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2024-04-26, 8:27 PM |
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Chapter
26: Fundamental Principles of Material
Nature
(1) The Supreme Lord said: 'I will now describe to
you the different categories of reality, knowing which anyone can be
released from the [yoke of the] modes of material nature. (2) I will explain that to you about which one
speaks as the spiritual knowledge [the jñâna] that cuts the
knots [of egoism] in the heart and constitutes the ultimate truth of
one's self-realization. (3) The Supreme Soul, the Original Person is
beginningless and is, situated in the beyond of all matter,
transcendental to the modes of
nature. He can be perceived everywhere as the self-effulgence of the
entire creation that is maintained by Him. (4) That
very person, the greatest of the great, accepted out of his own free will as His pastime the subtle material energy
that is invested with the three modes and
relates to the divinity [of Vishnu]. (5) Nature by
means of the modes created the variegated forms of the materially
living beings. They in this world being confronted with it, were from the first day on illusioned by
it
because they
[those forms] constitute the covering of their spiritual knowledge. (6) Because the living
entity identifies himself with the material action that was brought
about by the modes of nature and is other than himself, he unjustly
considers himself the doer. (7) He
because of that
bound to a
conditioned life thus became dependent, even though he is the naturally
joyful and independent witness who does not do anything. (8) The
knowers of truth understand that the
body and the senses of one's respect are subject to the causation of
the material modes of nature and that the
spiritual soul above all matter is responsible for the experience of happiness and distress [see
also B.G. 13: 21].'
(9) Devahûti said: 'Kindly explain to me the
characteristics of the energies and the Original Person [prakriti and
purusha] who together constitute the cause of the manifest
and unmanifest reality this creation consists of.'
(10) The Supreme Lord said: 'The
undifferentiated, eternal reality that differentiated in the form of
material nature [prakriti] as a combination of the three modes,
this cause belonging to the effect [of this material manifestation], is
called the primary nature [the primal ether or pradhâna]. (11)
That primary nature is known as the basis from which the five gross and five
subtle elements,
the ten senses of
perception and action and the
four internal sense departments [of mind, ego, consciousness and
intelligence] evolved
who
together
add
up
to
a
number
of twenty-four [see also elements]. (12) The five
gross elements are to be exact: earth, water, fire, air and ether. Of
the subtle
elements there
are, to My notion, as
many. They are the smell and so on [taste, color, touch and sound]. (13) The ten
senses are the organs of [perception
of] hearing,
touching, seeing, tasting and smelling, with the [organs of
action known as the] mouth, the hands, the legs, the genitals and the
organs of excretion as the tenth.
(14) Mind, intelligence,
ego and consciousness are the four aspects of the internal, subtle
sense one distinguishes when one pays attention to the different
characteristics of the [brain] functions. (15) Thus
are with the classification I provided the material
qualities of the Absolute Truth of Brahman summed up [called saguna
brahman]. One speaks thereto of time as the twenty-fifth element.
(16) The influence of the Original Personality of
God is said to be the time factor that is feared by some who are
deluded by the ego of being in contact with the material nature of
one's individual existence. (17) The
[expanding, accelerating]
movement of material nature without her interaction of the modes and
their specific qualities oh daughter of Manu, is the [space]time [the
fourth dimension] from which we in our world know Him, the Supreme Lord. (18) He who abides within in the
form of the original person [purusha] and without in the form of
time [the twenty-fifth element], exists by
[exhibiting] His potencies
as the Lord of All Opulence [Bhagavân,
the
Fortunate
One]
for
all living entities [and elements]. (19) She
[material nature] whose
equilibrium of the modes was agitated by the grace, the divine
ordinance, of the Supreme Person who impregnated her womb with
His
semen, His internal potency, delivers the sum total of the cosmic
intelligence [the mahat-tattva] of Brahmâ's effulgent
golden reality [known as hiranmaya]. (20) The universe which contains this
unchangeable root cause of the cosmic manifestation within itself,
swallowed by its own effulgence the dense darkness of the Self in its
primordial slumber. (21) The
mode of goodness, which is the clear
and sober position of understanding the Supreme Lord, is known by the
name
of Vâsudeva; it is the consciousness that constitutes the nature
of the
intellect [see also S.B. 1.2: 23]. (22) The characteristic
traits of one's [reason in this state of Krishna or natural time]
consciousness
thus are
similar to those
of the natural state of pure water: clarity, invariability and serenity.
