The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki
The only complete English translation is
by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891).
CHAPTER CXXII.
ASCERTAINMENT OF THE SELF OR SOUL.
Argument. Description of the grounds of
knowledge, vanity of
fears and sorrows, and the natures of the
intellect and soul.
Vasishtha said (prose): After the birth of a man
and a slight
development of his understanding, he should
associate the company of
good and wise men.
2. There is no other way except by the light
of Sāstras and association
with the good and wise, to ford over the
river of ignorance, which runs
in its incessant course flowing in a thousand
streams.
3. It is by means of reasoning that man is
enabled to discern what is
good for him, and what he must avoid to do.
4. He then arrives to that ground of reason
which is known as good will,
or a desire to do what is good and keep from
what is bad and evil.
5. Then he is led by his reason to the power
of reasoning, and
discerning the truth from untruth, and the right
from wrong.
6. As he improves in knowledge, he gets rid
of his improper desires, and
purifies his mind from all worldly cares.
7. Then he is said to have gained that stage
of knowledge, which is
called the purity of his soul and mind and of
his heart and conduct.
8. When the yogi or adept attains to his full knowledge, he is said to
have arrived at his state of goodness—satva.
9. By this means and the curtailing of his
desires, he arrives to the
state called unattachment or indifference to
all worldly matters
(anāsakta), and is no more subjected to the
consequence of his actions.
10. From the curtailment of desires, the yogi learns to abstract his
mind from the unrealities of the world.
11. And whether sitting inactive in his
posture of Samādhi meditation,
or doing anything for himself or others, he
must fix his mind to
whatever is productive of real good to the
world. His soul being cool by
the tenuity of his desires, is habituated to
do its duties, without the
knowledge of what it is doing. (He neither
fondly pursues anything nor
thinks with ardour of any. His want of desire
makes him indifferent to
all, and like a man waking from his sleep, he
takes himself to the
discharge of his duties).
12. Verily, he who has subdued his mind, has
reached to the
contemplative stage of yoga meditation.
13. Thus one having his mind dead in himself,
learns by practice of
years, to perform his duties, by refraining
from his thoughts of
external objects. Such a one is said to have
attained the turya or
fourth stage of his spiritual elevation, and
to have become liberated in
his life-time.
14. He is not glad to get anything, nor sorry
to miss it. He lives
without fear of accidents, and is content
with whatever he gets.
15. Thou hast O Rāma! known whatever is to be
known by man; and thou
hast certainly extirpated thy desire in all
thy actions through life.
16. Thy thoughts are all spiritual, and
transcend the actions of the
corporeal body, though thou art in thy
embodied state. Do not give up
thy self to joy or grief, but know thyself to
be free from decay and
defect.
17. Spiritually thou art a pure and bright
substance, which is ubiquious
and ever in its ascendancy. It is devoid of
pleasure and pain, and of
death and disease.
18. Why dost thou lament at the grief or loss
of a friend, when thou art
so friendless in thyself. Being thrown alone
in this world, whom dost
thou claim as a friend of thy soul?
19. We see only the particles of matter of
which this body is composed;
it exists and passes away in its time from
its place; but there is no
rising or falling of the soul.
20. Being imperishable in thyself, why dost
thou fear to fall into
naught? And why think of the destruction of
thy soul, which is never
subject to death?
21. When a jar is broken in twain from its
upper part, its vacuity is
not lost, but mixes with the air; so the body
being destroyed, the
indestructible soul is not lost with it (but
unites with its original
source).
22. As the sunlight causing the appearance of
a river in the mirage, is
not lost at the disappearance of the
phenomenal river; so the immortal
soul does not perish upon dissolution of the
frail body.
23. There is a certain illusion, which raises
the false appetites within
us; otherwise the unity of the soul requires
the help of no duality or
secondary substance, in order to be united
with the sole unity.
24. There is no sensible object, whether
visible, tangible, audible or
of taste or smelling (which relate to the
particular senses and brain),
that can affect the unconnected soul.
25. All things and their powers, are
contained in the all-powerful and
all-comprehensive soul; these powers are
displayed throughout the world,
but the soul is as void as the empty air.
