The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki
The only complete English translation is
by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891).
THE CO-ORDINATE TRIADS.
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/ I. | II. |
III.
/ | |
/ The Three Princes or | The Three Stages or
| The Three Planets.
/ Intellectual Powers. | Vyahritis. |
/ | |
/ 1. The Soul. | 1. Swar--Heaven. | 1.
Jupiter.
/ 2. The Mind. | 2. Bhuvar--Sky. | 2.
Mercury.
/ 3. The Living Spirit. | 3. Bhūr--Earth. |
3. Venus.
/----------------------------------------------+--------------------------
+-------------------------
| | |
IV. | V. | VI. | VII.
| | |
The Three Deities. | The Three Trees of Act.
| The Three Rivers. | The Three Gods.
| | |
1. Indra of heaven. | 1. Dharma--Acts. | 1.
Satya--Goodness. | 1. Brahmā of creation.
2. Vāyu--Air ether. | 2. Artha--Gains. | 2.
Rajas--Righteousness. | 2. Vishnu
sustentation.
3. Yama--Death or | 3. Kama--Fruition.
| 3. Tamas--Vice. | 3. Siva dissolution.
mortal state. | | |
| | |
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\ | |
\ VIII. | IX. | X.
\ | |
\ The Three Houses of | The Three Pots or |
The Three Brāhman
\ Rest. | Sheaths. | Guests.
\ | |
\ 1. Sushupti--Sleep. | 1. Of the Soul
Neutral. | 1. Childhood Neutral
\ 2. Swapna--Dream. | 2. Of the Mind Action.
| 2. Youth Active.
\ 3. Jāgrata--Waking. | 3. Of Life to
operation. | 3. Old age cooperation.
\ | |
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CHAPTER CII.
ON THE INDIVISIBILITY AND IMMORTALITY OF THE
SOUL.
Argument:—Fallacy of Egoism, and Rational
Investigation into
the nature of the Soul. The Means of curbing
Egotism, and the
flight of Fancy.
Vasishtha continued:—The ignorant are subject
to errors caused by their
false fancies, from which the wise are
entirely free; and they by
imagining and attributing perishable
properties to the imperishable
soul, beguile themselves like children, by
taking their dolls for men.
(It is the attributing of sensible properties
to the conscious soul).
2. Rāma rejoined:—What is this perishable
property, which is imagined
of and imputed to the imperishable soul? Tell
me, also O greatest of
theologians! what is that misrepresentation,
which misleads the mind to
the erroneous conception, of the unreal world
for a reality.
3. Vasishtha replied:—The soul by its
continued association with unreal
and perishable things, thinks itself as one
of them, and takes upon it
the title of an unreal and perishable egoism,
as a boy by association of
his thoughts imagines a false apparition to
be a real ghost. (Egoism and
tuism and suism, means the personality or
personal reality of the three
persons I, thou and this—aham, twam and sah, which
in all systems of
mystic philosophy, is denied of all finite
beings. The absolute Ego is
the supreme soul, and all other souls are but
reflections of it).
4. All things being situated in one absolute
reality, it is hard to
account for one's personal egoism; and to say
how and whence this
conception came to be in vogue. (The
impersonal and universal soul is
the true Ego, and has no personal existence
what ever).
5. In fact there is no egoism beside that of
the supreme soul; and yet
is the nature of the injudicious to make a
difference of a finite and
infinite Ego, and of a mortal and immortal
soul; as we see two streams
of water in the sun-beams in a sandy desert.
(The human soul is no
other, than a particle of the supreme).
6. The mind is a spacious mind (of richest
gems) in this extensive
creation, and depends for its support on the
supreme soul; as the waves
are dependent on the waters of the sea, for
their rise and subsistence.
(The mind is the individual soul, but the
soul is the universal and
undivided spirit and opposed to the European
doctrine of the minds being
a generic and the soul an individual name).
7. Therefore give up, O Rāma! your erroneous
view of the reality of the
world and your reliance on the baseless
fabric of the universe, and rely
with delight on your judicious view of the
true substratum and support
of all.
8. Inquire now into the nature of Truth, with
a rational understanding;
and being freed from all error and bias,
discard all that is false and
untrue.
The idea of Tritheism and faith in the mystic
number three, is as deeply
rooted in the Hindu mind, as we find it in
the Alexandrine triad of old,
and the Trinity of modern Christians. We have
already given an ample
exposition of the various triads in Hindu
theology and other sciences in
our introduction to this work (Vol. I. Sect
XI. p. 61). Besides those we
meet herewith some other triads which are
conveyed in the allegorical
story of the old nurse to her infant care for
his early instruction,
though it is doubtful that the boy could
either understand or derive any
benefit thereby. It will be worth while to
mention here the Alexandrian
Triad of the three hypostases of the one
Being in the psyche—eternal
soul, nous—the mind, and Zoa—Jīva—life or activity. This last is
the same with the logos—Word, the manifestation of Divine power in
whom there was life also. Others formed their
Triad of matter, soul and
force, as the three principia in nature. The Christian Trinity, which
some maintain as an imitation of the
Alexandrians, presents many
differences respecting some portion of this
doctrine, which resulted in
the heresies of Arianism, Sabellianism,
Nestorianism &c. see further
particulars on this head in Lewes' History of
Philosophy, Vol. 1, p.
391.
9. Why do you think the unconfined soul to be
confined in the body? It
is vain to suppose the nature of the infinite
soul, to be confined in
any place.
10. To suppose the one as many, is to make a
division of and create a
variety in the nature of the Supreme Spirit.
Again the Divine essence
being diffused alike in all, it cannot be
said to be confined in one
thing and absent in another.
11. The body being hurt, the soul is supposed
to be hurt likewise; but
no pain or hurt or sickness of any kind, can
appertain to the unchanging
soul.
12. The body being hurt or weakened or
destroyed, there is no injury
done to the soul, as the bellows (of the
blacksmith) being burnt, the
wind with which it was filled, escapes
unconsumed.
13. Whether the body lasts or falls, it is of
no matter to us (since the
soul survives its loss); as the flower being
destroyed, deposits its
fragrance in the air.
14. Let any pain or pleasure befall on the
body, as dew-drops falling on
lotus-leaves: it can affect us no more than it
is for the fading lotus,
to affect or afflict in any manner the flying
and aerial bee.
