________________
TWELFTH INCARNATION AS SĀNTI
321 That they fought, weapon against weapon, even in the last birth—by that the power of the miserable senses is grasped.
Let men who are like animals be punished by their cruelly behaved senses; it is amazing that men who know the past, whose deluding karmas are suppressed, are punished (by their senses). 868 Gods, demons, and men, completely conquered by their senses, wretched, commit disgusting acts, alas! They eat what should not be eaten, they drink what should not be drunk; they go where they should not go-people, subject to their senses. Devoid of conduct suitable for a family, beaten by the senses devoid of compassion, they commit the low acts of courtesans and slaves. Whatever the course of conduct is of men whose minds are blind from delusion toward others' property and others' wives, that is the consequence of wide-awake senses. Loss of a hand, foot, or sense-organ, and death are attained by persons because of subjection to the senses. What more is to be said? Persons who require respect from others, when they themselves have been conquered by the senses, are laughed at by the discriminating with their hands over their mouths. All creatures whatever in this world, from an Indra to a worm, are conquered by the senses, with the sole exception of the man free from passion.
The elephant, his trunk extended for the enjoyment of touching the female, immediately reaches a state of misery from being tied to an elephant-post. The miserable fish, wandering in deep water, swallowing the prey that enters its throat, surely falls into the fisherman's hand. The bee, longing for fragrance, lighting on the cheek of a rutting elephant, dies from a slap of the flap of the ear. The moth, confused by the sight of the flame resembling a piece of gold, 864 falling in the fire from eagerness, receives death. The deer, wild to listen to a beautiful song, becomes the
888 331. 1.e., they permit themselves to be subject to the senses.
864 342. Cf. Champion, Racial Proverbs, p. 130: "Much treasure, many moths."
21
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
