of exhausting the past karmas. That is called the agami karma, the kriyaman
karma. Then this apavarga will not come. When even in prison we commit a
blunder, how will we be released?
The dispassionate law, the impersonal regulation, provides that ultimately there
should be freedom, because freedom is the essence of everyone. Bondage is not our
essence. Bondage has come accidentally on account of karma, and when the force of
karma is exhausted by experience or bhoga, freedom should come. But it does not
come because of the creation of further karmas—that is a different aspect altogether.
A purely metaphysical basis of the experience of the objects of the world is explained
in this sutra, not the further complications that arise there, which is a different
subject altogether.
The sutra tells us plainly that the object of experience is constituted of the three
gunas—sattva, rajas and tamas. We should remember that these properties are
forces which are like fluids rather than solids, which intermingle with one another,
influence one another, depend upon one another, and create a quick permutation
and combination of characters among themselves. They are energies, forces, rather
than things which are of a solid and substantial character. These forces are the
building bricks of all physical substances, all objects, everything in nature, as well as
the sense-powers which perceive the objects, so that, inwardly and outwardly,
everything is made up of these forces only. Na tad asti pṛithivyāṁ vā divi deveṣu vā
punaḥ, sattvaṁ prakṛitijair muktaṁ yad ebhiḥ syāt tribhir guṇaiḥ (B.G. XVIII.40). Not in
all the worlds, whether on earth or in heaven, can we find anything that is free from
the clutches of these gunas. Not even Indra is free from this. Everything is under
these forces only. There is nothing anywhere which can be regarded as outside the
purview of the gunas.
Inwardly and outwardly, everything is under the bondage and subjection of these
gunas. This bondage, as already explained, is caused by the identification of
consciousness with the manas, which goes towards objects for the purpose of
creating an experience in order that it may exhaust the momentum of past karmas
for the sake of ultimate freedom, or liberation. That is the meaning of the sutra,
bhogāpavargārtham dṛśyam (II.18).
Chapter 66UNDERSTANDING THE NATURE OF OBJECTSSince the objects are constituted of a substance which is similar to the substance out
of which the senses are made, there is a spontaneity of movement of the senses
towards the objects. They do not require any exertion. As waters incline towards a
depression without any effort on their part, senses incline towards objects without
any specific effort. It is the nature of the senses to move towards objects because of
the similarity of structure in the nature of their substance. This is the reason why the
senses begin to throb in joy when they perceive an object especially to their liking;
and when the senses begin to throb in joy, the consciousness also begins to throb, so
it looks like we are throbbing in great joy at the time of the perception of a desirable