Shuka Asks the Way to Brahman; Vyasa on the Body, the Senses and the Self

Verse 1 (12.245.1)

इत्युक्तोऽभिप्रशस्यैतत्परमर्षेस्तु शासनम् । मोक्षधर्मार्थसंयुक्तमिदं प्रष्टुं प्रचक्रमे ॥

ityukto'bhipraśasyaitatparamarṣestu śāsanam | mokṣadharmārthasaṃyuktamidaṃ praṣṭuṃ pracakrame

Thus addressed, he praised this teaching of the supreme sage, which was bound up with the dharma of liberation, and began to ask the following.

Verse 2 (12.245.2)

प्रजावाञ्श्रोत्रियो यज्वा कृतप्रज्ञोऽनसूयकः । अनागतमनैतिह्यं कथं ब्रह्माधिगच्छति ॥

prajāvāñśrotriyo yajvā kṛtaprajño'nasūyakaḥ | anāgatamanaitihyaṃ kathaṃ brahmādhigacchati

A man with children, learned in the Veda, a sacrificer, wise and free of envy: how does such a man attain Brahman, which is yet to come and rests on no tradition?

Note on the text: Wikisource कृतप्रज्ञोऽनसूयकः against CE vṛddhaḥ prajño 'nasūyakaḥ is a recension variant, kept.

Verse 3 (12.245.3)

तपसा ब्रह्मचर्येण सर्वत्यागेन मेधया । साङ्ख्ये वा यदि वा योग एतत्पृष्टो वदस्व मे ॥

tapasā brahmacaryeṇa sarvatyāgena medhayā | sāṅkhye vā yadi vā yoga etatpṛṣṭo vadasva me

Through austerity, chastity, the giving up of everything, and intellect; in Sankhya or in Yoga: asked this, tell it to me.

Verse 4 (12.245.4)

मनसश्चेन्द्रियाणां च यथैकाग्र्यमवाप्यते । येनोपायेन पुरुषैस्तत्त्वं व्याख्यातुमर्हसि ॥

manasaścendriyāṇāṃ ca yathaikāgryamavāpyate | yenopāyena puruṣaistattvaṃ vyākhyātumarhasi

By what means is one-pointedness of the mind and the senses reached by men? You ought to explain the truth of it.

Note on the text: Wikisource यथैकाग्र्यमवाप्यते । येनोपायेन पुरुषैस्तत्त्वं व्याख्यातुमर्हसि against CE aikāgryaṃ samavāpyate / yenopāyena puruṣais tac ca vyākhyātum arhasi is a recension variant, kept.

Verse 5 (12.245.5)

नान्यत्र विद्यातपसोर्नान्यत्रेन्द्रियनिग्रहात् । नान्यत्र लोभसंत्यागात्सिद्धिं विन्दति कश्चन ॥

nānyatra vidyātapasornānyatrendriyanigrahāt | nānyatra lobhasaṃtyāgātsiddhiṃ vindati kaścana

Nowhere but through knowledge and austerity, nowhere but through the restraint of the senses, nowhere but through the giving up of greed does anyone find perfection.

Verse 6 (12.245.6)

महाभूतानि सर्वाणि पूर्वसृष्टिः स्वयंभुवः । भूयिष्ठं प्राणभृत्काये निविष्टानि शरीरिषु ॥

mahābhūtāni sarvāṇi pūrvasṛṣṭiḥ svayaṃbhuvaḥ | bhūyiṣṭhaṃ prāṇabhṛtkāye niviṣṭāni śarīriṣu

All the great elements, the first creation of the Self-existent, are lodged for the most part in the bodies of embodied beings who breathe.

Verse 7 (12.245.7)

भूमेर्देहो जलात्स्रोतो ज्योतिषश्चक्षुषी स्मृते । प्राणापानाश्रयो वायुः स्वेष्वाकाशं शरीरिणाम् ॥

bhūmerdeho jalātsroto jyotiṣaścakṣuṣī smṛte | prāṇāpānāśrayo vāyuḥ sveṣvākāśaṃ śarīriṇām

The body is of earth; the channels are from water; the two eyes are said to be of fire; wind is the support of the in-breath and the out-breath; and space is in the openings of embodied beings.

