The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki
The only complete English translation is
by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891).
CHAPTER LIX
Knowledge of the Latent and Inscrutable Soul.
Argument.--The incomprehensible nature of God, expressed
by indefinite
predicates, and his Latency in the works of creation.
VASISHTHA continued:--Keep this lesson in view, O
Rama! and know it as the purifier of all sins; remain in
your resignation of all attachments, and resign yourself
to God.
2. Know the Supreme soul, in which all things reside,
from
which everything has issued, and which is everything
itself on
all sides of us; it is changed through all, and is ever
the same
in itself.
3. It seems to be afar though it is nearest to us, it
appears
to be ubiquitous though ever situated in everything. It
is by
that essence thou livest, and it is undoubtedly what thou
art
thyself. (There is but one unity pervading over all
varieties).
4. Know that to be the highest predicament, which is
above
the knowables, and is knowledge or intelligence by
itself; which
is beyond our thoughts and thinkables, and is the
thinking
principle or intellect itself. (Beyond thought Divine.
Milton).
5. It is preeminent consciousness and that supreme felicity,
and passing wonder of our sight; which surpasses the
majesty
of majesties, and is the most venerable of venerables.
6. This thing is the soul and its cognition, it is vacuum
which is the immensity of the supreme Brahma; it is the
chief
good (summum Bonum) which is felicity and tranquility
itself;
and it is full knowledge or omniscience, and the highest
of all
states.
7. The soul that abides in the intellect, and is of the
form
of the conception of all things: that which feels and
perceives
every thing, and remains by its own essence.
8. It is the soul of the universe, like the oil of the
sesame
seed; it is the pith of the arbor of the world, its light
and life
of all its animal beings.
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9. It is the thread connecting all beings together like
pearls
in a necklace, which is suspended on the breast of empty
air;
(the sutr疸ma that connects all nature). It is the flavour
of all
things like the pungency of pepper.
10. It is the essence of all substance (ens[**?] enteum)
and a
verity which is the most excellent of all the truth of
truths);
it is the goodness of whatever is good, and the great or
greatest
good in itself.
11. Which by its omniscience becomes the all that is
present
in its knowledge, and which we take by our misjudgment
for real
entities in this world, (when our ignorance mistakes the
manifest
world for its latent cause).
12. We take ourselves the world in mistake of the soul,
but all these mistaken entities vanish away before the
light of
reason.
13. The vacuum of Brahma or the space occupied by the
Divine spirit, is without its beginning and end, and
cannot be
comprehended within the limited space of our souls;
knowing
this for certain, the wise are employed in their outward
duties.
14. That man is freed from his rising and setting (ups
and
downs), who rests always in the equanimity of his soul,
and
whose mind is never elated nor dejected at any event, but
ever
retains the evenness of its tenor.
15. He whose mind is as vacant as the empty air, is
called
a mah疸m・or great soul, and his mind resting in the state
of unity, remains with the body in a state of sound
sleep. (But
this evenness is inadmisseble[** typo
"inadmissible"?] in business and
behaviour to a
preceptor. So it is said, [Sanskrit **]
16. The man of business also who preserves the evenness
of
his mind, remains as undisturbed under the press of his
duties,
as the reflexion of one in a mirror. They are both the
same,
being but shadows[** typo "shodows" corrected]
of reality.
17. He who retains the impression in his mind, in their
even and unvaried state, like images in a mirror, is
himself as a
reflexion in the Divine Intellect. (All beings live and
move
inseparably in the intellect of god. Gloss).
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18. So let a man discharge the customary duties of life
as
they occur to him, with the pure transparent of his mind;
as
all the creatures of god perform their several parts,
like images
imprinted in the divine intellect.
19. There is no unity nor duality in the divine
intellect,
(where the images are neither inseparably attached to nor
detached from it); the application of the words I and
thou to one
or the other is all relate to the same, and they have
come to
use from the instruction of our elders. (Human language
is
learned by imitation).
20. The intellect which of itself is tranquil in itself,
(i.e.
in its own nature), acts its wonders in itself, (i. e.
displays or
developes[**spl?] itself in the very intellect); it is
the pulsation of
intellect which displays the universe, as its vivarta or
development,
and this pulsation is the Omnipotence of god.
21. The pulsation of the Divine Intellect being put to a
stop,
there ensues a cessation of the course of the universe,
and as
it with the supreme Intellect, so it is with its parts of
individual
intellects, whose action and inaction spread out and curb
the sphere of their thoughts.
22. What is called consciousness or its action, is a non
entity in nature; and that which is a mere vacuum, is
said to
be the subtile body of the Intellect. (i. e. The
intellectual
powers have no material forms).
23. The world appears as an entity, by our thinking it as
such; but it vanishes upon our ceasing to think as such,
like
the disappearance of figures in a picture, when it is
burnt
down to ashes.
24. The world appears as one with the Deity, to one who
sees the unity only in himself; it is the vibration of
the intellect
only, that caused the revolution of worlds, as the turning
of a potters wheel (is caused by the rotatory motion
given
to it).
25. As the measure, shape and form of the ornament are
not different from the gold, so the action of the
intellect, is not
separate from it; and it is this which forms the world,
as the
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gold, becomes the ornament and the world and intellect
are the
same thing, as the ornament and its gold.
26. The mind is the pulsation of the intellect, and it
is want of this knowledge that frames a separate world;
as it is
ignorance of the gold work, that makes the jewel appear
as
another thing.
27. The mind being wholly absorbed in the intellect,
there
remains this pure intellect alone; as the nature of
on'nsself[** typo for
'one's self?] or
soul being known, there is an end of worldly enjoyments.
(He
that has known the intellectual world, is not deluded by
his
sensuous mind; and whoever has tasted his spiritual
bliss, does
not thirst for sensual pleasures).
