SECTION CCXXXVI
"Vyasa said, 'If Emancipation be desirable, then knowledge should be
acquired. For a person who is borne now up and now down along the stream
of Time or life, knowledge is the raft by which he can reach the shore.
Those wise men who have arrived at certain conclusions (regarding the
character of the soul and that which is called life) by the aid of
wisdom, are able to assist the ignorant in crossing the stream of time or
life with the raft of knowledge. They, however, that are ignorant, are
unable save either themselves or others. He who has freed himself from
desire and all other faults, and who has emancipated himself from all
attachments, should attend to, these two and ten requirements of yoga,
viz., place, acts, affection, objects, means, destruction, certainty,
eyes, food, suppression, mind and survey.[905] He who wishes to obtain
superior Knowledge, should, by the aid of his understanding, restrain
both speech and mind. He who wishes to have tranquillity, should, by the
aid of his knowledge, restrain his soul. Whether he becomes compassionate
or cruel, whether he becomes conversant with all the Vedas or ignorant of
the Richs, whether he becomes righteous and observant of sacrifices or
the worst of sinners, whether he becomes eminent for prowess and wealth
or plunged into misery, that person who directs his mind towards these
(attributes that I have spoken of), is sure to cross the ocean of life
which is so difficult to cross. Without speaking of the results of the
attainment of Brahma by yoga, it may be said that he who sets himself to
only enquiring after the Soul transcends the necessity of observing the
acts laid down in the Vedas. The body with jiva within it is an excellent
car. When sacrifices and religious rites are made its upastha, shame its
varutha, Upaya and Apaya its kuvara, the breath called Apana its aksha,
the breath called Prana its yuga, knowledge and the allotted period of
existence its points for tying the steeds, heedfulness its handsome
vandhura, the assumption of good behaviour its nemi, vision, touch,
scent, and hearing its four steeds, wisdom its nabhi, all the scriptures
its pratoda, certain knowledge of the scriptural declarations its driver,
the soul its firmly-seated rider, faith and self-restraint its
fore-runners, renunciation its inseparable companion following behind and
bent upon doing it good, purity the path along which it goes, meditation
(or union with Brahma) its goal, then may that car reach Brahma and shine
there in effulgence.[906] I shall now tell thee the speedy means that
should be adopted by the person who would equip his car in such a fashion
for passing through this wilderness of the world in order to reach the
goal constituted by Brahma that is above decrepitude and destruction. To
set the mind upon one thing at a time is called Dharana.[907] The Yogin
observing proper vows and restraints, practises in all seven kinds of
Dharana. There are, again, as many kinds of Dharanas arising out of
these, upon subjects that are near or remote.[908] Through these the
Yogin gradually acquires mastery over Earth, Wind, Space, Water, Fire,
Consciousness, and Understanding. After this he gradually acquires
mastery over the Unmanifest.[909] I shall now describe to thee the
conceptions in their order that are realised by particular individuals
amongst those that are engaged in yoga according to the rules and
ordinances that have been laid down. I shall tell thee also of the nature
of the success that attaches to yoga commenced (according to rules) by
him who looks within his own self.[910] The Yogin, that abandons his
gross body, following the instructions of his preceptor, beholds his soul
displaying the following forms in consequence of its subtility. To him in
the first stage, the welkin seems to be filled with a subtile substance
like foggy vapour.[911] Of the Soul which has been freed from the body,
even such becomes the form. When this fog disappears, a second (or new)
form becomes visible. For, then, the Yogin beholds within himself, in the
firmament of his heart, the form of Water. After the disappearance of
water, the form of Fire displays itself. When this disappears, the form
that becomes perceivable is that of Wind as effulgent as a well-tempered
weapon of high polish. Gradually, the form displayed by Wind becomes like
that of the thinnest gossamer. Then having acquired whiteness, and also,
the subtlety of air, the Brahman's soul is said to attain the supreme
whiteness and subtlety of Ether. Listen to me as I tell thee the
consequences of these diverse conditions when they occur. That Yogin who
has been able to achieve the conquest of the earth-element, attains by
