Elsewhere it is taught that the elemental self, the embodied soul, is the doer of actions, acting through the body and senses, with the inner person as its agent. This relationship is like a lump of iron: when it is struck by various tools, it is shaped and becomes many things, but the fire within the iron is never altered. In the same way, the elemental self, when influenced by the inner person and struck by the qualities—sattva, rajas, and tamas—takes on manifold forms. Through the force of these three qualities, the elemental self is transformed again and again, manifesting as the countless species—eighty-four lakhs, it is said—that fill the world. The endless cycle of change and multiplicity arises from these qualities, which, driven by the inner person, revolve ceaselessly like a wheel around its hub. Yet, just as the fire in iron is never truly struck or overcome, so too the person—the true self—is untouched. It is only the elemental self, through its association with the qualities, that undergoes change. Elsewhere, the scriptures speak of the body itself: it arises from sexual union, is insentient, and is destined for decay and suffering. It emerges through the urinary passage, is bound by bones, covered with flesh and skin, and filled with impurities—excrement, urine, bile, phlegm, marrow, fat, and more—like a sack stuffed with unclean things. The darkness of ignorance brings with it many afflictions: delusion, fear, despair, sleep, lethargy, wounds, old age, sorrow, hunger and thirst, misery, anger, atheism, ignorance, envy, cruelty, stupidity, shamelessness, deceit, arrogance, and inequality. These are all associated with tamas, the quality of darkness. Rajas, the quality of passion, is marked by thirst, affection, passion, greed, violence, pleasure, attachment to opinions, jealousy, desire, instability, longing, pursuit of wealth, favoritism, dependence on possessions, hatred for unpleasant things, and attachment to what is pleasing. When the elemental self is filled and overcome by these qualities, it assumes manifold forms, wandering through birth and rebirth. Then, those who preserve their vital energy, who are pure and astonished by the teaching, approached the teacher with reverence. Bowing down, they pleaded, “Revered one, we salute you. Teach us, for you are our refuge; we know no other. Who is the guest of the elemental self, and by whom does one, leaving this self, attain union with another?” The teacher replied: Just as great rivers inevitably return to the ocean, so too does the return of one’s past actions: it is inevitable, like the coming of death, and as difficult to resist as the ocean’s tides. Bound by the cords of good and evil deeds, the soul is like a beast in bondage, without freedom. In the realm of Yama, the lord of death, one is surrounded by many fears. Like a drunkard, one delights in the intoxication of the world; seized by sin, one wanders aimlessly; bitten by the great serpent of ignorance, one sees only danger; blinded by passion, one is lost in darkness. Life appears as a magical illusion, as fleeting and unsubstantial as a dream, as hollow as the core of a banana tree. Like an actor, the soul dons a costume for a moment, delighting in false beauty like a painted wall. The objects of the senses—sound, touch, and so on—though they seem meaningful, are in truth empty. When the elemental self is attached to them, it forgets its supreme state. But there is a remedy for the elemental self: the attainment of true knowledge, the practice of virtue, the observance of one’s own order, and the faithful following of one’s own duty. All else depends on this, as branches and leaves depend on the trunk of a tree—without it, one falls. The one who is steadfast in his own duty, who does not transgress the path of the Vedas, who is established in his rightful order, is called an ascetic. Without asceticism, there is no attainment of self-meditation; purity of action is required. By asceticism, purity is attained; from purity, the mind is made steady; by a steady mind, the self is realized; and by realization of the self, one turns away from the world’s snares. As the fire without fuel returns to its source, so, by the cessation of activity, does the mind return to its origin. For the mind that has returned to its source, that follows truth and is not deceived by sense objects, actions born of falsehood no longer bind. The mind alone is the cause of the cycle of birth and death; therefore, one must purify it with effort. As is the mind, so one becomes—this is the ancient secret. When the mind is clarified, all actions, good and bad, are destroyed, and the serene self, established in itself, enjoys imperishable happiness. When the mind is attached to the sense objects, the soul is bound; but if it is attached to Brahman, who would not be freed from bondage? The mind is said to be of two kinds: pure and impure. The impure mind is filled with desire and imagination; the pure mind is free of desire. When the mind is made steady, free from distraction and dissolution, and attains the state of no-mind, then it reaches the supreme state. The mind should be restrained in the heart until it is dissolved; this is true knowledge and liberation—all else is mere elaboration of texts. The happiness that arises when the mind, purified of all impurity and absorbed in the self, is established in its own nature cannot be described in words; it is grasped only by one’s own inner faculty. Just as water is not seen in water, nor fire in fire, nor space in space, so when the mind is merged within, the person is released. The mind alone is the cause of bondage and liberation: when attached to sense objects, it binds; when free from