Salvation in God by relinquishment of all desires, restless thought, and self-conceit

30 Om! One should be in a pure place, himself pure, abiding in purity, studying the Truth, speaking of the Truth, meditating upon the Truth, devoting himself to the Truth. Henceforth, in God who is the Truth, he becomes completely changed. So he has the reward of having his fetters cut; becomes void of expectation, freed from fear in regard to others as fully as in regard to himself, void of desire. He attains to imperishable, immeasurable happiness, and continues therein.

Verily, freedom from desire is like the choicest extract from the choicest treasure. For, a person who is made up of all desires, who has the marks of determination, conception, and self-conceit, is bound. Hence, in being the opposite of that, he is liberated.

On this point some say: "It is a quality which by force of the developing differentiation of nature comes to bind the self with determination, and that liberation results from the destruction of the fault of determination."

But it is with the mind, truly, that one sees. It is with the mind that one hears. Desire, conception, doubt, faith, lack of faith, steadfastness, lack of steadfastness, shame, meditation, fear — all this is truly mind.

Borne along and defiled by the stream of qualities, unsteady, wavering, bewildered, full of desire, distracted, one goes on into the state of self-conceit. In thinking "This is I" and "That is mine" one binds himself with himself, as does a bird with a snare! Hence a person who has the marks of determination, conception, and self-conceit is bound. Hence, in being the opposite of that, he is liberated. Therefore one should stand free from determination, free from conception, free from self-conceit. This is the mark of salvation. This is the pathway to God here in this world. This is the opening of the door here in this world. By it one will go to the farther shore of this darkness, for therein all desires are contained. On this point they quote: —

When cease the five

Sense-knowledges, together with the mind,

And the intellect stirs not —

That, they say, is the highest course.

Sakayanya's final course upward to God

Having spoken thus, Sakayanya became absorbed in thought.

Marut, having done obeisance and shown proper honor to him, having attained his end, departed. On this point they quote: —

Unending are the rays of him

Who like a lamp dwells in the heart.

They are white and black and brown and blue;

They are tawny and of pale red hue.

Aloft arises one of these,

Which, piercing through the sun's round disk,

On to the realm of God extends.

Thereby the righteous go the highest course.

What are its other hundred rays,

Are similarly upwards ranged;

Thereby unto the various ranks

Of the Garden one arrives.

But by its feebly shining rays

Which manifoldly downward lead

One roams about here helplessly

For the reckoning of his deeds.

Therefore yonder blessed sun is a sign of God, for creation, for the Garden, and for final salvation, by God's leave.

The evidences of the soul in the senses and in the mind

31 Of what nature, verily, are these senses that range forth? And who is the one here who goes forth and restrains them? — Thus has it been said.

The answer is: 'They are of the nature of the soul, for the soul is he who goes forth and restrains them. There are enticing objects of sense, and there are so-called luminous rays. With his five rays he feeds upon objects of sense.'

'Which soul?'

'He who has been described as "pure, clean, tranquil, and of other marks." He is to be apprehended by his own peculiar marks.

Some say that the mark of the One who is without any mark is what heat and anything pervaded by it is to fire, and what a most agreeable taste is to water.

Now others say it is speech, hearing, sight, mind, breath; now others that it is intellect, steadfastness, memory, intelligence. Now, verily, these are signs of Him, even as sprouts here are the sign of a seed, as smoke, light, and sparks are the signs of a fire. On this point they quote: —

The soul, created by God

And as, indeed, from fire the sparks do issue,

And likewise, too, from out the sun its light-rays,

From Him all breathing creatures

Come forth into this world, each in its order.

32 From Him, indeed, come forth all breathing creatures, all worlds, all revelations, all angels, all beings. The mystic meaning thereof is: The Truth of the truth.

Now, as from a fire, laid with damp fuel, clouds of smoke separately issue forth; so, lo verily, from this Great Being has been brought forth all revelation, legend, ancient lore, sciences, mystic doctrines, verses, aphorisms, explanations, and commentaries. By Him, indeed, all beings here were brought forth.'

