The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki
The only complete English translation is
by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891).
CHAPTER XII.—Detailed Account of the Genesis of the World.
Argument. Confutation of the instance of the
sea and its
fluctuation, with regard to the immutable
spirit of God; and
resolution of the phenomenal world, to our
erroneous conception,
and visual deception.
Yama said:—The consciousness of gods,
demigods and men as distinct
beings, is quite wrong, since they are no way
distinct from the infinite
ocean of Divine Spirit, of which they are all as undulations.
2. It is owing to our erroneous conceptions
that we make these
distinctions in ourselves and the Supreme
Soul. The thought of our being
separate and apart from the Supreme spirit,
is the cause of our
degradation from our pristine holiness and
the image of God, in which
man was made at first and was infused with
his holy spirit.
3. Remaining within the depth of the Divine
Spirit, and yet thinking
ourselves to live without it, is the cause of
keeping us in darkness on
the surface of the earth.
4. Our consciousness of ourselves as Brahmā,
being vitiated by the
various thoughts in our minds, becomes the
root of our activities; while
the pure consciousness of ego sum—I am, is
free from all actions and
energies.
5. It is the inward desire of the heart and
mind, that becomes the seed
of earthly actions; which sprouts forth in
thorny plants like the
karanja, a handful of which fills the ground
with rankest weeds.
6. Those living bodies, that lie scattered as
pebbles on earth; are seen
to roll about or lie down with their
temporary joy and grief in
continued succession, owing to their
ignorance of themselves.
7. From the highest empyrean of Brahmā, down
to the lowest deep, there
is an incessant undulation of the Divine
spirit, like the oscillation of
the wind; which keeps all beings in their
successive wailing and
rejoicing, and in their incessant births and
deaths.
8. There are some of pure and enlightened
souls, as the gods Hari, Hara
and others; and some of somewhat darkened
understandings, as men and the
inferior demigods.
9. Some are placed in greater darkness, as
the worms and insects; and
others are situated in utter darkness, as the
trees and vegetables.
10. Some grow afar from the great ocean of
the Divine Spirit; as the
grass and weeds of the earth, which are ever
degraded, owing to their
being the emblems of sin; and others are
barred from elevation as dull
stones and heinous snakes.
11. Some have come to being only with their
bodies (without any share of
understanding); and they know not that death
has been undermining the
fabric of their bodies, as a mouse burrows a
house.
12. Some have gone through the ocean of Divine knowledge, and have
become as divinities, in their living bodies
as Brahmā, Hari, and Hara.
(The gods like angels are embodied beings in
which form, they are
worshipped by their votaries. It is wrong
therefore for the Kesavite
Brahmos, to call the formless Brahma as Hari,
who had a visible body
according to our text).
13. Some having a little understanding, have
gone down the depth of holy
knowledge, without ever reaching the bottom,
or finding its either
shore.
14. Some beings that have undergone many
births, and have yet to pass
through many more, have ever remained
abortive and benighted without the
light of truth.
15. Some are tossed up and down, like fruits
flung from the hand: those
flying upward have gone higher still; and
those going down have fallen
still lower and lower. (None can know the
highest pitch or lowest depth
of existence?).
16. It is forgetfulness of Supreme felicity,
that causes one to rove in
various births of weal or woe; but the
knowledge of the Supreme, causes
the cessation of transmigration; as the
remembrance of Garuda, destroys
the power of the most destructive poison.
CHAPTER XIII.—Consolation of Bhrigu.
Argument. Bhrigu being acquainted with the
powers of the mind
and Death, rose to repair to the spot where
the body of Sukra
was lying.
Yama said:—Among these various species of
living creatures, which
resemble the waves of the ocean, and are as
numerous as the plants and
creepers of spring:—
2. There are some persons among the Yakshas,
Gandharvas and Kinnaras,
who have overcome the errors of their minds,
and have well considered
every thing before and after them; that have
become perfect in their
lives, and passing as the living liberated
persons in this world.
3. Others there are among the moving and
unmoving, that are as
unconscious of themselves as wood and stone;
and many that are worn out
with error, and are incapable of judging for
themselves. (Worn out with
error, means hardened in their ignorance).
4. But those that are awakened to sense, have
the rich mine of the
sāstras, framed by the enlightened, for the
guidance of their souls.
(Hence it is for the sensible only to benefit
themselves by learning).
5. Those who are awakened to sense, and whose
sins are washed off; have
their understandings purified by the light of
the sāstras. (Lit., by
investigation into the sāstras).
6. The study of good works, destroys the
errors of the mind; as the
course of the sun in the sky, destroys the
darkness of the night.
7. Those who have not succeeded to dispel the
errors of their minds,
have darkened their understandings by a mist
of ignorance; like the
frosty sky of winter, and they find the
phantoms of their error, dancing
as demons before their eyes.
8. All living bodies are subject to pain and
pleasure; but it is the
mind which constitutes the body, and not the
flesh (which is insensible
of either).
9. The body that is seen to be composed of
flesh and bones and the five
elemental parts, is a creation of the
imagination of the mind, and has
no substantiality in it.
10. What your son had thought of in his
mental body (mānas-sarīra), the
same he found in the same body; and was not
accountable to any body for
aught or whatever passed in his mind. (We are
responsible for every act
of the body; but not so for the thoughts or
reveries of the mind).
11. Whatever acts a man wills to do in his
own mind, the same comes to
take place in a short time; and there is no
other (foreign) agency of
anybody else required to bring them about.
12. Whatever the mind doth in a moment and of
its own accord, and
actuated by its own will or desire, there is
no body in the world, who
has the power to do or undo the same at any
time. (The mind is master of
the act, and not the body, nor any body
besides. Or: whatever the mind
sets about to do, it does it sooner than by
the help of another).
13. The suffering of hell torments and
enjoyment of heavenly bliss, and
the thoughts of birth and death; are all
fabrications of the mind; which
labours under these thoughts. (It is the mind
that makes a heaven of
hell and a hell of heaven).
