The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki
The only complete English translation is
by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891).
CHAPTER LXXX.
SOLUTION OF THE QUESTIONS.
Argument. First the Counsellor's reply to the
Questions.
Vasishtha continued:—After the giant-like
progeny of the Rākshasa had
proposed her occult questions, in the deep
gloom of night in that thick
forest, the good and great counsellor began
to give his replies. (The
repetition of the word great in the original,
expresses the solemnity of
the occasion; as the disquisitions'
concerning the Great God in the
Aranyakas or forest lectures of the vedic
Rishis, were conducted with
great solemnity in their holy hermitage in
forests. So was the sermon on
the Mount of Jesus).
2. The Counsellor said:—Hear, me! thou dark
and cloud like form! to
unravel thy riddling questions, with as great
ease as the lion foils the
fury of gigantic elephants.
3. All thy questions relate to the Supreme
Spirit, and are framed in thy
enigmatical language, to try the force of our
penetration into their
hidden meanings.
4. The soul which is Selfsame with the
intellect which is minuter than a
particle of air, is that atomic principle
that thou dost inquire into,
because it is a nameless minim imperceptible
by the six organs of sense,
and unintelligible to the mind. (Answer to
the first question about the
atom. [Sanskrit: anu].)
5. Underlying the atomic intellect, is the
minute seed which contains
this universe; but whether it is a
substantial or unsubstantial reality,
nobody can say. (This is the answer to the
second question with regard
to the mundane seed).
6. It is called a reality from our notion of
its being the soul of all
by itself; and it is from that soul that all
other existences have come
in to being. (Answer about the nature of
God).
7. It is a void from its outward inanity, but
it is no void as regards
its intellect (which is a reality); it is
said to be nothing from its
imperceptibility, but it is a subtile
something from its
imperishableness. (All finite bodies are
unreal, the immortal soul is
real, and identic with the Supreme soul).
8. It is not a nothing from its being
permeated in all things (i. e.
though all pervading yet it is an absolute
entity); for all things are
but reflexions of the minute Intellect, and
its unity shines forth in
the plurality, all which is as unreal, as the
formal bracelet formed of
the substantial gold.
9. This minutial is the transcendental
vacuum, and is imperceptible
owing to its minuteness; and though it is
situated in all things, yet it
is unperceived by the mind and external
senses.
10. Its universal pervasion cannot make it
void and null, because all
that is (existent) is not that (Intellect),
which alone is known as the
thinking principle, that makes us speak, see
and act.
11. No kind of reasoning can establish the
non-entity of the real Ens
(sat), because of it is not being seen by
anybody. Yet the universal
soul is known in its hidden form, like the
unseen camphor by its smell.
12. The unlimited soul resides in all limited
bodies, and the atomic
intellect pervades the vast universe; and it
is in the same manner as
the mind fills all bodies, in its purely
subtile state unknown to the
senses.
13. It is one and all, the unity as well as
plurality, by its being the
soul of each and all, both singly as well as
collectively, and its
supporting and containing each and all by and
within itself.
14. All these worlds are as little billows in
the vast ocean of the
divine Intellect; whose intelligence, like a
liquid body, shows itself
in the form of eddies in the water. (Hence
nothing is different from the
Supreme).
15. This minutiae of the intellect being
imperceptible to the senses and
the mind, is said to be of the form of
vacuity; but being perceived by
our consciousness, it is not a nothing,
although of the nature of a void
in itself.
16. I am That and so art thou, by our
conviction of the unity (of the
spirit); but neither am I That nor thou art
He, by believing ourselves
as composed of our bodies only. (It is in
answer of what art thou &c.
Spiritually considered all souls are the same
with the supreme; but
being viewed in the body, all bodies are
different from one another, and
quite apart from their unity with the Divine
spirit).
17. Our egoism and tuism being got rid of by
our knowledge of truth, we
cease to be the ego and tu; and so all other persons
lose all their
properties (svayam or suum) in
the sole Unity. (This is an
enlargement of the preceding answer to the
question—What art thou &c.).
18. This particle of the intellect is
immovable, though it moves
thousand of miles over; and we find in our
consciousness many a mile to
be composed in this particle. (The mind
notwithstanding its wide range,
never stirs from its seat in the soul).
19. The mind is firmly seated in the vacuous
intellect, from which it
never stirs, though it goes to all places
where it is never located.
(This is the answer of what moveth not).
20. That which hath its seat in the body can
never go out of it; as a
baby hanging on the breast of its mother,
cannot look to another place
for its rest.
21. One though free to range over large
tracts at will, will never start
from his own abode, where he has the liberty
and power to do all he
likes.
22. Wherever the mind may rove, it is never
affected by the climate of
that place; as a jar taken to a distant
country with its mouth shut,
does not yield any passage to the light and
air of that region into it.
(In answer to what remains in a place so as
it does not remain there).
23. The cogitation and incogitancy of the
intellect, being both
perceived in our minds, it is said to be both
intellection as well as
dullness of the intellect. (This is the
answer "of what is ever active,
yet as dull as a block of stone").
24. When our intellection is assimilated into
the solid substance of
Divine Intellect, then is our intellect said
to become solidified as a
stone. (By forgetting one's self to a stone.
Pope).
25. The worlds which the intellect of the
Supreme Being has spread in
the infinite space, are the most wonderful as
they are his increate
creations. (These being but manifestations of
his inborn essence).
26. The Divine Soul is of the essence of
fire, and never forsakes its
igneous form. It inheres in all bodies
without burning them, and is the
enlightener and purifier of all substances.
(This answers the question,
"what is fiery without its
inflammability").
27. The blazing intelligence of the divine
soul, which is purer than the
etherial sphere, produces the elemental fire
by its presence. (As the
burning of mount Sinai in the Bible and
Taurus in the Koran, and the
fiery form of Brahmā the creator and regent
of vulgar fire).
(This is in answer of "what unigneous
entity produces the substance of
fire?").
28. The intellect which is the light of the
soul, and enlightener of the
lights of the luminous sun, moon and stars,
is indestructible and never
fades; although the light of the luminaries,
is lost on the last day of
universal doom. (In answer to "what
unextinguishable fire is the kindler
of planetary lights").
29. There is an inextinguishable light
(glory), known as ineffably
transcendental, which the eye cannot behold,
but is perceptible to the
mind as its inward illumination, and
presenting all things to its view.
(Answer to "what light imperceptible to
the eye, brings all things to
view?" This is spiritual light).
30. Thence proceeds the intellectual light,
which transcends the
sensible and mental lights; and presents
before it wonderful pictures of
things invisible to visual light. (It is
luminous by itself and shows
things lying hid in darkness, as one walking
in the dark, makes himself
known to another by telling him "it is
I").
31. The eyeless vegetable creation, is
sensible of an inward light
within them, causing their growth and giving
them the capability of
bearing their fruits and flowers. (In answer
to the question regarding
the light and life of vegetable creation,
which are also classed under
animated nature).
32. With regard to time, space and action and
existence of the world,
all which are but the percepta or perceptions of sense, and have no
master or maker, father or supporter except
the Supreme Soul in whom
they subsist, as mere modifications of
himself and are nothing of
themselves. (It is in answer to the question,
"who is the maker of the
skies &c.").
33. The atomic spirit is the casket of the
bright gem of the world,
without changing its minuteness. The divine
spirit is its measure and
measurer, beside which there is no separate
world of itself. (Answer to
the question "who is the holder and
measurer of the world").
34. It is that Spirit which manifests itself
in every thing in all these
worlds; but it shines as the brightest gem,
when all the worlds are
compressed in it (at the universal
dissolution).
35. From the unintelligibleness of his
nature, he is said to be a speck
of obscurity, as he is called to be a ray of
light, from the brightness
of his intellect. He is known as existent by
our consciousness of him,
as he is said to be non-existent from his
being removed from our visual
sight.
36. He is said to be afar from his
invisibleness to our eyes, and to be
near us from his being of the nature of our
intellect. He is represented
as a mountain for his being the totality of
our consciousness, although
he is minuter than any perceptible particle.
(In answer to "what is
minute yet vast").
