The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki
The only complete English translation is
by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891).
CHAPTER XXXX.—/* Brahma Identic with the World or Identity of the
World with Brahma.
Inline emphasis start-string without
end-string.
Argument. Production and names of the
Varieties of Animal Life
and their spiritual Natures.
Rāma said:—Tell me, sir, about the production
of animal beings from
Brahma, and let me know their different names
and natures in full
length.
2. Vasishtha replied:—The manner in which the
different species of
beings are produced from Brahma, and how they
are destroyed afterwards,
as also how they obtain their liberation at
last:—
3. Also the manner of their growth and
sustentation, and fitness in the
world, are all what you must hear me now tell
you in brief.
4. The power of the intellect of Brahma
exerts of its free will, and
this omnipotence becomes whatever is thought
of (chetya) in the Divine
Intellect.
5. The intellection becomes condensed to a
certain subtile form, which
having the powers of conception (sankalpa), becomes the principle
entitled the Mind.
6. The mind then by an effort of its
conception (called the Will),
expands itself to an unreal (ideal) scenery
like that of the Fairyland,
by falling off from the nature of Brahmic
Incogitancy.
7. The intellect when remaining in its
original state, appears as a
vacuum or vacancy; but upon manifesting
itself in the form of the mind,
it is seen as the visible sky by men.
8. Taking the conception of the lotus-born,
it finds itself in its
conceived form of the lotus (Brahmā), and
then it thinks of creation in
the form of Prajāpati or lord of creatures.
9. He then formed from his thought (chitta)
this creation, containing
the fourteen worlds with all the bustle of
living beings in them.
10. The mind itself is a vacuity with a
vacuous body; its conception is
the field of its action, and its sphere is
full with the false workings
of the mind.
11. Here there are many kinds of beings,
labouring under great ignorance
as the beasts and brute creatures. There are
some with enlightened minds
as the sages; and others staggering in the
intermediate class, as the
majority of mankind.
12. Among all living beings that are confined
in this earth, it is only
the human race living in this part (India),
that are capable of
receiving instruction and civilization.
13. But as most of these are subject to
diseases and distress, and are
suffering under the thrall of their
ignorance, enmity and fear; it is
for them that I will deliver my lecture on
social and saintly
conduct—rājasātvikī nīti (in the 42nd chapter of this book).
[** NB ADD LINK HERE: png 207 LINK TO CHAPTER
XLII. Spirituality of
Prahlāda]
14. I will also treat there about the
everlasting, imperishable and
omnipresent Brahma, who is without beginning
and end, whose mind is
without error, and of the form of
Intellectual light.
15. How endless beings are put to motion, by
the momentum of a particle
of his motionless body; and resembling the
rolling of boisterous waves
on the surface of the clear and tranquil
ocean.
16. Rāma asked:—How sir, do you speak of a
part of the infinite Spirit,
and of the momentum of the motionless God; as
also of a change and
effort of it, that is altogether without them
(vikārāvikrama).
17. Vasishtha replied:—It is the usual and
current mode of expression,
both in the sāstras and language of the
people to say, "all this is made
by or come from Him", but it is not so
in its real and spiritual sense.
18. No change or partition, and no relation
of space or time, bear any
reference to the Supreme, who is
unchangeable, infinite and eternal; nor
is there any appearance or disappearance of
Him at any time or place,
who is ever invisible every where.
19. There never was nor can there ever be any
way, of representing the
incomprehensible, except by symbolical
expressions; it was therefore in
accordance to common speech, that I have made
use of those words.
20. Whatever words or sentences are used here
as symbolical of some
sense, whether they express as "produced
from it tajja" or as a change
of the same—tanmaya", the same should be used, in that sense all
along.
21. It is tajja, as when we say "fire
proceeds from fire" (meaning, the
"mundane Brahma comes out of the
spiritual Brahma." Here fire is
symbolical of Brahma and the world). It is tanmaya in the expression
"Brahma is the producer and
produced" (which means the identity—and
transformation of the creator to the
creation).
22. The first form is applied to the world as
proceeding from Brahma:
but the other form of the producer and
produced, means also the creative
power which made the world.
23. The expression idam—anyat = idem alius or
this is one thing and
that another, is false, the difference is
verbal and not real; because
there is no proof of it in the nature of God,
which is one and all.
24. The mind, by reason of its birth (tajja)
from Brahma, is possessed
both of the power and intelligence of his
Intellect, and is enabled to
accomplish its intended purpose, by means of
its intense application.
25. To say that one flame of fire, is the
producer of another, is mere
logomachy, and there is no truth in this
assertion. (Because it is no
other thing produced by another, but the very
thing).
26. That one is the producer of another is
also a paralogy; because the
one Brahma being infinite, could produce no
other thing, beside
reproducing himself. (For where and whence
could he get another thing to
create a thing anew beside in himself?).
27. It is the nature of disputation to
contradict one another by replies
and rejoinders; but it is not right to foil
the adversary by false
sophistry.
28. The learned know Brahma as the ocean
rolling in its endless waves,
and as significant words and their
significations, which go together as
Brahma and his creation.
29. Brahma is the Intellect—Chit, Brahma is the mind—manas, Brahma
is intelligence—Vijnāna, and Brahma is substance—Vasthu; He is
Sound—sabda, He is understanding—chit, and
He is in the principles
of things—Dhātus.
30. The whole universe is Brahma, and yet He
is beyond all this. In
reality the world is a nullity, for all is
Brahma alone.
31. This is one thing and that is another,
and this is a part of the
great soul, are all contradictory assertions
of ignorance (false
knowledge), as no words can express the true
nature of the unknown.
32. The spirit rises as the flame of fire,
and this flame is significant
of the mind. Its tremor signifies the
fluctuation of the mind, which in
reality is not the case, there being no rise
or fall of the Divine Mind.
33. It is untruth that wavers and equivocates
in double entendres. It
prevaricates the truth, as the defective eye
views the double moon in
the sky.
34. Brahma being all (to pan) of himself, and all pervading and
infinite of his own nature, there can be no
other thing beside himself,
and anything that is produced of him, is
likewise himself.
35. Beside the truth of the existence of
Brahma, there is nothing which
can be proved as absolutely certain; and it
is a scriptural truth which
says, "verily all this is Brahma."
36. This also must be the conclusion, which
you will arrive at by your
reasoning, and which I will propound with
many instances and tenets in
the Book of Nirvāna or Extinction.
37. There are many things here in connection
with this single question
of which you are ignorant, and all which you
will come to know fully in
future, for dispelling your doubts on the
subject.
38. The unreality having disappeared, the
reality appears to view, as
the darkness of night being dispelled, the
visible world comes to sight.
39. The spacious world which appears to your
false sight of it, will
vanish, O Rāma! on your attaining to the
state of calm quietism. The
fallacious appearances must disappear from
your vision, as soon as the
light of truth comes to dawn upon your soul.
