The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki
The only complete English translation is
by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891).
CHAPTER CXXI.
EXPOSITION OF THE STORY OF VIPASCHIT.
Argument:--Boundaries of vipaschit's[**Vipaschit's]
Realms. His
adoration of fire
and attempt to proceed furthur[**further].
Vasishtha related:--Then the king Vipaschit and his
companions, sat on the coast of the sea, and did whatever
was requisite for the establishment of his sovereignty.
2. They then chose spots for their abodes at that place,
and
made houses for themselves according to their positions;
they
settled the boundaries of the provinces, and set guards
for their
defence.
3. At last they went down into the ocean, and then
proceeded
to the other side[**space added] of the world; in order
to show his glory;
[** ';'=print]
like that of Vipaschit, to other parts of the world.
4. Then came on the dark night, in the form of an
all-over
shading[**all overshading] cloud; and the people all sank
into the lap of
sleep,
after finishing their daily works and rituals.
5[**.] They were amazed to think in themselves, how
insensibly
they were led to so great a distance in so short a space
of time,
and to meet the ocean like currents of rivers falling
into it.
6. They said;[**:] "It is a wonder that we have come
so far,
without any attempt on our part; and therefore this great
velocity must be attributed, to the swiftness of the
vehicles of
the great god Agni (or Electricity itself)[**"].
7. Lord! say they, how extensive is the view that lies
before
our sight; stretching from one end of the Jambudwipa
to its other extremity of the vast salt ocean, and thence
again
to the islands in it, and other lands and seas beyond
them.
8. There are islands and seas beyond these, and others
again
beyond them; how many such and may[**many] more, may
there be of
this kind, and how inscrutable is the delusion which is
thus
spread before our minds. (i. e. All these are but our
mental
delusions).
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9. Let us therefore pray the god of fire (electricity),
that
we may see at once every thing on all sides by his
favour, and
with[**without] any exertion of or pain on our sides.
10. So saying and thinking in this manner, they all
reflected
on the god with one accord, and meditated on him, as they
sat
in their respective places.
11. The god appeared to them, and stood manifest before
their sight in his tangible form, and spoke to them saying:--"Ask
ye my sons, what favor you desire of me."
12. They said;[**:] O lord of gods, that abidest beyond
this
visible and elemental world, ordain, that by means of the
vedic
mantra and our purified minds, we may know the knowables
in our minds.
13. Give us, O god, this great and best boon, that we ask
of
thee; that we may know by thy light, whatever is knowable
by either the external senses; mind or by our
self-consciousness.
(i. e. By the three means of knowledge).
14. Enable us to see with our eyes O lord! the paths,
which
lead the siddhas and yogis to the sight of the
invisibles; and
make us also to perceive in our minds the things, that
[**[are]]
imperceptible
to them.
15. Let not death overtake us, till we have reached to
the
ways of the siddhas; and let thy grace guide us in the
paths,
where no embodied being can pass; (i. e. in our journey
to the
next world, when we have shuffled our mortal coil).
16. Vasishtha said:--"So be it" said the
igneous god, and
instantly disappeared from their sight; as the submarine
fire
bursts forth, and vanishes at once in the sea.
17. As the fiery god disappeared, there appeared the dark
night after him; and as the night also fled after a
while, the
sunshine returned with the reviving wishes of the king
and his
men, to survey the wide ocean lying before them.
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CHAPTER CXXII.
THE KING'S SURVEY OF THE SEA, AND HIS
LOCOMOTION ON IT.
Argument:--The king walks on foot on the sea, his chase
of sharks and
other marine animals.
Vasishtha related:--Rising then in the morning, they
regulated the affairs of the state according to the rules
prescribed by law; and were eager to see the sea, as if
they were
impelled by some preternatural force, which nothing less[**
space added]
than
the power of ministerial officers could restrain.
2. But they were so exaspirated[**exasperated] by their
mad ambition,
that they forgot their affection for their families, and
forsook
them all weeping before them, for undertaking their
perilous
sea voyage.
3. They said, "we will see what there is on the
other side
of the sea, and then return instantly to this
place." Saying so
they muttered the invocatory mantras of the Fire god, who
inspired them with the power of walking on foot and
dryshod[**dryshoed]
over the sea.
4. All the representatives of the king, being followed
by their companions on all sides, proceeded to the
borders of
the several seas, and then walked on their feet over to
watery
maze.
5. They walked on foot upon the waters, as if they were
walking upon the surface of the ground, and all the four
bodies
of the quardruple[**quadruple] king, now met together in
one place, and
immediately afterwards they separated apart with all
their
forces.
6. Marching on foot over the vast expance[**expanse],
they surveyed
all that was in and upon the sea; and disappeared
altogether
from the sight of the people on the shore, as a spot of
cloud,
vanishes from view in autumn.
7. The forces travelled on foot all over the watery path
of
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the ocean, with as much fortitude; as the elephants of
the
king, traverse with patience on land, when they are bound
to a
distant journey.
8. They mounted high and went down, along with the rising
and lowering waves; as when men climb upon and descend
from steep mountains[**replaced hyphen with space], and
as one
ride[**rides] and goes a galloping
on horseback, or in the manner of Hari floating upon the
bellowy[**billowy] ocean, or in his act of churning the
sea.
9. They paced over the whirlpools, as the straws float
upon
waters; and they promenaded as gracefully amidst the
encompassing
waves, as the beauteous moon passes through the
surrounding clouds.
10. The brave soldiers that were so well armed with
weapons
in their hands, and so well protected by the power of
their
mantras and amulets; that they were as often disgorged
from
bowels of the sharks, as they came to be devoured by
them:
(because they could neither musticate[**masticate] nor
digest them).
