The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki
The only complete English translation is
by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891).
CHAPTER LXXXXIII.
ADMONITION OF SIKHIDHWAJA.
Argument:--As the prince was going to immolate himself
after this,
he is recalled from his rashness by the wisdom of his
young monitor,
who admonishes him to the relinquishment of his mind and
not of the
body.
Vasishtha said:--He then rose up and set fire to his hut
of dry leaves and grass, as it is the case with foolish
men very often to demolish the structure of their own
fancy
and caprice. (i.e. To undo the doings of their own
hobbies and
wild imagination).
2. Whatever else there was left beside aught of the
chattles[**chattels]
and goods of the hermit Sikhidhwaja took them all one
after
another, and set fire to them with his composed and
unconcerned
mind, and observing a strict taciturnity all the while.
3. He burnt and broke down every thing, and then flung
away from him his eatables and preserved condiments; his
clothings and all, with a quite contend[**content] state
of his mind.
(This unconcerned state of the mind is called avahittha
or
insouciance; which cares for no mortal thing).
4. The hermitage was now turned to a desolation, for its
having been a human habitation awhile before; and
resembled
the relics of the sacrificial pavilion of Daksha, after
its devastation
by the all-devouring fire of V叝abhadra. (The legend
of Daxa-yajna-bhanga, forms the subject of many puranas,
poems and dramas, but the mystery and allegory of the
fable
remains as dark and inexplicable as the Runic
characters).
5. The timorous fawns being affrighted at the lighted
fire,
left their layers where they lay chewing the cud at their
ease;
and fled afar to distant deserts, as the townsmen free
from a
burning quarter to distant abodes.
6. Seeing the vessels and utensils to be all in a blaze,
with
the fuel of the dry woods on all sides; the prince seemed
to
-----File:
539.png---------------------------------------------------------
remain quite content and careless amidst the scene, with
the
possession of his body only.
7. Sikhidhwaja said:--I am now become an all abandoning
saint, by my abandonment of all desire and every object;
and wonder that I should after so long a period of my
life, be
awakened to my right knowledge, by the holy lectures of
my
heavenly child.
8. I have now become a pure and perfect unit, and quite
conscious of the ineffable joy in myself; of what use and
to
what good, are all these appendages of my ever varying
desires
to me. (No temporal object, leads to our permanent good;
save our own bodies, which feel the inward bliss of the soul).
9. As the knots of the chain that bind the soul to this
world,
are cut asunder and fall off one after another; so the
mind
comes to feel its quite[**quiet] composure, until it
attains to its ultimate
rest and inaction.
10. I am quite composed, and in perfect ease with the
extinction of my desires; I am joyous and rejoice in
myself,
that my ties are all broken and fallen off from me; and
that
I have at last[**space added], fully accomplished the
abandonment of all
things
(sarva tyaga).
11. I am become as nude as the open sky, and as
roofless as the vault of vacuity; I view the wide world
as an
expanse of vacuum, and myself as a nullity within the
whole
inanity; say, O divine boy! is there anything still
wanting to
my complete renouncement of all.
12. Kumbha replied:--Yet you must be aware! O prince
Sikhidhwaja! that you are never released from all the
bonds
of this life, by your renunciation of every mortal thing;
appertaining
to this your mortal and transitory state of your
being.
13. I see the gravity and purity of the nature of your
soul,
which is placed far above the reach and track of the
commonalty;
by its abandonment of the innumerable seeds and sprouts
of
fond desires, which incessantly rise as
thisles[**thistles] and thorns on
the human breast. (If virtue we plant not vice will fill
the
place; and the reekest[**?] weeds, the richest soils
deface).
-----File:
540.png---------------------------------------------------------
14. Vasishtha said:--On hearing these words of Kumbha,
the prince Sikhidhwaja reflected on its purport within
himself
for a short while; he spoke these words in reply as you
shall,
oh mighty armed R疥a, now hear from me. (i.e. The prince
was not so very easily prevailed up[**upon] by his
eloquent monitor).
15. Sikhidhwaja said:--Tell me, O heaven born child! what
else dost thou see remaining in me; except the serpentine
entrails within myself, and supporting the body composed
of a
heap of flesh, blood and bones.
16. And if this body reckoned an appandage[**appendage]
to myself, I
will then ascend to the top of this mountain, and let it
fall to be
dashed to pieces on the ground; and thus get rid of my
mortal
part for ever.
17. Saying so, as he was proceeding to immolate his body
on the craggy hill before him; he was enterrupted[**interrupted]
by his
monitor Kumbha, who spoke to him as follows:--
18. Kumbha said:--What is it prince that you are going
to, why do you attempt to destroy this innocent body of
yours
from this hideous height, as the enraged bull hurls its
calf
below the hill?
19. What is this body, but a lump of dull and gross
matter,
a dumb and poor painstaking thing; it never does you any
harm, nor can you ever find any fault in it; why then do
you
wish in vain to destroy so harmless and faultless a
thing?
20. It is of itself a dull and dumb thing (as your beast
of
burden); it ever remains in its torpid meditative mood,
and is
moved to and fro by other agencies; as a plank is tossed
up
and down, by the adverse current and waves in the sea.
21. He who hurts or annoys his inoffensive lady, deserves
to be put to torturous punishment; like the ruffian rogue
who
robs and annoys the holy saint, sitting in his solitary
cell.
22. The body is quite guiltless of all the pain and
pleasure,
which betide the living soul by turns; as the tree is
wholly
unconcerned with the fall of its fruits and leaves, which
are
dropped down by the blowing winds.
