Children, youths, adults and old men, all are led by one bauble or another. But the poem by which Emerson is best remembered and one which is often quoted for the influence Vedic thought had on him is Brahma. If the red slayer thinks he slays, Or if the slain thinks that he is slain, They know not well the subtle ways I keep, and pass, and turn again. Find me, and turn thy back on heaven. One who is in knowledge knows that the self slays not nor is slain.
Fate is nothing but deeds committed in a prior existence.
Brahma was composed in 1856 and represents the maturity of Emerson's comprehension of some of the fundamental concepts of Vedic thought.