universe as many (instead of seeing it as one and uniform) are said to see incorrectly.  These men are blind to Brahma.  O chastiser of foes, such persons have repeatedly to come back into the world and assume bodies (in diverse orders of Being).  They who are conversant with all that has been said above become possessed of omniscience, and accordingly when they pass from this body no longer become subject to the control of any more physical frames.  All things, (or the entire universe), have been said to be the result of the Unmanifest.  The Soul, which is the twenty-fifth, transcends all things.  They who know the Soul have no fear of returning to the world.’”

SECTION CCCVIII

“’Vasishtha said, I have thus far discoursed to thee on the Sankhya philosophy.  Listen now to me as I tell thee what is Vidya (knowledge) and what is Avidya (Ignorance), one after the other.  The learned say that that Prakriti, which is fraught with the attributes of Creation and Destruction, is called Avidya; while Purusha, who is freed from the attributes of Creation and Destruction and who transcends the four and twenty topics or principles, is called Vidya.  Listen to me first as I tell thee what is Vidya among successive sets of other things, as expounded in the Sankhya philosophy.  Among the senses of knowledge and those of action, the senses of knowledge are said to constitute what is known as Vidya.  Of the senses of knowledge and their object, the former constitute Vidya as has been heard by us.  Of objects of the senses and the mind, the wise have said that the mind constitute Vidya.  Of mind and the five subtile essences, the five subtile essences constitutes Vidya.  Of the five subtile essences and Consciousness, Consciousness constitutes Vidya.  Of Consciousness and Mahat, Mahat, O king, is Vidya.  Of all the topics or principles beginning with Mahat, and Prakriti, it is Prakriti, which is unmanifest and supreme, that is called Vidya.  Of Prakriti, and that called Vidhi which is Supreme, the latter should be known as Vidya.  Transcending Prakriti is the twenty-fifth (called Purusha) who should be known as Vidya.  Of all knowledge that which is the Object of Knowledge has been said to be the Unmanifest, O king.[1627] Again, Knowledge has been said to be Unmanifest and the Object of knowledge to be that which transcends the four and twenty.  Once more, Knowledge has been said to be Unmanifest, and the Knower is that which transcends the four and twenty.  I have now told thee what is truly the import of Vidya and Avidya.  Listen now to me as I tell thee all that has been said about the Indestructible, and the Destructible.  Both Jiva and Prakriti have been said to be Indestructible, and both of them have been said to be Destructible.  I shall tell thee the reason of this correctly as I have understood it.  Both Prakriti and Jiva are without beginning and without end or destruction.  Both of them are regarded