The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki
The only complete English translation is
by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891).
CHAPTER XIV.
STORY OF INDRANI; AND ESTABLISHMENT OF THE IDENTITY
OF THE ACTS OF CREATION AND IMAGINATION.
Argument:--Origin of Sakra race and of the World like the
fibres of
Lotus-stalks and its spiritual sense.
Bhusunda Continued:--There was one princeborn[**2 words]
of the
race of that Indra; who had also become the lord of
gods; He was endowed with prosperity and all good
qualities,
and devoted to divine knowledge.
2. This prince of Indra's race, received his divine
knowledge
from the oral instruction of Vrihaspati (the preceptor of
the
gods).
3. He knowing the knowable--one, persisted in the course
of knowledge as he was taught and being the sovereign
lord of
gods, he reigned over all the three worlds.
4. He faught[**fought] against the demigods, and
conquered all his
foes; he made a hundred sacrifices, and got over the
darknesss[**darkness]
of ignorance by his enlightened mind.
5. He remained long in meditation, having his mind fixed
in his cerebral artery, resembling the thread of a
tubular stalk
of the lotus, and continued to reflect on hundreds of
many
others matters, (i. e. On the imaginary world and its
kingdom
and conquests together with many other things).
6. He had once the desire of knowing by the power of his
understanding, how he could see the essence of Brahma in
his
meditation. (or how he could have a sight of the nature
of god,
manifest before him. Gloss).
7. He sat in his solitary retirement, and saw in this
silent
meditation of his tranquil mind, the disappearance of the
concatenation of causes all about and inside himself.
8. He beheld the omnipotent Brahma, as extended in and
about all things; and presenting all times and places and
existing
as all in all, and pervading all things in all places.
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9. His hands stretch to all sides, and his feet reach to
the
ends of the worlds; his face and eyes are on all sides,
and his
head pierces the spheres; his ears are set in all places,
and
he endures by encompassing all things every where.
10. He is devoid of all the organs of sense, and yet
possest[**possessed?]
of the powers of all senses in himself; he is the support
of all,
and being destitute of qualities, is the source and
receptacle
of all quality. (The qualities of finite bodies are of a
finite
nature, but the infinite are infinite, eternal and
immutable).
11. Unmoved and unmoving by himself, he is moving in
and out of all things, as well as moveth them all both
internally
and externally (that is to say, He is the moving force of
dull
matter). He is unknowable owing to his minuteness, and
appears to be at a distance, though he is so near us.
12. He is as the one sun and moon in the whole universe,
and the same land in all the earth; He is the one
universal ocean
on the globe, and one Meru Mountain (of the sun's path)
all
about.
13. He is the pith and gravity of all objects, and he is
the
one vacuum every where; he is the wide world and the
great
cosmos, that is common to all.
14. He is the liberated soul of all, and the primary
intellect
in every place; he is every object everywhere, and beside
all
things in all places.
15. He is in all pots and huts, in all trees and their
coatings;
he moves the carts and carriages, and enlivens alike all
men
and other animals likewise.
16. He is in all the various customs and manners of men,
and in all the many modes of their thinking; he
reside[**resides] equally
in the parts of an atom, as also in the stupendous frame
of the
triple world.
17. He resides as pungency in the heart of pepper, as
vacuity in the sky; and in his intellectual soul the
three worlds,
whether they are real entities or mere unrealities.
18. Indra beheld the lord in this manner, and then being
liberated from his animal state by the help of his pure
unders-*
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*tanding; he remainad[**remained] all along in the same
state of his
meditation as before.
19. The magnanimous god sees in his revery[**reverie?],
all things
united in his meditative mind; and beheld this creation
in the
same light as it appears to us (as a real entity).
20. He then wandered in his mind all over this creation,
and believing himself as the lord of all he saw in it,
became the
very god Indra; and reigned over the three worlds and
their
magnifold[**manifold] pageantries.
21. Know, O chief of the race of vidyádharas, that the
same
Indra who was descended of the family of Indras, has been
still
holding his reign as the lord of gods to this day.
22. He then perceived in his mind, by virtue of his
former
habit of thinking, the seed of his remembrance sprouting
forth
with the lotus stalk, wherein he thought to have lain
before.
23. As I have related to you of the reign of the former
Indra, in the bosom of an atom in the sunbeam; and of the
residence of his last generation-[**--]the latter Indra,
in the hollow
fibre of the lotus stalk.
24. So have thousands of other Indras gone by, and are
going on still in their fancied realm in the empty sky,
in the
same manner and mode as observed by their predecessors.
25. So runs the course of nature in ceaseless succession,
like
the current of a river running onward to the sea; and so
do
men whether acquainted or not with the divine knowledge,
flow on as streams to the abyss of eternity: (which is
tatpada or-*state[or state]
of the Deity).
26. Such is lengthening delusion of the world appearing
as true; but vanishing to nothing at the appearance of
the
light of truth (which is the sight of god in everything).
27. From whatever cause, and in whatever place or time,
and in whatever manner this delusion is seen to have
sprung,
it is made to disappear by knowledge of the same.
28. It is egoism alone, which produces the wonderful
appearance
of delusion; as the cloud in the sky causes the rain;
it spreads itself as a mist, but disappears immediately
at the
sight of light.
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29. He who has got rid of his belief of the looking and
sight of the world, (i. e. Of both the subjective and
objective,
as well as of his action and passion); and has attained
the
knowledge of self-reflecting soul; and who has placed his
belief
in one vacuous form of empty air; which is devoid of all
properties
and beyond all categories, is freed from all option and
settled in the only One.
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CHAPTER XV.
THE FINAL EXTINCTION OF THE VIDYÁDHARA.
Argument.--Description of Egoism as the productive seed
of the world,
and its extinction as the cause of emancipation from it.
Bhusunda resumed and said:--Wherever there is the
thought of egoism of any one, the idea of the[** world ]
will be
found to be inherent in it; as it appeared to Indra
within the
bosom of the atomic particle.
2. The error of the world (the false conception of its
reality),
which covers the mind, as the green verdure of grass
overspreads
the face of the ground; has for its origin the idea of
one's egoism, which takes its root in the human soul.
3. This minute seed of egoism, being moistened with the
water of desire, produces the arbor of the three worlds,
on the
height of Brahma in the great forest of vacuum.
4. The stars are the flowers of this tree, hang on high
on the
branches of the mountain craigs; the rivers resemble its
veins
and fibres, flowing with the juicy pith of their waters,
and the
objects of desire are the fruits of this tree. (The
objects of
desire are the enjoyments and fruition of life).
5. The revolving worlds, are the fluctuating waves of the
water of egoism; and the profluent current of desire,
continually
supplies with varieties of exquisite symposiums, sweet to
the
taste of the intellect. (i. e. The pleasures of desire
are sweet
to the mind, and afford intellectual delight).
