The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki
The only complete English translation is
by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891).
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
DISQUISITION OF NIRVÁNA--QUIETISM.
Argument:--Exposition of the Error of the Duality of the
Intellect and
Intelligibles, and establishment of the unity of the
world with the Intellect
by legitimate Reasoning.
Vasishtha continued:--The Intellect perceives the
world raised before it, by the fallacy of its
understanding;
as a man beholds mountains in the sky, by the delusion of
his eye sight.
2. The doctrines that the world is the creation of Brahma
or of the mind, are both alike in substance; in as much
as they
regard it in an immaterial and not physical sense.
3. The world subsisting in our knowledge or consciousness
of it, is same with its internal knowledge, and not as
existing
externally or out of our consciousness; and although it
appears to be situated out of it, like the features of a
picture
appearing as prominent above their base, it is on a level
with
its plane. The original figure being contained in the
substratum
of our inner knowledge, the outward appearance is to be
likewise known as the same also.
4. In our opinion there is no difference, between the two
systems of the interior and exterior knowledge of the
world;
because both of them being of the form of our knowledge
of
them, the exterior shape is no reality at all.
5. Hence all things being the same with our intellectual
knowledge of them, and this knowledge being indistinct
and
invariable in its nature, the distinctions of the
changing scenes
of the world can have no place in it (and must therefore
be
false and unreal).
6. Therefore I adore that ommiscience[**omniscience]
which is the soul
of all, in which all things exist and whence they all
come to
existence; which is all and displays all things in itself
and
pervades all infinity forever.
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7. When the subjective intellectual power chinmaya,
becomes
united with the objective Chitya or intelligible world,
by means of the intrinsic Chit or intellect; it is then
that
the visible or objective organs of sense drishyangas, get
the
sensation chaitanya of their objects and not otherwise.
8. As it is the intellect alone which is both the
subjective
as well as the objective, that is both the viewer and the
view,
the seeing and the sight also; it comes to the same
effect,
that the knowledge of all these, is derived from and
dependent
upon the main intellect.
9. If the subjective and objective be not alike in the
intellectual soul, then the subjective and intellectual
soul, can
have no perception of the objective and material world.
(Because matter cannot enter into the intellect, but by
the ideas
of things which are of an intellectual nature).
10. It is from their intellectual nature, that the
objective
world is perceived in the subjective soul; just as a drop
of
water mixes with the body of waters, owing to the
similarity
of the natures. (Things of the same kind easily combine
with
one another, by their natural affinity), otherwise there
is no
combination of them as of two pieces of wood.
11. When there is no homogeneous affinity between two
things as between the intellect and a log of wood, there
can be
no union between them; nor can two pieces of wood know
one
another, owing to their want of intellect.
12. As the two pieces of wood have [**add: no] knowledge
of one another,
owing to their dull insensibility; so nothing insensible
can be sensible of any thing, save the intellect which is
conversant
with intellectuals only.
13. The great intellectual soul, beholds the world as one
with itself in its intellectual light; and sees the
material bodies
settled as a rock in it, without their properties of life
or motion.
14. Life, understanding and other faculties, are the
products
of intellection, which the wonderful property of the
intellect,
rises spontaneously in itself.
15. The essence of Brahma exists and exhibits itself in
the
form of the quiescent universe, and is personified as the
male
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agent of creation, by his seminal seed resembling the minute
seed of a fig fruit.
16. There is first of all a small seed, which
dovelopes[**develops] itself
to a tree; but that first seed had another smaller seed
before,
from which it was produced. Thus the primary or initial
seed
being the minutest of the latter one's, is contained in
and let
out as an effluvium of the Supreme soul.
17. Brahma is the first and minutest soul of all, which
gives
to innumerable souls as its seeds; the inner ones abiding
in the
spirit of God, are known as spirit; and the grosser sorts
known
as things, are wrongly considered as otherwise, though
they are
of the same nature with their original.
18. As a thing is the same thing and not different from
itself,
whether it is placed above or below; so everything is the
self-*same
Brahma, in whatever state or form it may appear unto us.
19. As gold is no other than gold, in the various
(lit[**.] a
hundred different) forms of golden trinkets; so the
invariableness
of the unchangeable spirit of God, continues the same
in all the changing scenes and varieties in nature.
20. As the clouds of the shadowy dreams that hang over
your mind, are in no way related to you; so the great
bustle of
creation and its dissolution, bear no relation to my
vacuous
soul, nor disturb the even tenor of my mind.
21. As the blueness and moistness, which are attributed
to
the vacuous atmosphere of heaven, are nothing in reality;
and
as the legions of siddha spirits, which are supposed to
traverse
the regions of air, are but deceptions of our eye sight;
such is
the pageant of the world but an empty air and fallacy of
our
vision.
22. It is the desire of the heart and the false fancy of
the
mind, that leads out within us and brings forth the fruit
of the
world; just as the dirty water at the bottom of the
earth,
moistens the seed that produces a big tree in time.
23. The wise man that forgets his egoism, becomes one
with the Supreme spirit; and by reducing himself like a
bit of
rotten straw, becomes an anima or a minimum particle of
the
divine soul.
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24. I find no one among the gods, demigods and mankind
in the three worlds, who wishes to approach to that Great
Spirit, who has the whole world as a hair upon his body.
25. He who knows the unity of the soul of the universe,
is
free from the thought of a duality, in every state of his
life, and
wherever he may be situated. (The monotheist sees the One
soul in all places and all kinds of beings).
26. Who has a great soul, and views the world and all as
a mere vacuity and nothing in reality; how can he have
any
desire for unspiritual and sensible objects.
27. He who is indefferent[**indifferent] to, and
unconcerned with the endless
particulars of the world; and who views the existent and
inexistent in the same light, is truly a great soul and
beyond
all praise.
28. There is no living being that lives, or has any
property
for ever, it is only the inner consciousness that shows
the
various appearances in the empty space of the mind.
(Note.
Our friends and properties are no lasting realities,
except that
our minds paint them as such unto us).
29. In vain do men think of their life and death, in this
world of nullity; neither of them is anything in reality,
but as
false as the flowing and ebbing of waters in the mirage
of life.
30. Upon due examination, this error vanishes from view
with its cause also; and then it appears that there is
nothing
as life or death, beside the existence of the
imperishable one.
(Note. Our life is no life, since we live in death; and
our death
is no death, since we die to live again).
