The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki
The only complete English translation is
by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891).
CHAPTER IX.
ON THE SUPREME CAUSE OF ALL. (PARAMA KﾁRANA).
Vasishtha continued:—
1.They are truly delighted and gratified (in
their souls), who are ever
devoted with all their hearts and minds in
holy conversation among
themselves.
2. Those that are devoted to the acquisition
of knowledge and
investigation of spiritual science, enjoy the
same bliss of liberation
in their living state, as it is said to
attend on disembodied souls.
3. Rāma said:—Tell me O Brāhman! the distinct
natures of the living and
disembodied liberations, that I may try to
learn the same, with an
understanding enlightened by the light of
Sāstras (literally, having the
eye-sight of Sāstras).
4. Vasishtha said:—Who ever remains as he is,
(i. e. without any
perturbation in his worldly course), and
continues intact as vacuity
amidst society: such a one is called the
living liberated (Jīvan mukta).
5. Who so is employed in his intellection
only and seems to be sleeping
in his waking state, though while conducting
his worldly affairs: such a
one is called the living liberated.
6. Whose countenance is neither flushed nor
dejected in pleasure or
pain, (in joy or grief and such other
reverses); and who remains
contented with what he gets: such a one is
called liberated while he is
living.
7. Whose waking is as a state of sound sleep,
and who is not awake to
the accidents of the waking state, and whose
waking state is insensible
of the desires incident to it: such a one is
called liberated in his
life.
8. Who though actuated by the feelings of
affection, enmity, fear and
the like, is at rest, and as clear and
undisturbed as vacuity within
himself: such a one is called liberated while
he is alive.
9. Who has not an air of pride in him, and is
not conceited (with a
notion of his greatness) when he does or
refrains to do anything: such a
one is called self-liberated in his life
time.
10. Who at one glance or winking of his eye,
has a full view of the
whole creation and final destruction of the
world, like the Supreme self
(to which he is assimilated): such a one is
said to be liberated in his
life time.
11. Who ever is not feared by nor is afraid
of any body, and who is
freed from the emotions of joy, anger and
fear: such a one is liberated
in life.
12. Who is quiet and quietly disposes his
business of this world, and
who though he stands as an individual in the
sight of men, attaches no
individuality to himself; and who though a
sentient being, is insensible
to all impressions: such is the living
liberated soul.
13. Who being full of all possessions, and
having every thing present
before him, remains cold and apathetic to
them, as if they were useless
to him: such a man is liberated in his life.
14. Now leaving the subject of "living liberation,"
I will tell you what
they call the "disembodied
liberation," which like a breath of wind
enters into the soul, after it has fled from
the mortal body.
15. The disembodied free spirit neither rises
nor sets (like the sun),
nor is it subject to wane (like the moon); it
is neither manifest nor
hidden; it is not at a distance, nor is it in
me, thee or in any other
person.
16. It shines forth in the form of the sun,
and preserves the world in
the manner of Vishnu. It creates the world in
the shape of the
lotus-born Brahmā, and destroys all as Rudra
or Siva.
17. It takes the form of the sky supported on
the shoulders of air,
which supports all living beings, the gods,
sages and demigods in the
three worlds. It takes the form of boundary
mountains and separates the
different regions (of the earth and skies).
18. It becomes the earth and supports these
numerous sets of beings, it
takes the forms of trees, plants and grass,
and yields fruits and grains
for supportance (of all living creatures).
19. It takes the forms of fire and water and
burns and melts in them by
itself. It sheds ambrosia in the form of the
moon, and causes death in
the shape of poison.
20. It becomes light wherewith it fills the
space of the firmament, and
spreads darkness in the form of Erebus (tama or Teom). It becomes
vacuum (vyom or beom) to leave empty space for all, while in the
form
of hills it obstructs their free passage on
earth.
21. In the form of the fleet mind, it moves
the self-moving animals, and
in that of dull matter it settles the
unmoving immovables. It girds the
earth by its form of the ocean, as a bracelet
encircles the arm.
