The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki
The only complete English translation is
by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891).
CHAPTER IV.—Treating of the Germ of Existence.
Argument. Sensations and Perceptions, as the
Roots of the
knowledge of Existence: suppression of these
annuls all
existence, and removes the visibles from
view.
Vasishtha said:—It is the overthrow of the
battery of the senses, that
supplies us with a bridge over the ocean of
the world; there is no other
act, whereby we may cross over it (to the
other shore of truth).
2. Acquaintance with the sāstras, association
with the good and wise,
and practice of the virtues, are the means
whereby the rational and
self-controlled man, may come to know the
absolute negation of the
visibles.
3. I have thus told you, O handsome Rāma! of
the causes of the
appearance and disappearance of the creation,
resembling the heaving and
resting of the waves of the sea of the world.
4. There is no need of a long discourse to
tell you that, the mind is
the germ of the arbour of acts, and this germ
being nipped in the
beginning, prevents the growth of the tree,
and frustrates the doing of
acts, which are the fruits thereof.
5. The mind is all (i.e. the agent of all actions); therefore it is,
that by the healing of your heart and mind,
you can cure all the
troubles and diseases, you may incur in the
world.
6. The minds of men are ever troubled, with
their thoughts of the world
and bodily actions; but these being deadened
and defunct, we see neither
the body nor the outer world.
7. The negation of the outer world, and the
suppression of the inner
thoughts, serve to curb the demon of the
mind, by practice of
self-abnegation for a long period of time.
8. It is possible to heal the inward disease
of the internal mind, by
administration of this best and only medicine
of negation of the
external world. (Ignoring the outer world, is
the only way to restore
the peace of the mind).
9. It is because of its thoughts, that the
mind is subjected to the
errors of its birth and death; and to those
of its being bound to or
liberated from, the bonds of the body and
this world.
10. The mind being deluded by its thoughts,
sees the worlds shining
before it; as a man sees in his delusion, the
imaginary city of the
Gandharvas, drawn before him in empty air.
11. All these visible worlds consist in the
mind, wherein they seem to
exist as the fragrance of the air, consists
in the cluster of flowers
containing the essence.
12. The little particle of the mind contains
the world, as a small grain
of sesamum contains the oil, and as an
attribute is contained in its
subject, and a property abiding in the
substance.
13. The world abides in the mind in the same
manner, as the sun-beams
abide in the sun, and as brightness consists
in the light, and as the
heat is contained in fire.
14. The mind is the reservoir of the worlds,
as the snow is the
receptacle of coldness. It is the substratum
of all existence, as the
sky is that of emptiness, and as velocity is
inherent in the wind.
15. Therefore the mind is the same with the
world, and the world is
identic with the mind; owing to their
intimate and inseparable
connection with one another. The world
however is lost by the loss of
the mind; but the mind is not lost by
destruction of the world. (Because
the thoughts thereof are imprinted in the mind).
CHAPTER V.—Story of Bhārgava.
Argument. Meditation of Bhrigu, Ramblings of
Sukra. His sight of
and amour for an aerial nymph.
Rāma said:—Tell me sir, that knowest all
truths, and art best
acquainted with all that is past and is to
come, how the form of the
world is so vividly existed in the mind.
2. Please Sir, explain to me by some
illustration, how this world,
appears as a visible object to the inner
mind.
3. Vasishtha replied:—The world is situated
as truly in the minds of
men, as it appeared in its firm and compact
state to the bodiless son of
Indu (I have related long before).
4. It is situated in the same manner in the
minds of men, as the thought
of king Lavana's transformation of himself to
a chandāla, under the
influence of sorcery.
5. It is in the same manner, as Bhārgava
believed himself to be
possessed of all worldly gratifications.
Because true bliss has much
more relation to the mind, than to earthly
possessions.
6. Rāma said:—How is it Sir, that the son of
Bhrigu came to the
enjoyment of earthly pleasures, when he had
been longing for the
fruition of heavenly felicity.
7. Vasishtha replied:—Attend now Rāma, to my
narration of the history
of Bhrigu and Kāla, whereby you will know how
he came to the possession
of earthly enjoyments.
8. There is a table-land of the Mandara
mountain, which is beset by rows
of tamāla trees, with beautiful arbours of
flowers under them.
9. Here the sage Bhrigu conducted his arduous
devotion in olden times
and it was in this place, that his
high-minded and valiant son Sukra,
also came to perform his devotion.
10. Sukra was as handsome as the moon, and
radiant with his brilliant
beams (like the sun). He took his seat in
that happy grove of Bhrigu,
for the purpose of his devotion.
11. Having long sat in that grove under the
umbrage of a rock, Sukra
removed himself to the flowery beds and fair
plains below.
12. He roved freely about the bowers of
Mandara in his youthful sport,
and became revered among the wise and
ignorant men of the place.
13. He roved there at random like Trisanku,
between the earth and sky;
sometimes playing about as a boy, and at
others sitting in fixed
meditation as his father.
14. He remained without any anxiety in his
solitude, as a king who has
subdued his enemy; until he happened to
behold an Apsara fairy,
traversing in her aerial journey.
15. He beheld her with the eyes of Hari,
fixed upon his Lakshmī, as she
skims over the watery plain, decked with her
wreaths of Mandara flowers,
and her tresses waving loosely with the
playful air.
16. Her trinkets jingling with her movements,
and the fragrance of her
person perfuming the winds of the air; her
fairy form was as beautiful
as a creeping plant, and her eyeballs rolling
as in the state of
intoxication.
17. The moon-beams of her body, shed their
ambrosial dews over the
landscape, which bewitched the hard-heart of
the young devotee, as he
beheld the fairy form before him.
18. She also with her body shining as the
fair full-moon, and shaking as
the wave of the sea, became enamoured of
Sukra as she looked at his
face.
19. Sukra then checked the impulse of his
mind, which the god of love
had raised after her; but losing all his
power over himself, he became
absorbed in the thought of his beloved
object.
CHAPTER VI.—Elysium of Bhārgava.
Argument. Sukra's imaginary journey to
heaven, and his reception
by Indra.
