" Oh son of Kunti !
the senses with their overpowering force
" prove too strong even for the knowing one,
" prove too strong even for the knowing one,
ever on the
" alert,
" alert,
and they drag away his mind even against his will.
" He must exercise perfect control ever these,
and should
" concentrate himself on Me as the Supreme ;
" concentrate himself on Me as the Supreme ;
for, he is
" said to be firm in the Truth, whose senses obey his
" steady control."
"The man contemplating upon objects finds himself
"strongly attached to them. Attachment begets
" desire which, in its turn, leads to jealousy and anger.
" From anger comes forgetfuluess which darkens all
" memory, the result being a complete stunning of
" Reason. And this is the way to entire ruin."
In this verse is described the nature of the aberration which
may come about for want of the practice of concentration.
'Attachment' means proximity of the object of thought. 'For-
getfulness' means forgetfulness of the sense of right and wrong.
The 'darkening of all memory' means the being turned off from
the realization of Truth. The 'stunning of Reason' refers to
the inability of gnosis to bring about liberation, being neutral-
ized by the current of opposite ideas thus set agoing.
" Dealing with objects through the senses, feeling no love or
" hate, and ever under the control of Self, he who has
" complete mastery over his mind easily finds his way
" to the Light."
One who is practised in Samadhi ( concentration, trance )
finds the Light, by force of the impressions derived from such
practice,
" said to be firm in the Truth, whose senses obey his
" steady control."
"The man contemplating upon objects finds himself
"strongly attached to them. Attachment begets
" desire which, in its turn, leads to jealousy and anger.
" From anger comes forgetfuluess which darkens all
" memory, the result being a complete stunning of
" Reason. And this is the way to entire ruin."
In this verse is described the nature of the aberration which
may come about for want of the practice of concentration.
'Attachment' means proximity of the object of thought. 'For-
getfulness' means forgetfulness of the sense of right and wrong.
The 'darkening of all memory' means the being turned off from
the realization of Truth. The 'stunning of Reason' refers to
the inability of gnosis to bring about liberation, being neutral-
ized by the current of opposite ideas thus set agoing.
" Dealing with objects through the senses, feeling no love or
" hate, and ever under the control of Self, he who has
" complete mastery over his mind easily finds his way
" to the Light."
One who is practised in Samadhi ( concentration, trance )
finds the Light, by force of the impressions derived from such
practice,
even when dealing with objects through the senses,
in moments when the trance is not on him.
in moments when the trance is not on him.
This verse is in
reply to the question "how he goes about?" This and the several
verses quoted above explain the nature of the Sthitaprajna.
" All that precedes as means the acquisition of gnosis, being
" brought about by effort, is the natural characteristic of
" him who is firm in the Truth.
reply to the question "how he goes about?" This and the several
verses quoted above explain the nature of the Sthitaprajna.
" All that precedes as means the acquisition of gnosis, being
" brought about by effort, is the natural characteristic of
" him who is firm in the Truth.
The condition of one so
" firmly fixed in Truth, wherein all sense of separateness
" is obliterated by the uninterrupted light of Self,
" is called Jimnmukti.
" Universal friendship and other qualities come of their
" own accord, without any effort, in one who has
" awakened himself to the light of Self,
they are not so
" found in one who is yet on the way to this supreme
" realization."
" firmly fixed in Truth, wherein all sense of separateness
" is obliterated by the uninterrupted light of Self,
" is called Jimnmukti.
" Universal friendship and other qualities come of their
" own accord, without any effort, in one who has
" awakened himself to the light of Self,
they are not so
" found in one who is yet on the way to this supreme
" realization."
To proceed, then,
" Him the Gods know to be a Brahmana who is afraid
" of the gunah as of a snake, of conventional respect
" and forms as of hell itself, and of woman as of a
" dead carcass
" Never share the same bed or seat even with mother, sister
" or daughter ; for, the host of senses overthrows even
" the Informed, by its overwhelming force."
And loathsomeness is thus put forth in the Smrti :
*' The unnameable part of woman, the fistula ever oozing,
" breaks the mind, though itself unbroken, and mostly
39
" deludes all men. What should prevent us from
" likening those men with the veriest worm who find
" pleasure in that piece of leather with a slit in the
" middle, ever full of the most filthy stench emanating
" from the other orifice at hand."
Men of the world should avoid being alone, on account of
their being thus open to fear, indolence, and the like ; and
they should court company to be free from these vices.
Yoginah, being unlike these, find the whole of space entirely
full with the highest bliss of Self realized in concentration
carried on without interruption, in solitude.
Hence there is
no chance of fear, indolence, sorrow, delusion, and the like,
in their case. For, as the S'ruti puts it,
" Where can there be any delusion, any sorrow, to the in-
" formed who experiences the oneness of all, through
" realization of every being as his Self."
" Place full to overcrowding " is a place full of men ; and
this, on account of talk about politics and the like, being
adverse to concentration, and therefore without realization of
the bliss of Self, torments the mind even like solitude. The
reason for this is that the world is all illusion, the Self is all
reality and fullness.
Oh best of intellects !
destruction of latent desire, gnosis
" and dissolution of mind,
" and dissolution of mind,
attended to simultaneously
" for sufficient length of time, bear the desired fruit."
Having thus shown the concomitance of these and the
result, the sage points out also the concomitance of the
absence of these means with the absence of the result :
*' Till these three are not well attended to with sufficient and
" repeated trials, the Condition can never be realized,
" even at the end of a hundred years."
*' If, even for a long time, these should be attended to, one
" after another, they bear no fruit, like incantations
" invariably joined to one another."
" Latent desire is not destroyed till the mind is not dissolved,
" and the mind is never at rest till latent desire is not
killed out."
Gnosis having arisen,,
the whole world of experience reduces itself to naught,
and the mind ceases from thinking of it as from thinking
of the ' horns of a man' and similar impossibilities ; and more-
over thinking in any form is no more of use after dtman
has been fully seen ; the mind, thus, dies out like fire not
fed with fuel. This is the pair of gnosis and ' dissolution of
* From the Kathopanishad : " This is the concealed Self of every being,
never mainfest ; It is seen with the pointed intellect by those who are
accustomed to minute observation,"
" Virtues such as self-control and the like derive nourish-
" ment from gnosis, and gnosis ripens into full de-
" velopment through these virtues ; these conduce to
the well-being of each other like the lotus and
" the pond wherein it grows."
This is the pair of gnosis and ' destruction of latent desire.*
The means for accomplishing all these three beginning
with gnosis are thus described :
" Therefore, oh Raghava ! with free personal effort accom-
" panied by right discrimination, avoid at a distance
*' all desire for enjoyment, and well betake thyself
" to these three."
' Personal effort ' consists of that energetic resolve which
sets about anyhow accomplishing a thing without fail.
' Discrimination' means proper discernment and conviction
after due analysis and observation. S'ravana and the rest*
are means to gnosis; Yoga is the means to dissolution of mind ;
and setting up an opposite current (of vasana) the means to
destruction of vasana. Avoid desire for enjoyment 'at a
distance] because the smallest desire being admitted, there
will be nothing to prevent it from going to any excess, even
* Study, contemplation, and assimilation: S'ravaiM, 3Ta/uina, and Nidid*
liyasana.
" Love and hate having been reduced to the most trans-
" parent thinness , through realization of the non-
" existence of the objective, there arises a kind of
" novel sense of pleasure ; this is called study of
* Brakman."
the liberated is liberated over again,' Life
of the Higher Self (ctaiviprakrti) leads the living man to libera-
tion ; Life of the Lower Self (asuriprakrtf), to bondage. This
has been mentioned by the Lord in the sixteenth chapter (of
the Bhagavadgita) :
" Life of the Higher Self leads to mohskct, ; life of the Lower
" Self puts into bondage."
7
50
Dissolution of mind too is mentioned as a cause of Jivan-
mukti, like the destruction of latent desire :
" Mind alone is to man the cause of bondage or libera-
" tion ; lost in enjoyment it leads to bondage, emptied
" of the objective it leads to liberation. As mind
" emptied of the objective leads to liberation, one
"desirous of liberation must always try to wipe off the
"objective from the plane of his mind. The mind
" severed from all connection with sensual objects, and
"prevented from functioning out, awakes into the
light of the heart, and finds the highest condition.
' The mind should be prevented from functioning, till
it dissolves itself in the heart ; this is gnosis, this
is Concentration, the rest is all mere concoction of
" untruth."
Thus * destruction of latent desire,' and * dissolution of
mind,' being direct means of 'liberation in this life,' are
the principal ; whereas gnosis is subordinate, being only a
mediate cause through the first two which it produces. The
Sruti frequently mentions gnosis as the cause of Vasana Kshaya
(destruction of latent desire) :
Knowledge of the Divine dissolves all bonds, and gives
freedom from every kind of misery, including birth
"and death. The wise realizing the effulgent one,
" through the Yoga of Atman, gain freedom from all
"joy and all sorrow." Also "The knower of Atman
"rises above misery;" " What delusion, what sorrow can
" come to him who realizes oneness ;" " He is freed from
" all bonds whatever on knowing the effulgent,"
That gnosia conduces to ' dissolution of mind ' is also seen
from the S'ruti, It is said with the condition of the informed
in view ; " Where all is one self to him, who can see what with
what ? who can smell what with what ?" S'ri Gauda-
charya, too, says ;
" When from proper realization of the truth of Atman,
he
" ceases from all imagining,
he reaches the condition
" wherein there is no mind, for,
it then dies out for
" want of having anything to relate itself to."
As * destruction of latent desire ' and * dissolution of mind/
are the principal causes of Jivanmukti; gnosis, being the direct,
is also the principal cause of Videhamukti (liberation after
death). Says the Smrti :
"Gnosis alone- conduces to Kaivalya which leads to libe-
ration."
Kaivalya is the condition of Self, aloneness, so to speak, being
without the appendage of body and the like.
This Kaivalya
is attainable by gnosis alone ; for, the condition of materia-
53
lity in the form of body, etc., comes of ignorance, and is capable
of being dissolved only through knowledge.
He wliOj without pro-
perly studying the philosophy of gnosis, brings about ' dis-
solution of mind ' and * destruction of latent desire' through
some means or other, and devotes himself to Brahman with
character, never realizes Kaivalya, for, his subtile body is not
destroyed.
Thus alone and only exclude this devotion also.
The words ' which leads to liberation ' mean that Kaivalya
being brought about by gnosis, frees the individual from all
bonds and conditions whatever.
" for sufficient length of time, bear the desired fruit."
Having thus shown the concomitance of these and the
result, the sage points out also the concomitance of the
absence of these means with the absence of the result :
*' Till these three are not well attended to with sufficient and
" repeated trials, the Condition can never be realized,
" even at the end of a hundred years."
*' If, even for a long time, these should be attended to, one
" after another, they bear no fruit, like incantations
" invariably joined to one another."
" Latent desire is not destroyed till the mind is not dissolved,
" and the mind is never at rest till latent desire is not
killed out."
Gnosis having arisen,,
the whole world of experience reduces itself to naught,
and the mind ceases from thinking of it as from thinking
of the ' horns of a man' and similar impossibilities ; and more-
over thinking in any form is no more of use after dtman
has been fully seen ; the mind, thus, dies out like fire not
fed with fuel. This is the pair of gnosis and ' dissolution of
* From the Kathopanishad : " This is the concealed Self of every being,
never mainfest ; It is seen with the pointed intellect by those who are
accustomed to minute observation,"
" Virtues such as self-control and the like derive nourish-
" ment from gnosis, and gnosis ripens into full de-
" velopment through these virtues ; these conduce to
the well-being of each other like the lotus and
" the pond wherein it grows."
This is the pair of gnosis and ' destruction of latent desire.*
The means for accomplishing all these three beginning
with gnosis are thus described :
" Therefore, oh Raghava ! with free personal effort accom-
" panied by right discrimination, avoid at a distance
*' all desire for enjoyment, and well betake thyself
" to these three."
' Personal effort ' consists of that energetic resolve which
sets about anyhow accomplishing a thing without fail.
' Discrimination' means proper discernment and conviction
after due analysis and observation. S'ravana and the rest*
are means to gnosis; Yoga is the means to dissolution of mind ;
and setting up an opposite current (of vasana) the means to
destruction of vasana. Avoid desire for enjoyment 'at a
distance] because the smallest desire being admitted, there
will be nothing to prevent it from going to any excess, even
* Study, contemplation, and assimilation: S'ravaiM, 3Ta/uina, and Nidid*
liyasana.
" Love and hate having been reduced to the most trans-
" parent thinness , through realization of the non-
" existence of the objective, there arises a kind of
" novel sense of pleasure ; this is called study of
* Brakman."
the liberated is liberated over again,' Life
of the Higher Self (ctaiviprakrti) leads the living man to libera-
tion ; Life of the Lower Self (asuriprakrtf), to bondage. This
has been mentioned by the Lord in the sixteenth chapter (of
the Bhagavadgita) :
" Life of the Higher Self leads to mohskct, ; life of the Lower
" Self puts into bondage."
7
50
Dissolution of mind too is mentioned as a cause of Jivan-
mukti, like the destruction of latent desire :
" Mind alone is to man the cause of bondage or libera-
" tion ; lost in enjoyment it leads to bondage, emptied
" of the objective it leads to liberation. As mind
" emptied of the objective leads to liberation, one
"desirous of liberation must always try to wipe off the
"objective from the plane of his mind. The mind
" severed from all connection with sensual objects, and
"prevented from functioning out, awakes into the
light of the heart, and finds the highest condition.
' The mind should be prevented from functioning, till
it dissolves itself in the heart ; this is gnosis, this
is Concentration, the rest is all mere concoction of
" untruth."
Thus * destruction of latent desire,' and * dissolution of
mind,' being direct means of 'liberation in this life,' are
the principal ; whereas gnosis is subordinate, being only a
mediate cause through the first two which it produces. The
Sruti frequently mentions gnosis as the cause of Vasana Kshaya
(destruction of latent desire) :
Knowledge of the Divine dissolves all bonds, and gives
freedom from every kind of misery, including birth
"and death. The wise realizing the effulgent one,
" through the Yoga of Atman, gain freedom from all
"joy and all sorrow." Also "The knower of Atman
"rises above misery;" " What delusion, what sorrow can
" come to him who realizes oneness ;" " He is freed from
" all bonds whatever on knowing the effulgent,"
That gnosia conduces to ' dissolution of mind ' is also seen
from the S'ruti, It is said with the condition of the informed
in view ; " Where all is one self to him, who can see what with
what ? who can smell what with what ?" S'ri Gauda-
charya, too, says ;
" When from proper realization of the truth of Atman,
he
" ceases from all imagining,
he reaches the condition
" wherein there is no mind, for,
it then dies out for
" want of having anything to relate itself to."
As * destruction of latent desire ' and * dissolution of mind/
are the principal causes of Jivanmukti; gnosis, being the direct,
is also the principal cause of Videhamukti (liberation after
death). Says the Smrti :
"Gnosis alone- conduces to Kaivalya which leads to libe-
ration."
Kaivalya is the condition of Self, aloneness, so to speak, being
without the appendage of body and the like.
