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Chapter - 10
Samayasāra hodi) [and] becomes miserable with worrying about the work (tatto siyā unanno) (and) becomes one with the worry and misery, (taha jīvo) so also the soul (cetthamto duhi) suffers and becomes one with the suffering resulting from the delights and sorrows of its actions (resulting from the impure psychic dispositions). Annotations :
In these verses, the author uses the analogy of an artisan or an artist (such as a goldsmith or a painter) to fully explain the non-absolutist views regarding the bondage of karma from both empirical as well as a transcendental aspects. Just as a goldsmith deals with gold as the material from which to produce various types of ornaments, so also the soul has to deal with the karmic matter from which to produce various species of karma. Just as gold is external or non-self vis-a-vis the goldsmith, so is the karmic matter external to the soul. Now a superficial or causal observation of the goldsmith's work reveals that (i) the lump of gold which he is proceeding to shape into an ornament, (ii) the tools and implements which are being used in this process (iii) his talent and dexterity in using the implements to obtain the desired result and (iv) the finished ornament--all remain distinctly different and external facts from the artisan himself.
On the other hand, if one studies the process of creative activity of the goldsmith and tries to interprete his mental states, there appears a different picture of his activity. To start with, every artist or an artisan must form a clear vision of the finished product which he is proceeding to create from the shapeless lump of materialmetal or marble. Next, his inner talent and dexterity will control and guide the movements of his hands and tools so as to transfer the mental picture into a physical ornament or work of art. Thus, everything employed by him becomes subservient to the process of transformation and at every stage of the process, one can see the step-by-step progress of the conversion of the mental picture into the work of art. And so from this aspect, the artisan is unified and becomes identical with his creation. And finally, the artisan cannot escape the mental vicissitudes-anxiety, frustration, joy and elationpeculiar to such creative activity of an artisan. The inevitable conclusion is that the goldsmith is neither absolutely different nor absolutely identical with the gold, the tools, the finished ornament
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