English
Just as a lamp is extinguished from want of oil, so are his desires extinguished from want of objects of desire, and with their destruction his grief too is extinguished. 137. But it may be asked, how can want of desired ob- jects produce want of desire? Things produced in a magical performance, from illusion, are never desired by any one, on the other hand, they are discarded and thrown, away simply because they are known to be false.* © Juggler’s art flourished to perfection in India, centuries hence ; they would create a Mango tree in your presence with 194 _PANCHADAS!. 138. Similarly @ man of discrimination and judgment ig never led away by the fascination of sandal, garland and other sensuous enjoyments, though at first they appear to be very pleasant; but on the contrary, shews an aversion, by considering the impermanence of such pleasures, and he desires them not. [In this way, to attribute the usual defects which all pleasures have naturally in them, is a potent cause of creating supreme indifference for them, which is the key to knowledge]. 139. These defects are now being pointed out. For the acquisition of wealth a person has to suffer many hardships, he must go abroad, serve somebody, flatter his vanity or caprice, etc., its accumulation is also attended with several disasters, it excites the envy of some, and cupidity of others, it is to be protected from thieves and robbers, then again when it is lost, a person’s grief knows no bounds, 140. Where is the beauty ina woman? She is made of fiesh and tcndons, fickle in nature ; and in her wonderful organ, there is nothing very exquisite. 141, What have thus been mentioned in connection with wealth and women, apply with equal force to all objects, and in the Shasfras these defects have been declared, so that men constantly dwelling on, or considering them, may shew an aversion for material enjoyment and keget indifference. 142. A person may be extremely pressed by hunger, yet that would not make bim desirous of eating poison for satisfy. ing his cravings of food; how then can a person of discrimi- nation who has quenched his thirst with sweets, ever shew the least inclination to take a dish of poisoned food, knowing poison to be there? [In other words, a man of discrimina- tion knows all sensuous enjoyments to be poisonous, and his blossom and fruit, and present them to you pressing you to taste, but no one shews any inclination, because he knows the fruit to be no mango at all. PANCIHADAST. arp thirst for them baving already been satiated with a full know. ledge of their impermanence and defects, he has no more desire for them.] 143. Froma predominating infuence of fructescent works though a theosophist may be actuated with a desire of enjoy- ing material comforts, yet such enjoyments bring him pain, instead of pleasure, just as in the case of a forced and unpaid working man, he finishes his allotted task with difficulty ex- periencing pain instead of pleasure. 144. And in the midst of that consummation of: the fructescent, a theosophist with faith in knowledge of Brahma but a family man too, always repeats mentally that his fruc- tescent has not even exhausted then, and longs for the day when it will be so. 14§. Now this grief of a theosophist is no indication for a longing for the good things of life and regret for the sorrows which his fructescent works are bringing forth, on the contrary it is his supreme indifference for the good and unpleasant, and ulter disregard of happiness or its reverse; because he is devoid of illusion and hence free from longing. 146. Then again, in the midst of consummation of the fructescent he suffers pain and therefore he is satisfied with a small share of enjoyment for his discrimination of its tran- sitory duration, unlike the ignorant who are never satiated,” though they inay have it infinitely [without end}. 147. To cleat away the misapprehension of an ignorant person being satiated with enjoyment and the inutility of discrimination which makes a theosophist satisfied with little,- it ig said in the Srufi, ‘Desire of enjoyment can never cease from the acquisition of the object desired, but like butter poured in fire, the more a person enjoys, {the more he ix desirous of fresh objects of enjoyment to acquire.” 148. If the desired object be known to be temporary in duration and the happiness it yields will be short-lived, them only will it produce satiety ; just as serving a thief, knowing +178 PANCHADAST him to be so, makes him a friend and he is no more a thief to his accomplice. 