The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki
The only complete English translation is
by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891).
CHAPTER LXXIII.
NARADA'S RELATION OF SUCHI'S DEVOTION.
Argument. Description of Sūchī's austerities, and Indra's
Inquiry about them.
Vasishtha related:—Indra having learnt about
the austere devotion of
Karkatī, had the curiosity to know more of
her through Nārada, whom he
asked about the matter.
2. Indra said:—I know Sūchī to have acquired
her fiendish practice (of
blood sucking), by means of her devotion; but
who is this apish Karkatī
that is so greedy of her gain (of flesh and
bones).
3. Nārada replied:—It is Karkatī the
malevolent fiend, that became
Jīva Sūchī or colic pain of the living, and assumed the shape of an
iron needle as its support or fulcrum.
4. Having afterwards forsaken that prop, it
entered into the human body
as its landing place; and then it flew up to
the heart on the vehicle of
vital breath, and is seated in the car of the
current air in atmosphere.
(The resting place locus standi, point d'appui or powsto of the
diseases of life).
5. This colic of life—Jīva Sūchī, having entered into the bodies of
vicious lives, passes through the canals of their
entrails and the pores
of their flesh, fat and blood, and then
nestles as a bird in the
interior part.
6. It enters the intestines with the breath
of the air, and there
settles in the form of flatulent colic;
afterwards being seated at the
end of the nyagrodha artery, it forms the plethoric colic with fulness
of blood and inflammation.
7. It also enters the body through other
parts and organs, and receives
different names according to its situation;
and then feeds itself upon
their flesh and marrow (as the best food for
living beings).
8. Fastened to the knots of wreathed flowers
and stuck to the leafy
garlands, decorating the breasts and cheeks
of fond damsels, she steeps
enraptured with them, on the bosoms of their
loving spouses (i. e. the
menial needle is blessed in the company of
her mistress).
9. She flies to the bodies of birds in
wood-land retreats, which are
free from worldly sorrow and strife; and
flutters on the tops of flowers
of the Kalpa arbours of Paradise,
or rolls on beds of lotuses in the
lakes.
10. She flies over the high hills of the
gods, in the forms of
fluttering bees; and sips the honey drops,
perfumed with the fragrance
of the pollen of mandara flowers.
11. She devours in the form of vultures, the
entrails of the dead bodies
of warriors, through the notches made in
them, by blades of swords in
warfare.
12. She flies up and down in the pellucid and
glassy paths of the
firmament, and pierces through all the pores
and arteries or inlets into
the human body; as the inflated winds pass in
every creek and corner on
all sides.
13. As the universal vital air (prāna-vāyu),
runs in the heart of every
living being, in the form of the pulsation of
air; so does Sūchī
oscillate in every body, as it were her own
habitation.
14. As the intellectual powers are lodged in
every person, in the manner
of blazing lamps in them; so does she reside
and blaze as the mistress
of every body; answering her dwelling house.
15. She sparkles as the vital spark in the
particles of blood, and flows
as fluidity in liquid bodies; she rolls and
trolls in the bowels of
living beings, as whirlpools whirl about in
the bosom of the sea.
16. She rests in the milk white mass of
flesh, as Vishnu reclines on his
bed of the serpent Vāsuki; she tastes the
flavour of the blood of all
hearts, as the goddess (Kālī) drinks the
liquor of her goblet of wine.
17. She sucks the circulating red hot blood
of hearts, as the winds
absorb the internal and vivifying juice, from
the hearts of plants and
trees.
18. Now this living Sūchī, intending to
become a devotee, remains as
motionless as an immovable substance, and as
fixed and steady in her
mind.
19. The iron-hearted needle, being now
rarefied as the invisible air, is
traversing to all sides, on the swift wings
of winds resembling its
riding horses.
20. It goes on feeding on the flesh and
drinking the blood of all living
beings; and carrying on its various acts of
giving and receiving, and
dancing and singing all along.
21. Though the incorporeal Sūchī has become aeriform and invisible as
vacuum, yet there is nothing which she is
unable to accomplish by the
powers of her mind, outstripping the
swiftness of the winds.
22. But though she runs mad with her meat,
and turns about giddy with
her drink; yet she is curbed by fate, like an
elephant in chains from
running at random.
23. The living body like a running stream,
moves apace with billows in
its course; and the painful and destructive
diseases under which it
labours, are as greedy sharks lying hid underneath.
24. This frail body like the formless Sūchī,
being disabled by infirmity
to gorge its fleshy food, begins to lament
its fate, like old and sickly
rich folks, for their want of hunger and
appetite.
25. The body with its members, moves about
like the beasts of the forest
(for their prey); and it plays its parts like
an actress in the stage,
with goodly apparel and ornaments on her
person.
26. The body is moved to and fro by its
internal and external winds, and
its natural weakness (immobility), is always
in need of being moved by
the vital airs, as the immovable fragrance
requires to be wafted by the
breeze.
27. Men in vain rely on mantras and
medicines, on austerities and
charities, and on the adoration of idols for
relief; while their bodies
are subject to diseases like the sea to its
surges.
28. The unseen force of mobility, is soon
lost in the solid body, as the
light of the lamp is lost in darkness. So the
living Sūchī came to be
lost in the iron needle, in which she had her
rest (i. e. the living
body is lost and transformed to a spirit,
wherein it finds its rest
after death).
29. Every one aspires to a state according to
his natural propensity; as
the inclination of the Rākshasī led her to
choose the needleship upon
herself.
30. A man being tired by travelling far and
wide, returns at last to
take his rest at home; so the big and living
Sūchī turned to the form of
the thin iron Sūchī to execute her repose; but like ignorant people,
who prefer the grosser pleasure of the body
to the nicer delights of the
soul; she still panted for her grosser enjoyments,
that were now lost to
her.
31. With the intention of satisfying her
thirst, she travelled to all
parts and quarters (in her form of the poor
needle); but derived more of
the mental pleasure of experience, than the
satisfaction of her
corporeal appetites.
32. When the container is in existence, it is
possible to fill it with
its contents and not otherwise; so one having
his body, can seek and get
every pleasurable object to give it delight.
33. Remembering now the past enjoyments of
her former body, she became
sorrowful in her mind, that was so highly
pleased and satisfied with
filling its belly before.
34. She was then resolved to betake herself
to austere devotion, for the
purpose of recovering her former body; and
with this object in view, she
chose for herself the proper situation for
her castigations.
