(8) Thus, as a ball of earth is scattered when hitting on a solid stone, will he be scattered who wishes evil to one who knows this, or who persecutes him; for he is a solid stone.

(6) To him who has conquered himself by himself, his own self is the friend of himself, but, to him who has not (conquered) himself, his own self stands in the place of an enemy like the (external) foe.

(18) The duty born with oneself, O son of Kuntî, though faulty, one ought not to abandon; for, all undertakings are surrounded with evil, as fire with smoke.

(18) Better is one's own duty (though) destitute of merits, than the duty of another well performed. Doing the duty ordained according to nature, one incurs no sin.

(6) Let a man raise himself by himself, let him not lower himself; for, he alone is the friend of himself, he alone is the enemy of himself.

(12) It is filled with the sun's properties altogether; So that, if afterwards it holds itself dear 'Tis the same as holding the sun dear, O beloved! And if it hold the sun dear in its heart, 'Tis clearly the same as holding itself dear. Whether that pure ruby hold itself dear, Or hold the sun dear, There is no difference between the two preterences; But till that stone becomes a ruby it hates itself For till it becomes one 'I,' it is two separate 'I's,' For 'tis then darkened and purblind,

(23) Has it wrought Good here? then it shall eat that Good; for all Sins stand before it in its Tincture: If it thinks inwardly in itself of the Kingdom of Heaven, which yet it neither sees nor knows, then it sees the Causes why it is in such a Source [or Misery;] for itself has made that. And there all the Tears of the Oppressed and Afflicted are in its Tincture, and they are fiery, stinging and burning in a hostile Manner, fretting and gnawing in themselves, and make an eternal Despair in the Essences, and an hostile Will against God; the more it thinks of

(51) Esteem not yourself mere sugar-cane, but real sugar. This outward 'you' is foreign to your real ' you;' Cling to your real self, quit this dual self. Your last self attains to your first (real) self Your real self lies hid beneath your outward self, For 'I am the servant of him who looks into himself.' " "What a youth sees only when reflected in a glass, But we disobeyed the advice of our father, We made light of the king's exhortations, Now we have all fallen into the ditch,

(5) In heedlessness, wrath, or lust for women and other things beyond their reach, men bring themselves into distress from thorns, lack of food, and the like. Some destroy themselves by hanging, springing down from a height, taking poison or unwholesome measure of food, or doing unrighteousness. Since under the sway of the passions they harm thus their own persons, which they love, how can they spare the bodies of others? Maddened by passions, striving for their own destruction, there can be only pity for them; how should we be angered? If it is the nature of fools to hurt their fellows, it is as wrong for me to feel anger against them as it is to be wroth with the fire which naturally burns me; and if again it is a passing frailty, and creatures are upright of nature, then it is as wrong to be angered against them as against the air when smoke fills it.

(18) Bound (as thou art), O son of Kuntî, by thy own nature-born act, that which from delusion thou likest not to do, thou shalt do, though against thy will.

(6) Say I am angered not against the instrument — the stick or whatso it may be — but against him who moves it. But he is moved by hatred; it is better then for me to hate hatred. I myself in former times have wrought the same suffering for other creatures; then I deserve this for having done hurt to living beings. The cause of my suffering is twofold — my enemy's sword and my body. He has taken the sword, I the body; with which shall I be angry? What I have got is an ulcer in the shape of a body, unable to bear the touch; and thus tortured in the blindness of desire, with what shall I be wroth? I seek not suffering, yet in my folly seek the cause of suffering; since my pain comes from my own offence, why shall I be wroth with another? The forest whose leaves are swords, the birds of hell, spring from my own works; with whom then shall I be wroth? They who do me hurt are moved thereto by my works, and thence they fall into hell; surely it is I that undo them! Thanks to them, my guilt through much patience fades away; thanks to me, they go to the long agonies of hell. It is I who do them hurt, they who do me kindness; base-spirited fellow, wherefore this absurd anger? If I fall not into hell, it will be by the merit of my spirit; what matter is it to them that I save myself? If I should return them evil for evil, they would not be saved thereby; my progress would be wrecked; and these poor creatures would be lost.

(3) Eager to escape sorrow, men rush into sorrow; from desire of happiness they blindly slay their own happiness, enemies to themselves; they hunger for happiness and suffer manifold pains; whence shall come one so kind as he who can satisfy them with all manner of happiness, allay all their pains, and shatter their delusion — whence such a friend, and whence such a holy deed? He who repays good deed with good deed is praised; what shall be said of the Son of Enlightenment, who does kindness unsought? He who sets a banquet before a few is called a " doer of righteousness," and is honoured by the world, because in his pride he entertains men for half a day with a brief largesse of mere food; but what of him who bestows on a measureless number of creatures a satisfaction of all desires unbounded in time and perishing not when the world of heaven perishes? Such is the Master of the Banquet, the Son of the Conqueror; whosoever sins in his heart against him, saith the Lord, shall abide in hell as many ages as the moments of his sin. But he whose spirit is at peace with them shall thence get abundant fruit; and truly, wrong to the Sons of the Conqueror can be done only by great effort, but kindness towards them is easy. I do homage to the bodies of them in whom has arisen the choice jewel of the Thought, and even the ill-treatment of whom leads to happiness; in these mines of bliss I seek my refuge.

