1. This universe is full with the animate and inanimate. There are innumerable living beings which are said to be classified into four types.
2. Listen to the signs of these four types of beings, and know that they are (1) the person who is bound (baddha), (2) the seeker (mumuksha), (3) the aspirant, or practitioner (sadhaka), and (4) the accomplished one (Siddha) or Master.
3. Other than these four types, there is no fifth type. Now, understand this as I explain all of these four types of beings.
4. I will describe what it means when it is said that one is bound, and I will tell how to know and identify the signs of seekers, aspirants, and the accomplished.
5. The listeners are asked to remain alert as you listen to what is being presented about the person who is bound, the seeker, the aspirant, and the accomplished.
6. Now, understand what it means to say one is bound. It is like a blind man's eyes. For him, all the ten directions are dark and empty.
7. One who is bound would not even be able to recognize devotees, the "Knowledgeable" (Jnanis), ascetics, yogis, renunciates, or hermits, even if they were right in front of his eyes.
8. He cannot see or know which actions are to be done and which are to be abandoned. He cannot see or know what is one's proper duty and what is improper, and he cannot see the path towards the realization of Supreme Truth.
9. The one who is bound does not recognize what are good scriptures, the value of keeping the company of those with Self-Knowledge, or even good people, and he does not recognize the pure correct path.
10. He does not understand the importance of deeply thinking about what is True and what is false, and he does not understand his own True Nature. He does not know how to behave appropriately, and he does not know how to help others or give in charity.
11. He has no compassion for other living beings, he does not have a clean or healthy body, and does not offer any soft speech to comfort people.
12. When one does not understand anything about Knowledge (Jnana), devotion (bhakti), desirelessness (vairagya), meditation (dhyana), liberation (moksha), or spiritual practice (sadhana), this is what is called being in bondage.
13. When one does not have any firm understanding of God, does not understand anything of the discrimination (viveka) that is prescribed by the saints, and does not understand the play of Illusion, this is called being bound.
14. When one does not understand the signs of Supreme Truth, does not understand the explanations about the Self-Knowledge, and does not understand oneself, this is called being bound
15. When one does not understand the root cause of the birth of living beings, does not understand the fruit of spiritual practice, and does not understand the Oneness that is alone, this is called being bound.
16. When one does not understand what bondage is, does not understand the signs of liberation, and does not understand about Reality, this is called being bound.
17. When one does not understand the meaning of what is said in scriptures, does not understand what is for one’s own benefit, and does not understand that he is entangled in imagination, this is called being bound.
18. Where there is no sign of Self-Knowledge, this is the main sign of being bound. One such as this knows nothing of pilgrimages, nor of religious or charitable merit whatsoever.
19. When one has no kindness, no compassion, no simplicity, no friendship, no peace and no forgiveness, this is called being bound.
20. If one is lacking Self-Knowledge, how can there be any signs of Self-Knowledge? To the contrary, mostly bad attributes are seen in such a one. This is called being bound.
21. When one takes great pleasure in doing many types of wrongful deeds and has an intense longing for behaving wildly, this is called being bound.
22. When one has too much passion, too much anger, too much pride, too much arrogance, too much divisiveness, or too much sorrow, this is called being bound.
23. When one does too much boasting, has too much hypocrisy, too much greed for objects, speaks too many harsh words, and believes in many bad omens, this is called being bound.
24. When one is too much of a bully, has too much malice, too much envy, too much hatred, does too many harmful deeds, and is not right in the mind, this is called being bound.
25. When one has too much love of praise, is too demanding, has too much ego, too much intrusiveness, or too much accumulation of hurtful deeds, this is called being bound.
26. When one is too crafty, too argumentative, too illogical in their thinking, or is too cruel and ruthless, this is called being bound.
27. When one criticizes too much, is too jealous, commits excessive misdeeds, has too many expectations, or has many kinds of bad qualities, this is called being bound.
28. When one is excessively corrupt, indulges in vile destructive misconduct, has no morality and is thoughtless, this is called being bound.
29. When one is excessively cruel, treacherous, having the attitude of a murderer, exceedingly hurtful, hot tempered, and entertains many kinds of knowledge about black magic, this is called being bound.
30. When one harbors too much hope, is excessively selfish, engages in too much conflict, has too much misfortune, and thinks too much about jealousy and revenge with harmful intentions, this is called being bound.
31. When one is engaged in too much imagination, too much lust, too much thirst, too many desires, too much affection, and is too emotional, this is called being bound.
32. When one has too much suspicion, too much depression, too much foolishness, excessive attachment to relatives and family life, or is involved in too many activities, this is called being bound.
33. When one is too talkative, too heretical, excessively hurtful to others, pretends too much, is too clever, or too mischievous, this is called being bound.
34. When one is excessively negative, excessively confused and prone to delusion, is exceedingly ignorant, too whimsical, or too lazy, this is called being bound.
35. When one is too miserly, too rough in their speech, is harboring too much hatred and too much contempt, is performing many bad deeds, and is excessively manipulative, this is called being bound.
36. When one is completely ignorant of Supreme Truth and has excessive knowledge regarding a worldly lifestyle, and is not content in one’s Self, this is called being bound.
37. When one is disrespectful of spirituality but shows excessive attraction for family life, and constantly feels the heavy burden of the yoke of worldly life, this is called being bound.
38. When one does not like the company of the virtuous and wise, criticizes saints, and is shackled to the identification with the body and the intellect, this is called being bound.
39. When one's mind is constantly repeating thoughts about money, is focused on women all the time, and has no association with virtuous people, this is called being bound.
40. When one sees only money and women with his eyes, only hears about money and women with his ears, and only thinks of money and women in his thoughts, this is called being bound.
41. When one is worshipping money and women with his body, speech, and mind with every breath his whole life, this is called being bound.
42. When one focuses the sense organs towards money and women without thinking of anything else, this is called being bound.
43. When money and women alone are considered to be the only reason for pilgrimage, they are one's religion and one's motivation. The one who thinks like this is bound.
44. When one spends his entire time thinking about the worries of worldly life and is always only talking about them, this is called being bound.
45. When one is always feeling affected by many worries, many sorrows, is always feeling miserable, and has given up spirituality, this is called being bound.
46. When the one who is bound is not feeling depressed even for a few moments, he spends that time only thinking about money, women and family.
47. He never gives any thought about pilgrimages, giving in charity, devotion to God, explanations and narrations about God, mantras, chanting, or meditating. Such a one is consumed by thoughts of money and women.
48. When one is very attached to passion day and night without a moments rest whether being awake or while in the dream state, this is being bound.
49. Like these are the signs of a bound person. Understand that one's attributes change when they come into the stage of being an seeker. Listen to the signs of the seeker in the next sub-chapter.