Mahābhārata

M. N. Dutt: What is that which is called Undecaying and by acquiring which no one has to return? What, again, is that which is called Decaying, and by acquiring which one has to return once more?

M. N. Dutt: O destroyer of enemies, I ask you the distinction that exists, O you of mighty arms, between the Decaying and the Undecaying ones for understanding them both truly, O delighter of the Kurus.

M. N. Dutt: Brahmans conversant with the Vedas, speak of you as on Ocean of knowledge. Highly blessed Rishis and Yatis of great souls do the Salme.

M. N. Dutt: You have very few days to live. When the Sun turns from his southern solstice for entering into the northern, you will attain to your high end.

M. N. Dutt: When you will leave us, from whom shall we hear of all that is wholesome for us? You are the lamp of Kuru's race. Indeed, you are always shining with the light of knowledge.

M. N. Dutt: O perpetuator of Kuru's race, I wish, therefore, to hear all this from you. Listening to your discourses which are always sweet like nectar, my curiosity, without being satiated, is always increasing.

M. N. Dutt: Bhishma said I shall, regarding it, relate to you the old discourse that took place between Vashishtha and king Karala of Janaka's race.

M. N. Dutt: Once on a time when that foremost of Rishis, viz., Vashishtha, effulgent like the Sun, was seated at his ease, king Janaka asked him about that highest knowledge which is for our supreme behoof.

M. N. Dutt: A perfect adept in that department of knowledge which is about the Soul and gifted with sure conclusions about all branches of that science, as Mairtravaruni, that foremost of Rishis, was seated, the king, approaching him with joined hands, asked him in humble words, well said and sweet and shorn of all controversial spirit, this question,-O holy one, I wish to hear of Supreme and Eternal Brahma by attaining to which men of wisdom have not to return.

M. N. Dutt: I wish also to know that which is called Destructible and That into which this universe goes when destroyed. Indeed, what is That which is said to be indestructible. Auspicious, wholesome and free from all sorts of evil.

M. N. Dutt: Hear, O king, as to how this universe is destroyed, and of That which was never destroyed and which will never be destroyed at any time.

M. N. Dutt: Twelve thousand years make a cycle. Four such cycles, taken a thousand times, make a Kalpa which measures one day of Brahman.

M. N. Dutt: Brahman's night also, O king, is of the same measure. When Brahman himself is destroyed, Shambhu of formless soul and to whom the Yoga attributes of lightness, heaviness, etc., naturally stick, awakes, and once more creates that First of all creatures, possessed of huge proportions, of infinite deeds, endued with form, and at one with the universe. That Shambhu is otherwise called Ishana. He is pure Effulgence, and is above all decay, having his hands and feet stretching on all sides with eyes and head and mouth cverywhere, and with ears also in every place. That Being exists, possessing the entire universe.

M. N. Dutt: The eldest-born Being is called Hiranyagarbha. This holy one has been called the Understanding. In the Yoga scriptures, He is called the Great, and Virinchi, and the Unborn.

M. N. Dutt: In the Sankhya system, He is described by diverse names, and considered as having Infinity for his Soul. Of various forms and constituting the soul of the universe, He is considered as One and Indestructible.

M. N. Dutt: The three worlds of numberless ingredients have been created by Him without help from any source and have been overwhelmed by him. On account of His manifold forins, He is said to be of universal form.

M. N. Dutt: Undergoing changes He creates Himself. Gifted with great energy, He first creates Consciousness and that Great Being called Prajapati endued with Consciousness.

M. N. Dutt: The Manifest is created from the Unmanifest. This is called by the learned the Creation of Knowledge. The creation of (Virat) and Consciousness, by Hiranyagarbha, is the Creation of Ignorance.

M. N. Dutt: Allotment of attributes and the destruction thereof, called respectively by the names of Ignorance and Knowledge by persons learned in the Shrutis, then arose, referring to this, that, or the other of the three.

M. N. Dutt: Know, O king, that the creation of the elements from Consciousness is the third. In all the kinds of Consciousness is the fourth creation which originates from modification of the third.

M. N. Dutt: This fourth creation consists of Wind and Light and Ether and Water and Earth, with their properties of sound, touch, form, taste, and scent. arose

M. N. Dutt: This aggregate of ten arose, forsooth, at the same time. The fifth creation, O king, is that which has originated, from combinations of the principal elements.

M. N. Dutt: This comprises the ear, the skin, the eyes, the tongue, and the nose forming the fifth, and speech, and the two hands, and the two legs, and the lower canal, and the organs of generation.

M. N. Dutt: The first five of those form the organs of knowledge, and the last five the organs of action. All these, with mind, simultaneously, O king.

M. N. Dutt: These form the twenty-four topics that exist in the forms of all living creatures. By understanding these properly. these properly. Brahmanas endued with insight into the truth have never to give way to sorrow.

M. N. Dutt: In the three worlds a combination of these, called body, is possessed by all embodied Creatures. Indeed, O king, a combination of those is known as such in gods and men and Danavas, in Yakshas and spirits and Gandharvas, and Kinnaras and great snakes, and Charanas and Pishachas, in celestial Rishis and Rakshasas, in biting flies, and worins, and gnats, and vermin born of filth and rats, and dogs and Shvapakas and Chaineyas and Chandalas and Pukkasas, in elephants and horse and asses and tigers, and trees, and kine. Whatever other creatures exist in water or ether or on earth, for there is on other place in which creatures exist as we have heard, have this combination.

M. N. Dutt: All these, O sire, included within the class called Manifest, are seen to be destroyed day after day. Hence, all creatures begotten by union of these twenty-four are said to be destructible.

M. N. Dutt: This then is the Indestructible. And since the universe, which is made up of Manifest and Unmanifest, is destroyed, therefore, it is said to be Destructible.

M. N. Dutt: The Very Being called Mahan who is the first born is always spoken of as an instance of the Destructible. I have now told you, O king, all that you had asked me.

M. N. Dutt: Above the twenty-four topics already referred to is the twenty-fifth called Vishnu. That Vishnu, on account of the absence of all qualities, is not a topic though as that which permeates all the topics, he has been called so by the wise.

M. N. Dutt: Since that which is destructible has caused all this that is Manifest, therefore, all this is gifted with form. The twenty-fourth, which is Nature, is said to lord over all this. The twentyfifth, which is Vishnu, is formless and, therefore, cannot be said to lord over the universe.

M. N. Dutt: It is that Unmanifest, which, when endued with body lives in the hearts of all creatures having body. As regards eternal Consciousness, although he is shorn of attributes and without form, yet he assumes all forins.

M. N. Dutt: Uniting with Nature which has has the attributes of birth and death, he also assumes the attributes of birth and death. And on account of such union he becomes an object of perception and though in reality shorn of all attributes yet he coines to be invested therewith.

M. N. Dutt: It is in this way that the Soul, becoming united with Nature and invested with Ignorance, undergoes changes and becomes conscious of Self.

M. N. Dutt: Uniting with the qualities of Goodness, Darkness and Ignorance, he becomes at one with various creatures belonging to various orders of Being, on account of his forgetfulness and his waiting upon Ignorance.

M. N. Dutt: On account of his birth and death originating from the fact of living in union with Nature, he thinks himself to be no other than what he apparently is, Knowing himself as this or that, he follows the qualities of Goodness, Darkness and Ignorance.

M. N. Dutt: Under the influence of Ignorance, he comes by various kinds of conditions which are affected by Ignorance. Under the influences of Darkness and Goodness he attains likewise to conditions which are affected by Darkness and Goodness.

M. N. Dutt: There are three colours in all viz., White, Red, and Dark. All those colours belong to Nature.

M. N. Dutt: Through Ignorance one goes to hell. Through Darkness one attains to the status of humanity. Through Goodness people ascend to the regions of the gods and partake of great happiness.

M. N. Dutt: By sticking to sin continuously one sinks into the intermediate order of beings. By acting both virtuously and sinfully one comes by the status of humanity. By acting only righteously, one attains to the status of the gods.

M. N. Dutt: In this way the twenty-fifth, viz., (the Indestructible), the wise say, by union with the unmanifest, becomes changed into (destructible). By means of knowledge, however, the Indestructible appears in His true nature.