31. That man is said to have gone across the ocean of the
world, who has withdrawn himself from the sight of
visibles;
who is quiet and content with himself, and who while he
is
living, reckons himself with the dead and as nothing.
32. Our nirvána extinction is said to be the cessation of
our mental actions, like the
extingiushing[**extinguishing] of a burning flame
or lamp; it is assimilation into the quiescent spirit of
God, and
continuance in the hebetude of a holy saint.
33. Again he is called the mukta or liberated, who finds
no
delight either in the noumenal or phenomenal (i. e.
either in
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his mental functions or visual operations); but remains
as quiet
and quite aloof from all as the intangible vacuum.
34. I speak of my ego from my want of reason, but reason
points out no egoism in me; hence the want of any sense
in
the word ego, makes the existence of the world quite null
and
void to me; (who am a mere nullity myself). (So says the
persion[**Persian] mystic Ke man Khodra namedánam; I know
not my
veryself[**very self]).
35. The intellect is a mere vacuum, and our consciousness
(which is also a vacuous substance), gives us the knowledge
of
the nature of our inner understanding; the mind (which is
a void likewise), views the external appearances
agreeably to its
internal ideas: (Hence all things are but airy nothing
without
their substantiality).
36. Now the real entity of your soul, will become truly
blessed in itself, by your getting the mind, freed from
all its
objects at all places and times. (The mind being the
mirror
of soul), and by thy doing everything in the name of God.
(In
every work begin and end with God).
37. Whatsoever thou doest or eatest, anything thou givest
or offerest in sacrifice; and whatever thou seest,
killest or
desirest know them all to proceed from God. (Here man's
free
will is denied, and all human actions are believed as
ordained
by God).
38. All that we call as ourselves or yourselves and all
others,
what we name as space, time and the sky, mountains
&c[**.]; all
these together with the actions of all, are supported by
and full
of the power and spirit of God.
39. The vision of our eyes and the thoughts of the mind,
the world and its three times; and all our diseases,
death and
decay, are all the phenomena appearing in the vacuity of
the
Divine Intellect.
40. Remain if you can as a silent sage, unseen and
unknown
by men, and without any desire, thought or effort on your
part;
remain as a lifeless thing, and this is the extinction of
a living
being. (The tropidity[**torpidity] of the body combined
with mental inactivity
constitutes the coolness of the soul).
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41. Be freed from your thoughts and desires, and remain
fixed in the eternal One without any care for anything;
you may
be busy or sit easy, like the air when it breathes or is
calm and
still.
42. Let your manliness be above the feelings of desire
and
affections, and let your thoughts be directed by rules of
the
sástras, and your action by the motion of a clock or
watch,
which act their outward movement.
43. Look on all beings, without the show of fondness or
disfavour (or love or harted[**hatred]) to any one; be
you an unconspicuous[**inconspicuous]
light of the world, resembling a lighted lamp in a
pictures[**either 'in a picture' or 'in pictures']
(which never burns). (Here the hidden light is opposed to
the
sacred text. No one lights a lamps[**lamp] to put it
under a bushel).
44. The man that has no desire nor any object in view,
and
has no relish in carnal and sensual enjoyments; can have
no other delight except in his inquiries after truth by
the light
of the sástras. He who has his mind purified by the
teachings
of the sástras and the precepts of holy men, finds the
inscrutable
truth shining vividly in his consciousness of it.
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CHAPTER XXXIX.
VASISHTHA'S GITA OR SERMON ON THE SWEET PEACE OF MIND.
Argument:--The inward composure of the enlightened soul
and its
view of the outer World.
Vasishtha continued:--The man whose reliance in this
world is really lessened, who is free from desire and
unobservant of his religious vows (for the sake of future
reward),
knowing them to be all in vain: (i. e. the vanity of
human
wishes).
2. Our egoism is as the vapour of our breath, falling and
sticking on the surface of glass; which when taken under
consideration,
proves to be a causeless sight, and vanishes to nothing
at all in a moment.
3. He who is unloosed from the veil of delusion, who has
numbed his rising wishes and efforts; whose soul is
filled with
heavenly ambrosia (i. e. full of holy delight), it is he
who is said
to be happy in his very nature and essence. (Blest is the
enlightened and contented soul).
4. The enlightened mind, that is unshrouded from the mist
of doubts or scepticism; bears resemblance with the
full-moon,
by illuming the sphere of its circle, with the splendour
of its
intelligence.
5. The intelligent man who is freed from his worldliness
and
doubts, who has come out of the curtain of ignorance and
received
the light of truth; is known as the knowing soul, shining
in the sphere of the autumnal sky. (So the sruti: the
knower
of the soul, is as luminous as the very soul).
6. The holy man likens the pure breeze of heaven, that
blows freely from the region of Brahma, without any aim
and
without its support; it is cool in itself and cooling and
purifying
every thing by its touch.
7. The desire to have an unreality, is to expect
something
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that is a nullity in nature; such as the dreaming of
heaven,
and seeking for the son of a barren woman. (The belief in
a
future heaven, which is countenanced in every scheme of
religion, is negatived by vasishtha[**Vasishtha]).
8. So also is the belief of this imaginary world, which
appears
as something in existence; such is the nature of our
desire also,
which attributes a substantiality to an aerial nothing.
9. Thus the world being an unreality even at present,
there
can be no reality in a heaven or hell in future; and yet
the use
of these words is as false, as the negative expression of
a barren
woman's son, or a flower of the etherial arbour.
10. The world is truly the form of Brahma himself, and is
neither an actual or ideal existence, nor does it rest on
any
support; so we are at a loss to understand what is in
reality.
11. By relying in the tranquil nature of the soul, you
lose
your reliance in the natures of things, and your
confidence in
yourself; whereby you come to avoid the troubles
concomitant
with the whole creation and created beings. (Reliance in
the
soul, relieves the miseries of the world).
12. The sight of the intellect like the eye-sight of men,
and
the light of the luminaries of heaven, passes in a moment
to
the distance of millions of miles; just so does the sight
of the
divine intellect, stretch all over the unlimited space of
creation
in an instant.
13. The divine intellect is as unconceivable as the womb
of vacuum, and as imperceptible as the calm and
breathless
air of the sky; and yet it is as joyous as a plant in
full-bloom
and blossom.
14. The learned know all living beings, to appertain the
nature of that intellect; wherefore men of good intellect
and
judgment, place no faith in the creation of the world.
