The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki
The only complete English translation is
by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891).
CHAPTER LXVII.—Abandonment of Intrinsic Relations.
Argument. Refutation of the Intimate Relation of the Body
and
Soul. This relation is the Bondage and its abandonment
the
Release of the soul.
Vasishtha continued:—Having thus accosted and welcomed
each other, the
two brothers applied themselves to the acquisition of
divine knowledge;
and gained thereby their liberation in the living state
(of Jīvan
mukta).
2. I will now tell, O strong armed Rāma! that there is no
salvation for
the enslaved mind, without true knowledge of Divinity.
3. Know, O Rāma of polished understanding! that this
world of endless
woes, is as easily traversed by the intelligent, as the
wide ocean is
crossed over by the bird of Jove, though it is impossible
for any other
bird to do so.
4. The great soul is without and lies beyond the body: it
is situated in
its own intellect, and looks on the body from a distance,
as a beholder
beholds a concourse of people (without him).
5. The body being pulled down by decay and disease, does
not affect us
any more, than the coach being broken, there is no injury
done to the
rider.
6. The mind also when it is depressed and dejected, does
not affect the
understanding, as the moving waves which ruffle the
surface of the sea,
do not perturb the waters of the deep.
7. What relation do the swans bear to the waters of the
lake, and what
relativity is there between the pebbles and stones of the
sea and its
waters; so the blocks of wood borne by the current are no
way related to
the waters of the stream; and in the like manner no
object of sense has
any relation with the supreme soul.
8. Tell me, O fortunate Rāma! what correlation is there
between a rock
and the sea? The rock verily puts no obstruction to the
internal current
of the sea; so none of these worlds can stop the course
of the Divine
Mind (as there is nothing which can bind the subtle and
immeasurable
sky).
9. What relation do the lotuses bear upon the waters of a
stream, than
that of their being contained in the bosom of their
containing waters:
so are all solid bodies related as contents with the all
containing
Divine soul.
10. As the concussion of a log with a body of waters, is
attended with
the effusion of watery particles around; so the contact
of the body and
soul, is productive of the various affections of the
mind.
11. As the contiguity of a bordering tree, produces its
shadow in the
waters below; so the proximity of all objects to the
soul, reflects
their images in the mind.
12. As the reflexions of things in a mirror or watery
glass, and in the
swelling waves of the sea, are neither real nor unreal;
so the
reflexions in the soul, are neither substantial nor
unsubstantial, (but
adscititious and extrinsic only).
13. As the breaking of a tree or rock by the howling
winds, does not
affect the wind at all; so the union or separation of the
elemental
substance, and component parts of a body, makes no
alteration in the
soul.
14. As the falling of a tree in the water, produces a
vibratory sound in
it; so the contact of the body and soul, produces a
vibration in the
intellectual organs (the recipients of all impressions).
15. But these impressions have no relation either with
the pure and
simple soul, nor with the gross body (neither of which is
concerned with
them). All these are but the delusions of our erroneous
knowledge, at
the absence of which we have the transparent intellect
only.
16. As one has no notion of the manner of connection,
between the wood
and the water (which nourishes it); so no body has any
knowledge, how
the body is united with the soul.
17. As the world appears a reality to the
non-intelligent, so it appears
a substantial entity, to those who are ignorant of truth.
18. They that are devoid of their internal percipience of
moisture in
wood and stone, resemble the worldly minded materialist,
having the
knowledge of external objects only.
19. As those devoid of their intuitive knowledge, find no
difference in
the wood and water; so they believe the body and the soul
to be the same
thing, and do not know their irrelation and unconnection
with one
another.
20. As the relation of wood and water, is imperceptible
to them that
have no intellection; so are they unacquainted with the
irrelation
between the soul and body, owing to their want of
intuition.
21. The soul is purely conscious of itself in all places,
and without
any objective knowledge of anything at all; nor is it
liable to the
erroneous knowledge of a duality also.
22. The bliss of the soul is converted to misery, by its
false
apprehension of unrealities; as when one comes in sight
of an
apparition, by his false imagination of a ghost.
23. Things quite irrelevant become relevant, by our
internal conviction
of their relevancy; as our sight and apprehension of
thieves in our
dreams, and the appearance of a demoniac spectre in a
block of wood.
24. As the relation between the wood and water is
altogether unreal; so
the correlation between the soul and body, is wholly
false and
unsubstantial.
25. As the water is not troubled, without the falling of
the tree into
it; so the soul is not disturbed, without its thoughts of
the body: and
the soul freed from its connection with the body, is free
from all the
maladies and miseries, which the flesh is heir to.
26. The misconception of the body as the soul, makes the
soul subject to
all the imperfections and infirmities of the body; as the
limpid water
of the lake is soiled, by the leaves and twigs, that are
seen to float
upon it.
27. Absence of the intrinsic relation of external things
with the
internal soul, liberates it from all the casualties in
the course of
things; but the presence of extraneous associations,
makes the internal
soul as turbid water, by reason of the mess of the leaves
and foul
things and fruit and flowers, continually falling upon
it.
28. The soul freed from its innate knowledge of the
objective, is wholly
absolved from misery; while the knowledge of its
connection with the
body, senses and the mind, is the mainspring of all it
woes.
