In all twenty-six attributes are catalogued and,
whereas all of them subsist only in a seeker
whose meditation has ripened to maturity,
they partially exist in all of us.
They lie in dormancy even in men who are dominated by evil impulses
and
it is because of this that even the most fallen sinner
is
entitled to redemption.

Lord Krishn sings:

“Fearlessness, inner purity, steadfastness of yog for knowledge,
charity, continence, yagya, study of scriptures,
penance, and uprightness,..”

Total absence of fear, inner sanctity, constant endeavour
and
meditation to acquire the truth, complete self-surrender,
subduing of the mind and senses, conduct of yagya,
offering sacrifice to the fire of self-restraint
as well as to the fire of the senses,
offering pran and apan as oblation to each other,
and
last of all the process of worship that entails sacrificing oneself
to the fire of knowledge which is achieved by the inner workings
of
the mind and senses rather than by the yagya
that is performed with oilseeds, barley-grains and an altar
(Sri Krishn accepts no such ceremonial act or sacrificial rite as yagya ), meditation upon the Self
which is the discipline that prompts one towards
the identical Supreme Spirit,
penance that moulds the mind
along with the senses in accordance with the cherished goal,
and
integrity of mind and heart as well as of the body
and
its senses, are some of the traits that characterize pious men.

“Nonviolence, truthfulness, abstinence of anger,
renunciation, tranquillity, absence of malice,
compassion for all beings, disinterestedness, tenderness,
modesty, abstinence from futile effort,…”

True nonviolence is salvaging of the Soul, for degrading the Soul is violence.

As Lord Krishn has avowed, he will be the destroyer of all mankind
and
generator of varnsankar if he does not carry out his task conscientiously.
Since the character (varn) of the Self is that of God,
his straying about amidst nature is varnasankar:
this is injury to the Soul and his deliverance is nonviolence
in the true sense.

Truthfulness is not speaking what is apparently real or pleasing.
Is it truth when we say that these clothes belong to us?
There can be, in fact, no more blatant a lie than this.
If we are not masters of our own persons that are mutable,
or
changeable,
how can the clothing that but covers them belong to us?

The Yogeshwar himself has spoken of the nature of truth to Arjun
in asserting that there is no dearth of what is true in all the three divisions
of
time-past, present, and future.
The Self alone is true; he is the supreme truth.
This is the truth we have to fix our eyes on.

Some other attributes of a righteous man are abstinence from anger,
surrender of whatever one has,
renunciation of desire for the rewards of good as well as of evil action,
absence of fickleness, avoidance of undesirable acts that are contrary
to
the aspired-for goal, feeling of mercy for all beings,
non-attachment to objects even when the senses are associated with them, feeling of tenderness, shame at straying from the object,
and
keeping away from futile effort.

Lord Krishn adds:

“Magnificence, forgiveness, patience,
purity of thought and conduct,
and absence of animosity and vanity-are all attributes of the man
endowed with divine riches.”

Glory is a property of God alone and the one,
who acts by virtue of this divine magnificence partakes of it.

No sooner did Angulimal look at Mahatma Buddh
than his thoughts were transmuted.
This was because of the inherent greatness
of
Buddh-the greatness which generates blessedness.

Lord Krishn finally concludes his enumeration by telling Arjun
that
some other marks of the treasure of divinity are forgiveness,
steady temper, innocence, hostility against none,
and
total rejection of the feeling of conceit.

~Revered Gurudev Swami Adgadanand Jee Paramhans~
©

_/l\_
Humble Wishes.
~mrityunjayanand~