The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki
The only complete English translation is
by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891).
CHAPTER C.
REFUTATION OF ATHEISM.
Argument:--Refutation of the Atheistical doctrine of the
materiality of
the soul.
Ráma rejoined:--Please to tell me, sir, what are your
arguments, for allaying the miseries of this world,
against the position (paksha) of others who maintain in
that:--
2. A living being is happy so long, as the dread of death
(either of himself or others) is out of his view; and
that there
is no reappearance (revivification) of the dead, that is
already
reduced to ashes. (Hence there is no happiness either for
the
living or dead (according to them).
3. Vasishtha replied:--Whatever is the certain belief of
any
body, he finds the same in his consciousness; and that he
feels
and conceives accordingly, is a truth that is well known
to all
mankind: (that every one thinks according to his belief).
4. As the firmament is firm, quiet and ubiquitous, so
also is
the ubiquity of the Intellect (i. e. the vacuous
intellect is also
all pervading), and are considered to form a duality by
the ignorant
dualist, while the sapient take them as the one and same
thing, from the impossibility of conceiving the
co-existence
of two things from eternity.
5. It is wrong to suppose the existence of a chaos before
creation began, for that would be assigning another
(chaotic)
cause to the creation when [**[it]] has proceeded from
Brahma, who is
without a cause and is diffused in his creation.
6. He who does not acknowledge the purport of the Vedas,
(that all things are produced from Brahma), and the final
great
dissolution (when all things are dissolved in and return
to
him); are known as men without a revelation and religion,
and
are considered as dead by us; (i. e. spiritually dead).
7. Those whose minds are settled in the undisputed belief
of the sástras, that all these is Brahma or the varied
god himself;
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are persons with whom we have to hold no discussion or
argument.
8. As our consciousness is ever awake in our minds, and
without any intermission; so Brahma that constitutes our
consciousness, is ever wakeful in us, whether the body
lasts or
not.
9. If our perceptions are to produce our consciousness,
then
must man be very miserable indeed; because the sense of a
feeling, other [**[than]] that of the ever felicitous
state of the soul, is
what actually makes us so.
10. Knowing the universe as the splendours of the
entellectual[**intellectual]
vacuum (i. e. in the sphere of the vacuous intellect);
you
cannot suppose the knowledge of anything, or the feeling
of
any pleasure or pain, ever to attach or stick to an empty
nothing. (i. e. to the vacuous spirit).
11. Hence men who are quite certain and conscious, of
the entirety and pure unity of the soul, can never find
the
feelings of sorrow or grief, to rise in or overwhelm it
in any
way than the dust of earth rising to the sky, and feeling
its
sphere with foulness. (This passage rests on text of the
sruti
which says;[**:] there is no sorrow or pain to any body
who sees
the pure unity only).
12. Whether the consciousness of unity, be true or not in
all men; yet the common notion of it even in the minds of
boys, cannot be discarded as untrue. (i. e. All men may
differ
in their conceptions respecting the nature of the Divine
soul,
but they all agree in the notion of one prime cause of
all. See
kusumanjali).
13. The body is not the soul nor the living spirit, nor
any
other thing of which we have any conception; It is the
consciousness
which is every thing, and the world is as it conceives
it to be. (There is nothing beyond our consciousness of
it).
14. Whether it is true or not, yet we have the conception
of our bodies by means of this; and it gives us
conceptions of
all things in earth, water and heaven, independent of
their
material forms, as we see the aerial forms of things in
our
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dreams. (i.e We are conscious only of the abstract
notions of
things, and of their substantial properties).
15. Whether our consciousness is a real entity or not,
yet
it is this power which is called the conscious soul; and
whatever
is the conviction of this power, the same is received as
positive truth by all.
16. The authority of all the sástras, rests upon the
proof
of consciousness; and the truth which is generally
arrived at
by all, must be acknowledged as quite certain in my
opinion
also.
17. Therefore the consciousness of atheists, which is
vitiated
by their misunderstanding, being purified afterwards by
right reasoning, becomes productive of good results
likewise
(i. e. of producing the fruit of their liberation also).
