The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki
The only complete English translation is
by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891).
CHAPTER CXXXX.
WORKINGS OF IMAGINATION.
Argument:--The sage's situation at the end of the Deluge,
and his
description of the reproduction of creation.
The Huntsman said:--Tell me sir, how a sage as yourself,
could be exposed to that state (of the dream or delusion
of the Deluge); and why were you not delivered from your
meditation.
2. The sage replied:--At the end of the Kalpa age, all
kinds
of beings meet with their destruction; namely, there is a
termination of the erroneous forms of the worlds, and a
cessation
of the luminous bodies in the heaven.
3. Sometimes the dissolution takes place gradually at the
end of a kalpa; and at others it comes on all on a
sudden, with
a simultaneous turmoil and disorganization on all sides.
4. So when there was an outbreak of waters on every
sides[**side],
and the gods were repairing to Brahmá the first cause of
all;
for redress from the impending danger, they were all
swept
away by the overflowing tide.
5. Moreover, O forester! know time to be the most mighty
destroyer of all things; and every thing must occur in
its time,
as it is predestined at the beginning. (Time devours all
things).
6. The time of one's dissolution being nigh, there ensues
a
detriment in the strengh[**strength], intellect and
prowess of everybody
not excepting even the great. (Nothing is of any avail
before
fate).
7. I have told you also, O fortunate forester! that all
that
is seen in a dream is mere dreaming; and nothing of it,
comes
to take place in reality herein.
8. The forester reponded[**responded]:--Sir, if the dream
is a mere falsity
and error of imagination; then what was the good of your
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relating all this, that know well what is good and useful
for
mankind.
9. The sage replied:--There was much use of my relating
all this to you, O intelligent huntsman, for improvement
of your
understanding; and as you have come to know, that the
visibles
are all as false as the sights in sleep, you shall now
know what
is real and true.
10. Now as long as the waters of deluge lasted, I
remained
seated in the heart of the said medium, and saw some
other
false sights in his dream.
11. I saw the waters of the deluge, to recede to the
unknown
region from where they had overflown; and the huge waves
disappeared altogether, as when the winged mountains fled
away for fear of the thunders of Indra. (Who lopped of
their
pinnions[**pinions] of yore. See the legend in
stanza-[**--]Book I.
Kumára
sambhava of kálidas[**Kálidas]).
12. I was borne aloft by my good fate to some distant
shore,
where I was seated as firmly as upon the elevated peak of
a
high and solid mountain.
13. Thence I saw the waters to subside in their basins,
and
the stars of heaven shining upon them, like the sparkling
particles
of their splashing billows, or as their foaming and
floating
froths.
14. The reflexions of the stars in water, seemed as the
shining
gems in the bosom of the ocean; and the stars that shone
above in the firmament, appeared as the nightly flaming
bushes on the tops of mountains. (There are the medicinal
plants that are said to burn by night. Vide Kumara
Sambhaba
Stanza--Book I.).
15. The firmament studded with lustrous stars, and had
the
appearance of an island beaming with gold; and the azure
sky
seemed wrapt over with the blue garments of celestial
dames.
16. The blue diluvian clouds that floated in the sky,
resembled
a bed of cerulean lotuses in the etherial lake; and the
lightnings that flashed in their bosoms, likened the
yellow farina
of flowers, flying all about the midway sky.
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17. Masses of mountain like clouds flushed with frost,
and
poured down showers of rain on all sides; the floods of
the
deluge rolled down with their reflexions, as bearing the
huge
Kalpa forests in their bosom.
18. Afterwards the basin of the universal ocean was dried
up, and turned to an empty and dry hollow on all around;
and
the mountain of the Mandara and Sahya hills, that had
been
drowned under the waters were found to be melted down to
mud or washed away by the receding flood.
19. Here the sun and moon were found to be sunk in the
slough, and there the gods Yama and Indra to be hid under
the soil; some where the serpents and takshakas were
rolling
in the mire, and elsewhere the kalpa woods were lay
buried
with their tops and branches underneath the mud.
20. In some places the heads and hands of people were
scattered over the ground, and looked like lotus buds and
flowers torn from their stalks and strew[**strewn] about
the bare and
barren land.
21. There were the vidyádhara females drowned upto[**up
to?] their
necks in the slime, and crying in their piteous chymes in
one
place; and there were the big bodied
buffalos[**buffaloes] of Yama lying
in
another, and resembling the huge bodies of dead elephants
appearing in dream. (The buffalo of yoma[**Yama] is
noless[**no less]
bulky than
the Airabata[**Airavata] elephant of Indra).
22. In some place the bulky body of Garada[**Garuda],
bulging out
like the huge mountain of the gods; and in others the
embankments
were swept away; as if they were slashed by the mace
of Yama fallen upon the ground.
23. There were the remains of the dead hansa of Brahmá,
muddled in the mire somewhere, and the relics of Indra's
elephant
were huddled in the mud in another place.
24. In the mean while I found a flat land in one spot,
where I resorted for rest from my weariness; and was
there
overtaken by sound sleep, that insensibility stole upon
me.
25. Then waking from my sound sleep, I found myself
seated in the heart of the hunter; and retaining the
possession
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of my sensibility, I was lead by my innate desire to see
the
similar sights of desolation as before.
26. I beheld upon my waking, the said flat land to lie in
the very heart of the hunter where I was situated; and
was
seized with greater grief and sorrow at my sight of the
spectacle.
(The reproduction of the world being but the renovation
of our woe, and happy are they who work no more to the
sight).
27. I saw, thereform[**therefrom] the rising of the
bright and beautiful
sun on the next day; and by means of the solar light, I
came to
the sight of the worlds and the sky, of this earth and
its hills,
which presented themselves to my view.
28. But I soon found that, the earth and sky, the air and
all
its sides, together with the hills and rivers, were all
but the reproduction
of my mind, (from its previous ideas of them); as the
leaves shoot forth from the trees. (Because the
insensible
stones, have no perception of the visibles).
29. Then on seeing the things, as they were exposed to my
sight on the earth; I began to manage with them in a
manner
as I had somewhat forgotten their right and proper use.
(Reminiscience[**Reminiscence]
of the past being often liable to obliteration).
30. After my birth I passed sixteen years at that spot,
and
had the knowledge of this person as my father, and that
one
as my mother, and this spot as my dwelling place, and all
this
knowledge rising spontaneously from my self-cogitation.
31. I then saw a village and the hermitage of a Brahman
at that place; and there I beheld a house and found a
friend
therein, and many more other places.
32. Thus I remained in the society of my friends, in the
village huts and hamlets; and passed many days and
nights, in
the states of repeated watchfulness and returning sleep.
33. Remaining thus in company with these, I came to lose
in course of time the light of the understanding I had
attained
before, and forgot myself as one of them by my habitual
mode
of thinking, as the man forgot himself to a fish: (as it
is related
before in the story of Dama, vyala[**Vyala] and
kata[**Kata]).