6. The sky is the boundless ocean full of etherial
waters,
and teeming with showering drops of star light in it;
plenty
and poverty are the two whirlpools in the ocean of the
earth,
and all our woes are the mountainous waves on its
surface.
(i. e. The heaven and earth are the two oceans above and
below;
the one shining with starry light, and the other gliding
with waves of woe. So says the Bible:--And God made the
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firmament, to divide the waters above from the waters
below.
genesis[**Genesis] I).
7. The three worlds are presented as a picture of the
ocean,
with the upper lights as its froths and foams swimming
upon it;
the spheres are floating as bubbles upon it, and their
belts are
as the thick valves of their doors.
8. The surface of the earth is as a hard and solid rock,
and the intellect moves as a black crow upon it; and the
hurry
and bustle of its people, are conformable with the
incessant rotation
of the globe.
9. The infermities[**infirmities] and errors, old age and
death, are as
billows gliding on the surface of the sea; and the rising
and
falling of bodies in it, are as the swelling and
dissolving of
bubbles in water.
10. Know the world to be a gust of the breath of your
egoism, and know it also as a sweet scent proceeding from
the
lotus like flower of egoism.
11. Know the knowledge of your egoism and that of the
objective world, are not two different things; but they
are the
one and same thing; as the wind and its breath, the water
and
its fluidity, and the fire and its heat.
12. The world is included under the sense of ego, and the
ego is contained in the heart of the world; and these
being
productive of one another, are reciprocally the container
and
contained of each other.
13. He who effaces the seed of his egoism from his
understanding,
by means of his ignoring it altogether; has verily
washed of[**off] the picture of the world from his mind,
by the water
of ignorance of it.
14. Know Vidyádhara, there is no such thing as is implied
by ego; it is a causeless nothing as the horn of a hare.
15. There is no egoism in the all pervading and infinite
Brahma, who is devoid of all desire; and therefore there
being
no cause nor ground of it, it is never anything in
reality.
16. Whatever is nothing in reality, couldnot[**2 words]
possible[**possibly?] have
any cause in the beginning of creation; therefore egoism
is a
nihility[**nihilism?], as the son of a barren woman is a
nullity in nature.
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17. The want of egoism on the one hand, proves the
privation
of the world also on the other; thus there remains the
Intellect or the one mind alone, in which everything is
extinct.
18. From the proof of the absence of ego and the world,
the
operations of the mind and the sight of visibles, all
come to an
end, and there remains nothing for thee to care for or
fear.
19. Whatever is not is a naught altogether, and the rest
are
as calm and quiet as nil in existence; knowing this as
certain
be enlightened, and fall no more to the false error which
has no
root in nature.
20. Being purged from the stain of fancy, you become as
purified and sactified[**sanctified] as the holy lord Siva
for ever, and then
the sky will seem to thee as a huge mountain, and the
vast
world will dwindle to an atom. (This is done by two
powers of
adhyáropa and vyapadesa or expansion or contraction in
yoga).
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CHAPTER XVI.
EXTINCTION OF VIDYÁDHARA (CONTINUED).
Argument:--Entrancement of Vidyádhara at the end of the
Discourse
in favour of Non-egoism.
Bhusunda Continued:--As I was lecturing in this manner,
the chief of the vidáyadharas became dull in the
consciousness (i.e. unconscious of himself), and fell
into the
trance of sámadhi--anaesthesia).
2. And notwithstanding my repeated attempts, to awaken
him from that state (of insensibility); he did not open
his eyes
to the sight lying before him, but was wholly absorbed in
his
nirvána-extinction.
3. He attained the supreme and ultimate state, and became
enlightened in his soul (by what I had instructed him);
and
made no other further attempt to know what he sought (The
attempts to know God, besides sravana or attending to the
lectures of the guru, are reflection, meditation
ect[**etc.]).
4. (Here vasishtha[**Vasishtha] said to Ráma). It is
therefore, Ráma,
that I related this narrative to exemplify the effect of
instruction
in pure hearts, where it floats like a drop of oil on the
surface
of water: (i. e. where it does not sink down nor is
losts[**lost]).
5. This instruction consists in forgetting the existence
of
the ego in the Supreme spirit, this is the best advice
and there
is no other like this; and this is calculated to give
peace and
comfort to your soul.
6. But when this advice falls in the soil of evil minds,
it is
choked up and lost in the end; as the purest pearl falls
from the
surface of a smooth mirror (or piece of glass).
7. But good advice sticks fast in the calm minds of the
virtuous, and it enters into their reasoning souls; as
the
sunlight enters and shines in the sunstone.
8. Egoism is verily the seed of all worldly misery, as
the
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seed of the thorny simul tree grows only prickles on
earth; so
is meity or the thought that this is mine, the out
stretching
branch of this tree.
9. First the seed ego, and then its branch of meity or
mineness,
produce the endless leaves of our desires; and their
sense
of selfishness, is proctive[**productive] of the
burthensome fruits of our woe
and misery.
10. Then the vidyádhara said; I understand, O chief of
sages, that it is in this manner, that dull people also
become
long living in this world; and it is this true knowledge,
which is
the cause of the great longivity[**longevity] of yours
and other sages.
11. Those who are pure in their hearts and minds, soon
attain to their highest state of fearlessness, after they
are once
admonised[**admonished] in with the knowledge of truth.
12. Vasishtha said:--The chief of the birds of air, spoke
to
me in this manner on the summit of the Sumeru Mountain;
and
then held his silence like the mute clouds on the top of
Rishyasringa
chain. (It is said that the clouds never roar when they
rove over this hill).
13. Having taken leave of the sagely bird, I repaired to
the
abode of the Vidyádhara, (in order to learn the truth of
the
story); and then returned to my place, which was graced
by
the assemblage of sages.
14. I have thus related to you, O Ráma, the narration of
the veteran bird, and the sedateness which was attained
by
the Vidyádhara with little pain and knowledge. It is now
the lapse of the long period of eleven great Yugas, since
my said
interview with Bhusunda-[**--]the vetern[**veteran] chief
of the feathred[**feathered] tribe.
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CHAPTER XVII.
LECTURE ON THE ANNIHILATION OF EGOISM.
Argument:--The Yoga or mode of consuming egoism by the
fire of
Non-egoism.
Vasishtha said:--It is by means of the knowledge of
one's want of egoism, that the arbor of his desire, which
is productive of the fruit of worldliness, and which is
fraught
with the taste of all kinds of sweet and bitterness; may
be
checked in its growth.
2. It is by on'es[**one's] habit of thinking his
unegoism, that he
comes to view both gold and stone, as well as all sorts
of
rubbish in the same light; and by being calm and quiet
at all events, has never any cause of sorrow at any thing
whatsoever.
