The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki
The only complete English translation is
by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891).
CHAPTER X.—Silent and Solitary Reflections of Janaka.
Argument. Janaka though employed in Ritual
service, continues
firm in his meditation, and comes to the
conclusion of his
immortality.
Vasishtha related:—While Janaka was thus
musing in his mind, there
entered the chamberlain before him, in the
manner of Aruna standing
before the chariot of the sun.
2. The Chamberlain said:—O sire! thy realm is
safe under thy protecting
arms; now rise to attend to the daily rites,
as it becomes your majesty.
3. There the maidservants are waiting with
their water pots, filled with
water perfumed with flowers, camphor and
saffron for your bathing, as
the nymphs of the rivers, have presented
themselves in person before
you.
4. The temples are decorated with lotuses and
other flowers, with the
bees fluttering upon them; and hung over with
fine muslin, as white as
the fibers of lotus stalks.
6. The altars are filled with heaps of
flowers, aromatic drugs and rice;
and adorned with every decoration in the
princely style.
7. The Brāhmans are waiting there for your
majesty's presence, after
making their sacred ablution and
purifications, and offering their
prayers for the remission of sins; and are
expecting to get their worthy
gifts from thee.
8. The hand-maids are attending to their
duties, graced with flappers
(chāmaras) in their hands; and the feasting
ground is cleansed with
sandal paste and water.
9. Rise therefore from thy seat, and be it
well with thee to perform the
prescribed duties; because it does not become
the best of men, to be
belated in the discharge of their duties.
10. Though thus besought by the head
chamberlain, yet the king remained
in his meditative mood, thinking on the
wonderful phenomena of nature.
11. This royalty and these duties of mine,
said he, are for a very short
time; I do not require these things that are
so transitory in their
nature.
12. I must leave these things, that are at
best but waters of the
mirage; and remain close to myself in my
lonesome seclusion, like a calm
and solitary lake or sea.
13. These pleasures of the world, that are
displayed around us, are
entirely useless to me; I will leave them
with promptness on my part,
and remain in my happy retirement.
14. Abandon, O my heart! thy shrewdness in
pursuing after the objects of
thy desire; in order to avoid the snares of
disease and death (which
have been set on thy way).
15. In whatever state or condition of life,
the heart is set to hanker
for its delight; it is sure to meet with some
difficulty, distress or
disappointment coming out of the same.
16. Whether your heart is engaged in, or
disengaged from the objects of
sense, you will never find any one of them,
either in act or thought,
conducing to the true happiness of your soul.
17. Forsake therefore the thoughts of the
vile pleasure of your senses,
and betake yourself to those thoughts, which
are fraught with the true
happiness of the soul.
18. Thinking in this manner, Janaka remained
in mute silence, and his
restless mind became as still, as it made him
sit down like a picture in
a painting or as a statue.
19. The chamberlain uttered not a word any
more, but stood silent in
mute respect through fear of his master, from
his knowledge of the
dispositions of kings.
20. Janaka in his state of silent meditation,
reflected again on the
vanity of human life, with cool calmness of
his mind, and said:—
21. Now must I be diligent to find out the
best and most precious
treasure in the world, and know what is that
imperishable thing, to
which I shall bind my soul as its surest
anchor.
22. What is the good of my acts or my
cessation from them, since nothing
is produced of anything, which is not
perishable in its nature. (Thence
the product of acts is perishing, and its
want is a lasting good).
23. It matters not whether the body is active
or inactive, since all its
actions end in utter inaction at last as all
force is reduced to rest.
It is the pure intellect within me that is
always the same (i.e. ever
active and undecaying), and which loses
nothing from the loss of the
body or by want of bodily actions. (The body
is a dead mass without the
active principle of the mind).
24. I do not wish to have what I have not,
nor dare leave what I have
already got; I am content with myself; so let
me have what is mine and
what I have. (The Yogis like Stoics, were
fatalists and content with
their lot).
25. I get no real good by my acts here, nor
lose anything by refraining
from them. What I get by my acts or want of
action, is all Nil and
Null of Vanity or Vanities, and nothing to my purpose or
liking.
26. Whether I am doing or not doing, and
whether my acts are proper or
improper; I have nothing to desire here, nor
anything desirable that I
have to expect from them. (Hence no exertion
will bring on the desired
object, unless it is given by our lot).
27. I have got what was due to my past
actions, and this body is the
result of my former acts. It may be in its
motion and action, or it may
be still and fade away, which is the same
thing to me.
28. The mind being set at ease by want of its
action or passion, the
actions of the body and its members, are
alike in their effects to those
of not doing them. (Involuntary actions done
without the will are of no
account).
29. The acts of men are reckoned as no acts
of theirs, which happen to
take place as the results of their destiny or
previous actions. (The
action or passion relates to the mind only,
but the doing of destiny
being involuntary, such action of men is
accounted as no action of
theirs).
30. The impression which the inward soul
bears of its past actions and
passions, the same gives its colour to the
nature and character of the
actions of men afterwards. Now that my soul
has obtained its
imperishable state of spirituality, I am
freed from the mutabilities of
the transmigrations of my body and mind.
Commentary:—Janaka arrives after all his
previous reasonings and
deductions, to the conclusion of the
certainty of his being an
intellectual and spiritual being, endowed
with an immortal soul, and
entitled to everlasting life, after the
destruction of the frail body
and the changeful mind with it.
CHAPTER XI—Subjection of the Mind.
Argument. Janaka's Discharge of his Daily
Rites, and Admonition
to his Mind.
Vasishtha related:—Having thought so, Janaka
rose up for performance of
his daily rites as usual, and without the
sense of his agency in them.
He did his duty in the same manner as the sun
rises every day to give
the morn, without his consciousness of it.
2. He discharged his duties as they presented
themselves to him, without
any concern or expectation of their rewards.
