Chapter 6 – Patience, continued
Stanzas 70 - 78 of 134
70. Now when the building is the blaze
And flames leapt out from house to house,
The wise course is to take and fling away
The straw and anything that spreads the fire.
71. And so, in fear that merit might be all consumed,
We should at once cast far away
Our minds attachments:
Tinder for the fiery flames of hate.
72. Is it not a happy chance if when, condemned to death,
A man is freed, his hand cut off in ransom for his life?
And is it not a happy chance if now, to escape hell,
I suffer only the misfortunes of the human state?
73. It even these, my present pains,
Are now beyond my strength to bear,
Why do I not cast off my anger,
Cause of future sorrows in infernal torment?
74. For sake of gaining all that I desire,
A thousand times I underwent
The tortures of the realms of hell-
Achieving nothing for myself and others.
75. The present aches are nothing to compare with those.
And yet great benefits will come from them.
These troubles that dispel the pain of wanderers-
It’s only right that I rejoice in them.
76. When others take delight
In giving praise to those endowed with talents,
Why, O mind, do you not find
A joy likewise in praising them?
77. The pleasure that is gained there from
Itself gives rise to blameless happiness.
It’s urged on us by all the holy ones,
And is the perfect way of winning others.
78. “But they’re the ones who have the happiness,” you say.
If this then is a joy you would resent,
Abandon paying wages and returning favors.
You will be the loser – both in this life and the next!
|