11. Pushed onward by the waves, and driven forward by the
winds, their bodies were carried to the distance of many
a
leagues in a moment.
12. The huge surges which lifted them to great heights,
represented the enormous elephants, on which they used to
mount, and ride about in their native land.
13. The vast expance[**expanse] of water appears as the
void space of
the sky; and the succession of heaving waves in it,
represents
the folds of gathering clouds in heaven, and as they were
dashing
against one another, they emitted the flash of lightnings
anon.
14. The loose and loud surges of the sea, resembled the
loosened elephants in the battle field; and though they
dashed
against the shore with all their force; yet they were
unable to
break them down, as the elephants are baffled in their
attempt
to break down a stone built rampart.
15. The waving waves reflecting the rays of the brilliant
pearls and gems, which they bore with them from shore to
shore; resemble the eminent men, who though they pass
alone
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from place to place, appear yet to be accompanied by
their
train and glory every where.
16. The surf tramples over the mass of hoary froth with
contempt, as the snowy white swan treads upon the bed of
whitish lotuses in disdain. (The surf and the swan, being
whiter far than the froth and the lotus).
17. The sounding main, which was as loud as the roaring
clouds, and the rebellowing billows, which were louder
than
they, bore no terror to them that stood as rocks thereon.
18. The cloud-kissing waves of the ocean, now rising
above
the mountains, and now felling low at their feet, were
likely
to touch the solar orb, and then sink into the infernal.
19. They were not afraid of the rising or falling waters;
but passed over the sea as upon sheet of cloth; and
shrouded
by the drizzling clouds, which foamed a canopy over them.
20. Thus the companions of the king crossed the ocean,
which was full of sharks and alligators, and tremendous
eddies;
they were sprinkled by water like showers of flowers, and
adorned with marine gems and pearls; and they crossed
over
on foot, as others do in navies.
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CHAPTER CXXIII.
THE KING'S EXCURSIONS ON ALL SIDES.
Argument:--The King and his train, pass over the islands
and proceed
towards the west.
Vasishtha related:--Thus they proceeded onward, to
explore into the visible phenomena, exposed before them
by Ignorance, (avidyá or external nature); and continued
to
walk on foot, over the watery maze and the islands it
contained.
2. They passed over the ocean to some island, and then
from that island to the sea again; and in this manner
they
traversed on foot, over many a mountain and wilderness in
interminable succession.
3. Then as the king was proceeding towards the western
main, he was seized and devoured by a voracious fish,
which
was as the undying breed of Vishnu's fish, and as fleet
as a
boat in the stream of Bitasta Beyah. (Vishnu's fish was
the
deathless incarnation of himself).
4. The fish fled with him in his belly to the milky
ocean;
but finding him to[**too] hard for his digestion, he bore
him in his
bowels to a great distance in another direction.
5. He was then borne to the succharine[**saccharine]
ocean on the south,
and was there cast out in the island of Yaxas[**Yakshas];
where he was
overpowered to the love of a female fiend by her art of
enchantment,
(or) where he was enchanted into the amour of a female
YaxÃ[**YakshÃ], by her skill in sorcery. (The
yaxas[**yakshas] are the
present
yakhas of ceylon[**Ceylon], or egypt[**Egypt], and are
said to be
qually[**equally] adept in the
art of máya or magic).
6. He then went towards the east, and passing by the
Ganges, he killed a shark that had pursued him, and
arrived at
last at the district of Kánya kubja the modern Cawnpore.
7. Then proceeding towards the north, he came to the
country,
of Uttara-kurus, where he was edified by his adoration of
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Siva, and became exempted from the fear of death, in all
his
wanderings on all sides of the earth.
8. In this way, tavelling[**travelling] long and afar,
both by land and
sea; he was often attached[**attacked] by wild elephants
on the boundary
mountains, and repeatedly gorged and disgorged by sharks
and
alligators in the seas.
9. Then proceeding towards the west, he was picked up by
an eagle and set upon his back; and the bird took to his
golden
pinions, and bore him in an instant to the Kusa-dwipa
across
the ocean.
10. Thence he passed to the Krauncha-dwipa on the east;
where he was seized and devoured by a Ráksasa of the
mountain,
but whom he killed afterwards by ripping up his belly
and its entrails.
11. Roving then in the south, he was denounced to become
a yaxa[**yaksha] by curse of Daxa[**Daksha] the king of
that part: until
he was
released from that state by the king of the Sacadwipa
after
some years.
12. He then passed over the great and smaller seas lying
in
the north, and after passing over the great frigid ocean,
he arrived
at the country of gold, where he was changed to a stone
by the siddhas of that place.
13[**.] In this state he remained a whole century, till
by the
grace of his god Agni-[**--]ignis, he was released from
the curse of
the siddha, who received him again into his favour.
14. Then travelling to the east, he became king of the
country of cocoanuts; and after reigning there for full
five
years, he was restored to the remembrance of his former
state.
15. Then passing to the north of the Meru Mountain, he
dwelt among the Apsaras, in the groves of kalpa
trees[**space added] for
ten
years, and subsisted on the bread fruits of cocoanuts.
16. Going afterwards to the salmalidwipa[**Salmalidwipa]
in the west,
which
abounds in trees of the same name, he dwelt in the
society of
birds for many years, having been previously instructed
in their
language, when he had been caried[**carried] away by
garuda[**Garuda].
17. Thence journeying in his westerly course, he reached
to
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the Mandara Mountain which abounded in verdure and madára
forests; and here he sojourned for a day in company with
MandarÃ--a Kinnera female.