Vasishtha said:—Henceforth Sukra continued to
think of the nymph with
his closed eye-lids, and indulge himself in
his reverie of an imaginary
kingdom.
2. He thought that the nymph was passing in
the air, to the paradise of
Indra—the god with a thousand eyes; and that
he followed her closely,
to the happy regions of the celestial gods.
3. He thought, he saw before him the gods,
decorated with their chaplets
of beautiful mandara blossoms on their heads, and with garlands of
flowers pendant on their persons resplendent
as liquid gold.
4. He seemed to see the heavenly damsels with
their eyes as
blue-lotuses, regaling the eyes of their
spectators; and others with
their eyes as beautiful as those of
antelopes, sporting with their sweet
smiles all about (the garden of paradise).
5. He saw also the Marutas or gods of winds,
bearing the fragrance of
flowers, and breathing their sweet scent on
one another; and resembling
the omnipresent Viswarūpa by their ubiquitous
journey.
6. He heard the sweet hum of bees, giddy with
the perfumed ichor,
exuding from the proboscis of Indra's
elephant; and listened to the
sweet strains, sung by the chorus of the
heavenly choir.
7. There were the swans and storks, gabbling
in the lakes, with lotuses
of golden hue in them; and there were the
celestial gods reposing in the
arbours, beside the holy stream of the
heavenly Gangā (Mandākinī).
8. These were the gods Yama and Indra, and
the sun and moon, and the
deities of fire and the winds; and there were
the regents of the worlds,
whose shining bodies shaded the lustre of
vivid fire.
9. On one side was the warlike elephant of
Indra—(Airāvata), with the
scratches of the demoniac weapons on his face
(proboscis), and tusks
gory with the blood of the defeated hosts of
demons.
10. Those who were translated from earth to
heaven in the form of
luminous stars, were roving in their aerial
vehicles, blazing with
aureate beams of the shining sun.
11. The gods were washed by the showers,
falling from the peaks of Meru
below, and the waves of the Ganges, rolled on
with scattered mandara
flowers floating on them.
12. The alleys of Indra's groves, were tinged
with saffron, by heaps of
the dust of mandara flowers; and were trodden by groups of Apsara
lasses, sporting wantonly upon them.
13. There were the gentle breezes blowing
among the pārijāta plants,
brightening as moon-beams in the sacred
bowers; and wafting the fragrant
honey, from the cups of Kunda and mandara blossoms.
14. The pleasure garden of Indra, was crowded
by heavenly damsels; who
were besmeared with the frosty farina of k駸ara flowers, mantling them
like the creepers of the grove in their
yellow robes.
15. Here were the heavenly nymphs dancing in
their gaiety, at the tune
of the songs of their lovers; and there were
heavenly musicians Nārada
and Tamburu, joining their vocal music in
unison with the melody of the
wired instruments of the lute and lyre
(Vallakikākali).
16. Holy men and the pious and virtuous, were
seen to soar high in their
heavenly cars, and sitting there with their
decorations of various
kinds.
17. The amorous damsels of the gods, were
clinging round their god
Indra: as the tender creepers of the garden,
twine about the trees
beside them.
18. There were the fruit trees of gulunchas, studded with clusters of
their ripening fruits; and resembling the
gemming sapphires and rubies,
and set as rows of ivory teeth.
19. After all these sights, Sukra thought of
making his obeisance to
Indra, who was seated on his seat like
another Brahmā—the creator of
the three worlds.
20. Having thought so, Sukra bowed down to
Indra in his own mind, as he
was the second Bhrigu in heaven—(i.e. He bowed to him with a
veneration equal to that he paid to his
father).
21. Indra received him with respect, and
having lifted him up with his
hand, made him sit by himself.
22. Indra addressed him saying:—I am
honoured, Sukra! by thy call, and
this heaven of mine is graced by thy
presence, may thou live long to
enjoy the pleasure of this place.
23. Indra then sat in his seat with a
graceful countenance, which shone
with the lustre of the unspotted full-moon.
24. Sukra being thus seated by the side of
Indra, was saluted by all the
assembled gods of heaven; and he continued to
enjoy every felicity
there, by being received with paternal
affection by the lord of gods and
men.
CHAPTER VII.—Re-union of the Lovers.
Argument. Sukra sees his beloved in heaven,
and is joined to her
at that place.
Vasishtha said:—Thus Sukra being got among
the gods in the celestial
city, forgot his former nature, without his
passing through the pangs of
death.
2. Having halted awhile by the side of the
Sachi's consort (Indra), he
rose up to roam about the paradise, by being
charmed with all its
various beauties.
3. He looked with rapture on the beauty of
his own person, and longed to
see the lovely beauties of heavenly beings,
as the swan is eager to meet
the lotuses of the lake.
4. He saw his beloved one among them in the
garden of Indra's Eden
(udyāna), with her eyes like those of a young
fawn; and with a stature
as delicate as that of a tender creeper of
the Amra (amarynthus).
5. She also beheld the son of Bhrigu, and
lost her government on
herself; and was thus observed by him also in
all her indications of
amorous feelings.
6. His whole frame was dissolved in affection
for her, like the
moonstone melting under the moonbeams; so was
hers likewise in
tenderness for him.
7. He like the moonstone was soothed by her
cooling beauty, beaming as
moonlight in the sky; and she also being
beheld by him, was entirely
subdued by her love to him.
8. At night they bewailed as chakravākas
(ruddy geese), at their
separation from one another, and were filled
with delight on their
mutual sight at the break of the day (which
unites the Chakravāka pair
together).
9. They were both as beautiful to behold, as
the sun and the opening
blossom of the lotus at morn; and their
presence added a charm to the
garden of paradise, which promised to confer
their desired bliss.
10. She committed her subdued-self to the
mercy of the god of love, who
in his turn darted his arrows relentless on
her tender heart.
11. She was covered all over her person with
the shafts of cupid, as
when the lotus blossom is hid under a swarm
of fleeting bees; and became
as disordered as the leaves of the lotus, are
disturbed under a shower
of rain drops.
12. She fluttered at the gentle breath of the
playful winds, like the
tender filaments of flowers; and moved as
graceful as the swan, with her
eyes as bluish as those of the leaflets of
blue-lotuses.
