Devishataka 82_57

82_57

O Devī, the host of people, resorting to—reverently serving—you, the Goddess, the sister of Hari, Govinda's sister, know, understand, in truth, in reality, their own essential nature, their own excellence. How? Having played, having behaved sportingly, through yoga—through the suppression of mental fluctuations—and having cast off evil, having destroyed sins. And thus Manu says: 'One should eliminate faults through breath-controls, attachments through sense-withdrawal, ungodly states through meditation, and sin through concentrations. For the breath, the wind, is declared to be the activity of all the sense-organs; by its mastery, indeed, the sense-organs are swiftly conquered. Mastery of breath alone is yoga, mastery of breath alone is asceticism; from mastery of breath alone everything is obtained, of this there is no doubt.' And likewise in the Chāndogya Upaniṣad: 'Just as a bird tied by a string, having flown in every direction and not having found a resting place anywhere else, takes refuge in the bond itself; even so, my dear, that mind, having flown in every direction and not having found a resting place anywhere else, takes refuge in the breath itself. For the mind, my dear, is tethered to the breath.' And likewise the Ṛgvedic scripture: 'Seven yoke the one-wheeled chariot; one horse, having seven names, draws it. The unaging, irreproachable wheel has three navels, wherein all these worlds abide.' || 82