Uttar Kaanda
206 - Sri Rama's exhortation to His subjects (Sri Rama-Gita); the citizensí acknowledgement
Chaupais
Description
"Sensuous enjoyment, brethren, is not the be-all and end-all of human existence; even heavenly enjoyment is short-lived and ends in sorrow. The fools who devote their mind to the pleasures of sense even after attaining human birth take poison in exchange for nectar. None will ever speak well of him who picks up a peppercorn throwing away the philosopher's stone. This immortal soul goes round through eightyfour lakh species of life, falling under four broad divisions. Driven by Maya (My deluding potency) and encompassed by Time, destiny, Nature and phenomenal existence, it ever drifts along. Rarely does God, who loves the Jiva without any selfinterest, graciously bestow on it a human form, which is a veritable raft whereby it can cross the ocean of mundane existence, with My grace for a favourable wind and a worthy preceptor for a helmsman to steer this strong bark-a combination which, though difficult to secure, has been made easily available to it."