22. The bodiless spirit takes upon it the
great body of the sun, and
illumes all the worlds with their minute
particles, while it remains
quiet in itself.
23. Whatever is shining in this universe or
ever was or is to be so, in
any of the three—past, present and future
times, know them all O Rāma!
as forms of the Divine Spirit (which is free
to take any shape it
likes).
24. Rāma said:—Tell me, O Brāhman! why this
view of liberation, appears
so very difficult to me, as to make me
believe it altogether
incomprehensible to and unattainable by any
body.
25. Vasishtha replied:—This (disembodied)
liberation is called
nirvāna or total extinction of self-consciousness, and is styled
Brahma also (in whom the human soul is
finally absorbed). Attend now to
the means of its attainment.
26. All such visible objects known as I,
thou, this &c., being
unproduced (anutpanna) from the eternal sat or entity of God, it is
impossible to have any conception of them in
our minds.[3]
[3] Because the visible and destructible
bodies could not proceed from
the invisible and indestructible essence of
God, nor the invisible and
indestructible souls of persons, which are utpanna or produced from
the essence of the eternal and infinite
spirit, can have their
extinction except in their main source, when
they become instinct in and
identic with the supreme spirit.
27. Rāma said:—Methinks, O best of them that
know the knowable! that
the bodiless souls of the liberated, when
they pass through the bounds
of the three worlds, have again to be born
according to the course of
nature.
28. Vasishtha replied:—Those that retain the
reminiscence of the three
worlds have to move about in them, but such
as have lost the idea of
their existence, are absorbed in infinity.
29. For how can one derive the knowledge of
the unity of God from his
belief in the duality of the separate
existence of the world? Therefore
the figurative sense of cosmos as God (Viswa) can not give the
spiritual and infinite idea of Brahma.
30. He is no other but himself, of the nature
of pure intellect, and of
the form of the clear and tranquil vacuum
(that pervades all things).
Brahma is said to be the world, to signify
his manifestation of its
unreality as a reality unto us.
31. I have well considered about a golden
bracelet, and found nothing as
a bracelet in it save its gold. (The form is
changeable, but the
substance is real).
32. I observed the billows, and found nothing
in them but water; and
where there was no water I saw no billow to
rise. (It is the substance
and not its shape or shadow that is to be
looked into).
33. I see no oscillation any where except in
the winds, which are no
other than this force in motion, and moving
all things in the world.
(Thus the spirit of God is the fountain or primum mobile of all
forces, which are but forms of the main
force).
34. As vacuity abides in air, and water
appears in the burning deserts,
and as there is light spread over all
creation; so is the spirit of
Brahma manifest in the three worlds in the
forms of the very worlds.
35. Rāma said:—Tell me, O sage! the cause
which makes this world with
its nature of absolute negation or
non-existence, to exhibit such
distinct appearances in its phenomena.
36. Tell me also, how the viewer and the view
(of these worlds) being
both extinct, (as they are equally unreal in
their nature), there
remains their nirvāna or absorption in the Deity without their
personalities.
37. Again as it is impossible to conceive the
existence of the visible
objects, say how is it possible to conceive
the existence of the
invisible Brahma in his own nature (of
incomprehensibility).
38. Say by what mode of reasoning this truth
may be known and
ascertained, and this being accomplished,
there remains nothing else to
be inquired into.
39. Vasishtha replied:—This false knowledge
or prejudice of the reality
of the world, has been long prevalent like a
chronic disease (among
mankind); and requires to be removed by the
specific charm (mantra) of
reasoning only.
40. It can not however be expelled quickly
and in a minute, but requires
length of time, like the ascent and descent
of an even sided precipice.
41. Therefore hearken to what I say, for
dispelling your fallacy of the
world, by means of arguments, logical
inferences, and habitual
meditation (about the nature of God).
42. Attend now Rāma! to a tale that I am to
tell you for your attainment
of this knowledge, and by the hearing of
which you will become
intelligent, wise and liberated.
43. I will even now relate to you the subject
of the production of the
world, in order to show you, that all that is
produced serves to bind
our souls to the earth, and that you may live
quite free from the same.
