54. The scent of flowers does not travel against the wind, nor (that of) sandal-wood, or of Tagara and Mallikâ flowers; but the odour of good people travels even against the wind; a good man pervades every place.
55. Sandal-wood or Tagara, a lotus-flower, or a Vassikî, among these sorts of perfumes, the perfume of virtue is unsurpassed.
56. Mean is the scent that comes from Tagara and sandal-wood;–the perfume of those who possess virtue rises up to the gods as the highest.
57. Of the people who possess these virtues, who live without thoughtlessness, and who are emancipated through true knowledge, Mâra, the tempter, never finds the way.
DHAMMAPADA, Chapter 4. Flowers