37. It is his consciousness that manifests
itself in the form of the
universe; the mountains are not real
existences, but subsist like the
Meru in his atomic substratum. (In answer to
the question "how an atom
contains and expands itself as a hill
&c.").
38. A twinkling is what appears as a short
instant, and a Kalpa is the
long duration of an age. (It is definitive
proposition of identity, that
a nimesha is a nimesha and a Kalpa is a Kalpa).
39. Sometimes a twinkling—instant represents
a Kalpa, when it is
fraught with the acts and thoughts of an age;
as an extensive country of
many leagues, is pictured in miniature or in
a grain of the brain.
40. The course of a long Kalpa, is sometimes represented in the womb
of a nimesha instant; as the period of the building of a great city,
is present in the small space of the mind's
remembrance, as it is in the
bosom of a mirror.
41. As little moments and Kalpa ages, high
mountains and extensive
yojanas, may abide in a single grain of the intellect; so do all
dualities and pluralities unite and meet in
the unity of God.
42. That 'I have done this and that before',
is an impression derived
from the thought of our actual actions and
activity at all times; but
the truth thereof becomes as untrue as our
doings in the dream. (This to
prove that all vyāvahārika or customary events, are real untruths;
being but prātibhāsika or phenomenal appearances only).
43. It is calamity that prolongs the course
of time, as our prosperity
on the other hand diminishes its duration; as
the short space of a
single night, appeared as a period of twelve
long years to king Haris
Chandra in his misery. (The fallacy of human
conception of the length or
shortness of time).
44. Anything appearing as a certain truth to
the mind, stamps the same
impression in the soul, as the sense of some
golden jewellery, becomes
more impressive in the soul than the idea of
its gold. (The fallacy of
our perceptions, creating errors in the
judgement of the understanding).
45. There is nothing as a moment or an age or
as near or afar to the
soul; it is the conception in the minute
intellect (or the working of
the mind), that creates their length or
brevity and their nearness and
remoteness. (As a year of men is a day of
Gods, and such a year of these
makes a day of Brahmā; while there is no
measure of time or space in the
infinity of the Divine mind).
46. The contraries as light and darkness,
nearness and distance, and a
moment and an age, being but varied
impressions on the unvaried
percipient mind, have no real difference in
them. (They are as unreal as
the various evanescent hues of the recipient
and reflexive clouds. So no
colour is real chromatics or Science of
colours).
47. All things or objects which are
perceptible to the senses, are
called to be evident or apparent; and those
which lie beyond them, are
said to be imperceptible or unapparent. But
visual sensation is not
self-evident, except the vision of the
intellect, which is the real
essence. (In answer to the question
"What is perceptible and unreal?"
Answer—All what is apparent, is untrue).
48. As long as there is the knowledge of the
jewel, there is the
knowledge of the gem also; that of the real
gem, being lost under the
apparent form. (So reliance on ocular
evidence, presents an obstruction
to the vision of the intellect).
49. It is by reversion of the attention from
the visible form of the
jewel to the real essence of the gem, that
one is led to the sight of
the pure light of the only One Brahma. (So
says a poet:—Forsake the
visible to see the invisible).
50. Brahma is viewed as Sat or reality, when
He is considered as
pervading all things; and He is said to be
Asat or unreal, because He is
not the object of vision. So is the Intellect
said to be a reality from
its faculty of intellection, otherwise it is
a stolid or dull matter.
(Answers to "what reality appears as
unreal, and what intellect as the
absence of intellect").
51. The intellect is the wonderful property
of the Divine Spirit, in
which it is present as its object (chetya);
but how can a man have a
view of it, whose mind fixed to the sight of
the world, which is a
shadow of the Intellect, and moves as a tree
which is shaken by the
wind?
52. As a mirage is the reflexion of the dense
light of the sun, so is
the world a shadow of the solid light of the
Divine intellect.
53. That which is rarer than the rays of the
sun and never decays, is
ever as uniform as it was before creation and
disjoined from it. Hence
its existence is tantamount to its
nonexistence.
54. As the accumulation of sunbeams, exhibits
the formation of a gold
mine in the sky; so the golden appearance of
the world, prevents the
deluded to look to the knowable object of the
intellect.
55. Like the appearance of a visionary city
in dream, the sight of this
world is neither a reality nor altogether
unreal; because it is a
reflexion of the intellect, as the dream is
that of images in the
memory. It is but a continued medley of
error.
56. Knowing it as such, men should consider
everything by the light of
reason; and proceed to the knowledge of truth
by their intellectual
culture.
57. There is no difference between a house
and a void, than that the one
is the object of vision, and the other of
consciousness. Again all
nature teeming with life, is said to live in
God, who is light and life
of all for evermore.
58. But all these living beings have no room
in the empty sphere of
Divine Intellect. They live and shine like
the solar rays, proceeding
imperceptibly from that luminous orb.
59. There appears a difference in these rays
both from the original
light, and also from one another (in different
beings), by a curious
design of Providence; but it is yet the same in all,
like the forms of
the trees growing out of the same kind of
seed.
60. As the tree contained in the seed, is of
the same kind with the
parent seed; so the innumerable worlds
contained in the vacuous seed of
Brahmā, are also void and vacuum as Brahmā
himself.
61. As the tree which is yet undeveloped in
the seed, is not in esse
without development of its parts; so the
world in the womb of Brahmā,
was discernible only to the Divine Intellect
(in the form of the ideal
or spiritual world to be in futuro).
62. There is but one God, who is one and
increate, calm and quiet,
without beginning, middle or end, and without
a body and its parts. He
has no duality and is one in many. He is of
the form of pure light, and
shines for ever with everlasting and
undiminished lustre.
CHAPTER LXXXI.
CONGERIES OF SPIRITUAL DOCTRINES.
Argument. The Prince's Answers to the
Remaining Questions of
the Rākshasī.
The Rākshasī said:—Well said, O councillor!
Thy sayings are sanctifying
and fraught with spiritual doctrines; now let
the prince with his eyes
like lotus-leaves answer to the other
queries.
2. The Prince answered:—He whose belief
consists in the relinquishment
of all reliance in this world, and whose
attainment depends upon
forsaking all the desires of the heart:—
3. He whose expansion and contraction causes
the creation and extinction
of the world, who is the object of the
doctrines of Vedānta, and who is
inexpressible by words or speech of
humankind:—
4. Who is betwixt the two extremities of
doubt (whether he is or is
not), and is the midst of both extremities
(that both he is and is not);
and the pleasure (Will) of whose mind,
displays the world with all its
movables and immovables to view:—
5. He whose Universal pervasion does not
destroy his unity; who being
the soul of all is still but one; it is he
alone, O lady! who is truly
said to be the eternal Brahma (so far the
Exordium).
6. This minute particle is erroneously
conceived as spirit (air), from
its invisibleness to the naked eye; but it is
in truth neither air nor
any other thing except the only pure
Intellect. (Answer to the question,
"what is it of the form of air and not
air?").
7. This minim is said to be sound (or the
words), but it is error to say
it so: because it is far beyond the reach of
sound or the sense of
words. (So the Sruti 'natatravākgacchati', no word (vox or voice)
can reach unto him—express his nature. (In
answer to the query "what is
sound and no sound?").
8. That particle is all yet nothing, it is
neither I, thou or he. It is
the Almighty soul and its power is the cause
of all. (The gloss explains
pratibha as sakti or
power, in preference to the other meanings of
the word, as—knowledge, design, light,
reflexion and influence. (This
is in answer to "who is all yet no one omnium et nullum, and what are
I, thou and he, which are viewed as the ego, tu and ille, the
subjective and objective realities?").
9. It is the soul that is attainable with
great pains (i. e. the
knowledge of which is gained with pains of
Yoga), and which being gained
adds nothing to our stock (as we are already
in possession of our
souls); but its attainment is attended with
the gain of the supreme
soul, than which there is no better gain. (So
the Sruti: yalalābhat
naparamlabha. In answer to 'what gain is no gain').
10. But ignorance of the soul, stretches the
bonds of our worldliness
and repeated transmigrations, with their
evils growing like the rankest
weeds in spring; until they are rooted out by
spiritual knowledge.
