Darkness: absence of discrimination* Inertness: Extreme inactivity, the result of.darkness. Heedlessness and error are also the effects of darkness.
Life after death as governed by the gtmas.
Whatever result is obtained after death, — even that is caused by attachment and desire and is all due to the gunas. This is taught as follows: mi mk sit g srswi mfir hwi i 14. If the embodied one meets death when 12—16] THE THREE GUNAS. 387 Sattva is predominant, then he attains to the spot- less regions * of the knowers.of the Highest.
The embodied: the Self. The Highest: the Mahat and the like principles (Tattvas).
15. Meeting death in Rajas, he is bom among those attached to. action; and, dying in Tarn as, he is born in the wombs ot the irrational.
If he meets death when Rajas is predominant, he is bora among men, who are attached to action. The irrational: •cattle and the like.
Here follows a summary of what has been taught in the preceding verses: 9»3*r: §§*rsCTi: mnm Press viwt \ 16. The fruit of good action, they say, is Sattvic f and pure; while the fruit of Rajas is pain, and ignorance is the fruit of Tamas.
Good action: Sattvic action. They: the wise. &«/** means Rajasic action, as this section treats of actions. The fruit of Rajasic actions is only pain, which is Rajasic: for, the effect should be consonant with the cause, Tama* means Tamasic action, a-dharma or sin. ' * The Brahraa-loka and the.like, where Bajas and Tamas never predominate, as we are told in the scriptures (agamas)— kt *.*., brought about by Sattva; devoid of impurities such. as may arise from Rajas and Tamas.— A.
388 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. [DlS. XIV.
The functions of the gunas summed up.
And what arises from the guwas?
17. From Sattva arises wisdom, and greed from Rajas; heedlessness and error arise from Tamas, and also ignorance.
From Sattva: When Sattva asserts itself. Moreover, 18. Those who follow Sattva go upwards: the Rajasic remain in the middle; and the Tama- sic, who follow in the coarse of the lowest gu#a> go downwards.
Those who follow the course of Sattva-guwa will be born in the region of the Devas or the like. The Rajasic will dwell among men; The Tamasic — those who follow the course of Tamas, the lowest guna— -will go down, i e., they will be born in the wombs of cattle and the like creatures.
Realisation of the Self beyond the gunas leads to immortality, It has been briefly taught in the preceding discourse that the cause of samsara — of the Purusha*§ birth in the wombs of high and low creatures — is the attachment which the Purusba,. whom under the influence of the illusory know- ledge that leads him to identify himself with Prakriti, has For objects of experience, **e.»for the gurcas which assume the forms of pleasure* pain and delusion; — the attachment which 17—20] THE THREE GUNAS. 38?
makes him feel " I am happy, miserable, deluded" The same thing, has been described at length here (xiv. 5 «*• *eg#): the nature of the gunas, their functions, how they bind by their functions, the destination of the persons enslaved by the functions of the guwas; all about the cause of bondage rooted in illusion, Now, with a view to teach that moksha accrues from right knowledge, the Lord says: 19. When the seer beholds not an agent other than the gwtas and knows Him who is higher than the guwas, he attains to My being.
When a man is enlightened and realises that there is no agent other than the gunas which transform themselves into the bodies, senses and sense-objects, when he sees that it is the gunas that in all their modifications constitute the agent in all actions; when he sees Him who is distinct from the gunas, who is the Witness of the gunas and of their functions, then he attains to My being: i.e.$ seeing that All is Vasudeva, •he becomes Vasudeva.* Now the Lord proceeds to teach how he attains to it 20. Having crossed beyond these three gimas, which are the source of the body, the embodied one is freed from birth, death, decay and pain, and attains the immortal.
* Then his identity with Brahman becomes manifest.— A.
The wise man crosses, while still alive, beyond the three guwas which constitute the upadhi of Maya t and the seed out of which the body is evolved. He is emancipated, while still alive, from birth, death, decay and pain, and attains ta immortality: in this way he attains to My being.
The marks of a liberated soul When it was said that (the wise man) crosses beyond the gunas and attains to immortality while still alive, Arjuna ' found an occasion for a question and asked: Arjuna said: 21. By what marks, O Lord, is h? known who has crossed beyond those three gunas? What is his conduct, and how does he pass beyond those three guwas.
