The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki
The only complete English translation is
by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891).
CHAPTER CLXXIII.
BRAHMA GITA OR A LECTURE ON SPIRITUALITY.
Argument:--The attribution of all physical force to the
Divine spirit,
like the ascribing of all our bodily actions to the Mind.
Ráma rejoined:--If the nature of the Divine spirit is, as
the notion which is Universally entertained of it; that
it is common soul of all, and infinite in its pervasion,
why then
is it supposed to be the soul of the living body only,
and called
the Ego or a personal being?
2. How does[**space added] the Intellect become inert, as
a block of wood
or
stone in the state of our sleep, and why is it said to
exist or
become extinct in the state of its numbness, (when it is
said
to be universal in its nature).
3. Vasishtha replied:--It is by common usage and mode of
speech, that the universal soul is said to reside as the
ego or
personal being in the body; as it is by common use of
language
only, to take the hands of the body as hands, and not to
understand
the feet as such. (So the embodied soul only is called
the ego).
4. As the leaf of a tree is considered only as a leaf or
part
of the tree, so the universal soul residing in the tree
(as vegetable
life), passes under the designation of a tree only.
5. And as vacuity in the sky, is styled the sky also; so
the
universal soul dwelling in matter, is designated as that
matter
likewise. (And so the common vacuum indwelling a pot,
passes
under the name of the pot also).
6. And as an aerial castle in a dream, appears as a
tangible
castle to the dreamer for the time; so the universal soul
living
in our sleep, dream, and waking, is thought to be
sleeping,
dreaming or being awake at that time.
7. As stony trees or cliffs are seen to rise on
mountains, and
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waves on the surface of waters; so the huge mountain also
rises
as a stony tree, from the bosom of the all pervading
spirit.
8. As the living body gives growth, to dull and dead
nails
and hairs, so the living soul of the universe, grows the
insensible
stones and trees upon it. (So the spirit produces the
matter,
and the insensible rises from sensibles).
9. As the conscious soul becomes unconscious, as a stone
or
block of wood in its sleep; so the universal soul becomes
inert,
before creation and after its dissolution. And again as
the
sleeping soul, sees the train of dreams rising out of it,
so the
tranquil spirit of god, beholds the lustre of creation
issuing out
of it.
10. And as the sensible and insensible soul of man, produces
both sensible offspring and insensible excrements from
its
body; so the universal soul, produces both living beings
and
inert bodies from itself.
11. The sensible as well as the insensible, are both
embodied
in the person of the universal soul; which is possessed
of both
the movables and immovables in itself, although it is
formless in
its substance.
12. All these contraries in nature, disappear before the
sight of the truly learned; as the false sights in dream,
disappear
from view of the awakened man, who knows the falsity of
dreams[**.]
13. All this is the vacuity of the Intellect, where there
is
no sight[**,] view nor its veiwer[**viewer]; as a dreamer
being awakened
from his dreaming, nither[**neither] sees his dream nor
his dreaming
sights any more[**.]
14. Millions and millions of creations, are appearing in
and
disappearing from the vacuum of the Intellect, in the
manner
of recurring waves, and the revolving whirlpools in the
sea.
15. As the waters of the ocean, show various shining
forms
in the rising waves; so the Intellect raises many
creations,
bearing different names in its[**space added] own
intellectuality.
16. The world as it is, appears as the very Brahma to the
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truly learned, while to the ignorant mass of men, it
appears
as many and changing, for want of the precise knowledge
of it.
17. The wave that knows its nature, of calm and cool
water
only, thinks no more of its being a fluctuating wave; (so
the
man that knows himself as Brahma, thinks no longer of his
frail and mortal state).
18. The conception of the undulation of the divine
spirit,
from the fluctuating appearance of creation, is a
mistaken[**mistaking] of
the calmness of the Divine nature; the fluctuation
belongs to
the powers residing in the Divinity.
19. The vacuous Intellect never forsakes its tranquility;
and the variety of knowledge that rises in it, like the
varying
train of dreams, is attributable to the mind, which they
call
Brahma or the great progenitor of all.
20. Thus the prime lord of creatures, was the formless
and
undecaying mind; it was of intellectual form like an
imaginary
being, and supposed as the cause of all.
21. Who say[**says] "thou art nothing," that
saying is like the
word gold, which has no form of itself, but whose purity
is
gold.
22. The increate Brahma, being of an intellectual and
vacuous form, and an imaginary body endued with volition,
appeared as the prime Ego or a personal being, and
containing
the world in his person.
23. It is the empty void of the Intellect, which displays
these wonders;[**delete ';'] that are known to constitute
the continued
bustle, of the alternate creation, sustentation, and
destruction of
the world.
24. The clear and increate light, to which the intellect
evolves itself of its own accord; and which bears
resemblance
to the evolution of airy dreams from the mind; is termed
the
first father of all. (Light was the first work of God, or
coeternal
with the Eternal spirit. Hail holy light Heaven's first
born,
or the Eternal coeternal beam. Milton).
25. As a wave assumes one form or other, and rolls on
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interminably over the vast expanse of the sea; so runs
the
heavenly mind, in the forms of the revolving creations
and
their dissolutions.
26. The light of the intellectual vacuum, which passes
under the name of Viráj; is of the same mind as Brahma,
and stretches out the creation, like a castle or city of
imagination.
27. Viráj is the combined form of the triple states of
waking, dreaming and sleep; the two first are analogous
to the
creation and supportance of the universe, and the last is
similar
to the utter darkness of dissolution.
28. From the chaotic state of his dissolution, there sprang
light and darkness (in the forms of days and nights),
like dark
and white hairs growing on his head; and the rotations of
time resembling the joints of his body.
29. His mouth represented the fire, his head the upper
sky,
and the air below his navel; his foot-stool was the
earth, his
eyes were the sun and moon, and the east and west were
his
two ears. In this manner did the Lord Viráj manifest
himself,
in the imagination of his mind: (Viráj represents the
concrete
universe).
30. Thus did the expanded vacuous form of Viráj,
represent
the whole visible world in his ideal person; which was a
figure
of his own imagination, as any of the unsubstantial forms
of
our dream or fancy.
31. Whatever is thought of in the vacuity of the
Intellect,
the same comes to be vividly exhibited therein; such is
verily
the form of this world, which we conceive in our
self[**space added].
32. Viráj is verily an aeriform being in himself, and
appears
to be as wide extended as the vast extent of the
universe; and
is in his own nature, like a city or mountain, that we
see in[**space added]
our
dreams.
33. Whatever one thinks himself to be, he conceives in
him
to have become the same, without his actually being as
such, so
an actor is seen to play his part in dream, from the
conceipt[**concept] of
his acting on the stage.
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[*] 34. Whatever be the tenets of the vedanta, Buddhism,
saakha[**sankhya] and saugata systems of the philosophy;
and whatsoever
may be the doctrine of Tryaksha, Pashupati and other
propounders
of Agama sástras; they all agree in acknowledging
Brahma, as the giver of the boons that they respectively
desire;
and all of them obtain the particular object of bliss
from the
same. Such is the glory of the great god, whose soul
fills all
bodies, and whose bounty supports them all. (lit[**.],
whose body
comprehends the whole).