them, it liberates. Now, Kautsāyana offers praise: “You are Brahmā, you are Viṣṇu, you are Rudra, you are Prajāpati; you are Agni, Varuṇa, Vāyu; you are Indra and the moon. You are Manu, you are Yama, you are the earth, and you are the imperishable. For your own purpose, you stand in many forms in the heavens. Lord of the universe, soul of the universe, creator and enjoyer of the universe, you are the cosmic illusion, the delight in the play of the universe, O master. Salutations to you, whose nature is peace, the most secret, the inconceivable, immeasurable, without beginning or end.” At first, all was darkness. Then, stirred by the transcendent, it became the state of sense objects—this is the quality of rajas. When rajas is stirred, it becomes conflict—this is tamas. When tamas is stirred, it flows forth as sattva. When sattva is stirred, it too flows forth. The pure consciousness within, marked by intention, determination, and ego, is Prajāpati, the knower of the field in each individual. His foremost forms are Brahmā, Rudra, and Viṣṇu: rajas is Brahmā, tamas is Rudra, sattva is Viṣṇu. Thus, the one manifests as three, eight, eleven, twelve, and countless forms, moving among beings as the lord of all creatures. This self is within and without. The self supports itself in two ways: as breath and as the sun. These two are fivefold in name, within and without, day and night; they alternate. The sun is the outer self, breath is the inner self; the movement of the outer is inferred by the movement of the inner. The wise, sinless, self-controlled, pure-minded, devoted, with withdrawn senses, by contemplating the movement of the breath within, perceive the sun without. The golden person within the sun, who sees me as golden, is the same one who abides within the lotus of the heart and eats food. This one within the heart—who abides and enjoys—he is Agni established in heaven, solar, called Time, invisible, who eats the food of all beings. The lotus is space itself; its petals are the four directions and the four intermediate directions. The fire here moves forward as breath and as the sun. These are to be worshipped by the sacred syllable and by the utterances of Sāvitrī. There are two forms of Brahman: the manifest and the unmanifest. The manifest is unreal; the unmanifest is real. That is Brahman, and Brahman is light; that light is the sun. This is the self, signified by ‘Om’. He divided himself threefold, and ‘Om’ has three syllables; by these, all is woven and interwoven. Therefore, one should meditate on the sun as ‘Om’ and thus unite oneself. It is said: the udgītha is the praṇava, and the praṇava is the udgītha. The sun is the udgītha, and the udgītha is the praṇava. The udgītha, called praṇava, is the leader, name and form, free from sleep, old age, and death, and fivefold, hidden in the cave. With roots above and branches reaching up to Brahman—sky, air, fire, water, earth—by one, all is eaten; this is Brahman. The sun is the essence of this syllable. Therefore, one should worship with ‘Om’. This syllable is holy and knowledge; whoever knows it, whatever he desires, that is his. It is thunder, its body is ‘Om’, with all genders; it is fire, wind, sun, shining; it is Rudra, Viṣṇu, the lord; it is the sacred fires, with mouth; it is Ṛg, Yajur, Sāma, with knowledge; it is the worlds, times, breaths, nourishment, intellect, mind, ego; it is all. Thus, both the supreme and the non-supreme are signified by ‘Om’, this syllable. Prajāpati, having practiced austerity, uttered ‘Bhūḥ, Bhuvaḥ, Svar’—these are his most substantial forms, with the worlds. ‘Svar’ is its head, ‘Bhuvaḥ’ its navel, ‘Bhūḥ’ its feet; the sun is the eye, the measure of the great person. By the eye, this measure moves; the eye is truth, and the person is present in all objects. Therefore, one should worship ‘Bhūḥ, Bhuvaḥ, Svar’. Prajāpati, soul and eye of the universe, is thus worshipped, for in him all is hidden, and all is hidden in him. ‘Tat savitur vareṇyam’—that sun is Savitṛ. The wise say, “For the sake of the self.” ‘Bhargo devasya dhīmahi’—Savitṛ is established; his radiance is to be accumulated. ‘Dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt’—may he inspire our intellects. ‘Bharga’ is that which is placed in the sun, the starry eye, the radiance by which his movement occurs. Radiance burns, illumines the worlds, colors beings; all creatures go to him or do not go to him. By his own self, he is called immortal, thinker, goer, creator, giver of joy, doer, speaker, taster, smeller, toucher, all-pervading. Where knowledge is dual, one perceives by the self; where knowledge is non-dual, free from cause and effect, indescribable, what can be said? He is the lord of the self: Śaṃbhu, Bhava, Rudra, Prajāpati, creator, Hiraṇyagarbha, truth, breath, swan, peaceful, Viṣṇu, Nārāyaṇa, Arka, Savitṛ, Dhātṛ, emperor, Indra, moon. He who shines, covered by fire, with a thousand rays, golden and blissful—he is to be sought and known. Having given fearlessness to all beings, going to the forest, and withdrawing the senses from external objects, one perceives him within one’s own body. The universal form, the golden Jātavedas, the ultimate, the one light, shining in a hundred ways, is the breath rising among creatures—this is the sun. Thus, the self supports itself as breath and as the sun, within and without, day and night; they alternate. The sun is the outer self, breath is the inner self; the movement of the outer is inferred by the movement of the inner. The wise, pure, devoted, with withdrawn senses, by the movement of breath, perceive the sun. The golden person within the sun, who sees me as golden, is the same one who abides in the lotus of the heart and eats food.