Hindu Vedic Philosophy (The Spiritual Brindavan

Vyasa Gita

O excellent sages! I have thus recounted to you the yoga that bestows liberation, the cause of release from worldly bondage. What else do you wish to hear?
Lomaharsana said:
On hearing his words they said: ‘Well done, well done’. After praising and honouring Vyasa, they began to ask him once again.
The sages said:
O Sage! O excellent Brahmin! We are not satiated imbibing the verbal nectar coming out of the ocean of your mouth.
Hence, O Sage! Describe in detail the yoga that bestows salvation. O Most-excellent one among the bipeds! We wish to hear about Saamkhya, too.
O Sage! How does an intelligent Brahmin, well versed in the Veda, the performer of sacrifices, an intelligent devotee devoid of jealousy, and one whose mind dwells on truth and virtue attain to the Brahman?
Does he attain it by performing austerities, by living a celibate life, by renouncing everything, by means of his intellect, or by resorting to thought propounded by Saamkhya or Yoga? Please tell us.
By what means does a man attain concentration of mind and control over senses? It behooves you to explain to us.
Vyasa said:
No one achieves (spiritual attainment) without Knowledge and austerity, without subduing the sense organs or without renouncing everything.
All the major elements are the earlier creation of the Self-born Lord. They are fixed into the bodies of all living beings.
The physical body is from the Earth element. The viscidity is due to the Water element. The eyes are from the Fire element. The Air element is the support of Prana and Apana (that is, the organic gases). The Space (Ether) element is the inner cavity of the embodied beings such as the bowels, etc.
The deities presiding over the various parts of the body are Visnu at the time of departure, Indra over the physical strength, the Fire-god in the bowels and the interstices of quarters over the ears, Sarasvati, the goddess of speech over the ears and the tongue, etc.
Ears, skin, eyes, tongue, nose together with the five organs of action are the ten sense-organs (indriyas). They are the means of food in-take and for apprehending sound, touch, colour, taste and smell. One shall always know the sense-objects as separate from the sense-organs.
The mind is in unison with the sense-organs just as the non-poisonous snake is in company with (animals) beyond its control. The individual soul stationed in the heart is
always in unison with the mind.
The ten sense-organs, objects of senses, intrinsic nature, consciousness, mind, vital airs namely Prana and Apana, and the Jiva (the individual soul) are eternally present in
the physical bodies of the embodied beings.
There is no support unto the sattva. What are termed by the word guna are not the conscious ones. The splendour creates sattva, and by no means the gunas.
Thus the physical body consists of seventeen entities, and it is enveloped by sixteen qualities (gunas). O Brahmins! The wise sage sees by means of his mind the Soul
within the soul.
It cannot be perceived by the eye or by the sense-organs. It is by means of the illuminated mind that the higher Soul is revealed.
The atman (soul) is devoid of sound, touch and colour; it is free of taste and smell; it has neither form nor sense-organs. One shall feel it in one’s own body.
One can feel that which is un-manifest in all the physical bodies and that which is excessively honoured among mortals is capable of becoming the Brahman after one’s
demise.
Wise sages view the Atman equally in a Brahmin richly endowed with learning and humility, in a cow, in an elephant, in a dog or in an outcaste.
The One Soul abides in all living beings, mobile and immobile. The visible worlds are pervaded by IT.
When one sees the Soul in all living beings and all living beings in the Soul, the individual soul becomes identical with the Brahman.
The individual soul is the Supreme Soul to the extent to which the individual soul sees and understands the Supreme Soul. He who knows this is capable of immortality.
The Soul has no region, as IT is all-pervasive. Even deities seeking the region of the Inner Soul of all living beings and devoted to the welfare of all living beings are deluded.
Just as is the movement of birds in the sky or that of the fishes in the water imperceptible, so also is the movement of those who have achieved Knowledge.
Kala (Time, god of death) cooks all living beings in their soul by means of the Soul. But nobody knows wherein Kala itself is cooked.
The Soul is neither above, nor on the sides, nor below, nor in front, nor in the middle. No one ever seizes IT.
The worlds are stationed in IT. There is nothing extraneous to IT. Even if one has the speed of the wind and one goes forth ahead like an arrow discharged from the
bowstring, one shall never reach the end of the Ultimate Cause.
There is nothing subtler than IT; there is nothing that is grosser than IT.
IT has hands and feet all around; IT has eyes, heads and face all around; IT has ears all around; IT stands up enveloping everything in the world.
IT is minuter than the minutest fundamental particle; IT is greater than the greatest. Though IT abides steadfastly in all living beings, yet IT is beyond perception.
There are two states of the Atman, that is, the imperishable and the perishable. The perishable one is attached to all living beings; the imperishable is Divine and Immortal.
The Hamsa (swan, here the individual soul) builds for itself a city with nine gates (the outlets of every human being). The individual soul controls the body invariably. It is so in regard to all living beings, whether mobile or immobile.
Super-seers say that the swan-like property of the unborn soul comes from the fact that it discards doubtful alternatives and decides upon one.
What is termed by the word Hamsa is the perishable individual body with its attributes. What is imperishable is the unchangeable one. He who knows this attains to the Imperishable, and discards vital airs, and with that his very birth.
Vyasa said:
O Brahmins! You had asked me, and so Saamkhya, which is combined with perfect Knowledge, has been duly and truthfully recounted by me.
Henceforth, O Brahmins, I shall recount yoga. The unity of intellect and mind as well as of all the sense-organs (is to be understood). This knowledge is the highest one. It is the knowledge of the all-pervading Soul.
It can be understood only after eradicating the defects of yoga which (seers) know to be five in number. It can be understood by one who is tranquil, one who has controlled
one’s senses, one who practices spiritual exercises, one who takes delight in the soul, one who is enlightened and one whose activities are pure.
The five defects are lust, anger, greed, fear and slumber.
One conquers anger by practising mental tranquility and lust by avoiding lustful thoughts.
A self-possessed one is fit to eradicate slumber by resorting to sattva (activities).
By the practice of mental fortitude, one shall guard oneself against sexual lust and gluttony.

One shall guard hands and feet by means of the eye.
One shall guard eyes and ears by means of the mind.
One shall guard one’s mind and speech by means of good activity.
One shall eschew fear by means of vigilance and attention.
One shall eradicate arrogance by resorting to intelligent men.
One shall be watchfully alert and conquer the defects of yoga.
One shall bow down to the sacred fires, Brahmins and deities.
One shall avoid arrogant speech coupled with violence.
One shall speak words pleasing to the ear and the mind.
One who has the Knowledge of the Brahman perceives oneself as the entire universe consisting of mobile and immobile beings. He becomes identical with all living beings.
Meditation, self-study of the Veda, charitable gifts, truthfulness, shyness, straightforwardness, forgiveness, cleanliness, purity or the soul and the control of senses are the means by which one’s merit increases and sin decreases.
The devotee practising yoga shall be impartial to all living beings. He shall sustain himself with things available; he shall shed his sins; he shall conquer the sense-organs; and he shall take limited diet. He shall then become brilliant. After subduing lust and anger, he shall resort to the region of the Brahman. He shall maintain purity of the body and mind. Early in the night as well as early in the morning, he shall fix his mind on the soul.
A man has five sense organs. Even if one of them is moistened, his intellect begins to flow out like water from the foot of a mountain.
Just as the killer of fish takes turtles, so the seeker shall take the essence of the mind at the outset. The devotee who is conversant with yoga shall then control ear, eye, tongue and nose. Thereafter if he controls them and fixes them in the mind, he discharges all conceptions (mental fancies) and retains the mind in the soul.
If and when he fixes the five sense-organs in the mind and the heart, when these sense-organs, with the mind as the sixth, abide in the atman, he attains to the Brahman.
He sees his atman in the Atman. It is like the flame that shines free of smoke; it is like the brilliant sun; it is like the fire of lightning in the sky.
Everything is perceived there. Since IT is all-pervading, IT is seen everywhere. Noble-souled Brahmins who are wise, bold, have great intelligence, and who are engaged in
the welfare of all living beings see IT.
The devotee shall practise thus for a limited period. Keen in the practice of the holy rites, he shall seat himself in a secluded spot and attain to similarity with the
Imperishable One.
There are some pitfalls in the achievement of yogic power. The devotee shall avoid them. They are delusion, error, deliberation; miraculous results in regard to smelling,
hearing, seeing and touching; ability to bear cold and heat, gaseous shape; presence of mind and obstacles. By yogic practice, he should control all these. The devotee who understands Reality shall ignore the pitfalls. By means of his equanimity, he shall cause them to recede. The devotee, like a sage practising silence, shall practise yoga
with perfect mental purity.
He shall practise it on the top of a mountain, in a monastery or under a tree.
Just as a merchant who is worried over his articles of trade puts them into a safe, so the aspirant after yoga shall restrain his sense-organs and concentrate his mind. His
mind shall never get fed up with the yogic practice.
