The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki
The only complete English translation is
by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891).
CHAPTER LXXXVI.—Government of Bodily Organs.
Argument. Necessity of controul over senses
for concentration of
the Mind.
Vasishtha resumed:—The muni thought again to
resume his accustomed
meditation, and entered a spacious cave in
the Vindhya at the end of the
day.
2. He continued in the investigation of the
soul, with his command over
the sensible organs, and he reflected on the
reality and unreality of
things in his mind.
3. I find, said he, these organs of sense
which were under my subjection
before, are now set at liberty in the
exercise of their various
functions (tending to the destruction of the
mind from its fixed
attention).
4. I will now cease to think concerning the
existence and inexistence of
substances, and will recline solely (with my
steady posture on that
Being to whom the being and not being of
things is truly known like that
of a mountain peak).
5. I will remain wakeful inwardly, appearing
as I were dead and asleep
outwardly; and yet sensible in my
insensibility, as the quiet and living
soul, and thus continue both with the
vigilance and supineness of my
spirit in the state of my quietism. (i.e.
appearing as a dead block
before the ignorant, but as thinking and
vivacious in the eye of the
intelligent. Or the wise appear as fanatics
before the foolish
worldlings).
6. Waking as if asleep and sleeping as awake,
I will remain in my torpor
of turīya, which is neither dead nor quick
(and neither the corporeal
nor spiritual state. Gloss).
7. I will remain retired as a rock from all
things, and even apart from
my mind, and dwell in the bosom of the all
pervading soul; I will abide
with the universal spirit in my tranquillity,
and having ease from all
disease.
8. Having mused in this manner, he sat at his
meditation for six days
and nights; after which he was roused as a
passenger wakes after his
short nap on the way.
9. Then this great devotee having obtained
the consummation of his
devotion, passed his long life in the state
of his living liberation.
(Or living apart from all cares and concerns
of the world).
10. He took delight in nothing nor hated
anything; he felt no sorrow for
aught nor any pleasure in naught (i.e. he had
his stoic indifference
to every thing, whether good or bad).
11. Whether walking or sitting, he was
thoughtless of every thing; his
heart was void of cares, and he conversed
with his mind alone at
pleasure.
12. Behold! he said to his mind, O lord of my
senses! the unsullied and
undecaying joy that thou dost enjoy in the
tranquillity; and say if
there is a greater felicity than this to be
found on earth. (For true
felicity, according to the Vedantist,
consisted not in the possession,
but renunciation of earthly cares and
concerns, so Hafiz:
"Dāadduniāoāhilhā." Abandon the
world and all its people).
13. Therefore O my mind! that art the
fleetest of all things, repress
thy flight and excitability; and rely on thy
cool composure for thy
lasting happiness.
14. O my roguish senses, and O ye my
perverted organs, ye have nothing
to do with me. (The senses are related with
the mind, and bear no
relation to the soul).
15. The stiffness of the outer organs, is the
cause of their failure;
and the volition of the mind, is the cause of
its disappointment; and
neither of these have the power to protect me
from evil.
16. Those that believe the senses, as same
with the soul, are as deluded
as they, that mistake the rope for a snake.
17. To take what is not the self for self, is
equal to the taking of an
unreality for reality; want of reason
produces this mistake, but right
reason removes the fallacy.
18. You my senses and thou my mind, and my
living soul, are different
things, and quite separate from the unity of
Brahma. The mind is the
active principle, and the intellect is
passive, and so no one related to
the other. (All these have their different
functions to perform).
19. But it is their union, that serves to
produce the same effect, as
the wood that grows in the forest, the rope
that is made of flax or
hide, the axe made of iron, and the carpenter
that works for wages, do
all combine in the building of a house.
20. Such is the accidental conjunction of
different things, that becomes
the efficient cause of producing certain
effects, which could never
result alone, as in the case of house
building just mentioned.
21. So also in the causation of the various
acts of the body, as speech
and all other works; which are effected by
the accidental and
simultaneous union of the different organs of
the body and mind, without
the waste or impairing of any of them.
22. Thus when the forgetfulness of death and
sleep, are buried in
oblivion, and reminiscence is awakened upon
revivification and waking,
the inactualities are again brought to the
position of actuality (i.e.
the inaction is changed to action, by
combination of mental and bodily
activities, which are again productive of
their purposed results).
23. In this manner that great devotee, went
on with his cogitations for
many years, in that solitary cell of Vindhya
mountain.
24. Freed from ignorance and afar from
temptation, he remained there in
perfect felicity, and ever contemplating on
the means of preventing the
metempsychosis of his soul.
25. Seeing the natures of things in their
true light, he avoided all
that presented a false appearance; and for
fear of being misled by
appearances, he resorted to the shelter of
meditation (of the intrinsic
natures and properties of things).
26. Having his option of choosing what he
liked from whatever he
disliked, he was indifferent to both of them,
and his apathetic mind was
elevated from all that is desirable or
detestable in life.