18. But a perverted conscience or vitiated understanding,
is
never reproved by any means; either by performance of
pious
acts at any time or place, or by study of vedas, or by
pursuit of
other things.
19. Errors of the understanding (avidyá) recur to the reprobate
as often as they corrected from time to time; say
therefore
what other means can there be, to preserve our
consciousness
from fallacy.
20. Self-consciousness is the soul of man, and in
proportion
to its firmness or weakness, the happiness or misery of
man,
increases or decreases accordingly. (i. e. The strong
minded
are always prosperous).
21. If there is a consciousness in men, and such men also
who are conscious of the Divine essence in them, and
those who
are resorted to by the pious, for their liberation from
the bonds
of the world; then this world would appear as a dead and
dumb
block of stone, and a dark and dreary desert.
22. The knowledge of nature or gross materialism, which
rises in the mind of man, for want of his knowledge of
the consciousness
of himself, is like the dark ignorance in which one
is involved in his sleep.
23. Ráma rejoined:--Tell me Sir, how is that atheist who
denies the end of the ten sides of heaven, and
disbelieves the
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destruction of the world; who believe only in what is
existent,
and have no thought of inexistence; (either prior to the
creation
or after its dissolution.
24. Who does not perceive the perfect wisdom, which is
displayed throughout the universe; but sees only whatever
is
visible, without knowing their destruction (frailty).
(The
atheists consider the world as eternal).
25. Tell me Sir, what are their arguments, about allaying
the evils of the world; and remove my doubts about it,
for
increase of my knowledge in this important truth.
26. Vasishtha replied:--I have already given my reply to
your query regarding the infidels, (that they are not to
be
spoken to); hear me now to give the reply with regard to
your
second question touching the salvation of the soul.
27. O best of men Rama! you have spoken in this sense,
that the human soul (purusha) is constituted of the
intelligence
alone (as you think it to be and which is but a flash of
the Divine
Intellect, and the measure of the objects of
consciousness).
28. This intelligence (or intelligent soul) is
indestructible,
and is not destroyed with the destruction of the body,
but is
joined with the Divine Intelligence without fail. Or if
the
body be indestructible (owing to its resurrection after
death),
then there is no cause of sorrow at its temporary loss.
29. The intelligence is said to be divided into various
parts,
in the souls of men and different members of their
bodies; if
so it be, then the intelligence is destroyed with the
destruction
of individual souls and bodily members also. (Therefore
the
supremely intelligent soul is beyond there).
30. The self-concious[**-conscious] soul that is
liberated in the living
state, has no more to return to earth after death; but
the
consciousness which is not purified by divine knowledge,
cannot
be exempted from its transmigration to this world.
31. Those again that deny the existence of consciousness,
such souls are doomed to the gross ignorance of stones
(i. e. to
become stony block heads) for this disbelief of theirs.
32. As the knowledge of sensible objects, keeps the mind
in utter darkness; so the death of such persons is
calculated
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as their final bliss, because they have, [**[no]] more to
feel the sensibles
nor view the visible world any more; (although they are
deprived of their spiritual bliss).
33. Men of pure understandings; who have lost the sense
of
their corporeality, are never to be reborn on earth any
more;
but those of dull understandings, become as gross
corporeal
bodies, and are involved in impenetrable darkness: (i. e.
the
gloom of ignorance according to the dictum of the sruti).
34. Those intellectual philosophers (vijnána-vádis), who
view the world as an aerial city in his dream; to them
the
world presents its aspect as a phantom and no other. (The
world is a day dream, and its sight a delusion. In haman
ke
didam khab bud).
35. There are some that maintain the stability, and
others
asserting the frailty of the world and every thing; but
what do
they gain by these opinions, since the knowledge of
either,
neither augments the amount of human happiness, nor
lessens
any quantity of mortal misery: (i. e. the misery of
mortals).
