
 
 And what road goeth he who, having faith, 
 Fails, Krishna ! in the striving ; falling back 
 From holiness, missing the perfect rule ? 
 Is he not lost, straying from Brahma's light, 
 Like the vain cloud, which floats 'twixt earth and 
 
 heaven 
 When lightning splits it, and it vanisheth ? 
 Fain would I hear thee answer me herein, 
 Since, Krishna ! none save thou can clear the doubt. 
 
 KRISHNA: 
 
 He is not lost, thou Son of Pritha ! No ! 
 Nor earth, nor heaven is forfeit, even for him, 
 Because no heart that holds one right desire 
 
58 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Treadeth the road of loss ! He who should fail, 
 
 Desiring righteousness, cometh at death 
 
 Unto the Eegion of the Just ; dwells there 
 
 Measureless years, and being born anew, 
 
 Beginneth life again in some fair home 
 
 Amid the mild and happy. It may chance 
 
 He doth descend into a Yogin house 
 
 On Virtue's breast ; but that is rare ! Such birth 
 
 Is hard to be obtained on this earth, Chief ! 
 
 So hath he back again what heights of heart 
 
 He did achieve, and so he strives anew 
 
 To perfectness, with better hope, dear Prince ! 
 
 For by the old desire he is drawn on 
 
 Unwittingly ; and only to desire 
 
 The purity of Y6ga is to pass 
 
 Beyond the Sabddbrahm, the spoken Ved. 
 
 But, being Y6gi, striving strong and long, 
 
 Purged from transgressions, perfected by births 
 
 Following on births, he plants his feet at last 
 
 Upon the farther path. Such an one ranks 
 
BOOK THE SIXTH. 59 
 
 Above ascetics, higher than the wise, 
 Beyond achievers of vast deeds ! Be thou 
 Y6gi, Arjuna ! And of such believe, 
 Truest and best is he who worships Me 
 With inmost soul, stayed on My Mystery ! 
 
 here endeth . chaptee vi. of the 
 Bhagavad-GItA, 
 
 Entitled " AtmasanyamaySg," 
 Or " Tlt£ Book of Religion by Self-Restraint." 
 
( Co ) 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 KRISHNA: 
 
 Learn now, dear Prince ! how, if thy soul be set 
 
 Ever on Me — still exercising Y6g, 
 
 Still making Me thy Refuge — thou shalt come 
 
 Most surely unto perfect hold of Me. 
 
 I will declare to thee that utmost lore, 
 
 Whole and particular, which, when thou knowest, 
 
 Leaveth no more to know here in this world. 
 
 Of many thousand mortals, one, perchance, 
 Striveth for Truth ; and of those few that strive- 
 Nay, and rise high — one only — here and there — 
 Knoweth Me, as I am, the very Truth. 
 
 Earth, water, flame, air, ether, life, and mind, 
 
BOOK THE SEVENTH. 61 
 
 And individuality — those eight 
 Make up the showing of Me, Manifest. 
 
 These be my lower Nature ; learn the higher, 
 Whereby, thou Valiant One ! this Universe 
 Is, by its principle of life, produced ; 
 Whereby the worlds of visible things are born 
 As from a Yoni. Know ! I am that womb : 
 I make and I unmake this Universe : 
 Than me there is no other Master, Prince ! 
 ft o other Maker ! All these hang on me 
 As hangs a row of pearls upon its string. 
 I am the fresh taste of the water ; I 
 The silver of the moon, the gold o' the sun, 
 The word of worship in the Veds, the thrill 
 That passeth in the ether, and the strength 
 Of man's shed seed. I am the good sweet 
 
 smell 
 Of the moistened earth, I am the fire's red light, 
 The vital air moving in all which moves, 
 
62 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 The holiness of hallowed souls, the root 
 
 Undying, whence hath sprung whatever is ; 
 
 The wisdom of the wise, the intellect 
 
 Of the informed, the greatness of the great. 
 
 The splendour of the splendid Kunti' s Son ! 
 
 These am I, free from passion and desire ; 
 
 Yet am I right desire in all who yearn, 
 
 Chief of the Bharatas ! for all those moods, 
 
 Soothfast, or passionate, or ignorant, 
 
 "Which Nature frames, deduce from me ; but all 
 
 Are merged in me — not I in them ! The world — 
 
 Deceived by those three qualities of being — 
 
 "Wotteth not Me Who am outside them all. 
 
 Above them all, Eternal ! Hard it is 
 
 To pierce that veil divine of various shows 
 
 Which hideth Me ; yet they who worship Me 
 
 Pierce it and pass beyond. 
 
 I am not known 
 To evil-doers, nor to foolish ones, 
 Nor to the base and churlish ; nor to those 
 
BOOK THE SEVENTH. 63 
 
 Whose mind is cheated by the show of things, 
 Nor those that take the way of Asuras. 1 
 
 Four sorts of mortals know me : he who weeps, 
 Arjuna ! and the man who yearns to know ; 
 And he who toils to help ; and he who sits 
 Certain of me, enlightened. 
 
 Of these four, 
 Prince of India ! highest, nearest, best 
 That last is, the devout soul, wise, intent 
 Upon " The One." Dear, above all, am I 
 To him ; and he is dearest unto me ! 
 All four are good, and seek me ; but mine own, 
 The true of heart, the faithful — stayed on me, 
 Taking me as their utmost blessedness, 
 They are not " mine,' 7 but I — even I myself ! 
 At end of many births to Me they come ! 
 Yet hard the wise Mahatma is to find, 
 That man who sayeth, " All is Vasudev ! " 2 
 
 ' Beings of low and devilish nature. 2 Krishna. 
 
64 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 There be those, too, whose knowledge^ turned aside 
 By this desire or that, gives them to serve 
 Some lower gods, with various rites, constrained 
 By that which mouldeth them. Unto all such — 
 "Worship what shrine they will, what shapes, in 
 
 faith — 
 'Tis I who give them faith ! I am content ! 
 The heart thus asking favour from its God, 
 Darkened but ardent, hath the end it craves, 
 The lesser blessing — but 'tis I who give ! 
 Yet soon is withered what small fruit they reap : 
 Those men of little minds, who worship so, 
 Go where they worship, passing with their gods. 
 But Mine come unto me ! Blind are the eyes 
 Which deem th' Unmanifested manifest, 
 Not comprehending Me in my true Self! 
 Imperishable, viewless, undeclared, 
 Hidden behind my magic veil of shows, 
 I am not seen by all ; I am not known — 
 Unborn and changeless — to the idle world. 
 
BOOK THE SEVENTH. 65 
 
 But I, Arjuna ! know all things which were, 
 And all which are, and all which are to be, 
 Albeit not one among them knoweth Me ! 
 
 By passion for the " pairs of opposites," 
 By those twain snares of Like and Dislike, Prince ! 
 All creatures live bewildered, save some few 
 Who, quit of sins, holy in act, informed, 
 Treed from the " opposites," and fixed in faith, 
 Cleave unto Me. 
 
 Who cleave, who seek in Me 
 Befuge from birth * and death, those have the 
 
 Truth ! 
 Those know Me Brahma ; know Me Soul of Souls, 
 The Adhyatman ; know Karma, my work ; 
 Know I am Adhibhi^ta, Lord of Life, 
 And Adhidaiva, Lord of all the Gods, 
 And Adhiyajna, Lord of Sacrifice ; 
 
 1 I read here janma, "birth;'' not jara, "age." 
 
 E 
 
66 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Worship Me well, with hearts of love and faith, 
 And find and hold Me in the hour of death. 
 
 here endeth chapter til of the 
 Bhagavad-GM, 
 
 Entitled " VijndnaySg,'' 
 Or " Tlie Booh of Religion by Discernment." 
 
( 67 ) 
 
 CHAPTEE VIII. 
 
 ARJUNA: 
 
 Who is that Brahma ? What that Soul of Souls, 
 The Adhyatman ? What, Thou Best of All ! 
 Thy work, the Karma ? Tell me what it is 
 Thou namest ADHiBHtrrA ? What again 
 Means Adhidaita ? Tea, and how it comes 
 Thou canst be Adhitajna in thy flesh ? 
 Slayer of Madhu ! Further, make me know 
 How good men find thee in the hour of death ? 
 
 KRISHNA: 
 
 I Brahma am ! the One Eternal God, 
 
 And Adhyatman- is My Being's name, 
 
 The Soul of Souls ! What goeth forth from Me, 
 
 Causing all life to live, is Karma called : 
 
68 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 And, Manifested in divided forms, 
 
 I am the ADHiBHtiTA, Lord of Lives ; 
 
 And Adhidaiva, Lord of all the G.ods, 
 
 Because I am Pueusha, who begets. 
 
 And Adhiyajna, Lord of Sacrifice, 
 
 I — speaking with thee in this body here — 
 
 Am, thou embodied one ! (for all the shrines 
 
 Flame unto Me !) And, at the hour of death, 
 
 He that hath meditated Me alone, 
 
 In putting off his flesh, comes forth to Me, 
 
 Enters into My Being — doubt thou not ! 
 
 But, if he meditated otherwise 
 
 At hour of death, in putting off the flesh, 
 
 He goes to what he looked for, Kunti's Son ! 
 
 Because the Soul is fashioned to its like. 
 
 Have Me, then, in thy heart always ! and fight ! 
 Thou too, when heart and mind are fixed on Me, 
 Shalt surely come to Me ! All come who cleave 
 With never-wavering will of firmest faith, 
 
BOOK THE EIGHTH. 69 
 
 Owning none other Gods : all come to Me, 
 The Uttermost, Purusha, Holiest ! 
 
 "Whoso hath known Me, Lord of sage and singer, 
 Ancient of days ; of all the Three Worlds Stay, 
 
 Boundless, — but unto every atom Bringer 
 Of that which quickens it : whoso, I say, 
 
 Hath known My form, which passeth mortal 
 knowing ; 
 
 Seen my effulgence — which no eye hath seen — 
 Than the sun's turning gold more brightly glowing, 
 
 Dispersing darkness, — unto him hath been 
 
 Pught life ! And, in the hour when life is 
 ending, 
 "With mind set fast and trustful piety, 
 Drawing still breath beneath calm brows un- 
 bending, 
 In happy peace that faithful one doth die, — 
 
7 o THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 In glad peace passeth to Purusha's heaven. 
 
 The place which they who read the Vedas 
 name 
 Akshaeam, " Ultimate ; " whereto have striven 
 Saints and ascetics — their road is the same. 
 
 That way — the highest way — goes he who 
 shuts 
 The gates of all his senses, locks desire 
 Safe in his heart, centres the vital airs 
 Upon his parting thought, steadfastly set ; 
 And, murmuring Om, tne sacred syllable — 
 Emblem of Beahm — dies, meditating Me. 
 
 For who, none other Gods regarding, looks 
 Ever to Me, easily am I gained 
 By such a Y6gi ; and, attaining Me, 
 They fall not — those Mahatmas — back to birth, 
 To life, which is the place of pain, which ends, 
 But take the way of utmost blessedness. 
 
BOOK THE EIGHTH. 7 i 
 
 The worlds, Arjuna ! — even Brahma's world — 
 Eoll back again from Death to Life's unrest ; 
 Bat they, Kunti's Son ! that reach to Me, 
 Taste birth no more. If ye know Brahma's 
 
 Day 
 Which is a thousand Yugas ; if ye know 
 The thousand Tugas making Brahma's Night, 
 Then know ye Day and Night as He doth 
 
 know ! 
 When that vast Dawn doth break, th' In- 
 visible 
 Is brought anew into the Visible ; 
 When that deep Night doth darken, all which 
 
 is 
 Fades back again to Him Who sent it forth ; 
 Yea ! this vast company of living things — 
 Again and yet again produced — expires 
 At Brahma's Nightfall ; and, at Brahma's 
 
 Dawn, 
 Kiseth, without its will, to life new-born. 
 
72 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 But — higher, deeper, innermost — abides 
 Another Life, not like the life of sense, 
 Escaping sight, unchanging. This endures 
 When all created things have passed away : 
 This is that Life named the Unmanifest, 
 The Infinite! the All! the Uttermost. 
 Thither arriving none return. That Life 
 Is Mine, and I am there! And, Prince! by 
 
 faith 
 Which wanders not, there is a way to come 
 Thither. I, the Pukusha, I Who spread 
 The Universe around me — in Whom dwell 
 All living Things — may so be reached and 
 
 seen! 
 
 1 
 
 • • • • • 
 
 Eicher than holy fruit on Vedas growing, 
 
 Greater than gifts, better than prayer or 
 fast, 
 
 1 I have discarded ten lines of Sanskrit text here as an undoubted 
 interpolation by some Vedantist. 
 
BOOK THE EIGHTH. 73 
 
 Such wisdom is ! The Y6gi, this way knowing, 
 Comes to the Utmost Perfect Peace at last. 
 
 here endeth chapter viii. of the 
 Bhagavad-GIta, 
 
 Entitled " AksharaparabrahmaySg," 
 Or " The Book of Religion hy Devotion to the One Supreme God." 
 
( 74 ) 
 
 OHAPTEE IX. 
 
 KRISHNA! 
 
 Now will I open unto thee — whose heart 
 Ilejects not — that last lore, deepest-concealed, 
 That farthest secret of My Heavens and Earths, 
 Which hut to know shall set thee free from 
 
 ills,— 
 A Koyal lore ! a Kingly mystery ! 
 Yea ! for the soul such light as purgeth it 
 From every sin ; a light of holiness 
 With inmost splendour shining ; plain to see ; 
 Easy to walk by, inexhaustible ! 
 
 They that receive not this, failing in faith 
 To grasp the greater wisdom, reach not Me, 
 
BOOK THE NINTH. 75 
 
 Destroyer of thy foes ! They sink anew 
 
 Into the realm of Flesh, where all things change ! 
 
 By Me the whole vast Universe of things 
 Is spread abroad ; — by Me, the Unmanif est ! 
 In Me are all existences contained ; 
 Not I in them ! 
 
 Yet they are not contained, 
 Those visible things ! Eeceive and strive to embrace 
 The mystery majestical ! My Being — 
 Creating all, sustaining all — still dwells 
 Outside of all ! 
 
 See ! as the shoreless airs 
 Move in the measureless space, but are not space, 
 [And space were space without the moving airs] ; 
 So all things are in Me, but are not I. 
 
 At closing of each Kalpa, Indian Prince ! 
 
76 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 All things which be back to My Being come : 
 At the beginning of each Kalpa, all 
 Issue new-born from Me. 
 
 By Energy 
 And help of Prakriti, my outer Self, 
 Again, and yet again, I make go forth 
 The realms of visible things — without their will — 
 All of them — by the power of Prakriti. 
 
 Yet these great makings, Prince ! involve Me not 
 Enchain Me not ! I sit apart from them, 
 Other, and Higher, and Free ; nowise attached ! 
 
 Thus doth the stuff of worlds, moulded by Me, 
 Bring forth all that which is, moving or still, 
 Living or lifeless ! Thus the worlds go on ! 
 
 The minds untaught mistake Me, veiled in form ; — 
 Naught see they of My secret Presence, nought 
 
BOOK THE NINTH. ft 
 
 Of My hid Nature, ruling all which lives. 
 
 Vain hopes pursuing, vain deeds doing ; fed 
 
 On vainest knowledge, senselessly they seek 
 
 An evil way, the way of brutes and fiends. 
 
 But My Mahatmas, those of noble soul 
 
 Who tread the path celestial, worship Me 
 
 With hearts unwandering, — knowing Me the Source, 
 
 Th' Eternal Source, of Life. Unendingly 
 
 They glorify Me ; seek Me ; keep their vows 
 
 Of reverence and love, with changeless faith 
 
 Adoring Me. Yea, and those too adore, 
 
 Who, offering sacrifice of wakened hearts, 
 
 Have sense of one pervading Spirit's stress, 
 
 One Force in every place, though manifold ! 
 
 I am the Sacrifice ! I am the Prayer ! 
 
 I am the Funeral-Cake set for the dead ! 
 
 I am the healing herb ! I am the ghee, 
 
 The Mantra, and the flame, and that which burns ! 
 
 I am — of all this boundless Universe — 
 
 The Father, Mother, Ancestor, and Guard ! 
 
78 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 The end of Learning ! That which purines 
 In lustral water ! I am 0m ! I am 
 Kig-Veda, Sama-Veda, Yajur-Ved; 
 The Way, the Fosterer, the Lord, the Judge, 
 The Witness ; the Abode, the Eefuge-House, 
 The Friend, the Fountain and the Sea of Life 
 Which sends, and swallows up; Treasure of 
 
 Worlds 
 And Treasure-Chamber! Seed and Seed-Sower, 
 Whence endless harvests spring ! Sun's heat is 
 
 mine; 
 Heaven's rain is mine to grant or to withhold ; 
 Death am I, and Immortal Life I am, 
 Arjuna ! Sat and Asat, Visible Life, 
 And Life Invisible ! 
 
 Yea I those who learn 
 The threefold Veds, who drink the Soma-wine, 
 Purge sins, pay sacrifice — from Me they earn 
 Passage to Swarga ; where the meats divine 
 
BOOK THE NINTH. 79 
 
 Of great gods feed them in high Indra's heaven. 
 
 Yet they, when that prodigious joy is o'er, 
 Paradise spent, and wage for merits given, 
 
 Come to the world of death and change once 
 more. 
 
 They had their recompense ! they stored their trea- 
 sure, 
 
 Following the threefold Scripture and its writ ; 
 Who seeketh such gaineth the fleeting pleasure 
 
 Of joy which comes and goes ! I grant them it ! 
 
 But to those blessed ones who worship Me, 
 Turning not otherwhere, with minds set fast, 
 I bring assurance of full bliss beyond. 
 
 Nay, and of hearts which follow other gods 
 In simple faith, their prayers arise to me, 
 Kunti's Son ! though they pray wrongfully ; 
 For I am the Receiver and the Lord 
 
80 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Of every sacrifice, which these know not 
 
 Eightf ully ; so they fall to earth again ! 
 
