The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki
The only complete English translation is
by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891).
CHAPTER LXXXXI.—On the Origin of the Human Body and
Consciousness.
Argument. Of Desire and Breathing as the two seeds,
producing
the Plant of Human Body, bearing the fruits of
Worldliness.
Rāma said:—I see the stupendous rock (Brahma) filling the
infinite
vault of vacuum, and bearing the countless worlds as its
vast forests,
with the starry frame for its flowers and the gods and
demigods for its
birds and fowls.
2. The flashing of lightnings are its blooming blossoms,
and the azure
clouds are the leaves of the forest trees; the seasons
and the sun and
moon fructify these arbors with good looking fruits.
3. The seven seas are the aqueducts at the foot of this
forest, and the
flowing rivers are its channels; and the fourteen worlds
are so many
regions of it, peopled with various kinds of beings.
4. This wilderness of the world, is beset by the wide
spreading net of
cupidity; which has overspread on the minds of people, as
the creeping
vine fills the vineyard ground.
5. Disease and death form the two branches of the arbor
of the world
(Sansāra Mahīruha), yielding plentifully the fruits of
our weal and
woe; while our ignorance serves to water and nourish this
tree to its
full growth.
6. Now tell me, sir, what is seed that produced this
tree, and what is
the seed of that seed also. Thus tell me what is the
original seed of
the production of the mundane tree.
7. Explain to me all this in short, for the edification
of my
understanding; and also for my acquirement of the true
knowledge with
which you are best acquainted.
8. Vasishtha answered:—Know Rāma! the corporeal body to
be the seed or
cause of this arbour of the world. This seed is the
desire which is
concealed in the heart of the body, and shoots forth
luxuriantly, in the
sprouts of good and bad acts and deeds.
9. It is full of boughs and branches, and luxuriant in
the growth of its
fruits and flowers; and it thrives as thickly and fastly,
as the paddy
fields flourish in autumn.
10. The mind which is the seed of the body, is subject to
and slave of
all its desires. Its treasure house consists of alternate
plenty and
poverty, and its casket contains the gems of pleasure and
pain.
11. It is the mind which spreads this net-work of reality
and unreality;
as it stretches the fretwork of truth and falsehood in
dreams and
visions.
12. As the dying man sees in his imagination, the
messengers of death
appearing before him; so doth the mind, present the
figure of the unreal
body as a reality.
13. All these forms and figures, which appear to our view
in these
worlds, are the formations of the mind, as the pots and
toys are the
works of clay. (The mind being the same with Brahma; is
the formal cause
of all existences).
14. There are two kinds of seeds again which give rise to
the arbor of
the mind, which is entwined by the creepers of its
faculties; one kind
of these is the breathing of the vital breath, and the
other is thinking
or the train of its thoughts. (The text has the words
dridha-bhāvana
or the certainty of the knowledge of its reality).
15. When the vital air vibrates through the lungs and
arteries, the mind
then has the consciousness of its existence.
16. When the vital breath ceases to circulate through the
lungs and wind
pipes, there ensues the insensibility of the mind and the
circulation of
the heart-blood is put to a stop.
17. It is by means of the vibrations of breath and the
action of the
heart, that the mind perceives the existence of the world
which is as
false as the appearance of the blue sky, in the empty
space of vacuum.
18. But when these vibrations and actions fail to rouse
the sleeping
mind, it is then said to enjoy its peace and quiet;
otherwise they
merely move the body and mind, as the wires move the
dolls in the puppet
show.
19. When the body has its sensibility, caused by the
breathing of the
vital air, it begins to move about like a doll dancing in
its giddy
circle in the Court yard, by artifice of the puppet
player.
20. The vibrations of breath awaken also our
self-consciousness, which
is minuter than the minutest atom; and yet all pervasive
in its nature,
as the fragrance of flowers, which is blown afar in the
air by the
breath of the wind.
21. It is of great good, O Rāma! to confine one's
consciousness in one's
self (as it is to shut the fragrance of the flower in its
seed vessel;
and it is effected by stopping the breathing by means of
the practice of
prānāyāma or suppression of breath; as the diffusion of
odours is
prevented by shutting out the current air).
22. By restraining our self-consciousness we in ourselves
succeed to
refrain from our consciousness of all other things because
the knowledge
of endless objects (particulars), is attended with
infinite trouble to
the mind. (All knowledge is the vexation of the spirit.
Solomon's
Proverbs).
23. When the mind comes to understand itself, after it is
roused from
its dormancy of self-forgetfulness (by being addicted to
the thoughts of
external objects); it gains what is known to be the best
of gains, and
the purest and the holiest state of life.
24. If with the vacillation of your vital breaths, and
the fluctuation
of your wishes, you do not disturb the even tenor of your
consciousness,
like the giddy part of mankind, then you are likened to
the great Brahma
himself (who lives and does what he likes, without any
disturbance of
his inward intuition).
25. The mind without its self-consciousness or
conscience, is a barren
waste; and the life of man with its knowledge of truth,
is as a mazy
path, beset with traps and snares of errors and dangers.
26. The meditative Yogi is practised to the suppression
of his breath
for the peace of his mind, and conducts his prānāyāma or
restraint of
respiration, and his dhyāna or intense meditation,
according to the
directions of his spiritual guide and the precepts of the
sāstras.
27. Restraint of breath is accompanied by the peace of
mind, causing the
evenness of its temperament; and it is attended with
health and
prosperity and capacity of cogitation to its practiser.
28. Learn Rāma, another cause of the activity of the
mind, which is
considered by the wise as the source of its perpetual
restlessness; and
this is its restless and insatiable concupiscence.
29. Now this concupiscence is defined as the fixed desire
of the mind,
for the possession of something, without consideration of
its prior and
ultimate conditions (i.e. Whether it is worth having or
not, and
whether its gain will be productive of the desired object
in view).
30. It is the intensity of one's thought of getting
something that
produces it before him; in utter disregard of the other
objects of its
remembrance. (The gloss gives a mystic sense of this
passage; that
reminiscence which is the cause of the reproduction of
prior
impressions, is upset by the intensity of the present
thought in the
mind).
31. The man being infatuated by his present desire,
believes himself as
it depicts him to be; and takes his present form for
real, by his
forgetfulness of the past and absent reality. (The
present unreal
appears as real, and the past reality passes away as an
unreality, as in
the case of prince Lava's believing himself a chandala
during his dream,
and so it is with us to take ourselves as we think us to
be).
32. It is the current of our desire, that carries us away
from the
reality; as the drunkard sees everything whirling about
him in his
intoxication.
33. Men of imperfect knowledge, are led to like errors by
their desires,
as a man is driven to madness by the impulse of passions.
34. Such is the nature of the mind, that it leads to the
imperfect
knowledge of things, so as to view the unreal as real,
and the
unspiritual as spiritual.
