The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki
The only complete English translation is
by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891).
CHAPTER CLX.
DESCRIPTION OF HEAVEN AND HELL.
Argument:--The Breaking and Rejoining of the Court and
the dissolution
of the Ignorance of Bhása and his Liberation in Life.
Valmiki related:--As Vipaschit was going on saying
these
things, the sun wishing to put an end to his speech,
proceed
with his rapid strides to enlighten another world.
2. Loud trumpets gave the alarm of the departing day, and
filled the air on all sides with their swelling sound:
and all the
quarters of heaven seemed to reecho[**re-echo] in their
joy, the fanfare of
victory.
3. The king Dasaratha gave Vipashchit[**Vipaschit], many
gifts in money,
maidservants and houses; and bestowed on him many rich
and royal presents worthy of kings, and then rose from
his seat.
4. The king, Ráma and Vasishtha, having taken leave of
the
assembly, and saluted one another in their proper order,
retired
to their respective abodes.
5. Then having bathed and refreshed themselves, they
passed
the night in ease and repose; then resorted to the assembly
in the morning, and were seated in their respective
seats.
6. The sage Vasishtha then resumed the subject of the
last
discourse; and spoke his sweet words with such
complacence of
his countenance, as if the comely moon was shedding her
ambrosial
beams, from her bright and cooling face.
7. Let me tell you, O king, that Vipaschit has not been
able with all his endeavours, to ascertain the true
nature of
Ignorance; nor is it an error of the mind which makes the
unreal
appear as real.
8. The nature of Ignorance as long as it is unknown,
appears
to be eternal and endless; but being understood, it
proves to
be as null and nothing, as the limpid water in a mirage.
9. You have already heard, O wise monarch, the narration
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of Bhása the minister of Vipaschit; and shall now hear of
his
liberation in his living state.
10. It is likely that he will come to be acquainted with
truth
from some other source or discourse, and then he will be
liberated
in his life time; by being freed from his ignorance.
11. And because this ignorance or Avidyá, is ever
accompanied
with Intellect of the Lord himself, it is for this very
reason, that the unreality is erroneously taken for the
reality
itself.
12. If this ignorance-[**--]avidyá-[**--]nescience, be an
attribute of
god, then it is no other than the very god; and the
unknown or
the mysterious nature, is not otherwise than the
inscrutable
nature of god.
13. This ignorance is infinity (in the infinity of created
things), and is productive of endless shoots like the
sprouts of
spring, some of which are insipid and others sapid, some
are
luscious, while others are mellow and
enebriating[**inebriating].
14. Some growing as thorny plants, all hollow within and
hollow without, while others are straight and
herbacious[**herbaceous] as
the
succulent reeds or sugar cane.
15. Some of them are unfruitful and unprofitable, and
others
are attractive of the heart by their untimely blossoming,
which
is predicative of evil only and no desirable good. (Early
blossoms
are ominous).
16. Avidyá or Nescience has no form nor shape, save that
of
its shapeless bulk, which fills all worlds; it is a long
and broad
mass of darkness, and infested by demons and devils (that
take
in the dark and at night).
17. Like false light and phantasms in the open air, and
like
the linked and twisted motes of light curling about in
the sky;
do all these visibles appears to our view in the clear
firmament,
and are in reality but fallacies of our vision.
18. The variegated views which are stretched all about
the
empty air, without any connecting chain or link between
them;
are as the many coloured rainbows of heaven, which are
described
by the falling rains and melt into the empty air.
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[** png 303-316 compared to print]
19. The world resembles a rainy river, with all its orbs
appearing as the countless waves of water, with the dirty
and
foaming froths floting [** floating] over it; and the
fearful eddies and
whirlpools, resembling the revolving planetary bodies.
20. The world is a vast and dreary desert, ever
exhibiting
the waters of mirage on its surface; while in reality but
a body
of dust, and filled with the ashes of dead bodies.
21. As a man wandering in the fairyland of his dream,
finds no terminus of his journey; so have I been roving
forever
in the land of my waking dream, without finding any end
to my travelling.
22. The web of desires that I have been fondly weaving so
long, proved at last to be fragile and frail; hence men
of firm
minds learn betimes, to abandon their desires for the
whole
range of visible objects.
23. All those objects (ideas) that are contained in the
empty
space of the Intellect, are as precious germs safely
stored in the
casket of the mind; and appear by our misconception of
them,
as visible objects placed in the open space of air.
24. Those worlds are as the celestial cities of the
siddhas, which
are situated in the air and are quite invisible to us; but
these
that appear to our view, are non-entites[**entities], and
mere phantoms of
our fancy.
25. The heavenly abodes of the siddhas or godly souls,
are
feigned as teeming in gold, precious gems and rubies,
with
rivers yielding pearls and fields of diamonds; they
abound with
victuals and eatables, and rivers running with limpid and
drinkable
waters.
26. They are said to abound in honey and wines, in milk
and curds, in butter and clarified butter also; there are
streams
of sweet beverage, and celestials nymphs in groups.
27. There fruits and flowers grow in the gardens at all
seasons,
and heavenly damsels sport in the bowers at all times;
and all sorts of gains and enjoyments, readily attends on
the
immediate desire of every body.
28. There a hundred suns are shining, on one side, and a
thousand
moons on another; and some inhabitants are dressed in
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gold and purple, while others are quaffing their fill of
ambrosial
draughts.
29. There is a spontaneous darkness in one place; and
full
sunshine in another, and an everlasting joy in some
place; and
the siddhas or perfected spirits are continually wafted
as by a
breeze, from one of these to another, with their light
and ponderous
bodies.
30. Some meet with their birth and death at each moment,
white there are others that live to enjoy their
everlasting joys
of heaven.
31. There are magnificient[**magnificent] palaces and
great dignities of
all
sorts; it is fraught with the delights of all seasons,
and filled
with whatever is desirable to mind, and delectable to the
spirit.
32. But these desirable blessings, attending upon the
pious
deeds of virtuous; find no place in the quite[**quiet]
minds of the
righteous, (which [**add: are] fixed [**add: in] divine
felicity alone).
33. There is nothing that is desirable to the soul, which
is
devoted to the contemplation of Brahma only; say
therefore,
O ye unholy, of what good are all these blessings, if
they donot[**do not]
lead to divine felicity.
34. If in the beginning there was no creation at all,
owing to
its want of a creator; say then what is this world, of
what it
is composed, and how came it to existence.
35. If the world is not the act of causality and nothing
in reality,
then how does [**add: it] appear to be existent? It is
the everlasting
will of god[**God], that manifests itself in the manner
in the Divine
Mind; just as we see the display of our rising thou
ht[**thought] and
wishes in our mind.
