crimination, confusion of the memory; from confusion of the memory, loss of reason; and in consequence of loss of reason he is utterly ruined. But the self-restrained man who moves among[1] objects with senses under the control of his own self, and free from affection and aversion, obtains tranquillity[2] When there is tranquillity, all his miseries are destroyed, for the mind of him whose heart is tranquil soon becomes steady. He who is not self-restrained has no steadiness of mind; nor has he who is not self-restrained perseverance[3] in the pursuit of self-knowledge; there is no tranquillity for him who does not persevere in the pursuit of self-knowledge; and whence can there be happiness for one who is not tranquil? For the heart which follows the rambling senses leads away his judgment, as the wind leads a boat astray upon the waters. Therefore, O you of mighty arms! his mind is steady whose senses are restrained on all sides from objects of sense. The self-restrained man is awake, when it is night for all being ; and when all beings are awake, that is the night of the right-seeing sage[4]. He into whom all objects of desire enter, as waters enter the ocean, which, (though) replenished, (still) keeps its position unmoved,—he only obtains tranquillity; not he who desires (those) objects of desire. The man who,
- ↑ Cf. Sutta Nipâta, p. 45.
- ↑ Cf. Maitri Upanishad, p. 134, where the commentator explains it to mean freedom from desires.
- ↑ For a somewhat similar use of the word bhâvanâ in this sense, comp. Dhammapada, stanza 301.
- ↑ Spiritual matters are dark as night to the common run of men, while they are wide awake in all worldly pursuits. With the sage the case is exactly the reverse
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