In the thirteenth chapter Shri Krishna told Arjuna that the universe is created through the union of the Field and the Knower of the Field (i.e. Prakriti and Purusha), and by association with the three attributes the soul becomes involved in the worldly affairs.  The soul when it comes in the grips of Prakriti experiences pleasure and pain but if it gets rid of the three attributes then it becomes liberated. (14:32-34).

Now, how does the non-attached soul get attached to Prakriti?  What is the meaning of the union of the soul and Prakriti (Knower of the field and the Field)?  How does the soul experience pleasure and pain?  What are these attributes and how many are they?  How can these attributes be wound up? What are the characteristics of a person who is beyond the attributes?  The discussion of these points forms the subject matter of the fourteenth chapter. (14:35-37)

MEANING OF PARA.

Shri Krishna said, "Arjuna, I explained to you in many different ways what Knowledge is, but you do not seem to have experienced it so far.  Therefore I shall once again explain to you the meaning of the word Para which is well-known in the Shrutis." (14:39-41).

Para the supreme knowledge  Other branches of Knowledge do not extend their scope beyond the world and the heaven.  But the Knowledge of the Self goes beyond that therefore the term Para has been used in its context.  It is because of this that I call the Knowledge of the Self as the best Knowledge.  Compared to it the rest of the knowledge is like grass in the presence of fire.  The knowledge which recognises only the world and the heaven, which considers only Yajnas and rituals as the best and which is not acquainted with anything other than duality, appears entirely like a dream in front of this Knowledge of the Self. (14:42-45).  Once the Knowledge of the Self rises all other types of knowledge vanish, therefore Arjuna, I call it the best.  The liberation, which is within us right from the beginning, comes into our reach due to this Knowledge.  Once it is experienced the brave thinkers do not let worldly thoughts enter their minds anymore.  Those who have controlled their mind with the help of the mind itself and have become relaxed and at peace go beyond the bodily affairs while still in the body.  They cross the bounds of the body and become one with me. (14:47-51).

Arjuna, they are eternal like me and have reached perfection, Just as I am infinite, blissful and ultimate truth, they also become so. (14:52-54).  The feeling of "you" and "I", that is the feeling of duality, vanishes and everybody exists at the same level.  Therefore whenever the entire universe gets reborn, these Self-realised persons do not have to be reborn.  How can those who do not get caught in the bounds of the body at the time of creation of the universe die at the time of its dissolution? Therefore Arjuna those who, with the help of Knowledge of the Self have attained me have gone beyond the birth-death cycles. (14:56-59).

HOW THREE ATTRIBUTES TRAP ME

Now I shall tell you howthe trappers in the form of the three attributes entangle me , despite my being one and the only one, in the traps of different bodies and how I create this universe with the help of Prakriti. (14:64-65).

Prakriti : Prakriti  is called the Field because it gives rise to the harvest of living creatures by the seed of the union with me. (14:64-66).  Since it is the place where Mahat and other principles reside it is also called Mahatbrahma (Universe of Mahat etc.).  It strengthens passions therefore it is Mahatbrahma.  People who believe that the universe is not expressible call it "Unmanifest" while the Sankhyas call it Prakriti.  Vedantis call it Maya.  But why talk more about it? It is the same as what is called Ignorance.  This Ignorance is the very entity due to which we forget our real Self.  It vanishes once we start thinking about the nature of our Self. (14:67-72).  Sometimes a person cannot make up his mind about whether what he is seeing is a pole or man but he is aware he is seeing something, similarly he is not sure whether what he realises is Soul (Brahman) or not.  Just as at the time of twilight in the evening it is neither day nor night similarly Ignorance is neither true knowledge and nor contrary knowledge but the middle stage of doubt about the Soul.  And the Soul entangled in Ignorance is called the Knower of the Field (individual).  Forgetting the real Self and increasing the ignorance is the characteristic of the Knower of the Field.  Understand properly that this is the yoga or union of the Field and Knower of the Field.  This union is the basic nature of the Self.  Thus, by union with the Field the Knower of the Field or individual forgets its original form due to ignorance and takes different forms. (14:76- 82).

