The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki
The only complete English translation is
by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891).
CHAPTER XXX.
INQUIRY INTO THE NATURE OF THE INTELLECT.
Argument. Description of the Pervasion and Supervision of
the
Intellect; and its transformation into the mind in living
beings. Or
Intellect as universal soul and mind of living beings.
THE god said--Thus the Intellect is all this plenum, it
is the
sole supreme soul (of all); it is Brahma the Immense and
the transcendent vacuum, and it said to be the supreme
god.
2. Therefore its worship is of the greatest good, and
confers
all blessings to men; it is source of creation, and all
this world
is situated on it. (The Divine Mind or omniscience).
3. It is unmade and increate, and without its
begening[**beginning] and
end; it is boundless and without a second, it is to be
served without
external service (i.e. by spiritual adoration), and all
felicity
is obtained thereby. (Hence Solomon's choice of Wisdom).
4. You are enlightened, O chief of sages! and there I
tell
you this; that the worship of gods is not worthy to the
wise,
and offering of flowers and frankincense is of no use to
them.
5. Those who are unlearned, and have their minds as
simple
as those of boys; are the persons that are mostly
addicted to
false worship, and devoted to the adoration of gods.
6. These being devoid of the quietness of their
understandings,
are led to ceremone[**i]ous observances, and to the false
attribution
of a soul, to the images of their own making.
7. It is for boys only to remain contented with their act
of
offering flowers and incense to gods, whom they honour in
the
modes of worship, which they have adopted of their own
hobby-choice.
8. It is in vain that men worship the gods for gaining
the
objects of their desire, for nothing that is false of
itself; can ever
give the required fruit.
9. Adoration with flowers and incense, is inculcated to
childish understandings; (and not for the wise). I will
tell you
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now, the worship that is worthy of men enlightened like
yourself.
10. Know, O most intelligent sage, that the god whom we
adore is the true god, who is the receptacle of the three
worlds,
the supreme spirit and no other.
11. He is siva-the felicity, who is above the ranks of
all
other gods, and beyond all fictions and fictitious images
of men;
He is accompanied with all desires (will or volition),
and is
neither the enjoyer of all or any part of the production
of his
will. He is full with the imaginations of all things, but
is
neither the all or any one of the objects in his
mind[**.]
12. He encompasses all space and time, and is neither
divided nor circumscribed by either of them. He is the manifester
of all events and things, and is nothing except the image
of pure Intellect Himself.
13. He is consciousness without parts, and situated in
the
heart of every thing. He is the producer of every thing,
and
their absorber also in himself.
14. Know Brahma to be situated between existence and
inexistence and it is He who styled the god, the supreme
soul,
the transcendental, the Tat-sat-Id Est, and the syllable
Om-[** Sanskit]
or ens.
15. By his nature of immensity, he spreads alike in all
space, and being the great Intellect himself, he is said
to be
transcendent and supreme being.
16. He remains as all in all places, as the sap
circulates
through the bodies of plants; thus the great soul of the
supreme
being, extends alike as the common entity of all things.
17. It is He who abides in the heart of your spouse
Arundhati as in your's, the same also dwells in the heart
of
P疵vat・as in thoseof her attendants.
18. That intellection which is one and in every one in
all the
three worlds is verily the god, by the best knowing among
philosophers: (that god is the universal mind).
19. Tell me O Brahman! how they may be called as gods,
who having their hands and feet, are yet devoid of their
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consciousness; which is the pith of the body. (This is
said of
idols and images).
20. The Intellect is the pith and marrow of the world,
and
contains the sap which it supplies to every thing in it.
It is
the one and all-ego-sarvahm and therefore all things are
obtained
from it. (The god Siva is also called the all to
pan-sarva and
Ego, that is I am the universal ego and giver of all
gifts to all).
21. He is not situated at a distance, O Brahman! nor is
He
unobtainable by any body; He resides always in all
bodies, and
abides alike in all places, as also in all empty space
and sky.
(This omnipresence of the divine spirit, sets aside the
belief of
a swarga-heaven or bihesht as the special seat of god).
22. He does, he eats, he supports all, and moves every
where;
He breathes and feels and knows every member of the body.
(This is according to the sruti; He fills and directs
every part
of the body to the end of the nails-疣akh疊rat. [Sanskrit:
puryy疥疽te / sa
eva ??
pravishta 疣akh疊rebhyah])
23. Know him, O chief of sages! to be seated in the city
of the body; and directing the various functions that are
manifest by it, under his direct appointment.
24. He is the lord of the cavity of the heart, and the
several
hidden sheaths-Koshas, which are contained within the
cavity
of the body; which is made by his moving abodes and moves
as
he pleases to move it.
25. The immaculate soul is beyond the essence and actions
of the mind, and the six organs of sense; it is for our
use and
understanding only, the word chit-intellect is applied to
him.
26. That intellectual spirit is two[**too?] minute and
subtile,
immaculate and all-pervading; and it is his option and
volition,
to manifest this visible respresentation[** typo for
representation] of
himself or not.
27. This intellect is too fine and pure, and yet manages
the
whole machinery for beautifying the world, as the subtle
and
intelligent season of spring, beautifies the vegitable
world with
freshness and moisture.
28. The beautiful and wonderous properties that reside in
the divine Intellect, are astonishing to behold in their
display
into the various form as the sky.
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29. Some of these take the name of the living soul, and
some
others assume the title of the mind; some take the
general name
of space, and others are known as its parts and
divisions. (These
are but parts of one stupendous whole &c. Popes Moral
Essays).
30. Some of these pass under the name of substance, and
others of their action; and some under the[** space
added] different
categories of
mode and condition, genus, species and adjuncts.
31. Some of them shine as light, and others stand as
mountains
and hills; some brighten as the sun and moon and the gods
above, and others are as the dark yakshas below.
32. All these continue in their own states, without any
option on their parts; and they evolve of their own nature,
and
causation of the divine spirit, as the sprouts of trees
grow of
their own accord, under the influence of the vernal
spring
(season).
33. It is the intellect alone which extends over all the
works of nature, and fills all bodies which overspread the
vast
ocean of the world, as the aquatic plants swim over the
surface
of waters.
