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Original Notes on the Book of Proverbs
Vol. 1
ORIGINAL NOTES
ON THE
BOOK OF PROVERBS,
%t(atiitnQ ia i^t ^utj^orijei JJtrsiotr.
KEY. S. C. MALAN, D.D.
LATE VICAR OF BROADWINDSOR, PORSET.
Vol. I.— Ch. i.— x.
WILLIAMS AND NORGATE,
14, HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON;
AND 20, SOUTH FREDERICK STREET, EDINBURGH.
1889.
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PRINTED BY C. GREEN AND SON,
178, STRAND.
PREFACE.
In the first Book of Kings [ch. iv. v. 29 — 33, Auth. Vers.],
we read that the Wise king of Israel, " whose wisdom excelled
the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the
wisdom of Egypt, spake three thousand proverbs,* and that
his songs were a thousand and five." The Septuagint, how-
ever, renders 'proverbs' by "parables;' 'the children of the
east country' [Vulg. Orientalium] by 'ancients' or 'men of
old;' 'the wisdom of Egypt' by 'the wise men of Egypt;'
and 'a thousand and five' by 'five thousand.'
But U^Wt^, meshalim, the Hebrew title of the Book of
Proverbs, means not only proverbs, properly so called, but in
general also parables, fables with a rhoral ; apologues, couplets
on moral subjects ; maxims, aphorisms, riddles, &c. And
although that term in the Old Testament is said chiefly of
proverbs and of parables,* yet, as the Book of Proverbs con-
' The LXX. render that by " three thousand parables," and Josephus
[Antiq. Jud. lib. viii. c. 2, 5] by "three thousand 'books,' irapafioKdv tnl
(Itovuv, of parables and images, figures or similitudes." 'Eikuv, which has
more than one. meaning, seems to answer to the Sanscrit ' drishtanta,
example or model, the name given to a distich consisting of two lines,
either explaining or contrasting each other. Such distichs or couplets
constitute a large portion of the Book of Proverbs.
' In the Auth. Version ^tt?*D, mashal, pi. D v^pP, meshalim, are rendered
•proverb' or 'proverbs' in Deut. xxviii. 37; 1 Sam. x. 12, xxiv. 13; I Kings
iv. 22, ix. 7 ; 2 Chron. vii. 20 ; Ps. Ixix. 1 1 ; Prov. i. I, 6, x. I, xxv. I ; Eccles.
xii. 9; Is. xiv. 4; Jer. xxiv. 9; Ez. xii. 22, 23, xiv. 8, xviii. 2, 3 — 'parable'
or 'parables' in Numb, xxiii. 7, 18, xxiv. 3, ij, 20, 21, 23; Job xxvii. i ;
Ps. Ixxviii. 2, xlix. 4; Prov. xxvi. 7, 9; Ez. xvii. 2, xx. 49, xxiv. 3; Micah
ii. 4; Hab. ii. 6 — 'by-word,' Ps. ifliv. 1 5—' remembrances,' Job xiii. 12.
IV
PREFACE.
PREFACE.
sists of only 941 verses, many of them not proverbs in any
sense, we may take for granted that other forms of ' meshalim'
were among the two thousand that are lost They were
probably parables from nature which, Josephus says, king
Solomon " composed [aTd'ero^aTo] about every tree separately,
from the hyssop to the cedar ; and in like manner also
about the beasts of the field and the birds of the air, whose
nature he understood thoroughly, through the wisdom God
had given him."* Or perhaps, were they apologues, allegories.
Sec, to which the term Ukuiv would practically apply, as well
as to distichs or 'examples.'
For stories of that kind have been in favour with "the
children of the east country" from the very beginning of
time, according to Hindoo reckoning.
Such as, for instance, that capital story [uttamam kat'hitam]
of the Cat and the Rat, told by Narada to Sanjaya's father;*
and that other story of the Owl, the Cat and the Rat under the
sacred Fig-tree, told by Bhishma to Yudhishtira.* Then there
is the legend [puravrittam itihasam] of a king who left his
kingdom and came back a beggar, told by Arjuna ;* also
another very old story [itihasam puratanam], told by Vrihas-
pati at Indra's request, and mentioned by the Rishi Devast'-
hani.* Then that other story of the two brothers Shanka and
Likhita, told by Vyasa ;* the story of the Crow and the Swans,
> Three thousand books of parables, &c., alleged to have been written
by king Solomon, would be a mere trifle among all the wonders attributed
to him by legendary tradition found in the Talmud, the Qoran, and deve-
loped in the sixty folio volumes of the ' Suleyman Nameh' preserved in
the Imperial Library at Constantinople. See Fiirst's Perlen Schniire,
p. 42— 55, 119—121 ; Rosenol, vol. i. p. 147—257; Wagenseil, Entdecktes
Judenthum, vol. 1. and ii., &c.
» Maha Bh. Udyoga P. 5421 sq. ' Id. Shanti P. 4930— 5'30, and
7155, 8217 sq. * Id. ibid. 536 sq. * Id. ibid. 615 sq. • Id. ibid.
668 and 1293.
told by Shalia to Kama ;* and another story of a conversa-
tion between Manu and Prajapati,* &c.
Then at a much later period [b.c. iooo?] we have Hesiod's
fable of the Hawk and the Nightingale,' that may be com-
pared with the much older one of Indra and Vishnu Kama as
Kite and Dove, told in the Dsang-Lun.* Also the fable of the
Bittern and the Mussel, told by Su-tai [b.c. 318], probably the
oldest Chinese fable, and often mentioned in Chinese writings.
Many also of the Indian tales that spread East and West
under various names, found their way into China. We find
even the fable of the Lion and the Mouse in demotic Egyp-
tian, on a papyrus of the time of the Ptolemies.'
Of wise sayings, maxims, proverbs or precepts, those of
Kaqimna, who was prefect under Snefru of the 3rd or 4th
Egyptian dynasty, and those of prince Ptah-hotep, son of
king Assa of the 4th or 5th dynasty— who wrote his precepts
when a hundred and ten years of age— are together, probably,
the oldest book in the world. Many of those wise sayings
agree almost word for word with others in the Book of Pro-
verbs ; and they, as well as the precepts of the scribe Ani to
his son Khons-hotep, of the 20th dynasty [b.c. 1250], together
with some of the earliest chapters in the ' Ritual of the Dead,'
may have formed part of "the wisdom of Egypt" known to
king Solomon, who might have heard also of the wisdom of
the Aryan "children of the east country," brought to Jerusalem
together with " ivory, apes, peacocks and gold of Ophir."*
Among those wise Aryans of old, Vidura figures well in his
counsels to his elder brother Dhritarashtra, to whom he told
his allegory or similitude [upama] on the course, or wheel, of
• Id. Kama P. 1876—1946. » Id. Shanti P. 1395. » Op. et Di. aoo.
• FoL 13. » Zeitschr. Egypt, 1878, No. 2. « 1 Kings ix. 11,
26—28.
VI
PREFACE.
this world' [sansarachakra ; comp. rpoxhv r^t y.^V.*,,, S. Jam.
iii. 6]. We have also another similitude [upama] of the river
Sita, a branch of the Ganges, told by Bhishma.« Then follow
Jotham's parable of the Bramble ;» Nathan's parable of the
Ewe-lamb ;♦ and later, Buddhaghosha's parables ; with many
others frequently met with in Buddhistic writings ; such as
that of the Lost Child, in the Padma-dkar-po ; in the Altan
Gerel; in the Dsang-Lun, called Uliger-un Dalai, 'Ocean of
Parables,' in the Mongolian version of it ; with which we may
compare Somadeva's ' Kat'ha sarit Sagara,* 'Ocean (or recep-
tacle) of Streams of Stories.' Such parables or similitudes
occur also frequently in the Jatakas, or births of Buddha ;
while in Greek we have a collection of similitudes by Demo-
philus, called ^ijfuxfiiXov o^ota.'
But of all such works, the one which on the whole, perhaps,
Answers best to the Hebrew D'-'pyD, ' meshalim,' in its widest
acceptation, is the popular Sanscrit Hitopadesa, ' friendly or
proper advice," in prose and verse, by Vishnu Sarma, which
has been translated into most Indian and many European
languages, and is the groundwork of the so-called Fables of
Pilpai or Bidpai, of the Anwar-i Sohaili, the Kkirud-ufroz,
Humayoon Nameh, Lokopakaraya, Rajaniti, and other works
of the kind. Nay, the translators of the Book pf Proverbs
into Sanscrit verse could find no title more appropriate for
their translation than * Hitopadesa,' after their Sanscrit model.
Those and other like stories, fables, proverbs, maxims, &c.,
written ever since, would all be generally included in the
Hebrew term Q"''?^, • meshalim,' which, when applied to the
Book of Proverbs in particular, finds a counterpart in the
several Nitishatakas, or centuries of moral couplets, by Cha-
' Maha Bh. Shanti P. 1476 sq., and Udyoga P. 2 Id. ibid. 2099
' Judg. i.x. 7. * 2 Sam. xii. ' Ed. Gale.
PREFACE.
VU
nakya, Bhartrihari, Saskya-pandita, Zamaschari, KanlandakI'
and a host of others ; in the collections of Drishtantas, or
' examples' in distichs on good conduct, morals, &c. ; in the
Dhammapada, 'footsteps to religion' or 'path of virtue;' in
the Bahudorshon, Lokaniti, Subhashita, Subha Bilas, Vrinda
Satasai, Rishta i juwahir, Pat'hya Wakyaya, Ming Sin paou
kien, Ming hien dsi, Hien wen shoo, &c.
Among the Jewish people, however, the Book of Proverbs
served as a pattern for later works of the same kind, including
fables, apologues, &c., such as the Proverbs of Joshua [Jesus]
ben Sirach [B.C. 2CX3], known to us chiefly through the Greek
translation called Ecclesiasticus [B.C. 151]; and the so-called
Alphabets of Ben Sira, a presumed near relation of Jeremiah.
Then among later works we have ' Mishle Asaph,' the Proverbs
of Asaph, written in good Hebrew, with a commentary, in
imitation of the Book of Proverbs ; ' Mashal haqqadmoni,'
another book of moral stories; 'Mishle Shu'alim,' fables of
foxes, a kind of moral rendering of the fables of Esop by
Rabbi M. Niqdani ; and many other such works.
But we find the title of the Book of Proverbs in other
languages applied also to fables, apologues, &c. Thus in
Aramean we have ' Mathle d' Sophos,' the fables of Sophos,
the probable original of the Greek fables of Syntipa ; ' Mathle
d' Yusephos,' the proverbs, parables or fables of Joseph, pro-
bably meant for ' the Fables of Esop,' and included by Ebed
Yesu among canonical books.' So also in Arabic, Turkish
and Persian, in Georgian and in Armenian, the same term
applies to the Book of Proverbs and to the fables of Esop,
Vartan, Kosh, as well as to parables, maxims or proverbs.
This manifold acceptation of the Hebrew term ^tf'l?, pi.
* Assem. Bib. Or. vol. ii. p. 47.
VIII
PREFAfE.
0""^^, ' mashal,' pi. ' meshalim,' may partly account for the
two-fold meaning of ' similitude* and of 'rule or government,'
of the verb bttJO, whence the noun bijfjp is derived ; and seems
also to show which of these two different meanings is the
original one. We all know what influence fables, allegories,
proverbs and parables, maxims, &c., exercise over our whole
life. The fables we learn for our amusement in childhood,
guide us through life, and delight us even in old age. So do
parables, with yet greater power and authority. But as to
proverbs — familiarly defined as 'the experience of nations
and the wit of one man' — we like to bear them in mind, and
to quote them as rules and authorities sanctioned by all, from
which there is no appeal.
"They are unanswerable," say the Welsh.* " Most men will
contradict everything ; but as regards proverbs, ou %is ai^-i-
\iyttv, it is not lawful to do so," says the Greek.* If "common
or vulgar sayings are not allowed in polite society," says one
Arab,* another says that ' emthal,' proverbs and like quotations,
" are lights (or lanterns) of conversation," and " a seal to a
wise man's word."* For "wise men only speak parables or
proverbs;"' and "a wise man confirms his word with a pro-
verb ; but a fool does it with an oath," says again another
Arab.* ; " Proverbs," say the Persians, " are an ornament to a
discourse;"^ and " dwa$avaTi(ovTai,^ are aimed at immortality,"
says Synesius also. In short, they influence and rule us
more or less through life. This firm hold, then, which fables,
» ' Diarheb," or ' diareb,' the Welsh for ' proverb,' properly means ' un-
answerable,' that cannot be contradicted. " Pob dihareb (diareb) gwir,
pob cocl celwydd," " every proverb is truth, every omen a lie."— Pugh's
Diet vol. L p. 577.
* MorelL xopm/i. l/t/uTf. pref. ' Abu Ubeid, 88. • Meld. Arab. pr.
» Mishna, Surh. Nidda, 5, and Avoth R. Nathan, c. 29, 27, 28. • Meid.
Ar. pr. 2077. ' Pers. pr. » Synesius de Calvit. p. 85.
PI^EFACE.
IX:
parables, maxims and proverbs have on us, seems to show;
that the original meaning of the verb bgjp, ' mashSV whence
b^, 'mashal,' a parable or proverb, implied 'similitude,'
■ speaking parables ;' from which the second meaning of
'influence, rule or authority,' came into use.
There is, however, another and a yet more probable cause
for this two-fold meaning of the verb bljJp, • mashal.' The
corresponding term in Arabic is ' mathala' [also pronounced
' masala' in some parts], to be like, to speak parables, &c But
there are also in Arabic the two verbs ' masala' and ' mashala,'
to draw the sword [and hold it as a token of rule and power.
Rom. xiii. 4 ; Coptic liturgies ; and Egyptian hieroglyphics,
in which the sword or dagger is determinative of priority,
chieftainship, rule, &c., and stands for ' first.'] These two verbs,
' masala' and ' mashala,' to draw the sword, are not found in
the other Semitic dialects, which have only 'mathal,' to be
like, &c. But since the Hebrew btt^jp, ' mashal' — that stands
nearest in order to the Arabic — represents the Arabic 'ma-
thala,' and the Chaldee, Syriac and Samaritan 'mathal,' the
'th' of these dialects being changed to 'sh' in Hebrew — it
seems but natural that ' s' and ' sh' of the Arabic ' masala' and
'mashala' should pass into the Hebrew 'sh'; and that the
Hebrew verb bttJo, 'mashal,' should thus combine the three
Arabic verbs, ' mathala,' ' masala ' and ' mashala,' verbs of
similitude, and of authority and power.
But if this one Hebrew term with several significations is
sometimes liable to an arbitrary rendering, there is not the
same excuse for it in Greek, that has two distinct terms, both
essentially different in their etymology. IlopajSoX^ is, properly
speaking, a comparison, a parable. But wapoin'ia, a proverb,
according to such authorities as Didymus of Alexandria,*
' In Prov. c. I.
X PREFACE,
S. Chrysostom,' and S. Athanasius,* comes from iro/)o, 'by,'
and oTfjLot, 'a pathway or road.' Didymus gives as example
of a proverb,
" PofJs ivBt\€\ovva KoiXaivfi irirpav,"
" a drop, by constantly dropping, hollows out a stone ;" and
says that sentences of this kind were inscribed on stones set
up to mark the distance on the road [mile-stones], for the
benefit and instruction of wayfaring men as they went along.
Such proverbs or maxims may have formed part of the yvat-
IiovikSl o/xotu^ara, ' guiding or directing similitudes,' which Jam-
blichus tells us Pythagoras used in teaching his disciples ;• as
he also used (Tv/ij3oXa, 'symbols,' d7ro</>ocrtis, "definitions,' and
iiro4>6fyfMra, ' apophthegms,' for the same purpose.*
So that according to this probable etymology, vapoifxla, ' a
proverb,' is properly ' a word by the way,' a ' by-word ;' though
not in its present acceptation. And it shows that ' parable'
and ■ proverb' may not be taken the one for the other, as it is
frequently done. Thus S. Hilary says, in fact, that a ' proverb'
is a ' parable.' " Proverbium non hoc quod verbis sonat ex-
plicat ; sed dictorum virtutem ex usu verborum communiorum
nuntiat."* So also says S. Epiphanius, that wapoifiU is the'
same as n-apaPoKrj* So does Suidas, and Apostolius also in
the preface to his Greek proverbs.
This confusion of ideas may have originated in the use of
the manifold Eastern term VwD, properly a parable or simili-
tude — "a saying both short and frequently used, that has
another meaning than the one words convey,"' say the Arabs ;
applied not only to parables, but also to that kind of couplet,
or distich, that consists of two hemistichs in apposition the
' Synops. S. S. ad loc. * Synops. S. S. vol. ii. p. 91. ' Jamblich.
ii. c. 2, and i. 18. * Id. Vit. Pyth. c. 22, 23. ' In Psalm cxxvii.
vol. i. p. 368, ed. Ven. * Ancor. c xlii. ' Golius in Adag. Arab.
PREFACE.
XI.
one to the other, called in Sanscrit ' drishtanta,' or ' ffxaHnple/'
and in Persian 'andaz.' It has been in great favour with
Eastern authors from the first, and it makes up a large portion
of the Book of Proverbs. From ''tj?^, a ' distich,' in the sense
of c'koiv, an 'image,' or 'example,' came the use of one of its
hemistichs, or of some word in it only, for a jrapot/iia, or ' pro-
verb,' properly so called. The Latin ' proverbium,' ' pro verbo,'
for a word, a maxim or sentence, said once for all — seems to
point to the same origin as the Greek.
This manifold meaning of the Book of Proverbs led me to
think that kindred passages from the writings of some of "the
children of the east country" — brought together, as it were, a
tribute to the king "whose wisdom excelled them all" — might
form a rnore useful and more appropriate commentary on the
wisdom of his words, than adding one more to the many prac-.
tical helps or critical works already published, in which pro-
bably, I could have said little or nothing new.* The variety
of opinions — not all of equal merit, assuredly — from uncon-
nected and distant portions of the East, will not, I think, be
void of all interest ; while, at the same time, it will establish
a fair comparison between the wisdom " those children of the
east country" borrowed from themselves, and the wisdom king
Solomon received from above. We shall find, on the one
hand, a general agreement in matters of daily life ; while, on
the other hand, the yearnings of the best of those men of old
after " an unknown God," though lacking the faith of the Wise
king to whom that God had revealed Himself, yet prove how
' The remarks I have made occasionally for the better understanding
of the Hebrew text do not deserve the name of criticism. Neither do
the few words of my own I have sometimes added, alter in any way the
general character of the work, which is made up of detached sentences,
for the most part unconnected except in their arrangement, which was
arbitrary, and not always what I could wish.
XII
PREFACE.
true is the saying of S. Paul to the Athenians, " that God is
not far from every one of us."*
No, indeed ; for we cannot study the best of those ancient
children of the East, without feeling drawn towards them.
We cannot help being either pleased with their wit, with their
quaint common sense which they tell in their own way, or
delighted with the freshness of their old ideas, and with the
beauty and elegance of their own words, which, alas ! wither
or die in the rendering. But, best of all, we often feel lost in
admiration of the earnestness of some of them " in seeking
after God if haply they might find Him." Wherein they, who
were without Revelation, often put us Christians, who have
it, to shame. How else can we interpret many a passage in
Plato, Pindar, Cicero, &c., and some of the hymns in the Rig
and Sama Vedas, sung in praise of " a Father in whom faith
and trust raises us to Heaven" ?^
Surely if prophets of old " who were taught of God," were
but " lights shining in a dark place,"' among the chosen nation
of the Jews, such men as Manu, Lao-tsze, Confucius, Meng-
tsze, Zoroaster, and others, must have been set for lamps in
the deeper gloom of heathenism. For if " they who had not
the law, did by nature the things contained in the law, these,
having not the law, were a law unto themselves ; which show
the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience
also bearing witness — according to my Gospel," says S. Paul.*
And thus they bring us — will we, nill we — to see that, not only
" were they made of one blood with ourselves," but that, as
S. Paul and their own poets told them, they are, as well as we,
" the oflTspring of Him in whom we live, and move, and have
our being."*
' Acts xvii. 27. * Rig Veda, i. 6, xvii. 7 ; Sama, v. i. 2, 3, 4, 7, 8.
' 2 Pet. i. 19. * Rom. ii. 14 — 16. ' Acts xvii. 28.
PREFACE.
XUl
And, further, they warn us that if we — who think ourselves
so far in advance of them, and so much better and wiser than
they — wish to help them in their search after the Truth which
we claim as our own, it cannot be by benevolent indifference
on our part as to what is true or false, in order to suit or
please everybody ; still less by letting ignorance or prejudice
relegate those 'heathen* to one common doom. As if "the
authority to execute judgment"* over "those who sinned with-
out the law, and those who sinned with the law,"* was not
given to Him who is the just Judge of quick and dead ;
"because He is the Son of Man ;"» "and needeth not that
any should testify of man, for He knoweth what is in man:"*
But those 'heathen' point to the example set us by S. Paul,
and tell us to do as he did. First of all to acquaint ourselves
with their own sacred writings, and with the good to be found
in them ; for he was learned in Jewish and in Gentile lore
also. Then to draw near to those members of God's family
with deference and brotherly love, as he did at Athens — in
order to see how far we may fairly and frankly agree with
them. But when we must differ, then gently to try and bring
them from their own ideas of " the unknown God whom they
ignorantly worship,!' to the knowledge of Him as revealed to
us in His Word. Remembering that they had grown old
and hoary through centuries of culture and wisdom, when we
were only just emerging from the gloom of barbarism.
So did S. Paul at Athens. He did not offend his audience,
neither did he run counter of their prejudices. But he met
them on their own ground ; he took them by their weak side
the worship of their gods — and convinced them out of their
own poets. So that his Epicurean and Stoic hearers, who at
> S. John V. 27. ' Rom. ii. 12. ' S. John v. 27. ♦ Id. ii. 25.
XIV
PREFACE.
first laughed at htm, and called him ' a babbler,' soon altered
their mind and begged to hear him again.^
Still, with all due respect and liking for those worthies of
olden time, one can only couple their sayings with those of
Holy Writ, in the words of the Hindoo poet — "as glass
brought in contact with gold, borrows from it the lustre of the
topaz."* True. Yet glass, though it be but glass, is itself
clear and bright, and lends brilliancy to the gold. If the gem
honours the setting, the setting adorns the gem. And so, in
sooth, do many of those wise sayings of " the children of the
east country" adorn the gem of Holy Scripture, and receive
additional lustre and merit from it.
This feeling of reverence for those ancient writings, but of
worship for the Word of God, led me, when an undergraduate
at Oxford, to begin these Notes, and to continue them, through
many vicissitudes, and at long intervals of time and place, as
the rapfpyov, by-work, of other duties ;' looking forward, as
I did, to the time when, free from the care of a large country
parish. I should have leisure to revise and arrange my mate-
rials. That time came at last ; but with it also came sickness^
and failing eye-sight ; and, worse, separation from my library,
which is at Oxford. This left me almost entirely dependent
on my Notes, as they were written at the time — unable to
verify many of my references, and to finish my work, which is,
I fear, but a rough pen-and-ink outline of what was intended
to be a true picture of Eastern thought and wisdom.
• Acts rrii, 16—34. » HitopL pret 81.
» TTiese Notes, which exceed twelve thousand, and extend over the
whole Book of Proverbs, were all taken from Eastern 'non-Christian'
writings, except a few quotations from Ethiopic Didascalia, and occasional
passages from Greek and Latin favourites, which could not be ignored
altogether.
/
PREFACE.
XV
These gleanings in the "east country," however, such as
they are, may yet prove acceptable to some who feel inte-
rested in lore of this kind— who, like the favourite swan of
Hindoo poetry, will " pluck curds of wisdom from the whey"
of what may seem perhaps childish or trivial. But as regards
errors, all my own, which, under existing circumstances, will
have crept unawares into this work, I can only hope that
better scholars than myself will either excuse or kindly correct
them. Horace said he would, when he wrote :^
" Sunt delicta tamen, quibus ignovisse velimus :
Nam neque chorda sonum reddit, quod vult manus et mens.
Poscentique gravem persaepe remittit acutum.
Nee semper feriet, quodcunque minabitur, arcus.
Verum ubi plura nitent in carmine, non ego paucis
OfTendar maculis, quas aut incuria fudit
Aut humaria parum cavit natura."
> Ars. Poet 347— 3S3-
S. C. MALAN.
West Cliff Hall, Bournemouth,
Oct. i88g.
CORRECTIONS.
P. 21, 22, for "Bikkhus" read "Bhikkhus."
P. 182, for "heb ddin" read "heb ddim."
P. 321, for "Nibbhanam" read "Nibbanam."
P. 375, for ""'5iJH" read """SOM"
N
ORIGINAL NOTES
BOOK OF PROVERBS.
CHAPTER I.
/ TAe use of the Proverbs. 7 An exhortation to fear God, and believe his
■word. 10 To avoid the enticings of sinners. 20 Wisdom complaineth
of her contempt. 24 She threateneth her contemners.
'T^HE proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king
of Israel ;
" The proverbs" &c. See Preface.
" What is there lacking in the Law of the Lord, that thou-
shouldest seek the teaching of the Gentiles? For, say the
Apostles in their doctrine, if thou wishest to know the power
and strength of the wise and their doctrine, thou hast at hand
the Prophets, Job and Solomon. They are indeed full of
wisdom, which thou canst learn of them."* And elsewhere,
says the same authority, " Let all the books [of Holy Scrip-
ture] be unto you both honourable and sacred — such as the
Book of Psalms and the Proverbs of Solomon."*
These are called novapcTos <ro^io, " Wisdom of every virtue,"
or " that embraces every virtue," by S. Clement of Rome,' and
after him by Clement of Alexandria, Hegesippus, Irenaeus, and
many of the Fathers. S. Gregory Nazianzen calls the Proverbs
(7-o<^ta jratSoycoyjK^,* "educating wisdom," and Abijlpharaj, "prac-
' Didascal. Apost. i€)th. c. 1.
* Ep. Cor. i. Ivii. ' Or. xi.
' Apostol. Const. Copt. c. viL
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[i. I
i
tical wisdom, eminent among other books."* But the Apo-
cryphal Book of Wisdom, or Wisdom of Solomon, is also called
IlavdpeTot <To<f>ia by many ancient authors, who give to the Book
of Proverbs the simple title of 2o<^to, "Wisdom."* "It is, in
sooth, a gathering of virtues and of the teaching of wise men ;
a treasury of virtues gathered together, as the sea, that great
treasury of waters, gathers all rivers that flow into it"— said
of Sa-skya's "Treasury of Good Sayings" by his Buddhist
translator, who adds : " Even if thou canst not attain to wis-
dom in this birth, it is a precious thing for thee to borrow
and to take with thee as a recommendation for hereafter."*
" For," says a higher and better authority, " the Word of God
is a good provision by the way for our whole lifetime ;"* yea,
" better than many treasures."'
"Alas for old age I" says Ptah-hotep [prince and prefect
under king Assa of the Sth Dynasty, and long anterior to
Abraham] ; " could I, decrepit as I am at a hundred and ten
years of age, tell others the words heard in the beginning, in
olden time, from the gods themselves ?" His god Osiris
answers him : " Teach the words of olden time ; they will be
the food or support of children and of men."* Ptah-hotep then
gives his precepts, often quoted in these pages, and at the end
of them he says : " If thou hearkenest to what I have told
thee, all thy plans and actions will tend to 'Ma' [first and
divine principle of all that is true, beautiful and good]. These
precepts are a treasure to those who keep them faithfully, and
their memory will continue in the mouth of mankind by reason
of their beautiful arrangement."' But before Ptah-hotep,
Kakimna [who was also prefect under king Snefru of the
3rd Dynasty] said of his own work " On Good Manners," the
oldest writing on earth : " If all in this book is listened to as
I have said it, to guide [others] to useful ways, some will lay
» Dyn. Arab. p. jo. * Cotel. PP. Apost. vol. i. p. 179. ' Sain
iighes, fol. 2. * S. Cyril Hier. ' Ascens. of Isaiah, at the end.
• Pap. Prisse, pi. v. L 3—3. ' Id. pi. xv. I. 8—10.
i.i]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
it in their bosom [learn it by heart], repeat (or recite) it as it
is written [word for word], and that will do them more good
than anything (or all) else in the world."*
And Chu-tsze [a Chinese philosopher in high repute, author
of the Siao-hio, "Little Study," for young people, as the Ta-hio,
" Great Study," was for men] : " By dwelling on the sacred
classics, by weighing the wise and worthy teaching handed
down to us, and by using this book [Siao-hio], youth, yet un-
taught, will be instructed."* " Looking up to the sages for a
pattern, and to the worthies of old for a model, Chu-tsze
rehearses this chapter-foj^ the instruction of the young who
are still in the darkness of ignorance."* " For to be freed from
such darkness," says~the Buddhist, " is one door to religious
enlightenment ; it heals the plague of lack of knowledge."*
" Hear, then, the words of wisdom," says Enoch, a yet older
name than any of the preceding ones. "No one has yet
received from the Lord of Spirits the wisdom that has been
given me, a portion of eternal life, as it was contained in one
hundred and three parables [or proverbs] which I was enabled
to declare to the inhabitants of the earth."* Therefore "let
not these parables [or proverbs] appear light in thine eyes,"
says a Rabbi, " for by means of a parable a man can stand
firm in the words of the Law. It is like a king who, having
lost a gold coin or a pearl of great price, looks for that pearl
by means of the slender wick of a lamp worth one farthing,
and finds it"*
2 To know wisdom and instruction ; to perceive the
words of understanding ;
Wisdom, rnppn, is originally 'skill,' and DJI^ 'skilful' —
" olov ^tiSiav XtOovpyov iro<f>6v," as we call Phidias a clever [wise]
sculptor; only signifying thereby that "<ro<^io — apeni rt'xi^s
' Id. c. iii.
* Midrastt-
• Pap. Prisse, pi. ii. L 4—7.
♦ Rgya-tcher rol-pa, c. iv.
Rab. in Cant. i. M. S.
* Siao-hio, c. ii.
' Bk. Enoch, c xxxvii.
B 2
4 ORIGINAL NOTES ON [i. 2
itrri, wisdom is the virtue [or merit, excellence] of an art," says
Aristotle.1 But " skill without wisdom in itself is not to be
accounted skill," says the Spirit of Wisdom.* And the verb
D3n, especially in Arabic, implies order, judgment, and also
wisdom ; thus ' hookm,' order ; and ' hakeem,' a wise man who
prescribes, a doctor. Hence masi^ expresses the various mean-
ings of ' wisdom,' not only as Siavo.jTiK^ in its intellectual aspect,
but also as Jfw, habit of mind,' the result of principle. Aristotle
fails to give us this principle, which is not voi]tik6v, mental
only, but is also spiritual and in the heart
For wisdom, A.-S. ' wis-dom,' is ' wise or right judgment.'
[Comp. A.-S. 'wita,' 'witan,' 'wis,' 'wisa,' G. 'wissen,' Sscr. 'vid,'
to know or perceive ; Lat 'vid-eo,' Gr. <."Soi, or rather /ISu, ' wit,'
•to wit;' witness, 'I see,' often said for 'I understand;' oZSa,
•wot,' 'to wot,' 'I know' from hearsay or mental perception.]
So that real wisdom seems to be the right judgment in all
things of a ready mind, wrought in us by the one principle of
the love and fear of God. " Sapientissimus est," says Cicero,*
cui quod opus sit ; ipsi venit in mentem," " He is wisest who
perceives at once what is required at the time." This ready
perception and correct judgment between right and wrong is
thus told in a Buddhist treatise on Wisdom : " I, Hjam-dpal,
[Manju-Sri, the god or personification of Wisdom] am supreme,
incomparable knowledge [or wisdom], that sees at a glance
[lit. without deliberation]."*
" To know wisdom" &c " In teaching men," says Confucius,
" always inculcate these five virtues : jin, humanity, oyoTn; ; i,
justice ; //, propriety ; chi, wisdom ; and j/«, faithfulness."'
" To consider these three virtues, yVw^b, ^j and chi, humanity
[doing to others as to oneself], justice and wisdom," say the
Japanese, — "to decide aright between right and wrong, and
not to look at evil any how, — that is wisdom."^
• Eth. r, 1 141, 10.
* Pro Cluentio.
^ Shi tei gun, p. 14.
* Mainyo i kb. c. xi.
• Hjam-dpal, fol. vii.
' Id. a, 1 103 a. 21.
• Medh. Dial. p. 153.
i
i.2]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
s
"The strength (or virtue, aptnj)," say the Rabbis, "which
God gives His servants to enable them to do His work, Is
intelligence, wisdom, patience and hope, and the prospect of
reward in eternity."*
And in the Mainyo i khard [a treatise on the Spirit of
Wisdom], we read that a sage, seeing how many religions were
opposed to the true [Mazdayasnian] one, inquired of sundry
high-priests, Which is the best thing for the preservation of
the body on earth, and for the emancipation of the spirit?
Then they answered through the revelation of religion : " Of
all the good that comes to men, wisdom is best ; for by the
power of wisdom they can guide themselves on earth, and by
it also reach heaven. For it was by his own original wisdom
that Hormuzd created the earth and all that is in it."
The sage then took refuge in the Spirit of Wisdom [" the
original, eternal, heavenly Wisdom, one with Hormuzd, who
by it made the worlds""], to whom he offered more prayers
than to any other Ameshaspands [inferior heavenly deities,
archangels]. He then became aware that the true [or honest]
way to perform for oneself all meritorious deeds and other
actions is through the power of wisdom ; that therefore one
ought to be diligent in pleasing the Spirit of Wisdom. Then
that Spirit, seeing the sage's mind and desire, showed himself
in a body, and said : " Friend, foremost in piety I receive in-
struction [or revelation] from me, that I may be thy guide,
and teach thee to please Yazd [God] and good men, for the
preservation of thy body on earth, and for the emancipation
of thy soul in heaven."* " For a wise man is not wise," say
the Arabs, "until he has overcome his evil nature."* And
Confucius ends his Dialogues with his disciples thus : " He
who knows not the [will or] commands of Heaven, can never
become a wise or superior man."' For that great and good
man did yearn for a principle of action better than he found
' Ep. Lod. 729. ' Mainyo i kh. c. Ivii. ' Id. i. yj — 61.
* Ar. pr. ' Hea-Lun, c. xx.
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[i.2
Within him when he said : "Virtue alone is not able to keep
men from evil. Those who hear of righteousness are unable
to follow it. and the wicked are not able to alter their course
It IS a grief to me." »
"instruction." '^^■a, Arab. adab. -education,' that implies
chastening. LXX. .a.8«'<^ "which is. to learn to like good
and to hate evil, and should begin early," says Aristotle.*
"Doing good Improves the countenance (or complexion) "
says Tsze-hea. " In serving one's father and mother, let a man
exhaust his strength; in serving his prince, let him risk his
life ; and in his intercourse with his friends, let him speak
truthfully. Though men think such a one untaught, yet wise
men call that good teaching [education]."*
And Tseu-sze: "Heaven's order (or decree) is called ' nature:'
to follow it is -Tao,' the way; and to establish (or instruct)
this way, is called 'instruction' or teaching." On this the
Japanese commentator says : " Man, having received the be-
ginning of his existence from Heaven, is a being with a nature
drawn from thence. His nature, therefore, is good, and not
bad ; and to follow it is michi (or Tao) the way ; and to
teach or promote this way, is by sages called education or
instruction."* [Tao has many meanings. The mystic sense
in which it is used by Lao-tsze and other Chinese philosophers,
is probably the reason that led the Shanghae Delegates to
choose it, very properly it seems, as a substitute for 6 A6yot in
S. John i.]
Meng-tsze teaches the same as regards man's natural heart.
One of his most celebrated sayings, the text of one of Kiu O's
Japanese sermons, \s, jin jin-sin yay, "Humanity is the heart
of man ;" and i Jin-loo yay, "Justice is man's way to walk in.""
"This benevolence," says the Buddhist," "is one of the doors
to holiness, and is one of the attributes of the Bodhisatwa in
' Shang-Lun. c vii. » Eth. p^, 1104 b. 12. ' Siaohio, c. i.
Chung yg, Jap. ed, and Siao-hio, c. i. ' Hea-Meng, xi. 11.
' Rgya-tcher rol-pa, t ii. and iv.
i.3]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
,
:
Dgah-ltan, the abode of joy." "Who then practises human*?
ity [jin] ? He who seeks the profit (or advantage) of others,
as he would his own."*
" to perceive," &c. T^v'V' ^^ understand, to 'discern' words
of understanding, that is. of discrimination between right and
wrong.
3 To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and
judgment, and equity ;
" To receive," '?3?yn ^DIQ, a teaching, or training, ' to render one
intelligent, to train the intellect.' Chald. W^-ITID, chastening, cor-
'rection [eruditio. fe rudis].
" To receive instruction of wisdom." " Give your heart to in-
struction," says the Burmese schoolmaster to his scholars ;
" from the size of a hair it will grow to that of a river. By
cleaving to it you will acquire great knowledge and wisdom,
until you become 'an elephant with two tusks' [a very great
man in learning]."* " This moral instruction," says V. Sarma,
" will give skill and elegance of speech, and also wisdom and
knowledge [vidyam]."'
" Wise men of old," says Kiu O. " seeing how little mankind
sought after their own [original] heart that had gone astray,
showed them the way to it. And this showing (or signifying)
is called instruction or moral study."* "But instruction should
be short," says Maimonides. " The wise say that one should
teach in a short way [much in few words] ; to say little in
many words is indeed folly."* [A useful hint to many.]
"justice, judgment and equity." "Determine." says the Greek.
" to form thy judgment according to justice, and not for the
sake of advantage."' As a help to this right judgment.
" thought, wrapped in wisdom." says the Buddhist. " sets one
free from corruptions, namely, lust, individuality [self], false
> Phreng wa,p. n. ' Putt-ovada, p. 15. ' Hitopad. Pref.
* Sennons, voL i. Serm. ii. p. 2. ' Halkut deh. ii. 4, foL 12.
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[•••3
doctrine and ignorance."* " For men in general are partial ;
but to see evil in those they love and good in those they hate,
is indeed rare under heaven," says Ts'heng-tsze.*
And Tseu-tsze : "Justice is equity."* "Justice is the power
(or faculty) of discrimination (or award). It is the rule (or
measure) oi jin, humanity. It agrees well with ability. He
who has it is indeed strong."*
" If a man," says Dr. Desima, " having made a promise,
breaks it, instead of feeling displeased, think, ' That man has
altered his first intention ; he cannot have broken his promise.'
This is justice."* [Charity, rather than justice.]
"Justice," says Husain Vaiz Kashifi, "is the governing
officer of a state ; an ornament to it, and a ray that sheds
abroad light, and scatters darkness. God assuredly com-
manded this virtue to His servants when He said [in the
Qoran] : God has ordered justice and kindness (or favour).
Justice, then, is to award justice to those that are oppressed ;
and favour [ihsan] is to apply the salve of repose to the
wounds of the wounded."* "Justice is very great and un-
changeable ; it has not passed away since the days of Osiris ;
it is very strong. This is a father's saying."'
"Justice is the mainstay of a kingdom," says Sadi.* "Because
Nushirwan made choice of justice, his name is held in honour
to this day. Uphold the world through justice [insaf] and
equity, and with it rejoice the heart of thy subjects, O king !
Agree [be on good terms] with them, and sit at ease from fear
of thine enemy; for the subjects of a just sovereign are a host
around him."' " For what greater advantage canst thou reap
than to bear the name of Shahanshah 'adil, " Sovereign the
Just"?*"
"equity" O'lnifp, lit. ' straight,' smooth and even, fair and
' Mahaparanibbh, p. 8i, fol. nya. ' Comm. on Ta-hio, viii.
' Chung yg, c xx. ♦ Li-Iin, Li-ki, viii. « Shi tei gun, p. 14.
• Akhlaq-i m. xv. ' Ptah-hotep Pap. Pr. vi. 5. » Pend-nameh, p. 14.
• Gulistan, st. 6. " Pend-nameh, p. 1 5.
i-4]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
upright dealings. Chald. Mnnsn^i, • rectitude.' LXX.' *>(A»'
KOTtvtfwtll'.
" Equity is one half of religion."* " It is an ornament to
the wise to incline to neither side, like a balance evenly
weighted."* "What, then, is equity?" asks Ramajuna. "It
is to deal even-handed justice to all classes."*
4 To give subtilty to the simple ; to the young man
knowledge and discretion,
nipi:?, 'subtilty,' prudence; also 'craft,' cunning. LXX. iravov^yio.
" To give subtilty" &c. " Good words spoken by the noble,
god -loved, king's son, elder of his race, the civil ruler and
scribe Ptah-hotep, to teach the ignorant the knowledge of the
just measure [meaning] of a good word, as a warning to those
who should transgress it, and for the benefit of those who hear
it."* " Let the young man stand forth, who is right-thinking,
right-speaking, right-doing, and who knows well [the law,
hukasrem]."' "I will now rehearse the fundamental rules," says
Chanakya, " whereby even a fool may become [pandita] well
informed ;"* albeit — a/wi S'ou p6Z%ov vto-njTa i-iKfi' (<m — Xoyy,' " it
is not easier to persuade a youth than to teach a deaf man by
word of mouth only," says Menander.
"discretion" [npta, taking counsel, 'considering,' 'reflec-
tion'— thus, by inference, discernment, 'advisement' (Marg.
reading), tact and propriety, in conduct and manners.]
"Decorum, good manners, discretion [adab] consists in
restraining oneself from every unpleasant word, and from
every action that is not praiseworthy ; to show proper respect
to oneself and others, and to put to shame neither oneself nor
others. Decorum is good in all, especially in princes, who are
to set an example to their subjects. We must ask God to
1 Turkish prov.
* Pap. Pr. c. V. 7.
' Menander, avi^.
2 Cural, 118. ' Comm. on Cural, xii. in sq.
» Vispered, iii. 18. • Chanakya shat 2.
lO
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[U
teach us how to behave [decorum, self-respect], for without it
we are shut out from His grace. Discretion [good manners]
is better than the treasures of Qarun. Great men have never
sought after riches, because they pass away ; but they have
'held the reins at full speed' towards justice and good man-
ners ; for through this they earned a great name."*
" Manner maketh man." " Four things," says Attar, "show
the excellence of a man : learning, showing respect without
[creditor and debtor] account, good manners, and giving a
straightforward answer. Whosoever has knowledge, intellect
and discernment, holds all other such men in high esteem."*
" discretion" " He that is moral and clever can discern truth
from a lie, as the flamingo discerns curds from water."* [This
is a favourite saying antong Indian writers. Thus in the Preface
to the Pancha-Tantra, we read that " as the written Shastras
are too [wide] extensive to be [crossed] read through — setting
aside what is useless, the [juice] essence of them may be seized
as a bit of curds in the water is by a goose."* Whence probably,
in the Balabod, a book for Tamil children, they are told that
the learned and the ignorant are as unlike as the swan and the
heron [emblem cf stupidity] ; the swan being so far superior in
knowledge that it can discern curds from the water with which
it is mixed."* And " the part of a wise man is to know how to
discern virtue from the defects of any one. Milk in water may be
clearly seen through heat ; but one would prefer cow's milk."']
" Knowledge," says Vishnu Sarma, " gives discretion, and from
discretion comes worth [or merit]."^ But " a young man of
good family who comes at once into plenty of money, is not
thereby made clever or well informed."* [That money gives
him no real qualities.]
"For the ignorant man who does not know the rules of
propriety (or politeness) is a great fool ; and the sense of his
> Akhlaq i m. c x.
V. la
* Balabod, 2.
• Pendeh i at c. x.
* Sain ugh. fol. v.
« V. Satasai, 17*.
' Hitop. Pref.
• Kawi NitI Sh. p. 14-
f
i. 4] THE BOOK OF PROVERBS. -1.1.
six senses [mind is the sixth] is blunted. He knows not tht i'f':
taste of the betel-leaf and areka-nut ; and the prepared chunam
is far from his lips [he is a stranger to good company or
society]."*
" Small country children prattle, and monkeys skip about,
but he among men who is well taught is a great sage. But
what about him who is untaught?"* said Gautama to his son.
"The ways of wise men [disciples of wisdom]," say the
Rabbis, " are modesty and a humble spirit, a retiring manner,
and to be beloved of all."» "Wise men are agreeable in
society ; but common, uneducated men are not"*
Confucius said to one of his disciples : " Be respectful, and
you will keep aloof from trouble ; be dutiful, and men will
love you ; be faithful (or sincere), and men will support you.
The wise and good man fears [respects] great men [his supe-
riors], but the mean man is familiar with them."'
Confucius himself, when in his native village, was very
modest, gentle and silent, as if unable to speak.'
" For a respectful behaviour [/;, propriety, in the original
Chinese] makes the distinction between a well-bred man and
a low individual."' And "a good run [after success in life] is
[cadw moes] to observe good manners ; whereas the worse
blemish is [drygfoes] bad manners,"' say the Welsh. "Acting
contrary to established custom is to be scorned like the kimba
fruit. For considering oneself and others, it is desirable to
keep to the prevailing use [rule or custom]."' So says the
Tibetan Lama [bla-ma] in his work, " put together with good
intention from collections of old sayings for the teaching of
faithful, respectable and fortunate youths ; thus written in a
short summary for the use of this and of future generations.""
" What is the root of discretion [consideration, respect, de-
» Kawi Niti Sh. p. 14, ii. i, 2- ' Rahula thut. 16.
» D. Erei
Sutta, i. 1. * Ibid. iv. i. ' Ming Sin P. K. c. vii.
• Shang-
Lun. X. 1. ' Gun den s. i. mon, 305. • Welsh pr.
» Bslav
cha, 3. »• Id. ibid. 2.
12
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[i.4
ference]? To refrain from asking about this or that"*
[Importunity.]
" When in presence of thy better [elder]," says Ptah-hotep,
" do not stare at him, but speak to him only when he addresses
thee. He is hateful who does not act thus. Give place to thy
elder, and greet [receive] him 'with thy nose to the earth' [in
worship]." ' " And then order thy heart properly within thee.
Drop thy arms, bend thy back, and do not feel angry if he is
harsh towards thee ; for to oppose him would only show thy
want of knowledge. Remember thy place and duty [lit. what
thou hast to bear on thy arms], and let thy sense and prudence
act towards him as thou oughtest to do."*
" When thou art with uncongenial people," say the Cingalese,
" keep silence ; the white lotus [kumuduwa] when looking on
the red lotus [tamuru] closes itself blushing."*
"A good sign in a man is that of shame,"* say the
Rabbis. " A heart of shame is the beginning of righteousness
(or mending)," says Kiu O ;' " whereas pride is a token of
poverty of mind (silliness)."^ " But good people are courteous ;
the low alone can be rude."* " And [sherivu] modesty, not to
be first to speak among superiors [nanda] is a good [virtue]."'
" He," says Confucius, " who knows how to blush, has advanced
towards bravery (courage)." "And he who is in earnest about
his daily walk in life, has advanced towards humanity [jin]."'*
As bearing on the whole verse, Tsze-san said : " The way
of the good and wise man is four-fold : his behaviour is with
self-respect; his actions are especially respectful towards
others ; he feeds the people with benevolence ; and deals with
them in righteousness."*'
And Tsze-chang having asked Confucius respecting one's
conduct, Confucius answered : " Be respectful, and you will
• Ratnamal. 19. ' Pap. Pr. vii. i, vi. 13. ' Ibid. v. I. 10 sq.
* Subhashita, 53. ' Nedar. 20, M. S. • Sermon, vol. ii. i.
' Sanhedr. 24, M. S. • Hill prov. 105. » Cural, 715. >» Chung
yg, c. XX. la " Ming Sin P. K. c. xiii.
5]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
J 3
not repent of it; be generous, and you shall win the multitude^
be faithful and sincere, and men will trust you ; be active
[dapper, clever], and you will gain merit ; and be benevolent,
and find satisfaction in serving others."*
" If a man, not knowing his place, gets into a passion, shall
we laugh at him ? Nay, we will remember our own place (or
position) and not do so. Assuredly that is discretion (or
decorum, propriety). But to feel angry or annoyed would
be to forget our own place."* "For a man, in that he is a
man, is — propriety and justice [it, i] ; propriety is the prin-
ciple of justice, and consists in regulating one's bearing and
manners
III
5 A wise man will hear, and will increase learning '
and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise
counsels :
"and will increase" — np7, 'learning,' 'doctrine' — wherewith 'to
catch' or win others. But "wise counsels," niV^nri, Chald.
NTlian^lIQ, means ' the careful steering of a ship,' not only with
the helm, but through dangers and storms, by trimming the sails
and the ropes. Vulg. rightly, " gubernacula possidebit." LXX.
KvpipvritTiv KTijirtTai,
"A wise man," &c. "An intelligent man's intellect, when he
is deficient in knowledge, will acquire it with increasing energy.
A lion, when hungry, feeds even on the brains of large ants."*
"A disciple, after making his offering to the Patron of the
world, will improve rapidly by reading and attending to his
lama's instruction, though not so at the beginning. But by
dwelling on perfect thoughts, he will greatly increase [his
learning] through his own earnest efforts."" " He who says,
'I don't know,' and wishes to learn, is better than he who
knows and boasts [is proud] of it.'" For " the best men among
' Ming Sin P. K. c. xiii.
* Legs par b. p. pret fol. 2.
" Arabic prov.
' Shi tei gun, p. 14. ' Siao-hio, c. iiu
' Byam chub lam gyi sgron ma, foL 3.
14
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[i.5
the good are the learned ones ; as among friends the best are
the old ones."*
" Who then is wise ?" asks Rabbi Ben Zoma. " He who
learns from everybody."* Thus " a learned man, endued with
immense wisdom, will nevertheless take a little from another
learned man, and by such continual practice will attain to
universal knowledge."* So, •' n-oXv/io^^s urdi ^ a/ia0i)s, Either
know much or nothing," says Cleobulus ; to whom Pittacus
answers, " xaA^cirov to <v yvZvat, Well, but it is hard to know
aught well."* For "learning is a wild animal, to be tamed
only by practice."* " He, then, who loves study, advances
towards wisdom."'
" The way to acquire knowledge," says Meng-tsze, " is to
study extensively, and to discuss clearly what one learns,
aiming at a general result from it all."^ And Confucius : "To
inquire into old things and to acquire new learning, is the way
to become a master."*
" To sit and meditate on what I have learnt, to study without
feeling disgusted, and to teach others without weariness — how
can I do it?" says again Confucius." To whom Solon the
Athenian'" answers : " T-qpdaKot S'deJ ttoAXo SiSoo-ko/ici/os, I grow
old, ever being taught [learning something new]." And Lao-
tsze : "Study in earnest, and daily increase in knowledge.""
" For the capacity of the mean man is small, and soon filled
up ; but the insight [perception, intellect] of the superior man
is deep, and difficult 'to flow over' [fill up.]""
And lastly, says the Malay : " A man of understanding is
known by seven tokens, (l) He does good to those who do
him harm, he rejoices their heart, and excuses or forgives their
mistakes. (2) He bears himself lowly towards his inferiors, and
honours his superiors for their own sake. (3) He follows
• Eba Medin, 88. ' Pirqe Avoth, iv. i. ' Legs par b. p. 3.
• Sept Sap. * Arabic prov. « Chung yg, c. xx. 10. ' Hea-
Meng, viii. 15. ' Shang-Lun, i. 2, 11. • Shang-Lun, vii. 2.
" Solon Ath. ix. ed B. " Tao-te-King, c xlviii. " Hien wen
shoo, 104.
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THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
M
earneslty after all good and worthy actions. (4) He abhora
all evil doings. (5) He calls constantly on God's name, and
prays for forgiveness, (6) He says what he has to say with
propriety, in time and place. (7) In all difficulties he trusts
in God and places his dependence on Him."*
6 To understand a proverb, and the interpretation ;
the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.
ny^lpl, "and," either an "interpretation," 'foolish talk,' or an
'intricate, involved saying, the meaning of which is not apparent'
Here " interpretation" does not suit the context, which is best
followed by Chald. MnB79i the Syriac term used in the Gospels for
' parable,' and that differs from 7^9 when said of a more concise
•proverb.' LXX. (TKoreivov Xoyov, that requires greater ingenuity
than does a mere "interpretation." Dnil^ni and their (enigmas)
riddles; 'intricate' rather than "dark" sayings. Swr<^oToc alviyitd-
Tutv oi/iai* " the windings hard to tell [or unravel] of riddles." But
see Habak. ii. 6 in Hebrew.
" To understand." " What is there unattainable [asadhyam]
by the intellect [buddhi] ? Understanding will achieve more
than either books, elephants, horses or footmen can ever do."*
" Understanding [buddhi] is [ad'hwakasayi] ascertaining."*
" a proverb, and the interpretation" [a fable, allegory, proverb,
wise saying, &c.]. " For it is better to understand poetry than
to speak [or read] it."* "The words of Sadi are proverbs
[emthal, similes, wise sayings, &c.] that will profit thee if thou
attend to them. It would be a pity to turn away from them,
for they are the way to thy wealth [good fortune]."* For
" the counsel of the wise is the brightening of the mirror of
the heart" [Compare Ming sin paou kien, " Mirror of a bright
Heart," the title of a celebrated Chinese collection of wise
sayings.] " The purpose of both worlds has its root in their
counsel."^
• Bochari de Djohor, p. 171. • Lycophr. Cass. 10. ' Pancha
Tantra, i. 140. * Tatwasamasa, 8. ' Pars. pr. ' Behar-
ist iL 26. ' Akhlaq i muhs. iv.
i6
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[i.6
"A man acquires knowledge through good ability; what
he hears increases through wisdom ; through wisdom he gathers
the sense [of what he reads or hears], and the sense gives him
pleasure."* And "a man who is firm in what may be known,
is said 'to know' [to be learned]; and when that knowledge
is according to right, he is said to be wise."* "And wise (or
learned) men mend their own defects (or failings, faults) ; but
it is not so with the foolish. Herodi [Garuda, on which Vishnu
rides] is able to slay venomous snakes; not so the crow."*
"A riddle or parable is a precious stone and sweetness in the
hands of him who [has] tells it ; it will turn to whatever he
wishes."* "And he who explains it is as if he gave two eyes
to a blind man."*
" the words of the wise." " What makes a wise man ? To
divide [halve, discern] that which makes the difference [between
the two]."* " Wise men of learning, then, choose the best by
making out the difference. They take musk from the pouch
of a scented animal."^ For " he is wise who, whatever the
matter be, sees the [body, substance] real meaning of it"*
" Therefore," says the Burmese teacher, " are people taught to
distinguish the meanings of words, in order to receive intuitive
knowledge, and to have wisdom poured into them."* "And
one [the 7th] advantage of the ' Commentary on Sweet Words'
[a Tibetan work] is that it reminds one clearly how wise men
of old taught intelligent people to make a distinction between
good and evil, virtue and vice," &c."*
" The world will perish," says the Tamil proverb, " and the
heavens will perish, but the word of the mighty will not perish."
"A mettled horse," said Goba Sechen, " is not worthless be-
cause he is thin, though not fattened and restored to good
condition ; and a lion when old still watches the holes of the
• Lnkaniti, 20. * Siun-tsze, i. c. xxii. ' Sain iigh. 3.
« Mishle As. xlv. 17. * Id. ii. xxxvi. • Drislan phreng wa, 8.
» Sain ugh. 7. » Cural, 355. » Putt-ovada, so. " Sfian-
ngag me-long gi dgah, fol. 10.
i.6]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
i7
polecat So also good men, like steeds, when grown old, still
have good words for other men."' "Those who hearken to
the words of the wise, will escape sin (or guilt) ; but those
who will not hearken to them will incur great guilt,"' say the
Burmese.
" Look not for glory, in wishing to become wise all at once,"
says Cleanthes,* " neither care much for the reckless opinion of
the many ; for the multitude has neither avverriv Kpitriv, intelli-
gent discernment, oSt« Sucalav ovrt KaXijc, nor yet just and good
judgment ; thou canst find all that only among very fcw men."
Speaking of Maku [Meng-tsze] and Si Koi [Yu], the Japanese
say : " Propagate their good maxims, for they have set you an
example. Having first hearkened to the voice [of their teachers],
they have made the right way plain to you."* "Follow [imi-
tate] the example [of the wise kings Yu, &c., of old]," says
Confucius, "and do not make a new way for thyself."'
"A wise man reveres [lit fears] the words of good men ;"•
"but a mean man despises them."^ "The counsel of men of
old — of them it is said by the majesty of that god (Osiris) :
Instruct men in the word (teaching) of olden time ; it is good
for young and old alike," said Ptah-hotep.* " That word enters
readily into every heart and creates no satiety."* " How great
was the obedience of those men to God!"*" [Ptah-hotep
the Egyptian, who was long anterior to Abraham, had his
neteru, 'gods,' and also his neter, "god' Osiris ; as Cicero had
'deos' and 'deum;' Socrates, Plato, &c., had Stow and Qiav;
and as Abraham had cnbs and ^UI^ bft 'gods' and 'God
Almighty.' While from India we hear : " What was that
hymn which all the gods offered [sang] to the One god,
Prajapati?]""
" If holy men had not left us books, the good words and
• Tchlnggis kh. p. 9. • Thudhamma Tsari, 3. • Fragm. of
Gr. Phil. p. 132. * Gun den s. mon. 697 sq. 689. * Shang-Lun, vii. i.
• Japan, pr. ' Ming Sin P. K. vii. ' Pap. Pr. v. 3, 5. » Ibid. 6.
" Ibid. ib. " Rig V. mand. x. sk. cxxx. 3.
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ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[i.6
6]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
the good deeds of virtuous men would have been lost."* " Con-
sider former sages "as soup' and 'a wall' [food and fence, or
support]. Their words may be laws for the world, and their
deeds are for a pattern."* " In like manner as, unless you ascend
a mountain, you cannot look into the deep mountain torrent
below, nor judge of the size of the earth, so also unless you
hear the precious sayings of the kings of old, you cannot know
the greatness of learning."'
" I have spent whole days without food," says Confucius,*
" and whole nights without sleep, in order to meditate ; but it .]
availed not There is nothing like the study [of ancient sages]."
And Siiin-tsze : " I spent whole days in meditation. Well I
but it was not like even the least thing acquired through study
[of ancient writings]. I stood on tip-toe. Well I but it was
not like asceiiding on high and seeing afar off."' "Spend,
therefore, thy leisure hours in considering attentively thy merit
[virtue] and learning,"' say the Mongols.
" The words of the wise may be compared to a thunder-bolt ;
to a sword cutting through a plantain-leaf; and to a strong
wind shaking a tree."^ So are Kakimna's wise sayings com-
pared to "words with knives;"' "to Hjam-dpal [the god of
wisdom] brandishing his sharp-pointed sceptre, which he hurls
from his own arm."* Or "one might say that wise sayings
are 'a shaft shot from a bow;'""* "unless you prefer to call
the words and stories heard from wise men of old ' a host from
God's armies.'"" "The wise man therefore fears them [is in
awe of them]." '^ As the Chinese say also elsewhere: "The
gods respect the honourable words spoken by holy men, but
devils dread them."*'
So, then, " as the sea never has enough of water ; a king, of
treasure; and desire, of enjoyment; so also have the wise never
• Mongol, mor. max. ' Com. on Wen c'hang, Sh. s. 1. v. p. 69.
» Siiin-tsze, i. c. i. p. I. ' Hea-Lun, xv. ' Siiin-tsze, i. c. i. p. 2.
• Oyun tulle, p. 7. ' Thudhamma Tsarl, Introd. ' Pap. Prisse, i. I. 2.
* Hjam-dpal, fol. i. '° Jami Behar. ii. " Ibid. i. " Ming
Sin P. K. vii. " Chin. pr. 1088 s.
enough of wise and elegant sayings."* " Go on speaking thy
words full of sense and wisdom," said Dhritarashtra to the
wise Vidura ; " I cannot have enough of listening to them."*
" For the words of holy men," says Pwan-chung-mow, " framed
to rectify the heart of man, and to dissipate the [dulness] dim-
ness of ignorance, were at that time [of Yu and Shan] the ' line
of demarcation ;' and have since been the 'square measure'
of countless generations. And they are still the rule of these
kingdoms. Their [root] origin is from heaven and cannot
change ; but the bearing [cutting, or thrust] of them is to one-
self, and cannot be escaped. Read their books and repeat
their sayings ; for no one can order himself worthily who
foregoes the advice of wise and holy men. Therefore do not
despise them."'
"But warm thyself," said Rabbi Eliezer, "at the fire of the
wise : yet beware of their live coals, lest thou be burnt."*
" Drink eagerly [with thirst] their words," adds R. Jose Ben
Joezer, "dusting thyself with the dust of their feet [sitting at
their feet]."» " But such hearers are four-fold. Some are like
a sponge, and suck in everything ; others, like a funnel, let
everything through ; others, again, are like a strainer that re-
tains only dregs ; while others are like a sieve, that filters bran
and retains flour."'
"and their dark sayings." DjniTn, • twisted, tangled sayings ;'
alviyfiara, riddles. "The secret of the wise."^ "The dark,
hidden sayings of men whose words are full of blessing or of
curse, will show their greatness [importance] to the world."'
[And here compare the tes, or " woven, tangled," sayings of
Ptah-hotep.*] " In short, as regards the words of the wise, it
is well in good theory and practice to agree with the ways of
the world, and in learning; and with a view to heaven, to
' Legs par b. p. 23. > Maha Bhar. Udyoga P. 1182. » Com.
on Wen c'hang, Sh. s. 1. iv. p. 49 sq. * Pirqe Av. ii. ' Ibid. i. 4.
• Ibid. V. 16. » V. Sarma. Hitop. 128. » Cural, 28.
» Pap. Pr. pi. V. 6.
C 2
20
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
['••7
teach according to this rule (or law). But where the law
happens to be at variance with the ways of the world, a man
must follow the opinion [mind] of wise and good men, and
follow their example."'
Lastly, " When at leisure, read books ; for a man ignorant
of letters is brutish. And learning is said to be the knowledge
of the propriety or rule of this or that thing. By reading the
old books, one will know accurately justice [equity, righteous-
ness] and study propriety."* For " in like manner as water
drawn for the paddy-field finds its way to the meadow which
it waters, so also from (or by means of) the good and wise of
olden time, the rain of good falls on us all."'
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of know-
ledge : but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
rvtlfvn, «the chief thing,' 'principle,' 'beginning.' Chald. BJMri,
'the head.' LXX. apx;q, ' the beginning.' Marginal reading, 'The
principal part'
" T/ie fear of the Lord" &c. Here, properly speaking, does
the wise King begin his book, by laying the only foundation
of real knowledge and of true wisdom — the fear of the Lord.
No other foundation will bear safely the structure of life ; for
no other rock will stand the torrent of passions or brave the
storm of trials and trouble, of dangers, cares, joys and sorrows,
that make up the short span of human life.
"The fear"— not the dread— "of the Lord" — of offending
our Father in heaven, who hears and sees everything, and to
whom we must all give an account of ourselves at the last —
is the only principle that will make childhood obedient, youth
moral, manhood patient, active and prosperous, and a serene
old age happy. No other principle will avail than " the fear
of the Lord," of " Him in whom we live and move and have
our being ;" for we are all His offspring, toC yap koX ykvo% i<Tf>k\,^
• Bslavs cha, li, 12. ' Shi tei gun, p. 13. • Muthure, 8.
* Cleanth. H. in Jov. 4, and S. Paul, Acts xvii. 28.
'••7]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
21
'
and of whonv we stand in awe as of our Father in heaven. It
holds the heart captive to good. It is " religion" [a religando],'
and " is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life
that now is, and of that which is to come."* Reft of this " fear
of God," a man sails on the waters of life without compass or
rudder. Where, then, will he land ?
Even those who, the holy Apostle said, " sought the Lord,
if haply they might feel after Him, though he be not far from
every one of us,"' yearned after that principle, and went as far
as the light of reason alone could lead them towards framing
it for themselves. We need not here tarry by Greek or Latin
philosophers known of all ; but hear what Confucius, who was
in general reticent on the subject, says of Spirits [' kwei shin,'
of the dead and of the living] : " Spirits, what virtue [power],
and how great! You look, but you cannot see them ; you listen,
but you do not hear them ; they are in the substance of things,
and cannot be separated from it. They cause men apparelled
everywhere to offer them sacrifices. Those spirits are a count-
less host on the right hand and on the left. One knows not
when they draw near. Were it better if they were treated
slightly ? Their subtleness [invisibility] is evident ; the truth
[perfection] of it cannot be hid."* " Therefore," adds Confucius
elsewhere, " stand in awe, and worship the Spirit [shin] as if he
were present"
" Therefore is the wise man attentive and watchful as regards
unseen [Spirits], and is in awe and afraid of what he cannot
hear, and that is unseen because it is hidden, and not manifest
because of their subtleness. Therefore does the wise man keep
watch over himself."* " For Tao [rule of moral life] is not far
from man ; if it were far from him, it would no longer be Tao.
He who is sincere [who follows his conscience], and is careful
not to do to others what he would not like to be done to him-
self, is not far from Tao. What he does not wish to be done
* Lactam, lib. iv. 28.
* Chung yg, c. xvi.
' I Tim. iv. 8.
« Ibid. c. X.
' Acts xvii. 27.
22
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
n-7
to himself, he does not to other men."' So also Meng-tsze :
" Humanity [jin] is man ; the two joined together may be
called Tao.""
And Lao-tsze, who seems to have felt more about Tao than
he could understand or express, says : " He who knows Tao
does not mention (or speak of) it ; he who speaks of it. knows
'* "°*- Pof '■* « deep [spread out far and wide], and, when
[used] acted upon, it is inexhaustible ; so profound as to seem
to be the [patriarch] ancestor of all things."* " Up,<rp{naToy rCv
SvT^v 0,6^- dyiyjjrov yif^-^h ^T. dpx¥ ^Xov, H" TcXtvT,j„ :» God
IS oldest of all," says Thales ; "for He is a Being unborn,
without beginning and without end." « Perfection and truth,"
says Confucius, " is the Tao of heaven ; and that which is of it,
true, is the Tao of men."' "This perfection (or truth) is of
itself perfect and true, and this Tao (or rule) is its own rule."»
And to Fwan-chi, who inquired about knowledge, Confucius
said : " To provide justice for the people, to worship the spirits
and to stand in awe [fear] of them, may be called knowledge."'
" To what purpose," says Tiruvalluvar, "has that man studied
who does not worship at the feet of him who alone is endued
with pure knowledge? The head that does not worship him
who is endowed with eight attributes [Shiva] is of no use
[profitless] ; being incapable of sensation, though gifted with
senses."' [" These eight attributes are : i, self-existent ; 2, ever
pure ; 3, possessing perfect knowledge in himself, intuitively
wise ; 4, omniscient ; 5, immaterial, free from pleasure or pain ;
6, merciful; 7, almighty; 8, infinitely happy." »«] "And the
constant remembrance of the Most High [Supreme Lord],"
says the Buddhist, "is a door [the 13th] to religious knowledge
that greatly enlarges the mind.""
" The knowledge of God is a foundation. What building
« Chung yg, c. xiii. » Hea-Meng, c xiv. 16. » Tao-te-King, c. Ivi
' Ibid, c iv. » Thales, sept. sp. • Chung yg, c. xx. ' Ibid. c. xxv
" Shang-Lun, vi. 20. • Cural, i. 2, 9. w Ellis's Cural, p. 17.
" Rgya-tcher r. p. c. iv.
'•7]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
23
"
was ever reared without a foundation ? It teaches obedieric&
in the house, and it must bring treasure to it. He, therefore,
who is without this knowledge, has before him a life [work] of
trouble."' "And God has honoured knowledge as means of
acquiring through it honour with God Most High."'
"For the fear of God is the [head] principle of wisdom."*
" Thus the ' kiiin-tsze,' wise man" [lit " prince's son,' superior, as
distinct from the ' siao-jin,' little man, ignorant and low], " stays
(or regulates) himself on the spirits and doubts not ; a hundred
ages waiting without wavering [misgivings] for the holy man.
By staying (or regulating) himself on the spirits, he comes to
know heaven and earth ; and by [waiting] looking for the holy
man [who is to come after] a hundred ages [at the end of the
world ?], he wavers not [strays not from his purpose]."* [A
very remarkable passage, explained in various ways, all of
which, says A. Rdmusat," go to prove that in B.C. 500 the
Chinese were looking for the coming of the saint (or holy
man) at the end of the world, to reward or punish every man
according to his works.]
'' the fear of the Lord." "The Lord," o Ki5/..os, LXX., is no
rendering of rTJrT^ "Jehovah," for which the best substitute
probably is "TEternel," b'ilv, in the French Bible. A. Rdmusat*
fancied he had discovered a trace of Je-ho-vah in I-HI-WEL
Chinese terms for certain attributes of the Tao, mentioned
by Lao-tsze, who says -J " You look for him (or it), but cannot
see him — this is called (or, is meant by) I ; you listen for him,
but cannot hear him — this is called HI ; you try to feel after
[touch] him, but you cannot reach him — this is called WEI."
These terms, however, are of frequent occurence in Chinese
authors. Thus Confucius' mentions, as we have seen, the
"subtleness" [WEI] of spirits, that makes the wise stand in
awe of them. So that this fancy of the learned Frenchman is
' Rishtah i juw. p. 147. • Borhan-ed-din, c. t. • Arab prov.
* Chung yg, c. xxix. ' Ibid, note 106. • M^m. sur Lao-tseu, p. 42.
' Tao-te King, c. xiv. ' Chung yg, c. i. and xvi.
24
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[i-7
i.8]
TH6 BOOK OF PROVERBS.
2$
without real foundation. Moreover, Lao-tsre goes on to say
" that these three attributes of the Tao cannot be reached by
words, therefore do they all blend together and make One.
His existence is uninterrupted ; he is said to have a form (or
shape) without form, to be an image, without one."* So subtle
is he, that "only after thousands of years of austerity did
Narayana succeed in seeing the Lord of the Universe, smaller
than an atom, yet greater than all."' " For he alone is the
one," said Prahlada, " without name or form, who is attained
only by adoration."*
"but fools" &c. "Men," said Buddha, "from a long time
are so imbued with falsehood, that it is very hard to improve
them by teaching. My stay in this world is of no use ; I will
enter Nirvanam."* And Pindar agrees with him :
" — n«^X6v 8' i\u
TfTop o/itXos avhp<ov b 7rA.t«jTos."
And Cleobulus with Pindar, that " apowrU rh irXeov /*epo« «r
PpoTota-iv, the greater portion of mankind is wanting in sense
and slow of heart." "They despise knowledge even in the
simplest form, which," Siiin-tsze tells us,* " is only to say ' Yea,
yea,' and ' Nay, nay ;' for to say ' Nay' to 'Yea,* and ' Yea' to
' Nay,' is called [yu] stupidity."
" Fools, O, Bhagavan, despise me, feeding on false hope ;"''
for " foolish men are ashamed to learn."* " He does not read
religious books nor yet the Vedas ; therefore the natural dis-
position of the wicked prevails, as milk is by nature sweet."*
For "men untaught have neither knowledge nor conduct."'"
" The mean [ignorant, uncouth] man thinks nothing of over-
stepping the mean ['chung,' "via media'] which the wise man
observes carefully."" " What, then, is dulness (or stupidity) ?
Want of application (or aptitude) even for reading."'' "For
' Tao-te King, c xiv. * Maha Bh. Drona P. 9452. ' Vishnu
Pur. i. 19, 52. • Dsang-Lun, c. v. fol. 2. ' Nem. vii. 34.
• Blc ii. c. i. ' Maha Bh. Bhishma P. xxxiv. 1 180. ' Mongol, mor. m.
• Hitopad. i. 2, 10. •" Avvey. Kondr. 91. " Chung yg, c. ii.
" Ratnamalika, 25.
hard as it Is to climb a steep hill, it Is yet harder to teach a; .'; t 5
fool."»
8 My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and
forsake not the law of thy mother :
"Afy son." This is only a mode of addressing a younger
man, whether a son, disciple, pupil, or even a stranger, accor-
ding to Eastern custom, which often uses the words father,
mother, son, daughter, uncle, aunt, &c., in addressing persons
in no wise connected with or related to the speaker. It does
not therefore follow that this was addressed by the kmg to
his own son, being intended for all young people. " My son,"
said Enoch to Mathuselah. "I will speak to thee; hear my
word and incline thine ear to the vision of thy father's dream."
So also Ptah-hotep to his son : "My son, let not thy heart be
great (or high)."" . ,_ ..
"hear the instruction:' Filial piety [hiao] and obedience
take first rank in the Chinese code of virtues. "Humanity
rjinl " says Confucius, " makes up the whole of man ; and [hiao]
filial piety, is the [great] or chief part of it Filial reverence
for parents, according to their degree of affinity, demands
certain ceremonies."* So says Pythagoras of Samos-
"Toi5s T€ yovtts Tt'/ia, Tovs T 5yx«^'- e'KyeyauTOS,"*
" Honour thy parents and thy near relations."
The Chinese, besides the Hiao-king [the 'king' or sacred
classic devoted to filial piety alone], have many popular trea-
tises on it ; one of which, consisting of twenty-four instances
of filial piety among former generations, is reproduced with
prints in most Japanese books for children. One of these
worthies, Heung, is alluded to in the San-tsze-k.ng.« _ When
only nine years old, he warmed his father's mat [bed] ; upon
which that classic remarks that " Duty to parents .s that which
should always be observed ;" and the commentator adds, Ol
. Hill prov. 94. • Bk. of Enoch, Ixxxv. .. * Pap- Pr. v. ., 8.
4 Chung yg, c. XX. 5. ' Py'hag- S. XP- ^^- 4- ^ '7. «8-
26
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[i.8
all actions, filial piety is chief and the very first beginning.
The student who studies cannot but know that his duty is,
when young, to practise filial piety ; though it be said to be
inborn from Heaven [Heaven's nature], yet is it, nevertheless,
the rule of conduct for children to follow."* Thus Confucius
answering Meng-i, who wished to know what is meant by
filial piety or duty, said only : " Do not act against instinct
(or reason)."' But " let a son approach his parents as if looking
with caution down a precipice, or as if treading on thin ice,
having got up early in the morning to warm and to cool them."*
" Illustrious kings of old treated their fathers with filial piety,
and thus served brilliant Heaven [Father] ; they treated their
mothers alike, and sacrificed to the earth [Mother of all]."*
" For the father and the mother are the first visible [apparent]
deity."' Therefore "behave thyself," said Veqiana, "so as to
beware of these three sins : opposition to thy father, to thy
mother, and to thy elder brother."' "For there is no advice
superior to that of a father."'
" Of the whole company of spiritual teachers [gurus]," said
the Brahmans to Prahlada, "the father is the chiefest." "You
are right," answered Prahlada ; " there is not the slightest
doubt in my mind that unquestionably a father is a "guru,'
and ought as such to be worshipped assiduously."' " For he
who reproves another in the name of God," say the Rabbis,
"will have his portion with the Blessed One, and they will
bind a thread (or glory) on him."' " Continue, then, to love
and honour thy father and thy mother, that thy service to
them be repaid to thee in ten thousand benefits (or blessings).""
"O Gahapati my son, in five ways does a son honour and
support his parents. He says : i, I will provide for them ;
2, support their family ; 3, do their work ; 4, take care of their
» San-tsze-KIng Com. • Shang-Lun, ii. 5, 6. ' Gun den s. m.
257 sq. * Hiao-K. xvi. ' Avvey. Kondr. i. ' Vemana, iii. 12.
' Awey. Kondr. 37. ' Vishnu P. i. 18, 11. • R. Jonathan, Tamid.
28, M. S. '" Kudat ku B. xv. 21.
«-9l
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
27
- ^
inheritance ; 5, and perform funeral rites over them when'
they die."i
''the law of thy mother^ " If a child disobey his mother's
word, there is no other word [for him]." " If the cow," says
the Telugu proverb, " grazes in the field, will the calf graze on
the bank?"'
9 For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy
head, and chains about thy neck.
irj nilV, ' a wreath of grace,' ' a graceful wreath.' Chald. ' beauty
and grace.' LXX. trri^awv j^apirav.
"For they shall be," &c.
"'Afi<f)i Kofiauri /80A01 yXav-
Koypoa Kocr^ov — i^rl \a[Tai(Ti — (rTt<f>avov.
"In this book [Putt-ovada] Burmese fathers and mothers
teach their children. These words, if they mark them and
follow the teaching by word of mouth [min], will be to them
a fresh [cool] wreath of flowers."* Just such a garland as the
beautiful one Bhaimia placed on the shoulders of Nalas, who
thus adorned was at once proclaimed king by the gods and
Rishis assembled." For "a king is great in his country, but a
good and virtuous man is respected everywhere. A flower is
well for a high day, but a gem is everywhere preferred for a
head ornament."'
" Learning and dominion are in no wise alike (or equal) ;
for a king is respected [honoured] in his own kingdom, but
the [knowing] learned man is honoured everywhere."' "Get
knowledge" [hunar, skill, wisdom, &c.], said a wise man to his
son ; " for the learned or wise man is treated with respect
wherever he goes, and takes the first seat ; but ignorant men
fare badly. If thou desirest an inheritance from thy father,
learn wisdom of him. For his wealth may soon be gone."* But,
» Singhala V. Sutt. leaf no. ' Awey. Kondr. 38. » Find. 01.
iii. 23, 10. * Putt-ovada, 2. » Nalopakh. v. 28, 89. • Legs
par b. p. 37. ' Chanak. shat. i., and Hitopad. i. » Gulistan, bk. vii. 2.
28
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
ti-9
"o <ro<^o« tv ovry v€pt<)>ipti t^v owrfov :' The wise man carries
about his wealth within him;" for "[vidya, wisdom] know-
ledge is an ornament to all," says Chanakya.' " This chaplet
[of wise sayings], then, when put upon the neck of those who
have no other ornament, will cause them to shine in the
assemblies of wise men."* " Instruction adorns more than
[heavy] precious necklaces ; it honours the mean [lowly], and
causes them to stand in the assembly of honourable men."*
" What is an ornament ? Good behaviour [shilam, good
morals and manners],"* the precious root of which is, Siun-tsze
tells us, " the ornament of letters [wtn], [education and learn-
ing], and the use [or practice] of it with rule and reason [li] ;
whence the expression win-li has come to mean 'gentility.'"'
" This perfect [lit faultless] garland of questions and answers
about my neck," says the author of this ' Garland of wise say-
ings,' "will be a real ornament to me, by making me [wise]
acquainted with and skilled in things seen and things unseen."^
" Who is he that overcomes this world, this realm of death,
and ever gathers verses of the law, well taught, like flowers [for
his garland]?" "The disciple [sekho] overcomes this realm
of Yama [death], and gathers, like flowers [for his garland],
the well-told [or well-arranged] verses of this moral law."*
" He who possesses qualities," said Gopi, the wife of Shakhya
Muni, "is by them adorned; whosoever is without fault, is
everywhere thought respectable and virtuous."* " The orna-
ment of learning is what may truly be called a real ornament"'*
" To the learned there is no need of any other ornament than
the beauty [excellence] of learning,"" say the Tamils.
"Inward ornament," says the Arabic proverb, "is better
than outward." And another proverb says, " Education (or
manners) is the ornament of man; gold, that of woman" —
• yvttii. luv. ' Shat 6. » Ratnamal. epilogue. * Mats'haf
PhalasC i. • Ratnamal. 36. • Siiin-tsze, ii. c. xiii. ' Dri med-
phreng wa, Introd. • Dhammap. pupphav. 44, 45, sect. 4, p. 20, v. 45,
Colombo ed. • Rgya-tcher r. p. c. xiL "> Kalvi Oruk. 5.
" Niti neri vilac. 13.
i. 10]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
20
"that is," says the Turkish editor, "the gold coins [which
Turkish and Arab women wear in their head-gear] and jewels
of gold."i El Nawabig compares his wise sayings — for which
he has mastered the learned volume of Loqman [son of Baur,
son of Job's sister; schol.], and milked dry the wisdom of
Asaph [Suleyman's vizir ; schol.] — to an embroidered dress,
and to bracelets of goldsmith's work.' For " knowledge is a
diadem to a young man, and understanding is a necklace of
gold," says Abu Ubeid.' And " the ornament of knowledge
is wisdom ; of wisdom, humility; of humility, the fear of God's
commandment ; and of this — lowliness in working it out."*
" For riches adorn the house, but virtue adorns the person,"
says Chu-hi.*
"and chains about thy neck." Collars and chains of gold,
such as Pharaoh put upon Joseph's neck, and Raskenen seven
times upon Ahm^s, the admiral of his fleet ;' and such also as
Amon-em-heb [oflficer of Tothmes III.] had put upon him by
the king, " the [honour or] diploma of the collar of gold, for
his valour."" These various golden ornaments are frequently
seen in public and private collections of Egyptian, Etruscan
and Greek antiquities.
10 My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
" if sinners entice thee." "For the companion of thieves is
like one of them."* " Listen, then, to no bad advice."* For
"he who companies with sinful men, does not enjoy much
happiness."** "What ought the Buddha to avoid? Things
which ought not to be done." '* " For so long as the Btkkhus
[religious beggars] are neither friends, fellows nor companions
of sinners, so long also is their increase [prosperity] and not
their decrease [adversity] to be expected.""
' Reishtah i juw. p. 154 and 142. ' El Nawabig, pref. ' Prov. 122.
• Derek erw Sutta, v. 5. ' Ta hio Com. c. vi. ' De Roug^, Inscr.
d'Ahmfes, I. 2. ' Inscr. of Abd-el-Qameh, Zeitschr. Jan. 1873.
• Talmud Hier. Sanhed. c. i (B. F.). ' Nitimala, ii. 12. ••> Godhaj.
141, p. 480. " Dris Ian p'hreng wa, 2. " Mahaparanibbh. If. khya.
30
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[i. II
" sittTurs." "Incline not to sin."* "Eschew lying, murder
and theft"* For, says Sadi, " if thou makest a covenant with
[impure] wicked men and favourest them, they will commit
sin with thy wealth [or help] in fellowship with thee."'
" consent thou not." " Listen not to impudent, wicked words."*
" If a man acts wickedly, leave him."* " Cling to no evil deed,
and hinder no good [virtuous] one."' "Commit no sin, prac-
tise all manner of virtues, and keep your thoughts under
restraint ; this is the teaching of San-gyas [Buddha]."' " Look
upon good with longing [lit. thirst] ; but hear evil like a deaf
man."' And Pindar to Hiero :•
TpairikoK,
" Friend, allow not thyself to be deceived by the lure of dis-
honest gain2." " For as silence is the strength of fools, so is
falsehood that of thieves."'*
II If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for
blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:
" 1/ they say" &c. So spake Timur to his associates who
pledged him their faith : " A certain grandmother of mine,
who was a witch, saw in a dream that I was to be Sultan.
Swear to me that you will be to me both back, side and hand ;
and that you will not play me false. And they covenanted
so to do, and to be with him and not against him, both in
prosperity and in adversity."*' Thus, according to the Osmanli
proverb, "one robber became companion of another;" for,
says the Georgian proverb, "A robber [kurdi, Kurd] is ready
to swear," and "Two men will fight one;"'* for, according to
the Arabic proverb," " Men are wolves who devour one ano-
• Nitishat. 70. ' Avvey. Kondr. 63. » Gulist. bk. viii. 8.
• Nitimala, ii. 56. ' Avvey. Kondr. 20. • Oyun tulk. p. 6.
' Vasuband'hu, 14, and Dulva, vol. v. leaf 29. • Ming Sin P. K. c. i.
» Pyth. i. 178. " Chanak. Shat. 60. " Ahmed Arabs, v. Tim.
p. 10, II. " Georgian prov. ^ Meid. Ar. pr.
i. II]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
^3'
ther ; and he who is not a wolf is devoured by the rest" So
also Plautus :•
" Lupus est homo homini, non homo, quum qualis sit, non novit."
" If they say" &c. " Neither follow after those who thus
advise thee, nor put any faith in them,'' says the Sahidic adage;
"but trust in the Lord, and no evil shall happen to thee."*
" Remember this," says Theognis,' " KaKouri S« fv>\ irpoa-oiilXti dvSpa-
viv, hold no fellowship with wicked men ;" " neither let any
one beguile thee with words into either saying or doing what
is not best," adds Pythagoras.^ For some of the sins that
shorten the life of man are, "to join carelessly men who club
together for evil ;"* for, say the Osmanlis' [who are no fly-
fishers], "it requires foul water to catch fish." Another great
sin is, " to place one's power [set one's heart] in evil-doing ;"
"to act with cruelty, brutality and evil intentions;" and "to
injure in secret the virtuous and the good."'
" For even if one's life were in jeopardy, yet ought one to
do nothing that would deprive another of sweet life," says
Tiruvalluvar ;' therefore " walk not with a man who is afraid
of being known."* "What merit [or ability] is there in de-
ceiving those who place confidence in us? Is manliness a
name for the deed of him who steals by a man asleep, and
there slays him ?"'* "No," says the Mandchu, "the man may
not be then thinking of hurting the tiger, but the tiger's heart
is to hurt the man."" For says Hesiod, in the iron age,
" SiKTj 8 fv X V''> *'*' ntSuis,
OVK ccTTOi pKayfiii KaKoi Tov aptiova ipnira,
"justice will be in fight, and no shame left; but the wicked
man will injure a better one than himself."'*
■ Asin. ii. 4. • Ad. 54, 55, Rosellini, Or. Cpt p. 132. ' Hap. 31, 32.
• Pythag. S. xp. lir. 25, 26. « Tai-shang kang i. p. « Emthal
Othman. ' Tai-shang k. i. p. • Curat, 327. ' Ming
hien dsi. 121. '» Hitopad. iv. 56. " Ming h. dsL 95.
" Hesiod, ipy. «. fi/i. 190.
32
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[i. 12, 13
1 2 Let us swallow them up alive as the grave ; and '
whole, as those that go down into the pit :
biHtpS, as ' the grave,' ' the place of unseen spirits after death.'
Perhaps from bisi^, « a hole,' ' a hollow.'
" Koi Tol itiv j(ct|pt(r<riv inro — 8a/icvT(S
Pijirav c$ cvpuci^a Sofiov Kpvfpov aiSao,
vidirv/ioi —
" Slain by hand, they went down, nameless, into the vast, cold
abode of unseen spirits."'
1 3 We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill
our houses with spoil :
« We shall findl' &c.
"Iram atque animos e crimine sumunt."'
" Desire not to plunder," says Aweyar in her aphorisms ;
"avoid base actions" and "doing injury to others."* It is one
of the many grievous sins denounced in the Qoran.* " Wicked
men may do great injury to men who live at ease, owing to
their position j"' " wherefore there is some advantage in being
without fortune [Cantabit vacuus coram latrone viator*], since
one often comes to grief through one's possessions. The pre-
cious pearl-oyster is deprived of life for the pearl it contains."^
"It is a sin," says Tai-shang,* "to profit by the loss of others;"
as it is also " to devour their wealth in secret." " For the wise
man," says Confucius, "considers justice of the highest impor-
tance ; the superior man [kiiin-tsze] who has courage without
justice, will be disorderly ; and the mean man who has valour
without justice, will become a robber."" " For the heart, when
greedy of gain and bent on one object, will turn his back to
the right way (or virtue, Tao) ; and where private considerations
sway a man, the public good is set aside [lit. extinguished]."'*
> Hesiod, 1. r.ij. 151 sq. * Juv. Sat. vi. 285. » A. Soodi, 41, 35, 38.
« Sur. iv. 30. » Sain ugh. 1 57- ' Juv. Sat. x. 22. ' Legs par b.
p. 194. ' Kang i. p. • Hea-Lun, xvii. 22. •<• Hien wen shoo, 44.
•4]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
33
"And so it happens that the cheat (or fraudulent man) getj
boiled rice and curds, while the trusty [honest] man only gets
hot water and rice."*
" our houses," &c.
" Ubi flent nequam homines qui polentam pransitant."'
14 Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one
purse :
"Cast in thy lot," &c, lit. " There will be one purse to us all."
Sophos» tells the fable of " the Men and the Snakes," the
moral of which is, that "wicked men lean towards men of
their own sort."
" Fer debita — fraudum
Proemia,"
said Murrus.* " The wild goose when on the wing never
alights where it ought not ; but man does so for the sake of a
name and of gain.'" In Tso-foo it is said : " One intention (or
purpose), and the men of Woo-keue are friends. If intentions
(or purposes) are not united, flesh and bones are at enmity
with each other."* Such motley confederates for evil purposes
are compared in Javanese proverbs to "swarms of bees" and
to " muddy water."
In order to avoid all risk of this kind, the Osmanll says :^
" Be not third in the company of two persons." Their one
purpose makes them " birds of one nest ;"* " they eat of one
dish and sleep on one bed ;"' and they come together, not
from friendly feeling one for another, but "because the man
who himself is ruined likes one who, like him, is lost," say the
Osmanlis." " Beware, then, of vice (or guilt) when it yields
profit ; vice is hatred [lit hatefulness], bringing ruin," says
Tiruvalluvar." For even as to "one purse," the Spaniards
warn us that —
' Telug. pr. 237a
* Sil. Ital. 1. 484.
' Emth. Othm.
" Cural, 434.
' Plaut. Asinar. i. i. ' Fab. 12.
• Sain ugh. 10. * Ming Sin P. K. c. xi.
• Javan pr. • Telug. pr. '" Emth. Othm*
34
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[i. 15
" Dos amigos de una bolsa,
El uno canta y el otro Uora:"'
" Of two friends with one purse, the one sings and the other
weeps."
1 5 My son, walk not thou in the way with them ;
refrain thy foot from their path :
" walk not" " Do not [give thy word] associate with him
who [walks] deals with thee deceitfully ; but put thy trust in
God, for He is upright in His way."* " Let us therefore watch
over ourselves ; and hold thou no intercourse with sinners and
wicked men who act thus."* For " tigers and deer don't go
together," say the Chinese. But —
"evil communications corrupt good manners," says Menander,*
and after him S. Paul." " For a good man is ruined by asso-
ciating with the wicked," says Chanakya. "Water which is
called clear is fouled by mud."" " Therefore make no fellow-
ship with the wicked."'
" Since evil brings forth evil fruit, fear evil as you would fire
[with a play upon 'tiya,' 'evil' and 'fire']."" For "a wise
man," says Confucius, "lives in harmony [at peace] with men,
without associating with them;" whereas "the inferior man
associates with them, without living in harmony with them."'
For "the hatred of the good is better than the friendship of
the wicked ;"'« and "solitude is better than sitting with evil
men."" "Better alone than in bad company."'' For "he is
a traitor who leads thee into evil."" " I, Enoch, say unto the
righteous : Do not walk in the evil way and oppression, nor
in the ways of death ; and do not draw near unto them, that
ye be not destroyed."'* " Watch over your souls, and hold fast
• Soan pr. ' Sahid. ad. 69, p. 133- ' D'dasc. Ap. (Eth), iii. p. 28.
. Menand. «)«.«. ?. ' > Cor. xv. 33. ' Sha.ak. .52. 153-
. Tdugu mor. max. 5. ' Cural, 202. • Hea-Lun, x.u. 23.
10 Tamil pr. " Nathr elL 244. " Engl. pr. " Nathr elL 181.
»« Bk. Enoch, xciv. 3-
i. 15]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
35
by your service of Him ; and serve Him in righteousness,
innocence, and in judgment."'
" If you cannot get for your companion by the way one
excellent man like yourself, then walk alone firmly : no fellow-
ship can be made with a fool."' "With such unclean people,
let no Brahman ever make any connection either by marriage
or in worship ; nay, not even in adversity. Such is the law."*
''Avoid all evil things, so called."* " Let the wise man make
no friendship with, nor follow the same path as, drunkards,,
froward men who incur blame, are ill-omened, &c."' " Half
an instant is all the intercourse with such people allowed to a
well-conducted man."* " Let no Brahman honour with even
one word hypocrites, immoral men [cat-worshippers], useless
ceremonies, sceptics, &c."' " For he who hinders thee from
good, is the devil in the shape of a man."'
The first of the five counsels Nur-ed-din, before his death,
gave to his son, was : " Be not intimate (or familiar) with any
one ; so shalt thou be safe from his wickedness ; for safety is
in solitude [or retirement]. There is no one at present who
would be faithful to thee in [faithless] evil times. Live there-
fore apart, and lean on no one. I give thee good advice."'
" Seeing the grave awaits us all, there is nothing for all degrees
of men but to eschew evil and to do good."'" "Tsakkupala
Mathera, who was blind, said to his nephew Palita, who was
leading him, but who left him to go after a woman picking up
sticks : ' He who commits a wicked action must not touch
the end of my staff [wherewith to guide me].' Palita then
became a layman, and then asked Tsakkupala to allow him
once more to lead him. But Tsakkupala replied : ' I will not
follow you. Even if you did it as a layman, it is not meet
you should associate with me.'"" For "he whom the objects
' Bk. of Adam and Eve, p. 141
' Manu, ii. i, 40. * Away. Kondr. 68.
• Ibid. ib. 12, 17.
' Alef leil. xxi. p. 159.
Parab. i. p. 45.
D 2
' Ibid. ib. 18, 53.
" A way. Nalvani i
' Dhammap. Balav. 2.
' Vishnu P. iii. 12, 5.
» E. Medin, 166.
u Buddhagosha's
36
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[i. 16, 17
of sense do not draw too much aside into the toils of greed
(or covetousness), has, like a hero, conquered the three worlds."*
" For things easily done are not good nor favourable to a
man ; but things both good and wholesome are hard to do."*
So Hesiod :
" T^ 8 dp€Trji SSpioTa 0€ol wpoirdpotOtv IdrjKav
aOavaroi, fioKpoi St Kai opOu>s oTfjLOi or oimjv,
Koi Tptj^us TO jrpSrov :"'
" For the way to virtue is both long and up-hill, nay, rough at
first" " So let a man, from his birth upwards, never forget what
[sin is] ; and not degrade himself like a brute ; but growing old
in holy works, live happy and free from trouble."* For " those
who think that that should be avoided that need not be, and
that they need not avoid what is to be avoided, make a great
mistake and come to grief. But those who know how to avoid
what is to be avoided and the contrary, are addicted to good
doctrine, and come to good."' Therefore "pass by what is
abominable [or detestable], and thou shalt be respected."* And
"refrain from a bad action, for it is not conducive to good.
Even if men should counsel thee, have nothing to do with
them ; their counsel is vain — nay, very bad."'
16 For their feet run to evil, and make haste to
shed blood.
"For tJuirfeet" &c.
appi}T appi^Tutv TcAeiraiTa ipoviauri -j^tpa-iv .
" He is slow to good, but swift to evil," said of one such men.'
1 7 Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of
any bird.
• Nitishat. 76. • Dhammap. Attavag. 7. • ipy. x. ij/i, 287 sq.
* Vemana, iii. 40. * Dhammap. Nirayavag. 13, 14. ' Ali b.
Abu Taleb. 30. ' Sahid. Ad. 35, 36. • (Edip. Tyr. 465.
* Eth-Theal. 302.
i. 18]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
37
^?.? ^??, ' master,' ' owner of wing,' ' fowl.' Dan, ' in vain,' A. V.
•without cause;' the birds have done nothing to deserve it. Same
sense as in c. iiL 30. R. Yarchi explains it otherwise ; but Tevunat
Mishle undersUnds DJO here as ■ without cause,' agreeing with the
context.
"Surely in vain," &c.
Phcrmio. " Non rete accipitris tenditur neque milvo,
Qui mal4 faciunt nobis; itiis qui nil faciunt, tenditur."'
" Then the hunter strewed the ground with seeds of com,
there spread his net, and then hid himself. The pigeons werp
going to alight upon it, when Chitragriva, their king, warned
them to consider how so much grain could possibly find
itself in such a place. ' No good will come of it,' said he ;
'Beware!'"'
" The same bird which has escaped the bait many a time,
when the hour is come, does not see the toil set for it"» by
artful man, who —
" KOV^OV^btK T« t^vAoC op-
vWioy d/i<fiil3a\iiv, iyti
.... ir(pi<l>paS^i dvrlp."*
But Tai-shang calls it a sin " to shoot arrows at birds ; to
frighten small birds ; to spoil their nests ; and to break their
eggs."'
" Do not kill me, O prince," said the goose to Nalas, " and
I will do thee a good turn. I will fly away to Bhima's daughter,
and bring her tidings of thee.""
1 8 And they lay wait for their own blood ; they
lurk privily for their own lives.
Din»53V, oaf?, 'for their blood,' 'for their souls,' or 'life.' " Own,"
here gives a wrong sense. It is the blood and life of those against
whom others plot
"(Aeir own blood." " The blood of all of us is red and pre-
> Ter. Phorm. ii. i. » Hitop. i. fab. i. « Vararuchi Ashta R. 2 ;
Hitop. i. 50. « Antigone, 342. ' Tai-shang k. i. p. • Nalo-
pakh. i. 20 sq.
38
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[i. 1 8
cious in God's eyes' [and is not to be shed for naught]." "It
is the one blood of which God made His family on earth."*
"The children of Adam are bones one of another,"' to which
" He giveth life, breath and all things." For " after His own
image created He man."* This image was blurred and defaced
by sin ; still man's breath, or life, is not his own, but God's ;
so that man has no power over his own life, which belongs to
God. Suicide, therefore, is felony, and the suicide is felo de se ;
he robs God of His own ; but murder is a double felony — it
robs man of life, and God of that life which belongs to Him ;
who thus ordered that the murderer's blood should be shed in
ransom for his brother's blood which he shed.' " Our breath,
or life, is given us," said the father, " for the practice of virtue,
for wealth, love and final happiness. If life is lost, what, then,
is not lost? But if life is saved, what is there that is not
saved ?"•
Sin, we know, brought death into the world, and with it
all manner of evil. Hesiod, however, tells a different story.
" Instead of my fire which thou hast stolen for mankind," said
Zeus to Prometheus, " I will give them evil —
— y Kiv aTravTCS
Tfpirovrai Kara dv/uiv, iov kokov o/i<^oyoir<3vT<s,'
in which they will take pleasure to their heart's content ; cherish-
ing their own wickedness (or ruin)." " I do not see any one in
the world," said Arjuna, " living without injury. Good men live
on the good ; the stronger on the weaker ; the mangoose eats
mice, and the cat eats the mangoose ; then the dog eats the
cat, and the ' vyalamriga,' wild stag (?), kills the dog. Man eats
them all, and time eats everything, whether durable or tran-
sitory."* According to the Cingalese proverb: "The bull
[suffers] from his wounds, and the crow from longing for his
flesh."* " So will I compass the death of that elephant,"
• Meore enayim, Ps. pi. p. lo. ' Acts xvii. 27, 28. ' Gulist. i. 10.
♦ Qen. i. 27. * Gen. ix. 6. ' Hitop. i. 44. ' Hesiod, i. t. t). 57.
• Maha Bh. Shanti P. 442. • Athitha, p. 34.
i. 19]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
39
said the jackal, through my superior intelligence (or know-
ledge)." ^
" lurk privily." "Men who in secret lurk [for evil purpose]
about good and true [men], incur the hatred of Heaven ; that
soon overclouds them."' "My dear Rahans," said Phara
Thaken, "he who is guilty of taking away life, when he dies
out of this present life, will assuredly go to hell, and there be
one of the animals of that place. And when he returns thence
and is born a man, his life will be short [lit. only this life here,
as a man]."*
1 9 So are the ways of every one that Is greedy of
gain ; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.
"So are the ways" &c. "When virtue is last," says Meng-
tsze, " and love of gain is first, men will not rest satisfied except
when full of rapine and violence."* "Yet it is a sin to wish
others should suffer loss."* "For he," says Ajtoldi, "who
causes loss (or pain) to others, is himself a brute [no man]."'
And " he who seeks gain by unfair means, suffers for it The
Chetas [inhabitants of the Chetya country] slew the Vidabbhas,
and were all in turn destroyed."^ For
" KtpSr) vovripa (rfftiav dtl <f>iptt,"^
"wicked gains always bring loss ;" nay,
" KaKa KtpSia Ttr onjtrti/," "
"evil gains are equal to curses." And "the end of every fox,"
say the Osmanlis, "is the furrier's shop.""
See Esop's fable [153] of "the goose with the golden egg;"
also told by Loqman [as a hen, f. 1 2] in the " Suvarnahansa
Jataka," Buddha's birth as a golden goose ; in the Syriac fable
of Sophos [{. 30] ; of " the Man with a hen that laid a golden
egg every day ;" in Sintypa [f 27], probably borrowed from
• Hitop. i. 853. * Uen ka cha wa, vol. iii. p. 21. ' Buddhagh.
Par. p. 151. * Shang-Meng, i. c. i. ' Taishang k. i. p.
• Kudat ku bilik, xvii. 47. ' Vidabbha Jataka, p. 256. • yvw/i. iiov.
• Hesiod, i. c i 356.
'» Emth. Osm.
.
40
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[i. 20
the Aramaean of Sophos ; in Babrias [f. 123] ; in Avieni [f. 33],
" anser erat cuidam," &c. For as Tai-kung says truly : "A
greedy (or covetous) heart injures itself; as a [sharp or] cut-
ting mouth injures him who has it'" Nevertheless —
" — tu mihl vel vi, vel clkm, vel precario
Fac tradas: mea nil refert, dum potior mode :"'
" Let me have it, at any rate ; I care naught about the means,
so that I may have it soon."
" Si possis, recte, si non, quocumque modo rem."*
" Kujjuttara, slave-girl to queen Samavati, used to spend on
herself four of the eight [thapia] pieces of money the king
gave her daily to buy flowers for the queen. One day Kuj-
juttara, having gone with the flower-girl to hear Phara Thaken
preach, spent the whole money given her on flowers. And
when the queen, astonished at the quantity of flowers she
brought, asked her the reason of it, Kujjuttara answered :
Having heard the law from Phara Thaken, I am become a
'thotapatti' [first step, or degree, towards aryaship] ; I no
longer take the property of others."*
" In self-defence, however," says Manu, "or in battle fought
for a just cause, or to protect women or priests, he who kills
justly commits no crime. Let a man kill without hesitation
one who attacks him with intent to take away his life, whether
he be a child or an old man, a guru or a Brahman well versed
in the Shastras. He commits no crime at all who kills an
assassin, whether in public or in private ; wrath is set against
his wrath.""
20 Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice
in the streets :
Wisdom, niQ^n, is a singular, like ch. ix. i, xiv. i, &c. But
if taken as a plural (xxiv. 7) of excellence, which is often con-
strued with a sing, verb, we may compare with it the following
' Ming Sin P. K. i. c. v. » Ter. Eun. ii. 3. ' Horat. Epist. i. i, 66.
« Dhammap. Samavati st. p. 75. » Manu Sanh. viii. 349— 3S'-
,il
i. 21, 22]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
4»
passage from the Avesta: "He who holds by [is friend of]
Wisdoms [Armaitis, ace. pi.], inquires after heavenly man-
sions."' There are not, however, two Ameshaspands of that
name. But we have two Wisdoms, dfno khratus* ' heavenly
wisdom,' and gaoshogruto khratus? 'wisdom [learnt] by hearing
of the ear.' Also " a heavenly, original wisdom, a heavenly
treasure, and the wisdom or treasure of this world, which are,
the first, excellent, of Hormuzd ; the latter, worldly and defi-
cient, through Ahriman's influence."* "Wisdom is one," says
R. Lewi, " but it is seen in various ways abroad, in nature, in
structures, &c."*
2 1 She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the
Openings of the gates : in the city she uttereth her
words, saying,
ni^oh, ' places of concourse and noisy, like a market-place,'
&c. The old versions seem to have taken ni''ph for niDin,
' walls.' So Chald. and Syr. render it by ' on the top of the
palace ;' and LXX. fV aKpiav St Tfl^imv.
2 2 How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity?
and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools
hate knowledge 1
" How long" &c. " Long is the night to him who lies awake ;
long is the journey to him who is weary ; and long is the
revolution ['sansaro,' in transmigration] of fools."* "O ye gods,"
said Bchom-ldan-das [Buddha, the Victorious], "these sen-
sible beings are altogether ruined by the evil of wickedness ;
they only think of the good of this world, and do not under-
stand wisdom [or the highest knowledge, 'shes rab']."' "The
three worlds," said Buddha, "are consumed by the pain of old
age, of disease, and by the fire of death ; and they have no
• Ya^na, xxxi. 12. ' Yasht, x. 107.
i kh. c. Ivii. ' Tvunat m. p. 4.
' Dsang-Lun, fol. 2.
' Id. ii. 6. * Mainyo
* Dhammap. Balav. 6a
42
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[i. 33
guide. All beings bom in the universe are for the most part
foolish [in the dark and ignorant] ; they are like a swarm of
bees inside a vase [turned over them— buzzing in darkness]." >
" Since, then, all men are born to die, why will you, for the
sake of pleasure, hearken to no warning against falling into a
sea of trouble and sorrow ?"*
"Wilt thou abide here," said the Brahman to Molon Toin
[who had left his father's house in search of wisdom and
happiness], "and here lead a useful life? Do so. He then
pronounced these \yords : ' By the teaching of this treasure of
sublime love [siluk], he will find the real truth ; how to dry
up thd flowing stream of perpetual births ; and he will stay
the sorrow of all creatures by persisting unrelentingly in this
love of supreme knowledge.'"* " Now the words I have spoken
to you before," said the Buddhist— " that is, sudden death,
sudden destruction of the wicked, and hell— hear ye attentively
without dissimulation. Are not your lungs, then, and your
heart moved and trembling? Do you not fear, then? Do
you not see that all is not everlasting? Then would you
hearken to foolish men who have no sacred knowledge ? Will
you not think, then, and cease to flatter yourselves with a vain
hope? O jealous heart, ever deceiving! Wherefore, pene-
trated with the four-fold thought of poison, hell, Pirit [monsters
of hell], and the fear of the beasts [in transmigration], at once
grope after doing virtuous deeds."*
"Well," said Confucius, "you may teach the law [moral
precepts], but they will not be followed. Change [conversion]
is the main thing."*
"and fools hate knowledge." "The folly of a man is his
enemy ; but his intelligence is his friend."" "For a man with-
out knowledge is altogether in evil (or diseased) ; know, then,
that knowledge is powerful (or strong)."' But Hillel goes
' Rgya-tcher r. pa, c. xiiL p. 155. » Dsang-Lun, ii. foL 18.
» Molon Toin, foL 3. 4. • Boyan Sorgal, p. 14, 15. ' Shang-Lun,
ix. 23. • Abu Ubeid, 163. ' Kudat ku Bil. ix. 5, 10.
'
'•23]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
43
further. He says : " He who does not learn is worthy of death.'^
Yet in spite of such a sentence, " The fool," says the Osmanli,
loves a fool ; the wise man, however, loves a wise one."'
23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out
my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto
you.
" Turn you." " There is no safer advocate," says AH,' " than
repentance." On which the Persian says : " O thou who hast
committed sins without end, fearest not thou the advocate
[i.e. exposure] of them ? Yea, rather repent until thou yieldest
to the truth, for without repentance there is no intercessor [for
sin]." " He who has done aught amiss, let him henceforth
alter altogether," says the Georgian proverb.* " Let him turn
within himself and mend his ways," say the Japanese.* " Dare
think aright," says Horace, "and only begin. The work is
half done."
" Ditnidium facti qui coepit habet ; sapere aude ;
Incipe ; qui recte vivendi prorogat horam,
Rusticus expectat dum defluat amnis :"*
" If you put it off, you are no better than the clown who waits
until the river has flowed past him."
For " what remains of life is priceless" for amendment [since
it may be cut short], says the Arabic proverb ; whereupon thfe
Persian adds : " If thou hast blackened the record of thy past
life, then repent of what thou hast done ; thy past life is but
the root of this present moment, which is a mere breath. Then
give it the water of repentance, if that root lacks moisture.
Give to the five senses of thy life the water of life, until the
tree of thy life has taken firm root All that is past will be
well from this [moment of repentance] ; God has changed
[transformed] thy 'blackness' [sins], until all the past is rec-
koned to obedience."' "When a man has been especially
wicked," says Kiu O in one of his sermons, " and returns to
• Pirqe Av. 1. 13. • Emthal Osman. • Ali, 29. * Andazebi, 7.
' Japan, pr. p. 208. • Hor. Epist. i. 2, 40. ' Rishtah i juw. p. 57 sq.
44
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[i. 23
his original heart" [which Meng-tsze, from whom the text is
taken, says is by nature good], " he comes forth especially clean
and bright, like the rising moon, scoured" [alluding to the
story of the rush-cutter [' sugina,' mare's-tail, Dutch reed for
polishing] who, seeing the moon rising between his rushes,
thought it was being scoured with them].^ " Dud, the devil,
once came to Bchom-ldan-das [Buddha] and said to him, ' Thy
converts are like the sand of the Ganges ; thou hast been long
enough in the world ; it is time thou shouldst escape from
sorrow.' Then Buddha put a little earth upon the nail of
one of his fingers, and asked Dud which was the largest, that
particle of mould or the earth. ' This is only a trifle,' answered
Dud. Then said Buddha, ' My converts [liberated souls] are
like the earth on my finger-nail, and the yet unconverted are
like the earth.*"*
"at my reproof."
" oAXa TiOtirri koI viiiui, or«i irtWtvrat a/icivoc :"'
" Hearken, it will be better for you." " When thou reprovest
a bad man," says the philosopher, "take him with words of
wisdom and a soft [kind] voice, lest he keep aloof from thee,
and hide his sins from thee, and his sinful disposition become
a habit in him, like eating and drinking."*
True, Yet the above teaching is, of course, wide of the
mark. " Repentance not to be repented of," or " conversion,"
is not to turn to one's own natural heart, which is sinful and
the source of all evil in man i^ for " how can one bring clean out
of what is unclean ?" But "conversion" is turning homewards,
that is, heavenwards. It is to say : " I will arise and go to my
Father" — reconciled and ready to forgive me through His Son
and for His sake — "and say unto Him, I have sinned." This
conversion is wrought, not by the heart within itself, but by
the grace of God preventing the sinner, calling to him to turn,
and meeting him half-way.
' Kiu O do wa, vol. 1. s. 2, p. 14. ' Dsang-Lun, vi. c. 22, fol. 104.
' II. i, 259, 274. • Matsbaf. Phal. ' S. Matt. xv. 18, 19 ; Job xiv. 4, xv. 14.
i. 24, 25]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
45
24 Because I have called, and ye refused ; I have
stretched out my hand, and no man regarded ;
"Because I have called;' &c. "Alas I" said Confucius. "I
have not yet seen any one love virtue as he loves pleasure."*
" Those who speak wholesome words are few ; whence those
who hearken to them are few also. It is difficult enough to
find a clever physician ; yet few there are who do as he tells
them."* "For there are ears," says El Nawabig, "which are
closed against hearing the truth, and understandings which
are turned away from her guidance."' " O you," said Piankhi
to the inhabitants of Parakhem-kheper's city, "who live in death,
do not close the gates of your lives, for the slaughter [block] of
this day. Do not love death and hate life."* " Who, then, is
deaf? He who will not listen to profitable words."' " Nalas
will attend neither to the advice of his friends and relatives,
nor yet to mine, O king ; but I don't blame him for it : he is
mad."» "For albeit many there be who know religion and
speak it, yet among those who thus receive it, it is hard to
find one man who puts it in practice."^
Men only hearken to what they like. Witness the fable of
"the blacksmith's dog," in Syntipa" and in the Aramaean ori-
ginal of Sophos."» The dog slept all the time his master worked
at the anvil, but always awoke at feeding-time. Whence the
moral— Aramaean : "that men hear what they like, but never
hear what they do not like ;"— Greek : " Men are always hard
to persuade ; dilatory and careless as regards things they do
not like" Loqman," however, understands the anvil to mean
prayer, and meat, pleasure.
25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and
would none of my reproof :
• Hea-Lun, xv. 12.
« Piankhi stfele, 1. 78.
» Legs par b. p. 27 '•
« Sain ugh. 16S. ' El Nawab. pref.
Ratnam. 42. • Nalopakh. vin. 16, 17.
• Fab. 16. » Fab. 18. '» Fab. 29.
46
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[i. 26
lynpn?, « but ye have torn asunder, neglected, set at nought my
counsel.' Chald. ' ye have hated' LXX. <lKi5pov<! cVowiTc— /JovX<{s.
"But ye have set at nought." &c. " The man," says Ali, « was
asleep, and his vigilance died." "Talk as you like to men
careless of the future, it all ends in talk ; but when they die,
they will find the loss they suffer from their continued neglect,"
adds the Persian commentary.* According to the Greek
maxim,
" avrip afiov^Oi it Ktvov fioxOti rpixi^v :"*
" that the man who takes not counsel [is senseless] labours in
vain in his race through life." " When I saw you, O children,
dreaming [not knowing which way to go], my heart was grieved.
I advised you then, over and over again. But you set at nought
my voice ; it is of no use teaching you. If I repeat my advice
to you, you only turn against me. And you cannot pretend
to say that I do not know — I who am in decrepit old age."'
" There are few men learned [wise] and endowed with qualities ;
few of understanding ; few who soothe [diminish or remove]
sorrow ; but such men are the best in this passing world. All
sin committed by one who knows [it to be sin] is heavy ; but
sin in ignorance is small guilt ; expiation is provided alike in
form [anurtipam] to the sin committed."*
26 I also will laugh at your calamity ; I will mock
when your fear cometh ;
"at your calamity," &c. "A great calamity from the side of
Heaven! No time now for mirth and joy. The old man
teaches in all earnestness, but the young people are puffed up
with pride. Yet I do not talk idly [as some do] ; but you
make fun of sorrow [to come]. When a large fire [incendium]
takes place, one may put a stop to mirth."'' " This I declare
unto you," said Enoch, "that He who created you will over-
whelm you, and there will be no mercy shown you in your
' Ali, 2. « yvuii. ,10V. ' She King, vol. iii. bk. iii od. 2.
< Maha Bh. Shanti P. 1285, 1283. « She King, vol. iii. bk. iii. od. 10.
i. 2;]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
47
fall ; but your Creator will rejoice over your destruction."'
"For I know," said Enoch to his son Methuselah, "that God
intends to bring the waters of the Flood upon the earth, and
to destroy our creation."*
" I inquired of the Angel of Peace who was going about
with me, 'For whom are the instruments I see prepared?'
And he said, ' For the hosts of Azazeel, to be delivered to
(or cast under) the lowest condemnation.' Michael, Gabriel,
Raphael and Phanuel, shall be strengthened at that time —
when the Lord of Spirits sends forth chastisement : then shall
the stores of waters that are above the heavens burst open
[and rain fall in drops the size of a plate'] on the fountains of
water that are on the earth and under the earth. Then those
waters will mix together, and shall blot out all that is in the
earth, unto the borders of heaven. Thus shall they be made
to know the iniquity they have committed in the earth ; and
thus shall they be punished."*
"And I saw another vision. As I was in the house of
Mahalaleel, my father-in-law, I saw heaven fall upon the earth.
I cried. The earth is destroyed ! Mahalaleel heard my cry. I
told him the vision. 'My son,' said he, 'the earth will be
destroyed in a great overthrow, because of the sins of men.
Now, then, arise, and pray to the Lord that a remnant be left'"*
27 When your fear cometh as desolation and your
destruction cometh as a whirlwind ; when distress and
anguish cometh upon you.
nkjiOJp, ' like a tempest that works desolation or destruction.'
Chald. ' when your fear cometh suddenly, and your breaking up like
a tempest,' &c.
"destruction." "As a dark whirlwind —
• Bk. Enoch, c. xciii. 10, 11. • Bk. of Adam and Eve, bk. ii. c ?2.
' Bundehesh, sect xvi. 5. ♦ Bk. Enoch, c lix. p. 30. » Ibid,
c. Ixxxiii. pp. 59, 60. • U. X'. 746.
48
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[•'• 27
with one fell swoop, avanurytrai oTjj, spreads desolation and
woe,
uioT avt/toi Vfiftikat aJyfia Stf(rKiSa(Ttv
rjpivof, Si wovTov jroXviciJ^ovos orpvyeToio
wOfiiva Ktc^af —
Toittvnj Zi^fof irikerai rfo-is' —
so does calamity befal men. As suddenly as the stormy wind
that shook the very depths of the. sea, scatters the spring
clouds, so also does chastisement come down from Heaven."
Then livid fear — xXmpov 8«os* — comes upon men in their deso-
lation ; for " alas !" says Menander,' " rb yd.p a<^vw Svo-rvx"!'
ftavtav wottt, a sudden calamity makes men mad," if they have
set their heart wholly on this world.
" The man," says the Buddhist, " who is wholly taken up
with his sons and his cattle, and whose mind is thus pre-occu-
pied, will be overtaken [seized] by death, as a torrent over-
whelms a whole village asleep."* For, say the Finns, "one
gets [emptiness] want without seeking, and misfortune without
buying."' And then, add the Mandchus, "when things both
excellent and great have passed away, and a change takes
place in fortune, it is as if nothing had been."' "Abundance
of all kinds!" say the Chinese; "then a thousand calamities
and ten thousand misfortunes destroy it all at once."^ And
the Welsh: "God is long in giving warning; but His ven-
geance is in earnest when it comes." And again : " Distress
comes without an attempt [at warning]."'
" Nam dii irati laneos pedes habent."' For " the gods, when
angry, wear woollen soles on their feet [tread without noise]."
Then "anguish lays hold on thee, O man ; thy hair stands on
end, and thy soul is in thy hand."" " Oh the unquenchable
fire of hell, and the inevitable destruction of the wicked ! Man
suddenly dies on the morrow ; by the high wind of an evil
' Solon, V. 13 sq. 'II. v- 479- ' iJeX^. 14. * Dhammap.
Maggav. 16. • Fin. prov. ' Ming hien dsi. 98. ' Ming
Sin P. K. c. 3. ' Welsh pr. • Lat. pr. '» Pap. Anast. i. 24, 2.
I. 2
8]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
49
nature he is suddenly cast down. Understand this beforehand
[in time], and lose no time in practising virtue."'
In the Kin-sze-luh it is said: "To rise up to good is like
being raised by the wind [easily] ; but to alter for the worse
[transgress] is like being burnt up by thunder."* " When your
transgressions are filled up, and the number [of your days],"
says the author of the Dzu-gung, " is cut short, and with your
face on your pillow you cry in the hour of sorrow that is come
upon you, and you think of all the wicked conversation of your
past life, when you wished to change for the better [to repent],
but did not care to do .so, and think of all the opportunities
for good in your life which you might have done, but could
not find leisure to do — then, be the wealth you have amassed
what it may, who will now take care of it ? But you must die,
after eschewing to do the good you might have done, and doing
evil instead of it, and also committing sin in secret. What
man is he who would not grieve at this?"
"Instead of which, if a man will embrace the good advice
of wise men, and, repenting of his evil ways, rather walk after
the manner of his original [former] heart, will he not eschew
sorrow and court happiness? Seeing, then, how both good
and evil are requited, how can one hesitate an instant in 'sink-
ing the scale' of a change of life ? But he who, whatever his
wealth may be, thinks he can obtain happiness without ful-
filling his five duties and all righteousness towards all living
things, is like one who would hope to haul a fish from the
deep sea by embracing a tree of the forest."'"
28 Then shall they call upon me, but 1 will not
answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not
find me :
" TAen shall they',' &c. " So long," says God, " as thou wilt
continue in lust and wickedness, so long shalt thou receive
' Boyan sorgal, p. 12. « Ming Sin P. K. i. c. 5. ^ Mandchu
pref. to the Dzu-gung.
