27. Austerity

It is the nature of asceticism to patiently endure hardship
and to not harm living creatures.

Austerity belongs to the naturally austere.
Others may attempt it, but to no avail.

Is it because they must provide for renunciates
that others forget to perform penance?

Should he but wish it, an ascetic's austerities
will ruin his foes and reward his friends.

In this world men do austerities diligently,
assured of acquiring desires they desire.

Men who follow some austerity fulfill their karma. 
All others, ensnared in desires, act in vain. 

As the intense fire of the furnace refines gold to brilliance, so does 
the burning suffering of austerity purify the soul to resplendence.

One who has realized by himself his soul's Self
will be worshiped by all other souls.

So potent is the power acquired through disciplined self-denial
that those who attain it may even delay the moment of death.

A few people fast and abstain, while most do not.
Due to this, many suffer deprivation.