In English
Do not bargain with God
Now, people pray to God to relieve them from pain, grief and loss, to confer on them health, strength and wealth but if you develop an intimate attachment to Him and make Him yours, then He will manage to give you all that you need. Do not demean the relationship into bargaining: give me this, then I shall give you this in exchange. If you insist on wages, you become a . Become His own. He is providing for the idler, the insane, the shirker; can he not provide for you? The father feeds the sons, whether they are idlers or shirkers or steady workers in field or factory. When you offer God a fraction of your wealth, you do it out of conceit that the wealth is yours, that your hand is upper and the recipient's hand is lower. In one of the poems read today, the question was raised why God should give eyes that look outward and then blame when they wander in the outer world. No, the eyes do not wander; it is as the messenger of the mind that the eye wanders. If the mind orders them to keep aside, the eyes have to obey. The poet also charged God for equipping man with an insane mind; no, the mind is not insane; it can be used for tightening bonds as well as for loosening them. and can both be effected through the mind. You have the choice. It is an in - merit for either. Condemn the use, not the tool. The poet should not attempt to engage in publicity; he should not add lines merely for stuffing or for padding, in order to make it long and copious. There should be no artificial stepping up of emotion or passion. These must be natural, arising naturally out of the context and the character. Otherwise, the poem will be lopsided and it will slide from the sublime to the ridiculous. A was reciting the scrupulously correct, with and in the proper places; hearing it, one asked him to sing a song and when the protested he had no music in him, the threatened him with dire consequences if he did not comply. So, out of fear, to escape punishment, he sang a song slurring over the words, I cannot sing, I will not sing; but this rascal wants me to have a fling. Fear or greed, doubt or denial should not be the urge driving the poet towards expression. To blame society for one's own deficiency is like blaming the pillow for the headache one suffers.