34. The deluded mind wanders like a roving bee, and
collects
the sweets of its desire from the lotus of the body, and
the
intellect sitting as its Mistress, relishes their essence
from
within. (Spiritual substances can taste the essence of
sweets.
Milton).
35. The world with all the gods and gandharvas, and the
seas and hills that are situated in it; rolls about in
the circuit of
the Intellect, as the waters whirl in a whirlpool.
36. Human minds resembling the spokes of a wheel, are
bound to the axles of their worldy affairs; and turn
about in the
rotatory wheel of the ever revolving world, within the
circumference
of the Intellect.
37. It was the Intellect which in the form of the
four-armed
vishnu, destroys the whole host of the demoniac asuras;
as the
rainy season dispels the solar heat, with its thundering
clouds
and rainbows.
38. It is the Intellect, which in the form of the
three-eyed
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siva, accompanied by his ensigns of the bull and the
crescent
of the moon, continues to dote like a fond bee, on the
lotus like
lovely face of gauri (his consort).
39. It was the intellect which was born as a bee in the
lotus like navel of vishnu in the form of Brahm・ and was
settled in his meditation upon the lotus of the triple
vedas;
(revealed to the sage afterwards).
40. In this manner the Intellect appears in various
forms,
like the unnumbered leaves of trees, and the different
kind of
ornaments made of the same metal of gold.
41. The Intellect assumes of its own pleasure, the
paramount
dignity of Indra; who is the crown jewel over the three
worlds, and whose feet are honoured by the whole body of
gods.
42. The Intellect expands, rises and falls, and
circulated
everywhere in the womb of the triple world; as the waters
of
the deep overflow and receide and move about in itself.
43. The full moon beams of intellect, scatter their wide
spread brightness on all sides; and display to the full
view the
lotus lake of all created beings in the world.
44. The translucent brightness of the mirror of the
Intellect,
shows the reflexions of the world in it, and receives
benignantly
the images of all things in its bosom; as if it were
pregnant
with them.
45. The Intellect gives existence to the circles of the
fourteen
great regions (of creation) above and below; and it
plants them
in the watery expance of the sea on earth, and in the
etherial
expance of the waters in heaven. (The fourteen regions
are the
seven continents--sapta dwipas, beset by the seven watery
ocean
sapta-samndras on earth; and the seven planets revolving
in the
etherial occean of the skies. Manu says-the god Brahma
planted his seed in the waters; and the Bible says-god
divided
the waters above from the waters below by the midway
sky).
46. Intellect spreads itself like a creeper in the vacous
field of air, and became fruitful with multitudes of
created
beings; it blossomed in the variety of the different
peoples; and
shooted forth in the leaves of its dense desires.
47. These throngs of livings beings are its farina flying
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about, and their desires are as the juice which gives
them their
different colours; their understandings are their
covering cuticles
and the efforts of their minds are buds that unfold with
flowers
and fruits of their desire.
48. The lightsome pistels of these florets are countless
in
the three worlds, and their incessant undulation in the
air,
expressed their gaysome dance with the sweet smiling of
the
opening buds.
49. It is the Intellect which streatches out all these
real and
unreal bodies, which expand like the gentle and good
looking
flowers for a time, but never endure for ever. (The body
like a
fading flower is soon blownaway.)
50. It produces men like moon bright flowers in all
places,
and these flush and blush, and sing and dance about,
deeming
themselves as real bodies.
51. It is by the power of this great Intellect, that the
sun and other luminous bodies shining over the sky as the
two
bodies in a couple, are attracted to one another to taste
the
fruit of their enjoyment as that of gross bodies.
52. All other visible bodies that are seen to move about
in
this phenomenal world, are as flakes of dust dancing
about on
eddy. (i.e. All things move about and tend towards their
central
point the Intellect).
53. The Intellect is like luminary of the universe, and
manifests
unto us all the phenomena of the three worlds, as the flame
of a lamp shows us the various colours of things: (which
are
reflected by light on dark and opaque matter).
54. All worldly things exhibit their beauty to our sight,
by
their being immerged in the light of the Intellect, as
the dark
spot on the disk of the moon, becomes fully apparent to
view by
its immersion in the lunar beams: (The black spot on the
moon's
surface, becomes white by the brightness of the
moon-beams, so
the dark world becomes illumined by the presence of the
Intellect
in it).
55. It is by receiving the gilding of the Intellect, that
all
material bodies are tinctured in their various hews; as
the
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different trees receive their freshness, foliage and
fruitage from
the influence of the rainy weather.
56. It is the shadow (or absence of intellect), which
causes
the dullness of an object; and all bodies are inanimate
without
it, as a house becomes dark in absence of light or a
lamp. (Intellect
gives life to dull matter).
57. The wondrous powers of the intellect (which gives a
shape and form to every thing), are wanting in any thing;
it
becomes a shapeless thing, and cannot possibly have any
form or
figure in the world, over its dull materiality. (Even
inanimate
nature of all forms and kinds, receives its figure from
the power
of intellect).
58. The intellect is as the skylight, wherein its active
power
or energy resembling its consort, resides with her
offspring of
desire in the abode of the body, and is ever restless and
busy in
her actions (This active power is personified as the
gaddess[** typo for
goddess] sakti
or Energy, and her offspring-desire is the
personification of
Brahm・.
59. Without the presence of the Intellect, it is no way
possible
for any one to perceive the taste of any flavour though
it is
set on the tip of his tongue, or see it with his eyes?
(Intellect is
the cause of all perception).
60. Hear me and say, how can this arboretum of the body
subsist, with its branching arms and hairy filaments,
without
being supplied with the sap of the intellect.
61. Know hence the intellect to be the cause of all
moving
and immovable things in nature, by its growing and
feeding and
supporting them all; and know also that the intellect is
the
only thing in existence, and all else is inexistent
without it.
62. Vasishtha said;--R疥a! after the moon-bright and
three-eyed god had spoken to me in his perspicuous
speech, I
interrogated again the moon-bright god in a clear and
audible
voice and said.
63. O lord! If the intellect alone is all pervading and
the
soul of all, then I have not yet been able to know this
visible
earth in its true light.
