The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki
The only complete English translation is
by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891).
CHAPTER CXII.
THE RESTLESSNESS OF THE MIND AND ITS CURE.
Argument. Means of weakening the mind and
mental Desires.
Vasishtha continued:—Whatever be the nature
of the object of any man's
desire, his mind does not fail to run after
it with great avidity in
every place.
2. This eagerness of the mind rises and sets
by turns, with the view of
the desired object, like the clear bubbles of
water foaming and bursting
of themselves with the breath of winds.
3. As coldness is the nature of frost, and
blackness is that of ink; so
is swiftness or momentum the nature of the
mind, as stillness is that of
the soul.
4. Rāma said:—Tell me sir, why the mind is identified
with momentum,
and what is the cause of its velocity; tell
me also; if there is any
other force to impede the motion of the mind.
5. Vasishtha replied:—We have never seen the
motionless quiet of the
mind; fleetness is the nature of the mind, as
heat is that of fire.
6. This vacillating power of motion, which is
implanted in the mind, is
known to be of the same nature as that of the
self-motive force of the
Divine mind; which is the cause of the
momentum and motion of those
worlds.
7. As the essence of air is imperceptible
without its vibration, so we
can have no notion of the momentum of our
minds, apart from the idea of
their oscillation.
8. The mind which has no motion is said to be
dead and defunct; and the
suspension of mental agitation, is the condition
of Yoga quietism and
leading to our ultimate liberation.
9. The mortification of the mind, is attended
with the subsidence of our
woes; but the agitated thoughts in the mind,
are causes of all our woes.
10. The monster of the mind, being roused from
its rest, raises all our
dangers and disasters; but its falling into
rest and inaction, causes
our happiness and perfect felicity.
11. The restlessness of the mind is the
effect of its ignorance;
therefore Rāma! exert your reason to destroy
all its desires (for
temporal possessions).
12. Destroy the internal desires of your
mind, which are raised by
ignorance alone; and attain your supreme
felicity by your resignation to
the divine will.
13. The mind is a thing that stands between
the real and unreal and
between intelligence and dull matter, and is
moved to and fro by the
contending powers on either side.
14. Impelled by dull material force, the mind
is lost in the
investigation of material objects; till at
last by its habitual thought
of materiality, it is converted to a material
object, resembling dull
matter itself. (Such is the materialistic
mind).
15. But the mind being guided by its
intellectual powers, to the
investigation of abstract truths, becomes an
intelligent and
intellectual principle, by its continued
practice of thinking itself as
such. (This is immaterial mind).
16. It is by virtue of the exertion of your
manly powers and activities,
and by force of constant habit and continued
practice; that you can
succeed to attain any thing, to which, you
employ your mind with
diligence. (Diligence overcomes all
difficulties).
17. You can also be free from fears, and find
your rest in your reliance
in the sorrowless Being; provided you
exercise your manly activities
therein, and curb the proclivities of your
mind by your intelligence.
18. It must be by the force of your
intelligent mind, that you must lift
up your deluded mind, which is drowned in the
cares of this world. There
is no other means that will help you to do
so.
19. The mind only is capable of subduing the
mind; for who can subdue a
king unless he is a king himself?
20. Our minds are the boats, to lift us from
the ocean of this world;
where we are carried too far by its beating
waves, and thrown into the
eddies of despair, and where we are caught by
the sharks of our
greediness.
21. Let your own mind cut the net of the
mind, which is ensnared in this
world; and extricate your soul, by this wise
policy, which is the only
means of your liberation (i. e. set your mind to correct your mind).
22. Let the wise destroy the desires of their
minds, and this will set
them free from the bonds of ignorance.
23. Shun your desire for earthly enjoyments
and forsake your knowledge
of dualism; then get rid of your impressions
of entity and non-entity,
and be happy with the knowledge of one unity.
24. The thought of the unknowable, will
remove the thoughts of
knowables; this is equivalent to the
destruction of desires, of the mind
and ignorance also.
25. The unknown one of which we are
unconscious by our knowledge,
transcends all whatever is known to us by our
consciousness. Our
unconsciousness is our nirvāna or final extinction, while our
consciousness is the cause of our woe.
26. It is by their own attention that men
soon come to the knowledge of
the knowables; but it is the unknowing or
unconsciousness of these that
is our nirvāna, while our consciousness is the cause of our woe. (Want
of self consciousness, is want of pain. And
perfect apathy is the
perfection of solipsism).
27. Destroy O Rāma, whatever is desirable to
your mind, and is the
object of your affection; then knowing them
as reduced to nothing,
forsake your desires as seedless sprouts
(which can never grow); and
live content without the feelings of joy and
grief.
CHAPTER CXIII.
DESCRIPTION OF IGNORANCE AND DELUSION
(AVIDYﾁ).
Argument. Extirpation of Evil Desires and
duality by the true
knowledge of unity called the Vidyā.
Vasishtha continued:—The false desires which
continually rise in the
breast; are as the appearances of false moons
in the sky, and should be
shunned by the wise.
2. They rise in the minds of the unwise
amidst their ignorance; but
every thing which is known only by its name
and not in actuality, can
not have its residence in the minds of wise
people. (Nominalism as
opposed to Realistic Platonism).
3. Be wise, O Rāma; and do not think like the
ignorant; but consider
well all that I tell you;—there is no second
moon in the sky, but it
appears so only by deception of our optical
visions.
