In no
condition wilt thou be contented. Contentment does not result from
acquisition of desirable objects. Thirst is never slaked although there
is profusion of water.[539] The thirst for acquisition only blazes up
with each fresh acquisition like a fire with new faggots thrown into it.
In thee there is grief. But joy also dwells in thee. Both happiness and
misery dwell in thee. Why then shouldst thou yield to grief? One should
shut up, like birds in a cage, the very springs, viz., the understanding
and the senses of, all one's desires and acts. There can be no cutting of
a second head, nor of a third hand. That which does not exist can produce
no fear. One that is not acquainted with the enjoyment a certain object
affords, never feels a desire for that object. Desires arise from the
actual experience of the pleasures that touch or sight, or hearing gives.
Thou hast no idea of the taste of the wine called Varuni or of the meat
of the birds called Ladwaka. There is no drink and no food more delicious
than these. Thou hast no idea also, O Kasyapa, of every other superior
kind of drink and food that exists among men, for thou hast never tasted
it. Without doubt, therefore, not to taste, not to see, should be the vow
of a man if he is to win happiness. Creatures that have hands, without
doubt, become strong and earn wealth. Men are reduced by men to a state
of servitude, and are repeatedly afflicted (at the hands of their own
species) with death, imprisonment, and other tortures.
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