Chapter 3

[Here ends the Chapter on Legal Procedure]

CHAPTER III: ON EXPIATION (prāyaścittādhyāya)

1. Ritual Impurity (āśaucaprakaraṇam)

A child under two years should be buried, and no water rite should be performed for it; the other kinsmen, having followed it to the cremation ground, should return. // Yj_3.1 //

While reciting the hymn to Yama and the Gāthās, with the domestic fire, he should be cremated, if he has been initiated; if he has established the sacred fires, according to that rite. // Yj_3.2 //

From the seventh or tenth day, the kinsmen go down to the water; facing the direction of the Ancestors, they say, "May this wash away our sin." // Yj_3.3 //

The water rite for a deceased maternal grandfather and teacher is performed in the same way; an optional water rite is for a friend, a married daughter, a sister's son, a father-in-law, and a priest. // Yj_3.4 //

They offer a single libation of water, in silence, uttering the name and gotra. Student-celibates and outcastes should not perform the water rite. // Yj_3.5 //

Heretics, those who have not entered a life-stage, thieves, husband-killers, promiscuous women, female liquor-drinkers, and suicides are not entitled to the rites of impurity or water. // Yj_3.6 //

When they have performed the water rite, come out of the water, and are seated on soft grass, those who have bathed should console them with ancient stories. // Yj_3.7 //

He who seeks for substance in human life, which is as unsubstantial as the stem of a plantain tree, and is like a bubble of water, is a fool. // Yj_3.8 //

The body is composed of five elements; if it has returned to the fivefold state through the actions originating from one's own body, what is there to lament? // Yj_3.9 //

The earth will perish, as will the ocean and the gods; how will the mortal world, which is like foam, not go to destruction? // Yj_3.10 //

Because the deceased helplessly consumes the phlegm and tears shed by his kinsmen, therefore one should not weep, but should perform the rites according to one's ability. // Yj_3.11 //

Having heard this, they should go home, with the children walking in front; having chewed neem leaves, they should remain restrained at the door of the house. // Yj_3.12 //

Having sipped water, they should touch fire and other things, water, cow-dung, and white mustard seeds; they should enter, touching them, and placing their feet gently on a stone. // Yj_3.13 //

The rites beginning with entry are also for those who have touched the corpse; for those who desire purification at that moment, it is by bathing and self-restraint for others. // Yj_3.14 //

A student observing a vow, having carried out his teacher, father, or preceptor, remains a student; he should not eat food from a restricted source, nor should he live with them. // Yj_3.15 //

They should sleep on the ground, on separate mats, eating food that is bought or received as a gift; for three days, food should be given for the deceased, in the manner of the Piṇḍayajña. // Yj_3.16 //

For one day, water should be placed in the open air, and milk in an earthen vessel. The Śrauta and Smārta rites should be performed, as enjoined by revelation. // Yj_3.17 //

The impurity from a death is desired to last for three nights or ten nights; for a child under two, the impurity from birth affects the mother alone. // Yj_3.18 //

The impurity from birth for the parents is due to the mother's seeing of the blood; that day is not defiled, because of the ancestors being the cause of birth. // Yj_3.19 //

If a birth or death occurs within the period of another, one is purified by the remaining days; in the case of a miscarriage, the nights equal to the number of months are the cause of purification. // Yj_3.20 //

For those killed by the king, a cow, or a Brāhmaṇa, and for suicides, the impurity is immediate; for one who has died abroad, the remaining period of impurity applies; if the period is complete, one is pure after giving water. // Yj_3.21 //

For a Kṣatriya, twelve days; for a Vaiśya, fifteen; for a Śūdra, thirty days; half of that for one who follows the righteous path. // Yj_3.22 //

From the appearance of the teeth, purification is immediate; until the tonsure, it is for one night; until the investiture with the sacred thread, for three nights; after that, for ten nights. // Yj_3.23 //

For unmarried maidens and for children, purification is for one day; also for a teacher, a fellow-student, a pupil, a maternal uncle, and a śrotriya. // Yj_3.24 //

For sons who are not legitimate, and for wives who have gone to another man, and when the king of one's residence dies, that day is the cause of purification. // Yj_3.25 //