27. And having renounced the world, and all
its connections and the
society of mankind; and setting himself
beyond the bonds of repeated
births and actions of life, he became one
with the incorporeal unity,
and drank the ambrosial draughts of spiritual
delight.
28. He seemed to sit in his lonely
abstraction, in the golden grotto of
the Sahya mountain; and looked on the
entangled paths of the world
below, without any desire of walking in it,
or mixing in its perfidious
society.
29. Then sitting in his erect posture, he
said to himself; "Be
passionless, O my impassioned heart, and rest
at peace my intolerant
spirit."
30. I bid you farewell, O ye enjoyments of
the world, that have tempted
me to taste your bitter pleasures in
innumerable births and
transmigrations.
31. Ye pleasures that have deluded me so long
like the indulgences of
boys; behold me now placed above your reach,
by the absence of desire in
my state of holy and heaven-born nirvāna
anaesthesia.
32. I hail thee, O spiritual delight, that
madest me forget my past
pleasures; and I thank you ye pains! that
have led me to the inquiry of
the soul with so much ardour.
33. It is by thee, O sour misery! that this
blissful state is revealed
to me; and thou art to be thanked for
bringing me under the cooling
umbrage of heavenly delight.
34. I thank thee Adversity! that hast
revealed to me the felicity of my
soul; and I bless thee, my friend! for thy
making the vanity of worldly
life known unto me.
35. O my body! that art so intimately united
with myself, I see thy
union to be but a temporary one; and like the
short lived amity of
interested men, who forsake their beneficient
friends in a moment.
36. Thus am I forsaken by all my bodies, in
my various by gone births;
and so hath my soul, forsaken them all, in
its repeated transmigrations
in different forms of living bodies.
37. Even in my present state, my body brings
its own ruin on itself; by
its being slighted by the soul, upon its
advancement in spiritual
knowledge. (Spiritualism is deteriorative of
physical powers).
38. It is no fault of mine, that the body is
discontented at my
contentment; or that it should be impaired by
my abstinence, and broken
down by my indigence (i.e. the practice of
austerities is a preventive
of bodily growth).
39. Grieve not my churlish avarice, that I
have grown averse to gain;
and you must pardon me, O my fond desires, that
I have become so devoid
of my wishes, and betaken myself to the
virtue of Vairāgya or
insouciance.
40. I have now betaken myself to my
indifference, and want to thrive
therein; and pray of thee, O thou restless
concupiscence! to have no
more any concern with me.
41. And I bid my last farewell to thee, O
thou deity of piety and pious
deeds! that I may no more engage myself to
the performance of acts
(because acts are attended with temporary and
no lasting resultants).
42. I am lifted from the pit of hell and
placed in heaven, and bid adieu
to the arbour of pleasures, growing in the soil
of wicked acts, and
bearing as its fruits the torments of hell.
43. I bid farewell to the tree of sin,
bearing the flowers of our
punishment, whereby I was doomed to repeated
transmigrations in lower
births. (Does the passage allude to the
forbidden tree, which brought
death on earth, and its sequence of repeated
births in endless misery?)
44. I bow down to that unseen form of
delusion, which uttered the sweet
voice of a sounding bamboo, and covered
itself with a garment of leaves.
(Does it mean the deluded Adam hiding his
nudity under the leaves of
trees?)
45. I bow to thee my holy cell, that art my
associate in this devout
devotion; and art the only refuge of this
weak body of mine, after its
weary journey in the rugged paths of the
world.
46. Thou wast my kind companion, and remover
of all my desires; and hast
been my only shelter, after I fled from all
the dangers and difficulties
of the world.
47. And thou my pilgrim's staff, that wast
the support of my aged body
and arm; I have found my best friend in thee,
for thy relieving my
fatigue, and guiding my footsteps in this
dangerous and cavernous
retreat.
48. I thank thee also, O my aged body! that
art the prop of my life,
even in this old age of thine; when thou art
reduced to thy ribs,
covering thy bloodless entrails, and thy
shrivelled veins and arteries.
49. Depart now my dilapilated body, with the
pith and marrow that there
yet remain in thee; and away ye excrements
that were in need of my
repeated ablutions and purifications.
50. I bid adieu to all my acts and dealings
in the world, which had been
the destined causes and my connate
companions, in all my transmigrations
in this world. (Human actions being causes of
their repeated births, for
the sake of reaping their proper
retributions).
51. I next bid you farewell, O my vital airs!
who kept company with me
through all my various births, and from whom
I (i.e. my soul) will
soon fly away.
52. How oft have I passed with you to foreign
parts, and reposed in the
dales and groves of mountainous tracts; how long
have we sported about
the cities, and how often have we dwelt in
mountain retreats (i.e. the
soul with its subtile body, is sempiternal
and ubiquious).
53. How many times have we run to different
directions, and were engaged
in various avocations of life. In fact there
was no time and place in
the space of the universe, when and where we
did not live together.
54. In truth I have never done nor seen, nor
given nor taken anything
apart from you; and now I bid you adieu my
friend, as I must soon part
from you.
