Brahmana rishi, that excellent man who is agreeable in speech,
thoughtful, free from envy, industrious in action from an eager desire to
reap its fruits, and of warm temperament, is said to be under the
influence of rajas. And he who is resolute, patient, not subject to
anger, free from malice, and is not skilful in action from want of a
selfish desire to reap its fruits, wise and forbearing, is said to be
under the influence of sattwa. When a man endowed with the sattwa
quality, is influenced by worldliness, he suffers misery; but he hates
worldliness, when he realises its full significance. And then a feeling
of indifference to worldly affairs begins to influence him. And then his
pride decreases, and uprightness becomes more prominent, and his
conflicting moral sentiments are reconciled. And then self-restraint in
any matter becomes unnecessary. A man, O Brahmana, may be born in the
Sudra caste, but if he is possessed of good qualities, he may attain the
state of Vaisya and similarly that of a Kshatriya, and if he is steadfast
in rectitude, he may even become a Brahmana. I have described to thee
these virtues, what else dost thou wish to learn?'"

SECTION CCXII

"The Brahmana enquired, 'How is it that fire (vital force) in combination
with the earthly element (matter), becomes the corporeal tenement (of
living creatures), and how doth the vital air (the breath of life)
according to the nature of its seat (the muscles and nerves) excite to
action (the corporeal frame)?' Markandeya said, 'This question, O
Yudhishthira, having been put to the Brahmana by the fowler, the latter,
in reply, said to that high-minded Brahmana. (The fowler said):--The
vital spirit manifesting itself in the seat of consciousness, causes the
action of the corporeal frame. And the soul being present in both of them
acts (through them). The past, the present and the future are inseparably
associated with the soul. And it is the highest of a creature's
possessions; it is of the essence of the Supreme Spirit and we adore it.
It is the animating principle of all creatures, and it is the eternal
purusha (spirit). It is great and it is the intelligence and the ego, and
it is the subjective seat of the various properties of elements. Thus
while seated here (in a corporeal frame) it is sustained in all its
relations external or internal (to matter or mind) by the subtle ethereal
air called prana, and thereafter, each creature goes its own way by t