36. The stability or unstability[**instability?--P2:unstability
OK/SOED], of the greatest or least of
things, makes no difference in any of them whatever; they
are all alike the radiating rays of the intellect, though
they
appear as extended bodies to the ignorant.
37. Those who assign unlimitedness[**?--P2:OK/SOED] to
the essence of consciousness,
and of limitation to that of insensibility; and maintain
the permanence of the one and the transience of the
other,
talk mere nonsense like the babbling of boys.
38. They are the best and most venerable of men, who
know the body to be the product of and encompassed by the
intellect. And they are the meanest among mankind, who
believe the intellect as the produce and offspring of the
body;
(and these are Kanada and Nyáya philosophers of gross
materialism, who believe intelligence as a resultant of
the
material body).
39. The intellect (personified as
Heranyagarbha[**Hiranyagarbha] or Brahma
the Divine spirit), is distributed into the souls of all
living
beings; and the infinite space of vacuity, is as a net
work or
curtain, [**[in]] which all animal lives, flying within
its ample expance[**expanse]
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like bodies of gnats and flies, and rising up and sinking
below
or moving all about, as the shoals of fishes in the
interminable
ocean. (The Divine Intellect or spirit, is the collection
of all
specialities).
40. As this universal soul, thinks of creating the
various
species; so it conceives them within itself, as the seeds
conceive
the future plants in themselves, and the same are
developed
afterward.
41. Whatever lives or living beings, it thinks of or
conceives
in itself; the same spring forth quickly from it, and
this truth
is known even to boys, (from the repeated texts importing
the
Lord as the fountain of all).
42. As the vapours fly in the air, and as the waters roll
in
the ocean; and as they form curls and waves of various
kinds,
so the lives of living beings, are continually floating
in the
vacuum of the Divine Intellect.
43. As the vacuity of the Intellect, presents the sight
of
a city to a man in his dream; so the world presents its
variegated aspects since its first creation, to the sight
of the
day dreaming man.
44. There were no co-ordinate causes of material bodies
(as
earth, water &c[**.]), at the first formation of the
world; but it
rose spontaneously of itself as the empty sights
appearing in
our dream.
45. As in a city seen in dream, its houses and their
apartments,
come to appear gradually to sight; so the dream becomes
enlarged and expanded and divided by degrees to our
vision.
46. All this creation is but the empty void of the
entellect[**intellect],
(or as pictures drawn in empty air); there is no duality
or variety in it, but is one even plane of the
entellect[**intellect], like the
open sky, without any spot or place attached to it.
47. The moon-light of the Intellect, diffuses its
coolness on
all sides, and gladdens the souls of all beings; it
scatters the
beams of intellection all around, and casts its
reflexions in the
image of the world.
48. The world as it is now visible to us, lies for ever
in the
mind of God in the same vacuous state, as it was before
its
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creation; and as it is to be reduced to nothing upon its
final
destruction. It is the twinkling, or the opening and
closing
of the intellectual eye, that this empty shadow of the
world,
appears and disappears amidst the universal vacuum of the
Divine Mind.
49. Whoever views this world in any light, it appears to
him in the same manner; (as some thinking it a solid
plenum,
and others as an empty vacuum). And as it depends upon
the
Intellect alone, it is exhibited in various forms
according to the
caprice of its observers.
50. The minds of the intelligent, are as pure as the
clear
sphere of the summer sky; and the pure hearted and holy
people, think themselves as nothing else, beside their
intellects
or as intellectual beings only.
51. These pious and holy people, are free from ignorance
and the faults of society; they share the gifts of
fortune, as
it falls to them by the common lot of mankind; and they
continue in the conduct of their worldly affairs, like
some
working machine, (acting externally and without taking
any
thing to mind).
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CHAPTER CI.
A SERMON ON SPIRITUALITY.
Argument:--That self-consciousness is same with the pure
soul, whose
presence is preventive of the causes of all human woes
and fears. Here
consciousness is symonymous[**synonymous] with
conscientiousness).