28. Disregard of enjoyments is an education of the
highest
wisdom; hence no kind of enjoyments is acceptable to the
wise:
(cursed are they that hunger and thirst for enjoyments of
this
world).
29. Know this to be another indication of wisdom, that no
man that has eaten to satiety has ever a zest for any bad
food
that is offered to him. (i. e. No sensual pleasure is
delectable
before spiritual bliss).
30. Another sign of wisdom is our natural aversion, to
enjoyments,
and is the sense of one's perception of all pleasures, in
the
vibrations of his intellect: (i. e. the mind is the store
house of
all pleasures).
31. He is known as a wise man, who has this good habit of
his deeply rooted in his mind, and he is said to be an
intelligent
man, who refrains from enjoying whatever is enjoyable in
this
world. (For thy shall hunger hereafter, who stuff
themselves
with plenty here below. St. Mathew Ch.v).
32. Again whoso pursues after his perfection, in
pursuance of
the examples of others, doth strike the air with a stick,
or beat
the bush in vain in search of the same, because it
requires sincerity
of purpose to be successful in anything: (and not the
bodily
practices of the ignorant, as they do in Hatha Yoga).
33. Some times thy emaciate and torture the body in order
to have a full view of the inner soul; (because they
think to be
an envelope of the soul, and an obstruction to its full
sight;
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but the intellectual soul, being settled in a thousand
objects of
its intelligence, it sees only errors instead of the
light of the
soul. (So the hermits, ascetics, monks, and friars
emaciate their
bodies, and the religious fanatics torture their persons
in vain).
34. So long doth the unconsious[** typo for
"unconscious"?] spirit flutter
in its fickleness,
and goes on roving from one object to another; as the
light of the understanding do not rise and shine within
it. (The
ignorant are strangers to rest and quiet).
35. But no sooner doth the light of the tranquil
intellect,
appear in its brightness within the inward soul; than the
flattering
of the fickle spirit is put to flight, like the
flickering of a
lamp after it is extinguished.
36. There is no such thing as vibration nor suspension of
the tranquil spirit; because the quiescent soul neither
moves forward
or backward, nor has its motion in any direction.
37. The soul that is neither unconscious of itself, nor
has
any vibration in it, is said to be calm and quiet; and as
it
remains in the state of its indifference to vibrations, and
gains
its forms of pure transparence, it is no more liable to
its bondage
in life, nor inquires its moksha liberation to set it
free from
regeneration.
38. The soul that is settled in itself (or the supreme
soul),
has no fear of bondage nor need of its liberation also;
and the
intellect being without its intellection, or having no
object to
dwell upon, becomes unconscious both of its Existence as
well
as extinction. (One that is absorbed in his self
meditation, is
unconscious of everything in-esse et non-esse).
39. He that is full in himself with the spirit of God, is
equally ignorant both of his bondage and liberation;
because the
desire of being liberated, indicates want of one's self
sufficiency
and perfection (or rather the sense of his bondage, from
which he wants to be liberated).
40. "Let me then have my equanimity and not my
liberation,"
This desire is also a bondage[** spl.bondge corrected] in
itself; and it is
the unconsciousness
of these, which is reckoned as our chief good. For know
the Supreme state to be that, which is pure intelligence
and
without a shadow.[** corrected]
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41. The restoration of the intellect to its proper form
consists
in divesting it of all its intelligibles; and that form
of it
(which is marked by desire or the prurient soul), is no
more than
the oscillation of the great Intellect. (All animal souls
are
vibrations of the Divine spirit).
42. That only is subject to bondage and liberation, which
is seen and destructible in its nature; (i. e. the
visible and
perishable body); and not the invisible soul, which take
the
name of ego, and has no position nor form or figure of
itself.
43. We know not what thing it is, that is brought under
or
loosened from bondage by any one. It is not the pure
desire
which the wise form for themselves[**
typo-themselvee-corrected], and
does not affect the
body. (It is the vibration of mind acting upon the body,
and
causing its actions that subjects to Bondage).
44. It is therefore, that the wise practise the restraint
of
their respiring breath, in order to restraint their
desires and
actions; and being devoid of these, they become as the
pure
Intellect.
45. These being suppressed, the idea of the world is lost
in
the density of the intellect; because the thoughts of the
mind,
are caused by the vibration of the intellect only; (and
set in
also in the same).
46. Thus there remains nothing, nor any action of the
body
or mind, except the vibration of the intellect; and the
phenomenal
world is no other, than a protracted dream from one sight
to another. The learned are not deluded by these
appearances,
which they know to be exhibitions of their own minds.
47. Know in thy meditation within thyself that recondite
soul, which gives rise to our consciousness of the
essences of
things, appearing incessantly before us; and in which all
these
phantasms of our brain, dissolve as
dirt[**typo-dert-corrected] in the
water; and
in which all our perceptions and conceptions of the
passing world
are flowing on as in a perpetual stream.
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CHAPTER LX.
Of the Majesty and Grandeur of God.
Argument.--Manifestation of mysterious magic of the one,
uniform
and pure Monad in multiform shapes, as a display of his
all comprehensive
plenitude fullness.
VASISHTHA continued:--Such is the first great truth
concerning
the solidity or of the Divine Intellect, that
contains the gigantic forms of Brahm・ Bishnu, and Siva
in it.
2. It is by means of the greatness of God, that all
people
are as gaudy as great princes in their several spheres;
and are
ever exulting in their power of floating and traversing
in the
regions of open air. (This means both the flight of bird,
as well
as aerial rambles of Yogis).
The taitteriya upanishad says:--God has filled the world
with
joy, and the minute insect is as joyous as the victorious
prince:
meaning hereby, that God has given to every bring its
particular
share of happiness.
