The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki
The only complete English translation is
by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891).
CHAPTER LX.—Resuscitation of Prahlāda.
Argument. On the necessity of the observance
of duty, both in
the secular as well as Religious Life.
The Lord continued:—It is the soundness of
the body, which men call
life; and it is the quitting of the present
body for a future one, which
they call death. (Activity is the life of the
body).
2. You are released from both these states, O
high minded youth! and
have nothing to do with your life or death
any more. (Because the living
liberated are freed from the cares of life,
and future transmigrations
also).
3. It is for your acquaintance, that I relate
to you the components of
life and death; by knowledge of which you
will not have to live nor die,
like other living beings on earth (in pain
and misery).
4. Though situated in the body, yet you are
as unembodied as the
disembodied spirit; and though embosomed in
vacuity, yet are you as free
and fleet as the wind, on account of your
being unattached to vacuum.
(Unattachment of the soul to the body and
vital spirit, constitutes its
freedom).
5. Your perception of the objects of the
touch, proves you to be an
embodied being; and your soul is said to be
the cause of that
perception; as the open air is said to be the
cause of the growth of
trees, for its putting no hindrance to their
height. But neither the
soul is cause of perception, nor the air of
the growth of trees. (It is
the mind which is the cause of the one, as
moisture of the other).
6. But the perception of outward things, is
no test of their materiality
to the monoistic immaterialist; as the sight
of things in a dream, is no
proof of their substantiality, nor of the
corporeality of the percipient
soul. (All external perceptions, are as those
in a dream).
7. All things are comprehended, in yourself,
by the light of your
intellect; and your knowledge of the only One
in all, comprehends every
thing in it. How then can you have a body
either to take to yourself or
reject it from you?
8. Whether the season of the spring appears
or not, or a hurricane
happens to blow or subside; it is nothing to
the pure soul, which is
clear of all connection whatever. (The soul
is unconnected with all
occurrences).
9. Whether the hills fall headlong to the
ground, or the flames of
destruction devour all things; or the rapid
gales rend the skies, it is
no matter to the soul which rests secure in
itself.
10. Whether the creation exists or not, and
whether all things perish or
grow; it is nothing to the soul which
subsists of itself. (The increate
soul is self existent and ever lasting).
11. The Lord of this body, does not waste by
waste of its frame, nor he
is strengthened by strength of the body;
neither does it move by any
bodily movement, nor sleep when the body and
its senses are absorbed in
sleep.
12. Whence does this false thought rise in
your mind, that you belong to
the body, and are an embodied being, and that
you come to take, retain
and quit this mortal frame at different
times?
13. Forsake the thought, that you will do so
and so after doing this and
that; for they that know the truth, have
given up such desires and vain
expectations. (Since God is the disposer of
all events).
14. All waking and living persons, have
something or other to do in this
world, and have thereby to reap the results
of their actions; but he
that does nothing, does not take the name of
an active agent, nor has
anything to expect (but lives resigned to the
will of Providence).
15. He who is no agent of an action, has
nothing to do with its
consequence; for he who does not sow the
grains, does not reap the
harvest. (For as you sow, so you reap).
16. Desinence of action and its fruition,
brings on a quiescence, which
when it has become habitual and firm,
receives the name of liberation
(which is nothing to have or crave, save what
God gave of his own will,
agreeably to the prayer, "Let not mine,
but thy will be done").
17. All intellectual beings and enlightened
men, and those that lead
pure and holy lives, have all things under
their comprehension,
wherefore there is nothing for them left to
learn anew or reject what
they have learnt. (The gods and sages are all
knowing, and have nothing
to know or unknow any more).
18. It is for limited understandings and
limited powers of the body and
mind, to grasp or leave out some thing; but
to men of unbounded
capacities, there is nothing to be received
or left out. (Fulness can
neither be more full, nor wanting in any
thing).
19. When a man is set at ease after cessation
of his relation of the
possessor or possession of any external
object, and when this sense of
his irrelation becomes a permanent feeling in
him, he is then said to be
liberated in his life time. (Total
unconnection is perfect freedom).
20. Great men like yourself, being placed in
this state of perpetual
unconcern and rest; conduct themselves in the
discharge of their duties,
with as much ease as in their sleep. (Here is
the main precept of the
combination of internal torpitude with bodily
action in the discharge of
duties).
21. When one's desires are drowned in his
reliance on God, he views the
existing world—shining in his spiritual
light.
22. He takes no delight in the pleasing
objects about him, nor does he
regret at the afflictions of others; all his
pleasure consisting in his
own soul (at its total indifference).
23. With his wakeful mind, he meets all the
affairs of his concern with
his spiritual unconcern; as the mirror
receives the reflexions of
objects, without being tainted by them.
24. In his waking he reposes in himself, and
in his sleep he reclines
amidst the drowsy world; in his actions he
turns about as frolicsome
boys, and his desires lie dormant in his
soul.
25. O thou, great soul, thus continue to
enjoy thy supreme bliss, for
the period of a Kalpa (a day of Brahmā), by
relying your mind in the
victorious Vishnu, and with enjoying the
prosperity of thy dominions by
exercise of your virtues and good qualities.
(The ultimate lesson is, to
be observant of the duties which are
paramount on every body, with
relinquishment of all personal desire for
oneself).
CHAPTER XLI.—Installation of Prahlāda in his Realm.
Argument. Hari's Inauguration of Prahlāda
with blessings, and
appointment of him to the Government.
Vasishtha said:—After Hari the receptacle of
the three worlds, and
observer of everything that passes in them;
had spoken in the aforesaid
manner in his lucid speech, shedding the
coolness of moon beams:
2. Prahlāda became full blown in his body,
and his eyes shone forth as
blooming lotuses; he then spoke out with full
possession of his mental
powers.
3. Prahlāda said:—Lord! I was much tired with
very many state affairs,
and in thinking about the weal and woe of my
people. I have now found a
little rest from my labour.
4. It is by thy grace, my lord! that I am
settled in myself; and whether
I am in my trance or waking state, I enjoy
the tranquillity of my mind
at all times.
5. I always see thee seated in my heart, with
the clear sightedness of
my mind; and it is by my good luck, that I
have thee now in my presence
and outside of it.
6. I had been all this time, sitting without
any thought in me; and was
mixed up as air in air, in my mind's internal
vision of thee.
7. I was not affected by grief or dulness,
nor infatuated by my zeal of
asceticism or a wish of relinquishing my body
(that I remained in my
torpid trance).
8. The One All being present in the mind,
there is no room for any grief
in it, at the loss of anything besides; nor
can any care for the world,
or caution of the body or life, or any fear
of any kind, abide in his
presence.
9. It is simply by pure desire of holiness,
rising spontaneously of
itself in me; that I had been situated in my
saintlike and holy state.
10. Yes my Lord, I am disgusted with this
world, and long to resign its
cares; together with all the mutations of joy
and grief, which rise
alternate in the minds of the unenlightened.
11. I do not think that our embodied state is
subject to misery, and
that our being freed from the bonds of the
body is the cause of our
release: it is worldliness that is a venomous
viper in the bosom, and
torments the ignorant only and not the sage.
(Because it is mind and not
the body, that is addicted to pleasure, and
feels the stings of pain).
12. It is the ignorant and not the learned,
whose minds fluctuate with
the thoughts, that this is pleasure and the
other is pain, and that I
have this and am in want of another. (The
more they have, the more they
crave).