35. The living soul of Sūchī, thought of
entering into the heart of a
young vulture flying in the air; and thus
soared to it and rested
herself in the air like that bird, by the
help of her vital breath (i.
e. the greedy spirit was turned to the form of a hungry
vulture to
shriek and seek for carrion).
36. The vulture being thus filled with the
malevolent spirit of the
choleric Sūchī in itself, began to think of
executing the purposes that
Sūchī had in her mind.
37. Thus the vulture bearing the insatiate
Sūchī within its body, flew
to its intended spot on the mountain. It was
driven there like a cloud
by the wind, and it was in this place that
Sūchī was to be released from
her needleship.
38. It sat there on a spot of the solitary
forest in its state of
asceticism, seeming to be freed from all
desires of the world.
39. It stood there on one of its legs,
supported on the tip of its toe
and appeared as the statue of some deity,
consecrated on the top of the
mountain by some one in the form of Garuda.
40. There standing on one leg, supported on
an atom of dust; she
remained as the mountain peacock, that stands
on one leg with the head
raised to the sky.
41. The bird seeing the living Sūchī coming
out of his body, and
standing on the mountain as a statue, fled
away and disappeared from
that place.
42. Sūchī issued from the body of the bird,
in the manner of the spirit
coming out of it, and the intellect aspiring
to higher regions; and as
the particles of fragrance fly upon the wings
of winds, in order to meet
the breath of the nostrils to be borne into
the nose.
43. The vulture fled to his own place after
leaving Sūchī at that place,
like a porter disburthening himself of his
load; and found himself
relieved of his lickerish diseases on his
return.
44. Now the iron Sūchī, being seated in her
devotion, in the form of the
living Sūchī; appeared as graceful as a right
man engaged in the
performance of his proper duty.
45. And as the formless spirit is unable to
do anything, without a
formal support or instrument; so the living
Sūchī supported herself on
the tip of her toe, for performance of her
devotion.
46. The living Sūchī has sheathed the iron
needle (in her heart), as an
evil spirit (Pīsāchī) enwraps a Sinsapā tree;
and as the winds enfold
the particles of odor, which they bear away
in their bosom.
47. Thenceforwards, O Indra! has she betaken
herself to her protracted
devotion, and passed many years in the
solitary wilderness in her steady
position and posture of body.
48. It now behoves you, O Indra! that art
skilled in stratagems, to
devise some plan, in order to delude her from
her object, or else her
devotion will destroy the people, you have so
long preserved.
49. Vasishtha said:—Indra having heard these
words of Nārada, sent
Maruta (Eolus) the god of winds to her
search, in all quarters of the
globe.
50. The god Maruta then proceeded in quest of
her, in his spiritual form
of intelligence; and having traversed the
etherial regions, alighted
upon the nether world. The winds and all
other elemental and physical
powers, are believed to be endued with
intelligence also; and not as
mere brute forces, on account of the regular
discharge of their proper
functions, which they could never do without
intelligence.
(Hence the imagination and adoration of the
Marutgana in the elemental
worship of the Veda).
51. He beheld everything instantly at a
glance of his intelligence;
which perceived all things at one view; as
the sight of the Supreme
Spirit sees through all bodies without exception
or hindrance (i. e.
the sight of the spirit like its breath, sees
through and supports all
things).
52. His sight stretched to the Lokāloka
mountain in the polar circle,
far beyond the seven seas of the earth, where
there is a large tract of
land abounding with gems. (It is doubtful
whether the polar mountain or
sea abounds with gems).
53. He viewed the circle of the Pushkara
continent, surrounded by a sea
of sweet water; and containing mountains with
their dales and valleys.
54. He next saw the Gomeda islands,
surrounded by the sea of liquor with
its marine animals; and the land abounding
with cities and towns.
55. He beheld also the fertile and peaceful
continent of Kraunchadwīpa,
bounded by the sweet Saccharine sea, and
beset by a range of mountains.
56. Further on was the Swetadvīpa (Albion island), with its subsidiary
isles surrounded by the Milky (Atlantic)
ocean, and having the temple of
Vishnu in the midst of it (meaning perhaps
the ancient Kelts to be
colony of the Hindus).
57. After that appeared the sea of butter,
surrounding the Kushadwīpa
island; and having chains of mountains and
cities with buildings in
them. (Butter milk &c., are fictitious
name and not this really).
58. Then came the Sākadwīpa in view amidst
the ocean of curds,
containing many countries and many large and
populous cities in them.
(The sākadwīpa is said to be Scythia or
the land of the saccae or
sakas).
59. Last appeared the Jambudwīpa girt by the
sea of salt, having the
Meru and other boundary mountains, and many
countries in it. (This is
Asia stretching to the polar mountains on the
north and south).
60. Thus the intelligence of air (Marut),
having alighted on earth upon
the wings of winds, spread himself afterwards
to its utmost ends with
rapidity (or spread himself rapidly to its
utmost limits afterwards).
61. The god of air then directed his course
to Jambudwīpa (Asia), and
having arrived there, he made his way to the
summit of the snowy
mountain. (Himālaya,
where Sūchī was performing her devotion).
62. He saw a great desert on the highest top
of the summit, which was as
extensive as the expanse of the sky, and
devoid both of living creatures
and the vestiges of animal bodies (i. e. there were neither any living
being not fossil remains to be found on the
mountain peak).
63. It was unproductive of greens or grass
owing to its nighness to the
sun; and was covered over with dust, like
that composing this earth.
64. There spread a wide ocean of the mirage
to excite the thirst, like
the lucid waters of a river; and allure the
longings of men by its
various hues, resembling the variegated
colours of rain-bow.
65. Its wide expanse reaching almost to
infinity, was unmeasurable even
by the regents of the quarters of heaven, and
the gusts of wind, blowing
upon it, served only to cover it with a
canopy of dust.
66. It resembled a wanton woman, besmeared
with red powder as the
sunbeams, and sandal paste like the
moonbeams; and attentive to the
whistlings of the breeze. (Thinking them to
be hissings of men).
67. The god of the winds having travelled all
over the seven continents
and their seas, and being tired with his long
journey on the surface of
the earth; rested his gigantic body which
fills the infinite space in
all directions, on the top of that mountain;
like a butterfly resting on
the twig of a tree, after its wearied flight
in the air.
CHAPTER LXXIV.
CONSUMMATION OF SﾚCHﾍ'S DEVOTION.
Argument. Return of the god of winds to the
Indra, and his
narration of the Devotion of Sūchī and her
desired Boon.
The god of the winds beheld Sūchī standing
erect, like a crest on the
summit of the mountain, amidst that vast
tract of the desert all around.