23. You see the gusts of winds dropping down the fruits,
-----File:
541.png---------------------------------------------------------
flowers and leaves of trees; then tell me, O holy men!
how you
can charge your innocent tree, with the fault of letting
fall its
best produce.
24. Know it for certain, O lotus eyed prince! that the
immolation
of your body even, is not enough to make your total
renouncement of all things, sarvaty疊a you must know is
not
an easy matter.
25. It is in vain[**space added] that you intend, to
destroy this inoffensive
body of yours on this rock; your quitting or getting rid
of your
body, does not cause your renunciation and freedom from
all.
(Death releases us from the bondage of the body, but not
from
the stings of conscience).
26. There is an enemy of this body which agitates it, as
an
elephant shakes a huge tree; if you can but get rid of
that mortal
enemy of your body and soul, you are then said to be
freed
from all.
27. Now prince, it is by avoiding this inveterate enemy
of
yours, that you are freed from the bondage of your body,
and
everything besides in this world; or else however you may
kill
your body, you can never put a stop to its regrowth (in
some
form or other).
28. Sikhidhwaja rejoined.--What is it then that agitates
the body and what is the root of our transmigrations and
of the
doings and sufferings of our future lives? And what is it
by
the avoidance of which, we avoid and forsake everything
in the
world?
29. Kumbha replied.--Know, holy prince, that it is
neither
the forsaking of your realm nor that of your body, nor
the burning
of your hut and chattles[**chattels], nor all these
things taken together,
that can constitute your renouncement of all and
everything.
30. That which is all and every where, is the one only
cause
of all; it is by resigning everything in that sole
existent being,
that one becomes the renouncer of all.
31. Sikhidhwaja said.--You say that there [**is] an
all-[**--]to-pan,
which is situated in all to whom all things are to be
resigned
at all times. Now sir, you that know all, what this all
or omnium
can be.
-----File:
542.png---------------------------------------------------------
32. Kumbha replied.--Know, O holy man, this all pervading
being is known under the various appellations of the
living
soul j咩a, the life Pr疣a and many more also; it is neither
an
active or inactive principle, and is called the mind
which is ever
liable to error.
33. Know the mind to be the seat of illusion, and to make
the man by itself; it is the essential constituent of
every person,
and the speculum of all these worlds in itself.
34. Know the mind, as the source of your body and
estates;
and know it also, as the root of your hermitage and
everything
else; just as one tree bears the seed of another. (The
ingrained
desire of the mind is the seed of all extraneous
accidents).
35. It is therefore by your giving up this seed of all
events,
that you really resign every thing in the world, which is
contained
in and depends on this primary seed and main spring of
the mind. All possible as well as impossible
renunciations,
depend on the resignation of the mind.
36. The man that is under the subjection of his mind, is
ever
subject to cares, both when he is attentive to his duties
or negligent
of them; as also when he rules his realm, or flies from
it to
a forest; but the man of a well governed mind, is quite
content
in every condition of life.
37. It is the mind which revolves incessantly in the
manner
of the rotatory world, and evolves itself in the form of
the body
and its limbs; as the minute seed displays itself in the
shape of
a[**added] tree and its branches and leaves.
38. As the trees are shaken by the blowing winds, and as
the
mountains are shook by the bursting earthquakes; and as
the
bellows are blown by the inflated air, so is the animated
body
moved about by the mobile force of the mind.
39. These miserable mortals that are born to death and
decay, and those happy few that live to enjoy the
pleasures of
life; and the great sages of staunch hearts and souls,
are all
of them bound alike to the thraldom of their minds. (The
mind governs all, and there are few to govern it).
40. The mind acts its several parts, in all the various
forms
and figures of the stage of the world; it shows its
gestures in
-----File:
543.png---------------------------------------------------------
the motions of the body, it lives and breathes in the
shape of
the living spirit, and it thinks and cogitates in the
form of the
mind. (The mind and the heart, the living soul and the
active
body, are all the one and same thing).
41. It takes the different epithets of the understanding
buddhi, consciousness mahat, egoism ahank疵a, the life or
pr疣a
and the intellect, agreeably to its sundry internal
functions in
the body, or else it is the silent soul, when it is
without any
action to be assigned to it.
42. The mind is said to be all in all, and by getting
release
of this, we are released of all diseases and dangers; and
then
we are said to be avoided and abandoned all and every
thing.
43. O ye, that want to know what resignation is, must
know
that it is the resignation of the mind, which makes your
renunciation
of all things. If you succeed in the abnegation of your
mind, you come to know the truth, and feel the true
felicity of
your soul.
44. With the riddance of your mind, you get rid of the
unity and duality of creeds, and come to perceive all
diversities
and pluralities blend in one universal whole; which is
trancendental[**transcendental]
tranquility, transparent purity and undiminished
felicity:
(which is an疥aya without alloy).
45. The mind is the field for the course of every body,
in
his career in this world; but if this field be over grown
with
thorns and brambles, how can you expect to grow rice in
it?
46. The mind shows its manifold aspects, and plays its
many parts at will; it turns and moves in the forms of
things,
as the waters roll in the shapes of waves.
47. Know young prince, that your abandonment of all
things by the resignation of your mind, will redound to
your
joy, not unequal to that of your gaining a kingdom to
your
self.
48. In the matter of self-abnegation, you are on the same
footing with other men; in that you resign whatever
[**you] dislike,
and want to have some thing that you have a liking for.