M. N. Dutt: Vasistha said Thus on account of his forgetfulness the Soul follows Ignorance and acquires thousands of bodies one after another.

M. N. Dutt: He attains to thousands of births among the intermediate orders and sometimes among the very gods on account his union with qualities.

M. N. Dutt: From the status of humanity he goes to heaven and from heaven he returns to humanity, and from humanity he sinks into hell for many long years.

M. N. Dutt: As the worm that make the cocoon does itself completely on all sides by means of the threads it weaves itself, so the Soul, though in reality above all qualities, invests himself on all sides with qualities.

M. N. Dutt: Though above both happiness and misery, it is thus that he subjects himself to happiness and misery. It is thus also that, though above all discases, the Soul considers himself to be afflicted by headache, opthalmia, toothache, affections of the throat, abdominal dropsy, burning thirst, enlargement of glands, cholera, vitiligo, leprosy, burns, asthma, phthisis, epilepsy, and various other diseases from which embodied creatures suffer.

M. N. Dutt: Considering himself, through error, as born among thousands of creatures in the intermediate orders of being, the sometimes among the gods, he suffer misery and enjoys the fruits of his good deeds.

M. N. Dutt: Invested with Ignorance he considers himself as dressed sometimes in white cloth and sometimes in full dress of four pieces, or as lying on floors or with hands and feet contracted like those of frogs, or as seated upright in the position of meditation, or as clad in rags or as lying or sitting under the canopy of heaven or within palaces bult of bricks and stone or on rugged stones or on ashes or bare stones or on the naked earth or on beds or on battle-fields or in water or in mire or on wooden planks or on various sorts of beds; or, moved by desire of fruit, he considers himself as clad in a piece of cloth made of grass or as totally naked or as dressed in silk or in skin of the black antelope or in cloth made of flax or in sheep-skin or in tiger-skin or in lion-skin or in hemp fabric, or in barks of birch or in cloths made of the produce of prickly plants, or in vestures made of threads woven by worms or of tattered rags or in various other sorts of cloth too numerous to mention. The soul considers himself also as wearing various sorts of ornaments and gems, or as eating various sorts of food.

M. N. Dutt: He considers himself as sometimes eating at intervals of one night, or once at the same hour every day, or as at the fourth, the sixty, and the eight hour every day, or as once in six or seven or cight nights, or as once in ten or twelve days, or as once, in a month, or as eating only roots, or fruits, or as living upon air or water alone, or on cakes of sesame husk, or curds or cowdung, or the urine of the cow or potherbs or flowers or moss or raw food, or as living on falled leaves of trees or fruits that have dropped down and lie scattered on the ground, or various other sorts of food, moved by the desire of acquiring ascetic success.

M. N. Dutt: The Soul considers himself as following the observance of Chandrayana according to the rites laid down in the scriptures, or various other vows and observances, and the courses of duty laid down for the four modes of life, and even prohibitions of duty, and the duties of other subsidiary modes of life set down the four principal ones, and even various kinds of practices that distinguish the wicked and sinful. The Soul considers himself as enjoying lonely places and the charming shades of mountains and the cool vicinity of springs and fountains, and solitary river banks and secluded forests, and sacred pilgrimages, and lakes and waters remote from the busy haunts of men, and linely mountain caves giving the accommodation that houses and palaces afford. The Soul consider himself as reciting of different kinds of secret Mantras or as observing different vows and rules and various sorts of penances, and sacrifices of many sorts, and rites of diverse sorts.

M. N. Dutt: The Soul considers himself as following sometimes the ways of traders and merchants and the practices of Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras, and gifts of various sorts to those who are poor or blind or helpless.

M. N. Dutt: On account of his being invested with Ignorance, the Soul adopts the different qualities of Goodness, Darkness and Ignorance, and Righteousness and riches and pleasure.

M. N. Dutt: Under the influence of Nature, the Soul, undergoing changes himself, observes and follows and practises all these and considers himself as such. Indeed, the Soul considers himself as employed in the utterance of the sacred Mantras Svaha, Svadha and Vashat, and in saluting those he considers as his elders; in officiating in the sacrifices and studying the scriptures, and doing all other acts and rites of this sort.

M. N. Dutt: The Soul considers himself as connected with birth and death and quarrels and destruction. All these, the learned say form the path of acts good and bad.

M. N. Dutt: It is the goddess Nature who causes birth and death. When the time comes for Universal Dissolution, all existent objects and qualities are withdrawn by the Supreme Soul which then exists alone like the Sun withdrawing at evening all his rays; and when the time comes for Creation. He once more creates and spreads them out like the Sun shedding his rays when morning comes. Thus the Soul, for the sake of spol, repeatedly considers himself invested with all these conditions, which are his own forms and qualities infinite in number, and agrecable to himself. It is thus that the Soul, though really above the three qualities, becomes attached to the path of acts and creates by modification nature invested with the conditions of birth and death and at once with all acts and conditions which are characterised by the three qualities of Goodness, Darkness, and Ignorance. Arrived at the path of action, the Soul considers particular acts as possessing particular characteristics and productive of particular ends.

M. N. Dutt: O king, the whole of this universe has been blinded by Nature and all things have been variously overwhelmed (through Nature by the qualities of Darkness and Ignorance).

M. N. Dutt: It is on account of the Soul being invested by Nature that these pairs of opposites, productive of happiness and woe, again and again come. It is on account of this Ignorance that individual Soul considers these sorrows to be his and imagines them as following him.

M. N. Dutt: Indeed, O king, through that Ignorance it is that Individual Soul imagines he should anyhow cross those sorrows, and that he should, going into the regions of the gods, enjoy the happiness that await all his good deeds. it is through Ignorance that he thinks he should enjoy and suffer these delights and these miserics here in this world.

M. N. Dutt: Through Ignorance Individual Soul thinks,-I should secure my happiness. By continually doing good deeds, I may enjoy happiness in this life till its close and shall be happy in all future lives.

M. N. Dutt: Through, again the evil deeds I do in this life I may suffer unending misery. The status of humanity is full of great misery, for from it one sinks into hell.

M. N. Dutt: From hell, it will take many long years before I can return to the status of humanity. From humanity I shall attain of the status of the gods. From that superior status I shall have to return to humanity and thence to sink into hell once more.—One who always consider this combination of the principal elements and the senses, with the reflection of consciousness in it, to be thus invested with the characteristics of the Soul, has again and again to walk among gods and human beings and to sink into hell. Being always invested with the idea of mineness, Individual Soul has to go through a round of such births.

M. N. Dutt: Millions upon millions of births have to be gone through by Individual Soul in the successive forms he assumes, all of which are liable to death. He who does acts in this way, which are all full of good and bad fruits, has in the three worlds to assume successive forms and to enjoy and suffer fruits corresponding therewith. It is Nature that causes good and bad acts; and it is Nature that enjoys and suffers the fruits thereof in the three worlds. Indeed, Nature follows the course of acts. The status of the intermediate beings, of humanity, and of the gods, all originate from Nature. Nature has been said to be shorn of all qualities. Her existence is proved by her acts.

M. N. Dutt: Similarly, Soul, though without attributes himself, has his existence proved by the acts which the body does when it receives his reflection. Although the Soul is not subject to changes of any kind, and is the active principle that sets Nature in motion, yet entering a body which is united with the senses of knowledge and action. He considers all the acts of those senses as his own. The five senses of knowledge beginning with the ear, and those of action beginning with speech, uniting with the qualities of Goodness and Darkness and Ignorance become engaged in numerous objects. Individual Soul imagines that it is he who does the deeds of his life and that the senses of knowledge and action belong to him, although in reality he has no senses. Indeed, though having no body, he imagines that he has a body. Though shorn of qualities, he considers himself as endued therewith, the though above Time, imagines himself to be under Time's control.

M. N. Dutt: Though having no understanding, he still considers himself as endued with it, and though above the four and twenty topics, considers himself as one included among them. Though deathless, he still considers himself as subject to death, and though motionless regards himself as having motion.

M. N. Dutt: Though not possessed of a material body, he still considers himself as possessed of one; and though unborn, he still regards himself as having birth. Though above penances, he still considers as engaged in penances, and though he has no end he still considers himself as liable to attain to ends.

