The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki
The only complete English translation is
by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891).
CHAPTER CLI.
View of Inexistence.
Argument:--The world is a vision, and to be known only by
conception,
perception and meditation.
The other sage rejoined:--Afterwards the whole village
together with all its dwellings and trees, were all burnt
down to ashes like the dried straws.
2. All things being thus burnt away, the two bodies of
you
two, that had been sleeping there, were also scorched and
burnt,
as a large piece of stone, is heated and split by fire.
3. Then the fire set after satiating itself with
devouring the
whole forest, as the sea sat below in its basin, after
its waters
were sucked up by the sage Agastya.
4. After the fire was quenched and the ashes of the burnt
cinders had become cold; they were blown away by gusts of
wind, as they bear away the heaps of flowers.
5. Then nothing was known, as to where the hermit's hut
and the two bodies were borne away; and where was that
visionary
city, which was seen as vividly as in waking, and was
populous with numbers of people.
6. In this manner the two bodies having disappeared,
their
existence remains in the conscious soul, as the memory of
externals
remains in the mind, at the insensibility of the body in
the state of dreaming.
7. Hence where is that passage of the lungs, and where is
that Virajian soul any more? They are burnt away together
with the vigour and vitality of the dead body.
8. It is on account of this, O sage, that you could not
find
out those two bodies; and wandered about in this endless
world
of dreams, as if you were in your waking state.
9. Therefore know this mortal state, as a mere dream
appearing
as waking, and that all of us are but day dreams, and
seeing
one another as we see the visionary beings in our dreams.
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10. You are a visionary man to me, and so am I also to
you;
and this intellectual sphere, wherein the soul is
situated within
itself.
11. You have been ere while a visionary being in your
life,
until you thought yourself to be a waking man in your
domestic
life.
12. I have thus related to you the whole matter, as it
has
occured[**occurred] to you; and which you well know by
your
conception,
perception and meditation of them.
13. Know at last that it is the firm conviction of our
consciousness,
which shines for ever as the glitter of gold in the
vacuum of our minds; and the intellectual soul catches
the
colour of our deeds, be they fair or foul or a commixture
of both,
in its state of a regenerated spirit.
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CHAPTER CLII.
THE SAGE'S DISCOURSE AT NIGHT.
Argument:--Refutation of the Reality of Dreams, and the
reason of the
Preceptorship of the Hunter.
The sage resumed:--Saying so the sage held his silence,
and
lay himself in his bed at night; and I was as bewildered
in my mind, as if blown away by the winds.
2. Breaking then my silence after a long time, I spoke to
that sage and said;[**:] sir, in my opinion, such dreams
appear [**[to
have]] some
truth and reality in them.
3. The other muni replied:--If you can believe in the
truth
of your waking dreams, you may then rely on the reality
of your
sleeping dreams likewise; but should your day dreams
prove to
be false, what faith can you then place on your night
dreams
(which are as fleet as air).
4. The whole creation from its very beginning, is no more
than a dream; and it appears to be comprised of the earth
ect[**etc.],
yet it is devoid of everything.
5. Know the waking dream of this creation is more
subtile,
than our recent dreams by night; and O lotus eyed
preceptor of
the huntsman, you will shortly hear all this from me.
6. You think that the object you see now, in your waking
state in the day time, the same appear to you in the form
of
dream in your sleep; so the dream of the present
creation, is derived
from a previous creation, which existed from before as an
archetype of this, in the vacuum of the Divine Mind.
7. Again seeing the falsity of your waking dream of this
creation, how do you say that you entertain doubts
regarding
the untruth of sleeping dreams, and knowing well that the
house
in your dream is not yours, how do you want to dote upon
it
any more?
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8. In this manner, O sage, when you perceive the falsity
of
your waking dream of this world; how can you be doubtful
of
its unreality any more?
9. As the sage was arguing in this manner, I
inturrupted[**interrupted]
him by another question; and asked him to tell me, how he
came to be the preceptor of the huntsman.
10. The other sage replied:--Hear me relate to you this
incedent[**incident] also; I will be short in its
narration, for know O
learned sage, I can dilate it likewise to any length.
11. I have been living here, as a holy hermit for a long
time; and solely employed in the performance of my
religious
austerities; and after hearing my speech, I think you too
will
like to remain in this place.
12. Seeing me situated in this place, I hope you will not
forsake me here alone; as I verily desire to live in your
company
herein.
13. But then I will tell you sir, that it will come to pass
in
the course of some years hence, and there will occur a
direful
famine in this place, and all its people will be wholly
swept
away.
14. Then there will occur a warfare between the raging
border chiefs, when this village will be destroyed, and
all the
houses will be thinned of their occupants.
15. Then let us remain in this place, free from all
troubles,
and in perfect security and peace, and live free from all
worldly
desires, by our knowledge of the knowable.
16. Here let us reside under the shelter of some shady
trees; and perform the routine of our religious
functions,
as the sun and moon perform their revolutions in the
solitary
sky.
17. There will then grow in this desert land and deserted
place, many kinds of trees and plants, covering the whole
surface
of this lonely place.
18. The land will be adorned by fruit trees, with many a
singing birds[**bird] sitting upon them; and the waters
will be filled
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with lotus beds, with the humming bees and chakoras
chirping
amidst them. There shall we find happy groves like the
heavenly garden of paradise for our repose.
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CHAPTER CLIII.
ONE SOUL IS THE CAUSE OF ALL.
Argument:--Arrival of the Huntsman, and the sage's
preceptorship of
him.
The other sage said:--When both of us shall dwell
together
in that forest, and remain in the practice of our
austerities; there will appear upon that spot, a certain
huntsman,
weary with his fatigue in pursuing after a deer.
2. You will then reclaim and enlighten him, by means of
your meritorious remonstrance; and he then will commence
and continue to practice his austerities, from his
aversion to the
world.
3. Then continuing in his austere devotion, he will be
desirous
of gaining spiritual knowledge, and make inquiries into
the phenomena of dreaming.
4. You sir, will then instruct him fully in divine
knowledge,
and he will be versed in it by your lectures on the
nature of
dreams.
5. In this manner you will become his religious
instructor,
and it is for this reason that I have accosted you with
the epithet
or title of the huntsman's guru or religious guide.
6. Now sir, I have related to you already regarding our
errors
of this world; and what I and you are at present, and
what we
shall turn to be afterwards.
7. Being thus spoken to by him, and learning all these
things from him, I became filled with wonder, and was he
more amazed as I remonstrated with him on these matters.
8. Thus we passed the night in mutual conversation, and
after we got up in the morning, I honoured the sage with
due
respect, and he was pleased with me.
