The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki
The only complete English translation is
by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891).
CHAPTER LI.
ADMONITION TO ARRIVE AT THE YOGA OF ULTIMATE REST.
Argument:--The world disappearing at the sight of God,
its falsity at
the sight of the self, and its voidness before true
knowledge.
Ráma said:--Tell me sir, what is the cause of mere waking
for nothing, and how does a living being proceed
from the formless Brahma, which is tantamount to the
growth
of a tree in empty air.
2. Vasishtha replied:--O highly intelligent Ráma, there
is
no work to be found any where which is without its cause,
therefore it is altogether impossible for any body to
exist here,
that is merely awake for nothing.
3. Like this, it is equally impossible also for all other
kinds
of living beings, to exist without a cause.
4. There is nothing that is produced here, nor anything
which is destroyed also; it is only for the instruction
and comprehension
of pupils, that such words are coined and made use of.
5. Ráma asked:--Who then is it that forms these bodies,
together with their minds, understandings and senses; and
who
is it that deludes all beings into the snares of passions
and
affections, and into the net of ignorance.
6. Vasishtha replied:--There is no body that forms these
bodies at any time, nor is there any one who deludes the
living
beings in a manner at all.
7. There is alone the self-shining soul, residing in his
conscious
self; which evolves in various shapes, as the water
glides
on in the shapes of billows and waves. (Here water is
expressed
by the monosyllabic word ka--aqua, as it is done else
where
by udac undan and udra--hydra as also by op--ab Persian).
8. There is nothing as an external phenomenon, it is the
intellect which shows itself as the phenomenal; it rises
from
the mind (as perception does from the heart), like a
large tree
growing out of its seed.
-----File:
281.png---------------------------------------------------------
[** unclear portions of the page compared to print]
9. It is in this faculty of the understanding, O thou
support
of Raghu's race, that this universe is situated, just as
the
images are carved in a stone.
10. There is but one spiritual soul, which spreads both
internally
as well as externally, throughout the whole extent of
time and space; and know this world as the effluvia of
the
divine intellect scattered on all sides.
11. Know this as the next world, by suppressing your
desire
for a future one; rest calmly in your celestial soul even
here
nor let your desires range from here to there.
12. All space and time, all the worlds and their motions
with all our actions, being included under the province
of the
intellectual soul; the meanings of all these terms are
never
insignificant and nil.
13. O Rághava! It is they only who are well acquainted
with the meanings of words (the vedas), and those keen
observers who have ceased to look upon the visibles, that
can
comprehend the Supreme soul, and not others (who have no
understanding).
14. Those who are of light minds, and are buried in the
depth of egoism; it is impossible for them ever to come
to the
sight of that light, (which is seen only by the holy).
15. The wise look upon the fourteen regions of this
world,
together with multitudes of their inhabitants, as the
members
of this embodied spirit.
16. There can be no creation or dissolution without its
cause; and the work must be conformable with the skill of
its
maker.
17. If the work be accompanied with its cause, and the
work
alone be perceptible without its accompanying cause, it
must be
an unreality, owing to our imperception of its
constituting cause.
18. And whereas the product must resemble its producer,
as the whiteness of the sea water, produces the white
waves
and froths, so the productions of the most perfect God, must
bear resemblance to his nature in their perfection. But
the
imperfect world and the mind not being so, they cannot be
said
to have proceeded from the all perfect One[**.]
-----File:
282.png---------------------------------------------------------
[** png 282-291 compared to print]
19. (Therefore imperfect nature is no creation of the
father
of perfection). Wherefore all this is the pure spirit of
God,
and the whole is the great body of Brahma; in the same
manner, as one clod of earth, is the cause of many a pot;
and
one bar of gold, becomes the cause of many a jewel.
20. As the waking state appears as a dream in dreaming
(i. e. when one dreams), on account of the oblivion of
the waking
state; so the waking state seems as dreaming, even in the
waking
state of the wise. (So the pot appears as the clod in its
unformed state, and the clod appears as the pot after it
is formed.
So the spirit appears as the world to the ignorant, while
the
world appears as soul to the wise).
21. If it is viewed in the light of the mind or a
creation of
the mind, it proves to be as false as water in the
mirage, (because
the phantasies of the mind present only false appearances
to view). It proves at last to be a waking dream by the
right
understanding of it.
22. By right knowledge all material objects, together
with
the bodies of wise men, dissolve like the bodies of
clouds, in
their proper season.
23. As the clouds disappear in the air, after pouring
their
waters in the rains; so doth the world disappear from the
sight
of men, who have come to the light of truth and knowledge
of
the soul.
24. Lik[**Like] the empty clouds of autumn and the water
of the
mirage, the phenomenal world loses its appearance, no
sooner
it is viewed by the light of right reason.
25. As solid gold is melted down to fluidity by hot fire,
so
the phenomenals all melt away to an aerial nothing, when
they
are observed by the keen eye of philosophy.
26. All solid substances in the three worlds, become
rarified[**rarefied]
air when they [**add: are] put to the test of a rational
analysis; just as the
stalwart spectre of a demon, vanishes from the sight of
the
awakened child into nothing.
27. Conceptions of endless images, rise and fall of
themselves
in the mind; so the image of the world being but a
concept of
the mind, there is no reality in it, nor is there
anything which
-----File:
283.png---------------------------------------------------------
has any density or massiveness in it; (a mass being but
the conception
of an aggregate of minute particles and no more).
28. The knowledge and ignorance of the world, consist
only
in its conception and nescience in the mind; when the
knowledge
of its existence disappears from the understanding, where
is there the idea of its massiveness any more in the
mind. (So
as in the insensibility of our sound sleep and swooning,
we have
no consciousness of it).