This Kaivalya
is attainable by gnosis alone ; for, the condition of materia-
53
lity in the form of body, etc., comes of ignorance, and is capable
of being dissolved only through knowledge.
He wliOj without pro-
perly studying the philosophy of gnosis, brings about ' dis-
solution of mind ' and * destruction of latent desire' through
some means or other, and devotes himself to Brahman with
character, never realizes Kaivalya, for, his subtile body is not
destroyed.
Thus alone and only exclude this devotion also.
The words ' which leads to liberation ' mean that Kaivalya
being brought about by gnosis, frees the individual from all
bonds and conditions whatever.
Such bonds are of various
kinds.
kinds.
The knot of Avidya, the conviction * I am not Brahman*
the tie which binds egoism to the heart, doubt. Karma, desire
for things, death, re-birth, these and many others are all
the different forms of this bond. Bondage comes of ignorance,
and can be dissolved by gnosis. Say the S'rutayah : " oh
good one ! he cuts asunder the knot of Avidya, who finds It
ever present in the cavity of the heart" ;
the tie which binds egoism to the heart, doubt. Karma, desire
for things, death, re-birth, these and many others are all
the different forms of this bond. Bondage comes of ignorance,
and can be dissolved by gnosis. Say the S'rutayah : " oh
good one ! he cuts asunder the knot of Avidya, who finds It
ever present in the cavity of the heart" ;
" He becomes Brahman who knows Brahman" ;
" A sight of that which trans-
cends all having been obtained the tie which binds the
heart to egoism is at once dissolved, all doubts disappear, all
Karma vanish into nothing" ;
cends all having been obtained the tie which binds the
heart to egoism is at once dissolved, all doubts disappear, all
Karma vanish into nothing" ;
" He knows It fixed in the
cavity of the heart in the highest Akasa" ; "He enjoys all
desires (with the all-seeing Brahman)"', " Knowing him thus
he transcends death;" "He finds that condition whence there is
no return who full of gnosis is without mind and ever pure";
M Who knows ' I am Brahman? becomes the All." These and
many other texts bearing on all-knowingness, etc., may here be
cited.
cavity of the heart in the highest Akasa" ; "He enjoys all
desires (with the all-seeing Brahman)"', " Knowing him thus
he transcends death;" "He finds that condition whence there is
no return who full of gnosis is without mind and ever pure";
M Who knows ' I am Brahman? becomes the All." These and
many other texts bearing on all-knowingness, etc., may here be
cited.
This condition of liberation-after-death comes about in
the moment in which gnosis appears ; for, these and similar
bonds falsely imagined in Brahman being destroyed by gnosis,
can never again come into being nor be ever again experienced
as such. This simultaneity of 'gnosis and liberation is mentioned
by the Bhdshyakara under the aphorism " On its attainment
past and future sins are kept off and destroyed, it being so ex-
54
plained.*" Several put it that Videhamukti comes after the
dissolution of this body ; the Sruti also says: " He delays only
as long as he is not free, for, on being free he is one with the
All." In the Vakyavrtti, too, it is said :
" When through the force of previous Karma one attains
" the condition of the Jivanmukta, he continues for a
" time to enjoy out the remainder of that Karma which
" has been the cause of his present embodiment. This
" being done he finds that supreme condition of the
"all-pervading, called Kaivalya, full of that bliss
" which knows no degree, and whence there is no return
" at any time."
"gnosis dispels ignorance only." If it be asked what can be
the means of dissolving the subtile body, we say the
destruction of the conditions which make up that body.
the author of the
Panchapadika takes the word ' ignorance 'in the sense of
* all that exists away from Brahman" by a kind of constant
concomitant relation with ignorance. If this sense were not
read into the word, the text will evidently contradict expe-
rience ; for, in actual experience we find that * all that exists
away from Brahman ' is dissolved with the ignorance which
gnosis destroys.
Simplicity of disposition, plainness of conduct, universal
" compassion, forbearance, straightforwardness, devo-
' tion to the teacher, parity, steadiness, self-control,
" non-attachment to objects of sense, absence of
" egoism, having the eye constantly on the misery and
" evil concomitant with birth, death, age, and decay, no
" clinging to wife, child or property, nor any painful
" attachment to them,
constant evenness of mind under
" agreeable as well as disagreeable circumstances,
one
" sole devotion to Me in complete identification with
" myself,
love of solitude,
no liking for the company
" of men,
unswerving conviction of the absolute truth
" of self-knowledge,
looking at things through gnosis ;
" this is all that it meant by gnosis,
the rest is all
" ignorance."
If it be asked what is meant by this 'latent desire' (vasana),
destruction of which is so often prescribed as the object of
personal effort, we proceed to describe its nature. Says
Vasishtha :
" Latent desire may be described as that indiscriminate
" hankering after things which is forgetful of autece-
" dence and consequence on account of the overpower
61
" ing impression they produce. He becomes that
" which he identifies himself with, by force of strong
" and deep attachment, and loses, oh strong-armed
"one ! all other memory in the act.
the moment in which gnosis appears ; for, these and similar
bonds falsely imagined in Brahman being destroyed by gnosis,
can never again come into being nor be ever again experienced
as such. This simultaneity of 'gnosis and liberation is mentioned
by the Bhdshyakara under the aphorism " On its attainment
past and future sins are kept off and destroyed, it being so ex-
54
plained.*" Several put it that Videhamukti comes after the
dissolution of this body ; the Sruti also says: " He delays only
as long as he is not free, for, on being free he is one with the
All." In the Vakyavrtti, too, it is said :
" When through the force of previous Karma one attains
" the condition of the Jivanmukta, he continues for a
" time to enjoy out the remainder of that Karma which
" has been the cause of his present embodiment. This
" being done he finds that supreme condition of the
"all-pervading, called Kaivalya, full of that bliss
" which knows no degree, and whence there is no return
" at any time."
"gnosis dispels ignorance only." If it be asked what can be
the means of dissolving the subtile body, we say the
destruction of the conditions which make up that body.
the author of the
Panchapadika takes the word ' ignorance 'in the sense of
* all that exists away from Brahman" by a kind of constant
concomitant relation with ignorance. If this sense were not
read into the word, the text will evidently contradict expe-
rience ; for, in actual experience we find that * all that exists
away from Brahman ' is dissolved with the ignorance which
gnosis destroys.
Simplicity of disposition, plainness of conduct, universal
" compassion, forbearance, straightforwardness, devo-
' tion to the teacher, parity, steadiness, self-control,
" non-attachment to objects of sense, absence of
" egoism, having the eye constantly on the misery and
" evil concomitant with birth, death, age, and decay, no
" clinging to wife, child or property, nor any painful
" attachment to them,
constant evenness of mind under
" agreeable as well as disagreeable circumstances,
one
" sole devotion to Me in complete identification with
" myself,
love of solitude,
no liking for the company
" of men,
unswerving conviction of the absolute truth
" of self-knowledge,
looking at things through gnosis ;
" this is all that it meant by gnosis,
the rest is all
" ignorance."
If it be asked what is meant by this 'latent desire' (vasana),
destruction of which is so often prescribed as the object of
personal effort, we proceed to describe its nature. Says
Vasishtha :
" Latent desire may be described as that indiscriminate
" hankering after things which is forgetful of autece-
" dence and consequence on account of the overpower
61
" ing impression they produce. He becomes that
" which he identifies himself with, by force of strong
" and deep attachment, and loses, oh strong-armed
"one ! all other memory in the act.
The man thus
" subdued by vasana, fixing his eye on anything what-
" ever, is deluded into believing it as the best of its
*' class ; and the perceiver being entirely under the
" impulse of vasana, the object thus perceived is not
" cognized in its real form. Thus does he, with be-
" clouded eye, perceive everything like one under the
" power of strong intoxication, quite in this deluded
" fashion."
' Ignorance ' is that which veils the distinction of the three
bodies, the five sheaths, and the transcendent witness of them
all. Being ' of the form of thick ignorance' means being
darkly built of this ignorance. As milk becomes coagulated
on being mixed with whey, or as liquid clarified butter being
62
exposed to cold turns to thickness,
so does this Vasana become
thick (through ignorance).
Thickness in this instance refers
to the depth of delusion brought about by Vdsana.
The Lord
refers to this msana while explaining Life of the Lower Self.
" Men born to Life of the Lower Self do not understand,"
etc.;
the three verses beginning with these words should be before
the rnind,* and the following verses should be read in connec-
tion with them :
* Vide, Chapter XVI Bhagvadgita. The three verses may be thus
rendered :
" Men born to Life of the Lower Self do not understand the
distinction between action and inaction, nor do they know purity, polite-
ness, or truth.
They maintain that there is no truth, no foundation of
things, that the world rests not upon any divine Intelligence, that it is
the result of sexual intercourse brought about by the sexes seeking each
its own satisfaction. Laying hold of this philosophy these small-minded
men commit self -suicide, and being always evilly inclined and fond of out-
rageous deeds, act with might and main, in a manner inconsistent with the
peace or well-being of the universe."
* These words refer to a well-known Sutra of Patanjali : Dirghakdla-nair-
antaryfrsatkdrasevito-drdhabhumih:
Ecstacy is confirmed when carried
on with long, continuous and ardent application.
65
tending to future incarnation. Seeds baked on fire may become
of use only to fill a grainary, they can be of no use either for
fdod or for producing any fresh corn.
Pride of learning (S'astra-camna) is of three kinds. Addic-
tion to study, addiction to many subjects, and addiction to
the observance of injunctions laid down in religious books.
The first kind of this vice is seen in Bharadvaja who, though
he applied himself to the Veda in three successive lives,
began, on being incited by Indra, to study the remainder of
Vedic lore even in the fourth. As this kind of study has no
end, and is, therefore, impossible to accomplish, it is set down
among impure VdsandL Indra, of course, cured Bharadvaja
of this vice by enlightening him into the knowledge of
Brahman with character. This has been described in the
Taittiriya-Brdhmana.
Addiction to many subjects of study is similarly of the
nature of impure Vdsana, inasmuch as it is not the last aim of
existence. This is seen in the Kavasheya-G%a. A sage by
name Durvasas came with a cart-load of S'astra-books to pay
his respects to the god Mahadeva. In the learned assembly
of that god, Narada aimed a joke at him in the parable of the
ass carrying a load on his back ;* whereupon he was fired with
such anger as led him to throw away all his books in the
ocean. The god Mahadeva thereafter initiated him into the
mystery of Self-knowledge ; for, Self-knowledge never comes
from the study of books, to him who has not acquired the
faculty of intro-vision nor the favour of a competent teacher.
The S'ruti, too, has it : " This self is not realizable by study,
nay, not even by intelligence or much learning." Elsewhere
too, it has been said :
" What is the good of vainly chewing the dirty rag of talk
" about many Sastrani ? Those who desire to know
* Vide Vttara-Oitd : " As the ass carrying a load of sandal-wood is con-
scious only of the burden, not of the fragrant wood, so, indeed, does he
carry them about like a mere burden who having studied the S'astras
knows not their real import and essence."'
" The sacrifice which the eighteen* partake in, is all in-
" ferior Karma, it drowns itself and those who betake
" themselves to it. Those fools who imagine any good
" in this, are led again and again into the wheel of
" decay and death. Groping about in the night of
" Amdya, fools flatter themselves with wisdom and
" learning, and continue to tumble about, without end,
" like the blind led by the blind. Children think
" themselves all happy though ever stumbling this
" way and that in the maze of ignorance ; men ad-
" dieted to Karma do not see this in consequence of
" the haze of desire over their mind ; but being led to
" heaven they necessarily return, on their merit being
* Sixteen priests, the master of the house and his wife, make up the
eighteen.
" exhausted, Those men of stupid intellect who ima-
" gine S'rauta and Smarta Karma as the height of
" religion, and know no good besides, attain to heaven,
" and having lived out their good Karma, return again
" into this world or even into a lower one."
The Lord also has said (in the Bhagvadgita) :
" Men not having the eye to see, bound to the ritual of the
" Veda, maintaining that there is nothing beside,
" carried hither and thither by numerous desires,
" looking forward to heaven alone as the goal of
" existence, maintain this flowery speech (setting forth
" the usefulness of Karma formal religion), sure to
" lead to rebirth and fruition, through enjoyment,
" power, and the like, being replete with numerous
" forms of Karma to this end. These with their
"hearts set upon enjoyment and power, and their
"inner sense blinded by the said speech, can never
" gain that true insight which leads to the peace of
"blissful trance. The Veddh deal with the three
" gundh', oh Arjuna ! rise above the gunah, shake off all
" duality, be ever centred in supreme peace, abandon
" all anxiety for acquisition or protection, and above
" all know thy Self. A small reservoir might serve
" the same purpose as a large collection of water ; the
" knowing Brahmana understands the whole of the Veda
" in the same manner (through the simple knowledge of
" Brahman )."
Desire for body (De/ia-vasand) divides itself into three kinds :
False identification with Self ; false edifying ; and false con-
valescence.
Identification of Self with the body
70
being unsupported by any evidence, and being the source of
much misery, is certainly most ' impure.'
All former
teachers have written against this with might and main.
" If the deluded fool loves the body, a mere heap of flesh,
" blood, muscles, fat, bones, and other offensive things,
" what prevents him from being similarly in love with
" the very hell itself ! That bluntness of feeling which
"receives no shock at the nasty smell from one's
" own body can hardly be taught any better argument
" for non-attachment."
" The body is all impurity ; the Self is all purity ;
" knowing the difference of the two, what remains to
" purify ?"
" What is the use oh Lord ! of desires and enjoyments for
" this body, an impure heap of bones, skin, muscles, fat,
" flesh, semen, blood, bile, tears, a very dung-hill of
" urine, fosces, and the well-known three humours.
" This body produced by mere sexual intercourse, void
" of conscious thought, put as it were into the veriest
" hell, comes out of the urinary orifice, gains structure
"from bones, becomes filled with flesh and covered
" with skin, turns, as it were, into a store-house of such
" wealth as fcces, urine, bile, cough, fat, chyle, and
" numerous humours of the same kind."
Whence, it is not always certain that medical treatment
will relieve the evil one may be suffering from. Disease
once allayed may re-appear. How is it possible to cleanse
this nasty make with as many as nine orifices continually
oozing out the dirtiest filth, and numerous pores ever pouring
out the most stinking perspiration? Former teachers have
well said :
" Bodies with nine holes bored in them continue to ooze
*' like earthen pots ; no amount of external washing
" can purify them ; and purifying within is simply of
" no use."
Hence Deha-vasana is all impure. Vasishtha, too, has the
same in mind when he says :
'" The conviction ' I am only this form made by father and
" mother ' is oh Rama ! all false know-ledge, and
" leads to bondage.
That is the way into the web
" of destruction, that is the net dragging into the
" overwhelming waves of illusion, that is the forest
" of swords,
the thought : ' I am this body.' This
" way of thought must, by all means, be given up ;
72
" one desirous of his own good should not bring him-
" self even in contact with it, as with the Pnlkasa
" carrying the flesh of dogs."
