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Samsara
This body, which is created by the Gunas of the Maya of the Lord, constitutes the Samsara. It is the cause of man’s transmigration. The knowledge of Atman cuts off the course of rebirths. Therefore, one should realise the Supreme Self in his own Self. He should gradually get rid of the sense or idea that the phenomenal world and the bodies, gross and subtle, are real. He should fully realise also that Atman is separate and is beyond the body.
The preceptor should be regarded as the main or lower piece of the two pieces of wood [1]used for kindling the sacred fire and the pupil the upper one; instruction is the piece [2] that connects them, and knowledge is the union that brings happiness. The pure wisdom, which is thus acquired from the Guru removes the Maya or delusion that is produced by the Gunas and completely burns up the Gunas themselves, which constitute the universe and is itself extinguished also, like fire without fuel.
[The view of the Mimamsakas is now described. It is refuted also. According to this school of thought, the souls are real and many. They do not believe in Isvara. Heaven is their goal. Karma is everything for them. Karma gives fruits. There is no necessity for a dispenser or Lord.]
If you think that the doers of actions and experiencers of pleasures and pains are many or that the heaven, time, scriptures and souls are eternal or that the existence of all objects is real and eternal and that knowledge arises and is diverse according to the form of objects perceived—even then all creatures are repeatedly subjected to the different states of birth and death on account of their relation to the body and the force of the divisions of Time.
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