The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki
The only complete English translation is
by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891).
CHAPTER LV.—Meeting of Vasishtha and Dāsūra.
Argument. Dāsūra's reception of Vasishtha,
their conversation
and Parting.
Vasishtha said:—Hear me, Rāma, that art the
delight of Raghu's race,
and shinest as the moon in the firmament of
Raghu's family; that after I
heard the conversation that was going on
between Dāsūra and his son:—
2. I alighted from the sky on the top of the
Kadamba tree, which was
decorated with its verdant leaves, and
beautiful fruits and flowers; and
then with my spiritual body, I sat myself
slowly and silently on the top
of the tree, as a light cloud alights on the
summit of a mountain.
3. I beheld Dāsūra there, sitting as a giant
by subduing the organs of
his body, and shining with the lustre of his
devotion, as the fire
blazing with its flame.
4. The lustre issuing from his body, had
strewn his seat with purple
gold, and lighted that spot, as the sun-beams
emblazon the world.
5. Seeing me presenting myself before him,
Dāsūra spread a leafy seat
for me to sit down, and then honoured me
according to the rules of
ceremonial law.
6. Then I joined with the luminous Dāsūra in
continuation of his
discourse, which was meant for the
edification of his son, and salvation
of mankind from the miseries of life.
7. I then with permission of Dāsūra, looked
into the hollow of the tree,
and the herds of stags pasturing fearlessly
about it, and grazing and
gathering about it.
8. It was as delightful as a bower overhung
with creepers, where the
smiling flowers were shedding their light,
and breathing their fragrance
to the winds.
9. The chowry deer flapped their long hairy
and moon-bright tails,
against the herbaceous arbour, as the white
flimsy clouds sweep over the
sky.
10. The tree was adorned with fringes of
pearly dewdrops, and arrayed
all over with the flowery garb of his
blossoms.
11. Smeared with the dust of its flowers, it
appeared to be anointed
with sandal paste; while its blowsy bark
mantled it in roseate red.
12. Decorated with flowers, the tree seemed
to stand in its bridal
attire; and resembled the bridegroom in
mutual embrace with the twining
brides.
13. The bowers of shrubberies all around,
resembled the leafy huts of
hermits, which with their overtopping
blossoms, seemed as a city,
flaring with flying flags (or banners) in
festivity.
14. Shaken by the stages in the act of
rubbing their bodies, the trees
darted their flowers in abundance upon the
ground; and the border-lands
were as shattered, as if they were broken by
the horns of fighting
bulls.
15. Peacocks daubed with dust of flowers, and
flying on the top of the
adjacent hill, appeared as evening clouds
gliding over it.
16. Here the goddess Flora seemed to be
sporting in the lawns, with the
roseate flowers in her hands, and smiling
sweetly in the blooming
blossoms; she revelled with the nectarine
honey of flowers; and shed her
beauty on all sides.
17. The closing buds resembling her eyelids,
were lulled to sleep by the
forest breeze, breathing incessantly with the
fragrance of the flowers.
The clusters of flowers forming her breasts,
were hid under the bodice
of leaves.
18. She sat at the window of her alcove,
formed by the twining plants
and creepers, and was dressed in the purple
garb of the flying farina of
flowers.
19. She swang in her swinging cradle of
bluish blossoms, and was adorned
with various floral ornaments from her head
to foot.
20. She moved about the flowers in the garb
of the sylvan goddess and
looking with her cerulean eyes of fluttering
blue-bees on all sides; and
sang to them in the sweet notes of the black
kokila in the arbours.
21. The bees tired with their labour of love,
refreshed themselves with
sipping the dew-drops trickling on the tops
of the flowers, and then
making their repast on the farinaceous meal,
slept together with their
mates, in the cells of the flower cups.
22. The couples of bees dwelling in the cells
of flowers, and giddy with
sipping the honey of the flower cups; were
humming their love tunes to
one another.
23. The sage remained attentive for a moment
to the murmur, proceeding
from the village beyond the forest; and now
he listened with pricked up
ears, to the busy buzz of blue-bees and flies
at a distance.
24. The sages then beheld with their down
cast looks on moon-beams,
which were spread like a sheet of fine linen
on the blades of grass upon
the ground below.
25. They beheld the beautiful antelopes,
which slept in their leafy beds
on the ground, below the stretching boughs of
shady trees, as if they
were the progeny of their native forest.
26. They saw the fearless birds chirping upon
the branches, and others
sleeping confident in their nests; and they
beheld the ground covered by
living creatures, feasting on the ripe fruits
fallen below.
27. They saw the long lines of black-bees,
lying mute on the ground like
strings of beads, and blackening it with
their sable bodies.
28. The forest was redolent with fragrance,
and the sky was overhung by
a cloud of flowers; the dust of Kadamba
blossoms tinged the ground with
ambergrease, and the Kadamba fruits covered
the face of the land.
29. What need is there of saying more, than
that there was no part of
the tree, which was not useful to living
beings.
30. Here the deer were sleeping on the fallen
leaves and there were
others resting on the barren ground; the
birds sat on the banks and
beaches of the rivulets all about that lofty
tree.
31. As they were viewing in this manner the
beauties of the forest, the
night passed away as soon as a night of
festivity.
32. The son of the hermit kept conversing
with me on many subjects, and
derived many useful instructions from my
teaching.
33. As we had been conversing with one
another on different subjects,
the night passed away as soon as that of a
conjugal pair.
34. Now it began to dawn, and the blushing
flowers commenced to ope
their petals; while the host of the stars on
high, disappeared from
their arena of the sky.
35. I then took my departure, and was
followed by the hermit and his son
to some distance from their Kadamba tree,
where I left them for my
aerial course to the heavenly stream.
36. There having performed my holy ablution,
I came down under the vault
of heaven, and then entered the celestial
region of the sages, which is
situated in the midway sky.
37. Now I have related to you, Rāma, this
story of Dāsūra, that you may
learn from his instance the unreality of the
apparent world, and as it
is but a shadow of the ideal one (in the
Divine mind).
38. It was for this reason, that I have given
you the narrations of
Dāsūra, by way of explanation of the
phenomenal world, as a shadow of
the noumenal.
39. Now therefore know the Spirit like
Dāsūra, and imitate his example
in the magnanimity of your soul. Forsake the
unreal, and pursue the
reality for your permanent delight.
40. Rub out the dirt of desire from your
mind, and see the image of
truth in it as in a mirror; you will thus attain
to the highest state of
knowledge, and be honoured in all worlds as a
perfect being.
CHAPTER LVI.—On the Soul and its Inertness.
Argument. Consideration of the activity and
inactivity of the
Soul, and the Vanity of the Visibles.
Vasishtha continued:—Knowing the world as a
nihility, you must cease to
take any delight in it; for what reasonable
being is there in it that
would delight in its unreality.
2. If you take the phenomenal world for a
reality, you may continue to
enslave yourself to the unreal material; and
lose the spiritual nature
of your soul.
3. Or if you know it to be a temporary
existence, why then should you
take any interest in what is so frail and
unstable, rather than care for
your immortal soul?
4. The world is no substantial existence, nor
are you a being of its
unsubstantiality; it is only a clear
reflection of the divine mind, and
extending over all infinity. (And which is
refracted into all individual
minds as in prismatic glasses).