64. Say why is it that people call a living person, to
been
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*dued with intellect so[**]long as he is alive, and why
they say him
to be devoid of intell[**e]ct, when he is layed down as a
dead and
life less[**lifeless] mass.
65. The god replied--Hear me tell you all: O Brahman,
about what you have asked me; it is a question of great
importance,
and requires, O greatest of theists {along explication.
66. The intellect resides in every body, as also in all
things as
their inherent soul; the one is viewed (by shallow
understandings)
as the individual and active spirit, and the other is
known (to
compre[**he]nsive mind) as unchanging and universal soulｷ
67. The mind that is misled by its desires, views the
inward
spirit as another or the living soul, as the cupidinous
person takes his (or her) consort for another, in the
state of
sleep or dreaming. (The unsettled mind takes every
individual
soul for the universal one).
68. And as the same man seems to be changed to another,
during his fit of anger; so the sober intellect is
transformed to a
changeable spirit, by one's mistake of its true nature.
(The nirvi
kalpa or immutable spirit, is changed to a savi kalpa or
mutable
one).
69. The intellect being attributed with many variable
qualities and desires, is made to lose its state of
purity; and by
thinking constantly of it gross nature, it is at last converted
to
the very gross object of thought.
70. Then the subjective intellect chit, becomes itself
the chetya
or object of thought, and having assumed the subtile form
of a
minute etherial atom, becomes the element of sound; and
is afterwards
transformed to the rudimental particle of air vata tan
m疸ra.
71. This aerial particle then bearing relation to the
parts
of time and place, becomes the vital principle (as
existing some
where for a certain period of time); which next turns to
the understanding and finally to the mind.
72. The intellect being thus transformed into the mind,
dwells on its thoughts of the world, and is then
amalgamated
with it, in the same manner as a Brahman is changed to
chandala, by constantly thinking himself as such. (Thus
this
creation is a display of the divine mind and identic with
it).
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73. Thus the divine Intellect forgets its universality by
its
thoughts of particulars; and assumes the gross forms of
the
objects of its thoughts and desires. (Hence we say a man
to be
of such and such a mind, according to the thought or
desire that
he entertains in it. i.e. The whole being taking for a
part and
the part for the whole).
74. The Intellect being thus replete with its endless
thoughts and desires, grows as dull as the gross objects
it
dwells upon; till at last the subtile intellect grows as
stony
dull, as the pure water is converted to massive stones
and hails.
75. So the stolid intellect takes the names of the mind
and
sense, and becomes subject to ignorance and illusion; by
contracting
a gross stolidity restrained from its flght[** typo for
flight] upwards, and
have
to grovel forever in the regions of sense.
76. Being subjected to ignorance at first, it is fast bound
to
the fetters of its cupidity afterwards, and then being
pinched
by its hankerings and angry frettings, it is tormented
alike by
the pleasure of affluence and the pains of penury.
77. By forsaking the endless felicity (of spirituality),
it is
subjected to the incessant vicissitudes of mortality, it
now sets
dejected in despair, and lamenting over its griefs and
sorrow,
and then burns amidst the conflagration of its woes and
misery.
78. See how it is harassed with the vain thought of its
personality that I am such a one; and look at the
miseries to
which it is exposed, by its reliance on the frail and
false body.
79. See how it is worried by its being hushed to
andfro[**and fro], in
the alternate swinging beds of prosperity and adversity;
and see
bow it is plunged in the deep and muddy puddle of misery,
like
an worn out elephant sinking in the mire.
80. Look at this deep and unfordable ocean of the world,
all
hollow within and rolling with the eventful waves of
casualties;
it emits the submarine fire from within its bosom, as the
human
heart flashes forth with its hidden fire of passions and
affections.
81. Human heart staggers between hope and fear, like a
stray dear in the forest; and is alternately cheered and
depressed
at the prospects of affluence and want.
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82. The mind that is led by its desire, is always
apprehensive
of disappointment; and it coils back for feat of a
reverse, as a
timorous girl flies afar from the sight of a spectre.
83. Man encounters all pains for a certain pleasure in
prospect,
as the camel browses the thorny furze in expectation of
honey at a honey comb in it; but happening to slip from
his intermediate stand point, he is hurled head long to
the
bottom.
84. One meeting with a reverse falls from one danger to
another; and so he meets with fresh calamities, as if one
evil
invited or was the harbinger of the other.
85. The mind that is captivated by its desires, and led
onward
by its exertions, meets with one difficulty after
another,
and has cause to repent and grieve at every step: (or is
the cause
of remorse and grief). (All toil and moil, tend to the
vexation
of the spirit).
86. As a man advances in life, so he improves in his
learning;
but alas! all his worldly knowledge serves at best, but
to bind
down the soul fast to the earth.
87. Cowards are in constant fear of everything, until
they
die away in their fear; as the little shrimp being afraid
of the waterfall, falls on dryland, and there perishes
with
flouncing.
88. The helplessness of childhood, the anxieties of
manhood
the meserableness of old age; are preliminaries to sad
demise of
men engaged in busylife. (The last catastrophe of human
life).
89. The propensities of past life, cause some to be born as
celestial nymphs in heaven, and other as venomous
serpents in
subterranean cells; while some become as fierce demons,
and
many are reborn as men and women on earth.
90. The past actions of men make to be born again as
R疚shas among savages, and others as monkeys in forests;
while some become as Kinnaras on mountains, and many as
lions
on mountain tops. (All these are depraved races of men
v﨎; the
anthropophagi cannibals, the pigmy apes-banars, the ugly
mountaneers
kinnaras and the leonine men nararinhas).
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91. The vidy疆haras of the Devagiri mountains, and the
Nagas of the forest caves (are degenerations of men); and
so
are the fowls of air, the quadrupeds of wood lands, the
trees and
plants of forests, and the bushes on hills and
orchides[**orchids] on trees;
(are all but transformation of the perverted intellect).
92. It is self same intellect which causes N疵痒ana to
float
on the surface of the sea, and makes the lotus born
Brahm・to
remain in his meditation; It keeps Hara in the company of
his
consort Uma, and places Hari over the gods in heaven.
