Nowhere is there everlasting happiness; nowhere eternal residence. Over and over again is there a downfall from a high position attained with difficulty.

As the compact association of the five elements is broken up, the wind in the body, distributed within the five elements, between the upward and downward life-winds, being aggravated by cold, and urged by a sharp wind, goes upwards, abandoning the embodied (self) in consequence of pain.

That soul, entering all the limbs of the fœtus, part by part, and dwelling in the seat of the life-wind, supports (them) with the mind. Then the fœtus, becoming possessed of consciousness, moves about its limbs.

(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).

For from avarice is born desire; then anxiety comes into existence; and he who desires, mostly acquires qualities appertaining to the quality of passion. Obtaining those, he mostly acquires qualities appertaining to the quality of darkness. When the bodily frame is destroyed, he, owing to these qualities, is born again and again, and engages in action. And at the expiration of life, again with his body dismembered and scattered about, he meets death, and again birth.

How did speech come into existence first, and how did the mind come into existence afterwards, seeing that words are uttered (after they have been) thought over by the mind? By means of what experience does intelligence come to the mind, and (though) developed, does not comprehend? What verily obstructs it?

As a pupil goes to a preceptor for Vedic learning, and having acquired Vedic learning from him, performs the directions of the Vedic texts, so you treat as yours objects shown by us, both past and future, in sleep and likewise wakefulness. Besides, when creatures of little intelligence are distracted in mind, life is seen to be supported, when our objects perform their functions.

The Brâhmana said: The wind prepared by the Prâna afterwards becomes the Apâna. The wind prepared in the Apâna then works as the Vyâna. The wind prepared by the Vyâna works as the Udâna. And the wind prepared in the Udâna is produced as Samâna. They formerly went to the grandsire, who was born first, and said to him, 'Tell us which is greatest among us. He shall be the greatest among us.'

Pleasure is produced from a mental operation, and (it) is also produced from a sound, (it) is also produced from taste, and (it) is also produced from colour, and (it) is also produced from touch, and (it) is also produced from smell. This is the effect of the Udâna; the pleasure is produced from union.

Smell, and taste, and colour, sound, and touch as the fifth, the object of the mental operation and the object of the understanding, these seven are causes of action. He who smells, he who eats, he who sees, he who speaks, and he who hears as the fifth, he who thinks, and he who understands, these seven should be understood to be the causes of the agents.

Acting sinfully in the world, he becomes (a man of) sinful conduct. Acting virtuously in the world he becomes (a man of) virtuous conduct. And he becomes a man of conduct according to his own desire, who, owing to his desires, is given up to the pleasures of the senses. But he who, casting aside vows and actions, merely adheres to the Brahman, he moving about in the world identifying himself with the Brahman, becomes a Brahmakârin.

There is nothing else more delightful than that, when there is no distinction from it. There is nothing more afflicting than that, when there is a distinction from it. There is nothing smaller than that, there is nothing larger than that. There is nothing more subtle than that; there is no other happiness equal to, that. Entering it, the twice-born do not grieve, and do not exult. They are not afraid of anybody, and nobody is afraid of them.

Nature desires objects which are liked; nature hates all (objects) which are hateful. Desire and hatred are born from nature as the upward and downward life-winds, after attaining to the bodies of living creatures.

(There lived once) a king named Arguna, a descendant of Kritavîrya, possessed of a thousand arms, who with his bow conquered the (whole) earth up to the ocean. Once on a time, as we have heard, he was walking about near the sea, proud of his strength, and showering hundreds of arrows on the sea. The ocean, saluting him, and with joined hands, said, 'O brave man! do not throw arrows (on me). Say, what shall I do for you?

There was (once) a royal sage, named Alarka, whose penance was very great, who understood duty, who was veracious, high-souled, and very firm in his vows. Having with his bow conquered this world as far as the ocean, -- having performed very difficult deeds, -- he turned his mind to subtle (subjects). While he was sitting at the foot of a tree, O you of great intelligence! his thoughts, abandoning (those) great deeds, turned to subtle (questions).

I understand (all) conditions here, in all affairs, to be terminable, hence I could not find anything that should be (called) mine. (Considering) whose this was, (I thought of) the Vedic text about anybody's property, (hence) I could not find by my intelligence anything that should be (called) mine. Resorting to this conviction, I have got rid of (the notion that this or that is) mine. Now hear the conviction, holding which, my domain (appears to me to be) everywhere. I do not desire for myself even smells existing in the nose.

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.

This is not possible to be understood by one whose self is frivolous, or by one whose self is not refined; and my intelligence is very frivolous, and narrow, and confused. Tell me the means by which this knowledge is acquired. I (wish to) learn from you the source from which that knowledge proceeds.

All this, which is connected with the knowledge of the Vedas and involves a consideration of the real entity, and which is cultivated by the chief sages, was declared by Brahman. We consider knowledge only as the highest thing; and renunciation as the best penance.