5. The world is neither an agent itself, nor
is it the act of any agent
at all; it is simply the reflexion of the
noumenal, without any agency
of its own.
6. Whether the world is with or without an
agent, or has a maker or not,
yet you can not tell it as a real substance,
except that it appears so
to your mind.
7. The soul is devoid of all organs of
action, and with all its
activity, it remains motionless and without
action, as anything that is
inactive and immovable.
8. The world is the production of a
fortuitous chance (Kākatāliya
Sanyoga), and none but boys place any
reliance in it. (The world here
means our existence in it, which is an act of
chance).
9. The world is neither stable nor fragile,
but it is mutable from one
state to another, as it is known by its
repeated reproductions and
visibility to us.
10. It is neither everlasting, nor is it a
momentary thing; its constant
mutability contradicts its firmness; and its
nihility, (as stated
before) is opposed to its temporariness. (The
dictum of the Veda of the
eternity of asat—nullity, nullifies its temporariness).
11. If the soul is the active power without
its organs of action, it
must be unfailing and entire; because the
continuance of its inorganic
operations can not weaken its powers. (I.e.
the performance of bodily
actions debilitates the body; but the
immaterial mind is not impaired by
its activity).
12. Therefore there is an irresistible
destiny, which is absolutely
overruling; it is existence and inexistence itself,
it is sedate and
continuous, and all visible perturbations are
but false appearances.
13. The limit of a hundred years of human
life, is but a very small
portion of unlimited duration; it is
therefore very astonishing that any
one should be concerned with this small
portion of his existence, here
(in utter disregard of his eternal life).
14. Granting the durability of worldly
affairs, yet they are not
deserving of your reliance; for what faith
can you rely on the union of
two such opposites as the mind and matter?
(The one being sensible and
the other insensible, the one being infinite
and imperishable, and the
other a finite and frail substance).
15. But if the state of worldly things be
unsteady and uncertain, it can
not be deserving of your confidence. Say, can
you be sorry at the
dissolving of the foam and froth of the milk
or water, then why should
you lament at the loss of the perishable? (So
said the Grecian
philosopher: yesterday I saw a fragile
breaking, and today I saw a
mortal die).
16. Know, O strong armed Rāma! that reliance
on the world, is the fetter
of the soul to it; it does not behove any
body to join the perishable
and imperishable together like the water and
its froth. (The one being
lasting and the other a transient thing).
17. Although the soul is the agent (or
source) of all actions, yet it
remains as no agent at all; it is unconnected
with its actions, as the
lamp with its light. (The mind being the doer
of actions and not the
soul).
18. Doing all it does nothing, but like the
sun directs the business of
the day without doing anything by itself. It
moves like the sun without
moving from its place, but retains its
station in its own orbit. (The
sun is the causal agent of diurnal duties,
but men are the active agents
of their actions).
19. There is some other hidden cause guiding
the course of the world,
beside the soul and body; as there is an
unknown cause of the course of
the Aruna river, notwithstanding its being
blocked by stones.
20. When you have known this for certain, O
Rāma by your own
proficiency, and have well ascertained this
truth by its clearest
evidence:—
21. You ought no more to place any reliance
on material things, which
are as false as an ambient flame, or a vision
in dream, or as any
falsehood whatever.
22. As a stranger is not to be taken into
your friendship, on his first
appearance; so you must never trust or rely
on anything of this world
through your ignorance.
23. Never place your reliance on anything of
this world, with that fond
desire, as the heated man looks to the moon,
the cold-stricken to the
sun, and the thirsty doth to the water in the
mirage.
24. Do you look upon this ideal world (which
is born of your brain), as
you view a creature of your conception, a
vision in your dream, or an
apparition or the appearance of two moons in
the sky, by your visual
deception.
25. Shun your reliance on the fair creation
of your imagination (the
objects of sight &c.), and without
minding what you are, conduct
yourself cheerfully in your sphere.
26. Shun your desires and the thought of your
agency, even when you are
doing any thing at all. (The soul residing in
the body, is yet aloof
from all its acts, though its presence in the
body, justifies its being
accessary to if not the accomplice of them.
(Gloss)).
27. It is a general law (niyati, or nature of
things), that the
propinquity of the cause, causes the act,
even without the will of the
actor; as the presence of the lamp,
enlightens the room without the will
of the lamp. (An involuntary action is no
less the act of the actor than
a voluntary one).
28. Look at the kurchi tree blooming and blossoming under the
influence of heavy clouds, and not of its own
accord. So it is destined
for the three worlds to appear to sight,
under the influence of the
Supreme Being (though he may not will or ordain
it so). (So also the
presence of matter, effects the work by
material laws, without the
special behest or employment of the matter to
the performance of same.
Gloss).
29. As the appearance of the sun in the sky,
employs all beings to their
diurnal duties without his will or
injunction, so the omnipresence of
God causes the actions of all beings of their
own spontaneity, and
without his will, act or fiat. (This is
called the overruling and
universal destiny).
30. And as a bright gem reflects its light, without
any will on its
part; so the mere existence of the Deity,
causes the existence of all
worlds (as they are in attendance upon His
presence).
31. Thus are causality and its want also both
situated in your soul,
which is thence called the cause of your
actions, because of its
presence in the body; and as no cause
likewise owing to its want of will
(which is the property of the mind; and not
of the soul).
32. The entity of the soul being beyond the
perception of sense, it is
neither the agent nor recipient of any
action; but being confined in the
sensible body, it is thought to be both an
active and passive agent.
33. Thus the properties both of causality and
its want, reside in the
soul; you may take it in any light, you may
choose for your purpose, and
rest content with your belief.
34. But by firmly believing yourself to be
situated in the body, and
your doing of actions without thinking
yourself as their author, will
save you from the culpability of all your
acts.
35. The man that does not employ his mind to
his actions, becomes
indifferent (virāga) to the world; and he is
freed from it, who is
certain of his being no agent of his actions.
36. Whether a man is fond of his enjoyments,
or forsakes them in
disgust; it is all the same to him, if he but
think himself to be no
actor of them. (Set not your mind to act, if
you want to be set free in
fact).
37. But if you wish to remain, Rāma, with
your high ambition of doing
every thing in the world, that is also good,
and you may try to do the
same.
38. But if I do not fall to so great an
error, as to have this high
aspiration of yours, I am never liable to the
passions of anger and
enmity, and other violent emotions in this
world.
39. The bodies that we bear, are nourished by
some and immolated by
others: such being the state of our own
being; we have no cause for our
joy or sorrow in it.
40. Knowing ourselves to be the authors of
our own happiness and misery,
and as causes of the rise and dissolution of
the world from our view, we
have no reason to be joyous or sorry in it.
41. Then there is an end of the joys and
sorrows of our own making, when
we have that sweet composure, which is a balm
to all the diseases in our
soul.
42. Fellow feeling to all living beings,
makes the best state of the
mind; and the soul that is so disposed, is
not subject to
transmigration.
43. Or make this the best lesson, Rāma! for
your conduct in life, that
with all your activities, you continue to
think yourself as no actor at
all. (Because the belief of one's agency,
leads him to the fruition of
this act in repeated births).
44. Remain quiet and steady as thou art, by
resigning all things to
themselves; and never think that it is thou
that dost or undoest
anything (which is destined to be so or
otherwise by the Divine will).
