The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki
The only complete English translation is
by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891).
Volume 4
Nirvana Prakarana
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
Volume 4, part 1-2
Nirvána Prakarana
YOGA VÁSISHTHA.
UTTARÁDHA
OR THE LATTER HALF OR SUPPLIMENT[**SUPPLEMENT]
TO THE
NIRVÁNA PRAKARANA.
CHAPTER I.
ON UNINTENTIONAL ACTS AND ACTIONS.
Argument:--The manner how the liberated should conduct
themselves
in life, with renunciation of their egoism and selfish
desires.
Ráma rejoined:--The renunciation of the notion of one's
personality or egoism in his own person, being attended
by its attendant evil of inertness and inactivity (lit.
want of
acts), it naturally brings on a premature decay and
decline,
and the eventual falling off of the body in a short time:
how
then is it possible sir, for an indifferent person of
this kind, to
practice his actions and discharge the active duties of
life, (as
you preached in your last lecture?).
2. Vasishtha replied:--It is possible Ráma, for the
living
person to resign his false ideas and not for one that is
dead
and gone; (because the life of a man is independent of
his
notions; while the notions are dependant on his life).
Hear me
now to expound this truth, and it will greatly please
your ears:
(lit. it will be an ornament to your ears).
3. The idea of one's egoism (or his personality in own
person),
is said to be an idealism by idealists; but it is the
conception
of the signification of the word air or vacuity (which is
the essence of the Deity), that is represented as the
repudiation
of that erroneous notion.
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4. The idealists represent the sense of all substances,
as a
creation of the imagination, while it is the idea of a
pure
vacuum which they say to be the resignation of this
erroneous
conception. (The vacuistic Vasishtha treats here in
length
of the nullity of all substances, and the eternity of all
pervading
vacuum, and establishes the doctrine of the nothingness
of the world and its God).
5. The idea of any thing in the world as something in
reality,
is said to be mere imaginary by the best and wisest of
men;
but the belief of all things as an empty nothing,
displaces the
error of thought from the mind. Since all things are
reduced
to and return to nothing, it is this alone which is the
ever
lasting something. (Ullum est nullum, et nullum est
ullum).
6. Know thy remembrance of anything, is thy imagination
of it only, and its forgetfulness alone is good for thee;
therefore
try to blot out all thy former impressions from thy mind,
as if they were never impressed on it.
7. Efface from thy mind the memory of all thou hast felt
or unfelt (i. e. fancied), and remain silent and secluded
like a
block after thy forgetfulness of all things whatsoever.
8. Continue in the practice of thy continuous actions,
with
an utter oblivion of the past; (nor [**[do you]] need the
assistance of thy
memory of the past, in the discharge of thy present
duties);
because thy habit of activity is enough to conduct thee
through
all the actions of thy life, as it is the habit of a
half-sleeping
baby to move its limbs (without its consciousness of the
movements).
(Such is the force of habit, says the maxim
Abhyasto-papatti-[**--]habit
is second nature).
9. It requires no design or desire on the part of an
actor
to act his part, whereto he is led by the tenor of his
prior
propensities (of past lives); as a potter's wheel is
propelled by
the pristine momentum, without requiring the application
of
continued force for its whirling motion. So O sinless
Ráma! mind
our actions to be under the direction of our previous
impressions,
and not under the exertion of our present efforts.
10. Hence inappetency has become the congenial tendency
of your mind, without its inclination to the
gratification of its
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appetites. The leanings of men to particular pursuits,
are
directed by the current of their previous propensities.
The
predisposition of the mind, is said to be the cause of
the formation
of the character and fortune of a man in his present
state,
(which is otherwise said to be the result of his
predestination)
which runs as a stream in wonted course, and carries all
men
as straws floating along with its tide.
11. I am proclaiming it with a loud voice and lifted
arms,
and yet no body will hearken unto me when I say that,
want
of desire is our supreme bliss and summum bonum, and yet
why
is it that none would perceive it as such?[**question
mark is in printed copy]
12. O the wonderous[**wondrous] power of illusion! that
it makes men
to slight their reason, and throw away the richest jewel
of their
mind, from the chest of their breast wherein it is
deposited.
13. The best way to inappetence, is the ignoring and abnegation
of the phenominals[**phenomenals] which I want you to do;
and know
that your disavowal of all is of the greatest boon to
you, as
you will be best able to perceive in yourself.
14. Sitting silent with calm content, will lead you to
that
blissful state, before which your possession of an empire
will
seem insignificant, and rather serving to increase your
desire
for more. (The adage says:--No one has got over the ocean
of his ambition, neither an Alexander nor a
Cesar[**Caesar]).
15. As the feet of a traveller are in continued motion,
until
he reaches to his destination; so are the body and mind
of the
avaricious in continual agitation, unless his inappetence
would
give him respite from his incessant action.
16. Forget and forsake your expectation of fruition of
the
result of your actions, and allow yourself to be carried
onward
by the current of your fortune, and without taking
anything
to thy mind; as a sleeping man is insensibly carried on
by his
dreams.
