is reason, it is called Purusha. The Soul is without decay and not
subject to death. It has knowledge of what is manifest and what is
unmanifest. It is again all-pervading, possessed of attributes, subtile,
and the refuge of all existences and attributes. As a lamp discovers all
objects great or small (irrespective of its own size), after the same
manner the Soul dwells in all creatures as the principle of knowledge
(regardless of the attributes or accidents of those creatures). Urging
the ear to hear what it hears, it is the Soul that hears. Similarly,
employing the eye, it is the Soul that sees. This body furnishes the
means by which the Soul derives knowledge. The bodily organs are not the
doers, but it is the Soul that is the doer of all acts. There is fire in
wood, but it can never be seen by cutting open a piece of wood. After the
same manner, the Soul dwells within the body, but it can never be seen by
dissecting the body. The fire that dwells in wood may be seen by
employing proper means, viz., rubbing the wood with another piece of
wood. After the same manner, the Soul which dwells within the body may be
seen by employing proper means, viz., yoga. Water must exist in rivers.
Rays of light are always attached to the sun. After the same manner, the
Soul has a body. This connection does not cease because of the constant
succession of bodies that the Soul has to enter.[718] In a dream, the
Soul, endued with the fivefold senses, leaves the body and roves over
wide areas. After the same manner, when death ensues, the Soul (with the
senses in their subtile forms) passes out of one body for entering
another. The Soul is bound by its own former acts. Bound by its own acts
done in one state of existence, it attains to another state. Indeed, it
is led from one into another body by its own acts which are very powerful
in respect of their consequences. How the owner of a human body, leaving
off his body, enters another, and then again into another, how, indeed,
the entire range of beings is the result of their respective acts (of
past and present lives), I will presently tell you.'"'"

SECTION CCXI

"'Bhishma said, "All immobile and mobile beings, distributed into four
classes, have been said to be of unmanifest birth and unmanifest death.
Existing only in the unmanifest Soul, the Mind is said to possess the
attributes of the unmanifest.[719] As a vast tree is ensconced within a
small unblown Aswattha flower and becomes