45. But if you look to the different modes of
your doing one thing or
the other, you can have no rest or quiet, but
must run in the way
leading to the trap of perpetual toil and
misery.
46. The belief of a man's corporeality, that
he is a destructible body,
and no spiritual being, is to him but a bed
of thorns; it must therefore
be avoided by all means, in order to evade
the danger of his imminent
destruction.
47. Corporeality is to be shunned as a
hell-hound feeding on canine
meat; and after disappearance of the cloud of
corporeity from view, the
light of spirituality will appear before the
sight.
48. The pure light of spirituality; presents
the appearance of the
bright moon-beams of holiness, after
dispersion of clouds of corporeal
desires; and it is by the help of this light,
that the spiritualist is
enabled to steer across the ocean of this
world.
49. Do you, O Rāma, remain in that best and
blessed state, wherein the
wisest, best and holiest of men have found
their rest; and it is the
constant habit of thinking yourself as
nothing nor doing anything; or
that you are all things and doing every
thing; as the Supreme soul knows
itself to be; and that you are some person,
having a personality of your
own, and yet no body (i.e. not the body in which thou dost abide); but
a spiritual and transcendent being.
CHAPTER LVII.—Nature of Volleity and Nolleity.
Argument. The bondage of volition causing our
perdition, and the
freedom of Nolition as leading to salvation.
Rāma said—Thy words, O Brāhman! are true and
well spoken also. I find
the soul to be the inactive agent of actions,
and the impassive
recipient of their effects, as also the
spiritual cause of the
corporeal.
2. I find the soul to be the sole lord of
all, and ubiquitous in its
course; it is of the nature of intelligence
and of the form of
transparency. It resides in all bodies, as
the five elements compose the
terraqueous bodies.
3. I now come to understand the nature of
Brahma, and I am as pacified
by thy speech, as the heated mountain is
cooled by rain waters.
4. From its secludedness and nolleity, it
neither does nor receives any
thing; but its universal pervasion, makes it
both the actor and
sufferer.
5. But sir, there is a doubt too vivid and
rankling in my mind, which I
pray you to remove by your enlightened
speech, as the moon-beams dispel
the darkness of the night.
6. Tell me Sir, whence proceed these
dualities, as the reality of one
and the unreality of the other, and that this
is I and this not myself.
And if the soul is one and indivisible, how
is this one thing and that
another.
7. There being but one self-existent and
self-evident soul from the
beginning, how comes it to be subjected to
these oppositions, as the
bright disk of sun comes to be obscured under
the clouds.
8. Vasishtha answered:—Rāma! I will give the
right answer to this
question of yours, as I come to the
conclusion; and then you will learn
the cause of these biplicities.
9. You will not be able, Rāma! to comprehend
my answers to these queries
of yours, until you come to be acquainted
with my solution of the
question of liberation.
10. As it is the adult youth only, who can
appreciate the beauty of a
love-song; so it is the holy man only, who
can grasp the sense of my
sayings on these abstruse subjects.
11. Sayings of such great importance, are as
fruitless with ignorant
people, as a work on erotic subjects is
useless to children.
12. There is a time for the seasonableness of
every subject to men, as
it is the season of autumn which produces the
harvest and not the vernal
spring.
13. The preaching of a sermon is selectable
to old men, as fine
colourings are suitable to clean canvas; and
so a spiritual discourse of
deep sense, suits one who has known the
Spirit.
14. I have ere while mentioned something,
which may serve to answer your
question, although you have not fully
comprehended its meaning, to
remove your present doubts.
15. When you shall come to know the Spirit in
your own spirit, you will
doubtlessly come to find the solution of your
query by yourself.
16. I will fully expound to you the subject
matter of your inquiry, at
the conclusion of my argument; when you shall
have arrived to a better
knowledge of these things.
17. The spiritualist knows the spirit in his
own spirit; and it is the
good grace of the Supreme spirit, to manifest
itself to the spirit of
the spiritualist.
18. I have already related to you Rāma! the
argument concerning the
agency and inertness of the soul, yet it is
your ignorance of this
doctrine, that makes you foster your doubts.
19. The man bound to his desires is a
bondsman, and one freed from them
is said to be set free from his slavery; do
you but cast away your
desires, and you will have no cause to seek
for your freedom (as you are
then perfectly free yourself).
20. Forsake first your foul (tāmasi) desires,
and then be freed from
your desire of worldly possessions; foster
your better wishes next, and
at last incline to your pure and holy
leanings.
21. After having conducted yourself with your
pure desires, get rid of
these even at the end; and then being freed
from all desires, be
inclined to and united with your intellect (i.e. knowing all and
longing for nothing).
22. Then renounce your intellectual
propensity, together with your
mental and sensible proclivities; and lastly
having reached to the state
of staid tranquillity, get rid of your mind
also in order to set
yourself free from all other desires.
23. Be an intellectual being, and continue to
breathe your vital breath
(as long as you live); but keep your
imagination under control, and take
into no account the course of time, and the
revolution of days and
nights.
24. Forsake your desire for the objects of
sense, and root out your
sense of egoism, which is the root of desire.
Let your understanding be
calm and quiet, and you will be honoured by
all.
25. Drive away all feelings and thoughts from
your heart and mind; for
he that is free from anxieties, is superior
to all, (who labour under
anxious thoughts and cares).
26. Let a man practice his hybernation or
other sorts of intense
devotion or not, he is reckoned to have
obtained his liberation, whose
elevated mind has lost its reliance on
worldly things.
27. The man devoid of desires, has no need of
his observance or
avoidance of pious acts; the freedom of his
mind from its dependence on
anything, is sufficient for his liberation.
28. A man may have well studied the sāstras,
and discussed about them in
mutual conversation; yet he is far from his
perfection, without his
perfect inappetency and taciturnity.
29. There are men who have examined every
thing and roved in all parts
of the world; yet there are few among them that
have known the truth.
30. Of all things that are observed in the
world, there is nothing among
them which may be truly desirable, and is to
be sought after by the
wise.
31. All this ado of the world, and all the
pursuits of men, tend only
towards the supportance of the animal body;
and there is nothing in it,
leading to the edification of the rational
soul.
32. Search all over this earth, in heaven
above and in the infernal
regions below; and you will find but few
persons, who have known what is
worth knowing. (The true nature of the soul
and that of God, is unknown
to all finite beings every where).
33. It is hard to have a wise man, whose mind
is devoid of its firm
reliance on the vanities of the world; and
freed from its desire or
disgust of something or others, as agreeable
or disagreeable to its
state.
34. A man may be lord of the world, or he may
pierce through the clouds
and pry in heaven (by his Yoga); yet he can
not enjoy the solace of his
soul without his knowledge of it.
35. I venerate those highminded men, who have
bravely subdued their
senses; it is from them that we can have the
remedy to remove the curse
of our repeated births. (It is by divine
knowledge alone that we can
avoid the doom of transmigration).
36. I see every place filled by the five
elements, and a sixth is not to
be seen any where in the world. Such being
the case every where, what
else can I expect to find in earth or heaven
or in the regions below.
37. The wise man relying on his own reason
and judgment, outsteps the
abyss of this world, as easily as he leaps
over a ditch; but he who has
cast aside his reason, finds it as wide as
the broad ocean. (The
original word for the ditch is gospada—the cove of a cows hoof—a
cul-de-sac).