* The founder of Vedanta was Vyása, of
Buddhism-[**--]Buddha, of
sankhya-[**--]Kapila,
of saugata-[**--]Patanjali. Tryaksha, Pasupoti[**Pashupati]
and Bhairana
were professors
of Agama tantras.
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CHAPTER CLXXIV.
THE SAME OR A LECTURE ON NIRVÁNA.
Argument:--Subsistence of Brahma after evanescence of the
world,
likened to the continuance of Intellection after
disappearance of dreams
upon waking.
Vasishtha continued:--The Intellect alone glistened
in the beginning, with its thought of creation, appearing
as the vision of a dream before it. This was the representation
of the three worlds, and a reflexion of the light of
Brahma Himself. (The Divine spirit was the archetype, of
which
the world was an ectype or rechauffe).
2. These creations were as the endless billows in the
ocean
of the Divine Mind, and rising from the fluidity of his
omniscience;
hence there is no difference between the creation and
its absence, nor is there any woe in the one or bliss in
the other.
3. As the dream and sound sleep of the soul, do both of
them appertain to its sleeping state; when the mind
remains
as vacant as empty air; so the visible and invisible
creation (i. e.
its presence and absence) are both of them alike in the
vacuity
of the Intellect; (where they both resemble but an empty
dream).
4. This world appearing like a city seen in our dream, in
our waking state; is not worthy of reliance of the wise,
who
are well acquainted with its nature of a visionary
appearance.
5. And as we find the falsity of the visionary city in
the
dream, upon our waking, so we come to find our mistake of
the
reality of the world at last.
6. As upon waking, we come to find the falsity of all our
efforts and desires; in the visionary city of our dream;
so do
we find at last, all our aims and attempts in our waking
state
in this world, to be equally false and fleeting.
7. If any one assigns any other cause, then why that one
does not admit, what he said, is mere fancy.
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8. When guessing knowledge is no better than a dream of
the world; so occular[**ocular] authority is more strong
than
inoccular[**inocular?]
one.
9. It is better to judge the soul and other attribute by
near
example, than by the far off; otherwise it is like a fall
from the
top of a hill in a dream.
10. Perfect insensibility is entire
enertness[**inertness], and a changeless
state of body and mind; while the nature of the world,
and the state of things herein, are incessantly restless
and
changeful; therefore it is incapable to conduct [**[to]]
samádhi or
intense meditation in either of these two states.
11. Meditation in worldly life, must be too sensitive and
variable; while its intensity or trance stupifies a man
to a
stone; but true liberation consists neither in the
changeableness
of mind, nor in its stonelike[**space removed]
insensibility.
12. I think nothing is obtainable from the stone like
apathetic trance, as there is nothing to be [**[had]]
from the drowsy
stupor [**[for]] anybody. (Hence both fickleness as well
as mental
torpor are repugnant to meditation and self-liberation).
13. It is therefore by means of consummate knowledge
only, that reasoning men can dispel their ignorance; and
there
is no chance of his being born again, who has secured his
liberation
in his life time.
14. Inflexible abstraction is said to have no bounds, and
it
consists in sitting steadfast in profound meditation,
without
distraction or diversion, such a posture is said to be
all illuminating,
or eternal sunshine to the Yogi.
15. It is called the endless hypnotism or absorption of
the
soul, and is the fourth or last state of
contemplativeness. It is
also styled as nirvána self-extinction, or losing one's
self in his
reveries; and this is what they designate moksha or
liberation
from all bonds and cares of the world. (This is the
abstract
Platonism of the ancients).
16. It is the density or depth of pansophy, and the
intensity
of excogitation; and there being an entire absence of the
retrospect of the phenomenals in it, it is known as the
state of
perfect transcendentalism or glory.
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17. It is not the stonelike[**space removed] inertness of
some
philosophers
(Gautama and Kanada), nor the hypnotism or sound sleep of
others (Hairanya garvas); it is neither the unoptativeness
or
want of option of the Pátanjala's, nor is [**[it]] the
inexistence or utter
annilation[**annihilation] of the Buddhist.
18. It is the knowledge of Brahma as the prime source of
all, and nihility of the visible creation; it is knowing
god as all
and yet nothing that exists; and therefore it is to know
Him
as He is-[**--]in his all pervading spirit.
19. It is the consummate knowledge of all (as nothing),
that gives us our positive rest of nirvána (in our
nothingness);
and in knowing that the world as it is, equal to its
inexistence.
20.[**typo 29.] That all these[**this] variety is no
variety at all, nor all
these
any entity in reality; all apparent realities are mere
unrealities,
and it is the end of all our conceptions and inductions,
that is
the only reality: (i.e.[**period added as it is on other,
later pages] god the
first and last of all-[**--]the alpha and
Omega).
21. The entire nihility of the visible world, is the
state of
its nirvána or extinction; and the settled knowledge of
this
in any one, constitutes his supreme felicity.
22. This state is attainable by one's pure understanding,
and his habit of constant reconsideration; joined with a
knowledge
of the sástras, and scrutiny into the right sense of
significant words and their significates.
23. This work is the best guide to liberation, by means
of
its constant study; or else it is attainable by no other
means,
save by enlightenment of the understanding. [Sanskrit:
jnánatimuktireba]
24. Neither pilgrimage nor charity, nor sacred ablutions
or
learning; nor meditation or Yoga contemplation, nor
religious
austerities nor sacrifice of any kind: (is liberation
ever attainable
by mankind, except by means of divine knowledge).
25. The world is only a delusion, causing the unreal
[**[to]] appear
as real; it is the empty vacuum only which presents the
appearance
of the world, which is as a dream in the vacancy of
the Intellect.
26. No religious austerity nor pilgrimage, is ever able
to
remove our error of the world; they can at the best
procure
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for us the reward of heaven, but never secure unto us our
liberation
or final beatitude.
27. Our error is exterpated [**stet--P2:extirpated] only,
by the light of the
sástras and of our good understanding; but above all, it
is
spiritual knowledge alone, which is the best means to our
liberation
and final salvation.
28. But it is the vivid light of the scriptures, which is
sure
to destroy our error of the world; as the sunshine serves
to
dispel the gloom of night.
29. The light, clearness and shade, of creation,
preservation
and destruction respectively, appear by turns in the
clear vacuous
mirror of the Intellect; as the ventilation of breeze in
air, and fluctuation of waves in water.
30. As the rudiment of the future form, is contained in
the
heart or embryo of every thing; and as the air contains
in
its incessant motion (sadagati) within itself; such is
the existence
of the world, inherent in the Divine Intellect, and so
has it its evolution and dissolution therein, like the
rise and
fall of wind in empty air.
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CHAPTER CLXXV.
PARAMARTHA GITA OR LECTURE ON
TRANCENDENTALISM[**TRANSCENDENTALISM]
OR THE SOLEITY[**SOLITY].
Argument:--The appearance of the world in our Ignorance,
and its
Disappearance
before the light of true knowledge.