15. As we have no knowledge of the dreaming state in our
sound sleep, nor that of sound sleep in our state of
dreaming;
just so is our error of creation and annihilation of the
world.
(That is to say; creation is as false as a dream, and
extinction
a quietus as sound sleep, neither of which relates to the
ever-wakeful
intellect of God).
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16. Error is incidental to the nature of things, and
sleeping
and dreaming are properties accidental to the material
body;
hence neither do these nor the acts of creation and
annihilation,
(which are likened to them), relate to the omniscient and
self-sufficient
intellect.
17. Error is the unreal appearance of something, which
flies
before examination, and vanishes ere it may be laid hold
upon.
The shell appearing as silver is an unreality, because
you cannot
get your expected silver from it. (All is not gold that
glitters).
18. Whatever is not obtained and unattainable is a
nullity,
and whatsoever is wrongly supposed (as obtainable), is
impossible
to be had; the thing that is unobtainable by its very
nature, is never to be expected, as anything which is
otherwise
than and contrary to nature.
19. It is the nature of a thing, that agrees well with it
at
all times; and the invariability of any thing, can never
admit
of variety under any circumstance.
20. All that is natural, is attended with ease and
delight;
but the unnatural, is full of pain and misery; know and
consider
it well, and do what you think best (i. e. prefer the one
or the
other).
21. A minute seed containing a large tree, is an instance
applying to the formless spirit of God, containing the
form of
the universe in itself. This is a dictum of the veda.
22. Hence visual sight and sensations, mental thought and
understanding, consciousness of ego or self, and all
other properties
belonging to intellectual man, are the original types of
the
trancendent[**transcendent] spirit, as fluidity is
immanent in water. All these
intellectual and spiritual properties are of an airy or
vacuous
nature. (The properties of the adhyatmá or intellectual
soul,
are but reflexions of the pratyangatmá or the spiritual
soul
of God).
23. As an embodied being discharges his bodily functions,
by means of his material members and limbs, so doth
spirit
and spiritual beings conduct their spiritual functions
like the
air, without actually doing them? (Here hangs a long note
on the mode of the spiritual actions).
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24. It is by force and power of the spirit, that we mute
creatures are enabled to utter the words I, thou
&c[**.]; which
are mere meaningless sounds, as those emmitted[**emitted]
by a drum
and bear no sense. (Sound is the gifts of God, but its
sense is
conventional, and determined by consent of a people).
25. An appearance which vanishes on our insight into it,
must be held as no appearance at all; so the formal and
phenomenal
world, which vanishes into the formless and invisible
spirit of god, is nothing real or substantial of itself.
26. Those who are possessed of the dream of the world,
are
dreaming men, who being joined together with their
dreams, are
never united with the spirit of God, nor do they join the
society
of holy divines like ourselves.
27. All these men are identic with myself in spiritual
light,
being one with Brahma in the tranquil and vacuous nature
of
the selfsame spirit (pervading alike in all). But
physically
considered they are different from me, in as much as they
are
fluctuating in their busy course, like the vacillating
winds in
air; (while the spirit of yogis is calm and quiet).
28. I who am full of the True One, appear as a dream or
dreaming man to these day dreamers; while they are in
reality
are[**delete 'are'] as nil and naught to me, as the dream
of a man drowned
in the depth of his sleep. (A deep[**space added] or
sound sleeper, sees no
dream at all).
29. Whatever be their conduct in life, my business is but
with Brahma, and my living and reliance in Brahma only.
Let
others think and see whatsoever they like and do, they
are all
nil and nothing to me. (Care not[**space added] about
what others may think
of or do to you).
30. I am nothing myself, but belong to the all pervading
essence of Brahma, it is by means of the divine spirit,
that the
body appears as something and utters the word I
ect.[**etc.]
31. The soul that is of the nature of pure consciousness,
and
not subject to the contrary sense (of its materiality),
hath
neither its desire for enjoyments or liberation; and so
also
they that know the Lord, have nothing else to desire.
32. The bondage and liberation of men, being dependent
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to their own dispositions; it is folly to foster a great
ambition
here, as it is foolishness to look for a sea in
cowhoof-hole on
the ground.
33. It is by restraining our natures, and mitigation of
our
wants, that it is possible for us to obtain our
liberation here; or
else no riches nor friends nor any of our endeavours, can
serve
to bring about the emancipation that is so eagerly sought
by us.
34. The Intellect is stretched over all our thoughts
about
this imaginary world, as a drop of oil spreads over and
diffuses
itself in circles upon the surface of water.
35. As the scenes seen in a dream, seem pleasant in their
recollection in the waking state; so the wise sage sees
the
worldly sights and his egoism also in the same light of a
dream.
36. By practice of the conditions of yoga meditations
alone, that the impressions of the world are so effaced
from the
mind, as not to leave behind any trace of them, save that
of an
infinite and still vacuity.
37. Whenever the true nature of the soul, appears with
its
solar blaze within us; it then dispels the mists of our
irrational
appetites, and displays an empty nihility of all entity.
38. After the desires are dead and gone and the
understanding
is cleared from its ignorance, the soul shines forth with
the light of a burning lamp within us.
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CHAPTER XL.
ON THE QUIESCENCE OF THE SOUL.
Argument:--God is not manifest in the world, nor is the
world manifested
in God; but both these appear by turns in the soul of the
living-liberated
person.
Vasishtha Continued:--The sight of things, actions of
the mind[**,] the internal faculties and perceptions of
the
senses, being all of a superphysical nature, the true
states of
these categories are far removed from our knowledge, and
present
but a faint appearance of theirs unto us.
2. The minuteness of the superphysical or in totals, is
outstretched
in the forms of external or physical objects; but this
extended appearance of the outer world, is a mere error:
(and
creation of our false imagination).
3. But when this external nature disappears and subsides
in
the inner soul, it is then that this phenomenal world is
absorbed
like a dream in the sound sleeping state of the soul.
4. Our enjoyments and our greatest ailments on earth, and
our kindred and relations are our strongest bondages
here; our
wealth is for our bale and woe, therefore hold yourself
to yourself
alone, (and mind not about all others).
5. Know your felicity to consist, in your communion with
yourself; and that you lose yourself, by your familiarity
with
the world. Participate with the supreme vacuum, be calm
and quiet like it, and do not disturb yourself like the
turbulent
air or wind. (So hafiz and the Persian mystics. If thou
seekest thyself, then seek not [**add: but] forsake all
others).