3. It is by their dwelling in the spirit of God, that the
earth born mortals are as happy as the inhabitants of
heaven;
(That have nothing to desire); nay they are free from the
pain
of sorrow and released from the pangs of death, that have
come
unto the Lord--(O death where is thy sting, O grave where
thy victory? Pope).
4. Yes, they live in Him that have found him, and are not
to be restrained by any body; provided they have but
taken
their refuge under the overspreading umbrage of the
supreme
spirit.
5. He who meditates for a moment, on the universal
essence
of all (as the ensentium); he becomes liberated in an
instant,
and lives as a liberal minded sage or muni on earth. (The
sage
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that sees his God in all and every where through out all
nature).
6. He does what are his duties in this world, and never
grieves in discharging them. R疥a said:--How is it
possible,
Sir, to meditate on the universal soul in all things,
when the
sage has buried his mind, understanding and his egoism
and
himself in the unity of god? and how can the soul be
viewed in the plurality, when all things have been
absorbed
in the unity?
7. Vashistha replied:--The god that dwells in all bodies,
moves them to their actions, and receives their food and
drink in himself, that produces all things and
annihilates
them at last, is of course unknowable to our
consciousness
(which is conscious of itself only).
8. Now it is this indwelling principle in every thing,
that
is without beginning and end, and inherent in the nature
of all; is called the common essence of all, because it
constitutes
the tattwa identity (or essential nature or the abstract
property)
of everything in the world.
9. It dwells as vacuity in the vacuum, and as
sonorousness
in sound; it is situated as feeling in whatever is felt,
and as
taction in the objects of touch.
10. It is the taste of all tastables, and the tasting of
the
tongue; it is the light of all objects of sight, and
vision of
the organs of seeing.
11. It is the sense of smell in the act of smelling, and
the
odour in all odourous substance; it is the plumpness of
the body,
and the solidity add stability of the earth.
12. It is the fluidity of liquids and the flatulence of
air;
it is the flame and flash of fire, and the cogitation of
the understanding.
13. It is the thinking principle of the thoughtful mind,
and
the ego of our egoism; it is the consciousness of the
conscious
soul, and the sensible heart.
14. It is the power of vegitation in vegitables, and the
perspective
in all pictures and paintings; it is the capacity of all
pots and vessels, and the tallness of stately trees.
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15. It is the immobility of immovables, and the mobility
of movable bodies; it is the dull insensibility of stones
and
blocks, and the intelligence of intelligent beings.
16. It is the immortality and god-head of the immortal
gods, and humanity of human beings; it is the curvedness
of
crooked beasts, and the supine proneness of crawling and
creeping insects.
17. It is the current in the course of time, and the
revolution
and aspects of the seasons; it is the fugacity of
fleeting
moments, and the endless duration of eternity.
18. It is the whiteness of whatever is white, and
blackness
of all that is black; it is activity in all actions, and
it is stern
fixity in the doings of destiny.
19. The supreme spirit is quiescent in all that is
sedate, and
lasting and evanescent in whatever is passing and
perishing;
and he shows his productiveness in the production of
things.
20. He is the childhood of children, and the youth of
young
men; he shows himself as faining[**fading?] in the decay
and decline of
beings, and as his extinction in their death and demise.
21. Thus the all pervading soul, is not apart from
anything,
as the waves and froths of the foaming sea, are no way
distinct from its body of waters.
22. These multiformities of things are all unrealities,
and
taken for true in our ignorance of the unity; which
multiplies
itself in our imagination, as children create and produce
false
apparitions from their unsound understandings. (These as
they change are not the varied god as it is generally
supposed
to be, but various workings of the intellect).
23. It is I, says the lord, that am situated every where,
and it is I that pervade the whole; and fill it with all
varieties
at pleasure; know therefore, O high minded R疥a! that all
these varieties are but[**=print] creatures of
imagination in the mind of
God, and are thence reflected into the mirror of our
minds.
Knowing this rest in the calm tranquility of your soul,
and
enjoy the undisturbed solace and happiness of your high
mind.
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24. V疝mika[**V疝m勛i] said:--As the sage was saying these
things,
the day passed away under its evening shade; the sun sank
down in its evening devotion, and the assembly broke with
mutual salutations to the performance of their eventide
ablutions,
until they reassembled on the next morning.
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CHAPTER LXI.
Description of the world as a passing dream.
Argument:--How our firm faith arises over this entity,
and its answer.
R疥a said:--As we are, Oh sage! a dream drawn house,
the body of the lotus-born Brahm・[**--]the first
proginitor[**progenitor],
is the same no doubt.
2. And if this world is a non-entity-[**--]asat, we must
know
our existence the same, then how is it possible to arise
the
firm faith over this entity-[**--]sat[**.]
3. Vasishtha responded:--We are shinining[**shining] here
as a
created being by the previous birth of Brahm・ but in
fact,
the reflection of soul shines for ever nothing besides.
4. Owing to the omnipresence of consciousness, all beings
exist as reality every where, and if she rises from
unreal knowledge,
she as real knowledge destroys the unreal one.
(vice-versa).
5. Therefore whatever comes from these five elements, is
but transitory, but owing to the firm belief on ego, we
enjoy a
firm faith for the same.
6. In a dream, we see good many things as reality; but as
soon the dream is over, we do not find the things dreamt
of;
so we see the reality of the world; as long we remain in
ignorance.
7. Oh R疥a! as the dreaming man counts his dream as
reality, owing to his faith on it; so this world appears
a reality,
like the supreme god who has no beginning and end.
8. That which is to be created by the dreaming man, is to
be called his own; as we can say by guessing
knowlede[**knowledge],
what
is in the seed, is in the fruit.
9. Whatever comes from non-entity, is to be called
non-entity;
and that which is unreal though it can be workable, is
not reasonable to think good.