33 [Section on the three sacrificial fires and their cosmic correspondences: removed as idolatrous ritual cosmology.]

34 The sacrificer, when he takes the sacrificial butter, seeks meditation upon God thus: —

'Who is the bird of golden hue,

Who dwells in both the heart and sun,

Swan, diver-bird, surpassing bright —

Him let us worship!'

And thus too one discerns the meaning of the sacred verse: 'That desirable splendor of the Light-giver' should be meditated upon as the splendor of Him who guides the intellect. Here in the world one reaches the place of tranquillity for the mind; he places it in God's remembrance indeed.

Salvation in the control of one's thoughts

On this point there are these verses: —

As fire, of fuel destitute,

Becomes extinct in its own source,

So thought by loss of activeness

Becomes extinct in its own source.

Because the mind the Truth seeks!

For one confused by things of sense,

There follow action's false controls.

The turmoil of the world is just one's own thought;

With effort he should cleanse it then.

What is one's thought, that he becomes;

This is the eternal mystery.

For by tranquillity of thought,

Deeds, good and evil, one destroys.

With soul serene, stayed on God,

Delight eternal one enjoys!

As firmly as the thought of man

Is fixed within the realm of sense —

If thus on God it were fixed,

Who would not be released from bond?

The mind is said to be twofold:

The pure and also the impure;

Impure — by union with desire;

Pure — from desire completely free!

By making mind all motionless,

From sloth and from distraction freed,

When unto stillness one comes,

Then that is the supreme estate!

So long the mind should be confined,

Till in the heart it meets its end.

That is both knowledge and release!

All else is but a string of words!

With mind's stains washed away by concentration,

What may his joy be who has turned to God —

Impossible to picture then in language!

Oneself must grasp it with the inner heart.

The mind, in truth, is for mankind

The means of bondage and release:

For bondage, if to objects bound;

From objects free — that's called release!

Devotion and meditative knowledge both needed

Hence, for those who do not devote themselves, who do not know, who do not meditate, the recollection of the heavenly abode of God is obstructed. Therefore, one should devote oneself, should praise, should meditate.

God, transcending all His creatures, the supreme object of worship

35 [Adoration of Agni, Vayu and Aditya, and the bestowal of worlds by them: removed, as worship of created things.]

With a golden vessel

The Truth's face is covered o'er.

That do Thou uncover,

O God, to the one who is devoted to the Truth.

[The sentence 'He who is yonder, yonder Person in the sun — I myself am he': removed.]

Verily, that which is the sunhood of the sun is a sign of the Eternal Truth. God is the pure, the One, beyond any likeness.

Of the bright power that pervades the sky it is only a portion which is, as it were, in the midst of the sun, in the eye, and in fire. These are signs of God. God is the Immortal. God is the Splendor. God is the Eternal Truth.

Of the bright power that pervades the sky it is only a portion which is the nectar in the midst of the sun, of which, too, the moon and breathing spirits are only sprouts. These are signs of God, the Immortal, the Splendor, the Eternal Truth.

Eight-footed, undefiled, a swan,

Three-stringed, minute, immutable,

To good, bad blinded, lustrous bright —

On seeing the signs of Him, one sees the all.

Of the bright power that pervades the sky it is only a portion which, rising in the midst of the sun, becomes the two light-rays. These are signs of God. That is heat. That is fire. That is wind. That is breath. That is water. That is the moon. That is the bright. That is the immortal. That is the ocean of light. In God's mercy, indeed, the devoted find their rest. For therein all desires are contained. On this point they quote: —

Transitory worshipers of created ones, and enduring knowers of the One

E'en as a lamp stirred by a gentle zephyr,

So flares up he who moves among the angels.

But he who knows this — he is a knower of the One God!

He will go to the Sole Abode and be a partaker of its bounty!

They who rise forth perpetually like the spray-drops,

Like the lightning that is hid in the highest heaven —

They, verily, by force of their source of glorious light

Correspond unto the fire only like its twisting flames.

Devotion to God in space and in one's own self

36 Assuredly, indeed, of the light of God there are these two aspects: one, the Tranquil; and the other, the Abounding.