38. The man of enlightened understanding,
looks upon this globe of the
earth, as the bulb of a Kadamba flower, round
as an apple or a
ball—teres atque rotundus; he neither gives nor receives nor wants of
aught in this world.
39. Yet fie for the foolish that fight for
this mite of the earth, and
wage a warfare for destruction of millions of
their fellow creatures.
40. What, if any one is to live and enjoy the
blessings of this world
for a whole Kalpa when, he can not escape the
sorrow, consequent on the
loss of all his friends during that period.
41. He who has known the self, has no craving
for heavenly bliss within
himself; because he knows his gain of all the
three worlds, can never
conduce to the strengthening of his soul.
42. But the avaricious are not content with
all they have, and like the
body of this earth, is not full with all its
hills and mountains and
surrounding seas. (The earth is never full
with all its fullness).
43. There is nothing in this earth or in the
upper and lower worlds,
which is of any use to the sage acquainted
with spiritual knowledge.
44. The mind of the self-knowing sage, is one
vast expanse like the
spacious firmament, it is tranquil and sedate
and unconscious of itself.
45. It views the body as a network of veins
and arteries, pale and white
as frost, and all cellular within.
46. It sees the mountains floating as froth,
on the surface of the
pellucid ocean of Brahma;
it looks upon the intellect blazing as
brightly as the sun, over the mirage of
existence.
47. It finds the nature of the soul, to be as
extensive as the vast
ocean, containing the creations as its
billows; and it considers the
all-pervasive soul as a big cloud, raining
down in showers of sāstras or
knowledge.
48. The fire, moon and the sun, appear as the
fuel in a furnace,
requiring to be lighted by the blaze of the
intellect, as every opaque
atom in nature.
49. All embodied souls of men, gods and
demigods, rove in the wilderness
of the world, for feeding upon their fodder
of food, as the deer graze
in their pasturage.
50. The world is a prison house, where every
one is a prisoner with his
toilsome body. The bones are the latches of
this dungeon, the head is
its roof, and the skin its leather; and the
blood and flesh of the body,
are as the drink and food of the imprisoned.
51. Men were as dolls covered with skin for
the amusement of boys, and
they are continually roving in quest of
sustenance, like the cattle
running towards their pasture grounds.
52. But the high minded man is not of this
kind; he is not moved by
worldly temptations, as the mountain is not
to be shaken by the gentle
breeze.
53. The truly great and wise man, rests in
that highest state of
eminence; where the stations of the sun and
moon, are seen as the nether
regions.
54. It is by the light of the Supreme Spirit,
that all the worlds are
lighted, and the minds of all are enlighted.
But the ignorant are
immerged in the ocean of ignorance, and
nourish their bodies only in
disregard of their souls.
55. No worldly good can allure the heart of
the wise, who have tested
the vanity of temporal things; and no earthly
evil can obscure their
souls, which are as bright as the clear sky
which no cloud can darken.
56. No worldly pleasure can gladden the soul
of the wise man, as the
dance of monkeys can give no joy to the heart
of Hara, that delights in
the dancing of Gaurī.
57. No earthly delight can have its seat in
the heart of the wise, as
the sun-light is never reflected in a gem
hidden under a bushel.
58. The material world appears as a solid
rock to the stolid ignorant;
but it seems as the evanescent wave to the
wise. The ignorant take a
great pleasure in the transitory enjoyments
of the world; but the wise
take them to no account, as the swan disdains
to look upon the moss of
the lake.
CHAPTER LVIII.—The Song of Kacha.
Argument. The Pantheistic views of the soul
as the one in all,
is shown in the song of Kacha.
Vasishtha said:—On this subject I will tell
you, Rāma! the holy song
which was sung of old by Kacha, the son of
Vrihaspati—the preceptor of
the gods.
2. As this son of the divine tutor, resided
in a grove in some part of
the mount Meru
(the Altain chain—the homestead of the gods); he found
the tranquillity of his spirit in the Supreme
soul; by means of his holy
devotion.
3. His mind being filled with the ambrosial
draughts of divine
knowledge, he derived no satisfaction at the
sight of the visible world,
composed of the five elemental bodies.
4. Being rapt in his mind with the vision of
the Holy Spirit, he saw
nothing else beside him, and then fervently
uttered to himself in the
following strain.
5. What is there for me to do or refuse or to
receive or reject, and
what place is there for me to resort or refrain
from going to, when this
whole is filled by the Divine Spirit (to pan), as by the water of the
great deluge.
6. I find pleasure and pain inherent in the
soul, and the sky and all
its sides contained in the magnitude of the
soul. Thus knowing all
things to be full of the holy spirit, I
forget and sink all my pains in
my spirit.
7. The spirit is inside and outside of all
bodies, it is above and below
and on all sides of all. Here, there and
every where is the same spirit,
and there is no place where it is not.
8. The spirit abides every where and all
things abide in the spirit; all
things are self-same with the spirit, and I
am situated in the same
spirit.
9. There is nothing intelligent or insensible
which is not the spirit,
all is spirit and so am I also. The spirit
fills the whole space and is
situated in every place.
10. I am as full of that spirit and its
ineffable bliss, as the all
encompassing water of the great deluge. In
this manner was Kacha musing
in himself in the bower of the golden
mountain. (The Altain chain is
called the golden mountain for its abounding
in gold mines).
11. He uttered the sound Om
(on or amen), and it rang on all sides as
the ringing of a bell; he first uttered a
part of it the vocal part—o,
and then the nasal—n, which tops it as a tuft
of hair. He remained
meditating on the spirit in his mind, not as
situated in or without it
(but as the all pervasive soul).
12. Thus Rāma! did Kacha continue to muse in
himself and chant his holy
hymn, being freed from the foulness of flesh,
and rarefied in his spirit
like the breath of the wind. His soul was as
clear as the atmosphere in
autumn, after dispersion of the dark clouds
of the rainy season.
CHAPTER LIX.—Works of Brahmā's Creation.
Argument. Vanity of the World born of
Brahmā's conception. Its
Disappearance and Liberation.
Vasishtha continued:—There is nothing in this
world except the
gratification of the carnal appetites, and the
pleasure of eating,
drinking and concupiscence with the vulgar;
but it is the lasting good
of men, which is desired by the good and
great.
2. The crooked and creeping beings and
things, and beasts and wicked men
and ignorant people only are gratified with
carnal pleasures; they are
all fond of everything conducing to their
bodily enjoyments.
3. They are human asses, who dote on the
beauty of female bodies, which
are no better than lumps of flesh, blood and
bones.
4. This may be desirable to dogs and devouring
animals, but not to man
(who is a rational and spiritual being). All
animals have their fleshy
bodies, as the trees have their trunks of
wood, and the minerals their
forms of earth.
5. There is the earth below and the sky
above, and nothing that is
extraordinary before us; the senses pursue
the sensible objects, but
human reason finds no relish in them.
6. The consciousness (or intuition) of men,
leads them only to error;
and true happiness, which is desired by all
is situated beyond all
sensible objects and gratifications.
7. The end of worldly pleasure is sorrow and
misery, as the product of a
flame is soot and blackness; and the
functions of the mind and senses,
are all fleeting having their rise and fall
by turns. All enjoyments are
short lived, owing to the fugacity of the
objects, and the decay of the
powers of our enjoying.
