The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki
The only complete English translation is
by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891).
CHAPTER LXXIII.
END OF THE STORY OF THE VETﾁLA DEMON.
Arguments:--Afterpart of vet疝a's tale and Preamble to the
tale of
hag叝atha[**Bhagavatha].
Vasishtha resumed:--After hearing these words from
the mouth of the prince, the vet疝a held his peace and
quiet, and remained reflecting on them in his mind, which
was
capable of reasoning.
2. Being then quite calm in his mind, he reflected on
the pure doctrines of the prince; and being quite
absorbed
in his fixed meditation, he forgot at once his hunger and
thirst.
3. I have thus related to you, R疥a, about the questions
of the vet疝a, and the manner in which these worlds are
situated
in the atom of the intellect and no where else.
4. The world residing in the cell of the atomic
intellect,
ceases to subsist by itself upon right reasoning; so the
body
of a ghost exists in the fancy of boys only, and there
remains
nothing at last except the everlasting one.
5. Curb and contract thy thought and heart from every
thing, and enclose thy inward soul in itself; do what
thou
hast to do at any time, without desiring or attempting
any thing of thy own will, and thus have the peace of thy
mind.
6. Employ your mind, O silent sage! to keep itself as
clean
as the clear firmament, remain in one even and peaceful
tenor
of thy soul, and view all things in one and the same
light; (of
tolerance and catholicism).
7. A steady and dauntless mind with its promptness in
action, is successful in most arduous undertakings, as
was the
prince Bhag叝atha with his unsevering perseverance.
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8. It was by his perfectly peaceful and contended mind,
and
by the lasting felicity of the equanimity of his soul,
that this
prince succeeded to bring down the heavenly Ganges on
earth,
and the princes of Sagar's line were enabled to perform
the
arduous task of digging the bay of Bengal. (Where they
were
buried alive by curse of the sage Kapila, for disturbing
his
silent meditations).
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CHAPTER LXXIV.
ACCOUNT AND ADMONITION OF BHAGﾍRATHA.
Argument:--Conduct and character of Bhag叝atha, his
private
reflextion[**reflexion]
and the Instructions of his tutor.
R疥a said:--Please sir, to relate unto me, the wonderful
narrative of prince Bhag叝atha, how he succeeded to bring
down the heavenly stream of Ganga on the earth below.
2. Vasishtha replied:--The prince Bhag叝atha was a
personage
of eminent virtues, and was distinguished as a crowning
mark (Tilaka), over all countries of this
terraquious[**terraqueous] earth
and
its seas.
3. All his suitors received their desired boons, even
without
their asking; and their hearts were as gladdened at the
sight
of his moon-bright countenance, as were it at the sight
of a
precious and brilliant gem.
4. His charities were always profusedly[**profusely]
lavished upon all
good people, for their maintenance and supportance; while
he
carefully collected even straws (for his revenue), and
prized
them as they were gems unto him. (i.e. He earned as he
gave).
5. He was as bright in his person, as the blazing fire
without its smoke, and was never weak even when he was
tired in the discharge of his duties. He drove away
poverty
from the abodes of men, as the rising sun dispels the
darkness
of night from within their houses.
6. He spread all around him the effulgence of his valour,
as the burning fire scatters about its sparks; and he
burned
as the blazing midday sun, among all his hostile bands.
7. Yet he was gentle and soft in the society of wise men,
and cooled their hearts with his cooling speech. He shone
amidst the learned, as the moon-stone glistens under the
moon light.
8. He decorated the world with its triple cord of the
sacrificial
thread, by stretching out the three streams of the
Ganges,
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along the three regions of heaven, earth and infernal
regions.
(Hence Gang・is called the tripathag・or running in the
trivia
in heaven, earth and hell).
9. He filled the ocean that had been dried up by the sage
Agastya, with the waters of Ganges; as the bounteous man
fills the greedy beggar with his unbounded bounty.
10. This benefactor of mankind, redeemed his ancestral
kinsmen from the infernal region (in which they were
accursed
by the indignant sage; and led them to the heaven of
Brahm・
by the passage of the sacred Gang・ (which ran through the
three worlds of heaven, earth and hell).
11. He overcame by his resolute
perseverence[**perseverance], all his
manifold
obstacles and troubles, in his alternate propitiations of
the
God Br疉ma and Siva and the sage Jahnu, for their
discharging
the coarse of the stream. (The holy Gang・was first
confined
in Brahma's water pot, and then restricted in Hara's
crown,
and lastly locked up under Jahnu's seat, whence the river
has
the nickname of J疉nav・.
12. Though he was yet in the vigour of his youth, he
seemed even then to feel the decay of age, coming fastly
upon
him, at his incessant thoughts on the miseries of human
life.
13. His excogitation of the vanities of the world,
produced
in him a philosophical apathy to them; and this sang
froid or
cold heartedness of his in the prime of his youth, was
like the
shooting forth of a tender sprout on a sudden in a barren
desert. (So great was the early abstractedness from the
world,
prized by the ancient Aryans, that many monarchs are
mentioned
to have became religious recluses in their youth).
14. The prince thought in his retired moments on the
impropriety
of his worldly conduct, and made the following
reflections,
on the daily duties of life in his silent soliloquy.
15. I see the return of day and night, in endless
succession
after one another; and I find the repetition of the same
acts
of giving and taking (receipts and disbursements), and
lasting the same enjoyments, to have grown tedious and
insipid
tome[**?]. (So it was with Rasselas the prince of
Abysinia[**Abyssinia],
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who felt disgusted at the daily rotation of the same
pleasures
and enjoyments and one unvaried course of life).
16. I think that only to be worth my seeking and doing,
which being obtained and done, there is nothing else to
desire
or do in this transitory life of troubles and cares.
17. Is it not shameful for a sensible being, to be
employed
in the same circuit of business every day, and is it not
laughable
to be doing and undoing the same thing, like silly boys
day by day?
18. Being thus vexed with the world, and afraid of the
consequence
of his worldly course, Bhag叝atha repaired in silence
to the solitary cell of his preceptor Tritala, and
bespoke to him
in the following manner.
