(19) Whatever root, or gum, or wood is scented, as frankincense, varâst, kust, sandalwood, cardamom, camphor, orange-scented mint, and others of this genus, they call a scent (bôd).

(6) 'And he who desires the world of perfumes and garlands (gandhamâlya), by his mere will perfumes and garlands come to him, and having obtained the world of perfumes and garlands, he is happy.

(24) For of pleasant odour, which is one thing genetically, there are many specific causes, as frankincense, rose, crocus, styrax, myrrh, ointment. For the rose has not the same kind of sweet fragrance as myrrh.

(2) They meditated on the udgîtha (Om) as the breath (scent) in the nose , but the Asuras pierced it (the breath) with evil. Therefore we smell by the breath in the nose both what is good-smelling and what is bad-smelling. For the breath was pierced by evil.

The FUMIGATION from AROMATICS. MUCH-nam'd, and best of dæmons, hear my pray'r, The desart-loving, deck'd with tender hair; Joy to diffuse, by all desir'd is thine, Much form'd, Eubulus; aliment divine Female and Male, all charming to the sight, Adonis ever flourishing and bright; At stated periods doom'd to set and rise, With splendid lamp, the glory of the skies. 8 Two-horn'd and lovely, reverenc'd with tears, Of beauteous form, adorn'd with copious hairs. Rejoicing in the chace, all-graceful pow'r, Sweet plant of Venus, Love's delightful flow'r: Descended from the secret bed divine, Of lovely-hair'd, infernal Proserpine. 'Tis thine to fink in Tartarus profound, And shine again thro' heav'ns illustrious round, With beauteous temp'ral orb restor'd to sight; Come, with earth's fruits, and in these flames delight.

(10) Ananda then asked the Buddha: “World Honoured One, the fragrance we are smelling was never perceived before; what is it?”

The Buddha replied: “Ananda, it is the fragrance given out by the pores of these Bodhisattvas.”

(52) Come, thou divine scent, say the gods who are in the domain of Unt

(55) And there it is to be proved whether the smell be a good smell or savour, pleasing to man's constitution and complexion, or no: If it be good, then the counsellor bringeth the same to its mother, that the smell may be brought to effect; if it be not good, then is it expelled and thrust away.

(97) And seeing they are too weak for this strong spirit, and cannot elevate themselves, they yield or surrender their noble power, and that smells so lovely and with so pleasant a savour that it rejoiceth the very heart, and makes it laugh; but they must wither and fall off, because they are too tender for this spirit.

(12) Ananda asked SariputANSWER: “Where does it come from?”

Sariputra replied: “It is this Upasaka Vimalakirti who obtained what was left over from the Buddha’s meal in the Fragrant Land, and those who ate it at his abode give out this fragrance from their pores.”

The Fumigation from AROMATICS OCEAN I call, whose nature ever flows, From whom at first both Gods and men arose; Sire incorruptible, whose waves surround, 3 And earth's concluding mighty circle bound: Hence every river, hence the spreading sea, And earth's pure bubbling fountains spring from thee: Hear, mighty fire, for boundless bliss is thine, Whose waters purify the pow'rs divine: Earth's friendly limit, fountain of the pole, Whose waves wide spreading and circumfluent roll. Approach benevolent, with placid mind, And be for ever to thy mystics kind.

The FUMIGATION from FRANKINCENSE. ILLUSTRIOUS Themis, of celestial birth, Thee I invoke, young blossom of the earth; 2 Beauteous-eyed virgin; first from thee alone, Prophetic oracles to men were known, Giv'n from the deep recesses of the fane In sacred Pytho, where renown'd you reign; From thee, Apollo's oracles arose, And from thy pow'r his inspiration flows. Honour'd by all, of form divinely bright, Majestic virgin, wand'ring in the night: Mankind from thee first learnt initial rites, And Bacchus' nightly choirs thy soul delights; For holy honours to disclose is thine, With all the culture of the pow'rs divine. Be present, Goddess, to my pray'r inclin'd, And bless the mystic rites with fav'ring mind.

(54) So also in angels and men, the power of the smell riseth up out of all the powers of the body by and through the spirit, and cometh forth at the nostrils of the nose, and is affected with all smells or savours, and bringeth them through the nostrils of the nose, which is the third counsellor, into the head, before the princely seat or throne.