93. It is this which makes the sun to make the day and
the
clouds to give the rain (or pour in rains); It makes the
sea to
breathe out in waves, and the volcanic mountains to blow
out
in fire and flame.
94. It makes the curricle of time to revolve continually
in
the circle of the seasons; and causes the day and night
to rotate
in their cycles of light and darkness.
95. Here it causes the seeds to vigitate[**vegetate] with
the juice contained
in them; and there it makes the stones and minerals lie
down in mute silence.
96. Some times it blooms in fruits ripened by the solar
heat,
and at others maturated by the burning fuel; some where
it
gives us the cold and icy water; and at others the spring
water
which cannot belasted[**be lasted].
97. Here it glows in luminous bodies, and there it shows
itself of impenetrable thickets and in accessible rocks;
It shines
as bright and white in one place, and is as dark and blue
in
another; It sparkles in the fire and dwindles in the
earth, it
blows in the air and spreads in the water.
98. Being the all-pervading, omnipresent and omnipotent
power itself, it is the one in all and the whole plenum.
It is
therefore more subtile and transparent, than the
rarified[**rarefied] and
translucent air.
99. As the intellect spreads out and contracts itself, in
any manner in any place or time; so it conceives and
produces
the same within and without itself, as the agitation of
waters
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produces both the little billows and huge surges of the
sea. (The
intellect is the immanent cause of all
phenomina[**phenomena]).
100. The intellect stretches itself in the various forms
of
ducks and geese, of cranes and crows, of storks, wolves
and horses
also; it becomes the heron and partridge, the parrot, the
dog,
the stag, the ape and Kinnara likewise.
101. It is the abstract quality of the understanding,
beauty
and modesty, and of love and affections also; it is the
power of
illusion and the shadow and brightness of night and of
moonlight
likewise.
102. It stretches itself in these and all other forms of
bodies, and is born and reborn in all kinds and species
of things.
It roves and rolls all about the revolving world, in the
manner
of a straw whirling in a whirlpool.
103. It is afraid of its own desires[** space added], as
the she-ass is seen to
shudder at its own brayings; and it has no one like
itself. ([Sanskrit: mugva
b疝・cal・val畩)
104. I have told you already, O great sage! how this
principle
of the living spirit, becomes vitiated by its animal
propensities,
and is afterwards debased to the nature and condition of
brute
creatures.
105. The supreme soul receiving the appellation of the
living soul or principle of action, becomes a pitiable
object, when
it becomes subject to error and illusion, and is
subjected to endless
pains and miseries.
106. The deluded soul is then over powered by its connate
sin, which causes it to choose the wrong unreality--asat
for
itself, which being frail and perishable, makes the
active soul to
perish with itself. (This passage appears to allude to
the
original sin of man, which became the cause of the death
and
woes of human life. The connate sin is compared to the
husk
which is born with the rice, and not coming from without.
It is otherwise called the inborn sinfulness or frailty
of human
nature--Man is to err &c[**.]).
107. The soul being thus degraded from its state of
endless
felicity, to the miserable condition of mortal life,
laments over its
fallen state, as a widow wails over her fate.[** space
added]
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108. Look on the deplorable condition of intellect--chit;
which having forgotton[**forgotten] its original state
(of purity), is
subjected
to the impotent Ignorence[**Ignorance], which has been
casting it to the
miseries of degradation, as they cast a bucket in the
well by a
string, which lowers it lower and lower till it sinks in
the bottom
of the pit. (This string araghatta is said to be the
action of
human life, which the more it is lengthened, the more it
tends to
our degradation, unless we prevent by our good action. So
the
surti[**sruti]! [Sanskrit: yath疚疵・yath當h疵・tath・bhalati
/s疊huk疵í
s疆hurbhabati / pr疳ak疵í
pap兊havati / punyo bai punyema karmmana bhavati / p疳ah
p疳ereti][**)]
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CHAPTER XXXI
IDENTTITY[**IDENTITY] OF THE MIND AND LIVING SOUL.
Argument--The pure Intellect shown to be without
vitality; and the
mind to consist in the vital power in connection with the
sensations and
external Perceptions.
The god continued--When the intellect collects (takes)
the
vanities of the world to itself, (and relies on them) and
thinks to be a miserable being; it is said to have fallen
into error,
(by forgetting the reality and its true nature); it then
resembles a
man that is deluded to think himself for another, in his
dream or
ebriety. (The living soul is forgetful of its spiritual
nature).
2. Though immortal yet it is deceived to believe itself
as mortal,
by its infatuated understanding; as a sick man weeps to
think himself dead when he is still alive.
3. As the ignorant man views the revolving spheres to be
at
a stand still, so the deluded intellect sees the world
and thinks
its personality as sober realities.
4. The mind alone is said to be the cause of the
perception
of the exterior world in the intellect; but the mind can
be no
such cause of it, from the impossibility of its,
seperate[**separate]
existence
independent of the intellect. (The intellect is the cause
of
guiding and informing the mind, and not this of that).
5. Thus there being no causality of the mind, there
cannot
be its cousations[**causations] of the thinkable world
also. Therefore the
intellect only is the cause of thought, and neither the
mind nor
the thinkable world: (which produces or impresses the
thought).
The gloss says that, "the intellect whereby the mind
thinks, is
not the mind nor its dependant or the objective thinkable
world; but it is the pure subjective self-same intellect
only."
6. There is no spectacle, spectator (or sight of) of
anything
anywhere, unless it be a delusion, as that which appears
oiliness in
a stone; and there is no matter, making or work of any
kind;
unless it be a mistake like that of blackness in the
moon; (The
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oily glossiness of the marble and the shade in the moon,
are no
other but the inherent properties of those things).
