Garuda's Seven Questions Open the Great Infirmary of the Mind

पुनि सप्रेम बोलेउ खगराऊ। जौं कृपाल मोहि ऊपर भाऊ।। नाथ मोहि निज सेवक जानी। सप्त प्रस्न कहहु बखानी।। प्रथमहिं कहहु नाथ मतिधीरा। सब ते दुर्लभ कवन सरीरा।। बड़ दुख कवन कवन सुख भारी। सोउ संछेपहिं कहहु बिचारी।। संत असंत मरम तुम्ह जानहु। तिन्ह कर सहज सुभाव बखानहु।। कवन पुन्य श्रुति बिदित बिसाला। कहहु कवन अघ परम कराला।। मानस रोग कहहु समुझाई। तुम्ह सर्बग्य कृपा अधिकाई।। तात सुनहु सादर अति प्रीती। मैं संछेप कहउँ यह नीती।। नर तन सम नहिं कवनिउ देही। जीव चराचर जाचत तेही।। नरग स्वर्ग अपबर्ग निसेनी। ग्यान बिराग भगति सुभ देनी।। सो तनु धरि हरि भजहिं न जे नर। होहिं बिषय रत मंद मंद तर।। काँच किरिच बदलें ते लेही। कर ते डारि परस मनि देहीं।। नहिं दरिद्र सम दुख जग माहीं। संत मिलन सम सुख जग नाहीं।। पर उपकार बचन मन काया। संत सहज सुभाउ खगराया।। संत सहहिं दुख परहित लागी। परदुख हेतु असंत अभागी।। भूर्ज तरू सम संत कृपाला। परहित निति सह बिपति बिसाला।। सन इव खल पर बंधन करई। खाल कढ़ाइ बिपति सहि मरई।। खल बिनु स्वारथ पर अपकारी। अहि मूषक इव सुनु उरगारी।। पर संपदा बिनासि नसाहीं। जिमि ससि हति हिम उपल बिलाहीं।। दुष्ट उदय जग आरति हेतू। जथा प्रसिद्ध अधम ग्रह केतू।। संत उदय संतत सुखकारी। बिस्व सुखद जिमि इंदु तमारी।। परम धर्म श्रुति बिदित अहिंसा। पर निंदा सम अघ न गरीसा।। हर गुर निंदक दादुर होई। जन्म सहस्त्र पाव तन सोई।। द्विज निंदक बहु नरक भोग करि। जग जनमइ बायस सरीर धरि।। सुर श्रुति निंदक जे अभिमानी। रौरव नरक परहिं ते प्रानी।। होहिं उलूक संत निंदा रत। मोह निसा प्रिय ग्यान भानु गत।। सब के निंदा जे जड़ करहीं। ते चमगादुर होइ अवतरहीं।। सुनहु तात अब मानस रोगा। जिन्ह ते दुख पावहिं सब लोगा।। मोह सकल ब्याधिन्ह कर मूला। तिन्ह ते पुनि उपजहिं बहु सूला।। काम बात कफ लोभ अपारा। क्रोध पित्त नित छाती जारा।। प्रीति करहिं जौं तीनिउ भाई। उपजइ सन्यपात दुखदाई।। बिषय मनोरथ दुर्गम नाना। ते सब सूल नाम को जाना।। ममता दादु कंडु इरषाई। हरष बिषाद गरह बहुताई।। पर सुख देखि जरनि सोइ छई। कुष्ट दुष्टता मन कुटिलई।। अहंकार अति दुखद डमरुआ। दंभ कपट मद मान नेहरुआ।। तृस्ना उदरबृद्धि अति भारी। त्रिबिध ईषना तरुन तिजारी।। जुग बिधि ज्वर मत्सर अबिबेका। कहँ लागि कहौं कुरोग अनेका।।

Then Garuda spoke with love: 'O compassionate one, if you hold affection for me, O Lord, knowing me as your own servant, please explain seven questions in full. First tell me, O wise Lord: which body is the rarest of all? What is the greatest sorrow? What is the supreme joy? Please tell me briefly, having considered. You know the essence of saints and the wicked. Describe their natural dispositions. What is the great virtue known in the scriptures? What is the most terrible sin? Explain the diseases of the mind to me; you are all-knowing and overflowing with compassion.' Dear one, listen with great reverence and love. I shall tell this wisdom briefly. There is no body equal to the human form. All living beings, moving and still, long for it. It is the ladder to hell, heaven, and liberation; it bestows jnana, vairagya, and pure bhakti. Those who, having this body, do not worship Hari but grow attached to pleasures, are the most foolish of fools. They are like those who exchange the philosopher's stone for broken glass and pebbles. There is no sorrow in the world like poverty; there is no joy like meeting the saints. Helping others through speech, mind, and body is the natural way of saints, O king of birds. Saints endure suffering for others' welfare; the wicked, unfortunate, cause suffering to others. The saint, like the birch tree, endures great hardship for the benefit of all. The wicked bind others like hemp fiber, then suffer and die when their own skin is stripped. The wicked harm others without any self-interest, like serpents and mice. Listen, O enemy of serpents. They destroy others' prosperity and perish themselves, like hailstones that destroy the crops and then melt. The rise of the wicked causes suffering to the world, like the notorious inauspicious planet Ketu. The rise of saints is always beneficial, delighting the world like the moon that banishes darkness. The supreme dharma known in the scriptures is non-violence. No sin is as grave as slandering others. One who slanders Hari and the guru becomes a frog, obtaining that body for a thousand births. The slanderer of brahmins, after suffering many hells, is born in the world in the body of a crow. Those proud beings who slander gods and scriptures fall into the terrible hell of Raurava. Those who delight in slandering saints become owls, loving the night of delusion while the sun of knowledge has set. Those fools who slander everyone are reborn as bats. Now listen, dear one, to the diseases of the mind, by which all people suffer. Delusion is the root of all ailments; from it arise many other torments. Lust is like the wind disease; greed is boundless; anger is the bile that constantly burns the chest. When these three brothers unite, there arises the painful sannipata fever. Countless, difficult desires for worldly objects are all thorns; who can name them all? Attachment is a tumor; envy is an itch. Excessive joy and sorrow are many boils. Burning upon seeing others' happiness is consumption. Wickedness and mental crookedness are leprosy. Pride is an extremely painful abscess. Hypocrisy, deceit, intoxication, and arrogance are dropsy. Thirst is severe abdominal swelling. The threefold desires are acute fever. Doubt is a double fever; jealousy and foolishness: how long shall I describe these countless maladies?