Vasishtha continued:--The vacuity of the Intellect
which presented the shadow of a dream at first, could
not possibly assume the form of a causal and sensible
body (as
that of Brahmá), in order to be visible and form the
visible
world. For how is it possible for the intellectual
vacuum, to
have a bodily form at all.
2. In the beginning of creation, O Ráma, there was
nothing
except a shadow dream in the Intellect. And neither was
there this creation nor the next world in visible
existence.
3. The world appeared only in the form, of an
unsubstantial
notion of it; and the vacuous intellect remained as quiet
with
its ideal world, as the mind rests quietly with the
night-mare
in its dream.
4. Such is the essence of the Intellect, which is
translucent
and without its beginning and end; and though it is a
clear
void in itself, yet it bears the ideal model of the world
in its
mirror.
5. So long as this is unknown, the world appears as a
gross
substance; but being known as contained in the Divine
spirit,
it becomes a spiritual substance also; because how is it
possible
for any gross matter, to attach itself to the
transcendent vacuum,
of which there is no beginning and end? [** '.' replaced
by '?']
6. This pure and abstract knowledge of the world, is as
that
of a city in dreaming; and such being the state of the
world
ere its creation, how can any earthly or other matter, be
ever
joined with the same?
7. The light of the Divine soul, shining amidst the
vacuity
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of the Intellect, is termed cosmos or the universe;
consisting
as it is supposed, of matter, mind and faculties.
8. It is want of understanding only, which makes us
suppose
a thing, which is turning round like a
whirpool[**whirlpool], and having
the
force of the wind in it as the stable earth, although it
has no
basis or stability of it.
9. Afterwards the same Divine spirit (jíva), wishing to
display
its own glory, (thought in its personality of Brahmá), of
the
ideal forms of the earth and other things (in its
imagination).
10. Then the great minds of (Brahmá), shone with a purer
light of itself; and this is called his creation which is
of an
aerial form and no other[**space added]. (Light being the
first work of
creation).
11. That pure light, was nothing substantial of itself;
but
the brightness of the Intellect only, shining with the
effulgence
of the Divine spirit. (This was the psychic light of the
soul in itself).
12. This light is the body of the spirit, which shone as
intellectual
light in the void of the Intellect; and it presented
the appearance of the world in it, in the manner of
dreams
floating before the empty mind.
13. There being no other[**space added] inference to be
derived, nor any
other cause to be possibly assigned, (to the production
of the
world), or of its being produced of itself; it is certain
that the
divine spirit, sees itself in the form of creation, within
the vacuum
of its Intellect in the beginning. (As anything cannot
come
by itself or from nothing; the world must therefore be
either a
nothing or a form of something that is ever existent of
itself).
14. This body of the world (corpus mundi[**space added]),
having no
property
of a tangible body, is never fragile in its nature; but
it is as
void as the emptiness of the Intellect, and as inane as
the
empty air.
15. Its form is that of the supreme Being, which is
without
any form whatever; and identic with the Divine form, it
comprehends
all bodies in itself, and extends undivided as all in all
in its own self[**space added].
16. This will be better understood in the instance of a
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dream, which rises of itself and shows itself in various
forms;
but as all these varieties are nothing but empty visions,
so the
divers scenes and sights of the world, are no more than
shows
of the Divine spirit.
17. The Divine soul of Brahma, assumed to itself the
state
of the living spirit; and without forsaking its
transparent form,
became of the form of mind (in the person of the great
Brahmá-[**--]the
creative Power).
18. This power extends the universe in its aerial form in
air; which appears to be changed from its unchangeable
state
of transparency, to that of a gross nature: (i. e. the
visible and
material word).
19. The Mind is Brahmá himself, who gives an external and
visible form to the world, that was seated invisible in
his heart;
and is continually employed in the process of repeated
creation
and destruction of all.
20.[**typo 23] The immaterial mind of Brahma, evolved the
world
from its protoplasm, which was originally seated in his
heart;
and thence it appeared in a different form as a counterpart
of
the original, or as the formless representation of
something in a
dream.
21. The God Brahmá though in himself dwelling with his
formless mind, in his embodied form of the triple world,
and of
being diffused in endless forms of sensible and insensible
beings
therein.
22. But there was neither the earth, nor any material
form,
nor even anything of a visible appearance therein; it was
only
his mind which exhibited itself, in the form of the
formless
and vacuous world. (The Divine hypostasis of the personified
mind of Brahma, was only a mental and aerial form, and
not a
material one).
23. Then the lord Brahmá thought that, this mental form
of his, was nothing in substance, as it did not appear to
sight;
it was the Intellect only, which shone in this manner
within
itself, and had no solidity or substantiality in it. (The
Intellect
is the omniscience of god, and the Mind is the
intelligence of
Brahmá).
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24. This mental conception or abstract contemplation of
the world, is inexpressible by words, and makes the
meditator
remain in mute astonishment; and causes him to continue
as
dumb in this ordinary conduct in life. (This is the state
of
platonic supineness or insouciance).
25. The Intellect being infinite and unlimited, the mind
is
lost in infinity in its reflection; hence Brahmá having
long
remained in his silence, became awakened to his
knawledge[**knowledge]
at last. (Brahmá[**à-->á] the Demiurgic Mind having
recovered itself
from its wonder and bewilderment, becomes detached at
last
from the divine mind).
26. After the insensible mind of Brahmá, had come to its
sense, it revolved in itself with its thoughts; as the
liquid
waters of the sea, turns in whirlpools by agitation.
27. So the insensible air is put to ventilation by its
internal
motion, and so all living souls which are identic with
the
calm and quiet supreme soul, slide away like the gliding
waters,
from their main source.
28. And as the winds and waves, which are identical with
the calm air and still water, blow and flow in all
directions of
themselves, so the minds of living beings which are same
with
supreme Intellect, run in several ways in[**of] their own
accord.
29. Hence the vacuous intellect of all living beings, is the
same with the Divine intellect; and this, O most
intelligent
Ráma, is otherwise known as the supreme soul also.
30. The Divine soul appears unto us, to have its
twinklings
like the vacillation of air; its closing causes the close
or end of
the world, as its flashing exposes the creation to view.
31. Its glancing causes the visibility of creation, and
its
winking makes it invisible or extinct to view, while the
want
of both these acts (opening and closing of its sight), is
tantamount
to the formless void of the world.
32. But the view of the opening and shutting of its
sight,
or the visibility and disappearance of the world in one
unvaried
light; makes the equality of existence and non-existence
in
the mind, and bespeaks the perfection of the soul.
33. Seeing and not seeing, and their results of creation
and
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extinction, make no difference in the Divine Intellect
which is
always the same. (The veda says Íkshati or glancing of
god,
and not his will or word is the cause of the world).
34. Know therefore this world, to be as calm and quiet as
the Divine soul; and that it is of the nature of the
uncreated
vacuum, which is ever the same and [**[has]] no decay.
35. The sensuous and conscious intellect, exhibits itself
as
the insensible and unconscious vacuum; the very intellect
shows
itself in the form of the world, which is in a manner its
body
and residence.
