The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki
The only complete English translation is
by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891).
CHAPTER XVIII.
Vasishtha said:—
1. The several parts of this work as already
related, give rise to the
understanding, as seeds sown in a good field
never fail to produce good
fruitage.
2. Even human compositions are acceptable
when they are instructive of
good sense; otherwise the Vedas also are to
be renounced (as
unreliable); because men are required always
to abide by reason.
3. Words conformable with reason are to be
received even if spoken by
boys; otherwise they are to be rejected as
straws though pronounced by
the lotus-born (Brahmā himself).
4. Whoever drinks from a well by reason of
its being dug by his
ancestors, and rejects the holy water of the Ganges even when placed
before him, is an incorrigible simpleton.
5. As early dawn is invariably accompanied by
its train of light, so is
good judgement an inevitable attendant on the
perusal of this work.
6. Whether these lessons are heard from the
mouth of the learned, or
well studied by one's self, they will
gradually make their impressions
upon the mind by one's constant reflection on
their sense.
7. They will first furnish (to the learner) a
variety of Sanskrit
expressions, and then spread before him a
series of holy and judicious
maxims, like so many ornamental creepers to
decorate the hall.
8. They will produce a cleverness joined with
such qualifications and
greatness, as to engage the good grace of
gods and kings.
9. They are called the intelligent who know
the cause and effect of
things, and are likened to a torch-bearer who
is clear sighted in the
darkness of the night. (Like the stoa of the Stoics).
10. All their erroneous and covetous thoughts
become weaker by degrees,
as the regions of the sky are cleared of
their mists at the approach of
autumn.
11. Your thoughts require only the guidance
of reason (to hit the
right), as every action needs be duly
performed to make it successful.
12. The intellect becomes (by culture) as
clear as a great lake in
autumn, and it gets its calmness (by reason),
like that of the sea after
its churning by the Mandara mountain.
13. Like the flame of a chandelier cleansed
of its sootiness and
dispelling the shroud of darkness, the
refined intellect shines forth in
full brightness, and distinguishes (the
different natures of) things.
14. The evils of penury and poverty cannot
overpower on them, whose
strong sight can discern the evils of their
opposites (wealth and
riches); as no dart can pierce the mortal
parts of a soldier clad in
full armour.
15. No worldly fears can daunt the heart of
the wise man, however
nearest they may approach to him. Just as no
arrow can pierce through a
huge solid stone.
16. Such doubts as "whether it is
destiny or our own merit that is the
cause of our births and actions," are
removed (by learning), as darkness
is dispelled by day-light.
17. There is a calm tranquility attending
upon the wise at all times and
in all conditions (of life); so also does the
light of reason like solar
rays, follow the dark night of error.
18. The man of right judgement has a soul as
deep as the ocean and as
firm as a mountain, and a cool serenity
always shines within him like
that of moon-light.
19. It is he who arrives slowly at what is
called "living-liberation;"
who remains calm amidst the endless turmoils
(of the world), and is
quite aloof from common talk (i. e. unnoticed by the world).
20. His mind is calm and cool at every thing;
it is pure and full of
heavenly light; shining serenely as the autumnal
night with the radiance
of moon-beams.
21. When the sun of reason illumines the
cloudless region of the mind,
no portentous comet of evil can make its
appearance (within its sphere).
22. All desires are at rest with the
elevated; they are pure with the
steady, and indifferent to the inert, like
the body of light clouds in
autumn.
23. The slanders of envious ill-wishers are
put out of countenance (by
the wise), as the frolics of goblins
disappear at the approach of day.
24. The mind that is fixed on the firm basis
of virtue, and placed under
the burthen of patience, is not to be shaken
by accidents; but remains
as a plant in a painting (unmoved by winds).
25. The knowing man does not fall into the
pit-falls lying all about the
affairs of this world: for who that knows the
way will run into the
ditch?
26. The minds of the wise are as much
delighted in acting conformably to
the precepts of good books and the examples
of the virtuous, as chaste
women are fond of keeping themselves within
the bounds of the inner
apartments.
27. Of the innumerable millions of atoms
which compose this universe,
every one of them is viewed in the light of a
world in the mind of the
abstracted philosopher.
28. The man whose mind is purified by a
knowledge of the precepts of
liberation, neither repines nor rejoices at
the loss or gain of the
objects of enjoyment.
29. Men of unfettered minds look upon the
appearance and disappearance
of every atomic world, as the fluctuating
wave of the sea.
30. They neither grieve at unwished-for
occurrences nor pine for their
wished-for chances; and knowing well all
accidents to be the
consequences of their actions, they remain as
unconscious as trees
(totally insensible of them).
31. These (holy men) appear as common people,
and live upon what they
get; whether they meet with aught of welcome
or unwelcome to them, their
minds remain unconquered.
32. They having understood the whole of this
Sāstra, and having read and
considered it well, as well as pondered (on
its purport), hold their
silence as in the case of a curse or blessing
(which is never uttered by
saints).
33. This Sāstra is easy to be understood, and
is ornamented with figures
(of speech). It is a poem full of flavours
and embellished with
beautiful similes.