What is world   Whatever one observes after the eyes shift away from the form of the Self is called the world and that world is created out of Me.  A person, though alone, sees several things in his dream by delusion and what happens when an individual forgets his Self is similar.  I shall explain the same principle in another way. (14:83-86).

Outcome of Ignorance   This ignorance of the Self is My wife and she is young, beginningless and with indescribable qualities.  She does not possess a specific form.  Her expanse is very large.  She lives near ignorant persons and far away from persons of Knowledge.  She is awake when I am asleep and becomes pregnant through the union with the power of the Self.  In her womb grow the foetuses of the eight types of passions. (14:87-90).

Birth of the universe  From the union of the Self and the Prakriti the intellect is born first and mind is born from the intellect.  The young wife of the mind namely the affection gives birth to the ego and from ego are born the five principles.  The sense-objects and the sense organs being naturally parts of the five principles are also created along with them.  When passions develop the three attributes also raise their head and start spreading through the seed of desires.  Just as a seed coming in contact with water sprouts and becomes a tree similarly, as soon as Maya  becomes united with Me it sprouts shoots of various types of the universe.  Listen to how that foetus takes shape.  From it are formed the four types of creatures namely oviparous i.e.  those born through eggs, from sweat e.g.  lice etc., through seeds i.e.  plants and through uterus.  The foetus having more of the sky and wind principle is called the oviparous foetus.  Foetus possessing Tama and Raja attributes and with more of the water and fire principle is the foetus which creates life through sweat.  Foetus having more of the water and earth principle and which is created from the inferior Tama attribute is the non-moving foetus born of seed.  The foetus which is aided by the five sense organs and five organs of action and with further support from mind and intellect is the uterine foetus. (14:91-102).

Thus Maya gave birth to a child whose arms and legs are the four types of foetuses, the eight-fold Prakriti its head, activism its protruding belly, renunciation its straight back, the eight species of the deities the parts of the body above the navel, the blissful heaven its throat, the mortal world the trunk and netherworld the part below the waist.  The expanse of the three worlds is the baby's plumpness.  The 8.4 million species are the joints of the bones.  The child began to grow steadily.  Many bodies are the various parts of its body.  Maya started decorating it with ornaments of different names every day and fostering it on the milk of delusion.  Different worlds are its fingers which she adorned with rings of different bodies.  Thus the delusive beautiful Prakriti  became swollen with pride having given birth to the only child that is the living and non-living universe.  Brahmadeo, Vishnu and Mahesh are respectively the morning, noon and evening of this child.  By setting up this play of the universe the child sleeps on the bed of the delusion and when the new aeon starts it wakes up again with the ignorance of the Self.  Thus this child steps around happily in the house of ignorance of the Self according to the passage of the different eras.  Will is its friend and ego its playmate.  This child dies only due to Knowledge of the Self.  Maya gave birth to the universe with the help of My power therefore I am the father, Maya is the mother and this huge world is our child. (14:103-116)

Diversity  Though you see diverse types of bodies ignore the differences among them because mind, intellect etc. are the same among them. (?) Just as the same body has different organs similarly the diverse kind of universe has arisen from a single entity.  The world and I have a mutual relation similar to a tree though grown out of a single seed has different types of branches, some short, some long and some bent. (14:117-119).  Just as fire and flames are the two forms of the same fire, in the same way I and the world are the same.  Therefore to imagine a relation between us two is not correct.  If one says that creation of the world shadows my form then the question is who appears in the form of the world? (14:122-123).  If you try to see me by moving aside the world then it is not possible because it is I who am in the form of the universe.  Arjuna let this principle be fixed in your mind.  Now even if I show my forms in different bodies consider that it is I who am bound in them by different attributes.  Is one who is afraid of the own shadow different from it?  Therefore consider the binding by which I became many by assuming innumerable bodies.  This binding does not remain after one experiences Me but this is not realised because of one's ignorance.  Therefore Arjuna, listen to which attributes lead to which type of bindings, how many attributes are there, what are their properties and what their nature and names are and how they came into existence. (14:135-137).