26. It is the mental deception, O Rāghava,
that presents before it the
phenomena of the triple world, representing
diverse forms according to
the triplicate nature of man (the satva, rajas and tamas).
27. There are threefold methods of dispelling
this delusion of the mind,
namely: by the tranquillity of the mind, by
destroying its desires, and
by abandonment of acts (which lead only to
errors in our repeated
regenerations).
28. The world is a crushing mill, with its
lower and upper stones of the
earth and heaven; our desires are the cords
that incessantly drag us
under it: therefore Rāma, break off these
ropes (and you will escape the
danger of being crushed by it).
29. Our unacquaintance with spiritual
knowledge, is the cause of all our
errors; but our acquaintance of it, leads us
to endless joy and
ultimately to Brahma himself.
30. The living being having proceeded from
Brahma, and travelled over
the earth at pleasure, turns at last to
Brahma by means of his knowledge
of Him.
31. Rāma! all things have sprung from one
Being, who is perfect felicity
itself, inconceivable and undecaying in its
nature; and all these are as
the rays of that light, or as the light of
that everlasting fire.
32. These are as lines on the leaves of
trees, and as the curls and
waves on the surface of waters. They are as
ornaments made of that gold,
and as the heat and cold of that fire and
water.
33. Thus the triple world subsists in the
thought of the Divine mind. It
has thus sprung from the mind of God, and
rests in its self-same state
with the all-comprehending mind.
34. This Mind is called Brahma, who is the
soul of all existence. He
being known the world is known also (i. e., the world is known through
him); and as he is the knower of all, he
gives us the knowledge of all
things. (Thus the Sruti:—There is no knowing
of anything but by the
knowledge that He imparts to us).
35. This all pervasive Being is explained to
us by the learned, by the
coined epithets of the soul, intellect and
Brahma, used both in the
sāstras as in the popular language.
36. The pure notion that we have of an
everlasting Being, apart from all
sensible ideas and impressions, is called the
Intellect and soul.
37. This Intellect or Intelligent soul, is
much more transparent than
the etherial sky; and it is the plenum, that
contains the plenitude of
the world, as a disjoined and distinct
reflexion of itself.
38. The knowledge of the separate existence
of the unreal reflexion of
the world, apart from that real reflector, is
the cause of all our
ignorance and error; but the view of their
subsistence in the mirror of
the supreme soul, blends them all to myself
also (who am the same soul).
39. Now Rāma, that hast a bodiless soul of
the form of pure intellect,
thou canst have no cause to fall into the
error, of being sorry for or
afraid of the vanities of the world.
40. How can the unembodied soul be affected
by the passions and feelings
of the body? It is the ignorant and
unintelligent only, that are subject
to vain suspicions about unrealities.
41. The indestructible intellect of the
unintelligent even, is not
destroyed by the destruction of their bodies,
how then should the
intelligent be afraid of their dissolution?
42. The intellect is irresistible in its
course, and roves about the
solar path (ecliptic); it is the intellectual
part that makes the man,
and not the outward body. (Puri sete
purushah; it is the inner soul that
is called man).
43. The soul called the purusha or inner person, whether it abideth in
the body or not, and whether it is
intelligent or otherwise (rational or
irrational), never dies upon the death of the
body.
44. Whatever miseries you meet with, Rāma! in
this transient world, all
appertain to the body, and not to the
intangible soul or intellect.
45. The intellectual soul being removed from
the region of the mind
(which is but an inward sense, and of the
nature of vacuity, and not the
grains of the brain composing the mind), is
not to be approached by the
pleasures and pains affecting the body and
mind.
46. The soul that has curbed its earthly
desires, flies to its seat in
the spirit of Brahma, after the dissolution
of its prison house of the
body; in the same manner as the bee lying hid
under the coverlet of the
lotus petals in the darkness of the night,
takes to its heavenward
flight by the dawning light of the day.
47. If life is known to be frail, and the
living state to be a transient
scene, then say, O Rāma! what it is that is
lost by loss of this
prison-house of the body, and what is it that
you mourn for?