8. Prosperity fades away as plant encircled
by a poisonous viper; and
our consorts die away as soon as anything
born of blood and flesh.
(Fortune is fleeting and life a passing
dream).
9. The delusion of love and lust, makes one
body to embrace another,
both of which are composed of impure flesh
and blood. Such are the acts,
O Rāma! that delight the ignorant.
10. Wise men take no delight in this unreal
and unstable world, which is
more poisonous than poison itself, by
infecting them that have not even
tasted the bitter gall.
11. Forsake therefore your desire of
enjoyment, and seek to be united
with your spiritual essence; because the
thought of your materiality (or
being a material body), has taken possession
of your mind (and separated
you from yourself and the spirit of God).
12. Whenever the thought of making the unreal
world, rises in the mind
of Brahmā the creator, he takes an unreal
body upon him of his own will.
13. It becomes as bright as gold by his own
light, and then he is called
Virinchi (virincipiens) on account of his will; and Brahmā also for
his being born of Brahmā. (He is represented
as of red colour, as Adam
is said to be made of red earth).
14. Rāma asked:—How does the world become a
solid substance, from its
having been of a visionary form in the spirit
or mind of God?
15. Vasishtha replied:—When the lotus-born
male (Brahmā), rose from his
cradle of the Embryo of Brahmā, he uttered
the name of Brahmā whence he
was called Brahmā. (The word Brahm answers
the Hebrew Brahum—create
them, and corresponds with the Latin ficet—bhuya [Bengali: bhuya]).
16. He then had the conception (Sankalpa) of the
world in his own
imagination, and the same assumed a visible
and solid form by the power
of his will, called the conceptional or
conceived world. (Sankalpasrī).
17. He conceived at first luminous idea of
light, which having assumed a
visible form spread on all sides, as a
creeping plant is outstretched
all about in autumn. (Light was the first
work of creation).
18. The rays of this light pierced all sides
like threads of gold; they
shone and spread themselves both above and
below.
19. Concealed amidst this light, the
lotus-born Hiranyagarbha, conceived
in his mind a figure like his luminous form,
and produced it as the four
faced Brahmā.
20. Then the sun sprung forth from that
light, and shone as a globe of
gold amidst his world encircling beams.
21. He held the locks of his flaming hair on
his head, which flashed as
fire all around him; and filled the sphere of
heaven with heat and
light.
22. The most intelligent Brahmā, produced
afterwards some other luminous
forms from portions of that light, which
proceeded from it like waves of
the ocean (and these are thence called the
Marīchis or rays, who were
the first patriarchs of other created
beings).
23. These most potent and competent beings,
were also possessed of their
concepts and will, and they produced in a
moment the figures as they
thought of and willed.
24. They conceived the forms of various other
beings also, which they
produced one after the other, as they desired
and willed.
25. Then did Brahmā bring to his recollection
the eternal vedas and the
many ceremonial rites, which he established
as laws in his house of this
world.
26. Having taken the gigantic body of Brahma,
and the extensive form of
the mind—manas, he produced the visible world
as his own
offspring—Santati. (Brahmā means brihat—great; and santate derived
from the root tan Latin-leoreo means continuation of race).
27. He stretched the seas and mountains, and
made the trees and upper
worlds. He raised the Meru on the surface of
the earth, and all the
forests and groves upon it.
28. It was he who ordained happiness and
misery, birth and death and
disease and decay; and he created the
passions and feelings of living
beings, under their threefold divisions of
satva, rajas and tamas.
29. Whatever has been wrought by the hands
(faculties) of the mind of
Brahma before, the same continues to be still
perceived by our deluded
vision.
30. He gave the mind and laws to all beings,
and makes the worlds anew
as they are situated in his mind.
31. It is error, that has given rise to the
erroneous conception of the
eternity of the world, whereas it is the
conception of the mind alone
that creates the ideal forms. (The world is
neither material nor
substantial, but a conceptual and ideal
creation of the mind).
32. The acts of all things in the world, are
produced by their
conception and wishes; and it is the concept
or thought, that binds the
gods also to their destiny.
33. The great Brahmā that was the source of
the creation of the world,
sits in the meditative mood, contemplating on
all that he has made.
34. It was by a motion of the mind, that the
wonderful form of the
living principle was formed; and it was this
that gave rise to the whole
world, with all its changeful phenomena.
35. It made the gods Indra, Upendra and
Mahendra and others, and also
the hills and seas in all the worlds above
and below us, and in the ten
sides of the heaven above:—
36. Brahmā then thought in himself, "I
have thus stretched out at large
the net work of my desire, I will now cease
from extending the objects
of my desire any further".
37. Being so determined, he ceased from the
toil of his creation, and
reflected on the eternal spirit in his own
spirit. (According to the
Sruti:—the spirit is to be reflected in the
spirit).
38. By knowing the spirit, his mind was
melted down by its effulgence,
and reclined on it with that ease, as one
finds in his soft sleep after
long labour.
39. Being freed from his selfishness and
egoism, he felt that perfect
tranquillity which the soul receives by
resting in itself, and which
likens the calmness of the sea by its
subsidence in itself.
40. The Lord sometimes leaves off his
meditation, as the reservoirs of
water sometimes overflow their banks and
boundaries.
41. He beholds the world as a vale of misery,
with very little of
happiness in it; and where the soul is fast
bound to its alternate
passions, and led by the changes of its hopes
and fears.
42. He takes pity on the miserable condition
of man, and with a view of
their welfare, promulgates the sacred sāstras
and rites, which are full
of meaning for their guidance.
43. He propounds the Vedas and their
branches—the Vedāngas, which are
fraught with spiritual knowledge, and precepts
of wisdom, and he
revealed the Puranas and other sāstras for
the salvation of mankind.
44. Again the spirit of Brahmā reclined on
the supreme spirit, and was
relieved from its toil; and then remained as
tranquil as the becalmed
ocean, after its churning by the Mandara.
45. Brahmā having observed the efforts of
mankind on earth, and
prescribed to them the rules of their
conduct, returned to himself,
where he sat reclined on his lotus seat.
46. He remains some times entirely devoid of
all his desires; and at
others he takes upon him his cares for
mankind from his great kindness
to them.
47. He is neither simple in his nature, nor
does he assume or reject his
form in the states of his creation and
cessation. He is no other than
intelligence, which is neither present in nor
absent from any place.
48. He is conversant with all states and
properties of things, and is as
full as the ocean without intermixture of any
crude matter in him.
49. Sometimes he is quite devoid of all
attributes and desires, and is
only awakened from his inertness, by his own
desire of doing good to his
creatures.
50. I have thus expounded to you concerning
the existence of Brahmā
(Brāhmi Sthiti), and his real states of
Sātvika, Vidhyanika and
Suranikas creation. (The first is the
creation of his intellectual
nature, and the second that of his mind or
will or mental form).
51. The intellectual creation is what rises
of itself in the Spirit of
Brahma, and the mental is the result of his
mind and will. The first is
the direct inspiration of Brahmā into the
Spirit of Brahmā.
52. After creation of the material world by
the rājasika nature of
Brahmā, there rises the visible creation in
the air by the will of the
creator. (This is called the madhyanika, because it is the
intermediate creation, between the elemental
and animal creations).
