"Part-6. Ends"

 

Chapters-12 to 16.

 

 

Chapter XII — The Birth of the Gross from the Subtle 

 

 

1.   "Bring me a fruit of that nyagrodha (banyan) tree."  "Here it is’ venerable Sir." "Break it."  "It is broken, venerable Sir."  "What do you see there?"  "These seeds, exceedingly small,  "Break one of these, my son."  "It is broken, venerable Sir."  "What do you see there?"  "Nothing at all, venerable Sir." 

 

 

2.   The father said: "That subtle essence, my dear, which you do  not perceive there—from that very essence this great nyagrodha  arises.  Believe me, my dear. 

 

 

3.   "Now, that which is the subtle essence—in it all that exists has  its self. That is the True. That is the Self. That thou art,  Svetaketu."  "Please, venerable Sir, give me further instruction," said the  son.  "So be it, my dear," the father replied.  

 

 

 Chapter XIII — The Invisibility of an Existent Object 

 

 

1.   "Place this salt in water and then come to me in the morning."  The son did as he was told.  The father said to him: "My son, bring me the salt which you  placed in the water last night."  Looking for it, the son did not find it, for it was completely  dissolved. 

 

 

2.   The father said: "My son, take a sip of water from the surface.  How is it?"  "It is salt."  "Take a sip from the middle. How is it?"  "It is salt."  "Take a sip from the bottom. How is it?"  "It is salt."  "Throw it away and come to me."  The son did as he was told, saying: "The salt was there all the  time."  Then the father said: "Here also, my dear, in this body you do  not perceive Sat (Being); but It is indeed there." 

 

 

3.   "Now, that which is the subtle essence—in it all that exists has  its self. That is the True. That is the Self That thou art,  Svetaketu."  "Please, venerable Sir, give me further instruction," said the  son.  "So be it, my dear," the father replied.  

 

 

 

 Chapter XIV — The Means of Self—Knowledge 

 

 

1.   "Just as someone, my dear, might lead a person, with his eyes  covered, away

from the country of the Gandharas and leave  him in a place where there were no human beings; and just as  that person would turn toward the east, or the north, or the  south, or the west, shouting: ‘I have been brought here with my  eyes covered, I have been left here with my eyes covered!’ 

 

 

2.   "And as thereupon someone might loosen the covering and say  to him: ‘Gandhara is in that direction; go that way’; and as  thereupon, having been informed and being capable of  judgement, he would, by asking his way from one village to  another, arrive at last at Gandhara—in exactly the same manner  does a man who has found a teacher to instruct him obtain the  true knowledge. For him there is delay only so long as he is not  liberated from the body; then he reaches perfection. 

 

 

3.   "Now, that which is the subtle essence—in it all that exists has  its self. That is the True. That is the Self That thou art,  Svetaketu."  "Please, venerable Sir, give me further instruction," said the  son.  "So be it, my dear," the father replied.  

 

 

 

Chapter XV — Ultimate Liberation 

 

 

1.   "Around a dying person afflicted with illness, my dear, his  relatives gather and ask: ‘Do you know me? Do you know me?’  He knows them as long as his speech is not merged in his mind,  his mind in his prana (breath), his prana in heat (fire) and the  heat in the Highest Deity. 

 

 

2.   "But when his speech is merged in his mind, his mind in his  prana, his prana in heat and the heat in the Highest Deity, then  he does not know them. 

 

 

3.   "Now, that which is the subtle essence—in it all that exists has  its self. That is the True. That is the Self. That thou art,  Svetaketu."  "Please, venerable Sir, give me further instruction," said the son  "So be it, my dear;" the father replied.  

 

 

 

 Chapter XVI — Liberation for the Knower of Brahman 

 

 

1.   "My dear, they (i.e. the police) bring a man whom they have  seized by the hand and say: ‘He has taken something, he has  committed a theft.’ When he denies it, they say: ‘Heat the axe  for him.’ If he has committed the theft but denies it, then he  makes himself a liar. Being false—minded, he covers himself  with falsehood, grasps the heated axe and is burnt. Then he is  killed. 

 

 

2.   "But if he did not commit the theft, then he makes himself what  he really is. Being true—minded, he covers himself with truth,  grasps the heated axe and is not burnt. He is released. 

 

 

3.   "As that truthful man is not burnt so also one who has known  Sat is not born again. Thus in That (Sat) all that exists has its  self. That is the True. That is the Self. That thou art,  Svetaketu."