44. I will tell you at present under this
topic of creation, that the
erroneous conception of the world is as
unsubstantial as Vacuum itself.
(i. e. all this is null and void).
45. Because this world which appears to
contain these moving and
unmoving beings, and abounds in various races
of gods, Asura—giants and
Kinnara—pigmies.
46. All these together with the Rudras and
other demigods, become
invisible and lose themselves in nothing at
the ultimate dissolution of
the world. (This final disappearance tirobhāva of all things, proves
their present appearance āvirbhāva to be mere phantoms of our brain.
Gloss).
47. Then there remains a moist and hollow deep,
without light and thick
spread with mist; all undefinable and
undeveloped, save something which
is Real and lasts for ever.
48. There was no air nor form of any thing,
no sight nor any thing to be
seen. There were not these multitudes of
created and material beings,
that appear to be endless and everlasting to
view.
49. There was a nameless self, the fullest of
the full in its form; it
was no ens nor non ens, no entity nor non-entity, no reality nor
unreality neither.
50. It was mere intellect without its
intellection, infinite without
decay, auspicious and full of bliss. It was
without its beginning,
middle and end, eternal and imperishable.
51. In him this world is manifest as a pearly
goose in painting; He is
and yet is not this (creation), and is the
soul of both what is real as
well as unreal. (Sadasadātman).
52. He is without ears, tongue, nose, eyes
and touch, yet he hears,
tastes, smells, sees and feels every thing in
all places and at all
times.
53. He is also that (intellectual) light (chidāloka), whereby the form
of that real as well as unreal Being—sadasadātma is discerned by us
in his perspective of creation, as one
without beginning or end, and
presenting a representation that is without
any colour or shade.
54. He is that vacuous Soul who views the
worlds as clearly, as the yogi
beholds Him in the form of ineffable light,
with his half closed eyes,
and fixing his sight to the midst of his
eyebrows, (in his khecharī
mudrā or aerial mode of meditation).[4]
[4] The khecarī or aerial mode of meditation is said to confer
liberation from sickness and acts and the
grasp of death. Thus:
Napīdyate rogena nacha lipyate karmanā,
Bādhyate sa na kalena, yo
mudrām-vettā khecarīm.
The mode of conducting it is described as
follows.
Kapāla kuhare jihvā, pravesitā viparītagā,
Bhruvorantargatā drishtir,
mudrā-bhavati khecarī.
55. He is the cause of all, and whose cause
is
as nil as the horns of a hare; and whose works are all these worlds,
like so many waves of the sea.
56. His light is ever shining every where,
and he has his seat in the
human heart; and it is from the candle light
of his intellect, that all
the worlds derive their light.
57. It is He without whose light the sun
would dwindle into darkness;
and whose existence alone gives the world its
appearance of a mirage.
58. It is his pulsation that vibrates throughout
the universe, and it is
his inertia that stops the course of the
whole; it is on that pivot that
the world has its revolution, just as the
turning round of a fire brand
describes a circle.
59. His nature is pure and unchangeable; and
the works of creation and
destruction, are mere acts of his volition (Vilāsa), in the persons of
Brahma and Hara.
60. It is his inertia and force that gives rest and motion to all
things, like the ubiquious course of the
winds. But this is the common
belief that he moves, while in reality his
nature is free from all
mutability (like the immovable rock).
61. He is always awake in his ever sleeping
state, and therefore can
neither be said to be waking nor sleeping any
where or at any time, but
is both awake and asleep every where and at
all times.[5]
[5] This passage contradicts the belief of
his rising and sleeping by
turns at the end of each kalpa of the creation and dissolution of the
world, as well as the popular faith of
Hari's, sayana and Utthāna at
the opposite tropics.
62. His quiescence is attended with bliss and
tranquillity, and his
agitation puts the world in motion and in its
course of action; which is
said to remain unaltered in both states which
unite in him.
63. He is inherent in all things as fragrance
is innate in the flower,
and is indestructible as its odour at the
destruction of the flower. He
pervades all things, and is yet as intangible
as the whiteness of
linen.
