"'"Janaka said, 'Thou hast, O foremost of Rishis, said that Unity is the
attribute of that which is Akshara (Indestructible) and variety or
multiplicity is the attribute of what is known as Kshara (Destructible).
I have not, however, clearly understood the nature of these two. Doubts
are still lurking in my mind. Ignorant men look upon the Soul as endued
with the incident of multiplicity. They, however that are possessed of
knowledge and wisdom regard the Soul to be one and the same. I however,
have a very dull understanding. I am, therefore, unable to comprehend how
all this can happen. The causes also that thou hast assigned for the
unity and the multiplicity of Akshara and Kshara I have almost forgotten
in consequence of the restlessness of my understanding. I therefore,
desire to hear thee once more discourse to me on those same incidents of
unity and multiplicity, on him who is knowing, on what is destitute of
knowledge, on Jiva-soul, Knowledge, Ignorance, Akshara, Kshara, and on
the Sankhya and the Yoga systems, in detail and separately and agreeable
to the truth.'
"'"Vasishtha said, 'I shall tell thee what thou askest! Listen however, to
me, O monarch, as I expound to thee the practices of Yoga separately.
Contemplation, which constitutes an obligatory practice with Yogins, is
their highest puissance[1619]. Those conversant with Yoga say that
Contemplation is of two kinds. One is the concentration of the mind, and
the other is called Pranayama (regulation of breath). Pranayama is said
to be endued with substance; while concentration of mind is unendued with
it.[1620] Excepting the three times when a man passes urine and stools
and eats, one should devote the whole of his time to contemplation.
Withdrawing the senses from their objects by the aid of the mind, one
possessed of intelligence, having made oneself pure, should agreeably to
the two and twenty modes of transmitting the Prana breath, unite the
Jiva-soul with That which transcends the four and twentieth topic (called
Ignorance or Prakriti)[1621] which is regarded by the wise as dwelling in
every part of the body and as transcending decay and destruction. It is
by means of those two and twenty methods that the Soul may always be
known, as heard by us. It is certain that this practice of Yoga is his
whose mind is never affected by evil passions. It is not any other
person's. Dissociated from all attachments, abstemious in diet, and
subduing all the senses, one should fix one's mind on the Soul, during
the first and the last part of the night, after having, O king of
Mithila, suspended the functions of the senses, quieted the mind by the
understanding, and assumed a posture as motionless as that of a block of
stone. When men of knowledge, conversant with the rules of Yoga, become
as fixed as a stake of wood, and as immovable as a mountain, then are
they said to be in Yoga. When one does not hear, and smell, and taste,
and see; when one is not conscious of any touch; when one's mind becomes
perfectly free from every purpose; when one is not conscious of any
thing, when one cherishes no thought; when one becomes like a piece of
wood, then is one called by the wise to be in perfect Yoga. At such a
time one shines like a lamp that burns in a place where there is no wind;
at such a time one becomes freed even from one's subtile form, and
perfectly united with Brahma. When one attains to such progress, one has
no longer to ascend or to fall among intermediate beings. When persons
like ourselves say that there has been a complete identification of the
Knower, the Known, and Knowledge, then is the Yogin said to behold the
Supreme Soul.[1622] While in Yoga, the Supreme Soul displays itself in
the Yogin's heart like a blazing fire, or like the bright Sun, or like
the lightning's flame in the sky. That Supreme Soul which is Unborn and
which is the essence of nectar, that is seen by high-souled Brahmanas
endued with intelligence and wisdom and conversant with the Vedas, is
subtiler than what is subtile and greater than what is great. That Soul,
though dwelling in all creatures, is not seen by them. The creator of the
worlds, He is seen only by a person endued with wealth of intelligence
when aided by the lamp of the mind. He dwells on the other share of thick
Darkness and transcends him called Iswara.[1623] Persons conversant with
the Vedas and endued with omniscience call Him the dispeller of Darkness,
stainless, transcending Darkness, without attributes and endued therewith.
"'"'This is what is called the Yoga of Yogins. What else is the indication
of Yoga? By such practices do Yogins succeed in beholding the Supreme
Soul that transcends destruction and decay. This much that I have told
thee in detail concerns about the science of Yoga. I shall now discourse
to thee of that Sankhya philosophy by which the Supreme Soul is seen
through the gradual destruction of errors.[1624] The Sankhyas, whose
system is built on Prakriti, say that Prakriti, which is Unmanifest, is
the foremost. From Prakriti, they say, O monarch, the second principle
called Mahat, is produced. It is heard by us that from Mahat flows the
third principle called Consciousness. The Sankhyas blessed with sight of
the Soul say that from Consciousness flow the five subtile essences of
sound, form, touch, taste, and scent. All these eight they call by the
name of Prakriti. The modifications of these eight are sixteen in number.
