106. Sense-objects are pleasurable only as dependent on the Atman manifesting through them, and not independently, because the
Atman is by Its very nature the most beloved of all. Therefore the Atman is ever blissful, and never suffers misery.
107. That in profound sleep we experience the bliss of the Atman independent of sense-objects, is clearly attested by the Shruti,
direct perception, tradition and inference.
108. Avidya (Nescience) or Maya, called also the Undifferentiated, is the power of the Lord. She is without beginning, is made up of
the three Gunas and is superior to the effects (as their cause). She is to be inferred by one of clear intellect only from the effects
She produces. It is She who brings forth this whole universe.
109. She is neither existent nor non-existent nor partaking of both characters; neither same nor different nor both; neither composed
of parts nor an indivisible whole nor both. She is most wonderful and cannot be described in words.
110. Maya can be destroyed by the realisation of the pure Brahman, the one without a second, just as the mistaken idea of a snake
is removed by the discrimination of the rope. She has her Gunas as Rajas, Tamas and Sattva, named after their respective
functions.
111. Rajas has its Vikshepa-Shakti or projecting power, which is of the nature of an activity, and from which this primeval flow of
activity has emanated. From this also, mental modifications such as attachment and grief are continually produced.
112. Lust, anger, avarice, arrogance, spite, egoism, envy, jealousy, etc., — these are the dire attributes of Rajas, from which the
worldly tendency of man is produced. Therefore Rajas is a cause of bondage.
113. Avriti or the veiling power is the power of Tamas, which makes things appear other than what they are. It is this that causes
man’s repeated transmigrations, and starts the action of the projecting power (Vikshepa).
114. Even wise and learned men and men who are clever and adept in the vision of the exceedingly subtle Atman, are overpowered
by Tamas and do not understand the Atman, even though clearly explained in various ways. What is simply superimposed by
delusion, they consider as true, and attach themselves to its effects. Alas ! How powerful is the great Avriti Shakti of dreadful Tamas
!
115. Absence of the right judgment, or contrary judgment, want of definite belief and doubt – these certainly never desert one who
has any connection with this veiling power, and then the projecting power gives ceaseless trouble.
116. Ignorance, lassitude, dullness, sleep, inadvertence, stupidity, etc., are attributes of Tamas. One tied to these does not
comprehend anything, but remains like one asleep or like a stock or stone.
117. Pure Sattva is (clear) like water, yet in conjunction with Rajas and Tamas it makes for transmigration. The reality of the Atman
becomes reflected in Sattva and like the sun reveals the entire world of matter.
118. The traits of mixed Sattva are an utter absence of pride etc., and Niyama, Yama, etc., as well as faith, devotion, yearning for
Liberation, the divine tendencies and turning away from the unreal.
119. The traits of pure Sattva are cheerfulness, the realisation of one’s own Self, supreme peace, contentment, bliss, and steady
devotion to the Atman, by which the aspirant enjoys bliss everlasting.
120. This Undifferentiated, spoken of as the compound of the three Gunas, is the causal body of the soul. Profound sleep is its
special state, in which the functions of the mind and all its organs are suspended.
121. Profound sleep is the cessation of all kinds of perception, in which the mind remains in a subtle seed-like form. The test of this
is the universal verdict, “I did not know anything then”.
122. The body, organs, Pranas, Manas, egoism, etc., all modifications, the sense-objects, pleasure and the rest, the gross
elements such as the ether, in fact, the whole universe, up to the Undifferentiated – all this is the non-Self.
123. From Mahat down to the gross body everything is the effect of Maya: These and Maya itself know thou to be the non-Self, and
therefore unreal like the mirage in a desert.
124. Now I am going to tell thee of the real nature of the supreme Self, realising which man is freed from bondage and attains
Liberation.
125. There is some Absolute Entity, the eternal substratum of the consciousness of egoism, the witness of the three states, and
distinct from the five sheaths or coverings:
126. Which knows everything that happens in the waking state, in dream and in profound sleep; which is aware of the presence or
absence of the mind and its functions; and which is the background of the notion of egoism. – This is That.
127. Which Itself sees all, but which no one beholds, which illumines the intellect etc., but which they cannot illumine. – This is
That.
128. By which this universe is pervaded, but which nothing pervades, which shining, all this (universe) shines as Its reflection. – This
is That.
129. By whose very presence the body, the organs, mind and intellect keep to their respective spheres of action, like servants !
130. By which everything from egoism down to the body, the sense-objects and pleasure etc., is known as palpably as a jar – for It
is the essence of Eternal Knowledge !