64. Who though speechless, is the author of
all speech and sound, and
who though he appears to be as incogitant as
a stone, is full of
cogitation (being the intellect itself). Who
though fully satisfied with
his bliss, enjoys all things, although he
requires nothing for himself.
65. Who though bodiless actuates all the members
of the body; and is
attributed with a thousand arms and eyes (in
the Veda); and who having
no support for himself, is yet the support of
all, and pervades the
whole without being seated any where.
66. Who having no organs nor organic power,
is the organ of organs, and
performs the functions of innumerable organs;
and who without a
sensorial mind, exhibits endless designs of
his Divine mind in the
infinity of creation.
67. It is for want of our (knowledge) of him,
that we are in constant
dread of this delusive world as in that of a
dragon or hydra; but it is
at his sight (or by our knowledge of him),
that all our fears and
desires fly away afar from us.
68. It is in the presence of the clear light
of that God of Truth, that
all the wishes of our minds have a better
play, just as actors dance the
best as long as they have the lights.
69. It is by him that a hundred series of
visible objects (as pots and
plates—ghata-patādī), rise every moment to our view, like the
ceaseless series of waves, billows and surges
rising on the surface of
the waters.
70. It is he that exhibits himself otherwise
than what he is, in
hundreds of different shapes to our mistaken
minds, as the substance of
gold is made to appear to our view in the
various forms of bracelets,
armlets, and a hundred other sorts of
trinkets.
71. He who manifests himself as the soul,
abiding in me, thee and in
this or that person, and is neither myself,
thyself, himself nor itself,
is the Supreme soul or Self, that is the same
with and apart from all.
72. It is he and the self-same being, whether
you view him in one or
more objects, as it is the same water that
heaves itself in this one or
the other wave. Thus all visible phenomena
have their rise from him.
73. He from whom time has its counting and
the visibles have their view;
by whom the mind exercises its thinking
powers, and by whose light the
world is enlightened; is the Supreme.
74. Whatever forms, figures and their
actions, whatsoever flavours and
odours, and what sounds, touch, feelings and
perceptions soever, you are
sensible of, know them all and their cause
also to be the Supreme.
75. You will be able to know your soul, O
good Rāma! if you will take it
in the light of the sight or faculty of
vision, that lies between the
looker and the object looked upon.
76. Know it as increate and indestructible,
and without beginning and
end. It is the eternal and everlasting Brahma
and bliss itself. It is
immaculate and infallible, highly adorable
and unblamable in its nature.
It is beyond all description and a mere void
in its form. It is the
cause of causes and a notion of something
that is unknowable. It is the
understanding, and the inward faculty of the
intellect or the mind. (i.
e. It is a spiritual substance and must be known in the
spirit).
CHAPTER X.
DESCRIPTION OF THE CHAOTIC STATE.
Rāma said:—That which remains incident to the
Universal dissolution
(mahā-pralaya), is commonly designated by the term "formless
void."
2. How then said you, there was no void, and
how could there be no light
nor darkness neither?
3. How could it be without the intellect and
the living principle, and
how could the entities of the mind and
understanding be wanting in it?
4. How could there be nothing and not all
things? Such like paradoxical
expressions of yours, have created much
confusion in me.
5. Vasishtha said:—You have raised a
difficult extra-question, Rāma!
but I shall have no difficulty to solve it,
as the sun is at no pains to
dispel the nocturnal gloom.
6. On the occasion or the termination of a
great kalpa age, when there
remains That Entity (the Tat sat) of God, it cannot be said to be a
void, as I will now explain to you. Attend
Rāma and hear.
7. Like images carved in bas-relief upon a
pillar, was this world
situated in relievo of That Entity, and cannot be said to have been a
void.[6]
[6] The pre-existent substratum is the
Noumenon underlying all
phenomena. It is the support of qualities,
and something in which all
accidents inhere. Berkeley.
8. Again when there was the representation of
the plenitude under the
appellation of the world at any place, (in
the essence of God), and be
it real or unreal, it could not have been a
void and vacuity.
