व्यास उवाच शरीराद् विप्रमुक्तं हि सूक्ष्मभूत शरीरिणम्। कर्मभिः परिपश्यन्ति शास्त्रोक्तैः शास्त्रवेदिनः॥
Vyasa said Those who are well-read in the scriptures see, with the help of acts laid down in the scriptures, the Soul which is encased in a subtile body and is highly subtile and which is dissociated from the gross body in which it lives.
यथा मरीच्यः सहिताश्चरन्ति सर्वत्र तिष्ठन्ति च दृश्यमानाः। स्तथैव सत्त्वान्यतिमानुषाणि॥
As the rays of the Sun which move in dense masses through every part of the sky, cannot be seen by the naked eye though their existence can be perceived by reason, likewise, existent beings freed from gross bodies and moving in universe are above the reach of human vision,
प्रतिरूपं यथैवाप्सु तापः सूर्यस्य लक्ष्यते। सत्त्ववत्सु तथा सत्त्वं प्रतिरूपं स पश्यति॥
As the shining solar disc is seen reflected in the reflected water so the Yogin sees reflected within gross bodies the existent self.
तानि सूक्ष्माणि सत्त्वानि विमुक्तानि शरीरतः। स्वेन सत्त्वेन सत्त्वज्ञाः पश्यन्ति नियतेन्द्रियः॥
All those souls again that are encased in subtile forins after being alienated from the gross bodies in which they lived, are perceptible to Yogins, who have controlled their senses and who are gifted with knowledge of the soul. Indeed, helped by their own souls, Yogins see those invisible beings,
स्वपतां जाग्रतां चैव सर्वेषामात्मचिन्तितम्। प्रधानाद्वैधमुक्तानां जहतां कर्मजं रजः॥ यथाहनि तथा रात्रौ यथा रात्रौ तथाहनि। वशे तिष्ठति सत्त्वात्मा सततं योगयोगिनाम्॥
Whether asleep or awake, during the day or in the night, and during the night or in the day, they who practise Yoga after renouncing all the creations of the understanding the passion engendered by acts, and the power which Yoga begets, succeed in keeping their subtile form under complete control.
तेषां नित्यं सदा नित्यो भूतात्मा सततं गुणैः। सप्तभिस्त्वन्वितः सूक्ष्मैश्चरिष्णुरजरामरः॥
The individual soul which lives in such Yogins, always endued with the seven subtile principles, moves in all blissful regions, freed from decrepitude and death. I say “always,' and 'freed from death, as in common parlance, for, in sooth, that subtile form is also terininable.
मनोबुद्धिपराभूतः स्वदेहपरदेहवित्। स्वप्नेष्वपि भवत्येष विज्ञाता सुखदुःखयोः॥
That man, however, who is under the influence of his mind and understanding, differentiates, even in his dreams, his own body from that of another and experiences both pleasure and pain.
तत्रापि लभते दुःखं तत्रापि लभते सुखम्। क्रोधलोभौ तु तत्रापि कृत्वा व्यसनमृच्छति॥
Really, even in his dreams he enjoys happiness and suffers misery; and yielding to anger and cupidity, suffers all sorts of calamities.
प्रीणितश्चापि भवति महतोऽर्थानवाप्य हि। करोति पुप्यं तत्रापि जीवन्निव च पश्यति॥
In his dreams he acquires great riches and feels highly satisfied: performs meritorious acts, and sees as he does when he is awake.
महोष्मान्तर्गतश्चापि गर्भत्वं समुपेयिवान्। दश मासान् वसन् कुक्षौ नैषोऽन्नमिव जीर्यते॥
It is wonderful to mark that individual soul which has to lie within the uterus and amid much internal heat, and which has to pass there full ten months, is not digested and destroyed like food within the stomach.
तमेतमतितेजोऽशं भूतात्मानं हृदि स्थितम्। तमोरजोभ्यामाविष्टा नानुपश्यन्ति मूर्तिषु॥
Men possessed by the qualities of Darkness and Ignorance never succeed in sceing within the gross body the sentiency which is a portion of the Supreme Soul to transcendent effulgence and which lies within the heart of every creature.
योगशास्त्रपरा भूत्वा तमात्मानं परीप्सवः। अनुच्छ्वासान्यमूर्तानि यानि वज्रोपमान्यपि॥
They who learn Yoga for the purpose of obtaining a knowledge of Self succeed in getting over the inanimate and gross body, the imperceptible subtile body, and the casual body which is not destroyed on the occasion of even the universal destruction.
पृथग्भूतेषु सृष्टेषु चतुर्थाश्रमकर्मसु। समाधौ योगमेवैतच्छाण्डिल्यः शममब्रवीत्॥
Of the duties laid down for the various modes of life including the fourth mode, these which I have described, which have Yoga for their foremost, and which indicate a complete stoppage of all operations of the Mind and the Understanding, have been laid down by Shandilya.
विदित्वा सप्त सूक्ष्माणि षडङ्गं च महेश्वरम्। प्रधानविनियोगज्ञः परं ब्रह्मानुपश्यति॥
Having comprehended the seven subtile principles, having comprehended also the Supreme Cause of the universe with the six attributes, and lastly having understood that the universe so only a modification of nescience endued with the three qualities, one succeeds in seeing high Brahina,