48. Think therefore, O Rāma! on the nature of
truth; and mind not about
the errors of ignorance. Be freed from your
earthly desires, and know
the sinless soul to be void of all desires.
49. The intellectual soul being tranquil and
transparent, and a mere
witness of our doings, without any doing or
desire of its own, receives
the reflexion of the undesirous God, as a
mirror reflects the images of
things.
50. The soul being, as said before, a
translucent particle, reflects the
images of all worlds in itself; as a polished
gem reflects the rays of
light in its bosom.
51. The relation of the indifferent soul with
the world, is like that of
the mirror and its reflexions; the difference
and identity of the soul
and the world, are of the same kind.
52. As the activities of living beings, have
a free play with the rising
sun; so the duties of the world, are fully
discharged by the rising of
the intellect.
53. No sooner you get rid of your error of
the substantiality of the
world, than you shall come to the
consciousness of its being a vacuum,
resting in the spirit of God (which is the
receptacle of infinite space,
and whatever there appears in it).
54. As it is the nature of a lighted lamp to
spread its lustre all
around, so it is the nature of mental
philosophy, to enlighten us with
the real state of the soul.
55. The essence of the supreme soul gave rise
to the mind (will) at
first, which spread out the universe with its
net work of endless
varieties. It was as the sky issuing out of
the infinite vacuity, and
assuming the shape of the blue atmosphere
which is also a nullity.
56. Privation of desires melts down the mind,
and dissolves the mist of
ignorance from the face of the intellect.
Then appears the bright light
of the one infinite and increate God, like
the clear firmament of autumn
after the dispersion of clouds.
57. The mind sprouts out at first from the
supreme soul with all its
activities, and takes upon it the nature of
the lotus-born Brahmā by its
desire of creation. It stretches out a
variety of worlds by its creative
will, which are also as the fancied
apparitions, appearing before the
imaginations of deluded boys.
58. Non-entity appears as an entity before
us, it dies away at death,
and reappears with our new birth. The mind
itself takes its rise from
the divine intellect, and displays itself in
the substance of the Divine
Soul, as the waves play about on the surface
of the waters of the deep.
Transcriber's Notes.
Inconsistent punctuation has been silently
corrected.
Spelling of Sanskrit words normalized to some
extent. The accented
characters ā, ī and ū are used by the
translator to denote long vowels.
In some cases these accents are important,
e.g. Brahmā (the Creator, the
Cosmic Mind) versus Brahma (the Absolute,
elsewhere often spelled
Brahman), and Brāhmana (priest).
Another case of 'puzzling' accents:
"Vasishtha" when it occurs alone (as
in "Vasishtha said:") has no accent
(long vowel), whereas "Yoga
Vāsishtha" (the work) does have a long
vowel.
There are a few cases of Devanagari script.
These have been attempted
transliterated whenever possible (the print
quality is sometimes too bad
to enable transliteration). Here '[...]'
means 'illegible'. (In the HTML
version of this text the Devanagari script
has been preserved).
Latin and Greek phrases and quotations have
been corrected when obviously
wrong.
The LPP edition (1999) which has been scanned
for this ebook, is of poor
quality, and in some cases text was missing.
Where possible, the
missing/unclear text has been supplied from
another edition, which has
the same typographical basis (both editions
are photographical reprints
of the same source, or perhaps one is a copy
of the other): Bharatiya
Publishing House, Delhi 1978.
A third edition, Parimal Publications, Delhi 1998, which is
based on an
OCR scanning of the same typographical basis,
has only been consulted a
few times.
The term "Gloss." or
"Glossary" probably refers to the extensive
classical commentary to Yoga Vāsishtha by
Ananda Bodhendra Saraswati
(only available in Sanskrit).
The title page has been slightly edited, to
reflect that this is Part 1
of 2 (of volume 2).
END OF VOLUME 2, PART 1
VOLUME
2, PART 2
BOOK IV.—STHITI PRAKARANA
ON ONTOLOGY OR EXISTENCE.