These three Vasanas, world, learning, and life
though apparently thought agreeable by the uninformed should
entirely be given up by those who have acquired discri-
mination ;
for, they obstruct the rise of knowledge,
in those who are seekers of knowledge, and interfere with
the condition of gnosis acquired by the accomplished.
Hence the Smrti:
" The light of gnosis breaks not in full force upon that
" puny thing which is all beclouded with fear of the
" world, with pride of learning, and with love of
" life."
Vasana of the form of hypocrisy, vanity, and the like,
making up Life of the Lower Self, is all mental, and is too well
known as the way to perdition. These four kinds of Vasanda
should, therefore, be destroyed, by one means or another.
Mind, too, must be dissolved like Vasana. The Vaidika
accepts not the definition of mind given by the Tdrkika
that the mind is an eternal substance of atomic dimen-
sion. Destruction of mind is, therefore, not impossible to
them ; for, the mind, is, to them, that substance which has
parts, which is not eternal, which is ever capable of trans-
forming itself, like wax and gold and such things, into any
form whatever.
Supremacy of Tamas leads to Life of the Lower Self ;
predominance of Rajas gives sway to the three Vasanas of
world, learning, and life ; mastery of Satva establishes Life
of the Higher Self. It has been said with this in view:
" When in this, body, light flashes in through all avenues,
" bringing knowledge in its train it should be known
" that Satva is on the increase."
Hence it is that Satva is the residual native form of the
man of gnosis who has done away with Rajas and Tamas
through application to Yoga. It has been said with this in
mind : "
The mind of the knower is no mind at all, for, his
mind is called Satva.
This Satva being void of all Rajas, the cause of activity and
change, is always self-centred. It is, also very fine in con-
sequence of its bein void of Tamas, the cause of the gross
forms of non-self, the child of false imagination. Being so, this
Satva is fit to receive the light of Atman.
Says the S'ruti:
" It is seen with the pointed intellect by those who are
accustomed to minute observation,''
It is not possible to examine jewels, pearls, and the like,
with a view to determine their value, in the light of a lamp
flickering under the breeze ;
nor can a large ploughshare
help to sew a piece of cloth, like a fine needle.
This Satva, then, being invisibly held, as it were, in sus-
pension, in Rajas mixed with Tamas, -becomes the mind of
the Yogin, being variously fired into consciousness by
numerous imaginings proceeding from the sense of duality.
This mind gathers to itself elements making up Life of the
Lower Self, when ruled by the property of Tamas. Says
Vasishtha :
" The mind finds the elements of fattening itself from
" imagining Self in non-self, from taking the body for
" Self, and also from attachment to child, wife,
" relatives, and the like. The mind certainly regales
" itself in the various dishes of egoism, and fattens
"itself upon thoughts of meum and teum, upon the
" pleasure it derives from the fantastic whirl of the
" dust of ' mine-ness ' it creates. The various forms of
" disease mental and physical , the numerous ways
" in which the world is looked upon as a source of
"unmixed good, the conventionality which divides
" things into good and bad, affection, greed, the
" apparently alluring and gratifying possession of
"jewels, wealth, women, all tend to nourish and
" fatten the mind. The serpent of the mind grows up
" on draughts of the milk of hope, it derives strength
" from inhaling the wind* of enjoyment, and it exer-
" cises itself on the field of faith.'*
" Bondage is none other than the bond of vasand, liberation
" is only the destruction of this msana ; give up rasana
" and with it the desire for liberation as well.
Before
" giving up mental v&san&k, detach thyself from such
" v&sandk .as relate themselves to objects and enjoy-
" ment ; set up then the current of such pure vdsandh
" as friendship and the like.* Give up even these from
" within, though acting upon them without, and with
" all internal attachment whatever laid entirely at
" rest, live only in the full vdsand of simple being.
" Give up even this as conceived through mind and
. " intellect. Give up the instruments whereby this may
" be accomplished, and remain in the continual peace
" of supreme pacification in the residuum"
It may here be -asked acquisition of holy merit which is
shown as the result of filling ' the mind with the idea of re-
joicing in the holy merit of others, is of no use to the real
80
Yogin, for, it has before been said that all religions or holy
merit is only part of the impure vdsand of learning.
It may here be asked : this discrimination precedes the
rise ofgnosis, for, knowledge of Brahman is not possible with-
out the means beginning with discrimination of the eternal
from the non-eternal. Means leading to destruction of vdsandk
are in this place meant to be described with the object of
bringing the knower of Brahman to enjoy the bliss of Jivan-
11
82
mukti
" He alone is
the knower of Self and no one else, who has in the same
manner given up the idea that he knows Brahman"
* S'ankara.
83
what is said in the Naishkarmyasiddhi :
" subdued by vasana, fixing his eye on anything what-
" ever, is deluded into believing it as the best of its
*' class ; and the perceiver being entirely under the
" impulse of vasana, the object thus perceived is not
" cognized in its real form. Thus does he, with be-
" clouded eye, perceive everything like one under the
" power of strong intoxication, quite in this deluded
" fashion."
' Ignorance ' is that which veils the distinction of the three
bodies, the five sheaths, and the transcendent witness of them
all. Being ' of the form of thick ignorance' means being
darkly built of this ignorance. As milk becomes coagulated
on being mixed with whey, or as liquid clarified butter being
62
exposed to cold turns to thickness,
so does this Vasana become
thick (through ignorance).
Thickness in this instance refers
to the depth of delusion brought about by Vdsana.
The Lord
refers to this msana while explaining Life of the Lower Self.
" Men born to Life of the Lower Self do not understand,"
etc.;
the three verses beginning with these words should be before
the rnind,* and the following verses should be read in connec-
tion with them :
* Vide, Chapter XVI Bhagvadgita. The three verses may be thus
rendered :
" Men born to Life of the Lower Self do not understand the
distinction between action and inaction, nor do they know purity, polite-
ness, or truth.
They maintain that there is no truth, no foundation of
things, that the world rests not upon any divine Intelligence, that it is
the result of sexual intercourse brought about by the sexes seeking each
its own satisfaction. Laying hold of this philosophy these small-minded
men commit self -suicide, and being always evilly inclined and fond of out-
rageous deeds, act with might and main, in a manner inconsistent with the
peace or well-being of the universe."
* These words refer to a well-known Sutra of Patanjali : Dirghakdla-nair-
antaryfrsatkdrasevito-drdhabhumih:
Ecstacy is confirmed when carried
on with long, continuous and ardent application.
65
tending to future incarnation. Seeds baked on fire may become
of use only to fill a grainary, they can be of no use either for
fdod or for producing any fresh corn.
Pride of learning (S'astra-camna) is of three kinds. Addic-
tion to study, addiction to many subjects, and addiction to
the observance of injunctions laid down in religious books.
The first kind of this vice is seen in Bharadvaja who, though
he applied himself to the Veda in three successive lives,
began, on being incited by Indra, to study the remainder of
Vedic lore even in the fourth. As this kind of study has no
end, and is, therefore, impossible to accomplish, it is set down
among impure VdsandL Indra, of course, cured Bharadvaja
of this vice by enlightening him into the knowledge of
Brahman with character. This has been described in the
Taittiriya-Brdhmana.
Addiction to many subjects of study is similarly of the
nature of impure Vdsana, inasmuch as it is not the last aim of
existence. This is seen in the Kavasheya-G%a. A sage by
name Durvasas came with a cart-load of S'astra-books to pay
his respects to the god Mahadeva. In the learned assembly
of that god, Narada aimed a joke at him in the parable of the
ass carrying a load on his back ;* whereupon he was fired with
such anger as led him to throw away all his books in the
ocean. The god Mahadeva thereafter initiated him into the
mystery of Self-knowledge ; for, Self-knowledge never comes
from the study of books, to him who has not acquired the
faculty of intro-vision nor the favour of a competent teacher.
The S'ruti, too, has it : " This self is not realizable by study,
nay, not even by intelligence or much learning." Elsewhere
too, it has been said :
" What is the good of vainly chewing the dirty rag of talk
" about many Sastrani ? Those who desire to know
* Vide Vttara-Oitd : " As the ass carrying a load of sandal-wood is con-
scious only of the burden, not of the fragrant wood, so, indeed, does he
carry them about like a mere burden who having studied the S'astras
knows not their real import and essence."'
" The sacrifice which the eighteen* partake in, is all in-
" ferior Karma, it drowns itself and those who betake
" themselves to it. Those fools who imagine any good
" in this, are led again and again into the wheel of
" decay and death. Groping about in the night of
" Amdya, fools flatter themselves with wisdom and
" learning, and continue to tumble about, without end,
" like the blind led by the blind. Children think
" themselves all happy though ever stumbling this
" way and that in the maze of ignorance ; men ad-
" dieted to Karma do not see this in consequence of
" the haze of desire over their mind ; but being led to
" heaven they necessarily return, on their merit being
* Sixteen priests, the master of the house and his wife, make up the
eighteen.
" exhausted, Those men of stupid intellect who ima-
" gine S'rauta and Smarta Karma as the height of
" religion, and know no good besides, attain to heaven,
" and having lived out their good Karma, return again
" into this world or even into a lower one."
The Lord also has said (in the Bhagvadgita) :
" Men not having the eye to see, bound to the ritual of the
" Veda, maintaining that there is nothing beside,
" carried hither and thither by numerous desires,
" looking forward to heaven alone as the goal of
" existence, maintain this flowery speech (setting forth
" the usefulness of Karma formal religion), sure to
" lead to rebirth and fruition, through enjoyment,
" power, and the like, being replete with numerous
" forms of Karma to this end. These with their
"hearts set upon enjoyment and power, and their
"inner sense blinded by the said speech, can never
" gain that true insight which leads to the peace of
"blissful trance. The Veddh deal with the three
" gundh', oh Arjuna ! rise above the gunah, shake off all
" duality, be ever centred in supreme peace, abandon
" all anxiety for acquisition or protection, and above
" all know thy Self. A small reservoir might serve
" the same purpose as a large collection of water ; the
" knowing Brahmana understands the whole of the Veda
" in the same manner (through the simple knowledge of
" Brahman )."
Desire for body (De/ia-vasand) divides itself into three kinds :
False identification with Self ; false edifying ; and false con-
valescence.
Identification of Self with the body
70
being unsupported by any evidence, and being the source of
much misery, is certainly most ' impure.'
All former
teachers have written against this with might and main.
" If the deluded fool loves the body, a mere heap of flesh,
" blood, muscles, fat, bones, and other offensive things,
" what prevents him from being similarly in love with
" the very hell itself ! That bluntness of feeling which
"receives no shock at the nasty smell from one's
" own body can hardly be taught any better argument
" for non-attachment."
" The body is all impurity ; the Self is all purity ;
" knowing the difference of the two, what remains to
" purify ?"
" What is the use oh Lord ! of desires and enjoyments for
" this body, an impure heap of bones, skin, muscles, fat,
" flesh, semen, blood, bile, tears, a very dung-hill of
" urine, fosces, and the well-known three humours.
" This body produced by mere sexual intercourse, void
" of conscious thought, put as it were into the veriest
" hell, comes out of the urinary orifice, gains structure
"from bones, becomes filled with flesh and covered
" with skin, turns, as it were, into a store-house of such
" wealth as fcces, urine, bile, cough, fat, chyle, and
" numerous humours of the same kind."
Whence, it is not always certain that medical treatment
will relieve the evil one may be suffering from. Disease
once allayed may re-appear. How is it possible to cleanse
this nasty make with as many as nine orifices continually
oozing out the dirtiest filth, and numerous pores ever pouring
out the most stinking perspiration? Former teachers have
well said :
" Bodies with nine holes bored in them continue to ooze
*' like earthen pots ; no amount of external washing
" can purify them ; and purifying within is simply of
" no use."
Hence Deha-vasana is all impure. Vasishtha, too, has the
same in mind when he says :
'" The conviction ' I am only this form made by father and
" mother ' is oh Rama ! all false know-ledge, and
" leads to bondage.
That is the way into the web
" of destruction, that is the net dragging into the
" overwhelming waves of illusion, that is the forest
" of swords,
the thought : ' I am this body.' This
" way of thought must, by all means, be given up ;
72
" one desirous of his own good should not bring him-
" self even in contact with it, as with the Pnlkasa
" carrying the flesh of dogs."
These three Vasanas, world, learning, and life
though apparently thought agreeable by the uninformed should
entirely be given up by those who have acquired discri-
mination ;
for, they obstruct the rise of knowledge,
in those who are seekers of knowledge, and interfere with
the condition of gnosis acquired by the accomplished.
Hence the Smrti:
" The light of gnosis breaks not in full force upon that
" puny thing which is all beclouded with fear of the
" world, with pride of learning, and with love of
" life."
Vasana of the form of hypocrisy, vanity, and the like,
making up Life of the Lower Self, is all mental, and is too well
known as the way to perdition. These four kinds of Vasanda
should, therefore, be destroyed, by one means or another.
Mind, too, must be dissolved like Vasana. The Vaidika
accepts not the definition of mind given by the Tdrkika
that the mind is an eternal substance of atomic dimen-
sion. Destruction of mind is, therefore, not impossible to
them ; for, the mind, is, to them, that substance which has
parts, which is not eternal, which is ever capable of trans-
forming itself, like wax and gold and such things, into any
form whatever.
Supremacy of Tamas leads to Life of the Lower Self ;
predominance of Rajas gives sway to the three Vasanas of
world, learning, and life ; mastery of Satva establishes Life
of the Higher Self. It has been said with this in view:
" When in this, body, light flashes in through all avenues,
" bringing knowledge in its train it should be known
" that Satva is on the increase."
Hence it is that Satva is the residual native form of the
man of gnosis who has done away with Rajas and Tamas
through application to Yoga. It has been said with this in
mind : "
The mind of the knower is no mind at all, for, his
mind is called Satva.
This Satva being void of all Rajas, the cause of activity and
change, is always self-centred. It is, also very fine in con-
sequence of its bein void of Tamas, the cause of the gross
forms of non-self, the child of false imagination. Being so, this
Satva is fit to receive the light of Atman.
Says the S'ruti:
" It is seen with the pointed intellect by those who are
accustomed to minute observation,''
It is not possible to examine jewels, pearls, and the like,
with a view to determine their value, in the light of a lamp
flickering under the breeze ;
nor can a large ploughshare
help to sew a piece of cloth, like a fine needle.
This Satva, then, being invisibly held, as it were, in sus-
pension, in Rajas mixed with Tamas, -becomes the mind of
the Yogin, being variously fired into consciousness by
numerous imaginings proceeding from the sense of duality.
This mind gathers to itself elements making up Life of the
Lower Self, when ruled by the property of Tamas. Says
Vasishtha :
" The mind finds the elements of fattening itself from
" imagining Self in non-self, from taking the body for
" Self, and also from attachment to child, wife,
" relatives, and the like. The mind certainly regales
" itself in the various dishes of egoism, and fattens
"itself upon thoughts of meum and teum, upon the
" pleasure it derives from the fantastic whirl of the
" dust of ' mine-ness ' it creates. The various forms of
" disease mental and physical , the numerous ways
" in which the world is looked upon as a source of
"unmixed good, the conventionality which divides
" things into good and bad, affection, greed, the
" apparently alluring and gratifying possession of
"jewels, wealth, women, all tend to nourish and
" fatten the mind. The serpent of the mind grows up
" on draughts of the milk of hope, it derives strength
" from inhaling the wind* of enjoyment, and it exer-
" cises itself on the field of faith.'*
" Bondage is none other than the bond of vasand, liberation
" is only the destruction of this msana ; give up rasana
" and with it the desire for liberation as well.
