Mahabharata: Vol. 5 (20 page)

‘“‘Seated
in a secluded place, alone, controlled in mind and body, without desire, without
receiving and giving,
²⁵⁹
a yogi should always try to pacify his atman. In a pure place that is not too
high and not too low, unmoving, he will place his seat, cloth and hide on kusha
grass.
²⁶⁰
There, focusing the intellect, controlling the action of the mind and the
senses, seated on that seat, he will practise yoga to purify the atman. Still, body,
head and neck erect and unmoving, gazing at the tip of one’s nose
²⁶¹
and not looking in any other direction. Tranquil in the atman, without fear,
established in the rite of brahmacharya, controlling the mind and uniting the
intellect with me, immerse yourself in me. In this way, the yogi will always pacify
the atman and be unwavering in his mind, and established in me, will attain supreme
and peaceful liberation. O Arjuna! He who eats too much cannot achieve yoga. Nor he
who doesn’t eat at all. Nor he who sleeps too much or stays awake too
much. He who is measured in food and movement, measured in effort towards action,
measured in sleep and awakening. For him, yoga destroys unhappiness. When the
intellect is specially controlled and established in the atman, in that situation,
indifferent towards all desire, yoga is said to have been achieved. For a yogi whose
intellect is controlled and the atman is united, know the simile to be a lamp that
doesn’t flicker in a place where there is no wind. When the mind is
controlled and rendered inactive through the practice of yoga, when the atman sees
the atman in the atman and is satiated.
²⁶²
When he
²⁶³
feels the extreme bliss that is beyond the senses and realized through the
intellect, undisturbed from truth.
²⁶⁴
Obtaining that, not
²⁶⁵
thinking other gains to be superior to this. Established in that, not disturbed
even by great unhappiness. Know this, without any contact with unhappiness, to be
yoga. Without hopelessness,
²⁶⁶
one must practise that yoga with perseverance. Forsaking in entirety all desire
that results from wishes,
²⁶⁷
using the mind itself to restrain the senses from everything, using
concentrated intellect to gradually withdraw, establishing the mind in the atman and
thinking about nothing,
²⁶⁸
withdrawing from whatever the fickle and restless mind veers towards,
withdrawing it from that, bring it under the control of the atman. Tranquil in mind,
having pacified the rajas quality, without sin,
²⁶⁹
having attained the brahman, the yogi achieves supreme happiness. Like that,
always concentrating on the atman, the pure yogi easily obtains intense bliss from
proximity to the brahman. The person immersed in yoga looks on everything equally
and sees the atman in all beings and all beings in the atman. He sees me everywhere
and everything in me. I am never invisible to him. Nor is he invisible to me. He is
based in equality and worships me, I who am present in everything. Wherever that
yogi is, he is established in me. O Arjuna! He who compares
²⁷⁰
with his own self and regards happiness and unhappiness in everything
²⁷¹
equally, that yogi is supreme, according to me.’

‘“Arjuna said,
‘O Madhusudana! Because of restlessness,
²⁷²
I don’t see the yoga based on equality that you have propounded as
permanent. O Krishna! The mind is restless and the senses strong and firm.
Therefore, I think restraining it is as difficult as the wind.’
²⁷³

‘“The lord said,
‘O mighty-armed one! There is no doubt that the mind is restless and
difficult to control. But O Kounteya! Through practice and detachment, it can be
restrained. My view is that yoga is difficult for someone whose mind is
uncontrolled. But it is possible to achieve for someone whose mind is controlled and
who makes special effort.’

‘“Arjuna said,
‘O Krishna! A person who has faithfully practised yoga, but later becomes
careless and his mind deviates from yoga, cannot achieve liberation through yoga.
What happens to him? O mighty-armed one! Distracted from the path of attaining the
brahman, such a wavering person is dislodged from both,
²⁷⁴
like a torn cloud. Doesn’t he perish? O Krishna! I have this doubt
that only you can completely eliminate. Because there is no one other than you who
can remove this doubt.’