17. Stir yourself to action as it occurs to you, and
without
any purpose or desire of yours in it, and without your
feeling any
pain or pleasure therein; let the current of the business
conduct
you onward, as the current of a stream carries down a
straw in
its course.
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18. Take to thy heart no pleasure or pain, in the
discharge
of the work in which thou art employed; but remain
insensible
of both like a wooden machine which works for others.
(Because,
says the commentary, it is the dull head of people only,
that
are elated or dejected in the good or bad turns of the
affairs of
life).
19. Remain insensible of pleasure or pain, in thy body
and
mind and all the organs of senses; like the sapless trees
and plants
in winter, when they bear their bare trunks without the
sensitiveness
of their parts.
20. Let the sun of thy good understanding, suck up the
sensibility of thy six external senses, as the solar rays
dry up
the moisture of winter plants; and continue to work with
the
members of thy body, as an engine is set to work. (Work
as a
brute with thy bodily powers or as a machine with its
mechanical
forces; but keep thy inner mind aloof from thy outer
drudgeries).
21. Restrain thy intellectual pleasures from their
inclination
to sensual gratifications, and retain thy spiritual joy
in thyself,
for the support of thy life; as the ground retains the
roots of
trees in it very carefully in winter for their growth in
the
season of spring.
22. It is the same whether you continually gratify or not
the cravings of your senses, they will continue insatiate
notwithstanding all your supplies, and the vanities of
the world
will profit you nothing.
23. If you move about continually like a running stream,
or as the continuous shaking of the water in an aerostatic
or
hydraulic engine, and be free from every desire and
craving of
your mind, you are then said to advance towards your
endless
felicity: (so the adge[**adage] is:--All desire is
painsome[**painful], and its want
is perfect freedom).
24. Know this as a trancendent[**transcendent] truth, and
capable of
preventing all your future
trasmigrations[**transmigrations] in this world, that
you become accustomed to the free agency of all your
actions,
without being dragged to them by your desires.
25. Pursue your business as it occurs to you, without any
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desire or purpose of your own towards its object; but
continue
to turn about your callings, as the potter's wheel
revolves round
its fulcrum.
26. Neither have in view the object of your action, nor
the
reward of your action; but know it to be equally alike
whether
you refrain from action, or do it without your desire of
fruition.
27. But what is the use of much verbiology[**verbosity], when
it can be
expressed in short and in a few words, that the desire of
fruition
is the bondage of your soul, and your relinquishment of
it is
fraught with your perfect freedom.
28. There is no business whatever for us in this world,
that
must be done or abandoned by us at any time or place;
every
thing is good that comes from the good God, therefore sit
you
quiet with your cold indifference as before the
occurrence of
any event.
29. Think thy works as no works, and take thy abstinence
from action for thy greatest work, but remain as quiet
in your mind in both your action and inaction, as the
Divine
Intellect is in ecstasies amidst the thick of its action.
30. Know the unconsciousness of all things to be the
true trance-yoga, and requiring the entire suppression of
the
mental operations. Remain wholly intent on the Supreme
spirit, until thou art one and the same with it.
31. Being indentified[**identified] with that tranquil
and subtile spirit,
and divested of the sense of dualism or existence of
anything
else; nobody can sorrow for ought[**aught], when he is
himself absorbed
in his thought, in the endless and pure essence of God.
32. Let no desire rise in thy indifferent mind, like a
tender
germ sprouting in the sterile desert soil; nor allow a
wish to
grow in thee, like a slender blade shooting in the bosom
of a
barren rock.
33. The unconscious and insensible saint, derives no good
or evil by his doing or undoing of any deed or duty in
his living
state, nor in his next life. (Duties are not binding on
the holy
and devout sages and saints).
34. There is no sense of duty nor that of its dereliction
neither, in the minds of the saintly Yogis, who always
view the
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equality of all things and acts; and never consider their
deeds
as their own doings, nor think themselve[**themselves] as
the agents of their
own actions.
35. The consciousness of egoism and the sense of
meiety[**meity]
of selfishness, will never release a man from the
miseries of
life; it is his unconsciousness of these, that can only
save him
from all sorrow, wherefore it lies in the option of every
body, to
choose for him either of these as he may best like.
36. There is no other ego or meiety[**meity] excepting
that of the one
self-existent and omniform Deity; and besides the essence
of
this transcedent[**transcendent] being, it is hard to
account anything of the
multifarious things that appear to be otherwise than
Himself.
37. The visible world that appears so vividly to our sight,
is
no more than the manifestation of the One Divine Essence
in
many, like the transformation of gold in the multiform
shapes
of jewels; but seeing the continual decay and
disappearance of
the phenomenals, we ignore their seperate[**separate]
existence. We confess
the sole existence of the One that lasts after all and
for ever.
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CHAPTER II.
BURNING OF THE seeds of Action FOR PREVENTION
OF THEIR VEGITATION[**VEGETATION].
Argument:--Concerning the seeds and fruits of action, and
the mode
of their extirpation by the root.
Vasishtha continued:--Think not of unity or duality,
but remain quite calm and quiet in thy spirit and as
cold hearted as the dank mud and mire, as the worlds are
still
with unstirry[**unstirring/unstirred] spirit of the
divinity working in them. (This
is a lesson of incessant work without any stir and
bustle).