 Who follow gods go to their gods ; who vow 
 
 Their souls to Pitris go to Pitris ; minds 
 
 To evil Bhuts given o'er sink to the Bhuts; 
 
 And whoso loveth Me cometh to Me. 
 
 Whoso shall offer Me in faith and love 
 
 A leaf, a flower, a fruit, water poured forth, 
 
 That offering I accept, lovingly made 
 
 With pious wilL Whate'er thou doest, Prince ! 
 
 Eating or sacrificing, giving gifts, 
 
 Praying or fasting, let it all be done 
 
 For Me, as Mine. So shalt thou free thyself 
 
 From Karmdbandh, the chain which holdeth men 
 
 To good and evil issue, so shalt come 
 
 Safe unto Me — when thou art quit of flesh — 
 
 By faith and abdication joined to Me ! 
 
 I am alike for all ! I know not hate, 
 I know not favour ! What is made is Mine ! 
 
BOOK THB NINTH. 81 
 
 But them that worship Me with love, I love ; 
 They are in Me, and I in them ! 
 
 Nay, Prince! 
 If one of evil life turn in his thought 
 Straightly to Me, count him amidst the good ; 
 He hath the high way chosen ; he shall grow 
 Righteous ere long ; he shall attain that peace 
 Which changes not. Thou Prince of India ! 
 Be certain none can perish, trusting Me ! 
 Pritha's Son ! whoso will turn to Me, 
 Though they be born from the very womb of 
 
 Sin, 
 Woman or man ; sprung of the Vaisya caste 
 Or lowly disregarded Sudra, — all 
 Plant foot upon the highest path ; how then 
 The holy Brahmans and My Eoyal Saints ? 
 Ah ! ye who into this ill world are come — 
 Fleeting and false — set your faith fast on Me ! 
 Fix heart and thought on Me ! Adore Me ! Bring 
 
82 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Offerings to Me ! Make Me prostrations ! Make 
 Me your supremest joy ! and, undivided, 
 Unto My rest your spirits shall be guided. 
 
 here ends chapter ix. of the 
 Bhagavad-GIta, 
 
 Entitled " Rdjavidy&rajac/uhyaySg," 
 
 Or " The Book of Religion by the Kingly Knowledge and t/ie 
 
 Kingly Mystery." 
 
( &3 ) 
 
 CHAPTEE X. 
 
 KRISHNA: 1 
 Hear farther yet, thou Long- Armed Lord! these 
 
 latest words I say — 
 
 Uttered to bring thee bliss and peace, who lovest 
 Me alway — 
 
 Not the great company of gods nor kingly Eishis 
 know 
 
 My Nature, Who have made the gods and Eishis 
 long ago ; 
 
 He only knoweth — only he is free of sin, and wise, 
 
 Who seeth Me, Lord of the Worlds, with faith- 
 enlightened eyes, 
 
 Unborn, undying, unbegun. Whatever Natures be 
 
 1 The Sanskrit poem here rises to an elevation of style and manner 
 which I have endeavoured to mark by change of metre. 
 
4 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 To mortal men distributed, those natures spring 
 from Me ! 
 
 Intellect, skill, enlightenment, endurance, self- 
 control, 
 
 Truthfulness, equability, and grief or joy of soul, 
 
 And birth and death, and fearfulness, and fearless- 
 ness, and shame, 
 
 And honour, and sweet harmlessness, 1 and peace 
 which is the same 
 
 Whate'er befalls, and mirth, and tears, and piety, 
 and thrift, 
 
 And wish to give, and will to help, — all cometh of 
 My gift ! 
 
 The Seven Chief Saints, the Elders Pour, the Lordly 
 Manus set — 
 
 Sharing My work— to rule the worlds, these too did 
 I beget ; 
 
 And Eishis, Pitris, Manus, all, by one thought of 
 My mind ; 
 
 1 Ahinsjl. 
 
BOOK THE TENTH. 85 
 
 Thence did arise, to fill this world, the races of 
 Tnankind ; 
 
 Wherefrom who comprehends My Eeign of mystic 
 Majesty — 
 
 That truth of truths — is thenceforth linked in fault- 
 less faith to Me : 
 
 Tea! knowiDg Me the source of all, by Me all 
 
 creatures wrought, 
 The wise in spirit cleave to Me, into My Being 
 
 brought ; 
 Hearts fixed on Me ; breaths breathed to Me ; prais- 
 ing Me, each to each, 
 So have they happiness and peace, with pious 
 
 thought and speech ; 
 And unto these — thus serving well, thus loving 
 
 ceaselessly — 
 I give a mind of perfect mood, whereby they draw 
 
 to Me; 
 And, all for love of them, within their darkened 
 
 souls I dwell, 
 
86 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 And, with' bright rays of wisdom's lamp, their 
 ignorance dispeL 
 
 ARJUNAs 
 
 Yes ! Thou art Parabrahm ! The High Abode! 
 The Great Purification ! Thou art God 
 Eternal, All-creating, Holy, First, 
 "Without beginning ! Lord of Lords and Gods ! 
 Declared by all the Saints — by Narada, 
 Vyasa, Asita, and Devalas ; 
 And here Thyself declaring unto me ! 
 What Thou hast said now know I to be truth, 
 Kes"ava ! that neither gods nor men 
 Nor demons comprehend Thy mystery 
 Made manifest, Divinest ! Thou Thyself 
 Thyself alone dost know, Maker Supreme ! 
 Master of all the living ! Lord of Gods 1 
 King of the Universe ! To Thee alone 
 Belongs to tell the heavenly excellence 
 Of those perfections wherewith Thou dost fill 
 
BOOK THE TENTH. 87 
 
 These worlds of Thine ; Pervading, Immanent ! 
 How shall I learn, Supremest Mystery ! 
 To know Thee, though I muse continually ? 
 Under what form of Thine unnumhered forms 
 Mayst Thou be grasped ? Ah ! yet again recount, 
 Clear and complete, Thy great appearances, 
 The secrets of Thy Majesty and Might, 
 Thou High Delight of Men ! Never enough 
 Can mine ears drink the Amrit x of such words ! 
 
 KRISHNA: 
 Hanta ! So be it ! Kuru Prince ! I will to thee 
 
 unfold 
 Some portions of My Majesty, whose powers are 
 
 manifold ! 
 I am the Spirit seated deep in every creature's heart ; 
 Prom Me they come ; by Me they live ; at My 
 
 word they depart ! 
 Vishnu of the Adityas I am, those Lords of Light ; 
 
 1 The nectar of immortality. 
 
88 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Maritchi of the Maruts, the Kings of Storm and 
 
 Blight ; 
 By day I gleam, the golden Sun of burning cloud- 
 less Noon ; 
 By Night, amid the asterisms I glide, the dappled 
 
 Moon ! 
 Of Vedas I am Sama-Ved, of gods in India's 
 
 Heaven 
 Vasava ; of the faculties to living beings given 
 The mind which apprehends and thinks ; of Eudras 
 
 Sankara ; 
 Of Yakshas and of Eakshasas, Vittesh ; and Pavaka 
 Of Vasus, and of mountain-peaks Meru; Vrihas- 
 
 pati 
 Know Me 'mid planetary Powers ; 'mid Warriors 
 
 heavenly 
 Skanda; of all the water-floods the Sea which 
 
 drinketh each, 
 And Bhrigu of the holy Saints, and On of sacred 
 
 speech ; 
 
BOOK THE TENTH. 89 
 
 Of prayers the prayer ye whisper ; * of hills Him- 
 
 ala's snow, 
 And Aswattha, the fig-tree, of all the trees that 
 
 grow; 
 Of the Devarshis, Narada ; and Chitrarath of them 
 That sing in Heaven, and Kapila of Munis, and the 
 
 gem 
 Of flying steeds, TTchchaisravas, from Amrifc-wave 
 
 which burst ; 
 Of elephants Airavata ; of males the Best and First ; 
 Of weapons Heav'n's hot thunderbolt ; of cows 
 
 white Kamadhuk, 
 From whose great milky udder-teats all hearts' 
 
 desires are strook ; 
 Vasuki of the serpent-tribes, round Mandara en- 
 twined ; 
 And thousand-fanged Ananta, on whose broad 
 
 coils reclined 
 Leans Vishnu ; and of water-things Yaruna ; Aryam 
 
 'Called "The Jap." 
 
9 o THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Of Pitris, and, of those that judge, Yama the Judge 
 
 I am; 
 Of Daityas dread Prahlada; of what metes days 
 
 and years, 
 Time's self I am ; of woodland-beasts — buffaloes, 
 
 deers, and bears — 
 The lordly-painted tiger ; of birds the vast Garud, 
 The whirlwind 'mid. the winds ; 'mid chiefs Kama 
 
 with blood imbrued, 
 Makar 'mid fishes of the sea, and Ganges 'mid the 
 
 streams ; 
 Yea ! First, and Last, and Centre of all which is or 
 
 seems 
 I am, Arjuna ! Wisdom Supreme of what is 
 
 wise, 
 Words on the uttering lips I am, and eyesight of 
 
 the eyes, 
 And " A " of written characters, Dwandwa * of knitted 
 
 speech, 
 
 1 The compound form of Sanskrit words. 
 
BOOK THE TENTH. 91 
 
 And Endless Life, and boundless Love, whose power 
 
 sustaineth each ; 
 And hitter Death which seizes all, and joyous 
 
 sudden Birth, 
 Which brings to light all beings that are to be on 
 
 earth ; 
 And of the viewless virtues, Fame, Fortune, Song 
 
 am I, 
 And Memory, and Patience; and Craft, and Con- 
 stancy : 
 Of Vedic hymns the Vrihatsam, of metres Gayatri, 
 Of months the Margasirsha, of all the seasons three 
 The flower-wreathed Spring; in dicer's-play the 
 
 conquering Double-Eight ; 
 The splendour of the splendid, and the greatness of 
 
 the great, 
 Victory I am, and Action! and the goodness of 
 
 the good, 
 And Vasudev of Vrishni's race, and of this Pandu 
 
 brood 
 
93 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Thyself ! — Yea, my Arjuna ! thyself ; for thou art 
 
 Mine ! 
 Of poets Usana, of saints Vyasa, sage divine; 
 The policy of conquerors, the potency of kings, 
 The great unbroken silence in learning's secret 
 
 things ; ) 
 
 The lore of all the learned, the seed of all which 
 
 springs. 
 Living or lifeless, still or stirred, whatever beings 
 
 be, 
 None of them is in all the worlds, but it exists by 
 
 Me! 
 Nor tongue can tell, Arjuna! nor end of telling 
 
 come 
 Of these My boundless glories, whereof I teach thee 
 
 some; 
 For wheresoe'er is wondrous work, and majesty, and 
 
 might, 
 From Me. hath all proceeded. Eeceive thou this 
 
 aright ! 
 
BOOK THE TENTH. 93 
 
 Yet how shouldst thou receive, Prince ! the vast- 
 
 ness of this word ? 
 I, who am all, and made it all, abide its separate 
 
 Lord! 
 
 here endeth chapter x. of the 
 Bhagavad-GIta, 
 
 Entitled "Vibhuti YSg," 
 Or " The Book of Religion by the Heavenly Perfections'' 
 
( 94 ) 
 
 CHAPTEE XI. 
 ARJUNAi 
 
 This, for my soul's peace, have I heard from 
 
 Thee, 
 The unfolding of the Mystery Supreme 
 Named Adhyatman ; comprehending which. 
 My darkness is dispelled; for now I know — 
 Lotus-eyed ! 1 — whence is the birth of men, 
 And whence their death, and what the majesties 
 Of Thine immortal rule. Fain would I see, 
 As thou Thyself declar'st it, Sovereign Lord ! 
 The likeness of that glory of Thy Form 
 Wholly revealed. Thou Divinest One ! 
 If this can be, if I may bear the sight, 
 
 1 "Kamalapatraksha." 
 
BOOK THE ELEVENTH. ' 95 
 
 Make Thyself visible, Lord of all prayers ! 
 Show me Thy very self, the Eternal God ! 
 
 KRISHNA: 
 
 Gaze, then, thou Son of Pritha ! I manifest for thee 
 Those hundred thousand thousand shapes that 
 
 clothe my Mystery : 
 I show thee all my semblances, inflnite, rich, divine, 
 My changeful hues, my countless forms. See ! in 
 
 this face of mine, 
 Adityas, Vasus, Eudras, Aiwins, and Maruts ; see 
 Wonders unnumbered, Indian Prince ! revealed to 
 
 none save thee. 
 Behold ! this is the Universe ! — Look ! what is 
 
 live and dead 
 I gather all in one — in Me ! Gaze, as thy lips have 
 
 said, 
 On God Eternal, Yert God ! See Me ! see what 
 
 thou prayest 1 
 
96 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Thou canst not !— nor, with human eyes, Arjuna ! 
 
 ever mayest ! 
 Therefore I give thee sense divine. Have other 
 
 eyes, new light! 
 And, look ! This is My glory, unveiled to mortal 
 
 sight ! 
 
 SANJAYA : 
 
 Then, King ! the God, so saying, 
 Stood, to Pritha's Son displaying 
 All the splendour, wonder, dread 
 Of His vast Almighty-head. 
 Out of countless eyes beholding, 
 Out of countless mouths commanding, 
 Countless mystic forms enfolding 
 In one Form : supremely standing 
 Countless radiant glories wearing, 
 Countless heavenly weapons bearing, 
 Crowned with garlands of star-clusters, 
 Eobed in garb of woven lustres, 
 
. BOOK THE ELEVENTH. 97 
 
 Breathing from His perfect Presence 
 Breaths of every suhtle essence 
 Of all heavenly odours ; shedding 
 Blinding brilliance ; overspreading — 
 Boundless, beautiful — all spaces 
 With His all-regarding faces ; 
 So He showed ! If there should rise 
 Suddenly within the skies 
 Sunburst of a thousand suns 
 Flooding earth with beams undeemed-of, 
 Then might be that Holy One's 
 Majesty and radiance dreamed of ! 
 
 So did Pandu's Son behold 
 All this universe enfold 
 All its huge diversity 
 Into one vast shape, and be 
 Visible, and viewed, and blended 
 In one Body — subtle, splendid, 
 Nameless— th' All-comprehending 
 
9 8 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 God of Gods, the Never-Ending 
 Deity ! 
 
 But, sore amazed, 
 Thrilled, o'erfilled, dazzled, and dazed, 
 Arjuna knelt ; and bowed his head, 
 And clasped his palms; and cried, and said: 
 
 ARJUNA: 
 
 Tea ! I have seen ! I see ! ' 
 Lord! all is wrapped in Thee! 
 The gods are in Thy glorious, frame ! the crea- 
 tures 
 Of earth, and heaven, and hell 
 In Thy Divine form dwell, . 
 And in Thy countenance shine all the features 
 
 Of Brahma, sitting lone 
 Upon His lotus-throne ; ; 
 
 Of saints and sages, and the serpent 'races' 
 
BOOK THE ELEVENTH. 99 
 
 Atlanta, Vasuki ; 
 Yea ! mightiest Lord ! I see 
 Thy thousand thousand arms, and breasts, and faces, 
 
 And eyes, — on every side 
 
 Perfect, diversified ; 
 And nowhere end of Thee, nowhere beginning, 
 
 Nowhere a centre ! Shifts — 
 
 Wherever soul's gaze lifts — 
 Thy central Self, all- wielding, and all- winning ! 
 
 Infinite King ! I see 
 The anadem on Thee, 
 The club, the shell, the discus ; see Thee burning 
 In beams insufferable, 
 Lighting earth, heaven, and hell 
 • With brilliance blazing, glowing, flashing ; turning 
 
 Darkness to dazzling, day, 
 Look I .whichever way ; 
 
ioo THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Ah, Lord ! I worship Thee, the Undivided, 
 
 The Uttermost of thought, 
 
 The Treasure-Palace wrought 
 To hold the wealth of the worlds ; the Shield pro- 
 vided 
 
 To shelter Virtue's laws ; 
 
 The Fount whence Life's stream draws 
 All waters of all rivers of all being : 
 
 The One Unborn, Unending : 
 
 Unchanging and Unblending ! 
 With might and majesty, past thought, past 
 seeing ! 
 
 Silver of moon and gold 
 
 Of sun are glories rolled 
 From Thy great eyes ; Thy visage, beaming tender 
 
 Throughout the stars and skies, 
 
 Doth to warm life surprise 
 Thy Universe. The worlds are filled with wonder 
 
BOOK THE ELEVENTH. 101 
 
 Of Thy perfections ! Space 
 
 Star-sprinkled, and void place 
 From pole to pole of the Blue, from hound to 
 bound, 
 
 Hath Thee in every spot, 
 
 Thee, Thee ! — "Where Thou art not, 
 Holy, Marvellous Form ! is nowhere found I 
 
 Mystic, Awful One ! 
 At sight of Thee, made known, 
 The Three Worlds quake; the lower gods draw 
 nigh Thee ; 
 They fold their palms, and bow 
 Body, and breast, and brow, 
 And, whispering worship, laud and magnify 
 Thee! 
 
 Rishis and Siddhas cry 
 " Hail ! Highest Majesty ! " 
 From sage and singer breaks the hymn of glory 
 
102 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 In dulcet harmony, 
 Sounding the praise of Thee ; 
 While countless companies take up the story, 
 
 Kudras, who ride the storms, 
 
 Th' Adityas' shining forms, 
 Vasus and Sadhyas, Vilwas, Ushmapas; 
 
 Maruts, and those great Twins 
 
 The heavenly, fair, Aswins, 
 Gandharvas, Eakshasas, Siddhas, and Asuras, 1 — 
 
 These see Thee, and revere 
 
 In sudden-stricken fear; 
 Yea ! the Worlds, — seeing Thee with form stupen- 
 dous, 
 
 With faces manifold, 
 
 With eyes which all behold, 
 Unnumbered eyes, vast arms, members tremendous, 
 
 1 These are all divine or deified orders of the Hindoo Pantheon, 
 
BOOK THE ELEVENTH. 103 
 
 Flanks, lit with sun and star, 
 
 Feet planted near and far, 
 Tushes of terror, mouths wrathful and tender ; — 
 
 The Three wide Worlds before Thee 
 
 Adore, as I adore Thee, 
 Quake, as I quake, to witness so much splendour ! 
 
