SECTION CCII
"Manu said, 'From that eternal and undeteriorating One first sprang
Space; from space came Wind; from wind came Light; from light came Water;
from water sprang the Universe; and from the universe, all things that
occur in it. The bodies of all (earthly) things, (after dissolution),
first enter into water, thence to light or heat, thence to the wind, and
thence to space. They that seek Emancipation have not to return from
space. On the other hand, they attain to Brahma. The refuge of
Emancipation, viz., Brahma, is neither hot, nor cold, neither mild nor
fierce, neither sour nor astringent, neither sweet nor bitter. He is not
endued with sound, or scent, or form. He transcends all these and
everything, and is without dimensions.[664] The skin perceives touch; the
tongue, taste; the nose, scent; the ears, sounds; and the eyes, forms.
Men not conversant with Adhyatma succeed not in beholding what is above
these. Having withdrawn the tongue from tastes, the nose from scents, the
ears from touch, and the eyes from forms, one succeeds in beholding one's
own self (as independent of the senses and the mind and, therefore, of
attributes).[665] It hath been said that that which is the Cause of the
actor, the act, the material with which the act is done, the place and
the time of the act, and the inclinations and propensities in respect of
happiness and misery, is called the Self (or Soul). That which pervades
everything, which does everything (assuming the forms of living
creatures), that which exists in the universe even as the mantras
declare,[666] that which is the cause of all, that which is the highest
of the high, and that which is One without a second and does all things,
is the Cause. Everything else is effect. It is seen that a person, in
consequence of the acts performed by him, obtains results both good and
evil, which (though apparently incompatible with each other, still) dwell
together in harmony. Indeed, as the good and evil fruits born of their
own acts dwell together in the bodies of creatures which are their
refuge, even so Knowledge dwells in the body.[667] As a lighted lamp,
while burning, discovers other objects before it, even so the five senses
which are like lamps set on high trees, find out their respective objects
when lighted by Knowledge.[668] As the various ministers of a king,
uniting together, give him counsel, even so the five senses that are in
the body are all subservient to Knowledge. The latter is superior to all
of them. As the flames of fire, the current of the wind, the rays of the
sun, and the waters of rivers, go and come repeatedly, even so the bodies
of embodied creatures are going and coming repeatedly.[669] As a person
by taking up an axe cannot, by cutting open a piece of wood, find either
smoke or fire in it, even so one cannot, by cutting open the arms and
feet and stomach of a person, see the principle of knowledge, which, of
course, has nothing in common with the stomach, the arms and the feet. As
again, one beholds both smoke and fire in wood by rubbing it against
another piece, so a person of well-directed intelligence and wisdom, by
uniting (by means of yoga) the senses and the soul, may view the Supreme
Soul which, of course, exists in its own nature.[670] As in the midst of
a dream one beholds one's own body lying on the ground as something
distinct from one's own self, even so a person, endued with the five
senses, the mind, and the understanding, beholds (after death) his own
body and then goes from one into another form[671]. The Soul is not
subject to birth, growth, decay, and destruction. In consequence of the
acts of life being endued with effects, the Soul, clothed in body, passes
from this body (when deprived of animation) into another, unseen by
others.[672] No one can behold with the eye the form of the Soul. The
Soul cannot, again, form the subject of any one's touch. With those
(i.e., the senses), the Soul accomplishes no act. The senses do not
approach the Soul. The Soul, however, apprehends them all. As anything,
placed in a blazing fire before a spectator, assumes a certain colour in
consequence of the light and heat that operates upon it, without taking
any other hue or attribute, even so the Soul's form is seen to take its
colour from the body. After the same manner, man, casting off one body,
enters another, unseen by all. Indeed, casting off his body to the (five)
great primal elements, he assumes a form that is similarly made of the
same (five) elements. The embodied creature (upon the destruction of his
body) enters space, wind, fire, water, and earth in such a way that each
particular element in his body mingles with the particular element (out
of his body) with whose nature it is consonant. The senses also, which
are engaged in diverse occupations and dependent on the five elements
(for the exercise of their functions), enter these five elements that
call forth their functions. The ear derives its capacity from space; and
the sense of scent from the earth. Form, which is the property of the
eye, is the consequence of light or fire. Fire or heat has been said to
be the dependent cause of water. The tongue which has for its property
taste becomes merged into water. The skin which has touch for its
property becomes lost in the wind whose nature it partakes. The fivefold
attributes, (viz., sound, etc.) dwell in the (five) great creatures
(viz., the five primal elements). Those fivefold objects of the senses
(viz., space, etc.) dwell in the (five) senses. All these again (viz.,
the fivefold attributes, the fivefold elements, and the five senses)
follow the lead of the mind. The mind follows the lead of the
Understanding, and the Understanding follows the lead of That which
exists in its true and undefiled nature (viz., the Supreme Soul).[673]
The doer in his new body receives all the good and bad acts done by him
as also all acts done by him in his past existence. All these acts done
in this life and the next ones to come follow the mind even as aquatic
animals pass along a genial current. As a quickly-moving and restless
thing becomes an object of sight, as a minute object appears to be
possessed of large dimensions (when seen through spectacles), as a mirror
shows a person his own face (which cannot otherwise be seen), even so the
Soul (though subtile and invisible) become an object of the
Understanding's apprehension.'"[674]