2. She stood upon one leg fixed in her
meditation and roasted by the
burning sun over her head; she was dried up
to a skeleton by her
continued fasting, and her belly was
contracted to the shrunken skin
(i. e. she was threadbare as skin in all her body and belly).
3. Now and then, she inhaled the hot air with
her open mouth, and then
breathed it out, as her heart could not
contain the repeated influx of
air. (Respiration of air is practised by
Yogis, to sustain their lives
therewith for want of solid food).
4. She was withered under the scorching
sunbeams, and battered in her
frame by the hotter winds of the desert; yet
she moved not from her
stand-point, as she was relieved every night
by the cold bath of
moonbeams.
5. She was content with covering her head
under the particles of dust,
and did not like to change her state for a
better fortune (i. e. she
preferred her poverty to high dignity).
6. She gave up the possession of her forest
to other living beings, and
lived apart from all in the form of a crest
of hair. Her breathings
being withdrawn to the cranium, appeared out
of it as a tuft of hairs or
bushes clapped on her head. (Air confined in
the cranium, is said to
keep the body alive for ages).
7. The god of air was astonished to see Sūchī
in this state; he bowed
down to her and was struck with terror as he
beheld her more earnestly.
(The countenance of the holy is awful to the
sight of the unholy).
8. He was so overawed by the blaze of her
person, that he durst not ask
her anything, such as:—"O saintly Sūchī!
why dost thou undertake
thyself to these austerities"?
9. He only exclaimed, O holy Sūchī, how
wondrous is this sight of thy
devotion! Impressed with veneration for her
holiness, the god made his
departure to heaven whence he came.
10. He passed the region of the clouds, and
reached the sphere of the
still air (sthīra vāyu); and then leaving the
realm of the Siddhas
behind him, he arrived to the path of the
sun—the ecliptic.
11. Then rising higher in his airy car, he
got into the city of Indra,
where he was cordially embraced by the lord
of gods, for the merit of
his sight of Sūchī. (Visit to sacred persons
and holy shrines, is
believed to impart a share of holiness to the
visitant).
12. Being asked what he saw, he related all
that he had seen, before the
assembled gods in the synod of Sakra or
Indra.
13. Pavana said:—There is the King of
mountains the high Himalaya,
situate in the midst of Jambudwīpa (in Asia); who has the lord Siva,
that bears the crescent of the moon on his
forehead, for his son-in-law.
14. On the north of it, is a great peak with
a plain land above it,
where the holy Sūchī holds her hermitage, and
performs her rigorous
devotion.
15. What more shall I relate of her, than
that she has abstained herself
even of her sustenance of air, and has made a
mess of her entrails
coiled up together.
16. She has contracted the opening of her
mouth to a needle hole, and
stopped even that with a particle of dust, in
order to restrain it even
from the reception of a cold dewdrop for its
food.
17. The fervour of her devotion, has made the
snowy mountain to forsake
its coldness; and assume an igneous form
which it is difficult to
approach. (The blaze of holiness is said to
set mountains on fire, as
the presence of the Holy spirit set the
sacred mount of Sinai on flame).
18. Therefore let all of us rise and repair
soon to the great father of
creatures for redress; or know this fervent
devotion of hers must prove
to our disadvantage in its result.
19. Hearing these words pronounced by Pavana,
the lord Indra in company
with the other gods, proceeded to the abode
of Brahmā, and prayed unto
him for their safety.
20. Brahmā answered:—"I am going even
now to the summit of the snowy
Himālaya, to confer to Sūchī her desired boon."
Upon this assurance of
Brahmā, the gods all returned to their
celestial abodes.
21. During this time Sūchī became perfect in
her holiness, and began to
glow with the fervour of her devotion on the
mountain of the immortals.
22. Sūchī perceived very clearly the
revolution of the time (of her
castigation), by fixing her open eyes on the
sun, and by counting the
days by the rays of solar light penetrating
the opening of her
mouth:—the needle hole.
23. Sūchī though flexible as a bit of thread,
had yet attained the
firmness of the mountain Meru, by her erect
posture.
24. She beheld by the ray of sun light, which
penetrated the eye of the
needle, that the shadowy attendant upon her
erect posture, was the only
witness of her upright devotion.
25. The shadow of Sūchī which was the only
attendant on her devotion,
hid herself under her feet for fear of the
midday heat, so do people in
difficulty find their best friends forsake
their company in times of
adversity.
26. The union of the three persons of the
iron, the ascetic and shadowy
Sūchī, like the meeting of the three rivers
(Asi, Varanā and Gangā from
three sides), described a triangle in the
form of the sacred city of
Benares (or a delta of Gangā
or the triune divinity).
27. This union of the three, like the
confluence of three rivers of a
Trivenī (as Gangā,
Yamuna and Sarasvatī), purifies the sins of men by
the three different hues of their waters, viz. the blue, black and
white.
28. A person becomes acquainted with the
unknown cause of all, only by
suchana or reasoning in his own mind; and by means of his
self-consciousness (of the truth or untruth
of a thing). It is the
cogitation of one's own mind that is best
guide in all things or else, O
Rāma! there is no other better preceptor for
men.
CHAPTER LXXV.
SﾚCHﾍ'S REGAINING HER FORMER FRAME.
Argument. Brahmā's appearance, admonition and
blessing to
Sūchī and her resuscitation to life.
Vasishtha continued:—After the lapse of a
thousand years of long and
painful devotion, the great father of
creation (Brahmā), appeared to her
under his pavilion of the sky, and bade her
accept the preferred boon.
2. Sūchī who was absorbed in her devotion,
and her vital principle of
life, remaining dormant in her, wanted the
external organs of sense (to
give utterance to her prayer), and remained
only to cogitate upon the
choice she should make.
3. She said to herself: "I am now a
perfect being, and am delivered from
my doubts; what blessing therefore is it,
that I have need of asking
(either for myself or others), beyond this
state of beatitude; which I
already possess in my peace and tranquillity,
and the bliss of
contentment and self-resignation.
4. I have got the knowledge of all that is to
be known, and am set free
from the web of errors; my rationality is
developed, and what more is
requisite to a perfect and rational being?
5. Let me remain seated as I am in my present
state, I am in the light
of truth; and quite removed from the darkness
of untruth; what else is
there for me to ask or accept?
6. I have passed a long period in my
unreasonableness, and was carried
away like a child, by the demon of the evil
genius of earthly desires.
(As a child wants to have everything he sees,
not knowing whether it is
good or bad for him to have it).