 I mark Thee strike the skies 
 
 With front, in wondrous wise 
 Huge, rainbow-painted, glittering ; and thy mouth 
 
 Opened, and orbs which see 
 
 All things, whatever be 
 In all Thy worlds, east, west, and north and south. 
 
 Eyes of God ! Head ! 
 
 My strength of soul is fled, 
 Gone is heart's force, rebuked is mind's desire ! 
 
 When I behold Thee so, 
 
 With awful brows a-glow, 
 With burning glance, and lips lighted by fire 
 
104 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Fierce as those flames which shall 
 
 Consume, at close of all, 
 Earth, Heaven ! Ah me ! I see no Earth and 
 Heaven ! 
 
 Thee, Lord of Lords ! I see, 
 
 Thee only — only Thee ! 
 Now let Thy mercy unto me be given, 
 
 Thou Eefuge of the World ! 
 
 Lo ! to the cavern hurled 
 Of Thy wide-opened throat, and lips white- 
 tushed, 
 
 I see our noblest ones, 
 
 Great Dhritarashtra's sons, 
 Bhishma, Drona, and Kama, caught and crushed ! 
 
 The Kings and Chiefs drawn in, 
 That gaping gorge within ; 
 The best of both these armies torn and riven ! 
 
BOOK THE ELEVENTH. 105 
 
 Between Thy jaws they lie 
 Mangled full bloodily, 
 Ground into dust and death ! Like streams down- 
 driven 
 
 With helpless haste, which go 
 
 In headlong furious flow 
 Straight to the gulfing deeps of th' unfilled 
 ocean, 
 
 So to that flaming cave 
 
 Those heroes great and brave 
 Pour, in unending streams, with helpless motion ! 
 
 Like moths which in the night 
 
 Flutter towards a light, 
 Drawn to their fiery doom, flying and dying, 
 
 So to their death still throng, 
 
 Blind, dazzled, borne along 
 Ceaselessly, all those multitudes, wild flying ! 
 
106 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Thou, that hast fashioned men, 
 
 Devourest them again, 
 One with another, great and small, alike ! 
 
 The creatures whom Thou mak'st, 
 
 With flaming jaws Thou tak'st, 
 Lapping them up ! Lord God ! Thy terrors 
 strike 
 
 From end to end of earth, 
 
 Filling life full, from birth 
 To death, with deadly, burning, lurid dread ! 
 
 Ah,. Vishnu ! make me know 
 
 Why is Thy visage so ? 
 Who art Thou, feasting thus upon Thy dead ? 
 
 Who? awful Deity! 
 I bow myself to Thee, 
 Ndmostu TS, Devavctra ! Prasid ! v 
 
 1 " Hail to Thee, God of Gods 1 Be favourable ! " 
 
BOOK THE ELEVENTH. 107 
 
 Mightiest Lord ! rehearse 
 Why hast Thou face so fierce ? 
 Whence doth this aspect horrible proceed ? 
 
 KRISHNA: 
 
 Thou seest Me as Time who sills; Time who brings 
 
 all to doom, 
 The Slayer Time, Ancient .oi Days, come hither to 
 
 consume ; 
 Excepting thee, of all these hosts of hostile chiefs 
 
 arrayed, 
 There stands not one shall leave alive the battle- 
 field ! Dismayed 
 No longer be ! Arise ! obtain renown ! destroy thy 
 
 foes ! 
 Fight for the kingdom waiting thee when thou hast 
 
 vanquished those. 
 By Me they fall — not thee ! the stroke of death is 
 
 dealt them now, 
 
108 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Even as they show thus gallantly; My instrument 
 
 art thou ! 
 Strike, strong-armed Prince, at Drona ! at Bhishma 
 
 strike ! deal death 
 On Kama, Jyadratha ; stay all their warlike breath ! 
 'Ti3 I who bid them perish! Thou wilt but slay 
 
 the slain j 
 Fight ! they must fall, and thou must live, victor 
 
 upon this plain ! 
 
 SANJAYA: 
 
 Hearing mighty Keshav's word, 
 
 Tremblingly that helmed Lord 
 
 Clasped his lifted palms, and — praying 
 
 Grace of Krishna — stood there, saying, 
 
 With bowed brow and accents broken, 
 
 These words, timorously spoken : 
 
 ARJUNA: 
 
 Worthily, Lord of Might ! 
 
 The whole world hath delight 
 
 In Thy surpassing power, obeying Thee ; 
 
BOOK THE ELEVENTH. 109 
 
 The Eakshasas, in dread 
 At sight of Thee, are sped 
 To all four quarters; and the company 
 
 Of Siddhas sound Thy name. 
 
 How should they not proclaim 
 Thy Majesties, Divinest, Mightiest ? 
 
 Thou Brahm, than Brahma greater ! 
 
 Thou Infinite Creator ! 
 Thou God of gods, Life's Dwelling-place and Eest ! 
 
 Thou, of all souls the Soul ! 
 
 The Comprehending Whole ! 
 Of being formed, and formless being the Cramer ; 
 
 Utmost One ! Lord ! 
 
 Older than eld, Who stored 
 The worlds with wealth of life ! Treasure- 
 Claimer, 
 
 Who wottest all, and art 
 Wisdom Thyself ! Part 
 
no THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 In all, and All; for all from Thee have. risen 
 Numberless now I see 
 The aspects are. of Thee ! 
 Vayu * Thou art, and He who keeps the prison 
 
 Of Narak, Yama dark ; 
 
 And Agni's shining spark ; 
 Varuna's. waves are Thy waves. Moon and star- 
 light. . 
 
 Are Thine ! Prajapati. 
 
 Art Thou, and 'tis to Thee 
 They knelt in worshipping the old world's far 
 
 light, 
 
 The first of mortal men. 
 
 Again, Thou God \ again- 
 A thousand thousand times be magnified ! 
 
 Honour and worship be — 
 
 Glory and praise, — to Thee 
 Nam6, Namaste, cried on every side ; 
 
 1 The wind. 
 
BOOK THE ELEVENTH, m 
 
 Cried here, above, below, / ' 
 
 Uttered when Thou dost go, ' ; 
 Uttered where Thou dost come ! Namd /. we call ; 
 
 Namostu ! God adored ! 
 
 Namdstu ! Nameless Lord !' 
 Hail to Thee ! Praise to Thee ! Thou One in all; 
 
 For Thou art All ! : Tea, Thou 1 
 
 Ah ! if in anger now 
 Thou shouldst remember I did think Thee Friend, 
 
 Speaking with easy speech, 
 
 As men use each to each; 
 Did call Thee " Krishna," " Prince," nor comprehend 
 
 Thy hidden majesty, . , 
 
 The might, the awe of Thee ; 
 Pid, in my heedlessness, or in my love, 
 
 On journey, or in jest, 
 
 Or when we lay at rest, 
 Sitting at council, straying in the grove, 
 
2 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Alone, or in the throng, 
 
 Do Thee, most Holy ! wrong, 
 Be Thy grace granted for that witless sin ! 
 
 For Thou art, now I know, 
 
 Father of all below, 
 Of all above, of all the worlds within 
 
 Guru of Gurus ; more 
 
 To reverence and adore 
 Than all which is adorable and high ! 
 
 How, in the wide worlds tba^e 
 
 Should any equal be ? 
 Should any other share Thy majesty ? 
 
 Therefore, with body bent 
 
 And reverent intent, 
 I praise, and serve, and seek Thee, asking grace. 
 
 As father to a son, 
 
 As friend to friend, as one 
 Who loveth to his lover, turn Thy face 
 
BOOK THE ELEVENTH. 113 
 
 In gentleness on me ! 
 Good is it I did see 
 This unknown marvel of Thy Form! But 
 fear 
 Mingles with joy ! Retake, 
 Dear Lord ! for pity's sake 
 Thine earthly shape, which earthly eyes may 
 bear! 
 
 < 
 
 Be merciful, and show 
 
 The visage that I know ; 
 Let me regard Thee, as of yore, arrayed 
 
 "With disc and forehead-gem, / 
 
 With mace and anadem, 
 Thou that sustainest all things ! Undismayed 
 
 Let me once more behold 
 The form I loved of old, 
 Thou of the .thousand arms and countless 
 eyes ! . . . 
 
 H 
 
114 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 This frightened heart is fain 
 To see restored again 
 My Charioteer, in Krishna's kind disguise. 
 
 KRISHNA: 
 
 Yea ! thou hast .seen, Arjuna ! because I loved 
 
 thee well, 
 The secret countenance of Me, revealed by mystic 
 
 spell, 
 Shining, and wonderful, and vast, majestic, mani- 
 fold, 
 Which none save' thou in all the years had favour 
 
 to behold ; 
 For not hj Vedas cometh this, nor sacrifice, nor 
 
 alms, 
 Nor works well-done, nor penance long, nor prayers, 
 
 nor chaunted psalms, 
 That mortal eyes should bear to view the Immortal 
 
 Soul unclad, 
 
BOOK THE ELEVENTH. 115 
 
 Prince of the Kurus ! This was kept for thee 
 
 alone ! Be glad ! 
 Let no more trouble shake thy heart, because thine 
 
 eyes have seen 
 My terror with My glory. As I before have 
 
 been 
 So will I be again for thee ; with lightened heart 
 
 behold ! 
 Once more I am thy Krishna, the form thou 
 
 knew'st of old ! 
 
 SANJAYA : 
 
 These words to Arjuna spake 
 Vasudev, and straight did take 
 Back a"ain the semblance dear 
 
 O 
 
 Of the well-loved. charioteer; 
 Peace and joy it did restore 
 When the Prince beheld once more 
 Mighty Brahma's form and face 
 Clothed in Krishna's gentle grace 
 
n6 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 ARJUNA: 
 
 Now that I see come back, Janardana! 
 
 This friendly human frame, my mind can 
 
 think 
 Calm thoughts once more; my heart beats still 
 
 again ! 
 
 KRISHNA: 
 
 Yea ! it was wonderful and terrible 
 
 To view me as thou didst, dear Prince ! The 
 
 gods 
 Dread and desire continually to view ! 
 Yet not by Vedas, nor from sacrifice, 
 Nor penance, nor gift-giving, nor with prayer 
 Shall any so behold, as thou hast seen! 
 Only by fullest service, perfect faith, 
 And uttermost surrender am I known 
 And seen, and entered into, Indian Prince! 
 Who doeth all for Me ; who findeth Me 
 In all ; adoreth always ; loveth all 
 
BOOK THE ELEVENTH. 117 
 
 Which I have made, and Me, for Love's sole 
 
 end, 
 That man, Arjuna ! unto Me doth wend. 
 
 here endeth chapter xi. of tub 
 Bhagavad-GM, 
 
 Entitled "Viiwarupadarianam," 
 Or " The Booh of the Manifesting of the One and Manifold." 
 
( n8 ) 
 
 CHAPTEE XII. 
 
 ARJUNA: 
 
 Lord I of the men who serve Thee — true in heart- 
 As God revealed ; and of the men who serve, 
 "Worshipping Thee Unrevealed, Unbodied, Far, 
 Which take the better way of faith and life ? 
 
 KRISHNA: 
 
 Whoever serve Me — as I show Myself — 
 Constantly true, in full devotion fixed, 
 Those hold I very holy. But who serve — 
 "Worshipping Me The One, The Invisible, 
 The Unrerealed, Unnamed, Unthinkable, 
 Uttermost, All-pervading, Highest, Sure — 
 Who thus adore Me, mastering their sense. 
 
BOOK THE TWELFTH. 119 
 
 Of one set mind to all, glad in all good, 
 These blessed souls come unto Me. 
 
 Yet, hard 
 The travail is for such as bend their minds 
 To reach th' Unmanifest. That viewless path 
 Shall scarce be trod by man bearing the flesh ! 
 But whereso any doeth all his deeds 
 Eenouncing self for Me, full of Me, fixed 
 To serve only the Highest, night and day 
 Musing on Me — him will I swiftly lift 
 Forth from life's ocean of distress and death, 
 Whose soul clings fast to Me. Cling thou to 
 
 Me! 
 Clasp Me with heart and mind! so shalt thou 
 
 dwell 
 Surely with Me on high. But if thy thought 
 Droops from such height ; if thou be'st weak to 
 
 set 
 Body and soul upon Me constantly, 
 Despair not ! give Me lower service ! seek 
 
o THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 To reach Me, worshipping with steadfast will ; 
 And, if thou canst not worship steadfastly; 
 Work for Me, toil in works pleasing to Me ! 
 For he that laboureth right for love of Me 
 Shall finally attain ! But, if in this 
 Thy faint heart fails, bring Me thy failure ! find 
 Eefuge in Me ! let fruits of labour go, 
 Renouncing hope for Me, with lowliest heart, 
 So shalt thou come; for, though to know is 
 
 more 
 Than diligence, yet worship better is 
 Than knowing, and renouncing better still. 
 Near to renunciation — very near — 
 Dwelleth Eternal Peace ! 
 
 Who hateth nought 
 Of all which lives, living himself benign, 
 Compassionate, from arrogance exempt, 
 Exempt from love of self, unchangeable 
 By good or ill ; patient, contented, firm 
 In faith, mastering himself, true to his word, 
 
BOOK THE TWELFTH. 1 
 
 Seeking Me, heart and soul; vowed unto Me, — 
 That man I love ! "Who troubleth not his kind, 
 And is not troubled by them ; clear of wrath, 
 Living too high for gladness, grief, or fear, 
 That man I love ! Who, dwelling quiet-eyed, 1 
 Stainless, serene, well-balanced, unperplexed, 
 Working with Me, yet from all works detached, 
 That man I love ! Who, fixed in faith on Me, 
 Dotes upon none, scorns none ; rejoices not, 
 And grieves not, letting good or evil hap 
 Light when it will, and when it will depart, 
 That man I love ! Who, unto friend and foe 
 Keeping an equal heart, with equal mind 
 Bears shame and glory ; with an equal peace 
 Takes heat and cold, pleasure and pain ; abides 
 Quit of desires, hears praise or calumny 
 In passionless restraint, unmoved by each ; 
 Linked by no ties to earth, steadfast in Me, 
 That man I love ! But most of all I love 
 
 1 " Not peering about," anapclsha. 
 
2 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Those happy ones to whom 'tis life to live 
 In single fervid faith and loVe unseeing, 
 Drinking the blessed Amrit of my Being ! 
 
 here endeth chapter xii. of the 
 Bhagavad-GJtA, 
 
 Entitled "Bhaktiydg," 
 Or " The Book of the Religion of Faith." 
 
( 123 ) 
 
 CHAPTEE XIIL 
 
 ARJUNA: 
 
 Now would I hear, gracious Kesava ! 1 
 
 Of Life which seems, and Soul beyond, which sees, 
 
 And what it is we know — or think to know. 
 
 KRISHNA: 
 Yea ! Son of Kunti ! for this flesh ye see 
 Is Kshetra, is the field where Life disports ; 
 And that which views and knows it is the Soul, 
 Kshetrajna. In all " fields," thou Indian prince ! 
 I am Kshetrajna. I am what surveys ! 
 Only that knowledge knows which knows the 
 known 
 
 1 The Calcutta edition of the Mahdbhdrata has these three opening 
 
 Iineh. 
 
124 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 By the knower ! 2 What it is, that " field " of life, 
 What qualities it hath, and whence it is, 
 And why it changeth, and the faculty 
 That wotteth it, the mightiness of this, 
 
 And how it wotteth — hear these things from Me ! 
 
 a 
 
 The elements, the conscious life, the mind, 
 The unseen vital force, the nine strange gates 
 Of the body, and the five domains of sense ; 
 Desire, dislike, pleasure and pain, and thought 
 Deep-woven, and persistency of being ; 
 These all are wrought on Matter by the Soul ! 
 
 Humbleness, truthfulness, and harmlessness, 
 Patience and honour, reverence for the wise. 
 Purity, constancy, control of 'self, 
 
 1 This is the nearest possible version of Kshetrahhetrajnayojndnan 
 yat tajndn matan mama. 
 
 2 I omit two lines of the Sanskrit here, evidently interpolated by 
 some Vedantist. 
 
BOOK THE THIRTEENTH. 125 
 
 Contempt of sense-delights, self-sacrifice, 
 Perception of the certitude of ill 
 In birth, death, age, disease, suffering, and sin ; 
 Detachment, lightly holding unto home, 
 Children, and 'wife, and all that bindeth men ; 
 An ever-tranquil heart in fortunes good 
 And fortunes evil, with a will set firm 
 To worship Me — Me only ! ceasing not ; 
 Loving all solitudes, and shunning noise 
 Of foolish crowds ; endeavours resolute 
 To reach perception of the Utmost Soul, 
 And grace to understand what gain it were 
 So to attain, — this is true Wisdom, Prince ! 
 And what is otherwise is ignorance ! 
 
 Now will I speak of knowledge best to know 
 
 That Truth which giveth man Amrit to drink, 
 The Truth of Him, the Para-Brahm, the AH, 
 The Uncreated ; not Asat, not Sat, 
 Not Form, nor the Unformed,; yet both, and more ;— 
 
126 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Whose hands are everywhere, and everywhere 
 
 Planted His feet, and everywhere His eyes 
 
 Beholding, and His ears in every place 
 
 Hearing, and all His faces everywhere 
 
 Enlightening and encompassing His worlds. 
 