He did them awaking as if
it were in his sleep. Gloss:—He did his acts
by rote, but wot not what
he did in his insensibility of them; and such
acts of insensibility are
free from culpability or retribution.
3. Having discharged his duties of the day
and honoured the gods and the
priests, he passed the night absorbed in his
meditations.
4. His mind being set at ease, and his roving
thoughts repressed from
their objects, he thus communed with his mind
at the dead of night, and
said:—
5. O my mind that art roving all about with
the revolving world, know
that such restlessness of thine, is not
agreeable to peace of the soul;
therefore rest thou in quiet from thy
wanderings abroad.
6. It is thy business to imagine many things
at thy pleasure, and as
thou thinkest thou hast a world of thoughts
present before thee every
moment. (For all things are but creations of
the imaginative mind).
7. Thou shootest forth in innumerable woes by
the desire of endless
enjoyments, as a tree shoots out into a
hundred branches, by its being
watered at the roots.
8. Now as our births and lives and worldly
affairs, are all productions
of our wistful thoughts, I pray thee
therefore, O my mind! to rest in
quiet by abandonment of thy earthly desires.
9. O my friendly mind! weigh well this
transient world in thy thoughts,
and depend upon it, shouldst thou find aught
of substantiality in it.
10. Forsake thy fond reliance on these
visible phenomena; leave these
things, and rove about at thy free will
without caring for any thing.
11. Whether this unreal scene, may appear to
or disappear from thy
sight, thou shouldst not suffer thyself to be
affected by it in either
case.
12. Thou canst have no concern with the
visible objects (phenomenal
world); for what concern can one have with
any earthly thing which is
inexistent of itself as an unsubstantial
shadow?
13. The world is an unreality like thyself,
hence there can be no true
relation between two unrealities. It is but a
logomachy to maintain the
relation of two negatives to one another.
14. Granting, thou art a reality and the
world is unreal, still there
can be no agreement between you, as there is
none between the living and
the dead, and between the positive and
negative ideas.
15. Should the mind and the world be both of
them realities and
co-existent for ever, then there can be no
reason for the joy or sorrow
of the one at the gain or loss of the other.
16. Now therefore avoid the great malady of
worldliness, and enjoy the
silent joy in thyself, like one sitting in
the undisturbed depth of the
Ocean, with the rolling tide and waves above
his head.
17. Do not consume like a puppet in
pyrotechnics with the fiery remorse
of worldliness, nor be burnt down to the
darkness of despair in this
gloomy scene of the world.
18. O wicked mind! there is nothing here so
good and great, whereby thou
mayest attain thy high perfection, except by
the forsaking of all
frivolities and dependance on thy entire
resignation to the unchangeable
One.
CHAPTER XII.—On the Greatness of Intelligence.
Argument. The Living Liberation of Janaka,
and the preeminence
of reason and intelligence.
Vasishtha continued:—Janaka having
expostulated in his manner with his
mind, attended to the affairs of the state
without shrinking from them
by his mental abstraction.
2. He was however not gladdened by the
gladsome tasks and tidings, but
was indifferent to them as in his slumber of
fixed-mindedness in his
maker.
3. Hence forward, he was not intently
employed in his duties, nor
forsook them altogether; but attended
unconcernedly to the business
which presented itself to him.
4. His constant habit of reasoning, enabled
him to understand the
eternal verity; and preserved his intellect
from blunders, as the sky is
untouched by the flying dust.
5. By his cultivation of reasoning, his mind
was enlightened and fraught
with all knowledge.
6. Unaccustomed to duality, his mind had
learnt to know the sole unity
only; and his intelligent soul shone within
him, as the full bright sun
in the sky. (He felt a flood of light in
himself, as the believer finds
in his inmost soul. Gloss).
7. He became acquainted with the Soul, that
is inherent in all bodies,
and beheld all things abiding in the
omnipotence of the Intellect, and
identic with the infinite.
8. He was never too joyous nor exceedingly
sorrowful, but preserved his
equanimity amidst the conflicts of his soul
and sensible objects
(between spirituality and materiality).
9. The venerable Janaka, became liberated in
his living state since that
time; and is since renowned as a veteran
theosophist among mankind.
10. He continues thence forward to reign over
the land of the Videha
people, without being subject to the feelings
of joy or sorrow for a
moment.
11. Knowing the causes of good and evil, he
is neither elated nor
dejected at any favourable or unfavourable
circumstances of his life,
nor does he feel glad or sad at the good or
bad accident relating the
state.
12. He did his duties without setting his
mind to them, which was wholly
employed in his intellectual speculations.
13. Remaining thus in his hypnotic state of
sound sleep (abstraction),
his thoughts are quite abstracted from all
objects about him.
14. He is unmindful of the past, and heedless
about the future; and
enjoys the present moment only, with a
gladsome heart and cheerful mind.
15. He obtained the obtainable what is worthy
to be obtained, by his own
ratiocination (or self-reflection), and not O
lotus-eyed Rāma! by any
other desire (i.e. by abandoning all his worldly desires).
16. Therefore we should reason (or reflect)
in our minds, so long as we
succeed to arrive at the conclusion of the
subject.
17. The presence of the Holy Light, is not to
be had either by the
lectures of a preceptor, or the teaching of
the sāstras; it is not the
result of meritorious acts, nor of the
company of the holy men; but the
result of your own intellection.
18. A good understanding assisted by the
power of its accompanying
percipience (prajanā), leads to the knowledge
of that highest state,
which the acts of your piety cannot do.
19. He who has set before his sight the keen
light of the lamp of his
percipience, is enabled to see both the past
and future in his presence;
and no shadow of ignorance intercepts his
vision.
20. It is by means of his percipience, that
one is enabled to cross over
the sea of dangers; as a passenger goes
across a river in a boat or
raft.
21. The man that is devoid of his prescience,
is overtaken even by small
mishaps; as a light straw is blown away by
the slightest breeze.