(11) By constant use the idea of an " I " attaches itself to foreign drops of seed and blood, although the thing exists not. Then why should I not conceive my fellow's body as my own self? That my body is foreign to me is not hard to see. I will think of myself as a sinner, of others as oceans of virtue; I will cease to live as self, and will take as my self my fellow-creatures. We love our hands and other limbs, as members of the body; then why not love other living beings, as members of the universe? By constant use man comes to imagine that his body, which has no self -being, is a " self "; why then should he not conceive his " self " to lie in his fellows also? Thus in doing service to others pride, admiration, and desire of reward find no place, for thereby we satisfy the wants of our own self. Then, as thou wouldst guard thyself against suffering and sorrow, so exercise the spirit of helpfulness and tenderness towards the world.... Make thyself a spy for the service of others, and whatsoever thou seest in thy body's work that is good for thy fellows, perform it so that it may be conveyed to them. Be thou jealous of thine own self when thou seest that it is at ease and thy fellow in distress, that it is in high estate and he is brought low, that it is at rest and he is at labour. Make thine own self lose its pleasures and bear the sorrow of thy fellows; mark its deceit at each time and in each act. Cast upon its head the guilt even of others' works; make confession to the Great Saint of even its slightest sin. Darken its glory by telling of the greater glory of others. Make it a carrier in thy fellowcreatures' service, like a mean slave. It is made of sin, and because it may have some chance morsel of goodness from without, it is not therefore worthy of praise. Let no man know its goodness. In short, let all the wrong that thou hast done for the sake of thine own self to others fall upon thine own self for the sake of thy fellowcreatures. Grant it no power to talk overmuch; keep it in the condition of a young bride, abashed, timid, and guarded. Bend it to thy will by commanding it how it shall act and stand and forbear, and chastise it for disobedience. " O my spirit, thou wilt not do as I bid thee; then I will chastise thee, for in thee all sins find a home. Whither wilt thou go? I shall see thee, and overthrow all thy pride; the days are gone when I let myself be undone by thee. Put away now the hope that thou canst still seek an advantage of thine own; I have sold thee into the hands of others, heeding not however much thou mayst suffer. For if through heedlessness I deliver thee not over to my fellow-creatures, thou wilt doubtless deliver me to the warders of hell. Many times hast thou thus betrayed me, and long have I been racked; remembering these deeds of enmity, I will destroy thee, thou slave of self-seeking." If thou lovest thyself, thou must have no love of self; if thou wouldst save thyself, thou dost not well to be saving of self. The more heedfully the body is guarded, the sorer are its sufferings and the deeper its fall.

(141) Behold Genus become Species in due course, Behold secrets become manifest through his light! So long as woman-like you swallow blandishments, How, O wise man, can you get relief from false flatteries? These flatteries and fair words and deceits (of lust) You take, and swallow, just like women. But the reproaches and the blows of Darveshes Take the light blows of Darveshes, not the honey of sinners, And become, by the fortune of good, good yourself. Because from them the robe of good fortune is gained,

(1) ALL the righteousness, the charity, the worship of the Blessed, that have been wrought in thousands of aeons, are destroyed by ill-will. There is no guilt equal to hatred, no mortification equal to long-suffering; and therefore one should diligently practise patience in divers ways. While the arrow of hate is in the heart, none can have a peaceful mind in equipoise, or feel the joy of kindliness, none can win sleep or calm. They whom a master cursed with an evil spirit honours with wealth and favours, and who dwell under his protection, seek nevertheless to destroy him. Even his friends are in terror of him. His gifts win for him no service. In short, there is no way for a passionate man to find happiness. He who stoutly fights against wrath, the enemy that brings these and other sorrows, wins joy in this world and beyond. Nourished by discontent, hatred grows swollen and destroys me; and discontent springs from doing unpleasing works or^from^the baffling of desire. Then I will cut off the nourishment of my enemy, for this foeman's sole purpose is to slay me. My cheerfulness shall not be disturbed, even by the most untoward events; discontent works no good, and only destroys merit. What profits discontent if there is a remedy; and what profits it if there is none? We shrink from sorrow, defeat, rude speech, and dishonour for ourselves and our friends, and from the opposite of these for our enemy. Happiness is hard to win, pain comes readily; there is no escape from life save by pain; then be firm, 0 my spirit! The Karnatas, the " little children of Durga," suffer the agonies of burning and maiming in a vain hope of salvation; why then shall I be fainthearted? There is nothing which practice cannot make easy; so by practice in slight sufferings we learn to bear great pains. Flies, stinging creatures, gnats, hunger, thirst, and other like pains, fierce itch and other like miseries — lookest thou upon these as profitless? Before cold, heat, rain, wind, travel, sickness, bondage, and blows be not tender and delicate, else thy anguish will increase. Some there are who at the sight of their own blood become exceedingly valorous, and some at sight of others' blood fall into faintness. This comes about through firmness and feebleness of spirit; then he who is unconquerable by pain will overcome suffering. Even in pain the wise man will not let the calm of his spirit be disturbed; for he is at war with the Passions, and in war suffering abounds. They who overcome their foes by presenting their bosoms to the enemy's blows are " victors," " heroes "; the rest are " slayers of the slain."

(2) Thus shalt thou do with thyself: thou shalt loathe and be weary with all that thing that worketh in thy wit and in thy will unless it be only God. For why, surely else, whatsoever that it be, it is betwixt thee and thy God. And no wonder though thou loathe and hate for to think on thyself, when thou shalt always feel sin, a foul stinking lump thou wottest never what, betwixt thee and thy God: the which lump is none other thing than thyself. For thou shalt think it oned and congealed with the substance of thy being: yea, as it were without departing.

(3) Better one's own duty, though devoid of merit, than the duty of another well discharged. Better is death in one's own duty ; the duty of another is productive of danger.