24. There is no other thing so very permanent or auspicious among immortals or mortals, and among the gods and demigods, Asuras and Gandharvas, and Kinnaras and Vidyádharas, nor among the heavenly nymphs, as the spiritual bliss of the soul. 25. There is nothing so very graceful or lasting, to be found in cities and mountains and in the vegetable creation, nor among mankind and their king, nor any where in earth or heaven as this spiritual felicity. 26. There is nothing steady or graceful, among the Nága-snake or Asura races and their females, and in the whole circles of infernal region. 27. There is nothing so lovely and lasting in the regions above and below and all around us, and in the spheres of all other worlds, so very graceful and durable as the lasting peace of mind. 28. There is nothing that is felicitous or persistent in this world, amidst all its sorrows and sicknesses and troubles which encompass all about. All our actions are for trivial matters and all our gains are but trifles at best. 29. There is nothing of any lasting good, in all those thoughts which employ the minds of men and gladden their hearts, and which serve at best to delude the sapient to the fickleness of their spirits. 30. No permanent good is derived from the ever busy thoughts and volitions and nolitions of mankind, which tend at best to trouble their minds, as the Mandara mountain disturbed the waters of the deep, at the time of its churning by the gods and demons. 31. No lasting good results to any body from his continuous exertions, and various efforts about his gain and loss even at the edge of the sword (_i.e._, even at the peril of one's life). 32. Neither is the sovereignty of the whole earth so great a boon, nor is one's elevation to the rank of a deity in heaven so great a blessing; nor even is the exaltation of one to the position of the world supporting serpent so great a gain, as the sweet peace of mind of the good. 33. It is of no good to trouble the mind, with its attention to all the branches of learning, nor is it of any advantage to one to employ his wits and enslave his mind to the service of another, nor of any use to any body, to learn the histories of other people, when he is ignorant of himself and his own welfare. 34. It is of no good to live long, under the trouble of disease and the sorrow of life. Neither is life or death, nor learning nor ignorance, nor heaven or hell any advantage or disadvantage to any body, until there is an end of his desires within himself. 35. Thus these various states of the world and all worldly things, may appear gratis to the ignorant vulgar, but they afford no pleasure to the learned who knows their instability. (Hence longevity and stability depend on one's reliance in the eternal God, and not on the transient world). CHAPTER XXIV. INVESTIGATION OF THE LIVING PRINCIPLE. Argument.--Disquisition of the Arteries and organs of the body. The seat of life and its actions.