35. It is the eager expectation of getting a thing, which
is fixed and
rooted in the heart, that impels the restless mind to
seek its desired
object, in repeated births and transmigrations.
36. When the mind has nothing desirable or disgusting to
seek or shun,
and remains apart from both, it is no more bound to
regeneration in any
form of existence.
37. When the mind is thoughtless about anything, owing to
its want of
desire of the same; it enjoys its perfect composure,
owing to its
unmindfulness of it and all other things.
38. When there is no shadow of anything, covering the
clear face of
consciousness, like a cloud obscuring the face of the
sky; it is then
that the mind is said to be extinct in a person, and is
lost like a
lotus-flower, which is never seen to grow in the expanse
of the sky.
39. The mind can have no field for its action, when the
sphere of the
intellect is drained and devoided of all its notions of
worldly objects.
40. Thus far have I related to you, Rāma, about the form
and features of
the mind; that it is only the entertaining of the thought
of something
with fond desire of the heart. (Here the mind is
identified with the
fond thought or wish of a man).
41. There can be no action of the mind, when the sphere
of the intellect
is as clear as the empty sky, and without the thought of
any imaginary
or visible object moving before it as the speck of a
cloud.
42. It is called unmindedness also, when the mind is
practised to its
Yoga, or thoughtlessness of all external objects, and
remains transfixed
in its vision of the sole essence of God.
43. When the mind has renounced the thought of everything
within itself,
and remains in its perfect coolness of cold-heartedness
(sang froid)
of Yogis; such a mind, though exercising its powers and
faculties, it is
said to be nil and extinct.
44. He whose want of desires, has chilled his ardour for
anything, and
made him impassionate, is said to have become extinct,
and reduced like
a rag to ashes (leaving the form without its substance).
45. He who has no desire of gain to cause his repeated
birth and death,
is called the living liberated; though he should move
about in his busy
career like a potter's wheel (which is insensible of its
motion).
46. They are also styled the living liberated, who do not
taste the
pleasure of desire; but remain like fried seeds, without
regerminating
into the sprots of new and repeated births.
47. Men attaining to spiritual knowledge in their earthly
lives, are
said to have become mindless in this world, and to be
reduced to vacuity
(the summum bonum of vacuists) in the next.
48. There are, O Rāma! two other seeds or sources of the
mind, namely,
the vital breath and desire; and though they are of
different natures,
yet the death of either occasions the extinction of both.
49. Both of these are causes of the regeneration of the
mind, as the
pond and the pot (or pipes), are the joint causes of
water supply.
(Wherein the want of the one, is tantamount to the loss
of the other
also).
50. The gross desires of men are the causes of their
repeated births, as
the seeds are causes of the repeated growth of trees; and
the germ of
regeneration is contained in the desire, as the future
plant is
contained in the seed, and the oily juice is inbred in
the sesamum seed.
51. The conscious mind is the cause of all things in the
course of time,
and the source of all its pleasure and pain, which rise
and fall in
itself, and never grow without it. (Avindbhavin).
52. As the union of the breath of life with the organs,
produces the
sensations; so these being united with desire, are
productive of the
mind. (Hence the living and sensitive plants which are
devoid of desire,
are devoid of mind also).
53. As the flower and its fragrance, and the sesamum seed
and its oil
are united together; so is animal life inseparably
connected with its
desire. (Hence extinction of desire is tantamount to
living death).
54. The desire being the active principle of man, and
subversive of his
passive consciousness; it tends to unfold the seed of the
mind, as
moisture serves to expand the sprouts of vegitable seeds.
55. The pulsation of the vital breath, awakens the senses
to their
action, and the vibrations of sensation touching the
heart strings, move
the mind to its perception of them.
56. The infant mind being thus produced by the
fluctuating desires, and
the fluctuations of vital breaths, becomes conscious of
itself, as
separate and independent of its causes.
57. But the extinction of either of these two sources of
the mind, is
attended with the dissolution of the mind; and also of
its pains and
pleasures, which resemble the two fruits of the tree of
the mind.
58. The body resembles a branching tree, beset by the
creepers of its
acts; our avarice is as a huge serpent coiling about it,
and our
passions and diseases are as birds nestling in it.
59. It is beset by our erroneous senses, resembling the
ignorant birds
setting upon it; and our desires are the cankers, that
are continually
corroding our breasts and minds.
60. The shafts of death are felling down the trees of our
minds and
bodies; as the blasts of wind toss the fruits of trees
upon the ground;
and the flying dusts of our desires have filled all
sides, and obscured
the sights of things from our view.
61. The loose and thick clouds of ignorance overhang on
our heads, and
the pillars of our bodies, are wrapped around by the
flying straws of
our loose desires.
62. The small bark of our body, gliding slowly along in
quest of
pleasure, falls into the eddy of despair; and so every
body falls into
utter gloom, without looking to the bright light that
shines within
himself.
63. As the flying dust is allayed by the setting down of
the winds, so
doth the dust of the mind subside, by subsidence of the
force of our
vital airs and desires. (The two moving forces of the
mind).
64. Again it is intelligence or Samvedya, which is the
seed or root of
both of these; and there being this intelligence within
us, we have both
our vitality and our desires also. (The word Samvedya in
the text is
explained as Chaitanya, which is the same with
intelligence).
65. This intelligence springs from Samvid or
consciousness; by
forsaking its universality, and retaining its
individuality; and then it
becomes the seed both of vitality and velleity. (Samvid
the
consciousness of the impersonal self, being vitiated to
the knowledge of
one's personality, produces the mind and its selfish
desires).
66. Know then your intelligence as the same with your
consciousness,
and resembles the seed of the mind and its desires, both
of which
quickly die away with their root, like a rootless or
uprooted plant and
tree.
67. The intelligence never exists without consciousness,
and is ever
accompanied with it, as the mustard seed and its oil. (Or
rather, as the
oil is contained in the mustard seed).
68. The wakeful conscience gets its intelligence from its
desire, as the
waking consciousness of men, views their death and
departure to distant
lands in dream, from their thoughts of of the same.
69. It is owing to our curiosity only, that our
consciousness has its
intelligence of the intelligible (God); as it is the
desire of knowing
any thing, that leads the conscious soul to the knowledge
of it. (It
means simply that, understanding combined with the desire
of knowing a
thing, becomes the knowledge itself. Here is a play of
the paronyms,
Samvid, Samitti, Samvedya, Samvedana and the like).
70. This world is no more than a network of our
imagination, as the boys
imagine a goblin to be hidden in the dark. (So Bacon: Men
fear death, as
children fear to go in the dark (for fear of demons)).