9. Afterwards we continued to live together in the same
homely hut of the same village, with our steady minds and
our
friendship daily increasing.
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10. In this manner time glided on peacefully upon us, and
the revolutions of his days and nights, and returns of
months,
seasons and years; and I have been sitting here unmoved
under
all the vicissitudes of time and fortune.
11. I long not for a long life, nor desire to die ere the
destined
day; I live as well as I may, without any care or anxiety
about this or that.
12. I then looked upon the visible sphere, and began to
cogitate in my mind; as to what and how and whence it
was,
and what can be the cause of it.
13. What are these multitudes of things, and is the cause
of all these; it is all but the phenomena of a dream,
appearing
in the vacuity of the Intellect.
14. The earth and heaven, the air and the sky, the hills
and
rivers, and all the sides of firmament; are all but
pictures of
the Divine mind, represented in empty air.
15. It is the moonlight of the Intellect, which spreads
its
beams all round the ample space of vacuum; and it is this
which shines as the world, which is an ineffaceable
fac-simile[**facsimile]
or cartography of the supreme Intellect in the air.
16. Neither is this earth nor sky, nor are these hills
and
dales really in existence; nor am I anything at all; it
is only the
reflexion of the supreme Mind in empty air.
17. What may be the cause of aggregation of solid bodies,
when there is no material cause for the causation of
material
bodies in the beginning.
18. The conception of matter and material bodies, is a
fallacy
only; but what can be the cause of this error, but
delusion
of the sight and mind.
19. The person in the pith of whose heart, I remained in
the
manner of his consciousness; was burnt down to ashes
together
with myself.[** is a semi-colon required before
was?--P2:No, but there are
MANY similar places]
20. Therefore this vacuum which is without its
begnning[**beginning]
and end, is full with the reflexion of the Divine
Intellect; and
there is no efficient or instrumental or material cause
of creation,
except its being a shadow of the substance of the Divine
Mind.
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21. All these pots and pictures, these prints and paints
before
us, are but the prints of the Divine Mind; nor can you
ever get
anything, without its mould therein.
22. But the Intellect too has no brightness of it, except
its
pure lucidity; for how can a mere void as vacuum have any
light, except its transparency.
23. The Intellect is the pure Intelligence, of the
extended
entity of Brahma; which shows in itself the
panoroma[**panorama] of the
universe,
what else are the visibles, and where is their view
besides.
24. There is but one Omnipresent soul, who is uncaused
and
uncausing, and without its beginning, middle and end; He
is
the essence of the three worlds and their contents. He is
something as the universal intelligence, and shows all
and every
thing in itself; (and reflects them in all partial
intelligences
according to their capacities).
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CHAPTER CLIV.
RELATION OF PAST EVENTS.
Argument:--The living liberation of the sage, by means of
his habitual
meditation.
The sage continued:--Having thus considered the vanity
of the visibles, I remained free from my anxious cares
about the world; and became passionless and fearless, and
extinct
in nirvána, from insensibility of my egoism.
2. I became supportless and unsupporting, and remained
without my dependance[**dependence] upon any body; I was
quite calm
with
my self-composure, and my soul was elevated and rested in
heaven.
3. I did as my duty called, and did nothing of my own
accord; and remained as void and blank as vacuum, which
is
devoid of all action and motion.
4. The earth and heaven, the sky and air, the mountains
and rivers, and all that lies on all sides and the sides
themselves,
are not[**nothing] but shadow in the air, and all living
bodies are no more
than the embodied (died) Intellect or Intellectual bodies.[**=print]
5. I am quiet and composed, and manage myself as well as
I can; I am quite happy in myself; having no injunction
nor
prohibition to obey, nor to act an inner or outer part:
(i. e. not
having a double part to play, nor any duplicity in the
heart).
6. Thus I resided here in my even temper, and the same
tenor of my mind and actions; and it is by mere chance,
that
you have come to meet me here.
7. Thus I have fully explained to thee about the nature
of
dream and my personal self; together with that of the
phenomenal
world and thyself.
8. Hence thou hast well understood, what is this visible
world that lies before thee; as also what these beings
and these
people are, and what Brahma is after all.
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9. Now knowing these things, O thou huntsman, to be mere
false, [**[you]] must now have your peace of mind, with
the conviction
that, all this is the representation of the Intellect in
empty
air. Yea, it is this that is dimly seen in these, and
naught
besides.
10. The hunts-man rejoined:--If so it be then both me and
thee and the gods even, you say to be nullity; and that
all of
these are but the phantoms of a dream, and that all men
are no
men, and all existence as non existence (sadasat).[**satasat?--P2:No]
11. The sage replied.[**:] It is verily so, and all and
every one
of us is situated as the spectre of a dream to one
another, and
as phasma in the cosmorama of the world.
12. These spectres appear in forms, according to one's
conception
of them; and the only One appears as many, like the
rays of light. All these radiations cannot be wholly true
or untrue,
nor a mixture of both of them.
13. The visionary city of the world that appears in our
waking state, is but a waking dream or an apparition of
our
minds, and appears as the prospect of a distant city
before us,
that we never saw before.
14. I have fully explained all this to you already, and
you
have been enlightened in the subject to no end; now you
have
grown wise and well known all and everything; do
therefore as
you may like best for you.
15. Though thus awakened and enlightened by me, your
reprobate mind is not yet turned to reason, nor found its
rest
either in transcendental wisdom, or in the transcendent
state of
the most high.
16. Without assuetude[**?--P2:OK/SOED] you cannot
concentrate your
vagrant
mind into your heart; nor can you without the practice of
constant
reflexion attain the acme of wisdom.
17. It is impossible to attain the summit of perfection,
without your habitual observance of wisdom; as it is
incapable
for a block of wood to contain any water in it, unless it
is scooped
out in the form of a wooden vessal[**vessel].
18. Habitual reliance in sapience and constant attendance
to the precepts of the sástras and preceptors, tend to
the remo-*
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*val of the mind's suspense between unity and duality (i.
e. between
god and the world), and set the mind to its ultimate
bliss of nirvána-[**--]anaesthesia in
quitism[**quietism].
19. Insensibility of one's worth and state and inertness
to
all worldly affections, refraining from the evils of bad
associations,
and abstaining from all earthly desires and cravings of
the heart--
20. These joined with one's deliverance from the fetters
of
dualities, and enfrachisement[**enfranchisement] from all
pleasurable and
painful
associations, are the surest means that lead the learned
to the
state of unalterable bliss-[**--]nirvána (which is ever
attendant on
the Deity).