Before
" giving up mental v&san&k, detach thyself from such
" v&sandk .as relate themselves to objects and enjoy-
" ment ; set up then the current of such pure vdsandh
" as friendship and the like.* Give up even these from
" within, though acting upon them without, and with
" all internal attachment whatever laid entirely at
" rest, live only in the full vdsand of simple being.
" Give up even this as conceived through mind and
. " intellect. Give up the instruments whereby this may
" be accomplished, and remain in the continual peace
" of supreme pacification in the residuum"
It may here be -asked acquisition of holy merit which is
shown as the result of filling ' the mind with the idea of re-
joicing in the holy merit of others, is of no use to the real
80
Yogin, for, it has before been said that all religions or holy
merit is only part of the impure vdsand of learning.
It may here be asked : this discrimination precedes the
rise ofgnosis, for, knowledge of Brahman is not possible with-
out the means beginning with discrimination of the eternal
from the non-eternal. Means leading to destruction of vdsandk
are in this place meant to be described with the object of
bringing the knower of Brahman to enjoy the bliss of Jivan-
11
82
mukti
" He alone is
the knower of Self and no one else, who has in the same
manner given up the idea that he knows Brahman"
* S'ankara.
83
what is said in the Naishkarmyasiddhi :
" The knower has no
pride of spiritual knowledge, for pride belongs to life of the Lower
Stlf ;
pride of spiritual knowledge, for pride belongs to life of the Lower
Stlf ;
if this life of the Lower Self should impart its colour
to the Knower^ knowledge of Brahman remains of no use
whatever."
Attachment to any one of the many fields which the
" mind visits for exercise, is the surest sign of ignorance;
"and greenness is certainly impossible in the tree
" that conceals a consuming fire in its hollow ;"
(To revert then to the point at issue) Yajnavalkya, while en-
gaged in disputation, was surely not in this condition, and for
the same reason, he was about to enter upon renunciation-of-
the-accomplished, with a view to obtain peace of mind. He
shows not only desire to refute, but also greed of gold,
for, carrying away the prize of a thousand cows adorned with
costly ornaments offered to all the knowers of Brahman
there assembled, he says "We salute all knowers of Brahman,
we have a desire for these cows." If it be thought that this was
only a clever turn of expression, covering insult thus given to
the assembly, this, indeed, will be another vice in him ; for,
other knowers of Brahman, finding themselves deprived of the
prize, flew into anger, and he Yajnavalkya quite beside him-
self with anger cursed S'akalya to death. But all the same, it
should not be supposed that such heinous sin would
bar his liberation; for, say the KaushitaJtinah: " He loses not
that condition by any act whatever, whether it be matricide,
patricide, or foeticide." S'esha, too, says in his Aryd-Pancha-
shiti :
" The knower of the Absolute, being ever pure, is never
" touched with holiness or nnholiness, from the per-
" formance of a million horse-sacrifices or even from an
" equal number of .Bra/mana-murders."
Vasishtha has
put it, in an episode of his great work Yoga- Vasishtha, that
Bhagiratha, though he knew the Essence, derived not mental
85
peace while engaged in the exercise of sovereignty, and
renounced everything to obtain it. Hence it follows that the
present form of impure t'dsand found in ourselves should be
carefully diagnosed, even like the faults we carp at in others,
and that we should at once apply ourselves to the remedy of
the disease. With this in view the Smrti has it :
" If the wise man of world who carefully picks holes in
" the character of others, expends the same skill on
"himself, what would prevent him from breaking
" through the bonds (of ignorance)."
The Smrti enjoins insult as an ornament : =
" The ascetic should so conduct himself, without leaving
" the path of wisdom, as men, feeling repelled, should
" not seek his company."
As impure vasanah pertaining to learning, wealth, anger,
woman, son, are done away with by proper discrimination, so
also should be allayed other similar vasanah by skillfully
discriminating the evil attendant on each of them. This
being done, the highesc condition, called Jivanmukti, is within
eaSy reach.
Says Vasishtha with this in view :
" If thou shalt put forth effort sufficient to destroy all
" vasanah, all thy ills, physical and mental, will
" dissolve of themselves in a moment. Forcibly tear
" thyself away from vasanah, by strong personal effort,
" stand in the condition (of harmonious evenness) ;
" thou shalt immediately gain access to the highest
" place of rest."
" Holding all these (senses) in proper control, the ascetic
" should sit all intent on Me,
to the Knower^ knowledge of Brahman remains of no use
whatever."
Attachment to any one of the many fields which the
" mind visits for exercise, is the surest sign of ignorance;
"and greenness is certainly impossible in the tree
" that conceals a consuming fire in its hollow ;"
(To revert then to the point at issue) Yajnavalkya, while en-
gaged in disputation, was surely not in this condition, and for
the same reason, he was about to enter upon renunciation-of-
the-accomplished, with a view to obtain peace of mind. He
shows not only desire to refute, but also greed of gold,
for, carrying away the prize of a thousand cows adorned with
costly ornaments offered to all the knowers of Brahman
there assembled, he says "We salute all knowers of Brahman,
we have a desire for these cows." If it be thought that this was
only a clever turn of expression, covering insult thus given to
the assembly, this, indeed, will be another vice in him ; for,
other knowers of Brahman, finding themselves deprived of the
prize, flew into anger, and he Yajnavalkya quite beside him-
self with anger cursed S'akalya to death. But all the same, it
should not be supposed that such heinous sin would
bar his liberation; for, say the KaushitaJtinah: " He loses not
that condition by any act whatever, whether it be matricide,
patricide, or foeticide." S'esha, too, says in his Aryd-Pancha-
shiti :
" The knower of the Absolute, being ever pure, is never
" touched with holiness or nnholiness, from the per-
" formance of a million horse-sacrifices or even from an
" equal number of .Bra/mana-murders."
Vasishtha has
put it, in an episode of his great work Yoga- Vasishtha, that
Bhagiratha, though he knew the Essence, derived not mental
85
peace while engaged in the exercise of sovereignty, and
renounced everything to obtain it. Hence it follows that the
present form of impure t'dsand found in ourselves should be
carefully diagnosed, even like the faults we carp at in others,
and that we should at once apply ourselves to the remedy of
the disease. With this in view the Smrti has it :
" If the wise man of world who carefully picks holes in
" the character of others, expends the same skill on
"himself, what would prevent him from breaking
" through the bonds (of ignorance)."
The Smrti enjoins insult as an ornament : =
" The ascetic should so conduct himself, without leaving
" the path of wisdom, as men, feeling repelled, should
" not seek his company."
As impure vasanah pertaining to learning, wealth, anger,
woman, son, are done away with by proper discrimination, so
also should be allayed other similar vasanah by skillfully
discriminating the evil attendant on each of them. This
being done, the highesc condition, called Jivanmukti, is within
eaSy reach.
Says Vasishtha with this in view :
" If thou shalt put forth effort sufficient to destroy all
" vasanah, all thy ills, physical and mental, will
" dissolve of themselves in a moment. Forcibly tear
" thyself away from vasanah, by strong personal effort,
" stand in the condition (of harmonious evenness) ;
" thou shalt immediately gain access to the highest
" place of rest."
" Holding all these (senses) in proper control, the ascetic
" should sit all intent on Me,
for, the intellect of him
" alone is said to be firm who has his senses under full
" control.
" alone is said to be firm who has his senses under full
" control.
Therefore, oh strong-armed one ! he is firm
" in the Light (of Self) who has all his senses properly
" turned off from their respective objects and held every-
" way under strong control."
In another Smrti also it is said :
" He is not an ascetic whose hands and feet are not free
" from activity, whose eyes are not at rest, and he also
" is not an ascetic whose tongue is not under control.
" Due attention to these makes up the true ascetic."
" Tongue-less, emasculated, lame, blind, deaf, and mad ;
" the mendicant with these six characteristics finds
" certain liberation.
viz., conscious-
ness or being. Even the S'ruti has it: " everything shines in
"the shining of Its lustre, all this is illumined with Its light."
This is ren-
dered further plain from the questions and answers of Bali
and S'ukra :
" What is there here in all this? What is it made of?
" What is it in itself? Who are you ? Who am I ?
" What are these worlds? Pray explain this to me.
' All this is chit (thought, simple being), all this is
" made of chit, thou art chit and so am I, nay these
" worlds too are all chit. This in short is the whole
" truth."
As a goldsmith buying a bracelet of gold fixes his mind
only on the weight and colour of the thing, not at all on
the beauty or otherwise of its form, just in the same manner
should the mind be fixed entirely in chit (simple being) alone.
Till the material is entirely obliterated and consciousness of
simple being becomes as unconsciously natural as the coming
in and going out of breath, effort to keep up the ' vasand of
simple being ' should not be discontinued.
As Kataka dust put into
turbid water settles down with the mud in the water, so would
the effort (for doing away with the co-ordination of doer and
instrument) put down the consciousness of doer and instru-
ment as also itself. This being accomplished, the mind
stands emptied of all vdsana whatever, for pure vdsanah
also would thus have disappeared like the impure vasandk
94
sought to put out.
Vasishtha says with this very thing
in view :
" The mind, therefore, experiences bondage through vdsand,
" void of vdsana it is ever liberated. Oh Rama ! try as
" soon as possible to acquire the condition free from
*' vasand. Vdsana melts away on acquiring proper
" vision through Truth, the mind attains the condition*
" of supreme tranquil ity on the dissolution of vdsana.
" He is the real Jivanmukta who is wide awake though
" in sleep, who does not even know waking, and whose
" knowledge is ever free from all vasand
I have
** studied enough of philosophy, nay I have talked and
" taught it to my full ; I am convinced there is no con-
*' dition higher than that Silence which comes of the
" abandonment of all 'latent desire.'"
Bow to that immutable
" moon-like effulgence of him from whose heart has died
" out the serpent of the mind ever lying there in a coil,
" emitting with every breath the terrible venom of
" endless desire. The mind is the navel of this all-
" whirling wheel of Illusion ; if thou can'st stand out
" of it (the navel) there is nothing which can affect
" thee."
Gaudapadacharya too has said :
" In all ascetics whatever, the condition of fearlessness
" depends on control of mind, which leads also to
" destruction of misery, perfect light and inexhausti-
" ble peace."
What Arjuna says in the following :
" The mind, oh Krshna ! is very fickle, overwhelmingly
" powerful, it were easie.r to control the wind than
" this mind ;" refers to physical Yoga.
Whence Vasishtha too has said :
" He who understanding the mind applies himself, again
" and again, to subduing it, gains no success without
" the help of some consummate plan, even like one
" who fails to subdue a mad elephant without the iron
" hook.
" in the Light (of Self) who has all his senses properly
" turned off from their respective objects and held every-
" way under strong control."
In another Smrti also it is said :
" He is not an ascetic whose hands and feet are not free
" from activity, whose eyes are not at rest, and he also
" is not an ascetic whose tongue is not under control.
" Due attention to these makes up the true ascetic."
" Tongue-less, emasculated, lame, blind, deaf, and mad ;
" the mendicant with these six characteristics finds
" certain liberation.
viz., conscious-
ness or being. Even the S'ruti has it: " everything shines in
"the shining of Its lustre, all this is illumined with Its light."
This is ren-
dered further plain from the questions and answers of Bali
and S'ukra :
" What is there here in all this? What is it made of?
" What is it in itself? Who are you ? Who am I ?
" What are these worlds? Pray explain this to me.
' All this is chit (thought, simple being), all this is
" made of chit, thou art chit and so am I, nay these
" worlds too are all chit. This in short is the whole
" truth."
As a goldsmith buying a bracelet of gold fixes his mind
only on the weight and colour of the thing, not at all on
the beauty or otherwise of its form, just in the same manner
should the mind be fixed entirely in chit (simple being) alone.
Till the material is entirely obliterated and consciousness of
simple being becomes as unconsciously natural as the coming
in and going out of breath, effort to keep up the ' vasand of
simple being ' should not be discontinued.
As Kataka dust put into
turbid water settles down with the mud in the water, so would
the effort (for doing away with the co-ordination of doer and
instrument) put down the consciousness of doer and instru-
ment as also itself. This being accomplished, the mind
stands emptied of all vdsana whatever, for pure vdsanah
also would thus have disappeared like the impure vasandk
94
sought to put out.
Vasishtha says with this very thing
in view :
" The mind, therefore, experiences bondage through vdsand,
" void of vdsana it is ever liberated. Oh Rama ! try as
" soon as possible to acquire the condition free from
*' vasand. Vdsana melts away on acquiring proper
" vision through Truth, the mind attains the condition*
" of supreme tranquil ity on the dissolution of vdsana.
" He is the real Jivanmukta who is wide awake though
" in sleep, who does not even know waking, and whose
" knowledge is ever free from all vasand
I have
** studied enough of philosophy, nay I have talked and
" taught it to my full ; I am convinced there is no con-
*' dition higher than that Silence which comes of the
" abandonment of all 'latent desire.'"
Bow to that immutable
" moon-like effulgence of him from whose heart has died
" out the serpent of the mind ever lying there in a coil,
" emitting with every breath the terrible venom of
" endless desire. The mind is the navel of this all-
" whirling wheel of Illusion ; if thou can'st stand out
" of it (the navel) there is nothing which can affect
" thee."
Gaudapadacharya too has said :
" In all ascetics whatever, the condition of fearlessness
" depends on control of mind, which leads also to
" destruction of misery, perfect light and inexhausti-
" ble peace."
What Arjuna says in the following :
" The mind, oh Krshna ! is very fickle, overwhelmingly
" powerful, it were easie.r to control the wind than
" this mind ;" refers to physical Yoga.
Whence Vasishtha too has said :
" He who understanding the mind applies himself, again
" and again, to subduing it, gains no success without
" the help of some consummate plan, even like one
" who fails to subdue a mad elephant without the iron
" hook.
Vasishtha has well set forth the means con-
" ducing to dissolution of mind ; he has his mind
" under control who follows them with care. Control
*' is accomplished in one of two ways: by physical prac-
" tices or by mental training. The first consists in
" exercising control over the inner senses through
" control over the outer physical organs. This comes
" out successful at times, and tends to control of mind
" as well. On the other hand, application to spiritual
" science, company of the good, abandonment of latent
99
" desire, restraining the flow of breath, these are some
" of the most useful means of mental training leading
" to control of mind. Those who, in face of these ?
" try to control it through physical practices, lose
" sight of the lamp while vainly dispelling darkness
" with darkness. The fools who set themselves about
"gaining mastery over the mind through physical
" practices try to hold the mad lord of elephants with
" lotus-fibres."
" As fire, not fed by fuel, subsides into its place, so, indeed,
" does all thinking (the mind) die out into its source,
"on not being led into modifications of any kind."
