Agni Purana

नित्याशुद्दबुद्धमुक्तं सत्यमानन्दमद्वयम् । ब्रह्माहमस्म्यहं ब्रह्म सविज्ञानं विमुक्त ओं ३७८.

Eternal, pure, awakened, liberated, true, blissful, nondual—such is Brahman. I am that Brahman, I am Brahman, endowed with knowledge, liberated. Om.

अग्निरुवाच यज्ञैश्च देवानाप्नोति वैराजं तपसा पदं । ब्रह्मणः कर्मसन्नयासाद्वैराग्यात् प्रकृतौ लयं ।। ३७९.

Agni said: By sacrifices, one attains the gods; by austerity, the state of Virāja; by the combination of actions, the state of Brahman; by detachment, dissolution into nature.

ज्ञानात् प्नाप्नोति कैवल्यं पञ्चैता गतयः स्मृता । प्रीतितापविषादादेर्विनिवृत्तिर्विरक्तता ।। ३७९.

By knowledge, one attains liberation—these five paths are remembered. Renunciation is the turning away from pleasure, pain, sorrow, and the rest.

सन्न्यासः कर्मणान्त्यागः कृतानामकृतैः सह । अव्यक्तादौ विशेषान्ते विकारोऽस्मिन्निविर्त्तते ।। ३७९.

Renunciation is the abandonment of actions, both performed and unperformed. From the unmanifest at the beginning to the particular at the end, transformation ceases in this.

चेतनाचेतनान्यत्वज्ञानेन ज्ञानमुच्यते । परमात्मा च सर्वेषामाधारः परमेश्वरः ।। ३७९.

Knowledge is the understanding of the difference between the sentient and the insentient. The supreme self is the support of all, the supreme Lord.

विष्णुनाम्ना च देवेषु वेदान्तेषु च गीयते । यज्ञेश्वरो यज्ञपुमान् प्रवृत्तेरिज्यते ह्यसौ ।। ३७९.

By the name of Viṣṇu among the gods and in the Upaniṣads he is sung; as the Lord of sacrifice, the Person of sacrifice, he is indeed worshipped through action.

निवृत्तैर्ज्ञानयोगेन ज्ञानमूर्त्तिः स चेक्ष्यते । ह्रस्वदीर्घप्लुताद्यन्तु वचस्तत्पुरुषोत्तमः ।। ३७९.

By those who have withdrawn, through the yoga of knowledge, he is seen as the embodiment of knowledge; that Supreme Person is described by words—short, long, and protracted.

तत्‌प्राप्तिहेतुर्ज्ञानञ्च कर्म चोक्तं महामुने । आगमोक्तं विवेकाच्च द्विधा ज्ञानं तथोच्यते ।। ३७९.

Knowledge and action are declared, O great sage, as causes for attaining that; knowledge is said to be twofold, according to scripture and discernment.

शब्दब्रह्मागममयं परं ब्रह्म सत्परम् । द्वे ब्रह्मणी वेदितव्ये ब्रह्मशब्दपरञ्च यत् ।। ३७९.

The supreme Brahman, the highest truth, consists of the tradition of the word and the Veda; two Brahmans are to be known—the one indicated by the word 'Brahman' and that which is beyond words.

वेदादिविद्या ह्यपरमक्षरं ब्रह्म सत्परम् । तदेतद्भगवद्वाच्यमुपचारेऽर्चनेऽन्यतः ।। ३७९.

The knowledge of the Vedas and similar sciences is the lower, imperishable Brahman, the highest truth; this is what is referred to as 'divine' in a figurative sense in worship and elsewhere.

सम्मर्तेति तथा भर्त्ता भ्कारोऽर्थद्वयान्वितः । नेता गमयिता स्रष्टा गकारोऽयं महामुने ।। ३७९.

'Sammarta' and likewise 'bhartā'—the syllable 'bha' conveys two meanings; 'netā', 'gama-yitā', 'sraṣṭā'—this is the syllable 'ga', O great sage.

ऐश्वर्य्यस्य समग्रस्य वीर्य्यस्य यशसः श्रइयः । ज्ञानवैराग्ययोश्चैव षण्णं भग इतीङ्गना ।। ३७९.

Sovereignty in full, strength, fame, prosperity, knowledge, and detachment—these six are called 'bhaga', O lady.

वसन्ति विष्णौ भूतानि स च धातुस्त्रिधात्मकः । एवं हरौ हि भगवान् शब्दोऽन्यत्रोपचारतः ।। ३७९.

All beings dwell in Viṣṇu, and he is the substance with threefold nature; thus, the word 'Bhagavān' is applied to Hari, and elsewhere only figuratively.

उत्पत्तिं प्रलयञ्चैव भूतानामगतिं गतिं । वेत्ति विद्यामविद्याञ्च स वाच्यो भगवानिति ।। ३७९.

He knows creation and dissolution, the going and coming of beings; he knows knowledge and ignorance—he is rightly called 'Bhagavān'.