71. It is as the stump of a tree, appearing as a man in
the dark; and
like the streaks and particles of sunbeams and moonlight,
issuing
through the chink of a window or wall, appear as fire:
and so are all
the cognizables of our cognition (but deceptions of our
senses).
72. The objects of our knowledge are as deceptive, as the
appearance of
a moving mountain, to a passenger in a boat. All
appearances are the
presentations of our error or ignorance, and disappear at
the sight of
right knowledge.
73. As the fallacy of the snake in the rope, and the
appearance of two
moons in the sky, vanish before the keen sightedness of
the observer; so
the representation of the triple world, disappears in
like manner, from
before the penetrating understanding.
74. The inward certitude of the illusion of the world, is
what is called
the perfection of knowledge by the wise; and the
knowledge of all things
whether seen before or not, is equally a delusion of the
mind.
75. It is therefore right, to rub out the impressions of
consciousness
with diligence; because the preservation of those
vestiges, is the cause
of our bondage in the world.
76. The erasure of these marks from the mind, is
tantamount to our
liberation; because the consciousness of these
impressions, is the sore
cause of repeated transmigrations in this world of woe.
77. The uninert consciousness, which is unconscious of
the outward
world, but preserves the consciousness of the self, is
attended both
with present felicity, and want of future regeneration
also. Be
therefore unconscious of the externals, and conscious of
the internal
bliss of your soul; because the wakeful soul that is
insensible of the
externals, is blessed with the sensibility of its inward
blissfulness.
78. Rāma asked:—How is it possible sir, to be both
unconscious and yet
uninert; and how can unconsciousness be freed from and
get rid of its
unavoidable supineness?
79. Vasishtha replied:—That is called the unsluggish or
sensible
unconsciousness, which having its existence, dwells on
nothing beside
itself; and which though it is living, is insensible of
everything else
(and yet quite sensible of its own existence).
80. He is called both the unconscious and yet uninert,
who has no
visible object in his consciousness; and who discharges
his duties and
all the affairs of his life, without attaching his mind
to them.
81. He is said to be unslumbering and yet unconscious,
whose mind is
insensible of the sensible objects of perception; but yet
clear with the
impressions of the knowable objects of intellectuality:
and such a
person is said to be the living liberated also (who is
removed from the
material to the spiritual world, has his ajadā asamvid or
unslumbering
unconsciousness).
82. When the indifferent soul thinks of nothing in
itself, but remains
with its calm and quiet composure, like a young child or
a deaf and dumb
person, in possession of his internal consciousness:—
83. It becomes then possest of its wisdom, and rests in
full knowledge
of itself without its dullness; and is no more liable to
the turmoils of
this life, nor to the doom of future births.
84. When the adept rests in his state of sedate
hybernation, by
forsaking all his desires; he perceives a calm delight to
pervade his
inmost soul, as the blueness overspreading the sky.
85. The unconscious Yogi remains with the consciousness
of his unity
with that Spirit; which has no beginning nor end; and in
which he finds
himself to be utterly absorbed and lost.
86. Whether moving or sitting, or feeling or smelling, he
seems to abide
always, and do everything in the Holy spirit; and with
his
self-consciousness and unconsciousness of aught besides,
he is dissolved
in his internal delight.
87. Shut out these worldly sights from your mind, with
your utmost
endeavours and painstaking; and go across this world of
woes, resembling
a perilous ocean, on the firm bark of your virtues.
88. As a minute seed produces a large tree, stretching
wide in the sky;
so doth the minute mind produce these ideal worlds, which
fill the empty
space of the universe, and appear as real ones to sight.
(The word sankalpa in the text, is used in the triple
sense of
imagination, reminiscence and hope, all of which are
causes of the
production of things appearing both as real and unreal).
89. When the conscious soul entertains the idea of some
figure in
itself, by its imagination, reminiscence or hope; the
same becomes the
seed of its reproduction, or its being born in the very
form which the
soul has in its view.
90. So the soul brings forth itself, and falls into its
deception by its
own choice; and thus loses the consciousness of its
freedom, by the
subjection to the bondage of life.
91. Whatever form it dotes upon with fondness, the same
form it assumes
to itself; and cannot get rid of it, as long it cherishes
its affection
for the same; nor return to its original purity, until it
is freed from
its impure passions.
92. The soul is no god or demigod, nor either a Yaksha
nor Raksha, nor
even a Nara—man or Kinnara—manikin; it is by reason of
its original
delusion—māyā, that it plays the part of a player on the
stage of the
world.
93. As the player represents himself in various shapes,
and then resumes
and returns to his original form; and as the silkworm
binds itself in
the cocoon of its own making, and then breaks out of it
by itself; so
doth the soul resume its primal purity, by virtue of its
self-consciousness.
94. Our consciousness is as the water in the great deep
of the universe,
encompassing all the four quarters of the world, and the
huge mountains
within it. (As the sea hides the rocks under it).
95. The universal ocean of consciousness, teems with the
heaven and
earth, the air and the sky, the hills and mountains and
the seas and
rivers, and all things encompassed by the sides of the
compass; as its
surges, waves and billows and eddies.
96. It is our consciousness that comprises the world,
which is no other
beside itself; because the all comprehensive
consciousness comprehends
all things in itself (in its conscious ideas of them).
97. When our consciousness has its slight pulsation and
not its quick
vibration, it is then said to rest in itself; and is not
moved by the
action of outward objects upon it.
98. The seed or source of our consciousness, is the
Divine Spirit, which
is the inbeing of all beings; and which produces our
consciousness, as
the solar heat produces the light, and as the fire emits
its sparks.
99. This Inbeing in us exhibits itself in two forms
within ourselves;
the one is our self-consciousness, and the other is our
consciousness of
many things lying without us: the former is uniform and
the latter is of
mutable form.
100. This two fold division of the one and same soul, is
as the
difference of ghata and pata or of the pot and painting,
and like
that of I and thou, which are essentially the same thing,
and have no
difference in their in-being.
101. Now do away with this difference, and know the true
entity to be a
pure unity, which is the positive reality remaining in
common with all
objects.
102. Forsake the particulars only, and seek the universal
one which is
the same and in common with all existence. Know this
Unity as the
totality of beings, and the only adorable One.
103. The variety of external forms, does not indicate any
variation in
the internal substance; change of outward form, makes a
thing unknowable
to us as to its former state; but outward and formal
differences, make
no difference in the real essence.
104. Whatever preserves its uniform and invariable
appearance at all
times, know that to be the true and everlasting inner
essence of the
thing (and not its changeful external appearance).
105. Rāma! Renounce the doctrines which maintain the
eternal subsistence
of time and space, of atoms and generalities and the like
categories;
and rely in the universal category of the one Being in
which all others
are reducible. (All varieties blend into the Unity of
Brahma).
106. Though the endless duration of time, approximates to
the nature of
the Infinite Existence; yet its divisions into the
present, past and
future, makes it an ununiform and unreal entity.
