Chapter 13 - The Spiritual Knowledge Imparted by the Divine Swan

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

The Lord said:

1. Sattva, Rajas and Tamas are the attributes of the Intellect (Buddhi called here as Prakṛti) and not of the Self. Therefore by (re-inforcing the attribute) Sattva, one should overcome (the tendencies of) the other two (viz. Rajas and Tamas) and then by developing Sattva (in the form of perfect tranquility) one should subdue Sattva (characterised by virtues like truthfulness, etc.)

2. When Sattva becomes dominant, it develops in Man dharma which is characterised by devotion to me. Sattva develops by use of Sāttvika things and then leads to dharma which is of the nature of Devotion to God.

3. Righteousness characterised by devotion to me is the best form of virtue. It enhances the potency of Sattva which eliminates Rajas and Tamas. When these two are weeded out, unrighteousness which has its roots in these two is automatically exterminated.

4.^[1] Scriptures, water, progeny, sacred places, time, acts, birth, meditation, mantras and purificatory rites—these ten factors are the determinants in promoting a guṇa.

5. (Out of these) whatever is approved of as Sāttvika by persons expert in Śāslras and of mature judgement is (reliably) Sāttvika; (the acts, etc.) that they censure is Tāmasa and that about which they arc indifferent is Rājasa.

6. For the purpose of development of Sattva guṇa, one should use Sāttvika things.^[2] Sattva guṇa leads to righteousness from which spiritual wisdom arises and it (goes on developing till it) results in the attainment of Self realization which eliminates ignorance and guṇas whereby the gross and subtle bodies come into being.^[3]

7. Just as forest-conflagration caused by the friction of bamboos gets extinguished after completely burning down the bamboo forest, in the same manner this body which is the product of the unequal forces of guṇas ceases to be by the mutual friction and destruction of the guṇas.

Uddhava said:

8. How is it that people indulge into enjoyment of senseobjects like a dog or a mule or a goat, even though most of the mortals generally know that enjoyment of such objects is the source of calamities.

The Lord replied:

9. The perverted notion^[4] of I-ness (identifying the body with the soul) springs up in the heart of a deluded person with such a force that the terrible rajas takes (complete) possession of the mind though (originally) it (the mind) is born of Sattva.

10. In the mind of a person bedevilled by the Rajas, arises first the notion of enjoyability of an object and then the special enjoyable features (and thoughts about the ways and means of attaining them) are thoroughly rooted in it. Ultimately owing to constant thinking on the excellent aspects of the objects, an irresistible passion for them is engendered in the mind of men of such perverted notion.

11. Being completely diluted (and swept off) by the vehemence of the Rajas, he loses his control over his senses and organs and being at the mercy of his carnal desires, rushes into acts even though he clearly foresees their painful consequences.

12. Although a man of knowledge and wisdom may get his intellect distracted and overpowered by Rajas and Tamas, he should assiduously and with alertness control his mind and realizing the evil consequences (of the enjoyment of such objects) should not be attached to them.

13. Having achieved steadiness or bodily posture and control over the breath, one should, at the proper fixed time, gradually concentrate his mind on Me with vigilance and without feeling despondent (in case of distractions).

14. The means whereby the mind can be withdrawn from all other objects and can be easily and properly concentrated in me has been proclaimed by me through my disciples like Sanaka and others.

Uddhava submitted:

15. I wish to know the form you assumed when you imparted the knowledge of this Toga to Sanaka and others (as they were earliest in creation and as such much anterior to you who are born at the fag end of Dvāpara.

The Lord replied:

16. Sanaka and others, the mind-born sons of god Brahmā asked their father about the subtle and the ultimate stage of yoga^[5] (or the knowledge or realization of the Lord).

Sanaka and others submilted

17. O Lord I The mind naturally gets attached (and enters) the objects of enjoyment, while the objects (so enjoyed) enter into the mind (by implanting themselves as latencies). How can a person wishing to transcend them both in order to get himself liberated from Saṃsāra divorce them mutually?

The Lord said:

18. At this submission of the problem, the great self- created god Brahmā, the Creator of all beings, contemplated deeply over it, but as his mind was engrossed in the activity of creation, he could not pin-point the root of the question.

19. With the desire of knowing the solution of the problem (lit. going to the other end of the question) god Brahmadeva concentrated his mind on me. Assuming the form of a swan^[6] I presented myself near him.