11. And those who are in easy circumstances
in life, lose their souls by
viewing themselves only as solid bodies,
which rise fastly to view like
the dense mirage by light of the sun. (It is
easier for a camel to
enter the hole of a needle, than for the rich
to enter the kingdom of
heaven. Gospel).
12. It is the particle of self-consciousness,
which contains the Meru
and the three worlds, like bits of straw in
itself. They are as
disgorged from it in order to present their
delusive appearances unto
us. (This answers the question: "what
particle hides in it the world as
a straw," and means the mind to be the
container of the universe).
13. Whatever is imprinted in the intellect,
the same appears exprest
without it. The fond embrace of passionate
lovers in dream and
imagination, serves to exemplify this truth.
14. As the intellect rose of itself with its
omnipotent Will at the
first creation of the world, so it exercises
the same volition in its
subsequent formations also, like the sprigs
rising from the joints of
reeds and grass. (I.
e. The eternal Will (Fiat) is productive of all
things for ever).
15. The hobby that has entered in the heart,
shows itself on the outside
also, as in the instance of the whims of
children. (The phrases, "the
wish being father to the thought," and
"every one delights in his hobby
horse," correspond with the purport of
the passage).
16. The iota of the intellect, which is as
minute as an atom, and as
subtile as air; fills the whole universe on
all sides. (The three words
paramānu, anu and sūkshma, respectively signify the minuteness of
the intellect with regard to its unity, dimension
and rarity. Gloss).
17. Though but a particle, yet it is not
contained in hundreds of
leagues; and being all pervasive it is
infinite. Having no beginning it
is measureless, and having no form of itself
it is formless. (In answer
to 'what minutiae is immeasurable &c.').
18. As a cunning coxcomb deludes young girls
by their becks and calls
and winks and glances. (Quips and cranks and
wanton wiles; Nods and
becks and wreathed smiles. Pope):—
19. So the holy look of the divine intellect,
serves as a prelude to the
rotatory dance of worlds, with all their
hills and contents for ever
(i. e. a nod and look of the Almighty, moves the worlds).
20. It is that atom of the intellect, which
envelops all things within
its consciousness, and represents also their forms
without it; as a
picture canvas shows the figures of the hills
and trees drawn in it, to
stand out as in bas-relief. (The external
world being but a prominent
representation of the internal, the
phenomenal of the noumenal. So
Persian: Suvaribatini and Zahiri).
21. The divine spirit though as minute as the
hundredth part of the
point of a hair, is yet larger than the hills
it hides in itself, and as
vast as infinity, being unlimited by any
measure of space or time. (In
answer to "what is it that retains its
minuteness and yet comprehends
the great Meru").
22. The comparison of the vast vacuity of
divine understanding with a
particle of air (as it is made by the
minister), is not an exact simile.
It is as a comparison of a mountain with a
mustard seed, which is
absurd.
23. The minuteness which is attributed to it
(in the veda), is as false
as the attribution of different colours to
the plumage of the peacock,
and of jewellery to gold, which can not be
applicable to the spirit.
(The Veda says, anoranīyan. He is minuter than the minute &c.; because
the spirit admits no attribute).
24. It is that bright lamp which has brought
forth light from its
thought, and without any loss of its own
essential effulgence. (Answer
to "what lamp gave light in
darkness?" "He was the light of the world,
and the light shine forth in darkness",
Gospel).
25. If the sun and other luminous bodies in
the world, were dull and
dark in the beginning; then what was the
nature of the primeval light
and where did it abide? (This question is
raised and answered by the
prince himself in the next).
26. The pure essence of the mind which was
situated in the soul, saw the
light displayed on the outside of it, by its
internal particle of the
intellect. Gloss:—That light existed inside
the intellectual atom
before creation, and its preceding darkness;
it was afterwards set forth
by itself without it, when it shone amidst
the darkness. (So the
passage, lux fiat et lux fit, and then the mind beheld it, and said it
was good).
27. There is no difference in the lights of
the sun, moon and fire from
the darkness, out of which these lights were
produced: the difference is
only that of the two colours black and white.
(Gloss:—Both of them are
equally insensible things).
28. As the difference of the cloud and snows,
consists in the blackness
of the one and whiteness of the other; such
is the difference of light
and darkness in their colours only, and not
in their substance (as they
have no real substantiality in them).
29. Both of these being insensible in their
natures, there is no
difference between them: and they both
disappear or join with one
another before the light of intellect. They
disappear before the
intellectual light of the Yogi, who perceives
no physical light or
darkness in his abstract meditation under the
blaze of his intellect.
They join together as light and shade,—the
shadow inseparably following
the light. The adage goes, Zer cheragh tariki:—there is darkness
beneath the lighted lamp.
30. The sun of the intellect, shines by day
and night without setting or
sleeping; It shines in the bosom even of hard
stones, without being
clouded or having its rise or fall.
31. The light of this blazing soul, has
lighted the sun, which diffuses
its light all over the three worlds; it has
filled the capacious womb of
earth with a variety of provisions, as they
lay up large panniers of
food in a store-house (i. e. it is the sun-light that grows and ripens
all things for our food).
32. It enlightens darkness without destroying
itself, and the darkness
that receives the light, and becomes as
enlightened as light itself.
(This passage is explained both in a physical
as well as spiritual
sense. The light dispelling ignorance and the
gloom of nature).
33. As the shining sun brings the lotus-buds
to light, so the light of
the Divine Spirit, enlightens our intellects,
amidst the gloom of
ignorance which envelopes them.
34. And as the sun displays himself by making
the day and night by his
rise and fall, so does the intellect show
itself by its development and
reticence by turns.
35. All our notions and ideas are contained
in the particle of the
intellect, as a healthy seed contains the
leaves and fruits and flowers
of the future tree in its breast.
36. These and all the powers of the mind,
develope themselves in their
proper times, as the fruits and flowers make
their appearance in spring
and proper seasons—khandas. (The Hindu festivals of Khanda pālās, are
celebrated in honour of the returning
seasons, and continue as a relic
of the primitive agricultural state of
society).
37. The particle of divine spirit is
altogether tasteless, being so very
vapid and void of qualities; yet it is always
delectable as the giver of
flavour to all things. (The gloss explains
the spirit as spiritual
knowledge, which is unpalatable to all, owing
to its abstruse and
subtile nature; but which becomes tasty when
blended with all other
knowledge, which mainly depends on spiritual
science. This is in answer
to "What particle is that which is
entirely tasteless, yet always tasted
with zest?").
38. All savours abide in the waters (water
being the receptacle of
taste), as a mirror is the recipient of a
shadow; but the savour like
the shadow is not the substance; it is the
essence of the spirit that
gives it the flavour. (The Nyāya says "jaleparamānurasah", the atom of
the spirit is the savour of the water).
39. All bodies existing in the world, are
forsaken by the atomic spirit
of the supreme, by their unconsciousness of
Him; but they are dependant
upon him, by the consciousness of the divine
particle, shining in their
souls (i. e. consciousness is the connecting link between the human
and Divine souls). In answer to "who are
forsaken by and supported by
the Divine Spirit."
40. It is He who being unable to wrap up
himself, enwraps the world in
him, by spreading out the vesture of his
atomic intellect over all
existence. (In answer to "who being
uncovered himself covers the
whole?").
41. The supreme Spirit which is of the form
of infinite space, cannot
hide itself in any thing within its sphere,
which would be like the
hiding of an elephant in the grass.
42. Yet this all knowing spirit encompasses
the world, knowing it to be
a trifle, just as a child holds a particle of
rice in his hand. This is
an act of māyā or delusion. (Here delusion like destiny is represented
to exercise its influence on omniscience
itself).
43. The spirit of God exists even after the
dissolution of the world, by
relying in his chit or intellect; just as plants survive the spring by
the sap they have derived from it.
44. It is the essence of the Intellect which
gives rise to the world,
just as the garden continues to flourish by
the nourishment of the
vernal season.
45. Know the world is verily a transformation
of the intellect, and all
its productions to be as plants in the great
garden of the world,
nourished by the vernal juice of the
intellect.