2. The mind with its understanding and egoism and all its
thoughts, are full of the divine spirit in its diversified
forms
(vivarta-rupa); and time and its motion and all sound,
force
and action, together with all modes of existence, are but
manifestations
of the Divine Essence.
3. The Divine Spirit, being of the form of gelatinous mud
(or plastic nature), all things with their forms and
colours, and
the mind and all its functions also, upon its own mould
of endless
shapes and types beyond the comprehension of men.
4. It is the Divine Essence which forms its own substance
as upon a mould of clay, the patterns and forms and the
shapes
of all things, together with the measurements of space
and
time and the position of all the quarters and regions of
the
earth and heavens; so all things existent or inexistent,
are
the produce and privation of the formative mud and mould
of
the Divine Spirit.
5. Do you remain indifferent about the essence of your
egoism and selfishness, which is no other than that of
the
Supreme Spirit; and live unconcerned with everything,
like
a dumb insect in the bosom of stone. (This is the Vajra-Kita,
which perforates the sálagram stone in the river Gandak
in
Behar). (The dumbness of silent munis was occasioned by
their
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inability to speak with certainty anything regarding the
abstruse
spiritual subjects).
6. Ráma asked:--Sir, if the false knowledge of egoism and
selfishness, be wanting in the wise and God knowing man,
then how comes it, that the dereliction and renunciation
of his
duties, will entail any guilt or evil upon him, and his
full
observance of them, is attended with any degree of merit
or
reward? (This is the main question of the necessity of
the
observance of dutious[**duteous] and pious acts by the
wise, which is
after so long mooted by Ráma, in continuation of the last
subject under discussion).
7. Vasishtha replied:--I will ask you also one question,
O sinless Ráma! and you should answer it soon, if you
understand
well what is rightly meant by the term duty and that of
activity.
8. Tell me what is the root of action and how far it
extends,
and whether it is destructible at last or not, and how it
is totally
destroyed at the end.
9. Ráma replied:--Why sir, whatever is destructible must
come to be destroyed at last, by means of the act of
rooting
it out at once, and not by the process of lopping the
branches
or cutting off the tree.
10. The acts of merit and demerit are both to be
destroyed,
together with their results of good and evil; and this is
done
by irradicating[**eradicating] and extirpating them
altogether.
11. Hear me tell you, sir, about the roots of our deeds,
by
the rooting out of which the trees of our actions are
wholly
extirpated, and are never to vegitate[**vegetate] or grow
forth any more.
12. I ween sir, the body of ours to be the tree of our
action,
and has grown out in the great garden of this world, and
is
girt with twining creepers of various kinds. (i. e. The
members
of the body).
13. Our past acts are the seeds of this tree, and our
weal
and woe are the fruits with which it is fraught; it is verdant
with the verdure of youth for a while, and it smiles with
its
white blossoms of the grey hairs and the pale complexion
of
old age.
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14. Destructive death lurks about this tree of the body
every moment, as the light-legged monkey lights upon
trees
to break them down; it is engulphed in the womb of sleep,
as the tree is overwhelmed under the mists of winter, and
the flitting dreams are as the falling leaves of trees.
15. Old age is the autumn of life, and the decaying
wishes
are as the withered leaves of trees, and the wife and
members
of the family, are as thick as grass in the wilderness of
the
world.
16. The ruddy palms and soles of the hands and feet, and
the other reddish parts of the body, (as the tongue and
lips),
resemble the reddening leaves of this tree; which are
continually
moving in the air, with the marks of slender lines upon
them.
17. The little reddish fingers with their flesh and
bones,
and covered by the thin skin and moving in the air, are
as the
tender shoots of the tree of the human body.
18. The soft and shining nails, which are set in rows
with
their rounded forms and sharpened ends, are like the
moon-bright
buds of flowers with their painted heads.
19. This tree of the body is the growth of the ripened
seed
of the past acts of men; and the organs of action are the
knotty and crooked roots of this tree.
20. These organs of action are supported by the bony
members
of the body, and nourished by the sap of human food;
they are fostered by our desires, resembling the pith and
blood
of the body.
21. Again the organs of sense supply those of action with
their power of movement, or else the body with the
lightness
of all its members from head to foot, would not be actuated
to action without the sensation of their motion. (Hence a
dead or sleeping man having no sensation in him, has not
the use or action of his limbs).
22. Though the five organs of sense, grow apart and at
great distances from one another, like so many branches
of
this tree of the body; they are yet actuated by the
desire of
the heart, which supplies them with their sap.
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23. The mind is the great trunk of this tree, which comprehends
the three worlds in it, and is swollen with the sap
which it derives from them through its five fold organs
of sense;
as the stem of a tree thrive with the juice it draws by
the
cellular fibres of its roots.
24. The living soul is the root of the mind, and having
the intellect ingrained, it is always busy with its
thoughts,
which have the same intellect for their root; but the
root of
all these is the One Great Cause of all.
