Mahabharata 14.19: ekonaviṃśo'dhyāyaḥ

14.19.1

brāhmaṇa uvāca |
yaḥ syādekāyane līnastūṣṇīṃ kiṃcidacintayan |
pūrvaṃ pūrvaṃ parityajya sa nirārambhako bhavet || 1 ||

"--The Brahmana said, 'He who becomes absorbed in the one receptacle (of all things), freeing himself from even the thought of his own identity with all things,--indeed, ceasing to think of even his own existence,--gradually casting off one after another, will succeed in crossing his bonds. That man who is the friend of all, who endures all, who is attached to tranquillity, who has conquered all his senses, who is divested of fear and wrath, and who is of restrained soul. succeeds in emancipating himself. He who behaves towards all creatures as towards himself, who is restrained, pure, free from vanity and divested of egoism is regarded as emancipated from everything. He also is emancipated who looks with an equal eye upon life and death, pleasure and pain, gain and loss, agreeable and disagreeable. He is in every way emancipated who does not covet what belongs to others, who never disregards any body, who transcends all pairs of opposites, and whose soul is free from attachment. He is emancipated who has no enemy, no kinsman, and no child, who has cast off religion, wealth, and pleasure, and who is freed from desire or cupidity. He becomes emancipated who acquires neither merit nor demerit, who casts off the merits and demerits accumulated in previous births, who wastes the elements of his body for attaining to a tranquillised soul, and who transcends all pairs of opposites.

14.19.2

sarvamitraḥ sarvasahaḥ samarakto jitendriyaḥ |
vyapetabhayamanyuśca kāmahā mucyate naraḥ || 2 ||

14.19.3

ātmavatsarvabhūteṣu yaścarenniyataḥ śuciḥ |
amānī nirabhīmānaḥ sarvato mukta eva saḥ || 3 ||

14.19.4

jīvitaṃ maraṇaṃ cobhe sukhaduḥkhe tathaiva ca |
lābhālābhe priyadveṣye yaḥ samaḥ sa ca mucyate || 4 ||

14.19.5

na kasyacitspṛhayate nāvajānāti kiṃcana |
nirdvaṃdvo vītarāgātmā sarvato mukta eva saḥ || 5 ||

14.19.6

anamitro'tha nirbandhuranapatyaśca yaḥ kvacit |
tyaktadharmārthakāmaśca nirākāṅkṣī sa mucyate || 6 ||

14.19.7

naiva dharmī na cādharmī pūrvopacitahā ca yaḥ |
dhātukṣayapraśāntātmā nirdvaṃdvaḥ sa vimucyate || 7 ||

14.19.8

akarmā cāvikāṅkṣaśca paśyañjagadaśāśvatam |
asvasthamavaśaṃ nityaṃ janmasaṃsāramohitam || 8 ||

He who abstains from all acts, who is free from desire or cupidity, who looks upon the universe as unenduring or as like an Aswattha tree, ever endued with birth, death and decrepitude, whose understanding is fixed on renunciation, and whose eyes are always directed towards his own faults, soon succeeds in emancipating himself from the bonds that bind him. He that sees his soul void of smell, of taste and touch, of sound, of belongings, of vision, and unknowable, becomes emancipated. He who sees his soul devoid of the attributes of the five elements to be without form and cause, to be really destitute of attributes though enjoying them, becomes emancipated. Abandoning, with the aid of the understanding, all purposes relating to body and mind, one gradually attains to cessation of separate existence, like a fire unfed with fuel. One who is freed from all impressions, who transcends all pairs of opposites, who is destitute of all belongings, and who uses all his senses under the guidance of penances, becomes emancipated. Having become freed from all impressions, one then attains to Brahma which is Eternal and supreme, and tranquil, and stable, and enduring, and indestructible. After this I shall declare the science of Yoga to which there is nothing superior, and how Yogins, by concentration, behold the perfect soul. I shall declare the instructions regarding it duly.

