One that is divested of desire
(being contented with knowledge of the Soul), never dies. It is by such a
behaviour and such a frame of mind that one becomes a truly regenerate
person.[1070] Having performed only various kinds of religious rites and
diverse sacrifices completed with gift of Dakshina, one does not acquire
the status of a Brahmana if he is devoid of compassion and hath not given
up desire.[1071] When one ceases to fear all creatures and when all
creatures cease to fear one, when one never desires for anything nor
cherishes aversion for anything, then he is said to attain to the status
of Brahma. When one abstains from injuring all creatures in thought,
speech, and act, then he is said to acquire the status of Brahma. There
is only one kind of bondage in this world, viz., the bondage of desire,
and no other. One that is freed from the bondage of desire attains to the
status of Brahma. Freed from desire like the Moon emerged from murky
clouds, the man of wisdom, purged of all stains, lives in patient
expectation of his time. That person into whose mind all sorts of desire
enter like diverse streams falling into the ocean without being able to
enhance its limits by their discharge, succeeds in obtaining
tranquillity, but not he who cherishes desire for all earthly objects.
Such a person becomes happy in consequence of the fruition of all his
wishes, and not he who cherishes desire for earthly objects. The latter,
even if he attains to heaven, has to fall away from it.
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