SAIVA-SIDDHANTA

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THE NATURE OF THE jlVA. 325
those who desired Moksha, should place their Bhavana on the
Highest Truth, so that the Bhavana which is the cause of birth
may be lost. This power of becoming one with the other is
really great and lies at the root of all. Tapas or Upasana or
Bhavana is set forth by our author in two other places. In the
chapter (xxvn) on Tapas, he has this verse (5).
i&
Q& LU^ SV IT p Q<fLLJ^<SLt
u(Sib. (Kural 265.)
That what they wish may, as they.wish, be won,
, By men on earth are works of painful penance
done."
Jn chapter (LXVII) on Power of Action, we have this verse :
er<sasr603Huj QfSUGGOf&stsfliuniS] Q&LLJ^U QtsuessTessfliurriT
$<53Br6BsfliU
31TSU Quf<SGT. (ibid. 666.)
Whtever we think, ev n as they think, men may obtain,
If those who think can steadfastness of will retain."
I now go back to the point where I started from, namely,
that by the very nature of this other characteristic of the soul,
the necessity for a supreme Lord is manifest. I
always use
a simile to illustrate as what would happen if there were no God.
At fairs and festivals, a greasy pole with a hook at the top and
a prize tied to it is one of the attractions. Of hundreds who
attempt, rarely one gets to the top and takes the prize. Even he
who had climbed to the top could not have retained his hold there
for long, if there had not been the hook or upgisQ&rrti to hold by;
crtherwise he would have slipped down by the pole again.*
So if a religion or philosophy, however dignified it
may
be, offers us no God, there can be no real salvation nor nirvana
nor freedom from births. After the mighty
efforts made to
purify and perfect oneself by desirelessness etc., he must sink
back into the abyss of birth and death, again and again, must
,
try and climb the greasy pole. To them, Isvara and men are
j
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* I might instance the Upanishat caterpillar which, by its power of
g/ ^^^) concealing itself effectively in one leaf,
mimicry (<yg} ^
catches hold of another before it gives up the other leaf to which it has
been clinging already.