E
50
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
['• 29— 3 »
from me the message, ' Continue without support'"^ Thou
mayest call, but in vain. The cry of such a man is, " lamenta-
tions in a jungle," say the Telugus.*
29 For that they hated knowledge, and did not
choose the fear of the Lord :
"For that they hated" &c. "A man," says Confucius, "with-
out knowledge and without the wish to acquire it, can never
become a wise [or educated, superior] man."*
30 They would none of my counsel : they despised
all my reproof.
3 1 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own
way, and be filled with their own devices.
" They would none',' &c. " When vanity," says El Nawabig,
"whispers to thee, then thou art quicker of hearing than a
hyaena's cub ; but when truth reproves thee, then thou art
without ears."* " For he is wise who hearkens to good advice
[wise men take good advice ; lucky ones follow it]," says
Hesiod ;=* "but he who neither advises himself, nor hearkens
to good advice from others — SS' out' a^Tiiot ovij/) — is altogether
a worthless man."
" Those attendants," said Phara Thaken, " cannot die with-
out consequences of their former life ; but they have found the
right way. Such as die under the influence of their moral
duties [either done or not done, as it may happen], continue
to experience either happiness or misery."*
"It is thy fault," said Sanjaya to Dhritarashtra, "that this
battle with the Pandavas has taken place. Eat thou, then, the
fruit of to-day, after defiling thine own soul. Thou hast got
thy deserts, O king."' "The deed done, will it go back?"'
« Risbtah I juw. p. 161. ' Telugu pr. ' Shang-Lun, bk. i. 2.
* El Nawab. 37. • i. ^ ij. 293 sq. • Dhammap. st. of Samav. p. 83.
' Maba Bh. Bbishma P. 334©; and Hor. Od. i. iii. 25. • Telugu pr.
'• 32]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
51
No ; and " long is the chewing of a bitter morsel [tamaid
chweru]," say the Welsh.*
" Every one who sows bad seed and looks for good fruit,
rakes his brain to no purpose, and feeds on vain imaginations."*
Thae-kea, speaking of himself to E-yun, said : " I, small indi-
vidual as I am, was not clearly awake to virtue ; but through
my passions, &c., I became degenerate, and I offended pro-
priety, so as to bring a swift doom on this body of mine.
When Heaven sends affliction, one may yet bear up against it;
but when we bring down calamities upon ourselves, we cannot
escape them [there is no looking back from them]."' " When
a man," says Vishnu Sarma, " has got himself into trouble, he
then blames his destiny, and from ignorance does not acknow-
ledge the faults of his own actions."* "Man," said Vashishta
to Parasara, " enjoys the fruit of what was done by him."' For
" a man, whether honourable or mean, not to distinguish what
is lawful [and right to say or do], is self-willed."' And "as a
man's mind, so is his going; Bhagavati [the avenging goddess]
is the 'plantain sauce' for him,"^ say the Bengalees. "So it
is," says the Qoran ; " for men receive a portion [nabib] for
what they have earned [for their works] ; and God is quick at
reckoning."*
32 For the turning away of the simple shall slay
them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
D^7P3 ri]?lp1, ' and the feeling of security, the careless indiffer-
ence of fools.' Chald. ' and the error, going astray of fools.' LXX.
is a paraphrase.
"For the turning away" &c.
" Stultum fecit fortuna, quem vult perdere."'
"Hie, quem dii volunt perdere, priiis dementat"'* "He
whom the gods will destroy, first of all loses his mind."
' Gulistan, bk. i. st. 10. ' Shoo King, iii. 5.
' Vishnu Pur. i. 21. • Onna ima kawa.
» Sur. ii. 198. » Publ. Syr. '" Lat. pr.
E 2
' Welsh pr.
• Hitop. iv. 2.
' Beng. prov.
52
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
['• 32
"Men," says Lao-tsze,» "who [join themselves] are bent on
their own perdition, perish in it [h't. get, obtain it]." Molon
Toin, having determined to turn monk [or priest, toin], said
[in verse]: "All living things, from their nature and deeds
done in their restless passage through life [existence], trust to
sundry evil deeds through their not giving their mind to vir-
tuous actions."* "If a child," says the Putt-ovada, "is not
well taught [and will not kearken], he will feel ashamed —
repent of it — and, like a monkey of the woods, all legs and
arms, he will go about a mean silly fellow, and be despised as
low and worthless."'
"Vivere si rect^ nescis," says Horace, "decede peritis;
Lusisti satis, edisti satis, atque bibisti ;
Tempus abire tibi est."*
Firdusi also, in his account of Jemshid's turning away from
God's commandments, and then happiness [or fortune] leaving
him, says that " he attributed all God's gifts to himself, and
taught the like to his people. But whosoever is ungrateful to
God for His gifts, terror enters his heart from every side."'
" For carelessness as regards things hateful," say the Arabs,
" degrades a man ; " " his own goodness being his greatest
capacity [for doing right]," adds the Persian commentator.^
And " to forsake obedience [to God], and to practise disobe-
dience [to Him], is a sin," says Tai-shang.^ " Beings," says
the Buddhist, " living in this universe are in a state of uncon-
scious ignorance, and whirl and buzz about in it like bees inside
a bottle. They are in a three-fold evil way of passion, igno-
rance and their organs of sense, in which they revolve like the
potter's wheel. Such are the evil snares of time with which
beings are caught, as a young monkey is caught in the hunter's
trap."' " For those," says Sophos,* "who will not place them-
selves under the hand [obey authority] of others, suddenly
come to naught"
> Tao-te-K. c. xxiii. ' Molon Toin, fol. 15. ' Putt-ovada, 2
< Epist. ii. 2. ' Shah Nam. p. 21. " Rishtah i. juw. p. 74.
^ Kang i. p. ' Rgya-tcher r. p. c. xiii. » Fab. 3i, and Syntipa, 33.
>• 33]
THE BOOK OF PROVERB.S.
53
" Noli successus indignos ferre moleste,
Indulget fortuna malis, ut laedere possit:"'
" Fret not at the prosperity of evil men ; fortune favours the
wicked in order to injure them."
33 But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely,
and shall be quiet from fear of evil.
" But whoso," &c. " The comfort of life is in security," says
the Arabic proverb. " Neither a cow, land nor honour, is the
best gift ; wise men declare the greatest boon to be absence
of fear [security]."' Bias being asked what, in life, could be
free from fear, " opdrj (rwdSriiri's,' a good [upright] conscience,"
said he — which Periander said constitutes " freedom."*
" Like the atmosphere, still, without wind, and like the great
deep, unruffled, being thus unchangeable and unmoved, is
freedom indeed for man."* And Ennius :
" — adversus adversarios
Ea libertas est, qui pectus purum et firmum gestitat"*
" — vivam, an moriar, nulla in me est metus."'
" A man," says Ennius, " who carries within him a clear and
safe conscience, stands free from fear in presence of his adver-
saries." " Whether in life or in death, I have no fear." " If a
man can swim," says Vemana, " he need not trouble about the
depth of the water. So also he who knows how to die, has
neither fear nor danger in his life on earth."' "What strength
is that of the wise man !" says Confucius ; " he is always at
peace, and wavers not."* " He is serene, and has an enlarged
mind ; while the common man is always distracted with anxi-
eties."" " The man who knows, no longer doubts ; he who is
virtuous, does not grieve at anything ; and he who is strong
[brave or courageous], fears nothing."" For " albeit the sword
' D. Cato, ii. 23. ' Pancha T. i. 322. ' Sept Sap. p. 40.
' Ibid. p. 44. ' Vemana, iii. 7. • Ennii Phoenic. 680. ' Id. Inc.
Carm. 795. ' Vemana, ii. 32. • Chung yg, c. x. •* Shang-Lun
vii. 36. " Ibid, ix. 28.
54
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
['• 33
Of justice be swift, yet it will not behead a man who is guilt-
less."* •*
Lao-tsze says that he who has studied Tao is free from
danger, m these words : " Heaven is Tao ; Tao is long life fno
mere body] ; in death, no danger ;"« for " the holy man while
on earth remains calm and at peace."' "Thorough fools and
very wise men are happy in this world," said Vyasa ; "but he
who IS neither a fool nor wise has trouble. And he who
grieves for the misery of others will never be happy ; for there
IS no end of troubles ; one grows out of another.""
"When a man commits a sin, he is afraid of men [lit the
fear of creatures is on him] ; but when he does good, the fear
of h.m is on them.- "In enjoyment, there is the fear of
disease; for a family, the fear of degradation ; for wealth, that
of the king ; for respect, that of contempt ; for power, that of
an enemy ; for beauty, that of fleeting youth ; for life, the fear
of death. Everything on earth is thus subject to fear • relin-
quishing desire alone is free from fear.»« "Thus the Brahman
though despised, yet sleeps in peace; if renowned, he is at
peace ; in peace he goes through this world ; but he who
scorns him is destroyed."^
; i^pi-f,. ., ■ —- '■ -„. ,„: - --
• Vairagya Shat. 32. r Manu S. i. 163.
ii. I]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
55
CHAPTER II.
/ Wisdom promt seth godliness to her children, 10 and safety from evil
company, go and direction in good ways.
TV /T Y son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide
my commandments with thee ;
" Mj/ son," &c. " My son, if thou wilt hearken to what I tell
thee, all thy (plans) concerns will be forwarded [will prosper],"
said Ptah-hotep to his son.' So CEdipus to the priest :
— TO /t (av OtAjjS tmj
" If only thou wouldst receive my words, thou shouldst with
them receive help and relief from thy woes." " My son," says
again Ptah-hotep, " if thou wilt find a good place by thee for
my teaching, thy reputation will spread, and with it the fame
of thy loving disposition among those thou lovest. The old
man's teaching is a blessing to him [who receives it]. It makes
him welcome among [or to the heart of] the people ; it is a
gain to him who has it ; it gets him love for bread, and makes
him appreciated for his own sake [his person, not his dress] ;
therefore receive it for the life of thy house."' For "there is
no [mantra] religious precept greater than the father's word."*
"And as regards 'a son,' he is called in Sanscrit 'putra,' from
' pun trayate,' because he, male, delivers his father from hell"' —
as Abraham is said in the Talmud to have delivered Terah
from the same place ; but not in the same way.
"What ought the Bchom-ldan-das [victorious Buddha] to
» Pap. Pr. c. XV. 1. 8. ^ CEdip. Tyr. 216. ' Pap. Pr. xii. 9— 12.
« Tarn. pr. 3576. ' Maha Bh. Adi P. 3026.
56
ORIGINAL NOTLS ON
[H. I
receive? The profitable words of his Lama." > "The foolish
man when he hears a conversation [or word], is troubled until
he brings it out ; but the wise man, when he hears it, holds
his peace, hides within him what he heard, and keeps what is
useful in it."' " But he who, having studied the law, does not
further care about (or act on) it, is like one who only sows,
but reaps nothing from it."' "And if he forgets what he had
learnt, he is like a woman who, having brought forth a child,
buries it."* "He who remembers," says Borhan-ed-din, "is
said to fly [carrying his lore with him] ; whereas the man who
writes, sits still."* " We learn from word of mouth what we
should write down. Therefore, said the prophet [on whom
be peace], O Helal I never part from thy inkstand, for it is
useful unto the resurrection-day. And Husam-ed-din com-
manded his son, Shams-ed-din, to learn by heart something,
be it ever so little, every day, of sciences and wisdom. And
Asam ibn Yusef gave a piece of gold [a dinar] for a 'qalam'
[reed] in order to write at once what he heard. For life is
short, biit science is long. Therefore let us waste no time,
lest in old age we grieve over lost opportunities."'
This reminds one of the Chinese youth who was so diligent
a writer, that he wore his ink-slab into a hole by dint of
rubbing his ink-tablet on it. "Only, in study," said Yue to
Kaou-tsung, "cultivate a humble disposition; sustain thy
efforts ; so will thy improvement continue."' " It is true,"
says the Buddhist, " that I have bestowed untold advantages
on human beings. It is wonderful — therefore it is well to
hearken to me, and to lay hold on my teaching with thy mind.
I will explain to thee how those who have embraced the
perfection [or term, degree] of Bodhisatwas, and have entered
upon the purity thereof, can continue firm therein ; how they
can fulfil it and lay hold on it."'
' Dris Ian phr. wa, I.
Matshaf Phal.
* R. Joshuah, Sanhedr. 99, M. S.
• Ibid. p. 130. ' Shoo King, ill. 14.
' Sanhedr. 99, M. S.
' Borhan-ed. ix. p. 128.
• Thar-wa, p. 129.
«
1
ii. 2]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
57
2 So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and
apply thine heart to understanding ;
^y\^ 3"'llf(7n^, ' to give thine ear attentively ;' ' to listen attentively
and earnestly.'
"So that thou" &c. King Milinda said to Nagasena : " Well,
Nagasena, does he who has acquired knowledge, possess
wisdom also ? Assuredly, O King ; he who has knowledge has
wisdom also."' [This is true, however, of only one kind of
knowledge and of wisdom ; for all knowledge is not wisdom
in its highest sense.] " Science," properly so called, however,
"is glory ; there is no baseness in it," says Borhan-ed-din [in
his ' Guide to Knowledge'] ; adding : " If thou art engaged
in a study (or work), give thy mind to it."'
" This firmness," says Lao-tsze,' " requires a determined will."
And Choo-hi adds :* "A man must indeed study who wishes
to investigate the principle of all things under heaven ; not
satisfied with his own reason ; but exhausting the cause of
the things he investigates, aiming at reaching the highest
point he can in knowledge. Thus will he thoroughly [sincerely]
understand [the real source of knowledge]." "'A-ypim-vos <<ro
KOTO vovv. Keep thy mind awake," says Pythagoras in his
'Golden words,'* "for the sleep of it is akin to the sleep of
death." And D. Cato«—
" Discere ne cesses ; cura sapientia crescit."
" Whither ought our efforts to tend ? To knowledge, wisdom
[vidya] ; to study ; to good instruction ; and to alms-giving."^
" My son, seek men of understanding above thine own, that
thou mayest learn wisdom of them ; and comfort the afflicted,
and find delight in it."* " Children," says the Burmese teacher,
"prick up your ears and listen attentively, that father and
mother may [establish] guide you safely. Good children do
their duty ; they learn," &c.*
' Milinda pano, iii. 41. ' Borhan-ed-d. x. p. 130. ' Tao-te-K.
c. xxxiii. • Ta-hio, Com. v. ' Pythag. Sam. xc- '»• 2 M- tliles,
not in Bekker's). ' Sent. iii. 27. ' Ratnamal. 47. • Mishle
Asaph, i. 2, 28. • Putt-ovada, p. 19.
58
^
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
['•••• 3
"Apply your will [settled heart] in the right way [Tao]," ■
says Confucius.! Above ail, "desire knowledge.'"
— (V yap Tif /JLaOfiv
fvtimv i}uAaj8(ta riov iroiov/ieFUf,"*
"for information makes matters easy." But "apply thine
heart" — be "totus in illis." For as the Chinese say: "We
lose easily what we acquire easily ; but what we acquire with
difficulty is not easily lost."*
3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up
thy voice for understanding ;
IJ^ri, Heb. Chald. Marg. reading—' givest thy voice.' LXX. &3s
ifMaVT^V <TOV.
" Yea, i/i/um," &c. " Pray without ceasing, and knowledge
[or wisdom, ' pafla'] will come in little at a time, to teach you ;
and by never losing sight of it, you will at last acquire perfect
virtue, like the fragrance of a bunch of flowers."" "Though
one heap a thousand pieces of gold, it is not equal to one day
of study : wherefore, never get weary of reading ; but study
all day long."" "Study after study (continually)."^ "For these
two are never satisfied : he who seeks knowledge (or wisdom),
and he who seeks wealth."* "Without doubt," said Narada
to Bhishma, " the devout study of the Vedas and Vedangas,
and inquiry after subjects of knowledge, are best."* "For as
doing good gives pleasure, so also do right principles make
one great"*" Therefore "acquire understanding and knowledge
as if at the point of death."" " Can we, inferior beings, or can
we not acquire (or obtain) this supreme intelligence ? If we
take pains, why should we not be able to attain to it ?"'' [This
"buddhi khutuk" is the intelligence possessed by Buddhas,
* Sbang-Lun, vii. 6. * Aw. Atthi sudi, loo. ' Soph. CEdip. Col. 115.
• Chin. max. * Htsandau thinguttara, 2, 3. • Jits go kiyo. ' Jap. pr.
» Arabic pr. Soc. • Maha Bh. Shanti P. 10573, 4. '» Tai-shang, in
Ming Sin P. K. c. L " Legs p. b. p. ch. i. " Tonilkhu yin chimek, ii.
ii. 4]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
59
Bodhisatwas, &c., which, on leaving the body at the Nirvana,
merges into the original, eternal Intelligence, "belke Bilik"].
4 If thou seekest her as silver, and searches! for her
isfor hid treasures ;
"If thou seekest," &c. " Though a hundred years old, yet
desire knowledge."* " Does not knowledge succeed with those
who always seek for it ?"* " For there are very great advan-
tages in profound study."' " Therefore acquire the habit of
study night and day" [that is, with a glow-worm and snow ;
alluding to the story of Che-ying and of Sun-hang, told in the
San-tsze-king, v. 141, who studied by the light of a glow-
worm in a bag and by the glare of snow].* For " three days
without reading books, and one's spoken words are without
flavour."' " Let the clever man think of wisdom and of wealth
as if he were liable neither to decay nor death. But at the
same time let him practise virtue as if death held him already
by his hair."' " Yea, let him eschew bad men and associate
with good ones, and thus get profit for both worlds : acquire
great excellence (or power) with wealth, and practise wisdom
as if he were seized by death."'
" Seeing," said Parasara, " the many ills which afflict man
from his birth to the hour of death, in hell and even in
heaven, where he lives in constant dread of future births —
therefore every effort should be made to obtain the acquisition
of Bhagavat, 'the Lord ;' it is the only remedy [bheshajam]
for all ills, being absolute and final."* " Make every effort on
the side of virtue (or good)"* said Stchen-po to his parents,
from heaven. " Prepare, provide good with all your might."'*
•' Those who are bent on enjoyment and power," said Bhaga-
van to Sanjaya, " whose thoughts are carried away by them,
■ Avvey. K. Orhukkam, 51. ' Kobita Ratn. 202. ' Japan pr. p. 278.
* Ibid. p. 471. » Chin. prov. p. 23. ' Hitop. Introd. 3.
' Lokopokar. 226. ' Vishnu P. vi. 5, 58. » Dsang-L. c. ii. fol. i8>
*" Uligher. dalai, c. ii.
6o
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
['■'• 4
their active mind is not attached to perseverance."* True ;
yet to such the Buddhist says : " If powerful princes should
say. We cannot attain unto wisdom, and so thinking, turn
back from their efforts to gain it, they yet will prosper by
following the path we show them."* [In a Buddhist catechism
on Salvation.]
"If thou seekest," &c. "Like him who by digging with a
spade finds water, so does the pupil who hearkens to his
religious teacher [guru] come at the wisdom of his teacher."*
" By searching and searching, a man is found who knows the
Vedanta ; for he seeks the man who seeks him. Are there
many in earnest [keen, clever] in looking for him ?"* " But
he who studies in earnest must be moderate ; he must restrain
himself in the matter of eating, of drinking and of sleep, and
in much talk about things that profit' not," says Borhan-
ed-din."
" Words and talk only," says Buddha, " and any amount of
noise, cannot obtain the religious teaching of good [or virtue].
This is to be obtained only by the earnest efforts of the inner-
most heart ; therefore never flag in your efforts."* For, as
Sophocles says :
" TO 8« (ijTOVfUVOV
aXuToi'' iK(f>(vyft St TafitKov/itvov : ^
" We find what we look for ; what we overlook, escapes us."
" If thou want a bit [of bread], say : Bread, bread ! If longing
for a jewel, then [dig for] metal, metal ! In sum, hear from
me this tradition [or rule] absolute : Whatever a man seeks —
it comes, it comes !"* " For he who seeks a thing, will find it ;
if not, it will fall near him."'
"By making efforts, a jewel is gotten"'* [with a playon 'yotno,'
' effort,' and ' rotno,' 'jewel']. " Do not relax your efforts," said
Bchom-ldan-das to the gods on his leaving. " There is not a
> Maha Bh. Bhishma P. xxvi. 922. ' Tonilkhu yin ch. ii.
' Manu S. ii. 218. * Vemana, i. 113. • Borhan-ed-d. xi. p. 134.
• Rgya-tcher r. p. c. iv. p. 4°- ' CEdip. T. no. • Kishtah i juw.
p. 176. • Meid. Arab. pr. " Bengalee pr.
ii. 4]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
61
portion [boon] for every one ; but he who does not exert him-
self will get nothing."' " If what thou seekest be ever so little,
seek until thou find it [lit. twist not the reins of search] ; for,
in the opinion of wise men, the pleasure of finding is greater
than the thing found."' " And truth sprouts up through dig-
ging (or searching for it)."'
" So that wise men while learning suffer pain ; for no one
becomes wise by sitting at ease."* " But he who seeks know-
ledge must bear contention and contempt in his pursuit of it ;
for flattery [caresses] is contemptible (or blameable) in the
pursuit of knowledge. For knowledge is an honour." And,
with a play on terms : " He who has acquired knowledge
[knows what is to be known] has dusted his bloody nose [has
toiled and met with contumely of some sort]."' Moreover,
" the very learned man does not lie on a soft couch," say the
Osmanlis.' " He must work hard." For " it is only by digging
and digging that truth is ascertained [or known]."' "All con-
tentment (or satisfaction) is good ; but satisfaction from study
is bad"' [we ought never to rest satisfied with what we have
acquired, but continue to dig for more]. " Nay, be spent like
a taper, for the sake of knowledge."' For "where and how
shall one get wisdom and wealth without effort? Can you
even get wind from the pankha without moving it?""
"If there is intense application and study, of what use is
talent? And where there is neither application nor study,
what good does talent ?"" " Children, if you apply yourselves
to study [knowledge, ' vitteye'], your knowledge will increase.
How so? As often as you dig a well in sand, a spring of
water gushes forth abundantly. So will it be : know it for cer-
tain."*' Bearing on this, we read in the Vannupatajataka (2)"
" that when the five hundred wagons and cattle in the desert
' Rgya-tcher r. p. c. iv. ' Beharist. R. 6. ' Mishle Asaph, vi. 5.
• Sain iigh. pi. vi. ' El Nawab. 126. • Emthal Osm. pr.
' Telugu pr. ' Berachoth, ix. 8, M. S. » Pend Nameh, 10.
'» Vrinda Satasai, 22. " Chanakya sh. 23, I. K. " Balabod. orup. 3.
" Ed. Fausboll, p. 169.
62
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[ii. 4
were perishing from want of water, the Bhodisat spied a clump
of grass, where he dug fathoms deep, found a rock and split it
open, when an abundant spring of water burst forth. Those
who thus, without relaxing their efforts, dug deep in the sand-
path, found a drinking station [trough] on the road they had
gone. So also the wise man, endued with firm purpose, finds
unremitting rest in his own heart." "Taking the greatest
pains and making every effort to find the original wisdom of
him who knows everything."*
" An earnest desire for the law [religious knowledge] is of
itself a door of entrance into that law, for it enables a man to
find it," if he is in earnest ; " inasmuch as a pure (or single-
minded) desire for it leads a man to that knowledge, by teach-
ing him to make a pure [sincere] effort to get it"* So also
D. Cato :«
" Si Deus est animus, nobis ut carmina dicunt,
Hie tibi praecipue sit pura mente cotendus :"
" And such a pure effort is a door to religion ; it enables a
man to reach the opposite shore [emancipation]."* "A man,
then, is wise so long as he seeks wisdom ; but when he fancies
he has found it, he is a fool."* " For the wiser a man is, the
more he feels that wherein he is lacking."" "And to seek it in
youth is like cutting it on a stone ; but in old age it is like
writing it on sand."^ Therefore, "albeit one cannot swim [in
the ocean of learning], yet show firmness in learning [learn
constantly]." "For nothing lasts; learning alone abides."
" Even when sailing on the sea, it is there with you." " And on
earth, learning will give you riches and reputation." " Though
you be a king, yet study the Vedas ;" and " though poor, yet
learning (or reading) is necessary."* " For learning or know-
ledge is said by the wise to be best, since it cannot be taken
from thee, and never dies.""
' Tonilkhu yin chim. 2. * Rgya-tcher r. p. c. iv. ' Distich, lib. i. i.
* Rgya-tcher r. p. ' Mifchar pen. B. Fl. • Abarbanel, id. id. ' Mifchai'
pen. B. FL ' Kalvi oruk. 49, 48, 52, 62, 68, 74. • Hitop. Introd.
ii.5]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
€3
" O my son," said Nabi Effendi in his counsels to his son,
" take care never to fail in diligent study, but keep thine eye
on both effort and study. Science cannot be acquired without
diligent study. It is a divine property and is above all othei-
qualities. Make every effort to acquire knowledge. The
master of knowledge [Mahomet] gave this commandment :
' From the cradle to the grave, seek after knowledge ; it is the
way to honour and elevation. It is the deep without a shore
But pearls lie not on the sea-shore. If thou desirest one, thou
must dive for it.'"' And Abu '1 Tabib : " In proportion of his
toil [effort] will a man obtain [eminence] excellent things : he
must dive into the sea who wishes to get pearls."' And AH
ibn Abu Taleb : " It is not possible to acquire knowledge
without these six requisites : quickness, diligence, endurance,
competency, direction by a master, and long time."* " Slowly,
slowly learn, and walk accordingly."*
"One needs diligence," says Borhan-ed-din," "assiduity,
promptness, and clinging to the acquisition of knowledge.
For it is said : He who seeks a thing shall assuredly find it ;
and he who knocks will have the door opened to him ; for
according to his determined will, shall he find what he wants."
" Again, that which a man purposes to get [in knowledge], will
be given him according to his exertions ; but he who wishes
for that gift must rise by night."* " Yea, let him study, even
at the risk of forgetting or not understanding what is said."'
" But let no man say, I will read, in order that men may call
me 'well-read,' 'wise' or 'Rabbi,' or in order to become an
elder, and to sit in the assembly [or academy]. But let him
read for the love of it, and in the end the credit (or glory) of
it will come."'
5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord,
and find the knowledge of God.
' Khair nameh. p. 13, 14. ' Borhan-ed-din, iv. p. 60. ' Ibid,
ill. p. 38. * Kalvi oruk. 65. ' Borhan-ed-d. iv. p. 58.
• Ibid. p. 64. ' Abodah Zarah, 19 M. S, • Nedarim, 62, M. S.
64
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[ii. 5
" Then shall thou understand" &c. " The training [education,
cultivation] of the soul," say the Arabs, " is preferable to the
education that results from artificial (or scientific) training."'
" Knowledge" — that is, what the limited mind of man at its
best can grasp — "shall vanish away ;" "for we know in part"
only. But " when that which is perfect is come" — when we
know God as we are known of Him — "then that which is in
part shall be done away," says the holy Apostle.* Yet, albeit
we cannot know Him as He is in our present fallen estate,
it is pleasant to see how the best instincts in man have always
tended thitherward.
" The ornament [or better, the wealth, treasure] of learning
is a knowledge of the Scriptures [vedam]," says Aweyar.*
And Manu: "Let the brahmachari [brahm. student], then,
constantly study the Veda, which, sages have said, is the first
virtue. All others are inferior to it."* " This Scripture is the
refuge alike of the unlearned and of the learned, of those who
long for heaven, and of those who sigh after infinity."' " In
whatever occupation (or circumstances) a man may find him-
self, if he acts according to the teaching of the Vedas, he
prospers therein. Real knowledge floats [carries over to the
other shore] every one who follows it. But a situation (or
action) reft of that knowledge, destroys the men who are
slain by a want of judgment, and are enveloped in darkness
from lack of knowledge," said Kapila.*
" Every man dispels darkness — the offspring of ignorance —
with knowledge. Then Brahma, the Eternal, reveals himself."^
" Then human beings see through knowledge [or discernment],
and then the Eternal Brahma appears, or reveals himself."*
"Although Brahma the soul [of the universe] pervades every-
thing, yet it does not shine everywhere. In understanding,
however, it shines ; as an image reflected in a bright mirror.""
> The Forty Vireers, isl night. » I Cor. xiii. 8 sq. ' Kalvi oruk. 1 1.
« Manu Sanh. iv. 147. ' Ibid, vi 84. « Maha Bh. Shanti P. 9685 sq.
» Ibid. id. io,ocxD. » Id. 10,054. • Atmabodha, 16.
ii. 6]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
65
The proverb says : " Thou hast knowledge— what, then, lackest
thou ? Thou lackest knowledge — what, then, hast.thou got ?"•
But "standing firm in the fear of God — that is wisdom."*
" You, then, brethren, children and kinsmen," are the Apostles
made to say, "seek after that glorious wisdom which improves
our dispositions and enlightens our hearts, and introduces us
into the kingdom of heaven, into everlasting rest."* " Seek,"
says Meng-tsze, "and you will find it ; let it go, and you will
lose it This seeking is advantageous towards obtaining [the
gift]. But the seeking depends on ourselves."* "And the
knowledge of the law [religion] is a door to being religious ;
for it leads a man to follow earnestly that which is conformable
to that law. And experience of this law is another door to
religion ; because it makes a man believe in the use of it."*
And as to understanding the fear of the Lord, and what
He requires of us, Lao-tsze, speaking of Tao, says : " He
who is always free from passion may discover his subtleness
[smallness] ; but the man who is subject to his passions can
only discover the border of Tao."' [The better a man is, the
greater idea he has of the right way ; the worse a man is, the
smaller his idea is of what he ought to do]. " He may well be
called deep ; it is the door to all spiritual knowledge."' " To
make use of a comparison : it is like a merchant from Jam-
budwip [Ceylon], come to get a chintaviani [a fabulous jewel]
from the sea — who, after great toil in troubled water, should
after all be rewarded by some great magician with a city and
great riches."*
6 For the Lord giveth wisdom : out of his mouth
Cometh knowledge and understanding.
"For t/u Lord giveth" &c. Scripture teaches us that " wis-
dom Cometh from above," and is the gift of God — to whom
' Vajikra R. in Buxtorf Lex. fol. 164, 5. ' Ep. Led. 1259.
• Didasc. Ap. (Eth.), ii. ♦ Hea-Meng, xiii. 3. ' Rgya-tcher r. p. c. iv.
• Tao-te-K. i. ' Ibid. » Tonilkhu yin ch. 2.
F
66
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[ii. 6
the best instincts in man, "seeking after Him," led him to
look for it. So that Nagasena could hardly be in earnest
when he answered king Milinda's question: "Where does
wisdom reside ?" by, " Nowhere, O great king." " Well, then,"
said Milinda, "there is no wisdom." "Where does the wind
reside, O king?" asked Nagasena. "Nowhere in particular,"
answered the king. "Then," replied Nagasena, "there is no
wind."' He might have heard : " O Indra, thou pourest down
knowledge [or understanding] like rain on men of learning
[or of parts]."* " O Lord, thou alone knowest both the work-
ing and real essence of that self-supporting, self-existent Being
who can be grasped neither by thought nor by measure."* " O
you, Indra and Parvata, "sharpen ye our intellects [make us
wise]."*
" For he [Vishnu] is knowledge itself, without bounds or
measure."* " He [Buddha] is endued with the full tide (or
great flood) of intelligence — of that intelligence that sees
clearly without dimness or passion."" And if by 'Lord' we
understand 'Brahma,' and 'understanding' by 'Buddha,' the
Brahman said to those men : " I am well versed in [voices]
languages ; if it is the voice of Buddha, it must be like that
of Brahma."^ "And thou, BrahmS, art that which is to be
known, and thou art he who makes it known ; thou art the
One Supreme, on whom we ought to meditate, and who
enables us to do so."* "And thou, Buddha, art he who teaches
the Law that has no equal ; who dispels darkness and teaches
perfectly the best course or mode of conduct."' " So let us
pray to Herjafader [Odin], who gives wealth and eloquence
to the great, and mother wit [common sense or prudence] to
men."'"
And elsewhere: " I am Ahurao-Mazdao [Hormuzd], the lord
' Milinda P. p. 77- ' R'g Veda, ii. s. 173, 8. ' Manu S. i. 3.
• Rig V. ii. s. 122, 2. ' Vishnu P. i. 2, 6. • Rg)'a-tcher r. p.
a iL and iv. ' Dsang-Lun, c. xxxv. fol. 182. ' Kumara Sambh. ii. 15.
• Rgya-tcher r. p. & L " Hyndlulioth, p. 3.
ii. 6]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
^7
and giver of great and good gifts ; protector of the under-
standing; the wisest of beings in both worlds.'" "I am
Intelligence, O Zarathustra, and am gifted with it; I am
Wisdom, and am endued with it ; I am Creator ; I am that I
am— Mazda."" "And here is Spenta Armaiti [holy or divine
Wisdom], my creation, O Zarathustra."'
But wisdom, one of God's attributes, is, like Him, eternal
[see Mainyo i khard, c. Ivii.] ; so ' creation' here must be under-
stood as Vyasa did in his speech to Yudhishtira, when he
told him of 'anadini dhana vidya,' the Wisdom whose pedigree
has no beginning, created by being uttered from the mouth of
the Self-existent."* "We, Ahurao-Mazdao and Vohumano
[the good genius, sense or Spirit, who presided at the forma-
tion of man, and who takes care of him], we give you to know
holy and good wisdom. It is with us."' "Ask of me," said
the Spirit of Wisdom, " that I be thy guide, to the satisfaction
of the Yazds (gods) and of the good ; for the preservation of
the body on earth, and for the deliverance of the spirit."*
" From the gods," « 6€Cav, says Pindar, " men have received
wisdom, handicraft and the wisdom of speech."^ But else-
where, and more correctly, he tells us that all that came to
them from God —
E(c 010V 6 avr^p tro<l>aU dvOtt co-act irpojrtSetrcrii'."*
Man always gets his good understanding of God. " O thou
Giver out of the treasury of secrets, wisdom [and intelligence]
is from thee ; thou art wise far above the wisest, and thy
command binds [or seals) the speech of the tongue."' Ta-tsay,
inquiring of Tsze-kung, said : " Is Hoo-tsze a holy man (or
sage)?" Tsze-kung replied: "Certainly, Heaven has gifted
him; he may be a holy man ; assuredly he has great ability."*'
" For he," said Confucius elsewhere, " who does not know the
will (or decree) of Heaven, cannot possibly become a superior
' Va^na, xl. 2, and xli. 5. ' Hormuzd Yasht. 7. ' Id. id. 25.
* Maha Bh. Shanti P. 8534. ' Ya^na, xxxii. 2. • Mainyo i kh. i. 6a
' Pyth. i. 79. • 01. xi. 10. • Leila u Mejn. pref. '« Shang-Lun, ix. 5.
F 2
68
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[li. 7
man." [This is the closing sentence of the Hea-Lun, xx. 2].
And " knowledge of the Holy, which is understanding," " is the
highest in rank of all" >
7 He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous : he
is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.
lb^\ ' He layeth up, as in a treasury ;' whence, ' He draws wisdom
suited to every case.' n^l&VI, 'advice, counsel, help' — in time of
need, supplied from the treasury of wisdom. No two of the old
versions render it alike.
"He layeth up" &c. " Z.k S* Ipir^v aVSpto-o-.i- c5.AJXX« :" " The
great god," said vEneas, "dispenses virtue to men as it plejises
him ; for he is the most powerful of all."* "And the man,"
says Lao-tsze, " who is endued with the highest virtue [who
is righteous] practises it, as it were without thought [or ' heart
to it,' as the gloss reads] ; it is natural to him."* For "wisdom
dwells in the heart of the good."* And the wisdom is sound
' that Cometh from above," from the Father of lights, whose
gift it is, through His Spirit ; "but," say the Rabbis, "only to
him in whom is wisdom (to love it)."' " Wisdom without the
fear of God, is contemptible : no wisdom and no fear of God
make up a perfectly wicked man ; but wisdom and the fear of
God make up a perfectly righteous man."*
"a buckler^ "Zerdhurst asked : How can one make Hor-
muzd, the Ameshaspand of the fragrant Paradise, more one's
very own, and confound wicked Ahriman ?" " The Spirit of
Wisdom answered: By making the 'Spirit of Wisdom' one's
support for the back [a buttress] ; by wearing on the body the
•spirit of contentment' like a coat of mail and valour; the
'spirit of truth' like a shield ; the 'spirit of thankfulness' like
a club; the 'spirit of devotedness" [or full-heartedness] like a
bow ; and the 'spirit of liberality' like an arrow."'
■ Ali, 92. ' IL V. 242. ' Tao-te-K. c. xxxviii. • Didasc.
Ap. (Eth.), p. 7S- * Berachoth, B. Flor. • D. Erez Sutta, ix. 10.
' Mainyo i kh. xliii. 1— IJ-
ii. 8]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
69
8 He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth
the way of his saints.
li???, 'to keep, preserve, the paths of judgment;' for 'he pre-
serveth,' &c.
" He preserveth:' " O justly-praised Indra, protect us from
misfortune." >
"his saints:" AV. V7''pq, LXX. ivKapovfiiv^v aMv, more
correctly; unless 'saints' be taken in the sense of 'pious,'
•given to do God's will and to please Him.' Rabbi M. Mai-
monides says "that a man who examines himself strictly, aim-
ing high, and who swerves only very little on either side of the
middle way of morals, is called TOq, • pious,' ' God-fearing.'
Like one who, being highminded and proud, reached the other
extreme of great humility, he would be called TPI7 ; and that
is the measure of 'piety.' If, however, that same man from
one extreme returns only to the mean (or middle way), he is
called a^:^, 'wise ;' and that is the measure of wisdom."*
" the way." " How great is the way [Tao] of the holy man
[saint, -shin-jin']; it is broad like the sea, and reaches up to
heaven," says Confucius."' And Choo-he :♦ " Tao is explained
by ' way' (or road), to which men in general compare it, and
so express it ; but as regards Tao, it has no form that we may
walk in, and then look at what is done. It is that in which
men have walked for thousands of years ; it is the same for
all." "It is 'conduct,' as regards man's practice, as 'li' is
principle, and ' teh,' virtue put in practice."* "And the way
(or rule) of the Great Study consists in explaining virtue
clearly, and in taking one's stand in supreme good.""
" But it is the most perfect Being, God, who shows the way to
His kingdom, making the law [religion] the way to it Thus
when the law becomes evident, then faith, then works and
the fruit of them ; and truth being then made evident, belief
' Rig V. ii. s. 129. ». Halkut de'oth. i. 5. J Chung yg, c. xxvir.
Vol. xlvL » Id. p. 18. « Ta-hio, c. i.
70
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[ii. 9
in God follows; then love, intelligence, &c."> "O Mazda,
Lord over all, heavenly Friend for both worlds."' Making
religion the way to everlasting happiness, if that way can be
found and then followed — and thus practically " a path leading
to judgment" that is to come, as understood by the Rabbis.
" Here man does what he likes, but yonder is judgment and
reckoning."' Yet what eye can span the gulf there is between,
" Thou art the Way [gati] of all beings," as said by Brahma to
Vishnu ;"* and " I am the Way, the Truth and the Life ; no
man cometh unto the Father, but by me"?*
9 Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and
judgment, and equity ; yea, every good path.
bayo 73, « every good way, even fit for a carriage ; conduct in life.'
Chald. 'way, path.' LXX. a.^ova.%, 'axles' [wheels].
"Then — understand^ Wisdom "that cometh from above"
can alone give us a right judgment in all things, according to
the eternal laws of the kingdom of Him" to whom alone every
one of us stands or falls." But as regards the opinion of the
world " that passeth away," that sacrifices principle to expe-
diency, and eternal life to a few short years of an uncertain
existence on earth, it can be no sure guide in our intercourse
with our fellow-men, except in matters that involve no prin-
ciple ; in mere matters of opinion, custom or manners ;
"wherein," says Confucius, "agreement is the chief advan-
tage.""
" Wisdom purifies [makes clean] one's thoughts ; wisdom
also makes one learned [or well-informed]."' " It [teaches]
leads in the beautiful way"' — " in the way of him [Mandju Sri,
the incarnation of Wisdom] who, possessed of the real know-
ledge that has no equal, is wise by intuition and not by
• Dam chhos yid b. fol. i2. • Ya^na, xliii. 2. » Kohel. in Rab.
Blum. 145- * Maha Bh. Bhishma P. 2963. * S. John xiv. 6.
• Shang-Lun, i. 12. ' Bahudorsh, p. 37. • Hjam-dpal, fol. iv.
ii. 9]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
71
reflection."' " Hjam-dpal appeared to the teacher Phogs-gyi-
lang-po, and said to him : ' Don't do that, don't do that'
* But,' said Phogs-gyi-land-po, ' it is hard to wander in trouble
and ignorance; what does it profit that I should even sec
thy face, if I am not inspired by thy blessing ?' Then Hjam-
dpal [Wisdom] replied : ' Son, sorrow not ; I will deliver thee
from all evil.'"' " Thou shalt traverse all defilement of sin
on the raft of knowledge,"' said Sankara. " For instruction
[' shastram,' in sacred writings] is ' the divider of many a doubt'
[' el-furqan,' as Mahomet calls his Qoran, which, he says, God
sent down from heaven to settle the doubts left in the Law
and in the Gospel]."* "Instruction," continues Vishnu Sarma,
" enables one to see what is invisible ; like an eye, it beholds
everything ; he who is without it is blind."*
"Very great knowledge, however, in one thing only, is
seldom acquired ; it is, therefore, hard to be wise in all things.
The eye, let it be ever so clear, cannot appreciate any sound."'
Masuraksha, however, differs from Kunga Gyel-tsan ; for he
says that "a man ought to know everything."' Yet according
to Manu, "in so far only as a man studies holy Scripture does
he acquire knowledge, and does his knowledge shine."' " For
that is knowledge that leads to the knowledge of Hari, the
soul of all things, the life of nature, the Lord.' •
"when" — "then" "Things," says Confucius, "have a root
and fruit ; business has an end and a beginning. To know
what is first and last [how to begin and where to end], is,
indeed, to be near [Tao] the right way.""* " So when a man,"
says Lao-tsze, " begins to know the beauty (or excellence) of
good, then [evil appears] he feels (or understands) the hideous-
ness of what is evil."" It gives 'judgment' [both Kp'urvi and
(cpi/ia] of others; "judge them in the scale of innocence [with
' Hjam-dpal, fol. v. ' Taranatha, p. 104, 1. 5, 10. ' In Swetas.
introd. • Sur. iii. 2. ' Hitop. introd. 10. • Legs par b.
p. 192. ' Niti shat. of Masuraksha, ed. Schiefn. • Manu S.
iv. 20. ' Bhaghavat P. in Kobita Ratnak. 69. '* Ta-hio, c. i.
" Tao-te-K. c. ii.
72
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[ii. 9
ji. lo]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
73
charity towards them] ; and God will do the same to thee.' •
Officially : " Blessed is the judge who allows his judgment ' to
ferment* [takes time to consider it]."* "And let every judge
administer judgment as if Gehenna were open for him under
his feet"* " He also who taketh a gift to pervert judgment
shall not die in old age,"* say the Rabbis. But, alas! "those
who do not judge according to what God has let down from
heaven [the Qoran] are [fasiqun] scoundrels,"* says Mahomet.
"All honour, however, to the superior and good man [kiiin-
tsze], and to his exalted virtue," says the Shi-King ; " he prac-
tises equity, and gives to the people and to every man what
is his due."' For, says Meng-tsze, "humanity [love of men,
dydm}] is man's heart, and justice is the road for him to wialk
in."' [See also notes, ch. i. 3.] "So then, as regards justice
(or righteousness), it consists in not doing that which is unjust ;
righteousness is the way we ought to walk in [the path of men].
A man who acts thus is beloved of all ; therefore did the
ancients define righteousness to be " that which is proper or
fitting in our intercourse with others,"* say the Japanese.
''yea, every good path." After saying that, of all men, Brah-
mans are the first, Bhrigu adds : " And among them the best
are the wise and learned ; of these, the first are those who
know their duty ; of these, the first are those who do it ; and
among those who do their duty, those are foremost who ac-
quaint themselves with God"" [know the religion of Brahma].
The words, "My son, if thou wilt," &c. (v. i), taken literally,
down to "righteousness" (v. 9), Confucius sums up in : "Man
stands firm (or upright) by righteousness ; and the root of it
is filial piety."'" "Take wisdom," says Bias, " l<^o5iov, for thy
provision by the way from youth to old age ; for it is the pos-
session that lasts longest.""
• Schabb. B. Fl. » Sanhedr. id. ibid. ' Ibid. « Maamad.
id. ibid. • Sur. v. 51. ' Shi-King, quoted in the Chung yg, c. xvii.
' Hea-Meng, xi. 1 1. ' Kiu O do wa. vol i. p. 6. • Manu S. i. 97.
»» Ming Sin P. K. c. xii. " Bias Sept. Sap.
\ 10 When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and
knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul ;
"knowledge is pleasant." "And Enoch arrived at the garden
of righteousness where grew many trees, large and fragrant
There was also the tree of wisdom (or knowledge), of which
whosoever eats acquires great wisdom. It was like a kind of
tamarind, bearing fruit like very beautiful grapes, whose fra-
grance spread to a great distance. And I [Enoch] said : ' O
how beautiful is that tree I and how beautiful and delightful
is the appearance of it!'"' "Knowledge," say the Telugus,
"gives pleasure;"' and "he who acquires wisdom (or know-
ledge) gains happiness."' " Thou hast acquired knowledge,"
say the Rabbis ; " what, then, lackest thou ? Thou lackest
knowledge; what, then, hast thou got?"* "'O Nagasena,'
said Milinda, 'whither does folly, delusion or ignorance go,
when wisdom is acquired [or springs up]?' 'Ignorance, O
great king, is dispersed the moment knowledge comes in.'
' Give an example.' ' It is just like a man who, going into a
dark place, should light a lamp ; the darkness would then
disappear, and everything would be made plain. So also, O
great king, no sooner has knowledge arisen, than ignorance
and folly disappear.'"'
" The darkness of trouble and ignorance is scattered by the
lamp of wisdom [perfect knowledge]."' " I, Wisdom, cleanse,
with religion, the heart that does not abide in its original
ignorance."' "Who is the wise and intelligent man? He
who knows evil from good, and good from better."* "A man
who understands his duty [nitinipun] discerns the wise from
the foolish, as the loadstone discerns particles of iron from the
dust"* and "true from false, as the flamingo [hansaraja] discerns
curds from butter-milk'" [or other liquid]." ['Water' is the term
» Bk. of Enoch, c. xxxi. 3—5. ' Nitimala, ii. 58. ' Telugu st. i.
• Vajikra R. B. FI.
' HJam-dpal, fol. v.
'» Subha Bilas, 77-
* Milinda P. p. 42-
» Beharist. R. 4.
• Rgya-tcher r. p. c. iv.
' Legs par b. p. fol. 3.
74
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[ii. ID
used in other writings in most Indian languages, even in
Tibetan,' where it is said of a goose or swan [hansa] ; so little
does the obloquy attached to the common goose [anser ferus]
of the farm-yard, belong to the pretty Indian goose, which is
clever and mnch petted.' The type of stupidity in Indian
writings is the [vaka] squacco heron, to which a fool among
wise men is compared, as ' a heron among geese.']'
" What are the four ways of asking and receiving a bless-
ing?" asks the Burmese teacher, "(i) Seeing a wise man;
(2) hearing him speak ; (3) sitting on the grass with wise men ;
(4) delighting in wise words."* "But," say the Chinese, "wis-
dom 'desires' round, and practice 'desires' square; the liver
•desires' great; but the heart 'desires' small."* "Yet the
teaching of the aged is a blessing to those who receive it in
their heart (or among them)."* And "knowledge is pleasant"
— "suavitate scientiae nihil est homini jucundius."^ "Know-
ledge, however, is happiness," says Confucius, " as low as water,
whereas virtue is happiness as high as a mountain ; knowledge
excites, but virtue gives rest. Knowledge, indeed, is pleasure,
but virtue is long life."* Knowledge also " puffeth up ;" but
when " pleasant to the soul" — that is, acquired for its own sake
and not for display or vain glory — the more "optimus et
gravissimus quisque confitetur se multa ignorare, et multa
sibi etiam atque etiam esse discenda."' " Wisdom or know-
ledge, then, gives him modesty ; modesty gives him dignity
[or honour] ; honour gives him wealth ; and wealth, hap-
piness."*' This, however, not always. " Wealth," says Solon,
" creates surfeit, and surfeit — v/?pis oiro toC Kopov — creates inso-
lence.""
" io thy soul" " What is the soul ? The soul is [anadi, pur-
anat] without a beginning, of old ; atomic [subtile] ; everywhere,
• Naga Niti. 140, Schf. ' See, e.g., Nalus, c. i. &c. ' Vishnu S.
Hitop. i. * Putsa pagn. Q. 786. ' Jin sze yew hio, iii. p. 5.
• Ptah-hotep, Pap. Pr. xii. 1. 10. ' Cicero, de Oral. 3. ' Shang-
Lun, vi. 21. • Cicero, 3, Tusc. '" Vishnu S. Hitop. introd.
" Septem Sap. p. 16.
ii. 10]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
75
thinking, &c."' The object matter to be known for certain is,
that the soul [life] and BrahmS are one."* " Wise men," said
Bhagavan [the Adorable One] to Arjuna, "do not mourn
either the departed or the living. There was not a time when
either I, thou or these princes were not, nor will there be a
time when we shall cease to exist. Know that That by which
the whole universe has been spread out is eternal. These frail,
material bodies are joined to One imperishable and infinite ;
therefore fight with a good heart, O Bharata. Like as a man
who strips himself of his old garments, puts on new ones, so
also does the spirit, having put off worn-out bodies, enter new
ones."' " Is the soul, then, an agent ? If it were, it could not
hold the triad of habits — virtue, anger and lust. The soul,
therefore, is not an agent."*
This is not the place to discuss the matter further than by
quoting Phurnutus in agreement with the above : " As we
are governed by our soul — outm koi 6 Ko<r/ios ^vx^iv tx" ''V^
(Tvvixowav avTOf, Kai ovt^ KoX«rToi Z«w — SO has also the world a
soul that holds it together, and that soul is called Ztw, Jupiter,
awb Tov fV. fro"™ 'living' or 'giving life'" [a wrong etymology,
of course. Zo!s: 'deus,' 'dius,' Sansc. 'dyaus' (f.), 'dyus' (m.)].
Better than that : " There must be a first cause," says Sallus-
tius, T« Svva/ui, "a certain power, second to owta [essence,
existence] ^v^^S Si irpwnj, ixovaa fiiv CK TTJi ova-iai rh ftvai,
Tikfiowra SJ rriv ^f'vx'ji', but anterior to the soul, that has its
being from its own essence, that gives the soul faculties and
energy. It is two -fold : oXoyos and XoyiK^ ^"X'?" irrational
[passions] and rational ; the two are at variance, and make
either virtue or vice, according to which of the two overcomes
the other."* But better yet from that remarkable book of
Tim^us Locrus, praised by Plato in his own Timaeus, by
Cicero, and several of the Fathers : " rav 8J t$ Koirfiif ^x^"
> Kapila Tatwa Sam. 34. ' Vedanta sara. p. 3. » Bhagav.
Gita, ii. 11—24. • Kap. Tatwa S. 38. » Phumut. de Nat. Deor.
p. 141, ed. G. • Sallusl. Ph. de diis et m. p. 258, ed. G.
76
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[ii. II
IktvoBtv c^a^at iriyaytv i^at : God, having put a soul iti the
midst of the universe, brought it out to embrace and cover it
all ; the soul itself a mixture of the indivisible form and of
the divisible essence."' [For more of beautiful reading on this
subject, see the Timaeus and the Phaedrus of Plato. Of a
truth, such men "sought after God if haply they might find
Him," as S. Paul tells us in Acts xvii. His \tvxi<tos AvOfxairoi,
I Cor. ii. 14, may settle many questions regarding the nature
and agency of the soul.]
1 1 Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding
shall keep thee :
" Discretion," T'?? "^blT*^, ' shall watch over thee,' * protect thee,'
•be thy safeguard.' rnjTl?, /SovXri, LXX. /3ov\r) koXij — since the
Hebrew term may be taken in a bad sense — properly, 'counsel,'
' deliberation,' ' thought,' ' advice from self or from others.' " Dis-
cretion," as discernment [dis-cerno, Kplvui] of what one ought to say
or do at the time, that implies self-respect, thought, propriety, tact,
prudence, &c., is a fair rendering of the original
Chu-tsze says : " The [kiiin-tsze] superior man (or gentle-
man) cannot but be respectful. He first of all respects himself;
but as one's person is only a branch of one's parents, he who
does not respect them cannot respect himself ; and if he afflicts
them, he hurts his own root, and he, after that, decays"* — thus
explained by the Japanese commentator. " The ' kun-si' [gen-
tleman], full of self-respect [lit. with a deep heart] looks down
with contempt upon the mean man, who acts from the love of
gain (or greed)." " The way to regulate oneself," says Con-
fucius, " is to keep oneself pure, clean, perfectly well dressed
[adorned], and to allow oneself no gesture contrary to good
manners."*
" For the first duty of a man is to amend and correct him-
self ; it is the root ; if that root [principle] is shaken (or dis-
turbed), it is impossible that the fruit can be good." "And
• Timaeus Locr. p. 548, ed. G. ' Siao-hio, c. iii. » Chung yg, c. xx.
ii. II]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
97
the way to correct oneself [set oneself in order] is to establish
(or settle) one's heart ; but he who wishes to establish his heart
must settle his will [be determined]."' Thus when Tsze-ha
inquired concerning the passage in the Shi-King about " paint-
ing on a fair ground" as applied to the heart, Confucius ex-
plained it : " Paint after having well smoothed the ground of
the heart ; propriety then follows."' " Such a man," said he,
" is well versed in letters ; it influences his manners."* " For
if he is not grave (or stayed), his teaching will have no dignity
and will not last."*
"As you know from the water-lilies whether the water is
deep or shallow, so also you can tell from the bearing [manners,
actions] of a man if he is from an excellent or a bad stock."*
" He who respects his own condition [himself] is respected by
others ; but he who turns his condition (or position) into a
dung-heap, even hens cackle at him."' " But even in the hour
of danger, let not a man strip himself of his own dignity."^
For "dignity, good manners and moral deportment, belong to
the well-born."' "An honourable man, 'kiiin-tsze' [gentle-
man], with manly vigour, but without politeness, is a confusion
[Iwan] ; while a mean man, 'siao-jin,' with strength and without
politeness, becomes a thief."*
"One third of religion," says Ali ben-abu-Taleb, "consists
in shamefacedness [bashfulness, awe], one third in understand-
ing, and one third in liberality."'" "A sense of shame is a most
acceptable quality. The 'Refuge of Prophecy' calls it 'a
branch of the tree of Faith.' It is a branch of religion, and
one of the conditions of order in the world."" "As long," says
Kunga Giel-tsan, " as modesty [colour of the face, blushing]
continues, so long also do qualities possess their greatest orna-
ment ; but when modesty is overcome, then good qualities
are set aside, and ill-humour [or. evil reputation] increases.""
> Ta-hio, c. I. ' Shang-Lun, iii. 8. ' Id. ibid. vi. 25.
* Id. ibid. c. viii. ' Burm. hill prov. 149. • Arab. prov. Soc.
' Sanhedr. M. S. « Naladiyar Kudip. 2. » Ming Sin P. K. c. xvi.
'" Ali b. a. T. 34. " Akhl.iq i. m. viii. " Legs par b. p. 1 18.
78
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[ii. II
" Penance, patience, modesty, temperance, benevolence, &c.,
are by sages designated the seven doors into the world of
Swarga,"* said Yayati to Ashtaka. And "so long as there is
shamefacedness, what need is there of other ornaments?"*
" The training [manners, bearing, ' adab'] of a man are pre-
ferable to his gold," say the Arabs ;' on which the Persian
adds : " It is for a man, by abstaining from disagreeable words,
from [rash] inconsiderate actions, to show his respect both for
himself and for others." " For he who is discreet from having
learnt discretion, learnt it of God."* Thus paraphrased : " I
seek discretion properly from God ; for he who is reft of it is
deprived of the Lord's favour. What fortune has been ruined
by brilliant manners? But by good manners [adab] even a
kingdom is kept pure."
" That discretion is worth more than silver and gold to a
man, needs no demonstration. A woman's jewels are not to
be compared to the ornament of modesty in her. Yea, polite-
ness is better than the treasure of Karun, and more full than
the realm of Feridun." " Great men never thought much of
wealth, inasmuch as the nature of riches is to vanish away ;
but they 'gave rein' to science and work, for they got their
good name through their good bearing."* " Shame," says Ali,
" is a man's safeguard."* " Shame (or bashfulness)," said Vai-
shampayana, " when killed [overcome], kills virtue ; and virtue,
when killed, ruins one's good fortune. He who is without
shame or is crazed, whether man or woman, excellence in
virtue is not his ; he is like a Sudra. But the bashful (or
modest) worships the gods, honours his ancestors, and [namati]
bows to himself [respects himself]."' "If thy qualities be great,
humble thy heart ; for modesty brings one to honour more
than other things, O my son."* "And remember that there
are others who watch (or look at) thee."'
» Maha Bh. Adi P. 3621- ' Pancha R. 5. » Ar. pr.
* Persian prov. * Rishtah i juw. p. 10. • Ali b. a. T. 53.
' Maha Bh. Udyog. P. 2600, 2618. • Kaoudat ku biiik, c. xii.
» El Nawabig, 33.
ii. II]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
79
"Let God's blessing rest on him who knows what he is
worth (or capable)" — that is, says the commentator, "God
bless the man who realizes that he is made of [salsal] clay
and sand, and not of [salsal] limpid lymph ; of impure water,
and not of a clear fountain [with a play on words, written
with different letters, but pronounced nearly alike], and so
behave arrogantly towards others ;" " but who knows his place,
and does not overstep it," adds the Persian.'
"Discretion" [discernment of what is proper] or propriety
"comes from choosing the best, and good from bad ;" which
the commentary explains by "leading to 'discretion,' which is
perfected by letters [good education] and lost from disregard
for it"' " Propriety," says the E-King, " is the fence of the
good man ; but a code of punishments is the only fence of
the mean man."'
"But propriety [Ii] has three roots: (1) life from heaven
and earth ; (2) excellence from one's ancestry ; (3) and rule
by a prince — heaven above, the earth below, ancestors, and
obedience to the ruler."* "Avoid, as you would the kimba
fruit [bitter and poisonous], every action opposed to the laws
of the country and to good manners," says the Tibetan lama.
" But study carefully to provide according to rule for whatever
relates to you and to others."* " Men in high position ought
always to show respect to the aged ; friendly feeling towards
their equals ; and a conciliatory manner towards all men."
" Our duty is to treat them with kindness and benevolence,
considering both the time, place and station of those we deal
with." "Avoid giving way to joy or anger indiscriminately ;
but rather imitate the good men of olden time in one uniform
and steady course of conduct." "In one word, your disposi-
tion should be to live in harmony with all men."*
"As to propriety," says again Siiin-tsze, " it is of the utmost
importance for the ruling of life and of death. Birth is the
■ Ali, 35, ed. Fleisch. » Siiin-tsze, c. xiii. ' Ming Sin P. K. c. xi.
♦ Siiin-tsze, c xiii. ' Bslav cha, &c., p. 3. ° Id. p. 10, 5, 14.
8o
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[ii. II
beginning, and death is the end ; altogether, good is man's
way to the end [the whole duty of man]." " Therefore is the
wise man in earnest about the beginning, and sincere to the
end. Consider the end and the beginning as one thing; and the
wise man's way at its best is propriety and [justice] righteous-
ness."' " For the passions of man are like water : when once
water has flowed over, it cannot be brought back ; so also in
order to govern our passions, we must do so by the laws of
propriety."*
" Learning, however great, will still be useless without dis-
cretion to use it in the proper place."' " For the perfection of
learning is gentleness"* [with a play on the words]. "Con-
centration — deep thought [faith] clothed in good manners (or
conduct, silam) — bears good fruit and has great advantages."*
" Have good manners, that thou mayest become great."'
"And good manners (or decorum) consist in showing respect
for one's own and other people's position, without defaming
either oneself or others."' " But as there is neither friendship
nor hatred among lewd and abandoned men, so also is there
neither fear nor shame for those who have no discretion."'
"Nay," says the Malay proverb, "if the tiger's cub could feel
shame, it would turn kitten."'
" Ubicunque pudor est, semper ibi sancta est fides.""
" Shamefacedness," say the Georgians, " is a great support.""
"And it is a beautiful sign in a man to blush and be modest.""
" Look at a rat : it has a skin, teeth and bones ; but a mean
man without deportment, discretion or politeness, if he dies
not, how can he live?" "Thus explained by the Japanese
commentator : " A rat is known for what it is by its skin, teeth
and bones ; but if a man is a man, ought he not to be known
«s such bj- his department .' If, being a man, he has no
' Siun-tsie, c. xiii. * Hien wen shoo, 45. ' Niti neri vilacc. 17, 18.
• All b. a. T. 34. ' Mahaparanibbh. fol. nya. • Persian prov.
' Akhlaq I m. x. • Vettivekai, 37, 38. • Malay pr. '» Pub. Syr.
" Georg. prov. " Nedarim Khar. xxii. 3. " Shi-King, i. iv. 8.
ii. 11]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
81
manners, how will he be accounted wise in the world ?"' " Piii
vale un giorno del discrete," says the Italian proverb, "che
tutta la vita del sciocco."
" What is propriety [Ii, manners, politeness, ceremony, music,
outward accomplishments]?" asks Confucius. "It is to regulate
everything. The superior man has many things to do, and
he must needs know how to do them properly.'" " But to be
satisfied with mere outward accomplishments, is but deception
and hypocrisy ; it is not a true thought [estimate] of what is
called politeness [Ii].'" " For innate politeness comes from
the heart ; do not look for it from without."* "And the real
essence of politeness consists in one word, [jang] yielding."
" It is the fundamental rule of conduct."' " If I had to choose
from among all advantages, what else should I choose than
beauty of manners ?"*
" Music comes from the workings of the Yang [male prin-
ciple] ; but propriety is from the energy of the Yin [female
principle]."' " Practise politeness ; behave courteously," says
the old Tamil sage; "do nothing in which there is no beauty."*
"[Tao], wisdom, virtue, humanity and justice, are not com-
plete without politeness [urbanity, Ii]," say the Chinese ;' and
the Italians: "Che non h discreto, non merita rispetto."**
" Propriety of conduct and good manners is said by Ramanuja
C. Rayar to be the practice of mutual respect of caste and
position;"" and Tiruvalluvar : " The wise do not grow remiss
in observing propriety of conduct, when they consider the
result of impropriety."'^ "Those who do not know how to
conduct themselves agreeably to the world, though they may
have learnt many things, are still ignorant.""
" Propriety is to a man what fermentation is to wine ; the
wise man has much [propriety], but the mean man very little.""
■ Japan. Comm. ibid. ' Li ki, c. xxiii. ' Yung ching, in
Kang he's 9th maxim, p. i — 66. * Id. ibid. ' Wang kew po, on
Kang he's 9th max. p. 1—66. • Eth Thealebi, 246. ' Li ki, c. x.
' Avveyar, Att. S. 10, 28. • Hien wen shoo, 147. '" Ital. prov.
" Cural, c xiv. 136. " Id. ibid. " Id. ibid. " Li-lin, Li ki, c. xiii.
G
82
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[ii. II
"The wise man follows equity [propriety], and when he is
abroad he conforms to the customs of the place."* " Gai-kung
asked Confucius about [11] propriety [rites, &c.], and Confucius
replied : Propriety is great indeed, and respect is what governs
propriety. Respect ! there is nothing beyond it."' "'EXtvdtpov
t^vAtunrc rbv auvrov rp&irov : Let thy bearing be that of a ' gentle-
man,'" say the Greeks.* " Look at, listen to, speak and move,
nothing improper [no improper gestures],"* say Confucius and
Chu-tsze; and the Japanese: "The sage teaches that the
first thing to be observed is the virtue of propriety, not to
depart from it, and not to do aught against it." " When going
out of doors, behave as if you were going to meet some great
guest ; and what you do not wish for selfj do not to others."*
"When the body [person] is well controlled [behaved], the
speech is also as it ought to be. And when the heart is well
ordered, then everything is in good order," says the Buddhist*
" For politeness is the support of life," say the Arabs, •' and
the prop of social intercourse."' It teaches to avoid evil ex-
amples, according to the Osmanli proverb, "that the well-
mannered man learns manners of the ill-mannered one."*
" Good manners [discretion] distinguish [are a distinction to]
race or kindred ; bad manners blur it."' "Good manners are
the source (or seed) of good ; bad manners ever give pain.""
"Live, then, according to propriety."" "Praising God will
give discretion"*' — in speech as in everything else. " In order
to keep one's person unblemished, it is well to speak discreetly
and according to truth."" "Even an animal can remember
words spoken ; but he is wise who, when speaking, not only
remembers, but knows, what to say by thinking it over.""
" Through such knowledge do wise men guard themselves,
and overcome their enemies, be they ever so many.'"* " Those
> Kin si, Li ki, c. 1. » Gai-kung wen, Li ki, c. xxii. » yvu/..
Iiov. Bninck. * Siao-hio, c. iv. » Jap. Comm. ad loc. • Dulva,
vol. V. foL 29. ' Meid. Ar. pr. • Osm. pr. » Cural, 133, 138.
«> Ibid. " Atthi Sudi, 34. " Kalvi olruk. 2. " Mainyo i kh. ii. 73.
'• Sain ugh, foL v. " Ibid. iv. ; Legs par b. p. 5.
ii. 11]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
83
who wish to preserve their life through discretion, restrain
their passions ; but to pamper the body, is ' to hide one's
name.' Now it is easy to live without indulgences, but it is
hard to live without a name. He, then, who strives for a name
keeps under [lit. kills] his body ; but he who only accumulates
wealth 'kills' his posterity."* "By efforts, by vigilance, by
restraint and by taming one's nature," says the Buddhist, " the
wise [understanding or prudent] man makes for himself an
island which the flood shall not overwhelm."'
"Discretion," as moderation. " In order to govern men and
to serve Heaven," says Lao-tsze, " there is nothing like mode-
ration. Moderation therefore should be the earliest business
of man.'" "The restraint of the body is the fifth door of
entrance to religion ; it purifies altogether the three kinds of
bodily vices."*
" shall preserve thee." " Though a screen be torn, the frame
of it still remains. So also the superior man, though he be-
come poor, yet his propriety [discretion] and rectitude (or
righteousness) still remain."' " Propriety guards the good
man, but laws guard the mean man."*
" understanding" &c. " NoCi' ijyf/iova irotoC."' " Man," said
Vyasa, " has five senses ; but mind is called the sixth, intellect
[understanding] the seventh, and the inward conscious soul is
the eighth. The mind creates doubt to the seeing of the eyes
[maya], and the soul is witness to the efforts of the under-
standing. The mind bestows existence ; intellect acts ; and
the heart knows what is agreeable or disagreeable. These are
the three-fold governors [or rulers] of action. The objects
[artha] are better than the senses, the mind is better than the
objects, the intellect than the mind, and the soul than the
intellect Intellect is the soul of man ; it is even soul in soul ;
before the existence of the senses, intellect was distinct from
' Ming Sin P. K. c. iii. ' Dhammap. Appam. 6. ' Tao-te-K. c. lix.
* Rgya-tcher r. p. c. iv. ' Hien wen shoo, 105. * Morrison's
mor. max. p. 229. ' Solon Exerest. sept. S.
G 2
84
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[ii. 12
them in nature [essence] ; as it heard, it became ' hearing ;' as
it touched, it became 'touch,' &c."> [No translation can give
an adequate idea of the terseness and combination of the ori-
ginal terms.] " Understanding," says the Tamil proverb, " is
about caste, family [rank], manners, intercourse, and conduct."*
" For if there is propriety among men, there will be rules of
decorum [conduct] ; but if there is no propriety, there will be
nothing but confusion and disorder among the multitude."'
12 To deliver thee from the way of the evil man,
from the man that speaketh froward things ;
" To deliver thee," T) T?7*?> ' ^om an evil way, or course.' Chald.
' from the evil way.'
"BouAtTot dio'icurat y]}>-w aiia Aotyoi' d/avvai,"*
" Better it is for the body to fall from a high rock into the
valley below, and to be crushed among the stones thereof, or
to thrust one's hand into a serpent's fangs, or even to fall into
the fire, than to destroy (or lose) one's own good character."*
" Look at a man's good actions," says Tai-kang, " and record
them ; look at a man's evil doings, and reject them."' " In-
struction [teaching or chastening] to that effect is better to
thee than a pedigree ; for a pedigree cannot do without it, but
it can well do without a pedigree."' "For he who has no
nobleness of mind, his lineage helps him not," say the Rabbis.*
"froward things" " Insult or reproach is three-fold : (i) to
one's face ; (2) by insinuation ; (3) to one's family or race. So
is the result (or fruit) of it three-fold also. This evil-speaking
consists (i) in speaking evil openly to others ; (2) in speaking
inconsiderately, as if it did not matter, from a vain, frivolous
mind, some bad word or other, against some one else. The
fruit of this, when fully ripe, is to be born in hell ; yet, for the
same reason, if one be born a man, he will have a voice most
« Maha Bh. Shanti P. 8990—9005. • Tamil pr. 3188. ' Do ji kio.
* II. a. 67. ' Nitishataka, 77. • Ming Sin P. K. c. ii. ' Dukes
Rabb. Blum. 33. ' Ben hammeiek, id. ibid.
ii. 13—16]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
B5
disagreeable to hear.'" " A bright mirror," says Lao-tsze, " is
not blurred (or tarnished) by dust ; how then can a man of a
pure mind cling to the pursuit of evil desires (or passions)?"*
" For knowledge (or understanding) is an eye of the mind."»
13 Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in
the ways of darkness ;
" Who leave," &c. "Justice (or righteousness) is the road
for man to walk in. To lose one's way and not to walk in the
right path, to lose one's heart and not to know how to look for
it, how sad indeed !" says Meng-tsze.* [Meng-tsze [Mencius]
taught that man's heart is naturally good ; and that when this
goodness is lost, it is for man to look for it within himself
Kiu O has an amusing sermon in Japanese (vol. ii. i) on this
text.]
14 Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the fro-
wardness of the wicked ;
" the wicked." " The wicked man is to be quieted by punish-
ment, and not by help or assistance," said Indra to Brahma.'
15 Whose ways are crooked, and iAey froward in
their paths :
crib?, ' perverse.' Chald. ' twisted,' ' tangled,' ' perverse.'
" crooked." " How ever so many bends (or crooks) the river
may have, it must at last fall into the sea ;"* and the wicked
into his own net.
16 To deliver thee from the strange woman, even
from the stranger wAicA flattereth with her words ;
' Whose words,' nf?"'Spn, • she makes slippery, soft and flowing.'
Chald. 'whose words are sweet.' LXX. paraphrases the whole of
this verse.
■ Thar gyan, v. 43. 2 Ming Sin P. K. i. 5. » Nitimala (Tel.), iii. 22.
* Hea-Meng, xi. 11. ' Kumara Sambh. iii. 40. ' Telugu pr. 2245.
86
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[ii. 1 6
" Strange woman" any but the lawful wife in wedlock. " Is
there in the world," say the Japanese, "anything more fearful
than those foxes [women] who, being well acquainted with the
disposition of men, transform themselves into human beings
to deceive them."' "Woman with the mind, aXtrp^s aXumtKoi,
of a cunning fox, a vixen, iravriav tSpis, up to anything, versed
in all manner of wickedness, a fetter from which no one can
free himself, is the greatest evil ever wrought on earth by
Jove ; it has sent many men to hell."' "True, then, it is that
trouble and disorder do not drop from heaven ; they come
from those women."' " Men will buy him, or her, who lowers
himself, or herself, to be bought. One may buy an elephant,
with a thousand horses ; but a lion, never. Things easily got
are not praised by everybody. Men will take strange women,
to the injury (or insult) of their own wife."* "A flower from
somewhere else looks well," said literally and figuratively of
women, both bad and good ; as ' hana,' flower, is a favourite
term in Japanese for a woman. Here it is explained "by a
man being caught with a pretty face and agreeable manner,
and likewise by the wife of another looking askance [eyeing]
other men."*
" Among the things that cause ruin in this world," say the
Burmese, " are the shameful practices of harlots, and the loose
morals of women of good family."' Fashion does not seem
to have altered much since Hesiod warned men against being
deceived by yuvr] rvyo<no\o%, alfivXa KiaTikkoxxra, with wheedling
chatter, whom to trust is only to trust thieves."^ Apaturia,
Paphia, dtro toC dira<^o>, i.q. oTroTui, to deceive. Therefore —
1 vvaiKt /JLT] truTTivi Toi/ (rovrov piov.
And 'AtppoSiTTi, Aphrodite, was so called, said Euripides, not
from A<f>poi, foam, but from a<f>povai eTvai, their having lost their
• Desima, Tamino nigiv. vol. ii. lo. * Simonides, 7, 115, ed. B.
» Desima, Tarn. nig. ibid. * Drishtanta Shataka, 55, 57. ' Shin
gaku soku go. p. 4- * Pu'sa pagD. Q. 74. ' i. nl i,p. 343.
' yvuifl, fiov.
ii. 16]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
87
senses who allow themselves to be thus enthralled.' " For he,','
said Sanasujata, " who frees himself from his lusts, shakes off
some dust from himself."* " When the mirror is bright, dust
will not tarnish it ; so also when wisdom is bright, licentious
vices will not arise."' " Yet who is the man on earth who has
not been deceived by women ?"♦ Nay, " he conquers the three
worlds like a hero who has not been pierced in his thoughts
(or heart) by the shafts of a woman's glances."* " In very
deed the man may well be wondered at who escapes safe from
the wiles of women," said one of them.* " Women," said Har-
barz to Thor, " prepared a rope of sand for me ; but I alone
was superior to them all in counsel."^
" Friend, tell me who has not been taken in by cheats, an4
by the side-glances of deceitful women ?"* " Utanka, tempted
by his guru's wives during the absence of their husband, said
to them : The deed spoken of by these women is not to be
done ; my master did not teach me, saying, That which ought
not to be done, is to be done by thee."» " Beware," says Ani,
" of the woman from without [strange woman], not known in
the town ; away from her husband, she stands outside and
spreads her net"" "Be well versed in the [olrunar] letters
[spells or signs] of the ale-cup, if thou wilt that a strange
woman [or another's wife] deceive thee not, or break faith if
thou trust her," said the woman to Sigurd." " Confucius having
seen Nam-tsze [the wife of a mandarin of the Wue country and
a profligate woman], Tsze-loo expressed his disapprobation.
To which Confucius replied : In what I have done wickedly,
Heaven reprove me. Heaven reprove me!" [Heaven knows
how far I have transgressed, and will act accordingly by me]."
"Such women are of the generations before the Flood,"'*
* Phumutus de nat. d. p. 197, 198. • Maha Bh. Udyog. P. 1588.
' Hien wen shoo, 59. ' Pancha R. 2, and Shad R. 2. ' Niti-
shataka, 76.
' Kobitamr. 16.
• Alef leilah, Introd. 6. ' Harbarz lioth, 18.
• Maha Bh. Adi P. 751. '• Maxims of Scribe
Ani, Pap. p. xvi. I. 15. " Sigrdrifm. 7, ed. Liin. or Brynhild. qv. 7,
ed. Cop. " Shang-Lun, vi. 26. " Kctub. Khar. P. vi. 13.
88
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[li. 17
daughters of Cain, who dwelt in the plain below the Holy
mountain. " Satan, finding that he could not curse the holy
life and happiness of the children of Seth who dwelt on the'
Holy mountain, wounded them through the beauty of the
daughters of men, that is, of Cain,"' "who beguiled many to
come down and commit abomination with them."' [They are
said to be alluded to in Gen. vi. 4; "sons of God" being, not
angels, but the children of Seth dwelling on the Holy mountain.]
17 Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and
forgetteth the covenant of her God.
n^^W^ HiVm, ' the intimate friend of her youth, joined to her by
close fellowship;' 'husband or guide.' Chald. 'conductor,' 'guide.'
" who forsaketh" &c. " Who broke the yoke of all precepts,"'
says Rabbi S. Yarchi ;" "who broke the yoke of those who
brought her up from her birth,'' says another commentator.*
But women in the East marry so young, that these words
may apply to a husband as well as to a father or guardian.
Under no circumstances is a woman to be left unprotected or
independent " Nothing," says Manu, " should be done by a
girl, a young woman, or one advanced in years, on her own
authority, not even in the household. In childhood, let a
woman remain in subjection to her father ; in youth, to her
husband ; after his death, to her sons ; but let her never enjoy
self-control (or independence). Let not a woman ever seek to
sever herself from her father, her husband or her sons ; for by
separating herself from them, she makes both families ridicu-
lous (or blameable)."* "Independence does not befit a woman."*
" The best horse requires a bit ; the best of women, a hus-
band ; and the most sagacious of men, the counsel of another."^
"A pandit, as well as a woman and a creeper, shine best under
' Cedrenus, Hist. C. p. 17. ' Book of Adam and Eve, p. 133—140;
Eutych. nazam el juw. p. 25, ed. Poc. ' Rashi, ad loc. * Tvunat
Mishle, ad loc. ' Manu S. v. 187 — 189. • Id. ibid. ix. 3.
' Ep. Lod. 714-
ii. 17]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
89
protection [and support]. Does a valuable ruby lose its lustre
by being set in gold ?"*
As women marry very early in the East, the adulterous
woman who " forsaketh the guide of her youth," is to be thus
punished, according to Manu: "The woman who, proud of
her qualities and family connections, despises her husband
[in order to go after other men], let the king' cause her to be
devoured by dogs, at some public place well frequented [like
Jezebel.] And let him cause the wicked man who has com-
mitted adultery with her, to be burnt alive, by being put upon
an iron bedstead made hot by lighting logs of wood under it,
until the sinner is consumed."*
According to the Qoran, the man and the woman are each
" to receive one hundred stripes."' " Who is that woman, Arda
Viraf asked, who is tearing her breasts with an iron hook ? It
is that wicked woman, answered Srosh, who, while on earth,
lightly esteemed [despised] her husband and guardian, and
continued bad, and committed impropriety with other men ;"*
as supposed to be seen in the nether world. " Such women
who are greedy of stolen loves hold the society of their hus-
bands, with home comforts, as light as grass."* "How, then,
can men of sense keep by them in their houses women who
say that falsehood is truth, and truth is falsehood ?"• "The
rich man's daughter who had forsaken her husband, said to
the nobleman's daughter who had not done so: You, lady,
are a woman, and so am I, and the nature of woman is like
that of fruit on a tree ; and that tree is their husband. When
the fruit is ripe, and falls from the tree, it is thrown away
with other things on the rubbish-heap. How can the fruit-
stalk that has been severed, be joined on again to the tree ;
or the child, once born, enter again into his mother's womb ?
So also as regards a wife who has left her husband."' [This
> V. Satas. 480. ' Manu S. viii. 371, 372-
• Viraf Nameh, Ixii. 1—6. ' Pancha Tant. i. 190.
' Thudhamma Tsari, 6th st.
' Sur. xxiv. I.
• Id. ibid. 200.
90
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[ii. I 8
took place in Raytoomatee, during the life of Thumaddha, the
1 6th Buddha, who was 88 cubits high, and lived 90,000 years !]
"The king sentenced to death the rich man's daughter for
having left her husband ; but spared her life."*
In the Dhamma That* — or Burmese Institutes of Manu —
" such a woman as that is to pay twenty-five tickals of silver,
and her paramour thirty, with the risk of having his head cut
off. The two are to live apart from the rest, as having for-
feited their rights and inheritance." Under such circum-
stances of early marriage, the husband has to educate or train
his wife, and, if need be, according to Mahomedan notions, " to
punish her with stripes or solitary confinement"' Therefore
" if through your own meanness of mind you have not ruled
(or governed) your wife, to think of ruling her afterwards is
madness. Will a tree, allowed to grow up, be moved with a
pinch only ?"*
18 For her house inclineth unto death, and her
paths unto the dead.
D^Mp?, ' Rephaim,' a tribe of Canaanites. Also ' the dead,' says
A. Ezra, from being, CO??! *' ^s^» quiet and at rest. Chald. ' unto
the men accustomed to her ways.' Syr. ' and to the going (custom)
of her ways.'
"For her house." " This kind of love, O Dhritarashtra," said
Vidura, " is called low ; to forsake it is on the way to salva-
tion."* "Women, while they keep thy heart in lust, hold thy
nose fast in the dust"' [with a play on the last two words].
" If thy husband knows it, he will kill thee ; if the king hears
of it, it will be a disgrace to thee. For a woman to go with
another man [than her husband] is the sum of all infamy ; it
is hell before her."'
" Lydia, die, per omnes
Te deos oro, Sybarin cur properes amando
Perdere?'"
> Thudhamma Tsari, 6th St. ' Book i. c. viii. » Qoran
Sur. iv. 33. * Vemana, ii. 12. * Maha Bh. Udyog. 1649.
• El Nawabig, 187. ' Vemana, ii. 11. • Hor. Od. i. 8.
ii. 19, 20]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
91
"Malorum esca voluptas, qua homines capiuntur, ut hamo
pisces." "Nulla capitalior pestis, quam corporis voluptas
hominibus a natura data est."' Horrible is to be "the doom
of the foolish men that are caught thereby — in the slough of
hell in which worthless men sink to destruction."*
19 None that go unto her return again, neither talce
they hold of the paths of life.
la-bi, 'touch,' 'reach,' or 'attain to,' the paths of life.
"None — return again." See Sophos, fab. 45 ; Syntipa, 37 ;
Loqman, 6; Babrias, 103 ; Esop, 91 ; and the fox's words to
the lion feigning sickness. " Nulla vestigia retrorsum." See
also the preceding verse.
20 That thou mayest walk in the way of good men,
and keep the paths of the righteous. *
" That thou mayest," &c. " Let him walk in the path in
which his fathers and men of old walked ; let him walk in that
path of good men ; while he walks in it he will hurt no one."*
" Follow the steps [heels] of the wise, and thou shalt tread the
summit of the worlds."* " The way by which wise and good
men go is the one to walk in ; no by-ways. The great man
who follows it escapes death, and is not entangled in it," said
Vidura to Dhritarashtra.' " Keep company with the good, so
shalt thou be safe from the bad."' " The Vedas differ ; Smriti
[tradition] too is not consistent ; the path of virtue seems hid
in a cave ; the road trodden by great and good men is the one
to walk in."' " Remember those gone before thee and follow
their example ; and set before thee [thy heart] as the way to
walk in, an upright conduct [righteousness]."' "He whose
authority is not according to the Rishis of old, neither has
this world nor the one to come. This is certain." "Virtue is
' Cic. Cato maj. * Cural, xcii. 918, 919. » Manu S. iv. 178.
* El Nawabig, 159. ' Maha Bh. Udyog. P. 2552. • Nuthar ell. 134-
' Maha Bh. in Kobitamrak. 163. ' Ani. max. xvii. 12 — 14.
92
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[ii. 20
the craft [boat or ship] itself; there is no other for those who
go to Swarga It is the ship of the merchant tending to the
other shore,'" said Yudhishtira to Draupada.
[This expression, "sailing or passing to the other shore,"
from time to eternity, from this life to the next, which is
common to Brahman, Egyptian and to Buddhist writings, and
which was, to a certain extent, represented by the ' ban',' or
bark on the Nile carrying the corpse of the departed to the
tomb, or nether-world, and which Plato must have often
witnessed during his stay in Egypt, probably suggested to
him " the trxtSta [float] of the ' opinions of good men,' on which
to risk our passage through life ; unless we could have a safer
oxTffia [ship or conveyance], or some Ottov koyov, divine word
on which to cross this life."' Some interpret Odoi Xdyos here
by 'a divine recison ;' but tk forbids it. Others might fancy
in it some inkling of the Adyos of S. John, c. i., inasmuch as
this term came originally from Plato, through the Alexan-
drian school and the Gnostics. But the rendering "divine
word' suits best this remarkable passage.
This "crossing over to the other side" occurs frequently.
There is a whole treatise in theDulva' about "crossing, 'p'ha rol-
tu,' to the other side or shore," "transmigration" and Nirvana,
according to the writer. There is also an Egyptian treatise
on transmigration, " Shai an sensen," Book of Breathings, with
determinatives of 'breath' and "sailing," to show that the soul
was living during her passage through her transmigrations in
the nether world, until her return to the body she had left,
and which was embalmed in order to preserve it for her
return to it. This treatise was placed under the head of the
defunct in his coffin, together with a roll of the Ritual of the
Dead, in which all that the soul had to undergo in Amenti, is
> Maha Bh. Vana P. 1181. * Phoedo, Ixxviii. ' "On the great
crossing," Hphags-pa shes-rab-kyi p'ha-rol-tu p'hyin-pa, &c. Excellent,
supreme wisdom [or teaching], to enable one to reach the other shore,
&c
ii. 20]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
93
told at length."* " I will." says the Buddhist Maha Satwa,
"' make of this worthless body of mine, which is like foam on
the water, a large ship to cross the sea of birth and of death."*
" The law and teaching, which is a safe transport (or deliverer)
over the flood,"' said the Brahman to Molon Toin. "The ship
of the religious law, on which Buddha, having placed mankind
and crossed [sansarasagaram] the ocean of transmigrations,
entered Nirvanam."* "A man must [have] provided for him-
self a ship, to cross over ; when once across, of what use is the
ship to him?"" One of the Rishis said of Buddha: "This
first (or excellent) ship has appeared on the still ocean of
darkness and ignorance. By him will be found the law, wherer
by all beings shall be borne across in safety."'
" Looking upon the body in the light of a ship, how is one
to traverse the sea of transmigrations ?"'' " The four ever-
ceaseless [boundless, ever-to-be-crossed] seas of this world —
(l) death, (2) disease, (3) old age, and (4) birth."* "Thus
supported by the body of a man [i.e. while in that body], one
crosses the great river of sorrow. But it is hard to find what
comes after [follows] that ship ; for during darkness it sleeps
not But if in the body of a horse, how is one to be freed
from the valley of death and sorrow ? As a man mounted
on a mettled horse, escapes on him from the valley. Or if in
the body of a servant, he spares him work,"* &c.
"And the ferry-man over that broad river is the religious
teacher that saves thee from drowning."'" " Save us, O Krishna,
and be to us a craft, sunk as we are in the sea of the Panduids,
both deep and without a float on it," said Yudhishtira." " Hav-
ing built for thyself a solid craft," said Vidura to Dhritarashtra,
"cross the difficult migrations of thy birth."" "Some make
' Todtenbuch, ch. xv. xvii. &c., and Shai an sensen, throughout.
* Attadham.
' Altan Gerel, sect. x. p. 11 1.
' Molon Toin, fol. v.
Jat. p. 14. ' Ch&nakya, 43, J. R. • Rgya-tcher r. p. xi. p. 117.
' Thar gyan, fol. 11. ' Boyan sorgal, p. 2, 20. ' Thar gyan, fol. 1 1.
" Id. ibid. fol. IS, t6. " Maha Bh. Drona P. 2963. " Maha Bh.
Udyog. P. 1554.
94
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[ii. 20
for themselves a basket, a raft or a ship, for crossing that
ocean, wherewith men in general [not wise ones] seek, up and
down, to cross that sea" [but I alone am the safe conveyance
across, &c.].' "I shall leave my body on this shore," said
Buddha, " like a wretched, decayed ship that is water-logged,
without bestowing one regret upon it."' " He who wishes to
attain emancipation [moksha] otherwise than by the worship
of Narayana [Vishnu], is like one who would attempt to cross
the ocean without ship or craft of any kind."']
" The principle (or root) of religion and virtue," says Manu,
" is, among other things, the conduct of good men."* " Under
all circumstances, friendship (or companionship) with good
men is best of all."* " To join oneself to virtuous men em-
braces everj'thing ; for the virtuous man — from his love for
men and from his virtue — is the dispeller of sorrow."* " The
uncontrovertible law of Scripture and the ways of the best
men, are these : To abstain from injuring living beings ; to
keep one's hands from other people's goods ; to give in season
according to one's ability ; when the young wives of other
men are mentioned, to be dumb ; to keep one's senses under
control ; to behave reverently to one's elders ; and to show
kindness to all."' "Non est res ulla tanti, aut commodum
ullum tam expetendum, ut viri boni et splendorem et nomen
amittas — nam fas nee est nee unquam fuit, quicquam nisi pul-
cherrimum, facere eum qui esset optimus."*
" O my heart, take, at last, thy rest from the iron grasp of
these objects of sense, and take refuge in the path of good
men, wherein thou shait at once find relief in rest from infinite
trouble."* "Draw near to virtuous people — it will help the
practice of virtue by both body and heart. And flee from evil
men — it will keep off misfortune and misery from your view.""*
Mahaparanibbh. fol. gnl. 15. ' Durenidana Jat. p. $. ' Vidwan
• Manu S. ii. i — 6. ' Vishnu Sarma, Hitopad. i.
' Nitishataka, 60. • Cicero, de Offic. 3.
'• Hien wen shoo, 84.
Tarang. p. 30.
I. 425. ' Id. ibid. iv. 28
» Vairagya shat. 64.
!i. 20]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
99
"Good and true men are born in the world like clouds,"* to
shed abroad the dew of blessing. " Live, then (or stand), as
becometh a good man.'" "Walk in the peace of the Most
High, that thou mayest walk in a good way."* "As the bee
knows the [track] way to the honeycomb, and as the humble-
bee knows the juice of flowers, so also does the faithful know
the way to the good man [great yogi]."*
" Friendship with the good is never to cease ; for until we
understand our nature, we can have no faith [sakti]."' "Walk
so as to be a worthy man."* " The constant remembrance of
the assembly of good men," says the Buddhist, " is one door
to religion ; it leads one to enter the path of integrity [fault-
lessness]."' " By all means set before thee the example of
good men [set before thee the heart of good men] ; and think
of the ability of the brave among men." " He who wishes to
walk in the doctrine of Confucius, must be pure at least one
day."» " Let him take the path taught by the Rishis."» " What
is real profit (or gain) ? The society of men endued with good
qualities."!"
"Make acquaintance and be familiar with a worthy man
and respect him ; stand in awe of him and love him ; love him
and see his failings ; dislike [or hate] him, yet see his goodness.
If he has amassed wealth, he knows how to bestow [scatter] it
on others. Live at peace with him, and you will soon agree
with him."" "And I," said Lak-we-yan-thawaka [Mogallan],
" having become a great and good man, [saddhammam puremi]
I shall fulfil the law of good men, the knowledge of the path
of the fruit thereof, and at last become a disciple of the left
hand — Mogallan"" [a frequent expression among Buddhists].
" The society of the good," said Savitri to Yama, " is always
to be desired ; then is such a friend said to be a good thing ;
■ Pancha T. i. 35. ' Avvey. A. Sudi, 102. ' Sahid. max. Rosellini,
p. 130. * Vemana, i. 93. ' Id. ibid. 124. • Avvey. A. Sudi, 54.
' Rgya-tcher r. p. c iv. p. 22. ' Ming hien dsi, 68, 49. ' Dhammap.
Maggav. 8. " Pancha Ratna. 4. " Siao-hio, c. iii. " Lak-we-
yan, 36.
96
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[ii. 20
ii. 20]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
97
associating with the good never is without fruit ; let one then
abide in close fellowship with them."' " The practice of virtue
is constant with the good ; they neither sorrow nor perish (or
decay) ; the society of the good with the good is never fruitless ;
neither do the good fear aught from the good."* "Associating
with the good," said the father of the Kuruids to Kana, " is
the best of all relationship or connection."* "The society of
the good is indeed desirable, for then that which ought to be,
will follow. Intercourse with a good man cannot lead to
transgression, therefore ought it to be sought after." " It is
lasting (or firm) ; it always suggests profitable advice in diffi-
culties ; it is the source of great advantage,"* said the Rishis.
"When thou seest a good and worthy [hien] man," said
Confucius, " think of adjusting [imitating] thyself to him ; but
if thou seest one that is not so, then enter within thyself and
examine thyself."' "Gather together [associate] with the
good ; run along with them, and dwell in thought on true
virtue ; it is best."* " He who desires greatness, let him not
depart from the best men."^ "Omnes boni, beati ;"' for —
" Atos TOt voos fJLtyai Kvf3€pv^
Satfiov av8piov <l>i\.ti>v ''
" God's providence overrules the lot of those who love and fear
Him." "With good men, then, must one dwell," said Leva-
yani to Shukra ; "for it is called the best abode."*" Chom-
Idan-das ends with these words his instruction into the meta-
physics of the law, to Chan-re-si : " Inasmuch as thou reachest
the other side of knowledge, through the teaching given thee,
by thorough [constant, deep] practice, shalt thou thyself follow
the Tathagatas [i.e. those gone thither] before thee to Nir-
vanam."'*
" The way of evil is broad ; as one treads it, it becomes
« Maha Bh. Vana P. l6,777- ' Id- ibid. 16,794. » Id. ibid.
Drona P. 127. * Id. ibid. Udyog. P. 314, 315. ' Shang-Lun, iv. 17.
• Lokaniti, 40. ' Subha Bilas. 90. ' Cicero, de Finib. 3. » Pind.
Pyih. V. 164. " Maha Bh. Adi P. 3329. " P'ha-rol-tu, &c.
i,
swampy ; but the way of goodness is true, if one walks In it
without swerving; it is blameless."* "Bayazid was asked,
What is 'sunna' and holy duty? He replied : 'Sunna' is, to
forsake the world and the passions ; and duty is, to find one's
way to a good man or teacher."* " The example of a teacher
is like a guide to one who knows not the way through a fearful
land — a ferryman crossing a river."' " He who makes another
do right is greater than he who does it,"* say the Rabbis.
"Let no man, then, [change] swerve from the [impression]
footsteps of the wise."* " Nim-khew said : I do not dislike the
way of Confucius, but my strength is not equal to it Confu-
cius then answered : Thy strength not equal to it 1 thou hast
reached the half [middle] of the way : wilt thou stop there,
and leave off?"" Again: "Who can go out without going
through the door ? How, then, not walk in this way i» Walk
towards virtue."'
" A holy man's example," says Lao-tsze, " consists in action,
not in words only."* " Let the good man, then, stand in the
eternal path (or way) ; that is the way chosen by householders
[respectable men] ; he who walks in it consistently, finds both
this world and the next"' "Go that way," said Subhadra to
her son lying dead, " to the brilliant sphere where the most
pious Munis walk who have forsaken all pride ; where women
of one husband go."*' "For in the way in which a man will
walk, in that way will men help him to go.""
Ngan-tsze said : " The ancients called the dead ' returned
home ;' if, then, the dead are called ' men returned home,' the
living are 'wayfaring' men. But the wayfaring man who
knows not how to return has lost his home."*' " Who is there,"
asks Chanakya, " that is not raised in dignity by associating
with the good ? Grass is [carried] worn on the head by being
' Altai prov. ' Beharist. R. I. ' Thar gyan, ii. fol, 14.
' R. Bl. 36. • Berachoth, Khar. xi. 33. • Shang-Lun, vi. to.
' Id. ibid. vi. 15, and vii. 6. • Tao-te-K. ii. » Kamand. Nlti-
shat. ii. 37. " Maha Bh. Drona P. 2755. " Yalkut. R. Bl. 142.
" Lee-tsze, i. p. 7.
H"
98
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[ii. 21
mingled with the flowers of a nosegay."» " He that [conforms
to] the rules of great and good men, rises above ten thousand
others."' " O Bikkhus, when the sun is about to rise, a sign—
the dawn— precedes it; likewise when a Bikkhu enters the
eight-fold way [to Nirvana], the preceding sign is, the love of
virtue."' " Pleasing and beautiful is the sight of ' Aryas' [of
good and honourable men] ; lustrous (or gladdening) is their
society always ; and fortunate is he who never sets eyes on
fools."* " The rule (or law) which Aryas who know the Shas-
tras praise as 'the law to be kept," is the rule ; and what they
reprove, is to be considered unlawful."*
" Good meets good, and evil meets evil. When did one see
good meet evil, or evil meet good ?"• " Indeed, send the mul-
titude to the right-about, and hearken thou to the words of
the aged (or great) ; strive against a word opposed to obedi-
ence. Thy betters have trodden that way before thee, and so
will thy children after thee."^ " Those who by learning [teach-
ing] see [discover] the truth of things, enter a way they cannot
retrace hitherward."* " Saineya," said Yudhishtira, "the reli-
gious law [dharma] seen [established] by good and true men
of old, is eternal."' " Let the righteous, then, awake from his
sleep, and let him arise and proceed in the way of righteous-
ness, in all the paths thereof.""
2 1 For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the
perfect shall remain in it.
" For the upright;' &c. " The Lord and Master said, allud-
ing to Maddhakundali, who had died in the Buddhist faith :
Because he had a heart full of faith, with good works done
to men, that man reached [spread] from the land of men to
the world of Nats [intermediate spirits], like a soft, pleasant
» Chanak. 154, J- K. ' Oyun tulkid. p. 7- ' Suriyya Peyyala, ed. F.
4 Dham^^ XV o, ed. Col. ' Kamand. Nitis. vi. 7. ' Bengalee pr.
\ SSTud .0 Papi. Pap. Sail. ii. pi. M, 1. .. ' Cural. 356. « Maha
Bh. Drona P. 4 1 76. " Bk. of Enoch, xc. 3.
ii. 22]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
09'
shadow."* " If the excellence of the excellent were to fail, the '
wide earth could not bear its own weight."* " For the world
rests on the virtuous."'
2 2 But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth,
and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it,
" But the wicked," &c. " Unrighteousness committed in this
world does not bring forth fruit at once, but, like the earth, in
good time ; and advancing little by little, it cuts off by the
roots the man who committed it. If not in himself, then in
his sons ; if not in them, then in his grandsons, does the
unrighteousness of the unrighteous man remain without fruit.
He may prosper for a while by unrighteousness, and see good
things, and even overcome his enemies at the time. Never-
theless, in the end he perishes from his root upwards."* "When
a king has finally taken up his residence in his kingdom, and
his fortresses are finished and well armed, let him then con-
centrate all his efforts in rooting up the thorns [the wicked]."'
"Such and other like men who, like thorns, openly spread
about the world, let him distinguish from the rest ; as well as
those who do evil in secret ; and other worthless men who
have the appearance of respectable ones."'
" Yea, it is best," says Vishnu Sarma, " to root up a servant
whose mind is poisoned towards his master, a loose tooth, and
a wicked minister."' " Outcasts," said Vidura to Dhritarashtra,
" know no pleasure ; a fit word from them gives no pleasure ;
they know not the law ; in short, no other state is possible for
them than to be destroyed."' " For as fields are injured by
weeds, so are men by their lusts, and kingdoms by wickedness,
to be rooted up."' Thus Ennius :
" — ubi vidit avenam, lolium crescere
Inter triticum, secemit, seligit, aufert sedulo.""*
' Buddhaghos. Par. ii. p. 51. ' Cural, 990. ' Id. 996.
♦ Manu S. iv. 172—174. ' Id. ibid. ix. 252. ' Ibid. 260.
' Hitopad. ii. 127. » Maha Bh. Udyog P. 1316. ' Dhammap. ii. 23.
" Ennii prxcepta, 536.
H 2
lOO
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[ii. 22
" If there is in thee depravity," said Ajtoldi, " thy root and trunk
will be cut short ; for thy wickedness ruins thy good deeds.
Where there is depravity, wealth flees from it and destroys
the govemment'" "When fortune is favourable to a man
whose heart is not good, he assuredly comes to a miserable
and untimely end."* "But when a man's fortune and his
heart are both bad, then even to his old age he lives in poverty
and wretchedness [trouble and sorrow]."'
"For the Deity destroys the wicked utterly, and puts no
obstacle in the way [of his ruin]." "And that man perishes
root and branch."* "If a man commits a great fault," says
Tai-shang,* " the Spirit cuts off twelve years of his life ; but
for a small fault, only a hundred days." " To those who do
well, a hundred good things happen ; but to those who do evil,
come a hundred sorrows,"* "Blessing is for the good, but
evil assuredly for the wicked," said the goddess Ben-zai-ten
to KawamL^ Yet, according to the Rabbis, "God does not
punish anyone until the measure of his sin be fulL"' "There
is no success [lit victory] for unrighteousness," says Ali ben
abu Taleb ; " for if it succeed awhile, it gives no profit ; and
happiness departs from the path of the wicked."*
> Kudat ku Bilik, xvii. 86, 87. * Ming hien dsi. 105. » Ibid. 106.
* Vemana, i. 68, 162. * Kang i. p. • Mongol, mor. max.
^ Nageki no kiri, p. 17. ' Ep. Lod. 126. • Ali b. a. T. 13.
iii. l]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
lOI
CHAPTER III.
I An exhortation to obedience, j to faith, 7 to mortification, g to devotion,
II to patience. 13 The hapPy gain of wisdom, ig The power, ai and
the benefits of wisdom, aj An exhortation to charitableness, 30 peace-
ableness, 31 and contentedness. 33 The cursed state of the wicked.
TV /T Y son, forget not my law ; but let thine heart
keep my commandments :
" My son" &c. "Nunc te, fili, carissime docebo quo pacto
morem animi tui compones. Igitur mea praecepta ita legito,
ut intelligas."* "A son," says Confucius, "who for three years
[after his father's death] does not deviate from his father's
way, may be called a dutiful son."* " Filial piety [hiao]," says
Confucius, " consists in a son serving his parents. If he con-
tinues to serve them, he thereby shows his great reverence ; if
he maintains them, he shows his joy (or pleasure in it) ; when
they are sick, his great sorrow ; in mourning over them, his
grief ; in his sacrifices to their departed spirits, his distinguished
and solemn bearing. These five duties complete his filial
piety. Such a son, when in a high position, is not proud ; if
in a low one, he is neither distressed nor disturbed."*
" Forget not until death the words of a good friend who has
exerted himself for the truth (or truly, earnestly)."* "The
remembering [meditating on] religion (or the law), is one door
[the 9th] of entrance to religious teaching ; it renders religious
instruction very clear."' " Walk in the commandments [given
thee] with a willing heart," says Ptah-hotep."* " Filial piety,"
said Ts'eng-tsze, " and love for men, go before everything else.
■ Dion. Cato ad fil.
• Oyun tulkid. p. 6.
' Shang-Lun, i. 11.
' Rgya-tcher r. p. c. iv.
' Hiao-king, c. x.
• Pap. Pr. c. V. I. 6.
I02
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iii. 2
iii. 2]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
103
Filial piety as regards Heaven brings down wind and rain in
due season ; as regards the earth, it makes it yield fruit in
succession ; and as regards men, it brings them good fortune
and happiness."*
2 For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall
they add to thee.
Marg. reading. Heb. ' years of life.'
"For length" &a "He never dies whom wisdom keeps
alive," say the wise.' " God drops down dew upon the tomb
of Ajnafi, who one day cried : Hold fast by the truth ; the
result will surely follow,"' said El-jahith. " Bhrigu said of the
code of Manu : This code of laws is the greatest blessing ; it
gives glory and long life; it leads to supreme bliss."* "Let
the Brahmachari ever look into the divine writings that soon
give increase of understanding, of virtue, and of things whole-
some to man."* "Ayushman bhaval Be long lived! is the
way in which a Brahman and every good man should be
addressed."'
The Chinese look upon filial piety as a cardinal virtue, and
the foundation of all good government. One of their ' king'
or sacred books — Hlao-king — treats of it only. It is also the
first commandment on the second Table ; and " the first with
a promise" of long life and prosperity. It has never been kept
without bringing a blessing with it ; and it has never been
broken without entailing misfortune or a curse. But as of old
" it was often made of none effect by tradition," so it is now-
a-days by fashion. The Stoic, however, has right on his side :
" Duties depend on mutual relation ; in the case of a father,
It is dictated that he should be taken care of, that the son
should give way to him in all things, and that even if the
father ill-treats the son, the son should bear it patiently. But
• Ming Sin P. K. pt. !■ 3, 4- ' Mishle hakhacam. ' Eth-
Thealebi, 283. * Manu S. i. 106. ' Ibid. iv. 19. ' Id. ibid.
ii. I, 125.
the father is a bad father ! M^n oZv wpit dyadbv iratipa ^tvait
VKfiu^ijs; ouK- aXXa jrpos irarcjoa : What, then, art thou by
nature related only to a good father? No ; but to a father."*
"Honour [lit stand in awe of] thy father," say the Arabs,
"and thy son will do the same by thee."'
"long life." "The term of life granted by the gods is said
by the scholiast to be from 116 to 120 years" [compare Gen.
vi.]. At sukta 9, however, the text says : " These are a hun-
dred years (or autumns) ;" and at sukta Ixxiii. 9, we read :
"Be to us a hundred winters (or years)."' "Three things,"
say the Rabbis, "lengthen the life of man : (i) to be long in
prayer [pray much and often] ; (2) at leisure ; and (3) in the
house of congregation [synagogue]. And three things shorten
life : (j) when one gives a man the book of the Law, that he
should not be able to read it ; (2) or a cup of blessing, that
there should be nothing in it to bless ; and (3) that one should
say, Who shall show us the book of the Law, and there
should be there no one to show it."* " For a good and vir-
tuous man," say the Chinese, " must reach an advanced old age;
but the bad man must soon be cut off."' "There are four
things," says Rabbi Nathan, " which, if a man observe them,
he will eat the fruit thereof in this world and in that which is
to come : (i) to honour one's father and mother ; (2) perfect
kindness ; (3) peace-making between a man and his brother ;
(4) teaching the Law in public [to all]."'
" Shang-Te favours children who honour their parents, and
gives them a good reputation at the end of seventy- seven
years." "Shang-Te loves a long life and hates killing; he
has given commandment to bestow on you a long term of life ;
he hates to shorten that long-established term of life."' "The
son," says Ptah-hotep, " who receives his father's word [instruc-
> Epictet. Enchirid. xxxvii. * Nuthar ellal. 92. ' Rig Veda, i. ;
sukta Ixxxix. 8. * Dibre hakhacamim, p. 12, 13. ' Hien wen
shoo, 195. • R- Nathan, xl. ' Comm. on Wen-shang-tan, in
Shin-sin I. iv. p. 41, and v. p. 7.
I04
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[In
. 2
tion], obtains old age through it."* " For it is a happiness to
obtain the law (or teaching) of what is good."* "Since, what
is life ? A life that is free from blame."* " Quia conscientia
bene actae vitae multorumque benefactorum recordatio jucun-
dissima est."* And the way to that is, "Well-doing in youth
and wisdom in old age," said Bias,* who, when asked what in
this life is free from fear, answered : "'OpOii (ruvuBritrn, a good
conscience ; " which Periander says is f\tv6tpia, ' freedom,''
from " conscientiae grave pondus,"' the heavy weight of 'con-
science' which attests its own divine origin ; the " abhimanta-
ram Ishwaram," the ' inward sovereign mentor' given to man
by Brahma, according to Manu ;* the echo of God's voice in
Eden to the sinner : What is this that thou hast done? "the
law written in every heart ;"' a handsel of judgment to come.
" Men desire long life ; but when old age is come, they are
afraid to look at it Yet to wish for a long life and to be
afraid of old age is a wrong idea (or opinion)."'* " For we
are but like spring leaves that wither in the summer sun, and
— dXiyox/ioviov yiyvcroi, lainrtp ovap
rjfirf T»/i^«r<ro,
the bloom of prized youth, like a dream, lasts but a moment.""
"All men [the whole world]," says Loqman," "love the life
of this world, and do not feel disgusted with it even in weak-
ness and misery."" To which the Turkish adds : " There
is an old saying that ' it is better to endure misery than to
die ;' for one day above ground is better than a thousand
years below it." " Man's life," says the Mandchu adage, does
not reach a hundred years ; yet man hides in his bosom the
trouble of a thousand years. The life of a man is hardly
seventy years ; and the time of that life is not all alike.""
" The teaching of the old man [ancient], then," says Ptah-
• Pap. Pr. xvi. I. 6. ' Thar gyan, fol 9. ' Ratnamalika, 24.
« Cicero, Cato Maj. ad in. * Bias Taut. sept. sap. ed. Ant.
• Id. ibid. ' Cicero, de Nat. Deor. iii 85. ' Manu S. i.
• Rom. ii. 14. " Legs par b. p. 265. " Mimnerm. ii. v. ed. Bek.
>» Fab. xiv. ; Esop. 50. " Fab. xx. " Ming hien dsi. 90, 149.
i
"'• 3]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
IDS
hotep, " is a blessing to him who receives it, and makes him
welcome (or acceptable) to others. If thou wilt take it for
thyself, it will be for the life of thy house ; and the departed
spirits of thy ancestors will yet live."' "For finding a wise
man is like finding yellow gold."' " When Bias's son set off
for Egypt, he asked his father what he could do that would
please him most Bias then answered : i<f>6Siov, vphi y^jpat
KTijo-o/iei'os, T^v oper^v SijXoS^ tJ e<^o8iov Xiyiav : that he should
take with him provision for the way to old age ; meaning the
provision of virtue."' All of which is summed up in these
words of the Psalmist : " Keep innocency, and take heed unto
the thing that is right ; for that shall bring a man peace at
the last"*
3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee : bind them
about thy neck ; write them upon the table of thine
heart :
"Let not mercy" &c. "Virtue," said the Bodhisatwa, "pro-
tects him who guards himself. Virtue, indeed, protects him
who walks accordingly [who practises it] ; virtue [religion,
dhamma] well wrought out [practised] brings happiness with
it. Such is the advantage of precepts well performed. The
religious man goes not to perdition [the evil way].'" " Follow
after truth, if thy mind is set on virtue," said Kaikeya to Dasa-
ratha."' "For when one follows truth (or uprightness) in
everything, accumulated happiness will fasten itself on him."^
"Let the Brahman," says Manu, "always take pleasure in
truth, in justice, in wealth lawfully gotten, and in purity."'
" For that is not religious duty where there is no truth," said
the Brahman Vidura to Dhritarashtra.'
"If thou askest," says Tiruvalluvar, "what is truth, I would
answer, To speak that which is free from every fault" " Out-
• Pap. Pr. xii. I. 10. » Rishtah i juw. p. 160. ' Bias Taut ed. Ant.
♦ Ps. xxxvii. 38. » Mangalo, Jatak. p. 31. ' Ramayana, ii. 14, 8.
' Ming hien dsi. 19. • Manu S. iv. i75- * Maha Bh. Udyog. P. 1239,
io6
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
['"• 3
ward cleanliness is wrought with water ; inward purity is
shown in the truth [spoken]." "All kind of light is not the
same to all ; but the light of truth is light"* But like light
to sore eyes, " Truth is bitter," say the Arabs ;* and " Odium
parit."' But also, as light bears witness of itself, so is the
force of truth such that, in spite of all efforts to hide or stifle
it, " facile se per se ipsam defendat"* " The Acharya teaches
his pupil thus : Speak the truth and do thy duty. Truth is
not to be neglected ; neither is duty."* " O Sumedha," said
Dipankara, "the morning star, after appearing in season in
God's heaven, does not swerve from its course ; so swerve thou
not from the path of truth ; but fulfil the 'parami' of Truth."'
[' Paramita,' ' paramit,' lit. ' crossing over to the other side,'
is the name given by Buddhists to every one of the ten virtues
which enable a man to pass safely through transmigrations,
to final extinction in Nirvana. So far, the ancient Druidic or
Bardic doctrine of transmigration is preferable to this. It
teaches that man's existence begins in Annwn [abyss, hell],
and continues through Cylch Abred [sansara] — so called in
reference to the migration of the soul from one animal to
another, until it reaches the state of humanity — to Cylch
Gwynfyd, or circle of [happiness] white purity.' These cycles
correspond partly to the 'sansara and sansarasagara' of Brah-
mans and Buddhists. Thus Cylch Gwynfyd might perhaps
answer to the 'swarga' of Brahmanism ; and Cylch Ceugant,
the ' circle of infinity,' or ' of emptiness,' that surrounds and
encloses the whole realm of existence, might perhaps bear
some resemblance to the Nirvana of Buddhism.]
" Let truth and righteousness, therefore, though they may
give trouble, be preferable to you, rather than lying and fro-
wardness that may bid profit or comfort."' " O my heart, if
> Cural, XXX. 291, 298, 299. • Select Arabic prov. 19.
» Cicero, in Lselio. * Id. ibid, pro M. Coelio. ' Taittireya
Upan. anuv. xi. • Durenidh. Jatak. p. 23. ' Barddas, vol. i.
p. 1 70 200, &c. • Rabbi M. Maimonides, in his last will.
'"■• 3]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
107
thou makest choice of truth, people of this world will be thy
friends."' [Not always.] "The wise man does not turn his
head aside from the truth ; for thereby he raises his name on
high." " Verily, truth is worthy of being followed, and [right-
eousness, ' sidq'] truthfulness is the best thing to obey."* "And
a godly man knows what is truth.'" " If his [decision] state-
ment is true [just, accurate], he will make but few mistakes."*
"For truth is brighter than the sun, and more certain than
yesterday [that is past]."* "And error continues only one
hour ; but truth continues unto ' the hour' [of the resurrec-
tion]."" " By practising [good] virtue one day, though happi-
ness do not come, misery will be kept at a distance ; but by
doing evil one day, though misery do not come at once, yet
happiness will be prevented."'
''mercy and truth" TOD implies the feeling of genuine
charity towards others that flows from the love of God, and
thus it means piety, kindness, pity, mercy, almsgiving, grace,
&c. It is often coupled with truth, as here, TO*?') TOO ' mercy
and truth,' ' kind and true dealing,' said of God (Ex. xxxiv. 6f
2 Sam. ii. 6, &c.) and of man (Gen. xxiv. 49, xlvii. 29 ; Josh,
ii. 14, &c.) — a kindly feeling expressed not in words only, but
also in look.
"Of what use is the sound of the instrument," says Tiruval-
luvar, " if it is not in tune [harmony] with the song ? Like-
wise, of what use is the eye if there is no kindliness in it?"*
" For," said Damanaka, " a man's innermost mind is seen in
his eye, and in the various expressions of his countenance."'
" What, then, is the use of the eyes, though in the forehead,
without kindliness in them? Kindliness is the ornament of
the eyes; without it, they are wounds [not eyes]." "The
world rests on kindness ; men without it are but a weight on
• Pend-nameh, p. 26. ' Hariri, ii. p. 84.
* El Nawabig, 44. ' Select Arabic pr. 21.
' Hien wen shoo, 196. • Cural, Iviii. 573.
fab. iii.
' Rumi Diw.
• Nuthar ellal. 47.
• Hitopad. iL
io3
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[Hi. 3 "'• 3]
the earth." » "But a kindly [genial] countenanfe is a two-
fold gift."' "Speak the truth, and speak agreeably; do not
tell an unpleasant truth. Even to one ill-disposed towards
you and disagreeable, speak suitably, with kindness."'
Bearing on this, Sadi tells the story of a man, about being
put to death, who abused the king in his own language, which
the king did not understand. " What does he say ?" asked
the king. A vizeer, who stood by, answered : " He says, God
loves generous men." " He does not say that," said another
vizeer ; "he abuses the king." Whereat the king said he pre-
ferred the other vizeer's falsehood, told out of kindness, to this
one's truthfulness told out of spite. For the wise have said "that
falsehood mixed with good advice is better than truth mingled
with strife."* [The laws of Manu allow one to tell a lie under
certain circumstances ; but God's law allows of no deliberate
falsehood ; for " He is the God of truth." Elsewhere, however,
Sadi seems to qualify this sentiment, when he says that : " If
by telling the truth thou continuest in bondage, better it is so
than to be set free by telling a lie.'"].
" O brother, never tell a lie as long as thou Hvest, for a lie
is contemptible and disgraceful ; it dishonours a man, and
brings shame upon him."* But "generosity is the produce
[harvest, advantage] of life ; it gives true greatness." " There-
fore be steadfast at all times in generosity [kindness, doing
good to others] ; for the Creator of the soul (or of life) is Him-
self generous (or beneficent)."' Yea, " let thy calling (or pro-
fession) in life be greatness [magnanimity], forgiveness and
generosity," said the wise man to Hajja ben Yussuf, the tyrant
of Irak Arabi, under Abd-ul-Malek.'
[As to IXtTjfuxrvvrj, almsgiving, charity, often called 'right-
eousness' [Matt vi., and frequently in Rabbinical writings].
• Curat, Iviii. 574, 5, 572. • Nuthar ellal. 22.
in Kobitaratnak. 97. * Gulistan, Bk. i. st. i.
Ixxxiii. • Pend-nameh, p. 28, ed. Calc.
• Bostan, c. i. p. 15, ed. Calc.
' Maha Bh., quoted
» Id. ibid. Bk. iv.
' Ibid. p. 3.
\
<•
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
109
the term by which Tpn is rendered in the LXX., it will be so
often treated in the following chapters, that we need not dwell
on it here.]
" let them not depart" " O my son," said Khosru to Shiroyah,
" do not turn away thy back from wisdom [prudence, under-
standing] and counsel."' "But gird about thy loins with
sincerity [sidq] and faith," said the wise man to Tikla the
Atabeg.' "As did those men, Senshi Kiyo, Hoku, &c, they
bound letters in their girdles around their loins, and did not
lose them."'
" bind them about thy neck!' Like amulets or charms, as is
generally the case in the East ; or as ornaments of gold or
silver, and precious stones. "Thy letter," says the Mohar's
secretary to his master, " is placed on my fingers as a writing
hung on the neck of a sick man ;"* or also of the dead." " Is
not this perfect collar of jewels [allusion to the book] an orna-
ment, when hung around my neck, to give insight into both
that which is visible and that which is invisible?"' Feridun
said : " Days are pages of the writings of the years of life.
Then write on them only that which is best — good words and
good impressions."' "These my words," said Kakimna, "have
been placed by some within them [in their bosom] — for the
good of their hearts."' Of such respect for a father's admoni-
tion, the Li Ki says : " The son who has filial piety and deep
love for his parents, must also have an easy disposition, and
with it, have a pleasing expression (or countenance) ; and
withal a complying manner. He acts towards his father and
mother like one who holds a precious gem ; or like one who
carries a vessel of water, full to the brim, quietly and gently,
lest he spill the water or lose the gem."' " Yea, duty to parents,"
says the Japanese commentary on the Siao-hio," "is above
> Bostan, i. St. 3. * Ibid. id. st. 5. ' Go ji kiyo. ♦ Chabas,
Voy. en Palest, p. 39; Anastasi, I. 20, 1. 6. ' Todtenbuch, 155, 156 sq.
• Phreng wa, Introd. ' Beharist. R. 2. • Pap. Pr. ii. 1. 6.
• Siao-hio, c. ii. " Ibid.
no
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iii. 4
iii. 4]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
Ill
dignity and majesty [there is nothing so dignified and majestic
or respectable as duty to parents]."
" on the table of thine heart!' Engraved on it, like the treaty
between Ramses the Great and Kheta Sar, prince of the
Khetas [Hittites], "engraved on a silver tablefi "Paint
[virtue] after having prepared the ground of the heart ; pro-
priety will follow."* " A man," say the Chinese, " should esta-
blish his character. What we keep within our breast consti-
tutes the thoughts of the heart ; but when brought outside, it
makes up our character and conduct. Wise and good men
have every one his characteristic difference of moral goodness ;
in like manner as among mechanics and artificers, every one
severally differs in his work. Human actions include the
carrying out of every man's line of calling or duty. But to
establish one's character is the business of a whole life. It is
difficult to speak of it fully."*
4 So shalt thou find favour and good understanding
in the sight of God and man.
M^\ 'and find;' imperative m.
