The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki
The only complete English translation is
by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891).
CHAPTER LXIV.
On the Attainment of Attendantship on the God Rudra.
Argument:--The remainder of the former story; and the
manner of
becoming the attendant Rudras on Siva.
RAMA said:--Tell me sir, what became of the many forms,
which the mendicant saw in his dream; and whether the
several forms of Jivata, the Brahman, the gander and
others
return to themselves, or remained as Rudras for ever
more.
2. Vashishtha replied:--They all remained with Rudra, as
parts and compositions of himself; and being enlightened
by
him, they wandered all about the world, and rested
contented
with themselves.
3. They all beheld with Rudra, the magic scenes which
were displayed before them; till at last they were
dismissed
from his company, to return to their own states and
places.
4. Rudra Said:--Go you now to your own places, and
their[** there?]
enjoy your fill with your family; and returned[**
return?] to me after some
time, having compleated[**completed] the course of your
enjoyments and
sufferings in the world.
5. You will then become as parts of myself, and remain
as my attendants to grace my residence; till at last we
return
to the supreme at the end of time, and be absorbed in
last
Omega of all.
6. Vashishtha said:--So saying, the Lord Rudra vanished
from their sight, and mixed in the midst of the Rudras,
who
viewed all the worlds in their enlightened intellects. (These
are celestial and angelic beings).
7. Then did jivata and others return to their respective
residences, where they have to share their shares of
domestic
felicity in the company of their families, during their
alloted[**allotted?]
times.
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8. Having then wasted and shuffled off their mortal coil,
at
the end of their limited periods, they will be promoted
to the
rank of Rudras in heaven, and will appear as luminous
stars
in the fermament.
9. R疥a rejoined:--All those forms of Jiv疸・and others,
being but creations of the empty imagination of the
mendicant;
I cannot understand, how they could be beings, as there
is no
substantiality in imaginary things.
10. Vasishtha replied:--The truth of the imagination lies
partly in our consciousness, and partly in our
representation
of the image; though the imagery or giving a false shape
to
anything, is as untrue as any nihility in nature. But
what we
are conscious of must be true, because our consciousness
comprehends
everything in it.
11. Thus what is seen in the dream, and represented to us
by imagination, are all impressed in our consciousness at
all
times and for ever. (Therefore neither is our
consciousness nor
the images we are conscious of are untrue, though the
imagery
and the work of imagination are utterly false).
12. As a man when going or carried from one country to
another, and there again to some other place, has no
knowledge
of the distance of his journey, unless he is conscious of
its
length and duration in space and time; so we are ignorant
of
the duration of our dream, and our passing from one dream
to
another, without our consciousness of it in our sleeping
state.
13. Therefore it is our consciousness that contains all
things,
that are represented to it by the intellect; and it is
from our
intellection that we have the knowledge of everything,
because
the intellect is full of knowledge and pervades
everywhere.
14. Imagination, desire and dream, are the one and same
thing, the one producing the other and all lodged in the
cell of
the intellect. Their objects are obtained by our intense
application
to them. Desire produces imagination which is the
cause of dream; they are the phenomena of mind, and their
objects are the results of deep meditation.
15. Nothing is to be had without its practice and
meditation
of it, and men of enlightened minds gain the objects by
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their Yoga or meditation of them alone. (These are the
Yoga
siddhas or adepts in Yoga as Siva &c).
16. These adepts view the objects of their pursuit in all
places,
such as the god Siva and others of the Siddah Yogis, such
was
my aim and attempt also, but it was not attended with
success.
17. I was unsuccessful in want of my fixed resolveness,
but
failed in both for my attending to both sides. It is only
the
firm resolution of one in one point, that gives him
success in
any undertaking.
18. As one going in southerly direction, cannot arrive at
his
house in the north, so it is the case with the pursuers
after their
aims; which they well know to be unattainable without
their
firm determination in it.
19. Whoever is resolved to gain his desired objects, must
fix his view on the object before him; the mind being
fixed
on the object in view, brings the desire into effect. (So
says
hafiz. If thou want the presence of the object, never be
absent from it).
20. So the mendicant having the demi God Rudra, for the
sole object in his view, became assimilated to the very
form of
his wish; because whoso is intent on one object, must
remove
all duality from before him. (So says the mystic sadi:
I drove the duality from my door, in order to have the
unity
alone before my view).
21. The other imaginary forms of the mendicant, were all
different persons in their different spheres; and had
obtained
their several forms, according to their respective
desires from
one state to another (as said before).
22. They did not know or look on one another, but had all
their thoughts and sights fixed on Rudra alone; because
those
that are awakened to their spiritual knowledge, have
their sight
fixed on their final liberation, while the unenlightened
mortals
are Subjected to repeated births, by the repetition of
their
wishes (to be born in some form or other).
23. It was accordingly to the will of Rudra, that he took
this one form and many others upon him, such as he wills
to become
a Vidhadhara in one place and a pandit in another.
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24. This instance of Rudra serves for an example, of the
efficacy of intense thought and practice of all men; who
may
become one or another or many more, as also learned or
ignorant,
agreeably to their thought and conduct. (One to be many,
means
the versatility of parts, to act as many).
25. So one has his manhood and Godhead also; (i. e. acts
as a man and a God likewise), by his manly and Godlike
actions
at different times and places; and to be both at the one
and same time, requires much greater ability and energy
both
of the mind and body: (as it is seen in the persons of
deified
heroes).
26. The living soul being one with the Divine, has all
the
powers of the same implanted in it; the infinite being
ingrafted
in the finite, It is of the same nature by innate nature.
27. The living soul has its expansion and contraction in
its
life and death, as the Divine soul has its evolution and
involution;
in the acts of creation and dissolution; but the Divine
soul destroys no soul, because it is the soul of souls
and the
aggregate of all souls; therefore any one that would be
godly,
must refrain from slaughter.
28. So the yogis and yoginis continue in the discharge of
their sacred rites, as enjoin by law and usage, and
either remain
in this or rove about in other worlds at large at the
free will
and liberty.
29. A yogi is seen in several forms at once, both in this
world and in the next, according to his desert and the
merit
of his actions; as the great yogi and warriors Karta
Viryarjuna,
became the terror of the world as if he were ubiquitous,
while he remained quite at home. (i. e. though confined
in one
place, yet he seemed to be present every where).
30. So also doth the god Vishnu appear in human forms
on earth, while he sleeps at ease in the milky ocean; and
the
yoginis of heaven hover over animal sacrifices on earth,
while
they reside in their groups in the etherial sphere.
31. Indra also appears on earth, to receive the oblations
of
men, when he is sitting in his heavenly seat on high, and
N疵・*
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*yana takes the forms of a thousand R疥疽 upon him, in his
conflict
with the myriads of Rakhasa legions.
32. So did one Krishna become a hundred, to receive the
obeisance of his reverential princes; and he appears as a
thousand
in the company of many thousand monarchs in the Kuru
assembly.
33. So the god become incarnate in many forms, with parts
and particles of his own spirit for the preservation of
the world;
and the one lord became many in the company of his
mistresses
in a moment. (This was the company of milk maids in the
r疽alila sport of Krishna).