25. The intellect has the great Brahma, which has no
cause
of itself; and which having no designation or termination
of
it, is truth from the purity of its essence,
26. The consciousness of ourselves in our egoism, is the
root of all our actions; and the internal thought of our
personal
entity is the root of our energy, and gives the impulse
to
all our actions. (Therefore as long as one has the
knowledge
of his personality, he is prone to action, and without
it, every
body is utterly inert).
27. It is our percipience, O Sage, which is said to be
the
source and root of our actions and whenever there is this
principle in the mind, it causes the body to grow in the
form
of the big Sirsapatra. (It is the intellect which is both
the
living soul as well as its percipience).
28. When this percipience otherwise called consciousness
(of the soul), is accompanied with the thoughts (of
egoism and
personality in the mind), it becomes the seed of action;
otherwise
mere consciousness of the self is the state of the
supreme
soul.
29. So also when the intellect is accompanied with its
power
of intellection, it becomes the source and seed of
action; or
else it is as calm and quiet as it is the nature of the
Supreme
soul. (The self-perception and pure intelligence, are
attributes
of the Divine soul, and not productive of action; but
these
in company with the operations of the mind, become the
causes
of the activity of both).
30. Therefore the knowledge of one's personality in his
own
person, is the cause of his action, and this causality of
action, as
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I have said herein, is quite in conformity with your
teachings
to me.
31. Vasishtha said:--Thus Ráma, action in the
descrite[**discreet]
being based on the knowledge of one's personality; it is
no way
possible to avoid our activity, as long as the mind is
situated
in the body, and has the knowledge of its personality.
32. Whoever thinks of anything, sees the same both within
as well as without himself; and whether it is in reality
or not
yet the mind is possessed with chimera of it.
33. Again whoever thinks of nothing, verily escapes from
the error of mistaking a chimera for reality; but whether
the
reality is a falsity, or the falsity of anything is a
sober reality,
is what we are not going to discuss about at present.
34. It is this thinking principle, which presents the
shadow
of something within us, and passes under the various
designations
of will or desire, the mind and its purpose likewise.
35. The mind resides in the bodies of both rational as
well
as irrational beings, and in both their waking and
sleeping
states; it is impossible therefore, to get rid of it by
any body
at any time.
36. It is neither the silence nor inactivity of a living
body,
that amounts to its refraining from action, so long as
the mind is
busy with its thoughts; but it is only the unmindfulness
of the
signification of the word action, that amounts to one's
forbearance
from acts.
37. It is the freedom of one's volition or choice either
to do
or not to do anything that is meant to make one's action
or
otherwise; therefore by avoiding your option in the doing
of an
act you avoid it altogether; otherwise there is no other
means
of avoiding the responsibility of the agent for his own
acts;
(except that they were done under the sense of compulsion
and not of free choice. Gloss).
38. Nobody is deemed as the doer of an act, who does not
do it by his deliberate choice; and the knowledge of the
unreality
of the world, leads to the ignoring of all action also.
(If
nothing is real, then our actions are unreal also).
39. The ignoring of the existence of the world, is what
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makes the renunciation of it; and the renunciation of all
associations and connections, is tantamount to one's
liberation
from them. The knowledge of the knowable One, comprehends
in it the knowledge of all that is to be known. (Because
the One
is all, and all existence is comprised in that only
knowable One).
40. There being no such thing as production, there is no
knowledge of anything whatever that is produced; abandon
therefore your eagerness to know the knowable forms (of
things),
and have the knowledge of the only invisible One.
41. But there is no knowing whatever of the nature and
actions of the quiescent spirit of Brahma, its action is
its
intellection only, which evolves itself in the form of an
infinite
vacuum; (showing the shapes of all things as in a
mirror).
42. "That utter insensiblity[**insensibility] is
liberation," is well known
to the learned as the teaching of the Veda; hence no one
is
exempted from action, as long as he lives with his
sensible body.
43. Those who regard action as their duty, are never
released
from their subjection to the root (principle) of action;
and
this root is the consciousness of the concupicent[**concupiscent]
mind of its
own actions. (The desire is the motive of actions, and
the
consciousness of one's deeds and doings, is the bondage
of the
soul. Or else a working man[**space added] is liberated,
provided he is devoid
of desire and unmindful of his actions).
44. It is impossible, O Ráma, to destroy this bodiless
consciousness,
without the weapon of a good understanding; it lies so
very deep in the mind, that it continually nourishes the
roots
of action.
45. When by our great effort, we can nourish the seed of
conscience, why then we should not be able to destroy the
keen conscience by the same weapon that is effort.
46. In the same manner, we can destroy also the tree of
the
world with its roots and branches.
47. That One is only existent, which has no sensation and
is no other than of the form of an endless
vaccum[**vacuum]; it is that
unintelligible vacuous form and pure intelligence itself,
which
is the pith and substance of all existence.
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CHAPTER III.
DISAPPEARANCE OF THE PHENOMINALS[**PHENOMENALS].
Argument:--Admonition for ignoring the visibles, and the
means of
attaining the insensibility and inactivity of the wise.
Ráma said:--Tell me, O Sage, how it may be possible to
convert our knowledge to ignorance, since it is
impossible
to make a nothing of something, as also to make anything
out of a nothing.