A Brāhmaṇa should not follow a Śūdra or another twice-born to the cremation ground; if he does follow, he becomes pure by bathing in water, touching fire, and eating ghee. // Yj_3.26 //

There is no impurity for kings, nor for those killed by lightning; nor for those killed in battle for the sake of a cow or a Brāhmaṇa, if the king so desires. // Yj_3.27 //

For priests, for those initiated for a sacrifice, for those performing a sacrificial rite, for those observing a Satra vow, for students, for givers, and for knowers of Brahman; // Yj_3.28 //

at a gift, a marriage, a sacrifice, in a battle, in a national calamity, and even in a dire emergency, immediate purification is prescribed. // Yj_3.29 //

If touched by a menstruating woman or an impure person, one should bathe; if one touches them, one should sip water; one should also repeat the hymns to the water deities, and the Gāyatrī mentally once. // Yj_3.30 //

Time, fire, action, earth, wind, mind, knowledge, austerity, water, remorse, and fasting—all these are causes of purification. // Yj_3.31 //

A gift from evil-doers and the current of a river are purifying; for that which is to be purified, earth and water; and for twice-born men, renunciation. // Yj_3.32 //

Austerity is the purifier for those who know the Vedas, forbearance for the learned, and water for the body; recitation is for those who have drunk in secret, and truth is said to be the purifier of the mind. // Yj_3.33 //

The elemental self is purified by austerity and knowledge; the intellect is purified by knowledge. The supreme purification of the individual self is thought to be from the knowledge of the Lord. // Yj_3.34 //

2. Duties in Times of Distress (āpaddharmaprakaraṇam)

In distress, a twice-born may live by the occupation of a Kṣatriya or a Vaiśya; having overcome it, he should purify himself and establish himself on the right path. // Yj_3.35 //

Fruits, stones, linen, Soma, men, cakes, and plants; sesame, cooked rice, liquids, salt, curd, milk, ghee, and water; // Yj_3.36 //

weapons, poison, honey-leavings, honey, lac, and kuśa grass; earth, leather, flowers, woolen blankets, hair, whey, poison, and soil; // Yj_3.37 //

silk, indigo, salt, meat, one-hoofed animals, and lead; vegetables, fresh herbs, oil-cake, and animals, as well as perfumes. // Yj_3.38 //

Even while living by the occupation of a Vaiśya, he should never sell these. For the sake of *dharma*, sesame may be sold for an equal amount of grain. // Yj_3.39 //

Lac, salt, and meat are forbidden to sell; milk, curd, and liquor cause one to become of a lower *varṇa*. // Yj_3.40 //

A Brāhmaṇa in distress, accepting or eating food from any source whatsoever, is not tainted by sin, for he is like a blazing fire or the sun. // Yj_3.41 //

Agriculture, crafts, paid service, learning, usury, a cart, a mountain, service, marshland, a king, and begging—these are the means of livelihood in distress. // Yj_3.42 //

Having remained hungry for three days, one may take grain from a non-Brāhmaṇa; having taken it, he must declare it according to *dharma* if he is accused. // Yj_3.43 //

Having ascertained his conduct, family, character, learning, study, and austerity, and his family, the king should prescribe a righteous livelihood for him. // Yj_3.44 //

3. The Duties of a Hermit (vānaprasthadharmaprakaraṇam)

Having entrusted his wife to his sons, or being accompanied by her, he should go to the forest; a forest-dweller, a student-celibate, with his sacred fires and his domestic fire, should go. // Yj_3.45 //

With what grows without ploughing, he should gratify the fires, the Ancestors, the gods, and guests, and also his dependents, being self-controlled and wearing a beard, matted hair, and body hair. // Yj_3.46 //

He should make a collection of provisions for a day, a month, six months, or a year; what he has collected, he should give away in the month of Āśvayuja. // Yj_3.47 //

Self-controlled, bathing at the three junctures of the day, refraining from accepting gifts, devoted to Vedic study, charitable, and intent on the welfare of all beings. // Yj_3.48 //