" So shalt thou," &c. " He that is loved here below, is loved
above,"* say the Rabbis. "Good manners [morals]," wrote
Theano to Nicostrate,* "are acceptable even to enemies ; but
honour is the result only of nobleness and goodness." " I
fear," said Ibycus of Rhegium," " lest having failed in my duty
to the gods, I may lose the respect of my fellow-men." "If
thou art good," said Ani, " people will look up to thee, whether
in company or alone ; thou wilt find friends (or connections),
and thy word will be attended to (or obeyed)."' " The son,"
said Ptah-hotep, " who hearkens to his father shall receive his
blessing ; and his memory [writing or impression] shall be in
the mouth of those who are living on the face of the earth."*
• Brugsch, Insc. Monum. Egypt, vol. i. pi. 28, 1. 4. • Shang-L. iii. 8.
» Dr. Medhurst's dial. p. 160. * Urus. Adag. B. Flor. ' Ed. G.
• Ibid. ' Chabas, Scribe Ani, xxxl. ' Pap. Pr. xvi. 12, 13.
"Who is worthy of honour? He who conducts himself
properly."* " Desire freedom from sickness and a good portion,;
good morals, and a fair reputation among the good and the
wise ; then conformity to the law, and contentment of mind ;
these are four doors of prosperity open to thee [go in and
prosper].'" "How can a man," says Confucius, "have real
urbanity of manner if he has not charity [iyiirq, jin] ? How
can a man without charity possibly be happy?"' According
to the goodness and sweetness of a man's tongue, is the num-
ber of his [brethren] friends," says Ali, which the Persian thus
renders : " If thy tongue is sweet, the whole of mankind will
be to thee by way of brothers ; but if thy tongue is evil, the
servants of thy house will be enemies of thy life."* "Keep,"
says Moawiyeh, "to the two high qualities, trustworthiness
and righteousness."' And Tsheng-tsze quotes a passage from
the She King, where it is said of a good king "that the world
would never forget such a one."'
The wise Yu, who was to the emperor Shun what Vidura
was to Dhritarashtra, said to him: "Do not violate right
principles in order to seek the applause of the multitude ; but
do not oppose the people in order to gratify your own inclina-
tion. Consider well that the virtue of a prince consists chiefly
in good government; and good government in nourishing
[protecting, caring for] the people. In cautioning, use good
[excellent] words, but rebuke sternly. Who is to be loved, if
not the prince ? or feared, if not the people ? Only, from the
mouth proceeds good [feeling] ; but it also makes men take
up arms."' "There is a connection between the upper world
[heaven] and the lower [the earth]. Oh, how careful should
be those who have [the charge or government of] countries 1"
said Kaou-yaou.« "Then both gods and men will approve,"
said the emperor Shun" (b.c 2001). " Choose good obstinately,"
• Ratnamal. 52. • Kalakinna jat. (84), p. 367. ' Shang-L. iii 3.
« Ali b. a. T. 8th max. ' Eth-Thealebi, 283. ' Ta-h.o, c. lu. com.
' She-king, c. iii. • Id. ibid. c. iv. ' Id. ibid. c. ...
112
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iii. 4
said Si-chan [disciple of Choo-hi]; "only speak affectionately
and deliberately ; listen only to good words, and do not fall
into evil."*
" For when Heaven is favourable to a man," says the Mand-
chu moral maxim, " and his heart is at the same time good,
he continues unto his old age in prosperity and esteem."*
" The wise man is honoured, even though his family be de-
spised ; and when in a foreign land he finds many friends."*
" Excellent (or respectable) people, whether sitting, standing
or walking, or even uncovered, are fair to behold, and still
beautiful. A gem set on the top of a standard shines all the
more. The excellent, whether they speak or hold their peace,
are still beautiful and fair to behold."* " They are like the bird
Kalavinka, which is always agreeable, whether heard or seen.
For he who is endued with qualities, is adorned by them."*
[This was said by the young woman of the Shakya race whom
Champ-pa had chosen for his bride, when blamed for appear-
ing before her relations with her face uncovered.]
" For the qualities of a good man," says Tsheng-tsze, " are
his ornament, since ' riches adorn the house, but virtue adorns
the person.'"" " Wealth, kindred, age," says Manu, " and fifthly,
divine knowledge (or wisdom, virtue), all entitle a man to
respect. But the worthiest of them all is the last mentioned."^
" Wise men of old said " that the gods hold him to be venerable
who is well read in divine lore."* And "learned men may
prate, all of them, but virtue is the stronghold of the virtuous."*
"Talk of laws," says Confucius, "yet they may be disobeyed.
A change of conduct is the thing ;"'" and a modest demeanour.
" For trees laden with fruit bend towards the earth ; and so
do men endued with real qualities humble themselves. But a
dry stick and an empty man break ; they do not bend."" " For
' Ming Sin P. K. c I. * Ming hien dsi. 104. » Tahak. R. Bl. 108.
« Rgya-tcher r. p. c. xii. • Id. ibid. « Ta-hio, c. i. p. 7.
r Manu S. Bk. ii. 136, 137- ' 'bid. 156. • Kobitaratnak. 6.
w Shang-L. c ix. 74- " Kobitaratnak. 153.
iii. 4]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
"3
the merit or beauty of the Kokilas [the Indian cuckoo (cuculus),
a dingy-looking bird, like the nightingale, and as much prized
for its song as the bulbul is in Persia] is in their song, as
the beauty of plain people is in their wisdom."' " Persons
gifted with beauty, youth and noble descent, do not shine if
they are without wisdom. They are like the flower of the
Kinshuka, showy, but with no fragrance at all. And as regards
a foolish man, you may dress him as you like and put him
in what company you please, he shines only in his dress, and
as long as he holds his tongue."'
"Wherever the disciple of Confucius resides or dwells only
for a time, his demeanour is reserved and dignified. Whether
sitting or standing, he looks most respectable ; his words
always proceed from truth, and his actions always are equally
upright, &c."' " For, indeed, a man is not thought wise for
his much talking ; but he who is meek, free from anger and
fear, is verily called wise."* "They alone are wise who rule
and overcome themselves."' "The wise and good man keep-
ing his heart under control, thinks of nine things : (l) to look
bright ; (2) to hear with intelligence ; (3) to look genial ; (4)
to demean himself reverently ; (5) to speak sincerely ; (6) to
be respectful towards others ; (7) to inquire when in doubt ;
(8) when in diflRculties, to reflect ; (9) and to show [look as]
that it is profitable to think of what is good."*
" If thou wilt be respected by others, study with diligence."^
"And seek after knowledge, as for wealth that wastes (or
perishes) not."' " For the course of the wise and good man
rises from the level of ordinary men and women, whence it
reaches its eminence, and is then open to heaven and earth."
" He is then said to unite heaven and earth [to partake of
both]."* " Wherever he is seen, the people cannot but rever-
' Hitop. i. 210. ' Ibid. pref. 39, 40.
' Dhammapad. Panditavag. 80, 258.
• Siao-hio, c. iii. ' Ming hien dsi. 121.
' Chung y. c. xii. and xxiii.
I
' Li-ki, c. xxix. p. 86.
' Id. Dandav. 145.
' Telugu Nitimala, iii. 57.
114
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iii. S
ence him ; when he speaks, they cannot but believe him ; and
they cannot but approve whatever he does,"' and that too,
whatever be his appearance."* "And he is respected every-
where. For whether in the village or in the wood, by land or
sea, wherever the best (or honourable) men dwell, there it is
best to remain."' " For although the smell of a flower is not
carried against the wind, yet the fragrance of good men travels
against it, since the name of a good man pervades all countries;
it is best even among the gods."*
5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart ; and lean
not unto thine own understanding.
" Trust in the Lord" &c. Whom else shall we trust, if we
do not trust Him who sees at a glance the beginning and the
end of our life, and who makes " all things work together for
good to them that love Him"?
" A good man must needs accomplish what he undertakes.
Yet the finishing (or completing) of a man's work rests with
the will [lit. heart] of Heaven. How, then, could man wish
to oppose the will of Heaven ? The good man, therefore,
accomplishes everything he undertakes : there is nothing in
which he does not succeed ; for Heaven is with him."' "Trust
in God will suffice thee ; for it is enough for a man to trust
Him."' "A chi crede, Dio provede."^ " He who, having for-
saken (or subdued) all things, desires happiness, stays [lit. pours]
his faith (or trust) on thee in full reliance, that trust in thee is
full happiness," says Vemana to his god Shiva."*
T'shung-ni [Confucius] said : " Know ye not that a man
of consummate faith [shin] can move things, influence Heaven
and earth, move spirits, and traverse the six continents with-
out opposition ? Remember this, my little ones [disciples]."'
• Chung y. c. xxxi. ' She King, Blc Ta ya, in Chung y. c. xxxiii.
» Dhammap. PandiUv. 98. * Ibid. Puppav. 58, 59. « Shin Sin
luh. i. p. 98. • Rishtah I j. p. 69. ' Ital. prov. • Veniana, ii. 130.
• Lee-tsie, bk. ii. p. 8.
i
\
iii. 5]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
ns
" The superior man [kyiin-tsze]," says Confucius, " stays himself
on the Spirits, and doubts not. He waits a hundred ages for
the saint, and is not perplexed ; he stays himself on the Spirits
[kwey shin], and doubts not He knows Heaven."* [See
above, p. 23.] Yet in the She King we are told that "his
[Shang-Te's] decree is not sincere ;"' meaning, no doubt, that
it is not to be relied upon, so as to presume upon it. As
explained by Theognis :' "A man, when in difliculties, should
make every eff"ort to free himself, but at the same time —
vpoi T< OiSiv oiTcii/ iKKwriv aOavaTutv —
pray for deliverance sent from the immortal gods."
" Trust in God, that the good thou foreseest not may happen
to thee."* " Bind thy heart to the Creator of the world, and
that is enough."' It is " religion." " Hoc vinculo [sc. religione]
pietatis obstricti Deo et religati sumus," says Lactantius,' "unde
ipsa religio nomen accepit ; non ut Cicero interpretatus est a
' relegendo,'' &c. Haec interpretatio quam inepta sit, ex re
ipsa licet noscere. Quid ergo est ? Nimirum religio veri cultus
est, superstitio falsi. Melius ergo id nomen Lucretius inter-
pretatus est, qui ait :'
Primum quod magnis doceo At rebus, et arctis
Relligionum animos nodis exsolvere pergo."
" For he who submits to Heaven is preserved ; but he who
opposes Heaven perishes :"• inasmuch as, " If a man has good
wishes. Heaven must [follow] promote them."'" " He by whom
all these movable [mean regions] were made — he, the awful
One, about whom men ask, Where is he ? He is not [seen].
Have faith in him, O men; he is Indra."" "Trust in God,
and He will instruct you."" " He who is strong in faith but
weak in wisdom, becomes clear-headed and prospers in the
' Chung y. c. xxix. ' Vol. iii. bk. iii. ode i. ' irnfaw. 566.
♦ Adag. Sahid. Rosell. p. 129. » Sadi, Gulist. st. i. • Lib. iv. 28.
' De Nat. D. ii. 28. • Lib. i. 931, and iv. 7. • Ming hien dsi. 29.
'» Hien w. shoo, 67. " Rig V. Mand. ii. skt. xl. 4, 5- " Qoran,
sur. ii. 282.
I 2
Ii6
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iii. s
5]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
117
midst of this unclean world."' " Fear thou the Lord, and
learn prudence in thy confidence in Him : then shalt thou be
exalted."'
" In olden time," says the author of " Waga-tsuye,"» " there
were great and rich men. They prayed to real gods, and,
while working with all their might, said, looking up to Heaven :
Grant all desirable things to the whole kingdom of Japan, and
to me likewise. And if ever ruin should approach my business
and my shop, ward it off, and let my business go on prosper-
ously. And having thus well prayed, the gods of course granted
them their desire." "Dwelling with a sincere faith on the
[country] abode of the triune god ; and the god shows the
way."* "Friends," said the Bhodhisatwa, "faith is indeed a
door of entrance to the doctrine of morals ; it renders the
mind undivided. The power of it is a door to religion ; it
enables us to escape from the power of the devil."* We always
read of 'faith* being strengthened by Buddha in his disciples
before they undertake a religious work. Thus in the Dsang-lun*
we find that when he granted life to the three sons of a widow,
" he first of all confirmed their sense of faith ere he admitted
them to the priesthood." " Faith [or trust in Buddha, piety,
■siisok'] is three-fold: (i) pious trust (or faith) consists in
taking pleasure in doing good works, and feeling sorry for sin ;
(2) longing faith is from an earnest desire of the perfect intel-
ligence of Buddha [bodhi khutuk] to walk in the path marked
out by it ; and (3) to submit oneself entirely with devotion to
the teaching of one's priestly adviser."' "But in all that,"
says another Tibetan Buddhist, " faith is necessary ; for with-
out faith, say not that the rules of religion can be kept And
faith is three-fold (or consists of three parts), thus : (i) belief,
(2) love, (3) and sincerity ; such is faith. And as to sincere
' Sudhammapalam. p. 121. • Mishle Asaph, i. 2, 32. ' Lit.
"My Staff," the title of a Japanese work on morals, vol. ii. p. 10, 11.
• Dam chhos yit bj. fol. 12. ' Rgya-tcher r. p. c. iv. ' c. ii. fol. 7.
' Tonilkhu yin chiin. iv.
I
faith, it consists in devotion to the three deities of the land ;-
in teaching the way of the most perfect holy God ; and in
keeping company with good men who, worshipping God, are
humble in their own thoughts [think little of themselves].
Thus religion becomes evident ; and faith results in works,
like fruit ; in truth, belief in God, love, good thoughts, &c."*
" Remember thy father. Alp Arslan," said the wise man to
Kazl Arslan. " When he was hopeless and reft of everything,
he put his trust in God's mercy, and that was enough."*
" Nay, brother, break not thy heart when thou art in misfor-
tune, for the Merciful One has hidden mercies (or gracious
dealings)."' " For if God in wisdom shut one door, in mercy
He opens another."* Here, however, the Buddhist gives ano-
ther very different advice : " O Ananda, be a lamp to your-
selves, refuges to yourselves, and take refuge in no one else.
Lamps of virtue ! take refuge in yourselves, and in no one but
your own selves. And such of my disciples, O Ananda, who
have made themselves their own refuge shall be foremost
among the rest. I go, I leave you, said the Tathagata, after
having made myself my own refuge."'
"King Milinda asked Nagasena, 'What is the distinctive
attribute of faith [saddha] ?' ' The attribute of faith, O King,
is to be both serene [quieting, tranquil] and springing (or
leaping) forward.' 'How serene?' 'When faith ['saddha' is
faith in the true sense of it, not mere belief, but with it ' trust
and love'] arises in the heart, O King, it obstructs [overcomes]
obstacles — lust, malice, sloth, pride and doubt : then the mind,
being free from these obstacles, becomes clear, serene and
calm.' 'And how is faith 'leaping forward'?' 'When a man,
King, who is intent on his own salvation, sees with his mind
set free, he springs forward to the fruits of devotion, Arahat-
ship, &c. ; and he becomes united to that which he does not
yet actually possess, to that which he has not yet reached, by
• Thargyan, fol. 12, 15, 16. ' Bostan, p. 18, ed. Calc. ' Gulist.
i. xvi. St. * Bostan, p. 31. ' Mahaparanibbh. fol. nyu, nyam.
ii8
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[Hi. 6
iii. 6]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
119
reaching to it ; and to that which is not yet evident, by making
it present to his eyes. Thus, O King, is faith said to be
springing forward.'" "Yea, O King, faith crosses the flood on
which the careless cannot sail ; energy overcomes misfortunes,
and wisdom purifies the whole." > [Wonderful words, consi-
dering who spoke them. Nagasena, like S. Paul, told the truth
that " Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence
of things not seen," Heb. xi. i.]
'^lean not on thine own understanding!' [How can we Mean'
on it? Do we know what is 'to be'— to-day or to-morrow?
But God does.]
"For in most cases man's understanding is wont to be
troubled when difficulty or adversities arise."* "As to men,
let neither merchandize, nor buying, nor selling, beguile them
away from the remembrance of God and from almsgiving ;
and let them fear the day when the hearts will be turned
inside out, like the things that are seen."' " Intellect [or un-
derstanding, nya, that corresponds only partly to 'buddhi'],
in that it is ' ascertainment,' or ' resolute' in its action, is said
to be eight-fold : virtue, knowledge, absence of passion, and
superhuman power ; with their four opposites — vice, ignorance,
&c."* "The following are synonyms (?), "paryayashabda :'
alternate terms : mind, understanding, great principle, creator,
wisdom, memory, &c."*
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall
direct thy paths.
" In all thy ways acknowledge Him" who sees the end from
the beginning, and who orders all things for the best.
" The wise man," says Archytas, " is he who looks at the
order of all things as coming from God. Keeping this in view,
he will attain his object ; ras apya.% rots iripao-i <rvvd\f'ai, connect-
ing the result with the principle [the ends with the beginnings],
' Milinda pauo, p. 35, 36. • Hitop. i. sL ii. 27. ' Qoran,
snr. xxiv. 27. • Kapila, Tatwasam. 9. » Id. 16.
i
he settles in his mind and experiences that God is the begin-
ning and the end, and the middle of all things done according
to justice and sound reason."' Pindar also teaches us in his
own way —
" n-oi^i fiiv Otov alnov inrcpTiOiiiiv^ —
to ascribe the cause of all to God —
iv 0t<f y€ ftav TcXos' —
since the issue of all things rests with Him ; and all success
and prosperity which He gives lasts longest of all."* " There-
fore," says Rabbi M. Maimonides, " whatever a man does, let
him settle in his heart to do it to the glory of the Blessed
Name"' — "and always prevent trouble by prayer."'
"And let thy prayers be 'llyfn,' polished [by use]," says
the Welsh proverb, " and thy weapons rusty."' "For in like
manner as the excellence of riches lies in almsgiving, so also
does the greatest happiness lie in a mind at peace [by being
stayed on Buddha]," says the Buddhist.' "What is thy
name, O Ahura-Mazdao," asked Zarathustra. " My name, O
pure Zarathustra, is first, ' He to whom prayer is to be made ;'
and my other name [i6th] is, ' He who remembers actions in
order to reward them."" " For whatever man prays ardently,
to such is Buddha's footprint visible ; but to no other.""
And the Brahman : "At the beginning, in the middle, and
at the end, Hari is always to be sung."" Begin and end with
God. And Rabbi Hillel said : " Separate not thyself from the
congregation, and trust not to thyself until the day of thy
death."'* And R Jose : " Dispose thyself to learn the law,
for it does not come to thee by inheritance ; and let all thy
works be done unto the God of heaven."" "Happiness is
secured by obedience to God ; the heart is enlightened by it.
If thou girdest thyself with obedience to Him, it will open to
■ Archytas, in Jamblich. Protrept. c. iii. ed. G. ' Pyth. v. 33.
' 01. xiii. 147. * Nem. viii. 28. ' Halkut de'ot. iii. 2.
• Ep. Lod. 1379. ' Welsh prov. ' Legs par b. p. 248.
• Hormuzd Yasht. 7. '" Dhammap. story of Q. Satavatti, p. 72, ed.
Rangoon. " Bahudorsh. p. 3. " Pirke Av. ii. " Id. ibid.
I20
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iii. 7
thee the door of eternal [wealth] happiness ; for there is no
business higher than that. Worship the Creator, and settle in
the palace of obedience to Him."' "For happiness comes
of His mercy (or forgiveness), and does not depend on the
strong arm of the warrior."' "Nothing can shield us from
His decree ;"» " for if He shut the door, no one can open it."*
" Seek God's face in whatever thou undertakest ; if not, thy
labour will be in vain," says El Nawabig." By ' God's face,'
understand ' His consent,' says Zamakhshari in his Commen-
tary.* " Yet," says the Pythagorean, " ask not of God that
which thou couldst not keep if it were granted. No gift of
God can be taken away ; so that He will not give what one
cannot hold [or keep, turn to good account]."' " Touching the
religious worship of the gods," says the Stoic, " know thou
that the principal thing is to have correct ideas concerning
them, as existing [being] and ordering everything well and
according to justice."* "O God,",says Pindar, "virtue, valour
and good gifts come from thee to men —
oX)8os 6iri(ofi.ivu)v —
and the bliss of those who fear thee increases evermore."'
7 Be not wise in thine own eyes : fear the Lord,
and depart from evil.
" Be not wise," &c. " Every man," says Confucius, " who
says, ' I know,' is led astray into many toils [nets, traps], and
fails into pits, whence he knows not how to extricate himself."*"
Thus explained by the Japanese commentator : " Every man
who says, ' I am a knowing one,' is foolish (or ignorant)."*'
" Every one says, ' I am wise,' ' I know ;' but who knows the
hen from the cock of crows?"" "When I knew only a little,"
' Sadi, Pend-nam. p. 20. ' Bostan, v. st. 2. ' Ibid. st. 3.
* Ibid. St. IJ. * El Nawab. 184. • Ibid. ' Demophili sent. ed. G.
' Epictet. Ench. c. xxxviii. • Isthm. iii. 7. "> Chung y. c. vii.
" Ibid. Com. p. 5. " She King, pt. ii. bk. iv. ode 8.
iii. 7]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
121
'i
says Bhartrihari,' " I was like an elephant, blind with my own
importance. ' I know everything,' whispered my mind plastered
with conceit. When, however, I began to improve a very little,
in company with the wise, then I said of myself: ' I am but a
fool after all,' and my pride [self-conceit] left me, like a fever."
" Evil be to him," says Abu Zeid of Serug, "who seeks the world
and bends his affections towards it. He can no longer come to
himself when once [entangled] overwhelmed by it. Yet if he
knew it, a very little of what be longs for would suffice him."*
Confucius, who was of a meek disposition, "was free from
four things: he had no ' will,' no ' must,' no ' shall,' and no ' I.'"*
" Self-sufficient, self-mistaken," says the Chinese proverb. On
the other hand, Meng-tsze says truly : " If a respectable man
despises himself [loses self-respect], men will, as a matter of
course, despise him also."* [For self-sufficiency implies deaf-
ness to argument and obstinacy against proof to the contrary.]
"As the wind swells empty skins [oo-kow] so does also — tow 8*
avoijTovs dvOpunrovi to otrjjiio — self-conceit swell foolish men,"*
" who in their arrogance will insist on saying what they like,
yet will listen to nothing."* " The kokila, when it has got a
mango, fruit of the gods, is not proud of it ; but a frog, full of
muddy water,, is proud to croak unceasingly."' "The fool,"
says the Buddhist, "who acknowledges his folly, is thereby
reputed wise ; but the fool who thinks himself wise, is a fool
indeed."' "And," say the Arabs, " he who [in his own opi-
nion] places himself in the dwelling of [on a rank with] the
wise, both God and men put him at once among fools."' " For
to boast out of season," says Pindar, " iMvlauriv vnoKptKu, ac-
cords with folly."'* " For the mind of men is beset with num-
berless mistakes ;"" "and the wise man himself often has his
own misgivings.'"*
' Nitishat. 8. ' Hariri consess. i. ' Shang-Lun, ix. 3. * Hea
Meng, vii. 8. ' Demophili similitud. p. 619, ed. G. * Democrat,
sent. aur. id. p. 631. ' Kobitaratn. 31. ' Dhammap. Balav. 63.
» Erpen. sent. 3. '• 01. ix. 58. " Ibid, vii, 43- " 'bid. vii. 55.
122
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iii. 8 — ID
iii. lo]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
123
" But first of all," says Pythagoras of Samos, " honour the
immortal gods as ordered by law ; and do evil neither in
company nor alone. Respect thyself most.'"
8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy
bones.
^IpnJ, lit. ' moisture,' ' watering.' Chald. ' fat,' ' fattening.'
" Health" " There is no finer garment for a man," says AH,
"than good health,'" which the Persian Commentary renders
thus : " If a man makes use of his common sense ['aql], he
finds that his best covering is ' health ;' if he does not think
so, there is nothing left for him but [contrition] regret, or
repentance [for his folly]."' [The expression, "health to thy
navel," occurs nowhere else in Scripture. 'Navel' here, like
'heart' frequently, as centre, is meant for the 'whole body;'
and is so rendered, o-u/ta, by the LXX., " health to their flesh,"
ch. iv. 22 ; " to the bones," ch. xvi. 24. " lechid i galon,"
" health to the heart," is a familiar expression in Welsh ; as in
Arabic, "the Word of God is medicine [health] to the heart;"*
vyiiirfpov KoX.oKvvTai — "more wholesome than colocynth."*
" Goreu meddyg, the best physician," says the Welsh proverb,
" is he of the soul." [Like ")»', d/i<^oXo's and umbilicus, are used
in the same sense for 'centre.' Dodona, Delphi, the land of
Israel, Jerusalem, &c, are frequently so mentioned]. " The
words of men of old," says Ptah-hotep, " and their obedience
to the gods, make them a pattern for thee to follow, to drive
away infirmities from intelligent men (or spirits)."'
9 Honour the Lord w^ith thy substance, and with
the firstfruits of all thine increase :
10 So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy
presses shall burst out with new wine.
■ linj XP"»5- ', • «• «2- * All b. a. T. 30. ' Pers. Com. ad. loc.
« All b. a. T. 208. » Sophron. Syrac. 37, ed. G. • Pap. Pr. v. 4.
\
" Hoiiour the Lord," &c.
" Zev irdvSiopt — Bhi Si Kvp^o-at yvu/ii;;,
o<l>p' Av rifirjOivrti d/ictj3(u^«rda (r< T«fij :'
" Bountiful Heaven, vouchsafe unto us such a mind as, being
honoured of Thee, we also may honour Thee in return." [The
best of our income belongs of right to Him from whom we freely
receive all things ; and it is an honour to be allowed to offer
it to Him. Alms sanctify our increase, and He blesses it.]
On this subject, see ' Masseketh Terumoth,' in Mishna, vol. i.,
and the Didascalia Apost.' (Eth.), where this passage is thus
quoted : " Solomon says to the people : Give to the Lord of
thy labour in alms, in order that wheat may be heaped up in
thy granaries, and that thy wine-press may gurgle up like a
spring." " Blessing on our substance," say the Arabs, " comes
from the payment of our alms."'
" The salt of Mammon [riches] is the alms given out of it."*
" He who wishes that his riches may last, must plant Adra in
them.' [HmM, Adra, is the name of a cedar or of some other
choice tree. Here is an allusion to Ps. xciii. 4, and means
that the excellency of our goods is to be offered to Him who
gives them.] Yet,
"Puras Deus, non plenas adspicit manus:'"
For " God gives indeed what He gives, but does not receive
when receiving"' [since everything is His, and comes from
Him to us]. Confucius, speaking of the good deeds of the
emperors Woo-wang and Tcheou-kung, says " that the rites of
the Kiao and She were those wherewith they served (or did
homage to) Shang-Te."' [Kiao was a great offering to
Heaven, made at the winter solstice, and She was a sacrifice
to the earth, offered at the summer solstice. The Chinese
term 'sze,' used here in the sense of ' serving' or ' offering to' the
gods, answers to irowtv, facere, in their ritual meaning.] And
> Cleanthes H. 32 sq. ' c. xx. ' Nuthar ellaJ. 13. < Ketubb.
B. FI. » Betza, xv. b. Buxtorf Flor. and Lex. I.e. • PubL Syr.
' Ep. Lod. 254. ' Chung y. c. xix.
124
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iii. lO
"Confucius himself, though his food was of the plainest,
vegetables and broth, yet always poured some of it in sacrifice.
Thus did he show his respect for the spirits [of his ancestors]."'
So did also Nalas, "in whose house the gods were always
pleased with the sacrifices due to them."*
"O Kundgawo [Ananda], these poor people, after innumerable
kalpas, are now in the abode of the gods for having brought to
them offerings with a most devoted (or faithful) mind. There-
fore, O Kundgawo, it is not right not to be addicted to deeds on
the side of religious merit (or happiness)."' Nor, according
to the Telugu proverb, " to offer them flour carried away by
the wind."* As the Spaniards say : " El abad de Bamba, lo
que no puede comer, da lo por su alma:"' "The Abbot of
Bamba, who gives for his soul only what he cannot eat."
" Let every wise and genial man, in whatever country he
settles, worship the gods thereof, and they in return will
worship and respect him. Let him offer them gifts. Then
will the gods fondle him as a mother her only son ; and he
who is thus favoured by them, always sees good things."'
So says the Buddhist ; but the Rabbis, better : " If thou
rememberest thy Creator in the days of thy prosperity, thou
shalt find Him in the days of thy adversity."' And Hesiod,
after denouncing the crimes that bring upon men the wrath
of Jove, says : " But thou, make offerings to the immortals
after thy power, chaste and pure, and spare no cost for them.
But pour out to them drink-offerings when going to bed and
also when rising from it, in order that they may foster a heart
and mind favourable to thee."" "As a man's food is," says
the Buddhist, " so let his offering be to his divinity. If he
brings to it only a plain cake of rice [he says :] ' ma me
bhagam,' &c., let not my good fortune be injured thereby."'
» Shang-Lun, c. x. 8. ' Nalopakhy. vi. 9. » Dsang-Lun, c. v.
fol. 101. * Tel. pr. 766. ' Span. pr. • Mahaparanibbh. fol. Bi.
' Ep. Lod. 294. • i. «• ■»• 334- ' Kundaka jat. 109 (p. 423)-
iii. II, 12]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
J2S
It My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord^
neither be weary of his correction : '
1 2 For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth ; even
as a father the son in whom he delighteth.
"ip^O, 'instruction,' always implying 'chastening.' KoXa<r«9 lorpttou,
' chastenings are medicines,' says Aristotle.^
*' My son" &c. "It is no small thing," say the Rabbis,
" that a man should be tried ; for in the trial he will either be
valued or despised [thought lightly of]"' For " misfortunes
sent by Heaven," say the Japanese, "must blossom [do good
and bear fruit) ; but it is difficult to escape from those we
bring upon ourselves."' "Take heed then," says the Bud-
dhist ; " as cotton is light, so in this world is the inconstant,
fickle man ; so also is he who minds the teaching of neither
spiritual teacher nor parents, and is thus careless of the chas-
tening or teaching of Buddha."*
" Every one," says Rabbi Huna, " whom the most Holy and
Blessed One loves. He purifies by chastening."' "God proves,
but not all men ; only the righteous (or pious)."' "Qui aime
bien, chitie bien."' "The Lord of mercies does not hurt
against the souls of men, at the first [He is long-suffering],"
says R. Eccah.' " He does not burden a soul above its
strength," say the Arabs.* " He does not act with violence."**
" But temporal chastenings are like a lighted torch in a man's
hand, whereby to see his state [or good] towards his Creator.""
" For the beginning of the righteous is in chastenings, and
their end is in prosperity [peace] ; but the beginning of the
wicked is happiness, and their end is chastisement."'"
Truly, then, "y groes waethaf: the worst cross is to be
without one," say the Welsh ; " and the Italians : " E cosa grave
» Eth. 1104b, 16. » Ep. Lod. 1278. ' Do-ji-kiyo. * Lokan. 144.
' Berach. 5, M. S. • Bava M. B. FL ' French pr. " Dukes,
R. BI. 56. » Meid. Ar. pr. " Midr. Tanchum. in Dukes, R. Bl. 59.
1' Baal Aked. B. Bl. " Sanhedr. B. FL " Welsh pr.
126
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iii. II, 12
non aver croce."» " No man," say the Rabbis, "is more to be
pitied than he to whom no misfortune happens in his life."*
For " a portion of misfortune is profitable," say the Georgians.'
" Cold is often beneficial, and the pious (or righteous) endure
adversity (or trouble) ; as lotuses close their petals as soon as
the cold rays of the moon fall on them."* " The harsh [unfeel-
ing] thoughts (or disposition) of a low man in prosperity are
softened by adversity ; for it often happens that what is hard
in cold water, becomes soft when boiled."' "Without trial
the real merit (or ' stuff,' tatwam) of a man is not accurately
known (or brought out) to advantage ; as the brilliancy of the
fastenings of one's armour is not wrought without much
rubbing."'
"A chi Dio vuol bene, manda delle pene,"' say the Italians.
"Calamities," say the Chinese, "come from high Heaven;
but one must inquire of one's heart if it is not ashamed [of
deserving them]."* "Prayer, O Kunti, troubles, joys, ever
succeed one another here below ; take care that the chastening
[example or reproof] sent thee be not repeated to thee."*
" Wise men," said Arjuna, " know that ever/thing depends on
chastening ; Swarga and this world also are attainable only
through chastening [lit. lie in chastening, or punishment]."*"
" The best men," says El Nawabig; " are tried by great adver-
sities ; as if mourning [adversity and lamentation] were the
sister [or nurse] of excellence."" For "he must be wicked,
he on whom the hour [time] smiles.""
But "the reward of affliction is silence," say the Rabbis"
[and elsewhere "patience;" from the feeling that affliction is
deserved and beneficial]. " For patience is the key of joy,"
say the Osmanlis ;" "and with patience, verjuice becomes
sweet"'* "For he who submits himself to God, is raised
• Ital. pr. ' Ep. Lodov. 1295. ' Georg. pr. • Drishtanta
shat. 15. ' Id. ibid. 29. • Id. ibid. 43. ' Ital. pr. • Ming
Sin P. K. and Prov. Chin. ed. P. 5. » Bahudorsh. p. 5. " Maha
Bh. Shanti P. 466. " El Nawab. 139. " Ep. Lod. 1743
" Berach B. Fl. id. 62. a. in Lexic. s. voce. " Osm. pr. " Ibid.
.
6
111.
II, 12]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
137
by Him,"> says Mahomet. "And he who does ft from love
for God, is greater than he who does it from fear."* " For
God," says Demophilus, " afflicts, not from anger, but because
He is disregarded ; for wrath is a stranger to God. Wrath
belongs only to inconsiderate men ; but in God there is nothing
inconsiderate [apovkrirov]."*
"Do not fight God [firi flto/tdx"]," says Menander, "neither
bring other storms [troubles] on the matter in hand ; but bear
what is thy lot to bear."* And " it behoves the [eiytir/p] well-
born (or noble) man to bear readily [yvritrlm] the afflictions of
his lot, when not the result of his own conduct"* "Wise
men," replied Dimnah when in prison, "have said: Do not
feel impatient of chastisement if it but keeps thee back from
further sin ; for it is better for thee to be punished in this
world, than hereafter in the fire of hell."* " Yea," says Ali,
" impatience in adversity is the finishing [completion, perfec-
tion] of trouble [or misery]."' Thus explained in the Arab
Commentary : " Patience in adversity lures one to a reward ;
but impatience in adversity brings on punishment Yet what
greater misery can there be, than to lose one's everlasting
reward, and receive a punishment that is to last for ever?"
And the Persian Commentary : " Every man whom affliction
or calamity befalls, who while in that trouble bemoans it, or
gives way to anxiety, and who does not make patience and
trust in God his stock and the ornament of his daily life,
remains an outcast from everlasting bliss, and falls a prey to
never-ending punishment And what misery can be greater
than such a state ?" " In trouble, do not lament ; for to
lament only makes thy heart sorer ; and no pain or sorrow
can be greater than this — to be kept aloof from God's reward."*
"It is best for thee, Hiero, to bear lightly the yoke put
upon thy neck ; it turns out to be but a slippery way to kick
' Muham. 59.
* tivovx- P".
' Ali b. a. T. 12.
' Sotah 31, M. S. • Demophil. sent. Pythag. ed. G.
' Id. fivtox- i. ' Calilah u Dimnah. p. 143.
• Arab, and Pers. Com. ad 1.
128
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[ill. 12
against the pricks." * And learn "that pride (or haughtiness)
is corrected by sorrow (or trouble)."' " Yet," says Ani, the
old Egyptian scribe, " lose not heart ; it is thy God who gives
thee life [or existence]."'
" as a father the son" &c. " O Indra, bring us [strength or]
wisdom, as a father to his sons. O thou, often invoked, teach
us in that path ; let us [while on earth] proceed towards that
light"* "Cast us not away, for thou art our refuge, our help,
and our kinsman."' " O Heaven, be thou our fostering friend ;
for thou art akin to us."* "Thou who spreadest thyself like
a covering to protect us."^ " Thou reignest over all."* " Faith
in thee, O thou rich in blessings, exalts us to heaven."' " O
ye gods, you are indeed our kinsmen. Alone, among you all,
1 have committed many sins (or incurred great guilt) ; do not
correct me like a father his wayward son ; seize me not as a
fowler seizes a bird.""
" O bee, bird of the air," said Lemminkainen's mother, " fly
for the third time to the highest heaven, for there is plenty of
honey ; plenty of sweetness, in abundance [lit. to the measure
of thought or wish], which the Creator uses, on which the
holy God breathes, and with which He anoints [soothes] His
children when they are in trouble through some evil power.""
"MadhuDiaurastuna: Pita!"" " Let Dius, Dies-piter, Zew
leaTTip, Heaven- Father, be sweetness to us."
"Adspice hoc sublime candens,
Quem invocant omnes lovem.""
" — irt yap wa.vT«T<Ti difxii Ovrjrouri ir/oocrotiSjiv,
> ^ \ / t / tf
€K crou yap ytvo'i (triuv.
" For all of us mortals have right to address Thee, since we [as
taught by S. Paul] are thy offspring."** " For mortals," says
Xenophanes," " believe that gods have produced them ; and
• Pindar, Pyth. ii. i/i- ' Thar gyan, fol. 8. » Ani, xxvi. p. i6g.
« Sama V. i, 3, i, 7- ' Ibid. 8. ' Ibid. i. 2, 2, 8. ' Ibid. i. 2, 2, 4, 8.
» Ibid. i. S, 2, 2, 10. » Ibid. i. 2, 3, 4, 7. 8. " Rig V. ii. skta. xxix. 4, 5.
" Kalevala, xv. 473 sq. " Rig V. i. 6. " Ennius in Cicero, de N. D. ii.
'« CIcanthes, Hymn in Jov. 4; Acts xvii. 26. " Xen. Coloph. 5, ed. G.
12]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
129
that they [the mortals] wear their [the gods'] covering, that
they have their voice, and also the same body as they."
" Heaven is my father," says the Brahman, " my progenitor,
and the Earth is my mother."' " From our origin, from our
ancient father, we speak." "We are thine, of thy nature."*
" I mind [dwell upon, consider] the eternal kindred [or sister-
hood] with Thee [O Heaven] our great father and progenitor."'
" I propitiate by my invocations the beneficent [not oppressing]
mind of the father, and innate life [vigour, strength] of the
mother :" [" Heaven is your father, and the earth is your
mother," says Sayana in his Commentary ; but in the Nirukta
the sky [or expanse, antariksha] is said to be the mother.*
Compare this with the Egyptian heaven, which is feminine,
and "mother ;' and the remarkable ceiling at Gournou, where
the sun, as ' Cheper,' is coming out of his mother's [Heaven]
womb ; and this, too, with the same idea [garbhe matu] in the
Sama Veda,* and this again with Ps. ex. 3.] " Impenetrable,
impenetrable [yuen] Heaven is rightly said to be our father
and mother."'
" JArjripa r aOavardiv, 'Ami' [Aditi ?] «al Mrjva kikX^ku,
Oupaviriv T< $iAv."^
Woo-Kheu-yJn, in his Commentary on Wen-chang-tan,
says : " He who wishes to understand clearly the [Ii] source
or rule of happiness and of misfortune, must first see clearly
the true and the false of each. To accumulate virtue is true
happiness ; but to amass evil is real misfortune. For poverty
or wealth, honour or contempt, sickness or long life and
tranquillity, are not in themselves either happiness or misfor-
tune. But this is happiness or misfortune, to consider the
way one spends life. Is it for the spread of virtue? then
happiness follows. Is it, however, for the spread of evil ?
» Rig V. ii. skta. c Ixiv. 33. ' Id. ibid. i. skta. Ixxxvii. 5 ; id. skta.
Ivii. 5. » Id. iii. skta. liv. • Id. ii. skta. clix. 2, 3, and skta.
clxxxv. II. » Sama V. Hymn ii. 6, 7, 2. • She King, bk. iv. ode 4.
' Orph. Hymn. i. 40.
K
>3o
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iii. 12
then of course misery is the result. If wealth is spent to the
honour of Heaven and of men all round, it is happiness ; if
for evil to others, then it is misfortune. If in poverty we
fret against Heaven and covet other men's riches, it is mis-
fortune ; but if poverty leads us to refrain from idleness,
wickedness or sloth, then poverty is happiness indeed."
" Holy and worthy men can only wish for true happiness,
and seek that only. And this is their way. If they find
themselves in difficulty, sickness or misery, or if they enjoy
rest, wealth and cheerfulness, they dare not say, ' It comes
by chance (or of necessity),' but they hearken to the order
[ming] from Heaven ; if times accord with their wishes, they
say, ' Heaven comforts and encourages me ;' but if times are
contrary, they say, ' Heaven warns and corrects me.' It all
tends one way — obedience to Heaven. Therefore it is said,
that as regards those who love Heaven, whether it accord
with their wishes or oppose them, it all contributes to their
happiness. But as regards the bad, their prosperity does not
lead them to good, nor does adversity reform them from their
evil course. So that nothing tends to happiness for them."*
" For the love of Mida [Amida, Buddha] is like that of a
parent for his children ; but men act like undutiful children
towards him [or them, gods]."* "It is a sin," says Tai-shang
[in Kang-ing-pien], "to depreciate or neglect Heaven's people,"
so-called, says the Commentary, "because all we who teem
with life are like new-bom babes [children] to Shang-Te,
therefore are we, and the rest, called ' Heaven's people.'
Therefore to depreciate or neglect Heaven's people, is to
depreciate or neglect Shang-Te himself."* Chin-keuen says :
"[Keen] Heaven is the great father, and [Kuan] the Earth is
the great mother. They envelop all in one great membrane ;
they pervade everything, and give to everything its own
property ; they give form to everything, and, bestowing
' Shin sin luh, iv. p. 23.
sin luh, i. p. 105.
* Kiu O do wa, vol. i. 3, p. 6. ' Shin
i
iii. 13]
THE BOOK OF PROVERB.S.
Uf
reason on man, make him man. What a father and what a
mother!"'
"I," says Bhagavan, "am father, mother, protector and
ancestor of this world — the way, purveyor, lord and witness."*
" O Arjuna, I am the Spirit dwelling in all beings ; I am the
beginning, the middle and the end ; I am imperishable Time."*
[Compare 'Zervana akarana,' illimitcd, endless Time, and
' self-created firmament,' mentioned in Moses of Choren and
Elisaeus, and in the Avesta.]* " Heaven," says the She King,
"brought all things into existence; everything has its rule
(or pattern) to follow."* "So, then, man is the heart of
Heaven and Earth, from the virtue of them both ; but from
an agreement [or union] of Yin and Yang [female and male
principles in nature] for his body."« " I was born of father
and mother," said Ky Yew's son, " but Heaven gave me life."^
Tseu-tsze says in the Chung-yung* [and is quoted in Siao-
hio]» that Heaven's decree is called "nature," to which the
Japanese Commentary adds : " However endless be the gene-
rations of man, yet it is certain that he is a being endowed
with a nature the origin of which is from Heaven." " Then
the Lord [prabhu] made another body from dust -matter,
endued with a soul ; then man came into existence ; and
out of dust- matter. And the Lord having created man,
created also a light [thin] expanse ; and it became light
at the end of night and at the opening of day."'" "Thou,"
said Brahma to Vishnu, "art the father and mother of all
worlds ; thou art also their teacher."" But " men," says Indra,
"call me father.""
13 Happy is the man i/ml findeth wisdom, and the
man /Aai getteth understanding.
' Wen chang hiao-king, c. i. ' Maha Bh. Bhishma P. xxxiv. 1137.
' Id. ibid. 1224, 1237. * Vendid. xix. 44, &c. ' She King, vol. iii.
bk. iii. ode 4. ' Li ki, Li lin, viii. ' She King, v. 3. ' ch. i.
" ch. i. " Markand Pur. xlviii. II, 12. " Brahma Vaiv. Pur. si. 41.
" Rig V. Mand. x. skta. 48, 1.
K J
•32
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iii. 13
Marg. reading, Heb. ' the man that draweth out understanding.'
" Happy" &c. "'n /iaKop— Oh, blessed and happy is he," says
Theognis, " to whom the gods have granted the best opinion
[judgment] ; for it can achieve everything. Man has nothing
in him better than that ; and nothing worse than a want of
it"* " Understanding is the richest wealth," says AH ; and
the Arabic commentary thereon : " Understanding ['aql] is the
greatest riches ; for with it a man reaches his intention [gains
his object]." "And the Persian adds : " Every one who has
intellect [understanding or wisdom, 'khird'] is more powerful
than one possessed of wealth ; for this reason, that wealth,
when spent, disappears ; but understanding is strengthened
by being used."* "O thou who seekest greatness through
riches, seek rather greatness of intellect ; for there is nothing
more powerful."'
" Where there is true wisdom, what need is there of riches ?"*
" For a small particle of knowledge is [often] better than much
labour."' " What is the use of wealth if you have real wisdom ?
Or what are riches compared with wisdom that cannot be
gainsaid ?"« "Gwell pwyll— wits are better than gold ;" "and
better is sense than riches,"' say the Welsh. " For those," says
Manu, " who are not given to wealth and to the lusts of the
flesh, the knowledge of religion and of virtue is set before them.
And for those who wish to become acquainted with virtue,
the revealed Vedas [sruti] are the highest authority."' "The
[good and wise] educated man [kiun-tsze, ' gentleman,' in the
Chinese acceptation of the term]," says Confucius, " cherishes
virtue ; the [small, mean, little] inferior man cherishes this
earth. The wise man cherishes one constant rule ; the vulgar
man looks to gifts."' Yet "the long and round gem [the
sceptre and diadem] are not so valuable as an inch of shadow
on the sun-dial spent in pursuit of wisdom." >» " Everything in
» Theogn. 1125, 1875. * 84th maxim, and Comm. ad 1. ' Id. ibid.
« Shadratna. 6. ' Nuthar ellal. 126. • Nitishat. 18. ' Welsh pr.
• Manu S. ii. i. * Shang-L. iv. 1 1. •• Gun den sen dzi mon. 233—240.
iii. 13]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
>33
plenty is thought less of [despised] except understanding,
which, the more it abounds, the more it is prized."*
" Rara juvant ; primis sic major gratia pomis ;
Hybemae pretium sic meruere rosse."'
" Since understanding [buddhi] is strength to him that has it,
what, then, is the strength of him who is void of understand-
ing?" "A lion maddened with rage was killed in his own
jungle by a rabbit," said Vishnu Sarma to King Amarashakti.'
[Happy, then, is he, who p^D^ obtains understanding, either by
drawing it from God, the fountain-head, or from his own
experience. Comp. ch. viii. 35, xii. 2, xviii. 22, &c.] "What
is happiness?" however, asks the Brahman. "To be free from
all attachment."* "And what is the greatest good ?" asks the
Buddhist. "To take no pleasure in tumult (or clamour)."'
" Sapientis animus nunquam est in vitio, nunquam turgescit,
nunquam tumet : nunquam sapiens irascitur."' " Understand
through wisdom, and be wise in understanding, to know every
opportunity of doing the Lord's work."' Thseng-tsze quotes
from the Khang-kao [a portion of the Shoo-king] to show that
king Wan caused his brilliant understanding or virtue to shine,
as also did Yao."'
"The culture of a man is better than his gold ;" "it is a
good inheritance." " The culture [training] of his soul is better
than that of the school;" "it adorns the riches of the rich,
and hides the poverty of the poor." " Culture is wealth, and
the proper use of it is perfection," say the Arabs.'
We read in the Maha Bharata"* the following story told by
Bhima to Yudhishtira, in answer to his saying " that the Vedas
praise virtue [dharmam], wealth and love." "A certain Brah-
man greedy of wealth worshipped the gods for the sake of
getting it, and addressed a Naga, Kundadara, who, speaking
' Rabb. saying, in Ep. Lod. 1 136. ' Mart. Epig. li. ' Pancha T.
pref. 245. < Ratnam. 31. ' Phreng wa, 32. • Cicero, Tusc. iii. 9.
' Mishle Asaph, v. « Ta-hio, c. i. » Meid. Ar. pr. »» Shanti P.
9756 sq.
>34
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iiL 14
of him to Manibhadra, said : O giver of wealth, I do not ask
for riches in behalf of this Brahman ; I crave quite another
fruit of his worship. I do not ask for a land full of gems, or
for a large heap of them, as fruit of his worship, but that he
may be virtuous ; that his intellect may delight in virtue and
maintain it ; and that he may excel in it. Such is the result
[or fruit] of his worship which I crave for him.'' As regards
that saying of the Vedas quoted by Yudhishtira, Manu seems
to allude to it when he says :' "Virtue and wealth are said to
be best (or supreme good) ; so also love [desire] and virtue ;
and wealth alone is also said to be best. But it has been
finally settled that these three are best for man."
14 For the merchandise of it is better than the mer-
chandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.
rnnP, ' the ' occupying' thereof until the Master come.' S. Luke
xix. 13; and nnMiaTII, 'the gain or income from it:' "Well done,
thou good and faithful servant," &c.
" The law of virtue and wisdom surpasses infinitely every
kind of knowledge and of understanding."' " The search after
a good education is better than the search after gold."' " A
man carries no better burden [byrthi] or provision by the way
than much wisdom [or mother-sense, manvit] ; it is thought
better than riches, and is withal the refuge of the indigent"*
" Remember," say the Japanese, " that precious things are not
enduring. Therefore make wisdom thy treasure."' "It is
like merchants who, having gone to Jambudwip [Ceylon], in
the southern sea, to fetch great and precious gems, on their
return home, grow faint on passing through a wide desert, yet
feel refreshed after hearing the sublime lore of Buddha ; and
who, having thus experienced trouble, have thereby acquired
wisdom."' " He who lives wisely in the world, with faith and
* Sanhita, ii. 224.
♦ Hdvamdl, x.
* Hjam-dp. fol. vii,
• Ku-kai, Jits gn kiyo.
' Ebu Medin, 139.
• Thar g)'an, fol. 5.
iii. IS]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
135
sound learning [or true science], has the chief jewel. Every
[thing] other jewel is inferior to it."'
1 5 She ts more precious than rubies : and all the
things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto
her.
' More precious than pearls or red corals,' 'DT??*?. LXX. rifi.
kiOtov iroXvTtXliv, 'than precious stones' — probably red; and so,
rubies.
" The philosopher," say the Chinese, " does not reckon jade
and gold as precious ; but rather sincerity and faith."' " What
is the most precious thing in the world? The Spirit of
Wisdom answered : Wisdom is the best of all the wealth
on earth."' " Even when bereft of worldly goods, I [says
Hjam-dpal, the personification of wisdom] am the mind of
certain, undoubted, three-fold wealth."* "These five," said
Chanakya, "are an imperishable treasure: the study of an
art, diligence, learning, friendship, and wisdom that cannot
be taken away."* " Knowledge and wealth are not both alike,
for thieves cannot take away knowledge, which is a friend
here below, and will be happiness hereafter."* " Knowledge
(or learning) is a treasure ; it is wealth that cannot perish or
be destroyed ;" "a treasure that wanes not."^
" Four things," say the Rabbis, " are priceless : wisdom,
good health, liberality, and strength [or power, as o^«tij]"*
" Remember," says Pythagoras of Samos, " that whereas most
men agree that good sense [<f>povr)<rii] is the greatest good, but
few of them strive to get it."' " Knowledge is the precious
stone that preserves him who resorts to it ; it enables him to
walk securely in adversity." '"In the 30th ch. of the Dsang-Lun,
we read of Dschimpa-chempo's wanderings in search of the
> Vasubandhu, 1 1.
' Hjam-dp. fol. ix.
kalvi Or. 19, 20.
" Borhan-ed-din, v. 76.
' Li ki, c. xxix.
' Chanak. 39.
' Ep. Lod. 355.
' Mainyo i kh. xlvii. I — 5.
• Lokaniti, 4. ' Av.
' Pythag. Sam. iv. 7.
'36
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iii. IS
16]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
'37
chintamani ; and that when on his return he found that both
his father and mother had wept themselves blind, in sorrow
for his absence, he rubbed with the chintamani [a fabulous
gem, emblem of wisdom, &c.] the eyes of both of them, who
then saw clearly. "This precious gem," said Dandschila's
wife, "gives light at night, like daylight [and makes one succeed
in everything}"' "Whosoever," says Nizami, "has the gem of
wisdom, is able to succeed in everything he does."*
"A wise man knows the [extent] value of [knowledge]
wisdom. The man of understanding knows that But how
can an ignorant man feel respect for knowledge?"' "Envy
the good of wisdom, rather than that of riches," said the
Athenian Agathon.* " The wise carries his wealth with him ;
for there is nothing more precious (or honourable) than
wisdom."* "There is not in this earth a thing equal to
instruction," said Sbauf to Papi." " Common sense [mieli] is
better than money ; and prudent management is better than
labour," say the Finns.^ "Tsze-kung, when saying that a
man who has a precious gem (or jewel) keeps it safe until he
can get a good price for it and sell it — Confucius replied : I
will sell my jewel, I will ; but not until I get a price for it."*
" Hear my true saying," said Vishnu Sarma to king Ama-
rashakti : " I do not make a trade of wisdom [not a saleable
article]. I do not sell it — no, not for a thousand grants (or
presents) from thee."' However, one of the six things that
give happiness in this world is, " wisdom that brings wealth
with it."*" " But there is not a ruby in every rock, nor yet a
pearl in the head of every elephant, nor yet a sandal-tree in
every forest. So also are good men not found everywhere.
But the vulgar know not the value of wisdom."'' "What is
the value of a thing? That it suits us," say the Chinese, in
the fable of the cock and the pearl."
' Dsang-Lun, c. xli. fol. 225. ^ Nizami, ed. 1774. ' Kudat ku bil.
xii. 9, II. * 5, ed. G. ' rvw/i. /lovovr. • Papyr. Sail. ii. 4, 6.
' Finn. prov. * Shang-Lun, ix. 12. • Pancha T. pref. 5.
" Hitop. i. 19. ?' Chanak. 55. " Mun Moy. p. 3.
\
Yet, " What is wealth ? Wisdom."' And wisdom teaches us
to choose the best ; unlike that foolish couple who preferred
to see their house rifled of all it contained, than lose a 'mochi'
[rice-cake, worth one farthing]. " I call those men foolish,"
says the Japanese Dr. Desima, " who lose their precious life
for the sake of frivolous or degrading pleasures."' "But how
good is knowledge to him who has it I for knowledge is dear
[valuable], and cannot bg bought with money."' " Knowledge
is a pearl without price ; ignorance is misery without remedy,
that yields nought but anguish of soul ; while knowledge gives
nought but happiness in life."*
1 6 Length of days is in her right hand ; and in her
left hand riches and honour.
" Length of days" &c. " He who has wisdom (or knowledge)
shall go on spending yugas [centuries] of life ; his [health]
life shall not perish in the final dissolution ; but when he
departs this life, he shall be united with the Great Spirit."*
" Virtue produces eternal happiness and temporal good. What
greater source of happiness, then, can there be for a man
than virtue?"* Confucius, speaking of the emperor Shun,
said : " In virtue, he was a holy man ; in wealth, he possessed
all there is within the four seas."^ He also says the same of
the emperor Woo-wang.* " Tao," says Lao-tsze, " is heaven ;
Tao is long life."' " Wherefore, O my son, thy receiving the
wise words of thy father Ptah-hotep is for the life of thy house
(or family).""
" Give me, O Ahura Mazdao," said Zarathustra, " health and
strength according to thy good pleasure ; and that I may
attain to purity [or true virtue], give me this, O Armaiti [O
Wisdom], wealth, blessing, and the life of Vohu-mano [a happy
' Bhartrih. suppl. 10, and Panchar. 4. ' Atsme Gusa. vol. ii. pref.
' A. Ubeid, 123. * Persian dist. on All's 31st maxim. ' Vemana,
ill. 4. ' Cural, iv. 31. ' Chung y. c. xvii. ' Id. ibid. c. xviii.
» Tao-te-K. c xvi. " Pap. Pr. xii. 1. 11, 12.
'38
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iii. 17
life on earth, if Vohu-mano is taken as a proper noun ; If
not, "a life of good, common sense, or right judgment"].*
" The gold of Buddha's lore perishes not. He has riches, true
riches and more perfect than all others ; and he enables him
who has it to enjoy a most holy walk [conduct] above all
others. Virtue and wealth follow in the train of but few
men ; happy, indeed, is he who has them both."'
"Yet the wealth of knowledge [wisdom] and riches is
wealth indeed ; men who have them both bow their heads
humbly, like the poor who stand before them."* "Mazzal
[the star of good or evil fortune]," say the Rabbis, "gives
wealth when it gives wisdom."* " For the honour of know-
ledge is its greatest dignity (or reward)."' Choo-hi quotes the
Chronicles of Thsoo, " in which kingdom nothing is reckoned
as riches, but good alone is valued as such."' "Of all things,
wisdom is said to be the best ; because it cannot be taken
away, because it is without price, and because it cannot perish."'
" But the loftiness of a man's disposition comes from his faith ;"
" and the strength of his heart comes from his religion."'
17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her
paths are peace.
" Her ways," &c. " The pleasure (or joy) of virtue is the
greatest of all."" " When the natural disposition is tranquil,
then the affections of the heart are at rest ; but if the heart is
unsettled, the soul will weary itself"" " For where there is no
peace, there is nothing at all."" "Great is peace, for even the
dead cannot do without it"" "And it is the seal on all bless-
ings."'* Gautama, however, said to Rahula his son, "There is
no resting-place in this world, beset (or hindered) as it is by
sin ; the fool alone thinks he finds rest in his own opinion.""*
» Ya?na, xlii. i. ' Allan Gerel. c. ii. fol. 31, 32. ' Theogn. 913.
* Niti neri vil. 16. * Shabbat in Khar. Pen. xii. 27. • Meid. Ar. pr.
' Ta-hio Com. c. x. ' Hitopad. pref. 4. • Nuthar dial. 171 and 201.
•• Dhammap. Tanhav. 21. " Gun den s. dii mon. 385. " B. Fl.
" Midrash. id. " Id. ibid. " Rahula thut. 10.
'
ni.
■8]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
'39
• " Still, great is peace," say the Rabbis ; " no vessel holds so
much blessing as peace."' "When the Most High wished to
bless Israel, He did not find a vessel to hold more blessings
than peace."' "Great is peace ! It is in the earth like leaven
in the dough."' "Great is peace! God has created nothing
more beautiful than peace."* "Great is peace! For the
name by which the Most High is called is — Peace."' "What
is also the pleasantest thing ? To keep the law [of Buddha]
without fault."' " For joy and sorrow [remorse and misery]
are joined to well-doing and to evil-doing ;"' [that is, joy is
joined to well-doing and sorrow to evil-doing.]
18 She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon
her : and happy is every one that retaineth her.
' And those who lay hold on her, ""t'V?'?, are made happy [thereby].'
Chald. ' those who occupy themselves with her,' &c.
" She is a tree of life" &c. Form avails not, neither does
one's family [or position]; neither is wisdom or assiduous
worship of any great use ; but the good deeds formerly
gathered by a man through devotion, alone bring forth fruit
in time like a tree."' " Supreme knowledge [or wisdom,
■ pragna paramita,' ' shes-rab,' ' belke bilik,' &c.] procures hap-
piness in this world, and in births to come while crossing over
to the other side [p'ha-rol-tu]."' " He who wishes to become
a heavenly genius [t'heen seen], that is, to strip himself of his
human dwelling [nature] and have life on high and not die,
must perform 1 300 good actions," says Tai-shang [in Kang-
ing-pien] ; " but in order to become a genius of the earth, 300
good deeds will suffice. Deep [sincere and earnest] and
bright well-doing, is the root of all order, equity and right.""
The Rabbis, however, say more to the purpose : " The wise
> Midrash Siphre. ' Midrash Rab. in Numb. ' Derek Er. M. S.
* Midrash Rab. in Numb. ' Derek Er. M. S. • Phreng wa, 6.
' EI Nawab. 72. ' Nitishat. 94. • Legs par b. p. 12.
" Shin sin luh, i. p. 99.
I40
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iii. 1 8
and prudent among the people will delight in the Lord ; for
wisdom shall keep them in life' [cause them to live]." On
the other hand, says the Buddhist, " What ought a wise man
to learn ? Thoroughly to kill [cut off] the cause [or revolu-
tions] of his transmigration."' " Thy father, O Ashi Vanhuhi
[' blessing' personified] is Ahura Mazda, who is the greatest
and best of the Yazatas [gods] ; and thy mother is Qpenta
Armaiti [Holy Wisdom] ; and thy sister is the Law [Mazda-
yasnian]."' " Thieves and robbers plunder treasure of here
below ; but the treasure of eternal life cannot be taken away."*
"A man's life," says Confucius, "depends on his integrity."*
" People are more dependent on charity [jin, love of mankind]
than on fire and water ; I have seen men go through fire and
water and die of it ; but I never saw one practise charity and
die of it No, never !"•
"Of the riches one may call 'one's own' [as distinct from
objective good] are humanity and honesty, to bestow and do
good unto all men, out of an even fortune [competency]."'
" Hold fast virtue," says Confucius ; '" do not yield in anything
opposed to it — no, not even to your teacher."* " Taking fuel
for an example," say the Japanese, " receive happiness. So
peace and quiet follow, and lasting peace." The Chinese
original reads : " Point to [virtue] as fuel to fire [of life], and
cultivate happiness [from it]."'
[An emblem of " the tree of life" might perhaps be found in
the 'byang-chhub shing,'" the 'tree of perfection or wisdom,'
name given to the sacred ' Ficus Indica' or banyan-tree, that
seems to live for ever, by throwing out fresh shoots and roots
into the ground from time to time. But it was not known to
the sacred writers.]
" When the Bhodhisatwa came to a certain place where the
• Mishle Asaph, v. 6.
* Mong. mor. sayings.
' Thar gyan, fol. 9.
and Chin. Tsian d. wen.
' Phreng wa, 4. ' Ashi Yasht, 16.
* Shang-Lun, vi. 17. • Hea-Lun, xv. 34.
' Hea-Lun, xv. 35. » Gun den s. dzi mon,
" Rgya-tcher r. p. c. xix.
iii. 19]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
141
king came to meet him with offerings, he took his tooth-pick
and stuck it into the ground. It then grew at once into a
marvellous tree 500 miles in extent. When the wind stirred
the fragrant branches and leaves thereof, it spread heart-stir-
ring words of the law. The flowers of it were the size of a
wheel, and the fruit filled five hampers," &c.^ "Kundgawo
[Ananda] had a dream in which Buddha was compared to a
tree overshadowing the earth, with flowers and fruit, &d.
But it was suddenly cast down by a storm, indicating Buddha's
departure from sorrow and death."'
But we read in the Bundehesh of a very different " tree of
life." " When Gaya Maretan [Kayomers, the first man] died,
he left seed behind him. This seed, under the influence of
light and of the sun, and partly under the care of Neriosengh
[one of the Yazatas], and partly under that of Spendanmat
[(^penta Armaiti, Wisdom], grew into a stalk of ' riwas' [rheum
ribes] with fifteen branches and fifteen leaves, which being
tended by Mashya and Mashyana, grew into beings, joined
together in the middle, with the hands in one another's ears,
&c., without any distinction of sex, or without sign that the
soul of Ahura Mazda was in them. Then spake Ahura
Mazda: Which is first in them, the soul or the body? The
soul is first, and the body next ; the soul is in the body to
make it act From that day they grew upwards and distinct,
and from them sprang ten kinds of men."'
[The rendering of this 18th verse by the LXX. would suggest
that they took ' tree' in the sense of ' staff,' on which to lean
for safety. Compare also the title 'ayushman' or 'chhdl-dan,'
' possessed of life,' given to celebrated Buddhists ;* and the
Tatar and Japanese cosmogonies.]
19 The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth ;
by understanding hath he established the heavens.
' Dsang-Lun, c. xiii. fol. 49. • Ibid. c. xxii. fol. 94. ' Bundehesh,
p. 33, c. XV. * Rgya-tcher, 1.
14^
ORIGINAL NOTKS ON
[iii. 19
nin>, " The Lord which is, and which was, and which is to come,
the Almighty" (Rev. i. 8), the One Eternal. nip^riS, 'in wisdom'
(Ps. civ. 24 ; Exod. xxxi. 3, xxxv. 26, 31, &c.); ' by wisdom,' here and
at Eccles. i. 13, vii. 23, where it has the article nMIlB, with a dif-
ferent meaning in Hebrew, not easily rendered in English. The LXX.
read here and elsewhere in this book rjf ao<f>i<f, with the article that
savours of Alexandrian philosophy, and of the Gnostic personi-
fication of wisdom. Thus, even in ch. viii. 1 2, where, as in similar
constructions, the article is best omitted, in Hebrew and in Greek,
TV^^rj '*3y, nj""? ^»1, ch. viii. 12, 14, iyi> <^ws, S. John xii. 46, the
LXX. have lyu ij (ro<^ia, Didymus Alexandrinus, albeit he applies
this verse to the Holy Ghost, yet seems elsewhere to understand
it of God the Son. ' TPJ, ' founded,' i.e. created, " that it should
not be moved," Ps. civ. 5 ; and it cannot be moved, though ' it
moves' at His will. 73i3, 'establishing,' i.e. spread the heavens, and
orders the »to<r/«>s, order, thereof in wonderful harmony.
" Ex nihilo nihil fit" ovSiv U 8tvos ytvotro' — ttVep /i^ ivUxtfrdai
yev«rdoi firjStv « ^JjStvos' — (k rov yap ftr) t'ocTos dfiiixf^vov etrri ytviir-
Oai* &c. Nothing can come of itself out of nothing ; of course
not But as there never was a time at which " He that filleth-
all in all" did not exist, "through faith we understand that
the worlds were framed by the word of God" — " for He spake
and it was done; He commanded and it stood fast" (Ps.
xxxiii. 9) ; " so that things which are seen were not made of
things which do appear."' With the Church in heaven (Rev.
iv. ID, II), therefore, and with the Church on earth, we say:
" Worthy art Thou, O Lord, that we should praise Thee without
ceasing for Thy great goodness ; for Thou art He who created
the heavens and that which is in them ; the earth also and all
that is in it In Thy wisdom hast Thou created all things."*
And so also did the best men of old think and say in their
own way, dark as it was; in which they "felt after Him, if
haply they might find Him,"' with no better light than their
> In Prov iii. 20; Did. Al. de Trin. p. 467, ed. M. ' Alcaei fr. 22,
ed G ' Aristotle, De Melis. c. i. * Empedocl. lib. i., Phys. v. 102,
ed". M. ' Heb. xi. 3. * Lit. S. Cyrill. Copt. p. 174, Rom. ed.
r Acts xvii. 27.
iii. 19]
THE BOOK OF PROVERB.S.
143
own common sense. So that "fools alone say, There is
no God" (Ps. liii. i). "Quis,"asks Cicero,* "est tam vecors,
qui cum suspexerit in coelum, deos esse non sentiat ?" " Nam
omnibus innatum est, et quasi insculptum, esse deos."'
" Indra is from everlasting, endures for ever ;"' " Ruler and
king alike of heaven and earth."* " Thou, O Indra, firm in thy
mind, dwellest [abidest] beyond the ethereal abode [sky,
heaven] of this world. Thou hast made the earth for our
support [or preservation]. Thou [art gone] reachest round
unto the uttermost sky [beyond the heavens] and the earth."'
" Thou art Lord of the vast abode of the gods ; thou fittest
the whole heaven, and art of equal measure with the earth ;
there is indeed no one like thee."' "Thou madest everything
else in order [subservient or obedient to thee, Schol.]." " Thou
hast expanded the surface of the earth ; and established (or
stayed) the lower brightness [foundation] of heaven."'
" O Indra, these creatures are thine, of thee. Thou art said
to be the Lord of all creatures."* "The wide expanse of
heaven has acknowledged thy power, O Indra."' "We call
upon thee, the Lord of the world [of things living, Schol] and
Master of things immovable."'"
" Thou, O Indra, art far above this universe ; thou art from
everlasting, without rival."" " Indra established the heavens.""
" Indra established [supports] heaven for the good of four-
footed beasts, men and bipeds [birds]."" "Indra, in order to
give long sight [show things from afar], made the sun to rise
in the sky."'* " Indra has filled this earthly world and the sky
[with his glory] ; he has made fast the luminaries to the sky.
There is no one like thee, O Indra, that ever was born, or that
shall ever be born ; thou art greater [vaster] than any other.""
' De resp. Anisp. * De Nat. D. ii. « Rig V. i. skta. Ixii. 13.
* Mand. i. skt. c i. » Rig V. Asht. i. skta. liii. 12. ' Id. ibid. 13.
' Ibid. skta. Ixii. 5. • Ibid. skta. Ixxxi. 9. » Ibid. skta. Ivii. 5.
" Ibid. skta. bcxxvii. j. " Ibid. skta. cii. 8. " Ibid. skta. cxxi. 2.
" Ibid. skta. cxxi. 3. " Ibid. skta. vii. 3 " Ibid. skta. htxxi. 5.
144
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iiJ. 19
"O thou great Indra, who, appearing through the drying
up of the heavens and of the earth, didst sustain the earth in
fear [of an Asura], when all things, mountains and other large
and solid things did tremble like sunbeams [in vapour]."*
[This remarkable passage seems to point to the drying up of
the earth at the first — from the waters first created by Brahma*
— or after the Flood. Sayana explains 'jagnana' of the text
by • pradurbhut,' said here of Indra ; almost the same word
[pradurasit] used by Manu to describe the appearing of Swa-
yambhu the Self-existent, I'Eternel, when scattering abroad
the darkness at the creation.'] " We cannot comprehend Indra,
who pervades everything ; who is far off [from us men, small
as we are, Scho!.] in his strength ; for in him the gods have
placed power, riches and brightness (or brilliancy), praising
forth his own sovereignty."*
" It is he who has clothed the earth [all things in it] with
divers forms."* "Thou, O Indra, art he who gives food and
increase ; who milks the dry sweet grain out of the moist
[haulm] ; who has made by law (or rule) flowering and fruitful
plants to spread over the field."' " Indra and Vishnu made
the world, the sun, the dawn, Agni," ftc.' " He sends forth
rain."« " He lights up the sun ;"• "that has yoked his seven
sure-footed mares [that run safely], and comes with them self-
yoked."" [Compare the bull and the seven heifers in Rit. of
the Dead, c. xvii., and Pharaoh's dream : Apis— Sun and Nile ;
Hapimu— Nile and Earth ; Apollo, the seven Muses, &c.]
" By his wisdom [skill], Indra established the sky [safe from
falling] ; he was sufficient for it [for this universe], which he,
father, made with his two arms for the sake of mankind.""
" He brought forth the waters and the earth for man."" " The
» Rig V. i. skta. Ixiii. I. ' Manu S. i. 8. ' Id. ibid. 6.
♦ Rig V. i. skta. Ixxx. 15, 16. ' Id. skta. clx. 2, and Mand. vi. skta.
xlvii. 18. * Id. Mand. ii. skta. xiii. 6; Mand. iii. skta. liv. 22, and Ivii. 3.
» Mand. vii. skta. xcix. 4- ' 'd. skta. ci. 6. • Mand. viii. skta. iii. 6,
iii. 19]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
MS
cin. 1—3.
" Id. skta. XX. 7.
«» Asht. i. skta. I. 7.
" Mand. ii. skta. xvii. 5, 6.
Creator [Ruler, 'dhata'] made of old the sun, the moon, Jieavfii
and the earth and the space [firmament, or sky]."' "A thou-
sand earths and a thousand suns, O Indrti, could not contain
thee. All hail ! [who fillest all]. What mortal protects me,
O Indra, thou giver of wealth ? Faith in thee, O Maghavarg
[carries one] beyond the heavens."* •
" Thou art better to me, O Indra. than a brother, who docs
not feed [provide for] me."' "O Maghavan, which of the
Rishis of old understood [took in] all thy greatness? Thou,
of whose whole body didst create our father [heaven] and
mother [the earth],"* "who gavest light to the luminaries."*
" That [his] name, form (or nature), mysterious and hidden, is
far [from those who call upon him]. That great name, myste-
rious and desired by many, is the progenitor of the past and
of that which is to come;" "it fills [has filled] heaven and
earth and the middle space."*
" I am the origin of all [this universe], and by me all things
consist,'' said Bhagavan to Arjuna.^ " Thou, O BrahmS, who
wast without a womb [unborn] art the [womb] birth of the
world ; thou art the end of the world, thou, who art without
end ; thou art the beginning of the world, thou, who art with-
out a beginning ; and thou art the Lord of the world, thou,
over whom no one rules."' " He, Swayambhu the Self-exis-
tent, in the beginning created the waters, and in them he
created [a germ, seed] an egg, brilliant like gold, which he
burst, and of the upper shell made heaven, and of the lower
one he made the earth."' "That egg, like a bubble on the
water, gradually increased, asleep [floating] on the water ; and
in that egg of Prakriti [nature], the self-e:tisting soul called
Brahma came to be known [appeared]."i2— ^
"The Eternal Maker of the world, Brahma, created the
' Mand. x. skta. cxc. 3. ' Sama V. iii. ix. 6 — 8, and iv. ii. 10.
' Id. ibid. x. ro. * Rig. V. Mand. x. skta. liv. 3. ' Id. ibid. 6.
• Mand. x. skta. Iv. i, 2, 3. ' Maha Hh. Bhishma P. xxxiv. 1212.
' Kumara Sambh. Kam. ii. 9 sq. ' Manu S. i. 3—6, and Maha Bh.
Udyog. P. 3563. " Markand. Pur. xlv. 63 sq.
L
t46
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
['•if. '9
in. 19]
whole world that exists, and that passes away."* "The waters
were called after him, Narayana:"* "he peopled them with
fishes, turtles and other beings, and overspread the earth with
creatures."' " They call thee ' One," O Krishna, Vishnu, &c. ;
but sainted Brahmans praise thee under various names. Thou
art Brahftia, nestling on the waters ; and they call thee Hiranya-
garbha [golden womb], O Keshava. Hail, oh, hail!" said
Vaishampava.*
Then, after forty-six lines of salutations to Krishna as one
with Vishnu and Brahma, we read : " He who is ' One,' without
form or colour, who is and is not [visible in his works, though
himself invisible], from him came heaven, then the air, light
and water ; from water came forth the universe, and thence
this world. He also created human beings of five kinds, with
five senses, said Manu."* " Human beings were created with
mind and action [work]."* " I am joined to [connected
with] the God of gods [the Deity]," said Sthanu to Prajapati,
"through thee, O Lord of lords."'
Yudhishtira having asked Vyasa concerning the beginning
and end of all things, Vyasa said : " Brahma, who has neither
beginning nor end, existed first. Resplendent Brahma, whose
offspring is this world, awoke at the dawn of day — he who is,
— and created this world, and foremost in it the self-evident
individual Mind [vyaktam mana:]. Then Mind expanded
creation ; and then an active wish to create [Ki^ and n^y],
first, the firmament (or sky), the air, light, water, and from the
waters smell, and then the earth — thus said to be the first
creation of all things. The first Maker is called Prajapati.
He created things lasting and passing [solid and evanescent] ;
and he as Brahma created devarshis [holy Rishis], seas, rivers,
&c And the nature and qualities those things then received,
they retained through successive creations."'
■ Markand. Pur. xlvii. 2. ' Id. 5, and ch. xlviii. ' Id. ibid. 6.
• Maha Bh. Shanti P. 1502, 1513, 1514, 1688. » Ibid. 7622. • Id. 7380;
see also 7841, 7842, 7569. ' Ibid. Moksha, 9175. • Id. Ibid. 8478 sq.
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
'4;
Han, Narayana, the Lord Eternal, Father of a family [of
all creatures] creates immovable [stationary] and movable
lor movmg] creatures [mountains and living things]" "And
know." said Ushana to Vritra, "that the earth is his feet and
heaven is his head."> "The divine earth is thy feet," said
Brahmi to BrahmS [the One Spirit, personified in Brahmd as
the Creatoi;]; the quarters are thy arms, and heaven fs thy
head. I a(m thy form, the gods are thy body, and the sun and
moon are \hy two eyes."« [As they are also called the two
eyes of Osiris ; and "the sun, the eye of Ahura Mazda."']
"Avyakta [imperceptible, invisible] is the name of the first
Producer. He is so called from his not being apprehensible
by heanng or any other sen.se. His other names are • The
Supreme God, Brahma; Obscure; Bringing Forth; Brahma
[aksharam] ; Body or Field [of the Earth] ; Eternal."* &c
"True worshippers always meditate on and worship him, the
Worshipful, Eternal, whom some call Brahma, others Nature •
or the Beginning of all things; others, again, the Lord of
I'ght." " But thou, father," said Shukra to Vyasa. "ever wor-
ship Brahma. "» "The Creator who was, who is. who shall be."
said Brahma to Vishnu.'
"That soul [Brahm or] BrahmS existed as One and before
all. Supreme. All-knowing, Almighty— he. the one Soul of
the world, existed one and alone before the creation of the
worid. That Spirit [or Soul], by existence [or nature] One,
pervading everything [everywhere], then considered : Let me'
[Met us,' Comm.] create the worids, waters, light, the earth
and waters under it" [(i) The water above the sky. the sky
.sits resting-place; (2) the atmosphere; (3) the earth; and
(4) what is under the earth is— waters, Schol.] " He consi-
dered again : These worids are created, but let me create pro-
tectors of these worlds. Having then taken (or drawn) out of
' Maha Bh. Shanti P. 10043 sq. ' Id. Bhishma P. 2955 sq
Ya^na, .. 35. and vii. 40. . Sankhya, Tatwa samasa, 5, 6^
Pancha Ratr. 111. 43. . Maha Bh. Bhishma P. 3022.
L 2
l[
!48
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[hi. 19
the waters a • man-being' [purusham], he gave him shape
[formed him]. He then gave him heat [warmth], and through
that heat his mouth opened like an egg [oval],"' &c.
" He then considered : These protectors of the world are
created, but I must [let me] create food for them. He then
heated the waters, and from the waters thus heated a sub-
stance in form was produced which is verily food." " He then
considered again : Without me, how would this [human body]
be ? He then considered : If without me speech can be
uttered, breath can be breathed ; if eyes can see and ears hear,
&c., who, then, am I ? I will enter that body [at the frontal
sinus, Schol.]. And there [that eternal soul] has three seats :
(i) the mind, (2) the right eye, (3) the heart."' "Therefore
do I worship the Excellent Spirit, who is the cause [origin] of
worlds,"' &c
"Jaimini having asked thebirds [winged Rishis,who inhabited
the top of the Vindhya Mountains] about the origin of this
world, time, generations, creations and destructions, referred
him to Markandeya, who, after bowing to Brahma, unborn,
imperishable, holder of all and Ruler of this world, said : The
Supreme Being, an unseen, invisible active cause, which the
great Rishis called Prakriti [nature], subtle, eternal, which is
and is not — is the origin of all things ; without beginning or
end, not dependent on anything, or any one, existed before
Brahmi."^ [That is, Brahm or Brahma, the eternal Soul or
Spirit that pervades all things, and that is called Brahmd when
spoken of as Creator} " He [Brahma] desired : Let me be
many [multiply] ; let me bring forth [or produce]. He then
performed penance [in deep meditation] ; and he, after this
meditation, created this whole universe ; and having created
it, he entered it" [He creating, created all this world and
animated beings in it, in regions, seasons and revolutions, &c.
» Rig. V. Aitareya Upanish. 1. c. i. sect i, 2, 3. ' Id. ibid. i. ch. iii.
sect. I, 2, II. » Aryabhata, introd. * Markand. Pur. xlv.
J I, 2«. 32. 34, 4>-
iii. 19]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
149
Schol.] "This Brahma made himself; therefore is he called
Sukrita, holy [lit. well-made or well-done ; because all is pure
in form, Schol.]." »
" I, BrahmS, am father and mother, the soul of all," said
Sanatsujah.* " Vishnu, who created the earthly regions, who
made fast the uttermost spheres,"' &c. " Homage to Vishnu,
who is the [root-born] self-existent [or primordial] architect of
the world and author of the creation, destruction and revolutions
of this world — homage to Vishnu, born of the Supreme Spirit"*
" Vishnu is in reality [' tatwam,' by nature, in sooth] Narayana,
Vishnu, Purusha, Golden -womb [golden egg]; in him and
through him the world stands."* " This ancient 'AH' [universe]
was [tamajam] born of darkness [chaotic night]. That Eternal
One, Bhagavan, makes all this universe. His form is unlike
anything else. No one ever saw him with the eye. The
Yogis [ascetics] worship the eternal Bhagavan," said Sanasu-
jata in his beautiful hymn.'
"The ruler of worlds is Brahmd."' To this, however, the
Shivatte answers : " There is One Supreme Lord of all, who
rules over all. Are other Brahmas on a par with him ? An
ape from the hills might as well govern the earth as they. The
Lord of all is above all other gods."* When the sage asked
the Spirit of Wisdom about the origin of the world, he
answered : " Heaven and earth, the water and all the rest, are
made like a hen's egg. Heaven above and the earth beneath
are, like an egg, the handiwork of the Creator Hormazd.
And the earth in it is like the yolk in the midst of the egg."»
[A distorted tradition of the passages from Manu, &c., above
given, told again differently in later times as follows : " Ka-
mabhuti told Vararuchi what he had heard in Ujjein on
Shiva's burying-place— how once Shiva's wife asked him why
' Taittireya Upan. Valli, ii, Anuv. vi. vii. . ' Maha Bh. Udyog. P.
■787—1790'-^ • Rig. V. ii. skta cliv. i. * Vishnu P. i. 2, 41, 35.
» Padma Pur.Jii. 17, xvi. 76. • Maha Bh. Udyog. P. 1738 sq.
' Narada Partchar. ii. 54. » Veinana, ii. 192, 193. » Mainyo i kh.
xliv. 1, 10.
ISO
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iii. 19
he delighted in skulls and grave-yards — to which Shiva
replied : At the end of a kalpa this world was all water. I
was wounded in the thigh, and a drop of my blood became an
egg in the water, whence Purusha [the first mould of man]
and Prakriti [nature] were born, and from them other beings,
and Pitamaha, the first man, whose head I cut off for his pride.
Therefore do I carry a skull ; and therefore also does the
world rest on my hands ; for the two halves of that egg made
the heavens and the earth."']
Better than that, let us hear Manu (B.C. 1000, 1200?) : " The
Rishis [sages] of old having approached Manu, who was sitting
in deep meditation, offered him their homage, and addressed
him suitably as follows : O thou worshipful, it behoves thee to
tell us exactly and in due order the nature and character of
all kinds of things [or of all castes] and of their various exist-
ence [or mode of production]. Thou alone, indeed, O Lord,
art acquainted with the original work, the essence and the
meaning of the Self-existent, Possessor [or Ruler] of all this
[universe], who is beyond our thoughts and infinite (or im-
mense). He [Manu] then, wrapped up in his own strength,
being thus addressed by those lofty-minded [or magnanimous]
men, bowed to them in return, and replied to them all as
follows : Hear me 1 This [universe] was enveloped [being,
existing] in gloom (or darkness), unknown, without a sign of
life, incomprehensible by reason, undiscerned — as it were,
altogether asleep."
" Then the invisible, adorable Self-existent made it appear ;
He, the Great Origin of all, and Mighty, showed himself forth,
dispelling the gloom — He who, inappreciable by sense, subtle,
imperceptible, eternal, pervading all things, beyond thought,
shone forth of himself Through desire, he wished to create
from his own body various creatures ; he therefore at the
beginning created the waters, and in them he created a seed.
This seed became an egg of gold, glistening with a thousand
' Somadeva, Katha s. sag. ii. 10.
iii. 19]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
151
rays. In that egg, Brahmi, the Great Father of all worlds;
was himself bom. Those waters were called ' Nara' [primor*
dial waters] ; for they are truly the [offspring] creation of
'NSrS' [the Eternal Spirit pervading the universe]; and be-
cause they were his first abode [or dwelling, resting-place], he
is called Narayana [dwelling, 'moving' (Gen. i. 2) on the
waters]. The Adorable One having entered that egg one
year, by meditation of himself, broke that egg in two. And
with those two shells he made [measured out] heaven and the
earth ; in the midst the atmosphere, the eight quarters of
waters, and a firm [enduring] place [firmament]. He then
brought forth [as an expansion] of himself. Mind that is and
is not [visible] ; and of Mind, individuality, and the counsellor-
lord [conscience],"' &c
"As to ' atheists,' the courtiers of Vikrama Sena said to the
atheist who came to his court : Ah, that sinner and villain,
where is he? Where does he come from? They said so
openly to him, with a laugh. Where, then, is heaven ? said
the atheist. Where is the family of gods ? and also. Where is
■another birth'? The Vedas and Puranas show proof that
they are the writings of deceivers, and deceive the whole
world. This world is unreal, and everything is deception.
To this the Vedanti answers : If, as you say, this world is
indeed false, yet still there it is, and abides, existing through
(or in) one true Brahm^ by whom this false appearance shines
forth in truth (or reality). To this the theologian [tarkika]
said : The Lord is measured by his supreme works and supreme
power in creating. If, therefore, this Lord does not exist, how
is this grand creation [universe] produced ? At the end the
atheist was unanimously ridiculed and condemned."'
The pjissages above quoted show plainly that, however gross
and distorted the popular worship and religion of India may
be, the educated Hindoo is taught to believe in one Eternal
' Manu S. i. 1 — 25.
' Vidwan Tarangini, p. 16 — 24.
«S2
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iii. 19
Spirit, Creator of the universe, and older than the names
Indra, Agni, BrahmA, Vishnu, &c.
So also in Egypt However degraded the popular religion
of Egypt may have been, in the worship of innumerable
gods suited to time and place, the Egyptian esoteric lore pro-
claimed one God, uncreated, self-existent and eternal — per-
sonified in the Sun as Ra, Kheper, and Turn or Atum, Sun of
the night — who existed alone in Nu, the chaotic waters, ante-
rior to the creation. He was worshipped under different
names, as Ptah in Memphis, Amun at Thebes, Osiris, &c. " I
am Tum, alone in Nu."* " I am Ra at his rising, Governor
of his own work." "I am the great God who has created
himself [in] the water that is in Nu." " Father of the gods,
he made them out of his members,"* &c.
"Amun who supports and maintains everything, Tum and
Har-em-khuti worship thee in all their words I Worship to
thee for thy dwelling [within] among us ! Prosternation to
the earth for thy having created us T" " The gods say to him :
Come to us in peace [welcome], thou who hast hung up the
heavens and moulded the earth, Maker of all things and Lord
of truth ; Father of the gods, Maker of men, and Creator of
animals."* "One and alone, without a second [a peer], he
created the earth, mountains, gold and silver,"* &c. " Heaven
was not created, neither was the earth, and the waters did
not flow. Thou hast formed [arranged] the earth, and hast
gathered together thy members that were scattered about, O
thou God, framer of the worlds."*
" Watcher, self-begotten ; Creator, uncreated ! all the crea-
tures [or creations] of the earth are according to the designs
of his heart — of him, the bringer forth of everything."' " Thou
smitest thy foes in thy name of First-bom."* " Men came out
of his [Amun's] eyes ; it is he who gives life to that which is
• Rit. of the Dead, c. xvii. 1. i. ' Id. 1. 3, 4. • Hymn to Am.
c. vii. ). 2, 3. * Id. pi. viii. 2, 3. » Id. 1. 5, 7. • Hymn,
Denkm. vi. 118 (aoth dyn.). ' id. ibid. • Pap. Har. ii. 11.
iii. 19]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
»S3
within the egg;"* "who creates himself and possesses the
earth from the beginning."' "Osiris made with his hand (or
arm) this earth, the waters and winds, all the vegetables, the
cattle, fowls, beasts, and all the creeping things thereof"*
" He created all countries, the wide sea, the fields, &c., in his
name of ' Creator of the earth.'"* "Amun abides in all things ;
that god began the earth according to his designs, plans,"' &c.
" O Amun, the first of time, warder of miserable man."* " He,
the one, who makes [existences] beings, and all things that
are."
" O Amun, God of gods, Maker of things that are invisible,
and of things that are visible, thou art the one who created at
first."* "Adoration to thee, O Ra-Tum [Neben netjer]. Lord
of all. Thou hast created things that exist ; thou hast made
the heavens and the earth."' " Thou maker of things above
and of things below."'" "Creator is his name. Lord of the
other gods."*' "I, Creator, am he who creates himself on his
mother's lap,"" " in the womb of his mother Nu."" [Compare,
" O undecaying, shiner, father, and born in thy mother's womb,"
said of the Sun,'* as also of Indra : "As a heifer brings forth a
calf, so Indra's mother brought him forth, full grown and
invincible.""] "She conceived him as the good Osiris, her
beloved [and her first-born],'* for all births are of her."'' " I am
the great God, who created himself" " I am yesterday, and I
know to-morrow."'*
" Thy son [Shu, rays of light, brightness of the sun] worships
thee in thy character of Creator of creations." " Thy son says
to thee : I am come forth from the brightness of my father ;
' Hymn Am. pi. vi. I. 3, 5. ' Pap. Har. iii. 10. ' Hymn to Osiris,
st&le of Amenh. (dyn. Amen. I.). • Denkm. vi. ' Pap. Har. iv. 6.
• Bologn. Pap. letter iv. Chab. M^I. ii. ' Hymn Am. I. 2, 7, &c.
« Pap. Har. i. I. 1, 3, 4. » Id. pi. xxv. 1. 3, 5. '» Hymn Am. 1. 7.
" Rit. of the Dead, c. xvii. (urtext). " Id. c. xxiv. i, and xvii. 4, 9.
" Pap. Har. v. 2. '• Sama Veda, Hymns, ii. 6, 7, 2, and Brugsch
Mon. Eg. vol. i. pi. xviii. " Rig. V. i. skta. xvii. 10, xx. 5.
" Rit. of the D. Ixxvii. 4. " Id. Ixix. 3. " Id. ibid. xvii. 3,- 5:
154
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iii. 19
I have created the human race of Nun. I hung up heaven ; I
raised the earth ; I go by the mysterious [hidden] paths he
made for me." * " Amun, ruler from the creation of the world " —
'* Lord of eternity."* The soul, in her passage through Amenti,
on her way to the judgment-hall, says : " I tread the ground
of Amru, which the Lord of boundless [or pathless) eternity
gives me. I am a seed of eternity."* " Things that are, I
hold in my fist ; things that are not, are within me."* " Men
do not know his name." " He is yesterday. His name is :
He who sees myriads of years."'
[The Egyptians, then, believed in One God, Creator of all
things, whom they worshipped under the various forms to
which they attached some of his attributes. With them the
world was not eternal ; it was created.]
As regards the Chinese, we read in the Tao-te-King :• "He
who hsis no name is the [beginning] origin of heaven and
earth ; with a name [nature ?], he is the mother of all things."
" Tching-tsze, in his Commentary on the Yih-king,^ says that
Heaven [kheen or theen] is so called with regard to its form,
supremacy [choo tih], spiritual energy [kwei shin], mysterious
influence [of spirits, shin]; and that this 'yuen' is the origin
of all things. It is the Yang [male] principle." " The way [or
principle] of Heaven is eternal [yuen] ; and this way consists
in being the first origin of all things ; in pervading them ; in
reason or in agreement among them [harmony, the rule of
the universe'] ; and lastly, in perfection and firmness. But
•yuen' [first beginning, eternal] is the origin of all things."'
We should, however, go back to the ancient records of
China, to the edicts of Yaou, Shun (B.C. 2300?), Woo-wang,
Wen-wang, &c., for a correct idea of what the religion of the
Chinese was in those days. They spoke of 'Heaven' [as in
Dan. iv. 17; S. Luke xv. 21, &c.] as 'high, imperial Heaven,'
• Hymn to the Deity, Denkm. vi. 118. ' Zeitschr. June, 1867.
' Kit. of the D. Ixii. 3. * Id. xxxi. 8. » Id. ibid. xlii. 12. • Ch. i.
» th. i. (Keuen). ' Chung y. c. i. • Siao-hio, pref.
iiL 19]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
»ss
" who sends blessings," " afflictions and calamities,"' according
to men's deserts ;* respecting which the emperor T'hang
" feared lest he had offended ' Heaven above and men below.'"'
" When Heaven is pleased, men are not visited with calamities,
and the ' kwey shin,' manes and spirits [inferior gods], keep
quiet"* Woo-wang, of blessed memory in China, was re-
spectful towards the dignity of Heaven, which was established
by Chaou.* In such a Heaven, " Shang-Te is supreme ruler ;
what he decrees, imperial Heaven accomplishes;"* "from
him, the Emperor [the Son of Heaven] receives his credentials,
office and dignity ;' and lastly, Shang-Te is above the spirits
of Heaven and of the earth, and to his mind [or heart] men
must submit."'
Nowhere [to my knowledge, at least] is he alluded to as
" Creator" of the world. Instead of which, we are told that
"when Chaos [hwan tun, confused waters] were separated at
the beginning. Heaven and Earth were first settled. ' Hwan
tun' expresses the state of things ere the Yang [male] and the
Yin [female] principles became separated [or distinct] and
settled ; it is called the opening of Chaos. ' Keen ' then became
Heaven, and 'Kwan' became the Earth."' "The light, airy
matter that floated upwards became Heaven ; the heavy and
muddy matter condensed and became Earth ; and the sun,
moon and five planets, are called the seven regulators."*' " The
deep and clear One, while Heaven and Earth were confused in
a mass, is original and not made, and yet perfects all things,
and is called the 'Great One.'" [This 'Great One,' says the
Commentary, is the Eternal Spirit who unites (or combines)
the whole.] " This whole proceeds from One who makes the
difference which exists between one creature and another —
birds, beasts, &c. And if we look into antiquity, we find that
> Shoo King, bk. i. 5. • Id. bk. iii. i. ' Id. bk. iii. 3.
• Id. bk. iv. I, 4. » Id. bk. v. 3. • Id. bk. vi. 4, iv. (i, &c., v. i.
' Id. bk. 1. 5, iii. 3, iv. 5, &c. ' Id. bk. iii. 2. » Yew-hio, voL i. c. i.
'» Id. ibid.
156
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iii. 19
at the first beginning man was produced from One without
form [who produced one with a form, Comm.]."»
" There is One who gives life [produces], but who himself is
not produced [eternal] ; and there is One who changes [the
form of things], but who himself is unchangeable. He who
is not produced [bom] can himself produce ; and he who is
unchangeable, yet changes what he will. The living One
cannot not-produce ; and he who is not produced is One and
alone."* " The unchangeable One moves to and fro ; there is
no end to his limit [infinite]; he is well said to be 'alone'
[One and alone] ; and his way cannot be brought to extremity
[is unsearchable or inexhaustible]." [The four seasons, says the
Commentary, change without end ; and there is no bringing
to extremity the work of that Spirit in effecting changes, &c.].
The Book of the 'Yellow Lord' [Kwang-Te] says: "The
Spirit of the Deep [unfilled] dies not ;" "therefore it is called
the eternal [or primordial] Mother ; the door [or opening] of
the eternal Mother." " Because he who produces is himself
not produced, and because he who works changes is himself
unchangeable; he, therefore, is himself life, change, form,
appearance [nature], wisdom, strength, old age [decrease] and
youth — and it is wrong to call these things such in themselves,
as if they were inseparable from him."'
" But since that which has a form is produced by One who
has none, whence came forth Heaven and Earth ? Therefore
it is said that there is One ' very great change,' ' beginning,'
origin and thickening [condensation]. The great change is
the original air of Heaven, principle, invisible. In the great
Beginning is the beginning of the ' khe' [force, power, original
Spirit, the first development of the 'khe']. When this 'khe'
and matter united (or came) together, it was waves and ripples,
waves and ripples [chaos]. If one listened, he heard nothing ;
if he looked, he saw nothing ; and reached to nothing."* "Yet
' Hm-ae-man-tsze, c. xiv. ' Lee-tsze, bk. i. p. i sq. * Id. ibid. p. 2.
* Id. ibid. p. 2.
iii. 19]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
»57
Heaven is but a handful of the Yang, and the Earth is but a
handful of the Yin. From Heaven hang the sun and the stars."*
" How great and magnificent is Shang-Te, who is the Sove-
reign of the people ! Heaven brought all people into exist-
ence."* "Shin," say the Japanese, "dwells in the 'Taka ma
no hara' [abode of the Kami, Lord] ; and the Lord God is in
the imperial Heaven. Heaven and Earth were mingled toge-
ther ; but the Earth sank to the bottom, and Heaven, being
lighter, rose up. And the gods of Heaven, making it their
abode. Heaven is the imperial (or ruling) kingdom. Heaven
was first completed, and after that the Earth was established."*
" Of old, the Yin and the Yang were not distinct. Nothing
existed [lit. all things were not produced]. It was all con-
fused, and Pwanko [the first fabulous man] was born in it,
like a chick in an egg."*
From all these passages, we do not gather that either the
Chinese or the Japanese show in their writings a clear idea of a
Creator, of a Creating Spirit, anterior to Chaos, from which
Heaven and Earth seem to have evolved themselves by the
simple process of gravitation. On this floating matter grew
reeds which became gods, who continued for seven generations.
After them, those reeds became men. The same legend re-
appears in Tibetan and also in Mongolian writings. For
more particulars, which would be out of place here, see Pfiz-
mayer's selection of original Japanese texts on the subject,
in his "Theogonie der Japaner" (Wien, 1864).
"As regards Buddhists," says the Rev. D. Gogerly,* "they
know of no creation. All Buddhas [samma sambhuddha] are
equal ; not even the Adi Buddhas are superior to Gautama.
Every one must go through a long training, during which he is
a Bodhisatwa. He must then be born of a woman in the world
of men." They only have legends and a variety of opinions
about it Thus Gautama says : " There are Samanas and
* Li ki, Li lin, c viii.
' Ko ji ki, iii. i. * Id. ibid.
• She King, vol. iii. bk. iii. ode i.
' Friend of Ceylon, Jan. 1874.
»58
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iii. KJ
Brahmans who hold that the world and the soul are eternal.
Others teach that some things are eternal, and others are not.
How so? There is a time, O Bikkhus, when after a long
lapse of years this world is destroyed. Then from the Abbhas-
sara Loka (the 6th, 9th and loth heavens) come ethereal
beings living on air and in the sky. Then after a long time
the world is reproduced and called ' Brahmavimanam,' or
abode of Brahma, a being who, from lack of sufficient good-
ness, com?s from the Abbhassara Loka. He wills, and another
bemg, like himself spiritual, springs into existence by the side
of him. Then the first says : I am Brahma, Great Brahma,
Master, Invincible, who sees through with certainty [omni-
scient] ; who brings everything into subjection ; Lord over
all ; Maker ['I am Maker of the world'— 'aha lokassa katta.'
Comm.]; the Creator ['the Earth, Himalaya, Mt. Meru, the
Ocean, &c., were created by me,' Comm.] ; the Best and Chief
if all ; the Disposer of all ; the Controller of all events ; the
;xisting Father of all things that can exist"'
" Others, called ' adhichchasamuppanika,' hold that there is
no previous cause for the existence of the world, of the soul,"
&c.« Then in the Dhammathat» [a Burmese code of the Laws
of Manu], we read as follows : " This present Buddha world
came into existence after the one before it had been destroyed
seven times by fire and once by water. Then the waters
,issuaged, and the abode ' Bhimabundothee,' the abodes of
ihe Brahmas, appeared [the superior celestial regions, of twenty
stages or stories— sixteen material, and four immaterial and
invisible]. The waters again decreased by reason of a great
wind ; and then something of a delicious taste and smell, like
unto the skin of rice boiled in milk ['like unto grease,' Jap.],
rose on the surface in shape like a lotus-leaf Then the earth
appeared, and with it the seat (or base) of the Bodhi-tree, the
tree of knowledge or wisdom, under which Shakyamuni at-
• Diga Nikaya, Brahmajala, sutt. fol. ke.
' Vol. i. introd.
' Id ibid. fol. km.
iii. 19J
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
159
tained Nirvana [Ficus Religiosa]. All such trees are objects of
veneration. The Bymahas, living without food, but like birds
enjoying themselves [in the air], were without distinction of
male and female ; those rational beings were only called
' thattava-thee,' 'beings.'' But when they had eaten of the
well-flavoured earth, their strength vanished away ; then the
sun rose in the east, and it was light ; and when it was set, the
moon showed itself; and then for the first time did days,
months, years and seasons begin. Then all the inhabitants of
the earth who ate of the pleasant earth became, some hand-
some, and others ugly. Then passions showed themselves
[among them], and the earth again disappeared. Then the
Padalatha creeper grew, and after it rice, delicious and like
the flower of jasmine. But by-and-by, owing to this coarser
food, the sexes appeared, and with them lust. And when
wickedness had increased, they quarrelled among themselves,
parted their rice-fields, and made Thamada king."
Elsewhere we read that " the Bodhisatwa being at Ser-skyei-
gjii [Kapila vastu], a number of Shakyas came to him, and
asked him to tell them the origin of their race. He then
desired Mangalya to do so, who said : Gautamas I this world
was full of brilliant beings in the region of the gods ; they
were endowed with perfection of mind and body, living in the
enjoyment of the purest food for a length of time. Then this
earth was only one sea of water ; and on this sea a thick
covering cream was produced by reason of a wind that blew ;
just as when one slowly heats milk and keeps it steady, a
thick cream forms on the top. In moisture and colour, that
earth was admirably suited to the mouth, smell and taste. It
was like fresh butter in taste, appearance and substance ; here
and there also it tasted like the honey of bees. Such was the
world, and so was it brought forth, Gautamas ! Afterwards
some of those beings, from some cause of less good and hap-
piness, put on flesh, and became men, from the luminous
' See Hesiod, op. and d. 108, 19.
i6o
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
'[iif. 19
region of the gods. They were endued with perfect qualities.
They first got their upper hmbs, and being resplendent of
their own light, they enjoyed soaring up to heaven and feed-
ing on that food. Then there was neither sun, moon, nor
constellations — only one star here and there — nor yet a woman.
Those beings went about one towards another quite coldly.
They had no passions ; they only ate of the cream as much
as would cover the finger-top ; and as they ate more and
more eagerly, they acquired a solid [stiflf] body. They were
all of one colour ; but their original brilliancy being diminished,
the world was obscured. Then appeared the sun, moon and
stars, for signs of years and days. As the colour of some of
those men altered, owing to their way of eating the ' cream,'
they became proud ; and as their pride increased, the moisture
of the earth decreased. Then they assembled themselves
together, and said : ' Kyihut bro 1 Alas, the taste !' whence
'kyihut' came to be the expression of pain and sorrow. He
who ate a double portion of the cream became of two colours.
And then these beings began despising and reviling one ano-
ther : ' I am of a good colour, but thou art of a bad one.' Hence
the origin of all evil passions, crime,"' &c.
The above legend is thus told in the Mongolian annals of
Sanang Setzen :* " In the very first beginning the outer sphere
(or universe), so called, consisted of three gatherings (or heap-
ings up) : aether, water and earth. Through the blowing of a
mighty wind from all quarters of space, resulted the soft, blue,
light element ; then the waters came from it and great clouds ;
and lastly, the earth that was an aggregate of small particles
gradually increasing by sevens, called 'altan djiriketu,' gold-
hearted, that floated on the surface of the water like cream on
the top of milk. [This is called in Japanese 'aragane tsuchi,'
first coarse earth, from which men were formed.] As to
animated beings in this world, a Tegri [god] came down from
the Dijan world to be born among men. From him were
' Dulva, vol. iii. p. 419 sq. ^ Ch. i.
iii. 19]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
161
born by emanation beings that were immortal, and did not
walk with their feet on the earth, but floated in the air. One
of them, of a greedy disposition, found some food called
• gecher on tusun,' ' earth butter,' of which he and the rest
ate ; and then the heavenly food 'samadhi' [Sansc. 'samadhi,'
profound meditation] disappeared. Then men fell into dark-
ness ; they lost their cfwn light, and evil began to prevail ;
and the sun, moon and stars then appeared to give light.
Then they found another food, ' noghogan,' vegetable, of which
all ate, and whence the sexes and lust appeared. Then came
another food, ' ssalu,' rice, which men cultivated as their only
food. And after much evil had prevailed on the earth, there
appeared a man remarkable for his goodness, whom they all
made king over them," &c.
Among the Altai Tatars it is said that "before the earth
was wrought out, all was water ; there was no earth, no
heaven, no moon and no sun. God flew about, and also a
being called ' Kishui,' like unto two 'qaraqaz,' black geese.
That being raised the wind and spurted water in God's face,
and tried to raise himself above God ; but he fell into the
water, and cried to God to save him. Then God caused a
rock to rise above the water, on which that being stood. Go4
then commanded him to fetch from the bottom of the sea
some earth, which God strewed over the water, and it became
land,'" &c. [Then follows a distorted and irrelevant account
of the fall, &c., that would be out of place here.]
We get, however, clearer ideas of the creation of the world
from the Avesta. Thus we read in the Ya^na :' " I praise
and magnify (or extol) Ahura Mazda, the living Creator of
all ; the luminous, brilliant, very greatest, most intelligent
and most pure, &c. ' Yo no dadha,' who created us, who
formed us, who provided for us [fed, protected us], who is
the Holy Spirit" ["who created all cattle, waters,"' &c.].
Then follows an invocation to nine Amehaspands [immortal
• Radloff, Altai legends, vol. iii. p. 159. * i. 1—3, iv. 12, &c. ' Id. v. i.
M
I62
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iii. 19
saints, archangels] inferior to Ahura Mazda, 'their Creator.'
" I offer in all purity to the stars, creatures (or creations) of
(^penta Mainyus, the Holy Spirit."^ [But in vii. 50, the crea-
tions of (^penta Mainyus are mentioned as distinct from the
' uncreated lights.'] " Teach me from heaven, with thy mouth,
O Ahura Mazda, [by whose word and good-will, &c.] the first
world came to be."' " My name is : I am Protector and
Creator [payuscha ahmi datascha]. Feeder and Reckoner [at
the last]. Who dwells in 'eternal, uncreated light,' in the
highest heavens, in the realms of a light which existed ere
the luminaries were created to give light on earth."' "[Ahura
Mazda] Anhuma, who is highest in all wisdom [knowledge]
and goodness, ever existed in light. This light, the place and
abode of Anhuma, is what is called 'athar roshan,' eternal
light"* [said to be in the fourth heaven' and the abode of
bliss.]
It might thus perhaps correspond to 'Cylch y Gwynfyd,'
circle of white purity and bliss, beyond which is 'Cylch y
ceugant,' or circle of infinity, that envelops the whole universe,
where God alone dwells, according to Bardic theology," and
that would thus seem to answer to the infinite, eternal light
of Ahura Mazda. The Mongols, however, hold that "one of
the heavens below that of Ishwara [Indra] is the heaven of
infinite, immeasurable light."^
However, Ahura Mazda himself declared unto Zarathustra
[that is, to his fravashi] what he had said " before heaven and
earth were created, and ere the body of the sun was made : I
who am Ahura Mazda bring souls thrice over the bridge"
unto Paradise ['vahistem, P. bahisht'], unto the best place,
best purity and best luminaries."'
Light seems evidently to have been the first object of
> Vagna, vii. 40. ' Id. xxviii. II. ' Hormuzd Yasht, 12.
* Bundehesh, ch. i. I. 6, 7. ' Just! s. v. • Barddas, vol. i. p. 170,
222 &c. ' Siim-tsew, fol. 10. ' Chinvat. Compare the 'ship'
of transmigration. ' Yagna, xix. 1—3, 10, 1 r, 16.
III.
'9]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
163
worship of the Aryans, Egyptians, Stc, who enjoyed the bless-
ing of a clear sky and brilliant sun. " We praise the luminaries
that have no beginning and control themselves."' [This must
refer to the 'eternal, uncreated light ;' because at ch. xxxvii. 3,
we find Ahura .Mazda praised as "Creator of light, of the
earth, and of all good."
And elsewhere : " We praise Ahura Mazda, the pure One,
Lord of the pure, the wise One, the greatest God [maz.
yazatem], the One most useful [to us] ; him who keeps the
world [going] ; the Creator of good creatures."^ "Zarathustra
asked Ahura Mazda : O most holy, heavenly [Spirit] Creator
of all beings in existence [with earthly forms or bodies], what
is the burden of thy speech, made ere heaven, the earth, men,
&c., were made?"' [From Ya^na xxiii. 3, and Vendid. xix. 46,
we find that Ahura Mazda has a ' fravashi,' ISia or type of a
being anterior to its existence [iSIa, jropdS«iy/io roii/ ytwatfievtov]*
styled in ch. xxvi. 3, ' paoiryanam fravashinam,' of former
fravashis, with which the fravashi of Ahura Mazda is here
coupled. What can it mean as regards him, if he is eternal
and anterior to all other existence ?]
In the Mainyo i khard' we repeatedly find "the all-good
Creator Hormazd" [Ahura Mazda] addressed in such terms
as, " Creator of the yazds of all creations of heaven and earth."
" The Creator Hormazd, said the Spirit of Wisdom, wrought
this creation and creations of Ameshaspands and the Spirit of
Wisdom, out of his own splendour, and in the praise of
unlimited time."" "And he created good government for the
protection of creatures."' "And he created them in wisdom,
with the original wisdom that was with him from everlasting."*
And in the Bundehesh, " Ahura Mazda created lights between
heaven and the earth, stars, planets, fixed stars, then the moon,
' Ya<;na, xvii. 41. * Ibid. xvii. 1, 2, 12, 26, 34; Vendidad, xix. 51,
58, &c. ' Ibid. xix. f, 2, 3. * Tinia;us Locr. i. ' Ch. i. i, &c.
• Ch. viii. 7. ' Ch. xv. 14. » Ch. Ivii.
M 2
■ 64
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iii. 19
and after that the sun,^ which is immortal ;' but he first created
the firmament."'
And in the Shah-nameh we read, that "in the days of
Gushtasp, Zerdusht [Zoroaster] came and was welcome, who
addressed the king thus : I am a messenger to thee from
Yazdan [God] to show the way. He then took a censer and
said, I have brought this from Bahisht [Paradise] ; the ' Jahan
Afreen,' Creator of the world, said to me : Take care of this.
Look at these heavens and at the earth ; for I have brought
them out without earth and water; and look at thy com-
panions [men] whom I have made ; for no one can do as I
do, who am 'Jahandar,' the holder [keeper] of the world, and
no one else. If thou knowest that I have done all this, then
proclaim me Creator of the world."*
As to the Greeks, Hesiod tells us that '' irpuTurra x<io% iyivtTo,
at the very first was Chaos ; after that, the earth ; from Chaos
came P^rebus [the nether world, hell] and dark night ; and
from night, aether [sky, atmosphere] and daylight, brought
forth by Night from her union with Erebus. Then the Earth
brought out Heaven of equal size with herself as a covering
for her."* And Homer : " Ocean —
— TTOTa/ioio pdOpa
HKtaVOV, OOTTtp ycl/ftrtS VavTOTITl TfTVKTat,'
was made the origin of all things." Aristotle, however, says
that "there is an old [apxatoi] saying and [irdrpioi] hereditary
among all men, that all things have come to us from God
and through Him [« 0. koI Sia 0.], and that no nature [</>wrts] is
of itself and by itself sufficient [ovTapKJ/s] to continue when
deprived of his preserving [or saving care, a-Mrripias] ;"'' "who
is the supreme Ruler, without whom not one thing in heaven
or on earth can take place ;"' icmv apa 0(6i, for there is indeed
a God.*
• Bundeh. ch. ii. ' Qarshed Yasht. 6. ' Ya^na, xxii. 25, xxv. 15, &c.
• Shah-nameh, iii. 1067. ' Hesiod, Deor. gen. 1 16 sq. • II. f 245.
' De Mundo, vi. 2. • Cleanthes, Hymn in Jov. 12—16. » Id. fragm.
Phil. Gr. ed. .\1. p. 153.
iii. 19]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
16$
"There are two causes of existing things," says Timaeus
Locrus, " Mind and Necessity [or obedience to the laws set by
the Mind], and this Mind, as origin and principle of all best
things, 0(6v T< 6voiiaivt(T0at, is called God. Before heaven
existed, then, there was [Aoycji] with [or in] Reason [i.e. God],
ISia Kal vka, both "plan [design] and matter,' and God was
Safiioupyos, the Maker of the best things. 'Ewot-qtrtv tSy rbv Si
Toi' Kocr/iov, He therefore made up this world of all matters,
perfect, and of the most perfect form in itself — that is, a sphere.
For God wishing to make it apia-rov yei/kw/io, the best produc-
tion, produced it from Himself, never to be destroyed or
injured without the will of Him who made it. And God rH
Kodfiif ^wX"" /^wo^t" i^d^ai, having kindled a soul in the
midst of this world and within it, brings it out, in the multitude
of forms and beings in it. 0e6v Si, rbv ftlv al<ivtov v6oi oprj
/idvof, Tiav atrdvriav a.p\ayov Kal yev^Topa Tovribiv' rov Si yevvarov o\j/ti.
opiofiti, Koo'/ioi' T< rovSt Kal ra iiepia ovToG : the mind alone, then,
sees the eternal God, the Author and Originator of all these
things ; for we see with our eyes the things come from (or
brought forth by) Him [ytyraroi'], to wit, this world and the
sundry portions thereof."' [Compare Rom. i. 20 ; 2 Pet. iii. 5 ;
Ps. liii. I.]
[" Haec igitur cum cernimus,'' " therefore when we consider
these things," says Cicero, " possumus dubitare, quin iis praesit
aliquis vel effector, si haec nata sunt, ut Platoni videtur, vel si
semper fuerunt, ut Aristoteli placet, moderator tanti operis et
muneris?" "can we entertain a doubt as to whether or not
they have One to bring or work them out, if they were born,
according to Plato, or if, according to Aristotle, they always
existed, some Moderator or Ruler of so great a work of such
functions?" "Sic mentem hominis, quamvis eam non videas,
ut Deum non vides, tamen ut Deum agnoscis ex operibus
ejus ; sic ex inventione etc. vim divinam mentis agnoscito."*
' Timaeus Locr. de An. Mundi, p. 549, ed. G.
Tusc. Quaest. i. 28.
1 66
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iii. 19
"As thou acknowledgest God, whom thou seest not, through
His works, see also the divine energy of the mind, in what it
does." Better that than this of Lucretius :
" Nullam rem a nihilo gigni divinitus unquam :''
" Nothing is ever brought out of nothing by divine agency.
Some things, indeed, are thought to be wrought by a divine
Being [numine], yet if we consider, we must conclude that,
however wrought, it is without divine help."']
" And with this universe," continues Timaeus Locrus, " God
made also Time, which is ruled by the sun, moon and
stars, all of which did not exist before this created [yevvaroi]
universe. But this Time is a figure [«i<t<5i'] tw dyevvaToi xpo>"^.
of the unborn (or uncreated) Time, oi' aluva norayoptvofia,
which we call Eternity."' " M^ ovros yap rov xpovov, ovrt xotr/iot
icrrlv' Ik yap Trjs "PX^* ''''''' X/""""" ° f o<r/ios lyivtro. eois ov ^povos Kot
Kwriio%. If there was no Time, there would be no universe ;
for it was from the beginning of Time ; the two go together."*
Now for Plato :* " That alone which moves [has life in]
itself, and fails not, is the n-ijyij ical opxij, the source and prin-
ciple [or beginning] of that life in all things that [move or]
live through (or by) it." " Principii autem," as Cicero renders
this passage, " nulla est origo ; nam e principio oriuntur omnia,
ipsum autem nulla ex re alia nasci potest ; nee enim esset id
principium, quod gigneretur aliunde. — Cum pateat igitur aeter-
num id esse, quod se ipsum moveat, quis est, qui hanc
naturam animis esse tributam neget ?"* " Let us then tell,
first, the First Cause through which all this universe came
into existence. He was good ; and being Himself outside it
all, He wished to make it most like Himself. And this is the
origin of this world most approved by the wisest men — God,
willing to make everything good, and seeing that matter as it
then appeared had no rest, but moved to and fro, irAjj/t/itA<3s
" Lucret. i. 151. ' Tim. Locr. p. 551, 552. Compare Zervana aqarana,
'unlimited Time,' Vend. xix. i, and Kala nitya, 'eternal Time,' Tarka
Sangr. 11. ' Phumutus de N. D. p. 142. • Phfedr. 51. » Tusc. Q. i. 23.
iii. 19]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
167
Ka\ droKTcw, at random and in disorder, tU rS^iv ainh r}yay€v Ik
T^« (iTo^tM, brought it out of confusion into proper order,
judging that this was the best of all."' [Compare K6<rp«v
(>fvxov with the passages above quoted from Indian writings.]
" lUud modo videto," says Cicero, "ut Deum noris, etsi ejus
ignores et locum et faciem."' " Forget not," says Pindar to
Arcesilas, on another occasion,
" navTi piiv 0(ov aiTiov inrtpTiOiptv,
"to refer to a God the cause of everything."' "EU flfSs iv
ff<jKTC(r<r. :♦ there is one God in all things." [This may also
mean, • one God in all the other gods,' that were looked upon
as personifications of His various attributes. So that I may
be allowed to repeat, that we ought not to take needless
offence at the frequent mention of d^oi, dii, alternately with
fleos, deus, in the mouth of such men as Plato, Pindar, Socrates,
Cicero, &c. It was a mere idiom with them, as also with
Ptah-hotep, who addresses his 'neteru,' gods, and worships
his • neter,' god Osiris ; and as it was also with Moses and the
prophets, who used wnbii, 'gods,' for God ; with this differ-
ence, however, that D^nb^ is almost always construed with a
verb in the singular, whereas in the other instances the v>erb
is made to agree with its subject, whether singular or plural.]
'"Eis to-T oiJToyei/^S, ecos Ixyova Travra TtTUKTai : There is One
born of Himself [fons ipse sui] ; all things were made by that
One"* [or originate from, or out of. Him.]
" 6«os o vavra t(vx<^v — cis (CTTi,
God, who makes (or does) all things, is One,
IIoi'Ta 6tov TrXjjpjj, irdvTuiv iripai fO-Tt Kal apxrj,
wdvTa <f>epiDV.
All things are full of Him ; He is the end and the beginning
of all things ; He who supports the whole universe." But it
• Timffius, V. and vi. » Tusc. Q. i. 29. ' Py'h- v. 30-33-
• Aglaoph. Orphica, ed. Lob. vol. i. p. 44o. ' Orphica, ibid. p. 439-
• Quoted by Didym. Al., Dc Trinit. iii. c. i. and ii.
168
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iii. 19
would be useless to multiply quotations ; they are but drops
from the ocean. Only one more : " Since then," says Plotinus,
" this universe has an origin [ytKo/ievos], while thou beholdest
it, only listen, and thou mayest hear it say to thee, ifu itcjtohjk*
o tfeos, God made me."'
According to the Kalevala, "the beautiful 'ilman tytto,'
daughter of the air [sky], getting weary of her solitude in the
wide waste, came down to the earth, conceived of the wind,
but was not delivered for 700 years. At last she cried to
' Ukko ylijumala,' Ukko, God on high, bearer of the whole
air [sky], to come to her aid. Then came at once the bird
Sotka [Anas clangula, L.] seeking a place for her nest. The
sea-mother raised her knee above the water, and the bird,
taking it for a moss-grown island, laid there six eggs of gold
and one of iron, and sat on them. The sea-mother feeling
the heat, withdrew her knee under water, into which the eggs
rolled. But they were not wasted. They brake asunder ;
the lower half became the earth, and the upper half heaven.