Having been thus asked by Arjuna as to what are the characteristic marks of one who has crossed beyond the gunas and as to the means of crossing the gunas, the Lord proceeds to- answer the two questions. First as to the question * by what marks is he known who has crossed beyond the gunas?*' listen to what follows: t The, three ga«as are the constituents of Maya, the upadhi, «nd are the source of all evil,—*A.
20—23] THE THREE GUNAS. 391 The Blessed Lord said: 22. Light and activity and delusion present, O Pawdava, he hates not, nor longs for them absent.
Light is the effect of Sattva, activity of Rajas, and delusion of Tamas. He does not hate these when present, when they clearly present them!selves"as objects of conscious- ness. It is only in the absence of right knowledge that a man hates them thus: ' I have now a Tamasic idea by which I am deluded j there has arisen in me the Rajasic activity which is painful, and urged on by this Rajas I have fallen from my true nature, and painful is this fall from my true nature j and the Sattvic guna, which is luminous, binds me by way of ascribing discrimination to me and causing attachment to happiness.' But the man who has risen above the gu«as does not thus hate them when they present themselves to bis consciousness. Unlike a man of Sattva (or Rajas or Tamas) who longs for the Sattvic (or Rajasic or Tamasic) states which first presented themselvss to his consciousness and then disappeared, he who has risen above the gunas does not long after things which have disappeared.-^-This is a mark which others cannot perceive; it serves as a mark for the individual himself, as it can be perceived by himself alone; no man indeed can perceive the hatred or the desire which presents itself to another man's consciousness.
The conduct in life of the Liberated one.
Now follows the answer to the question, what is his conduct who has risen above the gu»as?
392 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. [DlS. XIV, 23. He who, seated as a neutral, is not moved byguwas; who, thinking that gu^as act, is firm and moves not; x 24. He to whom pain and pleasure are alike, who dwells in the Self, to whom a clod of earth and stone and gold are alike, to whom the dear and the undear are alike, who is a man of wisdom, to whom censure and praise are same; The SelHcnowing samnyasin, like a neutral man who inclines to neither party,* treads firmly the path t by which he seeks to rise above the guwas; he does not swerve from the state of discrimination. This is made clearer by what follows next; the guwas transforming themselves into the body, senses and sense-objects, act and react upon each other. Thus thinking, he remains unshaken. i.e.t he remains in his own true nature — There is another reading which makes this part mean "thus thinking, he acts.]?' Who dwells in the Self: who is calm.
Moreover: Moreover: * This is to illustrate how the Self-knower, in virtue of his know- ledge of the immutability of the Self, ceases to regard himself as the doer of actions and does not engage ia any action«-~A.
I This action is the continuation of a mere semblance of action which, he knows, does not pertain to him— A.
23—26] THE THREE GUN AS. 393 25. The same in honour and disgrace, the same towards friends and enemies> abandoning all undertakings,— he is said to have crossed beyond the guwas.
The same: unaffected. Though neutral from their own standpoint, some appear to others as if they were on the side of friends or on the side of foes; but this man appears to be same to friends and foes. He renounces all actions, produc- tive of visible and invisible results, except those which are necessary for the bare maintenance of the body.
Devotion to the Lord leads to liberation.
The attributes described in xiv. 23, 24, 25. form a rule of conduct laid down for the sawtnyasin who seeks moksfaa, so long as they are to be achieved by effort; but when they are firmly ingrained in his nature, as may be perceived by himself, they form marks indicating that the devotee has risen above the gu»as.* The Lord proceeds next to answer the question ' How does one pass beyond these three gu«as P' * These attributes, such as indifference to the various modifications and functions ol the gu»as, have to he acquired with special effort prior to the attainment of- Self-knowledge (vidya): and the aspirant for Self- knowledge should therefore cultivate these virtues, as they are the means of attaining it. But, on the rise of Self-knowledge, when the aspirant becomes a Jivanmukta (one who is liberated while still living in the body,) all the attributes mentioned here form part and parcel of his nature and serve as marks of liberation which he can perceive for himself. — A.
394 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA [DlS. XIV.
26. And he who serves Me with unfailing Devotion of Love, he, crossing beyond those three guwas, is fitted for becoming Brahman.