4. There exists nothing real or unreal any
where, except the only true
essence of God; as there is no substantiality
in the continuity of the
waves, besides the body of waters.
5. There is no reality in any thing, whether
existent or non-existent,
all which are mere creations of your shadowy
ideality; do not therefore
impute any shape or figure to the eternal,
boundless and pure spirit of
God.
6. You are no maker nor master of anything,
then why deem any act or
thing as your own (mamatā—meity?) You know not what these existences
are, and by whom and wherefore they are made.
7. Neither think yourself as actor, because
no actor can attempt to do
anything. Discharge whatever is your duty,
and remain at your ease with
having done your part.
8. Though you are the actor of an action, yet
think not yourself as
such, minding your inability to do or undo
any thing: for how can you
boast yourself as the actor, when you know
your inability for action.
9. If truth is delectable and untruth is
odious, then remain firm to
what is good; and be employed in your duties
(in the path of truth and
goodness).
10. But as the whole world is a gallery, a
magic and an unreality; then
say what reliance is there in it, and what
signifies pleasurableness or
unpleasurableness to any body.
11. Know Rāma, this ovum of the world to be a
delusion, and being
inexistent in itself, appears as a real
existence to others.
12. Know this busy sphere of the world, which
is so full with its
inessence; to be an ideal phantasm presented
for the delusion of our
minds.
13. It is like the beautiful bamboo plant,
all hollow within, and
without pith and marrow in the inside; and
like the curling waves of the
sea, both of which are born to perish without
being uprooted from the
bottom. (It is impossible to root out the
bamboo as well as the rising
wave of the water).
14. This world is as volatile as the air and
water flying in the air,
and hardly to be tangible or held fast in the
hand; and as precipitous
as the water-fall in its course (hurling down
and sweeping away
everything before it).
15. It appears as a flowery garden, but never
comes to any good use at
all; so the billowy sea in the mirage, presents
the form of water,
without allaying our thirst.
16. Sometimes it seems to be straight, and at
others a curve; now it is
long and now short, and now it is moving and
quiet again; and everything
in it, though originally for our good,
conspires to our evil only.
17. Though hollow in the inside, the world
appears to be full with its
apparent contents; and though all the worlds
are continually in motion,
yet they seem to be standing still.
18. Whether they be dull matter or
intelligences, their existence
depends upon their motion; and these without
stopping any where for a
moment, present the sight of their being
quite at rest.
19. Though they are as bright as light to
sight, they are as opaque as
the dark coal in their bowels; and though
they are moved by a superior
power, they appear to be moving of
themselves.
20. They fade away before the brighter light
of the sun, but brighten in
the darkness of the night; their light is
like that of the mirage, by
reflection of sunbeams.
21. Human avarice is as a sable serpent,
crooked and venomous, thin and
soft in its form; but rough and dangerous in
its nature, and ever
unsteady as a woman.
22. Our love of the world, ceases soon
without the objects of our
affection; as the lamp is extinguished
without its oil, and as the
vermilion mark, which is soon effaced. (Here
is a pun upon the world
sneha meaning a fluid substance as well as affection; and that
the
world is a dreary waste, without the objects
dear to us).
23. Our false hopes are as transient, as the
evanescent flash of
lightnings; they glare and flare for a
moment, but they disappear in the
air as these transitory flashes of light.
24. The objects of our desire are often had
without our seeking; but
they are as frail as the fire of heaven; they
appear to vanish like the
twinkling lightnings, and being held
carefully in the hand, they burn it
like the electric fire. (This passage shows
the science of electricity
and the catching of electric fire, to have
been known to the ancients).
25. Many things come to us unasked, and
though appearing delightsome at
first, they prove troublesome to us at last.
Hopes delayed, are as
flowers growing out of season, which, neither
bear their fruits, nor
answer our purposes. (Unseasonal flowers are
held as ominous and
useless).
26. Every accident tends to our misery, as
unpleasant dreams infest our
sleep and disturb our rest.
27. It is our delusion (avidyā), that
presents these many and big worlds
before us; as our dreams produce, sustain and
destroy all the
appearances of vision in one minute.
28. It was delusion which made one minute,
appear as many years to king
Lavana; and the space of one night, seem as
the long period of a dozen
of years to Haris chandra.
29. Such also is the case with separated
lovers among rich people, that
a single night seems as a live long year to
them, in the absence of
their beloved.
30. It is this delusive avidyā, that shortens the flight of time to
the rich and happy; and prolongs its course,
with the poor and
miserable: all of whom are subject to the
power of delusion
vipary'āsa.
31. The power of this delusion is essentially
spread over all the works
of creation, as the light of a lamp, is
spread over things in its
effulgence and not in substance.
32. As a female form represented in a picture
is no woman, and has not
the power of doing any thing; so this avidyā which presents us the
shapes of our desired objects in the picture
of the mind, can produce
nothing in reality.
33. The delusion consists in the building of
aerial castles in the mind,
without their substance; and though these
appear in hundreds and
thousands of shapes, they have no
substantiality in them.
34. It deludes the ignorant, as a mirage
misleads the deer in a desert;
but it can not deceive the knowing man by its
false appearances.
35. These appearances like the foaming
waters, are as continuous as they
are evanescent, they are as fleeting as the driving
frost, which can not
be held in the hand.