55. All things in the world have their growth
and decay, and are
destined to rise and fall by turns; and so
also are the union and
separation of things, the unavoidable course
of nature.
56. Let this light which is visible to sight,
reenter in the sun whence
it proceeds, and let these sweet scents which
come to my smelling, mix
with the flowers from which they are breathed
and blown.
57. Let my vital breath and oscillation, join
with the etherial air; and
let all the sounds I hear, return from my ears
to the vacuous sphere.
(Lit. Let me lose my audibility in vacuity
which is receptacle of
sounds).
58. Let my taste or sapidity, revert to the
orb of the moon whence it
has sprung; and let me be as quiet as the sea
after its churning by the
Mandara mount; and as the cool hour of the
evening after the sun has
set. (Gustation or flavour—rasa comes from
the moon. Sruti.
Dinānta-ramya the cooling evening. Kalidāsa).
59. Let me be as silent as the dumb cloud in
autumn, and as still as the
creation, after the great deluge at the end
of a Kalpa; let me remain
thoughtless, as when the mind is concentrated
in the dot of om or
on, and when my soul rests in supreme soul.
Let me be as cold as when
the fire is reduced to ashes, and as extinct
as the extinguished and
oilless lamp.
60. Here I sit devoid of all actions, and
removed from the sight of all
living beings; I am freed from the thoughts
of worldly things, and am
resting in the peace of my soul, which is
seated in my cranium.
CHAPTER LXXXVII.—Term. The one in various
term.
Argument. The manner in which the sage
obtained his Bodiless
Liberation after his Death.
Vasishtha continued:—Then repeating aloud the
sacred syllable Om, and
reflecting on the Universe contained in it;
the sage obtained his
internal peace, after he had got rid of his
thoughts and was freed from
his desires. (The meditation of Om or on
presented all existence to
his mind, and it is shown in the definition
of that word in the
Introduction of this book).
2. He cogitated on the several mātrās or
moments, which compose the
utterance of that mystic syllable; but
leaving aside all its attributes,
he meditated only on the reality of the pure
and imperishable One.
3. He abstracted his mind from his internal
and external organs, as also
from his grosser and finer feelings and the
sensibilities of his heart
and body. He dismissed of whatever there is
in the three worlds and
converted all his desires to indifference.
4. He remained unmoved in his body, and as
the thoughtful Platonic
(chintamani), rapt in his abstraction; He was
full in himself as the
full moon, and as still as the mount Mandara
after its churning was
over.
5. He was as the motionless wheel of the
potter's mill, and as the calm
ocean undisturbed by waves and winds.
6. His mind was as the clear firmament,
without its sun shine and
darkness; and his heart was bright, without
the light of the sun, moon
and stars. His intellect was unclouded by the
fumes, dust and cloud of
ignorance, and his soul was as clear as the
autumnal sky. (The gloss
points out the combination of many figures in
this tetrastich sloka).
7. Then raising his voice from the ventricle,
to the topmost pranava
in the cranium of his head; his mind
transcended the region of the
sensations, as the wind oversteps the area of
fragrance (which remains
below.)
8. His mental darkness then fled from his
mind, as the gloom of night is
dispelled by the dawning light of morn, and
as the percipience of
sapience, puts down and extinguishes the
sparks of anger in the bosom.
9. He then beheld the reflexion of a flood of
light within himself,
which he found to be ceaseless in its
brightness; and unlike the light
of the luminaries, which is repeatedly
succeeded by darkness.
10. Having attained to that state of
ineffable light, and
inextinguishable effulgence; he found his
mental powers to be quickly
burnt down by its glare as the straws are
consumed by the touch of fire.
11. In a short time he lost his consciousness
of that light, as a new
born child loses in no time, its knowledge of
whatever it perceives by
any of its sensible organs.
12. It was in a twinkling or half of that
time, that this sedate sage
stopped the course of his thought, as the
current wind stops its motion
in a moment.
13. He then remained as fixed as a rock, with
his inattentive and mute
gaze on what passed before him; and retained
his vitality like a
motionless dreamer in his sleep. (Pasyanti in
the text means a patient
spectator).
14. He was next lost in his
Susupta-hypnotism, as in the insensibility
of his profound sleep; and thereby attained
his ultimate felicity of
turīya, in the retention of his absolute
felicity only.
15. He was joyous in his joylessness, and was
alive without his
liveliness; he remained as something in his
nothingness, and was blazing
amidst obscurity. (His soul shone forth
amidst the gloom of his mind).
16. He was intelligent in his spirit, without
the intelligence of the
senses; and was as the Sruti says, neither
this nor that nor the one or
the other. He therefore became that which no
words can express.
17. He became that transparent substance, which
is transcendentally pure
and purifying; and was that all pervasive
something, which is corporate
with nothing.
18. He was the vacuum of Vacuists, and the
Brahma of the Brahmists; he
was the Knowledge of gnostics, and
omniscience of scientists.
