The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki
The only complete English translation is
by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891).
CHAPTER CVIII.
DESCRIPTION OF A DRAUGHT AND DEARTH.
Argument. The distress of Chandālas caused by
famine and want
of Rain.
The king continued to say:—Time passed away,
and old age overtook me,
and turned my beard to blades of grass
covered with hoar frost.
2. My days glided away in alternate joy and
grief, brought on by my fate
and acts; just as a river flows on with the
green and dried leaves,
which the winds scatter over it.
3. Quarrels and broils, misfortunes and
mischances, befell on me every
moment; and beset me as thickly and as fastly
as the arrows of woe
flying in a warfare.
4. My foolish mind kept fluttering like a
bird, in the maze of my wishes
and fancies; and my heart was perturbed by
passions, like the sea by its
raging waves.
5. My soul was revolving on the vehicle of my
wandering thoughts; and I
was borne away by them like a floating straw,
to the whirlpool of the
eventful ocean of time.
6. I that moved about like a worm amidst the
woodlands of Vindhyā, for
my simple supportance, felt myself in the
process of years, to be
weakened and pulled down in my frame, like a
biped beast of burthen.
7. I forgot my royalty like a dead man, in
that state of my
wretchedness, and was confirmed in my belief
of a Chandāla, and bound to
that hilly spot like a wingless bird.
8. The world appeared to me, as desolate as
at its final desolation; and
as a forest consumed by a conflagration; it
seemed as the sea-shore
lashed by huge surges; and as a withered tree
struck by a lightning.
9. The marshy ground at the foot of Vindhyā
was all dried up, and left
no corn nor vegetable, nor any water for food
or drink; and the whole
group of Chandālas, was about to die in
dearth and dryness.
10. The clouds ceased to rain, and
disappeared from sight; and the winds
blew with sparks of fire in them. (The hot
winds of the monsoon called
agni-vrishti).
11. The forest trees were bare and leafless,
and the withered leaves
were strewn over the ground; wild fires were
raging here and there, and
the wood-lands became as desolate, as the
abodes of austere ascetics
(dwelling in the deserts).
12. There ensued a formidable famine, and a
furious flame of wildfire
spread all around; it burnt down the whole
forest, and reduced the grass
and gravels all to ashes.
13. The people were daubed with ashes all
over their bodies, and were
famishing for want of food and drink; because
the land was without any
article of food or even grass or water in it,
and had turned to a dreary
desert.
14. The mirage of the desert glistened as
water, and deluded the dry
buffaloes to roll in it (as in a pool); and
there was no current of
breeze to cool the desert air.
15. The call and cry for water, came only to
the ears of men; who were
parching under the burning rays of the torrid
sun (in the Deccan).
16. The hungry mob, hurrying to browse the
branches and herbs, yielded
their lives in those acts; while others
sharpened their teeth, in their
acts of tearing and devouring one another.
17. Some ran to bite the gum of catechu,
thinking it to be a bit of
flesh; while others were swallowing the
stones, as if they were cakes
lying on the ground before them.
18. The ground was sprinkled with blood, by
the mutual biting and
tearing of men; as when blood is spilt in
profusion, by the lion's
killing a big and starving elephant.
19. Every one was as ferocious as a lion, in
his attempt to devour
another as his prey; and men mutually fought
with one another, as
wrestlers do in their contest.
20. The trees were leafless, and the hot
winds were blowing as
fire-brands on all sides; and wild cats were
licking the human blood,
that was spilt on the rocky ground.
21. The flame of the wild fire rose high in
the air, with clouds of
smoke whirling with the howling winds of the
forest; it growled aloud in
every place, and filled the forest-land with
heaps of brown cinders and
burning fire brands.
22. Huge serpents were burnt in their caves,
and the fumes rising from
these burning bodies, served to grow the
poisonous plants on the spot;
while the flame stretching aloft with the
winds, gave the sky an
appearance of the glory of the setting sun.
23. Heaps of ashes were lifted like dust, by
the high howling winds, and
stood as domes unsupported by pillars in the
open sky; and the little
children stood crying for fear of them,
beside their weeping parents.