Note on the text: Corrected जलास्त्रोतो → जलात्स्रोतो (misprint in Wikisource; जलास्त्रोतो is not a Sanskrit form: the ablative जलात् lost its final consonant and the conjunct of स्रोतः was misspelt स्त्रो; Wikisource's sense is 'the channels (streams) from water', where CE has jalāt sāraḥ 'the essence from water', a recension variant).

Verse 8 (12.245.8)

क्रान्ते विष्णुर्बले शक्रः कोष्ठेऽग्निर्भोक्तुमिच्छति । कर्णयोः प्रदिशः श्रोत्रे जिह्वायां वाक् सरस्वती ॥

krānte viṣṇurbale śakraḥ koṣṭhe'gnirbhoktumicchati | karṇayoḥ pradiśaḥ śrotre jihvāyāṃ vāk sarasvatī

In the stride is Vishnu, in strength is Indra, in the belly is fire that wishes to eat; in the ears are the quarters, in hearing, and on the tongue is Sarasvati, speech.

Verse 9 (12.245.9)

कर्णौ त्वक्चक्षुषी जिह्वा नासिका चैव पञ्चमी । दश तानीन्द्रियोक्तानि द्वाराण्याहारसिद्धये ॥

karṇau tvakcakṣuṣī jihvā nāsikā caiva pañcamī | daśa tānīndriyoktāni dvārāṇyāhārasiddhaye

The two ears, the skin, the two eyes, the tongue, and the nose as the fifth: these are called the ten senses, the doors for the accomplishing of intake.

Verse 10 (12.245.10)

शब्दः स्पर्शस्तथा रूपं रसो गन्धश्च पञ्चमः । इन्द्रियाणि पृथक्स्वार्थान्मनसा दर्शयन्त्युत ॥

śabdaḥ sparśastathā rūpaṃ raso gandhaśca pañcamaḥ | indriyāṇi pṛthaksvārthānmanasā darśayantyuta

Sound, touch, form, taste, and smell as the fifth: the senses present these, each its own object, to the mind.

Verse 11 (12.245.11)

इन्द्रियाणि मनो युङ्क्ते वश्यान्यन्तेव वाजिनः । मनश्चापि सदा युङ्क्ते भूतात्मा हृदयाश्रितः ॥

indriyāṇi mano yuṅkte vaśyānyanteva vājinaḥ | manaścāpi sadā yuṅkte bhūtātmā hṛdayāśritaḥ

The mind yokes the senses, as a charioteer his obedient horses; and the self of beings, dwelling in the heart, ever yokes the mind in turn.

Note on the text: Corrected भुक्ते → युङ्क्ते (misprint in Wikisource; भुक्ते is not a verb form in this context and repeats nothing of the parallel मनो युङ्क्ते in line 1; the critical edition reads yuṅkte).

Verse 12 (12.245.12)

इन्द्रियाणां तथैवैषां सर्वेषामीश्वरं मनः । नियमे च विसर्गे च भूतात्मा मानसस्तथा ॥

indriyāṇāṃ tathaivaiṣāṃ sarveṣāmīśvaraṃ manaḥ | niyame ca visarge ca bhūtātmā mānasastathā

The mind is the lord of all these senses; and in their restraint and in their release, the self of beings, dwelling in the mind, is likewise the lord.

Verse 13 (12.245.13)

इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थाश्च स्वभावश्चेतना मनः । प्राणापानौ च जीवश्च नित्यं देहेषु देहिनाम् ॥

indriyāṇīndriyārthāśca svabhāvaścetanā manaḥ | prāṇāpānau ca jīvaśca nityaṃ deheṣu dehinām

The senses, the objects of the senses, one's own nature, consciousness, the mind, the in-breath and the out-breath, and the living soul: these are always present in the bodies of the embodied.

