60. Neither the Veda nor Vedánta, nor the science of logic or any other sástras, can give you any light of the soul, unless it appears of itself within you. 61. It is by means of your self culture, aided by my instruction and divine grace, that you have gained your perfect knowledge, and appear to rest yourself in the Supreme Spirit. 62. There are three causes of your coming to spiritual light. Firstly your want of the knowledge of a duality, and then the effulgence of your intellectual luminary (thy soul) by the grace of God and lastly the wide extent of your knowledge derived from my instructions. 63. You are now freed from your mental maladies, and have become sane and sound by abandonment of your desires, by removal of your doubts and errors, and by forsaking the mist of your fondness for external objects. 64. O Ráma! as you get rid of the faults (errors) of your understanding, so you advance by degrees in gaining your knowledge, in cherishing your resignation, in destroying your defects, in imbibing the bliss of ecstacy, in wandering with exultation, and in elevating your soul to the sixth sphere. But all this is not enough unless you attend to Brahmahood itself. (These are called the _Sapta bhúmiká_ or seven stages of the practice of Yoga). CHAPTER XXX. FALL OF HIRANYAKASIPU AND RISE OF PRAHLÁDA. Argument. Slaughter of Demons by Hari. Vasishtha continued:—Attend Ráma, to the instructive narrative of Prahláda—the lord of demons; who became an adept by his own intuition. 2. There was a mighty demon in the infernal regions, Hiranyakasipu by name; who was as valiant as Naráyana himself, and had expelled the gods and demigods from their abodes. 3. He mastered all the treasures of the world, and wrested its possession from the hands of Hari; as the swan encroaches upon the right of the bee, on the large folia of the lotus. 4. He vanquished the Gods and Asuras, and reigned over the whole earth, as the elephant masters the lotus-bed, by expulsion of the drove of swans from it. 5. Thus the lord of the Asuras, having usurped the monarchy of the three worlds, begot many sons in course of time, as the spring brings forth the shoots of trees. 6. These boys grew up to manhood in time, with the display of their manly prowess; and like so many brilliant suns, stretched their thousand rays on all sides of the earth and skies. 7. Among them Prahláda the eldest prince became the regent, as the Kaustubha diamond has the pre-eminence among all other precious gems. (The Kaustubha gem was set in the breast-plate of Vishnu). 8. The father Hiranyakasipu delighted exceedingly in his fortunate son Prahláda, as the year rejoices in its flowering time of the spring (_i.e._ the father delights in his promising lad, as the year in its vernal season).