29. The world loses its bulk and solidity, in our
knowledge
of the state of our waking dream; when its ponderousness
turns
to rarity, as the gold melts to liquidity when it is put
upon fire.
30. The understanding as it is, (i.e. being left
uncultivated),
becomes dull and dense by degrees; as the liquid gold
when left
to itself, is solidified in a short time.
31. Thus one who in his waking state considers himself to
be dreaming, and sees the world in its rarified state;
comes
to extenuate himself with all his desires and appetites,
as a
ponderous cloud is sublimated in autumn.
32. The wise man seeing all the visible beauties of
nature
which are set before his face, as extremely rare and of
the
appearance of dreams, takes no notice of nor relish in
them.
33. Where is this rest of the soul, and where this
turmoil
of the spirit for wealth; their abiding in the one and
same
man, is as the meeting of sleep and wakefulness together,
and
the union of error and truth in the same person, and at
the
same time; (which is impossible).
34. He who remains asleep to (or insensible of) the
erroneous
imaginations of his mind, acts freed from his false
persuation[**persuasion]
of the reality of the world.
35. Who is it, O high minded Ráma, that takes a pleasure
in an unreality, or satisfy himself with drinking the
false water
of the mirage appearing beforehim[**before him].
36. The saintly sage, who rests in his knowledge of
truth;
looks upon the world an infinite vacuum, beset with
luminaries,
which shines forth like the light of a lamps[**lamp] set
behind the
windows.
37. The waking man who knows everything as void and
-----File:
284.png---------------------------------------------------------
blank, and as the vagary of his vagrant mind ceases to
long for
the enjoyment of it. (For nobody craves for anything,
which
he knows to be nothing).
38. There is nothing desirable in that, which is known to
be
nothing at all; for who runs after the gold, which he has
seen
in his dream at night?
39. Every body desists from desiring that, which he knows
to be seen in his dream only; and he is released from the
bondage,
which binds the beholder to the object of this sight.
(Lit.
the knot of the viewer and view is broken).
40. He is the most accomplished man, who is not addicted
to pleasure, and is of a composed mind and
with[**without] pride; and he
is a man of understaning[**understanding], who is
dispassionate and remains
quiet without any care or toil. (Perfect composure is the
character of the Stoic and Platonic philosophers).
41. Distaste to pleasure, produces the want of desire;
just as
the flame of fire being gone, there is an end of its
light. (The
fire gives heat but the flame produces the light).
42. The light of knowledge, shows sky as a cloudless and
lighted sphere; but the darkness of error, gives the
world an
appearance of the hazy fairy land.
43. The wise man neither sees himself, nor the heavens
nor
anything besides; but his ultimate view is at last fixed
upon
the glory of god; (which shine all about him).
44. The holy seer (being seated in the seventh stage of
his
yoga), sees neither himself nor the sky nor the imaginary
worlds
about him; he does not see the phantasms of his fancy,
but sits
quite insensible of all.
45. The earth and other existences, which are dwelt and
gazed upon by the ignorant, are lost in the sight of the
sage,
who sees the whole as a void, and is insensible of
himself.
(The earth recedes, and heaven opens to his sight. Pope).
46. Then there comes on a calm composure and grace in
the soul, resembling the brightness of the clear
firmament; and
the yogi sits detached from all, as a nullity in himself.
47. Unmindful of all, the yogi sits silent in his state
of self-seclusion
and exclusion from all: he is set beyond the ocean
-----File:
285.png---------------------------------------------------------
of the world, and the bounds of all its duties and
action. (The
yogi gets exempt from all social and religious
obligation).
48. That great ignorance (or delusion), which is the
cause of
the mind's apprehension of the earth and sky, and the
hills and
seas and their contents, is utterly dissolved by true
knowledge,
though these things appear to exist before the ignorant
eye.
49. The sapient sage stands unveiled before his light of
naked truth, with his tranquil mind freed from all
sceptical
doubts; and being nourished with the ambrosia of truth,
he is
as firm and fixed in himself, as the pithy and sturdy
oak.
-----File: 286.png---------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER LII.
DESCRIPTION OF THE FORM AND ATTRIBUTES OF BRAHMA.
Argument:--Refutation of the Theories of Logicians, and
Explanation
of Brahma as Immanent in all nature.
Ráma said:--Tell me, O sage, whence comes our knowledge
of the world (as a distinct entity from God); and then
tell me, how this differece[**difference] is removed and
refuted.
2. Vasishtha replied:--The ignorant man takes to his mind
at [**should this be all?] that he sees with his eyes,
and not at all what he does not
see. Thus he sees a tree in its outward branches and
leaves,
but knows not the root, which lies hid from his sight.
3. The wise man sees a thing by the light of the sástra,
and
uses it accordingly; but the ignorant fool, takes and
grasps
anything as he sees it; without considering its hidden
quality.
4. Be attentive to the dictates of the sástras, and
intent
upon acting according to their purport; and by remaining
as
a silent sage, attend to my sermon, which will be an
ornament
to your ears.
5. All this visible phenomenon is erroneous, it hath no
real
existence, and appears as the flash of light in the water
and is
known by the name of ignoramus.
6. Attend for a moment and for my sake, to the purport of
the instruction which I am now going to give you; and
knowing
this as certain truth, rely upon it (and you will gain
your
object hereby).
7. Whence is all these and what are they, is a doubt
(inquiry) which naturally rises of itself in the mind;
and you
will come to know by your own cogitation, that all this
is
nothing and is not in existence.
