by Bibek Debroy
Chapter 1532(204)
‘“The preceptor said, ‘All mobile and immobile beings belong to four categories. They are not manifest, alive, manifest and dead. Know that the mind exists in the atman, which is not manifest. It54 is not manifest and it is destroyed. A giant tree may be hidden inside the small blossom of an ashvattha flower. It is seen only when it has emerged. Like that, the manifest is created from what is not manifest. A piece of iron has no consciousness, but advances towards a lodestone. Some reasons and attributes are natural. But others are not like that.55 Having become manifest, those attributes provide reasons and objectives to the doer. However, there are also unconscious attributes that provide reasons for the consciousness to be collected.56 The earth, the sky, heaven, beings, the rishis, the gods, the asuras and nothing else existed, with the exception of the soul. It conveys everything. It goes everywhere. It is the cause behind the mind, which then possesses attributes. It has been said that reasons and characteristics are based on ignorant deeds. Because of being united with those reasons, it is made to engage in deeds again and the great wheel continues to revolve, without beginning and without end. That which is not manifest is the nave, while the manifest transformations represent the circumference. As the smooth axles revolve, the kshetrajna is certainly established in that wheel.57 Those who extract oil crush sesamum seed in presses. Like that, because of the sentiments of desire and ignorance, the entire universe is crushed in that wheel. Having been seized by ego, the being performs acts. In the combination of acts and reasons, further reasons are generated.58 There are no reasons behind acts. Nor are acts associated with reasons. In what is thought to be deeds and effects, it is time which is actually the doer. But prakriti is united with the reasons and the transformations work against each other. They transgress each other. However, the purusha is always established over them. Like dust following the wind, dust, darkness, impure sentiments and powerful reasons follow the kshetrajna. But they do not touch or effect the great-souled one. It is like the wind, which bears dust, but is itself without dust. Just as the two59 are different, a learned person knows the difference between kshetra and kshetrajna. If one practises, one does not have to go to prakriti again.’60
‘“The illustrious rishi thus severed the doubt that had arisen. Having considered this view, which has all the signs of accomplishment, the seeds61 must be burnt, so that they do not sprout again. If they are burnt through knowledge, the atman is not tied down to hardships again.”’
Chapter 1533(205)
‘“The preceptor said, ‘Those who exhibit signs of being engaged in action think that they are obtaining dharma through this. But others who are devoted to knowledge find no delight in them. Those who know about the Vedas and base themselves on what the Vedas have said are extremely rare. In this case, those who are learned, desire to follow the superior path.62 Those who are of virtuous conduct practise this praiseworthy behaviour. These intelligent ones advance towards the supreme objective. Having obtained a body, everyone is seized by delusion. Such a person is overcome by desire and anger and rajas and tamas.63 Therefore, one should not perform impure acts and should desire disassociation from the body. Having driven deeds into a hole, one obtains the auspicious worlds. When gold is mixed with iron, it becomes impure and does not shine. In that way, if mixed with the impure and the astringent,64 knowledge no longer shines. Because of confusion, desire and avarice, if one follows adharma, one transgresses the path of dharma and is continuously destroyed. Therefore, one must not have attachment towards sound and the others65 and material objects. Anger, delight and misery feed on each other. The five elements are in the body and so are sattva,66 rajas and tamas. Who will one censure? Who will one praise? What will one say? Foolish people follow attachment towards things like touch, form and the others. Because of their ignorance, they do not realize that the bodies only represent earthy qualities. A house made of earth is plastered with earth. Like that, this body is made out of earth and is attached to earth.67 Honey, oil, milk, butter, meat, salt, molasses, grain, fruits and roots are modifications of earth, mixed with water. There are those who resort to the wilderness. They are not interested in roaming around with other men. They obtain food with difficulty and taste it only for remaining alive. That is the way one should dwell in this world, which is also a wilderness. One must make efforts and take food only for the journey, like medicine by a patient.68 Using truth, purity, uprightness, renunciation, fame, valour, forgiveness, fortitude, intelligence, the mind and austerities, one must search out the proper nature of everything, in due order. One must desire tranquility and not be distressed in the soul. One must restrain the senses. In their ignorance, beings are confused by sattva, rajas and tamas and are severely whirled around on the wheel. Therefore, one must properly examine all the sins that arise from ignorance. One must always cast aside the power of ignorance and ego. The great elements, the senses, the qualities of sattva, rajas and tamas and the three worlds and their lord are all established in the ego.69 Time always shows afflicted people its qualities. In that way, know that, in all beings, it is the ego that makes beings embark on action. Know that tamas is responsible for confusion. It represents darkness and results from ignorance. All joys and sorrows are attached to the three qualities of sattva, rajas and tamas. Listen to them. Lack of confusion, delight, affection, lack of doubt, fortitude and memory—know that these are the virtuous qualities associated with sattva. Desire, anger, distraction, avarice, confusion, fear, exhaustion, despondency, sorrow, excessive pride, insolence, lack of nobility—without any distress, the severity or lack of severity of these faults must be examined. Each of these must always be tested, to the extent that they exist in the atman.’
