The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki
The only complete English translation is
by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891).
CHAPTER XLVIII.—On the Wondrous Power of Illusion.
Argument. Devotion of Gādhi after his return,
and Vishnu's
exhibition of the extraordinary power of
delusion to him.
Vasishtha continued:—Gādhi was bewildered in
his mind, at all that he
heard and observed about the Chandāla and his
residence, and felt uneasy
to learn more about them.
2. He went back to the place, and observed
the abodes that lay scattered
upon the plain; as when the lotus-born Brahmā
looks over the ruins, made
by the great deluge at the end of a kalpa
age.
3. He said to himself, those bones lying
scattered about the ruined huts
in this forest, look like little imps
(pisāchas), gathered round the
trees standing on the burial ground.
4. These posts and pegs of elephant's tusks,
that are fastened to and
upon the walls of the ruined houses; look
like the craigs of mount Meru,
drowned under the waters of the kalpa deluge.
5. Here the Chandāla feasted on his meat food
of monkey's flesh, and
dressed with the sprouts of young bamboos;
and there he caroused on his
country grog, in company with his drunken
friends.
6. Here he slept in the embrace of his murky
spouse, on his bed of the
lion's skin; being drunk with the better
liquor mixed with the ichor,
exuding from the frontal proboscis of the
elephant.
7. There was a pack of hounds, tied to the
trunk of the withered
Bharaeda tree, and fed with the rotten flesh of the putrid
carcasses.
8. Here I see three earthen vessels covered
with the hides of buffaloes,
resembling fragments of dark clouds; and
which had once contained the
precious pearls falling from the sculls of
slain elephants. (The low and
poor people, use earthen pots and boiling
kettles for boxes and chests).
9. I see the site of the place which I had
seen in my dream, and where
the Chandāla boys played on the dust, with as
much glee and gaiety, as
the cuckoos have in flitting on the tufts of
mango leaves.
10. I see the place I had seen in my vision,
where the boys sang
responsive to the tune of their bamboo pipes;
and drank the milk of
bitches, and adorned themselves with flowers
from the funeral grounds.
11. Here the families of the wedding parties,
met together to celebrate
their marriage festivity; and danced and sang
as loudly, as the noise of
the dashing waves of the sea.
12. There I find the bamboo cages, still
suspended on high; which were
laid before, for catching the flying birds of
the air; in order to be
killed for the food (of their slayers).
13. Vasishtha resumed:—Thus Gādhi remained
for a long time on the spot,
observing all what he remembered to have seen
in his dream; and was lost
in wonder, to think on the miraculous
disclosure of these things in his
dream. (Lit.:—heart-strings palpitated with
surprise &c.).
14. He then departed from that place, and
travelled through many
countries beyond the boundaries of Butan, for
a long time.
15. He passed over many rivers and rocks, and
through many deserts and
forests; until he reached to the snowy
mountain, and the habitation of
humankind
beyond its borders.
16. He then arrived at the city of a great
monarch, the towers of which
rose as hills upon the earth; and there stopped
after his long journey,
as when Nārada rests in his heavenly dome,
after the fatigue of
travelling through the numerous worlds.
17. He beheld in that city all the places
answering to the romantic
thoughts in his mind, and those as he had
seen and enjoyed in his dream,
and then asked the citizens in a respectful
manner.
18. Good Sirs, said he, do you remember any
thing regarding the Chandāla
king that reigned here for sometime, which,
if you do, be pleased to
relate unto me in its proper order.
19. The citizens replied:—Yes, O Brāhman,
there reigned here a Chandāla
king for full eight years, and he was elected
to its government, by the
auspicious elephant of the realm.
20. Being at last discovered to be of so vile
a race, he committed his
self-immolation on the funeral pyre; and it
is now a dozen of years,
since the direful event has taken place.
21. In this manner the inquisitive Gādhi
continued in his inquiry of
every man he met with, and was satisfied to
learn the same information
from the mouth of every body there.
22. He then beheld the king of that city
coming with his body guards and
vehicles, and whom he recognized to be no
other than the god Vishnu and
his attendants as he had seen in his
devotion, and were now going out of
the city.
23. He saw the sky shadowed by the cloud of
dust raised by the feet of
the passing procession; and remembered with
grief the like state of his
pomp under his past kingship.
24. He said to himself, here are the same
Kiri damsels with their rosy
skins, resembling the petals of lotuses; and
those with their bodies
blazing as liquid gold, and their cerulean
eyes trembling like blue
lotuses.
25. The waving of the chowry flappers,
flashes with the light of bright
moonbeams; and resembles the falling waters
of a cascade, and clusters
of kāsa flowers.
26. Beautiful maidens, waving the snow white
fans in their beauteous
hands, resembled the forest plants with
pearly flower on their branches.
27. The rows of furious elephants, standing
on both sides of the land,
are like thick lines of kalpa trees, growing
on ridges of the Sumeru
mountains.
28. These chieftains resembling the gods
Yama, Kubera and Varuna—the
lord of waters, are like the regents of the
different quarters of the
sky, accompanying Indra—the lord of heaven.
29. These long extending lines of goodly
edifices, which are full of a
great variety of things, and abounding in all
sorts of comforts,
resemble a grove of kalpa trees, conferring
all the objects of desire.
30. In this royal city of the Kirs, and in
the manners of its assembled
people, I see exactly the same customs and
usages, as those of the
kingdom of my past life.
31. Truly this is but a vision in my dream,
and appearing as a reality
in my waking state; I cannot understand why
this delusive magic show is
spread out before me.
32. O yes, I am as fast bound by my
ignorance, and captivated by my
reminiscence, as a captive bird in a net,
that has lost all power over
itself.
33. O fie! that my silly mind is so deluded
by its desires, that it is
always wont to mistake the shadow for the
substance, of people dwelling
on their aerial castles.
34. This extraordinary magic, I ween is shown
to me by Vishnu—the
holder of the discus, of whom I recollect to
have asked the favour of
showing Māyā or delusion to me.
35. I will now betake myself to austere
devotion in the cavern of a
hill, in order to learn the origin and
subsistence of delusion (i.e.
how the deceitful delusion sprang from the
truthful God, and whereof it
consists).
36. Having long thought in this manner, Gādhi
went out of the city, and
came to the cavern of mountain; where he
rested after all his travels
and travail of thought, like a lion tired
with his roaming for forage.
37. He remained there for a whole year,
living only on the water of the
cataract collected in the hollow of his palm;
and devoted himself to the
worship of Vishnu, the holder of the Sāringi
bow.
38. Then the lotus eyed god appeared to him
in his watery form, which
was as clear and graceful to sight, as the
limpid lake of autumn with
the blue lotuses full blown upon it.
39. With this form, the god approached to the
hermit's cell in the
mountain, and stood over it in the likeness
of a transparent watery
cloud, resting on the humid atmosphere.
40. The lord spoke to him saying:—Gādhi thou
hast fully seen the great
spell of my magic (māyā); and known the
network or delusion, which is
spread by destiny over all the affairs of
this world. (I.e. man is
destined, and to be deluded to think the
false scenes of the world as
real ones).
41. Thou hast now well understood the nature
of delusion, which thou
didst desire in thy heart to know, what is it
again that thou wantest to
know, by these austerities of thine in this
mountain cave?
42. Vasishtha said:—Gādhi the best of
Brāhmans, seeing Hari addressing
him in this manner, honoured him duly with
strewing plentiful of flowers
at his divine feet.
43. After Gādhi had made his offering of
flowers, with due obeisance and
turning round the deity; he addressed him
with his words, sounding as
sweet as notes of the chātaka to the blooming
lotus.
44. Gādhi said:—Lord! I have seen the dark
delusion, that thou hast
shown me in her form of gloominess; I pray
thee now to show her unto me
in her fair form, as the sun appears after
the gloom of night.