14. What need I to tell more in the manner of
verbose writers (on this
subject), than go together at once, to the
place where your son is
situated.
15. He (Sukra) having tasted the pleasure and
pain of all these states
at a moment's thought of his mind, is now
seated as a devotee on the
bank of Samangā, under the spreading beams of
the moon. (The Gloss
speaks here of Sukra's passing into many
births, before his betaking
himself to devotion).
16. His vital breath having fled from his
heart, became as the moonbeam
sparkling in a dew drop, which entered the
uterus in the form of semen
virilis.
17. Saying so, the lord of death smiled to
think of the course of
nature, and taking hold of Bhrigu's hand in
his own, they both departed
as the sun and moon together.
18. O wonderful is the law of nature! said
Bhrigu slowly to himself, and
then rose higher and higher, as the sun
ascends above his rising
mountain.
19. With their luminous bodies, they arrived
at the spot of Samangā, and
shone on high above the tamāla trees below.
Their simultaneous rising in
the clear firmament, made them appear as the
sun rising with the
full-moon over the cloudy horizon.
20. Vālmīki said:—As the muni (Vasishtha) was telling these things,
the sun went down his setting mountain, and
the day departed to its
evening service. The court broke with mutual
salutations, to perform
their evening rites and observances, after
which they joined the
assembly at the dawn of the next day.[1]
[1] This colophon occurring at the end of
many chapters, shows the
intermediate chapters as parts of the
lectures of a single day; and
by enumeration of which, the whole space of
time occupied in the
delivery of these lectures may be fairly
ascertained. This will
serve to show that the delivery of the
lectures occupied but a few
months; and Vālmīki's writing of them, if he
was a shorthand
writer, embraced also the same length of
time, contrary to the
common belief of this composition's being a
work of many years.
CHAPTER XIV.—Sukra's Reminiscence of his Metempsychosis.
Argument. Bhrigu and Yama's Expostulation
with Sukra, and
desiring him to return to his former state.
Vasishtha said:—Now as Yama and Bhrigu
departed from the cavern of the
Mandara mountain, and proceeded towards the
bank of Samangā river:—
2. They beheld upon their descending from the
mountain, a great light
below; proceeding from the bodies of the
celestials, sleeping in the
arbours of aureate creepers.
3. The birds were sporting in their sprays,
formed by the cradling
creepers under the canopy of heaven; and the
lovely antelopes looking
face to face, with their eyes resembling the
blue lotuses.
4. They beheld the Siddhas, sitting on their
stony seats upon the
elevated rocks; with their bodies full of
vigour, and their eyes looking
on the spheres with defiance.
5. They saw the lords of the elephantine
tribe, with their big trunks as
large as the palm trees, and plunging in the
lakes covered with flowers,
falling incessantly from the beachening
boughs, and branches of
flowering trees.
6. They saw the mountain bulls (Bos guavus)
dozing in their giddiness,
and sitting as ebriety in person; while their
bodies were reddened by
the red dust of flowers, and their tails
flushed with the crimson farina
blown by the breeze.
7. There were the brisk and beautiful chowry deer serving as flappers
of the mountain king, and dousing in the
pools filled with falling
flowers.
8. They saw the Kinnara lads sitting on the
tops of straight and stately
date trees, and sporting with pelting the
date fruits upon one another,
which stuck to the reeds below as their
fruits.
9. They beheld big monkeys, jumping about
with their hideous reddish
cheeks, and hiding themselves in the coverts
of widespreading creepers.
10. They saw the Siddhas, to be hit by the
celestial damsels with
blossoms of mandara flowers, and clad with
vests of the tawny clouds by
which they were shrouded.
11. The uninhabited skirts of the mountain,
were as the solitary walks
of Buddhist vagrants; and the rivulets at its
foot, were gliding with
their currents covered under the kunda and mandara flowers,
as if
they were running to meet the sea, mantled in
their yellow vests of the
spring season.
(It is well known that the vernal vesture of
damsels, is of the yellow
colour of the farina of flowers, and the
rivulets are poetically figured
as females hastening towards their lord the
sea (saritām-pathih)).
12. The trees decorated with wreaths of
flowers, and shaken by the
breeze, seemed as bacchanals giddy with the
honey of the flowers, and
rolling their dizzy eyes formed of the
fluttering bees.
13. They walked about here and there, and
looked at and admired the
grandeur of the mountain, till at last they
alighted on the nether
earth, decorated with its cities and human
habitations.
14. They arrived in a moment at the bank of
Samangā, flowing with the
loosened flowers of all kinds, as if it were
a bed of flowers by itself.
15. Bhrigu beheld his son on one of its
banks, with his body changed to
another form, and his features quite altered
from his former state.
16. His limbs were stiff, and his sense at a
stand still, as he sat with
his mind fixed on steady meditation. He
seemed to be long at rest, in
order to get his rest from the turmoils of
the world.
17. He thought upon the course of the
currents of the world, which are
continually gliding with successive joy and
sorrow to man, who gets rid
of them after his long trial.
18. He became motionless as a wheel, after
its long-winded motion; and
found his rest after his prolonged whirling,
in the whirlpool of the
ocean of the world.
19. He sat retired as a lover, solely
reclined on the thought of his
beloved object in his retirement; and his
mind was at rest, after its
long wanderings.
20. He sat in a state of uniform meditation,
without a shadow of
duplicity in it; and was smiling with a cold
apathy at all the pursuits
of mankind.
21. Liberated from all concerns, and released
from the enjoyments of
life, and disenthralled from the snare of
desires and fancies, he rested
in the supreme bliss of the soul.
22. His soul was at rest, in the everlasting
rest of God; as the pure
crystal catches the colour of the gem, which
is contiguous to it.
23. Bhrigu beheld his son in the calmly
composed and awakened state of
his mind, and freed alike both from his
thoughts of what was desirable,
as also from his hatred against what was
disgusting. (God is said to be
eternally at rest the six days creation, but
an act of his Mind, Will,
Word, Fiat, Logos or Brahmā).