7. The terms measure, measurer, and
measerable[**measurable] are as
negative in nature, as the privation of forest plants in
the sky;
and the words intellect, intellection and intellegible
are as
meaningless in themselves, as the absence of thorns and
thistles
in the garden of Paradise. (gloss. The intellect chit is
the
subjective intellection, chetana is chitta
vritti-[**--]the property of chit,
is the attribute, and the intelligible chetya is the
object of
thought. The meaning is that, there is no
seperate[**separate] subject,
object or attribute in nature, but they all blend in the
essentiality
of god, who is all in all. The words subjective,
objective and
attributive, are therefore mere human inventions, and so
are the
words thinker, thinking and the thought ([Sanskrit:
mantri, mati,
mantavya],) and
knower, knowing and knowledge ([Sanskrit: b劜a[**typo f.
v劜a], vuhvi,
v劜abya[**typo f. v劜avya]], and the
ego, egoism and egotist, ([Sanskrit: ahamk疵a, ahamkartt・
ahamk疵yya])
all which
refer to the same individual soul).
8. The personalities of egoism, tuism and illism;
[Sanskrit: ahantvam
tvantvam, tatvam], are as false as mountains in the
firmament; and the
difference of persons (as this is my body and that
another's), is as
untrue as to find whiteness in ink.
9. The Divine spirit is neither the same nor different in
all
bodies; because it is as impossible for the universal
soul to be
confined in any body, as it is impracticable for the
mount Meru
to be contained in an atom of dust. And it is as
impossible to
express it in words and their senses as it is incapable
for the sandy
soil to grow the tender herbs.
10. The dictum netineti.--It is neither this nor any
other,
is as untrue as the belief of the darkness of night
subsisting in
company with the day light: and substantiality and
unsubstantiality
are both as wanting in the supreme spirit, as heat is
wanting
in ice.
11. It is as wrong to call it either as empty or solid,
as it is
to say a tree growing in the womb of a stone to call it
either
the one or the other; is to have it for the infinite
vacuum or the
full plenum.
12. It is the sole unity that remains in its state of
pure
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transparency forever; and being unborn from the thought
or
mind of any body, it is not subject to the misrepresentation
of
of any body. (The gloss says.[**:] Not being born from
the mind
of Brahm・as this creation, the Intellect is free from the
imperfections
of both).
13. It is however imputed with many faults and failings,
in the thoughts and opinions of men; but all these
imputations
and false attributes, vanish before one knowing its true
nature,
14. The learned devoid of indifference, are employed in
many other thoughts and things; though not a straw of all
this vast world, is under the command of any body.
15. It is in the power of every body to get rid of his
thoughts, but very difficult to get the odject[**object]
of his thought;
How then is it possible for one to have, what it is
impracticable
for him to try for? (i. e. The full object of desire).
16. The one sole and immutable Intellect which pervades
all nature, is the supreme one and without an equal, and
is more
pellucid than the translucent light of a lamp and all
other
lights.
17. It is this intellectual light which enlightens every
thing,
it is ubiquious and ever[**space added] translucent; it
is ever shining
without a
shade, and immutable in its nature and mind.
18. It is situated every where and in all things, as in
pots
and pictures, in trees and huts, and houses in
quadrupeds, demons
and devils, in men and beasts, in the sea, earth and air.
19. It remains as the all witnessing spirit, without any
oscilation[**oscillation] or motion of its own to any
place; and
enligtens[**enlightens] all
objects, without flickering or doing any action by
itsef[**itself].
20. It remains unsullied with by its connection with the
impure body, and continues unchageable[** typo for
changeable] in its
relation with
the changeful mind. It does not become dull by being
joined
with the dull body, and is never changed to anything by
its
extension over all things.
21. The extremely minute and immutable intellect, retains
its consciousness in itself; and by rolling itself like a
rundle of
thread, enters the body in the form of a particle of air
(or the
vital breath or air pr疣痒疥a).
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22. It is then accompanied with the powers of vision and
reflexion, which are wakeful in the waking state and lie
dorment[**dormant]
in sleep; whence it is said to be existent and inexistent
by
turns.
23. The clear and pure intellect, comes then to think of
many
things in its waking state, and is thus perverted from
its purity;
as an honest man turns to dishonesty in the company of
the
dishonest. (The perversion of the intellect, is owing to
its attachment
to the flesh, and its entertaining to worldly thoughts).
24. As the pure gold is converted to copper by its alloy,
and
is again restored to its purity by removal of the base
metal; such
is the case of the intellect owing to its contracting and
distracting of vicious thoughts.
25. As a good looking glass being cleansed of its dirt,
shows
the countenance in a clear light; so the intellect being
born in
the human body, attains its divine nature by means of its
good
understanding.
26. Its want of the knowledge of itself as the all,
presents
the sight of the false world to it as a true reality; but
upon
coming to know its true nature, it attains the divine
state.
27. When the mind thinks of itself of its difference
(from
the intellect), and the existence of the unrealities (in
nature), it
gets the sense of its egoism, and then it perishes though
it
originally imperishable in its nature. (The sruti
[Sanskrit: tasya bhayam,
bhavati], [**"]it
then fears to die" because the personal soul is
subject to death,
and not the impersonal or universal soul which never
dies. So
the phrase: "Forget yourself and you'll never fear
to die").
28. As a slight wind scatters the fruits of trees growing
on
the sides of mountain, so the
consiousness[**consciousness] of self, drops
down
at the gust of a slight disease, like a large tree.
29. The existence of the qualities of form and colour and
others, is owing to that of intellect; as the position of
subalterns--adhyasta
is dependent on the station of the superior--adhishthata.
And the pure intellect-[**--]infinite and indefinite in
itself, is designated as a unity, duality and
pluarality[**plurality] by want
of
right understanding.
-----File:
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30. It is from the essence of the intellect only, that
the
mind and senses derive their faculties of thinking and
perception;
as it is presence of day light, which gives rise to the
routine of
daily business.
31. It is the action of the vital air, which gives
pulsation
to the pupils of the eye, and whose light is called the
sight, which
is the instrument of perceiving the forms and colours of
things
that are placed without it, but the perception belongs to
the
power and action of the entellect[**intellect].
32. The air and skin are both of them contemptible and
insensible things, yet their union gives the perception
of touch
or feeling; the mind becomes conscious of that feeling,
but
its consciousness is dependent on and caused by the
intellect.
33. The particles of scent being carried by the particles
of
air to the nostrils, give the sense of smelling to the
mind; but
it is intellect which has the consciousness of smelling.