He shall adopt means whereby the unsteady mind can be put under control. He shall never swerve there-from. He shall steadily resort to the yogic practice. He shall take up vacant rooms for residence, and maintain concentration. Neither mentally nor verbally nor physically shall he proceed out of bounds. He shall be indifferent to everything worldly. He shall maintain restrictions on his diet. He shall be impartial to everything, whether obtained or not obtained.
Whether anyone congratulates him and wishes him or not, he shall be impartial to one and all. He shall not wish for either welfare or disaster of anyone.
He shall not be delighted with a gain nor worried for a loss. He shall be impartial to all living beings. He shall thus be one having properties similar to those of the wind.
Within six months, the Brahman approaches that devotee whose soul has become healthy and normal, who views everything impartially, who has become virtuous and
perfect, and who is perpetually engaged in yogic practice.
(Thus), the yogi is in a position to view a clod of earth, a piece of rock and an ingot of gold impartially. On seeing others distressed owing to pain, he shall not be deluded,
nor shall he swerve from his path.
Even a man of very low caste or a woman desirous of virtue shall attain to the supreme goal through this path.
On realizing this Unborn, Ancient, Un-ageing, Eternal (Lord) who is Imperceptible and who is beyond the ken of sense-organs, O Brahmins, intelligent men attain to equality
with the Brahman, a goal from which there is no return.
The sages said:
Should the Vedic injunction be ‘Perform rites and renounce them’? Whither do they go by means of Vidya (learning), and what do they (the performers) attain to by means of
holy rites?
We wish to hear this. Your Holiness may be pleased to explain it to us. There is a mutual inconsistency in this (injunction) because both are opposed to each other.
Vyasa said:
Listen, O leading Sages! I shall briefly explain the Kshara (perishable) and Akshara (imperishable) in the form of holy rites and Knowledge about which you have asked me.
Listen now, O Brahmins, to the question whither they go by means of learning and what they attain by means of holy rites. The reply to this (question) is intricate and
complex.
It is but proper to say that Dharma (virtuous action) exists. In the same context, if anyone were to say that it does not exist, then this shall be tantamount to saying that this resembles a Yaksha and that there is no Yaksha.
There are the two paths wherein the Veda is well founded. Dharma is characterized by Pravrtti (activity taking active part in worldly life). The other part is Nivrtti (the mode of
action leading the soul from the world for salvation).
A man is ordinarily bound by activity. But he is liberated only by means of Vidya (Knowledge – Nivrtti). Hence ascetics, the wise ones, do not engage themselves in worldly activity.
On account of activity (by performing various rites), one is reborn after death into an embodied form consisting of sixteen constituents, that is, sense-organs, etc. On
account of Knowledge, one is transformed into the Eternal Un-manifest Brahman, the Akshara or Imperishable One.
Those possessed of inferior intellect praise karma (performance of holy rites). Thereby they attain to a series of bodies to indulge themselves in. They perform worship.
Those who have acquired the highest intellect, those who perceive the efficiency of Dharma do not praise karma, like one who drinks the river water and so does not praise the well.
One attains to happiness and misery, birth and non-birth, as a result of karma. By Knowledge, one attains to that after reaching which one never feels sorry and is ever in

On attainment of Knowledge, the region of the Brahman, one does not die, one is not reborn, one does not become old and one does not decay.
It is where the Supreme Brahman is. IT is Un-manifest, Unmoving and Fixed. IT is not split and analyzed. IT has no extension. IT is Immortal. The devotee, who understands
the esoteric doctrine of yoga, (attains to IT).
Those who are impartial to all, those who are friendly to all, those who are engaged in everything conducive to the welfare of all living beings are not affected by pairs of
opposites or by mental activities.
The Purusa possessed of Knowledge is different from the Purusa possessed of karma. O Brahmins! The moon that stands with its full complement of subtle digits is different
from the sense of touch it has.
This has been mentioned by the sage, and it is sung in detail. It cannot be seen or recounted like a spoke in a revolving wheel in the sky.
The embodied form has the full complement of all digits. It has eleven created things within itself. O Brahmins! Understand it to be of the nature of karma and gunas
(qualities).
The splendid atman that has resorted to the physical body like the moon in the sky should be known as Kshetrajna. It is eternal. It has realized the Brahman by means of
yoga.
Tamas, Rajas and Sattva should be known as the qualities of the Jiva (individual soul). The Jiva has all the qualities of the Supreme Soul.
They (the wise sages) say that consciousness is innate in the Jiva. It activates the qualities of the Jiva. Thereafter, those who allow importance to the physical body say that they (the qualities of the Jiva) can create seven worlds.
Vyasa said:
The creatures (living beings) of Prakrti are known as (individual souls). They do not, however, comprehend their souls.
The individual soul performs the activities of the living being through the sense organs, with the mind as the sixth among them, just as the sober charioteer manages his
chariot by means of superb well-controlled horses.
The sense-objects are greater than the sense-organs; the mind is greater than the sense-objects; the intellect is greater than the mind; the great principle known as atman
is greater than the intellect; the Un-manifest One is greater than all these. The Immortal One is greater than the Un-manifest. There is nothing greater than the Immortal.
That is the climax. That is the supreme goal.
Thus the atman that is hidden in all living beings is not easily revealed. It is perceived by persons of subtle vision by means of perfect, subtle intellect.
The yogi shall cause his sense-organs including the mind to dissolve in the inner soul by means of his intellect. He shall not ponder over the sense-objects through (the
activities of) the sense-organs. He shall not think at all by means of his mind. He shall merge it with the soul by means of Knowledge and make it perfect in meditation. He
shall thereby attain to tranquility of the soul. He shall not have anyone else to rule over him. He shall go to the supreme region.
One who slavishly submits to one’s sense organs or one whose faculty of memory is shaken becomes a victim of death by yielding oneself. But if one subdues all (wishful)
thoughts and directs the mind towards sattva, after stabilizing the mind in sattva, one shall become victorious over death.
By means of clarity of thought (vision), the ascetic eschews the auspicious and inauspicious. One whose soul is pleased abides in the Atman, and attains to everlasting bliss.
The clearness (clarity) of the mind has varied characteristics. It is like happiness during slumber. It is like a lamp that shines without flickering, in a place not affected by wind. Similarly, one who practices yoga early in the night or early in the morning by uniting the atman (individual soul) with the Atman (Supreme Soul) sees the Atman in the atman. Such a seeker shall have to limit his diet and purify his senses.
This is the secret of the Veda. It is unparalleled; it is free from ailments; it convinces one about the existence of the Atman. One shall impart this sacred doctrine to one’s
son. This is the nectar that has resulted by churning for ten thousand years the wealth of all virtuous discourses and truthful narratives.
Just as butter is produced out of curd and as fire is produced from the sacrificial twig, so also this Knowledge is acquired for the salvation of wise scholars.
This Knowledge should be imparted to those who have completed the stage of Brahma-charya. This should never be mentioned to one who is not tranquil, who has no control over one’s sense-organs, who does not perform austerities, who has not mastered the Veda, who is not obedient, who is not straightforward, who is jealous, who does not act according to directions, who is given to argumentation or who is a backbiter.
This secret Knowledge should be imparted to one who is praiseworthy, who is tranquil, who is austere and who is obedient. It should by no means be imparted to anyone
else.
Even if the whole of the earth filled with all jewels were offered against this, a seeker who knows Reality shall prefer this (Knowledge) to that.
The Aadhyaatma (spiritual) doctrine that is super-human contains greater secrets than the Yogic-knowledge. It has been perceived by great sages. It is sung about in the
Vedanta.
O good and noble Ones! I have given unto you what you asked me. What else shall I tell you?
The sages said:
Describe once again to us the Aadhyaatma doctrine in detail, O holy One, the most excellent of all sages, so that we can fully understand it.
Vyasa said:
I shall explain to you all what is recounted as Aadhyaatma in regard to a person. Understand it properly.
The great elements are the Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Space (Ether). He who is the Creator of these elements is within all the living beings.
The sages said:
The Ether, etc have no shape. No one sees anybody or anything in them. How can one then explain their presence in the physical bodies? There are certain qualities in the sense-organs. How can one comprehend them?
Vyasa said:
I shall explain this precisely in accordance with what is seen (in the scriptures). Listen attentively and comprehend them according to reality.
Sound, ear (hearing) and void space are the traits of Ether. Vital airs, movement and touch are the qualities of Vayu (air).
Colour, eye (vision) and gastric action (digestion) are the qualities of Fire. Taste (such as sweet), tongue, etc are the qualities of Water.
What is smelt, nose and the physical body are the qualities of Earth.
The group of sense organs has thus evolved out of the five elements.
The quality of touch belongs to Air (Wind), the quality of taste to Water, the quality of colour to Fire, the quality of sound to Ether, and the quality of smell to Earth.
The mind, intellect and intrinsic nature are born of their origins. They transcend gunas; they are greater than gunas.

Just as the turtle stretches and withdraws its limbs under its back, so he who has excellent intellect controls his set of sense-organs.
The fact that one sees upwards, sideways as well as below the soles of one’s feet indicates that the excellent intellect abides by one’s duty alone.
The intellect is led by the gunas. It is the intellect that leads the sense-organs. Should the intellect be absent, whence can there be the gunas?
