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Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana: Book 3: Chapter 32: Verses 17-32
Destiny of the souls departing from this world by the "Bright Path", the "Dark Path" and so on, and the superiority of Bhaktiyoga
With their understanding clouded by passion, their mind full of desires and their senses uncontrolled, they worship the manes everyday, their heart finding delight in the home alone. Devoted to the first three objects of human pursuit (viz., religious merit, wealth and sensuous enjoyment) only, these people are averse to the stories of Sri Hari (the Slayer of the demon Madhu), whose knowledge takes away the fear of birth and death and whose innumerable exploits are worth recounting. Abandoning the nectar-like stories of the immortal Lord, they who listen to vile talks (relating to sensual enjoyment)-even as the swine feed on filth-have surely been cheated by. fate. Performing religious rites from the ceremony connected with impregnation down to the obsequies, they ascend to the abode of the manes presided over by Aryama (the lord of the manes) by the southern path (also known as the "dark path") and are (eventually) born in the line of their own progeny. Thereafter, when their merit (that earned them an abode in the realm of the manes) is exhausted, they are forthwith robbed of their glorious state by the gods (in charge of that realm) and helplessly descend once more to this world (of mortals), 0 virtuous lady. Therefore, do you worship with all your being the supreme Lord-whose lotus-like feet are worth adoring-through devotion evoked by His virtues. A link formed through Devotion with Lord Vasudeva calls forth before long dispassion and spiritual wisdom that reveals the truth of the Absolute. When the mind of the devotee ceases to perceive, even through the faculty of the senses, any difference, in the shape of agreeability of otherwise, in the objects of senses, which are just the same (as being the manifestations of the same Reality, viz., Brahma), he forthwith realizes by his intellect his own self as the revealer of unity, free from attachment, devoid of merit and demerit (that which is worth accepting or rejecting) and established in its own (glorious) state. The Lord is nothing but absolute Consciousness and is the same as the Transcendent Reality (Brahma), the Supreme Spirit, the Ruler of all and the Highest Person. Though One, He appears in diverse forms as the seer, the object seen, the means of sight and so on. Absence of attachment to all-that is the only desired end to be attained through all forms of Yoga practised by a Yogi. Brahma is absolute Consciousness, one and attributeless; yet, through the senses, which have an outward tendency, it erroneously appears in the form of various objects possessing sound and other attributes. Just as the same supreme Brahma appeared as Mahat-tattva (the principle of cosmic intelligence), the threefold (Sattvika, Rajasika and Tamasika) Ego, the five gross elements and the eleven Indriyas, and the same self-effulgent Being was named as Jiva when endowed with these, even so the body of the Jiva in the form of the universe is no other than Brahma; for it is from Brahma that it has sprung. Of course, he alone can perceive it as such, whose mind has been composed and rid of all attachment through reverence, Devotion, daily practice of Yoga and dispassion. I have thus expounded to you, O revered mother, the wisdom which reveals the true nature of the Absolute, and by means of which one can realize the truth about Prakrti (Matter) and Purusa (Spirit). The discipline of Jnana (spiritual knowledge) and the discipline of Devotion-which is free from the influence of the three Gunas-directed towards Me, lead to the same goal, which is signified by the word 'Bhagavan'.
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