34. In this manner did the forms of Jivata and others,
which were the creatures of the mendicant's imagination,
retire
at the behest of Rudra, to the particular abodes of their
own and
respective desires.
35. Their they enjoyed all their delights for a long
time,
until they entered the abode of Rudra; where they became
the
attendants of the demigod, and remained in his train for
a great
length of time.
36. They remained in the company of Rudra, dwelling
in the groves of the evergreen and ever blossoming Kalpa
creepers of paradise, blooming with clusters of their
gemming
florets; and roving at pleasure to different worlds, and
to the
celestial city of Siva on the Kailasa mountain, and
sporting in
the company of heavenly nymps, and bearing the crowns of
immortality on their heads. (This is the description of
the
heaven of Hindus).
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CHAPTER LXV.
RﾁMA'S WONDER AT THE ERROR OF MEN.
Argument.--Application of the mendicant's case to all
men, who are
equally mistaken in their choice.
Vasishtha continued:--As the mendicant saw this
transcient[**transient]
scene of error in his mind; so it is the case with all
living beings, to look on their past lives and actions
apart from
themselves, and in the persons of other men.
2. The past lives, actions and demise of all reflective
souls
are as fast imprinted in them, as any thought is
preserved in
the retentive mind and vacuous intellect.
3. Distant and separate things are mingled together, in
the
present sphere of one's soul; and all persons appear as
distinct
figures in the dream.
4. And the human soul, though it is a form of the divine,
yet being enclosed in its frail and mortal body, is
doomed to
misery until its final liberation from birth and body.
Thus I
have related to you the fate of all living souls, in the
state and
tale of the mendicant Bhikshu.
5. Now know, O R疥a! that the souls of all of us like that
of the mendicant, are vibrated and moved by the impulse
of
the supreme spirit; and are yet fallible in their nature,
and
falling from error to error every moment: (as we find in
our
dreams).
6. As a stone falling from a rock, falls lower and lower
to
the nether ground; so the living soul once fallen from
its height
of supreme spirit, descends lower and lower to the lowest
pit.
7. Now it sees one dream, and then passes from it to
another; and thus rolling for ever in its dreaming sleep,
it
never finds any substantiality whatsoever,[**.]
8. The soul thus obscured under the illusion of errors,
happens some times to come to the light of truth, either
by
the guidance of same good instructor, or by the light of
its own
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intuition; and then it is released from the wrong notion
of its
personality in the body, and comes to the true knowledge
of
itself.
9. R疥a Said[**said]:--O! the impervious gloom of error
that
over spreads on the human soul, causes it to rely in the
mist of its errors, as a sleeping man enjoys the scenary
of his
dreams.
10. It is shrouded by the thick darkness of the night of
erroneous knowledge, and falls into the pit of illusion
which
over spreads the world; (m痒・or error is the fruit of the
forbidden
tree whose mortal taste brought death into the world,
while knowledge is the fruit of the tree of immortality,
which
liberates the soul from the bonds of birth and death).
11. O the egregious error of taking a thing for our own,
which in reality belongs to no body but the lord and
master
of all.
12. It behoves you, sir, to explain to me, whence this
error
takes its rise, and how the mendicant with his share of
good
and right understanding, could fall into the error, (of
wishing
himself to become another, that was as frail and mortal
as himself).
Tell me also that knowest all, whether he is still living
or not.
13. Vasishtha replied:--I will explore into the regions
of
the three world[**worlds] in my samadhi meditation this
night, and tell
you tomorrow morning, whether the mendicant is living or
not,
and where he may be at present.
14. V疝m勛i[**・->畩 said:--As the sage was saying in this
manner,
the royal garrison tolled the trumpet of the departing
day
with beat of drum; which filled the sky with the loud
roar of
deluvian[**diluvian] clouds.
15. The princes and the citizens assembled in the court,
threw hand fuls[**handfuls] of flowers at his feet, as
the trees drop
down their flowers in the ground, wafted by the
odoriferous
breeze.
16. They honoured the great sages also, and rose from
their respective seats; and the assembly broke
afterwards, with
mutual salutations to one another.
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17. Then all the residents of the earth and air, went to
their respective residences with the setting sun; and
discharged
their duties of the departing day, in
obediance[**obedience] to the
ordinance
of the s疽tras.
18. They all performed their services as prescribed in
their
liturgies, in which they placed their strong faith and
veneration.
(This shows the division of caste and creed even in the
heroic age of R疥a; which being more marked in
laterages[**later ages],
prevented
the people from participating in a common cause[**)].
19. All the mortals and celestials, that formed the
audiance[**audience]
of "Vasishtha", began now to reflect on the
lecture of
the sage, and the night passed as short as a moment with
some,
and as long as an age with others. (Gloss. They that took
the subject for study, found time too short for their
deep
meditation of it, while those that were light minded and
eager
to hear more, felt time to roll on heavily on them. A
very
good lesson for lightening time by the practice of
patient enquiry,
and avoiding the troublesomeness of
impatient[**impatience][**)].
20. As the morning rose with the returning duties of men,
and employed all beings of heaven and earth to discharge
their
matin in services; the court reopened for the reception
of the
audience, who assembled there with mutual greetings and
salutations to their superiors.
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CHAPTER LXVI.
THE WONDERINGS[**WANDERINGS] OF THE MENDICANT.
Arguments:--The wonderings[**wanderings] of men agreeably
to their
pursuits,
described in the character of the mendicant.
Valm勛i[**V疝m勛i] related:--After the sages Vasishtha and
Viswamitra
had taken their seats in the court hall, there met
the groups of celestials and siddhas of air, and the
monarch of
earth and chiefs of men.
2. Then came R疥a and Lakshmana with their companions
in the court; which shone as a clear lake of lotus-beds
unshaken
by the gentle breeze, and brightened by the moonbeams
glistening amidst it.
3. The sire of sages opened his mouth unasked by any
body, and not waiting for the request of any one; because
wise
men are always kind hearted, and ready to communicate
their
knowledge to others of their own accord. (Here the sage
spoke
impromtu[**impromptu], to keep his promise of answering
to R疥a's
query
in the preceding chapter, on a future occasion. Gloss).
4. Vasishtha said:--O. R疥a! that art the moon in the
sphere of Raghu's family, I have yesternight came to see
the
mendicant, with the all seeing eye of my intellectual
vision after
a long time.
5. I revolved over in my mind, and wondered[**wandered]
wide and
afar to find out where that men[**man] [**was], and so I
traversed
through all
the continents and islands, and passed over all the hills
and
mountains on earth.
6. I had my head running upon the search, but could not
meet anywhere a mendicant of that description; because it
is
impossible to find in the outer world, the fictions of
our air
built castle.
7. I then ran in my mind at the last watch of the night,
and passed over the regions on the north, as the fleet
winds
fly over the waves of the ocean.
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8. There I saw the extensive and populous country of Jina
(china[**China]) lying beyond the utmost boundaries of
Valmika
(Bhalika or Bulkh); where there is a beautiful city,
called as
Vihara by the inhabitants.
9. There lives a mendicant, named D叝gha drik or fore
sighted whose head was silvered over with age, and who
continues
in his close meditation confined in his homely and lovely
cottage.