such lordship to the power of Creation. Like a second Prajapati endued
with a nature that is perfectly imperturbable, he can from his own body
create all kinds of creatures. With only his toe, or with his hand or
feet, that person can singly cause the whole Earth to tremble who has
achieved the lordship of the Wind. Even this is the attribute of the Wind
as declared in the Sruti. The Yogin, who has achieved the lordship of
Space, can exist brightly in Space in consequence of his having attained
to uniformity with that element, and can also disappear at will. By
lordship over Water, one can (like Agastya) drink up rivers, lakes, and
oceans. By lordship over Fire, the Yogin becomes so effulgent that his
form cannot be looked at. He becomes visible only when he extinguishes
his consciousness of individuality,--these five elements come within his
sway. When the Understanding, which is the soul of the five elements and
of the consciousness of individuality,[912] is conquered the Yogin
attains to Omnipotence, and perfect Knowledge (or perception freed from
doubt and uncertainty with respect to all things), comes to him. In
consequence of this, the Manifest becomes merged into the Unmanifest or
Supreme Soul from which the world emanates and becomes what is called
Manifest.[913] Listen now to me in detail as I expound the science of the
Unmanifest. But first of all listen to me about all that is Manifest as
expounded in the Sankhya system of philosophy. In both the Yoga and the
Sankhya, systems, five and twenty topics of knowledge have been treated
in nearly the same way. Listen to me as I mention their chief features.
That has been said to be Manifest which is possessed of these four
attributes, viz., birth, growth, decay, and death. That which is not
possessed of these attributes is said to be Unmanifest. Two souls are
mentioned in the Vedas and the sciences that are based upon them. The
first (which is called Jivatman) is endued with the four attributes
already mentioned, and has a longing for the four objects or purposes
(viz., Religion, Wealth, Pleasure and Emancipation). This soul is called
Manifest, and it is born of the Unmanifest (Supreme Soul). It is both
Intelligent and non-Intelligent. I have thus told thee about Sattwa
(inert matter) and Kshetrajna (immaterial spirit). Both kinds of Soul, it
is said in the Vedas, become attached to objects of the senses. The
doctrine of the Sankhyas is that one should keep oneself aloof or
dissociated from objects of the senses. That Yogin who is freed from
attachment and pride, who transcends all pairs of opposites, such as
pleasure and pain, heat and cold, etc., who never gives way to wrath or
hate, who never speaks an untruth, who, though slandered or struck, still
shows friendship for the slanderer or the striker, who never thinks of
doing ill to others, who restrains the three, viz., speech, acts, and
mind, and who behaves uniformly towards all creatures, succeeds in
approaching the presence of Brahman. That person who cherishes no desire
for earthly objects, who is not unwilling to take what comes, who is
dependent on earthly objects to only that extent which is necessary for
sustaining life, who is free from cupidity, who has driven off all grief,
who has restrained his senses, who goes through all necessary acts, who
is regardless of personal appearance and attire, whose senses are all
collected (for devotion to the true objects of life), whose purposes are
never left, unaccomplished,[914] who bears himself with equal
friendliness towards all creatures, who regards a clod of earth and a
lump of gold with an equal eye, who is equally disposed towards friend
and foe, who is possessed of patience, who takes praise and blame
equally,[915] who is free from longing with respect to all objects of
desire, who practises Brahmacharya, and who is firm and steady in all his
vows and observances, who has no malice or envy for any creature in the
universe, is a Yogin who according to the Sankhya system succeeds in
winning Emancipation. Listen now to the way and the means by which a
person may win Emancipation through Yoga (or the system of Patanjali).
That person who moves and acts after having transcended the puissance
that the practice of Yoga brings about (in the initial stages), succeeds
in winning Emancipation.[916] I have thus discoursed to thee on those
topics (viz., Emancipation according to the Sankhya system and that
according to the Yoga system) which are dissimilar if the speaker be
disposed to treat them as such (but which in reality, are one and the
same).[917] Thus can one transcend all pairs of opposites. Thus can one
attain to Brahma.'"[918]