36. The Intellect is neither born or made, nor does it
ever
grow or decay; it is never visible nor perceptible, nor
have we
any notion of it; it displays its wonders in itself,
without any
extraneous substance in it.
37. All that is called the phenomenal, is the brightness
of
the blazing gem of the great Intellect, and proceeding
from the
quarry of its vacuum; as the sunshine which illumines the
world, issues from the orb of that luminary.
38. It is Brahma himself that shines forth as the
creation,
just as our sleep exhibits the visionary world in its
dream; so is
all this creation as quiet as sleep, and yet full with
the bustle
of the slumbering world.
39. Whatever is known in any manner in the mind, either
as existent or inexistent of[**delete 'of'] in the world;
the same is the
reflexion of the Intellect, whether it be an entity or non-entity.
40. Should the impossibility of existence, lead us to the
supposition of some cause as of the primary atoms and the
like;
then what cause can there be assigned to the appearance
of
sights in our dream, (and of fabrics without their
foundation).
41. If the origin of the world is not ascribed to Brahma,
as
the origination of dreams to the Intellect; then neither
is
there any truth in the existence of the one, or in the
appearance
of other, which is never true.
42. The minds of men are inclined towards the particular
objects of their fancy; hence those that
belief[**believe] and delight in
god, take him as the origin of all things that appear
unto
them.
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43. Whatever is in the minds of men, and to whatever
their hearts are constantly devoted; they know the same
as the
only objects of their lives, and the very gist of their
souls.
44. He who delights in Brahma, becomes of the same mind
in a moment; and so any one who is gratified in any
thing, is
incorporated with the same in his mind.
45. The man who has obtained his rest in god, has found
the highest bliss in his mind; though he shows himself as
otherwise[**space removed]
in his outward conduct and social dealings.
46. There is no reason for the supposition of unity or
duality
herein, when the whole existence is as I have propounded,
and
it is in vain to look at anything else.
47. There nothing as visible or invisible, or anything as
formless or having a form herein; there is nothing as
subject
or object, nor aught of reality or unreality here, when
the whole
is the very Brahma himself.
48. This world is without a beginning and end, and is
known to the world as soul; but in fact, one Brahma rules
over
all without any fixed rule, like a path without a name.
49. That which is conceived as the serene Brahma, is
considered
as the bright Brahmá or Demiurgas[**Demiurgus] also; just
as what is
known as the calm and clear firmament, the very same is
said [**[to be]]
the empty void likewise.
50. As the nebulae which seem to be[**delete 'be'] dim
the face of the
sky, are something in appearance and nothing in
substance;
just [**[so]] do our[**space added] mental faculties
appear to flutter in
and obscure the
clear atmosphere of the Intellect, and seem to be as
dualities
or otherwise than the serene intellectual principle.
51. But the mental, bodily and all other perceptive and
active powers of living beings, are the common properties
of
the intellectual soul; just as the very many gaps and hollows
in various bodies, are in common with the vacuity of the
one
universal vacuum only. (i. e. All these are the aerial
powers of
psychic principle).
52. As the quiet soul passing from its sleeping to the
dreaming state, retains its identity and invariableness;
so the
-----File:
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divine soul passing into creation after its quiescence,
remains
the very unchanged unity as ever.
53. Thus the supreme spirit reflects the shadow of its
great
Intellect, in the forms of creation and dream; hence
neither is
this creation nor the vision in dreaming, any thing in
its
substance than a mere shadow (of the picture in the
Divine
Mind).
54. It is the bright picture of the Divine Mind, that
exhibits
its form in the vacuity of the Great Intellect; and so
the ideal
appearance as the visible creation, like the fairy land
in dream
(and the airy castle of imagination[**)]. (The word
chháya-[**--]shadow
means both the glory of god, as also the darkness of
illusion.
gloss).
55. From the impossibility of the appearance of the
world,
by any means as it is conjectured by different schools,
and from
its want of a prior cause; it must be that the intellect
saw itself
thus exhibited in its own vacuity.
56. In the beginning of creation, the formless void of
the
Intellect, showed itself in this visible and intangible
form; and
represented itself as a picture of its mind or dream or
its imagination.
57. Like the dream it was a blank and without any
attribute;
it is changable[** changeable] but not frangible, and
although it was the
substance
of intellectual voidness, yet it was vitiated with the
stain
of our misapprehension of it, called avidyá. (The world
is
purely of an intellectual form, and it is our ignorance
which
imputes a gross form to it).
58. Like the dream, it seems to possess some properties
in its
appearance; but is wholly devoid of any in its substance;
it is
never different from the spiritual nature of the Lord,
though
it appears otherwise to our misconception of it.
59. The phenomenal world likens a mountain seen in dream,
and is inseparable from the soul wherein it resides;
therefore
the visibles appearing in the vacuity of the Intellect,
are more
vacuous than the vacuum of the firmament.
60. That which is the supreme soul; and devoid of all
form;
-----File:
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the very some[** same] and of the same nature is all
this, that we call
the visible world.
61. Whatever conception we have in our dream, the same
are[**is] the display of our intellect; so the cities and
castles that
we see in the dreams, are no real existences; but
appearances
presented unto us by the intellect.
62. As the recognizance of our acqaintances[**
acquaintances] in dream,
and
the remembrance of the impressions in our memory; are
altogether unsubstantial (owing to the absence of their
prototypes
in us); so [**[are]] the sight of the visibles and the
perception of
perceptibles quite unreal also, (because none of those
things are
present in us).
63. Therefore leaving this[**[these]] unrealities of our
recognitions,
perceptions and remembrances, which are so much relied
upon
by the ignorant; we should take them in the light, of the
direct
manifestations of the Dety[** Deity] in those forms.
64. As the waves of the sea, continue to roll incessantly
on the surface of the waters; so innumerable worlds that
are
continually revolving, on the surface of the supreme
soul, are of
the same nature with itself.
65. All laws and their anomalies, as well as all
varieties and
complexities unite in harmony in the Divine nature.
(There
all discord is concord, and all partial evil is universal
good).
66. Therefore that Brahma is all in all, and there is
none
and nothing besides; He alone is the soul of all, as all
these live
in Him.
67. The roving mind thinks the world, to be roving about
with all its contents; but the steady minded take it to
be
quite sedate and quiet; hence it is impossible for the
learned
also, to settle their minds without the habitual sedateness
of
their attention.
68. There is no other means, for suppressing the mind
from
the sight of the visibles; without the constant habit of
attending
to the lectures (of the preceptor) on this sacred sástra.
69. Though it is difficult to repress the mind, from its
thoughts of this world, either in its states of living or
death,
(i. e. either in its waking or sleeping states); yet it
is possible
-----File:
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to do so by effacing its impressions at once, from the
study of
this spiritual sástra.
70. The knowledge of the nihility of the visible body,
and
that of the mind also in want of the body; both in this
world
as well as in the next world, will always serve to
preserve our
peace and quietism; (and this is attainable by means of
studying
this sástra[**à-->á]).
71. The mind, body and the visibles, are all three of
them
suppressed under the sense of their nothingness; as the
mind,
its force and the moving clouds, do all disappear in
absence of
their cause (i. e. motion).
