Laden with pleasant fruit, o'erhead;
And gifts which holy laws require,[402]
And solemn offerings burnt with fire,[403]
And Veda chants on every side
That home of hermits sanctified.
There many a flower its odour shed,
And lotus blooms the lake o'erspred.
There, clad in coats of bark and hide,—
Their food by roots and fruit supplied,—
Dwelt many an old and reverend sire