erior, do thou
then restrain thy heart which is ever ready to deviate from the right
course. They whose understandings are always concerned with the present,
who fearlessly regard the tomorrow as something quite remote,--they who
do not observe any restrictions in the matter of food,--are really
senseless persons that fail to understand that this world is only a field
of probation.[1713] Repairing to the flight of steps constituted by
Righteousness, do thou ascend those steps one after another. At present
thou art like a worm that is employed in weaving its cocoon round itself
and thereby depriving itself of all means of escape. Do thou keep to thy
left, without any scruple, the atheist who transgresses all restraints,
who is situated like a house by the side of a fierce and encroaching
current, (for the destruction he courts), and who (to others) seems to
stand like a bamboo with its tall head erected in pride.[1714] Do thou
with the raft of Yoga, cross the ocean of the world whose waters are
constituted by thy five senses, having Desire and Wrath and Death for its
fierce monsters, and owning birth for its vortex. Do thou cross, with the
raft of Righteousness, the world that is affected by Death and afflicted
by Decrepitude, and upon which the thunder-bolts constituted by days and
nights are falling incessantly. When death is seeking thee at all
moments, viz., when thou art sitting or lying down, it is certain that
Death may get thee for his victim at any time. Whence art thou to obtain
thy rescue! Like the she-wolf snatching away a lamb, Death snatches away
one that is still engaged in earning wealth and still unsatisfied in the
indulgence of his pleasures. When thou art destined to enter into the
dark, do thou hold up the blazing lamp made of righteous understanding
and whose flame has been well-husbanded out. Falling into various forms
one after another in the world of men, a creature obtains the status of
Brahmanhood with great difficulty. Thou hast obtained that status. Do
thou then, O son endeavour to maintain it (properly).[1715] A Brahman
hath not been born for the gratification of desire. On the other hand,
his body is intended to be subjected to mortification and penances in
this world so that incomparable happiness may be his in the next world.
The status of Brahmanhood is acquired with the aid of long-continued and
austere penances. Having acquired that status, one should never waste
one's time in the indulge