46. It is the sap supplied by the
intellectual particle, that makes all
things grow up with myriads of arms and eyes;
in the same manner as the
atom of a seed, produces plants with thousand
branches and fruits. (In
answer to "What formless things take a
thousand forms?").
47. Myriads of kalpas amount to an
infinitesimal part of a twinkling of
the atomic intellect, as a momentary dream
presents a man all the
periods of his life from youth to age. In
answer to "What twinkling of
the eye appears as many thousand Kalpas
&c."
48. This infinitesimal of a twinkling even,
is too long for thousands of
kalpas, the whole duration of existence is as
short as a flash of his
eye.
49. It is the idea only that makes a
twinkling, appear a kalpa or many,
just as the idea of satiety in starvation, is
a mere delusion to the
deluded soul.
50. It is concupiscence only, that makes the
famishing to feed upon his
thoughts of food; as it is the despair of
one's life, that presents his
death before him in his dream.
51. All the worlds reside in the intellectual
soul within the atom of
its intellect; and the outward worlds are
only reflexions (r馗hauff・ of
the inner prototype. (The phenomenal is an
ectype of the original
noumenal).
52. Whatever object appears to be situated
anywhere, it is but a
representation of its like model in some place
or other, and resembles
the appearance of figures in bas-relief on
any part of a pillar; but the
changes occurring in the external phenomena,
are no results of the
internal, which as the serene vacuum is
subject to no change.
53. All existences, which are present in the
intellect at this moment,
are the same as they have existed, and will
ever exist inwardly like
trees in their seeds.
54. The atom of the intellect, contains the
moments and ages of time,
like grains within the husk; it contains
these (as its contents) in the
seed within the infinite soul of God. (The
soul is the unconscious
container of the intellect, which is
conscious of the ideas contained in
it).
55. The soul remains quite aloof as if
retired from the world (udāsīna),
notwithstanding the subsistence and
dependence of the latter upon the
former. The Divine soul is unconcerned with
its creation and its
sustentation at all times. (In answer to
"who is the cause of the world
without any motive or causality in him?"
This is the doctrine of perfect
bliss of the soul without being ruffled or
disturbed by any motivity or
activity. So the man imitating divine
perfection, is required to be
apathetic and callous to all worldly
affairs).
56. The essence of the world springs from the
atom of the pure
Intellect, which however remains apart from
both the states of action
and passion itself (the intellect being the
thinking principle, has only
its perceptivity, without sensitivity of
passion, or the Will or
volition for action).
57. There is nothing created or dissolved in
the world by any body at
any time; all apparent changes are caused by
the delusion of our vision;
(and it is the province of Vedānta to remove
the error of conceiving the
unreal worlds as a reality).
58. (Viewed in its spiritual light), this
world with all its contents,
is as void as the vault of the vacuous
atmosphere; the word world
applied to the phenomena, is but an
insignificant term signifying a
nothing.
59. It is the particle of intellect that is
led by the delusion of
māyā, to view the scenes situated in the Divine soul, in the
outward
appearance of the phenomenal world. (Answer
to what thing that has eyes;
views on its outside what is contained in the
soul?).
60. The words external and internal as
applied to the world, are
meaningless and not positive terms; there is
no inside or outside of the
divine soul, they are contrived to explain
its different views by the
intellect for the instruction of pupils.
(Brahma has no inside nor
outside. Sruti).
61. The viewer looking into the invisible
being within himself, comes to
see the soul; but he who looks on the outside
with his open eyes, comes
to view the unreal as real.
62. Therefore whoever looks into the soul (as
the true reality), can
never view the false phenomena as realities
as others do.
63. It is the internal sight of the intellect
that looks into the inward
soul, which is without all desires; while the
external eyes are mere
organs to look upon the false appearance of
outward objects (i. e. the
eye of the mind, is the true eye to see the
real nature of the soul; but
the outer eyes are no eyes, that feed only
upon the falsities of
nature).
64. There can be no object of sight, unless
there is a looker also, as
there can be no child without its parent.
This duality (of their mutual
dependence upon one another), proceeds from
the want of knowledge of
their unity (i.e. the viewer, the view and the vision (drashtā,
drishya and darsana),
being one and the same thing, as the parent
and the offspring, and the seed and its
sprout, are the same substance.
The doctrine of the Vedantic unity, thus
attempts to reduce and unite
all varieties to their primitive simplicity).
65. The viewer himself becomes the view as
there can be no view without
its viewer. No body prepares any food, unless
there be some body to feed
upon it. (It is the agent that makes the act,
as there can be no act
without its agent).
66. It is in the power of the intellect
(imagination), to create the
views of its vision; as it lies in the
capacity of gold, to produce all
the various forms of jewellery (i. e. fancy paints and moulds itself
in many colours and shapes. The creations of
phantasy are mere
phantoms—phantasia et phantasmos).
67. The inanimate view never has nor can have
the ability of producing
its viewer; as the golden bracelet has no
power of bringing the gold
into being.
68. The intellect having the faculty of
intellection (chetana), forms
the thoughts of intelligibles (chetyas)
within itself, which however
unreal are erroneously viewed as real
entities by its intellectual
vision to its own deception, as it is caused
by the appearance of
jewellery in gold.
69. That the viewer (the divine intellect),
being transformed to the
view (of the visible world), is no more
perceptible in it, than as the
jewellery of gold and not gold itself (i. e. the formal part of the
world and jewel, hides the material part of
the intellect and gold which
formed them).
70. Thus the viewer becoming the view (i. e. the subject being turned
to the object), still views himself as the
viewer; as gold transformed
to a jewel, is always looked upon as gold.
71. One unity alone being apparent in all
nature, it is useless to talk
of the duality of the viewer and view. A word
with a masculine affix
cannot give the sense of a neuter noun (so
the masculine noun
Intellectus, cannot apply to the neuter phenomenon).
72. The viewer who feasts his eyes with a
view of the outer visible
world, cannot have the sight of the inner
soul with the internal eyes of
his intellect; but when the viewer shuts out
the outer view, all its
realities appear as unreal.
73. When the viewer perceives the unreality
of the visibles by the light
of his understanding, he then comes to see
the true reality. So by
retracting the mind from viewing the figure
of the jewel, one comes to
see the nature of its gold only.
74. The visibles being present, there must be
their viewers also to
whose view they are apparent. It is the
absence of both (the viewer and
the view), and the knowledge of their
unreality, that produce the belief
of unity. (The disappearance of the visible,
causes the withdrawal of
the viewer; like the removal of the umbrella,
drives away its shade).
75. The man who considers all things in the
contriteness of his
conscious soul, comes at last to perceive
something in him, which is
serenely clear, and which no words can
express.
76. The minute particle of the intellect,
shows us the sight of the soul
as clearly as a lamp enlightens everything in
the dark. (Answer to "who
shows the soul as clearly as a visible
thing"?)
77. The intelligent soul is absolved of its
perceptions of the measure,
measurer and measurables (i. e. of the forms and properties of
things), as liquid gold when dissolved of its
form of an ornament.
(Answer to "what thing is absolved of
its properties like gold of its
jewellery?").
78. As there is nothing which is not composed
of the elementary bodies
of earth, water &c.; so there is nothing
in nature which is apart from
the nature of the atomic intellect. (Answer
to "what is that from which
nothing is apart?").
79. The thinking soul penetrates into all
things in the form of their
notions; and because all thoughts concentrate
in the intellect, there is
nothing apart from it.
80. Our desires being the parents of our
wished for objects, they are
the same with our prospects in our view:
therefore there is no
difference between our desires and desired
objects; as there is none
between the sea and its waves. (In refutation
of the question, "what is
that which is distinct from the wish?").
81. The Supreme Soul exists alone unbounded
by time and space. Being the
universal soul, it is the soul of all; and
being omniscient, it is no
dull matter at all. (Answer to "what is
the undivided duality and
plurality?").
82. The Ens being but intelligence, is not perceptible to sight;
there
is unity and no duality in it; but all forms
unite into one in the great
self of the Supreme.