7. This desire is now brought under
subjection by my power of
ratiocination, and of what avail are all the
objects of my desire to my
soul?" (There is nothing of any good to
the soul, for nothing temporal
is of any spiritual good).
8. The lord of creatures kept looking on Sūchī
sitting with her mind
fixed in her silent meditation, and resigned
to her destiny; and quite
abstracted from all external sensations, and
the use of her bodily
organs.
9. Brahmā with the kindness of his heart,
again accosted the apathetic
dame, and said unto her: "Receive thy
desired blessing, and live to
enjoy for sometime longer on earth".
10. Then having enjoyed the joys of life,
thou shalt attain the blissful
state from which thou shalt have no more to
return here, and this is the
fixed decree destined for all living beings
on earth.
11. Be thy desire crowned with success, by
merit of this devotion of
thine, O best of the womankind! Resume thy
former corpulence, and remain
as a Rakshasī in this mountain forest.
12. Regain thy cloud-like shape whereof thou
art deprived at present,
and revive as a sprout from thy pinnate root,
to become like a big tree
growing out of its small root and little
seed.
13. Thou shalt get an inward supply of serum
from thy pinnate tendon, as
a plant gets its sap from the seeded grain;
and the circulation of that
juice will cause thy growth like that of a
germ from the ingrained seed.
14. Thy knowledge of truth has no fear of
following into the
difficulties of the world; while on the
contrary, the righteousness of
thy soul will lead thee like a huge cloud,
that is heavy, with its pure
water high in the heaven, notwithstanding the
blasting gusts of wind
(i. e. the pure and contrite spirit goes on its wonted course,
in
spite of the tribulations of the world).
15. If by thy constant practice of Yoga
meditation, thou hast accustomed
thyself to a state of habitation (death like
Samādhi), for thy
intellectual delight, and hast thereby become
assimilated to the
anaesthesia of thy meditation (to the state of a stock and stone).
16. But thy meditativeness must be compatible
with thy worldly affairs,
and the body like the breeze, is nourished
best by its constant
agitation (i. e. meditation must be joined with utility, and the body
with its activity).
17. Therefore my daughter! thou dost act
contrary to nature, by
withstanding the action which thy nature
requires; nor can there be any
objection to thy slaughter of animal life
under proper bounds. (Because
the carnivorous are made to live upon flesh,
as the omnivorous man upon
all kinds of food).
18. Act therefore within the bounds of
justice, and refrain from all
acts of injustice in the world; and stick
steadfastly to reason, if thou
shouldst like to live liberated in this life.
(Justice is the source of
liberty, but injustice leads to bondage).
19. Saying so far, the god disappeared from
below to his heavenly
sphere, when Sūchī said to him "be it so
and I have nothing to oppose to
this". Then thinking in her mind, that
she had no cause to be
dissatisfied with the decree of the
lotus-born Brahmā, found herself
immediately in possession of her former body.
20. She came to be of the measure of a span
at first, and then of a
cubit; and next a full fathom in length; and
increasing fastly in her
height, she grew up as a tree; till at last
she was of the form of a
cloud. She had all the members of the body
added to her instantly, in
the manner of the growth of the arbour of
human desire. (Our growing
desires and their increase, are compared with
the growth and
ramifications and fructification of trees).
21. From the fibrous form of Sūchī (the
needle), which was without form
or feature, body, blood, bones, flesh or
strength, there grew up all the
parts and limbs at once. Just so the fancied
garden of our desire,
springs up on a sudden with all its verdant
foliage and fruits and
flowers from their hidden state.
CHAPTER LXXVI.
REFRAINING FROM UNLAWFUL FOOD.
Argument. Advice of the god of winds to
Karkatī; and her
resort to the Abode of Kirāta—flesh eaters.
Vasishtha continued:—Sūchī the needle now
became the fiend Karkatī
again; and her leanness turned to bulkiness,
in the manner of a flimsy
cloud; assuming a gigantic form in the rainy
season.
2. Now returning to her natal air and
element, she felt some joy in
herself; but renounced her fiendish nature by
the knowledge she had
gained; as a snake throws off its old slough.
(She was regenerated to a
new life in the very same body).
3. There seated in her lotiform posture, she continued to reflect on
her future course; and relying on the purity
of her new life and faith,
she remained fixed as a mountain peak.
(Unmoved by the stormy
temptations of the world).
4. After six months of her continued
meditation, she got the knowledge
of what she sought; as the roaring of clouds
rouses the peacock, to the
sense of an approaching rain.
5. Being roused to her sense, she felt the
pains of her thirst and
hunger; because the nature of the body never
forsakes its appetites as
long as it lasts in the same state. (There
cannot be a thorough change
of innate nature in the same person).
6. She was sorrowful at last, not to find out
what food she should take
to herself; because she thought the killing
of animal life for food, was
unlawful and repugnant to her nature.
7. The food forbidden by the respectable and
got by unjust means, must
be rejected even at the expense of one's
valuable life. (Respectable men
abhor the flesh of unclean animals and
forbidden meat).
8. If my body, said she, should perish for
want of lawful food, I do not
transgress the law in that; but the guilt
lies in my taking of unlawful
food; for the sustenance of my life. (Hence
no man is guilty of his
legal gain and lawful food).
9. Whatever is not obtained according to the
customary rules of society,
is not worth taking; and if I should die
without my proper food, or live
upon improper fare, it amounts to the same
thing whether I live or die:
(because unrighteous living is moral death).
10. I was only the mind before, to which the
body is added as a base
appendage. It vanishes upon the knowledge of
self; hence its care and
neglect are both alike. (The soul forming our
true essence, must be
preserved pure in expense of the impure
body).
11. Vasishtha resumed:—As she was uttering
these words, in silence to
herself, she heard a voice in the air, coming
from the god of winds, who
was pleased at the renunciation of her
fiendish disposition.
12. "Arise Karkatī", it said,
"and go to the ignorant and enlighten them
with the knowledge thou hast gained; for it
is the nature of the good
and great, to deliver the ignorant from their
error.
13. Whosoever will not receive this knowledge
(of lawful food), when it
is imparted to him by thee, make him verily
the object of thy derision,
and take him as being a right meat and proper
food for thee."
14. On hearing these words she responded,
"I am much favoured by thee,
kind god!"; and so saying, she got up
and descended slowly from the
height of the craggy mountain.
15. Having passed the heights, she came to
the valley at the foot of the
mountain; and thence proceeded to the
habitation of the Kirāta people,
who inhabit the skirts at the bottom of the
hills.
