Page:Sacred Books of the Buddhists Vol 1.djvu/357

 offended them by means of the (well-known) expedients : conciliation and the rest; but Death, that ferocious enemy, whose insolence is strengthened by the long duration of his hatred, is not to be subdued with such craft.

30. 'Serpents in wrath bite men, and the poison of their pointed teeth has the burning effect of a fire blazing awfully, kindled as it is by their anger; but against Death, though always clever in doing harm and therefore deserving of punishment, their effort of biting is deficient.

31. 'If a man has been bitten by serpents, however, furious, medical men will appease the poison by means of charms and medicines; but Death is a serpent with imperishable teeth and irresistible poison, his power cannot be put down by charms, medicines and the like.

32. 'Garudas will stir up the abode of crowds of playing fishes, shaking with the flapping of their wings the water out of the seas with a thunderlike dreadful noise, then seize the serpents with their outstretched fangs; yet they are unable to destroy Death in that boisterous manner.

33. 'Tigers by their surpassing swiftness overtake the deer of the forest running away with fear, and easily crushing them upon the earth, as if playing, with the thunderbolt of their unequalled claws, drink their blood; but they have no skill to proceed in the same way with Death.

34. 'It may happen perchance that a deer having come within the reach of a tiger's mouth with its tremendous teeth, makes his escape even then. But who, having reached the mouth of Death with the big teeth named disease or old age or grief, can become sound again?

35. 'Demons (grahas), deformed and ferocious-looking, drink up the vital strength and absorb the lives of the men they hold with a strong grasp ; but