DHARMA
“BHAKTAKAVI” MADHUSUDAN RAO
Uncertain is this your life
Know you not when death is your wooer,
Therefore, O children of the morrow,
Take heed and be virtuous.
How little is the ant
(yet) how big is the achievement,
When an ant-hill is made
By constant striving obtained.
Sow you the seed of religion
That you reap a precious harvest,
forever and forever be it your pleasure
A treasure so precious in earth and heaven.
Let not your words breathe an unkind breath
Nor your deeds anybody doth offend,
Let not your inner feelings create
A thing offensive in nature and content.
Noble Soul! Shun thou falsehood and pride
Violence, hypocrisy, anger and greed,
With thy mind steadily fixed
upon truth as the surest guide.
Sing thou the praise of truth
Adore then the divine virtue
With love to every living creature
A fearless heart and a mind that soar.
–Translated from the
original in Oriya by Madhusudan Nayak