Chapter 23: The Elephant

The author establishes the elephant's silent endurance of arrows as an exemplary model for how one should tolerate abuse in an ill-natured world.

The author claims that a tamed person (who silently endures abuse) is superior to a tamed elephant used in battle, establishing self-control as the highest virtue.

The author asserts that a person who tames himself is better than any tamed animal, even noble horses and tusked elephants.

The author argues that while tamed animals cannot reach the untrodden country (Nirvana), a tamed person achieves this liberation by mastering their own tamed self.

The author provides the concrete example of a powerful elephant that resists captivity and longs for freedom, illustrating the difficulty of taming external creatures.

The author warns that excessive eating, sleepiness, and lack of restraint cause a person to be reborn repeatedly, like a hog wallowing in filth.

The author speaks from first-person experience of disciplining a wandering mind, comparing this effort to a rider controlling a furious elephant with a hook.

The author issues an imperative to remain mindful and vigilant, comparing self-extrication from evil to an elephant pulling itself from mud.

The author claims that finding a prudent, wise, and sober companion enables one to walk safely and happily through all dangers.

The author presents solitude as an acceptable alternative, comparing the solitary virtuous person to a king or forest elephant who walks alone.

The author reiterates that living alone with few wishes and avoiding sin is better than companionship with a fool, again invoking the elephant in the forest as model.

The author enumerates genuine pleasures: friends in fitting occasions, joyful pursuits, good works at death's hour, and the relinquishment of all suffering.

The author lists states (motherhood, fatherhood, ascetic, Brahmin) that are intrinsically pleasant, suggesting that virtue within these roles brings natural satisfaction.

The author concludes by identifying lasting virtue, rooted faith, intelligence, and freedom from sin as the deepest pleasures available to humans.