CHAPTER XLI.—Description of Ignorance.
Argument. Delusion the cause of error.
Rāma said:—Sir, I feel your speech to be as
cooling and shining as the
water of the milky sea; it is as deep and
copious as the vast ocean:—
2. I am sometimes darkened and enlightened at
others, by the variety of
your discourses, as a rainy day is now
obscured by the cloud, and again
shines forth brightly with sunshine.
3. I understand Brahma as infinite and
inconceivable, and the life and
light of all that exists. I know that light
never sets; but tell me, how
they attribute many qualities that are
foreign to his nature.
4. Vasishtha replied:—The wording and meaning
of my lectures to you,
are all used in their right and ordinary
sense, they are neither
insignificant or meaningless, equivocal or
ambiguous, or contradictory
of one with another.
5. You will understand the proper import of
my phraseology, when the
eyesight of your understanding becomes
clearer, and when the light of
reason will rise in your mind.
6. Do not mistake the meanings of my words,
or the phraseology I have
used all along, in order to explain the
subject of my lectures, and
purport of the sāstras, for your acquaintance
with them.
7. When you will come to know the clear Truth
of Brahma, you will know
more regarding the distinctions of
significant words, and their
significations and significates.
8. The distinctive verbal signs are invented
for the communication of
our thoughts, in conveying our instructions
to others, and for our
knowledge of the purport of the sāstras.
9. Words and their meanings, phrases and
their constructions, are used
for the instruction of others; they are
applied to the use of the
ignorant, and never apply to those who are
acquainted with truth (by
their intention).
10. There is no attribute, nor imputation,
that bears any relation with
the free and unsullied soul. It is the
dispassionate spirit of the
supreme Brahma, and the same is the soul of
the existent world.
11. This subject will again be fully
discussed and dilated upon with
various arguments, on the occasion of our
arriving to the conclusion of
this subject (in the book of Nirvāna).
12. I have said so far about verbiage at
present, because it is
impossible to penetrate into the deep
darkness of ignorance, without the
means of verbiage (flux de mots).
13. As conscious ignorance offers herself a
willing sacrifice to the
shrine of knowledge, she bids her
adversary—the destroyer of error, to
take possession of her seat in the bosom of
man. (Here is a double
intender of the word avidyā, the former meaning ignorance as well as a
concubine, and the latter signifying the wife
and knowledge; hence it
implies the advance of knowledge upon
disappearance of her rival
ignorance).
14. As one weapon is foiled by another, and
one dirt is removed by the
other (cow dung and ashes), and as one poison is destroyed by another,
and also as one foe is driven out by another
enemy (similes curantur).
15. So Rāma, the mutual destruction of
errors, brings joy to the soul.
It is hard however to detect the error; but
no sooner it is found out
than it is put to destruction. It means the
confutation of false
doctrines by one another.
16. Ignorance obscures our perspicacity, and
presents the false and
gross world before us. We all view this
wonderful universe, but know not
what and how it is.
17. Unobserved it rushes to our view, but
being examined with attention,
it flies upon keen observation. We know it is
a phantasm, and yet find
it appearing with its dimensions and figures
before us.
18. O the wonderful enchantment, which has
spread out this world, and
made the unreality to appear as a sober
reality, to the knowledge of
every one of us.
19. This earth is a distinct wide extended
superfices, resting on the
indistinct surface of an unknown substratum.
He is the best of beings
that has stretched this enchantment.
20. When you are enlightened with the
thought, that all this is
inexistent in reality; you will then become
the knower of the knowable
(God), and understand the import of my
lectures.
21. So long as you are not awakened to true
knowledge, rely upon my
words, and know this immensity as the
creature of the incorrigible and
immovable ignorance.
22. All this immensity, that appears to
sight, is but the picture of
your mistaken thought; it is all
unsubstantial, and a mere manifestation
of your deluded mind only.
23. He is entitled to liberation, whose mind
is certain of the reality
of Brahma; and knows the moving and unmoving
figures without, as the
thoughts of the mind presented to the sight.
24. The whole scale of the earth, is as a net
of birds to catch the
fleeting mind; it is as false as a landscape
in the dream; which
represents the unreal as real ones to the mind.
25. He who looks upon the world without his
attachment to it, is never
subject to grief or sorrow on any account.
And he who thinks all these
forms as formless, sees the formless spirit.
26. The forms of the formless spirit, is the
formation of ignorance, and
when the blemishes of passions and mutations,
do not even belong to
great souls, how can these attributes relate
to the greatest God.
27. The attributes given to the Supreme
Spirit, are as dust thrown upon
the surface of limpid water; it is our thoughts
only that attribute
these qualities to the inconceivable One, as
we attribute certain
meanings to words (that bear no relation to
them).
28. It is usage that establishes the meanings
of words, which continue
to be inseparably joined with them; and it is
usage that determines
their use in the sāstras.
29. As the cloth cannot be thought of without
its thread, so the soul is
unintelligible without the medium of words
giving its true definition.
30. It is possible to gain the knowledge of
the soul from the sāstras,
without one's self-consciousness of it; as it
is possible to get over
the sea of ignorance, by means of spiritual
knowledge.
31. Rāma! it is impossible to arrive at the
state of what is called
imperishable life and bliss, when the soul is
any how polluted by the
blemishes of ignorance.
32. The existence of the world verily depends
on the existence of the
Supreme; know this, and do not question how
and whence it came to exist.
33. Let it be for thee to think only how thou
shalt get rid of this
unreality; for it is upon the disappearance
of the unreality, that thou
canst know the real truth.
34. Leave off thinking whence is all this,
how it is and how it is
destroyed at last; believe it to be really
nothing, but only appearing
without being actually seen.
35. How can one know, how the unreality
appears as reality by his
mistake of it, when the error of reality, in
the unreal, has taken a
firm footing in his mind?
36. Try your best to destroy this prejudice
of yours, and then you will
know the truth. And verily such men are the
greatest heroes and most
learned in the world, who are freed from
prejudices.
37. Strive to destroy your baneful ignorance,
or it is sure to overpower
on thee as upon the rest of mankind.
38. Take care, lest it should enthral thee to
the pain of thy repeated
transmigrations, and know ignorance to be the
root of all evils and
companion of every vice. It creates a man's
interest in what proves his
peril.
39. Avoid quickly this false view, the
baneful cause of your fears and
sorrows, and of your diseases and dangers;
and the germ of errors in the
mind; and thereby ford over this perilous
ocean of the world.
CHAPTER XLII.—Production of Jīva or Living Souls.
Argument. Condensation of Desires in the
Intellect. And
Formation of living souls thereby.
Vasishtha continued:—Hear now Rāma! the
antidote against the wide
extended malady of Ignorance, and the raging
endemic of unreality, which
vanishes from view upon your close inspection
of it.
