§ III: The Mind
§ III
THE MIND
33. This trembling, wavering mind, so difficult to guard and to control—this the wise man makes straight as the fletcher straightens his shaft.
34. As quivers the fish when thrown upon the ground, far from his home in the waters, so the mind quivers as it leaves the realm of Death.
35. Good it is to tame the mind, so difficult to control, fickle, and capricious. Blessed is the tamed mind.
36. Let the wise man guard his mind, incomprehensible, subtle, and capricious though it is. Blessed is the guarded mind.
37. They will escape the fetters of Death who control that far-wandering, solitary, incorporeal cave-dweller, the mind.
38. In him who is unstable and ignorant of the law and capricious in his faith, wisdom is not perfected.
39. There is no fear in him, the vigilant one
whose mind is not befouled with lust, nor embittered with rage, who cares nought for merit or demerit.
40. Let him who knows that his body is brittle as a potsherd, make his mind strong as a fortress; let him smite Mara with the sword of wisdom, and let him guard his conquest without dalliance.
41. Soon will this body lie upon the ground, deserted, and bereft of sense, like a log cast aside.
42. Badly does an enemy treat his enemy, a foeman his foe: worse is the havoc wrought by a misdirected mind.
43. Not mother and father, not kith and kin can so benefit a man as a mind attentive to the rights.