53. In the next step of animal creation, some
were born as gods (angels)
and others us Yakshas—demigods, and this is
called the suranika,
because the suras or gods were created in it.
54. Every creature is born in the shape of
its inherent nature, and then
it is either elevated or degraded, according
to the nature of its
associations. It lays also the foundation of
its future state of bondage
to birth or liberation, by its acts,
commenced in the present life.
55. In this manner, O Rāma! has the world
come to existence. Its
creation is evidently a work of labour, as it
is brought to being by
various acts of motion and exertion of the
body and mind; and all these
products of the god's will, are sustained
also by continuous force and
effort on his part.
CHAPTER LX.—Production of Living Beings.
Argument. Production of the bodies of Living
Beings, according
to the degrees of their Reason.
Vasishtha continued:—O strong armed Rāma!
after the great father of
creation, he took himself to his activity, he
formed and supported the
worlds by his energy and might.
2. All living and departed souls, are tied
like buckets by the rope of
their desire, and made to rise and fall in
this old well of the world,
by the law of their predetermined destiny (or
Fate that binds Siva or
Jove himself).
3. All beings proceeding from Brahmā, and
entering the prison house of
the world, have to be concentrated into the
body of the air-born Brahmā;
as all the waters of the sea have to be
whirled into the whirlpool in
the midst of the sea. (All things were
contained in and produced from
Brahmā the Demiurge).
4. Others are continually springing from the
mind of Brahmā, like sparks
of fire struck out of a red-hot iron; while
many are flying to it as
their common centre.
5. Rāma! all lives are as the waves in the
ocean of the everlasting
spirit of Brahma; they rise and fall in him
according to his will.
6. They enter into the atmospheric air, as
the smoke rises and enters
the clouds, and are at last mixed up together
by the wind, in the spirit
of Brahma.
7. They are then overtaken by the elementary particles,
or atoms flying
in the air, which lay hold on them in a few
days; as the demons seize
the host of gods with violence. (These become
the living and embodied
souls, joined with the many properties of the
elements).
8. Then the air breathes the vital breath in
these bodies; which infuses
life and vigour in them.
9. Thus do living beings manifest themselves
on earth, while there are
others flying in the form of smoke as living
spirits. (So the
spiritualists view the spirits in the
etherial clouds).
10. Some of them appear in their subtle
elemental forms in their airy
cells in the sky, and shine as bright as the
beams of the luminous moon.
(These are lingadehas or individual spiritual bodies).
11. Then they fall upon the earth like the
pale moonbeams falling upon
the milky ocean.
12. There they alight as birds in the groves
and forests, and become
stiffened by sipping the juice of fruits and
flowers.
13. Then losing their aerial and bright forms
of the moon-beams, they
settle on those fruits and flowers: and suck
their juice like infants
hanging upon the breasts of their mothers.
(These are the protozoa, the
first and embryonic state of living beings).
14. The protozoa are strengthened by drinking
the juice of the fruits,
which are ripened by the light and heat of
the sun, and then they remain
in a state of insensibility; until they enter
the animal body.
15. The animated animalcules, remain in the
womb with their undeveloped
desires; in the same manner as the unopening
leaves, are contained in
the seed of the bata or Indian fig tree.
16. All lives are situated in the Great God,
as fire is inherent in the
wood, and the pot resides in the earth; and
it is after many processes
that they have their full development.
17. One that has received no bodily form, and
yet moves on without
manifesting itself, is said to be a satya or spiritual being, and has
a large scope of action (as the gods).
18. He is said to have a satvika birth, who gets his liberation in or
after his life time; but whoever is obliged
to be reborn by his acts, is
said to belong to the rājas-sātvika class.
19. Any one of this class who is born to rule
over others, becomes giddy
with pride (tamas), he is said to be of the
nature of ignorance
tāmasika, and I will now speak of this class of beings.
20. Those who are born originally with their
sātvika nature, are pure in
their conduct and have never to be born
again.
21. Men of rāja-sātvika temperament have to
be reborn on earth; but
being elevated by their reasoning powers,
they have no more to be born
in this nether world.
22. Those who have directly proceeded from
the Supreme Spirit (without
any intermixture of these natures), are men
fraught with every quality,
and are very rare on earth.
23. The various classes of tāmasa creatures of ignorance, are both
insensible and speechless; and are of the
nature of immovable vegetables
and minerals, that need no description.
24. How many among the gods and men, have
been reborn to the cares of
the world, owing to the demerit of their past
action; and I myself
though fraught with knowledge and reason, am
obliged to lead a life of
the rājasa-sātvika kind (owing to my
interference in society).
25. It is by your ignorance of the Supreme,
that you behold the vast
extension of the world; but by considering it
rightly you will soon find
all this to be but the One Unity.
——
Notes on the Suranika, Sātvika &c.
1. The Vidhyanika; is the sphere of the eternal laws of God,
presided over by Brahmā, who is thence styled
the Vidhi or
dispensator of the laws of the creation of
the mundane system.
2. The Suranika; is the sphere of the Supernatural powers or
the divine agencies, governing and regulating
the management of
created nature. This is the angelic sphere of
deities.
3. Narānīka; is the sphere of human being, consisting also of
the subordinate orders of beings, placed
under the dominion of
man. This is the sublunary sphere wherewith
we are concerned.
4. The Sātvika; are righteous men, endued
with the quality of
goodness.
5. The Rājasika; is the body politic, guided
by the laws of
society.
6. The Tāmasika; is the ignorant rabble, and
infatuated
people.
CHAPTER LXI.—On Birth, Death and Existence.
Argument. The Liberation of the
Rājasa-sātvika natures, and
description of knowledge and Indifference.
Vasishtha continued:—Those that are born with
the nature of
Rājasa-sātvika, remain highly pleased in the world, and are
as
gladsome in their faces, as the face of the
sky with the serene light of
the moon-beams.
2. Their faces are not darkened by
melancholy, but are as bright as the
face of heaven; they are never exposed to
troubles, like the lotus
flowers to the frost of night.
3. They never deviate from their even nature,
but remain unmoved as the
immovable bodies; and they persist in their
course of beneficence, as
the trees yield their fruits to all.
4. Rāma! the rāja and sātva natured man, gets
his liberation in the same
manner, as the disk of the moon receives its
ambrosial beams.
5. He never forsakes his mildness, even when
he is in trouble; but
remains as cool as the moon even in her
eclipse. He shines with the
lovely virtue of fellow-feeling to all.
6. Blessed are the righteous, who are always
even tempered, gentle and
as handsome as the forest trees, beset by
creepers with clusters of
their blossoms.
7. They keep in their bounds, as the sea
remains within its boundaries,
and are meek like yourself in their even
tempers. Hence they never
desire nor wish for any thing in the world.
8. You must always walk in the way of the
godly, and not run to the sea
of dangers; thus you should go on without
pain or sorrow in your life.
9. Your soul will be as elevated as the
rājasa and sātvika states, by
your avoiding the ways of the ungodly, and
considering well the
teachings of the sāstras.
10. Consider well in your mind the frail
acts, which are attended with
various evils; and do those acts which are
good for the three worlds,
both in their beginning and end, and forever
to eternity.
11. The intelligent think that as dangerous
to them, and not otherwise;
by reason of their being freed from narrow
views, and the false
spectres—the offspring of ignorance.