36. It is even so, O ye simpletons, that you or I or he,
come
to see our imaginary castles in the air; by the stretch
of
our imagination, or the liveliness or flight of our
fancy.
37. He who has the single object of divine felicity, for
his
sole pursuit in life; comes to attain the same supreme
bliss,
after he forsakes his mortal body.
38. But whoso pursues after the two fold objects of
heaven
and heavenly bliss, by means of his religious rites and
sacri-*
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*fices in this life; acquires both of them afterwards, as
the
unity of purpose secures one only to one.
39. The siddhas reign in the said manner, according to
the thoughts in their minds; while the unholy are doomed
to
the torments of hell, owing to the sinful thoughts of
their
minds.
40. Whatever one thinks upon, he feels the same in
himself,
as long as he possesses his mortal body; and after he
loses
his material body, he feels it in his mind, which is but
a part
of the body.
41. When a living person quits one body for another, he
carries with him the same mind into the other that he had
in
the prior one, and sees the same things in its thoughts,
which
he was accustomed to look upon before.
42. A good conscience has all goodly prospects before it,
as
a vitiated soul meets with ghastly aspects on all sides;
the
airy mind sees only such aerial shapes in its vacuity.
43. Pure souls only come to enjoy the sights of these
siddha
cities in the air, but impure spirits are subjected to
suffer their
torments in hell.
44. There is a continual rotation of the unwieldy stones
of
grinding mills, for crushing the vicious souls; and the
hurling of
wicked into blind wells or dark pits, out of which they
can rise
no more.
45. There some bodies are cast amidst the frozen snows,
where they are petrified to stones; and many are thrown
into
the burning coals of devils, or led amidst the burning
sands of
trackless deserts.
46. The clouds dropped down living fire, and the skies
poured forth fiery showers; and red-hot bolts and arrows
darted
down from heaven.
47. Stones and disks and swords, were floating on the
running
stream of the sky; and falling like fragments of clouds
upon the breasts of the accurst, and breaking them as
with the
strokes of felling axes.
48. The hot iron sleets and brimstones, falling with a
hissing
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sound; and weapons were hurled from engines, with a loud
tremendous noise.
49. Missiles and bolts and discs, together with pikes and
clubs, and swords and shafts were falling in showers; and
traps
and tackles and malls and mallets were striking in
hundred.
50. There the hot and burning sands, buried the
passengers
under the ground; and there burning meteors were falling
like
torches; while large ravens were devouring the dead
bodies
around.
51. Blazing piles also ingulped[**typo
"ingulfed"] the dead, from which
they
could never get out; while darts and spears and bolts and
arrows,
were peircing[**typo "piercing"] the other
bodies all about.
52. Hunger and dismay and excruciating pains, tormented
by turns, the bodies of dead apostates; while others were
hurled down from high hills and heights, on rough and
hard
stones below.
53. Some were weltering in blood, and rolling in pools of
dirt, rotten flesh and disgusting pus; and others were
crushed
under stones and weapons, and beneath the feet of horses
and
elephants.
54. Hungry vultures and owls, were picking up and tearing
the dead bodies, out of caves and places; and their limbs
and
members, were mangled and scattered all over the ground.
55. It is thus that men are prepossessed, with these
thoughts of the punishment of their guilt, from the
sacred
writings; and thereby come to suffer the same, both in
their
bodies and minds, from their inward impressions of them.
56. Whatever form or figure, ever appears in the vacuum
of
the Intellect; or whatsoever is dreamt or thought of at
anytime;
the same holds fast the imagination, and presents itself
before
the mirror of the mind of its own accord.
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CAHPTER[**CHAPTER] CLXI.
EXPLANATION OF NIRVÁNA.
Argument:--Manifestations of the self-existent Intellect.
Its light
guiding to Divine knowledge, and ignorance thereof
leading to darkness.
Ráma said:--Tell me sir, whether these various events
incidental to the lives of the hermit and hunter, were
owing to any cause, or of their own spontaneity. (i. e.
whether
they were the effects of any cause, or of their
spontaneous
occurrence as mere dreams and phantasies).
2. Vasishtha replied:--This [** These?] occurrences are
as the appearance
of eddies, in the vast ocean of the unknown soul (or
mind);
and are known to be in their continual rotation in the
vortex of
the soul, of their own accord and in their airy forms.
3. As the oscillating particles of air, are ever in
motion in
the air; so the current of thoughts is continually in
action, in
the vast vacuity of intellect (or mind).
4. Whatever issues from its source in any shape, retains
its
original form unless it is converted to and restrained in
any
other form; so the aerial thoughts of the vacuous mind
are always
aerial, unless they are drawn in painting or exhibited in
another form. (Just so a clod of earth is always the
earth, till
it is moulded to the form of a pot or any other thing).
5. It is the vacuous essence of the Divine Intellect,
that inheres
in every form that is exhibited by and derived from it;
so it is the substance of the body, that permits through
out all
its members and limbs; as it is the woody substance of
the tree,
that is diffused through all the leaves and branches,
that shoot
forth from it. (Gloss. The difference consists in the
permanance[**permanence]
of the permeating principle, and the
temporiety[**temporariness] of the
pervaded growth).
6. Brahma appears to remain permanent in some existences,
as in the four elemental forms of earth ect[**etc.];
while he seems to be
transcient[**transient] and evanescent in others, as in
the frail bodies of
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mortal bodies, all of which abide in their aerial state
in the
vacuous spirit.
7. All these various objects therefore, being but
reflections
of the Intellect impressed upon the soul; it is
impossible for us to
determine which of these is substantial or unsubstantial
or real
or unreal.
8. All these are altogether unknowable except that we
know them as reflexions in the inanity of the Intellect;
say
ye therefore that are wholly ignorant of all what you
think this
visible world to be, whether a reality or unreality.
9. Whatever you behold anywhere in the universe, is but
an exhibition in the vacuum of the Divine Intellect; and
what
avails it to you that know the truth, whether you believe
it as
such or not. Rely therefore in your belief of it as it
is.
10. These forms of reflexions rise of themselves in the
Divine Mind, as the waves and billows exhibit themselves
on
the surface of the sea; they are the spontaneous
offsprings[**offspring] of
the Divine Spirit, and are of themselves both their causes
as
well as effects: (or self caused effects).
11. It is the display of the transcendent vacuum of the
Divine Mind, that passed under the appellations of its
will or
volition, or its imagination and creation, or the
creation of its
imagination; hence this world is to be understood under
any
one of these senses, and not of its being composed of
earth and
water.
12. It is this appearance of the Divine Mind, that
appears
in this manner and nothing besides; it is the Divine
itself that
resides in the Divinity, and passes under the title of
Avidyá or
Ignorance, from our ignorance of its nature.
