Prahlāda continued, “My mother agreed and fearlessly lived in Maharishi Nārada’s hermitage until my father completed his penance and returned. My mother, the virtuous chaste woman, prayed for the well-being of her unborn child and wished that it should be born only when she desired. Hence with absolute devotion she served Maharishi Nārada.

ṛṣiḥ kāruṇikastasyāḥ prśdādu-bhayamīṣwaraḥ Dharmasya tattvaṃ jnānaṃ ca māmapyuddhiśya nirmalaṃ

Maharishi Nārada, the ever-compassionate and ever-competent master, seeking to alleviate her grief as well as that of mine preached to her the various principles of righteousness (dharma) and also the Supreme Knowledge (jnana) so as to benefit her as well as me, who was growing in her womb. He initiated us into the minute subtlest principles of dharma.

However due to the passage of time and due to the various inconveniences faced by women, my mother has forgotten this preaching. The grace of Maharishi Nārada has ensured that till date I remember it. If you have faith in my words then may you too be bestowed with this knowledge! May this knowledge remain ever imprinted in your memory! With dedication, the wisdom to destroy body-identification arises even in women and children just as it in arose in me.

Just as the time causes the Lord’s form to transform into the fruits borne by a tree, this body too sees six types of transformations viz., birth, existence, growth, ripening, decay and destruction. However, just as the transformations undergone by a fruit do not apply to the tree, the transformations undergone by the body do not apply to the Self. The Self is indestructible and non-dual. Since it is non-dual, feelings of likes-dislikes are absent in it”.

Prahlāda here preaches Self-knowledge. He is explaining that likes- dislikes do not arise in the Self as it is non-dual.

“The Self remains an eternal witness within this kṣhetra which is nothing but a combination of body, mind and senses. Within this Self, which is the support for the existence of the entire creation, there are absolutely no transformations. It is Self-effulgent and remains the cause of the entire creation.

Just as wind, unconcerned and unaffected by its surroundings, blows equally through houses, roads, garbage, dead bodies and living entities, the Self too pervades everything without being connected to the objects. Self (atma) is a state of completeness that is devoid of all veils and enclosures. The aspirant who seeks to realize the Self should remember its 12 transcendental characteristics mentioned here.

Attachment towards the body and senses causes the false notion of ‘I and mine’ towards them to exist in the person. The person should strive to discard such feelings which, in reality, are baseless and unreal.

Using various different smelting techniques, the goldsmith tactfully extracts gold from the ore. Likewise, the aspirant who possesses the discriminatory knowledge between Self (ātma) and non-self (anātma) objects in this creation, should adhere to dhyana (meditation) and other techniques which aid in Self-realization, and through them strive to see the Lord who resides as the Self within the various bodies (kṣhetras).

According to the calculations based on Sānkhya philosophy, the five subtle elements of earth, water, fire, wind and space together with primordial Nature (moola-prakṛti), cosmic intelligence (Mahat tattva) and principle of I-ness (ahamkara) constitute 8 primary elements of creation. Primordial Nature is composed of three attributes known as sattva, rajas and tamas. Then there are 5 organs of perception (jnanendriya), 5 organs of action (karmendriya), the mind (antahkaraṇa) and the 5 gross elements which constitute sixteen principles. However it is only one consciousness (Puruṣa, Self) that pervades them all!

This body which is a combination of prakṛti-vikṛti is of two kinds viz., animate and inanimate. Rejecting the body, mind and other objects which are non-Self, one should search for the Lord within this body itself. ‘Paramatma is not this object, He is not that object’- in this way one should search for the Lord within.

Although the cause (kāraṇa) pervades the entire effectual world (kārya prapanca), the aspirants should consider cause as different from the effect, and then with a pleasant mind that is freed from all agitations and sorrows, undertake penance. Ensuring that the mind remains pleasant at all times is itself a penance!

The aspirants should then contemplate upon those Vedic dictates which explain that the Supreme Lord from whom this world emerged, who sustains it, and into whom it will merge upon dissolution, exists as the Self within every living entity. In-depth analysis into this subject should be undertaken with a pure, untainted mind. Even a trace of anxiety or hurriedness is not acceptable in this aspect”.

Nārāyanāya namah