19. Bhag叝atha said:--My Lord! I am entirely tired and
disgusted with the long course of my worldly career,
which I
find to be all hollow and empty within it, and presenting
a vast
wilderness without.
20. Tell me lord, how can I get over the miseries of this
world, and get freed from my fear of death and
desease[**disease] and
from
the fetters of errors and passions, to which I am so fast
enchained.
(The Hindu mind is most sensible of the baneful
effects of the primeval curse pronounced on man, and the
accursedness
of his posterity and of this earth for his sake; and
is always in eager search of salvation, redemption or
liberation
from the same by mukti, mokhsha[**moksha], and paritr疣a).
21. Tri tala[**Tritala] replied:--It is to be effected by
means of the
continued evenness of one's disposition, (obtained by his
quadruple practice of devotion s疆hana); the uninterrupted
joyousness of his soul (arising from its communion with
the
Holy spirit); by his knowledge of the knowable true one,
and
by his self sufficiency in everything (tending to his
perpection[**perfection]).
(The quadruple devotion consists in one's attendance to
holy
lectures and in his understanding, reflection and
practice of the
same lessons, called the s疆hana chatushtaya).
22. By these means the man is released from misery, his
wordly[**worldly] bonds are relaxed, his doubts are
dissipated, and all his
actions tend to his well being in both worlds.
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23. That which is called the knowable, is the pure soul
of the
nature of intelligence; it is always present in
everything in all
places and is eternal-[**--]having neither its rising or
setting (i. e. its
begining[**beginning] or end).[**moved '.'] The animating
soul of the
world, is identified
with the supreme and universal soul of God. The vedanta
knows no duality of the animal and[**space added]
animating souls.
24. Bhag叝atha rejoined:--I know, O great sage! the pure
intelligent soul to be perfectly calm and tranquil,
undecaying and
devoid of all attributes and qualities; and neither the
embodied
spirit, nor the animal soul, nor the indwelling principle
of
material bodies.
25. I cannot understand sir, how I can be that
intelligence,
when [**I] am so full of errors, or if I be the selfsame
soul, why is it
not so manifest in me as the pure divine soul itself.
26. Tritala replied:--It is by means of knowledge only,
that the mind can know the truly knowable one in the
sphere
of one's own intellect, and then the animal soul finding
itself as
the all-pervading spirit, is released from future birth
and transmigration.
(The belief of the difference of one's soul from the
eternal one, is the cause of his regeneration).
27. It is our unattachment to earthly relations, and
unaccompaniment
of our wives, children and other domestic concerns,
together with the equanimity of our minds, in whatsoever
is either
advantageous or disadvantegeous[**disadvantageous] to us,
that serve to
widen the
sphere of our souls and cause their universality.
28. It is also the union of our souls with the supreme
spirit,
and our continual communion with God; as also our
seclusion
from society and remaining in retirement that widen the
scope
of our souls.
29. It is the continued knowledge of spirituality, and
insight[**space
removed]
into the sense of the unity and identity of God, which
are
said to constitute our true knowledge; all besides is
mere ignorance
and false knowledge.
30. It is the abatement of our love and hatred, that is
the
only remedy for our malady of worldliness; and it is the
extinction
of our egoistic feelings, that leads to the knowledge of
truth.
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31. Bhag叝atha responded:--Tell me, O reverend sir, how
is it possible for any body to get rid of his egoism,
which is deep
root in our constitution, and has grown as big with our
bodies
as lofty trees on mountain tops.
32. Tritala replied:--All egoistic feelings subside of
themselves
under the abandonment of wordly[**worldly] desires, which
is to be
done by the very great efforts of fortitude, in our
exercise of the
virtues of self-abnegation and self-command, and by the
expansion
of our souls to universal benevolence.
33. We are so long subjected to the reign of our egoism,
as
we have not the courage to break down the painful prison
house
of shame at our poverty, and the fear at our exposure to
the
indignity of others: (Poverty is shameful to
wordly[**worldly] people, but
graceful to holy men).
34. If you can therefore renounce all your worldly
possessions
and remain unmoved in your mind, (although in actual
possession of them); you may then get rid of your egoism,
and
attain to the state of supreme bliss.
35. Bereft of all titular honors, and freed from the fear
of
falling into poverty (and its consequent indignity);
being
devoid of every endeavour of rising, and remaining as
poor and
powerless among invidious enemies; and rather living in
contemptible
beggary among them, without the egoistic pride of
mind and vanity of the body; if you can thus remain in
utter
destitution of all, you are then greater than the
greatest.
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CHAPTER LXXV.
Supineness of Bhag叝atha
Argument.--Great bounty of Bhag叝atha and his indigence in
consequence;
and his recourse to asceticism with his tutor.
Vasishtha related:--Having heard these monitions from
the mouth of his religious monitor, he determined in his
mind what he was about to do, and set about the execution
of his purpose.
2. He passed a few days in devising his project, and then
commenced his agnishtoma sacrifice to the sacred fire,
for consecrating
his all to it, for the sake of obtaning[**obtaining] his
sole object
(of Nirvana or being extinct in the essence of God).
3. He gave away his kine and lands, his horses and
jewels,
and his monies without number, to the twice born classes
of
men and his relatives, without distinction of their merit
or
demirit[**demerit].
4. During three days he gave away profusely all what he
had, till at last he had nothing for himself, except his
life and
flesh and bones.
5. When his exhaustless treasures were all exhausted, he
gave up his great realm like a straw to his neighbouring
enemies,
to the great mortification of his subjects and citizens
(paurakas).
6. As the enemy overran his territories and kingdom,
and seized his royal palace and properties; he girt
himself in his
under girb[**undergird?], and went away beyond the limits
of his
kingdom.
7. He wandered afar through distant villages and desert
lands, till at last he settled himself where he was quite
unknown
to all, and nobody knew his person or face or his name
and title.
8. Remaining there retired for some time, he became quite
composed and blunt to all feelings from within and
without
himself; and he obtained his rest and repose in the
serene tranquility
of his soul,[**.]
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9. He then roved about different countries and went to
distant islands (to see the various manners of men); till
at last
he turned unawares to his natal land and city, which [**
was] in the
grasp of his enemies.