24. Yama seeing the son of Bhrigu, said to
the father in a voice, hoarse
as the sounding sea. 'Lo there thy son.'
25. "Awake, said he to Bhārgava, which
startled him from his meditation,
as the roaring of a cloud, rouses the
slumbering peacock from his summer
sleep.
26. Upon opening and lifting up his eyes, he
beheld the god standing
with his father on one side, who being
pleased at his sight, glowed in
their countenances like the disks of the sun
and moon.
27. He rose from his seat of Kadamba leaves,
and made his obeisance to
them, who appeared to have come to him like
the gods Hari and Hara in
the disguise of a couple of Brāhmans.
28. After their mutual salutations, they were
seated on a slab of stone,
and appeared as the venerable gods Vishnu and
Siva, were seated on the
pinnacle of Meru.
29. The Brāhman boy, having ended the
muttering of his mantras on the
bank of Samangā, accosted them with a voice
distilling as the sweet
nectarine juice of ambrosia amrita or water of life (aqua-vitae or
abi haiyāt).
30. "I am emancipated, my lords, at your
sight this day (from all
earthly cares), as you have blessed me by
your sights, resembling those
of the sun and moon, appearing together to
view. (Lit. as the orbs of
the cooling and dazzling beams. (himānsu and ushnānsu)).
31. The darkness, which reigned in my mind,
and which no light of the
sāstras or spiritual or temporal knowledge, nor
even my austerities
could remove, is dispelled today by the light
of your presence.
32. A kind look of the great, gives as much
joy to the mind, as draughts
of pure ambrosia, serve to satisfy the heart.
33. Tell me who are you, whose feet have
sanctified this place; as the
glorious orbs of the day and night, enlighten
the firmament.
34. Being addressed in this manner, Bhrigu
desired him to remember his
prior births, which he could well do, by his
enlightened understanding.
35. Bhrigu made him acquainted with the state
of his former birth, and
he remembered it instantly by the
clairvoyance of his inward sight.
36. He was struck with wonder at the
remembrance of his former state,
and smiled with a joyous face and gladsome
heart, to ponder on what he
had been; and then uttered as follows.
37. Blessed is the law of the Supreme Being,
which is without its
beginning or end, and is known as destiny
here below; and by whose power
the world is revolving as a curricle.
38. I see my countless and unknown births,
and the innumerable accidents
to which they were subject, for the period of
a whole kalpa or duration
of the world from first to last. (The Soul
being immortal, has to pass
into infinite births under various shapes and
forms of bodies. If it
were to lie dormant in the grave for ever
what is the good of its being
made or created to be immortal?)
39. I have undergone great hardships, and
known prosperity also with the
toil of earning; have had my wanderings also
in different lives, and
remember to have roamed for a long time, over
the mountainous regions of
Meru.
40. I drank the water reddened with the
pollen of mandara flowers, and
roved along the bank of the heavenly stream
of Mandākinī filled with
lotuses.
41. I wandered about the Mandara groves,
filled with flowering creepers
like gold, and under the shade of the kalpa
arbors of Meru, and in the
flowery plains above and about it.
42. There is naught of good or evil, which I
have not tasted or felt or
done myself; nor is there anything, which I
have not seen and felt and
known in my past lives.
43. I have now known the knowable (that is to
be known), and seen the
imperishable one in whom I have my repose. I
have now rested after my
toils were over, and have passed beyond the
domain of error and
darkness.
44. Now rise, O father! and let us go to see
that body, lying on the
Mandara mount, and which is now dried as a
withered plant.
45. I have no desire to remain in this place,
nor go anywhere of my own
will; it is only to see the works of fate,
that we wander all about.
46. I will follow you, with my firm belief in
the one adored Deity of
the learned. Let that be the desirable object
of my mind, and I will act
exactly in conformity with my belief.
CHAPTER XV.—Lamentation and Expostulation of Sukra.
Argument. Sukra laments on seeing his former
body, and his
consolation at its ultimate anaesthesia.
Vasishtha said:—Thus contemplating on the
course of nature, these
philomaths moved with their spiritual bodies,
from the bank of Samangā
(towards the Mandara mountain).
2. They ascended to the sky, and passed
through the pores of the clouds
to the region of the Siddhas; whence they
descended to the lower world,
and arrived at the valley of Mandara.
3. There Sukra saw on a cliff of that
mountain, the dried body of his
former birth, lying covered under the dark
and dewy leaves of trees.
4. He said, here is that shriveled body, O
father! which thou hadst
nourished with many a dainty food before.
5. There is that body of mine, which was so
fondly anointed with
camphor, agallochum and sandal paste, by my
wet-nurse before.
6. This is that body of mine, which was used
to repose on the cooling
beds, made with heaps of mandara flowers, in
the airy spots of Meru.
7. This is that body of mine, which was so
fondly caressed by heavenly
dames of yore, and which is now lying, to be
bitten by creeping insects
and worms, on the bare ground below.
8. This is that body of mine, which was wont
of yore to ramble in the
parterres of sandalwood; now lying a dried
skeleton on the naked spot.
9. This is that body of mine, now lying
impassive of the feelings of
delight in the company of heavenly nymphs,
and withering away
unconscious of the actions and passions of
its mind.
10. Ah my pitiable body! how dost thou rest
here in peace, forgetful of
thy former delights in the different stages
of life; and insensible of
the thoughts of thy past enjoyments and
amusements of yore.
11. O my body! that hast become a dead corpse
and dried by sun-beams;
thou art now become so hideous in thy frame
of the skeleton, as to
frighten me at this change of thy form.
12. I take fright to look upon this body, in
which I had taken so much
pleasure before, and which is now reduced to
a skeleton.
13. I see the ants now creeping over that
breast of mine, which was
formerly adorned with necklaces studded with
starry gems.
14. Look at the remains of my body, whose
appearance of molten gold,
attracted the hearts of beauteous dames,
bearing now a load of dry bones
only.
