The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki
The only complete English translation is
by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891).
CHAPTER LXXII.
DESCRIPTION OF NIRVÁNA OR FINAL EXTINCTION.
Argument:--Brahmá's suppression of his Respiration; his
settling on
the wings of air and his form of viràj[**viráj].
Vasishtha Continued :--Now the self-born Brahmá,
having compressed his breath in his form of viráj (or
the heart); the aerial or atmospheric air, which is borne
on
the wings of wind, lost its existence.
2. The atmospheric air, which is the very breath of
Brahmá
being thus compressed in his breast; what other air could
there
remain, to uphold the starry frame and the system of the
universe.
3. The atmospheric air, being compressed with the vital
breath of Brahmá; the perturbed creation (as described
before),
was about to come to its ultimate quietus.
4. The firmament being no more upheld by its support of
the air, gave way to the fiery bodies of meteors, to fall
down on
earth, as starry flowers from the arbour of heaven.
5. The orbs of heaven, being unsupported by the
intermediate
air, were now falling on the ground; like the unfailing
and impending fruits of our deserts, or the flying fates
falling
from above.
6. The gross desire or the crude will of Brahmá, being
now
at its end at the approach of dissolution; there was an
utter
stop, of the actions and motions of the siddhas, as that
of the
flame of fire before its extinction.
7. The world-destroying winds were winding in the air,
like
the thin and flying scraps of cotton; and then the
siddhas fell
down mute from heaven, after the loss of their strength
and
power of speech.
8. The great fabrics of human wishes, fell down with the
cities of the Gods; and the peaks of mountain were hurled
headlong, by shocks of tremendous earthquakes.
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9. Ráma rejoined:--Now sir, if the world is but a
representation
of the ideal in the mind of the great God Brahmá or
viráj; then what is the difference of earth, heaven and
hell to
him, (who encompasses the whole in his body or mind).
10. How can this[**these] worlds be said, to be the
members of his
body; or can it be thought, that the God resides in them
with
his stupendous form.
11. I well know that Brahmá, is wilful spirit of God, and
has no form of himself; and so do I take this world, for
a formless
representation of the will or idea in the Divine Mind.
Please sir, explain this clearly unto me.
12. Vasishtha replied:--In the beginning this world was
not in existence, nor inexistence either; because there
was the
eternal Intellect, which engrossed all infinity in
itself, and the
whole vacuity of space with its essence.
13. This vacuity of it (the subjective chit), is known as
the
objective chetya or thought; and the intellect without
forsaking
its form, becomes chetana or the power of intellection
(or
the mind) itself.
14. Know this intellection as the jíva or living soul,
which
being condensed (with feelings &c[**.]) becomes the
gross mind;
but none of these essences or forms of existence, have
any form
whatever.
15. The vacuity of the intellect, remains as the pure
vacuum
in itself forever; and all this which appears as
otherwise, is no
other and nothing without the self-same soul.
16. The very soul assumes to it its egoism (or
personality),
and thinking itself as the mind, becomes sullied with its
endless
desires, in its vacuous form. (The pure soul is changed
to
the impure spirit or volitive mind).
17. Then this intellectual principle, thinks itself as
the air,
by its own volition; and by this false supposition of
itself, it
becomes of an aerial form in the open air.
18. Then it thinks of its future gross form, and
immediately
finds itself transformed to an aerial body, by its
volition or
sankalpa. (The will being master to the thought).
19. Though the soul, spirit and mind, are vacuous in
their
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natures; yet they can assume aerial forms to themselves
by
their will, as the mind sees its imaginary cities; and so
doth
the Lord take upon Him any form it pleases.
20. And as the knowledge of our minds, is purely of an
aerial nature, so the intelligence of the all-intelligent
Lord is
likewise of an intellectual kind; and he takes and
forsakes any
form as he supposes and pleases for himself.
21. As we advance to the knowledge of recondite truth, so
we come to lose the perception of size and extension; and
to
know this extended world as a mere nullity, though it
appears
as a positive entity.
22. By knowledge of the real truth, we get rid of our
desires,
as it is by our knnwledge[**knowledge] of the unity and
the absence of
our egoism or personality, that we obtain our liberation.
(i. e.
The knowledge of our nothingness).
23. Such is He-[**--]the supreme One, and is Brahma the
entity
of the world. And know viráj, O Ráma, to be the body of
Brahma, and the form of the visible world. (Brahma,
Brahmá
and viráj, are the triple hypostasis of the One and same
God).
24. The desires or will, is of the form of empty vacuum,
and
the erroneous conceptions which rise in it; the same give
birth to the world, which is thence called the mundane
egg.
25. Know all this is nonesse[**non esse], and the forms
you see, are but
formation of your fancy; in reality there is nothing inesse[**in
esse];
and tuism and egoism are no entities at any time.
26. How can the gross world be ever attached to the
simple
Intellect, which is of the nature of a void; how can a
cause or
secondary causality, be ever produced in or come out from
a
mere void?
27. Therefore all this production is false, and all that
is
seen a mere falsity; all this is a mere void and nothing,
which
[**add: is] erroneously taken for something.
28. It is the Intellect only which exhibits itself, in
the
forms of the world and its productions, in the same
manner as
the air begets its pulsations (in the form of winds), in
the very
calm air itself.