10. He is used to sit there in his meditative mood, for
three weeks together at a time, and keep the door of his
cell
quite fast, for fear of being disturbed in his silent
devotion, by
the intrusion of out siders[**outsiders].
11. His dependants are thus kept out of doors for the
time,
that he is absorbed in meditation.
12. He thus passed his three weeks of deep meditation in
seclusion, and it is now a thousand years, that he
[**has] been
setting[**sitting]
in this manner, in communion with his own mind only.
13. It was in olden times, that there had been a
mendicant
of his kind, as I have already related unto you; this is
the
living instance of that sort, and we know not where and
when
a third or another like this may be found to exist.
14. I was long in quest like a bee in search of flowers,
to
find such another, in the womb of this lotus like earth,
with all
possible inquiry on my part.
15. I passed beyond the limit of the present world, and
pierced through the mist of future creations, and there I
met
with what I sought of the resemblance of the present one.
16. As I looked into the world lying in the womb of
futurity, and deposited in the intellectual sphere of
Brahma;
I met with a third one resembling to Brahm・in his
conduct.
17. So passing through many worlds one after another, I
saw many things in futures, which are not in esse[**ease?
case?--P2: in
esse OK/SOED] in the
present world.
18. There I beheld the sages that are now sitting in this
assembly, and many more Brahmans also, that are of the
nature of these present, as also different from them.
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[** unclear portions of the page compared to print]
19. There will be this Narada with his present course of
life, as also differing from the same; so likewise there
will be
many others also, with their various modes of life.
20. So likewise there will appear this Vy疽a and this
Suka;
and these Saunaka, Pulaha and Krutu, will reappear in
future
creations, with their very same natures and characters.
(This
doctrine of reappearance in a future world, is disbelieved
in the
sense of the transmigration of souls, but it is taken as
strict
article of faith by all christians[**Christians] and
moslems[**Moslems], in
the name of
regeneration and resurrection which imply the same
thing).
21. The same Agastya and Pulastya and the self-same
Bhrigu and Angirasa, will[**delete 'will'] all of them
and all others, will
come to re-existence, with their very forms and traits of
character.
(The dead will rise again in their very bodies
&c[**.] Gospel).
22. They will be born and reborn sooner and later, so
long
as they are under the subjection of this delusion of
regeneration
and resuscitation; and will retain their similar births
and
modes of life, like all others to be reborn in this or
the future
world. (As a Brahman who is twice born on earth, retains
his
habits as before).
23. So the souls of men revolve repeatedly in the world,
like waves rolling for ever in the waters of the sea;
some of
which retain their very same forms, while others are very
nearly so in their reappearance.
24. Some are slightly altered in their figures, and
others varying
entirely in their forms, never regain their original
likeness;
so doth this prevailing error of regeneration, delude
even the
wise to repeated births; (from which can never get their
liberations).
(The desire of revivification or regeneration, is so
deeply implanted in all living souls, that no body wants
to die
but with desire to live again in some future state.
"Ye shall
not die." Gospel).
25. But what means the long meditation, of twenty days
and nights of the mendicant, when a moment's thought of
ours,
and the results of our bodily actions, are productive of
endless
births and transformations.
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26. Again where is the reality of these forms, which are
mere conceptions of the mind; and these ideas and
reflexions,
growing ripe with their recapitulation, appear as full
blown
flowers to sight; and resemble the water lily at morn,
beset
by the busy murmur of humming bees.
27. The gross form is produced from pure thought (i.e.
the
material from the immaterial mind); as a pile of flaming
fire
is kindled by a minute spark or a ray of sun beam. Such
is the
formation of the whole fabric of the world.
28. All things are manifest as particles of divine
reflexion,
and each particle exhibiting in it a variety of parts (in
its
atoms and animalcules); nor are these nor those together
are
nothing at all, but they all exist in the universal,
which is the
cause of all cause, and the source of all sources.
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CHAPTER LXVII.
UNITY OF GOD.
Argument:--The liberation of the mendicant's soul and
destruction of
his body, and the application of this instance in the
cases of the
confinement
and liberation of all souls in and from the bondage of
their bodies.
Dasaratha said:--O great sage[**,] let these attendants
of
mine, repair immediately to the cells of the
mendicants[**mendicant],
and having roused him from his hypnotism, bring him
hither
in my presence.
2. Vasishtha replied:--Great king! the body of that
mendicant, is now lying lifeless on the ground; it is now
pale
and cold and daubed with dirt, and has no jot of its
vitality
left in it.
3. His life has fled from his body, like odour from the
lotus
of the lake; he is now liberated from the bond of this
life, and
is no more subject to the cares of this world.
4. It is now a whole month that his servants have opened
the latch of his door, and standing at a distance looking
at his
emaciated frame.
5. They will afterwards take out the body and immerge it
in water, and then having anointed it, they will place it
for their
adoration, as they do a defied idol. (The bodies of
saints are
sanctified by their votaries among all nations, and their
tombs
are visited with religious veneration).
6. The mendicant being in this manner freed from his
body,
cannot be brought back to his senses, which have entirely
quitted their functions in his mortal frame.
7. It is hard to evade the enchanting delusion of the
world,
so long as one labours under the darkness of his
ignorance;
but it is easily avoided by one's knowledge of truth at
all times.
8. The fabrication of the world is untrue, as the making
of
ornaments from gold; it is the error of taking the form
for the
substance, that appears as the cause of creation.
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9. This delusion of the world, appears to be so situated
in
the supreme soul, as the rows of waves are seen to roll
upon the
surface of the calm waters of the sea. So it is said in
the very
words of the vedas, that the moving worlds are as the
fluctuation
of the Divine Soul.
10. The intelligent soul, taking the form of the living
or
human soul, sees the phenomenal world, as one sees one
dream
after another, but all these vanish away upon his waking
to sense
and right reason.
11. As every man of understanding sees the original in
its
image, so the man of reason views the archetype of the
soul in
its representation of the creation; while the ignorant
man that
sees the world as a thorny bush or confused jungle, can
have no
idea of the all designing framer of his frame work of the
universe. (Right reason points out to spiritual source of
the
world).
12. The world is represented to the view of every living
being, as it was seen in the vision of the dreaming
mendicant, in
the form of the undulations of the supreme spirit, like
the fluctuation
of waves on the surface of the sea.
13. As the world appeared to be presented at first in its
visionary form, before the view of the universal or
collective
mind of the creative Brahm・ so does it rise in its
shadowy
form in the opacous minds of all individual persons. (The
world appears in its unspiritual form, to the minds of
the great
Brahm・and all other living beings).
14. But to the clear mind this world appears as an
evanescent
dream, as it appeared to Brahm・at first; and the
multitudes
of worlds that are discovered one after the other, are no
more
than the successive scenes of passing dreams in the
continuous
sleep of ignorance.
15. So do all living beings in their various forms, are
subject
to the error of believing the unreal world as a reality,
though they well know it in their minds, to be no better
than
a continuous dream or delusion. (The varieties of living
souls
are included under the unintelligible terms of universal
and
individual:--general and particular &c[**.]).
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16. The animal soul, though possessed of intellege[**?]
(or the
property of the intellect); is yet liable to trans
gress[**transgress] from its
original nature (of holiness and purity); and thereby
becomes
subject to decay, disease and death and all kinds of owe.
