Asita Devala Teaches Narada the Elements, the Senses and the Self

Verse 1 (12.281.1)

अत्रैवोदाहरन्तीममितिहासं पुरातनम् । नारदस्य च संवादं देवलस्यासितस्य च ॥

atraivodāharantīmamitihāsaṃ purātanam | nāradasya ca saṃvādaṃ devalasyāsitasya ca

“On this point they tell this ancient account, the conversation of Narada and of Devala Asita.

Verse 2 (12.281.2)

आसीनं देवलं वृद्धं बुद्ध्वा बुद्धिमतां वरम् । नारदः परिपप्रच्छ भूतानां प्रभवाप्ययम् ॥

āsīnaṃ devalaṃ vṛddhaṃ buddhvā buddhimatāṃ varam | nāradaḥ paripapraccha bhūtānāṃ prabhavāpyayam

Seeing the aged Devala seated, the best of the wise, Narada asked him about the origin and the dissolution of beings.”

Verse 3 (12.281.3)

कुतः सृष्टमिदं विश्वं ब्रह्मन्स्थावरजङ्गमम् । प्रलये च कमभ्येति तद्भवान्प्रब्रवीतु मे ॥

kutaḥ sṛṣṭamidaṃ viśvaṃ brahmansthāvarajaṅgamam | pralaye ca kamabhyeti tadbhavānprabravītu me

“From what was this whole world created, moving and unmoving, O brahmin? And into what does it go at the time of dissolution? Tell me that.”

Verse 4 (12.281.4)

येभ्यः सृजति भूतानि कालो भावप्रचोदितः । महाभूतानि पञ्चेति तान्याहुर्भूतचिन्तकाः ॥

yebhyaḥ sṛjati bhūtāni kālo bhāvapracoditaḥ | mahābhūtāni pañceti tānyāhurbhūtacintakāḥ

“The things from which Time, urged on by their nature, creates beings: those who reflect on beings call them the five great elements.

Verse 5 (12.281.5)

तेभ्यः सृजति भूतानि काल आत्मप्रचोदितः । एतेभ्यो यः परं ब्रूयादसद्ब्रूयादसंशयम् ॥

tebhyaḥ sṛjati bhūtāni kāla ātmapracoditaḥ | etebhyo yaḥ paraṃ brūyādasadbrūyādasaṃśayam

From them Time, urged on by the Self, creates beings. Whoever speaks of anything beyond these speaks, beyond doubt, what is not so.

Verse 6 (12.281.6)

विद्धि नारद पञ्चैताञ्शाश्वतानचलान्ध्रुवान् । महतस्तेजसो राशीन्कालषष्ठान्स्वभावतः ॥

viddhi nārada pañcaitāñśāśvatānacalāndhruvān | mahatastejaso rāśīnkālaṣaṣṭhānsvabhāvataḥ

Know, Narada, these five to be eternal, unmoving and fixed, great masses of radiance, with Time as the sixth, by their own nature.

Verse 7 (12.281.7)

आपश्चैवान्तरिक्षं च पृथिवी वायुपावकौ । असिद्धिः परमेतेभ्यो भूतेभ्यो मुक्तसंशयम् ॥

āpaścaivāntarikṣaṃ ca pṛthivī vāyupāvakau | asiddhiḥ parametebhyo bhūtebhyo muktasaṃśayam

They are water, space, earth, air and fire. Beyond these elements nothing is established; this is beyond doubt.

Verse 8 (12.281.8)

नोपपत्त्या न वा युक्त्या त्वसद्ब्रूयादसंशयम् । वेत्थैतानभिनिर्वृत्तान्षडेते यस्य राशयः ॥

nopapattyā na vā yuktyā tvasadbrūyādasaṃśayam | vetthaitānabhinirvṛttānṣaḍete yasya rāśayaḥ

Neither by proof nor by argument can one say otherwise without falsehood, beyond doubt. You know these as having come into being: these six are the masses of which each being is made.

