Sanatsujatha Paramarshi said, “O King! Sorrow, anger, lust and greed, desires, conceit, excessive sleep, envy and jealousy, delusion and ignorance, ambitions and aspirations, cowardice, seeing faults in fine qualities and speaking ill are the twelve great blunders that destroy men.
O Lord of Kings! One by one all these blemishes are consequently acquired by men and being under their influence and control and owing to delusion and ignorance commit sinful acts.
Avarice, cruelty, harsh words, niggardliness, being of angry temperament within the mind and boastful of oneself are the six factors that definitely make a man indulge in cruel and merciless acts. They do not make use of the wealth and riches that have been bestowed upon them in the appropriate manner.
A man of desirous nature and intentions, of incongruous nature, who is extremely conceited, who praises oneself after doing charitable acts, who is niggardly, is boastful of one’s abilities despite being incompetent and is hateful towards people who are worthy of respect and honour are the seven types of men who are called as sinners and cruel.
Dharma, satya, tapah, control of one’s senses, not envious or jealous of anyone, humility and modesty, tolerance, not seeing any fault in anyone, doing charitable acts, knowledge of the scriptures, fortitude, and forgiveness are the twelve great qualities/characteristics that brahmans exude.
Those who are never separate from these twelve fine qualities can rule over this entire earth. Even if one is endowed with three or two or even with one of these qualities, then it should be understood that he has no possessions and is not attached to anything.
Indriyanigraha (control of one’s sensory organs), tyāga (renunciation) and apramād (awareness) are the seat of Ambrosia. The aforementioned are the means for the wise brahmans whose supreme and ultimate goal is Brahman.
Whether right or wrong, it is not befitting for brahmans to criticize another. Those who constantly criticize others will definitely fall into hell.
There are eighteen flaws in mada which has been mentioned about earlier but yet hasn’t been explained in detail and they are committing acts against the universe, behaving inimical to the scriptures, finding fault in people who are virtuous and speaking untruths.
Desire, anger, dependency, telling others of their faults and deficiencies, gossiping, using wealth in an inappropriate manner, quarrelling, being envious and jealous of others and causing harm to animals.
Malice, exhilaration, talking unnecessarily, lacking discrimination and having the habit of finding fault and drawbacks in virtue and fine qualities. Hence, wise men should not get trapped by mada because satpurushas have always denounced mada.
There are six qualities of friendship which should be known about. To be happy and elated when loved by a friend and to be pained when there is discord are two qualities. The third quality is for one to give their accumulated wealth to a friend when he asks for monetary help. This man sees fit to give his friend items and belongings even before his asking and sees that his sons and wife are also well-disposed towards his friend who has sought help.
The fourth quality is that of one giving wealth to the friend in need and not expecting a favour in return by residing in his house. He should enjoy the wealth acquired through the effort made and this is the fifth quality. The sixth quality is that of being well-disposed towards the friend always and not caring about his own interests.
A rich grishasta who is virtuous, a renunciate and endowed with sattva will set aside the five matters through the five sensory organs.
One in whom sattva is erased because of lack of dispassion will attain only the upper heavenly worlds even if all intentions of attaining the glorious worlds has accumulated into a successful tapas with mastery over one’s senses.
There is growth and advancement of yagnas of desirous nature and intentions because there is no awakening of Satyaswaroopa Brahman. Some perform yagna through the mind, some others through enunciation and some others through acts.
The status of a man who is bereft of sankalp or intentions and desires is higher than that of one who has desirous intentions and nature but the one who knows and has realized Brahman is distinguished. Besides this, I will tell you something else so listen carefully.
This important scripture will help one attain the supreme glorious Paramātmā and this should definitely be taught to disciples. This myriad discernible universe which is in the form of sound is distinct from Paramātmā as said by wise scholars. The supreme wholesome knowledge of Paramātmā is consecrated in this Yoga shastra and those who learn this will become immortal that is they will be liberated from the circle of life and death.
Hey King! One cannot attain Satyaswaroopa Brahman only by performing good deeds. An ignorant man will not become immortal that is he will not attain liberation as well as peace in his last moments simply because he performs havan or yagna.
Hence, one should observe upasana in solitude renouncing and shunning all efforts that is one should not make any attempt through the mind nor should one show any enthusiasm in praise and nor should one hold a grudge when criticized.
O King! A man who observes and performs the above mentioned sadhana will attain Brahma Sakshatkara here itself and merge into IT. O Wise One! I have revealed to you what I have understood gradually upon contemplation of the Vedas.”
[Sanatsujatha Parva – Chapters 45 of Udyoga Parva – Slokas 1 – 21]
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