15. Let the body rise or fall, or fly in
smoke and mix with the air;
these changing forms of it, can have no
effect whatever on the soul.
16. The connection of the body with the soul,
is like that between the
cloud and the wind; and as that of the lotus
with the bee. (The former
is moved and alighted upon by the latter, and
not that the latter is
preserved by the former).
17. If the mind which forms a part of all
living bodies, is not affected
by bodily pain; how is it possible that the
primary power of intellect
which resides in the soul, shall ever be
subject to death?
18. If you know, O wise Rāma, the soul to be
indestructible and
inseparable (from any place or person), what
cause then can you have to
sorrow for the supposed separation or
disappearance of the all pervading
spirit?
19. After destruction of the body, the soul
flies from it, to abide in
the infinite space of empty air; like the
wind mixing with the air after
dispersion of the clouds, and the bee flying
to it after the lotus has
faded away.
20. The mind also is not relaxed with all its
enjoyments of life, unless
it is burnt down by the knowledge of truth;
why then speak of the
annihilation of the soul.
21. The connection of the perishable body and
imperishable soul, is
analogous to that of a vessel and the fruit
it holds, and of a pot and
the air in it (i. e. of the container and the contained; the
frame-work is fragile, but its component is
infrangible).
22. As a plum is held in the hand or it falls
into a pit, so the vacuous
soul is reposed in or deposed from the body.
23. As a pot being broken, its vacuous part
mixes, with the air; so the
body being dissolved, the soul remains unhurt
in the empty space.
24. The mind and body of living beings, are
apt to disappear at times
from their habitations, and hide themselves
under the shroud of death;
why then should we sorrow for such renegades?
25. Seeing the death and disappearance of
others at all times, no fool
learns to think for himself, but fears to die
like all ignorant fools.
26. Therefore renounce, O Rāma! Your selfish
desires, and know the
falsity of egoism. Forsake the bond of the
body for flying upward, as a
new fledged bird flies above, and leaves its
nest behind.
27. It is an act of the mind, to lead us to
good or evil; as it is
another function of it, to fabricate the
false fabric of the world like
appearances in a dream.
28. It is our incorrigible ignorance, that
stretches out these imageries
for our misery only; and it is our imperfect
knowledge, which shows
these false-hoods as realities unto us.
29. It gives us a dim sight of things, as we
view the sky obscured by a
mist; and it is the nature of the mind, to
have an erroneous view of
objects.
30. The dull and unreal world, appears as a
reality to us; and the
imaginary duration of the universe, is as a
protracted dream in our
sleep.
31. It is the thought or idea of the world, that
is the cause of its
formal existence, as it is the blinking of
the eye, that shows a
thousand disks of the sun and moon in the
clear sky.
32. Now Rāma, employ your reason to
annihilate the formal world from
your mind, as the sun dissolves the snows by
the heat of his beams.
33. As one wishing to overcome his cold, gets
his object at sunrise; so
he who wishes to demolish his mind (its
errors), succeeds in it at the
rise of his reason.
34. As ignorance increases, so it introduces
a train of impervious
errors and evils. It spreads a magic spell
around it, as Samvara the
sorcerer showered a flux of gold dust about
him.
35. The mind makes the way to its own
destruction by its worldliness,
and acts the part of its own catastrophe or
self destruction by all its
acts.
36. The mind cares only for keeping itself
from destruction; but it is a
fool not to know beforehand its imminent
death.
37. The mind by its restless desires, hastens
itself to a painful death;
which reasonable are trying to avoid; by
their government of the mind.
(It is not right to trouble the mind with
worldly cares).
38. The mind that is purified by reason, is
purged from its volitions
and nolitions; and resigns itself to the will
of the Divine soul, which
is ever present before it.
39. The curbing of the mind, is the
magnanimity of soul, and gives rise
to liberation from pain, therefore try to
restrain your mind, and not to
give a loose rein to it.
40. The world is a vast wilderness, full of
the forests of our weal and
woe, and beset by the dragons of disease and
death on all sides: the
irrational mind is as the rampant lord of the
desert land, and drives us
anon to all sorts of dangers and difficulties.
41. As the sage ended his sermon, the day
departed to its end; and the
sun declined to the west to his evening
service. The assembly broke
after mutual salutations, and met again and
greeted each other with the
parting night and rising sun. (This is the Brahmā muhūrta or dawning
day break at 4 A.M.)
CHAPTER CIII.
ON THE NATURE OF THE MIND.
Argument. The sufferings of men of
ungovernable minds, serving
as a lesson towards the liberation of the
wise.
Some minds are seen to break-forth in
passions like the torrents of
oceans, and to heave and overflow on earth on
every side. (By the
unrestrained rage of their appetites).
2. They reduce the great to lowness, and
exalt the low also to
greatness; they make strangers of their
friends, as also friends to
strangers. (Such is the changeful state of
the human mind).
3. The mind makes a mountain of a mote by its
thought, and thinks itself
a lord with its little of a trifle. (These
are those that are puffed up
with vanity. Falsus honor juvat, non sed
mendosum and mendacem. Horace).
4. The mind being elated by the prosperity,
which attends upon it by the
will of God, spreads a large establishment
for a while, and is then
reduced to poverty in a moment at its loss.
(Fortuna nunquam perpetuo
est bona:—Good luck lasts not for ever. The
highest spoke in fortune's
wheel, may soon turn lowest. Fortuna
transmutat incertos honores.
Fortune is ever shifting her uncertain
favours).
5. Whatever things are seen in this world to
be stationary or changeful,
are all but accidents according to the state
of viewing them in that
light: Just as a passing vessel is thought
stationary by its passenger
on board, but as moving by the spectators on
the shore.
6. The mind is so changeful by the influence
of time, place, power and
nature of acts and things, that it
continually shuffles from one feeling
to another, like an actor personating his
many parts on the stage.
7. It takes the truth for untruth and its
reverse for certainty: so it
takes one thing for another, and its joy and
grief are all of its own
making (i. e. the creations of its imagination).
8. The fickle mind gets every thing according
to its own doing, and all
the actions of our hands, feet and other
members of the body, are
regulated by the same. (The mind is the mover
of bodily organs).
9. Hence it is the mind that reaps the
rewards of good or evil according
to its past acts; just as the tree bears its
fruits, according as it is
pruned and watered in time. (Reap as you
sow).