34. One may be self taught in it who has a
slight knowledge of words and
their senses; but he who does not understand
the purport well, should
learn it from a pandit.
35. After hearing, thinking and understanding
this work, one has no more
need of practising austerities, or of meditation
and repeating the
Mantras and other rites: and a man requires nothing else in this
world
for the attainment of his liberation.
36. By deep study of this work and its
repeated perusal, a man attains
to an uncommon scholarship next to the purification
of his soul.
37. The ego and the non-ego, that is, the viewer and the view,
are both but chimeras of the imagination, and
it is their annihilation
alone, that leads insensibly to the vision of
the soul.
38. The error of the reality of ego and the perceptible world, will
vanish away as visions in a dream; for who,
that knows the falsehood of
dreams, will fall into the error (of taking
them for truth?)
39. As an imaginary palace gives no joy or
grief to any body, so it is
in the case of the erroneous conception of
the world.
40. As no body is afraid of a serpent that he
sees in painting, so the
sight of a living serpent neither terrifies
nor pleases one who knows
it.
41. And as it is our knowledge of the painted
serpent that removes our
fear of it as a serpent, so our conviction of
the unreality of the
world, must disperse our mistake of its
existence.
42. Even the plucking of a flower or tearing
of its (tender) leaflet, is
attended with a little exertion (of the nails
and fingers), but no
(bodily) exertion whatever is required to
gain the blessed state (of
Yoga meditation).
43. There is an action of the members of
body, accompanied with the act
of plucking or pulling off a flower; but in
the other case (of Yoga),
you have only to fix your mind, and make no
exertion of your body.
44. It is practicable with ease by any one
sitting on his easy seat and
fed with his usual food, and not addicted to
gross pleasures, nor
trespassing the rules of good conduct.
45. You can derive happiness at each place
and time, from your own
observations, as also from your association
with the good wherever it is
available. This is an optional rule.
46. These are the means of gaining a
knowledge of the highest wisdom,
conferring peace in this world, and saving us
from the pain of being
reborn in the womb.
47. But such as are afraid of this course,
and are addicted to the
vicious pleasures of the world, are to be
reckoned as too base, and no
better than faeces and worms of their
mother's bowels.
48. Attend now, Rāma, to what I am going to
say with regard to the
advancement of knowledge, and improvement of
the understanding in
another way.
49. Hear now the recent method in which this
Sāstra is learnt (by
people), and its true sense interpreted to them
by means of its
Exposition.
50. That thing which serves to explain the
unapparent meaning (of a
passage), by its illustration by some thing
that is well known, and
which may be useful to help the understanding
(of the passage) is called
a simile or Example.
51. It is hard to understand the meaning
given before without an
instance, just as it is useless to have a
lampstick at home without
setting a lamp on it at night.
52. Whatever similes and examples I have used
to make you understand
(the precepts), are all derived from some
cause or other, but they lead
to knowledge of the uncaused Brahma.
53. Wherever the comparisons and compared
objects are used as expressive
of the cause and effect, they apply to all
cases except Brahma (who is
without a cause).
54. The examples that are given to explain
the nature of Brahma, are to
be taken in their partial (and not general)
sense.
55. Whatever examples are given here as
explanatory of divine nature,
they are to be understood as appertaining to
a world seen in a dream.
56. In such cases, no corporeal instance can
apply to the incorporeal
Brahma, nor optional and ambiguous
expressions give a definite idea of
Him.
57. Those who find fault with instances of an
imperfect or contradictory
nature, cannot blame our comparison of the
appearance of the world to a
vision in dream.
58. A prior and posterior non-entity is
considered as existent at the
present moment (as is the visible world which
was not, nor will be
afterwards). So the waking and dreaming
states are known to be alike
from our boyhood.
59. The simile of the existence of the world
with the dreaming state is
exact in all instances, as our desires,
thoughts, our pleasures and
displeasures, and all other acts are alike in
both states.
60. Both this work and others which have been
composed by other authors
on the means of salvation, have all pursued
the same plan in their
explanation of the knowable.
61. The resemblance of the world to a dream
is found also in the Srutis
or Vedānta. It is not to be explained in a
word, but requires a
continued course of lectures (on the
subject).
62. The comparison of the world to an imagery
in the dream or an
imaginary Utopia of the mind, is also adduced
in examples of this kind
in preference to others.
63. Whenever a causality is shown by a simile
of something which is no
cause, there the simile is applied in some
particular and not all its
general attributes.
64. The partial similitude of this comparison
with some property of the
compared object, is unhesitatingly
acknowledged by the learned in all
their illustrations.
65. The light of the sense (of some thing) is
compared with a lamp in
its brightness only, in disregard of its
stand or stick, the oil or the
wick.
66. The compared object is to be understood
in its capacity of admitting
a partial comparison (of the properties); as
in the instance of sense
and light, the simile consists in the
brightness of both.
67. When the knowledge of the knowable thing
is derived from some
particular property of the comparison, it is
granted as a suitable
simile, in understanding the sense of some
great saying (passage in the
scriptures).