13. There is no material grossness in the integrity of
the
Divine Intellect; which is purely vacuous and immaterial;
and
composes the whole universe, this is transcendental
knowledge,
and its perfection is liberation.
14. It is the reflexion of the vacuous Intellect, which
spreads
over the whole universe; it is rare and uncompressed, and
ever
calm and quiet, and passes by the name of the world.
15. The meditative man whose eye-sight is fixed in his
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musing, whose body is emaciated in devotion, and whose
mind
is abstracted from the concrete, and is absorbed in
intellection,
is only capable of seeing the Intellectual world.
16. Whatever the vacuous essence of the intellect,
exhibits
in any form at any place; the same appears to be present
there
of its own nature.
17. The unthinking man and unreasonable soul, sees only
erroneous sights in the midst of skies; as one who is
dim-sighted
and purblind by birth, does not cease from seeing the
double
moon in the sky.
18. Whatever is seen anywhere, is noother[**no other]
than the unpolluted
Brahma himself; and the vacuous sphere of the
Intellect being for ever clear and transparent, is never
sullied
by any foulness (of grossmatter[**gross matter]).
19. The intellect without forsaking its pure form of
self-*consciousness,
exhibits varieties of gross objects in the form of
dreams within itself. So also is our consciousness of the
world,
in the manner of our dreams.
20. By comparing the dicta of the sástras with one
another,
and weighing them well with acute judgement, one will
find
his rest in himself; but the man of shallow understanding
will not find it so.
21. The ignorance which floats upon the sea of your
understanding, does not contaminate my mind, in the
manner
of dirt polluting a pure and clear stream.
22. As there is neither the earth nor any earthly thing,
to
be meet with in our sleep, though we are conscious of
them in
our dream; so also the phenomenal world has no real
existence,
though we are conscious of it in our waking.
23. As the clearness of the Intellect, like sunlight or
flaming
fire, shows us many things in our sleeping dreams, so
doth
its light exhibit the visibles to our view in our waking
dreams
also by day.
24. There is no difference between the two states of
dreaming
and waking, they are both of the same nature, and the
difference lies in the modes of our apprehension of them.
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25. The waking man never apprehends his waking state to
be a dream; but the dead man that rises again to life in
the
next world, thinks his past life to have been but a state
of
dreaming.
26. The shortness and length of time, occupied by the two
states of dreaming and waking, is generally considered to
constitute
the difference between them; but during the time of their
presence, they are both considered alike the other (i. e.
the
dreaming man thinks himself as waking).
27. The sleeping and waking dreams, bearing alike the
same
quality of presenting false objects to view, are
necessarily of the
same nature; and their[** there] is no difference
whatever in their outward
features, as there is neither elder and younger of two
twin
brothers. (Dreaming and waking are twin brothers, like
sleep
and death neither of which is more or less).
28. Whatever is the waking dream, just so is the waking
in dream also; neither of which leaves anything-being,
behind
the two states of waking and dreaming. (They
presents[**present] many
things when present, but leave nothing lasting in their
absence
or when they are past and gone).
29. As we know the inconstancy of hundreds of dreams, all
along the length of our life time; so the unredeemed and
unenlightened
soul, sees hundreds of waking states, (in its repeated
transmigrations in life i. e. in this living world).
30. As the living mortals may well recollect the very
many
sleeping dreams, they have seen throughout their lives;
so the
immortalized souls of siddhas well remember, the number
of
waking dreams which they had seen, in their past
transmigrations
in different bodies.
31. Thus our waking is equipollent with our dreaming, and
our dreams are equivalent with waking, in their
corelation[** correlation]
with
one another in like quality, and our perception of both
alike.
32. As the word worlds and phenomenal, are significant of
the one and same meaning; so the terms dreaming and
waking
are homonymous, and interchangeable to one
another-[**--mutatis]
mutandis.
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33. As the fairy-land in a dream, is as clear as the open
space of the Intellect; so is this world an inane void
and
blank, and without the grossness of avidyá which
ignorance
imputes to it. (Ignorance views the fair ideal world as a
foul
material one).
34. The world is a vacuous substance, and represented as
a
gross stuff by ignorance; so I am as free as air and any
airy
thing in the world, and it is my imagination only, that
binds me
to my grossness.
35. Therefore do not confine your free and unconfined
nature, in the bondage of gross matter; and never change
the
pure vacuum of your person to a material stuff, nor
disfigure
your formless and intellectual self in a gross and finite
form.
36. There can be no bondage nor liberation, of aught
whatever
in this visible world of our ignorance or avidyá; because
all things herein are mere reflexions of the formless
void of the
Divine Intellect.
37. Here there is no display of ignorance, nor any
misconceptions
of ours of any thing; there is neither any bondage nor
release of aught whatever, and nothing that is either
existent
or inexistent; (since all are but reflexions of Divine
Intellect).
38. There is nescience, nor knowing of anything here by
us;
because it is the uncreated Intellect alone, that
manifests itself
in this manner; it reflects all forms in itself, as if
they are all its
dreams or creations.
39. As a man passing from one place to another, has his
mind kept in abeyance in the interim; so should we keep
our
minds quiet and still betwixt our sight of the visibles
and our
dreams. (In action[**Inaction] of the mind is reckoned as
nirvána).
40. As one has his body and mind, quite quiet and calm in
his
sleep at night; and in the respite of his sights and
thoughts,
in the states of his waking and dreaming; this very state
of
insensibility is called nirvána of the yogi.
41. Know our knowledge of the difference of objects, (as
the
one is immaterial and the other material), is equally
untrue
as that of our waking and dreaming states; because it is
impos-*
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*sible for us to conceive any other thing as matter, to
consist in
the immaterial Intellect.
42. Our knowledge of identity and diversity, proceed
however
from the same vacuous intellect; which combines the
unity and duality also, in unbroken union or harmony in
itself.
43. Knowing all as parts of undivided whole, all these
are
the same whatever they appear to be; hence the visible
however
diversified they may appear, are all one and the same
principle.
44. Hence the etherial sphere of Brahma, contains all in
itself; and who as an aerial point concentrates all in
it; and
the creation is the unity of Brahma, together with all
its
varieties.
45. Knowing all things as full of god[**God], you must
however
reject them all (as mere reflexions of the Deity); and
rest yourself
at last in the vacuous Intellect, as the great rock of
your
refuge.
46. Now, O fortunate Ráma, remain to act in conformity
with the rules of your order, and laws of society and the
statues
of your position and dignity; continue to go on, eat and
drink and rest in your usual course, rely in your desired
object,
and ever recline in the glorious and holy lord of your
intellect,
and the supreme God of all.
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CHAPTER CLXII.