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CHAPTER CLV.
Relation of Future Fortune.
Argument:--The sage relates the elevation of the Huntsman
to heaven
by means of his austere devotion.
The God Agni said:--Upon hearing all this the huntsman
was lost in wonder, and remained as
dumfoundered[**dumbfounded?--
P2:dumfounder(ed) also OK/SOED]
as a figure in painting in the very forest.
2. He could not pause to fix his mind in the supreme
being,
and appeared to be out of his senses and wits, as if he
was hurled
into a sea.
3. He seemed to be riding on the wheel of his reverie,
which
pushed him onward with the velocity of a bicycle; or
appeared
to be caught by an alligator, which bore him with
rapidity, up
and down the current of his meditation.
4. He was drowned in doubt, to think whether this was the
state of his nirvána or delerium[**delirium]; wherein he
could not find his
rest, but was tossed headlong like a headstrong youth in
his
foolhardiness[**space removed].
5. He thought the visibles, to be the work of his
ignorance;
but he came to think upon his second thought, this
delusion of
the world, to be the production (display) of Providence.
6. Let me see, said he, the extent of the visibles from
the
beginning; and this I will do from a distance, by means
of the
spiritual body, which I have gained by means of devotion.
7. I will remove myself to a region, which is beyond the
limit of the existent and inexistent worlds; and rest
myself quiet
at a spot, which is above the etherial space (i. e. in
heaven).
8. Having thus determined in himself, he became as dull
as
a dunce, and set his mind to the practice of his yoga
devotion,
as it was dictated to him by the sage, saying that no act
could
be fruitful without its constant practice.
9. He then left his habit of huntsmanship and applied
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himself to the observance of austerities, in company with
the
sages and seers.
10. He remained long at the same spot, and in the society
of the sagely seers; and continued in the practice of his
sacred
austerities, for very many years and seasons.
11. Remaining long in the discharge of his austere
duties,
and suffering all along the severities of his rigorous
penance;
he asked once his sagely guide, as to when he shall
obtain his
rest and respite from these toils, to which the muni
responded
unto him in the following manner.
12. The muni said:--The little knowledge that I have
imparted unto thee, is a spark fire and able to consume a
forest
of withered wood; though it has not yet burnt down the
impression
of this rotten world from your mind.
13. Without assuetude[**?--P2:OK/SOED] you cannot have
your
beatitude in
knowledge; and with it, it is possible to attain it in
course of a
long time. (i. e. No knowledge is efficacious without its
long
practice, hence a novice in yoga is no yogi or adept in
it).
14. Such will verily be your case, if you will rely in my
assurance of this to you, and wear my words as a jewel
about
your ears, knowing them to be oracular in this world.
15. You praise the unknown spirit of god, in your
ignorance
of his nature; and your mind is hanging in suspense
between
your knowledge and ignorance of (divine nature).
16. You are led to[**of] your own accord to inquire into
the nature
and extent of the cosmos, which is but a phantom of
delusion.
(The world being but a delusion, it is in vain to
investigate
about it).
17. You will be thus employed for ages, in your arduous
understanding of making this resarch[**research], until
Brahmá-[**--]the
creative
power will appear before you, being pleased at your
investigation
into his works.
18. You will then ask the favour of thy favouring god, to
release you from your ponderous doubt of the reality or
delusiveness
of the world, saying:--
19. Lord! I see the cosmorama of the phenomenal world,
is spread out every where as a delusion before our sight;
but
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I want to see a spot, which exhibits the true mirror of
the Divine
mind, and which is free from the blemish of the visibles.
20. The mirror of the vacuous mind, though as minute as
an atom, represents yet the reflexion of this vast
universe in
some part or other within it. (i. e. The minute atom of
the
mind, is the reflector of vast universe).
21. It is therefore to be known, how far this boundless
world
extends to our woe only; and how far does the sphere of
the
etherial sky stretch beyond it.
22. It is for this that I ask your good grace, to make me
acquainted with the infinite space of the universe;
accept
my prayer, O thou lord of gods, and readily grant this my
request.
23. Strengthen and immortalize this body of mine, and
make it mount upon the regions of sky, with the velocity
of the
bird of heaven. (Garuda or Phoenix).[** should there be a
period after
heaven?--P2:No--but this occurs very often]
24. Make my body increase to the length of a league each
moment; until[**=print] it encircles the world in the
manner of its outer
and surrounding sky.
25. Let this pre-eminent boon be granted to me, O great
and
glorious god, that I may reach beyond the bounds of the
circumambient
sky, which surrounds the sphere of the visible
world.
26. Being thus besought by thee, O righteous man, the
lord
will say unto thee, "Be it so as though
desirest," and then he
will disappear as a vision from thy sight, and vanish
into the air,
with his attendant gods along with him.
27. After the departure of Deispater[**Dis Pater] with
his accompanying
deities, to their divine abodes in heaven; thy thin and
lean
body emaciated by thy austerities, will assume a
brightness as
that of the brilliant moon.
28. Then bowing down to me and getting my leave, thy
brightsome body will mount to the sky in an instant, in
order[**space
added]
to see the object of thy desire, which is settled in thy
mind.
29. It will rise high into the air as a second moon, and
higher still as the luminous sun itself; and blaze above
as
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brightly as a burning fire, in defiance of the brightness
of the
luminaries.
30. Then it will fly upwards in the empty sky, with the
force of the strong winged phoenix; and run forward with
the
rapidity of a running current, in order[**space added] to
reach at the
bounding
belt of the world.
31. Having gone beyond the limit of the world, thy body
will increase in its bulk and extent; and become as
swollen as
the diluvian ocean, that covered the face of the whole
universe.
32. There thou wilt find thy body, growing bigger and
bigger
still; and filling like a big cloud the empty space of
air,
which is devoid of all created things.
33. This is the great vacuum of the Divine spirit, filled
with
the chaotic confusion of elements, flying about as
whirlwinds;
and the unbounded ocean of the infinite Mind, swelling
with
the waves of its perpetual thought.
34. You will find within this deep and dark vacuity,
numberless
worlds and created bodies, hurling headlong in endless
succession; just as you perceive in your consciusness[**consciousness],
a
continued
series of cities and other objects appearing in your
dream.
35. As the torn leaves of trees, are seen to be tossed
about
in the air by the raging tempest; so you will see
multitudes of
worlds, hurled to and fro in the immensity of the Divine
Mind.
36. As the passing world presents a faint and
unsubstantial
appearance to one looking down at it on the top of a high
citadel; so do this worlds appear as mere shades and
shadows
when viewed in their spiritual light from above.