Verse 9 (12.281.9)

पञ्चैव तानि कालश्च भावाभावौ च केवलौ । अष्टौ भूतानि भूतानां शाश्वतानि भवाव्ययौ ॥

pañcaiva tāni kālaśca bhāvābhāvau ca kevalau | aṣṭau bhūtāni bhūtānāṃ śāśvatāni bhavāvyayau

Only those five, and Time, and pure being and non-being: these eight are the eternal elements of beings, the sources of origin and dissolution.

Verse 10 (12.281.10)

अभावभावितेष्वेव तेभ्यश्च प्रभवन्त्यपि । विनष्टोऽप्यनुतान्येव जन्तुर्भवति पञ्चधा ॥

abhāvabhāviteṣveva tebhyaśca prabhavantyapi | vinaṣṭo'pyanutānyeva janturbhavati pañcadhā

Even in what has been brought forth out of non-being, they arise from these; and when the creature is destroyed, he still follows those same elements, and becomes fivefold.

Verse 11 (12.281.11)

तस्य भूमिमयो देहः श्रोत्रमाकाशसंभवम् । सूर्याच्चक्षुरसुर्वायोरद्भ्यस्तु खलु शोणितम् ॥

tasya bhūmimayo dehaḥ śrotramākāśasaṃbhavam | sūryāccakṣurasurvāyoradbhyastu khalu śoṇitam

His body is made of earth, his hearing is born of space, his sight from the sun, his life-breath from air, and his blood, indeed, from water.

Verse 12 (12.281.12)

चक्षुषी नासिकाकर्णौ त्वक् जिह्वेति च पञ्चमी । इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थानां ज्ञानानि कवयो विदुः ॥

cakṣuṣī nāsikākarṇau tvak jihveti ca pañcamī | indriyāṇīndriyārthānāṃ jñānāni kavayo viduḥ

The eyes, the nose, the ears, the skin and the tongue as the fifth: the sages know these to be the senses, the instruments of knowing the objects of the senses.

Note on the text: Removed a stray question mark inside पञ्चमी (printed प?ञ्चमी in Wikisource; the CE reads pañcamī).

Verse 13 (12.281.13)

दर्शनं श्रवणं घ्राणं स्पर्शनं रसनं तथा । उपपत्त्या गुणान्विद्धि पञ्च पञ्चसु धातुषु ॥

darśanaṃ śravaṇaṃ ghrāṇaṃ sparśanaṃ rasanaṃ tathā | upapattyā guṇānviddhi pañca pañcasu dhātuṣu

Seeing, hearing, smelling, touching and tasting: know these qualities by reasoning to be five in the five elements.

Verse 14 (12.281.14)

रूपं गन्धो रसः स्पर्शः शब्दश्चैवाथ तद्गुणाः । इन्द्रियैरुपलभ्यन्ते पञ्चधा पञ्च पञ्चभिः ॥

rūpaṃ gandho rasaḥ sparśaḥ śabdaścaivātha tadguṇāḥ | indriyairupalabhyante pañcadhā pañca pañcabhiḥ

Form, smell, taste, touch and sound are their qualities; they are grasped by the senses, fivefold, five by five.

Verse 15 (12.281.15)

रूपं गन्धं रसं स्पर्शं शब्दं चैवाथ तद्गुणान् । इन्द्रियाणि न बुध्यन्ते क्षेत्रज्ञस्तैस्तु बुध्यते ॥

rūpaṃ gandhaṃ rasaṃ sparśaṃ śabdaṃ caivātha tadguṇān | indriyāṇi na budhyante kṣetrajñastaistu budhyate

The senses do not know form, smell, taste, touch, sound and their qualities; the knower of the field knows through them.

Verse 16 (12.281.16)

चित्तमिन्द्रियसंघातात्परं तस्मात्परं मनः । मनसस्तु परा बुद्धिः क्षेत्रज्ञो बुद्धितः परः ॥

cittamindriyasaṃghātātparaṃ tasmātparaṃ manaḥ | manasastu parā buddhiḥ kṣetrajño buddhitaḥ paraḥ

Beyond the aggregate of the senses is the thinking faculty, beyond that is the mind; beyond the mind is the intellect, and beyond the intellect is the knower of the field.

