Desire gave birth to greed in mind

It held the mind steadfast

Gradually the greed became strong

And that was the root-cause to bind.

In that firmness the mind was bound

With the thread of T-ness

It acted as the warp and woof

And the web was knit all-around.

Thus increased the desire for bondage

It became a mine of worry and vice

Just as the gait of snake and mouse

It remained quite unwise.

It does not give up greed nor its association

And wants to be by its side

Where there is greed, there it resides,

A strange and wonderful juxtaposition!

This is the bondage of the rope of Time,

Hardly one can see,

When the Lord bestow His grace Supreme

Then disappears mental worry.

For example, in a drama, a certain individual assumes the role of the King Indra and comes on the stage. Due to the strong thought he considers himself Indra during the play and even after the drama is over, this thought took a firm root in his heart. People laughed at him and explained to him. But he could not be convinced, with the result that he experienced sorrow and became a butt of ridicule.

Take another example. A person thought in the dream that he was ill, and the thought became so firm that it persisted even after his waking. Now he labour­ed under the same illusion in the waking state and during sleep. Though he appears to be quite healthy, he never admits it; and he remains unhappy without any reason. This is another example of bondage. Take one more example. A person is under the illusion of ghost. He saw a bare branch of a tree in the dark night and thought it to be a ghost. His thought power told him that the branch is a long-toothed ghost. He became afraid and ran away, fell down and became unconscious. When he regained consciousness and opened his eyes, the illusion of the ghost caught hold of him. He begins to talk at random and to roam here and there like a mad man. He is thus unhappy. When a thought born out of illusion torments a man in this way, he is caught in its bondage and becomes unhappy. This world is a place of illusory thoughts, where thousands of affairs of illusion happen. What else can a man be except being unhappy when caught in the meshes of illusory thoughts? Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra, is a thought born of illu­sion. Grihastha, Vanaprastha, Sanyas — is an illusory thought. Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Jew — is an illusory thought. Religion, tradition, customs, sect (or Path) — all these are illusory thoughts. Men who have been caught in the chains of this bondage are so much worried that they are unable to understand reality. All these bondages are not real; all of them are artificial, illusory, pertaining to thought, and fictitious. This chain goes far beyond, so much so that it exists in the other world even after death.

If one can understand this bondage, and after enjoying pleasures and suffering miseries one feels aversion towards them, or mentally refrains from them, you will find many a man free in this world in the same way as they are bound. Such men begin to persuade and pacify as soon as desires are born. They are called wise men of high approach. They free the persons in bondage by proper means and instructions. Their existence is a matter of fortune. They are called Mumukshu or desirous of emancipation and are highly qualified and the most fit. But those devotees of God who love bondage are very obstinate and stubborn. They do not want to break the bondage, but only want to save themselves from misery. Such is their fitness. The doctors of their diseases are generally propagators of religion, who treat one illusion with another illusion, and have gradually freed many. The third category of men are even worse than these. They know full well that customs and manners, particular religions and traditions are the worst bondage. But they are enemies of all reform. Those who free them are somewhat harsh by nature. They take work with strictness and topple down the faith and beliefs of their disciples. They dig out the roots of illusory ideas with cruelty and oppression. They are good at heart, but when they see no other means, they are compelled to take work with strictness and force.

There is a fourth type of freeing men, who are called saints, who are found in almost all religions and sects. They are the most sympathetic, most kind, and very good at heart. They become a friend, philosopher and guide and awaken the disciples. They do not adopt the method of threatening, refuting or beating. They reveal the Reality by safe and peaceful means. They strengthen the chain of their Satsang and give the bene­fit of their Satsang to those who are caught in illusion. Without aversion towards religion or tradition, they explain to the aspirants according to their bent of mind, but give them their own colour and make the aspirants like themselves. These are different kinds of liberators. The patient, however, is certainly fit for some kind of treatment or the other. Now the fact remains that some patients act according to the advice of the doctor and take medicine remaining on strict diet, and they regain health in a short time. Some invite disease due to their ignorance; some do not adhere to diet; some do not care for the doctor's advice. That is why the remedies of doctors differ. Among patients they are the best who have faith in the doctor; who delight in taking medicine, and who are willing to remain on strict diet. Such patients recover their health easily and in a short time. The second type of patients hear the advice of the doctor but seldom keep up the diet. Their doctor explains to them, coaxes them and gradually brings them to normal health by slow and average treatment. The third type of patients want to get better but are very bad at regimen; they dislike bitter medicine and at times they look upon their doctor with contempt. For them Nature sends a hard-hearted physician, who sits on the chest of the patients and makes them swallow medicine by force. He never listens to the words of his patients and treats them with utmost cruelty, strictness and compul­sion. He never cares for the sentiments of his patient. The fourth type of physicians are the saints who be­come a friend and sympathiser of their patient, and treat the disease according to convenience. They bring the patients under their control through love, however stubborn they may be, and restore their health. The qualification for treatment is the condition of the patient at each and every stage