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9.
When and how shall I, O Lord, be free from the
bonds of this world [birth and death]
– such a burning desire is called
mumukshuta.
10. Only that person who is in possession of
the said qualifications as means to true knowledge
should constantly reflect with a view to attaining
knowledge, desiring his own good.
11. Knowledge is not brought about by any
other means than enquiry [vichara], just as
an object is nowhere perceived without the help of
light.
12. Who am I? How is this world created? Who
is its creator? Of what material is this world
made? This is the way of that enquiry.
13. I am neither the body, a combination of
the five elements of matter, nor am I an aggregate
of the senses; I am something different from these.
This is the way of that enquiry.
14. Everything is produced by ignorance and
dissolves in the wake of true knowledge. The
various thoughts must be produced by the creator.
Such is this enquiry.
15. The material cause of ignorance and
thought is the One without a second, subtle
[not apprehended by the senses] and
unchanging Existence [Sat], just as the
earth is the material cause of the pot and the
like. This is the way of that enquiry.
16. As I am also the One, the Subtle, the
Knower, the Witness, the Ever-Existent, and the
Unchanging, so there is no doubt that I am That.
Such is this enquiry.
17. Self is verily One and without parts,
whereas the body consists of many parts; and yet
people see these two as one! What else can be
called ignorance but this?
18. Self is the ruler of the body and is
internal, the body is the ruled and is external;
and yet people see these two as one! What else can
be called ignorance but this?
19. Self is all consciousness and holy, the
body is all flesh and impure; and yet people see
these two as one! What else can be called ignorance
but this?
20. Self is the Supreme illuminator and
purity itself; the body is said to be of the nature
of darkness; and yet people see these two as one!
What else can be called ignorance but this?
21. Self is Eternal, since it is Existence
itself; the body is transient, as it is
non-existence in essence; and yet people see these
two as one! What else can be called ignorance but
this?
22. The luminosity of Self consists in the
manifestation of all objects. Its luminosity is not
like that of fire or any such thing, for in spite
of the presence of such lights darkness prevails at
night.
23. How strange is it that a person
ignorantly rests contented with the idea that he is
the body, while knowing it as something belonging
to him and therefore apart from him, even as a
person who sees a pot knows it as apart from
him!
24. I am verily the Ultimate Reality, being
equanimous, quiescent, and by nature Absolute
existence, knowledge, and bliss. I am not the body
which is non-existence itself. This is called true
knowledge by the wise.
25. I am without any change, without any
form, free from all blemish and decay. I am not the
body which is non-existence itself. This is called
true knowledge by the wise.
26. I am not subjected to any disease, I am
beyond all comprehension, free from all
alternatives and all-pervading. I am not the body
which is non-existence itself. This is called true
knowledge by the wise.
27. I am without any attribute or activity,
I am Eternal, ever-free, and Imperishable. I am not
the body which is non-existence itself. This is
called true knowledge by the wise.
28. I am free from all impurity, I am
Immovable, Unlimited, Holy, Undecaying, and
Immortal. I am not the body which is non-existence
itself. This is called true knowledge by the
wise.
29. O you ignorant one! Why do you assert
the blissful, ever-existent Self, which resides in
your own body and is evidently different from it,
which is known as Purusha and is established by the
sacred scriptures as identical with Reality, to be
absolutely non-existent?
30. O you ignorant one! Try to know, with
the help of the scriptures and reasoning, your own
Self, which is different from the body, [not a
void but] the very form of Existence, and very
difficult for persons like you to realise.
31. The Supreme Self known as "I" is but
One, whereas the gross bodies are many. So, how can
this body be the Self?
32. "I" is well established as the subject
of perception whereas the body is the object. This
is learnt from the fact that when we speak of the
body we say, "This is mine". So, how can this body
be the Self?
33. It is a fact of direct experience that
the "I" is without any change, whereas the body is
always undergoing changes. So, how can this body be
the Self?
34. Wise men have ascertained the real
nature of the Self from the scriptures which says,
"There is nothing higher than He [Self]".
So, how can this body be the Self?
