The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki
The only complete English translation is
by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891).
CHAPTER XXXV.—Meditation on Brahma in One's Self.
Argument. Pantheistic Adoration of the
universal soul.
Prahlāda continued:—Om
is the proper form of the One, and devoid of all
defalcation; that Om
is this all, that is contained in this world. (The
Sruti says:—Om is Brahma, and Om is this all, it is the first and last
&c.).
2. It is the intelligence, and devoid of
flesh, fat, blood and bones; it
abides in all things, and is the enlightener
of the sun and all other
luminous bodies.
3. It warms the fire and moistens the water (i.e. gives heat and
moisture to the fire and water). It gives
sensation to the senses, and
enjoys all things in the manner of a prince.
(Warms in the sun,
refreshes in the breeze &c. Pope).
4. It rests without sitting, it goes without
walking; it is active in
its inactivity, it acts all without coming in
tact with any thing.
5. It is the past and gone, and also the present
and even now; it is
both the next moment, and remote future also;
it is all that is fit and
proper, and whatever is unfit and improper
likewise. (Changed through
all, and yet in all the same. All Discord,
harmony not understood, tends
to universal good. (Pope)).
6. Undaunted, it produces all productions,
and spreads the worlds over
one another; it continues to turn about the
worlds, from the Sphere of
Brahma to the lower grounds of grass. (So
Pope:—Spreads through all
extent, spreads undivided, operates unspent).
7. Though unmoving and immutable, yet it is
as fleeting and changeable
as the flying winds; it is inert as the solid
rock, and more transparent
than the subtile ether. "These as they
change, are but the varied God."
Thomson.
8. It moves the minds of men, as the winds
shake the leaves of trees;
and it directs the organs of sense, as a
charioteer manages his horses.
9. The Intellect sits as the lord of this
bodily mansion, which is
carried about as a chariot by the equestrians
of the senses; and sitting
at its own ease as sole monarch, it enjoys
the fruitions of the bodily
actions.
10. It is to be diligently sought after, and
meditated upon and lauded
at all times; because it is by means of this
only, that one may have his
salvation from the pains of his age and
death, and the evils of
ignorance.
11. It is easily to be found, and as easy to
be familiarised as a
friend; it dwells as the humble bee, in the
recess of the lotus-like
heart of every body.
12. Uncalled and uninvoked, it appears of
itself from within the body;
and at a slight call it appears manifest to
view. (So the Sruti:—The
soul becomes palpable to view).
13. Constant service of and attendance on
this all-opulent Lord, never
make him proud or haughty, as they do any
other rich master to his
humble attendants.
14. This Lord is as closely situated in every
body, as fragrance and
fluidity, are inherent in flowers and sesamum
seeds; and as flavour is
inseparably connected with liquid substances.
15. It is by reason of our unreasonableness,
that we are ignorant of the
Intellect, that is situated in ourselves;
while our reasoning power
serves to manifest it, as a most intimate
friend to our sight.
16. As we come to know this Supreme Lord,
that is situated in us by our
reasoning; we come to feel an ineffable
delight in us, as at the sight
of a beloved and loving friend.
17. As this dearest friend appears to view,
with his benign influence of
shedding full bliss about us; we come to the
sight of such glorious
prospects, as to forget at once all our
earthly enjoyments before them.
18. All his fetters are broken loose and fall
off from him, and all his
enemies are put to an end; whose mind is not
perforated by his cravings,
like houses dug by the injurious mice.
19. This one in all (to pan) being seen in us, the whole world is seen
in Him; and He being heard, every thing is
heard in Him: He being felt,
all things are felt in Him; and He being
present, the whole world is
present before us.
20. He wakes over the sleeping world, and
destroys the darkness of the
ignorant; He removes the dangers of the
distressed, and bestows His
blessings upon the holy. (So the sruti: suptesujāgarti. God never
sleeps. Jones. The ever wakeful eyes of Jove.
To wake over the sleeping
worlds. Iliad).
21. He moves about as the living soul of all,
and rejoices as the animal
soul in all objects of enjoyment; it is He
that glows in all visible
objects in their various hues. (Shines in the
sun, and twinkles in the
stars; blazes in the fire, and blushes in
flowers. Pope).
22. He sees himself in himself, and is
quietly situated in all things;
as pungency resides in peppers, and sweetness
in sugar &c.
23. He is situated as intelligence and
sensations, in the inward and
outward parts of living beings; and forms the
essence and existence of
all objects, in general, in the whole
universe.
24. He forms the vacuity of the sky, and the
velocity of the winds; He
is the light of igneous bodies, and the
moisture of aqueous substances.
25. He is the firmness of the earth, and the
warmth of the fire; He is
the coldness of the moon, and the entity of
every thing in the world.
26. He is blackness in inky substances, and coldness
in the particles of
snow; and as fragrance resides in flowers, so
is he resident in all
bodies.
27. It is his essence which fills all space,
as the essence of time
fills all duration; and it is his omnipotence
that is the fountain of
all forces, as it is his omnipresence that is
the support of every thing
in every place. (This is the pervasion, of
omnipresence wrongly called
as pantheism).[16]
[16] (This is the doctrine of the indwelling
spirit pervading all
nature). Or as the poet says:—
/* A motion or spirit that impels All
thinking things, all
objects of thought, And rolls through all
things"
(Wordsworth)
28. As the Lord unfolds everything to light,
by the external organ of
sight and the internal organ of thinking; so
the Great God enlightens
the gods (sun, moon, Indra and others) by his
own light. (The Natural
Theism which represented the visible heavens
and heavenly bodies as
gods, maintained also the doctrine of the One
Invisible God, as shining
and supporting them all by his presence.
Gloss).
29. I am that I am, without the attributes
(of form or figure or any
property) in me; and I am as the clear air,
unsullied by the particles
of flying dust; and as the leaves of lotuses,
untouched by their
supporting and surrounding waters.
30. As a rolling stone gathers no moss, so
there is nothing that touches
or bears any relation to my airy mind; and
the pain and pleasure which
betake the body, cannot affect my form of the
inner soul.
31. The soul like a gourd fruit, is not
injured by the shower of rain
falling on the outer body resembling its hard
crust; and the intellect
like the flame of a lamp, is not to be held
fast (or fastened) by a
rope.
