Mokshadharma Parva — The divine Vishnu

Manu said When the five attributes are united with the five senses and the mind, then is Brahma seen by the individual like a thread passing through a gem.

As a thread may lie within gold or a pearl or a coral or any earthen object, so one's soul, for his own acts, may live within a cow, a horse, a man, an elephant or any other animal, or with a worm or an insect.

The good deeds with a person performs in a particular body yield rewards that the individual enjoys in that particular body.

A soil, seemingly drenched with one particular kind of liquid, supplies to each different sort of Herb or plant that grows on it the sort of juice it requires for itself. Similarly, the Understanding, whose course is witnessed by the Soul, is obliged to follow the path marked out by pristine deeds.

From knowledge originates desire. From desire originates resolution. From resolution proceeds action. From action proceed fruits.

Fruits, therefore, have actions as their cause. Actions have the understanding for their root. The understanding has knowledge for its ot, and knowledge has the Soul for its cause.

That excellent outcome which is gained by the destruction of knowledge, of fruits, of the understanding, and of acts is called knowledge of Brahma.

High indeed is that self-existent Essence which Yogins witness. They who are devoid of wisdom, and whose understandings are addicted to worldly objects never see that which exists in the soul itself.

Water is superior to the Earth; Light is superior to Water; Wind is superior to Light.

Space is superior to Wind; Mind is superior 10 Space; Understanding is superior to Mind; Time is superior to Understanding.

The Divine Vishnu, who is identical with this universe, is superior to Time. That god is without beginning, middle, and end.

For his being without beginning, iniddle, and cnd, he is Unchangeable. He is above all Sorrow, for Sorrow has limits.

That Vishnu is called the Supreme Brahma. He is the refuge or object of what is called the Highest. Knowing Him, they who are wise, freed from everything which is under the influence of Time, acquire liberation.

What we perceive is displayed in attributes. That which is called Brahma, being without attributes, is superior to these. Abstention from acts constitutes the greatest religion. That religion is sure to bring on deathlessness.

The Richs, the yajuses and the Samans depend on the body. They flow from the end of the tongue. They cannot be acquired without exertion and are subject to destruction.

Brahma, however, cannot be acquired in this way, for it depends upon that (Soul) which has the body for its refuge. Without beginning, middle, or end, Brahma cannot be acquired by effort.

The Richs, the Samans, the Yajuses, have each a beginning. Those that have a beginning have also an end. But Brahma is said to be without beginning.

And because Brahma has neither beginning nor end, it is said to be infinite and unchangeable. On account of unchangeableness, Brahma transcends all sorrow as also pairs of opposites.

Through unfavourable destiny, through inability to find out the proper expedient, and through the obstacles put in by acts, men cannot see the path by which Brahına may be reached.

On account of attachment to worldly objects, in view of the joys of the highest heaven, and for seeking something other than Brahma, men do not attain to the Supremc.

Others seeing worldly objects seek their possession. When they hanker after such objects, they do not see Brahma inasmuch as it is shorn of all attributes.

How can one who is endued with inferior qualities, acquire a knowledge of him who is possessed of superior qualities? It is by inference that one can arrive at a knowledge of Him who transcends all things in attributes and form.

We can know him only. By subtile intelligence, we cannot describe Him in words. The mind is caught by the mind, the eye by the eye.

By knowledge the understanding can be purged off of its impurities The understanding may be engaged for purifying the mind. The senses should be restrained by the mind. Performing all this, one may attain to the Unchangeable.

One who has, by contemplation, become freed from attachments, and who has the wealth of a discerning mind, succeeds in attaining to Brahma which is without desire and above all attributes. As the wind does not touch the fire that lies within a piece of wood, so persons, who are moved (by desire for worldly objects stand aloof from that which is Supreme).

When all earthly objects are destroyed, the mind always attains to That which is higher than the Understanding; while upon their separation the mind always acquires that which is below the Understanding. Therefore, a person, who, according to the method already described, becomes engaged in destroying carthly objects, becomes immersed in Brahma.

Though the Soul is unmanifest, yet when endued with qualities, its acts become manifest. When dissolution sets in it once more becomes unmanifest. The Soul is really inactive. Its exists, endued with the senses which create either happiness or misery.

United with all the senses and body, it takes refuge in the five primal elements. It cannot, however, act through want of power, however, when it is deprived of force by the Supreme and Unchangeable.

No man sees the end of this earth, but know this, viz., that the Earth's end will surely come. Man moved here (by attachments) is surely led to his last resort like the wind leading a vessel, tossed on the sea to a safe harbour at last.

Diffusing his rays the sun becomes the possessor of an attribute, withdrawing his rays he once more becomes an object shorn of attributes, Similarly a person casting off all distinctions and practising penances, at last enters the indestructible Brahma which is shorn of all attributes.

By knowing Him who is without birth, who is the highest refuge of all pious men, who is self-create, from whom everything originates and whom everything returns, who is unchangeable, who is without beginning, middle, and end, and who is self and supreme, a person attains to immortality.'

By knowing Him who is without birth, who is the highest refuge of all pious men, who is self-create, from whom everything originates and whom everything returns, who is unchangeable, who is without beginning, middle, and end, and who is self and supreme, a person attains to immortality.'