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29. The world is either as something or a nothing at all,
and
devoid of unity and duality; know the whole to lie in the
empty vacuity of the Intellect, and is as void and
transparent
as the same.
30. I am extinct to all these endless particulars and
destinctions[**distinctions],
and whether you take them as real or unreal, and
be with or without your egoism, it is nothing to me.
31. Be without any desire and quiet in your mind, remain
silent and without fickleness in your conduct; do
whatever
you have to do, or avoid to do it without anxiety.
32. The eternal One, that is ever existent in our notion
of
Him, is manifest also in the phenomenal, which is no
other than
Himself. But our imperfect notion of God, has many things
in it which are unknown to us and beyond our
comprehension;
and such are the phenomenals also, that are so palpable
unto us.
(We have the innate idea of god[**God], but no knowledge
of his
inner or outer nature and attributes, which are displayed
in all
existence).
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CHAPTER LXXIII.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PERSON OF VIRAJ--THE
GOD OF NATURE.
Argument:--If there is no truth or untruth in the
creation, how can
both be true or false at once.
Ráma said:--Sir, you have said at length regarding our
bondage and liberation, and our knowledge of the world
as neither a reality nor an unreality also; and that it
neither
rises nor sets, but is always existent as at first and
ever
before.
2. I have well understood Sir, all your lectures on the
subjects,
and yet wish to know more of these, for my full
satisfaction
with the ambrosial drops of your speech.
3. Tell me sir, how there is no truth nor any untruth,
either
an erroneous view of the creation as a reality, or its
view as a
mere vacuum:
4. In such a case, I well understand what is the real truth;
yet I want you to tell more of this, for my comprehension
of
the subject of creation.
5. Vasishtha replied:--All this world that is visible to
us,
with all its moving and unmoving creatures; and all
things
with all there[**their] varieties, occasioned by
difference of country and
climate.
6. All these are subject to destruction, at the great
dissolution
of the world; together with Brahmá, Indra, Upendra,
Mahendra and the Rudras at the end.
7. Then there remains something alone, which is unborn
and increate and without its begining[**beginning]; and
which is ever calm
and quiet in its nature. To this no words can reach, and
of
which nothing can be known.
8. As the mountain is larger and more extended than a
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mustard seed, so is the sky much more than that; but the
entity of vacuity is the greatest of all.
9. Again as the dusts of the earth, are smaller than the
great mountain; so the stupendous universe, is a minute
particle
in comparison with the infinite entity of the vacuity of
God.
10. After the long lapse of unmeasured time, in the
unlimited
space of eternity, (i. e. at the end of a Kalpa age); and
after the dissolution of all existence in the
transcendent vacuum
of the Divine Mind (lit[**.], thinking soul).
11. At this time the great vacuous intellect, which is
unlimited
by space and time, and is quite tranquil by being devoid
of all its desire and will; looks in itself by its
reminiscence, the
atomic world in aeriform state, (as the soul ruminates
over the
past in its dream).
12. The intellect reconnoitres over this unreality within
itself, as it were in its dream; and then it thinks on
the sense
of the word Brahma or enlargement, and beholds the
dilation
of these minutiae in their intellectual forms: (i.e. the
developed
ideas).
13. It is the nature of the intellect to know the minute
ideas, which are contained in its sensory; and because it
continues
to look upon them, it is called their looker. (i. e. The
subjective principle of the objective thoughts).
14. (In order to clear how the intellect can be both the
subjective and objective at once, it is said that); As a
man sees
himself as dead in his dream, and the dead man sees his
own
death; so doth the intellect see the minute ideas in
itself.
(Hence it is not impossible for the contraries to subsist
together).
15. Hence it is the nature of the intellect, to see its
unity
as a duality within itself; and to remain of its own
nature, as
both the subjective and objective by itself.
16. The intellect is of the nature of vacuum, and
therefore
formless in itself; and yet it beholds the minute ideas
to rise
as visibles before it, and thereby the subjective viewer
becomes
the duality of the objective view also.
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17. It then finds its minute self, springing out
distinctly in
its own conception; just as a seed is found to sprout
forth in
its germ. (This is the first step of the conception of
personality
of the universal spirit).
18. It has then the distinct view of space and time, and
of
substance and its attributes and actions before its
sight; but as
these are yet in their state of internal conceptions,
they have
as yet received no names for themselves.
19. Wherever the particle of the intellect shines (or
that
which is perceptible to it); is called the place (or
object), and
whenever it is perceived the same is termed as time, and
the
act of perception is styled the action.
20. Whatever is perceived (by the intellect), the same is
said as the object; and the sight or seeing thereof by
it, is
the cause of its perception, just as the light of a
luminary, is
the cause of ocular vision.
21. Thus endless products of the intellect appear before
it,
as distinct from one another by their time, place, and
action;
and all these appearing as true, like the various colours
of the
skies in the sky.
22. The light of the intellect shines through different
parts
of the body, as the eye is the organ whereby it sees; and
so
the other organs of sense for its perception of other
objects. (All
these are called axas[**axes] answering the sight of the
eyes).
23. The intellectual particle, shining at first within
itself,
bears no distinct name except that of tanmátra or its
inward
perception; which is as insignificant a term as empty
air.