45. The mind which is vitiated by the dirt of
its desires, views a great
many errors, rising before it like false
phantoms and visions in a
dream; but how is it my lord! that the same
visions continue to be seen
in the waking state also (or as waking dreams
likewise)?
46. It was for a moment only that I thought
to have seen some thing as
false as a dream, when I stood amidst the
waters but how was it, O thou
enlightener of the mind, that it became
manifest to my outward sense and
sight?
47. Why was not the delusion of my birth and
death as a Chandāla, which
took place long ago, and lately verified by
many visible vestiges,
confined in my memory only, as well as other
idle creations of the
brain, but became palpable to my naked eyes?
48. The lord replied:—Gādhi! it is the nature
of delirium as of one's
desires, to present many false appearances to
view; and to make one
believe what he has never seen before, to be
present to his external
sight, which in reality is a vision of his mind
only.
49. There is nothing on the outside of any
body as the earth, sea, hills
and the sky; they are all contained in the
mind as the fruits, flowers
and leaves of trees, are born in the seed and
grow from its germ.
50. Like fruits and flowers growing out of
the seed and its sprout, this
earth and all other things are the
productions of the mind alone, and
not distinct from it in their essences (i.e. all sensible perceptions
are not reflexions of the inborn ideas of the
mind).
51. Know it for certain that this earth and
all other things, are
situated in the mind and not outside of it;
as the fruit, flowers and
leaves are all contained in the inside of the
seed and not without it.
52. The sight of things present, and the
thoughts of the absent past and
unseen future, are all but acts of the mind,
as the making and unmaking
of pots, are both of them the doings of the
pot maker.
53. Whatever notions there are in the minds
of men from their youth to
age are alike to the phantoms of their dream
or the deliriums of their
ebriety or some (mental) disease.
54. The settled desires of the mind present a
thousand appearances
before its sight, as the rooted plants on
earth, abound with fruits and
flowers of various kinds, on the surface of
the ground.
55. But the plants being rooted out of the
ground, there remains no
vestige of a fruit or flower or leaf upon
earth: so the desires being
driven out of the mind, there is no more any
trace of anything left
behind them; nor is there any probability of
future transmigrations,
when the reminiscence of the past is utterly
obliterated from the soul.
56. It is no wonder for the shifting stage of
the mind, to present you
the single scene of the Chandāla, when it has
in store, and can with
equal ease show you an infinity of appearances
at its pleasure. (The
drama of life exhibits but a partial scene at
a time).
57. It was the impression (eidolon) in thy mind, that made thee think
thyself as the Chandāla, in the manner of the
many phantoms, that rise
before the mind in the delirium of a sickly
person.
58. It was the same phrenzy that made thee
see the advent of thy Brāhman
guest, and entertain him with board and bed;
and all thy conversation
with him, was no other than the phantasies of
thy mind.
59. Then the thoughts of thy departure from
home, and arrival at the
district of the Bhootas, thy sight of the
Bhotias and their villages and
habitations, were but aberrations of thy
mind.
60. Next thy sight of the ruins of the former
abode of Katanjala, and
the account that thou didst get of him from
the mouths of the people,
were all the fumes of thy fancy.
61. Afterwards thy visit to the city of the
Kirs, and the tale told thee
of the Chandāla's reign by the people, were
the excogitations of thy own
mind.
62. Thus all that thou didst hear and see,
was the network of thy
imagination, and what thou dost believe as
true is as false as a phantom
of thy brain.
63. The mind infatuated by its hopes and
desires sees everything before
it, how far soever it may be removed from it;
as one dreams of objects
as present before him, which would take a
whole year for him to reach
at.
64. There was neither the guest nor the city,
nor were there the Bhotias
or the Kiris that thou didst see in reality.
It was all a day dream,
that thou didst see with thy mind's eye.
65. The truth is, that on thy way to the
country of the Bhotias at one
time, thou didst halt in the cave of this
mountain, as a stag rests
himself in a forest, after his long
wandering.
66. There being tired with the fatigue of thy
travel, thou didst fall
into a sound sleep; and dreamt of the Bhotia
city and the Chandāla, in
thy reverie without seeing anything in
reality.
67. It was there and in the same state of thy
mind that thou sawest the
city of the Kirs; and it was the delusion of
thy mind that showed thee
those things at the time of thy devotion in
the water.
68. In this manner thou dost see many other
things, wherever thou goest
at any time; as a high flier sees his
vagaries on all sides about him.
(All worldly sights, are but vagaries of
imagination).
69. Rise therefore and remain unshaken in the
discharge of thy duties,
without being misled by the vagaries of thy
mind; because it is practice
of one's profession that leads him to
success, and not the ideals or his
mind. (I.e. mind thyself what thou art, and not what thou dost fancy
to be).
70. Vasishtha said:—So saying the
lotus-naveled Hari, who is worshipped
by the saints and sages in all places, went
to his abode in the sea,
where he was received by the hands of the
gods and holy sages, who led
him to his residence. (Vishnu is called
lotus-naveled [Sanskrit:
padmalābhah] on account of Brahma's birth
from it, who is thence named
the lotus-born [Sanskrit: padmayonī]).
CHAPTER XLIX.—Gādhi's gaining of True Knowledge.
Argument. Gādhi gains his knowledge and
Liberation from Hari in
his Life time.
Vasishtha continued:—Vishnu being gone, Gādhi
began to wander again
about the Bhota country, as a cloud continues
to move about in the air.
2. Having collected many informations about
himself in the life of the
chandāla, he betook himself again to the
worship of Vishnu in the cave
of a mountain.
3. In course of a short time, Hari appeared
to him again; as it is his
nature to be pleased with a little devotion,
made with sincerity of
heart.
4. The god spoke to Gādhi with as much
complaisance, as the watery cloud
addresses the peacock; and asked him what he
wanted again by his
repeated devotion.
5. Gādhi replied:—Lord! I have again wandered
about the countries of
the Bhotas and Kirs for these past six
months, and found no discrepancy
in the accounts, they gave of me lately from
the former ones.
6. Thou hast told me, Lord! all this to be
mere delusion, (which prove
to be positive facts by the testimony of
every body). I know the words
of the great, serve to dissipate and not
increase the delusion (as it is
done by thy words).
7. The Lord said:—It often happens that many
things are of simultaneous
occurrence at the one and same time; as the kākatālīya sanyoga or the
synchronous flying of the crow and the
falling of the fruit upon him.
Thus it was that the idea of the Chandāla was
of contemporaneous growth
in the minds of all the Bhotas and Kirs as of
thyself: as there are many
men that are prepossessed with the same
opinion with others, however
wrong it may be.
8. It was by cause of this, that they
corresponded with thy thoughts,
and related thy story as thou didst reflect
it thyself: because a
cogitation or reflection of something cannot
be otherwise at the same
time (but it must appear to every body
alike).
9. It is true that a Chandāla had erected a
house at the border of the
village, which thou didst see to be now
reduced to ruins; but it was an
erroneous conception of thine, to think
thyself the very man, and to
have built the very house. (It was the
mistake of thy personality for
another, as it often overtakes the minds of
many men).
10. Sometimes the same mistake lays hold on
many minds, as the multitude
is seen to be led astray, by the simultaneous
current of the same
opinions in many ways.
11. In this manner many men see at once the
same dream, as the giddy
heads of drunken men, fall equally into the
same kind of dizziness at
the same time, of seeing the earth and skies
turning and rolling round
them.
12. Many boys are seen at once to join in the
same sport, and a whole
herd of stags is observed to meet together in
the same verdant field.
13. Many men are seen simultaneously to
pursue the same employment, for
the purpose of gaining the like object of
their pursuit (as it is seen
in the flight and fighting of an army for
their safety or victory).