37. As the people of this world view the black spots
attached
to the disk of the moon, which are never observed by the
inhabitants of that luminary; so are these worlds
supposed to
subsist in the Divine spirit, but they are in reality no
other
than the fleeting ideas of the infinite Mind.
38. You will thus continue to worlds after worlds, moving
in the midst of successive spheres and skies; and thus
pass a
long time viewing the creation stretching to no end.
39. After viewing the multitudes of worlds, thronging in
the
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heavens like the leaves of trees; you will be tired to
see no end
of them in the endless abyss of Infinity.
40. You will then be vexed in yourself, at this result of
your
devotion, as also at the distention[**?--P2:OK/SOED] of
your body, and
stretch of
your observations all over the immensity of space.
41. Of what good is this big body, which I bear as a
ponderous
burthen[**burden?--P2:burthen OK/SOED] upon me; and in
comparison
with which millions
of mountain ranges, as the great Meru ect[**etc.],
dwindle away
into lightsome straws.
42. This boundless body of mine, that fills the whole
space
of the sky; answers no purpose whatever, that I can
possibly
think of.
43. This ponderous body of mine, that measures the whole
space of the visible world; is quite in the
darkness-[**--]ignorance
without its spiritual knowledge, which is the true light
of the
soul.
44. I must therefore cast off this prolated body of mine,
which is of no use to me, in the
aquisition[**acquisition] of knowledge or
in
keeping company with wise and holy men.
45. Of what good is this big and bulky body of mine, to
scan the unknowable infinity of the endless and
supportless
Brahma, whose essence contains and supports the whole of
this
universe, and is hard to be ascertained.
46. Thinking so in yourself, you will shrivel your
bloated
body, by exhaling your breath (as you had expanded it by
your
inhalation of it), and then shun your frame as a bird
cast off
the outer crust of a fruit after suction of its juicy
sap.
47. After casting off the mortal clod and coil of your
body,
thy soul will rest in empty air accompanied with its
respirative[**respiratory]
breath of life, which is more tenuous than the
subtile[**subtle?--P2:subtile
OK/SOED] ether
(over which it floats).
48. Thy big body will then fall down on earth, as when
the
great mount of meru[**Meru] fell on the ground, being
cleft of its
wings by ire of Indra; and will crush all earthly beings,
and
smash the mountains to dust underneath it.
49. Then will the dry and starved goddess Káli[**Kálí],
with her
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hungry host of Mátris and furies, devour thy prostrate
body, and
restore the earth to its purity, by clearing it of its
nuisance.
50. Now you heard me fully relate unto your future fate,
go therefore to yonder forest of palm trees, and remain
there in
practising your austerities as well as you may like.
51. The huntsman rejoined:--O sir, how great are the
woes that are awaiting upon me, and which I am destined
to
undergo in my vain pursuit after knowledge (of the
infinite
nature and works of god).
52. Pray tell me sir, if you have anything to say, for my
averting the great calamity that you have predicted; and
tell
me also, if there be no expedient to avoid the destined
evil.
53. The sage replied:--There is no body nor any power
whatever, that is ever able to prevent the eventualities
of fate;
and all attempts to avert them, are thrown on one's back.
54. As there is no human power to the left on the right,
or
fix the feet on the head; so there is no possibility to
alter
the decree of fate.
55. The knowledge of the science of astrology, serves
only
to acquaint us with the events of our fate; but there is
nothing
in it, that can help us to counteract the shafts of
adverse fortune.
56. Therefore those men are blest, who with their
knowledge
of sovran predestination and[**are] still employed in
their
present duties; and who after the death and burning of
their
bodies, rest in the eternal repose of Brahma in their
consciousness.
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CHAPTER CLVI.
EXPOSTULATION OF SINDHU BY HIS MINISTER.
Argument:--The aerial spirit of the Huntsman is reborn on
Earth as
prince Sindhu, who kills viduaratha[**Vidúratha], and is
remonstrated by
his Minister.
The Huntsman said:--Tell me Sir, what will then become
of my soul in its aerial position, and of my body in its
situation on earth.
2. The sage replied:--Hear me attentively to tell you,
about
what is to become of your lost body on earth, as also of
your
living soul sustained in the air.
3. The body being subducted from thy whole self, thy soul
will assume an aerial form, and will remain in empty air,
united
with its vital breath.
4. In that airy particle of your soul, you will find the
surface
of the earth, situated in the recess of your mind; and
you
will behold it as clearly, as you view the world in your
dream.
5. Then from the inward desire of your heart, you will
see
in the amplitude of your mind, that you have become the
sovereign
lord of this wide extended globe.
6. The will of this idea rises of itself in your mind,
that you
have become a king by name and in the person of Sindhu,
who
is so highly honoured by men.
7. After eight years of thy birth, thy other will depart
from
this mortal world, and leave to thee this extensive
earth, reaching
to its utmost boundaries of the four seas.
8. You will find in the border of your realm, a certain
lord
of the land by name of viduratha[**Vidúratha], who will
rise as thy
enemy,
and whom it will be difficult for thee to quell.
9. You will then reflect in yourself, of your past and
peaceful
reign of a full century; and think of the pleasures you
have so
long enjoyed in company with your consort and attendants.
10. Woe unto me, that this lord of the bordering land,
has
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[** png 282-289 compared to print]
now risen against me in my old age; and has put me to the
trouble of waging a formidable warfare against him.
11. As thou shalt be thinking in this wise, there will
occur
the great war between thee and that lord of the land; in
which
all your quadruple armaments, will be greatly worsted and
thinned.
12. In that great war, thou wilt succeed to slay that
vidurtha[**Viduratha],
by striking him with thy sword, and keeping thy stand on
thy war-car.
13. You will then become the sole lord of this earth, to
its
utmost of the four oceans; and become to be dreaded and
honoured by all, like the regents of all the sides of
heaven.
14. Having thus become the soverign[**sovereign] monarch
of the earth,
and reigning over it and the name of the mighty Sindhu,
thou
wilt pass thy time in conversation with the learned
pandits and
ministers of thy court.
15. The minister will say, It is a mighty wondrous deed,
O
lord, that thou hast achieved, by slaying the invincible
viduratha[**Viduratha]
in thy single comat[**combat].
16. Then thou wilt say, tell me O good man, how this
viduratha[**Viduratha]
waxed so very rich, and possessed his forces as numerous
as the waves of ocean; and what cause impelled him to
rise
against me.
17. The Minister will reply:--This lord has Lila as his
lady,
who had won the favour of the fair goddess Sarasvatí; who
is the
supportress of the world, by her extreme devotion to her.
