Prose-section 32
In plain words
Even after reality has been known this way, the old tendency that says ‘I am the one who acts and enjoys’ keeps coming back in the way. It has no beginning, it has set hard, and it is very strong; it is what keeps the round of birth going. Stand firm in your own state by attending to the Self, and with effort that never slackens, check each tendency the moment it rises. Vasiṣṭha and the other sages call the wearing away of tendencies liberation. The pull of the world, of the body and of books keeps Self-knowledge from shining as it is, and the wise say these three are iron chains on anyone who wants to get out of the prison of saṃsāra. So let go of the world and of learning, and let go of the body too, firmly sure that its prārabdha, the karma already bearing fruit, will look after it. Strive hard and bravely, without tiring. Tamas is removed by sattva and rajas, rajas by mixed sattva, mixed sattva by pure sattva; so keep to pure sattva with a careful mind. Through the great sayings such as ‘That you are’, through your own reasoning and your own experience, hold this knowledge: ‘I am not the individual. I, known within as I, the witness of the mind’s movements, am undivided, complete Brahman; that Brahman is I.’ Keep it in the Heart without a break until the sense of ‘I’ in this body is gone without trace, and for as long as the individual and the world go on appearing like a dream. Beyond begging food and the body’s needs the meditator has nothing else to do, so give sleep, idle talk and the pull of sound and the other senses no room at all to make you forget the Self. By the strength of abiding in the one Self, become free of tendencies and firm in reality, and pull up by the root every thought of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ in the body and senses, which those tendencies keep making seem real. A piece of agarwood seems to have lost its fragrance under a bad smell from water; grind it and the smell goes and its own scent comes out. In the same way, grind with unbroken practice of knowledge: as far as the mind sinks into the Self, so far the tendencies go. For yogis always abiding in the Self the mind itself is destroyed, and when every outward tendency toward what is not the Self has left the Heart, the highest experience of the Self, which seemed hidden by their net, shines by itself, unhindered and clear, like the scent of sandalwood.
Word for word
Even when reality has been known in this way, the beginningless disposition ‘I am the doer and enjoyer’, deeply hardened and very powerful, repeatedly arises as an obstacle and causes saṃsāra. Through attention to your own Self, stand steadily in your own state and, with unremitting effort, subdue these dispositions as soon as they arise. Sages such as Vasiṣṭha call the exhaustion of dispositions liberation. Dispositions towards the world, body and scriptures prevent Self-knowledge from shining as it is. The wise also call these three dispositions iron fetters for those wishing to escape the prison of saṃsāra. Therefore give up attachment to the world and scriptures, and attachment to the body through the firm conviction that prārabdha will sustain it. With great courage, strive strongly without weariness. Tamas passes through sattva and rajas; rajas through mixed sattva; and mixed sattva through pure sattva. Follow pure sattva with an attentive mind. Through the authority of revelation declaring the non-difference of individual and Brahman in ‘That you are’ and other great sentences, through your own reasoning and direct experience, contemplate the knowledge of indivisible Brahman-Self identity: ‘I am not the individual. I, experienced as “I”, the witness of the intellect’s modifications, am indivisible, complete Brahman. That Brahman alone am I.’ Until bodily identification is destroyed without remainder, and as long as individual and world continue to appear like a dream, maintain this continuously in the Heart. The meditator has no other work beyond obtaining alms and bodily evacuation. At all times allow no opening for sleep, worldly talk or objects such as sound to make you forget contemplation of your own Self. Through the strength of this steadfastness in the one Self, become free of dispositions and firmly established in reality. Uproot every superimposition of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ upon body, senses and the rest, which repeatedly appear real through the force of those dispositions. The natural fragrance of agarwood seems obscured by a bad smell from contact with water and the like; rubbing away that smell lets the fragrance reveal itself. Likewise, through the rubbing of uninterrupted practice of knowledge, dispositions disappear in proportion to the mind’s subsidence in the Self. Constant establishment in the Self destroys the yogin’s mind. When outward dispositions towards the non-Self in the Heart disappear without remainder, supreme Self-experience, which seemed obscured by their net, shines of itself, unobstructed and pure like sandalwood fragrance.