83. If there be a duality, it is the one and
its unity. The unity and
duality of the universal soul, are both as
true as the light and its
shade joined together.
84. Where there is no duality or any number
above it, there unity also
can have no application to any; and where
there is no unit, there cannot
be any two or more over it, which are but
repetitions of the unit,
(except an indeterminate all or whole).
85. Anything which is so situated, is in
itself such as it is; it cannot
be more or less than itself; but is identic
with itself like water and
its fluidity. (Its plurality is but a
repeated unity).
86. The multiplicity of forms which it
exhibits, blends into a harmonic
whole without conflicting with one another.
The multifarious creation is
contained in Brahma, like a tree with all its
several parts in the
embryonic seed.
87. Its dualism is as inseparable from it as
the bracelet from its gold;
and although multiform of nature, is evident
to the comprehensive
understanding; yet it is not true of the true
entity (of God).
88. Like fluidity of water, fluctuation of
air, vacuity of the sky, is
this multiformity an inseparable property of
the Godhead.
89. Disquisition of unity and duality is the
cause of misery to the
restless spirit, it is the want of this
distinction that consummates the
highest knowledge.
90. The measure, measurement and measurer of
all things, and the viewer,
view and vision of the visible world, are all
dependent on the atom of
the intellect which contains them all (i. e. the divine mind is the
maker and pattern of the great fabric of the
universe, which it contains
and views in itself).
91. The atom of the divine intellect, spreads
out and contracts in
itself, like its limbs, these mountainous
orbs of the world, by an
inflation of its spirit as it were by a
breath of air.
92. O the wonder, and the great wonder of
wonders! that this atom of the
intellect, should contain in its embryo, all
the three regions of the
worlds, above and below one another.
93. O! it is an incredible delusion that must
ever remain an
inexplicable riddle, how the monstrous
universe is contained in the
minute atom of the Intellect.
94. As a pot contains in it, the seed, with a
huge tree within its cell,
so does the divine soul contain the atom of
the intellect, containing
the chains of worlds (outstretched within itself).
95. The all-seeing eye sees at once all the
worlds, situated within the
bosom of the intellect, as the microscopic
sight discovers the parts of
the future tree concealed in the seed.
96. The expansion of the world in the atom of
the Intellect, is
analogous to the enlargement of the hidden
parts of the seed, into
leaves and branches, fruits and flowers.
97. As the multiformity of the future tree,
is contained in the uniform
substance within the seed; it is in like
manner that the multiplicity of
worlds, is situated in the unity of the
atomic Intellect, and as such it
is seen by any one who will but look into it.
98. It is neither an unity nor a duality, not
the seed or its sprout,
neither is it thin or thick, nor is born nor
unborn (but ever the same
as it is).
99. He is neither an entity nor nonentity,
nor graceful nor ungraceful
(but a vacuity); and though it contains the
three worlds with the ether
and air, yet is nothing and no substance at
all.
100. There is no world nor a not-world beside
the intellect, which is
all of itself, and is said to be such and
such in any place or time, as
it appears so and so to us there and then.
101. It rises as if unrisen, and expands in
its own knowledge; it is
selfsame with the supreme soul, and as the
totality of all selves, it
spreads through the whole vacuum as air.
102. As a tree springs from the ground
according to its seed, so the
world appears to sight in the form, as it is
contained in the seed of
the intellect.
103. The plant does not quickly quit its
seed, lest it would be dried up
and die away for want of its sap; so the man
that sticks to the soul and
seed of his being, is free from disease and
death.
104. The mount Meru is like the filament of a
flower, in respect to the
vastness of that atom; all visibles have
their place in that invisible
atom. (In answer to the question, in respect
to whom is the great Meru
but a filament?)
105. The Meru is verily a filament of the
atomic flower of the divine
soul; and myriads of Merus resemble the
cloudy spots, rising in the
sphere of the intellect.
106. It is that one great atom that fills the
world, after having made
it out of itself; and given it a visible,
extended and material form in
its own hollow sphere. (Answer to "By
whom is the world created,
extended &c.").
107. As long as the knowledge of duality is
not driven out of the mind,
so long does it find the charming form of the
world, as in its dream
upon waking. But the knowledge of unity,
liberates the soul from its
stay in and return to the world, which it
beholds as a mass of the
divine essence.
CHAPTER LXXXII.
FRIENDSHIP OF THE RﾁKSHASﾍ.
Argument. The Rākshasī's account of herself,
and her
reconciliation with the Prince.
Vasishtha continued:—The apish Karkatī of the
forest, having heard the
speech of the prince, pondered well in
herself the sense of the words,
and forsook her levity and malice.
2. She found the coolness and tranquillity of
her heart after its
fervour was over; in the manner of the
peacock at the setting in of the
rains, and the lotus bed at the rising of
moonbeams.
3. The words of the prince delighted her
heart in the same manner, as
the cries of cranes flying in the sky,
gladden the passing clouds in the
air.
4. The Rākshasī said:—O how brightly shines
the pure light of your
understanding, it glows as serenely by its
inward effulgence, as it is
illuminated by the sun of intelligence.
5. Hearing the grains (words) of your
reasoning, my heart is as
gladdened, as when the earth is cooled by the
serene beams of the humid
moon-light.
6. Reasonable men like yourself are honoured
and venerated in the world,
and I am as delighted in your company, as a
lake of lotuses with her
full blown buds under the moon-beams.
7. The society of the virtuous, scatters its
blessings, as a flower
garden spreads its fragrance all around; and
as the brightness of
sun-beams, brings the lotus buds to bloom.
8. Society with the good and great, dispels
all our woes; as a lamp in
the hand, disperses the surrounding darkness.
9. I have fortunately obtained you as two
great lights in this forest;
you both are entitled to my reverence here,
and deign now to acquaint
me, with the good intent which has brought
you hither.
10. The prince answered:—O thou sprout of the
savage race of Rakshas!
the people of this province are always
afflicted in their hearts by a
certain evil.
11. It is the obdurate disease of Vishuchi or
choleric pain, which
troubles the people of this part, I have
therefore come out with my
guards to find her out in my nightly rounds.
12. This choleric pain is not removed from
the hearts of men by any
medicine, so I have come out in search of the
mantra revealed to her for
its cure.
13. It is my business and professed duty, to
persecute such wicked
beings as thyself, that infest our ignorant
subjects in this manner, and
this is all that I have to tell thee and do
in this place.
14. Therefore, O good lady! do thou promise
to me in thy own words, that
thou shalt never injure any living being in
future.
15. The Rākshasī replied:—Well! I tell thee
in truth, my lord! that I
shall hence forward never kill any body.
16. The prince replied:—If it be so O thou
liver on animal flesh! tell
me how shalt thou support thy body by thy
abstaining from animal food?
17. The Rakshasī replied:—It is now passed
six months, O prince! that I
have risen from my entranced meditation, and
fostered my desire for
food, which I wholly renounce today.
18. I will again repair to the mountain top,
and betake myself to my
steadfast meditation, and sit there contented
as long as I like, in the
posture of an unmoving statue.
19. I will restrain myself by unshaken
meditation until my death, and
then I shall quit this body in its time with
gladness. This is my
resolution.
20. I tell you now, O prince! that until the
end of this life and body
of mine, I shall no more take away the life
of any living being, and you
may rely assured upon my word.
21. There is the mount Himālaya by name,
standing in the heart of the
northern region, and stretching in one sweep,
from the eastern to
western main.
22. There had I dwelt at first in a cave of
its golden peak, in the
shape of an iron statue, and also as the
fragment of a cloud, and borne
the appellation of Karkatī the Rākshasī:—(the
crablike crooked
Sycorax).
23. There I obtained the sight of Brahmā by
the austerity of my
devotion; and expressed my desire of killing
mankind, in the shape of a
destructive needle.
24. I obtained the boon accordingly, and
passed a great many years in
the act of afflicting living brings, and
feeding upon their entrails in
the form of the choleric pain.
25. I was then prohibited by Brahmā to kill
the learned, and was
instructed in the great mantra for my
observance.
26. He then gave me the power of piercing the
hearts of men, with some
other diseases which infest all mankind.