2. That which was proposed to be said (in
chapter XL), concerning the
sātvika and rājasika qualities. I am now
going to expound the same, on
account of investigating into the powers of
the mind.
3. The same Brahma who is all-pervading,
undecaying and immortal; is
known as intellectual light and without
beginning and end, and free from
error.
4. The Intellect, which is body of Brahma,
and has its vibration in
itself, becomes agitated and condensed at
intervals, as the translucent
water of the ocean has its motion of itself,
and becomes turbid and
thickened by its perturbation.
(I.e. the mind is possest of motion contrary to dull and motionless
matter, and it is by its moving force, that
it forms the gross bodies,
as the huge surges of the sea).
5. As the water of the sea, is agitated in
itself without any motion or
excitation from without; so the Almighty
power exerts its force in
itself, throughout all its eternity and
infinity. (The water composed of
the gases, is always in motion).
6. As the air stirs in its own bosom of
vacuity for ever, so the power
of the Divine Spirit, exerts itself
spontaneously and freely in its own
sphere of the spirit.
7. And as the flame rises high of its own
accord, so the power of the
spirit, extends in itself in all directions.
(It is the nature of the
flame to rise upward only, but that of the
Spirit, is to move in every
way and all round the great circle of
creation).
8. As the sea seems to move with its
sparkling waters, reflecting the
sun and moonbeams upon its surface, so the
almighty spirit appears to
shake with the fleeting reflections of
creation in its bosom.
9. As the sea sparkles with the golden beams
of the starry frame; so the
translucent vast soul of God, shines with the
light of its own
intellectual sphere.
10. As chains of pearly rays, glitter to our
sight in the empty sky; so
sundry forms of things fly about in the vast
vacuity of the intellect.
(These are as bubbles in the vast expanse of
the Divine Mind).
11. These intellectual images, being pushed
forward by the force of
intellect, they begin to roll in its vacuous
sphere like waves in the
sea. (They are the same in substance, though
different in appearance).
12. These images though inseparable from the
intellect of the Divine
spirit, yet they seem to be apart from it,
like the light in the holes
of needles and other cavities. (The glory of
God, is the light and life
of all).
13. The universal Omnipotence exhibits itself
in those particular forms,
as the moon shows her various horns in her
different phases.
14. Thus the intellectual power of the
Supreme spirit, coming to shine
forth as light, refracts itself in various
forms as the very many
semblances of that great light.
15. The Supreme spirit, though conscious of
its nature of infinity and
indivisibility, yet assumes to itself the
state of its individuality, in
every separate and limited form of created
beings.
16. When the supreme Entity takes upon itself
these several forms, it is
immediately joined by a train of qualities
and properties, with
quantity, modality and the like as followers
in its train.
17. The unsubstantial intellect, deeming
itself as a substance by its
being separated from the supreme soul;
becomes divided into infinity
like the waves of the sea water (which is one
and many).
18. As there is no material difference of the
armlet and bracelet, from
their matter of the same gold; so is the
intellect and the soul the one
and same thing. It is the thought that makes
the difference in their
different modes.
19. As there is no difference between one
lamp and the others, that are
lighted from the same light; so it is of all
souls and intellects, which
are alike in their nature, but differ only in
their particular
attributes—upadhis.
20. The Intellect, being put to action by the
force of the soul on
particular occasions, pursues its desires and
the objects of its fancy.
21. The same intellect also, taking its
volitive and active forms at
different times and places; is styled the
embodied soul or spirit, and
known as Kshetrajna.
22. It is so named from its familiarity with
the body or Kshetra, and
its knowledge of the inward and outward
actions of it (or from its
knowing its person and personality).
23. This being fraught with its desires, is
designated as Egoism or
selfishness; and this again being soiled by
its fancies, takes the name
of the understanding.
24. The understanding leaning to its wishes,
is termed the mind; which
when it is compacted for action, takes the
name of the senses or
sensation.
25. The senses are next furnished with their
organs called the organs of
sense, which being joined with the organs of
action, the hands and feet
are jointly denominated the body.
26. Thus the living soul being tied to its
thoughts and desires, and
being entrapped in the net of pain and
sorrow, is termed Chitta or
heart.
27. Thus the gradual development of the
intellect, produces its
successive results (or phases as said above);
so these are the different
states or conditions of the living soul, and
not so many forms of it,
but all these are the impurities of the soul.
28. The living soul becomes associated with
egoism in its embodied
state, and this being polluted by its
egoistic understanding, it is
entangled in the net of selfish desires,
which becomes the mind.
29. The concupiscent mind becomes eager to
engraft itself in its
consorts and offspring, and to secure the
false possessions of the world
to itself and without a rival.
30. The tendencies of the mind, pursue their
desired objects, as the cow
follows the lusty bull; and the mind runs
after its objects only to be
polluted by them, as the sweet stream of the
river, meets the sea to
become bitter and briny.
31. Thus the mind being polluted by its
selfishness, loses the freedom
of its will; and becomes bound to its
desires, as the silkworm is
enclosed in the cocoon.
32. It is the mind that exposes the body to
confinement, by its pursuit
after its desires, until it comes to feel the
gall of its own thraldom,
and the bitter regret of the conscious soul.
33. Knowing itself to be enslaved, it bids
farewell to the freedom of
its thought and knowledge; and begets within
itself the gross ignorance,
which rages and ranges free in the forest of
this world, with its
horribly monstrous appearance.
34. The mind containing within it the flame
of its own desires, is
consumed to death like the fettered lion in a
fire.
35. It assumes to itself the agency of all
its various acts, under its
subjection to a variety of desires; and thus
exposes itself to the
changes of its state, in this life and all
its future births.
36. It labours continually under all its
octuple state of understanding;
namely that of the knowledge, intelligence
and activity or active
agency, and its egoism or selfishness, all of
which are causes of all
its woe.
37. It is sometimes styled the prakriti or character, and at others
the māyā or seat of self delusion. The mind—manas is often
converted to malas or foulness, and very often to karman or
activity.
38. It is sometimes designated as bondage,
and is often synonymous with
the heart; it is called also as avidyā or ignorance, and frequently
identified with the will or volition
likewise.
39. Know Rāma, the heart is tied to the earth
by a chain of sorrow and
misery; it is brimful of avarice and grief,
and the abode of passions.
40. It is living dead with the cares of age
and the fear of death, to
which the world is subject; it is troubled
with desire and disgust, and
stained by its ignorance and passions.
41. It is infested by the prickly thorns of
its wishes, and the brambles
of its acts; it is quite forgetful of its
origin, and is beset by the
evils of its own making.
42. It is confined as the silkworm in its own
cell, where it is doomed
to dwell with its sorrow and pain; and though
it is but a minim in its
shape, it is the seat of endless hell-fire.
(A hair as heart. Pope. The
heart is hell &c. Milton).
