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appetising impatience and gets itself burnt in the flame. The fishes, ravenously hungry at all times, in their gluttony, swallow the worm along with the hook which the angler had thrown, and thus meet their grave in the stomach of the fish-eaters. The poor honey-bee, pursuing its industrious vocation, collects honey from the flowers, and hoards it in its cells, until at last the heart-less man reaches the hive and sets fire to the entire colony in order to loot the honey-wealth of the bee.
Thus, Sankara gives us five typical examples wherein each has met with its doom because of its attachment to one or the other of the sense-objects. Most impressive it becomes when Sankara concludes with an exclamation, 'What then is in store for man who is attached to all these five ? (Sense objects),
A man of ignorance, when he wills neither discrimina. tion nor detachment, vulgarly running after empty senseobjects of fancied satisfactions for his temporary nerveticklings, is said to be a sad victim of cruel delusion, where his calamitous end is inevitable as he has allowed himself to be bound by the five strong ropes.*
दोषेण तीव्रो विषयः कृष्णसविषादपि ।
विषं निहन्ति भोक्तारं द्रष्टारं चक्षुषाप्ययम् ॥७७॥ dosena tivro vişayah krşnasarpavisādapi visam nihanti bhoktāram draştāram cakşuşāpyayam 77.
alac - by its evil effects, f.4: - more virulent, faqa: - the sense objects, कृष्णसर्पविषात् - than the poison of the cobra, इवः - even, विषम् । the poison, निहन्ति - kills, भोक्तारम् - the one who takes it, अयम् - this, चक्षुषा • with the eye, द्रष्टारम् - one who looks at, अपि - even.
Sense-objects are even more virulent in their tragic effects than the cobra poison. Poison is fatal to one who swallows it, but the sense-objects kill him who but looks at them with his eyes.
* The Sanskrit word 'Guna' has two meanings, (a) rope (b) mental tendency.