6. I know not myself, nor do I understand what this
visible
and mistaken world may mean; I am absorbed in the calm
and
quiet Brahma, and feel myself as the sound Brahma
himself.
7. You behold me as another person, and address me with
words thou &c. in the second person; but I find
myself as calm
and quiet as the transcendent vacuum itself.
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8. It is in the vacuous sphere of the divine soul, that
you
view the false appearances (of things), as are produced
therein
by the misconceptions of your mind; and these errors are
continually
rising in your mind, in the manner of the erratic
trepidations in the mind.
9. The tranquil soul of Brahma, knows (has) no effort of
creation in it; nor doth the nature of creation, know the
quiescent
nature of Brahma. It is as the soundly sleeping soul
knows no dream, nor does the dreaming man know the state
of sound sleep. (The nature of Brahma is one of profound
sleep, and that of creation is no other than a dream).
10. Brahma is ever wakeful, and the world is no other
than
a waking dream, and the living liberated man knows, the
phenomenon as a reflexion of the noumenon in his tranquil
understanding.
11. The intellegent[**intelligent] man well knows the
true state of things
in the world, and holy men are as quiet in their souls as
the
autumnal sky with a moving cloud.
12. The erroneous conception of one's egoism or
personality,
and that of the existence of the world; is like the
impression of
the relation of a battle, preserved in one's memory or as
pictured
in his imaginations; in both cases truth and falsehood
are
found to be blended together.
13. The phenomena of the world, which is neither
exhibited
in the divine spirit, as an intrinsic or subjective part
of
itself nor has it a viewer (or subjective framer) for
itself; which
is neither a vacuity nor even a solidity of its nature;
cannot be
otherwise than an erroneous conception of the mind.
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CHAPTER XLI.
REPOSE IN ONE'S ESSENTIAL NATURE.
Argument:--The enlightenment of the understanding, accompanied
by
indifference and distaste of the world, is the cause of
removing the ego,
when looker, looking or view of it, is one the same.
Vasishtha continued:--It is absurd to find the sense
of egoism or self personality, so deeply rooted in human
nature, (when the real ego of the divine soul, is known
to pervade
all over the universe). It is therefore right that you
should
extinguish this unnatural egoism of your's[**yours] by
correcting your
own nature.
2. This is done by enlightenment of the understanding,
accompanied by indifference and distaste of the world;
which
are associated with one another as the orb of the sun
with its
light.
3. There is no making or maker or act of this world, nor
any looker, looking or view of it; this stupendous world
is
altogether inadmissable[**inadmissible], it being but a
picture on the plane of
vacuum.
4. There is nothing prominent in it, (as it appears to
the
naked eye); but all is situated on a perfect level, which
is the
calm intellect of one unvarying Brahma.
5. The divine soul exhibits the wonders of its Intellect,
in
the variegated colours of its imaginations; and there is
no body
who can count the pictures of worlds, which are painted
on the
plane of the infinite space of vacuity.
6. All these aerial bodies which are countless as the
flying
atoms, are continually in the act of dancing and playing
their
parts in the open arena of Brahma; as the players exhibit
their various passions and emotions and gestures and
gesticulations
in a theatre.
7. The seasons are dancing in circles with their towering
heads, and the points of compass are turning rotund with
their
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encircling arms; the lower region is the platform of this
stage,
and the upper sky is the awning stretched on high. (The
great vacuum is the stage, and all the worlds are as
players
in it).
8. The sun and moon are the two playful and rolling eyes,
and the twinkling stars are glistening hair on their
bodies;
the seven regions of air are the members of the body,
and the clear and all investing firmament, is the clean
apparel
on it.
9. The encircling seas about the islands, are as
bracelets
and wristlets round their arms; and the girding mountains
of
lands, are as girdles around their loins; the fleeting
airs are as
the winds of their breath, which are constantly breathing
to
sustain lives of livings[**s?] beings, and support their
bodies thereby
(i. e. by the vital breath).
10. The flowers, groves and forests form the wreathed
decorations on their persons; the sayings of the
sástras-[**--]vedas
and puranas, are their recitations, the ceremonial acts
are
their action, and the results of their actions (viz
happiness and
misery), are the parts that all have to play (in the
theatre of
the world).
11. Thus is all this but a dance of puppet show presented
before us, with the sport of the waters gliding with the
fluidity
of Brahma, and the oscillation of the playful breezes.
12. The cause of causes, is the cause of unnatural
(unquiet)
movements of bodies; and it is the everwakeful[**2 words]
intellect, that
remains sleepless in the sleeping state of nature, and is
waking
awakener of dreams in the swapnavastha or hypnotic state
of man. |
13. Do you remain, O Ráma! Thus sleepless in your
sleeping
state, and reflect on the nature of things as you see
them
in your dream. Be steady when you are awake, and never be
drowned in your sleep nor deceived by your beguiling
dreams
[**missing ( here?]swap-[**--]Percian[**Persian] khwáb
means sleep as well as dream).
14. The waking which has the semblance of sound sleep and
has no liking nor cringing for anything; is said to be
the
-----File:
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idiosyncrasy of man by the wise and the
herbinger[**harbinger] of human
liberations.
15. The living liberated man, sees his God as diffused
throughout the universe; and not as the cause or
instrument
of its causation; and neither as witness of its sight. He
does not
leave to look on the outward phenomena, nor think of the
inward noumenon that has displayed the whole.
16. He sees the world shining in and with the glory of
God, and beholds it fair and perfect with the beauty and
perfection
of the Diety[**Deity]. (These so wondrous fair, thyself
how
wondrous then! Milton).
17. Viewed in the reality of Brahma, the unreal world
becomes a reality; it seems then to be as tranquil as the
nature
of God, and the creation is seen in himself till at last
all is
lost in the womb of a void-vacuum, as it were hid in the
hollow
cavern of a rock.
18. The universe seems as womb of a luminous gem, and
though it is thickly peopled everywhere, yet it is as
void as
empty air; it is a nil and ens at the same time, and as
something
and nothing of itself. (Here is a play of antithetical
words and attributes applied to the world).
19. It is inesse[**in esse] and inposse[**in posse] to
the minds of many, but to
one who bears no duplicity in his mind, it appears as an
extended
reflextion[**reflexion] of the infinite mind of One.