ज्ञानशक्तिः परैश्वर्य्यं वीर्य्यं तेजांस्यशेषतः । भगवच्छब्दवाच्यानि विना हेयैर्गुणादिभिः ।। ३७९.

The power of knowledge, supreme sovereignty, strength, and all radiance—these are denoted by the word 'Bhagavat', without any inferior qualities or attributes.

खाण्डिक्यजनकायाह योगं केशिध्वजः पुरा । अनात्मन्यात्मबुद्धिर्या आत्मस्वमिति या मतिः ।। ३७९.

Keśidhvaja once taught yoga to the daughter of Khāṇḍikya's father: the understanding that sees the self in the non-self, the notion that 'this is mine' regarding the self.

अविद्याभवसम्भूतिर्वीजमेतद्‌द्विधा स्थितम् । पञ्चभूतात्मके देहे देही मोहतमाश्रितः ।। ३७९.

This twofold seed—ignorance and the arising of becoming—abides in the body composed of the five elements; the embodied one, enveloped in delusion, is attached to darkness.

अहमेतदितीत्युच्चैः कुरुते कुमतिर्मतिं । इत्थञ्च पुत्रपौत्रेषु तद्देहोत्पातितेषु च ।। ३७९.

With a mistaken mind, one loudly asserts, 'I am this'; and likewise with regard to sons and grandsons, even when those bodies have perished.

करोति पण्डितः साम्यमनात्मनि कलेवरे । सर्वदेहोपकाराय कुरुते कर्म्म मानवः ।। ३७९.

The wise man regards the body, which is not the self, as equal; for the benefit of all bodies, a person performs actions.

देहश्चान्यो यदा पुंसस्तदा बन्धाय तत्परं । निर्वाणमथ एवायमात्मा ज्ञानमयोऽमलः ।। ३७९.

When the body is seen as other than the person, then it becomes the cause of bondage; but this self, full of knowledge and pure, is then liberation.

दुःखज्ञानमयोऽधर्मः प्रकृतेः स तु नात्मनः । जलस्य नाग्निना सङ्गः स्थालीसङ्गत्तथापि हि ।। ३७९.

Unrighteousness, consisting of suffering and ignorance, belongs to nature, not to the self; just as water does not mix with fire, so it is with the vessel.

शब्दास्ते कादिका धर्मास्तत् कृता वै महामुने । तथात्मा प्रकृतौ सङ्गादहंमानादिभूषितः ।। ३७९.

Words, beginning with 'ka' and so on, are the dharmas created, O great sage; thus, the self, adorned with ego and the like, is bound through association with nature.

भजते प्राकृतान्धर्मान् अन्यस्तेभ्यो हि सोऽव्ययः । बन्धाय विषयासङ्गं मनो निर्विषयं धिये ।। ३७९.

He pursues natural qualities, but apart from these, he is imperishable; attachment to sense-objects is bondage, while the mind free from objects is wisdom.

विषयात्तत्समाकृष्य ब्रह्मभूतं हरिं स्मरेत् । आत्मभावं नयत्येनं तद्‌ब्रह्मध्यायिनं मुने ।। ३७९.

Drawing the mind away from sense objects, one should remember Hari as the embodiment of Brahman; by this, the meditator leads himself to the state of the Self, O sage.

विचार्य्य स्वात्मनः शक्त्या लौहमाकर्षको यथा । आत्भप्रयत्नसापेज्ञा विशिष्टा या मनोगतिः ।। ३७९.

Just as a magnet attracts iron by its power, so too, through the effort of the Self and the knowledge of its means, the movement of the mind becomes distinct.

तस्या ब्रह्‌मणि संयोगो योग इत्यभिधीयते । विनिष्पन्दः समाधिस्थः परं ब्रह्माधिगच्छति ।। ३७९.

The union of that mind with Brahman is called yoga; when motion ceases and one abides in samadhi, the supreme Brahman is attained.

यमैः सन्नियमैः स्थित्या प्रत्याहृत्या मरुज्जयैः । प्राणायामेन पवनैः प्रत्याहारेण चेन्द्रियैः ।। ३७९.

Through restraints, observances, stability, withdrawal, conquest of the winds, regulation of breath, and control of the senses by withdrawal, one proceeds.

वशीकृतैस्ततः कुर्य्यात् स्थितं चेतः शुभाश्रये । आश्रयश्चेतसो ब्रह्म मूर्त्तञ्चामूर्तकं द्विधा ।। ३७९.

Having mastered these, one should establish the mind in an auspicious refuge; the refuge of the mind is Brahman, both with form and formless, in two ways.

हिरण्यगर्भादिषु च ज्ञानकर्मात्मिका द्विधा । त्रिविधा भावना प्रोक्ता विश्वं ब्रह्म उपास्यते ।। ३७९.

In Hiranyagarbha and others, knowledge and action are of two kinds; contemplation is said to be of three types, and the whole universe is worshipped as Brahman.