49. He who connects all the worlds with himself, as the
thread that connects the pearls in a necklace, is the man
that
-----File:
544.png---------------------------------------------------------
possesses everything, by renouncing all things from
himself.
(This is the attribute of sutr疸m・[**--]the connecting
thread of the
supreme soul, which unites all units to it, by living all
things as
apart from it).
50. The soul that is unattached to all things, doth yet
connect
and pass alike through them all; as the thread of the
divine soul, connects the world as a string of pearls.
(It spreads
unspent).
51. The soul that bears no attachment to the world, is
like
an oilless lamp that is soon extinguished to darkness;
but
the spirit that is warm with its affections, likens an
oily
lamp, that burns with universal love, and enlightens all
objects
about it.
52. The lord that lives aloof from all, resembles the
oilless
lamp in dark obscurity; but the same Lord manifesting
himself
in all things, resembles the oily lamp that lights every
objects[**object].
(The two hypostases of the supreme spirit-[**--]the
unknowable and
the Manifest, the aprak疽atm・and the saprak疽atm・.
53. As after the relinquishment of all your possessions,
(both
in your estate as also in this forest), you still remain
by yourself;
so after your resignation of your body, mind and all,
you have still your consciousness by you, which you can
never
get rid of.
54. As by the burning of your articles, you have burnt no
part of your body; so by your resignation of all things,
you can
not resign yourself or your soul, which would then amount
to
nirv疣a or utter extinction, (which is tantamount to
muksha[**moksha]
or ultimate absorption in the supreme spirit).
55. Sarvaty疊a or total abnegation, means the voidance of
the soul of all its worldly attachment, when it becomes
the
seat of all knowledge; and likens to the
ethyrial[**etherial] paradise of the
hosts of celestial beings.
56. Sarvaty疊a or self-abnegation is like the water
immortality,
which drives away all fear of disease and death by a
single draught of it; and it remains untouched by the cares
of
the world, as the clear firmament is untinged by the
spots of
clouds.
-----File:
545.png---------------------------------------------------------
57. Sarvaty疊a again is the entire abandonment of all
affections,
gives a man his true greatness and glory; and as you
get rid of your temporary affections, so you get the
stability of
your understanding, and the firmness of your
determination.
58. Sarvaty疊a or abandonment of all, is fraught with
perfect delight; as its contrary is attended with extreme
misery. This is a certain truth, and knowing as such,
choose
what you think best for you.
59. He who gives away his all in this life, comes to be
in
possession of them in his future state; as the rivers
which pour
their waters into the sea, are again filled by its flood
tide.
60. After resignation of all things from the mind, its
hollowness
is filled with full knowledge of them, which is highly
gratifying
to the soul; as an empty box, is stored with rich gems
and jewels in it.
61. It was by virtue of his resignation of all things,
that
Sakya muni became dauntless amidst the troubles of the
Kali-age,
and sat as firm as a rock. (Hence the yogis of prior
ages,
have remained as pure air).
62. Total resignation of all things, is tantamount to the
acquisition of all prosperity; because the lord gives
every thing
to him, who dedicates and devotes his all unto Him.
63. You have now, O prince, become as quiet as the calm
atmosphere, after your abandonment of all things; now try
to
be as graceful as the lightsome[**space removed] moon, by
the
complaisance of
your manners.
64. Now, O high minded prince, forget at once[**space
added] your past
abdication
of your crown and kingdom, as also your subsequent of
all things in this hermitage; drive away the pride of
your total
abandonment of all you had, and be of a clear and
complacent
countenance.
-----File:
546.png---------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER LXXXXIV.
ENLIGHTENMENT OF SIKHIDHWAJA.
Argument:--On the abandonment of the affections of the
mind.
Vasishtha continued:--As the disguised boy was
admonishing
in this manner on the relinquishment of mind (i.e.
the mental passions and affections); the prince ruminated
inwardly
on its sense, and then spoke as follows.
2. Sikhidhwaja said:--I find my mind fluttering always,
as a bird in the open sky[** space added] of my bosom;
and lurking
incessantly as
an ape, in the wilderness of my heart.
3. I know how to restrain my mind, as they do the fishes
in the net; but know not how to get rid of it, when it is
so
much engaged with the objects of sense.
4. Please sir acquaint me first with the nature of the
mind,
and then teach me the method of relinquishing it for ever
from
me.
5. Kumbha replied:--Know great prince, cupidity to be the
intrinsic nature of the mind; and know the word desire to
be
used a synonym for the mind. (The mind and will are
synonymous
terms).
6. The abandonment of the mind is very easy, and more
facile than the stirring of it; it is attended with a
greater
delight, than the possession of a kingdom can afford, and
is more
pleasant than the scent of fragrant flowers.
7. But it is very difficult for the ignorant, to get rid
of or
forsake the desires of their minds; it is as hard to them
as it
is for a boor to wield the reins of a kingdom, and for a
heap of
grass to be as high as a mountain.
8. Sikhidhwaja said:--I understand the nature of the
mind,
to be replete with its desires; but I find my riddance
from it,
to be as impossible as the swallowing of an iron bolt by
anybody.
-----File: 547.png---------------------------------------------------------
9. I find the mind as the fragrant flower in the great
garden
of the world, and the crater of the fire of all our woes;
it
is the stalk of the lotus of the world, and it is bag
that bears
and blows the gusts of delusion all over the world. Now
tell
me how thing may be easily removed from us.
10. The mind is the locomotive engine of the body, it is
the
bee that flutters about the lotus of the heart; now tell
me how
I may with ease get rid of this mind.