32. So this ego of mine which transcends
every thing, is not to be tied
down by any thing to the earth; nor does it
bear any relation with the
objects of sense or my mental desires, or
anything existent or not in
existence in this world.
33. Who has the power to grasp the empty
vacuum; or confine the mind?
You may cut the body to a thousand pieces,
but you cannot divide the
invisible and the indivisible vacuous Spirit
rising in me.
34. As the pot being broken or bored, or
removed from its place, there
is no loss sustained by its containing or
contained air; so the body
being destroyed, there is no damage done to
the unconnected soul; and
the mind is as false a name, as that of a
demon or Pisācha.
35. The destruction of the gross body, does
not injure the immaterial
soul; and what is the mind, but the
perceptive power of my desires and
gross pleasures and pains. (The organ of the
mind is destroyed with the
body).
36. I had such a percipient mind before, but
now I have found my rest in
quiescence. I find it is another thing beside
myself, because it
perceives and partakes of the enjoyments of
life, and is exposed to the
dangers that betake the body.
37. There is another one in me (i.e. the soul or intellect), which
beholds the actions of the other (i.e. of the mind) as a theatric act;
and witnesses the exposure of the body to
peril, as its last sad and
catastrophe.
38. It is the wicked spirit, that is caught
in ignorance; but the pure
spirit has nothing to suffer: and I feel in
myself neither the wish of
my continuing in worldly enjoyments, nor a
desire of forsaking them
altogether. (I enjoy my life while it
lasts).[17]
[17] Nor love thy life nor hate, but live
while thou livest; How long or
short, permit to heaven. Dum vivimus, vinamus.
39. Let what may come to pass on me, and
whatever may happen to pass
away from me; I have neither the expectation
of pleasures for me, nor an
aversion to the suffering of pain. (in my
gain or loss of any thing, in
my resignation of myself to God).
40. Let pleasure or pain betake or forsake me
as it may, without my
being concerned with or taking heed of
either; because I know the
fluctuating desires, to be incessantly rising
and setting in the sphere
of my mind.
41. Let these desires depart from me, for I
have nothing to do with
them, nor have they any concern with me.
Alas! how have I been all this
time, misled to these by ignorance, which is
my greatest enemy.
42. It is by favour of Vishnu, and by virtue
of my pure Vaishnava faith,
rising in me of itself, that my ignorance is
now wholly dispelled from
me, and the knowledge of the True One is
revealed unto me.
43. My knowledge of truth has now driven away
my egoism (or knowledge of
myself) from my mind; as they drive a spirit
from its hiding-place in
the hollow of a tree.
44. I am now purified by admonition (mantra)
of divine knowledge to me,
and the arbour of my body is now set free
from egoism, which sat as a
demon (Yaksha) in it.
45. It is now become as a sacred arbour,
blooming with heavenly flowers;
and freed from the evils of ignorance,
penury, and vain wishes, which
infested it erewhile.
46. Loaded with the treasure of sacred
knowledge, I find myself sitting
here as one supremely-rich; and knowing all
that is to be known, I see
the sights that are invisible to others.
47. I have now got that in which nothing can
be wanting, and wherein
there is no want besides; it is by my good
fortune that I am freed from
all evils, and the venomous serpents of
worldly cares.
48. My chill and frigid ignorance is melted
down, by the light of
knowledge; and the hot mirage of my desires,
is now quenched and cooled
by my quietude: I see the clear sky on all
sides without any mist or
dust and I rest under the cooling umbrage of
the tranquillity of my
soul.
49. It is by my glorification of God, and my
thanksgivings to Vishnu, my
holy rites and also by my divine knowledge
and quietism; that I have
obtained by grace of my God, a spacious room
and elevated position in
spirituality.
50. I have got that god in my spirit, and
have seen and known him also
in his spiritual form. He is beyond my own
ego, and I remember him
always in this manner.
51. I remember Vishnu as the great Spirit,
and eternal Brahma in his
nature; while my egoism or selfishness is
confined as a snake, in the
holes of my organic frame, which is wholly
the land of death. (The
animal soul is born to die with the mortal
body).
52. It is entangled in the bushes of its
pricking desires, resembling
the prickly karanja ferns; and amidst the tumults of raging passions,
and a thousand other broils of this world.
53. It is placed amidst the conflagration of
calamities, and is
encircled by the flames of smarting pain at
all times; it is subjected
to continual ups and downs of fortune, and
repeated risings and fallings
in its journey in this world.
54. It has its repeated births and deaths,
owing to its interminable
desires; and thus I am always deceived by
this great enemy—my own
egoism.
55. The animal soul is powerless at night, as
if it were caught in the
clutches of a demon in the forest; so I feel
it now to be deprived of
its power and action, while I am in this
state of my meditation. (The
animal spirit is dormant in its states of
physical and spiritual
trance).
56. It is by grace of Vishnu, that the light
of my understanding is
roused; and as I see my God by means of this
light, I lose the sight of
my demoniac egoism (i.e. I become unconscious of my existence at the
sight of my Lord).
57. The sight of the demoniac egoism dwelling
in the cavity of my mind,
disappears from my view in the like manner;
as the shadow of darkness
flies from the light of a lamp, and as the
shade of night is dispersed
by day light.
58. As you know not where the flame of the
lighted lamp is fled, after
it is extinguished; so we know not where our
lordly egoism is hid, at
the sight of our God before us.
59. My rich egoism flies at the approach of
reason, as a heavy loaded
robber, flies before the advance of day
light; and our false egoism
vanishes as a demon, at the rising of the
true Ego of God.
60. My egoism being gone, I am set at ease
like a tree, freed from a
poisonous snake rankling in its hollow
cavity. I am at rest and in my
insensibleness in this world, when I am
awakened to my spiritual light.
61. I have escaped from the hand of my
captor, and gained my permanent
ascendency over others; I have got my
internal coldness sang-froid,
and have allayed the mirage of my thirst
after vain glory.
62. I have bathed in the cold bath of rain
water, and am pacified as a
rock after the cooling of its conflagration;
I am cleansed of my egoism,
by my knowledge of the true meaning of the
term.
