Self-Control

"'Bhishma said, "I shall speak to thee of that by which thou mayst attain to high merit. Possessed as thou art of wisdom, thou shalt be gratified with the knowledge I will impart to thee, like a person gratified with having quaffed nectar. The rules of duty that have been uttered by the great Rishis, each relying upon his own wisdom, are many. The highest among them all is self-restraint. Those amongst the ancients that were acquainted with truth said that self-restraint leads to the highest merit. As regards the Brahmana in particular, self-restraint is his eternal duty. It is from self-restraint that he obtains the due fruition of his acts. Self-restraint, in his case, surpasses (in merit) charity and sacrifice and study of the Vedas. Self-restraint enhances (his) energy. Self-restraint is highly sacred. Through self-restraint a man becomes cleansed of all his sins and endued with energy, and as a consequence, attains to the highest blessedness. We have not heard that there is any other duty in all the worlds that can equal self-restraint. Self-restraint, according to all virtuous persons, is the highest of virtues in this world. Through self-restraint, O foremost of men, a person acquires the highest happiness both here and hereafter. Endued with self-restraint, one acquires great virtue. The self-restrained man sleeps in felicity and awakes in felicity, and moves through the world in felicity. His mind is always cheerful. The man who is without self-restraint always suffers misery. Such a man brings upon himself many calamities all born of his own faults. It has been said that in all the four modes of life self-restraint is the best of vows. I shall now tell thee those indications whose sum total is called self-restraint.

"'Bhishma said, "The ancients who had their understandings directed to the Srutis, highly applauded the duty of self-restraint for all the orders generally but for the Brahmanas in especial. Success in respect of religious rites never occurs in the case of one that is not self-restrained. Religious rites, penances, truth,--all these are established upon self-restraint. Self-restraint enhances one's energy. Self-restraint is said to be sacred. The man of self-restraint becomes sinless and fearless and wins great results. One that is self-restrained sleeps happily and wakes happily. He sojourns happily in the world and his mind always remains cheerful. Every kind of excitement is quietly controlled by self-restraint. One that is not self-restrained fails in a similar endeavour. The man of self-restraint beholds his innumerable foes (in the form of lust, desire, and wrath, etc.), as if these dwell in a separate body. Like tigers and other carnivorous beasts, persons destitute of self-restraint always inspire all creatures with dread. For controlling these men, the Self-born (Brahman) created kings. In all the (four) modes of life, the practice of self-restraint is distinguished above all other virtues. The fruits of self-restraint are much greater than those obtainable in all the modes of life. I shall now mention to thee the indications of those persons who prize self-restraint highly.[829] They are nobility, calmness of disposition, contentment, faith, forgiveness, invariable simplicity, the absence of garrulity, humility, reverence for superiors, benevolence, compassion for all creatures, frankness, abstention from talk upon kings and men in authority, from all false and useless discourses, and from applause and censure of others. The self-restrained man becomes desirous of emancipation and, quietly bearing present joys and griefs, is never exhilarated or depressed by prospective ones.

"'"Well-wishers seek to restrain a friend from sin. He who suffers himself to be dissuaded, succeeds in winning prosperity. He that does otherwise reaps misery. As a person of disordered brains is restrained by soothing words, even so should a friend be restrained by well-wishers. He that suffers himself to be so restrained never becomes a prey to misery. When a wise friend is about to perpetrate a wicked act, well-wishers possessed of wisdom repeatedly and according to the extent of their power endeavour to restrain him. Setting thy heart on what is truly beneficial, and restraining thyself by thy own self, do my bidding, O son, so that thou mayst not have to repent afterwards.

In the body restraint is good, good is restraint in speech, in thought restraint is good, good is restraint in all things. A Bhikshu, restrained in all things, is freed from all pain.

Restraint in the eye is good, good is restraint in the ear, in the nose restraint is good, good is restraint in the tongue.

An act carelessly performed, a broken vow, and hesitating obedience to discipline, all this brings no great reward.

And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;

But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate;

That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.

Krishna. Hero long-armed! beyond denial, hard Man's heart is to restrain, and wavering; Yet may it grow restrained by habit, Prince! By wont of self-command. This Yog, I say, Cometh not lightly to th' ungoverned ones; But he who will be master of himself Shall win it, if he stoutly strive thereto.

Entitled "Atmasanyamayog," Or "The Book of Religion by Self-Restraint."

Abstaining from a work by right prescribed Never is meet! So to abstain doth spring From "Darkness," and Delusion teacheth it. Abstaining from a work grievous to flesh, When one saith "'Tis unpleasing!" this is null! Such an one acts from "passion;" nought of gain Wins his Renunciation! But, Arjun! Abstaining from attachment to the work, Abstaining from rewardment in the work, While yet one doeth it full faithfully, Saying, "Tis right to do!" that is "true " act And abstinence! Who doeth duties so, Unvexed if his work fail, if it succeed Unflattered, in his own heart justified, Quit of debates and doubts, his is "true" act: For, being in the body, none may stand Wholly aloof from act; yet, who abstains From profit of his acts is abstinent.