‘“The disciple asked, ‘To loosen the bonds,70 which sins do intelligent people banish from their minds? Like the fruits of confusion, which are the ones that keep on recurring? Using reasoning and intellect, which are the strong and weak faults an intelligent person should think about? O lord! Tell me about all this and instruct knowledge to me.’
‘“The preceptor replied, ‘A person who is pure in his soul severs the sins from their roots and is freed. An axe made of steel can destroy an object made of steel. That is the way a person who has cleansed his soul easily destroys the sins associated with rajas. In all bodies with the atman, rajas, tamas and those which give rise to pure deeds71 are like seeds. Therefore, the atman in the body must discard rajas and tamas. Having been freed from rajas and tamas, the sattva will make it clean. There are those who say that sacrifices and rites, when performed with mantras, are instruments in following pure dharma. However, if one performs acts of dharma driven by rajas, or if one performs them with a desire for artha, all these amount to a serving of kama. When tamas is united with avarice, one serves anger and one becomes full of violence, addicted to pleasure, lassitude and sleep. However, one who is based in sattva is virtuous. He sees, and resorts to, only what is virtuous. Such a being is sparkling, handsome, pure and full of learning.”“
Chapter 1534(206)
‘“The preceptor said, ‘O bull among men! Delusion is brought about by rajas. Anger, avarice, fear and insolence—these are brought about by tamas. Purity72 leads to the supreme paramatman, the god who is without decay and without change. This is Vishnu, who is not manifest, but pervades everything. He is the supreme god. It is because of his skilful maya that the bodies of men are dislodged from knowledge and the beneficial. With their knowledge confounded, they are led towards desire. Desire leads to anger, avarice and delusion in men and they perform deeds full of pride, insolence, ego and selfishness. From deeds, bonds of attachment arise and that attachment then leads to sorrow. Because these are undertaken, there is happiness and unhappiness and one is liable to birth and death. Since one is born from the mixture of semen and blood, one resides in the womb and that abode is full of excrement, urine, moisture and blood. Overcome by thirst, the being is flooded by these. One must know that women are the strands through which this cycl
e73 is borne along. They are naturally the kshetra and men possess the qualities of kshetrajna. Therefore, learned men in particular must not follow young women. They are sorceresses,74 terrible in form, and confuse those who are not learned. They are immersed in rajas and are the eternal embodiment of the senses. It is because of attraction for them that semen is created and beings are born. There are worms that get attached to one’s body. One knows that these are not really part of one’s body and flings them away. In that way, one should know that the offspring are also not really part of one’s body and should cast them aside, like worms. Beings are born from semen, juices and affection, determined naturally by the acts that they have performed earlier. An intelligent person ignores them. Rajas is established in tamas and sattva also bases itself on tamas.75 Know that knowledge is based on ignorance and that there are signs of ego. There is a seed in beings and that seed is known as the jiva of consciousness.76 Because of deeds performed and because of time, it is whirled around in this cycle. It takes pleasure in this body, like the mind does in a dream. Because there are qualities of a womb in those deeds, the living being obtains a womb. The seeds of deeds performed goad the senses in beings.77 Ego, attachment and consciousness are generated. The attachment to sound leads to the atman obtaining ears. Because of the attachment to form, the eyes result and desire for scent leads to the nose. There is touch and the five kinds of wind, prana, apana, vyana, udana and samana, which lead to the sustaining of the body. The limbs are created because of attachment and the brahman78 is engaged in action. In the body and in the mind, in the beginning, the middle and the end, there is sorrow and nothing but grief. Know that misery is inherent in birth and ego enhances it. It can be restrained through renunciation and a person who knows about renunciation is freed. Both the creation and the destruction of the senses result from rajas. Using the sight obtained from the sacred texts, a learned person must act so as to test them. Even if one accomplishes the objective of satisfying the senses, a person who knows can use the senses of knowledge to determine the reasons. Such a being does not have to accept a body again.”“
