The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki
The only complete English translation is
by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891).
CHAPTER XXXIII.—Consideration of Egoism.
Argument. Of good attempts, good company and
good studies; also
of liberation by Renunciation of Egoism and
Worldly Bondage.
Vasishtha continued:—Seeing the complete
success of every undertaking,
depending on your own exertion at all times
and places, you should never
be slack in your energy at all.
2. See how Nandi gratified the wishes of all
his friends and relations
by his own exertions, and how he became
victorious over death itself, by
his adoration of Mahādeva by the side of a
lake.
3. See also, how the Dānavas too got the
better of the gods, who were
fraught with every perfection, by their
greater wealth and prowess, as
the elephants destroy a lake of lotuses.
4. See, how Marutta the King of demons,
created another world like that
of Brahmā, by means of his sacrifice through
the great sage Samvarta
(the law giver).
5. See, how Viswāmitra (the military chief)
obtained the dignity of
Brahmanhood by his great energy and continued
exertions. He obtained by
his austerities what is impossible to be
gained by another.
6. See, how the poor and unfortunate
Upamanyu, obtained his nectarious
food of the cake and curdled milk, by his
worship of Siva, from the
milky ocean in days of yore.
7. See how the god Vishnu devoured
(destroyed), like a wild fire the
demons of the triple world, likening the
tender filaments of lotuses;
and how the sage Sweta became victorious over
death by means of his firm
faith in Siva (as it is described in the
Linga Purāna).
8. Remember, how the chaste Sāvitrī, brought
back her spouse Satyavāna
from the realm of death, by her prevailing on
stern Yama with the
suavity of her discourse.
9. There is no great exertion of any kind
that goes unrewarded in this
world; all impossibility is thought possible
by ardent pursuit after it
(or to the ardent pursuer, as it is said:
Fortune is found by the
swiftest pursuer).
10. So men having full knowledge of the
spirit, and exerting their
utmost devotion, are enabled to root out
their destiny of
transmigration, which is fraught with so much
pain and pleasure (both of
which are equally hurtful to the soul).
11. All visible things are full of danger to
the sight of the
intelligent. There is no pleasure to be had
from anything, without its
concomitant pain (either preceding or
following it).
12. Though it is difficult to know the
Supreme Brahma, and facile to
attain supreme felicity; yet should Brahma be
sought at first, as the
giver of all felicity. (Seek happiness
through its giver—the Great
God).
13. Forsake your pride, and rely on your
unalterable peace of mind;
consider well your worthiness in your
understanding, and stick to your
attendance on the wise and good.
14. There is no other way for your salvation
in this ocean of the world,
save by your attendance on the wise. All your
pilgrimage, austerity and
learning of the sāstras, are of no avail to
your liberation.
15. He is called the wise, whose greediness,
anger and erroneous
conceptions, are on their wane day by day;
and who walks in the path of
rectitude, as it is inculcated in the Sāstra.
16. The society of spiritual guides, serves
to dispel the visibles from
the sight of the devout, as the invisibles
are hidden from sight (i.e.
as they are not in being).
17. In the absence of all other objects,
there remains the Supreme
Spirit alone in view, and the human soul
having nothing else to rest
upon, rests at last in the Supreme Soul only.
18. The visibles did not exist before, nor
are they produced from
naught; they are not in existence though seen
in our presence, nor are
they to exist in future. The supreme alone
exists for ever without
change or decay.
19. I have already shown you by various
instances the falsehood of the
visibles (in the book of Genesis); I will now
show you the falsity of
existence, as it is known to the learned.
20. Now that our passive consciousness of the
three worlds, being the
sober truth with the wise, there can be no
room for the unrealities of
matter and māyā-illusion, to enter into our belief. (We know nothing
of the external world, except our inward
consciousness of it. Berkeley).
21. Whatever wonders are displayed by the
active intellect to the
inactive soul, the same is thought to be the
world. (There is no outward
world, beside the working of the intellect).
22. The notion of the sphere of the world, is
derived from the rays of
the central intellect, stretching to the
circumference of the
understanding, and there being no difference
between the radiating point
and the radiated circle, acknowledge the
identity of the radiator, the
radii and the periphery. (I.e. of the intellect, its intelligence and
the world).
23. The twinklings of the intellectual eye in
its acts of opening and
shutting, cause the notions of the appearance
and disappearance of the
world in continued succession.
24. One unacquainted with the true sense of
Ego, is blind amidst the
luminous sphere of the intellect, but he who
knows its true meaning,
finds himself amidst the sphere of spiritual
light (or rather loses
himself in the divine light).
25. He that understands the Divine Ego, does
no more retain the notion
of his own egoism; but mixes with the Supreme
soul, as a drop of water
is lost in the waters of the ocean.
26. In reality there exists no I or thou nor
the visible world nor
anything else; but all these blend upon right
reasoning in the One Ego,
which remains and subsists after all other
existences.
27. Even clear understandings are sometimes
clouded by false
apparitions, as those of ogres &c.; when
there are no such things, just
as children are seized with false fear of
goblins.
28. As long as the moonlight of the
intellect, is obscured by the
darkness of egoism, so long the lotus lake of
spirituality, will not
come to its bloom.
29. The feeling of egoism being wiped off
from the mind, the sense of
self and selfish passions, will vanish of
themselves from the heart; and
there will be an utter end of the fears of
death and hell, as also of
the desires of heaven and liberation.
30. So long as the egoistic feelings float
about, like clouds over the
sphere of the mind, there will be no end of
desires, growing in the
heart like weeds in the plains.
31. As long as the cloud of egotism continue
to overcast the mind and
obscure its intelligence, the humidity of
dullness will fill its sphere,
and prevent the light of intellect to pierce
through it.
32. Egoistic pride is unmannerly in men, and
is taken in the light of
vanity, it is the cause of sorrow and not
delight; and is as bug-bears
to boys.
33. The vain assumption of egoism, is
productive of a great many errors,
it leads to the ambition of gaining an
infinity of worlds, as it was in
the cases of the foolish demons.
34. The conceit that I am such and such (a
great man), is an error than
which there is none other, nor is ever likely
to be a greater error to
lead us to utter darkness.
35. Whatever joy or grief betides us at any
time in this changeful
world, is all the effect of the rotatory
wheels of egoism, turning up
and down at every moment.
36. He who weeds and roots out the germs of
egoism from his heart, he
verily prevents the arbor of his worldliness
(Samsāra Vriksha), from
jutting out in a hundred branches.
37. Egoism is the sprout of the trees of our
lives, in their
interminable revolutions through the world;
and meity or the sense that
"this is mine," is the cause that
makes them expand in a thousand
branches. (I am one, but claim many things as
mine).
38. Swift as the flight of birds, do our
desires and desirable objects
disappear from us; and upon mature
consideration, they prove to be but
bubbles, bursting on the evanescent waves of
our lives.
39. It is for want of the knowledge of the
one Ego, that we think
ourselves as I, thou, this or the other; and
it is by shutting out our
view of the only soul, that we see the
incessant revolutions of this
world and that.
40. As long as the darkness of egoism reigns
over the wilderness of
human life, so long doth the goblin of
selfishness infest it with its
wanton revelry.
41. The vile man that is seized by the
avaricious demon of selfishness,
is at an utter loss of any moral precept, and
any mantra of his
religion to satisfy his wants.
42. Rāma said:—Tell me, O venerable Brāhman,
how we may be enabled to
suppress our egoism or selfishness, for
evading the dangers and
difficulties in our course through the world.
43. Vasishtha replied:—It is by seeking to
settle mind in the
resplendent soul, as it shines in the
transparent mirror of the
intellect, that it is possible for any body
to suppress the
consciousness, of his self or personal
existence. (I. e. by
losing
one's self in the self-existence of the
Supreme Soul).