16. She saw those places abounding in
provisions of all sorts; such as
human kind and their cattle with their fodder
and grass. There were
vegetable as well as animal food, with
various kinds of roots and
plants. There were eatables and drinkables
also, with the flesh of deer
and fowls, and even of reptiles and insects.
17. The nocturnal fiend then walked her way,
under the shade of the deep
darkness of night, towards the habitation at
the foot of Himālaya, in
her form of the sable mount of Anjanāgiri
(unperceived by the
inhabitants).
CHAPTER LXXVII.
DELIBERATION OF KARKATﾍ.
Argument. Description of the dark night. The
Rākshasī's
meeting a rāja and his minister. Her trial of
and
argumentation with them.
Vasishtha resumed:—It was a deep dark night,
black as ink and as thick
as tangible pitch; hiding the habitation of
the Kirātas under its
nigrescent umbrage. (Kirātas are the present
Kirāntis of the Himālayas,
and the ancient Kerrhoides of Ptolemy).
2. The sky was moonless, and overcast by a
veil of sable clouds; the
woodlands were obscured by tamāla trees, and
thick masses of black
clouds were flying about in the air.
3. The thick furze and bushes besetting the
hilly villages, obstructed
the passages by their impervious darkness,
and the flitting light of
fireflies gave the homesteads an appearance
of the bridal night.
4. The thick darkness spreading over the
compounds of houses, shut out
the passage of the light of lamps, which made
their way of or from the
chinks of the dwelling in which they were
burning.
5. Karkatī beheld a band of Pisāchis, dancing
about her as her
companions; but she became motionless as a
block of wood, on seeing the
giddy Vetālas, moving about with human
skeletons in their hands.
6. She saw the sleeping antelopes by her, and
the ground matted over by
the thick snow falls; while the drizzling
drops of dew and frost, were
gently shaken by the breeze on the leaves of
trees.
7. She heard the frogs croaking in the bogs,
and the night ravens cawing
from the hollows of trees; while the mingled
noise of jocund men and
women, were issuing from the inside of the
houses.
8. She saw the ignis fatuus burning in the swamps, with the lustre of
portentous meteors; and found the banks and
bournes, thick with thorns
and thistles, growing by their sides, and
washed by the waters gliding
below them.
9. She looked above and saw the groups of
stars shining in the
firmament, and beheld the forest about her
shaking their fruit and
flowers by the breeze.
10. She heard the alternate and incessant
cries of owls and crows in the
hollows of trees; and listened also the
shouts of robbers in the skirts,
and the wailings of the villagers at a
distance.
11. The foresters were silent in their native
woods, and the citizens
were fast asleep in the cities; the winds
were howling in the forests,
and the birds were at rest in their sylvan
nests.
12. Furious lions lay in their dens; and the
deer were lying in their
caves also. The sky was full of hoarfrost,
and the woodlands were all
still and quiet.
13. The lightnings flashing from amidst the
dark inky clouds, resembled
the reflexions of ray from the bosom of a
crystal mountain. The clouds
were as thick as solid clay, and the darkness
was as stiff as it
required to be severed by a sword.
14. Blown by the storm, the dark cloud fled
like the sable Anjanā
mountain in the air, and it deluged a flood
of pitchy rain, like a
water-fall from the bosom of a mountain.
15. The night was as dark as the pit of a
coal-mine, and as jet black as
the wing of the black bee—bhramara; and the whole landscape lulled to
sleep, appeared as the world lying submerged
under ignorance. (Sleep and
ignorance are twin brothers, and a reversion
of the comparison of
ignorance with sleep. Such reversed similes
are not uncommon in oriental
poetry, as that of the moon with the
beauteous face &c.).
16. In this dreadful dead of night, she saw
in the district inhabited by
Kirātas, a prince and his minister, wandering
together in the forest.
17. The prince was named Vikrama, and was as
brave and valorous as his
name and conduct implied him to be. He came
out undaunted from within
the city, after the citizens had fallen
fast-asleep.
18. Karkatī beheld them roving in the forest
with the weapons of their
valour and fortitude, and searching the
Vetālas infesting the
neighbourhood.
19. Seeing them, she was glad to think that
she had at last got her
proper food; but wanted to know beforehand,
whether they were ignorant
folks or had any knowledge of their souls, or
whether their weariness
under the burthen of their bodies, had
exposed them to the dangers of
the darksome night.
20. The lives of the unlearned (said she),
are verily for their
perdition in this world and the next; it is
therefore meet to put an end
to these, rather than leave them to live to
their peril in both worlds.
(The earlier the ignorant die, the sooner do
they rid themselves of
their miseries and responsibilities).
21. The life of the untutored is death,
without spiritual knowledge, and
physical death is preferable; in as much as
it saves the dying soul from
its accumulation of sin. (Living in the
sinful world is sin, unless it
is averted by spiritual knowledge).
22. It is the primeval law ordained by our
prime father—the lotus-born
Brahmā, that ignorant souls and those without
knowledge of their selves,
should become the food of the heinous (i. e. of voracious and envious
animals, which devour the body and not the
soul).
23. Therefore there is no harm in my feeding
upon these two persons, who
have offered themselves for my food; because
it is silliness to let
slip, a ready prize or proffered gift from
the hand. (A bird in the hand
is worth two in the bush. Or a self-given
gift is not to be lost).
24. But lest they should prove to be men of
parts and good and great
souls, I cannot in that case feel disposed of
my own nature, to put an
end to their valuable lives.
25. I must therefore make a trial of them,
and see if they are possessed
of such parts; that I may decline from making
my mess of them, because I
feel averse to molest the intelligent.
26. For those that expect to have true glory
and real happiness, with
the length of their lives on earth; must
always honour the learned with
honorariums, adequate to their parts and
desires.
27. I should rather suffer my body to perish
with hunger, than destroy
the intelligent for its supportance; because
the soul derives more
satisfaction from the counsels of the wise,
than bare life without
knowledge, can possibly afford.
28. The learned are to be supported even at
the expense of one's own
life; because the society of the wise affords
a physic to the soul
(psyches iatrion), though death should deprive us of our bodies (for
it ameliorates even the pangs of death).
29. Seeing me a man-eater Rākshasī, so
favorably disposed to the
preservation of the wise; what reasonable man
is there, that must not
make a breast-plate of the wise for himself (i. e. the wise are
ornaments to human beings however inhumane
they may be to others of
their fellow creatures. Hence the most cruel
tyrants were the greatest
supporters of learning).