9. As a pillar with carved or painted
figures, cannot be said to be
devoid of them; so Brahma exhibiting the
worlds contained in him, can
not become a void. (i. e.—As a pillar is not devoid of figures which
has carved images on it; so Brahma is not a
void, having the worlds
contained in him. This is a negative
enthymem).
10. But the world contained in Brahma,
becomes both something and
nothing; as billows in calm waters may either
exist or not exist. (So
the appearance and disappearance of the
worlds in Brahma, like those of
the little billows in a quiet lake, prove
their existence and
non-existence at the same time, as it is
predicated of the Chaos or the
Mahāpralaya. Gloss).[7]
[7] It contradicts the well known axiom of
Locke, that, "it is
impossible for the same thing to be and not
be at the same time."
11. Again it happens that certain figures are
marked on some insensible
trees in some places by the hand of time,
which people mistake for
images; so it comes to pass that certain
figures of evanescent matter,
occur in the eternal mind, which men mistake
for the real world.
12. This comparison of the figured pillar and
tree and the world, is a
partial and not complete simile; the
similitude here referring only to
the situation of the transient world in the
substance of the permanent
Brahma, (like the appearance of false figures
in the firmly fixed pillar
and on the standing tree).
13. But this appearance of the world is not
caused by another (as in the
case of the pillar, figures and pictures
carved and painted by the hands
of the statuary and painter). It rises, lasts
and sets spontaneously and
of itself in the self-same essence of Brahma,
(as the figures in the
tree or the waves of the Ocean). It is the
property of the divine soul
and mind to raise and set such imageries in
them by turns, like the
creations of our imagination.[8]
[8] The unknown substance is the known cause,
a spiritual
substance—God. Berkeley.
14. The meaning of the word void (sūnya) instead of no void (asūnya)
or existence, is a fiction as false as
inanity is a nullity in nature.
Something must come out of something, and
never from a void nothing; and
how can nothing be reduced to nothing in the
end—mahāpralaya.
(sūnyatā sūnyate katham)? (Ex nihilo nihil fit, et in nihilum nihil
reverti posse).
15. In answer to your second question it has
been said "there was
darkness neither." Because the divine
light of Brahma (which existed
before creation), was not like the light of a
material luminary (which
is followed by darkness). The everlasting
light was not to be obscured
by darkness, like the sunshine, or moon-light
or the blazing of fire or
the twinkling of stars or our eyes.
16. It is the absence of the light of the
great celestial luminaries,
that is called darkness, and there being no
material property in the
immaterial essence of God, there could be no
such light or darkness with
him before creation.
17. The light of the vacuous Brahma is an
internal perception of the
soul, and is only felt and perceived within
one's self, and never
externally by any body; nor is this spiritual
light ever clouded by any
mist or darkness of temporal objects.
18. The indestructible Brahma is beyond and
free from external and
visible light and darkness; and is above the
region of vacuum which is
contained, as it were, within his bosom, and
contains the universe as
sheathed within its hollow womb.
19. As there is no difference between the
outside and inside of a fruit
(both of which is the same thing); so there
is no shade of difference
betwixt Brahma and the universe (the one
pervading and the other
pervaded by his spirit).
20. As the billow is contained in and
composed of the water and the pot
of the earth, so the world being contained in
Brahma, it can not be said
as null and void, but full of the spirit of
God.
21. The comparison of earth and water does
not agree corporeally with
the spiritual essence of God, whose vacuous
spirit contains and
comprises the whole (Visva) within itself, as those elements do their
component parts and productions.
22. Now as the sphere of the intellect is
clearer and brighter far than
the spheres of air and empty space; so the
sense and idea of the word
world as situated in the divine mind, is
clearer in a far greater
degree than this visible world appears to us.
23. (In answer to the third question with
regard to the want of
intellect), it is said thus:—As the pungency
of pepper is perceived by
one who tastes it, and not by him who has never
tasted it; so the
minutiae of the Intellect are known in the
intellectual sphere by a
cultivated intelligence, and by none who is
without it.