44. A closer investigation into human life,
proves it to be a maze full
with the false shows of magic. It is not
worth loving or hating, nor
capable of causing our egoism or pride.
45. He whose soul is free from egoism, and
devoid of the impression of
the phenomenals; whose course of life runs in
an even tenor, is the man
who can have no sense of egoism in him.
(Whose life doth in one even
tenor run, and end its days as it has begun.
Pope.)
46. He who knowing his internal self to be
beyond the external world,
and neither desires nor dislikes anything in
it, but preserves the
serenity of his temper at all times, is not
susceptible of egoism.
47. Whoso thinks himself to be the inward
noumena, and distinct from the
outward phenomena, and keeps the calm
equanimity of his mind, is not
ruffled by the feeling of his egoism.
48. Rāma said:—Tell me, sir, what is the form
of egoism, and whether it
consists in the body or mind or of both of
these, and whether it is got
rid of with the riddance of the body.
49. Vasishtha replied:—There are three sorts
of egoism, Rāma! in this
triple world, two of which are of superior
nature, but the third is of a
vile kind and is to be abandoned by all.
50. The first is the supreme and undivided
Ego, which is diffused
throughout the world; it is the Supreme soul
(Paramātma), beside which
there is nothing in nature.
51. The feeling of this kind of egoism, leads
to the liberation of men,
as in the state of the living-liberated; but
the knowledge of the ego,
as distinct and apart from all, and thought
to be as minute as the
hundredth part of a hair, is the next form of
self-consciousness, which
is good also.
52. This second form of egoism, leads also to
the liberation of human
souls, even in the present state of their
existence, known as the state
of living-liberation (Jīvan-Mukta).
53. The other kind of egoism, which is
composed of the knowledge of the
body, with all its members as parts of the
Ego, is the last and worst
kind of it, which takes the body for the soul
or self.
54. This third and last kind, forms the
popular belief of mankind, who
take their bodies as parts of themselves; it
is the basest form of
egoism, and must be forsaken in the same
manner, as we shun our
inveterate enemies.
55. The man that is debased by this kind of
egoism, can never come to
his right sense; but becomes subject to all
the evils of life, under the
thrall of the powerful enemy.
56. Possest with this wrong notion of
himself, every man is incessantly
troubled in his mind by various desires,
which expose him to all the
evils of life.
57. By means of the better egoisms, men
transform themselves to gods;
but the common form of it, debases a man to
the state of a beast and its
attendant evils.
58. That I am not the body, is the certainty
arrived at by the great and
good, who believing themselves to be of the
first two kinds, are
superior to the vulgar.
59. Belief in the first two kinds, raises men
above the common level;
but that in the lower kind, brings every
misery on mankind.
60. It was owing to their baser egoism, that
the demons Dāma, Vyāla and
others, were reduced to that deplorable
state, as it is related in their
tale.
61. Rāma said:—Tell me, sir, the state of
that man, who by discarding
the third or popular kind of egoism from his
mind, attains the well
being of his soul in both the present and
future worlds.
62. Vasishtha replied:—Having cast off this
noxious egoism, (which is
to be got rid of by every body), a man rests
in the Supreme Spirit in
the same manner, as the believers in the two
other sorts of it. (I.e.
of the Supreme and superior sorts of
spiritual egoisms, consisting in
the belief of one's self, as the impersonal
or personal soul—the
undivided or individual spirit).
63. The two former views of egoism, place the
egotist in the all
pervasive or all exclusive spirit (in the Ego
of the Divine Unity).
64. But all these egoisms which are in
reality but different forms of
dualism, being lost in the unity, all
consciousness of distinct
personality, is absorbed in the Supreme
monism.
65. The good understanding should always strive
to its utmost, to get
rid of its common and gross egotism, in order
to feel in itself the
ineffable felicity of the unity.
66. Renunciation of the unholy belief of
one's self personality in his
material body, is the greatest good that one
can attain to for his
highest state of felicity parama padam.
67. The man that forsakes the feeling of his
egoism (or personality)
from his mind, is not debased nor goes to
perdition by either his
indifference to or management of worldly
affairs (i.e. the
doing or
refraining from bodily or worldly actions, is
equally indifferent to the
philosophic mind).
68. The man who has got rid of his egoism by
the subsidence of his
selfishness in himself, is indifferent to
pain and pleasure, as the
satiate are to the taste of sweet or sour.
69. The man detesting the pleasures of life,
has his full bliss
presented before himself; as the mind cleared
of its doubts and
darkness, has nothing hidden from its sight.
70. It is by investigation into the nature of
egoism, and forsaking this
gross selfishness, that a man crosses over
the ocean of the world of his
own accord.
71. The man who having nothing of his own,
and knowing himself as
nothing, yet has all and thinks himself as
all in all, and who though
possessed of wealth and properties, has the
magnanimity of his soul to
disown them to himself; he is verily situated
in the Supreme soul, and
finds his rest in the state of Supreme bliss.
(I.e. the world is the
Lord's, and human soul as a particle of the
Divine, has its share in all
and every thing).
CHAPTER XXXIV.—End of the Story of Dāma and Vyāla.
Argument. The Gods annoyed by Bhīma and
others apply to Hari,
who thereupon destroys them with Sambara
also.
Vasishtha continued:—Now, hear me relate to
you, what Sambara did after
the flight of Dāma and his train; and how he
remained in his rocky
stronghold in the infernal region (Pātāla).
2. After the complete overthrow of the whole
army of Sambara, and their
downfall from heaven like innumerable
rain-drops, falling from an
over-spreading cloud, and afterwards
dispersing itself and disappearing
in autumn:—
3. Sambara remained motionless for many years
in his strong citadel, at
the loss of his forces defeated by the gods;
and then thought within
himself, about the best means of overcoming
the celestials.
4. He said, "the demons Dāma and others,
that I produced by my black-art
of exorcism, are all overthrown in battle, by
their foolishness and
vanity of pride and egotism.
5. "I will now produce some other demons
by the power of my charm, and
endue them both with the power of reason and
acquaintance with spiritual
science, in order that they may know and
judge for themselves.
6. "These then being acquainted with the
true nature of things, and
devoid of false views, will not be subject to
pride or vanity, but be
able to vanquish the deities in combat".
7. Thinking so in himself, the arch-fiend
produced a host of good demons
by his skill in sorcery; and these creatures
of his spell filled the
space of the sky, as bubbles foam and float
on the surface of the sea.
8. They were all knowing and acquainted with
the knowables; they were
all dispassionate and sinless, and solely
intent on their allotted
duties, with composed minds and good
dispositions.
9. They were known under the different names
of Bhīma, Bhāsa and Dridha;
and they looked upon all earthly things as
straws, by the holiness of
their hearts.
10. These infernal spirits burst out of the
ether and sprang up to the
upper world, and then spread over the face of
the sky as a flight of
locusts. They cracked as guns, and roared and
rolled about as the clouds
of the rainy season.
11. They fought with the gods for many cycles
of years, and yet they
were not elated with pride, owing to their
being under the guidance of
reason and judgement.
12. For until they were to have the desire of
having anything, and
thinking it as "this is my own", so
long were they insensible of their
personal existence, such as "this is I,
and that one is another"; and
consequently invincible by any. (Selfishness
reduces one to slavery and
subjections).
13. They were fearless in fighting with the
gods, from the knowledge of
their being equally mortal as themselves; and
from their want of the
knowledge of any difference subsisting
between one another. (I.e. they
regarded themselves and their adversaries
with an equal eye of
indifference, as all were equally doomed to
death, and therefore never
feared to die).