22. One who is endued with foresight, passes
over the eventful ocean of
the world, without the assistance of friends
and guidance of the
sāstras.
23. The man with foreknowledge, sees the
result of his actions
beforehand; but one without his prevision, is
at a loss to judge of the
imminent events.
24. Good company and learning, strengthen the
understanding; as the
watering of a plant, tends towards its growth
and fructification.
25. The infant understanding like a tender
shoot, takes a deep root in
time; and having grown up like a tree, bears
the sweet fruit in its
season; like the cooling moonbeams at night.
26. Whatever exertions are made by men for
the acquisition of external
properties, the same should be more properly
devoted for the improvement
of their understandings at first. (I.e. intellectual improvement
should precede that of outward
circumstances).
27. Dullness of the understanding, which is
the source of all evils, and
the storehouse of misery, and the root of the
arbour of worldliness,
must be destroyed first of all.
28. Great minded men get in their
understandings, whatever good they may
expect to find in this earth, in heaven above
and in the nether world.
(The mind is the seat of all treasures).
29. It is by means of one's good
understanding only, that he can get
over the ocean of the world; and not by his
charities, pilgrimages or
religious austerities,
30. The divine blessing attending on mortal
men on earth, is the sweet
fruit of the tree of knowledge. (Here is a
contrast with the mortal
taste of the forbidden fruit of knowledge).
31. Wisdom nips with its sharp nails, the
heads of the elephantine
(gigantic) bonds of giddiness, with as much
ease as the lion kills the
deer, or as if it were destroying a strong
lion by a weak jackal. (Weak
wisdom having the power of destroying the
wild worldliness).
32. An ordinary man is often seen to become
the ruler of men, by means
of his greater knowledge than others; and the
wise and discreet are
entitled to glory in both worlds.
33. Reason overcomes all its adversaries,
dealing in diverse forms of
sophistry; as a disciplined warrior,
overpowers on a host of untrained
savage people.
34. Reasoning is as the philosopher's stone,
which converts the base
metals to gold; and is hidden in the casket
of rational souls as the
best treasure. It yields the desired fruits
of men like the kalpa plant
of Paradise
at a thought.
35. The right reasoner gets across the wide
ocean of the world, by means
of his reasoning, while the unreasonable
rabble are born away by its
waves; as the skillful boat-man cuts across
the current, while the
unskilled waterman is tossed about by the
waves.
36. A well directed understanding leads to
the success of an
undertaking, but the misguided intellect goes
to the rack and ruin; the
one sails to the shore before the wind; but
the other is tossed in his
wrecked vessel over the wide gulph of the
world.
37. The keen sighted and unbiassed wise man,
is never over-come by the
evils arising from his desires: as the arrows
of the adversary, do not
pierce the body of a soldier in armour.
38. The sapience of a man, gives him an
insight into every thing in the
world and, the all knowing man, is neither
subjected to dangers nor
reverses of his fortune.
39. The dark and wide-stretching cloud of
blind egoism, which
overshadows the sun-light of the Supreme
Spirit within us, is driven
away by the breath of intelligence.
40. The improvement of the understanding, is
the first requisite towards
the knowledge of the Supreme soul; as the
cultivation of the ground, is
of primary importance to the farmer, desirous
of reaping a rich harvest.
CHAPTER XIII.—Government of the Mind.
Argument. Reasons and Rules of Restraining
the Mind from the
instance of Janaka's insouciance.
Vasishtha continued:—Now Rāma! Reflect on the
Supreme spirit, in thy
own spirit like Janaka; and know the object
of the meditation of the
wise, without any difficulty or failing.
2. The wise men of the latter genus rājasa-sātvika or active goodness,
obtain their desired objects by themselves
(of their own institution),
like Janaka and other holy sages.
3. As long as you continue to restrain your
organs of sense from their
objects, so long will the divine soul grace
your own inward soul with
its presence.
4. The Lord God and Supreme soul, being thus
gracious to thee; thou
shalt see a halo of light cast over all
things, and dispersing all thy
woes from thy sight.
5. The sight of the Supreme spirit, will
remove the plentiful seeds of
bias from thy mind; and it will drive away
the woeful sights of misery,
pouring upon thy view in copious showers.
6. Continue like Janaka in the wilful
discharge of thy duties, and
prosper by placing thy intellectual sight, on
the divine light shining
in thy inward spirit.
7. It was by his inward cogitations, that
Janaka found the
transitoriness of the world; and by placing
his faith in the
unchangeable Spirit, he found its grace in
time.
8. Hence neither the pious acts of men, nor
their riches nor friends,
are of any use to them for their salvation
from the miseries of life,
unless it be by their own endeavor for the
enlightenment of their soul.
9. They who rely their faith in the gods, and
depend upon them for
fulfilment of their desires and future
rewards, are perverted in their
understandings, and cannot be heirs of
immortality.
10. It is by reliance in one's reasoning and
resignation, and by his
spiritual vision of the Supreme spirit, that
he is saved from his misery
in this ocean of the world.
11. The attainment of this blessed knowledge
of intuition, which
removeth our ignorance, is as what they call
thy getting of fruit fallen
from heaven (i.e. a heavenly and accidental fruit).
12. The intelligence which looks into itself
as Janaka's, finds the soul
developing of itself in it, as the lotus-bud
opens of itself in the
morning.
13. The firm conviction of the material
world, melts into nothing under
the light of percipience; as the thick and
tangible ice, dissolves into
fluidity under the heat of the sun.
14. The consciousness that this is I (i.e. one's self-consciousness),
is as the shade of night, and is dispelled at
the rise of the sun of
intellect, when the Omnipresent light appears
vividly to sight.
15. No sooner one loses his
self-consciousness that 'this is himself,'
than the All-pervading Soul opens fully to
his view.
16. As Janaka has abandoned the consciousness
of his personality,
together with his desires also; so do you, O
intelligent Rāma, forsake
them by your acute understanding and of the
mind discernment.