43. It is as minute as the soul, and yet
appears as huge as the highest
hill; and this world is a forest of wild
poisonous trees, branching out
with their fruits of decay and death.
44. The snare of desire is stretched over the
whole world; its fruits
are as those of the Indian fig trees, which
has no pith or flavour
within.
45. The mind being burnt by the flame of its
sorrow, and bitten by the
dragon of its anger; and being drowned in the
boisterous sea of its
desires, has entirely forgotten its Great
Father.
46. It is like a lost stag straying out of
its herd, and like one
demented by his sorrows; or more like a moth
singed by the flame of
world affairs.
47. It is torn away as a limb from its place
in the Spirit, and thrown
in an incongenial spot; it is withering away
like a lotus plant plucked
from its root.
48. Being cast amidst the bustle of business,
and among men who are
inimical or as dumb pictures to him, every
man is grovelling in this
earth amidst dangers and difficulties.
49. Man is exposed to the difficulties of
this dark and dismal world,
like a bird fallen in the waters of the sea;
he is entangled in the
snare of the world, like one snatched to the
fairy land in the sky.
50. The mind is carried away by the current
of business, like a man
borne by the waves of the sea. Lift it, O
brave Rāma! from this pit, as
they do an elephant sinking in the mud.
51. Lift up thy mind by force, O Rāma! like a
bullock from this delusive
puddle (palvala) of the world, where it is shorn of its brightness and
is weakened in its frame.
52. Rāma! the man whose mind is not troubled
in this world, with
successive joy and grief, and the
vicissitudes of decrepitude, disease
and death, is no human being: but resemble a
monstrous Rākshasa,
although he may have the figure of a man on
him. (It is not humanity to
be devoid of human feeling).
CHAPTER XLIII.—The Repositories of Living Souls.
Argument. The Transmigrations of Souls by
virtue of their Acts,
and the way of their salvation.
Vasishtha continued:—Thus the living soul
being derived from Brahma,
assumes to itself the form of the mind, and
is tossed about with the
thoughts and cares of the world. It is then
changed into thousands and
millions of forms, as it figures to itself in
its imagination.
2. It has undergone many prior births, and is
in the course of migrating
into many more; it will transmigrate into
many more also, which are as
multitudinous as the flitting particles of a
water-fall (splitting to
many atoms).
3. These atomic souls of living beings, being
subjected to their desires
by the great variety of their wishes; are
made to wander under many
forms, to which they are bound by their
desires.
4. They rove incessantly to different
directions, in distant countries
both by land and water; they live or die in
those places, as the bubbles
blow out but to float and burst, and then
sink in the water below.
5. Some are produced for the first time in a
new kalpa age, and others
are born a hundred times in it; some have had
only two or three births,
while the births of others are unnumbered (in
a kalpa).
6. Some are yet unborn and are to be born yet
on earth, and many others
have passed their births by attainment of
their liberation at last. Some
are alive at present, and others are no more
to be born.
7. Some are born again and again, for myriads
of kalpas, some remaining
in one state all along, and many in various
states repeatedly changing
their forms and natures.
8. Some are subjected to the great misery of
hell, and some are destined
to a little joy on earth; some enjoying the
great delights of the gods
in heaven, and others raised to the glory of
heavenly bodies above.
9. Some are born as Kinnaras and Gandharvas
and others as Vidyādharas
and huge serpents; some appear in the forms
of Sol, Indra and Varuna
(Ouranas), and others in those of the
triocular Siva and the lotus-born
Brahmā.
10. Some become the Kushmānda and Vetāla
goblins, and others as Yaksha
and Rākshasa cannibals; some again become the
Brahmānas and the ruling
class, and others become Vaisyas and Sūdras.
(The four tribes of
Indo-Aryans).
11. Some become Swapacha and Chandāla (eaters
of dog and hog-flesh), and
others as Kirātas and Puskasa (eaters of
rotten bodies); some become the
grass and greens on earth, and others as the
seeds of fruits and roots
of vegetables, and as moths and butterflies
in the air.
12. Some are formed into varieties of herbs
and creeping plants, and
others into stones and rocks; some into Jāma and Kadamba trees,
and
others into Sāla, Tāla and Tamāla forests.
13. There are some placed in prosperous
circumstances, and become as
ministers and generals and rulers of states;
while others are clad in
their rags and remain as religious recluses,
munis and taciturn hermits
in the woods.
14. Some are born as snakes and hydras,
worms, insects and ants; whilst
there are others in the forms of great lions,
big buffaloes, stags and
goats, the bos guavas and fleet antelopes in
forests.
15. Some are begotten as storks and cranes,
ruddy geese and cuckoos; and
others are become their pastures in the
shapes of lotuses and water
lilies, the nilumbium and other aquatic
shrubs and flowers.
16. Some are brought forth as elephants and
their cubs, and as wild
boars, bulls and asses; and others come into
being as bees and beetles,
flies and gadflies, gnats and mosquitoes.
17. Many are born to difficulties and
dangers, and many to prosperity
and adversity; some are placed in hell pits
and others in their heavenly
abodes.
18. Some are situated in the stars, and some
in the hollows of trees;
some move upon the wings of the winds, and
others rest in the still air
above or fly freely in the sky.
19. Many dwell in the sunlight of the day,
and many subsist under the
moonbeams at night; while there be others
subsisting upon the beverage,
which they draw from the herbaceous plants.
20. Some are liberated in their life-time,
and rove about freely in this
earth; while others live in their blissful
states (in holy and lonely
hermitage). Some are altogether emancipate in
their reliance in the
Supreme Spirit.
21. There are some that require long periods
for their blessed and
ultimate liberation; and others there are
that disbelieve the
intellectuality and spirituality of mankind,
and dislike their being
reduced to the solity of the soul, or to be
reduced to their oneness or
unity with the Supreme soul—Kaivalya.
22. Some become regents of the skies above,
and others roll down in the
form of mighty streams; some become females
of beautiful appearances,
and others as ugly hermaphrodites and
abnormalities.
23. Some are of enlightened understandings,
and some are darkened in
their minds. Some are preachers and lecturers
of knowledge, and others
in their ecstatic trance of Samādhi.
24. The living souls that are under the
subjection of their desires, are
so powerless of themselves, that they have
forgotten their freedom, and
are fast chained to the fetters of their
wishes.
25. They rove about the world, now flying up
and then falling down in
their hopes and fears; and are incessantly
tossed up and down, like
playing balls flung on all sides, by the
relentless hands of playful
Death.
26. Entrapped in the hundred fold snare of
desire, and converted to the
various forms of their wishes, they pass from
one body to another, as
the birds fly from one tree to alight on
another.
27. The endless desires of the living soul,
bred and led by the false
imaginations of the mind, have spread this
enchanted snare of magic or
māyā, which is known by the name of the great
world.