68. We must not overshadow our intellect by
bad logic, nor set at naught
our common sense by an unholy scepticism.
69. We have by our reasoning well weighed the
verbosity of our
opinionative adversaries, and never set aside
the holy sayings of the
Vedas, even when they are at variance with
the opinions of our families.
70. O Rāma! we have stored in our minds the
truths resulting from the
unanimous voice of all the Sāstras, whereby
it will be evident that we
have attained the object of our belief, apart
from the fabricated
systems of heretical Sāstras.
CHAPTER XIX.
ASCERTAINMENT OF TRUE EVIDENCE.
It is the similarity of some particular
property (of one thing to that
of another) which constitutes a simile;
whereas a complete similitude
between the comparison and compared object,
destroys their difference
(and makes them the one and same thing).
2. From the knowledge of parables follows the
cognition of the one soul
treated of in the Sāstras (Vedānta); and the
peace which attends on the
meditation of the Holy Word, is styled
Extinction.
3. It is therefore useless to talk of either
(the complete or partial)
agreement (of the properties) of the example
and the exemplar; it is
enough to the purpose to comprehend the
purport of the holy word in some
way or other.
4. Know your peace to be the chief good, and
be diligent to secure the
same. When you have got the food for your
eating, it is useless to talk
about how you came by it.
5. A cause is compared with (or shewn for its
explication by) something
which is no cause at all: so is a comparison
given to express its
partial agreement in some respect with the
compared object.
6. We must not be so absorbed in the
pleasures of the world as to be
devoid of all sensibility; like some blind
frogs which are generated and
grow fat amidst the stones.
7. Be attentive to these parables and learn
your best state from them;
all reasonable men should abide by the
lessons of religious works for
their internal peace.
8. As also by the precepts of the Sāstras, by
the rules of humanity,
prudence and spiritual knowledge; and also by
the continued practice of
the acts of religious merit.
9. Let the wise continue their inquiries
until they can obtain their
internal peace, and until they may arrive at
the fourth stage (turya)
of felicity known by the name of
indestructible tranquility.
10. Whoso has gained this fourth state of
tranquil felicity, he has
really passed beyond the limits of the ocean
of the world, whether he is
alive or not, or a house-holder or an
ascetic.
11. Such a man remains steady at his place
like the calm sea undisturbed
by the Mandara mountain, whether he has
performed his duties according
to the Srutis and Smritis or not.
12. When there is a partial agreement of the
comparison with the nature
of the compared object, it is to be
considered maturely for the well
understanding of the point in question, and
not to be made a matter of
controversy.
13. From every form of argument you are to
understand the intelligible
(that is explained to you); but the
confounded disputant is blind both
to right and false reasoning.
14. The notion of self (soul or God) being
clear (self-evident) in the
sphere of our consciousness within the mind.
Any one who prattles
meaninglessly about this truth, is said to be
defective in his
understanding (i. e. our consciousness of self-existence according to
the maxim "Ego sum qui cogito," is an undeniable truth).
15. It is partly by pride and partly by their
doubts, that the ignorant
are led to altercate about their cognitions,
and thereby they obscure
the region of their inward understanding, as
the clouds overshadow the
clear firmament.
16. Of all sorts of proofs it is the evidence
of perception which forms
their fountain-head, as the sea is the
mainspring of all its waters. It
is this alone which is used in this place as
you shall learn below.
17. The substance of all sensations is said
to be the supersensible
apprehension (or inward knowledge of things)
by the wise; and it is
verily their right concept which is meant by their
perception.
18. Thus the notion, knowledge and certainty
(of things) as derived from
words, are styled the triplicate perception
as we have of the living
soul.
19. This soul is consciousness and egoism,
and is of the masculine
termination, and the cognition of the object
whereby it is manifested to
us, is called a category. (Viz. samvid, samvitti and padārtha).
20. It becomes manifest in the form of the
passing world by the
multifarious acts and shifts of its volition
and option, as the water
exhibits itself in the shape of its waves and
bubbles.
21. It was uncausal before, and then
developed itself as the cause of
all in its act of creating at the beginning
of creation, and became
perceptible by itself.
22. The causality was a product of the
discrimination of the living
soul, that was in a state of inexistence
(before); until it became
manifest as existent in the form of the
material world.
23. Reason says, that the self-same being
destroys the body which was
produced of itself, and manifests itself in
its transcendental magnitude
(of intelligence).
24. When the reasoning man comes to know the
soul, he finds by his
reason the presence of the indescribable
being, before him.
25. The mind being free from desire, the
organs of sense are relieved
from their action, the soul becomes devoid of
the results of its past
actions as of those it has left undone.
26. The mind being set at ease and freed from
its desires, the organs of
action are restrained from their acts, as an
engine when stopped in its
motion.
27. It is sensuousness which is reckoned as
the cause that puts the
machinery of the mind to work, just as the
rope tied to the log and
fastened about the neck of a ram, propels him
to fighting.
28. The sight of external objects and the
purposes of the internal mind,
set all men at play, as the inward force of
the air puts the winds to
motion.