8. Whatever appears before you in the form of this world,
and all its fixed and moveable objects; as also all
things of
-----File:
287.png---------------------------------------------------------
every shape and kind, is altogether evanescent and
vanishes
in time into nothing.
9. The continual wasting and partition of the particles
of
things, bespeak their unavoidable extinction at last, as
the water
exuding by drops from a pot, make it entirely empty in a
short time.
10. Thus all things being perishable, and all of them
being,
but parts of Brahma, it is agread[**agreed] (by
Logicians), that Brahma
is neither endless nor imperishable, nor even existent at
this
time; (since by loss of parts by infinitesimal, the whole
is
lost intoto[**in toto] at last).
11. This conceit (of atheists) likening the intoxication
of
wine, cannot over power on our theistical belief; because
our
knowledge of bodies, is as that of things in a dream, and
not at
all of their real substantiality.
12. The phenomenals are of course all perishable, but not
the other (the spirit), which is neither matter nor
destructible,
and this is conformable with the doctrines of the
sástras, which
mean no other.
13. Whether what is destroyed come to revive again or
not,
is utterly unknowable to us; all that we can say by our
inferencees[**inferences],
that the renovations are very like the former ones.
14. That matter existed in the form of vacuum upon its
dissolution, is not possible to believe (from the
impossibility of
plastic nature to be converted to a formless void). Again
if
there was the vacuum as before, then there could not be a
total
dissolution (if this was left undestroyed).
15. If the theory of the identity of creation and
dissolution
be maintained (owing, to the existence of the world in
the spirit
of God); then the absence of causality and effect,
supports our
tenet of their being the one and the same thing.
16. Vacuity being concirvable[**conceivable] by us, we
say everything to
be annihilated, that is transformed to or hid in the womb
of
vacuum; if then there is anything else which is meant by
dissolution,
let us know what may it be otherwise.
17. Whoever believes that, the things which are
destroyed,
comes to restore again (as the Pratyabhijna vadis do); is
-----File:
288.png---------------------------------------------------------
either wrong to call them annihilated, or must own, that
others are produced to supply their place.
18. Where is there any causality or consequence in a
tree,
which is but a transformation of the seed;
notwithstanding the
difference of its parts, as the trunk and branches, and
leaves
and fruits.
19. The seed is not inactive as a pot or picture, but
exhibits
its actions in the production of its flower and fruits in
their
proper seasons. (So doth the divine spirit show its
evolution and
involution, as the proper times of creation and
dissolution of
the world).
20. That there is no differene[**difference] in the
substance of things
(of different form and natures), is a truth maintained by
every
system of philosophy; and this truth is upheld in
spirituality
also; therefore there is no dispute about it.
21. And this substance being considered to be of an
eternally
inert form, and of a plastic nature; it is understood to be
of the essence of vacuum, both by right inference and
evidence
of sástras.
22. Why the essential principle is unknown to us, and why
we have still some notion of it, and how we realize that
idea,
is what I am now going to relate to you step by step.
23. All these visible sphere[**spheres], being
annihilated at the final
dissolution of the world; and the great gods also being
extinct,
together with our minds and understandings, and all the
activities
of nature.
24. The sky also being undefined and time dwindling into
a
divisible duration;[**;=print] the winds also
disappearing and fire blinding
into the chaostic[**chaotic] confusion.
25. Darkness also disappearing and water vanishing into
nothing; and all things which are expressed by words
quite
growing nil and null in the end.
26. There remains the pure entity of a
couscious[**conscious] soul, which
is altogether unbounded by time and space, and is
something
without its beginning or end; is decrease or waste, and
entirely
pure and perfect in its nature.
27. This one is unspeakable and
undescernible[**undiscernible], impercepti-*
-----File:
289.png---------------------------------------------------------
*ble and inconceivable and without any appellation or
attribute
whatever; This is an utter void itself and yet the
principle
and receptacle of all beings and the source of all entity
and
non-entity.
28. It is not the air nor the wind, nor is it the
understanding
nor any of its faculties nor a void or nullity also; it
is
nothing and yet the source of everything, and what can it
be
but the transcendent vacuum (vyom-beom Hebrew, and the
bom-bom of sivaites when siva[**Siva] is called
vyom-Kesa).
29. It is only a notion in the conception of wise and
beside
which no one can conceive or know anythink[**anything] of
it, whatever
defination[**definition] or description of it is given by
others, is only a repititions[**repetition]
of the words of the vedas.
30. It is neither the time or space, nor the mind nor
soul
nor any being or nothing that it may said to be; it is
not in
the midst or end of any space or side, nor is it that we
know or
know altogether. (The Lord is unspeakable yet faintly
seen in
these his meanest works. Milton).
31. This something [**add: is] too translucent for common
apprehension,
and is conceivable only by the greatest understandings;
and such as have retired from the world and attained to
the
highest stage of their yoga.
32. I have left out the popular doctrines, which are
avoided
by the Srutis; and the expressions of the latter are
displayed
herein, like the playful waves in the limpid ocean.
33. It is said there, that all beings are situated in
their
common receptacle of the great Brahma; as the unprojected
figures are exhibited in relief, upon a massive stony
pillar.
34. Thus all beings are situated and yet unsituated in
Brahma, who is the soul of and not the same with all; and
who
is in and without all existencee[**existence] (These
contraries are according to
the texts of different Srutis, giving the discordant
ideas of God
in the spiritualistic and materealistic[**materialistic]
points of view).
35. Whatever be the nature of the universal soul, it is
devoid
of all attributes; and in whatever manner it is viewed,
it comes at last to mean the self-same unity. (The
different
paths leading to the one and same goal).