The yolk became the light of the sun ; of the white [of the
clear, walke aista] came the light of the moon [moonshine]; the
pied part of the egg became stars, and clouds were formed of
'troubled' portion of the egg. Then the daughter of the air
went on making headlands, bights, &c., and at last the first
man, ' Wainamoinen,' was born, who crawled ashore and stood
up."*
Then in the second book,* we have an account of wheat-
sowing for the food of man, &c. Elsewhere we read that
" Ilmarinen made the expanse of heaven, and made the
coverlid thereof so well as to leave no ' wasaran jalki,' mark
of the hammer nor trace [mark] of the tongs."* ["Of old,"
says the Vala, "in the place where Ymir dwelt, there was
neither sand nor sea, nor cold waves ; the earth was found
nowhere, nor high heaven, ' gap var ginnunga ;' it was a yawn-
> Plotin. Ennead. iii. lib. ii. c. 3. ' Kalevala, i. 103—344-
> 1. 1—42, 287—330. * Id. vii. 337.
I9l
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
169
ing [gap or] chasm [chaos], ere the sons of Byr had raised
the vault of heaven. Then the yEsir [gods] met, built furnaces
and forged tongs and made tools, to proceed to the formation
of things in general," &c.'] Further on, however, in the
Kalevala,* we find God Most High addressed as, " Himself,
' ilman suuri luoja,' as the great Creator of heaven," &c.
Amid these and other opinions about the origin of all
things, it gives rest and peace to the mind to hear " the Scrip-
ture of truth" (Dan. x. 21) declare that they were right who,
following the lead of their own common sense only, taught
that this universe was created out of nothing by an All-wise,
All-good and Almighty Creator, who severed time from eter-
nity when " He spake and it was done ; He commanded and
it stood fast;" for "all things were created by Him, and in
Him all things consist" (Ps. xxxiii. 9; Col. i. 17)-
"That word," say the Bards, "was God's own name which
He pronounced, and with it at once produced light and life.
Menw [Menu] the son of Menwyd, *a weles dardd y goleuni/
saw the springing of the light, and the shape.and appearance
of it ; it was no other than this /|\ in three columns. And in
the rays of that light were heard sounds of words ; with these
words was life, and with life the power of God the Father.
Menw thus obtained three notes or letters, with which he
formed the name of God, in likeness to the rays of that light ;
and he perceived that they were the form and sign of life, and
that their sound was O for the first ray, I for the second, and
W (or U) for the third. So that OIW [OIU] is the name of
God wherewith He created all things."' So far the Bards, as
they received it from the Druids.
" He willed. He made," says the Uighur ; " one single ' Be I'
said He, and all that was made did exist. O mighty God
[knowing Intelligence], Thou alone deservest the name."* " I
bow," says the Buddhist, " to that transcendent [paramit] Intel-
• Voluspa, 3, 4, 7, &c. » Ch. xlvii. 51. ' Barddas, vol. i. p. Iii,
17, 28, 76, &c. « Kudat ku Bil. iii. 4, 6.
I70
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iii. 19
ligence [wisdom or knowledge], the producing [or creating]
Mother of all;" "the great Mother of all the Tathagatas"
[Buddhist saints, who have reached the opposite shore into
Nirvana.]' "That holy Spirit, Ahura Mazda," say the Parsees,
"who has given us purity [holiness] and immortality, has
wrought his works with the two hands of Armaiti [wisdom], and
is, in his own wisdom, the father of purity." "Thus hast thou,
holy Spirit, Ahura Mazda, created, with the power of Armaiti
and of Asha [purity, holiness], who waits readily on those who
wish it"' Omar ben Suleyman says "that David is reported
to have asked God why He had created the world, to whom God
replied : I was a hidden treasure ; but wishing to show myself,
1 created the creation in order to make myself known."*
" IIoi'vjrt^TOTt, SCiTop ia^ov, O Most High," exclaims Calli-
machus, " Thou giver of good things,
AbJTop aTTijfiovirfi, Tta 8 (py/JLara Ti's Ktv duSoi,
Thou giver of peace and safety, who can rehearse and praise
Thy works ?"* " Look up to heaven," says Asaph, " and down
to the earth, and take their pledge, and delight thyself in the
Lord who has given thee knowledge and understanding to
look on His delightful works, and search His temple [of
nature]. Know Him according to [from] His works, and thou
wilt love Him more and more ; and if thy understanding
attains unto some of His wisdom in that which He has formed,
then tell His wisdom and sing aloud His praise."* "O Lord,
my Lord," quoth Ezra,* " Thou tellest of Thy first government
of this world, when Thou saidst, Let there be heaven and
earth, and Thy word did the work. Thou art Spirit ; Thou
didst overshadow it and fill it."
" O Lord, how manifold are Thy works ! In wisdom hast
Thou made them all ; the earth is full of Thy riches."' It
is 'the Book' open to all, in which he that runneth may read,
• Siim-chung, introd. and p. 12. ' Ya^na, xlvi. 1, 2, 6. ' Nujuhat
erruw. pref. * Callim. iic A. 91. ' Mishle Asaph, v. 8.
• IV. Ezra (Eth.) iv. 41. ' Ps. civ. 24.
iii. 20]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
171
if he will. But many will not. Thus the poor Buddhist and
his withering creed : " From what time, then, have we, living
beings, been under the illusions of this world ? We have been
in these illusions from a time without beginning."' So taught
Hotoke [Buddha], "who was once a man,"' "born on the
fourth day of the eighth month."' But we have the better
faith that even this beautiful world will make room for " new
heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness."
20 By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and
the clouds drop down the dew.
" By his knowledge" &c. nSfJD?, ' are split,' ' cleft asunder.'
" Four keys are in possession of the Lord of the whole earth :
the key of rain, the key of food, the key of death, and the
key of barrenness."* " And the Spirit of dew has his dwelling
in the extremities of heaven ; he is in relation with the Spirit
of rain. Yet if the Lord shuts up the windows of heaven,
and prevents the rain and the dew from falling upon the earth
for your sakes, what will you do?"*
"Indra orders the Maruts [winds], and they, whose duty
is to send rain, as quick as thought harness their spotted
deer, and send rain from the radiant sun, and water [moisten]
the earth like a hide."" " Sindhu [Indus, Indra], who hears
us favourably, who fertilizes our fields with his waters."^
" Indra filled with sweet water the four rivers that ' meander'
over the earth to fertilize it (Schol.)."« " O thou, showering
Indra!"' " Thou didst open the receptacle of waters [clouds].""*
" When as yet the waters had not come down upon the earth,
then Indra took his thunder-bolt, and with its brightness
milked from darkness clouds in the form of cows.""
• Tonilkhu yin ch. 1. ' Heike Monag. i. p. 10. ' Nakegi no
Kimi, p. 55. * Kharuz. Penin. i. 43- ' Bk. Enoch, Ix. 20, c. 2.
• Rig. V. i. skta. Ixxxv. 4, 5. ' Id. ii. skta. cxxii. 6. ' Id. i. skta. Ixii. 6.
• Id. ii. skta. cxxxix. 6. " Id. i. skta. li. 4. " '" '' '' ""
10, and Ixxxiv. 10.
>' Id. i. skta. xxMiii.
172
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iii. 20
"Yo vrisha— vrishabha : Who sprinkles the earth," &c.
"According to some," says Phurnutus, "Jove is called A«u«,
Ta^a airo tou Sci'«ii' t^v ■y7}»', probably for his watering (or wetting)
the earth."* [We may compare 'vrishabha,' the bull, as hus-
band of the earth, with Apis and his seven kine ; and Api-mu
or Hapi-mu, Nile, as husband of Egypt. " Hail, O thou good
god Hapi-mu, lover of Nun, and father of gods [crocodiles,
fishes, frogs, ibises, &c.], thou givest food to all Egypt ; thou
art he who creates himself; no one knows whence thou art."']
" Rain is the earth's husband."' "Tears from heaven on the
dry ground."* " The Yinof itself cannot bring forth, and the
Yang alone cannot bring up ; but the Yin and the Yang join-
ing together rain down upon the earth ; as also man and wife
rear up a family." [" This union of the Yin and Yang takes
place in the space between heaven and the earth. The one
[Yang] is active and the other [Yin] is quiet [passive, Comm]."*
"The gathering together of the waters happened in this
wise," says the Buddhist. " In the very beginning, the universe
consisted of air [aether], water and the earth. The blowing of
winds from all quarters brought out the clear blue sky ; and
the waters were brought out by a large cloud, wrought by the
motion of the atmosphere, which, by continually discharging
rain, made the salt sea and also the boundless ocean;"' — '><ya
a-6ivoi 'ilKtavoio, the mighty ocean, whence all the rivers, and
all the sea, with the fountains and wells, are derived."' "The
clouds once risen up, drop down rain ; and dew, being frozen,
makes hoar-frost."* "And the dew in vales, o-TiAjrvoi Upaai^
is ' Meldropa,' the drops of foam from the horse Hrimfaxi."'"
"I," said Indra to the Maruts, "created all these sparkling
and flowing waters for the sake of man."" "I," says the
Parsee, "worship (or bow to) the good waters, and all the
' Phum. de N. D. 2. ' St. of Nile, Geb. Silsileh. Zeitschr. Dec. 1873.
• R. Jehudah, Taanith B. Fl. Yalkut in Is. Iv. * Bostan, bk. ii. p. 35.
' Ku-sze-tsin yuen, vol. iii. p. I, and Yew hio, vol. ii. p. 25. • Ssanang
S«<2. p. I- ' II- f' 195- ' ('Un den s. mon. 33—40. » II. T 351.
'0 Vafthrudrismal. xiv. " Rig. V. ii. skta. cx.\x. 5.
iii. 20]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
»;3
waters given by Ahura Mazda."' "O Creator 1" said Zara-
thustra, "dost thou bring about waters with wind and clouds?
I, who am Ahura Mazda, bring the waters with wind and
clouds to my trees of all sorts, and I cause (the clouds) to
rain (on) food for the pure [holy, righteous] man, and on
pasture-land for the well-made cow; corn for the food of
man, and the grass of the field for the well-made cow."*
According to the Bundehesh, Tistriya [Tistar, Sirius ?], who
presides over the rain, caused it to rain upon the earth for the
growth of plants that grew like 'hair on a man's head ;' when
during the war waged by Angra Mainyu [the evil spirit], " rain
fell upon the earth in drops the size of a plate or dish,"' &c.
" What is the best of all things that drop down ?" asked the
Yaksha of Yudhishtira. " Rain," answered Yudhishtira, " is the
best of all things that fall ;"• " and Indra is the best of all
rainers."'
The emperor Shun said to his ministers : " Well, the ground
is now in order, but Heaven must perfect [the work, 'give
the increase']."' This was said by the emperor Shun to the
great Yu, in days when the religion of China was more pri-
mitive and referred everything to the rule of Heaven, with
Shang-Te as supreme Ruler there over inferior gods and
spirits. In later times, however, we find all allusion to heaven
left out in Kang-he's sacred edict, fourth maxim, about the
tillage of the ground, paraphrased at length by Kang-he's son,
Yung-Ching, and by Wang-yew-po. Still it is yet true that
"the heavens rule" (Dan. iv. 26), whence "He that dwelleth
therein gives us rain and fruitful seasons" (Lev. xxvi. 4;
Acts xiv. 17), however much men may choose to forget it.
"Who governs the earth?" asked king Milinda of Kassapa.
" The earth, O great king, [protects or] governs the world,"
answered Kassapa.' Nay, but rather : " We will here worship
» Yaqna, i. 39. ' Vendid. v. 50, 62 sq. ' Bundehesli, ch. vii. and \x.
« Maha Bh. Vana P. 17341. ' Id. Virat P. 43- ° ^hoo King, iii. 7.
' Milinda pan. p. 4.
»74
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iii. 21
Ahura Mazda, who created cattle and purity, who created
the waters and all good trees."'
21 My son, let not them depart from thine eyes:
keep sound wisdom and discretion :
"Let not 'them' depart" 1T^^ Vh must refer to 'her ways,'
V. 17, which is of com. gender; whereas 'commandments,'
V. I, is fem. in Hebrew, and cannot agree with tt^J, masc. See
above for "wisdom"' and "discretion;" and here add the
following :
"Observe," says Borhan-ed-din, "thy teachers and their
advice, and continue instant in prayer. Pray to thy God, and
He will keep thee and support thee ; He will keep thee by
(or in) His favour, for God is a good keeper.'"' " Happy js
he," says San-choo, "who overcomes disrespect by respect;
but he whose want of respect gets the better of him, is indeed
miserable (or odious)"' [meaning that self-respect is the root
of discretion]. "A respectful disposition without discretion,"
says Confucius, "will become a labour ; a truthful disposition
without discretion will become a source of uneasiness ; manly
courage without discretion will turn to rebellion ; and sincerity
without di.scretion will become self-strangulation."* " Gracious,
friendly intercourse with men, is alms given to God," says the
prophet. "One-third of life consists in friendly intercourse
with others." " Deal kindly [decorously, discreetly] with them,
and you will live at peace."' " Since propriety of conduct
[discretion] gives excellence, hold it fast as if it were your life.
Though a man may have many virtues and shine in them,
yet let him cherish, hold and preserve discretion [good man-
ners], for it will be a very great assistance to him. Propriety
of conduct is real nobleness of birth ; but the want of it will
lower a man to be one of very mean extraction. Through
propriety of conduct men obtain greatness (or excellence) ;
' Ya^na, vi. 1.
* Shang-Lun, viii. 2.
• Borhan-ed-din, xi. p. 140,
» Eth-Thcalebi, 256.
' Siao-hio, iii.
iii. 22]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
175
but through a want of it they get intolerable disgrace. Pro-
priety is the seed of virtue ; but impropriety brings shame
and trouble.'"
" not depart" &c. " Constantly bearing in remembrance the
Law, is a door to religion, and the teaching thereof leads to
entire purity.'" "And the weeping of a man out of love for
God, is cooling to his eyes."'
22 So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace
to thy neck.
"5o shall they be lifer D^^n, though idiomatic, may yet
mean ' lives.' both present and to come, since " godliness has
the promise of both" (ch. viii. 35 ; i Tim. iv. 8).
" Virtue, the greatest prize among men, K6.XKt.ar6v re <^ipuv
ylyviTa.1 avhpl viif> shines most when worn by a young man."*
" Good-nature is the ornament of power ; gentle speech, that
of valour ; tranquillity, that of knowledge ; humility, that of
contemplation ; judicious liberality, that of wealth ; freedom
from anger, that of devotion ; patience, that of strength ; and
sincerity [guilelessness], that of virtue ; in all these, the moral
character that works it all is its chief ornament."' " Yet what
need is there of ornaments where there is modesty [or bash-
fulness]?"' "But let neither moderation [or economy] nor
excellence, pure thoughts, and a retiring disposition, leave
thee by degrees (or for) an instant."^ For " there is neither
measure nor number of the blessings attached to the observ-
ance of moral duties. In like manner as the sea is both
without measure and without limit, so also is the happiness
that results from moral duties well observed both immea-
surable and unlimited."" "Virtues protect him indeed who
practises them ; virtues well performed (or practised) bring
» Cural, xiv. 131— 138. » Rgya-tcher r. p. iv. p. 22. > Nuthar
ellal. 15. * Tyrtseus Ath. iii. 13- ' Nitishat. 80. • Id. 18.
' Gun den s. mon. 377- ' Dsang-Lun, c. xvi.
176
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iii. 23
happiness with them."* "The Spirits defend (or protect) the
good man," says Tai-shang in his 'Kang-ing-pien ;' they
"defend and protect him spiritually" [or wonderfully, as ren-
dered in Mandchu]. " The spirits follow him everywhere," says
the Commentary, "who venerates 'Tao-Te'; who is sincere
and honest, upright and equitable ; who is chaste ; who holds
to [female or] deep virtue [yin-te] ; and who excels in doing
good. The spirits cannot do otherwise than protect him."*
[This is said in modern Chinese. In the Shoo King, ' Heaven'
and Shang-Te would take the place of 'the Spirits' [shin],
which are inferior to both and under their control]. "Obedi-
ence is loved of God ; but He hates disobedience. He who
hearkens [to Him] is loved of Him ; but he who does not
hearken is hated of him," says Ptah-hotep.'
23 Then shall thou walk in thy way safely, and thy
foot shall not stumble.
nwa^, 'safely,' lit. ' in confidence'; ^ian rib, 'thou shall not hurt
thy foot' (against a stone, &c., as in Ps. xci. 12).
" Then shalt thou" &c. " Make me acquainted, O you two,
Mazda and Asha, with the two laws [Avesta and the Com-
mentary], by means of which I may walk in company with
Vohu-Mano [holy Spirit] ; and teach me the offering and
praises you have given as a help to immortality and of fulness
[in you]. Cleanse me, O Lord, and give me strength (or
power) through Armaiti [wisdom]."* "O Indra, thou who
knowest [the way], lead us to a place of bliss, of light and of
safety."' " For he who is well informed of the place where
thou [Shiva?] dwellest, will forsake every earthly path; his
foot shall not stumble ; and he will soon attain his object."*
" For it is impossible for those who are not joined by deep
' Durenidh. Jataka, p. 31. ' Shin-sin luh. 1. p. 98. ' Pap. Pr.
xvi. I. 6, 7. * Yaqna, xliii. 8, 12. ' Rig. V. Mand. vi. skta. ccccxix.
• Vemana, iii. 88.
iii. 23]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
177
meditation to the feet of Him who is the Sea of virtue, to
swim the other sea [of transmigration]."'
" I say this to thee," said Yudhishtira to Draupadi : " Doubt
not virtue [dharmam, religion] ; he who doubts it [who does
not trust it] follows the way of brutes. For he who does not
obey religion (or virtue), finds authority in nothing else."*
" By it men are saved from many errors, and by it the spirit
within us is comforted."' It gives light. "The pearl which
king Tchakravartin possessed — his treasure — when placed on
the top of his standard gave light in darkness, and in thick
darkness, for one 'yojana' [seven miles] around. Then every
man could see his fellow, and knowing one another, said :
Come, let us go up ; the sun is risen,"* &c. "As a cart cannot
proceed if placed athwart, so also if reason and justice are
turned aside [through want of wisdom], reasoning cannot be
understood [and the walk is not upright and safe]."'
Then begin well ; " for the beginning of a man's life is the
title of his book [tells what he will be]."* " Wilt thou not be
afraid of enemies and of dangers by the way," said Mitra Dzogi's
parents to him when he left them to become an ascetic, " while
thus wandering abroad?" "No, father," answered Mitra; "I will
give way to them at once ; and I will patiently and earnestly
follow the path of salvation."' "Teach the words of the
past," said Osiris to Ptah-hotep ; "so shalt thou make them
[moral] food for children and for men. He that hears (or
hearkens to them) will walk in all uprightness of heart."' "As
to what I have written," said Kaqimna, " if they lay it to heart
it will do them more good than anything else in the whole
earth, whether they walk or sit down [move about or stay at
home]."'
" Make provision for the way, when starting in life ; and
piety is a good provision for that journey.""* " For even in a
' Curat, i. 8. ' Maha Bh. Vana P. 1165, 1 175. ' Borhan-ed-d. p. 74.
* Rgya-tcher, c. iii. 15. ' Jap. prov. Pag. p. 513. "El Nawab. 125.
,' Mitra D?.nji, p. 3. • Pap. Pr. v. 1. 5. » Id. iii. I. 7. '" Qoran, ii. 198.
N
178
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iii. 24
man's walk it is seen if he is wise and understanding, or fro-
ward and foolish."' " But he stumbles in his walk whose hope
is not in God ; God alone is enough ; all else is only wandering
about [desire for what we cannot have]."' "A heart that has
no disorderly [loose] thoughts ; a foot that has not a froward
gait ; a man who holds no bad intercourse ; and things that
require no ill-treatment [are to be praised]."'
24 When thou Hest down, thou shalt not be afraid :
yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.
" WAen thou Hest down" &c. "N^Su/ios, /itiXixio? iln-i'o!."*
" He who submits to his destiny [to the commands of Ishwara,
si. 12021], sleeps in peace and free from anxious thoughts;
but a foolish man melts away like an unbaked jar in water,"
said Yudhishtira to Draupadi.' " He sleeps according to what
he has done," said Bhishma to Yudhishtira, speaking of a man's
conduct' "Arise ; tarry not," said Gautama ; " practise virtue
assiduously ; follow not evil ways. The Dhammachari [or
virtuous, religious man] sleeps [rests] in peace in this world
and in the next also."' " For anxiety of mind can only be
removed from those who are united to the feet of Him who is
without the like."' " It is by observing the early or late hour
at which a man rises in the morning and retires to rest in the
evening, that you may know his prosperity or his decline."*
" For sleep is one-sixtieth of death"'" — " it is death unripe.""
'YTrvos S« Qa.va.Tov Tts 7rpo/teX€Tijo"ts TreXti :
" Sleep is a practice beforehand of death;" "to. nixpa. tov Oavarov
lixxrrrjpia :" it is 'the small mysteries of death.'"
All very true ; for while asleep, we are dead to our own
possessions, whatever these be, and to all around us. Thus a
• Rabbi M. Maimon. Halkut Ue'ot. iv. 8. • Rishtah i. juw. p. 149.
» She King in Ming Sin paou Kien, pt. i. c. 5. * II. * 9'. &<=.
» Maha Bh. Vana P. 1215. • Id. Shanti P. 6752. ' Rajavanso Jat. p. 90.
• Cural, V. 7. • Hien w. shoo, m8. " Berach. 57. " Midrash
Rab. in Gen. 17, M. S. " ^<-f- !"»'■
ii. 24]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
179
great portion of our life is spent in utter oblivion of it, a daily
reminder of the longer sleep in the grave. In the Golden Agej
Ovrja-Kov 8' (OS virvif StS/irnxivoi,'^ " they died as if overcome with
sleep." It is probably from the ominous or mysterious state
of sleep that the 'daeva,' demon Bushyangta was supposed to
preside over it, and to send it over the world awake. " Up, O
ye mankind ; praise the best Purity [Ahura Mazda] ; the daevas
are driven away. That long-handed female demon Bushyangta
sends back again to sleep the living world that had risen at
dawn. Long sleep does not become man."'
It is from the utter helplessness in which we are while
asleep, that "trust alone in Him who watches over us" can
make it sweet. As such, sleep was praised as the gift of God,
thus : " We praise the strength given to man from above, and
we praise sleep given by Mazda, a joy for man and beast."'
As such, sleep is a/ijSpoo-ios, [itX[<j>pb)v* ambrosial, sweet or deli-
cious ; ijSu/tos,* pleasant ; PaOv^," deep ; Xva-UaKoi,' that puts an
end to trouble ; vyUia piov, health of life ; o-w/iaTos a-unrjpia,^
health or saving of the body, &c.
While, on the one hand, we read,
" Stulte, quid est somnus, gelida; nisi mortis imago
Longa quiescendi tempera fata dabunt ;"'
on the other, we have,
" Somne, quies rerum, placidissime, somne, deoruni,
Pax animi, quem cura fugit, qui corpora, duris
Fessa ministeriis mulces, reparasque labori !"'°
"Peaceful sleep is for the good and gentle."" For others:
" The eye sleeps, but the pillow wakes."" But " sleep at peace
[in confidence] ; so Hest thou on the softest bed."" Therefore
is "the sleep of the labouring man sweet," free from care.
" Wealth is the rich man's god ; but sleep is the poor man's
feast."'* "And Madhukundali, when dying of sickness, his
' Hesiod, '. rai ij. 116. ' Vispered, xvlii. 37. ' Ibid. viii. 16.
* II. fi' 19, 34. ' Simonid. 172. • Callim. ' Theogn. 468.
• ri-iD/i. /lof. • Ovid, Amor. ii. 41. '" Id. Met. xi. 623. " Khar.
Pen. xxii. 9. " Malay pr. " Nuthar ellal. 240. " Finnish pr.
N 2
i8o
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iii. 25, 26
heart being full of faith, passed away like a man asleep to
waking up, when he found himself in the Tavatinsa Nat
country."'
25 Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the deso-
lation of the wicked, when it cometh.
26 For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall
keep thy foot from being taken.
iboD?, rendered 'thy confidence,' is lit. 'at thy side.' Other
interpretations are given ; but this seems best.
" sudden fear" " TtOrjirorti iqvrt vt^pou"*
" He who is really great is not afraid of death ; he who is
afraid of death is not really great."' " Walk thou in the
peace of the Most High, that thou mayest walk in a good
way. No evil shall befall thee ; for by that very thing [walk-
ing with God] shalt thou be saved."* "The heart that yields
to [or agrees with] nothing crooked," say the Chinese, " and
the ear that listens not to the wrong sayings of others ; the
eye that looks not on the failings of others, and the mouth
that does not tell their faults — make up a good man, who
may abide quiet in a peal of thunder." "A man of staid
heart and mind, who has laid a solid foundation" — "whose
heart is well established."'
"When prince Mitra Dzogi [son of the king of Magadha,
950 years after the death of Shakyamuni] told his parents
that he wished to become a monk, they tried to dissuade him,
saying : Art thou not ashamed to go about like a beggar and
to forsake thy treasures ? He replied : All the wealth and
power of the kingdom, without contemplation, is only a going
round to hell. — Art thou not afraid, young as thou art, to
wander away alone, far from thy kindred, among wild beasts,
&c.? He answered : Trying my young body, through going
> Budhaghosh, Par. ii. ' 11. f 243. • Ming hien dsi. 97. * Sahid.
Ad. 33, 34. » Ming S. p. Kien, i. c. 5. • Japan pr. p. 256, 732-
iii. 25, 26]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
181
abroad — if full of faith and trust (or devotion), whence should
I fear ? Nay, through deep and earnest devotion will I strive
zealously after high (or religious) knowledge."* "For every
place," said Epictetus, " is safe for him who lives righteously."*
"And wisdom shall never suffer that those who have it be
moved ; for it will not depart for ever from those who cling
to it."' " Wisdom delivers from original sin those who are
caught in the net of this age [world], and carries them through
their transmigration."* "Therefore, O Indra, turn us before-
hand from evil [pray the Aryas], as a cow turns away her
calf [from bad pasture]."' " For what can an enemy do when
the Friend is favourable and gracious?"' "Everything on
earth is beset with fear ; freedom from earthly desires is alone
exempt from fear."' "Though ten thousand afflictions befall
them who have drawn near to the Deity, they will not fear.
Does the 'madi-man,' moon-deer [deer (hare, man) in the
moon], fear the earth-tiger?"' "The man whom the watch-
ful [wise, careful gods, Varuna, &c.] protect, soon overcomes
difficulties. The mortal whom they fill and protect from all
harm, as it were with their arm, prospers [increases] when thus
free from hurt."* "O father," said Satnakumara [Shukra,
Vyasa's son] to Brahma, " thou hast told me of the profitless
life of ignorance ; but the present birth is a happy life. He
by whom swans are made white, parrots green, and peacocks
of various hues, will protect me. He, Krishna, by whom all
and innumerable deeds have been wrought, and who protects
the world, he will take care of me. One dies neither in the
sea, nor by fire or poison, neither by weapons, nor is he thrust
through with a hundred arrows before his appointed time ;
but when this time is come, he is killed if touched by a blade
of grass."'"
' Mitra Dzogi, Kowal. Mong. chr. ii. p. 160. ' Epictet. fragm. Anton.
' Mishle As. v. 21. • Hjam-dpal. fol. vi. ' Rig. V. ii. skta. xvi. 8.
' Gulist. i. sc. 5. ' Vararuchi Ashta R. 5. ' Nanneri, 29.
• Rig. V. i. skta. xli. 1, 2. •» Pancha Ratr. iii. 14, and Hitop. ii. 14, 15.
I82
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iii. 25, 26
" The dragon and the tiger are afraid of him whose ways
are austere ; and the demons and the spirits stand in awe of
him whose virtue is exalted. When the decree of Heaven is
in favour of a man, he can frighten away both demons and
spirits."* " Dhruva, intent on Vishnu alone, was not terrified
by the Raksha, but only saw him. Heb Dduw, heb ddin—
without God, without anything," say the Welsh.' "God is
enough ;" under His keeping we are safe ; "and safety is the
comfort of life," say the Arabs.* "And the well-doer, crv,i,idxov^
Tcvfi; ^eoi^, will have the gods fighting on his side."* The god
Thot," says the Egyptian, " is like a shield behind me."» " O
ye gods!" sang they of old at dawn, "with the rising of the
sun, preserve us from degrading sin."' And the Sheikh from
Herat says : " God walks in the way with those who seek Him,
and takes them by the hand."* "Thou walkest where there
is one who will ensnare [take] thee. Bind this girdle around
thee that thou be safe. If so, thou shalt not experience any
of the evils that would betake thee. The God of our fathers
will guide thee in the way.""
" What and whose protection could my soul wish for, who
is indeed known as my Defender, other than Asha [purity],
and thou also, O Ahura Mazda, who art desired and called
upon by the best Spirit ? But I will sing your praises with my
mouth, O Mazda and Asha, as long as I may. Let the
Creator of the world grant through Vohu-Mano [good Spirit]
that which is best suited to those who behave well openly."'"
"Then Wainamoinen, looking up to heaven, said: Thence
always cometh grace ; protection, we know, comes from the
highest heaven : trust Him, then, the Almighty Creator.""
And after Wainamoinen, also Pindar :
" Atos Toi vdos /u<yas Kv^tpvj,
Aaifiov avSpiiv <f>lKu)v :" ^^
> Ming h. dsi. 55, 60. » Vishnu P. i. 12, 21, 22. ' Welsh pr.
< Nuthar ellal. 91. ' rvotfi. ftov. » Zeitschr. Jan. 1868. ' Rig. V.
i. skta. cxv. 6. • Beharist. I. » Sahid. Ad. 47. •» Yajna,
xlix. I, II. " Kalev. ix. 567. " Pyth. v. 164.
iii. 27]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
183
"The great mind of Jove overrules the fate of those he loves
[and who love him]."
" Gwell, better," say the Welsh, " have God for a friend than
the whole host of the earth."' "For," say the Chinese, "as
when the screen is torn, the frame of it still holds good [stands],
so also the superior man, though he become poor, his pro-
priety and justice still remain."* " Such good disposition
[morals] is better than a good companion ; and a consolation
in adversity."* "And this is the greatest thing our Rabbis
ever said : The Lord will be his help [a help to him]."* " For
virtue alone is successful [overcomes] ; and God alone is a
place to go to [refuge]."' Thus Baber, having escaped the
sword and dagger of three Hindoo assassins, exclaimed: "If all
the swords in the world moved from their place, they would
not touch one of my veins without God's will.""
27 Withhold not good from them to whom it is due,
when it is in the power of thine hand to do ii.
»3Qn bM, ' refuse not ;' V^J?!?, ' from (to) the owners of it ;'
' those to whom it belongs' — either by contract, as wages, payment
for goods received, &c., or as a moral dTity and obligation, such as
almsgiving to others in want, tithes, &c., which even in the Qoran
are called 'fard,*' an absolute and obligatory command of God, as it
were engraved by Him, as indelible ; threatening with eternal punish-
ment "all avaricious men who hide what God has of his liberality
granted them" for the good of others.* 11^ ^W7, 'in the power of
thy hand ib'^innb to withhold or deny it,' as R. S. Yarchi explains it
— that makes the command more binding than if understood as ' in
the power of thy hand to give it' He also gives another meaning to
"the owners thereof" — that is, the poor. It is also the rendering of
the LXX. fit] air6<r)^ii (v voitiv ivBffj.
" When one says ' dehi,' give ; say not * nasti,' there is no-
thing [to give]."* " Hospitality and compassion for the poor,"
> Welsh pr. ' Hien w. shoo, 105. ' Matshaf philos.
* Succa, in Millin. de Rab. 344. ' Telugu pr. 2413. ' Baber nameh,
p. 481. ' Sur. ix. 62, iv. > Id. iv. 35, 37. » Telug. pr. 2403.
184
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iii. 27
says Kamandaki, " is a duty of the householder."' " Who is a
jewel ? He who gives at the right time."'' " Chi paga volen-
tieri fe sempre ricco : He who pays readily is always rich.""
"Conti spessi, amicizia longa : Short reckonings make long
friends."* " First of all," said Ajtoldi to Ilik, "a man's word
should be true; secondly, that man should be liberal, and
give away something. No one comes to a stingy man to
receive anything."* For liberality is the badge of the pious ;
it is that of the elect."' " Do justice, and withhold not favour
from the (poor) peasant."' "For the head with brains in it
chooses generosity ; but the low-minded [who grudge others]
have only a skin on the head [but no brains]." Since " noble-
ness consists in manliness and the giving of bread, useless
words are but an empty drum."'
Among other stories of the kind, we read in the Japanese
Den ka cha wa,» that "two honest 'cago' [a kind of litter]
bearers, having found money left in the 'cago' by a samurai
[officer] whom they had carried, returned it to him. A thing,"
continues the story, " so rare in the world, got talked about,
and the house of those men, we have no reason to doubt, soon
began to overflow with good things." And in the In shits
mon :'" "A boy going to bathe in the river on a hot day, found
a bag of gold left there by a man, whose wife came to look
for it sorrowing. For having restored this gold to the owner,
both that boy and his father were, through the mercy of
Heaven, blessed with an official position and income," &c.
" Another youth who had kept back the money he had found,
died suddenly by accident. Let no one think, 'It will not
happen to me;' for either good or evil follows [a good or a
bad action] as the echo the voice, or the shadow [the body
that casts it]."" " Be good," says Ben Syra, " and withhold
not thy hand from goodness [good deeds].""
' Nitisara, ii. 26. » Phreng wa, 37. » Ital. pr. * Ital. and
Engl. pr. » Kudat ku Bil. xvli. 116, 117. • Pend-nam. p. 4, 6.
' Id. II, 12. « Bostan, bk. ii. p. 33, 34. • Vol. iii. p. 3.
" Vol. i. p. 9. " Den ka cha wa, 1. p. 7. " Ben Syra, 5, 10.
iii. 28]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
18S
28 Say not unto thy neighbour. Go, and come again,
and to-morrow I will give ; when thou hast it by thee.
" Say not," 8ic. IlapoKOToC^Kjji' AoySui/, StKotus d^roSos. "Justly
restore the deposit committed to thee," says Pittacus of Mity-
lene.» " Who is that man, I asked, who is eating the skin and
flesh of others? Srosh [(Jraosha, a Yazata, who is watcher
over the world] answered : He is the wicked man who, while
on earth, kept back the wages of hirelings and the shares of
partners."' " It is a part of religion to pay one's debts ;"
[with a play on din]."* " And it is a sin," says Tai-shang,* " to
borrow a thing and not return it." " For one of the nine
things," says Confucius, " a wise man does when he sees an
opportunity of getting something for himself, is, to think of
justice [to others]."*
" Das nunquam, semper promittis, Galla, roganti.
Si semper fallis, jam rogo, Galla, nega."'
"If, when not convenient, you make gifts by words only,
and raise hopes, saying, ' Here I there ! to-morrow at a given
hour, trust me, I will give' — it is a dry fish."' " For it behoves
noble [well-bred] men to abstain from this low word : ' I am
poor, I have nothing ;' but one is to give."* " Do not throw
at thy feet [do not neglect] the business of any one ; for it
may so happen that thou mayest fall more than once at his
feet."' " Say not, To-day for me, to-morrow for thee."" " He
who by nature is dilatory, promises readily, but performs
slowly."" " But delay in giving is not good ; it were even like
a shower falling drop by drop.""
" He keeps on saying, Narayana ! Nama Shiva 1 and the
like, and men applaud him and say. Well ! admirable ! But
he is in no hurry to open his purse and to give."" "Yet a
' Pittac. sept. sap. 2.
ellal. 5. * Kang ing pien.
ii. 25. ' Vemana, iii. 28.
" Arab. pr. Soc.
" Vemana, i. 35.
' Arda Viraf nameh, xxxix. 11, 5. ' Nuthar
' Hea-Lung, xvi. 10. • Mart. Epigr.
• Cural, xxvii. 223. ' Bostan, i. st. 16.
" Bahudorshon, p. 19. " El Nawab. 177.
186
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iii. 28
gift delayed is but a cord with knots ;" " for it is not well, after
a promise, to delay the fulfilment of it."' "Le parole son
femmine, ed i fatti son maschi.'" "But," say the Chinese,
"two 'trust' are not like one 'ready.'"* "If you say. Come
to-morrow ; the gift is then but the hire for coming to fetch
it"* " But a kala-berry eaten to-day is better than a jack-fruit
eaten to-morrow."* "Gwell un hwele ; better one ' Here you
are !' than two promises."* " Better a stickleback [or minnow]
in the hand than a salmon swimming in the river."' Or, as
the Arabs say, " A thousand cranes in the air are not worth a
sparrow in the hand."* Or, as told by Meidani : "A sparrow
in the hand is better than a crane on the wing."' Or by the
Osmanlis : "To-day's hen is better than to-morrow's goose ;"
or " The egg of to-day is better than the fowl of to-morrow.""
" Like," say the Cingalese, " letting go a bird in the hand, to
go and catch one in the bush."" And the Georgians: "An
egg to-day is better than a fowl to-morrow ; and [gain] pos-
session is better than promise."*'
" Pay now ; paying later will not do." " For to-day to say
'To-morroW,' is a sign (or token) of saying 'No!'"** "If you
give, give at once ; if you trade — ready money." " Trust (or
believe) no one, and give no credit to one who has enough to
pay
"I4
" Quod praestare potes, ne bis promiseris ulli,
Ne sis ventosus, dun vis bonus esse videri.'"*
" For if he says, ' Here it is,' it means that day six months.""
" Yet a cucumber at once is better than a pumpkin later.""
" Do not," says Ebu Medin, " cut off [deny] thy good from
him who expects it of thee."** Since "A la par, es negar y
tarde dar." It is the same thing to deny, or to give grudgingly."
' El Nawab. 45, 51. ' Ital. pr. ' Mun Moy. p. 14.
♦ Tamil pr. 4149. ' Id. 4224. • Welsh pr. ' Id. ibid.
' Burkhardt, Arab. pr. 3. ' Meid. Ar. pr. "* Osman pr.
" Athitha W. D. p. 52. " Georg. pr. 27. " Tamil pr. 542.
" Burmese Hill pr. 263, 264. " Dion. Cato, i. 25. " Telugu pr.
" Succa, B. Fl. 147. " Ebu Medin, 51. '• Span. pr.
iii. 29, 30]
THE BOOK OK PROVERBS.
187
But " irT<i>j(^ 8' ivOv SCSov, fir) S' avpiov eXBi/itv t"jr»j« — give at oncc
to the poor, and say not to him, Come to-morrow."* For in
the world at large, " kindness in men is a goal thou wilt not
reach," say the Arabs.' " And, as the Chinese say quaintly,
" As long as you ask for nothing, all men are kindly disposed ;
and if you don't wish to drink, their wine is high-priced. It
is easy to enter the hills to catch a tiger ; but to open one's
mouth to get help from men — is difficult."'
29 Devise not evil against thy neighbour, seeing he
dwelleth securely by thee.
O'^n'!) ''N, 'do not plot,' 'work' or 'think,' evil, &c. n???*^, 'in
confidence.'
" Devise not," &c. " A man is a fool who does an evil deed,
though he hide it from his neighbour. Who would have him
that mixed poison for others?"* "Do not behave frowardly
[fraudulently] towards a simple man."' "By all means settle
near a good neighbour ; by all means make friendship with a
good man."' "And avoid doing an injury to any one."^
" Woe to the wicked and to his neighbour ; but well be to the
righteous and to his neighbour."* " He who devises evil
against his neighbour," says Eth-Thealebi, " God makes that
neighbour inherit his house," or "God destroys his house."*
"Which is the disease without remedy? He said, A bad
neighbour. And another said, Why dost thou sell thy house ?
Because, answered this one, I cannot sell my neighbour."**
30 Strive not with a man without cause, if he have
done thee no harm.
^S^J rib DH, ' if he have not rendered thee evil (for good).'
" Strive not," &c. " Do not estrange thyself from any good.
' Phocyll. Alex. i.
* Legs par b. p. 299.
' Aw. atthi sudi, 38.
" Id. 237-
' Meid. Ar. pr.
' Oyun tulk. p. 11.
» Succa, R. Bl. 147.
' Hein w. shoo, cxi.
' Ming h. dsi. 28.
» Eth-Theal. 219.
1 88
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iii. 31, 32
worthy man, for the sake of a difference about trifles."* "Do
violence to no man," says Theognis ; " there is nothing more
worthy of a righteous man than beneficence."' "Let a man
say. 'Well, well,' or 'Well' only; but let him not raise a
groundless quarrel [a quarrel of dry enmity] with any one
whatsoever."* "When there is cause, it is convenient to be
a little angry, and there is also a cure for it. But who knows
the way to appease a man who has got angry without cause?"*
" Give way over and over again," says Tai-shang,' " [lose much]
and take little for yourself." "But rather," says another
Chinese, " cultivate a conciliating [harmonious] spirit, and yield
to others in everything."" "He who is very angry with a
cause for it, cools down as soon as that cause is removed.
But how can a man be appeased (or pleased) who [is angry]
hates another without cause?"' " He," say the Finns, "who
is angry without a cause, gets quieted without a gift."' " He
goes at thee," say the Arabs, " without cause ; for such is the
nature of a biting dog."* " Yet every way [or course of action]
that is not born out by reason, is a crooked way."" " But
speak unkindly of no one, neither before his face nor behind
his back, nor yet raise a groundless enmity with any one.""
31 Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none
of his ways.
32 For the froward is abomination to the Lord :
but his secret is with the righteous.
091^ U7''M, 'a violent man,' 'a man of violence.'
"Envy not" &c. " To envy the high in rank, to strive with
[emulate] one's equals, to think scornfully of one's inferiors,
and to quarrel one with another, are all to be avoided.""
' Oyun tulk. p. 11. » Theognis, 559. » Manu S. iv. 189.
* Legs par b. p. 279. » Kang ing p. • Moral max. Dr. Medh.
' Pancha Tant. i. 315. « Finn. pr. • Eth-Theal. 162.
" El Nawab. 75- " Kobitamrita k. i. '» Bslav cha ches pa, 6.
"'■ 33]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
189
" For there is sleep neither night nor day for those who are
haughty towards others [who oppress them]."' Tai-shang*
says, " It is a sin for a man to be a man, and yet to have
neither sincerity nor probity.'' "A good-natured and steady
man is sure to last out his time ; but the cunning and
treacherous are sure to come to an untimely end [misfor-
tune]."' " Those fallen men who walk frowardly and put on
the appearance of Rudra, while they revile him, are like fair
women living in adultery."* On the other hand, " those who
are ashamed of sin and who are afraid of committing it ; who
are given to pure [white] virtue ; who are good and pious, are
in this world called "deva dhamma,' 'godly.'"' "By day,
without thought [naturally] and without hindrance, they [enter
into] commune with the Supreme Intelligence [or Wisdom,
belke bilik].""
33 The curse of the Lord is in the house of the
wicked : but he blesseth the habitation of the just.
rrjn^ n"5Sp, ' the execration of the Lord.' LXX. Kardpa, ' impre-
cation,' 'curse.'
" TAe curse," &c. "Tang (B.C. 1765), when returning from
punishing the rebels of Hea, said : The rule of Heaven, which
blesses the good and curses the wicked, has brought down
calamities upon Hea in order to set forth his sin."' "And
E-yun (B.C. 1753), in his Instructions, says : The Supreme
Ruler [Shang-Te] is not uniform in his awards. To those
who do good he sends down a hundred blessings ; but to
those who do what is not good he sends a hundred calamities."*
" For misery and unlucky circumstances are the result of sin."'
"But if there is no sin, where will be the curse?" say the
Cingalese.'" " ' Sinning against Heaven' is ' like spitting while
* Tamil pr. 952. ' Kang ing p. ' Ming h. dsi. 32. • Vemana,
ii. 184. * Devadham. Jat. p. 129. ' Siiim chub. 20. ' Shoo King, iii. 3.
• Ibid. iii. 4. » Gun den s. mon. 225. '" Athita W. D. p. 43.
■ 90
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
['•'• 33
lying on one's back ;' it falls back on the face."' In Spanish :
"Quien al cielo escupe, en la cara lo cae."»
Alluding to a famine and pestilence in the days of the
Shang dynasty, we read in the She King : " The clear Heaven
Shang-Te has all but destroyed us. How may we not fear ?
Our ancestors are already gone !"» " XaX«r^ SJ e,ov lore /i^v«,«
for the wrath of God is hard to bear." "O Indra, thou who
bringest low those who go from thee, in favour of those who
follow thee ; who slayest those who absent themselves from
thy sacrifices, in favour of those who attend them!"* "O
thou, the destroyer of evil men !"« "Wickedness, indeed,
takes away much from a man's good things."' "But if you
practise virtue, it will procure heaven," say the Japanese ; " but
if you do evil, you will fall into hell."* "The man who looks
not to himself," said Kavya to Vrishnaparvan, "shall bring
forth fruit [as result of his wickedness] in his sons and grand-
sons ; it will be to him like undigested food in his stomach."'
" Some call a man miserable who is reft of riches ; others say,
he that is without qualities ; but he alone is wretched and vile
who is bereft of the thought of Narayana [God].""
" For excellence lies not in race [birth or kindred], but it is
said to lie in a man's qualities. One proceeds from quality
to quality, as milk to curds, and from curds to butter." " Since,
what will it profit a man who is void of wisdom, to be born of
a noble family ? But a wise man of no family is honoured
even by the gods."" "Well, then, says the doorkeeper to
those who have neither understanding, favour, conduct nor
opinion, 'No one at home!'"'' "If a wicked man wishes to
make another man perish, Heaven will not let him. But if
Heaven has resolved the ruin of a man [for his wickedness],
how difficult it is to prevent it!"" "They shall have no
« Telugu pr. 2622. « Span. pr. s she King, bk. iii. 4.
* II. {. 178. ' Rig V. i. skta. li. 9. « Id. ii. skta. cxxix. 11.
' Arab. ad. Erpen. • Rodrig. Gr. p. 92. • Maha Bh. Adi P. 3335.
'• Bahudorsh. 5. " Chanakya, shat. 40, 42. " Gulistan, vii. 19.
" Ming h. dsi. 132.
'ii- 34]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
191
,
peace," said Enoch, " upon earth, nor remission of sins ; that
they may not rejoice in their children. They will behold the
war of their beloved ones, and moan in agony ; and offer
supplications for ever over the destruction of their children.
But they shall obtain neither pity nor peace."' "And it came
to pass that after the children of Seth had come down from
the Holy Mountain, and had defiled themselves with the
daughters of Cain, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech and Noah
were left there alone. Enoch continued in his ministry before
the Lord three hundred and eighty-five years. He then said
to his son : I know that God will bring the waters of the
Flood upon the earth to destroy our race. Watch over your
souls, and hold fast by the fear of God and by your service of
Him, in true faith, and serve Him in righteousness and purity.
Then because Enoch was in the light of God, God took him
to Himself"'
" For the just receives continually from Heaven [gifts and
blessings]."' "God surrounds him with good luck [o-wrvx^j;
dyaOy] who does good," says Solon, "and saves him from folly."*
"Then, O Ahura Mazda, I see thee holy, from the first setting
up of the world ; how thou workest out reward for praise and
prayer ; evil to the evil, but best blessings to the good, through
thy virtue [in thy wisdom] in the last dissolution of the
world."' " O Ashi vanhuhi [good Blessing], health to him
whom thou embracest ! Everything prospers with him. Em-
brace me."' "He," says Wen-chang, "who keeps his heart
from vice as I do, will assuredly have happiness bestowed
upon him from Heaven."'
34 Surely he scorneth the scorners : but he giveth
grace unto the lowly.
" Surely he scorneth" &c. " O Indra, thou art the lifter up
' Bk. of Enoch, c. xii. 6. • Bk. of Adam and Eve, p. 140. ' She
King, in Chung y. c. xvii. * Solon, v. 69. ' Ya^na, xlii. 5.
• Ashi yasht, 7. ' Wen-chang yin Iseih, &c. in Shin sin luh. iv. p. 13.
192
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[•'■'• 35
of the lowly!"* "No praise to the proud," says Ali ben
Abu Taleb. The sense of which is in Arabic : " As to the
proud man, no one will robe him with praises, nor will any
one come across valleys of hope to him [come from far to ask
him for anything]." In the Persian Commentary : " No one
will praise the proud man, or come for his help. Whosoever
bears himself proudly (or haughtily) will be mentioned with
scorn in assemblies of people ; but he who walks on the high
road of humility, the whole world will sing his praises."* [See
notes on ch. xv.] " Shut thy mouth from scorn and mockery,
that the mouth of thine accusers be shut from showing con-
tempt for thee."' " Bear thyself lowly and humbly, and be
not high [or excessive] in thy demands."*
35 The wise shall inherit glory : but shame shall be
the promotion of fools.
" But shame, C"??, exalteth fools." Marg. reading.
" The wise" &c. " The ornament of the world consists in
the wise and learned men that are in it, as the ornament of
heaven consists in the stars [that spangle it]."* "Glory will
come, like the reed thou seest grow and swell joint by joint,"
said Timur." " For a wise man is honoured even though his
family be despised ; and when, in a strange land, he finds
there many friends."' "For deliverance [from danger or
death] is before those who have wisdom (or knowledge)."*
" If a child does not acquire knowledge, men will not make
mention of him ; like water dropped on the ground. He will
get shame ; people will despise him ; his countenance will be
wan and downcast ; like one in a mountain glen, he will not
know how to move about [get in or out], though he has a pair
of legs. Without instruction he will be reckoned a fool, a
> Rig. V. i. skta Ixxxi. 2, 3. ' Ali b. a. T. 14th max. ' Mishle
As. i. 6. ' Tel. Nitimala, bk. ii. ' El Nawab. 124. " Ahmed
Ar. V. Tim. p. 7- ' Ep. Lod. 709. ' Tel. pr. 2384.
'"• 35]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
193
coxcomb, vain and empty ; and in appearance he will be con-
fused, awkward, and look contemptible."*
"But learning will procure a man greatness and riches."*
" Rare learning will secure greatness."* " But he," says Babrias,
" who rejoices in shameful things as if they were good and
honourable, must be reckless and diseased in mind."' "And
[shame] poverty and contempt is the 'panku' [planet Saturn],
fate or reward, of a fool" — "which is of his own seeking."*
"Le fou cherche son malheur;"' "like a man," say the
Telugus, "who cutting a tree makes it fall upon himself."'
" The Dgesnen [half priest] addressing the hideous god of the
sea, who appeared to him and to five hundred merchants who
were in jeopardy with him on board a ship, said : There are
others in the world far more dreadful than thou." " Who are
they?" asked the god. The Dgesnen replied, "The fools, the
ignorant, who recklessly commit murder, theft," Sc'
' Putt-ovada, p. 19, 20. * Avvey. Kalvi Or. 60, 68. ' Babrias, 10.
* Tamil pr. ' French pr. • Tel. pr. ' Dsang-Lun, v, fol 24.
194
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iv. I, 2
CHAPTER IV.
/ Solomon, to persuade obedience, j showeth -what instruction ht had of
his parents, 5 to study wisdom, 14 and to shun the path of the wicked.
20 He exhorteth to faith, sj and sanctification.
T T EAR, ye children, the instruction of a father, and
■*■ ■*■ attend to know understanding.
2 For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my
law.
nn*2, lit. • a thing or means wherewith to catch men ;' ' teaching,'
'doctrine.'
" Hear ye children" &c. " Hear, O my children," said Enoch,
" the words of your father, and attend diligently to the voice
of my mouth ; for I make you hear and speak to you. My
beloved, love righteousness and walk in it. But do not approach
righteousness with a double heart ; neither associate with
men of a double heart ; but walk ye in righteousness, O my
children!"' "O Bikkhus," said Gautama, "I will teach you
other precepts that will not decay ; hear them, and lay them
well and deep in your minds."' Confucius used to address
his disciples as, " My little children," a term of affection ; yet,
according to the Mandchu saying, " among ten thousand dis-
ciples, there are but six dozen good ones."' " Restraining his
body, his speech, and his organs of sense and his mind, let
the disciple [Brahmachari] stand before his teacher with his
hands clasped together."*
" To study only," says Confucius, " and not to meditate on
' Bk. of Enoch, c. xc. i, 17. * Mahaparanibbh. fol. khya. ' Ming
h. dsi. 82. ' Manu S. ii. 192.
iv. I, 2]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
»95
what one has learned, will profit nothing. To meditate only,
and not to study as well, will leave the mind narrow."* "For
an egg without the yolk is like learning without a teacher."*
[Does this account for so many addled [eggs] brains among
men ?] We learn by teaching. " In like manner as a small fire
kindles big logs of wood, so also do young disciples sharpen
[the wits of] old ones," says Rabbi Nachman.' " Hearken
unto me, O ye wise," says Bochari-de-johor, "for in truth
wisdom is the tree [origin] of good things [virtues], since
virtue (or good) is the token of wisdom ; and the man who is
wise is rich, but the unwise is full of trouble. If thou didst
get the wealth of this world, and with it wast short of wisdom,
thy name would be but poor, and thy state would be altogether
miserable."*
Therefore attend. " For with such lore [verses] fathers and
mothers teach their children ; and those who observe it
[impress] give effect to their precepts."' Heu-li says : "-When
the father calls, don't wait [to answer] ; only rise and stand
up."' And in the Li ki it is said : " When the father calls, to
say ' Yes,' and do nothing more ; when taking anything in
hand, to drop it ; when having food in the mouth, to spue it ;
and when parents [old people] go out, not to stand on one
side to let them pass — are all contrary to the feelings [or prin-
ciples] of a dutiful child."^ " Thy fear of [or respect for] thy
father, will make thy sons also respect thee."' And remember
that " he has no sense who does not obey,"* say the Arabs.
"Tsze-loo having heard [his father or teacher], was not able
to act upon it fully ; therefore was he afraid of having heard."'"
" For children yet of tender age who have parents, friends
and teachers, must practise good manners and rectitude.""
" And they must attend, keeping quiet the three agents, eyes,
ears and tongue."'^
' Shang-Lun, i. 2, 15. '■' Tamil pr. ^ Taanith, 7, M. S.
* Bochari de Job. p. 177. ' Putt-ovada, p. 19. " Siao-hio, c. ii.
' Ibid. ' Rishtah i j. p. 132. ' Meid. Ar. pr. '" Shang-Lun, v. 14.
" San-tsze King, 15, 16. " Jap. id. p. 695.
O 2
196
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[>V. 3
" O ye children, you do not know good from evil. I do not
only lead you by the hand in words, but I solemnly teach you
how to do what. I tell you. I do not only give precepts in
your presence, but I also raise your ears to them. No one
can be [' ying,' full] satisfied [as having done well] who does
not perform during the day what he knew in the morning.
O ye children, I have taught you old doctrine [' che,' a firm
course of action or conduct]. If ye will hearken to my voice,
may be you will not have much to repent of. But Heaven's
judgments are impending ; and Heaven does not go from
what it has determined."' " Manasseh did not bear in mind
the commandments of his father Hezekiah, but he forgot
them. Then Samael [Satan] dwelt in Manasseh and stuck
to him."'
3 For I was my father's son, tender and only be-
loved in the sight of my mother.
For "'Sn'? "'rr'^n ^a, 'I was (a) son to my father;' a stronger ex-
pression than A.V.
" For I was'' &c. " Manasseh was to Hezekiah a son indeed,
being his only one."' " Love for one's children," say the Arabs,
" is money laid out at interest." " Well," adds the Commentary,
" does the apostle of God say, that kindness for children and
their respect for their parents assuredly leave traces behind
[bring forth fruit], and that, too, in plenty."* "Amor descen-
dit, non ascendit."' " The father's love is to his children ; but
the love of his sons is to those who come from them."* " E
pill facile," say the Italians, " che il padre faccia spese a dieci
figluoli, che dieci figluoli ad un padre : It is easier for one
father to spend on ten sons, than for ten sons to do so on
their father."
" My son is my son till he take him a wife,
My daughter is my daughter all the days of her life."'
• She King, vol. iii. bk. iii. ode 2. * Ascens. Is. c. ii. i. ' Ibid. c. i.
* Rishtah i j. p. 29- ' Lat pr. ' Sota, fol. 49- ' Eng. pr.
'V- 3]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
197
"There is no greater [stronger] love than that of children."*
But as to the different bearing of the father and of the mother
towards their children, " the father," say the Arabs, " is more
knowing and more generous, but the mother is more loving
and more lenient."* "Amor tenero delle madri," "the love of
mothers," say the Italians, "is tender;" but "amor forte dei
padri," "the love of fathers is solid (or strong)." For "chi
non sa negare, non s4 regnare,"' " he who knows not how to
deny, knows not how to govern ;" but mothers, from their
nature, are more yielding.
"As in a game the looker-on, by common consent, will side
with one or other of the players, do not mothers show prefer-
ence for one child above the rest, though all be good alike?"*
Yet "let no man make a difference between one child and
another," say the Rabbis." So that " it is not what thy mother
says of thee that counts," say they again, "but what strangers
say."' The owl's description of her owlets as the most lovely
creatures, did not quite agree with the eagle's judgment of
them. Yet the Tamil proverb says well, "that the child who
never feels his mother's mouth [for a kiss] is like wheat in a,
soil on which rain never falls." " For there is no affection,"
says Chanakya, " like that of one's offspring."' " Sweet is the
office [duty] of a mother in the world ; hence, also, sweet are
the duties of a father." [But the Commentary explains ' mat-
teyyata' to mean, riot " the office of a mother," but " the duti-
ful honour paid by a son to his mother."'] Loqman's fable' of
" the Gardener" is intended to show the great difference to a
child between his own mother and a stepmother. Syntipa's '
fable'* is also to the same effect.
Yet the Spaniards have the proverb : " Madre pia, dafio
cria," also true, that a too tender mother works harm to the
child. But a mother both tender and judicious is God's bless-
' Kawi Nitish. ' El Nawab. ' Ital. pr. ♦ Pazhmozhi, 20.
' Sabbath, Millin, 135. • Ep. Lod. 1304. ' Chanak. 75.
' Dhammap. Nagav. 13. • Fab. xv. w Fab. xxxii.
198
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
t'V- 3
ing personified. Of such a mother, take the daughter to wife.
" I looked at the dam," say the Georgians, " and I broke in
the colt."* "A child may be fondled until he is five years old ;
chastised until he is ten ; but when he is sixteen years old,
let a son be treated as a friend.'" "The shade of a tree is
pleasant ; so is that of a father and mother to a child.'" " If
a child goes a thousand 'ris' away [2500 miles], the mother's
heart," say the Japanese, "follows him all that way." "There-
fore learn," say they, " that while parents are alive, children
ought not to abandon them or give them pain."*
"tender and only beloved" T\-\, 'tender,' 'soft,' 'yielding'
to mother's advice. Chald. ' the mother's delight'
" It is thought, by all who wish to have a tree, that it must
be [guided] trained at the beginning. A lion by humbling
himself [crouching down] overcomes an elephant"' In all
languages there are terms of endearment towards children.
This is how a Burmese mother addresses her own offspring :
" My dear children, attend ! In a former state your father
and I swam on the water ; my husband, a drake, and I lived
together like birds, and in the course of time pretty children
were born, of which I took the greatest care, found food for
them, and carried them on my back." " Stem of my liver,
pupil of my eye [pupilla, pupula, ko/ji;, l?y"na, &c.], children
of my womb, my breast-blood, my own dear ones, tender
hearts are ye,"* &c. So we read in the Dsang-Lun that
Chom-ldan-hdas spoke agreeable words, with great affection,
and comforted the housekeeper Polchi, as parents do to the
son who honours them ; and then admitted him to the degree
of priest."'
" What is there of greater weight than the earth and higher
than the sky?" asked the Yaksha. Yudhishtira answered:
"A mother is [heavier, 'gurutara'], more important than the
' Georg. pr.
• Kuwan ko hen, i. p. 18.
' Dsang-Lun, c. xv. fol. 71.
* Chanak. 9.
' Drishtant. 7.
' Lokaniti, 48.
• Putt-ovada, 6, 10.
•V. 3]
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199
earth, and a father is higher [more exalted] than the sky."'
"Such a father," say the Burmese, "cannot be sufficiently
spoken of for height and greatness ; like Mt Myemmo [Meru],
he cannot be fully reached in words or by description."' " For
the good deeds of a father and mother towards their children,
like those of high Heaven, are immeasurable."' " Sleep on,"
said the Sultan to his infant princess — " sleep on, my child ;
sleep, thou pupil of thy father's eyes ! I entrust thee to the
Lord of all. Then the mother, weeping, washed her babe's
body with her tears and said : Thy mother is wretched I thy
father will forsake thee ; but thy mother is not of that way of
thinking. I am three parts of my child, with it to perish or
live. If perish thou must, life of my soul I then thy mother
must also perish with thee."* " Come to thy mother's bosom,
O babe !"" " Sweeter than ambrosia," say the Tamils, " is the
rice cooled by the little hand of one's child passing through it ;
and it is a ' golden' pleasure to hear him talk."" " For the man
has not heard the most pleasing of all the sounds in the world,
who has not heard the prattle of his own children."'
To Meng-moo-pa, who inquired about filial piety, Confucius
said "that when a child was ill, the father and the mother
alone felt sorrow from it."* " While your parents are alive, do
not go far from them ; but if you must go from them, have
a fixed abode," said also Confucius."' " There are three ties
among men : between prince and subject, justice ; between
father and son, filial duty ; between husband and wife, obedi-
ence." " Filial piety, affection between father and son, is
one of the ten duties of mankind."'"
cut. " SI unquam ullum fuit tempus mater cum ego voluptati tibi
Fuerim — obsecro — ejus ut memineris.""
> Maha Bh. Vana P. 17346. ' Putt-ovada, 6. » Mong. mor. max.
♦ S. Bidasari, i. p. 5, 6. ' Beng. pr. « Cural, 64, 65, 69.
' Lokopak. i8. * Shang-Lun, i. ii. 6. » Id. ibid. iv. 19. '» San-tsze
King, 27, 28, 40, and Ming Sin P. K. c. xii. " Ter. Heaut. v. 4-
200
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iv. 4
4 He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine
heart retain my words : keep my commandments and
live.
" He taught me also'' &c. "A man, from being very wicked,
suddenly became filial, through the example of his mother,
who herself had been good and obedient For in like manner
as one copies writing set by the master, so also does a child,
who sees his parents dutiful, copy them, and learn filial piety.
But the reverse is also the case."' " Keep thy mother's words,
O my son," said old Groa, from the grave, to her son on his
way to Menglod's castle, " and let them dwell in thy breast ;
for thou shalt have enough happiness through thy age [life]
if thou bear in mind my words."^ " If a son," says Confucius,
" does not depart from his father's rule of conduct for three
years, he may be called a dutiful son."'
As regards teaching : " If a great and learned man is really
patient [forbearing and indulgent] and sedate, he will help
[teach] slowly and at length. For he who is versed in the
Shastras, speaks always healthily, and gives pleasure to
others."* " For conversing one night with a wise man is of
more avail than reading books ten years."' "And a father
can confer no greater benefit on his son than to enable him to
rank first in the assembly of the learned."' "Take firm hold
of my words," said Enoch, " in the thoughts of your heart ;
and do not let them be effaced from your heart ; for I know
that sinners counsel men to commit sin in secret."' " Every
teacher of youth," says the San-tsze-King, "should explain
fully, state the facts, define the words, explain the reasoning,
and, when reading, define the periods distinctly."' " In teach-
ing children," says Wang-keu-po,' "one should not be hasty
or impatient ; for if you [bate] reject the iron, you cannot
' Den ka cha wa, vol. i. i8, 19. ' Edda, Gr6ugaldr. xvi.
' Shang-Lun, iv. 20. * Kawi Nitish. vi. 3, 4. ' Chin. pr. 29.
• Cural, vii. 67. ' Bk. of Enoch, xciv. 5. ' San-tsze-King, 54.
' Sacred ed. nth max. p. 4—87.
iv. 5]
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201
make steel [which is made by repeated forging, to reduce
the weight of iron, until it cannot be reduced any further].
If to-day you are urgent and to-morrow dilatory, your chil-
dren cannot improve. You must bring them by degrees into
the right way, and set them an example. The posterity of
the holy man Confucius never got angry ; that of Tsang-tsze
never scolded."
" But," said Confucius, " I will not teach one who would not
apply himself to knowledge."* "And there are many worthy
men fit to give advice who do not live in the cold open air
[not tuft-wearers, ascetics]. Sesamum-seeds bring the sweet
scent of flowers ; but barley, never"' "The teacher who has
at heart to instil virtue, should give instruction without hurting
his pupil [Culluca says, ' without too much of the rope, cane, or
other punishment']. He should use sweet and gentle speech."'
"As a father teaches his son ; encouraging him who has little
aptitude for instrtiction."* But " learn in youth."' " He who
truly fills both of one's ears with divine knowledge, is to be
looked upon as a father and a mother, and is never to be
aggrieved."* " He [the Brahmachari] is taught that if the
sacred ' gayatri,' • om,' ' bhu,' ' bhur,' and other mystic terms,
are repeated every day without ceasing for three years, they
will ensure supreme bliss in God, and an existence in the form
of thin aether [spiritual, heavenly]."'
5 Get wisdom, get understanding : forget ii not ;
neither decline from the words of my mouth.
"Get wisdom" &c. "My son," said Rabbi Barachiah
Hanakdan, " get wisdom, love uprightness (or perfection) ;
reckon a fool as a shadow of naught ; and turn aside from
the counsel of the foolish."' " The acquisition of knowledge
is best for [human] beings, as it appears to me," .said Narada.
' Shang-Lun, vii. 8. ' Drishtanta, shat. 6.
* Shang-Lun, i. ii. 20. '• Atthi Sudi, 29.
' Id. ibid. 82. « Mishle Shu'alim, 59.
' Manu S, ii. 159.
' Manu S. ii. 144.
202
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iv. 6
" Let a man consider among men established [firm] in virtue,
well versed in the Vedas, and devoted to their own self-im-
provement, where the reciprocity of good is found among the
four classes [or castes]."' "Forget not virtue, forget not
excellence," said Avveyar.* " O Samedha pandita," said Dipan-
kara, " having secured this fourth • paramita' [perfection], take
in earnest this paramita of wisdom, if thou wishest to acquire
truth [or supreme intelligence]."* But strive; "for a perfect
man is not so from himself; no man is perfect (or accom-
plished) from himself alone."* " For there are a thousand
'kings' [sacred books] and ten thousand classics; but filial
piety and justice (or goodness) come first."*
" And despise not wisdom because it is but little [at a time ;
it comes slowly]. One washing [cleansing] goes to support
life."' But choose a good teacher. " For a false teacher
impedes [binds] us in all our actions ; the middling teacher
also hinders us by a multitude of mantras [spells]. But an
excellent teacher combines the whole power of excellence."^
"My son," wrote Syed Abd-ul-Jaleel to his son, Meir Syed
Muhammed, "you know how fond I am of my books; therefore
take good care that no harm happen to them. And as regards
yourself, make every effort in your studies. Do not limit
yourself to one science through idleness ; but remember that
the bee when feeding on any fruit, gathers from it for our use
the two substances, wax and honey."'
6 Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee :
love her, and she shall keep thee.
"Forsake lur not" &c. "Love letters [instruction, leam-
JngJ" wrote Sbauf to Pepi, "like thy mother."* "Wisdom,"
say the Arabs, "is a well-advising minister [vizeer] and a
helper towards happiness, who saves the man that obeys him ;
' Maha Bh. Shanti P. 10587. • Atthi Sudi, 30, 46. ' Durenidan.
Jat. p. 21. * Chin. pr. ' Ming Sin P. K. c. i. • Lokaniti, 6.
' Vemana, i. 8. • Pers. Reader, vol. ii. » Pap. Sail. ii. 4, 2.
iv. 7]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
203
but he who disobeys him perishes." " Wisdom is a faithful
counsellor, but wealth is a departing guest." " Wisdom leads
to eminence." "Yet a wise, learned man without manners
[adab] is like a champion without weapons."*
7 Wisdom is the principal thing ; therefore get
wisdom : and with all thy getting get understanding.
' Wisdom is iT'ip'N'l, the chief or principal thing ;' ' the beginning.'
Chald. trn, 'the head;' Syr. id. LXX. omit it. Arm. Copt, agree
with Heb.
" Wisdo7n is the principal thing," &c. " Wisdom [or virtue,
religion,'dharmam']," said Bhishma to Yudhishtira, "is the birth
[first thing, beginning] of men ; it is ambrosia to the gods in
heaven. In the past [dead] estate, endless happiness is enjoyed
through wisdom (or virtue) by those who have passed away."*
" The Sage [dana] asked the Spirit of Wisdom, What is the
most precious possession on earth ? And the Spirit of Wisdom
answered. Wisdom is the best of all wealth on earth."' " To
the wise and contented man, but little misfortune will happen."*
" Who then is to be called rich and who poor ? asked the Sage.
He is called rich, answered the Spirit, who is perfect in
wisdom ; and he is called poor who lacks it."' " He in whom
is all wisdom has everything. But he who has it not, what
has he got?"' "Yet even the most learned are in need of
counsel," say the Rabbis.' Still, " learn wisdom as if dying
to-morrow."' " Faith is wealth ; morality is wealth ; modesty
and a tender conscience [fear of sinning] are also a welcome
treasure ; so are knowledge and liberality ; but wisdom is the
principal wealth." " He who possesses that wealth, even if he
has a wife and children, will be free all his life, and will spend
it free from [error] folly."'
' Meid. Ar. pr. " Maha Bh. Shanti P. 7065.
' Id. ibid. c. xxxiv.
' Id. c. XXXV.
' Mainyo i Ich. c. xlvl. 6.
« Millin de Rab. 346.
' B. Fl.
' Mong. max. R.
° Suddhammapal. p. 145.
204
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iv. 7
"Buy wisdom and live."' "For there is no friend equal to
wisdom."'
" Virtus omnibus rebus anteit profecto.
Virtus omnia in se habet ; omnia
Assunt bona in quern pene est virtus."'
" Hjam-dpal [wisdom] is the chief and best rule (or method)
for the great vehicle [transmigration]."* "Wealth, kindred,
life and work, and, fifthly, wisdom, are all respectable in their
way ; but the fifth is by far the most important of all."'
" The gift of virtue [and wisdom] is the best of gifts."* " And
sweet is the acquisition of understanding."' " Of all things,
wisdom is said to be the very best."* "Knowledge is the
greatest happiness in the world ; knowledge is like itself, alone.
Truth is knowledge."* "Consider, which is the one race of
men that is first among the rest ? What does it profit to go
about without knowledge [or understanding] ? A man of
understanding may be born of any race whatever."'" "He
who knows wisdom, knows all things.""
" He," says Rabbi Nathan, " who keeps the words of the
Law as the foundation, and looks upon the way of the world
as accessory, gets a root [foundation] in the world ; but he
who does the contrary, becomes [taphel] accessory [that is,
only outward, without a foundation]."" " Son," said the Spirit
to Shuka, " take, take to the worship of Hari [Krishna, Vishnu],
that severs and cuts asunder the iron fetters and trammels of
the world."" " Yudhishtira having asked his brothers which is
best, wisdom [virtue, dharmam], wealth, desire, or worldly pos-
sessions, Vidura said : By wisdom [practical wisdom, virtue,
dharmam] the Rishis have crossed over [either to ' the other
side,' or have excelled in virtue, wisdom, &c.] ; by it (or in it)
are the worlds established ; by it, the gods have shone forth ;
' Mishle As. xii. 53.
• Hjam-dpal, fol. iv.
» Id. ibid. Nagav. 14.
•• Id. ibid. iii. 230.
" Pancha Ratra. ii. 7.
' Kobitar. 133. ' Plaut. Amphit. ii. 2.
' Manu S. ii. 136. • Dhammap. Tanhav. 21.
• Hitopad. introd. • Vemana, i. 171.
" Kudat ku B. c. xii. " R. Nathan, c. xxviii.
iv. 8]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
20$
and wealth is included in wisdom." "To have wealth with
wisdom, is the best lot of man," says Pindar.'
" Wisdom, O King, is the best gift [quality], wealth is the
mean, and desire comes last ; therefore ought one to devote
himself with his whole soul to the excellence of wisdom and
to the good of all beings."^ " Wisdom coming to a Brahman
said : I am thy great treasure — keep me ; do not make me
over to a scorner ; and then I shall become most powerful."
" But if thou art acquainted with some Brahmachari who is
pure, subdued and attentive, and a vigilant keeper of so great
a treasure, then make me over to him."' [Here ' vidya' is the
wisdom of knowledge or perception, while 'dharmam,' or virtue,
is wisdom put in practice.] " Reckon wisdom a better [first
cause] foundation than mere worship ; and the mind also
better than mere words."* " The power of great knowledge
[wisdom] is a door to religious enlightenment ; it gives the
supreme knowledge of that which is thereby made clear.""
"Among beings," says Bhrigu, "animated ones are the best ;
and of these, those who have intelligence ; among these, men
are the best ; and among men, Brahmans."" " Wisdom is set
before us as the best thing," says Manu.' "Mater omnium
bonarum artium est sapientia," says Cicero.* "Sapientia hominis
est custos."» " Sapientia nihil est melius."'" " Understanding
is the richest of all riches."" "A man's learning is his jewel,
and his intelligence is an ornament in every company.""
"The believer's prey [game] is — to find out wisdom.'"^
8 Exalt her, and she shall promote thee : she shall
bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.
^aninril, 'and she shall raise thee on high.' LXX. n-cpixapaKdxj-oi/
avTrjv, ' fence her round with a mound or a palisade,' ' defend and
' Pyth. ii. 101. « Maha Bh. Shanti P. 6215. ' Manu S. ii. 114, "S-
• Vemana, iii. 224. » Rgya-tcher r. p. c. iv. « Manu S. i. 96.
' Id. ibid. i. 16. ' De Legib. i. » Id. De Finib. iv. '» Id. De Nat
D. ii. " A. Ubeid. 86. " E. Medin. 67. " Nuthar ellal. 184.
206
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iv. 8
fortify her ;' from one of the meanings of bVo. R. Yarchi renders
5779^70 by nODn, ' lay hold on her,' or ' search into,' and brings Jer.
vi. 8 to bear on ' searching as for grapes' stored in baskets, JT^bobD.
But the rendering of the A. V. is quite correct.
" Exalt lur," &c. " To wisdom," says Ajtoldi, " belongs [or
is attached] honour for every one, whether he be high or low."'
" I bow devoutly to Manju Sri [the young god of Wisdom],"
says Saskya, " to him who is exalted above gods and above the
knowledge of inferior deities ; who is all eyes from head to
foot. I worship at his feet who is the [top] chief of all joy ;
with my forehead on the ground, I adore him who is the one
guide in every case."' "We worship that most upright, pure
Wisdom created by Ahura Mazda, which Zarathustra wor-
shipped, saying : ' Arise from thy throne and come forth from
thine abode, O most righteous and pure Wisdom created by
Ahura Mazda. If (or when) thou art in front of me, wait for
me ; when thou art behind me, let me reach unto thee.'"'
" Since knowledge stands on the highest [degree] rank, and
great honour results from application to it, he who possesses
ithas double honour, while fools remain dead under the earth."*
"[Instruction or] wisdom gives a good name in the world,
and when some great affliction befals one, it lends a hand."*
" To whatever place you may go, learning is an honour,"* say
the Tamils. " To all men [vaiida., education] learning is an
honour,"' say the Greeks. " I, Wisdom, provide perfect wisdom
for an ornament."' "And there is no friend equal to wisdom."*
" If one were to fix the price (or value) of wise and good men,
wisdom would be joy and pleasure after all things ended [that
is, superior to all other things]." " Like the Chintamani, which
when at the top of the Khan's horse-tail [standard] holds (or
protects) its place and position, so also is the shining (or
brilliancy) of the wise." " A king is great in his own country,
' Kudatku Bil. xi. 34. ^ Sain iighes, fol. 1. ^ Din Yasht, 2.
• Borhan-ed-d. ii. p. 72. " Niti nerivilac. 6, 7. " Av. Kalvi or. 30.
IVm/«. liov. ' Hjam-dpal, fol. vi. » Lokaniti, 22.
iv. 8]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
207
but the godly [wise] man is in honour in whatever country he
may happen to be. A gay flower may do for an ornament
on a feast-day ; but for a head ornament, a jewel is valued
everywhere."' "Fear the Lord and gain understanding in
His truth ; so shalt thou be exalted.""
" Gain education [instruction]," say the Arabs, " and thou
shalt have glory."' " Nam quidquid fit cum virtute," says
Publius Syrus, "fit cum gloria."* "For the wise disciple is
before the common people like a cloth of gold."' " But inas-
much as the wife does not see the Brahman in her husband,"
although the "pandit is said to be respected and honoured
everywhere,* yet," say the Arabs, " a man in his own house is
neither honoured nor despised."' "A learned man, though
he be of a low family, is yet of a high caste,"' say the Tamils.
" Knowledge and wisdom give honour (or dignity)."' "Think
not that superior rank comes from birth or wealth, and not
from knowledge."'" " For learning is greatness."" "And the
wise when they leave their abode and go to some other place,
find honour there. The Chintamani is valued everywhere ;
but of what use is it while it remains at the bottom of the
sea?"'*
" Let instruction come to thy bosom ; it has great power
for all honours"" [leads to them.] "A king and a good man
are not alike. The king is honoured in his own country ; the
good man is honoured everywhere."'* "Kings shine only in
their own country; but learned men coming to another country
shine like the full moon.""* "Have lofty thoughts towards
both God and man ; for thy respectability will be according
to thy mind."" "For wisdom gives enjoyment, grace and
glory."" "Tsze-chung asked Confucius how virtue might be
' Sain iighes, fol. 7, 9. ^ Mishle As. ii. 32. ' Meid. Ar. pr
' Publ. Syr. ' Millin, 300. • Chanak. shat. ' Meid. Ar. pr.
' Tamil pr. 2566. " Id. 3518. '" Nanneri, 22. " Nitivemba, 14.
" Sain iighes, fol. 5, and Legs par b. pa, 17, fol. 5. " Pap. Sail. ii. 4, 5.
'* Naga Niti, 135, 227, Schf " Lokopakan. 195. " Akhlaq i muhs. xi.
" Rajanitish. in Kobitaratna, 72.
208
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iv. 9
exalted ; he answered, Allow yourself to be governed by
sincerity and good faith, and proceed uprightly ; thus shall you
exalt virtue."' "When virtue is established, fame will be
lasting."* " Let those with whom thou hast to do, respect
thee rather than fear thee ; for worship attends respect, but
hatred fear."' "There is no greatness," say the Arabs, "with
a lack of education" [instruction and manners, 'adab.'] "The
highest rank is not reached without a finished education" [lit.
dignity, beauty of 'adab.'] This is thus explained in the
Persian Commentary : " Every one who lacks education and
manners continues shut out from greatness, and will never
belong to the rank (or degree) of noble, great, remarkable and
distinguished men. A man without education, how can he
be great, albeit his birth be noble ? Be well educated ; so shalt
thou become great : for greatness is the outcome [offspring]
of education."* "The well-educated [wise and good] man,"
says Confucius, quoting the She King,' " he shines — honour to
him ! — by goodness and virtue ; he continually receives his
blessings from Heaven."'
9 She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace :
a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.
]n nilV, 'a wreath of grace;' 'a graceful wreath' or 'twist,' in
allusion to head ornaments of gold, &c., or to wreaths of flowers worn
at feasts, &c. LXX. (TTi<j>avov xapiriov, ' a crown,' ' garland of graces.'
The text also means the sense given by the A.V., as understood by
Tevunath Mishle, of ' graces,' or sundry gifts of wisdom ; and Chald.
'beauty of grace.'
'^ She shall give" &c. "The ornament of men lies in their
education ; that of women in gold."^ "A good knowledge of
Scripture is the ornament that pleases most in the mental
superiority of a high-priest [pandit]."* "A man may have
> Hea-Lung, xii. lo. ' Gun den s. mon. 209. ' Pythag. S. 48.
* Ali b. A. T. 17, and Comm. ' Bk. Ta-hia p. Kia-Io. ' Chung y.
C. XVII.
Nuthar ellal. 52.
' Kawi Nitish.
iv. 9]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
209
birth, figure and youth, yet if he have no good qualities (or
learning) he is not handsome. Peacocks' feathers, though
beautiful to look at, are not a fit ornament for a great man."*
" The moon is an ornament to the stars ; a husband is an
ornament to a woman ; a king is an ornament to the earth ;
and wisdom is an ornament to all."' "When that real great-
ness exists in a man, what need is there of other ornaments ?"•
"The ornament of learning is called an ornament indeed."*
" I give thee," said Indra to Vasu, king of Tchedi, "a crown
of victory that shall not wither, made of lotuses. It is called
' Indramala,' the wreath of Indra. Let it be to thee thy
wealth, thy fame, thy great Incomparable."''
"The man who is adorned with qualities and with the
diadem of perfect virtue, mounts the hor.se of friendship, and
with the sword of knowledge in hand, destroying his enemies,
impurity and others — joyfully rides like a king to Nirvana."*
" Study ; for knowledge is an ornament to those who have it ;
it is grace, and a title to all things praiseworthy. Make pro-
gress every day in learning, and then float in a sea of useful
things [advantages]," says Muhammed Ben Hasan.' "The
ornament of the wise is their understanding."* " Who is he
that wears a beautiful ornament ? He that is accomplished
in virtues (or moral law)."" "The disciple who is attentive,
and has become like Hjam-dpal [the young god of wisdom],
gets understanding in books [Scriptures], which is an ornament
to him."'" " Learning is a crown to a young man and wisdom is
a collar of gold, and truth and right (or justice) are a brilliant
light ; but a lie is a burning fire."" " Precepts borrowed from
the writings of old sages, give faith, reverence and piety, to
the child who learns them."'*
" My heart is thy place, and the crown of my head is the
' Legs par b. pa, 272. ' Chanakya, sh. 6. ' Shadratna, 6.
* Av. Kalvi Or. 5. « Maha Bh. Adi P. 2348. « Subhasita, 15.
' Borhan-ed-d. c. i. ' Mishle As. ii. 11. ' Phreng wa, 3, Schf. add.
'" By. ch. sgron ma, fol. ill. " Meid. Ar. pr. " Bslav cha gtsam pa.
r
2IO
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iv. 9
dust of thy feet," says the disciple to the teacher of wisdom.'
" Kings who wear gold ornaments are not to be compared
with learned men who do not wear them. Are the members
of the body which are adorned with jewels to be compared
with the eye that sees without them ?"' " For virtue protects
the head."* " Wouldst thou, Mitra Dzogi," said the king, his
father — " wouldst thou forego the crown set with fine Chinta-
mani, the badge of the power thou hast, the necklace of pearls,
the bracelets, anklets and earrings of gold which are thine,
to go and wander about as a priest?" "Father," answered
Mitra Dzogi, " all those ornaments and jewels that have
cheated my body, I must leave at the graveyard. I go to
seek ornaments of the vows I take in the mind that changes
not"* " Wisdom," says Bhartrihari, " is indeed real beauty in
a man ; it is his hidden treasure of precious wealth ; an orna-
ment of grace to him, and a source of fame and glory. And
since wisdom teaches him also who teaches it — since it is the
dearest friend in distant travels, and is the most divine gift,
worshipped even by kings — no wealth equals it ; but he who
has it not is a brute"' "Virtue is the cause of prosperity
[good fortune], and the root of application. The fruit of
wealth is sensuality ; but the fruit of wisdom is a precious
ornament."* "Confucius says that young people ought to
learn filial piety, then to behave with propriety, be truthful,
- &c., and then their education will be an ornament to them."'
"Instruction (or education)," says Demophilus, "o/iot'a (<ttI
Xpvery <rr€<}>dvif, is like ijnto a crown of gold ; for it brings both
honour and profit."* "And the person [body] of those who
are kind to others, shines through their good offices, and not
from the sandal-wood they rub themselves withal."' Confu-
cius says, in the Ta-hio,'" " that riches adorn the house, but
virtue adorns the person." " The beauty of learning is beauty
> Nizami, p. 102. ' Nanneri, 40. « Telugu pr. 2412.
• Mitra Dzogi, p. 4> 5- ' Nitishat. 16. • Telugu stor. p. 7.
' Siao-hio, i. ' Demophili Simil. ed. G. • Nitishat 63. *" Ch. vi.
10]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
211
indeed, for it shows mental excellence."' "Wisdom consti-
tutes thy crown ; discretion (or humility) is as shoes to thy
feet. But, O Ahura, I, Zarathustra, mind heavenly things ;
O Mazda, who art Most Holy ! let my embodied spirit attain
to purity and strength of life through [thy] power ; let the
sun shine, and Armaiti [Wisdom, the daughter and consort of
Ahura Mazda, under whose charge the earth is placed by him]
be in [his] kingdom, and give a blessing on works [wrought]
through Vohu-Mano [the good Spirit]."' " There is no greater
friend than the ornament of rich qualities."*
" ornament of grace" " Of grace,
XO'p'i o, airtp airacTa t(v-
X<i TO n€i\i)^a OvarSii,
f1^^ <f)ipot(ra rt/jdc,''
which," says Pindar, " works all things that are soothing or
agreeable to mortals, and brings honour with it." " For man's
person is more adorned by wisdom than by jewels ;" "and is
an ornament that lasts."' "O Osiris [said to Aufanch the
departed], thy father Tum [the evening sun] has [put on]
bound thee with the wreath of justification ; with that frontlet
of life. O beloved of the gods, thou livest for ever !"7 " Isaiah
saw in the seventh heaven, where Adam, Abel and Enoch
were, other saints with crowns of glory not yet on their
heads;" "and other crowns and thrones of glory;" "and
crowns of splendour."*
10 Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and
the years of thy life shall be many.
Q«n niaqJ, " years of life." 'Thy' is not in the text, though the
LXX. have tnj fu^s o-ov. 'Thy' seems to restrict the sense to this
present life only; whereas "the wisdom that cometh from &bove"
ensures life everlasting also— implied in years of life, existence.
' Naladiyar. Kalvi, i. « Yalkut Tanch. R. Bl. 480, 3 Yaqna, xlii. 16.
* Kawi Nitish. » Ol. i. 48. ' Nutsidai ugh. 20. ' Rit. of the
Dead, xix. 1. ' Ascens. Is. xi. 40, ix. 10, 12, &c.
V 2
212
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iv. lO
" Hear, O my son" " Now will I tell thee, as unto a dear
child, things that be for thy good," said Theognis ; " lay them
in thy head and heart. Never do evil — no, not even when
urged to do it ; but take counsel deep within thyself, with thy
good mind."' " Tell me, father," said Shuka to Vyasa, " which
is the best virtue ? The best virtue, answered Vyasa, is devo-
tion [tapa:]. When thou hast concentrated thyself and thy
senses, as under a cover, then shalt thou see with thy soul the
best Soul — eternal, all-pervading, immense, like fire without
smoke — Brahma, who is himself the origin of what has been
and of what shall be. He who has become acquainted with
him shall receive another existence, whether man or woman."*
"He," says Confucius, "who is intent on acquiring perfect
virtue [love of humanity], does not seek his life to the preju-
dice of virtue. He would rather destroy his body for the
sake of perfecting virtue."' "Men, however," says Syntipa,
"will prefer their life to either gain or riches."* " Let a good
son remember [think or mind] the gift [grace] of God that
gives life [or increase] to that which his teacher tells him — to
practise truth and to take to heart his transgressions. May
thy life be as long as mine [no years]," said Ptah-hotep ;
" acquired thus, and spent in the king's favour, and praised by
the [elders] chief men in the land."' " The wise man," says
Confucius, "does not trouble himself about eating and drink-
ing, but about the right way. The husbandman may suffer
hunger within [at his work]; but instruction !— it possesses
wealth and happiness within itself"' "The Joo (or literates),
disciples of Confucius, make efforts early and late, and never
drop their books from their hands. This leads to talents and
learning, to excellence and to intelligence, to complete merit
and to perfect reputation."'
"Where there is filial piety, Heaven grants happiness ; but
' Theognis, 1015. ' Maha Bh. Shanti P. 9038. ' Hea-Lun, xv. 8.
« Syntipa, fab. 12. ' Pap. Pr. xix. 5, 6. • Hea-Lun, xv. 31.
' Chin. Mor. Max. Medh. dial. p. 190.
iv. 11]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
2rj
when it is the reverse, happiness does not come."* Accord-
ingly we are told that " a son of poor parents, but filial
towards them, had no clothing for cold in winter, and gave all
his food to his father and to his mother, but himself fed on
coarse rice only. Once when his father's life was despaired of
and no physician could be had, he made a vow to Heaven to
exchange his life for the life of his father. The father suddenly
recovered, and his house prospered abundantly. So, children,
do the same."* " If thou hearkenest to [my instruction] what
I have told thee," says Ptah-hotep, " thy plans (or affairs) will
prosper."*
" Set up (or worship, honour) as a god the Lama who
understands and teaches thee the meaning and sense of Scrip-
ture."* " From obedience [to him, to authority] comes great-
ness," say the Osmanlis.'' " I have spoken to thee, O my son,"
said Ajtoldi ; " I have given thee this my own counsel, O my
son. Receive it from me, and hearken to me."* " My son,"
said Ptah-hotep, " it is a happy chance to keep the [breath]
inspiration of good words, and to treasure them up in writing
for others. He who brings them will never meet with mis-
fortune in the earth, but will increase in good."'
Ill have taught thee in the way of wisdom ; I have
led thee in right paths.
"ip^ ^73555 T'^PTin, ' I have made thee tread or (walk) in the
ways (or ruts) of righteousness;' 'paths' would more properly be
nia^nj, • tracts trodden by the feet of wayfaring men.'
I have taught thee" &c. "Is virtue, then, to be taught or
not? If one purposed to learn the virtue wherewith good
men are made what they are, where had one better go to
inquire? Why, to the good men themselves. Where else
would you go ?"* " He that teaches what he does not himself
' Koku ni naru no den shu, p. 3.
3 Pap. Pr. XV. 8. • Oyun tulk, p. 11.
Bil. X. 23, 24. ' Pap. Pr. xv. 8, 9.
' In Shits mon, i. p. 3, 4.
' Osman pr. • Kudat ku
' Plato, Tfpi apiT. i. 2.
214
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iv. II
practise, is like a blind man who holds for others a lamp in his
hand, but is himself in the dark."' "For teaching without
practice is no teaching."' "As if one showed the way to a
man gone astray, or as if one brought a lamp into a dark
place for men with eyes to see the form of objects, so, O
Gautama, has thy speech been to me ; my faith [trust] in
[alara] crooked ways is like the chaff before a mighty wind,
or like myself in a rushing stream. It is gone. Accept me
as thy devoted disciple."' And Ennius —
" Homo qui erranti comiter monstrat viam
Quasi de sue lumine lumen accendat, facit
Nihilominus ut ipsi luceat, quom illi accenderit."*
" Hapaivia-ai <rot /iovkofiai to. (Tv/uf>opa :
I will counsel thee for the best," said the Choragus to CEdipus.*
"Confucius gave good advice to others by inducing them
to follow him gradually. He grounded one well in literature,
and bound one over to follow discretion." " If I wished to
stop short, I could not ; I exerted my powers to the utter-
most ; so that I got his teaching deeply fixed in my mind."'
" Maku [Meng-tsze] and Si Koi [Yu] having listened to the
voice of their teachers, made the way plain for others."'
" Now," said Twang-kang to his people, " I have made plain
to you the interior of my heart and reins. I have openly
told you, my people, the nature of my intentions."* " It is,
however, easy for everybody to give advice to others ; but
one's own consistent practice of virtue is the part of great
minds (or of large-hearted men)."'
" If a man first of all settles himself according to right
principles, and then teaches others, that man will not suffer
for it. Let him first so influence [tame, curb] himself that he
may influence others ; but the taming [subjugation] of self is
difficult (or hard)."" "A good man gives instruction without
• Sepher Ham. B. FL ' Drus. Ad. B. Fl. ^ Mahaparanib. fol. 11. p. 45.
« Ennii incert carm. 770. ' CEdip. Col. 464. • Shang-Lun, ix. 10.
' Gun den s. mon. 689. » Shoo King, iv. 1 1. ' Hitopad. i. 107.
'" Dhammap. xii. 158.
iv. 12]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
215
deception, honestly. The mean man gives it falsely when
asked for it."' " He who is wise and intelligent, but crafty
(or false) withal, is not fit to teach others, neither is he re-
spected. But he whose nature is upright, and neither false
nor crafty, is respected even by the gods."'
"Mangala, overjoyed when he saw the dge-long [priest]
Paltschi frightened at the sight of the heap of his own bones,
left from former births, said to him : My godly [spiritual] son,
I have put into thy heart everything necessary, and thou hast
heard from me everything about successive births [transmi-
grations]. Having said this, Mangala went up to heaven ;
and the dge-long Paltschi followed his mother home, as a
young colt follows his dam."' Likewise " did the Khan betake
himself without delay to the pathway shown him by his
teacher Naganchana, and went on happily in that way."*
"As the potter does not try to break, but to adorn the
water-pot, so also does a teacher try not to let his pupils go
to perdition ; which is for their benefit."' But teachers vary.
" He who really is a teacher," says Vemana, " speaks and
shows all about Shiva. He will show clearly the way to
Brahmaloka [heaven]. He examines well his pupils, and dis-
pels the darkness of their ignorance.""
1 2 When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened ;
and when thou runnest, thou shall not stumble.
" WAen thou goest," &c. As regards starting on the journey
through life alone without wisdom, Vidura's advice to Dhri-
tarashtra is good : " Let him not start alone on his journey."^
"The fruit of talent (or power) and worship is firmness (or
constancy) in hearing, and no wavering in difficulty [Kawi], in
understanding [Jav. Comm.]."' "As wisdom (or knowledge)
is the only friend in a strange land, the learned son only took
' Legs par b. pa, 1 19. ' Dsang-Lun, c. xv. fol. 73. ' Id. ibid,
c. XV. fol. 80. * Siddhi Kur, xiv. ' Lokaniti, 38. • Vemana, iii. 5.
' Maha Bh. Udyog. P. 1016. • Kawi Nitish.
2l6
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iv. 13
with him a few books on his journey, and they made his for-
tune."* "God," said Ptah-hotep, "will instruct thee in the
words of old (or of the beginning). Make it good [teach them]
for children and for old men. He that hearkens to it will
walk in all uprightness of heart, and his words will not breed
disgust (or surfeit)."* "No man," say the Rabbis, "stands
firm in the words of the law unless he has stumbled against
them."'
1 3 Take fast hold of instruction ; let her not go :
keep her ; for she is thy life,
won, ' embrace instruction,' and ^Tiri vM, 'flag or relax not'
" Take fast hold of instruction" &c. Seeing that "ipia, in-
struction, implies chastening, and that our trials or chastenings
are proofs of God's fatherly wisdom and care of us, and thus
often prove our greatest blessings, and are to be 'embraced'
as such, this verse might be taken in connection with ch. iii.
II, 12, 'instruction' here meaning 'chastening,' and 'life,' our
existence, including " the life that now is, and that which is to
come," to which our trials lead us. 1\]in, although idiomati-
cally ' thy life,' is, nevertheless, a plural that means ' thy lives.'
As the Arabs say in a way :
"A man who has knowledge (or science) never ceases to
live."* The Li-ki [Hio-ki], as quoted in the San-tsze King,
says : "As a gem unwrought is not a perfect object, so a man
who is not instructed cannot know justice [rectitude] ;" upon
which Wang-pih-ko remarks " that here [e] justice, rectitude,
means [Tao] 'the right way.' Though a man have a beautiful
gem, if it be neither cut nor ground [polished], it is not a
perfect object, and is useless. In like manner, although a
man be endowed with excellent talents, if he is not diligent
in inquiring, he cannot know reason, rectitude, the right way
and virtue. Finally, he cannot be said to be a perfect man.""
• Telugu St. p. 8. ' Pap. Pr. v. 4. 5 ; also quoted at p. 17.
» Ep. Led. 77. * Meid. Ar. pr. » San-tsze King, 13, 14.
iv. 13]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
217
" I have spent whole days without eating," says Confucius ;
" I have gone through whole nights without sleep, in order to
think. But it profited me nothing. There is nothing like
instruction ['hio,' the study of ancient authors]."'
The Buddhist, however, differs. " Profound meditation is
one door to religious enlightenment ; it emancipates completely
the mind." " The power of profound meditation removes all
hesitation in judgment" " Profound meditation also renders
the religion of Buddha more completely clear."^ " I teach thee,"
said Sbauf to his son Papi, "to love instruction [like] thy mother.
He who attends to it from his childhood is honoured in life."*
" I tell it thee, O Papi, the blessing of one day at school is for
ever and aye. The works [result] of it are like mountains.
They are what I wish to make thee love. They deliver from
the enemy."* " Read, O my son," says Chanakya. " What
comes of idleness ? He who is not read becomes a labourer ;
but he who reads [studies] is sought out by the king. Read,
O my son, day by day."' "Give thy heart to letters," said
again Sbauf to his son Papi. " In truth, there is nothing supe-
rior to letters ; they are, like waters, deep. He who is esta-
blished [resides] in Hemhan [a college or sanctuary at Silsilis]
is not easily put down."" "O man," said Buddha to his son,
" all my wealth in gold, silver, precious stones, &c. [Buddha's
lore], I wish to give to one who will hide it and keep it. [Take
it] desire and love it as thine own."' "Instruction [learning]
is a treasure that requires no guard (or watch) over it."'
" Ho-ei [also called Tsze-yuan, a beloved disciple of Con-
fucius, who died early] was a man indeed," said Confucius. "He
chose the ' constant mean ' [between two extremes] ; gained
one good [virtue], held it tight, pressed it to his bosom, and
would not let it go."» " Instruction [education]," say the
' Hea-Lun, xv. 30. ' Rgya-tcher r. p. c. iv. ' Pap. Sail. ii.
pi. 4, 1. 5. ♦ Id. ibid. pi. 9, 1. 4. ' Chanak. 25, J. K.
• Pap. Sail. ii. pi. 4, 1. 2. ' Dkar padma, fol. 23. • Matshaf Phal.
" Chung y. c. viii.
2I8
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
['V. 13
Greeks, " is the staff of life ; it teaches the way to act."» " He
who repeats his lesson (or task, exercise) a hundred times, is
not like him who goes over it a hundred times and one."
" Repeat and go over, and thou shalt require no balsam [over
the weals of the rod, for not knowing thy lesson],"' say the
Rabbis. As the people of Tsin said, speaking of the kingdom :
" Strive to death to hold it ; do not give up."'
" Learn (or study) wisdom as if dying to-morrow."< " Learn-
ing suffers no damage."* "Learning is greater wealth (or
riches) than other possessions."* " Instruction is wealth ; learn-
ing is fame."' "The learned have hands."* "The learned
man is greater than a king."* " When thou hast acquired that
good thing [learning], thou must needs not let it go.""* " It is
the part of perfection to choose the good and cling to it with
all one's might," says Confucius." "And take fast hold of
virtue."" "Hear the qualities of instruction," say the Telugus.
" Learning gives increase [blesses] him who teaches, and him
who receives instruction."" " He," says Confucius, "who has
studied without [as he thinks] having acquired knowledge, let
him nevertheless fear lest he lose what he has got"" " Hold
fast what thou hast got."'" " Take fast hold on it [instruction],"
says again Confucius, as quoted by Meng-tsze," " and you will
keep it ; let it go, and you will lose it"
Se-chang-ching says : " Choose the good and hold it firmly,
and plan diligently for the day ; listen only to what is good,
and talk not to no purpose [idle talk]. Man can but desire
good, and Heaven must achieve it"'' "The man who observes
his duty perfectly would rather part with his body and his life
than not do his duty." '* " Kujuttara, one of queen Samavati's
attendants, received from her daily eight pieces of money to
• rvu/i. ftov. ' Hagigah R. Bl. 34. ' Shang Meng, ii. 1 5.
♦ Sain ughes, fol. 3. » Tarn. pr. 2835. • Id. 2895. ' Id. 2880.
» !d. 2885. • Id. 2985. '° Gun den s. mon. 173. " Chung y. c. xx.
" Shang-Lun, vii. 6. " Telugu max. " Shang-Lun, viii. 17.
'» Sahid. Ad. 41. '« Hea Meng, xi. 8. " Ming Sin P. K. ch. i.
" Dsang-Lun, c. xvi.
'V- 13]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
219
buy flowers, four of which she kept for herself But having
heard Para Thaken preach, she gave up stealing; and having
bought eight coins' worth of flowers, she said to the queen, who
wondered at the quantity of flowers brought to her that day :
Queen ! I have hearkened to Para Thaken preaching the law,
and I have ceased taking up my queen's money." '
" If asked. What will prevail (or endure) ? answer, Know-
ledge (or instruction) and kindred [family, rank]."' " For there
is no decay for knowledge well acquired by practice."' "And
there is no disease (or sickness) equal to a want of understand-
ing," says Ali ben Abu Taleb.* " The lack of understanding
is the greatest misery and the hardest [worst] sickness. There
is no worse sickness than a lack of understanding [or sense] ;
because the sure proof of a true man is, that upright deeds are
done by him. As the man who lacks understanding [short of
wits] cannot do that, it is clear that he is not a true man,"
says the Persian Commentary.*
The provision made for education in China of old was : " for a
house, a school-room ; for a village [' tang,' 500 — 600 families],
a college ; for a quarter, almshouses ; and for the whole empire,
education."* In the Sing-li, it is said: "This is the way to
study : (i) study extensively, (2) inquire [question] accurately,
(3) think diligently, (4) [divide] distinguish clearly, and (5)
practise assiduously."' " He who studies for the returns it '
yields, will improve in discretion [being directed aright]. But,
alas ! what loss they suffer who acquire science for the profit
they may expect from the crowd !"' "I lay hold on all good
thoughts, good words and deeds ; and I renounce all bad
thoughts, words and deeds."' This passage forms part of a
Parsee prayer.
• Buddhagh. Par. 5th st. ' Tarn. pr. 2285. ' Id. 222.
* All, 32. » Ibid. • Siao-hio, ch. i. ' Ming Sin P. K. c. ix.
' Borhan-ed-d. 11. p. 24. • Yajna, xv.
220
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iv. 14. 15
14 Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go
not in the way of evil men.
15 Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass
away.
"lU^Mip Vni, ' and (go) walk not, step by step, in.'
" Enter not," &c. " O ye men, eat ye of the good and lawful
yield of the land, and follow not in the footsteps of Satan ;
for he is your open enemy."' "Go not over a bad man's
bridge ; let the water [rather] carry thee away," say the Os-
manlis.' "In company with the good, thou shalt accomplish
thy object with ease ; in company with the bad, thou shalt be
kept back from it with shame," say the Ozbegs.* " By rubbing
against the kettle, one gets black ; and by rubbing against
evil men, one gets misfortune."* " Suspicion will ever stick to
a man who has once been mixed up with a bad thing.'" "Qui
semel malus, semper praesumitur talis."" " Do not go and
keep company with evil men,'" said the wife to her simple
husband.
" The common [black] people have a disorderly disposition
[lawless or wicked] ; their work [actions] is black [common] ;
do not therefore blacken thyself, my son," said Ajtoldi ; " take
good care of that."^ [Among the Djagatais, 'black leg' and
'white leg' mean 'common' and 'noble' men respectively. In
Bengal, common people are styled 'black-pots' or 'earthen-
ware.'] " Enter not thou into the house of a bad man ; and
trouble not thyself to no purpose."* " The householder, wish-
ing to make a dge-long [priest] of his son, bethought himself
thus : I must look out a good and wise teacher for him. If I
commit him to a good and wise spiritual teacher, his good
(or virtue) will increase ; but if I entrust him to a bad guide,
the way (or law) of sin will be born in him. In like manner
' Qoran, sur. ii. 163.
» Mifkharh ap. B. Fl.
• Kudat ku Bil. xviii. 4.
' Osm. pr. » Ozb. pr. * Id. ib.
» Lat. pr. ' Siddhi kur. xviii. p. 22.
• Mong. max. R.
iv. 14, IS]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
221
as the wind which has no peculiar smell in itself becomes
fragrant when blowing over chandana [sandal] trees and
champaka flowers, but is fouled by passing over unclean
places, so also with a man and his associates.'"
" The avoiding of all sin, the adopting of all good, and the
purification of one's thoughts, is the doctrine of Buddha."*
" Put away from thee any venomous or poisonous thing, but
keep to that which is good and profitable to thee."' " Respect
[frequent] not sinners and vile men, but respect virtuous and
good men," said Bhagavat to Channa Thera, and spake these
'gathas' [verses]: "Honour not sinners and low people, but
honour the friends of virtue and the best of men."* "There
is one thing [law]," said again Bhagavat, " which is the greatest
in treading the eight-fold path. What thing ? The love of
virtue.'" "Arise, be not slothful ; lead a good life. He who
practises virtue lives at ease in this world and in the next :"
quoted from the Dhammapadam, 168, by Kassapa.'
" Great faults," says Tai-shang, " cut off twelve years from
a man's life ; small ones, a hundred days. There are faults
neither great nor small ; but all faults hurt a man. But to
see evil and not avoid it, is the part of an ' idiot,' or real fool.
He, therefore, who wishes to lead a long life, must avoid all
faults, both small and great."' " If it is the right way," says
again Tai-shang, " walk in it ; if it is not the right, eschew
it." "And the right way [Tao]," says Confucius, "cannot
waver a hair's-breadth."' " That way," says the Chinese Com-
mentary, "is a highway, a level path, straight and smooth
['square,' safe and well made in every way]." "Therefore,"
adds Tai-shang, " walk not in froward [corrupt] paths." " A
path is a small roadway ; if corrupt [winding, unsafe], it is not
straight, and whosoever walks in it does not walk straight-
forwardly," adds the Mandchu Comm.'
' Dsang-Lun, c. xvi. fol. 93. ' Dhammap. Buddhav. 6. ' Monjj.
max. R. * Mahavag. Ch. Thera, v. ed. F. ' Ekadham. ed. F.
* In Santikenidana Jat. p. 90. ' Comm. on Tai-shang in Shin
sin luh, 1. p. 92. ' Chung y. c. i. ' Id. ibid. Comm.
222
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iv. 14, 15
And Mun Moy says, on Esop's fable of the 'Fowler, the
Geese and the Stork' that fared as the geese did for being in
their company : " Men of the world must see that they ought
to act with great prudence ; for if they do business with
wicked men, it may be difficult for them to escape the punish-
ment of their sin. Beware ! Beware !"* " If a thing is not
right, do not turn to it," says the Sahidic adage, " that [thy
doing so] may in nowise appear."*
" Forsake the company of the wicked," says Vishnu Sarma ;
" enjoy the society of the good ; do good and virtuous actions
both day and night, and always bear in mind falsehood [to
avoid it]."' " Like as a merchant with a light escort and much
wealth about him avoids a dangerous road, so also let a man
who wishes to live, avoid sin as he would poison."* "Mas
vale solo, que mal accompanado," say the Spaniards ; " better
alone than in bad company (or badly escorted)."" " Intercourse
(or friendship) with the wicked is like playing [familiarity]
with snakes."' "Be known [be noticed] for thy eschewing of
sin."' Thus "as the bee leaves unhurt a flower with colour
and smell, carrying away its honey, so does the Muni [wise
man, sage] walk through the village [not injured by the people,
but only taking their alms]."* " He for whom Nibbhanam,
empty and without form [mark] as it is, is yet the country
he seeks, his way is like that of birds through the air [un-
touched by things visible]."'
" Virtue is the proper thing to practise, and sin is the one
to avoid."'" Confucius says, however : "To work happiness is
not like avoiding sin ; and to avoid a calamity is not like
considering well what ought not to be done."" "Never, O
Kyme," says Theognis, " consent to take counsel with a bad
man ; no, not even if he proposed a good deed. But take any
amount of trouble in working with a good one ; thou wilt go
' Mun. Moy, fab. 36. ' Sahid. Ad. 38. ' Hilopad. iii. 24.
« Dhammap. Papavag. 8. ' Span. pr. • Tarn. pr. 4633.
' Nuthar ell. 31. * Dhammap. Pupphav. 49. " Id. Araliant. 90, 94.
'" Ciiral, iv. 40. " Ming Sin P. K. i. 5.
iv. 16]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
223
with him a long way."* " Never, never make friends with a
bad man. Coal, if live, burns thy hand ; if cold, smuts it."'
" Flee from the escort by the way of a bad man."' " Walk
not in an evil path, and use no deceit in the house of a simple
man," says Tai-shang.* " Come not near to ruinous (or destruc-
tive) evils."* "Eschew whatever leads (or brings) thee into
the hands [power] of transgression."'
"As Yen Youan questioned Confucius about [jin] perfect
virtue [humanity], the sage answered : Do not even look at
anything that is opposed to propriety ; do not listen to it ; do
not speak of it ; do not touch it."' " Let no man follow false
doctrine, neither abide in idleness, nor cultivate [hold and
teach] false doctrine (or principles) ; let him not be an ampli-
ficator of the world [that is, follow the ways thereof] and
commit grievous sins, common in it (according to the Cingalese
paraphrase). But let him arise, be alert and vigilant ; cultivate
good morals. For he who follows virtue [dhammachari] is
happy in this world and also in the next."'
"Avoid the companionship of evil men ; cultivate the [com-
ing together] society of good men. Act virtuously day and
night, and always keep in mind immortality."' "Avoid an
elephant by a thousand cubits ; a horse by one hundred ; a
horned animal by ten ; but an evil man by quitting the place.""
" Let no man bring himself into the [power] hands of tempta-
tion."" "And avoid a light sin, lest it draw thee into more
sins [lit. heaped sin]."*'' For "sin, like a dangerous road, is by
all means to be avoided."" "Two men on such a road are
said to be 'speaking corpses.'"'*
16 For they sleep not, except they have done mis-
chief ; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause
some to fall.
' Theognis, 69 — 72. ' Hitopad. 741. ' Menander, itov. • Mandchu
transl. ' Av. Atthi Sudi, 73. ' Derek erez s. i. 1 1. ' Hea-Lun, xii. i.
' Dhammap. Lokavag. I, 2. » Lokaniti, 41. '" Chanak. S. 28.
" Sanhedr. MilHn, 912. " Derek erez. s ii. 9. " Javan. pr. " Id. ibid.
224
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iv. 16—18
1 7 For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink
the wine of violence.
D^paq, lit. • repeated acts of violence,' 'violence.'
•• For they sleep not',' &c. " There is not a sin that may not
be committed by him who breaks the law [dhammam], who
speaks falsely [musavadi, in ten words of whom, there is not
one word true, Comm.]. and who thinks lightly of the world
to come."» " The little bird, while pecking, looks around and
eats ; and the swallow sleeps without an anxious heart Thus
fulness of soul gives great happiness. But when schemes are
deep, then misfortune also is deep."" "And Solomon also
says : Go not near the place where evil men pitch their tents
[LXX. encamp, (rrpoTOjrtStwraKn] ; depart from them and turn
aside. For they sleep not if they have not done some evil ;
their sleep is taken from them ; and they sleep not who
devour iniquity."'
18 But the path of the just is as the shining light,
that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
TiW» -^Stt, lit. • going and shining unto the settled (or perfect) day.'
" But the path;' &c. Tsia-sze explains a passage of the
She King [Bk. Kwe-fung] thus : " The way of the wise man
is first hidden, and then it shines forth day by day ; but the
way of the vulgar man is at first apparent, but perished day
by day."* Lao-tsze. speaking of this, says : "The man who
walks well through life, leaves no trace" [his conduct is bright,
faultless].* " It shines more and more unto the perfect day"— in
heaven ; for " brightness and purity [whiteness] are in heaven.""
•• This world is ' yes, yes,' ' no, no ;' but heaven is ' shine, shine,'
'white, white.'"' "The wise and good man is excellent and
• The reference to this passage in Pali was unfortunately omitted. It
cannot now be verified, as I have not by me books to which I can refer.
> Hien w. shoo, 55. ' Didasc. Ap. (Eth.), iii. « Chung y. c. xxxni.
» Tao-te-King, c. xxvii. ' Chin. pr. ' Ibid.
iv. 1 8]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
225
glad ; he shines, he shines in brilliant virtue."' Rabbi Yakub
said : " This world is like the hall (or vestibule) of the world
to come. Prepare thyself in this ante-room, so as to be fit to
be admitted into the ['traclin,' triclinium] marriage-feast or
guest-chamber."'
" For the elect there will be light and joy and peace, and
they shall inherit the earth"' " The righteous shall be in the
light of the sun, and the elect in the light of eternal life, and
their light shall never cease."* " The just shall walk in light
everlasting, and sin shall be destroyed in darkness unto all
ages, and shall not appear from that day for ever."* " Pas-
sionate at first, and then less and less by degrees, like the
morning shadows that shorten towards noon, so is the friend-
ship of evil men ; but that of good men is at first moderate,
then always increasing, like evening shadows that grow longer
and longer until the sun of life has set."'
" He, the sun [Adityo], is the acknowledged way made to
heaven. Those who are free from soil [the defilement of the
earth] go in at the gate of the sun."' "These are the rays
(or sunbeams) by which our fathers reached heaven together ;
let them be ours [shine on us]. For worshippers go to
Brahmaloka [the realms of Brahma, heaven] by a path of
flaming brilliancy [or flaming light; 'archi,' flame, Schol.]."*
We may compare these and like passages respecting the
sun, as worshipped or reverenced in India, Iran, Egypt and
the East in general, with these scraps from Bardic lore : " Why
is the face turned towards the sun in all plighting of faith,
and swearing, and in prayer? Because God is in every light,
and the sun is the chief of all lights. It is through fire that
God brings back to Him all things that emanated from Him ;
therefore it is not right to ally oneself to God but in the light."
Upon which the Rev. J. Williams ab Ithiel adds the follow-
' She King, Bk. Ta-hia, Chung y. c. xvii.
' Bk. Enoch, v. 7. • Id. ibid. c. Iviii. 4, 6.
' Nitishat. 50 ' Rig. V. i. skta. cv. 16.
Q
^ Pirqe Avoth, iv.
" Id. ibid. c. xcii. 5.
' Id. ibid. skta. cix. 7.
226
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iv. 1 8
ing, in a note from Howel ap Davydd ap Jeuan ap Rhys [a
poet who flourished A.D. 1450 — 1480.
Ai annedd yn y wennaul."
"The l^e"{y''| in the course of the sun,
And his habitation in the bright sun.**
On which Jeuan Tir Jarll (A.D. 1760) says: "There was a
general opinion in the age in which that was composed, that
the sun was the abode or habitation of God ; in other words,
that the sun was heaven. There are many words and sentences
in other poems and odes which show that such was the view
held by our ancestors respecting the sun. One of the names
of God in primitive times was ' Hu,' and therefore the sun was
designated ' Huan,' which means ' annedd Hu,' or the abode of
God."»
So in Iran : " We approach thee, O Ahura Mazda, through
the worship of fire, most holy — of the highest of high lumi-
naries, that which is called the Sun."" And in India: "O
Agni [fire, the sun], the mortal who worships thee is like the
moon"' [either as reflecting the light of the sun, or as a bril-
liant orb in heaven]. "What is like the soft moon-beams?
The good [useful] influence of a good man."* " His (Hjam-
dpal's, wisdom's) light is like the soft moon-beams, and beau-
tiful like the glow of dawn."" " He is the chief illuminator of
the world, who teaches (or shows) the beautiful way.""
Here comes in the legend of Dhruva, "who, although he
was only five years old, yet was by Vishnu raised to be the
polar star, on account of his devotion."' That of Pulastya,
" who went the ' great road,' the road of heroes, and died."'
And "of Yayati, who was said to have fallen from heaven,
the 'sun-way' [surya-patha = devamarga], 'the path of the
» Barddas, vol. i. p. 262. ' Ya^na, xxxvi. 9, 16. ' Rig. V. li.
skta. cii. 3. * Phreng wa, 30. ' Hjam-dpal, fol. viii. • Id. fol. iv.
' Vishnu P. i. 12. ' 'bid. ii. i, 14.
iv. 18]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
227
gods.'"' "Thy paths, O Savitri [Sun], are of old, well pre-
pared, and free from dust in the firmament."* "Thou, the
eye of Mithra, of Varuna, Agni, &c., the soul of things mov-
able and immovable, who fillest the heavens, the earth and
the sky."» "Aryaman, Maker, the first of the gods"* [see
the Litany to the Sun, at that place], " the eye of the world,
and the soul of all bodies."' Yet Savitri [the Sun] himself is
reported to have told Yama [death], " that the good and the
true guide [influence] the sun by their goodness."' But this
might only be his way of speaking. " Strive to [rise on high]
obtain greatness."^
"True virtue," says Meng-tsze, "consists in being mature
[perfect], and that is indeed enough."* "Self-restraint and
living only to do good, while making Nibbhan a reality [' seen
with the eyes,' Comm.] as if it were present, is a very great
blessing."* Always aiming at something better, "the perfect
man is not satisfied with himself, and he who is satisfied with
himself is not perfect." >•» " The way [conduct] of a good man—
oh! how wonderful."" "It is the way to heaven which evil
men know not"'2 "Such a man is the light of the state.""
" O Lord," said Ananda to Bhagavat, " is half the life of a Brah-
machari friendship with virtue ? No, Ananda. From this, my
teaching, it results that it is a whole life as Brahmachari that
may be called friendship for and devotedness to virtue.""*
"Friend Yudhishtira," said Sanjaya, "he who makes virtue
[or duty, dharmam] his first object, his great majesty, shines
like the sun ; but the sinfully-minded who forsakes duty (or
virtue) shall assuredly perish, though he gain the whole earth."'"
So also Horace :
' Maha I3h. Adi P. 3571. ' Rig. V. 1. skta. xxxv. 11. a Ibid,
skta. cxv. I. * Maha Bh. Vana P. 146. ' Id. ibid. 166.
• Id. ibid. 16795. ' Atthi Sudi, 79. « Hea Meng, xi. 19!
» Mangala thut. 12. >» Ming Sin P. K. c. iii. " Nitimala, ii. 11.
" Beobous, i. 7. " She King, bk. ii. od. 10. " Mahavag. Upad-
ham. ed. F. " Maha Bh. Udyog. P. 772.
Q2
228
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iv. 1 8
" Virtus, repulsas nescia sordidae,
Intaminatis fulget honoribus —
Virtus, recludens immeritis mori
Coelum, negata tentat iter via,
Coetusque vulgares et udam
Spemit humum fugiente penna."*
" Men whose conduct is pure," said Bhishma to Yudhishtira,
" go on rising step by step, from heaven to heaven, and from
happiness to happiness."* " Going up, not down, in holiness."'
" Light from light, and both lights from God."* " Because
when a man's portion in life shines from heaven [with heavenly
brightness], he may be said to excel others."'
" For in like manner as a gold or silver plate, though covered
with mud, yet shines brightly when well washed, so also does
the embodied soul, having looked into the soul itself [Brahma],
become one with it, and obtain its desire when set free from
sorrow."* " He, my son," said Narada, " who is freed from
all transgression, goes to the world of Krishna, the best of
worlds, in a divine conveyance (or progress)."' "The Sekho
[disciple] who looks upon his body as foam, endued with rays
of light, having broken the darts of Evil tipped with flowers,
shall go, unseen by the king of death."* "But few there
are among men who reach the other shore ; the multitude
only run to this one. The righteous alone will cross the
dangerous coasts (or borders) of death. Let the wise man
forsake the black law and take to the white ; and thus, freeing
himself from defilement, become [jutima] luminous and live
at peace."' And let men honour such a man, "who withal is
intelligent and venerable, as the moon, the way of the stars."**
" He," says Bhagavan, " who does not transgress the law
(or virtue) through lust, fault, fear or delusion (or folly, moha),
his honour (or glory) will shine like the moon at the full."**
• Hor. Od. iii. 2. * Maha Bh. Shanti P. 6748. ' Berach. 28;
Shabb. 21, M.S. ♦ Arab. pr. S. ' Siiin-tsze, c. xvii. ' Swetaswatara
Upd. iii. 14. ' Narada Panchar. ii. 67. ' Dhammap. Pupphav. 46.