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10. As the thinking result of unreality is to be given
up,
so the firm faith which is arising by the dreaming man;
is to
be given up likewise.
11. Whatever soul creates in dream is our firm belief,
but
that remains only for a time being (hence it is
asat-[**--]non-entity).
12. Brahm・s long drawn portion is this entity, hence we
think also the same, but in fact, this entity is a moment
to
Brahma.
13. Consciousness is the creator of all elements, she
creates
every thing according to her model, hence creator and
creation
are one and the same.
14. As the backward and forward whirling motion of
water, makes the deep to swell, and as also fairy comes
near in
a dream, so all these are in reality nothing.
15. So this entity with its change (of creation,
sustentation
and destruction) is nothing. In whatever manner we look
object, that will appear in return in the same manner.
16. The rule of the erroneous dream is not to reproduce
(in
waking state, what it produces in sleeping state, though
it
has a power to create something out of nothing) as the
production
is not in the world, but owing to ignorance it appears
so.
17. In the three worlds we see wonderous[**wondrous]
objects, as we see
fire burning in the water like a sub-marine fire.
18. Good many cities exist in vacuity, as birds and stars
remain in the sky. We find lotus in a stone like trees
growing
without an earth.
19. One country gives every kind of object to the seeker,
like a tree that gives all objects to the seeker (Kalpa
taru)
and also we see in a stone and rows of jewels (that is
counting
beads) giving fruits like fruitful trees.
20. Life exists within a stone (S疝gram) as frog exists.
Stone gives water as moon-stone gives.
21. In a dream within a minute good many things can be
made and unmade, which in fact, are unreal like one's
death in
a dream.
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22[**.] The natural water of the elements remains in the
sky,
(that is, in the cloud), when the heavenly river M疣d疚ini
remains
in vacuity.
23. The heavy stone flies in the air, when the winged
mountain
does so. Every thing to be got in stone, when every thing
can be secured from the philosopeer's[**philosopher's]
stone.
24. In the garden of bliss of Indra every desired object
to
be got, but in salvation such kind of desired object is
wanting.
25. Even dull matter acts like machine, hence every
object
acts like wonderful erroneous magic.
26. By magical art (that is, Gandharva vidy・ we see even
impossible objects such as two moons, Kavandhas, mantras,
drugs, and pishacha. All these are the works of wonderful
erroneous magic, which are in fact nothing.
27. We see impossibility as real as we see possibility,
hence impossibility becomes real by our erroneous ideas
only.
28. The erroneous dream though it appears as real is in
fact
unreal, as that which is not real does not exist, which
is real
does exist: (unity is real, duality is unreal, hence
existence and
non-existence are one and the same).
29. So this dreaming creation is looked by all worldly
being
here as real, as dreamer takes his dream a reality.
30. By passing from one error to another error, from one
dream to another, one firm faithful being comes out.
31. As a stray deer falls into the pit repeatedly for
green
grass, so ignorant man repeatedly falls into the pit of
this
world, owing to his ignorance.
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CHAPTER LXI.
Description of the world as a passing dream.
Argument:--Narration of the mendicant Jiv疸・ in
illustration of the
transmigration of the soul in various births, according
to the variety of
its insatiable Desire.
Vasishtha resumed:--Hear me relate to you, R疥a, the
story of a certain mendicant, who fostered some desire in
his mind, and wondered[**wandered] through many
migrations of his
soul.
2. There lived a great mendicant at one time, who devoted
his life to holy devotion, and passed his days in the
observance
of the rules of his mendicancy. (The state of mendicancy
is
the third stage of life of a Brahman, which is devoted to
devotion, and supported by begging of the simple
subsistence
of life. This story applies to all men, who are in some
way
or other devoted to some profession for acquiring the
necessaries
of life and the more so, as all men have some ultimate
object of desire, which is an obstruction to their
Nirvana or final
extinction in the Diety[**Deity]. For the lord says in
the Gospel,
He that loveth anything more than me, is not worthy of
me).
3. In the intensity of his Sam疆hi devotion, his mind was
purged of all its desires; and it became assimilated to
the
object of its meditation, as the sea water, is changed to
the
form of waves. (Sam疆hi is defined by Patanjali, as the
forgetting
of one's self in the object of his meditation).
4. Once as he was sitting on his seat after termination
of
his meditation, and was intent upon discharging some
sacred
functions of his order, there chanced to pass a thought
over his
clear mind: (Like the shadow of cloud over the midday
sky).
5. He looked into the reflexion of the thought, that rose
of
itself in his mind; that he should reflect for his
pleasure, upon
the various conditions of common people, and the
different
modes of their life. (the proper study of man is man, and
the
manner of each rightly).
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6. All this thought his mind passed from the reflexion of
himself and his God, to that of another person; and he
lost
the calm composure of his mind, as when the quiet sea is
disturbed
by whirlpool or whirl wind. (This desire of the sage
disturbed his breast, like the doubt of
Parnells[**Parnell's] Hermit).
7. Then he thought in himself to become an ideal man of
his own accord, and became in an instant the imagined
person
Jiv疸・by name. (Imagination shapes one to what he imagines
himself to be).
8. Jiv疸・ the ideal man[**space added], now roved about
like a dreaming
person, through the walks of the imaginary city, which he
had
raised to himself, as a sleeping man, builds his aerial
abodes in
dream. (So every man thinks himself as some one, and
moves
about in his air built city).
9. He drank his fill at pleasure, as a giddy bee sips the
honey
from lotus cups; he became plump and hearty with his
sports,
and enjoyed sound sleep from his want of care.
10. He saw himself in the form of a Brahman in his dream,
who was pleased with his studies and the discharge of his
relegious[**religious]
duties; and as he reflected himself as such he was
transformed
to the same state, as a man is transplanted from one
place to another at a thought. (He makes the man, and
places
him in every state and place).
