20. I who am devoid of desires, would like to break this ornamental chain of worldliness, hanging about me as a deadly serpent, in the same manner, as a lion breaks asunder the net (which is laid to ensnare him).
21. Do you now, O most learned sage, scatter the mist which has overspread the forest of my heart, and the darkness which has overcast my mind, by the light of true knowledge.
22. There are no anxieties, O sage! which cannot be put to an end by the society of good minded men; the darkness of night can be well removed by moon-beams.
23. Life is as fickle as a drop of water pending on a mass of clouds blown away by the winds. Our enjoyments are as unsteady as the lightning that flickers in the midst of clouds. The pleasures of youth are as slippery as water. With these reflections in my mind, I have subdued them all under the province of peace and tranquility.
CHAPTER XXX.
Self-disparagement.
Seeing the world thus ingulphed amidst the abyss of hundreds of rising dangers and difficulties, my mind is immerged in the mire of anxieties.
2. My mind is wandering everywhere and I am struck with fear at every thing; my limbs are shaking with fear like the leaves of a withered tree.
3. My mind is bewildered by impatience for its want of true contentment, just as a young woman is afraid in a desert for want of the company of her strong handed husband.
4. The thoughts of my mind are entangled in my desire for worldly enjoyments, as stags are caught in the pit strewn with grass over it.
5. The senses of an unreasonable man, ever run astray to the wrong and never turn to the right way; so the eyes of a blind man lead him but to fall into the pit.