We will not rashly hasten and provoke EREENIA. Fear courts the blow, Fear brings the ruin on. Needs must the chariot-wheels of Destiny Crush him who throws himself before their track, Patient and prostrate. INDRA. All may yet be well: Who knows but Vishnu will descend and save, Once more incarnate? EREENIA. Look not there for help, Nor build on unsubstantial hope thy trust. Our Father Casyapa hath said he turns His doubtful eye to Siva, even as thou Dost look to him for aid. But thine own strength Should for thine own salvation be put forth; Then might the higher Powers, approving, see And bless the brave resolve. Oh that my arm Could wield yon lightnings which play idly there, In inoffensive radiance, round thy head! The Swerga should not need a champion now, Nor Earth implore deliverance still in vain! INDRA. Think'st thou I want the will, rash Son of Heaven What if my arm be feeble as thine own Against the dread Kehama? He went on Till his triumphant car had measured o’er The insufficient earth, and all the Kings Of men received his yoke; then had he won His will, to ride upon their necks elate, And crown his conquests with the sacrifice That should, to men and gods, proclaim him Lord And Sovereign Master of the vassal World, Sole Rajah, the Omnipotent below The steam of that portentous sacrifice Arose to Heaven. Then was the hour to strike. ; Then, in the consummation of his pride, His height of glory, then the thunderbolt Should have gone forth, and hurled him from his throne Down to the fiery floor of Padalon, To everlasting burnings, agony Eternal, and remorse which knows no end. That hour went by: grown impious in success, By prayer and penances he wrested now Such power from Fate, that soon, if Siva turn not His eyes on earth, and no Avatar save, Soon will he seize the Swerga for his own, Roll on through Padalon his chariot-wheels, Tear up the adamantine bolts which lock The accurst Asuras to its burning floor, And force the drink of Immortality From Yamen's charge. Vain were it now to strive: My thunder cannot pierce the sphere of power Wherewith, as with a girdle, he is bound. KAILYAL. Take me to earth, O gentle Deveta! Take me again to earth! This is no place Of rest for me! My Father still must bear His Curse: he shall not bear it all alone; Take me to earth, that I may follow him! I do not fear the Almighty Man! The Gods Are feeble here; but there are higher Powers, Who will not turn their eyes from wrongs like ours Take me to earth, O gentle Deveta! 12. Saying thus, she knelt, and to his knees she clung, I must be with my Father in his pain. 13. Indra with admiration heard the Maid. Be that high sense of duty still thy guide, And all good Powers will aid a soul like thine." Then turning to Ereenia, thus he said: "Take her where Ganges hath its second birth, Below our sphere, and yet above the earth; There may Ladurlad rest beyond the power Of the dread Rajah, till the fated hour." VIII. THE SACRIFICE. 1. Dost thou tremble, O Indra, O God of the Sky? Why slumber those thunders of thine? Dost thou tremble on high, - Wilt thou tamely the Swerga resign, Art thou smitten, O Indra! with dread? Or seest thou not, seest thou not, Monarch divine, Kehama his victim hath led? Nine and ninety steeds have bled; One more, the rite will be complete, One victim more, and this the dreadful day. Then will the impious Rajah seize thy seat, And wrest the thunder-sceptre from thy sway. Along the mead the hallowed Steed Yet bends at liberty his way; At noon his consummating blood will flow. That blood confirms the Almighty Tyrant's reign! Thou tremblest on high for thy power! Is the Destroyer blind? Is the Preserver careless for mankind? 2. Along the mead the hallowed Steed No human hand hath tricked that mane A Before he fall at Siva's shrine: The year and day have passed away, Nor touch of man hath marred the rite divine. And now at noon the Steed must bleed; The perfect rite to-day must force the meed |