M. N. Dutt: Though not gifted with motion and birth, he still considers himself as endued with both, and though above fear, still considers himself as subject to fear. Though Indestructible, he still considers himself Destructible. Invested with Ignorance, the Soul thus thinks of himself.

M. N. Dutt: Yudhishthira said It is thus, on account of his Ignorance and his association with others who are invested with Ignorance, that Individual Soul passes through millions and millions of births every one of which has dissolution in the end.

M. N. Dutt: On account of his transformation into Intelligence invested with Ignorance, Individual Soul goes to millions of abodes, every one of which is liable to end in Jostruction, among intermediate beings and men and the gods.

M. N. Dutt: On account of Ignorance, Individual Soul like the Moon, has to wax and wane thousands and thousands of times. This is truly the nature of Individual Soul when invested with Ignorance. Know that the Moon has in reality full sixteen portions. Only fifteen of these are subject to increase and decrease. The sixteenth remains constant. after the manner of the Moon, Individual Soul too has full appear and disappear. The sixteenth is subject to no change.

M. N. Dutt: Invested with Ignorance, Individual Soul repeatedly and continually takes birth in the fifteen portions, named above. With the etemai and immutable portion of Individual Soul the principal elements become united and this union takes place repeatedly.

M. N. Dutt: That sixteenth portion is subtile. It should be known as Soma. It is never upheld by the senses. On the other hand, the senses are upheld by it.

M. N. Dutt: Since those sixteen portions are the cause of the birth of creatures, creatures can never, O king, take birth without their help. They are called Nature. The destruction of Jiva's liability to be united with nature is called Liberation.

M. N. Dutt: The Principle of Greatness, which is the twenty-fifth, if it regards that body of sixteen portions called the Unmanifest, has to assume it repeatedly. On account of not knowing. That which is stainless and pure, and for its devotion to what is the outcome of a combination of both Pure and Impure, the Soul, which is, in reality, pure, becomes, O king, Impure. Indeed, on account of its devotion to ignorance, Individual soul though characterised by Knowledge, becomes repeatedly associated with Ignorance.

M. N. Dutt: Though, O king, free from error of every sort, yet on account of its devotion to the three qualities of Nature, it becomes endued with those attributes.

M. N. Dutt: Janaka said O holy one, it has been said that the relation between male and female is like that which exists between the Indestructible and the Destructible.

M. N. Dutt: Without a male, a female can never conceive. Without a female, a male also can never create a form.

M. N. Dutt: On account of their union with each other, and each depending upon the qualities of the other, forms are seen to spring up. This is the case with all orders of being.

M. N. Dutt: Through each other's union for purposes of (sexual) intercourse, and through each depending upon the qualities of the other, forms (of living creatures) flow in seasons. I shall tell you the indications thereof.

M. N. Dutt: Hear what the qualities are which belong to the father and what those are which belong to mother. Bones, sinews, and marrow, O twiceborn one, we know, originate from the father.

M. N. Dutt: Skin, flesh, and blood, we hear, originate from the mother. Even this, O foremost of twice-born ones, is what may be read of in the Veda and other scriptures.

M. N. Dutt: Whatever is read as said in the Vedas and in other scriptures is considered as authority. The authority, again, of the Vedas and other scriptures, is eternal.

M. N. Dutt: If Nature and Soul be always united together in this way by each opposing and cach depending on the other's qualities, I see, O holy one, that Liberation cannot exist. You, O holy one, are gifted with spiritual vision so that you see all things as if they are present before your eyes. If, therefore, there be any direct evidence of the existence of Liberation, do speak of it to me.

M. N. Dutt: We are desirous of acquiring Liberation. Indeed, we wish to acquire That which is auspicious, bodiless, not subject to decrepitude, eternal, beyond the perception of the senses, and having nothing superior to it.

M. N. Dutt: Vashishtha said What you say about the characteristics of the Vedas and the other scriptures is even so. You understand those marks in the way in which they should be understood.

M. N. Dutt: O lord of kings, you only understand aright the texts of the Vedas and other scriptures without understanding the true senses or meaning of those texts, remembering them fruitlessly.

M. N. Dutt: Indeed, one who remembers a work without understanding their meaning, is said to carry an useless load. He, however, who understands the true meaning of a treatise, is said to have studied that work to purpose.

M. N. Dutt: Asked about the meaning of a text, one should communicate that meaning which he has understood by a careful study.

M. N. Dutt: That person of dull intelligence who refuses to explain the meanings of text in the midst of an assemblage of the learned, that person of foolish understanding, never succeeds in explaining the meaning aright.

M. N. Dutt: An ignorant wight, going to explain the true meaning of treatises, incurs ridicule. Even those endued with a knowledge of the Soul have to incurs ridicule on such occasions.

M. N. Dutt: Listen now to me, O king, as to how the subject of Liberation has been explained among the great persons conversant with the Sankhya and the Yoga Systems of Philosophy.

M. N. Dutt: That which the Yogins behold is exactly what the Sankhyas strive after to attain. He who sees the Sankhya and the Yoga Systems to be one and the same is said to be gifted with intelligence.

M. N. Dutt: Skin, flesh, blood, fat, bile, marrow, and sinews, and these senses, which you were speaking to me, exist.

M. N. Dutt: Objects originate from objects; the senses from the senses. From body one acquires a body, as a seed is obtained from seed.

M. N. Dutt: When the Supreme Being is without senses, without seed, without matter, without body, He must be divested of all qualities; and on account of His being so, how, indeed, can He have qualities of any kind?

M. N. Dutt: Ether and other qualities originate from the qualities of Goodness, Darkness, and Ignorance, and disappear in the end in them. Thus the qualities arise from Nature and disappear in Nature.

M. N. Dutt: Skin, flesh, blood, fat, bile, marrow, bones, and sinews,-these eight, that are made of Nature, know, O king, may sometimes be produced by the vital seed alone (of the male).

M. N. Dutt: The Individual Soul and the universe are said to both partake of Nature characterised by the three qualities of Goodness, Darkness, and Ignorance. The Supreme Soul is different from both the Individual Soul and the universe.

M. N. Dutt: As the seasons, though having no forms, are nevertheless inferred from the appearance of particular fruits and flowers, similarly, Nature, though formless, is inferred from the Principles of Greatness and the rest that originate from it.

M. N. Dutt: Thus, from the existence of Consciousness in body, the Supreme Soul, shorn of all qualities whatever and perfectly stainless, is inferred.

M. N. Dutt: Without beginning and destruction, without end, the seer of all things, and auspicious, that Soul, only on account of its Oneness with the body and other qualities, comes to be taken as invested with qualities.

M. N. Dutt: Those persons who are truly conversant with qualities know that only objects endued with qualities can have attributes but that That which is above all qualities can have none.

M. N. Dutt: When the Individual Soul conquers all qualities born of Nature and which it assumes under mistake, only then does it see the Supreme Soul.

M. N. Dutt: Only the highest Rishis conversant with the Sankhya and the Yoga Systems know that Supreme Soul which Sankhyas and Yogins and believers in all other Systems say is beyond the Understanding, which is considered as Knower and endued with the highest wisdom on account of its renouncing all consciousness of identi-fication with nature, which is above the attribute of Ignorance or Error, which is Unmanifest, which is beyond all attributes, which is called the Supreme, which is dissociated from all attributes, which ordains all things, which is Eternal and Immutable, which overrules Nature and all her attributes, and which, getting over twenty-four topics of enquiry, forms the twenty-fifth.

M. N. Dutt: When men of knowledge, who stand in fear of birth, of the several states of living consciousness, and of death, succeed in knowing the Unmanifest, they succeed in understanding the Supreme Soul at the same time.

M. N. Dutt: An intelligent man considers the unity of the Individual Soul with the Supreme Soul as consistent with the scriptures and as perfectly correct; while the man shorn of intelligence considers the two as different from each other. This forms the distinction between the man of intelligence and the man that is shorn of it.

M. N. Dutt: The Characteristics of both the Destructible and Indestructible have now been said to you. The indestructible is Oneness or Unity, while multiplicity or variety is said to be the Destructible.