17. After the cloud of egoism is dispersed,
and the sphere is cleared
all around; the divine light appears to shine
in it, as brightly as
another sun.
18. It is the greatest ignorance to think of
one's egoism (or
self-personality); this thought being relaxed
by the sense of our
nothingness, gives room to the manifestation
of holy light in the soul.
19. Neither think of the entity nor
non-entity of thyself or others; but
preserve the tranquillity of thy mind from
both the thoughts of positive
and negative existences; in order to get rid
of thy sense of distinction
between the producer and the produced (i.e. of the cause and effect,
the both of which are identic in Vedānta or
spiritual philosophy).
20. Again your fostering a fondness for
something as good, and a hatred
to others as bad; is but a disease of your
mind for your uneasiness
only. (Since all things are good in their own
kinds, and nothing bad in
its nature, and in the sight of God, who
pronounced all things good).
21. Be not fond of what you think to be
beautiful, nor disgusted at what
appears hateful to you, get rid of these
antagonist feelings, and be
even-minded by fixing it on One, before whom
all things are alike and
equally good (all partial evil is universal
good Pope.)
22. They that view the desirable and the
detestable in the same light,
are neither fond of the one nor averse to the
other.
23. Until the fancy of the desirableness of
one thing and dislike of the
other, is effaced from the mind, it is as
hard to have the good grace of
equanimity, as it is difficult for the
moonlight to pierce through the
cloudy sky.
24. The mind which considers one thing as
some thing ・propos, and
another as nothing to the purpose (the one as
desirable and the other
worthless); is deprived of the blessing of
indifference, as the brier
sākota is despised, not standing with all its fruits and
flowers.
25. Where there is a craving for the
desirable, and an aversion to what
is unseemly, and when there is a cry for gain
and an outcry at one's
loss; it is impossible for even-mindedness,
dispassionateness and
tranquillity of the mind, to abide then and
there in that state.
26. There being only the essence of one
pure—Brahma diffused throughout
the universe, how very improper is it to take
the one as many, and among
them something as good or bad; (when the
Maker of all has made all
things good).
27. Our desires and dislike, are the two apes
abiding on the tree of our
hearts; and while they continue to shake and
swing it with their jogging
and jolting, there can be no rest in it.
28. Freedom from fear and desire, from
exertions and action, together
with sapience and equanimity, are the
inseparable accompaniments of ease
and rest.
29. The qualities of forbearance and fellow
feeling, accompanied with
contentment and good understanding, and
joined with a mild disposition
and gentle speech, are the indispensable
companions of the wise man, who
has got rid of his desires and the feelings
of his liking or dislike.
30. The mind running to meanness, is to be
repressed by restraining the
passions and appetites; as the current of
water running below, is
stopped by its lock gate.
31. Shun the sight of external things, which
are the roots of error and
fallacy; and consider always their internal
properties both when you are
awake and asleep, and also when you are
walking about or sitting down.
32. Avaricious men are caught like greedy
fishes, in the hidden net of
their insatiable desires, and which is woven
with the threads of worldly
cares, and is under the waters of worldly
affairs.
33. Now Rāma! cut the meshes of this net,
with the knife of thy good
understanding; and disperse it in the water,
as a tempest rends the
thick cloud and scatters it about the air.
34. Try O gentle Rāma! to uproot the root of
worldliness, which sprouts
forth in the weeds of vice, with the hatchet
of your perseverance and
the eliminating shovel of your penetration.
35. Employ your mind to hew down the cravings
of your mind, as they use
the axe to cut down a tree, and you will then
rest in quiet as you
arrive at the state of holiness.
36. Having destroyed the former state of your
mind by its present state,
try to forget them both by your heedless mind
in future, and manage
yourself unmindful of the world. (There is a
play of the word mind in
the original).
37. Your utter oblivion of the world, will
prevent the revival of your
mind; and stop the reappearance of ignorance
which is concomitant with
the mind.
38. Whether you are waking or sleeping or in
any other state of your
life; you must remember the nihility of the
world, and resign your
reliance in it.
39. Leave off your selfishness (mamatā or mei tatem), O Rāma! and rely
in the disinterestedness of your soul; lay
hold on what ever offers of
itself to you and without seeking for it all
about.
40. As the Lord God doth every thing, and is
yet aloof from all; so must
thou do all thy acts outwardly, and without
thyself mixing in any.
41. Knowing the knowable, one finds himself
as the increate soul and
Great Lord of all; but being apart from that
soul, he views only the
material world spread before him.
42. He who has the sight of the inner spirit,
is freed from the thoughts
of the external world, and is not subjected
to the joy or grief or
sorrow and other evils of his life.
43. He is called a Yogi who is free from
passions and enmity, and looks
on gold and rubbish in the same light; he is
joined with his Joy in his
Yoga, and disjoined from all worldly desires.
44. He enjoys the fruit of his own acts, and
minds not what he wastes or
gives away; he has the evenness of his mind
in every condition, and is
unaltered by pain or pleasure. (The Sanskrit sukh-dukkha means also
prosperity and adversity, and good and evil
of every kind).
45. He who receives what he gets, and is
employed with whatever offers
of itself to him, without considering the
good or evil that he is to
gain by it, is not plunged into any
difficulty.
46. He who is certain of the truth of the
spiritual essence of the
world, pants not for its physical enjoyments,
but he is even-minded at
all times.
47. The dull mind follows the active
intellect in accomplishing its
objects, as the carnivorous cat or fox
follows the lion in quest of
meat.
48. As the servile band of the lion feeds on
the flesh acquired by his
prowess, so the mind dwells upon the visible
and sensible object, which
it perceives by power of the intellect.
49. Thus the unsubstantial mind, lives upon
the outer world by the help
of the intellect; but as it comes to remember
its origination from the
intellect, it recoils back to its original
state.
50. The mind which is moved and lighted, by
the heat and light of the
lamp of the intellect; becomes extinct
without its physical force, and
grows as motionless as a dead body.