18. He then journeyed to the Nandana garden of the gods,
which abounded in kalpa trees rising as high as the waves
of
the milky ocean; and he remained in the company of the
woodland
gods for a septenary, sporting with the Apsara damsels in
their amorous dalliance.
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CHAPTER CXXIV.
QUADRIPARTITE STATE OF THE KING VIPASCHIT.
Argument.--The actions of the Individual prince,
appertaining to hits
quaternary forms.
Ráma said:--Tell me sir, whether the different states and
acts of the prince, relate particulary[**particularly] to
any one part of
his quadripartite body, or generally or severally to all
and each
part of himself; because it is equally
imposssible[**impossible] that all
and
every part should act the same part, as that the several
parts of
the same person, could act differently from the other.
(It is
unnecessary to be multipartite to act alike, as well as
impossible
for the same personality to act differently in its many
persons
or parts or forms, which are all one and the same being).
2. Vasishtha replied.[**:]--Any person that is conscious
of his
self identity, and its invariability and indivisibility,
may yet
think himself as another person and doing different
things, as a
man does in his dream.
3. Again it is the clearness of the soul, that shows the
abstract
images of things in itself, as it did in that of
Vipaschit or
the wise prince; and as a mirror reflects the discrete
figures of
objects, and of the sky and sea, in its clear and empty
bosom.
4. As reflectors made of the same metal, reflect one
another
in themselves; so all things which are in reality but of
an
intellectual or ideal nature, reflect themselves in the
intellect.
(The mind is the repository of the ideal forms of things,
and
it is mental fallacy only which makes them appear as real
ones.
This is the idealistic theory of Barkeley[**Berkeley]).
5. Hence whatever object presents itself, to any one of
the
senses of any body, is no other than the concretion or
density
of his intellectual idea of the same in its nature.
(Hence the
sensibles are but solidified ideas, and
ectypes[**?--P2:OK/SOED] of the
ideal; and
not as causes or prototypes of our eternal ideas).
6. It is the one and self-same thing [**[that]] appears
as many, and
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the varied ones are but the invariable one in reality;
there is
no positive variety nor uniformity either in esse,
because all
apparent variety is postitive[**positive] unity. (i. e.
all is one, and the one
in all).
7. Hence whatever part of the prince, was conscious of
anything,
which presented itself before him of any time; the same
is said to be the state of his being during that time.
(i. e.
Whatever a man is conscious of doing or suffering at any
time,
the same forms the state or mode of living for the time
being).
8. And as it is possible to a yogi, who sits secluded in
one
places[**place]; to see all present, past and future
events at one view
before him; so it is possible for a prince, sitting
retired in his
palace, to manage all affairs of his whole domain; and
much
more for the king Vipaschit, who delegated his viceroys,
as
members of his body to all parts. (This passage explains
the
quadripartite kings, to mean himself and his three viceroys
on
three sides).
9. So doth a cloud stretch itself to all the quarters of
the
sky, and perform at once the several functions of
quenching
the perched earth with its water, and of growing the
vegetables
and fructifying the trees. So also doth a man boast of
his
manifold acts at the same time.
10. So also are the simultaneous acts of the lord God,
and
those of the lords of men and yogis; who design and
perform at
the same time, the multifarious acts relating to the
creation,
preservation and management of the world.
11. So doth the one and selfsame Vishnu, with his four
arms and as many forms, acts[**act] many parts and
separably also, as
the preservation of the world on the one hand, and the
enjoyment
of his fair consorts on the other.
12. Again though the two hands of a person, are enough
to discharge the ordinary affairs of life; yet it is
requisite to
have many arms, in order to wield many weapons in
warfare.
13. It was in the same manner, that the self same monarch
was situated with his fourfold persons, in all the four
sides of
the earth; where though they were impressed with the
consci-*
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*ousness of their self identity, yet they all acted their
several
parts as quite distinct and apart from others.
14. They were all alike conscious of the pains and
pleasures
attending on their lying down on naked grounds, their
passing
to distant island and their travelling to different
forests and
groves, and desert lands also.
15. They all remembered their journey's[**journeys] over
hills and
mountains, as well as their voyages by water and air;
they knew
how they floated on the seas, and rested on clouds.
16. They knew how they mounted upon waves of seas, and
rode on the back of flying wind; and how they lay on the
shores of seas, and at the foot of mountain,[**.]
17. Again the prince proceeding to Scythea, or the land
of
sacas on the east; passed into the enchanted city of the
yaxas[**yakshas],
lying at the foot of the Eastern mountain or Udaya-giri;
where
being spelt bound[**spellbound] by their sorcery, he lay
asleep for full
seven
years in the wood of the leafless mansá sijá trees.
18. Rising afterwards from his drowsiness, he was
converted
to the torpid state of a stone by his drinking some
mineral
water, and was condemned to remain for seven years more
with
the mineral substances of the earth.
19. He was then confined in a cave of the western
mountain--Astáchala,
which reaches to the region of the clouds and
is shrouded by darkness; and he became enamoured of the
company, of Pisácha and Apsara females.
20. He then arrived at a region which was free from fear,
and where there rose a high mountain with water-falls in
all
sides of it; here the prince was lost in the forest of
haritaki or
chebula--myrabolans[**myrobalans], and become invisible
for years.
21. The prince that had erewhile[**space removed] been
spellbound by the
yaxa[**yaksha], travelled afterwards to the frigid
climate; and there being
transformed to a lion, he roved about the Raivata hills
for
ten days and nights.
22. And then being deluded by the black art of Pisáchas,
he was changed to the form of a frog, and lived in that
state in
the caves of the golden mountain for a
decad[**decade--P2:decad
OK/SOED] of years.