14. It is commonly said, that time is the
giver (or producer) and
obstructer of the objects of human pursuits
as of all other events; but
time is as quiescent as the supreme spirit,
and it is the desire and
exertion of people, that are the causes of
their desired effects.
15. Time is a formless void, and is identic
with the nature and form of
the increate great Lord God himself. It is
neither the giver nor taker
of anything to or from any one at any time.
16. Time according to its common reckoning by
years, kalpas and
yuga-ages, is classed among the categories of
substance; but time far
from being a substance, is the source of all
substances.
17. Men of deluded understanding are subject
to the errors, arising from
the like cause of their fallacy; and it was
owing to this false
conception, that the Bhota and Kiri people,
fell into the very same
error. (Like cause means, the same kind of
bias or prejudice &c.).
18. Therefore employ thyself to do thy duty,
and try to know thy
true-self; get rid of the error of thy
personality (as so and so), and
move about as freely as I do by myself (as a
free aerial spirit).
19. Saying this, the lord Vishnu disappeared
from his sight; and Gādhi
remained in his cave, with great perplexity
of his mind.
20. He passed some months on the same hill,
and then resumed his
devotion to Vishnu with redoubled fervency.
21. He saw his god appearing again to his
view, when he bowed down
before him, and addressed him as follows:—
22. Gādhi said:—O Lord! I am quite bewildered
with the thought of my
Chandālship, and my reflection on the
delusions of this world.
23. Do thou deign to extricate me from my
errors, and employ me to the
only act of adoring the Holy one.
24. The lord said:—This world, O Brāhman! is
a delusion, like the
enchantment of the conjurer Sambara; all
things here, are the wondrous
productions of imagination, and proceed from
forgetfulness of the self.
25. It was your error that made you see many
things, in your sleeping
and waking dreams.
26. The Kirs were led also to see the same
things like thyself, and to
mistake those falsities as true, owing to the
same error laying hold of
all of you at the same time. (As the tricks
of a juggler are thought to
be true by the observers).
27. Now hear me tell you the truth as it was
for your own good; and
whereby your error will fade away, like a
creeping plant in the chilling
month of November.
28. The Chandāla Kātanjaka, whom thou
thinkest to be thyself, was a man
really existent in the same locality before.
29. Who being bereaved of his family there,
went out from that place to
wander about in foreign parts; when he became
king of the Kiris, and
afterwards immerged himself in the fire.
30. This state of Kātanjaka entered into thy
mind, when thou hadst been
standing amidst the water in thy devotion;
and the thoughts of the whole
career of the Chandāla, had altogether
engrossed thy mind.
31. Things which are seen or thought of once,
can hardly escape from the
memory; and it sometimes happens that the
mind comes to see many things
in its imagination, which it has never seen
before its eyes.
32. In the manner of a man's vision of a
kingdom in his dream, and like
the delirium caused by the vitiated humours,
of the body; the mind sees
many day dreams and deliriums in its waking
and healthy states also.
33. The past conduct of Kātanja presented
itself to your mind, as the
past and future events of the world, are
present before the mental
vision of an oracle (lit.:—a seer of the
three times).
34. That this is I, and these things and
those friends are mine; is the
mistake of those that are devoid of their
self-knowledge; (as thou didst
think that Kātanja to be thyself, and his
house, goods and relatives to
be thine also).
35. But that 'I am all in all' is the belief
of the truly wise, which
prevents them from falling into such mistakes;
and keeps them from the
wrong notions of individualities and
particularities, from their belief
in the generality of all persons and things.
36. This general and oecumenical view of all
things, preserves people
from the mistaken notions of pleasure and
pain; and makes the drowning
wretch as buoyant, as the floating gourd or
bottle tied to a sinking
net.
37. But thou art entangled in the snare of
thy desire, and art lost to
thy good sense; nor canst thou be at thy
perfect ease, as long as thou
dost suffer under the symptoms of thy
sickness.
38. It is because of thy imperfect knowledge,
that thou art incapable to
ward off the errors of thy mind; just as it
is impossible for a man to
protect himself from the rain, without his
endeavours to raise a shed or
shelter for himself.
39. Thou art easily susceptible of every
impression of thy untutored
mind, as a small tree is easily over-reached
by a tall person.
40. The heart is the nave or axis of the
wheel of delusion; if thou
canst stop the motion of this central power,
there is nothing to disturb
thee any more. (self-regret, says the gloss,
serves to stop the motion
of the heart).
41. Now rise and repair to the sacred bower
on this mountain, and there
perform your austerities for full ten years
with a steady mind; so that
thou mayst attain to thy perfect knowledge at
the end of this period.
42. So saying, the lotus-eyed god disappeared
from that place, as a
flimsy cloud or candle-light or the billow of
Jamuna, is put out by a
slight gust of the wind.
43. Gādhi then gradually gained his
dispassionateness, by means of his
discrimination; as the trees fade away for
want of moisture, at the end
of autumn.
44. Now getting rid of the vagaries of his
mind, Gādhi remained to
reflect upon and blamed himself, for his
fostering the false thoughts of
the Chandāla and the like.
45. He then with his heart melting in pity
and sorrow for himself,
repaired to the Rishya-mukha mount, for the
purpose of making his
penitence; and he sat there in the manner of
a rainy cloud, stopping on
the top of a mountain.
46. He relinquished all his desires, and
performed his austere devotion
(as it was his duty); and at last he attained
the knowledge of his self,
after the expiration of the tenth year of his
penitence.
47. Having obtained his knowledge of himself
like the great-souled
Brahmā, and getting rid of his fears and
sorrows in this world of
retribution; he wandered about with the joy
of a living liberated being,
and with perfect tranquillity of his mind,
resembling the serene lustre
of the full-moon, revolving in the sphere of
the sky.
CHAPTER L.—Intentions of Rāma.
Argument. On subjection of the mind and
greatness of knowledge;
and stoutness of the heart as the cause of
all evil.
Vasishtha continued:—Know Rāma, this delusion
to be as extensive in its
form, as it is inexplicable in its nature; it
is fraught with ignorance;
it is a spiritual illusion and no sensible
deception.
2. Look on the one hand at the erroneous
dream of the Brāhman for a
couple of hours, and his transformation into
the state of Chandāla which
lasted for many years.
3. Observe how the false conception of the
Brāhman, appeared as present
to his sensible perception; and see how the
false thought appeared as
true to him, and his true knowledge of
him-self vanishing at last into
untruth.
4. I say therefore this illusion, to be
utterly inexplicable in its
nature; and how it leads the unguarded mind,
to a great many errors and
difficulties and dangers at last.
5. Rāma asked:—How Sir, can we put a stop to
the wheel of delusion,
which by its rapid rotation, is constantly grinding
every part of our
body? (Figuratively used for every good
quality of the mind. Gloss).
6. Vasishtha said:—Know Rāma, this revolving
world is the wheel of
delusion, and the human heart is the nave or
axis of this great wheel;
which by its continual rotation produces all
this delusion within its
circle.
7. If you can by means of your manly
exertion, put a stop to the motion
of your heart, as it were by fixing a peg to
the loop-hole of the wheel,
you stop the rotation of the circle of
delusion at once.
8. Again the mind is the nave of the wheel of
ignorance; and if you can
stop its motion, by binding it fast by the
rope of your good sense; you
escape the danger of falling into the
vortiginous rotation of errors.
9. Rāma, you are well skilled in the art of
fighting by hurling the
discus, and cannot be ignorant of preventing
its motion by stopping it
at the central hole.
10. Therefore, O Rāma! be diligent to stop
the nave of your mind; and
you will be enabled thereby to preserve
yourself, both from the
revolution of the world and vicissitudes of
time.