13. She was deranged in her person by the god
of love, as the lotus-bed
is put into disorder by the mighty elephant;
and was beheld in that
plight by her lover (Sukra), in the flight of
his fancy.
14. At last the shade of night overspread the
landscape of the heavenly
paradise, as if the god of destruction
(Rudra) was advancing to bury the
world under universal gloom.
15. A deep darkness overspread the face of
the earth, and covered it in
thick gloom; like the regions of the polar
mountains; where the
hot-blazing-sun is obscured by the dark shade
of perpetual night, as if
hiding his face in shame under the dark veil
of Cimmerian gloom.
16. The loving pair met together in the midst
of the grove, when the
assembled crowds of the place, retired to
their respective habitations
in different directions.
17. Then the love-smitten dame approached her
lover with her sidelong
glances, as a bird of air alights from her
aerial flight in the evening,
to meet with her mate on the earth below.
18. She advanced towards the son of Bhrigu,
as a peahen comes out to
meet the rising cloud; and thought she beheld
there a white-washed
edifice, with a couch placed in the midst.
19. Bhārgava entered the white hall, as when
Vishnu enters into hoary
sea, accompanied by his beloved Lakshmī; who
held him by the hand with
her down-cast countenance.
20. She graced his person, as the lotus-stalk
graces the bosom of the
elephant; and then spoke to him sweetly with
her words mixed with tender
affection.
21. She told him in a sweet and delightsome
speech fraught with
expressions of endearment: Behold, O my
moon-faced lover! I see the
curve of thy bow as a bow bent for my
destruction.
22. Cupid is thence darting his arrows to
destroy this lovelorn maid;
therefore protect me from him, that am so
helpless and have come under
thy protection from his rage.
23. Know my good friend, that it is the duty
of good people, to relieve
the wretched from their distress; and those
that do not look upon them
with a compassionate eye, are reckoned as the
basest of men.
24. Love is never vilified by those, who are
acquainted with erotics;
because the true love of faithful lovers,
have endured to the last
without any fear of separation.
25. Know my dear, that the delightful draught
of love, defies the dewy
beams distilled by the moon; and the
sovereignty of the three worlds, is
never so pleasing to the soul, as the love of
the beloved.
26. I derive the same bliss from the touch of
thy feet, as it attends on
mutual lovers on their first attachment to
one another.
27. I live by the nectarious draught of thy
touch, as the kumuda
blooms by night, imbibing the ambrosial beams
of the moon.
28. As the fluttering Chakora, is delighted
with drinking the moonbeams,
so is this suppliant at thy feet, blessed by the
touch of the leaf-like
palm of thy hand.
29. Embrace me now to thy bosom, which is
filled with ambrosial bliss.
Saying so, the damsel fell upon his bosom
with her body soft as a
flower, and her eyes turning as a leaflet at
the gentle breeze.
30. The loving pair fell into their trance of
love in that happy grove,
as a couple of playful bees creeps into the
lotus cup, under the fair
filaments of the flower, shaking by the
gentle breeze.
CHAPTER VIII.—Transmigrations of Sukra.
Argument. Sukra fancies his fall from heaven,
and passing
through many imaginary births.
Vasishtha related:—Thus the son of Bhrigu,
believed himself to be in
the enjoyment of heavenly pleasures, in his
ideal reveries.
2. He thought of enjoying the company of his
beloved, bedecked with
garlands of mandara flowers, and inebriated with the drink of
ambrosial draughts, like the full-moon
accompanied by the evening star.
3. He roved about the ideal lake of heaven
(Mānas Sarovara), filled with
golden lotuses, and frequented by the giddy
swans and gabbling geese or
hansas of heaven; and roamed beside the bank
of the celestial river
(Mandākinī), in company with the choristers
(chāranas, and Kinnaras of
paradise).
4. He drank the sweet nectarious juice
beaming as moonbeams in company
with the gods; and reposed under the arbours
of the groves, formed by
the shaking branches of pārijāta plants.
5. He amused himself with his favourite
Vidyādharīs, in swinging himself
in the hanging cradles, formed by the shady
creepers of the arbour, and
screening him from the vernal sunbeams.
6. The parterres of Nandana gardens were
trodden down under the feet of
the fellow followers of Siva, as when the
ocean was churned by the
Mandara mountain.
7. The tender weeds and willows growing as
golden shrubberies, and
tangled bushes in the beach of the river,
were trampled under the legs
of heated elephants, as when they infest the
lotus lakes on Meru. (i.
e. lotuses growing in the lakes of mountainous regions).
8. Associated by his sweet-heart, he passed
the moonlight nights in the
forest groves of Kailāsa, attending to the
songs and music of heavenly
choristers.
9. Roaming on the table-lands of Gandhamādana
mountain, he decorated his
beloved with lotus-garlands from her head to
foot.
10. He roved with her to the polar mountain
which is full of wonders, as
having darkness on one side and lighted on
the other. Here they sported
together with their tender smiles and fond
caresses and embrace.
11. He thought he remained in a celestial
abode beside the marshy lands
of Mandara, for a period of full sixty years;
and passed his time in the
company of the fawns of the place.
12. He believed he passed half a yuga with his helpmate, on the border
of the milky ocean, and associated with the
maritime people and
islanders of that ocean.
13. He next thought to live in a garden at
the city of the Gandharvas,
where he believed to have lived for an
immeasurable period like the
genius of Time himself, who is the producer
of an infinity of worlds.
14. He was again translated to the celestial
seat of Indra, where he
believed to have resided for many cycles of
the quadruple yuga ages
with his mistress.
15. It was at the end of the merit of their
acts that they were doomed
to return on earth, shorn of their heavenly
beauty and the fine features
of their persons.
16. Being deprived of his heavenly seat and
vehicle, and bereft of his
godlike form and features; Sukra was overcome
by deep sorrow, like a
hero falling in the field of warfare.
17. His great grief at his fall from heaven
to earth, broke his frame as
it were into a hundred fragments; like a
waterfall falling on the stony
ground, and breaking into a hundred rills
below.
18. They with their emaciated bodies and
sorrowful minds, wandered about
in the air, like birds without their nest.
