The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki
The only complete English translation is
by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891).
CHAPTER XXII.
ACCOUNT OF PAST AGES.
Argument.--The various Events of bygone days, and the
changes in
the order of things in the world.
Vhusunda[**Bhusunda] continued:--Moreover I will tell you
sir,
many other things that I remember to have occurred in
the course of the world, and under the flight of by gone
times.
I remember the births of the seers
Bharadw瀏a[**Bharadw疔a], Pulasta,
Atri,
N灑ada[**N疵ada], Indra, the Mar兤his and yourselves also.
2. I bear in my mind the venerable Pulaha, Udd疝aka,
kratu,
Bhrigu, Angiras and sanat kumara[**Sanatkumara], Bhringi
and
ganesa[**Ganesa], and
skanda[**Skanda] and others in their train, who were
known as
Siddharshis
or consummate sages of yore.
3. I retain the memory of Guar・ Sarasvat・ Laxm・ Gayatrí
and many more famous females, who are reckoned as female
personifications
of divine attributes. I have seen the mountains Meru,
Mandara, Kail疽a, the Himalayas and the Dardura hills.
4. I carry in my memory the exploits of the demons
Hirany疚sha,
K疝anim・ Hayagr咩a, Hiranya Kasipu, Vati and
Prahlada and many others of the D疣ava or Demoniac race.
5. I keep in my mind the remembrance of the renowned
Sibi, Nyanku, Prithu, Vainya, Nala, N畸h疊a, Mandh疸a,
Sagara, Dilipa and Nahusa kings of men and rulers of
earth.
6. I know by heart the names of Atriya, Vyasa, V疝m勛a,
Sukadeva, V疸syayana and other sages, and know by rote the
names of Upamanyu, Manimanki, Bhagiratha and other pious
princes of old.
7. So there are many things of remote past times, and
others
of later ages and some relating to the present age; all
of which
are imprinted in the memory, wherefore it is needless to
recount
them over again.
8. O thou Sagely son of Brahm・ I remember thy eight
births, in the eight different epochs of the world, and
this is
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verily thy eight births in which thou hast become a guest
to
my nest.
9. You are at one time born of air, and at another of
heavenly
fire; you are some time produced from water, and at
others
from empty vacuity or of the solid rock. (i. e., formed
of one or
other of these elementary bodies at different periods of
the world).
10. The constitution of created bodies, conforms us with
the
nature of the principle elements of which they are
formed; and the
positions of heavenly bodies, have a great influence on
their production.
I have witnessed three such formations of the world
composed of igneous, aquacous[**aquatic?] and terrene
substances at
different
times.
11. I remember ten repeated creations, in which the
usages
of people were uniform and alike; and the gods were
settled in
their abodes (i. e., the Ayrians[**Aryans] led nomadic
life). They were
coeval with the Asuras whom they braved in battle, and
were
located in their homestead.
12. I saw the earth sinking five times under, and lifted
up
as many times by the divine Kurmamanantara, or
incarnation of
Vishnu in the form of the tortoise, from below the
overflowing
ocean.
13. I witnessed the great tumult of Suras and Asuras or
the
Gods and demi-gods, in uprooting and uplifting the
Mandara
mountain, for churning out the last ambrosia from
underneath the
ocean for twelve times over. (The meaning of Samudara
manthana or churning of the sea, seems to be the refining
of the
salt water of the deluging sea).
14. Thrice have seen the imposting
Herany疚sha[**Hirany疚sha], that
levied
his tax upon the gods in heaven, hurling the fruitful
earth with
all her balmy and medicinal plants underneath the ocean.
15. I beheld Hari to have come down six times in the
shape
of Renuka's son or Parashur疥a, and extirpate the
Kshetriya
race at the intervals of very long periods.
16. I remember, O Sage! the return of a hundred kaliyuga
ages, and a hundred incarnations of Hari in the form of
Buddha,
and as the son of royal Suka or suddhadana[**Suddhadana]
in the land of
Kirata.
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17. I bear in my remembrance the overthrow of tripura
thrice ten times by Siva, and the discomfiture of Dakhas'
cere
mony[**ceremony] for more than once by the irritated
Hara; and I recall to
my mind the downfall of ten Indras by the offending God,
who bears the crescent moon on his forehead, (and the
confinement
of their thunder-bolts within the caverns of volcanoes
glass).
18. I recollect the battle that has been faught[**fought]
eight times
between Hari and Hara, and the first appearance of
vishnu[**Vishnu] and
siva[**Siva], jvaras or the cold typhoid fevers in
this[**these] conflicts.
(This
means the rising of the malarious fevers of Dinajpur,
which
raged among the belligerent forces on both sides).
19. I remember, O silent Sage! the difference in the
intellects
of men at every succeeding age, and the various readings
of
vedas at the ceremonial observances of mankind. (This
means
the varieties of reading of the vedas as pointed in the
prati
s疚ha, and the difference of phonetic intonation as shown
in the
sikshas, have greatly tended to the depravity of vedic
recitation,
and consequently to their inefficacy in producing their
desired
consequence also).
20. O sinless saint! The purans[**puranas] also though
they agree in
the main substance, are so full of interpolations, that
they have
been greatly multiplied in successive ages. (It is quite
true of
works in manuscript and without their gloss).
21. I remember also many historical works, which
has[**have] been
composed by authors learned in the vedas in the
succeeding ages.