ANNILATION[**ANNIHILATION] OF IGNORANCE.
Argument:--Here Duality is reduced to the unity of
Brahma; and
good counsels given for subversion of ignorance.
Vasishtha Continued:--All objects being convertible
to the conceptions of the vacuous intellect, the whole
universe is supposed to have its seat in the hollow mind;
and
therefore both the outward sights of things, as also the
inward
thoughts of their forms, are all but ideal images in the
empty
mind.
2. The world being but a dream, and of the form of an
ideal
city in the mind, has nothing substantial in it; and is
therefore
a quiet vacuity in itself, without having anything of any
kind,
or any diversity whatsoever contained therein.
3. It is the uniform display of the Intellect, appearing
as
multiform unto us; and this variety though unsubjective
to
the soul, is looked upon by it within itself, as we view
the fairy
land of our dream, rising from ourselves.
(Query:--whether our
dreams are subjective or objective to us)?[** ? inside
bracket]
4. In the beginning this world appeared, as the aerial
castle
of a dream in the vacuum of the Intellect; it was a mere
reflexion
of the Divine Mind, and though it was of the form of a
false shadow, remained as substantive to the supreme
spirit.
5. The knowing theosophist well knows this mystery, which
is mysterious to the unknowing ignorant; because the word
creation bears the sense of both the reality as well as
unreality
in it.
6. The knowing spiritualist as well as the unknowing
agnoist[**agnostic],
both acknowledge the reality of creation; but they can
neither understand how it exists, nor communicate to one
another their right conception of it.
7. They both know the meaning, of the word creation in
their minds; the one having the sense of its sedateness
ever
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wakeful in their minds, (from their spiritual view of
it); and the
other having the sense of its unsteadiness always waking
in
them, (from their sight of the changeful scenes of the
outer
world); so they resemble the sober and drunken men, that
view
the world in its steady and shaking states.
8. As the liquid waters in a river, rise incessantly in
restless
waves; so the rolling worlds, push forward into being, in
the
vast expanse of the Divine Mind.
9. These creations which are not of the nature of the
intellect,
have yet their sits in the Intellect, like the thoughts
that
rise and fall in it; and these though they are invisible
in their
nature, appear as visible things, like the fair objects
and fairy
cities in our dream.
10. It is spreading shadow of the divine Intellect, which
pass under the name of the world; and this formless in
itself,
appears as having a form, like the shadow of anything
else.
11. It is a gross error, to take the unsubstantial shadow
for a
substantial body; as it is a gross error to suppose the
empty
shadow of a ghost as an embodied being.
12. The world is as unreal as an imaginary city, and as
false as a string of rain drops; why then do you rely in
an unreality,
which is palpable from the testimonies; of both the
ignorant and knowing men.
13. The words then that are used to express this thing
and
that, are mere empty sounds, as those emitted by a
splitting
block of wood or a bamboo; or those heard in the dashing
of
waves or blowing of winds; it is the current air which
conveys
the empty sound into the open vacuum of the sky, but they
are
all unreal and meaningless, and bear but a conventional
sense,
with which it has no connection whatsoever.
14. It is light of the lord[**Lord] that reflects itself
in his creation,
and the reflexion of his fiat that reverberates through
the whole;
while in reality there is neither any sound nor
substance, that
is to be heard or seen in the universe, (except the voice
and the
sight of the Lord).
15. Whatever shines or exists herein, is the transcendent
reality of the Lord; otherwise there is nothing that
could
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appear at first without its cause: (all being but parts
of the one
undivided whole--to pan).
16. Therefore from (thy knowledge of) the distinctions of
words and things; know the one as all in all, and remain
as
quiet and calm as the indefinite and infinite void
itself.
17. Forsake the fickleness of thy mind, by means of the
calm repose of thy soul; the purity of thy understanding,
and
by an even tenor of thy disposition; because an
inconstant soul
is troublesome in life.
18. It is one's self that is a friend or enemy to
himself, and
if one will not try to guard and save himself by his own
self,
there is no other to do so for him. (He who is no friend
to
himself, is his own enemy himself).
19. Get over the ocean of the world while you are young,
and make your good understanding the ferry boat, to bear
your
body safely to the other shore.
20. Do what is good for you today, and why differ[**defer]
till tomorrow;
you can do nothing in oldage[**old age], when your body
becomes
a burden to yourself.
21. Know your as oldage[**old age], (if it is fraught
with learning);
and account decrepitude as death itself in your lifetime.
Youth
is verily the life of the living, provided it is fraught
with
learning.
22. Having obtained thy life in this living world, which
is
as transcient[**transient] as the fleeting lightning; you
must try to derive
the essence from this dirty earth, by availing yourself
of the
benefit of good sástras and the company of the wise.
23. Woe to the ignorant! that will not seek their
salvation
in life, that are sinking in the pits of mud and mire;
and
never striving to left[**lift] themselves above them.
24. As the ignorant rustic is afraid at the sight of the
earthen images of ghosts, and bends down to them; which
those
that are acquainted with the meaning of the word ghost
never do.
25[**.] So those that see god[**God] in an idol or in his
visible creation,
is[**are] misled to think it his[**their] god and adore
it as such; but
-----File:
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those that know the true meaning of the term, never pay
their
adoration to any visible object.
26. As things in motion come to rest afterwards, and the
visible disappear from the sight of the learned, who are
acquainted
with their true meaning. (The world recedes, and the
light
of god[**God] opens to their view).
27. As the sights in a dream, seeming to be true in the
state of dreaming, disperse at last upon waking, and upon
the
knowledge of their unreal nature.
28. So doth this world, which is conceived as something
existing in the vecuum[**vacuum] of the
understanding;[**,]
melts[**melt] at last
into empty air and nothing, upon our knowlege[**knowledge]
of its
intellectual
nature.
29. This living world is as a wilderness, burning with
the
conflagration of various evils attendant on life; and
here we
are exposed as weak antelopes, living upon our precarious
sustenances; and here we are governed by our ungovernable
minds and restless passions and senses of our bodies; all
these
require to be subduded[**subdued] in order to obtain our
liberation from
repeated births and deaths.
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CHAPTER CLXIII.
MEANS AND MANNER OF GOVERNING THE SENSES AND
SENSIBLE ORGANS.
Argument:--Government of the senses and fixedness of the
Mind, and
the study of yoga sástra.
Ráma rejoined:--I know sir, all knowledge to be in vain
and useless, without proper government of ourselves
and senses; tell me therefore how these may be kept under
control, in order to give us the true knowledge of things
unbiased
by the senses.
2. Vasishtha replied:--Addictedness to enjoyments and
display of manhood, and devotedness to the acquisition of
the
means of life or wealth; are preventives of
self-controul[**OK/SOED] and
liberation of one's self, as blindness is an obstruction
to one's
sight of a light.