19. Afterwards their disembodied minds
entered into the network of lunar
beams, and then in the form of molten frost
or rain water, they grew the
vegetables on earth.
20. Some of these vegetables were concocted,
and then eaten by a Brāhman
in the land of Dasārna or confluence of the
ten streams. The substance
of Sukra was changed to the semen of the
Brāhman, and then conceived as
a son by his wife.
21. The boy was trained up in the society of
the munis to the practice
of rigorous austerities, and he dwelt in the
forests of Meru for a whole
manwantara, observant of his holy rites.
22. There he gave birth to a male child of
human figure in a doe (to
which his mistress was transformed in her
next birth), and became
exceedingly fond of the boy, to the neglect
of his sacred duties.
23. He constantly prayed for the long life,
wealth and learning of his
darling, and thus forsook the constancy of
his faith and reliance in
Providence. (Longevity, prosperity and
capacity for learning, are the
triple blessings of civil life, instead of
austerity, purity and
self-resignation of painful asceticism).
24. Thus his falling off from the thought of
heaven, to those of the
earthly aggrandizement of his son, made his
shortened life an easy prey
to death, as the inhaling of air by the serpent.
(It is said that the
serpent lives upon air, which it takes in
freely in want of any other
food).
25. His worldly thoughts having vitiated his
understanding, caused him
to be reborn as the son of the Madra king,
and succeed to him in the
kingdom of the Madras (Madura-Madras).
26. Having long reigned in his kingdom of
Madras by extirpation of all
his enemies, he was overtaken at last by old
age, as the lotus-flower is
stunted by the frost.
27. The king of Madras, was released of his
kingly person by his desire
of asceticism; whereby he became the son of
an anchorite in next-birth,
in order to perform his austerities.
28. He retired to the bank of the meandering
river of the Ganges, and
there betook himself to his devotion; being
devoid of all his worldly
anxieties and cares.
29. Thus the son of Bhrigu, having passed in
various forms in his
successive births, according to the desires
of his heart; remained at
last as a fixed arbour on the bank of a
running stream.
CHAPTER IX.—Description of Sukra's Body.
Argument. The departed spirit of Sukra,
remembers the state of
its former body.
Vasishtha related:—As Sukra was indulging his
reveries in this manner,
he passed insensibly under the flight of a
series of years, which glided
upon him in the presence of his father.
2. At last his arboraceous body withered away
with age, under the
inclement sun and winds and rain; and it fell
down on the ground as a
tree torn from its roots.
3. In all his former births, his mind
thirsted after fresh pleasures and
enjoyments; as a stag hunts after fresh
verdure from forest to forest.
4. He underwent repeated births and deaths,
in his wanderings in the
world in search of its enjoyments; and seemed
as some thing whirled
about in a turning mill or wheel; till at
last he found his rest in the
cooling beach of the rivulet.
5. Now the disembodied spirit of Sukra,
remained to reflect on his past
transmigrations, in all the real and ideal
forms of his imagination.
6. It thought of its former body on the
Mandara mountain, and how it was
reduced to a skeleton of mere bones and skin
by the heat of the sun and
his austerities. (i.e. of the five fires pancha-tapas of his
penance).
7. It remembered how the wind instrument of
its lungs, breathed out the
joyous music of its exemption from the pain
of action (to which all
other men were subjected). (It refers to the
breathing of so-ham
hamsah in yoga, which is the sweet music of salvation).
8. Seeing how the mind is plunged in the pit
of worldly cares, the body
seems to laugh at it, by showing the white
teeth of the mouth in
derision.
9. The cavity of the mouth, the sockets of
the eyes, the nostrils and
ear-holes in the open face, are all
expressive of the hollowness of
human and heavenly bodies (i.e. they are all hollow within, though
they seem to be solid without).
10. The body sheds the tears of its eyes in
sorrow for its past pains
and austerities, as the sky rains after its
excessive heat to cool the
earth.
11. The body was refreshed by the breeze and
moon-beams, as the
woodlands are renovated by cooling showers in
the rainy season.
12. It remembered how its body was washed on
the banks of mountain
rills, by the water-falls from above, and how
it was daubed by the
flying dust and the dirt of sin.
13. It was as naked as a withered tree, and
rustling to the air with the
breeze; yet it withstood the keen blasts of
winter as unshaken devotion
in person.
14. The faded face, the withered lungs and
arteries, and the skinny
belly, resembled those of the goddess of
famine, that cried aloud in the
forest, in the howlings of the wild beasts.
15. Yet the holy person of the hermit was
unhurt by envious animals,
owing to its freedom from passions and
feelings, and its fervent
devotion; and was not devoured by rapacious
beasts and birds.
16. The body of Bhrigu's son was thus
weakened by his abstinence and
self-denial, and his mind was employed in
holy devotion, as his body lay
prostrate on the bed of stones.
CHAPTER X.—Bhrigu's Conference with Kāla or Death.
Argument. Bhrigu's grief at seeing the
death-like body of his
son.
Vasishtha continued:—After the lapse of a
thousand years, the great
Bhrigu rose from his holy trance
(anaesthesia); and was disengaged in
his mind from its meditation of God, as in a
state of suspension or
syncope of his holy meditations.
2. He did not find his son lowly bending down
his head before him, the
son who was the leader of the army of
virtues, and who was the
personified figure of all merits.
3. He only beheld his body, lying as a
skeleton before him, as it was
wretchedness or poverty personified in that
shape.
4. The skin of his body was dried by the sun,
and his nostrils snoring
as a hooping bird; and the inner entrails of
his belly, were sounding as
dry leather-pipes with the croaking of frogs.
5. The sockets of his eyes, were filled with
new-born worms grown in
them; and the bones of his ribs had become as
bars of a cage, with the
thin skin over them resembling the spider's
web.
6. The dry and white skeleton of the body,
resembled the desire of
fruition, which bends it to the earth, to
undergo all the favourable and
unfavourable accidents of life.
7. The crown of the head had become as white
and smooth (by its baldness
or grey hairs), as the phallus of Siva
anointed with camphor, at the
Indu-varcha ceremony in honor of the moon.