15. Behold the stags of the forest flying
with fear, at the sight of the
wide open jaws, and withered skin of my
carcass; which with its horrid
mouth, frightens the timid fawns in the
woods.
16. I see the cavity of the belly of the
withered corpse, is filled with
sunshine, as the mind of man is enlightened
by knowledge.
17. This dried body of mine, lying flat on
the mountain stone, resembles
the mind of the wise, abased at the sense of
its own unworthiness.
18. It seems to be emaciating itself like an
ascetic, in his supine
hypnotism on the mountain, dead to the
perceptions of colour and sound,
and of touch and taste, and freed from all
its desires and passions.
19. It is freed from the demon of the mind
(mental activity), and is
resting in its felicity without any
apprehension of the vicissitudes of
fate and fortune, or fear of fall.
20. The felicity which attends on the body,
upon the calmness of the
demon of the mind; is not to be had, from
possession of the vast
dominion of the world.
21. See how happily this body is sleeping in
this forest, by being freed
from all its doubts and desires in the world;
and by its being liberated
from the network of its fancies.
22. The body is disturbed and troubled like a
tall tree, by the
restlessness of the apish mind; and it is
hurled down by its excitation
like a tree uprooted from its bottom.
23. This body being set free from the
impulses of the mischievous mind,
is sleeping in its highest and perfect
felicity, and is quite released
from the jarring broils of the world,
clashing like the mingled roarings
of lions and elephants in their mutual
conflict.
24. Every desire is a fever in the bosom, and
the group of our errors is
as the mist of autumn; and there is no
release of mankind from these,
save by the impassionateness of their minds.
25. They have gone over the bounds of worldly
enjoyments, who have had
the high-mindedness, to lay hold on the
tranquillity of their minds.
26. It is by my good fortune, that I came to
find this body of mine,
resting in these woods without its
troublesome mind; and freed from all
its tribulations and feverish anxieties.
27. Rāma said:—Venerable Sir, that art versed
in all knowledge, you
have already related of Sukra's passing
through many births in different
shapes; and feeling all their casualties of
good and evil.
28. How was it then that he regretted so much
for his body begotten by
Bhrigu; in disregard of all his other bodies;
and the pains and
pleasures which attended upon them?
29. Vasishtha answered:—Rāma! the other
bodies of Sukra were merely the
creations of his imagination; but that of
Bhārgava or as the son of
Bhrigu, was the actual one, as produced by
the merit of his pristine
acts. (Here the gloss is too verbose on the
theory of metempsychosis;
but the literal meaning of the couplet is
what is given above).
30. This was the first body with which he was
born by the will of his
Maker, being first formed in the form of
subtile air, and then changed
into the shape of wind.
31. This wind entered into heart of Bhrigu in
a flux of the vital and
circulating breaths, and being joined in time
with the semen, formed the
germ of Sukra's body. (so called from the
seed—sukra).
32. The person of Sukra, received the
Brāhmanical sacraments, and became
an associate of the father; till at last it
was reduced to the form of a
skeleton in course of a long time.
33. Because this was the first body which
Sukra had obtained from Brahmā
the creator, it was on this account that he
lamented so much for it.
(Sukra the son of Bhrigu, was the grandson of
Manu—the first human
being, after creation of the world called
kalpārambha).
34. Though impassionate and devoid of desire
as Sukra was, yet he
sorrowed for his body, according to the
nature of all being born of
flesh (dehaja). (All flesh is subject to
sorrow).
35. This is the way of all flesh, whether it
be the body of a wise or
unwise man (to mourn for its loss). This is
the usual custom of the
world, whether the person was mighty or not.
36. They who are acquainted with the course
of nature, as also those
that are ignorant of it as brutes and beasts;
are all subject to the
course of the world, as if they are bound in
the net of fate and liable
to grief and sorrow. (It is not the greatness
of a great mind, to be
insensible of the tender feelings of his
nature, but to keep his joys
and sorrows under proper bounds).
37. The wise as well as the unwise, are on an
equal footing with respect
to their nature and custom. It is only the
difference in desire that
distinguishes the one from the other, as it
is the privation of or
bondage to desires, that is the cause of
their liberation or enthralment
in this world. It is also the great aim that
distinguishes the great,
from the mean-mindedness of the base.
38. As long as there is the body, so long is
there the feeling of
pleasure in pleasure and that of pain in
pain. But the mind which is
unattached to and unaffected by them, feigns
to itself the show of
wisdom. (Unfeelingness is a mere show and not
reality).
39. Even great souls are seen to feel happy
in pleasure and become
sorrowful in matters of pain; and show
themselves as the wise in their
outward circumstances.
40. The shadow of the sun, is seen to shake
in the water, but not so the
fixed sun himself; so the wise are moved in
worldly matters, though they
are firm in their faith in God.
41. As the unmoved and fixed sun, seems to
move in his shadow on the
wave, so the wise man who has got rid of his
worldly concerns, still
behaves himself like the unwise in it.
42. He is free who has the freedom of his
mind, although his body is
enthralled in bondage; but he labours in
bondage whose mind is
bethralled by error, though he is free in his
body. (True liberty
consists in moral and not in bodily freedom).
43. The causes of happiness and misery as
also those of liberty and
bondage, are the feelings of the mind; as the
sun-beams and flame of
fire, are the causes of light.
44. Therefore conform thyself with the custom
of the society in thy
outward conduct; but remain indifferent to
all worldly concerns in thy
inward mind.
45. Remain true to thyself, by giving up thy
concerns in the world; but
continue to discharge all thy duties in this
world by the acts of thy
body. (Keep your soul to yourself, but devote
your body to the service
of the world).
46. Take care of the inward sorrows and
bodily diseases, and the
dangerous whirlpools and pitfalls in the course
of thy life; and do not
fall into the black hole of selfishness
(meitatem), which gives the soul
its greatest anguish.
47. Mind, O lotus-eyed Rāma, that you mix
with nothing, nor let anything
to mix with you; but be of a purely
enlightened nature, and rest content
in thy inward soul.