13. The ignorant man thinks himself, to be a
person distinct from
another; and so all living beings devoid of the
knowledge of truth,
entertain and exult in their egoistic
thoughts.
14. The erroneous idea that, such things are
acceptable to me, and
others are not so; serves only to delude the
ignorant, and not the wise
(who acquiesce to whatever occurs to them).
15. All things being contained by and
situated in my all-pervading
spirit, how can we accept one and reject
another thing, as distinct from
and undesirable to the selfsame One? (Shall
we desire only good from
God, and not the evil also? Job).
16. The whole universe whether real or unreal
(or composed of its
substantiality and vacuity), is a
manifestation of Omniscience; we know
not what is desirable or detestable in it to
be accepted or rejected by
us. (But must submit to the wise ordinance of
providence).
17. It is only by discrimination of the
natures of the viewer and the
view (i.e. of the subjective soul, and the objective world); and by
reflecting the Supreme Soul in one's self,
that the mind receives its
rest and tranquillity.
18. I was freed during my trance, of the
consciousness of my being or
not being, and of whatever is desirable or
detestable to any one; and I
continue also, in the same state of my mind
even after I am awakened.
19. This state being familiar to me, I see
every thing in the spirit
within myself; and I act according as it
pleaseth thee. (I.e. not by
mine but thy will).
20. O lotus-eyed Hari! thou art adored in all
the three worlds;
wherefore it behoveth thee to receive my
adoration also, offered in the
proper form.
21. Saying so, the lord of Dānavas, presented
his platter of presents
(arghya) before the god, as the lord of hills
pays his offerings to the
full-moon. (This hill is the mount of moon
rising, which is hailed and
welcomed by it).
22. He worshipped Hari first of all, together
with his weapons and his
Vehicle Garuda; and then he adored the bands
of the gods and Apsaras
that accompanied him and the three worlds
contained in him.
23. After he had done worshipping the lord of
the worlds, with the
worlds situated within and without him; the
Lord of Laxmī spoke to him
saying:—
24. Rise, O lord of Dānavas! and sit upon
your throne, until I perform
your inauguration this very moment.
25. Hari then blew his pānchajanya shell summoning the five races, of
the gods, siddhas, sādhyas and men and
Daityas, to attend at the
ceremony.
26. After this the lotus-eyed god placed him
on the throne which he
deserved, and whereon he caused him to sit as
cloud rests on the summit
of a mountain.
27. Hari then caused him to make his sacred
ablution, with the waters of
the milky and other oceans; and those of the
Ganges and other holy
rivers, which were presented before him.
28. All bodies of Brāhmans and Rishis, and
all groups of Siddhas and
Vidyādharas; with the Loka-pālas or regents
of the quarters, attended
and assisted at the ceremony.
29. Then Hari the immeasurable Spirit,
anointed the great Asura in the
kingdom of the Daityas; and the Maruta winds
lauded his praise, as they
do the hymns of Hari in heaven.
30. Then blessed by the gods and applauded by
Asuras, Prahlāda greeted
them all in his turn; and was thus addressed
at last by the slayer of
Madhu—the demoniac Satan.
31. The Lord said:—Do thou reign here as sole
monarch, as long as the
mount Meru stands on the earth, and the sun
and moon shine in the sky;
and be fraught with all praiseworthy virtues
of thine own.
32. Govern thy realm without any interested
motive of thy own, and
without showing any symptom of anger or fear
on your part; but preserve
your moderation and a tolerant spirit in all
your affairs.
33. May you never have any disquiet, in this
realm of excellent soil and
plenteous provisions; nor do you create any
disturbance to the gods in
heaven, or to men on earth below.
34. Conduct yourself in your proper course at
all events, which may
occur to you at any time or place; and never
allow yourself to be led
astray, by the caprice of your mind or the
freaks of fancy.
35. Keep in mind your spiritual being, and
abandon your egoism and
selfish views altogether; and then by
managing your affairs in one even
tenor, both in your want and prosperity, you
will evade all the
vicissitudes of fortune.
36. You have seen both the ways and dealings
of this world, and measured
also the immeasurable depth of spiritual
knowledge. You know the state
of every thing in every place, and require no
advice of any body.
37. As you are now perfectly devoid of your
anger, passions and fears,
there is no more any chance of further broils
between the gods and
Asuras, under your rule over them in future.
38. No more will the tears of Asura females,
wash the decorations on
their faces; nor will the currents of rivers
rise as high as lofty
trees, with floods of tears from their
weeping eyes.
39. The cessation of hostilities between the
gods and demons, will
render the earth as quiet from this day, as
the unruffled ocean after
its churning by the Mandara mountain.
40. The wives of the gods and demigods, will
no more be led away in
captivity by one another; but will rest
fearless under the marital roofs
of their husbands in future.
41. Let thy expectations now rise from their
dormancy, of many long
nights of dismal darkness, and be crowned
with success and prosperity;
and do thou, O progeny of Danu! enjoy thy
unconquerable royal fortune,
as in the company of thy charming consort.
CHAPTER XLII.—Spirituality of Prahlāda.
Argument. The merit of hearing the narrative
of Vishnu, and the
cause of Prahlāda's awaking from his trance.
Vasishtha continued:—The lotus-eyed Hari,
having said thus much to
Prahlāda, departed with the whole concourse
of the assembled gods,
Kinnaras and men, from the abode of the
Asura.
2. Then did Prahlāda and his associates throw
handfuls of flowers on the
departing god, as he was mounted on the back
of the king of birds
(Garuda—the eagle or bird of heaven).
3. The god crossed the heavenly Ganges and
reached at the milky ocean,
where he took his serpent couch as the black
bee sits on the lotus-leaf.
4. The God Vishnu sat on his serpent seat
with as much ease, as Indra
sits in heaven in the assembly of the gods;
and as the lord of the
demons, was made to sit in the infernal
region wholly devoid of all his
cares.
5. I have now related to you, Rāma! the whole
narrative of Prahlāda's
coming to his sense, from the state of his
insensibility; and this
account is as charming to the holy hearer, as
the cooling moon-beams are
refreshing to the tired traveller.
6. The man that ponders in his mind, the manner
of Prahlāda's
resuscitation to life; is regenerated in that
felicitous state, from the
sinfulness of his former condition.
7. A cursory rehearsal of his narration,
wipes off the sins of men;
while the deep consideration of its spiritual
sense, leads one to his
eternal salvation.
8. The ignorant are released from their
ignorance, and the deep thinker
is released from his sins; therefore do not
neglect to ponder well on
it, for the remission of all your sins.
9. The man who considers well the manner of Prahlāda's
gaining his
proficiency, gets a remission of all the sins
committed by him in his
repeated previous states of life.
10. Rāma said:—Tell me sir, how the sound of
the pānchajanya conch
shell, roused the mind of the devout Prahlāda
from its immersion in holy
meditation.
11. Vasishtha replied:—Know Rāma, that there
are two states of
liberation attending on sinless persons, the
one is the emancipation of
one in his embodied state in this life, and
the other is after his
departure from here.
12. The embodied liberation means one's
continuance in his living body,
but with a state of mind freed from its
attachment to worldly things,
and liberated from the desire of fruition and
reward of all his
meritorious acts.
13. The disembodied liberation is obtained
after the soul is released
from the body, and is settled in the Supreme
Spirit. It is an
enfranchisement from the recurrence of future
life and birth in this
mortal world.