3. When the cannon-ball of egoism, is let to fly out from
the
gun of the mind by force of divine knowledge; we are at a
loss to know, where the stone of egoism takes its flight.
4. The stone of egoism being flung from the balustrade
of the body, by the gigantic force of spiritual
knowledge; we
know not where this pondrous[**ponderous] egoism is
driven and lost.
5. After the stone of egoism is flung away, by the great
force
of the knowledge of Brahma only; we cannot say where this
engine of the body (with its boast of egoism in it), is
lost forever.
(Here are three comparisons of egoism, viz;[**.] 1 of a
gun-*shot;
2 of a balustrade stone; 3 of a pebble in a fling).
6. The meaning of ego is frost in the heart of man, and
melts away under the sunshine of unegoism; it then flies
off in
vapour, and then disappears into nothing we know not
where.
7. The ego is the juice of the inner part of the body,
and
the unego is the solar heat without; the former is sucked
up
by the latter, and forsakes the dried body like a
withered leaf,
and then flies off where we know not.
8. The moisture of egoism, being sucked up from the leafy
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body of the living, flies by the process of its suction
by the
solar heat, to the unknown region of endless vacuum.
9. Whether a man sleeps in his bed or sits on the ground,
whether he remains at home or roves on rocks, whether he
wanders over the land or water, wherever he sits or
sleeps or is
awake or not:--
10. This formless egoism abides in it, either as gross
matter
or the subtile spirit, or in some state or other; which
though it
is afar from it, seems to be united with it. (The true
ego of the
far distant Divine spirit, seems to be incorporated with
the
material body).
11. Egoism is seated as the minute seed, in the heart of
the
fig tree of the body; where it sprouts forth and
stretches its
branches, composing the different parts of the world (i.
e. the
seed of egoism develops itself in the form of the
creation, which
is a creature of its own).
12. Again the big tree of the body, is contained within
the
minute seed of egoism; which bursts out in the branches
forming
the several parts of the universe,
13. As the small seed is seen by every one, to contain
within
it a large tree, which develops itself into a hundred
branches,
bearing all their leaves, flowers and abundance of
fruits; so doth
the big body reside with the atomic seed of egoism, with
all its
endless parts of corporeal organs and mental faculties,
which are
discernible to the sight of the intelligent.
14. Egoism is not to be had in the body by reasoning,
which
points out the mind of everybody, to seek it in the
sphere of
the vacuous Intellect; the seed of egoism does not spring
from
the bosom of unreality, and the blunder of the reality of
the
world, is destroyed by the fire proceeding from the
spiritual of
the wise.
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CHAPTER XVIII.
DESCRIPTION OF THE UNIVERSAL SPHERE.
Argument:--How material world is framed by intellect, its
formation
and destruction, one by reminiscence and the other by
forgetfulness.
Vasishtha related:--There is never and nowhere an
absolute death or total dissolution of the body together
with the mind, soul and egoism; but it is the creation
of the inward imagery of the mind, that is called its
quietus.
2. Look at these sights of the Meru and Mandára
Mountains,
which are born before thy presence; they are not carried
to and fro to every body, but are reflected in the minds
of all
like the flying clouds of autumn in the water of a river.
3. These creations are placed over and above and below
and under one another, like the coatings of a plantain
tree; and
they are either in contact with or detached from one
another
like clouds in the sky.
4. Ráma said:--Sir, I do not fully comprehend the sound
sense, of what you say by the words "Look at these
flying
sights" and therefore I beg to you to explain this
clearly
unto me.
5. Vasishtha replied:--Know Ráma, that the life contains
the mind, and the mind is the container of the worlds
within
it; as there are various kinds of trees and their several
parts,
contained in the bosom of a small berry. (And this is
meant by
one thing being contained within anothor[**another]).
6. After a man is dead, his vital airs fly to and unite
with
the etherial air; as the liquid water of streams flows to
and
mixes with the main ocean. (This is by attraction of
things of
the same kind).
7. The winds of heaven then disperse on all sides, his
vital
airs together with the imaginary worlds of his life time,
which
subsisted in the particles of his vital breath.
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8. I see the winds of heaven, bearing away the vital
airs,
together with their contents of the imaginary worlds; and
filling the whole space of air with vital breath on all
sides.
9. I see the Meru and Mandára Mountains, wafted with
the imaginary worlds before me; and you also will observe
the
same, before the sight of your understanding. (The whole
vacuum teeming with life).
10. The etherial airs are full with the vital airs of the
dead,
which contain the minute particles of mind in them; and
these
minds again contain the types of the worlds in them, just
as
the sesame seeds contain the oil in them.
11. As the etherial airs bear the victal[**vital] airs,
which are of
the same kind with them, (both being airy substances); so
are
the vital breaths accompanied with
practicles[**particles] of the mind.
(which is equally an airy substance also), these again
bear the
pictures of the worlds in them, as if they are ingrafted
upon
them.
12. The same vacuum contains the whole creation and the
three worlds with the earth and ocean, all which are borne
in it, as the different odors are borne by the winds.
13. All these are seen in the sight of the understanding,
and not by the vision of the visual organs; they are the
portraiture
of our imagination, like the fairy lands we see in our
dreams before us.
14. There are many other things, more subtile than the
visible atmosphere, and which owing to their existence in
our
desire or fancy only, are not borne upon the wings of the
winds
as the former onces[**ones]: (Though it is said in
ordinary speech,
that our desires and fancies are borne by our internal
humour
of váya[**váyu] or wind).
15. But there are some certain truths, which are derived
from the intellect, and are called intellectual
principles, which
have the power to cause our pleasure and pain, and lead
us to
heaven or hell: (Such as virtue and vice). (These are the
immutable principles of right and wrong, abiding in and
proceeding from the intellect).
16. Again our desires are as the shadows of cities,
floating
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on the stream of life; and though the current of life is
continually
gliding away, yet the shadowy desires whether successful
or not, ever remain the same. (Lit;[**.] are never
carried away by
the current).
17. The vital breath carries its burden of the world,
along
with its course to the stillness of endless vacuity; as
the breezes
bear away the fragrance of flowers, to the dreary desert
where
they are lost for ever.
18. Though the mind is ever fickle, changeable and
forgetful in its nature; yet it never loses the false
idea of
the world which is inherent in it, as a pot removed to
any
place and placed in any state, never gets rid of its
inner vacuity.
(The idea of the world is carried by reminiscence, in
every
state and stage of the changeful mind).
19. So when the fallacy of the false world has taken
possession
of the deluded mind, it is alike impossible either to
realize
or set it at naught, like the form of the formless
Brahma.
20. Or if this world is a revolving body, carried about
by
the force of the winds; yet we have no knowledge of its
motion,
as when sitting quiet in a boat, though carried afar to
the
distance of miles by the tide and winds.