A samnyasin ( yati )f or even a man of works C karmin ), who serves Me — the Is vara, Narayana — dwelling in the heart of all beings, with a never-failing Bhakti-Yoga* in devotion to discriminative knowledge, — this Bhakti-Yoga being indeed the result of the Grace and Mercy of the Lord,— he crosses beyond the three gu«as mentioned above and is fit for becoming Brahman, ie.t for rnoksha.
Unity of Atman.
How can it be so t? — Listen: 27. For I am the abode of Brahman, the Immortal and the Immutable, the Eternal Dharma, and the unfailing Bliss.
For, in Me, in the Pratyagatman, in the true Inner Self* abides BrahmaD, the Supreme Self (Paramatman) who is immortal and immutable; who is the Eternal Dharma, i.e.t who' is attainable by the Dharma of Jnana-Yoga or wisdom- devotion; who is the unfailing Bliss, the Supreme Bliss, the Bliss Immortal. Because I, — the Pratyagatman, the Immor- * Bhakti-Yoga is that Supreme Love (Parama-preman) which leads to communion with the Supreme* To serve God in Bhakti-Yoga means to constantly contemplate Him by completely withdrawing the mind from all external objects, from the non-Self. In virtue of the Divine Grace, he is endued with right knowledge. Thus enlightened, he becomes Brahm tn while still alive* — A, f i.e«, how can the sage be himself Brahman?
26—27] THE THREE GUNAS. 395 tal Self,— am the abode of the Supreme Self, therefore by Right Knowledge one sees that the Pratyagatman is the very Supreme Self. It is this truth which has been declared in the preceding verse in the words " he is fitted for becoming Brahman.** The. meaning of the passage may be explanined as follows: It is through His Isvara-Sakti, — through the power He has to manifest Himself as I*vara or the Lord of the universe, — that Brahman shews His grace to His devotees, and so on. I am only that power or Sakti in manifestation,, and am therefore Brahman Himself; for Sakti — power, potentiality, energy — cannot he distinct from, the one in whom it inheres.
The verse may also be explained as follows: By * Brahman,* is here meant the Conditioned Brahman* who alone can be spoken of by any such word as 1 Brahman.'— I, the Unconditioned and the Unutterable, am the abode of the Conditioned Brahman, who is Immortal arid Indestructible. I am also the abode of the Eternal Dharma of Wisdom-Devotion, and the abode of the unfailing Bliss born of that Devotion.
g.-.*L...„ FIFTEENTH DISCOURSE. THE SUP11ME SPIRIT.
The Tree of Samsara.
Because all living beings are dependent on Me for the fruits of (their) actions, and the wise for the fruit of their knowledge, therefore those who serve Me with Bhakti-Ybga (Devotion of Love) cross beyond the gu«as by My Grace, through the attainment of knowledge, and attain liberation (moksha); much more so those who rightly understand the real nature of the Self. Wherefore the lord proceeds in the present discourse to teach the real nature of the Self, though unasked by Arjuna.
First he describes the nature of sawsara or mundane existence by a figurative representation as a tree * in order to produce vairagya or absence of all attachment For, he alone who is free from all attachment, and no other person, is fit for attaining the knowledge of the real nature of the Lord- ^Au- ___ _ _____ srtWT^r*J3rg— i. They speak of the indestructible Asvattha having its root above and branches below, whose leaves are the metres. He who knows it knows the Vedas.
•Samsara is represented as a tree because it can be cut off like a tree;— A, 1] THE SUPREME SPIRIT. 3§7 As Brahman with Maya * or the unmanifesfced potentia- lity is subtle in point of time, as He fe the Cause t, as He is eternal, as He is great, He is spoken of as the one above. The One above is the root of this Tree of Samsara, which is therefore said to have its root above. The Sruti says: " With roots above and branches below, this Asvattha is eternal/' (Ka*ha-Up. 3-2-1).
In the Purana also it is said: " The root from which the Eternal Tree of Brahman $ has sprung is- the Avyakta, the Unmanifested. It has developed by the strength of the same (Avyakta). Its trunk is Buddhi, the sense-apertures Its hollows, the great elements Its boughs, the sense-objects Its leaves and branches, dharma and a-dharma Its fair blossoms, pleasure and pain Its fruits affording livelihood to all creatures. And this is the resort § of Brahman (the Highest Self), and that Highest Self is (the essence) of that Tree of Brahman. Having cut asunder and split the Tree with the mighty sword of knowledge || and then attained to the Bliss of the Self, none comes back from there again."
