Vaishnavism, Shaivism and Minor Religious Systems v2.c12.256
Vaiṣṇavism, Śaivism and Minor Religious Systems v2.c12.256
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v2.c12.256.1
All knowledge springs from Paramātman, whatever the means by which it is produced. It is of two kinds — that which leads to worldly existence, and that which leads to Mokṣa. Viṣṇu bestows knowledge on the ignorant and Mokṣa on those who have knowledge. The knowledge, or feeling which creates an attachment to the body, child or wife, leads to a worldly life. This is not true knowledge, but ignorance from which results that worldly life; and that ignorance is dispelled by the knowledge of God. Mokṣa is attained by the direct knowledge or perception of Hari by means of a method of service possible to oneself and in a body fitted for it. That direct perception is possible to all good individual souls from Brahmadeva to the best of men. This direct perception is to be attained by many means. What are necessary for direct knowledge, which leads to Mokṣa, are (1) Vairāgya, or the disgust of enjoyments of this world or the next, generated by seeing the vanity of the world and by the company of good persons; (2) equanimity (Śama) and self-control (Dama), etc.; (3) acquaintance with the lore; (4) self-surrender (Śaraṇāgati), in which the mind is devoted to God, as the best of beings, and is full of the highest love, and in which everything is resigned to God and he is worshipped with devotedness in the three ways, and which is accompanied with the faith that he will unfailingly protect and the feeling that the devotee is his;
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(5) attendance on a Guru, or preceptor, and propitiation of him, which is necessary for Mokṣa or redemption; (6) acquisition of knowledge from the Guru and not from books or, in the absence of a Guru, from a good Vaiṣṇava, and, in rare cases, from books also; (7) reflection over what has been taught; (8) devotion, in the order of their merits, to a preceptor and persons better than oneself and deserving respect; (9) love of God (Paramātmabhakti) consequent on the knowledge of God's greatness and his being the best of all. This love should be firm and higher than that for all others, and this leads to Mokṣa or eternal bliss; (10) sympathy for those who are inferior, but good men, love for those who are equal, as if they were the same as themselves, and respectful love or reverence for superiors; (11) performing rites and ceremonies deliberately without any desire, which has the effect of purifying the soul; (12) the avoidance of prohibited deeds, i. e. sins great and small; (13) resigning every act to Hari as done by him and not by oneself; (14) the knowledge of the comparative position of beings and of Viṣṇu as the highest of all; (15) knowledge of the five distinctions already mentioned; (16) distinguishing Prakṛti from Puruṣa, all beings from Nārāyaṇa down to men with their consorts being Puruṣas and the inanimate world being the Prakṛti; (17) reprobation of false doctrines; (18) Upāsanā or worship. This last is of two kinds, viz.
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(1) the learning of the Śāstras, (2) meditation. Meditation (Nididhyāsā) is placing Bhagavat before the mind's eye to the exclusion of everything else. This meditation is possible for one who has a distinct knowledge of a thing acquired after the removal of ignorance, doubt and delusion by means of reading or hearing something read and reflection. Some people meditate on Bhagavat as a single spirit and others on him as having four phases as Sat (existence), Cit (knowledge), Ānanda (joy), Ātman (spirit). Then are given meditations resorted to by gods and some of those mentioned in the Brahmasūtras. All these eighteen ways lead to the direct knowledge of God, which is possible for all from Brahmadeva to man. The direct knowledge of God attained by men is comparable with the coruscation of lightning and that attained by gods to the bright disk of the sun. Garuḍa and Rudra have that knowledge in the shape of a reflection, while Brahmadeva has the knowledge of the whole with all its parts, and some have the knowledge of him as dwelling in the universe and limited by the universe. The direct knowledge is simply mental.