With the aid of the understanding, do thou cast off truth and
falsehood; and, at last, do thou cast off the understanding itself by
knowledge of the highest topic (viz., the supreme Soul). Do thou cast off
this body having bones for its pillars; sinews for its binding strings
and cords; flesh and blood for its outer plaster; the skin for its outer
case; full of urine and faeces and, therefore, emitting a foul smell;
exposed to the assaults of decrepitude and sorrow; forming the seat of
disease and weakened by pain; possessed of the attribute of Rajas in
predominance: not permanent or durable, and which serves as the
(temporary) habitation of the indwelling creature. This entire universe
of matter, and that which is called Mahat or Buddhi, are made up of the
(five), great elements. That which is called Mahat is due to the action
of the Supreme. The five senses, the three attributes of Tamas, Sattwa,
and Rajas,--these (together with those which have been mentioned before)
constitute a tale of seventeen. These seventeen, which are known by the
name of the Unmanifest, with all those that are called Manifest, viz.,
the five objects of the five senses, (that is to say, form, taste, sound,
touch, and scent), with Consciousness and the Understanding, form the
well-known tale of four and twenty. When endued with these four and
twenty possessions, one comes to be called by the name of Jiva (or
Puman). He who knows the aggregate of three (viz., Religion, Wealth, and
Pleasure), as also happiness and sorrow and life and death, truly and in
all their details, is said to know growth and decay.
Pages:
2497
2498
2499
2500
2501
2502
2503
2504
2505
2506
2507
2508
2509
2510
2511
2512
2513
2514
2515
2516
2517
2518
2519
2520
2521