10. As the child makes a variety of his toy
dolls at home from clay, so
the mind is the maker of all its good and bad
chances, according to the
merit or demerit of its past actions.
11. Therefore the mind which is situated in
the earthen dolls of human
bodies, can do nothing of its own will,
unless it is destined so by
virtue of its former acts. (The mind that
moves the body, is itself
moved by the destiny derived from its prior
acts).
12. As the seasons cause the changes in
trees, so the mind makes
differences in the dispositions of living
beings. (As many men so many
minds, and hard to have two men of one mind).
13. The mind indulges in its sport of deeming
a span as a league, and
vice-versa of thinking a long as short, as in the case
of the
operations of our dreams and fancy.
14. A Kalpa age is shortened to a moment, and
so is a moment prolonged
to a Kalpa, by the different modes of the
mind; which is the regulator
both of the duration and distance of time and
place.
15. The perceptions of the quickness and
slowness of motion, and of much
or little in quantity, as also of swiftness
or tardiness of time, belong
to the mind and not to the dull material body
(though these sensations
are derived by means of the bodily organs).
16. So the feelings of sickness and error and
of dolor and danger, and
the passing of time and distance of place,
all rise in the mind like the
leaves and branches of trees. (From its
inborn perceptions of them).
17. The mind is the cause of all its
feelings, as water is the cause of
the sea, and the heat of fire. Hence the mind
is the source of all
things, and intimately connected with
whatever is existent in the world.
18. The thoughts that we have of the agent,
effect and instrument of
things, as also of the viewer, view and the
instrumentality of sight,
all belong to the mind.
19. The mind alone is perceived to be in
existence in the world; and its
representations of the forests and all other
things are but variations
of itself! So the thinking man sees the
substance of gold only, in all
its various formations of bangles and
bracelets, which are taken for
naught. (All objectivity is dependant on the
subjective mind, as there
is no perception of an object independent of
the mind. See identity of
the subjective and objective in the
Pantheistic Idealism of Spinoza).
CHAPTER CIV.
STORY OF A MAGIC SCENE.
Argument. Story of king Lavana and his court,
and the Advent
of a Sorcerer there.
Vasishtha said:—Hear me relate to you Rāma a
very pretty narrative,
representing the world as an enchanted city,
stretched out by magic of
the magician Mind.
2. There lies on the surface of this earth a
large and populous tract of
land by name of Northern
Pāndava, a country full of forests of various
kinds. (We know the Northern Kuru the Uttara
Kuru or Otterokoros of
Ptolemy, to be the Trans-Himalayan Tartary,
which is here termed the
North-Pāndava, from the King Pandu's rambles
and the wanderings of the
Pāndava princes in it in their exile).
3. The forests were deep and dense, and there
dwell in the fastness of
these woods a number of holy hermits; while
the Vidyādhara damsels had
wrought there many a bower of swinging
creepers (for their amusement).
4. Heaps of rubicund farina, wafted by the breeze
from full blown
lotuses, rose as high as crimson hills on the
ground; which was
decorated with wreaths and garlands by the
loads of flowers, which had
fallen thereon from the surrounding trees.
5. Groves of Karanja plants were decorated
with bundles of blossoms, to
the utmost boundaries of the jungle; and the
firmament resounded with
the rustling noise, emitted by the leafy date
trees in the villages
around.
6. There was a range of tawny rocks on one
side, and fields brown with
ripened corn on another; while the warbling
of cerulean doves—reechoed
in the resonant groves about.
7. The shrill cry of the stork resounded in
the forest, and the branches
of tamala and pātali flowers, hang down like
earrings of the hills.
8. Flocks of various birds, were making a
chorus with their vocal music;
and the blooming crimson blossoms of
pāribhadra arbors, were hanging
over the banks, all along the length of the
running streams.
9. Damsels in the cornfields, were exciting
the passion of love with
their vocal music; and the breezes blowing
amidst forests of fruits and
flowers, dropped down the blossoms in copious
showers.
10. The birds, Siddhas and seers were sitting
and singing outside their
homes of mountain caverns; and made the
valley symphonious with their
celestial strains of holy hymns.
11. The Kinnara and Gandharva concerts, were
singing under their bowers
of plantain trees; and the greyish and
gaysome groves of flowers, were
filled with the hum of the whistling breeze.
12. The lord of this romantic country, was the
virtuous Lavana, a
descendant of king Harish Chandra; and as
glorious as his sire the sun
upon earth. (This prince had descended of the
solar race).
13. His fair fame formed a white diadem to
crown his head, and adorn his
shoulders with its brightness; it whitened
the hills in the form of so
many Sivas,
besmeared with the hoary ashes upon his tufted head and
person.
14. His sword had made an end of all his
enemies; who trembled as in a
fit of fever on the hearing of his august
name.
15. His greatest exertion was devoted to the
supportance to respectable
men; and his name was uttered like that of
Hari by all his people.
16. The Apsara fairies sang with glee the
songs of his praise, sitting
in the celestial seats of the gods on the
tops of the Himalayan
mountains.
17. The regent of the skies heard with
attention, the songs of the
heavenly maids, and the aerial swans and
cranes of Brahmā, were
responsive to their eulogies with their
gabbling cries. (Dhani is the
enharmonic diapason of Indian music).
18. His uncommonly magnanimous and wonderous
acts, which were free from
the fault of niggardliness; were unlike to
any thing that was ever heard
or seen by any body.
19. His nature knew no wiliness, and it was a
perfect stranger to pride
and arrogance; he kept himself steadfast to
his magnanimity, as Brahmā
held himself fast to his rudrāksha beads.
20. He used to take his seat in the royal throne
amidst his courtiers,
as the lord of the day occupies his seat in
the sky for the eight parts
(watches) of the day. (The Ritual day is
divided into eight yamārdha
parts for particular rites and duties).
21. After he was seated there as gladly as
the moon in the firmament,
his chieftains and legions appeared before
the throne with their
salutations (and presenting of arms).
22. Then as the royal party was seated in the
court hall, beautiful
songstresses (that were in attendance), began
to sing, and ravish the
hearts of the hearers, with the music of
lutes.
23. Then a set of handsome maids, waved the
beautiful chouries which
they held in their hands, over the person of
the king: and the ministers
and counsellors, as wise as the preceptors of
the gods and demons
(Brihaspati and Sukra), took their seats
beside him.
