अथ खलु सौम्येते परिव्राजका यथा प्रादुर्भवन्ति तथा भवन्ति । कामक्रोधलोभमोहदम्भदर्पासूयाममत्वाहङ्कारादींस्तितीर्य मानावमानौ निन्दास्तुती च वर्जयित्वा वृक्ष इव तिष्ठासेत् । छिद्यमानो न ब्रूयात् । तदैवं विद्वांस इहैवामृता भवन्ति । तदेतदृचाभ्युक्तम्
atha khalu saumyete parivrājakā yathā prādurbhavanti tathā bhavanti | kāmakrodhalobhamohadambhadarpāsūyāmamatvāhaṅkārādīṃstitīrya mānāvamānau nindāstutī ca varjayitvā vṛkṣa iva tiṣṭhāset | chidyamāno na brūyāt | tadaivaṃ vidvāṃsa ihaivāmṛtā bhavanti | tadetadṛcābhyuktam
"So then, my dear: these wanderers, however they appeared, so they remain. Having swum across desire, anger, greed, delusion, hypocrisy, arrogance, envy, possessiveness, egotism, and the rest, having set aside honor and dishonor, blame and praise — let him stand like a tree; and being cut down, let him say nothing. Then such knowers become immortal right here. And of this it is said in a verse."
961f6229f58f · publicado 12 ago 2026, 5:00:00 UTC
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Here is a strong passage, and it is worth examining it closely, for it is both beautiful and in need of qualification. It says: vṛkṣa iva tiṣṭhāset; chidyamāno na brūyāt, "let him stand like a tree; and being cut down, let him say nothing." The image is superb: a tree does not answer the axe — not because it does not feel, but because it does not answer.
And it is chosen with care: a tree, in this, is not useless — it gives shade to the one who is felling it. This comparison is central in Vaiṣṇava usage and stands in Caitanya's most famous verse, discussed when reading the Varāha (5.46). tṛṇād api sunīcena taror api sahiṣṇunā; amāninā māna-dena kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ.
Translation: "more humble than a blade of grass, more forbearing than a tree, expecting no honor for oneself and offering honor to others — thus should one constantly chant Hari." It is worth noting that there the comparison with a tree does not stand alone but beside a verb: one endures in order to sing. This distinction matters, and here is why.
Endurance by itself can be mere numbness: a person is silent because nothing matters to him. Endurance joined to a deed is different: one is silent so as not to be distracted from the chief thing. Let us add a qualification that must be made plainly here.
The injunction "do not answer when cut down" applies to oneself: to injuries done to me. It cannot be extended to injuries done to another; and a person who is silent when it is not he who is being cut down is not patient but indifferent. The book itself implies this, for among its virtues stands ahiṃsā, "harmlessness," not "non-interference."