11. The soul that rejects this counsel, is
exposed to interminable
misery; while by keeping it always before the
sight of the mind, it
avoids all difficulties in this world.
12. There is no other medicine for any body,
to heal the disease of his
worldliness, save by restraining the mind to
its own pivot.
13. Forsake therefore, O Rāma! your acts of
holy pilgrimage, and
observance of austerity and charity (which
are of no avail to the peace
of the soul); but keep the mind under your
control, for attainment of
your supreme felicity.
14. The world is situated in the mind, as the
air is confined in a pot;
but the mind being restricted to itself, the
world is lost to it; as the
pot just broken, lets out the air to mix in
endless vacuity.
15. You who are for ever confined in the
imaginary world of your mind,
like a gnat confined in the hollow of a pot;
will get your release only
by breaking out of this confinement, like the
gnat flying into the open
air.
16. The way to get rid of the delusions of
the mind, is to fix your
attention only to the present moment; and not
to employ your thoughts
about the past and future events. (This will
keep your attention close
to yourself).
17. You will then arrive to the state of that
holy unmindfulness called
nonchalance, when you cease to pursue at once any of the objects of
your desire or imagination.
18. The mind is obscured so long, as it has
the mist of its desires and
fancies flying over it; as the sky is
overcast as long as the watery
clouds overspread upon it.
19. As long as the intelligent soul is joined
with the faculty of the
mind, so long it is subject to its gross
desires and thickening train of
its fancies; as the sky is filled with bright
moon-beams as long as the
moon shines in it. (I.e. as there is no moon-light without the moon,
so there is no fancy without the mind, nor is
there any mind which is
devoid of its fancies).
20. When the intelligent soul is known
without the medium of the mind
(i.e. when the soul is seen face to face) then the existence of the
world, is rooted out from the mind, like
trees burnt down to their
roots.
21. Intelligence unappertaining to the mind,
is called perspicacity
(pratyak chetana); which is of a nature
unconnected with
intellectuality, and freed from the foulness
of the fumes of fancy.
(I.e. quite clear of all mental thought).
22. That is verily the state of truth and of
true felicity. It is the
true state of spirituality, and a manner of
omniscience; having
all-sightedness of its own, and seeing all
things in itself. It is quite
unconnected with any mental operation, and is
enlightened by the light
of the spirit.
23. Whenever there is the action of the mind,
it is invariably
accompanied with the train of desires and the
sense of pleasure and
pain; and the feelings and passions are its
concomitants, as the ravens
are accompaniments of the burning ground.
(The mind is the sensorium of
feelings).
24. The minds of the intelligent are not,
without their action, but they
are aloof of those feelings, by their
knowledge of the vanity of earthly
things. And though these feelings are
contained like plants in the seed
vessel of their mind; yet they are not
allowed to germinate in its
sterile soil.
25. They (the wise), have come to know the
unsubstantiality and
uncertainty of all worldly things and events,
both by their knowledge of
the natures of things; and by means of their
acquaintance with the
sāstras; as also by their association with
holy men, and their habitual
observance of the practices of a pious and
saintly life.
26. They have forcibly withdrawn their minds
from ignorance, by their
determined exertions to gain the true
knowledge of things; and have
strenuously applied them to the study of
sāstras, and the good conduct
of righteous people.
27. But it is the purity of the soul only,
that has the sight of the
Supreme spirit; as it is the brilliancy of
the gem itself, that makes it
discernable amidst the waters of the deep,
and enables it to be redeemed
from darkness. (I.e. human soul being a reflexion of the Supreme,
lends its light to the vision of the other).
28. As the soul naturally desires to get rid
of things, which it has
come to know to be attended with pain to it;
so the soul is the sole
cause of knowing the Supreme (by its
discarding the knowledge of the
gross objects, which interposes between it
and the Divine; and obstructs
the view of the latter).
29. Be therefore freed from your thoughts of
all other things, both in
your waking and sleeping states, and when you
talk to or think of any
body, give or receive anything to or from
another. Rely and reflect on
your consciousness alone, and watch
constantly its secret admonitions
and intuitions.
30. Whether when you are born or going to
die, or do anything or live in
this world, be steadily attentive to your
conscious self, and you will
perceive the clear light of the soul (and
have your clairvoyance).
31. Leave off thinking that this is I and
that is another, because all
are alike before the Lord of all; and give up
wishing this for thyself
and that for others, for all things belong to
God. Rely solely on the
one, and that is thy internal consciousness
alone.
32. Be of one mind in your present and future
states of life, and
continue to investigate into its various
phases in your own
consciousness. (I.e. know yourself in all the varying circumstances of
your life).
33. In all the changes of your life from
boyhood to youth and old age,
and amidst all its changing scenes of
prosperity and adversity, as also
in the states of your waking, dreaming and
sound sleep, remain faithful
to your consciousness. (I.e. never lose the knowledge of your
self-identity (as the one and unchanging
soul)).
34. Melt down your mind as a metal, and
purify it of its dross of the
knowledge or impression of external things;
break off the snare of your
desires and depend on your consciousness of
yourself.
35. Get rid of the disease of your desire, of
whatever is marked as good
or bad for you; and turn your sight from all,
which may appear as
favourable or unfavourable to you; and rely
on your consciousness of
pure intelligence. (This is having perfect
mastery of yourself).
36. Leave untouched whatever is tangible to
the touch, and obtainable to
you by your agency or instrumentality; remain
unchanged and unsupported
by any thing in the world, and depend only on
your own consciousness (as
the intangible spirit).
37. Think yourself as sleeping when you are
awake, and remain as calm
and quiet as you are insensible of any thing;
think yourself as all and
alone, and as instinct with the Supreme
Spirit.
38. Think yourself free from the changing and
unchanging states of life
(i.e. from the states of life and death and of waking and sleep); and
though engaged in business, think yourself as
disengaged from all
concerns.
39. Forsake the feelings of your egoism and
nonegoism (as this is mine
and that is others); and be undivided from
the rest of the world, by
thinking yourself as the macrocosm of the
cosmos, and support yourself
on the adamantine rock of your consciousness,
by remaining unshaken at
all events.
40. Continue to cut off the meshes of the net
of your internal desires,
by the agency of your intellect and its
helpmate of patience; and be of
the profession of belonging to no profession;
(of any particular faith
or creed or calling).
41. The sweet taste of trusting in the true
faith of consciousness,
converts even the poison of false faiths to
ambrosia: (i.e. Belief
in
soul is the soul of all creeds).
42. It is then only, that the great error of
taking the false world for
true, prevails over the mind; when it forgets
to remember the pure and
undivided self-consciousness (and takes the
outward forms for true).
43. Again the progress of the great error, of
the substantiality of the
world, is then put to an end; when the mind
relies its trust, in the
immaculate and undivided consciousness or
intelligence.
44. One who has passed over the great gulf of
his desires, and known the
true nature of his soul; has his
consciousness shining within himself,
with the full blaze of the luminous sun.
45. One who knows the nature of his soul, and
is settled in the
transcendental bliss of knowing the peerless
One; finds the most
nectarious food as a poison to him. (I.e. the taste of spiritual
bliss, is sweeter far than that of the
daintiest food).
46. We revere those men, who have known the
nature of the soul, and have
reached to their spiritual state; and know
the rest bearing the name of
men, as no better than asses in human shape.
47. Behold the devotees going from hill to
hill, and roving like
bigbodied elephants, for the performance of
their devotions; but they
are far below the spiritualist, who sits as
high above them as on the
top of the mountain.
48. The heavenward sight of consciousness,
reaching beyond the limits of
all regions to the unseen and invisible God;
derives no help from the
light of the sun and moon (which can never
reach so far, as the highest
empyrean).
49. The lights of the luminaries fade away
like candle lights, before
the sight of consciousness; which sees the
great lights of the sun and
moon and all, within the compass of its
knowledge.