24. There were some men who tore a dead body
with their teeth, and in
their great haste to devour the flesh, bit
their own hands and fingers,
which were besmeared in their own blood.
25. The vultures flying in the air, darted
upon the smoke, thinking it a
turret of trees, and pounced upon the fire
brands, taking them for bits
of raw flesh.
26. Men biting and tearing one another, were
flying in all directions;
when the splitting of the burning wood hit
upon their breasts and
bellies, and made them gory with blood
gushing out of them.
27. The winds were howling in the hollow
caves, and the flames of the
wild fire flashing with fury; the snakes were
hissing for fear of these,
and the burnt woods were falling down with
hideous noise.
28. Thus beset by dangers and horrors, with
no other shelter than the
rugged hollows of rocks, this place presented
a picture of this world,
with its circumambient flames, burning as the
twelve zodiacal suns on
high.
29. The winds were blowing hot amidst the
burning woods and rocks, and
drying up all things; and the heat of the fire
below and the sunbeams
above, together with the domestic calamities
caused by influence of the
planet Saturn, made this place a counterpart
of this woeful world.
CHAPTER CIX.
MIGRATION OF THE CHANDﾁLAS.
Argument. The perilous journey through the
Delusive World.
The king continued:—As these calamities
continued to rage in this
place, by the displeasure of destiny; and the
disasters of the last
dissolution prematurely overtook the forest
and mountaineers here:—
2. Some of these men went out from that
place, with their wives and
children, in search of some new abodes in
foreign lands; as the clouds
disperse and disappear from the sky, after
the rainy season is over.
3. They were accompanied by their wives and
children and close
relatives, who clung to them as the members
of their bodies; but the
lean and infirm were left behind them, like
the separated branches of
trees.
4. Some of these emigrants were devoured by
tigers, as they went out of
their houses; as unfledged birds are caught
by falcons, as they come out
of their nests.
5. Some entered into the fire like moths, to
put an end to their
miserable lives; others fell into the pits,
like fragments of rocks
falling from the hills.
6. I separated myself from the connections of
my father-in-law and
others; and depending upon myself, I escaped
narrowly from that
distressed country, with my wife and children
about me.
7. We passed the pit-falls and storms, and
the wild beasts and snakes,
without any harm; and came out of that forest
safe from all the deadly
perils of the way.
8. Having then arrived at the border of that
forest, we got to the shade
of some palm trees, where I lay down my
children from my shoulders as
burdens of my sin and woes.[12]
[12] Compare the adventure of the prince
Tājul Malur in Guli Bakāwalī,
and his bearing the burthen of his children
by the Negro wife on his
shoulders.
9. I halted here after my tiresome journey
and lengthened troubles, as
one who had fled from the confines of hell;
and took my rest like the
withering lotus, from the scorching sunbeams
and heat of summer.
10. My Chandāla wife also slept under the
same tree, and my two boys lay
fast asleep in each other's embrace, under
the cooling shade.
11. Afterwards my younger son Prach'chhaka, who
was as dear to us as he
was the less intelligent, rose up and stood
before me.
12. He said with a depressed spirit, and
tears gushing out of his eyes,
"Papa give me soon some meat-food and
drink or else I die".
13. The little boy repeatedly made the same
request, and said with tears
in his eyes, that he was dying of hunger.
14. I told him I had no meat, and the more I
said so, the more he
repeated his foolish craving, which could
neither be supplied with nor
put down to silence.
15. I was then moved by paternal affection,
and affliction of my heart,
to tell him, "child, cut off a slice of
my flesh, and roast and eat it."
16. He agreed to it, and said 'give it then';
because his hunger was so
pressing and his vitality was so much
exhausted, that he could not
decline to crave my flesh for his food.
17. Being then overpowered by affection and
compassion I thought of
putting an end to all my grief with my life,
which became so intolerable
to me at his excessive distress.
18. Being unable to endure the pain of my
affection, I despaired of my
own life; and resolved to resort to death, as
my only friend at this
last extremity.
19. I collected some wood, and heaped them
together for my funeral pile,
and having put it on fire, I saw it blaze as
I wished.
20. As I was hastening to throw myself on
this pile, I was immediately
roused from my reverie by the sound of music
proceeding from this
palace, hailing me as king, and shouting my
victory jaya.
