As to a mountain that’s enflamed

Deer and birds do not resort —

So, with the Brahma-knowers, faults

Do never any shelter find.

Withdrawal from sense-objects into absence of all thought

19 Now, it has elsewhere been said: ‘Verily, when a knower has restrained his mind from the external, and the breathing spirit (prana) has put to rest objects of sense, there- upon let him continue void of conceptions. Since the living individual (jiva) who is named “breathing spirit” has arisen here from what is not breathing spirit, therefore, verily, let the breathing spirit restrain his breathing spirit in what is called the fourth condition (turya).’ For thus has it been said: —

That which is non-thought, [yet] which stands in the midst

of thought,

The unthinkable, supreme mystery! —

Thereon let one concentrate his thought

And the subtile body (linga), too, without support.

The selfless, [saved], joyous vision of the Self (Atman)

20 Now, it has elsewhere been said: ‘One may have a higher concentration than this. By pressing the tip of his tongue against the palate, by restraining voice, mind, and breath, one [is mindful of] Brahma [GOD] through contemplation.’ When through self, by the suppressing of the mind, one sees the brilliant Self which is more subtile than the subtile, then having seen the Self through one’s self, one becomes self-less (nir-atman) [free of self-conceit]. Because of being selfless, he is to be regarded as incalculable (a-sankhya), without origin — the mark of liberation (moksa). This is the supreme secret doctrine (rahasya). For thus has it been said: —

For by tranquillity (prasada) of thought

Deeds (karman), [evil], one destroys!

With soul (atman) serene, stayed on [GOD],

Delight eternal one enjoys!

The Yoga method, of attaining

to non-experiencing selflessness and to ultimate [nearness to GOD]

21 Now, it has elsewhere been said: ‘There is an artery, called the Sushumna, leading upwards, conveying the breath, piercing through the palate. Through it, by joining (yuj) the breath, the syllable Om, and the mind, one may go aloft. By causing the tip of the tongue to turn back against the palate and by binding together (sam-yojya) the senses, one may, as greatness, perceive greatness.’ Thence he goes to selflessness. Because of selflessness, one becomes a non- experiencer of pleasure and pain; he obtains the absolute [nearness to GOD] (kevalatva). For thus has it been said: —

After having first caused to stand still

The breath that has been restrained, then,

Having crossed beyond the limited, with the unlimited

One may at last have union in the head.

Reaching the higher, non-sound Brahma [GOD]

by meditation on the sound ‘Om’

22 Now, it has elsewhere been said: ‘Verily, there are two Brahmas to be meditated upon [His name and Himself]: sound and non-sound. Now, non-sound is revealed only by sound.’ Now, in this case the sound-Brahma is Om. Ascending by it, one comes to an end in the non-sound. So one says: ‘This, indeed, is the way. This is immortality. This is complete union (sayujyatva) [nearness to GOD] and also peacefulness (nirvrtatva).’

Now, as a spider mounting up by means of his thread (tantu)

obtains free space, thus, assuredly, indeed, does that meditator,

mounting up by means of Om, obtain independence (sva-

tantrya).

Others expound the sound[-Brahma] in a different way.

By closing the ears with the thumbs they hear the sound of the

space within the heart. Of it there is this sevenfold comparison:

like rivers, a bell, a brazen vessel, a wheel, the croaking of frogs,

rain, as when one speaks in a sheltered place.

Passing beyond this variously characterized [sound-Brahma],

men [draw near to] the supreme, the non-sound, the unmanifest

Brahma. There they are [at peace], like the various juices which have reached the condition of honey.

For thus has it been said: —

There are two Brahmas to be known:

Sound-Brahma, and what higher is.

Those people who sound-Brahma know,

Unto the higher Brahma go.

23 Now, it has elsewhere been said: ‘The sound-Brahma is the syllable Om. That which is its acme is tranquil, sound- less, fearless, sorrowless, blissful, satisfied, steadfast, immovable, immortal, unshaken, enduring, named Vishnu (the Pervader) [GOD the All-Pervading]. So for paramountcy one should [remember Him with] both these. For thus has it been said: —

Who is both higher and lower,

That GOD, known by the name of Om,

Soundless and void of being, too —

Thereon concentrate in the head!

Piercing, in abstract meditation, through darkness

to the shining, immortal, Brahma [GOD]

24 Now, it has elsewhere been said: ‘The body is a bow. The arrow is Om. The mind is its point. Darkness is the mark. Having pierced through the darkness, one goes to what is not enveloped in darkness. Then, having pierced through what is thus enveloped, one [knows] Him who sparkles [in His signs] like a wheel of fire, of the color of the sun, mightful, the Brahma that is beyond darkness, [whose signs] shine in yonder sun, also in the moon, in fire, in lightning. Now, assuredly, when one has [known] Him, one goes to immortality.’ For thus has it been said: —

The meditation that is on the highest principle within

Is also directed upon outer objects.