48. Think in thyself the pure and holy spirit
of Brahmā, the universal
soul and maker of all, the tranquil and increate
All, and be happy for
ever.
49. If you can rescue yourself from the great
gloom of egotism, and
arrive at the state of pure indifference to
all objects; you will
certainly become great in your mind and soul,
and be the object of
universal veneration.
CHAPTER XVI.—Resuscitation of Sukra.
Argument. Sukra's Revival at the word of
Yama, and his becoming
the preceptor of Daityas.
Vasishtha continued:—Then the god Yama,
interrupted the long
lamentation of Sukra, and addressed him in
words, sounding as deep as
the roaring of a cloud.
2. Yama said:—Now, O Sukra! cast off thy body
of the Samangā devotee,
and enter this dead body in the manner of a
prince entering his palace.
3. Thou shalt perform austere devotion with
this thy first born body,
and obtain by virtue of that, the
preceptorship of the Daitya tribe.
4. Then at the end of the great kalpa, thou
shalt have to shuffle off
thy mortal coil for ever, as one casts off a
faded flower.
5. Having attained the state of living
liberation, by merit of thy prior
acts; thou shalt continue in the
preceptorship of the leader of the
great Asuras for ever.
6. Fare you well, we shall now depart to our
desired habitation; know
for certain that there is nothing desirable
to the mind, which it cannot
accomplish (by perseverance).
7. Saying so, the god vanished from before
the weeping father and son,
and moved amidst the burning sky, like the
dispenser of light (sun).
8. After the god had gone to the place of his
destination, and gained
his destined state among the gods, the Bhrigus
remained to ruminate on
the inexplicable and unalterable course of
destiny (or divine
ordinance).
9. Sukra entered into his withered corpse, as
the season of spring
enters into a faded plant, in order to adorn
it again with its vernal
bloom, and its re-springing blossoms.
10. His Brāhmanical body fell down
immediately on the ground, staggering
as when a tree is felled or falls down with
its uprooted trunk; and it
became disfigured in a moment in its face and
limbs.
11. The old sage Bhrigu finding the
revivification of the dead body of
his son, sanctified it with propitiatory
mantras and sprinkling of
water, from his sacerdotal water pot
(kamandalu).
12. The veins and arteries and all the cells
and cavities of the dead
body, were again supplied with their
circulating blood; as the dry beds
of rivers, are filled again with floods of
water in the rainy weather.
13. The body being filled with blood, gave
the limbs to bloom; like the
growth of lotuses in rainy lakes, and the
bursting of new shoots and
buds in vernal plants.
14. Sukra then rose up from the ground,
breathing the breath of life,
like the cloud ascending to the sky by force
of the winds.
15. He bowed down to his father, standing in
his holy figure before him;
as the rising cloud clings to, and kisses the
foot of the lofty
mountain.
16. The father then embraced the revived body
of his son, and shed a
flood of his affectionate tears upon him; as
the high risen cloud washes
the mountain top with showers.
17. Bhrigu looked with affection on the new risen
old body of his son;
and smiled to see the resuscitation of the
body that was begotten by
him.
18. He was pleased to know him as the son
born of himself; and to find
his features engrafted in him.
19. Thus the son and sire graced each other
by their company, as the sun
and lotus-lake rejoice to see one another,
after the shade of night.
20. They rejoiced at their reunion, like the
loving pair of swans at the
end of the night of their separation; and as
the joyous couple of
peacocks, at the approach of the rainy
clouds.
21. The worthy sire and son, sat awhile on
the spot, to halt after all
their toils and troubles were at an end, and
then they rose up to
discharge the duties that were then at hand.
22. They then set fire to the body of the
Samangā Brāhman, and reduced
it to ashes; for who is there among the
earth-born mortals, that ought
to set at naught aught of the customary
usages of his country?
23. Afterwards the two devotees Bhrigu and
Bhārgava, continued to dwell
in that forest, like the two luminaries—the
sun and moon, in the region
of the sky.
24. They both continued as the living
liberated guides of men, by their
knowledge of all that was to be known; and
preserving the equanimity of
their minds, and the steadiness of their
dispositions, amidst all the
vicissitudes of time and place (and the
changes of their fortune and
circumstances).
25. In course of time Sukra obtained the
preceptorship of the demons,
and Bhrigu remained in his patriarchal rank
and authority among the sons
of men (mānavas).
26. Thus the son of Bhrigu, who was born as
Sukra at first, was
gradually led away from his holy state by his
thought of the heavenly
nymph, and subjected to various states of
life to which he was prone (by
the bent of his mind and inward proclivities).
CHAPTER XVII.—Attainment of the Ideal Realm.
Argument. Mutual sympathy of pure hearted
souls, the
reciprocities of their affections, and their
union with one
another.
Rāma said:—Tell me sir, why the ideal
reflexion of others, is not
attended with equal result, with that of the
son of Bhrigu (though one
is given to the like reveries as the other).
2. Vasishtha replied:—The reason is, that the
body of Sukra issued at
first from the will of Brahmā, and was born
of the pure family of
Bhrigu, without being vitiated by any other
birth (either prior to it or
of a lower kind).
3. The purity of mind which follows upon
subsidence of desires, is
called its coolness, and the same is known as
the unsullied state of the
soul. (Nirmalātmā).
4. Whatever the man of a pure and contrite
spirit, thinks in his mind,
the same comes to take place immediately; as
the turning of the sea
water turns into the eddy. (Turning over in
the mind, turns out into
being).
5. As the errors of various wanderings,
occurred to the mind of Sukra;
so it is with every body (from his
observation of the world), as it is
instanced in the case of Bhrigu's son.
6. As the serum contained in the seed,
developes itself in the shoots
and leaves; so the mind evolves in all the
forms which are contained
therein.
7. Whatever forms of things are seen to exist
in this world, are all
false appearances; and so are their
disappearances also, (mere creations
of the mind).
8. Nothing appears or disappears to any one
in this world, but error and
aerial phantasms; that show themselves to
those that are bewitched by
this magic scene of the world.