107. That which admits of divisibility, and presents its
various
divisions; and what is seen to diverge to many, cannot be
the uniform
cause of all (hence time being ever changeful and
fleeting, cannot be
the unchanging cause of all).
108. Think all bodies as appertaining to one common
essence, and enjoy
thy full bliss by thinking thyself as the same, and
filling all space.
109. He who is the ultimate pause or end of all existence
in common,
know, O wise Rāma! that Being to be the source and seed
of the whole
universe, which has sprung from Him.
110. He who is the utmost limit of all things in common,
and is beyond
description and imagination; He is the first and
beginning of all,
without any beginning of his own, and having no source or
seed of
himself.
111. He in whom all finite existences are dissolved, and
who remains
without any change in himself; knowing Him in one's self,
no man is
subjected to trouble, but enjoys his full bliss in Him.
112. He is the cause of all, without any cause of his
own; He is the
optimum or best of all, without having anything better
than himself.
113. All things are seen in the mirror of his intellect,
as the shadow
of the trees on the border of a river, is reflected in
the limpid stream
below.
114. All beings relish their delight in him, as in a
reservoir of sweet
water; and anything delicious which the tongue doth
taste, is supplied
from that pure fountain.
115. The intellectual sphere of the mind, which is
clearer than the
mundane sphere, has its existence from his essence; which
abounds with
the purest delight, than all dulcet things in the world
can afford.
116. All these creatures in the world, rise and live in
him; they are
nourished and supported by him, and they die and are
dissolved in him.
117. He is the heaviest of the heavy and the lightest of
all light
bodies. He is the most ponderous of all bulky things, and
the minutest
of the most minute.
118. He is the remotest of the most remote, and the
nearest of whatever
is most propinqueous to us; He is the eldest of the
oldest and the
youngest of the most young.
119. He is brighter far than the brightest, and obscurer
than the
darkest things; He is the substratum of all substances,
and farthest
from all the sides of the compass.
120. That being is some thing as nothing, and exists as
if he were
non-existent. He is manifest in all, yet invisible to
view; and that is
what I am, and yet as I am not the same.
121. Rāma! Try your best to get your rest, in that
supreme state of
felicity; than which there is no higher state for man to
desire.
122. It is the knowledge of that holy and unchangeable
Spirit, which
brings rest and peace to the mind; know then that
all-pervasive soul,
and be identified with the pure Intellect, for your
liberation from all
restraint.
(And the way to this state of perfect liberation, is to
destroy by
degrees the seeds of our restraints to the same.
Namely:—To be
regardless of the body, which is the seed of worldliness;
and then to
subdue the mind, which is the seed of the body; and at
last to restrain
the breathings and desires, which are the roots of
sensations and
earthly possessions; and thus to destroy the other seeds
also, until one
can arrive to his intellectual, and finally to his
spiritual state).
CHAPTER LXXXXII.—Means of Obtaining the Divine Presence.
Argument. Divine knowledge and want of desires and
feelings,
forming the Trivium of salvation.
Rāma said:—Of all, the seeds which you have spoken, say
sir, which of
these is the most essential one to lead us to the
attainment of the
supreme Brahma.
2. Vasishtha replied:—It is by the gradual demolition of
the seeds and
sources of woe, which I have mentioned one after the
other, that one is
enabled to attain his consummation in a short time.
3. You can relinquish by your manly fortitude, your
desire for temporal
objects; and endeavour to seek that which is the first
and best of
beings:—
4. And if you remain in your exclusive and intense
meditation on the
Supreme Being, you are sure to see that very moment the
Divine light,
shining in full blaze in and before you.
5. If it is possible for you to think of all things in
general, in your
well developed understanding; you can have no difficulty
to elevate your
mind a little higher, to think of the universal Soul of
all.
6. O sinless Rāma! If you can remain quietly with
meditating on your
conscious soul, you can find no difficulty in the
contemplation of the
Supreme soul, by a little more exertion of your
intellect.
7. It is not possible, O Rāma! to know the knowable
Spirit at once in
your understanding, unless you think of it continually in
your
consciousness. (The Divine Spirit is knowable in our
spirits and
consciousness and by own intuition only).
8. Whatever thou thinkest and wherever thou goest and
dost remain, is
all known to thee in thy consciousness; and so it is the
conscious soul
which is the seat of God, and wherein He is to be sought
and seen. (So
says Maulana Rumi:—I sought him everywhere and found him
nowhere; I
looked within myself and found him there).
9. If you will but strive, Rāma, to renounce your earthly
appetites; you
will get yourself loosened from all its bonds and
diseases and dangers.
10. Of all others which have been said before, it is the
most difficult
task to get rid of one's earthly desires; and it is
impossible to root
them out of the mind, as it is to uproot the mount Meru
from its basis.
11. As long as you do not subdue the mind, you cannot get
rid of your
desires; and unless you suppress your desires, you can
not control your
restless mind. (They are so interwoven together).
12. Until you know the truth, you cannot have the peace
of your mind;
and so long as you are a stranger to your mental
tranquillity, you are
barred from knowing the truth.
13. As long you do not shun your desires, you cannot come
to the light
of truth; nor can you come to know the truth, unless you
disown your
earthly desires.
14. Hence the knowledge of truth, subjection of the mind,
and
abandonment of desires, are the joint causes of spiritual
bliss; which
is otherwise unattainable by the practice of any one of
them singly.
15. Therefore, O Rāma! the wise man should betake
himself, to the
practice of all these triple virtues at once; and abandon
his desire of
worldly enjoyments, with the utmost of his manly efforts.
(Because it is
weakness to be a dupe to pleasure, and true bravery
consists in
contemning them).
16. Unless you become a complete adept, in the practice
of this
triplicate morality; it is impossible for you to attain
to the state of
divine perfection, by your mere devotion during a whole
century.
(Because the mendicant Yogis, that are devoid both of
their divine
knowledge and disinterestedness, are never blessed with
their spiritual
rapture).
17. Know ye, O highminded Muni! that it is the
simultaneous attainment
of divine knowledge, in combination with the subjection
of the mind and
its desires, that is attended with the efficacy of Divine
presence.
18. The practice of any one of these, in disjunction from
the others, is
as fruitless as imprecations of one's death or
derangement of
understanding (i.e. no one's curse, can effect any evil
on another).
19. Though the adept may be long inured in the practice
of these
virtues; yet none of them will help him singly to
approach to the
Supreme; as no single soldier or regiment can dare
advance before the
adverse host. (Here is pun of the word, param signifying
both the
Supreme and the enemy).
20. These virtues being brought under the practice of the
wiseman, by
his undivided attention and vigilance; will break down
every obstacle on
his way, like the current of a confluence of three
streams, carrying
away a rock from the coast.