29. All spiritual knowledge is holy wherever
it is found in any one: it
adds a lustre to the body and mind like that
of the expanded region of
the sky.
30. He sees the appearances of all visible
objects, and maintains his
own position among them. He views the spirit
in the same light in which
it presents itself in any place.
31. Wherever the universal soul appears
itself in any light, it remains
there and then in the same form in which it
exhibits itself unto us.
32. The universal soul being alike in all,
the looker and the object
seen are both the same being. The looker and
the looked being one, their
appearance as otherwise is all unreal.
33. Hence the world is without a cause
(because it is an unreality and
not caused by any one). All existence is
evidently Brahma himself, the
perceptible cause of all. Hence perception (pratyaxa) is the basis of
evidence, and inference and others as analogy
and verbal testimony are
but parts of it (anumā, upamā, sābdah).
34. Now let the worshippers of fate who apply
the term destiny to all
their exertions, cast off their false faith;
and let the brave exert
their manliness to attain their highest
state.
35. Continue O Rāma, to consider the true and
lucid doctrines of the
successive teachers (of mankind), until you
can arrive to a clear
conception of the infinitely Supreme being in
your own mind.
CHAPTER XX.
ON GOOD CONDUCT.
It is the society of the respectable and
reasoning with them, that leads
most efficiently to the improvement of the
understanding, and next to
the making of a great man, with all the
characteristics of greatness.
2. Whatever man excels in any quality here,
he becomes distinguished by
it: therefore learn it from him, and improve
your understanding by the
same.
3. True greatness consists in quietness and
other virtues, without a
knowledge of which it is impossible, O Rāma!
to be successful in
anything.
4. Learning produces quiet and other
qualities, and increases the
virtues of good people; all which are praised
by their good effects on
the mind, as the rain is hailed for its
growing the new sprouts of
plants.
5. The qualities of quietude and other
virtues serve to increase the
best knowledge (of men); as sacrifice with
rice serves to produce
felicitous rains for the harvest.
6. As learning produces the qualities of
quiet and the like, so do these
qualities give rise to learning; thus they
serve to grow each other, as
the lake and lotuses contribute to their
mutual benefit (excellence).
7. Learning is produced by right conduct as
good conduct results from
learning; thus wisdom and morality are
natural helps to one another.
8. The intelligent man who is possessed of
quietude, meekness and good
conduct, should practise wisdom, and follow
the ways of good people.
9. Unless one should bring to practice his
wisdom and good conduct in an
equal degree, he will never be successful in
either of them.
10. Both of these should be conjoined
together like the song united with
percussion, as it is done by the husbandman
and his wife in sowing the
seeds and driving away the (seed-picking)
birds from their fields of
grain.
11. It is by practice of wisdom and right
conduct (as causes of one
another), that good people are enabled to
acquire both of them in an
equal degree.
12. I have already expounded to you, O Rāma,
the rule of good conduct,
and will now explain to you fully the way of
gaining learning.
13. Learning conduces to renown, long life
and to the acquisition of the
object of your exertion; therefore should the
intelligent learn the good
sciences from those who have studied and
mastered them.
14. By hearing (these lectures) with a clear
understanding, you will
surely attain the state of perfection, as
dirty water is purified by
infusion of the Kata fruits.
15. The sage who has known the knowable, has
his mind drawn insensibly
to the blissful state; and that highest state
of unbounded felicity
being once known and felt (in the mind), it
is hard to loose its
impression at any time.
YOGA VﾁSISHTHA
BOOK III.
UTPATTI-KHANDA.
EVOLUTION OF THE WORLD.
CHAPTER I.
CAUSES OF BONDAGE TO IT.
SECTION I.
EXORDIUM (BHﾚMIKﾁ.)
It is both by means of words and lights (Vāgbhābhis i. e. the words
of the scripture and the lights of nature and
reason, that the knower of
the Great God (Brahmavid), perceives the
spirit of Brahma appearing
within himself as in a dream. And he also
knows him as such, who
understands him according to the purport of
the holy text. "What this
is, that is the self." (i. e. He is all in all).
2. This passage shows in short, the visible
world to reside in the
vacuous bosom of Brahma at its creation: it
is now to be known in
length, what this creation is, whence it
takes its rise, and wherein it
becomes extinct at last.
3. Hear me, O intelligent Rāma! now expound
to you all things according
to my best knowledge of them, and agreeably
to their nature and
substance in the order of creation.
4. One conscious of himself as a spiritual
and intelligent being, views
the passing world as a Somnum (swapnam) dream: and this dreaming
simile of the passing world, applies equally
to our knowledge of ego
and tu or non-ego (which is as false as our cognitions in a
dream).
5. Next to the book describing the conduct of
the seekers of liberation
(mumukshu-vyavahāra), then follows the book of evolution (utpatti),
which I am now going to propound to you.
SECTION II.
WORLDLY BONDAGE.
6. Bondage consists in our belief of the
reality of the visible world
(and our relation with its phenomena, Gloss).
So our release depends on
the negation of phenomenals. Now hear me tell
you how to get rid of the
visible (fetters of our minds).