21. As men sitting in a boat, have no knowledge of the
force which carries the boat forward; so we earthly
beings
have no idea of the power, that is attched[**attached] to
it in its rotatory
motion.
22. As a wide extending city, is represented in miniature
in a painting at the foot of a column; so is this world
contained
in the bosom of the minute atom of the mind.
23. A thing however little or insignificant, is taken to
be too
much and of great importance, by the low and mean; as a
handful of paddy is of great value to the little mouse
than gems,
and a particle of mud to the contemptible frog, than the
pearls
under the water. (So a particle[**space added] of the
mind is enough for the
whole world).
24. Again a trifle is taken as too much, by those who are
ignorant of its insignificance; as the learned in the
error of
their judgement, mistake this visionary world as
preparatory
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to their future happiness or misery. (The world being
nothing
in reality, cannot lead to anything to real good or
evil).
25. The inward belief of something as real good, and of
another as positive evil, is a mistake common to the
majority of
mankind, and to which the learned also are liable, in
their
conduct in this world. (The wise man is indifferent to
every
thing, and neither likes nor takes the one, nor hates or
rejects
the other).
26. As the intelligent and embodied soul, is conscious of
every part of the body in which it is confined; so the
enlightened
living soul--jíva, beholds all the three worlds
desplayed[**displayed]
within itself (as in the God Viráj).
27. The unborn and ever lasting God, who is of the form
of
conscious soul, extending over the infinity of space, has
all these
worlds, as parts of his all pervading vacuous body.
28. The intelligent and ever living soul (of God) sees
the
uncreated worlds deeply impressed in itself; as a rod of
iron
(were it endowed with intelligence), would see the future
knives
and needles in itself.
29. As a clod of earth, whether endowed with intelligence
or not knows the seed which is hidden in it, and which it
grows
to vegetation afterwards; so doth the ever living soul
know the
world which are[**is] contained in it.
30. As the sensitive or insensitive seed, knows the germ,
plant and tree, which it contains within its bosom; so
doth the
spirit of God, perceive the great arbor of the world
conceived
in its profoundest womb.
31. As the man having his sight, sees the image of
something
reflected in a mirror, which the blind man does not; so
the wise man sees the world in Brahma, which the ignorant
do[**does] not perceive (but think the world as distinct
from him).
32. The world is nothing except the union of the four
catigories[**categories]
of time, space, action and substance; and egoism being no
way distinct from the predicates of the world, subsists
in God
who contains the whole in Himself. (God is not predicable
by
any particular predicate; but is the congeries of all the
predicates
taken collectively in his nature).
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33. Whatever lesson is inculcated to any body by means
of a parable, i. e. whatever thing is signified to some
one by
a comparison, know that the simili[**simile] relates to
some particular
property of the compared object and not in all respects.
(So
the similitude of iron rod given to god in the sruti and
this
book, regards only its material causality, and not its
insensibility
with the sensible spirit of God).
34. Whatever is seen to be moving or unmoving here in
this world; is the vivarta or expanded body of the living
soul,
without any alteration in its atomic minuteness. (Nature
is the
body, and God the soul. Pope).
35. Leaving the intelligence aside (which is wanting in
created objects); and taking the force only, (which actuates
all nature); we find no difference of this physical force
from
the giver of the force.
36. Again whatever alteration, is produced in the motion
or option of anything or person, at any time or place or
in any
manner; is all the act of that Divine Intellect.
37. It is the intellect which infuses in the mind the
power
of its option, volition, imagination and the like;
because none
of these can spring as a sprout in the mind, which is
without
intelligence and without an intelligent cause of it.
38. Whatever desires and fancies, rise in the minds of
the
unenlightened; are not of the nature of the positive will
or
decree of the Divine Mind, owing to the endless variety
and
mutuality of human wishes.
39. The desires rising in the minds of the enlightened,
are
as they were no desires and never had their rise;
because.--
40. All thoughts and desires being groundless, they are
as
false as the idle wishes of boys; for who has ever
obtained the
objects of his dream? (or that he has beheld in his
dream?)[**moved '?']
41. Sankalpa with its triple sense of thought, desire and
imagination, is impressed by the intellect on the living
soul
(which is the image of God) from its past reminiscence;
and
though we have a notion of this ideal soul, yet it is as
untrue
and unsubstantial as a shadow; but not so the original
Intellect,
which [**[is]] both real and substantial.
-----File:
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42. He who is freed from the error of taking the unreal
world for real, becomes as free as the god siva[**Siva]
himself; and
having got rid of the corporeal body, becomes manifest in
his
spiritual form.
43. The imagination of the ignorant, whirls about the
worlds,
as the wind hurts[**hurls] the flying cotton in the air;
but they appear
to be as unmoved as stones to the wise, who are not led
away
by their imagination.
44. So there are multitudes of worlds, amidst many other
things in the vast womb of vacuum which nobody can count;
some of which are united with one another in groups, and
others that have no connection with another.
45. The supreme intellect being all in all, manifests
itself in
endless forms and actions, filling the vast space of
infinity, some
of which are as transcient[**transient] as rain drops or
bubbles in air and
water, which quickly burst out and disappear; and others
appearing as the great cities (of gods &c[**.]),
situated in the heart
of the Infinite one.
46. Some of these are as durable as rocks, and others are
continually breaking and wearing out; some appearing as
bright
as with their open eyes, and others as dark as with their
closed
eyelids; some of these are luminous to sight and others
obscured
under impenetrable darkness; thus the bosom of the
intellect
resembling the vast expanse of the ocean, is rolling on
with the
waves of creation to all eternity.
47. Some though set apart are continually tending towards
another; as the waters of distant rivers are running to
mix
with those of seas and ocean; and as the luminous bodies
of
heaven, appearing together to brighten its sphere.
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CHAPTER XIX.
DESCRIPTION OF THE FORM OF VIRÁJ OR THE ALL
COMPREHENDING DEITY.
Argument:--The Essence of the Living soul, and of the
undivided and
Individual bodies; and Distinction of things with regard
to their distinct
natures and actions.
Ráma said:--Tell me sir, regarding the nature of the
living soul, and the manner of its assuming its different
forms; and tell me also its original form, and those
which it
takes at different times and places.
2. Vasishtha replied:--The infinite intelligence of God,
which fills all space and vacuum; takes of its own will a
subtile
and minute form, which is intelligible under the name of
Intellect; and it is this which is expressed by the term
living
soul--jíva or zoa.
3. Its original form is niether[**neither] that of a
minute atom, nor a
bulky mass; not an empty vacuity, nor anything having its
solidity. It is the pure intellect with consciousness of
itself,
it is omnipresent and is called the living soul. (It is
neither
the empty space, nor anything contained therein).
