A sannyâsî once met the Cholera Goddess on the road, returning from a village where she had thinned the population. He asked her how many she had taken into her lap. She replied: "Only ten". But really speaking, the casualties were a hundred. She explained: "I killed only ten; the rest died out of fear!" Man is âtmâ-svarûpa (embodiment of the all-pervading divine Self), that is, abhayasvarûpa (embodiment of fearlessness). If he knows his real nature, he will give no room for weakness and cowardice.