20. Seeing me, they approached me and bowed my feet, with god Brahmā as their leader, they enquired of me (through Brahmā) ‘Who are You?’

21. When I was thus accosted by the sages who were eager to know the truth, please listen attentively from me, O Uddhava, what I explained to them.

22.^[7] If there be non-difference or non-multiplicity in the reality (i.e. the real entity) of the Soul (and if you are putting the question with reference to the Soul), how can such a question arise, O Brāhmaṇas, and on what basis can I reply (as due to one-ness of Soul, I cease to be a distinct entity).

23.^[8] (If your question is relating to this physical body of mine it is equally meaningless). When, in reality (from the point of the constituents of the physical bodies of all beings) all beings are the same substance inasmuch as they are constituted of the same five gross elements. Hence the question “Who are you” is merely a verbal expression signifying nothing.^[9]

24. Please grasp this firmly that whatever is perceived by mind, expressed by speech of apprehended by sight or by any other sense is Me and nothing else but Myself

25.^[10] The mind enters (gets enmeshed) in the objects of senses and the objects (permanently) imprint (their latencies) on the mind and both the objects and the mind constitute the body of the jīva whose soul is I myself, O my (grand) sons.^[11]

26.^[12] Realizing my one-ness with him, the jīva should renounce (and free himself from the bonds of) both the mind which gets involved into sense-objects by constantly indulging into them and the sense-objects born of the mind which leave their imprints on it. (in the form of reminiscences).

27. Wakefulness, the dream-state and deep sleep are the three states of the mind caused by the (dominance of) three guṇas,^[13] the jīva, being the witness of these states, is conclusively determined to be distinct from them.

28.^[14] As this bondage is superimposed on the Ātman by Buddhi (mind or intellect) and is thus the cause of saṃsāra (involvement in the cycle of births and deaths) and as this (wrongly) attributes the functions of guṇas to Ātman, one should firmly establish oneself in me who, as the fourth state, transcend those three states (and thus give up this bondage). And hereby the mind and the sense objects get (automatically) divorced.

29. Comprehending thoroughly that bondage is caused to the Soul due to Ahaṃkāra (false identification of the body with the Soul) and that it compromises the original blissful nature of the Sou], and is thus the cause of misery, he should abhor it. He should (then) establish himself (through meditation) in the fourth state, viz. Lord Vāsudeva and give up all thoughts about sense objects (and be free from the fear of saṃsāra.

30. So long as the notion regarding the reality of diversity^[15] (in the world) is not completely removed by means of various reasonings, the man is (as good as) asleep (i.e. ignorant)^[16] though he be awake i.e. deligent in performing karmas, like unto a dreamer thinking himself awake while he is actually in a dream.

31. All objects other than the self (e.g. the physical body) being unreal, the differences created by them (for example difference in varṇas, castes and Āśramas—stages in human life), the goals promised (e.g. godhood in the heaven) and their causes (viz. acts prescribed in the Vedas for attaining these goals) are all unreal and non-existent like scenes in a dream.

32.^[17] He who, while in the waking state, experiences through all his cognitive and conative sense-organs the external objects which are transient and changing every moment, who, while in the dream state, enjoys mentally objects similar (to those perceived in wakeful condition) and who, in deep sleep, withdraws them all, is one and the same, the controller of all sense-organs and the witness of the three states (of wakefulness, dream and deep slumber), as he (being the common factor in these states), remembers them all.

33. Having reasoned thus logically and arrived at the definite conclusion that these three stages of the mind (described above) are caused by the (three) guṇas (of Māyā) and are superimposed on me (as jīva) by my own deluding potency, and having cut asunder the Ego (Ahaṃkāra), the root and receptacle of all doubts (about the identity of Paramātman and the jīva) the plurality of jivas, etc.) with the sharp sword of knowledge whetted by inference (arrived at by logical concomitance and discontinuation), by precepts of the saints (as well by śruti texts (Brahma Sutras and Upaniṣads), a person should contemplate me as abiding in his heart.

34.^[18] One should realize that this (phenomenal world) is simply an illusion, only a play or work of the mind, which is just apparent and evanescent, extremely unsteady like the illusion of a circle described by a revolving fire-brand. He should see through it that consciousness, though one, appears as many and that threefold difference in states brought about by the projection of the three guṇas is nothing but Māyā (illusion).

