however, suffer thyself to be stupefied by error at such
a sight! Cast off both righteousness and sin! Cast off also truth and
falsehood! Having cast off truth and falsehood, do thou then cast off
that with whose aid thou shalt cast off the former! O best of Rishis, I
have now told thee that which is a great misery! With the aid of such
instructions, the deities (who were all human beings) succeeded in
leaving the Earth for becoming the denizens of heaven!'

"'"Hearing these words of Narada Suka, endued with great intelligence and
possessed of tranquillity of mind, reflected upon the drift of the
instructions he received, but could not arrive at any certainty of
conclusion. He understood that one suffers great misery in consequence of
the accession of children and spouses; that one has to undergo great
labour for the acquisition of science and Vedic lore. He, therefore,
asked himself, saying,--'What is that situation which is eternal and which
is free from misery of every kind but in which there is great
prosperity?'--Reflecting for a moment upon the course ordained for him to
run through, Suka, who was well acquainted with the beginning and the end
of all duties, resolved to attain to the highest end that is fraught with
the greatest felicity. He questioned himself, saying,--'How shall I,
tearing all attachments and becoming perfectly free, attain to that
excellent end? How, indeed, shall I attain to that excellent situation
whence there is no return into the ocean of diverse kinds of birth? I
desire to obtain that condition of existence whence there is no return!
Casting off all kinds of attachments, arrived at certainty by reflection
with the aid of the mind, I shall attain to that end! I shall attain to
that situation in which my Soul will have tranquillity, and when I shall
be able to dwell for eternity without being subject to decrepitude or
change. It is, however, certain that that high end cannot be attained
without the aid of Yoga. One that has attained to the state of perfect
knowledge and enlightenment never receives an accession of low
attachments through acts.[1782] I shall, therefore, have recourse to
Yoga, and casting off this body which is my present residence, I shall
transform myself into wind and enter that mass of effulgence which is
represented by the sun.[1783] When Jiva enters that mass of effulgence,
he no longer suffers like Shoma who, with the gods, upon the exhaustion
of merit, falls down on th