Gadhada Last Section Vach. 6 Vachanamrut Rahasyarth Pradeepika Tika

Furthermore, whilst performing such devotion, if some fault is committed, one must not blame someone else. It is the nature of every soul that when he is at fault, he will say, ‘Someone else made me blunder and consequently the fault arose in me; but actually, I am not to blame.’ However, the person who says this is a complete fool. Someone else may say, ‘Go and fall into the well’; will he jump in if somebody asks him to do so? The blame indeed lies with the person who performs the inappropriate deed, but he attributes the fault to someone else. Similarly, attributing one’s fault to the indriyas and antah-karans is also the result of a soul’s foolishness. The soul and mind are close friends of one another. Just as there is a friendship between milk and water, there exists an alliance between the soul and the mind. When milk and water are mixed and heated on a fire, the water forms a layer below the milk; the water singes but does not allow the milk to singe. Conversely, the milk overflows and extinguishes the fire in order to save the water. In that manner, a friendship exists between the two. There is a similar alliance between the soul and the mind, as a result of which, thoughts about something that the soul does not like, never continue in the mind. It is only when the soul likes something that the mind attempts to coerce it. When a soul is meditating on God, the mind suggests that he should also meditate on the form of a particular female disciple. It coerces him to contemplate about the woman’s entire body and in this manner, leads to inappropriate feelings developing towards her, just as they occur about other women. However, if the soul is extremely pure, he does not acknowledge the persuasions of the mind. Instead, he is profoundly disgusted. Then, the mind never allows such volitions to arise again. If his soul is malicious and sinful, he accepts what the mind is telling him; the mind continues to generate despicable volitions and leads him to fall from the path of salvation.