14. The living liberated man is like a fried
grain, whose regerminating
power is parched within itself, and the
desire of whose heart is
purified from every expectation of future
reward or regeneration.
15. He remains in the pure, holy and
magnanimous state of his mind, who
resigns himself solely to the meditation of
the Great soul, and
continues as if he were asleep in his living
and waking states.
16. Being thus entranced in his inward
meditation, he continues in a
torpid state for a thousand years, and wakes
again to his senses, if he
is allowed to live long ever after that
period.
17. Prahlāda remained thus with his holy
thoughts suppressed within
himself, until he was roused from his trance
by the shrill sound of the
conch-shell.
18. Hari is the soul of all beings, and he
who assimilates himself to
that god in his thought; becomes identified
with the supreme soul, which
is the cause of all.
19. No sooner the god thought that Prahlāda
should come to his sense,
than his sensation came immediately to him at
the divine will.
20. The world has no other cause, but the
divine spirit; which with the
assistance of the causal elements, takes
different forms on itself at
the time of creation; and therefore it is the
spirit of Hari that
constitutes the world.
21. The worship of God in spirit, presents
Hari to the spiritual sight;
and the worship of Hari in his outward form,
represents the figure to
the soul and the inner mind.
22. Do you, O Rāma! put out the visible
sights from your view, and look
at the inmost soul within yourself; being
thus accustomed to spiritual
meditation, you will soon have the sight of
your God.
23. The world presents a scene of the gloomy
rainy weather, with showers
of woes falling on all sides; it is likely to
freeze us in ignorance,
unless we look to the sun of our reason (or,
unless we abide under the
sunshine of reason).
24. It is by grace of God that we can avoid
the delusions of the world,
as we may escape from a goblin by means of a
spell.
25. It is at the will of the spirit, that the
thick darkness of the
mind, is dispersed and cleared off in time;
the world is a network of
delusion, which is scattered like a smoke by
the breeze of reason.
CHAPTER XLIII.—Rest and Repose of Prahlāda.
Argument. All knowledge is derived by one's
own attention and
personal exertion, joined with his reliance
on the grace of God.
Rāma said:—Sir, your knowledge of all truths,
and the light of your
holy discourses, have gratified me as much,
as the cooling moon-beams
gratify the medicinal plants (whence the moon
is called oshadhīsa or
lord of medicinal drugs).
2. Your gentle and purifying words are as
gratifying to my ears, as the
beautiful and sweet flowers delight the
external senses (by their
colours and odours). (Sweet words are often
compared with flowers by
Persian and Urdu poets: as, guleazrouzeijaved. Elahikar sakhur meriko
up phol.)
3. Sir, if the exertions of men, as you said,
be the causes of their
success, how was it that Prahlāda came to be
enlightened without his
effort or attempt? (in obtaining his divine
knowledge without his
learning or help of a preceptor).
4. Vasishtha replied:—Yes Rāma, it was by his
manly exertion, that the
highminded Prahlāda had acquired his divine
knowledge; and there was no
other cause (of his knowing and having
whatever he knew and possessed).
5. The soul of man is the same as the spirit
of Nārāyana, (which means
abiding in man); and there is no difference
between them, as there is
none between the oil and the sesamum seed;
and as the cloth and its
whiteness, and the flower and its fragrance
are not distinct things.
(Because the spirit of God was breathed into
the nostrils of man.
Nārāyana and Purusha both mean the spirit
dwelling in man).
6. And Vishnu is the same with his spirit or
the soul of man, and the
human soul is the same with Vishnu (which
means the inherent spirit);
Vishnu and the soul are synonymous terms as
the plant and the vegetable.
7. Prahlāda came at first to know the soul by
himself (of his own
intuition), it was afterwards by means of his
intellectual power, that
he was led to the persuasion and made many
proselytes after his own
example.
8. It was by his own desert, that Prahlāda
obtained his boon from
Vishnu; and it was by the exercise of his own
reasoning, that he came to
the knowledge of the eternal Mind.
9. Sometimes the soul is awakened of itself
by one's own intuition, and
at others it is roused by the grace of the
personal god Vishnu, owing to
one's faith in his person. (As it is said:
"Thy faith will save thee").
10. And though this god may be pleased with
his prolonged service and
devout worship, yet he is unable to confer
spiritual knowledge to one
devoid of his reasoning faculty. (Or to one
who has no understanding.
Hence gross idolators can have no salvation,
which is to be had by
spiritual knowledge only. Blind faith is of
no good, without the light
of reason).
11. Hence the primary cause of spiritual
light is the intelligence of a
man and which is gained by exertion of his
mental powers only; the
secondary causes may be the blessing and
grace of a deity, but I wish
you to prefer the former one for your
salvation. (So it is knowledge and
intrinsic merit which exalt a man, and not
the mere favour of a patron,
is ever able to raise the unworthy).
12. Exert therefore your manliness at first,
to keep the quintuple
organs of sense under proper control; and
habituate yourself with all
diligence to cultivate your understanding,
and the power of reasoning.
13. For know whatever gain any one makes at
any time, it is owing to his
own endeavours only that he gains the same,
and not by any other means
whatever.
14. It is only by dependence on your manly
powers, that you can surmount
the insuperable barriers of your sensual
appetites; and then by crossing
over the ocean of this world, reach to the
other shore of supreme
felicity.
15. It requires no exertion or manly effort
to see the figure of Vishnu;
but the mere sight of the image is not
sufficient to save you, or else
the birds and beasts would all be saved by
looking at it.
16. If it were in the power of the spiritual
guide also to save his
foolish followers by his preachings; it would
be possible also to the
leaders of camels and kine, to save their
herds in their future lives.
(This figure is set in many temples, and in
stones also).
17. It is in the power of the mind only to
acquire anything good for
one's self, and not the favour of Hari or
that of Hara, or the influence
of money, that is able to effect anything.
18. It is by means of constant practice,
accompanied by self-resignation
and self-control, that one is enabled to
effect anything; and whatever
he is unable to do by these means, is
impossible for him to do by any
other in the three worlds.
19. Look to the spirit in the spirit, and
adore the spirit in your own
soul; behold the supreme soul in yourself,
and have the universal soul
in your own soul, and thus remain with it.
20. Fools flying from attending to the
sāstras, or practising their
self-devotion and exercise of reason, have
adopted to themselves the
Vaishnava faith as a path leading to their
better being (or a means
towards the great object of final beatitude).
21. Practice and diligence are said to be
steps to self-edification, and
rites and ceremonies are represented as
secondary courses resorted to
for want of the former!
22. The senses being refractory what is the
good of ceremonial
observances, and these being under control,
it is useless to observe the
ritual. (In both ways the rituals are useless
to men of virtuous and
vicious habits; the former being in no need,
of them and the latter not
benefiting by them).
23. Without rationality and dispassionateness
of his spirit, it is hard
to have Hari (or spiritual felicity); and
when there is the cool and
calm reasoning of the mind, it is as useless
to have the idol of Hari,
as to place a lotus in the hand of the dead
and liberated.
24. When you have the qualities of
abstraction and composure in your
mind, think you have every thing in yourself;
for these being in your
possession, you become an adept, or else you
are an ass of the forest.
(that is good for nothing).
25. Men are eager to find favour in the sight
of the gods (and great
men); but they do not seek the favour of
their hearts and minds (which
can give them whatever blessing is derived
from any other).
