Sri Aurobindo

Translations

CWSA.- Volume 5

Part One. Translations from Sanskrit
Section Four. Bhartrihari. The Century of Life

Miscellaneous Verses

The Power of Goodness

The bloom of natural goodness like a flower

Is Nature’s darling, all her creatures prize,

And on whose body’s stock its fragrant power

Blossoms, all fiercest things can humanise.

For him red fire becomes like water pale and cool,

For him heaven-threatening Ocean sinks into a pool

Of quiet azure; for him the lion’s heart

Tames its dire hungers to be like the hind’s,

And the fell snake unsoothed by music’s art

Upon his brows in floral wreaths he binds.

Poisons for him to nectar change; impassable hills

Droop, gentle slopes; strong blessings grow from ruthless ills.