-----File:
290.png---------------------------------------------------------
36. It is all and the soul of all, and being devoid of
attributes,
it is full of all attributes; and in this manner it is
viewed by
all.
37. So long, O intelligent Ráma, as you do not feel the
entire
suspension of all your objects (in the torpid state of
your samádhi);
you cannot be said to have reached to the fullness of
your
knowledge, as it is indicated by your doubts till then.
38. The enlightened man who has come to (known[**know])
the unapperant[**unapparent]
great glory of god[**God], has the clear sightedness of
his
mind, and remains quiet with viewing the inbeing of his
being.
39. His fallacies of I, thou and he, and his error of the
world
and the three times (viz. the present, past, and future);
are lost
in his sight of that great glory, as many a silver coin
is merged
in a lump of gold.
40. But as a gold coin, produces (yields) various kinds
of
coins (different from itself); it is not in that manner
that these
worlds and their contents, are produced as things of a
different
kinds[**kind] from the nature of God.
41. The detached soul looks always upon the different
bodies,
as contained within itself; and remains in relation to
this dualism
of the world, as the gold is related to the various kinds
of
jewels, which are produced from it.
42. It is inexpressible by the words, implying space and
time or any other thing; though it is the source and seat
of
them all; it comprehends everything, though it is nothing
of
itself.
43. All things are situated in Brahma, as the waves are
contained
in the sea; and they are exhibited by him, like pictures
drawn by the painter; he is the substratum and substance
of
all, as the clay of the pots which are made of it.
44. All things are contained in it, as they are and are
not
there at the sametime[**same time], and as neither
distinct nor indistinct
from the same; they are ever of the same nature, and
equally
pure and quiet as their origin.
45. The three worlds are contained in it, as the uncarved
images are concealed in a stone or wood; and as they are
seen
with gladness even there, by the futures culptor[**future
sculptor] or carver.
-----File:
291.png---------------------------------------------------------
46. The images come to be seen, when they are carved and
appear manifest on the stone pillar; otherwise the worlds
remain
in that soul, as the unperturbed waves lie calmly in the
bosom of the sea.
47. The sight of the worlds appears to the Divine
intellect,
as divided and distinct when they are yet undivided and
indistinct
before their creation; they appear to be shining and
moving
there; when they are dark and motionless on the outside.
48. It is the combination of atoms, that composes these
worlds; and makes them shine so bright, when no particle
has
any light in it. (Dull matter is dark, and it is the
light of God
that makes it shine).
49. The sky, air, time and all other objects, which are
said
to be produced from the formless God; are likewise
formless
of themselves; the Lord God is the soul of all, devoid of
all
qualities and change, undecaying and everlasting, and
termed
the most transcendent truth.
-----File:
292.png---------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER LIII.
EXPLANATION OF NIRVÁNA-[**--]ANAESTHESIA.
Argument:--Ascertainment of the source of cause of the
visible world.
Ráma said:--How there is sensibility in sensible beings,
and there is durability in time; how vacuum is a perfect
void, and how inertness abides in dull material
substances:--
2. How does fluctuation reside in air, and what is the
state
of things in futuro[**space added], and those that absent
at present; how doth
motion resides[**reside] in moving things, and how doth
plasmic bodies
receive their forms.
3. Whence is the difference of different things, and the
infinity of infinite natures; how there is visibility in
the visibles,
(i. e. how the visibles appear to view), and how does the
creation
of created things come to take place:--
4. Tell me, O most eloquent Brahman, all these things one
by one, and explain them from the first to last, in such
manner,
that they may be intelligible to the lowest
understanding.
5. Vasishtha replied:--That endless great vacuum, is
known as the great and solid intellect itself; but this
is
not to be known any more, than as a tranquil and
self-existent
unity.
6. The Gods Brahma, Vishnu, and siva[**Siva] and others,
are reduced
to their origin at the last dissolution of the world; and
there remains only that pure source whence they have
sprung.
7. There is however no cause to be assigned in this prime
cause of all, who is also the seed of matter and form, as
well
as of delusion, ignorance and error. (These being but
counterparts
of spirit and knowledge, are all mingled in Him).
8. The original cause is quite transparent and tranquil,
and
having neither its beginning nor end, and the subtile
ether
itself is dense and solid, in comparison with the rarity
of the
other.
-----File:
293.png---------------------------------------------------------
9. It is not proper to call it a nullity, when it is
possessed
of an intellectual body; nor can it with propriety styled
as an
existent being, when it is altogether calm and quiet,
(and
nothing imaginable).
10. The form of that being is as inconceivable, as the
idea
of that little space of time which lies in midst of our
thought
of the length of a thousand miles, which the mind's eye
sees in
a moment. (Its flash is quicker than that of a lightning
and
the flight of imagination).
11. The yogi who is insensible of the false and delusive
desires and sights of objects, that intrude upon internal
mind
and external vision, sees the transient flash of that
light in his
meditation, as he wakes amidst the gloom of midnight.
12. The man that sits with the quiet calmness of his mind,
and without any of joy or grief; comes to feel the
pulsation of
that spirit in himself, as he perceives the fluctuation
of his
mind within him.
13. That which is the spring of creation, as the sprout
is
the source of all vegetable productions; the very same is
the
form of the Lord: (That he is the vegetative seed or germ
of
the arbour of the world. sansára Briksa Brijánkura).
14. He is the cause of the world, which is seen to exist
in
Him; and which is a manifestation of himself, in all its
varieties
of fearful forms and shapes: (All which is the act of his
illusion).
15. These therefore having no actual or real cause, are
no
real productions nor actual existences; because there is
no formal
world (in its natural form), nor a duality co-existent
with
the spiritual unity.