35. Having withdrawn his eye (thoughts) from that (visible world, his body, etc.), he should rid himself of all thirsts (the eṣaṇās—desire for money, reputations, etc.) and remain inactive and silent. Thus becoming desireless, he should remain absorbed in the bliss of self-realisation, If, in spite of this, the body, etc. is perceived (when not in meditation) for sheer physical needs such as due to hunger, thirst, calls of nature), it, having been once discarded as unreal (and something other than the Ātman), will not (be powerful enough to) create any misapprehension or illusion (and disturb one’s meditation), although the memory or the impressions of the body or of the phenomenal world may remain till the death of one’s body.

36. A person who has attained perfection in spiritual wisdom (and is absorbed in the bliss of the Soul) is not conscious whether his transient body is in the sitting posture or standing, even though by means of that very body he has realized the essential nature of his Ātman. He is unaware if his body comes or goes to any place according to his Karma or the will of the Lord, just as a man dead drunk with wine is not conscious whether his garment is on his person or has fallen off.

37. So long as the fund of merits and demerits (Karmas) which has brought the body into being, is not exhausted, this body (along with its vital principle and sense-organs) definitely continues to survive, as it is under the control of the Providence. But a person who has mastered all the stages of Yoga till the final stage called Samādhi (Perfect concentration and absorption in the Ātman) and has realized Reality, does not resort to the dreamlike unreal world (his body, relation, property, etc) anymore than an awakened person to the objects in the dream.

38. What has been expounded by me now to you, O, Brāhmaṇas, is the secret essence of the paths of Sāṅkhya and Yoga. Please know me to be Yajña, Lord Viṣṇu himself who has come here with the object of teaching (and explaining) to you (the secret of) the righteous path.

39. I am the ultimate goal of the paths of Sāṅkhya and Yoga, of virtue (both in its theoretical and practical aspects), of prowess, of prosperity, of glory and of selfcontrol, O the best of Brāhmaṇas.

40. All excellent attributes like impartiality, non-attachment which are not caused by the qualities like sattva, rajas and tamas, find an asylum in me who am devoid of ordinary qualities and above wants, the friend (of all beings), nay the very Soul of them all.

41. In this way, sages like Sanaka and others got their doubts explained by me. Having worshipped me with intense devotion, they extolled me in hymns and praise.

42. Duly worshipped by them and celebrated in hymns by the great sages, I returned to my own region while Brahmā and other sages were just witnessing.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Bhaktamanorañjanī enumerates these on the basis of Bhāvāratha Dīpikā’s explanation of the 6th verse but has given it a sectarian Vaiṣṇavite turn to the list as follows:

(1) Scriptures e.g. Vedas and Āgamas like Pāñcarātra,
(2) Sacred waters like those of holy rivers like the Gaṅgā,
(3) Prajā—saintly people,
(4) Lonely place (proper for meditation),
(5) Time—like Brāhma Muhūrta (roughly 4 a.m. to 6 a.m.);
(6) acts done without any attachment or expectation in return;
(7) birth-life after the thread ceremony or the initiation for a sacrifice,
(8) Meditation on Viṣṇu;
(9) Mantra (sacred formula about Viṣṇu such as Om namo bhagavate Vāsudevāya);
(10) rites—Vaiṣṇavite ones such as branding god’s names on one’s person, wearing Vaiṣṇavite mark of sandal, etc. on the forehead.

[2]:

Bhāvāratha Dīpikā enumerates them as follows:

(1) Scriptures leading to renunciation of Saṃsāra, and not heretic texts or those of the path of Pravṛtti (Karma-mārga);
(2) Sacred waters and not scented water or wine;
(3) Recluses or saints who have renounced their household and saṃsāra;
(4) Brāhma-muhūrta for meditation;
(5) Daily religious duties not acts with a desire (for heaven) or black magic;
(6) Birth i.e. initiation into the Vaiṣṇava or Śaiva path but not those of Śāktas;
(7) meditation of god Viṣṇu;
(8) Mantra like OM,
(9) Purificatory rites pertaining to one’s mind.