(Sarasvatí is the goddess of wisdom and hand-maid of god.
see
sir Wm. Jones prayer).
18. The benign goddess took this lady for her
foster-daughter,
and enabled her to achieve all her actions, and even
obtain
her liberation with ease. (Wisdom
facilates[**facilitates] all human act).
19. It is by favour of this goddess, that this lady is
able to
annihilate thee at a single nod or word of hers;
wherefore it is
no difficult task to her to destroy thee all at once.
20. Sindhu then will answer him saying:--If what thou
sayest is true, it is wondrous indeed, how then could the
invincible
Viduratha come to be slain by me in warfare.
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21. And why he being so highly favoured by the goddess,
could not get the better of me in this combat (by slaying
me
with his hand).
22. The Minister will reply:--Because he always prayed
the goddess with earnestness of his heart, to give him
liberation
from the cares and troubles of this world.
23. Now then, O lord, this goddess that knows the hearts
of
all men, and confers to all the objects of their desire,
gave thee
the victory thou didst seek, and conferred [**missing
"on"?] him the
liberation he
sought by thy hands.
24. Sindhu then, will respond to it; saying:--If it is
so,
then I must ask, why the goddess did not confer the
blessing of
liberation on me also, that have been so earnestly
devoted to
her at all times.
25. The Minister will then say in his reply:--This
goddess
resides as intelligence in the minds of all men, and as
conscience
also in the hearts of all individual beings, and is known
by the title of Sarasvatí to all.
26. Whatever object is constantly desired by any one, and
earnestly asked of her at all times; she is ever ready to
confer
the same to him, as it is felt in the heart of everyone.
27. You lord never prayed for your liberation, at the
shrine
of this goddess; but craved for your victory over your
enemies,
which she has accordingly deigned to confer unto you.
28. Sindhu will then respond to it and say:--why is it
that prince did not pray the goddess of pure wisdom for
his obtaining
a kingdom like me; and how was it that I slighted to
pray her for my final liberation as he did?
29. And why is it that the goddess knowing the desire of
my heart for liberation, left me only to desire it
without
attempting to seek after the same? (i. e. Why does the
goddess give us the knowledge of what is good, without
enabling
us to exist and persist after its attainment)?
30. To this the minister will reply saying:--The
propensity
of doing evil (or slaughter), being inherent in your
nature
(from your past profession of huntsmanship), you
neglected to
-----File: 284.png---------------------------------------------------------
stoop down to the goddess, and pray unto her for your
liberation.
31. It is well known since the creation of the world,
that
the intrinsic gist forms the nature of man; and this
truth being
evident to all from their boyhood to age, there is no
body to
ignore or repudiate it at any time.
32. The purity or impurity of the inner heart, to which
one
is habituated by his long practice or custom, continues
to predominate
over all his qualities and actions to the very last, and
there is no power to contravene it in any manner.
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CHAPTER CLVII.
THE ULTIMATE EXTINCTION OR NIRVÁNA OF SINDHU.
Argument:--Description of the nature of sindu[**Sindhu],
his resignation
of the
kingdom, his descrimination[**discrimination] and final
liberation.
Then Sindhu will say:--Tell me sir, what kind of a
vile-person[**vile
person]
and how ignorant I had been before whereby I
still retain the evil propensities of my past life, and
am doomed
to be reborn in this earth (the vale of misery).
2. The minister will say in his reply:--"Hear me
attentively,
O king, for a while; and I will tell you this secret,
which
you require me to relate, and will surely remove your
ignorance.
3. There is a self existent and undecaying Being from all
eternity, which is without its beginning or end, which is
designated
the great Brahma, and passes herein under the little of
I and thou, and of this and that &c.
4. I am that self same Brahma, by the consciousness of my
self cogitation (ego-[**--]cogito ergo sum). This becomes
the living
principal[**principle] with the power of intellection;
(vivo
quiintellego[**qui intellego] I
live because I think). This power does not forsake its personality;
(but retains its persona of I am that I am).
5. Know this Intellect to be a spiritual or supernatural
substance, having a form rarer and more transparent than
that
of the subtile ether; it is this which is the only being
in existence,
nor is there anything which is of a material substance.
(This passage maintains the immateriality of the world).
6. This formless takes the form of the mind, by its being
combined, with volition and its views of this and the
next world,
(i. e. its worldly enjoyments and future bliss), in its
state of life
and death, and of waking and sleep. (That is the mind is
sensible[**=print] of these passing and alternate
phenomena).
7. The mind though formless, stretches itself into the
form
of the phenomenal world; just as the formless air dilates
itself,
in the form of force or oscillation in all material
bodies.
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8. The world is identic with the mind, as the seeming and
visible sky is the same with empty vacuity; so the
corporeal
is alike the incorporeal, and there is no difference
whatever, between
the material and mental worlds.
9. This net work or least of worlds resides in the mind,
in
their immanent impressions in it, and the outer world is
in reality.
And that the cosmos consists of ideas in the formless
mind, its formal appearance has no real substance in it.
(The
immaterial ideas of the mind are real, and not the
material
objects or the sober reality of the subjective only).
10. There arose at first the pure (satya) personality of
the
impersonal and universal spirit of god (Brahma), in the
person
of the creative power known under the title of Brahmá.
This
personal god assumed to himself the appellation of ego
from his
will of creation, and the undivided spirit, was divided
into many
impure personalities (rájasa and támasa), from its desire
of becoming
many (aham bahu syam-sim multa and plurimá).
11. The sindhu will say. Tell me sir, what you mean by
rájasa and támasa bodies (or impure personalities); and
how and
whence are these appellations at first in primo to the
supreme
being-[**--?]parapada-[**--?]the Indefinite One.
12. The monitor will reply saying:--As all embodied
beings
herein, are possessed of members and limbs of their
bodies; so
the bodiless spirit is comprised of an infinite variety
of minor
spiritual forms under it, which are known as the good or
bad
spirits.
13. The selfsame spirit then designates all these several
parts of itself by various appellations, and the
incorporeal spirit
assumes to itself, an endless variety of material and
terraqueous
natures and names. (That changed through all, yet in all
the
same; known by this or that or one or other nature and
name).
14. Thus the universal spirit continues to exhibit in
itself,
all the various forms of this visionary world at its own
will;
and gives a distinct name and nature to each and every
one of
these representations of itself.
15. When the Divine spirit, deigned to covert itself into
the
personality of Brahmá, and in those of me or thee and
other
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individualities; it became altered from its state of
original
holiness and purity to those impurity and foulness, known
as
rajasi and tamasi. When (god breathed his spirit into the
nostrils of Adam, it lost its purity and sanctity by
contamination
of flesh).