Using his teeth as a mortar, eating what has ripened in its own time, or crushing food with a stone, he should perform the Śrauta and Smārta rites, and other rituals, with the oil of fruits. // Yj_3.49 //

He should pass his time with Cāndrāyaṇa penances, or always live on Kṛcchra penances; or he may eat after a fortnight has passed, or after a month, or after a day. // Yj_3.50 //

He should sleep on the pure ground at night, and pass the day by constant movement; or by standing, sitting, and walking, or by the practice of yoga. // Yj_3.51 //

In summer, he should be in the midst of five fires; in the rainy season, he should lie on the bare ground; in winter, he should wear wet clothes, or perform austerities according to his ability. // Yj_3.52 //

He who is pricked with thorns and he who is anointed with sandalwood— he who is neither angry with the one nor pleased with the other is the same to both. // Yj_3.53 //

Having placed the fires within himself, living under a tree, eating moderately, he may beg for alms for his subsistence only in the houses of forest-dwellers. // Yj_3.54 //

Or, having brought eight mouthfuls from a village, he may eat them in silence; or, living on air, he may walk towards the north-east until his body falls. // Yj_3.55 //

4. The Duties of the Ascetic (yatidharmaprakaraṇam)

From the forest or from the house, having performed the Prājāpatya sacrifice with all the Vedas and a full sacrificial fee, and at its end, having placed those fires within himself, // Yj_3.56 //

one who has studied the Vedas, performs recitation, has sons, gives food, and maintains the sacred fires, and has performed sacrifices according to his ability, should set his mind on liberation, but not otherwise. // Yj_3.57 //

Beneficial to all beings, tranquil, with a triple staff and a water pot, finding his delight in the One, he should wander, begging for alms and resorting to a village. // Yj_3.58 //

He should wander for alms in the evening, vigilant and unnoticed, in a village free from other mendicants, taking only enough for his sustenance, without greed. // Yj_3.59 //

The vessels of an ascetic are of earth, bamboo, wood, or gourd; their purification is by water and by rubbing with cow's hair. // Yj_3.60 //

Having completely restrained the group of senses, and having abandoned attachment and aversion, and having given up fear of all beings, a twice-born becomes immortal. // Yj_3.61 //

The purification of the inner disposition must be performed by a mendicant especially, because it is the cause of the arising of knowledge, and for the attainment of independence. // Yj_3.62 //

He should contemplate the dwelling in the womb, the states of existence resulting from actions, infirmities, diseases, afflictions, old age, and the change of form. // Yj_3.63 //

Existence in thousands of births, and the change of what is pleasant and unpleasant— he should see the subtle Self situated in himself through the yoga of meditation. // Yj_3.64 //

The stage of life is not the cause of *dharma*; it becomes so only when it is practiced. Therefore, what is harmful to oneself, one should not do to others. // Yj_3.65 //

Truth, non-stealing, non-anger, humility, purity, intelligence, fortitude, self-control, control of the senses, and knowledge—all this is declared to be *dharma*. // Yj_3.66 //

Just as sparks fly from a heated ball of iron, so from the Self, the individual souls come forth. // Yj_3.67 //

Therein, the Self itself does something, something by its own nature, something by practice, which is of the nature of both *dharma* and *adharma*. // Yj_3.68 //

He is the cause, the imperishable, the agent, the knower, endowed with qualities, the controller; the unborn, by taking a body, is said to be born. // Yj_3.69 //

As at the beginning of creation he creates space, wind, light, water, and earth, with successively increasing qualities, so he takes them on even while existing. // Yj_3.70 //

The sun is nourished by oblations; from the sun comes rain, then herbs; that food, in the form of essence, attains the state of semen. // Yj_3.71 //

At the union of a man and a woman, when the semen and blood are pure, the sixth, the Lord himself, simultaneously takes on the five elements. // Yj_3.72 //

The senses, the mind, the vital breath, knowledge, life, happiness, fortitude, retention, impulse, pain, desire, and the ego; // Yj_3.73 //

effort, form, color, sound, aversion, existence, and non-existence— all this is born of the Self for him who, though beginningless, desires a beginning. // Yj_3.74 //

