हिन्दी
Om. This body is the city of Brahman. Within it is an abode in the shape of a lotus (i.e., the heart), and within that there is a small space. One must search within this space and earnestly desire to know what is there.
If the disciples ask - ‘This body is the city of Brahman; within it is an abode in the shape of a lotus (i.e., the heart), and within that there is a small space; what is it that one must search for within this space, and what should one earnestly desire to know?’—the teacher should reply—
The teacher replies - ‘The space in the heart is as big as the space outside. Ether and earth are both within it, so also fire and air, the sun and the moon, lightning and the stars. Everything exists within that space in the embodied self—whatever it has or does not have’.
If the disciples ask the teacher - ‘If in this body (brahmapura) are all this, all things, and all desires, is there anything left behind when the body gets old or perishes?’—
—in reply, the teacher will say - ‘The body may decay due to old age, but the space within (i.e., brahmapura) never decays. Nor does it perish with the death of the body. This is the real abode of Brahman. All our desires are concentrated in it. It is the Self—free from all sins as well as from old age, death, bereavement, hunger, and thirst. It is the cause of love of Truth and the cause of dedication to Truth. If a person strictly follows whatever the ruler of the country commands, he may then get as a reward some land, or even an estate’.
Everything perishes, whether it is something you have acquired through hard work in this world, or it is a place in the other world which you have acquired through meritorious deeds. Those who leave this world without knowing the Self and the Truths which they should know, are not free, no matter where they go. But those who leave this world after knowing the Self and the Truths which they should know, are free, no matter where they are.