24. The ministers were then employed in the
public affairs pending
before them; and the dextrous officers were
engaged in relating the
reports of the country to the king.
25. There were the learned pandits reciting
the holy legends from their
books, and the courteous panegyrists
chaunting their sacred eulogies on
one side.
26. There appeared at this time a magician in
his fantastic attire, and
with his blustering vauntings before the
Court; in the manner of a
roaring cloud, threatening to deluge the
earth with his showers of rain.
27. He bowed down to the ruler of the earth,
and lowly bent his capped
head and neck before the court; as a tree
hangs down its loads of
fruits, at the foot of a mountain.
28. He approached before the king, as a
monkey advances to a shady and
lofty tree, loaded with fruits and flowers.
(The artful sorcerer is
compared with the cunning monkey prying into
a fruitful arbour).
29. The flippant brat then conveyed the
fragrance of his sense, with the
breath of his mouth; and addressed the lofty
headed king with his sweet
voice, as the humble bee hums to the lotus.
30. Reign O lord! that sittest on the earthly
throne like the moon
enthroned on high, to mark one wonderful feat
of my art, known as the
trick of Kharolikikā.
31. Saying so, he began to twirl about his
magic staff set with
peacocks' feathers, which began to display
many wonders like the
wonderful works of creation.
32. The king beheld it describing a bright
circlet, emitting the
particles of its rays around; and viewed in
the manner, that the god
Indra views his variegated rainbow sparkling
afar in the sky.
33. As this time a chieftain of Sinde (who
was the master of horse),
entered the court, as a cloud appears in the
starry heaven.
34. He was followed by his swift and
beautiful courser, as the Uchcha
Sravā horse of Indra follows his master in the
celestial regions. (This
is the Pegasus of the Hindus).
35. The chieftain brought the horse before
the king and said this horse
my lord! is a match for the Uchcha Sravā, who was produced from the
milky ocean, and flies with the swiftness of
the mind.
36. This horse of mine, O king of the earth!
is the best of his kind,
and a compeer of Uchcha Sravās; he is a
personification of the wind in
the swiftness of his flight.
37. My master has made a present of this
horse to you, my lord; because
the best of things is a suitable present to
the best of men. (Great
gifts are for the great; or, a donum worthy
of the donor and donee).
38. After he had ended his speech the
magician spoke in a voice, as
sweet as that of the swallow, after the
roaring of the cloud is hushed
to silence.
39. Do you my lord ride upon this horse, and
wander at your pleasure
with full lustre on earth; as the sun shines
forth in splendour by his
revolving round the heavens.
40. Hearing this the king looked at the
horse, and ordered him to be
brought before him, in a voice like that of
the peacock answering the
roaring cloud.
41. The king saw the horse brought before him
as a figure drawn in
painting, and gazed upon him with his fixed
eyes and without closing his
eye-lids, as he was himself turned to a
painting. (A gift horse is
looked in his gait, and not in his mouth).
42. Having looked upon him for a long time,
he mounted on his back, and
sat still with his closed eye-lids, as the
sage Agastya was confounded
at the sight of the sea and its rocks.
43. He continued for a couple of hours as if
he was drowned in his
meditation, and as insensible saints remain
in the enjoyment of their
internal and spiritual stupor.
44. He remained as spell-bound and overpowered
by his own might, and
could not be roused from his stupefaction by
any body, but was absorbed
in some thoughts of his own mind.
45. The flapping chouries ceased to wave
about his person, and the
holders of the flappers remained as still as
the moon beams at night.
46. The Courtiers remained motionless at
seeing his quiescence, as when
the filaments of the lotus, remain unmoved,
by their being besmeared in
the mud.
47. The noise of the people in the Courtyard,
was all hushed and quiet;
as the roaring of the clouds is stopped at
the end of the rains.
48. The ministers were drowned in their
thoughtfulness and doubts at the
state of their king, as the host of the gods
were filled with anxiety on
seeing the club bearing Vishnu fighting with
the demons.
49. The people were struck with terror and
dismay, at seeing this
apoplexy of their prince who remained with
his closed eyes, like closed
lotuses shorn of their beauty.
CHAPTER CV.
THE BREAKING OF THE MAGIC SPELL.
Argument. Inquiry of the courtiers into the
cause of the
king's apoplexy, and his answer thereto.
Vasishtha continued:—After a couple of hours
the king returned to his
senses, like the lotus flower resuming its
beauty, after the mists of
the rainy weather are over.
2. He shook his body decorated with ornaments
upon his seat; as a
mountain shakes with its peaks and woods at
an earthquake.
3. His seat also shook under him as he came
to his sense and moved his
body, just as the seat of Siva on the Kailāsa
mountain, is shaken by the
movement of the infernal elephant.
4. As he was about to fall down from the
horseback, he was held up by
and supported upon the arms of his
attendants; as the mount Meru is kept
from falling, by the hills at its feet and
sides.
5. The attendants bore the prince, in the
deranged state of his mind
upon their arms; as the still waters of the
sea bear the figure of the
moon that is disturbed by the waves.
6. The king asked them softly saying, what
place was it and whose court
it was; as the bee shut up in the flower cup
of the lotus, asked it when
it is about to sink in the water saying:—Ah!
where am I, and where am I
going?
7. The Courtiers then respectfully asked the
king, what was the matter
with him; with a voice as sweet as the lotus
utters to the sun when he
is eclipsed by Rāhu.
8. The attendants also with all the
ministerial officers, asked him
about his case; as the gods terrified at the
great deluge, asked the
sage Mārkandeya concerning the occurrence.
9. Lord! we were greatly dismayed, said they,
upon seeing you in that
plight; because the stoutest hearts are
broken by accidents proceeding
from unknown causes.
10. What were those pleasant objects of your
desire, that had so much
bewitched your mind? Since you know that all
the objects which appear
pleasant for the present, prove to be bitter
at the end. Gaudia
principium nostri sunt saepe doloris. Ovid. Pleasure is often the
introduction to pain, and amid the roses
fierce Repentence rears her
snaky crest. Thomson. So: Pleasure is pain,
when drunk without a rein.
11. How could your clear understanding, which
has been pacified by the
grand doctrines and precepts of the wise,
fall in to the false
fascinations of the foolish? (Falsum gaudium juvat, quem nisi
mendosum. False pleasure pleases, none but the base).