36. This delusion holds the world in its
grasp, and flies aloft with it
in the air; it blinds us by the flying dust,
which is raised by its
furious blasts. (This is delusion of
ambitions).
37. Covered with dust and with heat and sweat
of its body, it grasps the
earth and flies all about the world. The
deluded man ever toils and
moils, and runs every where after his greed.
38. As the drops of rain water, falling from
the clouds, form the great
rivers and seas; and as the scattered straws
being tied together, make
the strong rope for the bondage of beasts; so
the combination of all the
delusive objects in the world, makes the
great delusion of Māyā and
Moha. ('Gutta cum gutta facit lacum'. Drop by drop, makes a lake. Or by
drops the lake is drained. And many a little,
makes a mickle).
39. The poets describe the fluctuations of
the world as a series of
waves and the world itself, as a bed of
lotuses: pleasant to sight, but
floating on the unstable element. But I compare
it with the porous stalk
of the lotus, which is full of perforations
and foramens inside; and as
a pool of mud and mire, with the filth of our
sins (the world is full of
hidden traps and trapdoors and is a pit of
sinfulness).
40. Men think much of their improvement, and
of many other things on
earth; but there is no improving in this
decaying world; which is as a
tempting cake with a coating of sweets, but
full of deadly gall within.
41. It is as an extinguishing lamp, whose
flame is lost and fled we know
not where. It is visible as a mist, but try
to lay hold on it, and it
proves to be nothing.
42. This earth is a handful of ashes, which
being flung aloft flies in
particles of dust; and the upper sky which
appears to be blue, has no
blueness in it.
43. There is the same delusion here on earth,
as in the appearance of
couple of moons in the sky; and in the vision
of things in a dream, as
also in the motion of immovable things on the
land, to the passenger in
a boat. (Things taken to be true, prove to be
false).
44. Men being long deluded by this error,
which has fastly laid hold of
their minds, imagine a long duration of the
world, as they do of the
scenes in their dreams.
45. The mind being thus deluded by this
error, sees the wonderful
productions of world, to rise and fall within
itself like the waves of
the sea.
46. Things which are real and good, appear as
otherwise in our error;
while those that are unreal and noxious,
appear as real and good to our
deluded understandings.
47. Our strong avarice riding on the vehicle
of the desired object,
chases the fleeting mind as bird-catchers do
the flying birds in nets.
48. Delusion like a mother and wife often
offers us fresh delights, with
her tender looks and breasts distilling sweet
milk.
49. But these delights serve only to poison
us, while they seem to cool
the worlds with their distillation; just as
the crescent orb of the
moon, injures us with too much of her
moistening influence, while it
appears to refresh us with her full bright
beams.
50. Blind delusion turns the meek, mild and
mute men, to giddy and
vociferous fools; as the silent Vetālas
become in their revelous
dancings, amidst the silent woods at night.
51. It is under the influence of delusion,
that we see the shapes of
snakes and serpents, in our brick-built and
stone made houses at night
falls (i. e. apprehensions of these in darkness).
52. It makes a single thing appear as double,
as in the sight of two
moons in the sky; and brings near to us
whatever is at a distance, as in
our dreams; and even causes us to dream
ourselves as dead in sleep.
53. It causes the long to appear as short, as
our nightly sleep shortens
the duration of time; and makes a moment
appear as a year, as in the
case of separated lovers.
54. Look at the power of this unsubstantial
ignorance, a negative thing,
and still there is nothing which it can not
alter to some thing else.
55. Therefore be diligent to stop the course
of this delusion, by your
right knowledge: as they dry up a channel by
stopping the current of the
stream.
56. Rāma said:—It is wonderful that a false
conception, which has no
real existence, and is so delicate as almost
a nothing (but a name)
should thus blind the understanding.
57. It is strange that something without form
or figure, without sense
or understanding, and which is unreal and
vanishing, should so blindfold
the world.
58. It is strange that a thing sparkling in
darkness, and vanishing in
day light, and mope-eyed as the moping owl,
should thus keep the world
in darkness.
59. It is strange that something prone to the
doing of evil (deception),
and unable to come to light and flying from
sight, and having no bodily
form whatever, should thus darken the world.
60. It is a wonder that one acting so
miserly, and consorting with the
mean and vile, and ever hiding herself in
darkness, should thus domineer
over the world.
61. It is wonderful that fallacy which is
attended with incessant woe
and peril, and which is devoid of sense and
knowledge, should keep the
world in darkness.
62. It is to be wondered that error arising
from anger and avarice,
creeping crookedly in darkness, and liable to
instant death (by its
detection), should yet keep the world in
blindness.
63. It is surprising that error which is a
blind, dull and stupid thing
itself, and which is falsely talkative at all
times, should yet mislead
others in the world.
64. It is astonishing, that falsehood should
betray a man, after
attaching so close to him as his consort, and
showing all her
endearments to him; but flying at the
approach of his reason.
65. It is strange that man should be blinded
by the womanish attire of
error, which beguiles the man but dares not
to look at him face to face.
66. It is strange that man is blinded by his
faithless consort of error,
which has no sense nor intelligence, and
which dies away without being
killed.
67. Tell me Sir, how this error is to be
dispelled, which has its seat
in the desires, and is deeply rooted in the
recesses of the heart and
mind, and lead us to the channels of endless
misery, by subjecting us to
repeated births and deaths, and to the pains
and pleasures of life.
