NONATTACHMENT OF THE PERFECT MAN

When a leaf of the cocoanut tree drops off, it leaves a mark on the trunk. This helps us to understand that there was once a leaf there. In the same way he who has attained God keeps only the marks, the withered scars, of anger and passion. His nature is just like that of a child. Having none of the consistency of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas, it is as quick to attach itself to a thing as to leave it. You can persuade a little boy to hand over to you clothing worth several rupees in exchange for a toy worth a single pie, though at first he will tell you, " No, I won t give it to you ; my father bought it for me." To the child every one is equal; he has no discrimination between the high and the low, and consequently no distinction of caste. If his mother says, " So and so is your brother, he will take rice from the same plate with him even if the other is a carpenters son (i.e., of low caste). Nor has he any hatred, nor any idea of cleanliness and pollution (Suchi and Asuchi).

How does the emancipated soul live in the world? He lives in the world like the diver-bird. It dives into water, but the water does not wet its plumage; the few drops of water which may possibly stick to its body are easily shaken off when it once flaps its wings.

The snake is very venomous; it bites when any one tries to catch it. But the person who has learnt the art of snake-charming can not only catch snakes but also carry several of them 'hanging about his neck and arms like so many ornaments. Similarly he who has acquired spiritual

Knowledge can never be poisoned by the venom of Just and greed.

When the tail of the tadpole drops off, it cap live both in water and on land. When the tail of delusive ignorance drops off from man, he becomes free. He can then live both in God and in the world equally well.

The wind carries both the fragrance of the sandal wood and the smell of the rotten carcase equally, but it does not mix with any of these. In the same way the emancipated soul lives in the world but does not get itself mixed with it.

Iron, after it is converted into gold by the touch of the 'philosopher's stone', may be kept under the earth or thrown into a rubbish heap. It will always remain gold and will not return to its former condition. Similar is the state of the man whose soul has touched, even once, the feet of the Almighty Lord. Whether he dwells in the bustle of the world, or in the solitude of the forest, nothing ever contaminates him.

Milk poured into water mixes readily with it; when converted into butter, it no longer gets mixed with water but floats in it. So having attained to the state of God, one may live in constant contact with innumerable unregenerate souls; one will not at all be affected then by such evil association.

Good and evil cannot bind him who has realised the oneness of the Nature and his own self with Brahman.