11. The good Brahman who was observant of his daily
ritual, fell asleep one day into a deep trance, and
dreamt himself
doing the duties of the day, as the seed hid in shell,
performs[**deleted
space]
inwardly its act of vegitation[**vegetation].
12. The same Brahman saw himself changed to a chieftain
in his dream, and the same chief ate and drank and slept
as any
other man in general.
13. The chief again thought himself as a king in his
dream,
who ruled over the earth extending to the horizon; and
was
beset by all kinds of enjoyments, as a creeper is studded
with
flowers.
14. Once as this prince felt himself at ease, he fell into
a
sound sleep free from all cares, and saw the future
consequences
-----File:
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of his actions, as the effect is attached to the cause,
or the
flowers are the forth-comings of the tree.
15. He saw his soul assuming the form of a heavenly maid,
as the pith of a plant puts forth itself in its flowers
and friuts[**fruits],
(what is at the bottom, comes out on the top; and what is
the
root, sprouts forth in the tree).
16. As this heavenly maid was lulled to sleep by her
weariness
and fatigue, she beheld herself turn a deer, as the calm
ocean finds itself disturbed into eddies and waves (by
its inner
caves and outward winds).
17. As this temorous[**timorous] fawn with her fickle
eyes, fell into a
sound sleep at one time; she beheld herself transformed
to a
creeping plant (which she likes to brouse[**browse] upon
so fondly in her
pasture).
18. The crooked beasts of the field and the creeping
plants
of forest, have also their sleep and dream of their own
nature;
the dreams being caused by what they saw and heard and
felt in
their waking states.
19. This creeper came to be beautified in times, with its
beautiful fruits, flowers and leaves, and formed a bowers
for the
seat of the floral goddess of the woods.
20. It hid in its heart the wishes that grew in it, in
the
same manner as the seed conceals in its embryo the germ
of the
would be tree; and at last saw itself in its inward
consciousness,
to be full of frailty and failings.
21. It had remained long in its sleep and rest, but being
disgusted with its drowsy dullness, it thought of being
the
fleeting bee its constant guest, and found itself to be
immediately
changed to a fluttering bee; (which it had fed with its
farinaceous
food).
22. The bee roved at pleasure over the tender and
blossoming
creepers in the forest, and let on the petals of blooming
lotuses, as a fond lover courts his mistresses.
23. It roved about the blossoms, blooming as
brightning[**brightening]
pearls in the air; and drank the nectarious Juice from
the flower
cups, as a lover sips the nectar from the rubied lips of
the
beloved.
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24. He became enamoured of the lotus of the lake, and sat
silent upon its thorny stalk on the water; for such is
the
fondness of fools, even for what is painful to them.
25. The lake was often infested by elephants, who tore
and
trampled over the beds of lotus bushes; because it is a
pleasure to
the malignant base, to lay waste the fair works of God:
(The
black big and bulky elephants, are said to be invidious
of the fair
and pretty lotuses; hence the elephant is used as
symbolical of
the devil, the destroyer of all good).
26. The fond bee meets the fate of its fondling lotus,
and is
crushed under the tusk of the elephant, as the rice is
ground
under the teeth. (Such is the fate of over fondness for
the fair).
27. The little bee seeing the big body and might of the
mighty elephant, took a fancy of being as such; and by
his imagining himself as so, he was instantly converted
to one
of the like kind: (not in its person but in the mind).
(Thus is
a lesson, that no one is content with himself, but wishes
to be
the envied or desired being).
28. At last the elephant fell down into a hollow pit, which
was as deep and dry as the dried bed of a gulf; as a man
falls
into the profound and inane ocean of this world, which is
overcast
by an impervious darkness around. (The troublesome
world is always compared with a turbulent and darksome
ocean).
29. The elephant was a favourite of the prince for his
defeating
the forces of his adversaries; and he routed about at
random
with his giddy might, as the lawless Daitya robbers
wander
about at night.
30. He fell afterwards under the sword of the enemy, and
pierced all over his body by their deadly darts; as the
haughty
egoism of the living body, drops down in the soul under
the
wound of right reason.
31. The dying elephant having been accustomed to see
swarms of bees, fluttering over the proboscis of
elephants,
and sipping the ichor exuding from them, had long
cherished
the desire of becoming a bee, which he now came to be in
reality.
32. The bee rambled at large amidst the flowery creepers
of
-----File:
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of[**delete 'of'] the forest, and resorted again to the
bed of lotuses in the
lake; because it is hard for fools to get rid of their
fond desire,
though it is attended with danger and peril.
33. At last the sportive bee was trampled down and
crashed
under the feet of an elephant, and become a goose, by its
long
association with one in the lake.
34. The goose passed through many lives, till it became
gander at last, and sported with the geese in the lake.
35. Here it came to bear, the name of the gander that
served as the vehicle of Brahma, and thenceforth fostered
the idea of his being so, as the yolk of an egg fosters a
feathered fowl in it.
36. As it was fostering this strong desire in itself, it
grew
old and decayed by desease[**disease], as a piece of wood
is eaten up by
inbred worms; then as he died with his
conscious[**consciousness] of
being the
bird of Brahma, he was born as the great stork of that
God
in his next birth.
37. The stork lived there in the company of the wise,
he became enlightened from the views of worldly beings;
he continued for ages in his disembodied liberation, and
cared
for nothing in future. (The soul that rests in the spirit
of
God, has nothing better to desire).
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CHAPTER LXIII.
Dream of J咩疸a.
Arguments.--All living souls are occupied with the
thought of their
present state, forgetful of the past, and altogether
heedless of the future.