10. There while he was wandering from door to door, as he
was led about by the current of time; he was observed by
the
citizens and ministers to be begging their alms.
11. All the citizens and ministers recognized their
ex-king
Bhag叝atha, whom they hohoured[**honoured] with their due
homage, and
whom they were very sorry to behold in that miserable
plight.
12. His enemy (the reigning prince) came out to meet him,
and implored him to receive back his neglected estate and
selfabondoned[**
self-abandoned]
kingdom; but he slighted all their offers as trifling
straws, except taking his slender repast at their hands.
13. He passed a few days there and then bent his course
to
another way, when the people loudly lamented at his sad
condition
saying;[**:] "Ah! what has become of the
unfortunated[**unfortunate]
Bhag叝atha".
14. Then the prince walked about with the calmness of his
soul, and with his contended mind and placid countenance;
and
he amused himself with his wandering habits and thoughts,
untill[**until] he came to meet his tutor Tritala on the
way.
15. They welcomed one another, and then joining together,
they both began to wonder[**wander] about the localities
of men, and to
pass over hills and deserts in their holy
perigrinations[**peregrinations].
16. Once on a time as both the dispassionate pupil and
his
preceptor, were setting[**sitting] together in the cool
calmness of their
dispositions, their conversations turned on the
interesting subject
of human life.
17. What good is there in our bearing the frail body, and
what do we lose by our loss of it. (Since neither reap
nor
lose any real advantage, either by our having or losing
of it at
any time, yet we should bear with it as it is, in the
discharge
of the duties that have come down unto us by the custom
of
the country[**)].
18. They remained quiet with this conclusion, and passed
their time in passing from one forest to another; without
feeling
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any joy above their inward bliss[**space added], or
knowing any sorrow
or the
intermediate state of joy and greif[**grief] (which is
the general lot of
humanity),[**moved ,] and the rotatory course of pleasure
and pain in this
world).[**moved .]
19. They spurned all riches and properties, the
possession
of horses and cattle, and even the eight kinds of
supernatural
powers (Siddhis) as rotten straws before the
contentedness
of their minds.
20. This body which is the result of our past acts, must
be
borne with fortitude, whether we wish it or not, as long
as it
lasts; with his continued conviction in the discharge of
their duties (of asceticism).
21. They like silent sages, hailed with
complaicence[**complaisance],
whatever
of good or evil, or desirable or undesirable
befel[**befell] to their lot,
as the unavoidable results of their prior[**space added]
deeds; and had
their
repose in the heavenly felicity, to which they had
assimilated
themselves. (So the sruti;[**:] The Divine[**sp. added]
are one with
Divine
felicity).
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CHAPTER LXXVI
The descent of Ganga on earth.
Argument:--Reinstatement of Bhag叝atha in his Kingdom, and
his
bringing down the heavenly stream by means of his austere
Devotion.
Vasishtha continued:--It came to pass at one time as
Bhag叝atha was passing through a large metropolis, he
beheld the ruler of that province, who was childless to
be
snatched away by the hand of death, as a shark seizes a
fish for
its prey.
2. The people being afraid of anarchy and lawlessness for
want of a ruler, were in search of a proper person joined
with
noble endowments and signs to be made their future king.
3. They met with the silent and patient prince in the act
of begging alms, and knowing him as the king Bhag叝atha
himself,
they took him to thee[**?] escorted by their own
regiments, to
installed[**install] him on the throne as their king.
4. Bhag叝atha instantly mounted on an elephant, and was
led by a large body of troops, who assembled about him as
thickly, as the drops of rain water fall into and fill a
lake.
5. The people then shouted aloud, "Here is Bhag叝atha
our lord; may he be victorious for ever", and the
noise thereof
reached to the furthest mountains, and filled their
hollow caves
(which reached to the sound).
6. Then as Bhag叝atha remained to reign over that realm,
the subjects of his own and former kingdom came
reverently
to him, and thus prayed unto their king saying:--
7. The people said:--Great king! the person who thou
didst appoint to rule over us, is lately devoured by
death as a
little fish by a large one.
8. Therefore deign to rule over thy realm, nor refuse to
accept an offer which comes unasked to thee, (so it is
said:--It
is not right to slight even a mite, that comes of itself
to any
body, but it is to be deemed as a God-sent blessing).
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9. Vasishtha said.[**:]--The king being so besought
accepted
their prayer, and thus became the sole manager of the
earth,
bounded by the seven seas on all sides.
10. He continued to discharge the duties of royalty
without the least dismay or disquietude, though he was
quite
calm and serene in his mind, quiet in his speech, and
devoid of
passions and envy or selfishness.
11. He then thought of the redemption of his ancestors,
who excavated the coast of the sea (and made this bay of
Bengal); and were burned alive underneath the ground (by
the
curse of sage Kapila); by laving their bones and dead
bodies
with the waves of Ganges, which he heard, had the merit
of
purity and saving all souls and bodies. (The ancestors of
Bhag叝atha were the thousand sons of sagara, who were
masters of Saugar islands in the bay of Bengal).
12. The heavenly stream of the Ganges did not till then
run over the land, it was Bhag叝atha that brought it down,
and
first washed his ancestral remains with its holy waters.
The
stream was thence forth known by his name as Bhag叝atha.
13. The king Bhag叝atha was thenceforward resolved, to
bring down the holy Gang・of heaven to the nether world.
(The triple Ganges is called the Tripathag・or fluvium
trivium
or running in three directions).
14. The pious prince then resigned his kingdom to the
charge of his ministers, and went to the solitary forest
with the
resolution of making his austere devotion, for the
success of
his undertaking.
15. He remained there for many years and under many
rains, and worshipped the Gods Brahm畆**・->畩 and Siva
and the sage
Jahnu by turns, until he succeeded to bring down the holy
stream on the earth below. (It is said that Gang・was
pent-up
at first in the water pot of Brahm・ and then in the crown
of Siva and lastly under the thighs of Jahnu, all which
are
allegorial[**allegorical] of the fall of the stream from
the cascade of
Gangatr・**Gangotri]
in Haridvara[**Haridwar][**)].