In the first month, it is a state of viscous mass, a fusion of the elements; in the second month, a fleshy mass; in the third, it is endowed with limbs and senses. // Yj_3.75 //

From space, it derives lightness, subtlety, sound, the ear, and strength; from wind, touch, movement, arrangement, and roughness. // Yj_3.76 //

From bile (fire), sight, digestion, heat, form, and brightness; from water, taste, coldness, unctuousness, moisture, and softness. // Yj_3.77 //

From earth, smell, the nose, heaviness, and form. The unborn Self takes all this; from the third month, it begins to move. // Yj_3.78 //

By not granting the mother's cravings, the embryo may suffer a defect, deformity, or even death; therefore, what is pleasing to the woman should be done. // Yj_3.79 //

In the fourth month, there is firmness of the limbs; in the fifth, the formation of blood; in the sixth, the appearance of strength, color, nails, and hair. // Yj_3.80 //

Endowed with mind and consciousness, and with channels, sinews, and veins, in the seventh and eighth months, it also has skin, flesh, and memory. // Yj_3.81 //

The vital essence (ojas) runs back and forth to the mother and the embryo; therefore, a fetus born in the eighth month is deprived of life. // Yj_3.82 //

In the ninth or tenth month, by the powerful winds of birth, it is expelled like an arrow through the opening of a machine, with fever. // Yj_3.83 //

His bodies are sixfold, and six skins support them; there are six limbs, and three hundred and sixty bones. // Yj_3.84 //

With their sockets, there are sixty-four teeth and twenty nails; there are the small bones of the hands and feet, and their places are fourfold. // Yj_3.85 //

Sixty in the fingers, two in the heels, and four in the ankles; four bones in the forearms, and the same number in the shanks. // Yj_3.86 //

Two each in the knee, cheek, thigh, shoulder-blade, and shoulder-joint; the collar-bone, the palate-bone, and the hip-bone should be specified. // Yj_3.87 //

One pubic bone, and forty-five in the back; the neck has fifteen bones, one collar-bone, and likewise one jaw-bone. // Yj_3.88 //

Two at its root, the forehead, eye, cheek, and nose are of dense bone; the ribs, with their sockets and nodules, are seventy-two. // Yj_3.89 //

Two temporal bones, four cranial bones of the head; the chest has seventeen bones; this is the collection of a man's bones. // Yj_3.90 //

Smell, form, taste, touch, and sound are known as the objects of sense; the nose, eyes, tongue, skin, and ear are the sense organs. // Yj_3.91 //

The hands, the anus, the generative organ, the tongue, and the feet are the five organs of action; the mind is to be known as belonging to both. // Yj_3.92 //

The navel, the vital essence, the anus, semen, blood, and the two temporal bones, the head, shoulders, throat, and heart are the seats of the vital breath. // Yj_3.93 //

The omentum, the fat, the diaphragm, the navel, the pancreas, the liver, the spleen, the small intestine, the two kidneys, the bladder, and the receptacle of feces; // Yj_3.94 //

the stomach, the heart, the large intestine, and the rectum, the abdomen, and the two groins—this is the detailed list of the internal organs. // Yj_3.95 //

The pupils, the eye-sockets, the eyeballs, the outer ears, the ears, the temples, the eyebrows, the gums, the lips, and the two hollows of the neck; // Yj_3.96 //

the groins, the two testicles, the two kidneys, the two breasts formed from a mass of phlegm, the epiglottis, the buttocks, the arms, and the calves in the shanks and thighs; // Yj_3.97 //

the palate, the abdomen, the head of the bladder, the chin, the uvula, and the cavity of the neck—these are the locations in this body. // Yj_3.98 //

The four openings of the eyes and ears, and the openings of the hands and heart, these nine openings are also the seats of the vital breath. // Yj_3.99 //

Seven hundred veins, nine hundred sinews, two hundred arteries, and five hundred muscles. // Yj_3.100 //

Twenty-nine lakhs, and nine hundred, and fifty-six are to be known as the veins called arteries. // Yj_3.101 //

Three lakhs are to be known as the hairs of the beard and head of embodied beings; one hundred and seven vital spots, and two hundred joints. // Yj_3.102 //