(2) At that, Vimalakirti entered the state of samadhi and used his transcendental power to show to the assembly a country, which is above separated from this world by a distance represented by Buddha lands as countless as sand grains in forty-two Ganges rivers and which was called the country of All Fragrances, whose Buddha was called the Tathagata of the Fragrant Land, and was still there. The fragrance of that country surpassed all scents emitted by the devas in Buddha lands in the ten directions. In that Buddha land, there were neither sravakas nor pratyeka-buddhas but only pure and clean Bodhisattvas to whom that Buddha expounded the Dharma. All things there are formed by fragrances, such as palaces, the earth, gardens and parks which emit sweet scent, and the fragrance of its food spreads to countless worlds in the ten directions.

The FUMIGATION from AROMATICS. DAUGHTERS of Jove and Themis, seasons bright, Justice, and blessed peace, and lawful right, Vernal and grassy, vivid, holy pow'rs, Whose balmy breath exhales in lovely flow'rs All-colour'd seasons, rich increase your care, Circling, for ever flourishing and fair: Invested with a veil of shining dew, A flow'ry veil delightful to the view: Attending Proserpine, when back from night, The Fates and Graces lead her up to light; When in a band-harmonious they advance, And joyful round her, form the solemn dance: With Ceres triumphing, and Jove divine; Propitious come, and on our incense shine; Give earth a blameless store of fruits to bear, And make a novel mystic's life your care. Next: XLIII: To Semele Sacred Texts | Classics « Previous: The Initiations of Orpheus: XLI: To Mises Index Next: The Initiations of Orpheus: XLIII: To Semele » Sacred Texts | Classics

(23) This may be illustrated by the following anecdote: A certain scavenger went into the perfume sellers' bazaar, and, smelling the sweet scents, fell down unconscious. People came round him and sprinkled rose-water upon him and held musk to his nose, but he only became worse. At last one came who had been a scavenger himself; he held a little filth under the man's nose and he revived instantly, exclaiming, with a sigh of satisfaction, "Ah! this is perfume indeed!" Thus in the next life a worlding will no longer find the filthy lucre and the filthy pleasures of the world; the spiritual joys of that world will be altogether alien to him and but increase his wretchedness. For the next world is a world of Spirit and of the manifestation of the Beauty of God; happy is that man who has aimed at and acquired affinity with it. All austerities, devotions, studies have the acquirement of that affinity for their aim, and that affinity is love. This is the meaning of that saying of the Koran, "He who has purified his soul is happy." Sins and lusts directly oppose the attainment of this affinity; therefore the Koran goes on to say, "and he who has corrupted his soul is miserable." Those who are gifted with spiritual insight have really grasped this truth as a fact of experience, and not a merely traditional maxim. Their clear perception of it leads them to the conviction that he by whom it was spoken was a prophet indeed, just as a man who has studied medicine knows when he is listening to a physician. This is a kind of certainty which requires no support from miracles such as the conversion of a rod into a snake, the credit of which may be shaken by apparently equally extraordinary miracles performed by magicians.

(3) And on that day on which Adam went forth from the garden, he offered as a sweet savour an offering, frankincense, galbanum, and stacte, ana spices in Jhe morning with the rising of the sun from the day when he covered his shame.

The FUMIGATION from FRANKINCENSE. THE consort I invoke of Jove divine, Source of the holy, sweetly-speaking Nine; Free from th' oblivion of the fallen mind, By whom the soul with intellect is join'd: Reason's increase, and thought to thee belong, All-powerful, pleasant, vigilant, and strong: 'Tis thine, to waken from lethargic rest All thoughts deposited within the breast; And nought neglecting, vigorous to excite The mental eye from dark oblivion's night. Come, blessed power, thy mystic's mem'ry wake To holy rites, and Lethe's fetters break.

The FUMIGATION from AROMATICS. Daughter of Saturn, venerable dame, The seat containing of unweary'd flame; 2 In sacred rites these ministers are thine, Mystics much-blessed, holy and divine In thee, the Gods have fix'd place, Strong, stable, basis of the mortal race: Eternal, much-form'd ever-florid queen, Laughing and blessed, and of lovely mien; 8 Accept these rites, accord each just desire, And gentle health, and needful good inspire.

(1) Let a man meditate on the fivefold Sâman, which is greater than great, as the prânas (senses). The hiṅkâra is smell (nose), the prastâva speech (tongue), the udgîtha sight (eye), the pratihâra hearing (ear), the nidhana mind. These are one greater than the other.