Mahabharata — Volume VIII (Dutt edition) — Chapter 66

MBh 8 66.1

भीष्म उवाच इत्युक्तोऽभिप्रशस्यैतत् परमर्षस्तु शासनम्। मोक्षधर्मार्थसंयुक्तमिदं प्रष्टुं प्रचक्रमे॥

bhīṣma uvāca ityukto'bhipraśasyaitat paramarṣastu śāsanam| mokṣadharmārthasaṃyuktamidaṃ praṣṭuṃ pracakrame||

Bhishma said Thus addressed by his father, Shuka, highly praising these instructions of the great Rishi, began to ask the following questions regarding the import of duties which brings on Liberation.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 66.2

शुक उवाच प्रज्ञावाश्रोत्रियो यज्वा कृतप्रज्ञोऽनसूयकः। अनागतामनैतिचं कथं ब्रह्माधिगच्छति॥

śuka uvāca prajñāvāśrotriyo yajvā kṛtaprajño'nasūyakaḥ| anāgatāmanaiticaṃ kathaṃ brahmādhigacchati||

Shuka said By what means does a wise man well-read in the Vedas, observant of sacrifices, and shorn of malice attains to Brahma which is incapable of being apprehended by either direct evidence or inference, and incapable of being described by the Vedas.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 66.3

तवयस ब्रह्मचर्येण सर्वत्यागेन मेधया। सांख्ये वा यदि वा योग एतत् पृष्टो वदस्व मे॥

tavayasa brahmacaryeṇa sarvatyāgena medhayā| sāṃkhye vā yadi vā yoga etat pṛṣṭo vadasva me||

Asked by me, tell me by what means can Brahma be known. Is it by penance, by Brahmacharya, by renunciation of everything, by intelligence, by help of the Sankhya philosophy, or by the Yoga?

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 66.4

मनसश्चेन्द्रियाणां च यथैकाम्यमवाप्यते। येनोपायेन पुरुषैस्तत् त्वं व्याख्यातुमर्हसि॥

manasaścendriyāṇāṃ ca yathaikāmyamavāpyate| yenopāyena puruṣaistat tvaṃ vyākhyātumarhasi||

What are the means and what sort of singleness of purpose may inen acquire regarding both, viz., the mind and the senses? You should explain all this to me!

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 66.5

व्यास उवाच नान्यत्र विद्यातपसोर्नान्यत्रेन्द्रियनिग्रहात्। नान्यत्र सर्वसंत्यागात् सिद्धिं विन्दति कश्चन॥

vyāsa uvāca nānyatra vidyātapasornānyatrendriyanigrahāt| nānyatra sarvasaṃtyāgāt siddhiṃ vindati kaścana||

Vyasa said No man achieves success by any other means save the acquisition of knowledge, the practice of penances, the control of the senses, and renunciation of everything.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 66.6

महाभूतानि सर्वाणि पूर्वसृष्टिः स्वयम्भुवः। भूयिष्ठं प्राणभृदग्नामे निविष्टानि शरीरिषु॥

mahābhūtāni sarvāṇi pūrvasṛṣṭiḥ svayambhuvaḥ| bhūyiṣṭhaṃ prāṇabhṛdagnāme niviṣṭāni śarīriṣu||

The great elements (five in number) represent the first creation of the Self-create. They have been very largely put in embodied creatures living in the world of life.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 66.7

भूमेदेहो जलात् स्नेहो ज्योतिषश्चक्षुषी स्मृते। प्राणापानाश्रयो वायु: खेष्वाकाशं शरीरिणाम्॥

bhūmedeho jalāt sneho jyotiṣaścakṣuṣī smṛte| prāṇāpānāśrayo vāyu: kheṣvākāśaṃ śarīriṇām||

The bodies of all embodied creatures are originated from earth. Their humours originate from water. Their eyes originate from light. Prana, Apana (and other vital breaths), depend on the wind. And, lastly, all unoccupied apertures within them originate from Space.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 66.8

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

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

Vishnu is in the feet (of living creatures). Indra is in their arms. Within the stomach lies Agni, desirous of eating. The points of the horizon are in the ears, the organ of hearing. Speech, which is the goddess of learning, is in the tongue.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 66.9

कर्णी त्वक् चक्षुषी जिह्वार नासिका चैव पञ्चमी। दर्शनीयेन्द्रियोक्तानि द्वाराण्याहारसिद्धये॥

karṇī tvak cakṣuṣī jihvāra nāsikā caiva pañcamī| darśanīyendriyoktāni dvārāṇyāhārasiddhaye||

The ears, skin, eyes, tongue, and nose forming the fifth, are the senses of knowledge. These exist for apprehending their respective objects.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 66.10

शब्दः स्पर्शस्तथा रूपं रसो गन्धश्च पञ्चमः। इन्द्रियार्थान् पृथग्विद्यादिन्द्रियेभ्यस्तु नित्यदा॥

śabdaḥ sparśastathā rūpaṃ raso gandhaśca pañcamaḥ| indriyārthān pṛthagvidyādindriyebhyastu nityadā||