14.19.9

vairāgyabuddhiḥ satataṃ tāpadoṣavyapekṣakaḥ |
ātmabandhavinirmokṣaṃ sa karotyacirādiva || 9 ||

14.19.10

agandharasamasparśamaśabdamaparigraham |
arūpamanabhijñeyaṃ dṛṣṭvātmānaṃ vimucyate || 10 ||

14.19.11

pañcabhūtaguṇairhīnamamūrtimadalepakam |
aguṇaṃ guṇabhoktāraṃ yaḥ paśyati sa mucyate || 11 ||

14.19.12

vihāya sarvasaṃkalpānbuddhyā śārīramānasān |
śanairnirvāṇamāpnoti nirindhana ivānalaḥ || 12 ||

14.19.13

vimuktaḥ sarvasaṃskāraistato brahma sanātanam |
paramāpnoti saṃśāntamacalaṃ divyamakṣaram || 13 ||

14.19.14

ataḥ paraṃ pravakṣyāmi yogaśāstramanuttamam |
yajjñātvā siddhamātmānaṃ loke paśyanti yoginaḥ || 14 ||

14.19.15

tasyopadeśaṃ paśyāmi yathāvattannibodha me |
yairdvāraiścārayannityaṃ paśyatyātmānamātmani || 15 ||

Do thou learn from me those doors by which directing the soul within the body one beholds that which is without beginning and end. Withdrawing the senses from their objects, one should fix the mind upon the soul; having previously undergone the severest austerities, one should practise that concentration of mind which leads to [paragraph continues] Emancipation. Observant of penances and always practising concentration of mind, the learned Brahmana, endued with intelligence, should observe the precepts of the science of Yoga, beholding the soul in the body. If the good man succeeds in concentrating the mind on the soul, he then, habituated to exclusive meditation, beholds the Supreme soul in his own soul. Self-restrained, and always concentrated, and with all his senses completely conquered, the man of cleansed soul, in consequence of such complete concentration of mind, succeeds in beholding the soul by the soul. As a person beholding some unseen individual in a dream recognises him, saying,--This is he,--when he sees him after waking, after the same manner the good man having seen the Supreme Soul in the deep contemplation of Samadhi recognises it upon waking from Samadhi. As one beholds the fibrous pith after extracting it from a blade of the Saccharum Munja, even so the Yogin beholds the soul, extracting it from the body. The body has been called the Saccharum Munja, and the fibrous pith is said to stand for the soul.

14.19.16

indriyāṇi tu saṃhṛtya mana ātmani dhārayet |
tīvraṃ taptvā tapaḥ pūrvaṃ tato yoktumupakramet || 16 ||

14.19.17

tapasvī tyaktasaṃkalpo dambhāhaṃkāravarjitaḥ |
manīṣī manasā vipraḥ paśyatyātmānamātmani || 17 ||

14.19.18

sa cecchaknotyayaṃ sādhuryoktumātmānamātmani |
tata ekāntaśīlaḥ sa paśyatyātmānamātmani || 18 ||

14.19.19

saṃyataḥ satataṃ yukta ātmavānvijitendriyaḥ |
tathāyamātmanātmānaṃ sādhu yuktaḥ prapaśyati || 19 ||

14.19.20

yathā hi puruṣaḥ svapne dṛṣṭvā paśyatyasāviti |
tathārūpamivātmānaṃ sādhu yuktaḥ prapaśyati || 20 ||

14.19.21

iṣīkāṃ vā yathā muñjātkaścinnirhṛtya darśayet |
yogī niṣkṛṣṭamātmānaṃ tathā saṃpaśyate tanau || 21 ||

14.19.22

muñjaṃ śarīraṃ tasyāhuriṣīkāmātmani śritām |
etannidarśanaṃ proktaṃ yogavidbhiranuttamam || 22 ||

14.19.23

yadā hi yuktamātmānaṃ samyakpaśyati dehabhṛt |
tadāsya neśate kaścittrailokyasyāpi yaḥ prabhuḥ || 23 ||

This is the excellent illustration propounded by persons conversant with Yoga. When the bearer of a body adequately beholds the soul in Yoga, he then has no one that is master over him, for he then becomes the lord of the three worlds. He succeeds in assuming diverse bodies according as he wishes. Turning away decrepitude and death, he neither grieves nor exults. The self-restrained man, concentrated in Yoga, can create (for himself) the godship of the very gods. Casting off his transient body he attains to immutable Brahma. No fear springs up in him at even the sight of all creatures falling victims to destruction (before his eyes). When all creatures are afflicted,--he can never be afflicted by any one. Devoid of desire and possessed of a tranquil mind, the person in Yoga is never shaken by pain and sorrow and fear, the terrible effects that flow from attachment and affection. Weapons never pierce him; death does not exist for him. Nowhere in the world can be seen any one that is happier than he. Having adequately concentrated his soul, he lives steadily on himself. Turning off decrepitude and pain and pleasure, he sleeps in comfort. Casting off this human body he attains to (other) forms according to his pleasure. While one is enjoying the sovereignty that Yoga bestows, one should never fall away from devotion to Yoga. When one, after adequate devotion to Yoga, beholds the Soul in oneself, one then ceases to have any regard for even him of a hundred sacrifices (Indra).