28. So long are the stupefied souls doomed to
rove about in the world,
like the waters in a whirlpool; as they do
not come to understand the
true nature of their selves, as selfsame with
the Supreme-Self.
29. Having known and seen the true Self, by
forsaking their false
knowledge of it, they come to their
consciousness of themselves, as
identic with the divine Self; and having
attained this in process of
time, they are released from their doom of
revisiting this world of pain
and sorrow.
30. There are however some insensible beings,
who notwithstanding their
attainment of this knowledge, are so
perverted in their natures, that
they have to return again to this earth,
after passing into a hundred
lives in it in various shapes (owing to their
disbelief in the self).
31. Some there are who after having attained
to higher states, fall down
again by the lowness of their spirits, and
appearing in the shapes of
brute creatures, have to fall into hell at
last.
32. There are some great minded souls, who
having proceeded from the
state of Brahma, have to pass here a single
life, after which they are
absorbed in the Supreme soul. (Such were the
sage Janaka and the sagely
Seneca).
33. There are multitudes of living beings in
other worlds also, some of
whom have become as the lotus-born Brahmā,
and others as Hara (the Horus
of the Egyptian trinity).
34. There are others who have become as gods
and brute creatures in
them, and there are snakes and other reptiles
also in them as well as in
this earth. (Astronomers have descried kine
in the moon, and Hindoos
have found it to abound in deer, whence the
moon is called mrigānka by
them. So are the constellations in the
heavens).
35. There are other worlds as obvious to view
as this earth (in the
starry heavens), and there are many such
worlds that have gone by, and
are yet to appear (in the immensity of
space).
36. There are various other creatures of
different shapes, produced by
various unknown causes in the other worlds
also, which have their
growths and deaths like those of this earth.
37. Some are produced as Gandharvas, and
others as Yakshas (the Yakkas
at Ceylon); and some are generated as Suras
(Sorians); and some others
as Asuras (Assyrians) and Daityas (demons).
38. The manners and modes of life of the
peoples in other parts of the
globe, are as those of the men living in this
part of the earth.
39. All creatures move according to their own
natures and mutual
relations for ever more, as the waves and
currents of a river move
forward, following and followed by others in
regular succession.
40. The whole creation moves onward in
eternal progression, in its
course of evolution and involution, and in
its motions of ascension and
descension like the waves of the ocean.
41. In this manner do the multitudes of
living beings, proceed from the
Supreme Spirit, who with the consciousness of
their self-existence, rise
from and fall at last into it. (The
consciousness of the universal soul,
is divided into the individual souls of
beings, that are derived and
detached from it).
42. All created beings are detached from
their source, like the light
from the lamp and the solar rays from the
sun; they are like sparks of
red hot iron, and the scintillation of fire.
43. They are as the particles (or minute
moments) of time, and the
flying odours of flowers; or as the cold
icicles and the minutial of
rain water, borne by breeze and cooling the
air all around.
44. So the flitting particles of life, flying
from one spot to another,
and filling different bodies with animation,
are at last absorbed in the
main spring of vitality whence they had
risen.
45. The particles of vital air, being thus
spread out and scattered over
the universe, come to assume the various
forms of animated beings in all
the worlds, but they are all mere creations
of our ignorance, and are in
reality like the rolling waves of water in
the vast ocean of eternity.
CHAPTER XLIV.—The Incarnation of human souls in the World.
Argument. Discussion about incarnation of the
spirit, and its
extinction by death and liberation.
Rāma asked:—I understand now how the
particles of the Divine Spirit,
take the forms of the living souls; but I
cannot conceive how it assumes
the corporeal body composed of bones and
ribs.
2. Vasishtha replied:—Why don't you know it
Rāma, when I have explained
it to you before? Where have you lost your
deductive reasoning of
arriving to the conclusion from those
premises.
3. All these corporeal bodies in the world,
and all these moving and
unmoving persons and things, are but false
representations, rising
before us as the visions in our dreams.
4. The phenomenal world differs only in its
being but a longer and more
delusive dream; it is as the sight of the
double moon by optical
deception, and of a mountain in the delusion
of darkness.
5. The enlightened mind which is cleared of
its drowsiness of ignorance,
and is freed from the fetters of its desire,
views the world to be no
more than a dream.
6. The world is a creation of the
imagination, by the nature of all
living souls, and it remains therefore
impressed in the soul, until it
attains its final liberation.
7. The fleeting essence of the soul, is like
the eddy of waters; or like
the germ of the seed, or more like the
leaflet of a sprout.
8. And as the flower is contained in the
branch, and the fruit within
its flowers; so this creation of the
imagination, is contained in the
receptacle of the mind.
9. As the ever-changing form of the
chameleon, exhibits but a particular
hue at a time; so the ever-varying mind shows
only the figure, which is
prominent in its thought for the time being
(and this inward figure is
reflected by the visual organs).
10. The same thought assumes a visible form,
as the clay takes the form
of a pot; and the good thoughts and actions
of the prior state of life,
serve to give the soul a goodly form in its
next birth on earth.
11. We see the mighty lotus-born Brahmā
situated in the cell of that
flower, and find it to be the effect of the
good thoughts he had in his
mind.
12. This unlimited creation is the false
fabrication of imagination;
whereupon the living soul in conjunction with
the mind, obtained the
state of Virinchī the Brahmā (vir inchoatious
or incipiens the primary
man, otherwise called ādima-purusha—Adam or the first male).
13. Rāma said:—I require, Sir, to be fully
informed, whether all other
beings sprang from the same cause as
Brahmā—the lotus-born.
14. Vasishtha answered:—Hear me tell you, O
long-armed Rāma, the manner
of Brahmā's having the body; and from his
instance, you will learn about
the existence of the world.
15. The Supreme soul, which is unlimited by
time or space, takes of his
own will, and by the power of his
Omnipotence, the limited forms of time
and space upon himself.
16. The same becomes the living soul, and is
fraught with various
desires in itself, of becoming many:—aham bahu syāma.
17. When this limited power which is Brahmā,
thinks on the state of his
having been the Hiranyagarbha, in his former
state of existence in the
prior Kalpa; he is immediately transformed to
that state which is in his
mind, and which is ever busy with its
thoughts and imaginations.
18. It thinks first of the clear sky, the
receptacle of sound, and which
is perceptible by the auditory organs; and
this thought being condensed
in the mind, makes it vibrate as by the wind
of the air.
19. It thinks then on the vibrations of air,
which are the objects of
feeling, through the porous skin and the
mind; and is moved by the
thoughts of air and wind to assume that form,
which is invisible to the
naked eye.
20. The condensation of the elements of air
and wind together, produced
the idea of light which is the cause of
sight, and which has the colours
and figures for its objects; and thus the
mind being actuated by its
triple thoughts of air, wind and light,
produced the property of fire.
21. These joined immediately to produce the
idea of coldness the
property of water; and the mind then came to
form the quadruple ideas of
the four elements of air, wind, fire and
water.