But as for him who feared to stand before his Lord and restrained his soul from lust,

They restrained not one another from the wickedness they did. Verily evil was that they used to do!

O Children of Adam! We have revealed unto you raiment to conceal your shame, and splendid vesture, but the raiment of restraint from evil, that is best. This is of the revelations of Allah, that they may remember.

Then Mainda, wisest chief, who knew The wrong, the right, the false, the true, Pondered a while, then silence broke, And thus his sober counsel spoke:

When the bright sun had left the skies The Vanar dwarfed his mighty size, And, in the straitest bounds restrained, The bigness of a cat retained.(805) Then, when the moon's soft light was spread, Within the city's walls he sped.

The hermits, whom that sight had awed, Extolled the saint, with hymn and laud: "Thy power, O Sage, is ne'er in vain: Now with thy might thy might restrain. Be gracious, Master, and allow The worlds to rest from trouble now; For Visvamitra, strong and dread, By thee has been discomfited."

“Your noble vigour, O my friends, restrain; Nor weary out your generous strength in vain. Ye both have won: let others who excel, Now prove that prowess you have proved so well.”

He said. The challenge Hector heard with joy, Then with his spear restrain’d the youth of Troy, Held by the midst, athwart; and near the foe Advanced with steps majestically slow: While round his dauntless head the Grecians pour Their stones and arrows in a mingled shower.

Amidst the tumult of the routed train, The sons of false Antimachus were slain; He who for bribes his faithless counsels sold, And voted Helen’s stay for Paris’ gold. Atrides mark’d, as these their safety sought, And slew the children for the father’s fault; Their headstrong horse unable to restrain, They shook with fear, and dropp’d the silken rein; Then in the chariot on their knees they fall, And thus with lifted hands for mercy call:

Yama replied: That goal which all the Vedas glorify, which all austerities proclaim, desiring which (people) practice Brahmacharya (a life of continence and service), that goal I tell thee briefly--it is Aum.

As he spoke he kissed his son, and a tear fell from his cheek on to the ground, for he had restrained all tears till now. But Telemachus could not yet believe that it was his father, and said:

Many a plausible tale did Ulysses further tell her, and Penelope wept as she listened, for her heart was melted. As the snow wastes upon the mountain tops when the winds from South East and West have breathed upon it and thawed it till the rivers run bank full with water, even so did her cheeks overflow with tears for the husband who was all the time sitting by her side. Ulysses felt for her and was sorry for her, but he kept his eyes as hard as horn or iron without letting them so much as quiver, so cunningly did he restrain his tears. Then, when she had relieved herself by weeping, she turned to him again and said: “Now, stranger, I shall put you to the test and see whether or no you really did entertain my husband and his men, as you say you did. Tell me, then, how he was dressed, what kind of a man he was to look at, and so also with his companions.”

“‘You want to know,’ said he, ‘about your return home, but heaven will make this hard for you. I do not think that you will escape the eye of Neptune, who still nurses his bitter grudge against you for having blinded his son. Still, after much suffering you may get home if you can restrain yourself and your companions when your ship reaches the Thrinacian island, where you will find the sheep and cattle belonging to the sun, who sees and gives ear to everything. If you leave these flocks unharmed and think of nothing but of getting home, you may yet after much hardship reach Ithaca; but if you harm them, then I forewarn you of the destruction both of your ship and of your men. Even though you may yourself escape, you will return in bad plight after losing all your men, [in another man’s ship, and you will find trouble in your house, which will be overrun by high-handed people, who are devouring your substance under the pretext of paying court and making presents to your wife.

He constantly (tries to) keep them without knowledge and without desire, and where there are those who have knowledge, to keep them from presuming to act (on it). When there is this abstinence from action, good order is universal.

He said to Viçvakarman and the sacrifice, 'Let me come to you two'; 'There is no space here', they answered. He said to the supreme lord, 'Let me come to thee.' 'In what way wilt thou come to me?' 'By the space- filler', he replied. He came to him by the space filler; therefore the space-filler is unexhausted, for yonder Aditya is unexhausted [6]. To them the seers said, 'Let us come to you.' 'In what way will ye come?' 'By greatness', they replied. To them they came with two (more) layers; (the fire) became one of five layers. He who knowing thus piles the fire becomes greater, he conquers these worlds, the gods know him; moreover he attains community with these deities. a The fire is a bird; if the piler of the fire were to eat of a bird, he would be eating the fire, he would go to ruin. For a year should he observe the vow, for a vow goes not beyond a year. b The fire is an animal; now an animal destroys him who moves up to it face to face; therefore he should go up to it from behind while it is looking towards the front, to prevent injury to himself. c 'Brilliance art thou, grant me brilliance, restrain earth [1], guard me from the earth. Light art thou, grant me light, restrain the atmosphere, guard me from the atmosphere. Heavenly light art thou, grant me heavenly light, restrain the heavenly light, guard me from the sky', he says; by these are these worlds supported; in that he puts them down, (it is) for the support of these worlds. Having put down the naturally perforated (bricks) he puts down the gold bricks; the naturally perforated are these worlds, gold is light; in that having put down the naturally perforated [2] he puts down the gold bricks; verily he makes these worlds full of light by means of them; verily also by them these worlds shine forth for him. d Those flames of thine, O Agni, which rising in the sun, With rays envelop the sky, With all of them bring us to brilliance, to man.