 Glorified in the senses He hath given, 
 
 Yet heyond sense He is; sustaining all, 
 
 Yet dwells He unattached : of forms and modes 
 
 Master, yet neither form nor mode hath He ; 
 
 He is within all beings — and without — 
 
 Motionless, yet still moving ; not discerned 
 
 For subtlety of instant presence ; close 
 
 To all, to each ; yet measurelessly far I 
 
 Not manifold, and yet subsisting still 
 
 In all which lives ; for ever to be known 
 
 As the Sustainer, yet, at the End of Times, 
 
 He maketh all to end — and re-creates. 
 
 The Light of Lights He is, in the heart of the 
 
 Dark 
 Shining eternally. Wisdom He is 
 
BOOK THE THIRTEENTH. 127 
 
 And Wisdom's way, and Guide of all the wise, 
 Planted in every heart. 
 
 So have I told 
 Of Life's stuff, and the moulding, and the lore 
 To comprehend. Whoso, adoring Me, 
 Perceiveth this, shall surely come to Me ! 
 
 Know thou that Nature and the Spirit both 
 Have no beginning ! Know that qualities 
 And changes of them are by Nature wrought ; 
 That Nature puts to work the acting frame, 
 But Spirit doth inform it, and so cause 
 Feeling of pain and pleasure. Spirit, linked 
 To moulded matter, entereth into bond 
 With qualities by Nature framed, and, thus 
 Married to matter, breeds the birth again 
 In. good 01 evil yonis. 1 
 
 Yet is this— 
 Yea ! . in'its bodily prison ! — Spirit pure, 
 
 1 Wombs. 
 
128 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Spirit supreme ; surveying, governing, 
 Guarding, possessing ; Lord and Master still 
 Purusha, Ultimate, One Soul with Me. 
 
 Whoso thus knows himself, and knows his soul 
 Purusha, working through the qualities 
 With Nature's modes, the light hath come for him! 
 Whatever flesh he bears, never again 
 Shall he take on its load. Some few there be 
 By meditation find the Soul in Self 
 Self-schooled ; and some by long philosophy 
 And holy life reach thither ; some by works : 
 Some, never so attaining, hear of light 
 From other lips, and seize, and cleave to it 
 Worshipping ; yea ! and those — to teaching true — 
 Overpass Death ! 
 
 Wherever, Indian Prince ! 
 Life is — of moving things, or things unmoved, 
 Plant or still seed — know, what is there hath grown 
 By bond of Matter and of Spirit : Know 
 
BOOK THE THIRTEENTH. t 2 g 
 
 He sees indeed who sees in all alike 
 
 The living, lordly Soul ; the Soul Supreme, 
 
 Imperishable amid the Perishing : 
 
 For, whoso thus beholds, in every place, 
 
 In every form, the same, one, Living Life, 
 
 Doth no more wrongfulness unto himself, 
 
 But goes the highest road which brings to bliss. 
 
 Seeing, he sees, indeed, who sees that works 
 
 Are Nature's wont, for Soul to practise by 
 
 Acting, yet not the agent ; sees the mass 
 
 Of separate living things — each of its kind — 
 
 Issue from One, and blend again to One : 
 
 Then hath he Brahma, he attains ! 
 
 Prince V 
 
 That Ultimate, High Spirit, Uncreate, 
 
 Unqualified, even when it entereth flesh 
 
 Taketh no stain of acts, worketh in nought ! 
 
 Like to th' ethereal air, pervading all, 
 
 Which, for sheer subtlety, avoideth taint, 
 
 The subtle Soul sits everywhere, unstained : 
 
 I 
 
1 3 o THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Like to the light of the all-piercing sun 
 [Which is not changed hy aught it shines upon,] 
 The Soul's light shineth pure in every place ; 
 And they who, by such eye of wisdom, see 
 How Matter, and what deals with it, divide ; 
 And how the Spirit and the flesh have strife, 
 Those wise ones go the way which leads to Life ! 
 
 here ends chapter xiii. of the 
 Bhagavad-GIta, 
 
 Entitled " KshetrakshetrajnavibhdyaySg," 
 Or " Tlie Book of Religion by Separation of Matter and Spirit." 
 
( 131 ) 
 
 CHAPTEE XIV. 
 
 KRISHNA: 
 Yet farther will I open unto thee 
 This wisdom of all wisdoms, uttermost, 
 The which possessing, all My saints have 
 
 passed 
 To perfectness. On such high verities 
 Eeliant, rising into fellowship 
 With Me, they are not born again at birth 
 Of Kalpas, nor at Pralyas suffer change ! 
 
 This Universe the womb is where I plant 
 Seed of all lives! Thence, Prince of India, 
 
 comes 
 Birth, to all beings! "Whoso, Kunti's Son! 
 
l 3 2 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Mothers each mortal form, Brahma conceives, 
 And I am He that fathers, sending seed ! 
 
 Sattwan, Rajas, and Tamos, so are named 
 The qualities of Nature, " Soothfastness," 
 " Passion," and " Ignorance." These three bind 
 
 down 
 The changeless Spirit in the changeful flesh. 
 Whereof sweet " Soothfastness," by purity 
 Living unsullied and enlightened, binds 
 The sinless Soul to happiness and truth ; 
 And Passion, being kin to appetite, 
 And breeding impulse and propensity, 
 Binds the embodied Soul, Kunti's Son ! 
 By tie of works. But Ignorance, begot 
 Of Darkness, blinding mortal men, binds down 
 Their souls to stupor, sloth, and drowsiness. 
 Yea, Trince of India ! Soothfastness binds souls 
 In pleasant wise to flesh ; and Passion binds 
 By toilsome strain ; but Ignorance, which blots 
 
BOOK THE FOURTEENTH. 133 
 
 The beams of wisdom, binds the soul to sloth. 
 
 Passion and Ignorance, once overcome, 
 
 Leave Soothfastness, Bharata ! Where this 
 
 With Ignorance are absent, Passion rules ; 
 
 And Ignorance in hearts not good nor quick. 
 
 When at all gateways of the Body shines 
 
 The Lamp of Knowledge, then may one see well 
 
 Soothfastness settled in that city reigns ; 
 
 Where longing is, and ardour, and unrest, . 
 
 Impulse to strive and gain, and avarice, 
 
 Those spring from Passion — Prince ! — engrained ; 
 
 and where 
 Darkness and dulness, sloth and stupor are, 
 'Tis Ignorance hath caused them, Kuru Chief ! 
 
 Moreover, when a soul departeth, fixed 
 In Soothfastness, it goeth to the place — 
 Perfect and pure — of those that know all Truth. 
 If it departeth in set habitude 
 Of Impulse, it shall pass into the world 
 
134 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Of spirits tied to works ; and, if it dies 
 In hardened Ignorance, that blinded soul 
 Is born anew in some unlighted womb. 
 
 The fruit of Soothfastness is true and sweet ; 
 The fruit of lusts is pain and toil ; the fruit 
 Of Ignorance is deeper darkness. Tea ! 
 For Light brings light, and Passion ache to 
 
 have; 
 And gloom, bewilderments, and ignorance 
 Grow forth from Ignorance. Those of the first 
 Eise ever higher ; those of the second mode 
 Take a mid place; the darkened souls sink 
 
 back 
 To lower deeps, loaded with witlessness ! 
 
 When, watching life, the living man perceives 
 The only actors are the Qualities, 
 And knows what rules beyond the Qualities, 
 Then is he come nigh unto Me ! 
 
BOOK THE FOURTEENTH. 135 
 
 The Soul, 
 Thus passing forth from the Three Qualities — 
 Whereby arise all bodies — overcomes 
 Birth, Death, Sorrow, and Age ; and drinketh 
 
 deep 
 The undying wine of Amrit. 
 
 ARJUNA: 
 
 Oh, my Lord ! 
 
 Which be the signs to know him that hath gone 
 
 Past the Three Modes ? How liveth he ? What 
 
 way 
 
 Leadeth him safe beyond the threefold Modes ? 
 
 KRISHNA: 
 
 He who with equanimity surveys 
 
 Lustre of goodness, strife of passion, sloth 
 
 Of ignorance, not angry if they are, 
 
 Not wishful when they are not : he who sits 
 
 A sojourner and stranger in their midst 
 
136 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Unruffled, standing off, saying — serene — 
 When troubles break, " These be the Qualities ! " 
 He unto whom — self-centred — grief and joy 
 Sound as one word ; to whose deep-seeing eyes 
 The clod, the marble, and the gold are one ; 
 Whose equal heart holds the same gentleness 
 For lovely and unlovely things, firm-set, 
 Well-pleased in praise and dispraise ; satisfied 
 With honour or dishonour ; unto friends 
 And unto foes alike in tolerance ; 
 Detached from undertakings, — he is named 
 Surmounter of the Qualities 1 
 
 And such — 
 With single, fervent faith adoring Me, 
 Passing beyond the Qualities, conforms 
 To Brahma, and attains Me I 
 
 For I am 
 That whereof Brahma is the likeness ! Mine 
 
BOOK THE FOURTEENTH. 137 
 
 The Amrit is ; and Immortality 
 Is mine ; and mine perfect Felicity ! 
 
 here ends chapter xiv. of the 
 Bhagavad-GItA, 
 
 Entitled " Gunatrayavibh&gaydg," 
 Or " The Book of Religion by Separation from the Qualities." 
 
( 138 ) 
 
 CHAPTEE XV. 
 
 KRISHNA: 
 
 Men call the Aswattha, — the Banyan-tree, — 
 Which hath its boughs beneath, its roots above, — 
 The ever-holy tree. Yea ! for its leaves 
 Are green and waving hymns which whisper 
 
 Truth ! 
 Who knows the Aswattha, knows Veds, and alL 
 
 Its branches shoot to heaven and sink to earth, 1 
 Even as the deeds of men, which take their birth 
 
 From qualities : its silver sprays and blooms, 
 And all the eager verdure of its girth, 
 
 1 I do not consider the Sanskrit verses here — which are somewhat 
 freely rendered — " an attack on the authority of the Vedas," with Mr. 
 Davies, but a beautiful lyrical episode, a new " Parable of the fig-tree." 
 
BOOK THE FIFTEENTH. 139 
 
 Leap to quick life at kiss of sun and air, 
 As men's lives quicken to the temptings fair 
 Of wooing sense : its hanging rootlets seek 
 The soil beneath, helping to hold it there, 
 
 As actions wrought amid this world of men 
 Bind them by ever-tightening bonds again. 
 
 If ye knew well the teaching of the Tree, 
 What its shape saith ; and whence it springs ; and, 
 then 
 
 How it must end, and all the ills of it, 
 
 The axe of sharp Detachment ye would whet, 
 
 And cleave the clinging snaky roots, and lay 
 This ASwattha of sense-life low, — to set 
 
 New growths upspringing to that' happier sky, — 
 Which they who reach shall have no day to die, 
 
 Nor fade away, nor fall — to Him, I mean, 
 Father and First, Who made the mystery 
 
i 4 o THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Of old Creation ; for to Him come they 
 From passion and from dreams who break away ; 
 Who part the bonds constraining them to flesh, 
 And, — Him, the Highest, worshipping alway — 
 
 No longer grow at mercy of what breeze 
 Of summer pleasure stirs the sleeping trees, 
 
 What blast of tempest tears them, bough and stem: 
 To the eternal world pass such as these ! 
 
 Another Sun gleams there ! another Moon ! 
 Another Light, — not Dusk, nor Dawn, nor Noon — 
 
 Which they who once behold return no more ; 
 They have attained My rest, life's Utmost boon ! 
 
 When, in this world of manifested life, 
 The undying Spirit, setting forth from Me, 
 Taketh on form, it draweth to itself 
 From Being's storehouse, — which containeth all, — 
 Senses and intellect. The Sovereign Soul 
 
BOOK THE FIFTEENTH. 141 
 
 Thus entering the flesh, or quitting it, 
 Gathers these up, as the wind gathers scents, 
 Blowing above the flower-beds. Ear and Eye, 
 And Touch and Taste, and Smelling, these it takes, — 
 Yea, and a sentient mind ; — linking itself 
 To sense-things so. 
 
 The unenlightened ones 
 Mark not that Spirit when he goes or comes, 
 Nor when he takes his pleasure in the form, 
 Conjoined with qualities ; but those see plain 
 "Who have the eyes to see. Holy souls see 
 Which strive thereto. Enlightened, they perceive 
 That Spirit in themselves ; but foolish ones, 
 Even though they strive, discern not, having hearts 
 Unkindled, ill-informed ! 
 
 Know, too, from Me 
 Shineth the gathered glory of the suns 
 Which lighten all the world : from Me the moons 
 
142 THE SONG CELESTIAL. . 
 
 Draw silvery beams, and fire fierce loveliness. 
 I penetrate the clay, and lend all shapes 
 Their living force ;. I glide into the plant — 
 Eoot, leaf, and bloom — to make the woodlands green 
 With springing sap. Becoming vital warmth, 
 I glow in glad, respiring frames, and pass, 
 With outward and with inward breath, to feed 
 The body by all meats. 1 
 
 For in this world 
 Being is twofold : the Divided, one ; 
 The Undivided, one. All things that live 
 Are " the Divided." That which sits apart, 
 " The Undivided." 
 
 Higher still is He, 
 The Highest, holding all, whose Name is Lord, 
 The Eternal, Sovereign, First ! Who fills all worlds, 
 
 1 I omit a verse here, evidently interpolated. 
 
BOOK THE FIFTEENTH. 143 
 
 Sustaining them. And — dwelling thus beyond 
 
 Divided Being and Undivided — I 
 
 Am called of men and Vedas, Life Supreme, 
 
 The PUKUSHOTTAMA. 
 
 Who knows Me thus, 
 "With mind unclouded, knoweth all, dear Prince ! 
 And with his whole soul ever worshippeth Me. 
 
 Now is the sacred, secret Mystery 
 Declared to thee ! Who comprehendeth this 
 Hath wisdom ! He is quit of works in bliss ! 
 
 heeb ends chapter xv. of the 
 Bhagavad-GM, 
 
 Entitled " PuruthottamapfaptiySg," 
 Or " The Book of Religion by attaining ihe Supreme." 
 
( H4 ) 
 
 CHAPTEE XVL 
 
 KRISHNA: 
 
 Fearlessness, singleness of soul, the will 
 Always to strive for wisdom ; opened hand 
 And governed appetites ; and piety, 
 And love of lonely study ; humbleness, 
 Uprightness, heed to injure nought which lives, 
 Truthfulness, slowness unto wrath, a mind 
 That lightly letteth go what others prize ; 
 And equanimity, and charity 
 Which spieth no man's faults ; and tenderness 
 Towards all that suffer ; a contented heart, 
 Fluttered by no desires ; a bearing mild, 
 Modest, and grave, with manhood nobly mixed, 
 With patience, fortitude, and purity; 
 
BOOK THE SIXTEENTH. 145 
 
 An unrevengeful spirit, never given 
 To rate itself too high ; — such be the signs, 
 Indian Prince ! of him whose feet are set 
 On that fair path which leads to heavenly birth ! 
 
 Deceitfulness, and arrogance, and pride, 
 Quickness to anger, harsh and evil speech, 
 And ignorance, to its own darkness blind, — : 
 These be the signs, My Prince ! of him whose 
 
 birth 
 Is fated for the regions of the vile. 1 
 
 The Heavenly Birth brings to deliverance, 
 So should'st thou know ! The birth with Asuras 
 Brings into bondage. Be thou joyous, Prince ! 
 Whose lot is set apart for heavenly Birth, 
 
 Two stamps there are marked on all living 1 men, 
 Divine and Undivine j I spake to thee 
 
 1 " Of the Asuras," lit. 
 
146 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 By what marks thou shouldst know the Heavenly 
 
 Man, 
 Hear from me now of the Unheavenly ! 
 
 They comprehend not, the Unheavenly, 
 How Souls go forth from Me ; nor how they come 
 Back unto Me : nor is there Truth in these, 
 Nor purity, nor rule of Life. " This world 
 Hath not a Law, nor Order, nor a Lord," 
 So say they : " nor hath risen up by Cause 
 Following on Cause, in perfect purposing, 
 But is none other than a House of Lust." 
 And, this v thing thinking, all those ruined ones — 
 Of little wit, dark-minded — give themselves 
 To evil deeds, the curses of their kind. 
 Surrendered to desires insatiable, 
 Full of deceitfulness, folly, and pride, 
 In blindness cleaving to their errors, caught 
 Into the sinful course, they trust this lie 
 As it were true- — this lie which leads to death — 
 
BOOK THE SIXTEENTH. 147 
 
 Finding in Pleasure all the good which is, 
 And crying " Here it finisheth ! " 
 
 Ensnared 
 In nooses of a hundred idle hopes, 
 Slaves to their passion and their wrath, they .buy 
 "Wealth with base deeds, to glut hot appetites ; 
 " Thus much, to-day," they say, " we gained ! 
 
 thereby 
 Such and such wish of heart shall have its fill ; 
 And this is ours ! and th' other shall be ours ! 
 To-day we slew a foe, and we will slay 
 Our other enemy to-morrow ! Look ! 
 Are we not lords ? Make we not goodly cheer ? 
 Is not, our fortune famous, brave, and great ? 
 Kich are we, proudly born ! What other men 
 Live like to us ? Kill, then, for sacrifice ! 
 Cast largesse, and be merry ! " So they speak 
 Darkened by ignorance ; and so they fall — 
 Tossed to and fro with projects, tricked, and bound 
 
148 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 In net of black delusion, lost in lusts — 
 Down to foul Naraka. Conceited, fond, 
 Stubborn and proud, dead-drunken with the wine 
 Of wealth, and reckless, all their offerings 
 Have but a show of reverence, being not made 
 In piety of ancient faith. Thus vowed 
 To self-hood, force, insolence, feasting, wrath, 
 These My blasphemers, in the forms they wear 
 And in the forms they breed, my foemen are, 
 Hateful and hating : cruel, evil, vile, 
 Lowest and least of men, whom I cast down 
 Again, and yet again, at end of lives, 
 Into some devilish womb, whence — birth by birth — 
 The devilish wombs re-spawn them, all beguiled ; 
 And, till they find and worship Me, sweet Prince ! 
 Tread they that Nether Eoad. 
 