63. What is ignorance and what are our pains
and affliction? what are
our evil desires, and what are our diseases
and dangers? All these with
the ideas of heaven and liberation, together
with the hope of heaven and
the fear of hell, are but false conceptions
proceeding from our egoism
or selfishness (or the cravings and loathings
of our hearts).
64. As a picture is drawn on a canvas and not
in empty air, so our
thoughts depend on our selfish principle and
upon its want. And as it is
the clear linen, that receives the yellow
colour of saffron; so it is
the pure soul that receives the image of God.
It is egoism which
vitiates the soul with the bilious passions
of the heart, as a dirty
cloth vitiates a goodly paint, with its
inborn taint.
65. Purity of the inward soul, is like the
clearness of the autumnal
sky; it is devoid of the cloudiness of
egoism, and the drizzling drops
of desires. (I.e. a pure soul is as clear as the unclouded sky).
66. I bow down to thee, O my soul inmost!
that art a stream of bliss to
me, with pure limpid waters amidst, and
without the dirt of egoism about
thee.
67. I hail thee, O thou my soul! that art an
ocean of joy to me,
uninfested by the sharks of sensual
appetites, and undisturbed by the
submarine fire of the latent mind.
68. I prostrate myself before thee, O thou
quick soul of mine! that art
a mountain of delight to me, without the
hovering clouds of egoistic
passions, and the wild fires of gross
appetites and desires.
69. I bow to thee, O thou soul in me! that
art the heavenly lake of
Manas to me, with the blooming lotuses of
delight, and without the
billows of cares and anxieties.
70. I greet thee my internal spirit! that
floatest in the shape of a
swan (hansa) in the lake of the mind (manas)
of every individual, and
residest in the cavity of the lotiform
cranium (Brahmārandhra), with thy
outstretched wings of consciousness and
standing.
71. All hail to thee, O thou full and perfect
spirit! that art the
undivided and immortal soul, and appearest in
thy several parts of the
mind and senses; like the full-moon
containing all its digits in its
entire self.
72. Obeisance to the sun of my intellect!
which is always in its
ascendency and dispels the darkness of my
heart; which pervades
everywhere, and is yet invisible or dimly
seen by us.
73. I bow to my intellectual light, which is
an oilless lamp of benign
effulgence, and burns in full blaze within me
and without its wick. It
is the enlightener of nature, and quite still
in its nature.
74. Whenever my mind is heated by cupid's
fire, I cool it by the
coolness of my cold and callous intellect
coolness; as they temper the
red hot-iron with a cold and hard hammer.
75. I am gaining my victory over all things,
by killing my egoism by the
Great Ego; and by making my senses and mind
to destroy themselves.
76. I bow to thee, O thou all subduing faith,
that dost crush our
ignorant doubt by thy wisdom; dispellest the
unrealities by thy
knowledge of the reality, and removest our
cravings by thy
contentedness.
77. I subsist solely as the transparent
spirit, by killing my mind by
the great Mind, and removing my egoism by the
sole Ego, and by driving
the unrealities by the true Reality.
78. I rely my body (i.e. I depend for my bodily existence), on the
moving principle of my soul only; without the
consciousness of my
self-existence, my egoism, my mind and all
its efforts and actions.
79. I have obtained at last of its own
accord, and by the infinite grace
of the Lord of all, the highest blessing of
cold-heartedness and
insouciance in myself.
80. I am now freed from the heat of my
feverish passions, by subsidence
of the demon of my ignorance; from
disappearance of the goblin of my
egoism.
81. I know not where the falcon of my false
egoism has fled, from the
cage of my body, by breaking its string of
desires to which it was fast
bound in its feet.
82. I do not know whither the eagle of my
egotism is flown, from its
nest in the arbour of my body, after blowing
away its thick ignorance as
dust.
83. Ah! where is my egoism fled, with its
body besmeared with the dust
and dirt of worldliness, and battered by the
rocks of its insatiable
desires? It is bitten by the deadly dragons
of fears and dangers, and
pierced in its hearts by repeated
disappointments and despair.
84. O! I wonder to think what I had been all
this time, when I was bound
fast by my egoism in the strong chain of my
personality.
85. I think myself a new-born being to day,
and to have become
highminded also, by being removed from the
thick cloud of egoism, which
had shrouded me all this time.
86. I have seen and known, and obtained this
treasure of my soul, as it
is presented to my understanding, by the
verbal testimonies of the
sāstras, and by the light of inspiration in
my hour of meditation
(samādhi).
87. My mind is set at rest as extinguished
fire, by its being released
from the cares of the world; as also from all
other thoughts and desires
and the error of egoism. I am now set free
from my affections and
passions, and all delights of the world, as
also my craving after them.
88. I have passed over the impassable ocean
of dangers and difficulties,
and the intolerable evils of transmigration;
by the disappearance of my
internal darkness, and sight of the One Great
God in my intellect.
CHAPTER XXXVI.—Hymn to the Soul.
Argument. Prahlāda getting the light of his
internal soul,
delights himself as one in the company of his
sweet-heart.
Prahlāda continued:—I thank thee, O lord and
great spirit! that art
beyond all things, and art found in myself by
my good fortune.
2. I have no other friend, O my Lord, in the
three worlds except thee;
that dost vouchsafe to embrace and look upon
me, when I pray unto thee.
3. It is thou that preservest and destroyest
all, and givest all things
to every body; and it is thou, that makest us
move and work, and praise
thy holy name. Now art thou found and seen by
me, and now thou goest
away from me.
4. Thou fillest all being in the world with
thy essence; thou art
present in all places, but where art thou now
fled and gone from me?
5. Great is the distance between us, even as
the distance of the places
of our birth, it is my good fortune of
friend! that has brought thee
near me today, and presented thee to my sight
(so fleeting is spiritual
vision).
6. I hail thee, thou felicitous one! that art
my maker and preserver
also; I thank thee that art the stalk of this
fruit of this world, and
that art the eternal and pure soul of all.
7. I thank the holder of the lotus and
discus, and thee also that
bearest the crescent half moon on thy
forehead—great Siva. I thank the
lord of gods—Indra, and Brahmā also, that is
born of the lotus.