22. These united together produced the gross
form of earth—the
receptacle of scent; and then the mind being
filled with these minute
elementary particles in its thoughts of them,
forsook its fine form of
the spirit for its gross body of the
quintuple elements (called the
quintessence of material bodies (panchabhautika)).
23. It saw this body shining as a spark of
fire in the sky, which joined
with its egoism and understanding, formed its
personality.
24. This is called the spiritual body
(lingasarīra),—the embodying
octuple, which is situated as the bee in the
pericarp of the lotus-like
heart, and which gives growth to the outer
body by its inner working (as
the inner seed grows the outer tree).
25. It is thickened by the action of the
heart of its internal process
of calefaction, like the bel fruit or
woodapple. And the outer body
receives the qualities of the inner mind, as
the jewel shines with the
lustre of the little particle of gold, which
is infused in the melted
state of the metal in the crucible.
26. The quality of the inner soul or mind,
manifests itself in the outer
body, as the quality of the seed appears in
the form and taste of its
fruit. The mind then dwells upon the thoughts
of its actions, which have
their display in the several organs, and
members of the bodily actions,
which are produced by the motions of the
inner thoughts and acts, as the
leaves and branches of trees are projected by
the inner process and
operations of the seed.
27. Its thoughts of upside and below, lifts
and lowers its head and feet
upward and downward; and its thought of both
sides, extends its two arms
to the right and left.
28. Its thoughts of the backward and forward,
places its back behind,
and its breast and belly before it; and the
hairs on the head and
fingers of the hands, are as the filaments
and twigs of trees.
29. In this manner did Brahmā, who is called
a muni or mental being,
from his having sprung from the mind of
Brahma, produced the several
parts of his body, according to his thoughts
of their usefulness to it.
30. He brought the body and its limbs to
compactness, as the seasons
bring their fruits and grains to perfection.
Thus is every thing
perfected in time, and all beings have their
beautiful bodies and
figures.
31. He, the lord Brahmā was the progenitor of
all beings, and fraught
with the qualities of strength and
understanding, activity, dignity and
knowledge. (The Smriti attributes the Siddhi chatushtaya or quadruple
perfections to him).
32. Being begotten by the vacuous Brahma, he
resides in the lap of
vacuity; and is of the form of melted gold,
like every other luminous
body in the heavens.
33. Though situated in the Supreme, yet the
mind of Brahmā is liable to
the mistakes of its own making; and at times
it quite forgets its having
no beginning, middle nor end, like its
source.
34. Sometimes the lord thinks himself, as
identic with the waters which
existed before creation in his mind; and at
another as the mundane egg,
which was as bright as the fire of universal
destruction (see Manu I).
35. Sometimes the lord thought himself as the
dark wood, which covered
the earth before creation of living animals,
and them as the lotus bed
(wherein he was born). Afterwards he became
of many forms at each phase
and epoch of creation. (These epochs are
called kalpas or periods, in
which the divine mind manifested itself
according to its wish within the
different stages of creation).
36. Thus Brahmā became the preserver of many
kinds of beings, which he
created of his own will from his mind at each
stage or kalpa-period;
of which he was the first that issued from
Brahma himself. (He was the
first begotten, and nothing was created but
by him).
37. When Brahmā was first begotten, he
remained in his happy state of
insensibility and forgetfulness (of his
former existence); but being
delivered from his torpor in the womb, he
came to see the light. (I.e.
he saw the light of heaven, after his
delivery from the darkness of the
womb).
38-39. He took a corporeal body, with its
breathings and respirations
(prānāpāna); it was covered with pores of
hair, and furnished with gums
of two and thirty teeth. It had the three
pots of the thighs, backbone,
and bones, standing on the feet below; with
the five air, five
partitions, nine cavities, and a smooth skin
covering all the limbs.
(The five airs are prānāpāna &c. The five
partitions are, the head, the
legs, the breast, belly and the hands).
40. It is accompanied by twice ten fingers
and their nails on them; and
with a couple of arms and palms and two or
more hands and eyes (in the
cases of gods and giants).
41. The body is the nest of the bird of the
mind, and it is hole of the
snake of lust; it is the cave of the goblin
of greediness, and the den
of the lion of life.
42. It is a chain at the feet of the elephant
of pride, and a lake of
the lotuses of our desire; The lord Brahmā
looked upon his handsome
body, and saw it was good.
43. Then the lord thought in himself, from
his view of the three times
of the past, present and future, and from his
sight of the vault of
heaven, with a dark mist as a group of flying
locusts.
44. "What is this boundless space, and
what had it been before. How came
I to being?" Thus pondering in himself,
he was enlightened in his soul.
(Thus did Adam inquire about his birth, and
the production of the world
in Milton's Paradise Lost).
45. He saw in his mind the different past
creations, and recollected the
various religions and their various sects,
which had grown upon earth
one after the other.
46. He produced the holy Vedas as the spring
does its flowers; and
formed with ease all varieties of creatures from
their archetypes in his
mind.
47. He set them in their various laws and
customs, as he saw them in the
city of his mind, for the purpose of their
temporal and spiritual
welfare.
48. He thought upon the innumerable varieties
of sāstras which had
existed before, and all of which came to
exist on earth in their visible
forms, from their prototypes in his eternal
mind; like the flowers
springing from the womb of the vernal season.
49. Thus O Rāma! did Brahmā take upon him the
form of the lotus-born,
and create by his activity, all the different
creatures upon their
models existent in his mind, which took their
various forms in the
visible world at his will. (So the Sufi and
Platonic doctrine of the
phenomenal, as a copy of the noumena, or the suari zahiri as but a
shadow of the suvari manavi or catini. See Allami).
CHAPTER XLV.—Dependance of all on God.
Argument. The mind being a finite production,
its product of the
world, is as unreal as the thoughts of the
mind.
Vasishtha continued:—The world appearing as
substantial, has nothing
substantive in it; it is all a vacuity and
mere representation of the
imageries and vagaries of the mind.
2. Neither is time nor space filled by any
world at all, but by the
great spirit, who has no form except that of
vacuum. (The spirit of God
fills the infinite vacuity from all
eternity).
3. This is all imaginary, and as visionary as
a city seen in a dream;
whatever is seen any where is fallacy, and
existing in the infinite
vacuity. (All is void amidst the great void
of Brahma's Mind).
4. It is a painting without its base, and a
vision of unrealities; it is
an uncreated creation, and a variegated
picture in empty air (without
its canvas).
5. It is the imagination of the mind, that
has stretched the three
worlds, and made the many bodies contained in
them. Reminiscence is the
cause of these creations, as the eyesight is
the cause of vision.
6. The pageantry of the world is an erroneous
representation, like the
elevations and depressions in a painting;
they are not distinct from the
supreme spirit, in which they are situated as
buildings stand on their
foundation. (Or as statues in bas-relief).