26. Vishnu the indwelling spirit of the body,
is situated in the inmost
soul of every individual; it is the ignorant
fool only that forsake the
innermost Vishnu, and seek the outer form for
its leading to the other
(which is more closely allied to us than the
latter).
27. The consciousness dwelling in the cavity
of the heart, is the true
body of the everlasting spirit; and the
outward form of Vishnu, holding
the conchshell, cudgel, lotus and the discus,
is but a false
representation of it. (A fabrication of the
ignorant for the immaterial
spirit, in a material form).
28. He who forsakes the real form, and
follows the fictitious one, lets
off the ambrosia pass from his hand, in
pursuit of some promised
confectionary.
29. He who is not settled amidst the charming
scenery of his spiritual
meditation, lets his frantic mind to rove at
large, after every object
that presents itself before him.
30. He who has not the abstract knowledge of
the soul in himself, is
under the subjection of his infatuated mind;
and worships the image
bearing the conch, discus, club and lotus in
its hands, as the supreme
Lord and God.
31. It is by practice of continued austerity,
and a prolonged worship of
this deity, that the mind of the devotee becomes
purified in process of
time, and gets rid of its turbulent passions
at last.
32. But the daily practice of self-control
and abstract meditation,
gives the mind the same purity, and like the
āmra or mango fruit, it
gets its accompanying virtues one by one.
(The virtues of the mango are
its flavour, colour &c.).
33. So the soul is said to get in itself the
virtues of peace,
contentment and the rest, by means of the
external adoration of Hari;
and it is for this reason that the practice
of idol worship is
prescribed in the sāstras. (As a preparatory
step to holiness and
spiritual worship).
34. He who obtains his boon from the all
powerful god, gets it in reward
of his merit; as a fruit of the tree of his
long practice.
35. It is mental labour (lit.: painstaking),
which is the foundation of
every improvement, and of all lasting good in
life; just as the
cultivated soil is the cause of the good
condition of the harvest.
36. Even the digging of the ground, and the
pulling of the hill (by
bodily labour), is productive of no good without
application of the
mind. (Gloss. The digging of the ground
alludes to the mining of the
earth by the sons of Sagara; and the pulling
of the hill refers to the
churning of the sea with Mandara by the gods
and demons. Both these
hardy works were for the sake of obtaining
the gems hid under them which
required knowledge (of geology)).
37. Men may undergo a thousand
transmigrations, and wander about the
earth in various births and shapes, and yet
find no rest composure of
their minds.
38. They may worship Brahmā, Vishnu and the
Rudras for ever, and gain
their favour also, and yet can have no
salvation owing to the perturbed
state of their minds.
39. Leave off worshipping the visible form or
image of Vishnu (or any
other god), either internally or externally
in your mind or before your
sight; and put an end to your transmigration,
by meditating on your
consciousness alone.
40. Behold the unsullied form of One infinite
God in your conscious
self, and by forsaking all whatever it is
conscious of. Relish the sweet
essence of the one real entity, and go over
the ocean of repeated births
in the mortal world.
CHAPTER XLIV.—Narrative of Gādhi and his Destruction.
Argument. Narrative of Gādhi in illustration
of the Adoration of
Vishnu.
Vasishtha said:—Rāma; it is the government of
the restless mind alone,
that is able to destroy the delusion, which
causes the interminable
transmigrations in this mortal world. There
is no other means to this
end.
2. Hear attentively, O sinless Rāma! this
story which I am going to
relate to you, in order to show you the
intricacy of understanding the
nature of worldly delusions.
3. There is the large district of Kosala on
the surface of this land,
which is full of forests and fruitful trees,
forming as groves of Kalpa
arbors; and abounding with minerals like the
Sumeru mountain.
4. There lived a learned Brāhman, known by
the name of Gādhi; who was
intelligent and versed in the Vedas, and
remained as an image of virtue.
5. From his youth he continued with the
calmness of his mind, and
remained abstracted from and indifferent to
worldly affairs; and was of
as pure and unsullied a soul as the clear sky
above.
6. Then intent on some fixed purpose of his
mind, he left the company of
his friends, and went out to a forest to
perform his austere devotion.
7. He found there a lake filled with
full-blown lotuses, and the moon
shining in the sky with the scattered stars
about her; and all shedding
their lustre like showers of rain.
8. He went down into the lake, and stood in
the midst of the waters up
to his neck; his body was below water, and
his head floated over it as a
lotus; and he stood upon his devotion, intent
with a view to have the
sight of Vishnu present before him.
9. He thus passed full eight months,
continuing with his body immerged
in the water of the lake; and his face was
shrivelled and wan, like the
lotuses of his lake for want of sun shine.
10. When he was emaciated by his austerities,
his god Hari appeared
before him, in the manner of a dark cloud of
the rainy weather,
appearing over the parched earth of the hot
season.
11. The Lord said:—Rise O Brāhman! from
amidst the water, and receive
thy desired blessing of me; because the tree
of thy vow, is now pregnant
with its expected fruit.
12. The Brāhman replied:—I bow to thee, O my
lord Vishnu! thou art the
receptacle of the three worlds, and the
reservoir of innumerable starry
worlds, which rise as lotuses in the lake of
thy heart, and whereon thou
sittest like the black bee (to behold their
beauty).
13. I want to behold my lord, the spiritual
delusion which thou hast
ordained to blind fold this world, and known
as Vishnu Māyā.
14. Vasishtha said:—To this the god
replied:—you shall verily behold
this delusion, and get rid of it afterwards,
by virtue of thy devotion.
Saying so, the god disappeared from his sight
as an aerial castle.
15. Vishnu being gone, the good Brāhman got
up from his watery bed, in
the manner of the fair and humid moon, rising
from amidst the cool and
white milky ocean.
16. He was glad in his soul at the sight of
the lord of world, and his
heart was as full blown with joy; as the
Kumuda (selenian) lotuses
unfold at the sight of the moon.
17. He then passed some days in that forest,
overjoyed in his mind by
the sight of Hari, and employed himself in
discharge of his Brāhmanical
duties.
18. Once on a time as he had been bathing in
the lake, overspread with
full-blown lotuses, he thought upon the words
of Vishnu, as the great
sages reflect in their minds the sense of
texts of Vedas.
19. Then in the act of his discharging his
sacerdotal functions in the
midst of sacred water, he made his mental
prayer for the expurgation of
his sins. (This is the ceremony
agha-marshna).
20. As he was performing this act in the
midst of the water, he chanced
to forget his sacred mantras (texts), and was
drowned in deep water in
the confusion of his mind.
21. He thought that his body had fallen down
like a mountain tree, in
the dale below by a blast of wind; and that
his dead corpse was taken up
and mourned over by his friends.
22. He thought that his vital breath had fled
away from his being, and
the members of his body were as motionless as
the shrubs of sugar cane;
laid down on the ground by a hurricane.
23. He thought his countenance to have faded
away, and grown as pale as
the withered leaf of a tree; and that his
body now turned to a carcass,
was lying on the ground like a lotus-bud torn
from its stalk.
24. His eye balls were as dull and dim, as
the stars of the morning are
shorn of their beams; and the ground seemed
to be as dry to him as in a
drought of rain water, and filled with flying
dust on all sides.