34. In this manner, I remained as a village Brahman (or
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parish-person) for a long time; relying only in my body
as
begotten by a Brahman, and quite forgetful of other.
35. I believed my material body only to constitute my
person,
and my wife alone as my copartner; I understood my
desires
only to be the essence of my soul, and thought that
riches only
were the sole object of gain in life.
36. I had an old cow only for my treasure, and the greens
of my garden as my only provision; my collections were
only
the sacred fire and sacrificial animals, and my utensil
an only
water pot. (Kines constituted the wealth of the ancient
Indians, as the pecus or sheep were reckoned as riches by
the
old Latins; hence godhana means kine money, as pancha
godhanam-
[**--]the
value of five cows corresponding with the penta
pecuniae of the romans[**Romans]).
37. My hopes were as frail as pereninal[**perennial]
plants, and my
conduct
the same with that of other men; and the state of my
living was as mean, as of the mud and mire about my
dwelling.
38. I passed my days in pruning and weeding the garden
of my greens; and in performing my daily ablutions, in
the rills
and rivulets reckoned as holy by men.
39. I was employed in providing my food and drink, and
in procuring the fuel and cow-dung for fire; and remained
entangled
in the snare, of scrutinizing about what was right or
wrong for daily observance.
40. In this way a whole century of my life time, passed
away
at that place, when it happened on a time that a holy
hermit
passed by that way from a great distance, and became my
guest
in my humble abode.
41. Being welcomed and honoured by me, he entered in my
dwelling, and took his rest after washing and bathing
himself.
Then after his meal he sat on his bed, and began to tell
his
fate at the approach of night.
42. He spoke of many climes and countries, and of many
lands and mountains; and talked of their different
customs and
manners, which were pleasant to hear, and related to
various
subjects.
43. All these, he said, are the display of the One
Intellect,
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which is infinite and immutable in its nature; and
manifests
itself in the form of cosmos, which is for ever present
with it as
it is now seen to be.
44. Being thus enlightened by him, I was filled as it
were with a flood of light, and remained listening to him
with
attention, all whatever he said on this and other
subjects.
45. I heard also my own tale from him, and learning that
the person which contained me within its womb, is no less
than
the body of Viráj himself, I was eager to come out of the
same.
46. So long as I was not aware, that its mouth is the
only
door way for my exist[**exit] of that body; I kept moving
through it,
as if I were wandering amidst the vast extent of the
earth and
oceans.
47. I then left that spot, beset as it was by my friends
and
relations; and entered into his vital part, in order to
make my
egress with the vital breath.
48. Intending then to see both the inside and outside of
the
virája's body, in which I resided I continued to mark
well the
process, of its outer movements as also of its inner
thoughts.
49. I fixed my attention to my consciousness, and
remained
settled at my station without changing its spot; and then
breathed out with his breath, as the fragrance of flowers
accompanies
the wind.
50. The rising with his respiration, I reached the cavity
of
his mouth; and mounting afterwards on the vehicle of the
wind,
I went on forward, and beheld all that lay before me.
51. I observed there the hermitage of a sage, situated in
the
grotto of a mountain at a distance; and found it full
with anchorites,
and myself sitting in my padmásana among them. (He
saw the sight to which he was habituated all along his
life).
52. These anchorites stood before me as my pupils, and
were
employed in their duty of taking care of my person in its
state
of anaesthesia.
53. After a while that man was seen among them, in whose
heart I had been residing; and he appeared as lying flat
and
at ease upon his back, after taking some food which he
got in
the adjacent village.
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54. Seeing this wonder I remained quiet, and did not
speak
any thing about it to any body waiting upon me; I then
re-*entered
that body for my own amusement.
55. I got to [**add: the] region of vitality which was
situated within
the heart, and was by my lasting desire to see the
friends I had
before, and I left behind.
56. As I was looking around, I saw the end of the world
approaching with its direful aspect; and changing the
course
of nature, together with the positions of the world.
57. The mountains appeared altered and changed to another
state, the sky presented another face, and the
wole[**whole] world seemed
[**add: to] be dislocated from its place.
58. I could find no trace of my former friends or
habitation
nor mark the situation of that tract of land, nor find
the direction
where it lay before; all these seemed to be swept away by
the winds, nor could I know where they were taken.
59. I then found the world appearing in another form, and
presenting a sight altogether different from what it had
been
before, and quite anew to view.
60. I saw the twelve suns of the twelve signs of the
zodiac,
shinning[**shining] all at once and burning in all the
quarters of heaven
and melting down the high mountains, like snows and
icebergs
to water.
61. The volcanic fire spread from mountain to mountain,
and the fire of conflagration flew from forests to
forests; the
earth was parched with all the gems in her bowels, so
that
there remained no vestige of them save in the memory of
men.
62. The seas were dried up, and the earth was full of
burning embers on all sides; and there rose a strong
gale,
which wafted the ashes all away.
63. Subterranean, terrestial[**terrestrial] and etherial
fires, began to issue
forth in flames and flash on all sides; and the face of
the whole
universe flushed with a blaze, glistening like the
glowing
clouds of the evening sky.
64. I entered amidst this burning sphere, as a flying
moth
falls into a flame; and was confined within its cave, as
the rov-*
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*ing bee is closed up in the calyx of the shutting lotus,
and was
quite unscorched and unscathed by the burning flame.
65. I then flew amidst the flames as freely as air, and
flickered
as the flash of fleet lightnings in the cloud; and
sometimes
hovered over the burning fire, as the light winged
butterfly
flies upon the lotus of the lands (sthala padma).
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CHAPTER CXXXXI.
DESCRIPTION OF THE TERMINATION OF A KALPA-PERIOD.
Argument:--Continuation of the subject of fire and flame,
and hot
winds and fiery clouds at the final Dooms-day
Dissolution.
The sage continued:--Though repeatedly burning amidst
those fires, yet I was neither consumed nor felt the
least
pain therein; and though falling from one fire into
another;
yet I thought all this as a dream in my dreaming: (i. e.
one
dream in another).
2. The fires flew aloft, and filled the vault of heaven
with
flames; and I was flying as a fire-brand amidst and all
about
it. (So the sinless soul soars in the highest empyrean of
heaven).
3. As I was wandering with my spiritual light and
unwearied
soul amidst this universal conflagration, there arose on
a sudden a tremendous hurricane, (raised by the
rarified[**rarefied] air
on all sides).
4. It howled and growled aloud like the roaring of clouds
on high; and blew fiercely all along, bearing down and
carrying
away every thing before it.
5. The whirling and howling tornedo[**tornado], raged
with redoubled
force in the forest; lifting aloft large tracts of woods
in the
form of clouds, and intermixed with rolling firebrands,
resembling
the revolving suns above.
6. Flames of fire flashed above, like the evening clouds
of
heaven, and blazed like hundred[**hundreds] of fiery
pools on high; and
the
earth with the habitation of men, giants and gods, burned
as
burning mountains on all sides.
7. The burnt, unburnt and half burnt devils and demons,
were roving together throughout the heated air, and
grappling
each other in the etherial streams.