11. Kumbha answered:--The total
exterpation[**extirpation] of the mind,
consists in the entire extinction of the world from it;
the learned
and the men of long foresight, call this to be the
abandonment
of the mind; (i.e. when it is cast out with all its
thoughts and
cares).
12. Sikhidhwaja rejoined:--I think the extinction of the
mind, is better than our abandonment of it, on account of
securing the success of our purposes; but how can we know
the
gradual expurgation of the mind, from the hundreds of
diseases
to which it is subject.
13. Kumbha replied:--Egoism is the root (seed) of the
arbour of the mind, with all its branches and leaves and
fruits
and flowers; therefore root out the mind with its very
root of
egoism, and have thy breast as clear as the empty and
lurid
sky.
14. Sikhidhwaja rejoined:--Tell me, O sage, what is the
root of the mind, what are its sprouts and fruits; tell
me also
how many stems and branches it has, and how is it
possible
to root it out at once.
15. Kumbha replied.--Know prince that egoism and all the
words expressive of the self as meity &c., and
indicative of the
mind, are the seeds of the tree of the mind.
16. The field of its growth is the supreme soul, which is
the
common source of all entities; but that field being
filled with
illusion, the mind is deluded to believe itself as the
first born
sprout springing out of this field. (The first born germ
of the
Divine spirit being the living soul, which originates the
mind).
17. The certain knowledge of the mind in its discrete
state,
is called its understanding (which in its concrete state
is known
-----File:
548.png---------------------------------------------------------
as sensation); the buddhi or understanding is the state
of maturity
of the germ or sprout of the mind. (The infant mind
is ripens[**ripened] into the understanding).
18. The understanding or buddhi, being subject to various
desires, takes the name of chitta or wasteful mind; and
this
mind makes the living being, which is as hollow within
it, as a
curved[**carved] image of stone (or moulded metal), and a
mere false
conception.
19. The body is the stem of this tree of the mind, and is
composed of the skin and bones and juicy matters.
20. The branches of the tree of the mind, extend to a
great
distance all about it; and so the sensible organs of the
body,
protruding wide about it, perish at last in seeking for
its enjoyment.
21. Now try to lop off the branches of the tree of thy
mind,
and try also to root out the noxious tree at once.
22. Sikhidhwaja said.--I can some how or other lop off
the
branches of the tree of mind, but tell me, O my sagely
monitor,
how I may be able to pull it out by its very root at
once.
23. Kumbha replied.--All our desires are the several
branches
of this tree, which are hanging with loads of fruits; and
are lopped off by the axe of our reason.
24. He alone is able to lop off the plant of his mind,
who is
unattached to the world, who hold his taciturnity and
inward
tranquility, who is judicious in all discussions, and
does whatever
offers of itself to him at any time[**space added].
25. He who lops off the branches and brambles of the
arbour
of his mind, by his manliness of reason and
descretion[**discretion]; is
able also to root out this tree at once from his heart.
26. The first thing to be done with the mind, is to root
it
out at once from the heart and the next process is to lop
off
its branches; therefore employ thyself more to its
irradication[**eradication],
than to the severing of its boughs and branches.
27. You may also burn it as the first step, instead of
lopping the branches; and thus the great trunk of the
tree of
mind being reduced to ashes, there remains an entire
mindlessness
at last.
-----File:
549.png---------------------------------------------------------
28. Sikhidhwaja said.--Tell me O my sagely guide, what is
that fire which is able to burn away the seed of the tree
of mind,
which is covered all over with the cuticle of egoism.
29. Kumbha replied.--Prince, the fire which is able to
consume
the seed of the noxious plant of the mind, is the
expostulation
of the question "what am I that bear this corporeal
form
upon me."
30. Sikhidhwaja said.--O sage! I have repeatedly
considered
the questions in my own understanding, and found that my
egoism does not consist in aught of this world, or this
earth, or
the woods which form its garniture.
31. That my ego lay no where in the hills and forests
where
I resided, nor in the shaking of the leaves before me;
nor did it
lie in any part[**space added] of my gross body, or in
its flesh, bones or
blood.
32. It does not lie in any of the organs of action, nor
in the
organs of sensation; it does not consist in the mind or
in the
understanding, or in any part of the gross body.
33. As we see the form of the bracelet in gold, so do I
conceive
my egoism to consist in the intelligent soul; because it
is
impossible for any material substance, to have anything
as intelligence
(as I perceive my egoism to be possest of).
34. All real existence depends on the supreme soul for
its
subsistence, so all real entities subsist in the supreme
essence;
or else[**space added] it is impossible for any thing to
exist in a nullity, as
there is no possibility for a forest to subsist in a
vacuity
(without a firm ground).
35. Thus sir, knowing it full well, that my egoism is an
aspect or shadow of my enternal[**eternal] soul and
worthy to be wiped
off from it; yet I regreat[**regret] at my ignorance of
the intrinsic spirit
from which it is to be wiped off, and the internal soul
be set in
full light.
36. Kumbha replied:-If you are none of these material
objects as you say, nor cloth[**doth] your egoism consist
in materiality;
then tell me prince, what you think yourself to be in
reality.
37. Sikhidhwaja answered:--I feel myself O most learned
sir, to be that intelligent and pure soul, which is of
the form
-----File:
550.png---------------------------------------------------------
of intelligence, which acquaints me of all existence, and
which
discriminates their different natures.
38. I perceive thus my egoism to be attached to my body,
but whether it is a caused or causeless principle, is
what I am
perfectly ignorant of.