19. He became like the Purusha or spirit of
the Sankhya materialists,
and the Iswara of Yoga philosophers; he was
alike the Siva of the
Sivites, bearing the mark of the crescent
moon on their foreheads, and
as the Time of Timeists.
20. He was the same with the soul of souls of
the Psychologists, and as
no soul of Physicists; he was similar to the
Midst or Midmost of the
Madhyamikas (i.e. having no beginning nor
end), and the All of the
even-minded Pantheists.
21. He was identified with the main Truth of
every religion, and the
essence of all creeds; and was selfsame with
the All essential and
Universal Reality.
22. He was identic with the pre-eminent and
unimpaired light, which is
seen in all lightsome bodies; and was one
with the inward light, which
he perceived to be glowing within himself.
23. He became the very thing which is one and
many, and which is all yet
nothing. Which is simple and combined with
all, and which is that which
is Tat Sat—Al Ast. (Or I am that which I am).
24. In short he remained as the one undecaying
and without its
beginning, which is one and many, and simple
without its parts. Which is
purer than the pure ether, and which is the
Lord God of all.
CHAPTER LXXXVIII.—A Discourse on Yoga
Meditation.
Argument. The Liberated Sage's suspension of
breathing in his
breast, the emaciation of his body and
absorption of his senses.
Vasishtha Continued:—After Vīta-havya had
passed beyond the bounds of
nature, and crossed over this ocean of
misery; he pacified also the
fluctuations of his mind (after he had
restrained the actions of his
bodily actions).
2. Being thus becalmed, and brought to the
state of perfect inertness;
he was absorbed in his ultimate supineness,
as a drop of rain water and
the particles of waves, mix in the main
ocean.
3. Sitting continually in his torpid state;
his body became thin and
lean, without its food and functions, and it
decayed fastly like the
fading lotus in winter, without the supply of
its proper moisture of
water.
4. His vital breaths fled from the tree of
his body (i.e. from his
lungs and arteries), and entered into the
cavity of the heart, like
birds let loose from the net, and flying to
their nests (concentration
of vital airs into the heart).
5. His corporeal body which was composed of
flesh and bones and the
organs of sense, remained of course beneath
the shady branches of the
woodland retreat; but his spirit roved beyond
the bounds of the
elemental worlds above.
6. His individual intellect was absorbed in
the ocean of the Universal
Intellect; as the particles of metallic
substances are fused together in
the same metal. So the soul of the sage found
its rest in its intrinsic
nature of the supreme soul.
7. Thus have I related to you, O Rāma!
regarding the rest of the sage in
his torpid quietism; all this is full of
instruction, and you must
consider well the hidden meaning which is
contained therein. (The Gloss
speaks a good deal about the mysticisms of
yoga and the mysterious
meanings of the words tanmaya and kaivalya,
which are too long to be
given in this place).
8. And know, O Rāma, that by your good gifts
of these things, and
perfections, you will be able to attain to
that state of beatitude.
9. Consider well, O Rāma! all that I have
told you already, and what I
will at present and in future expound to you.
10. As I have myself known and well
considered all these things in my
long life, and by my experience of the past,
and my knowledge of present
and future events, so will you be also. (i.e.
As he was a sage by his
long experience, and a seer by his
prescience).
11. Therefore have the clear sight or
clairvoyance of the sage, as I
have shown to you, and know that it is by
means of your transcendental
knowledge alone, that you can have your
emancipation in both worlds
(i.e. perfect liberation in the present life,
ensures the freedom of
the next; and bondage in this state, leads to
perpetual bondage in
future).
12. The light of knowledge dispels the
darkness of ignorance, and
destroys the mist of false fears and woes;
and knowledge alone is the
cause of that consummation, which nothing
else can bring about.
13. See how the sage Vīta-havya destroyed all
his desires, by means of
his knowledge; and how he cleared the
mountain of his mind, from all its
poisonous plants of worldliness.
14. Again his conscious knowledge or
clairvoyance of other spheres,
led the seer to penetrate into the solar orb
of his desire on the wings
of his rays; and thence return (by his
reminiscence) to redeem his
buried body from cave of earth. (So the soul
of Jesus ascended to heaven
after his crucifixion, and returned to redeem
his dead and buried body
from the grave after three days. It is also
recorded of many Yogis to
revivify their bodies, as it is predicted in
the holy writ, of the
resurrection of all dead bodies on the last
day of judgment or
Quiāmat, when the rotten bones will stand up
(quama), at the sound of
the last trumpet of the Angel. This sort of resurrection
is analogous to
the daily resuscitation (jāgara or waking) of
animal bodies, after their
susupta and swapna or sleeping and waking
states of every body. But
the relinquishment and reanimation of the
body, was a voluntary act of
the Yogi and entirely dependant on his free
will and option. Hence the
modern Yogis and Jugis, are known to bury
their dead bodies, and not to
burn them like Hindus. And all this depends
on the knowledge of yoga
philosophy as it is said here in the text).
