Chapter 382 - The Yamagītā

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

Fire-god said:

1. I shall describe to you the Yamagītā expounded to Naciketas. It would confer enjoyment and emancipation to the pious desiring emancipation who read and listen to this.

Yama said:

2. Alas! man himself being non-eternal, desires for eternal seats, beds, vehicles, clothes, houses etc. on account of ignorance.

3. It has been said by (the sage) Kapila (in olden days) that always having non-attachment for pleasures and viewing one’s own self (critically) are most excellent for men.

4. (The sage) Pañcaśikha has said that impartiality to wards all, attitude of non-possession, not being attached (to worldly pleasures) are most excellent for men.

5. Gaṅgāviṣṇu has declared that a true knowledge (of the miseries) of the stages (of life) beginning with that of embryo and including birth, childhood and old age etc. is most excellent for men.

6. Janaka has stated that remedying the pains such as the ādhyātmika (bodily and mental) and the like from the beginning to the end is most excellent for men.

7. Brahmā holds that the most excellent thing for men is to perceive the oneness of the Supreme Being appearing as different (in different beings).

8. Jaigīṣavya has said that the highest good lies in discharging one’s duties as laid down in the Ṛg, Yajur or Sāma (veda) without attachment and with a sense that they have to be done.

9. Devala is said to hold the view that the most excellent thing for men would be to abandon all actions for the sake of the happiness of the self.

10. (Sage) Sanaka has declared that the knowledge (gained) from renunciation of desires leads one to Brahman, the supreme place, and that those who entertain desires (do not get) this knowledge.

11. (Lord) Hari has said that the foremost among the excellent is to transform the actions done with attachment into those of non-attachment. This is verily non-action, the Brahman.

12. The elevated person who has gained knowledge does not become different from Brahman, known as (lord) Viṣṇu, the supreme and indestructible.

13. A person would gain by (doing) austerities whatever he mentally desires such as knowledge of Brahman, knowledge of worldly existence, faith in god, good fortune and a beautiful form.

14. There is nothing to be contemplated equal to (lord) Viṣṇu. There is no austerity superior to fasting. There is no fortune equal to health. There is no river equal to the (river) Gaṅgā.

15-16. There is no kinsman other than (lord) Viṣṇu, the lord of the universe. A person who meditates on (lord) Hari as (existing) below, above, in front and in the body, senses, mind etc. and passes away would become (lord) Hari. That which is the Brahman, from that all the things (have emanated) and in that all the things exist.

17. (Lord) Viṣṇu dwells in the hearts of all in the form of higher and lower, as un-understandable, indefinable and well-established.

18. Some (people) invoke that lord Viṣṇu as the lord of sacrifices. Some (invoke) Him as (lord) Hari, some as (lord) Hara (Śiva) and some others as Brahmā.

19. Some (invoke) Him by the names of Indra etc. and others as Sun, Moon and as the eternal time. People state that the whole earth, from Brahmā to a tuft of grass, is Viṣṇu.

20-21a. A person who has attained (lord) Viṣṇu, the Supreme Brahman, never returns (to worldly existence). A man may acquire such a state by making great gifts such as gold, bathing in sacred waters, meditation, austerities, worship, wealth and listening to sacred texts.

21b-22. Know the soul as traveller, the body as chariot, intellect as charioteer and mind as reins. The senses are said to be horses and the objects the pasture ground for them.

23-24a. People name the soul united with the mind and senses as the enjoyer. He who is not wise and whose mind is not always associated (with the soul), does not reach the Supreme Brahman and is born in the world.

24b-25a. He who is wise and whose mind is united (with the soul) always, attains the place (of Brahman) and is not born in this world again.

25b-26a. A person who has knowledge as the charioteer and mind as the reins, reaches the end of his journey and (gets) the highest region of (lord) Viṣṇu.

26b-28a. The objects (of senses) are higher than the respective organs; the mind is higher than the objects; the intellect is higher than the mind; the self (is higher) than the intellect and (the principle of) mahat is higher than the self. The unmanifest is higher than the mahat. The Puruṣa (the spirit) is higher than the unmanifest. There is nothing higher than the Supreme Spirit. It is the ultimate end and course.

28b-30. This self hidden in all the bodies does not reveal itself. The subtle one is perceived by men having sharp intellect and subtle vision. A wiseman should restrain his speech in the mind, that knowledge in the self, that knowledge in the great self and place it at the end in the self. After having known the union of Brahman and the self by means of moral duties etc., one would become Brahman.

31-32. Non-injury, truthfulness. non-stealing, celibacy, refraining from receiving gifts (are known) as the yamas (moral abstentions). Tḥe niyamas (abservances [observances?]) (are) five—purity, happiness, austerity, study of the Veda (of one’s school) and worship of God. The (physical) postures are such as the padmaka etc. Prāṇāyāma (is) conquest of wind. Pratyāhāra is the restraining of the mind in the self.

33. Dhāraṇā consists of fixing of the mind on an auspicious object. O Twice-born! It is said to be the dhāraṇā by the wise because the mind is steady.

34. The continuous fixing-up of the mind in the same place is known as dhyāna (contemplation). Samādhi is the state of (having the attitude) “I am Brahman”.

35. Just as the space enclosed by a pitcher becomes one with the sky when the pitcher is destroyed, in the same way the liberated soul becomes Brahman.

36. The individual soul deems itself as Brahman by (means of) knowledge (alone) and not by any other (means). The individual soul gets released from ignorance and its effect and becomes undecaying and immortal.

Fire-god said;

37. O Vasiṣṭha! I have expounded (to you) the Yamagītā which yields enjoyment and emancipation to the readers. The eternal union is stated to be the total occupation of the intellect by Brahman (as outlined) in the philosophical thought.