The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki
The only complete English translation is
by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891).
CHAPTER LXXXVIII.
FURTHER DESCRIPTION OF THE EARTH.
Argument:--Relation of other wonders, which
Visishtha[**Vasishtha] in his earthly
body.
Vasishtha related:--Hear ye men, what I conceived
afterwards in my consciousness, as I had been looking
in my form of the earth, and considered the rivers
running in
my body.
2. I beheld in one place a number of women, lamenting
loudly on the death of some body; and saw also the great
rejoicing of certain females, on the occasion of their
festive
mirth.
3. I saw a direful dearth and famine in one place, with
the
rapine and plunder of the people; and I beheld the
profusion of
plenty in another, and the joy and friendliness of its
people.
4. In one place I saw a great fire, burning down every
thing before me; and in another a great flood deluging
over
the land, and drowning its cities and towns, in one
common ruin.
5. I beheld a busy body of soldiers somewhere, plundering
a city and carrying away their booty; and I observed the
fierce
raxas and goblins, bent on afflicting and oppressing the
people.
6. I saw the beds of waters brimful with water, and
running
out to water and fertilize the land all around; I saw
also
masses of clouds issuing from mountain caverns, and
tossed
and borne by the winds afar and aloft in the sky; (to
pour
their rains in other quaters[**quarters]).
7. I saw the outpourings[**space removed] of rain-water,
the uprising of verdure,
and the land smiling with plenty; and I felt within
myself
a delight, which made the hairs on my body stand upright;
(as if they were the rising shoots of plants growing out
of my
body).
8. I saw also many places, having hills, forests and
habitations
of men; and also deep and dreadful dens, with wild
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beasts, bees in them. Here there were no foot prints of
human
beings, who avoid those places, for fear of falling in
those diresome
caves.
9. Some places I saw, where warfares were waged between
hostile hosts, and some others also, where the armies
were sitting
at ease, and gladsome conversation with one another.
10. I saw some places full of forests, and others of
barren
deserts with tornados[**tornadoes] howling in them; and I
saw marshy
grounds, with repeated cultivations and crops in them.
11. I saw clear and purling lakes, frequented by cranes
and
herons, and smiling with blooming lotuses in them; and I
saw
likewise barren deserts, with heaps and piles of grey
dust,
collected together by the blowing breezes.
12. I saw some places where the rivers were running, and
rolling
and gurgling in their sport; and at others, the grounds
were
moistened and sown, and shooting forth in germs and
sprouts.
13. I saw also in many places, little insects and worms
moving slowly in the ground; and appeared to me to be
crying
out, O sage, save us from this miserable state.[**=print]
14. I saw the big banian tree, rooting its surrounding
branches in the ground; and I saw many parasite plants
growing
on and about these rooted branches.
15. Huge trees were growing in some places, upon rocks
and mountain tops; and these embracing one another with
their branching arms, were shaking like the billows of
the sea.
16. I saw the raging sun darting his drying rays, and
drawing
the moisture of the shady trees; and leaving them to
stand
with their dried trunks, and their withered and leafless
branches.
17. I saw the big elephants dwelling on the summits of
mountains, piercing the sturdy oaks with the strokes of
their
tusks, which like the bolts of Indra, broke down and
felled and
hurted them with hideous noise below.
18. There grew in some places, many a tender sprout, of
plants, shooting forth with joy as the green blades of
grass; or
as the erect hairs of horripilation rising on the bodies
of saints,
enrapt in their reveries and sitting with their closed
eyelids.
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19. I saw the resorts of flies and leeches and gnats in
the
dirt, and of bees and black bees on the petals of lotus
flowers;
and I saw big elephants destroying the lotus bushes, as
the
plough-share overturns the furrows of earth.
20. I saw the excess of cold, when all living beings were
shrivelled and withered in their bodies; when the waters
were
congealed to stone, and the keen and cold blasts chilled
the
blood of men.
21. I have seen swarms of weak insects, to be crushed to
death under the feet of men; and many diving and swimming
and skimming in the waters below, and others to be born
and
growing therein.
22. I have seen how the water enters in the seeds, and
moistens them in the rainy season; and these put forth
their
hairy shoots on the out side, which grow to plants in the
open
air.
23. I smile with the smiling lotuses, when they are
slightly
shaken in their beds by the gentle winds of heaven; and I
parade with the gliding of rivers, to the ocean of
eternity for
final extinction. (i. e. As the river bearing all things
is lost in
the ocean; so doth the human body become extinct in the
Deity, with the world that it contains within itself).
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CHAPTER LXXXIX.
THE PHENOMENAL AS THE REPRODUCTION OF
REMINISENCE[**REMINISCENCE].
Argument:--The situation of the World in the womb of the
Vacuous
Intellect; and its outward appearance as the Imagination
of the Mind.
Ráma said:--Tell me sir, wheather[**whether] in your
curiosity to
observe the mutations of earthly things and affairs, you
beheld them in their earthly shapes with your corporeal
body;
or saw them in their ideal forms, in the imagination of
your
mind.
2. Vasishtha replied:--It was in my mind, that I thought
myself to have become the great earth; and all what I saw
as
visible, being but simple conceptions of the mind, could
not
possibly have a material form.
3. It is impossible for the surface of the earth to
exist,
without its conception in the mind; whatever thou knowest
either as real or unreal, know them all as the work of
your
mind.
4. I am the pure vacuous Intellect, and it is that which
is
the essence of my soul; it is the expansion of this
intellectual
soul, which is called its will also. (This will is the
eternal
predicate of the Divine Spirit;[** should be
")." ]
5. It is this which becomes the mind and the creative
power
Brahmá, and takes the form of the world and this earth
also;
and this vacuous mind being composed of its desires,
assumes
to itself whatever form it likes to take.
6. It was thus that my mind stretched itself at that
time,
and put forth its desires in all those forms as it liked:
and
from its habitual capacity of containing every thing, it
evolved
itself in the shape of the wide-stretched earth.
7. Hence the sphere of the earth, is no other than the
evolution of the selfsame mind; it is but an
unintelligent counterpart
of the intelligent intellect.
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8. Being thus a void in itself, it continues to remain
forever
as such in the infinite void; but by being considered as
a solid
substance by the ignorant, they have altogether forgotten
its
intellectual nature.
9. The knowledge that this glove[**globe] of earth is
stable, solid
and extended, is as false as the general impression of
blueness
in the clear and vacuous firmament, and this is the
effect of a
deep[**-]rooted bias in the minds of men.
10. It is clear from this argument, that there is no such
thing as the stable earth; it is of the same ideal form
as it was
conceived in the mind, at the first creation of the
world. (The
primary idea of creation is of its subtile and not gross
form.
"And the earth was without form and void[**"]).
11. As the city is situated in a dream, and the intellect
resides in vacuity; so the Divine Intellect dwelt in the
form of
the creation in the very vacuum.
12. Know the three worlds in their intellectual light,
likening
the aerial palace of puerile fancy and hobby; and know
this
earth and all visible appearances, to be the creatures of
imagination.
13. The world is the ectype city or reproduction of the
intellectual
Spirit of god, and not a different kind of production of
the Divine Will; it is in fact no real or positive
existence at
all, although it may appear as solid and
subtantial[**substantial] to the
ignorant.