24. But the shadow of the atomic intellect falling upon
the
empty air, becomes the solid body; which shoots forth
into the
five organs of sense, owing to its inquest into their
five objects
of form and the rest.
25. The intellectual principle, being then in need of
retaining
its sensations in the sensorium, becomes the mind and
understanding, (which is called the sixth or internal
organ of
sense).
26. Then the mind being actuated by its vanity, takes
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upon it the denomination of egoism, and is inclined to
make
imaginary divisions of space and time.
27. Thus the minute intellect comes to make distinctions
of time, by giving them the different denomination of the
present, past and future.
28. Again with regard to space, it denominates one place
as upper and another as lower; and goes on giving
different
appellations of sides (or the points of
compas[**compass]), to one invariable
space in nature.
29. It then comes to understand the meanings of words,
and invent the terms signifying time and space, action
and substance.
30. Thus the intellect bearing a vacuous form in the
primordial
vacuum, became the spiritual or lingdeha[**lingadéha] of
its own
accord, untill[**until] it was diffused all over the
world; (which is thence
called the mundane God).
31. Having long remained in that state as it thought, it
took upon it the compleately[**completely] concrete
material form through
which it was transfused.
32. Though formed originally of air in the original air,
and was perfectly pure in its nature; yet being
incorporated in
the false corporeal form, it forgot its real nature; as
the solar
heat[**replaced - with space] in conjunction with sand,
is mistaken for water.
33. It then takes upon itself and of its own will, a form
reaching to the skies; to which it applied to the sense
of the
word head to some part, and that of the word feet to
another.
(The highest heaven is the head and the earth the foot-stools
of God).
34. It applied to itself the sense of the words breast,
sides
and to other parts, by adopting their figurative sense
and rejecting
the literal ones. (Viraj is the human figure[** space
added] for the macrocosm
of the universe).
35. By thinking constantly on the forms of things, as
this is
a cow and that is a horse &c[**.], as also of their
being bounded
by space and time; it became conversant with the objects
of
different senses.
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36. The same intellectual particle, saw likewise the
different
parts of its body; which it termed its hands, feet
&c[**.], as its outward
members; and the heart &c[**.], as the inner members
of
the body[**.]
37. In this manner is formed the body of Brahmá, as also
those of Vishna[**Vishnu] and the Rudras and other Gods;
and so also
the forms of men and worms are produced from their
conception
of the same.
38. But in fact[**space added] there is nothing, that is
really made or
formed; for all things are now, as they have been ever
before.
All this is the original vacuum, and primeval
intelligence; and
all forms are the false formations of fancy.
39. Viráj is the seed producing the plants of the three
worlds, which are praductive [** typo for productive] of
many more, as one root produces
many bulbs under it. Belief in the creation, puts a bolt
to the
door of salvation; and the appearance of the world, is as
that of
a light and fleeting cloud without any rain.
40. This viráj is the first male, rising unseen of his
own will.
He is the cause of all actions and acts.
41. He has no material body[**,] no bone or flesh, nor is
he
capable of being grasped under the fist of anybody.
42. He is as quiet and silent, as the roaring sea and
cloud,
and the loud roar of lions and elephants, and the din of
battle,
is unheard by the sleeping man.
43. He remains neither as a reality, nor entirely as an
unreality;
but like the notion of a waking[**space added] man of a
warrior seen to
be fighting in his dream, (i. e. As the faint idea of an
object
seen in dream).
44. Although his huge body stretches to millions of
miles,
yet it is contained in an atom with all the worlds that
lie hid
in every pore of his body. (Meaning--the cosmos contained
in a
grain of the brain),[**.]
45. Though thousands of worlds and millions of mountains
compose the great body of the unborn viráj, yet they are
not
enough to fill it altogether, as a large quantity of
grain, is not
sufficient to fill a winnowing basket.
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46. Though myriads of worlds are stretched in his body,
yet
they are but an atom in comparison with its infinity; and
the
viráj is represented to contain all in his body, yet it
occupies no
space or place, but resembles a baseless mountain in a
dream.
47. He is called the self-born and viráj also, and though
he is said to be the body and soul of the world, yet he
is quite
a void himself.
48. He is also named as Rudra and sanatana[**Sanatana],
and Indra
and upendro[**Upendra] also; he is likewise the wind, the
cloud and the
mountain in his person.
49. The minute particle of the Intellect, like a small
spark
of fire, inflates and spreads itself at first; and then
by thinking
its greatness, it takes the form of chitta or the
thinking mind,
which with its self-consciousness becomes the vast
universe.
50. Then being conscious of its afflation, it becomes the
wind in motion; and this is the aeriform body of viráj.
51. Then it becomes the vital breath, from the consciousness
of its inspiration and expiration in the open air.
52. It then imagines of an igneous particle in its mind,
as
children fancy a ghost where there is none; and this
assumes
the forms of luminous bodies (of the sun, moon, and
stars) in
the sky.
53. The vital breath of respiration, are carried by turns
through the respiratory organs into the heart; whence it
is
borne on the wings of air to sustain the world, which is
the
very heart of viráj.
54. This viráj is the first rudiment of all individual
bodies
in the world, and in their various capacities forever.
