The Mahabharata of Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 4 by or: Kisari Mohan Ganguli

O >> or: Kisari Mohan Ganguli >> The Mahabharata of Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 4

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 | 80 | 81 | 82 | 83 | 84 | 85 | 86 | 87 | 88 | 89 | 90 | 91

SECTION XXXVII

"Brahman said, 'Ye best of beings, I shall now declare to you accurately
what (the quality of) Passion is. Ye highly blessed ones, do you
understand what those qualities are that appertain to Passion, Injuring
(others), beauty, toil, pleasure and pain, cold and heat, lordship (or
power), war, peace, arguments, dissatisfaction, endurance,[107] might,
valour, pride, wrath, exertion, quarrel (or collision), jealousy, desire,
malice, battle, the sense of meum or mineness, protection (of others),
slaughter, bonds, and affliction, buying and selling, lopping off,
cutting, piercing and cutting off the coat of mail that another has
worn,[108] fierceness, cruelty, villifying, pointing out the faults of
others, thoughts entirely devoted to worldly affairs, anxiety, animosity,
reviling of others, false speech, false or vain gifts, hesitancy and
doubt, boastfulness of speech, dispraise and praise, laudation, prowess,
defiance, attendance (as on the sick and the weak), obedience (to the
commands of preceptors and parents), service or ministrations, harbouring
of thirst or desire, cleverness or dexterity of conduct, policy
heedlessness, contumely, possessions, and diverse decorations that
prevail in the world among men, women, animals, inanimate things, houses,
grief, incredulousness, vows and regulations, actions with expectation
(of good result), diverse acts of public charity, the rites in respect of
Swaha salutations, rites of Swadha and Vashat, officiating at the
sacrifices of others, imparting of instruction, performance of
sacrifices, study, making of gifts, acceptance of gifts, rites of
expiation, auspicious acts, the wish to have this and that, affection
generated by the merits of the object for which or whom it is felt,
treachery, deception, disrespect and respect, theft, killing, desire of
concealment, vexation, wakefulness, ostentation, haughtiness, attachment,
devotion, contentment, exultation, gambling, indulgence in scandal, all
relations arising out of women, attachment to dancing, instrumental music
and songs--all these qualities, ye learned Brahmanas, have been said to
belong to Passion. Those men on Earth who meditate on the past, present,
and the future, who are devoted to the aggregate of three, viz.,
Religion, Wealth, and Pleasure, who acting from impulse of desire, exult
on attaining to affluence in respect of every desire, are said to be
enveloped by Passion. These men have downward courses. Repeatedly reborn
in this world, they give themselves up to pleasure. They covet what
belongs to this world as also all those fruit, that belong to the world
hereafter. They make gifts, accept gifts, offer oblations to the Pitris,
and pour libations on the sacrificial fire. The qualities of Passion have
(thus) been declared to you in their variety. The course of conduct also
to which it leads has been properly described to you. The man who always
understands these qualities, succeeds in always freeing himself from all
of them which appertain to Passion.'"

SECTION XXXVIII

"Brahmana said, 'I shall, after this discourse to you on that excellent
quality which is the third (in the order of our enumeration). It is
beneficial to all creatures in the world, and unblamable, and constitutes
the conduct of those that are good. Joy, satisfaction, nobility,
enlightenment, and happiness, absence of stinginess (or liberality),
absence of fear, contentment, disposition for faith, forgiveness,
courage, abstention from injuring any creature, equability, truth,
straightforwardness, absence of wrath, absence of malice, purity,
cleverness, prowess, (these appertain to the quality of Goodness). He who
is devoted to the duty of Yoga, regarding knowledge to be vain, conduct
to be vain, service to be vain, and mode of life to be vain, attains to
what is highest in the world hereafter. Freedom from the idea of meum,
freedom from egoism, freedom from expectations, looking on all with an
equal eye, and freedom from desire,--these constitute the eternal
religion of the good. Confidence, modesty, forgiveness, renunciation,
purity, absence of laziness, absence of cruelty, absence of delusion,
compassion to all creatures, absence of the disposition to calumniate,
exultation, satisfaction, rapture, humility, good behaviour, purity in
all acts having for their object the attainment of tranquillity,
righteous understanding, emancipation (from attachments), indifference,
Brahmacharyya, complete renunciation, freedom from the idea of meum,
freedom from expectations, unbroken observance of righteousness, belief
that gifts are vain, sacrifices are vain, study is vain, vows are vain,
acceptance of gifts is vain, observance of duties is vain, and penances
are vain--those Brahmanas in this world, whose conduct is marked by these
virtues, who adhere to righteousness, who abide in the Vedas, are said to
be wise and possessed of correctness of vision. Casting off all sins and
freed from grief, those men possessed of wisdom attain to Heaven and
create diverse bodies (for themselves). Attaining the power of governing
everything, self-restraint, minuteness, these high-souled ones make by
operations of their own mind, like the gods themselves dwelling in
Heaven. Such men are said to have their courses directed upwards. They
are veritable gods capable of modifying all things. Attaining to Heaven,
they modify all things by their very nature. They get whatever objects
they desire and enjoy them.[109] Thus have I, ye foremost of regenerate
ones, described to you what that conduct is which appertains to the
quality of goodness. Understanding these duly, one acquires whatever
objects one desires. The qualities that appertain to goodness have been
declared particularly. The conduct which those qualities constitute has
also been properly set forth. That man who always understands these
qualities, succeeds in enjoying the qualities without being attached to
them.'"