14. The unreal visible world is known only to the
ignorant,
who are unacquinted[**unacquainted] with its real
intellectual nature, and it is
he only that is acquainted with its true nature, who
knows well
what I have been preaching to you ere long.
15. All this is the intellection of the Divine Intellect,
and
manifestation of the supreme self in itself; the visible
world
which appears as some thing other than the supreme soul,
is
inherent in the very soul. (All this being selfsame with
the
Divine spirit, it is exempt from the imputation of its
duality or
unity with it).
16. As a gemming stone exhibits of itself, the various
hues
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of white, yellow and others, without their being infused
therein;
so the Divine Intellect shows this creation in all its various
aspects within its vacuous sphere.
17. Whereas the spirit neither does anything, nor changes
its nature (on account of its immutability); therefore
this earth
is neither a mental nor material production of it; (but a
phantasmagoria
only).
18. The vacuous Intellect appears as the surface of the
earth, but it is of itself without any depth or breadth,
and trasparent[**transparent]
in its surface; (wherefore it is not the fathomable or
opaque body of the earth).
19. It is of its own nature, that it shows itself as
anything
wherever it is situated; and though it is as clear as the
open
air, yet it appears as the earth, by its universal
inherence into
and pervasion over all things.
20. This terraqueous orb, appearing as something other
than the Great Intellect; appears in the very form as it
[**[is]] pictured
in the mind, like the shapes of things appearing in our
dream; (agreeably to their forms preserved in our
memory).
21. The world subsists in the vacuous spirit, and the
Divine Spirit being vacuous also, there is no difference
in them,
it is the ignorant soul which makes the difference, but
it
vanishes at once before the intelligent soul.
22. All material beings, that have been or are to be in
the
three past, present and future times; are mere errors of
vision,
like the false appearances in our dreams, and the air
built cities
of imagination.
23. The beings that are existent at present, and such as
are
to come into existence in future[**space added]; and the
earth itself, are of the
same nature of an universal fallacy, in lieu of the
Divine spirit
pervading the whole.
24. I myself and all others that are included in this
world,
have the visible perceptions of all things as they are
preserved
in our reminiscence.
25. Know Ráma the Divine Intellect only, as the supreme
soul and undecaying essence of all existence; and this it
is that
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sustains the whole in its person, without forsaking its
spirituality.
Knowing therefore the whole world as contained in
thyself,
which is not different from the supreme soul, thou shalt
be exempt and liberated from all.
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CHAPTER LXXXX.
DESCRIPTION OF THE WATERY CREATION.
Argument:--Description of the Waters and Islands on the
surface of the
Earth, and Watery things in all nature.
Ráma said:--Tell me Sir, what other things
(lit[**.]--worlds),
you saw on the surface of the earth.
2. Vasishtha replied:--With my waking soul, I thought as
it were in my sleep that I was assimilated to land, and
saw
many groups of lands scattered [**[on]] this earth: I saw
them in my
mysterious vision, and then reflected them in my mind.
3. As I beheld those groups of lands, lying every where
before my intellectual vision; the outer world receded
from my
sight, all dualties[**dualities] were quite lost and
hushed in my tranquil
soul.
4. I saw those groups as so many spots, lying in the
expanded
spirit of Brahma; which was a perfect void, quite calm,
and
inert to all agitations.
5. I saw every where large tracts, as great and solid as
the
earth itself: but found them in reality to be nothing
more, than
the empty dreams appearing in the vacant mind.
6. Here there was no diversity nor uniformity neither,
nor
was there any entity or nihility either; there was no
sense of
my egoism also, but all blinded in an indefinite void.
7. And though I conceived myself to be something in
existence;
yet I perceived it had no personality of its own, and its
entity depended on that of one sole Brahma, who is
increate
and ever undecaying; (or never decays).
8. Thus these sights being as appearances of dream, in
the
empty space of the intellect; it is not known how and in
what
form they were situated in the divine mind, before they
were
exhibited in creation.
9. Now as I saw those tracts of land in the form of so
many
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worlds, so I beheld large basins of water also
(surrounding them
on all sides).
10. Then my active spirit, became as the inert element of
water in many a great (or reservoirs of water); and these
are
called as seas and oceans, in which lay and played with a
gurgling
noise,[**.]
11. These waters are incessantly gliding on, bearing upon
them loads of grass and straw, and bushes of plants and
shrubs
and trunks of trees; which float upon them, as the bugs
and
leeches crawl and creep on your body.
12. These are borne by the circling waters, like small
insects
and worms into the crevices of waves; and thence hurled
into
the womb of the whirlpools, whose depth is beyond all
comparison.
13. The currents of the waters were gliding, with the
leaves
and fruits of trees in their mouths; while the floating
creepers
and branches, described the encircling necklaces about
them.
14. Again the drinkable water being taken by the mouth,
goes into the hearts of living beings; and produces
different
effects on the humours of animal bodies, according to
their
properties at different seasons.
15. Again it is this water which descends in the form of
dews, sleeps on leafy beds in the shape of icicles, and
shines
under the (moon-beams on all sides), all the time and
without
interruption.
16. It runs with irrisistible[**irresistible] course to
many a lake and
brook as its home, it flows in the currents of rivers,
unless it is
stopped by some bridge or embankment.
17. The waters of the sea like ignorant men on earth, ran
up and down in search of the proper course; but failing
to find
the same, they tumbled and turned about in eddies and
whirlpools
(of doubts).
18. I saw the water on the mountain-top, which thought it
rested on high, yet it fell owing to its restlessness in
the form
of a water-fall in the cataract, where it was dashed to a
thousand
splashes. (So I found myself to be hurled down by my
sins, from
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my high position in heaven, to a thousand devious paths
on
earth).
19. I saw the water rising from the earth in the form of
vapour on high, and then mixing with the blue ocean of
the
azure sky, or appearing as blue saphhires[**sapphires]
among the twinkling
stars of heaven.
20. I saw the waters ascending and riding on the back
of the clouds, and there joining with the lightnings as
their
hidden consorts, shining as the cerulean god Vishnu,
mounted
on the back of the hoary serpent--vásuki.
21. I found this water both in the atomatic[**atomic] and
elementary
creations, as well as in all gross bodies on earth, and I
found it
lying unperceived in the very grain of all things, as the
omnipresent
Brahma inheres in all substances.
22. This element resides in the tongue; which perceives
the
flavour of things from their particles, and conveys the
sense to
the mind. Hence I ween the feeling of taste relates to the
soul
and its perception, and not to the sensibility of the
body. (The
Divine Spirit is said to be flavour--rasovaitat, and it
is the
human soul only that perceives it).
23. I did not taste this spiritual savour, by means of
the
body or any of its organs; it is felt in the inner soul
only, and
not by the perceptions of the mind, which are misleading
and
therefore false and unreal.
24. There is this flavour scattered on all sides, in the
sapidity
of the season fruits and flowers; I have tasted them all
and left the flowers to be sucked by the bees and
butterflies.
25. Again the sentient soul abides in the form of this
liquid, in the bodies and limbs of all the fourteen kinds
of living
bodies; (in some of which it appears in the form of red
hot
blood).
26. It assumes the form of the showers of rain, and
mounts
on the back of the driving winds; and then it fills the
whole
atmosphere, with a sweet aromatic fragrance. (This sweet
scent is called in Bengali [Bengali: **], which is a
corruption of
[Bengali/Sanskrit: **] swádu or sweet).