16. That which has no cause, can have no possible
existence;
the eternal ideas of God cannot be otherwise than mere
ideal
shapes.
17. The vacuum which has no beginning nor end, is yet no
cause of the world; Because[**because] Brahma is formless,
but the
vacuous sky, which presents a visible appearance, cannot
be the
form of the formless and invisible Brahma.
18. Therefore he is that, in which the form of the world
-----File:
294.png---------------------------------------------------------
appears to exist; hence the lord himself appears as that
which
is situated in the vacuity of his intellect.
19. The world being of the nature of the intellectual
Brahma, is of the same intellectual kind with him; though
our
error shows it otherwise (i.e. in a material and visible
form). All
is one with the unborn and ever tranquil One, in whom all
dualities blend in unity).
20. This whole world springs from that whole intellect,
and subsists in its intirety[**entirety] in that entire
One; the completeness
of that is displayed in the totality of this, and the
completeness
of creation, depends upon the perfection of its cause.
(Nothing imperfect proceeds from the perfect one).
21. Knowing that One as ever even and quiet, having
neither its rise or fall; nor any form of likeness, but
ever
remaining in its translucent unity as the ample sky, and
is the
everlasting all; and combining the reality and unreality
together in its unity, makes the nirvána of sages.
-----File: 295.png---------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER LIV.
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE UNDIVIDED INDIVIDUALITY OF GOD.
Argument:--Ascertainment of the unity of God.
Vasishtha continued:--The world is a clear vacuum,
subsisting in the entity of the vacuous Brahma; it is
as the visible sky in the empty sky, and means the
manifestation
of Brahma.
2. The words I and thou are expressive of the same
Brahma,
seated in his undivided individuality; so are all things
seated
as calmly and quietly in him, as if they are not seated
there,
though they are shining in and by the same light.
3. The earth with its hills and protuberant bodies upon
it, resembles the tumour on the body of Brahma; and the
whole world, remains as dumb as a block in the person of
Brahma.
4. He views the visibles, as he is no viewer of them; and
he is the maker of all, without making anything; because
they naturally subsist with their several natures in the
Supreme
spirit.
5. This knowledge of the subsistence of all nature in the
essence of God, precludes our knowledge of the positive
existence
of everything besides; and our ideas of all entity and
vacuity and of action and passion, vanish into nothing.
(Since
the One is all in all).
6. The one solid essence of the everlasting One, is
diffused
through all every where, as the solidity of a stone
stretches
throughout its parts; and all varieties blending into
unity, are
ever alike to him.
7. Life and death, truth and untruth, and all good and
evil, are equally indifferent[**space removed] in that
vacuous spirit, as the endless
billows continually rising and falling in the waters of
the
deep.
-----File:
296.png---------------------------------------------------------
8. The selfsame Brahma becomes divided, into the viewer
and the view; (i. e. into the subjective and the
objective); the
one being the intellect or the supreme, and the other the
living
soul, (the former being the viewer of the latter). This
division
is known in the dreaming and waking states of the living
or
animal soul; when the same is both the subject as well
the
object in either state, (i. e. The sleeping soul dreams
the
living state as its object, and the living soul believes
the other
as object of its dream).
9. In this manner the form of the world, being exhibited
as a vision in a dream, in the sphere of the divine intellect;
is manifest therein as the counterpart or representation
of
Brahma himself, from the beginning. (This is the doctrine
of
the eternal ideas, being co-existent with the essence of
the
eternal One).
10. Therefore know this world and all things in it, to be
exactly of that spiritual form, in which they are
exhibited in
the divine spirit; nor is there any variation in their
spirituality
(to materiality) owing to their appearance in various
forms,
as there is no change in the substance of the moon, owing
to
her several phases.
11. All these worlds reside and rove amidst the quiet
spirit
of God, in the same manner, as the waters remain and roll
in
waves in the midst of the calm bosom of the ocean.
12. Whatever is manifest, is manifested as the work, and
that which is not apparent is the hidden cause of them;
and
there is no difference in them, in as much as they are
both
situated in that spirit, as their common centre; just as
a traveller
ever going forward, yet never moving from the centre of
the
earth. (The cause and effect both concentrate in the
Lord, and
there is no particle that goes out of that centre).
13. Hence the prime cause of creation is as nil, as the
horn
of a hare (which is a nullity in nature); search for it
as much as
you can, and you will find nothing, (save an ectype of
the eternal
One).
14. Whatever appears anywhere without its [**?], must be
a
-----File:
297.png---------------------------------------------------------
fallacy of vision and mind; and who can account for the
truth
of an error which is untrue itself. (Falsehood is no
truth).
15. How and what effect can come to existence without its
cause, and what is it but an error of the brain, for a
childless
man to say he sees his son.
16. Whatever comes to appearance without its cause, is
all owing to the nature of our imagination of the same;
which
shows the object of our desire in all their various forms
to our
view, as our fancy paints the fairy lands in our minds.
17. As a traveller passing from one country to another,
finds his body (himself) to stand at the midspot (from
his
knowledge of the rotundity of the earth); so nothing
departs
from its nature, but turns about that centre like.
18. The understanding also shows many false and biggest
objects, in its airy and minute receptacle; as for
instance the
many objects of desire, and the notion of mountains,
which it
presents to us in our waking and dreaming states.
19. Ráma rejoined:--We know well that the future banian
tree, resides within the minute receptacle of its seed;
why then
don't you say, that the creation was hidden in the same
manner
in the unevolved spirit of God?
20. Vasishtha replied:--The seed in its material form,
contains
the formless big tree in its undeveloped bosom; which
develope[**develops] afterwards to a gigantic size, by
aid of the auxiliary
causalities (of heat, rain &c[**.]). (But God is
formless spirit and
cannot contain the material world in it, nor has it the
need of
other helping causes to produce the world).