2. Vasishtha replied:--Verily a nothing or unreality,
cannot
be something in reality; nor a real something can become
an
unreal nothing; but in any case where both of these (viz;
reality
as well as unreality of a thing) are possible, there the
cognition
and incognition of something, are both of them equally
palpable
of themselves. (This is termed a Chátushkotika Sunsaya or
quadruplicate apprehension of something, consisting, of
the
reality or unreality of a thing, and the certainty or
uncertainty
of its knowledge).
3. The two senses of the word knowledge (i. e. its
affirmative
and negative senses) are apparent in the instance of
"a rope
appearing as a snake": here the knowledge of the
rope is
certain, but that of the snake is a mistake or error. And
so
in the case of a mirage presenting the appearance of
water.
(Here the things snake and water prove to be nothing, and
their knowledge as such, is converted to error or want of
knowledge).
4. It is better therefore to have no knowledge of these
false
appearances, whose knowledge tends to our misery only;
wherfore[**wherefore]
know the true reality alone, and never think of the
unreal
appearance. (Do not think the visibles either as real or
unreal,
but know the deathless spirit that lies hid under them).
5. The conception of the sense of sensible perceptions,
is
the cause of woe of all living beings; therefore it is
better to
root out the sense of the perceptibles from the mind, and
rely
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in the knowledge of the underlying universal soul only.
(Taking
the particulars in the sense of individual souls, is the
cause
of misery only).
6. Leaving aside the knowledge of parts, and the sense of
your perception of all sensible objects, know the whole
as one
infinite soul, in which you have your rest and nirvána
extinction.
7. Destroy all your acts of merit and demerit, by the
force
of your discrimination; and your knowledge of the
evanescence
of your deeds, aided by your knowledge of truth, will
cause the
consummation of Yoga (Siddhi).
8. By rooting out the reminiscence of your acts, you put
a stop to their results and your course in the world; and
if you
succeed to gain the object of your search (i. e. your
spiritual
knowledge), by means of your reason, you have no more any
need of your action.
9. The divine intellect, like the Belfruit, forms within
itself its pith and seeds (of future worlds), which lie
hid in it,
and never burst out of its bosom. (So all things are
contained
in divine mind).
10. As a thing contained in its container, is not
separate
from the containing receptacle, so all things that lie in
the
womb of space, are included in the infinite space of the
universal
soul (or the divine mind) which encompasses the endless
vacuity in it.
11. And as the property of fluidity, is never distinct
from
the nature of liquids; so the thoughts (of all created
things),
are never apart from the thinking principle of the Divine
mind.
(The words Chittam and Chittwam, and their meanings of
the thought and mind, appertain to their common root the
chit or intellect with which they are alike in sound and
sense).
12. Again as fluidity is the inseparable property of
water,
and light is that of fire; so the thoughts and thinking,
inhere
intrinsically in the nature of the Divine Intellect, and
not as
its separable qualities.
13. Intellection is the action of the intellect, and its
privation gives rise to the chimeras of error in the
mind;
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there is no other cause of error, nor does it last unless
it rises
in absence of reason.
14. Intellection is the action of the intellect, as
fluctuation
is that of the wind; and it is by means of their
respective
actions, that we have our perceptions of them. But when
the
soul ceases from action, then both of these (viz: our
intellection
and perceptions) are at a utter stop within and without
us. (i.e. The soul is the prime mover of our inward and
outward
senses).
15. The body is the field and scope of our actions, and
our egoism spreads itself over the world; but our
insensibility
and want of egoism, tend to put away the world from us as
want of force puts down the breeze.
16. Insensibility of the body and mind, renders the
intelligent soul, as dull as a stone; therefore root out
the world
from thy mind, as a boar uproots a plant with its tusk;
(by
means of your insensibility of it, and the full sense of
God
alone in thee).
17. In this way only, O Ráma, you can get rid of the
seed vessel of action in your mind; and there is no other
means of enjoying the lasting peace of your soul besides
this.
18. After the germinating seed of action is removed from
the mind, the wise man loses the sight of all temporal
objects,
in his full view of the holy light of God.
19. The holy saints never seek to have, nor dare to
avoid or leave any employment of their own choice or
will;
(but they do whatever comes in their way, knowing it as
the
will of God and must be done). They are therefore said to
be
of truely[**truly] saintly souls and minds, who are
strangers to the
preference or rejection of anything: (lit. to the
acceptance or
avoidance of a thing).
20. Wise men sit silent where they sit and live as they
live, with their hearts and minds as vacant as the
vacuous sky;
they take what they get, and do what is destined to them
as
they are unconscious of doing them. (The vacant mind
without
any care or thought, is like a clear mirror the untainted
seat of the Holy God).
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21. As sediments are swept away by the current of the
stream, so the saintly and meek minded men are moved to
action by a power not their own; they act with their
organs
of action with as much unconcern, as babes have the
movements
of their bodies, in their half-sleeping state.