72. The cause of restlessness is ignorance only, which is
altogether dispelled by the study of this sástra; and
those
whose minds are a little enlightened, have their
composure
from attending to the recital and preaching.
73. The unintelligent will be able to understand, the
teachings
of the former part from the latter; and he that
understands
the words and purports of these lectures, will never
return
disappointed (in his expectation of nirvána or ultimate
rest).
74. Then know this sástra as the best means, to the
dispersion
of the error; and to the production of an universal
indifference
or insouciance everywhere.
75. Therefore try your best, to weigh well the precepts
of
this sástra; and whether you study one or both parts of
this
work, you will doubtless be freed from your misery
thereby.
76. Should this sástra prove unpatable[**unpalatable],
owing to its being
the composition of a holy sage[**space added]; in that
case the student
may
consult the sacred srutis, for the perfection of his
spiritual
knowledge.
77. Do not spend your time in false reasoning, nor offer
your
precious life to fames and ashes; but let your sapient
understanding
commit the visibles to the invisible soul. (i. e. view
them in their spiritual light, and bury the gross
phenomenal
in utter oblivion and appear in the noumenal soul only).
78. No one can buy a jot or moment of his life
time[**=print], at the
-----File:
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cost of all the gems in the world; and yet how many are
there,
who foolishly misspent[**misspend] their time in their
worldly dream.
79. Though we have a clear conception of the world, yet
it is
a false sight together with that of its
beholder-[**--]the living soul;
it is as false as the dream of one's own death in his
sleep, and
his hearing the wailing of his friend at his demise.
-----File:
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CHAPTER CLXXVI.
BRAHMA GÍTA. ACCOUNT OF BRAHMÁNDA OR MUNDANE
SYSTEM.
Argument:--The world resembling a dream and an atom of
the Divine
mind, and Brahma's account of it.
Ráma rejoined:--There innumerable worlds in the universe,
many of which have gone before, many are in
existance[**existence],
and many as yet to be; how then is it sir, that you
pursuade[**persuade]
me to the belief of their nullity.
2. Vasishtha replied:--you well know, Ráma, the relation
which the world bears to a dream, in that they both mean
a
passing scene; and this sense of it, can be denied by no
one
of this audience.
3. The words which are spoken by the wise, who know
their application and sense; are neither understood nor
received
in the hearts of common people, though they are in common
use.
4. When you will come to know the knowledge [**[of]] One,
then
you will discern the three times clearly and behold them
as
present before you.
5. As it is the intellect alone, that displays itself in
the
form of the world in our dream; so doth the Divine
Intellect
also, exhibit the worlds in itself, in the beginning of
creation;
and there is no other cause of their production.
6. Hence there are innumerable worlds, revolving like
atoms in the infinite space of air; and there is no one
who can
count their number, and descry their modes and natures.
7. It was of old that my venerable sire-[**--]the
lotus-born
Brahma[**removed hyphen],
and all besmeared with the fragrant dust of that
flower, has delivered a discourse on this subject, which
I will
now relate unto you.
8. It was of old that my sire Brahma, to tell[**to tell
--> told] me about
the number of worlds, and their respective situations in
the
-----File:
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heavens, whence they thus appear unto us. To this he said
(as follows).
9. Brahma said:--O sage, all this is Brahma, that is
manifested
as the world; it is infinite entity of the Deity in its
abstract essence; but viewed in the concrete, the world
is a
nonentity.
10. Attend to this narration of mine, which is as
felicitous
to the soul, as it is pleasant to the ear; it is called
the narrative
of [**[the]] mundane egg, or of the mundane body or mass.
11. There is in the infinite vacuum, a vacuous substance
known as the vacuity of the Intellect, in the form of a
minute
atom only. (Such as the grain of the mind is, in the
hollow
cerebrum of the head).
12. It saw as in a dream in itself, of its being as the
living
soul, resembling the oscillation of the wind in empty
air. (The
living principle or spirit, is a breath of air).
13. The Lord thus became the living being, with forsaking
its vacuous form; and thought itself to become the ego,
in its
aeriform form.
14. He had then his egoism, and egoistic sense in
himself;
and this was the knowlege[**knowledge] of himself as an
unit, which is an
act of delusion only.
15. Then he thought himself, as changed to the conditions
of the understanding, mind and ego, as in his dream; and
was
inclined of his own option, to impose mutability upon his
immutable nature.
16. He then saw in his mind as if in dream, the five
senses
attached to his body; these are as formless as the
appearance
of a mountain in dream, which the ignorant are apt to
take as a solid body. (The five formless faculties of
sense, are
thought to be composed of the five organs of sense by the
gross
corporealist).
17. Then he beheld in the atom of his intellect, that his
mental body (or his mind), was comprised of the three
worlds;
in their aerial or abstract forms, apparent to view, but
without
their substance or solidity or any basis at all. (This is
the
mental form of viráj-[**--]cosmos.
-----File:
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18. This stupendous form was composed of all beings,
whether of the moving or unmoving kinds;--[**:--]
19. He beheld all things comprised in himself, as they
are
seen in dream or reflected in a mirror; and the triple
world
appeared in his person, as the picture of a city newly
printed
on a plate.
20. He saw the three worlds in his heart, as they are
seen
in a looking glass; together with all things contained
therein,
in their vivid colours of many kinds. (viz. the view,
viewer[**hyphen
replaced by comma]
and the act of viewing:--the door[**doer], deed and the
action of
doing:--the enjoyer, enjoying and the enjoyment).
21. He observed minuter atoms subsisting within the
minute atoms; and stupendous worlds also on high,
clustering
together in groups and rings.
22. These being seen in ignorance of their natures;
appear
as gross material bodies; but viewed in the clear light
of as[**delete 'of' or
'as'] their
essence, they prove to be the display of the divine mind
only.
23. Thus the viewer who views the world, in the light of
Brahma, finds this view of it, as a vision in this dream;
and
comes to know that there is no real viewer to view of it,
nor
any cause thereof nor any duality whatsoever.
24. All these that appear all around us, are quite
quiescent
in their nature, and in the Divine spirit alone as their
main
substractum[** substratum]; they are all situated in the
universal soul from
eternity to eternity.
25. Myriads of worlds that are situated in the Divine
spirit,
appear to be settled without the same; just as the waves
of the
sea, rise above its waters and scatter its salt spray in
the air.
-----File:
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CHAPTER CLXXVII.
BRAHMA-GITA. DESCRIPTION OF DIVINE NATURE.
Argument:--The fallacy of assigning a cause to the
causeless world;
which is likened to a dream of the Divine Mind.
Rama[**Ráma] rejoined:--If the world is without a cause,
and
proceeds of itself from the essence of Brahma, as our
dreams, thoughts and imaginations, proceed of themselves
from the nature of our minds.
2. And if it be possible for anything to proceed from no
cause, then tell me sir, why we can never have anything
without
its proper causes. (Such as the production of paddy
without its
cultivation).[** ( --> )]
3. Vasishtha replied:--Ráma, I am not speaking of common
practice of men, for the production of anything by
application
of its proper causalities; but of the creation of the
world,
which is not in need of the atomic principle and material
elements, as it is maintained by atomist. (Text).