35. Again, the scripture has declared in the
Purusha Sukta that, "All this is verily the
Self". So, how can this body be the Self?
36. So, also it is said in the
Brihadaranyaka that, "The Self is completely
unattached". How can this body wherein inhere
innumerable impurities be the Self?
37. There again it is clearly stated that,
"The Self is self-illumined". So, how can the body
which is inert, insentient and illumined by an
external agent be the Self?
38. Moreover, the Karma Kanda also
declares that the Self is different from the body
and permanent, as it endures even after the fall of
the body and reaps the fruits of actions performed
in this life.
39. Even the subtle body consists of many
parts and is unstable. It is also an object of
perception, is changeable, limited and non-existent
by nature. So, how can this be the Self?
40. The immutable Self, the substratum of
the ego, is thus different from the body and the
subtle bodies, and is identical to Reality, the
Lord of all, the Self of all; It is present in
every form and yet transcends them all.
41. Thus, the enunciation of the difference
between the Self and the body has indirectly
asserted, indeed, after the manner of the logic and
reasoning, the reality of the phenomenal world. But
what end of human life [virtuous deeds,
attaining prosperity, satisfying desires or final
liberation] is served thereby?
42. Thus, the view that the body is the Self
has been denounced by the enunciation of the
difference between the Self and the body. Now is
clearly stated the unreality of the difference
between the two.
43. No division in consciousness is
admissible at any time as it is always One and the
Same. Even the individuality of a living being must
be known as false, like the delusion of seeing a
snake instead of the rope.
44. As through the ignorance of the real
nature of the rope, the very rope appears in an
instant as a snake, so also does pure consciousness
appear in the form of the phenomenal universe
without undergoing any change.
45. There exists no other material cause of
this phenomenal universe except the Supreme
Reality. Hence, this whole universe is but the
changeless, Absolute Reality and nothing else.
46. From such a declaration from a scripture
as, "All this is Self", it follows that the idea of
the pervaded and the pervading is illusory. This
Supreme Truth being realised, where is the room for
any distinction between the cause and the
effect?
47. Certainly the scripture has directly
denied manifoldness in the Reality. The non-dual
cause being an established fact, how could the
phenomenal universe be different from It?
48. Moreover, the scripture has condemned
the belief in variety with the words, "The person
who sees variety in This, goes from death to
death."
49. Inasmuch as all beings are born of
Reality, the Absolute Self, they must be understood
to be verily Reality.
50. The scripture has clearly declared that
Reality alone is the substratum of all varieties of
names, forms and actions.
51. Just as a thing made of gold ever has
the nature of gold, so also a being born of Reality
has always the nature of Reality.
52. Fear is attributed to the ignorant one
who rests after making even the slightest
distinction between the individual spirit
[jivatman] and the absolute Self
[Paramatman].
53. When duality appears through ignorance,
one sees another; but when everything becomes
identified with the Self, one does not perceive
another even in the least.
54. In that state when one realises all as
identified with the Self, there arises neither
delusion nor sorrow, in consequence of the absence
of duality.
55. The scripture in the form of the
Brihadaranyaka has declared that the Atman,
which is the Self of all, is verily the one
Reality.
56. This world, though an object of our
daily experience and serving all practical
purposes, is, like the dream world, of the nature
of non-existence, inasmuch as it is contradicted
the next moment.
57. The dream is unreal in waking, whereas
the waking experience is absent in the dream. Both,
however, are non-existent in deep sleep which,
again, is not experienced in either.
58. Thus, all the three states are unreal
inasmuch as they are the creation of the three
fundamental operating principles that make up the
mind and physical manifestation [gunas];
but their Witness, the underlying Reality, beyond
all these operating principles is Eternal, One and
consciousness itself.
59. Just as after the illusion has ended,
one is no more deluded to see a jar in earth or
silver in the, so does one no more see an
individual being in Reality, when the latter is
realised as one's own Self.
60. Just as earth is described as a jar,
gold as an earring, and a mother-of-pearl
[iridescent nacre] as silver, so is Reality
described as a living Being.
61. Just as blueness in the sky, water in
the mirage, and a human figure in a post are but
illusory, so is the universe in the Self.