21. I understood this conjurer had wrought
this enchantment on me, and
put me to all these imaginable troubles for
so long a period.
22. Like the ignorant, I was subject to a
hundred changes of fortune
(which can never approach the wise). As the
great and mighty
King—Lavana, had been recapitulating and
expostulating on the
vicissitudes of fortune:—
23. The sorcerer suddenly disappeared from
his sight, at which the
courtiers looked around them with their
staring eyes; and then addressed
the king, saying:—
24. This man was no sorcerer, our liege lord!
who had no mercenary views
of his own in this; but it was a divine magic
(theurgy), that was
displayed to our lord, to represent the lot
of humanity and the state of
the world.
25. This world is evidently a creation of the
mind, and the imaginary
world is only a display of the infinite power
of the Almighty. (It was a
coinage of the brain, a stretch of the
imagination which gives images to
ideals).
26. These hundreds of worldly systems,
display the multifarious powers
of Omnipotence; which delude even the minds
of the most wise, to believe
in the reality of unrealities, as it were by
the spell of magic.
27. This delusion being so potent on the
minds of wise, it is no wonder,
that our king would be overpowered by it,
when all common minds are
labouring under the same error.
28. This delusive magic was not spread over
the mind, by any trick or
art of the conjurer; who aimed at nothing
more than his own gain, by the
act of his sorcery (it is the divine will,
which spreads the illusion
alike on all minds).
29. They that love money, never go away of
themselves without getting
something: therefore we are tossed on the
waves of doubt (i. e.
doubtful) to take him for a sorcerer.
30. Vasishtha said:—Rāma! though I am sitting
here at this moment,
before you and others of this assembly; yet I
am quite sensible of the
truth of this story, which is no fiction like
the tale of the boy I have
told you before, nor is it any coining or
hearsay of mine.
31. Thus the mind is enlarged by the various
inventions of its
imagination, as a tree is extended by the
expansion of its boughs and
branches. The extended mind encompasses all
things, as an outstretched
arbour overspreads on the ground. It is the
mind's comprehension of every
thing, and its conversancy with the natures
of all things, that serve to
lead it to its state of perfection. (The
amplitude of the mind, consists
in the extent of its knowledge).
CHAPTER CX.
DESCRIPTION OF MIND.
Argument. The great Magnitude of mental
powers, and government
of the Mind.
Vasishtha said:—Since the subjective
Intellect chit, has
derived the
power of knowing the objective Intelligibles chetyas, from the supreme
cause in the beginning; it went on to
multiply and diversify the objects
of its intelligence, and thus fell from the
knowledge of the one
intelligent Universal Ego, to the delusion of the particular non egos
ad infinitum. (The knowledge of the subjective universal
soul being
lost, the mind is left to be bewildered in
the objective particulars to
no end).
2. Thus Rāma, the faculties of the mind,
being deluded by the
unrealities of particulars, they continue to
attribute specialities and
differences to the general ones to their
utter error. (Multiplication
and differentiation of objects, mislead the
mind from the universal
unity of the only one).
3. The mental powers are ever busy to
multiply the unrealities to
infinity, as ignorant children are prone to
create the false goblins of
their fancy, only for their terror and
trouble.
4. But the reality soon disperses the
troublesome unrealities, and the
unsullied understanding drives off the errors
of imagination, as the
sun-shine dispels the darkness.
5. The mind brings distant objects near it,
and throws the nearer ones
at a distance; it trots and flutters in
living beings, as boys leap and
jump in bushes after little birds.
6. The wistful mind is fearful, where there
is nothing to fear; as the
affrighted traveller takes the stump of a
tree for demon, standing on
his way.
7. The suspicious mind suspects a friend for
a foe, as a drunken sot
thinks himself lying on the ground, while he
is walking along.
8. The distracted mind, sees the fiery Saturn
in the cooling moon; and
the nectar being swallowed as poison, acts as
poison itself.
9. The building of an aerial castle however
untrue, is taken for truth
for the time being; and the mind dwelling on
hopes, is a dreamer in its
waking state.
10. The disease of desire is the delusion of
the mind; therefore it is
to be rooted out at once with all diligence
from the mind.