8. It is a verbal usage that makes a
distinction betwixt thee and
ourselves (i.e. between the Divine and animal souls); but this is a
false impression as that of the difference
between waves and their
elemental water.
9. Thou showest thyself in the shapes of the
endless varieties of
beings, and existence and extinction are the
two states of thyself from
all eternity.
10. I thank thee that art the creator and
beholder of all, and the
manifester of innumerable forms. I thank thee
that art the whole nature
thyself.
11. I have undergone many tribulations in the
long course of past lives,
and it was by thy will that I became bereft
of my strength, and was
burnt away at last.
12. I have beheld the luminous worlds, and
observed many visible and
invisible things; but thou art not to be
found in them. So I have gained
nothing (from my observations).
13. All things composed of earth, stone and
wood, are formations of
water (the form of Vishnu), there is nothing
here, that is permanent, O
god, beside thyself. Thou being obtained
there is nothing else to
desire.
14. I thank thee lord! that art obtained,
seen and known by me this day;
and that shalt be so preserved by me, as
never to be obliterated (from
my mind).
15. Thy bright form which is interwoven by
the rays of light, is visible
to us by inversion of the sight of the pupils
of our eyes, into the
inmost recesses of our heart.
16. As the feeling of heat and cold is
perceived by touch, and as the
fragrance of the flower is felt in the oil
with which it is mixed; so I
feel thy presence by thy coming in contact
with my heart.
17. As the sound of music enters into the
heart through the ears, and
makes the heart strings to thrill, and the
hairs of the body to stand at
an end; so is thy presence perceived in our
hearts also.
18. As the objects of taste are felt by the
tip of the tongue, which
conveys their relish to the mind; so is thy
presence felt by my heart,
when thou touchest it with thy love.
19. How can one slight to look and lay hold
on his inner soul which
shoots through every sense of his body; when
he takes up a sweet
scenting flower, perceptible by the sense of
smelling only, and finally
decorating his outer person with it.
20. How can the supreme spirit, which is well
known to us by means of
the teachings of the Vedas, Vedānta,
Sidhāntas and the Puranas, as also
by the Logic of schools and the hymns of the
Vedas, be any way forgotten
by us?
21. These things which are pleasant to the
bodily senses, do not gladden
my heart, when it is filled by thy
translucent presence.
22. It is by thy effulgent light, that the
sun shines so bright; as it
is by thy benign lustre also, that the moon
dispenses her cooling beams.
23. Thou hast made these bulky rocks, and upheld
the heavenly bodies;
thou hast supported the stable earth, and
lifted the spacious firmament.
24. Fortunately thou hast become myself, and
I have become one with
thyself, I am identic with thee and thou with
me, and there is no
difference between us.
25. I thank the great spirit, that is
expressed by turns by the words
myself and thyself; and mine and thine.
26. I thank the infinite God, that dwells in
my unegoistic mind; and I
thank the formless Lord, that dwells in my
tranquil soul.
27. Thou dwellest, O Lord! in my formless,
tranquil, transparent and
conscious soul, as thou residest in thy own
spirit, which is unbounded
by the limitations of time and space.
28. It is by thee that the mind has its
action, and the senses have
their sensations; the body has all its
powers, and the vital and
respirative breaths have their inflations and
afflations.
29. The organs of the body are led by the
rope of desire to their
several actions, and being united with flesh,
blood and bones, are
driven like the wheels of a car by the
charioteer of the mind.
30. I am the consciousness of my body, and am
neither the body itself
nor my egoism of it; let it therefore rise or
fall, it is of no
advantage or disadvantage to me.
31. I was born in the same time with my ego
(as a personal, corporeal
and sensible being); and it was long
afterwards that I had the knowledge
of my soul; I had my insensibility last of
all, in the manner of the
world approaching to its dissolution at the
end.
32. Long have I travelled in the long-some
journey of the world; I am
weary with fatigue and now rest in quiet,
like the cooling fire of the
last conflagration. (I.e. of the doomsday).
33. I thank the Lord who is all (to pan), and yet without all and
everything; and thee my soul! that art myself
likewise. I thank thee
above those sāstras and preceptors, that
teach the ego and tu (i.e.
the subjective and objective).
34. I hail the all witnessing power of that
providential spirit, that
has made these ample and endless provisions
for others, without touching
or enjoying them itself.
35. Thou art the spirit that dwellest in all
bodies in the form of the
fragrance of flowers, and in the manner of
breath in bellows; and as the
oil resides in the sesamum seeds.
36. How wonderful is this magic scene of
thine, that thou appearest in
everything, and preservest and destroyest it
at last, without having any
personality of thy own.
37. Thou makest my soul rejoice at one time
as a lighted lamp, by
manifesting all things before it; and thou
makest it joyous also, when
it is extinguished as a lamp, after its
enjoyment of the visibles.
38. This universal frame is situated in an
atom of thyself, as the big
banian tree is contained in the embryo of a
grain of its fig.
39. Thou art seen, O lord, in a thousand
forms that glide under our
sight; in the same manner as the various
forms of elephants and horses,
cars and other things are seen in the passing
clouds on the sky.
40. Thou art both the existence and absence
of all things, that are
either present or lost to our view; yet thou
art quite apart from all
worldly existences, and art aloof from all
entities and non-entities in
the world.
41. Forsake, O my soul! the pride and anger
of thy mind, and all the
foulness and wiliness of thy heart; because
the high-minded never fall
into the faults and errors of the common
people.
42. Think over and over on the actions of thy
past life, and the long
series of thy wicked acts; and then with a
sigh blush to think upon what
thou hadst been before, and cease to do such
acts anymore.
43. The bustle of thy life is past, and thy
bad days have gone away;
when thou wast wrapt in the net of thy
tangled thoughts on all sides.
44. Now thou art a monarch in the city of thy
body, and hast the desire
of thy mind presented before thee; thou art
set beyond the reach of
pleasure and pain, and art as free as the air
which nobody can grasp.
45. As thou hast now subdued the untractable
horses of thy bodily
organs, and the indomitable elephant of thy
mind; and as thou hast
crushed thy enemy of worldly enjoyment, so
dost thou now reign as the
sole sovereign, over the empire of thy body
and mind.