24. Thus the Intellect appears as no
intellect to one who is devoid of
intelligence in himself, (i. e. one having
the Intellect, does not
perceive it without a cultivated
understanding). So this world is seen
in the spirit of God or otherwise, according
as one has cultivated or
neglected his spiritual knowledge.
25. The world as it is, is seen either in its
outward figure or in a
spiritual light, as other than or the same
with Brahma (by the
materialist and spiritualist); but the Yogi
views it in its fourth
(turīya) state of susupta or utter extinction in his unconscious
soul.
26. Therefore the Yogi, though leading a
secular life, remains somnolent
(Susupta) in his soul, and tranquil (Sānta) in his mind. He lives
like Brahma unknown to and unnoticed by
others, and though knowing all
and full of thoughts in himself, he is as a
treasury of Knowledge,
unknown to the rest of mankind.
27. (In answer to the question how corporeal
beings could proceed from
the incorporeal Brahma). Vasishtha says:—As
waves of various shapes
rise and fall in the still and shapeless
breast of the sea, so
innumerable worlds of various forms, float
about in the unaltered and
formless vacuity of Brahma's bosom.
28. From the fullness of the Divine soul (Brahmātmā), proceeds the
fullness of the living soul (Jīvātmā), which is formless also
(nirākriti). This aspect of Brahma is said to be owing to the
purpose
of manifesting himself (as living in all
living beings).
29. So the totality of worlds proceeding from
the plenum of Brahma,
there remains the same sum total also as the
plenitude of Brahma
himself.
30. Considering the world as synonymous with
Brahma in our minds, we
find their identity (in the same manner), as
one finds by taste the
pepper and its pungency to be the same thing.
31. Such being the state of the unreality of
the mind and its
cognizables, their reflexions upon each other
(i. e. of the mind upon
the object and those of the object on the
mind), are equally untrue as
the shadow of a shadow. (Here is an utter
negation of perception and
perceptibles. There being no material
subtratum, the shadowy scene of
the world is a mere mental synthesis. Berkeley).[9]
[9] The venerable Vasishtha would not raise
the question "where is the
shadow of a shadow?" (prativimbasya prativambam kutak), had he known
the discoveries of the modern science of
Optics, and the achievements of
photography and phonography, the refractions
of prismatic lens and the
vibrations of musical wires.
32. Know Brahma to be smaller than the smallest
atom, and minutest of
minutest particles. He is purer than air, and
more tranquil than the
subtile ether which is embosomed in him.
33. Unbounded by space and time, his form is
the most extensive of all.
He is without beginning and end, and an ineffable
light without
brightness in it. (He is the light of
lights).
34. He is of the form of intellect—chit and life eternal, without the
conditions and accidents of vitality—jīvatā. The Divine Mind has its
will eternal, and is devoid of the desires of
finite minds—chittata.
35. Without the rise of the intellect (i. e. its development), there
is neither vitality nor understanding, no
intellection nor any organic
action or sensation, and no mental desire or
feeling whatever; (all of
which are but products of the intellect or
Ego).
36. Hence the Being that is full of these
powers (and without which no
power has its display), and who is without
decline or decay, is seen by
us to be seated in his state of tranquil
vacuity, and is rarer than the
rarefied vacuum of the etherial regions.
37. Rāma said:—Tell me again and more
precisely of the form of this
transcendental Being, who is of the nature of
infinite intelligence, and
which may give more light to my
understanding.
38. Vasistha said:—I have told you
repeatedly, that there is one
supreme Brahma, the cause of causes, who
remains alone by himself, when
the universe is finally dissolved or absorbed
in him. Hear me describe
Him fully to you.
39. That which the Yogi sees within himself
after forgetting his
personality, and repressing the faculties and
functions of his mind, in
his Samādhi—meditation, is verily the form of the unspeakable Being.
40. As the Yogi who is absorbed in his
meditation in absence of the
visible world, and in privation of the viewer
and visibles, and sees the
light shining in himself, even such is the
form of that Being.
41. Who having forgotten the nature of the
living soul—jīva, and
his
proclivity towards the intelligibles, remains
in the pure light and
tranquil state of his intellect (as in Yoga),
such is the form of the
Supreme Spirit.
