Psalms of the Brethren CCXXXV: Kappina the Great

Can ye but see that which is coming ere it come,
And mark such business as will benefit or harm,
Nor foes nor friends, howe’er they seek, will find a rift.

The man by whom the breathing exercise
With self-control is to perfection brought,
Practised with method as the Buddha taught,
He casts a radiant sheen about the world,
As doth the moon emerging free from cloud.

Lo! now the mind of me is white indeed,
Expanded beyond measure, practised well,
Its nature understood, and strenuous;
Shedding a radiance on every side.

The wise man is alive and he alone,
Although his wealth be utterly destroyed;
And if the man of wealth do wisdom lack,
For all his wealth he doth not truly live.

Wisdom is arbiter of what is heard.
Wisdom doth nourish honourable fame.
With wisdom in his company a man
Even in pain and sorrow findeth joys.

‘Where ye are being born, ye also die.’
What have we there save what is natural?

For after being born we do but lead
A life that is a dying hour by hour.
Whoe’er are born in that same life they die —
Such is the nature of all living things.

That brings no good to the dead which is good for the living.
Mourning the dead is no honour nor purification,
Nor is it praised by the wise, by recluses and brahmins.

Mourning vexes the eye and the body, wasteth
Comeliness, strength [of body and mind] and intelligence.
If he be blithesome, all the four quarters become
Cordial well-wishers, e’en if his lot be not happy.

Wherefore let laymen desire to receive in their family
None but them that are wise and discreet and much learned.
They by the power of their wisdom accomplish their business,
E’en as a boat doth effect a crossing o’er the full river.