12. You should always consider in yourself
for the enlightenment of your
understanding, and say: O Lord! what am I,
and whence is this
multiplicity of worlds?
13. By diligently considering these subjects
in the society of the wise
and righteous, you must neither be engaged in
your ceremonial acts, nor
continue in your unnecessary practices of the
rituals.
14. You must look at the disjunction of all
things in the world from you
(i.e. the temporaneousness of worldly things); and seek to associate
with the righteous, as the peacock yearns for
the rainy clouds.
15. Our inward egoism, outward body and the
external world, are the
three seas encompassing us one after the
other. It is right reasoning
only which affords the raft to cross over
them, and bring us under the
light of truth.
16. By refraining to think of the beauty and
firmness of your exterior
form, you will come to perceive the internal
light of your intellect hid
under your egoism; as the thin and connecting
thread is concealed under
a string of pearls. (The hidden thread
underlying the links of souls, is
termed Sūtrātmā.)
17. It is that eternally existent and
infinitely extended blessed
thread, which connects and stretches through
all beings; and as the gems
are strung to a string, so are all things
linked together by the latent
spirit of God.
18. The vacuous space of the Divine
Intellect, contains the whole
universe, as the vacuity of the air, contains
the glorious sun; and as
the hollow of the earth, contains an emmet.
19. As it is the same air which fills the
cavity of every pot on earth,
so it is the one and the same intellect and
spirit of God, which fills,
enlivens and sustains all bodies in every
place. (The text says, "The
Intellect knows no difference of bodies, but
pervades alike in all").
20. As the ideas of sweet and sour are the
same in all men, so is the
consciousness of the Intellect alike in all
mankind (i.e. we are
all
equally conscious of our intellectuality, as
we are of the sweetness and
sourness of things).
21. There being but one and only one real
substance in existence, it is
a palpable error of your ignorant folks to
say, "this one exists, and
the other perishes or vanishes away".
(Nothing is born or extinct, but
all exist in God. So is Malebranche's opinion
of seeing all things in
God).
22. There is no such thing, Rāma, which being
once produced, is resolved
into naught at at any time; all these are no
realities nor unrealities,
but representations or reflexions of the Real
One.
23. Whatever is visible and of temporary
existence, is without any
perceptible substantiality of its own; it is
only an object of our
fallacy, beyond which it has no existence.
(Hence they are no more than
unrealities).
24. Why, O Rāma! should any body suffer
himself to be deluded by these
unrealities? All these accompaniments here,
being no better than causes
of our delusion.
25. The accompaniment of unrealities, tends
only to our delusion here;
and if they are taken for realities, to what
good do they tend than to
delude us the more. (It is better to let the
unreal pass as unreal, than
to take them for real, and be utterly
deceived at last).
CHAPTER LXII.—Speech of the Divine Messenger.
Argument. Relation of the virtues of Rāma as
dictated in the
sāstras, and of the advancement of others, by
means of good
company and self-exertion.
The diligent and rationalistic inquirer after
truth, has a natural
aptitude to resort to the society of the
sapient and good natured Guru,
and discusses on matters of the sāstras by
the rules of the sāstras he
has learnt before and not talk at random.
2. It is thus by holding his argumentation on
the abstruse science of
yoga, with the good and great and
unavaricious learned, that he can
attain to true wisdom.
3. The man that is thus acquainted with the
true sense of the Sāstra,
and qualified by his habit of
dispassionateness in the society of holy
men, shines like yourself as the model of
intelligence.
4. Your liberal mindedness and self-reliance,
combined with your
cool-headedness and all other virtues, have
set you above the reach of
misery and all mental affliction; and also
freed you from future
transmigration, by your attainment of
liberation in this life.
5. Verily have you become as the autumnal
sky, cleared of its gloomy
clouds; you are freed from worldly cares, and
fraught with the best and
highest wisdom.
6. He is truly liberated, whose mind is freed
from the fluctuations of
its thoughts, and the flights and fumes of
its thickening fancies, and
ever crowding particulars. (The ultimate
generalization of particulars
into unity, is reckoned the highest
consummation of man).
7. Henceforward will all men on earth, try to
imitate the noble
disposition of the equanimity of your mind,
which is devoid of its
passions of love and hatred, as also of
affection and enmity.
8. Those who conform with their customs of
the country, and conduct
themselves in the ordinary course of men in
their outward demeanour, and
cherish their inward sentiments in the close
recesses of their bosoms,
are reckoned as truly wise, and are sure to
get over the ocean of the
world on the floating raft of their wisdom.
9. The meek man who has a spirit of universal
toleration like thine, is
worthy of receiving the light of knowledge; and
of understanding the
import of my sayings.
10. Live as long as you have to live in this
frail body of yours, and
keep your passions and feelings under the
sway of your reason; act
according to the rules of society, and keep
your desires under
subjection.
11. Enjoy the perfect peace and tranquillity
of the righteous and wise,
and avoid alike both the cunning of foxes and
silly freaks of boys.
12. Men who imitate the purity of the manners
and conduct of those, that
are born with the property of goodness, acquire
in process of time the
purity of their lives also. (Men become
virtuous by imitation of
virtuous examples).
13. The man who is habituated in the practice
of the manners, and the
modes of life of another person, is soon
changed to that mode of life,
though it be of a different nature, or of
another species of being.
(Habit is second nature).
14. The practices of past lives accompany all
mankind in their
succeeding births, as their preordained
destiny; and it is only by our
vigorous efforts that we are enabled to avert
our fates, in the manner
of princes overcoming the hostile force, by
greater might of their own.
15. It is by means of patience only, that one
must redeem his good
sense; and it is by patient industry alone,
that one may be advanced to
a higher birth from his low and mean
condition.
16. It is by virtue of their good
understanding, that the good have
attained their better births in life;
therefore employ yourself, O Rāma!
to the polishing of your understanding.
17. The godfearing man is possessed of every
good, and exerts his
efforts for attainment of godliness; it is by
means of manly efforts
only, that men obtain the most precious
blessings.
18. Those of the best kind on earth, long for
their liberation in
future, which also requires the exertion of
devotion and meditation for
its attainment.
19. There is nothing in this earth, below, or
in the heaven of the
celestials above, which is unattainable to
the man of parts, by means of
his manly efforts.
20. It is impossible for you to obtain the
object of your desire,
without the exercise of your patience and
dispassionateness, and the
exertion of your prowess and austerities of Brahmacharya. Nor is it
possible to succeed in anything without the
right use of reason.
21. Try to know yourself, and do good to all
creatures by your
manliness; employ your good understanding to
drive all your cares and
sorrows away; and you will thus be liberated
from all pain and sorrow.
22. O Rāma! that art fraught with all
admirable qualities, and endued
with the high power of reason; keep thyself
steady in the acts of
goodness, and never may the erroneous cares
of this world betake thee in
thy future life.
YOGA VĀSISHTHA.—BOOK V.
THE UPASAMA KHANDA ON QUIETISM.
CHAPTER I.—The Āhnika or Daily Ritual.
Argument. The Book on calm quiet and rest,
necessarily follows
those of Creation and sustentation; as the
sleeping time of
night succeeds the working time of the Day,
and as the rest of
God followed his work of Creation and
supportance.