(These works are called Itih疽as or legendary accounts, as
the
epics of R疥痒ana and mah畸h疵ata[**Mah畸h疵ata] by Valm勛i and
Vy疽a
respectively).
22. I have the recollection of the other wondrous
composition
of legendary accounts, under the title of the Mah疵疥痒ana
a work comprising one hundred thousand slokas or tetra
stichs,
and replete with sound wisdom. (This was revealed by
Brahmá
to Vasishtha and Viswamitra).
23. This work presents the conduct of R疥a for the
imitation
of the men, and sets the misbehaviour of R疱ana to the
opprobrium of mankind. This precept contains the essence
of all
wisdom, and serves as the luscious fruit of the tree of
knowledge,
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placed in the palm of all people. (The substance of these
instances
is, that virtue is true happiness below and vice is bane
of life).
24. This work is composed by Valm勛i, who will compose
some others also in time; and these you will come to
know,
when they will be presented to world in time: (as I have
known
them before hand by my foreknowledge of things.[** ,?]
gloss) (This
work is called Vasishtha R疥a samv疆a in the form of a
dialogue
as those of socrates[**Socrates] and plato[**Plato]).
25. This work wheather[**whether] it is a composition of
Valm勛i, or
the composition of some other person, is published for
the twelve
times, and is now going to be allmost[**almost] forgotten
by men.
26. The other work of like importance, is known under the
name of Bh疵ata; I remember it to have been written by
Vy疽a
at first, but is becoming obsolete at present.
27. Whether it is the composition of person known by
the name of Vy疽a, or a compilition[**compilation] of some
other person,
it has
upto[**2 words] this time undergone its seventh edition,
and is now going
fastly to be forgotten.
28. I rememder[**remember] also, O chief of Sages! many
tales and
novels
and other s疽tras, composed in every age and Yoga[**Yuga];
which
have been written in a variety of styles and diction.
29. O good sage! I remember to have seen also many new
productions and inventions, following one another in
succeeding
age; and it is impossible to innumerate[**enumerate] this
enumerable[**innumerable] series of
things.
30. I remember the Lord Vishnu descending many times
on earth, for the destruction of ferocious
R疚asas[**R疚sasas], and is now
to appear here the eleventh time under the appellation of
R疥a.
31. I know the lord Hari to have thrice comedown[**2
words] in his
form of Nrisinha or leonine man, and thrashed the demon
Hiranya kasipu[**Kasipu - or Hiranyakasipu] as many
times, as a lion kills
a gigantic elephant.
(i. e. Although the gods are of smaller forms and
figures, yet
they got the better of the giants, by means of their
better arms
and knowledge of warfare).
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32. Vishnu is yet to be born in his sixteenth incarnation
at
Vasud疱a's[**Vasudeva's] abode, for the purpose of
rescuing the earth
from
the barthen[**burthen] of the oppression of its
tyranic[**tyrannic] lords
and despots.
33. This cosmic phenomenon is no reality, nor it is even
in
existence; it is but a temporary illusion, and appears as
bubble
of water to disappear in next moment.
34. This temporary illusion of the phenomenals, rises and
sets in the conscious soul of its own accord; as the
boisterous
billows heave and subside themselves in the bosom of the
waters.
35. I have known the world to be sometimes uniform in its
course and in the state of things, at others there is a
partial
defference[**difference] in there[**their] nature and
order, and again total
change
has also been observed to take place in the constitution
of
things. (Nature is never uniform, but all are subject to
change
more or less from its original state).
36. I remember the former nature and state of things, and
the manner and actions of bygone people and the usages of
those times; I saw them give room to others in their turn
and
those again to be displaced by others. (He that wants an
even
uniformity to see, expects what never had been, nor ever
will be).
37. Every Manwantara or revolution of time; is attended
O Brahman! with a reversion in the course of the world;
and a
new generation is born to supplant the old men of renown.
38. I have then a new set of friends and a new train of
relatives; I get a new batch of servants, and a new
habitation
for my dwelling.
39. I had to remain same times in my solitary retreat by
the side of the Vindhiyan[**Vindhyan] range, and some
times on the ridge
of the Sahya Mountain. I had at other times my residence
on the Dardura Hills, and so my lodging is ever shifting
from
one place to another and never fixed in any spot forever.
(The
Dardura is the Dardue Hill in Afganistan[**Afghanistan]).
40. I have often been a resident of the Himalayas, and of
the Malaya Mountain in the South of India, and then led
by
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destiny as described before, I have found my last abode
on this
moun[**mount] of Meru.
41. By getting to it, I built my nest on the branch of an
Amra or mango tree, and continued to live there, O chief
of the
Munis! for ages and time without end.
42. It is by my pristine destiny that this tree has grown
here for my residence, therefore, O sage! I can have no
release
from this body of mine to come to my desirable end. (i.
e. the
soul like a bird is destined by its prior acts, to
endless transmigrations
in material bodies, which are compared to its habitable
trees, and from which it can have no release, although it
pines for its dis-embodied liberation, as a decrepit old
man
wishes to get loose of his loathsome body).
43. It is by appointment of the predestination, that the
same tree has grown here in the form of the kalpa arbour,
which
preserves the beauty even now, as it did at the time when
my
father Chanda had been living.
44. Being thus pre-ordained by destiny I was settled in
this
place, when there had been no distinction of the quarters
of
heaven as the north or east, nor of the sky or mountain.