SECTION XXXIX

"Brahmana said, 'The qualities are incapable of being declared as
completely separate from one another. Passion and Goodness and Darkness
are seen existing in a state of union. They are attached to one another.
They depend on one another. They have one another for their refuge. They
likewise follow one another. As long as goodness exists, so long does
Passion exist. There is no doubt in this. As long as Darkness and
Goodness exist, so long does Passion exist. They make their journey
together, in union, and moving collectively. They, verily, move in body,
when they act with cause or without cause. Of all these which act with
one another, however, much they may differ in their development, the
manner in which their increase and diminution take place will now be
declared. There where Darkness exists in an increased measure, in the
lower creatures (for example), Passion exists in a smaller measure and
Goodness in a measure that is still less. There where Passion exists in a
copious measure, in creatures of middle course, Darkness exists in a
smaller measure and Goodness in a measure that is still less. There where
Goodness exists in a copious measure, in creatures of upward courses,
Darkness should be known to exist in a small measure and Passion in a
measure that is still less. Goodness is the spring that causes the
modifications of the senses. It is the great enlightener. No duty has
been laid down that is higher than Goodness. They who abide in Goodness
proceed upwards. They who abide in Passion remain in the middle. They who
abide in Darkness, being characterised by qualities that are low, sink
downwards. Darkness occurs in the Sudra; Passion in the Kshatriya; and
Goodness, which is the highest, in the Brahmana. The three qualities
exist even thus in the three orders. Even from a distance, the three
qualities of darkness and Goodness and Passion, are seen to exist in a
state of union and more collectively. They are never seen in a state of
separation.[110] Beholding the sun rising, men of evil deeds become
inspired with fear. Travellers on their way become afflicted with heat,
and suffer distress. The Sun is Goodness developed, men of evil deeds
represent Darkness; the heat which travellers on their way feel is said
to be a quality of Passion. The sun representing light is Goodness; the
heat is the quality of Passion; the shading (or eclipse) of the sun on
Parvana days should be known to represent Darkness. Even thus, the three
qualities exist in all luminous bodies. They act by turns in diverse
places in diverse ways. Among immobile objects, the quality of Darkness
exists in a very large measure. The qualities appertaining to Passion are
those properties of theirs which undergo constant changes. Their
oleaginous attributes appertain to Goodness.[111] The Day should be
understood as threefold. The Night has been ordained to be threefold. So
also are fortnight, months, years, seasons, and conjunctions.[112] The
gifts that are wide are threefold. Threefold is sacrifice that flows.
Threefold are the worlds; threefold the deities; threefold is knowledge;
and threefold the path or end. The past, the Present. and the Future;
Religion, Wealth. and Pleasure. Prana, Apana, and Udana; these also are
fraught with the three qualities. Whatever object exists in this world,
everything in it is fraught with the three qualities. The three qualities
act by turns in all things and in all circumstances. Verily, the three
qualities always act in an unmanifest form. The creation of those three,
viz., Goodness, Passion, and Darkness is eternal. The unmanifest,
consisting of the three qualities, is said to be darkness, unperceived,
holy, Constant. unborn, womb, eternal. Nature, change or modification,
destruction, Pradhana, production, and absorption, undeveloped, not small
(i.e., vast), unshaking, immovable, fixed, existent, and non-existent.
All these names should be known by those who meditate on matters
connected with the soul. That person who accurately knows all the names
of the unmanifest, and the qualities, as also the pure operations (of the
qualities), is well conversant with the truth about all distinctions and
freed from the body, becomes liberated from all the qualities and enjoys
absolute happiness.'"