The Horse Sacrifice (continued) 'Be 'pure for the winning of strength', this is the Anustubh strophe; three Anustubhs make four Gayatris; in that there are three Anustubhs, therefore the horse when standing stands on three feet; in that there are four Gayatri is, therefore he goes putting down all four feet. The Anustubh is the highest of metres, the fourfold Stoma is the highest of Stomas, the three-night sacrifice the highest of sacrifices, the horse the highest of animals; verily by the highest he makes him go to the highest state. It is the twenty-onefold day [1], on which the horse is slain, there are twelve months, five seasons; these worlds are three; the twenty-onefold (Stoma) is yonder sun; this is Prajapati, the horse is connected with Prajapati; verily he wins it straightway. The Prstha (Stotra) is of Çakvari verses to make the horse complete, there are various metres, different sets of animals are offered, both domesticated and wild; in that the Prstha is of Çakvari verses, (it is) to complete the horse. The Saman of the Brahman is that of Prthuraçmi; by the rein the horse is restrained [2], a horse unrestrained and unsupported is liable to go to the furthest distance; (verily it serves) to restrain and support the horse. The Achavaka's Saman is the Samkrti; the horse sacrifice is an extensive sacrifice; 'who knows', they say, 'if all of it is done or not?' In that the Achavaka's Saman is the Samkrti, (it serves) to make the horse whole, to win it entirely, to prevent interference. The last day is an Atiratra with all the Stomas, to obtain all, to conquer all; verily he obtains all, he conquers all with it.

The wings and the tail are a fathom in breadth; so much is the strength in man [1], he is commensurate in strength. He metes with a bamboo; the bamboo is connected with Agni; (verily it serves) to unite him with his birthplace. With a Yajus he yokes (the team), with a Yajus he ploughs, for discrimination. He ploughs with a (team) of six oxen; the seasons are six; verily with the seasons he ploughs him. In that (he ploughs) with (a team) of twelve oxen, (he ploughs) with the year. This (earth) was afraid of excessive burning by Agni; she saw this of two sorts, ploughed and unploughed [2], then indeed he did not burn her excessively; in that there is ploughed and unploughed, (it serves to prevent) her being excessively burned. 'He should restrain Agni when twofold', they say; in that there is ploughed and unploughed (it serves) to restrain Agni. So many are animals, bipeds and quadrupeds; if he were to let them loose to the east, he would give them over to Rudra; if to the south, he would deliver them to the Pitrs; if to the west, the Raksases would destroy them; to the north he let them loose; this is the auspicious quarter of gods and men (3); verily he lets them loose in that direction. Again he lets them loose to this quarter, the breath is yonder sun: verily he lets them loose following the breath. From left to right they turn, around their own strength they turn; therefore the right side of the body is the stronger; verily they turn with the turning of the sun. Therefore cattle depart from (us), and come back towards (us). Three by three he ploughs the furrows [4]; verily he extends the threefold (Stoma) in the beginning of the sacrifice. He scatters plants, by holy power he wins food, in the Arka the Arka is piled. With fourteen verses he scatters; the domesticated plants are seven, the wild are seven; (verily they serve) to win both sets. He scatters (seeds) of diverse kinds of food, to win diverse foods.

2 Lauded by many, much−invoked, leader of song, renowned of old: 3 Indra the Dancer be to us the giver of abundant strength: 4 Indra whose jaws are strong hath drunk of worshipping Sudaksa's draught, 5 Call Indra loudly with your songs of praise to drink the Soma juice. 6 When he hath drqnk its gladdening drops, the God with vigour of a God 7 Thou speedest down to succour us this ever−conquering God of yours, 8 The Warrior not to he restrained, the Soma−drinker ne'er o'erthrown, 9 O Indra, send us riches, thou Omniscient, worthy of our praise: 10 Even thence, O 1ndra, come to us with food that gives a hundred powers, 11 We sought the wisdom of the wise. Sakra, Kine−giver, Thunder−armed! 12 We make thee, Satakratu, find enjoyment in the songs we sing.