THE THREE ATTRIBUTES

 Sattva, Raja and Tama are the names of the three attributes and they arise from Prakriti.  Out of these the Sattva attribute is the best, Raja attribute is medium and the Tama attribute is inferior.  These three attributes may be seen in the same nature. (14:138-140).  The nature that develops when ignorance is embraced gets not only the Sattva and Raja attributes but the Tama attribute as well.  Arjuna, I will tell you how these attributes bind a person. (14:143-144).

The time when a soul reaches the status of an individual (i.e. is born) by adopting the I-am-the-body attitude is an inauspicious moment.  From birth until death he imagines the functions of the body to be his own. (14:145-146).

Sattva attribute  The Sattva attribute traps the individual by the strings of pleasure and learning.  A learned individual roars due to vanity and kicks around due to conceit and misses the bliss of the Self-realisation.  He feels elated when people honour him for his learning.  He feels happy by small gains and he goes around bragging that very little satisfies him.  He says how fortunate he is to have none as happy as himself.  He is flooded with the eight righteous Sattva-attributed emotions.  As if this is not enough, another binding, the pride of his being learned, trails him.  He does not feel sorry that he has lost the realisation of his being the Soul.  On the contrary he swells with pride of his worldly knowledge. (14:147-153).

The soul in the body, because of the worldly outward knowledge considers himself as the body.  He knows the art of handling worldly affairs and becomes expert in the rituals of yajnas.  His knowledge can take him up to heaven and he thinks that currently there is none as knowledgeable as he is and that he alone is clever.  In this way the Sattva attribute pulls this lame individual like bull with the reins of pleasure and learning. (14:154-158).

Raja attribute  Now I shall tell you about how the Raja  attribute also binds the individual.  It always keeps him amused and his passions remain ever alive, therefore it is called Raja attribute.  If it enters even slightly in an individual it keeps him infatuated with passions and that individual rides on lust.  Just as fire flares up when ghee is poured into it burning things big and small, similarly his desire becomes wild because of which painful things appear to him as pleasure giving.  He feels dissatisfied even with the wealth of the gods.  After desires for sense-objects have thus grown, even if a mountain as large as Meru comes in his possession he feels that he should get something still bigger.  He is prepared to sacrifice his life even for a penny.  He considers himself lucky if he gains even a piece of straw.  Worried by what would happen to him if the wealth he possesses gets squandered he starts big industries.  Then worried that he may not be able to get anything to eat in heaven he performs Yajnas and vows,  He builds wells and lakes for the public.  He does not do any penance except with the aim of getting some desire fulfilled.  Thus he keeps himself busy day and night in such activities. (14:159-168).

A fish or the glances of a pretty woman are quick and fickle and the lightning is still more so, but that is nothing compared with the speed and fickleness of the Raja Attribute.  He jumps with that speed into the fire of actions hoping for gains in this world and to gain heaven.  Thus the individual who is separate from the body while being in it puts the shackles in his legs and gets his neck in the noose of the struggle for actions.  Thus the individual who resides in the body has a strong binding of the Raja attribute. (14:170-173)