(23-24) From the complete
reality [of the mahat-tattva]
that
undergoes
changes brought about by the Supreme Lord His
energies, the in five divided elements, the material ego [or
I-awareness] and the therefrom generated mind in combination with the
different senses of action and perception sprang up. Moved by
that active potency
of the Lord the ego manifested itself in the three forms of goodness,
passion and
ignorance. (25) All
of that ego consisting of the elements,
senses and mind is in person the Supreme Personality of Ananta with His
thousands of heads [Vishnu's snake-bed] who is known by the name of
Sankarshana [and also as the Supreme Lord's first plenary
expansion]. (26) The
false ego, the materially identified self, can thus [according to the
three gunas]
be characterized as being the one acting, the
instrument that is handled [the body] as also the effect of the actions
[or that what was realized]. One may in that context also speak of the
ego as being serene, active or dull. (27) With the transformation [of the ego in three
false forms] from its emotions [in goodness] the
principle of mind evolved that with its thoughts and reflections gives
rise to
desires. (28) The name of that principle is Aniruddha, He
who [as the personal expansion of the mind of Vâsudeva] is
known as the supreme ruler of the
senses. He is bluish like a lotus in autumn and is only gradually
realized by the yogis. (29) From the brilliance of the light of the
transformation arose the principle of intelligence [the primal expansion of the Lord named
Pradyumna] oh virtuous lady, in
order to assist in sensually ascertaining the objects that can be
perceived [see also S.B. 1.5: 37]. (30) Doubt, misapprehension, correct
apprehension, memory and sleep are thus said to be the different
characteristics of the functions of intelligence.
(31) From the forceful
action of the ego we have the
senses for arriving at actions and the acquiring of knowledge according
to the active powers of respectively
the vital energy and the
intelligence. (32) Impelled
by
the
potency
of
the
Supreme
Lord from the ignorance of the ego
in
transformation the
subtle element of sound was manifested. Then from the ether the
sense of hearing to catch the sounds rose. (33) Persons
of
learning
define
sound
as
that
which
is
indicative
of
an
object,
as
that
which
betrays
the
presence
of
a speaker [who remembered no longer
might be present] and as that which
characterizes the subtle element of the sky [the ether]. (34) As
for its action and
characteristics the ether is described as the element internally and
externally giving room to the living beings and as the field of activities of the vital air [prana],
the senses and the mind. (35) From
the ether evolving from the subtlety of sound the evolution of
the subtle element of touch takes place under the transforming impulse of time and thus the air is
found as also the
sense organ for it and of that sense of touch the active perception. (36) Softness
and
hardness
as
well
as
cold
and
heat
are
of
this
subtle
element
of
touch
the
distinguished
attributes
in
the sensual experience of the air.
(37)
By the different characteristics of the air in action, which moves and
mixes, brings close and transports particles [of dust] and waves of
sound, the other senses are stimulated to function properly. (38)
As arranged by fate from the element of the air and the subtle element
of touch the form [one has] evolved
in which with fire the sense
of
sight arose for perceiving color and form.
(39) Oh virtuous one,
the characteristics of the form element are the dimension, the quality
and the individuality of an object. For fire this is the
effulgence. (40) The functions of fire consist of illumining,
digesting,
heating, evaporating, to give rise to hunger and thirst and to serve
with food and drink. (41) From
the form element
that under divine ordinance transforms under the influence of fire the
element of taste manifested from which with the water the
tongue appeared that perceives the taste. (42) Even
though taste is one, it is in contact with all the different substances
divided into the
sensations of the astringent, sweet, bitter, pungent [salt] and sour. (43) The typicality of water is to be moistening,
coagulating, quenching, life-sustaining, refreshing, softening, cooling
and to be available in abundance. (44) Because
of
the
transformations
of
the
element
of
taste
in
relation
to
the
water,
by
superior
arrangement
finding
earth, the measure of odor
manifested so as to smell
the aromas. (45) The
oneness of odor is, depending the proportions of the substances,
divided
in the
separate realizations of odors being mixed, offensive, fragrant, mild,
strong, acidic and
so on. (46) The
characteristic function of the earth is
to be modeled into forms of the
Supreme Brahman with places of
residence, pots to contain substances etc. that constitute the place for the presence of anything that
can be separated in space.
(47)
The sense that has the distinctive character of the sky [sound] as its
object is called the auditory sense and that sense which has the
different features of the air [touch] as its object of perception is
known as the tactile sense. (48) The
sense which has as its
object that what is distinguished by fire [viz. form] is called
the sense of sight, the specific perception of the characteristics of
water is
known as the sense of taste and the perception of that what characterizes earth is called the
sense of smell.