50. He who has known the truth of God, stands
highest above the rest of
men, by reason of his self-sacrifice, and the
greatness of his soul, by
means of his practice of yoga; and is distinguished from others by the
brightness of his person. (The eternal light
shines in the body also).
51. Like Him whose effulgence shines forth
unto us, in the lustre of the
sun, moon, stars, gems and fire, the
pre-eminent among men shine among
mankind, in their knowledge of what is
knowable, and worthy to be known.
(The sapient shine with their knowledge, as
luminous bodies before us).
52. Those that are ignorant of truth (or the
true natures of things),
are known to be viler than the asses, and
other brute creatures that
live upon the land; and are meaner than the
mean insects that dwell in
the holes beneath the earth. (Knowledge of
truth ennobles man-kind,
above their fellow-creatures).
53. So long is an embodied being said to be a
devil of darkness, as he
is ignorant of spiritual knowledge, but no
sooner is he acquainted with
his soul, and united with his self in his
intellection, than he is
recognized as a spiritual being.
54. The unspiritual man is tossed about on
earth as a carcass, and is
consumed with the fuel of his cares, as a
dead body is burnt away by the
flames of its funeral fire; but the
spiritualist knowing the nature of
his soul, is only sensible of his
immortality.
55. Spiritualism flies afar from the man,
whose heart is hardened in
this world; just as the glory of sunshine, is
lost under the shadow of
the thickening clouds in the sky.
56. Therefore the mind is to be gradually
curbed and contracted in
itself, by a dislike of all earthly
enjoyments; and the knower of his
self should try by long practice of
abstinence, to desiccate his spirit
of its moisture, to the dryness of a faded
leaf.
57. The mind is thickened and fattened by
consolidating itself with
those of others; and staining it with the
affections, of wife and those
of offspring, relations and friends.
58. The passions and feelings also are often
the causes, of the solidity
and stolidity of the mind; and these are its
egotism and selfishness,
gaiety and impurity of thoughts, and its
changing tempers and
affections. But most of all it is the sense
of meity that this is mine,
that nourishes it to gross density. (The mind
is puffed up with the
increase of possessions).
59. The mind is swollen on coming to
prosperity, even under the deadly
pains of old age and infirmity; as also under
the poisonous pangs of
penury and miserliness. (Stinginess is a
painful pleasure).
60. The mind grows lusty in its expectation
of some good in prospect,
even under the afflictions of disease and
danger. It grows stout with
enduring what is intolerable, and doing what
ought not to be done.
61. The heart too becomes stout with its
affection for others, and also
with its desire and gain of riches and
jewels; it becomes lusty with its
craving after women, and in having whatever
is pleasant to it for the
moment.
62. The heart like a snake, is big swollen
with feeding on false hopes
as air; and by breathing the empty air of
passing delights and
pleasures. It is pampered by drinking the
liquor of fleeting hope, and
moves about in the course of its endless
expectations.
63. The heart is stanch in its enjoyment of
pleasures, however injurious
they are in their nature; and though situated
inside the body, yet it is
subject to pine in disease and uneasiness,
under a variety of pains and
changes.
64. There grows in the heart of the body, as
in the hollow of a tree, a
multitude of thoughts like a clump of
orchids; and these bearing the
budding blossoms of hope and desire, hung
down with the fruits and
flowers of death and disease.
65. Delay not to lop off the huge trunk of
the poisonous tree of
avarice, which has risen as high as a hill in
the cavity of thy heart,
with the sharp saw of thy reason; nor defer
to put off the big branch of
thy hope, and prune its leaves of desires,
without the least delay.
66. The elephantine heart sits with its
infuriate eyes, in the solitary
recess of the body; and is equally fond of
its ease as of its carnal
gratification: it longs to look at the lotus
bed of the learned, as also
to meet a field of sugarcanes composed of
fools and dunces.
67. Rāma! you should, like a lion, the
monarch of the forest, destroy
your elephantine heart which is seated amidst
the wilderness of your
body, by the sharp saws of your
understanding; and break the protruding
tusks of its passions, in the same manner as
they break down all big
bodies.
68. Drive away the crow-like ravenous heart,
from within the nest of
your bosom. It is fond of frequenting filthy
places, as the ravens hover
over funeral grounds, and crows squat in
dirty spots, and fatten their
bodies by feeding on the flesh of all rotten
carcasses. It is cunning in
its craft and too cruel in its acts. It uses
the lips like the bills of
the crow only to hurt others, and is one-eyed
as the crow, looking only
to its own selfish interest; it is black all
over its body for its black
purposes and deeds.
69. Drive afar your ravenlike heart, sitting
heavy on the tree of your
soul, intent on its wicked purposes, and
grating the ear with its
jarring sound. It flutters on all sides at
the scent of putrid bodies,
to pollute its nest with foul putrescence of
evil intents.
70. Again there is the pernicious hideous
demon—avarice, roving at
large like a goblin, or lurking in ambush in
the dark cavity of the
heart, as in a dreary desert. It assumes a
hundred forms, and appears in
a hundred shapes (in repeated births),
pursuing their wonted courses in
darkness (without any knowledge of themselves
and their right course).
71. Unless and until you drive away this
wicked goblin of your heart,
from the abode of your intelligent soul (i.e. the body) by means of
your discrimination and dispassionateness,
and your power of mantras
and tantras, you cannot expect to be successful (siddha) in your
endeavours. (For perfection [Sanskrit:
siddhi] Siddhi).
72. Moreover there is the serpentine mind,
hid under the slough of the
body; which with its poisonous thoughts,
frothing at the mouth as the
destructive venom of mankind, is continually
breathing in and out as a
pair of bellows, and inhaling and exhaling
the air as a snake, for the
destruction of all other persons.
73. You must subdue, O Rāma, this great
serpent of the mind, lying hid
in a cell of the cellular simal tree of your body, by some mantra
formula, pronounced by the Garuda of your
intelligence; and thus be free
from all fear and danger for ever.
74. Repress, O Rāma! thy vulture-like heart,
that bears an ominous
figure by its insatiate greediness for dead
bodies; it flies about on
all sides and being annoyed by the hungry
crows and kites, it rests in
desolate cemeteries. (The greedy mind dwells
on the ruin of others).
75. It ransacks all quarters in quest of its
meat of living and dead
bodies, and lifts its neck to watch for its
prey, when it is sitting
silently with patience. The vulturous heart
flies afar from its resting
tree of the body, and requires to be
restrained with diligence from its
flight.
76. Again the apish mind is wandering through
the woods on all sides,
and passing fastly beyond the limits of its
natal horizon in search of
fruits; it outruns the bounds of its native
land and country, and thus
being bound to nowhere, he derides at the
multitude, that are bound to
their homely toil, and confined in their
native clime and soil.
77. The big monkey of the mind that sports on
the tree of the body, with
its eyes and nose as the flowers of the tree,
and having the arms for
its boughs, and the fingers for its leaves,
ought to be checked for
one's success in any thing.
78. The illusion of the mind rises like a
cloud with the mists of error,
for laying waste the good harvest of
spiritual knowledge. It flashes
forth lightning from its mouth to burn down
every thing and not to give
light on the way: its showers are injurious
to ripened crops, and it
opens the door of desire (to plunge the boat
of the body in the
whirlpool of the world).
79. Forsake to seek the objects of your
desire, which are situated in
the airy region of your mind; and exert your
energy to drive off the
cloud of your mind, in order to obtain the
great object of your aim.
80. The mind is as a long rope, that binds
mankind to their incessant
acts. It is impossible to break or burn its
knots in any other way
except by means of one's self-knowledge. Its
bond of transmigration is
painful to all, until they obtain their final
emancipation.