29. The internal connection of the externals, is the seed
of all the
evils of men in this world, and brings forth all the pain
and sorrow and
errors of mankind.
30. The man that is internally connected with the
externals, sinks deep
under the load of his connexions in the depth of this
earth, but he who
is aloof from his internal relations, floats above the
surface of this
sea, and rises aloft in air as an aerial being.
31. The mind with its internal bearings, is as an arbor
with the hundred
ramifications; but the mind with its wants of internal
relations, is
said to have faded and grown extinct.
32. The mind unattached to the world is as a pure
crystal, without any
shade of colour in it; but the mind that is attached to
the world, is as
a prismatic glass with all the colours of the rainbow.
33. The unattached and untinged mind is said to be set at
liberty,
though it is set at work in the world; but the mind which
though it is
attached to the world, is said to be unattached, if it is
thoughtless of
it, though it is practiced to austerities.
34. The mind attached to the world, is said to be bound
to it; but that
which is detached from it, is said to be set free from
it. It is the
internal attachment and detachment of the mind, that are
the causes of
its bondage and liberation.
35. The unworldly minded persons, are not tied down to
the earth by
their worldly actions; it remains aloof from all its
actions, as a
floating vessel remains aloft of the sweet and salt
waters of the lake
beneath it. (The spiritual man is above his bodily
actions).
36. It is the tendency of the mind, that makes a man
master of an
action, which he has not actually done; as the delusion
of the mind in
dreaming, makes one feel the pleasure and pain of his
pleasing and
unpleasing dreams. (It is the mind and mental action,
that differentiate
the rational man from the body and bodily actions of an
irrational
beast, brute or bird).
37. The activity of the mind gives activity to the body
also, as the
action of the mind in dreaming, gives motion to the inert
body of the
sleeping man (as in somnambulism and somniloquism).
38. Inactivity of the mind, causes the inaction of the
body; and though
it should act by its physical force, yet the insane mind
is not sensible
of the action (nor is an idiot or madman responsible for
his deeds).
39. Man gets the retribution of his actions done with his
mind; and not
of those that pass beyond his knowledge. The inert body
is never the
cause of an action, nor the mind is ever joined with the
living body, as
an automaton or self moving machine, or like a clock or
watch, the
spring of whose action lies in itself. But the body
requires the action
of the mind, to put that animal force into motion).
40. The mind unattending to an action of the body, is
never considered
as its agent (as it is never said to be the agent of
breathing, which is
a spontaneous action of the living body). No reward of
any action ever
accrues to one, that is not engaged in the doing of that
action.
41. The man not intentionally employed in the sacrifice
of a horse or
slaughter of a Brahman, neither reaps the good of the
one, nor incurs
the guilt of the other; and so the minds of distracted
lovers are never
aware of the results of their own deeds. (The killing of
a Brahman with
the idea of his being an aggressor, does not amount to
Brahmicide; and
so the acts of the lovelorn Indrāhalyā and Vikramorvasi,
are taken into
no account).
42. One free from his intrinsic relation (or interest)
with anything, is
most agreeable to all by his elevated demeanour; and
whether he acts and
neglects his part, he remains indifferent and neutral to both.
(It is
the deliberate choice, and not the unheeded action that
constitutes the
deed).
43. No agency is attached to the man whose action is
involuntary, and
whose mind is released from its internal attachment to
anything.
It is the unconcerned indifference of the mind, that is
attended with
its composure; while its careful concern for anything
whatsoever, is
fraught with its vexation only.
44. Therefore, avoid your internal concern for anything,
that thou
knowest to be but externally related to thee; and release
thyself from
the mortification of the loss to all external relations.
45. The mind being cleared of the foulness of its
internal relation with
the externals, acquires the pellucidness of the cloudless
firmament; and
after clearance of all dirt and dross from within, the
mind becomes one
with the soul; like a bright gem shining with double
effulgence with the
lustre of a luminary, or like a blue streamlet, receiving
the cerulean
hue of the azure sky.
CHAPTER LXVIII.—Inquiry into the Nature of Internal and External
Relations.
Argument. The Relativity of the body or mind, either
externally
or internally with any object, is the cause of its woe
and
misery.
Rāma said:—Tell me, sir, what are those connexions which
become the
bondages of men, and how are they to be avoided; as also
what is that
congeniality that leads to their emancipation here.
2. Vasishtha answered:—The division of Unity into the
duality of the
body and soul (whose body nature is, and God the Soul);
and the
rejection of the latter part—the soul (under the idea of
its being
assimilated to body); produce the misbelief in the body
only, and is
called the association of bondage (i.e., binding the soul to the body,
and subjecting it thereby to repeated transmigrations in
various
embodied forms, from which it can never fly away to its
etherial
element).
3. Again the consideration of the infinite soul as a
finite being, and
confined in the limited confines of the body (under the
impression of
its being seated in the heart, and becoming extinct with
it) leads to
the bondage of the soul (to sensual gratifications).
4. But the conviction "that this whole-cosmos is the
selfsame soul, and
therefore we have nothing to choose or reject in it
beside the very
soul", is termed the unrelated condition of the
mind, which is settled
in the supreme-self only, and this state is known under
the title of
living liberation jīvanmukti (which has its connexion with naught, but
with one's self only, which is the universal soul of
all).