7. Whoever is born in this world, continues
to progress, till at last he
obtains his final liberation (his ultimum and optimum perfection);
or rises towards heaven or falls into hell
(under the subjection of his
righteous and unrighteous actions (Gloss)).
8. I shall therefore expound for your
understanding every thing relating
to the production and continuance of things,
and their prior states as
they were.
9. Hear me Rāma, now give you an abstract of
this book in brief, and I
will here-after dilate upon it, as you may
wish to know more of this
(theory of production).
SECTION III.
PHASES OF THE SPIRIT.
10. Whatever appears either as moving or
unmoving in this world, know
them all as appearances in a dream in a state
of sound sleep
(susupti); which become extinct at the end of a Kalpa-age. (The
events of a Kalpa or day of Brahmā are as his day dream).
11. Then there remains a nameless and
undeveloped something, in a state
of deep, dark and dank abyss, without any
light or thick-spread
(nebulae) over it. (The Teo and Beo of Moses,
the tama = teom of Manu
and Veda, and the Moisture of Thales).
12. This great self-existence is afterwards
attributed with the titles
of Reality (Rita), self (ﾁtma), Supreme (Param),
Immense
(Brahma), Truth (Satyam) and so forth by the wise, as expressions
for the Great Spirit (mahātman) for popular use. (Vide Gloss for
definitions of these terms).
13. This self-same spirit next shows itself
in another form, which is
called the living soul (Jīvātmā), and comes afterwards to be
understood in the limited sense of life.
(Jīva, Jīv, Zeu or Zeus; Ji and
Jān; Zoa Protozoa &c). (But it is the
undivided and universal soul of
which the divided, individual and particular
souls are but parts and
particles. Gloss).
14. This inert living principle (Jīva-Life or
the Protozoa), becomes
according to its literal signification the
moving spirit (ākulātma),
which afterwards with its power of thinking (manana) becomes the Mind,
and lastly the embodied soul (Bhūtātmā). (So
says the Sruti; Etasmāt
Jāyate prānah, manah, sarvendriyānicha, Kham, Vāyurūp,
Prithivī &c. (i. e. From Him—the Spirit, is derived the life,
mind and the organs of sense or body, whence
he is styled the Living,
Thinking and All acting Deity)).
15. Thus the mind is produced and changed
from the quiescent nature of
the Great Supreme Spirit to a state of
restlessness (asthirākāra) like
that of a surge, heaving itself in the
(Pacific) Ocean (i. e. the
restful spirit of God-Brahma is transformed
to the restless state of the
Mind, personified as Brahmā or Hiranyagarbha,
called the Atmabhu—the
son of the spirit of God or God the Son,
Demiurge).
16. The mind soon evolves itself as a
self-volitive power which
exercises its desires at all times whereby
this extensive magic scene of
the world is displayed to our view. This
scene is figured as
Virājmūrti, or manifestation of the desires of the will of Divine
mind, and represented as the offspring of
Brahmā in the Indian Theogony.
(Vide Manu on Genesis, chap I).
17. As the word golden bracelet signifies no
other thing than a bracelet
made of gold, so the meaning of the word
world is not different from its
source—the Divine will. (The difference is
formal and not material, and
consists in form and not in the substance,
the divine will being the
substratum of the formal world).
18. Again as the word gold bears the idea of
the substance of which the
bracelet is made, so the word Brahma conveys
the meaning of immensity
which contains the world in it; but the word
world contains no idea of
Brahma nor bracelet that of gold. (The
substance contains the form as a
stone does the statue, but the form does not
contain the substance, as
the statue may be of earth or metal or of
wood).
19. The unreality of the world appears as a
reality, just as the heat of
the sun presents the unreal mirage in the
moving sands of the desert as
real waves of the sea. (So the phantasm of
the mind-Brahmā, presents the
phantasmagoria of the world (Viswarūpa) as a
sober reality).
20. It is this phantasy (of the reality of
the unreal world), which the
learned in all things, designate as
ignorance—avidyā,
nature—sansriti, bondage—bandha, illusion—māyā, error-moha,
and darkness—tamas. (To denote our mental delusion and deception of
senses. Gloss).
SECTION IV.
NATURE OF BONDAGE.
21. Now hear me relate to you, O moon-faced
Rāma! about the nature of
this bondage, whereby you will be able to
know the mode and manner of
our liberation from it (as the diagnosis of a
disease being known, it is
not difficult to heal it).
22. The intimate relation of the spectator
with the spectacle is called
his bondage to the same, because the looker's
mind is fast bound to the
object of his sight. It is the absence of the
visible objects,
therefore, from the mirror of the mind, which
is the only means of his
liberation. (So also is the removal of the
objects of the other senses
from the mind).
23. The knowledge of the world, ego and tu (as separate existences)
is said to be an erroneous view of the soul
(which is one and the same
in all); and there can be no liberation of
one, as long as he labours
under this blunder of bheda-jnāna or knowledge of individualities.
(This is called savikalpa-jnāna or cognition of biplicity, which
cannot lead to Kaivalya mukti or the felicity derived from a knowledge
of universal unity).
