________________
Istopadeśa - The Golden Discourse
want of right faith. As he is devoid of right faith, right knowledge is a distant dream for him. Without right faith and right knowledge, his mastery of the Scripture cannot make him knowledgeable. Such a person takes interest in religious conduct with the sole aim of attaining worldly enjoyments. He does not have faith or interest in the true religion that is instrumental in the dissociation of karmas. In the depth of his heart there lingers a desire for sense-pleasures. His religious conduct may cause him bondage of meritorious karmas, and endow him with birth in the heavens but never the ultimate state of self-realization. He may become well-versed in the Scripture and may even follow the practical conduct of a layman or a saint, yet all this is useless so far as liberation is concerned. It is only the correct knowledge of the real point of view which is the cause of self-realization.
The Truth that infinite knowledge, infinite perception, and infinite bliss are inseparable from the pure Self is understood only by the faithful (bhavya). The unfaithful (abhavya) is not capable of appreciating the Truth and, therefore, not fit to attain the ultimate state of self-realization. He remains far from the nectar-beverage of the supremely real joy of liberation and is engrossed perpetually in the water-mass of a mirage fashioned by sense-pleasures.
96