11. The minds of men being entangled in the
net of avarice like poor
stags, are rendered as helpless as these
beasts of prey, in the forest
of the world.
12. He who has removed by his reasoning, the
vain anxieties of his mind,
has displayed the light of his soul, like
that of the unclouded sun to
sight.
13. Know therefore that it is mind that make,
the man and not his body
that is called as such: the body is dull
matter, but the mind is neither
a material nor immaterial substance (as the
spirit).
14. Whatever is done with the mind or
voluntarily by any man, know Rāma,
that act to be actually done by him (since an
involuntary action is
indifferent by itself); and whatsoever is
shunned by it, know that to be
kept out in actu.
15. The mind alone makes the whole world, to
the utmost end of the
spheres; the mind is the vacuum, and it is
the air and earth in its
greatness. (Since it comprehends them all in
itself; and none of these
is perceptible without the mind).
16. If the mind do not join a thing with its
known properties and
qualities; then the sun and the luminaries
would appear to be without
their light (as it is with the day-blind bats
and owls, that take the
day light for darkness, and the dark night
for their bright day light).
17. The mind assumes the properties of
knowledge and ignorance, whence
it is called a knowing or unknowing thing;
but these properties are not
to be attributed to the body, for a living
body is never known to be
wise, nor a dead carcase an ignorant person.
18. The mind becomes the sight in its act of
seeing, and it is hearing
also when it hears any thing; it is the
feeling of touch in connection
with the skin, and it is smelling when
connected with the nose.
19. So it becomes taste being connected with
the tongue and palate, and
takes many other names besides, according to
its other faculties. Thus
the mind is the chief actor on the stage of
the living animal body.
20. It magnifies the minute and makes the
true appear as untrue; it
sweetens the bitter and sours the sweet, and
turns a foe to a friend and
vice-versa.
21. In whatever manner the mind represents
itself in its various
aspects, the same becomes evident to us both
in our perceptions and
conceptions of them (i. e. every body takes things in the same light,
as his mind represents them unto him).
22. It was by virtue of such a representation,
that the dreaming mind of
king Haris chandra, took the course of one
night for the long period of
a dozen of years.
23. It was owing to a similar idea of the
mind, that the whole city of
Brahmā appeared to be situated within
himself.
24. The presentation of a fair prospect
before the imagination, turns
the present pain to pleasure; as a man bound
in chains forgets his
painful state, in the hopes of his release or
installation on the next
morning.
25. The mind being well fortified and brought
under the subjection of
reason, brings all the members of the body
and internal passions of the
heart under our control; but the loose and
ungoverned mind, gives a
loose rein to them for their going astray; as
the loosened thread of a
string of pearls, scatters the precious
grains at random over the
ground.
26. The mind that preserves its clear
sightedness, and its equanimity
and unalterableness in all places, and under
all conditions; retains its
even temper and nice discernment at all
times, under the testimony of
its consciousness, and approbation of its
good conscience.
27. With your mind acquainted with the states
of all things, but
undisturbed by the fluctuations of the
objects that come under your
cognizance, you must retain, O Rāma! your
self-possession at all times,
and remain like a dumb and dull body (without
being moved by any thing).
28. The mind is restless of its own nature,
with all its vain thoughts
and desires within itself; but the man is
carried abroad as by its
current; over hills and deserts and across
rivers and seas, to far and
remote cities and countries (in search of
gain).
29. The waking mind deems the objects of its
desire, to be as sweet as
honey, and whatever it does not like, to be
as bitter as gall; although
they may be sweet to taste (i. e. the blindness of sensuous minds in
their choice of evil for good, and slighting
of good as evil).
30. Some minds with too much self reliance in
themselves, and without
considering the true nature of things; give
them different forms and
colours, according to their own conceptions
and opinions, though they
are far from truth. (Every man delights in
his own hobby horse).
31. The mind is a pulsation of the power of
the Divine Intellect, that
ventilates in the breeze and glares in
luminous bodies, melts in the
liquids and hardens in solid substances.
(Compare the lines of Pope:
"Glows in the sun &c." The mind
is dependent on the intellect, and the
mental operations, are subordinate to the
intellectual).