5. The unattached and self-liberated man thus speaks in
himself
that:—"Neither do I exist nor are these others in
existence: let aught
of good or evil, pleasure or pain befall unto me, but I
am not to be
changed in any condition of life."
6. He is said to be the unattracted or undistracted and
self-devoted
(stoic); who neither fosters his desires, nor hankers
after things, nor
continues in his actions at all times of his life.
7. The self-devoted man, whose mind is not subject to the
feelings of
joy and sorrow, and is indifferent to worldly matters
(whether good or
bad), is verily said to be liberated in his lifetime.
8. He whose mind is not solicitous about the results of
his actions, but
takes them lightly as they come to pass upon him; such a
man is said to
be listless and lukewarm in his mind (that sets no worth
on any worldly
thing).
9. All our efforts impelled by various motives, are
avoided by our
indifference to those pursuits; and this unconcernedness
about worldly
matters, is productive of our greatest good (in this
world and in the
next).
10. It is by reason of our concern with many things, that
we load
innumerable distresses upon ourselves; and all worldly
cares serve only
to multiply the growing ills of life, like the branching
thorny bushes
in the caves.
11. It is the effect of worldly attachment, which drives
silly men to
labour under their heavy burdens; as the dastardly
donkeys are dragged
by their nose-strings, to trudge and drudge under their
loads, in their
long and lonesome journeys. (It is on the part of the
earthly minded, to
toil and moil in the earth, from whence they rose, and
whither they must
return).
12. It is one's attachment to his home and country, that
makes him stand
like an immovable tree on the spot; and endure all the
rigours of heat
and cold, of winds and rains without shrinking (or
thinking to change
his place for a happier region).
13. See the reptiles confined in the caves of earth, with
their weak
bodies and tortuous movements; to be the instances of
earthly
attachment, and passing their time in pain and agony, and
in a state of
continual helplessness.
14. See the poor birds resting on the tops of trees, and
whining their
while with cries of their empty stomachs, and constant
fear (of
hunters), as instances of worldly attachment (which
prevents them from
flying away).
15. Observe the timorous fawn of the lawn, crazing on the
tender blades
of grass, and dreading the darts of the huntsman, to
serve as another
instance of earthly leaning.
16. The transformation of men to worms and insects in
their repeated
transmigrations; and the congregation of all these
animals of all kinds
in all places, are but instances of their earthly
fondness (ever to
abide in it, and bide all its miseries).
17. The multitudes of animal beings, that you see to rise
and fall like
the waves of the sea, are all the effects of their
worldly attachment.
18. The selfmoving man becomes immovable, and turns to
the state of
fixed trees and plants; and thus grows and dies by turns,
in consequence
of his worldly propensities.
19. The grass, the shrubs and the creepers, which grow on
earth from the
moisture of the earth; are all products of the cause of
their
addictedness to the world.
20. These endless trains of beings, that are borne away
in this running
stream of the world, and are buffeting in their
ever-increasing
difficulties, are all the sports of their earthly
inclinations.
21. Worldly affections are of two kinds—the praiseworthy
and the
fruitless ones; those of the wise and learned men, belong
to the former
kind; but the tendencies of the ignorant, are of the
latter or
unfruitful kind.
22. Any tendency to this world, which springs from the
base bodily and
mental affections, and does not proceed from or bears its
relation with
spiritual motives and purposes, are said to be quite
fruitless (of any
good result).
23. But that tendency, which has its origin in spiritual
knowledge, and
in true and right discrimination, and b
ears no relation to anything that
is of this world, but leads to one's future and spiritual
welfare, is
the truely laudable one (because the desire to rise
higher tends to make
one a higher being).
24. The god holding the emblems of the conch-shell, his
discus and the
club, had various inclinations of this better kind,
whereby he became
the support of the three worlds (the god Vishnu).
25. It is by means of this good tendency, that the
glorious sun makes
his daily course, in the unsupported path of heaven for
ever more.
26. The god Brahmā, that now shines in his fiery form,
had for a whole
kalpa age, to foster his project of creation; and it was owing
to this
laudable purpose of his, that be became the creator of
the world. (The
world was not made in a day, but took many ages for its
formation).
27. It was because of this kind of praiseworthy purpose,
that the god
Siva acquired his bipartite body of the androgyne, graced
by the female
form of Umā, linked with his as its other half. (In
Siva-Isha; we have
the androgynous form of Adam-Ish or man, and in Umā that
of Eve or
woman, linked together before their separation. God made woman
out of
man and from a rib of his on the left side).
28. The Siddhas and other heavenly and aerial beings, and
the regents of
the skies, that move in their spiritual spheres of
intelligence, have
all attained their high positions by means of their
laudable tendencies.
29. They bear their bodies of heavenly growth (i.e. of a celestial
nature); and have set themselves beyond the reach of
disease, decay and
death, by means of their praiseworthy inclinations.
30. The fruitless desire, expects to derive pleasure from
unworthy
objects, and causes the mind to pounce like a vulture on
a bit of flesh
(that will not fill its gizzard).
31. It is the force of habit, that makes the winds to
blow in their
wonted course, and causes the five elements to continue
in their usual
states, in support of the order of nature.
32. This Sansakti constitutes the constitution of the
system of nature;
which is composed of the heavens, earth and infernal
regions; peopled by
gods, men, demons &c., who are like gnats fluttering
about the fruit of
the mundane fig tree.