14.19.24

anyonyāścaiva tanavo yatheṣṭaṃ pratipadyate |
vinivṛtya jarāmṛtyū na hṛṣyati na śocati || 24 ||

14.19.25

devānāmapi devatvaṃ yuktaḥ kārayate vaśī |
brahma cāvyayamāpnoti hitvā dehamaśāśvatam || 25 ||

14.19.26

vinaśyatsvapi lokeṣu na bhayaṃ tasya jāyate |
kliśyamāneṣu bhūteṣu na sa kliśyati kenacit || 26 ||

14.19.27

duḥkhaśokamayairghoraiḥ saṅgasnehasamudbhavaiḥ |
na vicālyeta yuktātmā niḥspṛhaḥ śāntamānasaḥ || 27 ||

14.19.28

nainaṃ śastrāṇi vidhyante na mṛtyuścāsya vidyate |
nātaḥ sukhataraṃ kiṃcilloke kvacana vidyate || 28 ||

14.19.29

samyagyuktvā yadātmānamātmanyeva prapaśyati |
tadaiva na spṛhayate sākṣādapi śatakratoḥ || 29 ||

14.19.30

nirvedastu na gantavyo yuñjānena kathaṃcana |
yogamekāntaśīlastu yathā yuñjīta tacchṛṇu || 30 ||

14.19.31

dṛṣṭapūrvāṃ diśaṃ cintya yasminsaṃnivasetpure |
purasyābhyantare tasya manaścāryaṃ na bāhyataḥ || 31 ||

Hear now how one, habituating oneself to exclusive meditation, succeeds in attaining to Yoga. Thinking of that point of the compass which has the Sun behind it, the mind should be fixed, not outside, but in the interior of that mansion in which one may happen to live. Residing within that mansion, the mind should then, with all its outward and inward (operations), behold in that particular room in which one may stay. At that time when, having deeply meditated, one beholds the All (viz., Brahman, the Soul of the universe), there is then nothing external to Brahman where the mind may dwell. Restraining all the senses in a forest that is free from noise and that is uninhabited, with mind fixed thereon, one should meditate on the All (or universal Brahman) both outside and inside one's body. One should meditate on the teeth, the palate, the tongue, the throat, the neck likewise; one should also meditate on the heart and the ligatures of the heart!

14.19.32

purasyābhyantare tiṣṭhanyasminnāvasathe vaset |
tasminnāvasathe dhāryaṃ sabāhyābhyantaraṃ manaḥ || 32 ||

14.19.33

pracintyāvasathaṃ kṛtsnaṃ yasminkāye'vatiṣṭhate |
tasminkāye manaścāryaṃ na kathaṃcana bāhyataḥ || 33 ||

14.19.34

saṃniyamyendriyagrāmaṃ nirghoṣe nirjane vane |
kāyamabhyantaraṃ kṛtsnamekāgraḥ paricintayet || 34 ||

14.19.35

dantāṃstālu ca jihvāṃ ca galaṃ grīvāṃ tathaiva ca |
hṛdayaṃ cintayeccāpi tathā hṛdayabandhanam || 35 ||

14.19.36

ityuktaḥ sa mayā śiṣyo medhāvī madhusūdana |
papraccha punarevemaṃ mokṣadharmaṃ sudurvacam || 36 ||