16. It was then that the crystal wave of the Ganges,
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gushed out of the basin of Brahm・the lord of the world
and
rushed into the moony crest of Hara; and falling on earth
below it took a triple course, like the meritorious acts
of great
men: (which were lauded in all three worlds of their
past,
present and future lives).
17. I[**It] was thus the trivial river of Gang・ came to
flow over
this earth, as the channel to bear the glory of Bhag叝atha
to
distant lands. Behold her running fast with her upheaving
waves, and smiling all along with her foaming froths; she
sprinkles purity all along with the drizzling drops of
her
breakers, and scatters plenty over the land as the reward
of
the best deserts of men.
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CHAPTER LXXVII.
Narrative of Chud疝a[**Ch棈疝畩 and Sikhidhwaja.
Argument:--Story of the Princess Chud疝畆**Ch棈疝畩 and her
marriage
with
Sikhidhwaja and their youthful sports.
Vasishtha related:--R疥a! do you keep your view
fixed to one object, as it was kept in the mind of
Bhag叝atha;
and do you pursue your calling with a calm and quiet
understanding, as it was done by that steady minded
prince in
the accomplishment of his purpose! (For he that runs many
ways, stands in the middle and gets to the end of none).
2. Give up your thoughts of this and that (shelly
shallying[**shillyshallying]),
and confine the flying bird of your mind within your
bosom, and
remain in full possession of yourself after the example
of the
resolute prince Sikhidhwaja of old.
3. R疥a asked:--Who was this Sikhidhwaja, sir, and how
did he maintain the firmness of his purpose? Please
explain
this fully to me for the edification of my understanding.
4. Vasishtha replied:--It was in a former Dwapara age,
that there lived a loving pair of consorts who are again
to be
born in a future period, in the same manner and at the
same
place.
5. R疥a rejoined:--Tell me, O great preacher! how the
past could be the same as at present, and how can these
again
be alike in future also. (Since there can be no cause of
the
likeness of past ages and their productions with those of
the
present or future. It is reasonable to believe the
recurrence
of such other things, but not of the same and very things
as of
yore).
6. Vasishtha replied:--Such is the irreversible law of
destiny
and the irreversible course of nature, that the creation
of the
world must continue in the same manner by the invariable
will
of the creative Brahm・and others. (i. e. The repeated
creation
of worlds must go on in the same rotation by the
inevitable will
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(Satya Sancalpa[**Sankalpa]) of the creative power; wherefore
by gone
things are to return and be re-born over and over
again[**)].
7. As those which had been plentiful before come to be at
plenteous again, so the past appears at present and in
future also.
Again many things come to being that had not been before,
and
so many others become extinct in course of time, (e. g.)
as past
crops return again and again and vegetables grow where
there
were none, and as a lopped off branch grows no more).
8. Some reappear in their former forms and some in their
resemblance
also; others are changed in their forms, and many
more disappear altogether: (see, for example, the
different shapes
of the waves of the ocean).
9. These and many other things are seen in the course of
the world; and therefore the character of the subject of
the
present narrative will be found to bear exact resemblance
to that of the by-gone prince of the same name.
10. Hear me tell you, also, that there is yet to be born
such another prince, as valiant as the one that had been
in the
former dw疳ara age of the past seventh manvantara period.
11. It will be after the four yugas of the fourth
creation,
past and gone, that he will be born again of the Kuru
family in the vicinity of the Vindhyan mountains in the
Jambudwipa
continent. (This extravagant sloka is omitted in other
editions of this work.)
12. There lived a prince by name of Sikhidhwaja in the
country of Malava, who was handsome in his person, and
endowed
with firmness and magnanimity in his nature, and the
virtues of patience and self control in his character.
13. He was brave but silent, and even inclined to good
acts with all his great virtues; he was engaged in the
performance
of the religious sacrifices, as also in defeating bowyers
in archery.
14. He did many acts (of public endowments), and
supported
the poor people of the land; he was of a graceful
appearance
and complacent in his countenance, and loved all men
with his great learning in the s疽tras.
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15. He was handsome, quiet and fortunate, and equally
as valiant as he was virtuous. He was a preacher of
morality
and bestower of all benefits to his suitors.
16. He enjoyed all luxuries in the company of good
people,
and listened to the lessons of the Sruties[**Srutis]. He
knew all knowledge
without any boast on his part, and he hated to touch
women as straws.
17. His father departed to the next world, leaving him a
lad of sixteen years in age; and yet he was able at that
tender
age to govern his realm, by defeating his adversaries on
all
sides.
18. He conquered all other provinces of the country by
means of the resources of his empire; and he remained
free
from all apprehension by ruling his subjects with justice
and
keeping them in peace.
19. He brightened all sides by his intelligence and the
wisdom of his ministers, till in the course of years he
came to
his youth, as in the gaudy spring of the year.
20. It was the vernal season, and he beheld the blooming
flowers glistening brightly under the bright moon-beams;
and
he saw the budding blossoms, hanging down the arbours in
the
inner apartments.
21. The door ways of the bowers were overhung with
twinning branches, decorated with florets scattering
their fragrant
dust like the hoary powder of camphor; and the rows
of the guluncha flowers wafted their odours all around.
22. There was the loud hum of bees, buzzing with their
mates upon the flowery bushes; and the gentle zephyrs
were
wafting the sweet scent amidst the cooling showers of
moon-*beams.
23. He saw the banks decorated with the kadal・shrubbery
glistening with their gemming blossoms under the sable
shade of
kadal・(plantain) leaves; which excited his yearning after
the
dear one that was seated in his heart.
24. Giddy with the intoxication of the honey draughts of
fragrant flowers, his mind was fixed on his beloved
object, and
-----File:
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did not depart from it, as the spring is unwilling to
quit the
flowery garden (so says Hapiz,--no pleasant sight is
gladsome
to the mind without the face of the fair possessor of the
heart:
see sir[**Sir] Wm. Jones' version of it).
25. When shall I in this swinging cradles of my pleasure
garden, and when will I in my sports in this lake of
lotuses,
play with my love-smitten maid with her budding breasts
resembling
the two unblown blossoms of golden lotuses?