Vasishtha continued:--This bird that sported beside the
stalk of the lotus seat of Brahma, once went to the city
of Rudra with his god on his back, and there beheld the
God
Rudra face to face. (The inferior Gods waited upon the
superior deities).
2. Seeing the God Rudra he thought himself to be so, and
the figure of the God was immediately imprest upon his
mind,
like the reflexion of an outward object in the mirror.
3. Being full of Rudra in himself, he quitted his body of
the bird, as the fragrance of a flower forsakes the
calyx, as it
mixes with the breeze and flies in the open air.
4. He passed his time happily at that place, in the
company
with the attendants and different classes of the
dependant
divinities of Rudra.
5. This Rudra being then full of the best knowledge of
divinity and spirituality; looked back in his
understanding
into the passed accounts of his prior lives, that were
almost
incalculable.
6. Being then gifted with clear sightedness and
clairvoyance,
he was astonished at the view of naked truths, that
appeared to
him as sights in a dream, which he recounted to him as
follows.
7. O! how wonderful is this over spreading illusion,
which
is stretched all about us, and fascinates the world by
its magic
wand; it exhibits the[**=print] palpable untruth as
positive truth, as the
dreary desert presents the appearance of limpid waters,
in the
sun beams spreading over its sterile sands.
8. I well remember my primary state of the pure
intellect,
and its conversion to the state of the mind; and how it
was
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changed from its supremacy and omniscience, to the
bondage of
the limited body.
9. I[**It] was by its own desire that the living soul
assumed to
itself a material body, formed and fashioned agreeably to
its
fancy, like a picture drawn in a painting; and became a
mendicant
in my person in one of its prior birth[**births], when it
was unattached
to the objects exposed to view all around.
10. The same mendicant sat in his devotion, by
controlling
the actions of the members of his body, and began to
reflect
on outward objects, with great pleasure in his mind.
11. He buried all his former thoughts in oblivion, and
thought only of the object that he was employed to
reflect
upon: and this thought so engrossed and worked upon his
mind, that it prevented the rise of any other thought in
it,
12. The phenomenon which appears in the mind, offers
itself solely to the view also, (by supplanting the
traces of the
past); as the brownness of fading autumn, supercedes the
vernal
verdure of leaves and plants, so the man coming to his
maturity,
forgets the helpless state of his boyhood, and is
thoughtless
of his approaching decay and decline.
13[**.] Thus the mendicant became the Brahman Jiv疸・by his
fallible and fickle desire, which laid him to
wonder[**wander] from one
body to another, as little ants enter into the holes of
houses
and things.
14. Being fond of Brahma hood[**Brahma-hood] and
reverential to
Bramans[**Brahmans]
in his mind, he became the wished for person in his own
body;
because the reality and unreality have the power of
mutually
displacing one another, according to the greater
influence of
either. (The weaker yeilds[**yields] and makes room to
the stronger,
like the survival of the fittest).
15. The Brahman next obtained the chieftainship, from his
strong predilection for the same; just as the tree
becomes
friutful[**fruitful]
by its continuous suction of the moisture of earth. (The
common mother of all).
16. Being desireous[**desirous] of dispensing justice,
and discharging
all legal affairs, the general wished for royalty, and
had his
wishes fulfilled by this becoming a prince; but as the
prince was
-----File:
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over fond of his courtezans, he was transformed to a
heavenly
nymph that he prized above all in his heart.
17. But as the celestial dame prized the tremulous eye
sight of the temorous[**timorous] deer, above her
heavenly form and
station;
she was soon metamorphosed to an antelope in the woods,
and destined to graze as a miserable beast for her
foolish choice.
18. The fawn that was very fond of browzing the tender
blades and leaves, became atlast[**at last] the very
creeping plant, that
had crept into the crevice of her lickerish mind.
19. The creeper being long accustomed to dote on the bee,
that used to be in its company; found in its
consciousness to be
that insect, after the destruction of its veritable form.
20. Though well aware of its being crushed under the
elephant,
together with the lotus flower in which it dwelt, yet
it was foolish to take the form of the bee, for its
pleasure of
roving about the world. (So the living soul enters into
various
births and bodies only to perish with them).
21. Being thus led into a hundred different forms, said
he,
I am at last become the self-same Rudra; and it is
because
of the capriciousness of my erratic mind in this
changeful
world.
22. Thus have I wandered through the variegated paths
of life, in this wilderness of the world; and I have
roamed in
many aerial regions, as if I trod on solid and
substantial
ground.
23. In some one of my several births under the name of
jiv疸畆**Jiv疸畩, and in another I became a great and
respectable
Brahman, I became quite another person again, and then
found
myself as a ruler and lord of the earth. (So every man
thinks
and acts himself, now as one person and in the stage of
his
life. Shakespeare).
24. I had been a drake in the lotus-bush; and an elephant
in the vales of vindhya[**Vindhya]; I then became a stag
in the form
of my body, and fleetness of my limbs; (and in the
formation
of mind also).
25. After I had deviated at first from my state of
godliness,
I was still settled in the state of a devotee with
devoted-*
-----File:
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*ness to divine knowledge; and practicing the rites
befitting
my position, (such as listening to holy lectures,
meditating
on the mysteries of nature and so forth).
26. In this state I passed very many years and ages, and
many a day and night and season and century, glided on
imperceptibly in their courses over me. (It is said that
the
sedate and meditative are generally long living men, as
we
learn in the accounts of the ancient patriarchs, and in
those
of the yogis and l疥as in our own times).
27. But I deviated again and again from my wonted
course, and was as often subjected to new births and
forms;
until at last I was changed to Brahma's vehicles of the
hansa or[**space
added]
anser, and this was by virtue of my former good conduct
and
company.
