80 Some Account of the Rdmsanehfs, a Sect of [Fkb. 



5. — If having fed yourself through the charity of mankind you sleep at ease, 

 with outstretched limbs, and fail to offer worship to HarI, the punishments of 

 Yama* will not be mitigated : do not take thy meals without adoring the lord sup- 

 porter Ra'ma, but abandoning thy habits of idleness, worship him day and night. 

 Abandon try habits of idleness, and walk not without the fear of God. If you 

 neglect to follow (this advice), you are a hypocrite, and shall be doomed to pass 

 through the eighty-four (transmigrations). As a powerful creditor collects his 

 dues from his weak debtors by severe beating, so shall you be punished if you 

 take your food without adoring Ra'ma. 



6. — The ignorant person who commits a sin becomes free from it by the ac- 

 quisition of knowledge, but the man of knowledge, who is guilty of vice, is like a 

 newly varnished pot, from which the dust (should any fall upon it) never goes off. 

 He is like a newly varnished pot from which the dust never goes off, or like a blue 

 stain (upon linen). A sin committed at a holy place of pilgrimage is like a wak- 

 ing dream. As the stupid man who mistakes his way in the day-time can never 

 discover the true path at night, so the person who possessed of knowledge per- 

 petrates a sin can never emancipate himself from it. 



7. — He is a real faqir who makes the stone his bed, whose tent is the sky, 

 whose arms are his pillows, and who eats his food from earthen vessels : he is 

 the master of the four quarters, and is not regarded as low. The prince and the 

 peasant fall prostrate at his feet, and he subsists by begging. 



8. — You must die one day, whether you live in the city or the wildernessf. 

 Some (i. e. the wicked) are taken bound in chains, while others (i. e. the good) 

 are summoned (by death). They are sent for who have renounced the world, 

 who have none to weep (for them), and who have always taken the name ' Ra'ma.' 

 Ra'mcharan says, the good abandon their homes, because they know that they 

 must one day perish, whether they inhabit the city or the wilds. 



We should mourn over the corpses of the dead, if weeping could restore them 

 to life. If doctors could save mankind, then none of the wealthy would die, but 

 it is not in the power of any to escape death. Enquire of this from place to place, 

 and weigh it thoroughly in your mind. Life and death were created by the Lord, 

 who can do whatsoever he willeth. We should mourn over the corpses of the 

 dead, if they could be restored to life by weeping. You blame Ra'ma, and cry : — 

 " Oh Ra'ma, what haveyou done, who will supportmy family, and who will superin- 

 tend my household works ? What have you done, Oh Ra'ma ? you have as it were 

 sunk the vessel in the middle of the stream." You know not how long you may 

 live, and Ra'mcharan declares without this knowledge you fall off from Hari', 

 because you blame Ra'ma, and exclaim, ' Oh Ra'ma, what have you done ?' 



J9. — You may have followers, eloquence, and fame, without using any exertion 

 to obtain them ; you cannot therefore fathom the will of Ra'ma. I look not for 

 means ; every thing comes to pass of its own accord. The will of HarI is power- 

 ful, who can revert it? Whatever happens is accomplished by Ra'ma ; for I am 

 incapable of performing any thing, it is the very height of folly. 



* The Indian Pluto, and king of Patal or hell, 

 f Meaning the souls of those persons. 



X The figures correspond with the number of paragraphs in the MS. selec- 

 tions. 



