1850.] Translation of the " Vichilra Ndtak." 529 



without profit, and they who promise to save you from Time, cannot 

 save themselves. The wrath of Time is like a raging fire, over which 

 the gods you worship are hanging by their heels, and can they prevent 

 your being treated in the same way 1 Oh fools ! ponder on these seri- 

 ous truths, and be ye sure that without the mercy of Time, naught 

 else can avail ye. 



Oh thou egregious animal ! why dost thou not acknowledge the 

 power of Time, which ruleth the universe ? — Time, the Supreme Being, 

 who alone is able to pardon ? It were best that ye sin not at all, but 

 if ye must sin, sin for the benefit of others, and putting away all your 

 other faults, fall at Time's feet. How can it avail thee, that thou 

 prostratest thyself before a stone idol ? 



What avail thy reserve, thy fits of abstraction, thy ornaments, thy 

 paint, shaving the hair of thy head, or plaiting it in thick folds ? 

 Listen to me from your innermost hearts, for I tell you the words of 

 truth, unless ye diligently search for Time, the giver of all good things, 

 and humbly worship him, ye shall not find him : circumcision is hate- 

 ful to him. 



"What if ye could turn the regions of the earth into paper, and the 

 seven oceans into ink, every tree into a pen, with Sarasvati to dic- 

 tate, and Ganesa to write for a million of years, ye could not gainsay 

 the simple fact, that excepting by entire submission to Time, ye can- 

 not get his mercy and pardon, or please him in the least. 



Chapter II. 



How doth God exhibit his merciful Power? By causing dumb 

 people to preach the Scriptures ; by enabling cripples to climb moun- 

 tains ; by making blind men see, and deaf men hear ! 



Oh God! 



A worm like me cannot reveal 

 Thy might, which thou alone dost know. 

 Who hath ever seen his sire born ? 

 Who can explain thy mysteries 1 

 Thou createdst thine own greatness ! 

 Which no mortal tongue can describe. 

 Thou alone knowest thine own mercy, 

 None can exalt, none lower thee. 