26. When shall I embrace my beloved one to my bosom on
my bed daubed with the dust of powdered frank incense,
and
when shall we on cradles of lotus stalks, like a pair of
bees
sucking the honey from flower cups?
27. When shall I see that maiden lying relaxed in my
arms,
with her slender body resembling a tender stalk, and as
fair as
a string of milk white kunda flowers, or as a plant
formed of
moon-beams?
28. When will that moon like beauty be inflamed with her
love to me? With these and the like thoughts and ravings
he
roved about the garden looking at the variety of flowers.
29. He then went on rambling in the flowery groves and
skirts of forests, and thence strayed onward from one
forest to
another, and by the side of purling lakes blooming with
the
full blown lotuses. (The lotus is the emblem of beauty in
the
east, as the rose is in the west).
30. He entered in the alcoves formed by the twining
creepers, and walked over the avenues of many garden
grounds
and forest lands, seeing and hearing the descriptions of
woodland
sceneries (from his associates).
31. He was distracted in his mind, and took much delight
in hearing discourses on erotic subjects, and the bright
form of
his necklaced and painted beloved was the sole idol in
his breast.
32. He adored the maiden in his heart, with her breasts
resembling two golden pots on her person; and this ween
was
soon found by the sagacious ministers of the state.
33. As it is the business of ministership to dive into
matters
by their signs and prognosis, so these officers met
together to
deliberate on his marriage.
-----File:
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34. They proposed the youthful daughter of the king of
Syrastra (Surat) for his marriage, and thought her as a
proper
match for him, on account of her coming to the full age
of
puberty (lit. to the prime of her youth).
35. The prince was married to her who was a worthy image
(or like co-partner) of himself; and this fair princess
was known
by the name of chud疝畆**Ch棈疝畩 all over the land.
36. She was as joyous in having him, as the new blown
lotus at the rising sun; and he made the black-eyed maid
to
bloom, as the moon opens the bud of the blue lotus.
(Lotuses
are known as helio-solenus, the white ones opening at sun
rise
and the blue kind blooming with the rising moon).
37. He delighted her with his love, as gives the white
lotus to bloom; and they both inflamed their mutual
passions
by their abiding in the heart of one another.
38. She flourished with her youthful wiles and dalliance,
like a new grown creeper blooming with its flowers, and
he was
happy, and careless in her company by leaving the state
affairs
to the management of the ministers. (The words h疱
Chavavilasa,
implying amorous dalliance, are all comprised in the
couplet "quips and cranks and wanton wiles, nods and
becks
and wreathed smiles".--Pope[**)].
39. He disported in the company of his lady love, as the
swan sports over a bed of lotuses in a large lake; and
indulged
his frolics in his swinging cradles and pleasure ponds in
the
inner apartments.
40. They reveled in the gardens and groves, and in the
bowers of creepers and flowering plants; and amused
themselves
in the woods and in walks under the sandal wood and a
gulancha shades.
41. They sported by the rows of mand疵a trees, and beside
the lines of plantain and kadal・plants; and regaled
themselves
wandering in the harem, and by the sides of the woods
and lakes in the skirts of the town.
42. He roved afar in distant forests and deserts, and in
jungles of J疥 and Jam bira trees; they passed by paths
-----File:
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bordered by J疸i or Jassmine[**jasmine/jessamine] plants,
and, in short
they took
delight in everything in the company of one another.
43. The mutual attachment to one another was as
delightsome
to the people as the union of the raining sky with the
cultivated ground; both tending to the welfare of mankind
by the productiveness of the general weal. (This
far-fetched
simile and the mazy construction of the passage is
incapable of
a literal version).
44. They were both skilled in the arts of love and music,
and were so united together by their mutual attachment,
that
the one was a counterpart of the other.
45. Being seated in each others heart, they were as two
bodies with one soul; so that the learning of the s疽tras
of the
one, and the skill in painting and fine arts of the
other, were
orally communicated to and learnt by one another.
46. She from her childhood was trained in every branch of
learning, and he learned the arts of dancing and playing
on
musical instruments, from the oral instructions of
chud疝畆**Ch棈疝畩.
47. They learned and became learned in the respective
arts and parts of one another; as the sun and moon being
set
in conjunction (amavasy・, impart to and partake of the
qualities
of each other.
48. Being mutually situated in the heart of one another,
they became the one and the same person and both being in
the
same inclination and pursuit, were the more endeared to
one
another, (as a river running to the milky occean[**ocean]
is assimilated
to the ocean of milk, so all souls mixing with the
supreme
soul form one universal and only soul).
49. They were joined in one person, as the
androgne[**androgyne] body of
Um・and Siva on earth; and were united in one soul, as the
different fragrances of flowers are mixed up with the
common
air. Their clearness of understanding and learning of the
s疽tras led them both in the one and same way.
50. They were born on earth to perform their parts, like
the God Vishnu and his consort Lakshni[**Lakshmi]; they
were equally
frank and sweet by their mutual affection, and were as
informed
as communication[**communicative] of their learning to
others.
-----File: 435.png---------------------------------------------------------
51. They followed the course of the laws and customs, and
attended to the affairs of the people; they delighted in
the arts
and sciences, and enjoyed their sweet pleasures also.
They
appeared as the two moos, shining with their beams.
52. They tasted all their sweet enjoyments of life, in
the
quiet and solitary recesses of their private apartments,
as a
couple of giddy swans sporting merrily in the lake of the
azure
sky.
-----File: 436.png---------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER LXXVIII.
Beatification of Chudala.
Argument.--The distaste and indifference of the happy
pair to worldly
enjoyments.
Vasishtha continued:--In this manner did this happy
pair, revel for many years in the pleasures of their
youth,
and tasted with greater test[**zest?], every new delight
that came on
their way day by day.
2. Years repeated their reiterated revolutions over their
protracted revelries till by and by their youth began to
give
way to the decay of age; as the broken pitcher gives way
to
its waters out (or rather as the leaky vessel gives way
to the
waters in).
