Having entered the material world, the pure soul becomes conditioned by the material atmosphere, which is created by the external energy under the control of Lord Vishnu. Thus the living entity comes under the control of the external energy, daivi maya. Living independently and bewildered in the forest, he does not attain the association of devotees who are always engaged in the service of the Lord. Once in the bodily conception, he gets different types of bodies one after the other under the influence of material energy and impelled by the modes of material nature (goodness, satogun; passion, rajogun; and ignorance, tamogun). In this way the conditioned soul goes sometimes to the heavenly planets, sometimes to the earthly planets and sometimes to the lower planets and lower species. Thus he suffers continuously due to different types of bodies. These bodily conditions are acquired due to the conditioned soul's mental speculation. Using the senses under the control of the external energy, maya, the living entity suffers the miserable conditions of material existence.

1. 1
Wisdom of Srimad Bhagavatam (3)
The Material World as the Great Forest of Enjoyment
Direct Meaning of the Material Forest
Canto5:Chapter14:1
When King Pariksit asked Sukadeva Gosvami about the direct
meaning of the material forest, Sukadeva Gosvami replied as
follows:
• My dear King, a man belonging to the mercantile community is
always interested in earning money. Sometimes he enters the
forest to acquire some cheap commodities like wood and earth and
sell them in the city at good prices.
• Similarly, the conditioned soul, being greedy, enters this
material world for some material profit. Gradually he enters the
deepest part of the forest, not really knowing how to get out.
• Having entered the material world, the pure soul becomes
conditioned by the material atmosphere, which is created by
the external energy under the control of Lord Vishnu. Thus the
living entity comes under the control of the external energy, daivi
maya.
• Living independently and bewildered in the forest, he does not
attain the association of devotees who are always engaged in
the service of the Lord.
• Once in the bodily conception, he gets different types of
bodies one after the other under the influence of material
energy and impelled by the modes of material nature (goodness,
satogun; passion, rajogun; and ignorance, tamogun).

2. 2
• In this way the conditioned soul goes sometimes to the
heavenly planets, sometimes to the earthly planets and
sometimes to the lower planets and lower species.
• Thus he suffers continuously due to different types of
bodies. These sufferings and pains are sometimes mixed.
Sometimes they are very severe, and sometimes they are not.
• These bodily conditions are acquired due to the
conditioned soul's mental speculation. He uses his mind and
five senses to acquire knowledge and these bring about the
different bodies and different conditions.
• Using the senses under the control of the external
energy, maya, the living entity suffers the miserable
conditions of material existence. He is actually searching for
relief, but he is generally baffled, although sometimes he is relieved
after great difficulty.
• Struggling for existence in this way, he cannot get the
shelter of pure devotees, who are like bumblebees engaged in
loving service at the lotus feet of Lord Vishnu.
Pause and Reflect – 5:14:1
Guru Nanak has summed up the above state as under:
Adi Granth: 465-6, 7; Asa ki Var
सगलȣ धरती मालु धनु वरतͨण सरब जंजाल ॥ नानक मुसै ͬगआन
ͪवहूणी खाइ गइआ जमकालु ॥१॥
Involvement with the world and all its objects and riches leads to
Yama’s snare. O Nanak, devoid of true knowledge, humanity is
robbed and devoured by Death. [1]

