Gyaneshwari -Sant Gyaneshwar
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Chapter-5
Renunciation
22. For the enjoyments which arise from sense contacts are indeed sources of sorrow. They have, O Arjuna, beginning and end; in them a wise man does not rejoice. Just as a hungry person eats even husk, so those who do not known the Self take delight in sense-objects (106-110). Or just as the deer, oppressed by thirst, forgets real water, and being eluded, runs towards the mirage on gravely land, mistaking it for water, so those who have not known the Self and are ignorant of bliss, alone think these sense-objects to be delectable. But if you still maintain that one derives happiness from sense-objects, then why cannot worldly affairs be carried on in the flash of lightning? Tell me, if one can ward off the sun, the wind and the rain by taking shelter under a cloud, then why should one build three-storeyed houses? To say that sense-objects can give pleasure is idle chatter. Just as a poisonous root is called mahur (meaning sweet) (111-115) or the planet Mars is called auspicious (mangala) or the mirage is called water, likewise misleading is the talk of happiness from the sense-objects. Tell me, can the shadow of the cobra’s hood give a cooling sensation to the mouse? Just as the bait is good so long as the fish does not swallow it, so is the contact with the sense-objects. Know this to be undoubtedly true. |
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