42. He who has no feeling of the breathing of
the winds, or of the touch
or pressure of any thing upon his body; but
lives as a mass of
intelligence in this life; is verily the form
of the Supreme.
43. Again that state of the mind, which a man
of sense enjoys in his
long and sound sleep, that is undisturbed by
dreams and gnats, is verily
the form of the Supreme.
44. That which abides in the hearts of
vacuum, air and stone, and is the
intellect of all inanimate beings, is the
form of the Supreme.
45. Again whatever irrational and insensible
beings live by nature, as
without the soul and mind (as vegetables and
minerals), the tranquil
state of their existence is the nature of the
Supreme Soul.
46. That which is seated in the midst of the
intellectual light of the
soul, and what is situated in the midst of
the etherial light of the
sun, and that which is in the midst of our
visual light, is verily the
form of the Supreme. (This passage admits of
an occult interpretation in
the Yoga system).
47. The soul which is the witness of our knowledge,
of solar and visual
lights and darkness, is without beginning and
end, and is the form of
the Supreme.
48. He who manifests this world to us, and
keeps himself hidden from
view, be he the same with or distinct from
the world, is the form of the
Supreme.
49. Who though full of activity, is sedate as
a rock, and who though not
a vacuum (being the plenum of all), appears
yet as an empty vacuity,
such is the form of the Supreme.
50. He who is the source and terminus of our
triple consciousness of the
knower, known and knowledge (i. e. from whom
they rise and in whom they
set by turns); is most difficult of
attainment.
51. He who shines forth with the lustre of
the triple conditions of the
knowable, knower and their knowledge, and
shows them to us as a large
insensible mirror, is verily the form of the
Supreme, who is here
represented not as the cause—nimitta, but as the source—vivarta of
the triple category.
52. The mind that is liberated from bodily
activities (as in the waking
Jagrat state) from its dreaming (as in the swapna or sleeping
state), and is concentrated in the intellect
(as in the state of
susupti or sound sleep), and abides alike in all moving as well
as
unmoving bodies (as in the turīya or fourth state of the soul), is
said to remain in the end of our being.
53. The intelligent mind which is as fixed as
an immovable body, and
freed from the exercise of its faculties, is
comparable with the Divine
Mind.[10]
[10] The gods Brahma, Vishnu, Siva, Sun,
Indra and all others, are
assimilated into the Supreme Spirit in their
state of rest. He is beyond
all attribute and out of the sphere of the
universe, and is of the form
of an immutable Intellect.
CHAPTER XI.
SPIRITUAL VIEW OF CREATION.
Rāma said:—Tell me, O Brāhman, wherein this
world abides at its last
dissolution, when it does not retain its
present form, nor this
resplendent show (as we see in it now).
2. Vasishtha answered:—Tell me, Rāma, what is
the form of the barren
woman's son, and wherefrom he comes and where
he goes, tell me also from
where comes the sky-arbour (aerial castle),
and where it remains.
3. Rāma replied:—There never was, nor is, nor
ever will be the son of a
barren woman or an arbour in the sky; why
then ask about the form and
figure of what is nothing?
4. Vasishtha said:—As there never was a
barren woman's son or a forest
in the air, so there existed no such scene as
that of the world before.
5. That which has no existence at all, could
have neither its production
before, nor can it have its dissolution
afterwards. What shall I then
tell you regarding its genesis or exit.
6. Rāma rejoined:—The son of a barren woman
and a forest in the sky are
mere fictions, but the visible world is not
so, which has both its
beginning and end.
7. Vasishtha replied:—It is hard to have a
comparison of the compared
object, agreeing in all respects with what it
is compared. The
comparison of the world, is as a simile of
those objects, which admit of
no comparison (but with themselves).
8. The appearance of the world, is compared
with that of a bracelet,
because the one is as false as the other, and
neither of them is real.
9. And as there is nothing in the sky except
a negative emptiness, so
the existence of the world in Brahma, is but
a negative idea.