SECTION XL

"Brahmana said, 'From the unmanifest first sprang Mahat (the Great Soul)
endued with great intelligence, the source of all the qualities. That is
said to be the first creation. The Great Soul is signified by these
synonymous words--the Great Soul, Intelligence, Vishnu, Jishnu, Sambhu of
great valour, the Understanding, the means of acquiring knowledge, the
means of perception, as also fame, courage, and memory. Knowing this, a
learned Brahmana has never to encounter delusion. It has hands and feet
on every side, it has ears on every side. It stands, pervading everything
in the universe. Of great power, that Being is stationed in the heart of
all. Minuteness, Lightness and Affluence, are his. He is the lord of all,
and identical with effulgence, and knows not decay. In Him are all those
who comprehend the nature of the understanding, all those who are devoted
to goodness of disposition, all those who practise meditation, who are
always devoted to Yoga, who are firm in truth, who have subdued their
senses, who are possessed of knowledge, who are freed from cupidity, who
have conquered wrath, who are of cheerful hearts, who are endued with
wisdom, who are liberated from ideas of meum (and teum), and who are
devoid of egoism. All these, freed from every kind of attachment, attain
to the status of Greatness. That person who understands that holy and
high goal, viz., the Great Soul, becomes freed from delusion. The
self-born Vishnu becomes the Lord in the primary creations. He who thus
knows the Lord lying in the cave, the Supreme, Ancient Being, of
universal form, the golden one, the highest goal of all persons endued
with understanding,--that intelligent man lives, transcending the
understanding.'"

SECTION XLI

"Brahmana said, 'That Mahat who was first produced is called Egoism. When
it sprang up as I, it came to be called as the second creation. That
Egoism is said to be the source of all creatures, for these have sprung
from its modifications. It is pure effulgence and is the supporter of
consciousness. It is Prajapati. It is a deity, the creator of deities,
and of mind. It is that which creates the three worlds. It is said to be
that which feels--I am all this.--That is the eternal world existing for
those sages who are contented with knowledge relating to the soul, who
have meditated on the soul, and who have won success by Vedic study and
sacrifices. By consciousness of soul one enjoys the qualities. That
source of all creatures, that creator of all creatures, creates (all
creatures) even in this way. It is that which causes all changes. It is
that which causes all beings to move. By its own light it illuminates the
universe likewise.'"

