How knowledge is to be acquired

Vyasa said If Liberation is sought for, then knowledge should be acquired. For a person who is carried up and down along the stream of Time or life, Knowledge is the raft by which he can reach the shore.

Those wise men who have acquired fixed conclusions of the nature of the soul by the help of wisdom, are able of assist the ignorant in crossing the river of time or life with the raft of knowledge. The ignorant, are unable to save either themselves or others.

He who has freed himself from desire and all other faults, and who has freed himself from all attachments, should attend to these twelve requirements of Yoga, viz., place, acts, affection, objects, means, destruction, certainty, eyes, food, suppression, mind and survey.

He who wishes to acquire superior Knowledge, should, by the help of his understanding, restrain both speech and mind. He who wishes to have tranquillity, should, by the help of his knowledge, govern his soul.

Whether he becomes merciful or cruel, whether he becomes conversant with all the Vedas or ignorant of the Richs, whether he becomes pious and observant of sacrifices or the worst of sinners, whether be becomes eminent for power and wealth or sunk into misery, that person who directs his mind towards these, is sure to cross the ocean of life which is so difficult to cross over.

Without speaking of the results of the attainment of Brahma by Yoga, it may be said that he who engages himself to only enquire after the Soul rises above the necessity of observing the acts laid down in the Vedas.

The body with individual soul within it is an excellent car. When sacrifices and religious rights are made its upastha, shame, its varutha, Upaya and Apaya, its Kuvara, the vital air called Apana, its Aksha, the vital air called Prana, its Yuga, knowledge and the span of existence its points for tieng the horses, carefulness, its Vandhura, the assumption of good conduct, its nemi, vision, touch, scent, and hearing, its four horses, wisdom, its nabhi, all the scriptures, its pratoda, certain knowledge of the scriptural sayings, its driver, the soul, its firinly-seated rider, faith, and self-control, its fore-runners, renunciation, its inseparable companion following behind and bent upon doing it good, purity the path along which it goes, meditaion, its goal, then may that car reach Brahma and shine there effulgently.

I shall now tell you the speedy means that should be followed by the person who would get ready his car in such a way for passing through this forest of the world in order to reach the goal formed by Brahma that is above decrepitude and destruction.

To fix the mind upon one thing at a time is called Dharana, following proper vows and restraints, the Yogin practises in all seven kinds of Dharana. There are, again, as many sorts of Dharanas originating out of these, upon subjects which are near or distant.

Through these the Yogin by and by, lords Earth, Wind, Ether, Water, Fire, Consciousness, and Understanding. After this he gradually lords over the Unmanifest.

I shall now describe to you the conceptions in their order that are realised by particular individuals amongst those who practise Yoga according to the rules and ordinances sanctioned for them. I shall tell you also of the nature of the success of Yoga undertaken by him who looks within his own self.

The Yogin who casts off his gross body, following the instructions of his preceptor, sees his soul displaying the following forms on account of its subtility. To him, in the first stage, the sky appears to be filled with a subtile substance like fog.

Such becomes the form of the Soul which has been separated from the body. When this fog disappears, a second form is seen.

For then the Yogin sees within himself, in the sky of his heart, the form of Water. After the disappearance of water, the form of Fire appears.

When this disappears, the form that is seen that of Wind as effulgent as a well-tempered and highly polished weapon. Gradually the form shown by Wind becomes like that of the thinnest gossamer.

Then having gained whiteness, and the subtility of air, the Brahman's soul attains the supreme whiteness and subtilety of Ether.

Listen to me, as I tell you the results of these various conditions when they take place. That Yogin who has been able to conquer the element of Earth, acquires by such mastery the power of Creation.

Like a second Prajapati possessed of a nature which knows no disturbances he can, from his own body, create all sorts of creatures. With only his foe, or with his hand or fcet, that person can, alone, make the entire Earth tremble who has conquered the Wind. Even this is the attribute of the Wind as said in the Shruti. The Yogin who has conquered count of his having attained to uniformity with that element, and can also disappear at will.

By mastering over Water, one can drink up rivers, lakes, and oceans. By mastering over Fire, the Yogin becomes so effulgent that his form cannot be spied. He becomes visible only when he puts out the fire within him. When the Yogin succeeds in destroying the consciousness of Ego, these five elements come within his control.

When the Understanding, which is the soul of the five elements and of the consciousness of Ego, is conquered, the Yogin acquires Omnipotence, and Omniscience.

For this, the Manifest is fused into the Unmanifest or Supreme Soul from which the world comes into being and becomes what is called Manifest.

Listen now to me fully as I explain the science of Unmanifest. But first of all listen to me about all that is Manifest as explained in the Sankhya system of philosophy.

In both the Yoga and the Sankhya systems, twenty-five subjects of knowledge have been treated in nearly the same way. Here me as I describe their chief characteristics.

What is Manifest is possessed of those four attributes, viz., birth, growth, decay and death.

What does not possess these attributes is said to to be Unmanifest. Two Souls are mentioned in the Vedas and in their auxiliary sciences.

The first is endued with the four attributes already mentioned, and has a longing for the four-fold objects of life. This soul is called Manifest, and it is born of the Unmanifest. It is both Intelligent and non-Intelligent.

I have thus told you of Sattva (inert matter) and Kshetrajna (immaterial spirit). Both kinds of Soul, as said in the Vedas, become attached to objects of the senses.

The doctrine of the Sankhyas is that one should stand 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 yields to anger or hate, who never speaks an untruth, who though, censured or struck still shows friendship for the slanderer or the striker, who never thinks of injuring others, who restrains these three, viz., speech, acts, and mind, and who treats all creatures equally, succeeds in approaching the presence of Brahman. That person who has no desire for earthly objects, who is not unwilling to take what comes, who is dependent on earthly objects so far as they are required for sustaining life, who is free from cupidity, who has driven off all sorrow, who has controlled his senses, who performs all necessary acts, who does not care for beauty and dress, whose senses are all collected, whose purposes are never left undone, who treats all creatures like friends, who considers equally a clod of earth and a lump of gold, who is equally disposed towards friend and enemy, who is endued with patience, who treats praise and blame equally, who is free from longing for all objects of desire, who practises Brahmacharya, and who is firin and steady in all his vows and observances, who cherishes no malice or envy for any creature in the universe, is a Yogin who according to the Sankhya system succeeds in acquiring Liberation. 27217 yrir fagreint frustrate na

Hear now of the way and the means by which a person may acquire Liberation through Yoga. That person who moves and acts after having transcended the power that follows the practise of Yoga succeeds in acquiring Liberation.

I have thus described to you those topics, viz., Liberation according to the Yoga system which are dissimilar if the speaker be disposed to treat them as such. Thus can one get over all pairs of opposites. thus can one attain to Brahma.