There are five sense-organs in man; the sixth is mind; the seventh is intellect; the soul is the eighth.
The eye perceives; the mind entertains doubt; the intellect determines; the soul is the witness.
Rajas, tamas and sattva are born of their respective causes. They are common to all beings. They are gunas (qualities).
That which one sees within the soul, something which is pleasant and delightful, is sattva. It is something quiescent and calm.
That predilection which is attended by distress either in the body or in the mind is rajas. One sees that rajas is always active.
That predilection which is attended by delusion is tamas. It is vague, incomprehensible and incapable of being explained.
Extreme delight, pleasure, bliss, and mastery over oneself and normal restful nature of the mind with or without reasons thereof are considered the qualities of sattva.
Conceit, untruthfulness, covetousness, delusion and impatience are the symptoms of rajas.
Deluded state, blunders, languor, slumber, and inability to be awake are the qualities of tamas. (The people under their influence) live somehow. They do not live a full useful
life.
The external prompting for action is threefold. The mind indulges in fanciful creation of conceptions. The intellect is the factor of energetic determination. The heart dwells
only on what is endearing.
The objects are indeed greater than the sense-organs; the mind is greater than the objects; the intellect is greater than the mind; and the soul is greater than the intellect.
The intellect is the leader of the soul; the intellect is indeed the soul. When the intellect undergoes aberration and change in regard to emotion, it becomes the mind.
Inasmuch as the sense-organs are separate, it is the intellect that undergoes aberration. In the act of hearing, it becomes the ear, and in the act of touch, it becomes the sense of touch.
In the act of seeing, it is the eye; in the act of tasting, it is the tongue; and in the act of smelling, it is the nose. It is the intellect that undergoes all the changes.
They (the wise men) call them the sense-organs. The intellect becomes diffused in those forms. When it remains steady, it is called intellect.
Sometimes it gets pleasure: sometimes it bewails; and sometimes it loses sense. (But really it is) not affected by pleasure and pain. Just as the ocean, lord of the rivers,
surges towards the great shore with its billows, so also the intellect that is intrinsically emotional surges towards the three emotions (pleasure, pain and delusion).
When the intellect yearns for and seeks something, it becomes the mind. One can see the two, intellectually, separate in their basis.
The sense-organs are based on the intellect. They must be considered entirely in the order in which each is evolved.
When the mind is free of gunas and emotions, it is the intellect. Emotion makes it the mind. When rajas begins to function, it transcends sattva.
Those that abide emotionally in all the three gunas run after the objects of senses like the spokes in the rim.
One shall make use of the mind for the purpose of illumination even as the sense-organs are perfected by the intellect (either) handling them befittingly or remaining
indifferent.
If only one understands this as natural, one does not become deluded. One does not bewail; and one is delighted. One is always free from hostility.
Indeed, the soul cannot be perceived by the sense-organs that are subject to lust, that function in diverse ways, that cannot be controlled and that are ignorant and foolish.
When one holds their reins firmly by means of the mind and controls them, the soul reveals itself like a figure illumined by a lamp.
When darkness is repelled, the living beings (or objects) are brought to light. This should also be considered in the same manner.
Just as an aquatic bird is not affected by water even as it moves through it, so also is the yogi of liberated soul not affected by the faults of gunas.
Similarly, one who has realized the soul is not affected by the defects (of worldly existence) even when one continues to live in the world; one does not cling to anything.
One is by no means contaminated.
As one abandons the karma done previously, one is not affected by it. If one has love towards the great Atman but yet gets stuck due to the contact with gunas, the soul of
such a one takes re-birth. One gets entangled in the gunas. The gunas do not understand the soul. But the soul knows the gunas.
One shall contemplate the gunas. One is the seer of everything in the manner it exists. One shall be able to perceive the difference between sattva (guna) and Kshetrajna (Individual Soul).
One of the two creates the guna(s) and the other does not create. The two are naturally separate, and yet are joined together. Just as gold and pebbles are found existing together (though separate), just as the mosquito and udumbara are found together though separate, just as the isika (shoot of a grass) and the munja grass are found together though separate, so also the two remain together though they are separate from each other.
Vyasa said:
Sattva creates gunas and the Kshetrajna presides over them.
It is all but natural that Sattva creates these gunas. Just as the spider weaves its web, so also Sattva creates gunas.
Some are of the opinion that those who have started functioning do not cease to function though the functioning is not perceptible. But others accept cessation of activity.
One should ponder over these two (theses), and come to a conclusion in accordance with one’s intellect. Of course, there is a possibility of a great doubt arising in one’s
mind.

Indeed the Atman has neither birth nor death. One shall sport about, after realizing It. One shall neither be angry, nor be delighted. One shall be free of enmity and jealousy.
Thus, everyone shall reflect on (the Supreme Being) by means of intellect and heart. One shall consider that the worldly pleasures are evanescent. One shall be free of
doubt. One shall cross the samsara in the same manner as a scholarly man crosses a swollen river by swimming across it.
O Brahmins! This (earthly existence) is fickle and unsteady. A scholar does not feel distressed. Knowing this reality, he walks on firm ground pondering over the Atman, and the knowledge of the Atman.
After understanding the creation (and cessation) of living beings, their advent as well as departure, and observing (everything) well, a seeker obtains excellent quiescence
and tranquility.
This is the whole (aim) of the twice-born, and especially of the Brahmin. It is the knowledge of the Atman. It is the ultimate resort. It is possible through impartiality and love towards all. One shall become enlightened, after understanding this reality. What else is the characteristic of an enlightened one? After comprehending this, a learned man becomes liberated.
The enlightened ones do not have the fear that the unenlightened ones have as to what happens after death in the other world. No one has a greater status than the eternal
one which the enlightened one has.
Man is detracted from the inner world. On not seeing the Lord there, he bewails. Those who have proper understanding of the Lord do not bewail.
If one performs karma without yearning for benefit, it burns away sins. If actions are performed with pleasure or hatred as motives, the same results of one’s actions.
The sages said:
May Your Holiness be pleased to tell us that most excellent virtue, than which there is no greater virtue and that which is greater than all valuable things.
Vyasa said:
I shall recount the ancient virtue eulogized by the sages, which is the most excellent of all virtues. Listen to it, O excellent Sages!
The sense-organs agitate us. One shall intelligently control them like a father who controls his sons during their formative childhood years. The concentration of mind and the control of sense-organs are the greatest austerity. That is the most excellent of all virtues. It is mentioned as the greatest virtue.
By means of perfect Knowledge, one shall control those (sense-organs) including the mind as the sixth, and shall be self-contented. One shall not ponder over the
multifarious objects of thought.
When these (sense-organs) refrain from their respective objects and remain in their abodes, you will all see the Supreme Atman, the Eternal One, by means of the self.
The intelligent Brahmins see the great Atman, the Soul of all like the smokeless fire.
Just as a great tree with many branches having flowers and fruits does not know specifically, ‘where is my flower? Where is my fruit?’, so also the (individual) soul does not know, ‘whence have I come? Whither will I go?’ It has another inner Soul that sees everything.
One realizes Atman by atman through the mind that is illumined by perfect Knowledge. O Brahmins! You all shall be free from passionate attachment on realizing Atman.
Even in this world you will attain great intellect and become liberated from all sins like serpents that shed off their slough. You will be devoid of anxieties and free of ailments.
The river of worldly existence is terrible. It has currents everywhere. The five sense-organs are its crocodiles. The conceptions of the mind are its bands. Greed and delusion
are the grasses that cover them up. Lust and anger are the reptiles that are there.
Truthfulness constitutes holy waters, and falsehood the turbulent eddies. That excellent river of worldly existence has anger for its marshy bed. Its source is the Un-manifest one. It is a rapid river agitated by lust and anger. Those who are not self-possessed cannot cross it.
O Brahmins! Cross that river by means of your intellect. If flows into the ocean of worldly existence. It is impassable as it falls into the nether regions of the vaginal passage. It starts with one’s own birth. It is difficult of access due to the whirlpool of tongues. Intelligent persons of great courage and steadfast intellect cross it. One who has crossed it is liberated. One’s soul is purified. One is pure and self-possessed.
One is capable of becoming the Brahman by adopting excellent intellect. One overcomes great distress. One is devoid of sins and one’s soul is clean and pleasant. From all places, one sees all living beings. One becomes neither angry nor elated. One is not wicked in one’s mind.
Thereafter, you see the birth and annihilation of all living beings (with equipoise). Wise men have considered this as the most excellent of all virtues.
O most excellent Ones! Among persons upholding virtue, the wise sages of truthful speech consider this as the most excellent virtue. O Brahmins! The (individual) souls are all-pervading. This principle should be imparted to one’s sons.
This great secret doctrine of the soul is the highest of all esoteric doctrines. This should be imparted to a pure and devoted follower.
What I have recounted is a highly secret doctrine with ‘the soul as witness thereof’. The atman is neither a female nor a male, nor is it a neuter one. The Brahman is devoid of misery and happiness. IT is identical with the past, present and future. After realizing this, no man or woman shall have to undergo rebirth.
All these facts have been described, O Brahmins, by me.