SECTION XLII

'Brahmana said, From Egoism were verily born the five great elements.
They are earth, air, ether, water, and light numbering the fifth. In
these five great elements, in the matter of the sound, touch, colour,
taste, and smell, all creatures become deluded. When at the close of the
destruction of the great elements, the dissolution of the universe
approaches, ye that are possessed of wisdom, a great fear comes upon all
living creatures. Every existent object is dissolved into that from which
it is produced. The dissolution takes place in an order that is the
reverse of that in which creation takes place. Indeed, as regards birth,
they are born from one another. Then, when all existent objects, mobile
and immobile, become dissolved, wise men endued with powerful memory
never dissolve. Sound, touch, colour, taste, and smell numbering the
fifth, are effects. They are, however, inconstant, and called by the name
of delusion. Caused by the production of cupidity, not different from one
another, without reality, connected with flesh and blood, and depending
upon one another, existing outside the soul, these are all helpless and
powerless. Prana and Apana, and Udana and Samana and Vyana,--these five
winds are always closely attached to the soul. Together with speech,
mind, and understanding, they constitute the universe of eight
ingredients. He whose skin, nose, ear, eyes, tongue, and speech are
restrained, whose mind is pure, and whose understanding deviates not
(from the right path), and whose mind is never burnt by those eight
fires, succeeds in attaining to that auspicious Brahman to which nothing
superior exists. Those which have been called the eleven organs and which
have sprung from Egoism, I shall now, ye regenerate ones, mention
particularly. They are the ear, the skin, the two eyes, the tongue, the
nose numbering the fifth, the two feet, the lower duct, the organ of
generation, the two hands, and speech forming the tenth. These constitute
the group of organs, with mind numbering as the eleventh. One should
first subdue this group. Then will Brahman shine forth (in him). Five
amongst these are called organs of knowledge, and five, organs of action.
The five beginning with the ear are truly said to be connected with
knowledge. The rest, however, that are connected with action, are without
distinction. The mind should be regarded as belonging to both. The
understanding is the twelfth in the top. Thus have been enumerated the
eleven organs in due order. Learned men, having understood these, think
they have accomplished everything. I shall, after this, enumerate all the
various organs. Space (or Ether) is the first entity. As connected with
the soul, it is called the ear. As connected with objects, that is sound.
The presiding deity (of this) is the quarters. The Wind is the second
entity. As connected with the soul, it is known as the skin. As connected
with objects, it is known as objects of touch; and the presiding deity
there is touch. The third is said to be Light. As connected with the
soul, it is known as the eye. As connected with objects, it is colour;
and the sun is its deity. The fourth (entity) should be known as Water.
As connected with the soul, it is said to be the tongue. As connected
with objects, it is taste, and the presiding deity there is Soma. The
fifth entity is Earth. As connected with the soul, it is said to be the
nose. As connected with objects, it is scent; and the presiding deity
there is the wind. Thus has the manner been declared of how the five
entities are divided into sets of three. After this I shall declare
everything about the diverse (other) organs. Brahmanas conversant with
the truth say that the two feet are mentioned as connected with the soul.
As connected with objects, it is motion; and Vishnu is there the
presiding deity. The Apana wind, whose motion is downward, as connected
with the soul, is called the lower duct. As connected with objects, it is
the excreta that is ejected; and the presiding deity there is Mitra. As
connected with the soul, the organ of generation is mentioned, the
producer of all beings. As connected with objects, it is the vital seed;
and the presiding deity is Prajapati. The two hands are mentioned as
connected with the soul by persons conversant with the relations of the
soul. As connected with objects, it is actions; and the presiding deity
there is Indra. Next, connected with the soul is speech which relates to
all the gods. As connected with objects, it is what is spoken. The
presiding deity there is Agni. As connected with the soul, the mind is
mentioned, which moves within the soul of the five elements.[113] As
connected with objects, it is the mental operation; and the presiding
deity is Chandramas (moon). As connected with the soul is Egoism, which
is the cause of the whole course of worldly life. As connected with
objects, it is consciousness of self; and the presiding deity there is
Rudra. As connected with the soul is the understanding, which impels the
six senses. As connected with objects, it is that which is to be
understood, and the presiding deity there is Brahma. Three are the seats
of all existent objects. A fourth is not possible. These are land, water,
and ether. The mode of birth is fourfold. Some are born of eggs; some are
born of germs which spring upwards, penetrating through the earth; some
are born of filth; and some are born of fleshy balls in wombs. Thus is