Verse 17 (12.281.17)

पूर्वं चेतयते जन्तुरिन्द्रियैर्विषयान्पृथक् । विचार्य मनसा पश्चादथ बुद्ध्या व्यवस्यति । इन्द्रियैरुपसृष्टार्थान्मत्वा यस्त्वध्यवस्यति ॥

pūrvaṃ cetayate janturindriyairviṣayānpṛthak | vicārya manasā paścādatha buddhyā vyavasyati | indriyairupasṛṣṭārthānmatvā yastvadhyavasyati

First the creature perceives the objects separately through the senses; after reflecting with the mind, he then decides with the intellect; and whoever, having thought over the objects presented by the senses, resolves upon them,

Verse 18 (12.281.18)

चित्तमिन्द्रियसंघातं मनो बुद्धिस्तथाऽष्टमी । अष्टौ ज्ञानेन्द्रियाण्याहुरेतान्यध्यात्मचिन्तकाः ॥

cittamindriyasaṃghātaṃ mano buddhistathā'ṣṭamī | aṣṭau jñānendriyāṇyāhuretānyadhyātmacintakāḥ

the thinking faculty, the aggregate of the senses, the mind, and the intellect as the eighth: these the thinkers on the Self call the eight organs of knowledge.

Verse 19 (12.281.19)

पाणिं पादं च पायुं च मेहनं पञ्चमं मुखम् । इति संशब्द्यमानानि शृणु कर्मेन्द्रियाण्यपि ॥

pāṇiṃ pādaṃ ca pāyuṃ ca mehanaṃ pañcamaṃ mukham | iti saṃśabdyamānāni śṛṇu karmendriyāṇyapi

The hand, the foot, the anus, the generative organ, and the mouth as the fifth: thus named, hear now the organs of action as well.

Verse 20 (12.281.20)

जल्पनाभ्यवहारार्थं मुखमिन्द्रियमुच्यते । गमनेन्द्रियं तथा पादौ कर्मणः करणे करौ ॥

jalpanābhyavahārārthaṃ mukhamindriyamucyate | gamanendriyaṃ tathā pādau karmaṇaḥ karaṇe karau

The mouth is called a sense for speaking and eating; the feet are the sense of going, and the hands are for the doing of work.

Verse 21 (12.281.21)

पायूपस्थं विसर्गार्थमिन्द्रिये तुल्यकर्मणी । विसर्गे च पुरीषस्य विसर्गे चापि कामिके ॥

pāyūpasthaṃ visargārthamindriye tulyakarmaṇī | visarge ca purīṣasya visarge cāpi kāmike

The anus and the generative organ are two senses with a like function, for discharge: the discharge of waste, and also the discharge of the pleasure of desire.

Verse 22 (12.281.22)

मनः षष्ठान्यथैतानि वाचा सम्यग्यथागमम् । ज्ञानचेष्टेन्द्रियगुणाः सर्वेषां शब्दिता मया ॥

manaḥ ṣaṣṭhānyathaitāni vācā samyagyathāgamam | jñānaceṣṭendriyaguṇāḥ sarveṣāṃ śabditā mayā

With the mind as the sixth, these have been told by me in words, rightly and according to tradition; the qualities of the organs of knowledge and of action have all been set out.

Verse 23 (12.281.23)

इन्द्रियाणां स्वकर्मभ्यः श्रमादुपरमो यदा । भवतीन्द्रियसंन्यासादथ स्वपिति वै नरः ॥

indriyāṇāṃ svakarmabhyaḥ śramāduparamo yadā | bhavatīndriyasaṃnyāsādatha svapiti vai naraḥ

When the senses, tired from their own work, cease from it, then through the laying aside of the senses a man sleeps.