34. The particles of sound are conveyed by the particles
of
air to the organ of hearing for the perception of the
mind, and
the intellect is conscious of this as in its sleep. (And
as a silent
witness of the same).
35. The mind is the volitive principle of action from
some
desire or to some end and aim of its own, and the
thoughts of
the mind are all mixed with foulness, while the nature of
the
intellectual soul is quite pure and simple. (The
difference
between the sensuous mind and the conscious intellect, is
that
the one is the volitive and active agents of its actions,
the other
is the passive and neutral witness of all and every thing
that is
and comes to take place, without its interference in
any).
36. The intellect is manifest by itself, and is situated
of itself
in itself; it contains the world within itself, as the
crystaline[**crystalline]
stone retains the images of all things in its bosom. (The
subjective
soul bears in it the objective world, which is not
different
but self-same with itself. Hence the nullity of the
objective
duality, which is identic with the subjective unity).
37. It is the single and sole intellect which contains
the
whole, without dividing or transforming itself to parts
or forms
other than itself. It neither rises or sets, nor moves
nor grows
-----File:
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at any place or time; (But occupies all space and time,
in its
infinity and eternity).
38. It becomes the living soul by fostering its desires,
and
remains as the pure intellect by forsaking them for ever;
and
then seated in itself, it reflects on its two gross and
pure states.
(The two gross states are the gross world, and the gross
mind
that dwells only on gross bodies of the world).
39. The intellect has the living soul for its vehicle,
and
egoism is the vehicle of the living prenciple[** typo for
principle]; the
understanding
is the car of egotism and the mind the seat of the understanding.
40. The mind again has the vital breath for its curricle,
and the senses are vehicles of the vital airs; the body
is the
carriage of the senses, and the organs of action are the
wheels
of the body.
41. The motion of these curricles forms the course of
this
world, (which is hence called karma Kshetra or world of
activity);
and the continued rotation of the body, (called the cage
of bird
of life); until its oldage[**old age] and demise, which
is the dispensation
of
the Almighty power. (That man must toil and moil till he
is
worn out and goes to his grave).
42. The world is shown unto us as a
phastasmagoria[**phantasmagoria] of
the
supreme soul, or as a scene in our dream; it is a
pseudocope[**pseudoscope] and
wholly untrue as the water in a mirage.
43. Know, O sage, that the vital breath is called the
vehicle
of the mind by fiction only; because wherever there is
the
breath of vitality, there is also the process of thinking
carraied[**carried]
on along with it.
44. Wherever the breath of life circulates like a thread,
and acts as spring, there the body is made to shake with
it; as
the forms and colurs[**colours] of bodies, present
themselves to view at
the
appearance of light.
45. The mind being employed with its desires, perturbs
the
vital breath and body as a tempest shakes the forest; but
being
confined in the cavity of the heart, it stops their
motion as when
the winds are confined in the upper skies. (The mind
being
fixed to some particular object of meditation, stops the
course of
life and gives longivity[**longevity] to man).
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46. Again the confinement of the vital breath in the
vacuity of the heart, stops the course of the mind
(thoughts); as
the hiding of a light, removes the sight of the objects
from
view. (No thought without breathing, and no sight without
light).
47. As the dusts cease to fly after the winds are over;
so
the mind (thought) ceases to move, when the breath is
pent up
in the heart. (These are subjects of Pr疣痒疥a or restraint
of
breath, treated at large in chapter XXV of this book).
48. As the carriage is driven wherever the driver wishes
to
drive it; so the mind being driven by the vital breath,
runs from
country to country in a moment.
49. As the stone flung from a fling is lost forever, so
the
thoughts of the mind are dispersed in the air, unless
they are
fixed upon some object. The thoughts are accompaniments
of
the mind and vitality, as fragrance is attendant on
flowers and
heat upon fire.
50. Wherever there is vital breath breathing (in any
animal
being), there is the principle of the mind with its train
of
thoughts likewise; as whenever the moon appears to view,
it is
accompanied with its beams also. Our conciousness is the
result
of the vibrations of the vital air, like our perception
of the
perciptibles[**perceptibles]; and this air is the
sustainer of the body also,
by
supplying the juice of the food to all the nerves and
arteries.
51. The mind and consciousness both belong to the body,
the one residing in the hollow of the vital air, and the
other is
as clear as the intellect, and resides alike in all gross
and
subtile bodies, like the all pervading and transparent
vacuum.
52. It remains in the form of conscious self-existence in
dull
inanimate bodies; and appears to be afraid of the
vibrations of
animal life (i. e. The vegitables[**vegetables] and
minerals are conscious
of
their own existence, without having their vital and
animal
actions of breathing and locomotion).
53. The dull body being enlivened by the vital breath, is
recognized by the mind as belonging to itself; and plays
many
parts and frolics with it, as in its prior state of
existence.
54. The mind vibrates no longer, after the extinction of
-----File: 212.png---------------------------------------------------------
breathing; and then, O sage! the pure intellect is
reflected in the
eight fold receptacle of vacuum. (These are termed the
puryashtakas[**joined the two parts of word]
and consist of the mind, life, knowledge, the organs of
action, illusion, desire, activity and the subtile body).
55. As it is the mirror only that can reflect an image,
and
no other stone; so it is the mind alone these as their
octuple
receptacle--puryashtaka, and which is the agent of all
actions,
and is termed by different names according to the views
of
different divine teachers.
56. That which gives rise to the net work of our
imaginary
visible world, and that in which it appears to be
situated, and
whereby the mind is made to revolve in various bodies,
know that
supreme substance tobe[**to be] the Immensity of Brahma,
and source of
all this world, (or as diffused as all in all which is
thence
called the visvam--the all to pan.
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CHAPTER XXXII
ON THE SUSTENTATION AND DISSOLUTION OF THE BODY.
Argument.--Exposition of the animation of the complicate
Body, and
its ultimate decomposition at death.
The god continued:--Hear me, holy sage! now relate to
you,
how the active and oscillating principle of the
intellect,
acts on the human body and actuates it to all its
actions,
whereby it receives the noble title of its active agent.