30. Of all embodied beings, that move about
on the surface of the earth,
it is the man of profound understanding only,
who sheds his benign
influence like cooling moon-beams all around
him. (The light of
knowledge is compared with the gentle
moonbeams).
31. To be despised by the wise is death, and
to be honoured by the
learned is true life; because it is the
society of the sapient only,
that makes the life bring forth its fruits of
heavenly bliss and final
beatitude.
32. I will now put a few questions for their
examination, and know
whether they are men of parts, or gilded on
the surface with sapient
looks, like copper by a chemical process.
33. Upon examination and ascertainment of the
qualifications if they
prove to be wiser than the examiner; in that
case one should avail of
their instruction, or otherwise there is no
harm to make an end of them
as they best deserve.
CHAPTER LXXVIII.
Argument. The undaunted valour of the Prince,
the Rākshasī's
Questions and the Minister's solution of
them.
Vasishtha continued:—Afterwards the Rākshasī,
who was an offshoot of
the great garden of Rākshasa race, made a
loud and tremendous yell like
the deep roarings of a cloud.
2. After her deep roar she muttered in a
clattering voice, like the
rattling of a thunder clap following the
rumbling of clouds.
3. She said:—Ho, ho? what are ye, that
venture abroad in this dread and
dreary desert, dark as the great delusion of
Māyā, and which without the
light of the sun and moon, is as gloomy as
the gloom of ignorance. What
are ye crawling here for like insects bred in
stones?
4. What men of great minds are ye, to have
come here as the weak minded
aberrants that have lost their way? you have
become an easy prey to me,
and must meet your fate in my hands in a
moment.
5. The Prince replied:—O thou demon, what art
thou and where is thy
stand: If thou beest an embodied being, show
thyself unto us, or who is
to be terrified by thy bodiless form buzzing
like a bee?
6. It is the business of the brave to pounce
at once like a lion upon
his prey (and not to bark as a dog at a
distance). Therefore leave off
thy bragging and show us thy prowess at once.
7. Tell me what thou dost want of us, and
whether thou dost terrify us
by thy vain vauntings, or utterest these
words from thy own fear of us.
8. Now measure thy body according to thy
speech (i. e. let them
conform with one another,) and confront
thyself to us without delay;
because the dilatory gain no good, save the
loss of their time.
9. On hearing the prince's speech she thought
it was well said, and
immediately showed herself to them, uttering
her loud shout with a
grinning laughter.
10. The prince heard her voice to fill the
air, and resound in the
woods, and saw her huge and hideous person,
by the light of her open
mouth and ivory teeth, in the act of her loud
laughter.
11. Her body was as a huge cliff, hurled down
by the thunder bolt of the
last doomsday (when high mountains were rent
and thrown into the sea to
form their hidden rocks). The flashes of her
eyeballs blazed in the sky
like a pair of bangles or conch shells.
12. The darkness of her appearance, cast into
shade, the deep dark
waters of the deep at the universal deluge;
which hid the flame of the
submarine fire under them; and her voice was
as hoarse as the growling
of clouds on the high heads of hills.
13. Her statue was like that of a monumental
pillar standing between the
heaven and earth; while the gnashing of her
teeth struck the
night-rovers with the terror of being grinded
under them to death.
14. Her figure inspired like those of the
nocturnal goblins, yakshas,
Rakshas and Pisāchas, with the dread of dire
disaster, by its erect
hairs, muscular limbs, dingy eyes and coal
black colour of the body.
15. The air she breathed in the lungs, snored
as the horrible snorting
of the nostrils of horses; while the tip of
her nose was as big as a
mallet, and its sides as flat as a pair of
bellows or winnowing fans.
16. She stood with her jet black body like a
rock of dark agate, and
that joined with her loud laugh, gave her the
appearance of the all
subduing night of dissolution. (Kālarātri—the
night of universal doom,
is an attribute of Kālī—the goddess of
destruction).
17. Her bulky body resembling a thick cloudy
night, approached to them
like an autumnal cloud, moving in the forest
of the sky.
18. The huge body appeared as a demon rising
from underneath the ground,
and approaching to devour them as the eclipse
ingulfs the orbs of the
sun and moon.
19. Her ebon breasts were hanging down, like
two pendant clouds of
sombre sapphires, or more like the two
mortars or water pots, with her
necklaces hanging on them.
20. Her two arms were suspended to her bulky
body, like a couple of
stout branches to the sturdy oak, or like two
logs of burnt wood to her
coal like body.
21. Seeing her thus, the two valiant men
remained as steadfast, as those
standing on the firm ground of certainty, are
never led away by doubts.
22. The Minister said:—O great friend! what
causes this rage and fury
in thy great soul? It is the mean and base
only, that are ever violent
even in trifling matters.
23. Lay aside this great ado for nothing,
which does not become thee;
because the wise pursue their business with
coolness to crown it with
success.
24. Know the soft and slow breath of our
moderation, has driven away in
the air, swarms of such flies like thyself;
as the slight breath of the
wind scatters about the dry leaves and
straws.
25. Setting aside all hauteur and ardour of
spirit, the wise man
conducts his business with the calm coolness
of the mind, assisted by
reason and practical wisdom.
26. One must manage his affairs with
slowness, whether it prove
effectual or not; because the overruling
destiny has the disposal of all
events, which human ardour has no power to
prevent.
27. Now let us know thy desire and what is
thy object with us; because
no suitor of ours, has been refused of his
prayer, nor let to return in
disappointment.
28. Hearing these words, the Rākshasī
pondered in her mind and said:—O
the serene composure of these lion-like men
and the affability of their
conduct with others?
29. I do not think them to be men of the
ordinary kind, and the more
wonderful it is, that their inward soul is
exprest in the outward
gestures of their faces and eyes, and in the
tone and tenor of their
speech. (This is a truth of the Samudrika
science of physiognomy).
30. The words, the face and eyes, are
expressive of the inward thoughts
of the wise, and these go together like the
salt and water of the sea
(which are inseparable from one another. So
Chanakya).—[Sanskrit:
manasyekam vacasyekam karmanyekam mahātmanām
| manasyanyat vacasyanat
karmanyanyat dusātmanām ||] The mind, the
word and act of the wise all
agree. But those of fools disagree in all the
three.
31. My intention is already known to them, as
is theirs also to me: they
cannot be destroyed by me when they are
indestructible themselves by
their moral excellence. (So the Sāstra:—The
virtuous may endure or live
for ever—chiranjīvati dharmātmā.)
32. I understand them to be acquainted with
spiritual knowledge also,
without which there cannot be a good understanding.