39. I am unable O sage, to rub out this sense of my
egoism
as an unreality and unessentiality; and it is on that I
greatly
regret in myself, (for my inability to get rid of my
egoism
as you led).
40. Kumbha said:--Tell me O prince, what is that great
foulness, which thou feelest to be attached to thee,
which
makes thee act as a man of the world, and whether thou
thinkest
it as something or a mere delusion.
41. Sikhidhwaja replied:--The sense of my egoism, which
is the root of the tree of my mind, is the great foulness
that
attaches to me; I know not how to get rid of it, for
however I
try to shun it, the more it clings about me.
42. Kumbha said:--Every effect is produced from some
cause or other, and this is the general law of nature
everywhere;
anything otherwise is as false as the sight of a second
moon
in the sky, which is nothing but a reflexion of the true
moon.
43. It is the cause which produces the effect, whether it
be
a big one or the small rudiment of it; therefore explore
into
the cause of your egoism, and tell me what it is.
44. Sikhidhwaja replied:--I know my sagely guide, that
it is mere illusion-[**--]m痒・ which is the cause of the
fallacy of my
egoism; but tell me sir, how this error of mine is to
subside
and vanish away from one.
45. It is from the proclivily[**proclivity] of the mind
towards the
thinkables,
that I am suffering all these pains and pangs within
myself; now tell me O muni, about the means of
suppressing my
thoughts, in regard to external objects.
46. Kumbha said:--Tell me whether your thinking and
knowing, are the causes of your thinkables and knowables,
or
these latter actuate your thinking and knowing powers. If
you can tell me this, then shall I be able to explain to
you the
process of the cause and effect.
-----File:
551.png---------------------------------------------------------
47. Now tell me which do you think to be the cause and
not the cause, of knowing and knowable, and of thinking
and
the thinkable, which are the subjects of my question to
you.
48. Sikhidhwaja answered:--I think, O sage, that the
sensible
objects of the body &c[**.], are the causes of the
thinking and
thinkable (thoughts), and of knowing and the knowables or
knowledge. (Because unless there be things in actual
existence,
we can neither think of or know anything, nor have any
idea or
knowledge of it at all).
49. Our knowledge of the entity of things, appears only
in
the sensible forms of bodies; or else the mere abstract
thought
of a thing, is as empty as an airy nothing.
50. As I can not conceive the non-entity of a positive
entity,
nor the abstract nature of a concrete body; so I know not
how
my egoism, which is the seed of my mind, can be at once
ignored by me.
51. Kumbha said:--If thou rely on thy material body as a
real existence, then tell me, on what does your knowledge
depend,
when your soul is separated from the body.
52. Sikhidhwaja replied.--The body which is evident to
view, and a real entity, cannot be taken for an unreality
by
any body; as the palpable sun light, cannot be called
darkness
by any man of common sense.
53. Who can ignore the body, which is replete with its
hands and feet and other members; which is full of
activity and
vivacity, and whose actions are so palpable to sight: and
which [**[is]] so evident to our perception and
conception.
54. Kumbha said.--Know prince, that nothing can be said
to exist, which is not produced by some cause; and the
knowledge
or consciousness that we have of it, cannot be but the
product of mistake and error.
55. There can be no product without a similar cause, and
no material form can come out from a formless and
immaterial
agent. How can any thing come to existence, without
having its seed of the like nature?
56. Whatever product appears to present itself to anyone
-----File:
552.png---------------------------------------------------------
without its true cause, is as false an appearance as the
mirage
in the sand, before its deluded observer.
57. Know thyself to be no real existence, but a false
shape
of your error only; and with whatever earnestness you
took to
it, you will never get any water from this delusive
mirage.
58. Sikhidhwaja said.--It is as useless to inquire the
cause
of a nonentity, as it is fruitless to look into the
origin of the
secondary moon which [**[is]] but false reflex of the
true one. Believing
in a nullity, is as decorating the person of a barren
women's son.
59. Kumbha replied.--The body with its bones and ribs,
are
products of no assignable cause; therefore know it as no
entity,
because it is impossible for the frail body to be the
work of
an Everlasting Maker.
60. Sikhidhwaja said.--Now tell me sir, why we should not
reckon our fathers the causes and producers of our
bodies, with
all theirs members and parts, since they are known as the
immediate
causes of these.
61. Kumbha replied.--The father can be nothing and no
cause, without his having another cause for himself;
because
whatever is without a cause is nothing in itself.
62. The causes of all things and effects are called as
their
seeds, and when there is no seed in existence, it is
impossible
for a germ to be produced in the earth from nothing. (Ex
nihilo
nihil fit[**replaced hyphen with space]).
63. So when you cannot trace out the cause of an event,
account the event as no event at all; because there can
[**[be]] nothing
without its seed, and the knowledge of a causeless effect
or
eventuality, is an utter impossibility and fallacy of the
understanding.
64. It is an egregious error to suppose the existence of
a
thing without its cause or seed, such as to suppose the
existence
of two moons in the sky, of water in the mirage and of
the son
of a barren woman.
65. Sikhidhwaja said.--Now tell me sir, why should not
our
parents be taken[**space added] as the causes of our
production, who had
our
grandfathers and grandmothers for the causes or seeds of
-----File:
553.png---------------------------------------------------------
their birth likewise; and why should we not reckon our
first
great grandfather[**space added] (Brahm・, as the prime
proginitor[**progenitor] of the
human race?
66. Kumbha replied.--The prime great grandfather[**space
added], O
prince, cannot be the original cause, since he also
requires a
cause for his birth, or else he could not come into
existence.