22. As the sweetest things appear unsavoury to those,
that
are satiate and sated with them; so do the delights of
the
world, seem disgusting to them, that are delighted with
divine
joy in themselves; and with which they are so enrapt in
their
rapture, as to become unconscious of what is passing in
and
about them like insane people.
23. The unconsciousness of one's acts, makes the
abandonment
of his action, and this is perfected when a person is in
full possession of his understanding: (or else the
unconsciousness
of a dead man of his former acts, does not amount to his
abandonment of action). It matters not whether a man does
ought or naught, with his unsubstantial or insensible
organs
of action. (It is external conciousness[**consciousness]
that makes the action,
and not the external doing of it, with the insensible
organs
of the body; because the mental impressions make the
action
and not its forgetfulness in the mind).
24. An action done without a desire, is an act of
unconsciousness;
and they are not recognized as our actions, which
have no traces of them in our minds. (Hence all involuntary
acts and those of insanity, are reckoned as no doings of
their
doer).
25. An act which is not remembered, and which is
forgotten
as if it were buried in oblivion, is as no act of its
doer;
and this oblivion is equal to the abandonment of action.
26. He who pretends to have abandoned all action, without
abandoning (or effacing) them from his mind, is said to
be a
hypocrite, and is devoured by the monster of his
hypocrisy:
(of this nature are the false fakirs, who pretend to have
renounced
the world).
27. They who have rooted out the prejudice of actions
from their lives, and betaken themselves to the rest and
refuge
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of inaction, are freed from the expectation of reward of
whatever
they do, as also from the fear of any evil for what they
avoid to perform.
28. They who have extirpated the seeds of action, with
their roots and germs, from the ground of their minds,
have
always an undisturbed tranquility to rest upon, and which
is
attended with a serene delight to those that have made
hebitude[**habitude]
their habit.
29. The meek are slightly moved in their bodies and
minds, by the current of business in which they have
fallen;
but the reckless are carried onward whirling in the
torrent,
like drunken sots reclining on the ground, or as anything
moved by a machine, (or as the machines of an engine),
30. Those who are seated in any stage of yoga, and are
graced with the calmness of liberation, appear as
cheerful as
men in a play house, who are half asleep and half-awake
over
the act in this great theatre of the world.
31. That is said to be wholly extirpated, which is drawn
out by its roots, or else it is like the destroying of a
tree by
lopping its branches which will grow again, unless it is
uprooted
from the ground.
32. So the tree of acts (the ceremonial code), though
lopped
off of its branches (of particular rites and ceremonies),
will thrive
again if it is left to remain, without uprooting it by
the ritual
(of acháras).
33. It is enough for your abandonment of acts, to remain
unconscious of your performance of them; and the other
recipes
for the same (as given before) will come to you of
themselves.
34. Whoever adopts any other method of getting rid of
his actions, besides those prescribed herein; his
attempts of
their abandonment are as null and void, as his striking
the air,
(in order to divide it). (Outward[**space removed]
abandonment of anything is
nothing, unless it is done so from the mind).
35. It is the rational abandonment of a thing, that makes
its true relinquishment, and whatever is done unwilfully,
is like
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a fried grain or seed, that never vegetates nor brings
forth its
fruit. (The rational renouncement of a thing, is said in
the
Veda, to mean its resignation to God, to whom belongs
every
thing in the world, and is lent to man for his temporary
use
only. And fruitless actions are those that are done
unwillingly,
and are not productive of future births for our misery
only).
36. But the act that is done with the will and bodily
exertion,
becomes productive with the moisture of desire; but all
other efforts of the body without the will, are entirely
fruitless
to their actor.
37. After one has got rid of his action, and freed
himself
from further desire; he becomes liberated for life
(Jivan-mukta),
whether he may dwell at home or in the woods, and
live in poverty or affluence.
38. The contented soul is as solitary at home, as in the
midst of the farthest forest; but the discontented mind
find
the solitary forest, to be as thickly thronged with
vexations as
the circle of a familyhouse.
39. The quiet and camly[**calmly] composed spirit, finds
the lonely
woodland, where a human being is never to be seen even in
a
dream, to be as lovely to it as the bosom of a family
dwelling.
40. The wise man who has lost the sight of the visibles,
and of the endless particulars abounding in this forest
of the
world, beholds on every side the silent and motionless
sphere
of heaven spread all around him.
41. The thoughtless ignorant, whose insatiate ambition
grasps the whole universe in his heart, rolls over the
surface
of the earth and all its boisterous seas with as much
glee as
upon a bed of flowers.
42. All these cities and towns, which are so tumultuous
with the endless of men, appear to the ignorant and
moneyless
man as a garden of flowers; where he picks up his
worthless
penny with as much delight as holy men cull the fragrant
blossoms to make their offerings to holy shrines.
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43. The wide earth with all her cities and towns, and
distant districts and countries, which are so full of
mutual
strife and broil, appear to the soiled soul of the gross-headed
and greedy, as if they are reflected in their fair forms
in the
mirror of their minds; or painted in their bright colours
upon
the canvas of their hearts. (Worldly men are so
infatuated
with the world, that they take side of things for fair
and
bright).
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[** unclear portions of the page compared to print]
CHAPTER IV.
ANNIHILATION OF EGOISM.