Fifty crores and four crores of body hairs, and sixty-seven and a half lakhs, along with the sweat ducts. // Yj_3.103 //

The atoms, divided by the winds, are counted; even if one alone understands their nature and their arrangement. // Yj_3.104 //

Nine *añjali*s of chyle are to be known, and ten of water; seven of feces, and eight of blood are declared. // Yj_3.105 //

Six of phlegm, five of bile, and four of urine; three of fat, two of marrow, one and a half in the head. // Yj_3.106 //

The same amount of phlegm-like vital essence, and the same amount of semen; this is the unstable body, for whose liberation one must strive. // Yj_3.107 //

Seventy-two thousand channels, called *hitā* and *ahitā*, issue from the heart; in their midst is a moon-bright circle. // Yj_3.108 //

In the middle of that is the Self, like a steady flame. He is to be known; having known him, one is not born here again. // Yj_3.109 //

The Āraṇyaka which I obtained from the Sun is to be known, and the Yogaśāstra taught by me is to be known by one who desires yoga. // Yj_3.110 //

Making the mind, intellect, memory, and senses intent on no other object, the Self, the Lord, who is situated in the heart like a lamp, is to be meditated upon. // Yj_3.111 //

By reciting the Sāma chant according to the rules, without interruption, and with attention, through its practice one attains the supreme Brahman. // Yj_3.112 //

The Aparāntaka, the Ullopya, the Madraka, and the Prakarī, the Auveṇaka, the Sarobindu, the Uttara, and the Gītakas; // Yj_3.113 //

the Ṛggāthā, the Pāṇikā, and the Brahmagītikā composed by Dakṣa— to sing this, and by its practice, is called liberation. // Yj_3.114 //

A knower of the principles of vīṇā-playing, an expert in the musical intervals and scales, and a master of rhythm, attains the path of liberation without effort. // Yj_3.115 //

If a knower of song does not attain the supreme state through yoga, he becomes an attendant of Rudra and rejoices with him. // Yj_3.116 //

The Self is said to be without beginning; its beginning is the body. The entire universe is from the Self, and the Self's origin is from the universe. // Yj_3.117 //

How do we become deluded by this universe, with its gods, demons, and men, which has sprung from the Self? And how is the Self in it? Tell us. // Yj_3.118 //

Having cast aside the net of delusion, the Person who is seen here, with a thousand hands, feet, and eyes, with the splendor of the sun, the thousand-fold one— // Yj_3.119 //

He is the Self and the sacrifice, the all-formed Prajāpati; He, Virāj, in the form of food, attains the state of sacrifice. // Yj_3.120 //

The supreme essence which is produced from the offering of the substance to the deity, that essence, having gratified the gods and joined the sacrificer with the fruit, // Yj_3.121 //

is led by the wind, and the Soma is carried by the rays of the sun; that which is ordained by the Ṛg, Yajur, and Sāma Vedas is brought to the solar abode. // Yj_3.122 //

From the sphere of the sky, that sun creates the supreme nectar, which is the origin of all beings, both those that eat and those that are eaten. // Yj_3.123 //

From that food comes sacrifice again, from sacrifice food again, and again the rite; thus this beginningless and endless cycle revolves. // Yj_3.124 //

The Self is without beginning; its manifestation is known, but there is nothing within the Self. But the Puruṣa becomes an individual soul, born of delusion, desire, aversion, and *karma*. // Yj_3.125 //

He of a thousand selves, the primeval god whom I have described to you— from his mouth, arms, thighs, and feet arose the *varṇa*s, in their respective order. // Yj_3.126 //

The earth was born from his feet, and heaven from his head; from his nostrils the vital breath, from his ear the directions, from his touch the wind, and from his mouth, fire. // Yj_3.127 //

From his mind the moon was born, and from his eye the sun; from his loins the atmosphere, and the universe with all that moves and is still. // Yj_3.128 //

If this is so, O Brahman, how is he born into sinful wombs? And how is that Lord united with undesirable conditions? // Yj_3.129 //

Though endowed with senses, why does he not have memory of his past? Why, though all-pervading, does he not experience all sensations? // Yj_3.130 //