25. He believed his dead body was beset all
about by his kind friends,
weeping upon it with their sad and sorrowful
countenances, and loudly
lamenting and crying over it like birds upon
trees.
26. He thought his faithful wife sitting at
his feet as handsome lotus
flower, and weeping as profusely with a
shower of tears from her
lotus-like eyes, as the rushing of waters at
the breaking of an
embankment.
27. His sorrowing mother with her loud
wailing and mournful ditties, was
buzzing like the humming bee; and holding the
chin newly over-grown with
whiskers in her tender hand.
28. His friends were sitting by his side with
their dejected looks, and
with trickling tears dropping down their faces
and cheeks; and these
washed his dead body, as the melting dews on
withered leaves, bedew the
parent tree.
29. The members of his body now ceased to
befriend him, like strangers
who decline to become friends for fear of
future separation, or turning
unfriendly ever afterwards in life.
30. The open lips leaving the teeth bare,
seemed to deride at the vanity
of human life; as the white and bony-teethed
ascetics and cynics do on
fickleness of worldly events.
31. His mouth was as speechless, as that of a
devotee in his meditation;
and the body was as motionless, as it was
made of mud and clay; it slept
to wake no more, like a sage absorbed in his
hypnotism.
32. It remained quiet with its lifted ears,
as if to listen to the cries
and wailings of the mourning friends; in
order to judge the degrees of
their affection and grief for him.
33. Then the relatives raised their loud
lamentations, with the sobbing
and beating of their breasts, swooning and
rising, and shedding floods
of tears from their leaky eyes.
34. Afterwards the sorrowful relations,
removed the disgusting corpse
with their bitter cries for its funeral,
seeing it no more in future in
this passing world.
35. Then they bore the body to the funeral
ground with its rotten flesh
and entrails, and daubed all over with mud
and dust, and placed it on
the ground, strewn over with unnumbered bones
and skeletons, and dried
and rotten carcasses.
36. Flights of flying vultures shaded the
sunbeams on high, and the
burning piles drove the darkness below; the
fearful glare of open
mouthed jackals flashed on all sides, as they
were flames of living
fire.
37. There the ravens were bathed in floods of
blood, and the crows
dipping their wings in it; ravenous birds
were tearing the entrails, and
the old vultures were entrapped in those
strings.
38. The friends of the dead burnt the corpse
in the funeral flame and
reduced to ashes; and the moisture of the
body flew in fumes, as the
waters of the ocean are evaporated by the
marine fire.
39. The burning wood of the funeral pile,
consumed the dead body with
loud cracking noise; and the dry fuel of the
pile, flashed in ambient
flames with curling smoke over them.
40. The devouring fire gnawed down the bones
with crackling noise, and
filled the atmosphere with the filthy stink
and stench. It gorged up all
that was soft or hard, as the elephant
devours the reeds with the
moisture contained in their cellular vessels.
CHAPTER XLV.—Gādhi reborn as a Chandāla, and made king
over the Kir
Tribe.
Argument. Gādhi reborn in a Chandalī, His Life
and Election as
King of Kir.
Vasishtha said:—Then Gādhi, standing as he
was amidst the water with
his sorrowful heart, saw many other
occurrences in the clearness of his
mind.
2. He saw a village in the vicinity of Bhuta
mandala (Butan) full of its
inhabitants, and that he was reborn there in
the womb of a Chandāla
woman, in which he remained with great pain.
3. Confined in the cavity of the womb, he
felt his body pressed by the
pressure of the intestines, while his senses
were sorely annoyed by
being constrained to abide the stink of the
ordure and filth in the
intestinal parts of Chandāla woman.
4. After the foetus was matured, he was born
in proper time, with its
black complexion like a dark cloud of the
rainy season, and soiled with
filth all over its body.
5. It grew up to childhood and then to
boyhood in the Chandāla's house,
and moved about here and there like a pebble
thrown up by the current of
the Yamuna stream.
6. It reached its twelfth and then its
sixteenth year of age, and had
its body fully developed like a rainy cloud
increasing in its size.
7. Then accompanied by a pack of hounds, the
lad roved from one forest
to another, and continued to hunt after and
kill the wild deer, in his
occupation of a huntsman.
8. He was then joined with a Candāli spouse,
as black as the leaf of a
tamāla plant, and who with her budding
breasts, and palms, resembled the
newly sprouting stalks and leaves of trees.
9. She was black and swarthy in her whole
complexion, except her two
rows of milk white teeth, and had all her
limbs as brisk and supple as
the tender creepers of the forest.
10. They sported together in the skirts of
the forest in their youthful
dalliance, and wandered about the flowery
meadows, like a couple of
nigrescent bees.
11. When tired they took their seats on beds
of leaves and creepers,
which were spread over the plains, like those
strewn over the skirts of
the Vindhya hills, by the driving winds.
12. They reposed in woodland groves, and
slept in the caverns of
mountains; they sat on heaps of leaflets, and
had their abode under
shrubberies and bowers of creeping plants.
13. They decorated their heads with kinkirata flowers, and their necks
and bosoms with blossoms of various kinds.
They hung ketaka flowers
in
their earholes, and made necklaces of amra florets.
14. They rolled on beds of flowers and roved
about the foot of the
mountain; they knew all the arbours where to
resort, and were skilled in
archery and hunting the deer.
15. They begot many children as the offshoots
of their race in the hilly
region; and they were as rude and rough as
the prickly thorns of the
khadira plant.
16. After passing their youth in family life,
they came gradually to
their decay and decline; till at last they
were overtaken by decrepit
old age, which was as dry of pleasure as the
parched ground of the
desert.
17. Then returning to their native village in
the Bhuta or Bhota
district, they built for themselves a poor
hut of leaves and straws, and
there lived as recluse hermits (passing their
lives in holy devotion).
18. Gādhi found his body worn out with age,
and grown as thin and lean
as a dry leaf, and as a withered tamāla tree
growing in a mountain cave;
which for want of moisture soon dwindles into
decrepitude.
19. He saw his Chandāla family increasing in
its members, and himself
becoming cramped in his means and crabbed in
his speech in his extreme
old age.
20. As Gādhi found himself to be the oldest
man alive among the
Chandālas, and had his comfort in the members
of his family in his
dotage:—
21. He came to see at last all his family to
be swept away by the cruel
hand of death, as the rain water carries away
the fallen leaves of the
forest.
22. He continued to lament over their loss,
with his heart rent with
sorrow; and his eyes were suffused in tears,
like those of a stag deer
separated from its companions.
23. Thus passing some days in that forest
with his heart overflown with
grief, he left at last his natal land, as the
aquatic fowls quit their
native lake, when its waters and the lotus
plants are dried up.
24. He travelled through many countries with
his sad and sickly heart,
without finding a spot of rest and repose;
and was driven to and fro, as
a cloud is carried by contrary winds.
25. On one time he entered the opulent city
of the Kirs, and observed
the birds flying over it, like so many
balloons hanging in the air.
26. There he saw rows of trees on both sides
of the road, waving their
variegated leaves and clusters of flowers
like enamelled cloths and
gems; and the path strewn over with beautiful
flowers of various kinds
up to the heels.
27. He then came to the royal road,
resembling the milky path of heaven;
and found it filled by soldiers and citizens,
and their women without
number.
28. He saw there the auspicious royal
elephant decorated with its
gemming and embroidered trappings; and
appearing as the golden mountain
of the gods moving on the earth.