32. It vanishes in vacuity and extends in the
space; it dwells in
everything at its pleasure, and flies from
everywhere at its will.
33. It whitens the black and blackens the
white, and is confined to no
place or time but extends through all. (The
mind can make a heaven of
hell, and a hell of heaven).
34. The mind being absent or settled
elsewhere, we do not taste the
sweet, which we suck or swallow or grind
under the teeth or lick with
the tongue.
35. What is seen by the mind, is seen with
the eyes, and what is unseen
by it, is never seen by the visual organs; as
things lying in the dark
are not perceptible to the sight.
36. The mind is embodied in the organic body,
accompanied by the
sensible organs; but it is the mind that
actuates the senses and
receives the sensations; the senses are the
products of the mind, but
the mind is not a production of sensations.
37. Those great souls (philosophers), who
have investigated into the
manner of the connection between the two
quite different substances of
the body and mind, and those learned men who
show us their mutual
relations (the psychologists), are truly
worthy of our veneration.
38. A handsome woman decked with flowers in
the braids of her hair, and
looking loosely with her amorous glances, is
like a log of wood, in
contact with the body of one, whose mind is
absent from himself. (The
dalliance of a woman is dead and lost, to the
unfeeling heart and
unmindful man).
39. The dispassionate Yogi that sits reclined in his abstract
meditation in the forest, has no sense of his
hands being bitten off by
a voracious beast from his body; owing to the
absence of his mind.
40. The mind of the sage, which is practised
in mental abstraction, may
with ease be inclined to convert his
pleasures to pain, and his pains to
pleasure.
41. The mind employed in some other thought
and inattentive to the
present discourse, finds it as a detached
piece of wood dissevered by an
axe. (The presence of the mind joins the
parts of a lecture, as its
inadvertence disjoins them from their
consecutive order).
42. A man sitting at home, and thinking of
his standing on the precipice
of a mountain, or falling into the hollow
cave below, shudders at the
idea of his imminent danger: so also one is
startled at the prospect of
a dreary desert even in his dream, and is
bewildered to imagine the vast
deep under the clouds. (See Hume on the
Association of Ideas).
43. The mind feels a delight at the sight of
a lovely spot in its dream,
and at seeing the hills, cities and houses
stretching or the clusters of
stars shining in the extended plain of the
sky. (Objects which are
pleasurable or painful to the sight, give
pleasure and pain to the mind,
when it is connected with that sense).
44. The restless mind is busy to stretch many
a hill and dale and cities
and houses in our dreams, as these are the
billows in the vast ocean of
the soul.
45. As the waters of the sea display
themselves in huge surges, billows
and waves, so the mind which is in the body,
displays itself in the
various sights exhibited in our dreams.
(Meaning, the dreams to be
transformations (Vikāras) of the mind, like the waves of the water).
46. As the leaves and branches, flowers and
fruits are the products of
the shooting seed; so every thing that is
seen in our waking dreams, is
the creations of our minds.
47. As a golden image is no other than the
very gold, so the creatures
of our living dreams, are not otherwise than
the creations of our
fanciful mind.
48. As a drop or shower of rain, and a foam
or froth of the wave, are
but different forms of water; so the
varieties (manatā), of
sensible
objects are but formations of the same mind.
(Lit. formations or
transformations of the mind).
49. These are but the thoughts of our minds,
that are seen in our waking
dreams; like the various garbs which an actor
puts on him, to represent
different characters in a play.
50. As the king Lavana believed himself to be
a chandāla for some time,
so do we believe ourselves to be so and so,
by the thoughts of our
minds.
51. Whatever we think ourselves to be in our
consciousness, the same
soon comes to pass upon us; therefore mould
the thoughts of your mind in
any way you like (i. e. as one thinks himself to be, so will he find
himself to become in his own conceit).
52. The embodied being beholds many cities
and towns, hills and rivers
before him; all which are but visions of
waking dreams, and stretched
out by the inward mind.
53. One sees a demon in a deity, and a snake
where there is no snake; it
is the idea that fosters the thought, as the
king Lavana fostered the
thoughts of his ideal forms.