3. 3
Yama is the lord of death and divine justice who takes charge of the
soul at the time of death.
Adi Granth: 468-19, 469-1; Asa ki Var
लबु पापु दुइ राजा महता कू ड़ु होआ ͧसकदाǽ ॥ कामु नेबु सǑद पुछȤऐ
बǑह बǑह करे बीचाǽ ॥
अंधी रयǓत ͬगआन ͪवहूणी भाǑह भरे मुरदाǽ ॥
Greed is the king, sin the minister and falsehood has become the
chief. Lust, the deputy, is called for consultation and they confer to
discuss and formulate plans. Blind and ignorant, the subjects
are like corpses stuffed with straw.
A person overcome by greed, sin, falsehood and lust is like a
corpse who has no strength of his own to come out from the maze
of eighty-four lakh species.
All this play has been enacted by God and the only way out is
attaining the association of His true devotees who have the
Lord invoked within:
Adi Granth: 469-6 to 9; Asa ki Var
धुǐर करमु िजना कउ तुधु पाइआ ता Ǔतनी खसमु ͬधआइआ ॥ एना
जंता कै वͧस ͩकछु नाहȣ तुधु वेकȧ जगतु उपाइआ ॥
इकना नो तूं मेͧल लैǑह इͩक आपहु तुधु खुआइआ ॥ गुर ͩकरपा ते
जाͨणआ िजथै तुधु आपु बुझाइआ ॥ सहजे हȣ सͬच समाइआ ॥११॥
Pauri - 11
Only those devotees meditate on you, O Lord, in whose primal
karma you have so ordained it. In this world of diversity that
you have created, nothing lies in the hands of the created beings.

4. 4
Some you unite with yourself, others you alienate and lead
astray. It is through the Guru’s grace that you make yourself
known to whomever you will, and spontaneously they are
merged in the Truth. [11]
Primal karma: Originally (at the time of creation), God created
souls out of himself. They were of his essence – pure and
unsullied by attachment to the creation.
In order to separate them from himself and make them
function in the creation, he gave them primal karma (dhur
karam), also called aadi (original, primal) karma, which set in
motion the karmic web around each soul to keep it bound
to the creation.
Whereas the binding aspect of dhur karma causes souls to be
attached to the creation, its redeeming aspect is meditation on his
Nam, which ensures their release from this bondage and their
ultimate return to God.
In the forest of material existence, the uncontrolled senses
are like plunderers
5:14:2
• In the forest of material existence, the uncontrolled senses are
like plunderers. The conditioned soul may earn some money
for the advancement of God consciousness, but unfortunately
the uncontrolled senses plunder his money through sense
gratification.
• The senses are plunderers because they make one spend his
money unnecessarily for seeing, smelling, tasting, touching,

5. 5
hearing, desiring and willing. In this way the conditioned soul is
obliged to gratify his senses, and thus all his money is spent.
• This money is actually acquired for the execution of
religious principles, but it is taken away by the plundering senses.
Family members in this material world go under the names
of wife and children
5:14:3
• My dear King, family members in this material world go
under the names of wife and children, but actually they
behave like tigers and jackals. A herdsman tries to protect his sheep
to the best of his ability, but the tigers and foxes take them away
by force.
• Similarly, although a miserly man wants to guard his
money very carefully, his family members take away all his
assets forcibly, even though he is very vigilant.
As long as the seeds of desire are not destroyed, fruitive
activities are not destroyed
5:14:4
• Every year the ploughman ploughs over his grain field,
completely uprooting all weeds. Nonetheless, the seeds lie there
and, not being completely burned, again come up with the plants
sown in the field. Even after being ploughed under, the weeds
come up densely.
• Similarly, the family life is a field of fruitive activity.
Unless the desire to enjoy family life is completely burned out, it
grows up again and again. Even though camphor may be removed

6. 6
from a pot, the pot nonetheless retains the aroma of camphor. As
long as the seeds of desire are not destroyed, fruitive
activities are not destroyed.
Due to ignorance he becomes lusty and engages in fruitive
activity
5:14:5
• Sometimes the conditioned soul in household life, being
attached to material wealth and possessions, is disturbed by
gadflies and mosquitoes, and sometimes locusts, birds of prey and
rats give him trouble. Nonetheless, he still wanders down the
path of material existence.
• Due to ignorance he becomes lusty and engages in
fruitive activity. Because his mind is absorbed in these activities,
he sees the material world as permanent, although it is
temporary like a phantasmagoria, a house in the sky.
Being overly attached, he chases after the objects of the
senses
5:14:6
• Sometimes in this house in the sky (phantasmagoria: a
constantly changing medley of real or imagined images, as in a
dream) the conditioned soul drinks, eats and has sex.
• Being overly attached, he chases after the objects of the
senses just as a deer chases a mirage in the desert.
Sometimes the living entity is interested in the yellow stool
known as gold and runs after it