[**(]Whatever
ivention[** invention] is adopted by any one, in order to
produce a certain
end;[** semi-colon not needed.] is never effected without
the application
of its proper
means and appliances).
4. In whatever light this visible world is imagined by
anybody,
he views it in the same light; while another sees it
in a different manner, according to his own imagination
of it.
5. There are some who imagine it as the diffusion of the
Divine soul, and think it as one with the nature of the
Deity;
while others think it as the living body of Viráj, with
the insensible
parts of it, resembling the hairs and nails growing
upon his body.
6. The meanings of the words causality and not causality;
do both of them belong to the deity; because the Lord
being
almighty, has the power to be either the one or other as
he
likes.
7. If there be anything whatever, which is supposed to be
-----File: 393.png---------------------------------------------------------
beside Brahma in its essence; it is then reasonable to
suppose
him as the cause of the same, which could not otherwise
come
to existence.
8. But when all things, that appear so different from one
another;[**,] are all of them without their beginning or
end or[**'('
deleted]
co-eternal with the Eternal One. Then say, which of these
can be the cause of the other. (Hence the world is one
with
the lord and has no cause of it).
9. Here nothing comes to exist or desist at any time; but
are all eternally existent in the self-existent One; as
one and
the same with his vacuous self.
10. What is the cause of anything, and to what purpose
should any be caused at any time; the Lord expects
nothing
from his creatures, and therefore their creation is equal
to
their not being created at all.
11. Here there is no vacuum or plenum, nor any entity nor
non-entity either, nor any thing between them; as there
is nothing
predicable of the infinite vacuity of Brahma; (as either
this
or that).
12. Whatever is is, and what not may not be; but all is
Brahma only, whether what is or is not. (i. e. what is
past or
gone or yet to be, ([**delete '('] i. e. All what is
present, past or to be in
future[**replaced hyphen with space]).
13. Ráma rejoined:--Tell me sir, how the Divine spirit is
not the cause of all, when it is believed to be the sole
cause, by
all who are ignorant of its quiescent nature (as you
maintain).
14. Vasishtha replied:--There is no one ignorant of god,
since every one has an innate conviction of the Divinity
as
the consciousness of himself; and whoso knows the vacuous
entity of the Deity, knows also that this nature admits
of no
scrutiny or discussion.
15. Those who have the knowledge of the unity of god, and
his nature of quiescence and as full of intelligence;
know also,
his unknowable nature is beyond all scrutiny.
16. Ignorance of god, abides in the knowledge of god;
(because
one acknowledges the existence of God, when he says
-----File: 394.png---------------------------------------------------------
he is ignorant of his nature); and this is as our
dreaming is
included under the state of sleeping. (gloss.
philosophers dream
many false ungodly theories of causation, while they are
sleeping in the quiescent spirit of God.)
17. It is for the instruction of the ignorant, concerning
the
omnipresence of god, that I say, He is the soul of all or
as all in
all; while in reality his holy spirit is perfectly pure
and undecaying.
18. All existences are thought either as caused or
uncaused,
according to the view that different understandings
entertain
respecting them. (But neither of these views, refutes the
doctrine of the unity of the Deity. Gloss.)
19. Those that have the right conception of things, (as
manifestations of the unity in different forms); have no
cause
to assign any cause to them whatever, (as the atomic
principles
or elements): therefore the creation is without any cause
whatever.
20. Therefore the assigning of a cause to this creation,
either as matter prakriti or spirit-[**--]purusha, by
undermining
one's self-consciousness of Divine pervasion; is mere
verbiage of
sophists for their own confusion only.
21. In absence of any other cause of creation, (save that
of
our consciousness of it), it is naught beside an
appearance in
our dream; and there is nothing as the gross material
form or
its visible appearance whatsoever.
22. Say what cause can the ignorant assign, to their
sight
of the land in their dream, than to the nature of the
Intellect,
which exhibits such phenomena to minds. Say if there
can be any other meaning of dreams.
23. Those who are unacquainted with the nature of dreams,
are deluded to believe them as realities; but those that
are
acquainted with their falsehood, are not misled to
believe them
or this world as real ones.
24. It is the impudence of fools to broach any
hyposthesis[**hypothesis]
of causality, either by their supposition, arrogance or
in the
heat of their debate; (as it is the case with all the
different
schools of philosophy).
-----File: 395.png---------------------------------------------------------
25. Is the heat of fire, the coldness of water, and the
light
of luminous bodies, and the natures of things their
respective
causes, as the ignorant suppose them to be? (or is it the
attribute
of Brahma that is so manifested in these their several
causes.[**'?']
The entity of Divine unity, is the prime sole cause of
causes).
26. There be hundreds of speculative theorists, that
assign
as many causes to creation without agreeing in any; let
them
but tell the the[**delete 'the'] cause of the aerial
castle of their imagination.
27. The virtues and vices of men are formless things, and
are attended with their fruitions on the spiritual body
in the
next world; how can they be causes of our corporeal
bodies in
this world. (As it is maintained by Mimansa[**Mímámsá]
philosophers).
28. How can our finite and shapeless knowledge of things,
be the cause of the incessant rise and fall, of endless,
and
minute bodies in the world, as it is maintained by
víjnana vadí[**vijnána
váda]
or gnostic school. (These assert the existence of things
depend[**depends]
upon our knowledge of perception of them as such).
29. It is nature says the naturalist, which is the cause
of
all events but as nothing result from the nature of anything,
without its combination with another; it is too
indeterminate
in its sense.
30. Therefore all things appear as causeless illusions to
the
ignorant, and their true cause to be a mystry[**mystery]
of them; while
they are known to the intelligent as the wondrous display
of the
Divine Intellect, that shows everything in itself.
31. As one knowing the falsehood of dreams, is never
sorry
at his loss of anything in dream; so those that have the
knowledge of truth in them, never feel any sorrow even at
the
possession or separation of their lives.
32. In the beginning there was no production of the
visible world, nor is it anything more than the vacuum
of the intellect; in its own and true form it appears as
a
dream, and is no other than that in its essence.
33. There is no other supposition, which is more apposite
-----File:
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to it: than its resemblance to the dream; and our
conception
of the world, has the great Brahma only for its ground
work.
34. As fluidity, waves and whirpools[** whirlpools], are
the inherent
properties
of pure water; such are the revolutions of worlds, but
appearances on the surface of the Divine Mind, and have
the
Divine spirit of Brahma at their bottom.
35. As velocity and ventilation, are inborn in the nature
of
pure air; the creation and preservation of the world, are
ingrained
and intrinsical in the nature of God.
36. As infinity and vacuity are the inherent properties
of
the Great vacuum, so is the knowledge of all things existent
and non-existent, and of creation and annihilation
immanent in
the Divine Mind.
37. All things in existence and lying dormant in the
Divine
Mind, are yet perceptible to us, because we
participiate[** participate] of
the
very same mind.