24. To say that the soul is neither this nor
that (nedam-nedam) is but
false logomachy, which cannot come to an end.
The discrimination of
alternatives serves only to increase the
ardour for the visibles. (i.
e. the ardour of induction spreads the infection of
materialism. The
idle neti-neti and tanna-tanna of
Vedanta Philosophy is mere
amphilogy and prevarication of both, as idem et non idem).
25. It is not to be obtained by sophists by
the chopping of logic or by
pilgrimage or ceremonial acts, any more than
by a belief in the reality
of the phenomenal world. (All these are observances of the esoteric
faith and blind persuasion, but do not
appertain to the science of
esoteric spiritualism. Gloss).
26. It is hard to avoid the sight of the
phenomenal world, and to
repress one's ardour for the same. But it is
certain that, the visibles
can not lead us to the Reality, nor the Real
mislead us to unreality
(i. e. the spiritual and physical knowledge are mutually
repugnant to
each other).
27. Wherever the invisible, inconceivable and
intelligent spirit is
existent, there the beholder views the
visible beauty of God shining
even in the midst of atoms. (i. e. every particle of matter manifests
the beauty of its maker; unless there be a
dull material object to
intercept the sight of the intelligent soul).
28. The phenomenal world has its rise from
Him, yet those ignorant
people that depart from Him to the adoration
of others, resemble fools,
that forsake rice to feed upon gruel. (i. e. they take the shadow for
the substance).
29. Although this visible world is apparent
to sight, yet O Rāma! it is
but a shadow of that Being, who resides alike
in the smallest atom as in
the mirror of the mind, that receives the
image of the largest as well
as minutest things. (Compare. As full and
perfect in a hair as heart.
Pope.)
30. The spirit is reflected in every thing
like a figure in the mirror,
and it shines equally in rocks and seas, in
the land and water, as it
does in the mirror of the mind. (compare:
Wherever I cast my eyes, thy
beauty shines).
31. The visible world is the scene of
incessant woes, births, decay and
death, and the states of waking, dreaming and
sound sleep, are
presenting by turns the gross, subtile and
evanescent forms of things
for our delusion.
32. Here I sit in my meditative mood (anirūdha), having wiped off the
impressions of the visibles from my mind; but
my meditation is disturbed
by the recurrence of my remembrance of the
visibles: and this is the
cause of the endless transmigrations of the
soul (i. e. the
reminiscence of the past is the cause of our
everlasting bondage in
life).
33. It is hard to have a fixed (nirūdha) and unalterable
(nirvikalpa) meditation (samādhi), when the sight of the visible
world is present before our bodily and mental
vision. Even the fourth
stage of insensible samādhi called the turīya, in the state of sound
sleep (susupti), is soon succeeded by one's self-consciousness and
external intelligence.
34. On rising from this state of deep
meditation, one finds himself as
roused from his sound sleep, in order to view
the world full of all its
woes and imperfections opening wide before
him. (Compare, "I wake to a
sea of troubles, how happy they who wake no
more". Young).
35. What then, O Rāma! is the good of this
transient bliss which one
attains by his temporary abstraction
(Dhyāna), when he has to fall again
to his sense of the sufferings to which the
world is subject as a vale
of tears. (Compare, "When the cock crew
I wept &c." Young's Night
Thoughts).
36. But if one can attain to a state of
unalterable abstraction of his
thoughts from all worldly objects, as he has
in his state of sound sleep
(susupti), he is then said to have reached the highest pitch of
his
holiness on earth. (For it is the entire
oblivion of the world that is
necessary for our spiritual perfection, as it
is said, "forget the
present for the future").
37. No body has ever earned aught of reality
in the scene of unreal
vanities; for whenever his thoughts come in
contact with any outward
thing, he finds it inseparable from the
blemishes of existence. ("Vanity
of vanities, the world is vanity."
Ecclesiastes.)
38. Should any body (in the practice of the
fixedness of his attention),
fix his sight for a while on a stone, by
forcibly withdrawing it from
visible objects, he is sure to be carried
away afterwards by the
visibles pressing upon his sight.
39. It is well known to all that an
unflinching meditation, having even
the firmness of a rock, can have no
durability, in the practice of the
Yogi owing to his worldly propensities.
40. Even the nirūdha or steadfast meditation which has attained the
fixedness of a rock, cannot advance one step
towards the attainment of
that tranquillity which has no bounds to it (i. e. the everlasting
bliss of liberation or moksha).
41. Thus the sight of phenomena being
altogether irrepressible, it is a
foolish supposition of its being suppressed
by practices of Jap-tap or
prayers and austerities and the like acts of
devotion.
42. The idea of the phenomena (drisyadhi), is as inherent in the mind
of the spectator of the visible world, as the
seeds of the lotus flower
are contained in the inner cells of the
pericarp.
43. The ideal of the phenomenal world (drisyadhi), lies as hidden in
the minds of the spectators of the outer
world, as are the in-born
flavour and moisture of fruits, the oil of
sesamum seeds; and the innate
sweet scent of flowers.
44. As the fragrance of camphor and other
odoriferous substances inheres
in their nature, so the reflexion of the
visible world resides in the
bosom of the intellect.