Verse 14 (12.245.14)

आश्रयो नास्ति सत्वस्य गुणः सत्त्वस्य चेतना । सत्वं हि तेजः सृजति न गुणान्वै कथंचन ॥

āśrayo nāsti satvasya guṇaḥ sattvasya cetanā | satvaṃ hi tejaḥ sṛjati na guṇānvai kathaṃcana

Goodness (sattva) has no support; consciousness is the quality of sattva; sattva produces radiance, but never in any way produces the qualities.

Note on the text: Wikisource गुणः सत्त्वस्य चेतना । सत्वं हि तेजः सृजति न गुणान्वै कथंचन against CE guṇaśabdo na cetanā / sattvaṃ hi tejaḥ sṛjati na guṇān vai kadā cana is a recension variant, kept. Wikisource's spellings सत्व and सत्त्व both occur in the verse and are kept as printed.

Verse 15 (12.245.15)

एवं सप्तदशं देहे वृतं षोडशभिर्गुणैः । मनीषीमनसा विप्रः पश्यत्यात्मानमात्मनि ॥

evaṃ saptadaśaṃ dehe vṛtaṃ ṣoḍaśabhirguṇaiḥ | manīṣīmanasā vipraḥ paśyatyātmānamātmani

Thus the seventeenth, enclosed in the body by the sixteen qualities: the wise brahmin sees the self in the self, by the mind.

Verse 16 (12.245.16)

न ह्ययं चक्षुषा दृश्यो न च सर्वैरपीन्द्रियैः । मनसा दीपभूतेन महानात्मा प्रकाशते ॥

na hyayaṃ cakṣuṣā dṛśyo na ca sarvairapīndriyaiḥ | manasā dīpabhūtena mahānātmā prakāśate

This self cannot be seen by the eye, nor by all the senses together; the great self shines by the mind made into a lamp.

Verse 17 (12.245.17)

अशब्दस्पर्शरूपं तदरसागन्धमव्ययम् । अशरीरं शरीरेषु निरीक्षते निरिन्द्रियम् ॥

aśabdasparśarūpaṃ tadarasāgandhamavyayam | aśarīraṃ śarīreṣu nirīkṣate nirindriyam

Without sound, touch, form, taste or smell, imperishable, bodiless and without senses, it is beheld within bodies.

Verse 18 (12.245.18)

अव्यक्तं सर्वदेहेषु मर्त्येष्वमृतमाहितम् । योऽनुपश्यति स प्रेत्य कल्पते ब्रह्मभूयसे ॥

avyaktaṃ sarvadeheṣu martyeṣvamṛtamāhitam | yo'nupaśyati sa pretya kalpate brahmabhūyase

The unmanifest, the immortal, is lodged in all mortal bodies; he who sees it becomes, after death, fit for union with Brahman.

Verse 19 (12.245.19)

विद्याभिजनसंपन्ने ब्राह्मणे गवि हस्तिनि । शुनि चैव श्वपाके च पण्डिताः समदर्शिनः ॥

vidyābhijanasaṃpanne brāhmaṇe gavi hastini | śuni caiva śvapāke ca paṇḍitāḥ samadarśinaḥ

In a brahmin endowed with learning and good birth, in a cow, an elephant, a dog and a dog-eater, the wise look with an equal eye.

Verse 20 (12.245.20)

स हि सर्वेषु भूतेषु जङ्गमेषु ध्रुवेषु च । वसत्येको महानात्मा येन सर्वमिदं ततम् ॥

sa hi sarveṣu bhūteṣu jaṅgameṣu dhruveṣu ca | vasatyeko mahānātmā yena sarvamidaṃ tatam

That one great self dwells in all beings, moving and unmoving, by whom all this is pervaded.

