Contrast between saints and the evil-minded
Dohas
bhalō bhalāihi pai lahai lahai nicāihi nīcu.
sudhā sarāhia amaratāom garala sarāhia mīcu..5.. [1-5]
Of course, a good man has a bias for goodness alone, while a vile person is prone to vileness. While nectar is praised for its immortalizing virtue, poison is extolled for its deadly effects.
Chaupais
khala agha aguna sādhū guna gāhā. ubhaya apāra udadhi avagāhā..
tēhi tēṃ kachu guna dōṣa bakhānē. saṃgraha tyāga na binu pahicānē..
bhalēu pōca saba bidhi upajāē. gani guna dōṣa bēda bilagāē.. [1-5-1]
kahahiṃ bēda itihāsa purānā. bidhi prapaṃcu guna avaguna sānā..
dukha sukha pāpa punya dina rātī. sādhu asādhu sujāti kujātī.. [1-5-2]
dānava dēva ūomca aru nīcū. amia sujīvanu māhuru mīcū..
māyā brahma jīva jagadīsā. lacchi alacchi raṃka avanīsā.. [1-5-3]
kāsī maga surasari kramanāsā. maru mārava mahidēva gavāsā.. [1-5-4]
saraga naraka anurāga birāgā. nigamāgama guna dōṣa bibhāgā.. [1-5-5]
The tales of sins and vices of the wicked, on the one hand, and of the virtues of the virtuous, on the other, are like boundless and unfathomable oceans. That is why I have enumerated only a few virtues and vices; for they cannot be acquired or discarded without being duly distinguished. The good as well as the vile, all have been brought into being by the Creator; it is the Vedas that have differentiated them by reckoning the merits of the former class and the demerits of the other. The Vedas, the Itihāsas (such as the Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahābhārata) and the Purāṇas unanimously declare that the creation of Brahmā (the Creator) is an intermixture of good and evil. It is characterized by pairs of opposites such as pain and pleasure, sin and merit, day and night, the good and the wicked, good birth and vile birth, demons and gods, the high and the low, nectar and poison, a happy life and death, Māyā and Brahma, i.e., Matter and Spirit, the soul and God (the Lord of the universe), plenty and poverty, the pauper and the king, the sacred Kāśī or Vārāṇasī and Magadha or North Bihar (the accursed land), the holy Gaṅgā the river of the celestials- and the unholy Karmanāśā* (in Bihar), the desert land of Māravāra (Western Rājapūtānā and Sindha) and the rich soil of Mālavā, the Brāhmaṇa - who is a veritable god on earth - and the barbarian who feeds on the cow, heaven and hell, attachment and dispassion. The Vedas and other sacred books have sifted good from evil.
- * A river of sinful origin in Bihar, a plunge in whose waters is said to destroy one’s religious merits. Hence it is called Karmanāśā (that which neutralizes one’s meritorious acts).
Dohas
jaḍa cētana guna dōṣamaya bisva kīnha karatāra.
saṃta haṃsa guna gahahiṃ paya parihari bāri bikāra..6.. [1-6]
God has created the universe consisting of animate and inanimate beings as partaking of both good and evil; swans* in the form of saints imbibe the milk of goodness rejecting water in the form of evil.
- * The swan is traditionally believed to feed on pearls and credited with the natural gift of separating milk from water.
Chaupais
asa bibēka jaba dēi bidhātā. taba taji dōṣa gunahiṃ manu rātā..
kāla subhāu karama bariāī. bhalēu prakṛti basa cukai bhalāī.. [1-6-1]
sō sudhāri harijana jimi lēhīṃ. dali dukha dōṣa bimala jasu dēhīṃ..
khalau karahiṃ bhala pāi susaṃgū. miṭai na malina subhāu abhaṃgū.. [1-6-2]
lakhi subēṣa jaga baṃcaka jēū. bēṣa pratāpa pūjiahiṃ tēū..
udharahiṃ aṃta na hōi nibāhū. kālanēmi jimi rāvana rāhū.. [1-6-3]
kiēhu kubēṣa sādhu sanamānū. jimi jaga jāmavaṃta hanumānū..
hāni kusaṃga susaṃgati lāhū. lōkahu bēda bidita saba kāhū.. [1-6-4]
gagana caḍhai raja pavana prasaṃgā. kīcahiṃ milai nīca jala saṃgā..
sādhu asādhu sadana suka sārīṃ. sumirahiṃ rāma dēhiṃ gani gārī.. [1-6-5]
dhūma kusaṃgati kārikha hōī. likhia purāna maṃju masi sōī..