3. Then listen to this least advice of mine as the
shortest
and best means, for the government of yourself and your
senses;
and this is sure to lead to[**delete 'to'] one to his
successfulness, by his
own endeavour and with no toil or trouble.
4. Know the intellect as the man that mans you, and its
power of intellection which makes you a living man; and
whatever
the living soul thinks of within itself, it verily
becomes the
very same.[**','?--P2:delete '.'/many similar places]
(but the ignorant man
becomes effeminte[**effeminate]).
5. Let the strength of your consciousness, ply the
pointed
goad of your acute good sense; and you will doubtless
subdue
your ungovernable elephantine mind, and come off
victorious
shortly at last.
6. The mind is the captain of the army of your bodily and
mental senses; subdue therefore this leading mind, and
you
will conquer the whole host of your senses. Just so does
a man
walking on boots, tread over the thorns lying by his way.
7. [In order[**space added] therefore to subdue your
mind], you must
settle
your self-consciousness[**space added] in your
conciousness[**consciousness] of the omnipresent
-----File:
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vacuum of the Divine soul, and rest yourself quiet in the
recess
of your heart; and then your mind will sit quiet of
itself, as
the snows of winter settle down of themselves in autumn.
8. Thus by stopping the action of your consciousness, you
will also shut up your mind, and put a stop to the
operation of
all its faculties; as you can never been abled[**be able]
to do by means of
all your devotion and austerities, your pilgrimages, your
knowledge
and sacrifice, and all other ceremonies and acts and
duties.
9. Whatever comes to occur in the consciousness, the same
must be forgot or buried in the consciousness of the
great God
alone; and so the forgetfulness of all enjoyments and
their
objects, amounts to our victory over them. (The way to
overcome
the pleasures of life, is to bury their remembrance in
oblivion).
10. We must try by all means, to shut out the objects of
sense from our consciousness; and this state of our
unconsciousness
of them, is tantamount to the state of godliness or
heavenly
bliss.
11. Again the contentment which arises, from our acting
in
conformity with the rules of our order, is another cause
of preserving
the steadiness of the mind; therefore remain firm in the
practice of your particular duties, and seek no happiness
besides.
12. He who relinquishes his inclination, towards the
attainment
of what is unlawful for him; and remains content with
earning his lawful gains, is verily said to be a man of
subdued
appetites, and one who has governed.
13. He who is pleased with his inward and conscious
gratification,
and is not grieved at the unpleasant things all about
him, is said to have well governed and benumbed his mind.
14. By suspension of the action of consciousness, the
mind
too comes to forget and forsake its activity, and the
sensations
also being relaxed from their restlessness, pursue their
discrimination
and judgement.
15. The discriminative and judging soul, becomes ennobled
and magnanimous, and keeps its command over the feelings
and
-----File:
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senses; and is not impelled by the waves of its desires,
to be
tossed about on the surface of the wide ocean of this
world.
16. The man of well governed senses comes, by his
association
with the wise, and his constant study of religious works,
to know all things in the world in their true light.
17. All worldly errors are dispelled by the light of truth;
or else one must fall into the pit of misery, by his
mistake of
falsehood for truth; as the ignorant traveller[**
traveler--P2: traveller
OK/SOED] is ingulfed[** engulfed--P2: ingulfed OK/SOED]
in the
dreary sands, by his mistake of [**[taking]] the mirage
for water.
18. Knowing this world as the unknowable intellect
itself,
that is the knowledge of the material world as the
immaterial
mind of God; is the true light in which the cosmos is
viewed by
the wise, who have neither the fear of their falling into
the snare
of error, nor require their release from it.
19. As the dried up waters of a river, are seen no more
to
glide even slightly in their course; so the formless
phenomenals
of the world, never appear in the sight of the wise, nor
leave their slightest vestiges behind in their mind.
20. The knowledge of the world as an infinite void, and
freed from the erroneous individualities of myself and
thyself;
leads to the knowledge of a supreme self[**removed
hyphen], which is
apart from
all, and the only ego that fills the whole.
21. All this conception of our subjective egoism and the
objective world, are but errors of our brain proceeding
from
ignorance; they are all situated in the void of
Intellect, and are
void of themselves; and all bodies are but empty shadows
in
air, and as quiet as quietus or nullity itself.
22. This world appears as a shadow of the Intellect, in
the
vacuity of the very Intellect; it is a void amidst the
void of the
Intellect, which is certainly a void itself.
23. No body can deny its similitude, to the shadowy sight
in a dream; it is an unreal notion, and as unsubstantial
as
all notions can be, and as the notion of a void is void
itself.
24. This dream is no other than our consciousness of it,
and
the airy realms that it presents to our view for the
time; so doth
the Intellect show us the sight of the world, without any
action
or passion or instrumentality of itself.
-----File:
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25. So I am of the substance of the very Intellect, which
is
without its activity, passivity and instrumentality; and
the
world being unassignable to any causality or
instrumentality,
subsists only in our simple conception of it.
26. As the conception of one's death in a dream, is no
reality at all; and the sight of water in the mirage, is
a visual
deception only; (so the sight of the world appearing to
view, is
no real existence or entity at all).
27. The vacuous intellect reflects its thoughts at first,
in
the clear mirror of its vacuity (or concavity); which is
a mere
hap-hazard[**haphazard] of chance, and has no firm base
or support (nor
any
form or figure of itself).
28. The world appears as fixed and firm, without its
foundation
anywhere; and seems to be shining brightly, with its
darksome
opacity; know then this fixity and this brightness of it,
to be the diuturnity[**?--P2:OK/SOED] and glory of the
eternal and
glorious god.
29. The vivacity of living beings, displays the spirit of
the
ever living God; the air is his vacuity, and the running
waters,
show the vortegenous[**vortiginous] current of the
eternal soul.
30. As every member of the body is constituent part of
the
whole frame; so all the various parts of animated and
inanimate
nature, constitute the entirety of the one cosmical
deity.
(These are but parts of one undivided whole, whose body
nature
is and God the soul. Pope).
[**Exact quotation:
All are but parts of one stupendous whole,
Whose body Nature is, and God the soul]
31. As the crystal mirror shows the shade of everything
in
itself, so doth the transparency of Divine soul, exhibit
the reflexions
of all things in it; the silent soul is as quiet as the
mute
crystal, but shows the varying scenes of nature, as
interminably
as a clear mirror reflects everything.
32. There is no beginning or end of the supreme being,
(nor
of his acts and attributes, which are displayed in
nature); it is
the intermediate of the two that is dimly seen by us, the
rest is
all enveloped in ignorance, though there is no ignorance
in the
Omniscient.