CHAPTER I.—Janya-Jani-Nirūpana.
On Genesis and Epigenesis.
Argument. The variety of creation is
described as the working of
the mind, and the existence of one Brahma
only, is established
in refutation of the Atomic and Materialistic
doctrines of Nyāya
and Sānkhya philosophy.
Vasishtha said:—Attend now Rāma, to the
subject of Existence, which
follows that of Production: a knowledge of
this, is productive of
nirvāna or utter annihilation of the self or soul.
2. Know then the phenomenal world which is
existent before you, and your
knowledge of egoism or self-existence, to be
but erroneous conceptions
of the formless inexistence or inanity.
3. You see the tints of various hues painting
the vacuous sky, without
any paint (colouring substance), or their
cause (the painter). This is
but a conception of the mind without its
visual perception, and like the
vision in a dream of one, who is not in a
state of sound sleep. (The
world is a dream).
4. It is like an aerial city built and
present in your mind; or like the
warming of shivering apes beside the red
clay, thinking it as red hot
fire; and as one's pursuing an unreality or
(grasping a shadow).
5. It is but a different aspect of the self
same Brahma, like that of a
whirlpool in water, and as the unsubstantial
sunlight, appearing as a
real substance in the sky.
6. It is like the baseless fabric of gold of
the celestials on high; and
like the air-built castle of Gandharvas
in the midway sky. (The gods and
Gandharvas are believed to dwell in their
golden abodes in heaven).
7. It is as the false sea in the mirage,
appearing true at the time; and
like the Elysian and Utopian cities of
imagination in empty air, and
taken for truth.
8. It is like the romantic realms with their
picturesque scenes in the
fancies of poets, which are nowhere in nature
but it seems to be solid
and thick within, without any pith or
solidity in it, as a thing in an
empty dream.
9. It is as the etherial sphere, full of
light all around, but all
hollow within; and like the blue autumnal
sky, with its light and flimsy
clouds without any rain-water in them.
10. It is as the unsubstantial vacuum, with
the cerulean blue of solid
sapphire; and like the domes and dames
appearing in dreams, fleeting as
air and untangible to touch.
11. It is as a flower garden in a picture,
painted with blooming
blossoms; and appearing as fragrant without
any fragrance in them. It is
lightsome to sight, without the inherent heat
of light, and resembles
the orb of the sun or a flaming fire
represented in a picture.
12. It is as an ideal domain—the coinage of the
brain, and an unreal
reality or a seeming something; and likens a
lotus-bed in painting,
without its essence or fragrance.
13. It is as the variegated sky, painted with
hues which it does not
possess; and is as unsolid as empty air, and
as many-hued as the
rain-bow without any hue of its own.
14. All its various colourings of
materiality, fade away under the right
discrimination of reason; and it is found in
the end to be as unsolid a
substance as the stem of a plantain tree (all
coated without, and
nothing solid in the inside).
15. It is like the rotation of black spots,
before the eyes of a
purblind man; and as the shape of a shadowy
inexistence, presented as
something existent before the naked eye.
16. Like the bubble of water, it seems as
something substantial to
sight; but in reality all hollow within; and
though appearing as juicy,
it is without any moisture at all.
17. The bubbling worlds are as wide spread as
the morning dews or frost;
but take them up, and you will find them as
nothing, it is thought as
gross matter by some, and as vacuum by
others. It is believed as a
fluctuation of thought or false vision by
some, and as a mere compound
of atoms by many. (It is the dull matter of
Sānkhyas; mere vacuity of
Vedāntists; fluctuation of error—avidyā spanda of the Sānkaras; empty
air of Mādhyamikas; fortuitous union of atoms
of Achāryas; different
atomisms of Sautrāntas, and Vaibhāshikas; and
so likewise of Kanāda,
Gotama and Arhatas; and so many more
according to the theories of
others). (Gloss).
18. I am partly of a material frame, on my
body and mind, but
spiritually I am an empty immaterial
substance; and though felt by the
touch of the hand, I am yet as intangible as
a nocturnal fiend:—(an
empty shadow only).
