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Yudhiṣṭhira said.
What is called the imperishable, because of which there is no return again? And what is called the perishable, because of which one returns again?
O Ariniṣūdana (destroyer of enemies), I wish to understand the manifestation of the two imperishable; O mighty-armed Kurunandana, I seek to truly comprehend this.
You are truly regarded as the repository of knowledge by Brahmins learned in the Vedas, by sages, by the highly fortunate, by ascetics, and by the great-souled.
Only a few days remain for you while the sun is in its southern course; when the blessed sun returns, you will attain the supreme state.
When you are gone, from where shall we hear of auspiciousness? You, the lamp of the Kuru dynasty, shine with the substance of knowledge.
O uplifter of the Kuru dynasty, I wish to hear this from you. O king, even here, hearing such nectar, I am not satisfied.
Bhīṣma said.
Here, I will narrate to you the ancient story and the dialogue between Vasiṣṭha and Karala Janaka.
King Janaka asked Vasiṣṭha, who was the foremost among the sages and radiant like the sun, about the supreme knowledge that leads to the highest good.
Having determined the supreme skill in the self and the path of the self, he saluted Maitrāvaruṇi, who was seated, with joined palms.
Long ago, King Karalajanaka, with words that were well-pronounced, respectful, sweet, and gentle, asked the best of sages.
O Lord, I wish to hear about the supreme, eternal Brahman, from which the wise never return again.
That which is called the perishable is where this world perishes; and that which is declared as the imperishable is auspicious, secure, and free from affliction.
Vasiṣṭha said.
Hear, O king, how this world decays: whatever does not decay with the previous time, will eventually decay with time itself.
Know that an age is twelve thousand years, and a kalpa is four times that. The day of Brahmā is said to be the duration of a thousand kalpas, and his night is of equal length, at the end of which, O king, he awakens.
Śambhu, the self-born, creates the great and eldest being of endless actions, who is embodied yet formless in essence, and is the universe itself. He possesses the powers of minuteness, lightness, attainment, lordship, imperishable light.
He has hands and feet everywhere, eyes, heads, and mouths everywhere; he has ears everywhere in the world. Having pervaded everything, he abides.
The golden-embryo, the illustrious one, is remembered as intellect; he is also called the great one in the Yogas, and Viriñca (Brahmā), and indeed by others.
In Sāṅkhya and in the scriptures, he is described by many names, as having many and various forms, as the soul of the universe, and as the one syllable; thus he is remembered.
He who, by his own self, encompasses the entire three worlds of diverse nature; in the same way, because of his manifold forms, he is remembered as 'Viśvarūpa' (the one of universal form).
This being, having undergone transformation, creates himself by his own power; the one of great brilliance creates the ego, Prajāpati, who is fashioned by ego.
They say that from the unmanifest arises the manifest, which is called the creation of knowledge. The great principle and also ego are indeed regarded as the creation of ignorance.
Both non-rule and rule have arisen together from the same source. Those who contemplate the meaning of the Vedas and treatises know them as knowledge and ignorance.
O king, know that the third (creation) arises from the great ego as the creation of elements. Among the egos and elements, know the fourth as the modified (creation).
Air, light, ether, water, and likewise earth; and similarly, sound, touch, form, taste, and smell.
Thus, O king, know without doubt that the fifth, the material creation, is a meaningful tenfold group that arose simultaneously.
The ear, skin, eyes, tongue, and nose are the five (sense organs); speech, two hands, two feet, anus, and genitals likewise (are the organs of action).
O king, the organs of intellect and these organs of action have arisen here simultaneously together with the mind.
This twenty-fourth principle pervades all forms. Knowing this, Brāhmaṇas who are seers of the truth do not grieve.
O best of men, this body, as declared among all embodied beings in the three worlds, is to be known among gods, men, and demons.
Together with yakṣas, spirits, gandharvas, kiṁnaras, great serpents, cāraṇas, piśācas, as well as divine sages and night-wanderers.
With biting insects, worms, mosquitoes, putrid creatures, vermin, mice, dogs, dog-eaters, outcastes, caṇḍālas, and pulkasas.
In elephants, horses, donkeys, tigers, trees, cows, and indeed in anything that has form—everywhere, this is its manifestation.
We have heard that the place for embodied beings exists only in water, on earth, and in space, and not elsewhere.
O dear, all that is manifest to this extent perishes; therefore, the embodied soul is called perishable, as it is remembered day by day.
This is called the imperishable; this perishes just as the world does. That which is of the nature of delusion of the world, they call the unmanifest, having the designation 'manifest'.
O great king, this example of the perishable, always great and indeed the elder, has been told to you because one does not return again.
The wise declare that the twenty-fifth Viṣṇu, who is devoid of essence and called 'tattva', is known as such because of its dependence on the principle.
That which is formless creates the manifest, and by that form presides over it. The twenty-fourth is the manifest, indeed, and the formless is the twenty-fifth.
He alone, abiding in the heart in all forms, is the Self-possessed; making all conscious, the eternal conscious one, who is of all forms and yet formless.
That which has the nature of creation and dissolution, yet whose essence is beyond both, eternally exists in the field of perception, being itself without qualities but known as possessing qualities.
Thus, this great-souled one, who knows creation and dissolution, while transforming and possessing nature, considers himself to be unintelligent.
One who is endowed with tamas, sattva, and rajas, merges into those wombs here due to ignorance and association with unawakened people.
The one who lives together, whose self is the indwelling resident, thinks 'I am not different.' He who declares 'I am he, I am indeed,' then withdraws from the qualities.
Through tamas, one attains various tamasic states; through rajas, rājasic states; and through resorting to sattva, sāttvic states.
The white, red, and black forms—these three, know that all these forms are indeed natural.
Those who are dominated by tamas go to hell, those dominated by rajas are reborn among humans, and those of sattva go to the world of the gods and enjoy happiness.
If there is a complete lack of liberation and predominance of sin, one is born as an animal; with a mixture of merit and sin, one is born as a human; with merit alone, one attains the state of the gods.
Thus, the wise declare that the perishable principle has the unmanifest as its object. This twenty-fifth (principle) arises solely from knowledge.