23. Travelling afterwards to the country of Kumárika
(cape[**Cape]
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comorin[**Comorin]), he dwelt at the bottom of the
nothern[** northern]
ridge of the
Black mountain. Then going to the saca country, he was
transformed to a hog, and lived in a dark hole for a
hundred
years in that shape.
24. He lived for fourteen years as a squint-eyed, in the
land of marivaca; when the western form of the prince was
turned to a Vidyádhara, by virtue of his skill in
learning
various lore.
25. There he enjoyed sexual intercourse at his full
satisfaction
under the scented bower of alá, and passed his time
in amusement.
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CHAPTER CXXV.
ON THE LIVING LIBERATION OF THE PRINCE.
Argument:--Mutual assistance of the four persons of the
prince to one
another, and their true meaning.
Vasishtha continued:--Now of the quadripartite
bodies of the prince, that which was transformed to a
tree, in the valley called the vale of fearlessness in
sacadwipa:
supported itself by sucking the better water of the rock
which
it drew by its roots.
2. It was then that the western part of the royal person,
came up to the relief of the former or eastern part, and
released
it from the curse of its vegetable state of full seventy
years,
by the power of its incantations.
3. Again the western person of the king, passing to the
frigid clime, was there transformed to a stone by curse
of the
chief of the Pisácha tribe; but was released afterwards
from
that state by southern personage, by his offering of meat
food
to the carnivorous Pisácha.
4. At another time as this western personage, was settled
beyond the western horizon, it was changed to the form of
a
bull by a female fiend, that had assumed on her the form
of a
cow, and was freed at last from that state by the
southern
person.
5. Again the southern figure of the prince, was doomed to
live as a demon on a mountain tree in the Kshemaka, and
was
liberated at last from it by the yaksha prince.
6. Then again, the eastern person of the prince, was
metamorphosed
to the shape of a lion, on a mountain in the province
of Vrishaka, and was delivered for its metamorphoses by
the
western personality.
7. Ráma rejoined:--How is it sir, that the single
individuality
of the prince, which was confined in one spot as that of
a
yogi; could be ubiquious at one and the same time, could
per-*
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*form the various acts of different times and places at
once, by
the all comprehensive universality of the mind.
8. Vasishtha replied: O Ráma! Let the unenlightened
think whatever they may, respecting this world; (i. e.
let them
take its unreality for positive reality); but do you
attend to
what I say, regarding the light in which it is viewed by
the
enlightened yogi[**yogis] (who view it in its spiritual
light, and conduct
all their operations in the mind only).
9. According to spiritualists, there is no other essence,
except one universal Intellect; the phenomenal are an
utter inexistence,
and the creation or increate entity of the world, blends
into nothing. (The intellect is a formless and
all-pervading
essence, and acts in many ways in all places).
10. This universal Intellect is the eternal residence of
and one with the eternal and universal soul; and it is
this
that constitutes the essentiality and universality of the
Supreme
soul at all times.
11. Say, who can obstruct any where or by any force the
course of the great mind, which is ubiquious[**ubiquitous--P2:ubiquious
obsolete & rare/SOED] and all comprehensive,
and exhibits itself in various forms in the endless
varieties of its thoughts. (Hence there is nothing in
reality,
except they be but representations of the inward thoughts
of
the mind; or manifestations of the omnipresent One in
various
shapes).
12. What is it to us and what can we call to be ours,
when
all these sights are exhibited in the supreme soul or
Intellect
in all places and times; and all that is present, past
and future,
are comprised [**[in]] that all-comprehending mind.
13. So that the far and near, a moment and an age, are
the
same to it, which is never altered in its nature (so says
the
sruti:--It is both near and afar, the past and the
present &c[**.]).
14. All things are situated in the soul, and yet look at
the
act of Ignorance, that they appear to be placed without
it, as
we behold them with our naked eyes: (as phantasms[**
typo?--P2: No] of
the
hidden soul).
15. The soul is the substantial omniscience of vacuous
form,
and exhibits the three worlds in its vacuity, without
changing
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its vacuousness, (but shows like the magic lantern, the
phantasmagoria
of these in itself).
16. The universal soul appears in the universe, as both
its
viewer and the view in itself, or as the subjective and
objective
in its self-same nature; but how is it possible for the
inherent
soul of the apparent world, to admit of a visible form in
any
way, unless it be by the delusion of our understanding to
think
it so.
17. But tell me thou sage that knowest the truth, what
thing
is impossible to the active agency of the selfsame Deity,
to
whom all things are alike possible at all times and
places; and
so also to the wise king vipaschit[**Vispaschit], who was
alike conscious
of
his self identity in all his qudruple[**quadruple] forms.
(The lord[**Lord]
that
spreads unspent, and acts alike in all. Pope).
18. The enlightened Intellect of the yogi, that has not
yet
arrived at its transcendent state of unity with the
Deity; and
retains the sense of its individuality; can yet readily
unite
itself with the souls of others in all places.
19. There is nothing impossible to the supreme soul; but
the half enlightened soul, that lingers between its
knowledge
and ignorance, and has not attained to transcendent
wisdom, is
confounded in its intellect regarding the true knowledge
of
things.
20. The soul that is some what advanced in its knowledge,
is said to have partly progressed towards its perfection
(siddhi);
hence the four parts of Vipaschit situated on the four
sides,
made up a perfect whole. (The whole number in common
calculation,
is usually divided into and made up of four quarters).
21. These four parts were as so many states or degrees of
perfection, which lighted on Vipaschit like the rays of
heavenly
light; and these states mutually helped and healed each
other,
as the members of the body assist and supply to the
defects of
one another.