15. This sage was the personification of the
mind, and it is the mind
which is personified in the sensible or
visible forms of I, thou, he and
this other. (Because the mind being the
essential part of man makes his
personality, and not the body which is but an
appendage to the mind).
The mind is also this world which consists in
it, and without which it
is not known to subsist. (The mind makes the
world and is identified
with it, wherefore Brahmā the mind of God, is
represented as the maker
and identic with the world).
16. By knowing this transcendent truth, and
being freed from the faults
of passions and feelings, and far removed
from the foibles and frailties
of the world; the silent sage followed the
dictates of his mind, and
attained thereby the endless blissfulness of
his soul:—the summum
bonum of human life.
CHAPTER LXXXIX.—A Lecture on Rationalistic
Meditation.
Argument. On Freedom from Desires and
Delusions, and Aerial
flights of yogis, and the Indestructibleness
of their bodies.
Vasishtha said:—Rāma! you must have to
imitate this sage, in order to
know the nature of the soul, and all that is
knowable and worth knowing.
And in order to know these things, you must
be passionless, and without
the emotions of fear and perturbation of your
spirit at all times.
2. As this sage seemed to pass the course of
many millions of years, in
his cheerful meditation; so you shall have to
habituate yourself to your
silent contemplation, without the
discontentedness of your mind.
3. There have been many more sages of great
minds in their times and
places, who have had their perfection in the
same way; and who are
worthy of your imitation for the consummation
of your object.
4. Knowing the soul to be inaccessible by
pain and pleasure at all
times, and as everlasting and ubiquitous in
all places; no one, O mighty
prince! has any cause to be sorry for it (or
mourn for the loss of what
is immortal in its nature).
5. There are many persons living in this
world, who are well acquainted
about the nature of the soul; but no body is
so sorry for the misery of
human souls like yourself (as it is
related in the beginning of this
work).
6. Remain quiet and in good cheer, with the
magnanimity and equanimity
of thy mind; and know thyself to be
imperishable, and without any change
or regeneration.
7. No living liberated man like yourself, is
ever subject to sorrow or
mirth at the vicissitudes of life; as the
brave lion is never moved from
his sedateness like the changeful peacock (at
the change of seasons like
the weather-cock).
8. Rāma said:—Sir, this discourse of yours,
gives rise to a doubt in
me, which I want you to disperse like an
autumnal cloud. (The doubt is
resembled to a thick rainy cloud, and its
form is likened to that of a
flimsy mist in autumn).
9. Tell me Sir, that art best acquainted with
spiritual knowledge, why
the bodies of living liberated persons, are
not to be seen to mount to
the skies.
10. Vasishtha replied:—Know Rāma, the powers
of mounting to the sky and
flying in the air, belong naturally to volant
bodies (as the fowls and
flies of the air). (And the mounting to the
sky is the property of
igneous and etherial beings, as those of the
flame of fire and aerial
spirits).
11. All the various motions that are seen to
act in different
directions, are according to the natural
tendencies of bodies, and are
never desired by the spiritualist (who would
derive no good or benefit
whatever by his bodily movements).
12. Volitation is no way desirable to the
living liberated soul, when
the volant power is easily acquired by the
unspiritual and unliberated
ignorant people, by many physical and
artificial powers, derived by
application of proper means, mantras and
other practices. (Such as, the
flight of winged ants before the rains, the
aerostatics of balloons and
pyrotechnics, the aerostation of magical
mantras, and the volant power
acquired by some practical Yogis, who
practise the swinging of their
bodies in air, by means of the suppression of
their breath).
13. Volitation or flying is no business of
the spiritualist, who is
concerned with his knowledge of the soul
only; he is content with his
spiritual knowledge and union with the
Supreme soul, and does not meddle
with the practices of the ignorant
practitioners of false yoga.
14. Know all earthly contrivances to be the
offspring of worldliness,
and the progeny of spiritual ignorance. Say
then what spiritualist is
there, that will be so foolish as to plunge
himself in this gross
ignorance.
15. He who pursues the path of spiritual
ignorance, by his meditations
and contrivances for his temporal welfare;
must be blind to the future
welfare of his soul, against the course of
the holy sage and saint.
16. It is possible for the wise as well as
the unwise, to acquire the
power of his flying in the air, by the
continued practice of yoga, or
some other of the aforesaid arts and
expedients of mantras and the like.
17. But the spiritual man remains quite aloof
and afar from these, and
has no desire for any such thing; he is
content with himself, and finds
his rest in the supreme soul, beside which he
has nothing in view.
18. He has neither the aerial journey, nor
any supernatural power or
worldly enjoyment for his object; and neither
is earthly glory or honour
in his view, nor does he desire to live nor
fear to die.
19. He is ever content and quiet in his soul,
and is devoid of desires
and affections in his mind; he is of the form
of empty air, and remains
with his spiritual knowledge as the idol of
his soul.