(It is
the chyuty of the fall of man from his primary purity,
that
brought on him all his miseries on earth).
17. The godly intellect frames the celestial and infernal
regions in our dreams, by the slight vibration of the
mind at
its pleasure; and then takes a delight in rambling over
and
dwelling in them.
18. It is this divine intellect, which by its own motion,
takes the form of living soul upon itself; and wanders
from itself
to rummage over the false objects of the deceptive
senses.
19. The mind also is the supreme soul, and if it is not
so
it is nothing; the living and embodied is likewise a
designation
of the same, likening to the shadow of the substance.
20. So the supreme Brahma is said to reside in the
universal
Brahm・ according to the distinct view of men, with regard
to the one Brahma, in whom all these attributes unite,
like the water with water and the sky with air. (All
these
attributive words apply to and unite in the unity of
Brahma).
21. Men residing in this mundane form of Brahma, and
yet think it otherwise than a reflexion of the deity;
just as a
child looking at its own shadow in a glass, startles to
think it
as an apparition standing before it.
22. It is the wavering understanding that causes these
differences,
which disappear of themselves, after the mind resumes
its steadiness in the unity of the Deity, wherein it is
lost at
last, as the oblation of butter is consumed in the sacred
fire.
23. There is no more any vacillation or dogmatism, nor
the unity or duality, after the true knowledge of the
deity is
gained; when all distinctions are dissolved in an
indistinct
intellect, which is as it is and all in all.
24. When it is known from the sum and substance of all
reasoning, that it is the one Intellect, which is the
subject of
all appellations which are applied to it; there remains
no more
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any difference of religious faith in the world. (That is
one and
all, is the catholic religion of all).
25. Difference of faith, creates difference in men; but
want
of distinction in creed, destroys all difference, and
brings on the
union of all to one common faith in the supreme being.
26. R疥a, you see the variety from your want of
understanding,
and you will get rid of the same (and recognise their
identy[**identity]),
as you come to your right understanding; ask this of any
body and you will find the truth of what I say and be
fearless
at any party feeling and enmity. (Confession of faith in
one
Divinity, that is acknowledged and adored by all alike,
is the
root of catholicity, and brings on unity in philosophy of
religion).
27. In that state of fearlessness, the Brahmav疆・finds no
difference in the states of waking, dreaming, sound sleep
or the
fourth stage of devotion; nor in his earthly bondage or
liberation
from it, all which are equal to him. (So says the
sruti:--The
Brahmav疆・is ever blest and is afraid of nothing in any
state
of life, in all of which he sees the presence of his
God).
28. Tranquility is another name of the universe, and God
has given his peace to everything in the world; therefore
all
schisms are the false creations of ignorance, as none of
them
has ever seen the invisible God.
29. The action of the heart and the motion of the vital
air,
cannot move the contented mind to action; because the
mind
which is devoid of its desire, is indifferent about the
vibrations
of his breath and heart strings.
30. The intellect which is freed from the dubitation of
unity and duality, and got rid of its anxious cares and
desires;
has approached to a state, which is next to that of the
deity.
31. But the pure desire which subsists in the intellect,
like
the stain which sticks to the disk of the moon; is no
speck
upon it, but the coagulation of the condensed intellect.
(As the
fluid water is congealed in the forms of snow and ice).
32. Do you, R疥a![**・->畩 ever remain in the state of
your collected
intellect, because it concentrates (the knowledge of)
everything
(that is sat) in itself, and leaves nothing (that is not
asat]
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beyond it. This is the most faultless undefective form of
faith, [**(]that I have abstracted from all religions).
33. The moon like disk of the intellect, having the mark
of
inappetency in it, is a vessel of ambrosia, a draught of
which
drowns the thoughts of all that is and is not (in esse-[**--]et
non-esse)
into oblivion. (Contentment is the ambrosial draught for
oblivion of all cares).
34. Refer thy thoughts of whatever thou hast or wantest,
to the province of thy intellect; (i.e. think of thy
intellectual
parts and wants only); and taste thy inward delight as
much as thou dost like. (Pleasure of intellectual
culture, is
better than physical enjoyments).
35. Know R疥a, that the words vibration and inaction,
desire and inappetency and such others of the theological
glossary, serve only to burden and misled the mind to
error;
do you therefore keep yourself from thinking on these,
and
betake yourself to your peace and quiet, whether you
attain to
your perfection or otherwise.
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CHAPTER LXVIII.
ON THE ISSUE OF TACITURNITY.
Argument:--Four kinds of Reticence, and their respective
qualities.
Vasishtha said:--R疥a! remain as taciturn as in
your silent sleep, and shun at a distance the musings of
your mind; get rid of the vagaries of your imagination,
and
remain firm in the state Brahma.
2. R疥a[**・->畩 said:--I know what is meant by the
reticence of
speech, and the quietness of the organs, and the muteness
of a
block of wood; but tell me what is sleep like silence,
which you
well know by practice.
3. Vasishtha replied:--It is said to be of two kinds, by
the mute like music and the reserved sages of old; the
practiced
by the wood like statues of saints, and the other
observed
by those that are liberated in their life time (j咩an
mukta).
4. The wood like devotee is that austere
ascetcs[**ascetic], who is not
meditative in his mind, and is firmly employed in the
discharge
of the rigorous rites of religion; he practises the
painfull[**painful]
restraints of his bodily organs, and remains speechless
as a
wooden statue.
5. The other kind of living liberated Yogi is one, who
looks
at the world over as before (with his usual unconcern);
who
delights in his meditation of the soul, and passes as any
ordinary
man without any distinctive mark of his religious order
or secular rank.
6. The condition of these two orders of saintly and holy
men, which is the fixedness of their minds and sedateness
of
their souls, is what passes under the title of
taciturnity and
saintliness (mauna[**=print] and muni), (who hold their
tongue and their
peace, and walk subsilentio[**sub silentio] and incognito
on earth).
7. Thus the taciturn sages reckon four kinds of
latitancy,
which they style severally by the names of reservedness
in
-----File:
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speech, restriction of the organs, woodlike
speechlessness and
dead like silence as in one's sleep.
8. Oral silence consists in keeping one's mouth and lips
close, and the closeness of the senses implies the
keeping of the
members of the body under strict control; the rigorous
muteness
means the abandonment of all efforts, and the sleepy
silence
is as silent as the grave.
9. There is a fifth kind of dead like silence, which
occurs on[**in]
the austere ascetic in his state of insensibility; in the
profound
meditation of the dormant Yogi, and in the mental
abstraction
of the living liberated.
10. All the three prior states of reticence, occur in the
austere devotee, and the sleepy or dead silence is what
betakes
the living liberated only.
11. Though speechlessness is called silence, yet it does
not
constitute pure reticence, in as much as the mute tongue
may
brood evil thoughts in the mind, which lead to the bondage
of
men.
12. The austere devotee continues in his reticence,
without
minding his own egoism, or seeing the visibles or
listening to
the speech of others; and seeing nothing beside him, he
sees
all in himself, like living fire covered under ashes.
13. The mind being busy in these three states of silence,
and
indulging its fancies and reveries at liberty; makes
munis of
course in outward appearance, but there is no one, who
understads[** typo
for understands]
the nature of God.