These dark, evil-conducted men, who are sunk in darkness, who bear the marks of their own actions, the current of whose (thoughts) is downwards, sink into darkness. I will now proceed to state their improvement and ascent; how, becoming men of meritorious actions, they attain to the worlds of those who perform good acts.

The men who meditate on past, present, and future entities in this world, who are always devoted to the triad -- piety, wealth, and lust also -- who acting under (the impulse of) desires exult or. the success of all their desires, these men, who are enveloped by passion, have (their) currents downwards.

The qualities cannot be explained altogether distinctly (from one another). Passion, goodness, and darkness likewise are seen mixed up (with one another). They are attached to one another, they feed on one another. They all depend on one another, and likewise follow one another.

The qualities cannot be explained altogether distinctly (from one another). Passion, goodness, and darkness likewise are seen mixed up (with one another). They are attached to one another, they feed on one another. They all depend on one another, and likewise follow one another. There is no doubt of this, that as long as there is goodness so long darkness exists.

Now listen how one habituated to exclusive meditation attains concentration. Thinking of a quarter seen before, he should steady his mind within and not out of the city in which he dwells. Remaining within (that) city, he should place his mind both in its external and internal (operations) in that habitation in which he dwells.

That great self is signified by these synonymous terms -- the great self, intelligence, Vishnu, Gishnu, Sambhu, the valiant, the understanding, means of knowledge, means of perception, and likewise cognition, courage, memory. Knowing that (great self), a learned Brâhmana comes not by delusion. It has hands and feet on all sides, it has eyes, heads, and faces on all sides; it stands pervading everything in the world. The being of great power is stationed in the heart of all.

That Mahat which was first produced, is (afterwards) called egoism; when it is born as (the feeling itself) I, that is said to be the second creation. That egoism is stated to be the source of all entities, that from which the changes take place; it is full of light, the supporter of consciousness; it is that from which the people are produced, the Pragâpati. It is a deity, the producer of the deities, and of the mind; it is the creator of the three worlds.

O talented one! a great danger for all living beings arises. Every entity is dissolved into that from which it is produced. They are born one from the other, and are dissolved in the reverse order. Then when every entity, movable or immovable, has been dissolved, the talented men who possess a (good) memory are not dissolved at all. Sound, touch, and likewise colour, taste, and smell as the fifth; the operations (connected with these) have causes, and are inconstant, and their name is delusion.

Enlightenment is the characteristic of gods; action the characteristic of men; sound is the characteristic of space; (the sensation of) touch is the characteristic of air; colour is the characteristic of light; taste is the characteristic of water; the characteristic of earth, the supporter of all beings, is smell; words are the characteristic of speech refined into vowels and consonants; the characteristic of mind is thought.

All accumulations end in exhaustion; all ascents end in falls; all associations end in dissociations; and life ends in death. All action ends in destruction; death is certain for whatever is born; (everything) movable or immovable in this world is ever transient. Sacrifice, gift, penance, study, observances, and regulations, all this ends in destruction.

The wheel of life moves on; a wheel of which the spoke is the understanding, of which the pole is the mind, of which the bonds are the group of the senses, of which the outer rim is the five great elements, of which the environment is home; which abounds in old age and grief, which moves in the midst of disease and misfortune, which rotates in space and time; the noise of which is trouble and toil, the rotations of which (constitute) day and night;

One who understands final emancipation should seek for a livelihood without obstructing (other) creatures; and when he goes about for alms, he should not go following after another. He should not parade (his) piety, he should move about in a secluded place, free from passion. He should resort for shelter to an empty house, or a forest, or the foot of a tree, or a river likewise, or the cavern of a mountain.

Penance is said to be a light; (correct) conduct is the means to piety; knowledge verily should be understood to be the highest, and renunciation the best penance. He who understands determinately the self which is unperturbed, which abides in all entities, and which is the essential element in knowledge, he is laid down (as being able) to move everywhere.

And restraining the life-winds again and again by control of the life-winds, of ten or twelve (modes), (he repairs to) that which is beyond the twenty-four. Thus having first a tranquil self, be obtains whatever he desires. When the quality of goodness predominates in the unperceived, that fits one for immortality.

People are acting, (saying) this is good, this is good. And he who is attached to a certain (form of) piety, always esteems that. Here (therefore) our understanding breaks down, and our mind is distracted. We wish, O best (of beings)! to be informed of what is good. Be pleased now to proceed to state what is (so) mysterious, and what is the cause of the connexion between the Kshetragña and nature.

That which sages by their understanding meditate upon, which is void of any smell whatever, void of taste, and void of colour, touch, or sound, that is called the Pradhâna. Now that Pradhâna is unperceived; a development of the unperceived is the Mahat; and a development of the Pradhâna (when it is) become Mahat is egoism.

Withdrawing from the mind the objects of mental operations, a sage should sit down self-restrained.