19. Rāma said:—It is said Sir, that at the
end of a great Kalpa age,
the visible world remains in its seed; after
which it developes again in
its present form, which I require to be fully
explained to me.
20. Are they ignorant or knowing men, who
think in these various ways?
Please Sir, tell me the truth for removal of
my doubts, and relate to me
the process of the development.
21. Vasishtha replied:—Those who say that the
mundane world existed in
the form of a seed at the final sleep (of
Brahmā), are altogether
ignorant of the truth, and talk as children
and boys (from what they
think themselves, or hear from others).
22. Hear me tell you, how unaccordant it is
to right reason and how far
removed from truth. It is a false
supposition, and leading both the
preacher and hearer of such a doctrine to
great error and egregious
mistake.
23. Those who attempt to show the existence
of the world, in the form of
a germ in the mundane seed; maintain a very
silly position, as I shall
now explain unto you.
24. A seed is in itself a visible thing, and
is more an object of sense
than that of the mind; as the seeds of paddy
and barley, are seen to
sprout forth in their germs and leaves.
25. The mind which is beyond the six organs
of sense, is a very minute
particle; and it cannot possibly be born of
itself, nor become the seed
of the universe.
26. The Supreme Spirit also, being more
rarefied than the subtile ether,
and undefinable by words, cannot be of the
form of a seed.
27. That which is as minute as a nil and a
zero, is equivalent to
nothing; and could never be the mundane seed,
without which there could
be no germ nor sprout.
28. That which is more rare and transparent
than the vacuous and clear
firmament; cannot possibly contain the world
with all its mountains and
seas; and the heavens with all their hosts,
in its transcendent
substratum.
29. There is nothing, that is in any way
situated as a substance, in the
substantiality of that Being; or if there is
anything there, why is it
not visible to us?
30. There is nothing that comes of itself,
and nothing material that
comes but of the immaterial spirit; for who
can believe a hill to
proceed from the hollowness of an earthen
pot?
31. How can a thing remain with another,
which is opposed to it in its
nature? How can there be any shadow where
there is light, and how does
darkness reside in the disc of the sun, or
even coldness in fire?
32. How can an atom contain a hill, or
anything subsist in nothing? The
union of a similar with its dissimilar, is as
impossible as that of
shadow with the light of the sun.
33. It is reasonable to suppose that the
material seeds of the fig and
paddy, should bring forth their shoots in
time; but it is unreasonable
to believe the big material world to be
contained in an immaterial atom.
34. We see the same organs of sense and their
sensations, in all men in
every country; but there is not the same
uniformity in the
understandings of men in every place, nor can
there be any reason
assigned to this difference.
35. Those who assign a certain cause to some
effect or event, betray
their ignorance of the true cause; for what
is it that produces the
effect, except the very thing by some of its
accessory powers. (Every
production is but a transformation of itself,
by some of its inherent
powers and properties).
36. Throw off at a distance, the doctrine of
cause and effect invented
by the ignorant; and know that to be true,
which is without beginning
and end, and the same appearing as the world.
(An increate everlasting
prototype in the mind of God).
CHAPTER II.—The Receptacle of the Mundane Egg.
Argument.—Refutation of the doctrine of the
separate Existence
of the world, and establishment of the tenet
of the "One God as
All in All."
Vasishtha said:—Now Rāma! that best knowest
the knowable, I will tell
thee in disparagement of thy belief in the
separate existence of the
world; that there is one pure and vacuous
principle of the Intellect
only, above all the false fabrications of
men.
2. If it is granted, that there was the germ
of the world in the
beginning; still it is a question, what were
the accompanying causes of
its development.
3. Without co-operation of the necessary
causes, there can be no
vegetation of the seed, as no barren woman is
ever known or seen to
bring forth an offspring, notwithstanding the
seed is contained in the
womb.
4. If it was possible for the seed to grow
without the aid of its
accompanying causes, then it is useless to
believe in the primary cause,
when it is possessed of such power in its own
nature.
5. It is Brahmā himself who abides in his
self, in the form of creation
at the beginning of the world. This creation
is as formless as the
creator himself, and there is no relation of
cause and effect between
them.