45. Then the north was on another side, and this Meru was
in another place; I was then one and alone, and devoid of
any
form or body, and was as bright as the essence, which is
never
shrouded by the darkness of night.
46. After awaking from the insensibility of my trance (at
the
beginning of another kalpa creation or of my generation),
I saw
and recognized all the objects of creation (as one comes
to see
and know the things about him after waking from the
forgetfulness
of his sleep); and knew the situations of the Meru and
other hills and dales from the positions of the stars,
and the motions
of heavenly bodies.
47. The site of the polar circle of Meru and the course
of the
planets being changed in different creations, there
ensues an
alteration of the points of the compass, and a difference
in the
sides of the quarters; therefore there is nothing as a
positive
truth, except our conceptoin[**conception] of it such and
such.
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48. It is the vibration of the soul, that displays these
wonderful
conceptions in the mind; and excites the various
phenomena
in nature. It converts a son to a father and makes a son
of the
father, and represents a friend as a foe and again shows
a foe in
the light of a friend. (Hence there is no such thing as a
positive
certainty, but becames[**becomes] transmutable to one in
opposite nature,
as the father supports the child in its youth, and is
supported
by the boy in his dotage).
49. I remember many men to become
effiminate[**effeminate], and many
women also to grow quite masculine; and I have seen the
good
manners of the golden age to prevail in Kali, and those
of Iron-age
gaining ground in its preceding ages.
50. I have seen also many men in the Tret・and Dw疳ara
Yugas or the silver and brazen ages of the world, that
were
ignorant of the Vedas and unacquainted with their
precepts;
and followed the fictions of their own invention which
led
them to heterodoxy.
51. I remember also O Brahman! the laxity of manners and
morals among the gods, demi gods and men since the
beginning
of the world.
52. I remember after the lapse of a thousand cycles of
the
four Yuga ages, that Brahma created from his mind some
aerial
beings of unearthly forms; and these spiritual beings
occupied
a space extending over ten cycles of creations.
53. I remember likewise the varying positions and
boundaries
of countries, and also the very changing and diversified
actions
and occupations of their people. I remember too the
various costumes
and fashions and amusements of men, during the ceaseless
course of days and nights in the endless duration of
time.
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CHAPTER XXIII.
DESIRE OF TRANQUILITY AND QUIESCENCE OF THE MIND.
Argument.--Relation of the vices and virtues which hasten
and prevent
death, and the peace and rest of the mind which is sought
after by
mankind.
Vasishtha rejoined:--I then besought the chief of the
crows,
that was stationed on one end of a branch of the
kalpatree,
to tell me how he was not liable to fall into the hands
of death,
when all other animals moving about the expanse of the
world,
are doomed to be crushed under its all devouring jaws.
2. Bhusunda replied, You sir, that know all things and
would yet ask me to tell that you know full well. Such
bidding
of my master emboldens your servant to speak out where he
should otherwise hold his tongue.
3. Yet when you desire me to tell, I must do it as well
as
I can, because it is deemed to be the duty of a
dependant, to
carry out the commands of their kind masters.
4. Death will not demolish the man, who does not wear on
his bosom the pearl-necklace of his vicious desires; as a
robber
does not kill a traveller that has not the pernicious
chain of gold
hanging on his breast.
5. Death will not destroy the man whose heart is not
broken
down by sorrows, whose breast is not sawed as a timber by
the
friction of his sighs, and whose body is not worsted by
toil
like a tree by canker worms.
6. Death will not overtake the man, whose body is not
beset
by cares like a tree by poisonous snakes, lifting their
hoods
above its head; and whose heart is not burnt by its
anxieties,
like a wood by its enraging fire.
7. Death will not prey upon the person, which is not
vitiated
by the poison of anger and enmity, and cavity of whose
heart
does not foster the dragon of avarice in its darkness,
and whose
heart is not corroded by the canker of cares.
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8. He is not carried away by the cruel hand of death,
whose body is not already fried by the fire of his
resentment,
which like hidden heat of the submarine fire, sucks op
the
waters of reason in the reservoir of the mind.
9. Death will not kill the person whose body is not
inflamed
by the fiery passion of love; which like the wild fire
consumes the hoarded corn of good sense, and as a pair of
sharp
scissors rives the heart strings of reason.
10. Death doth not approach the man, that puts his trust
in the one pure and purifying spirit of god[**God], and
hath the rest
of his soul in the lap of the supreme soul.
11. Death does not lay hold on the person that is firm
and
sedate in the same posture and position, and does not
ramble
like an ape from one tree to another, and whose mind is a
foreigner
to fickleness.
12. Thus then the mind being settled in unalterable state
of calm repose in its Maker, it is no more possible for
the evils
and diseases of this world, to overtake it at any time.
13. The fixed and tranquil mind, is never overtaken by
the
sorrows and diseases of the world; nor it is liable to
fall into the
errors and dangers, which betied the restless mob here
below.
14. The well composed mind, hath neither its rising nor
setting, nor its recollection nor forgetfulness at any
time or
other. It has not its sleeping or waking state, but has
its
heavenly revery which is quite distinct from dreaming.
15. The vexatious thought which take their rise from
vitiated
desire and feelings of resentment and other passions, and
darken
the region of the heart and mind, can never disturb the
serenity
of those souls, which have their repose in the Supreme
Spirit.
16. He whose mind is enrapt in holy meditation, neither
gives away to nor receives anything from others, nor does
he
seek or forsake whatever he has or has not at any time.