A person of delighted mind, whose son possesses good qualities and who is compassionate towards good sons will think about the welfare of those sons.
The sages said:
It has been said by Brahma that liberation is to be acquired through a certain means and not without means. O Sage! We wish to hear that means.
Vyasa said:
In regard to this, O extremely intelligent Ones, close scrutiny is necessary. O sinless Ones! Always seek all objects through that means.
The intellect is the means of finding a pot. But it is not the cause of the pot. The same formula applies to the means of virtue. Virtue is not the cause of Dharma (virtuous
conduct).

The path that leads to the eastern sea does not go to the western sea. Indeed there is only one path unto liberation. O sinless Ones! Listen to that.
One shall dispel anger by patience and forbearance, and lust by avoiding mental conceptions. A bold man (a self-possessed one) deserves to dispel slumber by resorting to sattva.
One shall guard against fear by avoiding mistakes. One shall protect (one’s soul) and one’s Knowledge. One shall courageously cause wish, hatred and lust to recede.
One who knows Reality shall win over slumber and intellect by means of Knowledge.
The yogi subdues ailments by taking wholesome food in limited quantities after the previous intake has been digested.
One shall conquer greed and delusion by contentment, sensual objects by means of the vision of the Reality, evil by tenderness and compassion, and virtue by indifference.
The learned man shall conquer hope and ambition by restraining his mind, competitiveness by avoiding close contact, affection by the thought of temporality, and hunger by yogic practice.
One shall conquer selfishness by merciful compassion, greed by means of contentment, and languor by early rise. One shall conquer fanciful doubt by means of
decisiveness.
One shall conquer verbose talkativeness by means of silence, fear by heroism, speech and mind by intellect, and intellect by Knowledge.
The great atman shall control knowledge. The tranquility of the atman shall lead to the Atman. A tranquil person of pure activities is aware of these truths.
The seers know that the defects of yogic practice are lust, anger, greed, fear and slumber. The devotee shall dispel these defects and resort duly to the yogic means. (They are) meditation, self-study of the Veda, charitable gifts, truthfulness, shyness, straight-forwardness, forbearance, cleanliness, pious conduct and control over the
sense-organs. One’s splendour increases by adoption of these means. One dispels sin.
Everything that one wishes for is achieved. One’s perfect Knowledge begins to function. One shakes off one’s sins and becomes brilliant. One shall have limited diet. One shall conquer sense-organs. One shall keep lust and anger under one’s control. One shall thus enter the region of the Brahman.
This is the clean, pure and vivid path of liberation (salvation). It is the state of no-delusion, the state of non-attachment, the state of avoidance of lust and anger, the state of not being puffed up, the state of absence of excited anxiety, and the state of being steady.
The sages said:
O Brahmin! O excellent Sage! It behooves you to relate to us the respective peculiarities of Saamkhya and Yoga. O Sage! Conversant with virtue, everything is known to you!
Vyasa said:
The followers of Saamkhya praise Saamkhya. The followers of Yoga praise Yoga. In order to exalt their own side, they give cogent reasons.
O excellent Sages! ‘How can one who is not competent be liberated?’ Thus saying, with good reasons, learned men mention Yoga to be more excellent.
Other learned Brahmins give reasons to justify Saamkhya. ‘He who is unattached to the sensual objects shall be liberated from his body, after understanding all movements and goals, and not otherwise. Thus men of great intellect state that Saamkhya is the Philosophy of liberation.
Reasons capable of justifying one’s own side, words conducive to justifying one’s point of view shall be honoured and accepted by learned men.
Yogic austerities result in spiritual attainment. The Saamkhyas adhere to what is stated in the scriptural texts. O excellent Brahmins! Saamkhya and Yoga are based on reality. Both these systems are known to the sages as systems approved by good men. If they are practised in accordance with the scriptural texts, they are sure to lead to the supreme goal.
O sinless Ones! Proper means of cleanliness have been mentioned in both of them equally. Compassionate mercy to all living beings is common to both. The observance of holy rites is also common. But spiritual vision is not the same for both.
The sages said:
If the observance of holy rites, purity and mercifulness are common, O great Sage, how is it that the spiritual vision is not the same. Tell us, kindly, O excellent Brahmin!
Vyasa said:
Defaulters in yogic practice attain to passion, delusion, affection, lust and anger, the five defects mentioned in the yogic path.
Just as the big fish cut off the net and escape into water, so also the seekers, devoid of sins, attain to the region of the Brahman by taking recourse to yoga.
Similarly, just as the strong deer breaks loose, cuts the net and attains to freedom being liberated from all bondage, so also the Brahmins, equipped with strength, break
their bonds of covetousness, and attain to the auspicious path devoid of impurities.
The persons equipped with strength are firm and steadfast. On the other hand, those without the strength of yoga perish, just as the birds devoid of strength, O leading
Brahmins, fall into net. Sinless ones do not get involved in bondage. Such are the powers of Yoga.
Just as, on getting entangled in a fine net, weaker birds fall into misfortune while stronger ones free themselves, so those who are possessed of strength are liberated, while the feeble ones perish. Similarly, the Brahmins who are devoted to yoga are bound by the fetters arising out of their past karma. The weaker ones perish and the strong ones
get free.
O Brahmins! The fire of very little magnitude is very weak, and it calms down on being overwhelmed by huge (quantities of) fuel. The yogic power, too, is similar.
O Brahmins! The same fire becomes stronger once again on being accompanied by the wind. It may then burn the entire fuel instantly.
The extremely powerful yogi whose strength is the perfect Knowledge of Reality and whose splendour is illumined is capable of drying up the entire universe like the sun at
the time of dissolution.
O Brahmins! Just as a weak man is taken away by the force of a current, so also the yogi, if devoid of strength, is carried away by the force of sensuous objects.
A powerful elephant is capable of obstructing the same water current. Similarly, after attaining the yogic strength, no man is led astray by sensuous objects.
Those who are endowed with the power of yoga become masters of everything, and enter the region of Prajapatis, Manus and Bhutas.
Neither Yama, nor the infuriated Antaka (The annihilator), nor Mrtyu (god of death) of terrible exploits enter, O Brahmins, the path of yoga of unlimited splendour.
O excellent Brahmins! There are thousands of atmans (souls). By means of them one shall practise yoga and, after attaining to the yogic power, wander over the earth.
One may indulge in enjoying worldly pleasures and do severe penance thereafter. Again, O Brahmins, one shall subdue them (worldly pleasures) like the sun that subdues the qualities of brilliance.
O excellent Sages! For infusing more strength into the yoga that is based on strength, one shall undoubtedly resort to Visnu, the source or origin of liberation.
These powers of yoga have been mentioned by me, O excellent Brahmins, by way of illustration. Again, O Brahmins, I shall mention the subtle ones.
Listen to the illustration, O excellent sages, in regard to meditation upon the soul or in regard to concentration of mind.

Vyasa said:
O Brahmins! Intelligent scholars, the followers of Kapila and his Saamkhya system, speak of five defects in the body. They are conversant with the path. Listen, O excellent
sages!
Lust, anger, fear, slumber and breath are the defects seen in the bodies of all embodied beings.
By means of patience, they cut off anger; by avoiding close intimacy, they remove lust; by resorting to saattvika substances, they remove slumber; and they remove fear by means of avoidance of errors. They cut off and remove breath, O Brahmins, by means of reduced diet.
Good qualities are known by means of hundreds of good qualities, and defects by means of hundreds of defects. Reasons must be known by means of hundreds of reasons.
Wonderful things should be known by means of hundreds of wonderful things.
The world is like the foam of waters. It is created by means of hundreds of Maya by Visnu.
It resembles the wall painted in a picture. It has as much strength as grass. (It is flimsy and feeble.) It is conducive to great harm. It wanders about in darkness. It must be seen as one resembling bubbles (of water) during rain.
It is almost ruinous though it appears to be pleasant. It instills fear even after its destruction. Just as an elephant that has got stuck in mud becomes helpless, so also the world gets stuck in the slough of rajas and tamas.
The Saamkhyas, O Brahmins, are highly intelligent. They abandon all attachment towards their progeny by means of Knowledge and the object of Knowledge that is
all-pervasive and great, O Brahmins. With the weapon of Knowledge of the Atman, O excellent Ones, and with the rod of penance, they sever off the inauspicious rajasic
odours, tamasic odours, meritorious saattvic odours, and those odours related to the body arising owing to the physical touch. Thereafter they cross the terrible watery
expanse of misery wherein anxiety and grief are great eddies, sickness and death are extremely terrible, great fear acts like great serpents, tamas is like a tortoise and
rajas is like fish. They cross this terrible expanse by means of their intellect.
By the path of Knowledge, the sinless persons, the sages of great achievement, cross the ocean of worldly existence wherein affectionate attachment is mud, old age is the
fort, and the sensation of touch is like an island.
O excellent Brahmins! Karma is the great depth; truth is the bank; holy rites are the places to stand by. O intelligent ones! Violence is the quickness and rapidity of the
current; it is turbid due to different rasas.
Different gestures of love are great jewels; misery and fever are the winds; grief and thirst are the great whirlpools; it has great pain due to sickness.
