If the
supports of a mansion are weakened by time, the mansion itself is sure to
fall down at last.[810] The senses, the mind, wind, blood, flesh, bones
(and all the constituents of the body), one after another, meet with
destruction and enter each into its own productive cause.[811] If again
the existence of an eternal Soul be asserted that is immutable, that is
the refuge of the understanding, consciousness, and other attributes of
the usual kind, and that is dissociated from all these, such an assertion
would be exposed to a serious objection, for then all that is usually
done in the world would be unmeaning, especially with reference to the
attainment of the fruits of the charity and other religious acts. All the
declarations in the Srutis inciting to those acts, and all acts connected
with the conduct of men in the world, would be equally unmeaning, for the
Soul being dissociated from the understanding and the mind, there is no
one to enjoy the fruits of good acts and Vedic rites.[812] Thus diverse
kinds of speculations arise in the mind. Whether this opinion is right or
that is right, there is no means of settling. Engaged in reflecting on
those opinions, particular persons follow particular lines of
speculation. The understandings of these, directed to particular
theories, become wholly taken up with them and are at last entirely lost
in them. Thus all men are rendered miserable by pursuits, good or bad.
The Vedas along, bringing them back to the right path, guide them along
it, like grooms conducting their elephants.
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