The Shield of Life

I have been foolish in this wise;
For nothing have I laboured thus foolishly.
Save me my God.
In words I have been God’s servant;
In discourse greatly learned;
The mind has, however, loved money and worldly pleasure
And wronged God and the teachers, and felt no fear.
As the years have passed I have grown more covetous
And am loading myself with error;
I have gathered stone and shell like a child
And given up the shield of life.
I have toiled and toiled and got money;
And have married young women;
And worshipped low gods;
Yet shown myself as a servant of Vishnu.
For whom is it, soul, that you are so anxious?
For whom do you hoard this wealth?
Wife and children, friends and others,
None of them will go with you when you leave the world.
For giving in charity a pie has been a thousand;
For improper expenditure a crore has been a pie;
In doing good you have felt no interest;
In doing evil awake and active.
If people abuse my wife I abuse in return;
If they abuse God I hear and smile;
Straying from the path and immersed in desire,
I have lost God and fallen.
Call on God to whom all creation submits;
Give up the enemies within the self;
Call on Him whom all righteous men worship,
The Lord of all good, the King of the Universe.