Tama attribute   Now listen to the characteristics of Tama attribute.  Tama attribute is that which veils the practical view of a person by the dark clouds of delusion.  It grows by ignorance and makes the whole world dance with delusion. Thoughtlessness is its password and it is the pot of honey of ignorance which keeps individuals under illusion.  This Tama attribute chains those who consider the body itself to be the soul.  Once it starts growing in the living and non-living world it does not leave there scope for anything else.  It brings heaviness to all organs and makes the mind dull and gives shelter to laziness.  The body becomes shaky because of it.  A person loses all desire to work and starts yawning again and again.  He cannot see anything even with eyes open and even when nobody has called him he gets up like a demented person and responds.  Once he lies down and sleeps he does not even turn over.  He has no desire to get up even if heavens fall.  Once he sits quietly he forgets what is proper or improper because his tendency is to stay as he is without moving.  He sits in the hopeless pose either with his hands on the forehead or his head in between his knees.  He likes sleep so much that when he is sleepy even heaven is bothersome to him.  He does not have any vice other than wishing that he should be accorded the long life of Brahmadeo which he should spent entirely in sleep.  If he slips and falls down while walking he sleeps in that state there itself and once he is asleep he refuses even nectar.  Similarly if he is forced to work he becomes blind with anger.  He does not think about how he should behave with others or talk with them or if he is likely to gain anything or not.  He sometimes ventures to commit some bravery but his tendency is to do things that should not be done.  He likes making mistakes.  Thus the Tama attribute binds the free individual with the three tentacles of sleep, lethargy and mistakes.  The individual is thus caught in the tentacles of the attributes and thinks that their characteristics belong to him. (14:174-193).

EFFECT OF PREDOMINANCE

When Sattva attribute grows more than the Raja and Tama attributes the individual thinks he is happy.  When Sattva and Raja attributes wane and the strength of Tama increases, the individual is easily prone to committing mistakes.  Similarly when Raja predominates over Sattva and Tama that individual, the king of the body thinks that there is nothing better than action. (14:199- 202).

Predominance of Sattva  Now listen to how the attributes grow.  The signs which are apparent when the Sattva  attribute grows in the body after conquering the Raja and Tama are as follows.  He is full of knowledge which can be seen from outside by his external appearance itself.  All his organs are able to discriminate and in fact even limbs are able to see.  The organs themselves discern what is good or bad and are in control.  The ears do not hear what should not be heard, eyes do not see what should not be seen and his tongue avoids speaking what should not be spoken.  Just as the darkness recedes from the lamp, the prohibited actions do not venture near the organs.  His intellect becomes active in all the branches of knowledge and Knowledge pervades his mind.  All his desires vanish, tendency towards actions reduces and he feels disgust for sense- pleasures.  If he dies while these characteristics of growing Sattva attribute become apparent, then it is an occasion of happiness similar to the arrival of heavenly guests after a good harvest.  Arjuna, if he is as much generous and courageous as he is wealthy, then why should he not benefit in this world as well as the next? What other fate can such an incomparable person full of Sattva attribute have? By abandoning the body which is the means of enjoying worldly pleasures and being full of Sattva attribute, he becomes the very image of Sattva and what more, he is reborn among the men of Knowledge.  When the Sattva attribute gets thus purified, knowledge grows and the intellect floats on it.  Then.  by thinking about the order in which the Mahat and other principles were created, he dissolves in the Self along with that thought.  He attains the principle of the Self which is the thirty-seventh principle beyond the thirty-six principles proposed by the Vedantis (Chapter 13) or the twenty-fifth principle beyond the twenty-four principles of the Sankhya philosophy.  He takes rebirth in the highest class of family of those who brush aside the trio of three attributes, three stages of life (Childhood, youth and old age) three types of body (the material, causal and subtle) and easily attain the fourth, that is, the Self. (14:203-225).