33. Here are seen numberless orders of beings; to be born
and rise and
fall and die away; like the ceaseless waves of the sea;
rising for
falling.
34. The results of worldly leanings rise and fall by
turns, until they
disappear all at once. They are as bitter as the drops of
waterfalls are
to taste.
35. It is mere worldliness, which makes these crowds of
men devour one
another like sharks and fishes; and they are so
infatuated by their
ignorance, that they have been flying about like stray
leaves of trees
in the air.
36. It is this which makes men rove about, like revolving
stars in their
courses in the sky; and flutter about as flights of gnats
upon fig
trees; or to lie low like the whirling waters of eddies
underneath the
ground.
37. Men are tossed as the play balls of boys, by the
hands of fate and
death; and are worn out like these toys, by their
incessant rise and
fall and rolling upon the ground; yet these worrying
wanderings, do not
abate the force of their habitual motion, as the repeated
waste and wane
of the ever changing moon, makes no change in the
blackish spot marked
upon her disk.
38. The mind is hardened by seeing the miseries of the
repeated
revolutions of ages, resembling the rotations of
fragments of wood in
whirlpools; and yet the gods will not deign to heal the
stiff boil of
the mind, by any operation in their power.
39. Behold, O Rāma! this wonderful frame of the universe,
to be the
production of the desire of the divine Mind only (i.e. the divine will
of creation, is the cause of this world, as the human
wish of seeing it,
presents its view to his sight).
40. It is the pleasure of association, that presents this
view of the
triple world, in the empty sphere of the mind; for know
the wondrous
world to be a creation of the mind only, and nothing in
reality. (The
pleasure of association, means the pleasure of memory or
reminiscence).
41. The avarice of worldly men eats up their bodies, as
the flame of
fire feeds upon dry fuel (i.e. in order to feed the body, we become
the food of our toils).
42. Yet the bodies of worldly minded men, are as
countless as the sands
of the sea; and these again are as unnumbered as the
atoms of earth
which nobody can count.
43. It may be possible to count the hoary foams of Gangā,
and the pearly
froths of sea waves; it is likewise possible to measure
the height of
mount Meru, from its foot to the top and its peaks; but
not so to number
the desires in the minds of worldly minded men.
44. These rows of inner apartments, which are built for
the abode of the
worldly minded, are as the lines of Kāla Sutra and the
spires of
hell-fire.
45. Know these worldly men to be as dry fuel, heaped up
to light the
piles of hell-fire.
46. Know all things in this world, to be full of pain and
misery; and
are stored up not for enjoyment but torments of the
worldly minded.
47. The minds of all worldly men are the receptacles of
all woe and
misery; as the great sea is the recess of the outpourings
of all rivers.
48. The mind which is attached to the world, and the body
which is bent
down under its toilsome loads; are both of them the
fields for the
exercise of Ignorance, which elevates and depresses them
by turns.
49. Want of attachment to worldly enjoyments, is
productive of ease and
prosperity; and it expands the capacity of the mind, as
the rains
increase the extent of rivers.
50. Inward attachment of the mind to worldly objects, is
the burning
flame of the outer body; but want of this internal
attachment, is the
healing balm of the whole frame.
51. Inward attachment burns the outward body, as the
hidden poisonous
plant infects the creepers, which recline on it for their
support.
52. The mind which is unattached to everything in all
places, is like
the lofty sky aloof from all things; and by having no desire
in it, it
is always clear and bright, and enjoys its felicity for
ever.
53. As the light of knowledge rises before the sight of
the mind, the
darkness of ignorance which veiled all objects, wastes
away of itself
and is put to flight. The man who is devoid of all sorts
of worldly
attachments, and lives in communion with his own mind, is
truly
liberated in his life.
CHAPTER LXIX.—Freedom from Attachment—the Road to Tranquillity.
Argument. Abstraction of the mind from the external, and
its
Application to Intellectual objects.
Vasishtha continued:—Though remaining in all company, and
doing all the
duties of life; and although employed in all the acts;
yet the wise man
watches the movements of his mind.
2. It is not to be engaged in cares of this world, nor employed
in
thoughts or things relating to this life; It is not to be
fixed in the
sky above or the earth below; nor let to wander about
over the objects
on all sides.
3. It must not roam over the extensive field of outward
enjoyments, nor
dwell on the objects and actions of the senses. It must
not look
internally, nor be fixed to the breathing, the palate and
crown of the
head. (Which are certain modes of Yoga practice).
4. It must not be attached to the eye brows, the tip of
the nose, the
mouth or the pupil of the eye; nor should it look into
the light or
darkness, or into the cavity of the heart.
5. It must not think of its waking or dreaming states,
nor those of its
sound sleep or internal clearness of sight; nor should it
take any
colour as white, red, black or yellow for the object of
its thought or
sight.
6. It must not be fixed on any moving or unmoving
substance, nor set in
the beginning, middle or end of any object. It must not
take a distant
or adjacent object either before or inside itself.
7. It must not reflect on any tangible or audible object,
nor on the
states of felicity and insensibility. It must not think
of the fleetness
or fastness nor the measurement of time, by the measure
and number of
its thoughts.