 The Doors of Hell 
 Are threefold, whereby men to ruin pass, — 
 The door of Lust, the door of Wrath, the door 
 
BOOK THE' SIXTEENTH. 149 
 
 Of Avarice. Let a man shun those three! 
 He who shall turn aside from entering 
 All those three gates of ftarak, wendeth straight 
 To find his peace, and comes to Swarga's gate. 
 
 here endeth chapter xvi. of the 
 Bhagavad-GJtA, 
 
 Entitled " Daivasarasaupadwihhdgaydg" 
 Or " The Book of the Separateness of the Divine and Undivine." 
 
 1 I omit the ten concluding shlokas, with Mr. Davie?. 
 
( ISO ) 
 
 CHAPTEE XVII. 
 
 ARJUNA: 
 
 If men forsake the holy ordinance, 
 Heedless of Shastras, yet keep faith at heart 
 And worship, what shall be the state of those, 
 Great Krishna ! Sattwan, Rajas, Tamos ? Say ! 
 
 KRISHNA: 
 
 Threefold the faith is of mankind, and springs 
 From those three qualities, — becoming " true," 
 Or " passion-stained," or " dark," as thou shalt 
 hear ! 
 
 The faith of each believer, Indian Prince ! 
 Conforms itself to what he truly is. 
 Where thou shalt see a worshipper, that one 
 
BOOK THE SEVENTEENTH. i$v 
 
 To what he worships lives assimilate,' 
 
 [Such as the shrine, so is the votary,] 
 
 The " soothfast " souls adore true gods ; the souls 
 
 Obeying Bajas worship Eakshasas 1 
 
 Or Yakshas ; and the men of Darkness pray 
 
 To Pretas and to Bhutas. 2 Yea, and those 
 
 Who practise bitter penance, not enjoined 
 
 By rightful rule — penance which hath its root 
 
 In self-sufficient, proud hypocrisies — 
 
 Those men, passion-beset, violent, wild, 
 
 Torturing — the witless ones — My elements 
 
 Shut in fair company within their flesh, 
 
 (Nay, Me myself, present within the flesh !) 
 
 Know them to devils devoted, not to Heaven ! 
 
 Tor like as foods are threefold for mankind 
 
 In nourishing, so is there threefold way 
 
 Of worship, abstinence, and almsgiving ! 
 
 1 Rakshasas and Yakshas are unembodied but capricious beings of 
 great power, gifts, and beauty, sometimes also of benignity. 
 1 These are spirits of evil, wandering ghosts. 
 
152, • THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Hear this of, Me ! there is a food which brings 
 Force, substance, strength, and health, and joy to live, 
 Being well-seasoned, cordial, comforting, 
 The " Soothfast " meat. And there be foods which 
 
 bring 
 Aches and unrests, and burning blood, and grief, 
 Being too biting, heating, salt, and sharp, 
 And therefore craved by too strong appetite. 
 And there is foul food — kept from over-night, 1 
 Savourless, filthy, which the foul will eat, 
 A feast of rottenness, meet for the lips 
 Of such as love the " Darkness." 
 
 Thus with rites ; — 
 A sacrifice not for rewardment made, 
 Offered in rightful wise, when he who vows 
 Sayeth, with heart devout, " This I should do ! " 
 Is " Soothfast " rite. But sacrifice for gain, 
 
 i Tdtayaman, food which has remained after the watches of the night. 
 In India this would probably " go bad," 
 
BOOK THE SEVENTEENTH. r$3 
 
 Offered for good repute, be sure that this, 
 
 Best of Bharatas ! is Kajas-rite, 
 
 With stamp of " passion." And a sacrifice 
 
 Offered against the laws, with no due dole 
 
 Of food-giving, with no accompaniment 
 
 Of hallowed hymn, nor largesse to the priests, 
 
 In faithless celebration, call it vile, 
 
 The deed of " Darkness ! " — lost ! 
 
 Worship of gods 
 Meriting worship ; lowly reverence 
 Of Twice-borns, Teachers, Elders ; Purity, 
 Rectitude, and the Brahmacharya's vow, 
 And not to injure any helpless thing,— 
 These make a true religiousness of Act. 
 
 Words causing no man woe, words ever true, 
 Gentle and pleasing words, and those ye say 
 In murmured reading of a Sacred Writ, — 
 These make the true religiousness of Speech. 
 
154 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Serenity of soul, benignity, 
 Sway of the silent Spirit, constant stress 
 To sanctify the Nature,- — these things make 
 Good rite, and true religiousness of Mind. 
 
 Such threefold faith, in highest piety 
 Kept, with no hope of gain, by hearts devote, 
 Is perfect work of Sattwan, true belief. 
 
 Eeligion shown in act of proud display 
 To win good entertainment, worship, fame, 
 Such — say I — is of Bajas, rash and vain. 
 
 Eeligion followed by a witless will 
 To torture self, or come at power to hurt 
 Another, — 'tis of Tamm, dark and ilL 
 
 The gift lovingly given, when one shall say 
 *' Now must I gladly give I " when he who takes 
 Can render nothing back ; made in due place, 
 
BOOK THE SEVENTEENTH. 155 
 
 Due time, and to a meet recipient, 
 Is gift of Sattwan, fair and profitable. 
 
 The gift selfishly given, where to receive 
 Is hoped again, or when some end is sought, 
 Or where the gift is proffered with a grudge, 
 This is of Rajas, stained with impulse, ilL 
 
 The gift churlishly flung, at evil time, 
 In wrongful place, to base recipient, 
 Made in disdain or harsh vmkindliness. 
 Is gift of Tamas, dark ; it doth not bless ! l 
 
 heke endeth chapter xvii.' of the 
 Bhagavad-GIta, 
 
 Entitled " Sraddliatrayaviblidgaydg," 
 Or " Tim Book of Religion by the Threefold Kindt of Faith." 
 
 1 I omit the concluding ahlokas, as of very doubtful authenticity. 
 
( 156 ) 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 ARJUNA: 
 
 Fain would I better know, Thou Glorious One ! 
 The very truth — Heart's Lord ! — of Sannyds, 
 Abstention ; and Renunciation, Lord ! 
 Tydga ; and what separates these twain I 
 
 KRISHNA: 
 
 The poets rightly teach that Sannyds 
 Is the foregoing of all acts which spring 
 Out of desire ; and their wisest say 
 Tydga is renouncing fruit of acts. 
 
 There he among the saints some who have held 
 All action sinful, and to be renounced ; 
 
BOOK THE EIGHTEENTH. 157 
 
 And some who answer, " Nay ! the goodly acts — 
 As worship, penance, alms — must be performed ! " 
 Hear now My sentence, Best of Bharatas ! 
 
 'Tis well set forth, Chaser of thy Foes ! 
 Renunciation is of threefold form, 
 And Worship, Penance, Alms, not to be stayed ; 
 Nay, to be gladly done; for all those three 
 Are purifying waters for true souls ! 
 
 Yet must be practised even those high works 
 In yielding up attachment, and all fruit 
 Produced by works. This is My judgment, 
 
 Prince ! 
 This My insuperable and fixed decree ! 
 
 Abstaining from a work by right prescribed 
 Never is meet ! So to abstain doth spring 
 From " Darkness," and Delusion teacheth it. 
 Abstaining from a work grievous to flesh, 
 
158 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 When one saith " 'Tis unpleasing ! " this is null ! 
 Such an one acts from " passion ; " nought of 
 
 gain 
 Wins his Renunciation ! But, Aijun 1 
 Abstaining from attachment to the work, 
 Abstaining from rewardment in the work, 
 While yet one doeth it full faithfully. 
 Saying, " 'Tis right to do ! " that is " true " act 
 And abstinence ! Who doeth duties so, 
 Unvexed if his work fail, if it succeed 
 Uuflattered, in his own heart justified, 
 Quit of debates and doubts, his is " true " act : 
 For, being in the body, none may stand 
 Wholly aloof from act ; yet, who abstains 
 From profit of his acts is abstinent. 
 
 The fruit of labours, in the lives to come, 
 Is threefold for all men, — Desirable, 
 And Undesirable, and mixed of both ; 
 But no fruit is at all where no work was. 
 
BOOK THE EIGHTEENTH. 159 
 
 Hear from me, Long-armed Lord! the makings 
 five 
 Which go to every act, in Saukhya taught 
 As necessary. First the force ; and tlien 
 The agent ; next, the various instruments ; 
 Fourth, the especial effort; fifth, the God. 
 What work soever any mortal doth 
 Of body, mind, or speech, evil or good, 
 By these five doth he that. Which being thus, 
 Whoso, for lack of knowledge, seeth himself 
 As the sole actor, knoweth nought at all 
 And seeth nought Therefore, I say, if one — 
 Holding aloof from self — with unstained mind 
 Should sky all yonder host, being bid to slay, 
 He doth not slay ; he is not bound thereby ! 
 
 Knowledge, the thing known, and the mind 
 which knows, 
 These make the threefold starting-ground of act. 
 The act, the actor, and the instrument, 
 
160 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 These make the threefold total of the deed. 
 But knowledge, agent, act, are differenced 
 By three dividing qualities. Hear now 
 "Which be the qualities dividing them. 
 
 There is "true" Knowledge. Learn thou it is 
 this: 
 To see one changeless Life in all the Lives, 
 • And in the Separate, One Inseparable. 
 There is imperfect Knowledge : that which sees 
 The separate existences apart, 
 And, being separated, holds them real 
 There is false Knowledge : that which blindly 
 
 clings 
 To one as if 'twere all, seeking no Cause, 
 Deprived of light, narrow, and dull, and " dark." 
 
 There is "right" Action: that which — being 
 enjoined — 
 Is wrought without attachment, passionlessly, 
 
BOOK. THE EIGHTEENTH. tf>i 
 
 For duty, not for love, nor hate, nor gain, 
 
 There is " vain " Action : that whiph men pursiro 
 
 Aching to satisfy desires, impelled 
 
 By sense of self, with all-absorbing stress : ; 
 
 This is of iJo/os-^passibhate and vain: 
 
 There is "dark " .Action: when- 'On^^oth' a 
 
 thing 
 Heedless of issues, heedless of the -hurt 
 Or wrong for others, heedless if he harm 
 His own soul^'tis oi T&mas, black- and' bad f 
 
 There is the " rightful '•' doer'i ' He ij who 1; iaeta 
 Free from self-seeking, humble, resolute, 
 Steadfast, in good or evil hap the' same, 
 Content to do aright— he " truly " acts.' 
 There is th'," impassioned "doer. He that' works 
 From impulse, seeking profit, rude and bold 
 To overcome, unchasteried ; slave ] by turns 
 Of sorrow and of joy : of Rajas he ! 
 And there be evil doers ; loose of heart, 
 
1.62 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Low-minded, stubborn, fraudulent, remiss, 
 Dull, slow, despondent — children of the " dark." 
 
 Hear, too, of Intellect and Steadfastness 
 The threefold separation, Conqueror-Prince 1 
 How these are set apart by Qualities. 
 
 Good is the Intellect which comprehends 
 The coming forth and going back of life, ; 
 
 What must be done, and what must not be 
 
 done, 
 What should be feared, and what should not be 
 
 feared, 
 What binds and what emancipates the soul : 
 That is of Sattwan, Prince ! of " soothfastness." 
 Marred is the Intellect which, knowing right 
 And knowing wrong, and what is well to do 
 And what must not be done, yet understands 
 Nought with firm mind, nor as the calm 
 
 truth is : 
 
BOOK THE EIGHTEENTH. 163 
 
 This is of Bajas, Prince ! and " passionate ! " 
 Evil is Intellect which, wrapped in gloom, 
 Looks upon wrong as right, and sees all things 
 Contrariwise of Truth, Pritha's Son ! 
 That is of Tamos, " dark " and desperate ! 
 
 Good is the steadfastness whereby a man 
 Masters his beats of heart, his very breath 
 Of life, the action of his sense/3 ; fixed 
 In never-shaken faith and piety : 
 That is of Sattwan, Prince ! " soothfast " and 
 
 fair! 
 Stained is the steadfastness whereby a man 
 Holds to his duty, purpose, effort, end, 
 For life's sake, and the love of goods to gain, 
 Arjuna ! 'tis of Bajas, passion-stamped ! 
 Sad is the steadfastness wherewith the fool 
 Cleaves to his sloth, his sorrow, and his fears 
 His folly and despair. This — Pritha's Son ! — 
 Is born of Tamas, " dark " and miserable ! 
 
164 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Hear further, Chief of Bharatas ! from Me 
 The threefold kinds of Pleasure which there be. 
 
 Good Pleasure is the pleasure that endures, 
 Banishing pain for aye ; bitter at first 
 As poison to the soul, but afterward 
 Sweet as the taste of Amrit. Drink of that ! 
 It springeth in the Spirit's deep content. 
 And painful Pleasure springeth from the bond 
 Between the senses and the sense-world. Sweet 
 As Amrit is its first taste, but its last 
 Bitter as poison. 'Tis of Rajas, Prince ! 
 And foul and " dark '" the Pleasure is which springs 
 Prom sloth and sin and foolishness; at first 
 And at the last, and all the way of life 
 The soul bewildering. 'Tis of Tamas, Prince ! 
 
 For nothing lives on earth, nor 'midst the gods 
 In utmost heaven, but hath its being bound 
 With these three Qualities, by Nature framed. 
 
BOOR. THE EIGHTEENTH. 165 
 
 The work of Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, 
 And £udras, thou Slayer of thy Foes ! 
 Is fixed by reason of the Qualities 
 Planted in each : 
 
 A Brahman's virtues, Prince ! 
 Born of his nature, are serenity, 
 Self-mastery, religion, purity, 
 Patience, uprightness, learning, and to know 
 The truth of things which be. A Kshatriya's pride, 
 Born of his nature, lives in valour, fire, 
 Constancy, skilfulness, spirit in fight, 
 And open-handedness and noble mien, 
 As of a lord of men. A Vaisya's task, 
 Born with his nature, is to till the ground, 
 Tend cattle, venture trade. A ^udra's state, 
 Suiting his nature, is to minister. 
 
 Whoso performeth — diligent, content — 
 The work allotted him, whate'er it be, 
 
1 66 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Lays hold of perfectness ! Hear how a man 
 Findeth perfection, being so content: 
 He findeth it through worship — wrought by work — 
 Of Him that is the Source of all which lives, 
 Of Him by Whom the universe was stretched. 
 
 Better thine own work is, though done with fault, 
 Than doing others' work, ev'n excellently. 
 He shall not fall in sin who fronts the task 
 Set him by Nature's hand ! Let no man leave 
 His natural duty, Prince ! though it bear blame ! 
 For every work hath blame, as every flame 
 Is wrapped in smoke ! Only that man attains 
 Perfect surcease of work whose work was wrought 
 With mind unfettered, soul wholly subdued, 
 Desires for ever dead, results renounced. 
 
 Learn from me, Son of Kunti ! also this, 
 How one, attaining perfect peace, attains 
 Brahm, the supreme, the highest height of all ! 
 
BOOK THE EIGHTEENTH. 167 
 
 Devoted — with a heart grown pure, restrained 
 In lordly self-control, foregoing wiles 
 Of song and senses, freed from love and hate, 
 Dwelling 'mid solitudes, in diet spare, 
 With body, speech, and will tamed to obey, 
 Ever to holy meditation vowed, 
 From passions liberate, quit of the Self, 
 Of arrogance, impatience, anger, pride ; 
 Freed from surroundings, quiet, lacking nought — 
 Such an one grows to oneness with the Beahm ; 
 Such an one, growing one with Beahm, serene, 
 Sorrows no more, desires no more ; his soul, 
 Equally loving all that lives, loves well 
 Me, "Who have made them, and attains to Me. 
 By this same love and worship doth he know 
 Me as I am, how high and wonderful, 
 And knowing, straightway enters into Me. 
 And whatsoever deeds he doeth — fixed 
 In Me, as in his refuge — he hath won 
 For ever and for ever by My grace 
 
i68 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Th" Eternal East! So win thou! In thy thoughts 
 Do all thou dost for Me! Eenounce for Me! 
 Sacrifice heart and mind and will to Me ! 
 Live in the faith of Me ! In faith of Me 
 All dangers thou shalt vanquish, by My grace ; 
 But, trusting to thyself and heeding not, 
 Thou can'st but perish ! If this day thou say'st, 
 Belying on thyself, " I will not fight ! " 
 Vain will the purpose prove ! thy qualities 
 Would spur thee to the war. What thou dost shun, 
 Misled by fair illusions, thou wouldst seek 
 Against thy will, when the task comes to thee 
 Waking the promptings in thy nature set. 
 There lives a Master in the hearts of men 
 Maketh their deeds, by subtle, pulling-strings, 
 Dance to what: tune He will. With all thy soul 
 Trust Him, and take Him for thy succour, Prince ! 
 So — only so, Arjuna ! — shalt thou gain — 
 By grace of Him — the uttermost repose, 
 The Eternal Place ! 
 
BOQK JHE EJQHTEENTH. 169 
 
 Thus hath been opened thee 
 This Truth of Truths* the Mystery more hid 
 Than any secret mystery. Meditate ! 
 And — as thou wilt — then act ! 
 
 Nay ! but once more 
 Take My last word, My utmost meaning have ! 
 Precious thou art to Me ; right well-beloved ! 
 Listen ! I tell thee for thy, comfort this., 
 Give Me thy heart! adore, Me! serve Me! cling 
 In faith and love and reverence to Me ! 
 So shalt thou come to Me! , I promise true, 
 For thou art sweet to Me ! . 
 
 And let go those — 
 Kites and writ duties ! Fly to Me alone ! 
 Make Me thy. single refuge ! I will free 
 Thy soul from all its sins ! Be of good cheer ! 
 