» Id. Panditav. 85 sq. " Id. Sukhav. 208. " Sinhala V. suttam. 1. khi. 51.
IV. 18]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
229
i
"But," say the Rabbis, "ere God causes the sun of a just man
to set, He makes the sun of another just one to rise."' " OktUr-
mish [Peaceful] had a dream of a ladder which he ascended
when a Watcher gave him a drop of water to refresh him and
he then went up to heaven. Oktulmish [Intelligent] explained
the dream to mean success and weal. 'Going upwards' in a
dream always means honour ; and reaching high means great-
ness; always higher and higher, until God grant thee thy
desire and thou reach heaven by flying upwards."' " But the
heaven of the virtuous is below that of brilliant light, of infinite
light, and the various heavens of Indra and Ishwara."* "And
those Brahmans who have won their reward by their good
conduct, when they die hence, are like luminaries in the world
of Brahma."*
"And I, Arda Viraf, saw the souls of the pious, whose
[souls] shone like stars, whose brightness was ever increasing.
And Srosh [graosha, the Yazata or deity who first taught the
law, and who watches over this world] said to me : This is
the pathway to the stars.'" "I call to my help ^raesha,
greatest of all, to give us a long life in the kingdom of Vohu-
Mano [good Spirit] through purity, in the straight paths,
by which [we may go where] Ahura Mazda dwells'— the
straightest path through purity to the Paradise of the pure ;
the luminous and most brilliant path."' "We praise the
brilliant deeds of purity, in which the souls of the dead, the
fravashis of the pure, do rejoice."" " I draw nigh to you, Ahura
Mazda, and the Ameshaspands, with a good mind. Grant
me graces for this world and the next [bodily and spiritual],
which through purity [holiness] may place me rejoicing in
brilliant light."*
" T«/tto!|/T<S S'dptTai
Es <f>av€piv oSbv (px^ovTai. TfKnaipei
Xp^/JL ?»ta<7T0V." •'
. M^K '"pf T^f ■ ^Z'- ' '^'"'^' ''" ^"- '"""■^- '""'^- ' Sum-chuw, ,0.
Maha Bh. Udyog P ,602. ' Viraf N. vii. 2. 6. • Ya^na, xxxiii. 5.
Id. Ixv.i. 41. • Id. XVII. 42. » Id. xxviii. 2. » Find 01 vi 122
230
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iv. 1 8
"Good men who honour virtue enter a brilliant path. The
work shows (or proves) the man."
Although this i8th verse may be taken literally, both in
the original and in the translation, yet it may also be taken
figuratively, ' the perfect [lit. settled, fixed, lisj] day,' being
said of the most perfect and brightest of days, ' the resurrection
of the just' And it describes so exactly sundry passages in
the religion of the Egyptians, as represented more especially
in their Ritual of the Dead [the passage of the soul in the
nether world, to the hall of justice, there to be accounted just,
and to receive the crown of life in the bright light of heaven],
that it is difficult not to think that the Wise King who wrote
this verse, " and was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyp-
tians," had not some of it present to his mind. And perhaps
the seventeenth chapter of the Ritual of the Dead in particu-
lar, which has this heading: "Chapter of the resurrection of
departed spirits ; of the coming out in daylight from the
divine nether region of Amenti ; of being one of the followers
of Osiris ; of feeding on the bread of the Good Being ; of
coming out in bright daylight and of undergoing all pleasant
transformations. Let the soul of the defunct Osiris [the
defunct is called by the name of the god, as being one with
him] be reckoned among the followers of Osiris, near the great
assembly of the gods, after his burial, in Amenti. Having
been glorious in their deeds on earth, the words of men are
fulfilled."
The spirit of the departed, being one with Osiris, says of
himself: " I am one of the spirits that belong to light, and that
are luminous (or brilliant)."' At ch. cxxx. the soul [ba] is
made to live for ever by making it sail in the bark of the Sun ;
and at ch. cxxxiii., the departed spirit [khu] is made perfect
in the heart of the Sun, &c. Thus " Men-kheper-ra, king of
Upper and Lower Egypt, rose up justified to the Sun, became
luminous, followed the god, and shed light on earth," &c.*
' Rit. of the Dead, Ixxviii. 8. ' Inscript. Amun-em-heb. I. 38.
iv. 19]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
231
"So also Ramsts Mei-Amun was gifted with life, like the
Sun, for ever;"' and with him, other sovereigns of Egypt
also. " In the ' Meskhen,' the birth-place [of the gods] in the
land of God, where the blessed spirit [khu] eats and drinks
and does whatever he likes, and rests in the warmth of the
land of God."' "There on my head is the white crown of
Turn Nahebka, in the fertile land of Aaru [or Aalu, Elysium ?]
of Ra, where ears of corn are five cubits high," &c.
Again from Iran we hear : " Ahura Mazda, rule thou at
will over thy creatures, that our mind be glad and our souls
be best, and our brilliant bodies be [of] for the best place
[Paradise]."' " Ahura Mazda created perfection [fulness] and
immortality, for the perfection (or satisfaction) of the pure
man, who is the chief (or best thing) in His kingdom, and
who [finds in immortality] the fulness which Vohu-Mano [the
good Spirit] has provided for his friends."* "But [Vohu
A^mano] good Heaven is far from those who do not mind
purity [i.e. godliness, holiness]."'
Those are better thoughts and loftier aspirations than
these of Mahomet, who, when in Paradise, saw huris, every
one of whom had seven thousand waiting-maids. And he
asked : " Are all these the delights of Paradise ? And Gabriel
said : Yes, O apostle of God, all these are the portion of thy
people."* Or than these hopes of the lower Hindoo: "He
that goes to heaven is joined to heavenly apsaras."' Or than
these of the Buddhist : " What then shoiild you say is Nirvana?
That too [as well as Sansar, the visible world and its revolu-
tions] is essentially empty and vain ; and in form, it is the
end of all illusion ; and as proof, it is the end of all sorrow."*
19 The way of the wicked is as darkness; they
know not at what they stumble.
' Stfele of Bakhten. » Pap. Sutimfes, pi. xvi. I. 8. ' Ya^na, c. lix. 16.
* Id. xxxi. 21. « Id. xxxiv. 8. • Miraj Nam. sth St.
' Kawi N. sh. p. 31. » Tonilkhu y. ch. c. i.
232
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iv. 19
" The way of the wicked",' &c. " The eye of knowledge sees
(or disfcerns) the Brahma Spirit that pervades all ; but the eye
of ignorance sees nothing ; no more than a blind man sees
the shining sun."' Therefore "lay not wickedness in thy
heart, but lay in wisdom [virtue] and propriety, and protect
living creatures ; so shalt thou obtain wealth in both worlds
and the city of Nirvana."* " For transgression closes [obturat]
the heart of man," says Rabbi Ishmael.'
" The life of wicked men," says Confucius, " is owing to their
being lucky and escaping unhurt."* "For men," says Choo-
hi, "are blinded by their passions"* — "cannot distinguish
black from white;"" "for the darkness of violence darkens
the faith."' " The foolish [unwise] man is blind undoubtedly.
O foolish man, take interest in wisdom !"* " For blindness of
the heart is blindness indeed."' Such a man, "stepping out
of the way, treads on a spike;"*" or "stumbling against a
wooden fence, says : There is no way at all here for me to the
village."'' " Enveloped as you are in darkness, why then not
seek a lamp?""
" Let a man," says Manu, " consider as darkness that indis-
tinct, inconceivable and unaccountable disposition of a mind
sensual and joined to folly [infatuation, stupidity]. It is said
by the wise that every action of which one is ashamed, either
when done or doing or about to be done, is a sign of darkness
[of mind]. The sign of which is lust ; while that of passion is
wealth. But virtue is the sign of the good quality [in men],
and it is best Good and true souls attain to the nature of
the gods ; the souls that are under the thrall of passion only
reach to human nature ; and those that are always in darkness
become brutes ; and this is the three-fold course of transmigra-
tion.""
> Atmabodh. 64. ' Lokopak. 206. • Joma, 39, M. S.
♦ Shang-Lun, vi. 17. * Comm. on the Ta-hio, c. ix. ' Jap. pr. p. 199.
"> Nuthar ell. 164. * Kudat ku Bil. 41. • Shekel hakkod.
10 javan. pr. " Georg. pr. " Dhammap. Jaravag.-i.
" Manu S. xii. 29, 37, 4°.
iv. 20—22]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
233
"A good man is like precious metal, always and everywhere
invariable. But a wicked man is like the beam of a balance,
always a little up or down."' "And if the good associate with
the bad, they sink lower and lower. For wicked people
gathered together, how would they respect wise ones ? The
venomous snake hidden in his hole in the earth will not come
out of it to the pretty light of a lamp."' " Those who believe
wjU increase in faith, and will rejoice. But those in whose
hearts is disease will go on from [wickedness] filth to filth, and
will die ; for they are infidels."* And the great Yu warned
his people that " to direct oneself and to advance in the path
of benevolence and virtue is advantageous ; but that to follow
the wicked [rebellious] brings on calamity. It is like the
shadow and the echo [that follows or answers]."*
20 My son, attend to my words ; incline thine ear
unto my sayings.
2 1 Let them not depart from thine eyes ; keep them
in the midst of thine heart.
22 For they are hfe unto those that find them, and
health to all their flesh.
HD-1Q ¥1^5 ^9^1, lit. ' to all his flesh-healing,' ' health,' or • healing
to every man's flesh;' mM, 'man,' understood. LXX. jracrj; <ja.pK\
i'a(7is, ' healing to every flesh,' is not borne out by the Hebrew.
" My son" &c. " If thou wilt hearken to me," said Hesiod
to his son, " I will tell thee something more— well, with know-
ledge, and in a few words ; and thou, lay it deep in thy mind."'
"King Milinda asked Nagasena, 'What is the distinction
between attention and understanding [pafia] ?' ' The mark of
attention is, that it puts together (or arranges), whereas [intel-
lect or] understanding [cuts asunder] decides.' ' Give me an
example,' said the king. ' The king,' answered Nagasena, ' must
> Legs par b. pa, 1 16. ' Chanak. 153.
• Qoran, ix. 125. ' Shoo King, i. 3.
' Sain iighes, fol. 16.
• Hes. i. «. n- 106.
234
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iV. 20 — 22
have seen men reaping barley.' ' Yes.' ' Well, as they gather
with the left hand, and cut their handful with the sickle, so
also does intellect decide on what attention puts together.' "*
" If thou lovest [wishest] the goodness of thy conscience," says
Ptah-hotep, "safe [or saved] from every blot, beware of the
[handle] beginning of deceit ; it is a dead corpse ; no good
comes of its introduction ; it is the plague of fathers and
mothers and of their kindred ; it separates man and wife ; it is
a bundle [union] of all iniquities. But a man with an honest
[true] breast [heart] prospers, and conducts his house free
from fraud (or deceit)."* " Be thou, then," said Ptah-hotep to
his son, " one to love obedience."'
"As the moist moon-beams, like cooling salt, give at all times
delicious scent and fragrance to the sandal-wood, so also is
the good word of a father dropping into his son's ear : it
refreshes it"* — that is, if the son hearkens ; otherwise it is very
much as the Japanese father said to his friends, "like wind in
a horse's ears."''
"Of the two, one who begets a child and one who gives
him divine instruction, the more venerable of the two is this
last one. For the divine (or second) birth of a Brahman is
for hereafter, for here, and for ever. For his natural birth is
little ; but the birth which he receives from his spiritual
teacher learned in the Vedas, and which is wrought through
the Gayatri [the most sacred verse in the Vishnu Puranam, on
the spiritual Sun], is true, is free from decay, and is for ever.""
" O thou youth, with a merry heart, do not set at naught my
words, but calm thy mind. Fasten in thy heart the way of
uprightness, and waste not thy youth ; for the value [use] of
it is great Use it well ; for it flees from thee rapidly ; yea,
thy life passes away, however fast thou triest to hold it."^
" The wise man [or man of education and of gentle manners].
« Milinda pano, p. 33- ' P^p. Pr. x. I. 1—5.
* Lokopak. 11. * Kiu O do wa, vol. ii. serm. 1.
ji_ 146—148. ' Kudat ku BiL xii. 9.
' Id. xii. I. 13.
• Manu S.
iv. 23]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
235
as long as he lives, does not for one moment oppose virtue.
If he is in adversity, he will turn to it ; if he is in an exalted
station, he will still turn towards it."' "And if he takes always
good care of the state of his body, he will meet death as
a companion in good old age."' " Which is the best of all
gains?" asked the Yaksha. "Freedom from disease is best,"
answered Yudhishtira.* " Choose, then, that which thou likest
best, whether good or evil. So says to thee a man of expe-
rience, who knows the ways of the people [world]."*
23 Keep thy heart with all diligence ; for out of it
are the issues of life.
Tia*? -123 11}??Q bsp, lit. 'of all objects, or before any object, of
care, keep thy heart, as more precious than all.' LXX. irdo-i; <l>v\aKy
is not in the Hebrew.
" Keep thy heart" " Tvw^i trtavrov, know thine own self,"" " is
indeed a short saying," quoth Ion Chius ; " but Jove alone
knows the whole of the work it implies."* And Chilon him-
self, being asked what is the hardest thing, said : " To know
oneself ; for many through self-love think more of themselves
than they ought." "Be well set in your resolve," said Gau-
tama to his disciples, just before his death, " and take good
care of your own heart."' "Let the wise man who has re-
nounced the world [who walks alone] watch over his mind as
he would watch against an enemy coming upon him unawares,
and as he would take care of a vessel brimful of oil,"' said
the teacher.
"Only keep in the right the heart within thee. It is of no
use asking for promotion. Thou canst rely only on doing thy
duty ; for it is useless to ask to be promoted. If thou wishe.st
to be promoted, do not long for it."' And Siiin-tsze: "The
ears, eyes, mouth, &c., are said to be Heaven's ministers. But
> Shang-Lun, iv. 5. ' Kawi Nitish. ' Maha Bh. Vana P. 17359.
* Kudat ku Bil. xi. 15. ' Chilon. sept. sp. ' Ion Chius, 29, ed. G.
' Mahaparanibbh. fol. gna. • Selapatta Jat. 96. » Ming Sin P. K. c L
236
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iv. 23
the heart that dwells within to rule those five ministers is said
to be [Heaven's or] the heavenly ruler. If that heavenly
ruler is obscured, then the five ministers get confused [or
troubled ['lwan']."» "How careful ought a man to be who
owns so great a jewel as the heart !"» "for sages declare that
virtue resides there.'"
" Aypvirvos (<To koto voZv, be wide awake as regards thy mind,"
says Demophilus ; " for the sleep thereof is akin to the sleep
of death."* " There is no greater or more precious jewel than
the heart (or mind)."» " So great a jewel as the heart ought
to accord with the law [religion] ; it is a source of great joy to
find such a jewel."* " If we wish to regulate our manners, we
must first of all regulate our heart ; but in order to regulate
our heart, we must first of all have right principles."' [But as
these reside in the heart, whence are they to come first, if not,
like li^ht, from Heaven ? S. Matt. xv. 16 — 20 ; Jerem. xvii. 9.]
" But be always on your guard ; for the causes of evil are
many."* " For this body is like an empty city occupied by
troops of robbers. The eyes through their expression sway
the body, as the ears do by sound, the nose by smell, the
tongue by taste; and the mind [or heart, 'setgil'] is like a
flame [or illusion], the leader of the whole"* " ' Is there, O
Bhagavat,' said king Passenadi, 'a law that can secure the
advantages of both this world and the next ?' 'There is one,
O King," answered Bhagavat, 'and that law is vigilance.' "«
"Wherefore, O Rama, my son, practise self-restraint," said
Dasaratha to Rama."
" Watchfulness is the road to immortality ; carelessness is
the road to death ; men who are on the watch die not ; the
careless ones are dead already. Aware of this, men who know
what it is to take care and to watch, delight in so doing,
' Siiin-tsze, c. xvii. ' Hjam-dpal, fol. vi. ' Mong. max. R.
« Demophil. sent Pythag. * Thar gyan, fol. 11. • Dam chhos, fol. 9.
' Yung Ching, 7th max. p. i— 47- ' Akhlaq nasseri, 5. • Allan Gerel,
c. viii. fol. 98. " Mahavag. Appamad. ed. F. " Ramay. ii. 3, 44.
iv. 23]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
237
rejoicing as they do in the portion of the Aryas [noble, excel-
lent and respectable men]."' "Such valiant men, given to
meditation, persevering, always endued with fresh strength,
attain Nibbhanam and supreme happiness. And so is the
glory of the vigilant man increased ; of him who leads a pure
life and works righteousness."* " For there is nothing to fear
for him who is awake and watches. And neither father nor
mother can ever have done a man so much good as — thought
well applied [to the way of salvation] ; this does a man most
good."' " The taming of the mind (or thought), which is ever
fickle and hard to direct and to restrain, ever ready to turn to
what it likes, is a good thing. Thought thus tamed brings
happiness. Let the wise and sensible man tame his thought,
which is ever quick and fickle. Thought thus hidden [subdued]
brings happiness."* " For those, then, who thus restrain
thought hidden within them, the bands of death are loosened."*
"If a man loves himself, let him then guard himself most
carefully."* "Let him keep himself like a citadel on the
border of his land, well guarded and well stored within and
without Let him not omit it one moment ; for those who
overlook it one moment, rue for it in hell."' "Though one
lose one's life," says the Japanese mother to her daughters,
" yet ought one to keep to what is right, and one's heart pure,
like pure gold ;"' "having found one's profit in it, and having
fought and overcome to the end everything, and at last this
world also [sansar]."' Meng-tsze asks : "What is the greatest
thing one has to keep ? To keep oneself is the greatest thing
to keep."'* " Self-keeping is the root of all other keeping.""
"And that in which the superior man differs from the mean
man is, that he keeps his heart. He keeps his heart by bene-
volence [jin] and by propriety.""
' Dhammap. Appamad. vag. 21, 22. ' Id. ibid. 23, 24. ' Id. Chittav.
39> 43- * Id. ibid. 44, 45. ' Id. ibid. 46. ' Id. Attavag. 157.
' Id. Nirayav. 315. ' Onna tai gaku, p, 44. ' Siim-chuw, 3.
'» Hea-Meng, vii. 19. " Ibid. " Ibid. viiL 28.
238
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iv. 23
" Man's heart lies in benevolence ; and justice is the way for
him to walk in. To wander from that road and to lose that
heart, how sad indeed I The whole of moral study consists
in finding that lost heart ; and that would indeed be enough.
In olden time many men did keep their heart ; for that reason
their works were sincerity, filial piety, moderation (or economy)
and justice, spreading their fragrance to a hundred generations.
There are also men who do not keep their heart ; and for that
reason their works are villany, theft, corruption and lasci-
viousness, leaving their bad odour after them for thousands of
years. Seeing these two sorts of men, and considering the
matter well, how can the keeping of the heart be other than
the first article of important business?"'
There is a sermon by the Japanese Kiu O on the above
text from Meng-tsze, from which the following passage may
suffice : " Nothing can be said to be so important as the heart.
When the heart is said to be the lord of the body, it is the
same as to say, Mr. So-and-so is master of the house. And
yet we neglect the disease of this master, but tend affection-
ately the body, which is the servant, even in trifles ; but as
regards the heart, we are utterly careless about it To be
born without man's heart, but with that of a devil, of a fox, or
of a crow, and not to feel ashamed of it — it must be an old
error apparently." [Very old indeed.] " Good thoughts," say
the Rabbis, " come to one at thirteen ; but one's evil nature
(or evil composition) is from one's birth."'
"Whatever be the matter, the heart is always foremost
Whatever it feels or thinks, appears outwardly. If you do
not tend a disease, it will increase, and no physician will avail.
This being the case with the heart also, let me entreat you
to study the science of the heart [morality]. When once one
understands one's former [old] heart [conscience], it is a won-
derful thing."* " Wherefore I pray you follow your natural
' Hca-Meng, xi. 11, and p. 159.
' Kiu O do wa, vol. ii. i.
Ep. Lod. 1084.
iv. 23]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
239
heart ; work, press hard to follow your original heart." " Be
assured that your heart is perfect. As a proof of it, if you
say what you ought not to say, or do what you ought not to
do, suddenly inside you, your heart feels (or thinks) it evil ;
so that when that perfect heart does evil, it is because it has
been warped or bent" " By all means turn upon yourselves.
To examine the affairs of others and to neglect one's own, is
to let one's heart go astray. This does not mean that it
actually leaps out of the body, but it means that one does not
turn to oneself, to examine oneself For to trust to your
talents, services, rank, cleverness, &c., is to make a very great
mistake. Nothing is more important than self-examination."*
" If a man loses a hen or a dog, he knows how to look for
them ; and yet knows not how to find his heart that is gone
astray ! Moral study is the way to find it All our evils come
from not examining our own selves. Had we done so, the
winds and the waves would have been lulled to sleep."' " Those
■who for the sake of wealth, &c., allow themselves to be robbed
of their heart, which is the lord and master of their person,
are deaf to warning. Their parents' advice does not enter into
their ears, and the teaching of their master is like the wind of
heaven. It is like pouring water on a frog's head : it only
blinks its eyes. They say, 'Yes, yes;' but as their heart is
not in their side, seeing, they see not, and hearing, they hear
not," " and do not give a thought to seeking their heart that
is gone astray. That seeking is self-examination [lit turning
upon oneself]."'
These Japanese sermons enforce the doctrine, taught by
Meng-tsze, of the original purity of man's heart "As to man's
origin (or youth), his nature is originally good. Men are one
like another in nature, but they widely differ in practice."*
" The original nature [element] of the heart was correct, not
depraved. If it be controlled, it will not of itself make a
• Kiu O do wa, vol. 1. s. I.
• San-tsze King, I.
« Id. ibid. s. 2.
s Id. ibid. s. 2.
240
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iv. 23
mistake. Since, then, it is impossible to please men in all
things, let me only seek not to shame my own heart"*
" Man's nature is not originally inclined to either good or
evil," said Kaou-tsze, " like water which runs neither east nor
west" To this, Meng-tsze replied : " True, water does not
naturally incline to the east or to the west ; but does it not
incline to flow downwards ? Man's nature is [originally] good,
as water tends to run down. If man does not naturally tend
to good, water does not naturally tend to flow downwards.
But if you observe [man's nature], you will find that it is really
inclined to be virtuous. That is what I say ; ' it is good.' If
a man's practices are evil, it is not the fault of his natural
powers. All men are benevolent, charitable, &c. ; and a heart
that distinguishes between right and wrong is wise. Now
benevolence, justice, discretion and wisdom, are not poured
into us from outside. We possess them ourselves. But we
do not think so. Therefore it is said : ' Seek, and obtain it ;
give up [seeking], and lose it' Confucius said : ' Hold it fast,
and then you will keep it ; let it go, and then you will lose it'
There is no fixed time for its coming or going. No one knows
how far it may go. This can only be said of the heart"
Meng-tsze then goes on to show how one's heart should be
kept He compares it to a 'new mountain,' once covered
with beautiful woods, but now laid bare by cutting down the
wood and want of care. "If man could only preserve his
heart ! Has he not a righteous and benevolent heart ? But the
way he loses his heart resembles cutting down a wood with
the axe. If you cut it down day by day, how can it look
beautiful ? The gentle breeze of dawn, and the cool of the
night, and the hot wind of noon, bear some little resemblance
to man's heart as regards good and evil. But his daily busi-
ness [like the heat of noon] checks that cooling influence of
the night If thus checked over and over and destroyed, then
the cool breeze of night is not sufficient to keep the heart
' Hien wen shoo, 155.
iv. 23]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
241
When this is the case, then man is not far from the wayward
nature of a brute."*
We need not go to Scripture to show how far Meng-tsze
is from it in his estimate of human nature. Siiin-tsze [b.c. 250],
another philosopher, held only second to Meng-tsze [B.C. 350],
says : " Meng-tsze holds that education is sufficient, because •
man's nature is good. But I say, ' It is not so ; he says so
only from an imperfect knowledge of man's nature, and from
not ascertaining, as regards that nature, what portion of it is
fictitious' [wrought, or put on afterwards]." " Meng-tsze says
that ' man's nature is good, but that he lost it' But I say,
' If it is so, then men of the present time were born with a
nature bereft of greatness and wealth, which they must have
lost.' Man's nature is evil ; and when good, it is [wei] put on,
or fictitious."'
So ' doctors do differ,' and Siiin-tsze wins. Meng-tsze, how-
ever, does not give up his point, for elsewhere he says : " To
keep one's heart and to cherish one's nature, is the way to
serve Heaven."' "The straight road, however," says Rabbi
M. Maimonides to his son, " is the path equally distant from
either extreme of the moral affections of man. This middle
path is called 'the way of the Lord,' since we serve Him by
walking in it"* " If at the beginning of an action," says Tai-
shang, " the heart is good, while that good action is not yet
done, good spirits follow it But if at the beginning the
heart is bad, while the evil action is not yet done, evil spirits
follow it"" " The very first thing to be considered is ' to keep
one's heart,' for hundreds of different matters are brought forth
by the heart If the heart within devises anything good, it
brings it out also good ; but if the heart within devises anything
evil, it brings it out also evil. When the heart cherishes good
thoughts, then it will do outwardly good works ; but if it
cherishes evil thoughts, then it will also do evil works."*
' Hea-Meng, xi. • Siiin-tsze, c. xxiii. ' Hea-Meng, c. xii. 15, or
xiii. I, 2. * Halkut Deh. i. 4, in Yad hakhaz. vol. i. p. 12 of his Works.
' Tai-shang, Mandch. vers. " Chin. mor. max., Dr. Medh. Dial
R
242
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[Jv. 23
"Those of old," says Confucius,' "who wished lo order
themselves, first of all settled their heart in the right way.
What is the heart ? Choo-he answers : That which rules or
governs the body. And what is intention? Choo-he again
answers : It is- that which proceeds from the heart ; and in
order to render this intention true, one must keep oneself
satisfied [k'heen, with one's principles] and not deceive one-
self." On this, the Japanese Commentary says : "In ordering
one's body or person, the heart is the main thing (or root)*
At the same time if the intention resident in the heart is not
upright, the heart also cannot be right"* "One asks. Is the
heart the seat of the soul [ling], or is 'sing' [nature] the seat
of it ? The place of [ling] the soul, says Choo-he, is in the
heart, and not in [sing] man's nature [life]."* The heart, then,
haS an intelligent principle. Ching-tsze, quoted by T'heng-tsze,*
says, "that the [ling] soul in the heart cannot but have know-
ledge, or power of knowing." " But," says Confucius, " for
this root [ordering of self from the heart] to be disturbed, and
for the branches [good behaviour, &c.] to be straight, is impos-
sible.'"
"He," says Wen-chang, "who wishes for great happiness,
must rest [depend] on the ground of his heart. If the heart
is wholly brought to act, happiness will grow and increase;
For the heart is a mighty foundation ; it can associate with
heaven and earth."* " Bald heads, matted locks, smearing
with ashes, orations, postures and religious vestments ! He is
no saint who is not pure within."' " Students do not know
this, that the heart [madi, mind] is the only seat of [mukti]
final emancipation.'" " Final emancipation emanates from
the heart [madi] ; all men who cannot know their own heart,
nor control their mind, vanish away in death."* "Final hap-
piness is within the heart ; he is a fool who looks for it else-
" Ta-hio, c. i. ' Jap- Comm. ad 1. ' Choo-he sing li, 3.
« Ta-hio, c. V. Comm. * Ibid. c. i. ad fin. ' Shin sin luh, iv. p. 19.
' Vemana, iii. 174- ' ^d. 197- ' 'd- i- '07-
iv. 23]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
243
where. ' "Those who weary their body and call themselves
'yogis' [ascetics], cannot cleanse away the filth of their own
heart If you destroy only the outside of the white ant-hill,
will the snake that lies inside die for all that ?"'
" Bhrigu, the son of Manu, thus addressed the great Rishis :
Hear ye the certain result of actions done in this world
Every action, by thought, word or deed, bears fruit either
. good or bad ; and the goings [transmigrations] of such
whether high, low or mean, are the result of their actions
Know, then, that the heart [<manas,' mind] is the cause [or
instigator, 'pravartaka'] of all acts of the senses by the
embodied spirit [or corporeal being]. He therefore who
chastens [has power over] his speech, his heart [mind] and
his body, with a well-trained (or restrained) understanding is-
called a 'Tridandi' [one who has command over these three •
his thoughts, words and deeds].'" « He whose speech and
mind are both altogether pure and always protected [covered]
receives the fruit of the study of the whole Vedas."*
"But the mind, which by its nature partakes of both kinds
[m the body, yet not of it], is reckoned the eleventh organ of
sense [five of sense, five of action, and the mind [heart] as
eleventh];* and when this is subdued, the other ten organs will
also be under rule." " Forby attachment to his organs of sense
a man undoubtedly incurs guilt But by keeping them under
restraint, he attains happiness."" "The mind [heart] is the
source of all virtues, and is itself the best part of them ; they
result from it If a man speak or act with a foul heart [mind]
then sorrow follows him, as the wheel-cart follows the ox that
draws it The mind [heart] is the source of all virtues ; it is
Itself the best part of them ; they result from it If a' man
speak and act with a serene mind, then happiness follows him,
as the shadow follows the body that casts it"'
"But when the organ of sense fails [from restraint], then
Md.„. 160. Md.„. ,,89. Md.ii.92. ' Dhammap. Yamakav. ,, 2:
R 2
244
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iv. 23
the knowledge [of God, 'pragna'] oozes through it out of that
man, as water does through a hole in a leathern bucket. He
who has brought all his senses under subjection, and his mind
[or heart] as well, may then attain unto all manner of good,
even though he do not waste his body in austerities."^ " He
who will keep himself [his body] in order, must not neglect
his heart ; and he who will perfect his nature [make it com-
plete] must not be confused as regards the right way [Tao]."*
" As to the heart," says Choo-he, " it is difficult to tell what
it is. Looking at it, it has motion and rest ; its nature [or
body, 't'he'] varies; and its principle [li] may be said to be
Tao, 'the right way;' and the use (or application) of it may
be said to be spiritual [shin] ; but these are ways of speaking.
Thus when Meng-tsze says that ' humanity [jin] is the heart
of man, and that to practise it is that heart,' such an expres-
sion is equal to that of ' li' [li chay, t'heen chi t'he ;' ' li' is the
'body' of Heaven, that is, the principle whereby Heaven
governs or influences men ; ' t'heen li,' is Providence]. When
Yen-tsze says that ' for three months his heart did not turn
from humanity,' it means, that his heart was lord over him
and that it did not swerve from 'li' [its principle, or nature]."*
And elsewhere Choo-he asks : "What is the heart? One
word covers it — ' life and self Life is the great virtue [d/Jtr^,
strength, power] from heaven and earth ; and man receives
breath from heaven and lives; and Tao is the life of the"
heart."*
"But the strength of the heart," say the Arabs, "comes
from soundness of faith."* " Every man," says Borhan-ed-din,
"ought to inquire into that which belongs to his condition, as
seller on selling, to be honest, &c. So also it is incumbent
on every man to study the circumstances of his own heart,
about confidence, intention, fear, pleasing others, &c."' "O
' Manu S. ii. 99. * Hwae man-tsze, c xiv.
vol. xliv. * Id. ibid. ' Id. ibid.
' Borhan-ed-d. c. i.
' Choo-he sing 11, 3,
• Nuthar ell. 106.
iv. 24]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
245
ye noble sons of the gods, the first thing wrought of old by
the heart of the Mahasatwas [the good, virtuous, pure] was, to
embrace and hold fast through meditation the teachings of
truth left by holy men ; that there is reality in death ; then
to gather the precious flowers of knowledge ; the perfection
of intellect ; the lamp of divine knowledge, and to walk
bravely. These, O noble sons, are the ways in which the
heart of the Mahasatwas wrought."' Therefore, " O thou, the
guardian of thy soul, or of thyself," say the Arabs' — "that
great jewel is given thee for thine own ; but only to keep it
safe ;" as said the bystanders to the dge-long [priest]."'
" WttA all diligence" which is one of the attributes of Byang-
tsum-sem-pah, of 'the Being joined to Intelligence,' of the
Bodhisatwa, while he was in Dgah-ltan, the abode of joy."*
" The wise and good man," says Confucius, " looks to himself ;
the mean man, to others."* "Be careful then," says E-yun
(B.C. 1753); "when the bowman draws the thimble of his
bow-string, he turns to examine if his arrow is fixed properly,
and then he lets fly. Be therefore cautious as to that upon
which your mind is set."" Be careful then. "I have applied
myself," said king Amen-em-ha to his son Usurtesen, "to
save thee from thine own heart [deceitful as it is]."'
24 Put away from thee a froward mouth, and per-
verse lips put far from thee.
Marg. reading : Heb. ' frowardness of mouth, and perverseness of
lips.'
" Put away" &c. " Thy tongue," says Ali, " will exact from
thee that to which thou hast accustomed it" " Accustom thy
tongue," says the Commentary, " to the fairest speech and to
the best words ; otherwise, if thou accustomest it to speak
evil, thou mayest never be sure that it will not speak, against
' Allan Gerel, c. iv. fol. 92.
fol. 252. * Rgya-tcher, c. ii.
' Pap. Sail. ii. pi. i. 1. 4.
* Meid. Ar. pr.
' Hea-Lun, xv. 20.
' Dsang-Lun, c. 1.
' Shoo King, iii. 5.
246
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iv. 25
thy will, some bad words that may trouble thy cup [of life],
or let thy head fly from thee [be cut oflTj." " Accustom thy
tongue," adds the Persian, " to what is good ; for that to which
it is used comes on the tip of it. If it is used to bad [words],
it will some day give thee a black face [ashamed] before
people."^ "Do not speak low words."* "He who watches
over his words, whose mind is under control, and who does
no wickedness with his body, let him keep those three paths
clean, and walk in the path taught by Rishis of old. He
who from childhood learns to distinguish between truth and a
lie, how can he be but truthful and accurate ?"*
" If thy tongue speak [straight] upright words, it will move
aright [and subsist] ; but if thy words are froward, thou must
hide thyself," said Ajtoldi to his son.' "Foolish, senseless
men follow listlessness ; but wise, sensible men keep up watch-
fulness as they would keep valuable treasure."* " When telling
a thing," says Ebu Medin, " be truthful ; and when making a
promise, keep it."' "Cast away from thee frowardness [cun-
ning] and wrath." " And do not raise [favour, incite] a licen-
tious, disordered mind [or heart]."' " It is a blessing for a
son to practise truth and to eschew lying," said Ptah-hotep.*
" Therefore does the wise man watch carefully over his own
secret [thoughts orfeelings]," says Confucius." "Kwey-wen-tsze
used to reflect three times and then act. Confucius heard of
it and said: 'Over and over again; that answers best.'""
" Samano Gautama, when he gave up lies and falsehood,
became a speaker of truth, and truthful, firm to be depended
on, and trustworthy. And he gave up harsh language."'*
25 Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eye-
lids look straight before thee.
• AH b. a. T. 33, and Comm. ' Av. Atthi. Sudi, 74. ' Dhammap.
Maggavag. 9. * Maha Bh. Kama P. 3437. ' Kudat ku Bil. xiv. 8.
• Dhammap. Appam. 26. ' Ebu Med. 9. • Oyun Tulk. p. 11.
• Pap. Pr. xvi. 2. "* Chung y. c. I, and Ta-hio, c. vi. " Shang-
Lun, i. 20. " Silakkhanda, fol. 3.
iv. 25]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
247
" Let thine eyes" &c. " Reverence for those who go straight
[ujjagatesu], who are upright in the way, is best."' "The
heart and the eyes are touters for the body, and they draw
the body into sin."' The heart and the eyes are the two
touters for sin."*
" Ni peccent oculi, si oculis animus imperet"*
" Dice il core agli occhi : per voi moro.
Gli occhi dicono al cor : Tu m'hai disfatto."'
" It is neither by cries, nor words, nor talk of any kind, that
one can acquire virtue [the laws, rules of virtue]. It is only
by [the very marrow of] intense application that one can
acquire it. As you speak, so do."" "The footprint [form of
the foot, the tread] is heavy ; that of the hand is reverential,
therefore handle nothing inconsiderately. But the print of
the eye is straight ; look not askant or with a leer."' " He
who is in the habit of looking at other people's errors to laugh
at them, whatever kind of individual he be, his misfortunes
are not far from him."' "Look not at other people's rough
[cross-grained] words [lit. against the setting of the hair ; Fr.
i rebrousse poil], nor yet at what they do or do not. But look
at your own doings ; at what you do, and leave undone."*
"Always gentle and free from deceit, strive to tread the
way to Nirvana [passage to yonder shore] ; study to examine
the way thither ; and [cleanse] scatter the darkness of igno-
rance with the lamp of intelligence [or understanding]."'*
"And do not twist reason."" "Nobody is for one state (or
purpose) only, answers the Lord of life [Death]. Keep thy
eye on thy life [or existence]."''' " Put on thy hat, and do thy
best to walk straight on."" "Look with eyes wide open at
him who does not know thee."'* "And mind thine own eye.
for it betrays thee more than thy tongue."'^ "But," says
» Dhammap. Sahassav. 108. ' Midrash Rab. in Numb. M. S.
» Berach. M. S. * Publ. Syr. « G. Guinizelli, M. S. ' Rgya-tcher
r. p. iv. p. 40. ' Shiteigun, p. 11. ' Rahula thut. 15. • Dhammap.
Pupphav. 7. •• Rgya-tcher r. p. c. iv. p. 41. " Jap. pr. " Ani, 41.
'^ Georg. pr. '* Meid. Ar. pr. ii. " Id. ibid. vi.
248
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iv. 26, 27
Theognis, " the eyes, the tongue, the ears and the mind, com-
mon to all men, are in the [breast] heart of the intelligent
[wise] ones."' And Lao-tsze says, "that outward objects
distract the holy man from the contemplation of Tao [the
right way]. Therefore does the holy man fill himself [his
heart] and not his eyes, and for that reason also does he
choose this and eschew that"' " From the emperor down to
the common people [multitude], the duty of every man is- to
amend or correct himself, attending to it as to the principal
thing."* "The wise man," says again Confucius, "considers
attentively the root (or principle) of his actions ; the root once
established, and the right way of acting once produced, filial
piety and brotherly love follow ; and such is the root of
humanity [virtue]."* " Ts'heng-tsze quotes the Shoo King [Tai
kia], where it is said of king Ching-tang that he kept his
eyes constantly fixed on the bright commands of Heaven."
26 Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways
be established.
27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left:
remove thy foot from evil.
Or, ' all thy ways shall be ordered aright.' Marg. reading.
" Ponder the path," &c. " To keep steady in the middle
path [of virtue] and not to swerve from it, what strength
indeed !"* " How upright was Sze-yii," said Confucius ; " when
the country was well governed, he was as straight as an arrow ;
and when the country was ill governed, he was still like an
arrow."' "O my son, consider well what provision to take
for the journey, and then gather this or that by the way [thou
goest]."* " When a man is firm [established] in his own
counsel [is proved and trusted], others bind their actions to
' Theogn. iii7-
♦ Shang-Lun, i. 2.
' Hea-Lun, xv. 6.
' Tao-te-K. c. xii.
' Ta-hio, c. i. Comm.
• Pend i attar, ix.
' Ta-hio, c. i.
• Chung y. c. x.
iv. 26, 27]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
249
his advice."' " Blessing on purity, and on virtue, and on the
kingdom of Vohu-Mano ; with these I press forward towards
the bridge Chinvat [that souls have to cross on the way
yonder]."' " If, therefore, this deceitful [empty, vain] world
falls to thy lot, my son, do all the good [in thy power] and
order thyself aright."'
"The wise man [directs] makes his mind that luxuriates,
that is fickle and hard to govern aright [or straight], as
an arrow-maker straightens a bamboo [for his arrows]."*
" Ts'heng-tsze» quotes the She King [Ode ' mien man'] to show
that if a bird knows how to settle in a nook of the mountain,
man ought to know how to settle in the greatest good." To
which the Japanese Commentary adds: "That man, being-
reasonable, ought to know it better than the bird." And the
Ji-kiang [Commentary on the Ta-hio] further says: "That
man has that in him which will lead him to settle in that
which is good ; but that holy men alone attain to it." For
many men settle in evil. Timur, for instance, is said "to have
set up wickedness upon its legs."'
"It is the heart," says Meng-tsze, "that rules and thinks;
if it reflects, it can find the right way ; if it does not reflect,
it does not find it"' " Let moralists blame or praise ; let
fortune come or go; let death come to-day, or a 'yojana'
[four or nine miles] hence— wise men never swerve from the
path of truth."* " If the country has good principles [is well
governed], let your good principles follow you to the grave,
&c. I have never heard that good principles should be accom-
modated to [the level of fancy of] men." " For if good prin-
ciple varies one hair's-breadth," says Confucius, " it is no longer
good principle, or the • right way.'"" " The mountain torrent
easily rises and falls ; but the man also who easily^ moves
backwards and forwards, is a man of mean purpose."" " In
. Pend i attar, xxi. ' Ya^na, xlv. .0. » '^t^'^^^'j^ i'
• Dhammap. Chittavag. ' Ta-hio, ch. iii. Comm. • Arabs. V.T.mur.c..
'Hea-Meng,xi. 15. • Nitishat. 10. • Chung y. c. .. '• Chin. pr. G.
250
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iv. 26, 27
the face of obstacles, &c., it is not well to enter the way first.
But tread the way back.">
" Y6u have two ways before you," said Pianchi to the men
of Mertum ; " choose the one you like best. Open and live ;
shut and you die."« "Move thy foot [walk] circumspectly,
and drink filtered water."" " Felice che misura ogni passo,"
say the Italians, and " Che misura i sui passi cammina sicuro."»
" Keep to the mean," say the Arabs, " and walk on one side."
"Mix among men, but keep aloof from them." "The mean
[middle] is best in all things."*
" Nee preme, nee summum molire per xthera cursum.
— medio tutissimus ibis.
Inter utrumque tene."'
" It is indeed a great blessing (or great good fortune) for a
Rahan or a Paggul [mendicant priest, priest in charge of a
monastery, one who teaches others] in his intercourse with
things of the world [daily life], not to have his mind moved ;
but to be without sorrow, without passion and enduring."^
" But keep aloof from men ; and forming thy judgment with a
free soul [disengaged], decide on everything, with the best
opinion, sitting up as charioteer [of thy life] ; and when thou
leavest thy body to soar up on high, thou shalt then become
immortal, and a god."*
" It is hard (or difficult)," says Pythagoras, " to tread many
ways at once in life."* " But tread the straight road, if thou
wilt be righteous."" And follow this advice : " When thou
enterest upon a journey, first take counsel with thy Creator,
and then go forth."" " Do as I do, Kyrnus ; tread the middle
path in peace."" "And beware how thou goest; and," said
Kaou-tsung, " be not like a man who, walking bare-foot, does
not look on the ground, and hurts his foot"" "Thus think of
' Ani, xlii. max. • Stfele of Piaaichi, 1. 82. » Kotbitaratn. 4.
• Ital. pr. * Ar. pr. ' Ovid, Met. ii. 135. ' Mangala thut. 13.
• Pythagor. XP- '■ 67. • Pythag. Sam. 10, ed. G. '» rVu/i. iiov.
" Berach, B. Fl. " Theognis, 321. " Shoo King, iii. 12.
iv. 26, 27]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
251
i
correcting thyself" [lit. what is near], says Tsze-Hea, "for
virtue lies in that"* "But we fix on an object or action
according to our moral habit, for we deliberate on that which
we desire, as says Aristotle ; for there can be no deliberate
choice without a right purpose [thoughtfulness]."*
" Spend your life in trying to lay hold on truth and pro-
priety; and yield not an inch to any one for the sake of
yellow gold."* "The ornament of wise (or excellent) men lies
in their inclining to neither side, and in their preserving an
equable mind, like even weight in a balance."* "That which
wavers not is said to be 'mean' or middle ; that which alters
not is called constant"' Heou-Chu says : " Do nothing that
tends to evil, because it is a mere trifle ; and omit nothing
that tends to good, because it is but little."* "It behoves
thee, O King," said Kaikeya to Dasaratha, " to abide firm in
the right way. For men who know what is right say that
faithfulness [constancy] is the highest virtue. I took refuge
with thee on the strength of thy faith ; and now I warn thee
to do what is right by keeping that faith."' " In a field of
cucumbers tie not thy shoe,"* say the Arabs ; and the Japanese,
" Under a pear-tree arrange not thy hat"* [to avoid suspicion,
but walk on, and tarry not].
The whole of Confucius's Chung-Yung treats of the ' Inva-
riable Mean,' or middle path of virtue, which, he says in the
first chapter, is not to swerve by a hair's-breadth. Most of
that treatise might be quoted in illustration of this verse. For,
as the Japanese say, " No one can serve as master two different
persons."'" "Mou-Ka [Meng-tsze] was kind and upright; Si-
Kio [the scholar Yu] laid hold on the straight course : they
kept close to the middle path, which lies in being diligent,
humble, careful and docile."" "The benefit of excellent laws
• Hea-Lun, xix. 6. ' Archytas Ter. 2, ed. G. » Ming h. dsi. 129.
* Cural, xii. 118. ' Tsze-ching-tsze, in pref. to Chung- Yung.
• Ming Sin P. K. c. i. ' Ramay. ii. xiv. 2, 3. » Arab. pr.
' Japan, pr. "• Ibid. " Gun den s. men. 673.
252
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[iv. 26, 27
to the people, lies in the strict observance of them. In that
we must look for their worth."» « For it is only because of a
smgle move that the chess-board is 'conquered' [that the
, game is lost]."" "He who has done no harm to others, nor
bowed to the low and mean, and who has not swerved from
the right way, [though it may appear little, yet] it is much "»
" For with great effort one can roll up a block of stone to the
top of a mountain, where the least thing may upset it Such
IS one's virtue and one's faults [hard to acquire and easily
lost]."*
" Which is the right way a man ought to choose for himself?
All that is an honour to him who does it, and that brings
credit from others."* "The right road is the middle way."'
[We may compare the Chung-Yung [Invariable Mean] of
Confucius with the 'Middle Way' ['dbu mai lam'], as taught
. by Gautama, and the philosophy of the Middle Way taught
by Nagarjuna one hundred years after Gautama.] "Go by
the king's highway ; wander neither to the right nor to the
leff'T "The sages have declared," says Rabbi M. Maimonides,
"that he whose habits (or principles, ways) are 'intermediate'
[verging to neither extreme], is called wise. Therefore have
they advised men to direct their steps in the middle way, as
being the safest"^ "Know ye," says Tiruvalluvar, "that he
is safe from destruction who, turning to neither side, commits
no evil deed."*
"I walk," said Theognis, "in a way as straight as a rule,
leaning to neither side ; for I must think the best, and for the
best, how to benefit my country, without pandering to the
mob or trusting to unjust men."" [Would God that other
men did the same!] "Do not, O Kyrnus, vex thyself too
much because of troublesome men ; but do as I do, 'walk the
" Hien w. shoo, 131. » Id. ibid. 199.
* Id. ibid. 68. » Ep. Lod. 70. • Id. 624.
' Halkut deh. i. 4. • Cural, xxi. 210.
» Naga Niti, 42, Schf.
' Mishle As. xviii. 3.
" Theognis, 923.
Jv. 26, 27]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
2S3
middle way.' "> "If a man," $ays Confucius, "will bend his
will towards virtue, he will abstain from evil."* " The invariable
middle way is virtue ; few people, alas I can walk long in it"*
"A wise, well-educated or superior man [kiiin-tsze]," says
again Confucius, "settles himself in his station in life, and
acts accordingly; wishing for nothing outside it" " He regu-
lates (or rectifies) himself, and (asks or) expects nothing from
others." "Always at peace and tranquil within himself, he
awaits the commands (or decree) of Heaven. Like an archer
who misses his aim [and tries to hit better], the wise man,
when he errs, considers within himself that wherein he has
failed, and strives to set it right."*
' Theognis, 219.
• Chung y. c. xiv.
' Shang-Lun, iv. 4.
» Ibid. vi. 27.
254
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[v. I. 2
CHAPTER V.
/ Solomon txhorteth to the study of wisdom. 3 He showeth the mischief
of whoredom and riot, /y He exhorteth to contentedness, liberality
and chastity. « The wicked are overtaken with their own sins.
jyj Y son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine
ear to my understanding :
2 That thou mayest regard discretion, and ihai thy
hps may keep knowledge.
"My son, attend," &c. " Children, attend to us your teachers
at the monastery-who pour wisdom into you, and not useless
things, as among fools— and then your wisdom will be like
Mt Myemmo [Mt. Meru]."> « In reading books, you must pay
attention ; one [Chinese] character is worth a thousand gold
pieces."* "For what good is there in a hearer who does not
practise virtue ?"» " Firmness [or constancy] firmly seated in
the heart, and holy texts well received in both ears, is the
ornament of really great men, though they be poor."*
So, then, "the office of a disciple is, when the teacher gives
him a model, to strive and copy it ; when he sees good, to
follow it; when he sees good, to practise it Thus easily
correcting himself, he will learn to do right of himself, and
without effort or opposition on his part."' "When he pur-
poses anything, he will not flag, and when he practises, he will
keep straight ; and thus continuing in this way, he will soon
draw towards virtue."' "Rahula," said Gautama to his son.
• Putt-ovada, 20.
• Nitishat. 55.
' Chin. pr. P. 28.
• Siao-hio, c. i.
' Vararuchi shadratn. 7.
• Id. ibid.
V- 3. 4]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
25s
" abandon the six properties of lust, come forth from the so-
called prison of passion, and put an end to sorrow, as a
Buddha."* " Let a man know and have many virtues, and
even shine in them, still must he cherish, preserve and hold
fast propriety of conduct [discretion] ; it will be a great assist-
ance to him."' K'heuh-li says : " Propriety [discretion] does
not transgress due limits, does not demean itself in mockery,
does not like familiarity, orders itself, keeps its word ; such is
called good conversation [or practice]."* " Neither look at,
hear, speak nor move in anything that is not in accordance
with propriety."*
3 For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honey-
comb, and her mouth is smoother than oil :
4 But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a
two-edged sword.
njpbri n?!), 'drop pure honey from the comb.' rnT, 'strange
woman' — any other than the lawful wife.
"For the lips," &c. " Honey in the comb on a precipice
protected by snakes — the Kiratas perished through it Thy
son, O King," said Vidura, " sees the honey, but from infatua-
tion sees not the precipice."' " Graceful child of the forest,
honey-mouthed daughter of Tapio," said Lemmikainen, "blow
sweetly thy reed-pipe and lull others to sleep with the honey-
sounds of it."' "Like the voice of old Nestor, from whose
mouth it flowed /xIXitos ykvKlmv, sweeter than honey."' "But
if one endued with some qualities is by nature wicked, leave
him (or her).'"
" The mouth of crafty [nefarious] people is charming, cool
as sandal ; but the wicked nature of their heart cuts through
like a saw."' " They speak fair, with a pleasing face ; they
' Rahula thut. 4. • Cural, xiv. 182. ' Siao-hio, c. iii.
♦ Chin max., Diet, at 'wo.' ' Maha Bh. Udyog. p. 2474. ' Kalevala,
xiv. 68. ' II. a. 249. • Sain iighes, fol. 28. ' Mas. v. 6, Schf.
1
256
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[V- 3. 4
ravish, with a subtle mind. Honey lies on the tongue of women ;
but in their heart rankles virulent poison, and that only."'
" Women are said to be within like poison, though outwardly
charming, like the fruit of the 'gunja' [abrus precatorius]."*
"By whom was woman created? Women are, like poison
with ambrosia, for the ruin of virtue."'
" oxtSat 8' ipawrt Kvir/)is
/icAt TO yXvicv) Xa/Sowro."
Stings smeared with honey. " Sweeter are the words of such
a woman than the core of the jack-fruit, than refined sugar,
than virgin honey."" "But a smiling woman and a weeping
man are not to be trusted," says the Tamil proverb.*
" Look not at a bad woman ; for from the lips of the adul-
terous woman there flows honey, which at the time tastes
like honey to thy throat, but which thou shalt afterwards find
more bitter than gall, and sharper than a two-edged sword."^
"She covers poison with honey."' "I counsel thee, Lodd-
fafnir," says Odin ; " I saw a wicked woman's words bite a
man right through [up and down] ; her deceitful tongue
caused his death." " Of such a maiden let no one trust the
words, nor yet what a woman says. For their heart was made
like a revolving wheel, and fickleness was put in their breast"'
"A man does not understand (or feel) his eye-ball, polished
with the finest lustre, as it drinks in the objects at which it
looks. Go on, then, drinking in sinful looks with thine eyes ;
by and by thy sight will be bitter enough for thee.""
" Hard, indeed, are some women," said Rama's wife." Even
she whom the gods had endowed with every gift. Pandora,
Hcsiod tells us, proved n-^// dvSpda-tv a.k4>r]<TT-ga-iv, " a misfortune
[calamity] to industrious men," and caused them troubles
enough."'* "Yet if a bad woman is worst, a good one is the
• Pancha Tant i. 202. • Ibid. 211. ' Shantishat. ii. 3.
* Anacr. od. 45. ' Vemana, ii. 30. « Tain. pr. 437. ' Uidasc.
Ap. (Eth.), c. i. » Jap. pr. p. 5SO- ' Havamal, 119, 83.
'• Litta jatak. p. 380. " Kumara Sambh. iv. 5. " Hesiod, *. «. i 83, 95.
v.5,6]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
257
best thing on earth."' "The fool, however, reckons [his evil
deeds] honey, so long as his sin is not ripe ; but when it is
ripe, then the fool suffers pain."' " He goes on, senseless as
he is, an enemy to himself, doing sinful work that yields bitter
fruit"' "The pleasure of sin is but trifling, compared with
the pain it brings, which is great"* " For the mud into which
the sinner sinks is in the lowest depth of hell.""
5 Her feet go down to death ; her steps take hold
on hell.
6 Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her
ways are movable, that thou canst not know them.
obop ]9, third pers. sing, fem., and not second pers. masc. " Lest
she should weigh the path of life, her ways are movable" — that is,
•as she has no wish to weigh right against wrong, her ways,' &c.
LXX. oSovs yap fw^s ovk iiripxtTai. So also Chald. and Syr., Copt,
and Arab., taking )5 as bw or >fh, and with them Midrash Mishle
also ; all of which take Sjjri as fem. But Arm. and RR. Aben Ezra,
Yarchi, andTvunath Mishle, understand this verse in the sense of A.V.
"Her feet go down," &c. " Quid levius pluma ? Ventus.
Vento quid ? Aer. Acre quid ? Mulier. Muliere quid ?
Nihil," say the Rabbis.* " What is an endless, impenetrable
thicket? The mind, ways, and heart of women."' "What is
an impenetrable thicket ? The way of woman. Who is a
clever, able man ? He who is not lost therein [thereby]."'
"What is as passing as a flash of lightning? Intercourse with
bad men and young women."* "A roving woman only goes
after roving men."'" "Even though her husband be all she
can desire, and her home agreeable, yet how will the slippery
woman curb her innate instinct? If a dog is fed with milk,
will he not rove about for all that?"" "A daughter of the
' Hesiod, i. «. ij. 700, and Simonid. M. ed. Br. ' Dhammap.
Balav. 10. ' Id. ibid. 66. * Niti neri vil. 11, 12. ^ Cural, 919.
' Ep. Lod. 1573. ' Phreng wa, 21. ' Sansc. original, 23. ' Id. 59.
'" Vemana, ii. 10. " Id. ibid. 31.
S
;s
258
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[v. 5. 6
Shimnus [demons],"' "whose windings are not known."' "Lust
is like the autumn cloud of rain, inconstant ; it moves about
with the wind, and deceives, while destroying all virtues in
man.""
" Restlessness [being movable] is natural to women," said
Vidura to Dhritarashtra.* "Covet not the actions of those
women who go about from place to place to do unlawful
deeds."' " But guard women as you will, by keeping them
still and unseen, it is like planting a hedge around a field just
sown with wheat in order to keep birds from it, and do no
more (or sit still)."* " Let a man eschew strange women and
changeableness [in his station]."' "People of bad character
are like the tongue of the balance — the least thing moves them
up or down."* " But the good, like precious stones, never,
i^vcr change."* "Thou art changeable (or movable)," said
Hiranyaka to the crow ; " and no friendship can be made with
such a person." 1'
" No confidence is to be placed in cats, buffalos, rams,
crows and mean individuals ; they are all excluded from it""
" Women are always fickle and inconstant ; even the gods
say so. The husbands whose wives are well guarded are
indeed lucky."" "Neither shame nor decency, but the want
of an opportunity, is the only safeguard of a woman's virtue;""
"whose heart is as light as a crane's feather."'* [In all this,
allowance must be made for a degraded state of society, and
with it, the low estimate of woman, outside the pale of Chris-
tianity.]
" Even the gods cannot see the bottom of the sea, a white
crow, and into the mind of woman."" "Women, thieves,
full as they are of wits, intelligence, wisdom and craft, can
yet hardly acquire the knowledge of truth. The nature [ways]
• Mong. Max. R. ' Ani, xvi. 14. ' Rgya-tcher r. p. c. xv.
• Maha Bh. Udyog P. 1317- ' Lokopak. 51. • Id. 54.
' Chanak. shat. 20. " Naga Niti, 175 ; Var. 53, Schf. • Legs
par b. p. 116. " Hitopad. i. 454. " Id. ibid. 88. " Id. ibid. 124.
»' Id. ibid. 125. " Jap. pr. p. 209. >' Nidivempa, 53.
f
f*
v. 7. 8]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
259
of such women is as difficult to know as the goings of fish in
the water. Falsehood is to them like truth, and truth like
falsehood."* "In truth, the way of woman is not very plain
[not easily ascertained]," say the Japanese.'' "The heart of
women cannot be understood, like the face in a mirror ; their
nature, like a difficult track among mountain-passes, cannot
be ascertained." " Their mind is declared by wise men to be,
like water on a lotus-leaf, inconstant."' " Half of the words
they speak are said to some one else, and at the time they eye
some other man, and think of something else than what they
say. Who is really loved by women ?"*
7 Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart
not from the words of my mouth.
D^33, 'O ye sons' is surely more appropriate here.
"Hear me now" &c. "Son," said Gautama to Rahula,
" eschew women who, with their feet and hands, their person,
their smiles and laughing ways, raise passion in others. In all
thy existences [sansara] keep thy mind under restraint."'
Ch. " Venim ubi animus setnel se cupiditati obstrinxit mala.
Necesse est, Clitipho, consilia consequi consimilia : hoc
Scitum est : periculum ex aliis facere tibi quod ex usu siet."*
" But thou, walk in the perfection of morals [moral perfection],
if thou wishest to attain to Buddhahood. Take always care
of thy morals, as the yak-ox does of his tail."^ "Say not,
' We are young, we will do right by-and-by,' but do well while
you have the means. Not ripe fruit only falls ; but good,
unripe fruit must fall by a strong wind."*
8 Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh
the door of her house :
' Andhabhut. Jat. (62), p. 295. ' Onna ima kawa. p. 17.
' Bhartrih. suppl. 6. • Pancha T. i. 151. ' Rahula Thut. 6.
• Ter. Heaut. i. 2. ' Silaparami Jat. p. 20, 21. • Naladiyar, 9.
S 2
26o
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[v. 8— ID
9 Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy
years unto the cruel :
^-niSW*?, « to the cruel.' Chald. ' to the strangers.*
"Remove thy way," &c. "As long as thou livest," said
Osmotar, Kaleva's daughter, to her younger sister, " so long as
the moon shines, go not near a house without morals ; a house
is to be inquired after as to its character; for it rests on a good
[name]."* "My fourth advice to thee," said Sigrdrifa to
Sigurd, " is, that if thou fall in by the way with a witch [a
wicked woman], better it is to go on thy way than to go in to
her, even though night overtake thee."' "Keep aloof," says
Ani, "from the gadding woman, who is not known in the
town. Go not near her ; have nothing to do with her."' " For
when a way is known to be evil, the best thing is to forsake
it"* " Even the mind of good men is made to waver by the
words of the base. He that places confidence in them dies."*
" Do not commit adultery," said Ajtoldi to Ilik, " and keep
well to that If thou wishest to be respected [held in honour],
come not near to vice, O thou with a well-ordered [upright]
mind. For well has the upright said : ' When vice touches
thee, stay not, step not towards it ; for where there is sin, con-
tempt follows it.'"* " But walk on," says Avveyar, "and let go
the hand of such a woman."' " For the adulterer, or sensual
man, gets a mark [or name ; is branded]."* " Come not near
to whoredom," says Mahomet; " it is a foul deed, an evil path."*
"And hold no intercourse with sensual people [evil livers]."*"
" Idleness brings one into the hands [power] of vice and of
evil thoughts."" " Otia dant vicia." " L'oisivetd est la m^re
des vices." " L'ozio h il padre del vizio.'"'
ID Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth ; and thy
labours be in the house of a stranger ;
• Kalev. xxiii. 79. ' Sigrdrifumfil, 26. ' Ani, xvi. 13.
« Pancha T. i. 341. * Hitop. iv. 58. ' Kudat ku Bilik, xx. 10—14.
' Kondreiv. 78. ' Vararuchi Nava R. 2. ° Qoran, xvii. 34.
" Jap. pr. p. 196. " Ep. Lod. 647. " Lat. It. Fr. pr.
V. 10, It]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
261
*
1 1 And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and
thy body are consumed.
ir>''T'nM3, • at thy latter end.' Chald. ' at thine end, extremity.'
"Lest strangers," &c. " Sweet sins end in sore expiations ;
and trouble always follows pleasure."* "And repentance of a
fault is the confession of it."' " That which produces sorrow
is — let men know it — a bad action,"' says the Buddhist.
" Quod merito pateris, patienter ferre memento
Quumque reus tibi sis ipsum te judice damna."*
"A fault returns thither from whence it comes [in punish-
ment]. The blister of a burn is finally cured by fire."* " Old
age pounces upon him who indulges in excesses."* "Pour
vivre longtemps il faut etre vieux de bonne heure :' Old young
— young old."
" Immodicis brevis est retas, et rara senectus.
Quidquid amas, cupias non placuisse nimis."'
" Non est vivere, sed valere, vita."'
"If pleasure is the end of man," said Cleanthes, "then the
gods gave him common sense for his hurt."*"
" He who has tried (or proved) knows ; but woe to him who
proves everything."** "Repentance is a great thing, since it
reaches the throne of glory.""' "Like ardent fire on gold, so
is light shed on those who are penitent under sore affliction.
The reason why there are so many worthless men [men no-
men] is, that the penitent are so few and the impenitent so
many."" " Of vice and death, vice is said to be the worst ; for
when dead, the vicious man sinks lower and lower in hell ;
whereas the man free from vice mounts up to heaven."** "A
man receives in his mind the reward of mental [moral] acts ;
in his organs of speech, those of the tongue ; and in his body,
• Solarlipth, 68. " Ebu Med. 305. ' Dam ch'hos, fol. 40.
' Dio. Cato, iii. 18. « Drishtant. 66. « Shabbat. 152, M. S.
' Fr. pr. ' Mart. Epig. vi. 29. • Id. ibid. 70. *" Fragm. Phil.
Gr. p. 153. " Fin. pr. >2 Ep. Lod. 568. » Cural, 267, 270.
" Manu S. vii. 53.
262
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[v. 10, II
those done by it, whether good or bad."» "There is no fire
like that of passion."' " Sorrow is born of pleasure, and plea-
sure also gives fear ; therefore is there no sorrow for him who
has renounced pleasure; whence, then, can he have fear?"»
" Passions," said Udpala to the nuns, " are like fire ; they set
on fire hill and dale, and spread like fire among the grass ;
one man destroying another."* " But neither the Vedas, libe-
rality, sacrifices, abstinence, nor austerities, will ever profit a
man deteriorated in his nature."*
" No rose without thorns ; no pleasure without pain. He
who will have the rose must be prepared to have also the
thorn," say the Turks.' " Passions," says the Buddhist, " have
little sweet, but are full of sorrow ; and wise is he who thinks
so."' " It is, however, better thou shouldst not sin, than sin and
have to repent of it."8 " Repentance beforehand is real gain,"
say the Malays; "but after-repentance— what merit is there
in it ?" " It is one's own judgment of oneself."*
" — justa doloris
Njevole, causa tui."'"
" — At atj hoc illud est,
Hinc illae lacrymae.""
" Tardy repentance is thine own enemy" [one of thine own
making], say the Ozbegs.'^ " Still," says Pythagoras of Samos,
" reckon that the trouble that follows pleasure is to lead thee
to virtue."" " For wickedness is a fire, a fire that burns ; there
is no escape on either side from the way thereof"'* "Thy
nights of debauch serve thy lust ; but at last they consume
thee whole"'*— "and also degrade thee; for therein lies the
degradation of man."" " He who loses shame reaps for his
soul [himself] repentance more burning than the burning heat
of the sun," said Ibn Doreid." " What fruit [harvest] of sin
' Manu S. xii. 8. ' Dhammap. Sukhav. 6. ' Id. Piyavag. 6.
« Dsang-Lun, fol. iji. « Manu S. ii. i, 97. « Osman. pr.
' Uhammap. Buddhav. 186. ' Berach. B. Fl. » rviuft. /lov.
" Juven. Sat. ix. 20. " Ter. And. i. i. 12 Ozbeg pr. " Pythag.
Sam. 9, ed. G.
'• Nuthar ell. 85
" Ter. And. i. i.
'• Kudat ku Bil. xi. 19.
" Hariri, iv. p. 45.
'» EI Nawab. 144.
A
V. 10, 11]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
263
is there but to weep ? said Nushirwan, when rebuked by his
vizeer; and he then bit his finger in his violence;"' "his
soft finger-tips in despair;"* or like Atthai, who is said
by Arabsiad "to have eaten his hand in regret" at what he
had done." " For the snares of Satan bring trouble and sorrow
to man."*
" Blessed is he who repents while still in the prime of man-
hood,"* "and who stands firm in temptation."" " For the fool
repents when he comes to himself," said Vasudeva, " as water
puts out fire."' " Through pardon and repentance thou mayest
escape the wrath of God ; but thou canst not escape from the
tongue of men"* — "but until thou beat thyself with both
hands, for alas I thou sayest, ' I would not hearken to wise
counsel.'"' "And although the claw of rebellion is cut short
by repentance, and the wing of obedience speed one to eternal
glory,"'" "yet there remains a scar on the conscience," says
Publius Syrus :
" Cicatrix conscientiae pro vulnere est."
" He," said Vaishampaka to Dhritarashtra, " who only sees
the honey and does not see the precipice, he being [broken]
undone by greed of the honey, repents of it at leisure, as thou
doest."" The Bodhisatwa said thus to the gods : "Avoid every
immodest intention. Divine joys, whatever they be, proceed
from the source of a good action, and are the fruit of good
actions. Therefore remember your actions ; for from having
neglected to gather good actions, you go where sorrow dwells."'*
" He," said Hod-srung to the Bodhisatwa, "who after reflec-
tion repents, will not again do unseemly [improper] things."'*
There was in China a saying copied by the road-side [jropot/ii'a] :'*
" Seldom speak, and thy name will be mentioned. Restrain
thy passions, and thou shalt preserve thy body."" And Lao-
• Nizami, M. ul-asrar, p. 49. ' Hariri, ii. p. 106. ' Vita Tim. c. 29.
♦ Ebu Med. 202. » Yalkut Tehil. R. Bl. 128. « Shemoth R. id. 126.
' Prem Sagur, ch. ii. ' Sadi Gulist. ii. 23. " Id. ibid. vii. 5.
>» EI Nawab. 48. " Maha Bh. .Stri P. 38. '^ Rgya-tcher r. p. iv.
'^ Dkon segs, i. fol. 18. " See Preface. " Ming Sin P. K. c. iii
264
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[v. 12—14
tsze says: "Too much self-indulgence injures the spirit; and
too much wealth holds the body captive.'" "For all desire
does not last long ; it is like a dream, like the mirage, like an
illusion, like lightning, like foam."*
12 And say, How have I hated instruction, and my
heart despised reproof ;
13 And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers,
nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me !
14 I was almost in all evil in the midst of the con-
gregation and assembly.
"I was tayp? little short of being in all evil," &c. 'Peu s'en
fallut que,' Fr.
"And say," &c. In the Keuh-li it is said : "It is the duty
of a son to serve his parents. If he is reproved three times
and will not hearken, he will have to howl and weep in secret,
and himself will follow [fare alike in his sons]."' In the Khara-
diya-jataka* we read of the deer that was killed from want of
hearkening to advice. "Give no further advice to him who
has transgressed seven times." But in the Tipullattha-miga-
jataka, we have the storyr of the deer that escaped from the
snare in which it was caught by remembering good advice
and following it That deer was Rahula, Gautama's son."
" But he who does not reverence the word of his mother, and
IS an obstinate, stubborn man, will not respect the words of his
•guru" [spiritual teacher].""
"For no guru will change a man's nature [disposition or
temperament]."T " Yet such a teacher should be treated with
the utmost reverence and respect ; in short, a good teacher of
that sort should be looked upon [give the idea of] as Buddha
himself "8 " He who does not follow the instruction [advice]
' Tao-te King, in Ming Sin P. K. c. iii. « Rgya-tcher r. p. c. iv.
» Siao-hio, c. ii. « P. 160. » Id. p. 160, i6i. • Tarn. pr. 2713
' Id. 3619. » Thar gyan, ii. fol. 18.
V. 12 — 14]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
.265
of one who wishes him well, falls into the hand of his foes."*
"In five ways, O son Gahapati. does a compassionate 'guru'
teach his pupils: (i) he teaches him good behaviour; (2)
delivers to him good instruction [gives him what is worth
taking] ; (3) teaches him every trade ; (4) speaks well of him
to friends and acquaintances ; and (5) succours [or protects]
him in misfortune. The pupil also, on his part, honours his
teacher in five ways : (i) by rising before him ; (2) by waiting
on him ; (3) by listening to him attentively ; (4) by going
about with him [" but at seven feet distance behind him, for
fear of treading upon his shadow"'] ; and (5) by receiving his
instruction attentively."^
" Next to the desire to learn, comes the choice of a religious
teacher, to be supported, served and honoured for three reasons :
advice, manners [propriety] and example. He is to be chosen
from among Lamas of the best order, who combine all per-
fections."* " What, then, is the bitterest poison ? To despise
one's spiritual teacher."' Tai-shang reckons among the sins
that bring their own punishment, "to be wanting in proper
respect for one's teachers" [explained in the Mandchu transla-
tion by "those who have gone, or who were born before —
elders." This, however, is only a literal rendering of the
Chinese original ' sien sang,' ' born before,' or teacher]. Another
sin, says Tai-shang, is "to rebel against [resist] those one
serves," and "to cherish hatred (or rancour) towards one's
moral teacher;" as also "to rebel against the orders of one's
superiors.""
" The good and wise man stands in awe of three things :
he fears Heaven, he honours great men, and he respects the
words of the wise."^ " For the good advice given by good
men is to be followed ; for when they speak from themselves,
it is like the Shastras."^ " Treat me." says a man up in years,
■ Kapota Jat. p. 244. • Do ji kio, Jap. pr. ' Sigal V. Sutta.
fol. No. 52. * Thar gyan, ii. fol. 14. ' Drislan p'hr. wa. 9.
• Tai-shang k. i. p. Mandch. tr. p. 31. ' Rodriguez, Jap. Gr. p. 4.
' Bhartrih. suppl. 22.
266
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[v. 12 — 14
"as your elder brother" [with affectionate respect]. "You
must honour your teacher because he reforms (or directs) you.
There are three persons without whom one cannot do : parents,
a master an'd a teacher. A young man, therefore, ought to
be circumspect, and to keep attentively to the advice given
him ; and also to abide in friendship and fellowship with him
who gives him good advice."> "Venerate thy father and
mother from morning till evening, and wait on thy teacher day
and night." "A teacher." says Kukai, "is friendship for this
one world, but he is an alliance for the three worlds." "And
for filial piety towards a teacher, Kuwansen [goddess of mercy]
retributes Buddhistic happiness."*
"But alas!" says Vemana, "to a teacher they will not even
give a mess of broken victuals, while they spend their substance
on loose women."' "who, when once they have caught a man,
keep his nose in the dust."* "Is a teacher, then, more de-
graded than such women?"* "But passion makes teaching
and rule of none efl-ecL"" "Yet. O men. I tell you the truth
without partiality." says Bhartrihari. "a fact which is proved
m all countries : There is nothing to captivate the heart like
woman ; neither is there any other source of misery."^ "Alas,
fie on me!" said Kandu to Pramlocha, "my devotions are
destroyed, and my prayers [or inward life], the treasure of
the wise, are killed by this woman created by some one to
beguile me."" " Seeing the danger of temptation, and how
soon it takes possession of one, those who give way to it
follow the law of unrighteous [improper] actions. For he
who does not observe the law of perfection, shall not be able
to overcome temptation."* "The unwise among men," says
again the Buddhist, "wander in five ways, in like manner as
the potters wheel revolves on itself. These five ways are:
beauty of form, melodious sounds, delicious smells, exquisite
' Shi tei gun, p. 8. » Do ji kiyo. 3 Vemana. ii. 28.
El Nawab. 187. « Vemana, ii. 28. • Sanhedr. Millin de Rabb 15
' Shrmgara .Shat. 57. » Vishnu Pur. i. 15, 27. » Sdom pa sum pai.
kon sags. i. fol. 22.
V. 12 — 14]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
267
tastes, and the softest touch. These are the evil snares of
time, by which living beings are caught, as a young ape^ is
caught in a snare set for it."*
" But what blessed [fruit] result there is in beholding those,
whoever they be, who for a long time have abandoned vicious
companions, and have attached themselves devotedly to the
precious intercourse of virtuous teachers ; and who, having
forsaken all vice, walk in the faith of Buddha!"' "For it is
only when temptation ceases that there is peace."' " Hear,
O great Fortune," said the birds to the Rishis, " how this world
is deceived. The body is a city with nine gates. There the
sentient Purusha [man] sits as king ; his two counsellors,
Mind and Intellect [or understanding], seek to destroy each
other. Four enemies, lust, anger, avarice and delusion, sur-
round him. When he shuts his gates he is safe ; if not, lust
comes in with his other foes. Then the ruin of the intellect
follows ; and when that is gone, he perishes altogether."*
" He, then, who will not hearken to the advice given him by
friends who wish him well, when misfortune befalls him his
enemies rejoice at it.""*
"If you will not hearken to advice, you shall suffer loss,"*
says Avveyar. "A teacher is the clearing nut [strychnos]
with which the inside of a vessel is rubbed to purify the water
poured into it. Man's body is that vessel."' "The king asked
the wise tamer of elephants, how he had managed to tame so
fine a one. ' I was one day hunting with him,' answered the
man, " and although he ran about wildly through passion, yet
with my hidden charms I brought him into subjection to my
power. And when he tries to break his fetters, a kind word
quiets him.' Thus one can tame a stifl"-necked elephant, but
not stiff"-necked passion, which is either raised by one evil
example, or set at rest by another good one."' " Hast thou
• Rgya-tcher r. p. c. xiii. ' Ibid. c. xii. p. 141. ' Nata kith. Jat.
p. 61. * Markand. Pur. iii. " Hitopad. 1. 76. • Kondreiv. 79.
' Vemana, i. 178. ' Dulva, vol. ii. p. 492.
268
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[v. 12—14
then seen one set free from passion ? asked the king. Such
a one ,s an angel [Iha-Ius], a Buddha. Freedom from passion
IS not found in woods, nor is it achieved by blood [that flows
•n one s veins] ; many have tried it and failed. But the desire
of emancipation comes from somewhere else than this world
where all are swayed by mirth and pleasure ; gods, as well as
heroes, men. hons. tigers, insects of the dust, butterflies-all
however small, are shackled by passion."'
"Fools who do not lay up riches [of wisdom] when young
waste away like an old heron in a pool without fish ; or like a
[useless] bow without arrows, lying on the ground, bemoaning
thmgs of the past."*
" altl S' irkoTtpw dySpSv ^pivts ^tpiOovrai."
"For the mind of youth is always flighty." said the good
Menelaus.'
" Cereus in vitium flecti. monitoribus asper,
Utilium tardus provisor:"*
•'Easily led into sin, impatient of reproof, and slow at provid-
ing [for days to come]." " For the action of the soul (or mind
• sems-pa') is the action of the heart. And that which is pro-
duced from the mind is the result of thought, wrought out by
the body or by speech, and thus made evident, as an action
of the heart and soul."» " I knew it all." said Prometheus-
" Uiiv, fKtav, ■qp.aprov, ovk apv^op.ai."
" I will not deny it, I sinned of deliberate will."«
Chr. "At te id nullo modo facere puduit?
CI. Eheu qu^m ego nunc totus displiceo mihi.
Quim pudetl"'
"For those who do what is not seemly [becoming], suffer
what is unbearable."" [See Sophos's Aramean fable. 60. pro-
bably the original of Syntipa's Greek fable, 58— of the " Fowler
and the Bird," which is made to exclaim when about being
■ DuWa, vol. ii. p. 493. . Dhammap. Jaravag. 155. » II y- ,08
Hor. Ep. P.S. .63. • Dam ch'hos, fol. 40. • 'ischyl. P 'v.* [f,.
' Ter. Heaut. v. 4. > Tam. pr. 94. ' "
V. 12 — 14]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
369
h
killed : " Alas me ! wretched as I am. who have been lured to
my death through a tempting bait !"] "Therefore it is easier
not to sin. than to have to repent." say the Arabs,' " and better
than to learn wisdom by a foolish action."' Yea, "although
so great is repentance, that it lengthens the days of man,"
"and brings healing to this world."' "For it makes prayer
reach up to the throne of glory,"* " and tears up the sentence
of condemnation against man."' "Happy then is the man •
who repents while he is yet a man [strong and well],"' say
the Rabbis. " A kingdom (or multitude) governed by a
woman is despised ; and so are those who place themselves
in subjection to women — they too are despised," said the
Bhodisatwa.^
" For as regards the transgressions of men," says Confucius,
" it depends very much on the company a man keeps. And
that shows the quality of his virtue."' "Thus spake also the
youngest son of Yeke Toge : I have been going the round of
births long enough ! How many, innumerable, times have
I injured my life and my body ? How often through passionate
love ? How often through anger have I not brought on my-
self endless troubles?"' "When thou art in an assembly of
men," said king Hing-luh, "one word may cause thy counte-
nance to fall and make thee blush ; words cannot therefore be
too carefully guarded."'* " For young people, though of good
family, yet bereft of wisdom, do not shine in company. They
are like the blossoms of the kinshuka [Butea frondosa], showy,
but without fragrance."" " One such person in a polite assem-
bly ruins the merit of it. It is like a tank of rose-water
defiled by the visit of a dog."" " However, he who is ashamed
before others is not like him who is ashamed of himself""
" For he who is ashamed before others only, and is not ashamed
> Meid. Ar. pr. iv. 7. » Athitha W. D. p. 54. ' Joma, 86.
* Midr. Yalk. in Hos. M. S. * Rosh asshan, 17, M. S. • Aboda rara,
M. S. ' Khandinoj. Jat. p. 154. ' Shang-Lun, iv. 7. • Uliger iin
Dalai, c. ii., and Dsang-Lun, fol. 17. '" Ming Sin P. K. c. xviii.
» Hitop. intr. " V. Satasai, 229. " Taanith. R. Bl. 86.
270
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[v. IS
of himself, does not value his own soul."' "For he who is
ashamed of himself does not sin readily."* "And one uplift-
ing of the heart [to God, compunction] is better than a hundred
stripes."' "Chi i stolto nella colpa sia saggio nella pena."*
" Let him who was a fool for doing what he did, at least learn
wisdom when suffering for it" For " he who falls by his own
fault may not cry,"" say the Osmanlis. Therefore, "Guardatevi
dal : ' Se io avessi saputo !'"• " Beware of — ' If I had known
it!'" "The great rule is to exhort men to three things: to
avoid wine, to keep aloof from women, and not to gamble."
" By wine one is led to talk too much, and thus to trespass
with the tongue ; then for the sake of money, justice and right
are warped, and kinsmen are estranged one from another."^
15 Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and run-
ning waters out of thine own well.
" Drtnk waters" &c. "One's home is the pleasantest, and
she is handsomest whom one loves."* " Having built a house,
[look at it] enjoy it, and then see to thy taking a wife."' " But
first of all dig thy well, after its own depth" [be prudent and
moderate].'* [A house here means a dwelling of mud walls,
with bamboo rafters, and a covering of thatch ; the whole
costing very little, or even nothing.] "Sensible men," says
Rabbi M. Maimonides, "teach that a man ought first to embrace
a profession for his living ; then get a house and marry. But
foolish men teach the reverse."*' "Then let a man ever eat
his own morsels, wear his own clothes, and prize his wife and
children above all other goods." '^ "For even a bald man is
master in his own house;" albeit "a head without hair is a
head without honour.""
" Since food and the power to eat, the power of enjoyment
" Musire haphil. id. R. BI. » Nedarim. R. Bl. ' Beracoth. R. BI. id.
« Ital. pr. * Osm. pr. • Ital pr. ' Ming h. dsi. 151, 152.
" Burin, pr. » Tam. pr. "' Osm. pr. " Halk. Deh. iv. w.
" Sabbat. Millin. 909. " Ep. Lod. 331, 356.
V. IS]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
2; I
and a comely wife, with liberality and the means to practise
it, are the fruit of no small devotion.'" "What thou eatest,
cat it, and let not thy tooth hurt against a stone ; what thou
* puttest on, wear it, and let not the sun burn thy back ; what
thou mountest, ride it, and let thy foot never touch the ground."*
"Enjoy thy possessions with satisfaction."' "A man takes
greater pleasure in one measure his own, for which he has
worked, than in ten measures belonging to others."* "The
goods of another, his coat, his chattels, his wife, and dwelling
in another man's house, bring down the greatness and glory
even of Indra.'"* " It is better to live by begging, than to live
at the expense of others."*
"What is misery [hell]? Being dependent on another."'
"He who suffers from sickness, who remains a long time
abroad, or lives at the expense of another [who eats another
man's food], or who sleeps in another man's house— it is death
to him, and when he dies he is at rest.'" [It is but seldom
•Take' only, but oftener 'Give and take,' and still oftener
■Nothing for nothing.'] "He," say the Arabs, "who brings
thee anything, also brings away something from thee."» " Die
veel inbrengt, brengt veel uit,"'» "He who brings in much, takes
away much also" " Love your neighbour, yet pull not down
your hedge."" [See Esop's fable 174, and Babrias, 38, of the
Pine-tree, the Hatchet and the Hornets.] Also that of the ' Axe
in want of a Handle' [fab. 50, Chinese tr.] to which Mun Moy
adds these proverbs : " Help the tiger by giving him wings,j|
and "Give a man a knife, and then beg your life at his hands."
" Let every man, then, carefully keep his own, and not yield a
bit, not an inch of his right to others."" [This does not, of
course, touch the duty of giving and liberality ; it only regu-
lates it]
iChanak.52. ' Altai pr. » Nitimala, iii. * ^^''^ ^^'^'^J^f ,J
6 Chanak. viii. 4, Schf. ' Hitop. i. .44- ' if,'?TtloT
- Hitop. i. .48. • Erpen. ad. .3. '« Dutch pr. " J er. Taylor,
Jacula prudent. " Mun Moy, fab. 50.
272
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[v. l6, 17
For Meng-tsze says well : " Sometimes you may give ; at
other times giving would be inexpedient ; for giving might
injure benevolence."' "But let every man dip in his own
waters."* "Then live," says Avveyar, "in a house with one
water"' [cistern, spring or well. One must have travelled in
hot countries to appreciate the full value of water, and also
the full meaning of many passages of Scripture. A well, a
spring, or even a cistern, ranks among the most valuable heir-
looms ; and the man who builds a tank is reckoned a public
benefactor.] " There is nectar [ambrosia] in the waters ; in
the waters are healing properties [medicinal herbs] ; therefore,
O ye priests, be loud in your praises of them."* " We praise
the good waters created by Ahura Mazda,"* "the zaothra
[holy water, for ceremonies] wrought out of that good water;"'
"and I praise Ahura Mazda for having created the waters,"
&c, and so on repeatedly.
" ApUTTOV lifV vSlop, '
"Water is best, after all," so says Pindar ;^ and Ovid —
"Quo plus sunt potae, plus sitiuntur aquae."'
" Like as a cistern gathers waters to water a thirsty land withal,
so will the Lord also gather His good blessing to refresh thy
fainting soul."* [As regards the imagery of this verse, parallel
passages, which I need not quote, will occur to any one at all
read in Persian and other Eastern poets.]
16 Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers
of waters in the streets.
1 7 Let them be only thine own, and not strangers'
with thee.
ni3fTi3, lit. 'in large places ;' not 'streets.' LXX. «is — 7rXaT«os.
It seems to be an allusion to the way of watering meadows, and to the
growth of a family.
' Hea Meng, viii. 23. • Telug. pr. ' Kondreiv. 51. • Rig. V.
i. skta. xxiil. 19. ' Yagna, xvii. 21, 70. • Id. xxii. 5, 17, xxv. 5, 6,
xxxvii. I. ' 01. i. I. ' Fast. i. 215. » Mishle As. i. i, 18.
V. 18, 19]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
273
"Let thy fountains," &c. "May you prosper," say the
Tamils, " like the banyan-tree, that shoots forth its supporting
roots ; and may you spread abroad your own roots like the
aruga-grass, and live among friends like the slender bamboo."'
" Propitiate the gods at dawn and at even, with libations and
sacrifices," says Hesiod, "that they may be favourable to thee,
and thou buy the lot of others, and not they thine own."*
" For a man takes more pleasure in one [qab] measure his
own, than in nine measures belonging to others."" "As the
child a mother does not bring forth is not her own, so what is
not one's own to wear, is no garment."* " And learning [arts,
knowledge] which is in books, like money in other hands,
when the want of either arises, it is neither the kind of know-
ledge nor the sort of money one requires."' " He, also, who
mounts a hired horse [or one lent him] soon comes down from
it."* " Let every man see to have a chunam and betel-box of
his own, and not another's."' [Carried about, as formerly a
snuff-box, to chew occasionally chunam and betel-leaf]
18 Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with
the wife of thy youth.
19 Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe ;
let her breasts satisfy thee at all times ; and be thou
ravished always with her love.
" Let thy fountain': &c. " Let thy lot be blessed, and have
a good eye and a contented soul."" " Bide thy time," says
Hesiod. " Everything in season is always best. Arrived at
manhood, at about thirty, not much more or less, take to thy-
self a wife, a maid [Js k tfi^o. Kt^vh. 8c8d!^D«. »" tea<=h her good
habits], in the fifth year from her being marriageable ; looking
well to thy circumstances, lest thou be a laughing-stock to
thy neighbours. No greater boon to a man than a good wife ;
•Tam.pr.795. ' Hes. J. .. ^. 338. » Khar. Pen. i. 47- \T'lug. pr-
» Lokaniti, 29. • Osmanl. pr. ' Nitimala, .u. .3. . Der. ere.
Sutta, iii. 4-
T
274
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[v. 1 8, 19
no greater calamity than a bad one."' "A horse made; a
wife to make."* "A child from early age [to form], a wife
from the beginning," say the Ozbegs.' " Take not to thyself
for wife the daughter of a bad mother, neither go into a house
with a bad door."* " De.bon plan plante ta vigne ; de bonne
m^re prends la fille."'
" Of the seven kinds of wives, the one best is she who,
though her husband's wife, yet is to him like a sister. From
her feeling of modesty she will not use words that are not
proper [good] ; she will neither laugh nor smile in presence
of her husband ; she will see that her dress is not carelessly
put on ; that his food is well done ; and she will behave with
politeness and courtesy even in her bed-chamber."* "If
the married life possesses both love and virtue," says Tiruval-
luvar, " that which is its duty becomes its reward." " The mar-
ried state is rightly called virtue [virtuous] ; the other state
[celibacy] is also good, if those who profess it do not give
others occasion to complain of their vices." " He who in this
world receives duly merited praise for his domestic virtues,
will in the world to come rank among the gods of heaven."'
"If thou art wise," says Ptah-hotep to his son, "look well
after thy house, and love thy wife according to knowledge,
nourishing her body, and dressing her as she requires, with
her perfumes, as long as thou livest. It is worthy of thee
as her lord. Kind treatment does more than sternness, and
encourages her to do her household work,"' &c. "Take to
thyself a young wife," says Ani ; "she will give thee a son like
thee."* " Every man who has not got a wife is not a man,
for it is written, ' He created them male and female.'"" " But
all who take to other women [than their wife] only dig up
evil."" "A man without a wife is without blessing or good."**
• HesioH, *. K. 1). 692. ' Eng. pr. » Ozbeg pr. * Altai pr.
» Fr. pr. * Dhammath. V. 11. ' Cural, v. 45, 49, 50. ' Pap. Pr. c. xxi.
• Ani, xvi. I, 3. '" R. Eleazar in Jebamoth millin, 680. " Qiddush.
millin, 584. " R. Khanil. Jebam. 62, id. 63, M. S.
V. 18, 19]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
•27.S
-
" It is as if he had shed blood." " All that comes from virtiie
is agreeable (or charming),all else is the contrary and blameablto ;
What is becoming to do, is virtuous ; what one ought to
avoid, is vice."'
" Fresh butter, new milk and rice, fresh meat, a young wife,
the shade of a tree, and a warm bath — these six add to one's
life.'" " But one of the ten openings to decay is, when a mart
is long past his youth, to marry a young girl."' "An old
man who is infirm, and poor also, with a young wife, is indeed
a pitiable sight."* " For a young wife is captivated with love."*
" But," say the Arabs, " it is a shame for a man with grey
hairs to marry."* "I require," says the Parsee priest, "a
young man with a good mind, who speaks well, who is clever
at his work. I demand one who says his prayers, and who
has married his next of kin"' [according to Parsee custom].
" To take pleasure in other people's qualities [virtues], to be
earnest in the pursuit of wisdom, and fondness for one's wife,
are pure qualities which are honoured by every one in those
who have them."*
"There is a compensation for everything, except for the
wife of one's youth. The only one to give a man refresh-
ment of mind [or spirit]."' " Woman is a lump [of clay], and
she strikes no covenant but with him who makes her into a
vase."'* "And a woman dies only to her husband, as a husband
dies only to his wife" [the loss is to each as to no one else]."
" But life is like the tossing of the waves, and how many
days do the favours of youth last ? Riches are like a thought,
and all enjoyment is passing. Therefore, O ye good men,
give your thoughts to the study of Brahml" All pleasures
are like high waves, unstable and moving to and fro ; our
days are few, and the happiness of youth rests on ' palpitations
« Cural, 39, 40. » Varar. 63; Chanak. vii. 18. ' Parabhava, s. loth.
' Vararuchi nava R. 6. » Id. ibid. 1. « Socin. Ar. pr. ' Vispered,
iii. 18. » Varar. sapta R. i. » Sanhedr. B. FI. «» Id. ibid.
"Id. ibid. " Vairagya shat. 37.
T 2
276
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[v. 1 8, 19
of the heart.'* All enjoyment is like lightning, hidden in the
cloud, flitting and for an instant only ; life is like a drop of
water scattered by the wind ; the prerogatives of youth, falsely
said to be the [support] strength of the body, are inconstant.
O ye intelligent men, centre your thoughts on the understand-
ing which is attainable by devotion.'" " Say then, O ye men,
that the happiness of this world [of revolutions, 'sansara'] is
little enough." " Decay stands there like a tiger, threatening
all round ; and diseases, like foes, are ready to pounce upon
the body ; life ebbs out like water oozing from a broken jar ;
and yet men will only follow that which is after their own
heart. Is it not wonderful ?"*
" In giving a daughter in marriage, a father," say the Chinese,
"should give her to a man superior to her in rank. So that
the service that wife renders to her husband will be both
respectful and careful. But when a man takes to himself a
wife, let him choose one inferior in rank to his own family ;
for in that case his wife will pay proper respect to her father
and mother-in-law."* "According to Prahlada, however, as
many connections a man makes pleasant to himself, so many
thorns of sorrow does he dig into his heart."* "Yet according
to sayings of old," said Sultan Djuhari to his queen Lila Sari,
" the wife to be chosen should be comely, wise in word and
deed, and be devoted to her husband, unto the funeral-pile."*
"She should be of middle height, pleasing, and of loving
speech."'
"Let the Brahman," says Manu, "always be fond of his
wife alone." "When the husband is pleased with his wife,
and the wife is pleased with her husband, everything goes well
with the family, and the prosperity of it is assured."' "The
son of Atreus has a consort he likes ; let him be satisfied.
Are the Atreidse the only men who love their wives ? But
> Valragya shat. 35. ' Id. 36. ' Id. 38, 39. « Hien wen
shoo, 121. ' Vishnu P. i. 17, 38. • S. Bidasari, iii. iJ. ' Kawi
Nili sh. ' Manu S. iii. 45, 60.
V. 20, 21]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
Z77
every good and sensible man loves his wife and cares for her,
as I do for mine," said Achilles.* " The dames Mou-sai and
Sei-si had an elegant figure; the one smiled artfully, the
other had a graceful laugh, that beautified their countenance."*
" The father wishes to give his daughter in marriage to a man
accomplished in learning ; the mother, to a rich one ; the
family, to a good one ; but the girl herself wishes to get a
handsome one," say the Tamils." " But one of a good family,
even if he were clad in matting," say the Arabs.*
But here is the other side. " The fool," said Arishtanemi
[in Bhishma's story], " who is entangled in the toils of love
can never gain final emancipation. But thou, knowing the
things that are profitable to life, go thou forth, free and happily ;
and at the proper time, after due provision made for thy
belongings, forsake thy wife, young and fond of her children,"
&c.' [Much else, that I will not quote, is found in the Qoran,
Khair Nameh, and other Mahomedan writings. And as regards
early marriage, as it is practised in India, " it is forbidden [in
the Law] to a man to betroth his daughter while she is yet
little."*]
20 And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a
strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger ?
2 1 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the
Lord, and he pondereth all his goings.
n^tjJri, V. 19, 20, lit. 'wander, go astray, be lost,' after the manner
of a drunken man. Rabbi S. Yarchi quotes another interpretation,
taking nauJ in its other sense of ' increasing, multiplying,' &c. Rab.
pDV ; and the LXX. /n^ jroXvs urOi, seems to understand it thus.
But the above rendering is best. Ar. ' embrace.'
"And why wilt thou," &c. " It is like embracing a corpse." ^
" Even if a snake had a gem in its head, what wise man would
' II. (. 336, and Nalopakh. v. 93.
' Nidivempa. 30. * See. Ar. pr.
' Gun den s. mon. 937.
» Maha Bh. Shanti P. 10,621
• Qiddushin millin, 174.
Cural, 913.
278
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[v. 20, 21
press it close to his bosom ?"* "Take my advice," said Odin
to Loddfafnir, " for it will profit thee. Thou shalt not [ska-
lattu] sleep on the bosom of a knowing woman [or enchantress]
so that she lock thee in her arms [limbs]. She will make thee
disregard the sayings of the counsel-chamber and of the prince;
thou wilt renounce food and human joys, and sleep full of
care. Take my advice, Loddfafnir, for thou shalt profit there-
by. Never entice another man's wife into close intercourse."*
" Speme voluptates : nocet emta dolore voluptas."'
"Chastity," say the Arabs, "is a host not easily routed."*
"Avoid evil," said Sigrdrifa to Sigurd ; "entice thou neither a
maiden nor another man's wife, nor incite them to do evil."'
" Hold no sinful intercourse [adultery, &c.] with women."'
" Live with thine own wife," says one of them.'' "At the
western gate there are clouds of women ; but what is that to
me ? My wife, with her white dress and green veil, is pleasant
enough for me"* [the Japanese Comm. adds, ' and poor']. [The
Ozbegs have the same expression as the Hebrews. With them,
'yat' is 'strange,' and 'yataligh' is 'a strange woman, a
mistress.'] " Mustapha saw in hell women hanging from a
hook over the fire. Who were they? said he. And the
angel answered : These are women of thy people, who, having
got children in adultery, said to their husbands : ' These chil-
dren are your own.' By marriage, God makes the woman's
person the man's own, and the man's person the woman's
own. And such is the punishment of those who break that
covenant"'
As to children born in adultery — that is, not in wedlock —
"Most bastards," says the Talmud, "are crafty or violent"**
"Jamais batard ne fit bien."" "He, then, is wise who looks
upon another man's wife as upon his mother."'^ "For I swear
' Sain iigh. fol. 28. ' Havamal, 114, 15, 16.
* Meid. Ar. pr. ' Sigrdrif. 32. • Niti shat. 70.
' Hor. Ep. i. 2.
' Avveyar Atthi
Sudi, 93. • She King, bk. vii. ode 19. • Miradj Nam. iii.
" Qiddushin, iv. II, M. S. " Ft. pr. " Chanak. shat. 3.
20, 21]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
279
unto you, ye sinners, by the Holy and Great One, that ell your;
evil deeds are revealed in heaven, and that not one of your acts-
of oppression is either hidden or covered. And do not imagine ^
in your minds, nor yet say in your hearts, that any sin is
neither known nor seen. It is written down day by day in
heaven before the Most High. Know, therefore, that all the
oppression and wickedness ye have committed is and shall be
written down every day until the day of your judgment [the
Flood]."* "Men endued with wisdom inquire about the man-
sions yonder [above]. Some, O Mazda, inquire openly ; some
in secret, who try to cleanse themselves of small sins by com-
mitting greater ones. But thou, O Lord, seest it all with thy
two eyes."'' " Both Zeus and Apollo, mind you, are quick of
perception, and know all that men do."' "And actions cleave
to those who do them."*
" Therefore," says Confucius, " worship the spirits [shin] as
if they stood before thee ; worship them as if they were pre-
sent to thee."' "For unless I give myself wholly to my
worship, it is as if I did not worship at all."' "All things are
severally determined. While floating through life, we trouble
ourselves in vain. Nothing happens through the schemes of
man. Our whole life is arranged by an order from Heaven,"
say the Chinese.'' " Pious people believe that all things are
ordered by God's providence."* "A bird is not lost without
Heaven's will, much less a man."' " Nothing comes by chance ;
but everything comes by the intention of the Intending One."**
"All that concerns us is ordered from Heaven ; not half a dot
comes from man.""
"What a man says within himself, Heaven hears it like
thunder; and what is done in the dark chamber, and deep
down in the heart. Heaven, the Spirit's [divine] Eye, sees like
» Bk. Enoch, xcviii. 6. « Yagna, xxxi. 12, 13. ' Soph. CEdip.
Tyr. 498. * Tarn. pr. 3417. ' Shang-L. iii. 12. * Ibid.
» Hien w. shoo, 69. ' Metzia B. Fl. » Talmud Hier B. Fl.
'0 R. D. Kimchi, Ps. 104, B. Fl. " Chin. pr. P. 6.
28o
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[v. 22
lightning. But Grandfather Heaven bears with man, not man
with Heaven,"* says Heuen-ti-chin. "The people are in dis-
tress, and Heaven looks upon it 'with eyes half open' [mung].
Yet He can order everything, and there is no one He cannot
overcome. Shang-Te is imperial ; who can say that he hates
[disdains or overlooks] anyone?"* [Choo-he quotes Ching-
tszc, who here says that " Shang-Te is the [shin] god or
spirit of Heaven, who as to substance [appearance] is called
' Heaven ;' and as regards sovereignty [or as being Lord] is
called 'Te,' supreme." [Expressions of this kind show clearly
to every unprejudiced mind that Shang-Te is the proper equi-
valent for ' God ' in Chinese.]
" The sun, moon and stars," says Vishnu Sarma, " heaven
and earth, waters, the heart itself and death, day and night,
the morning and evening twilights, and virtue, know the con-
duct of men."' "The good you do," said Mahomet, "you will
find with God ; for God looks upon what you do."* At the
same time, " No one," says Theognis, " who is guilty of fraud
or of other crimes, aOavdrovs (\a9e, does it unseen of the im-
mortal gods."* "Stand in awe of the anger of Heaven, and
venture not on a gay and reckless life. Fear the punishments
[reverses] of Heaven, and walk not in thine own way. Clear
Heaven is called bright. He goes with thee whithersoever thou
goest. He is a pure [clear] Spirit ; if thou [art satisfied] hast
a good conscience, he communes with thee." "When thou
art at home [in thy house], take heed not to be ashamed in
thy room, or closet. Say not, ' It will not come out [appear] ;
no one will tell.' The Spirit [shin] will appear suddenly and
be present. Who can think or tell when ? And can he be
deceived ?"*
22 His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself,
and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.
' Ming Sin P. K. c. 2. ' She King, bk. iv. od. 8. * Hitop. li. i lo.
* Qoran, sur. ii. 104. ' Theognis, 145. « She King, vol. iv.
bk. ii. od. 10.
V. 22]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
^81
" His own iniquities," &c. "And Enoch, passing by, said to
Azazel : Thou shalt have no peace ; a heavy judgment has
just gone forth against thee. Thou shalt be bound ; and thou
shalt have no pity nor mercy shown thee, because thou hast
taught violence, and because of all the acts of blasphemy, of
oppression and of sin, which thou hast made known to the
sons of men."» Babrias, in his fable of the Weasel, makes
it speak thus to the man who had caught it by artifice, and
who was about to throttle it : " Poor return this for all the
good I did thee in killing lizards and mice !" " True," said the
man, " but what about all the birds thou hast strangled, doing
more harm than good ?"" Sophos," too, and Syntipa, have
the fable of the monkey that was itself caught in the net it
tried to spread for others.
"As flies," says Vemana, " are drawn to honey by their love
for it, and when once caught cannot get out, being intoxicated
by it, so also a man who is sunk in a multitude of passions
[or follies] cannot get out of them."* " For there is no remedy
for what a man does to himself."* "And what are a man's
fetters? His folly [or stupidity] and ignorance."' "For we
are [by nature] in the [dark house] prison of original sin."»
"Sin committed by a man shall be expiated by himself;
whereas sin not committed by him will be recompensed to
him. The righteous and the wicked severally ; one man does
not cleanse (or purify) another."^ What man ever came to
good who fell among wicked people?'" "A wicked man has
another wicked one to grind for him."" "And the coiled cen-
tipede entangles [embraces] its tail in its own coils.""
" He who, meeting a bad man, does not sever himself from
him, is like a dog tied by the neck to a stake, going round it.
But' he who never leaves off holding intercourse with a good
• Bk. Enoch, xiii. I, 2. » Babrias, fab. 27, fab. 26. » Fab. 49-
♦ Vemana, ii. 100. ' Pers. pr. • Phreng wa, 36. ' Thar gyan. fo'- '6.
« Dhammap. Attavag. 9- » Vararuchi, shad R. 2. Chin pr.
" Javan pr.
282
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[v. 23
one, is like a man sailing on the sea in a large ship."* " The
fool," said Vidura to Dhritarashtra, " who is in no distress for
the sin he has already committed, continues in it, and is
destroyed in a deep, rough slough of lime."« "For a man is
drawn by a light sin into a heavy one, until he perishes out of
the world."' " There are ten properties belonging to vice," say
the Burmese: "(i) greed, (2) fault, (3) folly, (4) fury, (5) false
opinion, (6) doubt, (7) want of respect, (8) dissipation, (9)
shamelessness, (10) indifference to sin."*
" Brother, do not display the qualities of two-footed brutes.
Four-footed ones are led with a cord ; but these [gnaw through
the cord] destroy the qualities that do not improve them"*
[with a play on ' guna,' rope and quality]. " When an evil-
intentioned man acts in his own interest, he thinks within
himself: ' Here is a find for me.' The old dog who swallows
the blood of his own palate, relishes it and says : ' This is the
juice of a marrow-bone.'"' "For the wickedness of a man is
wrought by his own actions."^ And " every one who is devoid
of virtue," said the Brahman Sandutscha, " is not himself, has
no master."'
23 He shall die without instruction ; and in the
greatness of his folly he shall go astray.
"^O TH?, ' without,' that is, ' from want of correction,' which he
would not receive. Arab. ' from want of instnictioa'
" He shall die" &c. " The sinner sorrows here below and
hereafter also ; in both places he grieves. He grieves, he
sorrows, when he sees the foulness of his own deeds."* "Al-
though such knowledge as the fool possesses never is of any
use to him (or comes to anything), it nevertheless ruins his
prospects (or happiness), breaking his head."'" " Men of the
» Doji kiyo. • Maha Bh. Udyog. P. 1481. ' Ep. Lod. 1489.
* Putsha Pag. Q. 461. ' Kobitamrit, 15. • Sain iighes, fol. 27.
' Mainyo i kh. xxxviii. 6. • Dsang-Lun, c. i. fol. 8. • Dhammap.
Yamak. 15. " Id. ibid. 13.
V. 23}
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
283
world [of this earth] trust in themselves, and will Hot hearken
to virtue. But Yama's [Death's] messengers come and fill
them with terror, rushing upon them to destroy them. Alas !
how shall they escape?"' "Weep not for the dead," say the
Osmanlis, "but weep for the fools."' " For," say the Chinese,
" there are but few who, at home, have not a father and elder
brother, and abroad, careful teachers and friends, to perfect
themselves if they will."'
"A son," says Ptah-hotep, " who is obstinate and disobedient,
comes to no good [does nothing] ; he sees knowledge in igno-
rance, and virtues in vices ; he commits all manner of wicked
actions ; they appear [in him] every day ; his life is [in] death,
and his bread is in lies ; [the elders] his betters know him to
be as dying day by day ; and he wanders astray in his paths
through the multitude of sins he commits every day."* " When
one is led away violently by former [evil] deeds, he is wont to
wander and go astray far away [in sin]."' "For error is [in-
creases] ever more and more," say the Rabbis."' "And the fool
shall go astray, like a spider, in his wanderings."' " He is like
the bat, that makes light darkness [sleeps by day], and dark-
ness light [flies at night].'" " Understanding is a man's friend ;
but folly is his enemy."*
" A debt of gold," say the Malays, " may be paid, but a debt
of wisdom smells of death." And " a lost wife may be sought
for, but lost wisdom makes an unfortunate man [body].""
"Those Brahmans are wise," said the rich man's daughter,
"but we poor Put'hujans [who perform the duties of priests of
Buddha], are by nature slaves to covetousness, anger and folly.
The ear hears, and induces the eye to look, and then desire
rises in the heart. And when wisdom is lost from the mind
(or heart), a man commits evil deeds that drown him in end-
* Vemana, ii. 158.
' Pap. Pr. c. xli.
' Mishle As. vi. 5.
'" Malay pr.
' Osm. pr.
' Legs par b. p. 282.
« Id. ibid. 21.
' Hien w. shoo, 52.
" B. Fl. p. 92.
»■ Mifkh. Pen. B. Fl.
284
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[v. 23
less transmigrations."' "The fool who does foolish things
does not repent of them, foolish (or evil-minded) as he is ; but
he is consumed as by fire through his own actions.'" "Four
are the signs (or tokens) of misfortune. Folly and sloth,
destitution and meanness [unmanliness], all four. But he who
is given to the service of God is, without doubt, among the
blessed ones."* " It is not well that a fool should be strong,
or he will take by force. And when his body is destroyed, he
shall perish in hell."*
' Thoo Dhamma Tsari, story 5.
' Pend i Attar, xiv. * Lokaniti, 70.
• Dhammap. Dandavag. 136.
vi. I, 2]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
28S
CHAPTER VI.
/ Against suretyship, 6 idleness, ii and mischievousness. 16 Seven things
hateful to God. 30 The blessings of obedience. 3S ^'^ mischiefs of
whoredom.
TV yT Y son, if thou be surety for thy friend, ^thou hast
stricken thy hand with a stranger,
2 Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth,
thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.
"My son, if thou" &c. "Believe not everybody," says
Pittacus of Mitylene ; " tyyvi;, to/jo 8' on;, pledge thyself, and
trouble is at hand."' "And be not a horse to thy friends, lest
thou fall, nor a dog either," says Abu Ubeid.' " Avoid contracts ;
they are the source of enmity (or of estrangement)."* "Woe
be to him who is surety for a stranger," say the Welsh.* " My
advice to thee," said Sigrdrifa to Sigurd, " is to swear no oath
but what is certain and true. The threads of the Parcae
[grimmar sfmar] follow a broken pledge (or faith)."' "For a
promise is the cause of being bound by it."' "By which a
man is bound," say the Osmanlis, "as a beast with a halter."^
" Yield anything to prince or parent, save thine own free-
dom," says Pythagoras.* " For he who is asked," says Ali, " is
free until he has promised." " When a man is asked for any-
thing, he is free to grant it or not, at once or by-and-by, so
long as he does not promise ; but when he has made a pro-
mise, the fulfilment of it is incumbent on him as a matter of
• Pittac. Sept Sap.
• Welsh pr. ' Brynhild. xxiii
• Pythag. 13, ed. G.
» A. Ubeid, 194.
, .-,,. ' E. Medin. 73.
• Legs par b. p. 214. ' Osm. pr
286
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[vi. I, 2
honour and duty," says the Arabic paraphrase. And the
Persian : " A man who is asked, so long as he does not pro-
mise, and has not pledged his word, is still a free man, and
holds in hand the snaffle of choice [to grant or not] and the
rein of giving [or not the promise] ; if he will, he does it ; if not,
he withholds it But when he has given a promise, and has
pledged his word, he is bound to the fulfilment of his promise,
and in the eyes [face] of men, the reins of choice and of grant-
ing [the request] are fallen from his hands."
" But there is another way of looking at it. It is this. A
man who is asked, so long as he does not promise, and does
not pledge his word, he who begs of him considers him free,
and treats him as such. But when once he has promised and
pledged his word, the man who made the request is uncertain
as to his liberty [how he will use it], and is in suspense as to
the use he will make of it. If he fulfils his promise, he is said
to be free and unfettered ; but if he does not fulfil it, the man
who begged says of him : He is not free but bound."> "Chi
promette per altri," say the Italians, "paga per se :" "he who
promises through others, pays for (or through) himself"'
"Anyhow, he that is surety for thee," say the Rabbis, "needs
another for himself"'
"A false step may be recovered, but a stumble in words
cannot be repaired."* "Thus was I caught by such a slip,
though inclined to silence, because I could not put my finger
on the word 'silence.'"* "And so it often happens that one's
merit or fault brings trouble to the person. It is for its sweet
voice that the parrot is shut up in a cage."* " Make an agree-
ment with a good man ; a low one is not savoury."' "And
remember that ' No' is an oath [that binds thee], and that so
is ' Yes,'" says Rabbi Eliezer.* " I am bound with the bond
of religion," said Dasaratha in despair, " to Kaikeya, and my
» Pers. paraphr. ad. I. • Ital pr. ' Talm. Succa, B. FI.
* Hill prov. (Burm.), 147. " Rishtah i juw. p. 47. « Subha Bil. 75.
' V. Safasai, 124. » Shebuoth, 36, M. S.
vi. 3]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
287
understanding is gone."* [In one's intercourse with the world,
the common saying, "No trust, no mistrust," sounds harsh;
yet it gives prudent advice.] " Place no confidence in either
friend or foe. For it often happens that a friend when angry
does one great injury."* " Put not thy foot in it, by trusting
any one, either by oath or agreement ; no, not even if he
made the great Jupiter his surety," said Theognis.'
3 Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when
thou art come into the hand of thy friend ; go, humble
thyself, and make sure thy friend.
?I'«51 3rrp!\ D^nnn "if;?. ' Go, lay thyself prostrate [as if to be
trodden upon], and [press, urge] insist on thy friends [to let thee oflf].'
The LXX. give the paraphrase ijkcis yap <>$ y^eipas KaKiav Sia croi/
<t>tkov, ' thou art fallen into the hands of wicked men, through thy
friend,' 'thou art not to be let off; urge (or exhort) thy friend whom
thou hast bailed.' And Arab.: 'Go, be earnest and insist on thy
friend ;' neither of which is clear. But inasmuch as "Si as well as 'saheb'
means ' a companion, fellow, any one but one's self,' 'ISHi v. i, refers
probably to the ' friend' who is bailed, and T51, v. 3, to the creditor
into whose hand (or snare) the surety has fallen. Then 1^51, which
is plural, may refer to the surety's friends, whose help he is to solicit
on his own behalf, in the way of money to pay the bail, or of inter-
cession with the creditor to let him off.
" Do this now" &c. "If you walk in company with another
man, yet be not surety for him."* " For money passed iijto
other hands, like a plan (or secret) in possession of women, is
of no avail."' "And of what avail is an abundance of words
[in excuse] of offence, from imputation, or from false report?"
say the Arabs.* Agamemnon's way, however, is best. " Come
now, Ulysses ; we shall make it all right by-and-by ; and if
we have now said aught for which we are sorry, let the gods
bring it to naught."'
" For after all, venerable Nestor, if I was led astray by dis-
' Ramay. ii. xiv. 24. ' Lokaniti, 82. ' Theogn. 277. * Tam. pr.
« Chanak. 94. • El Nawab. 14. ' II. f. 363.
288
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[vi. 4. 5
mal thoughts, I am ready to make satisfaction and to pay the
utmost penalty."' "In proportion," says Manu, "that a man
confesses a fault he has committed, is he released from that
sin, as a snake is from its slough."' "And," says Ibn Nobata,
"if thou art weaker than thine adversary, go round about
him, and talk him over. For water, though opposed to fire,
will but boil when put upon it ; but when poured upon it, will
by its nature put it out And so they destroy each other."*
4 Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine
eyelids.
5 Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the
Jiunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.
" Give not sleep" &c. " Lose no time. For time drinks up
the [juice, 'rasam'] merit of a noble act, and of a deed that
should be done at once and is delayed."* "No thoughtless
man attains to eminence. But see the fruit (or result) of him
who reflects. Behold, I am free from the toils of the hunter."*
"Better a great deal, however, to be wounded, than to be
security for any one," say the Cingalese.^ " The roe, it is true,
escapes from the snare, but the nature (or object) of the snare
is not to let it go."' However, in this case, " that which has
got out of the hand does not return to it."' " Be then a wild
ass when hunters are after him."" " For life is only so far
profitable (or enjoyable) as it is spent in freedom and inde-
pendence. If those who are slaves of others are said to live,
who then are the dead?"*" "Therefore, having contracted a
debt, free thyself by paying it ;"»i "like a hart (or roe) fleeing
from his [shading] hiding-place.""
"As a bird from tlu snared Vartan has two fables, one of
• The Fox and the Partridge,' and another of ' The Fox and
1 II ( ,,g • Manu S. xi. 227. ' Eth. Theal. 154.
« Hitop ii. fab. 4- ' Vattaka jat. p. 435- ' Athitha W. D. p. 18.
' Malay pr. ' Osman pr. » A. Ubeid. 12. '» Hitop. 11. 20.
" Nilimala, bk. 2. " El ahmar and Abu Zaid.
vi. 6—8]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
289
the Sparrow,' the moral of which is, "Be not ensnared by
specious or senseless words."' "Be not caught as a bird by
the fowler."* " This world," says the Buddhist, " is living in
blindness ; but few in it see clearly. Few, few rise from it to
heaven, like birds escaped from the net."' " Be up, then, and
on the watch. Cherish a truthful mind ; for hardly shalt thou
deliver thyself from this world, like an elephant from a slough."*
" Free thyself, then, as through a sieve, from the net of sinful
lusts."' In all such contracts, however, as Plautus says :
" Si quis mutuum quid dederit, fit pro proprio perditum.
Quum jam repetas, inimicum amicum beneficio invenis tuo.
Si mage exigere cupias, duarum rerum exoritur optio :
Vel illud quod credideris perdas, vel ilium amicum amiseris."
"If one lends anything to another, it is as good as lost to him.
If he claims it, he makes an enemy of his friend through his
own kindness. If he presses him for payment, then of two
things one : either he will lose what he had lent, or he will
lose his friend."' " If you lend, lend hoping for nothing
again."' But rather give and be free.
6 Go to the ant, thou sluggard ; consider her ways,
and be wise :
7 Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,
8 Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth
her food in the harvest.
" Go to tite ant" &c. The LXX. add the following words
to the original Hebrew of v. 8, ij wopevOr^n irpus t^v fii\.ia-<rav k.t.X..,
" or go thou to the bee, and learn how busy she is, and how
praiseworthy is her work, whose labours both kings and com-
mon people use for health. She is desired by all and illus-
trious ; and although weak as regards strength, she has been
and is singled out for her doing honour to wisdom."
" Vartan, fab. 12 and 13. ' Rig. V. ii. skta. xxix. 5. ' Dhammap.
Lokavag. 8. * Id. Nagavag. 8. ' Rgya-tcher, iv. p. 41,
• Trinum. act iv. sc. 3. ' S. Luke vi. 35.
U
290
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[vi. 6—8
This paragraph forms the text of one of S. Basil's Homilies;'
it is also quoted by Clement of Alexandria ;' by S. Cyril of
Jerusalem ;' in the Apostolic Constitutions ;* in the same in
Syriac ;' in the Coptic* and Armenian versions ;'' and in 'The
Teaching of the Fathers,' or Apostolic Constitutions in Ethio-
pic, that run as follows : " Turn to the ant, O sluggard, and
imitate what thou seest of her ways, and learn wisdom from
it. For she, having no field, no one to make her work and
no master, prepares her food in the summer, and labours hard
in the harvest. Or go to the bee, and learn how she labours,
and how good is her work. Both kings and people take of
her work for health ; she is desired .and honoured by all,
although of little strength. She has become entitled to con-
sideration, by the honour she pays to wisdom. How long, O
thou sluggard, wilt thou sleep?"*
Some men have tried to impugn the truth of this eighth
verse, declaring that because, in England, as in colder latitudes,
ants do not gather stores of grain in summer, therefore the
statement that other than English ants do so elsewhere, is not
to be believed. But like many such attempts to throw discredit
on Holy Scripture, better knowledge of facts only proves that
it is ' the Scripture of truth.' To the fund of learning found in
'Bocharti Hierozoicon' on this subject, on which he quotes
classical and other authorities to show that in warmer climes
ants " do gather their food in the harvest," we may add the
following. .(Elian,* like Herodotus, Lucian,'" Plutarch, Niclas"
and others, mentions the fabled ants of India, frequently met
with in Indian writings, that gathered stores of gold, watched
over by snakes or dragons ; a legend that still survives in the
common opinion that white-ant hills are the usual abode of
some snake or other.
' Monum. Eccl. Graec vol. i. ed. Cotel. and S. Basilii, opp. ed. Migne.
• Strom, i. p. 280. ' Cat. ix. * Lib. ii. c. Ixiii. ' c. xiii.
• Ed. Rome, 1886. ' Ed. Venice, 1816. » c. xi. p. 104, ed. P.
• Lib. xvi. 15. " Ep. Saturn. 24. " Geop. ii. 29, xiii. 10.
vi. 6—8]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
291
But as regards storing corn, ^iian says, "^luSairol tAs iavrw
X'los opvTTov<riv, the ants of our country bore their own holes ;
making a wall around with the soil thrown out in making
the passages under ground. When going in companies for
food to the standing corn, the youngest remain at the bottom
of the corn, while [iJye/wVes] the leaders creep up to the top, and
nip the grains off the ear, which they throw down to the crowd
[Sij,iv] of ants below. These get the corn out of the chaff,
and thus, without the trouble of threshing and winnowing,
they gather their food from what men have tilled and sown.