8. Let it rest on the intellect only, with a slight
intelligence of
itself; and taste of no joy except that of its
self-delight.
9. Being in this state of mind, and devoid at all
attachment to any
thing, the living man becomes as a dead body; when he is
at liberty to
pursue his worldly callings or not.
10. The living being that is attached to the thought of
itself, is said
to be doing and acting though it refrains from doing
anything; and it is
then as free from the consequence of acts, as the sky is
free from the
shade of the clouds that hang below it.
11. Or it may forsake its intelligential part (i.e. forget its
intelligence), and become one with the mass of the
Intellect itself. The
living soul thus becomes calm and quiet in itself and
shines with as
serene a light, as a bright gem in the mine or quarry.
12. The soul being thus extinct in itself, is said to
rise in the sphere
of the Intellect; and the animal soul continuing in its
acts with an
unwilling mind, is not subjected to the results of the
actions in its
embodied state.
CHAPTER LXX.—Perfect Bliss of Living Liberation.
Argument. Living Liberation and its constituents or Jīvan
mukti.
Vasishtha continued:—Men whose souls are expanded and
contented with
the delight of their habitual unattachment to
worldliness; have set
themselves above the reach of internal sorrow and fear,
notwithstanding
their engagement in worldly affairs.
2. And though overtaken by inward sorrow (owing to some
temporal loss);
yet their countenances are unchanged owing to the
uninterrupted train of
their meditation; and the fulness of their hearts with
holy delight, is
manifest in the moonlike lustre of their faces.
3. He whose mind is freed from the feverishness of the
world, by his
reliance in the intellect, and remaining apart from the
objects of
intellection; throws a lustre over his associates, as the
clearing
kata fruit, purifies the water wherein it is put.
4. The wise man, though he may be moving about in busy
affairs, is yet
ever quiet in the abstraction of his soul from them. He
may be assailed
by outward sorrow, yet his inward soul shines as an image
of the sun.
5. Men of great souls, who are awakened and enlightened
by knowledge,
and raised high above the rest of mankind, are wavering
on their outside
as a peacock's feather (i.e., as a weather cock); but inwardly they
are as firm as mountainous rocks.
6. The mind being subjected to the soul, is no more
susceptible of the
feelings of pain and pleasure, than as a piece of painted
glass, to
receive the shadow of any other colour, (or an opaque
stone to reflect
any colour).
7. The man of elevated mind, who has known the nature of
superior and
inferior souls (i.e., the divine and human
spirits); is not affected
by the sight of the visibles, any more than the lotus
leaf, by the hue
of its encompassing waters.
8. It is impossible to evade the impressions of the outer
world, until
and unless the mind is strengthened in itself. It becomes
strong by its
knowledge of the Supreme Spirit, removing the foulness of
its fancied
objects, and by meditation and enjoyment of the light of
the soul, even
when the mind is not in its meditative mood.
9. It is by means of Spiritual communion and internal
rapture, that the
mind loses its attachments; and it is only by knowledge
of the soul and
in no other way, that our worldly associations wear out
of themselves.
10. The waking soul may deem itself to be in sound sleep,
by its
sleeping over (or insensibility of) the outer world; as
it may likewise
deem itself to be ever awake and never asleep, by its
sight of the
unfading light of the soul; and by preservation of its
equanimity and
equality in all circumstances, and its want of duality
and
differentiation of the objects of its love and hatred.
11. Being ripe in its practice of yoga meditation, It
sees in itself the
pure light of the sun; until at last it finds its own and
the supreme
soul, shining as the sun and moon in conjunction.
12. The mind losing its mental powers, and remaining
vacant as in the
case of distraction or dementedness; is said to be in its
waking
sleepiness, when its faculty in imagination is at an
utter stop.
13. The man having attained to this state susupta hypnotism, may live
to discharge the duties of his life; but he will not be
liable to be
dragged about by the rope of his weal or woe, to one side
or the other.
14. Whatever actions are done by the waking man, in his
hypnotic state
in this world, they do not recur to him with their good
or evil results,
anymore than a dancing puppet, to have the sense of any
pleasure or pain
in it. (The want of egoism in a man as in a doll, is the
cause of his
impassivity in either state) (of waking or sleep).
15. The mind possesses the pains-giving power, of giving
us the
perception of our pain and pleasure, and the sense of our
want and
bitter sorrow; but when the mind is assimilated with the
soul, how can
it have the power of annoying us anymore?
16. The man in the hypnotic state of his mind, does his
works as
insensibly as he did them in his sleep; and by reason of
no exertion on
his part, for his doing them from his former and habitual
practice. The
living soul that is insensible of its actions, is said to
rest in his
state of living liberation.
17. Do you rely in this state of hypnotism, and either
perform or
refrain from your actions as you may like: for our
actions are no more
than what arise of our nature, and pass for the results
of the deeds of
our past lives, and are enacted by ordinances of eternal
laws.
18. The wise man is neither pleased with the acts of
charity or penury;
he is delighted with his knowledge of the soul, and lives
content with
whatever may fall to his lot.
19. All that you do with your mind, by remaining as still
as in your
sleep, is reckoned as no doing of yours; and though doing
nothing with
your body, you are the doer thereof if you do it with
your mind. Do
therefore your acts with your body or mind as you may
like.
