Chapter 214

“Bhishma said, ‘I shall now tell thee what the means are (for conqueringthe senses) as seen with the eye of the scriptures. A person, O king,will attain to the highest end by the help of such knowledge and byframing his conduct accordingly. Amongst all living creatures man is saidto be the foremost.

Among men, those that are regenerate have been called the foremost; andamongst the regenerate, they that are conversant with the Vedas. Theselast are regarded as the souls of all living creatures. Indeed, thoseBrahmanas that are conversant with the Vedas are regarded as all-seeingand omniscient. They are persons who have become conversant with Brahma.As a blind man, without a guide, encounters many difficulties on a road,so has a person destitute of knowledge to encounter many obstacles in theworld. For this reason, those that are possessed of knowledge areregarded as superior to the rest. Those that are desirous of acquiringvirtue practise diverse kinds of rites according to the dictates of thescriptures. They do not, however, succeed in attaining to Emancipation,all that they gain being those good qualities of which I shall presentlyspeak.[748] Purity of speech, of body, and of mind, forgiveness, truth,steadiness, and intelligence,–these good qualities are displayed byrighteous persons observant of both kinds of religion. That which iscalled Brahmacharya (religion of abstention or yoga) is regarded as themeans of attaining to Brahma. That is the foremost of all religions. Itis by the practice of that religion that one obtains the highest end(viz., Emancipation). Brahmacharya is divested of all connection with thefive vital breaths, mind, understanding, the five senses of perception,and the five senses of action. It is on that account free from all theperceptions that the senses give. It is heard only as a word, and itsform, without being seen, can only be conceived. It is a state ofexistence depending only on the mind. It is free from all connection withthe senses. That sinless state should be attained to by the understandingalone. He that practises it duly attains to Brahma; he that practises ithalf and half, attains to the condition of the gods; while he thatpractises it indifferently, takes birth among Brahmanas and possessed oflearning attains to eminence. Brahmacharya is exceedingly difficult topractise. Listen now to the means (by which one may practise it). Thatregenerate person who betakes himself to it should subdue the quality ofPassion as soon as it begins to manifest itself or as soon as it beginsto be powerful. One that has betaken oneself to that vow should not speakwith women. He should never cast his eyes on an undressed woman. Thesight of women, under even indifferent circumstances, fills allweak-minded men with Passion. If a person (while observing this vow)feels a desire for woman rising in his heart, he should (as an expiation)observe the vow called Krichcchra and also pass three days in water.[749]If desire is entertained in course of a dream, one should, diving inwater, mentally repeat for three times the three Riks byAghamarshana.[750] That wise man who has betaken himself to the practiceof this vow should, with an extended and enlightened mind, burn the sinsin his mind which are all due to the quality of Passion. As the duct thatbears away the refuse of the body is very closely connected with thebody, even so the embodied Soul is very closely connected with the bodythat confines it. The different kinds of juices, passing through thenetwork of arteries, nourish men’s wind and bile and phlegm, blood andskin and flesh, intestines and bones and marrow, and the whole body. Knowthat there are ten principal ducts. These assist the functions of thefive senses. From those ten branch out thousands of other ducts that areminuter in form. Like rivers filling the ocean at the proper season, allthese ducts, containing juices nourish the body. Leading to the heartthere is a duct called Manovaha. It draws from every part of the humanbody the vital seed which is born of desire. Numerous other ductsbranching out from that principal one extend into every part of the bodyand bearing the element of heat cause the sense of vision (and the rest).As the butter that lies within milk is churned up by churning rods, evenso the desires that are generated in the mind (by the sight or thought ofwomen) draw together the vital seed that lies within the body. In themidst of even our dreams passion having birth in imagination assails themind, with the result that the duct already named, viz., Manovaha, throwsout the vital seed born of desire. The great and divine Rishi Atri iswell-conversant with the subject of the generation of the vital seed. Thejuices that are yielded by food, the duct called Manovaha, and the desirethat is born of imagination,–these three are the causes that originatethe vital seed which has Indra for its presiding deity. The passion thataids in the emission of this fluid is, therefore, called Indriya. Thosepersons who know that the course of vital seed is the cause of (thatsinful state of things called) intermixture of castes, are men ofrestrained passions. Their sins are regarded to have been burnt off, andthey are never subjected to rebirth. He that betakes himself to actionsimply for the purposes of sustaining his body, reducing with the aid ofthe mind the (three) attributes (of Goodness, Passion, and Darkness) intoa state of uniformity, and brings at his last moments the vital breathsto the duct called Manovaha, escapes the obligation of rebirth.[751] TheMind is sure to gain Knowledge. It is the Mind that takes the form of allthings. The minds of all high-souled persons, attaining to successthrough meditation, become freed from desire, eternal, and luminous.[752]Therefore, for destroying the mind (as mind), one should do only sinlessdeeds and freeing oneself from the attributes of Passion and Darkness,one is sure to attain to an end that is very desirable.[753] Knowledge(ordinarily) acquired in younger days becomes weakened with decrepitude.A person, however, of ripe understanding succeeds, through the auspiciouseffects of past lives, in destroying his desires.[754] Such a person, bytranscending the bonds of the body and the senses like a travellercrossing a path full of obstacles, and transgressing all faults he sees,succeeds in tasting the nectar (of Emancipation).'”