12.238
Vyāsa said.
But the modifications of nature by which the knower of the field is surrounded, they do not know him; but he knows them all.
With those senses, with the mind as the sixth, here, this one acts, just as a charioteer with well-controlled, firm, supreme horses.
Objects are superior to the senses; the mind is superior to the objects; the intellect is superior to the mind; but the self is superior to the intellect and is the greatest.
Beyond the great (mahat) is the supreme unmanifest; beyond the unmanifest is the immortal. There is nothing beyond the immortal; that is the ultimate limit, that is the supreme goal.
Thus, the hidden self is not apparent in all beings; it is perceived only by those who possess the highest and most subtle intellect, the seers of truth.
He merged the mind and the senses into the inner self by his intelligence, and did not dwell much on the sense-objects that could be thought about.
Having stilled the mind through meditation and knowledge, the one who is not a master, with a tranquil self, then attains the immortal state.
But among all the senses, if a person whose self is controlled loses memory, by giving away his own self, the mortal reaches death.
But, having given up all intentions, one should fix the mind in the essence. When the mind is thus absorbed in the essence, then one becomes free from decay.
Through serenity of mind, the ascetic truly gives up both good and evil; with a tranquil self established in the Self, he attains infinite bliss.
The sign of serenity is that, like a contented person who sleeps peacefully, or like a lamp burning steadily in a windless place, there is no disturbance.
Thus, during the early and late parts of the night, one who engages the self with the self, whose self is purified by pure food, sees the self within the self.
This instruction, O son, is a self-evident treatise, the secret of all the Vedas, not based on tradition or scripture.
In all the narrations of dharma and truth, the wealth which is the ten thousand ṛks, having been churned, the nectar has been extracted.
Just as fresh butter is extracted from curds and fire from wood, so too is the knowledge of the wise drawn out for the sake of the son. This teaching of the graduates should be imparted as instruction to sons.
This should not be spoken to one who is not tranquil, not self-controlled, not austere, not learned in the Veda, nor to one who is not obedient.
Do not (teach or entrust) to one who is not envious, not straightforward, acts without instruction, is scorched by logic treatises, or is a slanderer.
He praises the praiseworthy, the tranquil, and the ascetic. This secret dharma should be taught only to a dear one, a son, a disciple, or a devoted follower, but never to anyone else in any circumstance.
Even if a man were to give this entire earth filled with jewels, the wise person knows that this alone is the highest good.
Therefore, I shall fully declare to you that most secret meaning, pertaining to the self and beyond human understanding, which has been seen by the great sages and is sung in the Vedāntas, which you have thoroughly asked me about.
