42. Thy father, mother, brethren, wife,
Ask thyself who are they?
Thy children; yea, thy very self,
Who art thou, canst thou say?
How cam'st thou here, how wilt depart?
Love not this world unreal.
Ye anxious souls, this lesson learn,
To one pure name appeal.
Our father He, crowned with the moon
And snake. Who Him adore,
Prone lying, with ''Hail Siva, hail,''
In heav'n live evermore.

Our next hymn with the short-lined verses (nos. 43 to 48) is a kind of Saivite consecration hymn, mentioning successively various parts of the body--head, eyes, cars--to be given to the worship of Siva. Verse 46 must sound sadly to a Saivite, for it is frequently sung in the ears of the dying, as a plaintive appeal to think of God. Verse 47 rises far above the usual ideas of future absorption to the thought of a blissful state of communion with and praise of God.

43. Head of mine, bow to Him,
True Head, skull garlanded,
A skull was His strange begging-bowl,
Bow low to Him, my head.

44. Eyes of mine, gaze on Him
Who drank the dark sea's bane.
Eight arms He brandishes in dance,
At Him agaze remain.

45. Ears of mine, hear His praise,
Siva, our flaming king.
Flaming as coral red His form:
Ears, hear men praises sing.

46. What kinsmen in that hour
When life departs, have we?
Who but Kuttalam's dancing lord
Can then our kinsman be?

47. How proud shall I be there,
One of His heavenly host,
At His fair feet who holds the deer,
How proud will he my boast!

48. I sought Him and I found.
Brahm sought in vain on high.
Vishnu delved vainly underground.
Him in my soul found I.

The mystic can never be a satisfied ceremonialist. These Saivite devotees commonly praise the god of a particular shrine in language which might suggest that Siva is only to be found there. And everyone who knows India remembers the ceaseless streams of pilgrims journeying to the Ganges or the Cauvery (Tamil Kaviri), to Rameswaram or Cape Comorin or a hundred other holy places. But with a fine inconsistency these ancient singers sometimes point men away from externalities to a worship inward and spiritual; witness the following hymn. As to the terms used, in v. 50, Vedas are the religious works of the highest authority, Sastras are philosophical and practical works based on them, while Vedangas are sciences subordinate to the Vedas, and there are six of them.

49. Why bathe in Ganga's stream, or Kaviri?
Why go to Comorin in Kongu's land?
Why seek the waters of the sounding sea?
Release is theirs, and theirs alone, who call
In every place upon the Lord of all.