46. Thou art now become as the glorious sun,
to shine within and without
us day by day; and dost traverse the
unlimited fields of air, by thy
continued rising and setting at every place
in our meditation of thee.
47. Thou Lord! art ever asleep, and risest
also by thy own power; and
then thou lookest on the luxuriant world, as
a lover looks on his
beloved.
48. These luxuries like honey, are brought
from great distances by the
bees of the bodily organs; and the spirit
tastes the sweets, by looking
upon them through the windows of its eyes.
(The spirit enjoys the sweets
of offerings, by means of its internal
senses).
49. The seat of the intellectual world in the
cranium is always dark,
and a path is made in it by the breathings of
inspiration and
respiration (prānāpāna), which lead the soul
to the sight of Brahmā
(lit.: to the city of Brahmā. This is done by the practice of
prānāyāma).
50. Thou Lord! art the odour of this
flower-like body of thine, and thou
art the nectarious juice of thy moonlike
frame, the moisture of this
bodily tree, and thou art the coolness of its
cold humours: phlegm and
cough.
51. Thou art the juice, milk and butter, that
support the body, and thou
being gone (O soul!), the body is dried up
and become as full to feed
the fire.
52. Thou art the flavour of fruits, and the
light of all luminous
bodies; it is thou that perceivest and
knowest all things, and givest
light to the visual organ of sight.
53. Thou art the vibration of the wind, and
the force of our elephantine
minds; and so art thou the acuteness of the
flame of our intelligence.
54. It is thou that givest us the gift of
speech, and dost stop our
breath, and makest it break forth again on
occasions. (Speech—Vāch—vox
in the feminine gender, is made Vāchā by
affix ā according to Bhaguri).
55. All these various series of worldly
productions, bear the same
relation to thee, as the varieties of
jewelleries (such as the bracelets
and wristlets); are related to the gold (of
which they are made).
56. Thou art called by the words I, thou, he
&c., and it is thyself that
callest thyself such as it pleaseth thee.
(The impersonal God is
represented in different persons).
57. Thou art seen in the appearances of all
the productions of nature,
as we see the forms of men, horses and
elephants in the clouds, when
they glide softly on the wings of the gentle
winds. (But as all these
forms are unreal, so God has no form in
reality).
58. Thou dost invariably show thyself in all
thy creatures on earth, the
blazing fire presents the figures of horses
and elephants in its lambent
flames. (Neither has God nor fire any form at
all).
59. Thou art the unbroken thread, by which
the orbs of worlds are strung
together as a rosary of pearls; and thou art
the field that growest the
harvest of creation, by the moisture of thy
intellect. (The divine
spirit stretches through all, and contains
the pith of creation).
60. Things that were inexistent and
unproduced before creation, have
come to light from their hidden state of
reality by thy agency, as the
flavour of meat-food, becomes evident by the
process of cooking.[18]
[18] (I.e. as the work is known after it is worked out by the
workman).
61. The beauties of existences are
imperceptible without the soul; as
the graces of a beauty are not apparent to
one devoid of his eyesight.
62. All substances are nothing whatever
without thy inherence in them;
as the reflection of the face in the mirror
(or a picture in painting),
is to no purpose without the real face or
figure of the person.
63. Without thee the body is a lifeless mass,
like a block of wood or
stone; and it is imperceptible without the
soul, as the shadow of a tree
in absence of the sun.
64. The succession of pain and pleasure,
ceases to be felt by one who
feels thee within himself; as the shades of
darkness, the twinkling of
stars, and the coldness of frost, cease to
exist in the bright sunlight.
65. It is by a glance of thy eye, that the
feelings of pain and pleasure
rise in the mind; as it is by the beams of
the rising sun, that the sky
is tinged with its variegated hues.
66. Living beings perish in a moment, at the
privation of thy presence;
as the burning lamp is extinguished to
darkness, at the extinction of
its light. (Light and life are synonymous
terms, as death and darkness
are homonyms).
67. As the gloom of darkness is conspicuous
at the want of light; but
coming in contact with light, it vanishes
from view.[19]
[19] So there is but dead matter without the
enlivening soul, and every
thing is full of life with the soul inherent
in it.
68. So the appearances of pain and pleasure,
present themselves before
the mind, during thy absence from it; but
they vanish into nothing at
the advance of thy light into it.
69. The temporary feelings of pleasure and
pain, can find no room in the
fulness of heavenly felicity (in the entranced
mind); just as a minute
moment of time, is of no account in the abyss
of eternity.
70. The thoughts of pleasure and pain, are as
the short-lived fancies of
the fairy land or castles in air; they appear
by turns at thy pleasure,
but they disappear altogether no sooner thy
form is seen in the mind.
71. It is by thy light in our visual organs,
that things appear to sight
at the moment of our waking, as they are
reproduced into being; and it
is by thy light also poured into our minds,
that they are seen in our
dream, as if they are all asleep in death.
72. What good can we derive from these false
and transient appearances
in nature? No one can string together the
seeming lotuses that are
formed by the foaming froth of the waves.
73. No substantial good can accrue to us from
transitory mortal things;
as no body can string together the transient
flashes of lightning into a
necklace. (This is in refutation of the
usefulness of temporary objects
maintained by the Saugatas).
74. Should the rationalist take the false
ideas of pain and pleasure for
sober realities; what distinction then can
there be between them and the
irrational realists (Buddhists).
75. Should you, like the Nominalist, take
everything which bears a name
for a real entity; I will tell you no more
than that, you are too fond
to give to imaginary things a fictitious name
at your own will.
(Gloss:—according to the ideas and desires of
one's own mind, or giving
a name to airy nothing).
76. But the soul is indivisible and without
its desire and egoism, and
whether it is a real substance or not we know
nothing of, yet its agency
is acknowledged on all hands in our bodily
actions.
77. All joy be thine! that art boundless in
thy spiritual body, and ever
disposed to tranquillity; that art beyond the
knowledge of the Vedas,
and art yet the theme of all the sāstras.
78. All joy to thee! that art both born and
unborn with the body, and
art decaying undecayed in thy nature; that
art the unsubstantial
substance of all qualities, and art known and
unknown to every body.
79. I exult now and am calm again, I move and
am still afterwards; I am
victorious and live to win my liberation by
thy grace; therefore I hail
thee that art myself.