21. The whole creation being dissolved in the end, tell
me
what remains there of it in the form of its seed; and
what
ancillary causes are there to be found, which cause the
production
of the world. (Nothing exists in nothing).
22. The pure and transparent spirit of God, has nothing
of
any possible shape or figure in it; and if it is
impossible for
even an atom to find a place therein, what possibility is
there
for a formal seed to exist or subsist in it.
23. So the reality of a causal (productive) seed, being
altogether untrue; there is no possibility of the
existence of
-----File:
298.png---------------------------------------------------------
a real (substantial) world, nor can you say how, whence,
by
whom and when it came into being.
24. It is improper to say that the world consisted in a
minute particle in the divine spirit, and quite absurd to
maintain
that it remained in an eternal atom (according to the
atomic theory); for how is it possible that a body as big
as a
mountain could be contained in a minim as small as a
mustard
seed? It is therefore a false theory of the ignorant.
25. Had there been a real seed from eternity, it is
possible
for the world to be produced from it, by causes inherent
in the
same; but how could a real and formal seed, be contained
in
the formless spirit of God; and by what process could the
material
proceed from the immaterial?
26. It is therefore that prime and transcendent principle
(of the divine spirit), which exhibits itself in the form
of
the world; and there is nothing which is ever produced
from,
nor reduced into it.
27. The world is situated in its intellectual form, in
the
vacuity of the Intellect; it is the human heart which
portrays
it, in its material shape. The pure soul views it in its
pure
spiritual light, but the perverted heart perceives it in
a gross
and concrete state.
28. It appears in the mind as empty air, and fluctuates
there with the oscillation of the wind; there is nothing
of its
substantiality in the mind, nor even an idea of its
creation (or
being a created thing), as the world sarga is meant to express.
29. As there is vacuity in the sky, and fluidity in the
water
of its own nature; so is there spirituality alone in the
soul,
which views the world in a spiritual light only.
30. The world is a reflexion of Brahma, and as such, it
is
Brahma himself, and not a solid and extended thing; it is
without
its begining[**beginning] or end and quiet in its nature,
and never rises
nor sets of itself. (i.e. It is inherent in the divinity,
and is neither
involved in nor evolved from it).
31. As a wise man going from one country to another,
finds
his body to be ever situated in the midst of this globe;
so the
-----File:
299.png---------------------------------------------------------
universe with all its remotest worlds, is situated in the
vacuity
of the divine spirit.
32. As fluctuation is innate in the air, and fluidity is
inherent
in water, and vacuity is essential to vacuum; so is this
world intrinsic in the divine soul, without any thing
concomitant
with it.
33. The vacuous phantom of the world, is in the vacuum of
divine consciousness or intellect; and being thus
situated in
the Supreme soul, it has no rising nor setting as that of
the
sun. Therefore knowing all these to be included in that
vacuum,
and there is nothing visible beside the same, cease from
viewing
the phantoms of imagination, and be as the very vacuity
yourself.
-----File:
300.png---------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER LV
THE SPIRITUAL SENSE OF THE WORLD.
Argument:--The ignorant[**ignorance] of self shows the
world, but the knowledge
of self disperses it to nothing.
Vasishtha continued:--It is the thought and its
absence, that produce the gross and subtile ideas of the
world; which in reality was never created in the
beginning for
want of a creator of it (i. e. The identity of the world
with
Brahma himself, precludes the supposition of its
creation).
2. The essence of the intellect being of an incorporeal
nature, cannot be the cause of a corporeal thing. The
soul
cannot produce an embodied being, as the seed brings
forth the
plants on earth.
3. It is the nature of man to think of things, by his own
nature, and hence the intelligent of mankind view the
world in an intellectual light, while the ignorant take
[**[it]] in a gross
material sense. The intellect being capable of conceiving
everything in itself (whether the concrete or discrete).
4. The etherial soul relishes things according to its
taste,
and the intellect entertains the idea of whatever it
thinks upon;
the ignorant soul begets the idea of creation, as a giddy
man
sees many shapes in his intoxication.
5. Whenever the shape of a thing, which is neither
produced
nor existent, presents itself to our sight; it is to be
known as a
picture of the ideal figure, which lies quietly in the
divine
mind.
6. The vacuous Intellect dwelling in the vacuity of the
intellect, as fluidity resides in water; shows itself in
the form
of the world, as the fluid water displays itself in the
form of
waves upon its surface. So the world is the self-same
Brahma,
as the wave is the very water. (But the world is
intellectual
display and not material as the wave).
-----File:
301.png---------------------------------------------------------
7. The worlds shining in the empty air, are as the clear
visions of things in a dream, or like the false appearances
appearing to a dim-sighted man in the open sky.
8. The mirror of the intellect perceives the pageant of
the
world, in the same manner, as the mind sees the sights of
things
in dream. Hence what is termed the world, is but void and
vacuity. (A something of nothing).
9. The dormant Intellect (or the sleeping soul of God),
is
said to be awakened in its first acts of creation; and
then
follows the inaction of the intellect, which is the sleep
and
night of the soul. (And so it is with all beings, the time
of
their action being their waking, and that of rest their
sleep).
10. As a river continues to run in the same course, in
which
its current first began to flow; so the whole creation
moves in
the same unvaried course as at first, like the continuous
current
and rippling waves of rivers.
11. As the waves of river are concomitant with the course
of its waters, so the source of creation lying in the
vacuous seed
of the airy Intellact[**Intellect], gives rise to its
incessant course, along
with its ceaseless train of thoughts.