CHAPTER CXIV.
DESCRIPTION OF ERROR.
Argument. Spiritual knowledge, the only means
of dispelling
worldly errors, temporal desires and cares.
Rāma repeated:—Tell me sir, how this stony
blindness of man, is to be
removed, which is caused by the train of
ignorance or delusion called
avidyā.
2. Vasishtha replied:—As the particles of
snow, melt away at the sight
of the sun, so is this ignorance dispelled in
a moment, by a glance of
the holy spirit.
3. Till then doth ignorance continue to hurl
down the soul and spirit,
as from a precipice to the depths of the
world, and expose them to woes,
as thick as thorny brambles.
4. As long as the desire of seeing the
spirit, does not rise of itself
in the human soul, so long there is no end of
this ignorance (avidyā)
and insensibility (Moha).
5. The sight of the supreme Spirit, destroys
the knowledge of our
self-existence, which is caused by our
ignorance; as the light of the
sun, destroys the shadows of things.
6. The sight of the all-pervading God,
dispels our ignorance in the same
manner, as the light of the twelve zodiacal
suns (all shining at once),
puts the shadows of night to flight from all
sides of the horizon.
7. Our desires are the offspring of our
ignorance, and the annihilation
of these constitutes what we call our
liberation; because the man that
is devoid of desires, is reckoned the perfect
and consummate Siddha.
8. As the night-shade of desires, is
dissipated from the region of the
mind; the darkness of ignorance is put to
flight, by the rise of the
intellectual sun (Vivekodaya).
9. As the dark night flies away before the
advance of solar light, so
does ignorance disappear, before the
advancement of true
knowledge—Viveka.
10. The stiffness of our desires, tends to
bind the mind fast in its
worldly chains; as the advance of night serves
to increase the fear of
goblins in children.
11. Rāma asked:—The knowledge of the
phenomenals as true, makes what we
call avidyā or ignorance, and it is said to be dispersed by spiritual
knowledge. Now tell me sir, what is the
nature of the Spirit.
12. Vasishtha replied:—That which is not the
subject of thought, which
is all-pervasive, and the thought of which is
beyond expression and
comprehension is the universal spirit (which
we call our Lord and God).
13. That which reaches, to the highest
empyrean of God, and stretches
over the lowest plots of grass on earth, is
the all-pervading spirit at
all times, and unknown to the ignorant soul.
14. All this is verily Brahma, eternal and
imperishable intelligence. To
him no imagination of the mind can reach at any
time.
15. That which is never born or dead, and
which is ever existent in all
worlds, and in which the conditions of being
and change are altogether
wanting.
16. Which is one and one alone, all and
all-pervading, and imperishable
Unity; which is incomprehensible in thought,
and is only of the form of
Intellect, is the universal Spirit.
17. It is accompanied with the ever-existent,
all-extending, pure and
undisturbed Intellect, and is that calm,
quiet, even and unchanging
state of the soul, which is called the Divine
Spirit.
18. There resides also the impure mind, which
is in its nature beyond
all physical objects, and runs after its own
desire; it is conceivable
by the Intellect as sullied by its own
activity.
19. This ubiquious, all-potent, great and godlike
mind, separates itself
in its imagination from the Supreme spirit,
and rises from it as a wave
on the surface of the sea. (So the Sruti:—Etasmat Jayate pranahmanah
&c. The life and mind have their rise
from Him).
20. There is no fluctuation (Sansriti) nor projection (Vikshepa) in
the all-extending tranquil soul of God; but
these take place in the mind
owing to its desires, which cause its
production of all things in the
world. (Hence the world and all things in it,
are creations of the
divine and active mind, and not of the
inactive Supreme Soul).
21. Therefore the world being the production
of desire or will, has its
extinction with the privation of desires; for
that which comes the
growth of a thing, causes its extinction
also; as the wind which kindles
the fire, extinguishes it likewise. (Here is
a coincidence with the
Homoeopathic maxim Similes per similibus).
22. The exertion of human efforts, gives rise
to the expectation of
fruition, but want of desire, causes the
cessation of exertions; and
consequently puts a stop to the desire of
employment, together with our
ignorance causing the desire.
23. The thought that 'I am distinct from
Brahma', binds the mind to the
world; but the belief that 'Brahma is all'
releases the mind from its
bondage.
24. Every thought about one's self, fastens
his bondage in this world;
but release from selfish thoughts, leads him
to his liberation. Cease
from thy selfish cares, and thou shalt cease
to toil and moil for
naught.
25. There is no lake of lotuses in the sky,
nor is there a lotus growing
in the gold mine, whose fragrance fills the
air, and attracts the blue
bees to suck its honey.
26. The goddess of ignorance—Avidyā, with her
uplifted arms resembling
the long stalks of lotus plants, laughs in
exultation over her
conquests, with the glaring light of shining
moonbeams.
27. Such is the net of our wishes spread
before us by our minds, which
represent unrealities as real, and take a
delight to dwell upon them,
like children in their toys.
28. So also is the snare spread out by our
own ignorance, all over this
world, that it ensnares the busy people to
their misery in all places,
as it binds fast the ignorant men and boys in
its chains.