27. Ráma! remaining in that state of my sublimated abs-*
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*traction, I perceived the particulars of the world in
each individual
and particular particle.
28. Remaining unknown to and unseen by any body, I
perceived the properties of all things, as I marked those
of
water, with this my sensible body, appearing as gross
matter.
29. Thus I saw thousands of worlds, and the repeated
rising
and fallings, like the leaves of plantain trees: (or
rather the
barks of those trees, which grow upon and envelop one
another).
30. Thus did this material world, appear to me in its
immaterial
form; as a creation of the Intellect, and presenting a
pure and vacuous aspect.
31. The phenominal[**phenomenal] is nothing, and it is
its mental perception
only that we have all of this world; and this also
vanishes into nothing, when we know this all to be a mere
void.
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CHAPTER LXXXXI.
DESCRIPTION OF IGNEOUS, LUMINOUS AND BRILLIANT
OBJECTS IN NATURE.
Argument:--Vasishtha's Identity of his soul with light,
and his observation
of it in all lightsome substances.
Vasishtha related:--I then believed myself as identical
with light, and beheld its various aspects in the
luminous
bodies of the sun and moon, in the planets and stars, and
in fire and all shining objects.
2. This light has by its own excellence, and it becomes
the
light of the universe; it is as brilliant as the mighty
monarch,
before whose all surveying sight, the thievish darkness
of night
flies at a distance.
3. This light like a good prince, takes upon it the
likeness
of lamps, and reigns in the hearts of families and houses
in a
thousand shapes (of chandeliers &c[**.]), to drive
off the thievish
night, and restore the properties of all before their
sight.
4. Being glad to lighten all peoples (worlds), it
enkindles
the orbs of the sun, moon and stars; who with their rays
and
beams, dispel afar the shade of night from the face of
the skies.
5. It impoverishes the darkness, that bereaves all beings
from their view of the beauties of nature, and dispenses
the
useful light, which brings all to the sight of the
visibles.
6. It employs the axe at the root of the nigrescent
arbour of
night, and adds a purity and price to all things; it is
this that
gives value to all metals [**[and]] minerals, and makes
them so dear to
mankind.
7. It shows to view all sorts of colours, as white, red,
black
and others. It is light that is the cause of colours as
the
parent is the cause of the progeny.
8. This light is in great favour, with every one upon
this
earth; wherefore it is protected with great fondness in
all houses,
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as they foster their children in them, by means of
earthen walls
(in order to preserve them from inclement winds).
9. I beheld a slight light, even in the darkness of the
infernal
region (i. e. the dismal hell fire); and I saw it partly
in the
particles of dust, which compose all bodies on the
surface of the
earth.
10. I saw light, which is the first and best of the works
of
God, to be eternally present in the abodes of the
celestial; and
observed it as the lamp of the mansion of this world, which
was
the great deep of waters and darkness before. ("And
darkness
reigned over the face of the deep").
11. Light is the mirror of the celestial nymphs of all
the
quarters of heaven, (i. e. it shows and points out the
face of the
heavens to us); it scatters like the winds the dust of
frost
from before the face of night, it is the essence of the
luminous
bodies of the sun, moon and fire, and the cause of the
red and
bright hue of the face of heaven.
12. It discloses the cornfields to day-light, and ripens
their
corn, by dispelling darkness from the face of the earth.
It
washes also the glassy bowl of heaven, and glitters in
the dewy
waters upon its face.
13. It is by reason of its giving existence to, and
bringing to
view all things in the world, it is said to be the
younger brother,
of the transcendent light of divine Intellect. (The gross
light
is the reflexion of holy light).
14. It is the light of the sun, which is the reviver of
the lotus
bed of the actions of mortals; and which is the life of
living
beings on earth; it is the source of our sight of the
forms of
all things, as the intellect is that of all our thoughts
and perceptions.
15. Light decorates the face of the sky, with numberless
gems of shining stars; and it is the solar light that
makes the
divisions of days, months, years and seasons in the
course of
time, and makes them appear as the passing waves in the
ocean
of eternity.
16. This immense universe bears the appearance of the
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boundless ocean, wherein the sun and moon are revolving
as
the rolling waves, over the scum of this muddy earth.
17. Light is the brilliancy of gold, and the colour of
all
metals; it is the glitter of glass and gems, the flask of
lightnings,
and the vigour of men in general.
18. It is moon shine in the noctarnal[**nocturnal] orb,
and the glittering
of glancing eye lids; it is the brightness of a smiling
countenance,
and the sweetness of tender and affectionate looks.
19. It gives significancy to the gestures, of the face,
arms,
eyes and frownings of the eye-brows; and it adds a blush
to
maiden faces, from the sense of their invincibleness.
(Laughter
spring from pride).
20. The heat of this light, makes the mighty to spurn the
world as a straw, and break the head of the enemy with a
slap;
and strike the heart of the lion with awe.
21. It is this heat which makes the hardy and bold
combatants,
engage in mutual fighting with drawn and jangling
swords; and clad in armours clanking on their bodies.
22. It gives the gods their antagonism against the
demons,
and makes the demoniac races also antagonistic to the
gods; it
gives vigour to all beings, and causes the growth of the
vegetable
kingdom.
23. All these appeared to me as the mirage in a desert,
and
I beheld them as phantasms in my mind; and this scene of
the
world was situated in the womb of vacuum, and I beheld
these
sceneries, O bright eyed Ráma, all these sceneries seem
to resemble
the appearances of a phantasmagoria to me.
24. I then beheld the glorious sun above, stretching his
golden rays to all the ten sides of the universe, and
himself
flying as the phoenix in the sky; and I saw also this
speck
of the earth, resembling a villa beset by the walls of
its
mountains.
25. The sun turned about and lent his beams to the moon,
and to the submarine fire beneath the dark blue ocean;
and
stood himself as the great lamp of the world on the stand
of the
meridian, to give the light of the day.
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26. I saw the moon rising as the face of the sky, with a
lake
of cooling and sweet nectar in it; the moonlight
appearing as
the soft and sweet smile of the sable goddess of night,
and as
the glow of the nightly stars.
27. The moon is the comparison of all beautiful objects
in
the world, and is the most beloved object at night, of
females,
and of the blue lotus, and companion of the vesper or
evening
star.
28. I beheld the twinkling stars likening to the clusters
of
flowers in the arbour of the skies, and delighting the
eyes and
faces (of their spectator); and they appeared to me as
flocks of
butterflies, flying in the fair field of the firmament.
29. I saw many shining gems washed away by the waters,
and tossed about by the waving arms of the ocean; [*]and
I saw
many jewels also in the hands of jewellers, and balanced
by
them in their scales.
30. I looked into the submarine fire lying latent in the
sea,
and the eddies whirling the silvery shrimps in the
whirlpools,
I saw the golden rays of the sun, shining as filaments of
flowers
upon the waters, and I saw also the lightnings flashing
in the
midst of clouds. (There is a play upon the words abdhi
and
abda which mean the sea, the eddy, the marine fire, the
cloud
&c[**.]).
31. I witnessed the auspicious sacrificial fire, blazing
with
ineffable light; and marked its burning flame, splitting
and
cracking the sacred wood, with a crackling and clattering
noise.
32. I saw the lusture[**lustre] of gold and other metals
and minerals,
and I found also how they are reduced to ashes by the act
of
calcination, like learned men overpowered by the clownish
ignorant.