He
does his duties always by rote as he ought without
expectation
of their reward or merit.
17. He whose mind has found its repose in holy
meditation,
has no cause of his repentance, for doing any misdeed for
his
gain or pleasure at any time.
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18. He has enough of his gain and an excess of his
delight
and a good deal of every good, whose mind has met with
the
grace of his god. (He that has the grace of god[**God],
has every
thing given and added to him).
19. Therefore employ your mind, to what is attended with
your ultimate good and lasting welfare; and wherein there
is
nothing of doubt or difficulty, and which is exempt from
false expectation.
20. Exalt your mind above the multiplicities of worldly
possessions, which the impure and unseen demon of evil
presents
for the allurement of your heart, and settle it in the
unity of the
Divinity. (So did satan[**Satan] attempt in vain to tempt
our Lord to
worldly vanities and all its possessions).
21. Set your heart to that supreme felicity which is
pleasant
both in the beginning and end, and even delectable to
taste; that
is pleasant to sight, sweet to relish, and is wholesome
in its
effect.
22. Fix your mind to what is sought by all the good and
godly people, which is the eternal truth and the best
diet of the
soul, from its beginning and during its course in the
middle and
end and throughout its immortality.
23. Apply your mind to what is beyond your comprehension,
which is the holy light, which is the root and source of
all,
and wherein consists all our best fortune and the
ambrosial
food for our souls.
24. There is no other thing so very permanent or
auspicious
among immortals or mortals, and among the gods and
demigods,
asuras and Gandharvas, and Kinnaras and Vidy疆haras,
nor among the heavenly nymphs, as the spiritual bliss of
the
soul.
25. There is nothing so very graceful or lasting, to be
found in cities and mountains and in the
vegitable[**vegetable] creation,
nor
among mankind and their king, nor any where in earth or
heaven as this spiritual felicity.
26. There is nothing steady or graceful, among the
N疊a-snake
or Asura races and there[**their] females, and in the
whole circles
of infernal region.
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27. There is nothing so lovely and lasting in the regions
above and below and all around us, and in the spheres of
all other
worlds, so very graceful and durable as the lasting peace
of
mind.
28. There is nothing that is felicitous or persistent in
this
world, amidst all its sorrows and sicknesses and troubles
which
encompass all about. All our actions are for trivial
matters
and all our gains are but trifles at best.
29. There is nothing of any lasting good, in all those
thoughts which employ the minds of men and gladden their
hearts, and which serve at best to delude the sapient to
the fickleness
of their spirits.
30. No permanent good is derived from the ever busy
thoughts and volitions and nolitions of mankind, which
tend at
best to trouble their minds, as the Mandara mountain
disturbed
the waters of the deep, at the time of its churning by
the gods
and demons.
31. No lasting good results to any body from his
continuous
exertions, and various efforts about his gain and loss
even at
the edge of the sword: (i. e., even at the peril of one's
life).
32. Neither is the sovereignty of the whole earth
is[**delete 'is'] so great
a boon, nor is one's elevation to the rank of a deity in
heaven so
great a blessing; nor even is the exaltation of one to
the position
of the world supporting serpent so great a gain, as the
sweet
peace of mind of the good.
33. It is of no good to trouble the mind, with its
attention
to all the branches of learning, nor is it of any
advantage to
one to employ his wits and enslave his mind to the
service of
another, nor of any use to any body, to learn the histories
of
other people, when he is ignorant of himself and his own
welfare.
34. It is of no good to live long, under the trouble of
disease
and the sorrow of life. Neither is life or death, nor
learning nor
ignorance, nor heaven or hell any advantage or disadvantage
to any body, until there is an end of his desires within
himself.
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35. Thus these various states of the world and all
worldly
things, may appear gratis to the ignorant vulgar, but
they
afford no pleasure to the learned who knows their
instability.
(Hence longivity[**longevity] and stability depend on
one's reliance in the
eternal god[**God], and not on the
transcient[**transient] world).
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CHAPTER XXIV.
INVESTIGATION OF THE LIVING PRINCIPLE.
Argument.--Disquisition of the Arteries and organs of the
body. The
seat of life and its actions.
Vhusunda[**Bhusunda] continued:--All things being thus
unstable,
unprofitable and unpleasant to man, there is one reality
only
in the view of the wise, which is beyond all error and
imperishable,
and which though present in all things and all places,
transcends
the knowledge of all.
2. This essence is the soul or self, and its meditation
is the
remover or all sorrow and affliction. It is also the
destroyer of
the erroneous vision of the world, which has passed every
man,
and biased his understanding by his long habit of
thinking this
phantom of his dream as a sober reality.
3. Spiritual contemplation dawns in the clear atmosphere
of the unpolluted mind, and traverses amidst its whole
area like
the solar light, and it destroyes[**destroys] the
darkness of all sorrows and
erroneous thought which over spreads it.
4. Divine meditation being unaccompanied by any desire or
selfish view, penetrates like the moon-beams through the
darkness
of the night of ignorance.
5. This spiritual light is easily obtainable by Sages
like you,
and too difficult to be retained (dh疵an・ by brutes like
ourselves.
Because it is beyond all imaginable resemblance, and is
know[**known]
by
the ravished Sages as the transcendent light.
6. How can a man of common understanding come to the
knowledge of that thing, which is an associate to the
clear understanding
of the meditative Sage only.