21. Accustom yourself with diligence, to destroy the
force of your mind
and its desires and feelings; and habituate your
intellect to the
acquisition of knowledge with equal ardour, and you will
escape from
every evil and error of the world.
22. Having mastered these triple virtues; you will cut
asunder your
heart strings of worldly affections; as the breaking of
the lotus-stalk
severs its interior fibres.
23. The reminiscence of worldliness, which is inherited
and strengthened
in the long course of a hundred lives (or transmigrations
of the soul),
is hard to be removed with the assiduous practice of
these triple
virtues.
24. Continue to practice these at all times of your life;
whether when
you sit quiet or move about; or talk or listen to another
or when you
are awake or asleep; and it will redound to your greatest
good.
25. The restraining of respirations also, is tantamount
to the restraint
put upon your desires; then you must practise this
likewise, according
to the directions of the wise.
26. By renunciation of desire, the mind is reduced to an
insensible and
dead block; but by restraining your breathing, you can do
whatever you
like. By the practice of the prānāyāma, the yogi
identifies himself
with the Supreme, and can do all things as the Deity.
27. By the protracted practice of restraining the
breathing, according
to the directions given by the guru; and by keeping the
erect posture,
and observing the rules of diet &c. one must restrain
his respiration.
28. By right observation of the nature of things, we can
have no desires
for any thing (which is so frail and false); and there is
nothing which
is the same or remains unchanged from first to last,
except the
unchangeable nature of the Deity, which must be the only
desirable
object.
29. It is the sight and knowledge of God, that serve to
weaken our
worldly desires; and so will our avoidance of society and
worldly
thoughts (will put an end to our earthly desires).
30. Seeing the dissolution of human bodies, we cease to
desire our
worldly goods; and so also the loss of desired objects,
puts a check to
our desiring them any more.
81. As the flying dust is set on the ground, after the
gust of the wind
is over; so the flying thoughts of the mind are stopped,
when our
breathings are put to a stop: they being the one and the
same thing.
(Swedenborg saw the intimate connection between thought
and vital life.
He says "thought commences and corresponds with
vital respiration. A
long thought draws a long breath, and a quick one is
attended with rapid
vibrations of breath").
32. From this correspondence of the motion of thoughts
with the
vibrations of breath, there is heaved a large mass of
worldly thoughts
resembling heaps of dust on earth. Let therefore the
intelligent men try
their utmost to suppress their breath (in order to stop
the assemblage
of their thoughts also).
33. Or do away with this process of the Hathā Yogis (if
it be hard for
you to suppress your breath), and sit quietly to suppress
your fleeting
thoughts only at all times.
34. If you want to keep your control over the mind, you
will be able to
do so in the course of a long time; because it is not possible
to subdue
the mind without the discipline of strict reason.
35. As it is impossible to restrain the infuriate
elephant without its
goading; so it is not possible for you to curb your
indomitable mind,
without the help of spiritual knowledge, and association
with the wise
and good.
36. The abandonment of desires and suppression of
breathing, in the
manner as hereinafter inculcated, are the most efficient
means of
subduing the mind.
(The mind dwells in the brain which shares the various
fortunes of
breathing; therefore the suppression of breath tends also
to the
subjection of the mind. Swedenborg).
37. There are milder means of pacifying the mind, as the
cooling showers
of rain set down the dust of the earth; and yet the
Hathā-Yoga, attempts
to restrain it by stopping the breath, as it were to
prevent the rising
of dust, by means of a breathless calm.
38. Ignorant men who want to subdue the mind, by
prescriptions of the
Hathā-Yoga or bodily restraints; are like those silly
folks, who want to
dispel the darkness by black ink instead of a lighted
lamp. (Painful
bodily practice, is no part of Rāja or spiritual Yoga).
39. Those who attempt to subdue the mind by bodily
contortions, strive
as vainly as they, who wish to bind the mad elephant with
a rope of
grass or straws.
40. Those rules which prescribe bodily practices, instead
of mental
reasoning and precepts, are known as the patterns of
Hathā-Yoga, and
misleading men to dangers and difficulties. (Because the
mind alone
governs the mind, and bodily austerities have ruined many
bodies and
killed many men also; and the correspondence between the
states of the
mind and lungs, has not been admitted in science).
41. Wretched men like beasts have no rest from their
labour, but wander
in dales and woods, in quest of herbs and fruits for
their food.
42. Ignorant men who are infatuated in their
understandings, are timid
cowards like timorous stags; and are both dull-headed and
weak-bodied,
and languid in their limbs (by incessant toil).
43. They have no place of confidence anywhere, but
stagger as the
distrustful deer in the village; their minds are ever
wavering between
hopes and fears, as the sea water rising and falling in
waves.
44. They are borne away like leaves fallen from a tree,
by the current
of the cascade gliding below a water-fall; and pass their
time in the
errors of sacrificial rites and religious gifts and
austerities, and in
pilgrimages and adoration of idols.
45. They are subject to continued fears, like the timid
deer in the
forest, and there are few among them, who happen by
chance to come to
the knowledge of the soul. (Most men are betaken by the
exoteric faith).
46. Being broiled by outward misery and internal
passions, they are
rarely sensible of their real state; and are subjected to
repeated
births and deaths, and their temporary habitation in
heaven or hell.
(There is no everlasting reward or punishment, adjudged
to the temporal
merit and demerit of human actions).
47. They are tossed up and down like play balls in this
world, some
rising up to heaven, and others falling to hell torments
while they are
even here. (The gloss represents higher births as heaven,
and the lower
ones as hell-torments; and since the Hindu idea of bliss
is idleness, he
deems the idle life of the great his heaven. Otia cum dignitate).
48. These men roll on like the incessant waves of the
sea; therefore
leave off the exterior view of the exoteric, and sink
deep into the
spiritual knowledge for your everlasting rest. (The
Hatha-Yoga is deemed
like the other modes of public worship, to belong to the
exoteric
faith).
49. Remain quiet and sedate, with your firm faith in your
inward
consciousness; and know that knowledge is power, and the
knowing man is
the strongest being on earth; therefore be wise in all
respects.
50. Rāma! renounce the cognizance of the knowable
objects, and depend on
the abstract knowledge of all things in thy subjective
consciousness;
remain firm in full possession of thy inner soul, and
think thyself as
no actor of thy acts. Then forsaking all inventions of men
as falsehoods
(kalanā and kalpanā), shine with the effulgence of thy
spiritual
light.
CHAPTER LXXXXIII.—Universal Indifference or Insouciance.
Argument. Cultivation of understanding and Reason.
Vasishtha continued:—Rāma! He who is possessed of little
reason, and
tries to subdue his mind as well as he can; succeeds to
reap the fruit
(object) of his life (salvation).