20. As the baby lying in the cradle, moves its limbs to
no other purpose
than its mere pleasure; so Rāma, do your duties for
pleasure's sake (as
a labour of love), and not for reward.
21. Whoever has his mind fixed in his intellect, and not
in any object
of intellection, and remains dormant in his waking state;
is said to be
master of his soul, and all he does is reckoned as no
deed of his doing.
22. The wise man (Gno or Gnostic), who obtains the state
of
hypnotism—Susupta, and has his mind free
from desires; gets a calm
coolness within himself, which is equal to the cooling
moisture of the
humid moon.
23. The man of great valour, remains coolly dormant in
himself, and is
as full as the orb of the moon in the fulness of her
digits; and has the
evenness of his mind, like the steadiness of a hill at
all times and
seasons.
24. The man of the sedate soul, is pliable in his outer
conduct, though
he is inflexible in his mind. He resembles a mountain,
which waves its
trees with the breeze, without shaking or being shook by
it.
25. The hypnotism of the mind purifies the body of all
its impurity; and
it is the same whether such a person perishes sooner or
later, or lasts
forever as a rock. (Because its purity is its strong
shield, against the
power and torments of life and death).
26. This state of hypnotism, being acquired by constant
practice of
Yoga, gets its maturity and perfections in process of
time; when it is
called the turīya or fourth stage of the adept,
by the learned in
divine knowledge.
27. He becomes the most exalted gnostic, whose mind is
cleared of all
its impurity; and whose inward soul is full of joy, with
its mental
powers all quiet and at rest.
28. In this state, the gnostic is in full rapture, and
quite giddy with
inward delight. He looks upon the whole creation as an
exhibition of
play and pageantry.
29. After the man who has attained his fourth stage, when
he is freed
from sorrow and fear, and has passed beyond the errors
and troubles of
this world; he has no fear of falling from this state.
30. The man of sedate understanding, who has attained
this holy state,
laughs to scorn and spurn at the whirling orb of the
earth; as one
sitting on a high hill, derides at the objects lying
below it.
31. After one has obtained his everlasting position, in
this firmly
fixed fourth state of blissfulness; he becomes joyless
for want of a
higher state of felicity to desire.
32. The yogi having past his fourth stage, reaches to a
state of
ineffable joy, which has no part nor degree in it, and is
absolute
liberation in itself.
33. The man of great soul, is released from the snare of
the
metempsychoses of his soul, and of his repeated birth and
death, and is
freed from the darkness of his pride and egoism; he is
transformed to an
essence of supreme ecstasy and pure flavour, and becomes
as a mass of
sea salt, amidst the waters of the deep.
CHAPTER LXXI.—A Discourse on the Body, Mind and Soul.
Argument. Consideration of the Soul in its Various
lights, and
its Irrelation with the body.
Vasishtha continued:—The consideration of the fourth
stage, is attended
with the knowledge of monoity or oneness of all; and this
is the
province of the living liberated man according to the
dicta of the veda.
(Consideration or paramarsha is defined as a logical antecedent or
knowledge of a general principle, combined with the
knowledge that the
case in question is one to which it is applicable; as the
smoke of the
hill is attended by fire, is a logical antecedent. In
plain words it
means, that the Turīya yoga, presupposes the
knowledge of unity or
onliness of the one self existent Kaivalya or monism).
2. Rising above this to the turyality or hyperquartan
state, in which
one sees nothing but an inane vacuity. This is the state
of disembodied
spirits, that are lost in infinity, and of whom the
sastras can say
nothing (i.e. the embodied or living soul
has knowledge of its
personality, up to the fourth stage of its elevation; but
the
disembodied or departed soul, that is liberated after
death, and becomes
(Videha mukta), grows as impersonal as the
undistinguishable vacuum).
3. This state of quiet rest, lies afar from the farthest
object; and is
attained by those who are liberated of their bodies; just
as the aerial
path is found only by aerial beings. (The spheres of
spirits are unknown
to embodied beings).
4. After a man has forgotten the existence of the world,
for sometime in
his state of sound sleep; he gains the fourth state of turīya, which
is full of felicity and rapture.
5. The manner in which the spiritualists have come to
know the
superquartan state, should also be followed by you, O
Rāma, in order to
understand that unparalleled state of felicity which
attends upon it.
6. Remain, O Rāma, in your state of hypnotism—Susupta, and continue
in your course of worldly duties even in that state; so
as your mind
like the moon in painting may not be subject to its
waning phases, nor
be seized by any alarm (like the threatening eclipses of
the moon).
7. Do not think that the waste or stability of your body,
can affect the
state of your intellect; because the body bears no
relation with the
mind, and is but an erroneous conception of the brain.
8. Although the body is nothing, yet it must not be
destroyed by any
means; because you gain nothing by destroying it, nor
lose anything by
its firmness; but remain in the continuance of your
duties, and leave
the body to go on in its own wonted course.
9. You have known the truth—that God presides over the
world; you have
understood the Divine nature in all its three-fold
states; you have
attained your true-state of spirituality, and are freed
from your
worldly sorrows.
10. You have got rid of your liking and disliking what
you desire or
despise, and are graced with the cooling light of your
reason; you have
got out of the dark cloud of prejudice, and have become
as graceful as
the autumnal sky with the lustre of the full moon (of
your intellect)
shining over it.