8. The withered head erected on the bony
neckbone, likened the soul
supported by the body:—(either to lead or be
led by it).
9. The nose was shriveled to a dry stalk, for
want of its flesh; and the
nose-bone stood as a post, dividing the two
halves of the face.
10. The face standing erect on the protruded
shoulders on both sides,
was looking forward in the womb of the
vacuous sky, whither the vital
breath had fled from the body.
11. The two legs, thighs, knees and the two
arms (forming the eight
angas or members of the body), had been doubled in their length
(for
their long etherial course); and lay
slackened with fatigue of the long
journey.
12. The leanness of the belly like a lath, showed by its shriveled
flesh and skin, the empty inside of the
ignorant (i.e. they
may be
puffed up with pride on the outside, but are
all hollow in the inside).
13. Bhrigu seeing the withered skeleton of
his son, lying as the
worn-out post (to which the elephant was tied
by its feet), made his
reflections as said before, and rose from his
seat.
14. He then began to dubitate in his mind, at
the sight of the dead
body, as to whether it could be the lifeless
carcass of his son or any
other.
15. Thinking it no other than the dead body
of his son, he became sore
angry upon the god of death (that had
untimely taken him away).
16. He was prepared to pronounce his
imprecation against the god of
fate, in vengeance of his snatching his son
so prematurely from him.
17. At this Yama—the regent of death, and devourer of living beings,
assumed his figurative form of a material
body, and appeared in an
instant before the enraged father.
18. He appeared in armour with six arms and
as many faces, accompanied
by the army of his adherents, and holding the
noose and sword and other
weapons in his hands. (The commentary
ascribes a dozen of arms to
Yama, by the number of the twelve months of the year, and
having half
of the number on either side, according to
the six signs of the zodiac
in either hemisphere. The six faces are
representative of the six
seasons of Hindu astronomy instead of four of
other nations).
19. The rays of light radiating from his
body, gave it the appearance of
a hill, filled with heaps of the crimson kinsuka flowers, growing in
mountain forests.
20. The rays of the living fire flashing from
his trident, gave it the
glare of golden ringlets, fastened to the
ears of all the sides of the
sky.
21. The breath of his host, hurled down the
ridges of mountains, which
hung about them, like swinging cradles on
earth.
22. His sable sword flashing with sombre
light, darkened the disk of the
sun; as it were by the smoke of the final
conflagration of the earth.
23. Having appeared before the great sage,
who was enraged as the raging
sea, he soothed him to calmness as after a
storm, by the gentle breath
of his speech.
24. "The sages" said he, "are
acquainted with the laws of nature, and
know the past and future as present before
them. They are never moved
even with a motive to anything, and are far
from being moved without a
cause."
25. "You sages are observers of the
multifarious rules of religions
austerities, and we are observant of the
endless and immutable laws of
destiny; we honour you therefore for your
holiness, and not from any
other desire (of being blessed by you or
exempted from your curse)."
26. Do not belie your righteousness by your
rage, nor think to do us any
harm, who are spared unhurt by the flames of
final dissolution, and
cannot be consumed by your curses.
27. We have destroyed the spheres of the
universe and devoured legions
of Rudras, millions of Brahmās and myriads of
Vishnus (in the repeated
revolutions of creation); what is it
therefore that we cannot do?
28. We are appointed as devourers of all
beings; and you are destined to
be devoured by us. This is ordained by
destiny herself, and not by any
act of our own will.
29. It is the nature of flame to ascend
upwards, and that of fluids to
flow downward; it is destined for the food to
be fed upon by its eaters,
and that creation must come under its
destruction by us.
30. Know this form of mine to be that of the
Supreme Being, whose
universal spirit acts in various forms, all
over the universe.
31. To the unstained (clear) sight, there is
no other agent or object
here, except the supreme; but the stained
sight (of the clear eyed),
views many agents and objects (beside the one
in all).
32. Agency and objectivity are terms, coined
only by the short sighted;
but they disappear before the enlarged view
of the wise.
33. As flowers grow upon trees, so are
animals born on earth; their
growth and birth, as also their fall and
death, are of their own
spontaneity, and miscalled as their
causality.
34. As the motion of the moon is caused by no
casual cause, though they
falsely attribute a causality to it; such is
the course of death in the
world of its own spontaneous nature.
35. The mind is falsely said to be the agent
of all its enjoyments in
life; though it is no agent of itself. It is
a misbelief like the false
conception of a serpent in the rope, where
there is no serpent at all.
36. Therefore, O sage! allow not yourself to
be so angry for your
sorrow; but consider in its true light, the
course of events that befall
on humankind.
37. We were not actuated by desire of fame,
nor influenced by pride or
passion to any act; but are ourselves subject
to the destiny, which
predominates over all our actions.
38. Knowing that the course of our conduct,
is subject to the destiny
appointed by the Divine will, the wise never
allow themselves to be
subjected under the darkness of pride or
passion, at our doings.
39. That our duties only should be done at
all times, is the rule laid
down by the wise creator; and you cannot
attempt to remove it by your
subjection to ignorance and idleness.
40. Where is that enlightened sight, that
gravity and that patience of
yours, that you grovel in this manner in the
dark like the blind, and
slide from the broad and beaten path laid
open for every body? (This
path is submission to what is destined by the
Divine will, according to
the common prayer: "Let not mine, but
thy will be done").
41. Why don't you consider your case as the
sequence of your own acts,
and why then do you, who are a wise man,
falsely accuse me like the
ignorant (as the cause of what is ordained by
the Supreme cause of all!)
42. You know that all living beings have two
bodies here, of which one
is known as the intellectual or spiritual
body or mind.
43. The other is the inert or corporeal
frame, which is fragile and
perishable. But the minute thing of the mind
which lasts until its
liberation, is what leads all to their good
or evil desires.
44. As the skilful charioteer guides his
chariot with care, so is this
body conducted by the intelligent mind, with
equal attention and
fondness.
45. But the ignorant mind which is prone to
evil, destroys the goodly
body; as little children break their dolls of
clay in sport.