7. 7
5:14:7
• Sometimes the living entity is interested in the yellow
stool known as gold and runs after it. That gold is the source of
material opulence and envy, and it can enable one to afford illicit
sex, gambling, meat eating and intoxication.
• Those whose minds are overcome by the mode of
passion are attracted by the colour of gold, just as a man
suffering from cold in the forest runs after a phosphorescent light
in a marshy land, considering it to be fire.
Absorbed in acquiring a variety of necessities, he forgets
everything
5:14:8
• Sometimes the conditioned soul is absorbed in finding
residential quarters or apartments and getting a supply of water
and riches to maintain his body.
• Absorbed in acquiring a variety of necessities, he forgets
everything and perpetually runs around the forest of material
existence.
The conditioned soul sees the beauty of the opposite sex;
becomes almost blind with lusty desire and disobeys the
rules and regulations governing sex life
5:14:9
• Sometimes, as if blinded by the dust of a whirlwind, the
conditioned soul sees the beauty of the opposite sex, which
is called pramada (the woman - one who bewilders the mind of
man). However advanced one may be in restraining the
senses, it is almost impossible for a man to keep himself controlled

8. 8
in the presence of a woman. Indeed, his mind is agitated even if
one is in the renounced order of life. Pramada produces
forgetfulness. Pramada (negligence, carelessness) is the root cause
of all pains and problems afflicting all human-beings.
• Being thus bewildered, he is raised upon the lap of a woman,
and at that time his good senses are overcome by the force of
passion. He thus becomes almost blind with lusty desire and
disobeys the rules and regulations governing sex life.
• He does not know that his disobedience is witnessed by
different demigods, and he enjoys illicit sex in the dead of night,
not seeing the future punishment awaiting him.
• Material existence is experienced when one becomes
attached to a woman and forgets his real identity. In this
way, in one body after another, the living entity perpetually suffers
the threefold miseries of material existence. Material existence
is always full of anxiety.
• Foolish people do not know that by attempting to escape
anxiety by drink and sex, they simply increase their duration of
material life. It is not possible to escape material anxiety in this
way.
The conditioned soul sometimes personally appreciates the
futility of sense enjoyment in the material world but his
poor memory makes him run after material enjoyment
5:14:10
• The conditioned soul sometimes personally appreciates
the futility of sense enjoyment in the material world, and he
sometimes considers material enjoyment to be full of miseries.

9. 9
• However, due to his strong bodily conception, his
memory is destroyed, and again and again he runs after material
enjoyment, just as an animal runs after a mirage in the desert.
Sometimes the conditioned soul is very aggrieved by the
chastisement of his enemies and government servants
5:14:11
• Sometimes the conditioned soul is very aggrieved by the
chastisement of his enemies and government servants, who
use harsh words against him directly or indirectly. At that time his
heart and ears become very saddened. Such chastisement may
be compared to the sounds of owls and crickets.
Due to his pious activities in previous lives, the conditioned
soul attains material facilities in this life
5:14:12
• Due to his pious activities in previous lives, the
conditioned soul attains material facilities in this life, but
when they are finished, he takes shelter of wealth and riches,
which cannot help him in this life or the next. Because of this, he
approaches the living dead who possess these things. Such
people are compared to impure trees, creepers and
poisonous wells.
Living dead: We are all living dead because we are alive to His
creation but we are dead towards God. Really living are only
those who have the Creative Power of God i.e. Word or
Shabd invoked within them. As Mirdad said, “The key to
Everlasting Life is the Creative Word. And the key to Creative
Word is Understanding. And the key to Understanding is Love.”