 [Hide, the holy Krishna saith, 
 This from him that hath no faith, 
 
THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 Hiin that worships not, nor seeks 
 Wisdom's teaching when she speaks : 
 Hide it from all men who mock ; 
 But, wherever, 'mid the flock 
 Of My lovers, one shall teach 
 This divinest, wisest, speech — 
 Teaching in the faith to bring 
 Truth to them, and offering 
 Of all honour unto Me — 
 Unto Brahma cometh he ! 
 Nay, and nowhere shall ye find 
 Any man of all mankind 
 Doing dearer deed for Me ; 
 Nor shall any dearer be 
 In My earth. Yea, furthermore. 
 Whoso reads this converse o'er, 
 Held by Us upon the plain, 
 Pondering piously and fain, 
 He hath paid Me sacrifice ! 
 (Krishna speaketh in this wise !) 
 
BOOK THE EIGHTEENTH. m 
 
 Yea, and whoso, full of faith, 
 Heareth wisely what it saith, 
 Heareth meekly, — when he dies, 
 Surely shall his spirit rise 
 To those regions where the Blest, 
 Free of flesh, in joyance rest.] 
 
 Hath this been heard by thee, Indian Prince ! 
 With mind intent ? hath all the ignorance — 
 Which bred thy trouble — vanished, My Arjun ? 
 
 ARJUNA: 
 
 Trouble and ignorance are gone I the Light 
 Hath come unto me, by Thy favour, Lord ! 
 Now am I fixed ! my doubt is fled away 1 
 According to Thy word, so will I do ! 
 
i- /2 THE SONG CELESTIAL. 
 
 SANJAYA: 
 
 Thus gathered I the gracious speech of Krishna, 
 
 my King! 
 Thus have I told, with heart a-thrill, this wise and 
 
 wondrous thing 
 By great Vyasa's learning writ, how Krishna's self 
 
 made known 
 The Ydga, being Yoga's Lord. So is the high 
 
 truth shown ! 
 And aye, when I remember, Lord my King, 
 
 again 
 Arjuna and the God in talk, and all this holy 
 
 strain, 
 Great is my gladness : when I muse that splendour, 
 
 passing speech, 
 Of Hari, visible and plain, there is no tongue to 
 
 reach 
 My marvel and my love and bliss. Archer- 
 Prince ! all hail ! 
 
BOOK THE EIGHTEENTH. 173 
 
 Krishna, Lord of Y6ga! surely there shall not 
 
 fail 
 Blessing, and victory, and power, for Thy most 
 
 mighty sake, 
 Where this song comes of Arjun, and how with God 
 
 he spake. 
 
 HEKE ENDS, WITH CHAPTER XVIII., 
 
 Entitled " MokshasamydsaySg," 
 
 Or " The Book of Religion by Deliverance and Renunciation,'' 
 
 The Bhagavad-GIta. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 PRINTED BY BAI.I.ANTVNE, HANSON AND CO. 
 EDINBURGH AND LONDON 
 
SIR EDWIN ARNOLD'S 
 
 WORKS. 
 
 " The perusal of Sir Edwin Arnold's pages is an intellectual 
 and humanising treat? — Asiatic Quarterly Review. 
 
Sir E&win Hrnol&'s lpoetfcal WLovHs. 
 
 Imperial i6mo, parchment, pp. 144, price 3s. 6d. 
 
 N MY LADY'S PRAISE 
 
 BEING POEMS OLD AND NEW, 
 
 Written to the Honour of Fanny, Lady Arnold, 
 
 And now Collected for Her Memory, 
 
 Sir EDWIN ARNOLD, M.A., K.C.I.E., C.S.I., 
 
 Author of " The Light of Asia," &c. &c. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 ' ' Good-night ! not Good-bye ! ' 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 A Casket of Gems — 
 
 F. Fire-opals. 
 
 A. Amethysts. 
 
 N. Nephrite, Jade. 
 
 N. Nacre and Pearls. 
 
 Y. Yacut, Topazes. 
 
 M. Moonstone. 
 A. Aquamarine. 
 R. Rubies 
 
 I. Idocrase, Garnets. 
 A Agates. 
 
 A. Amber and Lazulite. 
 
 D. Diamonds. 
 
 E. Emeralds. 
 
 L. Ligure, Jacynths. 
 
 A. An Aureus. 
 
 I. Iolite and Ivory. 
 
 D. Dawn-stone. 
 
 E. Euclase and Essonite. 
 
 October. 
 
 Dedication of a Volume of Trans- 
 lations. 
 
 To "Stella." 
 
 A Duet. 
 
 On a Cyclamen. 
 
 In Happy Days. 
 
 To a Sleeping Lady. 
 
 1 ' Students' Day " in the National 
 Gallery. 
 
 Memories. 
 
 In Absence. 
 
 In the Death-Chamber. 
 
 Sic sine vita. 
 
Sir Ebwin Hrnol&'s "Xa&s's praise." 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 Morning Post. — "Possess considerable merit, and indicate a 
 keen appreciation of and admiration for her in whose honour 
 they were composed" 
 
 Saturday Review. — " The poet 's fancy ranges with character- 
 istic ease and buoyancy through many a rich field of legend and 
 history, and does not disdain to add to the poetic garnering 
 somewhat of the spoils of science" 
 
 Academy. — " Very sweet and sacred would seem to have been 
 the love of which Sir Edwin Arnold allows us to be partakers 
 through the fellowship of grief and song" 
 
 Whitehall Review. — " It will be the cherished possession of 
 all Sir Edwin Arnold's friends!' 
 
 Graphic. — "Admirers of Sir Edwin Arnold's imaginative 
 and poetical gifts will not be willing to remain without the 
 volume in which is enshrined the thoughts which have come of 
 the breaking up of a domestic alliance, to all seeming of idyllic 
 happiness'' 
 
 World. — "His dedication is an exquisite specimen of that 
 spirit of love which pervades the book" 
 
 Society. — " This is indeed a noble addition to our store of 
 elegiac poetry" 
 
 Observer. — " A graceful and pathetic tribute to the memory 
 of one whose passing away extinguished for a time the light of 
 his heart and home!' 
 
 Literary World. — "Contains some very beautiful thoughts. 
 . . . There are passages in these poems that deserve to live. . . . 
 The ' Casket of Gems ' is well described as such, and we commend 
 it to all lovers of poetry!' 
 
 British Weekly. — "Necessarily mournful, yet rich with 
 imagination, and worthy of the poems that have preceded it 
 from the same pen!' 
 
 Lloyd's News. — "Comes like a fresh and inspiring breeze 
 from the mountain heights, chasing the gloom of those who 
 would have us believe that there is an end of chivalry, and that 
 life is all a failure." 
 
 Figaro. — "Some of them are very beautiful, and others in- 
 tensely pathetic!' 
 
 Scotsman. — "Has beauties enough of its own to make it 
 heartily enjoyed by all lovers of poetry!' 
 
 LONDON : KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER, & CO. LT_» 
 
 3 
 
Sir JEowin Hrnolo's poetical TOKorfts. 
 
 Crown 8vo, pp. viii. and 375, price 7s. 6d. 
 
 POEMS: 
 
 NATIONAL AND NON-ORIENTAL. 
 
 WITH SOME NEW PIECES. 
 
 Selected from the Works of 
 
 Sir EDWIN ARNOLD, M.A., K.C.I.E., C.S.I., 
 
 Author of " The Light of Asia," &c. &c. &c. 
 
 The Four Crowns. 
 
 To H.R.H. the Princess 
 of Wales. 
 
 The First Distribution of 
 the Victoria Cross. 
 
 In Memoriam. 
 
 Florence Nightingale. 
 
 Congratulatory Address. 
 
 The Order of Valour. 
 
 On the Death of the Prin- 
 
 ■ cess Alice. 
 
 Havelock in Trafalgar 
 Square. 
 
 Adelaide Anne Procter. 
 
 To America. 
 
 Armageddon. 
 
 To Matthew Arnold. 
 
 Song of the German Sol- 
 diers in Alsace. 
 
 Berlin. — The Sixteenth of 
 March. 
 
 Hero and Leander. 
 
 The Feast of Belshazzar. 
 
 The Three Roses. 
 
 He and She. 
 
 "On the th instant, 
 
 Drowned whilst Bath- 
 ing." 
 
 Dream-land. 
 
 A ma Future. 
 
 Llangollen. 
 
 The Two Wreaths. 
 
 Almond Blossom. 
 
 Sonnet. 
 
 All Saints' Day. 
 4 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Serenade. 
 
 The Emigrant. 
 
 The Three Students. 
 
 Jam Satis. 
 
 Aristippus. 
 
 Effie. 
 
 To F. C. H. 
 
 From Sappho. 
 
 From Anacreon. 
 
 Nemesis. 
 
 Love and Life. 
 
 Two Idylls of Theocritus : 
 By the Fountain. 
 The Spell. 
 
 Lament of Adonis. 
 
 Prayer to the Muses. 
 
 A Dedication. 
 
 With a Volume of Trans- 
 lations. 
 
 Dedication of a Book. 
 
 The Epic of the Lion. 
 
 Nencia. 
 
 The Stratford Pilgrims. 
 
 "Students' Day" in the 
 National Gallery. 
 
 The Knight's Tomb at 
 Swanscombe Church. 
 
 Alia Mano Delia Mia 
 Donna. 
 
 The Hymn of the Priestess 
 of Diana. 
 
 To a Sleeping Lady. 
 
 To Stella. 
 
 Inscribed upon a Skull 
 picked up on the Acro- 
 polis at Athens. 
 
 The New Lucian. 
 
 Oxford Revisited. 
 
 A Duet. 
 
 The Altar of Pity. 
 
 The Cholera in Italy. 
 
 The Wreck of the " Nor- 
 thern Belle." 
 
 A Home Song. 
 
 Fond Fancies. 
 
 On a Dead Lady. 
 
 Lydia. 
 
 The Lost Pleiad. 
 
 Amadis of Gaul to Don 
 Quixote de la Mancha. 
 
 The Shadow of the Cross. 
 
 Christ Blessing Little Chil- 
 dren. 
 
 On a Cyclamen. 
 
 The Twelve Months. 
 
 In Westminster Abbey. 
 
 Atalanta. 
 
 Life. 
 
 Hadrian's Address to his 
 Soul. 
 
 The Depths of the Sea. 
 
 The Heavenly Secret. 
 
 An Adieu. 
 
 Jeanne. 
 
 A Farewell. 
 
 A Love-Song of Henri 
 Quatre. 
 
 In Memory of S. S. 
 
 Epitaph written for the 
 Same. 
 
 Obscure Martyrs. 
 
 Wilfred H. Arnold. 
 
 The Rhine and the Mo- 
 selle. 
 
Sit Eowm Hrnolo's Selected poems. 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 Daily Telegraph. — "Among so much that is striking in 
 thought or diction it may be difficult to select favourites, and im- 
 possible to award absolute priority of merit; but the short set 
 of verses called 'Atalanta,' and another on Mr. Burn Jones's 
 picture of 'The Mermaid] entitled ' The Depths of the Sea,' come 
 as near poetical perfection as any in a volume which will delight 
 all to whom English poetry is dear'' 
 
 Morning Post. — "Sir Edwin Arnold, in the work under 
 notice, purposely turns from the glowing magic of his Eastern 
 verse, and complies 'with a desire that a selection should be 
 made from his non-Oriental poems' There is consequently great 
 variety in this volume, which contains also many fine and 
 scholarly renderings from French, German, and other poets, 
 besides some 'new pieces!" 
 
 Echo. — " We thank the author for this volume of selected 
 non-Oriental poems, which contain many things which the world 
 would not willingly let die!' 
 
 St. James' Gazette. — "Assuredly as Catholic as it is musical" 
 
 Manchester Guardian. — "Exceedingly pleasant verse." 
 
 Scotsman. — "A goodly volume of goodly verse. . . . These 
 poems are of uniformly exquisite workmanship, and in many 
 the verse is rich and glowing. They are all inspired by pure 
 and lofty sentiment and noble ideas. They possess unusual 
 grace of form and expression!' 
 
 Saturday Review. — "As a selection the volume shows unusual 
 care and discrimination. It comprises some new poems, in 
 addition to many old favourites, sicre of welcome by all lovers of 
 poetry" 
 
 Westminster Review. — " They are as refreshing as a breath 
 of air after long confinement in a crowded room" 
 
 Bookseller. — "A most masterly composition!' 
 
 LONDON : KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER, & CO. L™ 
 
 S 
 
Sir JEowin Hrnolo's poetical Worfcs. 
 
 Crown 8vo, pp. x. and 212, cloth, price 7s. 6d. 
 
 WITH SA'DI IN THE GARDEN; 
 
 OR, 
 
 THE BOOK OF LOVE. 
 
 Being the "Ishk" or Third Chapter of the "Bostan" of 
 the Persian Poet Sa'di. 
 
 Embodied in a Dialogue held in the Garden of the 
 Taj Mahal, at Agra. 
 
 BY 
 
 Sir EDWIN ARNOLD, M.A., K.C.I.E., C.S.I., 
 
 Author of " The Light of Asia," &c. &c. 
 
 In this work, which is dedicated to the Earl of Dufferin, 
 the Author, after minutely describing the beautiful Tomb and 
 surrounding Gardens of the Taj Mahal, introduces a group 
 composed of a learned Mirza, two singing-girls with their 
 attendant, and an Englishman, who pass the night in the 
 Mosque attached to the famous Monument, reading the 
 Chapter of Sa'di upon " Love," and conversing upon that 
 theme, with accompaniments of music and dancing. The 
 larger portion of the Book is original, and comprises, besides 
 the included translations from Sa'di, many lyrical pieces in 
 the Persian manner, sung by the accomplished musicians, 
 and also several novel Oriental Tales illustrating the dialogue. 
 
Sir JE&win Hrnol&'s "Mitb Sa'&i." 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 Morning Post — " From first to last Sir Edwin Arnold's 
 work is rich in gems of thought, conveyed now in words of 
 brilliant imagery, sometimes of deeper import, again of exquisite 
 feeling, but testifying one and all to his absolute assimilation of 
 the genius of the East." 
 
 Daily Telegraph. — "The charm of the volume is greatly en- 
 hanced by the mingling of dramatic narrative with love, lore and 
 philosophy; and those who in this shape first become acquainted 
 •with Scidi's poetry and quaint wisdom will owe a lasting debt 
 of gratitude to the accomplished translator'' 
 
 Echo. — "Another volume of charming verse from the far 
 East. . . . That they are charming there can be no question : 
 the only question is whether they are not too charming — so 
 charming as to be almost enervating'' 
 
 Academy. — ". .• . The perusal of these poems has something 
 of the effect of a change of climate : we open the book, and forth- 
 with leave behind our modern practical life, to find ourselves in 
 a spiritual region of yearning, and ecstasy and high-strung 
 devotion. We close it, and come back to our work-a-day with a 
 feeling as if we had been breathing a softer and purer air." 
 
 Spectator. — " The plan of Sir Edwin Arnold's latest poem 
 is simple but ingenious. . . . He displays a considerable com- 
 mand of picturesque imagery, and a flowing narrative style. 
 His verse is often melodious." 
 
 Whitehall Review. — " We could quote and quote and quote 
 again, filling our columns with orient pearls, and yet leave the 
 treasures of this book well-nigh untouched." 
 
 British Weekly. — "His verse has all its old dreamy charm; 
 one could give himself up to it in the sun for hours'' 
 
 St. Stephen's Review. — "' Sa'di's' poems go straight to the 
 heart. . . . It is not going too far to say, that for captivating 
 interest, for situations on which the mind hangs spell-bound 
 and for exquisite touches of human nature and sublimest pathos, 
 the author of ' The Light of Asia' has in this exquisite idyl 
 surpassed himself" 
 
 Literary World. — " We hope Sir Edwin Arnold will long 
 be spared to give us more of his delightful and scholarly Oriental 
 poems, instinct as they are with the truest spirit of Eastern 
 philosophy and life'' 
 
 Liverpool Mercury. — "Glowing with sensuousness, the light, 
 the colour of the East. . . . The ballads and lo-Oe songs are 
 especially fine, a?zd the work as a whole will add to its authors 
 already not inconsiderable fame" 
 
 LONDON : KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER, & CO. LTP 
 
 7 
 
Sir Eowin Hrnolo's poetical Morfts. 
 
 Crown 8vo, pp. viii. and 264, cloth, price 7s. 6d 
 
 LOTUS AND JEWEL. 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 "IN AN INDIAN TEMPL E," 
 
 "A CASKET OF GEMS," 
 
 "A QUEEN'S REVENGE." 
 
 With other Poems. 
 
 By Sir EDWIN ARNOLD, M.A., K.C.I.E., C.S.I., &c. &c. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 In an Indian Temple. 
 
 A Casket of Gems. 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 F. Fire-opals. 
 
 A. Amethysts. 
 
 N. Nephrite, Jade. 
 
 N. Nacre and Pearls. 
 
 Y. Yacut, Topazes. 
 
 M. Moonstone. 
 A. Aquamarine. 
 R. Rubies. 
 I. Idocrase, Garnets. 
 A. Agates. 
 
 A. Amber and Lazulite. 
 
 D. Diamonds. 
 
 E. Emeralds. 
 
 L. Ligure, Jacynths. 
 
 A. An Aureus. 
 
 I. Iolite and Ivory. 
 
 D. Dawn-stone. 
 
 E . Euclase and Essonite. 
 8 
 
 Laila. 
 
 In Westminster Abbey. 
 
 Atalanta. 
 
 Life {from Victor Hugo). 
 
 Hadrian's Address to his Soul. 
 
 The Depths of the Sea. 
 
 The Heavenly Secret. 
 
 An Adieu. 
 
 The Indian Judge. 
 
 Jeanne (from Victor Hugo). 
 
 A Rajput Nurse. 
 
 Zanouba's Song (from the Persian). 
 
 The Snake and the Baby. 
 
 From a Sikh Hymn. 
 
 A Farewell (from the French). 
 