27. I spread myself far and wide in my
malice, and sucked the heart
blood of men, which dried up their veins and
arteries; and emaciated
their bodies.
28. Those whom I left alive after devouring
their flesh and blood, they
begat a race as lean and veinless as they had
become themselves.
29. You will be successful O happy prince in
getting the mantra or
charm for driving the Visūchikā pain; because
there is nothing
impossible of attainment by the wise and
strong.
30. Receive of me immediately, O raja! the mantra which has been
uttered by Brahmā for removal of the choleric
pain, from the cells of
arteries vitiated by Visūchikā.
31. Now advance towards me, and let us go to
the neighbouring river; and
there initiate you with the mantra, after you
both are prepared to
receive it by your ablution and purification.
32. Vasishtha said:—Then the Rākshasī
proceeded to the river side that
very night, accompanied by the prince and his
minister, and all joining
together as friends.
33. These being sure of the amity of the
Rākshasī both by affirmative
and negative proofs, made their ablutions and
stood on the bank on the
river.
34. The Rākshasī then communicated to them
with tenderness, the
effective mantra which was revealed to her by Brahmā, for the removal
of Visūchikā pain, and which was always
successful.
35. Afterwards as the nocturnal fiend was
about to depart by leaving her
friendly companions behind, the prince
stopped her course with his
speech.
36. The prince said:—O thou of gigantic
stature! thou hast become our
preceptor by thy teaching us the mantra, we invite thee with
affection, to take thy repast with us at ours
tonight.
37. It does not become thee to break off our
friendship, which has grown
like the acquaintance of good people, at our
very first meeting.
38. Give thy ill-favoured feature a little
more graceful figure, and
walk along with us to our abode, and there
reside at thy own pleasure.
39. The Rākshasī replied:—You can well
provide a female of your own
kind with her proper food; but what
entertainment can you give to my
satisfaction, who am a cannibal by my nature!
40. It is the food of a giant (Rākshasa)
alone, that can yield me
satisfaction, and not the little morsel of
petty mortals; this is the
innate nature of our being, and can not be
done away with as long as we
carry with us our present bodies.
41. The prince answered:—Ornamented with
necklaces of gold, you shall
be at liberty to remain with the ladies in my
house, for as many days as
you may like to abide.
42. I will then manage to produce for your
food, the robbers and felons
that I will seize in my territories; and you
will have them supplied to
you by hundreds and thousands at all times.
43. You can then forsake your comely form,
and assume thy hideous figure
of the Rākshasī, and kill and take to your
food hundreds of those
lawless men.
44. Take them to the top of the snowy
mountain and devour them at thy
pleasure; as great men always like to take
their meals in privacy.
45. After your recreation by that food and a
short nap, you can join
your meditation; and when you are tired with
your devotion, you can come
back to this place.
46. You can then take the other offenders for
your slaughter; because
the killing of culprits is not only
justifiable by law, but it amounts
to an act of mercy, to rid them (of their
punishment in the next world).
47. You must return to me when you are tired
of your devotion; because
the friendship which is formed even with the
wicked, is not easily done
away.
48. The Rākshasī replied:—You have well said
prince! and we will do as
you say; for who is there that will slight
the words of the wise that
are spoken to him in the way of friendship?
49. Vasishtha said:—Saying so, the Rākshasī
assumed a graceful form,
and wore on her person necklaces and
bracelets, and silken robes and
laces.
50. She said, "Well raja, let us go
together" and then followed the
footsteps of the prince and his counsellor,
who walked before her and
led the way.
51. Then having arrived at the royal abode,
they passed that night in
their agreeable repast and discourse
together.
52. As it became morning, the Rākshasī went
inside the house, and there
remained with the women; while the prince and
the minister attended to
their business.
53. Then in the course of six days, the
prince collected together all
the offenders whom he had seized in his
territory, and brought from
other part.
54. These amounted to three thousand heads
which he gave up to her; when
she resumed her fiercely dark form of the
black fiend of night.
55. She laid hold of thousands of men in her
extended grasp, in the
manner of a fragment of cloud retaining the
drops of rain water in its
wide spread bosom.
56. She took leave of the prince and went to
the top of the mountain
with her prey, as a poor man takes the gold,
that he happens to get in
some hidden place.
57. There she refreshed herself with her food
and rest for three days
and nights; and then regaining the firmness
of her understanding, she
was employed in her devotion.
58. She used to rise from her devotion once
after the lapse of four or
five and sometimes seven years, when she
repaired to the habitation of
men and to the court of the prince.
59. There passing sometime in their
confidential conversation, she
returned to her retired seat in the mountain,
with her prey of the
offenders.
60. Thus freed from cares even in her
lifetime, she continued to remain
as a liberated being in that mountain &c.
&c.
CHAPTER LXXXIII.
WORSHIP OF KANDARﾁ ALIAS MANGALA.
Argument. Deification and Adoration of the
Rākshasī for her
good Services to Mankind.
Vasishtha continued:—The Rākshasī thus
continued in her devotion, and
remained on friendly terms with the
successive rulers of the Kirāta
country, who kept supplying her with her
rations. (The Rākshasī
man-eater was turned to Rākshinī or preserver
of men).
2. She continued by the power of her
perfection in the practice of yoga
meditation, to prevent all portents, to ward
off all dread and danger of
demons, and remove the diseases of the
people. (All these were done by
the Rākshasī vidyā now lost, and by
supernatural powers gained by yoga).
3. In the course of many years of her
meditation, she used to come out
of her cell at certain intervals, and call at
the head quarters, for her
capture of the collection of living creatures
kept for her victims. (Man
slaughter was not blamable on the part of the
cannibal Rākshasī, though
practising the yoga; nor was the eating of
animal flesh reprehensible in
Vasishtha himself, who had been a flesh
eating yogi. (See Uttara Rāma
Charita)).
4. The practice continues still to be
observed by the princes of the
place, who conduct the animals to be
sacrificed to her departed ghost on
the hill; as none can be negligent to repay
the good services of his
benefactor. (Hence the prevalence of the
practice of offering sacrifices
to the names of ancestors and deified heroes
and heroines, and even of
demons for their past good services).
5. At last she became defunct in her
meditation, and ceased since long
to appear to the habitations of men, and lend
her aid in removing their
diseases, dangers and difficulties. (The good
genius of the place left
it at last).
6. The people then dedicated a high temple to
her memory, and placed in
it a statue of hers, under the title of
Kandarā—caverner alias
Mangalā devī—the auspicious goddess. (The
whole legend of the Kandarā
of Kirātas, alludes to the account of Mangalā
Chandī alias Kālīka
devī—the black and voracious goddess of the
Hindus).
7. Since then it is the custom of the chiefs
of the tribe, to consecrate
a newly made statue in honor of the Kandarā
devī—the goddess of the
valley, after the former one is disfigured
and dilapidated. (The
Kirāntis are said to continue in their idolatry
to this day,
notwithstanding the conversion of their
fellow hill tribes to
Mahometanism, except the Kafers—another hill
tribe of the Himālayas who
are idolators still).
8. Any prince of the place, who out of his
vileness, fails to consecrate
the statue of the Kandarā goddess, brings out
of his own perverseness,
great calamities to visit his people. (This
sort of retributive justice
is expressed in the adage "rājadoshat
rājya nashta":—"And for the
king's offence the people died." Pope's
Homer's Iliad I).
9. By worshipping her, man obtains the fruits
of all his desires; and by
neglecting it, he exposes himself to all
sorts of evils and calamities;
as effects of the pleasure and displeasure of
the goddess to her
votaries or otherwise. (The two clauses are
instances of affirmative and
negative enthymemes coupled together as anvaya vyatirekī. The first
enthymeme of the antecedent and consequent is
affirmative anvayī, and
the other a vyatirekī or negative one). Gloss.
10. The goddess is still worshipped by dying
and ailing people with
offerings, for remedy of their illness and
securing her blessings; and
she in her turn distributes her rewards among
them, that worship her
either in her statue or picture. (Raxā Kālī
is worshipped in statue, but
Mongla Chandī is worshipped in a ghata or potful of water).
