| Discourses On Gita By Acharya Vinoba Bhave |
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| Discourses On Gita |
| THE SELF AND THE NON-SELF |
| "I shall fill the three worlds with joy." For the sake of a great ideal, I shall throw away the body, shouting "Victory to the Lord." The rich man, when his clothes become a little dirty throws them away and puts on new ones. I shall treat the body in the same way. It is needed for work. But when it becomes useless for the purpose, why should I hesitate to cast it aside? 16. This too is the lesson we learn from satyagraha. The body and the Self are two different things. The day a man discovers this secret, his real education, his real growth begins. It is only then that satyagraha will succeed. Therefore it is necessary for each one of us to impress this bhavana in our hearts. The body is only a means, an occasion, an instrument given by the Lord. The day the need for it ceases, it must be thrown away. In summer we put away our warm winter wear; in the morning we lay aside the blankets we use at night; we remove in the evening the clothes we wore in the morning. We should regard the body in the same light. As long as the body is useful, we should keep it; but when it is no more useful, we should fling it aside. The Lord teaches us this device to help the growth of the soul.
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