 A Love-Song of Henri Quatre. 
 
 From the Sanskrit Anthology. 
 
 Basti Singh's Wife. 
 
 In Memory of S. S. 
 
 Epitaph on the Same. 
 
 From the Sanskrit. 
 
 Grishma; or, The Season of 
 
 Heat. 
 A Queen's Revenge. 
 
Sir JE&win Hrnol&'s "OLotus anb Jewel." 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 Daily Telegraph. — " Steeped in the lore and penetrated with 
 the love of India, Sir Edwin Arnold has accomplished that 
 which few other men would venture to attempt. He has brought 
 to English ears and English hearts the strange and wonderful 
 meanings of the Vedas and the Puranas, blending the mystery 
 of Hinduism with the clear and noble sweetness of English 
 verse." 
 
 Daily N ews. — " If Sir Edwin Arnold owes his inspiration as 
 a poet to Indian air, where his imagination loves to dwell, and 
 his fancy seems radiant with all the light and colour and redolent 
 of all the perfumes of the East, he has in these pages shown that 
 a poet is a poet all the world over, wherever the still sad music 
 of humanity is heard? 
 
 Pall Mall Gazette. — "Fully maintains Sir Edwin Arnold's 
 reputation. It contains three principal poems, of which the first 
 in order, 'In an Indian Temple' seems to us the best. The second, 
 'A Casket of Gems,' is full of delicate and graceful fancy, its 
 diction is rich even to gorgeousness, while passages showing 
 depth of feeling occur again and again. The third, 'A Queen's 
 Revenge,' is a translation from the Sanskrit of the Mahdbhdrata. 
 Powerful certainly it is, and it casts, as the author remarks, a 
 curious light on ' ancient Indian life and manners' " 
 
 Echo. — "Sir Edwin Arnold is always very pleasant read- 
 ing. He takes us out of our surroundings, and puts us down 
 in an entirely different country." 
 
 Whitehall Review. — " Sir Edwin Arnold 'is a poet, a scholar, 
 and a student ; he knows what he is writing about, and he 
 ■writes beautifully. . . . He has brought many precious Eastern 
 things to our market, and so we are very grateful to him.'" 
 
 Academy. — " The book is full of charm." 
 
 Bristol Mercury. — "Every one who loves poetry should get 
 this collection, and we shall be surprised if they do not say, when 
 they have read it, that the writer is a true poet" 
 
 Scotsman. — "Style and rhythm are, as in all this author's 
 poems, rich and melodious, the imagery is beautiful and appro- 
 priate, and the thoughts warm and noble.' 1 
 
 LONDON: KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER, & CO. L™ 
 A3 9 
 
Sir E&win Hrnol&'s poetical Morhs. 
 
 Crown 8vo, pp. xiv. and 173, cloth, price 5s. 
 
 THE SONG CELESTIAL; 
 
 Or, bhagavad-gita. 
 
 {From the Mahdbhdrata.) 
 
 Being a Discourse between Arjuna, Prince of India, and the 
 Supreme Being, under the form of Krishna. 
 
 Translated from the Sanskrit. 
 By Sir EDWIN ARNOLD, M.A., K.C.I.E., C.S.I., &c. &c. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 The Distress of Arjuna. 
 
 The Book of Doctrines. 
 
 Virtue in Work. 
 
 The Religion of Knowledge. 
 
 Religion of Renouncing Works. 
 
 Religion by Self-Restraint. 
 
 Religion by Discernment. 
 
 Religion by Service of the Supreme. 
 
 Religion by the Kingly Knowledge and the Kingly Mystery. 
 
 Religion by the Heavenly Perfections. 
 
 The Manifesting of the One and Manifold. 
 
 Religion of Faith. 
 
 Religion by Separation of Matter and Spirit. 
 
 Religion by Separation from the Qualities. 
 
 Religion by Attaining the Supreme. 
 
 The Separateness of the Divine and Undivine. 
 
 Religion by the Threefold Faith. 
 
 Religion by Deliverance and Renunciation, 
 
Sir Ebwin Hrnolo's "Song Celestial." 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 Times of India. — "Sir Edwin Arnold has, in fact, presented 
 us with a new poem of beautiful diction and splendid rhythm, as 
 indeed might have been expected from such a master of the 
 intricacies of versification!' 
 
 Morning Post. — " Sir Edwin Arnold has once more enriched 
 our literature with a treasure drawn from the mine of Indian 
 lore. . . If ' The Song Celestial' offers less narrative interest 
 than other works previously translated by Sir Edwin Arnold, it 
 excels them in elevation of tone, the effect of which is rendered 
 still more complete by the author's power and grace of diction'' 
 
 Literary World. — " Sir Edwin Arnold merits our warmest 
 thanks for his scholarly and highly poetic rendering of this 
 famous poem!' 
 
 Liverpool Mercury. — "One feels the better for a book like 
 this which Sir Edwin Arnold has given us. That fulness of 
 thought and simplicity of presentment which everywhere distin- 
 guishes Eastern literature is nowhere more conspicuous than in 
 this admirable translation. The blank verse is strong and yet 
 pliable, easy to read and very musical, clear and yet strenuous." 
 
 Leeds Mercury. — "Sir Edwin Arnold has again achieved 
 a notable success in a difficult task . . . he has given us a most 
 readable and attractive metrical translation of the loftiest and 
 purest of the episodes of the huge Mahdbh&rata." 
 
 Sheffield Independent. — "In Sir Edwin Arnold's trans- 
 lations these exquisite melodies captivate the English ear, and 
 lead one to wonder what they must be like in the Sanskrit text." 
 
 Christian World. — "Far surpasses its predecessors in poetic 
 grace and attractiveness.'' 
 
 LONDON : KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER, & CO. L™ 
 
Sir J66wfn Hrnol&'s ipoetfcal Worfes. 
 
 Crown 8vo, pp. viii. and 406, cloth, price 7s. 6d. 
 
 THE SECRET OF DEATH. 
 
 {From the Sanskrit!) 
 
 WITH SOME COLLECTED POEMS. 
 
 By Sir EDWIN ARNOLD, M.A., K.C.I. E., C.S.I., &c.,&c. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Introduction. 
 The Secret of Death. 
 Hero and Leander. 
 The Epic of the Lion. 
 Nencia. 
 
 The Rajpoot Wife. 
 The Caliph's Daughter. 
 The Stratford Pilgrims. 
 Vernier. 
 King Saladin. 
 The Rajah's Ride. 
 A Eihari Mill-Song. 
 Hindoo Funeral Song. 
 Song of the Serpent -Charmers. 
 Song of the Flour-Mill. 
 "Students' Day" in the National 
 
 Gallery. 
 The Knight's Tomb at Swanscombe 
 
 Church. 
 Adelaide Anne Procter. 
 The Three Roses. 
 Alia Mano Delia Mia Donna. 
 The Hymn of the Priestess of 
 
 Diana. 
 To a Sleeping Lady. 
 To Stella. 
 Lines Inscribed on a Skull picked 
 
 up on the Acropolis at Athens. 
 Dedication of a Poem from the 
 
 Sanskrit. 
 The New Lucian. 
 
 On the Death of the Princess Alice. 
 Facies Non Omnibus Una. 
 
 Armageddon. 
 
 The Four Crowns. 
 
 Havelock in Trafalgar Square. 
 
 Oxford Revisited. 
 
 A Duet. 
 
 The Altar of Pity. 
 
 The Cholera in Italy. 
 
 Rest. 
 
 The First Distribution of the Victoria 
 
 Cross. 
 The Wreck of the "Northern Belle." 
 A Home Song. 
 Fond Fancies. 
 The Landing of the Princess of 
 
 Wales. 
 To F. C. H. 
 He and She. 
 
 On a Dead Lady {from the Italian). 
 The Three Students. 
 Serenade. 
 
 Lydia {from, Horace). 
 Dante and his Verses. 
 The Lost Pleiad. 
 Amadis of Gaul to Don Quixote de 
 
 la Mancha. 
 The Shadow of the Cross. 
 Christ Blessing Little Children. 
 On a Cyclamen, Plucked at Cana of 
 
 Galilee. 
 A Discourse of Buddha. 
 The Twelve Months. 
 A Dedication. 
 Translation from the Greek. 
 
Sir lEbwfn Hrnolo's " Secret of 2>eatb." 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 Morning Post. — '■'■Each new work of Sir Edwin Arnold's 
 shows his style to be as vigorous, his imagination as fertile as 
 ever. He is unequalled as an exponent of the treasures to be 
 found in the rich mine of Oriental literature. . . . In the first 
 three ' Vallis ' or ' Lotus Stems ' of the * Katha Upanishad,' the 
 purest philosophical doctrines are conveyed in a species of par- 
 ables, full of Oriental imagery and vivid colouring." 
 
 Daily Telegraph. — " Nothing can exceed the graceful purity, 
 the sympathetic and reverent tenderness, with which ' this lovely 
 lotus-blossom' is unfolded by its faithful admirer? 
 
 Globe. — " The story is told with a truly Oriental wealth of 
 imagery, and is no less vivid in its landscape than subtle in its 
 philosophy!' 
 
 Morning Advertiser. — " Every poem in the present collection 
 will amply sustain Sir Edwin Arnold's reputation as a writer of 
 English verse of undoubted originality, versatility^ and power!' 
 
 Scotsman. — " Translations and original poems alike give 
 ■proof of a scholarly and cultured taste, and of grace and dignity 
 of diction; and not seldom of a fine combination of vigour of 
 phrase with delicacy of thought." 
 
 Illustrated London News. — " He has drawn upon the 
 treasures of Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, French, and German, for 
 his varied and interesting collection; and his touch is that not 
 only of a cunning hand, but of one who feels that respect is due 
 to what he touches!' 
 
 The Whitehall Review. — " The poem is a great, almost a 
 priceless, contribution to religion, to poetry, and to thought!' 
 
 Literary World. — "It can hardly fail to i7ieet with a cordial 
 welcome from those readers who never tire of the humbler 
 poetry which sings of love, and loss, and longing — themes as old 
 as life itself, but which never lose their freshness and their charm. 
 A collection of poems like this, in which are gathered together the 
 gleanings and the memories of many years, is to a sympathetic 
 reader almost like an hour of talk face to face; we expect a book 
 and we find a man." 
 
 LONDON : KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER, & CO. L™ 
 
 13 
 
Sir JEowin Hrnolo's poetical TKHorfcs. 
 
 Crown 8vo, pp. xii. and 282, cloth, price 7s. 6d. 
 
 INDIAN IDYLLS. 
 
 {Fro?n the Sanskrit of the Mahdbhdrata.) 
 By Sir EDWIN ARNOLD, M.A., K.C.I.E., C.S.I., &c. &c. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 SAVITRl ; OR, LOVE AND DEATH. 
 NALA AND DAMAYANTl. 
 THE ENCHANTED LAKE. 
 THE SAINT'S TEMPTATION. 
 THE BIRTH OF DEATH. 
 THE NIGHT OF SLAUGHTER. 
 THE GREAT JOURNEY. 
 THE ENTRY INTO HEAVEN. 
 
 EXTRACT FROM PREFACE. 
 
 ' ' The present volume contains (besides the two Parvas from my 
 'Indian Poetry') such translations as I have from time to time made 
 out of this prodigious epic (the Mahabharata), which is sevenfold greater 
 in bulk than the Iliad and Odyssey taken together. The stories here 
 extracted are new to English literature, with the exception of a few passages 
 of the ' Savitri' and the ' Nala and Damayanti,' which was long ago most 
 faithfully rendered by Dean Milman, the version being published side by 
 side with a clear and excellent Sanskrit text edited by Professor Monier 
 Williams, CLE. But that presentation of the beautiful and brilliant 
 legend, with all its conspicuous merits, seems better adapted to aid the 
 student than adequately to reproduce the swift march of narrative and 
 old-world charm of the Indian tale, which I also have therefore ventured 
 to transcribe, with all deference and gratitude to my predecessors." 
 14 
 
Sir JE&wfn Brnol&'s "jnOian 3&slls." 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 Daily Telegraph. — " Nobody who reads the heart-stirring 
 epics put into magnificent rhythm which are contained in this 
 book can ever again affect to despise the people whose genius 
 established such an imperishable monument." 
 
 Daily News.—" From these tnighty poems the author -well 
 describes these Indian epics, compared with which Homer is a 
 modern ; he has translated some beautiful and touching episodic 
 legends, and readers of ' Sdvitri; or, Love and Death' and of 
 ' Nala and Damayanti,' for example, will feel grateful to him 
 for having revealed to the somewhat jaded sensibilities of our 
 poets of to-day such a mine of inexhaustible spiritual fertility, 
 and such treasures of emotional tenderness and imaginative 
 freshness and simplicity? 
 
 Globe. — "All the idylls are marked by the grace of diction 
 and tenderness of tone which are among Sir Edwin Arnold's 
 leading characteristics, while it needs scarcely to be said that 
 the style is pure and elevated throughout. The imagery, too, 
 is full of force and fire." 
 
 Fortnightly Review. — "In his recently published volume of 
 ' Indian Idylls,' Sir Edwin A mold continues his task of i7iterpret- 
 ingto English readers the tender thoughts and graceful imagery 
 of the East. The volume consists of eight graphic pieces from the 
 ' Mahdbhdrata' one of the two colossal and unparalleled epic 
 poems of India, which were not known to Europe even by name 
 till Sir William Jones announced their existence" 
 
 St. James's Gazette. — "Sir Edwin Arnold has eaten of the 
 lotus-fruit of Eastern song, and finds it hard to leave it. And 
 of this we are far from complaining, seeing that this taste of 
 his has enabled many of us to travel into ' realms of gold' 
 which we could hardly enter without some such skilful guide'' 
 
 New York Times. — "The ' Indian Idylls' partake of the 
 same character as his previous works, ' The Light of Asia,' 
 ' Pearls of the Faith,' and others, being deeply imbued with the 
 spirit of Oriental poetry, and having the power of rendering 
 that spirit in English language with a verisimilitude and force 
 which cannot fail to convince the reader of the truth of its 
 colouring." 
 
 LONDON : KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER, & CO. LIP 
 
 *5 
 
Sir JEowfn Hrnolo's poetical Ifllorfes. 
 
 Crown 8vo, pp. xiv. and 320, with green borders, 
 cloth, price 7s. 6d. 
 
 PEARLS OF THE FAITH; 
 
 Or, ISLAM'S ROSARY. 
 
 Being the Ninety-nine Beautiful Names of Allah 
 (Asraa-el-'Husna). 
 
 With Comments in Verse from various Oriental Sources. 
 As made by an Indian Mussulman. 
 
 By Sir EDWIN ARNOLD, M.A., K.C.I.E., C.S.I., &c. &c. 
 
 Allah. 
 
 Ar-Rahman. 
 Ar-Raheem. 
 Al-Malik. 
 Al-Kuddus. 
 As-Salam. 
 Al-Maumin. 
 Al-Muhaimin. 
 Al-Hathim. 
 Al-Jabbar. 
 Al-Mutakabbir. 
 Al-Khalik. 
 Al-Bari. 
 Al-Muzawwir. 
 Al-Ghaffar. 
 Ai-Kahhar. 
 Al-Wahhab. 
 Ar-Razzak. 
 Al-Fati'h. 
 Al-'Alim. 
 Al-Kabiz. 
 Al-Basit. 
 Al-Khafiz. 
 Ar-Rafi. 
 Al-Muhizz. 
 Al-Muzill. 
 As-Sami'h. 
 Al-Bazlr. 
 Al-Hakira. 
 Al-Hadil. 
 Al-Latif. 
 Al-Khabir. 
 Al-Halim. 
 Al-'Aziz. 
 16 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Al-Ghifir. 
 
 Ash-Shakir. 
 
 Al-'Alee. 
 
 Al-Kablr. 
 
 Al-Hafiz. 
 
 Al-Mukit. 
 
 Al-Hasib. 
 
 Al-Jamll. 
 
 Al-Karim. 
 
 Ar-Rakib. 
 
 AUMujlb. 
 
 Al-Was'ih. 
 
 Al-HSkim al Mutlak. 
 
 Al-Wadood. 
 
 Al-Majtd. 
 
 Al-Bahith. 
 
 Ash-Shahid. 
 
 Al-Hakk. 
 
 Al-Wakil. 
 
 Al-Kawi. 
 
 Al-Mateen. 
 
 Al-Wall. 
 
 Al-Hamld. 
 
 Al-Mfthsi. 
 
 Al-Mubdi. 
 
 Al-Mu'hid. 
 
 Al-Mo'hyi. 
 
 Al-Mumit. 
 
 Al-Haiy. 
 
 Al-Kalydm. 
 
 Al-Wajid. 
 
 Al-Wahid. 
 
 As-Samad. 
 
 Al-Kadar. 
 
 Al-Muktadir. 
 
 Al-Mukaddim. 
 
 Al-Muakhkhir. ' 
 
 Al-Awwal. 
 
 Al-Akhir. 
 
 Ath-Thahir. 
 
 Al-Batin. 
 
 Al-Wali. 
 
 Al-Mutahali. 
 
 Al-Barr. 
 
 Al-Tawwab. 
 
 Al-Muntakim. 
 
 Al-Ghafoor. 
 
 Al-Rawuf. 
 
 Malik-ul-Mulki. 
 
 Dhu'l jalal wa Ikram. 
 
 Al-Muksit. 
 
 Al-Jami 'h. 
 
 Al-Ghani. 
 
 Al-Mughni. 
 
 Al-Mu'hti. 
 
 Al-Mani'h. 
 
 An-Nafi'h. 
 
 Az-Zarr. 
 
 An-Noor. 
 
 Al-Hadi. 
 
 Al-Azali. 
 
 Al-Baki. 
 
 Al-Warith. 
 
 Ar-Raschld. 
 
 Az-Zaboor. 
 
 Notes. 
 