3. They then thought that their bodies are as frail as
the
breakers on the sea; and as liable to fall as the ripened
fruits of
trees, and that death is not to be averted by any body.
4. As the arrowy snows rend the lotus leaves, so is our
old
age ready to batter and shatter our frames; and the cup
of our
life is drizzling away day by day, as the water held in
the
palm falls away by sliding drops.
5. While our avarice is increasing on our hand, like the
gourd plant in the rainy weather, so doth our youth glide
away
as soon, as the torrent falls from the mountain cliffs to
the
ground.
6. Our life is as false as a magic play, and the body a
heap
of rotting things; our pleasures are few and painful, and
as
fleeting as the flying arrows from the archers bow.
7. Afflictions pounce upon our hearts, as vultures and
kites
dart upon fish and flesh; and these our bodies are as
momentary,
as the bursting bubbles of dropping rains (or of rain
drops).
8. All reasoning and practice are as unsound, as the
unsolid
stem of the plantain tree; and our youth is as
evanescent, as a
fugacious woman that is in love with many men.
-----File: 437.png---------------------------------------------------------
9. The taste of youthful pleasure, is soon succeeded by a
distaste to it in old age; just as the vernal freshness
of plants,
gives room to the dryness of autumn; where then is that
permanent
pleasure and lasting good in this world; which
never grows stale, and is ever sweet and lovely.
10. Therefore should we seek that thing, which will
support
us in all conditions of life, and which will be a remedy
of all the maladies (evils), which circumvent us in this
world.
11. Being thus determined, they were both employed in the
investigation of spiritual philosophy; because they
thought
their knowledge of the soul to be the only healing balm
of the
cholic[**choleric] pain of worldliness. (Because
spiritual knowledge
extricates
the soul from its earthly bondage).
12. Thus resolved, they were both devoted to their
spiritual
culture, and employed their head and heart, their lives
and souls in the inquiry, and placed all their hope and
trust in
the same.
13. They remained long in the study and mutual communication
of[**space added]
their spiritual knowledge; and continued to meditate upon
and worship the soul of souls in their own souls.
14. They both rejoiced in their investigations into
Divine
knowledge, and she took a great delight in attending incessantly,
to the admonitions and sermons of the Divine prelates.
15. Having heard the words of salvation, from the mouths
of the spiritual doctors, and from their exposition of
the S疽tras[**・->畩;
she continued thus to reflect about the soul by day and
night.
(Blessed is the man, that meditates [**on] the laws of
God by day
and night. Psalm.)
16. Whether when engaged in action or not, I see naught
but the one soul in my enlightened and clear
understanding;
what then, am I that very self, and is it my own
self?[**sp. added] (The
yogi, when enrapt in holy light, loses the sense of his
own
personality. So lost in Divine light, the saints
themselves
forget).
17. Whence comes this error of my personality, why does
it
grow up and where does it subsist (in the body or in the
mind)? It cannot consist in the gross body which knows
not
-----File: 438.png---------------------------------------------------------
itself and is ignorant of everything. Surely I am not
this body,
and my egoism lies beyond my corporeality.
18. The error then rises in the mind and grows from
boyhood
to old age[**sp. added], to think one's self as lean or
fat as if he were
the very body. Again it is usual to say I act, I see
&c., as if
the personality of one consists in his action; but the
acts of the
bodily organs, being related with the body, are as
insensible
and impersonal as the dull body itself.
19. The part is not different from the whole, nor is the
product
of the one otherwise than that of the others. (As the
branch and the tree are the same thing[**sp. added], and
the fruit of the
one
the same as that of the other. Hence the actions of both
the
outward and inward organs of the body, are as passive and
impersonal as the body itself).
20. The mind moves the body as the bat drives the ball,
and
therefore it must be dull matter also, being apart of the
material
body, and differing from it in its power of volition
only.
(The mind is called the antah-Karana or an inward organ
of the
material body, and also material in its nature).
21. The determination of the mind impels the organs to
their several actions, as the sling sends the pebble in
any direction;
and this firmness of resolution is no doubt a property of
matter. (Like the solidity of current).
22. The egoism which leads the body forward in its
action,
is like the channel that carries the current of a stream
in its onward
course. This egoism also has no essence of its own and is
therefore as inert and inactive[**sp. removed] as a dead
body. (The ego
[Sanskrit: aham] is
subjective and really existent in Western
philosophy)[**delete ')']. But
egoism or egotism [Sanskrit: ahamk疵a] is the false
conception of the mind
as
the true ego).
23. The living principle (jiva or zoa) is a false idea,
as the
phantom of a ghost; the living soul is an one principle
of
intelligence and resides in the form of air in the heart.
(That life
is a produce of organism, acted by external physical
stimuli).
24. The life or living principle lives by another inner
power[**sp. added],
which is finer and more subtile than itself, and it is by
means
of this internal witness (the soul), that all things are
known to
-----File: 439.png---------------------------------------------------------
us, and not by means of this gross animal life. (Because
there
is a brute life, and a vegitable[**vegetable] life also,
which are as
insensible
as dull matter. Hence there is a distinct principle
to direct vitality to all vital functions).
25. The living soul lives in its form of vitality, by the
primordial power of the intellect, the vital soul which
is misunderstood
as an intelligent principle, subsists by means of this
intellectual power. (Life is the tension of the power,
imparted
by the intellect).
26. The living soul carries with it the power, which is
infused in it by the intellect; as the wind wafts in its
course
the fragrance of flowers, and the channel carries the
current of
the stream to a great distance. (Hence life also is an
organism
and no independent active power by itself).
27. The heart which is the body or seat of the intellect,
is
nothing essential by itself; it is called chitta or
centre for
concentrating chayana of the powers of the intellect, and
also
the hrid or heart, for its bearing harana of these powers
to the
other parts of the body; and therefore it is a dull
material
substance. (The heart is the receiver and distributor of
force to
the members of the body, and therefore a mere organism of
itself).
28. All these and the living soul also, and anything that
appears real or unreal, disappear in the meditation of
the
intellect, and are lost in it as the fire when it is
immerged in
water. (So the appearances at a ghata or pot and that of
a pata
or cloth, are lost in their substances of the clay and
thread).