4. It is the minutest of the minute, and the hugest of
the
huge; it is nothing at all, and yet the all, which the
learned
designate as the living soul. (The preceding one is a
negative
proposition, and this an affirmative one).
5. Know it as identic with the nature, property and
quality,
of any object whatever that exists any where; It is the
light
and soul of all existence, and selfsame with all, by its
engrossing
the knowledge of everything in itself. (Because nothing
is
existent in reality but in its idea, and the soul having
all ideas
in itself, is identic with all of them).
6. Whatever this soul thinks in any manner, of anything
at
any place or time, it immediately becomes the same by its
notion thereof; (i. e. Being full with the idea of a
thing, it is
-----File:
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said to be identified with the same). The collective soul
becomes all whatever it thinks or wills, as the soul of
God; but
the individual soul thinks as it becomes at any place or
time--as
the soul of man or any particular being. Gloss).
7. The soul possesses the power of thinking, as the air
has
its force in the winds; but its thoughts are directed by
the
knowledge of things, (that it derives by means of the
senses);
and not by the guidance of anyone, as the appearance of
ghosts
to boys.
8. As the existent air appears to be inexistent, without
the motion of the wind; so the living soul desisting from
its
function of thinking, is said to be extinct in the
Supreme Deity.
9. The living soul is misled to think of its
individuality as
the ego, by the density or dullness of its intellect; and
supposes
itself to be confined within a limited space of place and
time,
and with limited powers of action and understanding.
(Thus
the infinite soul mistakes itself for a finite being, by
the dulness
of its understanding).
10. Being thus circumscribed by time and space, and
endowed with substance and properties of action
&c[**.], it assumes
to itself an unreal form or body, with the belief of its
being or
sober reality. (Thus the incorporeal soul, is
incorporated in
a corporeal frame).
11. It then thinks itself to be enclosed in an ideal
atom;
as one sees himself in his dream to be involved in his
unreal
death.
12. And as one finds in its mind his features and the
members of his body, to another form in his dream; so the
soul
forgets her intellectual entity in her state of
ignorance, and
becomes of the same nature and form, as she constantly
thinks
upon. (It forgets its pure spiritual form, and becomes a
dull
material body of some kind).
13. Thinking itself to be thus transformed to a gross and
material form, as that of viráj[**Viráj] the macrocosm,
(who combines
the whole material universe in himself); it views itself
as bright
and spotted, as the disk of the moon with the black spot
upon it.
-----File:
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14. It then finds in its person resembling the lunar
disk,
the sudden union of the five senses of perception,
appearing in
him of themselves.
15. These five senses are then found to have the five
organs of sensation for their inlets, by which the soul
perceives
the sensation of their respective objects.
16. Then the Purusha or first male power known as
viráj[**Viráj],
manifests,[**delete ,] himself in five other forms said
to be the members of
his person; and these are the sun, the sides, water, air,
and the
land, which are the objects of five senses said before.
He then
becomes of endless forms according to the infinity of
objects
of his knowledge: (i. e. the thoughts in this mind). He
is thus
manifested in his objective forms, but is quite unknown
to us
in his subjective or causal form, which is unchangeable
and
undecaying.
17. He sprang up at first from the supreme being, as its
mental energy or the mind; and was manifest in the form
of
the calm and clear firmament, with the splendour of
eternal
delight.
18. He was not of the five elemental form, but was the
soul of the five element, he is called the Viráj
Purusha--the
macrocosm of the world, and the supreme lord of all. (He
was
the collective body of all individual ones).
19. He rises spontaneously of himself, and then subsides
in himself; he expands his own essence all over the
universe,
and at last contracts the whole in himself.
20. He rose in a moment with his power of volition, and
with all his desires in himself; he rises of his own will
at first,
and after lasting long in himself, dissolves again in
himself.
21. He is the selfsame one with the mind of God, and he
is the great body of the material world; and his body is
called
the puryashataka[**puryashtaka] or container of the eight
elementary principles,
as also the ativáhika[**átiváhika] or of the
spiritual-form.
22. He is as the subtile and gross air, manifest as the
sky,
but invisible as the subtile ether; he is both within and
as well as without everything, and is yet nothing in
himself.
-----File: 108.png---------------------------------------------------------
[** unclear portions of the page compared to print]
23. His body consists of eight members, viz--the five
senses,
the mind, the living principle and egoism, together with
the
different states of their being and not being, i. e[**.],
of their
visible and invisible form: (such as outward and inward
organs of perception &c[**.]).
24. He (in the from of Brahmá), sang at first the four
vedas with his four mouths; he determined the
significations
of words, and it was he who established the rules of
conduct,
which are in vogue to this time.
25. The high and boundless heaven, is the crown of his
head; and the lower earth is the footstool of his feet;
the unbounded
sky is his capacious belly, and the whole universe is
the temple over his body.
26. The multitudes of worlds all about, are the members
of
his body on all sides; the waters of seas are the blood
of the
scars upon his body; the mountains are his muscles, and
the
rivers and streams are the veins and arteries of his
body.
27. The seas are his blood vessels, and the islands are
the
ligatures round his persons; his arms are the sides of
the sky,
and the stars are the hairs on his body.
28. The forty-nine winds are its vital airs, the orb of
the
sun is its eye-ball, while its heat is the fiery bile
inside its
belly.
29. The lunar orb is the sheath of his life, and its
cooling
beams are the humid humours of his body; his mind is the
receptacle of his desires, and the pith of his soul is
the ambrosia
of his immortality.
30. He is the root of the tree of the body, and the seed
of
the forest of actions; he is the source of all existence,
and he
is as the cooling moonlight diffusing delight to all
beings by
the heating beams of that balmy planet oshadhísa.
31. The orb of the moon, is said in the sruti as the lord
of
life, the cause of the body and thoughts and actions of
all
living beings; (by growing the vegetable food for their
subsistence
and sustenance of their lives).
32. It is from this moon like viráj, that contains all
vitality
[**in him]self, that all other living beings in the
universe take
-----File:
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their rise; hence the moon is the container of life,
mind, action
and the sweet ambrosia of all living beings.
33. It is the will or desire of viráj[**Viráj], that
produced the gods
Brahmá, Vishnu and Siva from himself; and all the
celestial
deities and demons, are the miraculous creation of his
mind.
34. It is the wonderful nature of the intelligent
Intellect,
that whatever it thinks upon in its form of an
infinitessimal[**infinitesimal]
atom, the same appears immediately before it in its
gigantic
form and size.
35. Know Ráma, the whole universe to be seat of the soul
of viráj[**Viráj]; (i. e. the whole universe to be
teeming with life), and
the five elements to compose the five component parts of
his
body. (Whose body is all nature and whose soul is God).