149. Toa person whose mind has been duly subjugated, tnd senses restrained or kept away from sensuous objects, little enjoyment is enough, for he knows to 4 certainty the defects attending it, which are a source of misery. Therefore with a fear of avoiding such inconvenience and pain which ail enjoyments have in them, he is satisfied with little, as his abare cf pain will aleo be thus minimised : 150. Like a king attacked by a combined force of some of hia brother chiefs, despoiled of territories and satisfied with the little that remains, which he considers to be ample, but till he was so attacked and despoiled, his kingdom he re- garded to be small and insufficient. 151. If it be alleged how can the fructescent works pro- duce in a theosophist a desire of enjoyment, since he knows clearly from discrimination the usual defects inherent in it? 153. There is no inconsistency whatever in It; for ac tually we find a variety of fructescent works caused by desire, absence of desire, and at the instance of a second person’s desire. 153. These are now being particularly declared. As an instance of the first variety, who may mention the desire of & patient or invalid to eat what is unwholesome; of a thief to steal; of a profligate to enjoy the king’s daughter. They know the gratification of such desires will bring forth evil consequences, yet from a force of fructescent they are engaged fn them: bence they are called fructescent works caused by Acsire, 154. Even Iswara is incapable of preventing them from taking effect as pointed out by Sree Krishna in his discourse with Arjuna (Vide Gite, Chapt., vz. v. 35). 155. Since therefore a theosophist is subject to the fruc- tescent, what more is to be said of others; al} beings are equally affected by-them. Bot then it may be asked, if every BANCHADaSI. 199. ‘thé of us be etilirely dependent upon our fructéscent works, (OF what avail is mental restraint and sobjugation of thé series by the practice of Yoga? 156. If there would hate been the slightest chance of influencing the future coitrse of the fructeacent, neither Ramachandta, Yudhisthira; nor Nala of Purana celebrity, would then have suffered suc extreme and unbroken miseries for several years in succession, ag they did. 157, And the impotency of Jawara to influence or contro? them, does not create any discord in his sovereignty or uni- versal control, for it was his wish that fructescent works would continue to bear fruit, and know of no interraption or Modi-. fication from any extraneous influence. 158. The second variety of fractescent works caused by fin absence of desire, is mentioned in Krishna's discourse with Arjuna, in the third chapter of the Gia, commencing with verse 36th, Heat what he says :— 159. Asks Arjuna: When a virtuous man is foreed to’ do a sinful act, like a thief compelled to work in prison, who or what compels him? 160, Krishna, Desire produced by the active quality of the individual, is the cause of destroying meritorious actions and bringing forth injury or de-merit. Anger is another modi fication of desire, the two incite a person to sinfal actions: © 164. Therefore Arjuna, when yon desire not to dow thing, your fructescent will make you entirely subservient to’ your desire and anger, and induce you to do that; there is no’ doubt aboat it. 16a. When there is neither destre nor absence of it, to do athing, but simply for beneffting a third person, one is In- duced to do it, and thus made to experience either happiness or its reverse, it is called fructescent works created by a desire of [benefiting] another. 163. Thus then, as from farce of fractescent works even the wise are not free from desire, it may be contented, how 498 BANCHABASI: thn it tally-with the Sref, where its absence ia niaintiined (bus, “ What more he is to desire?’ But this is conceived in ‘error, for the utterance of the Sru/i goes to establish not want ‘of desire, but siniply its want of potesicy to create doy incli- hation for further enjoymenis, just ds patched grains aré‘ deprived of fruit-bearing powers or germination. 164, That is to say, as parched grains are incapable of germinating and producing Any crop, so a theosophist’s desire; though present, incapable of producing any inclination for frail works," inasmuch as knowledge has established thé impermanence or unreality of all objects, and thus stands int collision of its fructifying. 165, It is impossible to maintain an opposite doctrine; and to $aj, since a theosophist is nevet desirous of enjoying any fruits, he has virtually no desire: for asin the case of parched grains, though Incapable of producing a crop yet aré they capable of being exten and are fit food for men, so does a theosophist’s desire produce little enjoyment and bring forth nd calamity. 166. His fructescent works are exhausted (from consufh- mation) by enjoying their fruits, therefore they produce no calamity, which follows only, when from ignorance, a person is deluded into the belief of reality of all objects which he is desirous of enjoying, and there isno end of such desire,— virtually he is never satiated. 167.