7. There is a little resemblance of this spiritual light,
with
the intellectual light of philosophers, whose minds are
enlightened
by the cooling moon-beams of philosophy, as those of the
inspired saints are illumed with spiritual light.
8. Among the associates of spiritual knowledge, there is
one
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particularly friend by to me, which alleviates all my
sorrows, and
advances my prosperity, and thus relates to the
investigation of
the vital breath which is the cause of life.
9. Vasishtha said.[**:] After speaking in this manner the
Sagely
bird Bhusunda held his silence, when I calmly joined my
rejoinder,
and adduced my question to him by way of amusement,
though I was full well acquainted with the subject.
10. I addressed him saying, O thou long living bird, and
remover
of all my doubts, tell me truely[**truly], my good
friend, what you
mean by meditation of the vital breath: (which you say to
be the cause of vitality).
11. Bhusunda replied.[**:] You sir, who are learned in
the
knowledge of vedanta, and sure remover of all doubts in
spiritual
science, are now by way of joke only, putting this
question
to me who am but a brute bird and an ignorant crow.
12. Or it may be to sound my shallow
knowledg[**knowledge] of the
subject,
and to instruct me the rest in which I am imperfect, that
you like to have my answer to the question, wherein I can
lay
no objection: (as no body is unprepared to know more and
better
of a subject).
13. Hear me, tell you some thing relating to cogitation
of
vital breath, which has the cause of Bhusunda's
longivity[**longevity] and
the
giver of Bhusunda's spiritual knowledge.
14. You see sir, this beautiful fabric of the body,
supported
upon the tree strong pillars or posts of the three
humours;
and having nine doorways about it. (The three humours are
the bile[**,] phlegm and wind, and the nine openings, are
the
earpoles[**earholes],
nostrils, the sockets of the eyes, the mouth[**, anus and
the genitals]).
15. This abode is occupied by its owner or the
houghty[**haughty]
house holder-[**--]Ahank疵a or egoism, who dwells in it
with his
favourite consort Puryashtak・ and his dependants of the
Tanm疸ras
at all times. (These terms have been explained before).
16. You well know the inside of this house which I need
not
describe, its two ears are as its two upper storied
rooms, the two
eyes are as its two windows, and the hairs on the head
are as
its thatched covering on the top of the house.
17. The opening of the mouth is the great door way to the
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house, the two arms are as its two wings; and the two
sets of
teeth answer the strings of flowers, which are hung on
the gate
way for its decoration.
18. The organs of sense are the porters to this house,
and
convey the sights and sounds, flavours and feelings of
things in
to it. These are enclosed by the great wall of the body, and
the two pupils keep watch on tower of this edifice.
19. The blood, fat and flesh form the plaster of this
wall,
and the veins and arteries answer the strings to bind the
bamboos
of the bones together, and the thick bones are the big
posts that
uphold this fabric.
20. There are two tender nerves called Id・and Pingal・
which lie and stretch along the two sides of this
building.
21. There are three pairs of lotus like organs formed of
soft
flesh and bones, and these stretch up and down
perpendicularly
in the body, and are attached to one stalk like artery
connecting
them with one another.
22. Then the etherial air which is inhaled through the
nostrils, supplies these lotiform organs with moisture,
as if it
poured water at their roots, and makes them shoot out in
soft
leaflets, shaking gently at the breath of air, passing
incessently[**incessantly]
through the lungs and nostrils.
23. The shaking leaves agitate the vital air, as the
moving
leaves of the trees in the forest, increase the force of
the current
air in the firmament.
24. The inflated vital air then passes in many ways,
through
the holes of the entrails inside the body, and extends to
and fills
all the pores and canals of the frame from top to bottom.
25. These then receive different appellations, according
to
their course through the several, and are denominated as
the
five fold vital airs of pr疣a, ap疣a, sam疣a, Ud疣a, and
vy疣a;
by them that are skilled in science of pneumatic. (The
pr疣a-v痒u
is the breathing of the nostrils, the ap疣a is the wind in
ano, sam疣a is the air circulating through the whole body,
ud疣a
is the air of speech, and the vy疣a is the air let out
through the
pores of the whole body).
26. All the vital powers reside in the triple lotiform
organ
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of the heart, and thence extend up and down and on all
sides
like beams from the lunar disk.
27. These vital powers are employed in passing in and
out,
in taking in and letting out, in rising and falling, and
also in
moving throughout the body.
28. The pr疣a or air of life is said by the learned to be
situated
in the lotus formed organ of the heart, which has also
the
power of moving the eyelids in their twinklings. (Hence
one's
life time is measured both by the numbers of his
breathings, as
also by that of the twinklings of his eye).
29. This power some times assumes the form of touch or
the
feeling of perception, and at others it takes the shape
of breath
by blowing through the nostrils. Some times it is seated
in
the stomach for culinary action, and oft-times it gives
utterance
to speech.
30. What more shall I say, than that it is our lord the
air,
that moves the whole machine of the body, as a mechanic
models everything by means of his machinery.
31. Among these there are two principal airs, by name of
pr疣a and ap疣a, which take their two different courses
upward
and downward, the one is the breath of life and the[**
other is the] vitiated
which is let out.
32. It is by watching the course of these airs that I
remain
quiet at this place, and undergo the
visissitudes[**vicissitudes] of heat and
cold,
as it is destined to the lot of the feathered tribe.
33. The body is a great machine, and the two airs are its
indefatiguable[**indefatigable] mover. It has the sun and
moon or the fire
and
moonlight, shining in the midst of its heart.