38. This creation and its distruction[** destruction]
also, both abide side
by side in the dense intellect of the Divine Soul; as the
thickening
dreams and sound sleep, both reside together in the calm
sleeping state of our soul.
39. As a man passes from one dream to another, in the
same dormant state of his soul; so doth the supreme soul
see
the succession of creations, taking place alternately in
its own
essence.
40. The clear atmosphere of Divine Soul, which is devoid
of earthy and another[**other] material substances; yet
appears in their
utter absence, to be possessed of them all, in the same
manner as
the human soul, sees many things in its dream, without
having
any of those things in itself.
41. As the human mind sees at a thought the forms of a
pot,
or painting rising before it; so the all seeing mind of
God,
sees at a glance of its thought, worlds upon worlds
appearing at
once in its presence.
42. The all seeing soul, sees all things as they are in
itself;
and finds them to be of the same intellectional[** intellectual?]
nature with
its
own intellect; and as all things are equivalent to the
words
-----File:
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expressive of them. (As there is a mutual
correspondance[**correspondence]
between the significant words and their significates).
43. Of what use then are sástras, and of what good is the
reasoning upon their verbiage, when our
inappetency[**?--P2:OK/SOED]
is the
best way to felicity; and there being no creation without
its cause, we have nothing to do with what appears but
seemingly so.
44. It being proved, that the want of want is our best
bliss below; the sensation of want or desire, must be the
source
of perpetual misery to man; and though our desires are
many,
yet the feeling of it is one and the same, and betrays
the
prurient mind, as the various dreams by night, disclose
the
cupidinous nature of the soul.
-----File:
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CHAPTER CLXXXVIII[**typo for CLXXVIII].
BRAHMA-GITA. NARRATIVE OF AINDAVA.
Argument:--The formlessness of the world, for its
formation from
the formless mind.
Ráma rejoined:--The world is known to consist of two
sorts of beings, namely the corporeal or solid substances
and the incorporeal or subtile essences.
2. They are styled the subtile ones, which do not strike
against one another; and those again are said to be solid
things,
which push and dash against each other,
3. Here we see always the dashing of one solid body
against
another; but know nothing of the movement of subtile
bodies,
or of their coming in contact with another.
4. We know yet something, about the quick motion of our
subtile senses to their respective objects, and without
coming
in contact with them, as we find in our perception of the
distant orb of the moon (without touching it).
5. I repudiate the theory of the half-enlightened, who
maintain the matereal[**material] world to be the
production of the will
or imagination; nor can I believe that the immaterial
intellect,
can either produce or guide the material body.
6. It is the will I ween, that the material breath of
life,
moves the living body to and fro; but tell me sir, what
is that
power which propels, the living breath both in and out of
the
beings.
7. Tell me sir, how the intangible intellect moveth the
tangible body; and carries it about, as a porter bears a
load all
about.
8. Should the subtile intellect, be capable of moving the
solid body at its will; then tell me sir, why cannot a
man move
a mountain also by his own will.
9. Vasishtha replied:--It is the opening and closing of
the
-----File:
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mouth of the aorta in the breast, that lets in and out
the vital
breath, through the passage of its hole and the lungs.
10. As you see the bellows of ironsmiths about you,
having
a hollow inside them, so it is the hollow of the aorta,
which lets
in and out the vital air, by the breathing of the heart.
11. Ráma rejoined:--It is true that the ironsmith closes
and
expands the valves of the bellows; and but tell me sir,
what
power blows the wind pipe of the heart, and lets the air
in and
out of the inner lungs.
12. How the single breath of inhalation becomes a
centuple
(in order to pass into a hundred channels of the
arteries), and
how these hundreds combine again into one (in their
exhalation);
and why are some as sensible beings, and others as
insensible as
woods and stones.
13. Tell me sir, why the immovables have no oscillation
at
all; and why the moving bodies alone are possessed of
their
pulsation and mutation; (and why [**[is]] the vegetable
creation deprived
of motion, when they[**[it is]] are possessed of
sensibility in
common with the animal creation).
14. Vasishtha replied:--There is an internal percipience
(inner man), which moves the interior cords of the body;
just as
the ironsmith plies his bellows in the sight of men.
15. Ráma rejoined:--Say sir, how is it possible for the
subtile
and intactile soul, to move the vital airs and tangible
entrails
in the animal body.
16. If it be possible for the imperceptible
parceptive[**perceptive] soul,
to put in motion the intestinal and tactual entrails of
the body;
then it may be equally possible for the thirsty soul, to
draw
the distant water to it. (In order to quench its thirst,
instead
of going to the watery pool).
17. If it be possible for the tangible and intangible, to
come
together in mutual contact at their will; then what is
the use
of the active and passive organs of action, (if the will
alone be
effective of any purpose).
18. As the intangible powers of the soul or spirit, bear
no
connection whatever with the outward objects of the
world;
some thinks[**think] they can have no effect on the
internal organs of
-----File:
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the body (in putting them to action). So please explain
it more
fully to me.
19. Tell me, how you yogis perceive the outward corporeal
things in your inner incorporeal souls; and how your
formless
souls, can have any command over or any contact with
solid
bodies.
20. Vasishtha replied:--Hear me tell you for rooting out
all your doubts, and these words will not only be
pleasing to
your ears, but give you a conception of the unity of all
things.
21. There is nothing here, at any time, what you call as
a
solid substance or tangible body, but all is a wide and
extended
vacuum of the rare and subtile spirit.
22. This spirit is of the nature of the pure
Intelligence,
quite calm and intangible; and all material things as the
earth,
are as visionary as our dreams, and the creatures of
imagination.
23. There was nothing in the beginning, nor shall there
be anything at the end; for want of a cause for its
creation or
dissolution; the present existence is an illusion, as any
fleeting
shape and shadow appearing before the dreaming mind.
24. The earth and sky, the air and water, and the hills
and
rivers that appear to sight; are lost sight of by the
abstracted
yogi; who by means of his abstraction, sees them in their
ideal
and intangible forms.
25. The outer elements and their inner perceptions, the
earth, the wood and stones; are all but empty ideas of
the intellect,
which is the only real substratum of the ideas, and there
is no reality besides.
26. Attend now to the narrative of Aindava, in
elucidation
of this doctrine; this will not fail to gratify your
ears, though
I have once before related this to you. (In the former
narration
the world was identified with the mind, and here it is
represented as identical with the Intellect itself).
27. Attend yet to the present narration, which I am going
to relate in answer to your question; and
wherby[**whereby] you will
come
to know these hills and others, to be identic with your
intellect.
28. There lived once in days of yore, a certain Brahman
in
-----File: 401.png---------------------------------------------------------
some part of the world, who was known under the name of
Indu,
and was famed for his religious austerities and
observance of
of vedic ceremonies.
29. He had ten sons by whom he was surrounded like the
world by its ten sides[**space added] (of the compass);
who were men of
great
souls, of magnanimous spirits, and were revered by all
good and
and great men.
30. In course of time the old father met with his demise,
and departed from his ten sons as the eleventh Rudra, at the
time of the dissolution of the world.
