^106:1 Tedious as the commentator is in general, he is sometimes almost eloquent in bringing out all that is implied or supposed to be implied in the sacred text. He explains the last simile as follows: A man was carried away by robbers from his own country. After his eyes had been covered, he was taken to a forest full of terrors and dangers arising from tigers, robbers, &c. Not knowing where he was, and suffering from hunger and thirst, he began to cry, wishing to be delivered from his bonds. Then a man took pity on him and removed his bonds, and when he had returned to his home, he was happy. Next follows the application. Our real home is the True (Sat), the Self of the world. The forest into which we are driven is the body, made of the three elements, fire, water, earth, consisting of blood, flesh, bones, &c., and liable to cold, heat, and many other evils. The bands with which our eyes are covered are our desires for many things, real or unreal, such as wife children, cattle, &c., while the robbers by whom we are driven into the forest are our good and evil deeds. Then we cry and say: 'I am the son of so and so, these arc my relatives, I am happy, I am miserable, I am foolish, I am wise, I am just, I am born, I am dead, I am old, I am wretched, my son is dead, my fortune is gone, I am undone, how shall I live, where shall I go, who will save me?' These and hundreds and thousands of other evils are the bands which blind us. Then, owing to some supererogatory good works we may have done, we suddenly meet a man who knows the Self of Brahman, whose own bonds have been broken, who takes pity on us and shows us the way to see the evil which attaches to all that we love in this world. We then withdraw ourselves from all worldly pleasures. We learn that we are not mere creatures of the world, the son of so and so, &c., but that we are that which is the True (Sat). The bands of our ignorance and blindness are removed, and, like the man of Gandhara, we arrive at our own home, the Self, or the True. Then we are happy and blessed.

^107:1 The last words are really--'for him there is only delay so long as I shall not be delivered; then I shall be perfect.' This requires some explanation. First of all, the change from the third to the first person, is best explained by assuming that at the point where all individuality vanishes, the father, as teacher, identifies himself with the person of whom he is speaking.