34. The body is a city and the mind is its ruler, the
two airs are as the car and wheel of the body; while
Egoism is
the monarch of this city, and the eight members are as so
many
horses attached to the car of the body.
35. Thus by watching the motion of those airs (i. e. of
the
pr疣a and ap疣a inspiration and expiration for the whole of
my
lifetime); I find the course of my life to be as
entermenable[**interminable],
as that of the continuity of my breathings. (The thought
of
continuity, prolongs the coarse of life).
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36. The airs serve the body alike in all its states of
waking,
dreaming, and sound sleep, and his days glide on
imperceptibly
who remains in his state of profound sleep. (so the yogi
remaining
in his trance is utterly insensible of the course of
time).
37. These breaths being divided into a thousand threads,
according as they pass through the many canals of the
body, are
as imperceptible as the white fibres passing inside the
stalks of
lotus plants.
38. By watching the incessant course of vital airs, as
also
by attending to the continued course of time, and
thinking in
one self of the interminable course of his respirations,
and the
moments of time and train of his thoughts, as also by
attempting
to restrain their course by the habit and practice of
pran痒ama,
that he is sure to lengthen the duration of his life
in this world; and attain to his eternal life in the
next.
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CHAPTER XXV.
ON SAMADHI.
Argument.--On the Breathings of Inspiration, Respiration
and Expiration,
and their rise and fall from and in the spirit of Brahma
the origin
and end of all.
Vasishtha said:--Hear R疥a, when the bird had said so
far, I interrupted him and said, tell me, O ancient seer,
how and what is the nature of the course of vital airs.
2. Bhusunda replied:--How is it, O sage! that you who
know
everything, should propose this question to me as if it
were in jest,
but as you ask as this of me, I must tell you all I know
about it.
3. The vital breath. O Brahman! is a moving force by its
nature, and is always suomotu in its own motion, and
pervades
both in the inside and outside of bodies which its
animates.
4. The ap疣a or the emmitting[**emitting] air also is a
self motive power,
and in its incessant motion; and is both within and
without the
living body, in its downward or receding direction.
5. It is good for livings being to restrain these vitals
breaths
both in their waking and sleeping states, and now hear me
tell you, O learned sage, how it is to be effected for
their best
gain.
6. The internal vital air (pr疣a), extends from the lotus
like
heart to the crevice in the cranium, its effort to come
out (by
the mouth and nostrils), is termed by the wise as rechaka
or
exhaled air. (The expiration comming[**coming] out of the
heart, and
reaching the cerebrum is called the rechaka breath).
7. The meeting of breaths at the distance of twelve
inches
from and below the nostrils, is called the puraka or
inhaling-breath.
(This is termed the [Sanskrit: v疉yap侔aka] or external
inspiration).
8. It is also called Puraka, when the breath passes from
without, and enters within the inner ap疣a without any
effort,
and fills the inside from the heart to the cerebrum.
9. When the ap疣a air has subsided in the heart, and pr疣a
[** unclear portions on this page checked with printed
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breath does not circulate in the breast, it is called the
Kumbhuka[**Kumbhaka]
state, and is known to the yogis only.
10. All these three sorts of breaths, are perceived at
the
place from where the ap疣a takes its rise, and this is at
the
distance of twelve inches below on the outside of the tip
of
the nose.
11. Hear now, O great minded sage! what the clear minded
adepts have said, respecting the natures of the ever
continuative
and effortless. (i. e. self respiring) breathings.
12. Know sir, that the air which is inhaled from the
distance
of twelve inches on the out side of the tip of the nose,
the same receives of its own nature the name of puraka or
that
of another.
13. As the outer part of a pot planted in the earth
appears
to sight, so the ap疣a breath stretching to the distance
of twelve
inches just opposite to the tip of the nose in the air on
the out
side, is perceptible to the yogi, and is called kumbhaka
by the
learned.
14. The exhaling air which rises from the heart, and
extends
to the tip of the nose, is styled the primary and
external puraka
breath ([Sanskrit: 疆yah v疉yap侔akam]) by the adepts in
Yoga practice.
15. There is another (or secondary) external puraka air
known to the wise, which takes its rise from the tip of
the nose,
and extends to the distance of twelve inches out-side of
it.
16. After the pr疣a breath sets out-side the nostrils, and
before
the ap疣a breath has yet its rise, this interval of the
entire
abeyance of both, is known as the state of perfect equalization,
and termed the external Kumbhaka.
17. The air which breathes out in the heart or pulsates
within it, and without the rising of the ap疣a breath; is
styled
the external rechaka in the Yoga system; and its
reflection confers
perfect liberation to man.
18. And this rising at the distance of twelve inches, in
another
kind of it and called the strong rechaka.
19. There is another kind of puraka, which is on the
outside
of the ap疣a; and when it stretches to the inside of the
navel within, it is known under the names of Kumbhaka
&c.
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[** pages 147-152 compared to print]
20. The intelligent man who meditates by day and night
on the octuple nature, and course of the pr疣a and ap疣a or
the
inhaling and exhaling airs, is not doomed to be reborn
any more
in this miserable earth.
21. I have thus related to you the various courses of the
bodily airs, a restraint of which in the waking and
sleeping
states of man, as also in his states of sitting and
waking, is productive
of his liberation.
22. Though these are very fleeting in their natures, yet
they
are restrained by the good understanding of man, even
when
he is employed in his work or is in his act of eating.
