Gyaneshwari -Sant Gyaneshwar
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Chapter-9
The Esoteric Knowledge
Therefore, if a devotee, be he a royal sage or a Brahmin, takes refuge in Me, I grant his liberation and become his support. How can one remain carefree if he boards a boat with a hundred leaks or face a volley of missiles with a bare body (486-490)? Should not one shield oneself from stones hurled at him? And how can one suffering from an ailment be indifferent to treatment? How can one not escape, O Son of Pandu, from a conflagration threatening him from all sides? So how can a person fail to worship Me after coming to this world full of troubles? With what strength can he hope to live without devotion to Me, and how can he feel secure in the enjoyment of worldly pleasures? Without devotion to Me, how can a being count upon youth and worldly wisdom to yield the full measure of happiness? All the sensuous pleasures are for the sake of the body; but that body itself is wasting away into the jaws of death (491-495). After unloading goods in the form of miseries and experiencing a number of deaths, one has arrived in this market of the mortal world. How can you purchase happiness in this transient life? Can one kindle a light by blowing up ashes? As well can a person hope to become immortal, if he crushes poisonous roots and drinks the juice, calling it nectar? Sensuous pleasure is, therefore, nothing but pain; but somehow man, fool that he is, is never fed up with it. Happiness in this mortal world is as good as healing the footnote with the head after cutting it (496-500). Where can one hear the tale of happiness in this mortal world? How can one expect to enjoy sound sleep on a bed of embers? |
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