CHAPTER V
On this, too, O chief of the descendants of Bharata! they relate this ancient story, (in the form of) a dialogue, which occurred, O son of Prithâ! between a husband and wife. A Brâhmana’s wife, seeing the Brâhmana her husband, who had gone through all knowledge and experience, seated in seclusion, spoke to him (thus): ‘What world, indeed, shall I go to, depending on you as (my) husband, you who live renouncing (all) action, and who are harsh and undiscerning. We have heard that wives attain to the worlds acquired by (their) husbands. What goal, verily, shall I reach, having got you for my husband?’ Thus addressed, that man of a tranquil self, spoke to her with a slight smile: ‘O beautiful one! O sinless one! I am not offended at these words of yours. Whatever action there is, that can be caught (by the touch), or seen, or heard, that only do the men of action engage in as action.
Those who are devoid of knowledge only lodge delusion in themselves by means of action. And freedom from action is not to be attained in this world even for an instant. From birth to the destruction of the body, action, good or bad, by act, mind or speech, does exist among (all) beings. While the paths (of action), in which the materials are visible, are destroyed by demons, I have perceived by means of the self the seat abiding in the self–(the seat) where dwells the Brahman free from the pairs of opposites, and the moon together with the fire, upholding (all) beings (as) the mover of the intellectual principle; (the seat) for which Brahman and others concentrating (their minds) worship that indestructible (principle), and for which learned men have their senses restrained, and their selves tranquil, and (observe) good vows. It is not to be smelt by the nose, and not to be tasted by the tongue. It is not to be touched by the sense of touch, but is to be apprehended by the mind. It cannot be conquered by the eyes, and is entirely beyond the senses of hearing. It is devoid of smell, devoid of taste and touch, devoid of color and sound, and imperishable. (It is that) from which (this whole) expanse (of the universe) proceeds, and on which it rests.
From this the Prâna, Apâna, Samâna, Vyâna, and Udâna also proceed, and into it they enter. Between the Samâna and the Vyâna, the Prâna and the Apâna moved. When that is asleep, the Samâna and Vyâna also are absorbed; and between the Prâna and the Apâna dwells the Udâna pervading (all). Therefore the Prâna and the Apâna do not forsake a sleeping person. That is called the Udâna, as the life-winds are controlled (by it). And therefore those who study the Brahman engage in penance of which I am the goal. In the interior, in the midst of all these (life-winds) which move about in the body and swallow up one another, blazes the Vaisvâna fire sevenfold. The nose, and the tongue, and the eye, and the skin, and the ear as the fifth, the mind and the understanding, these are the seven tongues of the blaze of Vaisvânara. That which is to be smelt, that which is to be drunk, that which is to be seen, that which is to be touched, and likewise that which is to be heard, and also that which is to be thought of, and that which is to be understood, those are the seven (kinds of) fuel for me.
That which smells, that which cats, that which sees, that which touches, and that which hears as the fifth, that which thinks, and that which understands, these are the seven great officiating priests. And mark this always, O beautiful one! The learned sacrificers throwing (in) due (form) the seven offerings into the seven fires in seven ways, produce them in their wombs; (namely), that which is to be smelt, that which is to be drunk, that which is to be seen, that which is to be touched, and likewise that which is to be heard, that which is to be thought of, and also that which is to be understood. Earth, air, space, water, and light as the fifth, mind and understanding, these seven, indeed, are named wombs. All the qualities which stand as offerings are absorbed into the mouth of the fire; and having dwelt within that dwelling are born in their respective wombs. And in that very (principle), which is the generator of all entities, they remain absorbed during (the time of) deluge.
From that is produced smell; from that is produced taste; from that is produced color; from that touch is produced; from that is produced sound; from that doubt is produced; from that is produced determination. This (is what) they know as the sevenfold production. In this very way was it comprehended by the ancients. Becoming perfected by the perfect sacrifice, they were perfectly filled with light.’