29. Men are busied in worldly affairs with
such thoughts, as these that,
'I am poor and bound in this earth for my
life; but I have my hands and
feet wherewith I must work for myself'.
30. But they are freed from all affairs of
this life, who know
themselves as spiritual beings, and their
spiritual part is neither
subject to bondage nor labour. (They know
themselves to be bodiless, in
their embodied forms).
31. The thought that 'I am neither flesh nor
bones, but some thing else
than my body,' releases one from his bondage;
and one having such
assurance in him, is said to have weakened
his avidyā or ignorance.
32. Ignorance (avidyā) is painted in the imagination of earthly men,
to be as dark as the darkness which surrounds
the highest pinnacle of
Meru, blazing with the blue light of
sapphire, or at the primeval
darkness impenetrable by the solar light.
(Hence ignorance and darkness
are used as synonymous terms).
33. It is also represented by earth-born
mortals, as the blackness which
naturally covers the face of heaven by its
own nature like the blue
vault of the sky. (Thus Avidyā is represented
as the black and the blue
goddess Kālī).
34. Thus ignorance is pictured with a visible
form, in the imagination
of the unenlightened; but the enlightened
never attribute sensible
qualities to inanimate and imaginary objects.
35. Rāma said:—Tell me sir, what is the cause
of the blueness of the
sky, if it is not the reflexion of the blue
gems on the Meru's peak, nor
is it a collection of darkness by itself.
36. Vasishtha replied:—Rāma! the sky being
but empty vacuum, cannot
have the quality of blueness which is
commonly attributed to it; nor is
it the bluish lustre of the blue gems which
are supposed to abound on
the top of Meru.
37. There is neither the possibility of a
body of darkness to abide in
the sky, when the mundane egg is full of
light (which has displaced the
primeval darkness); and when the nature of
light is the brightness which
stretches over the extramundane regions.
(This is the zodiacal light
reaching to extramundane worlds).
38. O fortunate Rāma! the firmament (sunya)
which is a vast vacuum, is
open to a sister of ignorance (avidyā) with
regard to its inward
hollowness. (The sky and ignorance are twin
sisters, both equally blank
and hollow within, and of unlimited extent,
enveloping the worlds within
their unconscious wombs).
39. As one after losing his eyesight, beholds
but darkness only all
about him; so the want of the objects of
sight in the womb of vacuity,
gives the sky the appearance of a darksome
scene.
40. By understanding this, as you come to the
knowledge, that the
apparent blackness of the sky, is no black
colour of its own; so you
come to learn the seeming darkness of
ignorance to be no darkness in
reality (but a figurative expression derived
from its similitude to the
other).
41. Want of desire or its indifference, is
the destroyer of ignorance;
and it is as easy to effect it, as to
annihilate the lotus-lake in the
sky (an Utopia or a castle built in the air,
being but an airy nothing).
42. It is better, O good Rāma! to distrust
the delusions of this world,
and disbelieve the blueness of the sky, than
to labour under the error
of their reality.
43. The thought that 'I am dead,' makes one
as sorrowful, as when he
dreams of his death in sleep; so also the
thought that 'I am living'
makes one as cheerful, as when he wakes from
the deadly dream of his
death-like sleep.
44. Foolish imaginations make the mind as
stolid as that of a fool; but
reasonable reflexions lead it to wisdom and
clearsightedness.
45. A moment's reflexion of the reality of
the world and of his own
essence, casts a man into the gloom of
everlasting ignorance, while his
forgetfulness of these, removes all mortal
thoughts from his mind.
46. Ignorance is the producer of passions and
tempter to all transient
objects; it is busy in destroying the
knowledge of the soul, and is
destroyed by knowledge of the soul only.
(Ignorance leads to
materialism, but it is lost under spiritual
knowledge).
47. Whatever is sought by the mind, is
instantly supplied by the organs
of action; which serve as ministers
subservient to the orders of their
king. (The body serves the mind).
48. Hence who so does not attend to the
dictates of his mind, in the
pursuit of sensible objects, entertains the
tranquillity of his inmost
soul, by his diligent application to
spirituality.
49. What did not exist at first, has no
existence even now (i. e.
material objects); and these that appear as
existent, are no other than
the quiescent and immaculate essence—Brahma
himself. (The eternal is
ever existent, and the instantaneous are but
the phases and fluctuations
of the everlasting).
50. Let no other thought of any person or
thing, or of any place or
object employ your mind at any time, except
that of the immutable,
everlasting and unlimited spirit of Brahma.
(For what faith or reliance
is there in things that are false and
fleeting).
51. Rely in the superior powers of your
understanding, and exert your
sovran intellect (to know the truth); and
root out at once all worldly
desire by enjoyment of the pleasures of your mind.
52. The great ignorance that rises in the
mind and raises the desires of
thy heart, has spread the net of thy false
hopes for thy ruin, causing
thy death and decrepitude under them.
53. Thy wishes burst out in expressions as
these that, "these are my
sons and these my treasures; I am such a one,
and these things are
mine." All this is the effect of a magic
spell of ignorance, that binds
thee fast in it.
54. Thy body is a void, wherein thy desires
have produced all thy
selfish thoughts; as the empty winds raise
the gliding waves on the
surface of the sea (resembling the fleeting
moments in the infinity of
the Deity).