This individual soul attains the state of an outcaste, a bird, or a plant through faults born of actions of mind, speech, and body, in its existence through hundreds of wombs. // Yj_3.131 //

Just as the conditions of embodied beings in their bodies are endless, so too are the forms of those beings here in all wombs. // Yj_3.132 //

For some, the fruition of *karma* occurs after death; for others, it is born here in this life. For still others, it is here or in the hereafter; one's state of being is the determining factor. // Yj_3.133 //

One who covets the property of others, contemplates evil, and adheres to falsehood is born into other wombs. // Yj_3.134 //

A man who speaks untruth, is a slanderer, is harsh in speech, and engages in idle talk is born among beasts and birds. // Yj_3.135 //

One who delights in taking what is not given, who commits adultery with another's wife, and who unlawfully inflicts harm is born among immovable things. // Yj_3.136 //

A knower of the Self, pure, self-restrained, ascetic, with conquered senses, a performer of *dharma*, and learned in the Veda—such a sāttvika person attains birth among the gods. // Yj_3.137 //

He who delights in wicked deeds, is restless, is full of worldly undertakings, and is attached to sense-objects— such a rājasa person, upon death, attains birth among humans. // Yj_3.138 //

One who is slothful, cruel, greedy, an atheist, and a beggar, as well as one who is heedless and of depraved conduct, becomes a tāmasa person, born among animals. // Yj_3.139 //

Thus possessed by rajas and tamas, wandering here and united with undesirable conditions, he enters the cycle of *saṃsāra*. // Yj_3.140 //

Just as a soiled mirror is not capable of reflecting an image, so one with unripened faculties is not capable of the knowledge of the Self. // Yj_3.141 //

Just as the sweet juice within an unripe gourd cannot be obtained, so knowledge is not found in the Self of one whose faculties are unripened. // Yj_3.142 //

The embodied being experiences all sensations, which have their seat in his own body; a yogi is one who is free from them all and does not experience sensation. // Yj_3.143 //

Just as the one space appears separate in pots and other vessels, so the one Self appears as many, like the sun reflected in vessels of water. // Yj_3.144 //

Brahman, space, wind, fire, water, and earth are the elements; these are the worlds, and this is the Self, and from it comes all that moves and is still. // Yj_3.145 //

Just as a potter makes a pot from the union of clay, a staff, and a wheel, or a house-builder makes a house with grass, clay, and wood, // Yj_3.146 //

or a goldsmith, taking only gold, creates a form, or a silkworm, from the substance of its own saliva, creates a cocoon, // Yj_3.147 //

so the Self, taking up these causes in various wombs here, creates itself, having united with the faculties. // Yj_3.148 //

Just as the great elements are real, so too is the Self; otherwise, who could see with one eye what was seen by the other? // Yj_3.149 //

Or who recognizes a word, having heard it before? Whose is the memory of past events? And who is the author of dreams? // Yj_3.150 //

Filled with ego due to birth, beauty, age, conduct, and learning, he strives for sense-objects like sound through action, mind, and speech. // Yj_3.151 //

His mind is doubtful whether the fruit of *karma* exists or not; though unperfected, the bewildered man considers himself perfected. // Yj_3.152 //

"My wife, sons, and ministers are mine, and I am theirs"—this is his conviction; his mind is always perverse regarding what is beneficial and what is harmful. // Yj_3.153 //

He makes no distinction between the knower and the known, between nature and its modifications; he may even attempt suicide by starvation, fire, blows, or drowning. // Yj_3.154 //

Of such conduct, with an undisciplined self and adhering to falsehood, he is bound by *karma*, by aversion and delusion, and also by desire. // Yj_3.155 //

Service to the teacher, discrimination in the meaning of the Veda and scriptures, performance of their prescribed actions, association with the good, and auspicious speech; // Yj_3.156 //

avoidance of gazing at or touching women, seeing the Self in all beings, renunciation of possessions, and wearing worn-out ochre robes; // Yj_3.157 //

restraint of the senses from their objects, avoidance of drowsiness and laziness, contemplation of the body's nature, and seeing sin in worldly activities; // Yj_3.158 //

freedom from rajas and tamas, purity of sattva, desirelessness, and tranquility— purified by these means, one becomes fit for sattva and immortal. // Yj_3.159 //