31. His chaste wife followed his funeral (by
concremation),
for fear of the miseries of widowhood; just as the
evening
twilight follows like a faithful bride, the departing
daylight
with the evening star shining upon her forehead: (in
token
of the vermeil spot on womens[**women's] forehead).
32. The sons then performed the funeral ceremonies, and
in
sorrow for their deceased sire, they left their home and
domestic
duties and retired to the woods for holy devotion.
33. They practiced the best method for the intensity of
their attention, and which is best calculated to secure
the
consummation of their devotion; and was the constant
reflection
of their identity with Brahma: (in the formula we are the
lords
of all, about us).
34. Thinking so in themselves, they sat in lotus like
posture; and wishing to gain the knowledge of the unity
of
all things, they did what you shall be glad to learn from
me.
35. They thought they sustained in them the whole world,
which is presided over by the lotus-born Brahma; and
believed
themselves to be transformed, to the form of the mundane
God
in an instant.
36. Believing themselves as Brahma, they sat long with
the thought of supporting the world; and remained all
along
with their closed eyes, as if they were mere figures in
painting.
37. With this belief thy[**they] remained fixed and
steady at the
same spot, and many a month and year glided over their
heads
and motionless bodies.
38. They were reduced to dry skeletons, parts of which
were
-----File:
402.png---------------------------------------------------------
beaten and devoured by rapacious beasts; and some of
their [**[limbs]]
were at once severed and disappeared from their main
bodies,
like parts of a shadow by the rising sun.
39. Yet they continued to reflect that they were the God
Brahma and his creation also, and the world with all its
parts,
were contained in themselves (i. e. They considered
themselves
as Viráj the form of macrocosm).
40. At last their ten bodiless minds, were thought to be
converted to so many different worlds, in their abstract
meditation
of them. (i. e. Each of them viewed himself as a cosmos).
41. Thus it was by the will of their intellects, that
each of
them became a whole world in himself; and remained so in
a clear or abstract view of it, without being accompanied
by
its grosser part.
42. It was in their own consciousness, that they saw the
solid earth with all its hills &c[**.] in themselves;
because all things
have reference to the intellect, and are viewed
intellectually
only, (or else they are nothing).
43. What is this triple world, but its knowledge in our
consciousness, without which we have no
preception[**perception] of it,
and
with which we have a clear conception of every thing. So
all
things are of the vacuous nature of our consciousness,
and not
otherwise.
44. As the wave is no other than the water of the sea, so
there is nothing movable or immovable whatever, without
our
conscious knowledge of it.
45. As the Aindavas remained in their vacuous forms of
intellectual worlds in the open air; so are these blocks
of wood
and stone also, pure intellectual beings or concept in
the sphere
of our minds.
46. As the volitions of the Aindavas, assumed the forms
of
the world, so did the will of lotus-born Brahmá take the
form of
this universe. (So says[**space added] the veda.[**:] The
divine will
produced the
world, just as the adage goes, the will is the mother of
the act).
47. Therefore this world together with all these hills
and
trees; as also these great elements and all other bodies,
appertain
to the intellect only, which is thus spread out to
infinity.
-----File:
403.png---------------------------------------------------------
48. The earth is the intellect, and so are its trees and
mountains, and heaven and sky also the intellect only;
there is
nothing beside the intellect, which includes all things
in itself,
like the intellectual worlds of the Aindavas.
49. The intellect like a potter, forms every thing upon
its
own wheel; and produces this pottery of the world, from
the
mud of its own body (out of its own intellectual
substance).
50. The sensible will being the cause of creation, and
framer
of the universe, could not have made any thing, which is
either
insensible or imperfect in its nature, and neither the
mineral
mountains nor the vegetable production, are devoid of
their
sensations.
51. Should the world be said to be the work of design, or
of the reminiscence or former impression or of the Divine
will;
yet as these are but different powers of the Intellect,
and are
included under it; the world then proves to be the
production of
the intellect, under some one of its attributes as it is
said before.
(Hence there is no gross body as the product of
intelligent
Intellect).
52. Therefore there cannot be any gross substance in the
Divine Intellect which blazes as a mine of bright gems,
with
the gemming light of consciousness in universal soul of
god.
53. Anything however mean or useless, is ever[**never]
apart from
the Divine soul; and as it is the nature of solar light
to shine
on all objects, so doth the light of intellect,
takes[**take] everything
in the light of the Great Brahma, which pervades alike on
all.
54. As the water flows indiscriminately upon the ground,
and as the sea laves all its shores, with its boisterous
waves;
so doth the intellect ever delight, to shed its lustre
over all
objects of its own accord, and without any regard to its
near or
distant relation.
55. As the great creator evolves the world, like the
petals
of his lotiform navel, in the first formative period of
creation;[**=print]
so doth the divine intellect, unfold all the parts of the
mundane[**=print]
system from its own penetralia, which are therefore not
distinct[**=print]
from itself.
56. The Lord is unborn and increate, and unconfined in
his[**=print]
-----File:
404.png---------------------------------------------------------
nature and purely vacuous in his essence; he is calm and
quiescent,
and is immanent in the interim of ens and nil (i. e. of
existence and non-existence). This world therefore is no
more
than a reflexion of the intellectual or its ideal pattern
in Divine
Mind.
57. Therefore the ignorant man, who declares the
insensibility
of inanimate objects, are[**is] laughed at by the wise,
who are
sensible of their sensibility in their own kinds. Hence
the rocks
and trees which are situated in this ideal world, are not
wholly
devoid of their sensations and feelings.
58. The learned know these ideal worlds in the air, to be
full with the Divine soul; and so they know this creation
of
Brahma's will, to be but an airy utopia only, and without
any
substantiality in them.
59. No sooner is this material world, viewed in its
aerial
and intellectual light, than the distresses of this
delusive world
betake themselves to flight, and its miseries disappear
from
sight.
60. As long as this intellectual view of the world, does
not
light to the sight of a man, so long do the miseries of
the world,
beset him thicker and thicker and closer on every side.
61. Men besotted by their continued folly, and remaining
blind to their intellectual view of the world, can never
have its
respite from the troubles of the world, nor find
his[**their] rest from
the hardness of the times.
62. There is no creation, nor the existence or
inexistence
of the world, or the birth or destruction of any one
here; there
is no entity nor nonentity of any thing, (beside the
essence of
the One). There is the Divine soul only, that glows
serenely
bright with its own light in this manner; or there is no
light
whatever except the manifestation of the divine spirit.
63. The cosmos resembles a creeper, with the multitude of
its budding worlds; it has no beginning nor end, nor is
it
possible to find its root or top at any time, or to
discover the
boundless extent of its circumference. Like a crystal
pillar, it
bears innumerable statues in its bosoms, which are
thickly
studded together without having their initium or end.
-----File:
405.png---------------------------------------------------------
64. There is but one endless being, stretching his
innumerable
arms to the infinity of space; I am that vacuous soul
embracing
every thing ad infinitum[**space added], and I find
myself as that
stupendous pillar, in my uncreated and all comprehensive
soul,
which is ever as quiescent and transparent and without
any
change in itself.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to Brahmasri Sreemaan Vihari Lala Mitra ji for the
collection)
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