Hence the unqualified understanding

Comes into qualifiedness.

But when the mind has been dissolved,

And there is the joy whose only witness is the self —

That is [of] Brahma, the immortal, the pure!

That is the way! That indeed is the world!

The vision of the brilliant Soul in the perfect unity of Yoga

25 Now, it has elsewhere been said: ‘He who, with senses indrawn as in sleep, with thoughts perfectly pure as in slumber, being in the pit of senses yet not under their control, perceives Him who is called Om, a leader, brilliant, sleepless, ageless, deathless, sorrowless — he [is brought near to Him].’ For thus has it been said: —

Whereas one thus joins breath and the syllable Om

And all the manifold world —

Or perhaps they are joined! —

Therefore it has been declared (smrta) to be Yoga (‘Joining’).

The oneness of the breath and mind,

And likewise of the senses,

And the relinquishment of all conditions of existence —

This is designated as Yoga.

In the sacrifice of suppressed breath in Yoga the light

of the world-source [GOD’s light] becomes visible

26 Now, it has elsewhere been said: ‘Verily, as the hunts- man draws in fish with his net and sacrifices them in the fire of his stomach, thus, assuredly, indeed, does one draw in these breaths with Om and sacrifice them in the fire that is free from ill.’

Furthermore, it is like a heated caldron. Now, as ghee in

a heated caldron lights up by contact with [lighted] grass or

wood, thus, assuredly, indeed, does he who is called non-breath

light up by contact with the breaths.

Now, that which lights up is a [sign] of Brahma [GOD], and that is

the highest place of Vishnu [GOD the All-Pervading], and that is the [power] of

Rudra [GOD the Avenger]. [His light, in unmeasured ways,] fills these worlds. For thus has it been said: —

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

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

From It [by His command] repeatedly all breathing creatures

Come forth into this world, each in its order.

The light of the Brahma [GOD’s light] hidden in the body, made fully

manifest and entered into in Yoga

27 Now, it has elsewhere been said: ‘Assuredly, this is the heat [from] Brahma, the supreme, the immortal, the bodiless — even the warmth of the body.

For that [heat] this [body] is the melted butter (ghee).

Now, although it [i. e. the heat] is manifest, verily it is

hidden in the ether (nabhas) [of the heart]. Therefore by

intense concentration they so disperse the space in the heart

that the light, as it were, of that [heat] appears.

Thereupon one passes speedily into the same condition [of

light], as a lump of iron that is hidden in the earth passes

speedily into the condition of earthiness. As fire, iron-

workers, and the like do not overcome a lump of iron that is

in the condition of clay, so [in Yoga] thought together with its

support vanishes away. For thus has it been said: —

The ether-storehouse of the heart

Is bliss, is the supreme abode!

This is ourself, our Yoga too;

And this, the heat of fire and sun.

Entrance into the hall of Brahma

after slaying the door-keeper, self-consciousness

28 Now, it has elsewhere been said: ‘Having passed beyond the elements (bhuta), the senses, and objects of sense; thereupon having seized the bow whose string is the life of a religious mendicant (pravrajya) and whose stick is steadfast- ness; and with the arrow which consists of freedom from self- conceit (an-abhimana) having struck down the first warder of the door to Brahma [i. e. egoism, ahamkara] — he who has confusion (sammoha) as his crown, covetousness and envy as his ear-rings, lassitude, drunkenness, and impurity (agha) as his staff, lord of self-conceit, who seizes the bow whose string is anger and whose stick is lust, and who slays beings here with the arrow of desire — having slain him, having crossed over with the raft of the syllable Om to the other side of the space in the heart, in the inner space which gradually becomes manifest one should enter the hall of Brahma, as the miner seeking minerals enters into the mine. Then let him disperse the fourfold sheath of Brahma by the instruction of a spiritual teacher (guru).

The unhampered soul — the perfect Yogi

Henceforth being pure, clean, void, tranquil, breathless,

selfless, endless, undecaying, steadfast, [enduring by GOD’s leave],

he abides in [GOD’s grace].

Henceforth, having seen [the soul] which abides in [GOD’s grace], he looks down upon the wheel of [worldly] existence (samsara) as upon a rolling chariot-wheel.’

For thus has it been said: —

If a man practises Yoga for six months,

And is constantly freed [from the senses],

The infinite, supreme, mysterious

Yoga is perfectly produced.

But if a man is afflicted with Passion (rajas) and Darkness (tamas),

Enlightened as he may be —

If to son and wife and family

He is attached — for such a one, no, never at all!

Conclusion of the instruction on Brahma-knowledge