33. I observed the brightness of pearls, which gave them
a place on the breasts of women in the form of necklaces;
* (Note.--Full many a gem of brightest ray serene, the
dark unfathomed
caves of ocean bear. gray[**Gray]).
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as also on the necks and chests of men and giants, and of
Gandharvas
and chiefs of men.
34. I beheld the firefly, with which the beauties adorn
their
foreheads[**space removed] with bright spots; but which
are trod upon on the
way by ignorant passers as worthless; hence the value of
things
depends on their situation and not real worth.
35. I saw the flickering lightning in the unmoving cloud,
and the fickle shrimps skimming upon the waters of the
calm
ocean; I heard also the hoarse noise of whirlpools in the
quiet
and unsounding main, and marked how restlessness
consorted
with restive and sedate.
36. Some times I saw the soft petals of flowers, were
used
as lamps to light the bridal beds in the inner
apartments.
37. Being then exhausted as the extinguished lamp, I
became
as dark as colyriam[**collyrium]; and slept silently in
my own cell,
like a tortoise with its contracted limbs.
38. Being tired with my travel throughout the universe,
at
the kalpánta end of the world; I remained fixed amidst
the
dark clouds of heaven, as the elephant of Rudra abides
there in
company with (his lightning).
39. At the end when the worlds were dissolved, and the
waters were absorbed by the submarine fires; I kept
myself
dancing in the etherial space, which devoid of its
waters.
40. Sometimes I was borne on high by the burning fire,
with its teeth of the sparks and its flaming arms, and
its flying
fumes resembling the dishevelled hairs on its head.
41. The conflagration burnt down the straw-built houses
before it, and fed upon the animal bodies on its way; and
consumed
the eight kinds of wood, that are ordained in sacrificial
rites.
42. I saw the sparks of fire, emitted by the strokes of
hammer, from the red hot iron of
blaksmiths[**blacksmiths], were rising and
flying about like golden brickbats, to hit the hammerer.
43. In another place I saw the whole universe, lying
invisible
for ages in the womb of stony mundane egg.
44. Ráma said:--Tell me sir, how you felt yourself in
that
-----File:
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state of confinement in the stone; and whether it was a
state of
pleasure or pain, to you and the rest of beings.
45. Vasishtha replied:--As when a man falls into sleep
with the dulness of his senses, and has yet his airy
intellect
fully awake in him; so was,[**errant comma?] that
outwârd[**outward] insensibility feel[**filled]
with
intellectual sensibility. (So a man assimilating himself
to
Brahma, is full of his internal light and felicity).
46. The great Brahma awakens the soul, when the body
lies as insensible as the dull earth; so the sleeping man
remaining
in his torpid state, has his internal soul full with the
divine
spirit, (which fills it with true intellectual delight
sachchidánanda).
47. Because the earthly or corporeal body of man, is
verily
a falsity and has no reality in it; it appears as visual
phantom to
the sight of the spectator, but in reality it is one with
unchanged
spirit of god.
48. Knowing this certain truth, whoso views these all as
an
undivided whole; sees the quintessence as one essence,
and
the subjective and the objective as the same
(Lit[**.]:--He does
not fall into the blunder of the viewer and the view).
49. I then having assimilated myself to the pure spirit
of
Brahma, viewed all things in and as Brahma, because there
is
none beside Brahma, that is or can be or do anything from
naught.
50. When I viewed all these visibles as manifestation of
the
self-same Brahma, then I left myself also situated in the
state
or divinity of Brahma himself.
51. When on the other hand, I reflected myself as
combined
with the pentuple material elements; I found myself
reduced
to my dull nature, and was incapable of my intellectual
operation
of excogitation, and the conception of my higher nature.
52. I thought myself as asleep, notwithstanding my power
of intellection (which lay dormant in me); and being thus
overtaken
by the conception of my sleeply[**sleepy]
insensiblity[**insensibility], how could I
cogitate of anything otherwise; which is of a
transcendental
nature.
53. He whose soul is awakened by knowledge, loses the
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sense of his corporeal body, and raises himself to his
átiváhika
or spiritual form, by means of his purer understanding.
54. A man having his sentient and spiritual body, either
in
the form of a minute particle or larger size as one may
wish,
remains perfectly liberated from the fetters of his body
and his
bondage in this world.
55. With his intelligent and spiritual body, a man is
enabled
to enter into the impenetrable heart of a hard stone, or
to
rise to heaven above or descend to the regons[**regions]
below.
56. Hence, O Ráma, I having then that intelligent and
subtile body of mine, did all that I told you, with my
essence of
infinite understanding.
57. In my entrance into the hard stone, and my passages
up and down the high heaven and the nether world, I
experienced
no difficulty from any side.
58. With my subtile and intelligent body, I passed every
where, and felt everything, as I used to do with material
body.
59. One going of his own accord in one direction, and
wishing
to go in another, [**[he]] immediately finds himself even
then and
there, by means of his spiritual body.
60. Know this spiritual and subtile body, to be no other
than your understanding only; and now you can well
perceive
yourself to be of that imperishable form, by means of your
intelligence
also.
61. Thinking one's self as the vacuous Intellect, abiding
in
the sun and all visible objects; the spiritualist comes
to know
the existence of his self only, and all else that is
beside himself
as nothing.
62. But how is it possible to view the visible world as
inexistent,
to which it is answered that it appears as real as the
unreal dream to the sleeping person, but vanishes into
nothing
upon his waking (scholium). Reliance in the inexistent
world,
is as the belief of the ignorant man in
faslehoods[**falsehoods]; and this
reliance is confirmed by habit, although it is not relied
upon by
others that know the truth.
63. But this reliance is as vain as the vanity of our
desires,
and the falsity of our aerial castle building; all which
are as
-----File:
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false as the marks of waves, left on the sea sands; or as
the
marking of anything with a charcoal, which is neither
lasting
nor perceptible to any body.
64. We see the woodlands, blooming with full blown
flowers and blossoms; but these sights are as deluding,
as the
sparks of fire, presenting the appearance of a flower
garden in
fire works.
65. These pyrotechnical works, which are prepared with so
much labour; burst on a sudden at the slight touch of
fire,
and then they are blown away as soon, as the prosperity
of
sharpers (which is transcient[**transient]).
66. Ráma, I beheld the flourish of the world, to be as
false
and fleeting, as the appearance of light in the particles
of dust;
all these appearing as so many things of themselves, are
in fact
no other than the appearances of hills and cities, in the
vacuity
of the mind in our dreams at sleep.
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CHAPTER LXXXXII.
DESCRIPTION OF THE CURRENT AIR, AS THE
UNIVERSAL SPIRIT.
Argument:--Vasishtha's assuming the form of Air, and his
finding its
pervasion all over the world as its vital spirit.
Vasishtha continued;[**:]--Now in my curiosity to know
the world, I thought myself as transformed to the form
of the current air; and by degrees extended my essence,
all
over the infinite extent of the universe.
2. I became a breeze with a desire, to view the beauty of
the lovely plants all about me; and to smell the
sweetness of
the fragrant blossoms of kunda, Jassamine[**jessamine] as
lotuses.
3. I bore about the coolness of the falling rains and
snows
and dew drops, with a view to restore freshness to the
languid
limbs of the tired and weary labourer.
4. My spirit in the form of the current winds, bore about
the essences of medicinal plants and the fragrance of
flowers;
and carried away the loads of grass, herbs, creepers and
the
leaves of plants all around.