From the arising of the memory of truth, from union with sattva, from the wearing away of *karma*, and from nearness to the truth, the yoga of the real begins. // Yj_3.160 //

He whose mind, at the dissolution of the body, is fixed in sattva on the Lord, with an unwavering intellect, correctly attains the memory of past births. // Yj_3.161 //

Just as an actor depicts his own person with various colors, creating many forms, so the Self takes on bodies born of *karma*. // Yj_3.162 //

Through defects in time, *karma*, the self, and the seed, and likewise in the mother, deformity of the embryo, such as missing limbs, is seen at birth. // Yj_3.163 //

This Self is in no way ever separate from the ego, mind, destiny, the fruit of *karma*, and the body. // Yj_3.164 //

Just as a lamp's existence depends on the union of the wick, base, and oil, so too a change is seen, such as the untimely destruction of life. // Yj_3.165 //

Infinite are the rays of him who is situated in the heart like a lamp; they are white and black, variegated, tawny, blue, and red. // Yj_3.166 //

One of these rays is situated above; piercing the solar orb and passing beyond the world of Brahma, by it one goes to the supreme state. // Yj_3.167 //

The other hundred rays of his that are situated above— by these one attains the bodies of the gods, along with their abodes. // Yj_3.168 //

The rays of his that are below, of many forms and gentle light— by these he wanders helplessly here to experience the fruits of *karma*. // Yj_3.169 //

Through the Vedas, scriptures with their knowledge, through birth and death, through suffering, coming, and going, and through truth and falsehood; // Yj_3.170 //

through good fortune, pleasure and pain, through good and bad *karma*, and through the fruits of omens, portents, and planetary conjunctions; // Yj_3.171 //

through the movements of stars and constellations, through waking and through dreams, and likewise through space, wind, light, water, earth, and darkness; // Yj_3.172 //

through the ages of Manu, the coming of the *yuga*s, and the fruits of mantras and herbs— through these, the Self is known as the wealth and cause of the world. // Yj_3.173 //

Ego, memory, intelligence, aversion, intellect, happiness, fortitude, the activity of the inner sense, desire, retention, and life; // Yj_3.174 //

heaven, dream, the impulse of thoughts, the movement of the mind, the blinking of an eye, consciousness, effort, and the taking on of the five elements— // Yj_3.175 //

because these signs of the supreme Self are seen, therefore there exists a Self beyond the body, all-pervading, the Lord. // Yj_3.176 //

The organs of knowledge with their objects, the mind, the organs of action, the ego, the intellect, and the elements beginning with earth; // Yj_3.177 //

the Unmanifest, and the Self, the knower of the field—this is said of this field. He is the Lord, situated in all beings, who is being, non-being, and both being and non-being. // Yj_3.178 //

From the Unmanifest arises the intellect; from that, the ego is born. From the ego arise the subtle elements and the rest, each with one more quality than the last. // Yj_3.179 //

Sound, touch, form, taste, and smell are their respective qualities. Whichever of these has come forth from another, into that one it dissolves again. // Yj_3.180 //

How the Self creates itself, even though it is the Lord, through the fruition of the three kinds of *karma*— this has been explained to you by me. // Yj_3.181 //

Sattva, rajas, and tamas are declared to be its *guṇa*s. Possessed by rajas and tamas, it indeed wanders about like a wheel. // Yj_3.182 //

That same supreme Puruṣa is both without beginning and with a beginning; it is said to have a form perceptible by the subtle body and the senses, and to be subject to modification. // Yj_3.183 //

The path of the Ancestors is that which lies between the Goat's path and Agastya; by it, performers of the fire-oblation who desire heaven go to the celestial realm. // Yj_3.184 //

And those who are devoted to charity, endowed with the eight virtues, and dedicated to the vow of truth—they too go by that same path. // Yj_3.185 //

There, eighty-eight thousand sages who are householders are subject to rebirth; they become the seeds and promulgators of *dharma*. // Yj_3.186 //