Company of the good' is the only remedy for those who,
though often enlightened, are unable to grasp the Truth, as
well as for those who forget it as often as they grasp it. The
'good' constantly inculcate the Truth, and ever remind their
100
hearers of the same.
He who afflicted with the evil vasand of
arrogance, born of much learning and the like, cannot afford
to seek company of the good must, by the process of dis-
crimination just described, try to eradicate all vasand what-
ever from his heart. If vasanah prove too powerful to be thus
pat out, the next remedy may best be sought through ' res-
traint of the flow of breath;' for, inasmuch as flow of breath and
vasand are the motive forces of the mind, restraint of mind
follows upon restraint of these. This character of the two
is thus touched upon by Vasishtha :
" Of the tree this mind surrounded with the hedge of
" numerous modifications, two are the seeds flow of
" breath and strong vdsana. Flow of breath quickens
" that consciousness which stands all-pervading, and
"this active quickening leads to endless mental
" agony."
As the smith, blowing the air upon fire covered with ashes
through the bellows, quickens it into a bright blaze, so does
consciousness covered by ignorance, the material cause of the
mind, quicken itself into innumerable mental creations on
being energized by the flow of breath. And from this
quickening viz. this blazing out of consciousness into
mental forms, arise all ills and considerable mental agony.
This is generation of the mind through the action of Prana
(vital breath)
This is set to reason by Vasishtha thus :
" Flow of breath means activity of the mind; the wise
" should therefore put forth the best effort towards
" checking the former."
104
The result of Prdndydma is thus set forth in the same book of
Aphorisms: " Thence is destroyed the covering of light."
" ducing to dissolution of mind ; he has his mind
" under control who follows them with care. Control
*' is accomplished in one of two ways: by physical prac-
" tices or by mental training. The first consists in
" exercising control over the inner senses through
" control over the outer physical organs. This comes
" out successful at times, and tends to control of mind
" as well. On the other hand, application to spiritual
" science, company of the good, abandonment of latent
99
" desire, restraining the flow of breath, these are some
" of the most useful means of mental training leading
" to control of mind. Those who, in face of these ?
" try to control it through physical practices, lose
" sight of the lamp while vainly dispelling darkness
" with darkness. The fools who set themselves about
"gaining mastery over the mind through physical
" practices try to hold the mad lord of elephants with
" lotus-fibres."
" As fire, not fed by fuel, subsides into its place, so, indeed,
" does all thinking (the mind) die out into its source,
"on not being led into modifications of any kind."
Company of the good' is the only remedy for those who,
though often enlightened, are unable to grasp the Truth, as
well as for those who forget it as often as they grasp it. The
'good' constantly inculcate the Truth, and ever remind their
100
hearers of the same.
He who afflicted with the evil vasand of
arrogance, born of much learning and the like, cannot afford
to seek company of the good must, by the process of dis-
crimination just described, try to eradicate all vasand what-
ever from his heart. If vasanah prove too powerful to be thus
pat out, the next remedy may best be sought through ' res-
traint of the flow of breath;' for, inasmuch as flow of breath and
vasand are the motive forces of the mind, restraint of mind
follows upon restraint of these. This character of the two
is thus touched upon by Vasishtha :
" Of the tree this mind surrounded with the hedge of
" numerous modifications, two are the seeds flow of
" breath and strong vdsana. Flow of breath quickens
" that consciousness which stands all-pervading, and
"this active quickening leads to endless mental
" agony."
As the smith, blowing the air upon fire covered with ashes
through the bellows, quickens it into a bright blaze, so does
consciousness covered by ignorance, the material cause of the
mind, quicken itself into innumerable mental creations on
being energized by the flow of breath. And from this
quickening viz. this blazing out of consciousness into
mental forms, arise all ills and considerable mental agony.
This is generation of the mind through the action of Prana
(vital breath)
This is set to reason by Vasishtha thus :
" Flow of breath means activity of the mind; the wise
" should therefore put forth the best effort towards
" checking the former."
104
The result of Prdndydma is thus set forth in the same book of
Aphorisms: " Thence is destroyed the covering of light."
The Light is the light of Sattva;
that which obscures this
native light is the cause which manifests itself in sleep, sloth-
fulness, and the like ;
native light is the cause which manifests itself in sleep, sloth-
fulness, and the like ;
this is removed by the practice of
Pranayama.
Pranayama.
Also " The mind becomes fit for absorption."
Absorption is contemplation from fixing of the mind on some
place, such as the seven plexuses distributed in the body
respectively at the rectum, the genetive organ, the navel, the
heart, the throat, the middle of the eye-brows, the crown of the
head. "
" From purity arise disgust for one's
" own body and non-intercourse with others ; clear
" passivity, pleasantness of mind, fixity of attention,
" subjugation of the senses, and fitness for commu-
" nion with soul." " Superlative happiness from content-
" ment." " From mortification, after the destruction
" of impurities, arise occult powers in the body and the
" senses." " By study is produced communion with the
" desired deity." " From resignation to Isvara (results)
" the accomplishment of Samddki (trance)."
" The wise fixing his mind upon the ever functioning char-
" acter of itself should reduce it to the Self the
" unfailing subject of contemplation. This is contem-
" plation."
The light of
" Self which dawns npon the attainment of self-
"consciousness, only on the cessation of all desire
" whatever, can never be found by one whose mind is
" yet immersed in the desire for occult powers."
" Completely abandon all desires born of imagination, and
" exercise control every way on the senses through the
" mind. With patience and perseverance as its guides,
" the mind may pacify itself gradually and by slow
" degrees. Turn the mind firmly to (thy) Self, cease
" to think of anything besides ; control it back into
" the Self from wherever this unstable slippery thing
"should run out of itself."
These stages are seen to be four in the Kathopanishad :
" The wise should fuse all speech into the mind, the mind
into the Self that discriminates (buddki), the discriminating
Self into the great Self (makat), and he should fuse this great
Self into the Self, all peace and tranquility."
discriminating Self is none other than the sense of egoism*
" Objects transcend the senses, the mind transcends objects,
" the intellect transcends the mind, the Mahat trans-
" cends intellect, the unmanifest transcends the Mahat ^
" consciousness (puru&ha,*) transcends the unmanifest,
" beyond the purusha there is nothing which can
" transcend Him or prevent Him from being the last
" essence, the last resort (of all )."
" Indeed, oh long-armed oue ! the miad is very fickle and
" difficult to control ; but oh son of Kunti ! application
" and renunciation are sure to hold it in check. I am
" of opinion that yoga is impossible in him who has
" not his mind under full control ; he who strives with
" his mind in control attains to it by proper means."
" Yoga should be known by Yoga, Yoga grows from Yoga ;
"that Yogin who applies himself to Yoga with steady
"application finds supreme'bliss (in Yoga}. 9 '
Yoga here means the stage that succeeds, this should be
approached through Yoga ; that yogin who carefully considers
the connection of stage with stage and goes from one to th'e
other in this manner gains supreme bliss.
(Again because) interception (nirodha} of
Mahal in the atyakta is of no use in the realization of Self,
which is attained only 'by the sharp intellect of those who are
trained to minute observation.' And moreover, in the section
under consideration ' realization of Self being set forth as an
127
object, 'interception,' if at all desirable, is given only as the
means of acquiring this ' sharp intellect.' And lastly this kind
o annihilation like dissolution, is within daily experience at
the time of sleep ; no special effort is necessary to accomplish it.
(Thus is interception in avyakta not necessary nor useful).
Thus then the mind prevented from all modification
128
by trance which consists of the practice of ' interception ' ;
rendered sufficiently sharp and acute in consequence of being,
as it were, the residuum of all impressions whatever ; confined
to one point because turned to the unit of consciousness
alone ; such a mind realises the sight of Atman without any
break or obstacle.
Though thus realization of Self is ever undisturbed and by
nature eternal, application to the practice of 'interception'
is useful in that it prevents modification ( of the mind ) into
the not-Self. It has, therefore, been said :
" Fix the mind
in the Self and think of nothing besides."
Though thus by - Intercepted-trance ( niodha-samddhi ) is
clearly understood and realized the ' substratum of the- ego *
( Tcam-paddrtha ), a higher modification ( of the mind ),
called Brakma-vidyd ( g no sis ), must be induced through the
Great Text ( Mahd-vakya ) in order that this individual ego
may realize itself as the universal All (Brahman).
Nor, even
in realization of the pure (individual) ego is Intercepted-
trance the only means ; for, this realization comes even of
careful discrimination of the conscious and the unconscious.
Hence does Vasishtha say :
" Two oh Raghava ! are the paths leading to suspension of
" thinking^ : yoga which consists in controlling trans-
" formations of the thinking principle, and gnosis
" which consists in the proper eye for experience.
" Some find it difficult to practice yoga, others cannot
"grasp the analysis of gnosis ; hence the Lord
" pointed out these two paths."
But this ' careful discrimination ' too is nothing apart from
yoga, for, that modification which the mind undergoes at the
moment of realization (of this distinction) is a kind of
momentary conscious-trance.
in realization of the pure (individual) ego is Intercepted-
trance the only means ; for, this realization comes even of
careful discrimination of the conscious and the unconscious.
Hence does Vasishtha say :
" Two oh Raghava ! are the paths leading to suspension of
" thinking^ : yoga which consists in controlling trans-
" formations of the thinking principle, and gnosis
" which consists in the proper eye for experience.
" Some find it difficult to practice yoga, others cannot
"grasp the analysis of gnosis ; hence the Lord
" pointed out these two paths."
But this ' careful discrimination ' too is nothing apart from
yoga, for, that modification which the mind undergoes at the
moment of realization (of this distinction) is a kind of
momentary conscious-trance.
This is so ; still the distinction
between conscious and unconscious trance is very great, both
from their nature as from the means leading to them. The
difference in nature is plain from the presence or absence of
* modifications.'
between conscious and unconscious trance is very great, both
from their nature as from the means leading to them. The
difference in nature is plain from the presence or absence of
* modifications.'
As to means, contemplation and the rest
being similar in nature to conscious-trance are immediate
means of inducing it, whereas they being dissimilar by nature
to ' unconscious-trance ' which implies absence of all ' modi-
fication ' whatever, are only mediate means of inducing that
Having said, in the aphorism preceding
this, that gods and others understand trance from the very
moment of birth, this aphorism has been addressed to men.
This yoga alone is to me the highest means of attaining the
ultimate end of existence ; conviction of this kind is called
' faith.' Such faith is born of frequently hearing the praises
and benefits tfyogi. It is said :
"Theyo^m is greater than the ascetic, nay even than the
man of gnosis. He is greater even than the man devoted to
action. Try, oh Arjuna ! to be an yogin"
Yoga is higher than asceticism of the kind of Krchchh'ra,
Chdndrdyana and other austerities of the same kind, inas-
much as it leads to higher conditions of being. It is greater
than gnosis inasmuch as it is the intimate, immediate, cause
of gnosis and is also the cause of bringing the mind to a state
of peacefnlness.
being similar in nature to conscious-trance are immediate
means of inducing it, whereas they being dissimilar by nature
to ' unconscious-trance ' which implies absence of all ' modi-
fication ' whatever, are only mediate means of inducing that
Having said, in the aphorism preceding
this, that gods and others understand trance from the very
moment of birth, this aphorism has been addressed to men.
This yoga alone is to me the highest means of attaining the
ultimate end of existence ; conviction of this kind is called
' faith.' Such faith is born of frequently hearing the praises
and benefits tfyogi. It is said :
"Theyo^m is greater than the ascetic, nay even than the
man of gnosis. He is greater even than the man devoted to
action. Try, oh Arjuna ! to be an yogin"
Yoga is higher than asceticism of the kind of Krchchh'ra,
Chdndrdyana and other austerities of the same kind, inas-
much as it leads to higher conditions of being. It is greater
than gnosis inasmuch as it is the intimate, immediate, cause
of gnosis and is also the cause of bringing the mind to a state
of peacefnlness.
This kind of faith being confirmed, a peculiar
'energy' of the form 'I shall anyhow accomplish yoga?
comes of it in the mind. rom this energy comes
* memory ' of all the means of yoga to be then put into practice.
Trance being properly induced after this ' memory ' and the
light of self being realized, there comes about that ' discrimi-
nation ' which is all ' truth-bearing.' Unconscious trance is
preceded by this ' discrimination ' and has this ' discrimi-
nation ' as cause, in the case of ' others ' i. e., in the case
of that order of beings which is lower than gods, viz., in the
case of men. This ' discrimination ' is thus given in the
* That is Samyama which is one name for contemplation, meditation
and trance. Ch. III. Aph. VIII.
"The condition of the 'well-controlled mind of the en-
" lightened in .unconscious ecstacy is different from
"sleep, not at all like it. It (the mind) is absorbed
"in sleep, in this state of interception it is not
"absorbed, but is itself all Brahman fall of the light
"of gnosis out and ont."
It has been said also in the Maadukya-SWa: "Non-cogni-
"tion of duality is common both to the Prdjna and
"the fourth ; but the first has the seed of sleep in hini-
" self whereas the second has it not. The first two
" have dreamy sleep joined to them, the Prdjna has
"only dreamless sleep ; those who are confirmed in the
"fourth perceive neither dream nor sleeps Dream comes
"of perverted cognition, sleep is ignorance of the
"truth ; the inversion implied in the two being set
"right, the condition of the fourth is easily realized."
"The first two" %. e. Visva and Taijasa. "Perverted
cognition" means cognizing the Unit as dual, cognizing the
Advaita as Dvaita. This 'perverted cognition' of the Visva
and the Taijasa is called dream. Ignorance of the truth is
called sleep. Sleep exists in Visva, Taijasa and Prdjna.
The false knowledge of these two dream and sleep being put
to end through Vidyd, the fourth that is the condition of the
Advaita is easily realized.
"That bliss which is experienced by- the mind purified of
" all dross from the practice of trance and fixed in
" Atman cannot be described in words, it is understood
"by the inner sense alone."
It has been said
in the Kathopanishad, with the same in view :
" That is called the lightest condition wherein all the
" five senses and the mind remain in full control
" and wherein even the intellect does not pass out to
u other desires.
This steadying of the senses is called
" Yoga, the Yogin is full awake in that condition, for,
" Yoga is creating accompanied with giving up."
"It becomes a position of firmness, being practised
for a long time, without intermission, and with perfect de-
votion."* People usually argue after the manner of fools
and say the Vedah are only four in number, and it is a
wonder why Manavaka who went to study them has not
returned though it is already five days since he left. The
same logic they apply to Yoga and think it can be accom-
plished in a few days or months or years. It has been said
as against this popular view that Yoga should be " practised
for a long time." So also the Smrli:
" He finds the highest condition on being thoroughly pre-
" pared for it through numerous incarnations."
Want of " devotion " means the not carefnlly doing away
with the four obstacles of trance, viz., Lethargy, Distraction,
Cupidity and Taste. Hence this practice shonld be " with
devotion." Trance thns practised becomes a " position of
firmness," that is to say, it becomes so far confirmed as n&t
to be disturbed by impressions of the .pleasure attending
objects and their possession or by impressions of any painful
experience whatever. This is referred to by the Lord :
" Finding which he deems no other benefit greater than
" that, nor does any pain or misery however great
" succeed in disturbing him from the point."