Sound, touch, from, taste, and scent for the fifth, are the objects of the (five) senses. These should always be considered as distinct from the senses.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 66.11

इन्द्रियाणि मनोयुङ्क्ते वश्यान् यन्तेव वाजिनः। पनश्चापि सदा युङ्क्ते भूतात्मा हृदयाश्रितः॥

indriyāṇi manoyuṅkte vaśyān yanteva vājinaḥ| panaścāpi sadā yuṅkte bhūtātmā hṛdayāśritaḥ||

Like the charioteer driving his well trained horses along the paths he likes, the mind, imoves the senses. The mind, in its turn, is inoved by the Understanding sitting in the heart.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 66.12

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 employing them in their functions and guiding controlling them. Likewise, the Understanding is the lord of the mind.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 66.13

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, the attributes of the objects of Nature, understanding, mind, the vital our and individual soul dwell in the bodies of all embodied creatures.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 66.14

आश्रयो नास्ति सत्त्वस्य गुणाः शब्दो न चेतना। सत्त्वं हि तेजः सृजति न गुणान् वै कथंचन॥

āśrayo nāsti sattvasya guṇāḥ śabdo na cetanā| sattvaṃ hi tejaḥ sṛjati na guṇān vai kathaṃcana||

The body within which the Understanding lives, has no real existence. The body, therefore, is not the seat of the Understanding. Nature (Prakriti), endued with three qualities, is the refuge of the Understanding which exists only in the form of a sound. The Soul also is not the refuge of the Understanding. It is Desire which creates the Understanding. Desire, however, never creates the three qualities.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 66.15

एवं सप्तदशं देहे वृतं षोडशभिर्गुणैः। मनीषी मनसा विप्रः पश्यत्यात्मानमात्मनि॥

evaṃ saptadaśaṃ dehe vṛtaṃ ṣoḍaśabhirguṇaiḥ| manīṣī manasā vipraḥ paśyatyātmānamātmani||

The wise man, capable of controlling his senses, sees the seventeenth, viz., the Soul as surrounded by six and ten qualities, in his own Understanding by the help of the mind.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 66.16

न ह्ययं चक्षुषा दृश्यो न च सर्वैरपीन्द्रियैः। मनसा तु प्रदीपेन महानात्मा प्रकाशते॥

na hyayaṃ cakṣuṣā dṛśyo na ca sarvairapīndriyaiḥ| manasā tu pradīpena mahānātmā prakāśate||

The Soul cannot be seen with the help of the eye, or with that of all the senses. Getting over all, the Soul can be seen by only the light of the mind's lamp.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 66.17

अशब्दस्पर्शरूपं तदरसागन्धमव्ययम्। अशरीरं शरीरेषु निरीक्षेत निरिन्द्रियम्॥

aśabdasparśarūpaṃ tadarasāgandhamavyayam| aśarīraṃ śarīreṣu nirīkṣeta nirindriyam||

Shorn of the properties of sound and touch and form, without taste and smell, indestructible and without a body and without senses, it is nevertheless seen within the body.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 66.18

अव्यक्तं सर्वदेहेषु मर्येषु परमाश्रितम्। योऽनुपश्यति स प्रेत्य कल्पते ब्रह्मभूयसे॥

avyaktaṃ sarvadeheṣu maryeṣu paramāśritam| yo'nupaśyati sa pretya kalpate brahmabhūyase||

Unmanifest and supreme, it lives in all mortal frames, Guided by the preceptor and the Vedas, he who sees it hereafter becomes Brahma's self.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 66.19

विद्याभिजनसम्पन्ने ब्राह्मणे गवि हस्तिनि। शुचि चैव श्वपाके च पण्डिताः समदर्शिनः॥

vidyābhijanasampanne brāhmaṇe gavi hastini| śuci caiva śvapāke ca paṇḍitāḥ samadarśinaḥ||

The wise see impartially a Brahmana gifted with knowledge and disciples, a cow, an elephant, a dog, and a Chandala.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 66.20

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

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

Transcending all things, the Soul lives in all creatures, mobile and immobile.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 66.21

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

sarvabhūteṣu cātmānaṃ sarvabhūtāni cātmani| yadā paśyati bhūtātmā brahma sampadyate tadā||

When a living creature sees his own Soul in all things, and all things in his own Soul, he is said to attain to Brahma.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 66.22

यावानात्मनि वेदात्मा तावानात्मा परात्मनि। य एवं सततं वेद सोऽमृतत्वाय कल्पते॥

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

One occupies the Supreme Soul proportionate to what is occupied in one's own soul by Vedic sound. He who can always realise the identity of all things with his own self, forsooth, acquires immortality.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 66.23

सर्वभूतात्मभूतस्य विभोर्भूतहितस्य च। देवाऽपि मार्गे मुह्यन्ति अपदस्य पदैषिणः॥

sarvabhūtātmabhūtasya vibhorbhūtahitasya ca| devā'pi mārge muhyanti apadasya padaiṣiṇaḥ||

Even the gods are stupefied in the path of that trackless man who forms the soul of all creatures, who is engaged in the well being of all creatures and who wishes to attain to the final refuge (of all things).

