12.180
Bhṛgu said.
There is no destruction for living beings, nor for what is given or done. The living being moves to another body, but the body itself perishes.
The soul is not dependent on the body; when the body is destroyed, the soul does not perish, just as fire is not destroyed when the sticks are burnt.
Bharadvāja said.
Just as fire is not destroyed, but at the end of the fuel's use, that fire is not found, so too is it with this.
I know for certain that a fire without fuel is extinguished; its movement, measure, or form is not seen.
Bhṛgu said.
When the fuel-sticks are consumed, the fire, though present, is not seen. Indeed, because it follows the nature of space, it is difficult to grasp and without support.
Similarly, when the body is abandoned, the soul remains like space; it cannot be grasped because of its extreme subtlety, just as light cannot be grasped—there is no doubt about this.
Fire indeed supports the life-breaths; he should be understood as the living being. Fire, which is sustained by air, perishes when exhalation is restrained.
When the bodily fire is extinguished, the unconscious body falls and returns to the earth, for the earth is truly its final resting place.
Indeed, among all moving and immovable beings, the wind approaches the ether, and light follows it. There, among the three, there is oneness; the other two are established on the earth.
Where there is space, there is wind; where there is wind, there is fire. Those are to be understood as formless; waters are with form, as is earth.
Bharadvāja said.
If fire, wind, earth, space, and water are present in bodies, what is the characteristic of the living being there? Please tell me this, O sinless one.
I wish to know what kind of living being (jīva) exists in the body, which is composed of five selves, endowed with five jewels, and five kinds of knowledge.
When the body, composed of flesh, blood, fat, sinews, and bones, is broken apart, the living being is not found therein.
If the body is lifeless and composed only of the five elements, then who experiences pain in bodily or mental suffering?
A person may hear what is spoken with his ears, but if his mind is distracted, O great sage, he does not truly hear it; thus, such a person is rendered useless.
He perceives everything that is visible with eyes joined to the mind; but when the mind is disturbed, even though he looks, he does not truly see.
Again, overpowered by sleep, he neither sees, nor speaks, nor hears, nor smells, nor knows touch and taste.
Who is it that rejoices, becomes angry, grieves, is agitated, desires, meditates, hates, and utters speech?
Bhṛgu said.
There is nothing here that is common to all five senses; the inner self alone bears the body. He perceives scents, tastes, sounds, touch, forms, and other qualities.
The inner self, which pervades all parts of the body and reveals the five qualities in the being of five selves, is the one who experiences pleasure and pain here; when separated from it, the body itself does not experience them.
When there is neither form, nor touch, nor heat in the fire, then, in the tranquil fire of the body, having abandoned the body, he perishes.
All this nourishment is truly water, which is the form of all embodied beings. There, the self, the mind-born Brahmā, is present as the creator of the worlds in all beings.
Recognize that self, whose essence is the welfare of all beings. He who dwells in the body is like a drop of water in a lotus.
Know that the knower of the field is eternal and is of the nature of the welfare of the world. Understand that darkness, passion, and goodness are the qualities inherent in living beings.
They say that the quality of the living being is consciousness; he acts and causes everything to act. Beyond that, they say, is the knower of the field, who set the seven worlds in motion.
There is truly no destruction of life at the separation of the body; the unwise falsely say 'dead'. The soul, however, departs having entered another body; the separation from the body is just like a tenth part for him.
Thus, in all beings, it moves hidden and enveloped. But it is seen only by those who possess the highest and most subtle intellect, by the seers of truth.
The wise one, who always meditates in the early and late parts of the night, who eats lightly and has a pure mind, sees the self within the self.
When the mind is clear, abandoning both good and bad actions, and with a serene self established in the Self, one attains imperishable happiness.
The fire of the mind present in bodies is known as the living being. This is the creation of Prajāpati, determined in the context of beings and the self.
