Peace, None should despise Vichara. It is man's only
refug-e, his only instrument of work. All this multifarious
life of men is based oa nothing- else than their Vichara, and f
all its complex business is conducted by its help alone, though
it be righteous now and wrongful then. They seek the
remedies for their pains, by means of it alone, finding- it if the
Vichara happens to be deep and sound sufficiently, and failing-
otherwise. Let none. pretend that he can do without Vichara,
No more can he do so than he can see with othersf eyes, or
run away from his own shadow. Even the uselessness or
non-existence of Vichara may not be decided except by >
means of that Vichara. Better the rockbound toad, better
the crawling" earthworm, better the blind cave-serpent, than
the man without Vichara. Only the intelligence that has
been sharpened and made subtle by VichSra sees that Highest
Being that is subtler than the subtlest, smaller, than the
smallest, greater than the greatest; for Its Consciousness
envelopes and contains them all.

^Strengthen and make perfect this Vichara by association "^
with the Good Ones. Where they are, emptiness is fullness,
ill fortune is good fortune, death is a feast. Their presence
is as the searing snow to the poison-plants of evil, as the
strong wind to the fogs and mists of ignorance and perplexity.
It is as the gentle fostering sun and rain and air to the seeds
and shoots of Knowledge. , It is enough that they exist
on the earth ; more is not wanted.

^Bear in mind, 0 Prince !, that the greatest gain is the
gain of Contentment; that the truest way is the Way of the
Good Ones; that the Final Knowledge is the Knowledge
of the Self and Its Nature gained by deep Reflection, and
that the highest happiness is the Happiness of Peace.))
[^JSnd of the Mumukshu-V'yawhara^PraJcarana^ the Book '"
of the Way of those who see'k Emancipation,]