* Brahman who is Kufestha (immutable) cannot by Himself be the cause- — A.
f This is to shew how Brahman is " subtle in point of time.'* Brahman is the Cause because He is the invariable antecedent of all effects. — A.
X *>., the Tree occupied., presided over, led, governed, guided, by Brahman. It is said to be eternal because it caniiot be cut except by knowledge. — A.
§ It is in this Tree of sa*»sara that Brahman abides.— This portion is interpreted to mean c*Brahman.is the resort of this Tree of sawsara: for this infinite universe has its basis in Brahman and in nothing else* It is indeed Brahman Himself that, owing to avidya, manifests Himsel in the form of this universe,— A.
ii The knowledge "* I am Brahman;"— A.
They speak of the illusory samsara as a tree rooted above. The Mahat, the Ahamkara (Egoism), the Tanmatras (the Elemental Essences), etc., are its branches as it were, and these extend downwards; whence the tree is said to have its branches below. They call ' this tree ' Asvattha ' because it will not abide the same even till tomorrow, because it undergoes destruction every moment. The illusion (Maya,) of samsara having existed in time without beginning, they say that this Tree of sawsara is eternal; for, it rests, as is well known, on a continuous series of births which is without beginning or end and is thus eternal. The Tree of Samsara is further qualified thus: The metres (chhandases) are its leaves as it were j they are so called because, like leaves, the metres ( Vedas) such as JBik, Ya jus and Saman protect (' chad, ' to cover) the Tree of Sa^sara, Just as the leaves of a tree serve to protect the tree, so do the Vedas* serve to protect the Tree of Samsara, as treating of dharma (merit) and a-dharma (demerit), with their causes and fruits. He who knows the Tree of Samsara and its Root as described above is a knower of the Teaching of the Vedas. Indeed nothing else, not even an iota, remains to be known beyond this Tree of Sawsara and its Root. He who knows It is therefore omniscient. — This is to extol the knowledge of the Tree of Samsara and its Root- Now follows another figurative representation of the members of this Tree of Samsara: great ^i^g^ygRrrf* * The ritualistic sections of the Veda treat of the path of ascent and •descent of the soul; they protect sawsara.by concealing its defects.— A- 2. Below and above are its branches spread^ •nourished by the gimas, sense-objects its buds; and below in the world of man stretch forth the toots ending in action.
From man down to unmoving objects below, and from him up to the abode of. Brahma, the Creator of the Universe*' whatever regions are attained as the suitable reward of know- ledge and action, — each varying according to the character of knowledge or of action, — they are the spreading branches as it were of that Tree; they are nourished and fattened by the guwas of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas, which form their material basis (upadana). The sense-objects such as sound are the buds, as it were, sprouting from the branches of the physical and other bodies which are the result of actions.*— The Highest Root of the Tree of Samsara has been mentioned already, and now will be mentioned the secondary roots as it were (of the universe), as leading to acts of dharma or a-dharma: vis.t the latent impressions (vasanas) of the feelings of attachment and aversion, eta, which were caused by the fruits of actions. These roots are spread in this world of man below* — below the regions of Devas and the like — and- give rise to acts of dharma and a-dharma, these acts springing up on the up-sprinajing of those vasanas. Those, roots are spread especially in the world of man. It is while here, as is well-known to all, that men concern themselves with action t.
Gut the Tree and seek the Goal.
And as to the Tree of Samsara just described,, * *.e„ in the linga-sariras of men these feelings of attachm ent and aversion are constantly present. — A.
J That is to say, it is while in the human body especially, that one is fit to engage inaction. -A.
400 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA [DlS. XV.
3. Its form is not perceived as such here, neither its end nor its origin nor its existence- Having cut asunder this firm-rooted Asvattha with the strong sword of dispassion.
4. Then That Goal should be sought for, whither having gone none return again. *« I seek refuge in that Primeval Purusha whence streamed forth the Ancient Current."
