2026-03-26 04:58:00 by akprasad
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ASHTAVAKRA SAMHITA
notic influence save through knowledge. But there
is a silver lining to every cloud. The Maya is not
the Satan of Semitic conception. She is not the
Absolute Evil, and is possessed of a redeeming feature
in her character. She is the embodiment of science
and reason also. This provides an outlet. Science
kills nescience, reason kills unreason, and both
being embedded in the self-same Principle,
called variously Maya, Prakriti or not-Self, the latter
carries in its own self the secret of her death. This
truth has been graphically described by Vyâsa in his
Bhashya on the Yogasutra (I.12). "The mind is like
a river with two opposite courses-one moving
towards the good and the other towards the evil.
The good one moves in the channel of discrimination
and leads to liberation. The evil one moves in the
channel of non-discrimination and leads to bondage.
By dispassion the evil course is arrested and the
practice of discrimination sets free the good course."
This gives the raison d'être of moral discipline, which
is emphasised with so much vigour in the Shastras.
The necessity of detachment, which was alluded to
in the very commencement of the work (I.2.), is
emphasized in the third chapter. The craving for the
objects of the senses, it is declared, lasts only so long
as there is ignorance of the beauty of the Self. But
the bubble of the world-order is pricked as soon as
the surpassing beauty of the Self is realized (III.4).
In the fourth chapter the Self is spoken of as the
unrivalled lord of the universe, who is absolutely free
from fear. This aspect of fearlessness has been
repeatedly emphasized in the Upanishads and was the
ASHTAVAKRA SAMHITA
notic influence save through knowledge. But there
is a silver lining to every cloud. The Maya is not
the Satan of Semitic conception. She is not the
Absolute Evil, and is possessed of a redeeming feature
in her character. She is the embodiment of science
and reason also. This provides an outlet. Science
kills nescience, reason kills unreason, and both
being embedded in the self-same Principle,
called variously Maya, Prakriti or not-Self, the latter
carries in its own self the secret of her death. This
truth has been graphically described by Vyâsa in his
Bhashya on the Yogasutra (I.12). "The mind is like
a river with two opposite courses-one moving
towards the good and the other towards the evil.
The good one moves in the channel of discrimination
and leads to liberation. The evil one moves in the
channel of non-discrimination and leads to bondage.
By dispassion the evil course is arrested and the
practice of discrimination sets free the good course."
This gives the raison d'être of moral discipline, which
is emphasised with so much vigour in the Shastras.
The necessity of detachment, which was alluded to
in the very commencement of the work (I.2.), is
emphasized in the third chapter. The craving for the
objects of the senses, it is declared, lasts only so long
as there is ignorance of the beauty of the Self. But
the bubble of the world-order is pricked as soon as
the surpassing beauty of the Self is realized (III.4).
In the fourth chapter the Self is spoken of as the
unrivalled lord of the universe, who is absolutely free
from fear. This aspect of fearlessness has been
repeatedly emphasized in the Upanishads and was the