55. Learn ye that are seekers of truth, that
the words: I, mine and this
and that, are all meaningless in their true
sense; and that there is
nothing that may be called real at any time,
except the knowledge of the
true self and essence of Brahma.
56. The heavens above and the earth below,
with all the ranges of hills
and mountains on earth, and all the lines of
its rivers and lakes, are
but the dissolving views of our sight, and
are seen in the same or
different lights as they are represented by
our ignorance. (This is a
tenet of the drishtisrishti system of philosophy, which maintains
Visual creations or existence of phenomenals,
to be dependant upon sight
or visual organs and are deceptio visus or fallacies of vision only).
57. The phenomenals rise to view from our
ignorance, and disappear
before the light of knowledge (as the dreams
and spectres of the dark,
are put to flight before the rising
sun-light). They appear in various
forms in the substratum of the soul, as the
fallacy of a snake appearing
in the substance of a rope.
58. Know Rāma, that the ignorant only are
liable to the error, of taking
the earth and sun and the stars, for realities;
but not so the learned,
to whom the Great Brahma is present in all
his majesty and full glory,
in all places and things.
59. While the ignorant labour under the doubt
of the two ideas, of a
rope and a snake in the rope; the learned are
firm in their belief, and
sight of one true God in all things.
60. Do not therefore think as the ignorant
do, but consider all things
well like the wise and the learned. Forsake
your earthly wishes, and do
not grope like the vulgar by believing the
unself as the self. (The
second clause has the double sense of
mistaking an alien as your own,
and of taking an unreality for the true God).
61. Of what good is this dull and dumb body
to you, Rāma? (in your
future state), that you are so overcome by
your alternate joy and grief
at its pleasure and pain?
62. As the wood of a tree and its gum resin,
and its fruit and seed, are
not one and the same thing, though they are
so closely akin to one
another; so is this body and the embodied
being, quite separate from one
another, though they are so closely united
with each other.
63. As the burning of a pair of bellows, does
not blow out the fire, nor
stop the air blown by another pair, so the
vital air is not destroyed by
destruction of the body, but finds its way
into another form and frame
elsewhere. (This is the doctrine of the
transmigration of the soul and
life in other bodies).
64. The thought that 'I am happy or
miserable,' is as false as the
conception of water in the mirage:—and
knowing it as such, give up your
misconceptions of pleasure and pain, and
place your reliance in the sole
truth.
65. O how wonderful is it, that men have so
utterly forgotten the true
Brahmā, and have placed their reliance in
false ignorance (avidyā),
the sole cause of errors.
66. Do not, O Rāma! give way to ignorance in
your mind, which being
overspread by its darkness, will render it
difficult for you to pass
over the errors of the world.
67. Know ignorance to be a false fiend and
deluder of the strongest
minds; it is the baneful cause of endless
woes, and producer of the
poisonous fruits of illusion.
68. It imagines hell fire, in the cooling
beams of the watery orb of the
moon; and conceives the torments of the
infernal fires, proceeding from
the refreshing beams of that celestial light.
(This passage alludes to
the poetical description of moon light as a
flame of fire, in respect to
a lover, who is impatient at the separation
of his beloved, and is
burning under the inextinguishable flame of
ardent desire).
69. It views a dry desert in the wide waters,
beating with billows and
undulating with the fragrance of the aqueous kalpa flowers; and
imagines a dry mirage in the empty clouds of
autumn. (This alludes also
to the wild imageries of poets, proceeding
from their false imagination
and ignorance).
70. Ignorance builds the imaginary castles in
empty air, and causes the
error of rising and falling towers in the
clouds; it is the delusion of
our fancy, that makes us feel the emotions of
pleasure and pain in our
dreams.
71. If the mind is not filled and led away by
worldly desires, there is
no fear then of our falling into the dangers,
which the day-dreams of
our earthly affairs incessantly present
before us.
72. The more does our false knowledge (error)
lay hold of our minds, the
more we feel the torments of hell and its
punishments in us, as one
dreams of night-mares in his sleep.
73. The mind being pierced by error as by the
thorny stalk of a lotus,
sees the whole world revolving before it like
the sea rolling with its
waves.
74. Ignorance taking possession of the mind,
converts the enthroned
princes to peasants; and reduces them to a
condition worse than that of
beastly huntsmen. (All tyrants are the
creatures of ignorance).
75. Therefore, Rāma! give up the earthly
desires, that serve at best to
bind down the (celestial) soul to this mortal
earth and its mortifying
cares; and remain as the pure and white
crystal, with reflecting the
hues of all things around in your stainless
mind.
76. Employ thy mind to thy duties, without
being tarnished by thy
attachment to any; but remain as the
unsullied crystal, receiving the
reflections of outward objects, without being
stained by any.
77. Knowing everything with avidity in thy
watchful mind, and performing
all thy duties with due submission, and
keeping from the common track
with thy exalted mind, thou wilt raise
thyself above comparison with any
other person.
CHAPTER CXV.
CAUSES OF HAPPINESS AND MISERY.
Argument. The Nature and Powers of the Mind
elucidated in the
moral of Prince Lavana's story.
Vālmīki relates:—Being thus admonished by the
high minded Vasishtha,
the lotus eyes of Rāma became unfolded as new
blown flowers.
2. He with his expanded heart and blooming
face, shone forth with a pure
grace, like the fresh lotus reviving at the
end of night, under the
vivifying beams of the rising sun.
