Prose-section 37
In plain words
The one who is free while living, whose nature is Brahman here and now, shines the same way when the body falls. The Yajurveda says that whoever sees even the least difference knows fear. So one who, through carelessness, ever sees an atom’s worth of difference in the complete Brahman is made afraid by that divided sight. And one who takes as the Self the unreal body and all that is seen, which scripture, tradition and reason reject in so many ways, gets sorrow upon sorrow, like a sinner who does forbidden deeds. The one who holds to the true is freed from suffering and made great; the one who holds to the false is destroyed. You can see this in the innocent man and the thief. When the mind is held back from unreal outer things it grows clear; clarity brings sight of the supreme Self; that sight ends the bondage of saṃsāra. So holding back from the outer is the road to freedom. What seeker who has learned from scripture to tell the real from the unreal, and has settled what the supreme Self is, would clutch like a child at the unreal while knowing it will ruin him? None would. So the discerning renunciant should let go of attending to unreal outer things, which only feeds bad tendencies and binds, and give himself wholly to abiding in Brahman, which, through the experience ‘I am the supreme Brahman, truth, knowledge and bliss’, removes all the sorrow that ignorance produces and gives the highest bliss. Waking and deep sleep cannot be had together, because they are opposites; in the same way one who is attached to the body cannot have liberation. The free one sees, with a subtle mind, that he is the one witness and ground within and without all that moves and does not move. By this knowing of the Self as all he drops every limiting condition and remains undivided and complete, and so he has no attachment to the body. Apart from this knowing of the Self as all there is no other way out of bondage, and it is won by abiding in the Self at all times and putting away what is seen without taking hold of it. How can a man who takes the body for himself, whose mind hungers for outer pleasure and who is always busy getting it, put the seen away? He cannot. Only one who has given up all duties, acts and objects, who knows reality, who is always intent on abiding in the Self and whose mind longs for the bliss that never ends, can put it away through effort. It is so that the seen may be put away like this and the Self known as all without a break that the scripture beginning ‘peaceful and restrained’ enjoins samādhi without distinctions at all times for calm renunciants who have done the hearing and the rest. So however learned a man may be, if he carries the tendencies of countless births he can never destroy the ego and the rest of what is seen unless he has come to that motionless samādhi without distinctions.
Word for word
The liberated one who is Brahman in nature now, while living, shines in the same way in the bodiless state. The Yajurveda declares that one who sees even the least difference experiences fear. Therefore one who, through heedlessness, ever sees an atom of difference in complete Brahman becomes afraid through that divided vision. One who identifies the Self with the unreal perceived body and the rest, negated by many declarations of revelation, tradition and reasoning, suffers sorrow upon sorrow like a wrongdoer performing forbidden acts. The person devoted to truth becomes free of suffering and attains greatness, while the person devoted to falsehood comes to ruin, as seen in the innocent person and the thief. Restraint of unreal external objects brings serenity or clarity of mind; from this comes knowledge of the supreme Self, and from that the destruction of worldly bondage. Restraining outward engagement is therefore the path of liberation. What intelligent seeker, discriminating real from unreal and understanding the supreme Self through revelation, would cling to the unreal like a child while knowing it causes his ruin? None would. Therefore, abandoning attention to unreal externals, which increasingly strengthens bad dispositions and causes bondage, the discriminating renunciant should be wholly devoted to establishment in Brahman. Through the realisation ‘I am supreme Brahman alone, reality-knowledge-bliss’, this removes all suffering produced by ignorance and gives supreme bliss. Waking and deep sleep cannot coexist because their characteristics are contrary. Similarly, bodily identification and liberation do not coexist. The liberated one sees himself with a subtle mind as the one witness and substratum within and outside everything moving and unmoving. Through this recognition of the Self as all, he removes every adjunct and remains indivisible and complete. He has no bodily identification. There is no other way to release from worldly bondage than this recognition of the Self as all. It is attained by constant abidance in the Self and relinquishing grasping at the perceived. How can one set aside the perceived while identifying as the body, desiring outward enjoyment and continually acting to obtain it? One cannot. Such relinquishment through effort is possible for one who renounces all duties, acts and objects, knows reality, remains constantly devoted to Self-abidance and longs for eternal bliss. To remove grasping at the perceived and establish the Self as all continuously, the revelation ‘peaceful, restrained’ prescribes undifferentiated samādhi at all times for peaceful renunciants after hearing and the other disciplines. However learned, a person carrying dispositions from countless births can never destroy the perceived ego and the rest without attaining that motionless, undifferentiated samādhi.