67. The great grandfather[**space added] of creation even
Brahmá
himself,
is the cause of production by means of the seeds of the
supreme spirit which produced him; or else the visible
form
in which he appeared, was no more than a mere delusion,
68. Know the form of the visible world, to be as great
a fallacy as the appearance of water in the mirage; and
so the
creativeness of the great grandfather[**space added]
Brahm・ is no more
than
an erroneous misconception.
69. I will now wipe off the dark cloud of your error,
that
our great grandfather[**space added] Brahm・was conceived
in the womb
of
the supreme spirit, (whereby he is styled the padma--yoni
or
born of the lotus like navel string of God); and this
will be
salvation of your soul. (And Adam's ancestors without
end.
Young).
70. Now therefore know, O prince, that the lord God
shines
forever with his intelligent soul and mind in Himself; it
is
from him that the lotus born Brahm・and the whole
universe,
are manifest to our view, and that there is nothing which
exhibits
itself without Him.
-----File:
554.png---------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER LXXXXV.
The an[oe]sthetic[**anaesthetic] Platonism of
Sikhidhwaja.
Argument:--Dispersion of the gloom of ignorance from mind
of
Sikhidhwaja. His coming to the Light of Truth and the
Tranquility of
his soul.
Sikhidhwaja said:--If the view of the whole universe
is but a phantom, and our knowledge of myself, thyself
and of this and that, is but an error of our mind, then
why is it
that [**[we]] should be concerned about or sorry for
anything.
2. Kumbha replied:--The erroneous impression of the
existence
of the world, has so firmly laid hold of the minds of
men;
as the frozen water appearing as crystal, is believed as
dry land
by people.
3. It is said by the learned, that the knowledge of gross
matter is lost with the dispersion of ignorance; and that
there is no other way of getting rid of this long
contracted
prejudice, withot[**without] our riddance from ignorance.
4. It is the acuteness of the understanding, which is the
only means of our coming to the knowledge of truth; that
the
creation and dissolution of the world, are dependant on
the will
and causality of the supreme Being.
5. He whose understanding becomes, is sure to
loose[**lose] his
rooted prejudice by degrees; and come to the knowledge of
the
nihility of the material world.
6. In this way of refining your mind from its prepossession
of
gross ideas, you will come to find the erroneous
conception of a
prime male (疆ipurusha), as that of Brahm・(or Adam) as the
first creative power, to be as false as the water in the
mirage.
7. The great grandfather[**space added] of the world
being a nullity, the
creation of all creatures by him (who is thence called
praj疳atih
or lord of creatures); is likewise as false and null, as
it is
absurd for all impossibility to come into being.
-----File:
555.png---------------------------------------------------------
8. The preception[**perception] of a thing enesse[**in
esse], is as false as
the conception
of water in the mirage; a little reflexion is enough to
remove this error, like the mistake of silver in cockles
and conch-*shells.
9. Any work which appears to exist without its cause, is
only a phantom of fallacy, and has no essential form
whatever
in reality.
10. Whatever is done by once[**one's] erroneous knowledge
or mistake
of a thing, comes to be of no use to him; as the attempt
to
fell[**fill] a pot with the water of the mirage, proves
to be utterly
vain.
11. Sikhidhwaja said:--Why cant we call the supreme
Brahma, to be the cause of Brahm・[**--]the first
creater[**creator] of the
world who is called the son of God, the one unborn and
without
end, and the inexpressible and everlasting.
12. Kumbha replied:--The God Brahma, being neither
the cause nor the effect of any action, is but an
invariable unity
and transcendant[**transcendent] spirit, and is never the
cause or effect of
anything.
13. How can the incomprehensible and unknowable Brahma,
be designated as the creator, when he is not predicable
by any
of the predicates of the creator or created or as the
instrument
or cause of anything.
14. The world having no separate cause, is no separate
product
of any causality whatever; it is no duality but one with
the
unity, without its begining[**beginning] or end, and
co-eternal with the
eternal one. (Topan[**To pan]--God is all in all).
15. He that is inconcievable[**inconceivable] and
unknowable, is perfect
felicity,
tranquility and ever undecaying, and can never be the
active
or passive agent of anything, on account of the
immutability
of his nature.
16. Hence there is nothing as a creation, and the visible
world is but a nihility, and the Lord God is neither an
active
nor passive agent, but quite still and full of bliss.
17. There being no causal power, the world is not the
production
of any body; it is our error only that this world as
a production without any assignable cause.
-----File:
556.png---------------------------------------------------------
18. The uncaused world is the product of nothing, and
therefore
nothing in itself; for if it be the production of nobody,
it is
a nullity like its cause also.
19. The non-existence of anything or the not being of
everything (except that of the supreme Being), being
proved
as a certain truth; we can have no conception of
anything,
and the absence of such conception, it is in vain to
suppose the
existence of an egoism or tuism.
20. Sikhidhwaja said:--Sir, I now perceive the truth, and
find the reasonableness of all that you have said; I see
now that
I am the pure and free soul, and quite aloof of any
bondage or
its liberation from bonds.
21. I understand Brahma as no cause of anything, for his
entire want of causulity[**causality]; and the world is a
nullity for its
want of a cause; and therefore there is no being whatever
which
we reckon as a category.
22. Thence there is no such category as the mind or its
seed,
nor its growth nor decay; I therefore bow down to myself
of
which alone I have a consciousness in me.
23. I am alone conscious of myself, existence in myself
and have no real knowledge of any else beside me, and
which
appear as fleeting clouds in the womb of the sky.