16. The unalterable pure nature of the holy spirit of
god,
being thus transformed to unholiness, it passed into
diffirent[**different]
states of impurity in the living souls of beings. (The
same
living soul passing different degrees of purity and
impurity).
17. The spirit of god being blown at first as the living
soul
(in an animal body); the soul that comes to perceive its
incarceration
inflesh[**in flesh] and its doom to suffering, is said to
be of the
purenature[**pure nature] of sàttikí[**sáttikí].
18. Those who while they are living in the world, are
possest of politeness and good qualities; they are said
to be
merely of a good nature Kevala sáttiki.
19. Those who being born in repeated regenerations are
destined to the enjoyments of life, and to their final
liberation
at last, are designated as the [Sanskrit: rájasa
rájasí][**.]
20. Those again who being born in this nether world, are
inclined to the practice of their manly virtues only;
such souls
are famed as the merely rájasí (shining), and are few in
their
number.
21. Those souls which have been undergoing their repeated
regenerations, ever since the beginning of creation; and
are
continually roving in the bodies of inferior beings, are
said by
the wise, to belong to the species of the most impure
támasa
támasí; though it is possible from them to attain their
salvation
at last.
22. Those which have been wandering in many births, in
the forms of vile animals, and until they attain their
salvation
at the end; such souls are designated as merely vile
Kevala
tamasi by the wise, who are versed in the science of
psychology.
23. In this manner have these philosophers classed the
emanated soul of beings into many grades and species;
among
which O my respected sir, your soul is reckoned among the
vilest of the vile tamasa tamasí.
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24. I know you to have passed through many births of
which you know nothing; and these have been as various as
they were fraught with the variegated scenes of life.
25. You have in vain passed all your lives indoing[**in
doing] nothing
that is useful; and more particularly your late
aeronautic life,
with that gigantic body of yours.
26. Being thus born with the vile species of thy soul, it
is
difficult for thee to obtain thy liberation from the
prison house
of this world.
27. Sindhu will then say in his
reponse[**response]:--Tell me sir, how
can I divest myself of this inborn vile nature of my
soul; that
I may learn to abide by thy counsel, and try to purify my
soul
and rectify the conduct of my life.
28. There is nothing in all these three worlds, which is
hard
to be acquired by means of earnest endeavour and intense
application.
29. As a fault or failure of the previous day, is
corrected by
its rectifications to day; so can you purify your
prestine[**pristine] impure
soul by your pious acts of the present day.
30. Whoever earns for any thing and labours hard to earn
it, is sure to gain it in the end, wherein the remiss are
sure to
meet with failure.
31. Whatever a man is intent upon doing, and tries to
effect
at all times; and what soever[**whatsoever] one desires
with earnestness,
and
is constantly devoted to the same pursuit, he is to
succeed in it,
and have his object without fail.
32. The sage related:--The king being thus remonstrated
by his minister, was resolved to resign the burthen of
his state,
and to renounce his realm and royalty even at that very
moment.
33. He wished to retire to some far distant forest, and
prayed
his ministers to support his realm; but he declined to
take the
charge, though the state was free from all its enemies;
(i. e.
though it was a peaceful realm).
34. He then remained in the company of wisemen[**wise
men], and was
enlightened by their discourses; as the sesame seeds
became
odorous by being placed amidst a heap of flowers.
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35. Then from his inquiries into the mystries[**mysteries]
of his life
and birth, and into the causes of his confinement in this
world,
he obtained the knowledge of his liberation from it.
36. It was thus by means of his continued inquiries into
truth, and his continual association with the wise and
good,
that the soul of Sindhu attained a holy sanctity in
comparison
with which, the prosperity of Brahma even, is as a straw
or the
dried leaf of a withered tree, which the winds of the sky
toss
about to and fro.
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CHAPTER CLVIII.
FALL OF THE HUGE BODY OF THE HUNTER.
Argument:--The aerial body of the Hunter, and its
downfall from the
high heaven.
The sage resumed and said:--I have thus related these
future events, as if they were past accounts unto thee;
do now, O huntsman what thou wishest and thinkest best
for
thyself.
2. Agni the god of fire said:--Hearing these words of the
sage, the huntsman remained aghast in wonder for a while;
and then rising with the sage, went to bathe themselves
to the
nearest pool.
3. In this manner they continued together, to conduct
their
religious austerities and discussions at the same spot;
and
remained in terms of disinterested friendship with one
another.
4. After some time the muni met with his final
extinction-[**--]nirvána,
and by casting off his mortal body, obtained his last
repose in the state of transcendent tranquility.
5. In course of time and the lapse of ages, it pleased
the
god Brahma to give him a call, in order to confer upon
him
the object of his desire.
6. The huntsman being unable to resist the impulse of
his longing, begged to obtain the very same boon of his
god
which the sage had predicted to him.
7. Be it so, said the god, and he repaired to his
favourite
abode; and the huntsman flew aloft into the open air, in
order
to enjoy the fruition of his austere devotion.
8. He flew with incredible velocity, to the extensive
vacuous
space, which lies beyond the spheres of worlds; and it
was in
course of an incalculable duration, that the ever
expanding bulk
of his body, filled the regions of the upper sky, as a
mountainous
range is stretched along and across this lower world.
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9. He fled with the force and swiftness of the great
garuda[**Garuda]
(the eagle of jove[**Jove]), up and down and to all sides
of heaven:
until the huge bulk of his body, occupied the whole area
of the
open air, in the process of an indefinite period of time.
10. Thus increasing in his size with the course of time,
and
infatuated in the maze of his delusion, began to grow
uneasy in
himself.
11. From the great anxiety of his mind, he suppressed the
respiration of his breath; until he breathed out his last
breath
of life in the air, and his body dropped down as a
carcass in the
nether earth.
12. His mind accompanied with his vital breath, fled
through the air into the body of Sindhu, who became the
ruler
of the whole earth, and the great antagonist of
viduratha[**Vidúratha].
13. His great body resembling a hundred mountainous
ranges, became a huge mass of carcass; which fell down
with
the hedious[**hideous] clattering of thunders, as one
earth falling upon
another.
14. At a certain time, it shines as a Kesandraka, at
others
it appears as a covering of the huge range of buildings
in
sky.
15. I have already related to thee, O learned sir, how
this
huge carcass had fallen from above, and filled the
surface of the
globe of this earth.
16. The globe of the earth, where upon this huge carcass
had
fallen, resembled in every way this earth of ours, which
appears
unto us as a city in our dream.