Because it is the
knowledge of the indestructibility of the
spirit, that takes away the
fear of death which is wanting in these men.
33. I shall therefore ask them, about
something wherein I am doubtful;
because they that fail to ask the wise what
they know not, must remain
dunces throughout their lives.
34. Having thought so, she opened her mouth
to make her queries, by
suppressing her roaring voice and her loud
laughter for a while.
35. Tell me, O ye sinless men, that are so
brave and valiant, who you
are and whence ye come: because your very
sight has raised my regard for
you, as the good hearted become friends with
one another, even at their
first sight.
36. The minister said:—This is the king of
the Kirātas, and I his
councillor; we have come out tonight in our
nightly round, for
apprehending malicious beings like thyself.
37. It is the duty of princes to punish the
wicked, both by day and
night; for such as trespass the bounds of
their duty, must be made as
fuel to the fire of destruction.
38. The Rākshasī said:—Prince! thou hast a
good minister, but a bad
one unbecomes a prince; all good princes have
wise counsellors, and they
make the good prince.
39. The wise minister is the prince's guide
to justice, and it is he who
elevates both the prince and his people.
Justice is the first of the
four cardinal virtues (justice, temperance,
prudence and frugality), and
it is the only virtue of a ruler; who is
thence called the Dharma
avatāra or personification of justice.
40. But kings must have spiritual knowledge
also, because it is the
highest of human knowledge. The king having
this knowledge, becomes the
best of kings; and the minister who knows the
soul, can give the best
counsel for the guidance of other souls. (For
it is said:—Nāndhenaiva
nīyamāna yathāndhah; the blind cannot lead
the blind. So the Gospel: one
blind man cannot lead another).
41. It is the fellow feeling for others that
makes a ruler, whoever is
unacquainted with this rule, is not fit to be
either a ruler or his
minister. (The rule is: Rule others as ye
rule yourselves. Sadhi swātmā
vadanyān).
42. If ye know this polity, it is good and ye
shall prosper, or else ye
wrong yourselves and your subjects; in which
case ye must be made a prey
to me. (Because if you have no regard for
your own souls and those of
others, why should I have any regard for
yours?)
43. There is but one expedient for you two
lads, to escape from my
clutches; and it is by your solution of my
intricate questions;
according to your best wits and judgement.
(The queries are said to be
prasna pinjara or the cage or prison-house of dilemmas; in
which sense
the text should read vidārayasi for vichārayasi, to
mean that, if
you cannot break the knots, I will not stop
to break your necks).
44. Now do you, O prince and you his
counsellor, give me the solution of
the questions that I require of you. If you
fail to give the proper
answers as you have agreed to do, you must
then fall under my hands, as
any body that fails to keep his words. (The
breach of a promise was
punishable with death by the old Hindu law.
Hence the first question;
"Why am I obliged in keeping my
word" in Paley's Moral philosophy).
CHAPTER LXXIX.
INTERROGATORIES OF THE 'RﾁKSHASﾍ'.
Argument. Seventy questions of Karkatī, which
are hard for the
unlearned but too plain to the wise. They are
intricate for
their riddling nature to boys, but plain by
their double sense
to the learned.
Vasishtha continued:—After saying so, the
fiend began to put forth her
queries; and you should be attentive to them
Rāma, like the prince who
told her to go on.
2. The Rākshasī resumed:—What is that atomic
minim which is one yet
many, and as vast as the ocean, and which
contains innumerable worlds
like the bubbles of the sea? (It is a minim
for its minuteness, an
atom—owing to its imperceptibility, one—as
regards its unity, many—on
account of its attributes (upādhis), and vast
in respect to its
infinity, containing the passing worlds as
the evanescent bubbles of
water).
3. What is that thing which is a void yet
no-void, which is something
yet nothing? What is it that makes myself,
and thyself, and wherein do I
or thou dost abide and subside? (It is
nothing in appearance, but
something in our consciousness, and is both
the subjective and
objective).
4. What is it that moveth unmoved and
unmoving, and standeth without
stopping; what is it that is intelligent yet
as dull as a stone; and
what is it that presents its variety in the vacuity
of the
understanding? (Another text reads vyomni chitra krit, which means:
who paints the sky with variegated hues).
5. What is it that has the nature of fire
without its burning quality;
and what is that unigneous substance which
produces the fire and its
flame. (This passage refers to the glory and
light of God which shines
without burning).
6. Who is he that is not of the nature of the
ever-changing solar, lunar
and stellar lights, but is the neverchanging
enlightener of the sun,
moon and stars; and who is that being who
having no eyes, gives the eye
its sight?
7. Who is he that gives eyesight to the
eyeless vegetables, and the
blind mineral creation? (Whereby they
perceive the light of the
luminaries of heaven as the sunflower
moonflower—helioselini and
others).
8. Who is the maker of heavens, and who is
the author of the natures of
things; who is the source of this gemming
world, and whose treasure are
all the gems contained in it? (Man foolishly
owns them for a time, but
leaves at last to their true possessor and
maker).
9. What is that monad which shines in
darkness, and is that point which
is and is not; what is that iota which is
imperceptible to all, and what
is that jot which becomes an enormous
mountain? (A geometrical monad is
a point without dimension. In the Monadology
of Leibnitz, it is the
elementary particle of vital force acting not
mechanically, but from
internal principle. It is the entelechy of
Aristotle, whose essence
consists in force).
10. To whom is a twinkling of the eye, as long
as a Kalpa millennium;
and a whole age but a moment? Who is he whose
omnipresence is equal to
his absence, and whose omniscience is alike
his total ignorance? (i.
e. to whom eternity is a moment, and whose omnipresence and
omniscience
are unknown to us).
11. Who is called the spirit, but is no air
in itself; and who is said
to be the sound or word, but is none of them
himself? He is called the
All, but is none at all of all that exists;
and he is known as Ego, but
no ego is he himself. (Spiritus or the breathing of
ventus-wind-prāna and
the sabda-sonus or Sruti are not God; nor is
he one and all in his person, nor the ego and
non ego, I not I, and le
moi et non le moi, das ich und nicht ich, the subjective and
objective, and having no personality of his own).
12. What is it that is gained by the greatest
application, of a great
many births (lives), and when gained at last,
is hard to be retained
(owing to the spiritual carelessness of
mankind)? (Liberation by final
extinction—nirvāna, is hard to be had owing to the interminable
metempsychosis of the soul, according to the
doctrine of the
pre-existence and immortality of souls).