Vasishtha said:—Hear me, Rāma, now propose to
you the subject of
quietude or rest, which follows that of
Existence and sustentation of
the universe; and the knowledge of which will
lead you to nirvāna or
final extinction (as the evening rest, leads
to sound sleep at night,
and quietude is followed by quietus).
2. Vālmīki says:—As Vasishtha was delivering
his holy words, the
assembly of the princes remained, as still as
the starry train, in the
clear sky of an autumnal night.
3. The listening princes looking in mute
gaze, at the venerable sage
amidst the assembly, resembled the unmoving
lotuses looking at the
luminous sun from their breathless beds.
4. The princesses in the harem forgot their
joviality, at hearing the
sermon of the sage; and their minds became as
cool and quiet as in the
long absence of their consorts.
5. The fanning damsels with flappers in their
hands, remained as still
as a flock of flapping geese resting on a
lotus-bed; and the jingling of
the gems and jewels on their arms, ceased
like the chirping of birds on
the trees at night.
6. The princes that heard these doctrines,
sat reflecting on their
hidden meanings, with their index fingers
sticking to the tip of their
noses in thoughtfulness; and others pondered
on their deep sense, by
laying the fingers on their lips.
7. The countenance of Rāma flushed like the
blushing lotus in the
morning, and it brightened by casting away
its melancholy, as the sun
shines by dispelling the darkness of night.
8. The king of kings—Dasaratha felt as
delighted in hearing the
lectures of Vasishtha, as the peacock is
gladdened at the roaring of
raining clouds.
9. Sarana the king's minister removed his
apish fickle mind from his
state affairs, and applied it intensely to
attend to the teachings of
the sage.
10. Laxmana who was well versed in all
learning, shone as a digit of the
bright crescent moon, with the internal light
of Vasishtha's
instructions, and the radiance of his
Spiritual knowledge.
11. Satrughna the subduer of his enemies, was
so full of delight in his
heart at the teaching of the sage; that his
face glowed with joy, like
the full moon replete with all her digits.
12. The other good ministers, whose minds
were absorbed in the cares of
state affairs; were set at ease by the
friendly admonition of the sage,
and they glowed in their hearts like
lotus-buds expanded by the
sunbeams.
13. All the other chiefs and sages, that were
present in that assembly,
had the gems of their hearts purged of their
dross by the preachings of
Vasishtha; and their minds glowed with
fervour from his impressive
speech.
14. At this instant there rose the loud peal
of conch shells, resembling
the full swell of the sounding main, and the
deep and deafening roar of
summer clouds, filling the vault of the sky,
and announcing the time of
midday service. (The trisandhya services are performed at the rising,
setting and vertical sun).
15. The loud uproar of the shells, drowned
the feeble voice of the
muni under it, as the high sounding roar of rainy clouds, puts
down
the notes of the sweet cuckoo. (It is said,
the cuckoo ceases to sing in
the rains). [Sanskrit: bhabram kritam kritam
maunam kokileh jaladāgame.]
16. The muni stopped his breath and ceased to give utterance to his
speech; because it is in vain to speak where
it is not heeded or
listened to. (The wise should hold their
tongue, when it has lost its
power to hold people by their ears).
17. Hearing the midday shout, the sage
stopped for a moment, and then
addressed to Rāma! after the hubbub was over
and said:—
18. Rāma! I have thus far delivered to you my
daily lecture for this
day; I will resume it the next morning, and
tell you all that I have to
say on the subject.
19. It is ordained for the twice born classes
to attend to the duties of
their religion at midday; and therefore it
does not behove us to swerve
from discharging our noonday services at this
time.
20. Rise therefore, O fortunate Rāma! and
perform your sacred ablutions
and divine services, which you are well
acquainted with, and give your
alms and charities also as they are ordained
by law.
21. Saying so, the sage rose from his seat
with the king and his
courtiers, and resembled the sun and moon,
rising from the eastern
mountain with their train of stars.
22. Their rising made the whole assembly to
rise after them, as a gentle
breeze moves the bed of lotuses, with their
nigrescent eyes of the black
bees sitting upon them.
23. The assembled princes rose up with their
crowned heads, and they
marched with their long and massive arms like
a body of big elephants of
the Vindhyan hills with their lubberly legs.
24. The jewels on their persons rubbed
against each other, by their
pushing up and down in hurry, and displayed a
blaze like that of the
reddened clouds at the setting sun.
25. The jingling of the gems on the coronets,
resembled the humming of
bees; and the flashing rays of the crowns,
spread the various colours of
the rainbow around.
26. The beauties in the court hall resembling
the tender creepers, and
holding the chowry flappers like clusters of
blossoms in their leaf-like
palms, formed a forest of beauties about the
elephantine forms of the
brave princes. (It means the joint egress of
a large number of damsels
employed to fan the princes in the Court
hall).
27. The hall was emblazoned with the rays of
the blazing bracelets, and
seemed as it was strewn over with the dust of
mandāra flowers, blown
away by the winds.
28. There were crystal cisterns of pure
water, mixed with ice and
pulverized camphor; and the landscape around
was whitened by the kusa
grass and flowers of autumn.
29. The gems hanging down the head-dresses of
the princes, cast a
reddish colour over the hollow vault of the
hall; and appeared as the
evening twilight preceding the shade of
night, which puts an end to the
daily works of men.
30. The fair faces of the fairy damsels, were
like lotuses floating on
the watery lustre of the strings of pearls
pendant upon them; and
resembling the lines of bees fluttering about
the lotuses; while the
anklets at their feet, emitted a ringing
sound as the humming of bees.
31. The large assemblage of the princes, rose
up amidst the assembled
crowds of men; and presented a scene never
seen before by the admiring
people.
32. The rulers of the earth bowed down lowly
before their sovereign, and
departed from his presence and the royal
palace in large bodies;
likening the waves of the sea, glistening as
rainbows by the light of
their gemming ornaments.
33. The chief minister Sumantra and others,
that were best acquainted
with royal etiquette, prostrated themselves
before their king and the
holy sage, and took their way towards the
holy stream; for performance
of their sacred ablutions.
34. The Rishis Vāmadeva, Viswāmitra and
others, stood in the presence of
Vasishtha; and waited for his leave to make
their departure.
35. King Dasaratha honored the sages one by
one, and then left them to
attend to his own business.
36. The citizens returned to the city, and
the foresters retired to
their forests, the aerials flew in the air,
and all went to their
respective abodes for rejoining the assembly
on the next morning.
37. The venerable Viswāmitra, being besought
by the king and Vasishtha,
stayed and passed the night at the abode of
the latter.
38. Then Vasishtha being honoured by all the
princes, sages and the
great Brāhmanas, and adored by Rāma and the
other princes of king
Dasaratha's royal race:—
39. Proceeded to his hermitage, with the
obeisance of the assembled
crowd on all sides; and followed by a large
train, as the god Brahmā is
accompanied by bodies of the celestials.
40. He then gave leave to Rāma and his
brother-princes, and to all his
companions and followers, to return to their
abodes from his hermitage
in the woods.
41. He bade adieu to the aerial, earthly and
the subterraneous beings,
that kept company with him with their
encomiums on his merits; and then
entering his house, he performed his
Brāhmanical rites with a duteous
disposition.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to Brahmasri Sreemaan Vihari Lala Mitra ji for the
collection)
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