Gyaneshwari 475

Gyaneshwari -Sant Gyaneshwar

Chapter-13 The field and the knower of the field I shall tell you some more characteristics by which you will come to know what ignorance is. He is fond of his house as a bee is attractive to a sweet smelling lotus. Just as a fly sitting on a heap of sugar, never thinks of leaving it, his mind hovers around his wife. He remains attached to his house with his heart and soul like a frog which remains in a pond or like a fly which gets stuck in the snot or like an animal which has sunk in the mire. Even after death he becomes a serpent and lives in the open space of the house. He remains firmly attached to his house, like a husband held in a close embrace by his wife. He takes proper care of his house, as a bee exerts itself to gather honey. He is as fond of his house as the parents are fond of their only child born late in their old age. He does not hold anyone dearer than his wife. He is attached to the person of his wife with his heart and soul, utterly unmindful of who he is and what he ought to do (786-790). Just as the mind of a great soul becomes merged in the Supreme Self with the stoppage of all his activities, so his senses come under sway of his wife, without caring for public censure. He always curries favour with his wife and dances to her tune like the monkey of a juggler. Just as an avaricious person amasses wealth by himself, undergoing hardships and hurting the feelings of his kith and kin, so he gives less in charity, scales down his religious rites, and cheats his relatives, but spares no money for the comfort of his wife (791-795).