‘“The lord said,
‘O Partha! In this world, nor in the other world, is there any
destruction. Because, O son,
²⁷⁵
a person who acts well
²⁷⁶
never comes to grief. He who has deviated from the path of yoga attains the
worlds of the righteous
²⁷⁷
and dwells there for many years. Thereafter, he is born in a righteous and
wealthy household. Or he is born in the family of wise yogis. But such birth is very
rare in this world. O descendant of the Kuru lineage! In that birth, obtains
²⁷⁸
that intelligence
²⁷⁹
about liberation from an earlier birth and thereafter, strives again for
liberation. Because of that earlier practice, is almost involuntarily, attracted.
²⁸⁰
A person who seeks yoga transcends the Vedas.
²⁸¹
Striving harder than on that earlier occasion, pure in heart, the yogi obtains
liberation after many lives and later, achieves the supreme objective. The yogi is
superior to those who practise austerities, superior to the learned
²⁸²
and superior to those who perform action.
²⁸³
That is my view. O Arjuna! Therefore, become a yogi. My view is that he who is
devoted and worships me, with his self immersed in me, is the most accomplished
among all yogis.’”’

‘“The lord said,
‘O Partha! Listen to how you will know, without any doubt, the complete
truth about me—mind attached to me, seeking refuge in me and immersed in
yoga. I will completely tell you about the knowledge with self-realization.
²⁸⁵
Knowing that, there is nothing more remaining to know. Among thousands of men,
rarely one tries for liberation. Among those who try for liberation, perhaps one
²⁸⁶
gets to know my true nature. Earth,
water, fire,
²⁸⁷
air, sky, mind, intellect and ego—these are the eight parts of my
nature. These are inferior nature.
²⁸⁸
O mighty-armed one! Besides this, know my superior and other nature
²⁸⁹
that is the essence of living beings. The universe is held up by this. Know all
matter
²⁹⁰
to be born from these.
²⁹¹
I am the reason for the creation of the entire universe and its destruction. O
Dhananjaya! There is nothing superior to me. Like jewels on a string, all this is
threaded in me. O Kounteya! In the water, I am the sap. In the sun and the moon, I
am the radiance. In all the Vedas, I am the Om syllable.
²⁹²
In the sky, I am the sound. In humans, I am manifest as prowess,
²⁹³
and as pure fragrance in the earth. I become energy in the fire, life in all
living beings. I become austerity in ascetics. O Partha! Know me to be the eternal
seed of all beings. I am intellect in the intelligent. I become energy in those who
are energetic. O bull among the Bharata lineage! I am strength, without desire and
without attachment,
²⁹⁴
in those who are strong. In all living beings, I become desire that is
sanctioned by dharma.
²⁹⁵
And know all the three conditions, with
sattva, rajas and
tamas predominating,
²⁹⁶
to be derived from me. I am not in them. They are in me. This entire universe
is deluded by these three gunas and the resultant conditions. And is not able to
know me, who is above these and without change. It is indeed difficult to overcome
this divine aspect
²⁹⁷
of mine, immersed in gunas. Those who seek refuge in me alone, they are able to
overcome this maya. The evildoers, ignorant and worst among men, lose their
knowledge because of maya and resort to demonic states. They do not worship me. O
bull among the Bharata lineage! O Arjuna! There are four types of people, pure of
heart, who worship me—those who are suffering, those who want
satisfaction,
²⁹⁸
those who want self-knowledge and those who know. Of these, those who know,
always united and worshipping only one,
²⁹⁹
are the best. I am extremely beloved by one who knows. And he is also my
beloved. All these
³⁰⁰
are righteous. But the man who knows is like my atman. That is my view.
Therefore, the united man who knows seeks refuge in me, the supreme of objectives.
After many births are over, he attains the knowledge that Vasudeva is everything and
attains me. Such great souls are extremely rare. Those whose knowledge has been
robbed by those desires, according to their own nature, follow prescribed rites to
worship other gods. Whatever form a devotee wishes to worship faithfully, in
whatever way, in that
³⁰¹
and that,
³⁰²
I make the faith firm and unwavering. With that faith, whatever form is
worshipped and whatever fruits are obtained
as a result, are
actually bestowed by me alone. The fruits of those
³⁰³
who have little intellect come to an end.
³⁰⁴
Worshippers of gods attain the gods. My devotees attain me. Those who are
ignorant don’t realize my supreme and unchanging nature and think of me,
the one who is unmanifest, as manifest. Shrouded in my powers of yoga and maya, I am
not evident to everyone. I am not born and am without change. But the ignorant world
does not know me. O Arjuna! I know all beings in the past, the present and the
future. But no one knows me. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! O scorcher of
foes! All beings are deluded at birth from opposite sensations,
³⁰⁵
resulting from desire and aversion. But those whose sins have been overcome and
those who are virtuous in action, they are freed from the delusion of opposite
sensations and worship me, firm in their vows. Those who want to free themselves
from decay and death and seek refuge in me, they know about the brahman, about the
individual atman
³⁰⁶
and about action in its entirety. Those who know me as the one who underlies
all beings, all gods and all yajnas, right till the time of death, their mind is
fixed on me and they know me.’”’