7. The mind has made the body for its own
abode, as some worms make
their cortices or coatings, and the soul also
has its sheaths or koshas
(namely the annamaya kosha &c.).
8. There is nothing which the mind can not
get or build in its empty
imagination, however difficult or
unattainable it may appear to be.
9. What impossibility is there of the same
powers residing in
Omnipotence, which are possessed by the mind
in its secluded cell? (The
spiritual powers must be greater than the
mental).
10. It is not impossible, O Rāma! for any
thing to be or not to be at
any time or always, when there is the
omnipotent Lord, who can create or
annihilate all things at his will. (The
positive and the negative are
co-eternal with the eternal Mind, though it
is an impossibility in the
order of nature, as; "It is impossible
for the same thing to be, and not
to be at the same time." Locke).
11. Mind that, when the mind is empowered to
make its own body, and to
form others in its imagination, how much more
is the power of the
almighty to make and unmake all things at his
will.
12. It is divine will that has brought the
gods, the demigods and all
mankind into existence; and it is by the
cessation of the (creative)
will, that they cease to exist as the lamp is
extinguished for want of
its oil.
13. Behold the sky and all things under it to
be displayed by the divine
will, and understand the universe as the
visionary scene of thy dream
laid open to thy sight.
14. There is nothing that is born or dies
here at any time, because
every thing is a nullity in its true sense.
15. There is also nothing, that becomes more
or less in any wise when
there is nothing in existence; for how can
that (soul) have a body when
it is bodiless below, and can it be parted,
when it is an undivided
whole?
16. Rāma! seeing by thy keen sightedness,
that all these bodies are
bodiless (I.e. only imaginary beings), why shouldst thou fall into the
error (of taking them for realities?).
17. As the mirage is made to appear by the
heat of the sun, so do these
false appearances seem as true to thee from
the certainty of thy mind.
So also are Brahmā and others but creatures
of thy fancy.
18. They are as false as the sight of two
moons in the sky by thy false
imagination, it is the great fallacy of thy
mind, that represents these
false forms of the world before thee.
19. As the passenger in a boat sees the fixed
objects on earth to be
moving about him, so these varieties of
visible objects offer themselves
to thy view.
20. Know the world as an enchanted scene,
presented by the magic of thy
error (māyā); it is a fabrication of the working of thy mind, and is a
nullity though appearing as a reality.
21. All this world is Brahma, what else is
there beside him? What other
adjunct can he have, what is that? Whence did
it come, and where is it
situated?
22. That this is a mountain and that is a
tree, are appendages affixed
by our error and mistake, it is the
prejudgment of the mind, that makes
the unreality appear as a reality.
23. The world is the creation of error and
idol of fools; shun your fond
desire and thoughts of it, Rāma, and think of
thy unworldly soul.
24. It is as false as the visionary scene of
a prolonged dream, and an
aerial building of the fancies of the mind.
25. Shun this grand display of the world,
which is so substantial to
sight, and so inane when felt; It is the den
of the dragons of desire,
foaming with the poison of their passions.
26. Knowing the world as unreal, try to
regard it as nothing; because
the wise will never go after a mirage knowing
it such.
27. The foolish man that runs after some
imaginary object of his heart's
desire, is surely exposed to trouble and
disappointment for his folly.
28. Whoever desires to have any thing in this
world, after knowing it as
an unreality, surely perishes with his soul
for his forsaking the
reality.
29. It is only that error of the mind, which
makes it mistake a rope for
a snake; and it is the variety of the
thoughts and pursuits of men, that
makes them roll about in the world.
30. When some vain thought labors in the
mind, like the moon appearing
to move under the water; it beguiles little
children only, and not the
wise as yourself.
31. He who pursues the virtues for his future
happiness, surely kindles
the fire of his intelligence to destroy the
frost of his ignorance.
32. All the gross bodies that are seen here in
this world, are all the
creatures of the working of the mind, as the
building of aerial castles
in our thought.
33. It is the heart's desire that produces
these things, as it is want
of desire that destroys them all. The
unrealities appear as true as the
fairylands appearing to view. (Fairy cities
are like the sight of
castles in the icebergs).
34. Know Rāma, that nothing that is existent
is lost on the dissolution
of the world, nor what is inexistent of its
nature, can ever come into
existence.
35. Say Rāma, what things you call as entire
or broken, or to be growing
or decaying, when these ideas are but the
formations of your sound or
unsound mind or the working of your fancy.
36. As children make and break their
toy-dolls of clay at will, so the
mind raises and erases its thoughts of all
things in the world (by its
repeated recollections and oblivions of them).
37. As nothing is lost or drowned in the
talismanic tank of a conjuror,
so nothing is dead or dissolved in the
magical sea of this world
(samsāra sāgara).
38. The unrealities being all untrue, it is
true that nothing is lost by
their loss. Hence there is no cause for our
joy or sorrow in this unreal
world. (Why sorrow, when a fragile is broken,
or a mortal is no more).
39. If the world is altogether an unreality,
I know not what may be lost
in it; and if nothing whatever is really lost
in it, what reason can
there be for the wise to sorrow for it?
40. If the Deity is the only absolute
existence, what else is there for
us to lose in it? The whole universe being
full with Brahma, there can
be no cause of our joy or sorrow for any
thing whatever.
41. If the unreality can never come to
existence, it cannot have its
growth also. What cause is there of our
sorrow for their want of growth
or existence?
42. Thus every thing is but unreal and mere
cause of our delusion, what
is there that may be reckoned as the best
boon for us, that the wise man
can have to desire. (No real bliss is to be
found on earth).
43. But all this when taken in the sense of
their being full with the
Divine Spirit, what thing is there so very
trifling for the wise man to
dispose or refuse to take?
44. But he who considers the world as an
unreality, is never subject to
joy or sorrow at his gain or loss of any
thing. It is only the ignorant
that is elated or depressed at the one or the
other.
45. That which was not before nor will remain
afterwards, is likewise
the same nihility at present; therefore whoso
desires the nullity, is
said in the Sruti to be null himself. (The
Sruti says: Nothing there
was, nothing there is, and nothing will last
in the end except the being
of God).
46. What was before and what will be in the
end, the same is in being
(in esse) even at present; therefore, what is always in esse, it is
that entity alone that is seen everywhere and
at all times.
47. There are the unreal sky and moon and
stars, seen underneath the
water; it is only the deluded boys that like
to look at them, but never
the wise (who look at the reality and not at
its shadow).
48. Children take a liking for light, empty
and gaudy baubles; which are
of no good or use to them nor any body at
all, and are rather led to
sorrow at their loss, than derive any good
from their gain whatever.
49. Therefore act not as a child, O
lotus-eyed Rāma! but conduct
yourself as the wise, and by looking at these
fleeting baubles as ever
evanescent, rely in the Everlasting alone.
