25. Some have passed all these stages, and others over two or three of them; some have passed the six grades, while a few have attained to their seventh state all at once (as the sages Sanaka, Nárada and other holy saints have done from their very birth).
26. Some have gone over three stages, and others have attained the last; some have passed four stages, and some no more than one or two of them.
27. There are some that have advanced only a quarter or half or three fourths of a stage. Some have passed over four quarters and a half, and some six and a half.
28. Common people walking upon this earth, know nothing regarding these passengers in the paths of knowledge; but remain as blind as their eyes were dazzled by some planetary light or eclipsed by its shadow.
29. Those wise men are compared to victorious kings, who stand victorious on these seven grounds of knowledge. The celestial elephants are nothing before them; and mighty warriors must bend their heads before them.
30. Those great minds that are victors on these grounds of knowledge, are worthy of veneration, as they are conquerors of their enemies of their hearts and senses; and they are entitled to a station above that of an emperor and an autocrat, samrat and virat, both in this world and in the next in their embodied and disembodied liberations—sadeha and videha muktis.
Notes:—These terms called the grades of knowledge may be better understood in their appropriate English expressions, as:—
1. Desire of improvement.
2. Habit of reasoning.
3. Fixity of attention.