Chapter 1535(207)
‘“The preceptor said, ‘I will now tell you about the means one can use, if one uses the sight obtained from the sacred texts. Using that knowledge, a wise person can attain the supreme objective. Among all beings, humans are said to be the best, brahmanas among humans and brahmanas who know the mantras among brahmanas. Brahmanas who know the truth about the Vedas can determine the purpose and progress of everything. They know everything and can see everything. They are special among all beings. A blind man who is travelling alone experiences hardships. It is like that for people devoid of knowledge. Therefore, those with knowledge are known to be superior. Thus, those who are blind about dharma, but yet desire to follow dharma, go by the sacred texts. But they only accomplish limited objectives and I will soon describe those qualities. Purity in words, body and mind, forgiveness, truthfulness, fortitude, learning—among all kinds of dharma, these are described as the qualities of those who know about dharma. The form of the brahman is said to be there in brahmacharya. This is the supreme way for all beings and takes one towards the supreme objective. This means the avoidance of any association with the genital organ.79 It also means the avoidance of touch by the body, hearing by the ears, sight by the eyes and taste by the tongue. All these are to be cast aside. Using the intelligence, one follows the unblemished conduct of brahmacharya. A person who follows this conduct in its entirety obtains Brahma’s world. A person who follows it in an average way obtains the world of the gods. A person who resorts to such conduct in an inferior kind of way is born learned, as a foremost one among the brahmanas. It is extremely difficult to follow the methods of brahmacharya. Listen to this. A brahmana who engages in this must control his mind. He must not speak to women, nor hear them. He must not look at them when they are naked. Sometimes, when one looks at them, passion arises in those who are weak. If there is attraction, one must follow a vow of hardship,80 enter the water and spend three days there. If this happens when one is asleep, one must mentally recite aghamarshana thrice.81 One must burn down the sins of passion that are inside. Using knowledge, the discriminating person controls his mind. Excrement and filth exist in ducts that are inside the body. Like that, know that the atman is also bound down inside the body. There are arteries inside the human body, with bile, phlegm, blood, skin, flesh, bones, marrow and nets of veins. These bear juices. Know that there are ten arteries that convey the qualities of the five senses.82 From those arteries, thousands of others emanate out and those are subtler in form. The veins are like rivers that convey juices to the ocean of the body. In the midst, attached to the heart, there is a vein known as manovaha. When men think of it, it collects semen from all parts of the body and releases it. There are veins that follow it and extend to every part of the body. They also convey the quality of energy and terminate at the eyes. There is butter hidden inside milk and that is churned up through churning rods. Like that, when there is resolution, churning rods churn out semen from the body. Even when one is asleep, passion can lead to resolution in the mind. The semen is touched by manovaha and is released from the body. The illustrious maharshi Atri knows about the generation of semen. There are three seeds, Indra is the associated divinity and this is spoken of as indriya.83 Know that the progress of the semen is the reason behind an admixture of species. Detachment can burn these sins and such men do not have to take up a body again. When it is the time to die and give up the functions of the body, if a person pacifies the qualities84 and uses his mind to draw them into manovaha, he is freed.85 The mind then obtains knowledge and everything proceeds from the mind. Such great-souled persons become successful and divine and blaze like stellar bodies. Therefore, one must undertake unblemished deeds. One must sever rajas and tamas and ascend upwards. The knowledge one has obtained when one is young becomes weak with old age. However, when one’s intelligence matures with age, one can regain it through one’s mental strength. But this is an extremely difficult path to follow and involves transcending the bonds of qualities. However, if one sees the sins, one can transcend them and obtain immortality.’”’