8. The gods and goddesses, were falling down as flames of
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fire; and the abode of the celestials, were melted down
in showers
of fire.
9. Flashes of fire were flickering as lightnings, from
the
burning vault of heaven; and clouds of dark smoke hid the
face
of the vertical sky in darkness.
10. The faces of the earth and sky and of all sides of
heaven,
were wrapt in a flaming veil like that of the evening
cloud;
and the whole universe with its seven spheres, appeared
as a
massive mountain of flaming fire.
11. On one side the sparks of flaming fire, were flashing
over the head; and on another a huge mountainous mist of
smoke hid the hemisphere from sight. In the midst there
appeared a mountainous body of fire as that of
Hara-[**--]the god of
destruction, dancing amidst the destructive winds of the
Rudras
blowing on all sides.
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CHAPTER CXXXXII.
ASCERTAINMENT OF KARMA OR ACTS OF MEN.
Argument:--Here god[**God] is ascertained as the Cause of
the visionary
world;
and Refutation of the Theory of Karma or Human Deeds and
Destiny.
The sage resumed and said:--Continuing thus in the
vagaries
of my false imagination, I was led to many such
painful sights, until they raised in me the feelings of
woe and
sorrow, and my curiosity gave way to weariness.
2. I then thought in my mind that, it is a mere dream in
the mind of another person, which I have come to see from
my
seat within his breast; therefore I must refrain from
such
sights, and restrain my sorrow for them in vain.
3. The Huntsman asked:--It was for the investigation of
the nature of dream, that you had entered into the bosom
of
another person; say then what have you come to know about
it, and how are your doubts removed (with respect to its
false
phantasms).
4. How came you to see the ocean in the breast, which
never exists therein, and how did you see the
conflagration in
the heart and the tornado in the bowels, which are never
to be
found in any of those places.
5. You said you saw the earth and sky, and the rivers and
mountains and many other things inthe[**in the] mind; but
how can
these and the world itself, be in any manner situated
therein.
6. The sage replied:--All these things and the world also
are mere non-entities, as there was no pre-existent
material
cause for the production of the world, before it coming
to existence;
therefore neither the term creation nor its sense, is in
any way applicable to this world or [**add: the way] it
is seen by us. (It is
therefore but the mere phantasm of an everlasting dream).
7. Hence the world creation and its meaning, proceed from
ignorance of the supreme soul, which is immutable in its
nature;
and it is ignorance of this truth (lit[**.] true
knowledge), that pro-*
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*duces the fallacy (lit[**.] the false knowledge) of
creation. (Therefore
the world (i. e. the idea of the world), is ever present
in
the Divine mind).
8. Therefore I say, O thou fortunate one, that after you
come
to your knowledge in this respact[**respect] (i. e. of
the nature of
god[**God]),
and your ignorance of His supremely pure nature is
removed;--
9. You will no more believe like myself, the false
impression
of your consciousness (of the existence of the world);
but must
come to know that, this causeless and uncreated world, is
only
the expanded reflexion of your own mind.
10. Where is the body and the heart, and where are these
elements of water &c[**.]; what is this dream and
what are these
conceptions and perceptions, and what is life or death or
anything
else? (All which are nothing in reality).
11. There is but one transpicuous Intellect everywhere,
before which the subtile ether is opalescent, and the
biggest
mountain is but a mite.
12. It is of its own nature that this intellectual
vacuity,
reflects on something in its thought; and sees the same
as its
aeriform body; and this it is what is called the world.
13. As it is our intellect alone, which reflects itself
in various
forms in our dream; and as there is nothing besides it
that
then presents itself to our view, so this world is no
other than
the aerial form of the intellect only.
14. This universe is a quiet vacuity without any stir or
shadow of anything in it; and it is the dimness of the
purblind
eye of the intellect, that presents these false shapes to
sight, as blind men see black spots in the clear sky.
15. To my sight the world is neither an entity nor a
non-*entity,
nor is it a mere void or the shadow or reflexion of
anything;
but the formless infinity of the vacuous intellect only:
(or the infinite vacuity of the formless intellect only).
16. As it is in the state of our sleep, that the pure
intellect
sees itself in the various forms of its dream, without
any cause
whatsoever; so doth it view every thing in its own vacuum
in
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waking also; without the external objects of sight or its
act of
seeing them.
17. It is something that is unspeakable and without its
biginning[**beginning] and end; it is apparent with its
own conceptions
which are one with it and make no duality in its nature
(Lit,[**.]
whose nature is free from unity or duality, or as sádi
says:--azchunin
O chunan, from this & that and so & such).
18. As there is but one endless duration, embracing the
periods both of creation as well as annihilation; and as
the tree
comprehends all its parts, blossoms and fruit under it;
So[**so] is
Brahma the Soul of all. (These are but parts of one
stupendous
whole. Pope). [** Exact quotation: "All are but
parts of one stupendous
whole"]
19. As the great edifice of one, appears as an empty
space
to another; so as one's sight of a castle in a mirage,
appears as
nothing to another; so this visible world of waking
people, is
the dream of sleeping persons, and rising on the ground
of their
imagination.
20. It is as the transpicuous vacuity of the intellect,
exhibits
itself from time to time in itself; that we see the
things
in our dream, as we behold them when we are awake; and so
also we see the sights in our waking state, as we behold
them
in our dreams in sleep.
21. As the fragrance of flowers, lies hid in the
invisible air;
so the world lies concealed in the invisible intellect,
which sees
through every pore of it.
22. It is by shutting out your thoughts of all and
everything
from your mind, that thou mayst [**add: be] quite pure in
thyself;
and it is then only that thy infinite soul has its
everlasting
peace and rest, when it is freed from all cares, both
within and
without itself.
23. The Huntsman said:--Tell me sir, how can men get
rid of their thoughts and cares of life, when they
[**add: are] invariably
accompanied by the acts and reminiscences of their past
lives.
Tell me also what kind of men are subject to the
tendencies of
their past conduct, and who are they that are released
from
them.
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24. The sage replied:--Those soul[**souls] that are full
of intelligence
and have their spiritual bodies, are never subject to
renewed births nor to the consequences of there[**their]
past actions;
[**punct. invisible]
and such were the bodies of Brahmá, and Kapila and
others, that
became manifest of themselves (suam-bhávah), and such
were
the supernatural bodies of the gods and divine incarnations.
25. Their bodies were not of this world, nor were they
subject
to its dualistic illusory imaginations; but they were
forms of pure intelligence and of a subtile and spiritual
nature.
26. In the beginning of creation, there was no primordial
act of any body, to fashion his form or frame of mind;
but there
existed the sole and self-existent Brahma only, who
manifested
himself in the form of the world: (which is therefore a
manifestation
of the Deity himself, and is thence called tanmaya or
full
of the Divine essence).