O excellent Brahmins! The set of bones is the flight of steps with phlegm for joining them; liberal charity is the mine of pearls; the terrible outpourings of blood are the coral beads; laughter and lamentation are the loud reports.
It is very difficult to cross on account of various acts of ignorance. The dirt accumulated by the tears of lamentation is the brine; contact and union are the goals; this world of birth is one that deceives with sons and relatives for their towns; this (worldly existence) is an ocean unto all living beings with nonviolence and truthfulness for its line of boundary; it is full of surging waves due to the (incessant) contacts of vital airs; milk flows in successive waves; the territory here is the rare salvation; and it is an ocean with the submarine fire at its mouth. Sinless ascetics cross this ocean (of existence).
After crossing (the ocean of) births which is difficult to cross, they enter the pure sky and, thereafter, on seeing them come, the sun carries them with its rays.
The rays enter them like fibres of lotus, O Brahmins, as they blow over the territories. O sinless Ones! The wind Pravaha takes them up there.
O Brahmins! The subtle, sweet smelling, cool wind Pravaha with gentle touch receives those ascetics who are devoid of passion, and the siddhas whose asset is penance,
and who are endowed with virility.
That wind which is the most excellent of all the seven winds, and which goes to the splendid worlds, leads them, O great Brahmins, to the most excellent goal from the
firmament.
The firmament carries the lords of the worlds to the greatest goal from the rajas. It carries, O great Brahmins, to the greatest goal of sattva.
The pure soul carries the sattva to the great and splendid Lord Narayana. The Lord of Pure Soul carries them to the Supreme Soul by Himself.
After attaining to the Supreme Soul, they become rid of all defects. They are always free of dirt. They become capable of immortality. O Brahmins! they do not come back.
That is the greatest goal, O Brahmins, of those noble souls who are free from the mutually conflicting pairs of opposites, who are devotedly engaged in truthfulness and
straight-forwardness, and who have kindness and sympathy for all living beings.
The sages said:
After attaining to the most excellent region of the Lord, do those persons of steady holy rites sport about there till their death and rebirth?
It behooves you to describe accurately what exactly the truth is therein. Except you, we cannot, O excellent One, afford to ask any other mortal.
This would be a great defect in salvation if other ascetics would also stay in the same place, perfect knowledge leading them to salvation, along with the sages who have
attained to spiritual achievement.
Hence, O Brahmin, we consider Dharma characterized by Pravrtti (life of pious activities as opposed to life of pursuit of Knowledge) as the most supreme one. On the other hand, there is likelihood of misery for a person completely engaged in the (pursuit of) great Knowledge.
Vyasa said:
The question has been put most relevantly, O excellent Sages! Your dilemma has been well enunciated. There is confusion and delusion even amongst scholars in regard to this problem.
Even here, listen to my words in regard to the perfect truth where the great intellect of those noble souls, the followers of Kapila, finds a place.
The sense-organs, too, of the embodied beings, O Brahmins, are aware of the body. They are atman’s karanas (organs of activity and knowledge). The soul perceives all types of subtle entities through them.

(The sense-organs) devoid of atman as a result of sinful actions perish like the waves in a great ocean.
While the embodied soul is asleep or agitated, the subtle Soul wanders about along with the sense-organs like the wind that blows everywhere.
It sees duly. O sinless Ones! It touches after remembering. It becomes aware of all as before, O Brahmins.
Since they are not masters, the sense-organs merge into their respective places (objects) like serpents which are killed.
The subtle Soul encompasses the movements of sense-organs in their respective places, and moves about.
The individual soul pervades different qualities of sattva, rajas and tamas, the qualities of intellect, O excellent Ones, the qualities of mind, the qualities of firmament, the
qualities of wind, O omniscient Ones, the qualities arising from affection, the qualities of waters, O Brahmins, and all the qualities of earth. The Kshetrajna pervades, O
excellent Brahmins, the qualities in these individual souls, and moves about owing to auspicious and inauspicious karma.
Sense-organs move along with the soul just as disciples go along with a great saint (preceptor). After going beyond Prakrti, they attain to the Subtle Narayana of great Soul, the Great ultimate Resort, greater than the greatest, and devoid of all aberrations.
He is free from all sins. He has entered a state of freedom from all ailments. That Supreme Soul is devoid of all qualities. IT is blissful, excellent one.
There, O Brahmins, the excellent mind and the sense-organs come at the proper time taking up the message of the preceptor. It is possible to attain tranquility and good
qualities in the span of a brief period by means of the above mentioned Saamkhya and Yoga. The highly intelligent Saamkhyas attain to the highest goal. O great Brahmins!
There is no other knowledge equal to this one that brings about salvation.
May you be in no doubt in this matter? It is Knowledge that is the great Saamkhya. The Primordial and the Eternal Brahman is Imperishable and Dhruva (everlasting).
Persons of tranquility and calmness speak of IT as that which has no beginning, middle or end, that which is free from the pairs of opposites, that which has no agent, the Eternal One, and the Kuutastha (firm and steady like the peak of a mountain).
It is from this that all the processes of creation and annihilation issue forth. So say the eloquent great sages in the sacred scriptures.
The Brahmins, the Veda and persons who are conversant with the Sama-veda hymns call Him the greatest Lord, the Endless One, the greatest Achyuta (one who does not
slip or swerve) and Brahmanya (favourable to the Brahman). Brahmins, with their intellect turned towards gunas, the followers of yoga who are united with the great One, and the Saamkhyas with their vision directed towards the unmeasured One (praise Him). He has no manifest form, O great Brahmins! The Veda says that Knowledge is (His form). O excellent sages! They speak of many ways of recognizing IT (the Brahman).
There are two types of living beings on the earth, O excellent Brahmins, the stationary and the gamya (the mobile ones). Of these two, the mobile ones are better.
Jnana (Knowledge) is greater than all great things, O Brahmins. O great sages! Whatever is seen in the Veda, in Saamkhya, in Yoga and in Purana has come from
Saamkhya.
Whatever is seen in the great Itihasas (epics), what is particularly seen in truthful scriptures and whatever knowledge is there is the world, O great Sages, has come from Saamkhya.
Everything that is seen in the world, the great strength, knowledge, salvation, penance and all these subtle things have been duly laid down in Saamkhya, O Brahmins!
Saamkhyas attain to their welfare easily even from the things opposed to their thought. After realizing them, they become content.
After giving up their bodies, they enter salvation. The followers of Yoga and Saamkhya reside in heaven. Hence they are more interested in Saamkhya that is very valuable,
and resorted to by dignified persons, O Brahmins!
O Sages! In the case of those Brahmins who are not devoted to this Knowledge, their oblique movement (their birth among lower creatures) is seen. But it does not amount
to downfall into the abode of those who commit sins. Those Brahmins are not important at all.
The Saamkhya system is vast, great, ancient and free from impurities. It is as vast as the great ocean. It is dignified and splendid. The followers of Saamkhya dedicate
everything unto Narayana.
This great truth that the ancient universe originates from Narayana has been spoken by me. At the time of creation, He creates and at the time of annihilation, He annihilates it.
The sages said:
What is it that is called Imperishable, from which that does not return again? O great Sage! We ask you about the distinction between the Perishable and the Imperishable
in order to understand it correctly.
O excellent Sage! O leader of Sages! Indeed, you are mentioned as the most excellent among those who are endowed with Knowledge, by sages of great fortune and ascetics of noble souls who have mastered the Veda.
We wish to hear everything regarding this, from you, O Sage of great intellect! We are never satiated hearing the excellent nectar-like words of yours.
Vyasa said:
In this connection, I shall recount unto you the legend of yore, the dialogue between Vasistha and Karala-Janaka.
Vasistha, the most excellent one among the sages, having the features of the sun, was sitting in his hermitage when king Janaka asked him about the perfect Knowledge
leading to salvation.
Formerly king Karala-Janaka asked the excellent sage Vasistha who was seated, after paying him obeisance with joined palms. He asked him about those topics with
particular relevance to the Supreme Soul, and the ways and means of spiritual pursuit. He asked the sage who moved about as he pleased, who performed excellent deeds,
who was sweet-tempered and who was never puffed up.
Janaka said:

O holy One! I wish to hear about the great Eternal Brahman from whom men of intellect never return. What is it that is called Kshara since this universe dissolves therein (in the Brahman)? What is it that is spoken of as Akshara which is auspicious, conducive to happiness and free from ailment?
Vasistha said:
O Ruler of the earth! Let it be heard how this universe dissolves and perishes, where it dissolves at first, and how long it takes.
A Yuga consists of twelve thousand years. Know that a Kalpa is made up of four Yugas. A cycle of four hundred Kalpas is called a day of Brahma.
O King! The night is also of the same duration at the end of which he wakes up and creates the great element firmament and other creations without end. The self-born lord, devoid of form, and benefactor of the world, creates the universe that has form. It is in the lord that the universe is rooted and has its origin, O excellent King!
