“Each for himself must seek, as we have sought,”
  The tempter said, “and each must climb alone
  The rugged path our weary feet have trod. 
  No royal road leads to Nirvana’s rest;
  No royal captain guides his army there. 
  Why leave the heights with so much labor gained? 
  Why plunge in darkness we have just escaped? 
  Men will not heed the message we may bring. 
  The great will scorn, the rabble will deride,[6]
  And cry ‘He hath a devil and is mad.’”

  “True,” answered Buddha, “each must seek to find;
  Each for himself must leave the downward road;
  Each for himself must choose the narrow path
  That leads to purity and peace and life. 
  But helping hands will aid those struggling up;
  A warning voice may check those hasting down. 
  Men are like lilies in yon shining pool: 
  Some sunk in evil grovel in the dust,
  Loving like swine to wallow in the mire—­
  Like those that grow within its silent depths,
  Scarce raised above its black and oozy bed;
  While some love good, and seek the purest light,
  Breathing sweet fragrance from their gentle lives—­
  Like those that rise above its glassy face,
  Sparkling with dewdrops, royally arrayed,
  Drinking the brightness of the morning sun,
  Distilling odors through the balmy air;
  But countless multitudes grope blindly on,
  Shut out from light and crushed by cruel castes,
  Willing to learn, whom none will deign to teach,
  Willing to rise, whom none will deign to guide,
  Who from the cradle to the silent grave,
  Helpless and hopeless, only toil and weep—­
  Like those that on the stagnant waters float,
  Smothered with leaves, covered with ropy slime,
  That from the rosy dawn to dewy eve
  Scarce catch one glimmer of the glorious sun. 
  The good scarce need, the bad will scorn, my aid;
  But these poor souls will gladly welcome help. 
  Welcome to me the scorn of rich and great,
  Welcome the Brahman’s proud and cold disdain,
  Welcome revilings from the rabble rout,
  If I can lead some groping souls to light—­
  If I can give some weary spirits rest. 
  Farewell, my brother, you have earned release—­
  Rest here in peace.  I go to aid the poor.” 
  And as he spoke a flash of lurid light
  Shot through the air, and Buddha stood alone—­
  Alone! to teach the warring nations peace! 
  Alone! to lead a groping world to light! 
  Alone! to give the heavy-laden rest!

[1]A sakwal was a sun with its system of worlds, which the ancient Hindoos believed extended one beyond another through infinite space.  It indicates great advance in astronomical knowledge when such a complex idea, now universally received as true, as that the fixed stars are suns with systems of worlds like ours, could be expressed in a single word.

[2]It may seem like an anachronism to put the very words of the modern agnostic into the mouth of Buddha’s tempter, but these men are merely threshing over old straw.  The sneer of Epicurus curled the lip of Voltaire, and now merely breaks out into a broad laugh on the good-natured face of Ingersoll.