15.042
The speech of Vaiśaṃpāyana.
Sūta said.
Upon hearing this, the wise king Janamejaya became delighted, learning then about the comings and goings of all his forefathers. (15-42-1)
He spoke joyfully, inquiring about the return: "How indeed is it possible, for those who have abandoned their bodies, to see that form again?" (15-42-2)
Thus, having been addressed, the best among the twice-born, Vyāsa's powerful disciple and foremost among speakers, spoke to King Janamejaya. (15-42-3)
It is certain that all actions are not destroyed. Bodies and forms, O king, are also produced from action. (15-42-4)
The great elements are eternal due to their dependence upon the lord of beings. Their association is perpetual, and there is no destruction, only separation. (15-42-5)
Actions performed without desire—of such effort, the result accrues. The self, joined with these actions, experiences pleasure and pain. (15-42-6)
It is certain that the knower of the field is eternal and imperishable. The intrinsic nature of the self among beings—that constant one—is known by those who realize. (15-42-7)
As long as actions are not exhausted, his true nature remains concealed. When one's actions are diminished, the person prevents transformation into another form. (15-42-8)
Just as various states, having attained unity in the body and come together, so too they eternally become separated states for those who know. (15-42-9)
In the aśvamedha rite, both the scriptural instruction and the designation 'horse' refer to this: the life-breaths continually pass to another world, for the horses are indeed eternal. (15-42-10)
O king, I speak what is beneficial and, if it is dear to you, this indeed. You have truly heard of the Devayāna paths in the arrangement of sacrifice. (15-42-11)
Where your sacrifice is well-performed, there the gods are favorable to you. When the gods, joined as lords of the movement of animals and possessing motion, have been worshipped thus, then others do not become eternal; only they (the gods) remain eternal. (15-42-12)
Whoever, in this eternal fivefold group and in the eternal self, perceives its various combinations and, with a vain mind, grieves excessively in separation, he is childish—this is my opinion. (15-42-13)
He who sees faults in separation should avoid union here; for, when there is no attachment, union does not exist, and sorrow on earth is produced by separation. (15-42-14)
But the man who knows both the higher and the lower is not defined by pride. The ignorant, after attaining supreme understanding, is freed from delusion. (15-42-15)
Fallen from disappearance, and again gone into disappearance. I do not know him, nor does he know me, and for me there is no detachment. (15-42-16)
Whatever deeds this non-autonomous person performs with any particular body, with that same body he must experience their consequences. He attains mental fruits through the mind, and bodily fruits when embodied. (15-42-17)
