Chapter 250

“Suka said, ‘Let thy reverence tell me of that which is the foremost ofall duties, indeed, of that duty above which no higher one exists in thisworld.’

“Vyasa said, ‘I shall now tell thee of duties having a very ancientorigin and laid down by the Rishis, duties that are distinguished aboveall others. Listen to me with undivided attention. The senses that aremaddening should carefully be restrained by the understanding like a sirerestraining his own inexperienced children liable to fall into diverseevil habits. The withdrawal of the mind and the senses from all unworthyobjects and their due concentration (upon worthy objects) is the highestpenance. That is the foremost of all duties. Indeed, that is said to bethe highest duty. Directing, by the aid of the understanding, the senseshaving the mind for their sixth, and without, indeed, thinking of worldlyobjects which have the virtue of inspiring innumerable kinds of thought,one should live contented with one’s own self. When the senses and themind, withdrawn from the pastures among which they usually run loose,come back for residing in their proper abode, it is then that thou wiltbehold in thy own self the Eternal and Supreme Soul.[1064] Thosehigh-souled Brahmanas that are possessed of wisdom succeed in beholdingthat Supreme and Universal Soul which is like unto a blazing fire ineffulgence. As a large tree endued with numerous branches and possessedof many flowers and fruits does not know in which part it has flowers andin which it has fruits, after the same manner the Soul as modified bybirth and other attributes, does not know whence it has come and whitherit is to go. There is, however, an inner Soul, which beholds (knows)everything.[1065] One sees the Soul oneself with the aid of the lightedlamp of knowledge. Beholding, therefore, thyself with thy own self, ceaseto regard thy body as thyself and attain thou to omniscience. Cleansed ofall sins, like unto a snake that has cast off its slough, one attains tohigh intelligence here and becomes free from every anxiety and theobligation of acquiring a new body (in a subsequent birth). Its currentspreading in diverse directions, frightful is this river of life bearingthe world onward in its course. The five senses are its crocodiles. Themind and its purposes are the shores. Cupidity and stupefaction ofjudgment are the grass and straw that float on it, covering its bosom.Lust and wrath are the fierce reptiles that live in it. Truth forms thetirtha by its miry banks. Falsehood forms its surges, anger its mire.Taking its rise from the Unmanifest, rapid is its current, and incapableof being crossed by persons of uncleansed souls. Do thou, with the aid ofthe understanding cross that river having desires for its alligators. Theworld and its concerns constitute the ocean towards which that riverruns. Genus and species constitute its unfathomable depth that none canunderstand. One’s birth, O child, is the source from which that streamtakes its rise. Speech constitutes its eddies. Difficult to cross, onlymen of learning and wisdom and understanding succeed in crossing it.Crossing it, thou wilt succeed in freeing thyself from every attachment,acquiring a tranquil heart, knowing the Soul, and becoming pure in everyrespect. Relying them on a purged and elevated understanding, thou wiltsucceed in becoming Brahma’s self. Having dissociated thyself from everyworldly attachment, having acquired a purified Soul and transcendingevery kind of sin, look thou upon the world like a person looking fromthe mountain top upon creatures creeping below on the earth’s surface.Without giving way to wrath or joy, and without forming any cruel wish,thou wilt succeed in beholding the origin and the destruction of allcreated objects. They that are endued with wisdom regard such an act tobe the foremost of all things. Indeed, this act of crossing the river oflife is regarded by the foremost of righteous persons, by asceticsconversant with the truth, to be the highest of all acts that one canaccomplish. This knowledge of the all-pervading Soul is intended to beimparted to one’s son. It should be inculcated unto one that is ofrestrained senses, that is honest in behaviour, and that is docile orsubmissive. This knowledge of the Soul, of which I have just now spokento thee, O child, and the evidence of whose truth is furnished by theSoul itself, is a mystery,–indeed, the greatest of all mysteries, andthe very highest knowledge that one can attain. Brahma hath nosex,–male, female, or neuter. It is neither sorrow nor happiness. Ithath for its essence the past, the future, and the present. Whateverone’s sex, male or female, the person that attains to the knowledge ofBrahma hath never to undergo rebirth. This duty (of Yoga) hath beeninculcated for attaining to exemption from rebirth.[1066] These wordsthat I have used for answering thy question lead to Emancipation in thesame way as the diverse other opinions advanced by diverse other sagesthat have treated of this subject. I have expounded the topic to theeafter the manner in which it should be expounded. Those opinionssometimes become productive of fruit and sometimes not. (The words,however, that I have used are of a different kind, for these are sure tolead to success).[1067] For this reason, O good child, a preceptor, whenasked by a contented, meritorious, and self-restrained son or disciple,should, with a delighted heart, inculcate, according to their trueimport, these instructions that I have inculcated for the benefit ofthee, my son!'”