80. When thou art situated in me, my soul is
freed from all troubles and
feelings and passions; and is placed in
perfect rest. There is no more
any fear of danger or difficulty or of life
and death, nor any craving
for prosperity, when I am absorbed in
everlasting bliss with thee.
CHAPTER XXXVII.—Disorder and Disquiet of the Asura Realm.
Argument. As Prahlāda was absorbed in
Meditation, his dominions
were infested by robbers for want of a Ruler,
and the reign of
terror.
Vasishtha said:—Prahlāda the defeater of
inimical hosts, was sitting in
the said manner in divine meditation, and was
absorbed in his entranced
rapture, and undisturbed anaesthesia or insensibility for a long time.
2. The soul reposing in its original state of
unalterable ecstatis,
made his body as immovable as a rock in
painting or a figure carved on a
stone (in bas relief).
3. In this manner a long time passed upon his
hybernation, when he was
sitting in his house in a posture as unshaken
as the firm Meru is fixed
upon the earth.
4. He was tried to be roused in vain, by the
great Asuras of his palace;
because his deadened mind remained deaf to
their calls like a solid
rock, and was as impassive as a perched grain
to the showers of rain.
5. Thus he remained intent upon his God, with
his fixed and firm gaze
for thousands of years; and continued as
unmoved, as the carved sun upon
a stone (or sundial).
6. Having thus attained to the state of
supreme bliss, the sight of
infelicity disappeared from his view, as it
is unknown to the supremely
felicitous being. (So the Sruti: In Him there
is all joy and no woe can
appear before Him).
7. During this time the whole circuit of his
realm, was overspread by
anarchy and oppression; as it reigns over the
poor fishes.[20]
[20] (The analogy of matsya nyaya or piscine oppression, means the
havoc which is committed on the race of
fishes by their own kind,
as also by all other piscivorous animals of
earth and air, and
tyranny of the strong over the weak).
8. For after Hiranyakasipu was killed and his
son had betaken himself to
asceticism, there was no body left to rule
over the realms of the Asura
race.
9. And as Prahlāda was not to be roused from
his slumber, by the
solicitations of the Daitya chiefs, or the
cries of his oppressed
people:—
10. They—the enemies of the gods, were as
sorry not to have their
graceful lord among them; as the bees are
aggrieved for want of the
blooming lotus at night (when it is hid under
its leafy branches).
11. They found him as absorbed in his
meditation, as when the world is
drowned in deep sleep, after departure of the
sun below the horizon.
12. The sorrowful Daityas departed from his
presence, and went away
wherever they liked; they roved about at
random, as they do in an
ungoverned state.
13. The infernal regions became in time the
seat of anarchy and
oppression; and the good and honest dealers
bade adieu to it all at
once.
14. The houses of the weak were robbed by the
strong, and the restraints
of laws were set at naught; the people
oppressed one another and robbed
the women of their robes.
15. There were crying and wailing of the
people on all sides, and the
houses were pulled down in the city; the
houses and gardens were robbed
and spoiled, and outlawry and rapacity spread
all over the land.
16. The Asuras were in deep sorrow, and their
families were starving
without food or fruits; there were
disturbance and riot rising every
where, and the face of the sky was darkened
on all sides.
17. They were derided by the younglings of
the gods, and invaded by vile
robbers and envious animals; the houses were
robbed of their properties,
and were laid waste and void.
18. The Asura realm became a scene of horror,
by lawless fighting for
the wives and properties of others; and the
wailings of those that were
robbed of their wealth and wives, it made the
scene seem as the reign of
the dark Kali age, when the atrocious
marauders are let loose to spread
devastation all over the earth.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.—Scrutiny into the Nature of God.
Argument. Hari's care for preservation of the
order of the
world, and his advice to Prahlāda.
Vasishtha continued:—Now Hari who slept on
his couch of the snake, in
his watery mansion of the Milky ocean, and
whose delight it was to
preserve the order of all the groups of
worlds;—
2. Looked into the course of world in his own
mind, after he rose from
his sleep at the end of the rainy season for
achieving the objects of
the gods. (Vishnu rises after the rains on
the eleventh day of moon
[Sanskrit: unthānaikādashi]).
3. He surveyed at a glance of his thought the
state of the triple world,
composed of the heaven, the earth and the
regions below; and then
directed his attention to the affairs of the
infernal regions of the
demons.
4. He beheld Prahlāda sitting there in his
intense hypnotic meditation,
and then looked into the increasing
prosperity of Indra's palace.
5. Sitting as he was on his serpentine couch
in the Milky Ocean, with
his arms holding the conch-shell, the discus,
and the club and lotus in
his four hands;—
6. He thought in his brilliant mind and in
his posture of padmāsana,
about the states of the three worlds, as the
fluttering bee inspects
into the state of the lotus.
7. He saw Prahlāda immerged in his hypnotism,
and the infernal regions
left without a leader; and beheld the world
was about to be devoid of
the Daitya race.
8. This want of the demons, thought he, was
likely to cool the military
ardour of the Devas; as the want of clouds
serves to dry up the waters
on earth.
9. Liberation which is obtained by privation
of dualism and egoism,
brings a man to that state of asceticism; as
the want of moisture tends
to dry up and deaden the promising plant.
10. The Gods being at rest and contented in
themselves, there will be no
need of sacrifices and offerings to please
and appease them; and this
will eventually lead to the extinction of the
gods (for want of their
being fed with the butter and fat of the
sacrifices).
11. The religious and sacrificial rites,
being at an end among mankind,
will bring on (owing to their impiety), the
destruction of human race,
which will cause the desolation of the earth
(by wild beasts).
13. What is the good of my providence, if I
were to allow this plenteous
earth to go to ruin by my neglect? (It would
amount to Vishnu's
violation of duty to preserve the world).
14. What can I have to do in this empty void
of the world, after the
extinction of these created beings into
nothing, than to charge my
active nature to a state of cold inactivity,
and lose myself into the
anaesthesia of final liberation or insensibility.
15. I see no good in the untimely dissolution
of the order of the world,
and would therefore have the Daityas live to
its end.
16. It is owing to the struggles of the
demons, that the deities are
worshipped with sacrifices and other
religious rites for their
preservation of the earth; therefore they are
necessary for the
continuation of these practices in it.