20. As an imaginary city, never disappears from the
immagination[**imagination];
so the reflexion never vanishes from the mind of God;
wherein all things are present at all times.
21. As the glistening gold glitters with and scatters its
rays
all around, without changing or wasting itself; so Brahma
appearing to shine in his caeation[**creation], is yet
quiet and undecaying
in himself.
22. The phenomenal world ever continues the same, though
it is subject to incessant productions and destructions
of all
beings; it appears as unproduced and indestructible, and
as
various and variegated as the very many beings in it.
-----File:
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23. Brahma is seated in his impenetrable tranquility and
in
the form of the rising world, with ever rising or setting
himself;
He is as free and void as vacuity and without any nature
or property of his own, and is known to the enlightened
understanding.
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CHAPTER XLII.
A LECTURE ON NIRVÁNA-[**--]EXTINCTION.
Argument:--A full exposition of the identity of God and
the world, and
the adorableness of our soul as one with God.
Vasishtha Continued:--The mind being as calm and
quiet as the Intellect, there can be no difference between
them; and it is impossible to assign the creation to the
divine
mind, in its undeveloped and tranquil state. (The
difference
of the mind and intellect, consists in their activity and
inactivity).
2. The lighted lamp of the understanding being extinguished,
the erroneous conceptions of the world vanishes into the
air; and the ocular vision and mental operations, are as
undulation
of consciousness. (i. e. The conscious acts through all
the
sensible organs, mental faculties and bodily members).
3. The world bears the same relation to the supreme soul,
as the fluctuation of the winds bear to air, and as the
radiation
of rays bears to light, which have no other causality
except in
themselves.
4. The world is inherent in the Supreme, as fluidity is
connate
with water, and vacuity is connatural with air. But why
and how they are so intimately connected with one
another, is
quite inconceivable to us.
5. The world which is thus immanent in the vast vacuity
of
of the great intellect, is manifest to our minds as brilliancy
in
a gem. (The appearance of light or lustre in a gem is no
other
than a property of them itself).
6. The world therefore appertains to the supreme
intellect,
in the same manner, as liquidity is related with water
and fluctuation
pertains to air, and as vacuity belongs to the infinite
void.
7. As ventilation has its relation with air, so doth the
world
bear upon the supreme intellect; so there is no reason of
supposing a duality to subsist in the unity of any two of
these.
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8. The world is manifest to the sight of the ignorant,
but
it is frail and nebulous in the estimation of the
intelligent. It is
however neither manifest nor mysterious to the sapient,
who
believe it as an existence subsisting in the entity of
the self-*existent
unity.
9. It is well ascertained (in every system of
philosophy),
that there [**add: is] nothing else in existence, beside
the sole intellect,
which is pure intelligence, and having no beginning, middle
or
end of it.
10. This is the great intellect of some, and the holy
spirit
of thers[**others]; it is the eternally omniscient Brahma
according to
some, and the infinite void or vacuum of vacuists. It is
also
called jnapti-[**--]knowledge or science by scientists.
11. Now people understand this infinite and intellectual
spirit, in the sense of an intelligible being; while
others
suppose him as knowable in themselves, and thus trying to
know, become quite ignorant of him.
12. Without the intellect there is no knowledge of the
intelligibles, neither is there the faculty of
intellection unless
there be the intellect; as there is no air without
vacuum, nor
is there any air without its ventilation.
13. So it is the shadow of the great intellect, that
makes
our consciousness to perceive the existence of the world;
and
whether the world is an entity or non-entity, there is no
other
cause of its knowledge than the intellect.
14. It is owing to the unity of this duality (viz of the
world
and the spirit), that this sense of their identity is
verified; nor
is there any one who can make unity or duality the all
pervading
vacuity.
15. There is but one universal concavity, of the whole
sphere
of the vacuous sky, and the dualism of the air and its
fluctions[**fluctuations],
is only in words and nominal and not in reality.
16. The duality of the universe and its universal Lord,
is a
mere verbal and no real distinction of the one positive
unity
of God. It is impossible for the self-existent soul to
have a
counterpart of itself, except its own intellect.
-----File:
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17. That which has the appearances of the world, is no
world in reality, but a shadow of it; and that which is
limited
by space and time, cannot be the infinite and
external[**eternal] sphere.
18. As the different forms of jewels, are related to the
substance
of gold (out of which they are made), so doth the world
bear its relation to Brahma; whose unity admits of
duality, nor
the attribute of cause and effect (i. e. of the creator
and
creation).
19. If it be only a creation of the imagination, it is
then
no other than a nothing and no such thing; it is just as
well
as the vacuity of the firmament, and the fluidity of
water and
liquids.
20. As the sky bears the appearance of the sky, so doth
Brahma present the sight of the world; and both of them
being
of the same kind (of vacuum), there can be no duality nor
unity
of the two in one.
21. All these are of the like kind, as the vast vacuum of
itself; they are selfsame in their nature with the one
all
extended and transperent[**transparent] essence of the
interminable intellect
of God.
22. As all pebbles and dolls and marble statues, have the
stony substance in them; and there is no relation of
cause or
effect in anyone of them, so these varieties of beings
have no
difference in them from the nature of divine essence.
23. As it is impossible for vacuity to be another thing
than
vacuum, and the reflexion of light is noother[**no other]
than the very
light; so this creation resides in and radiates from the
great
intellect.
24. As the images carved in a stone, are of the same sort
being hewn of the same substance; so O wise Ráma, all
these
various forms of things in the world, are lost upon their
insight,
into the substantility[**substantiality] of the all
engrossing intellect of the great
Diety[**Deity].
25. It is the delusion of your mind, that presents to
your
sight all this bustle and commotion of the world, which
upon
your right inspection of them, must remain as mute and
-----File:
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motionless as a block of wood or stone, and as
imperceptible
as the prospect of things to a man with his closed eyes.
26. As things absent from sight, appear to be present
before
one in his thought of them, both in his waking and
sleeping
states; so it is the misconception of the mind, that
presents
the phenomenals to the sight of the open-eyed man.
27. As it is by the hallucination of your mind, that you
see
the absent objects as present before you, both when you
are
awake as well as asleep; but suppress your thoughts, and
you
will be as inert as a stone, as in the abstracted and
sound sleeping
states of your mind.