14. There is nothing of that blessed divine knowledge in
any of these, which is so very desireable[**desirable] to
all mankind; I
vouch it freely that they are not knowers of God, be they
angry
at it or not as they may. (Vasishtha being a theoretic
philosopher,
finds fault with every kind of practical Yoga or pseudo
hypnotism).
15. But this dormant or meditative silent sage, who is
liberated
from all bonds and cares in his life time, is never to be
born in any shape in this world, and it is interesting to
know
much of them as I will recite to you.
-----File:
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16. He does not require to restrain his respiration, nor
needs
the triple restraint of his speech; he does not rejoice
at his
prosperity, nor is he depressed in adversity, but
preserves his
equanimity and the evenness of his sensibility at all
times.
(He sticks to what is natural, and does not resort to
anything
artificial).
17. His mind is under the guidance of his reason, and is
neither excited by nor restrained from its fancies, it is
neither
restless nor dormant, and exists as it is not in
existence. (owing
to its even mindedness).
18. His attention is neither divided nor pent up, but
fixed in the infinite and eternal one, and his mind
cogitates
unconfined the nature of things. Such a one is said to be
the
sleeping silent sage.
19. He who knows the world as it is, and is not led to
error
by its deluding varieties, and whoso scans everything as
it is
without being led to scepticism, is the man that is
styled the
sleeping silent sage.
20. He who relies his faith and trust, on the one endless
and
ever felicitous Siva, as the aggregate of all knowledge,
and the
displayer of this universe, is the one who is known as
the sleeping
silent sage.
21. He who sees the vacuum as the plenum, and views this
all omnium as the null and nullum; and whose mind is even
and tranquil, is the man who is called the sleeping
silent sage.
22. Again he who views the universe as neither reality
nor
unreality either, but all an empty vacuum and without a
substratum,
but full of peace and divine wisdom, is said to be in
the best state of his taciturnity.
23. The mind that is unconscious of the effects, of the
different states of its prosperity and adversity and of
its plenty
and wants, is said to rest in its highest state of rest
and quiet.
24. That perfect equanimity of the mind and evenness of
temper, which is not liable to change or fluctuation;
with a clear
conscience and unflincing[**unflinching]
self-consciousness, are the
source of
an unimpairing[**unimpaired] reticence.
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25. The consciousness that I am nothing, nor is there
anything
besides; and that the mind and its thoughts, are no other
in reality (than fictions of the intellect); is the real
source
of taciturnity.
26. The knowledge that the ego pervades this universe,
which is the representation of the "one that
is"; and whose
essence is displayed equally in all things, is what is
meant by
the state of sleepy silence. (i. e. the man that has
known this
grand truth, remains dumb and mute and has nothing to
say).
27. Now as it is the consciousness which constitutes all
and everything, how can you concieve[**conceive] your
distinction from
others, who are actuated by the same power, dwelling
alike in
all? It is this knowledge[**l added] which is called the
ever lasting sleep,
and forms the ground work of every kind of silence.
28. This is the silence of profound[** typo? f changed to
p] sleep, and
because it is
an endless sleep in the ever wakeful God, this sleep is
alike
to waking. Know this as the fourth stage of Yoga, or
rather
a stage above the same.
29. This profound trance is called hypnotism or the
fourth
state of entranced meditation; and the tranquility which
is above
this state, is to be had in one's waking state.
30. He that is situated in his fourth stage of yoga, has
a
clear conscience and quiet peace attending on him. This
is practicable
by the adept even in his waking state, and is obtainable
by the righteous soul, both in its embodied as well as
disembodied
states.
31. Yes, O R疥a! Be you desirous to be settled in this
state, and know that neither I or you nor any other
person is
any real being in this world, which exists only as a
reflexion of
our mind, and therefore the wise man should rely only in
the
bosom of the vacuous intellect, which comprehends all
things
in it.
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CHAPTER LXIX.
UNION OF THE MIND WITH THE BREATH OF LIFE.
Argument.--Willful existence of the attendants of Rudra,
and the
elevation of yogis after their Demise.
Rama said:--Tell me, O chief of sages, how the Rudras
came to be a hundred in their number, and whether the
attendants of Rudra, are Rudras also or otherwise.
2. Vasishtha replied:--The mendicant saw himself in a
hundred forms in a hundred dreams which he dreamt one
after another; these I have told you on the whole before,
though
I have not specially mentioned them to you.
3. All the forms that he saw in the dream, became so many
Rudras, and all these hundred Rudras remained as so many
attendants on the principal Rudra.
4. R疥a asked:--But how could the one mind of the
mendicant, be divided into a hundred in so many bodies of
the Rudras; or was it undivided like a lamp, that
lightens a
hundred lamps, without any diminution of its own light.
5. Vasishtha answered:--Know R疥a, that disembodied
or spiritual beings of pure natures, are capable of
assuming to
themselves any form of their fancy, from the aqueous
nature
of their souls (which readily unite with other liquids).
(The
Sruti says, "the soul is a fluid";
corresponding with the
psychic fluid of Stahl).
6. The soul being omnipresent and all pervading (like the
all diffusive psychic fluid); takes upon it any form
whatever,
and whenever and whereever[**wherever] it likes, by
virtue of its
intelligence:
(which the ignorant spirit is unable to do).
7. R疥a rejoined:--But tell me Sir, why was[**delete
'was'] the Lord
Rudra or Siva wore the string of human skulls about his
neck,
daubed his body with ashes, and stark naked; and why he
dwelt in funeral ground, and was libidinous in the
greatest
degree.
-----File:
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8. Vasishtha replied:--The Gods and perfect beings as
the siddhas &c. are not bound down by the laws, which
the
weak and ignorant men have devised for their own
convenience.
9. The ignorant cannot go on without the guidance of law,
on account of their ungovernable minds; or else they are
subject
to every danger and fear, like poor fishes; (which are
quite
helpless, and entirely at the mercy of all voracious
animals).
10. Intelligent people are not exposed to those evils in
life,
as the ignorant people of ungoverned minds and passions,
meet
with by their restless and vagrant habits.
11. Wise men discharge their business as they occur to
them at times, and never undertake to do any thing of
their
own accord, and are therefore exposed to no danger.
(Graha
in the text means a shark and calamities also).
12. It was on the impulse of the occassion[**occasion]
that the God
Vishnu, engaged himself in action, and so did the God
with
the three eyes (i. e. Siva), as also the God that was
born of the
lotus (i. e. The great Brahma). (All of them took human
forms
on them, whenever the Daityas invaded the Brahmans, and
never of their own will).
13. The acts of wise men are neither to be praised or
blamed
nor are they praiseworthy or blameable; because they are
never done from private or public motives, (but on the
expediency
of the occassion[**occasion]).
14. As light and heat are the natural properties, of fire
and
sun shine; so are the actions of Siva and the Gods,
ordained as
such from the begining[**beginning], as the caste customs
of the twice
born
dwijas (Aryans).
15. Though the natures of all mankind are the same, as
they are ordained in the beginning; yet the ignorant have
created differences among them, by institution of the
distinction
of castes and customs; and as there[**their] institutions
are of their
own making, they are subjected by them to the evils of
future
retribution and transmigration. (Men are bound down by
their
ownlaws[**own laws], from which the brute creation is
entirely free).