10. 10
We have to replace our love for the Material World with the love
for God, the Creator to be really alive. While in trouble we seek
help of living dead like us (including gods, goddesses, demi-gods)
whereas we should seek help only of the Creator who is the
gracious Giver to all.
Sometimes, to mitigate distresses in this forest of the
material world, the conditioned soul receives cheap
blessings from atheists
5:14:13
• Sometimes, to mitigate distresses in this forest of the
material world, the conditioned soul receives cheap
blessings from atheists. He then loses all intelligence in their
association. This is exactly like jumping in a shallow river. As a
result one simply breaks his head. He is not able to mitigate his
sufferings from the heat, and in both ways he suffers.
Cheap blessings from atheists: God blessed His creation as first
step and this blessing is perpetual. No one else in the creation
(including gods, goddesses, demi-gods, and humans) has the
power and authority to bless others. The entire creation is
under the cover of His blessing. We do not receive His blessing
because our attention is directed downwards towards His
creation.
Due to lack of intelligence we seek blessings from others and
by associating with them we lose whatever intelligence is left. We
can become receptive to His blessing and end our suffering
forever by withdrawing our attention from the creation and
directing it towards Him. And as soon as we sincerely direct our
attention towards Him, rest assure, we shall be directed towards
lovers of God for true guidance.

11. 11
In this material world, when the conditioned soul cannot
arrange for his own maintenance, despite exploiting others,
he tries to exploit his own father or son
5:14:14
In this material world, when the conditioned soul cannot
arrange for his own maintenance, despite exploiting others,
he tries to exploit his own father or son, taking away that
relative's possessions, although they may be very insignificant. If
he cannot acquire things from his father, son or other
relatives, he is prepared to give them all kinds of trouble.
In household life, there is nothing favourable for perpetual
happiness
5:14:15
• In this world, family life is exactly like a blazing fire in the forest.
There is not the least happiness, and gradually one becomes more
and more implicated in unhappiness. In household life, there is
nothing favourable for perpetual happiness.
• Being implicated in home life, the conditioned soul is burned by
the fire of lamentation. Sometimes he condemns himself as being
very unfortunate, and sometimes he claims that he suffers
because he performed no pious activities in his previous life.
Nothing favourable for perpetual happiness here implies that
household activities keep a person occupied to the extent that he
has no time for God and is the cause for his perpetual unhappiness.
Otherwise for a true devotee of God family life is an ideal testing
ground. Saints emphasize the value of devotion in a balanced
household life.

12. 12
According to Guru Nanak it was not turning away from society
and roaming the forests, but meditation on the Shabd that
brought spiritual quality to life and opened the door to
salvation.
Saints acknowledge that human suffering resulted from past
deeds, and that release from the web of action and reaction
can only be achieved through the control of one’s mind.
Attainment of a higher state of consciousness is an essential
prerequisite to achieving the supreme object of life that of
God-realization.
The yogis believe in renunciation, which entails physical
withdrawal from society, whereas Guru Nanak believed in
inner detachment and a life of devotion to God’s Nam while
meeting one’s social and moral obligations and remaining part of
society, as portrayed in the following lines:
Adi Granth: 938-15, 16, 17
जैसे जल मǑह कमलु Ǔनरालमु मुरगाई नै साणे ॥ सुरǓत सबǑद भव सागǽ
तरȣऐ नानक नामु वखाणे ॥ रहǑह इकांǓत एको मǓन वͧसआ आसा माǑह
Ǔनरासो ॥ अगमु अगोचǽ देͨख Ǒदखाए नानकु ता का दासो ॥५॥
As the lotus growing in the water and the duck swimming in the
stream remain untouched by water, one crosses the ocean of
existence, O Nanak, by repeating God’s Nam and attuning one’s
consciousness to Shabd.
Let us live detached, with only the one Lord dwelling in our minds,
and remain desire-less amid temptations. Nanak is a slave of the
one who not only sees, but also shows others the inaccessible,
unfathomable Lord. [5]