14. They rushed out with a firm conviction
that, the unsubstantial body
is nothing, and the intellect is lodged in
the pure soul; and that there
is nothing which we call as I or another.
15. Then these demons who were devoid of the
sense of themselves and
their fears were necessarily dauntless of the
fear of their decease or
death; and were employed in their present
duties, without the thoughts
of the past and future.
16. Their minds were attached to nothing,
they slew their enemies
without thinking themselves as their slayers;
they did their duties and
thought themselves as no doers of them; and
they were utterly free from
all their desires.
17. They waged the war under the sense of
doing their duty to their
master; while their own nature was entirely
free from all passion and
affection, and of even tenor at all times.
18. The infernal force under the command of
Bhīma, Bhāsa and Dridha,
bruised and burned and slew and devoured the
celestial phalanx, as men
knead and fry and boil the rice and afterward
eat up as their food.
19. The celestial army being harassed on all
sides by Bhīma, Bhāsa, and
Dridha, fled precipitately from the height of
heaven, as the Ganges runs
down from Himālayan height.
20. The discomfited legion of the deities,
then resorted to the god
Hari, sleeping on the surface of the ocean of
milk; as the bodies of the
clouds of heaven, are driven by the winds to
the tops of mountains
(beyond the region of storm).
21. The god lying folded in the coils of the
serpent, as a consort in
the arms of his mistress; gave the gods their
hope of final success in
future. (Hari or Krishna on the serpent, is
typical of Christ's bruising
the head of the satanic serpent).
22. The gods kept themselves hid in that
ocean, until it pleased the
lord Hari, to proceed out of it for the
destruction of the demons.
23. Then there was a dreadful war between
Vishnu and Sambara, which
broke and bore away the mountains as in an
untimely great deluge of the
earth.
24. The mighty demon being at last overthrown
by the might of Nārāyana,
was sent to and settled in the city of Vishnu
after his death. (Because
those that are either saved or slain by Vishnu,
are equally entitled to
his paradise).
25. The demons of Bhīma, Bhāsa and Dridha,
were also killed in their
unequal struggle with Vishnu, and were
extinguished like lamps by the
wind.
26. They became extinct like flames of fire,
and it was not known
whither their vital flame had fled. Because
it is the desire of a person
that leads him to another state, but these
having no wish in them, had
no other place to go.
27. Hence the wishless soul is liberated, but
not the wistful mind;
therefore use your reason, O Rāma, to have a
wishless mind and soul.
28. A full investigation into truth, will put
down your desires at once;
and the extinction of desires, will restore
your mind to rest like an
extinguished candle.
29. Consummate wisdom consists in the
knowledge of there being nothing
real in this world, and that our knowledge of
reality is utterly false,
and that nihility of thing, is the true
reality.
30. The whole world is full with the spirit
of God, whatever otherwise
one may think of it at any time; there can be
no other thought of it
except that it is a nihility, and this forms
our perfect knowledge of
it.
31. The two significant words of the will and
mind are mere
insignificant fictions, as head and trunk of
the ascending and
descending nodes of a planet; which upon
their right understanding, are
lost in the Supreme Spirit. (I.e. it is only the divine will and
spirit that is all in all).
32. The mind being accompanied by its
desires, is kept confined in this
world, but when that is released from these,
it is said to have its
liberation.
33. The mind has gained its existence in the
belief of men, owing to the
many ideas of pots and pictures (ghata-patadī); and other things which
are imprinted in it; but these thoughts being
repressed, the mind also
vanishes of itself like the phantoms of
goblins (yakshas—yakkas).[5]
[5] Ceylon is said to be first peopled by the
Yakkas (yakshas) who
followed the train of the Rākshasa Rāvana to
that island.
34. The demons Dāma, Vyāla and Kata, were
destroyed by reliance on their
minds (i.e. by thinking their bodies as their souls); but Bhīma, Bhāsa
and Dridha were saved by their belief in the
Supreme soul, as pervading
all things. Therefore, O Rāma! reject the
examples of the former,
imitate that of the latter.
35. "Be not guided by the example of
Dāma, Vyāla and Kata," is the
lesson that was first delivered to me by
Brahmā—the lotus-born and my
progenitor himself.
36. This lesson I repeat to you, O Rāma, as
my intelligent pupil, that
you may never follow the example of the
wicked demons Dāma and others;
but imitate the conduct of the good spirits,
Bhīma and others in your
conduct.
37. It is incessant pain and pleasure that forms
the fearful feature of
this world, and there is no other way of
evading all its pangs and
pains, save by your apathetic behaviour,
which must be your crowning
glory in this life.
CHAPTER XXXV.—Description of Insouciance.
Argument. On the Abandonment of worldly
desires, as conducive to
the composure of the Mind, and society of the
good, accompanied
with rationality and spiritual knowledge,
constituting the
Samādhi of the soul.
Vasishtha continued:—Blessed are the
virtuous, who have cleansed their
hearts from the dirt of ignorance; and
victorious are those heroes, who
have conquered their insatiable and
ungovernable minds.
2. It is self-control or the government of
one's own mind, that is the
only means of wading through all the troubles
and distresses, and amidst
all the dangers and difficulties of this
world.
3. Hear the summary of all knowledge, and
retain and cultivate
constantly it in your mind; that the desire
of enjoyment (avarice) is
our bondage in the world, and its abandonment
is our release from it.
4. What need is there of many precepts, learn
this one truth as the sum
substance of all, that all pleasures are
poisonous and pernicious, and
you must fly from them as from venomous
snakes and a raging fire.
5. Consider well and repeatedly in yourself,
that all sensible objects
are as hydras and dragons; and their
enjoyment is gall and poison. Avoid
them at a distance and pursue after your
lasting good.
6. The cupidinous mind is productive of
pernicious evils, as the sterile
ground is fertile only in thorns and
brambles. (The vitiated mind brings
forth but vice, as the vicious heart teems
with guilt).
7. The mind devoid of desire, lacks its
expansion, as the heart wanting
its passions and affections, is curbed and
contracted in itself.
8. The goodly disposed mind ever teems with
virtues, that are opposed to
wrong acts and vice, as the ground of a good
quality, grows only the
good and useful trees in spite of weeds and
bushes.
9. When the mind gains its serenity by
culture of good qualities, the
mist of its errors and ignorance gradually
fade and fly away, like
clouds before the rising sun.
10. The good qualities coming to shine in the
sphere of the mind, like
stars in the moonlight sky, gives rise to the
luminary of reason to
shine over it, like the bright sun of the
day.
11. And as the practice of patience grows
familiar in the mind, like the
medicinal vansa-lochana within the bamboo; it gives rise to the
quality of firmness in the man, as the moon
brightens the vernal sky.
12. The society of the good is an arbour,
affording its cooling shade of
peace, and yielding the fruit of salvation.
Its effect in righteous men,
is like that of the stately sarala-tree, distilling the juice of
spiritual joy from the fruitage of samādhi
(sang-froid).
13. Thus prepared, the mind becomes devoid of
its desires and enmity,
and is freed from all troubles and anxieties.
It becomes obtuse to the
feelings of grief and joy, and of pain and
pleasure also, and all its
restlessness dies in itself.
14. Its doubts in the truths of the
scriptures die away, as the
ephemeral and all its curiosities for
novelties, are put to a stop. Its
veil of myths and fictions is unveiled, and
its ointment of error is
rubbed out of it.
15. Its attempts and efforts, malice and
disdain, distress and disease,
are all removed from it; and the mist of its
grief and sorrow, and the
chain of affections, are all blown and torn
away.
16. It discards the progeny of its doubts,
repudiates the consorts of
its avarice, and breaks loose from the
prison-house of its body. It then
seeks the welfare of the soul, and attains
its godly state of holiness.