17. The dry and big bellied goddess chandí, then devoured
this carcass, filling her bowels with its flesh, and
stuffing her entrails
with its red hot blood.
18. The earth is called mediní or fleshy from the flesh
of
this corpse, which overspreads its surface with its
prodigious
bulky frame.
19. It was this huge fleshy body, which was reduced to
the
substance of the earth in time; and had the name of the
earth
given to it from the dust of this body.
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20. This fleshy earth gave rise to forests and habitable
parts; and the fossile[**fossil] bones rose high in the
forms of mountains
from underneath the ground, which grew everything useful
to men.
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CHAPTER CLVIX.
WANDERING OF VIPASCHIT
Argument:--The god of fire, after directing
vipaschit[**Vipaschit] to
wander over
the world according to his desire, disappeared from his
sight.
The god of fire added:--Go now O sapient Vipaschit, to
your wished for abodes, and with the steadiness of your
mind, conduct with propriety every where on earth.
2. Indra the lord of the assemblage of creatures, has
been
performing his hundred fold sacrifices in his celestial
abode;
and there I am invited to attend by an invocation of him.
3. Bhása said:--Saying so, the lord Agni disappeared from
that place; and passed through the transparent ether like
the
electric fire of lightning.
4. I was then led by my predestination to roam about in
the air; and direct my mind into the investigation of my
allotted
acts, and the termination of my ignorance.
5. I beheld again an innumerable host of heavenly bodies,
roving about in the air; holding their positions at
different
stations of the firmament, and containing inhabitants of
different
natures and customs.
6. Some of these were of one and same form, resembling
floating umbrellas in the sky; and attracting the hearts
of men,
by their shining appearance and slow motion. (The great
velocity of heavenly bodies, appear to be slow when they
are
seen by the naked eyes of men from this distant earth).
7. Some of them are of earthy substance, but shining and
moving onword[**onward] like mountains in motion.
8. Some were of woody appearance, and others of stony
substance; but they are all lightsome bodies, and all
moving onward
in their nninterrupted[**uninterrupted] course.
9. I beheld also some figures like carved statues of
stone,
standing in the open space of my mind, and talking
together
all their live-long days.
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10. In this manner I behold[**beheld] for a long while,
many such
figures like images in my dream, and was quite bewildered
in
my utter ignorance of them.
11. I then intended to perform my austere devotion, in
order
to obtain my liberation; when the god Indra appeared unto
me and said;[**:] "no vipaschit[**Vipaschit], you
are doomed to become a
stag
again, and not entitled to your liberation now."
12. You are propelled by your previous predilection to
prefer
the pleasures of heaven; therefore I must direct you to
dwell
in my paradise, and wander there amidst my gardens of
mandara
trees,[**.]
13. Being thus bid by him, I rejoined and said to
him;[**:] I
am weary, O lord, with the troubles of the world, and
want to
get my release from them; ordain therefore my immediate
emancipiation[**emancipation] from them.
14. The god listened to my prayer and said;[**:]
emancipation
attends on the pure soul, which is purged from all its
desires;
and this had been already expounded to you by the god of
fire
(in his narrative of the sage and hinter[**hunter]); ask
therefore some
other boon, said he, and I begged him to tell me of my
next
and future state.
15. Indra replied and said:--I find you to be fated to be
changed to the state of a deer hereafter, from the fond
desire
of your heart, to wander about and feed freely in the
fields.
16. By becoming a deer, you will have to enter the holy
assembly (of Dasaratha); where another deer like you, has
obtained
his liberation before, by listening to the spiritual
instructions
formerly delivered there by me.
17. Therefore be born as a deer in some forest on earth
with
your pensive soul; and you will then come to recollect
your past
life from its relation by Vasishtha (in the court of king
Dasaratha).
18. You will learn there, that all this existence is but
the
delusion of a dream, and the creation of imagination; and
the
account of your future life depicted in its true colour.
19. After being released from the body of the deer, you
shall
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regain your human form, and perceive the rays of holy light
shining in your inward spirit.
20. This light will then dispel the long prevailing gloom
of
ignorance from your mind, and then you shall attain your
nirvána supineness, as the calm and breathless wind.
21. After the god had said so, I had the presentiment of
being a deer in this forest, and entirely forgot my human
nature,
under my firm conviction of having become a beast.
22. I have been ever since residing in the recess of
these
woods, under the impression of my being changed to a
stag;
and feeding ever since upon the grass and herbs growing
on
the mountain top.
23. Here I saw once a body of troopers coming to a
hunting
excursion; and being then affrighted at the sight, I
betook
myself to flight.
24. They then laid hold of me, and took me to their place;
where they kept me for some days for their pleasure, and
at
last brought me hither before Ráma.
25. I have thus related to you all the incidents of my
life;
and the magical scenes of the world, too full of
marvelous
events.
26. It is the production of our ignorance, which pervades
over all things, and branches out into innumerable forms
in
everything that presents itself to our view; and there is
nothing
whatever to dispel this darkness, except by the light of
spiritual
knowledge.
27. Válmíki relates:--Then as Vipaschit had held his
silence
after speaking in this manner; he was accosted by the
well
minded Ráma with the following words.
28. Ráma said:--Tell me sir, how a person without any
desire of his own, sees the object of another's desire in
himself;
and could the deer thought of by yourself, could[**delete
'could'] come to
the
sight of others in Indra's Paradise.
29. Vipaschit replied:--Let me tell you that the earth
where upon the huge carcass had fallen, was once before
trodden
upon by Indra, with the pride of his performance of a
hundred
sacrifices.
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30. There strutting along in his hanghty[**haughty]
strides, he met the
anchorite Durvasas sitting still in his meditative mood;
and
believing him to be a dead body lying on his way, he
knocked
it down with his feet.
31. At this the angry anchorite threatened the proud god
with saying:--O Indra! as you have dashed me with your
feet by thinking me a lifeless corpse, so will a huge carcass
shortly fall upon this ground and slash it to pieces and
reduce
it to dust.
32. And as you have spurned me as a dead body, so art
thou
accursed to be crushed under the falling carcass on
earth[**.]
33. He transformed into a deer, as he was king of kings
before, and remained in his appearance according to his
ideas.
34. In truth neither is the actual world a reality, nor
the
imaginary one an unreality; it is in fact the one and
same
thing, whether we conceive it as the one or other (i. e.
either
as the real or unreal).
35. Listen now, O Ráma, to another reason, which
appertains
to this subject, and clearly settles the point in
question.
(That god being Almighty and all in all, it makes no
difference
whatever, whether the world is viewed as his creation or
as a
pantheon).