13. 13
Guru Amar Das further sums up the life of a householder and he
suggests a simple remedy for all his ailments:
Adi Granth: 602-1 to 3, Raag Sorath, M3
इहु कु ɪमबु सभु जीअ के बंधन भाई भरͧम भुला सɇसारा ॥ ǒबनु गुर
बंधन टूटǑह नाहȣ गुरमुͨख मोख दुआरा ॥
करम करǑह गुर सबदु न पछाणǑह मǐर जनमǑह वारो वारा ॥२॥
Relatives are like chains upon the soul, O Siblings of Destiny;
the world is deluded by doubt. Without the Guru, the chains
cannot be broken; the Gurmukhs find the door of salvation.
One, who performs rituals without realizing Guru's Shabd,
shall die and be reborn, again and again. (2)
Gurmukh is one who follows Guru’s instructions sincerely and
invokes the Creative Power, the Word or Shabd within while
living in this very life.
In household life one is ordered to execute many yajnas (a
ritual of sacrifice) and fruitive activities…
5:14:18
• In household life one is ordered to execute many yajnas
(a ritual of sacrifice) and fruitive activities, especially the
vivahayajna (the marriage ceremony for sons and daughters) and
the sacred thread ceremony.
• These are all the duties of a grhastha (householder), and they
are very extensive and troublesome to execute. They are
compared to a big hill over which one must cross when one
is attached to material activities.

14. 14
• A person desiring to cross over these ritualistic
ceremonies certainly feels pains like the piercing of thorns and
pebbles endured by one attempting to climb a hill. Thus the
conditioned soul suffers unlimitedly.
Yajna means sacrifice or sacrificial rite. Services of a priest are
invariably required in performing the yajnas according to Vedic
injunctions. In ritual sacrifices the use of fire is a must.
Yajnas can be performed outwardly in a ritual form to appease the
gods and nourish them or they can be performed inwardly and
mentally within one’s own mind.
Pause and Reflect (5:14:18)
Besides looking after and providing for his family, a
householder is required to observe many yajnas and he is made
to believe that all these fats and rituals are a must for him.
We do not care to know what the scriptures have to say on
this. We are so blinded by our daily routine that not even for a
moment we reflect that God is carefree. How come the soul
which is part of him be so full of cares?
It is the blinding effect of Maya which makes the
conditioned soul to believe that performance of all fasts,
rituals and ceremonies is his sacred duty.
Whereas Lord Vishnu has a different opinion on this issue
only if we care to know. Explaining the Law of Liberation to
Garuda in Chapter Sixteen of Garuda Purana, he states as under:
• Listen now the order of liberation. First the unmoving things
(inanimate), followed by (animate) worms, plant kingdom, birds,

15. 15
animals, men, the righteous, the thirty-three deities, and also the
liberated, according to their order, having worn and cast aside the
four sorts of bodies* thousands of times, one becomes a man by
good deeds, and if he becomes a knower (one who knows the
Self) he attains liberation.
[*Four sorts of bodies are: Pindaj – a creature born with a life from
the womb; Andaj – born out of an egg; Swedaj – born out of
perspiration; and Udhbhij – plants that sprout from ground,
vegetation.]
• The embodied, in the eighty-four hundred thousands of
bodies before attaining human birth, can obtain no knowledge
of the truth. Through millions of myriads of thousands of
births some time a being obtains human birth, through the
accumulation of merit.
• He who, having obtained a human body, difficult to get,
and a step to liberation, does not help himself over, - who in this
world is more sinful than he?
• The man who, having obtained this highest birth and superior
senses, does not understand what benefits the soul is a
slayer of Brahmn.
• So long as misery does not come, so long as calamity
does not befall, so long as the senses are not decayed, so long
should he practice to realize the knowledge of creative
elements within as learnt from the liberated?
No knowledge is complete without seeing the working of
creative elements (ether, air, fire, water and earth) within oneself
by direct perception as learnt from a teacher of that order.