(The Supreme Soul) is Isaana, the never-diminishing flame, with the powers of Anima (minuteness), Laghima (lightness) and Prapti (accessibility). It has legs and hands all
around. It has eyes, heads and mouths all around. It has ears all around. It stands enveloping everything in the world. He is Lord Hiranyagarbha and is known as Buddhi
(Cosmic Intellect).
It is called by various names in Saamkhya. In the Yoga system, it is called Mahat and Virinchi.
It has various forms. It is the Soul of the universe. It is known as One and Imperishable. All the three worlds have been held by It as though they form one unit.
In the same manner, It is known as Omni-formed because of its multifarious forms undergoing some physical changes It creates in Itself.
Pradhana is a very great city called so because it is the abode of elements, etc. Ahamkara (Great Ego) has great splendour and it is subdued by Prajapati.
They call the manifestation from the Un-manifest Vidyaasarga. Mahat and Ahamkara constitute Avidyaasarga.
So also from the Eka (Only One) the Achara (immobile) and Chara (mobile) are born. They are known as Vidya and Avidya, and proclaimed so by persons who ponder over
Vedic passages and scriptures. Know that there is a third type of creation, O King, from Ahamkaara, that is, the creation of elements (Bhutasarga), namely, wind, fire,
firmament, water and earth. In Ahamkaara itself, O King, know the fourth creation as Vaikrta (diverse manifestation). The five elements and their particular qualities, namely, sound, touch, colour, taste and smell are produced simultaneously.
Know the fifth type of creation, O great King, to be Bhautika-sarga (the creation of the evolutes of the five elements). They are the organs of sense and action as well as the
mind. Ear, skin, eye, tongue and nose are the five sense-organs. Speech, hands, feet, anus and the regenerative organ are the five karmendriyas (organs of action). These
organs arise simultaneously with the mind. Thus there are twenty-four principles in action in the Creation. By knowing this set of twenty-four principles, the Brahmins cease to be worried. They see the Reality.
Thus the excellent set of the three worlds is produced. It should be known, O excellent One among men! In the whole world, in all the creations, the Atman that pervades is the same whether it is the ocean of hell, the abode of Yakshas, Bhutas, Gandharvas, Kinnaras, Nagas, Charanas, Pisachas, deities, sages and demons; or whether it is the creation of flies, worms, mosquitoes, worms in the putrid matter, mice, dogs, low caste people who cook dogs, chandalas, pulkasas, eneyas, hunters of deer, horses, elephants, donkeys, tigers, wolves and cows. We have already heard that there is the abode of embodied beings in water, land and air. Certainly, nowhere else!
It is the Soul of all living beings that is known as Imperishable (Akshara). Everyday, the entire universe drops off and perishes. It moves off from the Avyakta (the un-manifest one). Since the universe perishes, it is called (perishable). They say that the universe is conducive to delusion. It is called Vyakta (manifest), and it arises from Avyakta. The Akshara is great and eternal. It avoids Kshara (the perishable). From this no one returns. Thus, O great King, the Akshara has been explained unto you.
The twenty-fifth-principle is Formless. It is eternal and it is real. Intelligent scholars call it Tattva because it depends on sattva.
That which is devoid of form creates the (manifest) and presides thereupon. The manifest is the twenty-fourth principle and the formless is the twenty-fifth one.
It alone abides in the heart of all forms. It is equipped with soul. It is conscious, and it instills consciousness in all objects. It has no form, but it identifies itself with all forms.
It assumes forms of creation and annihilation through the peculiar characteristics of creation and annihilation. Although It is devoid of attributes, It remains within the view.
Although this great Soul undergoes changes continuously owing to trillions of creations and annihilations, It does not absolutely identify Itself with them all.
Owing to Its resorting to unenlightened Jiva, It becomes enveloped with tamas, sattva and rajas and is born in different wombs.
Owing to the residence It takes in the Jiva, It thinks, ‘I am not the other one’, I am this one, and hence not the other one’. Thus, It follows the attributes.
Owing to tamas, It takes up the forms of taamasic nature; owing to rajas It takes up the forms of rajasic nature; and owing to sattva, It takes up the forms of saattvic nature.
The colours are three, namely, white, red and black. Know that all these colours belong to Prakrti.
The persons of taamasic nature fall into hell; persons of raajasic nature become human beings. Persons of saattvic nature go to the heavenly world and enjoy happiness.
Owing to the sins committed in this world, one falls into the womb of the lower animals; if sins and merits are both earned, one takes birth among men; and if merits alone are earned, one takes birth among gods.
Thus the wise persons say that salvation is based on Avyakta. It is the twenty-fifth principle which functions owing to Knowledge.
Vasistha said:
Thus, owing to the state of being unenlightened, the soul, devoid of Knowledge and enlightenment, proceeds from one physical body to thousands of bodies. Therefore, it
does not differ in the course of its transmigration.
On account of its acquisition of penance or decrease of good qualities, the soul sometimes takes up bodies among gods or among lower creatures.
From human birth, it proceeds to heaven, and from god, it becomes a human being. From the state of man, it proceeds to hell, too.
Just as the silk worm wraps itself by its thread-like fibres, so also this soul, though devoid of gunas, wraps itself by means of gunas.
Though the soul is devoid of mutually conflicting pairs of opposites, it is affected by them in different births. At the time when a person suffers from ailments such as
headache, eye-pain, tooth-ache, sore throat, dropsy, diarrhea, gandamaalaa, vicharchikaa, leukoderma, burns, scalds, epileptic fits, etc, the characteristic symptoms of diverse types appear in the bodies of these souls. The individual soul identifies itself in such cases with the body concerned. Similarly, the soul identifies itself with meritorious deeds, too.

Men perform meritorious deeds of various kinds with a desire for welfare. The types of meritorious rites are varied. Some wear fur-clothes; some lie down on the ground; and
some are seated in the Veeraasana. After Veeraasana, some do levitation (lying in the firmament); some lie on bricks and rocks; some lie on spherical rocks; some lie on
ash rocks; and some have the ground for their bed as well as unguent. Some do drinking and cooking in peculiar ways. Some lie down on planks or on beds equipped with fruits and articles of domestic use. Some lie down in gardens attached to barns. Some wear leather pieces or silken clothes along with the hide of black deer. Some wear fur-garments studded with jewels or tiger-skin garments.
Some may wear lion-hides or silken garments; some put on a mat or a plank as a robe; and some wear bark-garments. People take pride in wearing different types of
clothes.
Some have diverse types of food and jewels. Some take food once a day, or on different nights with intervals of one or more nights in between.
Some may take meals once in two, three or four days.
Some may fast for a month; their diet may be confined to roots; a person may eat fruits or air alone or oil cake, curd and cow-dung.
Some may take cow’s urine; some the kaasa flower. Some may take only water-moss. Some may sustain themselves by other things. Some live upon scattered old leaves or scattered fruits.
A devotee resorts to different kinds of very difficult austerities with a desire for spiritual achievement. He may perform different kinds of Chaandraayana rites. There may be
symbols pertaining to the four stages of life, or to virtue and evil.
He may resort to various shelters. He may indulge in different heresies. He may resort to isolated shadows of rocky cliffs or to mountain streams.
He may resort to lonely river banks, different forests, or lonely mountain caves.
He may adopt different types of holy rites and observances, and various kinds of austerities, sacrifices of various types and different kinds of scholarly arts.
He may resort to the path of merchants or to the four castes, namely, Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas and Sudras. He may distribute charitable gifts of various kinds among the wretched, the blind, and the miserable ones. He may identify himself with different attributes such as sattva, rajas, tamas, dharma, artha and kama.
The Atman divides itself into various types of embodied souls. The various items in the holy rites are Svaahaakaara, Vasatkaara, Svadhakaara, Namaskaara (obeisance),
sacrifice, study, presiding over sacrifices, teaching of Veda and Sastras, etc. They (the learned) say that this (the holy rites) is both auspicious and inauspicious due to birth and death (destruction).
Divine Prakrti causes fear and annihilations. At the end of the day, the embodied soul (the Jiva) passes beyond gunas and remains alone.
Just as the sun controls at the proper time the cluster of its rays, so also the soul controls all these activities, and identifies itself with them for the sake of sport.
It (the soul) identifies itself with these various features and qualities pleasing to the heart. Carrying out the function of creation and annihilation, it identifies itself with these activities. It is the master of the attributes and the gunas. It is interested in the path of activities. It is equipped with the paths of activity, as well as inactivity.
O great King! This entire universe is blinded by Prakrti. Everything is pervaded in many ways by rajas and tamas.
The soul thinks like this: ‘The Dvandvas (the pairs of opposites) afflict me continually and pass beyond. They are born of me and they resort to me at the time of annihilation.
All these are to be crossed’. So thinks the soul, O King, as the intellect is partial.
It also thinks as follows: ‘I have to enjoy these merits when I go to the heavenly world. Here, too, I shall enjoy even as it (such enjoyment) gives rise to auspiciousness or
inauspiciousness. If I earn merits, it must yield happiness to me in every birth. Let there not be misery at any time. Human birth is miserable unto all, and so is the fall into the hell. From the hell I shall again go to the mortal world. From human birth, I shall attain the status of gods, and from godliness I shall attain human status again.’ And in due succession, he attains to hell from the status of human being. This is the type of soul of the twice-born as it is surrounded by gunas.