‘“Arjuna asked,
‘O supreme among men! What is that brahman, what is the individual atman
³⁰⁸
and what is action? What
is said to underlie all beings and
what is said to underlie all gods?
³⁰⁹
O Madhusudana! Who underlies all yajnas
³¹⁰
in this body and how? By those who can control their atmans, how are you known
at the time of death?’

‘“The lord said,
‘The indestructible brahman is the supreme spirit and its inhabitation of
individual beings is called adhyatma. Action is the offering
³¹¹
that leads to the creation and sustenance of all beings. O supreme among those
who possess bodies! Perishable elements are adhibhuta and the
purusha
is
adhidaiva. In this body, I myself am adhiyajna. At the time of death, he who
remembers me, gives up his body and leaves, he attains my essence. There is no doubt
about this. O Kounteya! Whatever essence is remembered at the time of death, giving
up the body, a person immersed in that essence is the essence that he attains.
Therefore, always think of me. And fight. With mind and intellect offered to me, you
will without doubt attain me alone. O Partha! United in the practice that is like
yoga, without following anyone else, thinking of the divine supreme spirit with the
mind, attains that.
³¹²
He who thinks of the omniscient, without beginning,
the
controller of everything, finer than the minutest, the upholder of everything, with
a form that is beyond thought, self-resplendent like the sun and beyond darkness,
³¹³
at the time of death,
³¹⁴
with devotion, with the mind fixed, with the strength of yoga used to hold the
breath of life between the brows, he attains the resplendent supreme spirit. He is
the one whom those who know the Vedas speak of as indestructible, he is the one into
whom unattached yogis enter, he is the one to attain when brahmacharya is practised,
I will briefly tell you about reaching that goal of supreme liberation.

‘“‘Using
all the senses and organs
³¹⁵
to control the mind and restrain it in the heart, bearing the breath of life
between the brows, establishing one’s atman in yoga, uttering the single
syllable Om that is the brahman and remembering me, he who gives up his body and
leaves, he attains the goal of supreme liberation. O Partha! He who does not think
of other things and remembers me every day and all the time, I am easily attainable
to that yogi who is always focused.
³¹⁶
Great souls who attain me, because they have achieved supreme liberation, are
freed from rebirth, which is transient and the abode of sorrow. O Arjuna! From all
the worlds up to
brahmaloka
, beings have to return.
³¹⁷
But O Kounteya! There is no rebirth for those who have attained me.
³¹⁸
Those who know that a thousand yugas are Brahma’s day and a thousand
yugas are Brahma’s night know
the truth about day and
night.
³¹⁹
When Brahma’s day arrives, every manifest object is created from the
unmanifest. When Brahma’s night arrives, like that, everything dissolves
into the unmanifest. These
³²⁰
are the beings who are born again and again and destroyed when night arrives. O
Partha! When day arrives, they are involuntarily created again. But superior to that
unmanifest is the other supreme and eternal unmanifest being that is not destroyed
when all beings are destroyed.
³²¹
What is spoken of as the unmanifest and indestructible, what is said to be the
supreme liberation, attaining which beings do not have to return, that is my supreme
abode. O Partha! All beings are established in that. And by that is everything
pervaded. That supreme purusha can only be attained through unwavering devotion. O
bull among the Bharata lineage! I will now tell you about the road
³²²
which, if traversed, doesn’t lead to yogis being reborn and about the
road which, if traversed, leads to rebirth. The resplendence of the fire, the day,
the bright half of the lunar month,
³²³
the six months
when the sun heads north,
³²⁴
along that path those who worship the brahman attain the brahman.
³²⁵
Smoke, night, the dark half of the lunar month
³²⁶
and the six months when the sun heads south,
³²⁷
along that path, the yogi attains the energy of the moon and returns again.
³²⁸
In this world, these two paths of light and darkness are said to be eternal.
One leads to non-return and the other leads to return. O Partha! Knowing these two
paths, a yogi is never deluded. O Arjuna! Therefore, at all times, resort to yoga.
Knowing the prescribed good fruit that accrues from knowledge of the Vedas, yajnas,
practice of austerities and donation of alms, the yogi transcends all these and
attains the supreme and original abode.’”’