9. As it is our notion of this part of the
world, which presents its
form to our view; so the appearance of
thousands of such worlds in the
mind, is mere ideal; and as false as the show
of a magic-lantern.
10. As the sights in our dream, and the
images of our imagination, are
never apart from our minds; and as they
cannot show themselves to the
view of others; such is our erroneous
conception of the world (confined
within ourselves).
11. So are all places and things but
imaginary ideas, and show
themselves as real objects, to the purblind
sight of the ignorant only.
12. So also are the ghosts and goblins,
demons and devils, but imaginary
figures of the mind; born in the shallow
brain of men, to terrify them
with their hideous shapes.
13. Thus have we all become, like the
dreaming son of Bhrigu; to
understand the false creations of our
imagination, as sober realities.
14. So the creation of the world, and all
created things, are situated
(pictured) in the mind of Brahmā; and make
their repeated appearance, as
the phantoms of a phantasmagoria before him.
15. All things appearing unto us, are as
false as these phantoms; and
they proceed from the mind of Brahmā, as the
varieties of trees and
shrubs, are produced from the same sap of the
vernal season. (The one is
the source of many).
16. Considering in a philosophical light
(tatwadarsana), it will be
found, that it is the will or desire of every
body, which is productive
of the objects of his desire. (Lit. which
evolves itself in its
productions. And as it is with the will of
the creator, so is it with
that of every one).
17. Every body beholds everything in the
world, according to the nature
of the thoughts in his mind, and then
perishes with his wrong view of
it.
18. It is in its ideality, that anything
appears as existent, which in
reality is inexistent, though it is apparent
to sight. The existence of
the world, is as that of a lengthened dream;
and the visible world is a
wide spread snare of the mind, like fetters
at the feet of an elephant.
(The world is existent in the ideal, but
inexistent in its apparent real
and visual form. It is a network of the mind,
like a longspun dream, and
binds it as fast as fetters at the feet of an
elephant).
19. The reality of the world depends upon the
reality of mind, which
causes the world to appear as real. The loss
of the one, destroys them
both; because neither of them can subsist
without the other.
20. The pure mind has the true notions of
things, as the gem polished
from its dross, receives the right reflection
of every thing (or)
reflects the true image of every thing.
21. The mind is purified by its habit of
fixed attention to one
particular object; and it is the mind
undisturbed by desires, that
receives the true light and reflexion of
things.
22. As the gilding of gold or any brilliant
colour, cannot stand on base
metal or on a piece of dirty cloth, so it is
impossible for the vitiated
mind, to apply itself intensely to any one
particular object.
23. Rāma asked:—Will you tell me sir, in what
manner the mind of Sukra,
received the reflexion of the shadowy world,
and its temporaneous
movement in itself, and how these
fluctuations rose and remained in his
mind?
24. Vasishtha said:—In the same manner as
Sukra was impressed with the
thoughts of the world, from the lectures of
his father; so did they
remain in his mind, as the future peacock
resides in the egg.
25. It is also naturally situated in the
embryo of the mind, of every
species of living being, and is gradually
evolved from it, in the manner
of the shoots and sprouts, and leaves and
flowers of trees, growing out
of the seed.
26. Every body sees in his mind, what its
heart desires to possess, as
it is in the case of our prolonged dreams.
27. Know it thus, O Rāma! that a partial view
of the world, rises in the
mind of every body; in the same manner, as it
appears in the mind in a
dream at night.
28. Rāma said:—But tell me sir, whether the
thought and the things
thought of, simultaneously meet themselves in
the mind of the thinker;
or it is the mind only that thinks of the
object which is never met with
by it.
29. Vasishtha replied:—But the sullied mind
cannot easily unite with
the object of its thought, as a dirty and
cold piece of iron, cannot
join with a pure red-hot one, unless it is
heated and purified from its
dross.
30. The pure mind and its pure thoughts, are
readily united with one
another, as the pure waters mix together into
one body of the same kind,
which the muddied water cannot do.
31. Want of desire constitutes the purity of
the mind, which is readily
united with immaterial things of the same
nature like itself. The purity
of the mind conduces to its enlightenment,
and these being united in
one, leads it to the Supreme.
CHAPTER XVIII.—The Incarnation of The Living Spirit
Argument. The Impure state of the soul; and
its Purity leading
to the knowledge of the only One.
Vasishtha continued:—The living souls (Jivātman),
residing in the seeds
of material bodies (bhūta-vīja) in all parts
of the world, differ from
one another; and there according to the
difference in their knowledge of
themselves (tanmātra), or self identity with the Unity.
2. As long as there is no volition nor
nolition, connected with the
identity of the living soul; so long it
reposes in a state of rest, not
unlike that of sound sleep (susupti).
3. But living souls addicted to their wishes,
view their identity with
the same; and find themselves born in their
desired shapes here below.
4. The tanmātras of the living soul and its proclivities, run in one
channel to the reservoir of life, and are
thickened into one living
being by their mutual coalition.
5. Some of them are situated apart from one
another, and are dissolved
also separately; and some are joined
together, and are born as two
gunja fruits growing together.
6. The world consisting of thousands of orbs
like gunja fruits,
contains the assemblage of atoms on atoms;
and these unconnected with
one another, form the great garden of God.
7. These being joined also with one another,
became dense and thick; and
remain in the same place, where it has grown.
8. The different states of the mind, ensuing
upon the absence of its
present objects under its province, brings on
a change in its
constitution, which is called its
regeneration (in a new life).
(Thus the change of the mind under the change
of circumstances, is
reckoned its transformation to a different
being).
9. Thus every regeneration of the mind in a
new life, is accompanied
with its concomitant desires, and their
results. The new life is
attended with its proper body, unless the
mind has lost its
reminiscence.
10. As the pure Spirit taking the form of the
vital breath, performs the
functions of the body; so the mind being
reborn in a new body, is
employed in all the functions of the same
body.
11. The souls of all living beings are
subject to the three states of
waking, dreaming, and sound sleep, which are
caused by the mind and not
by the body.