"The Brahmana continued, 'Thus addressed by me, that intelligent disciple, O slayer of Madhu, once more asked me about this religion of Emancipation that is so difficult to explain. How does this food that is eaten from time to time become digested in the stomach? How does it become transformed into juice? How, again, into blood? How does it nourish the flesh, the marrow, the sinews, the bones? How do all these limbs of embodied creatures grow? How does the strength grow of the growing man? How occurs the escape of all such elements as are not nutritive, and of all impurities separately? How does this one inhale and again, exhale? Staying upon what particular part does the Soul dwell in the body? How does Jiva, exerting himself, bear the body? Of what colour and of what kind is the body in which he dwells again (leaving a particular body)? O holy one, it behoveth thee to tell me all this accurately, O sinless one,--even thus was I interrogated by that learned Brahmana, O Madhava. I replied unto him, O thou of mighty arms, after the manner I myself had heard, O chastiser of all foes. As one placing some precious object in one's store-room should keep one's mind on it, so, placing the mind within one's own body, one should then, restraining all the senses, seek after the Soul, avoiding all heedlessness. One would, becoming always assiduous in this way and gratified with one's own self, within a very short time attain to that Brahma by beholding which one would become conversant with Pradhana. He is not capable of being seized by the eye; nor even by all the senses. It is only with the lamp of the mind that great Soul can be seen. He has hands and feet on all sides; he has ears on all sides; he dwells, pervading all things in the world. Jiva beholds the Soul as extracted from the body (like the stalk from a blade of Saccharum Munja, when knowledge comes). Then casting off Brahma as invested with form, by holding the mind in the body, he beholds Brahma as freed from all attributes. He sees the Soul with his mind, smiling as it were at the time. Depending upon that Brahma, he then attains to Emancipation in me. O foremost of regenerate ones, all this mystery has now been declared by me. I ask thy permission, for I shall leave this spot. Do thou (also) go withersoever thou pleasest. Thus addressed by me, O Krishna, on that occasion, that disciple of mine, endued with austere penances, that Brahmana of rigid vows, went away according to his pleasure.

14.19.37

bhuktaṃ bhuktaṃ kathamidamannaṃ koṣṭhe vipacyate |
kathaṃ rasatvaṃ vrajati śoṇitaṃ jāyate katham |
tathā māṃsaṃ ca medaśca snāyvasthīni ca poṣati || 37 ||

14.19.38

kathametāni sarvāṇi śarīrāṇi śarīriṇām |
vardhante vardhamānasya vardhate ca kathaṃ balam |
nirojasāṃ niṣkramaṇaṃ malānāṃ ca pṛthakpṛthak || 38 ||

14.19.39

kuto vāyaṃ praśvasiti ucchvasityapi vā punaḥ |
kaṃ ca deśamadhiṣṭhāya tiṣṭhatyātmāyamātmani || 39 ||

14.19.40

jīvaḥ kāyaṃ vahati cecceṣṭayānaḥ kalevaram |
kiṃvarṇaṃ kīdṛśaṃ caiva niveśayati vai manaḥ |
yāthātathyena bhagavanvaktumarhasi me'nagha || 40 ||

14.19.41

iti saṃparipṛṣṭo'haṃ tena vipreṇa mādhava |
pratyabruvaṃ mahābāho yathāśrutamariṃdama || 41 ||

14.19.42

yathā svakoṣṭhe prakṣipya koṣṭhaṃ bhāṇḍamanā bhavet |
tathā svakāye prakṣipya mano dvārairaniścalaiḥ |
ātmānaṃ tatra mārgeta pramādaṃ parivarjayet || 42 ||

14.19.43

evaṃ satatamudyuktaḥ prītātmā nacirādiva |
āsādayati tadbrahma yaddṛṣṭvā syātpradhānavit || 43 ||

14.19.44

na tvasau cakṣuṣā grāhyo na ca sarvairapīndriyaiḥ |
manasaiva pradīpena mahānātmani dṛśyate || 44 ||

14.19.45

sarvataḥpāṇipādaṃ taṃ sarvatokṣiśiromukham |
jīvo niṣkrāntamātmānaṃ śarīrātsaṃprapaśyati || 45 ||

14.19.46

sa tadutsṛjya dehaṃ svaṃ dhārayanbrahma kevalam |
ātmānamālokayati manasā prahasanniva || 46 ||

14.19.47

idaṃ sarvarahasyaṃ te mayoktaṃ dvijasattama |
āpṛcche sādhayiṣyāmi gaccha śiṣya yathāsukham || 47 ||

14.19.48

ityuktaḥ sa tadā kṛṣṇa mayā śiṣyo mahātapāḥ |
agacchata yathākāmaṃ brāhmaṇaśchinnasaṃśayaḥ || 48 ||

14.19.49

vāsudeva uvāca |
ityuktvā sa tadā vākyaṃ māṃ pārtha dvijapuṃgavaḥ |
mokṣadharmāśritaḥ samyaktatraivāntaradhīyata || 49 ||

