a Shining One, Śiva, who has the nature of Supreme Brāhmaṇ, who is partless, all-knowing, all-doing, Lord of all, stainless and secondless, (gods are not Brahman as normal hindus think) He who, having obtained a human body, difficult to get, and a step to liberation, does not help himself over,--who in this world is more sinful than he? A village again, a field again, wealth again, a house again, good and evil actions again--the body never again. So long as the body lasts, so long should truth be pursued,--the stupid man digs his well when the corner of his house is already afire. Sleep, sexual pleasure, and eating are common to all creatures. Who possesses knowledge is called a man, who is devoid of it is called a beast. All those beings who are attached to their bodies, wealth, wife and other things, are born and die deluded by ignorance Therefore should attachment be shunned always, It is not possible to give up everything. therefore should friendship with the great be cultivated, as a remedy for attachment. All those deluded men who turn away from the duties of their respective orders, and do not understand the highest righteousness, perish fruitlessly. The men who are attached to the ceremonial alone are satisfied with mere names, deluded by the repetitions of mantras, oblations and other things, and by elaborate rituals. The fools, bewildered by Maya, desire to obtain the invisible by single meals, fasts and other restraints, and by the emaciation of the body. Of those who have no discrimination, what liberation can there be by bodily tortures alone? What great serpent is killed by beating the anthill alone? The hypocrites, putting on appearances, and wearing quantities of matted hair, and using antelope skins, wander about like knowers, and even delude people He who is attached to the pleasures of the worlds of change, saying "I am a knower of Brāhmaṇ," and is devoid of both rites and Brāhmaṇ should be shunned like a lowly ignorant Donkeys walk about among people, in forests and among houses, quite naked and unashamed. Are these free from attachment? If men are to be liberated by earth, ashes and dust, does the dog which always live among earth and ashes become liberated? The jackals, rats, deer and others, which feed upon grass, leaves and water, and always live in forests,--do these become ascetics? The crocodiles, fishes and others, which from birth to death, dwell in the waters of Ganges,--do these become Yogins? Therefore this class of practices is a thing which makes pleasure for people, O Lord of Birds,--direct knowledge of the Truth is the cause of liberation. They are tossed hither and thither in the dreadful ocean of Vedas and Śāstras; caught in the six waves they remain sophists. He who knows the Vedas, the Śāstras and the Purāṇas, but does not know the chief good,--of that imitator all this is as the speech of a crow. Men trouble themselves variously, but the highest truth is otherwise; they explain in different ways but the best purport of the Śāstras is otherwise. They talk of the highest experiences, not realising them themselves. Some have ceased preaching, being engrossed in egotism They repeat the Vedas and the Śāstras, and argue with one another, but they do not understand the highest truth,--like the spoon the flavour of the food. The head bears flowers, the nostril knows the smell. They read the Vedas and the Śāstras, but find impossible the understanding of the truth. Verbal knowledge cannot destroy the illusions of the world of change,--darkness never disappears by talking of a lamp. The Śāstras are numerous; life is brief; and there are tens of millions of obstacles; therefore the essence should be understood,--like the swan taking the milk in the water. There is no liberation by the study of the Vedas, nor by the reading of the Śāstras. Emancipation is by knowledge alone, not otherwise, O son of Vinatā. The stages of life are not the cause of liberation, nor are the philosophies, nor are actions,---knowledge only is the cause. Some prefer the Adveta ; other prefer the Dveeta but they do not understand the One Reality, beyond the Dveeta and Adveta Two phrases make for bondage and liberation: "Mine" and "Not-mine." The being saying "Mine" is bound; saying "Not-mine" is released. That is the karma that does not bind, that the knowledge that gives release; other karma is worrying, other knowledge is skilful chiselling. So long as there is pride of body; so long as there is the sense of "mineness," so long as there is excited striving; so long as there is imagination of plans; So long as there is not stability of mind; so long as there is no meditation upon the Śāstras, so long as there is no love for the Teacher; so long how can there be realisation of Truth?