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 66.24

शकुन्तानामिवाकाशे मत्स्यानामिव चोदके। यथा गतिर्न दृश्येत तथा ज्ञानविदां गतिः॥

śakuntānāmivākāśe matsyānāmiva codake| yathā gatirna dṛśyeta tathā jñānavidāṃ gatiḥ||

Indeed, the road which is followed by men of knowledge is as invisible as that of birds in the sky or of fish in water.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 66.25

काल: पचति भूतानि सर्वाण्येवात्मनात्मनि। यस्मिस्तु पच्यते कालस्तं वेदेह न कश्चन॥

kāla: pacati bhūtāni sarvāṇyevātmanātmani| yasmistu pacyate kālastaṃ vedeha na kaścana||

Time, by its own power, cooks all entities within itself. No one, however, knows That in which Time, again, is itself cooked.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 66.26

न तदूर्ध्वं न तिर्यक् च नाधो न च पुनः पुनः । न मध्ये प्रतिगृह्णीते नैव किंचित् कुतश्चन॥

na tadūrdhvaṃ na tiryak ca nādho na ca punaḥ punaḥ | na madhye pratigṛhṇīte naiva kiṃcit kutaścana||

That does not take place above, or in the middle or below, or in transverse or in any Other direction. That is no tangible thing and cannot be found in any placc.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 66.27

सर्वेऽन्तःस्था इमे लोका बाह्ममेषां न किंचन। यद्यजस्रं समागच्छेद् यथा बाणो गुणच्युतः॥ नैवान्तं कारणस्येयाद् यद्यपि स्यान्मनोजवः। तस्मात् सूक्ष्मात् सूक्ष्मतरं नास्ति स्थूलतरं ततः॥

sarve'ntaḥsthā ime lokā bāhmameṣāṃ na kiṃcana| yadyajasraṃ samāgacched yathā bāṇo guṇacyutaḥ|| naivāntaṃ kāraṇasyeyād yadyapi syānmanojavaḥ| tasmāt sūkṣmāt sūkṣmataraṃ nāsti sthūlataraṃ tataḥ||

All these worlds exists within That. There is nothing in these worlds which exists out of That. Even if one goes on ceaselessly with the motion of arrow shot off the bow-string, even if one goes on with the speed of the mind itself, one would not still get at the end of that which is the cause of all this. There is nothing grosser than that.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 66.28

सर्वतः पाणिपादं तत् सर्वतोऽक्षिशिरोमुखम्। सर्वतःश्रुतिमल्लोके सर्वमावृत्य तिष्ठति॥

sarvataḥ pāṇipādaṃ tat sarvato'kṣiśiromukham| sarvataḥśrutimalloke sarvamāvṛtya tiṣṭhati||

His hands and feet are everywhere. His cyes, head, and face are everywhere. His ears are everywhere in the universe. He exists Occupying all things.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 66.29

तदेवाणोरणुतरं तन्महद्भ्यो महत्तरम्। तदन्तःसर्वभूतानां ध्रुवं तिष्ठन्न दृश्यते॥

tadevāṇoraṇutaraṃ tanmahadbhyo mahattaram| tadantaḥsarvabhūtānāṃ dhruvaṃ tiṣṭhanna dṛśyate||

That is minuter than the minutest, and is the heart of all things. Though existing, that is still imperceptible.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 66.30

अक्षरं च क्षरं चैव द्वैधीभावोऽयमात्मनः। क्षरः सर्वेषु भूतेष दिव्यं तमृतमक्षरम्॥

akṣaraṃ ca kṣaraṃ caiva dvaidhībhāvo'yamātmanaḥ| kṣaraḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣa divyaṃ tamṛtamakṣaram||

Indestructible and destructible,-these are the dual forms of the (Supreme) Self. The existence it shows in all mobile and immobile entities is destructible; while the existence in shows in Chaitanya is celestial, immortal, and indestructible.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 66.31

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||

Though the master of all existent beings both mobile and immobile, though inactive and shorn of attributes, it enters nevertheless the well-known house of nine doors and becomes engaged in action.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 66.32

हानिभङ्गविकल्पानां नवानां संचयेन च। शरीराणामजस्याहुहँसत्वं पारदर्शिनः॥

hānibhaṅgavikalpānāṃ navānāṃ saṃcayena ca| śarīrāṇāmajasyāhuha~satvaṃ pāradarśinaḥ||

Wise men who can see the other shore hold that the Supreme Soul becomes endued with the attribute of action on account of motion, pleasure and pain, variety of form, and the nine well-known possessions.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 8 66.33

हंसोक्तं चाक्षरं चैव कूटस्थं यत् तदक्षरम्। तद् विद्वानक्षरं प्राप्य जहाति प्राणजन्मनी॥

haṃsoktaṃ cākṣaraṃ caiva kūṭasthaṃ yat tadakṣaram| tad vidvānakṣaraṃ prāpya jahāti prāṇajanmanī||

That indestructible Soul which is said to be endued with the attribute or action is nothing else than the indestructible Soul which is said to be inactive. A learned person, by attaining to that indestructible essence, gives up for ever both life and birth.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)