51. The nature of the intellect is known to
exclude the idea of motion
or pulsation from it; and the power which has
vibration in it, is called
intellection or the mind in the sāstras.
52. The breathing (or vibration) of the mind,
like the hissing of a
snake, is called its imagination (kalpana);
but by knowing the intellect
as the Ego, it comes to the true knowledge of
the inward soul.
53. The intellect which is free from thoughts
(chetyas), is the ever
lasting Brahma; but being joined with
thought, it is styled the
imaginative principle or Mind.
54. This power of imagination having assumed
a definite form, is termed
the mind; which with its volition and
options, is situated in the heart
of living beings.
55. With its two distinct powers of
imagination and volition, it is
employed in the acts of discriminating and
choosing the agreeable from
what is disagreeable to it. (I.e. the imagination and volitive
faculties of the mind, supply it with the
power of discrimination and
option, between what is fit or unfit for or
suitable to it).
56. The intellect being seated in the heart
with its thoughts and
volitions, forgets its spiritual nature, and
remains as a dull material
substance (i.e. the passivity of the heart as opposed to the activity
of the mind).
57. The intellect being thus confined in the
hearts of all animals in
this world, continues in utter oblivion of
its nature; until it is
awakened of itself, either by its intuition
or instruction of preceptors
&c.
58. So it is to be wakened by means of
instruction, derived from the
sāstras and preceptors; as also by the
practice of dispassionateness,
and subjection of the organs of sense and
action.
59. When the minds of living beings, are
roused by learning and
self-control; they tend towards the knowledge
of the Great Brahma, or
else they rove at random about the wide
world.
60. We must therefore awaken our minds, which
are rolling in the pit of
worldliness, through the inebriety of the
wine of error, and which are
dormant to divine knowledge.
61. As long as the mind is unawakened, it is
insensible of every thing
(in its true light); and though it perceives
the visibles, yet this
perception of them is as false as the sight
of a city in our fancy.
62. But when the mind is awakened by divine
knowledge, to the sight of
the supreme Being; it presents every thing in
itself, as the inward
fragrance of flowers pervades the outer
petals also. (I.e. the
inward
sight of God, comprehends the view of every
thing in it).
63. Though the intellect has the quality of
knowing every thing,
contained in all the three worlds; yet it has
but a little knowledge of
them from the paucity of its desire of
knowing them. (I.e. though
the
capacity of the intellect is unlimited, yet
its knowledge is
proportionate to its desire of gaining it).
64. The mind without the intellect is a dull
block of stone; but it is
opened by divine light, like the lotus-bud
expanding under the light of
the sun.
65. The imaginative mind is as devoid of
understanding, as a statue made
of marble, is unable to move about by itself.
66. How can the regiments drawn in painting,
wage a war in a mutual
conflict, and how can the moon-beams, make
the medicinal plants emit
their light? (I.e. as it is life that makes the armies fight, so it is
the intellect that actuates the mind to its
operations. And as the
plants shine by night by the sun-beams, which
are deposited in them
during day, so shines the mind by means of
its intellectual light).
67. Who has seen dead bodies besmeared with
blood to run about on the
ground, or witnessed the fragments of stones
in the woods to sing in
musical strains?
68. Where does the stone idol of the sun,
dispel the darkness of the
night; and where does the imaginary forest of
the sky spread its shade
on the ground?
69. Of what good are the efforts of men, who
are as ignorant as blocks
of stones, and are led by their error in many
ways; except it be to
endanger themselves by the mirage of their
minds? (The exertions of the
ignorant are as vain as the labour of a
Sisyphus).
70. It is the imagination that displays the
non-existent as existent in
the soul, as it is the sun-beams, which
exhibit the limpid main in the
mazy sands.
71. It is the moving principle in the body,
which the sophists designate
as the mind; but know it as a mere force of
the winds, like the vital
breath of living beings.
72. Those whose self-consciousness is not
disturbed, by the currents of
their passions and desires; have their
spiritual souls like an
unperturbed stream (of psychic fluid).
73. But when this pure consciousness is
befouled by the false fancies of
this and that, and that this is I and that is
mine; then the soul and
the vital principle, are both taken together
to form a living being.
74. The mind, the living soul and
understanding, are all but fictitious
names of an unreality, according to the
conceptions of false thinkers,
and not of them that know the true spirit.
75. There is no mind nor understanding, no
thinking principle, nor the
body in reality; there is the only reality of
the One universal spirit,
which is ever existent everywhere. (So says
the Sruti:—All else are but
transitory creations of imagination, and so
pass into nothing).
76. It is the soul, which is all this world,
it is time and all its
fluctuations, it is more transparent than the
atmosphere, and it is
clear as it is nothing at all.
77. It is not always apparent, owing to its
transparency; yet it is ever
existent, owing to our consciousness of it.
The spirit is beyond all
things, and is perceived by our inward
perception of it.
78. The mind vanishes into nothing, before our
consciousness of the
Supreme Soul; just as darkness is dispelled
from that place, where the
sunshine is present.
79. When the transparent and self-conscious
soul, raises other figures
of its own will; then the presence of the
soul is forgotten, and hid
under the grosser creations of the mind.
80. The Volitive faculty of the Supreme
Spirit, is denominated the mind;
but it is unmindedness and want of volition
on our part, which produces
our liberation. (I.e. our submission to the Divine Will, sets us free
from all liability, as it is said in the
Common prayer: "Let thy will
(and not mine) be done").
81. Such is the origin of the mind which is
the root of creation; it is
the faculty of the volition of the principle
of our consciousness,
otherwise called the soul. (The mind is the
volitive faculty of the
Spirit, see 80).
82. The intellectual essence being defiled by
its desires, after falling
from its state of indifference; becomes the
principle of production or
producing the desired objects. (This is
called the mind or the creative
power, and is represented as the first male
or the agent of
procreation).