20. He is unapprehensive of adversity or
calamity, and unaffected by
feelings of pleasure and pain; he has full
satiety in his privation of
everything, and is unconcerned about his life
and death, by remaining
himself as the living dead.
21. He remains unmoved at all evens and odds,
as the Ocean is at a stand
still with all the outpourings of the rivers;
and he continues to
meditate on, and adore the divine spirit in
his own spirit.
22. He has no need of acquiring or amassing
any wealth for himself, nor
is he in need of asking anything of any body
for his supportance.
23. The unspiritual man who aims at the
acquisition of supernatural
powers, must sacrifice the means of his
consummation to the acquirement
of such powers (i.e. he must give up the
seeking of his perfection in
pursuit of those powers. Or, he who wants to
wax rich and great, may
become so at the loss of his peace and
content and honesty).
24. All things are accomplished by
application of their proper means,
and what is thus ordained to take place, can
not be undone even by the
three-eyed God Siva himself. (It is believed
that some mantras and gems
are possessed of the power, of lifting living
bodies in the air).
25. Thus volitation depends on the
application of proper means, and not
on one's volition only; and nothing can alter
the nature of things, as
that of the coolness of moon-beams.
26. Whether one is all-knowing or
much-knowing, and all-powerful or much
powerful as a Hari or Hara; yet there is no
body that has the power of
setting aside the destined law of nature (as
for the terrestrials to fly
in air, and the celestials to walk on the
earth).
27. Thus it depends on the nature of things,
Rāma! and the combination
of times and circumstances, as also the
application at proper means and
mantras, that causes a mortal to fly in the
air, and an immortal to
descend on earth.
28. So it is the property of some drugs, gems
and mantras, to destroy
the destructive power of poison; and of wine
to intoxicate the
wine-bibber; and so of emetics to cause
vomiting.
29. Thus all things have naturally the power
of producing some effect,
according to its proper application and the
mode and manner of it.
30. Hence no one that is unacquainted with
these things, is able to
effect his flight in the air; and he that is
fraught with his spiritual
knowledge, has no need of these practices.
31. All knowledge relating to the properties
of things, and their
application in proper mode and manner for the
bringing on of certain
ends, is of no good to the spiritualist for
his attaining to
spirituality.
32. He who wishes to have supernatural
powers, may gain them by his long
practice; but what need has the theosophist
of these practices or powers
for himself?
33. It is after his freedom from the net of
his desires, that the
spiritualist attains to his spiritual state;
how then can he entertain
any desire which is opposed to it?
34. Every one endeavours to present in the
course, to which he is led by
the desires rising in his heart; and whether
he is learned or not, he
reaps the reward of his endeavours in due
time.
35. Vīta havya never endeavoured to acquire
any supernatural power; all
his endeavours aspired to the gaining of spiritual
perfection, which he
obtained by his devotion in the forest.
36. It is not impossible or hard, to effect
the acquisition of
supernatural powers; should one persist in
the course of practicing and
applying the proper means to those ends.
37. The success which attends on any body in
the consummation of his
object, is entirely owing to his personal
exertion, and may be called
the fruit of the tree of his own labour.
38. But these successes and consummations,
are of no use to those great
minded men, who have known the Knowable One
in himself: and who have
made an end of their worldly desires.
39. Rāma said: Sir I have yet another
question for your explanation and
it is this, why did not the ravenous beasts
of the desert, devour the
deadlike body of the devoted sage, and why
did it not moulder under the
earth, by which it was covered?
40. And again how the bodiless and liberated
soul of the sage, which was
absorbed in the sunlight, return to resume
its dilapidated body, which
was buried in the mountain cave.
41. Vasishthā replied:—The conscious soul
that believes itself to be
embodied with its mortal body, and beset by
the coils of its desires and
the bonds of its affections, is here
subjected both to the feeling of
pleasure and the pangs of pain.
42. But the intelligent soul which relies on
its pure consciousness, and
is freed from the net of its desires, remains
only with its subtile
spiritual body (which no beast or bird can
devour, nor any dust or rust
can destroy). So says the Gita:—It is
indivisible and unconsumable, and
neither does it moulder nor dry up at any
time.
43. Hear now, Rāma, the reason why the body
of the Yogi, is not subject
to the accidents of disjunction or corruption
for many hundreds of years
(under the influence of heat and cold and
other casualties).
44. Whenever the mind is occupied with the
thought of any thing, it is
immediately assimilated into the nature of
that object, and assumes the
same form on itself.
45. Thus upon seeing or thinking of an enemy,
the mind turns to enmity,
at the very sight or thought of its foe; as
it assumes the nature of
friendliness, on the visit and remembrance of
a friend.
46. So on seeing a hill or tree or passenger,
that bears no enmity or
friendship to it, the mind remains equally
indifferent towards the same,
and without any change in its disposition as
it is perceived by us.
47. Again the mind is sweetened (pleased) on
relishing the sweets, and
embittered by tasting the bitter. It becomes
fond of the sweet, and
averse to whatever is sour and bitter and
unpalatable.
