12.316
Bhishma said.
Meanwhile, in that empty interval, Nārada approached Śuka, who was absorbed in self-study, wishing to explain to him the meanings of the Vedas. (12-316-1)
But when Śuka saw the divine sage Nārada had arrived, he honored him with the preliminary arghya offering, following the procedure prescribed in the Vedas. (12-316-2)
Then Nārada, pleased, said joyfully: "Tell me, O foremost among knowers of Brahman, by what excellence, dear one, may I unite you." (12-316-3)
After hearing Nārada's words, Śuka said, O Bhārata: In this world, whatever may be beneficial, you should instruct me in that. (12-316-4)
Narada said.
Sanatkumara, the revered one, formerly spoke this statement about the principle to the sages who were seekers and whose minds were purified. (12-316-5)
There is no eye equal to knowledge, no austerity equal to knowledge; there is no sorrow equal to attachment, and no happiness equal to renunciation. (12-316-6)
The cessation of sinful actions, constant virtuous character, good conduct, and excellent behavior—this is the unsurpassed best. (12-316-7)
One who, having attained human life, attaches himself even after experiencing unhappiness, becomes deluded. Such a person is not fit for liberation from suffering; for attachment is indeed the very sign of suffering. (12-316-8)
The intellect of an attached person wavers, expanding the net of delusion. Enveloped by this net, he experiences suffering both in this world and the next. (12-316-9)
One who seeks the highest good should restrain desire and anger by every means, for those two are indeed intent on destroying the highest good. (12-316-10)
One should always protect austerity from anger, prosperity from envy, knowledge from both pride and disrespect, and oneself from negligence. (12-316-11)
Non-cruelty is the highest virtue; forgiveness is the greatest strength; self-knowledge is the highest knowledge; there is nothing greater than truth. (12-316-12)
Speaking the truth is good, but even better than truth is what is beneficial; whatever is absolutely for the welfare of beings, that I consider to be the real truth. (12-316-13)
He who renounces the fruit of all undertakings, is without expectation and free from possessions; by whom everything has been completely abandoned, he is both wise and learned. (12-316-14)
Here, one who, with self-controlled senses, moves among the objects of the senses, not becoming attached, with a peaceful mind, unchanging and collected, (is described). (12-316-15)
He who, with those who are his own self and with those who are not, both together and apart, is liberated, quickly attains the supreme good. (12-316-16)
O sage, he who always avoids seeing, touching, and conversing with beings attains the supreme highest good. (12-316-17)
One should not harm any beings; one should act with friendliness. Having attained this birth, one should not create enmity with anyone. (12-316-18)
Absence of possessions, true contentment, freedom from expectation, and lack of restlessness—these are said to be the highest good for the knower of the self who has mastered himself. (12-316-19)
O dear one, having given up attachment, become one who has mastered the senses; attain a state free from sorrow and fear, both here and in the hereafter. (12-316-20)
Those who are free from desire do not grieve; abandon desire here from yourself. Having completely abandoned desire, O gentle one, you will be freed from pain and suffering. (12-316-21)
The unconquered mind should be regarded by the sage who is always engaged in austerity, self-restrained, and self-controlled, as something to be conquered by remaining unattached amidst attachments. (12-316-22)
One who is not attached to associations with qualities, always devoted to solitary practice, for such a Brāhmaṇa, unsurpassed happiness comes very soon. (12-316-23)
Know that sage who delights alone among beings in the pleasures of duality as one satisfied with wisdom; one who is satisfied by knowledge does not grieve. (12-316-24)
By auspicious actions, one attains divinity; by mixed actions, a human birth; and by inauspicious actions, one helplessly attains a lower birth. (12-316-25)
There, the creature is constantly afflicted by death, old age, and suffering, and is tormented in the cycle of existence; how do you not understand that? (12-316-26)
Why do you not understand? You consider what is harmful to be beneficial, what is impermanent to be permanent, and what is not beneficial to be beneficial. (12-316-27)
Just as a cocoon-maker wraps itself in threads of its own making, you, being enveloped by many threads of delusion created by yourself, do not realize it. (12-316-28)
Enough of acquisition here; for acquisition is indeed faulty. Just as the worm, the cocoon-maker, is bound by its own acquisition. (12-316-29)
Creatures attached to sons, wives, and families sink, just as worn out forest elephants are submerged in the muddy waters of a lake. (12-316-30)