46. The mind is hence called the purusha or regent of the body, and
the working of the mind is taken for the act
of the man. It is bound to
the earth by its desires, and freed by its
freedom from earthly
attractions and expectations.
47. That is called the mind which thinks in
itself, "this is my body
which is so situated here, and these are the
members of my body and this
my head."
48. The mind is called life, for its having
the living principle in it;
and the same is one and identic with the
understanding. It becomes
egoism by its consciousness, and so the same
mind passes under various
designations, according to its different
functions.
49. It has the name of the heart from the
affections of the body, and so
it takes many other names at will (according
to its divers operations).
But the earthly bodies are all perishable.
50. When the mind receives the light of
truth, it is called the
enlightened intellect, which being freed from
its thoughts relating to
the body, is set to its supreme felicity.
51. Thus the mind of your son, wandered from
your presence, as you sat
absorbed in meditation, to regions far and
wide in the ways of its
various desires. (i.e. His body was before thee, but his mind was led
afar by its inward desires).
52. He having left this body of his behind
him, in the mountain cave of
Mandara, fled to the celestial region, as a
bird flies from his nest to
the open air.
53. This mind got into the city of the
tutelar gods, and remained in a
part of the garden of Eden (Nandana), in the
happy groves of Mandara,
and under the bower of pārijāta flowers.
54. There he thought he passed a revolution
of eight cycles of the four
yugas, in company with Viswāchī a beauteous Apsara damsel, unto whom
he clung as the hexaped bee clings to the
blooming lotus.
55. But as his strong desire led him to the
happy regions of his
imagination, so he had his fall from them at
the end of his desert, like
the nightly dew falling from heaven.
56. He faded away in his body and all his
limbs, like a flower attached
to the ear or head ornament; and fell down
together with his beloved
one, like the ripened fruits of trees.
57. Being bereft of his aerial and celestial
body, he passed through the
atmospheric air, and was born again on earth
in a human figure.
58. He had become a Brāhman in the land of
Dasārnā, and then a king of
the city of Kosala. He became a hunter in a
great forest, and then a
swan on the bank of Ganges.
59. He became a king of the solar race, and
then a rāja of the Pundras,
and afterwards a missionary among the Sauras
and Sālwas. He next became
a Vidyādhara, and lastly the son of a sage or
muni.
60. He had become a ruler in Madras, and then
the son of a devotee,
bearing the name of Vāsudeva, and living on
the bank of Samangā.
61. Your son has also passed many other
births, which he was led to by
his desire; and he had likewise to undergo
some itara-janma
heterogeneous births in lower animals.
62. He had repeatedly been a Kirāta—huntsman
in the Vindhyā hills and
at Kaikatav. He was a chieftain in Sauvīra,
and had become an ass at
Trigarta.
63. He grew as a bamboo tree in the land of
Keralas, and as a deer in
the skirts of China. He became a serpent on a
palm tree, and a cock on
the tamāla tree.
64. This son of yours had been skilled in
incantations—mantras, and
propagated them in the land of Vidyādharas.
(So called from their skill
in enchantments).
65. Then he became a Vidyādhara (Jadugar) or
magician himself; and plied
his jugglery of abstracting ornaments from
the persons of females.
66. He became a favourite of females, as the
sun is dear to
lotus-flowers; and being as handsome as Kāma
(Cupid) in his person, he
become a favourite amongst Vidyādhara damsels
in the land of Gandharvas.
67. At the end of the kalpa age (of universal
destruction), he beheld
the twelve suns of the zodiac shining at once
before him, and he was
reduced to ashes by their warmth, as a
grasshopper is burnt up by its
falling on fire.
68. Finding no other world nor body where he
could enter (upon the
extinction of the universe), his spirit roved
about in the empty air, as
a bird soars on high without its nest.
69. After the lapse of a long time, as Brahmā
awoke again from his long
night of repose, and commenced anew his
creation of the world in all its
various forms:—
70. The roving spirit of your son was led by
its desire, as if it was
propelled by a gust of wind, to become a
Brāhman again, and to be reborn
as such on this earth.
71. He was born as the boy of a Brāhman,
under the name of Vāsudeva, and
was taught in all the Srutis, among the
intelligent and learned men of
the place.
72. It is in this kalpa age that he has become a Vidyādhara again, and
betaken himself to the performance of his
devotion on the bank of
Samangā, where he is sitting still in his
yoga meditation.
73. Thus his desire for the varieties of
worldly appearances, has led
him to various births, amidst the woods and
forests in the womb of this
earth, covered with jungles of the thorny
khadira, karanja and other
bushes and brambles.
CHAPTER XI.—Cause of the Production of the World.
Argument. Yama's narration of Sukra's
meditation, and his
inclination to worldliness.
Yama continued:—Your son is still engaged in
his rigorous austerities
on the bank of the rivulet, rolling with its
loud waves on the beach,
and the winds blowing and howling from all
sides.
2. He has been sitting still in his firm
devotion, with matted braids of
hair on his head; and beads of rudrāksha seeds in his hand; and
controlling the members of his body from
their going astray.
3. If you wish, O venerable sage! to know the
reveries in his mind, you
shall have to open your intellectual eye, in
order to pry into the
thoughts of others.
4. Vasishtha said:—Saying so, Yama the lord
of world, who sees all at
one view, made the Muni to dive into the
thoughts of his son with his
intellectual eye.
5. The sage immediately saw by his
percipience, all the excogitations of
his son's mind; as if they were reflected in
the mirror of his own mind.
6. Having seen the mind of his son in his own
mind, the muni returned
from the bank of Samangā to his own body on
mount Mandara, where it was
left in its sitting posture, in the presence
of Yama (during the
wandering of his mind).
7. Surprised at what he saw, the sage looked
upon Yama with a smile; and
dispassionate as he was, he spoke to the god in
the following soft and
dispassionate words.
8. O god, that art the lord of the past and
future! we are but ignorant
striplings before thee; whose brilliant
insight views at once, the three
times presented before it.
9. The knowledge of the existence of the
world, whether it is a real
entity or not, is the source of all errors of
the wisest of men, by its
varying forms and fluctuations.
10. It is thou, O potent god! that knowest
what is inside this world;
while to us it presents its outward figure,
in the shape of a magic
scene only.