6. To say the earth and other elements, to be
the accompanying causes of
production, is also wrong; since it is
impossible for these elements to
exist prior to their creation.
7. To say the world remained quiescent in its
own nature, together with
the accompanying causes, is the talk
proceeding from the minds (mouths)
of boys and not of the wise.
8. Therefore Rāma! there neither is or was or
ever will be a separate
world in existence. It is the one
intelligence of the Divinity, that
displays the creation in itself.
9. So Rāma! there being an absolute privation
of this visible world, it
is certain that Brahma himself is All,
throughout the endless space.
10. The knowledge of the visible world, is
destroyed by the destruction
of all its causalities; but the causes
continuing in the mind, will
cause the visibles to appear to the view even
after their outward
extinction (like objects in the dream).
11. The absolute privation of the phenomenal,
is only effected by the
privation of its causes (i.e. the suppression of our acts and
desires); but if they are not suppressed in
the mind, how can you effect
to suppress the sight?
12. There is no other means of destroying our
erroneous conception of
the world, except by a total extirpation of
the visibles from our view.
13. It is certain that the appearance of the
visible world, is no more
than our inward conception of it, in the
vacuity of the intellect; and
the knowledge of I, thou and he, are false
impressions on our minds like
figures in paintings.
14. As these mountains and hills, these lands
and seas and these
revolutions of days and nights, and months
and years and the knowledge
that this is a Kalpa age, and this is a
minute and moment, and this is
life and this is death, are all mere
conceptions of the mind.
15. So is the knowledge of the duration and
termination of a Kalpa and
Mahākalpa (millenniums &c.) and that of the creation and its
beginning
and end, are mere misconceptions of our
minds.
16. It is the mind that conceives millions of
Kalpas and billions of
worlds, most of which are gone by and many as
yet to come. (Or else
there is but an everlasting eternity, which is
self-same with the
infinity of the Deity).
17. So the fourteen regions of the planetary
spheres, and all the
divisions of time and place, are contained in
the infinite space of the
Supreme Intellect.
18. The universe continues and displays
itself as serenely in the Divine
mind, as it did from before and throughout
all eternity; and it shines
with particles of the light of that
Intellect, as the firmament is as
full with the radiance of solar light.
19. The ineffable light, which is thrown into
the mind by the Divine
Intellect, shows itself as the creation,
which in reality is a baseless
fabric by itself.
20. It does not come to existence nor
dissolves into nothing, nor
appears or sets at any time; but resembles a
crystal glass with certain
marks in it, which can never be effaced.
21. The creations display of themselves in
the clear Intellect of God,
as the variegated skies form portions of the
indivisible space of
endless vacuum.
22. These are but properties of the Divine
Intellect, as fluidity is
that of water, motion of the wind, the eddies
of the sea, and the
qualities of all things. (Creation is
coeternal with the Eternal Mind).
23. This creation is but a compact body of
Divine wisdom, and is
contained in the Divinity as its component
part. Its rising and setting
and continuance, are exhibited alike in the
tranquil soul.
24. The world is inane owing to its want of
the accompaniment of
secondary (i.e. material and instrumental) causes and is selfborn: and
to call it as born or produced, is to breathe
the breath (of life) like
a madman (i.e., it is foolish to say so).
25. Rāma! purify your mind from the dross of
false representations, and
rise from the bed of your doubts and desires;
drive away your protracted
sleep of ignorance (avidyā), and be freed
from the fears of death and
disease with every one of your friends in
this Court.
CHAPTER III.—Eternity of the World.
Rāma said:—But it is related, that Brahmā—the
lord of creatures,
springs up by his reminiscence at the end of
a kalpa, and stretches out
the world from his remembrance of it, in the
beginning of creation.
2. Vasishtha answered:—So it is said, O
support of Raghu's race! that
the lord of creatures rises at first by his
predestination, after the
universal dissolution, and at the
commencement of a new creation.
3. It is by his will, that the world is
stretched out from his
recollection, and is manifested like an ideal
city, in the presence of
Brahmā—the creative power.