M. N. Dutt: When one begins to study and understand property the twenty-five topics of enquiry, one then understands that the oneness of the Soul is consistent with the scriptures and its multiplicity is what is opposed to them.

M. N. Dutt: These are the several characteristics of what is included in the list of topics is beyond that number and forms and twenty-sixth. The study or comprehension of created things according to their aggregates (of five) is the study and comprehension of topics. Above these is That which is eternal.

M. N. Dutt: Janaka said You have, O foremost of Rishis, said that Unity is the attribute of that which is Indestructible and variety or multiplicity is the attribute of what is known as Destructible. I have not, however, clearly understood the nature of these two. Doubts are still in my mind.

M. N. Dutt: Ignorant men consider the Soul as endued with multiplicity. They, however, who are endued with knowledge and wisdom consider the Soul to be one and the same. I, however, have a very dull understanding. I am, therefore, unable to understand how all this can take place.

M. N. Dutt: I have almost forgotten the causes also that you have attributed to the unity and the multiplicity of the Indestructible and the Destructible on account of the restlessness of my understanding.

M. N. Dutt: I, therefore, wish to hear you once more discourse to me on those subjects of unity and multiplicity, on him who is gifted with knowledge, on what is shorn of knowledge, on Individual Soul, Knowledge, Ignorance, on Indestructible, Destructible, and the Sankhya and the Yoga systems, in detail and separately and agreeable to the truth.

M. N. Dutt: Vashishtha said I shall tell you what you ask. Listen, however, to me, O king, as I explain to you the practices of Yoga separately.

M. N. Dutt: Contemplation, which forms an obligatory practice with Yogins, is their highest power, Those conversant with Yoga say that that Contemplation is of two sorts.

M. N. Dutt: One is the concentration of the mind, and the other is called Pranayama (suppression of vital airs). Pranayama is said to be real; while concentration of mind is unsubstantial to it.

M. N. Dutt: Excepting the three times when a man passes urine and stools and eats, one should devote his entire time to contemplation.

M. N. Dutt: Withdrawing the senses from their objects by the help of the mind, one gifted with intelligence, having made oneself pure, should, according to the twenty-two modes of transmitting the Prana breath, unite the Individual Soul with That which is above the four and twentieth topic which is regarded by the wise as living in every part of the body and as above decay and destruction.

M. N. Dutt: It is by means of those twenty-two modes that the Soul may always be known. It is certain that this practice of Yoga is his whose mind is never possessed by evil passions. It is not any other person's.

M. N. Dutt: Freed from all attachments, abstemious in diet, and controlling all the senses, one should fix his mind on the Soul, during the first and the last part of the night, after having, O king of Mithila, stopped the functions of all the senses, quieted the mind by the understanding, and assumed a posture as motionless as that of stone.

M. N. Dutt: When men of knowledge, conversant with the rules of Yoga, become as fixed as a stake of wood, and as immovable as a mountain, then they are said to be in Yoga.

M. N. Dutt: When one does not hear, and smell and taste, and see; when one does not feel any touch; when one's mind is perfectly free from every purpose; when one is not conscious of any thing, when one cherishes no thought, when one becomes like a piece of wood, then is he called by the wise to be in perfect Yoga.

M. N. Dutt: At such a time one shines like a limp that burns in a place where blows no wind; at such a time one becomes freed even from his subtile form, and perfectly at one with Brahma. When one acquires such progress, he has no longer to ascend or to fall among intermediate beings.

M. N. Dutt: When persons like ourselves say that there has been a complete identification of Knower, the Known, and Knowledge, then is the Yogin said to see the Supreme Self.

M. N. Dutt: While in Yoga, the Supreme Soul shows itself in the Yogin's heart like a burning fire, or like the bright Sun or like the lightning's spark in the firmament.

M. N. Dutt: That Supreme Soul which is Unborn and which is the essence of nectar, which is seen by great Brahmanas gifted with intelligence and wisdom and conversant with the Vedas, is subtiler than what is subtile and greater than what is great. That Soul, though living in all creatures, is not seen by them.

M. N. Dutt: The Creator of the worlds, He is seen only by a person gifted with wealth of intelligence when helped by the lamp of the mind. He lives on the other shore of the Darkness and is above the Ishvara.

M. N. Dutt: Persons conversant with the Vedas and endued with omniscience call Him the remover of Darkness, stainless, above Darkness, and with and without attributes.

M. N. Dutt: This is what is called the Yoga of Yogins. What else is the mark of Yoga? By such practices do Yogins succeed in seeing the Supreme Soul that is above destruction and decay.

M. N. Dutt: This much that I have told you in detail is about the Science of Yoga. I shall now describe to you that Sankhya philosophy by which the Supreme Soul is seen through the gradual destruction of mistakes.

M. N. Dutt: The Sankhyas, whose System is built on Nature, say that Nature, which is Unmanifest, is the foremost. From Nature they say, O king, the second principle called Greatness is produced.

M. N. Dutt: We have heard that from Greatness originates the third principle called Consciousness. The Sankhyas blessed with sight of the Soul say that from Consciousness originate the five subtile essences of sound, form, touch, taste, and scent.

M. N. Dutt: All these eight they call by the name of Nature. The changes of these eight are sixteen in number. They are the five gross essences of ether, light, earth, water and wind, and the ten senses of action and of knowledge including the mind.

M. N. Dutt: Wise men devoted to the Sankhya path and conversant with all its ordinances, and dispensations consider these twenty-four topics as including the whole range of Sankhya enquiry. One

M. N. Dutt: What is produced becomes merged in the producing cause. Created by the Supreme Soul after another, these principles are destroyed in a reverse order.

M. N. Dutt: Al every new Creation, the qualities start into being in the lateral order, and (when Destruction comes) they merge in a reverse order, like the waves of the ocean disappearing in the ocean from which they originate.

M. N. Dutt: O best of kings, this is the manner in which the Creation and the Destruction of Nature takes place. The Supreme Being is all that remains when Universal destruction takes place; and it is He who assumes various forms when Creation beings.

M. N. Dutt: This is evern so, O king, as ascertained by men of knowledge. It is Nature that causes the Over-presiding Soul to thus assume diversity and revert back to unity. Nature also herself has the same marks.

M. N. Dutt: One fully conversant with the nature of the topics of enquiry knows that Nature also assumes the same sort of diversity and unity, for when Destruction comes she reverts into unity and when Creation takes place she assumes diversity of form.

M. N. Dutt: The soul makes Nature, which contains the principles of production or growth, assume various forms. Nature is called Kshetra (or soil). Above the twenty-four topics or principles is the Sour which is Great. It presides over that Nature or Kshetra.

M. N. Dutt: Hence, O great king, the foremost Yatis say that the Soul is the Presider. Indeed, we have heard that on account of the Soul's presiding over all Kshetras. He is called the Presider.

M. N. Dutt: And because, He knows that Unmanifest Kshetra, He is, therefore, also called Kshetrajna. And because also Soul enters into Unmanifest Kshetra (viz., the body), therefore is He called Purusha.

M. N. Dutt: Kshetra is something quite different from Kshetrajna. Kshetra is Unmanifest. The Soul, which is above the twenty-four principles, is called the Knower.

M. N. Dutt: Knowledge and the objects known are different from each other. Knowledge, again, has been said to be Unmanifest while the object of knowledge is the Soul which is above the twenty-four principles.

M. N. Dutt: The Unmanifest is called Kshetra, understanding, and also the supreme Lord; while Purusha, which is the twenty-fifth principle has nothing superior to it and is not a principle.

M. N. Dutt: This much, O king, is an account of the Sankhya philosophy. The Sankhyas call Nature the cause of the universe, and merging all the are grosser principles into the Intelligence beyind the Supreme Soul.

M. N. Dutt: Rightly studying the twenty-four topics along with Nature, and determining their true nature, the Sankhyas succeed in seeing. That which is the twenty-four topics or principles.

M. N. Dutt: Individual Soul in reality is that very Soui which is above Nature and the four and twenty topics. When he succeeds in knowing that Supreme Soul by dissociating himself from Nature, he then becomes at one with the Supreme Soul.

M. N. Dutt: I have now told you everything about the Sankhya System truly. Those who conversant with this philosophy acquire tranquillity.