5. My spirit travelled as the gentle zepher[**zephyr], in
the auspicious
hours of morn and eve; to awaken and lull to sleep the
lovely
maids; again it takes the tremendous shape of a tornado
in
tempest, to break down and bear away the rocks.
6. In paradise it is florid, with the reddish dust of
mandára
flowers; in the mountains it is hoary with hoar frost and
snows;
and in hell it burns in the infernal fires.
7. In the sea it has a curvilinear motion, with the
curling
waves and revolving whirlpools; and in heaven it bears
aloft
and moves the clouds, both to cover and uncover the
mirror of
moon hid under them.
8. In heaven it has the name of the prabáha air, to hold
aloft the starry frame; and guide the course of the
starry
-----File:
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legions and the cars of their commanding generals--the
post of
Gods.
9. It is accounted as the younger brother of thought,
owing
to its great velocity; it is formless but moveth over all
forms;
and though intangible, yet its touch is as delightsome,
as the
cooling paste of sandal wood.
10. It is hoary old with the hoar frost, it bears on its
head;
it is youthful with wafting the fragrance of vernal
flowers, and
it is young when it is quiet and still.
11. Here it roves at large, loaded with the fragrance of
the
garden of Eden; and there it moves freely bearing the
perfumes
of the grove of the Gandharva Chitraratha, to tired
persons
and worn out lovers.
12. Though fatigued with its toil, of rasing[**raising]
and moving the
incessant waves, of the cooling and purifying stream of
Ganges;
yet it is ever alert to lull the toil of others, being
quite forgetful
of its own weariness.
13. It gently touches its brides of vernal plants,
bending
down under the load of their full blown flowers; which
are
ever shaking their leafy hands, and flitting eyes of
fluttering
bees, to resist its touch.
14. The fleeting air buried its weariness in its soft bed
of
clouds; after drinking dew drops exuding from the disc of
the
moon; and being fanned by the cooling breath of lotuses
(growing
in lakes of heaven).
15. like the swiftest steed of Indra, he bears the farina
of
all flowers to him in heaven; and becomes a compeer with
Indra's elephant, who is giddy with the fragrance of his
ichor.
16. Then blew the winds, with the soft breath of the
shepherd's
horns; and drove away the clouds like cattle, and blasted
the showering rain drops; that served to set down the
dust
of the earth.
17. It is perfumed with the fragrance of flowers flying
in
the air, and is the uterine brother of all sounds which
proceed
from the womb of vacuum: (which is the common source of
wind
-----File:
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and sound[**)]. It runs in the blood and humours, within
the veins
and arteries of bodies; and is the mover of the limbs of
persons.
18. It dwells within the hearts of human bodies as their
life, and is the soul and sole cause of all their vital
functions. It
is ever on its wing, and being ubiquitous throughout the
world,
it is acquainted with the secrets of all the works of
Brahmá.
19. It is the plunderer of the rich treasure of odours,
and
the supporter of etherial cities; it is the destroyer of
heat and
darkness as the moon, and this air is the milky ocean,
that
produces the fair and cooling moon.
20. It forms the islands (by undulation of waves and
collection
of sands); and is the preserver of the machine of animal
bodies, by means of its conducting the vital airs.
21. It is ever present before us, and yet invisible in
itself,
like an imaginary palace; or as oil in the pods of palm trees,
or fetters on the legs of infuriate elephants.
22. It blows away in a moment, all the mountains at the
end of the world; it marks the waves with their curls,
and collects
the sands of rivers (to large beaches and coasts).
23. It is false in appearance, as water in a cloud of
smoke,
or a whirlpool in it; it is as invisible as the streams
above the
firmament, and the lotuses growing in the lakes of the
blue
etherial sky.
24. It is covered with bits of rotten grass, in its form
of the
gusts of wind; it opens the lotus blossoms by its gentle
breeze,
and showers down the rains in its form of sounding
blasts.
25. Its body is as a wind instrument at home, and as an
elephant in the forest of the sky; it is a friend to the
dust of
the earth, and a wooer of flowers in woods and gardens.
26. It is ever busy in its several acts, of congealing
and
drying, of upholding and moving, and of cooling the body
and
carrying the perfumes; and is incessantly employed in
these
six fold functions to the end of the world.
27. It is as fleet as light, and adroit in extracting
juices as
the absorbent heat; and is ever employed in the acts of
contraction
and distension of the limbs of bodies, at the will of
every body.
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28. It passes unobstracted[**unobstructed] through the
avenues, of every
part of the city of the body; and by its circulation in
the heart,
and distribution of the bile and chyle through blood
vessels, it
preserves the functions of life.
29. It is expert in repairing the losses, of the great
citadel
of the living body; by removing its excrements and
replacing
its gastric juices: (i. e. the six humours of the body),
and the
formation of its blood and fat, and the flesh, bones, and
skin.
30. I looked through every particle of the body, by means
of the circulating air; as I viewed every part of the
universe
by means of the circumambient air; and it is by means of
my
vital airs, that I conduct this body of mine.
31. The winds bear innumerable particles on their back,
as if they were so many worlds in the air, while in fact
there
is nothing borne by them, when there is naught but an
utter
negative vacuity every where.
32. I viewed all bodies including those of the gods, as
those
of Hari and Brahmá, and the Gandharvas and Vidyádharas;
and I saw the bright sun and moon, of fire and Indra and
others.
33. I saw the seas and oceans, the islands and mountains,
stretching as far as the visible horizon; I beheld also
the
other worlds, and the natures and actions of their
inhabitants.
34. I saw the heaven and earth and the infernal regions
also, and marked their peoples and their lives and deaths
likewise.
35. So I beheld various kinds of beings, composed of the
five elements; and traversed in the form of air, throughout
all
parts of the universe, as a bee enters the foliage of a
lotus
flower.
36. In my aerial form, I passed through the bodies of all
corporeal beings, which are composed of earth, water, air
and
fire; I sucked the guice[**juice] of all aminal[**animal]
bodies, and drank the
moisture of trees drawn by their roots.
37. I passed over all cold and solid bodies, and the
liquid
paste of sandal wood; I rested in the cool lunar disk,
and
lulled myself on beds of snows and ice.
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38. I have tasted the sweets of all season fruits and
flowers
in the arbours of every part of this earth; I have drunk
my
fill in the flower-cups of spring; and left the
lees[**?--P2:ok/SOED] and leavings
for the beverage of bees.
39. Then I rolled on the high and soft beds of clouds,
which
are spread out in the wide fields of the firmament; and I
slept
on soft and downy wings of clouds, as in a place bedded
by
heaps of butter.
40. I reposed on the petals of flowers, and on the green
leaves of trees; and rested on the soft bodies of
heavenly
nymphs, without any concupiscence on my part.
41. I played with the blossoms of lilies and lotuses, in
their
beds and bushes; and I joined with the cackling geese and
swans in their pleasure lakes.
42. I moved with the course of streams, and with the
rippling
waters of lakes and rills; and I bore the orb of the
earth on
my back, and carried about me all her mountains, as hairs
upon
my body.
43. The wide extending hills and mountains, the
lengthening
rills falling from them, together with all the seas and
oceans,
are all as pictures represented in the mirror of my body.
44. All the terrestrials and celestials, that live and
move at
large upon my body; appear to be moving and flying about
me
as lice and flies.