3. His smiling countenance shone forth as the
shining moon, with his
inward enlightenment and wonder; and then
with the nectarious beams of
his bright and white pearly teeth, he spoke
out these words.
4. Rāma said:—O wonder! that the want of
ignorance should subdue all
things, as if it were to bind the huge hills
with the thin threads of
lotus stalks. (Wondrous achievements of
science).
5. O! that this straw of the earth, which
shows itself to be so compact
a body in the world; is no more than the
production of our ignorance,
which shows the unreal as a reality.
6. Tell me further for my enlightenment
regarding the true nature of
this magical earth, which rolls as a
ceaseless stream, running amidst
the etherial worlds.
7. There is another great doubt that infests
my breast, and it is with
regard to the state which attended on the
fortunate Lavana at last.
8. Tell me moreover regarding the embodied
soul and the animated body,
whether they are in concord or discord with
one another, and which of
them is the active agent and recipient of the
rewards of acts in this
earth.
9. Tell me also who was that sorcerer and
where he fled, after putting
the good prince Lavana to all his
tribulation, and then restoring him to
his former exalted position.
10. Vasishtha said:—The body is as a frame of
woodwork, and contains
nothing (spiritual) in it; it receives the
reflexion of an intelligence
in it as in a dream, and this is called the
mind.
11. This mind becomes the living principle
(life), and is endued with
the power of thinking also. It is as unstable
as a boat on the current
of world of affairs, and plays the part of a
fickle monkey, amidst the
busy castle of the world.
12. The active principle in the body, is
known under the several
appellations of the mind, life and egoism (or
consciousness); and having
a body for its abode, is employed in a
variety of actions.
13. This principle is subject to endless
pains and pleasures in its
unenlightened or unawakened state, and the body
bears no relation with
them. (The mind is the perceptive and
sensitive principle and not the
body).
14. The unenlightened understanding again has
received many fictitious
names, according to the various faculties
which it exhibits in its acts.
15. As long as the unawakened mind is in its
sleeping state, it
perceives the busy bustle of the world as it
were in his dream, and
which is unknown to the waking or enlightened
mind.
16. As long as the living being is not
awakened from its dormancy, so
long it has to labour under the inseparable
mist of worldly errors.
17. But the darkness over-hanging on the
minds of the enlightened, is as
soon put to flight as the shade of night
overspreading the bed of
lotuses, is dispersed at sun rise.
18. That which is called the heart, the mind,
the living soul, ignorance
and desire by the learned, and what is also
styled the principle of
action, is the same embodied being that is
subject both to the feelings
of pleasure and pain.
19. The body is dull matter and is insensible
of pain and pleasure; it
is the embodied being, which is said to be
subject to these by men of
right reason: and this by reason of its
impervious ignorance and
irrationality, is the cause of its own
misery.
20. The living soul is the subject of its
good and bad actions; but it
becomes confined in its body by reason of its
irrationality, and remains
pent up there like the silkworm in its
cocoon.
21. The mind being fast bound to its
ignorance, exerts its faculties in
various ways, and turns round like a wheel in
its various pursuits and
employments.
22. It is the mind dwelling in the body, that
makes it to rise and set,
to eat and drink, to walk and go, and to hurt
and kill, all which are
acts of the mind, and not of the body.
23. As the master of the house does his many
acts in it, and not the
house itself; so the mind acts its several
parts in the body, and not
the body by itself.
24. The mind is the active and passive agent
of all the actions and
passions, and of the pains and pleasures of
the body; and it is the mind
only that makes the man.
25. Hear me now tell you the useful moral of
the story of Lavana; and
how he was transformed to a Chandāla, by
derangement of his mind.
26. The mind has to feel the effects of its
actions whether good or
evil; and in order that you may understand it
well, hear attentively
what I will now relate unto you.
27. Lavana who was born of the line of king
Harischandra, thought within
himself one day, as he was sitting apart from
all others of his court.
28. My grand-father was a great king and
performed the Rājasūya
sacrifice in act; and I, being born of his
line, must perform the same
in my mind (i. e. mentally).
29. Having determined so, and getting the
things ready for the
sacrifice, he entered the sacrificial hall
for his initiation in the
sacred rites.
30. He called the sacrificial priests, and
honoured the holy saints; he
invited the gods to it, and kindled the
sacrificial fire.
31. Having performed the sacrifice to his
heart's content, and honoured
the gods, sages and Brāhmans; he went to a
forest to reside there for a
year.
32. Having then made presents of all his
wealth to Brāhmans and other
men, he awoke from his slumber in the same
forest by the evening of that
day.
33. Thus the king Lavana attained the merit
of the sacrifice, in his
internal satisfaction of having attained the
meritoriousness of the
sacrifice.
34. Hence learn to know the mind to be the
recipient of pleasure and
pain; therefore employ your attention, Rāma!
to the purification of your
mind.
35. Every man becomes perfect in his mind in
its full time and proper
place; but he is utterly lost who believes
himself to be composed of his
body only.
36. The mind being roused to transcendental
reason, all miseries are
removed from the rational understanding; just
as the beams of the rising
sun falling upon the lotus-bud, dispel the
darkness that had closely
contracted its folded petals.
CHAPTER CXVI.
BIRTH AND INCARNATION OF ADEPTS IN YOGA.
Argument. Production of the Body from the
Mind.