M. N. Dutt: Indeed, as men whose understandings are subject to error directly perceive all objects of the senses, so men freed from error have directly known Brahma.

M. N. Dutt: They who acquire that state have never to return to this world after the dissolution of their bodies; while as regards those who are said to be liberated in this life, power, concentration, and immutability, become theirs, on account of their having attained to the nature of the Indestructible.

M. N. Dutt: They who see this universe as many are said to see incorrectly. These men are blind to Brahma. O chastiser of enemies, such persons have again and again to return to the world and assume bodies.

M. N. Dutt: They who are conversant with all that has been said above become endued with omniscient, and accordingly when they pass from this body no longer become subject to the subjection of any more physical frames.

M. N. Dutt: All things, have been said to be the result of the Unmanifest. The Soul, which is the twentyfifth, is above all things. They who know the Soul have no fear of coming back to the world.

M. N. Dutt: I have thus described you the Sankhya Philosophy. Listen now to me as I tell you what is Vidya (Knowledge) and what is Avidya (Nescience), one after the other.

M. N. Dutt: The learned say that that Nature which is subject to Creation and Destruction, is called Avidya; while Purusha (Soul), who is freed from the attributes of Creation and Destruction and who is above the twenty-four topics or principles, is called Vidya.

M. N. Dutt: Listen to me first as I Tell you what is Vidya among success sets of other things, as explained in the Sankhya Philosophy. essences

M. N. Dutt: Among the senses of knowledge and those of action, the senses of knowledge are said to from what is known as Vidya. Of the senses of knowledge and their objects, the former form Vidya.

M. N. Dutt: Of objects of the senses and the mind, the wise have said that the mind forms Vidya. Of mind and the five subtile essences, the five subtile essences form Vidya.

M. N. Dutt: Of the five subtile and Consciousness, Consciousness forms vidya. Of Consciousness and Greatness the latter O king, is Vidya.

M. N. Dutt: Of all the principles beginning with Greatness, and Nature, it is Nature, which is unmanifest and supreme, that is called Vidya. Of Nature, and that called Creator which is Supreme, the latter should be known as Vidya.

M. N. Dutt: Above Nature is the twenty-fifth (Soul) who should be known as Vidya. Of all Knowledge, that which is the Object of Knowledge has been said to be the Unmanifest, O king.

M. N. Dutt: Again, Knowledge has been said to be Unmanifest, and the Object of knowledge to be what is above the four and twenty. Once more, Knowledge has been said to be Unmanifest, and the Knower is what is above the four and twenty. I have now told you what is truly the meaning of Vidya and Avidya.

M. N. Dutt: Listen now to me as I tell you that has been said about the Indestructible and the Destructible. Both Individual Soul and Nature have been said to be Indestructible, and both of them have been said to be Destructible.

M. N. Dutt: I shall tell you the reason of this correctly as I have understood it. Both Nature and Individual Soul are without beginning and without end. Both of them are considered as supreme.

M. N. Dutt: Those who are endued with knowledge say that both are to be called principles. On account of its attributes of Creation and Destruction, the Unmanifest is called Indestructible. That Unmanifest becomes repeatedly modified for the purpose of creating the principles.

M. N. Dutt: And because the principles beginning with Greatness are produced by Purusha (Soul) as well, and because also Purusha and the Unmanifest mutually depend upon each other, therefore is Purusha also, the twenty-fifth, called Kshetra.

M. N. Dutt: When the Yogin withdraws and merges all the principles into the Unmanifest Soul (or Brahma), then the twenty-fifth (viz., Soul or Purusha) also, with all those principles, disappears into it.

M. N. Dutt: When the principles become merged each into its creator, then the one that remains is Nature. When Soul, too, O son, becomes merged into his own producing cause, then Nature with all the principles in it becomes subject to destruction and attains also to the condition of being without attributes on account of her dissociation from all principles.

M. N. Dutt: Thus it is that Soul, when his knowledge of Soil disappears, becomes, by his nature, shorn of qualities. We have heard it.

M. N. Dutt: We he becomes destructible he then assurnes attributes. When, however, he gains his own real nature, he then succeeds in understanding his own condition of being really shorn of qualities.

M. N. Dutt: By shaking off Nature and beginning to realise that he is different from her, the intelligent Soul then comes to be regarded as pure and stainless.

M. N. Dutt: When Individual Soul ceases to exist in a state of union with Nature, then does he become at one with Brahima. When however, he exists united with Nature, he then, O king, seems to be different from Brahma.

M. N. Dutt: Indeed, when Individual Soul shows no affection for Nature and her principles, he then succeeds in seeing the Supreme and having once seen Him wishes not to lose that happiness.

M. N. Dutt: When the Knowledge of truth comes to him, Individual Soul begins to lament thus:-Alas, how foolishly have I acted by falling through ignorance into this frame composed of nature like a fish entangled in a net.

M. N. Dutt: Alas, through Ignorance, I have inigrated from body to body like a fish from water to water thinking that water along is the element in which it can dwell.

M. N. Dutt: Indeed, like a fish that does not know anything else than water to be its element, I also have never known anything else than children and wives to be my own!

M. N. Dutt: Fie on me that, through ignorance, am repeatedly passing from body to body in forgetfulness.

M. N. Dutt: The Supreme Soul alone is my friend. I can make friendship with Him. Whatever be my nature and whoever I may be, I am capable to be like Him and can become at one with Him.

M. N. Dutt: I see my similarity with Him. I am, indeed, like Him. He is pure. It is clear that I am of the same nature.

M. N. Dutt: Through Ignorance and stupefaction, I have becoine associated with Inanimate Nature. Though really shorn of attachments, I have passed this long time in a state of attachment with Nature.

M. N. Dutt: Alas, by her was I so long controlled without having been able to know it. Various are the forms,-high, middling, and low,-that Nature assumes. Oh, how shall I like in those forms?

M. N. Dutt: How shall I live conjointly with her? On account of my ignorance I repair to her companionship. I shall now be fixed.

M. N. Dutt: I shall no longer keep her company. For having passed so long a time with her, I should think that I was so long imposed on by her, for myself being really freed form change, how could I keep company with one who is subject to change.

M. N. Dutt: She cannot be held responsible for this. The responsibility is mine, since turning away from the Supreme Soul became of my own accord attached to her,

M. N. Dutt: On account of that attachment, myself, though without form in reality, had to live in various forms. Indeed, though without forın by nature I become endued with forms on account of my notion of Egoism, and thereby insulted and distressed.

M. N. Dutt: On account of my idea of mineness concerning the results of Nature, I am forced to take birth in various orders of Being. Alas, though really shorn of Egoism, yet on account of affecting it, what various evil acts have been perpetrated by me in those orders in which I was born while I remained in them with a soul that had lost all knowledge! I have nothing to do with him who, with essence made up of consciousness, divides himself into many pieces and who tries to unite me with them. It is only now that I have been awakened and have understood that I am by nature without egoism and without that consciousness which creates the forms of Nature that invest me all around.

M. N. Dutt: Renouncing Egoism which I always have regarding her and whose essence is made up of consciousness, and leaving Nature herself, I shall take refuge in Him, who is auspicious.

M. N. Dutt: I shall be united with Him, and not will Nature which is inanimate. If I unite with Hiin, it will do me good. I have no similarity of nature with Nature.

M. N. Dutt: The twenty-fifth (viz., Individual Soul), when he thus succeeds in understanding the Supreme, becomes able to able to cast off the Destructible and at one with the Indestructible and which is the essence of all that is auspicious.

M. N. Dutt: Shorn of qualities in his true nature and in reality Unmanifest, Individual Soul becomes invested with what is Manifest and assumes qualities. When he succeeds in seeing what is without qualities, and which is the origin of the Unmanifest, he becomes, O king of Mithila, at one with the same.

M. N. Dutt: I have now told you according to what I have heard, as to how knowledge that is subtile, pure and certain, originates. Do you listen to me.

M. N. Dutt: Now I again speak as I heard about that soul which is so tiny, awakened and pure.

M. N. Dutt: I have already described to you, what the Sankhya and the Yoga Systems are as expounded in their respective scriptures. Verily, the science that has been explained in Sankhya treatises is at one with what has been laid down in the Yoga scriptures.