Residing in the world of the gods, between the path of the Seven Sages and the Serpent's path, are just as many sages who have renounced all worldly undertakings. // Yj_3.187 //

Through austerity, celibacy, renunciation of attachment, and wisdom, they go there and remain until the dissolution of all beings. // Yj_3.188 //

From whom come the Vedas, the Purāṇas, the lores and the Upaniṣads, the verses, aphorisms, commentaries, and whatever else constitutes literature. // Yj_3.189 //

Recitation of the Veda, sacrifice, celibacy, austerity, self-restraint, faith, fasting, and independence are the causes of the knowledge of the Self. // Yj_3.190 //

He is indeed to be sought through all the stages of life in this very way; he is to be seen, to be reflected upon, and to be heard of by the twice-born. // Yj_3.191 //

Those twice-born who know him thus, or who, resorting to the forest, worship the truth, endowed with supreme faith, // Yj_3.192 //

they, in order, pass into the flame, the day, the bright fortnight, the northern solstice, the world of the gods, the sun, and the realm of lightning. // Yj_3.193 //

Then a mental Puruṣa approaches them and leads them to the worlds of Brahma; for them, there is no return to this world. // Yj_3.194 //

Those men who have conquered heaven by sacrifice, austerity, and gifts pass into the smoke, the night, the dark fortnight, and the southern solstice, // Yj_3.195 //

the world of the Ancestors, the moon, the wind, the rain, the water, and the earth. In this order they come into being here and then depart once more. // Yj_3.196 //

The self-possessed man who does not know these two paths becomes a serpent, a moth, a worm, or an insect. // Yj_3.197 //

Placing the right foot upwards on the left thigh, and placing the left hand upwards on the right, with the face slightly raised and the chest held firm; // Yj_3.198 //

with eyes half-closed, established in sattva, not touching the teeth with the teeth, with the tongue motionless against the palate, with mouth closed and perfectly still; // Yj_3.199 //

having completely restrained the host of senses, on a seat neither too low nor too high, he should begin the control of the breath, for two or even three cycles. // Yj_3.200 //

Then the Lord who is situated in the heart like a lamp is to be meditated upon; the wise man, practicing concentration, should fix the Self there. // Yj_3.201 //

Invisibility, memory, beauty, clairvoyance, and clairaudience, as well as leaving one's own body and entering another's, // Yj_3.202 //

and the creation of things at will—these are the signs of yogic perfection. When yoga is perfected, one who leaves the body is fit for immortality. // Yj_3.203 //

Or, by studying the Veda, having renounced worldly actions, living in the forest, eating only what is unsolicited and in moderation, one may attain the supreme perfection. // Yj_3.204 //

One with justly acquired wealth, devoted to the knowledge of truth, who cherishes guests, performs the *śrāddha* rites, and speaks the truth—even a householder is indeed liberated. // Yj_3.205 //

Just so, one who is well-concentrated obtains the fruit of a great sacrifice. // Yj_3.327 //

Having heard these *dharma*s spoken by Yājñavalkya, the sages spoke this to that great-souled one, the lord of yogis of immeasurable splendor: // Yj_3.328 //

"Those who will diligently master this Dharmaśāstra, having obtained fame in this world, will go to heaven. // Yj_3.329 //

A seeker of knowledge shall obtain knowledge, and a seeker of wealth, wealth; a seeker of long life shall likewise obtain long life, and a seeker of prosperity, great prosperity. // Yj_3.330 //

He who causes even three verses from this to be recited at a *śrāddha*, for his Ancestors there will be imperishable satisfaction; of this there is no doubt. // Yj_3.331 //

A Brāhmaṇa attains worthiness, a Kṣatriya becomes victorious, and a Vaiśya becomes rich in grain and wealth, from mastering this scripture. // Yj_3.332 //

The learned man who causes this to be recited to the twice-born on every festival day, for him is the fruit of a horse sacrifice; may you, revered sir, confirm this." // Yj_3.333 //

Having heard this spoken by the sages, Yājñavalkya, with a pleased mind, said, "So be it," after paying homage to the Self-born. // Yj_3.334 //