They use the chaff as coffins for their dead." And elsewhere :»
" In summer, after harvest, while threshing goes on, ants come
to the floor singly, choose the best grains of wheat and of
barley, and go back to their holes with it the way they came.
When brought hither [oJ ycwaioi], the noble (or thorough-bred)
among them store it up carefully in the hole, boring every
grain through the middle ; what falls of it is for their dinner,
and the grain itself, thus made fruitless, is kept in store for
food. So do the bettermost and the stewards among them ;
and <f}v<rtm /jiv tvrvxvo-av, they have received this wisdom by
nature."'
" Some animals," says Aristotle,' " are woXitikol, live in com-
munities, such as bees, cranes, &c. Of these, some are v<t>' ijytp5i/a,
under a chief or leader ; others, like ants, are avap^a, are under
no government, 'have no guide, overseer or ruler." 'Yet their
activity is known of all, Kal rriv diroetaiv t^s Tpo<^^s koI ra/itttoi/, as
well as their storing of food and their management.'"*
" It would be impossible," says Plutarch,* " to describe fully
the household management of ants, and it would be silly to
omit it altogether ; for no being so small presents a picture of
the best and greatest gifts, as if it were iv o-raydyt KaOapf: wd<rt,i
dpfTrjs, the essence of every virtue in one clear drop. [Com-
pare with this ' one drop of thrift, providence and persistent
' Lib. ii. 25, vi. 50.
• De Solert. Anim. 22.
' De Anim. i. i, 25.
U 2
' Id. ix. 38.
292
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[vi. 6-8
work,' the Chinese term for 'ant,' V,' pronounced as 'ee' in
"sheep," and made up of 'insect, right or good, and I' — 'I am
a good insect,' or ' an insect of innate goodness.'] The mani-
fold passages of their holes are wonderful — in three store-
chambers, for dwelling, for storing the food, and for burying
their dead."
In the Mishna we read of D''bo3n '>mn, of the holes of ants,
/ivp/iTjKio, stored with corn, and "to whom they belong when
found in harvest time;"' and elsewhere,' "that labtP D^bnan ""nin
ra^'>nn ons rrnta, ant-stores that [pass] remain a night by the
side of a sheaf liable to tithe, are also liable to it." Canon
Tristram tells us, in his accurate and interesting work on the
' Natural History of the Bible,'' that " there are three species of
harvesting ants common in the countries around the Mediter-
ranean, two Attas and one Pheidole" so called from her saving
habits [(^€i8(»>A^, saving, thrifty housewife ; ort t* rSpts (rinpov
iftaTai,* and also provident] ; thus prettily told in Latin :
"— sicut
Parvola, nam exemplo est, magni formica laboris
Ore trahit quodcunque potest atque addit acervo,
Quern struit, baud ignara ac non incauta futuri
Quae, simul inversum contristat Aquarius annum
Non usquam prorepit et illis utitur ante
Qusesitis sapiens" — '
" MvpfiixKOiv art irXouTos ad Ki\vTai fioytovTiav."
" Veluti ingentem formicae farris acervum,
Quum populant, hiemis memores, tectaque reponunt :
It nigrum campis agmen praedamque per herbas
Convectant calle angusto, pars grandia tradunt
Obnixae frumenta humeris."'
"Be thou an ant at leasing [harvesting] time," says Abu
Ubeid.' " Learn of me," says the ant, " the merit (or power)
of preparation [providence, getting ready], and the acquisition
of abundance for the day to come."* " The field-cricket," say
• Peah. c. iv. 1 1.
« Hes. I. K ii. 723-
^ Virg. ytneid. iv. 402.
' Maaseroth, c. v. 7. ' p. 496.
' Hor. Sat. i. i. • Theocr. Idyl. xvii. 107.
' Pr. 30. • El Moqadessi, Alleg. 36.
vi. 6—8]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
293
the Mandchus, "knows beforehand when the cold wind will
blow ; but man knows not the day of his death."' " The ant,"
says Sadi, "brings together [stores up] in summer, that it
may rest at peace in winter."' "Strength," say the Abys-
sinnians, "belongs to the lion ; composure, to the bull ; to the
pelican, wisdom ; skilful work, to the spider ; excellence of
work, to the bee ; and to the ant, gathering up treasuries."*
" Running hither and hither in wood and field gathering their
food," say the Georgians.* " You see them," say the Cingalese,
" near their [houses] ant-hills, carrying their food."' [In the
'Ceylon Friend,'" there is an account of all the ants found in
Ceylon, harvesting and others.]
"Some insects die in winter," says El-Kazwini,^ "but others
store up what may sufiice them for the winter, as do the bee
and the ant. The ant builds itself wonderful storehouses
under ground, and stores up food for two years as if it were
to live, whereas the ant only lives one year.'' " Work," says
[pseudo] Phocylides, "that thou mayest live by thine own
labour ; for every idle man lives by stealth. Look at the ants,
how they leave their holes under ground in search of their
food as soon as the fields, shorn of their produce, begin to fill
the threshing-floors. See how every one takes up its own
burden of wheat or of barley recently threshed, Ik diptoi votI
XC(/ia Popfiv <r<t>(Tipr]v trayovTe^, every one laying up in store
its own food in summer against the coming winter, working
unceasingly, indefatigable troop of little things. So also the
bee."«
Likewise in Syria and in Iran : "The ant gathers for itself
provision in the summer," said Bardesanes to Avida, " that it
may feed on it in the winter. So do all ants."' And in the
Vendidad'" we read "that a man shall kill ten thousand ants
' Mingh. dsi. 141. • Gulist. ch. vii. st. 19. ' Matsh. Phil. 53.
' Bunebis kari, p. 278. » Cing. Read. bk. ii. ' Feb. 1877.
' Ajaib, i. p. 444. * iroiVi vov9(t. 1 42— 1 59. ' Spicileg. Syr.
ed. Cur. p. 7. " Farg. xiv. 14, 15.
294
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[vi. 6—8
that steal the corn ;" while a woman under certain circum-
stances " shall kill hurtful creatures and two hundred ants
that steal the corn."* " So meritorious is it to kill ants on that
account, that Viraf, when in hell, saw a man being boiled alive
in a cauldron, with his right foot hanging outside. He asked
what it meant. And Srosh answered : That man, while on
earth, committed adultery and all manner of wickedness. But
because that right foot killed frogs, ants, serpents, scorpions,
and other hurtful beasts, it is not punished."* Then in the
Bundehesh we are told "that the hedgehog is appointed to
[fight] bring down ants that steal corn, as it is said. It intro-
duces itself into a hole of ants and kills a thousand of them.
When the corn-stealing ants go into the earth and make holes
there, the hedgehog comes, disturbs those holes, and levels
the earth in their place."' " But the way to prevent corn-steal-
ing ants from getting at the heap of corn on the threshing-
floor, is," says Niclas,* and before him Aristotle,* "to draw a
circle around it with chalk."
" Neu formica rapax populari semina possit.'"
In the Bostan, Sadi tells us again " not to molest the ant
that draws [steals] the grain ; for it has life, sweet life is hls."^
And lastly, there are Esop's fables of ' The Cricket and the
Ant," of ' The Ants and the Cricket,'* re-told by Babrias,'* by
Syntipa," by Sophos,'' by Avienus ;*' fables translated into
every European and many Eastern languages, telling the
same truth, which men believe in the fable, but discredit in
the Word of God ! Strange perversion of man's reason !
We may add the Syrian witness to the three qualities of
the ant " (i) Every ant works at the ingathering of corn for
itself. (2) When they go to a field ready for harvest to gather
corn, they smell the haulm, in order to ascertain whether it is
• Farg. xvi. 28. * Arda Viraf, n. ch. Ix. ' Bundehesh, p. 47, 48.
• Geop. ii. 29, xiii. 10. ' De Anim. iv. 8, 27. ' Colum. x. 322.
» Bostan, ii. 13 st. » Fab. 165 and 84. » Fab. 167. '• Fab. 137.
" Fab. 43- " Fab. 35. " Fab. 34.
vi. 6—8]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
29s
wheat or barley. If it is wheat, they creep up to the ear, and
nip off the corn thereof; then they bite every grain in two,
lest it should get moistened in winter, then germinate, and
they die of hunger. For barley is food for cattle."* S. Epi-
phanius says much the same in his Physiologus ;' as does
the Ethiopic' And also these pretty lines of Ovid :*
" Neve graves cuhis, Cerialia dona, cavete,
Agmine laesuro depopulentur aves.
Vos quoque, formicae, subjectis parcite granis,
Post messem prsedie copia major erit."
The ant is a favourite subject with sacred and profane
writers, who each draw from it their own moral. As a sample
of the former, S. Cyril of Jerusalem writes on this verse :» " Go
to the ant, thou sluggard, and stir up thyself, seeing her ways,
and be the wiser for it. For seeing her treasuring up food for
herself in due season, imitate her, and treasure up for thyself
fruits of good works for ages to come, koI irdX.iv' UapevdrjTi rphi
TTiv ii(\i<T<Tav." And again : " Go to the bee and learn what
a busy worker she is, how, flying about from flower to flower,
she makes up honey for thine own use. So that thou also,
going round the Holy Scriptures, mayest hold fast thine own
salvation, and being filled with sacred lore, say: 'Oh, how
sweet are thy words unto my throat ; yea, sweeter than honey
unto my mouth.'""
Vartan also has a fable of ' The Insects, the Bee and the
Ant,' evidently adapted to this eighth verse in the Armenian
Bible. He says : " The insects came to the bee and to the
ant in winter-time and said : Give us something to eat, for we
are dying of hunger. But the bee and the ant replied : What
were you doing in summer ? These answered : We took our
ease under the thick foliage of the trees, and sped [lit. beat
time] the traveller on his way with our sweet song. To this
the bee and the ant replied : Then it is meet you should die of
> Physiol. Syr. c. xiii. ' Vol. ii. c. 3. ' Physiol. Eth. ed. Pr.
« Fastor. i. 683. ' Catech. ix. 13. " Ps. cxix. 103.
296
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[vi. 6 — 8
hunger, and we ought not to show any pity for you. This
fable shows that the foolish virgins [S. Matt, xxv.] come to
beg, but that the wise ones do not give ; for then it is not
time to show pity, but to do justice. We must now in this
present life, which is summer, gather by wisdom and labour
the spiritual meat, that in the day of judgment we may not
die of hunger in hell."*
Let us now hear the son of Brahma. " Let a man gather
together virtue by degrees for the sake of having a companion
in the next world, as the white ant makes her nest. For in
the next life there will be neither father nor mother to keep
him company ; nor yet his son, his servants, nor his friends ;
his virtue alone shall stand by him. Man is born alone, and
alone also disappears ; and alone also receives the reward of
his good works ; but alone also that of his evil deeds. When
he leaves his dead body on the ground, like a log of wood or
a lump of clay, his friends turn away from him ; his virtue
alone follows him. Let him, therefore, continually gather to-
gether virtue by degrees, that he may have it for his com-
panion ; for with it at his side he will cross a gloom, alas !
how difficult to span."*
And the Turkish translator of Esop's fable gives for moral,
"that the sensible man is not so much occupied with this
present world as with the next."' "Seeing how gradually
'kohol' [black antimony for the eyelids, used very sparingly
with a small ivory stick] diminishes, and also how gradually
an ant-hill increases, let no man spend one day barren of good
works and of study."* " Let him who knows what he ought
to do, diligently gather from here and there, and let the
result be according to the decrees of fate."* " By gathering,
the ant-hill increases ; and by use, kohol decreases."
See also Sadi's fable of ' The Bulbul and the Ant,' evidently
borrowed from Esop's fable, and with a like moral ;'' and
' Vartan, fab. 5. • Manu S. iv. 238—242. ' Fab. Turq. 6. * Hitop. ii. 9.
» Id. 12. • Nnga Niti, 28 schf. ' De Sacy's Chrest. Ar. ill. p. 502.
vj. 6-8]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
297
Djami's fable of the ant that was sent to carry a locust much
heavier than itself It said to those who wondered at it i
" Make a powerful effort with the help of God [lit. having Him
for a loving fellow-traveller], for with His help thy effort will
bear that weight ;"' for without such help "the ant does not
pass on from the foot of the locust," says Nizami.*
" When king Phonez showed his son to his vizeer Shedrak,
the vizeer wished the child blessings for evermore ; together
with the prudence of the ass, that would not go over ground
when dry in which it had stuck fast when it was wet and miry ;
the faithfulness of the dog that belonged to a poor man who
starved it to death, and yet returned to him when well fed by
a rich man ; and, thirdly, the strength of the ant.'" "Among
animals with (four) feet, the lion is powerful ; but the worm is
more powerful ; and more powerful (or stronger) than this is
the ant."«
"Many animals (or people) joined together and of one
mind, though they have small power, bring about great results.
It is said that a lion's whelp was killed by a quantity of ants."*
" The mountain Tai-Shang [a high mountain in the province
of Shang-tung] does not repel the smallest particle of dust ;
so also while gathering little by little, the heap increases by
constant addition to it."* " By gathering together small things,
one gradually builds up a high fabric.'" " The union of small
things produces great things."' "Scattered bits brought to-
gether become a mountain."* " In autumn, we gather ; in
winter, we hoard up."" " For if thou addest a little to a little,"
says Hesiod, "and doest that frequently, it will soon come to
much. For he who adds to what he has already, 08' aXv^trai
aiOoira Ki/jlov, will thereby escape from dire want [famine]. And
it is not what is stored at home that hurts a man. Better
• Beharist. viii. p. 112. ' Makhzan ul-asr. p. 54. ' Orbelian
sibrzne sitsr. i. p. 6. ' Dham. Niti. 154. ' Legs par b. p. 201.
• Ming h. dsi. 122. ' Mong. mor. max. R. ' Hitop. i. si. 35-
• Jap. prov. p. 836. " Gun den s. mon. 21.
298
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[vi. 6—8
have it there than risk it out of doors."* "Praise food when
digested, a woman when she is no longer young, a warrior
when he returns from battle, and corn when it is brought
home."*
" If there was no law, we should have to learn cleanliness of
the cat ; [taking] gathering together from the ant ; and purity
(of kindred) from the dove."* " The thoughtful and prudent
man who, reflecting far ahead, gathers for hereafter, diligently
and with patience, shows that he is a provident man."* "And
one endued with great knowledge, though moving round in
darkness, yet does not leave any part of his work [dark] un-
finished. Like the ant that has no eyes, and yet speeds better
than other animals with eyes."' "The wise man, who is
accomplished, having gathered his property, as the white ant
gathers her nest, until he has enough for himself and his
family, divides it into four parts. One for friendly hospitality ;
one for his own use at home ; one for business ; and one to be
laid aside for times of adversity."'
And I may quote here Origen when refuting Celsus, who
said " that God cares as much for ants as for men, praises the
ants for their commonwealth, their provision of food against
the bad season, which they foreknow,"' &c., and so provide for
it In other words : " He that on a clear day [in fine weather]
cleans his gutters and sets them in order, will be ready when
the stormy season sets in."' "Repair your water-pipes on a
fine day," say the Mandchus, " that they may be in good order
against a pouring rain."°
"Ants," say the Chinese, " have the justice (or good govern-
ment] of prince and officers; therefore do they receive justice in
return. Teou-she of the Sung dynasty was told by his teacher,
an old priest, that he would be great One day he was told
by his elder brother that a colony of ants that were under the
' Hes. I. c. ij. 359. * Lokaniti, 97. ' Khar. Pen. i. 45.
« Sain ughes, fol. 8. ' Legs par b. p. fol. 2. • Sigal. V. Sutt. fol. no.
I Contra Cels. lib. iv. p. 217. ' Niitsidai ughed. 12. » Minfh. e-- -"
vi. 6—8]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
295>
hall would be destroyed by a flood of rain. ' I will save them,'
said he. Upon which he tied a stick of bamboo across the
stream, on which they crossed it and were saved. For this
action he attained to the first place among the first three ranks
of literates."* "E-yun (B.C. 1753), in his conversation with
Tae-khea, said : Practise assiduously the virtue of economy,
while you think of distant plans."* "And Pwan-kang said to
his ministers : You do not plot high [form plans ahead] to
provide against your calamity. You deceive yourselves, and
add much to your sorrow. Now you rest satisfied with pos-
sessing for the present and do not think of the future ; how,
then, can you hope for life in the realms above?"'
" In walking, the ant goes thousands of yojanas ; but with-
out (the exertion of) walking, Garuda himself does not go one
step."* " Even rocks are hollowed out by the constant tread
of ants."' " Everything is mixed up with labour ; there is
nothing free from it"' " Therefore if a man has to do a thing,
let him do it and finish it with perseverance and firmness."'
"Do not then, incline to sleep and ease until thou hast
examined thyself on these three points : (i) Have I this day
committed sin ? (2) Have I acquired fresh learning ? (3) Have I
neglected (or come short in) any work ?"' In the Qoran' we
read the following legend, one of many of the same sort :
" Suleyman inherited of Daood, and he said : O ye people,
we have been taught the language of birds, and have been in-
formed of everything ; and this is indeed a manifest advantage.
Then Suleyman brought together his host made up of ' jinns'
[genii], men and birds, and marched them separately. But
when they came to Wadi-en-naml [valley of the ant], the
[queen] ant said [to her people] : O ye ants, hasten to your
dwellings [holes], lest Suleyman and his troop trample you
down unawares. And Suleyman laughed," &c. [This legend
> Wen chang t. Comm. in Shin s. luh. iv. p. 18. ' Shoo King, iii. 5.
3 Id. iii. 10. * Chanak. 34, J. K. « Nanneri, 23. « V. Satasai, 189.
' Dham. Nirayav. 8. « Akhlaq. Nasseri, 9. " Sur. xxvii. 18.
300
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[vl. 9 — 1 1
found its way from the Talmud into the Qoran. It is published
separately under the title of Nemalah, the Ant]
9 How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard ? when wilt
thou arise out of thy sleep ?
10 Vet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding
of the hands to sleep :
1 1 So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth,
and thy want as an armed man.
"How long wilt thou sleep" &c.
Ey^fo, TuStos v\i' ri irdvvv)(Ov vtti'oi' abircif ;*
Wake up, then, O son of Tydeus ; what, sleep all night ' like a
top,' while the Trojans are at hand 1" said Nestor to Diomedes.
" Now then, dear children, be on the watch ; let no one be
overcome by sleep, lest we be made the laughing-stock of our
enemies."
" Mane piger, stertis. Surge ! inquit av.tritia : eja
Surge ! Negas ? instat. Surge I inquit. Non queo. Surge I
Et quid agam."*
" He who puts off the hour of getting up [wastes his morning
in sleep] will find that the hour, in turn, will drive him [to
make up for lost time]."' "Sleep at dawn is like steel to
iron" [hard and cuts up the day].*
" Plus vigila semper, nee somno deditus esto :
Nam diutuma quies, vitiis alimenta ministrat."'
" The night," said Bhrigu, " is for sleep, and the day is for
work."* " When once awake from sleep," said Aurva, " let not
the Brahman indulge in lying in bed."' "At sleeping time,"
says Nagarjuna in his letter to his friend king Udayana,
" sleep ; but withal, remembering the rules of the law which
thou hast repeated during the day and during the first and
' II. r. 159. * Pers. Sat. v. 132. ' Ep. Lod. 659. ♦ Khar.
Pen. XX. 15. ' D. Cato, i. 2. • Manu S. i. 65. ' Vishnu Pur.
ill. 12, 13.
vi. 9 — 11]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
301
last watches of the night, lest thy sleep be without benefit to
thee."' "Confucius himself, when asleep, did not lie like one
dead" [a corpse].* "A quien madruga, Dios le ayuda: God
helps him who rises early."' "The sun is already high
above the horizon, and the priests of the mountain shrine are
not yet out of bed."* " Every day," say the Chinese, " must
one by all means get up early ; for every day has its own
business to be attended to."'
"The plans of a whole life depend on diligence. The
prospects of the whole year depend on the spring ; and the
plans of the whole day depend on [the ' yn,' hour, five o'clock]
the early morning."' "Therefore diligent and active people
get up early. But the idle and lazy do not get up early.
Learn, therefore, to be active and diligent, and not idle and
lazy."' " Early to bed and early to rise,'' &c.; and
" He that will thrive must rise at five ;
He that has thriven may rise at seven."'
" Levati, get up," say the Italians, " e vedrai, and thou shalt
see ; lavora, ed averai, work, and thou shalt have."' " For
Ushas the fair [Aurora, the dawn] is ushered like a matron.
At her coming, whatever has feet begins to move, and she
flushes the birds. She sends forth the diligent, bids beggars
go, and she bedews the earth."** "Arise! moving life has come
to us ; darkness is gone, light is come ; let us go where food
is given for work, and be made happy with it.""
"O Indra, thou honourest the dawn!"" "As there are
twenty-four hours to the day," says Rabbi M. Maimonides,
"it is enough for a man to sleep the third part of it, and to
rise from his bed before sunrise."" " Rise from sleep at day-
break !"" " For it is a shame for a man to lie idle."" " And
■ Nagarjuna's Letter to K. Udayana, ed. Wenzel, 39. ' Shang-L. x. 1 5.
' Span. pr. * Ming h. dsi. 147. ' Chin. max. Dr. Medh. dial. p. 187.
• Chin. prov. P. 94. ' Ibid. » Eng. pr. » Ital. pr. " Rig V.
i. skta. xlviii. 5, 6, and skta. xlix. 3. " Id. skta. cxiii. 16. " Id. iii.
skta. xliv. 2. " Halk. Deh. iv. 4. " Aw. Atthi Sudi, 106.
" Nitimala, ii. 35.
302
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[vi. 9 — 1 1
the morn brings good luck." "Matin porte bonheur."" "God's
wealth and bountiful gifts are made to man without [tongue]
warning. Be not careless, therefore ; for we know that such
gifts are found at once [when unexpected].'" "And the morn-
ing hour," say the Germans, " has gold in its mouth.'"
"Of whatever grade be the Brahmachari, let not the sun,
either rising or setting, find him asleep. If in either case the
sun find him asleep, let him do penance for it a whole day.
But let him, after having washed his mouth with water, say
his private prayers devoutly and with a composed mind, in
some purified spot, according to commandment."* " Let him
give up going about at night, sleeping by day, sloth, evil-
speaking and drink, and either too much or too little attach-
ment to comfort," said Narada." " No good comes from long
sleep."" "Wise and clever men," said the Baital to king
Bikram, " spend their time in reading the Shastras ; but fools
and simpletons spend their days in ease and sleep."' "Give
not way to sloth [drowsiness, slumber], lest thy work and
meritorious deeds remain undone."* "A sleepy fellow, one
who is careless, or pleased with himself [at ease], one who is
sick, a sluggard, a covetous man, and one who delights in
fresh work [restless, or fickle]— these seven have no business
with religious books."'
" There are six faults to be eschewed by him who wishes
for superiority (or dignity) : sleep, laziness, fear, wrath, idleness
and dilatoriness.""' "The slothful man says : 'My trust is in
the Lord ; I will sit alone and hold my peace ; and He will
do it' But does the Lord behold his idleness for naught?
Nay. He never will give good things to the slothful, neither
will He fulfil his desire."" "He that does not rise at dawn,"
say the Chinese, "must sleep a long time." But they say
' Eng. and Fr. pr. * TurkishCom. on Rishtah ijuw. p. 40. ' Germ. pr.
* Manu S. ii. 219. ' Maha Bh. Shanti P. 10575. « Welsh pr.
' Baital Pach. introd. ' Mainyo i Kh. ii. 29. • Lokaniti, 141.
" Kobitamr. 56. " Mishle As. ii. 8 sq.
vi. 12—15]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
303
also : " Were it not for fame or gain, who would be willing to
rise early?"'
"A man," says a Japanese story, "mistaking the hour, got
up earlier than he meant to do, and then went back to bed,
blaming the clock for not knowing the right time. But the
clock replied : Thou seest it is morning, about five o'clock,
and yet goest back to bed ? Knowcst thou not that the result
[arrangement] of the whole day depends on the early morn,
and that through laziness men waste the precious time of
life?"* "By eating too much, men get weary of study ; and
by keeping the body warm, one indulges in sleep : and by
indulging in ease, one becomes slothful."' " He who goes to
sleep while on his journey through life, either loses his head
or his cap."* "Sleeping after sunrise, idleness, peevi.shness,
dilatoriness (or sleeping long), these even in a Brahman tend
to no good."" "And he who, without providing beforehand,
lives carelessly [at ease, in idleness], will afterwards weep over
his folly."® " No praise for the slothful."' " There is no strong-
hold for the timid, and no good for lazy ones."*
1 2 A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with
a froward mouth.
13 He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his
feet, he teacheth with his fingers ;
14 Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief
continually ; he soweth discord.
1 5 Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly ;
suddenly shall he be broken without remedy,
Ver. 14. is*?? niD^nn. LXX.8u<TTpatiiievijKapSui; Arab. '(with)
lies in his heart;' neither of which renders the Hebrew. niS^.H'? pro-
perly means Fr. ' renversements,' overturning everything, putting
' Chin. pr. G. ' Atsme Gusa. iii. 2. ' Do ji kiyo. * Nizami
Makhz. ul asr. p. 72. ' Dhammaniti, 228. ' Cural, 535. ' Id. 533.
• Id. 534.
304
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[vi. 12 — 15
everything topsy-turvy, whether it be custom, right, law, or order,
Trom selfish and wicked motives, which lead a man, 5T "??n, to
plough, plot and devise evil at all times. Such a man, oWl D''3"''I13,
LXX. o TotoGros Tapa\ai <rvvt(TTi)(rt voka, sends about quarrels,
raises party feuds and causes disturbances in the state, with his fair
speech and evil intent, to suit his own ends, however selfish and wicked
they be.
" A naughty person" &c. " He whose tongue is froward,"
say the Georgians, "has nevertheless a fair speech."' "He,
however, who speaks false words is lost to all sense of shame
[of self-respect]."* " Is not the sense of shame an ornament
to excellent men ? But is it not painful to see those who lack
it, walk about puffed up and self-satisfied ?"• " Such a man
is no better than a puppet worked with a string, to represent
life."* "For manliness [manhood] is destroyed in him who
indulges evil designs."* " For men who have the feeling of
shame [self-respect] will part with life for the sake of self-
respect ; but will never sacrifice shame [or self-respect] to
Iife."«
On the other hand, "A man who multiplies occasions of
insolence and arrogance by his conduct, multiplies haters of
him," "and multiplies the chances of evil happening to him."^
" But, like the shrimp, a froward man hops backwards."* "A
man of such vile disposition notices the faults of others, when
small as a grain of sesamum ; but he does not see his own
faults, as large as a cocoa-nut*
"He winketh" &c. As the woodman did who, having pro-
mised to the fox not to betray it to the hunters, denied with
his voice knowing where the fox lay, but with his hand pointed
to the place ;'* to which the Chinese translator adds : "When
a man loves to speak lying words, it is not with the mouth
only that he speaks."" " For the meaning of words spoken is
seized even by brute beasts, and horses and elephants carry
' Georg. pr. * Vemana, ii. 122. ' Cural, 1014. * Id. 1020.
» Var. Nava R. 5. * Cural, 1017. ' Joma, Millin, 666. " Beng. pr.
• Lokaniti, 73. '" Esop, fab. 10, and Babrias, 50. " Mun moy, ibid.
vi. 12 — IS]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
30s
burdens when ordered to do so. But a wise man understands
what is not said, and one advantage of wits is, to understand
signs made by others."' "For the inward thoughts [mind or
heart] are descried in signs, gestures, in the gait, the move-
ments, the language, and the altered features of the eyes and
mouth."* " He comes in with mincing step, and an altered
complexion ; his forehead moist with perspiration, muttering
indistinctly to the ground. For the man who has committed
sin always feels uneasy and looks down to the earth, and by
these unfailing signs he may be known to wise men."'
Therefore " let the Bramachari beware of having nimble
hands and movable feet, a winking eye, of being crooked [in
his ways], of having a voluble tongue, and of being clever at
doing mischief to others."* " For he is not alone thine enemy
who injures thee, but he also who devises mischief to thee.""
" For the silence of such a man, like that of a vicious dog, is
more to be feared than his voice."' " His eye for his tooth,"
say the Arabs' [that is, a man's eye shows what he is, as the
tooth shows the age of a horse]. " You can tell a bad man
by the cast of his eye."* " From signs and from a man's
appearance, you can pretty well tell the object of his visit
[meeting].""
" The thoughts, the words and the actions of wicked men
are not 'one,' as they are among righteous men."" ".Deceit,
called 'the black art,' is shunned by men who know how to
behave [keep the mean]."" " They will soon perish who prac-
tise it."'* "One need not fear enemies that are [open] like a
.sword ; but fear them who have the appearance of friends.'"*
Syntipa's fable of ' The Dog and the Hare' teaches that certain
men pretend hypocritical friendship outwardly, who are within
' Hitop. ii. 46; PanchaT. i. 49. ' Hitop. ii. 45, and PanchaT. i. sa
' Pancha T. i. 213. * Manu S. iv. 177. ' Democrat. Sentent. p. 630.
• Demophili Simil. p. 614. ' Meld. Ar. pr. ^ Beng. pr.
» V. Satasai, 386. »» Kobita Ratn. 187. " Cural, 287. " Id. 289.
" Id. 882.
3o6
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[vi. 12 — IS
vi. 16 — 19]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
307
full of all manner of wickedness and of evil intent' " For there
is no need of serpents where there are bad men."*
" Brethren of the present day," say the Arabs, " are only
spies of [other people's] faults." " This means," according to
the Turkish Commentator, " that men look like brothers, but,
owing to their neglecting 'hadis' [sayings of Mahomet], they
are generally finding fault ; and every fault they notice in
others, they repeat to their companions."' " Wickedness (or
violence)," quoth Ibn-or-Rumi, " is always low [mean or detest-
able], but especially when it is deliberate."* "Assuredly," say
the Mandchus, "he who goes about troubling and deceiving
others, will inevitably become poor. From the beginning.
Heaven has not granted pardon to such men." " The wicked
man thinks of deception, because his heart is bad."' "Yet if
thy heart suggests to thee a shameful action, do it not ; for in
the past or present world, who has ever forgiven anything?"'
" For many mouths open only for the sake of contradiction,
and to be first to create [raise] hatred and animosity."' " But
the best man is always gentle ; the worst man is he who goes
about quarrelling."*
" Woe," said Enoch, " to those who lay the foundation of
fraud and build up iniquity and oppression, for they shall be
suddenly cast down, and shall have no peace."' "And now,
children, I tell you, love righteousness and walk in it ; for the
paths of righteousness are worth taking. But the ways of
iniquity shall suddenly be destroyed and come to naught."'"
" Dimnah having been put in prison by the lion through the
leopard's accusations, Calilah came to see him, and said :
Alas ! did I not advise thee ? Did I not tell thee that there is a
way of speaking suited to every station, and to every place a
limit ? Did I not remind thee of what wise men have said,
'that the treacherous man who plots against another shall die
' Fab. 50. ' Pancha Ratna. 5th ed. ' Rishtah i juw. p. 7.
* Eth. Thcnlcbi, 50. ' Ming h. dsi. 167, 170. " Ibid. 146.
' Ibid. 136. » Ebu Medin, 94. » Bk. Enoch, xciii. 6. " Id. xciv. 1.
before his time'? I know all that, replied Dimnah ; thou art
right. But wise men have said also ' that one ought not to
feel impatient of punishment' But thy tail is long and the
lion's sentence is hard.'"
Epjii Otouriv T ix^P^ "'"' O'VOpiiirouTiv oirtoTt,
''¥v)^pov OS Iv koAtt^ irotKiAy tr^cs o<f>iv."*
"The ravens eat thee, thou false hypocrite, alike hateful to
gods and suspect to men, who hidest in thy shifty bosom the
cold venomous reptile of an evil heart" " Do not," said
Sekhrud to Papi, "speak covered words of dissimulation,
hardening against thyself the [lord or] good principle of life.
He who deals thus covertly (or falsely) acts against himself"'
16 These six things doth the Lord hate : yea, seven
are an abomination unto him :
17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that
shed innocent blood,
18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet
that be swift in running to mischief,
19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that
soweth discord among brethren.
'^ A proud look" &c. "The lion's pride becomes a lion
only."* " Speak not words of [violence] haughtiness or self-
conceit, not even when thou art alone," said Sekhrud to his
son." " If a man," says Ptah-hotep, "exalts himself [or carries
himself haughtily], there is humiliation in store for him from
God, who gave him his high position, and will reject him
when fallen."*
" Zfus yolp fiiyaXtfi y\ii(T(Tr]i Kofnrovt
inr(p(\6atp(i. :'
For Zeus has in detestation the boastings of a lofty tongue."
' Calilah u Dimn. p. 143. ' Thcogn. 609. ' Pap. Sail. pi. ix. 1. 9.
• Oyun Tulk. p. 8. ' Pap. Sail. pi. ix. 1. 10. • Pap. Pr. pi. vii. I. 8, 9.
' Soph. Antig. 126.
-\ 2
3o8
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[vJ. i6 — 19
I
vi. 16—19]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
309
" And he looks down with hatred on him who, imipavxa Pa5i(ti,
walks with a high stomach." » "Thou art far from the proud,"
said Yudhishtira to Krishna.'
"He," say the Rabbis, "that has a high look (or mind)
[who is haughty and proud] shall not prevail for ever."'
" Pride among brothers divides them ; it destroys men ; but
the taller it grows, the less it is felt."* " A wise man, however,
is not proud, nor covert, nor blind, but he is cautious and in
accord with himself."* "Yet it is easier," said Abu Hashim,
" to dig up a mountain with the point of a needle, than to dig
worthless pride [haughtiness] out of a man's heart."*
"A lying tongue," &c " Telling lies is of three kinds," accord-
ing to the Tibetan work Thar-gyan. " (i) From a false teacher ;
(2) to one's own advantage or to that of others ; (3) to the
injury of others only. And the [fruit] result of these lies, great
and small, is three-fold. When fully ripe, the liar shall be born
a devil ; or if he is born a man, he shall for the same cause [in
a less degree] always be exposed to calumnies and slander.
But the result of success from telling a lie will be that he shall
be born with an offensive smell in his mouth. The Tathagata,
however, says, that the greatest of all crimes is for a Lama to
tell a lie."' " Killing a Brahman is a sin equal to killing a
hundred heads of cattle ; killing a woman is equal to killing
a hundred Brahmans ; killing one infant is equal to killing a
hundred women ; but telling a lie is equal to killing a hundred
infants."*
" In like manner as the raven of the wilderness sweeps
round in the air in search of carrion, so also it is the nature
[sign] of a bad man to seek to see the misfortune of others."*
"For where inclination lies, thither does the heart lead.""
"And evil-doing is indeed easy among men," says Theognis."
' /Eschyl. Sept. Th. 485. ' Prem. Sagur. c. Ixxiii. ' Joma,
Millin, 668. ♦ Ep. Lod. 652. » Siun-tsze, i, p. 8. « Djami Behar. G. i.
' Tliar-g>'an, v. fol. 42. ' Nidivemba, 12. • Kawi Niti Sh. p. 27.
"0 Mcid. Ar. pr. " Theogn. 995.
" He, however, who thinks of opposing virtuous deeds, is walk-
ing in an evil path, and will surely be pushed into ruin."^
" For the heart alone knows if it is inclined to one froward
action or to many."^
"A wicked man thinks all men are like himself" "And he
who hates another sees nothing good in him, and does not
allow that he can do aught aright."' "When the beasts found
fault with the virtuous jackal that would neither eat flesh nor
drink blood, &c., he said to them : Do as you please ; your
company will not hurt me [lead me to follow your example] ;
for guilt comes not from places or from companions, but from
the heart and from actions. For if a man, be he where he
will, is honest, his actions will be such ; but if he be wicked,
his actions also will be evil."* "The thoughts (or devices) of
sin are heavier than sin itself,"' say the Rabbis ; while others
teach "that God does not reckon the thought of sin as He
reckons the deed"* [He says, however, " that the very thought
of foolishness is sin," ch. xxiv. 9]
Ver. 19. "Among the ten evil actions in a man's conduct
are reckoned, killing living beings, giving what does not
belong to us, and telling lies," &c.' "If I lie," said the Dge-
long [candidate for the priesthood], " not only will the punish-
ment of the deception practised on my teacher follow me
throughout my future births, but my teacher also will find it
out through his clear-sightedness."* "But Krishna said to
Arjuna : A good man is a speaker of truth ; nothing is known
on earth better than truth ; truth that lies in that which is
difficult to ascertain fully." " However, although truth should
be told, yet may untruth be spoken in five cases : at a wedding ;
in love ; on giving up the ghost ; when losing money ; and
' Vetnana, ill. 33. ' Talm. Hier. Shebuth, iv. i, M. S. ' Sulkhan
Orbel. in sibrzne sitsr. p. 160, 167. * Calilah u D. p. 237. * Joma
in B. Fl. • Talmud. Kidd. ibid. ' Tsa-gnay J. Thera, 18.
• Dsang-Lun (reference omitted).
3IO
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[vi. l6 — 19
vi. 16 — 19]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
3"
for the sake of a Brahman." " And they are called the five
untruths free from sin."*
" To avyytvii rot Sctfoe, ij o/tiXia."*
" The ties of kindred have a mighty power," said Vulcan to
KpoTos. "Aunts, uncles and nieces," say the Japanese, "are
on the same footing as sons ; and between brothers the
strongest tie of affection exists. They are united together
like the breath to the body, and like the branches of a tree."*
" Brothers, eggs of one nest "* [some addled]. "A stock, clump
root of the sugar-cane"* [members of one family.] See Log-
man's fable of the ' Members and the Stomach.'* " Do not,
therefore, because of private enmity, cause people, father and
son, to disagree. Do not, for the sake of a small profit, cause
men, elder and younger brothers, not to harmonize," say
the Chinese;^ "who are branches of the same tree," say the
Japanese.*
For albeit "common things," say the Tibetans, "are the
origin of quarrels;"' yet "brothers must not fall out upon
some selfish difference of opinion,"'" "nor yet fathers and
sons about a small profit," adds the Mandchu translator.
" Let brothers be brothers," say the Arabs ; " but let them keep
the accounts of merchants."" "Among men, the first requisite
is that elder and younger brothers should live in harmony.
Being born of the same father and mother, they are called
' own brothers.' They must not wrangle about 'high '[or 'long']
stature, nor strive about 'short' [age or precedence]. If they
grow rich, do not annoy them. If they get into business,
assist them. If they are in distress, help them. If they
behave ill, do not cherish a remembrance of their conduct.""
> Maha Bh. Kama P. 3434—3437- ' Prom. Vinct. 39. » Gun
den s. mon, 345- * Javan pr. ' Ibid. ' Fab. 32, and
Esop's, 286. ' Hien w. shoo, 83. » Japan pr. p. 660. » Legs
par b. p. 214. " Wen chang in Shin sin 1. v. p. 46. " Egypt, pr. 548.
" Chin. max. in D. Medh. Dial. p. 208.
" For separation, dissension among brothers, is the consuming
of the soul [or life]."'
" How may we subsist ?" ask the Tamulians. " If we agree
[join] together, we may. Even a monkey will go from a village
divided against itself" " He is a fool, then, who, hearkening
to his wife, outrages his elder and younger brothers and takes
to others. Can a man cross the Godaveri holding by the tail
of a dog?"' " P'or a stone in the shoe, a gadfly in the ear, a
mote in the eye, and a quarrel in a family, are all tormenting."*
" How beautiful, then, to see relations dwelling together in
unity [all round]."' "Therefore, O my children," said the
father, " so long as you agree among yourselves, no one will
be able to injure you."* " But if you disagree, you will soon
be caught [coriie to ruin]."' On which the Chinese translator
comments thus : " The lips and the front teeth mutually rely
on each other. If united, they will not fail in any one instance.
But if you divide them and the lips die, then the front teeth
will be exposed and be cold. There is not an instance [on
record] in which both do not suffer, and lose by it. Be on
your guard then. It is said : ' When calamities arise within
the inner walls [among relations], how lamentable, indeed !'"'
Sulkhan Orbelian gives a like fable with the same moral,
but in which the father gave his thirty sons thirty arrows
instead of a bundle of sticks." " For violence and disunion in
a house is like a worm in a grain of sesamum," said Rabbi
Chisda.'* [The same is said of immorality, or of a violent
woman in a family.]'* " It is like a fire in a bamboo jungle ;
it originates in the jungle itself."'^ "A wise man, therefore,
tries to preserve union in the village."'* "So long," said
Buddha to Ananda, "as the Vajjis come together united, and
rise together united, and do, united together, things that are
1 Rishtah i juw. p. 164. * Tarn. pr. 1555, 1990. » Vemana, ii. 133.
* Id. ibid. 175. ' Aw. Kondreiv. 30. • Babrias, fab. 47.
' Esop, fab. 52. • Mun moy, ad. loc. » Sibrzne sitsr. " Sotah, 3.
" Buxtorf, Lex. s. v. " Athitha w. d. p. 12. ' " Nitimala, iii. 3.
312
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[vi. 1 6 — 19
to be done, so long also may their prosperity be expected, and
not their decay."*
Thus also " the quails which, while agreed, lifted up the net
and escaped. The fowler then said : United, they carry away the
net ; but if they quarrel they will fall into my hands."' See
also the story of 'Chitragriva and the Pigeons,'' and: "We
have heard," said Vidura to Dhritarashtra, " that a fowler once
caught two birds in his toils. They both flew away, and he
followed them on foot. A man asked him what he meant.
He answered : ' They both came to me together ; but let a
quarrel happen and they both will be in my power.' They
quarrelled, and he caught them. So with relations. War
makes them over to their foes."*
"Come division in a family, come division in the world."*
"God, then, preserve me from the enmity of near relations!"
said Ibn Hobaira.* " For an ill-disposed brother is an enemy."'
■ " Men, therefore, ought not to come together to bite one
another," said Goba Setchen to Tchinggis-khan.' " For what
is there on earth better than union in a family?" said Devi
Gondari, the mother of king Astina, to her son." And Devi
Kunti-Bodya to her son : " Son, join thy brother in the war of
Broto Yudo. It is the way to success (or happiness)."*" " For
when brothers disagree [are not at one], people round about
mock them."" "The lioness then, when at the point of death,
said to her two children, her own whelp and a calf she had
adopted : ' You two continue to live well and happy together.
If an enemy should happen to come and through deceit (or
enmity) try to find out your strength, do not listen to him.'
Having said this, she died. But they were parted and de-
stroyed through the wiles of a fox.'"*
So also Loqman's fable of the two bulls" that defied the
' Mahaparanibbh. fol. tsyo. ' Sammo-damana, Jat. p. 209.
' In Hitopad. 1. * Maha Bh. Udyog. P. 2455. « Khar. Pen. i. 4.
• Eth. Theal. 331. ' Oyun Tulk. p. 11. « Tchinggis-kh. p. 8.
• liroloyudo, vi. 27. '" Id. viii. 16. " Chin pr. C. " Siddhi
Kur. St. XX. " Fab. i.
vi. 16 — 19]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
3'3
lion while united against him, but each of which he slew
when he had succeeded in parting them. Likewise Esop's
fable* [and Sophos, fab. 16] of 'The Two Bulls and the Lion,'
with this moral : "Agreement is safety" for individuals, and,
as Loqman says, for states also. Babrias gives it also more irt
detail.* " For the strength of a family, as of a state, is in
union."*
" Do not therefore create a disturbance [aversion, horror]
among men ; God forbids it," said Ptah-hotep.* " I and thou
are brethren ; thy father and I are brethren ; thy mother and
I are brethren," say the Rabbis.'* "And faithful and trusty
brethren are the best of possessions ; they are an ornament in
prosperity, and a buckler in adversity."' " He, therefore, who
sows dissension in a house shall be cuffed to death."' And a
house, according to the Chinese, embraces nine degrees of
kindred, "(i) Self, (2) father, (3) grandfather, (4) great-grand-
father, (5) great-great-grandfather, (6) son, (7) grandson, (8)
great-grandson, (9) great-great-grandson. Once, nine genera-
tions of Chang- Kung-e lived together in one house; and one
Chin of Keang-chou had seven hundred mouths that ate at
his table. He also had one hundred and ten dogs that lived
at peace together in one kennel. If one dog was absent, the
rest would not eat. The harmony of his family extended to
the dogs."*
" For love of kindred is like blood in one's arteries ; like
fingers of one hand ; like pain in one limb, which the whole
body feels."' " For slaves may be purchased, not so brothers.""
" In your intercourse with others, then, use no abusive lan-
guage ; neither say anything that may create disunion," say
the Japanese." " For if disunion takes place among ties of
kindred, they will hardly escape misfortune." "And a house
> Fab. 207. ' Fab. 44. ' Vararuchi Nava R. 7. * Pap. Pr.
pi. vi. 8. » Jebamoth, Millin, 168. • Ep. Lod. 652. ' Tarn. pr.
' Shin yii, yung shin, 2 max. p. 1 1. • Wang kew po, id. id.
'» Mong. max. R. " Do ji Kiyo.
3M
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[vi. 20 — 23
divided against itself [as well as a state also], though it be
closed and fitted like a box, is nevertheless disjoined." " But
to live in one house with people who have no family love, is
like dwelling together with a snake ;" so say the Tamulians.*
" He, therefore, who sows dissension in a family, when his sin
is fully ripe, shall be born in hell."'
20 My son, keep thy father's commandment, and
forsake not the law of thy mother :
21 Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie
them about thy neck.
22 When thou goest, it shall lead thee ; when thou
sleepest, it shall keep thee ; and wAen thou awakest, it
shall talk with thee.
23 For the commandment is a lamp ; and the law is
light ; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life..
"3fy son, keep" &c. We may compare these verses with
the advice of prince Ptah-hotep, who wrote it when 1 10 years
old, towards the end of the fourth or fifth dynasty, under king
Assa (b.C. 35CO?), probably the oldest book extant, which
Abraham may have heard read during his sojourn in Egypt.
" Obedience is blessed to an obedient son ; an obedient son
distinguishes himself by his obedience. He becomes obedient
by hearkening to me. It is well to hearken to good advice.
Happy is every obedient [son], for obedience is a blessing to
the obedient It is good to obey, for it makes every one love
[you] ; good, twice good [it is] for a son to receive his father's
word ; with it, he reaches old age. God loves obedience ; but
He hates disobedience. It is the heart in him who has one,
that makes him obey or disobey. Life, health and strength
of a man are in his heart [disposition]. As regards obedience,
it should be willing. It consists in doing what one is told
» Cural, 886, 887, 890.
' Dam chhos, fol. 42.
vi. 20—23]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
315
[to do]. It is doubly good [or beautiful] for a son to obey his
father [as showing the friendly relation of the one to the otherji
It is a joy [to the father] to hear that his son pleases him in
hearkening to all [he says]."
" He who honours his father, mention of him will be in the
mouth of all men living on the face of the earth, now and
hereafter. The son who receives his father's word [command
or instruction], fails not in any of his ways. Thy teaching
[O father !] to an obedient son, gives him greater importance
[weight] among [his] elders [or seniors]. A token of a son's
obedience is his merit.
" His errors come from his not obeying early. He then
grows stubborn and disobedient ; he does naught [of what he
is told to do] ; he sees knowledge in ignorance, and virtue in
misdeeds. He commits all manner of wickednesses that come
out in his daily life, and make him known among the notables
as a man living in death day by day. But an obedient son
becomes a servant of Horus [the son of Osiris, the only god
mentioned in this writing as ' God,' the rest being alluded to
as 'gods']. After having obeyed [his father], he enjoys a
happy old age ; he attains rank (or dignity) ; and his instruc-
tion [word] to his children is but the repetition of what his
father had taught him," &c.*
We may also compare with this teaching of Ptah-hotep, the
admonition of Vishwamitra to Rama, after his bathing in the
river Saryu.
" Rama, my child, it behoves thee [to touch or] to sprinkle
thyself with this water, for thy good, as I will show thee. Do
not throw away this opportunity. Take hold of this list of
precepts fraught with vigour and excellence ; and then thou
shalt never feel weary, never decay, never alter in thy person ;
neither shall evil spirits ever get the better of thee, neither
when asleep nor unawares ; neither will there be any one on
earth equal to thee in the strength it will give thy arms. Not
• Pap. Pr. pi. xvi. ch. 39—42-
3«6
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[vi. 20 — 23
yet in the three worlds will any one be the like of thee, when
thou recitest these mighty ' bolam-atibolam,' 'vigour and ex-
cellence ;' neither in appearance, in handiness, in knowledge,
nor in judgment When thou hast acquired this two-fold
wisdom, thou shalt gain glory and immortality; for "vigour
and excellence' are the two mothers of knowledge and of
discernment. Thou shalt never suffer hunger or thirst, O
thou son of Raghu ; but with it thou shalt attain the best of
everything in the three worlds. For these, 'Wisdom surrounded
with Splendour,' are two daughters of the Father of all, and
thou, O Kakutstha, art a vessel well fitted to hold them.
"Then, Rama, having sprinkled himself with water, stood
with his hands clasped together, and, bowing his head, he
received from Vishwamitra these two excellent gifts of wisdom,
and the code of precepts which the sage gave him, standing
with his face turned to the east."*
We may also mention the precepts of Theognis to his son ;
those of Hesiod, &c.
" Nd/iifc travTif TOiis yoi'trs ercot dtois.
Look upon thy parents as thy familiar [own] gods," say the
Greeks ; "for thou shalt prosper by honouring them."' "For
to obey one's father, and to serve the prince, is said to be
dutiful and proper [correct, strict].'" " Father and mother,"
say the Japanese, " are like heaven and earth, and a teacher is
like the sun and moon."* "As the atmosphere without the
sun, shines not," said king Dhammasodakho, " nor night with-
out the moon, so also my kingdom shines not without the law.
I will therefore attend to the law [of Buddha] ; my mind will
delight in the law ; there is no greater boon than the law ; for
the law is the root of all bliss." '
" Humanity," said Confucius, " is man ; but to love one's
parents is the principal thing."* Elsewhere he says also :
" Respect for one's elders is the rule of heaven, is justice on
■ Ramayana, i. xxiv. 10—20, and xxix. 20. ' rvw/i. /mi/. ' Gun
den s. mon. 241. * Kukai. ' Rasavahini, cd. Sp. ' Chung yg, c. xx.
vi. 20 — 23]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
317
earth, is the duty of the people, and is the rule of heaven and
earth."' " Tsheng-tsze asked : What is the virtue of the saint ?
To excel in reverence for one's parents" ['hiao,' filial piety].*
Besides the Hiao-King, or sacred classic on filial piety, there
are in China other popular books on this cardinal virtue. One
of the most common, both in Chinese and Japanese books
for children, is the book called " Twenty-four Pictures of Filial
Piety."
The first "shows that filial piety influences and moves
Heaven," in the case of Shun, who, born of poor parents, was
so virtuous that elephants came to till his ground, and birds
picked the weeds. He became emperor B.C. 2i6g. 2. Han-
wan-te, who during three years tasted every medicine for his
sick mother. 3. Tsin, a disciple of Confucius, felt a pain in
his heart when his mother, who was away from him, happened
to bite her finger. 4. Min-kuen behaved well towards his
step-mother, who ill-treated him. 5. Chung-yew fed on coarse
herbs, in order to carry rice to his mother, who was a hundred
li [thirty miles] from him.
6. Laou-tai-tsze, who, when seventy years old, acted plays
to amuse his parents. 7. Yen-tsze, who supplied his blind
parents with deer's milk, which he procured by dressing him-
self in a deerskin, and nearly got killed by hunters. 8. Tung-
yung, who sold himself to defray the expenses of his father's
funeral. 9. Keang-hi, who hired himself as a common labourer
to feed his mother. 10. Hwang-heang, who was only nine
years old when his mother died, fanned his father's pillow, and
warmed his coverlet. 1 1. Hean-she's wife brought him water
from the Yang-tzse-kiang, and Heaven caused water and fish
to spring close to her door. 12. Ting-Ian, a mere child when
his parents died, made figures of them, and served them as if
they were living.
13. Ko-keu, too poor to maintain his mother and his own
child, would bury the child to save his mother, and found a
' Hiao King, c. vii. * Id. c. ix.
3i8
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[vi. 20 — 23 ' vi. 20 — 23]
purse of gold in the grave he was digging. 14. Yang-heang,
when fourteen years old, rescued his father from the jaws of a
tiger. 1 5. Tae-hun fed his poor mother with ripe mulberries,
and ate the unripe ones himself. 16. Luh-tseih, who took to
his mother two keuh oranges given him by Yuen-shuh, a
great general. 17. Wang-fow, whose mother was afraid of
thunder. After her death, he went to her grave whenever it
thundered, and said : " Mother, fear not ; Fow is here !"
18. Mang-toung fed his mother with tender bamboo shoots,
that sprung up from his tears on her account. 19, 20. Woo-
mang, so poor that he could not buy bed-curtains, fed the
musquitoes on his own body, lest they should worry his father.
21. Yu-keen-low ate filth to save his father's life. 22. Tang-
foo-jin suckled her great-grandmother. 23, 24 Hwang-ting-
keen, who, though high in office, performed the most menial
services to his mother.
But paternity is not of one kind only. " For the Brahman
who works the divine birth of a man, and who trains him in
virtue, though he [the Brahman] be a child, yet does he law-
fully become father to an older man than himself"*
Ver. 21. " Good words are like pearls strung together one by
one." " Write them on the walls of your house, and morning
and evening look at them as words of wholesome counsel."*
"Tsze-chang inquired about the proper course of conduct.
Confucius then answered: 'Speak with sincerity and good
faith ; act with reality and respect When you stand, look at
those precepts before you ; when in your carriage, look at
them while resting on the cross-beam. Thus shall you follow
up your actions' [be consistent and prosper]. And Tsze-chang
wrote these words on his girdle."'
The constant remembrance of words "that seem to talk
with one," is said in Tibetan to be "memory brought [or
placed] near," and is one of the attributes of the Bodhisatwa
I Manu S. ii. 150. ' Ming Sin P. K., quoted in Hien w. shoo,
title-page. ' Hea-Lun, xv. 5.
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
3>9
as regards religious knowledge. " Memory gone into religion
[the remembrance of holy things] is one door [the 65th] to
religion itself; for it leads to superior (or supreme) knowledge,
entirely free from darkness." • " Who is the watchful (or wak-
ing) man? He who has discernment."* But in the Tibetan
version it reads thus : " Who is not led astray by sleep ? He
who, not being stupid, knows how to make a difference, to
discern. What is being led astray by sleep ? Being a very
stupid man."'
" If thou wilt hearken to what I have told thee," said Ptah-
hotep to his son, " all thy affairs (or plans) will prosper. My
words rest on a foundation of truth that shows their worth.
The remembrance of them is in the mouth of the people, on
account of the excellence of their sentences" [or arrangement,
texture].* " The disciple who is well instructed gets on well
everywhere ; but he who is not well taught goes about hither
and thither" [in his learning].' "Yet," say the Osmanlis,
"it is only by making mistakes that a man becomes well
advised."*
Ver. 33. "Among the ten benefactors of mankind, and after
the Buddhas, Rahans, &c., come father and mother, who show
what to know, and correct by their instruction."' "Out of
doors, [boys] receive instruction from teachers ; in doors, [boys
and girls] have the benefit of their mother's example."* " By
learning and hearing the recitations of Lamas, king," said
Buddha to king Zasgtsang-ma, " shalt thou learn the way to
' Mt'ho-ris,' heaven. As a lamp is seen when in another man's
hand ; as the face is seen in the glass ; as the impression
comes from the seal, and fire through a glass lens ; also, as
a plant, stalk, root and all, comes from the seed ; so also, O
king, shalt thou learn from wise men what thou oughtest to
do."»
• Rgya-tcher r. p. c. ii. and iv. • Ratnamal. 26. ' Ibid. Tib. tr.
• Pap. Pr. c. XV. ' Ozbeg. pr. * Osm. pr. ' Tsa-gnay Jay.
Thera, 26. • Gun den s. mon, 337. • Ts'he-hpho-va, &c. fol. 22.
320
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[vi. 20—23 4 ^'" ^°~^3]
" Teaching the law is like giving a brilliant light to one who
is ignorant, or a precious jewel, full of sweet-smelling oil, that
sheds abroad a brilliant light."* " For the law," say the Rabbis,
"is 'aroma vitae et aroma mortis.'"* "And such knowledge
gives light to [stimulates, helps] motion, blindness and sound."*
" From the law free from dust and stain, thou shalt find the
eye of the law [the understanding of it]," said Bidon Yabukht-
chi, a wandering Brahman, to Molon-toin [priest]; "but all
this through the brilliant light of Indra."*
" Bayasgulang Saduktchi, a poor woman who gave all she
had — a small lamp and a ' sogos' [a Chinese penny made of
earthenware, with a square hole in the centre] worth of oil — to
the • suma' [Buddhist temple] as an offering to Buddha, was
rewarded by him for this virtuous action by being gifted with
the [lamp] and oil of wisdom. 'This lamp,' said he, "will set
thee free from all the darkness of life.' The next day at day-
break, Motgelwam [one of Shakyamuni's disciples] went to the
offering and found all the lamps gone out except Bayasgulang
Saduktchi's lamp, that was still fresh and burning bright. He
tried to put it out with his hand and with his cloak, but he
could not. Buddha said to him : ' Dost thou think thou canst
put out that lamp ? Thou art not able to put out that lamp —
no, not with the water of the four seas and of mighty rivers.'
Buddha, having said this, went into the presence of God," &c.^
"The moon is a lamp by night among the stars, and the
sun is a lamp by day for the earth. But the lamp of know-
ledge (or wisdom) and of the good law done in verse, shines
brighter [than either of them], and illumines the three worlds."'
" For wisdom is a brilliant, clear flame of knowledge."^ "And
the words of the wise are words of [nectar] and sweetness."*
" For understanding is • another light,' and has clear eyes."'
" Reproof (or instruction) is the life of the house. Mind it,
• Dmar khrid, fol. 17. ' Ep. Lod. 893. » Pancha ratr. i. 43-
• Molon-toin, fol. 5. » Uliger-un Dalai, 4. " Kawi NitI Sh. p. 28.
' Hjam-dpa), fol. viii. * Aw. Kondreiv. 53. ' Abu Ubeid, 134.
!
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
321
and thou wilt be the better for it."' "For a fixed rule of
conduct brings forth virtue [righteousness] and wealth ; it
yields fruit, it saves from ill omens."' "And there is no friend
or relation like wisdom."' "The most excellent Lord of all
[Gautama], greatest and also free from ignorance, who sees
Nibbhanam and the end of this world, and who, brilliant of his
own light, has lighted the lamp of that which is said to be — the
law of good."*
" Clear away completely all the darkness of confused igno-
rance with the lamp of superior knowledge (or perfect wisdom),"
said Buddha to the gods.' " What joy is there in this world ?
Enveloped as you are in darkness, why do you not seek a
lamp?"* "When Buddha was born, it was said: This lamp
having now appeared in this world darkened by ignorance, the
law whereby all beings shall be enlightened, will be found in
him."' In the Dsang-Lun' there is a legend "of two brilliant
beings who came down from heaven ; and of the king's minis-
ter who, threatened with death, went to his old father, who
said to him : ' In our house there is a pillar whence light issues.
Split it, and see what it is.' The son did as his father told
him, and found inside that pillar the volume of the 'code of
duties,' and how to fulfil them. It was taken to the king, who,
by observing them, was afterwards born among the gods, &c.,
having thus obtained the result of a continual observance of
those precepts." " Hear," says Vemana, " if with the strange
[wonderful] axe of so-called discernment, thou cut down the
tree of ignorance, then, taking in hand the lamp of under-
standing, thou shalt [see] attain to happiness."' " Light shows
itself when shed abroad on anything ; but wisdom lightens up
all darkness, yet itself remains hidden."'"
" I light in worship this burning lamp to the most excellent
Buddha, destroyer of the darkness of ignorance in the three
' Ani, XX. p. 144. ' Chanak. 93, J. K. ' Id. 75. • Dhammap.
Buddhagosh. Par. i. ' Rgya-tcher r. p. c. iv. ' Dhammap. Jarav.
' Id. c. xi. • Fol. 21, 22. 9 Vemana, i. 164. "■ Mishle Asaph. vL 34.
322
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[vi. 20 — 23
worlds. Be it to me a help (or conveyance) on the happy
road to Nibbhanam," said by the Sarana while lighting the
lamps, and also while pouring water on the flowers."' "Of all
food," said P'hara Thaken, " the food of the law is best ; of
all enjoyments, that of the law is best. And Nibbhanam,
which is rest from misery and from the fruit of lust, is by far
best of all."* " The Lamp of the most Perfect Way" is the title
of a Tibetan book, " to endue good disciples with perfect light."*
" Wisdom alone gives lustre to works done by men living
on earth."* " For," say the Greeks, "they have a double sight
who have learnt letters."' "Abide safe under the influence of
a holy mind [judgment]. As long as there is oil in the lamp,
it will give light"* "The man who continues in the meri-
torious duties contained in the revealed Scriptures, acquires
fame here on earth and the greatest happiness hereafter."'
" Those, then, who are earnest in observing their moral duties,
would sooner part with life than fail in them. For in moral
duties is the root of all our efforts to attain to perfection ;
they are the road for us to walk in towards the bliss of final
emancipation from all evil — Nirvana."* "Who will conquer
this earth and this world, now under the dominion of Yama
[death]? Who is the fortunate man who will gather, like
flowers, the well-arranged verses of good moral virtue ? The
disciple who attends to what he is taught will gather such
flowers and conquer this earth and death." '
" All the bonds wherewith our past actions have bound us,"
says Vemana, "shall be removed by means of a teacher of
truth, [according to the proverb], 'To the potter one year, to
the cudgel one day.'" [The cudgel can destroy in a moment
a year's work of the potter]."" "The learned man," say the
Arabs, "who teaches men what is good and forgets himself, is
' Tsa-gtiay. J. Thera, 23. • Buddhagh. Par. xxiv. ' Byang
cbhum lam gyi, &c. * Hjam-dpal, fol. iv. ' Tvw/i. /jov.
• V. Satasai. 273. ' Manu S. ii. i, 9. • Dsang-Lun, c. vi.
• Dhammap. Pupphav. I, 2. " Vemana, ii. 127.
vi. 24]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
323
like a candle that consumes itself while giving light."* "Gau-
tama, most excellent and full of benevolence and in repose,
addressed his disciples, and set up the lamp of knowledge
J burning bright."* " And after causing men and gods to drink
the juice of the law for forty years, he and his disciples were
extinguished [entered Nibbhanam]."' "Let him [Zarathustra]
have the best of all things, who taught the straight path to
[profit] salvation, both for this visible [bodily] world and for
that spiritual one, where Ahura delights to dwell."* "For
the law [rule of conduct]," says Archytas of Tarentum, "is to
the soul and to the life of man what harmony is to the ear
and to the voice. When, therefore, the [moral] law trains the
soul, iruvurrrjtri rhv piov, it frames the life for good."" " Three
things," says Ali, "destroy a man: self-love (or conceit),
avarice, and lust."«
24 To keep thee from the evil woman, from the
flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.
]iU77 np'pOl?, ' from the slipperiness, wheedling, or coaxing of the
tongue of a strange woman.'
"To keep thee;* &c. "Why should we practise austerities
on the banks of the Ganges? Let us rather cultivate the
acquaintance of modest and virtuous women ; let us rather
drink of the treasures of sacred books, and of those poetical
works that savour of ambrosia. For we know not what to do
in this life that lasts only a few twinklings of the eye."' " No
confidence is to be placed in rivers, in armed men, in beasts
with claws or horns, nor yet in women or in princes."* "Do
not listen to a woman's words," says one of them,' " nor yet
to your wife." " One may trust a messenger of Yama [death],
a thief, a horde of savages and a murderer ; but he who trusts
' Meid. Ar. pr. ' Htsandau thinguttara, i. ' Ajjhatta Jaja
Mang. 8. « Va9na, xlii. 3. ' Archytas T. 4, Trfpt vofi.
• Nuthar. ell. 33. ' Vairagya shat. 77. » Hitopad. i. fab. 2.
• Aw. Atthi Sudi vemba.
Y 2
324
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[vi. 25
a woman in her weapons, will assuredly wander about in the
streets like a beggar."* " The mouth of a woman is a nest of
evil."' " And he who hearkens to a woman's advice is a fool."*
" To begin a thing one cannot do, to strive with the mighty,
and to trust a woman, are "death-gods' sitting at the door."*
" De la mala te guarda, y de la bona no fies nada." " Beware
of the bad woman, and trust not the good one." " As a log of
wood athwart the stream is not to be trusted in the rainy
season, so have nothing to do [no dealings] with a ruined
woman."' "Listening to licentious words," say the Chinese,
"destroys all disposition to virtue ; and giving way to it, saps
the very root of life."" "When the [dge-tshul] novice was
sent by his superior [dge-long] to his house for food, and his
daughter, who was very beautiful, was there alone, the monk
warned the novice to keep watch over himself The maid
used all her artifices to ensnare him ; but he bravely went
into an inner chamber, and there, having rehearsed to himself
all that good monks had done under such circumstances, he-
put an end to himself, rather than fall a victim to the wiles of
that woman." ^
" In the same book we also read of Midgunwa, who was left
alone to keep the house of his teacher during his absence.
The Brahman's wife behaved as Potiphar's wife did. But
Midgunwa replied : I am a Brahman, and by the rules of my
order I am forbidden to touch my teacher's wife. She then
scratched herself, and told her husband when he returned that
Midgunwa had insulted her."« [It is the old story [not 'legend,'
as Mr. Maspero calls it] of Joseph in Potiphar's house, and of
the ' Two Brothers,' an Egyptian novel of the time of Seti II.»]
25 Lust not after her beauty in thine heart ; neither
let her take thee with her eyelids.
1 Niti chintamani, in Sugden's notes, p. 74- ' Mong. max R.
» Tarn pr. * Naga Niti, 21, Schf. » Hill pr. 107. Ming
Sin P. K. c. 3. ' Dsang-Lun, c. xvi. fol. 96. ' Id. c. xxxvi. fol. 190.
» Pap. U'Orbiney.
vi. 25, 26]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
32s
26 For by means of a whorish woman a man is
brought to a piece of bread : and the adulteress will
hunt for the precious life.
tr^M ni^M, ' the woman or wife of a man, a husband ;' ■ an adul-
terous woman,' marg. reading. Chald. id LXX. ywi-^ 8« avhputv, that
does not imply a married woman living in adultery, but a common
harlot.
" Lust not" &c. " It is a sin," says Tai-shang, " to look at
the beauty and complexion of another [woman], and to raise
one's heart to make her one's own [' to think about it,' in the
Mandchu version]. Man's feelings and passions are hard to
restrain ; yet sins that arise from them are heavy. We may
deceive ourselves ; but deceive Heaven, alas ! The law says :
He who debauches women, in return begets dissolute sons
and grandsons ; but he who commits adultery, in return cuts
off his inheritance [or heirs]."* "And sons who do not riot
with women, Shang-Te enables them assuredly to pass their
examinations, to excel and to be among the first wranglers."*
" But as to those who do such things, Shang-Te deprives them
of their emoluments and of their happiness."' On^ of the
five rules or commandments of Gautama is : " The deceit of
passion." This law is broken by looking lustfully on another
man's wife. The other four are : " Destroying life." This law
is broken by killing even the smallest insect " Taking what
is not given." This law is broken by taking even a single
thread which is not given. " Speaking falsely." This law is
broken by saying, even in fun, a falsehood that may injure
others. "Intoxication." This law is broken by tasting as
much of intoxicating liquor as would drop from a blade of
grass.*
"Kommara Kathaba said to the rich man Poo-ngya, on
whose daughter he had cast his eyes : O Daraka [layman], it
> Shin Sin luh. ii. p. 29.
' Buddhagh. Par. p. 50.
' Id. p. 34-
' Id. p. 30.
326
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[vi. 25, 26 • vi. 25, 26]
is in the nature of ' Put'hujans' [who have not attained to
Aryaship, or ' regeneration'] that the very smallest particle of
' soul of the eye' [lust of the eye] is enough to cause them
trouble and distress. If they look at any one with this feeling,
it leads them astray. Then the Nat [inferior god or spirit,
inhabiting the intermediate space between heaven and earth,
and dwelling in trees, &c.] advised Kommara Kathaba to
meditate on the law of fear. He did so, and became a
Rahanda"* [one raised above the common passions of human
nature by some miraculous operation].
" Lust," say the Arabs, " is the toy of a vile (or low) nature
or disposition ; and a fall through it is a blow given by that
low disposition."' " He will be praised as a wise man who
does not covet another man's wife," says Tiruvalluvar. " And
the manly virtue of not looking on another man's wife, is both
the virtue and the dignity of a truly great man.'" "The
qualities of desire are pain and much misery ; much fear also,
hatred and miseries of all kinds. It is like the edge of a
sword ; like the leaf of a poisonous tree. Excellent men
recoil from it as from a vessel full of vomit. It is like a sword
smeared over with poison ; like a deep slough ; a swamp ;
moonlight on the water," &c.* " He who is swayed [enthralled]
by his passions, which go on increasing, multiplies his sorrows ;
but he who has overcome them, hard as it is, sorrow leaves
him as water drops from the leaf of the lotus."" They grow
apace like a creeper around him. As soon as it appears above
ground, root it up."»
"Put away lust."^ "For at first it is fine like a spider's
web, but in the end it is like a cable."* " Like leaven in the
lump." said Rabbi Alexander."' "For the season of youth
and beauty often is like venom in the end."'" "If a man, on
> Thoo Dhamma Tsari, st. iv. p. 6. » Borhaned. iii. p. 36-
' Cura! xv. 147. * Rgya-tcher r. p. c. xiii. and c. xvi. ' Dhammap.
Tanhav. 335—340. • Id. ibid. ' Aw. Atthi S. 97. ' Succah. B. Fl.
» Id. ibid. '" Kawi Niti Sh.
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
327
beholding another man's wife, conceives a passion for her, all
his former good deeds, however many, are lost to him, like
butter in the fire."' "And yet what man is there who does
not err in this way?"' "Who then is a hero? He who has
not been hit by darts from the eyes of a handsome woman."'
" Amor, ut lacryma, in oculis oritur, in pectus cadit."*
"I," said Hjam-dpal [Wisdom], "have the language of the
eye without passion."' "The eye dwelling on beauty begets
passion, the source of trouble and vain regrets. Therefore
flee from it," said Gautama to his son Rahula.* " But," he
also said, " the perfection of the eye as an organ of sense frees
one from lust, and gives one great advantage. Therefore let
us watch over it."'
"For a man continues in the right path, and keeps his
senses under control, so long as he has not been smitten with
arrows shot from the eyebrows ['beauty's archers,'' crooked
and wicked eyebrows],' and black eyelashes of Silavati.""* " O
Fatima, do not pierce with thy two arrows my heart already
slain."" "Open not thy windows [eyes] before the bows of
angels [women's eyebrows];"" "whose eyes, like those of
Yid-phrog-ma, are those of a roe."" "For a woman has her
armour [or weapons] with her [or on her]."'*
" 2vi' pk€<f>dp<i)v 8 aKTUTiv, ai^fTO wvficroi (piiriov
KaXAos yap — o^vrepov TTTipotvTO^ o'icttov :"
"With the rays [or beams] of her eyelids — for beauty is
sharper and swifter than the winged arrow." " For the eyes
are the outlet ; thence proceed the shafts that inflict wounds.'"'
"Damayanti was ' ayatalochana,' long-eyed."" The bright-
ness of her eyes was enhanced, as is the custom in the East,
by the use of 'kohol' or black antimony, with which women
' Vemana, iii. 214. ' Hitopad. ii. 129. ' Phreng wa, 18.
* Pub. Syrus. » Hjam-dpal, fol. 5. • Rahula Thut. 12. ' Id. 13.
» Husn-u-Dil. p. 11. • Cural, 1086. "> Hitopad. i. 207.
" Amrallc Moallak. 22. " Abu Ubeid, 42. •' Kandjur. ii. fol. 403.
" Jebamoth, M.S. •* Musasi, Hero and Leand. " Nalopakhy. v. 27.
328
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[vL 25, 26
paint the inside of their eyelids, to give them a dark hue that
sets off the white of the eyes and the deep black of the pupil.
They have a saying in Ethiopia, ' Eyes like kohol,' for the
finest eyes. But in a poem in honour of the Blessed Virgin,
they say : ' Thine eyes are beautiful, though not died with
kohol.' This custom was first introduced by the wicked angel
Azazael [Azael], " who taught the daughters of Cain, before
the Flood, thus to dye their eyelids in order to beautify their
eyes. It was one of his devices for the corruption of the earth,
which brought on the waters of the Flood, and sealed the
doom of Azazael himself"'
" Ever since, as the crow said to the king, few indeed have
been the men who, when ensnared by women, do not suffer
shame for it ; as there are few also who, when they eat too
much, do not suffer for it."' "A man, however, who continues
in the right path and keeps his senses under control, feels
shame, and behaves himself decorously so long only as he has
not been smitten by the look and eyelids of a fair woman."*
" So long, then, as the least particle of lust remains, is a man
held captive in mind [kept bound] by it, like a sucking-calf to
its mother. Therefore root it out, O man!"* "Beauty of
form, sweetness of voice, &c., are some of the evil snares of
this existence [time] by which men are caught, as a monkey
is caught in the toils of the hunter." "And fallen men [as
well as fallen women]* are killed [lost] to society."*
Ver. 26. " In the Kali age," said Parasara, " women shall be
adulteresses, given to their own inclinations, fond of flirting ;
shall wear false hair, forsake their husbands," &c.' [A remark-
able passage, prophetic of the present time.] " It is of the
nature of women," says Manu, "to vitiate or seduce men;
therefore do wise men avoid familiar intercourse with them.
' Bk. of Enoch, c. viii. ; Bk. of Adam and Eve, pt ii. c. xx. &c
» Calitah u Dimn. p. 202. ' Shringara shat. 62. * Dhammap.
Maggav. i. 284. * Rgya-tcher r. p. c. xiii. • Chanakya, 99.
' Vishnu Pur. vi. 1, 21.
vi. 27, 28]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
329
For a woman will entice away from the right path not a
fool only, but also a wise man, and will make him follow her
through lust, temper, or her influence over him."' "Non vi h
uomo si giusto, che la donna non infami," say the Italians.'
Theano, who had reason to complain of her husband's conduct,
writing to her friend Nicostrate, says, speaking of such women:
" Men, it appears [Orjptvovrai], are hunted down by those women,
and held captive by them, until they have no mind of their
own.""
" Is it from affection that such women address men ?" asks
Vemana, " When once they have formed a fellowship with
them, they rob them of their wealth. When the goddess of
Death has rushed into your house, will she again depart?"*
" Is it Yama [death], or an eye, or is it a doe ? For these three
are all in a young woman's eye."' " Marrying, elbowing with
her eyes."* "A woman like me," said Hotoke-go-zen to Giwan
[both concubines], is not fit to be spoken of [not worth men-
tioning]."^ Like Berserker's brides, "who did their worst in
seducing the whole people. They were she-wolves; hardly
women."* " I have been told," said a father to his son, " that
thou goest after pleasure. But turn not aside from my words.
Givest thou not thy heart to the words of men of pleasure ?
Thou art sacrificed, knocked down like a beast, and thou dis-
honourest God."'
27 Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes
not be burned ?
28 Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be
burned ?
" Can a man," &c. "In the society of women — many a
glance like the flashing of a scimitar, like a blowthat strikes
• Manu S. ii. 213. ' Ital. pr. ' Theano to Nicostr. ed. G.
* Vemana, ii. 176. * Cural, 1085. * Javan. pr. ' Hei-ke
Monogatari, i. p. 11. • Harbardsliod, 37, 39. • Pap. Anast. v. 17, 3.
339
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[vi. 29
vi. 30, 31]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
331
fire — woe to those who fall on that battle-field !"> "Can fire
be in tow without setting it on fire?"' " Like the slender fila-
ments of the ' ar^n-tree' [a kind of palm] close to fire."' " El
hombre es fuego, y la muger estopa ; viene il diablo y sopla."*
" The woman is like a pot of butter, and the man like a live
coal ; thererefore let no sensible man place fire and butter
together."' On the other hand: "Withdraw thyself from a
handsome woman as from a live coal,"' " lest thou be caught in
her net."^ " So it will be with those who shall walk by ways
strewed with burning coals."* " If one goes near the fire, he
is burnt ; if he stands too far off, he is not warmed" [forsaking
one's lawful wife for other women].'
" The sea, fire, and woman," says the Turkish proverb, " are
three bad things." " Fire, waters, woman, a fool, a snake,
should be avoided and not touched, as they may kill out of
hand."'* "Like treading on fire covered with ashes."" "Ne
stoppa con tizzoni, nh donna con uomini."** "The senseless
man at the sight of women is like the grasshopper that looks
with delight at the fire into which it falls and dies."" " Excel-
lent men look with terror upon desire as upon a deep ditch
full of burning fire. It is like a large bog ; like the edge of
the sword sticking in the wound," &c." "The fire being
kindled in Sakitzi's heart, he gave Misawo several opportunities,
and at last got into conversation with her."" " Quick as pas-
sion arises, O Bikhshus, do not remain a moment in the society
of a woman.""
29 So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife ; who-
soever toucheth her shall not be innocent.
" Stt he that goeth" &c. Gautama said : " Wise men do not
praise (or countenance) lying, &c., and going to another man's
> Subhasita, 71. ' Sanhedr. M. S. ' Javan. pr. < Span. pr.
» Hitopad. i. 126. • Ben Syra. Daleth. ' Id. He. • Solarlioth. 31.
» Mongol, max. R. •" Lokaniti, 123. " Javan. pr. " Ital. pr.
«' Vemana, c. i. " Rgya-tcher r. p. c. xiii. « Biyobus, p. 8.
" Sdom pa sum pai mdo, kong segs i. fol. 8.
wife."* " It is a sin," says Tai-shang, " to take to oneself what
another man loves."' "What are the things to be avoided?
Those that lead to low women, to another man's wife, and to
another man's property."'
" I, Arda Viraf, when in the nether-world, saw the soul of a
man who was made to stand upright in a cauldron of brass, in
which they continually roasted him. But he kept his right
foot outside it. Then I asked : What sin did that man
commit ? Upon this, the venerable [or pious] Srosh and the
worshipful [angel] Ataro said : That man was given to sin
and to commit adultery frequently with married women. But
that right foot of his [which is not being roasted like his body]
crushed and destroyed many frogs, ants, snakes and scorpions,
and other hurtful creatures" [and on that account it is not
punished].*
30 Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy
his soul when he is hungry ;
31 But z/he be found, he shall restore seven-fold:
he shall give all the substance of his house.
" Men do not despise^' &c. " What sin is there that a famished
man will not commit?"* "Honour, caste, learning, valour,
knowledge, liberality [almsgiving], penance, honey-mouthed
women, and desire — these ten will flee when hunger comes."*
Yet " to die of hunger is a small matter," say the Chinese ;
" but it is a great matter to lose one's character (or restraint,
moderation)."' " The stomach of a hungry man may be satis-
fied, but not his eye.'" " Do not work with a hungry man,
nor walk with one who is full."* "Argument does not avail
with a hungry stomach," say the Greeks ; " but hunger teaches
many a turn."" " Ventre affam^ n'a point d'oreilles."" "For
' Sigala V. Suttam. fol. nft. ' Kang in p. and Shin sin luh.
' Ratnam. 48. * Arda Viraf Nam. c. Ix. ' Bahudorsh, 46.
• Nalvarli, 26. ' Chin. prov. in Wang kew po's Imper. ed. p. S — 64-
' Osman. pr.
• Id. ibid.
yv. /xov.
" Fr. pr.
332
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[vi. 30. 3»
when very hungry, a man will bite a brick ;"' for " in necessity
[want, disease] there is no rule.'" " Necessity knows no law."*
" Necessitas dat legem, non ipsa accipit
— quod poscit, nisi das, eripit."*
" Every religious precept is transgressed by a man who is
hungry."' "A hungry man," said Vidura, " is one of the ten
who do not mind (or acknowledge) the law ; like the covetous,
wrathful, lecherous," &c.*
" My dear Rahans," said P'hara Thaken, " he who steals pro-
perty not given him, shall fall into the Preta hell ; and when
he comes out thence, he will have no lasting possessions ; but
they will perish."' "An ancient custom among the Georgians
was, that thieves, robbers, and men who plundered others, should
restore seven-fold."* "And the thief of a camel, and the thief
of a needle, are both thieves."' " Punishments for thieves vary
according to the offence," says Manu, " from twice to eleven
times the value of the property stolen, or to the loss of one
limb or of life."" " The first decision of the Cowherd [the first
lawgiver, according to the ' Dhammathat,' or Burmese Laws
of Manu] in the reign of Mahathamada, was concerning a man
who had stolen a sheaf of rice, who had to restore twice as
much and one sheaf, that is five sheaves."" "If a man is
attacked by robbers, in Java, let him at once ask for help
from the people of the place where he was robbed. If they
fail to track the thief, they must restore two-thirds of that
man's loss. But if the people refuse to give him help, they
shall be fined twenty-five riyals to the public treasury."" But,
said king Chakravartin to his vassals, " Do not take what is
not given you ; and let not your passion lead you to commit
adultery.""
' Bengal, pr. * Bahudorsh, 4 ' Eng. pr.
» Vemana, ii. 196. • Maha Bh. Udyog. P. 1071.
Par. p. 96, ed. Latter. ' Wakhoucht Geogr. p. 18.
«• Manu S. viii. 314, 334- " 'Twice two and one.'
" Nawolo Pradh. art iv. " Rgya-tcher r. p. c. 111.
• Publ. Syr.
' Buddhaghosh.
• Georg. pr.
Dhanunath. i. 3.
p. 14-
vi. 32, 33]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
333
32 But whoso committeth adultery with a woman
lacketh understanding : he that doeth it destroyeth his
own soul.
33 A wound and dishonour shall he get ; and his
reproach shall not be wiped away.
in753 rV'nit'5, 'destroying,' or 'the destroyer of,' his soul [spiritually
speaking], or of himself [socially].
" But whoso committeth adultery" &c. " For even Chanakya
says that fallen men are (lost or) killed." "Ah, villain ! He
who, taking the form of a man, ruins a woman's character (or
virtue), shall fall into hell from birth to birth," said queen
Pavanrekha to the Yaksha Drumalik.* " For the king's wife,
his minister's wife, one's friend's wife, one's own brother's wife,
and one's own mother — these five are to be looked upon as
' mother' [in point of respect], and be treated as such."* " My
dear Rahans," said P'hara Thaken, "he who commits adultery
with another man's wife, shall suffer in the iron cauldron of
hell when he leaves this present state ; and when he comes
out of hell, he shall be born a woman."*
" O vile fellow ! let thy knowledge (or sense) be degraded
[' bhrashtam,' broken], and thou thyself be subject to women,"
said Brahma to Narada."* "The lack of propriety," says
Tiruvalluvar, " in wishing for another man's wife, is not found
among those in the world who consider well the meaning of
'virtue' and of 'property.'" "But among those who stand
aloof from virtue, there are none so ignorant as those who
stand outside their neighbour's door" [with adulterous intent,
Comm.].' " But the adulterer knows no shame."' " Mustapha,
seeing women hanging by a hook over the fire in hell, asked
Gabriel what they were. 'Adulteresses,' said he. God Al-
mighty has given the husband's person to the wife, and the
wife's person to the husband ; and they are both, by marriage,
• Prem. Sagur, ch. i. » Naga Niti, 238, Schf. ' Buddhaghosh,
Par. p. 97. ♦ Pancha Ratra. x. 24. ' Cural, 141, 142. • Tairi. pr.
334
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[vi. 32. 33
given in trust the one to the other. The faithful are they who
do not break their faith ; but those who do, commit sin. They
are despised in the world, and punished by God."'
"Two sorts of children," says Manu, "are born of other
women than the lawful wife ; namely, 'kundas' and 'golakas.'
The 'kunda' [child born of adultery], while her husband is
living ; and the ' golaka,' if she is a widow. But these two
creatures, born in a strange field, make all offerings to the
gods and to deceased ancestors of none effect whatever, either
here or hereafter."' " King Pasenadikothala, having planned
adultery with the wife of one of his attendants, went to hear
P'hara Thaken preach on the pains of hell that await adul-
terers. He then was much alarmed : To sin [transgress]
against another man's wife and children, thought he, is a very
heavy burden to bear ; to continue in Aviji, hell, from the
appearance of one P'hara [Buddha] to another ; and then,
when come out thence, to spend another six thousand years
roasting in the Lokakumbi, lake of fire, sixty yojanas in
extent [a 'yojana' is about twelve miles], in hell! And yet
I spent a whole night planning such an abomination. Never
again."*
" He who goes to his neighbour's wife," say the Rabbis,
"his soul migrates into a camel."* " Let no man,'' says Manu,
" pay undue attentions to another man's wife ; for nothing in
the world is known so detrimental to a long life as the atten-
tions a man pays to another man's wife."* " He who keeps
aloof from another man's wife, and who does not covet another
man's property, is a wise man, O Vemana !"• "A man given to
the love of money, considers neither religious teacher nor
kindred [lit branches around one]; a poet has neither rest
nor sleep ; and a man given to the love of women has neither
fear nor shame."' " Abstain from other men's wives ; for thou
• Miradj nameh, st 3. ' Manu S. iii. 174. ' Buddhagh. Par. xv.
p. 104, 105, ed. L. ♦ Sola, B. Fl., and El. Tishbit, s. vi ' Manu S.
iv. 134. • Vemana,!. 51. ' Nitivemba, 72.
vi. 32. 33]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
335
oughtest to be mindful of these three : like wealth, like person,
and like soul [in a wife]."*
"And commit no lewd action, lest thou suffer damage and
repentance for thine own deeds."' " If a man have intercourse
with another married woman than his wife, with a widow,
with or without children, and with a maid, let him pay fifty
riyals fine. But if he cannot pay it, he shall receive two
hundred lashes, and be expelled from the place," says the
Javanese law." "Adultery brings poverty; but chastity
brings blessing and honour."* "Passions are like filth and
dirt."»
" Nihil est miserius quam ubi pudet quod feceris." •
" He," said Samano Gotamo, " who transgresses through lust,
sin, fear or folly — his honour and glory will wane like the
moon in the dark quarter."' "If so be," said Tsikutsai to
Sakitsi, "that merely looking at this woman on the screen
reminds me of Komatsu, then it will be a bad strophe [double
line in poetry] that will leave a bad name unto all genera-
tions."*
" He," says Tiruvalluvar, "who thinks lightly of going to his
neighbour's wife, incurs guilt that will cling to him imperish-
ably for ever." " Hatred, sin, fear, disgrace (or guilt), these
four will never leave the man who goes to his neighbour's
wife."' "The foolish man who goes to another man's wife
falls into four states : misery ; illicit intercourse [and the result
of it]; thirdly, blame from others; and fourthly, hell." "There-
fore let no man go to another man's wife."*" " If you tell it —
shame ; if you hide it — sorrow."" Yet " break (or bruise) thy
bones rather than break (or bruise) thy name."" " For the
licentious man gets a mark of reproach."""
"There are three distinctions in falsehood and in adultery.
' Mainyo i Kh. ii. 50. ' Id. ibid. 23. ' Nawolo Pradhoto. xxxviii.
* Matshaf. Phal. « Mong. m. R. • Publ. Syr. ' Sigala V.
Suttam, fol. nj. ' Riutei Tanefiko, Biyobus, ii. 2. ' Cural, 145, 146.
'" Dhammap. Nirayavag. 4, 5. " Telug pr. " Mong. max. R,
" Nava Ratna. 2.
336
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[vi. 34. 35
But when the fruit of them all is ripe, it makes a man to be
born in hell. Yet if, in accordance with the cause of his sin,
he is born a man, it makes him a passionate one."' "In this
world," say the Chinese, " the wives and daughters of those
who defile other men's wives and daughters shall also be
defiled. Of all vices, adultery [in all its meanings] is the worst ;
and of all virtues, filial piety is the first. Every man likes a
pretty face ; but Heaven cannot be deceived. Therefore, having
seen women, think no more of them."'
But Manu's laws reach yet farther. "As to those who
habitually commit adultery with the wives of other men, let
the king banish them from his kingdom, after branding them
with marks to create disgust (or aversion). He who talks to
another man's wife at a place of pilgrimage, in a forest or a
wood, or at the confluence of rivers, must be considered as
having committed adultery with her. To give her flowers or
perfumes, to play with her, to touch her dress or ornaments,
and to sit with her on the same couch, is all reckoned adul-
terous. He who touches a woman where he ought not, or
who being touched by her bears it complacently, all this is
called adulterous with mutual consent."' " One touch from a
thunderbolt, from a fool, from a woman, from a monkey, and
from low people, is like a spot of indigo dye."*
34 For jealousy is the rage of a man : therefore he
will not spare in the day of vengeance.
35 He will not regard any ransom ; neither will he
rest content, though thou givest many gifts.
n ^3 njM^ hJb"). This construction, which is well rendered in the
A. v., occurs only in this place. Otherwise naH is 'to agree to.'
" For jealousy," &c. "Jealousy is [causes] the rage of a
man, and of a woman also." " I hate thee right well, said
' Dam ch'hos, fol. 44. ' Chin. mor. max. ; Dr. Medhurst, D. p. 195,
» Manu S. viii. 352—358. * Pancha T. i. 291.
vi- 34, 35]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
337
queen Lila Sari to Bindasari [whom she envied for her
beauty]. Say no more ! She then twisted her by her hair
and, calling Ratna Wali [one of her maids], said : Help me
quick; I am determined to kill her."» "Art thou jealous of
him [her husband]?" wrote Theano to Nicostrate. "Tragedy
has taught us to keep under our jealousy. Hold on, and thy
passion will soon die out. There are five sorts of punish-
ment by mutilation applied to men ; but to women by divorce,
for seven different reasons, which are the result of jealousy
and envy, both reckoned crimes in women ; as settled by
wise men of old. Therefore the duty of a woman is, the
moment an evil intention comes into her heart, to thrust it
out ; to be amiable and kind, and to busy herself with house-
hold matters, and not to put herself forward in any way dis-
agreeable," say the Japanese."'
" Amor non ha sapienza, ed ira non ha consiglio," say the
Italians."* And "for the man whom women have killed
[ruined], there is neither right nor judge."' Thus Horace —
" — dominoque furenti
Committes rem omnem, et vitam et cum corpore famam."*
" For hyaenas do not listen to caresses."'
"When Anepu heard his wife's story, he became like a
panther. He took his sharp knife, and stood behind the door
of the stable, ready to kill his younger brother when he
returned in the evening."' " Wakhoucht, in his Geography of
Georgia, tells of a valley in the Caucasus [Pharsmzis in
Tukhet], whose inhabitants know neither illicit intercourse nor
adultery between married couples. If a man violates a woman,
she kills herself, and the man is put to death by his fellow-
citizens and acquaintances. He cannot escape into another
country. And in Imereth they burn such sinners."* "You
' S. Bindasari, ii. 590, 658. • Theano to Nicostr. ed. G. ' Onna
ko kiyo, ch. xi. * Ital. pr. » Millin de Rab. 209. ' Hor. Sat.
ii. 7i 66. ' Pap. Anast. i. 23, 3 ; Chabas, p. 226. • Pap. D'Orbiney,
pi. V. 5. » Geogr. p. 330, 408.
Z
338
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[vi. 34. 35
vii. 1—3]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
339
shall beat every one, man and woman, of such sinners with a
hundred stripes ; and be not taken with a feeling of pity for
them in God's judgment," says Mahomet, " if you believe in
God and in the last day ; and let some of the faithful be wit-
nesses of their chastisement."*
And in the Dhammathat it is said : " If a man kill one
caught in adultery and he die, no guilt attaches to the mur-
derer. And if a man is found guilty of adultery, it is right he
should die."* " From lust, sorrow is born ; from it, fear also
comes. But there is neither fear nor sorrow for him who has
freed himself from it."' "A man, however, should be jealous
of his wife, that he may continue attached to her."* And as to
ransom — <x^P« ^< /«" ■^°" ^'''/"» — " I loathe his gifts," said
Achilles ; " I rate him at a hair's worth." " If Agamemnon
were to give me ten, twenty times as much as he has or may
have, as much as the sand of the sea or as the dust of the
earth, he could not soften my anger, until he makes amends
to me for an outrage that wrings my very heart."'
' Qoran, Sur. xxiv. 2. • Dhammath. vi. 31. ' Dhammap. Piyav. 214.
« Zohar. B. FL • II. I. 378.
CHAPTER VII.
/ Solomon persuadeth to a sincere and kind familiarity with wisdom.
6 In an example of his own experience, he showeth 10 the cunning of
an whore, 32 and the desperate simplicity of a young wanton. 24 He
dehortethfrom such wickedness.
lyr Y son, keep my words, and lay up my command-
ments with thee.
2 Keep my commandments, and live ; and my law
as the apple of thine eye.
3 Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the
table of thine heart.
"Myson,keepr %LC. "Despise not small beginnings. Fix
in your mind what you have heard. Water failing drop by
drop in an ant-hill fills it at last."" " Learning comes by little
at a time.'"
Ver. 2. "A man from Kdsi, Sonako by name, having seen
Danaka [a disciple of Upali, him.se]f a disciple of Buddha]
with his pupils, was overjoyed, and asked him to admit him
into the priesthood. ' First of all, ask thy superiors,' answered
Danaka."' "And Siggawo, son of a minister at Patili, with
his friend Chandawajjo, came to the Thera Sonako, and asked
him, ' Teach us to enjoy what thou hast [samapatti], the result
of intense meditation.' ' When thou art one of us,' replied
Sonako. Then Siggawo and Chandawajjo acquainted their
father and mother with it, and were admitted by the Thera
Sonako. together with five hundred disciples."* " I think of
' Lokaniti, 5. » Id. 9. s Mahawansa V. Moggali P.
* Id. ibid.
Z 2
340
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[vii. 4. 5
the men of old," says the Chinese, " that I may not commit
sin (or an error), and that I may possess [rule] my own heart."^
" The apple of thine eye!' lltP-'M, ' the little man of thine eye.'
Arab. ' the man of thine eye,' &c. See ch. iv. v. 4.
Ver. 3. "Bind them" &c. " The word of a king is a king of
words, and is always to be regarded. That the contrary be
not made public (or common), it should be written on the
table of one's heart."' "O my son, who art thy father's life,"
said Nabi EfTendi to his son Abul Khair, " my advice to thee,
dressed in verse which I call ' Khair Nameh,' Good Book, is —
that thou bind my words on thy heart with respect and care,
like a talisman to preserve life, and that they may ever remain
in thy ears. Take it carefully for thy life, and let it not depart
one moment from thy mind."*
4 Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister ; and call
understanding thy kinswoman :
5 That they may keep thee from the strange woman,
from the stranger which flattereth with her words.
nj'"37 3'JqI, 'and call to understanding (as to thine) acquaintance.'
R. S. Yarchi remarks that 3?io, lit. ' acquaintance,' is also taken for
' kinsman,' as in the case of Boaz and Ruth (ch. iii.).
"Say" imp. 'at once, delay not' "Say not. We will think
about virtue, but be virtuous now, at once ; for in the hour of
death it will be an undying help to thee."* " How can one
say that virtue is far off? I sought it," says Confucius, "and
I found it."' "O my children, let us hear and lay to heart
the holy word, that saith, ' Keep my commandments.' Say
to wisdom, Thou art my own sister, and make understanding
thy kinswoman."* "The salutation to a woman not related
by blood is ' Subhag^ Bhagini,' "well-favoured or pleasing
sister,' " said Manu.' " I choose the good (^penta Armaiti
' She King, bk. iii. ode s. ' Akhlaq i Muhs. xiv. ' Khair
nameh, p. 5. * Cural, iv. 36. ' Shang-Lun, vii. 29. • Didasc.
Ap. Ethiop. c. i. ' Many S. ii. i, 129.
vii. 6 — 10]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
341
[divine, holy wisdom personified] ; let her be mine (or belong
to me)."> " Let her, the giver of wealth, let Armaiti come to
me at my call, to rejoice me,"' said Zarathustra.
Ver. 5. " Take care, for ' love's armies' are made up of tricks
and falsehood (or cheating)."' " By all means yield not to the
words of such a woman."* " For her advice is worse."'
" Nam tuae blanditise mihi sunt, quod dici solet,
Gerras germanae, atque eedepol, X^poi XijpiDv."'
"A woman's word, a bundle of water ;" and " If a woman lies,
it is like building a wall [thick and solid] ; but if a man lies,
it is like putting up a mat [is seen through]."^
6 For at the window of my house I looked through
my casement,
7 And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned
among the youths, a young man void of understanding,
8 Passing through the street near her corner ; and
he went the way to her house,
9 In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and
dark night :
10 And, behold, there met him a woman with the
attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.
Ver. 7. " The simple ones," &c. " To Ip^v liria-KOTtt airaaiv, &s
«oi(c(, passion seems to blind everybody," says Menander, "both
reasonable and unreasonable men"' — "and when thus pos-
sessed, a man seems to others to have lost his senses."' " There
are three things against which a wise man is on his guard,"
says Confucius. " In youth, when the blood and his animal
spirits are not yet regulated, he guards against sensual plea-
sures. In mature age, when his blood and spirits are settled,
he guards against wrangling ; and when he is come to old age,
■ Yaqna, xiii. 6. ' Id. xviii. 3.
* Oyun tulk, p. 5. » Telug. pr. 2179.
' Telugu pr. ' Menand. Andr. a.
' Husn u Dil. p. 16.
• Plaut. Poenul. act i. sc i.
• Id. Aphrod. ".
342
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[vii. 9
and his blood and spirits are ebbing fast, he guards against
covetousness."* " Giving to the poor, religious restraint in
young men, and in learned ones silence, all lead to the three
heavens."* "A man who becomes the slave of women, and
who, giving up his delight in the law, yields himself to his
passions, remains very far indeed from true wisdom."* " He
who goes after women is worthless [lit. a basilisk, deadly
snake],"* say the Arabs.
" His common sense is all but lost —
whose brains [passion] are beaten about, ut acc/iof xar opo9
Spwlv fnirt<Tiiv, like a mighty wind rushing among the oaks on
the mountain."' "When passion thus takes possession of a
man, he sees nothing else in the whole world."'
Ver. 8. " In Kieuh-li [Li-ki] it is said : Let young people
always See well that they are not taken in. They must stand
in a proper place, and not listen sideways, but openly, face to
face ; and beware of listening in secret lest they be deceived,"*
as explained in the Japanese Commentary.
Ver. 9. "/« the black and dark night," nbgSJ nVb ]itP''M?, lit ' in
the pupil of the night and thick darkness.' Comment. / DS53, in
the ' bone,' body of night itself.
" The six evil consequences of wandering about the streets
at unseasonable hours [late] are, O Gahapati, my son," said
Gautama, "(i) that oneself is unprotected ; (2) that one's wife
and children are so also ; (3) that one's property is also un-
protected ; (4) that one is suspected of going to sinful places ;
(5) that evil report spreads about one ; (6) and that one is
dogged by many evil circumstances."' " The day has passed
without accident, but the night is pregnant to bring forth [mis-
fortune or evil]."" "The way is lost in the twilight, and fallen
• Hea-Lun, xvi. 7. ' Banarayasht. 4. ' Rgya-tcher r. p. c. xxi.
* Meid. Ar. pr. » II. «'.-226. • Sappho, 73, ed. G. ' Shringara
shat. 101. ' Siao-hio, c i. • Singhala V. Sut. fol. ni. " Georg. pr.
vii. 10]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
343
women are also lost in it."* " The disposition being in general
perverse, a woman's way is not clear and open ;"' "going by-
night in order not to be known,'" say the Japanese; "when
the dark black night has spread her veil,"* says the Arab..
" Crooked ways at night are poison," " says Chanakya ;
"night hides (or covers) woe,"' says A. Ubeid ; "for purity of
thought disappears (or transgresses) in the dark,"' adds the
Shivaite.
— iron pevOta vwktos epcfivai '
In the depth of the darkest night, when
" in altisono
Coeli dupeo temo superat
Stellas, cogens sublime etiam
Atque etiam noctis itiner."'
"'AXX ^ Toi vvv H(V ireiOiafieOa vvktI ii(\aivg,
" Let US then trust this dark night,'"" said Hector.
" But," quoth Terence"—
"£>e. Non est flagitium facere haec adolescentulum? Mi. Ah!
Persuasit nox, amor, vitium."
And in the words of Hesiod : " Night,
— (T(Kt VTvyepov rt Mopov Kal K^/>a fuXaivav,
brought forth cruel Doom and black Destruction, xal Odvarov
and Death.'"* "For night," say the Rabbis, "is the time for
devils." »
Ver. ID. " 'OvSevoO' «Totpo Tou KoAoC irt-^povTiKt."** " Never did
such a woman think of thy good," says Menander. " Let not
a woman in such attire [irvyooroXos] take thee in with her
wheedling talk," says again Hesiod ; " for he who trusts the
like of her, only does so to thieves."** " For it becomes a
woman," wrote Melissa to Clareta, "as regards her dress, to
be clean and plain. As to flaring colours, purple and gold
» Chanak. 90. • Onna ima kawa. ' Jap. pr. « Hariri, v. p. 72.
' Chanak. 97. • A. Ubeid, 156. ' Vemana, ii. 196. » Stesichor.
Him. 3. » Ennius, Iphig. 557. "> II. ». S°^- " Ter. Ad. i. 2,
and iii. 4. " Theogon. 211. " Ep. Lod. 1350; " Menand.
Andr. 14. •» Hes. I. «. ij. 371.
344
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[vii. lo
ornaments about the dress, that belongs to harlots and suits
their trade."* As the Italians say truly regarding dress,
" Guasta la iigura di Dio chi se troppo orna," " she spoils the
form God made, who adorns herself too much."*
" Coccina famosae donas, et ianthina moechae.
Vis dare, quae meruit munera? Mitte togam."'
" The low (or vile) attires herself for sale ; but who can make
over to others the one real ornament [purity]?"* "It was
Azazael who taught those who lived before the Flood to make
weapons of all sorts, bracelets and other ornaments, and ' kohol'
to dye their eyelids ; to wear precious stones and dyes of all
kinds. The world was thus completely changed ; wickedness
increased ; they committed adultery to a great extent, and their
ways became corrupt."' "In the nether world ArdaViraf saw
the souls of women undergoing the most loathsome punish-
ments. 'Who are they?' asked he. Srosh answered, 'They
are the souls of women who, while on earth, painted and
adorned their faces, and wore false hair [mfld-i-khadlhan, the
hair of others], to captivate the eye of the men of God (or, as
some read, ' the men of the world')."* " Elsewhere he saw the
soul of a woman gnawed and stung by scorpions and other
hurtful creatures. ' That,' said Srosh, ' is the soul of a woman
who, when on earth, dressed her hair-curls over the fire ;' and
that other one, so tortured, is the soul of a woman who com-
mitted adultery.'"* [In the Vishnu Purana, there is a remark-
ably prophetic passage, quoted above, p. 328, about such prac-
tices in the Kali-yuga, the present time.]
" The dress and head-ornaments of women, girls and females
in general," say the Chinese, "should be moderate, sparing,
plain and simple ; not in any way extravagant, flowery, fine
or exquisite."' "But what of thee, O woman, with thy hair
attired in gold and pearls ? Thou lookest like a mountain of
• Melissa to Clar. ed. G. * Ital. pr. ' Mart. Epig. ii. 39.
♦ Drishtanta shat. 58. ' Bk. Enoch, ii. c. 8. • Viraf nam. c. 73,
ed. Haug. ' Id. c. 34. ' Id. c. 24, 26, 62, 63, &c. » Chin max. ;
Dr. Medh. Dial. p. 193.
I
vii. II, 12]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
345
clothes [Hesiod's irvyoWoXos, and the present fashion], a river
in bulk. A becoming dress is proper. But say, what about
thee, O woman, who art improper?"* "And as to thy talk,
all that Usana [Shakra, Indra] knows, and all that VrihashpatI
knows also, all that put together is planted by nature in a
woman's [subtle] head."'
In the Rgya-tcher rol pa,' we find an account of the daughters
of Papiyan [papiyan, ' very wicked,' his name in the Sanscrit
original of Lalita Vistara], whom he sent to tempt the Bodht-
satwa with their thirty -two magical arts. They are called
' daughters of the devil.' But the Bodhisatwa changed them
into decrepit old women.*
1 1 She is loud and stubborn ; her feet abide not in
her house ;
12 Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth
in wait at every corner.
Ver. II. "'Ex6alpa Si ywalKa TrfpiSpofiov," "1 hate," said
Theognis, "a woman who gads about"" "O woman," says
Menander, "stubbornness makes thee transgress the boun-
daries set to a wife ; that is, the front door, which is given to
a free woman as the boundary of her house. For to pursue,
to run about, and get a bad name for it, Rhoda, it is the
doing of a dog."» "For it is a sin," says Tai-shang, "for
a woman to have neither docility nor obedience;"' "and a
vicious wife and a stubborn son, no laws will govern."*
" Believe me," said Theano to Nicostrate, " it will avail thee
but little to avenge thyself of the woman of whom thou art
jealous ; for a woman who has no shame is ever ready to fight.'"
" Drink," says Manu, " associating with bad people, absence
from her husband, rambling about, sleeping at odd hours,
staying at other people's houses, are six things that deteriorate
' She King, bk. iv. ode 5. " Hitop. i. 129. » ch. xxi.
* Id. ch. xxiv. ' Theognis, 595. " Menander, Hier. 2.
■> Kang ing p. • Hien wen shoo, 70- * Theano to Nic. ed. G.
346
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[vii. 13— IS
a woman (or bring discredit upon her). Such women do not
look at the appearance, nor yet at the age or position of a
man, whether he be handsome or not ; he is a man ; that is
enough for them. Through their passion, their restless dis-
position, their innate want of affection, let them be ever so
well guarded by their husbands, they soon become debauched."
Manu allots to such women as their portion, " a bed, a seat,
ornaments, passion, wrath, crooked ways, an evil disposition
and bad conduct" He further adds : " Women have no
business with ' mantras' [religious teaching] ; this is a settled
thing. Being therefore imperfectly qualified in this respect,
and being without holy texts, women are falsehood itself;
this too is settled"' — by Manu and in India.
" The chief delight of such women is, on dull [cool] days,
to come out in the dark, in out-of-the-way thoroughfares of
the city, when their husbands are from home in some other
country."* [In India, where children are married in the
cradle, there is hardly such a thing as an unmarried female ;
that is, one without a husband, unless she is a widow.] " The
sons of men, then, require spying eyes when they go to fight,
for oft do sly, deceitful women stand by the wayside, who
ruin both sword and soul,"' said Sigrdrifa to Sigurd.
1 3 So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an
impudent face said unto him,
14 I have peace offerings with me; this day have
I payed my vows.
15 Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently
to seek thy face, and I have found thee.
Ver. 13. 13 ni7''fnrJ?, 'and she fastened herself on him, seized
him.' n"'35 njyn, ' she hardened her £ace(s).' Arab. ' she hardened
her face impudently.'
" Certe, captus es."* " Those women,'' said Gopa, Shakya's
• Manu S. ii. 13—18. ' Pancha T. i. 189. ' Sigrdrifumal, 27-
* Ter. Andr. i. sc i ; Hot. Od. i. 13, iSi Anacr. Od. 28, 29.
vii. 13—15] THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
347
bride, "whose mind is reft of propriety, who are impudent,
without modesty, and who withal use deceitful words, go
about the world more bare than if they were uncovered,
though they deck themselves with a thousand dresses."*
" Having cast off modesty, no honour is left."*
"Alcumena. — exquisivi simul
Mi vir, et manum prehendi, et osculum tetuli tibi."'
"An impudent face is wicked."* "An impudent face to
Gehenna," say the Rabbis.* "A man by putting on an impu-
dent face, gains his object as he wishes. But he cares very
little for what he does."' "Kings, women and creepers
entwine themselves around those who stand by them."' "But
women flee from grey hairs, the sign of old age, as one would
from the bucket of a Chandala [an outcast] with a bone in
it."* "In like manner as creepers entwine themselves from
one tree to another by embracing them with the tendrils they
put forth, so do bad women put forth their tendrils and go
about entwining themselves around those they meet"'
" So also the priest's daughter to the novice GetsiiL But he
repelled her. She bowed before him, and joining her hands in
a praying attitude, said to him : I have long desired to have
an opportunity of meeting thee," &c.," although they were
strangers each to the other. So Damayanti to Nalus. " But,"
said Vidura to Dhritarashtra, " the man who is well spoken of
[praised] by gamesters, dancers and harlots, does not live.""
For "untruth, deceit, boldness, malice, excessive greed, lack
of good qualities and impurity, are faults innate in such
women."" " But there are wives who do not know how to be
careful. They only think of rambling and roving about, and
care not that, at home, there is neither food nor clothes to be
had. Such are called lazy women,"" say the Chinese.
* Rgya-tcher r. p. c. xii. ' Tarn. pr. 3059. ' Plaut. AmphiL ii. i.
* Talm. Gittin, 10. » P. Avoth. v. B. FL • Eth-Thealebi, 282.
' Pancha T. i. 41. ' Vairagyash. 75. ' Lokopakaniti, 70.
'° Dsang-Lun, c. xvi. " Maha Bh. Udyog P. 1443. " Hitop. i. 208.
" Chin, max.; Dr. Medh. Dial. p. 211.
348
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[vii. 1 6 — 21
i6 I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry,
with carved works, with fine linen of Eg^ypt.
1 7 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and
cinnamon.
1 8 Come, let us take our fill of love until the morn-
ing ; let us solace ourselves with loves.
19 For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a
long journey :
20 He hath taken a bag of money with him, and
will come home at the day appointed.
21 With her much fair speech she caused him to
yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him.
Ver. 16. " At S' einwdOofifvai. (TTopiirav Xf^ot, is (k(Xrixr(i>
Kuca T« prjyoi rt XiVoto Tt Aorroi' Slidtov'"
" They made the bed as Patroclus bade them, with a soft fleece
a rug and the finest linen."
Ver. 18. " Trust not the love of women, as only for the sake
of children. The gem that glitters on the snake's head only
plays with his venom."'
Ver. 19. Anepu, the eldest brother who was married, sent
his younger brother Satu to the house to fetch some com.
Satu found Anepu's wife doing her hair. She sent him to the
granary for the corn, and when he returned, she addressed
him as Potiphar's wife addressed Joseph, " for her heart knew
him." But he would not She grew alarmed, and when her
husband returned she accused his younger brother, who was
innocent Then follows the tale.'
That happened in Egypt in the days of Seti II. But as
the world is the same everywhere, we read in the Tibetan
Dsang-Lun,* "that one of king Saljal's ministers placed his
son Midung with a Brahman whose wife fell in love with him.
« 11. I. 660. » Alcasi fr. 8, ed. G; Hesiod, i. r. ij. 580; II. y. 441 ;
Lokopak. 50. ' Pap. D'Orbiney, iii. 7. • Fol. 190.
vii. 19]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
349
The Brahman having been invited by a friend for three months,
with his five hundred disciples, he asked his wife which of his
disciples he should leave behind to guard the house. She
said, ' Midung ; no one is so wise as he.' The Brahman once
out of the way, she made overtures to Midung. But he
answered, ' It is against the rules of my order to do so great a
wickedness. If I did it, I should no longer be a Brahman. I
would rather die than do it.' Then she flew into a rage, tore
her dress, scratched her face, and told her husband on his
return that Midung had insulted her." But " Sarp'hag, a
merchant, having to go a long journey by sea, took with him
his wife whom he had married for her beauty; when a huge
turtle having struck the ship, the five hundred passengers were
drowned. And as the rule of the sea is that it cannot hold a
corpse more than one day, that woman's body was thrown up.
But as she had spent all her time in looking at herself in the
glass, she was born again a serpent,"* says the Buddhist
"Tell him," said the adulteress to her servant, "that my
husband is gone to drink with some of his friends, so that he
may come to me."= [So the Arabic. But the Greek version
reads : " She sent word to her paramour : Come to me pre-
sently, for my husband is gone to some distant place on some
business (or service); he then came to her"' See also the
eighth story in the Toti Nameh.] " A bad wife also loves a
bad friend ; and a bad king relies on those in authority under
him. As wild beasts do ; they lie down with their kin ; lions
with lions," &c.* " But a woman who goes from her husband
and commits adultery with another man, is despised here on
earth, and hereafter she enters the womb of a jackal, and is
tormented with diseases which arise from sin.""
However, the wife is not alone to blame ; but " adultery (or
disorderly conduct) is learned of the husband."* " Se la moglie
pecce," say the Italians, "non h il marito innocente."' "Yet
• Dsang-Lun, fol. 75. • Calilah u. D. p. 95. ' Yrt^av. k. Ixi>v>^. p. 288.
• Sain ugh. fol. 29. » Manu, v. 162. • Telugu pr. ' Ital pr.
3 so
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[vii. 21
it IS a sin in her not to show him proper respect," says Tai-
shang.' And as regards his going from home, " seeking wealth
often causes death, when trafficking and sailing from home for
gain."* " Therefore," says Hesiod, "put not thy whole sub-
stance in one ship, but leave most of it behind, and ship only
a little ; for it is a woeful thing to be shipwrecked."' " And
he who increases his traffic shall not grow wise."* " For the
glory of the merchant is in his purse ; but the glory of the
learned man is in sheets [writings or books]." "The timid
merchant, however, makes no profit."' " But the warrior who
went forth eager for victory shall return back ; for home is
the desire of all moving things."*
Ver. 21. "Do not converse long with a woman who draws
thee into sin," say the Rabbis.' " Let not the Brahmachari
sit apart with a woman ; for so close a fellowship is powerful,
and leads astray even wise men."' " The fisherman kills the
fish by deceiving it with the flavour of the bait So also does
the bad man (or woman) begin to allure with words and then
to ruin through deceit."* " The countenance of a froward (or
cunning) man is soft, with oily (or clammy) words ; but when
you search you find him very different. The peacock is
handsome in appearance, but it swallows much foul matter."*'
"Now," said Pwan-kang to his ministers, "I command you
this one thing : Do not allow impure thoughts to arise within
you, to your own evil odour [shame, discredit]. Fear lest
others should draw aside your bodies and seduce your hearts.
I thus try by my advice, to forward the order from Heaven for
your prosperity."**
" Pleasure, however, does not lead astray the prince ; but
the prince leads himself astray," say the Japanese.'^ " Do not
yield to the words of a woman."" For "womankind are
' Kang ing p. ' Kawi niti S. ' Hesiod, I. k. ij. 687.
* Ep. Lod. 2520. * Osm. pr. • Rig V. ii. skta. xxxviii. 6.
^ Nedar. Millin, 128. • Manu S. ii. 25. ' Sain iigh. 141.
'• Ibid. 147. " Shoo King, iii. 10. '• Tamino nigiwai, Atsme G.
ii. p. $. " Mong. max. R.
vii. 21]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
3SI
innately sinful and wicked," says the Buddhist.' "And he
who hearkens to the words of such women is reckoned a
worthless man."* "Such a man is caught and ensnared in
the toils of a woman."' " Then came in a woman, Wofana
by name, who said : I am the witch, Katsuga Ushitsudei, from
the street of 'the palace of the King of Heaven.'"* "Such,
however, show a lying love, and perfidy, and stuff their cloth-
ing," said one of them to king Shahzeman.' " They laugh and
they weep, and persuade the man whom they do not trust ;
all for the sake of their object : wherefore such women are to
be eschewed by men of good family [respectable men], as they
avoid dead men's bones in a burial-ground."' "They are like
darts ; like a creeper growing around one with evil doings."'
"Thus the unsteady woman [bedrinks] intoxicates the firm
and resolute man."'
It is the same in all countries. In Ethiopic they have the
saying : " Fire overcomes hard iron ; water overcomes a great
[violent] fire ; the hot sun overcomes water ; a cloud overcomes
the hot sun ; the wind overcomes a heavy [strong] cloud ; the
earth overcomes such a cloud ; the son of man [man] over-
comes the hard earth ; sorrow [or trouble] overcomes the
strong man ; wine overcomes great sorrow ; sleep overcomes
strong wine ; but the strongest of them all is woman."* " For
a man," says Menander, " is easily led astray when under the
influence of passion."'" "Life is sweet; yet gold is sweeter
than many lives," says Vemana ; " but the words of a maiden
are sweeter still."**
" Oratione vinnula, venustula.""
" Then one of the Apsaras, called Vapu, said : I will go to
Durvasas to-day, and make him a miserable driver of his own
chariot-like body, drawn by his senses as by horses, whose
• Devadham. Jat. p. 128. ' Tarn. pr. 314. ' Jap. pr. p. 149.
* Riutei Tanefiko, Biyobus, ii. p. 27. ' Alef leil. introd. p. 3.
• Pancha T. i. 206. ' Bhartrih. Suppl. 15. ' Rig V. ii. skta. clxxix.
» Ethiopic prov. in Mukdassi. " Menand. Nauder. a. " Vemana,
ii. 29. " Plaut. Asin. i. 3.
35?
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[vii. 22, 23
vii. 22]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
JSS
reins he will drop through passion for me. If he were Brahma
or Djanarduna, yet will I wound him to-day with the arrows
of love. But she was cursed by the Rishi, and turned into a
bird on the Vindhya mountains."*
" For to be (clever) able to let virtue have the upper hand
and overcome, makes a man wise and good ; but being clever
at overcoming virtue makes the bad man," say the Chinese.*
"Thus when the Brahman offered his daughter to P'hara
Thaken, this one said : I will tell .thee one thing ; hearken.
'The Man-nat [demon of pride, &c.] fought with me all the way
from my hermitage in the sacred forest to the foot of the
Ajjapala bo-t^ee [sacred fig-tree], but as he was not able to
prevail against me, he fled. Then his daughter tried to seduce
me with her wiles and ' Nat-tish' form, but she could not shake
my mind. Thy daughter shall not touch the soles of my feet'"*
" For although woman's person was created by Maha Brahma,
like a golden creeper that overcomes everything — yet, setting
aside such qualities as she has, her heart reveals (or contains)
a big stone."* "Trust no go-between; but do thine own
business thyself; for know this, that man's [and woman's]
nature is made up of craft, imposture and fraud."* "Whence
can morals come to a man who is entangled with a woman ?"•
" Through njnpV inji, the abundance of her captivating talk ;"
Arab. ' through the multitude of her arts.'
22 He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth
to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the
stocks ;
23 Till a dart strike through his liver ; as a bird
hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his
life.
b">"!H "IMO blj DSJP-t, lit • and like stocks (fetters, &c.) to the
punishment of a fool' — an inversion of words, probably for the sake
> Markand. Pur. i. 5. • Ming Sin P. K. c. 3. » Buddhagh. par. v.
* Lolcopak. 49. • Ahmed V. Tiiouri, c. xx. • Lokaniti, 136.
of rhjrthm. A difficult passage, for which various interpretations
are offered ; as by Gesenius, who takes 0553-1 with nJ^M, understood —
" and as a man (who deserves the) stocks, to the chastisement of the
fool" [for 'of folly']. But this is far-fetched and unsatisfactory.
The literal rendering seems best. As " money ' goes' to pay a bill,"
and "cloth 'goes' to make a garment" &c., so also do "the stocks
•go' to the punishment of a fool." The inversion in A.V. is clear
enough. Arab. • or like the silly [foolish] man to the stocks (fetters,
&c.) of retribution [punishment].'
Ver. 23. il3? VO n'??^ ny, ■ until an arrow [rend] split his liver.'