Verse 21 (12.245.21)

सर्वभूतेषु चात्मानं सर्वभूतानि चात्मनि । यदा पश्यति भूतात्मा ब्रह्म संपद्यते तदा ॥

sarvabhūteṣu cātmānaṃ sarvabhūtāni cātmani | yadā paśyati bhūtātmā brahma saṃpadyate tadā

When the soul sees the self in all beings and all beings in the self, then it attains Brahman.

Verse 22 (12.245.22)

यावानात्मनि मे ह्यात्मा तावानात्मा परात्मनि । य एवं सततं वेद सोऽमृतत्वाय कल्पते ॥

yāvānātmani me hyātmā tāvānātmā parātmani | ya evaṃ satataṃ veda so'mṛtatvāya kalpate

As great as is the self within me, so great is the self in the Supreme Self; he who knows this always becomes fit for immortality.

Verse 23 (12.245.23)

सर्वभूतात्मभूतस्य सर्वभूतहितस्य च । देवाऽपि मार्गे मुह्यन्ति अपदस्य पदैषिणः ॥

sarvabhūtātmabhūtasya sarvabhūtahitasya ca | devā'pi mārge muhyanti apadasya padaiṣiṇaḥ

Even the gods are bewildered on the path of one who has become the self of all beings and is devoted to the good of all beings, for they seek the footprints of one who has none.

Verse 24 (12.245.24)

शकुन्तानामिवाकाशे मत्स्यानामिव चोदके । यथा गतिर्न दृश्येत तथा ज्ञानविदां गतिः ॥

śakuntānāmivākāśe matsyānāmiva codake | yathā gatirna dṛśyeta tathā jñānavidāṃ gatiḥ

As the track of birds in the sky or of fishes in the water is not seen, so is the course of those who know.

Note on the text: The alignment found no match. Wikisource शकुन्तानामिवाकाशे मत्स्यानामिव चोदके । यथा गतिर्न दृश्येत तथा ज्ञानविदां गतिः against CE śakunīnām ivākāśe jale vāricarasya vā / yathā gatir na dṛśyeta tathaiva sumahātmanaḥ (CE 12.231.24) is a recension variant, kept.

Verse 25 (12.245.25)

कालः पचति भूतानि सर्वाण्येवात्मनाऽऽत्मनि । यस्मिंस्तु पच्यते कालस्तं वेदेह न कश्चन ॥

kālaḥ pacati bhūtāni sarvāṇyevātmanā''tmani | yasmiṃstu pacyate kālastaṃ vedeha na kaścana

Time cooks all beings, all in the self, by the self; but him in whom time itself is cooked, no one here knows.

Verse 26 (12.245.26)

न स ऊर्ध्वं न तिर्यक्च नाधश्चरति यः पुनः । न मध्ये प्रतिगृह्णीते नैव किंचित्कुतश्चन ॥

na sa ūrdhvaṃ na tiryakca nādhaścarati yaḥ punaḥ | na madhye pratigṛhṇīte naiva kiṃcitkutaścana

He moves neither upward nor sideways nor downward; he takes hold of nothing in the middle, nor does he take anything from anywhere.

Note on the text: The CE star line 12.231.26b*0681_01 (indriyair api buddhyā vā gṛhyate na kadā cana) is not in Wikisource.

Verse 27 (12.245.27)

सर्वेऽन्तस्था इमे लोका बाह्यमेषां न किंचन । यः सहस्रं समा गच्छेद्यथा बाणो गुणच्युतः ॥

sarve'ntasthā ime lokā bāhyameṣāṃ na kiṃcana | yaḥ sahasraṃ samā gacchedyathā bāṇo guṇacyutaḥ

All these worlds lie within him; nothing of them is outside. Whoever would travel for a thousand years, like an arrow loosed from the string,

Note on the text: Corrected सहस्र → सहस्रं (misprint in Wikisource; the anusvara is dropped; the critical edition reads sahasraṃ). Wikisource समा गच्छेत् against CE samāgacchet is kept as the page prints it.