11. I knew very well, that my son is not
subject to death; and therefore
I was struck with wonder, to behold him lying
as a dead body.
12. Thinking the imperishable soul of my son,
to be snatched by death; I
was led to the vile desire, of cursing thee
on his untimely demise.
13. For though we know the course of things
in the world; yet we are
subjected to the impulses of joy and grief,
owing to the casualties of
prosperity and adversity.
14. Moreover, to be angry with wrong doers,
and to be pleased with those
that act rightly, have become the general
rule in the course of the
world.
15. So long do we labour under the sense of
what is our duty, and what
we must refrain from, as we are subject to
the error of the reality of
the world; but deliverance from this error,
removes all such
responsibilities from us.
16. When we fret at death, without
understanding its intention (that it
is intended only for our good); we are of
course blamable for it.
17. I am now made to be acquainted by thee,
regarding the thoughts of my
son; and am enabled also to see the whole
scene on the bank of Samangā
(by thy favour).
18. Of the two bodies of men, the mind alone
is ubiquitous, and leader
of the outer body of animated beings. The
mind therefore is the true
body, which reflects and makes us conscious
of the existence of
ourselves, as also of the exterior world.
19. Yama replied:—You have rightly said, O
Brāhman! that the mind is
the true body of man. It is the mind that
moulds the body according to
its will, as the potter makes the pot ad libitum (ex suo moto).
20. It frames a form and gives a feature to
the person, that it had not
before; and destroys one in existence in a
moment. It is the imagination
that gives an image to airy nothing, as
children see ghosts before them
in the dark. (The mind changes the features
of the face and body, and
views things according to its own fancy).
21. Its power to create apparent realities
out of absolute unreality, is
well known to every body, in his dream and
delirium, in his
misconceptions and fallacies and all kinds of
error; as the sight of
magic cities and talismans.
22. It is from reliance in visual sight, that
men consider it as the
principal body, and conceive the mind as a
secondary or supplementary
part.
23. It was the (Divine) mind, that formed the
world from its thought;
wherefore the phenomenal is neither a
substance by itself (as it
subsists in the mind); nor is it nothing
(being in existence in us).
Gloss. It is therefore undefinable—anirvachanīya.
24. The mind is part of the body, and spreads
itself in its thoughts and
desires into many forms; as the branch of a
tree shoots forth in its
blossoms and leaves. And as we see two moons
by optical deception, so
does one mind appear as many in many individuals
(and as different in
different persons).
25. It is from the variety of its desires,
that the mind perceives and
produces varieties of things, as pots and
pictures and the
like—ghatapatādi. (Hence the mind is the maker of all things).
26. The same mind thinks itself as many by
the diversity of its
thoughts; such as:—"I am weak, I am
poor, I am ignorant and the like;"
(all which serve to liken the mind to the
object constantly thought
upon).
27. The thought, that I am none of the
fancied forms which I feign to
myself, but of that form from whence I am,
causes the mind to be one
with the everlasting Brahma, by divesting it
of the thoughts of all
other things.
28. All things springing from Brahma, sink at
last in him; as the huge
waves of the wide and billowy ocean, rise but
to subside in its calm and
undisturbed waters below.
29. They sink in the Supreme Spirit,
resembling one vast body of pure
and transparent, cold and sweet water; and
like a vast mine of brilliant
gems of unfailing effulgence.
30. One thinking himself as a little billow,
diminishes his soul to
littleness. (He who bemeans himself, becomes
mean).
31. But one believing himself as a large
wave, enlarges his spirit to
greatness. (Nobleness of mind, ennobles a
man).
32. He who thinks himself as a little being,
and fallen from above to
suffer in the nether world; is born upon
earth in the form he took for
his pattern.
33. But he who thinks himself to be born to
greatness, and rises betimes
by his energy; becomes as big as a hill, and
shines with the lustre of
rich gems growing upon it.
34. He rests in peace, who thinks himself to
be situated in the cooling
orb of the moon; otherwise the body is
consumed with cares; as a tree on
the bank is burnt down by a conflagration.
35. Others like forest trees are fixed and
silent, and shudder for fear
of being burnt down by the wild fire of the
world; though they are
situated at ease, as beside the running
streams of limpid water, and as
high as on mountain tops of inaccessible
height.
36. Those who think themselves to be
surrounded by worldly affairs; are
as wide-stretching trees, awaiting their fall
by impending blasts of
wind.
37. Those who wail aloud for being broken to
pieces under the pressure
of their misery; are like the noisy waves of
the sea, breaking against
the shore and shedding their tears in the
form of the watery spray.
38. But the waves are not of one kind, nor
are they altogether entities
or nullities in nature; they are neither
small or large nor high or low,
nor do these qualities abide in them.
39. The waves do not abide in the sea, nor
are they without the sea or
the sea without them: they are of the nature
of desires in the soul,
rising and setting at their own accord.
40. The dead are undying (because they die to
be born again), and the
living are not living (because they live but
to die at last). Thus is
the law of their mutual succession which
nothing can forefend or alter.
41. As water is universally the same and
transparent in its nature, so
is the all pervading spirit of God, pure and
holy in every place.
42. It is this one and self-same spirit which
is the body of God, that
is called the transparent Brahma. It is
omnipotent and everlasting, and
constitutes the whole world appearing as
distinct from it.
43. The many wonderful powers that it
contains, are all active in their
various ways. The several powers productive
of several ends, are all
contained in that same body. All the natural
and material forces, have
the Divine spirit for their focus.
44. Brahmā was produced in Brahma as the
billow is produced in the
water, and the male and female are produced
from the neuter Brahma,
changed to and forming both of them.
45. That which is called the world, is only
an attribute of Brahmā; and
there is not the slightest difference between
Brahmā and the world. (The
one being a fac-simile of the original Mind).
46. Verily this plenitude is Brahma, and the
world is no other than
Brahma himself. Think intently upon this
truth and shun all other false
beliefs (of the creator and created, and the
like).
47. There is one eternal law, that presides
over all things, and this
one law branches forth into many, bringing
forth a hundred varieties of
effects. The world is a congeries of laws,
which are but manifestations
of the Almighty power and omniscience.
