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LIBERATION
149 ततः कृतार्थानां परिणामक्रमसमाप्तिर्गुणानाम् ॥३१॥ 31. Then the sequence of mutations of the gunas comes to
an end, for they have fulfilled their purpose.
क्षणप्रतियोगी परिणामापरान्तनिर्माह्यः क्रमः ॥३२॥ 32. This is the sequence of the mutations which take place
at every moment, but which are only perceived at the end of a series.
The gunas, as has been said (II, 18), form this universe in order that the experiencer may experience it, and thus become liberated. When liberation is achieved, the gunas have fulfilled their purpose.
Time is a sequence of moments and, hence, a sequence of the mutations of the gunas which take place at every moment. We only become aware of these moment changes at intervals, when a whole series of them has resulted in a mutation which when iş sufficiently remarkable to be apparent to our senses. For example, we are not aware, from moment to moment, that a bud is opening; but, at the end of a series, which may take several hours, we recognize the mutation, the blossoming flower. The same thing happens at the end of a series of impressions and thoughts, leading to a decision or an idea. पुरुषार्थशून्यानां गुणानां प्रतिप्रसवः कैवल्यं
स्वरूपप्रतिष्ठा वा चित्तिशक्तेरिति ॥३३॥ 33. Since the gunas no longer have any purpose to serve for
the Atman, they resolve themselves into Prakriti. This is liberation. The Atman shines forth in its own pristine nature, as pure consciousness.
We shall let Swami Vivekananda have the last word: “Nature's (Prakriti's] task is done, this unselfish task which our sweet nurse, Nature, had imposed upon herself. She gently took the self-forgetting soul by the hand, as it were, and