54. As the idea of man includes that of a
woman also, and the idea of
father comprises that of the son likewise; so
the mind includes the
wish, and the wish is accompanied by its
action with every person. (As
when I say I have a mind to do so, I mean I
have a wish to do it; and
the same wish leads me to its execution. Or
that the action is
concomitant with the will so the phrase:
"take will for the deed").
55. It is by its wish that the mind is
subject to death, and to be born
again in other bodies; and though it is a
formless thing of its nature,
yet it is by its constant habit of thinking,
that it contracts the
notion of its being a living substance
(jīva).
56. The mind is busy with its thoughts of
long drawn wishes, which cause
its repeated births and deaths, and their
concomitants of hopes and
fears, and pleasure and pain. (The wish is
father of thoughts, and these
mould our acts and lives).
57. Pleasure and pain are situated in the
mind like the oil in the
sesamum seed, and these are thickened or
thinned like the oil under
particular circumstances of life. Prosperity
thickens our pleasure, and
adversity our pain; and these are thinned by
their reverses again.
58. As it is the greater or lighter pressure
of the oil-mill, that
thickens or thins the oil, so it is the
deeper or lighter attention of
the mind, that aggravates or lightens its
sense of pleasure or pain.
(Loss or gain unfelt, is nothing lost or
gained. The pleasure or pain of
which we are ignorant, is no pleasure or
pain).
59. As our wishes are directed by the
particular circumstances of time
and place, so the measurements of time and
place, are made according to
the intensity or laxity of our thoughts (i. e. the intense application
or inattention of the mind, prolongs and
shortens the measure of time
and place to us).
60. It is the mind that is satisfied and
delighted at the fulfilment of
our wishes, and not the body which is
insensible of its enjoyments. (The
commentary explains the participation of the
enjoyment both by the body
and mind, and not by one independently of the
other).
61. The mind is delighted with its imaginary
desires within the body, as
a secluded woman takes her delight in the
seraglio. (The pleasure of
imagination pleases the inmost soul, when we
have no external and bodily
pleasure to enjoy).
62. He who does not give indulgence to
levities and fickleness in his
heart, is sure to subdue his mind; as one
binds an elephant by its chain
to the post.
63. He whose mind does not wave to and fro
like a brandished sword, but
remains fixed as a post or pillar to its best
intent and object, is the
best of men on earth; all others (with fickle
minds), are as insects
continually moving in the mind.
64. He whose mind is freed from fickleness,
and is sedate in itself, is
united with his best object in his meditation
of the same. (The
unflinching mind, is sure of success).
65. Steadiness of the mind is attended with
the stillness of worldly
commotions, as the suspension of the churning
Mandara, was attended with
the calmness of the ocean of milk.
66. The thoughts of the mind being embroiled
in worldly cares (of
gaining the objects of desire and
enjoyments), become the sources of
those turbulent passions in the breast, which
like poisonous plants fill
this baneful world (with their deadly
breath).
67. Foolish men that are infatuated by their
giddiness and ignorance,
revolve round the centre of their hearts, as
the giddy bees flutter
about the lotus-flower of the lake; till at
last grown weary in their
giddy circles, they fall down in the
encompassing whirlpools, which hurl
them in irreparable ruin.
CHAPTER CXI.
HEALING OF THE HEART AND MIND.
Arguments. Prompt relinquishment of desires,
and abandonment
of Egoism, as the means of the subjection of
the mind and
intense application of the Intellect.
Vasishtha continued:—Now attend to the best
remedy, that I will tell
you to heal the disease of the heart; which
is within one's own power
and harmless, and a sweet potion to taste.
2. It is by the exertion of your own
consciousness by yourself, and by
diligent relinquishment of the best objects
of your desire, that you can
bring back your refractory mind under your
subjection.
3. He who remains at rest by giving up the
objects of his desire, is
verily the conqueror of his mind; which is
reduced under his subjection
as an elephant wanting its tusks.
4. The mind is to be carefully treated as a
patient by the prescriptions
of reason, and by discriminating the truth
from untruth, as we do good
diet from what is injurious.
5. Mould your heated imagination by cool
reasoning, by precepts of the
Sāstras, and by association with the
dispassionate, as they do the
heated iron by a cold hammer.