the mode of birth seen to be of four kinds, of all living creatures. Now,
there are other inferior beings and likewise those that range the sky.
These should be known to be born of eggs as also those which crawl on
their breasts. Insects are said to be born of filth, as also other
creatures of a like description. This is said to be the second mode of
birth and is inferior. Those living creatures that take birth after the
lapse of some time, bursting through the earth, are said to be germ-born
beings, ye foremost of regenerate persons. Creatures of two feet or of
many feet and those which move crookedly, are the beings born of wombs.
Among them are some that are deformed, ye best of men. The eternal womb
of Brahma should be known to be of two kinds, viz., penance and
meritorious acts. Such is the doctrine of the learned.[114] Action should
be understood to be of various kinds, such as sacrifice, gifts made at
sacrifices, and the meritorious duty of study for every one that is born;
such is the teaching of the ancients. He who duly understands this, comes
to be regarded as possessed of Yoga, ye chief of regenerate persons. Know
also that such a man becomes freed too from all his sins. I have thus
declared to you duly the doctrine of Adhyatma.[115] Ye Rishis conversant
with all duties, a knowledge of this is acquired by those who are
regarded as persons of knowledge. Uniting all these together, viz., the
senses, the objects of the senses, and the five great entities, one
should hold them in the mind.[116] When everything is attenuated (by
absorption) in the mind, one no longer esteems the pleasures of life.
Learned men, whose understandings are furnished with knowledge, regard
that as true happiness.[117] I shall after this, tell thee of
renunciation with respect to all entities by means, gentle and hard,
which produces attachment to subtle topics and which is fraught with
auspiciousness. That conduct which consists in treating the qualities is
not qualities, which is free from attachment, which is living alone,
which does not recognise distinctions, and which is full of Brahman, is
the source of all happiness.[118] The learned man who absorbs all desires
into himself from all sides like the tortoise withdrawing all its limbs,
who is devoid of passion, and who is released from everything, becomes
always happy. Restraining all desires within the soul, destroying his
thirst, concentrated in meditation, and becoming the friend of good heart
towards all creatures, he succeeds in becoming fit for assimilation with
Brahman. Through repression of all the senses which always hanker after
their objects, and abandonment of inhabited places, the Adhyatma fire
blazes forth in the man of contemplation. As a fire, fed with fuel,
becomes bright in consequence of the blazing flames it puts forth, even
so, in consequence of the repression of the senses, the great soul puts
forth its effulgence. When one with a tranquil soul beholds all entities
in one's own heart, then, lighted by one's own effulgence, one attains to
that which is subtler than the subtle and which is unrivalled in
excellence. It is settled that the body has fire for colour, water for
blood and other liquids, wind for sense of touch, earth for the hideous
holder of mind (viz., flesh and bones, etc.), space (or ether) for sound;
that it is pervaded by disease and sorrow; that it is overwhelmed by five
currents; that it is made up of the five elements; that it has nine doors
and two deities;[119] that it is full of passion; that it is unfit to be
seen (owing to its unholy character); that it is made up of three
qualities; that it has three constituent elements, (viz., wind, bile and
phelgm); that it is delighted with attachments of every kind, that it is
full of delusions.[120] It is difficult of being moved in this mortal
world, and it rests on the understanding as its support. That body is, in
this world, the wheel of Time that is continually revolving.[121] That
(body), indeed, is a terrible and unfathomable ocean and is called
delusion. It is this body which stretches forth, contracts, and awakens
the (whole) universe with the (very) immortals.[122] By restraining the
senses, one casts off lust, wrath, fear, cupidity, enmity, and falsehood,
which are eternal and, therefore, exceedingly difficult to cast off.[123]
He who has subjugated these in this world, viz., the three qualities and
the five constituent elements of the body, has the Highest for his seat
in Heaven. By him is Infinity attained. Crossing the river, that has the
five senses for its steep banks, the mental inclinations for its mighty
waters, and delusion for its lake, one should subjugate both lust and
wrath. Such a man freed from all faults, then beholds the Highest,
concentrating the mind within the mind and seeing self in self.
Understanding all things, he sees his self, with self, in all creatures,
sometimes as one and sometimes as diverse, changing form from time to
time.[124] Without doubt he can perceive numerous bodies like a hundred
lights from one light. Verily he is Vishnu, and Mitra, and Varuna, and
Agni, and Prajapati. He is the Creator and the ordainer: he is the Lord
possessed of puissance, with faces turned in all directions. In him, the
heart of all creatures, the great soul, becomes resplendent. Him all
conclaves of learned Brahmanas, deities and Asuras, and Yakshas, and
Pisachas, the Pitris, and birds, and bands of Rakshasas, and bands of
ghostly beings, and all the great Rishis, praise.'"