23. The man that practises the Kumbhaka or suppression of
his breathing within himself, cannot be employed in any
action;
but must remain calmly in this act of suppression, by
giving all
external thoughts and actions. (i. e., as in a state of
torpidity).
24. A few days practice of this Yoga, by abnegation of
all
outward objects from the mind, enables a man to attain to
the
state of his soleity, or his unity with the sole entity
of the Deity.
25. Intelligent men have no fondness for worldly things,
but bear an aversion to them as a holy Brahm疣 has against
the
sweet milk contained in a flask of skin. They remain
regardless
of visible objects, with his eyes closed against them, as
a
blind man takes no heed of out-ward appearances.
26. They are in possession of all, which is the sum total
(lout[**tout [French]] ensemble) of what is to be had as
the best gain; and
whether
when they are awake or asleep or walking or sitting, they
never lose sight of that true light which leads them to
the other
world.
27. Those who have obtained the knowledge of the course
of his breathings, have got rid of all delusion and rest
in quiet
within themselves, (i. e. In watching their inspirations
and
over-looking the external phenomena).
28. And whether the intelligent people are employed in
busy life, or sit inactive at home; they are always quiet
and at
rest by following the course of their respiration:
(neither
breathing hard or being out breath).
29. I know, O Brahman! the exhaling breath, to rise from
its
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source of the lotus like heart, and stretch to the
distance of
twelve inches out of it, where it sets or stops. (As is
mixed up
with the current air).
30. The ap疣a of inhaling breath is taking in from the
same distance of twelve inches, and is deposited in the
cup of
the lotus situated in the human heart.
31. As the pr疣a respiration is exhaled out in the air, to
the distance of twelve inches from the heart, so the
inhaled
air of ap疣a is taken into the breast, from the same
distance of
the open sky.
32. The pr疣a or exhaling breath runs towards the open
air, in the form of a flame of fire, and the inhaled
breath turns
inward to the region of the heart, and goes downward like
a
current of water.
33. The ap疣a or inhaled breath is like the cooling moon
light, and refreshes the body from without; while pr疣a
resperation[**respiration]
resembling the sunsine[**sunshine] or aflame[**a flame]
of fire, warms
the inside
of the body.
34. The pr疣a breath warms every moment the region of
the heart, as the sunshine inflames the region of the
sky; and
then it torrifies the atmosphere before it, by the
exhalation of
breath through the mouth.
35. The ap疣a air in as the moonlight before the moon, and
being inhaled inward, it washes the sphere of the heart
as
by a deluge; then it refreshes the whole inside in a
moment,
36. When the last digit of the moon like ap疣a or in
haling[**inhaling] breath, is swallowed by the sun of the
pr疣a or exhaling
breath; it meets with the sight of supreme spirit, and
has no
more any cause of affliction[**.]
37. So also when the last portion of the sunlike pr疣a or
exhaling breath, is swallowed by the moon
like[**moonlike] ap疣a or
inhaling
breath; then there ensues the same visitation of Brahma
in
the inside, and the soul is emancipated from further
transmigration
in this World. (The meeting of the two is a yoga or
junction of the human and Divine spirits).
38. The pr疣a or exhaling breath assumes the nature of
the solar heat, both in the inside and outside of the
body; and
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afterwards it becomes and remains as the cooling
moonlight.
(It is the one and same breath of air, that takes the two
names,
according to its two different natures of inspiration and
expiration.
gloss).
39. The pr疣a expiration forsakes its nature of the
cooling
moon, and turns in a moment to assume the nature of the
hot
sun, that dries and sucks up everything before it.
40. As long as the pr疣a exhalation is not converted to
the nature of the moon, after forsaking its solarity, it
is so long
considered as unconditioned by time and place, and freed
from
pain and grief. (The pr疣a being peculiarised by time,
place
and number, is long or short and subject to misery; but
its
extinction in the interval, is instinct with the supreme
spirit.
Patanjala[**Patanjali] yog・sutra II 50).
41. He who sees the seat of his soul in the mind situated
within his heart, and at the confluence of the sol-luni
pr疣a
and ap疣a brethings[**breathings] in the Kumbhaka or
retained breath, is
no
more subjected to be reborn and die.
41a. He who feels the sun and moon of his pr疣a and ap疣a
breaths, ever rising and setting in the kumbhaka or
retained
breath with his heart, verily sees the seat of his mind
and soul
placed at their confluence, and is freed from further
birth and
death. (The plain meaning is that, the mind and soul
consist
in the air deposited in the heart by the two inhaling and
exhaling breaths of pr疣a and ap疣a).
42. He verily sees the soul in its full light, who
beholds
this bright sun [Sanskrit: pr[-a][n.]a] shining in the
sphere of his heart, in
conjunction with the rising and setting moon beams ap疣a
in his
mind.
43. This light never fades nor grows faint at any time,
but dispels the darkness of the heart, and produces the
consummation--
Siddhi
of the meditative mind.
44. As the dispersion of outward darkness presents the
world to view, so the disappearance of inward obscurity
gives out
the light of the spirit before the mental sight.
45. The removal of intellectual darkness, produces the
libera-*
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*tion of the soul, and shows the rising and setting sun
of the
vital breath vividly to view.
46. When the moon of the ap疣a or inspired breath, sets in
the cavity of the heart, the sun of the pr疣a or
expiratory
breathing, rises immediately to gush out of the same.