29. It is our intelligence Chaitanya alone, that awakens
us
to the knowledge of the unreality and inanity of gross
material
bodies. With such reflections as these, chud瀝畆**Ch棈疝畩
thought only
how to gain a knowledge of the all-enlightening
Intellect.
30. Long did she cogitate and ponder in this manner in
herself;
till at last she came to know what she sought and then
exclaimed, "O! I have after long known the
imperishable one,
that is only to be known". (The knowledge of all
things else,
is as false as they are false in themselves).
-----File:
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31. No one is disappointed in knowing the knowable, and
what is worth knowing; and this is the knowledge of the
intellectual soul and our contemplation of it. All other
knowledge
of the mind, understanding and the senses and all other
things, are but leading steps to that ultimate end. (The
end
of learning is to know God, Milton, or;[**:] nosce-et-ipsum[**nosce
te
ipsum]; know
thyself which is of the supreme self or soul).
32. All things besides are mere nullities, as a second
moon
in the sky; there is only one Intellect in existence, and
this is
called the great entity or the ens entium or the sum
total of
all existence.
33. The one purely immaculate and holy, without an equal
or personality of the form of pure intelligence, the sole
existence
and felicity and everlasting without decay.
34. This intellectual power is ever pure and bright, always
on the zenith without its rise or fall, and is[** space
added] known among
mankind under the appellations of Brahma-[**--]supreme
soul, and
other attributies[**attributes]. (Because beyond
conception can have no
designation beside what is attributed to Him).
35. The triple appellations of the Intellect,
Intelligence,
and intelligible, are not exactly definitive of His
nature;
because He is the cause of these faculties, and witness
of the
functions of Intellections.
36. This unthinkable intellect which is in me, is the
exact
and undecaying ectype of the supreme intellect; and
evolves
itself in the different forms of the mind, and the senses
of
perception.
37. The intellect involves in itself the various forms of
things in the world, as the sea rolls and unrolls the
waves in
its bosom. (The intellect either means the Divine
intellect, or
it is the subjective view of the intellect, as evolving
the objective
world from itself).
38. This world is verily the semblance of that great
intellect,
which is like the pure crystal stone and is manifest in
this form.
(The world reflects the image of the intellect, which
again
reflects the image of the mundane world, the one in the
from[**form]
-----File:
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of its visible appearance murta; and the other in its
invisible
form amurta. Gloss).
39. The same power is manifest in the form of the world,
which has no separate existence except in the mind of the
ignorant; because it is impossible for any other thing to
exist
except the self-existing one.
40. As it is the gold which represents the various forms
of
jewels, so the intellect represents everything in the
world as it
sees in itself. (The Divine is the source and store house
of all
figures and forms).
41. As it is the thought of fluidity in the mind, that
causes us to percieve[**perceive] the wave in the water,
whether it really
exist[**exists] or not (as in our dream or magic); so is
the thought in
the Divine mind, which shows the picture of the world,
whether it is in being or in not esse.
42. And as the divine soul appears as the wave of the
sea,
from its thought of fluidity; so am I the same intellect
without any personality of myself. (Because the one
impersonal
soul pervades everywhere).
43. This soul has neither its birth nor death, nor has it
a
good or bad future state (Heaven or Hell); it has no
destruction
at any time[**sp. added]; because it is of the form of
the various
intellect, which is indestructible in its nature.
44. It is not to be broken or burnt, (i.e. though every
where, yet it is an entire whole, and though full of
light;
yet it is not inflamable[**inflammable]); and it is the
unclouded luminary
of
the intellect. By meditating on the soul in this manner,
I am
quite at rest and peace.
45. I live [**free] from error and rest as calm as the
untrouble[**untroubled]
ocean; and meditate on the invisible one, who is quite
clear
to me, as the unborn, undecaying and infinite soul of
all.
46. It is the vacuous soul, unrestricted by time or
place,
immaculate by any figure or form, eternal and
transcending our
thought and knowledge. It is the infinite void, and all
attempts
to grasp it, are as vain as to grasp the empty air in the
hand.
-----File:
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47. This soul pervades equally over all the Sura as well
as the Asura races of the earth; but is none of those
artificial
forms, in which the people represent it in their images
of clay,
likening the dolls of children.
48. The essences of both the viewer and the view (i. e.
of
both the subjective and the objective), reside at once in
the
unity of the intellect; though men are apt to make the
distinctions
of unity and duality, and of the ego and non ego
through their error only.
49. But what error or delusion is there, and how[**,]
when and
whence can it overtake me, when I have attained my truly
spiritual and immortal form, and seated in my easy and
quite[**quiet]
state. (This is calmness of the soul attending the
thought of
one's immortality begun in this life).
50. I am absorbed and extinct in eternity, and all my
cares are extinct with my own[**sp. added] extinction in
it. My soul is in
its entranced state between sensibility and
insensibility, and
feels what is reflected upon it. (i. e. the inspiration
which is
communicated to the ravished soul).
51. The soul settled in the great intellect of God, and
shining with the light of the supreme soul, as the sky is
illumed by the luminary of the day. There is no thought
of
this or that or even of one's self or that of any other
being
or not being; all is calm and quiet and having no object
in
view, except the one transcendant[**transcendent] spirit.
52. With this[**these] excogitations, she remained as
calm and
quiet as a white cloudy spot in the autumnal sky; her
soul was
awake to the inspiration of Divine truth, but her mind
was
cold to the feelings of love and fear, of pride and
pleasure, and
quite insusceptible of delusion.
-----File:
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CHAPTER LXXIX.
PRINCESS COMMING[**COMING] TO THE SIGHT OF THE
SUPREME SOUL.
Argument:--The prince's wonder of the sight of the
princess, and
her relation of her Abstract meditation.
Vasishtha continued:--Thus did the princess live day by
day in the rapture of her soul; and with her views
concentrated
within herself, she lived as in her own and proper
element.
2. She had no passion nor affection, nor any discord nor
desire in her heart; she neither coveted nor hated
anything,
and was indifferent to all; but persistent in her course,
and
vigiliant[**vigilant] in her pursuit (after her self
perfection).
