, and one or two other things which, though interesting in
themselves, have no direct bearing on the main subject of treatment.
--T.R.]

Nothing is Spirit which can be the object of consciousness. To one
possessed of right discrimination, the Spirit is the subject of
knowledge. This right discrimination of Spirit and Not-spirit is set
forth in millions of treatises.

This discrimination of Spirit and Not-spirit is given below:

Q. Whence comes pain to the Spirit?

A. By reason of its taking a body. It is said in the Sruti: * "Not in
this (state of existence) is there cessation of pleasure and pain of a
living thing possessed of a body."

Q. By what is produced this taking of a body?

A. By Karma.**

Q. Why does it become so by Karma?

A. By desire and the rest (i.e., the passions).

Q. By what are desire and the rest produced?

A. By egotism.

Q. By what again is egotism produced?

A. By want of right discrimination.

Q. By what is this want of right discrimination produced?

A. By ignorance.

Q. Is ignorance produced by anything?

A. No, by nothing. Ignorance is without beginning and ineffable by
reason of its being the intermingling of the real (sat) and the unreal
(asat.)*** It is a something embodying the three qualities**** and is
said to be opposed to Wisdom, inasmuch as it produces the concept "I am
ignorant." The Sruti says, "(Ignorance) is the power of the Deity and
is enshrouded by its own qualities." *****

----------
* Chandogya Upanishad.

** This word it is impossible to translate. It means the doing of a
thing for the attainment of an object of worldly desire.

*** This word, as used in Vedantic works, is generally misunderstood. It
does not mean the negation of everything; it means "that which does not
exhibit the truth," the "illusory."

**** Satva (goodness), Rajas (foulness), and Tamas (darkness) are the
three qualities; pleasure, pain and indifference considered as
objective principles.

***** Chandogya Upanishad.
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The origin of pain can thus be traced to ignorance and it will not cease
until ignorance is entirely dispelled, which will be only when the
identity of the Self with Brahma (the Universal Spirit) is fully
realized.* Anticipating the contention that the eternal acts (i.e.,
those enjoined by the Vedas) are proper, and would therefore lead to the
destruction of ignorance, it is said that ignorance cannot be dispelled
by Karma (re