Chapter 246

“Vyasa said, ‘The Jiva-soul is endued with all those entities that aremodifications of Prakriti. These do not know the Soul but the Soul knowsthem all. Like a good driver proceeding with the aid of strong,well-broken, and high-mettled steeds along the paths he selects, the Soulacts with the aid of these, called the senses, having the mind for theirsixth. The objects of the senses are superior to the senses themselves.The mind is superior to those objects. The understanding is superior tothe mind. The Soul, also called Mahat, is superior to the understanding.Superior to Mahat is the Unmanifest (or Prakriti). Superior to theUnmanifest is Brahma. There is nothing Superior to Brahma. That is thehighest limit of excellence and the highest goal. The Supreme Soul isconcealed in every creature. It is not displayed for ordinary men tobehold. Only Yogins with subtile vision behold the Supreme Soul with theaid of their keen and subtile understanding. Merging the senses havingthe mind for their sixth and all the objects of the senses into the innerSoul by the aid of the Understanding, and reflecting upon the threestates of consciousness, viz., the object thought, the act of thinking,and the thinker, and abstaining by contemplation from every kind ofenjoyment, equipping his mind with the knowledge that he is Brahma’sself, laying aside at the same time all consciousness of puissance, andthereby making his soul perfectly tranquil, the Yogin obtains that towhich immortality inheres. That person, however, who happens to be theslave of all his senses and whose ideas of right and wrong have beenconfounded, already liable as he is to death, actually meets with deathby such surrender of self to (the passions).[1036] Destroying alldesires, one should merge the gross Understanding into one’s subtileUnderstanding. Having thus merged the gross into the subtileUnderstanding, one is sure to become a second Kalanjara mountain.[1037]By purifying his heart, the Yogin transcends both righteousness and itsreverse. By purifying his heart and by living in his own true nature, heattains to the highest happiness.[1038] The indication of that purity ofheart (of which I speak) is that one who has attained to experiences thatstate of unconsciousness (with respect of all one’s surroundings) whichone experiences in dreamless slumber. The Yogin who has attained to thatstate lives like the steady flame of a lamp that burns in a place wherethe atmosphere is perfectly still. Becoming abstemious in diet, andhaving cleansed his heart, that Yogin who applies his Soul to the Soulsucceeds in beholding the Soul in the Soul.[1039] This discourse, O son,intended for thy instruction, is the essence of all the Vedas. The truthsherein disclosed are incapable of being understood by the aid ofinference alone or by that of mere study of the scriptures. One mustunderstand it oneself by the aid of faith. By churning the wealth that iscontained in all religious works and in all discourses based on truth, asalso the ten thousand Richs, this nectar hath been raised. As butter fromcurds and fire from wood, even hath this been raised for the sake of myson,–this that constituteth the knowledge of all truly wise men. Thisdiscourse, O son, fraught with solid instruction, is intended fordelivery unto Snatakas.[1040] It should never be imparted to one that isnot of tranquil soul, or one that is not self-restrained, or one thathath not undergone penances. It should not be communicated to one that isnot conversant with the Vedas, or one that doth not humbly wait uponone’s preceptor, or one that is not free from malice, or one that is notpossessed of sincerity and candour, or one that is of reckless behaviour.It should never be communicated to one whose intellect hath been consumedby the science of disputation, or one that is vile or low. Unto thatperson, however, who is possessed of fame, or who deserveth applause (forhis virtues), or who is of tranquil soul, or possessed of ascetic merit,unto a Brahmana who is such, unto one’s son or dutiful disciple, thisdiscourse containing the very essence of duties should be communicated,but on no account should it be communicated to others. If any personmakes a gift of the whole earth with all her treasures, unto oneconversant with truth, the latter would still regard the gift of thisknowledge to be very much superior to that gift. I shall now discourse tothee on a subject that is a greater mystery than this, a subject that isconnected with the Soul, that transcends the ordinary understandings ofhuman beings, that has been beheld by the foremost of Rishis, that hasbeen treated in the Upanishads, and that forms the topic of thy inquiry.Tell me what, after this is in thy mind? Tell me in what thou has stillany doubt? Listen, for here I am, O son, faces turned towards alldirections. The Sun and the Moon are thy two seated before thee! Uponwhat indeed, shall I once more speak to thee?'”