36. Viráj that shines as the collective or universal soul
of
the world, in the bright orb of the moon, diffuses light
and life
to all individuals by spreading the moonbeams which
produces
the vegetable food for the supportance and sustenance of
living
beings.
37. The vegetable substances, which supply the animal
bodies
with their sustenance; and thereby produce the life of
living
beings; produce also the mind which becomes the cause of
the
actions and future births of persons by its efforts
towards the
same.
38. In this manner a thousand viráts and hundreds of
Mahákalpa
periods have passed away; and, there many such still
existing and yet to appear, with varieties of customs and
manners of peoples in different ages and climes.
39. The first and best and supremely blest virát--the
male
Deity, resides in this manner of our conception of him,
and
indistinct in his essence from the state of transcendent
divinity;
with his huge body extending beyond the limits of space
and
time. (This viráj or Brahmá is the Demiurgus of platonic
philosophy).
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[** png 110-114 compared to print]
CHAPTER XX.
LECTURE ON THE EXTINCTION of THE LIVING SOUL.
Argument:-Extinction of individual souls in the
universal, by their
abandonment of desires.
Vasishtha continued:--This primary Purusha or the
Male agent-[**--]virát, is a volitive principle; and
whatever
he wills to do at anytime, the same appears instantly
before
him in its material form of the five elements.
2. It is this will, O Ráma! that the sages say to have
become the world; because by its being intent upon
producing
the same, it became expanded in the same form. (The will
of the Deity is the deed itself).
3. Viráj is the cause of all things in the world, which
came
to be produced in the same form as their material cause.
(Because
the product is alike its producing cause, being a facsimile
of the same).
4 As the great viráj is collectively the aggregate of all
souls, so is he distributed likewise into the individual
soul of
every body. (Hence every soul knowing itself to be a
particle
of the Divine, cannot think itself as otherwise).
5. The same viráj is manifest in the meanest insect as
also
in the highest Rudra, in a small atom as in the huge
hill, and
expands itself as the seed vessel to a very large tree:
(all
which are mistaken as parts of the illusive world).
6. The great viráj is himself the soul of every
individual,
from the creeping insect to the mighty Rudra of air; and
his
infinite soul extends even to atoms, that are sensible
and not
insensible of themselves.
7. In proportion as viráj expands and extends his soul to
infinity, so he fills the bodies of even the atomic
animalcules
with particles of his own essence.
8. There is nothing as great or small in reality in the
-----File:
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world, but everything appears to be in proportion as it
is filled
and expanded by the Divine spirit.
9. The mind is derived from the moon, again the moon has
sprang from the mind; so doth life spring from life and
the
fluid water flows from the congealed snow and ice and
vice
versa. (So there is nothing as greater or less or as the
source
and its outlet).
10. Life is but a drop of the seminal fluid, distilled as
a particle
by the amorous union of parents. (This life being
transmitted
from generation to generation, there is no one greater
or less than another).
11. This life then reflects in itself, and derives the
properties
of the soul, and likens it in the fulness of its
perfections.
(Hence the soul and life are identified to one and the
same
principle by many).
12. The living soul has then the
conscious[**consciousness] of itself, and of
its existence as one pure and independent soul; but there
is no
cause whatever, as to how it comes to think itself a
material
being composed of the five elements.
13. It is through opposition of nature that leads one
into
error, but in fact nature ever remains the same; as wrong
interpretation
of language imbrues bad ideas wheras[**whereas] character
remains the same.
14. The living soul is conscious of its
selfexistence[**self-existence?], by its
knowledge of living by itself; it is the instinct of the
perception
of things by the mind, and not merely as the breath of
life or
external air, which is devoid of consciousness.
15. But being beset by the frost of ignorance, and
confined
to the objects of sense, the living soul is blinded of
its consciousness
and is converted to the breathing soul or vital life, and
so
loses the sight of its proper course.
16. Being thus deluded by the illusion of the world, the
soul sees the duality instead of its unity, and being
converted
to the breathing of vital life, it is lost to the sight
of the soul
which is hidden under it.
17. We remain confined to this world of ignorance, as
long
-----File:
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we enjoy the idea of ego; but as soon we give up the idea
of
ego, we become a free man.
18. Therefore O Ráma! When yon[**you] will be able to
know
that there is no salvation and confinement in this world,
as
well as no sat[**Sanskrit:**] and asat[**Sanskrit:**],
then and there you will be a true free
man.
-----File:
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CHAPTER XXI.
WHAT CONSTITUTES TRUE KNOWLEDGE.
Argument:--Amateurs of learning of two kinds, the real
and the affected
or Description of the two kinds of the lovers of
knowledge, viz[**.?], the
real and the Fictitious.
Vasishtha Continued:--The wise man must always
conduct himself wisely, and not with mere show or
affectation
of wisdom; because the ignorant even are preferable to
the affected and pretended lovers of learning. (According
to
the maxim which says that, if the show of anything be
good
for anything, surely the Reality must be better).
2. Ráma rejoined:--Tell me sir, what is meant by true
wisdom, and by the show or affectation of it; and what is
the
good or bad result of either. (i. e. What kind of men
they are,
their signs and their respective ends).
3. Vasishtha replied:--He who reads the sástras, and
practices
his learning as a practitioner for earning his
livelihood,
without endeavouring to investigate into the principles
of his
knowledge, is called a friend to learning.
4. Whose learning is seen to be employed in busy life
only,
without showing its true effect in the improvement of the
understanding; such learning being but an art or means of
getting a livelihood, its posessor[**possessor] is called
a fellow of learning;
(and no doctor in it).
5. He who is satisfied with his food and dress only, as
the
best gain of his learning; is known as an amateur and
novice
in the art of explaining the sástra: (or as mere teachers
and
pedagogues).
6. He who persists in the performance of his righteous
and
ceremonial acts, as ordained by law (Srouta sástra) with
an
object of fruition, is termed a probationer in learning,
and is
near about to be crowned with knowledge.
7. The knowledge of the soul (spiritual knowledge), is
re-*
-----File:
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*ckoned as the true knowledge; all other knowledge is
merely
a semblance of it, being void of the essential knowledge
(necesary[**necessary]
for mankind).
8. Those who without receiving the spiritual knowledge,
are content with bits of their secular learning; all
their labour
is in vain in this world, and they are styled as mere
noviciates
in learning.
9. Ráma, you must not rest here with your heart's
content,
unless you can rest in the peace of your mind, with your
full
knowledge of the knowable one; you must not remain like a
novice in learning, in order to enjoy the fruitions of
this deleterious
world. (Here all pleasure is palpable pain).
10. Let men work honestly on earth to earn their bread,
and let them take their food for sustenance of their
lives; let
them live for the inquiry after truth, and let them learn
that
truth, which is calculated to prevent their return to
this miserable
world.