36. He in whom all things reside, and from whom
everything
proceeds; who is all in all; and who is every where in
all
must be the One that you may call all, and beside whom
there
[**[is]] none at all.
37. It is equally possible to him, to bring forth
whatever
he wills to produce; as also not to produce, whatever he
does
not wish to bring to existence.
38. Whatever is desired in earnest by any body, must
eventually
come to pass to him in reality[**space added] (as the
desired doership of
vipaschit[**Vipaschit]) and this is as true as the
instance of light, being
ever accompanied by its shade.
39. If it is impossible for the desire and its act, which
are
opposite in their nature, to meet together in
fact[**space added]; then it
would
be impossible for the omnifarious god to be all things
both in
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being and not being; therefore the objects of our desire
and
thought, are equally present with us as the real ones.
40. There is a reality (or entity of god) attached to
every
form of existence, and there is nothing which of itself
is either
an entity or nullity also.
41. O the great magic or illusion, which is overspread
every
where, and pervades over all nature in every form and at
all
times; and binds all beings in inextricable delusion.
42. The nature of the great God comprises the community
of spirits in his spirit, and combines in itself all laws
whether
permissive or prohibitive acting in concert and eternal
hermony[**harmony].
43. It is his infinite power that has displayed the
ignorance
or Illusion, which spreads over all the three worlds from
time
with or without its beginning; and it is our delusion
only, which
depicts all things in their various forms to our view.
44. Or how could the creation that was once destroyed by
the great deluge, could[**delete 'could'] come to
resuscitate again; unless
it were
a rechauffe of the reminiscence of the past one[**,] else
the elementary
bodies of air, fire and earth, could not possibly be
produced
from nothing.
45. Therefore the world is no other than a manifestation
of
the divine nature; and this is the verdict of the
sástras, and the
conviction of mankind from the very beginning of
creation.
46. Things which admit of no sufficient proof for their
material existence, are easily proved to exist, by their
being
considered under the light of the understanding.
47. Things of a subtile nature, which are imperceptible
by
the senses, are known in their essence by the
understanding of
the learned; hence the essence of Brahma is pure
understanding,
of which we are quite ignorant owing to our ignorance of
the Intellect.
48. The world is obvious to us from its figure, as the
air is
evident by its vibration; hence no body is born or dies
herein,
(save that it appears to or disappears from our sight).
49. That I am living and the other is dead, are
conceptions
of our mind; hence death being but the total
disappearance of
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the visible world from our view, it must be as pleasing
to us as
our sound sleep itself.
50. If it be the recognition of the visibles, which is
called
the life or revivification of man; then there are no such
things
in the world, as are commonly termed the life and death
of
beings.
51. At a time, the intellect appears a duality, and at
other
an unity[**,] both are nothing but intellect.
52. It is the Intellection of the Divine Intellect, that
infuses
its intelligence into all minds; hence what is life without
the intellect and the faculty of intellection.
53. The intellect being free from pain, there is no cause
of
complaint in any intellectual being; since the word world
and
all that it means to express, are but manifestations of
vacuous
intellect.
54. It is wrong to say, that the intellect is one thing
and
the body another; since the unity is the soul of all and
pervades
all multiformity; and as the waves and whirlpools are
seen in
the waters, so are all these bodies are[**delete 'are']
known to abide in the
Supreme being.
55. The universal pervation[**pervasion] of
divide[**divine] essence, as
that of
the subtile air, is the cause of causes and the sole
cause of all;
hence the world is a subtile substance also, being but a
reflexion
of the Divine Intellect.
56. It is wonderful, how this subtile world appears as a
solid body to us; it is only our conception of it as such
that
makes it appear so unto us; but conception is no
substance at
all, therefore the world has no substantiality in it.
57. It is the demon of error that reigns over us in its
aerial
form, deludes us to take the shadowy world for the
substance;
while in fact this creation of error is as null and void,
as the
vacuous creation of the intellect, (i. e. The sensible
world is as
void and null as the ideal one).
58. Hence this nether world below and the etherial worlds
above, are as void as the hypophysical[**hyperphysical]
world of the
Divine
Intellect; and all these beings[**being] but reflexions
of the Divine mind,
are exhibited in various ways.
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59. The Intellect being a subtile entity, there is
nothing as
a solid substance any where; the phenomenals are all
unsubstantial
rarities, though they appear to us solidified realities.
60. The knowledge of the true verity and that of the
unreality, are so blended together; that we must remain
in
mute silence like a block of wood or stone, to pronounce
anything
in the affirmative or negative about either.
61. The visible whole is the infinite Brahma, and this
universe
displays the majesty of the great god; and all these
bodies are the various forms, exhibiting the infinite
attributes
of the deity.
62. In this manner, is the substance of the Divine
Intellect
displayed in itself; and it is the vacuous spirit of god,
that manifests
this unsubstantantial[**unsubstantial] world in its own
vacuity.
63. The number of living beings, since the beginning of
creation, is unlimited in every place; and of these there
are
many, that exist either in their corporeal or incorporeal
forms.
64. There are other siddha and spiritual beings, abiding
with their subtile natures and tenuous forms in the
supreme
Being; they live in groups in all elements, but never
come to
see one another of their own kind.
65. The exuberance of the visible world, being purely of
aerial and vacuous form; they are never seen in
there[**their] true and
intellectual light, except when they appear to us in
their aerial
shapes in our dreams.
66. The world being well known, remains as it does in our
inward conception of it, in the form of a hazy mist
appearing
to our sight at the end of night. (i. e. dark and
obscure).
67. It is a dark and indistinct maze, with nothing
distinguishable
in it when seen from a distance; it becomes clearer at
a nearer view, and by keeping yourself afar you lose
sight of it
altogether.
68. As the particles of water fly off, and fall again
into the
sea; so do the atoms of intellect in all living beings,
continually
rise and subside, in the vast ocean of the Divine Mind.
(So doth
every thing proceed from and recede into the Divine
spirit).
69. This grandeur of creation is as the crowding throng
of
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our dreams[**space added], which ere before[**delete
'ere' or 'before'] lay
slumbering; in the hollow
space of the Divine Mind, therefore know these effusions
of the
divine Intellect, and[**delete 'and'] as calm and quiet
as the unruffled
spirit
of god. (that ever reposes in its calm felicity).
70. I have seen the infinite glories of creation, and
have felt
the various results of my deeds to no end; I have
wandered
in all quarters of the globe for ages; but I found no
rest from
the toils and troubles of the delusive world, except in
the knowledge
of my vanities of the world.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to Brahmasri Sreemaan Vihari Lala Mitra ji for the
collection)
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