Verse 28 (12.245.28)

नैवान्तं कारणस्येयाद्यद्यपि स्यान्मनोजवः । तस्मात्सूक्ष्मात्सूक्ष्मतरं नास्ति स्थूलतरं ततः ॥

naivāntaṃ kāraṇasyeyādyadyapi syānmanojavaḥ | tasmātsūkṣmātsūkṣmataraṃ nāsti sthūlataraṃ tataḥ

would not reach the end of the Cause, even if his speed were that of thought; for there is nothing subtler than the subtle, nor anything vaster than the vast.

Verse 29 (12.245.29)

सर्वतः पाणिपादं तत्सर्वतोक्षिशिरोमुखम् । सर्वतः श्रुतिमल्लोके सर्वमावृत्य तिष्ठति ॥

sarvataḥ pāṇipādaṃ tatsarvatokṣiśiromukham | sarvataḥ śrutimalloke sarvamāvṛtya tiṣṭhati

Everywhere it has hands and feet, everywhere eyes, heads and mouths, everywhere ears in the world; it stands enveloping all.

Note on the text: Corrected सर्वमावृरत्य → सर्वमावृत्य (misprint in Wikisource; a stray र inside the word; the critical edition reads sarvam āvṛtya). Line 1 differs from CE 12.231.29a (sarvataḥpāṇipādāntaṃ); a recension variant, kept.

Verse 30 (12.245.30)

तदेवाणोरणुतरं तन्महद्भ्यो महत्तरम् । तदन्तः सर्वभूतानां ध्रुवं तिष्ठन्न दृश्यते ॥

tadevāṇoraṇutaraṃ tanmahadbhyo mahattaram | tadantaḥ sarvabhūtānāṃ dhruvaṃ tiṣṭhanna dṛśyate

It is smaller than the atom and greater than the great; it stands firm within all beings, yet is not seen.

Verse 31 (12.245.31)

अक्षरं च क्षरं चैव द्वैधीभावोऽयमात्मनः । क्षरः सर्वेषु भूतेषु दिवि ह्यमृतमक्षरम् ॥

akṣaraṃ ca kṣaraṃ caiva dvaidhībhāvo'yamātmanaḥ | kṣaraḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu divi hyamṛtamakṣaram

The imperishable and the perishable are the twofold state of the Self. The perishable is in all beings; the imperishable is the immortal in heaven.

Verse 32 (12.245.32)

नवद्वारं पुरं गत्वा हंसो हि नियतो वशी । ईशः सर्वस्य भूतस्य स्थावरस्य चरस्य च ॥

navadvāraṃ puraṃ gatvā haṃso hi niyato vaśī | īśaḥ sarvasya bhūtasya sthāvarasya carasya ca

The swan, controlled and self-restrained, having gone into the city of nine gates, is the lord of every being, moving and unmoving.

Verse 33 (12.245.33)

हानिभङ्गविकल्पानां नवानां संचयेन च । शरीराणामजस्याहुर्हंसत्वं पारदर्शिनः ॥

hānibhaṅgavikalpānāṃ navānāṃ saṃcayena ca | śarīrāṇāmajasyāhurhaṃsatvaṃ pāradarśinaḥ

Through the waning, breaking and alteration, and through the accumulation, of the nine gates of the bodies, those who have seen the farther shore speak of the swan-nature of the unborn.

Note on the text: Wikisource नवानां संचयेन च against CE navānāṃ saṃśrayeṇa ca is a recension variant, kept.

Verse 34 (12.245.34)

हंसोक्तं चाक्षरं चैव कूटस्थं यत्तदक्षरम् । तद्विद्वानक्षरं प्राप्य जहाति प्राणजन्मनी ॥

haṃsoktaṃ cākṣaraṃ caiva kūṭasthaṃ yattadakṣaram | tadvidvānakṣaraṃ prāpya jahāti prāṇajanmanī

What is called the swan, and the imperishable, the unchanging, which is the imperishable: the knower, reaching that imperishable, leaves behind both life-breath and birth.