33. The living soul wakes from its sleeping dream, to
fall
back to its waking dream again; and thus it continues for
ever
-----File:
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in its dreaming whether waking or sleeping which are both
alike
to it.
34. The soul finds its rest only, while it remains in the
fourth
state of its sound sleep; or else it passes all along
from dreaming
to dreaming, in both its state of sleeping and waking,
which
continually haunt after it, unless it is drowned in its
susupti or
sound sleep of hynotism[**hypnotism], the only resort of
the wise.
35. But waking and sleeping and dreaming and sound sleep,
are all alike to the enlightened soul; which is equally
indifferent
in all states, and whether it is asleep or awake, is
never infested
by dreams nor set beside itself.
36. The knowledge of unity or duality, and that of Ego
and
tu or the subjective and objective; never disturbs the
enlightened;
who views the whole as an empty void, and is alike
insensible
of all as well as null.
37. The distinction of unity and duality, made in the
meaningless
speech of the unwise, is laughed at by the enlightened
and wise, as the aged and intelligent men laugh to scorn,
at the
pranks and prattlings of young lads.
38. The controversy of unity and duality, is of
spontaneous
growth in the heart like an indigenious[**indigenous]
plant; which without
its pruning will not put forth its blossoms, to perfume
the
atmosphere of the understanding.
39. The discussion of unity and duality, is as
benificial[**beneficial] to
man as his best friend; in sweeping away the dirt and
dross of
ignorance from their minds, as they drive away the dust
from
within the doors of their houses.
40. Then the minds of men are settled in the Divine Mind,
when there ensues a mutual communion between themselves,
and a communication and participation of their reciprocal
joys
and felicity with one another.
41. These men being always joined together in their
fellowship,
and serving one another with the mutual delight and
obligingness
of their hearts; attain to that state of the
enlightenment
of their understandings, whereby they are admitted into
their communion with the Most High.
-----File:
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42. It is possible for a man to be
benifited[**benefited], even by his
careful
preservation of a trifle (at some time or other); but it
is never
possible for any body, to attain the most recondite
knowledge of
god, without his diligent inquiry into the same.
43. Whatever hightest[**highest] position one may enjoy
in this material
world, is to be recognised[**recognized--P2:recognised
OK/SOED] by all
as nothing, provided that
one does not remain aloof from all kind of vices.
44. What is that hapiness[**happiness] which is gained by
the possession
of a kingdom, which at last is no better than mere
botheration
of the mind; while the mind that has gained its peace and
tranquility in truth and Divine knowledge, spurns at the
state
of gods and kings as mere straws to him.
45. The sleepy as well as the wakeful, are alike apt to
see
the visibles, and are rapt with the sight; but the saints
that are
calm and quiet and at rest with themselves, are averse to
sight-seeing,
and see the only one in themselves.
46. Without painstaking, and your continued practice of
contemplation, you can not succeed to attain this state
of infinite
felicity; for know this state of transcendent bliss, is
the fruit of
intense devotion only.
47. Thus have I said at length, to impress in you the
necessity
of intense devotion; but to what good is all this say the
evil
minded to me, and thus slight and take no heed of all
that I have
been so long delivering unto you.
48. It must be by means of steady attention to these
lectures,
and by long and repeated practice of devotion; as also by
hearing these sermons and discoursing upon them that the
ignorant can come to the right light of truth.
49. He who having once read this spiritual work, slights
it
afterwads[**afterwards] as already perused by him; and
turns to the study
of
unspiritual books, is a vile wretch that collects the
burnt ashes
after the fire is extinguished. (Irreligious works are
the ashes
of the fiery religious ones).
50. This excellent work is to be read always, like the
recital
of the vedas, which are embodied herein; and this is is
calculated
to reward the labor of the student, by its being
constantly
read with reverence, and rightly explained with
diligence.
-----File:
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51. The student will learn from this sástra[**=print] all
that he expects
to find in the vedas; because it embodies both the
practical
as well as spiritual doctrines of the sacred scriptures,
and
a knowledge of both of them, is avilable[**available] by
proper
persual[**perusal] of
this work.
52. By learning this book, one may have a knowledge of
the
doctrines of the vedanta, tarka and siddhanta sástras,
because
this is the only work, that treats of the tenets of all
schools.
(Here the word drishti is homonymous[**should be
synonymous] with
darsana, which is
rendered as a school of philosophy by Colebrooke).
53. It is from my sympathy for you all, that I propound
these doctrines to you; and by way of imposture, that I
impose
these lessons on your credulity. You are best judges of
my
discourse and can well detect, whether there is anything
as deception
in my prolusions.
54. The knowledge that you may derive, by weighing well
the instructions given in this great work; will serve you
as salt,
in order to season and relish the teachings of other sástras,
that
are at best but sundry dishes before it.
55. the materialist who is conversant with the visibles,
disparge[**disparage]
this book for its occult teachings of spiritualism; but
don't you be the killer of your souls as to neglect your
eternal
salvation, in order to revisit this material world, and
to be
busied with your temporal affairs.
56. Biassed[**OK/SOED] minds cling to the dogmas of
exploded systems,
and ignoable[**ignoble] men drink the foul water of
tanks, dug by their
ancestors; you are reasoning men yourselves, therefore do
not
remain for ever fast bound to your ignorance.
-----File:
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CHAPTER CLXIV.
UNITY OF THE DIVINITY AND THE MUNDANE WORLD.
Argument:--Intromission[**?--P2:OK] of the Living soul
and all bodies,
that is the
subjective and objective into the Divine Essence.
Vasishtha continued:--The atoms of living souls in
the world, are as the particles of rays in the orb of the
sun, (or as the sparks of fire in a furnace); and as all
these
parts taken collectively, make the one undivided whole;
so
there is no division of the unity of the Deity,
throughout the
whole creation.
2. By attaining the transcendental knowledge of all being
the One, and the One as all; every thing looses[**loses]
its shape and
form before us, and there remains nothing whatever as a
distinct
being or duality.
3. The true believer or knower of truth, sees the
self-same
object ln[**in] all states and forms of things; and this
is the transcendent
and translucent Brahma only, and nothing else whatsoever
at any time.
4. He is the same, that is known to the ignorant, as
their
objects of sense; but we do not recognize either
ourselves or
others, or the sensible objects of the ignorant as such.
5. The belief of the ignorant man in the reality of
himself,
thyself and all others, does not affect the knower of
truth, as the
delusion of mirage never overtakes the man on mount Meru:
(where the deceptive sands of the deserts are wanting).
6. As the man intent upon one object, has no
consciousness
of any other thing in his mind; so one enrapt at the
sight of
god alone, is conscious of nothing besides.