17. I shall have therefore to visit the
nether world, and restore it to
its right order; and appoint the lord of the
demons to the observance of
his proper duties; in the manner of the
season of spring returning to
fructify the trees.
18. If I raise any other Daitya to the
chieftainship of the demons, and
leave Prahlāda in the act of his meditation;
it is sure that he will
disturb the Devas, instead of bearing
obedience to them. Because no
demon can get rid of his demoniac nature like
Prahlāda.
19. Prahlāda is to live to old age in his
sacred person, and to reside
therein to the end of the kalpa age, with
this very body of his (without
undergoing the casualties of death and
transmigration).
20. So it is determined by Destiny, the
divine and overruling goddess;
that Prahlāda will continue to reign to the
end of the kalpa, in
this
very body of his.
21. I must therefore go, and awaken the
Daitya chief from his trance, as
the roaring cloud rouses the sleepy peacocks,
on the tops of hills and
banks of rivers.
22. Let that self ridden (swayam-mukta) and somnolent (samādhistha)
prince, reign unconcerned (amanaskāra) over the Daitya race; as the
unconscious pearl reflects the colours of its
adjacent objects.
23. By this means both the gods and demigods,
will be preserved on the
face of the earth; and their mutual
contention for superiority, will
furnish occasion for the display of my
prowess.
24. Though the creation and destruction of
the world, be indifferent to
me; yet its continuation in the primordial
order, is of much concern to
others, if not to my insusceptible self.
25. Whatever is alike in its existence and
inexistence, is the same also
in both its gain and loss (to the indifferent
soul). Any effort for
having any thing is mere foolishness; since
addition and subtraction
presuppose one another. (Gain is the
supplying of want, and want is the
privation of gain).
26. I shall therefore hasten to the infernal
region, and awaken the
Daitya prince to the sense of his duty; and
then will I resume my
calmness, and not play about on the stage of
the world like the
ignorant. (The sapient God is silent; but
foolish souls are turbulent).
27. I will proceed to the city of the Asuras
amidst their tumultuous
violence, and rouse the Daitya prince as the
sunshine raises the
drooping lotus; and I shall bring the people
to order and union, as the
rainy season collects the fleeting clouds on
the summits of mountains.
CHAPTER XXXIX.—Admonitions of Hari To Prahlāda.
Argument. Hari enters into the Daitya city,
blows his
conch-shell, and directs Prahlāda to reign
and rule over his
realm.
Vasishtha continued:—Thinking thus within
himself, Hari started from
his abode in the Milky Ocean with his
companions, and moved like the
immovable Mandara mountain with all its
accompaniments.
2. He entered the city of Prahlāda resembling
the metropolis of Indra,
by a subterranean passage lying under the
waters of the deep. (This
passage, says the gloss, leads to the sweta dvīpa or white island of
Albion—Britain; but literally it means the
underground passage of
waters).
3. He found here the prince of the Asuras, sitting
under a golden dome
in his hypnotic trance, like Brahmā sitting
in his meditative mood in a
cavern of the Sumeru mountain. (This shows
Brahmā the progenitor of
mankind or of the Aryan Brahmanic race, to
have been a mountaineer of
the Altai or N. polar ranges, called Sumeru contra Kumeru—the S.
pole).
4. There the Daityas being tinged in their
bodies, by the bright rays of
Vishnu's person, fled far away from him, like
a flock of owls from the
bright beams of the rising sun. (The Daityas
are night rovers or nisa
charas, and cannot maintain their ground at sun rise).
5. Hari then being accompanied by two or
three Daitya chiefs entered the
apartment of Prahlāda, as the bright moon
enters the pavilion of the sky
at eve, in company with two or three stars
beside her. (Moon in Sanskrit
is the male consort of the stars, and called Tarā-pati).
6. There seated on his eagle and fanned with
the flapper of Lakshmī, and
armed with his weapons, and beset by the
saints hymning his praise:—
7. He said, O great soul! rise from thy
trance; and then blew his
pānchajanya shell, which resounded to the vault of
heaven.
8. The loud peal of the Conch, blown by the
breath of Vishnu, roared at
once like the clouds of the sky, and the
waves of the great deluge with
redoubled force.
9. Terrified at the sound, the Daityas fell
flat and fainting on the
ground; as when the flocks of swans and
geese, are stunned at the
thundering noise of clouds.
10. But the party of Vaishnavas, rejoiced at
the sound without the least
fear; and they flushed with joy like the Kurchi flowers, blooming at
the sound of the clouds. (Kurchi buds are
said to blossom in the rains).
11. The lord of the Dānavas, was slowly
roused from his sleep; in the
manner of the kadamba flowers, opening their
florets by degrees at the
intervals of rain.
12. It was by an act of the excretion of his
breathing, that he brought
down his vital breath, which was confined in the
vertical membrane of
the cranium; in the manner that the stream of
Ganges gushes out from the
high-hill, and mixes and flows with the whole
body of waters into the
ocean. (So it is with our inspiration and
respiration, which carry up
and down our vital breath, to and from the
sensory of the brain).
13. In a moment the vital breath circulated
through the whole body of
Prahlāda; as the solar beams spread over the
whole world soon after they
emanate from the solar disk at sun rise.
14. The vital breath, having then entered
into the cells of the nine
organs of sense; his mind became susceptible
of sensations, received
through the organs of the body like
reflexions in a mirror.
15. The intellect desiring to know the
objects, and relying in the
reflexions of the senses, takes the name of
the mind; as the reflexion
of the face in the mirror, refracts itself
again to the visual organ.
16. The mind having thus opened or developed
itself, his eyelids were
about to open of themselves; like the petals
of the blue lotus, opening
by degrees in the morning.
17. The breathings then, by conveying the
sensations to the body,
through the veins and arteries, give it the
power of motion; as the
current breeze moves the lotuses.
18. The same vital breath, strengthened the
powers of his mind in a
short time; as the billows of a river, become
more powerful when it is
full of water.
19. At last his eyes being opened, his body
shone forth with vivacity,
by its mental and vital powers; as the lake
blushes with blooming
lotuses at the sun's rising above the
horizon.