45. It is by my favor, that the sun receives the various
colours
with which he shines; and which he diffuses to the leaves
of
trees, in the sundry hues of red and black, of white,
yellow and
green.
46. The earth is situated with the seven seas,
surrounding
the seven great islands (continents); as so many
wristlets are
encircled about the wrists of men.
47. I was delighted at the flight of the celestial
nymphs, also,
as I see with gladness myself within.
48. The earth with its rivers of pure water and its solid
hills and rocks, were as the veins and blood, and flesh
and bones
of my body.
49. I beheld innumerable elephantine clouds, and
countless
-----File:
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suns and moons in the starry frame on the sky; as I see
the
flights of gnats and flies in the vacuum of my mind.
50. In my minute form of the intellect, I held, O Ráma,
the earth with its footstools of the nether regions upon
my
head; (because the vacuous intellect is capable of
containing
and upholding all things).
51. I remained in my sole vacuous and spiritual state, in
all
places and things at all times, and as the free agent of
myself;
and yet without my connection with any thing whatsoever.
52. In this state of my spirituality, I had the knowledge
of
both the intellectual and material worlds; and of all
finite and
infinite, visible and invisible and formal as well as
formless,
things.
53. I beheld in my own spirit, a thousand worlds and
mountains and seas; and they appeared as carved statues
and
engravings in the vacuous tablet of my mind.
54. I bore in my spiritual body, many occult and visible
worlds; and they showed themselves as clearly to my
inmost
soul, as if they were the reflexions of real objects in a
mirror.
55. So I perceived the four elemental bodies of earth and
air, and of fire and water, in my vacuous soul; in same
manner
as we see the delusive objects of our dream in the
vacuity of
our intellect.
56. I saw also in that state of my hypnotism, innumerable
worlds rising before me in each particle of matter; as it
appeared to fly before me in the hollow space of vacuum.
57. I beheld a world in every atom, which was flying in
empty air; just as we see the many creations of our
dreams,
and the many creatures in those dreams.
58. I myself have become the orb of the earth, and the
clusters of islands (as their pervading spirit
(adhyásikátma);
though my spirit never comes in contact with anything at
all).
59. With my earthly body, I suck the rain water and the
waters of the seas; in order to supply the moisture of
the
moisture of trees, on account of their producing the
juicy
fruits, for the food of living beings.
60. At the time of my coming to pure understanding, and
-----File: 511.png---------------------------------------------------------
the clair-voyance of my intellectual sight; I find the
millions of
worlds and all worldly things, disappearing from my view
and
all uniting in One sole unity.
61. This is a miracle of the intellect, and it strikes
with
wonder in ourselves; that the miracles of the inner mind,
manifest themselves as external sights before our eyes.
(i. e.
The subjective appearing as the objective).
62. I felt it painful to think of the existence of
nothing
any where; but I found out the truth, that their is
nothing in
reality except one spiritual substance, which displays
all these
wonders in itself.
63. There is but One universal soul, which is the ever
undecaying cause of all; and produces and lives
throughout[**space removed]
the whole. (This is called the visva rupa
hypostasis[**??--P2:OK] of god,
as it is expressed by the poet "These as they
change, are but
the varied god," and the world is full of Him). And
as my soul
was awakened to knowledge, I saw this whole in the soul
of
Brahma.
64. Being awakened to the knowledge of the universal
soul, as the all and every where, ubiquitous and all
supporting;
I became insensible of all objects, and was myself lost
in the
all subjective unity.
65. It is in the vacuous convexity of the pure divine
spirit,
that the continuous creations appear to rise in the
intellect;
but it is the extinction of these, which extinguishes the
burning flame (of worldliness) in the mind,
and exterminates the
knowledge of all these ideal particulars, into that of
One infinite
and ever existent entity.
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CHAPTER LXXXXIII.
ADVENT AND PSALMODY OF A SIDDHA IN THE AERIAL
ABODE OF VASISHTHA.
Argument:--The appearance of the spirit of a siddha in
the aerial cell
of Vasishtha, and his heavenly canticle.
Vasishtha continued:--As my mind was turned from the
sight of phenomenals, and employed in the meditation
of the only One; I found myself to be suddenly
transported to
my holy cell in the air.
2. There I lost the sight of my own body, and
know[**knew] not
where I was seated; when all of a sudden the sacred
person of
a siddha or aerial saint, appeared in view, and to be
seated
before me.
3. He sat in his mood of deep meditation, and was
entranced in his thought of the supreme spirit; his
appearance
was as bright as the sun, and his person was as shining
as the
flaming fire.
4. He sat quiet and steadily in his posture of padmásana
between his two knees and heels; and remained absorbed in
meditation, having no motion of his body, nor any thought
of
anything in his mind.
5. His body was besmeared with ashes, and his head was
borne erect upon his shoulders; he sat quiet and quite at
ease,
with his bright countenance and in sedate posture.
6. The palms of both his hands were lifted up, and were
set
open below his navel; and their brightness caused his
lotiform
heart to be as full-blown, as the sun-beam expands the
lotuses
in lakes.
7. His eyelids were closed, and his eyesight was as weak,
as to view all the visibles in one light of whiteness,
and they
seemed to be as sleepy, as the closing petals of the
lotus of the
close of the day.
-----File:
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8. His mind was as calm in all its closets (i. e.
thoughts),
as the sides of the horizon in their stillness; and his
soul was
as unperturbed, as the serene sky freed from a tempest:
(calm
after storm).
9. I who did not see my own person, could yet plainly
perceive
that of the saint thus placed before me; and then I
reflected in my mind, with the perspicacity of my
discernment.
10. I find this great and perfect siddha of saint in this
solitary part of the firmament; and I believe him to be
as absorbed
in his meditation, as I am at my ease in this lonely
spot.
11. It is very likely that this saint, being earnest in
his
desire of deep meditation, and finding this retired cell
of mine
most favourable to it, has called here of his own accord.
12. He though[**thought] I had cast off my mortal coil,
and could not
perceive by his deep attention that I had returned to it;
so he
threw away my dead body as he thought it, and made his
residence in that cell of mine.
13. Seeing thus the loss of my body here, I thought of
repairing
to my own abode (in the constellation of pleiades [Sanskrit:
Saptarshi
mandalam][**)] and as I was attempting to proceed
thereto, I resigned
my attachment to my lone cell (which was now held by
another).
14. This cell was dilapidated also in time, and there
remained
an empty void only in lieu of it; and the saint that
had taken my place therein, lost his stay also for want
of the
cell, and fell downward in his meditative mood.
15. Thus that lonely cell was lost to me, together with
the
loss of my fond desire for it, just as a visionary and
imaginary
city, vanishes with the dream and desire, which presented
it to
our view.
16. The meditative saint then fell down from it, as the
rain
falls down from the cloud; and as a spot of cloud is
blown away
to the winds in empty air, like the disc of the moon
traversing
in the sky.
17. He felt as a heavenly spirit falls to earth, after
fruition
of the reward of his meritorious acts; and as a tree
falls head-*
-----File:
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*long being uprooted from the ground, so he fell down
upon the
earth.
18. So when wish for stability of our dwelling, with the
continuance of our lives; we see on a sudden the
termination
of both, as it happened to the falling Siddha.
19. Seeing the falling Siddha, I felt a kind concern for
him;
and in the flight of my mind, came down from heaven in my
spiritual form, to that spot on earth where he had
fallen.