This clause properly belongs to the preceding verse, with which it is
connected, and is thus rendered by the LXX. : 'As a dog to the collar,
and as a hart shot through the liver with an arrow.'
Ver. 22. " As an ox ... . as a fool to the stocks," &c " He
follows her, Uiiv HkovtI yt Ov/iif,'^ ' will he, nill he.'" " He who
follows his own desire (or inclination) commits a sinful action,"
said Gautama to Gahapati.' " And so it is that every man
among mortals, one and all, is led like an ox to the slaughter."*
"The man who has heard [learned] little of Buddha's law,
grows old like an ox. His flesh increases, but not his intellect
(or knowledge)."* " Whither are you going, then, Mrs. Fate ?"
asks the man. "I'll follow you," answers Fate; "go on."*
[Every man being for the most part the author of his own
'fate,' fortune or misfortune in life.] "Follow the owl," say
they in Egypt, "and it will bring you to ruinous places."'
"Take the raven for thy guide," say the Arabs, "and he will
soon bring thee to carcases of dead dogs."' " Yielding to the
advice of one of the pigeons, the whole flock flew down upon
the grain into the net, and were caught"*
"The fool who in his folly thinks, 'This woman loves me ;'
from that moment becomes her plaything, like a tame blue-
jay. Such a man is always thought little of in the world,
whatever he may say or do ; for such a man is a slave of
women who will have him on no other terms. For they care
• II. i*. 43. • Singhala V. Sutta, p. nh. ' Sulla Suttam, 7.
* Dhammap. Jarav. 152. ' Telugu pr. • Egypt, pr. ' Meid, Ar. pr.
• Hitop. i. 206.
2 A
35?
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[vii. 22, 23
vii. 22]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
ysi
reins he will drop through passion for me. If he were Brahma
or Djanarduna, yet will I wound him to-day with the arrows
of love. But she was cursed by the Rishi, and turned into a
bird on the Vindhya mountains."*
" For to be (clever) able to let virtue have the upper hand
and overcome, makes a man wise and good ; but being clever
at overcoming virtue makes the bad man," say the Chinese.*
"Thus when the Brahman offered his daughter to P'hara
Thaken, this one said : I will tell ,thee one thing ; hearken.
'The Man-nat [demon of pride, &c.] fought with me all the way
from my hermitage in the sacred forest to the foot of the
Ajjapala bo-tfee [sacred fig-tree], but as he was not able to
prevail against me, he fled. Then his daughter tried to seduce
me with her wiles and ' Nat-tish' form, but she could not shake
my mind. Thy daughter shall not touch the soles of my feet'"'
" For although woman's person was created by Maha Brahma,
like a golden creeper that overcomes everything — yet, setting
aside such qualities as she has, her heart reveals (or contains)
a big stone."* "Trust no go-between; but do thine own
business thyself; for know this, that man's [and woman's]
nature is made up of craft, imposture and fraud."* "Whence
can morals come to a man who is entangled with a woman ?"'
" Through Dtip^ b-i3, the abundance of her captivating talk ;"
Arab. ' through the multitude of her arts.'
22 He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth
to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the
stocks ;
23 Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird
hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his
life.
Vl.H">D-"«3 bs ro^P-l, lit 'and like stocks (fetters, &c.) to the
punishment of a fool' — an inversion of words, probably for the sake
• Markand. Pur. i. 5. • Ming Sin P. K. c. 3. ' Buddhagh. par. v.
• Lolcopak. 49. » Ahmed V. Tin»uri, c. xx. • Lokaniti, 136.
of rhythm. A difficult passage, for which various interpretations
are offered ; as by Gesenius, who takes D3y>1 with OJ^H, understood —
" and as a man (who deserves the) stocks, to the chastisement of the
fool" [for 'of folly']. But this is far-fetched and unsatisfactory.
The literal rendering seems best As "money 'goes' to pay a bill,"
and "cloth 'goes' to make a garment" &c, so also do "the stocks
'go' to the punishment of a fool." The inversion in A.V, is clear
enough. Arab. ' or like the silly [foolish] man to the stocks (fetters,
&c.) of retribution [punishment].'
Ver. 23. ins? VO n'??^ ny, • until an arrow [rend] split his liver.'
This clause properly belongs to the preceding verse, with which it is
connected, and is thus rendered by the LXX. : 'As a dog to the collar,
and as a hart shot through the liver with an arrow.'
Ver. 22. "As an ox.. .. as a fool to the stocks" &c " He
follows her, «a.v aiKovrl yi Oviuf} ' will he, nill he.'" " He who
follows his own desire (or inclination) commits a sinful action,"
said Gautama to Gahapati.' " And so it is that every man
among mortals, one and all, is led like an ox to the slaughter."*
"The man who has heard [learned] little of Buddha's law,
grows old like an ox. His flesh increases, but not his intellect
(or knowledge)."* " Whither are you going, then, Mrs. Fate ?"
asks the man. "I'll follow you," answers Fate; "go on."*
[Every man being for the most part the author of his own
' fate,' fortune or misfortune in life.] " Follow the owl," say
they in Egypt, "and it will bring you to ruinous places."*
" Take the raven for thy guide," say the Arabs, " and he will
soon bring thee to carcases of dead dogs."' "Yielding to the
advice of one of the pigeons, the whole flock flew down upon
the grain into the net, and were caught"*
" The fool who in his folly thinks, ' This woman loves me ;'
from that moment becomes her plaything, like a tame blue-
jay. Such a man is always thought little of in the world,
whatever he may say or do ; for such a man is a slave of
women who will have him on no other terms. For they care
" II. y. 43. • Singhala V. Sutta, p. nfe. • Sulla Suttam, 7.
* Dhammap. Jarav. 152. » Telugu pr. • Egypt pr. ' Meid. Ar. pr.
' Hitop. I. 206.
2 A
354
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[vii. 23
vn. 23]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
3S5
very little whether he be young or old, good-looking or plain ;
he is a man, that is enough. For passion is innate in them ;
and the fool who seeks their company falls at their feet, like a
wet rag wrung of all its lacquer-dye." ' "And the beginning
of such fellowship ends in bitter sorrow."* " He therefore is
wise," said Sanatsuda to Bharata, "who stifles or destroys his
passions. But he who serves [follows] them, perishes through
them. By day or by night, then, go not after strange
women and thieves. If thou goest, thy journey will be to thy
loss."* " There is, O Mitradzoghi, a bride for thee, as fair as a
daughter of the gods, lotus-like, with a sweet voice, &c. She
may be so, answered Mitradzoghi, yet is she but the daughter
of a bewitching and lying devil, a rope to bind me to this
world. Let me go from her."*
" For men who are driven by their passions, wander about
like a hare pursued by hunters. Those who follow their pas-
sions, rush along a torrent of their own making ; they are
entangled in a spider's web." " Wise men will break through
it and walk free from lust, and then free from sorrow."* " If
not, and if he follows it, he sticks in it when caught as a fly
by its feet in honey, or like a fool with his feet in the stocks."'
" Therefore go not after a woman who has taken hold of thy
heart,"' until ^ , ^ ,
" — <f>a<ryav<f o*Ta KaO rprap,
" she pierce thy liver through with a dagger." " I will thrust
him through the heart and through the liver," said Joukahai-
nen to Wainamoinen.*'
Ver. 23. " Drawn from afar, and coming by degrees, lured
by the hunter's song, the deer seeks (or hunts) the hunter
[death]." "As the maddened elephant is led by the female
to the post to be tied to it, so also does the moth, lured by the
• Pancba T. L ISS- * Kawi niti S.
•* Lokopak. 112. * Mitradzoghi, p. 6.
343. 347- ' Gulistan, ii. 33.
- Kalevala, il 113.
• MahaBh. Udyog P. 1588.
• Dhammap. Tanhav.
• Ani, Iv. max. » H- /. 469.
light of the lamp, fall readily into it."» "So also the fish
swimming in deep water sees from afar the baited hook [and
is caught with it]."' " Likewise the grasshopper [or mothj
unconscious of the pain of being burnt, goes into the lighted
lamp, as the fish swallows the baited hook. Yet we who are
aware of these tangled snares of misery do not eschew them,
alas I — blind [lit. thick], enormous folly !"' " Yea, the greatest
folly of all is to follow one's passions recklessly."*
" He, then, who, presuming on his own power, goes heed-
lessly to meet another man's wife, goes straight to ruin, like a
moth into the fire."* " Smitten, he falls into the fire of desire,"
said Shaunaka to Yudhishtira, " as a moth does from greed for
the light"* " By such women is a man ensnared and caught,"'
"and perishes like a rat under a cart-wheel of stone,"' "or like
gum-lac melted in the fire of destruction."' "As a moth in
the fire, lured by the light," said Yudhishtira to Krishna" " Or
like a kutuk [a large fish, good to eat] leaping towards the
spit [on which it is roasted]." " Or like " the dove and the pail
of water painted ; the dove flew down upon it and was killed.""
"It has happened to me," said the bull to Dimnah, "as it
happens to senseless bees, which, being delighted at finding
themselves inside a flower, remain there until they are smo-
thered.""
"The foolish man is like the [summer insect] moth that
comes to the fire and dies in it ;"" " bewildered by the light ;"
" with a fancy for its own corpse." " So is a silly youth also
more ignorant even than a moth."^* [See also El Mocadessi,
'The Taper and the Moth,' p. 74, and the Bostan of Sadi,
story I, and 28, 'Conversation between the Candle and the
Moth ;' also in the Dulva** the story of Norbzangs, and of
> Kamand. niti S. i. 41. * Id. ibid. 44. ' Shanti shat 8, and
Vairagya shat. 19. , * Cural, 832. ' Pancha T, i. 266. • Maha
Bh. VanaP. 115. ' Vemana, ii. 174. ' Id. loi. » Id. 149,
" Maha Bh. Bhishma P. 4905. " Javan, pr. " Syntipa, fab. viii.,
and Sophos, ibid. " Sn^av. r. IxvnK. p. loo. " Japan, pr. p. 405,
and p. 21, 38. " Meid. Ar. pr. " Vol. iii. p. 390,
2 A 2
358
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[vii. 24 — 26
vH. 26, 27]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
3S9
27 Her house w the way to hell, going down to the
chambers of death.
Ver. 24. Q^!l?, ' sons,' seems more appropriate than ' children.'
Ver. a6. n-Jliq V? D'piSJ?!, lit. 'and (or -yea') strong (or
'mighty') are (or 'were') all her killed,' which is not strictly true,
inasmuch as many foolish and weak men fall a prey to her. WSy,
however, is said to mean 'strong in number,' numerous, although
none of the passages given in support of it are at all conclusive. Thus
in Joel i. 5, where mention is made of a nation, "ippo VH? D^lSy,
it may be rendered as in A.V. ' strong and without number,' quite as
well as ' numerous and without number.' This 26th verse, however,
seems most in favour of ' numerous,' that makes the meaning quite
clear: 'Yea, all (the men) she has killed (or 'kills') are many in
number.' So the LXX. Kal dvapWfirjroi turiv ow irt<f>6vevK(v. But
the Arabic has, ' and all her killed [were] strong.'
Ver. 24. " Then Buddha, coming to the abode of joy
[Tushita], said to the gods : ' Abstain from all unchastity ;
divine joys, as many as there be, are the noble offspring of the
heart and mind ; they result from the cause of good works,
and are the fruit of doing good ; therefore think of your
actions.'" 1 " Having heard, O Bodhisatwa, that the prediction
of the perfection of Buddha applies to the hearers of the law
as well, we are filled with wonder and astonishment."'
Ver. 25. "What is it that is, until death, like a dart (or
arrow)? That done deceitfully which ought not to be done."'
" Woe," say the Welsh, " woe be to him who gets a bad repu-
tation when young!"* And the Greeks —
" #(vy« ijSov^v <f>epowrav vartpov /3X.dpriv,"^
" Flee the pleasure that ends in misery." Then Horace —
" Desine matronas sectarier, unde laboris.
Plus haurire mali est, quam ex re decerpere fructus."*
Ver. 26, " If," says Ptah-hotep, " thou goest into the women's
apartments of a master or of a brother, beware of touching the
' Rgya-tcher r. p. c iv. p. 36. ' Dam pai ch'hos padma, &c fol. v.
' Ratnamal. 46. * Welsh pr. ' rvu/i. itov. • Hor. Sat. i. 2, 78.
women : it is not well to do so : thousand men have been
carried away by pleasure that lasts an instant, a wink only,
but that reaches unto death. Let thy heart be against it But
if carried away by passion, no advice will avail."* "No one
will touch, even with a stick, the man who, leaving the right
road, walks in the wrong one."' " For restraint of the body is
one door of entrance to the law ; it purifies wholly the three
defects (or vices) of the body."* " How many thousands of
brave men of valour have perished from the root [root and
branch] through women ! How many men, healthy-looking,
honourable, and of a beaming countenance, have themselves
become earth through women I How many thousands of cele-
brated, noble tenants [of the state] have women laid down
alive upon the dust I Let God, the Protector, protect them
with His help!"*
"Alas ! alas I my strength, that was dreaded by my enemies
on the battle-field, has been [broken] overcome by that fair
forehead,"' says Tiruvalluvar.
" IIoXXcls S' l<t)0iiJU)Vi ^«x"S 'AiSi irpotarj/tv."*
" For he that goes to another woman [or to another man's wife]
shall, when dead, go to hell ; and here his life will be short-
ened ; either way will he fare thus."' " Too long have I held
thee on my bosom, thou venomous snake," said Dasaratha to
Kaikeya ; "therefore do I now perish through my own folly."'
" For kings and princes, and men of sense and mind, as well
as heroes, become craven in company with women."* " It was
through them," says Ibn Batrik in his Annals, "that king
Solomon lost his gift of prophecy."'"
Ver. 27. •' All my studies," said Kandu, (or all steps taken)
for the knowledge of the Vedas, are all destroyed within me
by union [with Premlocha], which is the road to hell."" " What
• Pap. Pr. ix. 7. ' Beng. pr. » Rgya-tcher r. p. c. iv. p. 22.
* Kudat-ku Bilik. xxviii. 19—23. ' Cural, 1088. • II. k 3.
' Vishnu Pur. iii. 11, 73. ' Ramay. ii. xii. loi. » PanchaT. L 207.
" Nazam juw. p. iSi. " Vishnu P. i. xv. 28.
36o
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[vii. 27
viii. 1—3]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
361
[calamity or] perfidy more injurious to man do I leave after
me than woman?"' said Mahomet [as reported in Hadis, tra-
ditions of him] ; he who did more than any one else to debase
and degrade woman wherever Islam prevails. It was not so
in primitive times among the Aryas, whether in 'Airyana
vafija,' in beautiful, well-watered Iran, or in Bharata-varsha
[Hindostan]. "See," says the Tamil proverb, "that you
escape the misery of the deep, miry abyss into which bad,
fascinating women, who talk like parrots, try to lure you"* —
" plunged into that awful [tormenting] hell, into that deep,
immense slough."' " Therefore shun the harlot's house."* " A
woman with a long tongue, and quick steps leading to confu-
sion ; no advice will avail with her so long as she lives."*
"When thou, Kaikeya, hast thrown Causalia, Sumitra, with
me and my two sons, into hell, live happy," said Dasaratha.*
" — <f/v)(al 8' 'AiSoa-St KaTrjKdov,"
" where 'Ai8>js xopU uKurdai 0€<ov, people live in Hades without
gods."' "Nulla vestigia retrorsum."
• The 40 Vizeers, p. 22. • Rattler's Diet. p. iv. p. 130.
' Naloday. vi. 13. ♦ Aw. Atthi Sudi, 95. ' She King, bk. v. 10.
• Ramay. ii. xii. 86. ' II. 4. 33a • Euripid. Hecub. 2.
'
CHAPTER VIII. .
/ The fame, 6 and evidency of wisdom, to The excellency, I3 the nature,
15 the power, 18 the riches, 23 and the eternity of wisdom. J2 Wisdom
is to be desired for the blessedness it bringeth.
T^OTH not wisdom cry? and understanding put
"^ forth her voice ?
2 She standeth in the top of high places, by the
way in the places of the paths.
3 She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at
the coming in at the doors.
Ver. 2. TTTJ ^^S> ' heights of road, high places trodden by people,
high roads.' nis^nj n^5, lit. 'a house of paths,' which is understood
by some to mean 'an inn,' or 'caravanserai.' But, according to the
Syriac idiom, the rendering of A. V. is good, ' among paths, in places
where paths cross one another, cross-paths, Wisdom stands everywhere,
from the highest place to the lowest.' The LXX. omit iT^jJ ^9^, ' at
the [opening] entrance of the city,' and read, va.ph. yap iriXan ivva.tr-
rZv waptSptva, ' takes her position by the gates of the chief men,'
which the Coptic and the recent Arabic translation follow, although
the older Arabic follows the Hebrew.
Ver. 3. " King ' Mig-hbyed' [opener of eyes] said to his min-
isters : Draw out all my treasures, and heap them up at the
gate, in the ways and streets of the city, where the multitude
congregates and dwells, and say unto them : O ye Brahmans,
poor, sick and destitute, &c., come and receive whatever you
like, &c."* " One once asked a Sultan why he did not fasten
his doors, but left his gate open, instead of keeping a cham-
berlain. Because, said he, I protect my people ; not they me."*
' Dsang-Lun, c. xxxv. fol. 183. ' Eth. Thealebi, 19.
362
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
(viii. 4 — 6
4 Unto you, O men, I call ; and my voice is to the
sons of man.
5 O ye simple, understand wisdom : and, ye fools,
be ye of an understanding heart.
6 Hear ; for I will speak of excellent things ; and
the opening of my lips sAa// be right things.
Ver. 6. D^7'*3P, LXX. trtjiva, ' honourable, chief, principal things,'
• sayings to guide and take the lead.' Arab. ' words of excellence,' or
• nobleness.' Chald. rPn^nt?J, ' rectitude,' ' truth,' and in some copies
fVn>"ntp, ' princely leading or ruling.'
Ver. 4- " Unto you I call" &c. Pwan-kang [B.C. 1400] in his
Instructions said : "Come, ye multitudes ! I will give you good
advice. Give up your selfish feelings ; be not arrogant, neither
be of slothful habits, nor follow after [ease and] comfortable
living."* "When the five hundred beggars came to Buddha
and asked him to teach them his doctrine, he replied : The
law I teach is very pure ; it is alike for great and small, rich
and poor. Like water, it washes and cleanses all alike, high
and low, rich and poor ; or it is like fire, that burns everything
on hill and dale, and between earth and heaven. Or it is like
heaven, where there is room for all, whether men or women,
boys or girls, rich and poor. Come, I will teach you accordirig
to your heart"* "When I saw you, O children, dreaming [in
uncertainty as to right or wrong]," says the Chinese Book of
Odes, " my heart was grieved, and I advised you over and over
again ; but ye despised my voice."*
Ver. 5. Thseng-tsze^ quotes another ode from the She King,
where it says that "the "mien man,' the yellow bird, seeks
refuge in a nook on the mountain-side;" which the Ji-kiang
[Commentary on the Ta-hio] explains thus : " Even a bird
knows where to take refuge and to remain ; yet man, who is
the soul of all things, cannot choose supreme good and abide
« Shoo King, iii. 9, la ' Dsang-Lun, c. xxxiv. foL 178.
' She King, bk. iii. ode 2. • Comm. on the Ta-hio, c. i.
I
■
viii. 7 — 9]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
363
in it ; he is not even as intelligent as a bird ;" " although," said
Enoch, "the Most High has given to men a mouth to speak
and an understanding heart, and has given men who under-
stand a voice to speak."' And Confucius, speaking on self-
government according to wisdom, says that "by following that
rule the simple must acquire intelligence."*
Ver. 6. "Hear," &c. "These precepts," says Ptah-hotep,
"are of the very first [most excellent]."' "[Come] hear with
[your] ears the best words, and see [consider] with a clear
mind, to decide on what is most desirable for us, every man
for his own [body] person, before the great [business] event
[happens, the resurrection of the dead] ; those who know about
it should be ready to teach us [for the teaching of us]."*
" Hear ! Hjam-dpal [Mandju Sri, Wisdom personified] having
presented himself before Buddha with joined hands, said thus •
O ye gods, I have a remedy, through love for me ; a treasury
which I have found for the perfect etilightenment of illusion
[in which mortals live] ; a remedy for all who are in natural
corruption, being in spiritual trouble [disturbance], and sunk
in the slough of ignorance."*
7 For my mouth shall speak truth ; and wickedness
is an abomination to my lips.
8 All the words of my mouth are in righteousness ;
there is nothing froward or perverse in them,
9 They are all plain to him that understandeth, and
right to them that find knowledge.
Ver. 7. " The mark (or token) of the Most Blessed One,'' say
the Rabbis, "is— truth."« "The wise man," says Confucius,
" [thinks] bears in mind nine things, one of which is that in
his words he thinks of sincerity [truth]." ^ Lao-tsze also says
» Bk. Enoch, riv. 2, 3. ' Chung y. c xx. » Pap. Pr. v. 3.
* Yatna, xxx. 2. ' Hjam-dpal, fol. 2. • Joma, 69, M. S., and
Ep. Lod. 950. ' Hea-Lun, xvi. 10.
364
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[viii, 8, 9 • viii. 10, ll]
that "the holy man speaks good [truth] and faithfulness."*
" Do not resort to false words," says Aweyar.* " Truth and
sincerity," said Confucius, " is Heaven's way ; and truth is the
rule of [for] men."' " Truth is clear," say the Arabs ; " false-
hood is foul."* Ajatashatru said to Balaka's son : " Speak not
proudly. I worship him [Brahma] as the Spirit of Truth ;
and he who worships him thus, becomes Spirit of Truth."*
" Noon is father of the gods, and Ma [Truth] is the daughter of
the Sun,"' says the Egyptian ; and Menander, " dtl Kpirurrov
«<m to\tj5^ Xiytiv :' it is always best to speak the truth."
Ver. 8. " — rdvT €<rT» T<f KaKif Xoyif
Upbtr' 6 vovs yap ioTiv 6 AaA^tiii' 6tif."^
" Everything," says he again, " is sacred for the word [mouth,
speech] of a good man [he weighs all his words] ; the mind
alone converses with God." " I have," says Hjam-dpal, " the
great knowledge of pure words (or speech) ; my words are
true ; I have the speech of foreknowledge and of perfection."*
" The value of a word tells who is right and who is wrong [in
judgment] ; some will call a blind man a hero, and others will
call him [what he is] a blind man."'*
Ver. 9. " TAey are all plain" &c. " To him whose heart is
not darkened, all things are plain."*' "The clearness of per-
ception [intelligence] that comes from natural [innate] perfec-
tion is called innate light [or talent]. And the perfection that
results from intelligence is called instruction [or acquired
light]."" And Lao-tsze says: "My words are very easy to
know [understand], and very easy to practise." " " For the vir-
tuous understand virtue, but a man destitute of it does not
Just as an elephant can estimate the strength of a lion, but a
rat cannot"" "Every good and evil is plain to a man of
understanding, as white and black are plain in the light of the
' Tao-te-KIng, viii. ' Atthi Sudi, 52. ' Chung y. c. xx.
• Meid. Ar. pr. * Kaushit Brahmana Upan. iv. 5. ' Rit. of Dead,
c. cxli. 4. ' Menand. Hypobol. ed. Brk. ' Ibid. Arrheph. f. ed. G.
• Hjam-dpal, fol. ii. and v. " V. Satasai, 465. " Ming h. dsi. 35.
" Chung y. c. xxi. " Tao-te-King, c Ixx. " Kobitaratna. 128.
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
36s
sun," said king Purwiz to his son Chosru.* " Time is come,"
said the Brahman to the king, " to teach him who was blinded
by ignorance, by ' dividing' the word of the law to him [ex-
plaining it]."'
"'Well, Nagasena,' said king Milinda, 'what is the charac-
teristic of wisdom ?' ' As I said before, O King, the attribute
of wisdom is to divide [cut] and also to emit light [to lighten
up, enlighten].' ' How so ?' ' When wisdom has arisen [in the
heart], it overcomes the gloom of ignorance ; it gives birth to
wise (or knowing) speech ; and it shows forth the bright lustre
of knowledge. It makes plain [aryan] noble truths, so that
the meditative man [devotee] is able to see in the clearness of
his wisdom what is transient and worth- (or meaning-) less.'
' Give an example, Nagasena,' said the king. ' It is, O King,
as if some one brought in a lamp into a dark place. That
lamp would at once scatter the darkness,'" &c.' "And as to
the fruit of wisdom, Bchom-ldan-das [Buddha] spake these
great and pure words [the attributes of Hjam-dpal], for the
sake of their bringing forth immeasurable abundance of fruit
[of wisdom]."*
10 Receive my instruction, and not silver; and
knowledge rather than choice gold.
1 1 For wisdom is better than rubies ; and all the
things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.
D"'3"'59P, see note on ch. iii. i S- R. Yarchi renders it by nvVnO,
■ pearls,' as the Arabic also renders it. But the LXX. has ' precious
stones.' The Coptic follows it, and Chald. also.
Ver. 10. "And not silver," &c. "Gold and silver perish,
but," said the father to his son, "knowledge [skill, talent,
'husn'] is a living spring, and enduring wealth. If thou
wishest for an inheritance from thy father, learn his learning ;
for his wealth may be squandered in ten days."' " He who
' Bochari Dejohor, p. 172.
• Dsang-Lun, fol. 4.
' Milinda
pane, p. 39. • Hjam-dpal, mts'han brjod. fol. iii. » Gulist viL 2.
366
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[viii. lO
imparts knowledge is a teacher, who knows and therefore
teaches ; and young people who are wise wish to learn and
therefore study."* " [Behold] consider (or value) a good word,"
says Ptah-hotep, "like an emerald which slaves find in the
earth, on stones [in mines, or among other stones] on the
arm of queens."* [Here we may notice on this somewhat
difficult passage of the Egyptian papyrus, that we find in the
Talmud on Job i. 15, that the queen of Saba, or of the
Sabaeans, is called 'queen of innt, 'smaragd,' of emeralds, or
emerald mines (?) at Berenice, on the coast of the Red Sea.
Those mines were not worked by female slaves. So that the
passage must refer to the slaves of queens. It may refer to
an emerald set among other stones of inferior value. See on
the subject Pliny, Steph. Byz. ; and Kharuze peninim, p. 119.]
" Desire wealth, freedom from disease, and the highest and
greatest gain — good morals, an obedient son, conformity to
the law [of man and of God], and freedom from desire ; these
are six doors [facing] open to thee to happiness."* "For the
gem of knowledge is great wealth."* " And wise men have
said that riches consist in knowledge [skill, talent], not in
money, as greatness depends on mind [intellect], not on years."*
" And the education of a man is worth more than his gold."*
" For learning," says Aweyar, " is more real riches than even
ready money."T And "the children of Adam get perfection
through knowledge, and not through splendour, wealth or
possessions,"' "since the gem of knowledge is a great jewel
that can neither be lost nor stolen."'
" O ye gods," said Hjam-dpal [Wisdom], " I am in possession
of clear knowledge and of pure speech."" " The ornament of
learned men is in their learning ; they require no other orna-
ment. How could you adorn beauty itself?"" "ORadjor, if
> Siao-hio, c. I. * Pap. Pr v. 10. ' Atthassadw. Jat. p. 366.
♦ Bahudorsh, p. 10. * Gulist. i. st. 5. • Meid. Ar. pr.
' Kondreiv. 22. • Pend nameh, p. 10. • Kobita Rat 197.
'• Hjam-dpal, fol. vi. " Nitinerivilacc. 13.
i:
)
viif. II, 12]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
367
there were as many Ganges as there are grains of sand on the
bank, and as many heaps of jewels and other precious things
as there are grains of sand on the banks of all those Ganges,
their joint value would not equal the value of one four-line
verse of this lore. What then is the name of this invaluable
knowledge? asked Radjor. The name of it is, ' Pragna para-
mita' [perfect knowledge, acquired during a period of one's
existence]."* "Knowledge (or science)," said the 'sun of
doctors,' the [lord or] chief Khasi, " is light, and washing one-
self clean is light, and the light of knowledge is increased
thereby." " All honour to a teacher of the law ; one thousand
drachmas for teaching one letter."*
Ver II. " Not compared to it," &c. "As the Vrinda forest
is above others, and Bharata [India] is above other 'varshas'
[countries], as Kashi [Benares] is above other cities, as the
tree of Paradise is among other flowers and trees, as the sun
is among luminaries, as amrita [ambrosia] is among other
drinks, so are Krishna's praises above others, and so is wisdom
above riches," said Vyasa to his son Shakra.' "No sooner
did we hear the commanding voice of our governor [guide,
Buddha], voice that goes to the heart, than we were filled with
joy and amazement. Then all of a sudden we all found we
had gotten for ourselves a great, inexhaustible treasure (or
riches)," said Hod-srans-chhen-po [Mahakashiapa].* "Intel-
ligence is ' capital ' for a man," say the Osmanlis.' " I, Wisdom,
am the highest priced wealth, and the judge of holiness."*
" I am my own knowledge and intelligence and that of others ;
the 'chief mind' [inward man, consciousness, and also 'con-
science'] profitable to all, and which exceeds all other things
compared to it."^
12 I wisdom dwell with prtidence, and find out
knowledge of witty inventions.
' Ther-wa chhen po, p. 148. ' Borhan-ed-din, p. 50 and 42.
' Narada, Pancha R. i. 6, 7. ' Dkar padma, iv. fol. 31. ' Osin. pr.
• Hjam-dpal, fol. ix. ' Id. fol. x.
368
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[viii. 12
viii. 13, 14]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
369
HSOy niotp m-y), • and find knowledge of counsels,' that is,
' find to know how to give good and prudent counsel, according to
circumstances.' ' Witty' here must be taken in the sense of ' quick
and ready,' and 'inventions' in that of 'finding at once the right
thing to say or do.' The Arabic reads : ' the knowledge of counsels.'
But nptn, as remarked above, ch. i. 4, and iiL 21, and there rendered
' discretion,' implies more than ' counsel.' It expresses ' revolving in
mind what to do, with a good [but often] with a bad motive;' 'tact,
prudence, discretion,' &c.
"/wisdom," &c. "Wisdom is said to have a hundred hands
to do everything, moved by a body free from all trouble."*
"Wise men, when reduced in circumstances with exhausted
means of living, do not resort to the ways in which foolish
men labour [in vain] and perish. Small birds that drink the
drops of rain, do not, when thirsty, go to the great rivers to
drink."' " Yea, though their head swim [is bewildered], yet
their work is not impaired thereby. The ant, though without
eyes, yet soon grows richer than other [insects] that have
eyes." ' " Hjam-dpal [Wisdom] is of the greatest use (or
advantage) to all beings, from the means (or contrivances,
'inventions') he has, through his great power and through his
great knowledge."*
" Damage," says Odin, " seldom happens to the prudent ;
for no man ever gets a firmer friend than 'mann-vit' ['inborn
wit,' or perception ; common sense, or sagacity].'" " Every
man who possesses the gem of wisdom knows how to manage
all his affairs."' For " wisdom," said the Spirit of Wisdom,
"which is not joined with good, is not to be looked upon as
wisdom ; and skill that is not joined to wisdom, cannot be
considered skill at all.'" " I am," says Hjam-dpal (Wisdom),
"the other side [or end] of perfect knowledge for having
crossed it; and I give that perfect knowledge."^ "But for-
sooth, iTiV«rw, understanding (or intelligence)," says Menander,»
' Hjam-dpal, fol. viii. ' Sain iigh. fol. 4 » Id. ibid.
« Hjam-dpal, fol. i. and fol. x. » Hdvamdl. 6. • Nizami, p. 99.
» Mainyo i kh. xi. 4- ' Hjam-dpal, fol. x. • Sto^op-^.
"is the cause of an infinity of good things, if it be wisely
applied to the best purposes." " It teaches, koto jhv Stvr€pov
vkovv, to take to the oars when we cannot sail."'
13 The fear of the Lord is to hate evil : pride, and
arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth,
do I hate.
14 Counsel ?> mine, and sound wisdom : I aw under-
standing ; I have strength.
ni!|3a, 'manly vigour, valour.' n^tP^ni, and counsel, help or 'wis-,
dom,' as in this place. The Arabic understands it in the sense of
' counsel, or opinions.' LXX. uo-<^aActa, ' safety,' that may come from
help.
Ver. 13. "T/te/ear of the Lord" &c. "Obedience to the
gods," says Ptah-hotep, " what [is it] ? Make it (or let it be)
to thee a pattern [wherewith] to do away with evils among
[intelligent] men."* " A good and wise man," says Confucius,
" fears three things : the decrees (or order of) from Heaven ;
great men ; and the sayings of wise men.'" " O my friends,
why do we not worship at the shrine of our God ? It will give,
us virtue, riches, pleasure and heaven."^ " He who fears.
God has a curb [in his mouth]," say the Arabs.' " Let none
of those who propitiate the gods commit any degrading sin."*
" I have not yet seen that truly virtuous [good] man," said
Confucius, " who hates what is not virtuous. The really good
man is without equal. To hate that which is not virtuous is
virtue indeed ! Such a man has no dealings with those that
are not virtuous, lest he be injured by them."' " For," exclaims
Lao-tsze, "how great is the distance from good to evil."*
[How far apart!] "And, o/kt^s omIiov luri KaKiav fiurdv, it is
of the nature of virtue to hate vice," says Cleobulus.* " Beloved
son," said Gautama to Rahula, " throughout all estates [exist-
• Id. Opam!. p. » Pap. Pr. v. 3, 4. » Ming Sin P. K. c vii.
♦ Niti neri vilacc. 4, 5. ' Meid. Ar. pr. ' Rig V. ii. skta.fcxxv. 7.
' Shang-Lun, iv. 6. • Tao-tc-King, c. xx. » Sept. Sap. ed. Antv.
2 B
370
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[viii. 13, 14
II
ences] leave off senseless pride ; when that is subdued, then
thou shalt walk [quietly] at peace."' "When the Bodhisatwa
was in the fourth heaven, before he became a perfect Buddha,
he was entirely free from pride and from [setting up] haughti-
ness."* [' Pride,' in Tibetan ' nga-rgyal,' means properly, ' I
conquer,' or ' I am king.' Compare the Sanscrit ' ahankara.']
"And the overcoming of this 'I am king' or pride, is one of
the doors of entrance to religious brightness, for it leads to
the perfection of supreme knowledge."'
" Forsake pride, haughtiness and arrogance," said Buddha
to the gods.* " Through arrogancy, good qualities and shame-
facedness are diminished."' "The prophet said : I never saw
anything so soon punished as arrogancy." " And," said Ben-
ul-hakm, "arrogancy throws down the arrogant."' " Arrogancy
is hateful in a wise man." " It ruined Azazil [Satan]. It is
the habit of ignorant men, and is a sin."^
Ver. 14. " Counsel is mine" &c. " Knowledge, mercy and
valour," says Confucius, " are the three things that constitute
universal virtue."* " Foreknowledge [prejudice, ts'heen shih],"
says Lao-tsze, "is but the bloom [outward appearance] of
Tao, and the foundation [beginning] of ignorance (or stupidity).
Therefore does the great man cling to its depth, and does not
adhere to its surface;"' "for there is naught safer than [straight]
honest counsel," say the Greeks ;'" " than Wisdom [Hjam-dpal],
in whose hands infinite power [sceptre] resides," " whose power
is above that of Indra and Ishwara ; who wields hither and
thither the sceptre he holds in his own hand, and who over-
comes the three worlds."" " O Sumedha pandita," said Dipan-
kara, "fulfil the fifth 'paramita' of energy; like a lion, which
is strong in every posture ; so also be thou strong and free
from desire in every circumstance and estate, and thou shalt
then become a Buddha."**
» Rahula thut. 39. ' Rgya-tcher r. p. c. ii. ' Ibid. c. iv.
« Id. ibid. ' Legs par b. p. 164. • Eth Thealebi, 199.
» Pend nameh, p. 8, 10. ' Chung y, c xx. • Tao-te-King, c. xxxviii.
M ryuji. itov. " Hjam-dpal, fol. i. " Durenidh. Jat. p. 22.
viii. IS, 16] THE BOOK OF PROVERBS. 371
" What is the characteristic of strength ? asked king Milinda.
It IS, O King, to support ; those who are supported by energy
never lose the [primary] best virtues." 1 " Hjam-dpal [Wisdom]
possesses the strength (or power) of all powerful things; the
fortitude of all so endued; and all the good a powerful king
*^^" ^°- "^ possesses also supreme perfection of wisdom
enlightening with all intelligence and goodness;"" "has per-
fect holiness ; and is the very form (or nature) of all holiness "*
"Who is strong? asked the Sage ; and the Spirit of Wisdom
answered : He is strong [a hero] who can fight his own
demoness, and keep far from him these five demonesses:
avarice, wrath, lust, shame and discontent."'
"Knowledge," says Sankara, "[spreads] arranges the sacri-
fices and all other actions. Therefore every capability for
[good] action is through knowledge [vijnanam]; whosoever
knows Brahma [for himself] and does not swerve from it
enjoys all desiits after forsaking sin. Love is the head ; joyi
the right side; enjoyment, the left side; bliss, 'the self;' and
Brahma, the foundation of it all."» "'Tell me, O serpent,' said
Yudhishtira, 'the chief distinction between the mind and
understanding ; for this is reckoned of the utmost importance
by those who seek the knowledge of the Supreme Spirit.'
'Understanding [buddhi, intellect] follows the soul, and belongs
to its wonderful origin. Know, then, that intellect lies in the
soul, and yearns towards it Intellect arises from action ; but
the mind was there already. This, my friend,' said the serpent
to Yudhishtira, 'is the great difference between mind and
intellect'"^
15 By me kings reign, and princes decree justice.
16 By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges
of the earth.
• Milinda pafio, p. 37. » Hjam-dpal, fol. v. » Id. fol. viii.
• Id. fol. ix. » Mainyo i kh. c. xli. « Taittireya Upd. Vail. ii.
' Maha Bh. Vana P. 12,512.
2 B 2
372
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[viii. 15. J 6
" By me kings:' &c. " The duty of a prince is to be just ;
of a subject, to be obedient ; of a father, to love ; of a son, to
be reverential ; of an elder brother, to love his younger brother ;
and the duty of this one is to respect his elder brother. These
are called the six kinds of obedience." » "Justice," says Con-
fucius, " consists in [just] retribution ; the principal part of
which is to give due honour to wise men. The prince, there-
fore, cannot but think of reforming himself; while meditating
on that, he cannot but render to his parents the honour due
to them ; and while intent on this duty he must become
acquainted with men ; and in order to know men, he cannot
but learn to know Heaven.
"There are nine invariable rules," says Confucius, "to be
followed by those who govern kingdoms or houses, namely :
to regulate himself; to honour the wise; to honour his
parents ; to pay proper respect to high functionaries ; to treat
inferior officers with affability ; to look upon the people as
his own children ; to gather around him the best tradesmen ;
to show hospitality to strangers ; and to cherish his vassals."«
•• And in governing an extensive kingdom— one of a thousand
war-chariots— to respect business and good faith, moderate
expenditure; to love men, and to give employment to the
people at the proper time."' " The prince whose equity does
not fail, will direct the four kingdoms."* " He," says Lao-tsze,
"who knows how to be constant, has a liberal mind. A
liberal-minded man is equitable ; and an equitable man is
king.""
In the Shoo King« we read that "the emperor Yaou [B.C. 2356)
was a pattern of all virtues, and made proof of his superior
virtue by uniting in ties of relationship the nine degrees of
kindred. These being harmonized, he pacified [smoothed
down] and adorned the people [of the imperial estate]. His
» Siao-hio, c. iv. ' Chung y, c. xx.
• She King, i. M, 3. '" Ta-hio Com. c. ix.
• Bk. i. sect. i.
' Shang-Lun, i. 5.
' Tao-te-King, c. xii.
viii. 17; 18]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
373
own people having become intelligent, he established concord
among the many districts of the empire. Then the black-
haired people [Chinese] — Oh ! how they were changed by that
harmonious understanding!" So also was Yu or Shun (B.C.
2286) "profoundly wise, accomplished, intelligent, cordial,
respectful, honest and sincere. Although he was the son of a
blind man, and of low parentage, his virtuous conduct having
attracted the notice of his predecessor Yaou, he was by him
called to mount the throne of the empire."' "Speaking to
Kaou-yaou, Yu said : To know men, one should be intelligent ;
and to govern men and to quiet the people, one should be
kindly disposed."' "And Kaou-yaou said: When the supreme
chief is intelligent, the ministers of state also virtuous, then
how public business prospers!"' "The first order that I
instituted in my court and reign," said Timur, "is that I
favoured the worship of God."* " For although there be many
kings, yet there are but few that rule righteously." "And
with an intelligent minister both master and people derive
benefit An arrow shot by a good archer hits the object
aimed at,"'
1 7 I love them that love me ; and those that seek
me early shall find me.
1 8 Riches and honour are with me ; yea, durable
riches and righteousness.
\)iy^ ^in, either 'durable riches,' 'splendid wealth,' or 'ancient
possessions,' that have lasted from all eternity, and will last for ever.
LXX. KTrfTis )roXA.fc!i» incorrectly. Ar. 'splendid, honourable pos-
session (or acquisition) and prosperity.' The Chaldee renders pJliy
by N^l^, properly ' the influence of the stars,' but popularly, ' fortune,
riches and good luck, or prosperity.'
" f love them, &c. " Wisdom chooses for her friends [who
will cling, adhere to her] men of a pure heart ; but she wards
• Shoo King, bk. i. sect. 2. ' Id. sect. 4. ' ' Id. sect. $■
• Institut. of Timur. ' Legs par b. p. 197, 199.
374
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[viii. 17, 1 8
:
off every proud and wicked man from touching or approach-
ing her."^ "Wisdom is the ruler that teaches the world good
knowledge — a ruler that is not dreaded."' " In thy present
life it will be to thee a help that will never fail."* "The
' Teguntchilan ireksen,' or ' Tathagata' [one who is gone like
his predecessor ; the last degree before becoming a Buddha ;
sometimes used for one, as in this place] appeared. Seeing
the beings passing from this word through the deception in
which they perished, [and feeling] that if they adopted his
conduct [or walk in life] it would be the riches of all creatures,
and seeing them thus destitute, he, in his infinite pity, con-
ferred upon them a leader (or guide) on earth through [or in]
the mind."*
" When Omar was asked how a man could make himself
respected or despised, he replied : A man makes himself
respected who follows pursuits (or actions) which agree with
wisdom, and whose words also agree with it But he makes
himself contemptible when he forgets to do so."* " Glory (or
honour) is in the hand of him who confers it, not in him who
receives it." [Wisdom confers honour on man ; it is not
man's own ; he receives it] "Wise men, then, possess every-
thing [in having wisdom] ; men destitute of wisdom, whatever
they may seem to have, yet have nothing."' But as regards
appearance this also is true : " He who pitches his tent for a
fast and worldly life, will have fortune to fasten his pegs ; but he
who journeys with virtue, will have poverty for his com-
panion."^
" If," says Vemana, " we love him [Shiva, god, or good], he
loves us ; if we do not love him, he will never love us. Then
all our display, all our delusions on earth, will have profited
us nothing."* " Those," says Byam-chub-sems-pa [Bodhi-
satwa] "who have faith in me, whoever they be, are my
• Mlshle As. vi. 19. ' Hjam-dpal, fol. vi. » Cural, 36.
* Allan Gerel, ch. i. fol. 22. ' Bochari Dejohor, p. 163. • Cural, 430.
' El Nawab. 38. » Vemana, i. 114.
viii. 19—21] THE BOOK OF PROVERBS. 375
friends."' "What is wealth? Wisdom."' " For Hjam-dpal
[Wisdom] is the excellent chief who works for the good of men,
by means full of knowledge and of great mercy."'
19 My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold ;
and my revenue than choice silver.
20 I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst
of the paths of judgment :
2 1 That I may cause those that love me to inherit
substance ; and I will fill their treasures.
Ver. a I. V}> iprfM ''''njn^, 'to cause those who love me to inherit
that which ' is,' everlasting, real, without decay of any kind' tt^,
• with me is a large (or great) inheritance,' says R. Yarchi. Arab.
■ wealth, riches, gain.'
Ver. 19. " My fruit," &c. " ' What then of all thy treasures,
Mitra Dzoghi ? What of all the enjoyment and fruit of thy
wealth ? Is it to go in alms to the first comer ?' ' Let all that
be ever so great,' answered Mitra Dzoghi, 'it is wealth for hell,
that satisfies not the heart. Almsgiving of itself satisfies the
heart I go to renounce all desire of wealth.'"* "O Master,
after having observed our religious duties a long time, as
taught to us carefully by one who knew the world, we have
already reaped the fruit thereof"* "For wisdom dwells in
the fruit of [the precepts] of the law."« " These are the five
steps to wisdom : silence, listening, memory, action, and love
of study."' " Cast not pearls before swine, nor offer wisdom
to those who do not value it. For wisdom is above pearls,
and he who does not wish for it is more degraded than swine."*
" Though cows be of various colours, yet is milk always white.
So also is the path of wisdom (or virtue) one, though virtues
differ.""
' Rgya-tcher r. p. c. vii. p. 86. ' Pancha Ratna. 4. ' Hjam-dpal,
fol. i. • Mitra Dzoghi, fol. 6. ' Dkar padma, iv. fol. 45.
' Hjam-dpal, fol. viii. ' Mifkh. hapen, B. Fl. » Id. ibid.
' Naladiyar, 8.
3/6
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[viii. 22
Ver. 20. " / lead in the way" &c. " Those who see well can
lead the blind by the way."' "I," says Hjam-dpal, "teach
the beautiful way."'' "Wisdom is that which, not allowing
one to follow one's own inclination, recalls one from evil and
leads in the right way.'" " By holding firmly my mind," said
Hjam-dpal to the gods, " men will be purified from natural
corruption and ignorance."* " I worship the Guide, the Leader,
the Refuge immaculate, who supports — the most excellent
l''hara,who frees men, Nats andBrahmans from the least stain —
I worship him !"^
Ver. 21. "There will be light to the elect, and they shall
inherit the earth."' " This is my son, said the De-bjin-shegs-pa
[Tathagata] ; all I have, all my wealth, all my riches — I give
it all to him"' {to man, as being recalled from his wayward-
ness by Buddha] ; " and all the jewels and riches I have within,
all, such as it is, is now his property. Then the son said : I
was poor and destitute ; but now I am all at once made rich
and possessor of immense wealth."* [From the beautiful
parable of the ' Lost Child.']
22 The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his
way, before his works of old.
iS^T rC'Xpvn "-aap^ njrl^, 'Jehovah,' says the Wisdom of God
[S. Matt, xxiii. 34; S. Luke xi. 44; Ep. Heb. i. 2, &c.], 'possessed
(or acquired) me [as] principle, beginning, or principal agent of His
way [course of creation].' LXX. o Ki'pios iKTio-e /£« "PXV'' '''^^ oSujc
ai'Toii, ' the Lord created me [as] beginning (or principle) of His
ways.' Aquila, tKrvjcraro /if, ' possessed or acquired me,' &c. Chald.
Syr. Copt. Arab, 'created me at the beginning of His creation.'
Armcn. 'established, confirmed me.' Vulg. agrees with the Hebrew
and Aquila : ' Dominus possedit me in initio viarum suarum ;' when
says Ibn Aben Ezra, 'there was only Wisdom in the world [Wisdom
«as alone in it], and with Her did God create the whole [world].'
' Mong. max. R.
' I liam-diial, fol. ii.
c. \. ;. " Ukar padma, fol. 25
2 Hjam-dpal, fol. iv.
^ Namakara pat. J. Tlicra, 10.
" Id. ibid.
' Cural, 422.
« Dk. Enoch,
VJii. 22]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
Z77
'Ektio-c savours so strongly of the growing Gnosticism of the
Alexandrian school, that we cannot wonder at the hot con-
troversies caused among Arians and other heretics, by the
rival readings of the Greek Vulgate, (Kruri nc, ' He created me,'
and fKT^(raTo fit, ' He possessed me.' As regards the Hebrew,
I will only remark that nji? never has the meaning of ' creat-
ing,' carelessly given in some lexicons. Not one of the pas-
sages given in favour of it will bear that interpretation. Thus,
" Blessed be Abraham of the most High God, V.^^J D^Qtt? nj.p,
possessing, or possessor of heaven and earth," not ' creating'
assuredly (Gen. xiv. 19, 22) ; and notwithstanding the LXX.
OS (KTto-t Tov ovp. K. Tfjv yrjv. Deut. xxxii. 6, " Is He not thy
father, 13f7, who bought [LXX. and Copt. iKTi'ia-aTo o-t] thee,"
as in Ps. Ixxiv. 2, " Remember thy congregation whom,
Dip. n""?!?, thou hast purchased of old ;" LXX. {kt^o-w dw'
apx^i ; so also Copt, and Arab. Ps. cxxxix. 1 3, ^ip''^? ^''?i?.
"thou hast possessed my reins ;" LXX. (rv Urrja-u> rois ve<f)povi
fiov ; Copt. Arab. id. Anyhow, it could not be ' created me,' in
the strict sense of the word, but rather ' formed me,' according
to His own law. ' Possessed,' however, is best there, as well as
in this verse.
The following references on this subject may, perhaps, be of use to
some student. Philo Jud. iKTia-aro, De Temul, p. 244 ; tou Beov
6vya.Trjp,De Profug. p. 458 : "God theFatherand Wisdom the Mother,
through whom He made the whole universe," p. 165 ; "the fountain
of life," id. p. 479 ; " and the wise reminder, because often forgotten,
that philosophy is wisdom's handmaid," De Congr. p. 435. S. Epi-
phan. Ancoratus, xlii. xliii., fKTunv, said iv wapoifuy., Iv wapa/SoX-iJ, id.
adv. Ar. vol. i. p. 745, iKTiat iv y. Maptos, and p. 743. Euseb.
Prcrp. Ev. lib. vii. 12, xi. 14. Demonstr. Ev. lib. v. c. i, «ktio-< —
■npta-roTOKov, &c. Justin M. adv. Tryph. p. 284, 287, eVno-e /it apx^''
o5. S. Ambros. De Fide, c. iv., 'creavit me, de incarnatione diet,
niyst.' &c. S. Athanas. adv. Arian, vol. i. q. v. S. Basil, adv.
Eutwm. vol. i. p. 256, 293. Didymus Alex, de Trinitate, lib. iii.
c. 3, but especially at 2 Cor. v. 17, p. 1706, ed. M. and in Com. in
Pro-,: p. 1630. S. Ephrem, vol. iii. p. 100, (j. v. S. Irenaeus, adv.
378
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[viii. 22
Hares, lib. iv. c. 37. Origen in Johan. p. n, 17, 18, 33, 36, 37.
S. Ignat. Ep. ad Tars, and Philip, q. v. S. Cyprian, ad Quirin. lib.
ii. c. I. S. Hilar, 0pp. i. p. 18, 324, 335, ii. 341- S. Gregory
Naz. Or. xxxvi. 4. S. Jerome on this verse, and on Ep. to Eph. c. ii. &c.
Ver. 22. " The Lord possessed me:' &c. " The Spirit of Wis-
dom was asked : Why is it that the knowledge and skill of
heaven and earth are united in thee ? And the Supreme Intel-
ligence (or Spirit of Wisdom) answered : Because from the
very first, I, who am the Original Intelligence [or Wisdom]
was with Hormuzd, from [the creation of] the heavens and
of the earth."' "And the Creator Hormuzd created, preserves
and overrules the Yazads [heavenly beings, tutelary angels ?]
of the creations of heaven and earth, and of all that therein is
and is produced, by the strength, power, wisdom [or know-
ledge] and skill of me. Original Intelligence [or Wisdom, ' Asn
khard,' called ' paraloklya buddhi,' or ' wisdom of the other
world,' in the Sanscrit translation], and it is through wisdom
that Sao.shyansh and Kai-kosru will be assisted at the resur-
rection, and in the forming of the new body,"" &c. " I con-
sider thee, O Mazda," said Zarathustra, "as the first (or
greatest) to be praised with the mind — thee the father of
Vohu Mano [Good Spirit] which I saw with my eyes — thee
the [clear] evident Creator of purity, the son of the world in
[thy] works. Armaiti [wisdom] was with thee [in thee, or
thine] ; with thee was the creating [or creator] spirit that
created the cow, when thou, Ahura Mazda, the Spirit of heaven,
madest a way for her — thou who comest forth [as seen] in
the [effective or] energetic operation of thy works, though
thyself invisible,"' — "in realms where Armaiti [Wisdom] is
joined to Asha [blessing], where are the desirable (or desired)
kingdoms of Vohu Mano, where Ahura Mazda inhabits the
place of his own choice."*
[Manu, after relating the creation of the world, says that in
• Mainyo i kh. c. Ivii. 1,2. 'Id. ibid. 7—20. ' Ya^na, xxxi. 8, 9,
« Id. xlv. 16.
viii. 22]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
379
the Krita age of the gods, all religion and virtue had four feet
[walked on all fours], but that in the Treta and succeeding
ages virtue lost one foot, then another. Culluca understands
it of the bull and primordial cow, often mentioned in Indian
writings. An interesting myth, but foreign to our present
object.] "Mazda, the creator of good, whose daughter is
Armaiti (wisdom), she who does good."* "She was with
him when (^pento Mainyus [Holy Spirit] created his works in
unlimited time [eternity]."* [In the Rivaiets, however, we
find this old doctrine thus mistaken : " In an old Pehlevi book
it is stated that the world was created, for it is clear that
everything was created except Time. And they say that Time
is the creator."' Moses of Chorene, Esnig and other Armenian
writers, mention 'Zervana akarana,' unlimited or 'uncreated
Time,' as parent of all things. But this, again, does not con-
cern us at present] "O Amun," says the Egyptian, "who
didst exist from the beginning, I worship thee, eternal god,
creator of beings, lord of the gods,"* &c.
Taking, however, ' Tao' as Wisdom [in this sense at least],
Lao-tsze says that "it is so profound [deep, indiscernible]
that it seems to be the patriarch of all things"^ — " ever flowing
as if ever existent."* " How deep and pure, it seems to subsist
from all eternity!" "I know not whose offspring it is. It
seems to have existed before the Lord."' And if we take Tao
to be 6 Adyos as well as 17 2o<^io, Lao-tsze says further : " How
deep, how unsearchable is Tao I He possesses 'essence' in
himself [' I am that I am' — ' I am' is my name]. His essence
is Truth itself. In him is faithfulness [or certainty of his own
existence]. From olden times until now his name has not
passed away. He gives birth to all things ; he counts, one
by one, all the origins of things. How do I know that the
origin of all things is thus? I know it is in Tao."*
' Ya^na, xliv. 4.
Trad. Lit. p. 161.
King, c. iv. ' Id. c. vi.
' Vendidad, xix. 53. ' Rivaiet, in Spiegel,
* Zeitschr. Aug. 1873, Hymn to Amun. ' Tao-te-
' Id. c. iv. ' Id. c. xxi.
38o
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[viii. 23
"Quam earn antiquissimam cum videamus, nomen tamen
esse confitcmur recens. Nam sapientiam quidem ipsam quis
ncgare potest non modo re esse antiquam, verum etiam
nomine? quas divinarum humanarumque rerum, turn initiorum
causarumque cujusque rei cognitione hoc pulcherrimum nomen
apud antiques assequebatur," says Cicero.'
" The original and supreme InteUigence or Wisdom [belke
bilik] is distinguished from the wisdom given to inferior beings,
wliich returns to the Supreme Intelligence at Nirvana."*
"Wisdom, then, which [is empty and yet is not emptiness]
has no visible form is called 'Tao,'" says Kwan-tsze ; "when
influencing [converting] and nurturing men, it is called 'virtue ;'
when deciding between man and man, it is called 'justice;'
when regulating men, it is called 'propriety.' Yet since it
can neither be seen nor accurately described, how can men on
earth know the fashion of it ? It is everywhere [subtile] and,
as it were, diffused. It is silent ; the valiant cannot overreach
it; and [man's] wisdom cannot search it out."' [Such passages,
showing an earnest search after truth, are full of interest.]
"In Him dwelleth the Spirit of Wisdom, and the Spirit of
Intelligence, and the Spirit of Doctrine and Power, and the
Spirit of those who are asleep in righteousness, and He will
judge hidden things." "Blessed art Thou, Lord, O King;
great and powerful art thou in thy greatness. Lord of all the
hosts of Heaven! there is not anything too difficult for
thee ; there is no wisdom Thou hast not traversed ; and Thou
knowest, scest and hearest all things ; and there is nothing
hidden from Thee."*
23 I was set up from everlasting, from the begin-
ning, or ever the earth was.
Vv'f ''^luP, ' from the antecedents of the earth.' LXX. irph tou t^i'
yrjv jroijjcjat. Arab. ' from the first beginnings of the earth.'
■ Tusc. Quxst. V. 3. » Tonilku yin ch. c. i. ' Kwan-tsze, c. xxxvi.
* Dk. Enoch, c. xlix. and Ixxxiv.
viii. 23]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
381
"From everlasting" &c. ''And the name of the Son of Man,
who is above all, 'the Ancient of Days' was called before the
Lord of Spirits. Before the sun was created, ere the signs
and the stars of heaven were created. His name was called
in presence of the Lord of Spirits."* For "before the earth
and countries were created — before the revolutions of the uni-
verse were settled — before the wind blew — before the sound
of thunder was heard — before the flash of lightning had shone
forth — before the soil of Paradise was laid down — before the
beauty of flowers appeared — before the hour of an earthquake
was settled — before the host of angels was numbered — before
the height (?) of the highest heavens appeared — before the
measure of heaven was named — before the very traces of the
world became known — and before the sealed ones who have
treasured up their faith were sealed — then I considered that I
alone did exist, and that besides me there was no other."'
" There is a Being," says Lao-tsze, indiscernible and unde-
fined, who was born [existed] before heaven and earth. Oh,
how calm, how subtile ! He alone stands for evermore and
changes not. He pervades all things and is in no danger.
He may be said to be the Mother of the world. I do not
know his name ; I call him Tao [seeing all things come through
him, I therefore call him Tao or ' way,' Comm.] In endeavour-
ing to find a name, I call him Great. From 'Great,' I call him
'Imperceptible' [lost in expanse]; from this, I call him 'Dis-
tant' [beyond my reach] ; yet although beyond my reach, I
should say, nevertheless, that he returns [to me, is about me],
and that Tao is eternal."' "No one gave to Tao his dignity
nor to Virtue her honour ; they are such in themselves from
all eternity. Tao therefore gives life to all things ; he supports
them ; he brings them up ; perfects them, ripens them,
nourishes them and protects them."*
" When the whole universe was still in darkness unseen and
» Bk. Enoch, c. xlvii. « Ezra (Eth.) iv. i — 13. ' Tao-te-King,
c. xxv. ' Id. c. li.
382
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[viii. 23
imperceptible, as it were buried in sleep, then the Eternal,
Himself indiscernible, brought it all into being."* "Then
was Brahma [the creator] born of the uncreated, eternal
Brahma."* " In thy body," said Rama to Vishnu, " I see the
whole of this world, O Lord I thou who art indiscernible and
without beginning, in whom I take refuge."' "There never
was a time when I was not," said Bhagavan to Sanjaya, " or
when thou and they were not But know that that by which
this universe was spread is imperishable ; whose spirit passes
from one body to another, like a man taking off old clothes
and putting on new ones. Yet that He is unborn [eternal] ;
most ancient [first of all]."* " For the first of the four requi-
sites for a competent Vedantist is, to distinguish what is eternal
from that which is passing."' " And it does not behove any
one to make out that he is not imperishable."*
" UpetrlSvTaTov riHv ovrtov Otoi' dyivr/Tov yip" " God is the most
ancient of all beings, for he is unborn," said Thales ; who, being
asked what is to ddov, the Godhead, answered : " That which
has neither beginning nor end."' " In Holy Scripture [Zend
Avesta] we learn that Ahura Mazda was always [eternally] in
light. That light, where Ahura Mazda dwells, is called
'eternal light.' As to Ahura Mazda, this 'always' means
unlimited Time. Moreover, we know that Ahura Mazda's
absolute (or complete) rule [dominion, or creation of good]
will endure in the coming life, and that it will proceed un-
limited to everlasting. Whereas Angra Mainyu's creation [of
evil, dominion] will end with Time, when the next life begins.
And that is eternity."* " We praise unlimited Time, and long-
ruling Time [9000 — 12000 years], and the sky (or firmament)
which is self-governed [qadathem].""
"I am heaven-born," says Hjam-dpal [Wisdom], "from
' Manu S. 1. ^ Id. ibid., and Ramayana, i. Ixx. 19. ' Ramayana,
i. xxxi. 12. * Maha Bh. Hhishma P. xxvi. igo. ' Vedanta Sara, p. 2.
• Maha Bh. Bhishnia P. xxvi. 195. ' Thales Mil. Sept. Sap. ed. Antv.
• Bundchcsh, c. i. " Kurshid Nyaish, 8.
viii. 23]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
383
heaven itself; I am the great lamp of intrinsic knowledge
that sheds abroad a brilliant light, and the awful brilliancy of
[intuitive or] foreknowledge ; I am the lamp of men as ' lamp
of knowledge."" "I wear the diadem of knowledge; I free
from sorrow ; I cleanse altogether from all defilement ; I dwell
in heaven as an equal ; and being free from all intellectual
darkness, I reckon the three times [past, present and to come]
as no time [eternal] ; I am the head of all headed beings
endued with qualities ; and I dwell chiefly in the way to
heaven."^ " I am Prince of the most perfect, and am chief
among the pure and holy.'"
" The Lord," says Dioscorus, " exists in His kingdom, world
without end. Before the dawn and the morning, before the
day and the night, and before the angels were created, the
Lord existed in His kingdom. Before the sun and moon,
and the stars, when as yet no heavenly bodies revolved in
their courses, the Lord existed in His kingdom. Before the
heavens were created, when as yet no verdure had sprung
from the earth, the Lord existed in His kingdom. Before the
beasts that move and the birds that fly, and before the beasts
that are in the sea, the Lord was in His kingdom. Before
He had created man in His image and similitude, and ere
man transgressed His commandment, the Lord existed in
His kingdom."* " I believe," says Claudius, king of Ethiopia,
"in one God, and in His only Son Jesus Christ, who is His
Word, His Power, His Counsel, and who is His Wisdom, who
was with Him before the creation of the world."*
Regarding the creation of man to till the earth, we read in
the Ya9na that " Geus Urva, the soul of the cow [or the
genius of the earth], calls upon you two, Ahura Mazda and
Armaiti [Wisdom], and asks : Wherefore have you formed me,
and who created me ? Then the Creator of the cow asked
the pure [Armaiti] : Where hast thou a lord of the earth [to till
1 Hjam-dpal, fol. v. ^ Id. fol. vi. » Id. fol. v. * Lit. (Eth.)
S. Dioscori Hat. ' Confes. Fid. Claud, reg. ceth.
384
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[viii. 24 — 26
it]? Then Ahura Mazda, who knows the end [of all things]
in his wisdom, said [to Geus Urva] : There was no lord known,
nor any ruler in holiness ; but I created thee for the [benefit
of the] hard-working husbandman."*
24 When there were no depths, I was brought forth ;
when there were no fountains abounding with water.
25 Before the mountains were settled, before the
hills was I brought forth :
26 While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the
fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world.
Ver. 26. niSini, 'wide, open, uncultivated places.' LXX. 001x7)701.?,
•uninhabited places.' Arab, 'open country, wildernesses.' l£?t^-|'!
bari ni-iDJ?, -and the head of clods of earth' [beginning of cultiva-
tion, as in Job. xxviii. 6. ant nil??. Mumps, or ingots of gold.']
ban is here poetically for V^^-
Ver. 24. " At the time of the origin of heaven and earth,"
say the Japanese, "there was in the high waste expanse of
heaven a god by name ' Ame-no mi-naka nushi-no mikoto,"
the supreme middle Lord of heaven, and two other gods with
him. The 'land' was then young, and the surface was like a
fatty substance floating about like a star-fish. By-and-by this
became the earth, and the sky rose above ; and from this sweet
fatty substance came forth reed-like beings, whence grew gods,
and in time also men and women, &c., whose progenitors were
Izanani and Izanagi his sister." In another work (evidently
borrowed from the Chinese) we read that "at the time of crea-
tion heaven and earth were light ; the thin part rose and
formed heaven, and the thick and muddy portion sank and
became the earth. Heaven then became the Yo [male prin-
ciple], and the earth the In [female principle]," &c.= " Heaven
and earth being finally severed from each other, there sprang
up a thing like a rush that became the god 'Kuni-toko-datsi-no
, Yaqna, xxix. i, 2, 6. ^ Motsu i, p. 1 ; and Pfizmaier, Theogonic
d. Jap.
viii. 24—26] THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
38S
mikoto,' 'the god of the unchanging establishment of the
kingdom.' This god was the parent [origin] of men ; ancT
Nippon [Japan] was also called ' Ashi-wara-goku.'"* [Vot
more of this, see Pfizmayer's 'Theogonie der Japaner,' Wien.]
" When there were no depths," &c.
•No — — TTOTOynoio pUdpa
Q,Kiavov, OS Trip ylvto-i? wdvT(a-(Ti rirvKTai;"^
" none of the floods and currents of Ocean, the origin of all
things." " Zarathustra asked Ahura Mazda, What word was
it that thou spakest to me, thou who wast before heaven was,
before the waters, fire, and the pure man [gaya maretan],
mankind, and all embodied creatures were made?"' [This is
the beginning of the Ahuno-vairyo, v. 27 — 53, one of the most
solemn prayers offered by the Parsee.s.] " As to Tao," says
Hwae-nan-tsze, "his height is unlimited, not attainable; his
depth is unfathomable ; he envelops heaven and earth as a
child in the womb. He bestows everything, though he has no
form ; for all things are born [proceed] from Tao."*
" The earth, once freed from the waters by Brahma, floated
like a great ship ; but owing to its bulk, it could not float
about. Then having levelled it, he created mountains upon
it. First [or formerly] by a burning process [or creation], and
then by a submarine one, fire. By means of this submarine
fire, the mountains were dried on the surface of the earth ;
and the rocks submerged in the ocean became compact by
the effect of the air, and trees began to grow," &c. "And
wherever mountains were established, there they became im-
movable. After that, the earth was divided, and the seven
' Dwipas' [lit. 'islands,' the seven divisions of the world into
islands, every one separated from the next by an ocean] were
all marked out."* " Heaven made a high mountain, and a
great king tilled it."
Ver. 26. " T/ie earth, &c. "The [black -skin] covering of
' Motsu I, p. 2. ' II. r. 245. ' Ya?na, xix. 3. * Hwae-
nan-tsze, c. i. • Markand. Pur. c. xlvii. 11 — 13.
2 C
386
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[viii. 24 — 26
the earth is the table to which God calls all people alike."*
" Brahma developed in and out of the ^gg floating on the
chaotic waters, like one who under water, when coming out
of the water, is said to be born of the water. Brahma threw
aside the [nature-lord] water ; and because he showed forth
the field of the earth he is called Kshetrajna [Kyetrogyo],
'clever husbandman.""' "Tell me, O Alvis, the name of the
earth, heaven," &c., said Vingthor. "The earth," answered
Alvis, "is called 'jorth' [yorth] among men, but 'fold' (field),
land among the JEsh [gods]. And heaven is called ' Himinn'
[covering] by men, but 'hlyrnir' [a shed] by the gods;
'upphcimr,' upper [home] world, by the Jotuns [giants, first
created]."' "At that time there was no 'non-e.xi.stence' and
no 'existence.' There was no firmament, expanse, nor aught
else. Where was that which enveloped it ? Where, in whose
receptacle, were the waters ? What was that profound mystery?
There was no death, no immortality. He alone drew no
breath [lived, existed without breathing] in his own nature
self [self-possessed, self-c.xistcnt]. Reside him [or it] there
was no one. All that was one darkness on darkness."^
" NrKTa Otiov yd'CTtipav, lificrufiai ^jSi Kal di'Spioi', ^
" I will sing Night," said Orpiicus (?), " the mother of gods and
of men."
"Then Iliranyagarbha [Brahma] appeared: he was the
first-born of all; he was Lord."" "To whom those of old
offered sacrifices, seeing him with the mind [as with] the eye."'
"Once there was no day, no night, no sky, no earth, no dark-
ness, no light — but only that ]?rahma [[jradhanikam — I'uman]:
male supreme Spirit and Lord, wiio is not obtainable by
hearing or intellect."' "And the [mystic] syllable OM is
defined to be the immutable monosyllable Brahm [or Brfdima].
This word Brahma is derived from 'vriha,' to increase, and
' Hostan, prcf. ' Markand. Pur. cxlv. ' Alvism.1l, 10 — 12.
• Ri<; V. viii. skta. cxxix. ^ Orphic Hyim:. iii. » Ri<j V. viii.
skta. cxxi. I. ' Id- skta. cxxx. 6. * \'Liinu Pur. i. 2, 23.
viii. 27, 28]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
387
from the power of giving increase to all things."* "At that
time this earth was free from sin, without a [bubble] speck of
it, and pure. Beings endued with a soul moved about in the
heavens ; they were in general like brilliant gods ; sin, how-
ever, came in through theft, that drew out [burst] the bubble.
Then beings with upper limbs [arms and hands, or wings] and
beaming of their own light, went about the sky — lived whole
'kal pas' [thousands of years], and ate of the earth that tasted
like honey," &c. " At that time there was neither sun, moon,
nor stars ; no day and no night ; all was sea, and a wind blew
over it, and on the surface was [matter] formed like cream on
hot milk," say the Buddhist,s, &c.^
"I," says the god of Egypt, "am Turn, alone in Nu" — "he
who [hung] raised heaven for the march [progress, or sailing]
of his two eyes [the sun and moon]."' " But Thoth is also
said to have lighted up darkness, when as yet there was no
solar orb."* " O, Ahura Mazda," says the Parsee, "we extol
in the highest praises thy body, the most beautiful of all bodies,
the greatest of the great of these lights, which we call the
sun."° "They [the righteous] ascertain all that is done in
heaven ; how the luminaries that are in heaven are invariable
in their courses ; how every one rises and sets as appointed,
each at its own time, without any one transgressing the com-
mand given them."*
27 When he prepared the heavens, I was there :
when he set a compass upon the face of the depth.
28 When he established the clouds above : when
he strengthened the fountains of the deep :
Ver. 27. a=in irr^S, "when he described a circle (or circumference)
over the face of the deep.' a:in, ' a circle,' is by some taken as the
root of (ixtai-os, ' ocean,' as surrounding the habitable earth. Accord-
» Vishnu Pur. iii. 3, 11. ^ Dulva, v. fol. 158. ' Pap. Sutimis, pi. ii.
1. 6, 7, 8, and Dublin Pap. iv. * Hym. Mus. Tur. Zeitschr. Dec. 1864.
' Yaqna, Ivii. 22. " Bk. Enoch, c. ii.
2 C 2
388
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[viii. 27
ing to Hesiod, Gaia (the earth) that came out of Chaos, produced
high mountains, the sea, the high seas (TrtAa-yo?), and in union with
heaven brought forth tiKeavov padvSivijv, 'deep eddying ocean.'' The
Arabic renders the Hebrew exactly, but the LXX. read : ' when He
estabhshed His throne upon the winds.'
Ver. 27. " I/e set a compass" &c. " Tao," says Hwae-nan-
tsze, " covers [embraces] heaven and earth. He envelops the
four quarters, and is divided into the eight points. He over-
spreads the three lights [sun, moon and stars] ; mountains
for his height ; whirlpools for his depth ; the beasts of the field
for his going [moves them] ; birds for his flying. The sun
and moon for his brightness ! The planets for his march !
Immense ! Infinite ! He gives birth [existence] to all things,
and yet himself has nothing [apparent]. He changes and
perfects the form of everything, and yet is not [seen] — lord
over all" ["and through all," adds Cleanthes,
— OS oia Troi'Tcui'
^oiTp — uiroTOS /?acriXeiis 810 TrovTos'"^]
" He bestows abundantly, and yet is never exhausted [lacks
nothing]. He contains the Yin and the Yang within himself."'
"It is Indra," says the Brahman, "who supports the earth,
and by his innate power [suppmls also] the sky like a cover-
ing."* "He, the One to whom heaven and earth bow."' "When
thou, O hero [Indra], didst fill the ocean [pouring in the water
gradually]."* " He, the upholder of heaven and earth, over-
spread them with his brilliancy, scattering the malignant
darkness[es], he pervaded [all things]."^ " Supreme over all,
and sufficient for the protection of this world, which he, the
Father [or preserver], made with his two arms for the sake of
men," &c.' " He caused the sun to be born [e.xist]."' " Lord
[overcomer] of all, lord of wealth and of men, of all," &c.**
"O ye men, Indra is he in whom to have faith. Indra is he
' Hesiod, Tlieogon. 131— 134. ^ Cleanth. Hymn in J. 4, 12 sq.
' Ilwac-nnn-tsze, c. i. ' Rig V. md. i. skla. clxxiii. 6. ' Id. md. ii.
skta. xii. 13. ' Id. ibid, skt.i. clxxv. 9. ' Id. ibid. skla. xvii.
« Id. ibid. skta. xvii. 6. ' Id. ibid. skta. xix. 3. "> Id. ibid. skta. xxi. I.
viii. 27]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
389
who brought forth the sun and the dawn, who commands the
waters."' " He, the upholder of heaven and earth." "There
in the deep, slumbers Keshava [well-haired, a name of Vishnu]
and the host of like enemies. There also lie, for refuge,
winged mountains and subterranean fires. Oh ! how wide,
how immense I and what burden the body of Sindhu [the
ocean] has to bear !"' Since "Vishnu, in the shape of a huge
boar, brought out the earth from the depths below on his
tusks," &c. ; " and placed it upon the waters, on which it
floats like a large ship," &c.*
" But the seven spheres with the Patalas [hells] are of equal
dimensions with the egg of Brahma"' [that floated on the
chaotic waters of Nara, in which Vishnu dwelt as Brahma or
Narayana*]. " The two shells of this egg contain all that is
above and below. Beyond is Mind, Pradhano [the supreme],
Vishnu;"' "who is a personification of Time;" "who is
before the finite spirit [of man], and is himself the Supreme
Soul."' " But Vrihaspati, with Indra, did send down the ocean
of waters, enveloped in darkness."" "He [Ahura Mazda]
came as first designer when he endowed the luminaries of
heaven with brilliancy. He who in his wisdom created purity,
wherein he rules (or holds) the best Spirit. Thou, O Mazda,
gavest them [the two creations of heaven and earth] increase
after a heavenly manner; thou, Ahura, who art Lord."'" "Wis-
dom is like Shiva among the deities of heaven, and is the
holder of the four corners of the globe.""
" KaXXio-TOi/ Koir/ios, Troirjfia yap 6(ov :" ^
" The universe is a most beautiful thing," said Thales ; " for
it is God's workmanship." "Some deluded bards say that
one's own nature, others that Time [is the origin of all things].
' Rig V. md. ii. skta. xii. 5. ' Id. md. iii. skta. xlix. 4.
' Nitishataka, 68. ' Vishnu Pur. i. 4, 25, 45- ' ^anu, i.
• Vishnu Pur. i. 2, 53, 54, and Maha 13h. Vana P. 15,819. ' Vishnu
Pur. ii. 6, 19, 20. « Id. i. 3, 5, 9- 34- ' R'g V. ii. skta. xxvi. 18.
'" Yaqna, xxxi. 7. " Hjam-dpal, fol. viii. '^ Thales Mil. Sept.
Sap. ed. Antv.
390
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[viii. 28, 29
But it is the glory of God in this world, wherein the wheel of
Brahma revolves. [Comp. rpoxoi ytvla-fu's.] For he is the
beginning, and the cause whereby soul and body are united.
I le is seen beyond the three divisions of Time [past, present
and to come], himself without Time [eternal]."'
Ver. 28. " iV/icn he established" &c. " Indra was making a
covering [clouds?] in the sky.'"'' "If," says Anhuma [Hor-
muzd], "clouds arc by me made to carry about rain on this earth,
and to move at [my] pleasure, cannot I work the resurrec-
tion ?"* " Wisdom, the joy of the three worlds, is as white as
white clouds, and light as the good light of autumn months."*
" O Lord, who abidest for ever, at whose command fire and
wind appear. Thy voice is strong, Thy words endure, and
Thy decree is powerful. Thy commandment is terrible ; it
dries up the deep, and Thine anger melts down the moun-
tains."'*
29 When he gave to the sea his decree, that the
waters should not pass his commandment : when he
appointed the foundations of the earth :
" Wlicn he gave," &c. "Indra," says the Brahman, "gave
the earth and heaven, the sun, also the cow that feeds many,
plants, days, trees, the air, and divides the cloud [for rain]."'
Yet " Heaven, thy progenitor [O Indra], thought — [he is] a
valiant hero I The maker of Indra is a finished workman."^
" Then powerful Armaiti [Wisdom] gave firmness to the body;
let her be to thee (or ' let thy having her' — a difficult passage),
be as when thou first camest forth to create [all things]."*
" The father of rivers [the ocean] having been once restrained
within narrow bounds, never surges beyond the limit of his
own shore [or strand], out of regard for the pledge he gave."'
' Swetasw. Upd. vi. i. ' Sama V. Prapat. ii. 1, 3, 7. ' Bundehesh,
c. x.xxi. * Hjam-dpal, fol. viii. » i Ezra (Eth.), c. viii. 26, 27.
' Rig V. md. ill. skta. xxxiv. 8. ' Id. md. iv. skta. xviii. 4, 12, and
md. vii. skta. xx. 5. ' Ya^na, xxx. 17. • Ramayana, ii. xiv. 6, and xii. 41.
viii. 29]
THE nOOK OF PROVERBS.
391
"For Brahma made heaven and earth, and the permanent
abode of the waters."'
" Tell me, Alvis, what is the name of this ' marr' [mare,
mere]? Men, said Alvis, call it 'sac' [sea], but gods call it
'silaegia,' ever-flowing [or 'ever settled down,' or 'laid for
ever']."* " He who maHo firm the moving earth, who quieted
the angry mountains, who spread far and wide the space under
heaven [antariksham], and established the firmament of heaven
[dyam], he, O ye men, is Indra."' " He is One to whom heaven
and earth do bow."* "Indra is he who supports heaven, and
pours forth water for the food and support of man."' " Vishnu,
however, is that supreme Brahma, eternal. He then existed
in the form of Purusha [the soul, man, the Supreme Being].
'Purusha' is the form of the supreme Brrihrna."*" "This
immortal, imperishable Brahm is neither in the earth nor in
the sky, nor yet in the sea ; yet it support.? the water of it.
The form of it is not seen in the stars, nor in the clouds, nor
yet in the gods ; not in the moon, nor yet in the sun, nor in the
four Vedas. Let the brahinachari contemplate [dhruvan tat]
that everlasting, eternal One in himself," said Sanatsujata.'
" That soul [perfect soul] by virtue of the law of immortality,
as Ruler over the whole universe, over what has been, and over
what is to be : I know him, undecaying, ancient, of old ; the
soul of all, all-pervading by virtue of his power — whom those
who know Brahma call unborn, eternal."'* " It is Indra who
established the sky [in the space] without beams, who filled
the wide heaven and earth. He upheld the earth and spread
it out."" " He, the bull Indra, filled the earth [and sky] with
his own brilliancy, and after dissipating evil darkness[es]
occupied [pervaded all things]. He stayed the wavering
mountains, directed the downward flow of the waters. He
1 Manu S. i. 13. ' AlvismAl. 23, 24. ' R'g V. ii. skta. xii. 2.
< Id. ibid. 13. ' Id. i. skta. cxxi. 2. « Vishnu Pur. I. 2, 23.
' Maha Bh. Udyog P. 17 10. » Swetaswat. Upd. iv. 15, 2j.
» Rig. V. ii. skta. xv. 2.
392
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[viii. 30, 31
established the earth, and by his wisdom he established the
heavens."' "As the waters of the deep sea into which all
rivers, streams and brooks flow, do not pass the strand, so also
the great and good man, had he all the wealth of Jambudwip,
would not transgress in his conduct through pride."' "As the
water of the sea does not transgress the shore, so Menilksami
never grew proud," &c.'
[See the account of the Flood foretold to Manu by the fish,
that told him to make for himself a great ship, into which he
was to go, with seven Rishis, and take with him seeds, &c.
The highest peak of the Himalaya is so called from the Rishis
making fast the ship there].*
30 Then I was by him, as one brought up wt'^A
him : and I was daily his deHght, rejoicing always
before him ;
31 Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth ; and
my delights were with the sons of men.
lins ibst? n:;.nm, from the root ION, which implies both ' firmness,
faitli, workmanship, nursing,' &c. liON is rendered 'nursling,' 'brought
up,' as by A.V. But this clearly does not suit the context, with
wliich I'OM, the same as IQ^, ' workman, architect, builder,' agrees
better; 'a trusty, faithful assessor, architect and helper,' inasmuch
as 'the Wisdom of God' is He who from all eternity was one with
the Father, who 'by Him [and with Him] made the worlds.' Heb.
i. 2, Col. i. 16, &c. This passage may then be rendered : ' I was at
His side [as] trusty and faithful artificer, working with Him [' in wisdom
hast thou made them all,' Ps. civ. 24] and for Him' ['who by wisdom
made the heavens,' Ps. cxxxvi. 5]. The Chaldee renders it well : ' I
was at his side, ►'Jn30''np, faithful and trustworthy' [fern, agreeing
with ' Wisdom,' fem. also]. Syr. ' I was possessed by him [with him].'
Aral). 'I was with [or by] him working' [or 'as maker']. Vulg. 'cum
CO cram cuncta componens.' Copt. ' I [Wisdom] arranged, formed all
those things with him.' Another Arabic copy reads : ' I was by him,
' Rig V. ii. skta. xviii. 4, 5. ' Subhashita, 85. ' Kusajat. 15, 37.
< .Maha Bh. Vana P. 12,751, '2.772, 12,795-
viii. 30, 31] THE BOOK OF PROVERB.S.
393
arranging for him.' Armen. ' I was with him adapting, arranging.'
All these follow, more or less, the LXX. op/adfoixro, ' arranging.'
This rendering may bear on D'JIJ nlpSJ, ' let us make man,'
Gen. i. 26 ; and on xyypt TC^T^, xi. 7, &c. And though ]iQM is
masc, it may be said of nippn, fem., as well as ' Sapientia
hominis custos et procreatrix,'' or as 'Artifex omnium natura;'*
or as the Greek Qi6% (To<f>ia, Wisdom, '(^penta Armaiti,' pure,
supreme holy Wisdom, is said in the Ya^na to be " the beau-
tiful daughter of Ahura Mazda;"' "with or through whose
arms He works mighty deeds."* [With her as 'nursling'
]iD^, tyKoXrios. Comp. S. John i. 18.]
" The Sage asked the Spirit of Wisdom, saying : Why is it
that the knowledge and skilful workmanship of the heavens
and of the earths [worlds] are both coupled with thee ? Then
the Spirit of Wisdom answered : It is because from the very
first I, the original Wisdom, was with Hormuzd, before the
heavens and the worlds, and ere he. Creator, created the
yazads [presiding deities] creations in heaven and earth, and
all other creations, through the power, energy, wisdom and
skill of me, original Wisdom, by whom He holds and keeps
them going.""
Ver. 31. DIM ^33 Hb* "'Jt^StD'l, 'and my delights were with the sons
of men,' cannot apply to the time spoken of, before the earth was
made. But it must be said prospectively and prophetically of the
day when, ' in the fulness of time,' He, who is ' the Wisdom of God,'
the ' Lamb' also, ' fore-ordained before the foundation of the world,'
should come to our earth, be born, dwell, suffer, die and rise again,
in love for the lost sinners He delighted to save.
" When the Lord," says the author of Mishle Asaph, "had
in his heart to found the heavens and the earth. He called
Wisdom to his side and said to her : ' Daughter, I have it in
my heart to build a dwelling-place ; now therefore walk at my
feet and continue with me that I may take sweet counsel with
• Cic. de Finib. 4- ^ P''ny, •'• '• ' Vendid. xix. 45, 56;
Yagna, xliv. 4. • Id. xlvi. 2. ' Mainyo i kh. c. Ivii.
394
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[viii. 30, 31
thee. For I will do nothing without thee ; I will do all thou
sayest ; not one of thy words shall fall to the ground.' Wis-
dom worshipped Him and said : 'Behold thy maid-servant, to
fulfil all thy pleasure.' From that time Wisdom was with the
King in all his works. She counselled about the heavenly
bodies that they should not 'entangle' their courses," &c.*
" Mandju Sri [Hjam-dpal], Wisdom, is patron of the works
done by Buddha [and teaches to do them perfectly],"* " and
is parent of all perfections,"' "and chief of things incorporeal
and corporeal, of bodies, and, in the end, Judge of the body."*
" The order [command, decree] of Heaven,'' says Confucius,
" is called ' Nature.' Tao [the way] is to follow that nature,
and 'teaching' consists in conformity to that decree from
Heaven." On this opening chapter of the Chung-Yung, Kiu O
says: "These three sentences are three luminaries. What
then is Heaven ? Kufu-tsi [Confucius] says it is Heaven that
makes the four seasons and causes all things to be. And the
'Invariable Mean' (or Mid-way) is this decree from Heaven."^
Ver. 31. "O Mazda, thou did.st at first create us, and the
body of the world [bodily world], and intelligences, by thy
Spirit, and by it gavest power of life to beings with bodies."®
"What is 'shitugen?' asks the Buddhist. Answer: It is the
high (or divine) body of precious man." " This body consists
of two parts, and the mind of three ; five parts in all. And
the precious body of man is of two different qualities. Either
'troubled' [disordered] and liable to obstacles [in the way of
final happiness]; or it is of 'good form and appearance,' and
nearer to final emancipation [purified by transmigration]."'
" I, Hjam-dpal [Wisdom], am he who gives thoughts of joy
and of delight" [to the sons of men]."*
> Mishle Asaph, viii. 5—8. ' Hjam-dpal, fol. ii. ' Id. fol. v.
* Id. fol. ix. ' Kiu O do wa, vol. i. scrm. 2. • Yaqna, xxxi. II.
' Tonilkhu yin chim. iii. ' Hjam-dpal, fol. i.
V"'- 32, 33] THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
395
32 Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children :
for blessed are they that keep my ways.
33 Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not.
"Now therefore" &c. " An ignorant man," says Manu, "is
a child, and he who teaches him is a father. Therefore do men
thus address a simple one as 'child' and his teacher as 'father.'
For greatness is not in years, in grey hairs, wealth or kindred ;
but, said the Rishis, he is reckoned great among us who has
read the Vedas and their Angas [lit. ' members,' explanatory
literature]. The merit and excellence of Brahmans then is in
their learning; of 'kshatrias' [military caste], in valour; of
merchants, in their wealth ; and of 'sudras' [lowest caste], in
their birth."' " Since you have shown respect for me," said
Buddha to the gods, " make assiduous efforts to practise this
law which you have heard ; and you will really receive endless
good.""
Ver. 33. " Hear what is good, however little it be ; it will
yield true greatness."' " What support a staff is in a slippery
place, such is a word [of advice] from one who walks orderly."
" If thou art ignorant, hearken ; it will be a help to thee in
difficulty."* Tsze-hea [Confucius's younger brother] said :
" Study extensively, and with a fixed purpose ; inquire ear-
nestly and give your mind to it, and good motives will of them-
selves settle within you."" " Read [study] the dead [ancient]
authors."* "There is nothing like it," said Confucius."'
"Wherever a pandit endued with knowledge is heard of,
thither let all who are eager to learn, make every effort to
go."* " Take warning for the present, and learn for informa-
tion [or correction]."' " If not skilled, learn ; if dirty, wash ;
if you do not know, inquire."" " But do not answer before you
' Manu S. ii. 152. ' Rgya-tcher r. p. c. iv. ' Cural, 416.
* Id. 414, 415. » Ming Sin P. K. c. ix. • Nitimala, ii. 19.
' Quoted at greater length above, p. 18. ' Lokaniti, 8. ' Finnish pr.
'» Hill prov. 34.
396
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[viii. 34—36
are spoken to ; and when in presence of your teacher, listen
with humility."'
34 Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching
daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.
35 For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall
obtain favour of the Lord.
36 But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own
soul : all they that hate me love death.
Ver. 36. '*MQhl, lit ' and he who misses me,' who fails to ' hit,' to
find me and to hearken to me. LXX. 01 a/iapTdvovTf^ tis l/j-i.
^Niah, 'he who misses me' (like aixapTavia, said of an archer who
misses his object, and of the arrow that does not hit it), is here in
antithesis to ''nVo, ' he who finds me.' The Arabic reads it much in
this sense : ' and he who errs from me.'
Ver. 34. " Watching" &c. " If thou art about the palace," says
Ptah-hotep, " standing or sitting is better than running about.
Stray not ; it would be thy dismissal. Be ready when called
[watch for the coming of an order], for wide is the place of
calling [the courts of the palace]."' [' Watching ' and 'a watch-
man' in Ethiopic is "a man of eyes,' an 'eye-man.' Thus the
Lord said to Ezekiel : " I have made thee [a man of eyes] a
watchman over the house of Israel," Ezek. iii. 17, xxxiii. 7].
" Say not disparagingly, What good have we received [seen]
from our fruitless waiting at the king's [Wisdom's] gate ?
Wait, and you will be raised to royal favour."' " Wise men go
in at the door of the houses of their friends ; but of their ene-
mies, elsewhere," said Krishna to Jarasandha.* "Self-restraint
liberality and watchfulness," said Vidurato Dhritarashtra, "are
the three horses of the Brahman, who stands in his mental
chariot, holding in hand the reins of a good disposition; and
free from the fear of death, he thus goes to BrahmalSka
[heaven]. This gives fearlessness to all beings."' "And the
' Japan, pr. Rodr. p. 95. ' Pap. Prisse, viii. 2, 3. ' Niti neri
vilac. 49. • Maha Bh. Sabh. P. 852.
viii. 34 — 36] THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
397
' Maha Bh. Stri P. 186.
love of generous virtue is better than that of father and mother
for their children, for it only ceases in death," said the tortoise
to the deer.'
Ver. 35. "Findeth life," &c. Confucius said: "If I heard
the right way in the morning, and died in the evening, that
would be enough."' And Lao-tsze : " Heaven is Tao, and Tao
is long life ; for until death the man [who has Tao] will not be
exposed to danger."' " He who [follows me] is obedient here
below, shall yonder [in the next life] be joined to [or dwell with]
Wisdom."* " Wisdom [serves well] works to the advantage of
all intelligent men ; does not restrain [or deny] the use of the
best knowledge, and possesses the rule of the heart of all sen-
sible beings, and is the understanding of the heart of them all,
and resides in the heart of them all ; makes them all live in
harmony together ; rejoices them all, and pleases them all."'
" Deign, O exalted Lord," said Ananda to Buddha, "to teach
us the good word of ' the water of life,' for the wealth of all
living things."*
Ver. 36. There is no greater happiness [source of prosperity]
than virtue ; there is no greater source of loss [destruction]
than to forget its teaching."' "And if a man loves himself, let
him not commit an evil action, however small."' " Laying
aside good [virtue] and not practising it, may be called self-
robbery."" "The mortal," said Nalus to Damayanti, "who
does anything disagreeable to the gods, goes to the death.""*
"The intelligent being who commits sin shall fall into hell."
" So spake Sems-chan-chhen-po [Being of great sense, intellect]
after his second birth in Dgah-ltan [the abode of joy].""
"And he who commits his soul [himself] to his passions, falls
into the deepest abyss."" " It is not Creon who is the cause of
thy woe," said Teiresias to CEdipus, " aW o«tos uv o-oC, but thou
art the cause of it to thyself""
' Calilah u Dimn. p. 177. * Shang-L. iv. 8. ' Tao-te-King, c. xvi.
* Ya9na, xxxi. 9. ' Hjam-dpal, fo). ix. ' Altan Gerel, sect. x. fol. 207.
' Cural, iv. 2. ' Id. xxi. 209. ' Hicn w. shoo, 62. •» Maha Bh. Vana
P. 1266. " Dsang-Lun, fol. 18. " El Nawab. 83. " Oidip.Tyr. 379.
398
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[ix. I, 2
CHAPTER IX.
/ The discipline^ 4 and doctrine of wisdom, ij The custom, 1 6 and error
of/olly.
A^T'ISDOM hath builded her house, she hath hewn
out her seven pillars :
2 She hath killed her beasts ; she hath mingled her
wine ; she hath also furnished her table.
" Wisdom hath builded, &c. nn^D, 'her house.' 'With (or
by) wisdom the Holy and Blessed One built the universe,"^
her house. "'O Kd<r/ios, so called from its perfect order and
beauty, irdrtpov »)v aft, ^ ykyoviv ; did it always exist, or did it
come into being ? Tfyoif. It was brought into being ; the
Maker of this universe, which is the perfection of beauty, is
good ; and in making it He had regard to an everlasting
(ufSiov) model," says Platc^' vr^-2Xp n-'lTO?, ' her seven pillars'—
"the seven days of the beginning"^ — "the six days of work
and one of rest at the creation ; seven days of the week insti-
tuted for ever."*
" The good that wisdom does is compared, in a Buddhist
work, to a man of mean antecedents, whose ancestors and
parents were poor and despised, but who, when under the
influence of wisdom, would, as it were, dwell at ease, without
anxiety or trouble, in a lofty house of gold, with seven joists
[or rafters] well fitted together, and there live happy," Sc."*
I R s. Y.irclii. ' Plato. Tim. 28. ' R. S. Yarchi. « Tevunath
Mishle, ad 1. ' Tsagnay J. Thcra, 27.
ix. I, 2]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
399
In more than one sense Wisdom may say of her house :
" Aureum
Mea renidet in domo lacunar,
(Et) tr.nbes Hymettiae
Premunt columnas ultima recisas
Africa.'"
" Let thy house," say the Rabbis, " be for an assembly of wise
men."-
[S. August. De Civit. Dei, lib. xvii. c. 20. S. Cyprian, ad Qiiirin.
lib. i. c. 20, ii. 2 ; Ep. Ixiii. S. Isidorus Pelus. Ep. lib. ii. 3 ; about
iKfpaa-t, and i. 68.]
Ver. 2. "She hath killed her ni^^ia [beasts for] meat."
" Tioi/o Povv jrei/TatTijpoi',' a fat OX five-year old." " Tae-kung
says : There ought to be no difference among guests, between
relations and acquaintances ; all who come should be well
received,"* and all feasted alike, "a feast of fat things full of
marrow, of wine on the lees well refined ;"
"t(r^oi'T€s Kpea iroXXa [ioiav 6p6oKpaipdu>v,
7rti'oi'T€s Kpi]Tylpa<; cViorei^fas otvoio. '
ny"; nDpa, '"she hath mingled her wine," as explained by
R. S. Yarchi, "'H mniob "'IS") irstt? ptn t«'' las d'^kq rata, "she
mixed it with water, as wine is so strong that it is not desir-
able (or convenient) to drink it pure,"" in accordance with the
custom prevalent in all countries that grow generous wines ; in
order to favour drinking. Good wine alone was thus treated ;
for " tanquam Icvia qUcxdam vina nihil valent in aqua, sic —
magis gustata quam potata delectant," says Cicero.' In any
case, however, the quantity of water was mi.xed with the wine
according to certain rules, some of which arc given by Athenaeus
and others ; the wine being reckoned better or worse, as it
was mixed with less or more water [S. John ii. 10].
So that 3Tn, like Kcpilvvvfii, to mix water with wine, was used
for 'pouring wine into the cup;' and riJTP 3T.^, like Kpafia,
> Hor. Od. ii. 18. 2 V. Avoth, 1$. Fl. ' 11. /3. 403.
• Hicn w. shoo, 124. ' 11. 0'. 231. « R. S. Yarclii, ad. 1.
' Tusc. Q. V. 5.
400
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[ix. 2
'mixture,' became the common term for wine drunk at meals.
The custom was, as Xenophanes tells us —
ovSt Ktv Iv KvXtKt irpoTtpov Ktpd<rtU tw orvov
tyXtai, oAX vSmp, Kal KaOvirtpOf p.i6v" — '
" to pour the water first into the cup and then wine on the top
of it" — when left to every guest to temper his wine after his
own taste.
Wine thus treated, however, was b^n^p, 'cut or killed,' aivn
wra, ' mixed with water' [Targ. Is. i. 22], to distinguish it from
Tn l^i 'live, or living wine,' pure wine. 'ATruXto-os toi- 0*1-01'
€jrix<as v^p, ' thou hast lost (or ruined) thy wine by pouring
water into it,' says the adage.* So also in Arabic, wine is
said to be " strangled with cold,"' that is, says the Commentary,
•• mixed with water." Arabs also use the terms 'to kill' wine
for mixing water with it In Ethiopic, it is said ' to defile wine.'
And the LXX. render Is. i. 22, "01 KamjXol a-ov ulu-yova-i tov
oTvov vSoTi, thy tavern-keepers mix thy wine with water."
[Compare 2 Cor. ii. 17, "We are not Kairr]XtvovTK, in the habit
of adulterating the word of God," as tavern-keepers adulterate
their wine.]
This mixture of wine and water was so thoroughly depre-
ciated, although in common use, that one of the features of
fJSekvpia, abominable or disgusting conduct, was, according to
Theophrastes, either to sell K(Kpap.ivov rbv oTvov, wine thus
mixed with water, or to offer it to a friend."* Nay, "when
Arda Viraf went into the nether world, he saw there the soul
of a man who was ever measuring dust and ashes with a
bushel. What had he done? asked Arda Viraf Srosh
answered : When on earth he sold short weight, and mingled
water with his wine.'" " In the ' Words of the Wise,' however,
it is said : In the days of harvest [in summer] wine should be
mixed with water, but [in winter] in the rainy season, strong
wine is [praised] proper."* " When the thistle blossoms, when
' Xcnoph. col. 23. ' Adag. p. 97. ' Caab. B. Zoheir. 4.
* Theophr. Char. 12. ' Arda Viraf. nam. xxvii. " Dibre hakh. p. 13.
ix. 2]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
401
brook," says Hesiod, ' ^^ ^ ■■"""'"&
"rpU S- iSaro, ^poy^i,,,, ri> Si rirparov lip.,, ot.ov "1
IT-' '"Fol "' ''"' ''''' °' ^'''' '"' '^^'ounk Of
wme. For the w.se say that wine which is not mixed with
water .s 'a violent king;' but wine mixed with wateMs a
righteous king.' "2 ^'■^'^ '^ *
"Wine and honey are bad for children, but good for old
eTand 7?^''r"''^^ = """^ '" ''^ '^^ -soTo el ,
" te "3 It " ' : 'f " ''' ''-'-''''''' "^ ''^ -- in
to be old ,„ h r'^ "'^^' "'■^'^ ''''" --^ -^ ^"owed
mixed bv thoT K T '" '^ ''''' P"^^- -^ ^hen to be
m.xcd by those who bought it. for their own use.* And as to
he mode « drinking, "he who drinks his glass at one gu Jil
three .s a clown, '» according to the Rabbis
Such being the case as regards wine mingled with water
only pure wme was allowed for offerings in the TemnI ^
arnong the heathens to their gods. R. Salol in Z b ^
teaches that the wine offered in libations was never m.^^dw'h
water neuher was any of it poured upon the fire, but it w s
poured at the foot of the a,tar."o How. then, are we' to accol
for the angels who, according to R. Jehudah Ben Bethir
'mm.stered to Adam in the Garden of Eden, roasted his me t
and m,„,ed his wineP''^ Was it with water., or more iLly
sons of Fer.dun, he scattered Jewels before them, and mingled
musk w.th their wine."' "As Zohak drank it a whole year -
L.ke Hafiz.- who " made happy [pleased] with musked wine
[mishkeen] the smelling organs of his life." Or "[mull] wine, or
' Hes. /. < i 594. J Matshaf. Phal. (Eth.). 3 Hnlkuf T)nh -
Baba metzia, xi. p. 128. s Pp„rl,in . • • r. u ^- ""•
P 667 • M iK-j t^esacliin, c. vu. ,n Othonis Lex. Rab
no!. K ^- P- "7- ' Avoth R. Nathan, fol 2 e clI'
"ameh.p.s4. Md. p. 24. " Hafiz. Diw. Dal. .0,:
2 D
402
ORIGINAL -NOTES ON
[ix. 2
spirituous liquor well mixed up [or tightly] with sugar."* Wines
also of different sorts were mixed together. Thus Martial—
" Nos bibimus vitro, tu myrrha, Pontice, quare I
Prodat perspicuus ne duo vina calix."*
But it was offered aKparov, unmixed, pure, to the gods, a cask
of old wine being considered Otlov iroTOf,' drink fit for the gods,
or • divine drink,' and to them were oTroi-Soi t* aKpijrai koI 8«£io/,*
pure and acceptable libations offered. " It was thus offered
pure, in order to show," says Eustathius, " the sincerity of a
mind free from fraud and guile." "Sic contri, vino aqua
mixto doli atque superstitiones in sacris adumbrabantur. Hinc
• spurcum' vinum dicebatur quod sacris adhiberi non poterat,"'
&c. So that when Homer speaks of the preparations Aga-
memnon and Ulysses made for the sacrifice to Zeus, when
they KprjTijpi 8( olvov fita-yov.'^ mingled the wine in the bowl for
the libation, it could not have been mixed with water.
So also at the Passover, R. M. Maimonides says that "when
blessing the cup, the father of the family, or the head of the
company (i-parpia), shall fill a cup with [living] pure wine; and
when he comes to the blessing of the earth, he shall pour into
the cup a little water, as much as to make the wine fit to
drink."' " R. Eliezer said that at a feast the wine is not to be
blest until it has been mingled with water. But R. R. Barte-
nora and also R. M. Maimonides say, that this applies only to
wine so sour that it is not fit to drink without water. [To this
refers : " Wine [sour vinegar] man, that is not mingled with a
third part of water, is not man, wine that is drinkable."* This,
however, differs from r] But the decision of the law is against
R. Eliezer, and wine was blessed pure."'
Likewise among the Egyptians, on almost every funeral
stone [stele], on almost every papyrus, mention is made of
wine as an offering to the gods, of wine from the choice vine-
1 Niiami Makhz. p. 8i. ' Mart. Epig. iv. 86. ' Odyss. /T. 341.
4 J, fl- ,^, » Stuckii Sacror. et Sacris. Gentil. descr. p. 200.
• II r 269, 295, and Lucian, Deor. Dial, xviii. ' Halkut Berach.
fol 121 » lip. Lod. 1203. • Mishna Massek. Berach. c. vi. i, 6, c vii. 5.
ix. 3-5]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
403
yards of Kokome and of " Ut South and of Ut North"
[Maraeotis],' as well as from Phoenicia,' and from Ouan, west
of Aleppo.' On one occasion we hear of 1 500 mins of wine,
and 50 of 'shet'hu,' hydromel.* And on the walls of tombs
that date from the time of the Pyramids, as in that of Khufu,
we have representations of the vintage, of the boiling of wine,
&c. And yet, until not many years ago, certain critics called
in question the history of Joseph, because they, having only
read Herodotus, who, sailing up the Nile, could not see vine-
yards planted, of course, beyond the reach of the inundation
says that there are no vineyards in Egypt. [And on such testi-
mony the Word of God was to be discredited !]
But the wine drunk at the Passover is to be red ; it must
have the appearance and flavour of wine,' which the gloss
explains DnM HrT'Q?, that it must be red" —
" y€pov<Tiov atdotra oTvqv,' *
" deep or dark red wine, worthy of the oldest among men."
From these few passages we may gather that Wisdom, who
gives us the best of everything, does not adulterate the wine
she gives to her guests, but mingles it with her gifts. Her
wine is that spiritual wine " which is, indeed, pure ; wine that
maketh glad the heart "of poor sinful man, and that sends life
into his withered frame. Her bread also is the Bread of Life
"that strengtheneth his heart," and her oil is the unction "that
cometh from where she dwells — from above."
3 She hath sent forth her maidens : she crieth upon
the highest places of the city.
4 Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither : as for
him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,
5 Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine
whuh I have mingled.
> Pap. Harris, pi. 7 ; also pi. 27, 29, 32, 33, 42. 53. 54, 60, 67, &c.
' Etudes Egypt, ii. p. 23. ' Pap. Barges. ♦ Pap. Anast. iv. 7, 4.
' Hieros. Pesach. fol. 37, 2 ; Otho. Lex. Rab. p. 452. • IL «*. 259.
2 D 2
404
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[ix. 3—6
6 Forsake the foolish, and live ; and go in the way
of understanding.
Ver. 3. " Her maidens" are " either Adam and Eve, or Moses
and Aaron," according to R. S. Yarchi. [But rather— visible
proofs of God's wisdom and love.]
Ver. 4. " Whoso is simple" &c. Confucius being in the Chin
country, said to his disciples : " Return home, O ye my company
of little children. You are ambitious and still ill-informed
[rude, clownish], though well taught. You do not yet know
how to decide [between what you ought to choose and to
avoid]."* "The wise man frames the sincerity of his demea-
nour according to justice [to what is just and right] ; he
practises it with propriety ; he carries it out with modesty
[humility] ; and he perfects it with good faith. Such is the
[kiun-tsze] wise and superior man."'
Ver 5. " He who says. What shall I eat with my bread ?
take his bread from him."' [Bread is the best food, but he is
not hungry.] So say the Rabbis ; and they add quaintly :
but when thou eatest, chew with thy hind teeth, and thou shalt
feel it down to thy heels."*
Ver. 6. " Forsake the foolish;' &c. " Sumedhu pandita," said
Dipankara. " practises the virtue of abandonment of the world,
of self, &c., like one who, having long been shut up in prison,
does not set his affection upon it, but is glad to escape."'
"Give up a man for a family, and a family for a district ; but
let a man give up the world for his soul," said Vidura to
Dhritarashtra; " let him preserve his soul [himself] at all times,
whether it be at the price of his wealth or of his wife."* " The
best thing to do, is to forsake an evil way as soon as it is
known to be bad." ' " For real talent, or cleverness, consists in
being always given to virtuous deeds."" "Yea, do nothing im-
proper or unbecoming."'
I Shang-Lun, v. 22. ' Hea-Lun, xv. 17. » Sanhedr. 100, M. S
• Shabbat. R. Bl. 212. * Durenidan. Jat. p. 21.
Udyog P. 1350. '351- ' Pa"«=*>» T. i. 341-
Aw. Atthi Sudi, 211.
ix. 7—g]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
405
« Maha Bh.
• Pancha Rat. 4-
7 He that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself
shame : and he that rebuketh a wicked man getteth
himself a blot.
8 Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee : rebuke
a wise man, and he will love thee.
9 Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be
yet wiser : teach a just man, and he will increase in
learning,
Ver. 7. ''He that reproveth" %ic. " Sincerum est nisi vas, quod-
cunque infundis acescit."' "There is no denial and no lying,
but from those who know not how to feel shame or to blush."*
" Do not talk much of teaching a bad man ; it will only give
trouble afterwards."* " He that scatters about his advice,
makes many enemies."* " Hatred has clung to me, O Vishnu,"
said Prahlada, " because I made known [for making known]
thy praise. But let this sin of my father be done away."*
" For a draught of milk to a serpent only increases his venom.
So also advice given to fools tends to wrath rather than to
peace."* "And the crow found it true to his cost, when advised
by another crow not to waste his advice on monkeys. He
would not hearken, however, but went to them and gave them
advice, for which they tore him in pieces. Therefore, neither
undertake to straighten the crooked nor to teach wisdom to
the foolish."' " For the very best instruction often yields
the worst results, according to him who receives it."'
"Any one is able to teach a man of understanding, but it is
not in the power of any one to teach an evil man. Can any
one straighten the bend of a river?"' On the other hand,
" Propagate good instruction," say the Chinese, " in order to
correct men's vices."'* Then we are told by the Mongolians :
• Hor. Ep. i. 2. » Ep. Lod. 118. ' Oyun Tulk, p. 8. ♦ Legs
par b. p. 168. ' Vishnu P. i. 20, 28. • Hitop. Hi. 4. ' Sre^. c. Ix^riK.
p. 130, and Calilah u D. p. 129. ' Kawi Niti S. • Vemana, i. 29.
'» Hien w. shoo, 86.
4o6
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[ix. 7—9
" Support [or rear] not a man of evil conduct. Bad people,
when raised to good circumstances afterwards incur guilt
through their riches."' Under any circumstances, however,
" it is far easier to advise," say the Greeks, " than for the sufferer
to bear it patiently."
Ver. 8. Some wise man said : "iifj iXfy^t fitapov, iva /x^ crt iiur^cry*
Reprove not a fool lest he hate thee." " In King-hing-luh, it
is said : Blaming a man only, does not complete one's inter-
course [with him ; is not all that is required] ; and always
excusing does not correct faults."* "Advice given to the
foolish only ruffles them ; it does not quiet them. Feeding a
snake with milk, only increases its venom."* " That which is
fallen into the sea is lost," said Vidura; " so also is a word in
[the ears of] one who hears it not."* " It is like spitting to the
wind ; it falls back upon one's face."' "A wise man's advice
to a fool is like talking to trees and singing to stones."'
Not so, however, to a wise man. " I look upon him who,
pitying my ignorance, sprinkles my ears with the ambrosia of
learning, as upon my father and mother. All such as do not
pay proper respect to the teacher from whom they have
received the treasure of knowledge, go to the world of sinners,
without let or hindrance," said Katcha to his guru."' " One
may bind silk threads about a soft and flexible tree. A good-
hearted, genial and gentle man is the pillar of virtue. If I
give one word of advice to a wise man, he follows it in the way
of virtue. But if I repeat it to a stupid man, he only calls
me [tsiin] interfering ! Everybody has a [heart] way of
thinking of his own."' " But before giving advice, first take
the splinter out of thine own eye.""
Ver. 9. " IVi/l be yet wiser" &c. "An intelligent man
understands a thing thoroughly, and his mind is strengthened
• Oyun Tulk, p. 12. * Srf^. r. I'xwiX. p. 1 28. ' Ming Sin P. K. c. vii.
* Naga Niti, 239 Schf. ' Maha Bh. Udyog P. i486. « Osm. pr.
' Mishle Asaph, xxxi. 27. ' Maha 13h. Adi P. 3246, 3247. » She
King, bk. ill. ode 2. '» Yalkut Ruth R. Bl. 309.
ix. 9]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
407
thereby. The king of beasts, when hungry, scatters a whole
herd of elephants."' " For sense [wits, understanding] is the
sword, but [trial] experience is the whetstone [to give a keen
edge]," say the Arabs.* " For sense and [practice or] training
are like soul and body."' " Whoever speaks, give ear ; then
having heard and considered, thou mayest understand the, .state,
of things [discover the truth]. And go to, thou shalt become
a lover of wisdom on the earth."* "A good and worthy man
teaches the ignorant, and sets right their mistakes [or faults],
but bad men reckon as faults the good of wise ones.'" " For
in like manner as butter is made from milk, can human beings
also become Buddhas through teaching and practice."'
Thus "one day spent in friendly intercourse with good
men, is like seed sown in good ground that strikes root in it"^
For "a man though he be [ignoble] 'nobody' by birth, may
yet acquire wisdom and virtue by study and practice."' "But
give advice beforehand, and at the time also."* " For the wise
and good man,'' says Confucius, " rises gradually in knowledge,
but the inferior man sinks lower and lower in ignorance.""
That growth in knowledge, however, creates jealousy. " For,"
say the Arabs, " increase in learning, and thy enemy's grief
will increase also."" But never mind that. " For he," say the
Rabbis, " who does not add to his learning, loses what he has
got already.""
" What, then, are the five benefits of hearing the preaching
of the law ? (i) To hear what one had not heard before ; (2)
to make clear or impressive what one had heard before ; (3)
to remove doubts ; (4) to rectify one's opinions ; (5) to purify
the mind (or soul)."'* "A man, though he be extremely stupid,"
say the Chinese, " is yet intelligent enough to find fault with
others. And if he be ever so clever, he is yet dull enough
' Sain iigh. fol. 3. ' Meld. Ar. pr. ' Id. ibid. * Vemana, i. 143.
» Id. iii. 130. • Tonilkhu yin ch. 2. ' Vettivetkai, 25. « j)o ji kiyo.
• Ep. Lod. 1426. '» Hea-Lun, xiv. 23. " Ebu Medin, 134.
" Echa Rab. B. Fl. " Putsa pagn. 805.
4o8
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[ix. 9 — II
about excusing his own faults. You need only reprove (or
correct) yourself with the same heart with which you reprove
others, and excuse others as you excuse your own self."^
" Praise and extol places of learning," says Yung-ching,* " in
order to promote the advancement of scholars ; for scholars
are the first of the four classes of the people."
" Doctor Kang-tsee remarks : The man of superior order is
good without teaching ; the man of middle order is good with
teaching ; but the low fellow is not good, even with teaching.
What is the first, but a saint? What is the second, but
respectable ? And what is the last, but a fool ?"» " Ja-jin [as
Indra] said to the king of Jambudwip : Even if I inform thee
by teaching, and thou get thyself a teacher, yet is knowledge
difficult to acquire; a mere wish for it is not sufficient."*
" Therefore say not. When I am at leisure I will mend. May
be thou Shalt never be at leisure."' [Therefore mend at once
and learn.]
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom :
and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.
1 1 For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the
years of thy life shall be increased.
Ver. I o. A. V. inverts the order of the Hebrew words, " the beginning
of wisdom is the fear of the Lord." This is preferable, because the
subject-matter is Wisdom personified, that speaks, and " the fear of
the Lord," which here is not the subject-matter, is only mentioned
as the beginning or foundation of wisdom.
D"'tDrii7 rnyy, 'and knowledge of holies,' or 'saints,' as A.V.
renders it in Ps. Ixxxix. 6, 8, &c. It is, however, said of God as
D-rlbS, pi. construed with a sing, pron., as in Josh. xxiv. 19: "Ye
cannot serve Jehovah," said Joshua, M^n D^lPnn D>Hb)f >?, for he [is]
holy gods [holy God] ; in contradistinction to -i?3n ^tP\^, ' gods of
a strange land, strange gods,' "which your fathers served in Egypt
or beyond the river"— that are still, QSaiH?, among you (v. 23).
« Hien w shoo, 40. » On Kang-he's 6th maxim. ' Ming Sin
P. K. c. i. * Dsang-Lun, fol. 9- ' R- Hillel, Pirke Av. u. 4-
ix. 10]
THE BOOK OF PRCtVERBS.
409
Either choose one of them, or serve Jehovah. And the people said :
"We will serve Jehovah, Wrt^H Min-^?, for He [is] our gods" (v. 18,
24). The LXX. reads wrongly, rj Povkfj tIov iyiiov, 'the counsel of
the saints is understanding.' The Arabic reads, 'holy,' sing.; and
A.V. is the right rendering here, as said of God.
Ver. 10. Confucius says "there are three things of which
the wise man stands in awe. He fears the commands [or
decree] of Heaven ; he fears great men ; and he stands in awe
of the words of holy men. But the mean man does not
acknowledge the will of Heaven, and does not fear it, but
slights great men."' Meng-tsze, however, taught that man
has not to look out of himself for goodness, but only to look
for and to find his ' lost heart' — his original heart that was good,
but was 'lost' through carelessness, bad habits, &c. And in
Shang-Meng' he says that " as a feeling of compassion is the
origin of [jin] the love of man [charity, dydwt]] ; as a feeling of
shame and hatred is the origin of justice ; as the feeling of
modesty is the origin of propriety — so also is the feeling of
what ought or ought not to be the origin of wisdom." [But
not of "the wisdom that cometh from above;'' for of this the
Arabs say " that the fear of God is the beginning [head] of it"*
As to the feeling of shame, " it is a door to religion," says the
Buddhist, "for it tends to inward repose, as the feeling of
modesty also tends to create outward repose."*]
" The highest honour," says Ali, " is the fear of God."' " The
man who fears God," says Watwat, " is honoured of God and
respected of men." " If you are honoured by God," says the
Qoran,' " it is because you fear Him." But this has another
meaning. " Honour [among men] is two-fold. One is, not
to injure others ; and the other, that a man will impart of his
goods to others. The first is called fear of God [piety] and
devotion ; the latter, kindness and doing good. But the first
is superior to the last by reason of its greater gain and more
' Hea-Lun, xvi. 8. ' c. iii. 6. ' Erpen. adag. Gr. p. 276
• Rgya-tcher r. p. c. iv. » Ali b. a. P. 26. • Sur. xlix. 13.
4IO
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[ix. ID
general advantages." "Art thou an honourable man," says
the Persian distich, "then walk in the fear of God; for the
fear of God is the [head] chief honour."' " There is no know-
ledge like the knowledge of the Lord." "A scent of the
knowledge of God is better than much labour."' R. Eleazar
ben Azaria said : " If there was no law, there would be no con-
duct among men ; if so, there would be no wisdom ; and then
there would be no fear of God ; and if there was no fear of
God, there would assuredly be no wisdom either."'
" What is the highest of all duties here on earth ? asked
Manu. To this Bhrigu replied : The best and most excellent
of these is the knowledge of the Spirit, God. This is the most
exalted of all sciences, because through it immortality is
gained. For it embraces the whole duty of man."* " If thou
knowest God, thy wisdom will shine. When light has arisen,
darkness has disappeared."' " By looking at Thee is truth
[tatwamu] perfected (or ascertained); but by looking at our-
selves, delusion only follows."- "By looking at God through
the proper means, one finds the distinct way. If one looks at
it steadily, it becomes straight ; but if looked at as by a fool,
all light departs."' "When a man has understanding, his
mind does not waver ; if he knows God, wisdom will be joined
to him [befit, adorn him]."^ "Supreme knowledge is the
knowledge of Brahm5,"» " and Vishnu is this Supreme [Spirit]
BrShma, whence all this world has come into existence."'
[We must carefully distinguish the two Brahmas. By Brahmi,
neut, is understood the soul of the universe, the One, Eternal, from
whom are all things, and who is also in all things. But Brihma,
masc, is the first of the Hindoo triad, Brihma, Vishnu and Shiva,
and is called the Creator. Then there is the adj. • brShma : mi, man,'
m f. n .' that pertains to Brahma,' a brahman. Brahma is also the
name of the great Rishi, Narada, son of Brahma, and Brahmi is one
I All 26th max., Pers. Com. and Arab. ' Rishta i j. p. 147-
» PirkeAv iii 13. * Manu S. xii. 84-87. [Atmajnanam param
smritam.] ' ' » Vemana, i. 79- ' Id- ibid. . I, 123- ' W- iii- 43-
• Vishnu P. ii. 6, 44- * ^^- 7i 36.
ix. 10]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
411
of the mothers of created beings ; energies or efficacies of Brihrni
and Brahma personified.
Brahma comes nearest to our idea of God, and might, perhaps, be
a better substitute for it than 'ddva,' one of a host of inhabitants of
the Hindoo Swarga, called 'ddva' from 'div,' 'to play, to be mad,' &c.,
an epithet sometimes applied to a fool ; and in Zend, to evil spirits ;
whence it has passed into other idioms, and might do for the root of
' devil.' ' Dev' is the Armenian for ' devil.' The difficulty of finding
equivalents for Scripture terms in the cultivated languages of the East
is very great. Thus ' Borkhan,' a name of Buddha, was chosen for
' God' in the Mongolian Bible. But then S. Paul called ' the unknown
but true God' by his name at Athens, 'O 9«os.