(Neither is much learning required for divine knowledge,
nor is much
purity necessary for salvation; nor is the entire want of
either,
attended by its main object).
2. The small particle of reason that is implanted in the
mind, becomes
by culture a big tree in time, projecting into a hundred
branches in all
departments of knowledge.
3. A little development of reason, serves to destroy the
unruly passions
of the human breast, and then fill it with the good and
pure virtues; as
the roes of a fish fill the tank with fishes. (The seed
of reason
germinates in all good qualities).
4. The rational man who becomes wise, by his vast
observation of the
past and present, is never tempted by the influence of
the ignorant, who
value their wealth above their knowledge.
5. Of what good are great possessions and worldly honours
to him, and of
what evil are the diseases and difficulties unto the man,
who looks upon
them with an indifferent eye.
6. As it is impossible to stop the impetuous hurricane,
or to grasp the
flashing lightning, or hold the rolling clouds in the
hand:—
7. As it is impossible to put the moon like a brilliant
moonstone, in a
box of jewels; and as it is not possible for a belle to
wear the
crescent of the moon like a moon flower on her forehead.
8. As it is impossible also for the buzzing gnats, to put
to flight the
infuriate elephant, with the swarm of bees sucking his
frontal ichor,
and the lotus bushes gracing his fore-head:—
9. As it is impossible too for a herd of timid stags, to
withstand in
fighting the brave lion, gory with the frontal pearls of
slaughtered
elephants in his bloody chase:—
10. As it is impossible likewise for a young frog, to
devour a huge and
hungry snake, which like the poisonous tree, attracts
other animals to
it by its poison, and then swallows them entire:—
11. So it is impossible for the robbers of outward
senses, to overpower
upon the man of reason, who is acquainted with the
grounds of Knowledge,
and knows the knowable Brahma.
12. But the sensible objects and the organs of sense,
destroy the
imperfect reason; as the violence of the wind, breaks off
the stalks of
tender plants.
13. Yet the wicked passions and desires, have no power to
destroy the
perfected understanding; as the lesser gales of minor
deluges, are not
strong enough to remove the mountain. (The great deluge
is the
mahakalpanta, and the partial ones are called the Khanda
or
yuga-pralayas).
14. Unless the flowery arbor of reason, takes its deep
root in the
ground of the human mind, it is liable to be shaken at
every blast of
the conflicting thoughts; because the unstable soul can
have no
stability; nor the uncertain mind can have any certainty.
15. He whose mind does not stick to strict reasoning,
either when he is
sitting or walking, or waking or sleeping; is said to be
dead to reason.
16. Therefore think always within yourself, and in the
society of good
people, about what is all this, what is this world, and
what is this
body in a spiritual light (i.e. Spiritually considered,
the material
universe will disappear from view).
17. Reason displays the darkness of ignorance, and shows
the state of
the Supreme as clearly, as when the light of the lamp
shows everything
clearly in the room. (Hence reason is said to be the
light of the soul).
18. The light of knowledge dispels the gloom of sorrow,
as the solar
light puts to flight the shadow of night. (Knowledge is
the sunlight of
the soul).
19. Upon appearance of the light of knowledge, the
knowable comes to
appear of itself; as the appearance of sunlight in the
sky, shows every
object on earth below.
20. That science which brings to the knowledge of Divine
Truth, the same
knowledge is known as selfsame with the knowable Truth
itself.
21. Spiritual knowledge is the result of reason, and is
reckoned as the
only true knowledge by the wise; it includes the
knowledge of the
knowable soul, as the water contains its sweetness within
itself.
22. The man knowing all knowledge, becomes full of knowledge;
as the
strong dramdrinker turns a tippler himself. (Fullness of
spiritual
knowledge is compared with hard drinking, in the mystic
poetry of
orientals, to denote the inward rapture which is caused
by both).
23. They then come to know the knowable, supreme spirit
as immaculate as
their own souls; and it is only through the knowledge of
the supreme
spirit, that this rapture imparts its grace to the soul.
24. The man fraught with perfect knowledge, is full of
his unfailing
rapture within himself, and is liberated in his life; and
being freed
from all connections, reigns supreme in the empire of his
mind. (This
refers equally to a savant in all knowledge, to a deep
philosopher, as
also to a holy man; a yogi and the like).
25. The sapient man remains indifferent to the sweet
sound of songs, and
to the music of the lute and flute; he is not humored by
the
songstresses, and by the allurement of their persons and
the enticement
of their foul association.
26. He sits unaffected amidst the hum of buzzing bees,
fluttering
joyfully over the vernal flowers; and amidst the blooming
blossoms of
the rainy weather, and under the growling noise of the
roaring clouds.
27. He remains unexcited by the loud screams of the
peacock, and the
joyous shrill of storks at the sight of fragments of dark
clouds; and by
the rolling and rumbling of the gloomy clouds in humid
sky.
28. He is not elated by the sound of musical instruments,
as that of the
jarring cymbal or ringing bell held in the hands; and the
deep
rebellowing drum beaten by the rod; nor the wind, wired
or skinned
instruments can act upon his mind.
29. He turns his mind to nothing that is sweet or bitter
to taste, but
delights in his own thoughts; as the moon sheds her light
upon the
spreading lotus-bud in the lake.
30. The wise man is indifferent to the attractions of
beauties and
celestial nymphs; who are as graceful in their stature
and attire, like
the young shoot of the plantain tree with its spreading
foliage.
31. His mind is attached to nothing that is even his own,
but remains
indifferent to everything; as a swan exposed to a barren
spot. (The
world to the wise is a barren desert).
32. The wise have no taste in delicious fruits, nor do
they hunger after
dainty food of any kind. (Here follows the names of some
sweet fruits
and meats which are left out).
33. He does not thirst after delicious drinks, as milk,
curd, butter,
ghee and honey; nor does he like to taste the sweet
liquors at all. He
is not fond of wines and liquors of any kind, nor of
beverages and
drinks of any sort, such as milk, curds, butter &c.,
for his sensual
delight. (But he hungers and thirsts for eternal life
&c., see the
Sermon on the Mount).
34. He is not fond of the four kinds of food, which are
either chewed or
licked or sucked or drunk; nor of the six flavours as
sweet, sour,
bitter, pungent &c., to sharpen his appetite. He
longs for no sort of
vegetable or meat food; (because none of these can give
him satiety).
35. Quite content in his countenance, and unattached to
every thing in
his mind, the wise Vipra does not bind his heart either
to the pleasures
of taste, or tending to the gracefulness of his person.
36. The sapient is not observant of the adoration paid to
Yama, sun,
moon, Indra, and Rudras and Marutas (in the Vedas); nor
does he observe
the sanctity of the Meru, Mandara and Kailasa Mountains,
and of the
table lands of the Sahya and Dardura hills (the early
habitations of
Indian Aryans).