Therefore the attainment of hell by gods and human beings is relevant. Overwhelmed by the sense of ‘I-ness’, the Jiva always moves there around.
There are thousands of crores (billions) of creations in these forms that end in death.
He, who performs actions the fruit whereof is either auspicious or inauspicious, attains to the fruits related to the said actions, taking up forms in all the three worlds.
It is Prakrti that performs actions, the fruit whereof is either auspicious or inauspicious. And it is Prakrti that can go as it pleases anywhere in all the three worlds and attains to results.
One shall know that the birth as one of the low creatures, the birth as a human being and the birth in the heavenly world of gods are the three regions (worlds) pertaining to
Prakrti.
Since Prakrti is un-manifest, it can be inferred by means of symbols, too.
One can consider the manly symbol only owing to inference. Mingling with other symbols, it becomes the unerring symbol of Prakrti.
After presiding over the pores of vital airs, the soul considers the actions to be in the atman itself.
All the sense-organs and the organs of action initiate passion, etc in the gunas.
The atman which is devoid of sense organs and organs of action thinks like this: ‘I am doing this. These are my organs’.
One who is devoid of wounds thinks ‘I am wounded’. One who is without a symbol thinks that one has a symbol. The atman has no Kala (Time) but one thinks it has Kala.
Atman is devoid of sattva but one thinks that it has sattva. The atman is immortal but one thinks that it dies. One thinks that the atman is mobile while in reality it is
immobile.
Atman is really devoid of action, but one thinks that it does act.
Atman has no attachment but one thinks it has attachment. Atman is different from a principle but one thinks it has a principle. Atman is devoid of birth but one thinks that it has birth.

It has unity and diversity in the same manner as in the case of Prakrti. It has unity at the time of annihilation, and multiplicity owing to activity.
The Atman evolves Prakrti at the time of creation in various ways. The great Atman, the twenty-fifth principle, presides over the entire group (of principles).
It is called the Presiding Deity by ascetics. It is so because It presides over the group.
It knows the Kshetra or the Avyakta. Hence It is called Kshetrajna. It lies in the Pura (city or abode) of Avyakta. Therefore It is called Purusa.
The Kshetra is separate (apart) from Kshetrajna. The Kshetra is called Avyakta, and the Jnaatr (Knower) is Purusa.
Jnaana (Knowledge) is separate from Jneya (that which should be known). Jnaana is Avyakta; Jneya is Purusa.
The Avyakta is Kshetra, Sattva, etc. Purusa is Aneesvara (having no other master) and Atattva (devoid of tattva or principle).
In the school of Saamkhya there is no fixed number (of principles). The Saamkhyas explain Prakrti only.
Some Saamkhyas say that the number (of principles) is forty; some say twenty-four. After enumerating factually, (the principles are to be understood). The Saamkhya has a thousand processes (of understanding them). The twenty-firth principle is beyond the other principles.
The twenty-firth principle is mentioned in the Veda as the Enlightened Soul and the All-knowing One. When a seeker realizes the Atman, he becomes Kevala (the single
One, one with the Atman).
Thus the Saamkhya philosophy has been described to you briefly. Those who know this attain to liberation.
What is called perfect Knowledge is the perception of Atman (What is meant is that perfect Knowledge is perception of Non-dualism – Advaita darsanam Jnanam). It has
been already explained how that which possesses gunas could be evolved out of Nirguna (that which is devoid of gunas).
There is no return to this world to those who realize this. Nor do they ever turn to the state of mortality. Those who are non-intelligent do not perceive the distinction between the changeable and the unchangeable. For them, the perception is not perfect. O King! They are born again and again.
The Avyakta is called ‘Sarva’ (the Whole). The twenty-fifth principle is the part thereof. People comprehend Sarva not by Sarva. They comprehend Sarva by following Asarva.
Those who know thus have no fear.
O excellent King! I have so far recounted unto you the essence of the philosophy of Saamkhya. Now listen to me, and understand Vidya and Avidya in the proper order.
They say that Avyakta is non-differentiated during creation and annihilation. Twenty principles are called Vidyaa and Avidyaa, and they are characterized by creation and
annihilation.
Some principles are Vidyaas and some are Avidyaas; understand them in their proper order. O dear One! Recapitulate and understand what the sages of Saamkhya
philosophy have said.
The sense-organs are the Vidyaa of the organs of action. Similarly (Tanmatras) are the Vidyaa of the sense-organs.
Learned men say that the mind is Vidyaa of the objects of pleasure. They say that the five elements are the Vidyaa of the mind.
Ahmkara is the Vidyaa of the five elements. So, O Lord of men, Ahamkaara is Vidyaa and Buddhi is also Vidyaa.
Prakrti is the Vidyaa of Buddhi. Avyakta, the Un-manifest, is the Vidyaa of principles. O excellent One among men! Vidhi is also Vidyaa.
They say that Avyakta is Apara (having nothing greater than it). It is the twenty-fifth principle and it is Vidyaa. Everything is mentioned as the Vidyaa of Jneya (which should be known) and Jnana (Knowledge).
Avyakta is mentioned by the word Jnana while the Jneya is the twenty-fifth principle. Similarly, Jnana is Avyakta and the twenty-fifth principle is Vijnaatr (Knower).
Vidyaa and Avidyaa have been briefly mentioned to you. Also understand from me what is known as Akshara and Kshara.
Both of these are called Kshara. Both of these are Anakshara. I shall mention the reason thereof in relation to knowledge.
Both of them are without beginning and without end. Both of them are supreme. Both of them are known as tattva (principles) by persons who think about Jnana.
Owing to the function of creation and annihilation, they call Avyakta as unchanging. For the creation of gunas, It undergoes change again and again.
The origin of gunas, Mahat, etc is mutual. They call the Kshetra (field) Adhisthaana (abode). This is the twenty-fifth principle.
One shall dissolve the gunas in the embodied atman. Therefore, the ego, too, gets dissolved in the twenty-fifth principle along with its gunas.
Gunas get dissolved in Guna. Therefore, Purusa and Prakrti shall be one. Even the kshetrajna (the individual soul) dissolves into Kshetrajna (the Supreme Soul).
When Prakrti characterized by gunas gets into the Akshara, there is Nirgunatva (devoid of gunas) because of cessation of gunas.
It is in the same way that Kshetrajna (gets dissolved) by the decrease of the knowledge of Kshetra. We have heard that It (Kshetra) is naturally devoid of gunas.
When It is considered Kshara, it means that Prakrti is possessed of gunas; when It is considered Akshara, it means that Prakrti is devoid of gunas and is the Atman.
Moreover, the seeker becomes pure avoiding Prakrti and realizing ‘I am different from Prakrti’.
Then he attains to freedom from pain. He does not get mixed with Prakrti, O great King! He is quite a different one that is seen by others.
When he treats with contempt the gunas pertaining to Prakrti, he sees the great One. He contemplates thus:
‘What have I done so far? I have been immersed in the ocean of time. Just as the fish in the sea identifies itself with water and adapts itself to it, so also I have identified
myself with different persons owing to delusion. The fish does not understand its being different from water owing to ignorance. As I slight the atman, I do not understand it or
anything else.
Fie upon me whose intellect has become vitiated, and who have become immersed in this (world). Owing to delusion, I have followed it up; I have followed different persons.
This fellow is my relative. He may experience my decline in strength. I have attained similarity and identity with this fellow. I am of the same type as this fellow. I perceive
equality here. I am like him.

Indeed this (another) fellow is free from impurities. It is clear. I am also like him then. Owing to ignorance and delusion, I have acted like this (followed whoever is with me). I
have remained ignorant all along owing to this contact. I have been captivated by it, and I have not become enlightened so far with regard to persons of different natures such as noble, middle or lowly ones. How can I overcome that?
Owing to the state of not being enlightened, I have been associated with Maya. With enlightenment, I shall become free.
Now I shall not associate with Maya. The fact is that I who am free from aberrations have been deceived by Maya, which is an aberration. It is not the fault of Maya. It is my fault, for I have been attached to it and I have been approached by it with (its) face turned away.
Therefore, I have been stationed in this (samsara – the cycle of birth and death) in multifarious forms. Though really I am devoid of form, I assume forms. Though devoid of form, though actually un-embodied, I have been overwhelmed by my-ness.
Therefore, aberrations have been created by that Prakrti in the course of different births. Though I am devoid of my-ness (actually), aberrations have been created by the
same my-ness. I have been born in various wombs and, while remaining there, my mind has been devoid of consciousness. Equality has not been achieved by me owing to Ahamkara (ego). After splitting itself into many, it joins me once again.
Now I am enlightened. I am devoid of my-ness. I am devoid of egoism.
The evil quality of my-ness is always generated in the mind and caused by ego. After abandoning this, which has clung to me, I shall resort to the state free from ailment.
I shall identity myself with this (the soul) and not with Prakrti which often misleads. My welfare is with the soul and not with Prakrti’.