81. Break boldly, O Rāma! by the
instrumentality of your inappetency the
bondage of your mind, that binds fast in
infinite number of bodies to
the chain of their transmigration; and enjoy
your freedom without any
fear for evermore.
82. Know avarice as a venomous snake, which destroys
its votaries by the
poison of its breath, and never yields to the
good counsel of any body.
It is this serpent that has ruined mankind,
by its deceit and by laying
in wait for its prey, it emaciates the body
to a stick.
83. Avarice which is hid in the body, and
lurks unseen in its cells, is
as a dark cobra or hydra in its form; it is
to be burnt to death by the
fire of lukewarmness, for your safety and
security from all evil.
84. Now put your heart to rest by the
intelligence of your mind, and
gird yourself with the armour of purity for
your defence; forsake your
fickle-mindedness for ever, and remain as a
tree uninfested by the apes
of passion.
85. Purify both your body and mind with the
sanctity of your soul, and
be dauntless and quiet by the aid of your
intelligence and calm
composure of your intellect. Think yourself
as lighter and meaner than a
straw, and thus enjoy the sweets of this
world by going across it to the
state of beatitude in this life.
CHAPTER LI.—Desire of Uddālaka.
Argument, Uddālaka's struggle for Liberation,
amidst all his
worldly attachments.
Vasishtha said:—Rely no confidence, O Rāma!
in the course of the mind,
which is sometimes continuous and sometimes
momentary, now even and flat
and then sharp and acute, and often as
treacherous as the edge of a
razor.
2. As it occurs in the course of a long time,
that the germ of
intelligence comes to sprout forth in the
field of the mind; so do you,
O Rāma! who are a moralist, grow it by
sprinkling the cold water of
reason over its tender blades.
3. As long as the body of the plant does not
fade away in course of
time, nor roll upon the ground as the decayed
and dead body of man; so
long should you hold it up upon the prop of
reason (i.e. cultivate
your knowledge in your youth).
4. Knowing the truth of my sayings, and
pondering on the deep sense of
these sayings of mine, you will get a delight
in your inmost soul, as
the serpent killing peacock, is ravished at
the deep roaring of raining
clouds.
5. Do you, like the sage Uddālaka, shake off
your knowledge of quintuple
materiality as the cause of all creation, and
accustom yourself to think
deeper, and on the prime cause of causes by
your patient inquiry and
reasoning.
6. Rāma requested:—Tell me sir, in what way
the sagely Uddālaka got rid
of his thoughts of the quintessential
creation, and penetrated deeper
into the original cause of all, by the force
and process of his
reasoning.
7. Vasishtha replied:—Learn Rāma, how the
sage Uddālaka of old, rose
higher from his investigation of quintuple
matter to his inquiry into
their cause, and the manner in which that
transcendent light dawned upon
his mind.
8. It was in some spacious corner of the old
mansion of this world, and
on the northwest side of this land, a spot of
rugged hills and
overtopping it as a shed.
9. Among these stood the high hill of Gandhamādana
with a table land on
it, which was full of camphor arbours, that
shed the odours of their
flowers and pistils continually on the
ground.
10. This spot was frequented by birds of
variegated hues, and filled
with plants of various kinds. Its banks were
beset by wild beasts, and
fraught with flowers shining smilingly over
the woodland scene.
11. There were the bright swelling gems in
some part of it, and the
blooming and full blown lotuses on another;
some parts of it were veiled
by tufts of snow, and crystal streams gliding
as glassy mirrors on
others.
12. Here on the elevated top a big cliff of
this hill, which was studded
with sarala trees, and strewn over with
flowers up to the heels, and
shaded by the cooling umbrage of lofty
trees:—
13. There lived the silent sage by name of
Uddālaka, a youth of a great
mind, and with high sense of his honour. He
had not yet attained his
maturity, ere he betook himself to the course
of his rigorous austerity.
14. On the first development of his
intellect, he had the light of
reason dawning upon his mind; and he was
awakened to noble aims and
expectations, instead of arriving at the
state of rest and quietude.
15. As he went on in this manner in his
course of austerities, religious
studies and observance of his holy rites and
duties, the genius of right
reason appeared before him, as the new year
presents itself before the
face of the world.
16. He then began to cogitate in himself in
the following manner,
sitting aside as he was in his solitude,
weary with thoughts and
terrified at the ever changing state of the
world.
17. What is that best of gains, said he,
which being once obtained,
there is nothing more to be expected to lead
us to our rest, and which
being once had, we have no more to do with
our transmigrations in this
world?
18. When shall I find my permanent rest in
that state of holy and
transcendent thoughtlessness, and remain
above all the rest, as a cloud
rests over the top of the Sumeru mountain, or
as the polar star stands
above the pole without changing its pace.
19. When will my tumultuous desires of
worldly aggrandizement, merge in
peaceful tranquillity; as the loose, loud and
boisterous waves and
billows subside in the sea?
20. When will the placid and unstirred
composure of my mind, smile in
secret within myself, to reflect on the
wishes of mankind, that they
will do this thing after they have done the
other, which leads them
interminably in the circuit of their misery.
21. When will my mind be loosened from its
noose of desire, and when
shall I remain unattached to all, as a dew
drop on the lotus-leaf? (It
is called anasanga sango or intangible connection).
22. When shall I get over the boisterous sea
of my fickle desires, by
means of the raft of my good understanding?
23. When shall I laugh to scorn, the foolish
actions of worldly people,
as the silly play of children?
24. When will my mind get rid of its desire
and dislike and cease to
swing to and fro in the cradle of its option
and caprice; and return to
its steadiness, as a madman is calmed after
the fit of his delirium has
passed away?
25. When shall I receive my spiritual and
luminous body, and deride the
course of the world; and have my internal
satisfaction within myself,
like the all knowing and all sufficient
spirit of Virāt?
26. With internal equanimity and serenity of
the soul, and indifference
to external objects, when shall I obtain my
calm quietness, like the sea
after its release from churning?
27. When shall I behold the fixed scene of
the world before me, as it is
visible in my dream, and keep myself aloof
from the same? (as no part of
it).
28. When shall I view the inner and outer
worlds, in the light of a
fixed picture in the sight of my imagination;
and when shall I meditate
on the whole in the light of an intellectual
system?
29. Ah! when shall I have the calmness of my
mind and soul, and become a
perfectly intellectual being myself; when
shall I have that supernatural
light in me, which enlightens the internal
eye of those that are born
blind?
30. When will the sunshine of my meditation,
show unto me the pure light
of my intellect, whereby I may see the
objects at a distance, as I
perceive the parts of time in myself.
31. When shall I be freed from my exertion
and inertness, towards the
objects of my desire and dislike; and when
shall I get my
self-satisfaction in my state of
self-illumination.
32. When will this long and dark night of my
ignorance come to its end?
It is infested by my faults fluttering as the
boding birds of night, and
infected with frost withering the lotus of my
heart (hrid-padma),
33. When shall I become like a cold clod of
stone, in the cavern of a
mountain, and have the calm coolness of my
mind by an invariable
samādhi—comatosity.
34. When will the elephant of my pride, which
is ever giddy with its
greatness, become a prey to the lion of right
understanding.
35. When will the little birds of the forest,
build their nest of grass
in the braids of hair upon my head; when I
remain fixed in my
unalterable meditation, in my state of
silence and torpidity.
36. And when will the birds of the air rest
fearlessly on my bosom, as
they do on the tops of fixed rocks, upon
finding me sitting transfixed
in my meditation, and as immovable as a rock.
37. Ah! when shall I pass over this lake of
the world, wherein my
desires and passions, are as the weeds and
thorny brambles, and
obstructing my passage to its borders of
felicity.
38. Immerged in these and the like
reflections, the twice-born Uddālaka
sat in his meditation amidst the forest.