13. Who being in easy circumstances in life,
has not lost his soul in
it; and who being but an atom in creation,
does not reckon the great
mountain of Meru as a particle? i. e. the egotist. (It is harder for
the easy rich to enter the kingdom of heaven,
than for a camel to enter
the eye of a needle. Gospel. The pride of
egotism levels mountains to
dust, and its ambition soars above them).
14. What is that which being no more than an
atom, fills a space of many
leagues; and who is an atomic particle; that
is not contained (measured)
in many miles? (It is the atomic theism of
Kanāda's Vaiseshika system
and of Ecphantus and Archelaus. The mind is
included in the atomism of
Empedocles and Anaxagoras. Epicurus added
morality to it, and Lucretius
added to it the beauty of poetry also. See
also the Ateistic Atomic
systems of Leucippus and Democritus).
15. At whose glance and nod is it, that all
beings act their parts as
players; and what is that ace which contains
in its bosom many a
mountain chain? (The mountain was produced
from and is contained in the
atom of the divine mind; and so every grain
of the human brain, contains
in it the form of a prodigious mountain).
16. Who is it, that is bigger than the mount
Meru in his minuteness; and
who is it that being, lesser than the point
of a hair, is yet higher
than the highest rock? (So the sruti: Anor-aniyān mahato mahiyān: i.
e. Minuter than the minutest and bigger than the biggest).
17. Whose light was it, that brought out the
lamp of light from the
bosom of darkness; and what minute particle
is it, that contains the
minutiae of ideas ad infinitum in it? (God said "Lux fiat et lux
fit." Genesis. Hail holy light Heaven's first born.
Milton. Eternal
ideas of immaterial forms of possible
existences in the Divine Mind, the
archetype of the ectypal world. These are the
Types of things, Plato;
Forms of ditto. Cicero. Eternal exemplars of
things. Seneca &c.).
18. Which having no flavour in it, gives
savour to all things; and whose
presence being withdrawn from all substances,
reduces them to
infinitesimal atoms (i. e. by destruction of cohesion. So the
Sruti:—Raso vai tat.—He is flavour etc. Attraction of all kinds, is
a manifestation of Divine power—ākrishti, personified in the form of
Krishna—the regent of the sun, whose gravity
supports the solar world).
19. Who is it that by his self-pervasion,
connects the particles
composing the world (as by their power of
attraction); and what
imperceptible power is it, that rejoins the
detached particles, after
their separation and dissolution for
recreation of the new world? (The
atomic powers of attraction and repulsion of
particles and bodies).
20. Who being formless, has a thousand hands
and eyes; and a twinkling
of whose eye, comprehends the period of many
cycles together? (The
divine hypostases of Virāj, is endowed with a
thousand hands and eyes,
as in the Purusha Sūkta: Sahasra sirsha,
sahasra vāhu sahasrāxa &c.).
21. In what microscopic mite does the world
subsist as an arbour in its
seed, and by what power do the unproductive
seeds of atoms, become
productive of worlds?
22. Whose glance is it, that causes the
production of the world, as from
its seed; and who is it that creates the
world without any motive or
material? (The motives are the subjective or
internal cause and the
objective or external objects of creation.
And material means the matter
of unisubstantism of materialists).
23. What is that being, who without his
visual organs, enjoys the
pleasure of seeing—Drishti; and is the viewer—drashtā of Himself,
which he makes the object of his view
(drishya). I. e. God sees all
things in himself as the receptacle of all in
the eternal ideas of them
in his mind. Or: the Ego meditates on itself
both subjectively as the
viewer, and objectively as the view. (So
Milton, "And God saw his works
were good", answering his fair idea).
24. Who is he that having no object of vision
before him, sees nothing
without him, but looks upon himself as an
infinity void of all visibles
within it. (This is the subjective reflection
of the Yogi, like that of
God on his own self, as abstracted from the
thought of all other things.
The Mind is the subjective reality and matter
has no objective reality).
25. Who is it, that shows the subjective
sight of the soul by itself, as
an objective view; and represents the world
as the figure of a bracelet,
in his own metal? (I. e. the subjective soul and the metal are the
true realities, and the objective view of the
jewel and the world, is
but error and delusion. The Vedantist like
Berkeley, held all objective
reality to be subjective).
26. Who is it that has nothing existent
beside himself, and in whom all
things exist, like the waves existing in the
waters; and who is it whose
will makes them appear as different things?
(The one being no more than
fluctuations of the other, and substantially
the same).
27. Both time and space are equally infinite
and indivisible, as the
essence of God wherein they subsist, why then
do we try to differentiate
and separate them like the water from its fluidity?
28. What is the inward cause in us, which
makes the believer in the
soul, to view the unreal world as real, and
why does this fallacy
continue at all times?
29. The knowledge of the worlds whether as
present, past or in futuro,
is all a great error; and yet what is that
immutable being, which
contains in it the seed of this phenomenal
wilderness?
30. What being is that, which shows these
phenomena without changing
itself, such as in the shape of the seed of
the world, before it
developes itself in creation; and sometimes
in the form of a developed
forest of created beings?
31. Tell me, O prince! on what solid basis
does the great Meru, stand
like a tender filament of the lotus; and what
gigantic form is that,
which contains thousands of Merus and Mandaras
within its capacious
womb?
32. Tell me, what is that immeasurable
Intellect, which has spread these
myriads of intelligences in all these worlds;
what is that which
supplies thee with thy strength for ruling
and protecting thy people,
and in conducting thyself through life; and
what is it in whose sight,
thou dost either lose thyself or thinkest to
exist? Tell me all these, O
clear sighted and fair faced prince, for the
satisfaction of my heart.
33. Let thy answer melt down the doubt, that
has covered the face of my
heart as with snows. If it fail to efface
this dirt of doubt altogether
from the surface of my heart, I will never
account it as the saying of
the wise.
34. But if thou fail to lighten my heart of
its doubts, and set it at
ease; then know for certain, that thou shalt
immediately be made a fuel
to the fire of my bowels at this very moment.
35. I shall then fill this big belly of mine
with all the people of thy
realm; but shouldst thou answer rightly, thou
shalt reign in peace; or
else thou shalt meet thy end like the
ignorant, who are surfeited with
the enjoyments of life.
36. Saying so, the nocturnal fiend made the
loud shout of a roaring
cloud, expressive of her joy; and then sat
silent with her fearful
features, like a light hearted cloud in
autumn (which is of gigantic
shape, but empty of rain waters within).
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to Brahmasri Sreemaan Vihari Lala Mitra ji for the
collection)
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