37. He takes no delight in the bright moon-beams, which
mantles the
earth as with a silken vesture; nor does he like to rove
about the
groves of the Kalpa arbours, for refreshment of his body
and mind.
38. He does not resort to houses rich with jewels and
gold, and with the
splendour of gems and pearls; nor does he dote upon
beauties with their
fairy forms of celestials nymphs, as an Urvasī, Menaka,
Rambhā and a
Tilottamā.
39. His graceful person and unenticed mind, does not pine
or pant for
whatever is pleasant to sight; but remain about
everything with his
indifference, and the sense of his satisfaction and the
fulness of his
mind, and with his stern taciturnity and inflexibility
even among his
enemies.
40. His cold mind is not attracted by the beauty and
fragrance of the
fine flowers of lotuses, and lilies and the rose and
jasamine (the
favourite themes of lyric poets).
41. He is not tempted by the relish of the luscious
fruits, as apples
and mango, jamb &c., nor by the sight of the asoka
and Kinsuka
flowers.
42. He is not drawn over by the fragrance of the sweet
scenting
sandal-wood, agulochum, camphor, and of the clove and
cardamom trees.
43. Preserving an even tenor of his mind, he does not
incline his heart
to any thing; he holds the perfumes in hatred, as a
Brahman holds the
wine in abhorrence; and his even mindedness is neither
moved by pleasure
nor shaken by any fear or pain.
44. His mind is not agitated by fear, at hearing the
hoarse sound of the
sounding main, or the tremendous thunder-clap in the sky,
or the
uproaring clouds on mountain tops; and the roaring lions
below, do not
intimidate his dauntless soul.
45. He is not terrified at the loud trumpet of warfare,
nor the deep
drum of the battle-field; the clattering arms of the
warriors and the
cracking cudgels of the combatants, bear no terror to his
mind; and the
most terrific of all that is terrible, i.e. God, is
familiar to his
soul. So the Sruti:—"bhayānām bhayam, bhishanam
bhishanānām. &c.
46. He does not tremble at the stride of the infuriate
elephant, nor at
the clamour of Vetāla goblins; his heart does not thrill
at the hue and
cry of Pisācha cannibals, nor at the alarm of Yakshas and
Rakshas.
47. The meditative mind is not moved by the loud thunder
clap or the
cracking of rocks and mountains; and the clangor of Indra
and Airāvana,
can not stir the Yogi from his intense reverie.
48. The rigid sage does not slide from his
self-possession, at the harsh
noise of the crashing saw and the clanking of the
burnished sword
striking upon one another. He is not shaken by the
twanging of the bow,
or the flying and falling of deadly arrows around.
49. He does not rejoice in pleasant groves, nor pines in
parched
deserts; because the fleeting joys and sorrows of life,
find no place in
his inevitable mind.
50. He is neither intolerant of the burning sands of the
sandy desert,
resembling the cinders of living fire; nor is he charmed
in shady
woodlands, fraught with flowery and cooling arbours.
51. His mind is unchanged, whether when he is exposed on
a bed of
thorns, or reposing in a bed of flowers; and whether he
is lifted on the
pinnacle of a mount, or flung into the bottom of a fount;
his mind is
always meek (as those of persecuted saints and martyrs).
52. It is all the same with himself, whether he roves on
rough and
rugged rocks, or moves under the hot sunbeams of the
south, or walks in
a temperate or mild atmosphere. He remains unchanged in
prosperity and
adversity, and alike both under the favour and frown of
fortune.
53. He is neither sad nor sorrow in his wanderings over
the world, nor
joyous and of good cheer in his rest and quiet. He joys
on doing his
duty with the lightness of his heart, like a porter
bearing his light
burthen with an unberthened mind.
54. Whether his body is grated upon the guillotine or
broken under the
wheel; whether impaled in the charnel ground, or exiled
in a desert
land; or whether pierced by a spear or battered by a
cudgel, the
believer in the true God remain inflexible (as the Moslem
Shahids and
Christian? martyrs, under the bitterest persecution).
55. He is neither afraid at any fright nor humiliates
himself nor loses
his usual composure in any wise; but remains with his
even temper and
well composed mind as firm as a fixed rock.
56. He has no aversion to impure food, but takes the
unpalatable and
dirty and rotten food with zest; and digests the
poisonous substances at
it were his pure and clean diet. (It is the beast of
Aghori to gulp
unwholesome and nasty articles, as their dainty food, and
thus their
stoicism degrades them to beastliness).
57. The deadly henbane and hellebore, is tasted with as
good a zest by
the impassive Yogi, as any milky and saccharine food, and
the juice of
hemlock is as harmless to him as the juice of the
sugarcane.
58. Whether you give him the sparkling goblet of liquor
or the red hot
bowl of blood; or whether you serve him with a dish of
flesh or dry
bones; he is neither pleased with the one nor annoyed at
the other.
59. He is equally complacent at the sight of his deadly
enemy, as also
of his benevolent benefactor. (The foe and friend are
alike to him).
60. He is neither gladdened nor saddened at the sight of
any lasting or
perishable thing; nor is he pleased or displeased at any
pleasant or
unpleasant thing, that is offered to his apathetic
nature.
61. By his knowledge of the knowable, and by the
dispassionateness of
his mind, as also by the unconcerned nature of his soul,
and by his
knowledge of the unreliableness of mortal things, he does
not confide on
the stability of the world.
62. The wise man never fixes his eye on any object of his
sight, seeing
them to be momentary sights and perishable in their
nature. (The passing
scene of the world, is not relied upon by the wise).
63. But the restless people, who are blind to truth and
ignorant of
their souls, are incessantly pressed upon by their
sensual appetites, as
the leaves of trees are devoured by the deer.
64. They are tossed about in the ocean of the world, by
the dashing
waves of their desires; and are swallowed by the sharks
of their sense,
with the loss of their lives and souls.
65. The growing desires and fleeting fancies of the mind,
can not
overpower upon the reasonable soul, and the orderly and
mannerly man;
that have found their security in peace and tranquillity,
as the great
body of torrents has no power to overflow upon the
mountain.
66. Those who have passed the circuit of their longings,
and found their
rest in the supreme Being; have really come to the
knowledge of their
true selves, and look upon the mountain as it were a
mite.
67. The vast world seems as a bit of straw to the wise;
and the deadly
poison is taken for ambrosia, and a millennium is passed
as a moment, by
the man of an even and expanded mind. (The fixed thought
of a sedate
mind, perceives no variation of things and times).
68. Knowing the world to consist in consciousness, the
mind of the wise
is enrapt with the thought of his universality; and the
wise man roves
freely everywhere with his consciousness, of the great
cosmos in
himself. (The cosmologist is in reality a cosmopolitan
also).
