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Iṣṭopadeśa - The Golden Discourse
यज्जीवस्योपकाराय तद्देहस्यापकारकम् । यद्देहस्योपकाराय तज्जीवस्यापकारकम् ॥
(19)
Actions that are intended for the enrichment of the soul discard the welfare of the body, and the actions intended for the welfare of the body undermine soul-enrichment.
EXPLANATORY NOTES
The soul and the body are two distinct entities; the soul is a spiritual substance with consciousness as its primary attribute and the body is an inanimate object comprising physical matter. All our actions in the direction of enriching the soul would, as a corollary, undermine the well-being of the body. Fasting and meditation are helpful aids to purify the soul but ignore the immediate needs of the body. Renunciation and austerities help the soul by saving it from harmful desires but deprive the body of the objects of its guard and embellishment. An ascetic striving after emancipation endures, without regret or remorse, bodily hardships and afflictions. He unreservedly endures the torments of extreme hunger, parching thirst, biting cold, and oppressive heat of the sun. Afflictions caused by insect-bites, roaming bare-foot on thorny roads, sitting in a particular posture for a long time, lying down on uneven and hard ground, and even serious disease, do not swerve him from the path. He embraces blameless nakedness like that of the child and is always free from the excitement of passions and agitations of the senses. Engaged continually in cleansing the soul from the mire of
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