20. He fell on the wings of the current air, which
conveyed
him whirling as in a whirlwind, beyond the limits of the
seven
continents and their seven fold oceans, to a place known
as the
land of gold and the paradise of the gods.
21. He fell from the sky in his very posture of padmásana
as he had been sitting there before; and sat with his
head
and upper part of the body erect, owing to the ascension
or
upward motion of the prána and apána breaths that were
inhaled by him, (The rising breath like the rope of a
pitcher,
keeps the body from sinking downward).
22. Though hurled from such height, and carried to such
distance; yet he did not wake from the torpor of his
samádhi-meditation,
(to which he sat fixed and intent); but fell down
insensible as a stone, and as lightly as a bale of
cotton.
23. I was then much concerned for his sake, and from my
great anxiety to waken him; I roared aloud like a cloud
from
my place in the sky, and shower[**showered] a flood of
rain-water also upon
him.
24. I went on darting hail stones, and flashing as
lightnings
in order to waken him; and I succeeded to bring him to
sense,
as the clouds rouse the peacock in the rainy season.
25. His body flushed and his eyes opened, as a blooming
blossom and full blown flowers; and the drizzling rains
enlivened
his soul, as the driving rain, gives the lotuses of lakes
to
bloom.
26. Finding him awake, and seated in my presence, I cast
my complacent look upon him; and asked him very politely,
about the prosperity of his spiritual concerns.
27. I said, tell me, O great sage, who you are, and where
is
-----File:
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your abode, and what to do; and how is it that you are so
insensible of your state, notwithstanding your fall from
so
great a distance. (It is a pity that men are so
insensible of the
fall of their heavenly souls to this miserable earth).
28. Being addressed by me in this manner, he looked
steadfastly
upon me, and then remembering his visit at mine, he
replied to me in a voice, as sweet as that of the
chátaka--swallow
to the sonorous clouds.
29. The sagely siddha said:--you sir, shall have to wait
awhile
until I can recollect myself and my former state; and
then I will relate to you the latter incidents of my
life.
30. So saying he fell to the recollection of his past
incidents,
and then having got them in his remembrance, he related
the
particulars to me without any reserve, and as if they
were the
occurrence of his present day.
31. He then spoke to me in a voice, as soft and cooling
as
the sandal paste and moonbeams; and the words were as
blameless and well spoken, as they were pleased to my
ears and
ravishing of my soul.
32. The siddha said:--I now come to know you sir, and
greet you with reverence; and beg you to pardon my
intrusion
upon you, as it is the nature of the good to forgive the
faults of others. (Because to err is human[**,] to
forgive divine).
33. Know me, O sage, to have long enjoyed (in one of my
former births), the sweets of the garden of paradise in
the form
of butterfly; as a bee sucks the honey of lotus-flowers
in the
lake.
34. I fluttered over a running stream, and found it
swelling
with sounding waves at pleasure; and then seeing it
whirling
with its horrid whirlpools, I began to reflect with
sorrow in my
mind (in the following manner).
35. Such is the sight of the troubles in this ocean of
the
world, which overwhelms me quite in sorrow and grief; and
I have become like a parching and plaintive swallow, that
wails aloud at a draught of rain water.
36. I find my chief delight to consist in intelligence,
and
perceive no pleasure in worldly enjoyments, therefore I
must
-----File: 516.png---------------------------------------------------------
rely only in my intellectual speculatives, and abide
without any
anxiety, in the unclouded sphere of my spiritual
felicity.
37. I see there is no real pleasure here, but what is
derived
from our sensations of the sensible objects (of figure,
sound,
taste, touch and smell); I find no lasting delight in
these, that
I should depend on them.
38. All this is either the vacuity of the intellect, or
representations
of the intellect itself; when then should I be deluded
with these false appearances, as a madman or one of a
deluded
mind is apt to do.
39. The sensibles are causes of our insensibility as
poison,
and women are deluders of men and provokers of their
passions;
all sweets are but gall, and all pleasures are only a
sort of
pleasing pain.
40. And this body which is subject to sickness and decay,
with its mind as fickle as a shrimp fish, is hourly
watched upon
by inexorable death, as the old crane lurks after the
skimming
fish for his prey.
41. The frail body being subject to instant extinction,
likens
a bubble of water in the ocean of eternity; it resembles
also
the flame of lamp, which is put out in a moment, while it
burns vividly before us.
42. What is the life any more than a stream of water,
running
between its two shores of birth and death; flowing on
with the currents of passing joys and griefs, swelling
with the
waves of incidents, and whirling with the whirlpools of
dangers
and difficulties?
43. It is muddied with the pleasures of youth, and
blanched
with the hoary froths of old age; and emits but casually
a
few bursting bubbles of glee and gladness, which are
afloat
for and flitting in a moment.
44. It runs with the rapid torrent of custom, sounding
with
the hoarse noise of current opinions; it is overcast by
the
roaring clouds of envy and anger, and overflows the earth
in its
liquid form (of evanescent bodies).
45. The word stream of life, is as pleasing to hear and
pleasant to the ear, as the term stream of water is
soothing to
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the soul; but its waters are ever boiling with heat of
tritápa,
and abounding with whirlpools of illusion and avarice,
that
carry us up and down for ever more.
46. The course of the world is as that of the waters of a
river, which bears away the present things on its back,
and
brings with its current, what was unforeseen and
unexpected
before. It is thus full with these events.
47. All that was present before us, is lost to and borne
away
from us, and it is in vain to repine[** consider
'repent'--P2:repine ok] at their loss; and whatever
was never thought of before, come to pass upon us, but
what
reliance can there be in any one of them.
48. All the rivers on earth, have their waters
continually
passing away, and filling them by turns from their
sources; but
life which the water of the river of the body, being once
gone,
is never supplied to it from any source.
49. The vicissitudes of fortune, are incessantly turning
like a potter's wheel, over the destinies of people, and
are
entailing some person or other every moment, in this
ocean of
the world.
50. A thousand thieves and enemies of our estate, are
constantly wandering about to rob us of our properties,
and
nothing avails whether we sleep or wake to ward them off.
51. The particles of our lives, are wasting and falling
off
every moment; and yet it is a wonder that, nobody is
aware
of the loss of the days of his life, as long as he has
but a
little while to live.
52. The present day is reckoned as ours, but it is as
soon
passed as the past ones: and thus ignorant of the flight
of days,
nobody knows the loss of the duration of his life, until
he
comes to meet with his death.
53. We have lived long to eat and drink, and to move
about
from place to place, and to rove in foreign lands and
woods; we
have felt and seen all sorts of weal and woe; say what
more is
there that we can expect to have for our share.
54. Having well known[**space added] the pain and
pleasure of grief and
joy, and experienced their changes and the reverses of
fortune,
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I am fully imprest[**ok/SOED] with the idea of the
transitoriness of all
things, and therefore kept afar from seeking any thing.
55. I have enjoyed all enjoyments, and seen their
transitoriness
every where; and yet I found no satisfaction with or
distaste
to anything, nor felt my cool inappetency for them any
where.
56. I wandered on the tops of high hills, and roved in
the
airy regions on the summits of the meru[**Meru]
mountains; I travelled
to the cities of many a ruler of men, but met with
nothing of
any real good to me any where.
