dham is not an indeclinable; or, if it be
taken as such, the sense may still remain unaltered. What the monarch
does is to call upon the Brahmana to share with the monarch the rewards
that the monarch had won.

649. The sense seems to be that yogins attain to Brahma even here;
whereas Reciters attain to him after death.

650. The fact is, I do not know anything of Him, but still I profess to
worship him. This is false behaviour. How shall I be rescued from such
falsehood? This is what Vrihaspati says.

651. The Chhandas are the rules of Prosody as applicable to the Vedic
hymns. Jyotish is astronomy. It forms an Anga of the Vedas. Nirukta
furnishes rules for interpreting obscure passages of the Vedas, and also
gives the meanings of technical or obscure words used therein. Kalpa is
the description of religious rites. Siksha is the science of
pronunciation as applied to Vedic hymns and mantras.

652. They who believe that happiness is not eternal and that, therefore,
they should not pursue it, withdraw themselves from pious acts which lead
to that happiness. They seek Knowledge as the best means for avoiding all
that is transitory and changeful. They seek moksha or complete
Emancipation which has been described in the previous sections.

653. The meaning of 'hell' as applied in such passages has been explained
before.

654. This is a highly aphoristic line. I give the sense by expanding the
words. By 'acts' here is meant 'sacrifices and other religious
observances.' The intention of Vrihaspati is to enforce the propriety of
acts, for without acts, the ends of life cannot, he maintains, be secured.

655. The sense is that one should devote oneself to acts as a sort of
preparation. Afterwards one should abandon them for obtaining the higher
end. Acts, therefore, have their use, and help one, though mediately, in
the acquisition of Brahma.

656. The mind and acts have created all things. This has been explained
in the last verse of section 190 ante. Both are good paths, for by both,
good end may be attained, viz., the highest, by drilling the mind, as also
(mediately) by acts (as explained in verse 14 above). The fruits of
actions must be mentally abandoned if the highest end is to be attained;
i.e., acts may be gone through, but their fruits should never be coveted.

657. Nilakantha explains the grammar of the first line differently. His
view is yatha chakshurupah praneta nayako, etc. A better construction
would be