128 - Review of Sāṁkhya and Yoga 

The sages said: 

1. O sage, O excellent brahmin, no saticty is observed by us in imbibing the verbal nectar coming out of the ocean of your mouth. 

2. Hence, O sage, describe in detail the Yoga that bestows salvation. O most excellent one among the bipeds, we wish to hear about Samkhya too. 

3. O brahmin, how does an intelligent brahmin, well versed in the Vedas, one who is the performer of sacrifices, an intelligent devotee devoid of jealousy, one whose mind dwells on truth and virtue, attain Brahman? 

4. Does he attain it by performing austerities, or by living a celibate life, or by renouncing everything, or by means of his intellect, or by resorting to thought propounded by Samkhya or Yoga? On being asked this, please tell us. 

5. By what means does a man attain concentration of mind and control over senses? It behoves you to explain this. 

Vyāsa said: 

6. No one achieves (spiritual attainment) without knowledge and austerity, without subduing the sense organs or without renouncing everything. 

7. All the enajor elements are the earlier creation of the self-born lord. They are fixed into the bodies of all living beings. 

8. The physical body is from the Earth element. The viscidity is due to the Water element. The eyes are from the Fiery element. The. Air element is the support of Präsa and Apana (i.e. the organic gases). The Ether element is the inner cavity of the embodied beings such as the bowels etc. 

9. The deities presiding over the various parts of the body are: Vişhņu at the time of departure, Indra over the physical strength, the Fire-god in the bowels, the interstices of quarters over the ears, Sarasvati, goddess of speech, over the ears and the tongue. 

10-11. Ears, skin, eyes, tongue, nose together with the five organs of action are the ten indriyas. They are the means of getting food and apprehending sound, touch, colour, taste and smell. Onc shall always know these sense-objects as separate from the sense-organs. 

12. The mind is in unison with the sense organs just as the non-poisonous snake is in conjunction with animals). beyond its control. The individual soul stationed in the heart is always in unison with the mind. 

13. The mind is competent to rule over the sense organs. The individual soul is competent to control and discharge the mind. 

14. The following are eternally present in the physical bodies of the embodied beings: sense-organs, objects of senses, intrinsic nature, consciousness, mind, vital airs namely Prāņa and Apāna and Jiva (the individual soul). 

15. (?) There is no support unto the Sattva; what is termed by the word Guņa is not the conscious ones. The splendour creates Sattya and by no means the Gunas. 

16. Thus the physical body consists of seventeen entities and it is enveloped by sixteen qualities. O brahmins, the wise sage sees by means of his mind the soul within the soul. 

17. It cannot be perceived by the eye nor by the senseorgans. It is by means of the illuminated mind that the higher soul is revealed. 

18. The Ātman is devoid of sound, touch, and colour; it is free from taste and smell, it has neither body nor the senseorgans. One shall see it in one's own body. 

19. He who sees that which is unmanifest in all the physical bodies and that which is excessively honoured among mortals is capable of becoming Brahman after his demise. 

20. Wise sages view the Ātman equally in a Brahmin richly endowed with learning and humility, in cow, in elephant, dog or in an outcaste. 

21. The single soul abides in all living beings, mobile and immobile. The visible worlds arc pervaded by it. 

22. When one sees the soul in all living beings and all living beings in the soul, the individual soul becomes identical with Brahman. 

23. The soul is in the supreme soul to the extent to which the soul sees and understands in the soul. He who knows this is capable of immortality. 

24. The soul has no region. Even Devas secking the region of the soul that is the inner soul of all living beings and is devoted to the welfare of all living beings, become deluded on the way. 

25. Just as the movement of birds in the sky or that of the fishes in the water is imperceptible, so also the movement of those who have achieved knowledge. 

26. Kala (Time, God of Death) cooks all living beings in the soul by means of the soul. But nobody knows that wherein Kāla itself is cooked. 

27. It is neither above, nor at the sides, neither below, nor in front, nor in the middle. No one seizes it. 

28-29. The worlds are stationed in it. There is nothing extraneous to these. Even if one has the speed of the wind and one goes forth ahead like an arrow discharged from the bowstring one shall never reach the end of the ultimate cause. 

There is nothing that is subtler than it; there is nothing that is grosser than it. 

30. It has hands and feet all around; it has eyes, head and face all around; it has ears all around; it stands up enveloping everything in the world. 

31. It is minuter than the minutest atom; it is greater than all' great things; though it abides steadfastly within all living beings yet it is not perceived. 

32. There are two states of the Atman, viz. the imperishable and the perishable. The perishable one is in all living beings; the imperishable is divine and immortal. 

33. The Hamsa (swan, here the soul) builds for itself a city, with nine gates (i.e, the body with nine door's, viz. eyes etc.). He controls it invariably. He is like this in regard to all living beings, whether mobile or immobile. 

34. Super-seers say that the swan-like property of the unborn soul comes from the fact that it discards doubtful alternatives and gathers bodies (?) 

35. What is termed by the word Hamsa is perishable indi- vidual. What is Imperishable is the unchangeable one. He who knows this attains the Imperishable and discards vital airs and with that his very birth.

Vyāsa said: 

36. You had asked me, O brahmins, and so Sámkhya which is combined with perfect knowledge has been duly and truthfully recounted by me. 

