Shri Dattatreya's Teachers - Teacher #2: Air

[Guest guest]

Namaste,

 

 

Bhagavata Purana: XI:vii:39, 40, 41 [tr. C.L.Goswamy; Gita Press,

Gorakhpur].

 

Teacher #2: Air

 

praaNa-vR^ittyaa eva santushhyet muniH na eva indriya-priyaiH .

j~naana.n yathaa na nashyeta na avakiiryeta vaa~N-manaH .. 39..

 

An asctic should remain fully gratified with bare sustenance after

the manner of the life-breath [a form of the air, which is sustained

by mere subsistence] and should not pamper his senses by means of

articles delightful to them. He should only so manage that his

cognitive faculty may not be lost [through starvation], nor should he

indulge himself in sucha manner that his speech and mind may be

diverted. 39 .

 

vishhayeshhu aavishan yogii naanaa-dharmeshhu sarvataH .

guNa-doshha-vyapeta aatmaa na vishhajjeta vaayuvat.h .. 40..

 

Though moving freely among and enjoying all sorts of objects of the

senses possessing diverse characteristics, a yogi should not get

particularly attached to them any more than the external air, his

mind remaining unaffected by their merits or demerits. 40 .

 

paarthiveshhu iha deheshhu pravishhTaH tat guNa-aashrayaH .

guNaiH na yujyate yogii gandhaiH vaayuH iva aatmadR^ik.h .. 41..

 

Although clothed in earthly bodies in this mortal plane and appearing

as though endowed with their characteristics [plumpness, slimness,

and so on], an ascetic who has his eyes fixed on the Self is not

actually endowed with those characteristics any more than the air is

with odors [of various kinds, which really belong to the particles

of earth wafted by the air and not to the air itself]. 41 .

 

 

Regards,

 

s.