(Therefore says the psalmist:
"Blessed is he, who meditates on his
laws day and night—O bhi Turat
Jehovah hefzo yomam olaila).
48. Both the inert and active (matter and
life), proceed from the same;
and the mind proceeds from the intellect—chit
of God. The various
desires are evolved by the power of the mind,
from their exact
prototypes in the Supreme soul.
49. It is Brahmā therefore, O sinless Rāma!
that manifests itself in the
visible world; and is full with various
forms, as the sea with all its
billows and surges.
50. It assumes to itself all varieties of
forms by its volition of
evolution or the will of becoming many; and
it is the spirit that
displays itself in itself and by itself (of
its own causality); as the
sea water displays its waves in its own water
and by itself.
51. As the various waves are no other than
the sea water, so all these
phenomena are not different from the essence
of the lord of the world.
52. As the same seed developes itself in the
various forms of its
branches and buds, its twigs and leaves, and
its fruits and flowers; so
the same almighty seed evolves itself in the
multifarious varieties of
creation.
53. As the strong sun light, displays itself
in variegated colours in
different bodies; so does Omnipotence,
display itself in various vivid
colours, all of which are unreal shades. (Urdu: O leken chamakta hai
har rang men.—It is His light, that shines in all
colours).
54. As the colourless cloud receives in its
bosom, the variety of
transient hues displayed in the rainbow; so
the inscrutable spirit of
the Almighty, reflects and refracts the
various colours displayed in
creation. (Shines in the stars, glows in the
sun &c. Pope).
55. From the active agent, proceed the inert
matter and inactivity
without a secondary cause; as the active
spider produces the passive
thread, and the living man brings upon him,
his dull torpor in sleep.
(So the active spirit of God, brings forth inertia and inactive
matter, out of itself into being. The laws of
statics as well as
dynamics both subsist in the energy of the
spirit).
56. Again the Lord makes the mind to produce
matter for its own bondage
only; as he makes the silkworm weave its own
sheathing for its
confinements alone. (So the mind maketh its
material equipage, for its
own imprisonment in the world).
57. The mind forgets its spiritual nature of
its own will; and makes for
itself a strong prison house (of its earthly
possessions), as the
silkworm weaves its own coating.
58. But when the mind inclines to think of
its spiritual nature by its
own free will; it gets its release from the
prison-house of the body and
bondage in the world; as a bird or beast is
released from its cage, and
the big elephant let loose from his fetters
and the tying post.
59. The mind gradually moulds itself into the
form, which it constantly
thinks upon in itself; and it derives from
within itself, the power to
be what it wishes to become. (Constant
thought brings about its end.
Yādrisī bhāvanā yasya &c.).
60. The long sought power when acquired,
becomes as familiar to the
soul, as the dark clouds are attendant upon
the sky in the rainy-season.
61. The newly obtained power is assimilated
with its recipient, as the
virtue of every season is manifested in its
effect upon the trees
(i.e. in the season fruits and flowers).
62. There is no bondage nor liberation of
human soul, nor of the Divine
Spirit. We cannot account for the use of
these words among mankind.
(These terms apply to the mind which is bound
and freed, and not to the
soul which is ever free).
63. There is no liberation nor bondage of the
soul, which is the same
with the Divine. It is this delusive world
which shows the immortal soul
under the veil of mortality, or as eclipsed
by and under the shadow of
temporary affairs.
64. It is the unsteady mind, which has
enwrapped the steady soul, under
the sheath of error; as the coverlet of the
silkworm, covers the dormant
worm.
65. All other bondages which bind the
embodied soul to earth, are the
works of the mind, which is the root of all
worldly ties and affections.
66. All human affections and attachments to
the visible world, are born
in and remain in the mind; although they are
as distinct from it, as the
waves of the sea or as the beams of the moon;
are produced from and
contained in their receptacles.
67. It is the Supreme spirit, which is
stretched out as one universal
ocean, agitated into myriads of its waves and
billows. The Intellect
itself is spread out as the water of the universal
ocean, containing
everything that is aqueous and terrene in its
infinite bosom.
68. All those that appear as Brahmā, Vishnu
and Rudras, as also they
that have become as gods, and those that are
called men and male
creatures:—
68—(1). Are all as the waves of the sea,
raised spontaneously by the
underlying spirit; and so are Yama, Indra,
the sun, fire, Cuvera and the
other deities.
68—(2). So too are the Gandharvas and
Kinnaras, the Vidyādharas and the
other gods and demigods, that rise and fall
or remain for a while like
the breakers of the sea.
68—(3). They rise and fall as waves on every
side, though some continue
for a longer duration, as the lotus-born
Brahmā and others.
68—(4). Some are born to die in a moment, as
the petty gods and men;
and others are dead no sooner they are born
as the ephemerids and some
worms.
69. Worms and insects, gnats and flies and
serpents and huge snakes,
rise in the great ocean of the Divine Spirit,
like drops of water
scattered about by waves of the sea.
70. There are other moving animals as men and
deer, vultures and
jackals, which are produced on land and
mountains, in woods and forests
and in marshy grounds.
71. Some are long lived and others living for
a short duration; some
living with higher aims and ambitions, and
others with no other care
than that of their contemptible bodies, or
self-preservation only.
72. Some think of their stability in this
world of dreams, and others
are betrayed by their false hope of the
stability of worldly affairs,
which are quite unstable. (So in Persian Daregā jehān rā baquina
didam).
73. Some that are subjected to penury and
poverty, have little to effect
in their lives; and always torment themselves
with the thoughts, that
they are poor and miserable, weak and
ignorant.
74. Some are born as trees, and others have
become as gods and demigods;
and while some are furnished with moving
bodies, others are dissolved as
water in the sea.
75. Some are no less durable than many kalpas (as the land and sea and
mountains &c.); and others return to the
Supreme Spirit, by the moonlike
purity of their souls. All things have risen
from the oceanlike Spirit
of Brahma, like its moving undulations. It is
the intellectual
consciousness of every body that is termed
his mind.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to Brahmasri Sreemaan Vihari Lala Mitra ji for the
collection)
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