37-39. Henceforth, O brahmins, I shall recount Yoga. The unity of intellect and mind as well as of all the sense-organs (should be understood). This knowledge is the highest one. It is the knowledge of the all-pervading soul. 

It should be understood after eradicating the defects of Yoga, which (seers) know to be five in number. It can be understood (only) by one who is tranquil, one who has controlled his senses, one who practises spiritual exercises, one who takes delight in the soul, one who is enlightened and one whose activities are pure. 

40-43. The five defects are: lust, anger, greed, fear, and slumber. 

One conquers anger by practising mental tranquillity, and lust by avoiding lustful thoughts. 

A self-possessed man is fit to eradicate slumber by resorting to Sattva (activities). 

By the practice of mental fortitude one shall guard oneself against sexual lust and gluttony. 

One shall guard hands and feet by means of the eye.

 One shall guard eyes and ears by means of the mind. 

One shall guard one's mind and speech by means of good activity. 

One shall eschew fear by means of vigilance and attention. One shall eradicate arrogance by resorting to intelligent men. 

One shall be watchfully alert and conquer these defects of Yoga. 

He shall bow down to the sacred fires, Brahmins and deities. 

44-46. One shall avoid arrogant speech coupled with violence. One shall speak words pleasing and favourable to the mind. He who has splendour consisting of brahmanical brilliance perceives the entire universe consisting of mobile and immobile beings. He has become identical with the living beings. 

By means of the following one's splendour increases and sin decreases: meditation, self-study of the Vedas, charitable gifts, truthfulness, shyness, straightforwardness, forgiveness,cleanli ness, purity of the soul, and the control of senses. 

47-48. The devotce practising Yoga shall be impartial to all living beings. He shall sustain himself with things available; he shall shed his sins; he shall conquer the sense-organs; he shall take limited diet. He shall then become brilliant. After subduing lust and anger he shall resort to the region of Brahman. He shall maintain purity of the body and mind. He shall concentrate his sense-organs and the mind. Early in the night as well as early in the morning he shall fix the mind in the soul. 

49-51. A creature has five sense organs. Even if one of them is moistened, his intellect begins to flow out like water from the foot of a mountain. 

Just as the killer of fishes takes turtles, so he shall take the essence of the mind at the outset. The devotee who is conversant with Yoga shall then control ear, eye, tongue and nose. Thereafter if he controls them and fixes them in the mind he shall discharge all conceptions (mental fancies) and retain the mind in the soul. 

52-54. If and when he fixes the five sense organs in the mind and the heart, when these sense-organs with the mind as the sixth abide in the Ātman and are pleased in that situation-he attains the Brahman then. They see Ātman in the Ātman. It is like the flame that shines free from smoke; it is like the brilliant sun; it is like the fire of lightning in the sky. 

55-56. Everything is seen there. Since it is all-pervading it is seen everywhere. Noble-souled brahmins, who are wise, who are bold, who have great intelligence and who are engaged in the welfare of all living beings see it. 

The devotee shall practise thus for a limited period. Keen in the practice of the holy rites he shall seat himself in a secluded spot and attain similarity with the Imperishable one." 

57-59. (Defective) There are some pitfalls in the achievement of Yogic power. The devotee shall avoid them. They are delusion, error, deliberation; miraculous résults in regard to smelling hearing, seeing and touching; abilăity to bear chilliness and Brahma Purana heat, gascous shape; presence of mind and obstacles (?) By Yogic practice he should control all these. The devotee who understands reality shall ignore them. By means of his equanimity he shall cause them to recede. The devotee like a sage practising silence, shall practice Yoga with perfect mental purity in all the three worlds. 

60-64. He shall practise on the top of a mountain, in a monastery or under a tree. 

Just as a merchant who is worried over his articles of trade puts them into a safe, so the aspirant after Yoga shall restrain his sense-organs and concentrate his mind. His mind shall never get fed up with the Yogic practice. 

Hc shall adopt means whereby the unsteady mind can be put under control. He shall never swerve therefrom. He shall steadily resort to the Yogic practice. He shall take up vacant rooms for residence and maintain concentration. Neither mentally nor verbally nor physically should he proceed out of bounds. He shall be indifferent to everything worldly. He shall maintain restrictions on his diet. He shall be impartial to everything whether obtained or not obtained. 

Whether anyone congratulates him and wishes him or not he shall be impartial to them. He shall not wish for either welfare or disaster. 

65. He shall not be too delighted for a gain nor be worried for a loss. He shall be impartial to all living beings. He shall thus be one having properties similar to those of the 'wind.

66. Within six months, Brahman approaches that devotee whose soul has become healthy and normal, who views everything impartially, who has become virtuous and perfect and who is perpetually engaged in Yogic practice. 

67. (Thus) the Yogin is in a position to view a clod of earth, a piece of rock and an ingot of gold impartially. On seeing others distressed due to pain he shall not be deluded nor shall he swerve from his path. 

68. Even a man of very low caste or a woman desirous of virtue shall attain the supreme goal through this path. 

69. On seeing this unborn, ancient, unageing, eternal (Lord) who is imperceptible and who is beyond the ken of sense organs, O Brahmins, intelligent men attain equality with Brahman, a goal from which there is no return.