-----File:
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CHAPTER XXII.
THE YOGA CONDUCIVE TO HAPPINESS OR THE
WAY TO HAPPINESS.
Argument:--The signs and characters of wise men and of
their wisdom;
together with a disquisition into the nature of the
world, soul and the
Supreme spirit or Brahma.
Vasishtha resumed:--The men[**man] who by his knowledge
of the knowable one, hath placed his reliance in him;
who hath set his mind to its pristine purity, by purging
it from
its worldly propensities, and has no faith in the merit
of acts;
is one who is called the truly wise. (This chapter is in
answer
to Ráma's question about who is a wise man &c.).
2. The learned who knowing all kinds of learning, and
being
employed in acts, yet observe their indifference in every
thing,
are called to be truly wise. (It is wisdom to act, and
not expect).
3. He whose heart is observed by the wise, to retain its
coldness in all his acts and efforts; and whose mind is
unaffectedly
calm and quiet at all times; is said to be the truly wise
man.
4. The sense of one's liberation from the doom of birth
and
death, is the true meaning of the word knowledge; or else
the
art of procuring simple food and raiment, is the practice
of
artificers only.
5. He is styled a wise man who having fallen in the
current of his transactions, remains without any desire
or expectation,
and continues with as vacant a heart as the
empty air.
6. The accidents of life come to pass, without any direct
cause and to no purpose; and what was neither present nor
expected, comes to take place of its own accord. (All
accidents
are caused by an unknown and unforeseen fate or chance).
7. The appearance or disappearance of an event or
accident
-----File: 116.png---------------------------------------------------------
proceeds from causes quite unknown to us, and these
afterwards
become causes of the effects produced by them.
8. Who can tell what is the cause of the absence of horn
in
hares, and the appearance of water in the mirage, which
cannot
be found out or seen at the sight of those objects.
9. Those who explore in the causality of the want of
horns
in hares, may well expect to embrace the necks of the
sons
and grandsons of a barren woman.
10. The cause of the appearance of the unreal phenomena
of the world to our sight, is no other than our want of
right
sight (i. e. our ignorance), which presents these
phantoms to
our view; and which disappear at a glance of our acute
vision
(of reason).
11. The living (or human) soul appears as the Supreme
spirit, when it is viewed upon by the sight of our
blended
intellect; but no sooner does the light of Divine
intellect
drawn[** drown?--P2: draw] in our minds, than the living
or animal soul dwindles
into nothing.
12. The insensible and unconscious Supreme soul, becomes
awakened to the state of the living soul; just as the
potential
mango of winter, becomes the positive mango fruit in the
genial spring.
13. The intellect being awakened, becomes the living
soul;
which in its long course of its living, becomes worn out
with
age and toil, and passes into many births in many kinds
of
beings: (animal, vegetable as well as insensible
objects).
14. Wise men that are possessed of their intellectual
sight,
look internally within themselves in the recesses of
their
hearts and minds; without looking at the lookables
without, or
thinking of anything or many efforts whatever; but move
on
with the even course of their destiny, as the water flows
on its
course to the ocean of eternity.
15. They who have come to the light of their transcendent
vision, fix their sight to brighter views beyond the
sphere of
visibles; and discern the invisible exposed to their
veiw[** view].
16. They who have come to the vision of transcendent
light
(the glory of God), have their slow and silent motion
like that
-----File:
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of a hidden water course; owing to their heedlessness of
everything
in this world.
17. They who are regardless of the visibles and thoughtless
of the affairs of the world, are like those that
disentangled from
their snares; and they are truly wise, who meddle with
their
business as freely, as the free airs of heaven gently
play with
and move the leaves of trees.
18. They who have come to sight of the transcendent
light,
athwart the dizzy scenes of mortal life; are not
constrained to
the course of this world, as seafarers are not to be pent
up in
shallow and narrow pools and streams. (Sailors are glad
to be
in the wide ocean, than to ply in the waters of inland
creeks).
19. They that are slaves of their desire (of enjoyment in
this and next life), are bound to the
tharldom[**thraldom] of works ordained
by law and sruti; and thus pass their lives in utter
ignorance of truth. (Hence knowledge and practice are
opposed
to one another, the one being a state of bondage for
some frail good and gain, and the other of freedom and
lasting
bliss).
20. The bodily senses fall upon carnal pleasures, as
vultures
pounce upon putrid carrion; curb and retract them
therefore
with deligence[**diligence], and fix thy mind to meditate
on the state of
Brahmá and the soul.
21. Know that Brahma is not without the creation, as no
gold is without its form and reflection; but keep
yourself
clear from thoughts of creation and reflexion, and
confine your
mind to the meditation of Brahma, which is replete with
perfect bliss.
22. Know the nature of Brahma to be as inscrutable, as
the
face of the universe is idiscernible[** indiscernible],
in the darkness of the chaotic
state at the end of a Yuga age; when there was no
appearance
of anything, nor distinction of conduct and manners. (See
Manu's institutes I. 2).
23. And the elements of production existing in the
consciousness
of divine nature, were in their quiescent agitation
in the divine spirit; as the movements of flimsy vapours
amidst
the darkness of an immovable and wide spreading cloud.
(So
-----File:
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are the fickle thoughts of the firm mind, and the moving engines
of the fixed machine).
24. And as the particles of water are in motion, in a
still
pond and in the standing pool; so are the changing
thoughts
of the changeless soul, and so the motions of the element
bodies
in unchanging essence and nature of God.
25. As the universal and undivided sky and space, take
the names of the different sides of heaven (without
having
any name or side of its own); so the undivided and
partless
Brahma, being one and same with the creation, is
understood
as distinct and different from it.
26. The world contains the egoism, as the ego contains
the
world in it; they contain the one within the other, as
the coats
of the plantain tree contain and are contained under one
another.
27. The living soul or jíva being possessed of its egoism,
sees its internal world (which lies in its egoism),
through the
pores of the organs of sense, as lying without it; in the
same
manner, as the mountains look upon the lakes issuing out
of
its caverns, as if they outward things altogether. (So
the
mental and internal world appears as a visibly external
phenomenon).
28. So when the living soul sees itself by mitake[**
mistake], to any
thing in the world (i. e. in the light of an object); it
is the
same as one takes a ball or bar of gold, for an ornament
which
was or is to be made of it. (So the soul residing in any
body
at any time[**space added], is not that body itself but
the indwelling power
thereof).
29. Hence they that are acquainted with the soul, and are
liberated in their life time (or become jívanmukta[**)];
never think
themselves to be born or living or dying at any time;
(though
they are thought and looked upon as such by others. The
soul being eternal and unchangeable).
30. Those that are awakened to the sight of the soul, are
employed in the actions of life without looking at them;
(without taking heed of them in their hearts); just as a
house-*
-----File:
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holder discharges his domestic duties, while his mind is
fixed
at the milk pot in the cowstall.