17. It abandons the causes of its stoutness (i.e. its nourishments and
enjoyments), and relinquishes its choice of
this thing and that; and
then remembering the dignity of the soul, it
casts off the covering of
its body as a straw.
18. The elevation of the mind in worldly
affairs, tends to its
destruction, and its depression in these
leads to its spiritual
elevation. The wise always lower their minds
(pride); but fools are for
elevating them (to their ruin).
19. The mind makes the world its own, and
ranges all about it; it raises
the mountains and mounts over them; it is as
the infinite vacuum, and
comprehends all vacuity in itself; and it
makes gods of friends and foes
of others unto us.
20. The understanding being soiled by doubts,
and forgetting the true
nature of the intellect, takes upon it the
name of the mind, when it is
full of all its worldly desires.
21. And the intellect being perverted by its
various desires, is called
the living soul; the animal soul being
distinct from the rational soul.
22. The understanding which forgets its
intellectuality, and falls into
the error of its own personality, is what we
call the internal principle
of the mind which is all hollow within.
23. The soul is not the man of the world (i.e. no worldly being), nor
is it the body or its blood. All material
bodies are but gross and dull
matter; but the soul in the body is empty air
and intangible.
24. The body being dissected into atoms, and
analysed in all its
particles, presents nothing but blood and
entrails as the plantain tree,
which when cut into pieces, presents naught
but its folded rinds.
25. Know the mind and living soul as making a
man, and assuming his
mortal form; the mind takes its form by
itself according to his own
option.
26. Man stretches his own sphere of action by
his own option only to
entrap himself in it, as the silkworm weaves its
cocoon for its own
imprisonment.
27. The soul lays down its error of being the
body, when it has to
forsake the same at some time or other (i.e. sooner or later), and
assume another form as the germ sprouts forth
into leaves. (I.e. the
body is not the soul, nor is the soul the
same with the body, as the
materialist would have it; because the soul
has its transmigration,
which the body has not).
28. As is the desire or thought in the mind,
so is it born in its next
state of metempsychosis. Hence the new born
babe is given to sleeping,
because it thinks itself to be dead, and
lying in the night-time of his
death. It is also given to the dreaming of
those things, which had been
the objects of its desire or thought in its
previous state or birth.
(This establishes the doctrine of innate
ideas in the dreaming state of
new-born babies).
29. So sour becomes sweet by mixture with
sugar, and the bitter seed
produces sweet fruits by being sown with
honey. So on the contrary,
sweet becomes bitter by intermixture of gall
and wormwood. (This is a
fact in horticulture.—Ārāma Sāstra, and
applies to the goodness and
badness of the human mind, according to its
good and bad associations).
30. Aiming after goodness and greatness,
makes a man good and great; as
one wishing to be an Indra or a lord, dreams
of his lordliness in his
sleep. (The mind makes the man).
31. Inclination to meanness bemeans a man,
and a tendency to vileness
vilifies his conduct in life; as one deluded
by his fancy of devils,
comes to see their apparitions in his nightly
visions.
32. But what is naturally foul or fair, can
hardly turn otherwise at any
time; as the limpid lake never becomes muddy,
nor the dirty pool ever
becomes glassy. (Nature of a thing is
unchangeable).
33. The perverted mind produces the fruits of
its perversion in all its
actions, while puremindedness is fraught with
the effects of its purity
everywhere.
34. Good and great men never forsake their
goodness and greatness, even
in their fall and decline; so the glorious
sun fills the vault of heaven
with his glory, even when he is sinking below
(the horizon).
35. There is no restriction or freedom of the
human soul, to or from any
action or thing herein; it is a mere passive
and neutral consciousness,
of all that passes before it as a magic
scene.
36. The world is a magical city, and as a
mirage appearing to sight; it
is of the nature of the delusive panorama,
showing many moons of the
one, whose unity admits of no duality. So the
one Brahma is represented
as many by delusion. (The Hindus contrary to
Europeans, have many suns
but one moon. Escas—Chandra).
37. All this is verily the essence of Brahma,
and this is the sober
reality; the substantive world is an
unsubstantiality, and peers out to
view as a hollow phantom. (It is a
phantasmagoria of phantasms).
38. That I am not the infinite but an
infinitesimal, is the misjudgment
of the ignorant; but the certitude of my
infinity and supremacy, is the
means of my absorption in the Infinite and
Supreme.
39. The belief of one's individuality in his
undivided, all pervasive
and transparent soul, as "I am
this," is the cause of his bondage to his
personality, and is a web spun by his
erroneous dualism. (Knowledge of a
separate existence apart from solity, amounts
to a dualistic creed).
40. Want of the knowledge of one's bondage or
freedom, and of his unity
or duality, and his belief in the totality of
Brahma, is the supreme
truth of true philosophy.
41. Perfect transparency of the soul,
amounting to its nihility, and its
want of attachment to visible appearances, as
also its unmindfulness of
all that is, are the conditions for beholding
Brahma in it. There is no
other way to this.
42. The purity of the mind produced by acts
of holiness, is the
condition for receiving the sight of Brahma;
as it is the whiteness of
the cloth that can receive any colour upon
it.
43. Think thy soul, O Rāma! as same with the
souls of all other persons,
and abstain from all other thoughts, of what
is desirable or
undesirable, what invigorates or enfeebles
the body, and what brings
liberation after bondage, or Salvation after
sinfulness. (Since none of
these states appertains to the universal
soul, which is quite free from
them).
44. The mirror of the mind being cleansed by
the knowledge of the
sāstras, and dispassionateness of the
understanding, it receives the
reflexion of Brahma, as the clear crystal
reflects the images of things.
45. The sight which is conversant with
visible objects and not with
images and ideas in the mind, is called false
vision of what is soon
lost from view. (I.e. mental sight is more lasting than that of the
visual organs).
46. When the mind is fixed upon God, by
abstracting its sight from all
mental and ocular visions, it has then the
view of the Supreme before
it. (This is called spiritual vision).
47. The visible sights which are obvious to
view, are all but unreal
phantoms; it is the absorption of the mind in
the Divine, that makes it
identical with the same and no other.
48. The visibles now present before us being
absent from our view,
either before or after our sight of them,
must be considered as absent
in the interim also. Therefore one
unacquainted with his mind, is as
insensible as the man that knows not what he
holds in his hand.
49. One having no knowledge that "the
world is the same with the Supreme
spirit," is always subject to misery;
but the negation of the visibles
as distinct from God, gives us both the
pleasure of our enjoyments here,
and our liberation in future.
50. It is ignorance to say the water is one
thing and its wave is
another; but it shows one's intelligence, who
says they are the one and
the same thing.
51. The vanities of the world, are fraught
with sorrow, therefore
discard all its appendages from thee. The
abandonment of superfluity,
will conduce to thy attainment of wisdom at
last.
52. The mind being composed of vain desires,
is an unreality in itself;
say therefore, O Rāma! why should you sorrow
for something which in
reality is nothing.
53. Do you, O Rāma! look upon all things as
traps set to ensnare the
soul; and regard them with the eye of an
unkind kinsman looking upon his
relatives, with an eye of apathy and
unconcern.
54. As the unkind relative is unconcerned
with the joys and griefs of
his relations; so shouldst thou remain aloof
from all things, by knowing
the falsehood of their natures.
55. Rely on that eternal Spirit, which is
infinite knowledge and
felicity, and which is between the viewer and
the view (i.e. betwixt
the noumenon and the phenomenon). The mind
being fixed to that truth,
will adhere to it as clay, after the
swiftness of its flight is at an
end.
56. The airy flight of the mind being
restrained, the sluggish body must
cease to run about; and the cloud of the dust
of ignorance, will no more
spread over the city of the world.