12. Thus the soul passing under the triple
condition in its living
state, does not give rise to the body, as the
sea-water gives rise to
the waves. (The body is caused by the mind,
and not by the soul which
has no connection with it).
13. The living soul having attained its
intellectual state, and the rest
of the conditions of sound sleep (susupti),
is awakened to the knowledge
of itself, and is released from its rebirth;
while the ignorant soul is
subjected to be born again.
14. And though the knowing and unknowing
souls attain the state of
susupti, and resemble each other in kind; yet the unknowing susupta
soul, which is not awakened to the knowledge
of its spirituality, is
doomed to be reborn in the mortal world.
15. The ubiquity of the intellect, makes it
pass into the mind in its
next birth; and exhibit itself in different
forms in all its succeeding
and subordinate regenerations (stages of
life).
16. Among these repeated births, the
subordinate regenerations resemble
the many folded coatings of a plantain tree;
and the spirit of Brahmā is
contiguous to, and pervades the whole, like
the lofty leaves of the same
tree.
17. The influence of the Divine spirit, is as
cool as the cooling shade
of a plantain arbour. It is of its own
nature; and is as unchangeable as
the pith of the plantain tree, notwithstanding
the changes in all its
outer coats and coverings.
18. There is no difference or diversity in
the nature of Brahmā the
creator, in his repeated and manifold
creations of worlds; for he being
the seed of the world, shoots forth by his
moisture into the form of the
expanded tree of the world, and becomes the
same seed again.
19. So Brahmā taking the form of the mind, becomes
the same Brahmā by
reminiscence of his mind; as the sap of the
soil makes the seed to bring
forth the fruit, which reproduces the like
seed.
20. So the productive seed proceeding from
Brahmā, displays itself in
the form of the world. But as no body can say
what is the cause of the
sap in the seed, so no one can tell why the
spirit of God, teems with
productive seed (of Brahmā) in it.
21. So no one should inquire into the cause
of Brahmā; because his
nature being inscrutable and undefinable, it
is improper to say of him
this or the other.
22. He must not attribute causality to what
is not the cause, nor impute
the causation of material bodies to the
immaterial spirit of God, that
is the prime and supreme cause of all (as the
Prototype). We must reason
rightly regarding what is certain truth, and
not argue falsely about
what transcends our knowledge.
23. The seed casts off its seedy form, and
assumes the shape of the
fruit; but Brahmā (the seed of all) contains
the fruit (of the universe)
in his bosom, without laying aside the seed.
24. The seed of the fruit bears a material
form, but Brahmā—the
universal seed, has no form at all; therefore
it is improper to compare
the visible seed, with the invisible Brahmā;
who is beyond all
comparison.
25. Brahmā evolves himself in his creation
and does not produce the
world like the fruit from the seed; therefore
know the world as the
vacuous heart of Brahmā, and is neither born
nor unborn of itself.
26. The viewer viewing the view, is unable to
see himself (his inward
soul) because his consciousness being
engrossed by external objects, is
disabled from looking into itself.
27. Of what avail is sagacity to one, whose
mind labours under the error
of water in a mirage; and what power has the
mirage over a mind, which
is possessed of its sagacity?
28. As the looker on the clear sky does not
see every part of it, and as
the eye that looks on all others does not see
itself; so we see
everything about us besides ourselves.
29. As the looker on the clear sky, does not
see what is above the
skies; so we see ourselves and others as
material beings; but cannot see
the inward part of the immaterial soul, as
the wise men do.
30. Brahmā who is as clear as the firmament,
cannot be perceived by all
our endeavours; because the sight of the sky
as a visible thing, cannot
give us an insight into the invisible Brahmā;
(which fills all space
with his presence).
31. Such a sight cannot present itself to us,
unless we can see the true
form of God; but it is far from being visible
to the beholder, as the
sight of subtilest things.
32. We see the outward sight because we
cannot see the beholder of the
sight (i.e. God himself who beholds his works). The beholder (God) is
only the existent being, and the visibles are
all nothing.
33. But the all seeing God, being permeated
in the visibles; there can
be no beholding of him as a personal God, nor
of them as distinct
things. Because whatever the Almighty King
proposes to do, he instantly
forms their notions, and becomes the same
himself.
34. As the sweet saccharine juice of the
sugarcane, thickens itself into
the form of the sugarcandy; so the will of
God, becomes compact in the
solid body of the universe.
35. As the moisture of the ground and of the
vernal season, becomes
incorporated in vegetable life, bringing
forth the fruits and flowers;
so the energy of the Divine Intellect, turns
itself into the living
spirit; which shortly appears in a corporeal
form (of the body and its
limbs).
36. As every thing is beheld in our sight,
without being separated from
its idea in the mind; so the inward notion,
shows itself in the shape of
the visible object, like the vision in a
dream, which is but a
representation of the thoughts entertained in
our minds. (i.e. The
thought is the archetype of the appearance).
37. The ideas of self and others, are as
granules in the mind, and are
like the grains of salt, which are produced
in the briny grounds from
moisture of the earth (i.e. saline particles, produced of terrene and
marine serosity). So the multitudes of
thoughts in the mind, are exactly
as the globules of salt or sand on the
seashore (almost infinite in
their number).
38. As the serum of the earth appears in
various shapes (of minerals and
vegetables); so the sap of the intellect,
produces the infinity of ideas
and thoughts, growing as trees in the
wilderness of the mind.
39. These trees again shoot forth in branches
and leaves, of which there
is no end; and so is every other world like a
forest, supplying its sap
to innumerable plants, like the thoughts in
the mind.
40. The intellect perceives in itself the
existence of everything, as
distinctly as the inherent power of the
living soul exhibits itself in
creation. (The power of the soul is its reminiscence
(sanskāra) of the
past, which reproduces and presents the
former impressions in its
subsequent states of birth).