(The
disembodied and nameless intellect, gets many
appellations in its
embodied state, according to its various temporal and
spiritual
avocations and occupations in life. gloss).
2. But the mind of man which is impelled by its former
(or pristine) propenseties[**propensities], prevails over
the (good)
intellect; and
being hardened in its vicious deeds, pursues its changeful
wishes and desires. (The former evil propensities refer
to those
of past lives, and allude to the original depravity of
human
nature and will).
3. The mind being strengthened by illusion (m痒・, the
intellect becomes dull and stultified as stone; and this
power
of delusion growing stronger by divine
despension[**dispensation],
displayed the
universe to view. (The m痒・is otherwise called Brahma
Sakti
Divine omnipotence, which overpowers on the omniscience
of
god in the acts of creation, &c. Hence the neutral
omniscience
is called the Intellect chit, and the active omnipotence
is styled
the mind).
4. It is by the good grace of this power, that the intellect
is allowed to perceive sometimes, the fallacy of the
aerial city
of this world, and at others to think it as a reality.
(i. e. It
comes to detect the fallacy by exercise of its
intellection, and
thinks it real by its subjection-illusion).
5. The body remains as dumb as stone, without the
prsence[**presence]
of the intellect, the mind and its egoism in it; and it
moves
about with their presence in it, as when a stone is flung
in the air.
-----File:
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6. As the dull iron is made to move, by its contiguity to
or attraction of the loadstone; so doth the living soul
j咩a act
its parts, by the presence of the omnipresent soul in it.
(The
actions of the living soul are its respirations, and
direction of
the organs of action to their respective function).
7. It is by the power of the all pervading soul, that the
living
principle shoots out in infinity forever, as the germs of
trees
sprout forth the seed in all places. And as the recipient
mirror
receives the reflexion of objects situated at
adistance[**a distance] from it,
so the living soul gets the reflex or image of the
distant supreme
spirit in itself. (God made man in his own image)[**.]
8. It is by forgetfullness[**forgetfulness] of its own
and real nature, that
the living soul contracts its foul gross object, as a
legitimate twice
born man, mistakes himself for a sudra by forgetting his
birth
by such error or illusion.
9. It is by unmindfulness of its own essence, that the
intellect is transformed to the sensuous mind; as some
great
souls are deceived to believe their miserableness in the
distractedness
of their intellect percipience. (Men are often misled
to believe themselves otherwise than what they are, as it
was the
case with the princes Lavana, G疆hi, and Haris chandra
mentioned
before and as it turns out with all miserable mortals,
who
forget their immortal and celestial natures).
10. It is the intellect which moves the dull and inert
body,
as the force of the winds shakes the waters of the deep
to roll
and range about in chains and trains of waves.
11. The active mind which is always prone to action,
leads
the machine of the body together, with the passive and
helpless
living soul at random, as the winds drive about in
different
directions, together with the inert stones (ballast)
contained in
it. (i. e. The mind is the mover of both the body and
soul, but
the intellect is the primum mobile of all).
12. The body is the vehicle, and god has employed the
mind
and the vital breath, as the two horses or bullocks for
driving it.
(The mind is said also to be its driver, the soul its
rider, and
the breaths are its coursers).
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13. Others say, that the rarified[**rarefied] intellect
assumes a compact
form, which becomes the living soul; and this riding on
the car
of the mind, drives it by the vital airs as its racers.
(Hence
the course of the mind and its thoughts, are stopped with
the
stoppage of respiratory breaths).
14. Sometimes the intellect seems as something born and
to be in being, as in its state of waking and witnessing
the
objects all around; at others it seems to be dead and
lost as in
the state of its profound sleep. Again it appears as
many, as in
its dreaming state; and at last it comes to know itself
as one
and a unit, when it comes to the knowledge of truth and
of its
identity with the sole unity.
15. Sometimes it seems to be of a different form, without
forsaking its own nature; as the milk becomes the butter
and
card[**curd] Ect.[**etc.] and as the water appears in the
shape of a billow
or
wave or of its foam or froth. (That changed in all, yet
in all
the same &c. Pope).
16. As all things depend upon light, to show their
different
forms and colours to view, so the mental powers and
faculties,
do all of them depend upon the intellectual soul for
their several
actions. (The intellect in the form of the soul, directs
and
exhibits the actions of the mind).
17. Again the Supreme Spirit being situated in the mind
within the body, the animal soul has its life and action;
as all
things appear to sight, while the lighted lamp shines
inside the
room. (As the silent soul directs the mind, so the active
mind
keeps the soul alive).
18. The ungoverned mind gives rise to all diseases and
difficulties, that rise as fastly and thickly, as the
perturbed
waters rise in waves, which foam out with thickening
froth.
19. The living soul dwelling like the bee in the
lotus-bed of
the body, is also subject to diseases and difficulties as
the bee to
the rains and flood; and it is as disturbed by the
casualties of
life, as the calm sea-water are perturbed to waves by the
blowing winds.
20. The dubitation that, "the divine soul is
omnipotent, and
the living soul is impotent and limited in its powers;
and there[**there-*]
-----File:
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*fore the human soul is not the same with the
Divine[**"]; is the
cause of our woe, and serves to darken the understanding;
as the
clouds raised by the sunlight, serve to obscure the
solardisk[**solar disk]:
(this
doubt leading to dualism, cuts us from god[**God] and
exposes us to all
the calamities of life).
21. The sentient soul passes under many transmigrations
in
its insensibility, and in utter want of its self
consciousness; like
one subdued to dull obtuseness by some morphic[**morphia]
drug, which
makes him insensible of the pain inflicted upon his own
person,
(This drug is some anaesthetic agent as opium, chloroform
and
the like).
22. But as it comes to know itself afterwards by some
means
or other, it recovers from its dull insensibility, and
regains its
state of original purity; as a drunken or deluded person
turns to
his duty, after he comes to remember himself. (So the
lost and
stray sheep, returns to its fold and master).
23. The sentient soul that fills the body, and is
employed in
enlivening all its members, does not strive to know the
cause of
its consciousness; as a leper never attempts to make use
of any
part of his body, which he is incapable to raise. (So the
soul that
is drowned in ignorance and dead in its sin, will never
rise to
reclaim its redemption by reproving itself).