45. As your dreams and desires rise and
subside of themselves under the
province of your intellect, so the notions of
things always recur to
your mind from the original ideas of them
impressed in the seat of the
visibles (the mind).
46. The mental apparition of the visible
world, deludes its beholder in
the same manner, as the visual appearance of
a spectre or hobgoblin,
misleads a child (to its destruction).
47. The notion of the visible world gradually
expands itself, as the
germ of the seed shoots forth in time, and
spreads itself afterwards in
the form of a plant.
48. As the minute germs and animalcules,
which are contained within the
bosoms of fruits and embryos of animals,
expand themselves to
wonderfully beauteous forms afterwards, so
the seed of this world
(originally) lying hid in the Divine Mind,
unfolds itself in wonderful
forms of the visible phenomena in nature.
CHAPTER II.
DESCRIPTION OF THE FIRST CAUSE.
SECTION I.
NARRATIVE OF THE AIR-BORN AND AERIFORM
BRﾁHMAN.
Vasishtha resumed:—Hear me Rāma; now relate to
you the narrative of one
ﾁkāsaja or air-born Brāhman, which will be a
jewel to your ears, and
enable you the better to understand the drift
of the book of Genesis.
2. There lived a Brāhman ﾁkāsaja by name, who
sat always reclined in his
meditation, and was ever inclined to the
doing of good to all creatures.
3. Finding him long-lived, Death thought
within himself saying:—It is I
alone that am imperishable, and devour all
things one by one.
4. How is it that I cannot cram myself with
this air-born, wherein I
find my teeth as blunt in him, as the edge of
a sword is put to the
bluff by the solid rock.
5. So saying, he proceeded to the abode of
the Brāhman, intent upon
making an end of him; for who is of so dull a
nature as is not alert in
his practice.
6. But as he was about to enter the house, he
was opposed by a gorgeous
flame of fire, like the conflagration of
final destruction on the last
day of the dissolution of the world.
7. He pierced the ambient flame and entered
the dwelling, where seeing
the Brāhman before him, he stretched his hand
to lay hold on him with
all avidity.
8. He was unable even with his hundred hands
(i. e. with all his
might) to grasp the Brāhman, as it is
impossible for the strongest to
withstand the resolute man in his wonted
course.
9. He then had recourse to Yama—his lord to
clear his doubt, and to
learn why he could not devour the air-born
(being).
10. Yama replied saying:—Death, trust not too
far thy own might, that
makes thee mighty to destroy the living. It
is the act of the dying
person that is the chief cause of his death
and naught otherwise.
11. Therefore do thou be diligent to find out
the acts of the person
thou intendest to kill; because it is by
their assistance only that thou
canst seize thy prey.
12. Hereupon Death betook himself gladly to
wander about in all places
under the horizon. He roved over the
habitable parts, as also throughout
the lacunal and fluvial districts.
13. He traversed the forests and jungles,
marshy and rocky grounds and
maritime coasts, and passed to foreign lands
and islands, and pried
through their wildernesses, cities and towns.
14. He searched through kingdoms and
countries, villages and deserts;
and surveyed the whole earth to find out some
act of the Brāhman in any
part of it.
15. At last Death with all his search and
effort, came to find the acts
of the air-born Brāhman, to be as nil as the offspring of a barren
woman; and his mind as transfixed (in
meditation) as if it were a rock.
16. He then returned from his reconnoitering
to his all-knowing master
Yama, and besought his advice, as servants do
in matters of doubt and
difficulty (how to proceed).
17. Death addressed him saying:—"Tell me
my lord, where the acts of the
Air-born Brāhman are to be found;" to
which Yama after a long head-work,
replied as follows.
SECTION II.
STATE OF THE SOUL.
18. Know, O Death! that this air-born seer
has no acts whatever; for as
he is born of empty air so his doings are all
null and void. (i. e.
the bodiless spirit or mind is devoid of acts
requiring physical means
and appliances).
19. Whoso is born of air, is as pure as air
itself, and has no
combination of cause or acts like all
embodied (beings).
20. He has no relation with acts of his prior
existence. He is nil as
the child of an unprolific woman, and as one
unborn, uncreated and
unbegotten.
21. Want of causes has made him a pure
vacuous being, and the privation
of prior acts has made him as nil as an etherial arbor.
22. His mind is not ruffled as those of
others, by reason of the
privation of his former acts; nor is there
any such act of his present
state, whereby he may become a morsel to
death.
23. Such is the soul seated in the sheath of
vacuity, and remaining for
ever as the simple form of its own causality
(kāranadeha), and not
guided by any extraneous causation whatever.
24. It has no prior deed, nor does it do any
thing at present; (i. e.
neither led by predestination, nor actuated
by present efforts); but
continues as something in the shape of
aeriform intelligence.
25. Our inference of the actions of breathing
and motion by the agency
of the soul, is a mere supposition; because
the soul is devoid of every
thought of or tendency to action.
26. It sits meditating on itself as
inseparable from the Supreme
Intelligence, just as the images (in painting
and statuary), are
inseparable from the mind of the painter and
sculptor.