57. When the rains of our desires are over,
and the calmness of the mind
is restored; when the shuddering coldness of
dullness has fled, and when
the mud of worldliness is dried up:—
58. When the channel of our thirst is dried
up, and the drinking pots
are sucked up and emptied; when the forest of
the heart is cleared, and
its brambles are rooted out, and the frost of
false knowledge has
disappeared:—
59. It is then that the mist of error
vanishes from view, like the
shadow of night on the approach of dawn; and
the frigidity of dullness
is put to flight, like the poison of
snake-bite by the potent charm of
mantras.
60. Then the rivulets of our desires, do not
run down the rock of the
body; nor do the peacocks of our fleeting
wishes, fly and sport on its
top.
61. The sphere of our consciousness becomes
as the clear sky; and the
luminary of the living soul, shines as
brightly over it as the midday
sun.
62. The cloud of error is dispelled and
succeeded by the light of
reason; and the longings of the soul, being
purified of their dross,
make it shine brilliantly amidst its sphere.
63. Then raptures of serene delight, shoot
forth in the soul like
blooming blossoms in the open air; and a cool
light is shed upon it,
like the cooling beams of the autumnal moon.
64. This ecstasy of the soul, unfolds all
prosperity before it, and
fructifies with abundance the well cultivated
ground of the reasoning
mind. (Truth is the fruit of holy joy in the
reasonable mind).
65. It sheds its clear lustre all over the
world, and shows the depths
of the hills and forests, and everything on
earth in their clearest
light. (Heavenly joy unfolds all things to
light).
66. It expands the mind and makes it
translucent, and the heart as a
clear lake, renders blooming with blossoms of
the lotus of satva, and
without the dust—rajas of egoism. It is never infested by the
swarming passions of pride or tamas.
67. The mind then being purged of its
selfishness, turns to universal
benevolence and philanthropy; and being quite
calm in itself without any
desire of its own, it reigns as lord over the
city of its body.
68. The man whose investigation has made him
acquainted with all things,
whose soul is enlightened with truth; whose
mind is melted down from his
highmindedness; who is calm and quiet in his
understanding, and looks at
the unpleasant course of the births and
deaths of men with pity; he
verily lives happily in the realm of his
body, without his feverish
anxieties about anything.
CHAPTER XXXVI.—Description of the Intellectual Sphere.
Argument. The Intellect as pervading all things,
and making us
acquainted with them.
Rāma said:—Tell me O Brāhman! how the mundane
system subsists in the
extra mundane immaterial soul, for the sake
of my advancement in
knowledge.
2. Vasishtha replied:—The worlds having no
separate existence (before
or after their formation) except in the Supreme
mind, they are all
situated in the Divine Intellect, like the
unheaving and unseen would-be
waves of the sea.
3. As the all-pervading sky is not to be seen
owing to its extreme
tenuity; so the undivided nature of the
all-pervasive intellect, is not
to be perceived on account of its rarity.
4. As the gem has its brilliancy in it,
whether it is moved or unmoved
by any body, so the unreal world has its
potential existence in the
Divine Spirit, both in its states of action
and inactivity. (Hence the
eternity of the world in the Eternal Mind).
5. As the clouds abiding in the sky, do not
touch the sky or have a
tangible feeling of its vacuity; so the
worlds subsisting in the
receptacle of the Intellectual soul, have no
contact with the extraneous
(parā) intellect, which is unconnected with
its contents.
6. As the light residing in the waters of the
sea or a pot of water, is
not connected either with the water or pot,
nor is it felt by us but by
its reflexion; so the intangible soul abides
unconnected in its
receptacle of the body, and reflects itself
to our knowledge only.
7. The intellect is devoid of every desire
and designation; it is the
indestructible soul, and is named by our
intelligence of it as (Chetya)
intelligible; or from some one of our
intelligible ideas as the living
soul &c.
8. It is clearer than the translucent air,
and finer than it by a
hundred times; it is known as an undivided
whole by the learned; who
view it as identic with the whole undivided
world, which it comprehends
within itself.
9. As the sea water shows itself in various
forms in all its waves, so
the intellect does not differ from it, in
showing us its various
representations of its own motion.
10. The diversities of our subjective and
objective knowledge of myself
and thyself and these (ego, tu &c.), are
like the varieties of waves and
billows in the ocean of the intellect, these
are but erroneous notions,
since they are representations of the same
element, and the very same
intellect.
11. The various states of the intellect (Chit),
intellection (Chintā),
intelligence (Chittam) and intelligibles
(Chetyas), all appertain to the
main principle of the soul. They are
differently conceived by the
learned and ignorant, but the difference is a
mere conceit (Kalpanā).
12. The intellect presents its two different
aspects to the wise and
unwise people; to the ignorant, it shows its
unreal nature in the
realistic conception of the world, while to
the learned it exhibits its
luminous form in the identity of all things
(with God).
13. The intellect enlightens the luminous
bodies of the sun and stars,
by its internal (intellectual) light; it
gives a relish to things by its
internal taste; and it gives birth to all
beings from its inborn ideas
of them.
14. It neither rises nor sets, nor gets up
nor sits; it neither proceeds
nor recedes to or fro, it is not here nor is
it no where. (Omniscience
is present everywhere and is ever the same).
15. The pure and transpicuous intellect which
is situated in the soul,
displays in itself the phantasmagoria which
is called the world.
16. As a heap of fire emits its flame, and a
luminous body blazes with
its rays; and as the sea swells in surges and
breaks in with its arms,
so the intellect bursts out in its creations.
(Omniscience is the cause
and not percipience of the world—God makes
all things, and does not
perceive them like us).
17. Thus the intellect which is self-manifest
and omnipresent of its own
nature, developes and envelopes the world by
its own manifestation and
occultation, and by its acts of integration
and segregation (sānhāra
and nirhāra); or the acts of accretion and secretion.
18. It is led by its own error and of its own
accord, to forget and
forsake its state of infinitude; and then by
assuming its individual
personality of egoism (that I am), it is
converted to an ignoramus. (So
men of contracted views turn to be dunces).
19. It falls from its knowledge of generals
to that of particulars, by
its act of specialization; and comes to the
discrimination of the
positive, and negative, and of inclusion and
exclusion (or admission or
rejection).
20. It strives and struggles within the
confines of the sensuous body
(owing to its degradation from spirituality);
and it multiplies in these
bodies like the weeds sprouting out of the
bosom of the earth. (I.e.
from its unity becomes a multiplicity in the
many animal bodies).
21. It is the intellect that stretches the
spacious vacuum, to make room
for the subsistence and growth of every
thing; and makes the all and
ever moving air and the liquid water, for the
vitality and nourishment
of all.
22. It makes the firm earth (terra firma) and
the lightsome fire and the
fixed worlds all around; and employs time by
its injunctions and
prohibitions (to do or undo any thing).
23. It gives fragrance to flowers, and grows
by degrees their filaments
and pistils; and it makes the moisture of the
porous ground, to grow
vegetables on earth.
24. The rooted trees fructify with fruits, by
their juicy saps from
beneath; and they produce their fruitage, and
display their foliage with
lineaments in them, as their veins and
arteries.
25. It renovates the forest with its gifts of
various hues, and dyes
them with the variety of colours in the
rainbow of Indra.
26. It bids the folia, fruits and flowers to
wait on the flowery season
of spring; and then brings their fruitage to
perfection, under the heat
of the summer sun.
27. It makes the dark blue clouds of heaven,
to wait on the approach of
the rainy weather; and causes the harvest of
fields, to follow in the
train of autumn.
28. The cold season is decorated with its
smiling frost, in its faces of
the ten sides of the sky; and the dewy
weather is made to waft its
icicles of dew drops, on the pinions of the
chilling winds of winter.