3. She had got over the wide gulf of the world, and freed
herself from the entangling snare of doubts (and the
horns
of dilemmas); she had gained the great good of knowing
the
supreme soul, which filled her inward soul.
4. She found her rest in God after her weariness of the
world, and in her state of perfect bliss and felicity;
and her
name sounded in the lips of all men, as the model of
incomparable
perfection.
5. Thus this lady--the princess chud疝a[**Ch棈疝畩, became in
a
short time, acquainted with the true God (lit. knowing
the
knownable[**knowable] one), by the earnestness of her
inquiry.
6. The errors of the world subside in the same manner,
under the knowledge of truth, as they rise in the human
mind by its addictedness to worldliness. (The world is
abode
of errors and illusion. Persian Proverb).
7. After she had found her repose in that state of
perfect
blessedness, wherein the sight of all things is lost in
its dazzling
blaze. She appeared as bright as a fragment of autumnal
cloud, that is ever steady in its place.
8. Apart from and irrelated with all, she continued in
the
meditation of the spirit in her own spirit, as the aged
bull
-----File: 444.png---------------------------------------------------------
remained careless on the mountain top, where he happened
to
find a verdant meadow for his pasture.
9. By her[** space added] constant habit of loneliness,
and the
elvation[**elevation] of
of [** duplicate of?] her soul in her solitude, she
became as fresh as the
new
grown plant, with her blooming face shining as the new
blown flower.
10. It happened to pass at one time, that the prince
shikhi
dhwaja[**Sikhidhwaja] came in sight of the unblamable
beauty, and being
struck with wonder at seeing her unusual gracefulness of
her
person, he addressed her saying:--
11. How is it, my dear one, that you are again your
youthful
bloom like the flowery plant of the vernal season; you
appear more brilliant than the lightsome world under the
bright beams of full moon.
12. You shine more brightly, my beloved, than one
drinking
the ambrosia or elixer[**elixir] of life, and as one
obtaining the
object of her desire, and filled with perfect delight in
herself.
13. You seem quite satisfied and lovely with your
graceful
person, and surpass the bright moon in the beauty of thy
body;
methinks[** space added--P2: and removed again!] you are
approaching
tome[**?] as when the Goddess of
love or Laxm・draws near her favourite K疥a.
14. I see thy mind disdaining all enjoyments and is
persimonious[**parsimonious]
of its pleasures; it is tranquil and cool, and elated
with spiritual ardour, and is as deep as it is tranquil
in its
nature.
15. I see thy mind spurning the three worlds as if they
were straws before it, and tasted all their sweets to its
full
satisfaction; it is above the endless broils of the
world, and is
quite charming in itself.
16. O fortunate princess, there is no such gratifications
in
the enjoyment of earthly possessions, which may equal the
spiritual
joy of thy tranquil mind. The one is as dry as the
dryness
of the sandy desert, compared with the refreshing water
of the
milky ocean.
17. Being born with thy tender limbs resembling the
tendrils
of young plantains, and the soft shoots of lotus stalks,
-----File:
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thou seemest now to have grown strong and stout in thy
frame of body and mind. (It is the spirit and spiritual
power
that strengthens both the body and mind).
18. With the same features and fugure[**figure] of thy
body as before,
thou hast became as another being, like a plant growing
up to a tree, under the influence of the revolving
seasons.
19. Tell me, whether thou hast drank the ambrosial
draught of the Gods, or obtained thy sovereignty over an
empire; or whether thou hast gained thy immorality by
drinking
the elixer[**elixir] of life, or by means of thy practice
of yoga meditation
in either of its form of Hatha or R疔・yoga.
20. Hast thou got a Kingdom or found out the
philosopher's
stone, (which converts everything to gold); hast thou
gained
aught that is more precious than the three worlds, or
that thou
hast obtained, O my blue eyed lady! something that is not
attainable to mankind.
21. Chud疝・responded;[**:]--I have not lost my former
form,
nor am I changed to a new one to come before thee at
present;
but am as ever thy fortunate lady and wife. (There is a
far
fetched meaning of this passage given in the gloss).
22. I have forsaken all that is untrue and unreal, and
have
laid hold of what is true and real; and it is thus that I
remain
thy fortunate consort as ever before.
23. I have come to know whatever is something, as also
all
that which is nothing at all; and how all these nothings
come
to appearance, and ultimately disappear into nothing, and
it is
thus that I remain thy fortunate lady as ever.
24. I am as content with my enjoyments as I am without
them, as also with those that are long past and gone away;
I
am never delighted nor irritated at anything whether good
or
bad, but preserve my equanimity at all events and thus I
remain
for ever thy fortunate consort.
25. I delight only in one vacuous entity, that has taken
possession of my heart, and I take no pleasure in the
royal
gardens and sports, and thence I am thy fortunate
princess
as ever.
-----File:
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26. I rely constantly in myself (or soul) only, whether
when sitting on my seat or walking about in the royal
gardens
or palaces; I am not fond of enjoyments nor ashamed at
their
want, and in this manner I continue thy fortunate wife as
ever.
27. I think myself as the sovereign of the world, and
having
no form of my own; thus I am delighted in myself, and
appear
as thy fortunate and beauteous lady.
28. I am this and not this like wise, I am the reality
yet
nothing real of any kind; I am the ego and no ego myself,
I
am the all and nothing in particular, and thus I remain
your
charming lady.
29. I neither wish for pleasure nor fear any pain, I
covet no
riches nor hail poverty; I am constant with what I get
(knowing
my god is the great giver of all), and hence I seem so
very
gladsome to thee.
30. I disport in the company of my associates, who have
governed their passions by the light of knowledge, and by
the
directions of the s疽tras, and therefore I seem so very
pleasing
to thee.
31. I know, my lord, that all that I see by the light of
my
eyes, or perceive by my senses, or conceive in my mind,
to be
nothing in reality; I therefore see something within
myself,
which is beyond the perception of the sensible organs,
and the
conception of the mind; and this bright vision of the
spirit,
hath made me appear so very brightsome to thy sight.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to Brahmasri Sreemaan Vihari Lala Mitra ji for the collection)
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