28. You must not however allow your mind, become as insensible
as a stone; but remain in your natural state and
employ it in the service of your adorable object, with
the best
offerings of your reason on all things about you.
29. Adore the Supreme God of nature; for the enlargement
of your understanding; and He being worshipped with your
right
reason and good sense, will soon reward you with the best
boon
of your transcendent felicity-[**--]neratisayánanda.
30. The adoration of Indra, Upendro and the other
Gods[**gods], is
as the worshipping rotten straws with respect to that of
the God
in spirit; and the offering of flowers and sacrifices,
are nothing
in comparison to your cultivation of reason, and
association with
wise and learned men.
31. The Supreme God who is the giver of all blessings,
being worshipped in the true light of the spirit in one's
own
soul, confers his best blessing of liberation in an
instant.
32. Why do[**does] the ignorant man resort to another,
when his
soul is the sole lord; Do you associate with the good and
have
your equanimity and content, and adore the Supreme soul
with
your best reason.
33. The worship of idols, pilgrimages and all sorts of
devotion,
together with all your charities, are as useless as the
offering
of scentless Sirisha flowers, and injurious as fire,
poison and
the wounds of weapons are to the body.
34. The actions of mean minded men, are as useless as
ashes
-----File:
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on account of their unreasonableness; let them therefore
act
with reason inorder[**2 words] to render their deeds
fruitful.
35. Why therefore don't you foster your reasoning powers
in your mind, by means of your knowledge of the true
natures
of things, and the concentration of your desires in the
Supreme
spirit.
36. It is by divine grace only, that the reasoning
faculty has
its exercise in the mind, therefore the power of
reasoning is to
be fostered in the mind, by sprinkling the ambrosial
water of
equanimity over it.
37. Until the fountain of error in the mind, is dried up
by
the blaze of right knowledge, so long the tendency
towards the
corporeals, continues to run over it in all directions.
38. Equanimity overcomes the sense of shame, sorrow, fear
and envy; as the conviction of the nihility of the world
and
all corporeal things, removes the possibility of their
existence at
any time. (According to the
dictum,-[**--]nyáya,-[**-]-násato vidyate
vába. Exnihilo[**Ex nihilo] nihil fit[**,] nothing comes
from nothing).
39. And if it be the work of a cause, it must be the
selfexistent
Brahma that both at once; as the reflexion is alike the
reflector, and the reflected knowledge of a pot or
picture is nothing
in reality. (The effect is akin to the cause agreeably to
the maxim "similes similibus."
40. Know this world to be the shadow of the intellect, as
one's feature is seen within a mirror; but the idea of
the shadow
of both, vanishes when one[**add: is] acquainted with the
original.
41. For want of the knowables or objects of objective
knowledge,
there remains the only unknowable One, who is of the
form of everlasting felicity; and this soul of the
incorporeal
spirit, is extended all over the infinite space in its
form of perfect
tranquility.
42. All knowledge, knowable and knowing, are said to be
quite mute and silent in their nature (being confined in
the
mind); therefore it behoves you to remain as quite and
calm,
as stones and pebbles and the caverns of rocks.
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43. Remain as knowing and wise man, both when you are
sitting or doing anything; because wise men are persons
who
know the unknown, and personifications of true knowledge.
44. Remain as clear as the sphere of the sky, and be
content
with whatever may happen to you; when you are sitting
quiet,
or moving about or doing anything, and in every state of
your
life.
45. It is for wise men to be doing what they have to do,
and
whatever comes in their way; or to give up and renounce
all
and everything, and remain with their quiet and peaceful
minds
at every place.
46. Whether sitting in solitude or in silent meditation,
let
the wise man remain as quiet as a statue or a picture;
and
having repressed his imagination, let him view the world
as an
imaginary city or an airy nothing. i
47. The waking wise man sees the rising world, as sitting
down in his state of sleep; and let him view the
spectacles
before his eyes, as the born-blind man has no sight of
anything
before him.
48. The ignorant man resorting to his nirvána, has more
cause of regret than the peace of his mind, at his renunciation
of the world; and the preaching of bon-ideals serves
rather
to increase their ignorance, than enlighten in the path
of truth.
49. The ignorant man who thinks himself wise in his own
conceit, is deluded to greater ignorance, by thinking
himself
successful with his ill success.
50. The man comes to meet with his ill success, who
strives
to thrive by improper means; because the learned reckon
all
fanciful steps, as no steps at all to successfulness.
51. It is wrong to resort to nirvána-resignation, on
account
of some transitory mishap which ever happens to humanity.
But that is known as true resignation by the wise, which
a man
has recourse to after his full knowledge of the errors of
the world,
and the indifference which he lays hold upon, at his entire
disgust with and distaste of all worldly affairs.
52. Ráma, as you are delighted at the recital of tales,
so
should you take a pleasure in your spiritual
instructions, with
-----File:
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a melted heart and mind; unless you know the transparent
intellect, and view it as diffused in the form of the
infinite
world, you cannot attain to your nirvána-[**--]extinction
into it.
53. The knowledge of God, that you have gained from the
vedas, is sheer ignorance, and resembles the false notion
of the
world, that is born blind on earth. Trample over that
knowledge,
and do not fall into its errors; but know God in spirit,
and by your nirvána-[**--]extinction into it, be exempt
from
future births and transmigrations.
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CHAPTER XLIII.
ON THE INFINITE EXTENSION OF BRAHMA.
Argument:--The mind likened to the fairy land, full with
the world
of its ignorance; and these being rubbed out from it,
there remains
but an infinite expanse of the essence of one Brahma
only.
Vasishtha continued:--The internal sense of egoism
and the outward perception of the world, vanishes into
unreality upon right inspection of them; and then truth
of self-consciousness
appears even to the dull headed after removal of
their dulness.
2. He who is freed from the fever of ignorance, and whose
soul is cooled by the draught of good understanding, is
known
by the indication, that they bear no further thirst for
worldly
enjoyments.
3. It is useless to use many words by way of logomachy,
when the knowledge of one's unegoism only, is enough to
lead
him to the nirvána-extinction of himself.
4. As waking men do not relish the pleasure of things
seen
in their dream, so wise people feel no zest either for
themselves
or the world, which they know to be as erroneous as the
sight
in their sleep.
5. As one sees the chimera of a magic city in a forest,
and
filled with the families of Yacshas[**Yakshas (the
normal, also in this work)] all about; so doth the
living
soul, look upon this world and all its contents.