22. Ráma said:--Tell me, O neverable[**venerable]
Brahman, why the
quadruple king Vipaschit, ran on all sides like brutes,
if he was
so enlightened in every part, and why he did not sit
collected
in himself as he was.
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23. Vasishtha replied:--What I have related to you
regarding
enlightenment, applies only to the case of yogis, who
though
they are combined of many parts in their minds, do yet
remain
sedate in themselves in the same state.
24. But the Vipaschitas were not so wholly enlightened as
the holy yogis, but being partly enlightened, they
remained in
the midmost state between the two, as if hanging betwixt
both
state of enlightenment and ignorance at the same time.
25. They bore upon them the marks of both at once, namely
of the one by their discretion and discernment, and of
the other
by the passions and affections of their minds, that led
them to
the two different ways of liberation as well as of
bondage.
26. Those who are ever vigilent[**vigilant] in the
discharge of their
pious acts, and are wavering between their temporal and
eternal
concerns, as the Vipaschitas continued in their course of
action,
such persons cannot be perfect and esoteric yogis in this
life.
27. The devotees that are devoted to their devotion of a
particular deity as the Vipaschitas were of the god of
fire, are
styled as the dhárana[**dháraná] yogis; and not
transcendent or param
yogis, unless they attain to transcendental knowledge (or
jnána
yoga, which removes the avidyá ignorance).
28. The learned yogi doos[** does] not see any mist of
ignorance,
to obstract[** obstruct] his sight of the lights of
truth; but the ignorant
devotee is blind to truth, though he may be received into
the
favour of his favorite deity.
29. The vipaschitas were all of them subject to
ignorance,
and they rejected the knowledge of the true soul, by
their
attachment to gross material bodies, which are at best
but vain
unrealities. Listen therefore to what I will now relate,
regarding
those that are liberated from their grossness even in
their
lifetime.
30. The yogis retain of course their knowledge of the
concrete,
in their conduct of the external affairs of life; but
liberation
is the virtue of the mind, consisting in its freedom from
subjection to gross materials, and subsisting in the mind
only,
and not in the body or its sensibility.
-----File:
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31. But as the bodily properties are inseparably
connected
with the body, and its sensibility can in no way be separated
from it; the liberated soul is therefore no way attached
to it,
nor doth the yogi ever take any heed of it in his mind
(his thoughts being solely fixed in the soleity[**solity]
of the soul).
32. The mind of the liberated yogi is never reunited with
his body, any more than pollen is ever rejoined with its
parent
stalk; although the bodily properties of the living
liberated
yogi, ever remain the same as those of worldy[** worldly]
persons.
(Freedom
consists in the minds and soul, and not in the bonded
body).
33. The bodies of both are of course equally perceptible
by
all, but not the minds which are hidden in them; the
liberated
soul cannot be seen by others; but the incarcerate spirit
is
known to every body, by its addictedness to the discharge
of
its bounded duties.
34. Self-liberation is as well perceptible to oneself, as
his
perception of the sweetness of honey and the taste of
other
things, are well known to himself; and one is well
acquainted
with his liberation and bondage, from his consciousness of
pleasure
and pain from the one or other.
35. It is thus by one's inward perception of his
liberation,
that he is called the liberate; and it is also the inward
coolness
of his soul, as well as the indifference of his mind,
that constitute
his liberation even in his life time.
36. Neither the bondage, or liberation of the soul, nor
the
pleasure or painfulness of one's mind can be any how
known to
another; whether you divide the body into pieces or place
it
upon a royal throne. (Though the features of the face,
are
said to be indicators of the inward mind).
37. Whether laughing or crying, the liberated soul feels
no
pleasure or pain therein; because it is situated in both
states
in the unalterable spirit of god.
38. The minds of liberated persons, are settled in the
divine
spirit and no where else, even when they are in the act
of
of receiving or doing any thing with their bodies: But
the
learned men of the different schools, are seen to be
quite other-*[**=print,
last word missing in scan]
-----File: 120.png---------------------------------------------------------
*wise from their unacquaintance with liberation; (and
being
moved by the circumstances of life).
39. The bodies of liberated persons, are not affected by
external
events, and though such a one may appear to be weeping,
yet he never weeps in grief; nor does he die, with the
death of his mortal body.
40. The great man that is liberated in his life time,
does
not smile though he has a smiling face; nor is he
affected by
nor angry at any thing, though he seems to be moved by
affections
and anger. (i. e. His feelings are never lasting).
41. Undeluded he sees the delusions of the world, and
unseen
by any he sees the failings of others; and all pleasure
and pain seem as ideal unto him.
42. Every thing is as nil to the liberate, as flowers
growing
in the garden of the sky; and the existence of the world
is non-existence unto him, who sees the unity alone in
all existence.
(The One being all and all being one; all others are
lost in the only One).
43. The words pleasure and pain, are as aerial flowers to
him, who are indifferent to them, who have become
victorious
over their feelings, by their liberation from all
sensations in
their life time.
44. They that have known the truth, are unaltered in
their
natures; as the mouths of Brahmá, are unflinching in the
recital of Vedas. (?)
45. And as Siva ripped the upper head of Brahmá, as a
bud of lotus, with the nail of his hand; and the god
neither
resented it, nor grew another head instead, which he was
well
able to do: so the meek yogi remains unresentful at any
harm
done to him.
46. Of what use is the upward or sky-looking face to him,
whose inner or intellectual eye shows him the voidness of
all
things around; hence the possession of the external organ
of
sight, is useless to him, who sees everything within
himself.
