elimination of rajas and tamas to that extent. There is, therefore, a consequent
manifestation of sattva, and immediately concentration of mind follows because
sattva and concentration mean one and the same thing. This leads to complete
mastery over the senses—withdrawal of the energies which are centrifugal, or tending
away from the centre. And then, a tendency to universality manifests itself
automatically—which is the condition for the manifestation of Self-knowledge,
atmadarsana yogyatvani.
Chapter 75SELF-CONTROL, STUDY AND DEVOTION TO GODThe purification of the mind that gradually takes place brings a natural satisfaction
which will become a permanent asset—a satisfaction which one will not be
dispossessed of at any time, inasmuch as it has not been caused by temporary factors.
A satisfaction that comes by causes that can cease to exist one day or the other will
also cease to exist when the causes thereof cease. But here is a spontaneous joy on
account of sattva suddhi, which is the basic reason behind one’s being happy at all. It
has been reiterated that happiness is not due to any kind of movement of causes from
outside. It arises on account of a condition that manifests inside; and if this condition
is perpetuated, and if it does not stand in need of being stimulated by external
causes, then this satisfaction will be permanent. But if we need a goad at every time
so that the mind may stir itself up into a condition of sattva for satisfaction, then
when the goad is withdrawn, the joy also goes. Sattva suddhi is a purification of the
mind that brings about saumanasya, or serenity, which is a perpetual, permanent,
unceasing character of one’s total being. There will be serenity in the face,
contentment in the expression of the person, which will be part and parcel of one’s
permanent behaviour and conduct. Here, the conduct or the behaviour is an
expression of a permanent mood that has arisen inside. Therefore, the expression
will be permanent.
When this contentment arises and serenity of mind is attained, it is understood that
distractions are not there; and the absence of distractions is the same as
concentration of mind. Thus, the power of concentrating the mind arises
automatically on account of this rise of sattva within oneself. In the Chhandogya
Upanishad we have a similar proclamation regarding the results that follow from the
development of sattva. Āhāra-śuddhau sattva-śuddhiḥ, sattva-śuddhau dhruvā smṛtiḥ,
smṛitilambhe sarva-granthīnaṁ vipramokṣaḥ (C.U. VII.26.2), says Sanatkumara to
Narada in the Chhandogya Upanishad. Āhāra-śuddhau sattva-śuddhiḥ: When there is a
purification of the modes of intake by the senses—when what the senses grasp by way
of knowledge is pure—purity of mind is automatically generated within because the
mind is made up of nothing but the impressions of the senses. So, whatever the
senses convey, that the mind also is, and does.
The message that is conveyed through the senses is the character that is imbedded in
the mind. Hence, when the senses receive pure food, the message that they convey,
being pure, makes the mind also pure because the mind has nothing to say and
nothing to do except what the senses direct. The intake of the senses means the
perceptions of the senses—the objects that they perceive or contact, the way in which