28. The firm or wonted habit of a living beings, must
come out unobstructed by any hindrance what
sover[**whatsoever]; and
though it may be retarded in many intermediate births for
even a millennium; yet it must come and layhold[**lay
hold] on the person
some time or other. (Habit is second nature, and is in
bred[**inbred] in
every being; and what is bred in the bone, must run in
the
blood).
29. It is by accident only, that one has the blessing of
some good company in his life; and then his inborn want
may
be restrained for a time, but it is sure to break out
with violence
in the end, in utter defiance of every check and rule.
30. But he who betakes himself to good society only, and
strives always for his edification in what is good and
great, is
able to destroy the evil propensities which are inbred in
him;
because the desire to be good, is what actually makes one
so.
(Discipline conquers nature).
31. Whatever a man is accustomed to do or think upon
constantly, in this life or in the next state of his
being;
the same appears as a reality to him in his waking state
of
day dream, as unreality appears as real in the sleeping
or night
dream of a man. (It is the imagination that figures
unrealities
in divers forms both in the day as also in the night
dreams of
men).
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32. Now the thoughts that employ our minds, appoint
our bodies also to do their wished for works; and as
these works
are attended with some temporary good as well as evil
also; it is
better therefore to restrain and repress the rise of
those tumultuous
thoughts, than cherish them for our pleasure or pain.
33. It is only the thought in our minds, that makes us to
take our bodies for ourselves or souls; and that
stretches wide
this world of unrealities, as the incased seed sprouts
forth
and spreads itself into a bush. (The thought bears the
world in
it, as the will brings it to view).
34. The world is but the thought in sight or a visible form
of their visible thought, and nothing more in reality
besides this
phantasm of it, and an illusion of our sight.
35. The illusive appearance of the world, presents itself
to
our sight, like the variegated hues of the sky, it is
therefore
by our ignoring of it, that we may be enabled to wipe off
those
tinges from our minds.
36. It is an unreal appearance, displayed by the supreme
Essence (of God or His intelligence); as a real existence
at his
pleasure only, and can not therefore do any harm to any
body.
37. I rise now and then to look into all these varieties
in
nature, for the sake of my pleasure and curiosity; but I
have
the true light of reason in me, whereby I discern the one
unity
quite apart from all varieties.
38. After all these recapitulations, the incarnate Rudra
returned to his former state, and reflected on this
condition of
the mendicant, whose body was now lying as a dead corpse
on
the barren ground.
39. He awakened the mendicant and raised his prostrate
body, by infusing his intelligence into it; when the
resuscitated
Bhikshu came to understand, that all his
wonderings[**wanderings] were
but
hallucinations of his mind.
40. The mendicant finding himself the same with Rudra
standing in his presence, as also with the bygone
onces[**ones]
that he recollected in his remembrance; was astonished to
think
how he could be one and so many, though it is no wonder
to
-----File:
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the intelligent, who well know that one man acts many
parts
in life.
41. Afterwards both Rudra and the medicant[**mendicant]
got up from
their seats, and proceeded to the abode of the Jiv疸・
situated
in corner of the intellectual sphere, (i.e. the mundane
world
which lies in the divine intellect).
42. They then passed over many Continents, Islands,
provinces and districts, until they arrive at the abode
of J咩ata,
where they found him lying down with a sword in hand.
43. They saw Jivata lying asleep and insensible as a dead
body, whep[**where] Rudra laid aside his bright celestial
form, in order
to enter into the earthly abode of the deceased. (The
Gods are
said to assume human shapes in order to mix with
mankind).
44. They brought him back to life and intelligence, by
imparting
to him portion of their spirit and intellect; and thus
was this one soul exhibited in the triple forms of Rudra,
Jivata
and the mendicant.
45. They wish[**with] all their intelligence, remained
ignorant of
one another, and they marvelled to look on each other in
mute
ashtonishment[**astonishment], as if they were the
figures in painting.
46. Then the three went together in their aerial course,
to
the air built abode of the Brahman; who had erected his
baseless
fabric in empty air, and which resounded with empty
sounds
all around. (The open air being the receptacle of sounds,
the
aerial abodes of celestials are incessantly infested by
the sounds
and cries of peoples rising upwards from the nether
world).
47. They passed through many aerial regions, and barren
and populaus[**populous] tracts of air; until they found
out at last the
heavenly residence of the Brahman.
48. They saw him sleeping in his house; beset by the
members
of his family about him; while his Brahman・folded her
arms about his neck, as if unwilling to part with her
deceased
husband. (The Brahman in heaven, was seen in the state of
his parting life).
49. They awakened his drowsy intelligence, by means of
their own intelligence, as a waking man raises a sleeping
soul,
by means of his own sensibility.
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50. Thence they went on in their pleasant journey to the
realms of the chief and the prince mentioned before; and
these
were situated in the bright regions of their intellectual
sphere,
and illumined by their effulgence of the intellect. (It
means to
say, that all these journeys, places and persons, were
but reveries
of the mind, and creations of fancy).
51. Having [**arrived] at that region and that very spot,
they observed
the haughty chief lying on his lotus like bed.
52. He lay with his gold coloured body, in company with
the partner of his bed of golden hue; as the honey
sucking bee
lies in the lotus cell, enfolded in the embrace of his
mate.
53. He was beset by his mistresses, hanging about him,
like the tender stalks and tufts of flowers pendent upon
a tree;
and was encircled by a belt of lighted lamps, as when a
golden
plate is studded about by brilliant gems.
54. They awakened him shortly by infusing their own
spirit and intelligence in his body and mind, and then
they sat
together marvelling at each other, as the self-same man
in so
many forms (or the self-same person in so many bodies).
55. They next repaired to the palace of the prince, and
after awakening him with their intelligence, they all
roamed
about the different parts of the world.
56. They came at last to the hansa of Brahm・ and being
all transformed to that form in their minds (i e[**i.e.]
having come
to know the ahamsa I am he or their self-identity); They
all
became the one Rudra Personality in a hundred persons.