Vasishtha continued:--Thus it is the Intellect only
which is the soul of the body also, and which is situated
every where in the manner as said before; and there is
nothing which is so self-evident as the Intellect, (or
self-consciousness).
2. This is the clear expance[**expanse] of the sky and,
it is the medium
of the vision of the viewer and visibles; it composes and
encompasses
the whole world, and therefore there is nothing to
be had or lost without it.
3. The doctrinaires of the atheistic school of
Vrihaspati[**Brihaspati],
that disbelieve the future state because of their
ignorance of
it; are believers of the present from their knowledge
hereof.
Thus knowledge or consciousness being the basis of their
belief,
we bear no favour nor disfavour to their doctrine. (We
neither
favor not hate).
4. The world being but a name for the dream, which is
produced in the vacuum of our hidden knowledge; say what
cause is there for the debate of disputants, in their one
sided
view of the question.
5. Our consciousness knows well in itself, what is good
or
bad, and therefore acceptable or not. The pure soul is
manifest
in the clear vacuity of air, where there is neither this
or that
view of it, is[**delete ', is'] exhibited to anyone.
6. The conscious soul is immortal, O Ráma, and is not of
the form of a rock or tree or any animal; consciousness
is a
mere vacuum, and all being and not being (i. e. our birth
and
deaths are as the waves and curling waters, in its ocean
of
eternity).
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7. We are all floating in the vacuum of consciousness,
both
I and thou and he as well as any other; and none of us is
ever
liable to die, because consciousness is never susceptible
of
death.
8. Consciousness has nothing to be conscious but of
itself
only; and therefore, O big eyed Ráma, where can you get a
duality, except the single subjectivity of the Intellect?
(To
Make the Intellect both as subjective as well as
objective, is
something like the supposition of its riding on itself).
9. Tell me, O Ráma! what is the product or offspring of
the
vacuous Intellect, and tell me also if that Intellect
would die
away, whence could we and all others proceed any more.
(This
proves the immortality of the Intellect, whence as all
things
are incessantly proceeding from).
10. Tell me what sort of beings are these atheistic
disputants,
the saugatas, Lokáyatikas and others; if they are devoid
of their consciousness, which they so
strenously[**strenuously] deny and
disallow.
11. It is this vacuous consciousness which some name as
Brahma, and which some style as knowledge and others as
the
empty vacuum.
12. Some call it the spirit (of bodies), like that of
spirituous
liquors; and others (as the sankhyas), use the term
purusha
or embodied spirit for it. Others (as the yogis), call
[**[it]] the
vacuous Intellect, while others as the saivas, give it
the names
of Siva and the soul (and so it is called by various
others[**other] names
by others).
13. It is sometimes styled the Intellect only, which
makes
no difference of it from the other attributes. The
supreme soul
is ever the same in itself, by whatever name it is
expressed by
the ignorance of men.
14. Be my body as big as a hill, or crushed to atoms as
dust; it is no gain or loss to me in any wise either,
since I am
the same intellectual body or being for ever and ever.
15. Our sires and grand sires, are all dead and gone; but
their intellects and intellectual parts, are not dead and
lost with
their bodies; for in the case of their demise, we would
not have
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their regeneration in us. (Because the struti[**sruti]
says, "atmá vai
jáyate putra," the soul is regenerated in the son).
16. The vacuous intellect is neither generated nor
destroyed
at any time, but is increate and imperishable at all
times;
say how and when could the eternal void come to or
disappear
from existence.
17. The infinite and indestructible sphere of the
Intellect;
displays the scence[**scene] of the universe in its ample
space of vacuity[**,]
it is without its vicissitudes of rising or setting, and
is ever
existent in the supreme soul.
18. The Intellect represents the reflexion of the world
in its
clear sphere, as a crystal mountain reflects a wild fire
in its
translucent bosom; and rests for ever in the vacuum of
the
supreme soul, which is devoid of its beginning, middle
and
end.
19. As the shades of night obscure the visibles from
sight,
so the clouds of ignorance darken the bright aspect of
the
universe, as it is represented in the soul divine.