6. As a boy has no pain to turn himself this
way and that in his play;
so it is not difficult to turn the mind, from
one thing to another at
pleasure.
7. Employ your mind to the acts of goodness
by the light of your
understanding; as you join your soul to the
meditation of God by light
of your spirit.
8. The renunciation of a highly desirable
object, is in the power of
one, who resigns himself to the divine will;
it is a shame therefore to
that worm of human being, who finds this
precept difficult for his
practice.
9. He who can take the unpleasant for the
pleasurable in his
understanding; may with ease subdue his mind,
as a giant overcomes a boy
by his might.
10. It is possible to govern the mind like a
horse, by one's attention
and exertion; and the mind being brought to
its quietness, it is easy to
enter into divine knowledge.
11. Shame to that jackass (lit.: jackalish
man), who has not the power
to subdue his restless mind, which is
entirely under his own subjection,
and which he can easily govern.
12. No one can reach the best course of his
life, without the
tranquillity of his mind; which is to be
acquired by means of his own
exertion, in getting rid of the fond objects
of his desire. (The best
course of life, is to live free from care,
which is unattainable without
subjection of our desires).
13. It is by means of destroying the
appetites of the mind, by means of
reason and knowledge of truth; that one can
have his absolute dominion
over it, without any change or rival in it.
(The rival powers in the
kingdom of the mind (manorājya), are the passions and the train of
ignorance—moha).
14. The precepts of a preceptor, the
instructions of the sāstras, the
efficacy of mantras, and the force of
arguments, are all as trifles as
straws, without that calmness of the mind,
which can be gained by
renunciation of our desires and by the
knowledge of truth.
15. The One All and all-pervading quiescent
Brahma can be known then
only, when the desires of the mind are all
cut off by the weapon of
indifference to all worldly things.
16. All bodily pains of men are quite at an
end, no sooner the mind is
at rest, after the removal of mental
anxieties by means of true
knowledge.
17. Many persons turn their minds to
unmindfulness, by too much trust in
their exertions and imaginary expectations;
and disregarding the power
of destiny, which overrules all human
efforts.
18. The mind being long practised in its
highest duty, of the
cultivation of divine knowledge, becomes
extinct in the intellect, and
is elevated to its higher state of
intellectual form.
19. Join yourself to your intellectual or
abstract thoughts at first,
and then to your spiritual speculations.
Being then master of your mind,
contemplate on the nature of the Supreme
soul.
20. Thus relying on your own exertion, and
converting the sensible mind
to its state of stoic insensibility, you can
attain to that highest
state of fixedness, which knows no decay nor
destruction. (Spiritual
bliss).
21. It is by your exertion and fixed
attention, O Rāma! that you can
correct the errors of your mind; as one gets
over his wrong apprehension
of taking one thing for another (such as his
mistaking of the east for
the west).
22. Calmness of mind, produces the want of
anxiety; and the man that has
been able to subdue his mind, cares a fig for
his subjection of the
world under him. (For, what is this world,
without its perception in the
mind?).
23. Worldly possessions are attended with
strife and warfare, and the
enjoyments of heaven also, have their rise
and fall; but in the
improvement of one's own mind and nature,
there is no contention with
anybody, nor any obstruction of any kind.
24. It is hard for them to manage their
affairs well, who cannot manage
to keep their minds under proper control.
(Govern yourself ere you can
govern others. Or:—Govern your mind, lest it
govern you).
25. The thought of one's being dead, and
being born again as a man,
continually employ the minds of the ignorant
with the idea of their
egoism (which is a false one, since the soul
has no birth or death, nor
any personality of its own).
26. So no body is born here nor dies at any
time; it is the mind that
conceives its birth and death and migration
in other bodies and worlds
(i. e. its transmigration and apprehension of its rise or fall
to
heaven or hell).
27. It goes hence to another world, and there
appears in another form
(of the body and mind); or it is relieved
from the encumbrance of flesh,
which is called its liberation. Where then is
this death and why fear to
die (which is no more than progress to a new
life?).
28. Whether the mind roves here; or goes to
another world with its
earthly thoughts, it continues in the same
state as before unless it is
changed to another form (of purity), by its
attainment of liberation
(from humanity).