11. She is the bestower of all blessings to
young babes, and weak calves
and cows; while she kills the hardy and proud
that deserve their death.
She is the goddess of intelligence and
favours the intelligent, and
presides for ever in the realm of the Kirāta
people. (Vasishtha being a
theist, reviles like a Vaishnava, the black
goddess as a Rākshasī, which
a Kaula cannot countenance).
CHAPTER LXXXIV.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE GERM OF THE MIND.
Argument. Reason of the application of the
name Karkatī, and
its simile to a crooked crab.
Vasishtha said:—I have thus related to you
Rāma, the unblamable legend
of Karkatī, the Rākshasī of Imaus, from its
beginning to end in ipso
facto. (Imaus and Imodus are ranges of the Himālayas. The
Gloss
interprets Imaus as a synonym of Himālayas,
by apocope of the latter
member of the compound word, and by a
grammatical rule, that the
curtailing of a part of a proper name, does
not affect the full meaning
of the name. So for the omissions of agnomens
and cognomens).
2. Rāma rejoined:—But how could one born in a
cave of Himavatas
(Imodus), become a black Rākshasī, and why
was she called Karkatī? These
I want to be clearly explained to me. (Rāma's
demand was reasonable, as
the people of the Himālayas, are always of
fair complexions, and the
Rākshasas were the Negroes of Southern India).
3. Vasishtha replied:—The Rakshas
(cannibals), are originally of many
races, some of whom are of dark and others of
fair complexions, while
many have a yellowish appearance and some of
a greenish shade. (We know
the red Rākshasas of America, but it is
impossible for us to account for
the green or blue Rākshasas in the text).
4. As for Karkatī, you must know that there
was a Rākshasa by name of
Karkata, from his exact resemblance to a
cancer. (Here is a reversion of
Sycorax the Negro parent, and her crooked son
caliban Kālibān—the black
Negro, having long arms and legs, with feet
and hands furnished with
claws and long nails like those of beasts).
5. The reason of my relating to you the
narrative of Karkatī, was only
for her queries which I recollected and
thought, would serve well to
explain the omniform God, in our disquisition
into spiritual knowledge.
(Gloss. Vasishtha adduces a contradiction in
the spiritual knowledge of
God, by calling him a spirit and yet as all
forms of things. But this
seeming contrariety will disappear upon
reflecting that, the phenomenal
is contained in the noumenal, and the forms
are viewed only in the
spirit as visions in dreams).
6. It is evident that the pure and perfect
unity, is the source of the
impure and imperfect duality of the
phenomena, and this finite world has
sprung from its Supreme cause, who is without
beginning and end. (The
One is the cause of many, and the Infinite is
the source of the finite.
Ahamsarvasyām. Anādirādi sarvasya).
7. These float (before our eyes) like the
waves upon waters, which are
apparently of different forms, and yet
essentially the same with the
element, on which they seem to move. So the
creations whether present,
past or future, are all situated in the
Supreme Spirit. (The immaterial
spirit is the basis and substratum of
material bodies).
8. As wet wood when ignited, serves for the
purpose of infusing heat,
and inviting the apes of the forest to warm
themselves in cold weather;
so the externally shining appearance of the
world, invites the ignorant
to resort to it.
9. Such is the temporary glow of the ever
cool spirit of God, in the
works of creation; which shows itself in many
forms without changing its
essence.
10. The absent world appeared in presence,
and its unreality appears as
a reality to consciousness, like the
potential figures carved in wood.
(The would be world existed in the eternal
ideas in the mind of God,
like the possible figures in the wood, which
were carved out afterwards.
And so too Aristotle).
11. As the products, of the seed from its
sprout to the fruit, are all
of the same species; so the thoughts
(chetyas) of the mind—Chitta, are
of the same nature as those originally
implanted in it. (The homogeneity
of the cause with all its effects).
12. By the law of the continuity of the same
essence, there is no
difference in the nature of the seed and its
fruit; so the intellect
(chit) and the thoughts (chetyas), differ in
nothing except in their
forms; like the waves and water differing in
external appearance, and
not in the intrinsicality of their substance
(Vastu).
13. No demonstration can show the difference
between thoughts and the
mind; and whatever distinction our judgement
may make betwixt them, it
is easily refuted by right reasoning. (Such
as the incapability of an
effect being produced without its cause, or
disagreement between the
effects of the same or similar causes).
14. Let this error therefore vanish, as it
has come from nothing to
nothing; and as all causeless falsities fail
of themselves. You will
know more of this, Rāma! when you are
awakened to divine knowledge. In
the meantime, do away with error of viewing a
duality, which is
different from the only existent Unity.
(Duality being driven out, all
will appear one and the same. So Sādi the
sophist: duirācho badar
kardam ekebinam ekedāmam).
15. After the knot of your error is cut
asunder, by your attending to my
lectures, you will come to know by yourself,
the signification and
substance (object) of what is called the true
knowledge, which is taken
in different senses by the various schools;
but that which comes of
itself in the mind, is the intuitive
knowledge of divine truth.
16. You have a mind like that of the common
people (itara), which is
full of mistakes and blunders (anarthas); all
which will doubtlessly
subside in your mind, by your attending to my
lectures (because the
words of the wise remove all errors).
17. You will be awakened by my sermons to
know this certain truth, that
all things proceed from Brahmā into whom they
ultimately return. (Brahmā
is the producer, sustainer, and recipient or
the first and last of all.
He is alpha and omega).
18. Rāma rejoined:—Sir, your affirmation of
the first cause in the
ablative case, "that all things proceed
from Brahmā", is opposed to the
negative passage in the Sruti in the same
case, that "nothing is
distinct from Him"; and is inconsistent
in itself (in as much as, there
cannot be all things, and again nothing but
Brahmā; and to say "the same
thing comes from the same," would be a
palpable absurdity).
19. Vasishtha answered:—Words or significant
terms are used in the
Sāstras for instruction of others; and where
there appears any ambiguity
in them, they are explained in their
definitions. (Hence the ablative
form "from Brahmā" is not faulty,
for what is in the receptacle, the
same comes out of it; or as they say,
"what is in the bottom, the same
comes upon the surface"; and the one is
not distinct from the other, as
the wave differs not from the water whence it
rises. This is downright
pantheism).
20. Hence it is the use though not in honest
truth, to make a difference
of the visibles from the invisible Brahmā
(for the purpose of
instruction); as it is usual to speak of
ghosts appearing to children,
though there be no such things in reality.
(It is imagination that gives
a name to airy nothing, and it is the devise
of language to use words
for negative ideas, as the word world to
denote a duality and darkness
for want of light, and not anything in
itself).
21. In reality there is no duality connected
with the unity of Brahma,
as there is no dualism of a city and the
dream that shows its apparition
in sleep. Again God being immutable in his
nature and eternal decree, it
is wrong to apply the mutations of nature and
the mutability of Will to
Him. (Volition is accompanied by nolition (Volo and nolo) in mutable
minds, but there is no option Vikalpa in the sankalpa—suo arbitrio
of the unchangeable Mind).
22. The Lord is free from the states of
causality and the caused, of
instrumentality and instruments, of a whole
and its part, and those of
proprietorship and property. (The attribution
of cause and effect or any
other predicate or predicable, is wholly
inapplicable to him, who is
devoid of all attributes).
23. He is beyond all affirmative and negative
propositions, and their
legitimate conclusions or false deductions
and elenches (i. e. nothing
can be truly affirmed or denied or
ascertained or negated of Him, by any
mode of reasoning. Naisatarkenānaneyah).
24. So the attribution, of the primary
volition to the Deity, is a false
imputation also. Yet it is usual to say so
for the instruction of the
ignorant; though there is no change in his
nature from its nolliety to
velleity. (So it is usual to attribute
sensible properties of speech and
sight, to the immaterial spirit of God, by a
figure of speech; and for
the instruction of the vulgar, who cannot
comprehend the
incomprehensible).