Thus, by addressing the greatest, the twenty-fifth principle is awakened. After abandoning the Kshara, one attains to the state of Akshara devoid of ailment.
One attains to the state of Akshara that is Avyakta (Un-manifest) and Nirguna (devoid of gunas) after abandoning the Kshara that is Vyaktadharma (whose attributes are
manifest) and Saguna (possessed of gunas). After experiencing the Nirguna first, O King of Mithila, one becomes similar to It.
Thus the example of Akshara and Kshara has been explained to you by me as it has been expounded in the Veda, which is richly endowed with Knowledge.
It is free from doubts. It is subtle, pure and free from impurities. I shall explain it once again in the manner heard by me. Understand it.
The philosophy of the schools of Saamkhya and Yoga has been recounted by me with examples from the two systems. What is stated in the Saamkhya is the same as is
stated in the Yoga system.
The jnana of the Saamkhyas, O Ruler of the earth, is conducive to the awakening (of the soul). It is clearly explained with a desire for the welfare of disciples.
Moreover, scholars say that this system is very comprehensive. In this system, O Lord of men, a principle other than the twenty-five, namely, re-birth is included.
The greatest principle of the Saamkhyas has been described to be three-fold. It is Buddha (enlightened), Apratibuddha (unenlightened) and Budhyamaana (that is being
enlightened.).
They say that Budhyamana Buddhatva (the state of being enlightened that is being understood) is the Yogic principle.
Vasistha said:
Prakrti creates and seizes the unenlightened un-manifest storehouse of gunas even as gunas hold the tattvas.
In a playful manner, O King, Aja, the Unborn, attains to the state of modification; splitting Itself into many, It is perceived as though It were really a multitude.
Budhyamaana that disturbs and stirs up like this is not comprehended. It creates, seizes and practises gunas.
They call this Budhyamaana because it enlightens Avyakta. Avyakta is not comprehended in any other manner such as Saguna or Nirguna.
Only sometimes It is comprehended; then It is called Pratibuddhaka (Enlightened). When the Avyakta is comprehended, It is the twenty-fifth principle.
The Budhyamaana certainly becomes one with I-consciousness because of its characteristic feature, so says the Veda. By becoming enlightened owing to mutual
endeavour, It becomes Avyakta that never swerves, they say thus.
They call this (phenomenon) Budhyamaana because It enlightens Avyakta. It is the twenty-fifth principle. It is the great Atman. It does not comprehend the twenty-sixth
principle; the Buddha (Enlightened), devoid of impurities, the Eternal, One that cannot be perceived. But the Buddha comprehends the twenty-fourth and the twenty-fifth
principles always.
The perceptible and the imperceptible, O King of great lustre, follow their nature. The Avyakta, O dear One, comprehends that Brahman which is non-dual.
It comprehends the Atman the twenty-fifth, and the twenty-fourth principle. At the time of comprehending the Atman, when one considers ‘I am another’ one becomes one
with the Avyakta as one’s eyes, and so endowed with Prakrti. When one comprehends the pure Buddhi without impurities, O mighty King, one comprehends the
twenty-sixth principle. Contented, one proceeds (ahead). Thereafter one abandons Avyakta with creation and annihilation as Its characteristic features.
It comprehends Prakrti which is devoid of consciousness and which is endowed with gunas. It becomes one with the features of lonely Atman by virtue of realizing the
Avyakta.
After coming into contact with the Kevala, It shall attain to the liberated soul. They call this Tattva (principle), and (the soul) that is without old age and death, Nistattva (one
that is beyond the principles). (What is meant by Tattva is the real nature of the human soul (atman) in its relation with the Supreme Spirit; it is the science or philosophy that teaches the nature of the real and illusory; and it is the essence of each of the five primordial elements of the universe.)

Only by duly listening to the description of the Tattvas does the soul, O King, become conversant with the principles. Learned scholars speak about twenty-five principles.
Never does a person conversant with the Tattva get immersed in the ocean of worldly existence, O dear One! The Tattva approaches these persons quickly. Now understand their characteristics.
‘Prajna free from old age and death’ is understood as the twenty-sixth principle. This is called diversity, Nanatva, as explained in the Saamkhya scriptures.
When It is comprehended by the intellect the twenty-fifth principle, accompanied by consciousness, Chetana, shall have unity.
It attains equality, O King of Mithila, with (the enlightened one) that is being comprehended. Although the Atman is devoid of attachment, O Ruler of men, It has the features and characteristics of what is being attached.
They understand that the twenty-sixth principle is evolved out of karma, after attaining to the Atman that is free from attachment. When This is enlightened, the Omnipresent
Soul abandons the Avyakta.
The twenty-fourth principle is very subtle owing to the enlightenment of the twenty-sixth principle. Thus, the Apratibuddha (non-enlightened), Buddha (the Enlightened) and the Budhyamaana have been briefly described to you, O sinless One, in the manner explained in the sastras.
The difference between these is the same as between masaaka (mosquito) and udumbara (the fruit of a particular tree). It is the same as between fish and water. The unity and diversity of the two should be thought of in this manner.
What is mentioned as Salvation is this much. It is termed Jnana and Vijnana. The desire that ‘this person should be liberated’ suddenly originates in the body of the
twenty-fifth principle, they say, within the view of the Avyakta. It is certain that he will be liberated and not otherwise. The soul acquires the characteristics of another object by associating with it. It becomes pure when associating with the pure one, and not with the impure one. It becomes
free from attributes while associating with the Enlightened, O Bull among men!
While associating with one with the feeling of detachment, the soul becomes liberated. While associating with the liberated, it becomes liberated. One with unlimited intellect becomes pure, and of pure activities while associating with one of pure activities. While associating with another soul free from impurities, it becomes pure; and while associating with the independent, it becomes independent.
O great King! The Truth and the truthful Reality have been recounted so far. By grasping with your intellect the Eternal Brahman, the First Pure One, you have become amatsara, devoid of jealousy.
O King! This great truth should not be imparted to a person not abiding by the Veda. It imparts enlightenment to a person who is desirous of acting according to it. It
admonishes one who bows down for enlightenment.
This truth should not be imparted to a liar, a rogue, an impotent person or a person of crooked intellect. It should not be imparted to a person who harasses scholars devoted
to Knowledge. It should be imparted for enlightenment of the disciples.
This should be imparted to a disciple who is equipped with faith and good qualities, who refrains from slandering others, who possesses pure yoga and who is a learned one equipped with forbearance and sympathy.
This secret should be imparted to a person who has discrimination, who is fond of injunctions, who is devoid of quarrelsome nature, who is learned, who has humble dress and demeanour, and who has no selfish motive.
They say that knowledge of the Great Brahman should not be imparted to a person who is devoid of these qualities. The narration of virtue to such person is not conducive to the welfare of any because it is like charity accorded to a person who does not deserve it.
This should not be given to a person who does no sacred rites even if the entire earth full of jewels were given away. O Leader of men! This great knowledge should be
imparted to a person who has conquered his sense-organs, who observes pure rites, and who knows the Reality.
O Karala! Let there be no fear at all in you. You have heard of the Great Brahman today. It has been duly recounted. It is extremely sacred. It relieves you of all grief. It has no beginning, middle or end.
It is unfathomable. It is free from old age and death. It is free from ailment. It is auspicious. It is free from fear. In view of the falsity of the arguments of others, the Eternal Brahman is propitiated with great effort. That Eternal Brahman is ever realized in the same manner as you have realized the Brahman.
O Leader of men! I have recounted to you all this exclusively as I heard from Brahma. It is the great knowledge, the last resort of those who are conversant with salvation.
Vyasa said:
This Great Brahman, the twenty-fifth principle, from which one does not return, has now been recounted in the same manner as it had been recounted, O excellent Sages, by Vasistha formerly.
He who does not completely and accurately understand the great unchanging Knowledge, free from death and old age, even after striving for comprehension, returns.
O Brahmins! This Jnana that is conducive to salvation has been truthfully described by me after listening to it (and understanding it) from the divine Sage.
This was derived by sage Vasistha from Brahma. Narada, the greatest among the sages, obtained this knowledge from Vasistha.
This eternal doctrine has been recounted to me by Narada. After hearing about this great doctrine, O excellent Sages, you will not feel sorry.
He who has understood that Kshara and Akshara are different has no fear. He who does not know this accurately does certainly have fear.
Owing to the absence of perfect Knowledge, a person of confounded soul undergoes hardships again and again and attains to thousands of births ending with death.
Or, he may go to the heavenly world or to the realm of low creatures or to the human world. Or, perhaps he is released from that ocean of ignorance.
In the terrible ocean of ignorance, the Un-manifest is called the unfathomable one. O Brahmins, it is here that the living beings become immersed day by day.
Hence, owing to overcoming the unfathomable Avyakta, the Eternal One, all of you, O Brahmins, have become free from rajas and tamas.
Thus, O excellent Sages, I have recounted to you the manner of securing the great liberation (salvation), the essence of all essences. On realizing it, one does not return.
It should not be imparted to an atheist or to a person who is not a devotee. O Brahmins, it should not be imparted to an evil-minded person or a person who has no faith and who is averse to everything good. .