12. The destruction of a man in his death, is no more
than
the felicity of his repose in sleep; so the resurrection
of his
soul (in a renovated body) in this world, is likewise a
renewal
of his felicity. (Hence there is neither pain nor fear,
either in
living or dying but both is bliss).
13. If there is any fear for or pain in sin, it is
equally so
both in this life as well as in the next; therefore the
life and
death of the righteous are equally as blissful, (as they
are painful
to the unrighteous).
14. Those who look on and hail their life and death, with
equal indifference; are men that have an unbroken
tranquility
of their minds, and are known as the cold-hearted (or
meek
stoical and platonic).
15. As the conscience becomes clear and bright, after the
dross of its consciousness (of the subjective and
objective), is
-----File:
302.png---------------------------------------------------------
cleansed and wiped from it; so shines the pure soul which
they
term the liberated and free (mukta).
16. It is upon the utter absence of our consciousness,
that
there ensues a total disappearance of our knowledge of
the
phenomenals also; and then our intellect rises without a
vestige
of the intelligibles in it, as also without its
intelligence of
the existence of the world. (This state of the mind,
constitutes
likewise its liberation or mukti).
17. He that knows God, becomes unified with the divine
nature, which is neither thinkable nor of the nature of
the thinking
principle or intellect, or any which is thought of by the
intellect; and being so absorbed in meditation, remains
quite
indifferent to all worldly pursuits.
18. The world is a reflexion of the mirror of the
intellect,
and as it is exhibited in the transparent vacuity of the
divine
spirit, it is in vain to talk of its bondage or liberty.
19. It is the oscillation of the airy intellect, and an
act of
its imagination, which produces this imaginary world; it
is
entirely of the nature of the airy spirit whence it has
its rise,
and never of the form of the earth or anything else as it
appears
to be.
20. There is no space or time, nor any action or
substance
here, except an only entity, which is neither a nothing
nor any
thing that we know of.
21. It is only a spiritual substance, appearing as a
thick
mist to our sight; it is neither a void nor a
substantiality
either: but something purer and more pellucid, than the
transparent
vacuum about us.
22. It is formless with its apparent form, and an
unreality
with its seeming reality; it is entirely a pure intellectual
entity, and appearing as manifest to sight, as an aerial
castle in
a dream.
23. It is termed the nirvána-extinction of a man, when
his
view of this outstretched gross and impure world, becomes
extinct
in its pure spiritual form in the vacuity of his mind.
The
vast and extensive world presenting all its endless
varieties to
-----File:
303.png---------------------------------------------------------
view, has no diversity in it in reality; but forms an
infinite
unity, like the vacuous space of the sky, and the
fluidity of
waters of the one universal ocean on the globe.
-----File:
304.png---------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER LVI.
STORY OF THE GREAT STONE, AND VASISHTHA'S MEDITATION.
Argument:--Here the story of the stone is given, in
elucidation of the
truth that Intellect is all in all.
Vasishtha added:--It being proved before, that the
Intellect is always and every where, and in every manner
the all in all; it becomes evident, that it remains like
the vacuous
and translucent air in everything in the whole universe.
2. Wherever there is the Intellect, there is also the
creation
(inseparable from it); the Intellect residing alike both
in the
void as well as in the plenum, all things are full of the
Intellect,
and there is nothing whatsoever in existence beside this
universal
Intellect.
3. As all created things (whether the moving or
unmoving),
appear in their visionary forms in our dream; so it is
the vacuous
Intellect alone, which appears in the various forms of
existence
in our waking dreams also.
4. Attend now, Ráma, to my narration of the stone, which
be as pleasant to taste, as a remedial of ignorance. In
this I will
relate what I have seen and actually done myself.
5. Being anxious to know the knowable One, I was fully
resolved in my mind, to leave this world and all its
erroneous
usages.
6. I remained a long while in a state of calm and quiet
meditation, after having forsaken all the eagerness and
restlessness
of my body and mind, for the sake of solitary peace and
rest.
7. I then pondered in my mind, of betaking myself to some
seat or shrine of the Gods; and there sitting in quiet,
continue
to survey the changing and transitory states of worldly
things.
8. I find all things, said I, to be quite insipid to my
taste,
though they seem to be pleasant for a while; I never see
any
-----File:
305.png---------------------------------------------------------
one in any place, who is ever happy or content with his
own
state.
9. All things breed but care and sorrow, with the acutest
pangs of remorse and regret; and all these phenomenals
produce
but evil, from their appearance of good to the beholder
of
them. (Thus the goodly bright aspects of the sun and
moon,
are attended with sunstroke and lunacy to their
observer).
10. What is all this that comes to our view, who is their
viewer and what am I that look upon these visibles; (i.
e. what
is this objective sight, and what is this subjective
self). All
this is the quiet and unborn spirit, which flashes forth
in the
vacuous sky with the light of its own intellect.
11. With thoughts as these, I sought to retire from here
to
a proper place, where I might confine myself, in myself
and
which might be inaccessible to the gods and demi-gods,
and to
the siddhas and other beings.
12. Where I might remain unseen by any being, and sit
quiet
in my unalterable meditation; by placing my sole reliance
in
one even and transparent soul, and getting rid of all my
cares
and pains.
13. Ah! where could I find such a spot, which may be
entirely
void of all creatures; and where I may not be distracted
in
my mind by interruptions of the objects of my five
external
organs of sense.
14. I cannot choose the mountains for my seat, where the
whistling breeze of the forests, the dashing noise of
waterfalls,
and the concourse of wild animals, serve to disquiet the
mind,
without the capability of their being quieted by human
power.
