ज्ञानं विवेको निगमस्तपश्च प्रत्यक्षमैतिह्यमथानुमानम् । आद्यन्तयोरस्य यदेव केवलं कालश्च हेतुश्च तदेव मध्ये ॥ १८ ॥
jñānaṁ viveko nigamas tapaś ca pratyakṣam aitihyam athānumānam ādy-antayor asya yad eva kevalaṁ kālaś ca hetuś ca tad eva madhye
- jñānam
- transcendental knowledge
- vivekaḥ
- discrimination
- nigamaḥ
- the scripture
- tapaḥ
- austerity
- ca
- and
- pratyakṣam
- direct perception
- aitihyam
- the historical accounts of the Purāṇas
- atha
- and
- anumānam
- logic
- ādi
- in the beginning
- antayoḥ
- and the end
- asya
- of this creation
- yat
- which
- eva
- indeed
- kevalam
- alone
- kālaḥ
- the controlling factor of time
- ca
- and
- hetuḥ
- the ultimate cause
- ca
- and
- tat
- that
- eva
- alone
- madhye
- in the middle
Real spiritual knowledge is based on the discrimination of spirit from matter, and it is cultivated by scriptural evidence, austerity, direct perception, reception of the Purāṇas’ historical narrations, and logical inference. The Absolute Truth, which alone was present before the creation of the universe and which alone will remain after its destruction, is also the time factor and the ultimate cause. Even in the middle stage of this creation’s existence, the Absolute Truth alone is the actual reality.