10. As the collyrium is no other than
blackness, and as there is no
difference between frost and its coldness, so
the world is not otherwise
than the great Brahma himself.
11. As coldness can not be negatived of the
moon and frost, so creation
can not be negated of God. (Literally,
creation is no negative property
of Brahma, but essential to his nature).
12. As there is no water in a sea of the
mirage, nor light in the new
moon, so this world, as it is, does not abide
in the pure spirit of God
(in its gross state).
13. That which did not exist at first owing
to its want of a cause, has
neither its existence at present, nor can it
be destroyed (when it is a
nil itself).
14. How is it possible for a dull material
object to have any other
cause but a material one; just as it is not
the light (but some solid
substance), that is the cause of a shadow.
15. But as none of these works, has come into
existence without some
cause, that cause whatever it is, is situated
in these productions of
it: (i. e. the author is displayed in his works).
16. Whatever appears as ignorance or delusion
(as this world), has some
appearance of intelligence or truth (of the
Divinity) in it, as the
delusion of the world seen in a dream, is the
effect of the intellect
within us. (Consciousness is awake in our
dreams also).
17. As the illusion of the world in a dream,
is not without our inward
consciousness of it, in like manner Brahma
was not unconscious of the
expansion of the world, at the beginning of
creation.
18. All this that we behold about us, is
situated in the divine soul,
(in the same manner as the visions in our
dreams, are but archetypes of
our souls); there is no other world that
rises and sets (but what is
imprinted in our minds).
19. As fluidity is another name for water,
and fluctuation the same with
wind; and as sunshine is no other than light,
so the world is naught but
Brahma (displayed in nature).
20. As the figure of a city, resides in the
inward intellect of one, who
is conscious of his dreaming, in the same
manner this world, is
displayed in the Supreme soul.
21. Rāma said:—If it is so, then tell me, O
Brāhman! whence is this our
belief of its substantiality, and how this
unreal and visionary ideal,
presents its baneful visible aspect unto us.
22. For the view being in existence, there
must be its viewer also, and
when there is the viewer, there is the view
likewise. As long as either
of these is in existence, there is our
bondage, and it is on the
disappearance of both, that our liberation
chiefly depends: (which can
hardly take place).
23. It is entirely impossible to be so, as
long as our notion of the
view, is not lost in our minds, for unless
the view is vanished both
from the vision of the eyes and mind, no one
can even form an idea of
liberation in his mind.
24. Again the representation of the view at
first, and its obliteration
afterwards, is not enough for our liberation,
because the remembrance of
the view, is bondage of the soul.
25. Moreover when the picture of the view, is
settled in the soul, and
reflected in the mirror of the mind, there is
no necessity of its
recollection; (for what is deeply rooted in
the soul, comes out of
itself).
26. The intellect which was without the
notion of the visibles at first,
would be entitled to liberation, were it not
owing to the nature of the
viewer, (to imbibe the ideas of visibles).
27. Now sir, please to remove by your
reasoning, my hopelessness of
liberation, which I ween, is unattainable by
any.
28. Vasishtha said:—Hear me, Rāma! explain to
you in length, how the
unreal world with all its contents, appears
as real to us.
29. For unless it is explained to you by my
reasoning, and the
narratives and instances (of the practice of
others), this doubt will
not subside in your breast, as dirt sets down
in the lake.
30. Then Rāma, you will be able to conduct
yourself on earth, as one
under assurance of the erroneous conception
of the creation and
existence of the world.
31. You will then remain as a rock against
the impressions of affluence
and want, and of gain and loss, and your
relation with whatever, is
fleeting or lasting and the like.
32. Mind, that there is that only one spirit,
which is self-existent,
and all besides is mere fiction. I will now
tell you, how the triple
world was produced and formed.
33. It was from Him, that all these beings
have come to existence; while
He of himself, is all and every thing in it.
He likewise appears to us
and disappears also, both as forms and their
appearances, and as the
mind and its faculties, and as figures and
their shapes, and as modes
and motions of all things.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to Brahmasri Sreemaan Vihari Lala Mitra ji for the collection)
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