एककालं चरन् भैक्षं कुलानि द्वे च पञ्च च ॥
असंभवे वा भैक्षस्य चरन्न् अनशनान्य् अपि ॥
अल्पम् अल्पं यथाभोज्यं पूर्वलाभेन जातु चित् ॥
नित्यं नातिचरंल् लाभे अलाभे सप्त पूरयन् ॥
वास्यैकं तक्षतो बाहुं चन्दनेनैकम् उक्षतः ॥
नाकल्याणं न कल्याणं प्रध्यायन्न् उभयोस् तयोः ॥
न जिजीविषुवत् किं चिन् न मुमूर्षुवद् आचरन् ॥
मरणं जीवितं चैव नाभिनन्दन् न च द्विषन् ॥
ekakālaṃ caran bhaikṣaṃ kulāni dve ca pañca ca ||
asaṃbhave vā bhaikṣasya carann anaśanāny api ||
alpam alpaṃ yathābhojyaṃ pūrvalābhena jātu cit ||
nityaṃ nāticaraṃl lābhe alābhe sapta pūrayan ||
vāsyaikaṃ takṣato bāhuṃ candanenaikam ukṣataḥ ||
nākalyāṇaṃ na kalyāṇaṃ pradhyāyann ubhayos tayoḥ ||
na jijīviṣuvat kiṃ cin na mumūrṣuvad ācaran ||
maraṇaṃ jīvitaṃ caiva nābhinandan na ca dviṣan ||
"Begging alms once a day at two to five houses, and in the absence of alms keeping fasts as well; a little at a time, whatever is edible, sometimes content with what was previously obtained, never being greedy when fortunate, and when unfortunate going up to seven houses; toward the one who hews one arm with an adze and the one who anoints the other with sandal paste, thinking neither ill nor good of either; acting neither like one who wishes to live nor like one who wishes to die, neither welcoming nor hating death and life alike."
6c8c3866c5fc · published Jul 12, 2026, 4:30:27 PM UTC
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Here the ideal of the muni deepens into perfect indifference toward the body and one's fate. Telling is the image: for the muni, one who hews his arm with an adze and one who anoints the other with sandal paste are alike -- neither hatred toward the one who harms nor affection toward the one who caresses. This is the summit of equanimity (samata): the overcoming of the pairs of opposites, in which neither pain nor pleasure, neither praise nor insult, disturbs the spirit. Telling too is the indifference to life and death: "neither welcoming nor hating death and life alike" -- freedom from the greatest of fears and the greatest of attachments. This is the freedom of spirit to which dispassion leads. Such imperturbability is precious; but what makes the soul truly unshakable is not the effort of will but the taste of the highest bliss in the Lord, before which both the pain and pleasure of the world grow pale.