Verse 24 (12.281.24)

इन्द्रियाणां व्युपरमे मनोऽव्युपरतं यदि । सेवते विषयानेव तं विद्यात्स्वप्नदर्शनम् ॥

indriyāṇāṃ vyuparame mano'vyuparataṃ yadi | sevate viṣayāneva taṃ vidyātsvapnadarśanam

But if, when the senses are at rest, the mind does not rest and goes on serving the objects of sense, know that to be dreaming.

Verse 25 (12.281.25)

सात्विकाश्चैव ये भावास्तथा राजसतामसाः । कर्मयुक्ताः प्रशंसन्ति सात्विकान्नेतरांस्तथा ॥

sātvikāścaiva ye bhāvāstathā rājasatāmasāḥ | karmayuktāḥ praśaṃsanti sātvikānnetarāṃstathā

The states that are sattvic, and those that are rajasic and tamasic: those who are given to action praise the sattvic ones, not the others.

Verse 26 (12.281.26)

आनन्दः कर्मणां सिद्धिः प्रतिपत्तिः परा गतिः । सात्विकस्य निमित्तानि भावान्संश्रयसे स्मृतिः ॥

ānandaḥ karmaṇāṃ siddhiḥ pratipattiḥ parā gatiḥ | sātvikasya nimittāni bhāvānsaṃśrayase smṛtiḥ

Joy, success in actions, understanding and the highest goal are the marks of the sattvic; you take shelter in these states, as the tradition holds.

Verse 27 (12.281.27)

जन्तुष्वेकतमेष्वेवं भावं यो वा समास्थितः । भावयोरीप्सितं नित्यं प्रत्यक्षं गमनं द्वयोः ॥

jantuṣvekatameṣvevaṃ bhāvaṃ yo vā samāsthitaḥ | bhāvayorīpsitaṃ nityaṃ pratyakṣaṃ gamanaṃ dvayoḥ

Whoever among creatures has thus taken up any one such state, of the two states what is wished for is always the same, and the course of both is plain to see.

Verse 28 (12.281.28)

इन्द्रियाणि च भावाश्च गुणाः सप्तदश स्मृताः । तेषामष्टादशो देही यः शरीरे स शाश्वतः ॥

indriyāṇi ca bhāvāśca guṇāḥ saptadaśa smṛtāḥ | teṣāmaṣṭādaśo dehī yaḥ śarīre sa śāśvataḥ

The senses and the states are the qualities, remembered as seventeen; the eighteenth of them is the embodied one who dwells in the body, and he is eternal.

Verse 29 (12.281.29)

अथवा सशरीरास्ते गुणाः सर्वे शरीरिणाम् । संश्रितास्तद्वियोगे हि सशरीरा न सन्ति ते ॥

athavā saśarīrāste guṇāḥ sarve śarīriṇām | saṃśritāstadviyoge hi saśarīrā na santi te

Or else, all those qualities are embodied in the embodied; they depend on him, and when he is gone they are no longer embodied.

Verse 30 (12.281.30)

अथवा संविभागेन शरीरं पाञ्चभौतिकम् । एकश्च दश चाष्टौ च गुणाः सह शरीरिणाम् । ऊष्मणा सह विंशो वा संघातः पाञ्चभौतिकः ॥

athavā saṃvibhāgena śarīraṃ pāñcabhautikam | ekaśca daśa cāṣṭau ca guṇāḥ saha śarīriṇām | ūṣmaṇā saha viṃśo vā saṃghātaḥ pāñcabhautikaḥ

Or else, by analysis, the body is made of the five elements. One, ten and eight are the qualities that go with the embodied; together with heat, or as a twentieth, is the aggregate made of the five elements.

Note on the text: Corrected विशो → विंशो (misprint in Wikisource; the anusvara dropped, the twentieth, 1+10+8 plus heat = 20; the CE reads viṃśo). Three lines, as on the page (labelled 12-281-30a, b, c); CE 12.267.30 has the same three lines.

