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Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana: Book 11: Chapter 7: Verses 38-44
A pious man should learn from the mountain (a modification of the earth itself) that (like a mountain) all his movements should ever be guided by altruism and that his (very) birth is solely intended for (the service of) others. (Similarly) as a disciple of the tree (another modification of the earth) he should learn (complete) submission to the will of others. An ascetic should remain fully gratified with bare sustenance after the manner of the life-breath (a form of the air, which is sustained by mere subsistence) and should not pamper his senses by means of articles which are delightful to them. He should (only) so manage that his cognitive faculty may not be lost (through starvation), nor should he indulge himself in such a manner that his speech and mind may be diverted. Though moving (freely) among (and enjoying) all (sorts of) objects (of the senses) possessing diverse characteristics, a Yogi should not get particularly attached, to them any more than the (external) air, his to mind remaining unaffected by their merits or demerits. Although clothed in earthly bodies in this (mortal) plane and (appearing as though) endowed with their characteristics (plumpness, slimness and so on), an ascetic who has his eyes fixed on the Self is not (actually) endowed with those characteristics any more than the air is with the odours (of various kinds, which really belong to the particles of earth wafted by the air and not to the air itself). Though clothed in a body, the ascetic should, by identifying himself with Brahma (the Infinite), visualize the affinity of his all-pervading soul with the sky in the shape of freedom from (all) limitations and absence of attachment because of its interpenetrating all mobile and immobile organisms at once. The soul is not touched by material adjuncts (like the body)-(which are) the creation of Kala (the Time-Spirit) and are constituted of fire, water and earth (in the form of its products,viz., food-grains)-any more than the sky is by phenomena like the clouds, tossed by the wind. Bearing (close) affinity with water, an ascetic is transparent, soft by nature, sweet and a seat of purity and purifies people through (mere) sight, touch and utterance of his name.
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