27. As the great Brahmá and others, were the
manifestations
of the supreme Brahma in the beginning, so there have
been many thousands more; that were manifested from the
same divine essence, which are known as pure
intelligences, and
superior orders of beings. (Such are the gods and angels
and
spirits of different denominations).
28. But these[**those? unclear] persons who are deluded
by their
ignorance
of truth, to think themselves other than or apart from
Brahma,
and as dull and unintellectual beings, and as a distinct
duality
from the nature of God:--
29. They are seen to be born again the next time, in
consequence
of their past actions, and accompanied with the results
of those acts, whereby they are confined in their
unintellectual
bodies, in order to lead their unspiritual lives, quite
forgetful
of their divine nature, and subjected to the false belief
of
their materiality.
30. But such as preserve the purity of their divine
character,
by thinking themselves as inseparable from the Divine
sonl[**soul], are
known here as uncontaminated by their former acts, as the
persons
of the divine Brahmá, Vishna[**Vishnu] and Siva or the
holy trinity.
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31. All those that know the true nature of the soul,
remain
with its purity in the spirit of god; but such as
understand it
in the light of the living spirit, live in themselves as
detached
from the Divine soul.
32. Whenever one knows himself as a mere living being, he
is then certainly accompanied by his ignorance or avidyá;
and the soul takes the name of the animal spirit or life,
which
is conversant only with the world wherein it is situated.
33. But as he comes to know in course of time, the true
and
divine nature of his soul, he is then reinstated in his
real state
and becomes one with the supreme soul of all.
34. As the fluidity of water, exhibits itself in the form
of
whirlpools in some waters; so the divine intellect shows
the
in-existent world as existent, to those understandings
which
are ignorant of the nation[**nature] of the supreme soul.
(It is the
nation[**nature] of the omniscient mind, to picture in
itself, the
appearances
of things that are not in actual existence).
35. The world is the reflexion of omniscience, and not
the
representation of our dreaming or waking states;
therefore
it can have no action or property of itself, when it is
nothing
in reality.
36. In fact neither the knowledge of the world nor
ignorance
of it, or its action or motion or any of its properties,
is anything
in reality; all these are the results of our thought,
that
represents the unreal as real one unto us.
37. In truth Brahma being the very creation or the great
cosmos itself, is verily the soul of all beings; it is in
vain therefore
to suppose our prior acts as cause of our births. That
god[**God]
is the creator of the universe, is a mere assumption made
from
his omnipotence; (which is supposed to make everything
out of
nothing; but as exnihilo nihilfit[**ex nihilo nihil fit],
god[**God] is
himself diffused
throughout all nature).
38. It is impossible for any body to have the bindings
of his prior acts upon him, at his first creation in the
world; it
only afterwards through his ignorance that he fabricated
to
himself a fate or causality of his actions for his
fruitions in after
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lives: (i. e. in his subsequent and succeeding births or
transmigrations
in the world).
39. Say whether the vortex of sea has any body or action
of its own; it is but the whirling water, as Brahma
himself is
apparent in the form of this seeming world.
40. As the persons appearing in our dream have no prior
acts for their appearance; so were the living beings in
their first
formation, endued with pure understanding only; (for want
of
their prior acts to actuate them at first).
41. It is a mere supposition, that they had their causal
acts
at first creation; and that all living beings have been
roving
ever since (in repeated births), being fast bound by the
chain of
their prior acts. (Man was pure in his creation, but
since his
fast act of transgression or original sin, and then his
actual sins,
have subjected him to the miserable doom of undergoing
repeated
births).
42. But this creation is no act of creation, but verily
the
manifestations of Brahma himself; and such being the case
(that the world is the selfsame Brahma), say what can
acts
mean[**add: ,] whence they proceed and where they lie.
43. It is only the ignorance of the supreme soul, which
binds
us to the bondage of acts; but its fetters fall off from
the believer
of Brahma by his knowledge of truth. (Those who rely on
their acts of faith, are subjected to them; but the
believer in
One is released from their bonds).
44. Know the outward acts of faith, to proceed from
ignorance
of the universe; but as the wise man advances in his
knowledge, he entricates[**extricates] himself from the
bondage of all
religions
and ceremonial acts and observances.
45. Wheras[**Whereas] the external acts of faith [**add:
are] entirely
devoid of
any substantiality or meritoriousness in them, it is no
way
difficult to get [**add: rid] of them at once; it is
solely our spiritual bond
which is our chief concern, beside which there is no bond
whatsoever.
46. So long there is the dread of the dreadful illusion
of this
world, as long as you do not attain to your wisdom; and
so long
-----File:
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do you exhibit your wisdom, that you do not fall into the
vertiginous
eddy of worldly affairs. Therefore try always, ye men of
pure hearts and soul, to acquire your wisdom and
learning; because
there is no other way of your flying from the fears of
the
world, save by means of your right understanding.
-----File: 213.png---------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER CXXXXIII.
ASCERTAINMAINT[**ASCERTAINMENT] OF NIRVANA OR
ULTIMATE EXTINCTION.
Argument:--Praise of wisdom and Intellectual knowledge,
and
arguments in support of the Intellectuality of the world.
The sage continued:--The wise man shines in the assembly
of the learned, as the sun illumines the assemblage of
lotuses, in his investigation of the duties of religion
and ceremonial
acts, leading to the welfare of men in both worlds.
2. The heavenly felicity which is attained by the learned
and wise by means of their spiritual knowledge, is as an
ocean
of bliss; before which the prosperity of god Indra even,
appears
to dwindle away as rotten straws amidst the billows.
3. I find no such felicity or prosperity, in the three
regions
of this earth or heaven above or in the pátála below,
which is
greater or comparable with the blissfulness of learning
and
wisdom.
4. The learned have as clear a sight of the true state of
all
things, as the moon-light gives a clear view of the
sphere of
stars in the cloudless sky.
5. The visible world, soon vanishes from sight, and turns
to
the invisible Brahma, by the sapience of the wise; as a
rosary
of cord, appearing at first as a snake, is soon found to
be a line
upon its inspection.
6. That Brahma-[**--]the god is ever situated in his
Brahma-hood
or godhead[**space removed] is a truth evident by itself;
and that it is his
nature that gives rise to the terms creation,
destructions, body
and others. (Gloss: that the words creation &c[**.],
appertain to
his very nature, and are not distinct from him).
7. He to whom the existence of the world is nil and
naught,
has no care or concern for acts and duties, which are no
more
than blank letters to him.
8. It is possible to believe in the production of the
material
-----File:
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world, from the prior existence of its material cause;
but in want
of such there can be no world, nor can there be a cause
of it,
when it is itself null and void.
9. It is only the reflection of Brahma, that takes the
names
of the earth and all other things; wherefore it is not
necessary
for these mere reflexions to have any cause at all. (The
substance
of god, being the cause of the shadow).
10. As the men seen in a dream, have no real cause except
the imagination of the dreamer; such are the persons seen
in
our waking dreams, but mere reflexions of our
imaginations,
and not the production of their parents.
