English
For as there is a vacuum surrounding every individual tree in a forest, and many such vacuums in the forest, and a vacuum unconnected with every thing, ia ( 92 ) which these vacuums are absorbed, so, agreeably to all the Shastras, there is a perfect spirit in which individual souls, and the aggregate body of souls, take refuge. This perfect spirit is united to gross matter, to material things, to individual sprits, and to the aggregate of spirit, as fire to red-hot iron ; and in this state it is called Eeshwa, or the glorious ; when separate from these, it is called the excellent Brahma. This illusion possesses the power of concealing an object and of deception : a small cloud darkening the sight of the person looking at the sin, appears to hide this immense luminary ; so this illusion, possessing the energy of spirit, though confined within bounds, by covering the understanding, hides the boundless and unassociated living Bramha from the sight of the person who desires to know him, as though it had covered, Bramha himself. This spirit, thus covered with illusion, be comes engaged in various worlds by anxieties1, as I am happy, I am miserable, I am sovereign, I am subject [to the fruits of actions] : this illusion operates in a person subject to these anxieties as it, does in the case of a person deceived by a cord when he (supposes it to be a snake. This illusion, by its power of deception, after having thus covered spirit, assumes an endless variety of deceptive forms, similar to real ones, yet no more real than when a cord, a cane, the edge of a river, &c. are feared under the illusive appearance of a serpent. Exerting a similar power of illusion, it holds forth vacuum, the five primary elements, &c, &c. as spirit. This illusion also forms the energy of spirit ; and hence, when spirit as united to illusion is spoken of as chief, it is called the primary cause of all things ; and when illusion is spoken of as chief, then spirit as united to illusion is called the material cause of all things thus, the spider is himself the primary and the material cause of his web : in presiding over it, he is the former, and in forming it from his own bowels, he is the latter. The ever-blessed God is, in a similar manner, by him self and by his energy, both the original and the material ( 93 ) cause of all things ; he is the potter and the clay. If we sup pose another cause of things besides God, we make two causes. If it be objected, that as the potter cannot work without cUy, so God could not make the world without matter, and that therefore he must have been indebted to another for his power to make the world, the Vedanta maintains, that the one ever-blessed God is himself both the primary and the material cause of all things. Supposing the three Grunas to exist in a state of equilibrium in the illusive energy of spirit, till, when the Tama guua is chief, and spirit is united to the power of deception in this illu sion, from spirit arises vacuum ; from vacuum air ; from air fire ; from fire water ; and from water the earth. Our ideas of the universe divide themselves into two parts, animate and inanimate ; the animate is the cause of all things, the inanimate (the universe) is the work of God. Therefore all creatures possessed of life, from man downwards, are animate in consequence of the presence of the deity, as the chariot moves in consequence of the presence of the horses and the charioteer. In the bodies of all living creatures two kinds of life exist : the first, the ever-living : the second, the ever-living united to the heart. In whatever the pure spirit exists, but in which it is not united to intellect, on account of the absence of intellect, that is inanimate matter. We conjecture then from appearances, that the tama guna which prevails in gross matter must be its material cause, for the excellen cies and faults of an effect must have previously existed in the material cause. The five primary elemets are from God. As in illusion the Tama-guna prevails, so in the five primary ele ments, of which illusion is the material cause, the guna prevails. These elements are termed subtile, archetypal, and five-fold. From the subtile elements arose subtile bodies and gross matter. The subtile element contains seventeen parts, which united form the seminal body. These seventeen parts are, the five ( 94 ) senses, the five organs, the understanding and thought, and the five kinds of breath. The organs of the five senses are the ears, skin, eyes, tongue, and the nose. From the satwa guna arose the ear ; from the same in air, arose the skin ; from the same in fire, the eye ; from the same in water, the tongue, and from the same in earth, the nose. From the satwa guna in the five primary elements, arose mind, which receives four names in consequence of its different operations, which are, the understanding, thought, consciousness of self-existence, and reflection. The understanding forms decision ; indecision and doubt belong to thought ; that which seeks after the nature of things is called reflection; that \\hich leads a person to think, I am learned, I am rich, I am corpulent, I am thin, I am yellow, is called consciousness of self-existence, or pride. If in this manner, however, mind be subject to four changes still reflection must be considered as being united to the understanding, for both these faculties are employed in forming decision. Consciousness of self-existence, or pirde, belongs to thought, for both these powers are concerned in the changes which take place in the mind. Through the five senses and the mind we become acquainted with sound, touch, form, taste, and smell. The five senses and the understanding form that clothing or receptaclei of spirit which is made up of know ledge. Spirit thus inclosed, or in this union, says, I am sovereign, I partake [of enjoyment, &c. ;] and possessed of these thoughts, it is qualified to pratice what belongs to the present and the future state. The five organs and thought form that receptacle of spirit which is wholly made up of in tellect. The five organs are the mouth, the hand, the feet, the penis, and the anus ; from the Rajo-guna in vacuum arose words ; from that quality in air, the hands; from the same in fire, the feet ; from the same in water, the anus, and from the same in earth, the penis. The five breaths are, that which is in the nostrils, that expelled downwards, that which pervades the whole body, that which ascends into the throat and is discharged at the i The words are Vignana-maya, fulness of knoivledge, and Kosha, a receptacle. ( 95 ) mouth, and that which promotes digestion. Some maintain, that from these five kinds of air proceed five other kinds [here follow their names ; which are said to be connected with di gestion, sleep, hunger, sighing, and corpulency]. The five kinds of air in the body are derived from the rajo guna in each of the five primary elements. These five kinds of air when united to the five organs form that receptacle of spirit which is entirely composed of air. This receptacle, being derived from the active principle, or Rajoguna is identified with actions. We call the first of these three receptacles, chief, because it possesses the power of giving knowledge ; the second is identified with action, because it is derived from thought; the last is identified with things, because of power the action belongs to it. These three receptacles united form for the reception of spirit the subtile body. When we form an idea of all the subtile bodies, we call them the collected mass of subtile bodies, as the idea of a forest is formed when the understanding conceives of many trees at once, or when many waters suggest the idea of a lake ; and separate ideas of these subtile bodies, necessarily lead us to individual substances. We compare the spirit which is united to the collected mass of subtile bodies to the thread upon which are strung the pearls of a necklace.