M. N. Dutt: The knowledge, 0 king, which the Sankhyas preach, is capable of awakening every one. In the Sankhya scriptures, that Knowledge has been explained very clearly for the behoof of disciples.

M. N. Dutt: The learned say that this Sankhya System is very extensive. Yogins have respect for that System as also for the Vedas.

M. N. Dutt: In the Sankhya System no topic or principle above the twenty-fifth is admitted. That which the Sankhyas consider as their highest principle has been duly described (by me).

M. N. Dutt: In the Yoga philosophy, it is said that Brahma, which is the essence of knowledge without the second, becomes the Individual Soul only when invested with Ignorance. In the Yoga Scriptures, therefore, both Brahma and Individual Soul are spoken of.

M. N. Dutt: Vashishtha said Listen now to me as I describe to you the Buddha (Enlightened to the Supreme Self) and Abuddha (Individual Soul) which is the dispensation of the qualities, Assuming many forms the Supreme Soul, becoming Individual Soul, regards all those forms as real.

M. N. Dutt: On account of such transformations Individual Soul fails to understand the Supreme Soul, for he has the three qualities and creates and withdraws into himself what he creates.

M. N. Dutt: Carelessly for his sport, O king, does Individual Soul undergo changes and because he is capable of understanding the called action of the Unmanifest, therefore he is the Comprehender.

M. N. Dutt: The Unmanifest or Nature can at no time comprehend Brahma which is really without qualities even when it shows itself with qualities. Hence is Nature called Unintelligent.

M. N. Dutt: There is a declaration of the Shrutis that is ever Nature does succeed in knowing the twenty fifth, she then becomes at one with the Individual Soul who is united with her. On account of this Individual Soul or Purusha, who is not manifest and which in his real nature is not subject to changes, comes to be called as the Unawakened or Ignorant.

M. N. Dutt: Indeed, because the twenty-fifth can comprehend the Unmanifest, he is, therefore, called Comprehender. He cannot, however readily, comprehened the twenty-sixth, which is pure, which is Knowledge without duality, which is immeasurable, and which is eternal. The twenty-sixth, however, can know both the Individual Soul and Nature, numbering the twenty-fifth and the twenty-fourth respectively.

M. N. Dutt: O you of great effulgence, only wise men know that Brahma which is Unmanifest, which is in its real nature to all that is seen and unseen, and which, O son, is the one independent essence in the universe,

M. N. Dutt: When Individual Soul considers himself different from what he truly is, it is only then that lie fails to know the Supreme Soul and himself and Nature with which he is united.

M. N. Dutt: When Individual Soul succeeds in understanding Nature then he is said to be restored to his true nature and then does he attain to that high understanding which is pure and stainless.

M. N. Dutt: When Individual Soul succeeds, O foremost of kings, in attaining to that excellent understanding, he then attains to that Pure Knowledge which is called the twenty-sixth (or Brahma). He then casts off the Unmanifest or Nature which has the attributes of Creation and Destruction.

M. N. Dutt: When Individual Soul know Nature which is unintelligent and subject to the action of the three qualities of Goodness, Darkness and Ignorance, he then becomes shorn of qualities himself. On account of his thus understanding the Unmanifest, he succeeds in acquiring the nature of the Supreme Soul.

M. N. Dutt: The Learned say that when he is feed from the qualities and united in nature with the Supreme Soul, then does Individual Soul become at one with that Soul. The Supreme Soul, is called the Real as well as Not Real, and is above decay and destruction.

M. N. Dutt: O giver of honours, the Soul, though it has the body for its resting place, yet it cannot be said to have acquired the nature of those principles. The wise say that there are five and twenty principles in all.

M. N. Dutt: Indeed, O son, the Soul not to be considered as possessed of any of the principles. Endued with Intelligence, it is above the principles. It renounces quickly even that principle which is the mark of Knowledge.

M. N. Dutt: When Individual Soul comes to regard himself as the twenty-sixth which is divested of decay and destruction, it is then that, forsooth, he succeeds by his own force in attaining to similarity with the twenty-sixth.

M. N. Dutt: Though awakened by the twenty-sixth which is Pure Intelligence, Individual Soul still becomes subject to Ignorance. This is the cause of Jiva's multifariousness as explanied in the Shrutis and the Sankhya scriptures.

M. N. Dutt: When Individual Soul, who is endued with consciousness, loses all Consciousness of a distinct or individual self, then does he, losing his multifariousness, resume his Oneness.

M. N. Dutt: O king, of Mithila, when Individual Soul, who is found to be in union with happiness and misery and who is seldom free from the consciousness of self, becomes identified with the Supreme Soul which transcends understanding, then does he becomes freed from virtue and vice.

M. N. Dutt: Indeed, when Individual soul attaining to the twenty-sixth which is Unborn and Powerful and which is shorn of all attachments, succeeds in comprehend it thoroughly, he himself becomes possessed of power and entirely renounces the Unmanifest or Nature.

M. N. Dutt: For understanding the twenty-sixth, the twenty-four principles seem to Individual soul to be unreal. I have thus told you, O sinless one, according to the indications of the Shrutis the nature of the Unintelligent, and of Individual Soul, as also of that which is Pure knowledge, agreeably to the truth. Guided by the scriptures, variety and oneness are thus to be understood.

M. N. Dutt: The difference between the gnat and the Udumvara, or that between the fish and water, illustrates the difference between the Individual Soul and the Supreme Soul.

M. N. Dutt: The Multiplicity and Oneness of these two are to be understood thus. This is called Liberation, viz., this comprehension of oneself as something distinct from Unintelligent or Unmanifest Nature.

M. N. Dutt: The twenty-fifth, which lives in the bodies of living creatures, should be liberated making him know the Unmanifest or the Supreme Soul which is above the understading.

M. N. Dutt: Indeed, that twenty-fifth is capable of acquiring Liberation in this way only and not through any other means. Though insooth different from the body in which he lives for the time being, he partakes of the nature of that body on account of his union with it.

M. N. Dutt: Uniting with what is Pure, he becomes Pure. Uniting with the Intelligent, he becomes Intelligent. By uniting, O foremost of men, with one that is Liberate he becomes Liberated.

M. N. Dutt: By uniting with one who is shorn of all attachments, he becomes freed from all attachments. By uniting with one striving after Liberation, he himself partaking of the nature of his companion, strives after Liberation.

M. N. Dutt: By uniting with one of pure acts, he becomes pure and of pure acts and endued with blazing effulgence. By uniting with one of pure soul, he becomes of pure soul himself.

M. N. Dutt: By uniting with the One independent Soul, he becomes One and Independent. Uniting with One that is dependent on One's Own Self, he attains to the same nature and acquires Independence.

M. N. Dutt: O monarch, I have duly told you all this that is perfectly true. Candidly have I described to you this subject, viz., the Eternal, Pure and Prime Brahma.

M. N. Dutt: You may communicate this high knowledge, capable of awakening the soul, to that person, O king, who though not a master of the Vedas is, nevertheless, humble and has a keen desire for acquiring the knowledge of Brahma.

M. N. Dutt: It should never be given to one who speaks falsehood, or one who is cunning or roguish, or one who has no strength of mind, or one who is of crooked understanding, or one who is jealous of men of knowledge, or one who pains others. Listen to me as I say who they are to whom this knowledge may safely be given.

M. N. Dutt: It should be given to one who has faith, or one who has merit, or one who does not speak ill of others, or one who is given to penances from the purest of motives, or one who is endued with knowledge and wisdom, or one who performs sacrifices and other rites laid down in the Vedas, or one who has a forgiving nature, or one who feels compassion on and does good to all crcatures; or one who is fond of living in privacy and solitude, or one who is fond of performing all acts laid down in the scriptures, or one who does not like to quarrel, or one who is endued with great learning, or one having wisdom, or one possessed of forgiveness and self-control and tranquillity of soul.

M. N. Dutt: This high knowledge of Brahma should never be given to one who has not such qualifications. It has been said that by giving this knowledge to one who is not considered a worthy recipient, no advantage or good fruit can arise.