24. The distinct knowledge of the different categories of
time, place, action in the world, is now entirely blended
in the
knowledge of the unity of the tranquil spirit of Brahma
(which
composes all varities[**varieties] in itself).
25. I am tranquil, calm and quite[**quiet] and settled in
the spirit
of God; I do not rise nor fall from nor move about this
prop.
I remain as you do in immovable spirit of god, which is
all
quiet, holiness and felicity in itself.
-----File:
557.png---------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER LXXXXVI.
Enlightenment of Sikhidhwaja.
Argument:--Kumbha's Lecture on Effacing the Impression of
Phenomenals
from the mind of Sikhidhwaja or vanity of the visible
world.
Vasishtha said:--Sikhidhwaja having thus found his rest
in the spirit of Brahma, remained quiet for some moments,
as the steady and unflagging flame of a lamp in a calm.
2. And as he was about to be absorbed in his unwavering
meditation, he was suddenly roused from his trance by the
diverting voice of Kumbha.
3. Kumbha said:--Prince, I see you are not to wake from
the sleep of your entranced meditation, wherein you are
situated
in your perfect bliss; you must neither be absorbed in
your contemplation, nor be a stranger to your abstract
meditation
altogether: (but must observe your middle course
between platonism and perturbation).
4. The mind that is undivided in its attention, is
cleansed
from all duplicity; and being freed from its knowledge of
parts
and particulars, becomes emancipate in its living states.
5. Being thus enlightened by Kumbha, the prince became
full of enlightenment; and being roused from his trance,
he
shone as brightly as a rich gem when taken out of its
cover.
6. The prince who in his state of quietism, beheld the
unreality
of visible things; and now perceived them spread all
about him, thus spoke about them to Kumbha.
7. Sikhidhwaja said:--Though I know full well about
all these things, yet I want to propose some queries
regarding
them; to which I hope you will give your answers, for my
correct
and perfect knowledge of them.
8. Tell me, how can we entermingle[**intermingle] the
impure conception
of the universal or mundane soul representing the mundees
or universe,
with the pure idea of the supreme soul, which is ever
calm,
quiet and transparent. (The universal soul, is called
visw疸m・
-----File:
558.png---------------------------------------------------------
viswarupa and vir疔a, and is opaque with its contents;
while the
supreme is quite pure and clear, and untinged with the
shade of
creation).
9. Kumbha replied:--You have asked well, O prince, and
this
shows the clearness of your understanding; and if this is
all that
you want to know, hear me then explain it fully to you.
10. Whatever is seen here and every where together, with
all
the moving and unmoving beings which it contains, are all
of
them perishable, and are extinct at the end of every kalpa
age (in
which the creator wishes to create a new world).
11. Then there remains the true and essential reality at
the
end of the kalpa age, amidst an obscure chaotic state,
which is
deprived both of light and darkness.
12. This essental[**essential] reality is the divine
intellect, which is pure
and quiet and as clear as the transparent air; it is free
from all
attributes and imputations, and full of transcendental
intelligence.
13. The one that remains at the end of a kalpa, is the
supreme soul which extends over all space, and is purely
bright,
transparent and quiet; it is enveloped in light and is
pure
intelligence.
14. It is inscrutable and unknowable, it is even and
quiet,
and full of bliss; it is called Brahma-[**--]the great,
the final extinction
of all bodies and is full of all knowledge.
15. It is the minutest of the minute, and the largest of
whatever
is large in the universe; it is the greatest and greatest
of
aught that is great and heavy, and it is the best of
whatever is
good and excellent.
16. It is so very small, that if you place this sky
beside it,
the latter will appear as big as the great mount of Meru
by the
side of a small mite.
17. It is again so very big and bulky, that this
stupendous
world being placed side by side to it, the latter must
appear as
an atom before it or vanish into nothing.
18. This is attributed with the epithet of universal
soul, for
its pervading all over the universe and being its
intrinsic soul;
-----File:
559.png---------------------------------------------------------
while its extrinsic appearance, is called by the title of
Biraj[**Viraj].
19. There is no difference between this attribute and its
attributive, as there is none between the air and the
wind or the
air in motion; and as the sky and vacuum are synonymous
words,
so the very same intellect is the phenomenal world, and
the same
consciousness is manifested in the froms[**forms] of
egoism and tuism.
20. As the water becomes the wave at a certain time and
place, by cause of the current wind; so the world rises
and
falls at times in the supreme soul, without any external
cause
(except the will of the supreme spirit).
21. As gold is transformed to bracelets at certain times
and
place, by means of some or other; so the spirit of god is
transformed
to the visible world at certain times, without any other
assignable cause whatever, (save by the supreme will).
22. The most glorious God, is the Lord of his Kingdom of
the world; He is one with his creation, ever pure, quiet
and undecaying,
and pervades over all these world which are scattered as
turfs of grass all around us.
23. This transcendentally good and great god is the only
real existence, and comprises all temporary and finite
existences
within himself; and we know by our reason, that this
glorious
creation of the universe is all derived from him.
24. Know him, O prince, to be the essence of the extended
universe, and to extend over all in his form of an entire
intellect,
and an unity that never admits of a duality (under all
the
varieties and diversities in nature).
25. There is no reason therefore, for our conceiving a
duality
beside his unity; since it is the sole principle of the
supreme
soul, that is fully manifest in all in its ever
undiminished and
unextinguished state.
26. The Lord always remains as the all in all, and as
manifest
in all the various forms; and being neither visible nor
perceptible
by us, he can neither be said to be the cause or effect
of anything; (but is the unknown all in himself).