39. But as his apish ficklemindedness turned
towards sensible objects in
different ways, he did not obtain the state
of habitation which could
render him happy.
40. Sometimes his apish mind turned away from
leaning to external
objects, and pursued with eagerness the
realities of the internal world
or intellectual verities (known as sātvikas).
41. At others his fickle mind, departed from
the intangible things of
the inner or intellectual world; and, returned
with fondness to outer
objects, which are mixed with poison.
42. He often beheld the sunlight of
spirituality rising within himself,
and as often turned away his mind from that
golden prospect, to the
sight of gross objects.
43. Leaving the soul in the gloom of internal
darkness, the licentious
mind flies as fast as a bird, to the objects
of sense abroad.
44. Thus turning by turns from the inner to
the outer world, and then
from this to that again; his mind found its
rest in the intermediate
space, lying between the light of the one and
darkness of the other.
(I.e. in the twilight of indifference to both).
45. Being thus perplexed in his mind, the
meditative Brāhman remained in
his exalted cavern, like a lofty tree shaken
to and fro by the beating
tempest.
46. He continued in his meditation as a man
of fixed attention, at the
time of an impending danger; and his body
shook to and fro, as it was
moved forward and backward by the tiny waves
splashing on the bank.
47. Thus unsettled in his mind, the sage sauntered
about the hill; as
the god of day makes his daily round, about
the polar mountain in his
lonely course.
48. Wandering in this manner, he once
observed a cavern, which was
beyond the reach of all living beings; and
was as quiet and still, as
the liberated state of an anchorite.
49. It was not disturbed by the winds, nor
frequented by birds and
beasts; it was unseen by the gods and
Gandharvas, and was as lightsome
as the bright concave of heaven.
50. It was covered with heaps of flowers, and
was spread over with a
coverlet of green and tender grass; and being
overlaid by a layer of
moonstones, it seemed to have its floor of
emerald.
51. It afforded a cool and congenial shade,
emblazoned by the mild light
of the bright gems in its bosom; and appeared
to be the secret haunt of
woodland goddesses, that chanced to sport
therein.
52. The light of the gems that spread over
the ground, was neither too
hot nor too cold; but resembled the golden
rays of the rising sun in
autumn.
53. This cave appeared as a new bride decked
with flowers, and holding a
wreathed garland in her hand; with her
countenance fading under the
light of the gemming lamps, and fanned by the
soft whistling of winds.
54. It was as the abode of tranquillity, and
the resting place of the
lord of creation; it was charming by the
variety of its blooming
blossoms, and was as soft and mild as the
cell of the lotus (which is
the abode of the lotus-born Brahmā).
CHAPTER LII.—Ratiocination of Uddālaka:—
Argument. Uddālaka's Remonstration with
himself, amidst the
reveries of his meditation.
Vasistha resumed:—The saintly Uddālaka then
entered in that grotto of
Gandhamādana mountain, as the sauntering bee
enters into the lotus-cell,
in the course of its romantic peregrination.
2. It was for the purpose of his intense
meditation, that he entered the
cave and sat therein; as when the lotus-born
creator, had retired to and
rested in his seclusion, after termination of
his work of creation.
3. There he made a seat for himself, by
spreading the unfaded leaves of
trees on the floor; as when the god Indra
spreads his carpet of the
manifold layers of clouds.
4. He then spread over it his carpet of
deerskin, as the bedding of
stars, is laid over the strata of the blue
clouds of heaven.
5. He sat upon it in his meditative mood,
with the watchfulness of his
mind; as when an empty and light cloud
alights on the top of the
Rishyasringa mountain. (I.e. his mind was as fleet, as a fleeting
cloud).
6. He sat firmly in the posture of padmāsana like Buddha, with his
face turned upwards; his two legs and feet
covered his private parts,
and his palms and fingers counted the beads
of Brahmā.
7. He restrained the fleet deer of his mind,
from the desires to which
it ran by fits and starts; and then he
reflected in the following
manner, for having the unaltered steadiness
of his mind.
8. O my senseless mind! said he, why is it,
that thou art occupied in
thy worldly acts to no purpose; when the
sensible never engage
themselves, to what proves to be their bane
afterwards.
9. He who pursues after pleasure, by
forsaking his peaceful
tranquillity; is as one who quits his grove
of mandāra flowers, and
enters a forest of poisonous plants.
(Thoughts of pleasure poisons the
mind).
10. Thou mayst hide thyself in some cave of
the earth, and find a place
in the highest abode of Brahmā, then yet thou
canst not have thy quiet
there, without the quietism of thy spirit.
11. Cease to seek thy objects of thy desire,
which are beset by
difficulties, and are productive of thy woe
and anxiety; fly from these
to lay hold on thy chief good, which thou
shalt find in thy solitary
retirement only.
12. These sundry objects of thy fancy or
liking, which are so temporary
in their nature; are all for thy misery, and
of no real good at any time
(either when they are sought for, or enjoyed
or lost to thee).
13. Why followest thou like a fool, the
hollow sound of some fancied
good, which has no substantial in it? It is
as the great glee of frogs,
at the high sounding of clouds that promise
them nothing. (Hence the
phrase "megha mandukika", that is,
the frogs croaking in vain at the
roaring of clouds; answering the English
phrases "fishing in the air and
milking the ram, or pursuing a shadow
&c.").
14. Thou hast been roving all this time with
thy froggish heart, in the
blind pursuit after thy profit and pleasure;
but tell me what great boon
has booted thee; in all thy ramblings about
the earth.
15. Why dost thou not fix thy mind to that
quietism, which promises to
give thee something as thy self-sufficiency;
and wherein thou mayst find
thy rest as the state of thy liberation in
thy life time.
16. O my foolish heart! why art thou roused
at the sound of some good
which reaches unto thy ears, and being led by
thy deluded mind, in the
direction of that sound; thou fallest a
victim to it, as the deer is
entrapped in the snare, by being beguiled by
the hunter's horn.
17. Beware, O foolish man! to allow the
carnal appetite to take
possession of thy breast, and lead thee to
thy destruction, as the male
elephant is caught in the pit, by being
beguiled by the artful koomki
to fall into it. (The female elephant is
called koomki in
elephant-catching).
18. Do not be misled by thy appetite of
taste, to cram the bitter gall
for sweet; or bite the fatal bait that is
laid, to hook the foolish fish
to its destruction.
19. Nor let thy fondness for bright and
beautiful objects, bewitch thee
to thy ruin; as the appearance of a bright
light or burning fire,
invites the silly moth to its consumption.
20. Let not thy ardour for sweet odour, tempt
thee to thy ruin; nor
entice thee like the poor bees to the flavour
of the liquor, exuding
from the frontal proboscis of the elephant,
only to be crushed by its
trunk.
21. See how the deer, the bee, the moth, the
elephant and the fish, are
each of them destroyed by their addiction to
the gratification of a
single sense; and consider the great danger
to which the foolish man, is
exposed by his desire of satisfying all his
refractory senses and
organs.
22. O my heart! it is thou thyself, that dost
stretch the snare of thy
desires for thy own entanglement; as the silk
worm weaves its own cell
(cocoon) by its saliva, for its own
imprisonment.
23. Be cleansed of all thy impure desires,
and become as pure and clear
as the autumnal cloud (after it has poured
out its water in the rains);
and when thou art fully purged and are buoyed
up as a cloud, you are
then free from all bondage.
24. Knowing the course of the world, to be
pregnant with the rise and
fall of mankind, and to be productive of the
pangs of disease and death
at the end; you are still addicted to it for
your destruction only.
25. But why do I thus upbraid or admonish my
heart in vain; it is only
by reasoning with the mind that men are
enabled to govern their hearts
(i.e. to repress all their feelings and passions).