55. It is from this universal soul, that all individual
bodies
have their rise, and according to their sundry desires;
and as
these differ from one another in their outward shapes, so
they
are different also in their inward natures and
inclinations.
56. As the seed of viráj sprang forth at first, in the
nature and constitution of every individual being; it
continues
to do so in the same manner in the heart of every living,
agreeably to the will of the same causal principle.
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57. The sun, moon and the winds, are as the bile, phlegm
in the body of Brahmá; and the planets and stars, are as
the
circulating breath and drops of the spittle of phlegm of
that
deity.
58. The mountains are his bones, and the clouds his
flesh;
but we can never see his head and feet, nor his body and
skin.
59. Know, O Ráma, this world to be the body of viráj, and
an imaginary form by his imagination only. Hence the
earth
and heaven and all the contents, are but the shadow of
his
Intellectual vacuity.
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CHAPTER LXXIV.
DESCRIPTION OF THE COSMICAL BODY OF VIRAJ (CONTINUED).
Argument:--Description of the several parts and Members
of the body
of viráj.
Vasishtha continued:--Hear now more about the
body of viráj, which he assumed to himself of his own
will in that Kalpa epoch, together with the variety of
its order
and division, and its various customs and usages.
2. It is the transcendent vacuous sphere of the
intellect,
which makes the very body of viráj; it has no beginning,
middle
or end, and is as light as an aerial or imaginary form.
3. Brahmá who is without desire, beheld the imaginary
mundane-egg appearing about him, in its aerial form (of a
chimera).
4. Then Brahmá divided this imaginary world of his in
twain. It was of a luminous form, from which he came out
as a
luminary, like a bird matured in its egg. (This is hence
called
Brahmánda or egg of Brahmá).
5. He beheld one half (or the upper hemisphere[**space
added]) of this egg,
rising high in the upper sky; and saw the other half to
constitute
the lower world, and both of which he considered as parts
of himself.
6. The upper part of Brahmá's egg, is termed as the head
of viráj; the lower part is styled his footstool, and the
midway
region is called his waist.
7. The midmost part of the two far separated portions, is
of immense extent, and appearing as a blue and hollow
vault all
around us.
8. The heaven is the upper roof of this hollow, likening
to
the palate of the open mouth, and the stars which are
studded
in it, resemble the spots of blood in it. The breath of
the
mouth is as vital air, which supports all mortals and the
immortal
Gods.
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9. The ghosts, demons and ogres, are as worms in his
body;
and the cavities of spheres of the different worlds, are
as the
veins and arteries in his body.
10. The nether worlds below us, are the footstools of
viráj;
and the cavities under his knees, are as the pits of
infernal
regions.
11. The great basin of water in the midst of the earth,
and surrounding the islands in the midst of them; is as
the
navel and its pit in the centre of the body of viráj.
12. The rivers with the purling waters in them, resemble
the arteries of viráj with the purple blood running in
them;
and the Jam-bu-dvípa[**Jambú-dvípa] is as his lotiform
heart, with the mount
Meru as its pericarp.
13. The sides of his body, are as the sides of the sky;
and
the hills and rocks on earth, resemble the spleen and
liver in
the body of viráj; and the collection of cooling clouds
in the
sky, is like the thickening mass of fat in his body.
14. The sun and the moon are the two eyes of viráj, and
the
high heaven is his head and mouth; the moon is his
marrow,
and the mountains are the filth of his person.
15. The fire is the burning heat, and bile in his bowels;
and the air is the breath of his nostrils; (and so the
other
elements are humours of his body).
16. The forests of Kalpa trees and other woods, and the
serpentine
races of the infernal regions, are the hairs and tufts of
hairs on his head and body. (All these are parts of the
one
undivided whole of virája's body).
17. The upper region of the solar world, forms the capt
head
of viráj's body; and the zodiacal light in the concavity
beyond
the mundane system, is the crest on top of virája's head.
18. He is the universal Mind itself, has no individual
mind
of his own; and he being the sole enjoyer of all things,
there is
nothing in prticular[**particular] that forms the object
of his enjoyment.
19. He is the sum of all the senses, therefore there is
no sense
beside himself; and the soul of viráj being fully
sensible of
every thing, it is a mere fiction to attribute to him the
property
of any organ of sense. (It is a mere figure of speech to
say
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God hears and sees, when the omniscient soul knows all
without
the aid of the organs of seeing and hearing).
20. There is no difference of the property of an
organs[**drop the s] (as
the hearing of the ear); and its possessor--the mind, in
the
person of viráj, who perceives by his mind all organic
sensations,
without the medium of their organs.
21. There is no difference in doings of viráj and those
of
the world; it is his will or thought alone which acts
with
many (or active) force (on the passive world), both in
their
transitive as well as in their causal forms.
22. All actions and events of the world, being said to be
same with his, our lives and deaths in this world, are
all conformable
to his will. (This passage is explained in four different
ways in the gloss).
23. It is by his living that the world lives, and so it
dies
away with his death; and just as it is the case, with the
air
and its motion, so it is with the world and viráj to act
or subside
together. (But viráj being the god of nature in general,
he
acts by general and not by partial laws, and is therefore
neither
affected by particular events nor ever directs any
particular
accident at any place or time). (Both of which are the
one
and the same[**space]thing).