29. It is in vain that we are overwhelmed in
sorrow, upon the demise of
our brethren and dependants; since we know it
is the nature of the mind,
to be thus deluded from its state of pure
intelligence to that of error.
(It is the deluded mind, and not the
intelligent soul that is subject to
sorrow).
30. It has been repeatedly mentioned both
before and afterwards, and in
many other places (of this work); that there
is no other means of
obtaining the pure diet of true knowledge,
without subduing the mind,
(and bringing it under the control of
reason).
31. I repeat the same lesson, that there is
no other way, save by the
government of the unruly mind, to come to the
light of the truly real,
clear and catholic knowledge of the Supreme.
(By catholic knowledge is
meant the universally received doctrines of
divinity).
32. The mind being destroyed (i. e. all its function, being
suspended); the soul attains its
tranquillity, and the light of the
intellect shines forth in the cavity of the
heart.
33. Hold fast the discus of reason, and cut
off the bias of your mind;
be sure that no disease will have the power
to molest you, if you can
have the good sense to despise the objects of
pleasure, which are
attended by pain. (All pleasure is followed
by pain. Or: Pleasure leads
to pain, and pain succeeds pleasure).
34. By lopping the members of the mind, you
cut it off altogether; and
these being egoism and selfishness which
compose the essence of the
mind. Shun your sense that 'it is I' and
'these are mine.'
35. Want of these feelings, casts down the
mind like a tree felled by
the axe; and disperses it like a scattered
cloud from the autumnal sky.
36. The mind is blown away by its destitution
of egoism (Ahantā) and
meitatism (mamatā), like a cloud by the
winds. (Unconsciousness of one's
egoism and personality, is the tantamount to
his utter extinction, and
unification with the one universal Soul).
37. It is dangerous to wage a war, against
winds and weapons, and fire
and water, in order to obtain the objects of
worldly desire; but there
is no danger whatever in destroying the
growing soft and tender desires
of the mind. (It is easier to govern one's
self than to suppress his
enemies).
38. What is good, and what is not so, is well
known for certain even to
boys (i. e. the immutability of good and evil is plain to common and
simple understandings); therefore employ your
mind to what is good, as
they train up children in the paths of
goodness. (Sow good betimes, to
reap its reward in time. If good we plant
not, vice will fill the place;
and rankest weeds, the richest soils deface).
39. Our minds are as inveterate and
indomitable, as ferocious lions of
the forest; and they are true victors, who
have conquered these, and are
thereby entitled to salvation. (Govern your
restless mind, and you
govern the rest of your kind).
40. Our desires are as fierce lions, with
their insatiable thirst after
lucre: and they are as delusive as the mirage
of the desert, by leading
us to dangers.
41. The man that is devoid of desires, cares
for nothing, whether the
winds may howl with the fury of storms; or
the seas break their bounds,
or the twelve suns (of the Zodiac) rise at
once to burn the universe.
42. The mind is the root, that grows the
plants of our good and evil and
all our weal and woe. The mind is the tree of
the world, and all peoples
are as its branches and leaves (which live by
its sap and juice).
43. One prospers every where, who has freed
his mind from its desires;
and he that lives in the dominion of
indifference, rests in his heavenly
felicity.
44. The more we curb the desires of our
minds, the greater we feel our
inward happiness; as the fire being
extinguished, we find ourselves
cooled from its heat.
45. Should the mind long for millions of
worldly mansions in its highest
ambition; it is sure to have them spread out
to view within the minute
particle of its own essence. (The ambitious
mind grasps the whole world
within its small compass).
46. Opulence in expectancy, is full of
anxiety to the mind, and the
expected wealth when gained is no less
troublesome to it; but the
treasure of contentment is fraught with
lasting peace of mind, therefore
be victorious over your greedy mind by
abandonment of all your desires.
47. With the highly holy virtue of your
unmindfulness, and with the
even-mindedness of those that have known the
Divine spirit; as also with
the subdued, moderated and defeated yearnings
of your heart, make the
state of the increate One as your own.
(Sedateness of the mind,
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to Brahmasri Sreemaan Vihari Lala Mitra ji for the
collection)
Post a Comment