26. But as long as gross ignorance continues
to reign over the mind, so
long is the heart kept in its state of
dulness; as the nether earth is
covered with mist and frost, as long as the
upper skies are shrouded by
the raining clouds.
27. But no sooner is the mind cleared of its
ignorance, than the heart
also becomes lighter (and cleared of its
feeling); as the disappearance
of the rainy clouds disperses the frost
covering the nether earth.
28. As the heart becomes lighter and purer by
means of the mind's act of
reasoning; so I ween its desires to grow
weaker and thinner, like the
light and fleeting clouds of autumn.
29. Admonition to the unrighteous proves as
fruitless, as the blowing of
winds against the falling rain. (I.e. counsel to the wicked is as
vain, as a blast of wind to drive the pouring
rain).
30. I shall therefore try to rid myself of
this false and vacant
ignorance; as it is the admonition of the sāstras,
to get rid of
ignorance by all means.
31. I find myself to be the inextinguishable
lamp of intellect, and
without my egoism or any desire in myself;
and have no relation with the
false ignorance, which is the root of egoism.
32. That this is I and that is another, is
the false suggestion of our
delusive ignorance; which, like an epidemic
disease, presents us with
such fallacies for our destruction.
33. It is impossible for the slender and
finite mind to comprehend the
nature of the infinite soul; as it is not
possible for an elephant to be
contained in a nut shell. (Lit.: in the crust
of a bilva or bel
fruit).
34. I cannot follow the dictate of my heart,
which is a wide and deep
cave, containing the desires causing all our
misery.
35. What is this delusive ignorance, which,
like the error of
injudicious lads, creates the blunder of
viewing the self-existent one,
in the different lights of I, thou, he and
other personalities.
36. I analysed my body at each atom from the
head to foot, but failed to
find what we call the "I" in any
part of it, and what makes my
personality. (It is the body, mind and soul
taken together, that makes a
person).
37. That which is the "I am" fills
the whole universe, and is the only
one in all the three worlds; it is the unknowable
consciousness,
omnipresent and yet apart from all.
38. Its magnitude is not to be known, nor has
it any appellation of its
own; it is neither the one nor the other, nor
an immensity nor
minuteness (but is greater than the greatest,
and minuter than the
minutest).[21]
[21] [Sanskrit: anoraniyān, mahatī mahīyān].
Sruti.
39. It is unknowable by the light of the
Vedas, and its ignorance which
is the cause of misery is to be destroyed by
the light of reason.
40. This is the flesh of my body and this its
blood! these are the bones
and this the whole body; these are my
breaths, but where is that I or
ego situated?
41. Its pulsation is the effect of the vital
breath or wind, and its
sensation is the action of the heart; there
are also decay and death
concomitant of the body; but where is its
"I" situated in it?
42. The flesh is one thing and the blood
another, and the bones are
different from them; but tell me, my heart,
where is the "I" said to
exist?
43. These are the organs of smelling and this
the tongue; this is skin
and these my ears; these are the eyes and
this the touch—twac; but
what is that called the soul and where is it
situated?
44. I am none of the elements of the body,
nor the mind nor its desire;
but the pure intellectual soul, and a
manifestation of the divine
intellect.
45. That I am everywhere, and yet nothing
whatever that is anywhere, is
the only knowledge of the true reality that
we can have, and there is no
other way to it (i.e., of coming to know the same.)[22]
[22] [Sanskrit: nānvapantha hitīyakamanāya].
Sruti.
46. I have been long deceived by my deceitful
ignorance, and am misled
from the right path; as the young of a beast
is carried away by a fierce
tiger to the woods.
47. It is now by my good fortune that I have
come to detect this
thievish ignorance; nor shall I trust any
more this robber of truth.
48. I am above the reach of affliction, and
have no concern with misery,
nor has it anything to do with me. This union
of mine with these is as
temporary, as that of a cloud with a
mountain.
49. Being subject to my egoism, I say I
speak, I know, I stay, I go,
&c.; but on looking at the soul, I lose
my egoism in the universal soul.
50. I verily believe my eyes, and other parts
of my body, to belong to
myself; but if they be as something beside
myself, then let them remain
or perish with the body, with which I have no
concern.
51. Fie for shame! What is this word I, and
who was its first inventor?
This is no other than a slip slop and a namby
pamby of some demoniac
child of earth. (I.e., it is an earth-born word and unknown in
heaven).
52. O! for this great length of time, that I
have been groveling in this
dusty den; and roving at large like a stray
deer, on a sterile rock
without any grass or verdure.
53. If we let our eyes to dry into the true
nature of things, we are at
a loss to find the true meaning of the word
I, which is the cause of all
our woe on earth. (I.e., ignorance of ourselves is the cause of our
woe, and the obliteration of our
personalities obviates all our
miseries).
54. If you want to feel your in being by the
sense of touch, then tell
me how you find what you call I, beside its
being a ghost of your own
imagination.
55. You set your I on your tongue, and utter
it as an object of that
organ, while you really relish no taste
whatever of that empty word,
which you so often give utterance to.
56. You often hear that word ringing in your
ears, though you feel it to
be an empty sound as air, and cannot account
whence this rootless word
had its rise.
57. Our sense of smelling, which brings the
fragrance of objects to the
inner soul, conveys no scent of this word
into our brain.
58. It is as the mirage, and a false idea of
something we know not what;
and what can it be otherwise than an error,
of which we have no idea or
sense whatever?
59. I see my will also is not always the
cause of my actions, because I
find my eyes and the other organs of sense
are employed in their
respective functions, without the direction
of my volition.
60. But the difference between our bodily and
wilful acts is this, that
the actions of the body done without the will
of the mind are unattended
with feeling of pain or pleasure unto us.
(Therefore let all thy actions
be spontaneous and indifferent in their
nature, if thou shalt be free
from pain or pleasure).
61. Hence let thy organs of sense perform
their several actions, without
your will of the same; and you will by this
means evade all the pleasure
and pain (of your success and
disappointment).
62. It is in vain that you blend your will
with your actions, (which are
done of themselves by means of the body and
mind); while the act of your
will is attended with a grief similar to that
of children, upon the
breaking of the dolls of their handy work in
play. (I.e., boys make
toys in play, but cry at last to see them
broken).
63. Your desires and their productions are
the facsimiles of your minds,
and not different from them; just as the
waves are composed of the same
water from which they rise. Such is the case
with the acts of will.
64. It is your own will that guides your hand
to construct a prison for
your confinement; as the silly silkworm is
confined in the pod of its
own making.
65. It is owing to your desires that you are
exposed to the perils of
death and disease, as it is the dim
sightedness of the traveller over
the mountainous spots that hurls him headlong
into the deep cavern
below.
66. It is your desire only, that is the chief
cause of your being
attached to one another in one place; as the
thread passing through the
holes of pearls, ties them together in a long
string round the neck.
(Every desire is a connecting link between
man and man).
67. What is this desire, but the creation of
your false imagination, for
whatever you think to be good for yourself;
(though it may not be so in
reality); and no sooner you cease to take a
fancy for anything, than
your desire for it is cut off as by a knife.
68. This desire—the creature of your
imagination—is the cause of all
your errors and your ruin also; as the breath
of air is the cause both
of the burning and extinction of lamps and
lightening the fiery
furnaces.
69. Now therefore, O my heart! that art the
source and spring of thy
senses, do thou join with all thy
sensibility, to look into the nature
of thy unreality, and feel in thyself the
state of thy utter
annihilation—nirvāna at the end,
70. Give up after all thy sense of egoism
with thy desire of
worldliness, which are interminable endemics
to thee in this life. Put
on the amulet of the abandonment of thy
desires and earthliness, and
resign thyself to thy God to be free from all
fears on earth.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to Brahmasri Sreemaan Vihari Lala Mitra ji for the
collection)
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