The path that leads to the eastern sea does not go to the western sea. Indeed there is only one path unto liberation. O sinless Ones! Listen to that.
One shall dispel anger by patience and forbearance, and lust by avoiding mental conceptions. A bold man (a self-possessed one) deserves to dispel slumber by resorting to sattva.
One shall guard against fear by avoiding mistakes. One shall protect (one’s soul) and one’s Knowledge. One shall courageously cause wish, hatred and lust to recede.
One who knows Reality shall win over slumber and intellect by means of Knowledge.
The yogi subdues ailments by taking wholesome food in limited quantities after the previous intake has been digested.
One shall conquer greed and delusion by contentment, sensual objects by means of the vision of the Reality, evil by tenderness and compassion, and virtue by indifference.
The learned man shall conquer hope and ambition by restraining his mind, competitiveness by avoiding close contact, affection by the thought of temporality, and hunger by yogic practice.
One shall conquer selfishness by merciful compassion, greed by means of contentment, and languor by early rise. One shall conquer fanciful doubt by means of
decisiveness.
One shall conquer verbose talkativeness by means of silence, fear by heroism, speech and mind by intellect, and intellect by Knowledge.
The great atman shall control knowledge. The tranquility of the atman shall lead to the Atman. A tranquil person of pure activities is aware of these truths.
The seers know that the defects of yogic practice are lust, anger, greed, fear and slumber. The devotee shall dispel these defects and resort duly to the yogic means. (They are) meditation, self-study of the Veda, charitable gifts, truthfulness, shyness, straight-forwardness, forbearance, cleanliness, pious conduct and control over the
sense-organs. One’s splendour increases by adoption of these means. One dispels sin.
Everything that one wishes for is achieved. One’s perfect Knowledge begins to function. One shakes off one’s sins and becomes brilliant. One shall have limited diet. One shall conquer sense-organs. One shall keep lust and anger under one’s control. One shall thus enter the region of the Brahman.
This is the clean, pure and vivid path of liberation (salvation). It is the state of no-delusion, the state of non-attachment, the state of avoidance of lust and anger, the state of not being puffed up, the state of absence of excited anxiety, and the state of being steady.
The sages said:
O Brahmin! O excellent Sage! It behooves you to relate to us the respective peculiarities of Saamkhya and Yoga. O Sage! Conversant with virtue, everything is known to you!
Vyasa said:
The followers of Saamkhya praise Saamkhya. The followers of Yoga praise Yoga. In order to exalt their own side, they give cogent reasons.
O excellent Sages! ‘How can one who is not competent be liberated?’ Thus saying, with good reasons, learned men mention Yoga to be more excellent.
Other learned Brahmins give reasons to justify Saamkhya. ‘He who is unattached to the sensual objects shall be liberated from his body, after understanding all movements and goals, and not otherwise. Thus men of great intellect state that Saamkhya is the Philosophy of liberation.
Reasons capable of justifying one’s own side, words conducive to justifying one’s point of view shall be honoured and accepted by learned men.
Yogic austerities result in spiritual attainment. The Saamkhyas adhere to what is stated in the scriptural texts. O excellent Brahmins! Saamkhya and Yoga are based on reality. Both these systems are known to the sages as systems approved by good men. If they are practised in accordance with the scriptural texts, they are sure to lead to the supreme goal.
O sinless Ones! Proper means of cleanliness have been mentioned in both of them equally. Compassionate mercy to all living beings is common to both. The observance of holy rites is also common. But spiritual vision is not the same for both.
The sages said:
If the observance of holy rites, purity and mercifulness are common, O great Sage, how is it that the spiritual vision is not the same. Tell us, kindly, O excellent Brahmin!
Vyasa said:
Defaulters in yogic practice attain to passion, delusion, affection, lust and anger, the five defects mentioned in the yogic path.
Just as the big fish cut off the net and escape into water, so also the seekers, devoid of sins, attain to the region of the Brahman by taking recourse to yoga.
Similarly, just as the strong deer breaks loose, cuts the net and attains to freedom being liberated from all bondage, so also the Brahmins, equipped with strength, break
their bonds of covetousness, and attain to the auspicious path devoid of impurities.
The persons equipped with strength are firm and steadfast. On the other hand, those without the strength of yoga perish, just as the birds devoid of strength, O leading
Brahmins, fall into net. Sinless ones do not get involved in bondage. Such are the powers of Yoga.
Just as, on getting entangled in a fine net, weaker birds fall into misfortune while stronger ones free themselves, so those who are possessed of strength are liberated, while the feeble ones perish. Similarly, the Brahmins who are devoted to yoga are bound by the fetters arising out of their past karma. The weaker ones perish and the strong ones
get free.
O Brahmins! The fire of very little magnitude is very weak, and it calms down on being overwhelmed by huge (quantities of) fuel. The yogic power, too, is similar.
O Brahmins! The same fire becomes stronger once again on being accompanied by the wind. It may then burn the entire fuel instantly.
The extremely powerful yogi whose strength is the perfect Knowledge of Reality and whose splendour is illumined is capable of drying up the entire universe like the sun at
the time of dissolution.
O Brahmins! Just as a weak man is taken away by the force of a current, so also the yogi, if devoid of strength, is carried away by the force of sensuous objects.
A powerful elephant is capable of obstructing the same water current. Similarly, after attaining the yogic strength, no man is led astray by sensuous objects.
Those who are endowed with the power of yoga become masters of everything, and enter the region of Prajapatis, Manus and Bhutas.
Neither Yama, nor the infuriated Antaka (The annihilator), nor Mrtyu (god of death) of terrible exploits enter, O Brahmins, the path of yoga of unlimited splendour.
O excellent Brahmins! There are thousands of atmans (souls). By means of them one shall practise yoga and, after attaining to the yogic power, wander over the earth.
One may indulge in enjoying worldly pleasures and do severe penance thereafter. Again, O Brahmins, one shall subdue them (worldly pleasures) like the sun that subdues the qualities of brilliance.
O excellent Sages! For infusing more strength into the yoga that is based on strength, one shall undoubtedly resort to Visnu, the source or origin of liberation.
These powers of yoga have been mentioned by me, O excellent Brahmins, by way of illustration. Again, O Brahmins, I shall mention the subtle ones.
Listen to the illustration, O excellent sages, in regard to meditation upon the soul or in regard to concentration of mind.