-----File:
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16. I have related to you, R疥a! the quadruple reticence
of embodied beings, and have not as yet expounded the
nature
of the silence of disembodied souls, (as those of the
Gods, siddhas
and departed saints).
17. Hear now how men are to obtain this chief good
(summum
bonum) of theirs, by their knowledge of the intellectual
souls in the clear sphere of their own intellect, which
is clearer
far than the etherial sphere of the sky.
18. It is by the knowledge of all kinds of knowledge, and
constant devotion to meditation; and by the study of the
numerical
philosophy of particulars in the sankhya system, that
men became renowned as sankhya yogis or
catigorical[**categorical]
philosopher.
(The sankhya is opposed to the Vedanta, in as much as it
rises from particulars to general truths).
19. The yoga consists in the meditation of Yogis, of the
form
of the eternal and undecaying One; by suppression of
their
breathings, and union with that state, which presents
itself to
their mind.
20. That unfeigned and undisguised state of felicity and
tranquility, which is desired as the most desirable thing
by all,
is obtainable by some by means of the s疣khya Yoga, and by
the jnana Yoga by others.
21. The result of both these forms of Yoga, is the same,
and this is known to anybody that has felt the same;
because
the state arrived at by the one, is alike to that of the
other
also.
22. And this supreme state is one, in which the actions
of
the mental faculties and vital breath, are altogether
imperceptible;
and the net work of desires is entirely dispersed.
23. The desire constitutes the mind, which again is the
cause of creation; it is therefore by the destruction of
both of
these, that one becomes motionless and inactive. (Forgets
himself
to a stone. Pope).
24. The mind forgets its inward soul, and never looks
towards
it for a moment; it is soley[**solely] occupied with its
body, and
looks at the phantom of the body, as a child looks at a
ghost.
(Thinking it a reality).
-----File:
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25. The mind itself is a false apparition, and an
unsubstantial
appearance of our mistake; and shows itself as the death
of
some body in his dream, which is found to be false upon
his
waking.
26. The world is the production of the mind, else what am
I and who is mine or my offspring; it is custom and our
education
that have caused the bugbears of our bondage and
liberation, which are nothing in reality.
27. There is one thing however, on which is based the
bias
of both systems; that it is the suppression of breath,
and
the restriction of mind, which form the sum and substance
of
what they call their liberation.
28. R疥a rejoined:--Now sir, if it is suppression which
constitutes the liberation of these men; then I may as
well say
that all dead men are liberated, as well as all dead
animals also.
29. Vasishtha replied:--Of the three practices of the
restriction
of the breath, body and mind, I ween the repression of
the mind and its thoughts to be the best; because it is
easily
practible[**practicable] and I will tell you how it is to
be done to our
good.
30. When the vital breaths of the liberated souls, quit
this
mortal frame; it perceives the same in itself, and flies
in the
shape of a particle in the open sky, and mixes at last
with
etherial air.
31. The parting soul accompanies with its
tanmantras[**tanmatras] or
elementary
principles; which comprise the desires of its mind,
and which are closely united with breath, and nothing
besides.
32. As the vital breath quits one body to enter into
another,
so it carries with it the desires of the heart, with
which it was
in the breast of man, as the winds of the air bear[**=print]
the fragrance
of flowers. These are reproduced in the future[**=print]
body for its
misery only,[**.]
33. As a water pot thrown in the sea, does not lose its
water, so the vital breath mixing with the etherial air,
does not
lose the desires of the mind, which it bears with it.
They are
as closely united with it, as the sun-beams with the sun.
34. the[**The] mind cannot be separated from the vital
breath
(i. e. the desires are in separable[**inseparable] from
life), without the aid
of the
-----File: 404.png---------------------------------------------------------
knowledge; and as the bird Titter・cannot be removed from
one
nest without an other, (so the soul never passes from one
body
without finding and entering into another)[**.]
35. Knowledge removes the desires, and the disappearance
of desires destroys the mind; this produces the
suppression of
breath, and thence proceeds the tranquility of the soul.
36. Knowledge shows us the unreality of things, and the
vanity of human desires. Hence know O R疥a, that the
extinction of desires, brings on the destruction of both
the mind
and vitality.
37. The mind being with its desires, which form its soul
and life, it can no more see the body in which it took so
much delight; and then the tranquil soul attains its
holiest state.
38. The mind is another name for desire, and this
exterpated[**extirpated]
and wanting, the soul comes to the discrimination of
truth,
which leads to the knowledge of the supreme.
39. In this manner, O Ram畆**R疥a], we came to the end of
our
erroneous knowledge of the world, as it is by means of
our
reason, that we come to detect our error of the snake in
the
rope.
40. Learn this one lesson, that the restraining of the
mind
and suppression of breath, mean the one and same thing;
and
if you succeed in restraining the one, you succeed in the
restraint
of other also. (So it is said, that our thoughts and
respirations go together).
41. As the waving of the palm leaved fan being stopped,
there is a stop of the ventilation of air in the room; so
the
respiration of the vital breath being put to a stop,
there ensues
a total stoppage of the succession of our thoughts. (It
is believed
that our time is measured by succession of our breath
and thoughts aj疳as, and the more are they suppressed, the
greater is the duration of our life prolonged).
42. The body being destroyed, the breath passes into the
vacuous air; where it sees everything according to the
desires,
which it has wafted along with it, from the cells of the
heart
and mind.
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[** png 405-410 compared to print]
43. As the living souls find the bodies (of various
animals)
in which they are embodied, and act according to their
different
natures; so the departed and disembodied
spirits-[**--]pr疣as, see
many forms and figures presented before them, according
to
their several desires. They enter into the same, and act
agreeably
to the nature of that being.
44. As the fragrance of flowers ceases to be diffused in
the
air, when the breezes have ceased to blow; so the vital
breath,
ceases to breath[**breathe], when the action of the mind
is at a stop.
(Hence is the concentration of the mind, to one object
only
strongly enjoyed in the yoga practice).[*]
45. Hence the course of the thoughts, and respiration of
all animals, is known too closely united with one
another; as
the fragrance is inseparable from the flower, and the oil
from
the oily seeds.
46. The breath is vacillation of the mind, as the mind is
the
fluctuation of the breath; and these two go together for
ever,
as the chariot and its charioteer.
ON THE SIMULTANEOUSNESS OF THOUGHT AND BREATH.
*[** I think the note is below, not here] Swedenborg saw
the intimate
connection between thought and vital life.
He says:--Thought commences with respiration. The reader
has before
attended to the presence of heaving over the body; now
let him feel his
thoughts, and he will see that they too heave with the
mass. When he
entertains
a long thought, he draws a long breath, when he thinks
quickly, his
breath vibrates with rapid alternations; when the tempest
of anger shakes
his mind, his breath is tumulous; when his soul is deep
and tranquil, so is
his respiration; when success inflates him, his lungs are
as timid as his
concepts.
Let him make trial of the accuracy, let him
endevaur[**endeavour] to think
in long
stretches, at the same time that he breaths[**breathes]
in fits, and he will
find that it is
impossible; that in this case the chopping will needs mince
his thoughts.