29. He learnt it to be rambling about in
search of a new king, to be
elected in lieu of the last king who was
lately dead. The royal elephant
was employed as a jeweller to select the best
gem to be placed on the
royal throne.
30. The Chandāla remained to look steadfastly
on the elephant with his
curious eye, and found it to be no other than
a hill in motion.
31. As he was looking on it with amazement,
the elephant came to him and
lifted him with his trunk; then setting him
on his head with respect,
bore him as the mount Meru bears the sun on
its top.
32. Seeing him to be sitting on the animal's
head, the people sounded
their trumpets; the noise whereof was as loud
as that of the resounding
ocean, to the roaring of the diluvian clouds
in the sky.
33. Then the acclamation of 'Victory to the
king,' rose from the
assembled throng and filled the air around;
and seemed as it were the
united cry of matutinal birds over the waking
(or rising) world.
34. Next rose the loud voices of the
panegyrists, which, moved in the
air like the dashing waves of the sea.
35. Then the matrons joined to anoint him as
their king, and moved about
him like the waves of the sea; surrounding
the Mandara mountain after
its labour of churning.
36. The respectable ladies adorned him
afterwards with many ornaments of
various gems, as the sea laves the rock on
its shore; with the many
coloured waves under the beams of the rising
sun.
37. Youthful maidens poured cooling ointments
on him, as the raining
clouds pour down their waters, on the tops of
mountains.
38. Other women decorated his person with
wreaths of fragrant flowers,
with their tender hands; as the season of
spring adorns the forest with
variety of flowers, with her hands of the
tender stalks and branches.
39. They put a great many paints and pastes
upon his person, which
decorated it, as the rays of the sun, paint
the mountain with the many
colours of its minerals.
40. His body being decorated with ornaments
made of gems and gold,
attracted all hearts unto him; as the mount
Meru is attractive of all
hearts, by the variegated clouds of evening
shining upon it.
41. He was adorned by beauteous maids, with
shoots of creeping plants;
which gave him the appearance of the kalpa
tree, entwined by its
creepers.
42. Being thus anointed and decorated, he was
attended to by all the
royal family and subjects; as a shady and
flowering tree, is resorted to
by the travellers.
43. They all assembled and installed him on
the throne, as the gods join
together, to place Indra on the throne, after
he is borne on the back of
the Airāvata elephant.
44. In this manner, was the Chandāla made a
king in the city of the
Kirs; and he was as much overjoyed at his
unexpected good fortune, as a
raven is delighted to find a stout dead deer
in the forest.
45. His feet were rubbed by the lotus like
hands of the Kiri queen, and
his body daubed with odorous powder of
frankincense, which gave it the
brightening appearance of the evening with
the crimson clouds.
46. He flaunted in the Kir city and in the
midst of their women, as a
lion struts in the company of lionesses in
the flowery forest.
47. He now forgot his former pains and
sorrows; and his person was as
much cooled, as by wearing a necklace of
pearls, dropped from the heads
of elephants killed by lions. And he was as
much delighted at the
enjoyment of the luxuries in company with
these good people, as a
sun-burnt elephant is refreshed, in a lake
full of water and forage.
48. He reigned here for sometime in his
self-gotten kingdom, having
extended his power and mandates on all sides;
he ruled the state through
the medium of the ministers, and was himself
known by the name of Gāvala
throughout his dominions.
CHAPTER XLVI.—Gādhi's Loss of his Visionary Kingdom.
Argument. Continuation of Gādhi's Vision:—
Vasishtha continued:—Thus was Gādhi
surrounded by his courtiers, and
attended by his ministers; the chiefs paid
their homage to him, and the
royal umbrella was raised above his head and
the chowry flapped about
him.
2. He attained great dignity on seeing his
mandates were carried out on
every side. He was delighted to learn the
state affairs, and to be
informed that his subjects were happy and
lived fearless within his
dominion.
3. The paeans of the panegyrists, made him
forget himself and his former
state; and the excess of his delight, made
him as giddy as if by
intoxication.
4. He reigned for full eight years over the
Kiri kingdom, and managed
himself in an honourable manner all along
that time.
5. He was once sitting at his pleasure and
without his regal attire in
the open air; and was looking at the clear
firmament, which was devoid
of clouds and darkness, and without the light
of the sun, moon and
stars.
6. His heart was full with the enjoyment of
royal dignity, and did not
think much of the trinkets and ornaments,
which were loaded upon him.
7. He went abroad at one time in this naked
state of his body, and
beheld the setting sun bending his course
below the horizon from his
wonted path of glory. (The setting sun refers
to his present state and
his impending fall).
8. He saw there a band of chandālas of black
complexions and big bodies,
singing like melodious cuckoos the approach
of the vernal season.
9. They were striking the strings of their
wired instruments—lyre, with
the strokes of their trembling fingers; as
the swarm of sweet sounding
bees, shake the tremulous leaves of trees
with their fluttering and
buzzing.
10. There stood an old man among them, who
seemed to be the leader of
the band; and appeared with his grey head and
ruby eyes, like the mount
Meru with his snow covered top and gemming
caverns.
11. He accosted the king saying:—How is it, O
Kālanjaka! that you came
to be here, has the king of this place taken
you for his associate on
account of your skill in music?
12. Does he take a liking for sweet
songsters, as they do for the
musical kokilas, and does he load upon them
his favours, with presents
of household cloths and seats?
13. I am as much glad to see you here today
(in this happy condition of
yours), as men are pleased to see the mango
tree, fraught with its
fruits and flowers in spring.
14. I am as glad in my heart as the budding
lotus at the sight of the
rising sun, and the selenian or medicinal
plants at moon rise; and as
great men are pleased with all their best
gains, so am I pleased at
seeing thee here, because the highest limit
of joys is the sight of a
friend.
15. As the Chandāla was addressing the king
in the said manner, he
acquainted him of the manner in which the
wheel of time turned to his
favour. (Here is a misprint of avadhīrana for
avadhārana, which would
alter the meaning and express, that he felt
ashamed at the speech).
16. At this instant his consorts and servants
that were standing at the
window, overheard their conversation, and
were in deep sorrow to learn
that he was a Chandāla by birth.
17. They were as sick at heart as the
lotus-flowers under a shower of
frost, and as a tract of land under a
draught; and the citizens were as
cheerless upon learning this, as upon seeing
the conflagration of a
mountain wood.
18. He hurled his defiance at these words of
the old Chandāla, as the
lion lying on the ground, shows his teeth at
the sneering of a cat on
the top of a tree.
19. He fled in haste into the inner
apartment, and among its sorrowful
inmates, with as much palpitation of his
heart, as the reluctant swan
enters a lake of withering lotuses, in the
dry season.
20. His limbs grew stiff, and his countenance
became pale with fear; and
his knees tottered with inward rage, as the
trunks of trees shake with
the burning fire in their hollows. (The sami or sāin tree
is an
instance of it. Gloss).
21. He beheld all persons there sitting in a
melancholy mood, with their
downcast looks and drooping heads; like the
bending tops of plants,
eaten up at the root by mice and rats.
22. The ministers, the ladies of the harem
and all people of the city,
refrained from touching his person, as they
avoid the touch of a dead
body lying in the house.
23. The servants ceased to minister unto him,
and the ladies with all
their love and sorrow for him, loathed his
company.
24. They looked upon his cheerless face and
dark complexion with its
departed lustre, as the funeral ground which
every one loathes to look
upon.