SECTION XLIII

"Brahmana said, 'Among men, the royal Kshatriya is (endued with) the
middle quality. Among vehicles, the elephant (is so); and among denizens
of the forest the lion; among all (sacrificial) animals, the sheep; among
all those that live in holes, is the snake; among cattle, the bovine
bull; among females, the mule.[125] There is no doubt in this that in
this world, the Nyagrodha, the Jamvu, the Pippala, the Salmali, and
Sinsapa, the Meshasringa, and the Kichaka, are the foremost ones among
trees.[126] Himavat, Patipatra, Sahya, Vindhya, Trikutavat, Sweta, Nila,
Bhasa, Koshthavat, Guruskandha, Mahendra and Malayavat,--these are the
foremost of mountains. Likewise the Maruts are the foremost of the Ganas.
Surya is the lord of all the planets, and Chandramas of all the
constellations. Yama is the lord of the Pitris; Ocean is the lord of all
rivers. Varuna is the king of the waters. Indra is said to be the king of
the Maruts. Arka is the king of all hot bodies, and Indra of all luminous
bodies. Agni is the eternal lord of the elements, and Vrihaspati of the
Brahmanas. Soma is the lord of (deciduous) herbs, and Vishnu is the
foremost of all that are endued with might. Tashtri is the king of
Rudras, and Siva of all creatures. Sacrifice is the foremost of all
initiatory rites, and Maghavat of the deities. The North is the lord of
all the points of the compass; Soma of great energy is the lord of all
learned Brahmanas. Kuvera is the lord of all precious gems, and Purandara
of all the deities. Such is the highest creation among all entities.
Prajapati is the lord of all creatures. Of all entities whatever, I, who
am full of Brahman, am the foremost. There is no entity that is higher
than myself or Vishnu. The great Vishnu, who is full of Brahman, is the
king of kings over all. Know him to be the ruler, the creator, the
uncreated Hari. He is the ruler of men and Kinnaras and Yakshas and
Gandharvas, and Snakes and Rakshasas, and deities and Danavas and Nagas.
Among those that are followed by persons full of desire is the great
goddess Maheswari of beautiful eyes. She is otherwise called by the name
of Parvati. Know that the goddess Uma is the foremost and the most
auspicious of women. Among women that are a source of pleasure, the
foremost are the Apsaras who are possessed of great splendour.[127] Kings
are desirous of acquiring piety, and Brahmanas are causeways of piety.
Therefore, the king should always strive to protect the twice-born ones.
Those kings in whose dominions good men languish are regarded as bereft
of the virtues of their order. Hereafter they have to go into wrong
paths. Those kings in whose dominions good men are protected, rejoice in
this world and enjoy happiness hereafter. Verily, those high-souled ones
attain to the highest seat. Understand this, ye foremost of regenerate
ones. I shall after this state the everlasting indications of duties.
Abstention from injury is the highest duty. Injury is an indication of
unrighteousness. Splendour is the indication of the deities. Men have
acts for their indications. Ether (or space) has sound for its
characteristic. Wind has touch for its characteristic. The characteristic
of lighted bodies is colour, and water has taste for its characteristic.
Earth, which holds all entities, has smell for its characteristic. Speech
has words for its characteristic, refined into vowels and consonants.
Mind has thought for its characteristic. Thought has, again, been said to
be the characteristic of the understanding. The things thought of by the
mind are ascertained with accuracy by the understanding. There is no
doubt in this, viz., that the understanding, by perseverance, perceives
all things. The characteristic of mind is meditation. The characteristic
of the good man is to live unperceived.[128] Devotion has acts for its
characteristic. Knowledge is the characteristic of renunciation.
Therefore keeping knowledge, before his view, the man of understanding
should practise renunciation. The man who has betaken himself to
renunciation and who is possessed of knowledge, who transcends all pairs
of opposites, as also darkness, death, and decrepitude, attains to the
highest goal. I have thus declared to you duty what the indications are
of duty. I shall, after this, tell you of the seizure (comprehension) of
qualities. Smell, which appertains to earth, is seized by the nose. The
wind, that dwells in the nose is likewise appointed (as an agent) in the
perception of smell. Taste is the essence of water. That is seized by the
tongue. Soma, who resides in the tongue, is appointed likewise in the
perception of taste. The quality of a lighted body is colour. That is
seized by the eye. Aditya who always resides in the eye has been
appointed in the perception of colour. Touch always appertains to the
wind (as its quality). That is perceived by the skin. The wind that
always resides in the skin has been appointed in apprehending touch. The
quality of ether is sound. That is seized by the ear. All the quarters,
which reside in the ear, have been appointed in apprehending sound. The
quality of the mind is thought. That is seized by the understanding. The
upholder of consciousness, residing in the heart, has been appointed in
apprehending the mind. The understanding is apprehended in the form of
determination or certitude, and Mahat in the form of knowledge. The
unperceived (Prakriti) has been, it is evident, appointed for the seizure
of all things after certitude. There is no doubt in this.[129] The
Kshetrajna which is eternal and is destitute of qualities as regards its
essence, is incapable of being seized by symbols. Hence, the
characteristic of the Kshetrajna, which is without symbols, is purely
knowledge. The unmanifest resides in the symbol called Kshetra, and is
that in which the qualities are produced and absorbed. I always see,
know, and hear it (though) it is hidden. Purusha knows it: therefore is
he called Kshetrajna. The Kshetrajna perceives also the operations of the
qualities and absence of their operations. The qualities, which are
created repeatedly, do not know themselves, being unintelligent, as
entities to be created and endued with a beginning, middle, and end. No
one else attains, only the Kshetrajna attains, to that which is the
highest and great and which transcend the qualities and those entities
which are born of the qualities. Hence one who understands duties,
casting off qualities and the understanding, and having his sins
destroyed, and transcending the qualities, enters the Kshetrajna. One
that is free from all pairs of opposites, that never bends his head to
any one, that is divested of Swaha, that is immovable, and homeless, is
the Kshetrajna. He is the Supreme Lord."'