11. Your mind has got its self possession, and does not
lower itself to
meaner things; it has become as perfect as those, that
are accomplished
in their devotion (namely in the observance of yoga and
its
austerities), so that you would not deign to stoop to
earth from that
higher sphere.
12. This is the region of the pure and uniform intellect,
having no
bounds to it, nor are there the false landmarks of
"I, and thou, this
and that, mine and thine" and such like errors.
13. This Divine Intellect is attributed with the
imaginary title of
Ātmā (—atmos or self) for general use; or else there is no
occasion
of the distinction of names and forms, with that being
who is quite
distinct from all.
14. As the sea is a vast body of water, with its waves of
the same
element, and no way different from it; so is all this
plenum composed of
the pure soul, and this earth and water are no other than
itself.
15. As you see nothing in the ocean, except the vast body
of water; so
you find nothing in the sphere of the universe, except
the one universal
soul.
16. Say O ye intelligent man, what is it to which you
apply the terms
yourself, itself and the like; what is it that you call
yourself and to
belong to you, and what is that other which is not
yourself, nor belongs
to you.
17. There being no duality beside the only soul, there
can be no
material body at all; nor is there any relation between
this and that,
than there is between the light of the sun and the gloom
of night.
18. Supposing the existence of a duality, yet I will tell
you, O Rāma,
that the existence of material bodies, bears no relation
with the
spiritual soul.
19. As light and shade and darkness and sunshine, bear no
relation to
one another; so the embodied soul has no connection with
the body (in
which it is thought to reside).
20. As the two contraries—cold and hot can never combine
together, so
the body and soul can never join with one another.
21. As the two opposites can have no relation between
them, so is it
with the body and soul, the one being dull matter, and
the other an
intelligent principle.
22. The dictum of the connection of the body with the
pure intellect of
the soul, is as improbable as the subsistence of a sea in
a
conflagration (i.e., the impossibility of the
meeting of water and
wild fire).
23. The sight of truth, removes every false appearance;
as the knowledge
of light in the sandy desert, displaces the mirage of the
ocean in the
sun-beams.
24. The intellectual soul is immortal and undecaying, and
perfectly pure
and shining by itself; while the body is perishable and
impure, and
cannot therefore be related with the spirit.
25. The body is moved by the vital breath, and is
fattened by solid
aliments; and cannot therefore be related with the
self-moving soul,
which is without its increase or decrease.
26. The duality of the body (or matter) being
acknowledged, does not
prove its relation with the soul; and the dualism of
material bodies
being disproved, the theory of its relativity, falls at
once to the
ground.
27. Knowing thus the essence of the soul, you must rely
on its
subjective in-being within yourself; and then you will be
free both from
your bondage and liberation, in all places and at all
times.
28. Believe all nature to be quiet and full of its
quiescent soul; and
let this be your firm belief, in whatever you see within
and without
yourself.
29. The thoughts that I am happy or miserable, or wise or
ignorant,
proceed from our false (or comparative view of things);
and you will
always remain miserable, as long as you continue to
believe in the
substantiality of outward things.
30. As there lies the wide difference, between a rock and
a heap of hay;
and between a silk-pod and a stone; the same applies in
the comparison
of the pure soul and the gross body.
31. As light and darkness bear no relation nor comparison
between
themselves, such is the case also, O Rāma! between the
body and soul,
which are quite different from one another.
32. As we never hear of the union of cold and hot even in
story, nor of
the junction of light and darkness in any place; such is
the want of
union between the soul and body, which are never joined
together.
33. All bodies are moved by the air, and the human body
moves to and fro
by its breath; it is sonant by means of its breath, and
the machinery of
its wind pipes.
34. The human body utters its articulate sounds, combined
with the
letters of the alphabet; and by means of its internal
breathings. Its
mechanism is the same as that of sounding bambu pipe.
35. So it is the internal air, which moves the pupils and
the eyelids;
it is the same air that gives motion to the limbs of the
body; but it is
the intellect which moves the soul, and gives movement to
its
consciousness.
36. The soul is present in all places, whether in heaven
above or in the
worlds beneath; and its image is seen in the mind as its
mirror.
37. You will have some notion of the soul in your mind by
thinking that
it flies like a bird from the cage of its body, and
wanders about at
random, being led by its desires and fancies.
38. As the knowledge of the flower, is accompanied with
that of its
odour; so the knowledge of the soul is inseparable from
that of the mind
(which is as it were, the odour of the soul).
39. As the all pervading sky, is partly seen in a mirror;
so the
omnipresent soul, is partially seen in the mirror of the
mind.
40. As water seeks the lowest level for its reservoir; so
it is the
mind, which the soul makes the receptacle of its
knowledge (i.e. the
soul receives and deposits all its knowledge from and in
the mind).
41. The knowledge of the reality or unreality of the
world, which is
reflected upon the internal organ of the mind; is all the
working of the
conscious soul, as light is the production of solar rays.
42. This internal organ (of the mind), is regarded as the
actual cause
of all (under the title of Hiranyagarbha); while the soul
which is the
prime cause of causes, is regarded as no cause at all,
owing to its
transcendent nature (and this is called the supreme
Brahma; or the soul,
that remains intact from all causality).