Now this mind dwells in the brains, and it is the brain,
therefore, which
spares the varying fortunes of the breathing. It is
strange that this
correspondence
between the states of the brain or mind and the lungs has
not
been admitted in science, for it holds in every case, at
every moment.
"He says more over--Inward thoughts have inward
breaths, and purer
spiritual thoughts have spiritual breaths hardly mixed
with material."
[** I think the note is here:[*] ]See Col. Olcotts Yoga
Philosophy Page
283.
-----File:
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47. These perish together without the assemblage of one
another, as the container and the contained are both lost
at
the loss of either (like that of the fire and its heat).
Therefore
it is better to lose them for the libration[**liberation]
of the soul, than
losing the soul for the sake of the body.
48. Keeping only one object or the unity in view will
stop the course of the mind; and the mind being stopped,
there
will follow as a matter of course, an utter suppression
of the
breath as its consequence.
49. Investigate well into the truth of the immortality of
thy soul, and try to assimilate thyself into the eternal
spirit of
God; and having absorbed thy mind in the divine mind, be
one with the same.
50. Distinguish between thy knowledge and ignorance, and
layhold[**lay hold] on what is more expedient for you;
settle yourself on
what remains after disappearance of both, and live while
you
live relying on the Intellect alone.
51. Continue to meditate on the existence of all things
in
one firm and ever existent entity alone, untill[**until]
by your constant
habit of thinking so, you find all outward existence
disappear
into non existence: (and present the form of the self-existent
only to view).
52. The minds of the abstinent are mortified, with their
bodies and vitality, for want of food and enjoyments; and
then
there remains the consciousness of the transcendent one
alone.
53. When the mind is of one even tenor, and is habituated
to it by its constant practice; it will put an end to the
thought
of the endless varieties and particulars, which will
naturally
disappear of themselves.
54. There is an end of our ignorance and delusion
(avidy・,
as we attempt to the words of wisdom and reason; we gain
our best knowledge by learning, but it is by practice
alone,
that we can have the object of our knowledge.
55. The mirage of the world will cease to exist, after
the
mind has become calm and quite[**quiet] in itself; as the
darkness of
the sky is dispersed, upon disappearance of the raining
clouds.
-----File:
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56. Know your mind alone as the cause of your delusion,
and strive therefore to weaken its force and action; but
you
must not R疥a! weakened[**weaken] it so much, as to lose
the sight of
the supreme spirit, which shines as the soul of the mind.
57. When the mind is settled with the supreme soul for a
moment, know that to be the mature state of thy mind, and
will soon yield the sweets of its ripeness.
58. Whether you have your tranquility, by the Sankhya or
Vedanta Yoga; it is both the same if you can reduce
yourself
to the supreme soul; and by doing so for a moment, you
are
no more to be reborn in this nether world.
59. The word divine essence, means the mind devoid of its
ignorance[**=print]; and which like a fried seed is
unable to reproduce
the arbor of the world, and has no interruption in its
meditation
of God.
60. The mind that is devoid of ignorance, and freed from
its desires, and is settled in its pure essence; comes to
see in an
instant, a full blaze of light filling the sphere of the
fermament[**firmament]
in which it rests and which absorbs it quite.
61. The mind is said to be its pure essence, which is
in[**]
sensible[**insensible] of itself, and settled in the
supreme soul; it never
relapses into the foulness of its nature, as the copper
which is
mixed with gold, never becomes dirty again.
-----File:
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CHAPTER LXX.
INTERROGATORIES OF VETﾁLA.
Arguments:--Conversation of a prince and a Vet疝a, and
Dissipation of
Error and manifestation of truth.
Vasishtha resumed:--Life becomes no life (becomes
immortal),
and the mind turns to no mind, immerges in
the soul; no sooner is the cloud of ignorance dispersed
by the
bright sun beams of right reason. This is the state which
is
termed moksha or liberation (from error) by the wise.
2. The mind and its egoism and tuism (subjectivity and
objectivity), appear as water in the mirage, but all
these unrealities
vanish away, so[**no?] sooner we come to our right
reason;
3. Attend now to the queries of a vetala[**unclear copy],
which I come to
remember at present, concerning our erroneous and
dreaming
conception of the phenomenal world, and which will serve
to
example by the subject of our last lecture.
4. He[**There] lived a gigantic vet疝a in the vast
wilderness of the
Vindhya mountains, who happened to come out on an
excursion
to the adjoining districts in search of his prey of human
beings.
5. He used to live before in the neighbourhood of a
populous
city, where he lived quite happy and well satisfied with
the victims; which were daily offered to him by the good
citizens.
6. He never killed a human being without some cause or
harm, although he roved through the city, pinched by
hunger
and thirst. He walked in the ways of the honest and
equitable
men in the place.
7. It came to pass in course of time that he went out of
the city, to reside in his woody retreat; where he never
killed
any man, except when pressed by excessive hunger, and
when
he thought it was equitable for him to do so.
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8. He happened to meet there once a ruler of the land,
strolling about in his nightly round; to whom he cried
out in a
loud and appalling voice.
9. The vet疝a exclaimed:---Where goest thou, O prince,
said he, thou art now caught in the clutches of a hideous
monster,
thou art now a dead man, and hast become my ration of
this day.
10. The ruler replied:--Beware, O nocturnal fiend! that
I will break thy skull into a thousand pieces, if you
will unjustly
attempt to kill me by force at this spot, and make thy
ration of me.
11. The vet疝a rejoined:--I do not tell thee unjustly, and
speak it rightly unto thee; that as thou art a ruler, it
is thy
duty to attend to the petition of every body: (wherein if
thou
failest, thou surely diest before me).
12. I request thee, O prince! to solve the questions that
I
propose to thee; because I believe thou art best able to
give a
full and satisfactory answer to every one of them. (These
questions are dark enigmas, which are explained in the
next
chapter).
13. Who is that glorious sun, the particles of whose ray,
are seen to glitter in the surrounding worlds: and what
is that
wind (or force), which wafts these dusts of stars, in the
infinite
space of vacuum.
14. What is that self-same thing, which passes from one
dream to another, and assumes different forms by hundreds
and thousands, and yet does not forsake its original
form.
15. Tell me what is that pithy particle in bodies, which
is enveloped under a hundred folds or sheaths, which are
laid
over and under one another, like the coats or lamina of a
plantain tree.
16. What is that minute atom which is imperceptible to
the eye, and yet produces this immeasureable[**immeasurable]
universe,
with its
stupendous worlds and skies, and the prodigious planets
on high
and mountains below, which are the minutest of that
minute
particle.
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17. What is that shapeless and formless thing atom, which
remains as the pith and marrow under the rocks of huge
mountains,
and which is the substratum of the triple world (of
heaven,
earth and infernal regions).
18. If you, O wicket soul, fail to answer to these
queries,
then shalt thou be a killer of thyself, by your being
made my
food this moment. And know that at the end, I will devour
all thy people, as the regent of death destroys every
body in the
world.
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CHAPTER LXXI.
THE PRINCE'S REPLY TO THE FIRST QUESTION OF THE VETﾁLA.
Arguments:---Answer to the first question regarding the
Prime cause
of all, shows the infinite worlds to be the trees and
fruits of that original
root.