47. Every one gets as it is allotted to him by his fate,
in
retribution of his past actions; and his fatality (of
retributive
justice), does not betide mortals only; but binds the god
Siva
-----File: 121.png---------------------------------------------------------
also to the sweet embaces[** embraces] of GaurÃ, as well
as to his
melancholy
contemplation for ever; and so also doth the milky ocean,
bear the ambrosial moon in his ample bosom. (An
irrevocable
binds even jove[**Jove] himself, as Hara to his
nakedness, and Hari to
hid serpent bed).
48. Good minded men are seldom seen to abandon their
passions, though they are capable of doing so in their
life time;
but they become quite dispassionate upon their death,
when
the five elemental principles of their bodies, are burnt
away
upon the funeral pile. (All lie level with the dust in
their silent
graves).
49. But the living liberated man, gains nothing by his
doing anything, nor loses aught by his doing of naught;
nor
has he any concern with any person, nor interest whatever
with
anything here on earth.
50. What avails one's passionateness or dispassionateness
in
this world; since what is fated in this life, cannot be
averted
by any means.
51. The god Hari, who is liberated in his life, does not
yet
cease from his work of slaying the Asurus[** Asuras], or
to have them
slain
by the hands of Indra &c[**.]; he becomes incarnate,
to die himself
or by hands of demons; and is repeatedly born and grown
up, to be extinct at last. (Such is the general doom of
all).
52. No one can give up his alternate activity and rest at
once, nor is there any good to be reaped by his
attachment to
the one, or relinquishment of the other.
53. Therefore let a man remain in whatever state he may
be, without having any desire of his own; because the god
Hari is without any desire in himself, being the form of
pure
Intellect or Intelligence only. (Desire subsists in the
mind,
and not in the intellectual soul).
54. The changing time changes and moves the steady soul,
like a ball on every side; as it turns about the fixed
sun round
the world in appearance; (and not in reality).
55. The lord of the day, is not able to restrain his
body,
from its apparent course; though he is seated in his
nirvána
as he is, without any desire of changing his place.
-----File:
122.png---------------------------------------------------------
56. The moon also appears to be waning under her wasting
desease[**disease], though she remains ever the same in
all kalpa ages of
the world; so the soul of the liberated person continues
the
same, though his body is subject to decay by age[**.]
57. The fire too is ever free and liberated in itself,
because
nothing can extinguish its latent heat at any time; and
though
it was suppressed by the sacrificeal[**sacrificial]
butter of marutta, and the
seminal liquid of Siva for a while, yet it revived again
as it was
before. (Light and heat are coeternal elements).
58. Vrihaspati[**Brihaspati] and Sukra the preceptors of
the gods and
demigods, were liberated in their life time, and with all
their
ambitious views of predominence[**predominance], they
[**[acted]**see
62] as dull and miserable
persons.
59. The sagely prince Janaka is perfectly liberated in
his
mind, and yet he is not loathe to rule over his
princedom, and
to quell his enemies in battle. (Liberation consists in
the
mind, and not in cessation from action).
60. The great kings Nala, Mandháta, Sagara, DilÃpa,
Nahusa and others, were all liberate in their lives; and
yet
they reigned and ruled over their realms, with all the
vigilance
of sovereigns.
61. A man acting either wisely or foolishly in life, is
neither
bound to or liberated in this world; but it is his ardent
desire
of or apathy to worldiness[**worldliness], that constitutes
his bondage to
or
liberation from it.
62. The demoniac princes Vali, Namuchi, Vritra, Andhaka,
Mura and others, lived quite liberate in their lives;
though
they acted as unwisely, as if they were elated by their
ambition
and passions.
63. Therefore the existence or disappearance of the
passions,
in the conduct of any body, makes no difference in his
spiritual
character; but it is the pure vacancy of the human soul
and
mind, that constitutes his liberation in this world[**.]
64. Being possest of the knowledge of god as pure vacuum,
the living liberated person is assimilated to the
likeness of
vacuity itself; and is freed from the duality of thinking
himself
otherwise than the divine spirit. (The sense of self
per-*
-----File: 123.png---------------------------------------------------------
*sonality, is lost in the knowledge of the universality
of the
divine soul).
65. He is conscious of the fallacy of phenomenal
appearances,
which he knows to be no more than as the variegated
rainbow
reflected in empty air, (by the ineffable light of the
glory of
god).
66. As the various colours are seen to shine in the
rainbow,
in the field of empty air; so these myriads of brilliant
worldly
bodies, are but vacuous particles appearing in infinite
space,
(The great worlds are as minute atoms in the sight of
great
god).
67. This world is an unreality, appearing as a reality in
view; it is unborn and increate, and yet it is
irresistibly conspicuous
to our sight, like the appearance of the sky in the
empty firmament.
68. It is without its beginning or end, and yet appearing
to have both of these; it is a mere void, and seeming as
a real
substantiality; it is increate, and yet thought to be a
created[**replaced
hyphen with space]
something; it is indestructible, though thought to be
subject
to destruction.
69. Its creation and destruction are phenomena occurring
in the vacuous essence of God, as the structure of a
wooden post
and statue, takes place in the substance of the wood.
(Here
the Divine essence is considered as the material cause of
the
world, and the one being void the other is considered
equally
void also).
70. The mind being freed from its imagination, and
drowned
in deep meditation (samádhi), as in the state of a
sleepless
sleeper; it comes to the sight of an even entellectual[**intellectual]
vacuity,
engrossing the sights of all the worlds, as if absorbed
in it.
71. As a man passing from one place to another, is
unmindful
of the intermidiate[**intermediate] scenes; so the
attention being directed
solely to the sight of the intellectual void, the thought
of all
the world and other existences is wholly lost in the
same. (Such
sight of the single point in view is called the sakhá
chandra
darsana. Nyáya).