" Let alone the former practices of sacrifice, the Vedas," &c.,
said Yayati to Ashtaka ; " they only clog the mind. This is a
better way for you. Men once come into union with that
One, acquire supreme peace ['shanti,' repose] both here and
hereafter."' "He who knows Brahma, becomes BrahmS ;
this is Scripture" "And he passes beyond [the reach of]
sorrow who knows what [Brahtna], the ' soul,' is ; this is also
Scripture."* "And the knowledge of the Vedas [of Holy
Scripture] is the riches of learning" [the best].' " Such last-
ing [constant] knowledge is unattainable by thought alone,"
says the Buddhist ; " but it is incomparable."* " But those who
are enslaved by objects of sense and are given to them, cannot
break off with them so well by self-restraint, as they can by
constant search after the knowledge [of God]," says Manu.*
" And this knowledge gives the highest rank."' "As theology,"
said Aristotle, " ranks first among sciences.''
" He who knows BrahmS, acquires excellence [that, beyond
which is nothing]," said Sankara.' " Brahma is real, unending
[true, everlasting] knowledge. What is real, in whatever form,
never alters.'" "Those who know him become immortal."'
' Maha Bh. Adi P. 3626. ' Vedanta Sara, p. 4. * Aw. Kalvi
Oruk. II. ' Tsagnay J. Thera, 15. ' Manu S. ii. 1, 96.
' Rishtah i j. p. 132. ' Taittirey. Upd. valli ii. anuv. 1. ' Id. ibid.
• Swetasw. Upd. iv. 17.
412
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[ix. ID
"And of all things, the knowledge of BrShma is said to be
best" [Quoted by Sankara.] "It is also the end of all
sciences, whereby one obtains immortality.'" "This obtaining
the knowledge [of Bhagavat, lit. of that which is to be wor-
shipped], O great Muni, comes by means of knowledge
and of works. And this knowledge is two-fold ; it is derived
from reflection and from Scripture. The word Brahma comes
through knowledge of Scripture ; supreme Brahma comes
through [reflection or] discernment."* [Discernment, Kp«r«,
separating Brahma from the visible world and seeing him
alone in it ; and that he alone is eternal.'] " It is thus said
by Manu," said Parasara, "that there are two kinds of
Brahma — Brahma, the word ; and Brahma, the Supreme.
He who is thoroughly imbued with the word Brahma, obtains
the Supreme Brahma" [rises up to him through contempla-
tion].*
" O my son," said Vyasa to Shuka, " this knowledge of the
all-pervading Spirit is a corrective [teaching or discipline].
It is secret and most mysterious. As I said, it is a quick, ready
witness of 'self.'"* " In like manner as fire consumes stubble,
so also does the fire of the knowledge of Brahma consume all
pure and impure actions. And as the lotus-leaf is not stained
by the water on which it floats, so also he who knows Brihnii
is not defiled by the waters of sound and of objects of sense."'
" A man with few plans [cares]," says Lao-tsze, " obtains the
Tao ; a man with many cares gets puzzled [blinded]. For
that reason the holy man preserves unity [of purpose or con-
templation], and thus becomes a pattern to the world."^ " But
the wretched man who, in this busy world, does not practise
devotion, only cooks weeds in a saucepan adorned with jewels ;
or ploughs his field with a golden plough, only to sow tares ;
or fences his land with a hedge after cutting down his cam-
' In Swetasw. Upd. introd. • Vishnu P. vi. 5, 58. ' Vedanta
Sara, p. 2. * Vishnu P. vi. 5, 62. » Maha Bh. Shanti P. 9057.
• Swetasw. Upd. introd. ' Tao-te-King, c. xxii.
'
ix. 12]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
413
phor-trees, only to grow 'kaudrava' crops"' [crops of kodrava,
'paspalum kora,' and ' frumentaceum,' inferior grain, found
wild in some places, and eaten by the poor people]. " For as
long as this world appears real, like the silvery lining of a shell,
so long also is Brahma not known as best, supreme and indi-
visible."' [In the Kumara Sambhava, Brahma is said to
divide himself into male and female, in order to bring forth
creatures.]
" For the root of all knowledge is acquaintance with God,"
say the Arabs.' " And the knowledge of Him is understand-
ing." "In a book called 'The Properties of Understanding
Men,' it is said that when God created the understanding. He
said : ' O Understanding, I have created nothing greater than
thpu, for thou art a being greater and more honourable than
any other.' Understanding makes the difference between
man and beast And, in truth, understanding distinguishes a
man ; for he alone is a man who has understanding. P'or a
man without it has only the appearance of a man, but his
state is that of a beast"* " Nam est homini cum Deo rationis
societas," says Cicero; "quapropter nemo est dignus nomine
hominis, qui unum diem velit esse in voluptate," says he again.
" Whatever, then, is done apart from the Supreme Intelligence
[lit 'heart of God'»] is sin," said Mitra Dzoghi. "I go to
devote myself to Him for my own salvation."' "For," says
the Tibetan, "one may possess diligence, firmness, courage,
strength, and surpassing prudence and perseverance, these six
virtues ; yet the fear of God is best of all."'
12 If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself:
but i/thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it.
Jjippil DM. Here the past seems to have a special meaning, as
Tevunath Mishle takes it : ' If in thy last days thou hast been wise in
> Nitishat. 98. • Atmabodha, 7. ' Meid. Ar. pr. * Bochari
Dejohor. p. 170. ' Tonilkhu y. ch. ii. ' Mitra Dr. p. 9.
' Naga Niti, 96 Schf.
414
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[I'x. I a
life, thou alone shalt find the value of having been wise ; if, however,
thou shalt have been foolish during life, thou shalt feel it then.* The
LXX. have the future conditional, iav o'o</>o« tVp, yiiru ; but although
the Hebrew preterit may be rendered thus, yet the past tense seems
to lend special force to this passage. It may also apply, of course, to
the result of any wise action.
" If thou he wise," &c. " He who cherishes [cultivates] Tao
for himself, his virtue becomes sincere," ' says Lao-tsze.
"Although the same benefits be conferred on the good and on
the vulgar, yet the returns are not the same. Though there
was no difference in the seed sown in the fields, yet the differ-
ence in the crops is immense."' " The righteousness of the
righteous is for himself; and whosoever shall commit lawless
offences, his iniquity shall return upon his own head."'
" The tokens of a wise man are fifteen : (i) Becoming in his
gait ; (2) pious in his dealings ; (3) prudent in fear [or caution] ;
(4) understanding in knowledge ; (5) wise in his ways ; (6)
gathering [saving] ; (7) thoughtful ; (8) abundant in answer-
ing ; (9) questioning relevantly to the subject and answering
accordingly ; (10) adding information ; (11) walking with the
wise; (12) learning according to his capacity [or measure] ;
(13) and acting accordingly,"* &c. "A pious man," says Con-
fucius, "desires to establish himself [in virtue], and to establish
others in it also. He tries to promote himself and others as
well."* "He who cultivates virtue, profits himself; adding
daily to wisdom and reflection."* " For the report of good
deeds," say the Chinese, " goes not out of the door ; whereas
evil deeds are bruited to a thousand miles."'
" For the best nobility [or pedigree] is from oneself, and not
from one's kindred."* " Let every one practise virtue for him-
self," said Bhishma to Yudhishtira; " there is no partnership in
virtue. If a man fulfils what it enjoins, of what use is a
• Tao-te-King, c. liv. ' Legs par b. p. 21. « Didasc. Ap.
(Eth.), iii. 28. • Derek erez Sutta, iii. 14. ' Shang-Lun, vi. 28.
• Hien w. shoo, 103. ' Id. ibid. 123. • Ep. Lod. 724.
ix. 13]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
4'S
fellow [in it] ?"• " What is cleverness ? To delight oneself in
the reality^of virtue."' For, after all, " my obedience is to father
and mother, but what I learn is for my own self"' " For the
father's and mother's merit will not avail him who has no
worth or merit of his own."*
" Let knowledge be thy wares [merchandise]," said Ptah-
hotep to his son ; " when thou art in adversity, thine own worth
[or merit] is more to thee than thy belongings whose coffers (?)
are full ; it is greater than their pageant, for those are things
that pass from one man to another. But a son's merit is worth
much to him ; it is of good report."' " There is no son to the
Lord Treasurer, nor to the Lord Privy Seal [their office does
not descend to their son]. The scribe who has a skilled hand
does not give it to his children ; those of them who are poor, it
is his business ; those of them who are great, it is his care."*
Odin, however, gives the following advice, hardly worthy of
him : " Let every man be moderately wise, and never be too
wise. For the heart of a wise man is seldom glad if he be too
wise."' [' Righteous over much,' Eccl. vii. 16. Impossible in
this world to set everything right ; and " he," says the Turkish
proverb, "who weeps over everything, will lose his eyesight"]
1 3 A foolish woman is clamorous : she is simple, and
knoweth nothing.
n^ain, 'restless, always about, noisy.' LXX. Opaxrtla, 'bold.'
At. ' clamours, has a loud voice.' She is rwty^, ' fatuity, silliness
[itself].' LXX. ivSixi-i ^lafuov y'lverai, 'comes to be in want of bread.'
Ar. ' she is folly, stupidity [itself],' a better and more terse rendering
of the Hebrew than ' is simple, no n^i; b?^, and does not [care to]
know what [may come of it].' LXX. koI ouk «7rtoTOTai aloxvvrjv,
'and knows no shame.' Ar. 'and knows not a thing.'
" A foolish woman, &c. " She is mischievous," says Simon-
» Maha Bh. Shanti P. 7064. » Bhartrih. Suppl. 10. ' Altai pr.
« Ep. Lod. 1436. « Pap. Pr. pi. xv. 2. • Ani, xxxii. vol. ii. p. 13.
' Havamal, 54.
4i6
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[ix. 14—18
ides, and mother of herself [independent] ; she wishes to hear
and to know everything; she peeps into every corner, and
wanders about, and calls aloud, even if she sees not a man."^
"Such conduct is a blot on a woman."' "Careless of pro-
priety, of birth [rank] and order, what is there too strange for
the folly of women ? It must be the consequence of some
great sin in [a former] birth."' "A woman," say the Japanese,
" who is a talker, who prates at random and without minding
what she says, who scolds and creates feuds in the family, is to
be divorced."* "Ten measures of talk," say the Rabbis, " fell
upon the earth ; women took nine measures for themselves,
and left one for the rest"* " I heard," said the parrot, "that
most women are wanting in sense ; therefore do wise men
keep their secrets from them."*
" Tvi^ yap ovSiv otSt, irX^i- o /3owXeTat,"^
" for a woman," say the Greeks, " knows nothing but what she
wills."
14 For she sitteth at the door of her house, on a seat
in the high places of the city,
1 5 To call passengers who go right on their ways :
16 Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: and as
for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,
1 7 Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret
is pleasant.
1 8 But he knoweth not that the dead are there ; and
that her guests are in the depths of hell.
Ver. 18. '7''Mnr7, 'those to whom she called, whom she invited.'
The LXX. adds a long paraphrase to this verse. Ar. reads, ' her
visitors or guests.' Chald. ' invited,' or who come to her by appoint-
ment.
> Simonid. ii. 12.
< Onna del gaku, p. 48.
• Dhammap. Malav. 8.
* £p. Lod. 164 1.
» Niti neri viL 84.
• Tooti nameh, st. i.
1
ix. 14 — 18]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
417
ii
" Independence in the father's house, frequenting festivals
and public ceremonies and assemblies of men, improper
loitering in by-ways and retired places, and associating with
women who frequent them, is at once the ruin of personal
character. To take a dislike to one's husband when he is old,
is also the cause of a woman's ruin."* "This is my fifth
counsel to thee," said Sigrdrifa to Sigurd; "although thou see
fair women sitting on benches, let not their silver ornaments
['sifia siifr,' kindred or family silver; silver ornaments, lent
or borrowed for the occasion ?] have power over thy sleep."*
" This good book [magical papyrus] closes the mouth of women
who look about, and of women who lead a high [loose] life."'
Women who, like others in Homer,
" lOTO/iti'at Oavfia^ov Irrl wpodvpouriv tKaorrj,"*
"stood, every one, at the porch of her house gazing at the
crowd ;" albeit in such circumstances,
" oiKoi piX-Ttpov tlvai iwtl /SXajStpoe to 6vpt]<j}i,"
" it would be best to stay indoors, for going out of them tends
to no good," says Hesiod.'
" Men," says Chu-tsze, " do not talk indoors, and women do
not talk out of doors [in public]. When young women go out
at night, they must take a lantern ; and if by day, they must
hide their faces. If they have no lantern, then stay at home."*
In the Kheue-li, it is said : " Male and female, men and women,
boys and girls, must not mix together ; nor receive presents
from one another ; nor hold intercourse together, and form no
friendships." And in Niuh-tsi, it says : " One should begin
early with propriety, as regards men and women. It reaches
far into the house itself, and is observed out of doors. Men
liveout of doors, women live indoors, well guarded.'" "Vahikas
[women from a province of the Punjab] alone dance uncovered
and maddened in houses, and on the ramparts of the city, out
' Hitop. i. 120. ' Sigrdrifumil, 28. ' Magic Pap. Harris, B. 6.
* II. »'. 496. * Hesiod, I. k. ij. 363. • Siao-hio, c. ii. [ Id. ibid.
2 E
4i8
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[ix. 14 — 18
of doors, adorned with garlands and ointments," said Shalya
to Karna."»
" Impropriety in a woman as regards men is, among other
tokens," says the Burmese code, "to call to men in order to make
friends of them ; and to make those who pass by, stop and come
and sit by her ; and to be looking about from her door. Such
a wife may be chastised by her husband with a rattan or a split
bamboo, but she is not to be put away."? "The wise disciple,"
says R. M. Maimonides, "will not converse with a woman in
public, not even if she is his wife, sister or daughter."' " Let a
woman's eyes be blind towards strangers ; and when she goes
out, let her be as if she were in her grave "* [with a play on
' koor,' blind, and ' gor,' grave, generally both written alike].
"As fire is not satisfied with fuel, nor the ocean with the rivers
that flow into it, nor yet death with living things, so also are
the passions of some women never satisfied."' "The food of
women is two-fold ; their understanding is four-fold ; their
devices are six-fold ; and their passions are eight-fold."'
Ver. 16. "Whoso is simple," &c. " Lakshmi [fortune] de-
lights in a common man ; Saraswati [eloquence] in a man of
no family ; and woman, in a worthless one."' In this case, the
saying is true " that counsel among [from] women is death,"'
and that " the counsel of a woman causes ruin."' " ' O Tatha-
gata, how are we to conduct ourselves towards women ?' said
Ananda to him. 'Ananda,' said the Tathagata, 'you must
not see them ; but if you see them, you must not speak to them.'
' But if they speak to us, what then ?' 'You must have your
wits about you [presence of mind].'""*
Ver. 17. "Man sees the gold and sees not the trouble that
is close to it. The fish sees the bait, but sees not the hook
hidden in it."" Loqman, according to some of his editors, ap-
IX. 14—18] THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
419
pHes his twenty-eighth fable, of the Cat and the File,> " to those
at first dehghted, but know not that it is taking away their^ife."
Eveo' forbidden thing \, sweet,"^ say the Arabs. " The rose
grows with the thorn, and the thorn with the rose.- "But
he sword thirsts for the blood of him who stole and drank
strange waters."* He is doomed as-
Victima nil miserantis Orci."«
"A forbidden apple is sweetest,"* says the proverb ; for-
"Nitimur in vetitum semper, cupimusque negata.'"'
f.h^r '^ " ^'*' '^"'''^ ""' ""'''" ^'- [S°P*^°^' ^^^- 41 ; Esop.
fab. 64 ; Loqman, fab. 8, of the stag which, when pursued by
hunters, fled mto a cave where a lion devoured him.] " While
lookmg at women." says Vemana, "a man knows not
whither .t W.11 lead him. By reason of women, men do not
T-Z u"n ""'^ "'" ^"'"^ ''^•" "^'' ^'^"'terers go to the
Tat ha hell In all those hells, men are with their heads down
and their feet up], to see the gods that are above, whence they
00k down upon these men."« "Who, then, are the blind of
the bhnd? Those who are possessed or led about by their
bewildering passions."- Not so the wise. "Abu Mirza having
been caught by the word of a woman, wrenched himself away
and left her— with a good name.""
• Weasel. Esop. 49; Sophos, 6. « Erpen. Ad. 557. » Osm or
O 'h 7^' '" ''"'"• """■ "• ' «- Od. ii. 3."' . Hung Er
' Ovid. Am. III. 4, 17. I Vemana ii i« » v u tT- f' ^
'» Phreng wa, .7." n BablZeh,V 99. ' "• '' ^'^
> Maha Bh. Kama P. 2035. « Dhammathat. xii. 42. » Halkut
Deh. iv. 7. ' Bostan, vii. st. 25. ' Hitop. ii. 113. • Id. 117.
' Chanak. 182, J. K. • Pers. pr. » Bahudorsh, p. 75. •• Maha-
paranibbh. p. 51. " Ming h. dsi. 135.
2 E 2
420
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[X. I
CHAPTER X.
From this chapter to the five-and-twentieth are sundry observations of
moral virtues, and their contrary vices.
THE proverbs of Solomon. A wise son maketh a
glad father : but a foolish son is the heaviness of
his mother.
IbH row, 'the heaviness, sorrow, or worry of his mother, because,'
says Rabbi S. Yarchi, ' he is always with her at home, so that she sees
his folly and is worried with it.' Chald. ' makes her ferment, exas-
perates her.'
"This," says the Hebrew commentator, "is the second
Division in the Book of Proverbs. The first Division, just
ended, consists in argumentative statements and principles,
just as a father, when teaching his son, would first of all place
a pattern before him. The following sections consist in
proverbs stating truths well ascertained, respecting wisdom
and folly, mostly in single or detached sentences." The LXX.
omits the words, ' The proverbs of Solomon.' The Arabic
retains them, and the Chaldee likewise.
"A wise son," &c. "Happy the father and mother," says
Confucius, "who can rejoice in their children !"'
"EuSoi^vios rovT la-rw vtos voui' t\<^v."*
"It is indeed a source of happiness [to have] a prudent or
wise son [who has sense]." " Of these three sons— one unborn,
one dead or one a fool— the two first are the best; for they give
pain only once, whereas the last is a constant sorrow"' [gives
pain as long as he lives]. "But Rama and Lakshmana,
1 Chung y. c. xv. • Menand. ivi^^i. a. ' Pancha T. pref. 4.
X. I]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
421
Bharata and Shatrughna, the four sons of Dasaratha, caused
great delight to their father, by their virtues, their modesty
and their valour."* "For he is a son indeed who delights his
father by his good conduct."' "And a reverent son," says
Kwan-yuen-shih, "[makes large] expands his father's heart."*
" One gifted son is better than a hundred fools. One moon
scatters the gloom ; not so a number of stars."* [This is thus
paraphrased in the Subhashita : " A woman with ill-favoured
[or foolish] sons is yet barren. But the son who is much
respected for his qualities and wisdom, is a son indeed. For it
is not a multitude of stars, but the full moon that dispels thick
darkness."' Loqman also :« " One blessed [gifted] son is better
than many deficient ones." So also Sophos -J " One good son
is better than many useless ones."]
" When the son is dutiful and obedient, the father's heart is
at rest."* "Of all the benefits [blessings] to be got, there is
none greater than to have intelligent children."' And all
children are not alike. " Gold and silver come out of stone,
yet are not found in every stone."" " He is a son," say the
Chinese, " who serves his parents, hides their faults, and does
not offend them on the right hand and on the left, but
supports them unstintedly until death, and then wears mourn-
ing for them three years."" "A dutiful son," says Tsang-tsze,
"does not oppose his father's will, but 'maketh glad' his heart,
his eyes and his ears."'* And Confucius says that "a son
who for three years has not gone against his father's will, may
be called dutiful.""
" Sometimes good parents have a bad son, and bad parents
have a good one. The light in the lamp is evident [comes
from thick oil, yet is bright], as the lotus-flower grows from
the mud."" " The trouble and the peace of parents," say the
* Ramay. i. xix. 25. ' Nitishat. 58.
* Hitop. 8. ' Subhashita, 20. • Fab. 11.
• Ming h. dsi. 85. » Cural, vii. 61. " Gulist. vii. 6. » Liki,
T'ang kung, c. iii. " Siao-hio, c. ii. " Id. ibid. " V. Satasiu, 365.
' Ming Sin P. K. c. xi.
' Fab. 57 ; Esop, fab. 106
422
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[x. 2
Japanese, " depend on their children's conduct. If the children
are good, their parents are [Hotoke, Buddhas] gods or saints
in heaven ; but if the children are wicked, their parents are
[as if] in hell."' " For the burning care [or anxiety] is scorch-
ing of the liver," say the Arabs.*
"What is the first and most disagreeable thing on earth?"
asked Zarathustra of Ahura Mazda. " It is this," answered
Ahura Mazdc^ " to see the wife and the son of a good man
walking in perverse ways, and holding a [weepful] woeful dis-
course"' [making use of bad language]. " Ignorant [stupid]
children," say the Tamils, " are no better than calves."* "And
the woman who has brought forth a son with an ugly face,
has brought forth a tiger."* " I brought him up as a puppy,"
says the Turkish mother, " and when he grew up a dog, he bit
my leg." " For it has been said that the two natural adver-
saries a man has are his wealth and his children."' "And a
son," say the Japanese, "who is always on his mother's lap,
turns out good for nothing."^ " The three things God requires
of a man, and that are most becoming to him, are justice,
mercy and obedience."*
2 Treasures of wickedness profit nothing : but right-
eousness delivereth from death.
" Treasures of wickedness" &c
" — TO yap hokif
tQ /ii) StKoi^) KT^fiar oux' criiftToi.
"Wealth," said Theseus to CEdipus, "gotten unjustly by
fraud, never lasts."» "niTrvvo-o, mind, then," says Theognis,
" and beware of drawing thy honours, thy character for good-
ness [merit], and thy wealth, from shameful doings."" " That
which is gotten by iniquity [or cruelty]," says Loqman, " shall
» Kiu O do wa, vol. i. serm. 2, p. i8. * Nuthar ell. 55.
» Vendidad, iii. 36. * Tain. pr. • Kawi Niti S. xiv. 4. • The
40 Vireers, ist night ' Jap. pr. • Barddas, vol. i. p. 3>6 and 314.
• CEdip. Col. 1026. "" Theogn. 29.
2]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
423
not continue with its owner ; but if it does, it will not be to his
profit [or happiness]."' "As to the unbelievers, neither their
riches nor their children will profit them in the least, though
come from God ; but they will light the fire of hell.'"
" Woe unto you who have gotten yourselves silver and gold
without right, and who say, 'We are exceedingly rich, and
have possessions, and have all we wish. And now we will do
whatever we like, for we have heaped up silver, and have re-
plenished our treasuries ; the labourers on our estates are in
abundance [lit. like great waters].' But your false appearance
will pass away [flow] from you like water, and will not remain
with you, but will suddenly depart from you, because ye have
possessed it all by violence, and ye yourselves shall be given
up to everlasting [great] curse."' For it is said, " Riches shall
be taken away from him who gathers them by violence."*
" Wealth unfairly gotten does not enrich its possessor," say the
Chinese; " but Heaven [his fate] dooms him to poverty."" " For
it is not because a man has a thousand gold pieces that he is
happy ; for he may be very miserable with them."*
" Gold and silver make a man lose both this world and that
which is to come. But the study of God's law brings a man
into the world to come."^ "The dependents of him who is
always grasping, deteriorate ; being afraid of him as of an
enemy. And he who takes property given to the gods,'' said
Vyasa, "shall never be happy with that money."' "Wealth
gotten without justice is like water poured upon snow. Fields
and lands that are gotten by wicked devices, are like sand
heaped up by water. If you make craft and deceit the rule
of your life, you will be like a flower that opens at dawn, and
drops down at even," say the Chinese.' " When in the way of
wealth, therefore, do not acquire it improperly. And when
• Loqm. fab. 31. • Qoran Sur. iii. 8. ' Bk. Enoch, c. xcvii. 8.
* Didasc. Ap. Eth. c. xviii. ' Ming Sin P. K. c. xi. • Id. ibid.
' Siphre in Numb, xviii. 20, M. S. ' Maha Bh. Shanti P. 790.
' Hien w. shoo, 90.
424
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
tx.3
difficulties come, do not improperly avoid them."» "The
wealth of a man without knowledge, for the most part disap-
points expectation in the profit it yields to its owner."*
" KipSoi aliTXpov xaKMrrov,"
"shameful profit is worst," says Periander ; it is a charge
brought against nature, and a [heavy] burdensome treasure."*
"If there be ever so much information among the wicked, yet
good men will not go near ; as if there be ever so many gems
among serpents' [heads], but few will go to fetch them."*
"Benjamin the Just," says R. Nathan, "spent his wealth in
helping the poor. One day a poor woman came to him and
said, ' Support me !' He then said to her, ' The service of God
that does not rest on weekly almsgiving is nothing ;' and he
helped her. When he was on his death-bed, the angels told it
to God, who tore up His sentence of judgment [against him]
and added days to his life."" " Hope is but a river, and trea-
sures are the water of it ; thirst for gain is but the morning
waves ; passions are the crocodiles in it ; and destruction is
the birds thereof. It carries away the tree of constancy ; it is
most difficult to cross, because of the whirlpools of folly. It
is edged with lofty thoughts for its banks. Good and holy
men who come to it, rejoice at the sight of it."'
3 The Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous
to famish : but he casteth away the substance of the
wicked.
" TAe Lord will not suffer^ &c. "T'ang (B.C. cc. 1765) on
his return from conquering the rebel ruler of Hea, said : The
rule of Heaven, that blesses the good and afflicts the wicked,
has brought down calamities on Hea to show forth his sin."'
" Let no man bestow too much thought on the acquisition of
property ; for it is meted out by the Creator himself. No
I Hien w. shoo, 197- ' Sain ugh. 83. » Periand. Sept. Sap.
4 Nidivempa, 70. » R- Nathan, iii. fol. 6. • Vairagya Shat. 11.
' Shoo King, iii. 3-
X. 4]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
42s
sooner is the offspring born, than the mother's breasts distil
the milk." " He by whom swans are made white, parrots
green, and peacocks of various hues, will also give thee thy
daily food [or substance]."^ "To every one to whom God
has given eyes to see, has He also sewn drawers to fit his
body," said the old man to the bird.*
" For," says Confucius, "virtue cannot remain [orphan] help-
less ; it must have friends."' " Let him then live for ever, in
whom many find support. Do not birds with their beak work
to fill their maw ?"* " For that which is unprotected, neverthe-
less abides if protected by God ; but if protected by man
and deserted by God, it will come to naught."* " For as the
sandal-wood does not lose its smell when dry, nor sugar its
sweetness by passing through the press, so also the wise
[righteous] man when afflicted, does not part with his virtue."*
" In the golden age, the offspring of the gods lived like them
free from care, and died as if in sleep ; but in the iron age,
black death seized on men, however splendid they might be."^
4 He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand :
but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.
njP7 f)?, ' hand relaxed, down ;' ' of a lazy man who neither likes
work nor will do it'
"Fortune [Lakshmi] follows the lion-hearted man who
never flags in his efforts ; while craven men say, ' Luck [or
fate] must give it.' Beat down luck, then, by doing all in thy
power; if, after all, it does not succeed, whose fault is it?'
[Not thine own ; and surely that is enough as regards thyself]."
" In like manner as a cart cannot go on one wheel only, so
also without man's efforts destiny will not succeed."* "For
the gifts of Heaven are valuable ; but efforts and perseverance
gain the prize,"" say the Chinese. " For riches come from
• Hltop. i. 188, 189. ' Nizami. loij. ' Shang-Lun, iv. 25.
* Pancha T. i. 18. » Hitop. ii. 16. • Lokaniti, 44.
' Hesiod, I. «. i}. 108, 153. ' Hitop. introd. 31. • Id. ibid. 32.
*' Hien w. shoo, 3.
426
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[x. 4
drops to pints ; but poverty comes from not summing up
carefully."! "Yes ; riches come from economy."* " For good
order in outlay is half a sufficiency."' " Since he who spends
and does not reckon, loses and knows nothing about it," say
the Arabs.*
" But cut short thy expenses, even if thou wert king of
Irak."*
" Utere quxsitis modice, quum sumtus abundat.
Labitur exiguo quod partum est tempore lungo,"
says D. Cato." " Wealth is not to be spent without due delibe-
ration."' " Do not scatter [spend] recklessly," says Ani, "with
thy hand towards an unknown man ; he comes to thee for no
good. It is spending the goods of thy children ; and he will
come to thee again."* " He who wishes to run through his
inheritance," say the Rabbis, "has only to live in luxury,
clothed in fine linen, and to hire workmen to work for him
and not look after them."' " In the morning, O gold, thou
art a guest ; in the evening, thou art turned into silver ; but if
thou tarriest until the next day, thou wilt be inquired after in
copper," say the Georgians.** " Cheap, makes a spendthrift,"
say the Telugus.** "Quod non opus est," says the Latin
proverb, " asse carum est" " For he," say the Arabs, " who
buys what he does not want, shall have to sell what he cannot
spare."**
" Omnia, Castor, emis ; sic fiet ut omnia vendas.""
" O Upasakas, there are five disadvantages connected with
a careless householder, through ruin caused by evil conduct
and bad principle. First, through his carelessness he suffers
great loss of property ; secondly, his evil reputation is spread
abroad aloud ; thirdly, into whatever society or company he
may come, whether merchants, samanas [lit. hearers, Buddhist
monks], &c., he feels shy, ill at ease and troubled ; fourthly,
• Chin. pr. P. * Hien w. shoo, 77. • Mifkhar Pen. B. FI.
* Meid. Ar. pr. ' Ebu Medin, 8. ' ii. 17. ' Nitimala, iii. 62.
• Ani, xvii. p. 135. * R- Jochan Baba Metz. 29, M. S. " Andar. 46.
" Tel. pr. 858. " Ar. pr. " Mart. Epig. vii. 98.
X. 4]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
427
he is afraid of death ; and fifthly, after death he goes to hell,"*
"Every patrimony suffers from idleness, and must prosper
through diligence."*
" For the best part of science [or of knowledge] is when it is
joined to work," say the Arabs.' Thus Confucius says that "the
wise man who is diligent in business is sufficiently learned."*
"Practise economy," say the Chinese, "and fill what is empty,
and you will know [the result] from the state of the house.
There is a cause for evil fortune as well as for good fortune.
Every man works it out for himself, and then receives the
reward of his work."' " Ups and downs are determined ; yet
there is much wealth bound up in action [diligence]."' "With
diligence and economy the vessel is always full ; and when old
age comes, there will be no want. One cannot show hospi-
tality without plenty ; and a house is not well governed with-
out economy." " With diligence and economy the house will
fill gradually and [throughout]," say again the Chinese.' And
Yung-ching : " Every business grows rank [' hwang,' does not
ripen, or gets overgrown with weeds] through dulness ; but it
ripens [prospers] through diligence. It requires a firm, honest
will at the first, and unremitting exertion unto the end."'
" Labour consists in making an effort to do what we wish, and
diligence [perseverance] is to endure trouble in the pursuit of
what we have determined to do. This quality follows [belongs
to] a lofty mind ; for the loftier is the disposition, the greater
also will be the labour wrought in the attainment of our object
I labour for my object ; if I succeed, well ; if I fail, men of
large heart (or mind) will excuse me.""
"Even he who gains his living by carrying burdens on his
back or bearing them on his shoulders only, if he be but honest
and diligent, will get food and clothing without lack. The
common saying is : ' Every grass root has a grass root's share
' Mahaparanibbh. fol. na. ' Hien w. shoo, 146. ' Meid. Ar. pr.
* Shang-Lun, i. 14. » Ming Sin P. K. c. i. • Id. c. ii. ' Id. c. xiv.
' Kang-he's loth max. p. 1 — 75. • Akhiaq I m. xiii.
428
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[x. 4
of dew to feed it* Again it is said : ' The small birds of the
forest have no store of grain, and heaven and earth are
broad" ' [they have the world before them, and live]. " People,"
say the Chinese again, " must be diligent and laborious, not
idle or lazy. No matter whether a man be rich and honour-
able, or mean and poor ; still ought diligence and labour to
hold the first place.'" " And he who gets his living by reckon-
ing [order and economy], eats until he licks [his platter]," say
the Finns.' " But," say the Burmese, " for riches that diminish
[or waste] not, in answer to one's efforts, both hands and feet
must go round [move about]."* " Be diligent, and God will
send the profit"* " Lakshmi [fortune] never forsakes the brave
king who looks upon twenty 'cowries' [one farthing] found
unexpectedly, as he would look upon a thousand ' nishkas '
[pieces of gold] ; and at other times bestows large sums of
gold with a free hand "* [who is both careful and liberal].
" As frogs go to the pool, and birds to a tank full of water,
so also do successes of all sorts come to the man who exerts
himself."' "For Lakshmi follows of herself, in order to make
her abode with the man who is earnest in his efforts, and not
dilatory ; a good judge of business, not given to vice, brave,
a good judge of merit [in others], and firm in friendship."'
" Persevere to the last in a good work,' for even in adversity
diligence will gather wealth."'" "And although you be a man
of property, eat and spend according to measure [within your
income]."" " Work is to be done with diligence ; exertion will
show the way. For in all undertakings energy is the most
important consideration."" "Acquire diligence," says Ebu
Medin, "for it is a great treasure."" [See the fable of the
" Hare and the Tortoise," in Sophos, 38 ; Loqman, 20 ; Esop,
J73]-
" Hien w. shoo, 147. ' Chin, max.. Dr. Medh. p. 187. ' Finn pr.
* Burm. prov. * Egypt, pr. • Hitop. iii. 26. ' Id. i. 183.
» Id. ibid. 184. » Atthi Sudi, 65. " Kondreiv. 21. " Id. 81.
»i Maha Bh. Vana P. 2155. " Ebu Medin, 127.
X. 4]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
429
" The proverb, that ' poverty cannot overcome the diligent,'
is a difficult [rare or excellent] saying. For whosoever prac-
tises diligence, whether he be a country or a towns-man, to
say that his property will be good, admits of no mistake,"
say the Japanese.* " Wise men are [defiled] injured by want
of reading [repetition], as houses are injured by carelessness."
" The wealth of faint-hearted [mean] men goes ; that of brave
ones abides. Mean men say there is a first cause for every-
thing ; but brave men do not say so ; they work."* " He,"
say the Tamils, " who not knowing his own measure, lives with
a certain show, shall assuredly come to grief."' " Think highly
of moderation [economy], so as to avoid lavish expenditure,"
said the emperor Kang-he.* "Not a day passes without
having to spend ; therefore in order to have something to
spare for occasional expenses, think highly of economy. For
with diligence without economy, the labour of ten men would
not suffice for the maintenance of one, and the in-gatherings
of one year would not suffice for the necessities of one day.
People run into debt to gratify their wishes, and then hunger
in harvest and starve in dearth, all from want of economy."
The E-King says : " He who will not endure the pain of
moderation, shall endure the pain of misery."'
" Do not put off till to-morrow what you can do to-day ;
for," says Rabbi Simeon, " the day is short, and the work is
much ; but the workmen are idle, though the reward be great,
and the householder pressing.'" "By welcoming contempt
[from others], and putting behind him all idea of respect [from
them], let the wise man accomplish his work. For failure in
work is — stupidity."' "Yea, the duties of to-morrow must be
done to-day, and those of the afternoon in the morning ; for
death does not inquire if the work is done or if it is not."*
" And it is by weaving on firmly [continually] that the weaver
• Den ka cha wa, i. p. 4. ' Lokan. 162, 163. ' Cural, 479.
• Sacred edict, 5th max. "• Yun-chang Com. p. 32. • Pirke Avoth, c. ii.
' Nitishastra in Kobitaratnak. 21. ' Maha Bh. in Kobitarat. 131.
430
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[x.5
X.S]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
431
at last completes his weft." • " For diligence is a merchandise
that yields large profits," say the Arabs.*
5 He that gathereth in summer is a wise son : but
he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth
shame.
" He that gathereth" &c. " The common saying, is," quoth
Wang-keu-po,' "During the day when you can take, think of the
day when you will not have aught to take. Do not wait for the
time when you will have nothing, in order to think of the time
when you had." " He," says Confucius, "who does not trouble
himself about what is afar off, will soon have sorrow near at
hand."* " Save your clothes," says the proverb, " and you will
have some to wear ; save your food, and you will have some to
eat. In childhood and in old age you will have enough."*
" And he who, when he can take, takes not, must not com-
plain when his chance is gone."" " The Brahman householder
may gather grain either in a granary, in a jar, or for three
days, or even have nothing for the morrow [because he may
beg]."^ " Some provision should always be made, but never
too much. The jackal was killed with a bow for having
gathered together too much food."*
"'EXirtft (US dvifToi, ijitiSov (OS aOdvaroi, •
" Hope as mortal," says Periander, " and save as if immortal."
" He is foolish," says the Georgian proverb, " who scatters [his
property], but he is not foolish who gathers."*"
"'E<f>6Sujv <($ TO yijpas, at£i KarairWov,
"Always lay by as provision by the way for old age."" [See, as
bearing on this, Esop. fab. 195, 198, &c., and notes thereon at
ch. vi. 10.] But the epilogue of the Turkish translator of that :
' Bengal pr. ' Meid. Ar. pr. ' Kang-he's 5th max. p. 34-
* Hea-Lun, xv. 11, and Ming h. dsi. 34. ' Chin pr. • Id. ibid.
I Manu S. iv. 7. ' Hitop. i. 174. ' Periand. Sept. Sap.
"> Geor;;, pr. " Vvufi. /lov.
fable is this : " The wise man is not wholly taken up with this
world, but rather gives his attention to the time to come.
Thus, while we do not give our whole thoughts to the affairs
of this world, let us see to our preparations for the next"*
" Quamobrem omnes, cum secundae res sunt maxume, turn maxume,
Meditari secum oportet, quo pacto advorsam aerumnam ferant"'
"Therefore, O my son, bestir thyself in the days of thy
youth. Awake, O my son, from thy sleep, and give thyself
unto wisdom and instruction," said Rabbi J. A Tibbop" to
his son.
" For that is true watchfulness that provides not only for
the present time, but also for that which is to come."* " If you
have money, lay by some for the day of ' no money;' and when
at rest and in comfort, [make a dyke] guard against disease
and sorrow."' So, " Tread on thorns while thy sandals are on
thy feet."* " Cut the pumpkin and cook it while the fire is
burning."' " For when the day is passed, the offering [for that
day] is vain."' " When it is fine, carry your umbrella," say the
Chinese; "when full, still take provisions with you." "And
when you are in abundance, think of the days of reverses ; but
in the days of adversity, rely not on better ones."' " There-
fore," says Hesiod,
OvK alt\ 6ipo% i(r(T(iTai, woiiurOt KaXidls,""
" Show thy servants, while in the middle of summer, that it
will not always be summer ; then make you storehouses, for
Januaty is coming, a bad month, of frost and biting wind ;
beware of it." And Theocritus,
S^tyytT, (i/iaXAoScrat, ra. SpdyfiaTa, [ifj Trapidv Tts
EtTnj, <rvK(i/ot avS^cs, d,irio\(TO )^ ouros o /iicrOoi,"
" O ye reapers, bind fast the sheaves, lest a passer-by say, ' Oh,
' Esop's fab., Turk. tr. ' Ter. Phorm. i. 5. » In his
last will. • Kobitaratn. 136. ' Ming Sin P. K. c xiv.
• Yalkut, B. Fl. ' Sanhedr. id. ' Pesach. id. • Chin. pr.
'" I. K. r/. 500.
432
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[x. 6, 7
the lazy fellows, they have been paid for doing nothing.'"*
" For," say the Japanese, "in the autumn we gather ; in winter
we hoard up."* " Let every one, then, work without delay,"
said Usurtasen to the workmen building a temple at On.
" Every one who uses his two arms finishes his work ; and thy
[the present] hour is the time to do it." [To-morrow is not
thine.]*
6 Blessings are upon the head of the just : but
violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.
" Blessings are," &c " If thy son's mouth pour forth evil
words," says Ptah-hotep, "strike him on the mouth."* "The
violence of the violent [or cruel man] leads him to destruc-
tion,"* say the Arabs. " In whatever house the step of a good
man is heard, there comes good fortune to the owner. The
tread of a good man is like the water of a shrine ; it cleanses
[sanctifies] every spot on which it falls," said Krishna to
Narada.' " As venom does not belong to Garuda, so also do
good men give no pain. But like as coolness does not belong
to fire, so also do evil men give [no pleasure, but only] trouble
and pain."" "The likes and dislikes of men and of sensible
beings are very various ; and it is hard for any one to please
all. But he is near doing that who acts most in accordance
with his good qualities."* " There are three different kinds of
men : the man of man, who renders good for good, and evil for
evil ; a man of God, who does good for evil ; and a man of
the devil, who does evil for good."'
7 The memory of the just is blessed : but the name
of the wicked shall rot.
" The memory," &c. " They raise no monuments to the
' Idyl. X. 44. ' Gun den s. mon. 37. ' Hier. Inscr. Mus. Berl.
Zeitschr. Aug. 1874. ♦ Pap. Pr. vii. 12. ' Nuthar ell. 165.
• Pretn. Sag. c. Ixx. ' Nitivempa, 47. • Legs par b. p. 303.
» Barddas, vol. i. p. 310.
X.7]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
433
righteous; their words are their memorial."' "Likewise the
smell of a sweet-scented flower does not spread against the
wind ; but the sweet smell of the morals of him who has sub-
dued his passions, spreads through the ten quarters [four
cardmal, four intermediate, zenith and nadir]."» "And his
excellence spreads abroad when he is dead, as the fragrance
of a splinter of aloes [agallochum] spreads abroad when it is
burnt."' "When a man's virtue is established, his name
[reputation] also rests on a firm footing. The empty valley
[the grave] will propagate his praise, and his name will re-
sound in the empty hall [the tomb]."* And again : « The
remembrance of a man's merits establishes the truth of them.
They are engraved on stone, in inscriptions as a lasting
memorial."' "If thou desirest life and imnjortality, O wise
man, let thy words set forth goodness.'" " The memory of
my words," says Ptah-hotep, "remains [abides, according to one
reading] or circulates [according to another] among men
through the goodness of their sentences ['tesu,' wise, knotty
or well-arranged sayings].""
" For virtue is the only friend that follows a man in death ;
since when the body perishes, everything else goes with it."«
" Practise virtuous actions with all your power ; you will thus
acquire a good reputation in this world, and in that which is
to come perpetual joy."" Therefore Meng-tsze is wrong when
he says that "the influence of a wise man disappears after five
generations," although he is right in saying that "it is the case
with a mean man.">» " Kesri [Nushirwan] is no more, but his
name and the history of his time abide. When life is gone
and nothing more remains, a good name is best ; for it abides
as a memorial."" In the She-King [Ode Lie-wen], quoted
by Ts'heng-Tseu," we read : "Oh how the ancient kings Wen
' Bereschit R. B. Fl. ; Khar. Pen. xxii. .3, R. Bl. 71. • Lokopak. 180.
Drishtant. 8. « Gun den s. li mon. 209. » Id ibid 521
• Kudat ku B. X. 20. r p^p. p, ^^ ^ , ^^^^ g ^... ;
Boyan Sorgal. p. 25. 10 Hea Meng, viii. 22. » Akhlaq i m. xx,
" Com. Ta-hio, c. iii.
2 F
434
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[x. 7
■II
and Woo are not forgotten ! The wise men who came after
them imitated their noble deeds. Their love for the people !
The common people rejoiced under their reign ; and that is
why they will not be forgotten for ages to come. Wen Wang
as prince rested on humanity [love for man] ; as subject, on
respect ; as son, on reverence ; and as father, on his love for
his children." "Those kings," says Confucius, "wishing to
govern well, first endeavoured to rule their own establishment ;
and in order to do that, they cultivated (or adorned) their own
person with virtue ; and to that end they set straight their
own heart."' For, as he says elsewhere, "a good name [or
real fame, good reputation] rests on a man's virtue alone."
One of his disciples, Tsze-kang, asked him one day about the
fame a scholar enjoys among men. Confucius then asked
him what he understood by ' fame.' Tsze-kang replied : " It
is to be heard of in the country, and to be talked of at home."
Then the Master answered : " That is only report ; it is not
fame. Real fame consists in true, sincere and sound justice ;
in words well considered ; in a noble demeanour ; and in being
considerate towards inferiors."^
" It is always by good men that good qualities are most
praised. The sweet smell of the sandal-wood of Malaya is
diffused [by the wind] to the ten quarters of the earth."'
And "good qualities, though they be hidden, yet are spread
everywhere in the world. The flower of the nutmeg, though
dry, yet scatters a sweet scent all round. "^ " Every one who
is born must die ; but when a good man dies, his name abides
[lives after him]."* "The means (or opportunity) of enjoying
an honourable name [reputation] in this life, goes together with
virtue, to rejoice in the world to come. Unless these two go
together, wise men do not call it 'joy' for a man."* "Thought
(or mind) is fickle ; knowledge also is uncertain ; youth and
life also are passing : everything on earth is inconstant for
> Ta-hio, c. i. • Hea-Lun, c. xii. ' Legs par b. p. 25.
* Id. ibid. 36. * Kudat ku B. xi. 3. • Sain ugh. fol. 8.
X.7]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
43 S
hm whose reputation does not live.- "Chi hi buona fama.
He, say the Itahans. "who has a good reputation, has what
he most des.res ; but he who has lost i, is dead to the woHd"
He, s^^y the Tamils, "who is not desired (or regretted) by
any one, what will he, pray, leave to his posterity ?"» "Z
who fears God keeps His feasts; he raises his spir^ upwards
a d h.s worsh.p is in his actions. And God will make his
name great, above that of the drunkard [or sensual man}"^
Thy good countenance [said to one dead, in transmigration]
•s on thy children , thy divine name grows [sprouts up] every
day; and thy sweet smell [reputation] is in the abode of the
blessed. « "Great and righteous men are greater when dead
than they were when alive.'" "The help of him who help,
others IS celebrated all over the world, like the perfume of the
[sandal] trees growing on the Malaya hills.'"
" Non omnis moriar. multaque pars mei
Vitabit Libitinam,"'
said Horace, of the best part of him— his pure Latin.
" But fame is acquired by effort ; if it perishes, it cannot be
regained."' " If there be no fault (or defect) in a great and good
man [pandit], his name is, 'Good man perfect in wisdom.'""
" Thiwali, great Thera. will be a great gain through his help
(or influence) ; let all happen to me that I wish." The Burmese
adds to this invocation for good luck : " These ten verses of
Thiwali. when repeated all day long without intermission, will
bring all manner of good luck ; will bring love ; give authority,
a good address, appearance, &c.; will drive away bad dreams
and give good ones." &c."
"But the name;' &c. " But the wicked," says Hesiod—
" Os Se (C€ — ^fWTfTat — SiXTji/ ^A,a^as vr)KicrTOv ddcrdr),
TovSf T d/tavpOTipri yeve^, fUToirurOtv XtAtiTreTat,""
' Bahudorsh, 34, and Kobitaratnak. 2$. » Ital. pr. ' Cural, 1004.
♦ Pap. Boulaq, Egyptolog. p. 46. ' Schai n Sin S. ii. 6. « Millin, 314.
' V. Satasai, 30. • Hor. iii. 30. • Bahudorsh, p. 20. w Kawi
Niti S. xlii. I. " Shing Thiwali gatha, " I. «. i 281.
2 F 2
436
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[x. 8
" is irretrivably doomed, and his posterity is even worse than
he. Not so that of the faithful man ; his children after him
are even better than he." " For no good sprout will grow out
of rotten seed," say the Mongols.' " And he who has a bad
reputation is dead while he lives," say the Hindoos.*
" Nam olet homo quidam, malo suo,"
says Plautus.' " If a bird, be it ever so insignificant, is called
'a crow' by name, it is thereby considered a four-fold rogue
[crows have a very bad reputation in the East] ; in like man-
ner, if a wild beast is called a tiger, it gets that character."*
" And a complaint thus made [against a man's character]
does not leave him in death."' " But if a man has the reputa-
tion of being wicked [good for nothing], one must inquire if it
is so. And let the officer make him swear that he will repent
and amend," according to Javanese law.'
8 The wise in heart will receive commandments :
but a prating fool shall fall.
1337^ D;>fipto ^^.1W, ' but a fool of lips shall be cast down, or pre-
cipitated by himself.'
" The wise" &c. " If an intelligent man sits by a wise one,
for an instant only, he quickly understands the law [or
wisdom] ; as the tongue appreciates the flavour of broth."^
" An ignorant man is easily led ; a man of infinite knowledge
is still more easily conciliated [managed] ; but Brahma him-
self could not manage a man imbued with only a little know-
ledge."* "Men whose tongue is adorned with learning and
knowledge, eschew evil-speaking ; others do not so. The dry
leaves [flabella, *olas'] of the tAl-palm are ever rustling in
the wind ; but they give no sound."* " People who know
little, talk incessantly ; but men who know much, talk little.
Those resound like a plate of bell-metal ; but these, like a
• Mong. m. R. * Kobitar, 25. ' Amphit. i. I. * Kawi Niti S. xlii.
• Telugu pr. • Nawolo Pradh. xxxv. ' Dhammap. Balav. 65.
• Nitishat. 2. • Naladiyar Arav. 6.
X. 9]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
437
plate of gold, give little sound."' Abu Zarjambar said, " When
thou seesta man talk much, make sure of his folly."» "Words
too lofty, too hard, and spoken out of season, din like the
ceaseless cry of the partridge, and kill [the talker] like the
foolish, reckless francolin, that is found out by its incessant
cry, and killed."*
" F6r_ many words are a sign of wandering folly."* " The
company in which a man utters senseless words will say of
him. He has no virtue."' " He who goes about prating against
the law [virtue, religion, 'chhos '], is like a smith's bellows, that
blows, but does not live."^ " There is no greater ' mantra '
[religious spell, saying] than a father's advice ; but the words
of a young man should be written on water."* "So then, as
the Ganges falls from the head of Shiva into the sky, thence
to the earth, and from high mountains down, down into the
sea, so also does the downfall of a man without discretion
happen a hundred different ways."*
9 He that walketh uprightly walketh surely: but
he that perverteth his ways shall be known.
OJ^a 1!?^', ' he that walketh in integrity, uprightness.'
" He that walketh" &c. " Not to injure (others) one's equals,
is a far stronger position than suddenly, through certain risks,
to appear to possess more than they do," said the Corinthians.'"
"Walk straight, uprightly."" "Walk thou in the way 'to
hand,' before thee [given thee to walk in]; thus shalt thou
tread the way back."" "Be thou a man without screen
[disguise] or covering,"" say the Javanese. E-yun said to
T'hae-kea: "When a man's virtue is 'one' [single-minded],
his movements [actions] cannot but be blessed. But if his
virtue is 'two,' 'three' [equivocal], his plans cannot but be
■ Nitivemp. 34. « Borhan-ed. xlii. 158. ' Tittir. jataka, 117.
♦ Ibid. p. 432. « Zohar. 93, M. S. • Cural, 193. ' Naga Niti,
99 Schf. • Tarn. pr. 3576, 82. • Nitishat. 10. " Thucyd. i. 42.
" Nitimala, bk. il. " Ani, xxxix. " Javan pr.
43«
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[x. to
unfortunate [miscarry]. But good fortune and misfortune
are not sent at random. Heaven sends down blessings or
calamities according to a man's virtue."^ "Therefore keep
aloof from frowardness and perfidy, that bravery [boldness]
may stick to thy face."* "Four things make a man known
for what he is : his faults, his qualities, his family, and his
work."' [The work shows the workman]. "Know that all
foulness [evil actions] is the cause of shame ; and that truth
[that which is real, and to be done] originates in one's mind."*
" He therefore who seeks safety [salvation] must act with
integrity."* "For the faithful [or trustworthy] is secure ; but
the perfidious [faithless] perishes."' " If a man seems to
prosper by fraud, it is only for a moment He is like that
lying ass that put on a leopard's skin, and ate the corn in the
field, but was soon put to death."^ " Honourable virtue that
has gathered wealth [happiness] is by that placed above
others. Just as the lion-king Chakrawardi is not in need of a
fellow [because he is peerless]. "^ " For if a man endure labour
(or toil), he will get wealth." •
lo He that winketh with the eye causeth sorrow :
but a prating fool shall fall.
"He that winketh;' &c. "There is that owl," said the rat,
" hooting and glancing at me with his wily eye," in the fable
told by Bhishma." " Wise men have said that he whose left
eye is smaller than his right one, and ceases not to wink — and
whose nose inclines to the right side — is a rogue, a cheat, a
bundle of guile and deceit."" "He who, unasked, talks too
much, is demented, and the meanest of men," said Vidura to
Dhritarashtra." " Low people are like a drum when beaten,
that proclaim to others the secret given them to keep."'*
• Shoo King, iii. 8.
' Pend i Att. 39.
' Kawi Niti S.
♦ Vemana, i. 90. * Ebu Medin, 188. • El Nawab. 15. ' Sain
ijgh. 145. • Ibid. fol. 5. » Telugu pr. "• Maha Bh. Shanti P. 4966.
•' Calilah u U. p. 148. " Maha Bh. Udyog P. 1096. " Cural, 1076.
I
X. II, 12]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
439
1 1 The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life :
but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.
n^!D "lipP, *a spring or fountain of life,' of water ever flowing fresh
and pure. LXX. mjy^ fu^s. Ar. ' a fountain, springing water of life.'
"The mouth," &c. "When Bchom-ldan-hdas [Buddha]
came to the '^feast king Shum-ching-ma had prepared for
him, after washing his mouth, he spat from his mouth the
water, which became a tank two thousand miles long, sur-
rounded with walls of precious stones. The water of that tank
became endued with every quality, and the bottom of it was
laid with sand made up of seven kinds of gems."* "Be not
too perverse, and use no violent language. For the more
jaundice [perspires] the worse it is."' " For to ask for any
thing with violence, and to take it by force, is a sin,"» says
Tai-shang.
1 2 Hatred stirreth up strifes : but love covereth all
sins.
b? TOpijI, 'but love putteth a covering over all transgressions.' The
force of by, ' on, upon, over,' &c., is lost in the translation. Chald.
follows the Hebrew.
"Hatred," &c. " Both hatred and love overstep the line."*
" For love makes thee blind and deaf."' Still, " When Heaven
wishes to save man,"' says Lao-tsze, " He gradually leads him
to love." Also, " Do not divulge the faults of others," says
Tai-shang.' " Greatness, recollect, covers the faults of others ;
meanness uncovers them."* " It shows a good disposition in
a man that he should cover his brother's faults ; and if he
minds his own shortcomings, his conduct is altogether praise-
worthy."' Confucius, praising the actions of Shun^ said
that " he liked to ask questions, to consider attentively the
> Dsang-Lun, fol. 50. • Subha Bil. 105. ' Kang-ing p.
« Sanhedr. B. Fl. ' Musur. aphil. id. • Tao-te-King, c. bcvii.
' Kang ing p. ' Cural, 900. • El Nawab. 66.
440
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[x. 13. 14
I
answers given, then to hide the bad and to make known the
good ones."'
Shaou-tsze says : " Feel for the faults of others as if thou
wast resting on a thorn [act tenderly towards them]. He who
loves men like himself, acts thus."' " For there is no sin like
hatred"" " And where love is thin," say the Welsh, " the
faults [of others] are thick."* " If I say ' Yes,' it is a mistake ;
and if I say ' Narayana,' it is foul language."* [Narayana, the
sacred name of Brahma, Vishnu, &c. " He who makes men-
tion of Narayana, in the morning and at night, at even and at
midday, shall be quickly cleansed from all [guilt] sin.""] " Hate
not thy fellow," says the Georgian proverb, "and be not
envious of his profits."^ Rabbi M. Maimonides, however,
speaking of hatred in his treatise on Manners, says : " He
who hates another Israelite, transgresses only a negative com-
mandment. Therefore a man is not punished for it, because
it involves no actual deed."' [He is guilty, nevertheless ;
S. John iii. 1 5. J
13 In the lips of him that hath understanding
wisdom is found : but a rod is for the back of him
that is void of understanding.
14 Wise men lay up knowledge: but the mouth of
the foolish is near destruction.
Ver. 14. ' The mouth of the foolish (is) vdhj) TM^TV^, a near
destruction ; the ruin, at hand, of those who hear a man's folly.*
And this is the sense given in the Arabic version, ' the mouth of the
foolish is a near destruction.' Chald. id.
"In the lips" &c. "A wise man," says Confucius, "studies
extensively, inquires carefully, thinks diligently, discusses
clearly, and acts with decision."* " Knowledge, austerity, alms-
giving, humility, children, distinction, and digging water-tanks
' Chung y. c- vi. • Shin sin 1. 1. p. 90. ' Dhammap. Sukhav. 6.
« Welsh pr. * Telugu pr. • Vishnu P. ii. 6, 35. ' Georg. pr.
» Halk. Deh. vi. 5. » Chung y. c. xx.
X. 13, 14]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
441
[for the benefit of others], are tokens of pious actions in men,"
said the Rishis.* " As the rain and the rivers run to the sea,
so do intellect and learning to the head of the wise. Kings
gather men and money ; heat and moisture make woods [Tib.]
grow [' flowers,' Mong. version]."* " Propriety restrains the
wise ; laws alone restrain the foolish [or mean] man."' " Men
endued with good qualities rejoice in learning ; not so the
ignorant. The bee gathers honey from flowers ; not so the
meat-fly."*
" Speak a word of wisdom," says Ajtoldi. " Wisdom alone
is praised. A word spoken without wisdom may cut off" thy
head."' "I-kung inquired about Confucius. Tsze-loo did not
answer him. Confucius said to Tsze-loo, Why didst thou
not answer him ? ' Confucius is a man who, in his eagerness
for knowledge, forgets his food ; who, amid the pleasures
knowledge gives him, forgets his sorrow, and thus reaches
unawares a good old age.'"' "It is a great merit in a man,"
says Lao-tsze, " to possess knowledge without pretension ;
whereas to pretend to know what he does not know, is a great
infirmity. A holy man, however, does not suffer from this
malady, because he knows it to be such."' " A wise man gives
his mind to Tao, and not to eating. He is broad, even, and
magnificent ; but the mean man 'is long' [stretches himself]^
is lazy and pretentious and [fretful] pettish."' "Whereas he
who is endued with a great mind [or knowledge, wisdom] has
great means [or method] of using his power [for the good of
others]."*
" The wise, then, lay up knowledge, like the ruby in its own
setting or casket."" " Fools, however, bring themselves into
trouble by their ceaseless talking. The frog brings destruc-
tion upon itself through croaking, though it lies hidden in the
mud (or sand)."" "And the 'tekik' (or gekko) dies through
« KobitaraL 56. ' Legs par b. p. 215. ' Morris, Diet. p. 229.
* Legs par b. p. Iia ' Kudat-ku B. x. 8. • Shang-Lun, vii. 18.
' Tao-te-King, c. Ixxi. • Ming Sin P. K. c. vii » Hjam-dpal, foL iii.
w Malay pr. " Pazha mozhi, 22.
442
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[x. 15
its own cry."> "For the prating of men wanting in sense
and knowledge (or wisdom), is like [riders on] wild horses
not broken in. When they rush into action, one does not in
the least know [who is foe or friend]."* " He whose lips are
like poison, accustom him to feel often very much ashamed."*
" For he does not get good things who speaks bad ones."*
Therefore —
" ovfU •yi'U/iijs yap ou fit xprj Xiytiv,"
" I must not speak without reflection," said Theseus.*
" — Davus sum, non CEdipus.
Verberibus caesum te in pistrinutn, Dave, dedam usque ad necem."*
" I am a fool, not a wise man. . Well, then, thy back shall pay
dear at the mill for thy folly, till thou die for it." "The man
void of understanding is known by seven tokens, (i) He
oppresses his underlings ; (2) he extols himself above all his
inferiors, looks [cheaply] with indifference on all poor people,
raising himself above everybody ; (3) he says without grace
what he has to say ; (4) he does not try to prevent wickedness
when he sees it practised ; (5) he is slow of good works, and
quick at evil ones ; (6) he loves wicked things and wicked
men ; (7) he has no patience in the difficulties of this life, and
thereby ruins himself."'
1 5 The rich man's wealth is his strong city : the
destruction of the poor is their poverty.
" TAi rich maris wealth" &c. " Every man is powerful
through his money. Money makes him learned ; but when
reft of money, then his intelligence is thought but small ; and
all he does goes for nothing. Just like a stream that dries up
in the heat of summer."* " A wife is for the purpose of off-
spring ; a son, to offer funeral cakes ; a friend is for friendship ;
but wealth is for everything."' "It is not for nothing, O
' Javan pr. • Sain ugh. 81. » Kawi Niti .S. • Ani, 28th max.
» fEdip. Col. 594. • Ter. Andr. i. 2. ' Bochari De djohor, p. 171.
• Hitop. i. 132. • Chanak. 53.
X. IS]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
443
wealth, that mortals honour thee most, as they do," says
Theognis. " It is so easy for thee to bear the ills of life I To
be rich seems to befit only the good, but poverty is the lot of
the bad. For the greater portion of mankind there is only
one virtue — to be rich. The rest goes for little or nothing."
" Let us all then settle in our own minds that wealth, in the
opinion of all, exercises most power."'
" Let race go to hell beneath, and the long list of virtuous
deeds along with it ; let merit (or good disposition) fall from
the rocks, and the house be consumed by fire ; let the thunder-
bolt fall at once on bravery and heroism ; but let us have
money and that only, for without it all imaginable qualities
are counted as grass."' " Nothing, in sooth, is known not to
succeed with money ; therefore let every sensible man strive
for it alone with all his might."' "Men with money are said
to be young when advanced in years ; but men without money
are thought old when young."* "Seeing, he sees not; and
hearing, he hears not, and moves not his lips, through arro-
gance (or bewilderment). Such is the plague of wealth."*
"Whosoever has wealth is [reckoned] noble, learned, worth
listening to and endowed with qualities. He is eloquent also,
and fair to behold. All qualities, I tell you, are Included in
•gold.'"*
"O Vaishampaka," said Arjuna, "all that men call virtue
comes from wealth ; for he who loses his wealth loses his
virtue. What is there that we do not endure when wealth is
taken from us ? They look with disdain or disgust upon a
poor man tilling by their side. It will not do in the world to
praise poverty, the cause of degradation [fall] ; for the fallen,
O King, grieves as he also who has no money. I need say no
more. But where wealth increases and comes in, everything
runs smoothly, like streams from the hills. The virtue (or
merit) that depends on gentility, marriage, even Swarga,
• Theognis, 515—520, 537. ' Nitishat. 32. • Pancha T. i. 2.
* Id. ibid. II. ' Vemana, i. 39. • Bhartrih. cent ii. ly.
444
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[x. IS
X. IS]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
445
O King, and existence in this world, do not prosper without
money. But if a man is bereft of that rank [wealth], and is
withal of small understanding, all his affairs come to naught,
like shallow streams in hot weather. But he who has wealth
has friends, has birth, has relations. He who has wealth is a
man in the world ; he is also learned and wise. ' Yet he who
has no money, cannot become rich by merely longing for it ;
but money comes through money, as large wild elephants are
led by smaller ones. Money gives virtue, connections by
marriage, pleasure, valour, fame, amusement, a family, and
increases virtue, O King."'
" Through riches, mean men are reckoned noble ; men
escape from difficulties. There is nothing more delightful
than riches. Therefore get wealth! get wealth !"* "Devotion
[austerity], youth, family, qualities, knowledge and strength —
all profit But in this world, riches excel them all."' " Thus
when the low are in prosperity, it is for them an occasion of
pride ; but the great, when in prosperity, find it a source of
humility."* " But, O ye children, when in prosperity, because
it exalts one, our duty is to be humble (or lowly) ; and in
poverty, because it lowers one, we must bear it cheerfully
[in high spirits]."' "For this is a degenerate age; money is
the principal thing."*
The salutation of one merchant to another, as enjoined by
Manu is, " Is thy wealth secure (or assured) ?' " O Aswins,
lengthen the life of the merchant who longs for it."* For a
man without wealth is lightly esteemed," said the merchant to
his wife, who entreated him in affectionate terms not to sail to
distant parts in search of wealth."' For as things are in the
world, men think, " If a man lives in wealth and opulence, he
will be said to be long-lived, even if his days be few ; but if he
is poor, in straitened circumstances, and if his grave shows
' Maha Bh. Shanti P. 215—225. ' Kobitatnr. 47. ' Lokopak. 208.
* Sain iigh. 134. ' Balaljod. 9. • Lokaniti, 164. ' Manu ii. i. 127.
• Rig V. ii. skta. 182, 3. ' Thoo dhatnma Tsari, 6th story.
how hard had been his lot in life, then he is reckoned among
the brutes "» {jxivwOdSioi, short-lived*]. "When MahakSla,
the female warder of the burial-ground, was asked how the
funeral rites were performed, she answered : My lord, the rich
are put into a coffin wound round with red cloth or blanket
[' kambala,' of Chinese manufacture], and burnt. But as
regards those who have no money [the poor], they are put
upon the wood of the pile, and cut in pieces with the edge of
the shovel, that they may be more readily consumed."'
" Money cleanses bastards of their ignominy," " and gives
rank to him that has none."* " The riches of a man who is
reported to have heaped up too much wealth become his
executioner. Ruin generally comes upon the rich, but a
beggar's birth is often a boon to him [he is not afraid of
loss]."* " Therefore be not proud (or vain) of wealth or of
beauty ; for both may be taken away in one night ; "• " how-
ever much the features of a rich man may betray the secret of
his wealth." 'f
" But the destruction of the poor]' &c. " In order to injure
the great, men must call others to their aid ; but the mean [or
poor] are already destroyed through poverty. The same wind
that fans a forest into flame, puts out the light of a hand-
lamp."' " And I found," said the mouse, " that what is praised
in a rich man, is blamed in a poor one. For if a poor man is
stalwart, he will be called lubberly ; if he is liberal, they will
blame him for being prodigal ; if he is meek, they will say he
is weak ; and if he is grave, they will think him a fool. Death
is preferable."* " Yea, it is better to depart this life than to
have for witnesses of one's shame both the sun and the man
who taunts us with it.""> "Yea, a happy Ooyf"!] death is
lighter [to bear] than open poverty."" "A poor man's quali-
' Calilah u D. p. 83. » Srtf «. I'xv. i. p. 16. • Dhammap. st. iv.
* Kiddusch, B. Fl. 404. » Legs par b. p. 287. • E. Chosru Akhlaq
Jell. p. 96. ' Hariri, iii. p. 150. • Sain ugh. 109. • Calilah u D.
p. 171. " Xrt^av. r. I'xv. p. 2i6. " Ebu Mcdin, 170.
446
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[x. 15
'5]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
447
ties," said Kalidasa to king Vikramaditya, "are like fire
covered with ashes ; and the thought about daily food is most
distressing."' "To a Jew, however, poverty is becoming, like
a red spot on a white horse,"* " or like a ring."'
" Who," asks the Buddhist teacher, " are the men that are
reckoned dead while they live ? He who is very poor ; he
who is laid low by disease ; he who is in debt," &c.* " A
house without a son is empty ; a kingdom without a king is
empty ; the countenance of him who is without intelligence is
empty; but poverty is empty of everything."' " Life is empty
without knowledge," says Chanakya ; " a country [district] is
empty without friends ; a house is empty without a son, but
poverty is empty of everything."' " For he who has nothing
is wicked " [in the eyes of the world].^ " And these four are
as good as dead : the poor, the blind, the leper, and he who
has no provision of any kind."' " For the poor hungers, and
he knows it not"* " Truly, then, it is not easy to bear firmly
the loss of money."" "Since there is not in the world a
physician who can cure poverty," said Toki-nusi, " whatever a
poor man may think, he is helpless." "
" Well then, since good and bad men alike die," said the
heretic Yang-chu, " and since their bones when dead are all
alike, who can tell the difference ? So then let us hasten to
live, and why trouble ourselves about what is to come after ?""
" Of poverty and of death, poverty is said to be the worst ; for
death gives but little trouble ; poverty, however, is hard to
bear."" "This man's faculties are not impared, you say — 'Tis
but talk. His intellect, too, is not deficient ? — Nonsense. For
no sooner is a man deprived of the real warmth of wealth,
than he becomes quite another being. Is it not singular ? ""
" Men beset with the five plagues of poverty, disease, folly,
> Kobitarat. 112, and Chanak. 41. » Yalkut, B. Fl. • Vajikra,
id. ibid. * Putsa pagn. Q. 70. » Lokan. 113. • Chanak. 46..
» Tarn. pr. ' Millin, 91. • Megilla, B. Fl. " Kawi Niti S.
" Nageki-no-kiri, p. 8. " Lao-tsze, bk. vii. p. 3. " Hitop. i. 135-
" Id. 136.
exile and slavery, are dead while they live."i "You may have
every good quality inwardly, but if you wear a bad coat you
are despised by everybody. Although the bat is a wise bird
yet because it has no feathers, they say it is shunned by all
other winged creatures."*
" For he who, though endued with good qualities, is bereft
of appearance, ranks with bad [poor] men."' "The mother
blames the son without money, and so does the father; his
brother will not company with him ; his own son does not
obey him ; his wife does not love him ; and his friends avoid
him lest he should beg of them. Therefore seek wealth.
Through riches, all will be subject unto you. So great men
have said."* « For the one fault of poverty destroys a heap
of good qualities," say the Bengalees.' " Bad is the bite of a
mad dog ; worse is an inward complaint ; worse is a bad wife ;
but worse than all is emptiness of the purse."' " When this'
is the case, a man has little to spend on ornaments."' « Without
money, without feathers (or wings)."' "The lamp of the poor
gives no light, but the lamp of the rich man never goes out."'
"The store-room of the poor," say the Finns, "is full of open •
doors, and open behind.""
"But the strong city of the rich man is like Salm's 'falcon's
eyrie,' or fort; the falcon's eyrie is his castle and place of rest.""
[A common man, become rich, was heard to say, " Nothing
can shake me !" He died soon after.] " A rich man draws a
heavy wagon after him ; but after the poor comes poverty." »*
"And poverty in the house is harder to endure than fifty
stripes."" " There is nothing in the worid harder than poverty,
which is the hardest of all punishments."" " It is the greatest
evil."" "He who comes down from his fortune, it is as if
he died."" "And if he returns to prosperity, he is like a dead
' Pancha T. i. 298. > Legs par b. p. 215. » Kawi Niti S.
' Kobita R. 20. « Beng. pr. • Ep. Lod. 397. ' Kawi Niti S. vii. i
» w'f;. P'- * ''^- '*'''*• " ^'""- P'- " Shah nameh, p. 86.
" M.lhn, 303. " Yalkut Hijob, M. S. •« Yalkut Ruth, M. S
" Midr. Tanch. M. S. " Midr. Exod. M. S.
448
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[x. 15
X. 15J
man coming back to life."' " Since four men are reckoned as
dead : the poor, the leper, the blind, and he who has no
children."* "Yet, even then, between the midwife and the
lying-in woman," say the Rabbis, "the child of poverty or
misery comes to naught"'
" Pitchers go to the river [rich men live], but broken ones
[the poor] whither ?"* " So then, when a rich man glorifies him-
self, there is something in it ; but when a poor man praises
himself, it is the ruin of him," say the Ozbegs."* "For when
his wealth is exhausted, his condition is gone."' And "when
poverty befalls a rich man, it causes his lustre to depart from
him," said the rich broker when he became poor ; " for when
absent [dead], no one mentions him ; and when present [in
life], he has no enjoyment of it"' " If the high [or great]
are free from faults, the low [or poor], on the other hand, have
every fault, in the eyes of those who come near them. If under
a palm-tree you drink green milk [palm juice], they will say
it is milk [pat]."* [But better, " If under a palm-tree you
drink cow's milk, they will say it is palm wine, or toddy."']
" Whether a stone fall upon the pitcher, or the pitcher upon
the stone, however it be, woe to the pitcher!"'" [Woe to the
poor and to the weak !] Yet,
" Fabritium — et incomptis Curium capillis
Utilem bello tulit, et Camillum
Saeva paupertas et avitus arto
Cum lare fundus,"
says Horace." And Martial :
"Semper eris pauper, si pauper es, jtmiliane.
Dantur opes nulli nunc, nisi divitibus.""
" One may not find money to borrow for the necessaries of
life [by a poor man], but one may find it to buy a pearl [by a
" Javan pr. ' Nedarim, M. S. ' Yalkut Shophet. R. Bl. 156.
• Berach. B. FL » Ozbeg pr. • EI Nawab. 74. ' Alef leileh, 2Sth
night, p. 213- ' Nitivempa, 78. • Rottler's Diet s. voce.
'• Midr. Rab. in Esther iii. 6, M. S. " Od. i. 12. " Mart
Epigr. V. 81.
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
449
its skin on the road' fh / '7- '" "°''''' '°'' ^^"'' '^ ^'» '«-«
comes fro. th^ve b Larl L H r."'/" ''°"'' '''^^^^ '
with a burden. Tnd theTo'or in r ''"''' ''°"^ °'
. • ... ine poor m Greece were rallo^ ' \
■■ poorer than . water oual ") " '^ "'"*"■■
» [short] tho„:rof ',;E "^ "' "'•"''■"■ ""'» o^™""
" A poor soil," say the Chinese, • produces flowers late • and
poverty gives happiness but slowly"" ... l'„,, '
minuta .ente , To poor people, poo^ wits ■" " Th" f" '
"••"" °''"" " "-. "--.e poor j: thin j:;:tr
' Niti ,.ri ,il,c ,,36 '*• . „. '";•"'' « •■ ', Tdugu pr
• Hi.„ ,. ,,,„„, fj, ''■ „ ,^"p7 "■ "»• : and Monsol. „„,^ f^
2 a
4SO
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[x. 1 6
X. 1 6]
before him."» "Chi noii ha nulla, non fc nulla: He who has
nothing, is nothing."' " The barber [surgeon] learns his trade
on the orphan's head,"' say the Arabs ; and the Spaniards:
"A barba de necio aprenden todos a rapar : All learn shaving
on the beard of a simpleton."* " For the misery of poverty is
known of the Lord alone."' " From want of money the family
becomes degraded ; from want of money, fame also departs
[is wiped out]." " Where there is no money, even a man's son
finds fault with him, his wife upbraids him, and to others he
is unbearable.""
" Apvds ir€(rov(rr)i iros dvrip ^vXfvtrai,"
" Everybody hacks at the fallen oak," say the Greeks.^
" Nit habet infelix paupertas durius in se
Quam quod ridiculos homines facit. Exeat, inquit,
Si pudor est — cujus res non sufficit."'
" For a man without money is of no use."*
" X/'^/*"''" ^^P ir€vi\p6i yap ovScis
iriX.€T co-Xos oiSi Tt/iios,"'*
" For a man who is destitute of means is neither gentle nor
respectable." So said Alcaeus — yet, in sooth, "handsome is
that handsome does." " What then is thine own, ri oZv i<rri
a-ov?" asks Epictetus of the rich man. "xprjat^ if)avTa(rtiav, the
use of a vain show."" " So that I have not yet been able," says
a Rabbi, " to see which is the better of the two, the death of
a rich man, or the life of a poor one."'' [See, as bearing on
this subject, Sophos, fab. 21 ; Syntipa, fab. 20, 'of the Sick
Deer;' and Loqman, fab. 3.] "None happier than the desti-
tute," says Diphilus, "since he cannot expect to be worse off.""
1 6 The labour of the righteous tendetk to life : the
fruit of the wicked to sin.
* Hien w. shoo, 152. • Ital pr. » Arab. pr. * Span. pr.
•Vemana, ii. 152. • Id. iii. 116, 117. » ivw/i. /lov. ' Juven.
Sat. iii. 152, 155; S. Jam. Ep. ii. » Telugu pr. 2168. " Alcaei fr. 11.
" Epict. Enchir. 11. " Ep. Lod. 1284. " Diphil. iii. ed. B. p. 261.
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
451
J^^rI^y' T '^ ''''""' °' '^^ ''''''"'■' Arab. < profit,
gam interest. It expresses more than ' fruit,' which is, in a degree
a natu , „„ ^^^^^^ ^^^ ^.^^^^ ^^^ idea of the rS
of the labour of the w.cked man. as contrasted with the labour of the
fa. lure, to m.ss.ng the object of life-salvation.' The labour (life)
" TA.Ja6ourr &c. "Of a good action through self-control
say : This .s an arrow in Satan's eye."t "What is worthless
fruit? An undisciplined mind."* "Abstain from what may
lead thee to evil," say the Japanese, "and then the little evil
done unwittingly will be readily forgiven. And when hearing
ev.l, be hke one deaf."» Confucius says: "Consider a man
and see whither he tends. The good man," says Tai-shang
«s good in his words, in his looks, in his actions. If in the
same day he is good in all these three. Heaven must bestow
on him happiness for three years. But the wicked man is
bad m his words, in his looks and in his actions ; if he makes
proof of these three in one and the same day. Heaven will
assuredly send him three years of misfortune." " How, then,
ought not a man to strive to his utmost in order to be g^od ?"'
is the closing sentence of Tai-shang's Kang-ing-pien. a treatise
on Rewards and Punishments.'
"An action done in faith and earnestness, leads to a ten-
fold happy result, to the Nat world in after-births [to the six
inferior celestial regions]," say the Buddhists. "But an action
done through covetousness, sin or folly, leads to ten-fold
miseiy in after-births, and when ripe, to thick darkness."'
"But this is also true: An action mixed up with good and
evil— as by one who calls greed and lust faith, and faith
evil— leads through a miserable way to births from brutes, as
from a quiet elephant, and so to final happiness."' "The
• Succah, B. Fl. 215. . Ratnam. 28. » Atsme Gusa, i. iii. p..2
Shang-Lan, .. ,1. ,a • Rang ing p. • Saddhamma phalam, p. „8
' Ibid. p. 12a >f •""•
2 G 2
453
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[x. 1 6
holy man," says Lao-tsze, "always delights in saving [doing
good to] men ; therefore does he not abandon them. He
also delights in saving things ; therefore also does he not
abandon them."* "Virtue which a man has gathered during
his lifetime, to be his companion after death, quickly takes
him, thus purified of his taint by religious observances, to the
other world, resplendent in a body of an ethereal nature."*
" The righteous is pleased both here and hereafter ; in both
these states does he rejoice at the thought of the good he has
done. He rejoices especially when gone [the good way] to
bliss."* "Therefore ought a good man to gather together
good works ; for good works are themselves the source [cause]
of riches. When a man is prosperous, it shows that he has
gathered together [done] good works."* "So it was that
Kun-dgah-wo [Ananda] asked Bchom-ldan-hdas [Buddha]
what the two goddesses which appeared to him could have
done [in a former existence] that they should appear to him in
such bright light ?"" " The grain shows the difference between
rice and long grass"* [so also the fruit of one's actions]. " For
as the deed, so also the fruit [result] of it."' "A sinful action,
however, does not, like milk, turn sour at once ; but, like embers
covered with ashes, it burns and follows the fool [until he is
consumed]."'
"O King," said Kavya to Vrishaparva, "an unjust deed
does not, like a cow, yield a result at once, but it comes
gradually, and cuts off the roots of the evil-doer."' "Thus
fools go on [or go about] without sense, enemies of themselves,
doing sinful work that yields bitter fruit."'* "He who com-
mits sin," said Vidura to Dhritarashtra, " gets the reputation
of it, and eats the fruit of sin. But he who practises virtue
gets the reputation of it, and enjoys endless felicity. Then
' Tao-te-King, c. xxvii. ' Manu S. iv. 243. ' Dhamm.
Yamakav. 18. * Legs par b. p. 294. » Dsang-Lun, fol. 19.
• Kobita Rat. 14. ' Athitha, W. D. p. 21. • Dhammap. Balav. 71.
» Maha Bh. Adi P. 3333. " Dhammap. Balav. 60.
X. 17]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
4S3
let not a man of decided virtuous conduct commit sin: for
Z'TTTu /'^''''"^ ^"''■°y^ '^"°^'^'^g-- Then sense
[knowledge] bemg lost, a man sins deliberately. Whereas he
who practises virtue increases his merit again and again."*
As water poured at the root of the cocoa-nut tree benefits
the root and through it the fruit, so also does a good man
benefit others doubly, for this life and for the life to come, "»
1 7 He w t„ the way of life that keepeth instruction :
but he that refuseth reproof erreth.
^^ " ffe is in the way," &c. " Good advice jars on the ear."«
A ch. non si lascia consigliare, non si pu6 ajutare : One can-
not help him who will not take advice." For "A buon
consiglio non si trova prezzo : Good advice is without price"*
Smce there is no return from death," says Siun-tsze.» "the
wise man places great importance in his actions. Thus for a
man to live without being either sincere, generous, or respected
for bemg adorned with learning, is a waste. And to follow to
the grave [the funeral obsequies of] one who was neither
smcere, generous,nor adorned with knowledge,is vain " "Siddhi
Kur tells a story of the king's son having gone to Golconda
with the mmister's son for learning ; the first profited so much
as to understand what a crow said which they met on their
way. 'ikerek,' that pointed to some water, and thus saved his
life. •
We have also another simple story from the Telugus to
show the benefits of instruction. " There was a wise man at
Benares who had two sons. To the eldest he gave all his
property, but he educated the youngest most carefully The
first spent all he had and came to poverty; the youngest
acquired much wealth through his education. Good instruction
then, leads to happiness."' "It is of the utmost importance
for a man to read books." say the Chinese ; " no matter whether
• Maha Bh. Udyog P. 1241. » Subhasita. 44.
Ital pr.
c. xiii. « Siddhi Kur. xv.
' Jap. pr. p. 780.
' Telugu, St. i.
454
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[x. I8
a man be rich and honourable, or poor and despised, clever
and intelligent, or stupid and dull, all should read books. If a
clever and intelligent man does not read, he must become
empty, frothy, weak and diffuse [or evasive] ; and the stupid
and dull, if they do not read books, will become still more
obstinate, deficient, violent and perverse."' The soul of the
departed in the hall of justice, where it pleads in favour of all
the good it did in life, says : " I did not turn a deaf ear to the
words of truth."' [See also Pap. Sail, ii., for Sekhru's
admonitions to his son Papi when he went to school at Khennu
(Silsilis), and Maspero, Style Epistolaire, p. 48.]
18 He that hideth hatred with lying lips, and he
that uttereth a slander, is a fool.
naT M^?1lM, ' and he that causes a creeping report to go forth,'
' an evil report spread underhand, as if creeping among people.'
" He that hideth" &c. " * O fox,' said the lion, • why eatest
thou not of this flesh ?' ' How could I ?' answered the fox
[that was plotting the death of the two foster-brothers, the lion
and the calf]. ' How could I ? Thou hast an enemy, and this
grieves the heart of me, thine uncle.' 'An enemy,' replied the
lion, ' I can scarcely have.' ' If,' answered the fox, ' thou wilt
not hearken to my words, who am thy uncle, thou shalt be
sorry for it' So saying, the fox lay down. Afterwards it
went to the calf, and spoke to it the same words as against the
lion. In consequence, the two destroyed each other. Then
came a soft voice from Heaven, 'Never trust a false friend ; see
how the fox severed the lion from the calf and destroyed
both.' "»
"We must do something to get rid of this man from
Dworowati," said the king of Astino ; " he hides deceit [or a
fiendish object] under a cloak of sweetness [or friendliness]."*
Tai-kung says : " Let him who injures others with words, turn
> Chin, max.. Dr. Medh. Dial. p. 171. » Rit. of the Dead, c. cxxv. 19.
s Siddhi kur, st. xx. p. 33. * Broto Yudo, iv. 21.
18]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
455
it upon himself and injure himself And let him who sputters
blood upon others, keep his mouth closed."' "To accuse [or
slander] anyone," say the Japanese, "is like spitting upon him
with the mouth full of blood."* "Though a man hean thee,
he may yet hate thee for all that."" " But cunning is a dis-
grace in a good man."* " For there is no such thing as
unconscious guile [or fraud]."* And " fuoco coperto," say the
Italians, " h piu caldo dell altro : covered fire is hotter than any
other."' " The mind free from hatred is a door to religion; it
makes a man watchful over himself and others also."' " Do
not ruin a man's reputation and profit," says Wen-chang ; " for
both these do men love, and seek after them."'
" Neither kings nor subjects, none except Rahans [Buddhist
priests], ought to blame others for their faults ; for the sun and
moon, great and powerful though they be, yet cannot shine
into the joint of a bamboo. And the moon, great as it is,
disappears when in company with the sun ; and the constella-
tions and stars revolve around Myemmo [Mt. Meru]."*
"One sees other people's faults who does not see his own."'*
" The hateful snake of a bad man who pours forth envenomed
words, and discloses what he ought not, the secrets of good
men, holds the language of a double tongue."" "A slanderer,"
say the Tamils, " never holds his tongue ;" and the proverb,
" He has slandered me," means literally, " Having put a wet
cloth, with a wet knife, with a wet reaping-hook, he has
cut my throat."'*
" Let no one speak blame of others, nor yet listen to it ; but
remain silent when it arises, or even leave the place."" "A
soldier," says Manu, "who insults a Brahman shall be fined a
hundred panas [a pana is eighty cowries] ; but a Brahman
who insults a soldier shall be fined five hundred panas. And
' Ming Sin P. K. i. c. 5. • Jap. pr. p. 283. ' Oyun Tulk. p. 10.
• Vemana, ii. 63. • Kondreiv. 54. • Ital. pr. ' Rgya-tcher r. p.
iv. p. 24. • Shin sin luh. v. p. 44. • Thoo dhamma ts. st. iii.
'» Subha Bil. 118. " Kamand. Niti S. ii. 20. >* Tarn. pr.
" Bahudorshon, p. 39.
4S6
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[x. 19
a once-born man [Sudra] who gives tongue to a twice-born
[Brahman], shall have his tongue slit asunder."' " Intercourse
with another mgn's wife, the use of another man's goods,
slandering others, and making fun of one's religious teacher,
with unsteadiness in one's station, are one and all to be
avoided."* " Do not consider the pitcher, but what is in it."*
"And reckon him who spefiks falsely [slanders] a scorpion,
whose mouth is like fire in the wind."*
19 In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin ;
but he that refraineth his lips is wise.
Stt>5 ^ITC ^, 'there lacketh not fault, tripping, mistake or
transgression.' Arab. ' is not free from fault or transgression.' LXX.
(K iroXvXoytat ovk fK<f>fv^f] aftapriav, ' through much talking thou
shall not escape sin (or mistake).'
" In the multitude of words" &c.
— tv o« Ty Acyfiv
Kox af Aapoii ra TrAciOf fj (rmrripia.
" Plain speaking," said CEdipus to Creon, " will give thee more
trouble than profit."' " He who multiplies his words," says
Kbu Medin, " shall not be free from guilt."* " When thou
speakest," said Noor-ed-din to his son, " do not talk nonsense ;
for if thou repentest once of thy silence, thou mayest repent
many a time of having spoken."' " If to talk much, fast and
ever, were the same as having common sense, then swallows,"
says Nicostratus, " would be wiser than we."* " For talka-
tiveness is intemperance in speech. The tongue of the talker,"
says Theophrastus, " is iv vypif, moist and ever on the move ;
he would rather chatter like a swallow than hold his peace."*
" But such men," says Demophilus, " by their incessant chatter
like swallows, lose all the pleasure of social intercourse,"*"
• Manu S. viii. 277. ' Chanak. 3a • Ep. Lod. 275. * Tarn. pr.
» CEdip. CoL 795- * Ebu Med. 187. ' Alef leil. 21st night, p. 159.
' Nicostrat. ed. B. p. 275. ' Theophr. Char. 8. •* Demoph.
Similit. p. 614.
X. 19]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
457
"A man who does not speak at all is called dumb ; but he
who talks much is one that makes many mistakes."* "No
pool without frogs, no talking much witfiout slips of the
tongue."* "I must try to keep in check my tongue," says
Crates ; " for it becomes both young and old to know how to
hold one's tongue in season. For either hold thy tongue."
says Pythagoras, "or let thy say be worth more than silence
[which is gold]." " But to speak truth is better than silence "*
says Manu. "Yet it is better to hold one's tongue than to
speak an untruth."' "Moderation' in speech, O King, is most
difficult to acquire," said Vidura to Dhritarashtra ; "for it is
impossible to talk much and sensibly too."« " For long words
[much talking] are fulsome, and long sticks are weak.'"
" In an abundance of words, some must be hurtful ; when a
man eats too much, he suffers for it afterwards."' " Therefore
do not talk too much." • " For trifling words injure reason.""
" It is ' bringing something out of nothing," empty talk." "And
to employ a hundred words where one would be enough is
' big talk ;• and to admire or praise oneself is ' boastful talk,'""
say the Chinese. « Then practise [seek for thyself] silence.""
" Do not speak evil to every comer ; let thy idle talk remain at
home " [or, " Do not speak evil talk at random ; wherever thou
goest, thy idle talk will return home to thee"]. " Thou shalt be
the better for it in days of adversity."" « Take care of thy
words [speech], lest it bring thee to destruction."" " For there
is nothing on earth more deserving of a long prison than the
tongue."'" "And he who multiplies talk, multiplies lying.""
" For if thou do not rule the excess of thy tongue, Satan will
curb thee therewith."" "Inasmuch as he who multiplies his
words, multiplies his chances of correction.""
' Kudat ku B. xiv. 9. » Osman. pr. » Crates, p. 275.
, Manu S. n. ,. 83. • Hitop. i. ,44. • Maha Bh. Udyog Pi ,70.
Hill pr. 201. « Ming h. dsi. 22. » Aw. Atthi S. 89. " Hien
w. shoo, 127. » Dr. Medh. Dial. p. 166. " Ani, 59th max.
" Id. xyxi p. ,99. " Ebu Medin, 55. "• Meid Ar. pr.
Ep. Lod. 1523. " E! Nawab. 64. " Nuthar ell. 221.
4S8
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[x. 19
" It is the way with talk, that it goes on increasing. Anger
arises from one word, and with one word it goes.'" " So then,"
said Rabbi Akiba, "as the Masora is a fence to the Law, as
tithes are a fence to wealth, as vows are a fence to a holy life,
so also is silence a fence to wisdom."' " Whether with great
men or with one's equals, one must have regard to rank and
dignity and to self-respect in one's words ; otherwise evil will
ensue, and one will lose one's respectability."" " Chi molto s4
poco parla : the man who knows much, talks little."* "Much
talking diminishes wisdom."" " Therefore do not talk much ;
but hold your tongue, that your words may live [endure]. The
words of him who talks much, receive little respect."* " They
are a tree with leaves only, and little or no fruit." say the
Rabbis."^ "Much talking, I think, will bring a man evil (or
trouble)," said Gagnrid [Odin] to the giant Vafthrudnir." " By
day look round when you speak, and at night it is best not to
speak at all."» Walls have ears. " Restraint of the body is
[sweet] good, so is restraint in words and also in thought ; in
everything restraint is good," said Nagasena to king Milinda."
"Mind your words," said Wei to himself. "A flaw in a
white stone may yet be repaired [ground or worn off] ; not so
a flaw in words."" " By all means," adds the Japanese Com-
mentaxy, "do not lightly let words come out of your mouth ;
say not. 'A word is a trifle.' No one can keep your mouth
for you; keep it yourself."" « Words upon words spoil speech,
as weeds spoil water."" "Guard against much speaking;
many words do harm," says Chocvtsze." "Every word of
thine, whether good or bad, said by mistake or from pride, is
written in the book of ' the Written Ones' [the Book of Life]."»
Confucius says: "One cannot always judge of a man by his
talk. A virtuous man has words [to express himself] ; but a
. V. Satasai, .05. ' Pirke Av. iii. ' Vemana, iii. .08
« ItaL VT ' Kudat ku B. x. 12. • Id. xvin. 13. B Flor.
. Vafthnidn. .0. • Telugu pr. 2456. " Milinda P. p .67. " She
King. iii^^J. " ^^ 'bid. » Telugu pr. " Kea kih yen.
u Mi'drash Tanch. M. S.
X. 19]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
459
man may have words and yet no virtue."* " For a man smart
[artful] in his talk, is slow at keeping silence."'
"Yet every word should be sincere. In uttering a word,
one ought to consider what it may lead to, so that it may not
be an empty word."' Thus it often happens that "di grand'
eloquenza picciola coscienza :* there is little conscience in
great eloquence." And again : " Dovh grand' eloquenza, vi h
poca coscienza : where there is great eloquence there is little
conscience."* "Generally speaking," says the Japanese Dr.
Desima, " a man at once upright (or honest) and a great talker
[eloquent], and withal diligent in business, is a rare article.
Very good and honest men have not great intellect. But [great
talkers] eloquent men have little uprightness and honesty.
And as unprincipled men easily go astray, when such men
gather the multitude around them, they [distort] disturb
existing customs ; whereas good and honest men consolidate
them."' [In Japan, it seems, as well as in England].
" There are men," says Wang-kew-po,^ " who have a certain
talent for speaking (or talking) ; they are not to be trusted."
" For abundance of words brings about misfortune, just as
many doctors are certain death."' " So long, O Bhikkhus, as
you shall not be addicted to, or take pleasure in, talk [for talk-
ing sake], so long also will your increase and not your decay
take place."' "The Samano [monk] therefore, O Gautama,
gives up frivolous talk and avoids it."" " It is said : Art thou
overcome by another man's talk ? Be not overcome by his
silence [talk less than he] ; for if his talk is silver, his silence
is gold. For he who multiplies his words, multiplies his lying ;
as he who increases his goods, increases also his sins."'* "Be
careful of your words, then," says the Japanese ' Moral Instruc-
tion for Women;' "let them not be many. And let not a
woman either reproach one or tell a lie."''
' Ming Sin P. K. c. xi. » Id. ibid. ' Id. c. xii. « Ital. pr.
• Id. • Gomitori, i. p. 16. ' On Kang-he's 6th max. • Hill pr. 60.
• Mahaparanibbh. fol. khya. " Silakhanda, fol. ki. " Matshat Phal.
" Onna dai gaku, p. 67.
46o
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[x. 20
" Be wise, then, both in words and in deeds ; for the wisdom
of words is for this world only ; but the wisdom of deeds
reaches to the next world and there abides.'" "For where
there are many people, there is much : 'It is sol It is notl'
[difference of opinion]," say the Chinese. " Discussions [quar-
rels also] only come from too much opening of the mouth.
Vexations, annoyances [headaches], only come from encounter-
ing others too vehemently."* " And he who does not multiply
his words, does not confuse his talk. And he who does not
talk big of what he does, does not confuse his actions."' " Too
much glue does not stick," say again the Chinese ; " and too
many words are not [sweet] welcome."* " For many words
injure conversation, as too much eating hurts a man."* " Folly
mostly prevails among men," says Cleobulus, "and abundance
of talk."' " A word," say the Georgians, " is often best when
not spoken ; for one word will often undo thee."^ " But a man
of a placid disposition says but little. Water when tranquil
flows but slowly."' " I have not multiplied the speaking of
my words, nor let my tongue wander astray,"' says the soul
of the departed in Amenti.
20 The tongue of the just is as choice silver : the
heart of the wicked is little vi^orth.
' The heart of the wicked (is) Of Q?, as little as a thing of naught.'
" The tongue" &c " The good are wholly made up of
qualities, but fools have nothing but faults. From a gem arises
the desire of making it useful and valued ; but from a serpent's
venom nothing comes but evil."'" "As when the terrible Rahu
seizes one-half of the moon [eclipses it], the moon lightens the
earth with the other bright portion, so also the excellent man,
whatever be the trouble that besets him, dispels sorrow that
• Akhlaq nasiri, 25. ' Chin. pr. p. 74, 76. ' Ming Sin P. K. c. iii.
* Chin. pr. G. ' Id. ibid. • Cleobul. Sept. Sap. ' Georg. pr.
• Ming h. dsi. 12. • Rit. of the Dead, c. cxxv. 25, 33. " Legs par
b. p. 102.
X. 21]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
461
rests in the heart of the dwellers on earth."' " Like the jack-
fruit which, when ripe, is thorny without, but full of ambrosia
within, so is the heart of a good man."« " Good men are like
the cocoa-nut, rough and hard outside, but white, sweet and
fresh within. But wicked men are like a plum, soft outside,
with a heart of stone within."' "And the udumba [fig-tree],
whose fruit when ripe is red outside, but inside is full of
vermin, so is the heart of a bad man."* "The sinner," said
Kaushika, "is always full of wind, like a large pair of bellows."*
" Inasmuch as the knowledge a fool may have is given him
to no purpose, it kills his good fortune, breaking his head."'
" For there is no greater enemy of man than wickedness in
the heart."'
21 The lips of the righteous feed many : but fools
die for want of wisdom.
W-pi, • shall feed,' pascent Chald. id.
" The lips," &c. " How great is the way of the saint ! He
[or it] feeds ten thousand [all] things,'" says Confucius. " One
learns from one man, and one uses that knowledge over ten
thousand men."» "A good man, by his gentleness, preserves
himself and others ; but an evil man, by his roughness, injures
himself and others also. A fruit-tree protects itself and other
trees as well ; but a dry tree consumes both itself and other
trefes also."" Meng-tsze says that "a good man has five dif-
ferent ways of doing good by giving instruction : (i) by giving
advice, which has the effect of a shower of rain at the proper
season ; (2) by perfecting men's virtue ; (3) by drawing out
their talents ; (4) by answering questions ; (5) by privately
influencing [correcting] others."" "A true word spoken by the
mouth, shows the usual way of that mouth [or of the speaker]."'*
' Subhasita, 19. » Lokaniti, 43. • Hitop. i. 95. « Lokaniti, 42.
• Maha Bh. Vana P. 13,748. • Dhammap. Balav. 72. ' Kawi Niti S.
' Chung y, c. xxvii. » Chin. pr. p. 27. " Legs par b. p. loj
" Hea Meng, c. xiii. 39. " V. Satasai, 343.
462
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[x. 22
"The So's [ancestors] were great men who, having dwelt
attentively on the first principles, spread abroad their thoughts
[the result of their meditations], and thus pleased other men."*
" Industry," said the father, " is better than self-reliance,
because whereas reliance benefits him only who has it, industry
benefits others. Now, to bring good to others is a proof of
goodness, for ' he is a good man who does good to men.' It
would be fearful that a man who can bring good to others
should be slow to do it, and thus deprive them of the benefit
of it"' " For he is said to live, he in [and through] whom
many live. May he have a long life!"' On the other hand,
" Mean men receive education, but never are the better for it"*
" For is it not a joke to suppose that knowledge will occupy
[pervade] a man of middle age, if he was not born so gifted ?"*
" And ignorance is the death of the living,"* say the Arabs.
Esop has a fable of 'the Ass and the Cricket,'' but better told
by Syntipa,' and in the Aramean original of Sophos.* " The
ass asked the cricket what it ate, to give it such a sweet voice.
' I live on air,' said the cricket. The ass then lay on his back
with his mouth open, and died of it" Loqman, too, has a fable**
of the Wolves and the Ox-hide. The wolves died of it, from
want of sense.
2 2 The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he
addeth no sorrow with it
" The blessing" &c. " There is none beside thee, O Indra,
to give joy [blessing or happiness] ; therefore do I seek thy
praise [word], O thou friend of man."" " For he, to whom thou,
[liberal] Lord of power, givest food, enjoyment and support,
enjoys it fully in his home."" " Om ! true, O my son, I will
give thee a boon ; choose what thou likest ; nothing is impossible
' Gun den s. mon, 741. * Anwar i Soh. St. iii. p. 65. ' Hitop. ii. 35.
« Chin. max. ' Vemana, iii. 90. • Meid. Ar. pr. ' Fab. 137.
» Fab. I. * Fab. 2. " Fab. 36. " Rig V. i. skta. bcxxiv. 19, 20.
"Id. iii- skta. xxx. 7.
X. 22]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
463
with me. I am Giver of all good gifts," said Narayana to
Subhadra.1 « O Indra, Liberator, those who offer thee their
hymn of praise with longing [hearts, with devotion] soon become
great"" " I [says Indra] am the first [original] lord of wealth.
I procure wealth always [or eternally] ; men call me Father ; I
give ease [enjoyment] to my worshipper.'" " In olden times,"
said the Japanes'e Dr. Desima, " rich and great men prayed to
Heaven for a blessing on their affairs, and they, receiving it,
prospered. Thus small means suffice to one's well-being ;
and being received with gratitude, must turn to good, and
fearful things be warded off."*
" O Ashi [blessing], thou art beautiful, thou art radiant, thou
comest forth from [thy] beams with joy [or joyous} O Ashi,
giver of brilliant gifts to the men whom thou followest [or to
whom thou cleavest], thou sweet-smelling ! The house in which
thou settest thy foot firmly, for a long abode in it [fellowship
with it], is fragrant [with thy blessing]."* " God is He who
gives thee wealth," says Ptah-hotep." "For the working
[management] of the earth is jointly by God and man," said
Arjuna to Djanarddana"' " Thy duty, O man, is to bestir
thyself, and from God comes blessing."* " God's help," say the
Spaniards, "is worth a great deal more than much early rising."*
" Let him [Indra] be favourable to us [for the attainment of
our wishes] and come to us with wealth, a blessing and the
food which he gives."" " For false is the purpose of those who
say that we ought to renounce the pleasant fruits of life here
below," says the Shivaite ; " do they not see that everlasting
life begins here below ?"" " Life and death are an order from
Heaven, and so are riches also," say the Japanese.** For—
"iroXXai 8 oSoi
<ruv 0<o(t eiirfM^iai, '*
' Pancha Ratra. iv. 26. » Rig V. ii. skta. xi. 16. * Id. x,
skta. xlviii. 2. * Waga tsuye, ii. p. 10, 11. ' Ashi Yasht, 6.
• Pap. Pr. xiii. 8. ' Maha Bh. Udyog P. 2826. • Pers. pr.
• Span. pr. " Rig V. i. skta. ii. 3. " Vemana, iii. 204.
" Jap. pr. p. 142. " Find. 01. viii. 17.
464
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[x. 22
" the gods have many ways of doing good," says Pindar ; while
he adds elsewhere that " no one among men appears to
prosper without effort on his part."* " God helps those who
help themselves." " Therefore, O my son, be thankful for what
God has apportioned to thee, and thou wilt be the richest of
men."* " To be able to live and live [to have enough during
life] is a blessing from Heaven ; to be able to die and die [a
happy death] is also a blessing from Heaven. But not to be
able to live and yet live, and not to be able [ready] to die and
yet die, are both punishments from Heaven."'
"But the blessing of the Most High is peace."* For "Heaven
does not produce the non-happiness of man, as the earth does
not produce the non-growing of plants. Great riches come
from Heaven ; small riches from diligence."' "A man endures
much for the sake of his wife, his son, and his father and
mother ; but these would be no trouble if he looked up to
Brahma."* " For the blessing bestowed by Bchom-ldan-hdas
[Buddha] is not to be apprehended with the mind " [so great
it is].^ " Every profit gained in this world without God's
blessing, is as if taken from Him by force," says Rabbi Chanina.'
" Blessing on the daily life is seen in the beauty of the work
done. The service of God is a provision of happiness in this
world, and also of honour in the world to come. The service
of God is a good means of salvation. If not, of what use is a
brainless skin ? [life without God]. The purpose of making
for salvation at the last, is a good mark [or stamp] on a man.
And let not a clapper [conscience] be ever beating in one's
breast"*
"The fruit of virtue," said Manibhadra to Kundadara,
"always is superiority [influence] and happiness of various
kinds. Let the Brahman eat these fruits free from bodily
suffering."" " TsuUubandaka was so stupid that he could not
» Pyth. xii. 49. * Matshaf Phal. ' Lee-tsie, bk. vi. p. 5.
• Megillah, 18, M. S. • Ming Sin P. K. c. xi. • Vemana, ii. 55.
T Rgya-tcher r. p. c. iv. 'In Berach, B. FL • Risbtah i juw, p. 29.
>» Maha Bh. Sbanti P. 9781.
X. 23]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
46s
learn anything, but he was kind to his teacher, who took him
to the jungle and taught him this -mantra' [spell]: <Thou
weariest thyself! thou weariest thyself! But what for? I
know thy work.' "» " Pray to the gods whose power is great "
says Theognis; "for nothing either good or bad happens to
men without them [their will]."« "And to him whose conduct
IS good," says Sok)n. "God grants good fortune in all things
and saves him from folly."* « IHk praised God and said • O
my God, thou art most noble. All my good has come to me
from Thee. I am thy worthless servant, and have sinned
agamst Thee. And yet thou hast granted me all my desire "«
"As regards this life," says the Buddhist, "a wise man
eschews sin and impurity, is liberal, moderate, &c. In like
manner as the bee sucks honey from a flower without derang-
ing the blossom, so also does a wise man pass through this
world, doing what good he can, and deriving from it what
good he may, but without attaching himself to it."» " By the
blessing of Sangs-rgyas [most perfect Buddha], and by the
goodness of the Triune God, let a man be free from disease
until he dies in his old age ; and be gifted with a soft voice, a
mild countenance, and great strength."" Thus "a fair wind
will raise no waves,"^ say the Chinese ; and Pindar,
Aaifiov dvSpiav ^tAwi/,"*
"God's overruling wisdom governs the (lot or) circumstances
of those who love Him and whom He loves."
23 // w as sport to a fool to do mischief: but a man
of understanding hath wisdom.
nm is worse than ' mischief in its general acceptation. It means
rather 'crime, guilt.' Ar. 'vice, wickedness.' 'It is pinfers, as a
laughing matter to the fool to commit wickedness, or to incur guilt."
' Buddhagh. Par. vi. p. 92. t Theogn. 173. » Solon Ath.
ed. B. V. 69. ' Kudat ku B. xiv. 12. « Hdul-wa, vol. cha, fol. 29.
Smon-lam bchu-tham. ' Chin. pr. • Pyth. v. 164.
2 H
466
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[x. 24
"It is as sport" &c "A small sin is a great misfortune to
the pure-minded; but what are a hundred sins to the sinful
soul ? "* " One of the frogs that were pelted with stones said
to the boys who did it : O boys, to pelt us is sport to you, but
it is death to us."* " When everything is wounded and spoilt,
he only smiles at it" "It is so indeed," says the Chinese
translator of that same story. "Leave off sinful sport."' "Great
wisdom does not proceed from small virtue [or goodness]."*
" Wise men, however, are never held in honour by fools. The
beautiful light of the sun when shining is nevertheless obscured
by vultures flying across it"* " If a man, though weak and
small, is intelligent, what can an enemy, even powerful, do to
him ? A lion, though king of beasts, was slain by an intelligent
hare."* " He that has understanding can read a letter back-
wards."^
24 The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him :
but the desire of the righteous shall be granted.
\l^,, understand mh\ Chald. ' shall be given (or granted) to the
righteous.'
" Tlie fear" &c. " It often happens," says Callinus of
Ephesus,'
" IIoXXaKt 8t;iot>;to <f>vy<j>v not Bovtrov aKovnav
tp^cTai, (V o oiKtf fioipa kI\€v Oavarov,
" that a man escaped from the battle and from the din of war,
meets death in his own home." " The fear of the wicked,"
may also mean " remorse of conscience and the fear of death."
" He who has done evil, is punished by it," say the Arabs.* "If
you stamp on the ground," say the Bengalees, " the guilty
tremble ;" and "the rat flees, though it knows not that the cat is
blind."" "For if one does harm to another in the morning,
evil is sure to come to him in the afternoon.""
> Kobita R. 51. * Telugu st 2. ' Atthi Sudi, 42. * Tonilkhu y.
ch. ii. ' Sain iigh. 84. • Legs par b. p. 19. ' Osman. pr.
• 14, '5i ed- S- ' ^^^*^- ^"^ P^- " l^eng. pr. " Cural, 319.
X. 25]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
467
cruel d.«h come, ,„d „„ ^l^ ,hl, ^ J "'""' '"
clothing need not f«, ,k m " """"''" <•'»■"">
--and:::^--t:d:s--^--^^
J.'-tut'th "''^"' '""^^' ^" " ^h^ --'^^d no
As the whirlwind" Rrr " p .•„!, . .
away." says Abu Ubdd -but .0 . " "I T """ ^''^" ^^^^
■> f -^"uuDcia, t>ut good works shall remain " "Tk„
advantage of goodness is for ever • buf th.. l^"]' ^^^
first "« " If «„- I ' ^'^^^ °^ ^vil is only at
ledge, and the thorgM^r^irl:^ T °"^ ^''^ '""^-
.^^ss among me„^„:Ltt:;tTp[l:-^^^^^
The everlastmg foundation" mentioned here is of course
t::hrrL::r;^::'r ^^ ^""' p-;ed"brc::
when he h" "" "^""^ '"^ ^"^ ^"-^'^ .■ but mTst
done"' 'LT *° ''''r' ''^'■"^^ °^ ''' ^-^ '^^^
ArL. « . . ^""'^'^^' ^°^'^^'" ^-'d Bhagavan to
Arjuna, are sa.d to be [parts] of an eternal, embodied Soir t
.mpenshable, infinite; therefore, fight thou, O Bh5ra a ?.' A
good man .s the pillar [mainstay or foundation] of the stat^
He hves ten thousand years, and [his light] does not wa^e -
King, bk. ii. od. 3. ^ ^^- ^'"*'"»'' P- 896. to She
2 H 2
468
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[x. 25
"Perfection in a perfect man." says Tseu-sze. " never ceases
but continues ; and as it continues, it shows itself outwardly.
And of the holy man, Lao-tsze says that "after he has
spent his strength in doing good, he does not dwell on his
merits ; but although he does not rest on his merits, yet h.s •
merits do not leave him."' "When he dies, he ceases not to
exist, but is indeed long-lived. And he who knows how to
lay a good foundation shall not be destroyed."' " Those who
devote themselves to the [moral] law well taught to them, pass
over to yonder shore [nibbanam]. which is under the thrall of
death, and very hard to cross."* "The superior man," says
Meng-tsze "lays deep the foundation of his own principles,
wishing to' possess them for himself. When he has acquired
them, he dwells at rest [composed]. While thus under their
quieting influence, he values the depth of them ; and applymg
them right and left, he finds out the source from which they
flow Therefore does the superior man strive to possess those
principles for himself."' " My dear Rahans." said P'hara
Thaken, " do you think Mahakala-thera and Tsullakala are
alike? Why, Tsullakala is like a tree floating adrift that has
reached the bank, whereas Mahakala is like a mountain of
solid rock, against which nothing can prevail to shake it'|«
Of this "everlasting foundation of the righteous," the
Buddhist has but small hope. "Gautama said in his discourse :
•Ayam antima jati : this is my last birth ; there is not now
any other existence.' Thus affirming cessation of existence,
which is found only in 'kamaloko, rupaloko, and arupaloko,
sensual existence, corporeal existence, and formless existence,
the realm of beings with form, and of beings without form ; so
that when he says, 'natthi bhuti puna bhava,' he means that he
shall cease to exist"^ " These my five component parts," says
the Buddhist, " form, sensation, perception, discrimination and
. Chung Yung, c xxvi. ' Tao-te-King c. ii. ' Id- iWd.
. Dha„,Ip. 86, Panditav. » Hea Meng. vn. ,4 , « Buddhagh.
Par. V. p. 4S- ' ^^^- G°S«'''y> Ceylon Friend, Feb. 1864-
X. 26, 27]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
469
consciousness, are not enduring because they are not perma-
nent ; they will die ; and my body when dead will be cast away
like a slough in the coffin."' While other materialists warn
" him who is endued with virtue, that the innate qualities of
the virtuous do not procure lasting [dhruvam] existence.
The ashes of sandal-wood burnt with fire are no longer
fragrant."*
26 As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the
eyes, so is the sluggard to them that send him.
Vphs, ' as vinegar,' or sour, fermented matter. Thus the LXX.
render it by o/itfia^, 'sour grapes, verjuice,' and are followed by one
Arabic version,' with the Coptic and the Syriac — 'As verjuice to the
teeth, so does the sluggard (idle, lazy man) injure his own works,*
whose lazy, irresolute ways are well rendered by jUV, a-Tpaytvtiv.
" As smoke,'' &c. " The same thing which looks like abuse
from a stranger, may be welcome from a friend ; just as smoke
from grass differs from the smoke of incense."' "The slug-
gard," say the Arabs, "has not two legs."* " Laziness," say
the Turks, " walks slowly, slowly, and meets poverty on the
road."»
27 The fear of the Lord prolongeth days : but the
years of the wicked shall be shortened.
^' The fear of the Lord" &c. Tsoo-ke, one of Kaou-tsung's
ministers, said to him : " Heaven looks down on the people,
and according to the righteousness [of each individual] sends
upon him length of days or shortness of life. It is not Heaven
that destroys the people ; it is the people themselves who cut
short their own destiny in the middle of it."* " For a good man
must reach an advanced old age, but a wicked man must die
early."^ "The man who leads a bad life," says Manu,« "is
' Khanda-gna-pa, J. Thera, and Rahula Thut. 18. ' Drishtanta
Shat. 41. ' Kobitamr. 26. ♦ Egypt, pr. 45. ' Osm. pr.
» Shoo King, ill. 14. ' Hien w. shoo, 195. • Manu S. Iv. 157, 158.
470
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[x. 27
blamed in this world ; always fares wretchedly ; is afflicted
with disease, and is short-lived." " But he who, though not
favoured by fortune, yet leads a good life, is faithful and
not envious, lives a hundred years." " There are the stars of
the [Great Bear] Bushel of the North, the prince of spirits,
which are placed over the head of men. They write down in
a book the sins and faults of men ; and they lop off twelve
years from the reckoning [sum of years] of a man [according
to his conduct]," says Tai-shang.' And the Commentary
quotes Tsang-tsze, who says, speaking of this cutting off of
man's days : " Ten eyes that pry [from above], and ten hands
that carry off, how awful it is I "
" The office of Shang-Te is to be the Ruler (or court) of
Heaven ; which is lord of man's life, of his death, and of his
long life."' " All his sins are sought out by the [Sze-ming]
officer of [God's order] destiny ; and if at death there remains
one sin [yet unpunished], it reaches down to the children's
children."' " Therefore," said Enoch to the wicked, " your days
shall be cursed, and the years of your life shall perish; eternal
curse on you shall be multiplied, and there will be no peace
for you."* " They shall perish ; there will be no length of days
for them."' "The duration of a tyrant's life is short," say the
Arabs ; " but the duration of a generous [good] man's life is
long [spread out]."* "When a child is born," say the Rabbis,
" it is decreed how many years he is to live on earth. If he is
innocent [pure, virtuous], he shall fulfil the years [decreed to
him] ; if not, his years shall be shortened, as it is written in
Prov. X. 27."^
Shang-Te says : " If you are bad [do evil], you cut short
yourself your own happiness. You die morning or evening
['the two rats, white and black, gnaw the root of your days'];*
how can you hope for a high rank?"* "When the heart is
• Kang ing p. ' Shin sin luh. i. p. 79, 81.
♦ Bk. Enoch, c. v. 6. ' Id. x. 10. • Nuth. ellal. 163.
in Koheleth, iii. 2, M. S. • Jap. pr. p. 115. • Shin sin luh. ii. p. 81
' Id. ii. p. 85.
' Midr. Rab.
X. 28]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
471
good," say again the Chinese, " and his destiny [ming, order
from Heaven] is also good, then glory and renown come early.
If the heart is good and the destiny is not good, then this life
is warm and filled ; when destiny is good and the heart is bad,
promotion, it is feared, can hardly come ; but when both the
heart and destiny are not good, then for poverty and misery
straight on to old age."» "Good morals, they say, are a
blessing, and virtue is best in this world ; for behold, a frightful
dragon does not slay good people."' "A good-tempered and
quiet man is sure to live out his days ; but the plotting and
deceitful man comes to no good end."'
28 The hope of the righteous shall be gladness ; but
the expectation of the wicked shall perish.
" The hope" &c. " When Bias was asked, What is ' sweet ' to
man, k\ir\%, ?</>i, ? he said ' Hope.'"* " For," says Ovid,»
" Spem juvat amplecti, quae hon juvet irrita semper."
"And Thales being asked. What is the most common thing?
answered ' Hope,' for it is all that is left to those who have
nothing else."*
"Jam mala finissem letho, sed credula vitam
Spes fovet, et melius eras fore semper erit,
Spes etiam valida solatur compede vinctum :
Crura sonant ferro, sed canit inter opus."'
" Then «Xrrif< <ls finjT<5s, hope thou as being mortal," says
Periander.* For,
" 'Ev tkir'urw )(pr] tovs <ro(^ov9 e\(iv /Sioi',"
The wise live in hopes, " the hope of the righteous," which is
to them " as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and
which entereth into that within the veil," fastened to the cable
of faith, that will bear the strain of the storm, and never fail ;
for " He is faithful that promised."
> Ming Sin P. K. i. p. 3. ' Silavim. Jat. p. 371. ' Ming h. dsi. 32.
* Sept. Sap. p. 42. • Ex Ponto, iii. 7, 21. ' Sept. Sap. p. 36;
Babrias, fab. 58. ' Tibull. eleg. ult. • Sept. Sap. p. 48. • rvu/t. luv.
472
ORIGINAL NOTES ON
[x. 28
This hope —
"Tenet in tempus, semel est si credita, longum,'"
endures until it ends in the possession of the " gladness "
promised. But hope itself is gladness so long as it lasts ; as
the Syriac renders it well : " The hope of righteous men is
in (or with) joy ;" while looking forward to " the promised
inheritance of the saints in light." It is well rendered in
n^Oin, * longa spes,' as contrasted with nipn, the expectation,
' by taking measures,' of the wicked. " For all that I have
seen of the wicked," said Bileklik kishi the wise, " he came to
nothing."*
" ' O thou Creator of corporeal beings,' said Zarathustra to
Ahura Mazda, 'where is the judgment-seat, and where are
the rewards which men put off while living ?' ' O Zarathustra,'
answered Ahura Mazda, 'on the third night, when the sun
rises, the daeva, Vizeresha by name, carries away the sinful
soul bound to the bridge Chinvat, where the question is put
to the soul touching its conduct through life. But as regards
the pure (good), on the third morning, a beautiful maid takes
the soul over Hara-berezaiti [Elbors, the highest peak of the
Caucasus] into the presence of Vohu-mano [Good or Holy
Spirit], who asks it, Whence comest thou ? Then the soul of
the pure goes rejoicing to Ahura Mazda, to the golden throne
of Amesha-spentas [immortal saints, archangels?]'"' "The
righteous rejoices here and hereafter," says the Buddhist ;
" in both states does he rejoice. He rejoices greatly when he
sees the purity of his actions."* "Hope," says Theognis, "is
fjiovT) Oeoi i<r6Krj, is the only good goddess left among men ; all
the rest, with Faith, Temperance, have gone back to Olympus ;
even the Graces have left this earth. But if any among the
pious wishes to live and to see the light of the sun about
(with) the gods, then iXwlSa wpoa-iKviro, let him await (abide by)
what he hopes for, and worship them first and last in hope."*
' Ovid, Art. Am. i. 445. ' Kudat ku B. xi. 17. ' Vendid. xix. 89,
and Yasht, xxii. * Dhatnmap. Yamak. 16. ' Theogn. 1091.
X. 28]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
473
"But as to those vain 'pratikbudh' [self-constituted Buddhasl
when they come to die. they are like the 'kadali-tree' [kadali,
plantain-tree], without heart [or marrow] ; they rejoice in their
wealth and pleasures ; but when they come to the end, they
are found naked, with the empty palm of their hand grasping
a shadow.'" Yet, in any case, the hope of the Buddhist is
nought For Nirvana [to be treated at length in another
chapter] is ' extinction.' Now a drop of water falling into the
sea is not annihilated ; it becomes a part of the whole. But
the blowing out of a candle [nirvanam] is complete extinc 
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