Thus Spake Sri Rama

[Guest guest]

In spite of its materiality, the body has the semblane of

consciousness owing to its being inhabited by the Atman with its five

sheaths.

 

The dwelling place of the infatuated soul, this body, incapable of

discriminating between permanence and evanescence, serves only to

throw men into the pit of ignorance. The slightest provocation will

suffice to fill it with joy of suffuse it with tears. Hence, nothing

can be found so contemptible, lamentable and so utterly devoid of

good points as the body.

 

Its ephemerality notwithstanding, the body has the capacity in the

achievement of liberation (Moksha). That is why the body is not like

an ordinary material substance, nor is it wholly a conscious entity.

 

The vulture of egoism, the serpent of longings, the raven of anger

and the birds of the senses live here in this tree of body. Ove and

above all, the various desires have formed themselves into rows of

thick entangled masses around the foot of this tree.

 

The body is like a tortoise that lies inactive in the pit of longings

without making an effort for release.

 

Many are the bodies floating adrift in the ocean of this world.

Amongst these, some particular bodies receptive to knowledge and

discrimination, are called human bodies.