Predominance of Raja  Similarly when Raja attribute grows suppressing the Sattva and Tama and plays havoc in the body then the apparent signs are as follows.  The organs play around freely among the sense-pleasures.  They do not remember that looking at other peoples wives is against the code hence his organs graze around everywhere like a goat.  His greed grows freely to such an extent that only those things which escape his attention survive.  He does not hesitate to do any kind of work.  He goes after hobbies like building a temple or performing an Ashwamedh (Horse sacrifice) yajna.  He takes up unusual tasks like establishing towns, building lakes or develop large forests.  In spite of all this his desires related to gains in this world and the next remain unfulfilled.  His desires grow tremendously.  His hopes and ambitions gallop forward and he is not satisfied with roaming over the whole world.  Such signs are seen when the Raja attribute grows in a person.  If he dies under these conditions then he is reborn as a human being in another body having the same characteristics. (14:226-238).  He joins the rank of persons who do not have any rest during the day or night from the worldly business.  He who dies drowning in the pond of Raja attribute is reborn in the family of ritualistic persons. (14:241-242).

Predominance of Tama   Now listen carefully to the external signs when the Tama attribute grows after defeating the Sattva and Raja attributes.  His mind is like the sky on the new moon night without the sun or the moon.  Full of darkness of ignorance he does not even talk about thought.  The subtleness of his intellect dips to such an extent that it will surpass even a stone in the hardness.  His memory appears lost and his body appears to be filled inside out with thoughtless arrogance and his transactions are of foolish nature.  Improper behaviour is in his bones.  His evil actions cease only after his death.  He likes doing bad deeds.  He is very fond of doing prohibited deeds and his natural tendency is also similar.  He becomes intoxicated without drinking liquor, talks as if in delirium without having fever and is deluded without love like a madman.  He is in ecstasy but that is not the same as the samadhi of meditation because he is possessed by infatuation.  These signs are apparent when the Tama attribute grows with all the accompanying assistance and if he dies in that state then he is reborn in the Tama attribute.  The rebirth that one gets after death with the Tama wrapped up in the desires is as an animal or a bird or a tree or a worm. (14:243-259).

Fruits of Sattva attribute   Therefore what one gets from Sattva attribute is are the fruits of righteous deeds as told in the Vedas.  Therefore Sattva attribute leads to the incomparable fruits of natural happiness and Knowledge which are called Sattvic fruits.  The actions caused by Raja attribute are outwardly sweet but bitter from inside like the fruits of a Vrindavan tree.  Just as a poisonous root when planted gives rise to a poisonous offshoot similarly the fruits of an action due to Tama attribute gives rise to fruits of ignorance. (14:260-264).

Therefore Arjuna, the Sattva attribute is the causal agent for Knowledge.  Just as forgetting the Self is the cause for the non-dual Supreme Soul to take birth as an individual, similarly the Raja attribute is the cause for greed.  It is only the Tama attribute which is responsible for the three defects namely delusion, ignorance and mistakes.  Thus I explained to you the three attributes individually in order to clear your thoughts.  Out of these the Raja and the Tama cause one's downfall while without the Sattva  attribute one does not attain Knowledge.  Therefore just as some people renounce everything to adopt the fourth type of life ( that is that of sanyasi) a Sadhak (aspirant) should give up all and live throughout his life with the Sattva attribute. (14:265-270).

Fate after death :  Those who dance with joy adopting the Sattva attribute and finally die, live in heaven.  Similarly, those who live with the Raja attribute and die are reborn on earth as human beings.  They have to undergo a mixture of pleasure and pains but cannot avoid death.  Similarly those who live with the Tama attribute are allotted hell after death.  Thus I have explained to you the three attributes which develop by the power of the Brahman and their workings.  Here the Soul follows the workings of the attributes due to their influence, without changes in its own form. (14:271-276).  Heaven, earth and hell are variations of the natures of the attributes.  If we try to see beyond the workings of the attributes then what we see is the form of the Self.  Keep in mind that there is nothing other that the Self. (14:278).  By the strength of the Soul these three attributes appear in the form of the body just as we see the earth and water appear as a tree. (14:280-281).  These three attributes become the body inclusive of the mind, therefore they become the cause of the binding.  Arjuna, it is a miracle that such a complex intertwining of the attributes and the body does not hinder the path of liberation.  These three attribute do make the body move progress or regress according to their nature but that does not hinder anybody from going beyond them.  I shall now tell you how one can achieve the liberation. (14:283-286).