"Vasudeva continued, 'That best of Brahmanas, O son of Pritha, having said these words unto me, on that occasion, properly relating to the religion of Emancipation, disappeared then and there. Has this discourse been heard by thee, O son of Pritha, with mind directed solely towards it? Even this was what thou didst hear on that occasion while thou wert on thy car. It is my opinion, O son of Pritha, that this is difficult of being comprehended by one whose understanding is confused, or who has acquired no wisdom by study, or who eats food incompatible with his body, or whose Soul is not purified. O chief of Bharata's race, this is a great mystery among the deities that has been declared (to thee). At no time or place, O son of Pritha, has this been heard by man in this world. O sinless one, no other man than thyself is deserving of hearing it. It is not, at this time, capable of being easily understood by one whose inner soul is confused. The world of the deities is filled, O son of Kunti, with those who follow the religion of actions. The cessation of the mortal form (by practising the religion of inaction) is not agreeable to the deities. That goal, O son of Pritha, is the highest which is constituted by eternal Brahman where one, casting off the body, attains to immortality and becomes always happy. By adhering to this religion, even they who axe of sinful birth, such as women and Vaisyas and Sudras, attain to the highest goal. What need be said then, O son of Pritha, of Brahmanas and Kshatriyas possessed of great learning, always devoted to the duties of their own orders and who are intent on (the acquisition of) the region of Brahma? This has been laid down with the reasons (on which it rests); and also the means for its acquisition; and its complete attainment and fruit, viz., Emancipation and the ascertainment of the truth regarding pain. O chief of Bharata's race, there is nothing else that is fraught with happiness greater than this. That mortal, O son of Pandu, who, endued with intelligence, and faith, and prowess, renounces as unsubstantial what is regarded as substantial by the world, succeeds within a short time in obtaining the Supreme by these means. This is all that is to be said,--there is nothing else that is higher than this. Yoga takes place in his case, O son of Pritha, who devotes himself to its constant practice for a period of six months.'"

14.19.50

kaccidetattvayā pārtha śrutamekāgracetasā |
tadāpi hi rathasthastvaṃ śrutavānetadeva hi || 50 ||

14.19.51

naitatpārtha suvijñeyaṃ vyāmiśreṇeti me matiḥ |
nareṇākṛtasaṃjñena vidagdhenākṛtātmanā || 51 ||

14.19.52

surahasyamidaṃ proktaṃ devānāṃ bharatarṣabha |
kaccinnedaṃ śrutaṃ pārtha martyenānyena kenacit || 52 ||

14.19.53

na hyetacchrotumarho'nyo manuṣyastvāmṛte'nagha |
naitadadya suvijñeyaṃ vyāmiśreṇāntarātmanā || 53 ||

14.19.54

kriyāvadbhirhi kaunteya devalokaḥ samāvṛtaḥ |
na caitadiṣṭaṃ devānāṃ martyai rūpanivartanam || 54 ||

14.19.55

parā hi sā gatiḥ pārtha yattadbrahma sanātanam |
yatrāmṛtatvaṃ prāpnoti tyaktvā duḥkhaṃ sadā sukhī || 55 ||

14.19.56

evaṃ hi dharmamāsthāya ye'pi syuḥ pāpayonayaḥ |
striyo vaiśyāstathā śūdrāste'pi yānti parāṃ gatim || 56 ||

14.19.57

kiṃ punarbrāhmaṇāḥ pārtha kṣatriyā vā bahuśrutāḥ |
svadharmaratayo nityaṃ brahmalokaparāyaṇāḥ || 57 ||

14.19.58

hetumaccaitaduddiṣṭamupāyāścāsya sādhane |
siddheḥ phalaṃ ca mokṣaśca duḥkhasya ca vinirṇayaḥ |
ataḥ paraṃ sukhaṃ tvanyatkiṃ nu syādbharatarṣabha || 58 ||

14.19.59

śrutavāñśraddadhānaśca parākrāntaśca pāṇḍava |
yaḥ parityajate martyo lokatantramasāravat |
etairupāyaiḥ sa kṣipraṃ parāṃ gatimavāpnuyāt || 59 ||

14.19.60

etāvadeva vaktavyaṃ nāto bhūyo'sti kiṃcana |
ṣaṇmāsānnityayuktasya yogaḥ pārtha pravartate || 60 ||