Argument:--Egoism is shown as the root of worldliness and
its
extirpation by spiritual knowledge.
Vasishtha continued:--The abandonment of the world
(which is otherwise termed as liberation--moksha), is
effected only upon subsidence of one's egoism and
knowledge
of the visibles in the conscious soul; in the manner of
the
extinction of a lamp for want of oil. (The knowledge of
the
phenomenal is the root of illusion, and it is the removal
of this
that is called the abandonment of the world, and the
cause of
liberation).
2. It is not the giving up of actions, but the
relinquishment
of the knowledge of the objective world, that makes our
abandonment of it; and the subjective soul, which is
without
the reflexion of the visible world, and the
objective-self, is
immortal and indestructible.
3. After the knowledge of the self and this and that with
that of mine and thine, becomes extinct like an
extinguished
lamp, there remains only the intelligent and
subjective-soul
by itself alone: (and it is this state of the soul that
is called
its extinction--nirvána and its liberation or moksha).
4. But he whose knowledge of himself and others, and
of mine and thine and his and theirs, has not yet
subsided in
his subjectivity, has neither the intelligence nor
tranquility
nor abandonment nor extinction of himself. (It is
opposite of
the preceding).
5. After extinction of one's egoism and meism, there
remains
the sole and tranquil and intelligent soul, beside which
there
is nothing else in existence.
6. The egoistic part of the soul being weakened by the
power of true knowledge, every thing in the world wastes
away and dwindles into insignificance; and though nothing
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is lost in reality, yet every thing is buried in and with
the
extinction of the self. (So the Hindi adage:--Ápduba to
jagduba--the self being lost, all things are lost with
it).
7. The knowledge of the ego is lost under that of the
non-ego, with[**without] any delay or difficulty; and it
being so easy to
effect it, there is no need of resorting to the arduous
methods
for removal of the same. (It being easy to ignore the
silver in
a shell, it is useless to test it in the fire).
8. The thoughts of ego and non-ego, are but false
conceits
of the mind; and the mind being as void as the clear sky,
there is no solid foundation for this error.
9. No error has its vagary anywhere, unless it moves upon
the basis of ignorance, it grows upon misjudgment, and
vanishes
at the light of reason and right judgment.
10. Know all existence to be the Intellect only; which is
extended
as an unreal vacuity; therefore sit silent in the empty
space of the Intellect, wherein all things are extinct as
nothing.
(The reality of the Divine Mind, containing the ideal
world
which appears as a reality).
11. Whenever the idea of ego comes to occur in the mind,
it should be put down immediately by its negative idea of
the
non-ego or that I am nothing.
12. Let the conviction of the non-ego supplant that of
the
ego, as a meaningless term, or as untrue as empty air, or
a
flower of the aerial arbour; and being fixed as an arrow
in the
bow-string of holy meditation, strive to hit at the mark
of the
Divine Essence.
13. Know always your ideas of ego & tu--I and thou,
to
be as unreal as empty air; and being freed from the false
idea
of every other thing, get over quickly across the
delusive
ocean of the world.
14. Say how is it possible for that senseless and beastly
man, to attain to the highest state of divine perfection,
who is
unable to overcome his natural prejudice of egoism.
15. He who has been able by his good understanding, the
sixfold beastly appetites of his nature; is capable of
receiving
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the knowledge of great truths; and no other asinine man
in
human shape.
16. He who has weakened and overcome the inborn
feelings of his mind, becomes the receptacle of all
virtue and
knowledge, and is called a man in its proper sense of the
word.
17. Whatever dangers may threaten you on rocks and hills
and upon the sea, you may escape from the same by thinking
that they cannot injure your inward soul, though they may
hurt the flesh.
18. Knowing that your egoism is nothing in reality,
except
your false conception of it, why then do you allow
yourself to
be deluded by it, like the ignorant who are misled by their
phrenzy?
19. There is nothing (no ego) here, that is known to us
in
its reality; all our knowledge is erroneous as that of an
ornament
in gold, (and springs from the general custom of calling
it so),
so is our knowledge of the ego which we know not what,
and
may be lost by our forgetfulness of it. (So the different
names and shapes of golden ornaments being forgotten, we
see
the substance of gold only common in all of them).
20. Try to dislodge the thoughts that rise in your mind,
in
the manner of the incessant vibrations in the air, by
thinking
that you are not the ego, nor has your ego any foundation
at all.
21. The man who has not overcome his egotism, and its
concomitants of covetousness, pride and delusion, doth in
vain
attend to these lectures which are useless to him.
22. The sense of egoism and tuism which abides in thee,
is
no other than the stir of the Supreme spirit, which stirs
alike
in all as motion impels the winds.
23. The uncreated world which appears as in act of
creation,
is inherent and apparent in the Supreme soul, and
notwithstanding
all its defects and frailty, it is fair by being situated
therein. (Because a thing however bad, appears beautiful
by
its position with the good).
24. The Supreme soul neither rises nor sets at any time;
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nor is there anything else besides that One, whether
existent or
inexistent. (All real and potential entities are
contained in
the mind of God).