43. Men of great minds, have given the appellation of
fallacy,
misjudgement and ignorance to this internal or causal
mind; which is the
source of the creation of worlds. (But all of these, are
mere
fabrications of the imaginative mind).
44. It is error and want of full investigation; that make
us mistake the
mind for a distinct entity; it is the seed of all our
ignorance, which
casts us in darkness from the sunlight of reason.
45. It is by means of the true knowledge of the soul, Rāma!
that the
mind becomes a nihility, as the darkness becomes a zero
before the light
of the lamp.
46. It is ignorance (of true knowledge), that mistakes
the mind for the
cause of creation, and recognizes it under its various
denominations;
such as of jīva (zeus) or the living soul, the internal
organ, the mind,
the thinking principle and the thought (as they are
stated in the
Utpatti prakarana of this work).
47. Rāma said:—Tell me sir, why are so many different
appellations,
heaped upon the only one thing of the mind, and deliver
me from the
confusion, which is caused by them in my mind.
48. Vasishtha answered:—All these are but the various
modes of the
single substance of the soul, whose intellect displays
these modalities;
as the same substance of water, displays itself into the
variety of its
waves.
49. The soul is a fluctuating principle, which inheres in
all its
modifications; as the fluidity of water, is inherent in
the undulatory
waves of the sea.
50. The supreme soul is sometimes without its vibration,
and remains
stationary in all immovable things; as the water which
presents its
fluidity in the loose billows, shows also its
inelasticity in the
liquids which are at rest (as in water pots and bottles).
51. Hence the stones and other immovable substances,
remain at rest with
their inherent spirit; but men and all animated nature,
are as the
foaming froths of the distilled liquor of the universal
soul.
52. The almighty power resides in all bodies, with the
inertia of his
spirit; which is known as the insensibility, dullness or
ignorance of
inert bodies.
53. The infinite soul being involved in that ignorance,
takes the name
of the living or animal soul; which is confined as an
elephant, in the
prison house of the delusion of this world.
54. It is called jīva or living from its
animation, and also as the
ego from its egoism; it is termed the understanding from its power of
discernment, and as the mind from its will or volition.
55. It is called dull nature from its natural dullness,
and also as body
from its being embodied with many elementary principles;
it is inert in
its natural state, and sensible also from the essence of
the soul
imbrued in it.
56. The spiritual substance which lies between the inert
and active
principles, is called the mind; and it passes under
various
designations, according to its different faculties and
functions.
57. This is the quiddity of the animating soul jīva, as given in the
Brihadāranyaka and other upanishads; and there are many
other
definitions of it to be found, in the other works of
Vedanta.
58. But the unvedantic paralogists, have invented many
other words over
and above these, to designate the animal soul; and have
thereby misled
the ignorant to false beliefs, tending to their
bewilderment only.
59. Know thus, O long armed Rāma! this animating soul to
be the cause of
creation, and not the dull and dumb body, which has not
the power of
moving itself, without being moved by some spiritual
force.
60. It happens many times, that the destruction (or
ablation) of either
the container or contained, causes the annihilation of
both; so it is
the case with the receptacle of the body and its content
the soul, that
the removal of the one leads to the dissolution of both.
(But this means
their decomposition and not their destruction, as neither
of these is
destroyed at once).
61. The moisture of a leaf when dried, is neither wasted
nor lost in
air; but subducted from it to reside in the rays of the
all sucking sun.
62. So the body being wasted, there is no waste of the
embodied soul;
which is borne to live in banishment from its former
abode, and reside
in the region of empty air or in the reservoir of the
universal spirit.
63. He who falls into the error of thinking himself as
lost at the loss
of his body, is like a baby, which is snatched away by a
fairy from the
breast of its mother.
64. He who is thought to have his utter extinction, is
said to rise
again (by the resurrection of his soul); it is the
abeyance of the mind
which is called utter extinction and liberation of the
soul.
65. A person being dead, is said to be lost—nashta; but this is
entirely false and untrue; as one who being long absent
from his country
returns to it again; so the dead man revisits the earth,
in his repeated
transmigrations.
66. Here men are borne away like straws and sticks by the
current of
death, to the vast ocean of eternity; and having
disappeared as fruits
from their nature, soil and season, appear in others and
in other
scenes.
67. Living beings bounden to their desires, are led from
one body to
another in endless succession; as monkeys quit the
decayed trees of the
forest, in search of others elsewhere.
68. They leave them again when they are worn out, and
repair to others
at distant times and climes.
69. Living beings are hourly seen to be moving about, and
led away by
their insatiate desires from place to place; as restless
infants are
rocked and carried by their cunning nurses.
70. Bound by the rope of desire, to the decayed trees of
their infirm
bodies, men are seen to drag their lives of labour, in
search of their
livings in this valley of misery.
71. Men though grown old and decrepit and loaded with
misery, and though
they are shattered in their bodies at the last stage of
their life; are
still dragged about by the inborn desires of their
hearts, to be cast
into hell pits (both while alive and after their death).
72. Vālmīki said:—As the sage had said thus far, the sun
sank down and
bade the day to observe its evening rites. The assembly
broke with
mutual salutations, and all of them proceeded to their
evening
ablutions, until they met again after dispersion of the
gloom of night,
by the rising rays of the orient sun.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to Brahmasri Sreemaan Vihari Lala Mitra ji for the
collection)
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