[3]:

To the argument that knowledge arises by listening to the ‘great sentence’ (that art thou) and hence the development of Sattva or Dharma are superfluous; Bhāvāratha Dīpikā explains that spiritual Knowledge increases to that much extent to which one realises the one-ness of Jīva and God and ignorance causing the bondage of the subtle and gross body recedes.

[4]:

That one is an independent agent of an action—Padaratnāvalī

[5]:

About the subtle process of Yoga and the nature of the Soul (or the Lord)—EK.

[6]:

Just as a swan has the capability to separate milk from water (if a mixture of the two is presented to it), the Lord went there to show them the process of separating the object of senses from the mind—Bhāvāratha Dīpikā

[7]:

(i) The question “Who are you” is untenable as both sentient and non-seṅticnt entities and the Paramātman are one. For I am the Inner- Controller of you all—The questioners.

(evam praṣṭṛ-ṅāṃ yuṣmākam apyaham antarāmte'tyuktam bhavati)

—Bhāgavata Candrikā

(ii) If in your view, the reality about Paramātman be one (not- many) how can the question “Who are you” be tenable? If you presume manyness of the reality, the use of the singular number to many is untenable.

(anekasmin bahutva-saṃkhyā-viśiṣṭe vastuni ekatvasaṅkhyā-viśiṣṭatvena vaktum anupapannatvāt)

[8]:

All the five categories of beings viz., gods, human beings, manes (pitṛs), Gandharvas and Asuras are inferior to Hiraṇyagarbha and arc not fit to be worshipped and as such arc equals. Owing to this uniqueness of mine whom god Brahmā and others worship, this question is superfluous

[9]:

vācārambhaṇaṃ vikāro nāmadheyam—Chāndogya Up. 6.1-4

[10]:

Both guṇas (objects of senses) and the mind get burnt by the fire of knowledge—Padaratnāvalī

[11]:

The combination of the objects of senses and the mind which constitutes the body is an adjunct or the limiting condition superimposed on jīva which is essentially Brahman—Bhāvāratha Dīpikā

[12]:

It is by contemplation of my essential nature that both arc divorced from each other,

madrūpe cintyamāne sati...cittaṃ guṇāṃstyajati guṇāś cittaṃ tyajanti—Bhāgavata Candrikā

[13]:

Bhāgavata Candrikā quotes an authority which attributes wakefulness to sattva, the dream-state to rajas and deep sleep to tamas.

[14]:

(The gist only) Paramātman is not affected by the three states (viz. wakefulness, dream and deep sleep). When the jīva who is a part of Paramātman’s body becomes firmly established in him, he transcends these three states and works out the divorce between the objects (guṇas) and the mind—Bhāgavata Candrikā

[15]:

nānārthadhīḥ—(i) Bhāgavata Candrikā: Failure to understand the difference between the body and the soul or intelligent being leading to the misconception of difference as god, man, etc.

(ii) Padaratnāvalī: The mistaken notion that the jīva is not different from Hari and Hari has become many and the jīva is an independent agent. He quotes as his authority (without naming).

bhīnnasya tveka-bhāvena tathaikasya ca bhedataḥ /
jñānaṃ nānārtha-dhīḥ proktā //

[16]:

ajña—One who cannot see the reality correctly as it is (asamyag-darśī)

[17]:

Padaratnāvalī: Lord Hari, present in the right eye, and known as Viśva, shows to jīva (who is ever dependent on him) various momentary things in the wakeful state. Viṣṇu is present in the throat and is the controller of senses and is called Taijasa. He shows in the dream state all objects similar to those in wakeful condition and their imprints are in the heart. In the state of deep sleep, he is present in the heart and is called Prājña. He withdraws all senses, gives the bliss of sleep to the jīva. As noted by Smṛtis as well as Śrutis, Hari, the Supreme Lord, is the Ruler of senses and the witness of the three stages of wakefulness, dream and deep slumber. Hence to regard Paramātman and jīva as identical is a mistake.

[18]:

Padaratnāvalī (Only the difference in interpretation noted) One should realize that Paramātman becomes many under different conditions is a wrong notion. To regard Vijñāna or blissful Brahman as different in different forms is a mis-apprehension. It is the wrong notion projected by the three guṇas, sins and other conditions.

(sattvādibhis tribhir guṇais tat-sargais tat-kāryaiḥ pāpādibhiḥ kṛtaḥ paryāpta- vikalpo mithyājñānam iti śeṣaḥ)