11. As there is not the causality of the prior acts, for
the
appearance of persons in human forms in our dream; so
neither
is there any actual cause for people seen in waking
dream,
to assume the garb of humanity upon them.
12. Both prior acts as well as desires, are
equaly[**equally] false in
their causality, of framing living beings in different
shapes in
their repeated births, just as they are no causes of
producing
the persons seen in our dreams.
13. Men appear as dreams and their impressions, in the
course of their births and deaths; and they are conscious
of
this state or that as they think themselves either as the
one
or the other: (i. e. we seem to be or not, as we think
ourselves
to be).
14. People appear to be as they think of their being,
from
their consciousness of themselves; and they seem to be in
the
same state in their dream, as they appear in the waking
state,
both in their intents and actions. (The dreamer and the
dreamt do not differ from their waking states).
15. The desires and sensations of the dreaming man, are
alike those of the waking, and differing only in the
dimness of
the former, from the distinctness of the latter. Thus a
dreaming
man is sensible of deriving the same satisfaction, in
obtaining the object of his wish as the waking man;
though
the one is of a conceated[**concealed] and the other of
an overt nature.
(Therefore there is no difference between the states).
16. Whenever our pure consciousness of things, shines
forth
-----File:
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of its own nature in either of its two states of
clearness or faintness; it is
then the reflexion of the one [**[that]] takes the
appellation
of waking, and the other is known as the dreaming state.
17. As long as this consciousness continues to glare in
any
body, since his first creation until his final
emancipation, he is
said to be a living being, under his repeated births and
deaths.
18. The import of the words waking and dreaming, is not
at
all different from that of consciousness; whose
irrepressible reflexion
constitutes the essence of both states, as light is the
essentiality of luminaries.
19. As heat is the gist of fire, and motion the marrow of
the sufflated air or wind; or as the fluidity of water is
the pith
of the billows, and coolness the quiddity of breeze; (so
is consciousness
the quintessence of both our waking and dreaming
states).
20. The whole universe is an unruffled chasm, and an
unchanging
unreality; and this seeming reality of the world, is
even united with its negative sense of nihility.
21. Brahma in its exoteric sense, is both the production
as
well as the destruction of the world, and equally alike
its visible
form and its notion also; but being viewed in its
esoteric light,
it [**[is]] only of the nature of the pure Intellect, and
the One alone,
that is for ever calm and quiet and undecaying in itself.
22. Whatever thought of causality or effect, passes in
the
mind of Brahma at any time, the same comes to take place
immediately,
as men construct their houses as they please in cities.
23. The whole creation abides in the mind of god, as the
city you dream of his[**is] in your thought; the cause
and effect
herein, being the same in one case as in the other.
24. The causality and effectuality are both contained in
the
womb of the dense Intellect; and these are exerted in the
same
manner in the act of creation of the world, as in that of
the construction
of thy imaginary castle.
25. The Divine Intellect employes[**employs] its will, in
the causation
of its intended creation; as you form the plan for the
construction
of your projected edifice: Thus the causality and its
effect
are combined together in the one and same mind.
-----File:
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26. The divine mind develops itself in its own form of
the
sky, and the world that is for ever situated therein, is
then
called the creation and lying in the expanse of that sky.
(Gloss.
The srutis deny the existence of the outer and visible
world).
27. The light which the sun of our consciousness, cast
upon
the imaginary city in the mind; is of its own nature what
is
signified by the terms causality and its effect. (i. e.
Our consciousness
is the cause of our knowledge of the world-[**--]the
false
creation of our imagination).[**moved the paren start
above]
28. The forms in which the mind displayed itself at
first, the
same continue to exist ever since in the same state; and
these
are invariably designated by the terms of time, space and
the
rest.
29. Whatever names are borne by the things, which are
exhibited
in the vacuity of the Intellect; they are ever after
viewed as realities under the designations of some as
causes
and others as their effect. (as the cow is the cause of
the production
of milk, and the pot is the cause of its reception, and
so forth).
30. The creation which was miraculously displayed in its
ideal form in the Intellect, consisted at first of mere
ideas, which
received the name of the (material) world afterwards. (So
the
sruti[**:] whatever is thought of in the mind at first,
receives a
name (or a word[**)] for its designation afterwards).
31. This triple world is of a vacuous form, and is
situated
in the vacuity of the intellect; just as the clear air
contains its
insufflation inbred in it. (The inherence of vibration
inborn
in it).
32. As the vapours and clouds covering the face of the
sky,
give the appearance of blueness to it; so the dizziness
of
ignorance, misrepresents the clear intellect in the form
of the
gross world.
33. But on receiving the true reflexion of the spirit in
the
intellect, by means of intense meditation, the notion of
the
creation turns to that of non-creation; as the false
notion of
the snake in the rope, is changed to that of the rope
upon its
revision.
-----File:
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34. The dead find the future world, as what they used
to see in their dream; but that world as well as this,
are equally
as formless as the vacuum of the Intellect. (Both this
world
and the next, are situated in the Divine-Mind, and are of
the
same form as that).
35. The Huntsman said:--Tell me sir, why are men
regenerated
in new bodies; for their sufferings and enjoyments
in future births; and tell me also what are the principal
and
accompanying causes of our reproduction in this world.
36. If it is on account of the pious or impious acts,
which
are done in our present destructible bodies, that we are
destined
to their retributions afterwards; then say why our
indestructible
souls, shoud[**should] be brought to feel their results
in other
bodies, which seems to be very absurd to me.
37. The sage replied:--The words piety and impiety, our
desires and acts, are words of the same import, and
significant
of their causality in framing the living soul according
to their
own stamp; but these are mere suppositions, and neither
true
causes of the schesis[**scepsis?] of our souls, nor of
the modes of our
lives.
38. It is the mind which is situated in the vacuous
intellect,
and is possest of the power of intellection that imagines
in itself
the various states of things, (and the happiness and
miseries
of life), and gives names to them accordingly. (so says
the sruti:--The
sapient seeing the different form and states of things,
coin words to designate them and their various modes
also).
39. The conscious soul comes to know by means of its
intellect,
its own body in its vacuous self; and after death it
sees the same to exist as in its dream or imagination.
(i. e. in
its ideal form).
40. The knowledge of the dead in regard to the next
world,
is likewise in the manner of a dream; and though this
dreaming
state of the soul continues for a long duration, it bears
no
truth in its nature.
41. If a new body is framed by another person (such as
parents or the creator himself), for the re-entrance of
deceased
spirit into it, then can the new born body have any
remembrance
of the past, and how can this body be what the dead
-----File:
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person had before, and as for his intellect, it is a mere
vacuity,
and cannot pass from one body into another.
42. Therefore no one that is dead is born again, or is to
be
reborn afterwards at any time; it is only an idea of the
mind,
that I was so and am reborn as such; and a vain wish in
its
vacuity, to be born again [**[in]] some form or other.
43. It is by nature and habitual mode of thinking, that
men
are impressed with belief of his regeneration, both by
popular
pursution[**persuasion] and scriptural evidence of a
state of future
retribution,
which is altogether false and fanciful.