29. It makes the ever moving time, to revolve
in its rotation of years
and cycles and Yuga—ages; and causes the tide
of creation to roll on in
its waves of worlds, on its bosom of the
ocean of eternity.
30. Its decrees remain fixed with a wonderful
stability, and the earth
(terra or dhara), continues firm (dhīra or
sthira), with its quality of
containing all things. (In this sloka there
is both a homonym and
paronym of similar sound and sense in the
word dharā derived from the
root dhri: namely, dhīrā, dharā, = sthirā,
terra and dharana
and dharini).
31. It made the universe teem with fourteen
kinds of beings in its as
many worlds of the chaturdasa-bhuvanas; and
these are as different in
their modes of life as in their forms and
figures. (The Atharvan or last
Veda reckons tri-sapta or thrice seven
worlds).
32. These are repeatedly produced from and
reduced to nothing, and move
in their wonted courses for ever, as bubbles
in the waterless ocean of
eternity.
33. Here the miserable multitudes, moving mad
in vain struggles after
their desired objects, and in their
imbecility under the subjection of
disease and death. They are incessantly
coming to life and going away in
their exits, remaining in their living states
and acquiring their ends,
and for ever running to and fro, in their
repeated births and deaths in
this world.
CHAPTER XXXVII.—Upasama. The Sameness Or Quietism of the
Soul.
Argument:—The sameness of the Spirit from its
want of
perturbation by worldly matters; and
equanimity of the mind in
all circumstances.
Vasishtha added:—In this manner are these
series of worlds, revolving
in their invariable course, and repeatedly
appearing and disappearing in
the substantiality of Brahma.
2. All this is derived from the one
self-existence, and have become the
reciprocal causes of one another, by their
mutual transformations; and
again they are destroyed of themselves by
their mutual destructiveness
of one another.
3. But as the motion of the waters on the
surface, does not affect the
waters in the depth of the sea; so the
fluctuations of the changing
scenes of nature, make no alteration in the
ever tranquil spirit of
Brahma.
4. As the desert in summer heat, presents the
waters of mirage to the
clear sky, so the false world, shows its
delusive appearances to the
mind.
5. As the calm soul seems to be giddy in the
state of one's drunkenness,
so the essence of the intellect which is
always the same, appears as
otherwise in its ignorance.
6. The world is neither a reality nor
unreality; it is situated in the
Intellect but appears to be placed without
it. It is not separate from
the soul, although it seems to be different
from it, as the ornament
appears to differ from its gold.
7. Rāma! that soul of yours whereby you have
the perception of form and
figures and of sound and smell, is the
Supreme Brahma pervading all
things.
8. The pure soul being one in many, and
inherent in all external
objects, cannot be thought as distinct from
those, that appear otherwise
than itself.
9. Rāma! it is the difference of human
thoughts, that judges differently
of the existence and non-existence of things,
and of their good and bad
natures also; it judges the existence of the
world, either as situated
in or without the Divine Spirit.
10. Whereas it is impossible for any thing to
exist beside the Spirit of
God, it was the Spirit that "willed to
become many". And as there was
nothing beside itself, which it could think
of or find for itself, it
was necessary that it became so of itself,
and without the aid of any
extraneous matter. (Prose).
11. (Prose). Therefore the will to do this or
that, or try for one thing
or other, does not relate to the soul but to
the mind. Thus the
optionless soul, having no will of its own,
does nothing except
cogitating on what is in itself. It is no
active agent, owing to the
union of all agency, instrumentality and
objectivity in itself. It
abides nowhere, being both the recipient and
content, or the container
and the contained of everything in itself.
Neither is the will-less soul
actionless likewise, when the acts of
creation are palpable in itself
(karmaprasidhi). Nor is it possible that
there is any other cause of
them. (Nanyakartā dvītiryakam. Sruti).
12. Rāma! you must know the nature of Brahma
to be no other
(vetara—non alter) than this; and knowing him as no agent and without
a second, be free from all anxiety.
13. I will tell you further that:—Though you
may continue to do a great
many acts here, yet tell me in a word, what
dost thou do that is worth
doing. Rely on the want of your own agency,
and be quiet as the sapient
sage. Remain as calm and still, as the clear
ocean when unshaken by the
breeze.
14. Again knowing well, that it is not
possible for the swiftest runners
to reach their goal of perfection, how far so
ever they may go. You must
desist in your mind from pursuing after
worldly objects, and persist to
meditate on the spirituality of your inward
and intellectual soul.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.—The Same Quietness or Quietude of the Spirit.
Argument. The unconnected Soul being
connected with the Mind, is
believed as the Active Spirit by the unwise.
But the quiet
spirit of the wise, which is unaffected by
its actions, is ever
free and emancipate from the acts.
Vasishtha resumed:—(Prose). Such being the
state of the wise, the
actions they are seen to do, whether of
goodness or otherwise or
pleasurable or painful, in and whatsoever
they are engaged, are nil
and as nothing, and do not affect them as
they do the other worldly
mortals. (The unconcernedness of the wise, is
opposed to the great
concern of fools in their actions).
2. For what is it that is called an action,
but the exertion of mental
and voluntary energies, with a fixed
determination and desire of
performing some physical acts, which they
call the actions of a person.
(But the apathetic minds of the wise, being
insensible both of the
purposes and their ends, there is no
imputation of agency which can ever
attach to them. (Gloss)).
3. The production of an act by appliance of
the proper means, and the
exertion and action of the body in conformity
with one's ability, and
the completion of the effect compatible with
one's intention, together
with the enjoyment of the result of such
agency, are defined and
determined as the action of the man. (It is
the deliberate and voluntary
doing of an act, and not the unintentional
physical action, that
constitutes human agency. Gloss).
4. (Verse). Moreover, whether a man is agent
or no agent of an action,
and whether he goes to heaven or dwells in
hell, his mind is subject to
the same feelings, as he has the desires in
his heart. (The mind makes a
heaven of hell, and a hell of heaven by its
good or bad thoughts.
Milton).
5. (Prose). Hence the agency of the ignorant,
arises from their wishing
to do a thing, whether they do it or not; but
not so of the wise, who
having no will, are not culpable even for
their involuntary actions.
Untutored minds are full with the weeds of
vice, but well cultivated
souls are quite devoid of them. Gloss. (So:
"If good we plant not, vice
will fill the place: And rankest weeds the
richest soils deface").
6. He who has the knowledge of truth
(tatwajnāna), becomes relaxed in
his earthly desires; and though he acts his
part well, he does not long
eagerly for its result as others. He acts
with his body but with a quiet
unconcerned mind. When successful, he
attributes the gain to the will of
God; but the worldly minded arrogate the
result to themselves, though
they could not bring it about.
7. Whatever the mind intends, comes verily to
pass, and nothing is
achieved without the application of the mind;
whereupon the agency
belongeth to the mind and not to the body.
(An involuntary action is not
a deed).
8. The world doth proceed from the Mind
(Divine); it is the mind (by
being a development of it), and is situated
in the (infinite and
eternal) mind; knowing all things as such
manifestations of the powers
of the intellect, the wise man remains in the
coolness of his desire or
lukewarmness.
9. The minds of spiritualists (or those
knowing the soul), come to the
state of that perfect insensibility of their
desires, as when the false
watery mirage is set down by the raining
clouds, and the particles of
morning dews, are dried up by the raging sun.
It is then that the soul
is said to rest in its perfect bliss (The turya—sans souci or
impassibility).
10. This is not the felicity of the gusto of pleasure, nor the dolour
of sorrow or discontent; it consists not in
the liveliness of living
beings, nor in the torpidity of stones. It is
not situated in the midst
of these antitheses (i.e. in the sandhisthāna or golden medium
between these); but in the knowing mind which
is Bhumānanda—all
rapture and ravishment. (Neither is il allegro nor il spinseroso,
the true bliss of man).