83. The mind becomes extinct, by loss of the
vital power; as the shadow
of a thing disappears, by removal of the
substance. (This passage
establishes the extinction of the mind, with
all its passions, feelings
and thoughts upon the death of a man).
84. The living body perceives in its heart,
the notion of a distant
place which exists in the mind, and this
proves the identity of the
vital breath and the thinking mind. (Again
the communication of the
passions and feelings between the heart and
mind, proves them to be the
same thing). (Hence the word antah-karana or inward sense, is applied
both to the heart as well as mind).
85. It is therefore by repressing the mind,
that the vital breath is
also repressed, to produce longevity and
healthiness. (It is done by the
following methods, viz; by dispassionateness,
suppression of breathing,
by yoga meditation, and by cessation from
bodily labour in the pursuit
of worldly objects).
86. The stone has the capability of mobility,
and the fuel of
inflammability; but the vital breath and
mind, have not their powers of
vibration or thinking (without the force of
the intellect and the
spirit).
87. The breath of life is inert by itself,
and its pulsation is the
effect and composed of the surrounding air;
so the action of the mind,
is owing to the force of the intellect; whose
pellucidity pervades all
nature.
88. It is the union of the intellectual and
vibrating powers, which is
thought to constitute the mind. Its
production is as false, as the
falsity of its knowledge. (All mental
phenomena are erroneous).
89. The mental power is called error and
illusion also, and these in
ignorance of the Supreme Brahma, produce the
knowledge of this poisonous
world (which springs from illusion of the
mind).
90. The powers of the intellect and
vibration, combined with those of
imagination and volition which constitute the
mind, are productive of
all worldly evils, unless they are weakened
and kept under restraint.
91. When the intellect thinks on or has the
perception by the pulsation
caused by the air. The wind of breath gives
pulsation to the intellect,
and causes its power of intellection; and
this intellectual power gives
rise to all the thoughts and desires of the
mind.
92. The percussive intellect which extends
over the undivided sphere of
the universe, is verily the thinking power,
the mind is a false
imagination like the ghost of infants.
93. The intellect is the power of
intellection, which cannot be
intercepted by any thing else, like the mind
any where; as there is no
power to rise in contest against the almighty
Indra. (The Intellect or
chit being the Divine mind).
94. Thus there being no relation between
intellection and the mind, it
is wrong to attribute the mind with the power
of thinking, which is not
related with it.
95. How can this union of the intellect with
its vibration only, be
styled the mind with its multifarious
functions. The commander alone
cannot be called an army without its
component parts of horse, elephants
and others.
96. Hence there is no such thing as a good or
bad mind in any of the
three worlds (when there is no mind at all).
The bias of its existence
will be utterly removed by full knowledge of
spirituality (tatwajnana).
(That there is but one Spirit only).
97. It is in vain and to no purpose, that
they imagine the being of the
mind. It is proved to be an unreality and
having no substantiality of
its own.
98. Therefore, O magnanimous Rāma! never give
rise to false imaginations
of any kind, and particularly that of the
mind which never exists any
where.
99. False phantasies rise as the mirage, from
want of a full knowledge
of things; they spring in the heart which is
as barren as a desert, for
want of the rain of full knowledge.
100. The mind is a dead thing owing to its
want of a form or activity,
and yet it is a wonder as it is idolized in
the circles of common
people.
101. It is a wonder that the mind, having no
soul nor essence, nor a
body nor size or support of its own, should
spread its net over all
ignorant minds.
102. One who falls a victim to his unarmed
and impotent mind, likens a
man who says, he is hurt in his body by the
falling of a lotus-flower
upon it.
103. The man that is undone by his inert,
dumb and blinded mind (that
neither sees nor seizes nor talks to him); is
as one who complains of
his being burnt by the cool full-moon-beams.
104. People are verily killed by an
antagonist, who is present before
them; but it is a wonder that the ignorant
are foiled by the inexistent
mind of their own making.
105. What is the power of that thing, which
is a creation of mere fancy,
and an unreal presentation of ignorance; and
which being sought after,
is nowhere to be found.
106. It is a great wonder, that men should be
overcome by their impotent
minds, dealing in their delusions only.
107. It is ignorance that is ever exposed to
dangers, and the ignorant
are always the victims of error. Know the
unreal world to be the
creation of ignorance and of the ignorant
only.
108. Oh! the misery of miseries, that the
ignorant make of this creation
of their ignorance to themselves, and that
they fabricate a living soul
for their sufferings only. (A separate living
soul jīvātmā, is denied
in Vedānta).
109. I weet this frail world to be a creation
of the false imagination
of the ignorant, and this earth to be as
fragile as to be broken and
borne away by the waves of the ocean.
110. It is like the dark collyrium, which is
broken down by the
surrounding waters or seas, serving as its grinding
mill; and yet men
are maddened with it, as those struck by
moon-beams. (Moonstruck
lunatics).
111. The visible world disappears at the
sight of reason, as a man flies
from the sight of his foe; and the train of
imaginary creations fly
before it, like hosts of demons vanquished by
the gods.
112. Thus is this world, which is a false
creation of fancy, and exists
nowhere except in the idle brains of the
ignorant, lost into nothing at
the sight of reason.
113. He who is not able to govern his mind,
and efface the thoughts of
this false world, arising in the minds of the
ignorant only; is not
worthy of being advised in the abstruse
doctrines of spirituality.
114. Those who are confirmed in their belief
of the visibles, and are
self-sufficient in their knowledge of these;
are unable to grasp the
subtile science of abstract philosophy, and
are therefore unfit to
receive spiritual instruction.
115. These men are insensible of the soft
tunes of the lute who are
accustomed to the loud beatings of drum, and
they are startled at seeing
the face of a sleeping friend (i.e. their hidden soul).
116. They who fly with fear from the loud
songs (preachings) of false
preachers, cannot have the patience to listen
to the silent lesson of
their inward monitor; and they who are
deluded by their own minds, can
hardly be reclaimed by any other.