12. The minds of fools are fascinated by the
trivial and tawdry trifles
of common people; but they are of no value to
the high minded as one
like yourself. (The good and great are above
the reach of the
allurements of pleasure).
13. Those who are elated by the pride of
their bodies, have their minds
always excited by ungovernable passions,
which take their lead through
life. (Pride is innate in beauty).
14. Your mind is elevated above common
things, it is calm and quiet and
enlightened by truth; and fraught with
excellent qualities; yet it is
strange to find it out of its wits.
15. The mind unpracticed to reasoning, is led
away by the currents of
time and place, but the noble-minded are not
subject to the influence of
incantations and enchanting spells.
16. It is impossible for the reasoning mind
to be weakened or deranged,
the high mind like the mount towering of
Meru, is not to be shaken by
the boisterous winds.
17. Thus consoled by his companions, the
countenance of the king resumed
its colour; as the face of the full moon
collects its brightness, in the
bright fortnight of the month.
18. The moon-like face of the king was
brightened by his full open eyes,
as the vernal season is beautified by the
blooming blossoms, after the
winter frost has passed away.
19. The king's face shone forth with
astonishment, and it was mixed with
fear, at the remembrance of the charm of the
magician; as the moon
shines pale in the sky, after her deliverance
from the shadow of an
eclipse.
20. He saw the magician and said to him with
a smile, as the serpent
takshaka addresses his enemy—the weasel.
21. You trickster, said he, what was this
snare which thou didst entrap
me in, and how was it that thou didst perturb
my tranquil soul by thy
wily trick, as a gale disturbs the calm of
the sea.
22. How wonderful are the captivating powers
of spells, which they have
derived from the Lord, and whose influence
had overpowered on the
strongest sense of my mind.
23. What are these bodies of men, that are
subject to death and disease
and what are our minds that are so susceptible
of errors, and lead us to
continued dangers.
24. The mind residing in the body, may be
fraught with the highest
knowledge, and yet the minds of the wisest of
men, are liable to errors
and illusion. (Hominis est errare. To err is human).
25. Hear ye courtiers! the wonderful tale of
the adventures, which I
passed through under this sorcery, from the
moment that I had met this
magician at first.
26. I have seen so many passing scenes in one
single moment under this
wizard, as had been shown of old by Brahmā in
his destruction of the
theurgy of Indra. (The mighty Sakra spread
his Indrajāla or the web of
his sorcery, in order to frustrate the
attempts of the valiant Bali
against him, and was at last foiled himself
by the Brahma vidyā of
Brahmā).
27. Having said so, the king began to relate
smilingly to his courtiers,
the strange wonders which he had beheld in
his state of hallucination.
28. The king said:—I beheld a region full
with objects of various
kinds, such as rivers and lakes, cities and
mountains, with many
boundary hills, and the ocean girding the
earth around.
CHAPTER CVI.
THE TALISMAN OF THE KING'S MARRIAGE WITH A
CHANDﾁLA MAIDEN.
(An Allegory of Human Depravity).
Argument. The king borne on horse-back to the
habitation of a
huntsman, and was there married to his maiden
daughter. (This
adventure resembles that of Tajul Maluk in
Gule Bākavli.)
The king related:—This land of mine abounding
in forests and rivulets,
and appearing as the miniature of this orb of
the earth. Literally:—as
the younger twin sister of the earth:—
2. This land appearing as the paradise of
Indra, of which I am the king,
and where I am now sitting in my court-hall,
amidst my courtiers and all
these citizens.
3. There appeared here yonder sorcerer from a
distant country, like a
demon rising from the infernal region on the
surface of the ground.
4. He turned round his magic-wand emitting
its radiance around, as the
tempest rends and scatters the rainbow of
Indra in fragments in the air.
5. I was looking intently at the whirling
wand, and the horse standing
before me, and then mounted on the back of
the steed in the dizziness of
my mind.
6. I sat on the back of this unmoving horse
and seemed to ride on a
fleet steed, with the swiftness of the
Pushkara and ﾁvartaka clouds,
riding over the tops of immovable rocks.
7. I then went to a chase in full speed, a
pass over an ownerless
desert, howling as the surges of the
boundless ocean.
8. I was borne afterwards with the horse in
the air, as if we were
wafted by the winds; and dashed onward like
common people, who are
carried afar by the current of the insatiable
desires of their minds.
9. Being then fatigued with my journey, and
moving slowly with my
wearied horse, I reached to the skirt of the
desert which was as vacant
as the mind of a pauper, and as empty as the
heart of a woman. (Cares
hover over roofs of wealth, and secrets from
female hearts fly by
stealth. Curae laqueata circum Tecta volantes. Hor. Cares that flutter
bat-like round fretted roofs. A woman is
never so weak as in keeping her
secrets).
10. It was as the wilderness of the world
burnt down by a conflagration,
and without even a bird flying over it. It
was as a waste of sandy
frost, and without a tree or any water in it.
(A vast desert displayed
its barren waste).
11. It appeared as another sky in its extent,
and as the eighth ocean of
the world. It was as a sea on earth with its
bed entirely dried up.
(There are in all only seven oceans in Indian
Geography, the eighth is a
myth).
12. It was as expanded as the mind of a wise
man, and as furious as the
rage of the ignorant. There was no trace of
human feet, nor track with
any grass or herb in it. (Immeasurable and
fathomless as the sapient
mind.)
13. My mind was bewildered in this boundless
desert, like that of a
woman fallen into adversity, and having no
friend or food or fruit for
her supportance. (Adversity is the canker of
the woman's breast:
asaubhagyan jvarāstrīnām).
14. The face of the sky was washed by the
waters, appearing in the
mirage of the sandy desert; and I passed
panting in that dreary spot
until it was sunset.
15. It was with great pain and sorrow, that I
passed across that vast
desert; like the wise man who goes across
this world, which is all
hollow and void within.
16. After passing this desert, I met a thick
forest beyond it, when the
sun was setting in his setting mountain with
his horse, and tired with
traversing through the hollow sphere of
heaven.
17. Here the birds were warbling amidst the jāmb and kadamba trees,
and were the only friends that the weary
travellers could meet with, in
their weary and lonesome journey.
18. Here detached plots of long grass, were
seen waving their tops; like
covetous men nodding their heads, on finding
some riches to their
heart's content. (The poor are pleased with a
little, and bow down their
heads at petty pittances).