31. As the God viráj[**Viráj] is situated with his moon
like appearance,
in the heart of the universal frame, so does the living
soul
reside in the heart of every individual body like a
little or
large dew drop, according to the smallness or bigness of
the
corporeal body.
32. This false and frail body believed to be a solid
reality,
on account of its tripartite figure; and is mistaken for
the
ego and soul, owing to the intelligence that is displayed
and
dwells in it.
33. The living soul is confined like a silkworm, in the
cell
of its own making Karma-Kosha, by acts of its past life,
and
resides with its egoism in the seed of its parents, as
the floral
fragrance dwells in the honey cups of flowers.
34. The egoism residing in the seminal seed, spreads its
intelligence throughout the body from head to foot; as
the
moon-beams are scatterd[**scattered] throughout the
circumference of the
whole universe.
35. The soul stretches out the fluid of its intelligence,
through the openings of its organs of sense; and this
being
carried to a[**the] sides through the medium of air,
extends all over
the three worlds, as the vapour and smoke fill and cover
the
face of the sky.
36. The body is full of sensibility, both in its inner as
well
as outer parts; but it is in the viscera of the heart,
where our
desires (vásana) and egoism (abhimána[**à-->á]) are
deeply seated.
37. The living soul is composed of its desires only, and
consists of and subsists under its hearty wishes alone,
the same
soon come out of themselves from within the heart, and
appear
on the outside in the outward conduct of the person.
(Whatever
is in the heart, the same appears also in action).
38. The error of egoism is never to be
supressed[**suppressed], by any
other means whatsoever; save by one's unmindfulness
(nischitta)
of himself, and fulness of divine presence (Brahmai
karasya) in his calm and quiet soul.
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39. Though dwelling on your present thoughts, yet you
must rely in your reflection of the vacuous Brahma; by
suppression
of your egoism by degrees and your self-controul[**
control]
betimes.
40. They who have known the soul, manage themselves here
without fostering their earthly thoughts any more[**space
added]; and remain
as silent images of wood, without looking at or thinking
of
any thing at all.
41. He who has less of earthly thoughts in him, is said
to
be liberated in the world; and though living in it, he is
as clear
and free in his mind as the open air; (no earthly
affections,
tie down his rising soul).
42. The egoism which is bred in the pith, grows into
intelligence extending from head to foot; and circulates
throughout
the whole body, as the sun beams pervade all over the
sphere of heaven.
43. It becomes the sight of the eyes, the taste of the
tongue and hearing in the ears; then the five senses
being
fastened to the desires in the heart, plunge the ego into
the
sea of sensuality.
44. Thus the omnipresent intellect, becomes the mind
after
losing its purity; and is employed with one or other of
the
senses, as the common moisture of the earth, grows the
sprout
to in the vernal season.
45. He who thinks on the various objects of the senses,
without knowing their unreality and the reality of the
only
one; and does not endeavour for his liberation here, has
no
end of his troubles in life. (Because sensible objects,
afford
no intellectual or spiritual happiness).
46. That man reigns as an emperor, who is content with
any kind of food and raiment; and with any sort of
bedstead
at any place. (And is not confined to any particular mode
of life).
47. Who with all his desires of the heart, is indifferent
to
all the outward objects of desire; who with his vacant
mind is
full with his soul, and being as empty vacuum is filled
with the
breath of life.
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48. Who whether he is sitting or sleeping, or going
anywhere
or remaining unmoved, continues as quiet as in his
sleeping
state; and though stirred by any one, he is not awakened
from his slumber of nirvána, in which his mind and its
thoughts, are all drowned and have become extinct. (This
is
the state of the sixth stage of Yoga meditation).
49. Consciousness though common to all, resides yet in
each breasts[**breast], like fragrance in flowers and
flavour in fruits.
50. It is self-consciousness only, that makes an
individual
person, and its extinction is said to form the wide world
all
about; but being confined to the soul or one's self, it
vanishes
the sight of the world from view. (i. e. The subjective
consciousness
is the soul or self, and its objectivity makes the world;
and this is the abstract of this doctrine).
51. Be unconscious of the objects on earth; and remain
insensible of all your prosperity and affluence: make
your heart
as hard as impenetrable as stone, if you will be happy
forever.
52. O righteous Ráma! convert the feeling of your heart
to unfeelingness, and make your body and mind as
insensible
as the hardest stone (upala or opal).
53. Of all the positive and negative acts, of the wise
and
unwise sets of men, there is nothing that makes such a
marked
difference between them, as those proceeding from the
desire of
the one, and those from want of the desire of the other.
54. The result of the desired actions of the unwise, is
their
stretching out of the world before them; while that of
the acts
done without desire by the wise, serves to put an end to
the
world before them. (The acts of desire produce repeated
births
in the world, while the other puts an end to the future
transmigrations
of the soul).
55. All visibles are destructible, and those that are
destroyed
come to be renewed to life; but that which is neither
destroyed
nor resuscitated, is thyself--thy very soul.
56. The knowledge of existence (of the world), is without
its foundation; and though it is thought to be existent,
it is not
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found to be so in reality; it is as the water in the
mirage, which
does not grow the germ of the world.
57. The right knowledge of things, removes the thought of
egoism from the mind; and though it may be thought if in
the
mind, yet it takes no deep root in the heart, as the
burnt seed
or grain does not sprout forth in the ground.
58. The man that does his duties or not, but remains
passionless
and thoughtless and free from frailty; has his rest in
the soul, and his nirvána is always attendant upon him.
59. Those who are saintly calm and quiet by the
controul[**typo for control]
of their mind, and by suppresion[**suppression] of the
bonds (appetites) for
enjoyments; but not having weakened (governed) their
natures,
have in their hearts a mine of evils.
60. The wise soul is full of light like the
clouldless[**cloudless] sky, and
is distinguished from others by its brightness; but the
same
soul which is alike in all, appears as dim as the evening
twilight
in the ignorant.
61. As a man seated in this place, sees the light of
heaven
(heavenly bodies), was coming to him from a great distance,
and
filling the intermediate space; so the light of the
Supreme
soul fills and reaches to all.
62. The infinite and invisible intellect, which is as
wondrous
as the clear vacuum of the sky; conceives and displays
this
wonderful world, within the infinitude of its own
vacuity.
63. The world appears to the learned and unerring, and
those who have got rid of the error of the world, and
rest in
their everlasting tranquility, as a consumed and
extinguished
lamp; while it seems to all common people, to be placed
in the
air, by the will of God and for the enjoyment of all.
(The two
opposite views of the world with the learned and
ignorant).
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to Brahmasri Sreemaan Vihari Lala Mitra ji for the
collection)
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