-4s such: as described above. Its form as such is perceived by nobody here: for it is very much like a dream, a mirage a gandharvafiagara (an imaginary city in the sky) produced by a juggler's art; indeed, it appears and dis- appears.* It has therefore no finality, no end |. Neither has it a beginning: nobody knows 'It has proceeded from this point* Its existence — i.e., its nature between the origin and * One may suppose that the Tree of Samsara? constantly kept up as it is by attachment etc., has no beginning and is not liable to destruction in itself} and that it is not even possible for one to cut it asunder. To remove this idea, the Lord says that the Tree of Sawsara described above, thongh not perceived through our sense-organs, should be inferred to be as described above from the teachings of the sastra (scripture). So it is possible for one to cut it asunder by means of knowledge. — A.
t In the absence of knowledge, samsara has no end,.inasmuch as illusion, vasanas (latent tendencies acquired in the past) and works give rise to one another, by action and reaction. Sa««sara is firmrooted: and one should therefore put forth a very-strong effort to uproot It, by resorting to renunciation through practice of indifference.— 'A.
3—5] THE SUPREME SPIRIT. 401 ihe end — is perceived by nobody. TMspassion: freedom from attachment to children, to wealth, and to the world. Strong: strengthened by a resolute bent of mind towards the Supreme Self and sharpened again and again on the whetstone of the practice of true discrimination. Out aswnder: uprooted the Tree of samsara with its seed.
Then the aspirant should seek for and know the abode of Vishnu beyond that Tree. Those who have reached this Goal never return to sawtsara- — How is that Goal to be sought after? — It is sought after thus: " I seek refuge in Him, the Primeval Purusha," who is spoken of as the Goal; i.e., He is to be sought for by way of seeking refuge in Him. -Who is this Purusha?— It is that Purusha from whom the emanation of the Tree of the illusory Samsara streamed forth, just as iliusory sights (maya^ issue from out of a juggler.
The Path to the Goal.
What sort of persons reach that Goal P— Listen: 5, Free from pride and delusion, with the evil of attachment conquered* ever dwelling in the Self, their desires having completely turned away, liberated from the pairs of opposites known as pleasure and pain, the undeluded reach that Goal Eternal.
Dwelling, etc: constantly engaged in the contemplation of the nature of the Supreme Self. Their desires, etc: they 402 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. [DlS. XV.
become sawmyasins, all desires having fled without leaving any taint behind. That: described above.
The Goal is the Lord's Glorious Being.
The Goal is again specified thus.* >, **■ "V 6. That the sun illumines not, nor the moon, nor fire; That is My Supreme Abode, to which having gone none return.
The sun, though possessed of the power of illumining alb does not illumine that Abode, the Abode of Light* That Abode to which having gone none return, and which the sun and other (luminous bodies) do not illumine, is the Highest Abode of Vishwu- Jiva is a ray of the Lord.
It has been said * to which having gone none return.' But, as everybody knows, going ultimately leads to returning, union to disunion. How can it be said that there is no returning of those who have reached that Abode P — Listen; how that may be is thus explained: 7. A ray of Myself, the eternal Jiva in the world of Jivas, attracts the senses, with manas the sixth, abiding in Praknti.
An integral portion of Myself— of the Supreme Self, of Narayana, — is the eternal Jiva (individual soul) in sawsaraj manifesting himself in every one as the doer and enjoyer. He is like the sun reflected in water; the reflected sun is but a portion of the real sun; and on the removal of water the reflected sun returns to the original sun and remains as that very, sun- — Or, it is like the> akasa (space) in the jar, which is limited by the upadhi of the jar. This akasa of the jar is but a portion of the infinite al&sa and becomes one with the latter on the destruction of the jar which is the cause of limitation; then it returns no more. Thus the statement " to which having gone none return * is quite explicable.
(Objection): — How can there be a portion of the Supreme Self who has no parts? If He has parts, He would be liable to destruction on the separation of parts.
(Answer): — Our theory is not open to this objection; for, it is only a portion limited by the upadhi set up by avidya; if is a portion as it were, an imaginary portion. This truth was established at length in the thirteenth discourse,* How Jiva dwells in the body and departs from it.
How does the Jiva of individual Soul,, who is only an imaginary portion of Myself, live in the world? or how does he leave it? f— Listen: He draws round himself the (five) senses, such as hearing, with the manas, the sixth sense — those six senses which abide in the Prakriti, ».«., in their respective seats such as the orifice of the ear.
When (does he draw them round himself)?
8. When the Lord acquires a body, and when He leaves it, He takes these and goes, as the wind takes scents from their seats.
