When thou didst leave the womb and enter this perishable world, thou forgottest God.
Thou shalt afterwards repent, O fool ; through what mental perversity hath superstition attached to thee ?
Remember God ; otherwise thou shalt go to the abode of Death ; stray not in other worship.
A child is anxious for play and sweets ; by degrees its worldly love increaseth.
Under the pretext of its being a sacrifice,[1] man tasteth meat as if it were ambrosia, though it is a poison ; then the five evil passions appear and torture him.[2]
He abandoneth devotion, penance, self-restraint, and good works, and in his heart he worshippeth not God's name.
His lust overfloweth, blackness attacheth to his heart, and he embraceth the strange woman.
In the ardour of youth he stareth at another's wife, and distinguisheth not good from evil.
In the intoxication of lust and the other great sins he goeth astray, and distinguisheth not vice from virtue.
Beholding his children and his wealth, he is proud and forgetteth God in his heart.
He weigheth in his heart the wealth of some one who is dead, then ruineth his life by women and banquets.
When his hair groweth grey — greyer than the jasmine — and his voice becometh feeble ;[3]
When his eyes water, and his intellect and strength depart, then his desires are in a whirl.[4]
His mind is defiled by evil passions, and therefore his body withereth away like the lotus in the rainy season.
He who renounceth God s name in this perishable world shall afterwards repent.
Beholding his near relations he muttereth something, and is proud of them, but they heed him not.