25. All this is transcendental in the transcendent spirit
of
God, and everything is perfect in his perfection. All
things are
quiet in his tranquility, and whatever is, is good by the
goodness
of the Great God.
26. All things are extinct in the unextinquished spirit
of
God, they are quiet in his quiescence, and all good in
his goodness;
this extinction in the inextinct or ever existent soul of
God, is no annihilation of any; it is understood as the
sky, but
is not the sky itself.
27. Men may bear the strokes of weapons and suffer under
the pain of diseases; and yet how is it that no body can
tolerate
the thought of his unegoism or extinction.
28. The word ego is the ever growing germ of the
significance
of everything in the world; (i. e. our selfishness gives
growth to our need and want of all things for our use);
and
that (egoism or selfishness) being rooted out of the
mind, this
world also is uprooted from it. (i. e. Think neither of
thyself
or anything in the world as thine but of the Lord, and be
exempt from thy cares of both).
29. The meaningless word ego, like empty vapour or smoke,
has the property of soiling[**=print] the mirror of the
soul, which
resumes its brightness after removal of the mist.
30. The significance of the word, I or ego, is as force
or
fluctuation in the calm and quiet atmosphere; and this
force
being still, the soul resumes its serenity, as that of
the unseen
and imperceptible and one eternal and infinite air. (Here
is
Vasishtha's vacuism again).
31. The significance of the word ego, produces the shadow
of external objects in the mind; and that being lost,
there ensues
that serenity and tranquility of the soul, which are the
attributes
of the unknowable, infinite and eternal God.
32. After the cloudy shadow of the sense of the word ego,
is removed from the atmosphere of mind; there appears the
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clear firmament of transcendent truth, shining with
serene
brightness throughout its infinite sphere.
33. After the essence of the soul is purged of its dross,
and
there appears no alloy or base metal in it; it shines
with its
bright lustre as that of pure gold, when it is purified
from its
mixture with copper or other.
34. As an insignificant term (nirabhidhártha), bears no
accepted sense (vypadesártha); so the unintelligible word
ego
bearing no definite sense of any particular person, is
equal
to the non-ego or impersonal entity of Brahma.
35. It is Brahma only that resides in the word ego, (i.e.
the
word ego is applicable to God alone).
36. The meaning of the word ego, which contains the seed
of world in it, is rendered abortive by our ceasing to
think of it.
Then what is the good of using the words I and thou, that
serve
only to bind our souls to this world. (Forget yourselves,
to be
free from bondage).
37. The essence is the pure and felicitous spirit, which
is
afterwards soiled under the appellation of ego, which
rises out
of that pure essence, as a pot is produced from the clay;
but the
substance is forgot under the form, as the gold is
forgotten
under that of the ornament.
38. It is this seed of ego, from which the visible plant
of
creation takes its rise; and produces the countless
worlds as its
fruits, which grow to fade and fall away.
39. The meaning of the word ego, contains in it like the
minute seed of a long pepper, the wonderful productions
of
nature, consisting of the earth and sea, the hills and
rivers, and
forms and colours of things, with their various natures
and
actions.
40. The heaven and earth, the air and space, the hills
and
rivers on all sides, are as the fragrance of the full
blown flower
of the Ego.
41. The Ego in its widest sense, stretches out to the
verge
of creation, and contains all the worlds under it, as the
wide
spread day light comprehends all objects and their action
under it.
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42. As the early daylight, brings to view, the forms and
shapes and colours of things; so it is our egoism (which
is but
another name for ignorance), that presents the false
appearance
of the world to our visual sight.
43. When egoism like a particle of dirty oil, falls into
the
pellucid water of Brahma; it spreads over its surface in
the form
of globules, resembling the orbs of worlds floating in
the air.
44. Egoism sees at a single glance, the myriads of worlds
spread before its visual sight; as the blinking eye
observes
at a twinkling, thousands of specks scattered before its
sight.
45. Egoism (selfishness) being extended too far,
perceives
the furthest worlds lying stretched before its sight; but
the
unegotist[**unegotistic] or unselfish soul, like a
sleeping man doth not perceive
the nearest object, as our eyes do not see the pupils
lying
within them.
46. It is only upon the total extinction of our egoistic
feelings, by the force of unfailing reasoning; that we
can get rid
of the mirage of the world.
47. It is by our constant reflection upon our
consciousness
only, that it becomes possible for us to the great object
of
our consummation--Siddhi; and the attainment of the
pefection[**perfection]
of our souls; we have nothing more to desire or grieve at
nor any fear of falling into error.
48. It is possible by your own endeavour, and without the
help of any person or thing, to attain to thy perfection;
and
therefore I see no better means for you to this than the
thought
of your unegoism.
49. Now Ráma, this is the abstract of the whole doctrine,
that you forget your ego and tu, and extend the sphere of
our
soul all over the universe, and behold them all in
yourself.
Remain quite calm and quiet and without any sorrow, and
exempt from all acts and pursuits of the frail and false
world,
and think the soul as one whole and not a part of the
universe.
(Samashti and not Vyashta.)
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to Brahmasri Sreemaan Vihari Lala Mitra ji for the
collection)
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