25. Though the people sorrowed for his
darksome body, now smoking with
fumes of his grief; yet they durst not approach
his person, which
appeared to burn as a volcano amidst its
smoke.
26. The courtiers left him with the heavings
of their hearts, nor were
his orders obeyed any more, than those of
quenching the cool ashes with
water.
27. The people fled from him as from a
heinous Rākshasa, who is the
cause of evil and danger only.
28. Thus was he shunned by all, and left
lonesome amidst the populous
city; and became as an unbefriended traveller
passing through a foreign
country, without money or skill to support
him.
29. Though he called and accosted every body,
yet he got no answer from
any one; as the hollow sounding reed, is
never returned with a reply by
any of the passers by.
30. They all said to one another, that the
guilt of their long
association with the Chandāla, cannot be expiated
by any other penance,
than by the act of burning themselves alive
on the funeral pile in the
form of self-immolation.
31. Being so resolved, the ministers and
citizens all joined together,
and raised for themselves piles with heaps of
dry wood.
32. These being lighted, blazed all about the
ground like stars in the
sky, and the city was filled with loud
wailings of the people all
around.
33. The wailing wives were shedding showers
of tears with their loud and
piteous cries; and the weeping people were
heaving their heavy groans
with their choked voices, all about the
burning furnaces.
34. The plaintive cries of the dependants of
the self-cremating
ministers, rose as the swell of whistling
winds amidst the forest trees.
35. The bodies of great Brāhmans, that were
burnt on the piles, sent
forth their fatted fumes in the air; which
were scattered about by the
winds, and overcast the landscape as with a
portentous mist.
36. The winds bore aloft and spread far and
wide in the open sky, the
stench of the burning fat and flesh of men;
which invited flocks of the
flying fowls of the air to the feast, and the
disk of the sun was hid
under the wide extending shadow of the winged
tribe.
37. The flame of the burning pile, borne by
the winds to the sky, burned
as a conflagration on high; and the flying
sparks of fire scattered in
the air, appeared as falling meteors blazing
in the horizon.
38. Here the helpless boys were crying for
their ornaments being robbed
by atrocious robbers, owing to their want of
guardians; and there the
citizens were threatened with the loss both
of their lives and
properties by the dacoits.
39. On one side the people were seen to
lament the loss of their
relatives (in the destructive fire); on the
other were the bands of
thieves, lurking and prying unobserved about
the houses for plunder and
booty.
40. As adverse fate brought on this direful
change on the devoted city;
its horrified inhabitants remained in mute
amazement; as on the last
doom of nature.
41. Gavala, the Chandāla prince, whose mind
was purified and whose
manners were refined in the society of the
great men of the palace;
witnessed the sad catastrophe of the state,
and mourned in himself with
a pensive heart.
42. It is all owing to me, said he, that all
this woe has befallen on
this state; and that time has brought on the
untimely dissolution of the
doomsday; both on this realm and the royal
family and its ministerial
officers.
43. What is the good of this miserable life
of mine? My death is a
blessing to me than living in this wretched
state. It is better for the
mean and base to die away, than live to be
reviled by others.
44. Thus resolved, Gavala prepared a pile for
himself, and made an
offering of his body in the burning furnace,
like the poor moth dropping
on fire, without betraying a sigh.
45. As Gavala cast his body (nicknamed as
Gavala) amidst the flame, and
was pulling his limbs singed by the fire;
their violent motion and his
painful emotion, roused the dreaming Gādhi
from his reverie amidst the
water.
46. Vālmīki said:—As the sage was saying
these things, the day departed
with the setting sun to its evening devotion;
the congregation broke
with mutual salutations, for the performance
of their evening ablutions,
and assembled again with the rising sun after
dispersion of the gloom of
night.
CHAPTER XLVII.—Verification of Gādhi's Vision.
Argument. Gādhi learns from a guest the
report of the Keri
people, and goes out to inquire into the fact
on the spot.
Vasishtha resumed:—Gādhi was soon afterwards
relieved from the
perturbation of his mind at the delusions of
the world; and he was set
at rest from his perturbed state, like the
disturbed sea after
subsidence of its waves.
2. His mind being freed from its painful
thoughts, regained its repose
after the troublesome dream, had passed away,
and he resumed his
calmness, as the god Brahmā had his rest,
after the labour of his
creation was over at the end of the kalpa
(the time of his creative will
or the duration of creation).
3. He regained his senses slowly, as a man
upon waking from his sleep;
and as one gains his sobriety after the
passing off of his ebriety.
4. He then said to himself, I am the same
Gādhi and in the same function
(of my sacred ablution in the water). All this
is nothing that I had
been seeing so long, and this I see as
clearly as men see things after
dispersion of the shade of night.
5. Remembering himself what he was (i.e. coming to himself), he lifted
his feet from amidst the water (i.e. got out of it); as the lotus-bud
lifts its head above the water, after the
frost is over in spring.
6. He said again, this is the same water, sky
and earth (where I stood
before); but what I was just seeing, is quite
astonishing to me.
7. What am I and what do I see now, and what
was I and had been doing
all this time? With these thoughts he
remained a long time with his
knitted brows and staring eyes.
8. It was my weakness, said he, that showed
me this delusion; and
knowing it for certain, he came out of the
water, as the rising sun
appears above the horizon.
9. Then rising on the bank, he said:—Ah!
where is that mother and wife
of mine, who attended on me at the moment of
my death.
10. Or were my parents dead in the ignorant
state of my boyhood, like
the parent plant of a young shoot, cut off by
the sword of death?
11. I am unmarried and know not the form of a
wife, and am as ignorant
of conjugal love, as a Brāhman is stranger to
the pernicious taste of
forbidden liquors.
12. I am too far from my country and know
none of my friends and
relatives; unto whom I shall return and there
to die.
13. Therefore all these scenes that I have
come to see, are no more than
the forms of the fairy land pictured in my
fancy.
14. Be it as it may, all this is but delusion
and dream, and we are
living dead among our friends; it is all
magic and delusion, and nothing
is true or real herein.
15. Our minds are as wild beasts, roaming
furiously in the forest of
error; which presents endless scenes of
delusion to living beings at
large.
16. Reflecting on these delusions in his
mind, Gādhi passed some days at
his own house amidst the woods.
17. Once on a time he happened to entertain a
Brāhman at his house as
his guest, who resorted there to take his
rest from his travels.
18. He was highly gratified with feasting
upon fruits and syrup of
flowers, and was as refreshed supplied with
sap as the tree which is
supplied by the bounteous spring, and shoots
forth in its foliage and
fruitage in time.
19. They then performed their evening
service, and turned their beads,
and afterwards took to their beds made of
tender leaves and grass.
20. There they began to talk on divine
subjects, with which they were
conversant; and the words fell from the lips,
like the sweets of the
vernal season.
21. Then Gādhi asked his guest in the course
of their conversation,
saying: why is it sir, that you are so thin
and lean and appear to lie
so very weary.
22. The guest replied:—Hear me sir, relate to
you the cause both of my
leanness and weariness, and I will tell you
the true facts, and not as a
travelling teller of tales deals and lies.
23. There is on the surface of this land, and
in the woody tracts of the
north, the great district of the Kir
(Kirgis?), which is far renowned
for its richness. (Kir the land of the Gees
in Afghanistan).