7. There neither is nor was nor shall ever be, any such
thing
as the material world at any time; the world in esse is the
image of Brahma himself, and abides in his spirit.
8. The world is the splendour of the
crystaline[**chrystalline] vacuum of
the Divine Intellect, and subsists in the vacuity of the
supreme
-----File:
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soul itself; it is in this light that the universe is
seen in the
dhyána yoga or abstruse contemplation of [**[the]] yogi.
9. As there is nothing in a[**an] empty dream or in the
aerial
castle of imagination except the clear atmosphere of the
Intellect;
so there is no essence or substance nor form or figure of
this world, that we view in our present waking state.
10. At first there was no creation of any kind, nor this
world which appears to us (in its material form); it
exists in
its aerial form in the Divine Mind from all eternity; and
there
being no primary or secondary cause of it, how is it
possible to
call it a material thing of its own spontaneous growth.
11. Therefore there is nothing that sprang itself out of
nothing at first, nor was there ever a creator called
Brahma or
other by the ignorant, in the beginning; there is nothing
but
an infinite void from eternity to eternity, which is
filled by the
self-born or increate spirit, whose intellect exhibits
this creation,
contained for ever and ever in its vacuity.
-----File:
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CHAPTER CLXV.
ON THE SIMILARITY OF WAKING AND DREAMING.
Argument:--The steadiness of the Intellect in waking and
Dreaming,
which are alike to one another.
Vasishtha continued:--In the state of waking dream
the dream passes under the name of waking; and in the
state of dreaming wakefulness, this waking goes by the
name
of sleeping.[*]
2. The dream terminates into waking, and the waking man
rises from his dreaming, and falls back into it again; so
one
awakened from his dream like waking, falls afterwards to
his
waking dreams.
3. The dream of the waking dreamer, is to be called a
dream
also, as the waking dream of this world; and so the
waking (or
consciousness) of the sleeping waker, is to be styled his
waking
state.
4. Therefore that wakefulness (or consciousness) of one,
[**[who]] remains in his dreaming state, is to be called
his
waking likewise and not his dreaming; so also the waking
dream (of the existence of the world), and the
imaginations of
airy castles while one is waking, is to be designated his
dreaming
and never as his waking.
5. Whatever lasts for a short while, as a temporary
delusion
or flight of imagination, passes under the name of a
dream
even in one's waking state; and so the short watchfulness
of
consciousness in the state of dreaming, is known as
dreaming
and never as waking.
* Note.--Each of the three states of waking, dreaming and
sound sleep
admit of three conditions viz waking wakefulness, waking
dream and the
waking sound sleep; again dreaming watchfulness, dreaming
dream and
dreaming sleep; and lastly the sleepy waking, the sleepy
dream and the
sleepy sound sleep (see the scholium of Sures
ara[**Sureshvara] for
instances of every
Kind).
-----File:
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6. Therefore there is no difference whatever, between the
two states of waking and dreaming, beside the absence of
one
of these two in the other; (i. e. the absence of
shortness in waking,
and that of durability in the dream). Again they are both
unreal, owing to their blending with one another: (i.e.
dreaming
blended with the view of the phenomenals in waking; and
the wakeful consciousness blending with dreaming).
7. The waking dream of the world, vanishes under its
unconsciousness
in death; and the consciousness of dreaming is
lost, under the knowledge of its being an airy nothing.
(The
world recedes as heaven opens to view. Pope).[** to PPer:
pls. check the
sentence within bracket.]
8. The dying person that does not come to perceive the
vanity of the visionary world at his death-bed;[**PPer:
semi-colon
needed?] can have no
sight of the state of his waking (or resurrection), in
the next or
future world.
9. Whoever believing himself as alive, among the varying
scenes of this vacuous world, lives content with them; he
can
never come to the sight of the visions, which await upon
him.
10. As the intellect displays its wonders, in the
exhibitions
of the various scenes of worlds, to the sight of one in
his dream;
so doth this universe appear before the minds of men, at
the
time of their waking.
11. These creations which are so conspicuous to sight,
are
at best but nothing in their transcendental
light:[**PPer: colon needed?]
and all the
forms of things, are as the empty shadows of them
appearing
in our dreams.
12. As the world with all its varieties of visible
objects,
appear in its inane and shadowy form in the dream; so it
is
seen in its vacuous and intellectual form only, in our
waking
state (although it seems to be tangible body).
13. It is the nature of the vacuous Intellect, to show
the
form of the world in its own firmament; so doth this
earth
appear unto us, amidst the spacious atmosphere, like the
orbs of
light in the skies.
14. It is the wondrous display of the Intellect, that
shines
before us under the name of universe; and these wonders
are as
-----File:
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inborn and innumerable in itself, as the watery and
earthly
particles, are connate with, and diffused throughout
nature.
15. What thing is there in it, which you can mistake for
a
reality in this unreal world; that is situated as a
vacuous body
in the infinite womb of vacuity.
16. The words recipient, receipt and reception, or the
percipient,
perceived and perception (i. e. the subject, object and
attribute), are all meaningless with regard to this
vacuous world;
and whether it is a reality or unreality, we have no
perception
of it. (Because the presence of everything is lost, at
the
absence of its properties, which are
adscititious[**?--P2:OK] only).
17. Whether it is so or not or be it anything otherwise,
(as
others may have it); yet why should [**[you]] mistake it
for anything at
all, in whatever light you take it, it will amount to
your mistake
of an empty ball for a fruit (so says the
vedanta:--[Sanskrit: jagagadbrahma
svarúpatvát prágabháva tathá pradhnamsábháva evam
anaranra bhávánáma
durniruparatvat kevalátántábhávisti][**).]
[**P1 wrote:
transliteration:
jaga brahma swaroopaswat .....thatha pascham sabhav evam
......bhavaa--
naam .......
..........., some of the words not clear. If the image
can be captured clearly,
it can be checked
with original text.]
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CHAPTER CLXVI.
ON THE ATTRIBUTES OF THE DIVINE SPIRIT: IN THE FORM
OF A DIALOGUE.
Argument:--Definition of supreme soul and its synonyms
and its
simile to a blue stone.
Vasishtha continued:--The true sense of the word
soul or self, is to be understood from the title which is
applied to it; and this title of the soul is borne out by
the
simile, of the solid and transparent blue stone.
2. It is from the beginning of creation, that the vacuous
soul is thus diffused in itself; and the reflexion which
it casts in
its own vacuity, the same passes under the name of this
world
or creation,
3. There runs no river in it, nor there rises nor sinks
any
rock in the same; it is the mere vacuum subsisting in its
infinite
void, wherein the intellect reflects itself without any
action
or bidding or fiat[**OK] of it.