16. 16
• So long as the body lasts, so long should truth be
pursued, - the stupid man digs his well when the corner of his
house is already afire. Alas! A man, between happiness and
misery, does not know his own benefit.
• Even a hundred years of life is very little, and half of it is
sleep and idleness, and even that little is unfruitful owing to
the miseries of childhood, disease and old age.
• Time is passing away but man makes no effort to know
the real nature of Time and subsequently make an effort to
stop the wheel of Time.
• He who does not know what is good for him thinks the
harmful* beneficial, the impermanent** permanent, the
misfortune*** significant, and the evil good.
[*Harmful – ahit vishay – anything perceived by the senses is
unfriendly, inimical, and injurious to soul.]
[**Impermanent – adhruv deha and dhan – impermanent body and
possessions, when considered permanent are injurious to soul.]
[***Misfortune - anarth – root of fifteen misfortunes such as
pride, falsehood, jealousy, wickedness, meanness, ill will,
cupidity, covetousness, arrogance, conceit, deceit, malice,
levity, sloth and torpor are all injurious to soul when
considered significant.]
• This has been done; this is to be done; this other is done
or not done. Him who is thus prating death overpowers. Death
preys upon the man with the needles of greed and thirst,

17. 17
bitten by the serpent of sense-objects, and baked in the fire
of desire and repulsion.
• The world of change is verily the root of misery. He who is
in it is afflicted with misery. He who abandons it becomes
happy, - otherwise never.
• People are destroyed every day by the desire for great
wealth. Alas! Fie upon the foods of the senses, which steal away
the nectar of life?
• Just as the fish, covetous of flesh, does not see the iron
hook, so the embodied, covetous of pleasure, does not see the
torments of Yama.
Those men who do not understand what is good and what
is not good for them, who constantly pursue evil courses,
and are intent on the filling of the belly, are destined for
hell, O Garuda.
• Sleep, sexual pleasure, and eating are common to all creatures.
Who possesses knowledge is called a man, who is devoid of
it is called a beast.
• Foolish men are tormented at break of day by nature's calls;
when the sun is in the meridian by hunger and thirst; in the night
by passion and sleep. All those beings that are attached to their
bodies, wealth, wife and other things, are born and die
deluded by ignorance, alas!
Therefore attachment to things created be shunned always,
and if it is not possible to give up these attachments, then

18. 18
friendship with the great (realized souls) be cultivated, as a
remedy for attachment.
• Association with the realized persons is the remedy for
this ever-changing world. Therefore, spiritual discourse*
(satsang) and discrimination** (vivek) are two pure and
stainless eyes and the man who does not have these, how shall
he not tread evil ways?
[*Spiritual Discourse – satsang – as the name implies is association
with Truth and therefore, is the gathering where a realized person
preaches only One God and His Creative Power, the Word.
Satsang is not a discourse on gods, demons, incarnations, past kings
and sages because they are subject to change.]
[**Discrimination – vivek – is the wisdom, intelligence and
reasoning faculty given to man to see the difference between
what is right or wrong for him and choose accordingly. If
man does not apply this faculty carefully then man will not be able
to exercise control over his senses and is bound to tread evil ways.]
All those deluded men who are engaged in the duties of
their respective castes and orders, and do not understand
the highest righteousness, perish fruitlessly.
• Some are intent upon ceremonies (shraddh – offering of
water, food, etc. to the Brahmans in honour of manes), some take
to the practice of vows and fasts; with ‘self’ enveloped in
ignorance the imposters go about.
• The men who are attached to the ceremonial (a system of
rites or ceremonies; formalities proper to any occasion; sanskar)
alone are satisfied with mere names, deluded by the

