Passage 4

His poems 82

Also in his talks (47)

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In plain words

The body is made of the five elements; the body must fall one day, without fail; the indweller is beyond all ill; consider: for the indweller, death and birth and the marks of the fetters that delusion binds do not exist; see the truth: that indweller is itself the God of gods; reflect in your mind: He is the very form of the Ātma.

A small story on this: one day a prince came roaming through the forest to hunt. Having roamed the forest, he grew tired, and, searching many places all around to quench his thirst, he reached an āśrama. The moment he reached the āśrama, the people of the āśrama noticed his handsome looks, welcomed him warmly, gave him cool water and sweet fruit, and showed him to a pleasant place to rest. The prince did not stay in the place thus arranged for his rest; he asked to see the head of this āśrama. At once, though there were many elders in the āśrama, they took the prince to the senior Svāmi, the head of the āśrama. As soon as they got there, the Svāmi asked, ‘My son, who are you?’ ‘I have come from the kingdom of Jitendriya,’ he said. ‘What is your name?’ he said. ‘Jitendriya Rājakumār,’ he said. ‘What is your father's name?’ he asked. ‘Jitendriya Mahārāj,’ he said. ‘How do the people of your kingdom live?’ he asked. ‘All of them are enjoying the Ānanda of Jitendriya,’ he said. Well, this Svāmi had a doubt. Jitendriyas means those who have conquered the senses; but those who, without restraining the senses, rule with rājasic feelings and keep the people under all kinds of control cannot in any way be called a Jitendriya Mahārāja, a Jitendriya prince, Jitendriya people, a Jitendriya kingdom. To test whether the name carried its true meaning in them, the Svāmi had the prince stay in the āśrama; asking, ‘My son, which is the way to your kingdom?’, he took down the whole address carefully and set out. Not stopping there, he asked him, ‘Leave off these clothes; while you are in this āśrama, wear our ochre robes, and stay in the āśrama itself until I come back.’