Gyaneshwari -Sant Gyaneshwar
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Chapter-18
Release
42. Self-control, restraint of the senses, austerity and purity, forbearance and an upright nature, knowledge, realisation and belief in God are the duties of a Brahmin, born of his own nature. Just as a chaste wife embraces her husband in private, so the intellect of a Brahmin along with the senses meets the Self. This serene state of the intellect, is known as self-control and all his actions arise from that quality. The second quality chastises the unruly sense-organs, by showing them cudgels, in the form of scriptural injunctions and prevents them from going astray (831-835). This quality, which lends a helping hand to self-control, is known as restraint of the senses. Just as on the sixth day of the birth of a child, the flame of a lamp is watched during the night so that it does not get extinguished, so he keeps thinking of God all the time. This is known as austerity, which is the third function of a Brahmin. Among these functions is the quality of purity, which is two-fold. The mind is full of pure thoughts and the body is adorned with good actions, thus making the life pure, both internally and externally. This state is called purity, O Partha, and that is the fourth quality found in the actions of a Brahmin. Now the all-enduring power like that of the earth, is called forbearance (836-840). This is the fifth quality of the actions of a Brahmin, which is as sweet as the fifth musical note. |
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