20. As the waters of the ocean, roll of themselves in the
forms of waves and eddies; so doth the Intellect exhibit
the pagent[**pageant] of the universe, of itself and in
itself from all
eternity.
21. The Intellect itself is the soul of the body, and
like air
is never extinct or wanting any where; therefore it is
all in
vain, to be in fear of one's death at any time. (Life and
death
are indifferent to the yogi).
22. It is a great joy to pass from one into another body,
(as
there is in quitting a decayed house for a new one);
therefore
say ye fools, why do ye fear and grieve to die, when
there [**[is]] every
cause to rejoice at it.
23. If after death there be no regeneration of the dead,
then
it is a consummation devoutly to be wished; because it
eases
and releases at once, from the heart burning disease and
dread,
of being and not being, and their repeated woes and
miseries by
turns. (To be and not be; that is the question
&c[**.]).
24. Therefore life and death, are neither for our weal or
woe;
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because they are neither of them any thing in reality,
except
the representations of the intellect. (The mind paints
them
in different colours).
25. If the dead are to be reborn in new bodies, it is a
cause
of rejoicing and sorrowing; and the death or destruction
of the
decayed body for a sound one, is accounted as a change
for
better.
26. If death convey[** space added] the meaning of the
ultimate dissolution
of a person, it is desirable even in that sense, for the
cessation
of our pains altogether; or [**[if]] it is used to mean
one's resuscitation
in a new body and life, it must be a cause of great
rejoicing.
27. If death be dreaded for fear of the punishment,
awaiting
on the vicious deeds of the dead; it is even so in this
life also
for the penalties waiting on our quilt[**guilt] even
here: refrain therefore
from doing evil, for your safety and happiness in both
worlds.
28. You all are ever crying lest ye die; but none of you
is
ever heard to say, that you are going to live again.
29. What is the meaning of life and death, and where are
the lands where these are seen to take place? Do they not
occur in our consciousness alone, and turn about in the
vacuum
of the mind?
30. Remain firm with your conscious souls, and eat and
drink and act your part with indifference; for being
situated in
the midst of vacuity, you can have nothing to ask or wish
for.
31. Being carried away in the reverie of your dream, and
enjoying the gifts of time and changing circumstances;
live
content with what is got without fear, and know this as
the
holiest state.
32. Regardless of the intervening evils, which
overtake[**space removed] us
in every place and time; the holy sage conducts himself
with
equanimity, as a sleeping man over the tumults of life.
33. The holy sage is neither sorry at his death, nor glad
of
his life and longivity[**longevity]; he neither likes nor
hates any thing, nor
does he desire aught whatever.
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34. The wise man that knows all what is knowable, manage
to live in this world as an ignorant simpleton; he is as
firm
and fearless as a rock, and reckons his life and death as
rotten
and worthless straws.
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CHAPTER CII.
EXPOSITION OF BUDDHISM AND DISPROVING OF DEATH.
Argument:--Showing the utility of Buddhistic doctrines in
strengthening
the Mind to cool apathy.
Ráma rejoined:--Tell me sir, the perfection which a holy
man attains to, after he is acquainted with the supreme
essence, which is without its begining[**beginning] and
end.
2. Vasishtha replied:--Hear the high state to which the
holy man arrives, after he has known the knowable; and
the
mode of his life and conduct, throughout the whole course
of
his existence.
3. He lives apart from human society, in his solitary
retreat
in the woods, and there has the stones of the dales, the
trees
of the forest, and the young antelopes, for his friends,
kindred
and associates.
4. The most populous city, is deemed as a lonely desert
by
him; his calamities are his blessings, and all his
dangers are
festivities to him.
5. His pains are his pleasure, and his meditations are as
musings to him; he is silent in all his dealings, and
quiet in
all his conduct through life.
6. He is somnolent in his waking hours, and remains as
dead to himself while he is living; he manages all his affairs
with a coolness, as if he was engaged in nothing.
