Krishjan

Chapter 6 — Sixth Chapter

Shvetashvatara

22 Shloka • Translation Only

Some thinkers declare that Nature (svabhāva) is the cause; others, being deluded, say that Time (kāla) is the cause. But it is the majesty of the Divine Lord by which this wheel of Brahman (the cosmic cycle) is set in motion and revolves in the world.

By Him, who eternally pervades and envelops this entire universe, who is the Knower, the maker of time, the possessor of powers (guṇas), and the omniscient one, all action proceeds under His rule. Earth, water, fire, air, and space (ether) are to be understood as operating under His governance.

Having brought forth that cosmic activity and again withdrawn it, He returns to His own essential nature. Through union with Reality by means of yoga, and through one, two, three, or eight principles, together with time and the subtle qualities of the self, He operates and reveals Himself.

He who sets in motion actions associated with the guṇas and ordains all states and conditions of existence—when these (causes) cease, the actions that have been performed come to an end. With the exhaustion of karma, one attains That Reality which is beyond all these.

He is the primal cause, the reason for all conjunctions and connections. He is supreme, beyond the three divisions of time (past, present, and future), and without parts. One should first worship and contemplate that Divine Being—of universal form, the source of what has become and what shall become, worthy of adoration, and established within one's own heart.

He is other than and transcendent to the tree (of worldly existence), time, and all forms. From Him this entire manifested universe proceeds and revolves. Knowing that Lord—the source of righteousness, the remover of sin, the Master of divine powers, immortal, abiding within the Self, and the support of the universe—one attains realization.

May we know that Divine Being—the Supreme Lord of all lords, the Great Lord above all rulers; the highest Deity among all deities; the Lord of all masters, transcending all; the adorable Lord of the worlds.

He has no work to perform, nor does He possess any material instruments for action. No one equal to Him or superior to Him is ever seen. His supreme powers are spoken of as manifold; His knowledge, strength, and activity are inherent to His very nature.

He has no master in the world, nor any ruler over Him. No distinguishing mark or sign can define Him. He is the Cause, the Lord of the lords of the instruments (or powers). He has no progenitor, nor does He have any superior ruler.

As a spider covers itself with threads produced from its own nature, so the one Divine Being envelops Himself through the principles born of Prakṛti (primordial nature). May that one God grant us absorption into Brahman (union with the Supreme Reality).

The one Divine Being is hidden in all beings. He is all-pervading, the inner Self of all beings, the overseer of karma, the indwelling abode of all beings, the witness, the conscious knower, the One alone, and beyond the guṇas.

The One Controller of the many who are themselves inactive; the One Seed who makes the one become many. Those wise ones who behold Him abiding in their own Self attain eternal happiness—not others.

He is the Eternal among the eternal ones, the Conscious among conscious beings, the One who fulfills the needs and desires of the many. Knowing that Divine Being—the ultimate Cause, attainable through Sāṅkhya and Yoga—one is freed from all bonds.

There the sun does not shine, nor the moon and stars; these lightnings do not shine there—how then could this earthly fire? By His shining alone does everything else shine; by His light, all this is illumined.

The One Swan (Haṁsa) dwells in the midst of this universe. He alone is the fire established within the waters. Knowing Him alone, one crosses beyond death; there is no other path for attaining that Goal.

He is the maker of the universe, the knower of the universe, self-originated, all-knowing, the creator of time, the possessor and lord of the guṇas. He is the Lord of Pradhāna (primordial nature) and of the Kṣetrajña (the individual knower of the field). He is the cause of bondage, worldly existence, liberation, and their continuance.

He is indeed one with That (the Supreme Reality), immortal, established in His own lordship, omniscient, all-pervading, and the protector of this universe. He alone eternally governs this world; there exists no other cause or ruler of this cosmic order.

I, desiring liberation, take refuge in that Divine Being who first brought forth Brahmā and who indeed imparted the Vedas to him; that God who illumines the intellect and reveals the knowledge of the Self.

When human beings can wrap up the sky as one wraps a piece of leather, then—without knowing the Divine—there may be an end of suffering.

Through the power of austerity (tapas) and by the grace of God, the sage Shvetāśvatara realized Brahman. Thereafter, that wise seer taught this supreme, most sacred knowledge—well-established among the assemblies of sages—to those who had transcended the ordinary stages of life.

This supreme secret of Vedānta, taught in ancient times, should not be imparted to one who is not tranquil, nor to one who is not a son (or devoted disciple), nor again to one who is not a worthy student.

For the great soul who has supreme devotion to God, and who has the same devotion toward the Guru as toward God, to that person the truths explained here become fully revealed. Indeed, they become revealed to that great soul.