24. The world and viráj are both of the same essence, as
that of air and its motion in the wind; that which is the
world,
the same is viráj; and what viráj is, the very same is
the
world also. (The same thing personified as another).
25. The world is both Brahma as well as viráj, and both
of
which are its synonyms according to its successive
stages; and
are but forms of the will of the pure and vacuous
intellect of
god. (The will was at the beginning, Aham bahu syam; i.
e.
I will become many).
26. Ráma asked:--Be it so that viráj is the personified
will
of god, and of the form of vacuum; but how is it that he
is
considered as Brahma himself in his inner person?
27. Vasishtha replied:--As you consider yourself as Ráma
and so situated in your person also; so Brahma--the great
father of all, is the wilful soul only in his person.
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28. The souls of holy men also, are full with Brahma in
themselves; and their material bodies, are as mere images
of
them.
29. And as your living soul is capable, of fixing its
residence
in your body; so the self-willed soul of Brahma, is by
far
more able to reside in his body of the
Brahmánda--Universe.
30. If it is possible for the plant, to reside in its
seed, and
for animal life to dwell in the body; it must likewise be
much
more possible for the spirit of Brahma, to dwell in a
body of
its own imagination,[**.]
31. Whether the Lord be in his consolidated form of the
world, or in his subtile form of the mind, He is the same
in his
essence, though the one lies inside and the other outside
of us,
in his inward and outward appearence[**appearance].
32. The holy hermit who is delighted in himself, and
continues
as mute as a log of wood and as quiet as a block of
stone; remains with his knowledge of I and thou (i. e. of
the
subjective and objective as well as of the general and
particular)
fixed in the universal soul of viráj.
33. The holy and god knowing man, is passionless under
all
persecution, as an idol which they make with ligatures of
straw
and string; he remains as calm as the sea, after its
howling
waves are hushed; and though he may be engaged in a great
many affairs in the world, yet he remains as calm and
quiet in
his mind, as a stone is unperturbed in its heart.
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CHAPTER LXXV.
DESCRIPTION OF THE FINAL CONFLAGRATION OF THE
WORLD.[**=print]
Argument:--Destruction of the world by the great fire,
produced by a
dozen of suns at the behest of Brahmá.
Vasishtha continued:--Then sitting in my meditation
of Brahma, I cast my eyes around, I came to the sight
of the region before me.
2. It being then midday, I beheld a secondary sun behind
me, appearing as a conflagration over a mountain (or a
burning
mountain), at the furthest border of that side.
3. I saw the sun in the sky as a ball of fire, and
another in
the water burning as the submarine fire; I beheld a
burning
sun in the south east corner, and another in the southern
quarter.
4. Thus I saw four fiery suns on the four sides of
heaven,
and as many in the four corners of the sky also.
5. I was astonished to find so many suns all at once in
all
the sides of heaven; and their flame-fire which seemed to
burn
down their presiding divinities--the Agni, váyu[**Váyu],
yama[**Yama], Indra
&c. (The twelve suns of hindu[**Hindu] Astronomy, are
the so many
solar mansions in the twelve signs of the zodiac, which
encircles
all the sides of the compass, together with the
personified
climates under the same).
6. As I was looking astonished at these unnatural
appearances,
in the heavens above; there appeared on a sudden a
terrestial[**terrestrial] sun before me, bursting out of
the submarine regions
below.
7. Eleven of these sun[**s] were as reflexions of the one
sun,
seen in a prismatic mirror; and they rose out of the
three suns
of Brahmá[**à-->á], Vishnu and Siva, in the vacuity of
the different
sides of heaven. (The gloss explains the eleven suns, as
the
eleven Ruddra[***Rudra] forms of Siva--the god of
destruction amidst the
Hindu Trinity).
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8. The same form of Rudra with its three eyes, shone
forth
in the forms of the twelve burning suns of heaven. (As
Siva
with the eleven Rudras, makes the number twelve, so doth
the
sun with the other eleven signs of the zodiac, make the
same
number).
9. In this manner the sun burnt down the world, as the
flame of fire burns away dry wood of the forest; and the
world was dried up of its moisture, as in the parching
days of
summer season.
10. The solar fire burnt away the woods, without any
literal fire or flame; and the whole earth was as dry as
dust by
this fireless incendiarism.
11. My body became heated and my blood boiled as by the
heat of a wild fire; and I left that place of torrid
heat, and
ascended to the remoter and higher regions of air.
12. I beheld the heavenly bodies hurling as tops, flung
from
the string held by a mighty hand; and I saw from my
aerial
seat, the rising of the blazing suns in heaven.
13. I beheld the twelve suns burning in the ten sides of
it, and I saw also the extensive spheres of the stars,
whirling
with incredible velocity.
14. The waters of the seven oceans were boiling, with a
gurgling noise; and burning meteors were falling over the
cities in farthest worlds.
15. The flame flashed upon distant mountains, making
them flare with vermeil hue, and splitting noise; and
continued
lightnings flashed upon the great edifices on every side,
and
put the canopy of heaven in a flame.
16. The falling buildings emitted a cracking and
crackling
noise all around, and the earth was covered with columns
of
dark smoke, as by the thickening clouds and mists.