6. As the deluded soul sees the Yacshas[**Yakshas] and
their place
of abode, as realities and stable in their nature; so it
believes
its egoism or personality as a reality, and the unreal
world as
a substantiality.
7. As the phantoms of Yacshas[**Yakshas] are seen with
their false
shapes in the open desert, so we see all these creatures
in the
fourteen worlds around us.
8. He who knows himself as nothing, and the knowledge
of his ego a mere error; finds his phantasm of
Yacsha[**Yaksha] to be
-----File:
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no such thing in reality; and that of his mind melts into
the
predicament of his intellect, (i. e. both of them to be the
one and same thing).
9. Be you as quiet in your mind, as you are sitting still
before us; by relinquishing all your fears and fancies,
and renouncing
all your givings and takings (to and from all
person[**persons]),
together with the suppression of all your desires.
10. The visible phenomenon is neither in esse[**space
added] nor in posse[**space added],
and the whole extent of the objective world, is identic
with the
subjective spirit of God; or if it be impossible for the
subjective
reality to become the objective unreality, say then how
the
objective could come to being or exist.
11. As it is the humidity of the vernal season, that
produces
and diffuses itself in the verdure of the ground; so it
is the
pith and marrow of the intellect, which fills and exhibits
itself
in the form of creation.
12. If this appearance of the world, is no other than
reflection
of the intellect; why then speak of its unity or duality
than
knowing its identity with the sole entity, and holding
your
peace and tranquility.
13. Be full with the vacuous intellect, and drink the
sweet
beverage of spirituality; (i. e. be an intellectual and
spiritual
being); and sit without any fear and full of joy in the
blissful
paradise of nirvána-extinction.
14. Why do ye men of erroneous understandings, rove about
in the desert ground of this earth like the vagrant
stags, that
wander about the sandy deserts (appearing as sheets of
sweet
water).
15. O ye men of blinded understandings! Why do ye run
so hurryly[**hurriedly] with your insatiable thirst after
the mirage of
the world; only to be disappointed in your most sanguine
expectations.
16. Why do ye, O foolish men! thirst after the mirage of
the
appearances and the fancies of your minds; do not waste
your lives in vain toils, nor fall victims to your
desires like the
deluded deer,[**.]
17. Demolish the magic castle of worldly enticements, by
-----File:
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the stronger power of your reason; and see how you can
destroy
the train of evils, which appear as pleasure at the first
sight.
(All apparent good is latent evil).
18. Do not look at the blue vault of heaven as a reality
by thy error, it is a mere show amidst the great void of
Brahma, wherefore thou shoudst[**shouldst] fix the sight
on its true aspect
of vacuity (which is the real form of Brahma).
19. O ye men that are as frail and fickle and liable to
fall down, as the tremulous dewdrop hanging on the edge
of
a leaf on high; do not sleep regardless of your fates, in
the
womb of this frail and mortal world (or in this world of
mortality).
20. Remain always from first to last, in your true nature
of calmness, without ever being unmindful of thyself; and
remove the faults of the subjective and objective from
thy
nature.
21. The world known as a reality to the ignorant, is an
utter nihility to the wise; the other one which is the
true
reality bears no name for itself: (being called a nullity
and
void).
22. Break the iron fetters of appetency, which bind you
fast in this world; and rise high above the heaven of
heavens,
as the lion mounts on the towering tops of mountains, by
breaking loose from his imprisoning cage by force.
23. The knowledge of self and meity (or selfishness) is
an
error, and it is the peace of mind only which makes
liberation;
it is the essence of the yogi, wherever and however he
may be
situated.
24. The weary pilgrim of the world, has the following
five
stages for his rest; namely his nirvána or self
resignation, his
nirvásana want of any desire, and the absence of his triple
sorrow--tritápa[**à-->á]; occasioned by his own fault
and those of
others, and the course of nature.
25. The wise man is unknown to the ignorant, and the
ignorant are not known to the wise; and the world is
viewed
in two opposite lights by them respectively, which are
quite
unknown to one another. (Namely, that it is a vale of
tears to
-----File:
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one, and a pleasure garden to the other. The one of the
school of Heraclitus or the crying philosopher, and of
that of
Democritus the laughing philosopher).
26. The fallacy of the world having once fallen off from
the
mind, there is no more the appearance of any worldly
thing
before it; as a seafarer seeing one vast expanse of water
about
him, does not see the inland arms which gush out of it as
its
offspring.
27. After disappearance of the error of the world, from
the
awakened mind of the anaesthetic yogi; he sits quite
insensible
of it, as if it were melt into eternity.
28. As the grass and straws being burnt to ashes, we know
not whether they fly and vanish away with the winds of
the
air; so the nature of the sage being numbed to
callousness, his
knowledge of the world goes to nothing.
29. It is good to know the world, as the ectype of the
essence of Brahma; but the meaning of the word Brahma,
being
the universal soul, it does not apply in that sense to
the changing
world, and as the work of God.
30. As the world appears to be everlasting and unchanging
to the ignorant lad, so doth it seem to the listless sage
to
be co-existent with its eternal cause: (to whom
everything is
eternally present).
31. The wakeful sage keeps his vigils at that time, when
it
is the night of all beings to lye[**lie] down in sleep;
and the daytime
when all creation is awake, is the night of retired
saints. (The
wise and ignorant are oppose[**opposed] to one another in
their knowledge
of things).
32. The wise man is active in his mind, while he seems
to be sitting still and inactive in his body; and when he
is
waking, his organs of sense are as dormant as those of
figures
in a painting.
33. The wise man is as blind as one who is born blind, in
his knowledge of the outer world, and has merely a faint
notion of it in his mind; where it appears or not at
times, like
a dream in his slight and sound sleep (swapna and
susupti).
-----File:
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34. All the worlds and worldly things, conduce to the woe
of the ignorant, who are unacquainted with and delight in
untruth,
and are busy with the visibles and their thoughts about
them, as one with the visions in his dream.
35. As the wise man tastes no pleasure in his waking
state,
so must he remain insensible of them in his sleep also;
but
continue with undivided attention, in the meditation of
the
Supreme being.
36. The wise man who has curbed his desire of worldly
injoyments[**enjoyments],
and is liberated from its bonds; remains with his
cool and composed mind, and enjoys the tranquility of
nirvána,
without his efforts of yoga meditation.