Vasishtha related:--The R疔畆**・->畩 smiled at hearing
these
questions of the Demon, and as he opened his mouth to
give the reply, the lustre of his pearly teeth, shed a
brightness
on the white vault of the sky. (This shows how much the
early Hindus prized their white teeth, though latterly
they
tinged them with blue vitrial[**vitriol]).
2. This world was at first a rudimentary granule (in the
Divine mind), and was afterwards encrusted by a dozen of
elemental
sheaths as its pellicles, skin and bark. (Does it
mean the component elements or layers Bhuta-tatwa or
Bhu-tatwa).
3. The tree which bears thousands of such fruits, is very
high also with its equally out stretching branches, and
very
long and broad leaves likewise.
4. This great tree is of a huge size and very astounding
to
sight; it has thousands of prodigious branches spreading
wide
on every side.
5. There are thousands of such trees, and a dense forest
of
many other large trees and plants in that person.
6. Thousands of such forests stretch over it, abounding
in
thousands of mountains with their elevated peaks.
7. The wide extended tracts which contain these
mountains,
have also very large valleys and dales amidst in them.
8. These wide spread tracts contain also many countries,
with their adjacent islands and lakes and rivers too.
9. These thousands of islands also contain many cities,
with varieties of edifices and works of art.
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[** unclear portions of the page compared to print]
10. These thousands tracts of lands, which are sketched
out as so many continents, are as so many earths and
worlds
in their extent.
11. That which contains thousands of such worlds, as the
mundane eggs, is as unlimited as the spacious womb of the
firmament.
12. That which contains thousands of such eggs in its
bosom, bears also many thousands of seas and oceans
resting
calmly in its ample breast.
13. That which displays the boisterous waves of seas, is
the sprightly and sportive soul, heaving as the clear
waters of
the ocean.
14. That which contains thousands of such oceans, with
all their waters in his unconscious womb, is the God
Vishnu
who filled the universal ocean with his all pervasive
spirit.
(And the spirit of God floated on the face of the waters,
Moses.
The waters were the first abode of N疵痒ana[**・->畩).
15. That which bears thousands of such Gods, as a string
of pearls about the neck, is the Great God Rudra.
16. That which bears thousands of such Great Gods
Mah疆evas, in the manner of the hairs on his person; is
the
supreme Lord God of all.
17. He is that great sun that he shines in a hundred such
persons of the Gods, all of whom are but frictions of the
rays
of that Great source of light and life.
18. All things in the universe are but particles of that
uncreated sun; and thus have I explained to you that Intellectual
sun, who fills the world with his rays, and shows them
light.
19. The all knowing soul is the supreme sun that
enlightens
the world, and fills all things in it with particles of
its rays.
(The soul is the sun, whose light of knowledge manifests
all
things unto us).
20. It is the Omniscient soul, which is that surpassing
sun,
whose rays produce and show everything to light; and
without which as in the absence of the solar light,
nothing
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would grow nor be visible in the outer world. (The sun's
heat and light are the life and shower of the sight of
the
world).
21. All living beings who have their souls enlightened by
the light of philosophy, behold the sphere of the
universe to
be a blaze of the gemming sun of the intellect; and there
is
not the least tinge of the erroneous conceptions of the
material
world in it. Know this and hold your peace.[*]
* By a figure of speech light and knowledge are
synonymous terms, and so
are their sources the sun and soul
interchangable[**interchangeable] to
one another. And as the
Divine spirit is the creator of all things, so is the sun
producer and grower
of
everything in the visible world. Hence has risen the
mistake of taking the
sun:--the saviter[**?] or producer for the Divine soul
the creator among
the sun
worshipers, who believe the sun to be the soul of the
universe. (Surya
atm・jagatah
in the sruti). Hence has grown the popular error of
address in the
G痒atri[**G痒atr偰 hymn to the sun, which was used as an
invocation of
the supreme
soul, and is still understood as such by theists.
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CHAPTER LXXII.
ANSWERS TO THE REMAINING QUESTIONS.
Argument:--The R疔ah's replies to the five remaining
questions of the
Demon.
The R疔ah replied:--The essences of time, vacuum and of
force, are all of intellectual origin; it is the pure
intellect
which is the source of all, as the air is the receptacle
of odours
and dusts. (The mind contains all things).
2. The supreme soul is as the universal air, which
breathes
out the particles contained in the intellect; as the
etherial air
bears the fragrance from the cells of flowers. (The soul
is
called 疸m・corresponding with the Greek atmas[**atmos]
air, in which
sense it is the same with the spirit). (This is the
answer to
the second question).
3. The great Brahma of the conscious soul, passing
through the dreaming world, (it being but a dream only
passes
from one scene to another without changing its form).
(The
soul is conscious of the operations of the mind, but
never
changes with the mental phenomena).
4. As the stem (stambha) of the planting[**plantain [see
6]] tree, is a
folding of
its pellicles plaited over one another, and having its
pith hidden
in the inside; so everything in the world presents its
exterior
coats to the view, while its substance of Brahma is
deeply hid
in the interior.
5. The words ens, soul and Brahma by which God is
designated,
are not significant of his nature, who is devoid of all
designations like the empty void, and indescribable
(avyapadesa)
in any word in use. (So the sruti[**:] na tatra vak
gachchhate[**,] to
Him no words can approach; i.e. no words can express
Him).
6. Whatever essence is perceived by one as the product of
another, is like the upper fold or plait of the plantain
tree,
produced by the inner one; and all such coating are but
developements
of the Divine Intellect lying at the bottom. (As
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the essence of the cloth is the thread, which is the
product of
cotton produced by the pod of the cotton plant, which is
produced from the seed grown by the moisture of the water
&c[**.],
the last of which has the Divine essence for its prime
cause and
source.
7. The supreme soul is said to be a minute atom, on
account
of the subtility and imperceptibly of its nature; and it
is said
also to be the base of mountains and all other bodies,
owing
to the unboundedness of its extent. (This is in answer to
the
fifth question).
8. The endless being though likened to a minute atom,
is yet as large as to contain all these worlds as its
minutest
particles; which are as evident to us as the very many
airial
scenes appearing in our minds in the state of dreaming.
(The
small grain of the soul contains the universe, as the
particle
of the mind contains the worlds in it).
9. This being is likened to an atom owing to its
imperceptibleness,
and is also represented as a mountain on account of
its filling all space; though it is the figure of all
formal existence,
yet it is without any form or figure of its own.
("The
Sruti says;[**:] neti-neti He is neither this nor
that").[**moved "]
10. The three worlds are as the fatty bulb of that pithy
intelligence; for know thou righteous soul! that it is
that
Intelligence which dwells in and acts in all the worlds.
(The
Sruti says;[**:] the vacuity of the heart is the seat of
intelligence,
which is the pith of the m疽sa or mascular[**muscular]
body, and the
vacuous air is the seat of the soul, whose body is the
triple
world).
11. All these worlds are fraught with design of
Intelligence,
which is quiet in its nature, and exhibits endless kinds
of
beautiful forms of its own, know, O young vet疝a, that
irresistible
power, reflect this in thyself and keep thy quiet,[**.]
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to Brahmasri Sreemaan Vihari Lala Mitra ji for the
collection)
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