Chapter 11 - Bharata imparts spiritual knowledge to Rahūgaṇa

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

The Brāhmaṇa said:

1. You are (really) ignorant. You (simply) give verbal expression to the arguments (which are apparently similar to those) of the learned. You will not, therefore, be (considered as) pre-eminent (in any way) among those who are supremely wise; for the sages never speak of mundane relations (e.g. the master-servant relation) along with their investigation into (the nature of) Reality. (You regard master-servant relation as real but the sages do not recognize it as such.

2.^[1] (Similarly the ritualistic way—Karma-Kāṇḍa—described in the Vedas is also not true. In the highly glittering flowery descriptions in the Vedic texts pertaining to the detailed study of the minute rituals connected with the householder’s life, no light is definitely thrown on the exposition of the truth which is pure (i.e. free from the contamination of injury (hiṃsā) etc.) and good (i.e. devoid of passions like love, hate) as a rule (persons who dedicate all their karmas to God are eligible for such exposition of truth).

3. Not even the most authoritative Vedic (Upaniṣaḍic) texts can directly impart the comprehension of the Truth to a person who on the analogy of (the unreal, evanescent and hence worthless pleasures enjoyed in) a dream does not conclude that the (dreamlike) pleasures in the house-holder’s life (and those in heaven accruing from sacrifices) are by themselves worth casting off.

4. As long as the mind of a man is under the dominating influence of sattva, rajas or tamas, it goes on producing unchecked merit or sin through his sense-organs of perception and action.

5. The mind (which, as an upādhi of ātman, is designated as ātman) is a store-house of impressions unconsciously left by the good or bad actions in the past life; it is attached to objects of pleasures; it is tossed about by guṇas; it is affected by passions; it is the chief among sixteen constituents (elements, sense-organs etc.) of the Liṅga Śarīra (the subtle body). It assumes different forms (man, beast etc.) under different names, and extends (i.e. causes) higher or lower form of life in the various kinds of physical bodies.

6. The mind, the limiting condition created (and imposed upon the Soul) by Māyā, entices it (the jīva) in the cycle of saṃsāra.^[2] By embracing the Soul associated with it, it subjects the jīva to pleasure, pain and other^[3] (viz. delusion), inevitable fruits of karmas at the proper time (of fruition).

7. So long as the mind exists, this phenomenon of waking and dream states manifests itself within the range of perception of the kṣetrajña. It is hence that they (the wise ones) say that the mind is the cause of the lower state viz. saṃsāra (the product of guṇas) and of the higher state viz. Mokṣa (liberation), which is beyond the range of all guṇas.

8. If the mind is attached to objects of senses (which are the products of guṇas) it leads the creature to misery (viz. saṃsāra). If it is free from and unattached to them, it takes the jīva to eternal happiness (in Mokṣa). Just as a lamp which emanates flames mixed with soot while it consumes its wick soaked in ghee, otherwise (after the consumption of ghee) betakes itself to its original state, the mind, which is attached to objects of senses and (consequent) activities, resorts to various courses and returns to its true original self, when unattached (to them).

9. The courses (of the activities) of the mind are eleven—five in relation to the organs of action, five with reference to the senses of perception and its own sense of I-ness. And they say that conative organs, the subtle elements and the body are (respectively) the eleven grounds (receptacles) for these (courses), Oh Warrior.

10. Smell, form, touch, taste and sound (the five objects of cognitive organs), evacuation (of bowels), copulation, locomotion, verbal expression, and manipulation and the eleventh is the body which is accepted as mine; (And in the case of the ignorant who have completely identified themselves with the body, the I-ness is the twelfth course (of the mind) with the body as its object or bed (In the city viz. body, the jjña sleeps i.e. abides with ahaṃkāra and is hence called puruṣa).

11.^[4] These eleven modifications (tendencies) of the mind multiply into hundreds, thousands and multi-millions with reference to objects, nature of things (the variety of the causes of the products), the effect of previous experience, unmanifested effect of karmas (acts), the agitating factor Time. They owe their existence to the Kṣetrajña (the Supreme Soul) and not to each other or to their own Self. (Or: The Kṣetrajña or jīva, being above changes, these vṛttis do not proceed from jīva; nor do they spring from their mutual action and reaction nor from themselves. Hence all these are mithyā—unreal).

12. The Supreme Soul who is pure and unaffected, stands as a witness to the continuous stream of states of the mind which are sometimes manifest (in the waking and dream states) and sometimes unmanifest (as in deep sleep)—the mind, an upādhi of jīva, a creation of Māyā, and of impure activity.

13. The Supreme Soul is all-pervading, the prime cause of the perfect (in all respects), ever-present, self-luminous (not depending on anything for the proof of its existence), devoid of birth (and death), the Ruler of gods like Brahmā, Nārāyaṇa (the abode of the world of beings), the venerable Lord (of six excellences), Vāsudeva (the receptacle of all beings) and Himself the Inner-dweller and Controller of all jīvas by His Māyā power.

14. Just as the air, entering in the from of breath controls both the mobile and the immobile beings, so does the Supreme Lord Vāsudeva, the all-pervading Soul, enter this universe (as the Inner Controller).

15. Oh Lord of men! A man continues to wander in the saṃsāra so long as he has not shaken off Māyā, by the dawn of knowledge, and became free from attachments and conquered the six enemies (viz. passions like lust, anger, avarice etc.) and has not realized his true Self.

16. (He continues to wander) so long as he does not understand that the mind, the conditioning environment of the Soul, is the field of the miseries of saṃsāra. (the cycle of birth and death), and the source of a continuous series of griefs, delusions, diseases, passions, avarice and hatred and the creator of the feeling of mine-ness.

17. Therefore, being very careful and armed with the missile in the form of the feet of Lord Hari, Who is the preceptor, kill this enemy (in the form of the mind) of formidable power who has grown in strength through your negligence and who, though unreal in itself, is capable of deluding you about (the true nature of) your Soul.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

(i) Bhāgavata Candrikā: Persons interested in performance of ritualistic karmas cannot be interested in pure knowledge. And in the former (i.e. karma- kāṇḍa) portion of the Vedas, no decisive conclusion is reached.

(ii) VC.: Mīmāṃsakas do not regard an objective (puruṣārtha) higher than heaven attained by karmas. Exposition of truth to such unqualified persons is a waste. For this truth is above the taint of passions and free from injury.

[2]:

saṃsṛti-cakra-kūṭa [kūṭaḥ]—The jīva stands firm like a mountain-top in the whirlpool or cycle of saṃsāra. —Bhāgavata Candrikā

[3]:

v.l. vyatimiśra—a mixture of pleasure and pain.—Padaratnāvalī

[4]:

(i) Bhāgavata Candrikā emphasizes that kṣetrajña here should be interpreted as jīva—the individual Soul. He however admits that the interpretation of kṣetrajña as Nārāyaṇa is possible.

(ii) VC: Due to infinite variety of objects (e.g. sandal, saffron) and variety of natures liking these, and differences in mind due to wickedness etc., destiny or fate and stages in life (childhood, youth etc.) these states or vṛttis of mind are infinite. But they owe this variety to God of infinite powers, and not to themselves individually or mutually.