17. The fumes rising as crystal columns, appeared as
turrets
and spires upon the towers on earth; and the loud noise
of
wailing beasts and men, raised a gurgling (gharghara)
clangor
all over the ground.
18. The falling of cities upon men and beasts, made a
hideous
noise and huge heaps of omnium gatherum on earthy;
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and the falling stars from heaven, strewed the earth with
fragments
of gems and jewels.
19. All human habitations were in flames, with the bodies
of men and beasts, burning in their respective homes and
houses: and the noiseless skirts of villages and towns,
were
filled with the stink of dead and burning bodies.
20. The aquatic animals were stewed, under the tepid
waters
of the seas: and the cry of people within the city, was
hushed
by the howling of the ambient flames on all sides.
21. The elephants of the four quarters of heaven, fell
down
and rolled upon the burning ground, and uplifted the
hills with
their tusks, (to shelter themselves from the falling
fires; while
the caverns of the mountains, were emitting gusts of
smoke,
from the subterraneon[**subterranean] fire).
22. The burning hamlets and habitations, were crushed and
smashed under the falling stones and hills; which the
mountain
elephants yelled aloud, with their deadly groans and
agonies.
23. Heated by sunheat, all living beings rushed to and
splashed the hot waters of seas, and the mountainous
vidyadharas
fell down into the hollow bosom of mountains, bursting
by their volcanic heat.
24. Some being tired with crying, and others resorting to
their yoga meditation, remained quiet in some places; and
the
serpent races were left to roll on the burning cinders,
both
below as well as upon the earth.
25. The voracious marine beasts as sharks and whales;
being
baked in the drying channels, were driven to the
whirlpools of
the deep; and the poor fishes attempting to evade the
smart
fire, flew into the airs by thousands and thousands.
26. The burning flames, then clad as it were, in crimson
apparel, rose high in the air; and there[**their] leaping
as it were in
dancing, caught the garments of the Apsaras in heaven.
27. The desolating Kalpa fire, being then wreathed with
its
flashing flames, began to dance about all around; with
the loud
-----File:
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sound of bursting bamboos and cracking trees, as it were
with
the beating of drums and timbrels.
28. The sportive fire danced about like a playful actor,
in
the ruinous stage of the world.
29. The fire ravaged through all lands and islands, and
desolated
all forests and forts; it filled all caves and caverns
and
the hollow vault of sky, till at last it over reached the
tops of
the ten sides of heaven.
30. It blazed in caverns and over cities and in all sides
of
dales, and the lands; it blazed over hills and mountain
tops,
and the sits[**seats?] of the siddhas and on the seas and
oceans.
31. The flames flashing from the eyes of Siva, and the
Rudras, boiled the waters of the lakes and rivers; and
burned
the bodies of devas and demons, and those of men and
serpent
races; and there arose a hoarse whispering sound from
everywhere.
32. With column of flaming fire over their head, they
began
to play by throwing ashes upon one another; like the
playful
demon's flirtation with dust and water.
33. Flames flashed forth from subterranean cell and caves
on
earth, and all things situated amidst them, were reddened
by
their light.
34. All the sides of heaven lost their azure hue, under
the
vermilion colour of the clouds which hung over them; and
all
things and the rubicund sky, lost their respective hues,
and
assumed the rosy tint of the red lotus; (sthala padma--growing
on land).
35. The world appeared to be covered under a crimson
canopy, by the burning flames which overspread it all
around,
and resembled the evening sky under the parting glories
of the
setting sun.
36. Overspread with the flaming fires, the sky appeared
as an
overhanging garden of blooming Asoka flowers, or as a bed
of
the red kinsuka blossoms hanging aloft in the sky.
37. The earth appeared to be strewn over with red
lotuses,
-----File:
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and the seas seemed to be sprinkled with red dye; in this
manner the fire blazed in many forms, with its tails and
crests
of smoke.
38. The fire of conflagration, raged with its youthful
vigour
in the forest, where it glared in variegated colours, as a
burning
scenery is shown in a painting.
39. The vicissitudes of sunrise and sunset (i. e. the
succession
of day and night), now disappeared from the vindhyan
mountain, owing to the continual burning of the woods
upon its
summit.
40. The flying fumes had the appearance of the blue sahya
mountain in the south (Deccan), from their emitting the
flashes of fire in the midst, like the lustre of the gems
in that
mountain.
41. The blue vault of the sky seemed as a cerulean lake,
decorated with lotus like fire brands all over it, and
the flames
of fire flashed over the tops of the cloudy mountains in
air; (like
the brisk dancing of actresses in a play).
42. Flames of fire with their smoky tails, resembling the
train of a comet, danced about on the stage of the world,
in the
manner of dancing actresses, with the loosened and
flouncing
hair.
43. The burning fire burst the parched ground, and flung
its sparkling particles all around, like the fried rice
flying all
about the frying pan in various colours.
44. Then the burning rocks and woods exhibited a golden
hue on the breast of the earth, with their bursting and
splitting
noise; (as if the earth was beating her breast at her
impending
destruction).
45. All lands were crushed together with the cry of their
inhabitants, and all the seas dashed against one another,
with
foaming froths in their mouths.
46. The waves shone in their faces, with the reflexion of
the
shining sun upon them; they clashed against each other,
as if
they were clapping their hands; and dashed with such
force
-----File:
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against the land, that they beat and broke down the rocks
on
the sea shore.