62. Just as the appearance of a ghost in an
empty place, of a castle in the air, and of a
second moon in the sky is illusory, so is the
appearance of the universe in Reality.
63. Just as it is water that appears as
ripples and waves, or again it is copper, that
appears in the form of vessel so it is the Self
that appears as the whole universe.
64. Just as it is earth that appears under
the name of a jar, or it is threads that appear
under the name of a cloth, so it is the Self that
appears under the name of the universe. This Self
is to be known by negating the names.
65. People perform all their actions in and
through Reality, but on account of ignorance they
are not aware of that, just as through ignorance
people do not know that jars and other earthenwares
are nothing but earth.
66. Just as there ever exist the relation of
cause and effect between earth and a jar, so does
the same relation exist between Reality and the
phenomenal world; this has been established here on
the strength of scriptural texts and reasoning.
67. Just as the consciousness of earth
forces itself upon our mind while thinking of a
jar, so also does the idea of ever-shining Reality
flash on us while contemplating on the phenomenal
world.
68. Self, though ever pure to a wise man,
always appears to be impure to an ignorant one,
just as a rope always appears in two different ways
to a knowing person and an ignorant one.
69. Just as a jar is all earth, so also is
the body all consciousness. The division,
therefore, between the Self and non-Self is made by
the ignorant to no purpose.
70. Just as a rope is imagined to be a snake
and a mother-of-pearl to be a piece of silver, so
is the Self determined to be the body by an
ignorant person.
71. Just as earth is thought of as a jar,
which is made of it, and threads as a cloth, so is
the Self determined to be the body by an ignorant
person.
72. Just as gold is thought of as an earring
and water as waves, so is the Self determined to be
the body by an ignorant person.
73. Just as the stump of a tree is mistaken
for a human figure and a mirage for water, so is
the Self determined to be the body by an ignorant
person.
74. Just as a mass of wood work is thought
of as a house and iron as a sword, so is the Self
determined to be the body by an ignorant
person.
75. Just as one sees the illusion of a tree
on account of water, so does a person on account of
ignorance see Self as the body.
76. Just as to a person going in a boat
everything appears to be in motion, so does a
person on account of ignorance see Self as the
body.
77. Just as to a person suffering from
jaundice white things appear as yellow, so does a
person on account of ignorance see Self as the
body.
78. Just as to a person with defective eyes
everything appears to be defective, so does a
person on account of ignorance see Self as the
body.
79. Just as a firebrand, through mere
rotation, appears circular like the sun, so does a
person on account of ignorance see Self as the
body.
80. Just as all things that are really large
appear to be very small owing to great distance, so
does a person on account of ignorance see Self as
the body.
81. Just as all objects that are very small
appear to be large when viewed through lenses, so
does a person on account of ignorance see Self as
the body.
82. Just as a surface of glass is mistaken
for water, or vice versa, so does a person on
account of ignorance see Self as the body.
83. Just as a person imagines a jewel in
fire or vice versa, so does a person on account of
ignorance see Self as the body.
84. Just as when clouds move, the moon
appears to be in motion, so does a person on
account of ignorance see Self as the body.
85. Just as a person through confusion loses
all distinction between the different points of the
compass, so does a person on account of ignorance
see Self as the body.
86. Just as the moon when reflected in water
appears to one as unsteady, so does a person on
account of ignorance see Self as the body.
87. Thus through ignorance arises in Self
the delusion of the body, which, again, through
Self-realisation, disappears in the Supreme
Self.
88. When the whole universe, movable and
immovable, is known to be Self, and thus the
existence of everything else is negated, where is
then any room to say that the body is Self?
89. O enlightened one, pass your time always
contemplating on Self while you are experiencing
all the results of prarabdha [past karma which
is responsible for the present body]; for it
ill becomes you to feel distressed.
90. The theory one hears of from the
scripture, that prarabdha does not lose its hold
upon one even after the origination of the
knowledge of Self, is now being refuted.
91. After the origination of the knowledge
of Reality, prarabdha verily ceases to exist,
inasmuch as the body and the like become
non-existent; just as a dream does not exist on
waking.
