CHAPTER XVIII
The Brâhmana said:
O modest one! I do not move about in this world in the way which, according to your own understanding, you have guessed. I am a Brâhmana, I am emancipated, I am a forester, and I likewise perform the duties of a householder, observing vows. I am not such, O beautiful one! as you see me with the eye. I pervade every single thing that is in this world. Whatever creatures there are in the world, movable or not moving, know me to be the destroyer of them as fire is of wood. Sovereignty over the whole world, and even over heaven; that, or else this knowledge; (of these two) knowledge is my only wealth. This is the path of the Brâhmanas, by which those who understand that proceed, to households, or residence in forests, or, dwelling with preceptors, or among mendicants. With numerous unconfused symbols only one knowledge is approached. And those who, adhering to various symbols and Âsramas, have their understanding full of tranquility, go to the single entity as rivers to the ocean.
This path is traversed by the understanding, not by the body. Actions have a beginning and an end, and the body is tied down by action. Hence, O beautiful one! You (need) have no fear occasioned by the other world. With your heart intent upon the real entity, you will certainly come into my self.