47. The raging sea with his billowy arms, grasped the
earth
and stone, as foolish men do in their anger; and devoured
them
in his hollow cell with a gurgling noise, as fools
swallow their
false hopes with vain bawling.
48. The all destruction fire with a hoarse sound, melted
down the rivers with their banks, and the regents of the
sphere fell before the geysers.
49. The ten sides of the compass, were out of order and
confounded together; and all the mountains were reduced
to
the form of liquid gold (fire), with their woods and
abodes and
caves and caverns.
50. By degrees the prodigious mountain Meru, was
dissolved
to snow by the heat of fire; and soon after the great
mount of Himálaya, was melted down as lacdye[**lac-dye]
by the same
fire.
51. All things were cold and pinched in themselves, as
good
people are thawed by the awe of the wicked; except the
Malaya
mountain, which yielded its fragrance even in that state
(of its
tribulation).
52. The noble minded man never forsakes his nobleness,
though he is exposed to troubles; because the great never
afflict another, though they are deprived of their own
joy and
happiness.
53. Burn the sandal wood, yet it will diffuse its
fragrance to
all living beings; because the intrinsic nature of a
thing, is
never lost or changed into another state.
54. Gold is never consumed nor disfigured, though it is
burnt in the fire of a conflagration; thus there are two
things,
namely, aura and vacuum, that cannot be consumed by the
all destroying fire.
55. Those bodies are above all praise, which do not
perish at
the perdition of all others; such as the vacuum is
indestructible
on account of its omnipresence, and gold is not subject
to
any loss owing to its purity.
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56. The property of goodness (sattwa) alone is true
happiness,
and neither rajas nor ostentation or passion. Then the
fiery clouds moved aloft as a moving forest, ashed
showers of
vivid flame.
57. Mountainous clouds of fire, accompanied with flame
and
fume, poured liquid fire around; and burnt away all
bodies,
already dried up by heat and for want of water.
58. Thd[**The] dried leaves of trees ascending high in
the air, were
burnt away by the flame instead of the rain of heavy
clouds.
(Now the clouds were heavy with fire, and not with rain
water).
59. The ambient and gorgeous flame passed by the
kailása[**Kailása]
mountain without touching it, know it to be the seat of
the
dread God Siva; in the manner of wise men, flying from
the
mud and mire of sin: (knowing it to be attended with
their
perdition).
60. Then the God Rudra growing furious, at the final
destruction
of the world, darted the direful flame of his igneous
eyes, and burnt down the sturdy arbours and robust rocks
to
ashes, with their stunning cracklings.
61. The hills at the foot of mountains, being crowned
with
flames of fire, moved forward as it were, to fight
against the
fire, with their stones and clubs of the clumps of trees.
62. The sky became as a bed of full blown lotuses, and
creation became a mere name as that of Agastya, that
departed
and disappeared for ever from sight.
63. The suffering idiot on remembering into his mind the
Kalpánta, took the world to be at an end; as the fire
consumes
all objects like the unreality of the world.
64. The falling thunderbolts pierced all bodies, and the
glittering flames inflamed all the trees and plants; the
winds
too blew with fiery heat, and scorched the bodies of even
the
gods, and singed all things on every side.
65. Here the wild fire was raging loose among the arbours
in the forest, and there were clouds of hot ashes flying
in the
air; and smoky mists emitting red hot embers and fiery
sparks.
-----File:
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Again darknesses were rising upward with fagots of fire
falling
from amidst them, and gusts of wind blew with speed and
force, to befriend the destructive fire. (The air
enkindled and
spread the wild fire all about).
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CHAPTER LXXVI.
THE STRIDOR OF PUSHKARÁVARTA CLOUDS.
Argument:--Description of the Devouring fire below, and
the Deluginging[**Deluging]
clouds above.
Vasishtha added:--Now blew the destroying winds,
shaking the mountains by their force: and filling the
seas with tremendous waves, and rending the skies with
cyclonic
stroms[**storms].
2. The bounded seas broke their bounds, and ran to the
boundless oceans by impulse of the wind, as poor people
run to
the rich, by compulsion of their driving poverty.
3. The earth being fried by the fire, went under the
overflowing
waters; and joined with the infernal regions, lying
below the waters of the deep.
4. The heaven disappeared into nothing, and the whole
creation vanished into the air. The worlds were reduced
to
vacuum, and the solar light dwindled to that of a star in
the
starry sphere.
5. There appeared from some cavity of the sky some
hideous clouds, called pashkara Avartaka and others in
the
forms of dreadful demons, and roaring with tremendous
noise.
6. The noise was as loud as the bursting of the
mundane-egg,
and the hurling down of a large edifice; and as the
dashing of the waves against one another, in a furiously
raging sea.
7. The loud peal resounding thought the air and water,
and reechoing amidst the city towers, was
deafenning[**deafening] and
stunning to the ear; and the swelling at the tops of
mountains,
fitted the world with uproar.
8. The sound swelling as it were, in the conch-shell of
the
mundane-egg, was returned with triple clangor[**=print],
from the vaults
of heaven and sky and the infernal world.
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9. The supports of all the distant sides, were tottering
at
their base; and the waters of all the seas were mixed up
together, as if to quench the thirst of the all devouring
doomsday.