11. But the ignorant mind (which is
unacquainted with this state of
transport) is transported by its thirst after
the moving waters of
earthly pleasures; as an elephant is misled
to the foul pool, where he
is plunged in its mud and mire, without
finding any thing that is really
good.
12. Here is another instance of it based upon
a stanza in the Sruti,
which says that:—A man dreaming himself to be
falling into a pit, feels
the fear of his fall in his imagination even
when he has been sleeping
in his bed; but another who actually falls in
a pit when he is fast
asleep, is quite insensible of his falls.
Thus it is the mind which
paints its own pleasure and pains, and not
the bodily action or its
inactivity.
13. Hence whether a man is the doer of an
action or not, he perceives
nothing of it, when his mind is engrossed in
some other thought or
action; but he views every thing within
himself, who beholds them on the
abstract meditation of his mind. The thinking
mind sees the outward
objects, as reflexions of his pure intellect
cast without him. (The
spiritualist regards the outward as images of
his inward ideas, in
opposition to the materialist, who considers
the internal ideas to be
but reflexions derived from external
impressions).
14. Thus the man knowing the knowable soul,
knows himself as
inaccessible to the feelings of pleasure and
pain. Knowing this as
certain, he finds the existence of no other
thing, apart from what is
contained in the container of his soul, which
is as a thousandth part of
a hair. This being ascertained, he views
every thing in himself. With
this certainty of knowledge, he comes to know
his self as the reflector
of all things, and present in all of them.
After these ascertainments,
he comes to the conclusion that he is not
subject to pain or pleasure.
Thus freed from anxieties, the mind freely
exercises its powers over all
customary duties, without being concerned
with them.
15. He who knows the self, remains joyous
even in his calamity, and
shines as the moonlight, which enlightens the
world. He knows that it is
his mind and not his self, that is the agent
of his actions although he
is the doer of them: and knowing the agency
of the mind in all his
actions, he does not assume to himself the
merit of the exercise of his
limbs, hands and feet, nor expects to reap
the rewards of all his
assiduous labours and acts.
16. Mental actions (thoughts) being brought
to practice, tend to involve
their unguarded agents of ungoverned minds,
into the endurance of its
consequence. Thus the mind is the seed (root)
of all efforts and
exertions, of all acts and actions, of all
their results and
productions, and the source of suffering the
consequences of actions. By
doing away with your mind, you make a clean
sweep of all your actions,
and thereby avoid all your miseries resulting
from your acts. All these
are at an end with the anaesthesia of the mind. It is a practice in
Yoga to allay (laisser aller), the excitement of the mind to
its ever
varying purposes.
17. Behold the boy is led by his mind (fancy)
to build his toy or
hobby-horse, which he dresses and daubs at
his wilful play, without
showing any concern or feeling of pleasure or
pain, in its making or
breaking of it at his pleasure. So doth man
build his aerial castle, and
level it without the sense of his gain or
loss therein. It is by his
acting in this manner in all worldly matters,
that no man is spiritually
entangled to them. (Do your duties and deal
with all with a total
unconcernedness and indifference).
18. What cause can there be for your sorrow,
amidst the dangers and
delights of this world, but that you have the
one and not the other. But
what thing is there that is delectable and
delightful to be desired in
this world, which is not evanescent and
perishable at the same time,
save yourself (soul), which is neither the
active nor passive agent of
your actions and enjoyments; though they
attribute the actions and their
fruitions to it by their error.
19. The importance of actions and passions to
living beings, is a
mistake and not veritable truth. Because by
the right consideration of
things, we find no action nor passion bearing
any relation to the soul.
Its attachment or aversion to the senses and
sensible actions and
enjoyments, is felt only by the sensualist,
and not by them that are
unconscious of sensuous affections (as the
apathetic ascetics).
20. There is no liberation in this world for
the worldly minded, while
it is fully felt by the liberal minded Yogi,
whose mind is freed from
its attachments to the world, in its state of
living liberation.
(Jīvan-mukta).
21. Though the Sage is rapt in the light of
his self-consciousness, yet
he does not disregard to distinguish the
unity and duality, the true
entity from the non-entities, and to view the
omnipotence in all
potencies or powers that are displayed in
nature (for these display His
power and goodness beyond our thought).
22. (Verse). To him there is no bond or
freedom, nor liberation nor
bondage whatever, and the miseries of
ignorance are all lost in the
light of his enlightenment. (Bondage and freedom
here refer to their
causes or acts ([Bengali: karma]) by the
figure of metonymy; and that
these bear no relation to the abstracted or
spiritualistic Yogi).
23. It is in vain to wish for liberation,
when the mind is tied down to
the earth; and so it is redundant to talk of
bondage, when the mind is
already fastened to it. Shun them both by
ignoring your egoism, and
remain fixed to the true Ego, and continue
thus to manage yourself with
your unruffled mind on earth. (The whole of
this is a lesson of the
Stoical and Platonic philosophic and
unimpassioned passivity).
CHAPTER XXXIX.—On the Unity of all Things.
Argument. Explanation of Divine Omnipotence,
and inability of
Vasishtha to give full exposition of it.
Rāma rejoined:—(Prose) Tell me, O high-minded
sage, how could the
creation proceed from the Supreme Brahma,
whom you represent to remain
as a painting in the tableau of vacuity.
2. Vasishtha replied:—O prince, such is the
nature of Brahma, that all
power incessantly flows from him, wherefore
every power is said to
reside in him. (It is unvedantic to say, that
Brahma is omnipotent or
the reservoir of power, and not omnipotence
or identic with all power
himself).
3. In him resides entity and non-entity, in
him there is unity, duality
and plurality, and the beginning and end of
all things. (Because
omnipotence has the power to be all things,
which limited powers cannot
do).
4. This is one and no other else (i.e. it is all that is, and there is
none else beside it (Id est non alter)). It is as the sea, whose
waters have endless varieties of shapes, and
represent the images of
myriads of stars in its bosom; rising
spontaneously of themselves.
5. The density of the Intellect makes the
mind, and the mind brings
forth all the powers of thinking, willing or
volition, and of acting or
action. These it produces, accumulates,
contains, shows and then absorbs
in itself.
6. (Verse) Brahma is the source of all living
beings, and of all things
seen all around us. His power is the cause of
exhibiting all things, in
their incessant course or quiescence.
7. All things spring from the Supreme Spirit,
and they reside in his all
comprehensive mind. They are of the same
nature with that of their
source, as the water of the sweet and saltish
lakes.
8. Rāma interrupted here and said:—Sir, your
discourse is very dark,
and I cannot understand the meaning of the
words of your speech.
9. There is that nature of Brahma, which you
said to be beyond the
perception of the mind and senses, and what
are these perishable things,
which you say to have proceeded from him. If
your reasoning comes to
this end, I cannot then rely upon it.
10. Because it is the law of production, that
anything that is produced
from something, is invariably of the same
nature with that of its
producer.
11. As light is produced from light, corns
come from corn, and man is
born of man, and all kinds come out of their
own kind.
12. And so the productions of the immutable
Spirit, must also be
unchangeable and spiritual too in their
nature.
13. Beside this the Intellectual Spirit of
God, is pure and immaculate;
while this creation is all impure and gross
matter.
14. The great Sage said upon hearing these
words:—Brahma is all purity
and there is no impurity in him; the waves
moving on the surface of the
sea may be foul, but they do not soil the
waters of the deep.
15. You cannot conceive Rāma, of there being
a second person or thing
beside the One Brahma; as you can have no
conception of fire beside its
heat. (Its light being adscititious).