19. 19
repetitions of mantras, oblations and other things, and by
elaborate rituals, they hope for liberation by such practices.
• The fools, bewildered by my maya (Ignorance), desire to
obtain the invisible by fire sacrifice, religious sacrifice, single
meals, fasts and other restraints, and by the emaciation of
the body.
But deluded by my maya, foolish people cannot
achieve liberation by such methods.
• Of those who have no discrimination, what liberation can
there be by bodily tortures alone? What great serpent is killed
by beating the anthill alone?
• The hypocrites, putting on appearances, and wearing
quantities of matted hair, and using antelope skins, wander about
like knowers, and even delude people.
• He who is attached to the pleasures of the world of
change, saying "I am a knower of Brahmn," and is devoid of both
action and Brahmn should be shunned like a low outcaste.
• Those who walk about naked and unashamed like a
donkey in houses and forests, how can they be liberated?
• If men are to be liberated by applying earth, ashes and
dust; does the dog which always lives among earth and ashes
become liberated?
• The jackals, rats, deer and others, which feed upon grass, leave
and water, and always live in forests, - do these become ascetics?

20. 20
• The crocodiles, fishes and others, which from birth to death,
dwell in the waters of Ganges, - do these become Yogis?
• Pigeons at times eat stones, and Chataka birds do not drink
water from the earth, - are these observers of vows?
Garuda! All these acts are only for pleasure of people.
Direct knowledge of the Truth, while in human body,
is the cause of liberation.
• Fallen into the great well of the six philosophies* (Nyaya,
Vaisheshika, Sankhya, Yoga, Mimansa, Vedanta) O Garuda, the
brutes do not understand the subtle Truth; bound in the
snare of animalism.
[These are six different schools of thought or six Darshanas or
six demonstrations of truth. Each school has developed,
systematized and correlated the various parts of the Veda in its
own way.
Nyaya: represents the logical approach to spirituality, founded by
Gautama Rishi.
Vaisheshika: deals with the material aspect of creation and the
path of discrimination, founded by Kanada Rishi.
Sankhya: presents a dualistic conception of purusha (soul) and
prakriti (nature), founded by Kapila Muni.
Yoga: concerns itself with physical and spiritual disciplines, and
was founded by Patanjali.
Purva (or karma) Mimansa: deals with outer practices, i.e.
rituals, and was founded by Sage Jaimini.
Vedanta: concerns itself with the realization of the Truth, and was
founded by Sage Vyasa.]

21. 21
• They are tossed hither and thither in the dreadful ocean
of Vedas and Shastras; caught in the six waves they remain
sophists. They are not the knowers of Truth.
• He who knows the Vedas, the Shastras and the Puranas, but
does not know the subtle truth, the best end, salvation - of
that imitator all this is as the speech of a crow.
• The fools, decorated with garlands of poetry constructed
of forms of speech, miserable with anxiety, remain with senses
bewildered. Men trouble themselves variously, but the
highest truth is otherwise; they explain in different ways
but the best purport of the Shastras is otherwise.
• They talk of the highest experiences, not realizing them
themselves. They repeat the Vedas and the Shastras, and argue
with one another, but they do not understand the highest
truth, - like the spoon that is in the food but does not taste the
flavour of the food.
• "This is known; this must be known," - thus bewildered by
anxiety they read the scriptures day and night, turning away from
the highest truth.
The fool, not knowing that the truth is seated in
himself, is bewildered by the Shastras, - a foolish
goatherd, with the young goat under his arm, peers into the well.
• Ignorance (maya) prevalent in this world cannot be
annihilated by mere words of scriptures, as darkness cannot
be dispelled by merely calling lamp.