37. As the course of water is always to run downward, and
never to rise upward; so the course of the mind is ever
toward
the objects of sense, and sensible objects are the only
delight
of the mind.
38. The nature of the mind, with all its thoughts of
internal
and external objects, is of the same kind as that of the
great ocean, which is full with the waters of its
tributary rivers
as well as those of the internal waters.
39. As a river flows in one united course, of the waters
of
all its confluent streams; so doth the mind run in an
unvaried
course, with all its internal and external, and righteous
and
unrighteous thoughts.
40. Thus the mind appears as a vast and wide extended
sea, and rolling on with all its indistinct thoughts and
feelings,
as the inseparable waters and waves of the sea.
41. In this manner, the absence of one thing causes the
extinction of both, as in the case of the air and its
fluctuation;
either of which being wanting, there is neither the wind
nor
its ventilation. (Such is the intimate connection between
the
mind and its thought).
42. The mind and its working being one and the same
thing[**space added],
they are both controuled [**controlled] at once by
bringing the other under
subjection; know this well, nobody should cherish any
earthly
desire in order[**space added] to foster his mind.
-----File:
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43. The mind may get its peace by true knowledge, and
the mind of the wise man is destroyed of itself with all
its
desires, without the aid of austerities to destroy them.
44. As a man gets freed from the fear of the enmity of an
enemy, by destroying his effigy made of mud by himself,
so is
one enabled to kill his mind, by commiting[**committing]
himself to the Divine
spirit.
45. The wise man sees the cosmos and chaos as concomitant
with each other, though [**[they]] appear as separate.
The birth and
death as well as prosperity and adversity are mere error,
there
is nothing else beside one infinity.
46. As one has no knowledge of the dream of another
sleeping
by his side, and as the adult man has no fear of yaksha
like
timid boy; and as a giant knows no Pisacha or demon, so
the
wise sees no insensible world before him, (but all full
of the
Intellect of God).
47. The ignorant think the wise as fools, and the old
barren
woman thinks of her conception; so one unacquainted with
the meaning of a word, attempts to explain its sense (all
which
is absurd).
48. The understanding is ever existent, and without
having
its beginning and end; and nature is known to exist ever
since
creation has began. The word mind is meaningless and is
undivided
and unbounded in its nature. (The mind or understanding
is everlasting but nature is not so).
49. The understanding resembles the water of the sea, and
the mind and intelligence are likened to its limpid
waves; how
can this fluid have an end, and what is the meaning of
mind,
but a shape of this psychic fluid. (Here is a similarity
of
Vasishtha's intellectual liquid to Stahl's
physic[**psychic] fluid).
50. For all error as[**is] useless, and live to your
nature for your
good; and being of the nature of pure understanding, you
will
become as perspicacious as the clear autumnal sky. (Here
is
Vasishtha's vacuism again as the ultimate perfection of
men).
51. After passing the three states of waking, dreaming
and
deep sleep, (to the fourth state of turya[**turíya] or
nirvána insensibility),
-----File:
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there is no more[**space added] any perception of the
mind or mental operation
to the abstracted yogi; and then the knowledge of the
endless
varieties of unrealities of creation, is blown away and
lost
in the sight of the everlasting One.
52. Forsake the endless chain of knowables, and be
attached
to thy nature of the solid intellect; because all things
whether
internal or external, are comprehended under its
knowledge.
53. Say how can you separate the objects from the mind,
as you do the seed, branches and fruits from one another;
the
knowables are unknowable without their knowledge, and
[**typo removed 2nd "and"]
knowledge is no known category (apart from the mind).
54. The endless varieties and particulars are still and
quiet
in the Divine soul, which is the only entity and manifest
of
itself as all. The objects being but ideas in the mind
and
this being a negative also, they are all but errors of
the brain.
(The mind and its objective ideas being dependent to and
identic with one another, the conception of them is
altogether
erroneous).
55. The mind which is the framer of objective thoughts,
is
a nihility of itself and an error also. The eternal
spirit being
the sole soul of all, it is useless to imagine the entity
of the
mind.
56. The objective being an erroneous notion, is but a
false
apparition appearing to sight, the objects also having no
cause
for their creation, prove the subjective mind to be a
falsity
likewise.
57. The mind is as fickle as the flickering lightning,
and
deludes us by the flashes of things of its own making.
58. The mind is nothing before knowledges[**knowledge] of
the self-existence
One, nor does it then deceive us with its false shows;
and
this world which is the creation of the mind, disappears
before
the knowledge of the soul.
59. Men in vain wish to take the shell for silver, and
believe
the negative world as a positive one, and is found to be
nothing
before the light of reason.
60. The error of egoism is opposed to the verity of
nirvána,
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and is the cause of misery only to mankind; the ego is
verily
a falsity as mirage, and a non-entity as vacuity itself.
61. The knowledge of the self or soul, removes the error
of
egoism; and by knowing and being full with the knowledge
of the soul, one is incorporated with it, both internally
as well
as externally.
62. One who is unified with the universal soul, resembles
a wave that mixes altogether with the main water; because
the Divine soul sends its essence to all, as a tree
supplies its
marrow to all parts of it from top to foot.
63. There is one unchanging soul, that shines afar above
the reach of our knowledge; in the same manner as the
clear
vault of heaven, appears at the distance of millions of
miles
from us.
64. There is only one unknowable and infinite Being, that
is far beyond our knowledge of the knowables, and is
purer
and more rarified[**rarefied] than the all pervading
vacuum.
65. Therefore knowing that pure and holy One, as both the
states of knowledge and knowables (i. e. the subjective
and
objective); just as the clarified butter is consolidated
to the
compactness of stone. (The soul is solidified to matter).
66. The Divine intellect makes itself the object of its
thought as a thinkable being; and the soul thinks in
itself as
the mind, from eternity to eternity, throughout the
infinity of
space. (The soul reflects in itself, as the congeries of
all things
of its omniscience).
67. The unintelligent Nyáya School
maintains the unity
and positive rest of God; and although there may be no
mistake
of theirs in this position, yet it is wrong to separate
omniscience
from the entity of Divine unity.
68. All great minded souls that are free from pride, melt
away into the inscrutable quiescence of God; and those
that [**[are]]
unerring in divine knowledge, find their eternal rest in
the
samádhi or resignation of themselves to the Supreme
spirit.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to Brahmasri Sreemaan Vihari Lala Mitra ji for the
collection)
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