(49) In the
characteristics of the effect of something the characteristics of the
cause can be recognized. Hence one can retrace in the earth element
only [being the element created last] the peculiarities of all the
preceding elements. (50) When [in the beginning of creation] the
seven primary elements [the five material elements,
ego and cosmic intelligence - the mahat-tattva] were not yet
mixed, [the Lord,] the origin of
creation endowed with kâla,
karma
and guna [time,
workload and the modes] entered
the universe. (51) Next
were by Him [in the form of time] these seven elements roused into
activity and united in an egg-shape in an unconscious state. From that
egg the
celebrated Cosmic Being [or the original 'gigantic' person, the virâth
purusha] manifested. (52) This
egg is called vis'esha ['the differentiated reality']. It is
the outer form of Lord
Hari, the Supreme Personality extending as the planetary systems [see S.B. 2.1: 24-37] that
consist of successive layers of water and the other elements, each ten
times thicker than the previous one. On the outside they are enveloped
by pradhâna, the unevolved state of matter [the primal
ether]. (53) From
the golden
[sunshine of the] universal egg arose, from within the waters that He
pervaded
and was lying in, the greatness of God [Mahâdeva] divided in many
cells [kham, ethereal apertures in
control of the light]. (54) The
first to
appear from Him was a mouth with next the organ of speech.
Thereafter the divinity of fire [Vahni, the godhead ruling the fire of
digestion] also appeared which was followed by the nostrils
and the
olfactory sense and life breath [prâna]
belonging to them. (55) From
the
olfactory sense the divinity of the wind [Vâyu] appeared, then from the sense of sight of the two eyes the divinity of the sun
[Sûrya] manifested and from the auditory sense of the two
ears [next] the divinity that rules the directions appeared. (56) Then
the skin appeared of the universal form with its hair growth and such,
whereupon the
curative herbs appeared followed by the sexual organs. (57) From
them there was semen and the
manifestation of the divinity of the waters. Also an anus appeared
and
from that anus the capacity to evacuate. Then [the god of] death
appeared who causes fear throughout
the world. (58) Also
two
hands manifested together with the power they have and thereafter Lord
Indra [the sovereignty] appeared. From the manifestation of the two
legs the onward movement manifested itself with next the appearance of
the Lord [Lord Vishnu who rules them]. (59-60) The veins of the universal form
manifested themselves together with the blood produced with them.
Therewith the rivers appeared as also a stomach with which
hunger and thirst are found. After their appearance the ocean and the
heart of the universal form manifested. Then from the heart the mind
appeared. (61) From
the mind the moon [Candra] came into view and therefrom
intelligence manifested itself. From that intelligence the Lord of
speech [Brahmâ] manifested. False ego identifying itself with matter then led to the
appearance
of Rudra [S'iva], reason and the divinity ruling reason.
(62)
All these divinities who thus found their
existence were not at all capable of awakening the Original Person and
thus they one after the other returned to the source from which they
generated, in
order to awaken Him. (63)
The god of the fire of digestion went back to the mouth, but
failed to bring Him to life. The god of the wind returned to the
olfactory sense of the nostrils but could not awaken the Original
One. (64) The divinity of light going for His two
eyes
could not make the Authentic One rise and with the divinity of orienting
by
the
auditory
sense on His two
ears, the Greatness of
the Person was not brought to life either. (65)
The divinity of the skin could, with its growth and blessing of herbs,
not wake up the Celebrated Person, nor could the divinity of water with
the
procreation performed by the organs of reproduction rouse the Great
Person. (66) With
the
capacity to defecate the god of death could by approaching His anus not
stir the
Cosmic One into action and not even the two hands of Lord Indra with
their power of
control could find a way to awaken the Master of Rule. (67) Vishnu with the power of progress entering
His two feet was not capable of making the Greatness of the Complete
move into action and the divine flow of the river returning to His
vessels with the blood
and power of circulation neither was able to move the Celebrated
Person. (68) The ocean that followed along with hunger
and
thirst, going to His abdomen could not raise the Gigantic Person and
the
heart
with the mind according to the divinity of the moon failed to awaken
the One
and Only Gigantic Person as well. (69) Also
Brahmâ who entered His heart with intelligence did not make the
Celebrated Person stand up, nor could the complete of the Purusha
be awakened by Lord S'iva sending the ego to His heart. (70) But, the very moment the divinity ruling
consciousness with reason entered the heart as the knower of the
field, the Cosmic Being rose from the causal waters. (71) It is like with a man asleep whose vital
air, working and knowing senses, mind and understanding out of their
own cannot wake him up without Him being present. (72)
Therefore someone who practices yoga should conscientiously, with the
help of
spiritual knowledge, detachment and devotion, consider the
thought of Him, the Supersoul as being present within.'
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