20. At this instant, the lord bade him awake
instantly at his word; and
he rose as the peacock is awakened, at the
roar of a cloud.
21. Finding his eyes shining with lustre, and
his mind strong with its
past remembrance; the lord of the three
worlds, spoke to him in the
manner, as he had formerly addressed the
lotus-born Brahmā himself.
22. O holy youth! remember your large
(dominions), and bring to your
mind your youthful form and figure; then
think and ponder, why you
causelessly transform yourself to this torpid
state.
23. You who have no good to desire nor any
evil to shun, and look on
want and plenty in the same light; you must
know that what is destined
by God, is all for your good.
25. You shall have to live here, in the
living liberated state of your
mind, and in full possession of your
dominions, for a kalpa period; and
shall have to pass your time with this body
of yours, and without any
anxiety or earthly trouble whatever.
26. The body being decayed by this time, you
shall have still to abide
with your greatness of soul to the end; till
the body being broken down
like an earthen vessel, the vital life like
the contained air of the
pot, come to mix with the common air of
vacuum.
27. Your body which is liberated in its life
time, is to endure in its
purity to the end of the kalpa, and will
witness generations passing
before it without any diminution of itself.
28. The end of the kalpa or doomsday, is yet
too far when the twelve
suns will shine together; the rocks will melt
away, and the world will
be burnt down to ashes. Why then do you waste
away your body even now?
29. Now the winds are not raging with fury,
nor is the world grey with
age and covered with ashes over it. The marks
on the foreheads of the
immortals are still uneffaced, why then waste
your body before its time?
30. The lightnings of the deluging clouds, do
not now flash nor fall
down like asoka flowers, why then do you
vainly waste your precious body
so prematurely?
31. The skies do not pour out their showers
of rain-water on earth, so
as to overflood the mountain tops, nor do
they burst out in fire and
burn them down to ashes; why then do you
waste away your body in vain?
32. The old world is not yet dissolved into
vapour, nor fused to fumes
and smoke; neither are the deities all
extinct, after leaving Brahmā,
Vishnu and Siva to survive them; why then do
you waste yourself in vain?
(If they are all alive, you should learn to
live also).
33. The earth on all sides is yet so
submerged under the water, as to
present the sight of the high mountains only
on it, why then waste you
away your body in vain (before the last doom
and deluge of the earth?).
34. The sun yet does not dart his fiery rays,
with such fury in the sky,
as to split the mountains with hideous
cracks; nor do the diluvian
clouds rattle and crackle in the midway sky;
(to presage the last day,
why then in vain waste you your body, that is
not foreboded to die?).
35. I wander everywhere on my vehicle of the
eagle, and take care of all
animal beings lest they die before their
time, and do not therefore like
your negligence of yourself.
36. Here are we and there the hills, these
are other beings and that is
yourself; this is the earth and that the sky,
all these are separate
entities and must last of themselves; why
then should you neglect your
body, and do not live like the living?
37. The man whose mind is deluded by gross
ignorance, and one who is the
mark of afflictions, is verily led to hail
his death. (So the Smriti
says:—Very sick and corpulent men have their
release in death).
38. Death is welcome to him, who is too weak
and too poor and grossly
ignorant; and who is always troubled by such
and similar thoughts in his
mind. (The disturbed mind is death and hell
in itself).
39. Death is welcomed by him, whose mind is
enchained in the trap of
greedy desires and thrills between its hopes
and fears; and who is
hurried and carried about in quest of greed,
and is always restless
within himself.
40. He whose heart is parched by the thirst
of greed, and whose better
thoughts are choked by it, as the sprouts of
corn are destroyed by
worms; is the person that welcomes his death
at all times.
41. He who lets the creeping passions of his
heart, grow as big as palm
trees, to overshadow the forest of his mind,
and bear the fruits of
continued pain and pleasure, is the man who
hails his death at all
times.
42. He whose mind is festered by the weeds of
cares, growing as rank as
his hair on the body; and who is subject to
the incessant evils of life,
is the man that welcomes death for his
relief.
43. He whose body is burning under the fire
of diseases, and whose limbs
are slackened by age and weakness, is the man
to whom death is a remedy,
and who resorts to its aid for relief.
44. He who is tormented by his ardent desires
and raging anger, as by
the poison of snake biting, is as a withered
tree, and invites instant
death for his release.
45. It is the soul's quitting the body that
is called death; and this is
unknown to the spiritualist, who is quite
indifferent about the entity
and nonentity of the body.
46. Life is a blessing to him, whose thoughts
do not rove beyond the
confines of himself; and to the wise man also
who knows and investigates
into the true nature of things.
47. Life is a blessing to him also, who is
not given to his egotism, and
whose understanding is not darkened by
untruth, and who preserves his
evenness in all conditions of life.
48. His life is a blessing to him, who has
the inward satisfaction and
coolness of his understanding, and is free
from passions and enmity; and
looks on the world as a mere witness, and
having his concern with
nothing.
49. He is blest in his life, who has the
knowledge of whatever is
desirable or detestable to him, and lives
aloof from both; with all his
thoughts and feelings confined within
himself; (literally, within his
own heart and mind).
50. His life is blest, who views all gross
things in the light of
nothing, and whose heart and mind are
absorbed in his silent and
conscious soul. (I.e. who witnesses and watches the emotions and
motions of his heart and mind).
51. Blessed is his life, who having his sight
represses it from viewing
the affairs of the world, as if they are
entirely unworthy of him.
52. His life is blessed, who neither rejoices
nor grieves at what is
desirable or disadvantageous to him; but has
his contentment in every
state of his life whether favourable or not.
53. He who is pure in his life, and keeps
company with pure-minded men;
who spreads the purity of his conduct all
about, and shuns the society
of the impure; is as graceful to behold, as
the hoary swan with its snow
white wings, in the company of the fair fowls
of the silvery lake.
54. Blessed is his life, whose sight and
remembrance, and the mention of
whose name, give delight to all persons.
55. Know the life of that man, O lord of
demons, to be truly happy,
whose lotus-like appearance is as delightsome
to the beelike eyes of
men, as the sight of the full moon is
delightful to the world.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to Brahmasri Sreemaan Vihari Lala Mitra ji for the
collection)
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