16. Rāma rejoined:—Sir, Brahma is devoid of
sorrow, while the world is
full of sorrows. I cannot therefore clearly
understand your words; when
you say this to be the offspring of that.
(The maculate equal to the
immaculate or the perishable to the
imperishable is absurd).
17. Vālmīki said to Bharadwāja:—The great
Sage Vasishtha remained
silent at these words of Rāma; and stopped in
his lecture with the
thoughtfulness of his mind.
18. His mind lost its wonted clearness (in
its confusion), and then
recovering its perspicacity, he pondered
within himself in the following
manner.
19. The educated and intelligent mind, that
has known the knowable One,
has of itself got to the end of the subject
of liberation, by its own
reasoning and intuition as that of Rāma.
20. It is no fault of the educated to be
doubtful of something, until it
is explained to them to their full
satisfaction, as in the case of
Rāghava. (Relating the identity of the cause
and its effect).
21. But the half-educated are not fit to
receive spiritual instruction,
because their view of the visibles, which
dwells on obvious objects,
proves the cause of their ruin (by
obstructing their sight of the
spiritual).
22. But he who has come to the sight of
transcendental light, and got a
clear insight of spiritual truths, feels no
desire for sensual
enjoyments; but advances in course of time to
the conclusion, that
Brahma is All in all things (to pan).
(The transcendental philosophy of modern
German schools, has arrived at
the same conclusion of Pantheism, Ho Theos to pan).
23. The disciple is to be prepared and
purified at first, with the
precepts and practice of quietism and
self-control (Sama and damā);
and is then to be initiated in the creed that
"All this is Brahma, and
that thyself art that pure Spirit."
24. But who so teaches the faith of "all
is Brahma" to the half taught
and the ignorant; verily entangles him in the
strong snare of hell.
(Because they take the visible for the
invisible, which leads them to
nature and idol worships which casts them to
hell).
25. The well discerning Sage should tell
them, that are enlightened in
their understandings, whose desire of sensual
gratifications has abated,
and who are freed from their worldly desires,
that they are purged of
the dirt of their ignorance, and are prepared
to receive religious and
spiritual instruction.
26. The spiritual guide who instructs his pupil
without weighing well
his habits and conduct, is a silly pedagogue
and sinks into hell and has
to dwell there until the last day of
judgment; (to answer for misleading
his disciples).
27. The venerable Vasishtha, who was the
chief of sages, and like the
luminous sun on earth, having considered
these things, spoke to Rāma as
follows. (The sages are said to be luminous
both from the fairness of
their Aryan complexions, as also on account
of their enlightened
understandings).
28. Vasishtha said:—I will tell thee Rāma at
the conclusion, of this
lecture, whether the attribution of the dross
of gross bodies, is
applicable to Brahma or not. (I.e. how a spiritual body may assume a
material form &c.).
29. Know now that Brahma is almighty, all
pervading, ubiquitous and is
all himself, because of his omnipotence,
which can do and become all and
every thing of itself.
30. As you see the various practices of
magicians and the trickeries of
jugglers, in producing, presenting, and
abstracting many things in the
sight of men, that are all but unreal shows;
so doth Brahma produce,
present and retract all things from and into
himself.
31. The world is filled with gardens as those
in fairy lands, and the
sky is replenished with the airy castles of
Gandharvas and the abodes of
gods; and men are seen to descend from the
cloudless sky, to the surface
of the earth, and rise upwards to heaven (in
vimānas or balloons).
32. Fairy cities like the palaces of the
Gandharvas of the etherial
regions, are shown on earth, and filled with
the fairies of the Fairy
land. (I.e. the courts and palaces of princes, which vie with the
abodes of gods).
33. Whatever there is or has been or is to be
in this world in future,
are like reflexions of the revolving sky and
heavenly bodies, or a
brazen ball affixed to the top of a tower,
and darting its golden light
below.
34. All these are but exhibitions of the
various forms of manifestations
of the selfsame God. ("These as they
change,—these are but the varied
God." Thomson. So Wordsworth and the
Persian Mystics).
35. Whatever takes place at any time or place
and in any form, is but
the variety of the One Self-existent reality.
Why therefore, O Rāma!
should you give vent to your sorrow or joy,
or wonder at any change of
time or place or nature and form of things,
which are full of the spirit
of God, and exhibit the endless aspects of
the Infinitive Mood.
36. Let the intelligent preserve the sameness
(samata) of their minds
and dispositions amidst all changes; knowing
them as the varying
conditions of the same unvarying Mind.
37. He who sees his God in all, and is
fraught with equanimity, has no
cause of his wonder of surprise, his grief or
delight or any fluctuation
of his mind, in any change in nature or
vicissitude of his fortune
(because the one Omnipresence is present in
all events, and its
Omnipotence directs all potentialities).
38. The unaltered mind continues to view the
varieties of the power of
his Maker, in all the variations of time and
place, and of all external
circumstances.
39. The Lord proposes these plans in the
formation of his creation, and
exhibits as the sea does its waves in endless
varieties and successions
from the plenitude of his mind.
40. So the Lord manifests the powers situated
in himself, as the sea
does its waves in itself. Or as the milk
forms the butter, the earth
produces the pot (ghata), and the thread is woven into the cloth
(pata). So the bata or fig
tree brings forth its fruit, and all
other varied forms are contained in their
sources. But these formal
changes are phenomenal not real. They are
mere appearances of the
spectrum, as those of apparitions and
spectres.[6]
[6] But these formal changes are phenomenal
and not real. They are mere
appearances. Gloss.
41. There is no other agent or object, nor an
actor and its act, or any
thing which is acted upon, nor is there any
thing that becomes nothing
except it by but a variety of the one unity.
(In nihilo riverti
posse).
42. The mind that witnesses the spiritual
truths, and remains with its
unimpaired equanimity, and is undepressed by
external accidents, comes
to see the light of truth in itself. (Truth
like the sun shineth in the
inmost soul).
43. (Verse). There being the lamp, there is
its light also; and the sun
shining brings the day with him. Where there
is the flower, there is its
odour likewise; so where there is the living
soul, there is the light or
knowledge of the world in it.
44. The world appearing all around, is as the
light of the soul; it
appears as the motion of the wind, whereof we
have no notion of its
reality or unreality. (So says Herbert
Spencer concerning our notion of
motion. We see the wheel in motion and
changing its place, but have no
idea of its motion).
45. The immaculate Soul, is the prime mobile
power of the appearance and
disappearance of the myriads of gross bodies
which like the revolving
stars of the sky, and the season flowers of
the spring, appear and
reappear to us by turns, like the ups and
downs of wheels in motion. (We
see their revolutions, but neither see their
motion nor the soul the
giver of motion).
46. All things die away when our souls are
without us, but how can any
thing be null when we are in possession of
our souls? (Everything exists
with ourselves, but we lose all, with loss of
our souls).
47. All things appear before us in the
presence of our souls, and they
vanish from before us in their absence from
the body. (Every thing is
existent with us with the existence of our
souls, and nothing is
perceived by us without them, as when we are
dead).
48. Everything is born with us with our
souls, and is lost with loss of
them. (The living have all, but the dead are
lost to view. And the human
soul, when in conjunction with the Divine,
has a clear view of
everything).
51. The minds of men are endowed with their
knowledge at their very
birth. Then growing big by degrees in course
of time, they expand
themselves in the form of this spacious
forest of the world.
52. The wood of the world is the fastening
post of the soul, where our
blooming desires are fraught with fruits of
poignant griefs. It branches
out with gratifications, blossoms with hoary
age, and is breaking its
goodly post, and wandering at large of its free
will.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to Brahmasri Sreemaan Vihari Lala Mitra ji for the
collection)
Post a Comment