15. The hills are crowded with hosts of elephants, and
the
dales are filled with hordes of savage peoples, the
countries are
full of heineous[**heinous] men, more baneful than the
poison of venomous
serpents.
16. The seas are full of men (on board the
vessals[**vessels]), and are
filled with horrible beasts in their depth; and the
cities are
disturbed with the din of business, and the broil of the
citizens.
17. The foot of the mountains and the shores and coasts
of
seas and rivers, are as thickly peopled as the realms of
the rulers
-----File:
306.png---------------------------------------------------------
of men; and even the summits of mountains and the caverns
of
infernal regions, are not devoid of animal beings.
18. The mountains are singing in the whistling of the
breezes, and the trees are dancing with the motion of
their leafy
palms; and the blooming flowers are smiling gently, in
the
caves of mountains and forest grounds and low lands.
19. I cannot resort to the banks of rivers, where the
mute
finny tribe dwell like the silent munis in their grottos,
and
gently shake the water lilies by their giddy flirtation;
because
this place is disturbed also by the loud noise of the
sounding
whirlpools, and the hoarse uproar or roaring whirlwind.
20. I can find no rest in the barren deserts, where the
howling
winds are raising clouds of all engulfing dust, nor can I
resort to the mountain cataracts, where the air resounds
with
the stunning noise of incessant waterfalls.
21. Then I thought of setting myself in some sequestered
corner, of the remote region of the sky; where I might
remain
absorbed in my holy meditation without any disturbance.
22. In this corner, I thought of making a cell in my
imagination,
and keep myself quite pent up in its close cavity, by an
entire relinquishment of all my worldly desires.
23. With these reflexions, I mounted high in the blue
vault
of the sky; and found the ample space in its womb to know
no
bounds: (and was identic with Infinity itself).
24. Here I saw the siddhas (perfected spirits) roving in
one
place, and the roaring clouds rolling in another; in one
side I
beheld the vidyádhara[**add s] or accomplished spirits, and
the excelled
yakskas on another. (Heaven is the abode of perfected
souls of
all people at large).
25. In one spot I saw an aerial city, and the region of
the
jarring winds in another; I beheld the raining clouds on
one
side, and raging yoginis or furies in another.
26. There was the city of the Daityas or demons, hanging
in the air on one side; and the place of the Gandarvas
appearing
in another. The planetary sphere was rolling about in one
way, and the starry frame revolving at a distance.
27. Some where the sky was brushed over by flights of
-----File:
307.png---------------------------------------------------------
birds, and great gales were raging in another part;
somewhere
there appeared portents in the sky, and elsewhere there
were
canopies of clouds formed in the heavens.
28. One part of heaven was studded with cities, peopled
by
strange kinds of beings; the car of the sun was gliding
on one
side, and the wheel of the lunar disk was sliding in
another.
29. One region of the sky was burning under the torrid
sun, and another part was cooled by the cooling
moon-beams;
one part was intolerable to little animals and another
was inaccessible
owing to its intense heat.
30. One place was full of dancing demons, and another
with
flocks of flying garuda eagles; one region was deluged by
deluvian[**diluvian] rains, and another was infested by
tempestuous winds.
31. Leaving these plenary parts behind, I passed onward
far and further; when I reached to a region entirely
desolate,
and devoid of everything (i. e. the increate vacuity).
32. Here the air was mild, and no being was to be seen
even
in a dream; there was no omen of good, nor anything
portentous
of evils, nor any sight or sign of world.
33. I figured to myself in this place, a solitary cell
with some
space in it; and it was without any passage for egress,
and
was as goodly as the unblown bed of a lotus.
34. It was not perforated by worms, but was as handsome
as the bright disk of the full-moon; and as lovely as the
comely
features of the lily and lotus, jasmine and mandara
flowers.
35. This abode of my imagination, was inaccessible to all
other beings but to myself; and I sat there alone with
only my
thoughts and creations of my imagination by myself.
36. I remained quite silent and calm in my mind, in my
posture of Padmásana (or yoga meditation); and then rose
from my seat at the expiration of a hundred years, after
my
acquirement of spiritual knowledge.
37. I sat in unwavering meditation, and was absorbed in a
fit of hypnotism; I remained as quiet as the calm
stillness of
the air, and as immovable as a statue carved in relief
upon the
face of the sky.
38. At last I found out in my mind, what it had been long
-----File:
308.png---------------------------------------------------------
searching after in earnest; and at last the breath of my
expectation
returned into my nostrils. (Parting breath of longing
returns
with the longed for object).
39. The seed of knowledge which I had sown in the field
of
my mind, came to sprout forth of itself from the midst of
it,
after the lapse of a whole century.
40. My life or living soul, is now awakened to its
intuitive
knowledge (of truth); as a tree left withered by the dewy
season,
becomes revivified by the moisture of the renovating
spring.
41. The hundred years which I passed in my meditation
here, glided away as quickly as a single moment before
me; because
a long period of time appears a very short space, to one
who is intensively intent upon a single object. (Whereas
the
succession of thoughts be an unchanging duration of the
same moment to him who is fixed in his mind).
42. Now my outward senses had their expansion, from their
contracted state (in my meditative mind); just as the
withered
arbors expand themselves into flowers and foliage, by the
enliving influence of the vernal season.
43. Then the vital airs filled the organs of my body, and
restored my consciousness of their sensations; soon after
I was
seized upon by the demon of my egoism, accompanied by its
consort of desire; and these began to move to and fro, just
as
the strong winds sake[**shake] the sturdy oaks.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to Brahmasri Sreemaan Vihari Lala Mitra ji for the
collection)
Post a Comment