CHAPTER XIV. On the Ascertainment of an Argument.
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Valmiki and Mitra, Viharilala
41. He who is blind to reason is as one born blind, and a demented man is an object of universal pity; but the man with a reasoning soul is said to be possessed of divine eye-sight, and becomes victorious in all things (he undertakes).
42. The miraculous power of reason is acknowledged to be a divine attribute and an instrument to highest felicity; wherefore it is not to be lost sight of for a moment.
43. The man graced by reason is loved even by the great, as the delicious and ripe mango fruit is delectable to all.
44. Men with their minds illumed by the light of reason, are like travellers acquainted with their way, and are not liable to pit falls of incessant danger and misery.
45. Neither doth the sickman nor one beset by a hundred evils wail so bitterly, as the ignorant man whose soul is deprived of reason.
46. Rather leap as a frog in the mud, or creep as a worm in the dirt, rather lie as a snake in a dark cell or crawl on the ground, than walk as a man devoid of reason.
47. Therefore get rid of unreasonableness which is the abode of all your dangers, is reprobated by the wise (as the bane of mankind), and is the terminus of all your calamities.
48. Great men must always be in full possession of their reasoning, because those unsupported by their reason are liable to fall into the pits of darkness.
49. Let every one keep his soul under the control (of his own reason), and by this means, deliver the fawn of his mind from falling into the mirage of this world.
50. It is the province of reasoning to consider logically in one’s self, whence the evil, known as worldliness, had its rise.
51. The thick mist of error is only for the continued misery of man, and it prevails on the stony minds of those that are demented by the loss of reason.
52. The wise that hold fast on the truth and forsake all untruth in this world, are yet unable to discern their true natures without the aid of reason.
53. It is by means of reason that one comes to the knowledge of truth; and by means of truth that he gets the peace of his mind; and it is the tranquility of the mind that dispels the misery of men.
54. Now Ráma, do you take delight in such acts as may be productive of utility to the world, and whereby you may arrive to perfection. Weigh all things with the clear eye of reason, which will make you blessed for ever.