27. The self-born Brāhman is as intimately
connected with the objects of
his thought, as fluidity is associated with
water and vacuity with the
firmament.
28. His soul is as immanent in the supreme,
as motion is inherent in the
winds. It has neither the accumulated acts of
past lives, nor those of
its present state. (i. e. It is neither a passive nor active agent of
prior or present acts; but is an indifferent
witness of the acts of the
body and mind).
29. It is produced without the co-operation
of accompanying causes, and
being free from prior motives, it is not
subjected to the vicissitudes
concomitant with human life.
30. It is found to be no other than its own
cause; and having no other
cause for itself, it is said to be
self-produced.
31. Say, how can you lay hold on that being
that has done no act before,
nor is in the act of doing any thing at
present? It is then only
subjected to thee when it thinks itself
mortal. (But he that knows his
soul to be immortal is not subject to death).
32. Whoso believes his soul to be of this
earth, and thinks himself to
be an earthly being, he may be easily
overtaken by thee; (whose power
extends over earth-born mortals only).
33. This Brāhman is a formless being, by
reason of his disowning the
material body. Hence it is as hard for thee
to enthral him, as to
entwine the air with a rope.
34. Death rejoined saying:—Tell me my lord!
how may the unborn Aja or
the self-born swayambhu, be produced out of vacuum, and how can an
earthly or other elemental body be and not be
(at the same time).
35. Yama replied:—This Brāhman is neither
born nor is nil at any
time; but remains for ever the same, as the
light of intelligence of
which there is no decay.
36. There remains nothing at the event of the
great Doomsday, except the
tranquil, imperishable and infinite Brāhman
himself in his spiritual
form.
37. This is the nature of the everlasting
vacuum, too subtile in its
essence, and devoid of all attributes; but
viewing present before its
mind, the stupendous cosmos in the form of a
huge mountain in the
beginning of recreation. (The mind is the
noumenon—Brahma, and the
phenomena of the world is the gigantic
macrocosm known as Virājmūrti).
38. Being of the nature of intelligence it is
imperishable; but those
who view the spirit in the form of any
phenomenal body, are liable to
perish with it like all embodied beings.
39. Thus this Brāhman remained in the womb of
vacuity in the beginning,
in his state of unalterable, vacuous
intelligence.
40. It is purely of the nature of the inane
understanding, and of the
form of a vast expanse of omniscience; having
neither body nor
organism; no acts nor agency, nor desire of
any kind in itself.
41. That which is simply of the form of
vacuum and pure light, is never
beset by the snare of pristine desires, as a
corporeal being.
42. It has nothing to know or see without
itself (i. e. beyond its
self-consciousness). The only conception that
we have of it, is what
resembles an extended intelligence (i. e. an all-diffusive
omniscience).
43. Under these circumstances, how is it
susceptible of any earthly or
other external form? Therefore O Death!
desist from thy attempt to lay
hold on the same.
44. Hearing these words of Yama, Death
thought upon the impracticability
of laying hold on empty vacuity by any body,
and sorrowfully returned to
his own abode.
45. Rāma said: you said sir, that Brahmā is
your great grand-sire; I
think it is he that you mean to say as the
unborn, self-born, universal
soul and intelligence.
46. So is this Brahmā, Rāma! as I have spoken
to you, and it was with
regard to the same, that the aforesaid
discussion was held of yore
between Death and Yama (Pluto).
47. Again when Death had made an end of all
living beings at the
interval of a manwantarā, he thought himself strong enough to make an
attempt to bear down upon the lotus-born
Brahmā also.
48. It was then that he was admonished by
Yama, saying:—It is your
habit that makes you go on your wonted course
of killing.
49. But the super-etherial form of Brahmā too
is beyond your reach: it
being simply of the nature of the mind having
connection with its
thoughts only, and no concern with the actual
forms of things.
50. It is of the form of the wonderfully
vacuous intellect, having the
faculty of cognition in it. Thus the
intellect being but vacuum, has
neither any cause for it, nor any effect produced
by it.
51. As the aeriform volitive principle in
men, manifests itself without
being connected with material forms, so is
the self-born (Brahmā)
manifest to all in his own immaterial nature.
52. Like strings of pearl appearing to view
in the clear firmament, and
forms of cities seen in a dream, the
self-born (Brahmā) is manifest of
himself without relation to external objects.
53. As there is no beholder nor any thing
beholden of the solitary
Supreme spirit which is the intellect itself;
so is the mind manifest of
itself (without its looking at or being
looked upon by any body).
54. It is the volitive mind which is called
Brahmā and volition being a
spiritual faculty, has no connection with any
material substance.
55. As the mind of the painter is fraught
with images of various things,
so is the mind of Brahmā full of figures of
all created beings.
56. The self-born Brahmā is manifest in his
own mind as Brahmā is
manifested in the vacuous sphere of his
intellect. He is without
beginning, middle and end, and appears to
have a figure like that of a
male being, while in reality he has no body,
as the offspring of a
barren woman.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to Brahmasri Sreemaan Vihari Lala Mitra ji for the collection)
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