Effect of Self-realisation  I have already told you (Chapter 13 SL24) that Consciousness, though within the attributes, does not become like them.  Now I am telling you the same once more.  This is realised once the individual gets the Self-realisation due to Knowledge. (14:287-288).  The individual does not consider anymore that he is full of the attributes and only watches them. (14:290).  Thus the individual who is full of the attributes but is also beyond them realises that "I am Brahman" and with this attitude says that I am not the doer but only a witness to the action and it is the attributes which control the actions.  All actions occur through the differences in the nature of the three attributes Sattva, Raja and Tama, therefore they are the afflictions of the attributes. (14:292-294).  Among these three attributes I stand like the spring which is the cause for the splendour of the woods. (14:295).  Even though actions take place by my power I remain the non-doer in the body.  The attributes are apparent when I show them and I nurture their characteristics and what remains when they are destroyed is also me.  In this way he in whom knowledge has arisen is obviously beyond the attributes. (14:297-299).

Now, he accurately knows the Principle which is without the attribute because the stamp of knowledge has been imprinted on his mind.  Just as a river ultimately meets the sea he also meets only My regime.  That person who is beyond the attributes knows that I am the Brahman. (14:300-301).  He who was asleep and snoring in the slumber of ignorance wakes up to find himself in the form of the Self.  Because the mirror of confusion fell down and has broken, he cannot see his image in it once the wind of I-am-the-body ego subsides. Then the individual and the Soul become one like the waves and the sea, and when that happens that person who is beyond attributes becomes one with Me.  And once he becomes one with Me then even if he remains in the body he does not get in the clutches of the attributes. (14:303-307).  Attributes may come and go, but his Knowledge does not get unclean and though he may be in the body he remains unattached.  The three attributes play with their strength in his body but he does not let his ego to look at them.  He is so steady inside that he is not aware of the affairs of his body. (14:309-311).  Just as the departed fragrance of a lotus does not return to it but merges in the sky, similarly once he attains unity with the Self he is not aware of the body and its affairs.  Therefore the six qualities like birth, old age, death etc.  which are associated with the body are absent in a man of knowledge. (14:313-315).  Once the awareness vanishes one recognises the original Self and then he no longer remains aware of anything else but the Self.  Therefore I call a person who has realised the Self as a person beyond the attributes even though he may be in the body. (14:317-318).

Arjuna asked, "Please explain how he goes beyond the attributes and how he behaves." (14:321-322).

GOING BEYOND ATTRIBUTES

Shri Krishna replied, "When he is drawn into performing actions due to strengthening of the Raja attribute, he does not get afflicted by the egoistic thought that it is he who is doing the actions nor does he feel sorry if he is not able to perform them.  When the Sattva attribute increases and the light of Knowledge pervades all organs, he does not get elated by the joy of his learning.  He is not engulfed in delusion if the Tama attribute increases, nor is he ashamed of ignorance.  When he is under the spell of delusion he does not aspire for Knowledge.  Similarly he does not avoid actions when he achieves Knowledge and is not sorry for it.  He does not pay attention to the attributes.  Does such a person of Knowledge need any other knowledge? Will he feel proud by the thought that he is the doer? Will he miss Knowledge when he is under delusion? (14:327-335).

Thus, since he himself is the attributes as well as their tasks, he is not separated from them.  He remains in the body like a traveller temporarily occupying a rest-house.  And similarly he does not do actions or get them done through others by coming under the influence of the attributes.  He neither conquers the attributes nor does he get conquered by them. (14:336-338).  He is not disturbed by the comings and goings of the attributes. (14:340)

A person of knowledge does not get bound by the attributes.  Without being influenced by them he watches their play from a distance.  When the Sattva tendency bends one towards righteous deeds, the Raja tendency to enjoyment of pleasures and the Tama tendency towards delusion, he considers that all these actions are taking place by the power of the attributes. (14:342-345).  He is not disturbed by the stir made by the attributes.  A person beyond the attributes may thus be recognised by these qualities.  Now listen to the behaviour of such a person. (14:347-348).