57. Thus the one intellect is reprisented[**represented]
in different forms
and shapes, according to the various inclinations of
their minds,
like so many figures in a painting. Such is the unity of
the
deity represented as different personalities, according
to the
various tendencies of individual minds. (There is the
same
intellect and soul in all living beings, that differ from
one
another in their minds only).
58. There a hundred Rudras, who are the forms of the
uncovered intellect (i. e. unclouded by mists of error);
and they
are acquainted with the truths of all things in the
world, and
the secrets of all hearts (antary疥in).
-----File:
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59. There are a hundred and some hundreds of Rudras,
who are known as very great beings in the world; among
whom
there are eleven only (Ekadasa Rudras), that are situated
in so
many worlds (Ekadasa Bhubanas). (The Vedas have thousands
and thousands of Rudras in their hymns as to them, as, to
them, as,
[Sanskrit: sahashrena
sahashrasah ye rudr・adhibh伹y畩[**).]
60. All living beings that are not awakened to reason,
are
ignorant of the identity of one another; and view them in
different and not in the same light; they are not
farsighted to
see any other world, That[**than] which is the most
proximate to
them.
61. Wise men see the minds of others and all things to
rise
in their minds, like the wave rising in the sea; but
unenlightened
minds remain dormant in themselves, like the inert stones
and
blocks. (Another explanation of it is, that all wise men
are of
the same mind as Birbal said to Akbar:--Sao Siyane
ekmat・.
62. As the waves mix with themselves, by the fluidity of
their waters; so the minds of wise unite with one
another, by
the solubility of their understandings, like elastic
fluids and
liquids. (So says Mrityunjaya:--the oily or serous
understanding
([Sanskrit: tailavat vunvih]) readily penetrates into the
minds of
others).
63. Now in all these muiltitudes[**multitudes] of living
beings, that are
presented to our sight in this world; We find the one
invariable
element of the intellect to be diffused in all of them,
and
making unreal appear as real ones to view.
64. This real but invisible entity of the Divine
intellect
remains for ever, after all the unreal but visible
appearances
disappear into nothing; as there remains an empty space
or
hollow vacuity, after the removal of a thing from its
place, and
the excavation of the ground by digging it. (This empty
vacuum with the chit or Intellect in it, is the universal
god of
the vacuist Vasishtha).
65. As you can well conceive the idea of existence, of
the
quintuple elemental principles in nature; so you can
comprehend
also the notion of the Omnipresence of the Divine
intellect, which
i$ the substratum of the elemental principles.
-----File: 377.png---------------------------------------------------------
66. As you see various statues and images, carved in
stone
and woods, and set in the hollows of rocks and trees; so
should
you see all these figures in the hollow space of the
universe, to
be situated in the self-same intellect of the Omnipresent
Deity.
67. The knowledge of the known and the visible world, in
the pure intellect of the unknown and invisible deity,
resembles
the view of the variegated skies, with their uncaused and
insensible
figures, in the causeless substratum of ever lasting and
all pervading vacuity.
68. The knowledge of the phenomenal, is the bondage of
the soul, and the ignoring of this conduces to its
liberation;
do therefore as you like; either towards this or that;
(i. e. for
your liberation and bondage).
69. The cognition and nesciance[**nescience] of the
world, are the causes
of the bondage and liberation of the soul, and these
again are
productive of the transmigration and final emancipation
of the
animal spirit. It is by your indifference to them that
you
can avoid them both, do therefore as you may best choose
for
yourself. (Here are three things offered to view, namely,
the
desire of heaven and liberation, and the absence of all
desires.
[Sanskrit: svargak疥a mokshak疥au nishk疥ashchatra yah]).
70. What is lost at its disappearance, (as our friends
and
properties), is neither worth seeking or searching after,
nor
sorrowing for when it is lost and gone from us. That
which
is gained of itself in our calm and quiet with[**without]
any anxiety or
assiduity on our part, is truly reckoned to be our best
gain.
(so says the Moha-Mudgura:--Be content[**space added]
with what offers
of
itself to thee. [Sanskrit: yatvabhase nijakarnm厓疸tam
bittam tena vinodaya
cittam][**).]
71. That which is no more than our knowledge of it, (as
the object of our senses and the objective world), is no
right
knowledge but mere fallacy; the true knowledge is that of
the
subjective consciousness, which is always to be attended
to.
72. As the wave is the agitation of the water, so is this
creation but an oscillation of the divine intellect; and
this is
the only difference between them, that the one is the
production
of the elements in nature, and the other is that of the
divine will.
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73. Again the undulation of waves occurs, in conjunction
with the existing elements at certain spots and times;
but
the production of the world is wholly without the
junction of
the elemental bodies, which were not in existence at its
creation.
(It means to say, that the world is only an ideal
formation of
the divine mind).
74. The shining worlds shines[**shine] with the light of
the
divine intellect, in which they are situated as the
thoughts in its
consciousness. It transcends the power of speech to
define
what it is, and yet it is expressed in the veda in the
words that,
"It is the supreme soul and perfect felicity"
(Siva Par疸m・.
75. Thus the world is the form of its consciousness in
the
divine intellect, and they are not different from one
another,
as words are never separable from their senses. It is
said that
the world is the undulation of the Divine spirit, and
none but
the ignorant inveigh against, by saying that the wave and
water are two different things. (Kalid疽a in the
commencement
of Raghuvansa, uses the same simile of words and their
meanings, to denote the intimate union of P疵vat・and Siva,
which is done to express the inseparability of the world
with its
maker; corresponding with the well known line of
pope[**Pope] "whose
body nature is, and god the soul").[**moved "]
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to Brahmasri Sreemaan Vihari Lala Mitra ji for the
collection)
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