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XCVII
Page 1
1. Sitting with the feet stretched out and crossed so as to touch the thighs, with the right hand (stretched out and) resting upon the left, with the tongue fixed in the palate, and without bringing the one row of teeth in contact with the other, with the eyes directed to the tip of the nose, and without glancing at any of the (four) quarters of the sky, free from fear, and with composure, let him meditate upon (Purusha), who is separate from the twenty-four entities,
[XCVII. 1. Y. III, 198-200.--9. Y. III, 111, 201. This chapter treats of the means for obtaining that knowledge of the Ātman or Self, which has been declared at the end of the last chapter to be the road to final emancipation. (Nand.)
1. 'The twenty-four (it should be twenty-five) entities are stated in the Sānkhya to consist of the root-principle (mūlaprakriti), the seven productions evolved from it (vikritayah), the sixteen productions evolved from these, and Purusha (the soul), who is neither producer nor produced. (1) The "root-principle" is composed of the three qualities in equipoise: sattva, ragas, and tamas (the most accurate rendering of these terms is perhaps that proposed by Elliot, "pure unimpassioned virtue," "passion," and "depravity inclining to evil." See Fitz-Edward Hall, Preface to Sānkhyapravakanabhāshya, p. 44 (2) The "great entity" (Mahat) is the cause of apprehension. (3) The "self-consciousness" (ahamkāra) is the cause of referring all objects to self. (4-2) The "subtile elementary particles" (tanmātras) are identical with sound, tangibility, form, taste, and odour. (9-19) The eleven senses (i. e. the organs of perception and action enumerated in CXVI, 94, 95, and manas, "the mind"), and (20-24) the five "grosser elements" (ether, air, fire, water, and earth) are productions (from the former entities). Purusha, who is neither producer nor produced, is the twenty-fifth entity.' (Nand.)]
2. He who is eternal, beyond the cognisance of the senses, destitute of qualities, not concerned with sound, tangibility, form, savour, or odour, knowing everything, of immense size,
3. He who pervades everything, and who is devoid of form,
4. Whose hands and feet are everywhere, whose eyes, head, and face are everywhere, and who is able to apprehend everything with all the senses.
5. Thus let him meditate.
6. If he remains absorbed in such meditation for a year, he obtains the accomplishment of Yoga (concentration of the thought and union with the Supreme).
7. If he is unable to fix his mind upon the being
[2, 3. According to Nand., all the properties of Purusha mentioned in this Sūtra are such as distinguish him from the rest of the entities, the first two distinguishing him from 'self-consciousness' (ahamkāra), the voidness of quality distinguishing him from the 'root-principle' (mūlaprakriti), which is composed of three qualities, &c.
4. The properties of Pūrusha here mentioned are faculties only, so that there is no contradiction to the 'voidness of form' and the other properties enumerated in the preceding Sūtras. (Nand.)
6. The external signs of the accomplishment of Yoga, as stated by Yāgńavalkya (III, 202 seq.), are, the faculty of entering another body and of creating anything at will, and other miraculous powers and qualities. (Nand.)]
destitute of form[1], he must meditate successively on earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intellect, self[2], the indiscrete[3], and Purusha[4]: having fully apprehended one, he must dismiss it from his thoughts and fix his mind upon the next one in order.
8. In this way let him arrive at meditation upon Purusha.
9. If unable to follow this method also, he must meditate on Purusha shining like a lamp in his heart, as in a lotus turned upside down.
10. If he cannot do that either, he must meditate upon Bhagavat Vāsudeva (Vishnu), who is adorned with a diadem, with ear-rings, and with bracelets, who has the (mystic mark) Srīvatsa and a garland of wood-flowers on his breast, whose aspect is pleasing, who has four arms, who holds the shell, the discus, the mace, and the lotus-flower, and whose feet are supported (and worshipped) by the earth.
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