Sir Eowin Hrnolo's "©earls of tbe ffaftb." 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 Times. — "Sir Edwin Arnold has succeeded in producing a 
 delightful collection of Oriental stories in verse" 
 
 Illustrated London News (G. A. Sala). — " I am reading 
 Sir Edwin Arnold's book with intense delight, for the sake oj 
 its majesty and eloquence, its wealth and beauty of imagery, and 
 its sweet and harmonious numbers." 
 
 Daily Telegraph. — "It will take its place in contemporary 
 literature as of the highest class." 
 
 Standard. — " Sir Edwin Arnold has caught the spirit of the 
 Eastern original, so childlike and yet so sage, so simple yet so 
 profound, so tender in feeling yet so strong in sense" 
 
 Daily News. — " In the present poem he sets to musical words 
 the rosary of an Indian Mussulman, and really displays an 
 astonishing wealth and variety of mystical and devotional 
 imagery and allegory, not without a keen perception of the finer 
 and larger human feeling and instinct which has given to the 
 faith of the Moslem its fascination, and is, perhaps, the secret 
 ofitspower." 
 
 Daily Chronicle. — " The subject is invested with fascinating 
 beauty by the wealth of Oriental illustrations displayed." 
 
 Scotsman. — "Sir Edwin Arnold brings to the performance 
 of his task peculiar qualifications — great poetic gifts, broad 
 sympathies, and extensive knowledge of Oriental tongues, ideas, 
 and methods of thought" 
 
 Society. — " There is such a delightful imagery and rhyth- 
 mical cadence in every line that it positively thrills one with a 
 feeling of abounding pleasure. The air of pure devotion, the 
 unsurpassable power of description, the inimitable' eloquence and 
 wonderftd grace, displayed with a lavish profusion, render this 
 work almost peerless." 
 
 Vanity Fair. — " We cordially recommend this book to those 
 who know the world of Islam and to those who do not. The 
 former will be pleased to see in an English dress that which 
 they have admired in its Eastern garb ; the latter will be sur- 
 prised to find how much the Mohammedan traditions resemble 
 those which they have been accustomed to revere both in tfie Old 
 Testament and the New, and to admire in some of the more 
 solemn portions of the ' Arabian Nights!" 
 
 LONDON : KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER, & CO. L™ 
 
 '7 
 
Sir Eowin Hrnolo's poetical TKHorfes. 
 
 Post 8vo, pp. viii. and 270, cloth, price 7s. 6d. 
 
 INDIAN POETRY: 
 
 Containing "The Indian Song of Songs," 
 
 From the Sanskrit of the " Gita Govinda " ofjayadeva; Two 
 
 Books from " The Iliad of 'India" (Mahdbhdrata), "Proverbial 
 
 Wisdom" from the Shlokas of the Hitofiadesa, 
 
 and other Oriental Poems. 
 
 By Sir EDWIN ARNOLD, M.A., K.C.I.E., C.S.I., &c. &c. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 The Indian Song of Songs — 
 Introduction. 
 Hymn to Vishnu. 
 
 Sarga the First — The Sports of Krishna. 
 Sarga the Second — The Penitence of Krishna. 
 Sarga the Third — Krishna Troubled. 
 Sarga the Fourth — Krishna cheered. 
 Sarga the Fifth — The Longings of Krishna. 
 Sarga the Sixth — Krishna made bolder. 
 Sarga the Seventh — Krishna supposed False. 
 Sarga the Eighth— The Rebuking of Krishna. 
 Sarga the Ninth — The End of Krishna's Trial. 
 Sarga the Tenth — Krishna in Paradise. 
 Sarga the Eleventh — The Union of Radha and Krishna. 
 
 Miscellaneous Oriental Poems — 
 The Rajpoot Wife. 
 King Saladin. 
 The Caliph's Draught. 
 Hindoo Funeral Song. 
 Song of the Serpent Charmers. 
 Song of the Flour-Mill 
 Taza ba Taza. 
 The Mussulman Paradise. 
 Dedication of a Poem from the Sanskrit. 
 The Rajah's Ride. 
 
 Two Books from the " Iliad of India." 
 The Great Journey. 
 The Entry into Heaven. 
 
 The Night of Slaughter. 
 
 The Morning Prayer. 
 
 Proverbial Wisdom from the Shlokas of the Hitopadesa. 
 
Sir E&win Hrnol&'s "3nt>fan IPoetrg." 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 Times.— "In this new volume Sir Edwin Arnold does good 
 service by illustrating, through the medium of his musical 
 English melodies, the power of Indian poetry to stir European 
 emotions. ' The Indian Song of Songs ' is not unknown to 
 scholars. Sir Edwin Arnold will have introduced it among 
 popular English poems" 
 
 Morning Post. — " Complete mastery of the English language, 
 combined with genuine poetic fervour, has enabled the translator 
 of The Indian Song of Songs' to spread before his readers a 
 feast of dulcet sounds and lyrical language. Music seems to flow 
 from, his pen as naturally as rain from the cloud or song from 
 the throat of the thrush" 
 
 Standard. — " The poem abounds with imagery of Eastern 
 luxuriousness and sensuousness ; the air seems laden with the 
 spicy odours of the tropics, and the verse has a richness and a 
 melody sufficient to captivate the senses of the dullest!' 
 
 Scotsman. — " Sir Edwin Arnold has translated into English 
 verse, from the original Sanskrit, the ' Gita Govinda, or Song of 
 Govind,' a sort of Indian parallel to the Hebrew song so called 
 of Solomon. . . . Sir Edwin Arnold exhibits himself a master of 
 the accomplishment of verse. . . . The volume furnishes an hour's 
 very agreeable and refined poetical reading'' 
 
 Academy. — "// has been reserved to Sir Edwin Arnold to 
 give us such a version as can convey to the European reader an 
 adequate idea of the beauty offayadevds verse. It is the best 
 yet published, and is not likely to be soon surpassed!' 
 
 London Quarterly Review. — " Sir Edwin Arnold has be- 
 stowed his unquestionable poetic talents on a very worthy object 
 in translating the Sanskrit idyll, ' Gita Govind] into English 
 verse. . . . ' The Indian Song of Songs' is distinctly a new pos- 
 session for the lovers of English exotic poetry'' 
 
 Overland Mail. — " The translator, while producing a very 
 enjoyable poem, has adhered with tolerable fidelity to the-original 
 text!' 
 
 The Englishman (Calcutta). — "In Sir Edwin Arnold this 
 beautiful composition has found at once an elegant translator. 
 He has contrived to present the ' Song oj Songs' in a dress, while 
 it preserves the spirit of the original, that can hardly fail to 
 fascinate the English reader. It has none of the stiffness of a 
 translation, and no more of strangeness than necessarily belongs 
 to Oriental metaphor and imagery!' 
 
 LONDON: KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER, & CO. LI? 
 
 19 
 
Sir E&win HrnoIO's ftoetfcal IBlorfcs. 
 
 Crown 8vo, pp. xii. and 294, cloth, price 7s. 6d. 
 
 Elzevir 8vo, printed on hand-made paper, 6s. 
 
 Pott 8vo, cloth gilt, or half parchment uncut, price 3s. 6d. 
 
 THE LIGHT OF ASIA; 
 
 Or, THE GREAT RENUNCIATION. 
 
 (Mahabhinishkramana.) 
 
 Being the Life and Teaching of Gautama, Prince of India, and 
 
 Founder of Buddhism. 
 
 (As told in Verse by an Indian Buddhist.) 
 
 By Sir EDWIN ARNOLD, M.A., K CLE., C.S.I., &c. &c. 
 
 An Illustrated Edition is also published, 
 Small 4to cloth, price 21s. 
 
 EXTRACT FROM PREFACE. 
 
 " In the following poem I have sought, by the medium of an imaginary 
 Buddhist votary, to depict the life and character and indicate the philosophy 
 of that noble hero and reformer, Prince Gautama of India, the founder of 
 Buddhism. 
 
 " A generation ago little or nothing was known in Europe of this great 
 faith of Asia, which had nevertheless existed during twenty-four centuries, 
 and at this day surpasses, in the number of its followers and the area of 
 its prevalence, any other form of creed. Four hundred and seventy millions 
 of our race live and die in the tenets of Gautama ; and the spiritual domi- 
 nions of this ancient teacher extend, at the present time, from Nepaul and 
 Ceylon, over the whole Eastern Peninsula, to China, Japan, Thibet, Cen- 
 tral Asia, Siberia, and even Swedish Lapland. India itself might fairly be 
 included in this magnificent Empire of Belief; for though the profession of 
 Buddhism has for the most part passed away from the land of its birth, 
 the mark of Gautama's sublime teaching is stamped ineffaceably upon 
 modern Brahmanism, and the most characteristic habits and convictions of 
 the Hindus are clearly due to the benign influence of Buddha's precepts. 
 More than a third of mankind, therefore, owe their moral and religious 
 ideas to this illustrious prince ; whose personality, though imperfectly re- 
 vealed in the existing sources of information, cannot but appear the highest, 
 gentlest, holiest, and most beneficent, with one exception, in the history of 
 thought. . . . To Gautama has consequently been granted this stupendous 
 conquest of humanity ; and— though he discountenanced ritual, and de- 
 clared himself, even when on the threshold of Nirvana, to be only what 
 all other men might become — the love and gratitude of Asia, disobeying 
 his mandate, have given him fervent worship. Forests of flowers are daily 
 laid upon his stainless shrines, and countless millions of lips daily repeat 
 the formula, ' I take refuge in Buddha ! ' 
 
 "The Buddha of this poem — if, as need not be doubted, he really existed 
 — was born on the borders of Nepaul about 620 B.C., and died about 
 .543 B.C. at Kusinagara in Oudh. In point of age, therefore, most other 
 creeds are youthful compared with this venerable religion, which has in it 
 the eternity of a universal hope, the immortality of a boundless love, an 
 indestructible element of faith in final good, and the proudest assertion ever 
 made of human freedom. . . . My purpose has been attained if any just 
 conception be here conveyed of the lofty character of this noble prince, and 
 of the general purport of his doctrines." 
 
Sir Eowi n Hrnolo'g "%jqM of Hsia." 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 International Review (Oliver Wendell Holmes). — "It is 
 a work of great beauty. It tells a story of intense interest, which 
 never flags for a moment; its descriptions are drawn by the 
 hand of a master with the eye of a poet and the familiarity of 
 an expert with the objects described j its tone is so lofty that 
 there is nothing with which to compare it but the New Testa- 
 ment; it is full of variety, now picturesque, now pathetic, 
 now rising into the noblest realms of thought and aspiration; 
 it finds language penetrating, fluent, elevated, impassioned, musi- 
 cal always, to clothe its varied thoughts and sentiments!' 
 
 Morning Post. — " Sir Edwin Ar?iold, one of the most ?nusical 
 and thoughtful of modern writers of verse, has given to the 
 world in The Light of Asia' apoem which is for many reasons 
 remarkable. . . . Not the least of his merits is that he writes 
 such pure and delicious English. . . . ' The Light of Asia ' is a 
 noble and worthy poem." 
 
 Spectator. — "Perhaps the only poetic account in a European 
 tongue of an Asiatic faith which is at all adequate, and which 
 seems destined to bring its author a singular fate. It is being 
 translated into Asiatic tongues ; and it is quite possible that 
 two hundred years hence Sir Edwin Arnold, half forgotten at 
 home, except ' by students, may amongst the innumerable peoples 
 who profess Buddhism be regarded as a psalmist" 
 
 Bookseller. — " The subtle melody of Sir Edwin Arnold's 
 verse, apart from the absorbing interest of his theme, is more 
 than sufficient to account for the sustained favour with which 
 his wonderful poem is regarded." 
 
 Calcutta Englishman. — "In Sir Edwin Arnold, Indian 
 poetry and Indian thought have at length found a worthy Eng- 
 lish exponent. He brings to his work the facility of a ready pen, a 
 thorough knowledge of his subject, a great sympathy for the people 
 of this country, and a command of public attention at home." 
 
 THE ILLUSTRATED EDITION. 
 
 Times. — " The volume differs agreeably from most modern 
 editions de luxe in being of a portable size." 
 
 Athen/eum. — "Our notice of the illustrated edition of the 
 Light of Asia' may be confined to the neat and careful wood- 
 cuts which illustrate the text — almost all Buddhist sculptures 
 selected to suit the poem, some of them being 2000 years old, and 
 representing scenes in the life of Gaictama Buddha, the founder 
 of Buddhism and hero of Sir Edwin Arnold 's verse." 
 
 Saturday Review. — " Admirers of Sir Edwin Arnold's suave 
 and melodious verse will welcome the illustrated edition de luxe 
 of the ' Light of Asia,' which is handsome in paper and -print, 
 and of convenient bulk." 
 
 LONDON : KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER, & CO. L™ 
 
Sir Ebwin Hrnol&'s ©dental poetry. 
 
 UNIFORM EDITION. 
 
 The following Eight Volumes may be had, uniform in size 
 and binding, price £2, 8s. Sold only in Sets . 
 
 THE LIGHT OF ASIA; 
 
 Or, THE GREAT RENUNCIATION. 
 
 INDIAN POETRY: 
 
 THE INDIAN SONG OF SONGS, &c. 
 
 PEARLS OF THE FAITH; 
 
 Or, ISLAM'S ROSARY. 
 
 INDIAN IDYLLS. 
 
 FROM THE SANSKRIT. 
 
 THE SECRET OF DEATH. 
 
 FROM THE SANSKRIT. 
 
 THE SONG CELESTIAL; 
 
 Or, BHAGAVAD-GITA. From the Sanskrit. 
 
 LOTUS AND JEWEL. 
 
 With Translations from the Sanskrit. 
 
 WITH SA'DI IN THE GARDEN; 
 
 Or, THE BOOK OF LOVE. 
 
 For description of the separate volumes, see previous pages. 
 
 LONDON : KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER, & CO. LI? 
 22 
 
JSy tbe same Hutbor. 
 
 Crown 8vo, pp. 324, cloth, price 75. 6d. 
 
 INDIA REVISITED. 
 
 BY 
 
 Sir EDWIN ARNOLD, M.A., K.C.I.E., C.S.I., &c. &c. 
 
 With Thirty-two Full-Page Illustrations, from Photographs 
 selected by the Author. 
 
 "It is beyond all comparison the very best description of 
 India, as it looks to the intelligent European traveller, that ever 
 ■was written. Numbers of us have seen India as Sir Edwin 
 Arnold saw it; but only a man of genius could have thrown 
 his impressions upon paper in the way that he has done. No 
 one, whether he knows the country or does not know it, will rise 
 from the perusal of the volume without a quickened sense of 
 the vast responsibilities which we have undertaken in India, 
 and a quickened affection for the Indian people? — -The Right 
 Hon. Sir M. E. Grant-Duff, ex-Governor of Madras, in the 
 " Contemporary Review.' 
 
 Spectator. — "No one who takes it up will lay it down 
 unfinished, and no one will lay it down without knowing that 
 he has obtained something he never possessed before, that he has 
 solidly benefited in some way which even to himself he can 
 hardly explain. . . . The reader has seen India, or part of it, as 
 if he had been there himself? 
 
 Morning. Post. — " The most graphic account of the peoples, 
 ideas, and aspects of contemporary India which has hitherto been 
 produced!' 
 
 Athen/eum. — " A series of glowing word-pictures. The illus- 
 trations, copied seemingly from photographs, are numerous and 
 •well-chosen, especially the architectural views? 
 
 Birmingham Daily Post. — K We know of no book of so unpre- 
 tending a nature which imparts so much valuable information 
 on India." 
 
 Manchester Examiner. — " We cannot help unconsciously 
 identifying ourselves, until we almost believe that we are 
 indeed hearing and seeing the things of which we are reading? 
 
 Scotsman. — " Written in a charming style. . . . Scenes and 
 characters are brought before the mind with a wondrous reality? 
 
 Asiatic Quarterly Review. — " The perusal of Sir Edwin 
 Arnold's pages is an intellectual and humanising treat? 
 
 Indian Daily News (Calcutta). — "Those of us who have had 
 experience of Indian life can follow him, and live our lives 
 again in his pages? 
 
 Times of India. — " A charming book? 
 
 LONDON : KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER, & CO. LIP 
 
 23 
 
35s tbe same Hutbor. 
 
 Crown 8vo, pp. 62, cloth, price is. 6d. ; paper, is. 
 
 DEATH-AND AFTERWARDS. 
 
 BY 
 
 Sir EDWIN ARNOLD, M.A., K.C.I.E., C.S.I., &c. &c, 
 
 Author of "The Light of Asia," &c. 
 
 Reprinted, with Supplementary Comments, from the 
 Fortnightly Review. 
 
 Morning Post. — "Its views are novel, and often consoling, 
 and the manner in which they are expressed has the refined 
 grace of all which proceeds from Sir Edwin Arnold's pen? 
 
 Globe. — " There is much matter for reflection in these thought- 
 fulpages." 
 
 Echo. — " Profoundly interesting." 
 
 Westminster Review. — "Has no doubt been read with plea- 
 sure by many" 
 
 Manchester Guardian. — "A notable essay on the problem of 
 immortality. . . . Sir Edwin Arnold's booklet is likely to attract 
 attention." 
 
 Bristol-Mercury. — " There are, undoubtedly, many original 
 and quaint ideas set forth in the book" 
 
 Aberdeen Daily Free Press. — "This subtle and suggestive 
 essay on the immortality of the soul, by one of the most cultured 
 of living poets . . . is inspired by a pure and emphatic faith, 
 based on thorough scholarship and poetic insight" 
 
 British Weekly. — "Sir Edwin Arnold has been wisely 
 advised in reprinting from the Fortnightly Review his article, 
 ' Death— and Afterwards' It effectually breaks windows 
 through the prison walls which materialism and unbelief build 
 around us, and suffers us to breathe an ampler air. Nothing 
 could surpass these few pages in felicity of statetnent or in 
 persuasiveness!' 
 
 LONDON: KEGAN,RAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER, & CO. Ltd 
 24