Chapter 1536(208)
‘“The preceptor said, ‘Beings come to a bad end because they are lazy and addicted to the objects of the senses.
However, not being attached to these, great-souled ones attain the supreme objective. Birth, death, old age, misery, disease and mental anguish—seeing that the world is always overwhelmed by these, an intelligent person seeks to bring about his emancipation. He must be pure and without ego in his words, mind and body. He must be tranquil, learned and a mendicant who is indifferent. He will then roam around happily. However, if there is attachment in his mind because of compassion towards beings, he must ignore this, knowing that everything in this universe is because of the fruits of earlier deeds. Whether good or bad deeds have been committed earlier, those results must be borne. In words, intelligence and action—one must peform auspicious deeds. Non-violence, truthfulness in speech, uprightness towards all beings, forgiveness and lack of distraction—a person who follows this is happy. This is supreme dharma and brings joy to all beings. Know that this eliminates all misery. A person who knows the truth about this is happy. One must use one’s intelligence to control one’s mind and sustain all beings. One must not desire to injure them and one must not allow one’s thoughts to bind one down. One should direct one’s words and mind towards such action. He should always speak virtuous words, looking towards the subtleties of dharma, and speak words that do not censure, but are truthful and do not cause injury. Evil results from harsh and violent words which are cruel and condemning, as it does from excessive speech. One’s consciousness is then distracted. Words lead to attachment. If one is detached, that should be reflected in words too. One should avoid tamas in intelligence, mind and deeds. If a person resorts to action because of rajas, he will reap the consequences. He will obtain misery in this world and
hell thereafter. Therefore, one must exhibit patience in one’s mind, words and body and act accordingly. Bandits who are carrying loads of sheep always opt for directions that are adverse.86 Know that ignorant people in the world are like that. If the bandits wish to follow desirable directions, they have to fling aside their burdens. Like that, to obtain happiness, one has to cast aside acts based on rajas and tamas. Such a person is not suspicious. He doesn’t desire anything. He has freed himself from possessions. He lives alone. He has attained all his desires. He is an ascetic. He is in control of his senses. He has burnt his hardships through knowledge. He has controlled his atman. Having withdrawn his mind, he obtains the supreme. There is no doubt that a patient man who has cleansed his soul must control his intelligence. The mind must be controlled with intelligence and desire for objects controlled with the mind. When the senses have been restrained and the mind is under subjugation, the god manifests himself and one cheerfully advances towards that lord. When the mind has been controlled, Brahma manifests himself. One must not engage in yoga and tantra, in any form at all. Instead, one must act so that one’s conduct is permeated by the warp of that tantra.87 One should seek to sustain oneself on broken bits of grain, seeds from which oil has been extracted, inferior kinds of grain,88 vegetables, barley, coarsely ground meal, roots and fruit that have been obtained through begging. Depending on the time and the place, a virtuous person will be restrained in his diet. Having examined it, he will follow the appropriate conduct. This is like gradually kindling a fire. One must gently use the kindling of knowledge and the sun of knowledge will manifest itself. Ignorance is actually based on knowledge and the three worlds are based on that.89Jnana follows vijnana90 and destroys the ignorance. One does not know the eternal because they seem to be separate.91 A person who knows about renunciation is devoid of attachment and is freed. Having overcome age, old age and death, he wins the eternal brahman. He obtains immortality, the Akshara who is without change.”“