Once he attains My form he sees only My form in all the living and non-living things.   Therefore whether happiness or sorrow falls to his lot his mind is balanced like a pair of scales.  Now he has left the I-am-the-body attitude and has attained the Self.  The seed, which was planted, has resulted into the harvest of grains.  Once he has merged into the Self he is not affected by pleasure or pain even though he remains in the body.  Just as day and night are the same to a pole and do not make any difference so are the pleasure and pain to a soul in the body

Whether the heavens come to him or a tiger rushes to him his attitude of the Self does not get disturbed.  Nothing disturbs his equanimity.  He does not get angered by slander nor pleased by praise. (14:349- 361).

Whether he is considered by people to be a god and worshipped or a thief and beaten, it is all the same to him. (14:362).  There is no feeling of inequality in his mind.  Another quality he possesses is that he does not do any kind of transactions.  He does not commence any work.  His tendency to actions gets interrupted.  The fruits of his actions burn away in the fire of his Knowledge.  He does not at all think about the enjoyments and sufferings in this world or the next.  He enjoys whatever falls to his lot.  He is not elated by pleasures nor gets discouraged by sorrows.  Similarly he neither accepts nor forgoes anything in his mind.  He whose behaviour is thus developed should be considered as a person beyond the attributes.  Now I shall tell you the methods by which one can be beyond the attributes. (14:364-370).

I AM NOT SEPARATE FROM UNIVERSE

He who is devoted to me with unwavering mind can get rid of these attributes.  Therefore I must explain to you as to who I am, how to be devoted to me and what the signs of dedication are. (14:371-372).  Just as fluidity and water or space and sky are the same similarly the thing that is called universe is all Me. (14:374,377).  It is not true that I can be attained only after the universe is dissolved, but on the contrary, I must be realised along with the universe.  Realising me with this attitude of oneness is actually the unadulterated devotion.  If one imagines a difference between Me and the universe then it is adulterated devotion. (14:380-382).  Therefore one should not have any thought of any such difference. (14:383).  The dust particles on the earth or the snow particles in the Himalayas are not different, similarly I am in Me (i.e. the universe). (14:385).  When the outlook of equality that one is not different from God is developed I call it devotion.  This outlook is the best form of Knowledge and the essence of yoga. (14:387-388).  Because of it the attitude that "I am Brahman" comes to the surface. That knowledge also dissolves with this attitude. (14:391-392).  When the difference vanishes the knowledge also vanishes. (14:394).  The illusion that the devotee is on this shore and I am across, disappears and what remains is only the oneness between the two.  Then the question of conquering the attributes does not remain because with the entwinement of oneness they also disappear.  Arjuna, this state is called the state of oneness with the Brahman.  He who is devoted to Me is the one to attain it.  Brahman weds him who carries devotion towards Me in this manner. (14:395-398).  He who serves Me with the outlook of knowledge is the crown jewel of the oneness with the Brahman.  Attaining this state of oneness is called the liberation while still in the body or the fourth achievement (See notes).  Devotion to me is the ladder for reaching this oneness with the Brahman.  But if you are thinking that the means of attaining me is different from me, do not do so. (14:400-403).  Brahman is only my name and I am mentioned by that name.  There is no difference between the Brahman and Me.  That Brahman is the incomparable entity which is constant, steady, open, having the form of the code of living and which gives infinite bliss.  I am the ultimate form and the place where Knowledge, after its task is over, dissolves. (14:404-407).

_________________________

NOTES
The fourth achievement (14:400-403). The fourth achievement is Moksha or liberation. (See notes under Ch XII.)
 
 
 

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