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Part VI: Self Mastery.1433
Krishna: “Well sayeth thou, O Prince, that the mind is restless and as
difficult to restrain as the winds. Yet by constant practice, discipline and
care may it be mastered. True it is that Yoga is most difficult of attainment,
by a soul that is uncontrolled and that lacketh the touch of the hand of the
master. But, nevertheless, the soul, when it has recognized the master-touch
of the Real Self, may attain unto true Yoga by care and patience, coupled
with firm resolution and determination.”
Arjuna: “What fate befalleth him, O Krishna, who though being filled
with earnest faith, faileth to attain perfection in Yoga, because of his
unmastered mind wandering away from the path of discipline and mastery?
Doth he, thus standing between the merit of Right Action on one hand, and
Spiritual Attainment on the other—lacking each support, and yet gaining
not the other—doth he like a broken cloud, having severed its allegiance,
and yet having failed to gain a new one, come to nothing and melt away to
nothingness? Is he, standing thus confused in the very path of the Absolute,
lost and forsaken? Answer me this my question, O Krishna, for it doth sore
perplex me, and none other than Thee canst rightly inform me.”
Krishna: “Know thou then, Arjuna, that such a one findeth not destruction
either here nor in the worlds to come. His faith hath saved him alive—his
goodness hath preserved him for annihilation. The path of destruction is
never for him who hath lived righteously, and with faith reached out toward
Me. The man whose devotions and faith, attended by good works, were
unattended by acquirement of the full discipline—such an one, I say, after
death, cometh to a place of abode devoted to the righteous who have not
as yet found deliverance. Dwelling there happily for an immensity of years,
the soul is finally reborn in conditions and surroundings best adapted to the
further attainment and unfoldment that await it.
“Perhaps, even, it may be reborn in the immediate family and company
of some learned Yogi, although such a reward is bestowed only when fully
deserved and called for by the Law. There, in the new life, doth he regain
that which he hath acquired in the former life, and is thus enabled to take