The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 3 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 2,886 pages of information about The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 3.

The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 3 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 2,886 pages of information about The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 3.

“’Yajnavalkya said, Hear, O monarch, what I say in an answer to these questions of thine, I shall impart to thee the high knowledge which Yogins value, and especially that which is possessed by the Sankhyas.  Nothing is unknown to thee.  Still thou askest me.  One however, that is questioned should answer.  This is the eternal practice.  Eight principles have been called by the name of Prakriti, while sixteen have been called modifications.  Of Manifest, there are seven.  These are the views of those persons who are conversant with the science of Adhyatma.  The Unmanifest (or original Prakriti), Mahat, Consciousness, and the five subtile elements of Earth, Wind, Space, Water, and Light,—­these eight are known by the name of Prakriti.  Listen now to the enumeration of those called modifications.  They are the ear, the skin, the tongue, and the nose; and sound, touch, form, taste, and scent, as also speech, the two arms, the two feet, the lower duct (within the body), and the organs of pleasure.[1641] Amongst these, the ten beginning with sound, and having their origin in the five great principles,[1642] are called Visesha.  The five senses of knowledge are called Savisesha, O ruler of Mithila.  Persons conversant with the Science of Adhyatma regard the mind as the sixteenth.  This is conformable to thy own views as also to those of other learned men well acquainted with the truths about principles.  From the Unmanifest, O king, springs the Mahat-soul.  The learned say this to be the first creation relating to Pradhana (or Prakriti):  From Mahat, O king of men, is produced Consciousness.  This has been called the second creation having the Understanding for its essence.[1643] From Consciousness hath sprung the Mind which is the essence of sound and the others that are the attributes of space and the rest.  This is the third creation, said to relate to Consciousness.  From mind have sprung the great elements, (numbering five), O king!  Know that this is the fourth creation called mental, as I say.  Persons conversant with the primal elements say that Sound and Touch and Form and Taste and Scent are the fifth creation, relating to the Great (primal) elements.  The creation of the Ear, the Skin, the Tongue, and the Scent, forms the sixth and is regarded as having for its essence multiplicity of thought.  The senses that come after the Ear and the others (i.e., the senses of action) then arise, O monarch.  This is called seventh creation and relates to the senses of Knowledge.  Then, O monarch, come the breath that rises upward (viz., Prana) and those that have a transverse motion (viz., Saman, Udana, and Vyana).  This is the eighth creation and is called Arjjava.[1644] Then come those breaths that course transversely in the lower parts of the body (viz., Samana, Udana and Vyana) and also that called Apana coursing downwards.  This, ninth creation, is also called Arjjava, O king.  These nine kinds of creation, and these principles, O monarch, which latter number four and twenty, are declared to thee according to what has been laid down in the scriptures.  After this, O king, listen to me as I tell thee durations of time as indicated by the learned in respect of these principles or attribute.’”

Copyrights
Project Gutenberg
The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 3 from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.