44. The soul is an aerial and vacuous substance, giving
rise
to the phantoms of visibles, in the forms of shadowy
dreams
in its spacious vacuity; and always views its births and
deaths
in endless repetitions in this world.
45. It views every particular object, in the illusive net
work,
which is spread in its ample sphere; and seems to see and
act and enjoy everything, without being in the actual
enjoy[**enjoyment]
of
any thing.
46. In this manner millions and millions of worlds, are
constantly
rising before its sight; which appear to be so many
visible phenomena in its ignorance; but which when viewed
in
their proper light, prove to be the display of One
all[**removed hyphen]
pervading
Brahma only.
47. But none of them ever occupy any space, nor do any
one
of them ever exist any where in reality; but there is
that one
Brahma that spreads undivided though all, and knows all
these[**,] an undivided whole, and yet every one of them
forming
a world of itself. (The Lord is full and perfect in each
and all
of these).
48. Now all beings in these worlds, are connected with
one
another in a common link (of the universal soul of all);
they
appear as realities to the erroneous sight of people, but
being
viewed in their true light, they proved to be self-same
with
the unborn One.
49. That undecaying One which is known as true reality,
to
the knower of the knowable (i. e. to him who know the
truth),
and what is understood as unreal by the enlightened sage,
is
-----File:
219.png---------------------------------------------------------
believed to be true by the ignorant. (This is the
contrariety
between both).
50. The belief that all things every where are realities,
because
they are all but reflexions of the selfsame One; is
enough
to reconcile these opposite parties, and to settle in one
common
faith of universal catholicism (of O[**One,/Om,] to pan).
51. Or in order to ascertain, whether the world as one
views
it is real or unreal, let[**=print] one consult his own
consciousness about
it, and rely on its verdict, with regard to its reality
or otherwise:
(because nothing can upset the undeniable conviction of
conciousness[**consciousness]).
52. Who can doubt the evidence of
consiousness[**consciousness], or
confute
its dictates of this kind or that; or with regard to the
difference
or identity of things, or their unity or duality.
53. The knowledge of the knowable God; in as much as it
is known to us is right, and establishes the identity of
the
knowable One with his knowledge; but the position that
the
known or visible world, is identic with the unknown and
invisible
god, is false and mistaken knowledge. (i. e. God is seen
in
his works, but the works are not the god).
54. Such being the meaning (of this mystery), the
knowable
One is not distinct from knowledge of Him; but being
seated in our finite understanding, is quite unknown to
and
apart from the ignorant, that have no knowledge of the
knowable
One.
55. The Knowable One is known to us in proportion to our
knowledge of him; but not so to those that are ignorant
of
Him; as our knowledge increases, so the knowable soul
spreads
of itself over our souls.
56. Hence the unreal worlds, that appear of themselves as
real ones before the eyes of the ignorant, are naught and
nothing
to my sight.
57. Being rightly understood, all things are but forms of
the
one intellect, and equally void as itself, and this
appears in a
thousand shapes to the understanding of gross instincts.
58. As the one intellectual soul assumes many forms to
itself
as it exhibits in its dreams, and engrosses them all again
into
-----File:
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one, or the single form of its unity in its sound sleep;
so doth the
Divine soul appear in one or more forms to our intellects
also.
59. Thus our consciousness of god though one and same,
yet
it appears in various forms according to the various
apprehensions
of men; and are either vacuous or formal, as our dreams
and the works of our imagination.
60. The conscious[**consciousness] of the dreams that we
have in the
vacuum
of our minds, is what take the name of the worlds; but
the sound
sleep of the mind or its unconsciousness of anything, is
called
its pralaya or anaesthesia: and this analogy applies
equally to
them.
61. This substantial totality of existances[**existences],
are mere
perceptions
of the mind only; and whatever appears in any manner
in the thought in any manner at any time[**space added]
or place, the
same
seems to present itself in reality before us even then
and there.
62. It was the thought alone at first, that manifested
itself
in the forms of the primary elements of fire and water,
and the
earth and in the beginning of creation, all which rose in
the
mind in the manner of dreams and the phantoms of its
imagination.
63. Again the inward impressions of these things, that
are
preserved in the vacuous space of our consciousness; the
same
unite together of themselves, and exhibit unto us this
world, in
the form as we view it in our presence.
64. Our conciousness[**consciousness] appears unto us, in
both its
transcient[**transient]
as well as permanent states; while in reality it is no
temporary
thing, but continues with us even at the end of all
transitory
things, as our transcient[**transient] lives also.
65. Our consciousness accompanies us for ever, wheresoever
we remain or go; conceive in yourself for instance as
passing
on either towards the east or west; you see many
things[**space added]
and cities on your way; but can never lose your memory of
the
past, nor the conciousness[**consciousness] of yourself
as you proceed
onward.
(The knowledge which the mind has of its operations, is
never
effaced from it).
66. Anything that the mind has seen or willed or is long
practiced to do or think upon is never effaced
from,[**delete ','] conscious-
*-
----File: 221.png---------------------------------------------------------
*ness, unless it be form[**from] numbness of the
Intellect. (gloss. So one
is never at a loss to realize his wishes, unless he is
remiss in his
efforts to bring them to effect).
67. You may rove whereever[**wherever] you please, either
to the
east or west, and you will find your consciousness to
continue [**[the]]
same, and never changing with the change of your place.
(So
doth one's consciousness accompany him even after his
death).
68. We have seen the man of steady consciousness, attain
to
the object or state of his wish, by his firm
perseverence[**perseverance];
while
on the contrary the unsteady minded are sure to lose them
both:
(i. e. his wished for object together with the
consciousness of
himself).
69. The man of steady consciousness, is
possesed[**possessed] of both
states whether he goes to the north or south; but the one
that
is unsteady in himself[**space added] and to his purpose
also, is deprived
of both
(himself and his object). (Consciousness is joint
koowledge[**knowledge]
of
ourselves, in connections[**space added] with others, so
shat[**that] the
mind knows
both what it is, as well as what it wills).
70. The man of firm intent that thinks of his being both
in
heaven and earth, has them both by fixing his
mfnd[**mind] in one,
while his body is placed in the other; as the man
thinking of going
both to the east and west, may do both by walking one
way and thinking of the other. But the man of unsteady
purpose is neither for this world or that, nor walks one
way or
the other; (but stands in the middle).
71. By steadfast belief in the One, we find the intellect
alone
pervading the whole vacuity of space; but this one
appears
as many and many thousands to the understanding of
ignorant
sceptics.
72. Be the body destructible because of its materiality,
or
indestructible by reason of it being the reflexions of
the divine
intellect; yet it is after all but a mere
appearence[**appearance] in the
dream
of the living soul, whether in this or in the future
world. (The
indestructible intellect, cannot be the destructible
body, because
the destruction of this would involve the other to
destruction
also).