117. Those who are tempted to taste the gall
of worldly pleasures for
sweet, are so subdued by its effects on their
understandings, that they
lose the power of discerning the truth altogether;
and it is therefore
useless to remonstrate with them.
CHAPTER XIV.—Ascertainment of the Thinking Principle.
Argument. People unworthy of persuasion,
their transmigrations,
and purification of the mind.
Vasishtha said: These multitudes of men, that
are carried away by the
waves of the torrents of the sea of worldly
pursuits; are deaf and dumb
to the admonitions of their spiritual
instructors.
2. They are not fit to derive the benefit of
the spiritual knowledge,
which I have propounded in this yogasāstra by
my rational discourses.
3. They who are born blind and can see
nothing, are not to be presented
with the picture of a garden, portrayed with
blooming blossoms and
beautiful flowers by the intelligent artist.
4. There is no such fool that would present
fragrant odours to one,
whose nostrils are snorting under some nasal
disease (pinasa. Polypus),
nor so great a dolt, that would consult an
ignorant man on spiritual
matters.
5. What lack-wit is there, that would refer a
question on law or
religious subjects, to one of ungoverned
passions and organs of sense,
or whose eyeballs are rolling with the
intoxication of wine.
6. Who asks of the dead the way he should go,
or one in the grave about
the concourse in the city; and what witless
man is there that resorts to
an idiot to clear his doubts.
7. Of what good is it to advise a witling,
whose serpentine mind is
coiling and creeping in the cave of his
heart; and though it lies there
in silence and sightless, is yet ungovernably
wild?
8. Know there is no such a thing as a well
governed mind, for though you
may fling it at a distance from you, yet it
is never lost or
annihilated. (The unsubdued mind recurs to us
in repeated births).
9. The simpleton who does not bear his sway
over his false and delusive
mind, is tormented to death by its venomous
smart, as if stung by a
deadly reptile.
10. The learned know the vital powers, and
the operations of the organs
of action, to depend on the action and force
of the soul; say then, O
Rāma, what is that thing which they call the
mind. (The three functions
of motion, thought and organic action, being
conducted by force of the
vital breath, it is in vain to suppose the
existence of the mind).
11. The vital breath gives the force for
bodily actions, and the soul
produces the power of knowledge; the organs
act by their own force, and
the supreme spirit is the main source of all.
12. All forces are but parts of the
omnipotence of the supreme Spirit;
their different appellations are but inventions
of men.
13. What is it that they call the living
soul, and which has blindfolded
the world; and what they term as the mind, is
really an unreality and
without any power of its own.
14. Rāma! I have seen the continued misery
arising from their false
conception of the unreal mind; and my pity
for them has caused my
incessant sorrow.
15. But why should I sorrow for the ignorant
rabble, who bring their woe
by their own error? The common herd is born
to their misery like beasts
and brutes.
16. The ignorant rabble are born in their
dull material bodies, for
their destruction only. They are born to die
away incessantly, like the
waves of the ocean.
17. What pity shall I take for them, that are
seen every day to perish
under the jaws of death, like numbers of
animals immolated in the
shambles.
18. For whom shall I sorrow, when I see
billions and trillions of gnats
and moths, are destroyed day by day, by gusts
of wind (which is their
element and support).
19. Whom shall I sorrow for, when I observe
on every side the millions
of deer and beasts of chase, that are killed
every day in the hills and
forests, by their hunters and sportsmen.
20. Whom shall I feel for, when I find
innumerable shoals of small
fishes, that are devoured every day in the
waters, by the bigger ones!
21. I see an infinite number of animalcules,
to be eaten up by flies and
fleas; which in their turn, are devoured by
the voracious spiders and
scorpions.
22. The frog feeds on flies, and is in its
turn devoured by snakes. The
birds of prey swallow the snake, and the
weasel preys upon them.
23. The weasel is killed by the cat, which is
killed again by the dog;
the bear destroys the dog, and is at last
destroyed by the tiger.
([Bengali: bhībaja bhībanāhārah]:—One animal
is food to another.)
24. The lion overcomes the tiger, and is
overcome in its turn by the
sarabha (a fabulous beast with eight feet).
The sarabha is overthrown by
its fall on rocky steeps, in its attempt to
jump over the gathering
clouds.
25. The clouds are worsted by tempests, and
these again are obstructed
by the rising rocks and mountains. The
mountains are split by thunder
claps, and the thunderbolts of heaven are
broken by the thundering Sakra
(Jove).
26. This Sakra or Indra is vanquished by
Upendra or Vishnu (his younger
brother), and Vishnu is made to undergo his
incarnations in the shapes
of men and beasts. He is subjected to the
vicissitudes of pain and
pleasure, and to the conditions of disease,
decay and death. (Change is
the order of nature.)
27. Big-bodied beasts are fed upon by the
leaches and fleas that stick
to their bodies to suck their blood; and men
fraught with knowledge and
armed with weapons, are infested by their
bloodsucking bugs and gnats.
28. Thus the whole host of living bodies, are
continually exposed to
feed upon and to be fed by one another, with
remorseless voracity.
29. There is an incessant growth of leaches,
fleas and ants, other small
insects and worms on the one hand; and a
continued dissolution of both
the big and puny bodies in every place on
earth.
30. The womb of the waters, bears the breed
of fishes, whales,
hippopotami and other aquatic animals; and
the bowels of the earth,
produce the multitudes of worms and reptiles
to infinity.
31. The air teems with the brood of birds of
various kinds, and the
woods abound with wild beasts, and lions and
tigers, the fleet deer and
other brutes.
32. There are inborn worms growing in the
intestines, and upon the skin
of animal bodies; and parasitical insects and
animalcules, feeding upon
the bark and leaves of trees.
