When he his heavenly home had found, The holy men who dwelt around To Rama flocked, whose martial fame Shone glorious as the kindled flame: Vaikhanasas(415) who love the wild, Pure hermits Balakhilyas(416) styled, Good Samprakshalas,(417) saints who live On rays which moon and daystar give: Those who with leaves their lives sustain And those who pound with stones their grain: And they who lie in pools, and those Whose corn, save teeth, no winnow knows: Those who for beds the cold earth use, And those who every couch refuse: And those condemned to ceaseless pains, Whose single foot their weight sustains: And those who sleep neath open skies, Whose food the wave or air supplies, And hermits pure who spend their nights On ground prepared for sacred rites; Those who on hills their vigil hold, Or dripping clothes around them fold: The devotees who live for prayer, Or the five fires(418) unflinching bear. On contemplation all intent, With light that heavenly knowledge lent, They came to Rama, saint and sage, In Sarabhanga's hermitage. The hermit crowd around him pressed, And thus the virtuous chief addressed: "The lordship of the earth is thine, O Prince of old Ikshvaku's line. Lord of the Gods is Indra, so Thou art our lord and guide below. Thy name, the glory of thy might, Throughout the triple world are bright: Thy filial love so nobly shown, Thy truth and virtue well are known. To thee, O lord, for help we fly, And on thy love of right rely: With kindly patience hear us speak, And grant the boon we humbly seek. That lord of earth were most unjust, Foul traitor to his solemn trust, Who should a sixth of all(419) require, Nor guard his people like a sire. But he who ever watchful strives To guard his subjects' wealth and lives, Dear as himself or, dearer still, His sons, with earnest heart and will,-- That king, O Raghu's son, secures High fame that endless years endures, And he to Brahma's world shall rise, Made glorious in the eternal skies.Ramayana 3.38a · Ramayana · 3
Ramayana 3.38a
Ramayana · translated by Ralph T.H. Griffith
Themes in this passage
The DivineNatureLoveChildrenDharmaLeadershipPatienceProtection
The Divine in other traditions
The same theme, as Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Hellenism address it.
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Self is the lord of self, who else could be the lord? With self well subdued, a man finds a lord such as few can find.Dhp 12.160 · Dhammapada · Self
Saturnia lends the lash; the coursers fly; Smooth glides the chariot through the liquid sky. Heaven’s gates spontaneous open to the powers, Heaven’s golden gates, kept by the winged Hours. Commission’d in alternate watch they stand, The sun’s bright portals and the skies command; Close, or unfold, the eternal gates of day Bar heaven with clouds, or roll those clouds away. The sounding hinges ring, the clouds divide. Prone down the steep of heaven their course they guide. But Jove, incensed, from Ida’s top survey’d, And thus enjoin’d the many-colour’d maid.Iliad 8.29 · Iliad · 8
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