73. That the souls of men do not die with their bodies,
is
-----File: 222.png---------------------------------------------------------
[** png 222-230 compared to print]
evident from the instances of the ghosts and spirits of
the barbarians,
that are invoked by wizards, and made to relate the
incidents of their past lives.
74. Men in the country of barbarians that have long been
dead and burnt down to ashes, are known to reappear
before
people, and delivering their errands, to have disappeared
with
their living souls.
75. If it is impossible for departed souls to reappear
like the
living as the Charvakas say; then let me ask them, why do
they
not reckon their absent friends as dead also, and unable
to
return. (This argument maintains the doctrine of
spirituality,
of the capability of the reappearance of departed spirits
from
the analogy of the return of absent people to their
homes; as
Butler proves the rising of the dead at the Resurrection,
upon
the analogy of our waking from sleep).
76. If the property of action be true of the living, why
should it not be equally true of the dead also; upon the
analogy
of our conception of the idea of the action of the one as
well
as of the other.
77. The doctrine of the visionary dream of the world,
being
the established and irrefutable truth of Aryan sástras;
it is
quite compatible and conformable with the tenet of eternal
ideas maintained in Indian philosophy.
78. These worlds are equally as true as well as false to
view,
as the sight of the appearances in the disc of the moon,
which
appears as realities to the eyes of beholders, without
having any
substantiality in them; (The lunar spots are considered
as
mere marks-[**--]kalankas though to all appearance they
seem as
habitable parts-[**--]chandra-loka.
79. The subjective world is real, in having all its
objects as
parts of the true Entity; and the subjective mind is a reality,
in its being composed of pure ideas only. The Intellect
is
true as reflexion only, and so they are all true without
having
any reality of themselves.
80. All these are immutable and quiet, and lie quiescent
in the vacuity of the Divine Intellect; they are
irremovable
-----File:
223.png---------------------------------------------------------
and unconspicuous of themselves, and lie immanent in the
Divine soul.
81. It is the steady consciousnes[**consciousness], that
is conscious of
whatever
is fixed upon at any time or place; and represents all
things whether real or unreal, that is inbred or inherent
in it.
82. Let our bodies rise or fall, and our destinies
overtake
us as they will; let happiness or misery
befalls[**befall] on us as they are
decreed, they cannot affect the serenity of the
indifferent soul.
83. Hence it is of no matter unto us, whether these are
realities or otherwise, or whether it may be so and so or
not;
avoid your desire for any thing, and be wise and at rest
after
all your wanderings.
-----File:
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CHAPTER CXXXXIV.
INVESTIGATION INTO THE NATURE & VICISSITUDES OF
THINGS.
Argument:--The Intellect manifested in the World, which
is but a
manifestation of the Didine[**Divine]-mind and its
Omnipotence.
The sage continued:--The visible world is being a
something
in nothing an entity based upon non-entity (i. e.
a substance based upon the intellect), resembles our
consciousness
of things seen in our dream only. And as all things are
eternally situated in the Divine Mind, there can be no
meaning
in our being bound to or liberated from them.
2. These worlds that appear to rove before us, are seen
as the
mites flying about in the solar rays; (or as the bright
circlets
seeming to swim before our closed eyes); they are but
evanescent
phantoms in the air, and appearing as stable bodies in
the
minds of the ignorant.
3. Whatever is seen to be placed before us in any form or
state, is soon found to change its mode and manner before
us; so
likewise is the changeful state of all things herein,
that
are continually rotating like the waters in a whirlpool.
4. The earth, air, water &c[**.], are the materials
that combine
to form frail bodies, that are doomed to decay and
dissolve in a
short time; and yet they are computed by the ignorant to
last for ages-[**--]as yugas & kalpas. (Everything is
changing and
nothing lasting).
5. The world is a dream, and the totality of existence a
mere
nihility; and yet the notion of entity that we [**add:
have] of this nullity,
is no other than a reflexion of the one Eternal
Intellect.
6. Like this solar world of ours, there are
hundreads[**hundreds] and
thousand others to be seen in the skies; nor is it
incredible
that others have the like notions of other peoples.
7. We see the seas and lakes, teeming with living beings
of
various kinds, and find the pools and bogs full of frogs
every-*
-----File:
225.png---------------------------------------------------------
where; but none of them know anything about the other
reservoirs, nor of their inhabitants neither beside those
of their
own.
8. As a hundred men sleeping in one and the same room;
see as many air built castles differing from another in
their
dream; so there appear different worlds in the airy
intellects
of some, which are seen and unknown to others.
9. As many aerial cities are seen, in the dreams of many
men,
sleeping together in the same room; so do these aerial
worlds
appear in empty sphere of our minds, and are said to be
in being
and not being in the sametime[**same time]: (i. e. being
but a dream
which is no-being or nothing).
10. The sky is a miracle of the mind, and a phenomenon
of itself; it is visible without its form, and appears as
limited
without its limitation, and as created without its creation.
(vacuity being increate).
11. The vacuum bearing the nature of the vacuous mind,
is vainly styled the firm firmament; it presents to view
the
forms of fleeting objects in it, as the understanding
represents
its ideas and passing thoughts to our knowledge.
12. The remembrance of a thing, is the cause of its dream
by night, as the desire of something causes its
conception in the
mind; and as the apprehension of one's death, proceeds
from
his seeing in the instances of others.
13. In the beginning of creation, the world appears as
an image in the mind; which is no other than a flash or
reflexion of the Divine Intellect, and to which no other
name
than a rechauffe of the Divine Intellect, can be properly
assigned.
14. The saying that Brahma shines as the very world means
to say that, he did not shine a new[**anew] in the form
of the world, but
has this form eternally subsisting in his omniscience.
15. It is said that the cause is (identic with) the
effect, because
the common cause of all, is specialized in its form of
the
effect; (i. e. the one becomes as many). The action which
was
confined in the cause at first, (as vegetation in the
seed), becomes
evolved in the germ of creation afterwards.
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16. When such things (or conditions) occur in the mind in
dreams, as have not been seen or known before, they are
called
sanskáras or pristine impressions in the mind, (as our
inwardpassions[**
inward passions]
and feelings), and not the external objects of sense,
which are not inbred in the mind.
17. These mental impressions or reminiscences, are
perceptible
to us in our dreaming and not in the waking state; and
though they are unseen in our waking; yet they are not
lost
unto us so long as we retain those impressions in the
mind.
They naturally appear in the soul in dreaming, as the
visibles
appear to sight in the waking state.
18. Thus the vedantist comes to know the inexistence of
the outer world, and by knowing the knowable One, they
come
to attain the consummation of their object: (which is the
attainment
of their final emancipation or moksha).
19. The impressions of the waking state, which occur in
the state of dreaming, are the newly made imprints of the
waking hours on the memory; and these make the sleeping
hours seem as waking to the dreaming soul.
20. These recent ideas fluctuate in the mind, as by the
breath of the wind, and they occur and recur of
themselves,
without the agency of pristine impressions.
21. There is one sole Intellect only, possessed of its
many
multitudes of airy dreams; and being dispossessed of them
at
last, it remains solely by and in itself.