72. In this state of intense meditation, the thought of a
-----File:
124.png---------------------------------------------------------
duality is lost in that of the unity; and this idea of
oneness
disappears in that of a vast void, which terminates to a
state
of conscious bliss; (which is the summum bonum of yoga
philosophy).
73. In this state of insouciance, the duality of the
world is
lost in the nullity of vacuity; the knowledge of self
personality
is dwindled to spirituality, and all futurity presents
itself
clearly to the view of the clairvoyance of the enrapt
yogi.
(This forms the purnata or perfectibility of yoga
practice).
74. The perfect yogi remains with his mind, as clear as
the
vacuous sky, enveloping the phenomanals[**phenomenals] in
its ample
sphere;
he sits silent and as still and cold as a stone; he views
the
world in himself, and remains quiet in rapturous
amazement at
the view.
-----File:
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CHAPTER CXXVI.
RESUSCITATION AND CONDUCT OF THE VIPASCHITAS.
Argument:--Release of the Dead from the error of the
world, their
wonderings[**wanderings (see v. 2)] and fancies of
themselves.
Rama[**Ráma] said:--Now tell me sir, what the Vipaschitas
did,
being cast in the seas, islands and forests, in the
different
parts of the earth.
2. Vasistha[**Vasishtha] replied:--Hear now, Ráma, of the
Vipaschitas,
in all their wanderings amidst the forests of tála and
tamála
trees, upon the hills and in the islands of different
sides.
3. One of the Vipaschitas, that was roving about the
westerly
ridge of a mountain in Kraunchadwipa, was crushed to
death by the tusk of an elephant, as it tears a lotus in
the lake.
4. Another of these was smashed in his contest with a
Ráksasa, who bore his mangled body aloft in air, and then
cast
it amidst the marine fire, where it was burnt to ashes.
5. The third was taken up by a Vidyádhara, to the region
of the celestials; where he was reduced to ashes by curse
of
the god Indra, who was offended at the prince's want of
respect
towards him.
6. The fourth that went to the farthest edge of a mountain
in the Kusadwipa, was caught by a shark on the sea shore,
which tore his body to eight pieces.
7. In this manner did all these four lose their lives on
all
sides, and they all fell as sorrowfully as the regents of
the four
quarters, at the last dissolution of the world on the
doomsday.
8. After they were reduced to the state of vacuity amidst
the vast vacuum, their vacuous and self-conscious souls,
were
led by the reminiscence of their former states to behold
the
earth, (to which they had been so much attached).
9. They saw the seven continents with their belts of the
seven oceans, and also the cities and towns with which
they
were decorated every where.
-----File:
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10. They beheld the sky above, with the orbs of the sun
and moon forming the pupils of its eyes; and also the
clusters
of stars, that were hanging as chains of pearls about its
neck,
and the flaky clouds that formed its folded vest.
11. They saw with their intellectual eye, the stupendous
bodies that rose out of chaos at the revolutions of past
kalpa
cycles, and filled the amplitude of the sky and all sides
of the
horizon with the gigantic forms. (These were the big
bodies
of the many unitarian saivas that appeared at the begining[**beginning]
of
repeated creations).
12. Being possest of their consciousness in their
spiritual
forms, they descended to observe the manners of elemental
bodies that were exposed before them.
13. All the four Vipaschitas were actuated by their
previous
impressions, to the inquiry into the measure and extent
of
the ignorance, which led people to the belief of the body
as
soul itself, in want of their knowledge of the spiritual
soul: (as
it is the case with gross materialists).
14. They roved from one continent to another, to witness
in what part of this ideal globe of the earth was this
ignorance
(avidyá) most firmly seated, so as to give it the
appearance of a
visible substance.
15. Then passing over the seven continents and oceans,
the
western Vipaschit, happened to meet with the God Hari
standing
on a parcel of firm land.
16. Receiving then the incomparable knowledge of divine
truth from him, he remained in his samádhi meditation at
that spot for full five years.
17. Finding afterwards his soul to be full with divine
presence,
he relinquished even his spiritul[**spiritual] body, he
fled like his
vital breath, to the transcendent vacuum of final
extinction
nirvána.
18. The eastern Vipaschit was translated to the region of
moon (by his adoration of that luminary), and was seated
beside
that full bright orb (for his great purity and piety).
But
the prince, though placed in the exalted sphere of the
moon,
-----File:
127.png---------------------------------------------------------
continued ever afterwards to lament for the loss of his
former
body. (So heavenly souls are said to long for their
bodies).
19. The southern prince being forgetful of his spiritual
nature, thinks himself to be reigning in the
salmalidwipa[**S-], and
employed in the investigation of external and sensible
objects.
20. The nothern[**northern] one dwelling amidst the
limpid waters of
the seventh ocean, thought himself to be devoured by a
shark,
which retained him in his belly for the space of a
thousand and
one years.
21. There he fed upon the bowels of the shark, which
killed the animal in a short time; and then he came out
of
its belly, as if it gave birth to a young shark.
22. Then he passed the frigid ocean of snows and over its
icy tracts, stretching to eighty thousand yojanas (or leagues)
in dimension.
23. He next arrived [**[at]] a spot of solid gold, which
was the
haunt of gods, and stretched to ten thousand
yoganas[**yojanas], and here
he met with his end.
24. In this land the prince Vipaschit attained the state
of
a God head, in the same manner as a piece of wood is
turned
to fire in a burning furnace.
25. Being one of the principal Gods, he went to the
Lokáloka
or polar mountain, which sourrounded[**surrounded] the
globe of the
earth, as an aqueduct begirds the base of a tree.
