YUDHISHTHIRA SAID, ‘O king thou hast duly propounded unto me, in the wayin which it should be, the path of Yoga which is approved by the wise,after the manner of a loving preceptor unto his pupil. I ask now aboutthe principles of the Sankhya philosophy.
“Vyasa said, ‘O Yudhishthira, thy wisdom, I conceive, is not adequate.None doth any act by virtue of his own power.
“Vaisampayana said, ‘Meanwhile, O Janamejaya, Dhritarashtra begat uponGandhari a hundred sons, and upon a Vaisya wife another besides thosehundred. And Pandu had, by his two wives Kunti and Madri, five sons whowere great charioteers and who were all begotten by the celestials forthe perpetuation of the Kuru line.’
Vaisampayana said, “The Rishis, the Brahmanas, and Yudhishthira thenasked Markandeya, saying, ‘How did the Rishi Vaka become so long lived?’
“Arjuna said, ‘It behoveth thee to expound Brahma to me,–that which isthe highest object of knowledge. Through thy favour, my mind is delightedwith these subtle disquisitions.’
“Yudhishthira said, ‘What is that which is called Undeteriorating and byattaining to which no one has to come back?
“Janamejaya said, ‘O sinless one, thou hast narrated to me from thebeginning all about the birth of Dhritarashtra’s hundred sons owing tothe boon granted by the Rishi. But thou hast not told me as yet anyparticulars about the birth of the daughter.
Janamejaya said, “It behoveth thee to narrate to me in full the greatnessof the Brahmanas even as the mighty ascetic Markandeya had expounded itto the sons of Pandu.”
“Brahma said, ‘That which is unmanifest, which is indistinct,all-pervading, everlasting, immutable, should be known to become the city(or mansion) of nine portals, possessed of three qualities, andconsisting of five ingredients.
“‘Vasishtha said, ‘Thus in consequence of his forgetfulness the Soulfollows ignorance and obtains thousands of bodies one after another.