24. When the soul is devoid of its consciousness, it does
not
enable the tube of the lotus-like heart to beat and
vibrate with
the breath of respiration; but makes it as motionless as
a
sacrificial vessel unhandled by the priest.
25. The action of the lotiform heart having ceased, the
motion of the vital breaths is stopped also; as the
fanning of
the palmleaf fan being over, there is no more the current
of the
outer air.
26. The cessation of the vital air in the body, and its
flight
to some other form, sets the life to silence and sink in
the original
soul; just as the suspension of the blowing winds, sets
the
flying dusts to rest on the ground.
27. At this time, O sage, the mind alone remains on its
unsullied
state and without its support; until it gets another
body,
wherein it rests as the embryonic seed lies in the earth
and water.
-----File: 217.png---------------------------------------------------------
28. Thus the causes of life being deranged on all sides,
and
the eight principles of the body inert and extinct (in
their
actions); the body droops down and becomes defunct and
motionless. (The eight principles called the
puryashtakas).
29. Forgetfulness of the intellect, the intelligible
(truth)
and intelligence, produces the desires of them to
vibrate; these
give to remembrances of the past, and their want buries
them
to oblivion.
30. The expansion of the lotus-like heart, causes the
puryashtaka
body to expand also; but when the organ of the heart
ceases to blow and breathe, the body ceases to move.
31. As long as the puryashtaka elements remain in the
body, so long it lives and breathes; but these elementary
powers being quiet and still, the body becomes inert and
is said
to be dead.
32. When the contrary humours, the feelings and passions
and sensible perceptions, and the outward wounds and
strokes,
cause the inward action of the organic heart to stop:--
33. Then the puryashtaka forces are pent up in the cavity
of the heart, as the force of the blowing winds, is lost
in the
hollow of a pair of blowing bellows.
34. When a living body has its inward consciousness, and
becomes inert and motionless in its outer parts and
members,
it is still alive by the action of breathing in the inner
organ of
the heart.
35. Those whose pure and holy desires never forsake their
hearts, they live in one quiet and evenstate[**even
state] of life, and are
known as the living liberated and long living seers. (The
pure
desires are free from the influence of passions, and
tendency to
earthly enjoyments; which cause holy life and give
longivity[**longevity]
to man). (An unperturbed mind is the best preservative of
health).
36. When the action of the lotus like machine of the
heart
has ceased, and the breath ceases to circulate in the
body, it
loses its steadiness, and falls unsupported on the ground
as a
block of wood or stone.
37. As the octuple body mixes with the air in the vacuum
of the sky, so is the mind also absorbed in it at the
same time.
-----File:
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38. But being accompanied with the thoughts, to which it
has been long accustomed, it continues to wander about in
the
air, and amidst the regions of heaven and hell, which it
has long
believed to await on its exit from the body.
39. The body becomes a dead corpse, after the mind has
fled
from it in the air; and it remains as an empty house,
after its
occupant has departed from it.
40. The all pervading intellect, becomes by its power of
intellection
both the living soul as well as the mind; and after
passing from its embodied form (of puryashtaka), it
assumes its
spiritual (疸iv疉ika) nature afterwards.
41. It fosters in its bosom the quintessence (pancha tan
m疸ram)
of the subtile elemental mind, which assumes a grosser
form afterwards, as the thoughts of things appear in
dream.
42. Then as the intensity of its thoughts, makes the
unreal
world and all its unrealities, appear asreal[**as real]
before it, it comes to
forget and forsake its spiritual nature, and
transfrom[**transform] itself to
a gross body.
43. It thinks by mistake the unreal body as substantial,
and
belieaves[**believes] the unreal as real and the real as
unreal. (i. e. It takes
the unreal material as real; and the real spiritual as
nothing).
44. It is but a particle of the all pervading Intellect,
that
makes the living soul, which reflects itself afterwards
in the
form of the intelligent mind. (The understanding is a
partial
reflection of the Intellect. gloss)[**.] The mind then
ascends on the
vehicle of the octuple body, and surveys the phenomenal
world
as a sober reality. (i. e. The senses of the body,
represent the
universe as real).
45. The intellect is the prime mobile power, that gives
force
to the octuple material (puryashtaka) body to move
itself; and
the action of the breath in the heart which is called
life, resembles
the spiritual force of a ghost raising an inert body.
(The
power of spirits entering and moving inert bodies, forms
a firm
belief in India).
46. When the aerial mind flies into the vacuous air,
after
the material frame is weakened and wornout[**worn out];
then the lifeless
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body ramains[**remains] as a block of wood or stone, and
is called a dead
mass by those that are living.
47. As the living soul forgets its spiritual nature, and
becomes
decayed in course of time and according to the frail
nature
of material things; so it fades and falls away in the
manner of
the withered leaves of trees.
48. When the vital power forsakes the body, and the
action
of the pericardium is stopped; the breath of life becomes
extinct,
and the animated being is said to die away.
49. As all beings that are born and have come to life,
fade
away in time like all created things in the world; so do
human
bodies also fade and fall away in time, like the withered
leaves
of trees.
50. The bodies of all embodied beings, are equally doomed
to be born and die also in their time; as the leaves of
trees, are
seen to be incessantly growing and falling off at all
seasons;
why then should we lament at the loss of what is surely
to be
lost.
51. Look at these chains of living bodies, which are indiscriminately
and incessantly rising and falling like bubbles and
billows, in the vast ocean of the divine Intellect, and
there is no
difference of any one of them from another; why then
should
the wise make any distinction between objects that are
equally
frail in their nature, and proceed from and return to the
same
source.
52. The all-pervading intellect reflects itself only in
the
mind of man, and no where else; as it is the mirror only
that
receives the reflexions of objects, and no other opaque
substance
besides.
53. The acts and fates of men are all imprinted in the
spacious
and clear page of the Divine intellect, and yet are all
embodied
beings loud in their cries and complaints against the
decrees
of Heaven which is owing to their ignorance, and tending
to
their better[**bitter] grief
and vain lamentation
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to Brahmasri Sreemaan Vihari Lala Mitra ji for the
collection)
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