Isolation is that condition of the mind
which is all ardent desire, simple and pure, after all activity
for objects ' perceptible ' as well as ' heard ' has been given up
with knowledge that it is all evil and misery.
Patanjali refers to
the degrees of rapidity in the attainment of ecstatic trance,
from degress in the nature of this non-attachment thus:
" It
is nearest to those whose feeling is most ardent.
The fire of gnosis*
" though produced and fanned into a splendid blaze, is
148
" powerless to destroy sin and sorrow if its power is
" neutralised by the strength of doubt and false know-
" ledge.
Having perverted glimpse of the trnth rfs
" well as having no grasp, of it both stand alike, oh
" S'aka I in the way of gnosis and its resnlt."
" One's body is looked upon as if it were dead,
" inasmuch as it has already been separated."
" He is constantly free from the cause of doubt,
" false knowledge and illusion."
" Doubt " is the thought whether Atman is doer and suffer-
er or not ? * False knowledge ' is knowledge that the body is the
176
self. Both these refer to the doer ; the ' illusion ' here referred
to has connection with objects of enjoyment, and this illusions
manifold as explained in that verse of the Bhagvad-Gitd which
sa^s " give up all imaginings " etc. The cause of this illusion
viz.. Ignorance, is fourfold
" Ignorance ( avidya ) is taking the
non-eternal, impure,. evil and non-dtma?i, to be eternal, pure,
good and dtman "says an aphorism* of Patanjali. The first
is believing mountains, streams, and the like which are im-
permanent, to be permanent ; the second consists in mistaking
for quite pure the impure body of wife, child and the like ; the
third arises from regarding husbandry, commerce, and the like
as good though they are really all evil ; the fourth is taking the
body of wife child and the rest which is only subordinate to self
and entirely false, to be one's real self from confounding the phy-
sical sheath (of food) with the self beyond it.
The cause of these
/#., 'doubt* and the rest, is ignorance and impressions born of
ignorance which cover the essence of the Unit Brahman, This
ignorance of the Paramakamsa-SiSCQkic is destroyed with know-
ledge of the import of the great Texts ; and impressions of igno-
rance are done away with by the practice of Yoga.
In the con-
fusion about points of the compass just referred to by way of
illustration, there is possibility of its repetition because, though
the original cause is removed, impressions born of that cause
have not been demolished. In the case of the (Paramakamsa
whoia an ) ascetic both these causes of illusion having been laid
at rest, there is no possibility of * doubt ' and its accompani-
ments. Considering, therefore, the impossibility of a return
of doubt and the rest, it has been well said that the ascetic is
" constantly free " from those causes. This destruction of the
causes of" doubtetc," is " constant " inasmuch as this destruc-
tion of ignorance and its impressions can never be undone after
it is once accomplished. The text further refers to the cause
of this destruction being * constant ' :
" He is permanently enlightened in It."
The pronoun ' It ' refers to that well-known supreme Atman
* Oh. IL Aph, V.
177
which is the one object of all the Upaniskads. This ascetic is
for ever awake in the light of this supreme Atman. For, it is
only the ascetic who, bearing in mind the text : "The patient
Brdhmana having known It should harmonise himself in the
Self, he should not be deluded away by words ; it is mere waste
of breath ;" gets over all mental destruction with the force of
Yoga, and acquires " harmony in the Se'lf^'. Thus this "en-
lightenment " being permanent and eternal, the destruction of
ignorance and its impressions which must disappear with the
light of this knowledge, is bound to be equally permanent and
eternal.
The text then proceeds to distinguish this supreme Atman,
thus revealed, from the personal Creator of the logicians :
"And this is mere harmony in the Self."
f
Brahman, the object of all Upaniskad-tesichmg, is none
other than one's Self ; the Yogin gains conviction of theis truth
and rests himself in peace and harmony. Next is described
the nature of the Illumination thus breaking upon the as-
cetic :
"I am that cloud of thought all peace, im-
" moveable, one, all bliss ; that is my highest
" glory".
The ascetic gains the conviction : I am that Supreme Being,
all peace ; free from all distraction beginning with anger and
the like; immoveable from having no action whatever; above all
distinction of like and unlike, ofpart and whole ; one uniform
essence of existence, thought and bliss. This essential Brah-
man is the real " glory, " the real form or nature of the Yogin.
This has no relation with doing or suffering ; for, all doing and
suffering is of illusion.
* The word is Sandhyi which means a joint.' Ordinarily the joint is
placed at the beginning and end of day when ' night joins with day.'
This is the moment of twilight-worship. Raja-yoga interprets it to mean
tho point where the individual soul merges into the supreme soul and
onenoss is realized. Hatha-yoga also has its own interpretation of Sandhyd.
The fusion of the Ida, and Pingala, the sun- and moon- breaths in
the SushumnA when both flow together, is the real point of all formal
twilight-worship and, true enough, such fusion does take place at both
the twilights and at midday and midnight.
" He is called the bearer of one stick ( Ekadandin ) who
' ; bears the true stick ofgnosis ; the bearer of the wooden
" stick is bound to hope andr desire, he is void of all
" true gnosis. He who is void of the virtues, forbear-
" ance, knowledge, renunciation, self-control and the
" like finds his place in the most terrible hell called
" Raurava. He who lives only for alms is the sinner
" violating the vow of the real Sannyasin"
" real Tridandin. The first consists in silence, the
"third in absence of desire, the second comes about
" from the practice of Pranayama."
" He who says there is no Brahman, he who sets
" himself against the Knower of Brahman, and he who
"professes to know Brahman without having become
" It, are all killers of Brahman. Know him the killer
" of Brahman, he is beyond the pale of all religion
" and intercourse."
Those who destroy Self go, after death, to the
" sphere called asurya (without the sun) ail enveloped
" in thick darkness."
Separateness and' non-separateness have fallen~away in a
moment, holiness and sin have melted away, illusion and
false knowledge are destroyed in no time, all doubt is put
out in the twinkling of the eye, oh I what means (Vedic)
injunction or prohibition to the sage walking the way
transcending the three properties, after having found that
essence of light which is beyond all speech, beyond all that
comes of the three properties.
.................................... .........................................
Jeevan mukti viveka additional notes:
19
28
30
chp 4
148
'energy' of the form 'I shall anyhow accomplish yoga?
comes of it in the mind. rom this energy comes
* memory ' of all the means of yoga to be then put into practice.
Trance being properly induced after this ' memory ' and the
light of self being realized, there comes about that ' discrimi-
nation ' which is all ' truth-bearing.' Unconscious trance is
preceded by this ' discrimination ' and has this ' discrimi-
nation ' as cause, in the case of ' others ' i. e., in the case
of that order of beings which is lower than gods, viz., in the
case of men. This ' discrimination ' is thus given in the
* That is Samyama which is one name for contemplation, meditation
and trance. Ch. III. Aph. VIII.
"The condition of the 'well-controlled mind of the en-
" lightened in .unconscious ecstacy is different from
"sleep, not at all like it. It (the mind) is absorbed
"in sleep, in this state of interception it is not
"absorbed, but is itself all Brahman fall of the light
"of gnosis out and ont."
It has been said also in the Maadukya-SWa: "Non-cogni-
"tion of duality is common both to the Prdjna and
"the fourth ; but the first has the seed of sleep in hini-
" self whereas the second has it not. The first two
" have dreamy sleep joined to them, the Prdjna has
"only dreamless sleep ; those who are confirmed in the
"fourth perceive neither dream nor sleeps Dream comes
"of perverted cognition, sleep is ignorance of the
"truth ; the inversion implied in the two being set
"right, the condition of the fourth is easily realized."
"The first two" %. e. Visva and Taijasa. "Perverted
cognition" means cognizing the Unit as dual, cognizing the
Advaita as Dvaita. This 'perverted cognition' of the Visva
and the Taijasa is called dream. Ignorance of the truth is
called sleep. Sleep exists in Visva, Taijasa and Prdjna.
The false knowledge of these two dream and sleep being put
to end through Vidyd, the fourth that is the condition of the
Advaita is easily realized.
"That bliss which is experienced by- the mind purified of
" all dross from the practice of trance and fixed in
" Atman cannot be described in words, it is understood
"by the inner sense alone."
It has been said
in the Kathopanishad, with the same in view :
" That is called the lightest condition wherein all the
" five senses and the mind remain in full control
" and wherein even the intellect does not pass out to
u other desires.
This steadying of the senses is called
" Yoga, the Yogin is full awake in that condition, for,
" Yoga is creating accompanied with giving up."
"It becomes a position of firmness, being practised
for a long time, without intermission, and with perfect de-
votion."* People usually argue after the manner of fools
and say the Vedah are only four in number, and it is a
wonder why Manavaka who went to study them has not
returned though it is already five days since he left. The
same logic they apply to Yoga and think it can be accom-
plished in a few days or months or years. It has been said
as against this popular view that Yoga should be " practised
for a long time." So also the Smrli:
" He finds the highest condition on being thoroughly pre-
" pared for it through numerous incarnations."
Want of " devotion " means the not carefnlly doing away
with the four obstacles of trance, viz., Lethargy, Distraction,
Cupidity and Taste. Hence this practice shonld be " with
devotion." Trance thns practised becomes a " position of
firmness," that is to say, it becomes so far confirmed as n&t
to be disturbed by impressions of the .pleasure attending
objects and their possession or by impressions of any painful
experience whatever. This is referred to by the Lord :
" Finding which he deems no other benefit greater than
" that, nor does any pain or misery however great
" succeed in disturbing him from the point."
Isolation is that condition of the mind
which is all ardent desire, simple and pure, after all activity
for objects ' perceptible ' as well as ' heard ' has been given up
with knowledge that it is all evil and misery.
Patanjali refers to
the degrees of rapidity in the attainment of ecstatic trance,
from degress in the nature of this non-attachment thus:
" It
is nearest to those whose feeling is most ardent.
The fire of gnosis*
" though produced and fanned into a splendid blaze, is
148
" powerless to destroy sin and sorrow if its power is
" neutralised by the strength of doubt and false know-
" ledge.
Having perverted glimpse of the trnth rfs
" well as having no grasp, of it both stand alike, oh
" S'aka I in the way of gnosis and its resnlt."
" One's body is looked upon as if it were dead,
" inasmuch as it has already been separated."
" He is constantly free from the cause of doubt,
" false knowledge and illusion."
" Doubt " is the thought whether Atman is doer and suffer-
er or not ? * False knowledge ' is knowledge that the body is the
176
self. Both these refer to the doer ; the ' illusion ' here referred
to has connection with objects of enjoyment, and this illusions
manifold as explained in that verse of the Bhagvad-Gitd which
sa^s " give up all imaginings " etc. The cause of this illusion
viz.. Ignorance, is fourfold
" Ignorance ( avidya ) is taking the
non-eternal, impure,. evil and non-dtma?i, to be eternal, pure,
good and dtman "says an aphorism* of Patanjali. The first
is believing mountains, streams, and the like which are im-
permanent, to be permanent ; the second consists in mistaking
for quite pure the impure body of wife, child and the like ; the
third arises from regarding husbandry, commerce, and the like
as good though they are really all evil ; the fourth is taking the
body of wife child and the rest which is only subordinate to self
and entirely false, to be one's real self from confounding the phy-
sical sheath (of food) with the self beyond it.
The cause of these
/#., 'doubt* and the rest, is ignorance and impressions born of
ignorance which cover the essence of the Unit Brahman, This
ignorance of the Paramakamsa-SiSCQkic is destroyed with know-
ledge of the import of the great Texts ; and impressions of igno-
rance are done away with by the practice of Yoga.
In the con-
fusion about points of the compass just referred to by way of
illustration, there is possibility of its repetition because, though
the original cause is removed, impressions born of that cause
have not been demolished. In the case of the (Paramakamsa
whoia an ) ascetic both these causes of illusion having been laid
at rest, there is no possibility of * doubt ' and its accompani-
ments. Considering, therefore, the impossibility of a return
of doubt and the rest, it has been well said that the ascetic is
" constantly free " from those causes. This destruction of the
causes of" doubtetc," is " constant " inasmuch as this destruc-
tion of ignorance and its impressions can never be undone after
it is once accomplished. The text further refers to the cause
of this destruction being * constant ' :
" He is permanently enlightened in It."
The pronoun ' It ' refers to that well-known supreme Atman
* Oh. IL Aph, V.
177
which is the one object of all the Upaniskads. This ascetic is
for ever awake in the light of this supreme Atman. For, it is
only the ascetic who, bearing in mind the text : "The patient
Brdhmana having known It should harmonise himself in the
Self, he should not be deluded away by words ; it is mere waste
of breath ;" gets over all mental destruction with the force of
Yoga, and acquires " harmony in the Se'lf^'. Thus this "en-
lightenment " being permanent and eternal, the destruction of
ignorance and its impressions which must disappear with the
light of this knowledge, is bound to be equally permanent and
eternal.
The text then proceeds to distinguish this supreme Atman,
thus revealed, from the personal Creator of the logicians :
"And this is mere harmony in the Self."
f
Brahman, the object of all Upaniskad-tesichmg, is none
other than one's Self ; the Yogin gains conviction of theis truth
and rests himself in peace and harmony. Next is described
the nature of the Illumination thus breaking upon the as-
cetic :
"I am that cloud of thought all peace, im-
" moveable, one, all bliss ; that is my highest
" glory".
The ascetic gains the conviction : I am that Supreme Being,
all peace ; free from all distraction beginning with anger and
the like; immoveable from having no action whatever; above all
distinction of like and unlike, ofpart and whole ; one uniform
essence of existence, thought and bliss. This essential Brah-
man is the real " glory, " the real form or nature of the Yogin.
This has no relation with doing or suffering ; for, all doing and
suffering is of illusion.
* The word is Sandhyi which means a joint.' Ordinarily the joint is
placed at the beginning and end of day when ' night joins with day.'
This is the moment of twilight-worship. Raja-yoga interprets it to mean
tho point where the individual soul merges into the supreme soul and
onenoss is realized. Hatha-yoga also has its own interpretation of Sandhyd.
The fusion of the Ida, and Pingala, the sun- and moon- breaths in
the SushumnA when both flow together, is the real point of all formal
twilight-worship and, true enough, such fusion does take place at both
the twilights and at midday and midnight.
" He is called the bearer of one stick ( Ekadandin ) who
' ; bears the true stick ofgnosis ; the bearer of the wooden
" stick is bound to hope andr desire, he is void of all
" true gnosis. He who is void of the virtues, forbear-
" ance, knowledge, renunciation, self-control and the
" like finds his place in the most terrible hell called
" Raurava. He who lives only for alms is the sinner
" violating the vow of the real Sannyasin"
" real Tridandin. The first consists in silence, the
"third in absence of desire, the second comes about
" from the practice of Pranayama."
" He who says there is no Brahman, he who sets
" himself against the Knower of Brahman, and he who
"professes to know Brahman without having become
" It, are all killers of Brahman. Know him the killer
" of Brahman, he is beyond the pale of all religion
" and intercourse."
Those who destroy Self go, after death, to the
" sphere called asurya (without the sun) ail enveloped
" in thick darkness."