48. So when a ravenous beast comes in the
sight of a dispassionate Yogi,
its envious nature is changed to
dispassionateness, and it desists from
doing him any injury. (So says Patanjali,
"Good company turns the wicked
to goodness").
49. The malicious being freed from his
malice, in the company of the
even minded stoic, desists from the doing of
any harm, to any one; as
the indifferent wayfarer has no business to
break the straggling
branches and trees growing on the way side,
which the rude rustics are
apt to lop off and cut down (for the making
of their fuel).
50. But the savage beast being removed from
the side of the Yogi,
resumes its ravenous nature again, in the
company of the rapacious and
wild beasts of the forest.
51. Hence it was that the envious beasts of
the forest, the tigers,
lions and bears; as also the reptiles and
creeping insects of earth, did
not molest the sedate body of the sage, so
long as they lurked and crept
about it.
52. The reason why the body was not reduced
to the dust of the earth is,
because the silent conscience that there
dwells in common, in all
existent bodies of animals, vegetables and
minerals, and abides in them
as in the person of a dumb creature; would
not allow them to injure the
innocent body of the sage lying flat on the
ground.
53. The spiritualised body of the Yogi, is
seen to move about on earth,
like the shadow of something floating on the
water.
54. Therefore the spiritual body of the sage,
which was rarefied above
the elemental bodies by virtue of his
spiritual knowledge, became quite
incorruptible in its nature.
55. Hear me tell you another reason, Rāma!
that it is the want of
oscillation which is the cause of
destruction, as it is the vibration or
breathing of the heart which is the cause of
life.
56. It is the breathing of vital breaths,
which causes the vibration of
the arteries, and this being stopped, the
body becomes as still as a
stone.
57. He who has lost the pulsations of his
heart and vital breaths, has
lost also both his vitality and mortality,
and become as stones (which
are neither dead nor alive).
58. When the internal and external pulsations
of the body are at a stop,
know, O well-informed Rāma! the intestinal
parts are not liable to any
change.
59. The motion of the body being stopped, and
the action of the heart
having ceased; the humours of the body become
as stiff and inert, as the
solid mountain of Meru.
60. So the want of fluctuation, is seen to
cause the steadiness of all
things in the world; and hence the bodies of
sages are known to be as
quiet, as the blocks of wood and stone.
61. The bodies of Yogis therefore, remain
entire for thousands of
years; and like clouds in the sky and stones
underneath the water, are
neither soiled nor rotten at any time.
62. It was in this manner that this sage, who
knew the truth, and was
best acquainted with the knowledge of the
knowable, left his earthy
body, in order to find the rest of his soul
in the Supreme Spirit.
63. Those men of great minds who are
dispassionate, and know what is
chiefly to be known above all others; pass
beyond the bounds of this
earth and even of their bodies, to assume an
independent form of their
own.
64. They are then perfect masters of
themselves, whose minds are well
governed by their right understanding; and
are not affected by the
influence of their destiny or the acts of
their past lives, nor moved by
their desires of any kind.
65. The minds of consummate Yogis, are of the
nature of destiny; because
they can easily effect whatever they think
upon, as if they were the
acts of chance as in Kākatāliya Sanyoga.
66. So it was with this sage, who no sooner
thought of the renovation of
his body, than he found it presented before his
sight, as if it were an
act of chance (or the kākatālic accident).
67. When the soul forsakes its earthly frame,
after the fruition of the
fruits of its passed actions is over; it
assumes a spiritual form, which
is the state of its disembodied liberation,
and when it enjoys its
perfect liberty in its independent state.
68. The mind being freed from its desires, is
released from all its
bonds, and assumes the spiritual form of the
pure soul; it then effects
instantly all that it wishes to do, and
becomes all powerful as the
great Lord of all.
CHAPTER LXXXX.—Admonition on the Mind and its
Yoga Meditation.
Argument. The Two ways of subduing
selfishness; by Universal
Benevolence and want of Personality.
Vasishtha said:—After the sage Vīta-havya,
had subdued his heart and
mind by his rationality, there arose in him
the qualities of universal
benevolence and philanthropy (for want of his
selfishness).
2. Rāma asked:—How do you say, Sir, that the
quality of benevolence
sprang in the mind of the sage, after it had
been wholly absorbed in
itself by its rationality? (since the total
insensibility of one if
himself, cannot have any regard for others).
3. Tell me Sir, that art the best of
speakers, how can the feelings of
universal love and friendliness, arise in the
heart which is wholly cold
and quiet, or in the mind which is entranced
in the divine spirit?
4. Vasishtha replied:—There are two kinds of
mental numbness, the one
being its coma in the living body; and the
other its deadliness after
the material body is dead and gone. (The one
is swarūpa and the other
arūpa; the first having its formal existence,
and the other being a
formless one).
5. The possession of the mind is the cause of
woe, and its extinction is
the spring of happiness; therefore one should
practise the abrasion of
the essence of his mind (or personality), in
order to arrive to its
utter extinction.