57. I saw the same woody trees, the same kind of earthly
cities, and the same sort of fleshy animal bodies every
where;
I found them all frail and transitory, and full of pain
and
misery as never to be liked.
58. I saw no riches nor friends, no relatives nor
enjoyments
of life, were able to preserve any one from the clutches
of
death.
59. Man passes away as soon, as the rain-water glides
down
the mountain glades; and is carried away by the hand of
death
as quickly, as a heap of hollow ashes is blown away by
the wind.
60. No enjoyment is desirable to me, nor has the
gaudiness of
prosperity any charm for me; when I find my life to
be as transient, as the transitory glance from the side
long look
of an amorous woman.
61. How and where and whose help shall we seek, when O
sage we see a hundred evils and imminent death hanging
every
day over our heads. (i. e. Naught can save us from death
and
distress).
62. Our lives are as frail and falling leaves, upon the
withered woods of our bodies; and the moisture which they
used
to derive from them, is soon dried up and exhausted at
the end.
63. I passed my life in vain desires and expectations,
and
derived nothing therefrom, that is, of any intrinsic good
or
profit to me.
64. My delusion is at last removed from me, and I see it
useless
to hear[**bear] the burden of my body here any longer; I
find it
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better to place no reliance in it, than
bemean[**typo?--P2:bemean ok/SOED] ourselves by our
dependence to it.
65. All prosperity is but adversity, owing to its
transitory
and illusive nature; therefore the wise accounting it as
such,
place no reliance on the vanities of this world.
66. Men are sometimes led by the directions of the
sástras,
and at other by their prohibitions also; as the movables
are
carried up and by the rising and falling waters: (i. e.
running
in right or wrong directions).
67. The poisonous air of worldliness, contaminates the
sweet
odour of reason in the mind of man; and makes it noxious
to
the person, as the canker in the bosom of the bud,
corrodes the
future flowers.
68. The vanities of the world, are as usually taken for
realities,
as all other unrealities in nature are commonly taken for
actualities. (The world is unreal, and all seeming
realities are
unreal also).
69. Men are moving about with their bodies upon earth,
with as much haste as the rivers are running to the seas;
thus
the great mass of mankind here, are seen to be in pursuit
of
the sensible objects of their desire.
70. The desires of our hearts run to their objects with
as
much speed as the arrow's fly from the archer's bow; but
they
never return to their seat in the heart or bow string, as
our
ungrateful friends that forsake us in our adversity.
71. Our friends are our enemies, as the blasts of wind
that
blow us away with their breath; all our relations are our
bonds
and fetters, and our riches are but causes of our
poverty.
72. Our pleasures are (causes of) our pains, and
prosperity
the source of adversity; all enjoyments are sufferings
(as leading
to maladies), and all fondness tends at last to distaste
and
dislike.
73. All prosperity and adversity, tend only to our
temporary
joy and misery; and our life is but a prologue or prelude
to
our extinction or quietus (nirvána). All these are the
display
of our unavoidable delusion.
74. As time glides along on any man, shewing him the
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various sights of joy and misery; the poor creature lives
only
to see the loss of his friends, and to repine at his
hapless and
helpless longivity[**longevity].
75. The enjoyment of pleasures, is as playing with the
fangs of a deadly serpent; they kill you no sooner you
touch
them, and they disappear from your sight, whenever you
look
after them.
76. The life is spent without any attempt, to attain that
perfect state, which is obtained without any pain or
toil; while
it is employed every day in hardships of acquiring the
perishable
triflings[** typo?].
77. Men who are bound to their desire of carnal
enjoyment,
are exposed to shame and the contumely of the rich every
moment; and are as wild elephants, tied with strong
fetters at
their feet.
78. Our fortunes and favourites, are not only as frail
and
fickle, as the transitory waves and bubbles; but they are
as
pernicious as the fangs of a snake; and who is there so
silly
enough, as to take his rest under the shadow of the hood
of
enraged serpent.
79. Granting the objects of desire to be pleasing, and
the
gifts of prosperity to be very charming; still what are
they
and this life also any more, than the fickle glances of a
mistress'
eyes.
80. Those who enjoy the pleasures of the present time
with
so much zest; must come to feel them quite insipid at the
end,
and fall into the hell-pit at last.
81. I take no delight in riches, which are worshipped by
the vulgar only; which are ever subject to disputes, earned
with labour, kept with great care, and are yet as
unstable as
the winged winds in air.
82. Fortune which is so favorable for a while, turns to
misfortune
in a trice; she is very charming to her possessor, but
is as fickle in her nature, as the fleeting flash of
lightning.
83. Riches like flatters[**flatterers] are very
flattering at first and as
long as they last; but they are as fleeting as those
deceitful cheats,
mock at us upon their loss.
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84. The blessings of health, wealth and youth, are as
evanescent as the fleeting shadow of autumnal clouds; and
the
enjoyments of sensual pleasures, are pernicious at the
end.
85. Say who has remained the same even among the great,
to the end of his journey in this world, the lives of men
are
as fleeting, as the trickling dew drops at the end of the
leaves
of trees.
86. Our bodies are decaying in time, and our hairs are
turning
grey with age, and the teeth are falling off; thus all
things
are worn out in the world, except our desires, which know
no
decrease or decay.
87. The carnal enjoyments like wild beasts, come to decay
in the forest of the body; but the poison plant of our
desire
which grows in it, is ever on its increase.
88. Our boyhood passes as quickly as our infancy, and our
youth passes as soon as our boyish days; and here there
is an
equal transience, to be seen in both the comparison and
the
object compared with.
89. Life melts away as quickly, as the water oozes out of
the hold of our palms; and like the current of a river,
it never
returns to its receptacle.
90. The body also passes away as hurriedly, as a
hurricane
sweeps in the air; and it vanishes even before our sight
of it,
like a wave or cloud, or as fast as the flame of a lamp.
91. I have found unpleasantness in what I thought to be
very pleasant, and found the unsteadiness of what I
believed to
be steady; I have known the unreality of what I took to
be
real, and hence have I become distrustful and disgustful
of the
world.
92. The ease and rest that attend on the soul, upon the
cool
indifference of the mind; are never to be obtained in any
enjoyment, that the upper or nether worlds, can ever
afford to
any body.
93. I find the pleasurable objects of my senses, are
still
alluring me to their trap, as a fruit and flower entices
the foolish
bee to fall upon them.
94. Now after the lapse of a long time, I am quite
released
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from my selfish egoism; and my mind has become
indifferent
to the desire of future rewards and heavenly felicity.
95. I have long found my rest in my solitary bliss of
vacuity,
and have come here as thyself, and met with this etherial
cell. (The aerial cell is a creation of the saint's imagination).
96. I came to learn afterwards that this cell belonged to
thee; but I never thought that thou shalt ever return to
it.
97. I saw there a lifeless body, and thought it to be the
frame of a siddha or holy saint, who having
quitted[**consider correction?--P2:quitted ok/SOED]
his mortal
coil, has become extinct in his nirvána.
98. This sir, is my narrative as I have related to you;
and
am seated here as I am, and you can do unto me as you may
like.
99. Until a siddha sees all things in his mind, and
considers
them well in his clear judgment, he is incapable of
seeing
the past, present and future in his clairvoyance, even
though
he be as perfect as the nature of the lotus-born Brahmá
himself.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to Brahmasri Sreemaan Vihari Lala Mitra ji for the
collection)
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