Prose-section 13
In plain words
The wise call this the gross body. It is made of the seven constituents, marrow, that is, the brain, bone, fat, flesh, blood, skin and semen, with feet, thighs, chest, arms, back, head and the other limbs and parts. Everyone takes it as “I” and “mine”; it is the chief seat of delusion; and it is right there before the eyes. It is made of the five gross elements, which arise when the five subtle elements, space, air, fire, water and earth, mix their portions with one another. Those same five subtle elements are the five objects, sound and the rest, and to the beings who enjoy them they look like means to happiness. The ignorant are tied to these objects by the noose of desire. Then their own karma, like a messenger, drags them away; following that karma they go up and come down, wander a great deal and suffer. The snake or the deer dies through sound, the elephant through touch, the moth through form, the fish through taste, the bee through scent, each for love of one object. What then becomes of a human being who loves all five? By its own nature an object is deadlier than the venom of a black cobra. Venom kills only the one who swallows it; an object destroys even the one who looks at it, even the one who thinks of it. Whoever cuts the great noose of desire for objects, so hard to remove, with firm dispassion, and gets free of it, attains liberation; no one else does, not even a scholar of the six systems. When a seeker without firm dispassion tries to cross the ocean of becoming to the shore of liberation, the crocodile of desire seizes him by the neck, drags him off at speed and in a moment sinks him in mid-ocean. So the seeker who kills that crocodile with the sword of firm dispassion reaches the far shore with nothing to stop him. One without good sense, who takes the road of objects that keep changing, suffers more and more and is lost. One with good understanding uses his discernment to go by the teacher’s instruction alone, and reaches the good end. This is true. So if you want liberation, push objects far away as you would poison. Take up contentment, compassion, forgiveness, straightforwardness, calm, self-control and the other virtues always, as you would nectar. Drop everything you do out of identifying with the body, and give all your time to removing the bondage that ignorance has made. This body is for others in any case: it ends as food for earth, fire, beasts and birds. The one who forgets himself, takes the body for himself and sets out to nourish it is a slayer of the Self. The one who wants to know the Self while his mind is on feeding the body is like a man who grabs a crocodile, taking it for a log, to float across a river. Attachment to the body and the rest is the seeker’s great death. Whoever conquers it reaches liberation. So conquer the attachment to body, wife, children and the rest, the attachment the great sages conquered to reach the supreme state of Vishnu, the all-pervading state of Brahman, and you too will reach that state of liberation.
Word for word
The wise call this perceptible thing the gross body: it consists of the seven constituents—marrow (glossed “brain” in the Tamil), bone, fat, flesh, blood, skin and semen—has feet, thighs, chest, arms, back, head and other limbs and subsidiary parts, is regarded by everyone as “I” and “mine,” and is the chief seat of delusion. This gross body is made of the five gross elements produced when the subtle elements or tanmatras—space, air, fire, water and earth—mutually combine their portions through fivefold compounding. The five tanmatras are also the five objects beginning with sound, appearing to individual experiencers as means to pleasure. Ignorant people bound to these objects by desire are dragged by the messenger of their own karma, pass upwards and downwards according to it, wander greatly and suffer. If a snake or deer through sound, an elephant through touch, a moth through form, a fish through taste and a bee through scent each loses its life through attachment to just one object, what becomes of the human being who desires all five? The sense-object, through its defect, is more dangerous than a black cobra’s poison: poison kills only one who takes it in, whereas the object ruins even one who sees or thinks of it. The one who cuts the hard-to-remove fetter of desire for objects through firm dispassion and becomes free attains liberation. Another does not, even if learned in the six systems. Desire’s crocodile seizes the neck of a seeker who tries to cross the ocean of becoming without firm dispassion, swiftly dragging and plunging that seeker into its midst. Whoever slays this crocodile with the sword of firm dispassion reaches liberation’s shore without obstruction. One lacking sound discernment who enters the path of ever-changing objects suffers increasingly and comes to ruin. One of sound understanding uses discernment to follow the teacher’s instruction and reaches the good goal. This is true. Therefore, if you desire liberation, put objects far away as poison; always embrace contentment, compassion, forgiveness, straightforwardness, quietude, restraint and the other virtues as nectar; relinquish activities undertaken through bodily identification; and strive at all times to remove bondage fashioned by ignorance. This body ultimately serves others, as food for earth, fire, animals, birds and the like. Whoever forgets the Self, identifies the body as himself and intends to nourish it becomes a ‘slayer of the Self.’ Desiring to know the Self while directing understanding to bodily nourishment is like grasping a crocodile as a log and trying to cross a river upon it. Attachment to body and the like is the seeker’s great death. Since whoever conquers it attains liberation, conquer attachment to body, spouse, children and the like—the attachment overcome by the sages who reached Vishnu’s supreme state, the all-pervading state of Brahman—and you too attain liberation.