Separateness and' non-separateness have fallen~away in a
moment, holiness and sin have melted away, illusion and
false knowledge are destroyed in no time, all doubt is put
out in the twinkling of the eye, oh I what means (Vedic)
injunction or prohibition to the sage walking the way
transcending the three properties, after having found that
essence of light which is beyond all speech, beyond all that
comes of the three properties.
.................................... .........................................
Jeevan mukti viveka additional notes:
19
As long as you have not acquired complete mastery over " the mind,* and have not realized that condition, go on follow- " ing what ( sacred ) books and teachers prescribe.
After " that, all latent desire having died out, and the thing having " been realized, you should give up even the collection of good " impressions in the last act of supreme concentration.
Follow- " ing the very good path of the wise, with sincere feeling and "clear understanding, acquire that condition wherein there is " no second, and in the end stand ever blissful by abandoning " even that."
In consequence of the mind being free from transformation, and being then identified with Brahman, the resulting forgetfulness even of this identification is the real Samadhi called Jnana."
The Truth being once realized by one who having reached the last stage of renunciation, has, through clever practice of Yoga, gained complete mastery over his mind; he cannot disengage his consciousness even for a moment from the Truth
28
" He is deep immersed in the Truth when he draws (within " himself) all his senses from contact with external " objects,even like the tortoise drawing all its limbs " within its shell."
the senses with their overpowering force " prove too strong even for the knowing one, ever on the " alert, and they drag away his mind even against his will. " He must exercise perfect control ever these, and should " concentrate himself on Me as the Supreme ; for, he is " said to be firm in the Truth, whose senses obey his " steady control."
Dealing with objects through the senses, feeling no love or " hate, and ever under the control of Self, he who has " complete mastery over his mind easily finds his way " to the Light."
One who is practised in Samadhi ( concentration, trance ) finds the Light, by force of the impressions derived from such practice, even when dealing with objects through the senses, in moments when the trance is not on him.
30
All that precedes as means the acquisition of gnosis, being " brought about by effort, is the natural characteristic of " him who is firm in the Truth.
The condition of one so " firmly fixed in Truth, wherein all sense of separateness " is obliterated by the uninterrupted light of Self, " is called Jivanmukti.
Universal friendship and other qualities come of their " own accord, without any effort, in one who has " awakened himself to the light of Self, they are not so " found in one who is yet on the way to this supreme " realization."
The Gods know him to be a Brdjimana who, wearing a mere " piece of cloth on his loins and using a coat of worn-
" out rags for cover,
goes danda in hand,
ever immers- " ed in concentration,
constantly diverting himself with " himself,
all alone and one."
He should, however, never, even out of the strongest sympathy, exchange even a word about the worldly concerns (of his pupils), but should keep himself ever in supreme concentration.
The shruti has it " know well that atman alone, give up all other speech."
This "concentration" is carried on without any interruption in solitude,
whence another Smrti also enjoins : " The mendicant alone and solitary is the one described above, " for two makes a pair, three a town, and four a city ; " never make city, town, or pair, for even between a pair " it is quite usual to exchange local gossips or even " opinions about alms etc." Also " Love, jealousy, " are easily born of intercourse."
" Gnosis in its proper form is never realized by that poor " thing who attaches himself to the world, to the pride " of learning, or to the preservation of his body."
This would apply even to the " conceiving and undertaking " something, to " saluting " and the like referred to above. The 36 " conceiving and undertaking " may be for one's own end or for the benefit of others, and it may consist of effort to acquire house, land, or property and the like. The liberated must give up these conceivings, undertakings, and salutings. It should not be supposed that the not giving a blessing in re- turn will disappoint men, for, the word ndrdyana, the form enjoined upon all the liberated, is a fit replacement of the ex- pected blessing, as it is capable of curing both inclination (of the ascetic) towards the world, and possible disappoint- ment (to the saluter). All undertaking is evil. Says the smrti: " All undertakings are enveloped in evil even like fire in "smoke."
" When he is firm in the Unconditioned, transcending all " name and form, when, in fact, he thus revels in the " empire of Self, whom should the knower of Self give " a salute ? He has nothing to do with any action " whatever,"
' The mind should be prevented from functioning, till " it dissolves itself in the heart ; this is gnosis, this " is Concentration, the rest is all mere concoction of " untruth."
"The knower of Atman "rises above misery;" " What delusion, what sorrow can " come to him who realizes oneness ;" " He is freed from " all bonds whatever on knowing the effulgent,"
" When from proper realization of the truth of Atman, he " ceases from all imagining, he reaches the condition " wherein there is no mind, for, it then dies out for " want of having anything to relate itself to."
The knot of Avidya, the conviction * I am not Brahman* the tie which binds egoism to the heart, doubt. Karma, desire for things, death, re-birth, these and many others are all the different forms of this bond. Bondage comes of ignorance, and can be dessolved by gnosis. Say the S'rutayah : " oh good one ! he cuts asunder the knot of Avidya, who finds It ever present in the cavity (of the heart)" ; " He becomes Brah- man who knows Brahman" ; " A sight of that which trans- cends all having been obtained the tie which binds the heart to egoism is at once dissolved, all doubts disappear, all Karma vanish into nothing" ; " He knows It fixed in the cavity (of the heart) in the highest Akdsa" ; "He enjoys all desires (with the all-seeing Brahman)"', " Knowing him thus he transcends death;" "He finds that condition whence there is no return who full of gnosis is without mind and ever pure"; M Who knows ' I am Brahman? becomes the All." These and many other texts bearing on all-knowingness, etc., may here be cited. This condition of liberation-after-death comes about in the moment in which gnosis appears ; for, these and similar bonds falsely imagined in Brahman being destroyed by gnosis, can never again come into being nor be ever again experienced as such. This simultaneity of 'gnosis and liberation is mentioned by the Bhdshyakara under the aphorism " On its attainment past and future sins are kept off and destroyed, it being so ex- 54 plained.*" Several put it that Videhamukti comes after the dissolution of this body ; the Sruti also says: " He delays only as long as he is not free, for, on being free he is one with the All." In the Vakyavrtti, too, it is said : " When through the force of previous Karma one attains " the condition of the Jivanmukta, he continues for a " time to enjoy out the remainder of that Karma which " has been the cause of his present embodiment. This " being done he finds that supreme condition of the "all-pervading, called Kaivalya, full of that bliss " which knows no degree, and whence there is no return " at any time."
the word ' ignorance 'in the sense of * all that exists away from Brahman" by a kind of constant concomitant relation with ignorance.
Thus gnosis is, no doubt, the true principal means of Videha- mukti; '
destruction of latent desire' and 'dissolution of mind* are only subordinate means (of Videhamukti) being mediated by gnosis.
one " sole devotion to Me in complete identification with " myself, love of solitude, no liking for the company " of men, unswerving conviction of the absolute truth " of self-knowledge, looking at things through gnosis ; " this is all that it meant by gnosis, the rest is all " ignorance."
' Ignorance ' is that which veils the distinction of the three bodies, the five sheaths, and the transcendent witness of them all. Being ' of the form of thick ignorance' means being darkly built of this ignorance. As milk becomes coagulated on being mixed with whey, or as liquid clarified butter being 62 exposed to cold turns to thickness, so does this Vasana become thick (through ignorance). Thickness in this instance refers to the depth of delusion brought about by Vdsand. The Lord refers to this msana while explaining Life of the Lower Self. " Men born to Life of the Lower Self do not understand," etc.; the three verses beginning with these words should be before the rnind,* and the following verses should be read in connec- tion with them : " They (i. e. those born to Life of the Lower Self) indulge " themselves in desires never to be satisfied, betake "themselves to hypocrisy, self-assertion and pride, and " being addicted to acts entirely impure, they keep them- " selves fastened to evil resolves through delusion. *' With unlimited anxiety even up to the end of the " great deluge, with desire and enjoyment as the only " standard of life, with faith in nothing more than " what is thus assured to them, held fast in the net of " innumerable hopes, ever prone to desire and anger, " they do not grudge to grasp wealth and means even " with injustice, for enjoyment up to the last limit " of their desire."
Men born to Life of the Lower Self do not understand the distinction between action and inaction, nor do they know purity, polite- ness, or truth.
They maintain that there is no truth, no foundation of things, that the world rests not upon any divine Intelligence,
Impure Vdsand is of three kinds : world, learning, and life
These three Vasanak then, world, learning, and life though apparently thought agreeable by the uninformed should entirely be given up by those who have acquired discri- mination ; for, they obstruct the rise of knowledge, in those who are seekers of knowledge, and interfere with the condition of gnosis acquired by the accomplished. Hence the Smrti:
" The mind of the knower is no mind at all, for, his mind is called Satva.*'
The serpent of the mind grows up " on draughts of the milk of hope, it derives strength " from inhaling the wind* of enjoyment, and it exer- " cises itself on the field of faith.'* " Faith" here refers to the false faith one has in the permanence of things which are really illusory. Thus is set forth the nature of vdsand and manas the couple to be got rid of.
what is said in the Naishkarmyasiddhi : " The knower has no pride of spiritual knowledge, for pride belongs to life of the Lower Stlf ; if this life of the Lower Self should impart its colour to the Knower^ knowledge of Brahman remains of no use whatever.
" Holding all these (senses) in proper control, the ascetic " should sit all intent on Me, for, the intellect of him " alone is said to be firm who has his senses under full " control. Therefore, oh strong-armed one ! he is firm " in the Light (of Self) who has all his senses properly " turned off from their respective objects and held every- " way under strong control."
As a goldsmith buying a bracelet of gold fixes his mind only on the weight and colour of the thing, not at all on the beauty or otherwise of its form, just in the same manner should the mind be fixed entirely in chit (simple being) alone. Till the material is entirely obliterated and consciousness of simple being becomes as unconsciously natural as the coming in and going out of breath, effort to keep up the ' vasand of simple being ' should not be discontinued.
Vdsana melts away on acquiring proper " vision through Truth, the mind attains the condition* " of supreme tranquil ity on the dissolution of vdsana. " He is the real Jivanmukta who is wide awake though " in sleep, who does not even know waking, and whose " knowledge is ever free from all vasand"
I am convinced there is no con- *' dition higher than that Silence which comes of the " abandonment of all 'latent desire.'
" As the eye perceives space and things presented in space, " in the course of nature, and feels no attachment what- " ever, so should the wise man of firm intellect engage " himsef in all action whatever."
" In all ascetics whatever, the condition of fearlessness " depends on control of mind, which leads also to " destruction of misery, perfect light and inexhausti- " ble peace."
Gnosis enlightens one as to the illusory nature of all objects and the self- illumined substance of the Subject. This being done, the mind, finding no interest in objects within its ken, perceives the inscrutableness of the one substance the eternal Subject, and is thus for ever laid at rest in its own place like fire not fed with fuel.
" The wise fixing his mind upon the ever functioning char- " acter of itself should reduce it to the Self the " unfailing subject of contemplation. This is contem- " plation."
" That continuous mental attitude " wherein runs the unbroken flow of consciousness, " ' I am Brahmin? devoid of all tinge of egoism, is " called Samprajndta-Samadhi (conscious trance), the " ripened condition of Meditation.
As fire burns more bright with every fresh addition of sacred fuel and clarified butter, and as on the material being burnt up it burns at first a degree lower than before, and continues gradually to burn, lower and lower ; so, indeed, does the mind taught the way of ' intercepted transformation ' become more and more con- firmed in the habit, and acquire unbroken steadiness.
" When the mind brought under control stands centred in the "Self, and when the student stands regardless of all de- " sires whatever, then, indeed, is he said to be in the condi- " tion of Yoga.
We are put in mind of the flame of a "lamp protected in some place not open to the breeze, "and therefore not flickering any way. The well- " controlled mind of the Yogin, applying himself to the " Yoga, of Self, is verily in that condition. Know that " to be the best Yoga wherein the mind held fast in " steady application finds supreme rest, wherein seeing "Self with Self (in all things whatever) it loses itself " in the bliss of Self.
Then he knows that absolute bliss, "which is revealed only in the light of supreme in- " telligence (Buddhi), being beyond the senses ; and " experiencing this nothing moves him away from it. " Having found it, he looks down upon all gain what- " ever and howsoever large; even crushing evil or misery "shakes him not from his position. Know this as the
"true Yoga which is characterised by the absence of " all touch of evil ; this should, by all means, be * " practised with hearty untiring resolution."
Though thus realization of Self is ever undisturbed and by nature eternal, application to the practice of 'interception' is useful in that it prevents modification ( of the mind ) into the not-Self. It has, therefore, been said : " Fix the mind in the Self and think of nothing besides."
"The yogi is greater than the ascetic, nay even than the man of gnosis. He is greater even than the man devoted to action. Try, oh Arjuna ! to be an yog"
Yoga is higher than asceticism of the kind of Krchchh'ra, Chdndrdyana and other austerities of the same kind, inas- much as it leads to higher conditions of being. It is greater than gnosis inasmuch as it is the intimate, immediate, cause of gnosis and is also the cause of bringing the mind to a state of peacefnlness. This kind of faith being confirmed, a peculiar 'energy' of the form 'I shall anyhow accomplish yoga? comes of it in the mind. rom this energy comes * memory ' of all the means of yoga to be then put into practice. Trance being properly induced after this ' memory ' and the light of self being realized, there comes about that ' discrimi- nation ' which is all ' truth-bearing.' Unconscious trance is preceded by this ' discrimination ' and has this ' discrimi- nation ' as cause, in the case of ' others ' i. e., in the case of that order of beings which is lower than gods, viz., in the case of men. This ' discrimination ' is thus given in the * That is Samyama which is one name for contemplation, meditation and trance. Ch. III. Aph. VIII.
"Fix the mind in the self":f the words, initiating the other half of the verse, refer to the fourth stage and study proper to that stage. Says Gaudapadacharya: " The mind distracted by desires and lost in enjoyment, " as also finding easy comfort in oblivius lethargy
"should be brought back to itself by proper remedies, "for, lethargy and desire are equally injurious. It " should be turned away from the pleasures of hope "and desire by memory of the evil that pervades all "mortal things; it sees not the things of this " world as soon as it is filled with the idea of all being " nothing apart from the Unborn.
Arouse the mind " if it fall into lethargy ; pacify it back into its place "if it run out ; persuade it by proper knowledge if "it tend to the objective ; touch it not when it has " found the condition of evenness. Taste not the bliss " thereof, be intellectually free form all attachment, "thus bring the mind to a point and make it " absolutely steady with every possible effort.
When " the mind rises above lethargy and distraction, then "indeed it becomes that Brahman which has no " character and which has nothing to do with study " of any kind."
"That bliss which is experienced by- the mind purified of " all dross from the practice of trance and fixed in " Atman cannot be described in words, it is understood "by the inner sense alone."
If the mind immersed in the bliss of Brahman, during trance, should some time go out for the pleasure of enjoying such bliss or from causes such as heat, cold, mosquitos and the like, it should at once be turned into the fixity of trance ; So fast should it be identified with Brahman. The means to this end is constant application to interception (of the modifications of the mind). This identi- fication is rendered clear in the words ' when the mind rises above Lethargy and Distraction ' etc. The words * which has 137 too character and which has nothing to do with study of any kind' refer to the absence of Cupidity and Taste respectively, ^he mind free of Lethargy, Distraction, Cupidity and Taste, becomes undisturbedly fixed in Brahman.