92. That karma which is done in a previous
life and which produces the present life is known
as prarabdha. But such karma is absent in a man of
knowledge, as he has no other birth being free from
ego.
93. Just as the body in a dream is
superimposed and therefore illusory, so is also
this body. How could there be any birth of the
superimposed body, and in the absence of birth of
the body where is the room for that
[prarabdha] at all?
94. The Vedanta scriptures declare ignorance
to be verily the material cause of the phenomenal
world just as earth is of a jar. That ignorance
being destroyed, where can the universe
subsist?
95. Just as a person out of confusion
perceives only the snake leaving aside the rope, so
does an ignorant person see only the phenomenal
world without knowing the Reality.
96. The real nature of the rope being known,
the appearance of the snake no longer persists; so
the substratum being known, the phenomenal world
disappears completely.
97. The body also being within the
phenomenal world and therefore unreal, how could
prarabdha exist? It is, therefore, for the
understanding of the ignorant alone that the
scripture speaks of prarabdha.
98. "And all the actions of a man perish
when he realises That which is both the higher and
the lower." Here the clear use of the plural by the
scripture is to negate prarabdha as well.
99. If the ignorant still arbitrarily
maintain this, they will not only involve
themselves into two absurdities but will also run
the risk of forgoing the Vedantic conclusion. So,
one should accept those scriptures alone from which
proceeds true knowledge.
100. Now, for the attainment of the
aforesaid knowledge, I shall expound the fifteen
steps by the help of which one should practice
profound meditation at all times.
101. The Self that is absolute existence and
true knowledge cannot be realised without constant
practice. So, one seeking after knowledge should
long meditate upon the Reality for the attainment
of the desired goal.
102-103. The steps, in order, are described
as follows: the control of the senses, the control
of the mind, renunciation, silence, space, time,
posture, the restraining root [mulabandha],
the equipoise of the body, the firmness of vision,
the control of the vital forces, the withdrawal of
the mind, concentration, self-contemplation and
complete absorption.
104. The restraint of all the senses by
means of such knowledge as "All this is Reality",
is rightly called Yama, which should be practiced
again and again.
105. The continuous flow of only one kind of
thought to the exclusion of all other thoughts, is
called niyama, which is verily the Supreme bliss
and is regularly practiced by the wise.
106. The abandonment of the illusory
universe by realising it as the all-conscious Self
is the real renunciation honoured by the great,
since it is of the nature of immediate
liberation.
107. The wise should always be one with that
silence wherefrom words together with the mind turn
back without reaching it, but which is attainable
by the yogins.
108-109. Who can describe That whence words
turn away? So silence is inevitable while
describing Reality. Or if the phenomenal world were
to be described, even that is beyond words. This,
to give an alternate definition, may also be termed
silence known among the sages as congenital. The
observance of silence by restraining speech, on the
other hand, is ordained by the teachers of Reality
for the ignorant.
110. That solitude is known as space,
wherein the universe does not exist in the
beginning, end or middle, but whereby it is
pervaded at all times.
111. The non-dual Reality that is bliss
indivisible is denoted by the word "time", since it
brings into existence, in the twinkling of an eye
all beings from Reality downwards.
112. One should know That to be the real
posture in which meditation on Reality flows
spontaneously and unceasingly, and not any other
that destroys one's happiness.
113. That which is well known as the origin
of all beings and the support of the whole
universe, which is immutable and in which the
enlightened are completely merged, that alone is
known as Siddhasana [Eternal Reality].
114. That which is the root of all existence
and on which the restraint of the mind is based is
called the restraining root [mulabandha]
which should always be adopted since it is fit for
raja-yogins.
115. Absorption in the uniform Reality
should be known as the equipoise of the limbs
[dehasamya]. Otherwise, mere straightening
of the body like that of a dried-up tree is no
equipoise.
116. Converting the ordinary vision into one
of knowledge one should view the world as Reality
Itself. That is the noblest vision, and not that
which is directed to the tip of the nose.
117. Or, one should direct one's vision to
That alone where all distinction of the seer,
sight, and the seen ceases and not to the tip of
the nose.