10. The doomsday advanced as the God Indra, mounted
on the back of his elephantine clouds; which roared aloud
amidst the waters, contained in the etherial ocean from
the
beginning.
11. The great doomsday was attended with a hubbub, as
loud as that of the churning of the ocean before; or as
that
emitted by the revolving world or a hydrostatic engine of
immense
force.
12. Hearing this roaring of the clouds, amidst the
surrounding
fires, I became quite astonished at the stridor, and cast
my
eyes on all sides to see the clouds.
13. I saw no vestige of a cloud in any part of the
heavens,
except that of hearing their roar and finding flashes of
firebrands
flaming in the sky, with showers of thunderbolts falling
from above. (i. e. It was a thunderstorm preceding the
rain).
14. The flaming fire spread over millions of miles, on
all
the sides of earth and heaven; and burnt away every thing
in
them, to a horrid devastation.
15. After a little while I descried a spot at a great
distance
in the sky; and felt a cool air blowing to my body
from it.
16. At this time I observed the Kalpa clouds, appearing
and gathering at a great distance in the sky, where there
was
no relic of the living fire perceptible to the naked eye.
17. Then there breathed the Kalpa airs, from the watery
corner or western side of the sky; which burnt at last in
blasts,
capable of blowing and bearing away the great mountains
of
meru[**Meru], Malaya and Himálaya.
18. These winds blew away the mountainous flames, and
put to flight the burning cinders as birds to a distance;
they
bore down the spreading sparks, and drove away the fire
from
all sides.
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19. The clouds of fire disappeared from the air, as
evening
clouds; then clouds of ashes rose to the sky, and the
atmosphere
was cleared of every particle of fire.
20. The air was blowing with fire, and passing every
where
as the fire of incendiarism; and melted down the golden
citadels
on the flying mountain of Meru.
21. The mountains on earth being put on fire, their
flames
spread all about as the rays of the twelve suns.
22. The waters of oceans were boiling with rage, and the
trees and leaves of the forest were burning with blaze.
23. The cities and celestials sitting on their happy
seats,
in the highest heaven of Brahma, fell down below with all
their
inhabitants of women and young and old people, being
burnt
by the flames.
24. The Kalpánta or chaotic fire was mixed with the
water,
in the lake of Brahmá.
25. The strong winds uprooted the deep rooted mountains
and rocks, and plunged them headlong into the fiery mire
of
the infernal regions.
26. The chaotic clouds advanced as a troop of sable
camels,
moving slowly in the azure sky with a grumbling noise.
27. They appeared from a corner of the sky, like a huge
mountain flashing with lightnings of gorgeous flame; and
fraught with the waters of the seven oceans.
28. These clouds were capable of rendering the great
vault
of the world (heaven), with their loud uproar; and
splitting all
the sides of heaven, standing upon their solid snow white
and
impregnable walls.
29. The doomsday was as the raging ocean, and the planets
were the rolling islands in the whirlpools of their
orbits; the
flitting lightnings likened its shifting aquatic animals,
and the
roaring of the clouds was as the howling of its waters.
30. The moon being devoured by Ráhu, and burnt away by
the fiery commet[**comet], rose to heaven again and
assumed the colder
form of the cloud, to pour down more moisture than her
nightly
beams and dews.
-----File: 414.png---------------------------------------------------------
31. Lightning like golden sphere in the shape of
frigidity
of the sort of Himalaya, held all stupefied[**space
removed] waters, woods and
hills.
32. After the clouds had split the vault of heaven, by
their
harsh crackling and thunders; they dropped down the solid
snows at first, which were then melted down in the form
of
liquid rain.
33. There was a jarring of dissonant sounds, that grated
upon the ear, and proceeded from the bursting of woods by
wild
fire, and the stridor of thunder-claps in the rebellowing
air;
and the cracking and crackling and dashing and crashing
of
every thing in the shattering world.
34. There was a sharp and shrill noise, arising from the
warring winds blowing in a hundread[**hundred] ways, and
the drift of
bleak cold showers of driving snows, covering the face of
heaven.
35. The vault of heaven which is supported by the blue
and
sapphire-like pillars of the azure skies on all sides,
shattered the
earth and its props of the mountains, with big and heavy
showers
of diluvian rain.
36. The earth was bursting and splitting sound, by the
blazing furnaces of fire on all sides; and the hearts of
all living
beings, were rent by the loud rattling of thunderbolts
from
heaven.
37. The rain that reigned long over the realm of the
fiery
earth, was now going upward in the form of smoke, which
the
burning earth heaved from her bosom, as her sighs towards
heaven.
38. Now the vault of heaven, appeared to be overspread
with a network, studded with red lotuses of the flying
fires
on high; while the dark showers had the appearance of
swarms
of black bees, and the rain drops likened their
fluttering
wings.
39. All the sides of heaven resounded to the mingled
clatter of hailstone and fire brands, falling down
simultaneously
-----File:
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from the comingled clouds of dire and dreadful
appearance;
and the scene all around was as diresome to behold, as
the
mingled warfare of two dreadful forces, with dire arms
and
commingled bloodshed.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to Brahmasri Sreemaan Vihari Lala Mitra ji for the
collection)
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