They are the five gross essences of space, light, earth, water, and wind,
and the ten senses of action and of knowledge including the mind. Men of
wisdom devoted to the Sankhya path and conversant with all its ordinances
and dispensations regard these four and twenty topics as embracing the
whole range of Sankhya enquiry. That which is produced becomes merged in
the producing. Created by the Supreme Soul one after another, these
principles are destroyed in a reverse order. At every new Creation, the
Gunas start into existence in the lateral order (as stated above), and
(when Destruction comes) they merge, (each into its progenitor) in a
reverse order, like the waves of the ocean disappearing in the ocean that
gives them birth. O best of kings, this is the manner in which the
Creation and the Destruction of Prakriti takes place. The Supreme Being
is all that remains when Universal Destruction takes place, and it is He
that assumes multifarious forms when Creation starts into life. This is
even so, O king, as ascertained by men of knowledge. It is Prakriti that
causes the overpresiding Purusha to thus assume diversity and revert back
to unity. Prakriti also herself has the same indications. Only one fully
conversant with the nature of the topics of enquiry knows that Prakriti
also assumes the same kind of diversity and unity, for when Destruction
comes she reverts into unity and when Creation flows she assumes
diversity of form. The Soul makes Prakriti, which contains the principles
of production or growth, to assume manifold forms. Prakriti is called
Kshetra (or soul). Transcending the four and twenty topics or principles
is the Soul which is great. It presides over that Prakriti or Kshetra.
Hence, O great king, the foremost of Yatis say that the Soul is the
Presider. Indeed, it has been heard by us that in consequence of the
Soul's presiding over all Kshetras He is called the Presider. And because
He knows that Unmanifest Kshetra, He is, therefore, also called
Kshetrajna (Knower of Kshetra). And because also the Soul enters into
Unmanifest Kshetra (viz., the body), therefore he is called Purusha.
Kshetra is something quite different from Kshetrajna. Kshetra is
Unmanifest. The Soul, which transcends the four and twenty principles, is
called the Knower. Knowledge and the object known are different from each
other. Knowledge, again, has been said to be Unmanifest, while the object
of knowledge is the Soul which transcends the four and twenty principles.
The Unmanifest is called Kshetra, Sattwa (understanding), and also Iswara
(the supreme Lord), while Purusha, which is the twenty-fifth principle
has nothing superior to it and is not a principle (for it transcends all
principles and is only called a principle conventionally). This much O
king, is an account of the Sankhya philosophy. The Sankhyas called the
cause of the universe, and merging all the grosser principles into the
Chit behold the Supreme Soul. Rightly studying the four and twenty topics
along with Prakriti, and ascertaining their true nature, the Sankhyas
succeed in beholding That which transcends the four and twenty topics or
principles.[1625] Jiva in reality is that very Soul which transcends
Prakriti and is beyond the four and twenty topics. When he succeeds in
knowing that Supreme Soul by dissociating himself from Prakriti, he then
becomes identifiable with the Supreme Soul. I have now told thee every
thing about the Sankhya System truly. Those who are conversant with this
philosophy succeed in attaining to tranquillity. Indeed, as
men whose understanding are subject to error have direct
cognisance of Brahma. They that succeed in attaining to that state have
never to come back to this world after the dissolution of their bodies;
while as regards those that are said to be emancipate in this life,
puissance, and that indescribable felicity which attaches itself to
Samadhi, and immutability, become theirs, in consequence of their having
attained to the nature of the Indestructible.[1626] They who behold this
universe as many (instead of seeing it as one and uniform) are said to
see incorrectly. These men are blind to Brahma. O chastiser of foes, such
persons have repeatedly to come back into the world and assume bodies (in
diverse orders of Being). They who are conversant with all that has been
said above become possessed of omniscience, and accordingly when they
pass from this body no longer become subject to the control of any more
physical frames. All things, (or the entire universe), have been said to
be the result of the Unmanifest. The Soul, which is the twenty-fifth,
transcends all things. They who know the Soul have no fear of returning
to the world.'"'"