50. Rāma! be not sad or sorry to learn, that
all these with thyself and
myself are nothing in reality; nor be glad or
joyous to know, that all
these and ourselves are real entities. But
reckon alike whether these be
or not be; because it is the One Being, that
becomes and unbecomes
anything, it is the only Being, and all
things that becomes.
51. Vālmīki said:—As the sage was saying in
this manner, the day glided
away to its dusk; the sun departed to his
eventide and evening service,
and with him the assembly parted to their
evening ablutions and rest,
after which they assembled again to the court
with the rising sun.
CHAPTER XLVI.—Description of Living-Liberation.
Argument. The emancipation of Living souls
from the thraldom of
the World.
Vasishtha said:—No man knows sorrow as long
as he is in possession of
his pleasant home, family and wealth; but why
should he be sorrowful
upon their disappearance, knowing them as a
short-lived enchantment and
accompaniment.
2. What pleasure or pain can one derive,
either from the grandeur or
destruction of his aerial castle, and what
cause of joy can he have in
his ignorant children, or of sorrow upon
their death? (An ignorant son
is sorrow to his father. Solomon).
3. What joy is there in the increase of our
wealth or family, seeing
them as the increasing mirage of water which
can never satisfy the
thirsty. (The thirst for riches is never
satisfied. Lat. Auri sacra
fames. Verg.).
4. There is increase of care with the
increase of wealth and family; and
there is no happiness in the increase of
worldly possessions and
affections. (Care follows increasing wealth.
Little wealth little care).
5. The abundance of carnal enjoyments, which
are delightsome to the
ignorant voluptuary, is quite distasteful and
disgusting to the
abstemious, wise and learned. (Carnal
pleasures are brutish, but mental
delights are relished by the wise).
6. What joy is there in the possession of
temporary wealth and family to
the wise, that seek their lasting welfare,
and are quite indifferent
about these?
7. Therefore, O Rāma! be truly wise in thy
conduct in this world; shun
the transient as they are transitory, and lay
hold on whatever offers of
itself unto thee. (Be content with what thou
gettest).
8. Inappetency of what is ungotten, and
enjoyment of what is in present
possession; are the true characteristic of
the wise and learned.
(Contentment is abundance; and a contented
mind is a continued feast).
9. Take care of this bewildering world, where
thy enemies are lurking in
many a deceitful shape; and conduct thyself
as the wise man, evading the
dangers that wait upon the unwise. (The
enemies are of seven shapes,
viz.: a swordsman, a poisoner, an incendiary,
a curser, an exorcist, a
backbiter and an adulterer).
10. They are great fools who do not look
deeply into the things, and
think the world to be without any fraud or
guile. (The credulous are
most imposed upon).
11. Fools are led by the deceitful speech of
cheats, to fall into the
temptations of the world; but men of right
understanding place no
reliance in them, nor plunge themselves into
the pit of errors. (It is
cunningness to keep from the cunning).
12. He who knowing the unrealities, place no
reliance in anything; is
said to have mastered all knowledge, and is
never liable to error.
(Discrimination of truth and untruth, and of
right and wrong, constitute
the highest wisdom of man).
13. Whoso knowing himself as frail as any thing
in this frail world, has
his faith in neither, is never liable to fall
into the error of taking
either of them for real.
14. Placed between the unreality and reality
of this and next life, you
must have the good sense of sticking to the
Truth, and neither wholly
reject or stick to this or the next. (The
text says, stick not to the
outward or inward alone: i.e. neither to the outer world nor the inner
spirit entirely, but attend to your interests
in both of them).
15. Though engaged in business, yet you must
remain, O Rāma! quite
indifferent to all things; because the
apathetic and inappetent are
truly happy in this world.
16. He who has nothing to desire or leave,
but lives as he is obliged to
live, has his intellect as unsullied as the
lotus-leaf, to which the
laving waters never stick.
17. Let thy accessory organs manage thy
outward affairs or not; but keep
thy apathetic soul quite unconcerned with
all. (I.e. the body and mind
may attend to business; but the soul must
remain aloof from all).
18. Let not thy mind be plunged in and deeply
engaged with the objects
of sense, by thinking them in vain to be thy
properties and possessions;
but manage them or not with utter
indifference of thy mind. (I.e.
observe a stoical indifference in all thy
worldly concerns).
19. When thou comest to feel, Rāma! that the
sensible objects have
ceased to give any relish to thy soul, then
thou shalt know thyself to
have reached the acme of thy spiritual
edification, and got over the
boisterous sea of the world.
20. The embodied or disembodied soul whether
living or dead, that has
ceased to have any taste for sensuous
enjoyments, has attained its
liberation without its wishing for it.
21. Try Rāma! by your superior intelligence,
to separate your mind from
its desires, as they extract the perfume from
flowers.
22. They that have not been swept away by the
waves of their desires, to
the midst of the ocean of this world, are
said to have got over it; but
the others are no doubt drowned and lost in
it. (This is the first time
that I found the word budita to occur in Sanskrit in the sense of
drowned. See the vernacular Bengali dubita also).
23. Sharpen your understanding to the edge of
a razor, erase the weeds
of doubt therewith, and after scanning the
nature of the soul, enter
into thy spiritual state of blessedness.
24. Move about as those who have attained to
true knowledge, and
elevated their minds with true wisdom; and do
not act as the ignorant
worldling: who is mindful of the present
state, and unmindful of the
future.
25. In conducting yourself in this world, you
should imitate them that
are liberated in their life time, who are
great in their souls and
understandings, and who are ever satisfied
with themselves, and not
follow the examples of the greedy and wicked.
26. Those having the knowledge of both
worlds, neither slight nor adhere
to the customs of their country, but follow
them like other people
during their life time. (I.e. act in harmony and conformity with
approved custom and usage).
27. Great men knowing the truth, are never
proud of their power or good
qualities, nor of their honour or prosperity
like the vulgar people.
28. Great men are not depressed by adversity,
nor elated by prosperity;
but remain fixed like the sun in the sky
without anything to support it.
29. Great minds like warriors ride in the
chariots of their bodies, clad
in the armour of their knowledge; they have
no desire of their own, but
conduct themselves according to the course of
the time.
30. You too Rāma! have gained your extensive
learning in philosophy, and
it is by virtue of your prudence, that you
can manage yourself with
ease.
31. Suppress the sight of the visibles, and
avoid your pride and enmity;
then roam wherever you will, and you will
meet with success.
32. Be sedate in all circumstances,
unattached to the present, and
wishing to know all other things in future;
have the calm composure of
your mind, and go where you will.
33. Vālmīki said:—Rāma, being advised in this
manner by the pure
doctrines of the sage, brightened in his
countenance; and being full
within himself with the ambrosia of his
knowledge; shone forth like the
ambrosial moon with her cooling beams.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to Brahmasri Sreemaan Vihari Lala Mitra ji for the
collection)
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