25. These sensible terms and figurative
expressions, are used for the
guidance of the ignorant; but the knowing
few, are far from falling into
the fallacy of dualism. All sensible
conceptions ceasing upon the
spiritual perception of God, there ensues an
utter and dumb silence. (We
become tongue-tied, and our lips are closed
and sealed in silence, to
speak anything with certainty of the
unspeakable).
26. When in time you come to know these
things better, you shall arrive
at the conclusion, that all this is but one
thing, and an undivided
whole without its parts, and having no
beginning nor end. (The world is
therefore self-same and co-eternal and
co-existent, with the eternal and
self-existent God).
27. The unlearned dispute among themselves
from their uncertainty of
truth; but their differences and dualisms are
all at an end, upon their
arriving to the knowledge of the true unity
by instructions of the wise.
(The reality is precisely in the indifference
of the subject and object.
Schelling).
28. Without knowledge of the agreement of
significant words with their
significates, it is impossible to know the
Unity, for so long as a word
is taken in different senses, there will be
no end of disputes and
difference of opinions. Dualisms being done
away, all disputes are
hushed up in the belief of unity (i. e. All words expressive of the
Deity, refer to his unity and signify the one
and the same Lord of all,
which ends all controversy on the point).
29. O support of Raghu's race! place your
reliance on the sense of the
great sayings of the vedas; and without
paying any regard to discordant
passages, attend to what I will tell you at
present. (Such as: Brahma is
used in one place in the ablative and in
another in the locative case,
and also in the nominative and as the same
with the world).
30. From whatever cause it may have sprung,
the world resembles a city
rising to view in a vision; just as the
thoughts and ideas appearing
before the mirror of the mind, from some
source of which we know
nothing. (They are as puppet shows of the
player, behind the screen).
31. Hear Rāma! and I will relate to you an
instance for your ocular
evidence, how the mind (chitta), spins out
the magical world (māyika)
from itself. (This ocular instance called the
drishtānta-drishtāvedana, is that of the spider's thread
(urnanābha-tantu) woven of itself, and given
in the Sruti).
32. Having known this, O Rāma! you will be
able to cast away all your
erroneous conceptions; and being certain of
the certitude, you will
resign your attachment to, and your desires
in this enchanted and
bewitching world. (Hence the certainty, of
God's being aloof from the
false world, as it is said Deus ex machina).
33. All these prospective worlds are
machinations or the working of the
mind. Having forsaken these false
fabrications of fancy, you will have
the tranquillity of your soul, and abide in
peace with yourself for
ever. (Exemption from all worldly cares and
anxieties of the past,
present and future lives, leads to the peace
of mind).
34. By paying your attention to the drift of
my preachings, you will be
able to find out of your own reasoning, a
mite of the medicine, for
curing all the maladies of your deluded mind.
(Right reason by the art
of reasoning, furnishes the true medicine
(psyches iatrion) to remove
the errors of the understanding).
35. If you sit in this manner (in your silent
meditation), you will see
the whole world in your mind; and all outward
bodies will disappear (in
your abstract contemplation), like drops of
oil in the sand. (All things
are presented to the mind by intuition, and
are present in the
memory—the great keeper or master of Rolls of
the soul).
36. The mind is the seat of the universe as
long as it is not vitiated
by passions and affections and afflictions of
life; and it is set beyond
the world (in heavenly bliss), no sooner it
gets rid of the turmoils of
its present state. (The mind, says Milton,
can make a heaven of hell and
a hell of heaven).
37. The mind is the means to accomplish
anything; it is the store-keeper
to preserve all things in the store-house of
its memory; it is the
faculty of reasoning; and the power to act
like a respectable person. It
is therefore to be treated with respect, in
recalling, restraining and
guiding us to our pursuits and duties. (Facultates sunt quibus facilius
fit, sine quibus omnino confici non potest. Cicero).
NOTE.—The mind is what moves and acts by its
active and cognitive
faculties, and is more to be regarded than
the body, which move entirely
as it is moved by the mind. Hence God is
called the Mind of the
world—Anima mundi?
38. The mind contains the three worlds with
all their contents, and the
surrounding air in itself; and exhibits
itself as the plenum of egoism,
and plenitude of all in its microcosm. (The
mind is the synthesis of all
its attributes, and man is living synthesis
of the world with regard to
his mind. Paracelsus. Its memory is both a
capacity and a power by its
retention and ready reproduction of every
thing).
39. The intellectual part of the mind,
contains the subjective
self-consciousness of ego, which is the seed of all its powers; while
its other or objective part, bears the
erroneous forms of the dull
material world in itself. (The former is
called the drashtā or
viewer
ego, and the latter the drishta or the view non ego. The
subjective is the thinking subject ego, and the objective is the
object of thought the non ego).
40. The self-born Brahmā saw the yet increate
and formless world, as
already present before his mind in its ideal
state, like a dream at its
first creation. He saw it (mentally) without
seeing it (actually) (i.
e. the eternal ideas of immaterial forms of possible things
in the
Divine Mind. The eternal exemplars of things
and Archetypes of the
Ectypal world. Thus the passage in the Bible
"And God saw his works were
good." i. e. answer those in his fair idea. Milton).
41. He beheld the whole creation in the
self-consciousness (samvitti) of
his vast mind, and he saw the material
objects, the hills &c., in the
samvid of his gross personal consciousness. At last he perceived
by
his sūkshma vid subtile sightedness (clairvoyance), that all gross
bodies were as empty as air and not solid
substantialities.
(Consciousness being the joint knowledge of
the subjective and
objective, i. e. of ourselves in connection with others; the one is
called superior or subjective
self-consciousness, and the other or
objective personal-consciousness).[7]
[7] Samvitti is the superior or subjective consciousness personified
as Virāj, and samvid or inferior consciousness of the objective as
received in the personification of Viswa.
Here Schelling says:—The
absolute infinite cannot be known in personal
or objective
consciousness; but requires a superior
faculty called the intuition.
The joint knowledge of the subjective and
objective is had by Ecstasy,
which discerns the identity of the subject
and object in a series of
souls which are as the innumerable individual
eyes, which the infinite
World-spirit behold, in it-self, Lewis Hist.
Phil. II. 580.
42. The mind with its embodying thoughts, is
pervaded by the omnipresent
soul, which is spread out as transpicuously
as sun-beams upon the limpid
water. (The soul is the chit or intellectual part of the mind
(chitbhāga of chitta), and the root of all
mental activities. The
chidbhāga has the power of giving knowledge which moves the other
faculties of the mind. Gloss).
43. The mind is otherwise like an infant,
which views the apparition of
the world in its insensible sleep of
ignorance; but being awakened by
the intellect chit, it sees the transcendent
form of the self or soul
without the mist of delusion, which is caused
by the sensitive part of
the mind, and removed by the reasoning
faculties of the
intellect—Chidbhāga.
44. Hear now Rāma! what I am going to tell of
the manner, in which the
soul is to be seen in this phenomenal world,
which is the cause of
misleading the mind from its knowledge of the
unity to the erroneous
notion of the duality. (The sensitivity of the
mind of objective
phenomenals, misleads it from its
intellection of the subjective
noumenal part which is a positive unity.
Gloss).
45. What I will say, can not fail to come to
your heart, by the opposite
similes, right reasoning, and graceful style,
and good sense of the
words, in which they shall be conveyed to
you; and by hearing of these,
your heart will be filled with delight, which
will pervade your senses,
like the pervasive oil upon the water.
46. The speech which is without suitable
comparisons and graceful
phraseology, which is inaudible or clamorous,
and has inappropriate
words and harsh sounding letters, cannot take
possession of the heart,
but is thrown away for nothing, like butter
poured upon the burnt ashes
of an oblation, and has no power to kindle
the flame.
The blemishes of speech are all comprised in
the following
couplet in the Mahābhāshya of
Patānjala:—[Sanskrit: grastam [...]]
47. Whatever narrative and tales there are in
any language on earth, and
whatever compositions are adorned with
measured sentences and graceful
diction; all these are rendered perspicacious
by conspicuous
comparisons, as the world is enlightened by
the cooling beams of the
moon. Hence every sloka almost in this work,
is embellished with a
suitable comparison.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to Brahmasri Sreemaan Vihari Lala Mitra ji for the
collection)
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