| 22. Satisfied
with what comes to him by chance, rising above the pairs of opposites free
from envy, equanimous in success and failure, though acting he is not bound.He
who is satisfied with whatever he may obtain by chance, without his effort
or request, who his not affected in mind by the attacks of such pairs of
opposite (dvandva) as heat and cold, who cherishes no feelings of envy and
jealousy, who is calm whether he obtains or not such things as might come
to him without effort, such a devotee, feeling no pleasure or pain whether
he obtains or not food and other things required for the maintenance of
the body, seeing action in inaction and vice versa, ever steady in his knowledge
of the true nature of the Self, always disowning agency I do nothing at
all, energies act upon energies,in all acts of the body, etc while begging
or doing anything else for the bare existence of the body,thus realizing
the non agency of the Self, he really does no act at all, not even the act
of begging But as he appears to act like the generality of mankind, agency
is imputed to him by people, and so tar he is the agent in the act of begging
and the like. From his own point of view, however, as based on the teaching
of the scriptures which are the source of right knowledge, he is no agent
at all. Thus, though he performs the act of begging and the like required
for the bare existence of the body, and though with reference to these acts
agency is imputed to him by others, he is not bound, since action and its
cause, which are the source of bondage, have been burnt in the fire of wisdom.
This is only a reiteration of what has been already said (iv. 19, 21).The
sages worldly action does not bind him. |