118. The restraint of all modifications of
the mind by regarding all mental states like
memories as Reality alone, is called pranayama.
119-120. The negation of the phenomenal
world is known as rechaka [breathing out],
the thought, "I am verily Reality", is called
puraka [breathing in], and the steadiness
of that thought thereafter is called kumbhaka
[restraining the breath]. This is the real
course of pranayama for the enlightened, whereas
the ignorant only torture the nose.
121. The absorption of the mind in the
Supreme consciousness by realising the Self in all
objects is known as pratyahara, which should be
practiced by the seekers after liberation.
122. The steadiness of the mind through
realisation of Reality, wherever the mind goes, is
known as Supreme concentration
[dharana].
123. Remaining independent of everything as
a result of the unassailable thought, "I am verily
Reality", is well known by the word dhyana
[meditation], and is productive of Supreme
bliss.
124. The complete forgetfulness of all
thought by first making it changeless and then
identifying it with Reality is called samadhi,
known also as true knowledge.
125. The aspirant should carefully practice
this meditation that reveals his natural bliss
until, being under his full control, it arises
spontaneously, in an instant when called into
action.
126. Then he, the best among yogis having
attained to Perfection, becomes free from all
practices. The real nature of such a man never
becomes an object of the mind or speech.
127-128. While practicing samadhi there
appear unavoidably many obstacles, such as lack of
enquiry, idleness, desire for sense-pleasure,
sleep, dullness, distraction, tasting of joy, and
the sense of blankness. One desiring the knowledge
of Reality should slowly get rid of such
innumerable obstacles.
129. While thinking of an object the mind
verily identifies itself with that, and while
thinking of a void it really becomes blank, whereas
by the thought of Reality it attains to Perfection.
So, one should constantly think of Reality to
attain Perfection.
130. Those who give up this supremely
purifying thought of Reality, live in vain and are
on the same level with beasts.
131. Blessed indeed are those virtuous
persons who at first have this consciousness of
Reality and then develop it more and more. They are
respected everywhere.
132. Only those in whom this consciousness
of Reality being ever present grows into maturity,
attain to the state of ever-existent Reality; and
not others who merely deal with words.
133. Also those persons who are only clever
in discussing about Reality but have no
realisation, and are very much attached to worldly
pleasures, are born and die again and again in
consequence of their ignorance.
134. The aspirants after Reality should not
remain a single moment without the thought of
Reality, just like the sages Brahma, Sanaka, Suka
and others.
135. The nature of the cause inheres in the
effect and not vice versa; so through reasoning it
is found that in the absence of the effect, the
cause, as such also disappears.
136. Then that pure Reality which is beyond
speech alone remains. This should be understood
again and again verily through the illustration of
earth and the pot.
137. In this way alone there arises in the
pure-minded a state of awareness of Reality, which
is afterwards merged into Reality.
138. One should first look for the cause by
the negative method and then find it by the
positive method, as ever inherent in the
effect.
139. One should verily see the cause in the
effect, and then dismiss the effect altogether.
What then remains, the sage himself becomes.
140. A person who meditates upon a thing
with great assiduity and firm conviction, becomes
that very thing. This may be understood from the
illustration of the wasp and the worm.
[According to folk wisdom, when a wasp catches
an insect and takes it back to its hole, the insect
becomes so terrorised that it constantly thinks
about its predator to the point where it actually
transforms itself into a wasp. The same analogy
applies to a person who meditates on Reality with
all his mind and eventually ends up becoming
Reality.]
141. The wise should always think with great
care of the invisible, the visible, and everything
else, as his own Self which is consciousness
itself.
142. Having reduced the visible to the
invisible, the wise should think of the universe as
one with Reality. Thus alone will he abide in
Eternal felicity with mind full of consciousness
and bliss.
143. Thus has been described Raja Yoga
consisting of these steps mentioned above. With
this is to be combined Hatha Yoga for the benefit
of those whose worldly desires are partially
attenuated.
144. For those whose mind is completely
purified this Raja Yoga alone is productive of
Perfection. Purity of the mind, again, is speedily
accessible to those who are devoted to the teacher
and the Deity.
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