Verse 31 (12.281.31)

महान्संधारयत्येतच्छरीरं वायुना सह । सत्यप्रभावयुक्तस्य निमित्तं देहभेदने ॥

mahānsaṃdhārayatyetaccharīraṃ vāyunā saha | satyaprabhāvayuktasya nimittaṃ dehabhedane

The Great One upholds this body together with the vital air; for him who is joined to the force of truth, there is a cause in the breaking up of the body.

Verse 32 (12.281.32)

तथैवोत्पद्यते किंचित्पञ्चत्वं गच्छते तथा । पुण्यपापविनाशान्ते पुण्यपापसमीरितः । देहं विशति कालेन ततोऽयं कर्मसंभवम् ॥

tathaivotpadyate kiṃcitpañcatvaṃ gacchate tathā | puṇyapāpavināśānte puṇyapāpasamīritaḥ | dehaṃ viśati kālena tato'yaṃ karmasaṃbhavam

In the same way something is born, and in the same way it goes to its end in the five elements. When merit and demerit have been exhausted, urged on by merit and demerit, he enters a body in time, and so this one comes to be born of action.

Verse 33 (12.281.33)

हित्वाहित्वा ह्ययं प्रैति देहाद्देहं कृताश्रयः । कालसंचोदितः क्षेत्री विशीर्णाद्वा गृहाद्गृहम् ॥

hitvāhitvā hyayaṃ praiti dehāddehaṃ kṛtāśrayaḥ | kālasaṃcoditaḥ kṣetrī viśīrṇādvā gṛhādgṛham

Leaving one body after another, this one goes from body to body, making his dwelling in each, driven by Time, as the owner of a field goes from one crumbling house to another.

Verse 34 (12.281.34)

तं तु नैवानुतप्यन्ते प्राज्ञा निश्चितनिश्चयाः । कृपणास्त्वनुतप्यन्ते जनाः संबन्धिमानिनः ॥

taṃ tu naivānutapyante prājñā niścitaniścayāḥ | kṛpaṇāstvanutapyante janāḥ saṃbandhimāninaḥ

The wise, firm in their resolve, do not grieve over him; but the wretched grieve, people who take pride in their kinship.

Verse 35 (12.281.35)

न ह्ययं कस्यचित्कश्चिन्नास्य कश्चन विद्यते । भवत्येको ह्ययं नित्यं शरीरे सुखदुःखकृत् ॥

na hyayaṃ kasyacitkaścinnāsya kaścana vidyate | bhavatyeko hyayaṃ nityaṃ śarīre sukhaduḥkhakṛt

This one belongs to no one, and no one belongs to him. He is alone, always, in the body, the maker of pleasure and pain.

Verse 36 (12.281.36)

नैव संजायते जन्तुर्न च जातु विपद्यते । याति देहमयं मुक्त्वा कदाचित्परमां गतिम् ॥

naiva saṃjāyate janturna ca jātu vipadyate | yāti dehamayaṃ muktvā kadācitparamāṃ gatim

The creature is never born, nor does he ever perish; leaving the body he goes, at some time, to the highest state.

Verse 37 (12.281.37)

पुण्यपापमयं देहं क्षपयन्कर्मसंक्षयात् । क्षीणदेहः पुनर्देही ब्रह्मत्वमुपगच्छति ॥

puṇyapāpamayaṃ dehaṃ kṣapayankarmasaṃkṣayāt | kṣīṇadehaḥ punardehī brahmatvamupagacchati

Wearing out the body made of merit and demerit by the exhaustion of action, the embodied one, his body spent, attains the state of Brahman.

Verse 38 (12.281.38)

पुण्यपापक्षयार्थं हि साङ्ख्यज्ञानं विधीयते । तत्क्षये हृदि पश्यन्ति ब्रह्मभावे परां गतिम् ॥

puṇyapāpakṣayārthaṃ hi sāṅkhyajñānaṃ vidhīyate | tatkṣaye hṛdi paśyanti brahmabhāve parāṃ gatim

For the destruction of merit and demerit the knowledge of Sankhya is prescribed; when they are destroyed, they see in the heart the highest goal, in the state of Brahman.”