27. The Lord being neither perceptible nor conceivable by
us is something super-eminently good and superfine; He is
all
-----File:
560.png---------------------------------------------------------
and the soul of all, too fine and transparent, and is
known only
by our conception of him; and no sensible perception
whatever.
(The knowledge of god, is innate and inborn in us.
Locke).
28. Being inexpressible by words, and manifest in all
without manifestation or appearance of himself; cannot be
the
cause of whatever is real or unreal. (Anything that is
indefinite
in itself, cannot cause another of a definite or
indefinite
form).
29. That which has no name of itself, cannot be the seed
of
another; no nameless nothing can grow anything, nor can a
commensurable world spring out of an incommensurable
spirit.
(A material and measurable thing, must have a material
mensurator
for its origin. Hence it is wrong to say; God measured
the seas without a measuring rod).
30. The exhaustless mass of divine intellect, is indeed
no
cause or casual instrument or effect of any thing;
because the
product of the divine soul, must be some thing of the
form of
the invisible soul, which is its everlasting
consciousness or intelligence.
31. So, O sage, nothing is produced by the supreme Brahma
nor does anything arise from Him, like the waves from
water
which have their winds for their causality. (But the
spirit of
Brahma, is as the still water and has no stir or
perturbation in
it).
32. All distinction of time and place, being absent in
the
uniform and unchanging spirit of Brahma, there can be no
creation or destruction of the world from him, and hence
the
world is increate and without any cause.
33. Sikhidhwaja said:--I know that the waves of water,
have their cause in the winds of the air, and so I
understand this
world and our egoism &[**&c.], have their
causality in the supreme
spirit: (which produces the worlds by its will, and
acquaints
me of my egoism by its intelligence).
34. Kumbha replied:--Know now the positive truth, O
prince as I tell you after all, that there is nothing as
a separate
world or our egoism &c. existent in supreme spirit;
though the
world and the Ego exist as one with the divine spirit,
without
-----File:
561.png---------------------------------------------------------
bearing their[**space added] distinct names and personalities
at all. (i.e.
The
world and its Gods as one and the same thing).
35. As the subtile ether, contains the subtle element of
vacuum in its bosom; so the divine soul entertains in
itself,
the fine spun idea of the mundane system without its
substance.
36. Whether you behold this world in its true form of
divine intelligence, or in any other form of gross
matter; it is to[**=print]
be understood rightly as no other than a representation
of
divine intellect.
37. The full knowledge of a thing, makes it sweet to the
understanding, though it be as bitter as gall to taste;
but the
imperfect knowledge of a thing, as that of the world
makes it
appear as full of woe, though it is no such thing in
reality.
(Hence the crying and laughing philosophers took two
different
views of the world).
38. Ambrosia the water of life being taken in the light
of
poison, will act as poison in the constitution of the
patient; so
the lord of the intellect appears in a favourable or
unfavourable
light, as knowledge and ignorance of him represents him
to our
understanding.
39. The blessed lord god appears to us in the propitious
or
unpropitious aspect, as our true and false knowledge
paints him
to our minds, just as the blinding eye sees many a false
sight
in the light of the sun.
40. The essence of Brahma, always remains the same in his
essential form of the intellect; though the turpitude of
our
understanding, will now represent him in one form and
then in
another at a different time and under different
circumstances.
41. In fact the body and the embodied soul, appear as any
other sensible object in the world; but being viewed in
reality[**space
added]
in their abstract light, they blend in the spiritual form
of
God.
42. Therefore it is in vain to make any inquiry,
concerning
the nature of the world and our egoism &c[**.];
because what is
really existent is to be inquired into, and not that
which is a
nullity in itself.
-----File:
562.png---------------------------------------------------------
43. It is vain to ask about an appearance, which being
looked
into vanishes into nothing; as it is in vain to speak of
the
essence of gold, when it presents us no figure of it.
44. Therefore there is no entity of the world and our
egoism,
without the existence of God, these things having no cause,
are
self-same with the one self-existent Deity.
45. The world does not appear to be prominent, and to
rest
by itself to view; it rests in relief in the spirit of
god, and
show[**shows] itself as separate to us by illusion only.
46. These existences being composed of the five elements,
produce many other beings; as the copulations of the male
and
female, produce their offspring in infinity; so the
divine intellect
being joined with the illusory intelligence, presents
endless
form to our view.
47. It is by the inherent knowledge of the divine soul,
that
it represents itself the shapes of many things that are
comprised
in his omniscience. He is full in himself and manifests
his
fullness in himself, and is never wanting in his fullness
which
always subsist in Him,[**.] (So the sea is ever full with
its waves
and waters, which roll for ever in its bosom).
48. The fullness or plenum of the world, is derived from
the
fullness of God; and yet the divine fullness remains at
entire,
as when you deduct the infinite, that remains the
infinite also
as the remainder.
49. The divine intellect though forever the same and
serene,
appears to shine forth in the creation with our knowledge
of the same, and set at its dissolution with our
imperceptibility
of it; so our egoism being the same with the divine ego,
appears
to be different from it, as our fluctuating minds depict
it in
various lights.
50. The ego never becomes many, nor forsake its
undecaying
state; it is of a luminous form and having no
begining[**beginning] nor
end of
its essence; but assumes as many forms, as the ever
varying mind
imposes upon it. (The unchanging soul assumes many forms
with the changefull[**changeful] mind).
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to Brahmasri Sreemaan Vihari Lala Mitra ji for the collection)
Post a Comment