direct evidence or inference, and unsusceptible of
being indicated by the Vedas? Asked by me, tell me by what means is
Brahma to be apprehended? Is it by penance, by Brahmacharya, by
renunciation of everything, by intelligence, by the aid of the Sankhya
philosophy, or by Yoga? By what means may what kind of singleness of
purpose be attained by men, with respect to both, viz., the mind and the
senses? It behoveth thee to expound all this to me.'[949]

"'"Vyasa said, 'No man ever attains to success by means other than the
acquisition of knowledge, the practice of penances, the subjugation of
the senses, and renunciation of everything.[950] The great entities (five
in number) represent the first (or initial) creation of the Self-born.
They have been very largely placed in embodied creatures included in the
world of life.[951] The bodies of all embodied creatures are derived from
earth. The humours are from water. Their eyes are said to be derived from
light. Prana, Apana (and the three other vital breaths) have the wind for
their refuge. And, lastly, all unoccupied apertures within them (such as
the nostrils, the cavities of the ear, etc.) are of Space. In the feet
(of living creatures) is Vishnu. In their arms is Indra. Within the
stomach is Agni desirous of eating. In the ears are the points of the
horizon (or the compass) representing the sense of hearing. In the tongue
is speech which is Saraswati.[952] The ears, skin, eyes, tongue and nose
forming the fifth, are said to be the sense of knowledge. These exist for
the purposes of apprehension of their respective objects. Sound, touch,
form, taste and scent forming the fifth, are the objects of the (five)
senses. These should always be regarded as separate from (or independent
of) the senses. Like the charioteer setting his well-broken steeds along
the paths he pleases, the mind sets the senses (along directions it
pleases). The mind, in its turn, is employed by the knowledge sitting in
the heart.[953] The mind is the lord of all these senses in respect of
employing them in their functions and guiding or restraining them.
Similarly, the knowledge is the lord of the mind (in employing, and
guiding or restraining it).[954] The senses, the objects of the senses,
the attributes of those objects represented by the word nature,
knowledge, mind, the vital breaths, and Jiva dwell in the bodies of all
embodied creatures.[955] The body within which the knowledge dwells has
no real