Just as fishes caught in a great net are pulled out onto land, see how creatures, ensnared by the net of affection, are deeply afflicted. (12-316-31)
Family, children and wife, the body, and accumulations of wealth—all are impermanent and belong to others; what is truly one's own? Only one's good and bad deeds. (12-316-32)
When everything must ultimately be abandoned and you are compelled to depart, why are you attached to what is unprofitable, and do not pursue your own true purpose? (12-316-33)
How will you go alone on the path of the dark forest, which is unceasing, without support, without provisions, and without a guide? (12-316-34)
Indeed, when you depart, no one will follow you from behind. Only your good and bad deeds will accompany you as you go. (12-316-35)
Knowledge, action, valor, wisdom, and all their vast expansion are pursued for the sake of wealth; but the one who has achieved his aim is liberated. (12-316-36)
This attachment to village life is a binding rope; those who are virtuous cut it and go, but the wicked do not cut it. (12-316-37)
With banks of forms, a stream of mind, islands of touch, carrying sap, mud of fragrance, water of sound, it is difficult to cross on the path to heaven. (12-316-38)
One should cross the river of life using forbearance as the boat, truth as its essence, steadfastness in dharma as the riverbank, renunciation as the wind, oneself as the traveller, swiftness, and intellect as the boat. (12-316-39)
Abandon both righteousness and unrighteousness, abandon both truth and untruth. Having given up both truth and untruth, abandon even that by which you abandon. (12-316-40)
Abandon righteousness that arises from non-resolve, and unrighteousness as well, through non-violence; by means of intellect, abandon both truth and untruth, and even the intellect itself when it is subject to supreme indecision. (12-316-41)
It is a pillar of bones, bound with sinews, smeared with flesh and blood, covered with skin, foul-smelling, and filled with urine and feces. (12-316-42)
Abandon the body, which is pervaded by old age and sorrow, afflicted and the abode of disease, full of impurity, impermanent, and the dwelling of beings. (12-316-43)
This universe, everything moving and unmoving, whatever may exist; all is composed of the great elements, from the great principle down to the atom. (12-316-44)
The five senses, and darkness, purity, and activity also—thus, this seventeenfold aggregate is called the unmanifest. (12-316-45)
Here, composed of all the objects of the senses and both the manifest and unmanifest, this so-called twenty-fifth is the quality consisting of the manifest and unmanifest. (12-316-46)
A man who is endowed with all these is thus called; here, the three aims, happiness, sorrow, life, and death also. (12-316-47)
Whoever knows this in reality, he knows the origin and dissolution. In the work of Parāśarya here, whatever knowledge is to be understood, and anything else, (12-316-48).
Whatever is grasped by the senses, that is called manifest; this is its state. What is unmanifest is to be known as that which is perceived by subtle marks and is beyond the senses. (12-316-49)
With controlled senses, the embodied being is satisfied as if by streams; in this world, he sees the self pervading all and the world within the self. (12-316-50)
The power of the omniscient does not perceive the limit of knowledge. For the one who sees, all beings are always present in every state. (12-316-51)
The union of one who has realized Brahman is never attained through evil. By knowledge, one who has overcome the various afflictions born of delusion. In this world, through the illumination of intellect, the path of the world is never destroyed. (12-316-52)
The Blessed One, the knower of sacred fords, said: The being that is without beginning or end, imperishable, formless, and non-agent, is situated in the self. (12-316-53)
A creature who is constantly afflicted with pain by his own various actions, kills other creatures in many ways in order to counteract his own suffering. (12-316-54)
Then, he again undertakes many new actions. He suffers again from them, just as a sick person suffers after eating unwholesome food. (12-316-55)
Always, one afflicted by delusion, who mistakes suffering for happiness, is unceasingly bound and churned by actions, just like a churning stick. (12-316-56)
Thus, having ceased from the bondage arising here from one's own actions, he wanders through the cycle of existence like a wheel, experiencing much pain. (12-316-57)
Therefore, you, whose bonds have ceased and who is also free from actions, become one who knows all, conquers all, is accomplished, and is devoid of all states. (12-316-58)
By self-control, having forcefully removed new bonds through austerity, many have attained perfection, as well as unobstructed happiness. (12-316-59)