* It has been shewn there that, as a matter of faci, Jiva is not a portion of Paramatman, that he is identical with the Supreme Selft — A, t i.e, if Jiva is the Supreme Self, how is it that he is spoken of as a saw*sarin, or as departing from this world? — A.
404 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. [DlS. XV.
When the Jiva, the Lord of the aggregate of the body and the rest, is to leave the body, then (he draws round him- self the senses and the manas). When he leaves a former body and enters another, he does so, taking these — the (five) senses with the manas the sixth— with him as the wind takes with it the scents of flowers.
What then are those (senses)?
9. The ear, the eye and the touch, the taste and the smell, using these and the manas, he enjoys the sense-objects, Using the manas along with each sense separately, the Dweller in the body enjoys the sense-objects such as sound. The Self is visible only to the eye of knowledge.
10. Him who departs, stays and enjoys, who is conjoined with gu^as, the deluded perceive not; they see, who possess the eye of knowledge* Him who thus dwells in the body, who leaves the body once acquired, who stays in the body, who perceives sound and other objects, who is always in association with guwas, *.e., whom all dispositions of mind — such as pleasure, pain delusion— invariably accompany, the deluded do not recognise. They do not see Him, though in this way He comes quite within "the range of their vision, because they are deluded in various ways, their minds being forcibly attracted by the 8—11] THE SUPREME SPIRIT. 405 enjoyment of objects seen and unseen.* Ah! such is human perversity — Thus does the Lord regret. — But those whose wisdom-eye t has been opened by an authoritative source of knowledge, *\e., who possess the power of discrimination, do recognise Him.
JSfo self -knowledge without Yoga. A few, however, ii. Those who strive, endued with Yoga, perceive Him dwelling in the self; though strivingj those of unrefined self, devoid of wisdom, perceive Him not.
Those who strive, well balanced in their mind, behold Him, the Self, dwelling in their own mind (buddhi): they recognise Him, '* This I am." But though striving to know Him by means of proper authorities such as the scriptures {sastra), men of unrefined self — whose self (mind) has not been regenerated by austerity (tapas) and subjugation of the senses, who have not abandoned their evil ways, whose pride has not been subdued, — behold Him not.J * Thought A traan is nearest and therefore most easily perceivable? still, all do not see Him, because of their complete subservience to sense- objects.— A.
f The wisdom-eye here spoken of refers to the scriptures (sastra) aided by reflection and reason (nyayanugnhita), which form a means to knowledge. — A.
% A mere study of scriptures, aided by reason and reflection, will not be of much avail to those whose minds are still impure and who therefore have not yet realised the distinction between the permanent and the impermanent, the real and the unreal.— A.
Immanence of the Lord, (1) as the all-illumining Light of Consciousness.
That Goal (the Supreme Self) which even such luminaries as fire and sun, the illuminators of all, do not illumine: which having reached, the seekers of moksha never return towards samsara; of which the Jivas (individual souls) are only parts manifesting themselves in conformity to the upadhis, as the akasa,(space) in a jar is but a portion of the all-pervading akasa, — with a view to show that that Goal is the essence of all and the real basis 0*0., object) of all experience* the Lord proceeds in the next four verses tb give a brief summary of His manifestations.
12. That light which residing in the sun illu- mines the whole world, that which is in the moon and in the fire> that light do thou know to be Mine.
Light: splendour. Mine: Vishwu's.
Or, ' light * may be understood to mean the light of cons- ciousness' (chaitanya).
(Objection): — The light of consciousness exists in all alike, in the moving and unmoving objects: then why this qualification of light as * residing in the sua,* etc?
(Answer): — This objection does not apply here; for, the qualification may be explained on the ground that the better manifestation (of consciousness in the sun, etc.) is due to a higher- proportion of Sattva. In the sun and other bodies (mentioned here) the Sattva is very brilliant and luminous; wherefore it is in them.that the light of consciousness is better manifested. Hence the qualification; not that the light is a 11—14] THE SUPREME SPIRIT. 407 specific attribute of those bodies only. To illustrate it by an example from ordinary experience: A man's face is not reflec- ted in a wall, in a piece of wood or the like; but the same face is reflected in a miror in a greater or less degree of clearness, according as the mirror is more or less transparent* (%) As the all-sustaining Life.
Moreover, 13. Penetrating the earth I support all beings by (My) Energy; and having become the watery moon I nourish all herbs.