M. N. Dutt: This great knowledge should never be given, even if he gives in exchange the whole Earth full of gems and riches of every sort, to one that is not obscrvant of any vows and restraints. Forsooth, however, O king, this knowledge should be imparted to one who has conquered his senses.

M. N. Dutt: O Karala, do not entertain any fear since you have heard all this regarding high Brahma from the to-day! I have described to you duly the high and holy Brahma that is without beginning and middle, and that is capable of removing all kinds of sorrow.

M. N. Dutt: Seeing Brahma whose sight is capable of doing away with both birth and death, O king, which is full of auspiciousness, which removes all fear, and which yields the highest benefit, and having acquired this essence of all knowledge, renounce all error and stupefaction to-day.

M. N. Dutt: I had acquired this knowledge from the eternal Hiranyagarbha himself, O king, who communicated it to me for my having carefully pleased that great Being of very superior Soul. Asked by you to-day, I have, O king, communicated the knowledge of eternal Brahma to you, just as I had myself gained it from my teacher. Indeed, this great knowledge which is the refuge of all persons conversant with Liberation has been given to you exactly as I had it from Brahman himself.”

M. N. Dutt: Bhishma said I have thus told you of high Brahma, just as the great Rishi had said, by attaining to which the Twenty-fifth (Individual Soul) has never to return.

M. N. Dutt: On account of his knowing truly the Supreme Soul which is not subject to decay and death, Individual Soul is obliged to frequently return to the world. When, however, Individual Soul succeeds in acquiring that high knowledge, he has no longer to return.

M. N. Dutt: Having heard it, O king, from the celestial Rishi, I have, O son, given to you that great knowledge which yields the highest good.

M. N. Dutt: This knowledge acquired from Hiranyagarbha by the great Rishi Vashishtha. was From that foremost of Rishis, viz., Vashishtha, it was acquired by Narada.

M. N. Dutt: From Narada I have acquired that knowledge which is truly at one with the eternal Brahma. Having heard this discourse of great import, couched in excellent words, do not, O foremost of the Kurus, give way any longer to greaf.

M. N. Dutt: That man who knows the Destructible and the Indestructible, become freed from fear. He, indeed, O king, is compelled to entertain fear who is shorn of this knowledge.

M. N. Dutt: On account of Ignorance, the man of foolish soul hath repeatedly to return to this world. Indeed, after death he has to be born in thousands and thousands of orders of Being, every one of which meets with Death in the end.

M. N. Dutt: Now in the world of the gods, now among men, and now among intermediate orders of Being, he has to appear again and again. If in course of time he succeeds in crossing that Ocean of Ignorance in which he is sunk, he then succeeds in avoiding completely re-birth and attaining to oneness with the Supreme Soul.

M. N. Dutt: The Ocean of Ignorance is dreadful. It is bottomless and called the Unmanifest. 0 Bharata, day after day, creatures are seen to fall and sink in that Ocean.

M. N. Dutt: Since you, O king, have been freed from that eternal and limitless Ocean of Ignorance, you have, therefore, become freed from Darkness and also Ignorance.

M. N. Dutt: Bhishma said Once on a time a king of Janaka's family while roaming in the uninhabited forest in pursuit of deer, saw a superior Brahmana or Rishi of Bhrigu's race.

M. N. Dutt: Bowing with his head to the Rishi who was seated at his ease, king Vasuman sat near him and with his permission put to him this question:भगवन् किमिदं श्रेयः प्रेत्य चापीह वा भवेत्।

M. N. Dutt: O holy one, what yields the highest benefit, both in this world and in the next, to man who has an unsuitable body and who is the slave of his desires?

M. N. Dutt: Duly respected by king, and and thus questioned, that great Rishi endued with ascetic merit, then said these words to him which were highly beneficial.

M. N. Dutt: see If you seek both here and hereafter what is agreeable to your mind, do you then, with controlled senses, abstain from doing what is disagreeable to all creatures.

M. N. Dutt: Virtue is beneficial to them that are good. Virtue is the refuge of the good. From virtue have originated the three worlds with their mobile and immobile creatures.

M. N. Dutt: O you, who are eagerly desirous of enjoying all agreeable objects, how is it that you are not yet satiated with objects or desire? You the honey, O you of little understanding, but are blind to the fall.

M. N. Dutt: As one desirous of acquiring the fruits of knowledge, should busy himself with the acquisition of knowledge, so one desirous of acquiring the fruits of Virtue should be busy with the acquisition of Virtue.

M. N. Dutt: If a wicked men, from desire of virtue, tries to do a pure and stainless act, the fulfilment of his desire becomes impossible. If, on the other hand, a good man, moved by the desire of acquiring virtue, tries to do an act that is even difficult, its accomplishment becomes easy for him.

M. N. Dutt: If, while living in the forest, one acts in such a way as to enjoy all the pleasures of living amongst men in towns, one comes to be regarded not as a forest recluse but as an inhabitant of towns. Likewise, if one while living in towns, acts in such a way as to enjoy the happiness of a forest life, one is regarded not as a inhabitant of towns but as a forest recluse.

M. N. Dutt: Ascertaining the merits of the religion of Karma and that of Abstention therefrom, do you, with concentrated senses, be devoted to the practices of virtue in thought, word, and deed.

M. N. Dutt: Judging of the propriety of time and place, purified by the observance of vows and other purifying rites, and solicited, do you, without malice, make large gifts to the good.

M. N. Dutt: Acquiring riches by fare means, one should give it away to worthy persons. One should make gifts, renouncing anger; and having made gifts one should never yield to sorrow nor proclaim those gifts with his own mouth.

M. N. Dutt: The Brahmana who is full of mercy, who is pure, who has his senses under control, who is truthful in speech, who is full of candour, and whose birth is pure, has been considered as a person deserving of gifts.

M. N. Dutt: A person is said to be pure in birth when he is born of a mother who has only one husband and who is of the same caste with him. Indeed, such a Brahmana, knowing the three Vedas, viz., Rich, Yajush, and Saman, endued with learning, only observant of the six duties, has been considered as deserving of gifts.

M. N. Dutt: Virtue becomes sin and sin becomes virtue, according to the nature of the doer, of time, and of place.

M. N. Dutt: Sin is renounced like the fifth on one's body,-a little with a little exertion, and a great quantity when the exertion is greater.

M. N. Dutt: A person, after clearing his bowels, should lake clarified butter, butter, which acts most beneficially on his system. Likewise, when one has freed himself of all faults and busies himself with the acquisition of virtue, that Virtue in the next world, brings on the highest happiness.

M. N. Dutt: Good and evil thoughts are in the minds of all creatures. Withdrawing the mind from cvil thoughts, it should always be bent towards good thoughts.

M. N. Dutt: One should always respect the practices of his own caste. Do you try, therefore, to act in such a way that you may have faith in the practices of your own caste.

M. N. Dutt: O you who are endued with an impatient soul, follow the practice of patience. O you of a foolish understanding try to be possessed of intelligence. Shorn of tranquillity, try to be tranquil, and shorn of wisdom as you are, try to act wisely.

M. N. Dutt: He who is in the company of the righteous, succeeds, by his own energy, in acquiring the means of doing what is beneficial for him both here and hereafter. Verily, the root of that benefit is unflinching firmness.

M. N. Dutt: The royal sage Mahabhisha, for want of this firinness, fell from heaven. Yayati, also, though his merits had become exhausted succeeded in regaining regions of happiness through his firmness.

M. N. Dutt: You are sure to acquire great intelligence, as also what is for your highest good by seeing virtuous and learned persons endued with ascetic merit.

M. N. Dutt: Hearing these words of the sage, king Vasuman, having good disposition, withdrawing his mind from the pursuits of desire, set it upon the acquisition of virtue. a

M. N. Dutt: You should, O grandfather, describe to me what is freed from duty and its reverse, what is freed from every doubt, what is above birth and death, as also virtue and sin, what is auspiciousness, what is eternal fearlessness, what is Eternal and Indestructible, and Immutable, what is always Pure, and what is ever free from exertion.

M. N. Dutt: Bhishma said O Bharata, referring to this matter I shall recite to you the old discourse between Yajnavalkya and Janaka. Once on a time the famous king Daivarati of Janaka's race, truthfully understanding the meaning of all questions, put this question to Yajnavalkya, that foremost of Rishis.