Rāma asked:—What evidence is there sir, in
proof of Lavana's obtaining
the reward of his mental sacrifice of
Rājasūya, in his transformation to
the state of the Chandāla, as it was wrought
upon him by the enchantment
of the magician?
2. Vasishtha answered:—I was myself present
in the court-house of king
Lavana, at the time when the magician made
his appearance there, and I
saw all that took place there with my own
eyes.
3. After the magician had gone and done his
work, I with the other
courtiers, was respectfully requested by the
king Lavana, to explain to
him the cause (of the dream and its
circumstances).
4. After I had pondered the matter and
clearly seen its cause, I
expounded the meaning of the magician's
spell, in the way as I shall now
relate to you, my Rāma!
5. I remembered that all the performers of
Rājasūya sacrifice, were
subjected to various painful difficulties and
dangers, under which they
had to suffer for a full dozen of years.
6. It was then that Indra, the lord of heaven
had compassion for Lavana,
and sent his heavenly messenger in the form
of the magician to avert his
calamity.
7. He taxed the Rājasūya sacrificer with the
inflictment of the very
many hardships in his dream, and departed in
his aerial journey to the
abode of the gods and Siddhas.
8. (Prose) Thus Rāma! it is quite evident and
there is no doubt in it.
The mind is the active and passive agent of
all kinds of actions and
their sequences.
(a). Therefore rub out the dirt of your heart, and polish the gem of
your mind; and having melted it down like the
particle of an icicle, by
the fire of your reason, attain to your chief
good summum bonum at
last.
(b). Know the mind as self-same with ignorance (avidyā), which
presents these multitudes of beings before
you, and produces the endless
varieties of things by its magical power.
(c). There is no difference in the meanings of the words ignorance,
mind, understanding and living soul, as in
the word tree and all its
synonyms.
(d). Knowing this truth, keep a steady mind freed from all its
desires; and as the orb of the clear sun of
your intellect has its rise,
so the darkness of your nolens and volens flies
away from you.
(e). Know also this truth, that there is nothing in the world which is
not to be seen by you, and which can not be
made your own, or alienated
from you. Nothing is there that does not die
or what is not yours or
others. All things become all at all times.
(This dogma is based on a
dictum of the Vedānta given in the Madhu
Brāhmana. That nothing is
confined in any place or person at all times,
but passes from one to
another in its turn and time).
9. The multitudes of existent bodies and
their known properties, meet
together in the substantiality (of the
self-same Brahma); as the various
kinds of unburnt clay vessels, are melted down
in the same watery
substance.
10. Rāma said:—You said sir, that it is by
weakening the desires of our
mind, that we can put an end to our pleasures
and pains; but tell me
now, how is it possible to stop the course of
our naturally fickle
minds.
11. Vasishtha replied:—Hear, O thou bright
moon of Raghu's race! the
proper course that I will tell thee for
quieting the restless mind; by
knowing this thou shalt obtain the peace of
thy mind, and be freed from
the actions of thy organs of sense.
12. I have told you before of the triple
nature of the production of
beings here below, which I believe, you well
remember.
13. Of these the first is that power (Brahmā),
who assumed to himself
the shape of the Divine Will (Sankalpa), and
saw in his presence
whatever he wished to produce, and which
brought the mundane system into
existence.
14. He thought of many changes in his mind,
as those of birth and death,
of pleasure and pain, of the course of nature
and effect of ignorance
and the like; and then having ordained them
as he willed, he disappeared
of himself as snow before the solar light.
15. Thus this god, the personification of
Will, rises and sets
repeatedly, as he is prompted from time to
time by his inward wish. (So
does every living being come out of the mould
of its internal desire. Or
that:—it is the wish, that frames and
fashions every body, or the will
that moulds the mind).
16. So there are millions of Brahmās born in
this mundane egg, and many
that have gone by and are yet to come, whose
number is innumerable (and
who are incarnations of their desires only).
17. So are all living beings in the same
predicament with Brahmā,
proceeding continually from the entity of
God. Now I will tell you the
manner in which they live, and are liberated
from the bond of life.
18. The mental power of Brahmā issuing from
him, rests on the wide
expanse of vacuum which is spread before it;
then being joined with the
essence of ether, becomes solidified in the
shape of desire.
19. Then finding the miniature of matter
spread out before it, it
becomes the quintessence of the quintuple
elements. Having assumed
afterwards the inward senses, it becomes a
suitable elementary body
composed of the finest particles of the five
elements. It enters into
grains and vegetables, which re-enter into
the bowels of animals in the
form of food.
20. The essence of this food in the form of
semen, gives birth to living
beings to infinity.
21. The male child betakes himself in his
boy-hood, to his tutor for the
acquisition of knowledge.
22. The boy next assumes his wondrous form of
youth, which next arrives
to the state of manhood.
23. The man afterwards learns to choose
something for himself, and
reject others by the clearsightedness of his
internal faculties.
24. The man that is possessed of such right
discrimination of good and
evil, and of right and wrong, and who is
confident of the purity of his
own nature, and of his belonging to the best
caste (of a Brāhman);
attains by degrees the supernatural powers
for his own good, as also for
the enlightenment of his mind, by means of
his knowledge of the seven
essential grounds of Yoga meditation.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to Brahmasri Sreemaan Vihari Lala Mitra ji for the
collection)
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