69. Thus the whole world appearing in its full light in
the cosmical
consciousness within one's self, there is nothing which a
man may choose
for or reject from his all including mind.
70. Know thy consciousness to be all in all, and reject
everything as
false which appears to be otherwise. Again as everything
is embodied in
thy consciousness, there is nothing for thee to own or
disown us thine
and not thine.
71. Just as the ground grows the shoots of plants and
their leaves and
branches, so it is in the same manner, that our
consciousness brings
forth the shoots of all predicables (tatwas) which are
inherent in it.
(This means the eternal ideas which are innate in the
mind, and become
manifest before it by its reminiscence).
72. That which is a nonentity at first and last, is so
also even at
present; and it is by an error of our consciousness that
we become
conscious of its existence at any time. (This means the
erroneous
conception of all things, which are really nil at all
times).
73. Knowing this for certain, abandon your knowledge of
reality and
unreality; transcend over the knowledge of existence, and
transform
thyself to the nature of thy consciousness (to know
thyself only); and
then remain unconcerned with everything besides. (The
transcendentalism
of the subjective over objective knowledge).
74. The man who is employed in his business with his body
and mind, or
sits idle with himself and his limbs, he is not stained
by anything, if
this soul is unattached to any object.
75. He is not stained by the action which he does with an
unconcerned
mind; nor he also who is neither elated nor dejected at
the vicissitudes
of his fortune, and the success or failure of his
undertakings.
76. He whose mind is heedless of the actions of his body,
is never
stained with the taint of joy or grief, at the changes of
his fortune,
or the speed or defeat of his attempts.
77. The heedless mind takes no notice of a thing that is
set before the
eyes of the beholder; but being intent on some other
object within
itself, is absent from the object present before its
sight. This case of
the absence of mind is known even to boys (and all man).
78. The absent minded man does not see the objects he
actually sees, nor
hears what he hears, nor feels what he touches. (So the
sruti. "Who
thinks of that, sees naught before him, nor hears aught
that he hears").
79. So is he who watches over a thing as if he winks at
it; and smells a
thing as if he has no smell of the same; and while his
senses are
engaged with their respective objects, his soul and mind
are quite aloof
from them.
80. This absence of mind is well known to persons sitting
at their
homes, and thinking of their lodging in another land; and
this case of
the wandering attention, is known even to boys and to
ignorant people
also.
81. It is attention which is the cause of the perception
of sensible
objects, and it is the attachment of the mind which is
the cause of
human society; it is mental concern that causes our
desires, and it is
this concernedness of ours about other things, that is
the cause of all
our woe.
82. It is the abandonment of connections, which is called
liberation,
and it is the forsaking of earthly attachments, which
releases us from
being reborn in it; but it is freedom from worldly
thoughts, that makes
us emancipate in this life. (Freedom in this state, makes
us free in the
next).
83. Rāma said:—Tell me briefly my lord, that dost like a
gale blow away
the mist of my doubts; what are these connections that we
are to get rid
of, in order to be freed both in this life and in the
next.
84. Vasishtha answered:—that impure desire of the pure soul,
for the
presence or absence of something which tends to our
pleasure or pain, is
called our attachment to the same. (The desire of having
the desirable
and avoiding the contrary, is the cause of our attachment
to the one,
and our unconnection with the other).
85. Those who are liberated in their lifetime, foster the
pure desire
which is unattended by joy or grief; and is not followed
by future
regeneration (or metempsychosis of the soul).
86. Thus the pure desire being unconnected with any
worldly object, is
styled unworldly and is apart from the world; it
continues through life,
and whatever actions are done by it, they do not tend to
the bondage of
the soul, nor lead it to future transmigrations.
87. The ignorant men that are not liberated, in their present
state of
existence in this world, entertain impure desires causing
their pleasure
and pain in this life, and conducing to their bondage to
repeated
transmigrations in future.
88. This impure desire is expressed also by the term
attachment, which
leads its captive soul to repeated births; and whatsoever
actions are
done by it, they tend to the faster bondage of the
miserable soul.
89. Abandon therefore thy desire for, and thy attachment
to anything of
this kind, which is at best but to the trouble of the
soul; and thy
freedom from them will keep thy mind pure, although thou
mayst continue
to discharge thy duties of life, with a willing mind and
unenslaved
soul.
90. If thou canst remain unaffected by joy or grief, or
pleasure or
pain, and unsubjected by passions, and unsubdued by fear
and anger; thou
becomest impassible and indifferent.
91. If you do not pine in your pain, or exult in your
joy, and if you
are not elated by hope, nor depressed by despair; you are
truly
unconcerned about them.
92. If you conduct your affairs with equanimity, both in
your prosperity
and adversity; and do not lose your temper in any
circumstance of life,
you are truly insensible and regardless of them.
93. When you can know the soul, and by knowing it you can
see the same
in yourself; and manage yourself with evenness, under any
circumstance
as it may happen to thee; you are then unconscious of
them.
94. Rely Rāma, in your easily obtainable insouciance and
stick firmly
to your liberation in this life; be passionless and even
tempered, and
rest in your peace for ever.
95. That man is honourable, who is free from the feverish
passions of
pride, giddiness and envy in his mind; and possessing his
liberation,
taciturnity and full mastery over his organs of sense.
96. So is he who retains his equanimity and meekness of
mind, in all
things which are presented before him; and never deviates
from the
connate duties of his caste, to do others which bear no
relation with
him.
97. One who attends to his hereditary duties, which are
co-natural with
him, and discharges them with a mind freed from all
concern and
expectation, is truly happy in himself.
98. Whether under the trial of troubles and tribulations,
or under the
temptations of rank and prosperity; the great minded man,
does not
transgress his intrinsic nature, as the Milky ocean does
not tarnish its
whiteness, though perturbed under the charming Mandara
mountain.
99. Whether gaining the sovereignty of the earth, or
elevated to the
dignity of the lord of gods; or degraded to grovel upon
the earth, or
lowered to a creeping worm underneath the ground; the
great minded man
remains unchanged at his rise and fall, as the bright sun
remains the
same, both in his elevation and culmination.
100. Freed from tumults and differences of faith, and exempted
from
pursuits for different results, employ your great mind, O
Rāma! to the
highest duty of investigation into the nature of the
soul, and securing
your ultimate liberation by it.
101. Live by the clear and purpling stream of your
investigation, and
you will come to rely in the undecaying and unsullied
state of the pure
soul; and then by coming to the knowledge and sight of
the Supreme
Spirit, by the light of your understanding; you will no
more be bound to
the bonds of future births upon this earth.
[End of Volume 3, part 1]
[Yoga Vasishtha, vol 3, part 2]
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to Brahmasri Sreemaan Vihari Lala Mitra ji for the
collection)
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