M. N. Dutt: Janaka said ( regenerate Rishi, how many kinds of senses are there? How many kinds also are there of Nature? What is the Unmanifest and highest Brahma? What is higher than Brahmana? What is Birth and what Death? What are the limits of Age? You should, O foremost of Brahmanas, describe all these subjects to me who seek your favour.

M. N. Dutt: I am ignorant while you are an Ocean of knowledge. Hence, I ask you. Verily, I wish to hear you describe all these subject.

M. N. Dutt: Hear, O king, what I say in answer to these questions of yours. I shall give you the high knowledge which Yogins prize, and especially that which is possessed by the Sankhyas.

M. N. Dutt: Nothing is unknown to you. Still you ask me. One, however, who is questioned, should answer. This is the eternal practice.

M. N. Dutt: Eight principles have been called by the name of Nature, while sixteen have been called changes. Of Manifest, there are seven. These are of views of those persons who are conversant with the spiritual science.

M. N. Dutt: The Unmanifest, Greatness, Consciousness and the five subtile elements of Earth, Wind, Ether, water, and Light, these eight are known by the name of Nature. Listen now to the enumeration of those called changes. They are the ear, the skin, the eye, the tongue' and the nose; and sound, touch, form, taste, and scent, as also speech, the two arins, the two feet, the lower duct (within the body), and the organ of pleasure.

M. N. Dutt: The ten commencing with sound, and originating from the five great principles, are called Vishesha. The five senses of knowledge are called Savishesha, O king of Mithila.

M. N. Dutt: Persons conversant with the spiritual science consider the Mind as the sixteenth. This is agreeable to your own views as also to those of other learned men well acquainted with the truths about principles.

M. N. Dutt: From the Unmanifest, O king, originates the Greatness. The learned say this to be the first creation relating to Nature.

M. N. Dutt: From Greatness, O king of men, originates Consciousness. This has been designated the second creation having the Understanding for its essence.

M. N. Dutt: From Consciousness has originated the Mind which is the essence of sound and the others that are the qualities of ether and the rest. This is the third creation, relating to Consciousness.

M. N. Dutt: From Mind have originated the great elements, O king! This is the fourth creation called mental.

M. N. Dutt: Persons conversant with the principal elements hold that Sound and Touch and Form and Taste and Scent are the fifth creation, relating to the Great elements.

M. N. Dutt: The creation of the Ear, the Skin, the Eye, the Tongue, and the Scent, forms the sixth and is considered as having for its essence multiplicity of thought.

M. N. Dutt: The senses that come after the Ear and the others then originate, O king. This is called seventh creation and relates to the senses of knowledge.

M. N. Dutt: Then, O king, come the vital air that rises upwards and those that go downwards. This is the eighth creation and called Arjjva (straight).

M. N. Dutt: Then come those vital airs which move transversely in the lower parts of the body and also that called Apana passing downwards. This, the ninth creation, is also called Arjjava, O king.

M. N. Dutt: These nine kinds of creation, and these principles, O king, which are twenty-four in number, are described to you according to what has been laid down in the scriptures.

M. N. Dutt: After this, O king, listen to me as I tell you the durations of time as said by the learned regarding these principles or attributes.

M. N. Dutt: Yajnavalkya said Listen to me, O foremost of men, as I tell you what the duration of time is about the Supreme Purusha. Ten thousand Kalpas are said to form a single day of his.

M. N. Dutt: The duration of his night is equal. When his night passes, he awakes, O king, and first crcates herbs and plants which form the sustenance of all embodied creatures.

M. N. Dutt: He then creates Brahman who originates from a golden egg. That Brahman is the form of all created things, as we have heard.

M. N. Dutt: Having lived for one whole year within that egg, the great ascetic Brahman, called also Prajapati came out of it and created the whole Earth, and the Heaven above.

M. N. Dutt: The lord then, it is seen in the Vedas, O king, placed the sky between Heaven and Earth.

M. N. Dutt: The wise men, conversant in the study of Vedas said that it is seven thousand and five hundred Kalpas that form the day of Brahman.

M. N. Dutt: Persons conservant with spiritual science hold that his night also is of an equal duration. Brahman, called Great, then creates Consciousness called element and endued with excellent essences.

M. N. Dutt: Before creating any physical bodies out of the ingredients called the chief elements, Mahan or Brahma, endued with penances created four others called his sons. They are the fathers of the original fathers, O best of kings as we have heard.

M. N. Dutt: We have also heard, O king, that the senses (of knowledge) along with the four inner faculties, have originated from the Pitris, and that the entire universe of mobile and immobile Beings has been filled with those Great elements.

M. N. Dutt: The powerful Consciousness created the five elements. These are Earth, Wind, Ether, Water, and Light as the fifth.

M. N. Dutt: This Consciousness from whom originates the third creation, has five thousand Kalpas for his night, and his day is of equal duration.

M. N. Dutt: Sound, Touch, Form. Taste, and Scent,-these five are called Vishesha. They inhere into the five great elements.

M. N. Dutt: All creatures, 0 king, continually permeated by these five, seek one another's companionship, become subservient to one another, and challenging one another, get over one another; and actuated by those immutable and seductive principles, creatures kill one another and rove in this world, entering into numerous intermediate orders of Being.

M. N. Dutt: Three thousands of Kalpas form their day. Their night also is the same. The Mind roves over all things, O king, guided by the Senses. The Senses do not perceive anything. It is the Mind that perceives through them.

M. N. Dutt: The Eye sees forms when helped by the Mind is distracted, the Eye cannot see fully even the object before it.

M. N. Dutt: It is commonly said that the Senses perceive. This is not true, for it is the Mind that perceives through the Senses.

M. N. Dutt: When the activity of the Mind, is stopped, the activity of the Senses is also stopped. One should thus consider the Senses to be under the control of the Mind.

M. N. Dutt: Indeed, the Mind is said to be the Lord of all the Senses. O you of great fame, these are all the twenty elements in the Universe.

M. N. Dutt: I have, one after another, told you the order of the creation, with their total number, of the various principles, as also the extent of the duration of each. Hear as I tell you of their destruction.

M. N. Dutt: Listen to me how Brahman, who is eternal and undeteriorating, and who is without beginning and without end, repeatedly creates and destroys all created objects.

M. N. Dutt: When his day expires and night comes, he seeks sleep. At such a time the unmanifest and holy one moves the Being called Maharudra, who is conscious of his great powers.

M. N. Dutt: Urged by the unmanifest, that Being, assuming the form of the Sun of hundreds of thousands of rays, divides himself into a dozen parts each resembling a burning fire.

M. N. Dutt: He then consumes with his energy, O king, without any loss of time, the four sorts of created beings, viz., viviparous, oviparious, filth-born, and vegetable.

M. N. Dutt: Within, the twinkling of the eye all mobile and immobile creatures being thus destroyed, the Earth becomes on all sides, bare as a tortoise shell.

M. N. Dutt: Having burnt everything on the face of the Earth, Rudra of incomparable might, then quickly fills the bare Earth with Water, possessed of great force.

M. N. Dutt: He then creates the cycle-fire which dries up that Water. The Water disappearing, the great element of Fire continues to blaze dreadfully.

M. N. Dutt: Then comes the powerful Wind of iinmeasurable force, in his eight forms, who devours speedily that blazing fire of transcendent force, possessed of seven flames, and al one with the heat that exists in every crcature. Having devoured that fire, the Wind passes in every direction, upwards, downwards and transversely.

M. N. Dutt: Then Space of inmeasurable existent devours that Wind of transcendent power. Then mind cheerfully devours that immeasurable Space.

M. N. Dutt: Then that Lord of all creatures, viz., Consciousness, who is the Soul of everything, devours the Mind. Consciousness in his turn, is devoured by the Great Soul who is conversant with the Past, the Present, and the Future.

M. N. Dutt: The incomparable Universe is then devoured by Shambhu, that Lord of all things in whom exist the lordly powers of Anima, Laghima, Prapti, etc., and who is considered as Supreme and pure Effulgence that is Iminutable.

M. N. Dutt: His hands and feet extend over every part his eyes and head and face are everywhere, his reach every places, and he exists possessing all things.

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