4. The supreme being can have no remembrance
of the past at the
beginning of a new creation, owing to his
want of a prior birth or
death. Therefore this aerial arbour of
reminiscence has no relation to
Brahma. (Who being an ever living being, his
cognizance of all things is
also everlasting).
5. Rāma asked:—Does not the reminiscence of
the past, continue in
Brahmā at his recreation of the world; and so
the former remembrance of
men upon their being reborn on earth? Or are
all past remembrances
effaced from the minds of men by the delirium
of death in their past
life?
6. Vasishtha replied:—All intelligent beings,
including Brahmā and all
others of the past age, that obtain their nirvāna or extinction, are
of course absorbed in One Brahma (and have
lost their remembrance of
every thing concerning their past lives).
7. Now tell me, my good Rāma, where do these
past remembrances and
remembrancers abide any more, when they are
wholly lost, at the final
liberation (or extinction) of the rememberers?
8. It is certain that all beings are
liberated, and become extinct in
Brahma at the great dissolution; hence there
cannot be remembrance of
anything in the absence of the persons that
remember the same.
9. The remembrance that lives impressed of
itself in the empty space of
individual Intellects, is verily the
reservoir of the perceptible and
imperceptible worlds. This reminiscence is
eternally present before the
sight of God, as a reflexion of his own
Intellect.
10. It shines with the lustre of his self-consciousness,
from time
without beginning and end, and is identic
with this world, which is
therefore called to be self-born (because it
is immanent in the mind of
God).
11. The spiritual body which is the attribute
of God from time without
beginning (that God is a spirit); is the same
with Virāja or
manifestation of himself, and exhibits the
form of the world or the
microcosm (i.e. God-spirit-Virāj or cosmos).
12. But the world is said to be composed of
atoms, which compose the
land and woods, the clouds and the firmament.
But there are no atoms to
form time and space, actions and motions and
revolutions of days and
nights. (All which are shaped by the spirit
and not by atoms).
13. Again the atoms (of matter) which fill
the world, have other
incipient atoms (of spirit), which are
inherent in them, and cause them
to take and appear in the forms of mountains
and the like.
14. But these forms seeming to be
conglomerations of atomic particles,
and showing themselves to our vision as
lightsome objects, are in
reality no substantial things.
15. Thus there is no end of the real and
unreal sights of things; the
one presenting itself to the view of the
learned, and the other to that
of the unlearned. (i.e. All things are viewed in their spiritual light
by the learned, and in their material aspect
by the ignorant).
16. The cosmos appears as the immutable
Brahma only to the intelligent,
and as the mutable visible world to the
unintelligent.
17. As these bright worlds appear to roll
about as eggs in their
spheres, so there are multitudes of other
orbs, shining in every atom in
the universe.
18. As we see curved pillars, consisting of
figures under figures, and
those again under others; so is the grand
pillar of the universe,
composed of systems under systems to no end.
19. As the sands on a rock, are separably attached
to it, and are
countless in their number; so the orbs in the
three worlds, are as
particles of dust in the mountainous body of
Brahmā.
20. It may be possible to count the particles
of a ray scattered in the
sun-beams; but it is impossible to number the
atoms of light, which are
emanating from the great sun of Brahmā.
21. As the sun scatters the particles of his
light, on the sparkling
waters and sands of the sea; so does the
Intellect of God, disperse the
atoms of its light all over the vacuity of
the universe.
22. As the notion of vacuity fills the mind,
with the idea of the
visible firmament; so the thought of
creation, as self-same with Brahmā,
gives us the notion of his intellectual
sphere.
23. To understand the creation as something
different from Brahma, leads
man apart from Him; but to take it as
synonymous with Brahma, leads him
to his felicity.
24. The enlightened soul, freed from its knowledge
of the mundane seed,
and knowing Brahma alone as the plenum
filling the vacuum of intellect;
knows the knowable (God) in his inward
understanding, as the same with
what has proceeded from him.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to Brahmasri Sreemaan Vihari Lala Mitra ji for the
collection)
Post a Comment