22. The consciousness that we have of the dreams, ranging
at large in the empty sphere of our Intellect, is verily
what is
denominated the world by us; and the want of this
consciousness
in our sound sleep, is what is termed the extinction of
world by ourselves. This analogy applies also to the
nature of
the self-existed One.
23. There exists only the infinite sphere of one eternal Intellect,
and there appears an infinity of shapes, perpetually
rising
and setting in its open in the manner of dreams. These
are
born of its own nature and are called the world, and bear
the
same intellectual form with itself.
24. Thus the atomic particle of the Intellect, contains
the
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form of the whole cosmos within its bosom; which is an
exact
ectype of its architype[**archetype], as the shadow under
a mirror, is the
true representation of the prototype.
25. The cavity of the Intellect contains the
consciousness
wich[**which] is diffused in it like the dilution of an
atom; and extends
throughout without beginning and end, and this is called
the
cosmos.
26. Hence as far as the vacuity of the Intellect extends
to
all infinity, there is the appearance of the wide world
connected
with it, as immanent in and identic with itself at all
times.
(The intimate connection of the subjective mind and
objective
world together).
27. The intellect is selfsame with the world, and
therefore
all minds and intellectual beings as myself and thyself,
are
worlds or microcosm also; and it [**add: is] for this
reason that the
great macrocosm of the world, is said to be comprised in
the
corpusule[**corpuscle/corpuscule] of the mind.
28. Therefore I who am a minute soul, am of the form of
the whole world also, (being its container in the mind);
hence
I abide everywhere likewise, even in the midst of an atom
also.
29. Being in the form of the minutiae of the intellect, I
am
also as great as the universal soul, and as expanded as
the open
air all around; I also see all the three worlds about
one, wherever
I abide or move. (All things are present in the mind, at
all
places and times).
30. I am an atom of the intellectual soul, and am joined
with the intellectual soul of the universe; it is my
sight of the
supreme spirit in my meditation, that I am lost in it as
a drop
of water is lost is[**in] the ocean.
31. Having entered into the Divine spirit, and feeling
its
influence in me, I am filled with its cognition; and
behold the
three world[**worlds] within me, as the seed lies hid in
the pericarp or
in the seed vessel; (to be developed in its future
foliage).
32. I see the triple world expanding within myself,
(according
to our reminiscence of the same which is engraven in the
mind), beside which there is no outer world on the
outside of
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of any body. (The world lies in the conception of mind
only,
and the exterior one is but a reflexion of the same).
33. Whenever the world appears in any form, whether of a
gross or subtile nature, as in the states of our waking
or dreaming;
both these forms of the interior or exterior worlds, are
to be known as the reflexion of the ideal one imprinted
in
the intellect.
34. When the living soul indulges itself in the sight of
the
world, in the state of its dreaming; it is to be known as
a reflexion
of the expanded particle of the intellect, which the
sleeping soul delights to dote upon.
35. The Huntsman rejoined:--If the visible world is
causeless
or without its maker, then how could it come into
existence,
and if it be a caused or created exterior world, how
could we
have any knowledge of it in the sleeping and dreaming of
the
soul.
36. The sage replied:--All this is without a cause, and
the
world proceeded at first without any causality whatever.
(The
Muni means to say that there cannot be any independent or
instrumental cause of creation save the immanation[**emanation]
of One
oneself).
[** this paragraph compared to print]
37. It is verily impossible for gross and perishable
bodies
and transcient[**transient] beings, to come to being
without a cause; but
that which is a facsimile or shadow only of the antitype
and
original model of the eternal mind, cannot possibly have
any
cause at all.
38. It is Brahma himself that thus shines refulgent, by
nature of his intellectual effulgence; hence the world's
creation
and destruction are utterly inapplicable to what is
without its
beginning and end.
39. Thus the uncaused creation, abides in the substance
of
the great god, and shines forth with divine glory to all
infinity.
It is to gross minds only, which are prepossessed with
the
grosser ideas of materiality, that it appears in the form
of a
gross material body.
40. What numberless varieties do there appear in the
unvaried
Brahma, and what un-numbered diversities of shapes and
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forms are seen in the formless One, that is ever
unchanged and
imperishable.
41. Brahma is formless in his person, (which is of a
spiritual
form); yet he exhibits himself in many forms, in his
being
the mind (or mirror of all ideal forms); where he
represents
his spiritual self or soul, in all the various forms of
moving and
immovable bodies.
42. He makes the gods, sages and seers in his likeness,
and
directs them to their different degress[**degrees] and
duties also; he
stablishes the laws and prohibitions of conduct, and
appoints
the acts and observances at all times and places.
43. All existences and privations, productions and
destructions,
of moving or unmoving bodies, whether great or small
ones, are subject to his decree, and can never transgress
any
of his general laws.
44. Ever since the general decree, nothing takes place
without its proper special cause; as you can never expect
to
exude oil from sand (save from oily seeds).
45. The destined decree of providence, is the leader of
all
events in the world; it is as one part of the body of
Brahma,
by which he represses the other part of himself (i. e.
his will); as
we restrain the action of one hand by the other. (One
over-ruling
fate governs even Jove himself).
46. This unavoidable destiny overtakes us, against our
prudence and will, like the sudden fall of a fruit on a
flying
crow ([Sanskrit: kákatálíya]) and drives us along with
its course, as the
tide or eddy bears down the waters with it.
47. The preordination of certain effects from certain
causes,
is what is called destiny; without which there result all
disorder
and disturbance, and in want of which the great Brahma
even cannot abide. It is therefore the imperishable soul
of all
existence.
48. Thus then this destiny is the cause of all, and
although
it is unseen and unknown, yet it acts on all as it is
destined
for them ever since their very production. (This is no
more
than the unchangable[**unchangeable] law of nature).
49. The uncausing Brahma that causes nothing, is believed
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by the ignorant as the causal agent of creation; which
they
mistake as the production of its maker by error of their
judgment.
50. The wise man however, seeing the sudden appearance
of world before him, like the rotation of a wheel,
considers its
causes as such and such or this and that, as they have
been
determined by their preordained destiny?[**. instead of
?]
51. So all existent bodies have their special causes, in
their primordial destiny, which determines their subsequent
lots in endless succession. Hence the occurrences, of our
waking
state, resembling the visions in our dream, are never
without
their antecedent causes.
52. Thus when I dreamt the erroneous dream of the
destruction
of the world, caused by concussion of the elements and
waters I had its cause inbred in me, in my
reminiscience[**reminiscence]
of the
great deluge I had heard of in traditional narration.
53. In this manner we see the reflexions of almighty
power
in all things that come under own reflection (or
observation),
just as we see the crystals and shell-fishes shining with
their
intrinsical brightness. May this Omnipotent power that is
ever-living soul of souls, and known to us in our
imperfect
notion of him, be glorified for ever and ever.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to Brahmasri Sreemaan Vihari Lala Mitra ji for the
collection)
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