26. It rises to the height of fifty thousand yojanas, and
has
the inhabited earth on one side of it which faces the
sunlight,
and eternal darkness reigning on the other.
27. He ascended to the top of the Polar mount, which
pierced the starry sphere; and as he was seated upon it,
he was
beheld in the light of a star by the beholders below.
28. Beyond that spot and afar from this highest mountain,
lay the deep and dark abyss of infinite void.
29. Here was the end of the globular form of this earth,
and
beyond it was the vacuity of the sky, of fathomless
depth, and
full of impervious darkness.
30. There reigns a darkness of the hue of a swarm of
black
-----File:
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bees, and as the shade of the black tamála trees; there
is neither
the stable earth nor any moving body under the extended
sky; this great void is devoid of spport[**support], nor
does it support
anything whatever at any time. (This is chaos).
-----File: 129.png---------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER CXXVII.
COSMOLOGY OF THE UNIVERSE.
Argument:--Account of the Earth and the starry frame
below the endless
Vacuum, which envelope the Universe.
Ráma said:--Please, tell me sir, how this globe of the
earth is situated, how and where the polar mountain
stands upon it, and do the stars revolve about the same.
2. Vasishtha replied:--As boys build their fancied
castles
in empty air, so is this world the creation of the
imagination of
the mind of Brahmá, and no more than this.
3. As the dimsighted man sees the shadow of the moon, and
other false sights before his eyes, so the creative
Power-[**--]Brahmá
sees in the beginning, the phantoms of the phenomenal
world
in the vacuity of its Intellect: (like a shadow of the
prototype
in the Divine mind).
4. As an imaginary city is situated in the mind, and is
invisible
to the eye; so the notion of the world is posited in the
intellect, and not exhibited in actuality.
5. Whenever there is the reflexion of anything whatever
in
the mind, and arising spontaneously of its own nature
(from
previous reminiscence); the same presents itself even
then and
in that state before the sight, (as in a dream).
6. As the dimsighted eye, sees false sights in the sky;
so
the deluded mind, sees the earth and the orbs of heaven
(i. e.
the heavenly bodies).
7. As the current water flows on the surface of rivers,
and
there resides the latent fire underneath; so the notions
of
things presenting themselves as dreams of the mind, are
manifested
as real ones before the sight.
8.[**=print] Hence as thoughts and notions of things,
occur and subside
continually in the mind; so the earth and heavenly
bodies,
appear incessantly to revolve in their spheres; (and the
stars to
rise and set in endless succession).
-----File: 130.png---------------------------------------------------------
9. The world is entirely
inexistent[**non-existent?--P2:inexistent
OK/SOED], to dull and inanimate
beings; it is visible to those that have the visual
organs but
utterly invisible to the blind, and altogether unknown to
them
that are born as such. It is imperceptible to the
insensible,
and perceptible only in the same manner as it is
presented in
the mind. So it is in the power of the mind alone, to
represent
it in some form or other to one's self.
10. It is thus according to the mental conception (of
some
astronomers), that the bodies of stars, are considered to
be as
large as the earth; and the unreal world (of
spiritualist), is believed
as a real entity (by the materialist).
11. The world has both light and darkness, owing to the
presence or absence of the sun; beyond which there is the
great abyss of vacuity, which is a vast expanse of
darkness, except
where there is a glimpse of Zodiacal light.
12. The polar circle is called the polar mountain, from
the
protuberance of the poles at both ends; it is termed also
the
Lokáloka or having a light and another dark side[**space
added], owing to
the
course of the sun towards or away from it. Its distance
from
the starry circle, derives it also of Zodiacal light.
13. Beyond the polar circle, and afar from the sphere of
the
sky, there is the sphere of the starry frame, which
revolves
around them at a great distance on all the ten sides.
14. This starry (zodiacal) belt, girds the firmament up
and
down, from the heavens above to the infernal regions
below, in
the vast vacuity of space; and extends to all sides.
15. The starry sphere (or belt of the zodiac), turns
round
the polar circle of the earth, and its nether regions, as
it appears
to our imagination, and not otherwise (as fixed and
motionless).
16. The sphere of zodiacal stars, is twice as distant
from the
poles, as those are distant from the middle of the earth;
in the
same manner as the covering crust of a ripe walnut is
aloof
from the sheath of its seeds.
17. Thus the starry belt is settled at double the
distance
from the poles, as the polar circle is situated from the
equator;
-----File:
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and it turns all about the ten sides, as a bel fruit
whirls in the
sky.
18. The aspect of the world is according to the modality,
in
which it is situated in the imagination of Brahmá, and as
it is
reflected from its archetype in the Divine mind (or its
consciousness
of it).
19. There is another sphere of the heavens, which is afar
from the starry frame, and twice in its extent than that;
this
is lighted by the zodiacal light and beyond it
their[**there] reigns a
thick darkness.
20. At the end of this sphere, there is the great circle
of the
universe; having one half of it stretching above and one
below,
and containing the sky in the midst of them. (This is
called
the Brahmánda kharpara, or the mundane sphere).
21. It extends to millons[**millions] of
joyanas[**yojanas], and is
compact with
all its contents; it is a mere work of imagination, and
formed
of vacuity in the immensity of vacuum (which is the mind
of
god).
22. The sphere of light turns on every side, of the great
circle of vacuity, with all the lightsome bodies of the
sun,
moon and stars in its circumstance: there is no upside
nor
downward in it, but are all the same herein.
23. There is no actual ascending, descending nor
standing,
of any planetary body therein; they are mere
manifestations
of the intellect, which exhibits these variations in the
workings
of the mind.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to Brahmasri Sreemaan Vihari Lala Mitra ji for the
collection)
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