47. The ap疣a or inhaling breath having set in the cell of
the lotus like heart, the exhaling breath of pr疣a rises
at the
very moment to come out of it, as the shadow of the night
being
dispersed from sight, the bright sun of the day ushers
his
light.
48. As the pr疣a expiration expires in the open air, the
inhaling
breath rises and rushes in a moment; just as the light
having fled from the horizon, is succeeded immediately by
deep
darkness.
49. Know ye intelligent men, that the ap疣a breath becomes
extinct, where the pr疣a comes to [**be] born; and the
pr疣a respiration
is lost, where the ap疣a takes its rise.
50. When the pr疣a breathing has ceased and the ap疣a has
its rise, it is then that one supports himself upon the
kumbhaka
retained air, and does not depend on two other passing
breath[**P2:breaths].
51. On the extinction of ap疣a, and the rise of the pr疣a
breath, one relying on the Kumbhaka air which is
deposited
within himself, is exempted from his pain and sorrow.
52. By depending on the rechaka breath, and practicing
the
suppression of Kumbhaka breath, at the great distance of
sixteenth[**P2:sixteen]
inches from the ap疣a; a man has no more to be sorry for
any thing.
53. By making the ap疣a a receptacle of rechaka, and
filling
the pr疣a in the inside, and finding himself filled with
the
puraka all within his body, a man has no more to be born
on
earth.
54. When a man finds the perfect tranquility of his soul,
by subsidence of both the pr疣a and ap疣a within himself;
he
has no longer to sorrow for any thing whatever.
55. When a man reflects his pr疣a breath to be devoured
by the ap疣a air both within as well as without himself,
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and loses his thoughts of time and space, he has no more
any
cause for sorrow.
56. He who sees his pr疣a breath devouring the ap疣a air,
both within and without himself, together with his sense
of
space and time, has no more his mind to be reborn on
earth.
57. When the pr疣a is swallowed up by the ap疣a, or the
ap疣a by the pr疣a, both in the in-side and out-side of the
adept;
together with his thoughts of time and place;
58. At this moment the Yogi finds his pr疣a to set down,
and his ap疣a to rise no more, and the interval between
the two,
is common to all animals though it is known to Yogis
alone.
59. The Kumbhaka taking place of itself on the out-side,
is
known as the divine state, but when it happens to occur
in the
in-side, and without any efforts on the part of the
adept, it is
said to be the state of the most supreme. (Because god
does
not breathe).
60. This is the nature of the divine soul, and this is the
state of the supreme intellect, this is the
representation of the
eternal spirit, and one attaining to this state, is never
subject to
sorrow.
61. Like fragrance in the flower, there is an essence
endwelling[**indwelling]
within the vital breath also, and this is neither the
pr疣a or[**P2:nor]
ap疣a, but the intellectual soul which I adore. (As the
true
god).
62. As taste endewells[**indwells] in the water, so is
there an essence
immanent
in the ap疣a; and this [**is ]neither the ap疣a nor the not
ap疣a, but the intelligent soul which I adore.
63. There is at the end of the extinction of pr疣a, and
beyond
the limit of the exhaustion of ap疣a, and situated in the
interval
between the extremities of both of these, which I ever
adore.
64. That which forms the breathing of breath, and is the
life of life, what is the support and bearer of the body,
is the
intellectual spirit which I ever adore.
65. That which causes the thinking (power) of the mind,
and the cigitation[**cogitation] of the understanding; as
also the egotism
of
egoism, is the intellectual soul, which I have learnt to
adore.
66. That which contains and produces all things, which is
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all (or permeated in all things, as every thing is
(evolved from)
itself; and what is changed to all at all times, is that
mind
which I adore for ever.
67. What is the light of lights, what is holiness and the
holy of holies, and what is unchangeable in its nature,
is the
intellect which I adore.
68. I adore that pencil of pure intellectual light, which
rises
at the juncture of the setting of the ap疣a and springing
up
of the pr疣a breath. (This sloka occurs in the Kashmere
Mss).
68a. I adore that intellect which trolls on the tip of
the
nose, at the point where the pr疣a sets in, and the ap疣a
has not
yet taken its rise.
69. I adore the intellect which rises at the time when
both
the pr疣a and ap疣a breaths have stopped, and when neither
of
them has taken its rise.
70. I adore that intellect which appears before the Yogi,
and supports him at the point which he has reached unto
upon
the setting of the pr疣a and ap疣a breaths, both within and
without himself.
71. I adore that intellect which is force of all forces,
and
rides in the car of pr疣a and ap疣a breaths, and when both
of
them are compressed in the heart of the yogi.
72. I adore the lord intellect, which is the Kumbhaka
breath
in the heart, and the ap疣a Kumbhaka on the outside; and a
part of the puraka left behind.
73. I adore the essence of that entellect[**intellect],
which is attainable
by reflection of the breathings, and which is the
formless cause
of our intelligence of the natures of the pr疣a and ap疣a
breaths, as also the motive principle of their actions.
74. I adore the essence of that intellect, which is the
cause
of the causes, and the main spring of the oscillations of
vital airs,
and giver of the felicity derived from the vibrations of
breath.
75. I adore that prime and supreme Being Brahma, who is
worshipped by the gods bowing down before him, who makes
himself known to us by his own power, and who is, by the
particles of vital breaths, under the name of Spirit.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to Brahmasri Sreemaan Vihari Lala Mitra ji for the
collection)
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