41. Every one's intellect, perceives the
existence of the world, in the
same manner as his living soul, happens to
meet with every thing, as
present before it, by virtue of its former
acts, and their reminiscence
stampt in it.[2]
[2] (It was Plato's doctrine of the souls' reminiscence of a former
apprehension of truth awakened by the traces
of ideas which
sensation discovered in things).
42. There are some living souls, which meet
and join with others and
propagate their species; and then cease to
exist after having lived a
long time together.
43. You must observe with your
keensightedness and well discerning mind,
in order to look into the different states
and thoughts of others. (Read
the minds in their outward look and
indications).
44. There are thousands of worlds like atoms
of earth, contained in the
mind; as in the ample space of the sky and in
the particles of water;
and these reside in those atoms like oil in
the mustard seeds.
45. When the mind becomes perfect, it comes
to be the living being; and
the intellect being purified, becomes all
pervasive. Hence is the union
of the intellect with the living spirit.
46. The self-entity of the lotus-born Brahmā
and all other living
beings, is only their self-deception; and the
sense of the existence of
the world, is as a protracted dream rising
and setting in the mind.
47. Some beings pass into successive states
of existence, as a man
passes from one dream to another; and they
think themselves to be firmly
established in them, as one supposes to be
settled in some house,
appearing to him in his dream.
48. Whatever the intellect dwells upon at any
time or place, it
immediately sees the same appearing therein
before it; as anything which
is seen in dream, appears to be true to the
dreamer all that time.
49. The atom of the intellect, contains the
particles of all our
notions; as the seed-vessel contains the
farinaceous atoms of the future
fruits and flowers, and branches and leaves
(of very large trees).
50. I consider the atoms of the intellect and
the mind, contained within
the particles, of the material body, to be
both vacuous, and joined in
one without causing a duality in their
nature.
51. So the intellect conceives within itself
and of its own particles,
many other atomic germs, under the influence
of particular times and
places and actions and circumstances; which
cannot be extraneous from
itself. (i.e. All notions are the making of the mind, and not
impressions from without).
52. It is this particle of the intellect
which displays the creation,
like the vision of a dream before it; and it
is this conception, that
led the gods Brahmā and others to the idea of
their visible bodies, as
it makes the little insects to think of their
own bodies. (i.e. The
minds of all display the outer world
subjectively to all beings).
53. All that is displayed in this (outer)
world, is in reality nothing
at all; and yet do these living beings,
though possessing the particles
of intellect in them, erroneously conceive
the duality of an extraneous
existence.
54. Some intellects (of particular persons),
display themselves in their
bodies, and derive the pleasure of their
consciousness, through the
medium of their eyes and external organs. (i.e. Some men believe their
bodily senses as the intellect, and no mind
besides).
55. Others look on outward objects as
receptacles of the intellect, from
the belief that the all pervasive,
inseparable and imperishable
intellect (soul), must abide in all and every
one of them. (It is the
intellect which contains the material world,
and not this the other, as
many think omnipresence to mean).
56. Some men view the whole gross world
within the body, instead of the
all pervading intellect of Brahmā; as
Viswarūpa, and these being
hardened by long habit of thinking so, are
plunged in the gulph of
error. (These are the materialists and the
Tāntrika microcosmists).
57. These rove from one error to another, as
a man sees one dream after
another; and roll about in the pit of their
delusion, as a stone when
hurled from a hill downward.
58. Some persons rely on the union of the
body and soul, and others
relying in the soul alone, are placed beyond
the reach of error; while
there are many, who rely on their consciousness
alone, and shine thereby
as rational beings. (The Cartesians and conscientionalists).
59. They that perceive in themselves the
errors of other people, are to
be considered as under the influence of false
dreams in their sleep (but
mind not themselves, that labour under the
error as the dreamer).
60. God being the all-pervading spirit of
nature, is verily seen in the
spirit of every body; and as he is
ubiquitous, his omnipresence is
present in every thing in all places. (This
doctrine is the source of
pantheism, and gives rise to universal
idolatry, which adores the
presiding spirit of the idol, and not the
idol itself).
61. God that shines is the living soul of
every body, resides also in
the soul of that soul, as also in all the
living souls and mind which
are contained within the body of another.
(Such as in living beings born
inside the body of another).
62. One living being is born in another, and
that again within another,
like the coatings of plantain trees, which
grow one under the other over
the inmost pith. (So God is the inmost marrow
of all external lives and
souls, which are as crusts of the same).
63. By reverting the cognition of visibles,
to the recognition of their
essence (tanmātra) in the invisible plenum,
we get rid of our error of
the reality of the formal world, as we do of
the ornament in the
material gold. (i.e. The substances of gold is the material cause of
the formal and changeable jewels). Gloss. The
knowledge of the
consequent (parāk) and antecedent (pratyak),
must blend in that of the
sameness (samāni) of both (yugupat), the
internal (antar) and external
(bāhya) (existences).
64. He who does not inquire into the question
"who he is" and "what is
the world" beside himself; is not
liberated in his inward soul, and
suffers under the continuous fever of an
erroneous life.
65. He is successful in his inquiry, who by
his good understanding,
comes to know how to curb his worldly avarice
day by day.
66. As proper regimen is the best medicine to
secure the health of the
body; so is the habit of keeping the organs
of sense under control, the
only means of edifying the understanding.
67. He who is discoursive in his words, and
not discerning in his mind,
is like a blazing fire in a picture (which
lightens no body). No one can
be wise until he gets rid of his false wit.
68. As the perception of air, comes by the
feeling and not by words of
the mouth; so wisdom proceeds from the
curtailing of desires (and not by
lengthy or loud vociferation).
69. As the ambrosia in the painting is no
ambrosial food, nor the fire
in a picture is burning flame; so a beauty in
a drawing is no beauteous
maid, and wisdom in words is want of wisdom
only.
70. Wisdom serves at first to weaken our
passions and enmity, and then
uproot them at once, and at last it lessens
our desires and endeavours,
and gives an appearance of
holiness to its possessor
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to Brahmasri Sreemaan Vihari Lala Mitra ji for the
collection)
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