sōi jala anala anila saṃghātā. hōi jalada jaga jīvana dātā.. [1-6-6]
When Providence blesses one with such discrimination (as is possessed by the swan), then alone does the mind abandon evil and gets enamoured of goodness. By force of the spirit of the times, old habits and past Karma even the good deviate from goodness under the influence of Māyā. But just as servants of Śrī Hari rectify that error and, eradicating sorrow and weakness, bring untarnished glory to them, even so the wicked occasionally perform a noble deed due to their good association, although their evil nature, which is unchangeable, cannot be obliterated. Even those who are impostors are respected on account of their garb, as the world is taken in by their attractive appearance. But they are eventually exposed, and cannot keep up their false appearance till the end, as was the case with Kālanemi*, Rāvaṇa† and Rāhu.‡ The good are honoured notwithstanding their mean appearance, even as Jāmbavān (a general of Sugrriva’s army, who was endowed with the form of a bear and possessed miraculous strength) and Hanumān (the monkey-god) won honour in this world. Bad association is harmful, while good company is an asset in itself: this is true in the world as well as in the eyes of the Vedas, and is known to all.Through contact with the wind dust ascends to the sky, while it is assimilated with mud when united with low-lying waters. Parrots and Mainās nurtured in the house of the virtuous and the wicked repeat the name of Rāma and pour a volley of abuses respectively. Smoke coming in contact with an evil (earthy)§ substance turns into soot; the same is used as a material for copying the Purāṇas with when converted into beautiful ink. Again, in conjunction with water, fire and air it is transformed into a cloud and brings life to the world.
- * Kālanemi was a demon chief, who was a contemporary of Rāvaṇa, the mighty king of Laṅkā. In the Laṅkā-Kāṇda (Book VI. 56-58) of this very work we are told how he assumed the false appearance of an ascetic and tried to deceive Hanumān, the devoted servant of the divine Śrī Rāma, but was ultimately detected and killed by Hanumān.
- † We read in the AraṇyaKāṇda (Book III. 27. 4-7) how Rāvaṇa appeared before Sītā in the garb of a mendicant but could not keep up his false appearance for long and had to throw off his mask at last.
- ‡ In the Purāṇas we are told how at the beginning of creation nectar was churned out of the ocean of milk conjointly by the gods and the demons. When the same was being served to the gods by God Viṣṇu Himself (who had assumed the form of a charming damsel in order to put the demons off the scent), the demon Rāhu disguised himself as a god and took his seat in the celestial row to participate in the feast. He was, however, soon detected by the sun-god and the moon-god, who exposed his real character.
- § There is a pun on the compound word Kusaṅgati in the original. ‘Ku’ is both a noun and an indeclinable prefixed to nouns. As an indeclinable it means bad or evil, while as a noun it is a synonym for the earth. Here it is used in both the senses and has been translated accordingly.
Dohas
graha bhēṣaja jala pavana paṭa pāi kujōga sujōga.
hōhi kubastu subastu jaga lakhahiṃ sulacchana lōga..7ka.. [1-7(A)]
sama prakāsa tama pākha duhu nāma bhēda bidhi kīnha.
sasi sōṣaka pōṣaka samujhi jaga jasa apajasa dīnha..7kha.. [1-7(B)]
jaḍa cētana jaga jīva jata sakala rāmamaya jāni.
baṃdau saba kē pada kamala sadā jōri juga pāni..7ga.. [1-7(C)]
dēva danuja nara nāga khaga prēta pitara gaṃdharba.
baṃdau kiṃnara rajanicara kṛpā karahu aba sarba..7gha.. [1-7(D)]
The planets, medicines, water, air and cloth prove good or bad in the world according to their good or evil associations; only men endowed with a keen insight are able to know this. The proportion of moonlight and darkness is the same in the bright as well as in the dark fortnight; only the two have been named differently by the Creator. Knowing the one as the nourisher and the other as the emaciator of the moon, the world has given it a good name and a bad one. Whatever beings, animate or inanimate, there are in the universe, recognizing them, one and all, as consisting of Śrī Rāma, I ever adore the lotus feet of all with joined palms. I reverence gods, demons, human beings, Nāgas, birds, spirits, manes (the souls of departed ancestors) and Gandharvas, Kiṁnaras and Rākṣasas (giants).* Pray be gracious to me all on this occasion.
- * Gandharvas, Kiṁnaras and Rākṣasa are different species of superhuman beings. Of these the Gandharvas are celestial songsters and are specially noted for their handsome appearance, while the kinnaras are credited with the head of a horse. The Rākṣasas are monstrous in appearance and are said to roam at night and feed on the human flesh. The Nāgas are another class of semi-divine beings, who, though resembling serpents in shape, can take the human form at will.