33. Insects are seen to be born in the crusts
of stones, as frogs,
vajrakītas and others; and many kinds of
worms and insects, are found to
grow in and subsist upon the faeces and
excrements of animals.
34. In this manner an endless number of
living beings, are being born
and perishing for ever and ever; and it is of
no avail to them, whether
kind hearted men are joyous or sorrowful at
their births and deaths.
35. The wise can have no cause for their joy
or grief, in this continued
course of incessant births and deaths of the
living world.
36. Such is the nature of all the different
series of animal beings,
that they incessantly grow to fall off like
the leaves of trees. (These
are known as the ephemerids and the heirs and
poor pensioners of a day).
37. The kind-hearted man, who wishes to
remove the sorrows of the
ignorant by his advice, attempts an
impossibility, as that of shrouding
the all-pervasive sunshine, by means of his
umbrella.
38. It is useless to give advice to the
ignorant, who are no better than
beasts in their understandings; as it is
fruitless to talk to a rock or
block of wood or stone in the wilderness.
39. The dull-headed ignorant, who are no
better than beasts, are dragged
by their wilful minds, like the cattle by
their halters.
40. It would make even the stones to melt
into tears, to see the
ignorant plunged in the slough of their
perverted minds, and employed in
acts and rites for their own ruin. (The ruin
of their souls caused by
ritualistic observances.)
41. Men of ungoverned minds, are always
exposed to dangers and
difficulties; but the expurgated minds of the
wise, are free from the
evils and mishaps of life.
42. Now Rāma, consider well the miseries of
ungoverned minds; and betake
yourself to the knowledge of the knowable
One. (I.e. the One alone
that is worthy of being known).
43. Never entertain in your imagination the
vain bugbear of a mind,
which has no real existence of its own; and
beware of this false belief,
which may betray you like the ideal ghost of
children.
44. As long as you are forgetful of the soul,
you must remain in utter
ignorance; and so long will you continue to
be tortured by the dragon,
residing in the recess of your heart.
45. Now you have known the whole truth, as I
have expounded to you; that
it is your imagination only, that presents
you with the idea of your
mind, of which you must get rid for ever.
46. If you rely in the visibles, you are subject
to the delusion of your
mind; but no sooner, you shun your reliance
in them, than you are
liberated from your illusion of it.
47. The visible world is a combination, of
the three qualities of
satva, rajas and tamas; and it is exposed before you, by your
māyā or illusion only, as a snare is spread for entanglement
of
beasts.
48. Think of the inexistence both of the
subjective self and the
objective world; and remain as firm as a
fixed rock on earth, and behold
the Lord only, in the form of infinite space
in thy heart. (This is
Vasishtha's Vacuism).
49. Shun, Rāma, the false thoughts of thy
self-existence, and that of
the visible world also; and forsake thy
belief in the duality, in order
to settle thyself in the infinite unity.
50. Continue to meditate on the soul, as it
is situated between the
subjective viewer, and the objective view of
this world; and as it is
existent in thy vision, which lies between
the two. (I.e. between
yourself and the visible object, which is
empty space).
51. Forsake the ideas of the subject and
object of your taste, (i.e.
of the taster and tastable); and thinking on
their intermediate state of
gustation or tasting, be one with the soul.
52. Rāma, place yourself in the position of
your thought or power of
thinking, which lieth betwixt the thinker and
thinkables; support your
soul on the supportless soul of all, and
remain steady in your
meditation.
53. Forsake the cares of the world, and be
exempt from the thoughts of
existence and non-existence; meditate on the
universal soul and be
settled with thy soul in that soul.
54. When you have learnt to think on the
thinkable one, by relinquishing
the thought of your own existence; you shall
then arrive to that state
of the unconsciousness, which is free from
misery (or the state of
supreme bliss).
55. Know your thoughts to be your fetters,
and your self-consciousness
as your binding chain; therefore O Rāma!
loosen the lion of your soul,
from the prison house of your mind.
56. By departing from the state of the
Supreme Soul, and falling to the
thoughts of the mind, you will be crowded by
your imaginations, and see
only the objects of your thought all about
you.
57. The Knowledge, that intellection or
thinking power is distinct from
the soul, introduces the existence of the
unhappy mind, which must be
got rid of for the sake of true happiness.
(by knowing them as the one
and same thing).
58. When you become conscious of the Supreme
soul in you, and as
permeated throughout all nature, you will
then find the thinker and his
thinking, the thinkables and their thoughts,
vanish into nothing.
59. The thought that "I have a soul and
a living soul also," brings on
us all the miseries to which we are exposed
to all eternity. (I. e.
consciousness of a personal entity, causes
the woes which personality is
ever liable to).
60. The consciousness that "I am the one
soul, and not a living being or
distinct existences;" (because all
things distinct from the universal
soul are nothing at all); is called the
tranquillity of the spirit and
its true felicity.
61. When you are certain, O Rāma! that the
world is the universal soul
itself, you will find the false distinctions
of your mind and living
soul, to be nothing in reality.
62. When you come to perceive that all this
is your very self, your mind
will then melt away into the soul, as the
darkness dissolved in the
sunlight, and the shadow disappears in the
air.
63. As long as you cherish the snake of your
mind within yourself, you
are in danger of catching its poison; but
this being removed by your
yoga meditation, you escape the danger at
once.
64. Be bold, O Rāma! to destroy the mighty
demon of the deep-rooted
error of your mind, by the power of
incantation (mantras) of
your
perfect knowledge.
65. Upon disappearance of the demon of the
mind from the dwelling of
your body, as when a Yaksha disappears in the
air, you will be free from
every disease, danger, care and fear.
66. Dispassionateness, and disinterestedness,
joined with the knowledge
of unity, melt down the substance of the
mind, and confer the best and
highest state of felicity and rest in the
Supreme spirit; and bring on
that state of tranquillity which is the main
aim of every body. May all
these blessings attend upon you.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to Brahmasri Sreemaan Vihari Lala Mitra ji for the
collection)
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