6. The mind that is beset by the net of the
vain desires of the world,
is subject to repeated births, which are the
sources of endless woes.
(The world is a vale of tears, and
worldlimindedness is the spring of
misery).
7. He is reckoned as a miserable being, who
thinks much of his person,
and esteems his body, as the product of the
good deserts of his past
lives; and who accounts his foolish and
blinded mind as a great gift to
him. (Human life is usually esteemed as the
best of all living beings;
and the Sāstra says "the human body is
the best gain after millions of
transmigrations in other forms").
8. How can we expect the decrease of our
distress, as long as the mind
is the mistress of the body? It is upon the
setting down of the mind,
that the world appears to disappear before
us. (As the setting sun hides
the world from our sight).
9. Know the mind to be the root of all the
miseries of life, and its
desires as the sprouts of the forest of our
calamities.
10. Rāma asked:—Who is it, Sir, whose mind is
extinct, and what is the
manner of this extinction; say also how its
extinction is brought on,
and what is the nature of its annihilation?
11. Vasishtha replied:—O support of Raghu's
race! I have told you
before of the nature of the mind; and you
will hear now, O best of
inquirers! the manner of extinguishing its
impulses.
12. Know that mind to be paralysed and dead,
which is unmoved from its
steadiness by pleasure and pain; and remains
unshaken as a rock at the
gentle breath of our breathing. (I.e. the man
that lives and breathes,
but moves not from his purposes).
13. Know also that mind, to be as dull as
dead, which is devoid of the
sense of its individuality from others; and
which is not degraded from
the loftiness of its universality, to the
meanness of its personality.
14. Know that mind also, to be dead and cold,
which is not moved by
difficulties and dangers; nor excited by
pride and giddiness, nor elated
by festivity nor depressed by poverty and
penury; and in short which
does not lose its serene temperament at any
reverse of fortune.
15. Know, gentle Rāma! this is what is meant
by the death of the mind,
and the numbness of the heart; and this is
the inseparable property of
living liberation (of those that are
liberated in their lifetime).
16. Know mindfulness to be foolishness, and
unmindedness is true wisdom;
and it is upon the extinction of mental
affections, that the pure
essence of the mind appears to light.
17. This display of the intrinsic quality of
the mind, after the
extinction of its emotions; and this
temperament of the mind of the
living liberated persons, is said by some to
be the true nature of the
mind.
18. The mind that is fraught with the
benevolent qualities, has its best
wishes for all living beings in nature; it is
freed from the pains of
repeated births in this world of woe, and is
called the living liberated
mind (Jīvan-mukta manas).
19. The nature of the living liberated mind
is said to be its intrinsic
essence, which is replete with its holy
wishes, and exempted from the
doom of transmigration.
20. The Swarūpa or personal mind, is what has
the notion of its
personality as distinct from its body; and
this is the nature of the
mind of those, that are liberated in their
lifetime. (This is the nature
of the individual and unembodied mind).
21. But when the living liberated person
loses the individuality of his
mind; and becomes as gladsome as moonbeams
within himself, by virtue of
his universal benevolence; it then becomes as
expanded and extended, as
it appears to be present everywhere at all
times.
22. The living liberated person being mindless
of himself, becomes as
cold hearted as a plant growing in a frigid
climate, where it blooms
with its mild virtues, likening the blossoms
of the winter plant.
23. The Arūpa or impersonal mind of what I
have told you before, is
the coolness of the disembodied soul, that is
altogether liberated from
the consciousness of its personality.
24. All the excellent virtues and qualities,
which reside in the
embodied soul, are utterly lost and drowned
in the disembodied soul,
upon its liberation from the knowledge of its
personality.
25. In the case of disembodied liberation,
the consciousness of self
personality being lost, the mind also loses
its formal existence in
Virupa or formlessness, when there remains
nothing of it.
26. There remains no more any merit or
demerit of it, nor its beauty or
deformity; it neither shines nor sets any
more, nor is there any
consciousness of pain or pleasure in it.
27. It has no sense of light or darkness, nor
the perception of day and
night; it has no knowledge of space and sky,
nor of the sides, altitude
or depth of the firmament.
28. Its desires and efforts are lost with its
essence, and there remains
no trace of its entity or nullity whatever.
29. It is neither dark nor lightsome, nor
transparent as the sky; it
does not twinkle as a star, nor shines forth
as the solar and lunar
lights. And there is nothing to which it may
resemble in its
transparency.
30. Those minds that have freed themselves
from all worldly cares, and
got rid from the province of their thoughts
also; are the minds that
rove in this state of freedom, as the winds
wander freely in the region
of vacuum.
31. The intelligent souls that are numb and
sleepy, and are set in
perfect bliss beyond the trouble of rajas and
tamas; and which have
assumed the forms of vacuous bodies, find
their rest in the supreme
felicity, in which they are
dissolved in the unity of the Deity
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to Brahmasri Sreemaan Vihari Lala Mitra ji for the
collection)
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