24. I lived in the city there; and was
honoured by its inhabitants, and
the gust of my soul and mind were mightily
pleased with the variety of
dainty food that I used to get there.
25. There it was once related to me by some
one in the way of gossip,
that a chandāla had once been the king of
that country for the space of
eight years.
26. I inquired of the village people about
the truth of this report, and
they all told me with one voice, that a
chandāla, had really reigned
there for full eight years.
27. But being discovered at last as such, he
immolated himself on the
burning pile; which was followed by the
self-immolation of hundreds of
Brāhmans on the funeral pyre.
28. Hearing this news from their mouths, I
departed from that district,
intending, O Brāhman, to do my penance, by
making a pilgrimage to
Prayāga (Allahabad, on the doab or confluence
of the two sacred streams
of Gangā and Jamuna).
29. I made my chāndrāyana fast for three days and nights, and had to
break my fast only this day. It is for this
reason, that have become so
very thin and lean, as you find me at
present.
30. Vasishtha said:—Gādhi on hearing this,
made a hundred inquiries of
his guest about the matter, to which he
answered everything in
verification of the fact.
31. Gādhi was quite surprised at this
narration, and passed the night
till sunrise in great palpitation of his
heart.
32. Waking in the morning, he made his
ablution and discharged his
matins; then took leave of his guest, and
began to reflect in himself
with his bewildered understanding.
33. He said to himself, what I saw in my
delusion, is ratified as a fact
by my Brāhman guest. I am puzzled to think,
whether this be a magic, or
a fascination of the conjurer Sambara.
34. What I saw about my death amidst my
relatives, was undoubtedly a
delusion of my mind; but the latter part of
my vision (of becoming a
Chandāla), is verified by the Brāhman's
observance of the penance
Chāndrāyana for his having entered the
Chandāla city.
35. I must therefore learn fully the
particulars of the Chandāla, and
proceed immediately to the Bhuta country
(Bhutan?) with an undaunted
mind.
36. Thus determined, Gādhi rose to visit the
distant district, as the
sun rises over the horizon to visit all the
sides of Sumeru (the Altain
chain, at the bottom of which the country of
the Kirgis is situated).
37. He travelled onward, and obtained at last
the sight of the country
he had seen in his dream; as intelligent and
wayfaring men, reach to
their desired destinations in distant
regions.
38. Finding everything, however unattainable
it may appear at first, to
be attained by perseverance, Gādhi was
resolved to make a test of the
truth of his delusive dream.
39. He had proceeded from his home, with the
swiftness of a current
rivulet in the rainy weather; and traversed
through many unknown
countries, as a cloud passes over distant
realms on the back of its airy
steed.
40. At last he came to the country of the
Bhatas (Bhoteas), a people
following their own debased customs; and
thought himself to be got
amongst a savage people, as a camel is
confounded to find itself, fallen
in a karanja forest, in quest of thorny
thistles. (The camels or
cramelas are called kantaka* bhojes*, from
their browsing the brambles).
41. There he saw in its vicinity a city, as
what he had seen in his
delusion; and resembling in every respect the
habitation of the
Gandharva race.
42. Proceeding onward, he saw at the further
end, the locality of the
chandālas, resembling the hell-pit of the
infernal region. (The
out-castes are always located at the filthy
outskirts of towns).
43. It was as spacious a place as what he had
seen in his vision, and
beheld his own likeness in the dream
appearing in the figures of the
chandālas, as one sees the shape of a
Gandharva or ghost, in his dream
or delirium.
44. He saw in that place the habitation of
chandālas, as what he had
seen before in his delusion, and observed
with grief and coldness of his
mind (the deserted abodes of his fellow
Chandālas).
45. He saw his own residence flooded over by
rain water grown with
sprouts of barley and brambles; his house was
left roofless, and his
bedstead was almost indiscernible.
46. His hut presented the picture of poverty
and wretchedness, and its
compound was a scene of ruin and desolation
(as if it was laid waste by
the hand of oppression and pillage).
47. Gādhi stood long gazing upon the dry
white bones of bulls and cows,
buffaloes and horses, which lay strewn over
the plains round about his
hut; and which he remembered to be the
remains of the beasts of his prey
and slaughter. (lit.:—the bones broken under the teeth and jaws of
men and wild beasts).
48. He saw the dry hollow skulls lying on the
ground, which had served
for his eating and drinking vessels before;
and which still lay unmoved
on the spot, and were filled with rain water
(as if to supply him with
drink).
49. He saw strings of the dried entrails of
the beasts of his victims,
lying like parched plants on the plain, and
pining with thirst for the
rain-water.
50. Gādhi who was conscious of himself (as
Gādhi), the Brāhman looked
long at his former house and its environs,
resembling the dry and
dilapidated skeleton of a human body, lying
unburied on the naked land.
51. He stood amazed at what he saw, and then
withdrew himself to the
adjacent village; as when a traveller repairs
to the habitation of the
Aryas, from his sojourning in the land of barbarians
(Mlech'chas).
52. There he asked some one saying, sir, do
you remember anything
concerning the former state of yonder
village, and the lives of its
chandāla inhabitants?
53. I have heard all good people say, that
knowing men are conversant
with the annals of all places, as they know
every spot on a globe in
their hand.
54. If you recollect aught of the good old
chandāla that, lived retired
at yonder spot, and if you remember his
adventures, as every one does
the past accidents of his own life:—
55. If you are acquainted with the
particulars thereabouts, then please
to relate them unto me; for it is said there
is great spirit in
directing a stranger, and in dispelling the
doubts of one hanging in
suspense.
56. The village people being one by one
importuned in this manner by the
strange Brāhman; they were as much surprised
at his odd request, as
physicians are concerned at the abnormal
complaint of a patient.
57. The villagers said:—It is an undeniable
truth, O Brāhman! as you
say, that there lived a chandāla of hideous
shape by name of Katanjala
at that place.
58. He was beset by a large family,
consisting of his sons, grandsons,
friends and servants; and had other relatives
and kinsmen besides. His
children were as many as the fruits of a
mango tree.
59. But cruel fate snatched all his family in
course of time, as a
conflagration burns down a mountain forest
with all its fruits and
flowers at once.
60. He then deserted his native land and went
over to the city of the
Kirs, of which he became the king; and
reigned there for the space of
twice four years.
61. The citizens coming to know his mean
birth afterwards, drove him
from there at last; as they remove a noxious
and poisonous tree from the
garden.
62. Gādhi seeing the people immolating
themselves on funeral piles
entered into a burning pyre, which he had
prepared for himself; and was
thus purified with others by the sacred fire pāvaka.
63. But tell us, O Brāhman, why you are so
curiously inquisitive about
the chandāla, and as to whether he was any
friend of yours, or you had
contracted any friendship with him.
64. Being accosted in this manner, Gādhi made
many more inquiries of
them concerning the chandāla, and passed a
whole month in their several
houses on his inquiry.
65. He also told the village people, all that
he knew of the chandāla in
his dream; and they heard him attentively
relating the whole story from
first to last.
66. Gādhi being informed of all the
particulars regarding the chandāla,
both from the hearsay of the people as well
as from his personal
observations; returned equally ashamed and
astonished to his abode, with
the disgraceful reflection of his past
vileness, which was stamped like
the black spot of the moon upon the tablet of
his mind.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to Brahmasri Sreemaan Vihari Lala Mitra ji for the
collection)
June 21, 2013 at 11:49 AM