Nārada Asīta Devala Saṃvāda

The liberation of the Jīva from the body is the subject matter of this Saṃvāda and it comes in the 275^th chapter from śloka 3^rd to 39.

Nārada asked Asīta about the existence of mobile and immobile objects. Asīta replied that desire of existence created the five essential principles like Water, Ether, Earth, Air and Fire.^[1] The sixth one added is Kāla. Time and understanding also have hands in creation. The essence of birth and death can be said to be the result of five essential principles Kāla and the effects of the past acts and ignorance.^[2] A human body is made of earth, ears of ether, eyes of light of cause, life of air and blood is water. The human senses are eyes, nose, ears, skin and tongue and these are connected to five objects form, scent, taste, touch and sound.^[3] The five organs of action in a body are the hands, the feet, the anus, the membrum, virile and the mouth. One of the most wonderful and amazing thing is that even if the organs of life stop, the mind continues to act. This state is called Dream.^[4] When awake the three states of mind are Goodness, Darkness and Ignorance. The five organs of knowledge, five of action, muscular, power, mind, understanding, with three faculties of Goodness, Darkness and Ignorance count to seventeen qualities and the eighteenth is the body. The result of knowledge as to Sāṃkhya School is the dissipation of merits and demerits. This is the scale to measure whether the soul attains Brahma.