22. 22
• Reading, to a man devoid of wisdom, is like a mirror to the
blind; hence, for those who have understanding, Shastras are
only a potter to the knowledge of the truth.
• “This is knowledge, this must be known," - he wishes to
hear everything from Shastras. If one lives for a thousand
celestial years he cannot reach the end of the Shastras.
• The Shastras are numerous; life is brief; and there are tens
of millions of obstacles; therefore the essence should be
understood, - like the swan taking the milk in the water.
• Having practised the Vedas and the Shastras, and having
known the Truth, the wise man should abandon all the
scriptures; just as one rich in grains abandons the straw.
O Garuda! Just as there is no use for food to one who
is satisfied with nectar, so there is no use of the
scriptures to the knower of the Truth.
• Garuda! There is no liberation by the study of the Vedas,
or by the reading of the Shastras. Emancipation is by knowledge
alone, not otherwise.
• The four stages of life are not the cause of liberation, nor
are the six philosophies, nor are good deeds, -
knowledge only is the cause.
• The word from the Teacher gives liberation; all
learning is masquerade. Among thousands of woods the
Sanjivana (the plant brought by Hanuman to restore Lakshman

23. 23
when killed by Indrajit) is best. Repetition of the Name of
God received as spoken word from the mouth of a
realized Teacher is the way to liberation.
The non-dual, verily declared auspicious, is beyond
efforts of action, and to be obtained by the word of
the Teacher, not by the study of tens of millions of
texts.
• Knowledge is said to be of two kinds: study and
discrimination. The study is of Shabda Brahmn; Para Brahmn is
reached by discrimination.
• Some prefer the Non-dual (Adwaita philosophy, eternal in-
separateness and non-duality), other prefer the Dual (Dwaita
philosophy - separateness of the individual and universal self); but
they do not understand the One Reality, beyond the
Dual and Non-dual.
• Two phrases make for bondage and liberation: "Mine"
and "Not-mine." The being saying "Mine" is bound;
saying "Not-mine" is released.
• That is the karma that does not bind, that is the
knowledge that gives release. Spiritual knowledge is
different from the knowledge of various trades of the
world. So long as actions are performed; so long as the
impressions of the world of change remain, so long as the
senses are fickle; so long how can there be realisation
of Truth?

24. 24
• So long as there is pride of body; so long as there is
affection, greed, arrogance, avarice, selfishness; so long as
there is excited striving; so long as there is imagination of
plans; so long as there is no stability of mind; so long as
there is no meditation (discernment, contemplation, reflection,
reasoning) upon the Shastras; so long as there is no love for
the Teacher; so long how can there be realisation of Truth?
Grace of Teacher (true Guru) is a must for realization of self
and God.
• Jap (the silent repetition of a Mantra, muttering of prayers);
Tap (devotion, penance, religious austerity); Havan (fire sacrifice)
and Pujan (worship, reverence, veneration); pilgrimages and
study of Scriptures is only so long one does not realize the
Truth within.
Therefore, if one desires liberation for himself, O
Garuda, he should always strive under all
circumstances for attainment of Truth.
• One who is tormented by the three miseries* and the rest
should resort to the shade of the tree of Liberation, whose
flowers are righteousness and knowledge, and fruits are
heaven and liberation.
[*Three miseries – Adhyatmik misery pertains to soul as it being
part of God has acquired superficial properties which are
contrary to its Source God and it bears the pain of separation;
Adhidaivik misery (pertains to mind) is pain brought about
through the influence of evil spirits or by fate; Adhibhoutik
misery (pertains to body) is pain, affliction caused by material,
circumstances.]

25. 25
Therefore from the mouth of the Blessed Teacher
(Perfect Master) the Truth of the self should be
known. By knowledge the being is easily released from the
awful bondage of the worlds of change.
This eternal way of liberation has been described to you, O
Garuda, - hearing*
it with knowledge and dispassion one
attains liberation.
Knowers of Truth attain liberation; righteous men go
to heaven; sinners go to an evil condition (hell); birds
and others transmigrate.
Thus in sixteen chapters (of Garuda Purana) I have related
to you the extracted essence of all the Scriptures. What else
do you wish to hear?
*******
[*By hearing alone to any discourse, liberation is not
possible. What it implies is that armed with this knowledge
one gets motivated to seek liberation from this ever
changing world. Reflect over what you (read) and hear and
then put it in practice because liberation has to be achieved
while in human body under the guidance of an adept
Teacher and not by mere words of a discourse.]
Read – Pause – Reflect
*******