The indulgence of the six senses is easy, if
purity be not sought in the object of enjoyment. Abstinence, however,
which of itself is difficult, is scarcely easy without purity of the
objects of enjoyment. O king of kings, among the six senses, the mind
alone that is easily moved is the most dangerous! Those high-souled
persons that do not commit sins in word, deed, heart and soul, are said
to undergo ascetic austerities, and not they that suffer their bodies to
be wasted by fasts and penances. He that hath no feeling of kindness for
relatives cannot be free from sin even if his body be pure. That
hard-heartedness of his is the enemy of his asceticism. Asceticism,
again, is not mere abstinence from the pleasures of the world. He that
is always pure and decked with virtue, he that practises kindness all
his life, is a _Muni_ even though he may lead a domestic life. Such a
man is purged of all his sins. Fasts and other penances cannot destroy
sins, however much they may weaken and dry up the body that is made of
flesh and blood. The man whose heart is without holiness, suffers
torture only by undergoing penances in ignorance of their meaning. He is
never freed from sins of such acts. The fire he worshippeth doth not
consume his sins. It is in consequence of holiness and virtue alone that
men attain to regions of blessedness, and fasts and vows become
efficacious. Subsistence on fruits and roots, the vow of silence, living
upon air, the shaving of the crown, abandonment of a fixed home, the
wearing of matted locks on the head, lying under the canopy of heaven,
daily fasts, the worship of fire, immersion in water, and lying on the
bare ground,--these alone cannot produce such a result.
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