" That is called the lightest condition wherein all the " five senses and the mind remain in full control " and wherein even the intellect does not pass out to u other desires. This steadying of the senses is called " Yoga, the Yogin is full awake in that condition, for, " Yoga is creating accompanied with giving up."
Hence this practice shonld be " with devotion." Trance thns practised becomes a " position of firmness," that is to say, it becomes so far confirmed as n&t to be disturbed by impressions of the .pleasure attending objects and their possession or by impressions of any painful experience whatever. This is referred to by the Lord : " Finding which he deems no other benefit greater than " that, nor does any pain or misery however great " succeed in disturbing him from the point."
Isolation is that condition of the mind which is all ardent desire, simple and pure, after all activity for objects ' perceptible ' as well as ' heard ' has been given up with knowledge that it is all evil and misery.
Mflstery is cessation of all desire whatever
" That is the highest (superior) wherein, from being the purusha, there is entire cessation of any the least desire for the gunah"* Constant practice of conscious- trance leads to discrimination of Purusha, from Pradkana which is all the three gunah in a state of equilibrium ; and this discrimination leads to realization of the Purusha. The highest non-attachment consists in complete absence of desire for each and all of the three gunah and their effects, after this realization. Patanjali refers to the degrees of rapidity in the attainment of ecstatic trance, from degress in the nature of this non-attachment thus: " It is nearest to those whose feeling is most ardent."f The * Oh. I. Aph. XVI. f Ch. I. Aph. XXI. There are two readings of this aphorism " Tivra- samvegdnamdsannah samddhildbhah ; and Tivrasamvegondmdsannah etc., The former is here adopted for obvious reasons: the point of the aphorism being only to show the way of approach to Samddhi, and not to define the nature of samvega.
" ardent " feeling referred to here is the feeling of non- attachment. Yoginah again are of three kinds according to the degrees of this ardentness of feeling, to wit those whose feeling is mild, those whose feeling is moderate, and those whose feeling is excessive ; it has been said :* "A further distinction arises on account of mild, moderate, and excessive." Mild, moderate, excessive refer to the degrees of ardentness ; and these lead sooner to the result in the order they are here mentioned. The best Yoginah such as Janaka and Prahlada belong to the class of excessively ardent practitioners, for they can at a moment's thought throw themselves into the condi- tion of ecstatic trance. Uddalaka and others of the inferior sort belong to the class of mildly ardent practitioners, for they can find the cdndition of trance only after considerable attempt at reflection. The same test may apply to other prac- titioners as well. The excessively ardent Yogin finds that " position of firmness " which is ecstatic trance (unconscious- trance) ; and there being no possibility of ' break,' his rnind is entirely dissolved. Destruction of vdsand being thus con- firmed from dissolution of mind, Jivanmukti is placed within firm grasp of such Yogin. It should not be supposed that dissolution of mind is no Jivanmukti but Vedehamukti ; for, the following dialogue settles the point : Rama : " Tell me, oh sage ! where in the Yogin, do the " virtues ' friendliness ' f and others reside after the " mind and its form are all dissolved on the rise of "proper discrimination."
That man of supreme firmness whose " balance no condition whether of pleasure or pain " disturbs in the least, and on whom all desires fall " flat like ordinary breath on the lord of mountains, " the mind of such a one is verily dead and gone for ever. " His mind is indeed quite dead who is never moved by " calamity, poverty, pleasure, pride, dullness, festivals, " and the like. When the mind which is but another "word for hope, is entirely destroyed, then, oh . " Raghava ! rises sattva full of the virtues friendliness "and others in question. The mind of the Jivanmukta "is thus -for ever freed from repeated incarnations. " This is the formal dissolution of mind peculiar to the "Jivanmukta. The formless dissolution of mind *' referred to at the beginning is found, oh best of the " Raghus ! only in the condition of Videhamukti, it "being without any descriptive parts or properties. " Even sattva though full of all the best virtues is " dissolved for ever in Videkamukti, the holiest con- " dition of highest bliss. The liberated great souls " having the all-pervading dkdsa for their body live in " that condition which is beyond all misery, 'in no " relation whatever with matter, all uniform, full of " bliss and joy, free from Rajas and Tamas, being " without the least touch of mind, for ever dissolved."
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Thus in the case of one whose mind is not at rest there is possibility of gnosis being rendered powerless, from doubt and false knowledge, to bear its proper fruit.
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"this the highest knower of Brahman acts to the end of playing with Self, pleasing Self with Self." These degrees are four in nnmber. The knower of Brahman of the first, second, third, and fourth degree belonging respectively to the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh of the seven stages of Yoga. These stages are thus described by Vasishtha :
" The first stage is Ardour, the second Contemplation, the " third Attenuation, the fourth Pacification, the fifth " Indifference, the sixth Oblivion and the seventh " Transcendence.
The desire accompanied with deep "sense of non-attachment, coming from repentence " for one's ignorance and leading to study of philosophy " and company of the wise is the first stage called "Ardour.
The second Contemplation consists of 150 " that constant flow of good thoughts born of philoso- " phy, company of the wise, non-attachment and " repeated application. The daily wearing away, to "almost imperceptible thinness, of the deep attach- " ment to objects of sense, under force of Ardour and "Contemplation, leads to the third stage called " Attenuation.
When from constant application to> " these three stages the mind, being emptied of all that " belongs to the objective, finds complete rest in the " pure bliss of saitva, the fourth stage called Pacifica- <: tion dawns upon the ascetic.
That condition which " results from carefully going over these four stages " and which being void of all contact with the object- " ive is all wondrous sattva is called Indifference. " The total absence of all objects, external as well a* " internal, from sight, in consequence of accomplishing " the five preceding stages, and the resulting fusion " of the objective in the subjective, as also the state of " being called to action from the desire of others, is all "collectively described as the sixth stage called " Oblivion.
When these six stages are passed, and "when all sense of separateness is at end, the "condition of Self-realization which results is the " seventh stage called Transcendence."
The first three stages mentioned here are only the means of gnosis and are therefore not included in Brakma-mdycS proper ; for in them a sense even of pseudo-reality attaches- itself to separateness. These three are therefore assigned to. the waking condition. It has been said : " These three stages oh Rama ! belong to the waking con- " dition, for the world is seen as it is, through the " sense of separateness, only in that condition." Then comes undoubted direct realization of the unity of Self and Brahman, from contemplation of the sense of the Great Texts of the Vedantaj this is the fourth stage, the 151 result of the first three, called Pacification. One in the fourth stage having gained firm conviction of the real essence 04* the Unit Brahman the material cause of the phenomenal world, clearly realizes the illusory nature of all name and form which go to make up what is known as the world ima- gined in Brahman. This stage may correspond to dream, in consideration of the preceding stage which answers to waking. " Duality having disappeared from before and unity being "realized, those in the fourth stage look upon the " world like a dream. Bow to that Hari who appears " to the Yog in as the residual being of all, whose " knowledge dissolves everything beside himself even " like clouds in. the autumn. Oae thus carried into "the fourth stage stands all full of the sense of " Being alone, and nothing besides." The ascetic in this fourth stage is said to be the knower of Brahman belonging to the first degree. The three stages beginning from the fifth are only degrees of the condition of Jivanmukti ; they arise from differenc} in the degree of peace- fulness coming from constant practice of unconscious-trance. Unconscious-trance in the fifth stage may be broken of itself. The ascetic in this stage is the knower of Brahman belonging to the second degree. These two stages are said to corres- pond to sleep, and deep sleep respectively. It has been said : " Having approached the fifth stage called sleep, the ascetic " stands in the sole consciousness of the Unit, all " difference being laid entirely at rest. Though " pursuing mental images projecting themselves with- "out, he is ever centered in himself within, and appears " as if all sleepy being wearied of the external con- " stant practice in this sta^e leads the Yogin by " degrees into the sixth stage corresponding to deep " sleep. There he is free of all meum and tuum t he is " neither being nor not-being, he is above all mental " imaginings, he stands beyond unity as well as dua- 152 u lity. Some attach themselves to duality, others to " unity, few know BraJiman which is beyond .duality "and unity, the equilibrium wherein neither appea**. " He is empty within as well as without even like the "jar standing empty in the wide dkd'sa ; he is full "within and full without like the jar in the surging " ocean."
One who has gained the condition of unconscious-trance tas the mind existing only in the state of hazy potential im- pressions of mental experience ; it has, therefore, no power to call up castles-in-the-air or create external objects of any kind whatever. Such a mind is * empty ' within and without like the jar lying in space. It is all ''full ' within and without like the jar filled with water and placed in the ocean, because it is immersed in the uniform ones-ness of Brahman, all self-illumined thought and bliss. The ascetic in the seventh .stage of Transcendence knows -no break (of his ecstatic trance) either of himself or from the desire of any one else. It has been said " this mortal habitat etc."
" The highest penance consists in steadying the mind and " senses to a point ; this is the best of all religious " practices, it is the highest religion."
" He whose intellect has grasped the Truth to the extent " of proper self-realization ; Every one of those on " whom falls the eye of such a Yogin, is delivered " from all his sins/'
''know the one self alone, have nothing whatever to do with other words ; be n ot deluded by words, it is all waste of breath." Nor does he care to establish the position of tlie philosophy he follows, before such as dispute it : " Leave aside all books whatever after knowing the supreme " Brahman, even like so much straw after taking away " the corn from it ; nay, touch not books as if they " were so many fire-brands."
" Oh best of intellects ! in him specially enters the most " spotless gnosis whose present life is but the last, " even as pearls seek the bamboo of ages' growth..161
" Regaling all content in the nectar of gnosis, fully satis* "fied in supreme fulfilment of every duty, there re- " mains nothing for the Yogin to do ; if anything re- " main, he must be just so many removes behind gnosis. " He who is harmonised in self, who finds full bliss in " Self and who is all content in self, has no call of " duty to disturb him."
The ' gaining the supreme end ' is thus touched upon in the Sfruti : " Thou, oh Janaka ! hast realized entire fearless- ness ;" " Hence he is the All ;" " The knower of Brahman becomes Brahman"
Vasishtha : " Trance is only that internal calm which "comes of looking upon this world and the Gunas ** which .create it, as all not-self. Having gained this " pleasant calm within from the conviction ' I have " no touch with the objective ' the Yogin may remain " in the world or shut himself up in meditation, " Both, oh Rama ! are equally good if the fire of "desire is entirely cooled down within, for this " internal calm is the result of endless penance."
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"These powers thus shine out of the self that is all " consciousness, the knower feels not the least touch "of curiosity for all this panorama of change and " wonder."
" He who stands centred entirely in him-Self, taking no " heed of perception or no-perception is not simply a " kuower of Brahman but Brahman itself."
Hence there is no room to doubt the object of such re- nunciation. The Lord proceeds to explain the being " always in 'the ever Holy" and being the " Veda-pur usha" and thus replies to the question about the Paramahamsa's ' condition': " The great being has his mind ever centred in " me, and in consequence I manifest myself " always in him."
The ascetic Parama-hamsa being at the top of men entitled to the performance of vedic rites and ceremonies is justly called 'the great being.' This great being (mahdtm'an)
always keeps his mind absorbed in me,
for, all mental func- tions connected with the world and its intercourse are in his case entirely suspended by 'practice and non-attachment.'
It being so, the Lord Prajapati speaks of himself as Brahman spoken of in philosophic treatises, for, he, having acquired com- plete self-realization, can hardly think of Brahman as apart from himself. Thus it is that he says ' his mind is ever 168 centred in me.* Aud because he is so centred, the Lord says he too always 'mainfests himself in him,' not in others bound tip in ignorance, for they are as yet under the spell of amdyA. The Lord manifests himself not even in such knowers of the Essence as are not real ascetics, for, their mind is constantly occupied with activity tending to the objective. Henceforth is described the < Path' which Narada wanted to know at the beginning: "He should give up wife, children, relatives, " friends and the rest along with the tuft of " hair on his head, the sacred thread round " his trunk, and the study of the Veda, all "ceremonial worship of every description, " nay even the whole universe, and should " betake himself to a mere rag, a bamboo- " stick, and a small covering simply to keep " life and body together for its natural term " and thus to do good to the world at large."
" One's body is looked upon as if it were dead, " inasmuch as it has already been separated."
ind : " He is constantly free from the cause of doubt, " false knowledge and illusion." " Doubt " is the thought whether Atman is doer and suffer- er or not ? * False knowledge ' is knowledge that the body is the 176 self. Both these refer to the doer ; the ' illusion ' here referred to has connection with objects of enjoyment, and this illusions manifold as explained in that verse of the Bhagvad-Gitd which sa^s " give up all imaginings " etc. The cause of this illusion viz.. Ignorance, is fourfold : " Ignorance ( avidya ) is taking the non-eternal, impure,. evil and non-dtma?i, to be eternal, pure, good and dtman "says an aphorism* of Patanjali. The first is believing mountains, streams, and the like which are im- permanent, to be permanent ; the second consists in mistaking for quite pure the impure body of wife, child and the like ; the third arises from regarding husbandry, commerce, and the like as good though they are really all evil ; the fourth is taking the body of wife child and the rest which is only subordinate to self and entirely false, to be one's real self from confounding the phy- sical sheath (of food) with the self beyond it. The cause of these /#., 'doubt* and the rest, is ignorance and impressions born of ignorance which cover the essence of the Unit Brahman, This ignorance of the Paramakamsa-SiSCQkic is destroyed with know- ledge of the import of the great Texts ; and impressions of igno- rance are done away with by the practice of Yoga.
"The patient Brdhmana having known It should harmonise himself in the Self, he should not be deluded away by words ; it is mere waste of breath ;" gets over all mental destruction with the force of Yoga, and acquires " harmony in the Se'lf^'. Thus this "en- lightenment " being permanent and eternal, the destruction of ignorance and its impressions which must disappear with the light of this knowledge, is bound to be equally permanent and eternal.
"Never obtain alms by telling fortune or interpreting " signs, by astrology or medicine, or by teaching gram- " mar and logic. Go about for alms but once, never " be attached to any form, for, the ascetic attached to " aims becomes easily attached to objects."
Clad only in the cloth of the directions, above " all salutation, all ceremonies of the dead, " beyond praise or blame, he should become " the mendicant of mere chance. No invoca- " tion, no dismissal, no form, no meditation, " no devotion, no objects, no void, no separa- " tion, no union, no meum, no tuum, nothing " at all he has not even the place where " to rest. He should never touch gold etc., " he should never look at the world."
Ascetics firm in the knowledge of self repair not to sacred streams all nothing but mere water, nor to Gods and their images, all stone and mortar. The God of the twice-born is Fire, the God of the Silent one is his heart ; poor intelects find their God in Idols ; the even-eyed enlightened one sees God everywhere. Those who have not the eye for knowledge perceive not tbe swayer of men pervading every nook and corner of the universe, alt quiet and peace ; like the blind who cannot see the fall blaze of the Sun.
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