4. This reflexion of the Divine Intellect, was without
its
utterance of "word" and quite without its
"will" or "thought"[**.]
It was also without the appliance of any subsequent
material
(as matter), and this is the true sense of the word soul
or self.
5. The soul itself is the whole world, which has no other
expression for it; and being devoid of a name, it is
expressible
by no other name though they give many name[**names] to
it.
6. Its name being nameless, whatever appellation they put
to
it, is not opposite but inappropriate to it; what is the
good
therefore of giving it a name or no[**space added] name
at all.
7. Its namelessness or giving it a misnomer or improper
expression,
is all the same; since all what is visible, is no other
than a display of the wondrous fabric of the Divine Mind.
8. Whatever shines in any manner, in the empty space of
the Divine mind at any time; the same shines forth even
then
-----File: 330.png---------------------------------------------------------
and in that manner, as the rays of that Intellect,
(emanating
therefrom, and concentrating into all other minds).
9. It is denominated by one as soul, by another as asat,
and
by some as nothing; all these are the mystery of
intellect only,
but in fact, all are the attributes of soul.
10. The word itself conveys the meaning of
self-[**--]soul, It is
without beginning and end, and no language can express
it;
in fact, it is an undivided whole.
11. Now listen to a long narrative which hangs on this
subject, and which will serve to gladden your hearts and
ears,
by removing the duality from your sight, and by
enlightening
your understanding (with knowledge of the unity).
12. Know that there is a very large crystal stone,
extending
itself to thousands of leagues in space; and stretching
like the
solid cerulean fabric of the firmament, or as the blue
sky all
around us.
13. It is all of a piece without any joining of parts in
it, and
is as dense and compact as the hard adamant; it is thick,
big
and bulky in its size, but at the same time as clear and
far as
the face of the sky.
14. It continues from countless times, and endures to
endless
duration; and with its comely and pellucid body, it
appears
as the clear firmament, or the blank vacuum on high.
15. No one ever knows its nature or genus, from his
having never seen anything of the same kind, nor does any
body
know from when and where, it hath come to existence. (All
know it is, but none knows how and whence it is).
16. It does not contain anything substantial, as the
material
elements within itself; and yet it is as dense and
solidified in
itself, as a crystaline[**crystalline] and indissoluble
as an adamant.
17. Yet it is composed of innumerable streaks and
strokes,
which are embodied in itself; and these resemble the
veins and
fibres on lotus leaves, and the marks of conches
ect.[**etc.] in Hari's
feet.
18. These marks are named as air, water, earth, fire and
vacuum, though there are no such things to be found
therein;
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except that the stone was possest [**[a]] living soul,
which it imparted
to its marks.
19. Ráma rejoined:--Tell me sir, how that stone of yours,
could have life or sensibility in it; the stone is an
insensible
thing, and could not give names to the marks on its body.
20. Vasishtha replied:--That immense and luminous stone,
is neither a sentient nor inert body; no body knows its
nature
and state, and there is no other like it.
21. Ráma said:--Tell me sir, who ever saw those marks,
which are imprinted in the bosom of that stone; and how
could any one ever break that stone, in order to see its
contents
and its marks.
22. Vasishtha replied:--It is hard to break this hard
stone,
nor has anybody been ever able to break it; by cause of
its extending
over infinite space, and encompassing all bodies within
its bosom. (So says the sruti:--There is nothing but is
encompassed
by it-[**--]the all pervading soul).
23. It is full of numberless spots in its spacious
cavity; and
these consist of the marks of mountains and trees, and of
countries,
towns and cities.
24. There are also small and large dots in it, with any
form
or figure of them; but serve to represent the forms of
men, and
gods and demigods in them, as an outline shows the images
of
things.
25. There is a long line drawn in it in the form of a
circle,
which represents the great circle of the visible sky or
horizon;
and this contains the two central points, signifying the
sun and
moon.
26. Ráma said--Tell me sir, who ever saw those marks of
such forms; and how it is possible for any body, to look
into
the cell of a solid or hallow[**hollow?] ball.
27. Vasishtha replied:--It is I, O Ráma, that beheld
those
marks of different forms in that impenetrable block; and
it is
possible for you to look into it, if you will but like to
do so.
28. Ráma said:--How could you sir, look into those marks
inside that solid stone, which you say, is as stiff as
adamant, and
incapable of being broken or perforated by any means.
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332.png---------------------------------------------------------
29. Vasishtha replied:--It was by means of my being
seated, in the very heart of that stone; that I came to
see those
marks, as also to penetrate into their meanings.
30. Who else is able to penetrate into that rigid stone
besides
myself, who have been able by my penetration, to pry and
pierce into the mysteries of those hidden marks.
31. Tell me sir, what is that stone and what are you
yourself;
explain to me where you are and what you are speaking,
and what are those things that you have seen and known to
mean.[** question mark should be placed here]
32. Vasishtha replied:--It is the supreme soul, which is
the
sole entity and sober reality; and this is represented by
figure
of speech, as the great stone, of which I have been
speaking
to you?[** should be period and not'?']
33. We are all situated in the cavity of this supreme
spirit,
and the three worlds form the flesh of this Great being,
who is
devoid of all substantiality.
34. Know the spacious firmament to be a part of this
solid
rock, and the ever flying winds as fragment of its body;
the
fleeting time and evanescent sounds together with all our
varying
actions and desires, and the imaginations of our minds,
to be but the fugacious particles of its substance.
35. The earth, air, water and fire, and the vacuum and
understanding also, together with our egoism and
sensibilities,
are the portions and sections of its totality,[**.]
36. We are all but bits and parcels of the great rock of
the supreme soul, and every thing whatever there is in
existence,
proceeds from that source, and we know of no other cause
or
causality whatsoever.
37. This large stone is the great rock of Divine
Intellect,
and there is nothing whatever, which is beside and beyond
its
intelligence. Say then if there be any such thing and
what
it bears.
38. All things are but mere notions of them, as those of
a
pot or cot, a picture and all others; they appear in us
as our
dreams, and rise before us as the waves of water, (which
are
no other but water).
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333.png---------------------------------------------------------
39. It is all the substance of Brahma and the essence of
the great Intellect, which fills and pervades the whole;
know
therefore all these as one, with the substantiality of
the
Supreme spirit, and all as quiet and calm as itself.
40. Thus all this plenum is situated, in the bosom of the
great rock of the intellect; which is without its
beginning,
middle and end, and without any hole therein, or doorway
thereto. Therefore it is the Supreme soul only which
contemplates
in itself, and produces (as the object of its thought),
this
ideal creation of the universe (or the one
coverted[**converted] into
many),
and which passes under the title of the visible or
phenomenal
world.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to Brahmasri Sreemaan Vihari Lala Mitra ji for the
collection)
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