19. This shady forest afforded me a little
joy, after my pains in the
dry and dreary desert; as a lingering disease
seems more desirable to
men, than the pains attending on death.
20. I then got under the shade of Jambīra tree, and felt myself as
pleased, as when the sage Markandeya got upon
the top of the mountain at
the great deluge. (The Ararat of Noah?).
21. Then I took shelter under the creepers,
descending from its
branches, as the scorching top of a mount,
finds a temporary shadow
under the umbrage of a dark cloud.
22. As I was hanging down with holding the
pendant roots in my hand, the
horse slided away from underneath me, as the
sins of a man glide under
him, that puts his trust in the sacred Ganges
streams. (The purificatory
power of Ganges water, resides even in the
belief of its holiness, and
does not consist only in bathing in it).
23. Fatigued with my travel of the live-long
day in the dreary waste, I
took my refuge under this tree; as a
traveller rests under the shelter
of a kalpa tree at the setting of the sun.
24. All this business of the world was
stopped, as the sun went down to
rest in the western hills (The Hindu ritual
prescribing no duty for the
night consisting of three watches—triyama rajanī).
25. As the shade of night overspread the
bosom of the universe, the
whole forest below betook itself to its
nightly rest and silence. (The
vegetable creation was known to sleep at
night by the Hindu sages).
26. I reposed myself in the grassy hollow of
a branch of that tree, and
rested my head on the mossy bed like a bird
in its nest. (Primeval men
slept in the hollow of trees like birds, for
fear of rapacious animals
in the caves of the earth below, as also in
the caverns of upland hills
and mountains).
27. I remained there as insensible as one
bitten by a snake, and as a
dead body that has lost its past remembrance.
(Sleep and death are akin
to each other—hypnos kai thanatos didumo adelpho). I was as impotent
as a sold slave; and as helpless as one
fallen in a dark ditch or blind
pit. Bought slaves krita-dāsas and their loss of liberty, were in
vogue from the earliest times in India.
([Sanskrit: andha ku [...]] = a
blind pit).
28. I passed that one night as a long Kalpa
in my senselessness; and I
thought I was buffeting in the waves like the
seer—Markandeya at the
great deluge (i. e. the body was insensible in the state of
sleep; but
the mind was active as in a dream, which
makes an age of a moment).
29. I passed the night under a train of
dangers and difficulties, that
invaded me as in the state of dreaming; and I
had no thought about my
bathing or eating or worshipping my Maker
(the mind being wholly
occupied by the objects of the dream).
30. I passed the night in restlessness and
disquiet, shaking like the
branch of a tree; and this single night of
trouble was as long as it was
tedious to me (like the time of a lingering
disease).
31. A melancholy overspread my countenance,
as darkness had veiled the
face of the night, and my waking eyes kept
watching for the day, like
blue-lotuses expecting with their watchful
eyes the rising moon.
32. The demoniac noise of wild beasts being
hushed in the forest at the
end of the night, there fell a shivering fit
on me with the clattering
of my teeth through excessive cold.
33. I then beheld the east, red with the
flush of intoxication; as if it
was laughing at seeing me drowned in my
difficulties.
34. I saw the sun advancing afterwards
towards the earth, and to mount
on his Airavata the regent elephant of that
quarter. He seemed to be so
full of glee, as the ignorant man has in his
folly, and the poor man in
obtaining a treasure.
35. Having got up from my mossy bed, I shook
off my bed cloth, like the
god Siva tossing about his elephantine hide
at his giddy dance in the
evening. (See Magh. Book I).
36. I then began to wander in the wide
forestland, as the god Rudra
roves about the wide world, after its
desolation by his demons at the
end of kalpas.
37. There was no animal of any kind to be
seen in the desolate desert,
as the good qualities of good breeding, are
never to be found in the
persons of the illiterate.
38. I saw only the lively birds, perching and
chirping all about the
woods without intermission.
39. It was then at midday, when the sun had
run his eighth hour, and the
plants had dried up the dews of their morning
baths.
40. That I beheld a damsel carrying some food
and a goblet of water, on
the way as Hari bore the poisonous liquor to
the demons in his disguise
in the shape of Mādhavī.
41. She was of a swarthy complexion, and
dressed in sable black attire;
and looked askance at me; when I advanced
towards her as the bright moon
appears towards the dark and sable night.
42. I asked her to give me some of her food
in my great distress,
because, I told her, one is enriched by
relieving the distress of the
needy.
43. O good maid; said I, increasing hunger is
consuming my bowels and I
would take any food, even as the female
serpent devours her own brood
and young, in the excess of her hunger.
(Hunger beats down the stony
wall, and impure food is pure to the hungry).
44. I begged of thee and yet thou gavest me
nothing, but dost remain as
inexorable as the goddess of fortune, who
declines to favour the
wretched, however they implore her aid.
(Fortune turns a deaf ear to the
supplications of the poor).
45. Then I kept a long time, following her
closely from one wood to
another, and clinging to her as her shadow,
moving behind her in the
afternoon.
46. She then turned to me and said:—Know me,
to be a Chandāla girl and
bearing the name of Harakeyuri; we are as
cruel as Rākshasas, and
feeders on human flesh as on those of horses
and elephants.
47. You cannot, O King! get your food by
merely your craving it of me;
as it is hard to have the favour of men,
without first meeting with
their desires.
48. Saying so, she went on trippingly at
every step, and then entered
into an arbour on the wayside and spoke
merrily unto me saying:—
49. Well, I will give you of this food, if
you will consent to be my
husband; for it is not the business of base
and common people to do good
to others, before securing their own good.
50. My Chandāla father is here ploughing in
the field, with his sturdy
yoke of bulls, and has the figure of a demon,
standing in the cemetery
with his haggardly hungry and dusky stature.
51. This food is for him, and may be given to
you, if you will agree to
espouse me; because the husband deserves to
be served even at the peril
of one's life.
52. To this I replied, I agree to take thee
to my wife, for what fool is
there that will abide by the usage of his
family, when his life is in
danger?
53. She then gave me half of the food she had
with her, as Mādhavī
parted with half of her ambrosia to the
hungry Indra of old.
54. I ate the Chandal's food, and drank the
beverage of Jambu fruits
which she gave me; and then rested at that
place, and fell to a sleep
caused by my fatigue and long walking.
