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Yudhishthira said.
O Bhārata, O dear one, please tell me about the supreme union that leads to liberation. I wish to know that truly, O best of speakers.
Bhīṣma said.
Here too, an ancient story is told: a dialogue about liberation between a disciple and his teacher.
A certain Brāhmaṇa, who was a teacher and the best among sages, was seated. His disciple, who was very intelligent, seeking the highest good and well-composed, approached, took hold of his feet, stood with joined palms, and spoke.
O Lord, if you are indeed pleased with my worship, I have a great doubt; you ought to explain that to me.
From where do I come, and from where do you come? Tell me properly that which is supreme. And how, O best of the twice-born, do those who are properly conducted turn away among all beings who are equal? The opposite, those of improper conduct, are subject to decline and rise.
O learned one, you are capable of explaining, according to the true nature, all statements found in the Vedas as well as those that are worldly and pervasive.
The teacher said.
Listen, O wise disciple, to this supreme secret of Brahman, which is the essence of the self in all beings and of all scriptures.
Vāsudeva (Kṛṣṇa) is everything; He is the face of the universe and of Brahman. Truth, charity, sacrifice, forbearance, self-control, and honesty are His attributes.
O descendant of Vṛṣṇi, listen to this history about that Brahman—the eternal person, Viṣṇu, whom the knowers of the Veda know as the creator and dissolver of the universe, the unmanifest, the eternal Brahman.
The brāhmaṇa should be recited among brāhmaṇas, and the rājanya among kṣatriyas; this is the greatness of Viṣṇu, the god of gods of immeasurable splendor. You are worthy, O auspicious descendant of Vṛṣṇi, listen to that which is supreme.
The wheel of time, having neither beginning nor end and marked by existence and non-existence, causes the three worlds to revolve among all beings like a wheel.
O Keśava, O bull among men, that which is called the imperishable, unmanifest, immortal, eternal Brahman, is spoken of by the wise.
The supreme imperishable being creates the ancestors, gods, sages, as well as yakṣas, dānavas, nāgas, asuras, and humans.
Likewise, at the time of dissolution, the Lord absorbs the Vedic scriptures and the eternal worldly duties into primordial nature, and at the beginning of the new age, He creates them again.
Just as, in the succession of seasons, various forms of seasonal manifestations are seen, so too, those very forms appear during the days and nights of Brahman.
Now, at whatever time, in the beginnings of the yugas due to the conjunction of time, that particular knowledge arises which is produced by the arrangement of the course of the world.
At the end of the age, the great sages, having received permission from Svayambhū (the self-born, Brahmā) in former times, obtained through austerity the Vedas and the histories that had vanished.
The revered Bṛhaspati, knower of the Veda, taught the Veda and its limbs. The descendant of Bhṛgu (Śukra) taught the treatise on ethics for the welfare of the world.
Nārada knew the Gāndharva science (music and dance); Bharadvāja knew the Veda and archery; Gārgya knew the history of divine sages; Kṛṣṇātreya knew medical science.
Many systems of logic, spoken by various debaters, whatever is stated on the basis of reason, scripture, and good conduct, that is revered.
Neither gods nor sages know that supreme, beginningless Brahman; only the blessed creator, Lord Nārāyaṇa, knows it.
From Nārāyaṇa arose the groups of sages, the chief gods and demons, the royal sages and the ancients, and the supreme remedy for suffering.
Nature, under the constant governance of spirit, produces all states; thus, the entire universe, being endowed with causality, is in perpetual motion.
Just as from one lamp thousands of other lamps are kindled, so too does Prakriti create endlessly without being diminished.
The intellect, originating from the unmanifest actions, gives rise to ego. From ego arises ether, and from ether, air is produced.
The earth has indeed arisen from you—the air, fire, and water. These eight root natures are those in which the world is established.
Thus, there are five sense organs of knowledge, five sense organs of action, five objects, and one (mind) as the sixteenth modification.
The ear, skin, eyes, tongue, and nose are the five senses; the feet, anus, genitals, hands, and speech are also organs of action.
Sound, touch, form, taste, and smell likewise; the mind, which is to be known as pervading, is all-pervading among them.
But in the knowledge of taste, this tongue, and likewise speech when uttered, all are joined by the various senses, yet the mind is scattered in all these.
But one should know these sixteen divine entities separately; in the bodies, they worship the indwelling knower who is seated within.
Similarly, the tongue possesses the qualities of Soma (water/moon); smell is the quality of earth. The ear perceives sound as its quality, and the eye, likewise, has the quality of fire. Touch should be understood as the quality of air, present in all beings at all times.
The mind is said to be of the quality of purity; purity itself arises from the unmanifest. Since it abides in the self of all beings, therefore, the wise should understand this.
These states sustain the entire world, both moving and unmoving. Those who have taken refuge in the passionless divine, whom they call the supreme state.
The great self resides in the auspicious city with nine gates, endowed with these states; therefore, he is called the 'person'.
He is ageless, immortal, both manifest and unmanifest, the giver of instruction, all-pervading, endowed with qualities, subtle, and the support of the qualities of all beings.
Just as a lamp, whether small or great, is inherently luminous, so too should one recognize the person of knowledge present in all beings.
Here, he perceives the knowable, hears, and sees. The cause for him is this body; he is the doer of all actions.
Just as fire present in wood is not seen when the wood is split, so too the self residing in the body is seen here only through yoga.
Just as waters unite in rivers and rays spread in the sun, so too do the bodies of living beings come and go.
Just as in the state of dream, the self, united with the five senses, leaves the body and goes elsewhere, so too is it perceived here.
By action, the past is pervaded; by action, it is also attained; by action, one is led elsewhere by one's own stronger action.
But just as he, having left one body, attains another from the body, so I shall fully explain that aggregate of beings born of their own actions.