55. Then she approached to me, as a black
cloud advances before the sun;
she held me in her arms, and led me onward
with her guiding hand, and as
fondly as her second self.
56. She took me to her father, a fat and ugly
fellow of a repulsive
appearance; as the tormenting agony of death,
leads a person to the
hideous cell of the devil.
57. My companion whispered to his ears the
tidings of our case, as the
black bee hums her tale softly to the ear of
an elephant (in order to
sip his frontal juice or ichor of mada-bārī).
58. This man, said she, is to be my husband,
if you, my father, will
give your consent. To this he expressed his
approval by saying—"Vādham
be it so" by the end of this day (when
marriage rites usually take place
and is called godhuli, or the dusty dusk of
returning herds from their
pasture grounds).
59. He loosened the bulls from their yoke, as
the regent of death
releases his hell hounds. And it was in the
dusk of the day, when the
sky was obscured by the evening mist, and
rising dust of godhuli, that
we were dismissed from the demons' presence,
to take our own way.
60. We passed the great jungle in a short
time, and reached the
Chandāla's abode in the evening; as the
demons pass amidst the funeral
ground, to rest in their charnel vaults at
night.
61. The dwelling had on one side, the
slaughtered monkeys, cocks and
crows; and swarms of flies flying over them,
and sucking the blood
sprinkled over the ground.
62. The moist entrails and arteries of the
slaughtered beasts, that were
hung up to be dried in the sun; were chased
by the ravenous birds of the
air, that kept hovering over them; while
flocks of birds fluttered over
the Jambira trees (to pick up the fruits for their food).
63. There were heaps of fat laid up to be
dried in the portico, and
ravenous birds flying over them; and the
skins of the slain animals,
which were besmeared with blood, lay in piles
before their sight.
64. Little children had bits of flesh in
their hands, beset by buzzing
flies; and there were the veteran Chandālas,
sitting by and rebuking the
boys.
65. We then entered the house scattered with
disgusting entrails and
intestines about, and I thought myself as the
ghost of a dead man
standing beside the regent of death.
66. I had then a seat of a big plantain leaf,
given to me with due
respect, in order to be seated as a welcome
guest, in the abominable
abode of my new-earned father-in-law.
67. My squint eyed mother-in-law then eyed at
me, with her blood-red
eyeballs; and muttered with gladness in her
look, "is this our would be
son-in-law?"
68. Afterwards we sat on some seats of skin,
and I partook of the repast
which was served before me, as the reward of
my sins (i. e. this
fare
was as unpalatable, as the requital of one's
crimes).
69. I heard there many of those endearing
words, which were the seeds of
endless misery; as also many such speeches
that were unpleasant to my
mind, for their being of no benefit to me.
70. Afterwards, it came to pass on one day,
when the sky was cloudless
and the stars were shining; that they
presented a dowry of cloths and
other articles before me (as dānadravya).
71. With these they made over that frightful
maiden to me, and we were
joined together as black and white, and as
sin and its torment together
(i. e. she was given to torment me for my past
sins).
72. The flesh-eating Chandālas, festivated
the marriage ceremony with
profusion of wine and loud shouts of joy;
they beat their sounding
tomtoms with merriment, as wicked men delight
in carrying on the acts of
their vileness. (The giddy mirth of the
rabble, is compared with the
revelry of the riotous).
CHAPTER CVII.
DESCRIPTION OF A TRAIN OF DANGERS.
Argument. The King's residence at the Chandāla's
abode and his
adventures during sixty years at that place.
The king continued:—What more shall I say of
that festivity, which had
quite subdued my soul? I was thenceforward
named as Pushta-Pukkusha or
cherished Chandāla by my fellows.
(Beng-ghar-jāmāi or home-bred
bridegroom).
2. After the festivity had lasted for a week,
and I had passed full
eight months at that place; my wife had her
pubertal efflorescence, and
afterwards her conception also (garbhādhāna
and garbha).
3. She was delivered of a daughter which is
the cause of woe, as a
danger is the spring of calamities. (The
parallel passage is well known
dārikā dukhkha dāyika, a daughter is the source of grief). This
daughter grew up as soon as the growth of the
cares and sorrows of the
ignorant. (The wise neither care nor sorrow
for any earthly matter).
4. She brought forth again a black boy in
course of three years; as the
fruit of folly raises the false expectation
of fruition (i. e. We are
often frustrated in our hopes in our boys).
5. She again gave birth to a daughter and
then to another boy; and thus
I became an old Chandāla, with a large family
in that forest land.
6. In this manner passed many years with
these shoots of my woe in that
place; as a Brahmicide has to pass long years
of torment in hell-fire.
(Here is a piece of priestcraft in the
augmented torment for killing a
Brāhman as any other man).
7. I had to undergo all the pains of heat and
cold, of chill-winds and
frost, without any help to be had in that
dreary forest; and as an old
tortoise is constrained to move about in the
mud of a pool for ever.
8. Being burthen with the cares of my family,
and troubled by anxieties
of my mind; I saw my increasing afflictions
like a conflagration rising
all about me.
9. Clad in bark and wrapt in old and ragged
cloths, with a covering of
grass and a straw hat on my head, I bore loads
of logs from the woods;
as we bear the burden of sins on our backs
and heads. (See Bunyan's
Pilgrim's Progress).
10. I had to pass full many a live-long year,
under the shade of
dhavalī trees; with no other cloth or covering on me
than an old
tattered, dirty and stinking Kaupina, which was beset by flees and
leeches. (Kaupina a piece of rag covering the
lower secret parts of the
body as that of Fakirs and Yogis).
11. I was exposed to the chill cold winds, in
all my toils to support my
family; and lay like a frog in some cave in
the woods, under the keen
blasts of winter.
12. The many quarrels and bickerings, and the
sorrows and wailings, to
which I was often exposed at home and abroad,
made my blood to gush out
in tears from my weeping eyes.
13. We passed the nights on marshy grounds in
the jungle, and being
deluged by the raining clouds, we took our
shelter in the caverns of
mountains, with no other food than the
roasted flesh of bears.
14. Afterwards the rainy season of sowing
being over, and the dark
drizzling clouds having dispersed in air, I
was driven from my abode, by
the unkindness of my relations and continued
contention with others.
15. Being thus in dread of every body in the
neighbourhood, I removed
myself to the house of another man, where I
dwelt with my wife and
prattling children for some years.
16. Then vexed by the scolding of the
termagant Chandālī, and the
threats of the villainous Chandālas; my face
became as pale as the
waning moon under the shadow of Rāhu (the
ascending node).
17. I was bit and scratched by the teeth and
nails of my wife, as if my
flesh and muscles were torn and gnawed down under
the grinders of a
tigress; and I was as one caught by or sold
to a hellish fiend, and
thought myself as changed to an infernal
being also.
18. I suffered under the torrents of snow
thrown out of the caverns of
the Himālaya, and was exposed to the showers
of frost, that fell
continually in the dewy season.
19. I felt on my naked body the iron shafts
of rain, as darts let fly
from the bow of death; and in my sickly and
decrepit old age, I had to
live upon the roots of withered vegetables.
20. I dug them out plentifully from the
woodland grounds and eat them
with a zest, as a fortunate man has in
tasting his dainty dishes of well
cooked meat.
21. I took my food apart and untouched by any
body, for fear of being
polluted by the touch of a vile and base born
family; and because the
pungency of my unsavoury diet, made my mouth
wry at every morsel.
22. While I was famishing in this manner, I
saw others had their venison
and sheep's flesh bought from other places
for their food; and who
pampered their bodies also with the flesh
they cut out from other living
animals and devoured raw with great zest.
23. They bought animal flesh sold in iron
pots and stuck in spits, for
undergoing migrations into as many thousand
bodies as they have killed
and fed upon. (This is the Pythagorean
doctrine of metempsychosis of the
soul, as described in Goldsmith's Citizen of
the world).
24. I often repaired to the garden grounds of
the Chandālas, with my
spade and basket in the cool of the evening,
in order to collect the raw
flesh, which had been cast about in the dirt,
for making any food of
them.
25. But the time seemed to turn favourable to
me, when I was about to be
cast into hell, by leading me to take refuge
of the mountain caverns,
and seek my supportance there by the roots
and plants growing therein.
26. In this state, I was met by my good
chance, on some Chandālas
appearing in person before me, and driving
away the village dogs with
their clubs from before them (to the woods).
27. They gave my wife and children some bad
rice as the villagers used
to take, and we passed the night under the
shade of a palm tree, whose
withered leaves were rattling with the rain
drops, that fell in showers
upon them.
28. We passed the night in company with the
sylvan apes, with our teeth
clattering with cold; and the hairs of our
bodies standing on their
ends, like a thousand thorns through
coldness.
29. The rain drops decorated our bodies with
granules of vivid pearls,
and our bellies were as lean and lank like an
empty cloud through hunger
and for want of food.
30. Then there rose a quarrel in this direful
forest, between me and my
wife; and we kept answering one another, with
our clattering teeth and
ruddy eyes by effect of the cold.
31. My foul and dirty person resembled that
of a dark black demon, and
we roved about the borders of rivers and
brooks, to fish with a rod and
hook in my hand.
32. I wandered also with a trap in my hand,
like Yama with his noose at
the desolation of the earth; and caught and
killed and drank the heart
blood of the deer in my hunger and thirst.
33. I sucked the warm heart blood, as the
milk of my mother's breast, at
the time of famishing; and being besmeared in
blood, I stood as a blood
sucking demon in the cemetery.
34. The Vetālas of the woods fled before me,
as they do from the furies
of the forests; and I set my snares and nets
in the woods, for catching
the deer and birds of the air.
35. As people spread the nets of their wives
and children, only to be
entangled in them in the false hope of
happiness; so did I spread my net
of thread, to beguile the birds to their
destruction.
36. Though worried and worn out in the nets
of worldly cares, and
surrounded on every side by the miseries of
our vicious lives; yet do
our minds take their delight, in the
perpetration of cruel and foul acts
(to the injury of others).
37. Our wishes are stretched as far and wide,
as a running river
overflows its banks in the rainy season; but
the objects of our desires
fly afar from us, as snakes hide themselves
from the snake eating
Karabhas by their own sagacity. (The Karabha is a
quadruped of the
weasel kind, and is called gohadgel—in Bengali).
38. We have cast off kindness from our
hearts, as the snake leaves off
his slough; and take a delight to let fly the
hissing arrows of our
malice, as the thunder storm betides all
animals.
39. Men are delighted at the sight of cooling
clouds, at the end of the
hot season; but they avoid at a distance the
rough briny shore spreading
wide before them. (So men hail their
happiness, and avoid their
troubles).
40. But I underwent many a difficulty, which
multiplied as thickly upon
me, as the weeds growing in dales; and I
moved about all the corners of
that hellish spot, during my destined time.
(What is decreed, cannot be
avoided).
41. I have sown the seeds of sin under the
rain-water of my ignorance,
to grow speedily as thorns on my way. I have
laid hidden snares for the
unwary innocent, to secure myself in the
mountain caves.
42. I have caught and killed the innocent
deer in the trap; to feed upon
its flesh; and have killed the chowry kine, to lay my head on the hair
hanging down their necks.
43. I slept unconscious of myself in my
ignorance, as Vishnu lay on his
huge hydra; I lay with my out-stretched legs
and limbs in the brown
cell, resounding to the yell of wild beasts
abroad.
44. I lay my body also, on the frost of a
cave in the marshy ground of
Vindhyā; and wrapped my swarthy form in a
tattered quilt, hanging down
my neck and full of fleas.
45. I bore it on my back, as a bear bears the
long bristles upon him
even in the hot season; and suffered the heat
of the wild fire, which
burnt away many wild animals which perished
in groups as in the last
conflagration of the world.
46. My wife bore her young ones, both for our
pleasure as well as pain:
as the food of the glutton, is both for his
satiety and sickness; and
the influence of planets, is for our good and
evil also.
47. Thus I the only son of a king, had to
pass sixty painful years of my
life, as so many kalpa ages of long duration.
48. I raved sometimes in my rage, and wept at
others in my bitter grief;
I fared on coarse meals, and dwelt, alas! in
the abodes of vulgar
Chandālas. Thus I passed so many years of my
misery at that place, as
one fastened to the fetters of his insatiable
desires, is doomed to toil
and moil for naught until his death. (Bound
to our desires, we are
dragged to the grave).
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to Brahmasri Sreemaan Vihari Lala Mitra ji for the
collection)
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