7. He is pleasant without tasting any pleasure, and is
friendly
to his fellow beings without any selfish interest of his
own;
he is strict to himself but ever kind to others, and is
undesirous
of everything, with his full desire for common weal.
8. He is pleased with the conduct of others, without
having
any course of action for himself; and devoid of sorrow,
fear
and care, yet he is seen always to wear a melancholy
appearance.
(A heavily pensive melancholy).
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9. He afflicts nobody, nor is afflicted by any body; and
though full with his private afflictions and privations,
he is
ever pleasant in company. (Pleased with himself, he
pleases
all).
10. He is neither delighted with his gain, nor
depress[**depressed] at
his loss, nor desirous to get any thing; and though there
may
be causes, for his feeling joy as well as sorrow, yet
they are
never visible in his face.
11. He sympathises with the unhappy, and congratulates
with happy people; but his collected mind is always
invincible,
in every circumstance of life.
12. His mind is not inclined to acts, beside those of
righteousness;
as it is the wont of noble-minded men by their
nature, and not any effort on their part.
13. He is not fond of pleasantry, nor is he addicted to
dulness
either; he does not hanker after wealth, but is
inappetent
and impossible with all his appetites and sensibleness.
14. He abides by law and acts accordingly, whether he is
pinched by poverty, or rolling in riches; nor is he ever
dejected
or elated, at the unforeseen good or bad events of life.
15. They are seen to be joyous and sorrowful also at
times,
without changing the sedateness and serenity of their
nature
at any time. They act the part of players on the stage of
the
earth, (that display many figures in their outward
mein[**?]).
16. Those that know the truth, bear no more affection for
their mercenary relatives and false friends, than they
look upon
the bubbles of water, (that swell and swim, only to burst
in a
moment).
17. Without the affection of the soul, they bear full
affection
for others in their hearts; and the wise man remains
quite
possessed of himself, with showing his paternal affection
to all.
(Universal benevolence).
18. The ignorant are as the winds passing over running
streams; they slightly touch the poisonous pleasures of
their
bodies, as the winds touch the rising waves, and are at
last
drowned in the depth of their sensuality.
19. But the wise man deals outwardly alike with all, with
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perfect coolness and stillness of his soul within
himself; he
seems outwardly to be engaged in business, but his inward
mind is wholly disengaged from all worldly concerns
whatsoever.
20. Ráma rejoined:--But how can a true sage of such
nature, can[**delete 'can'] be distinguished from the
many pretended ones
and the ignorant also, who assume such a character
falsely only
to beguile others.
21. Many hyprocrites[**hypocrites] rove about as horses,
in the false
garb of devotees, for the assurance of mankind in their
devout
devotedness to religion.
22. Vasishtha replied:--I say Ráma, that such a nature
(or disposition), whether it is real or feigned, is the
best and
highest perfection of man; and know that, the learned in
Vedic lore, have always this state as the model of
perfection in
their view.
23. Those who are dispassionate and unconcerned with
acts,
manage still to conduct their secular affairs and
actions, like
those that are actuated by their passions; and though
they
are averse to derision, yet they cannot help to deride at
the
ignorant from their kind-heartedness[**hyphen added]
towards them.
24. The visibles are all imprest in the mirror of their
minds, as the shades of edifices are reflected in a
reflector; they
look upon them with full knowledge of their
shadowyness[**shadowiness], as
they perceive the fallacy of their laying hold on a lump
of
gold in dream.
25. There is a coolness pervading their minds, which is
altogether unknown to others; just as the sweet fragrance
of
the sandal wood, is unperceived by brutes at a distance.
26. They that know the knowable, and are equally pure
in their minds, can only distinguish them from other
people, as
a snake only can trace the course of another snake.
27. They are the best of men, that hide their good
qualities
from others; for what man is there that will expose his
most
precious treasure in the market, along with the raw
produce of
his land? (i. e. The hidden virtues of a man, alike the
aroma
of flowers, aught not to be laid open before the public).
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28. The reason of concealing the rare virtues, is to keep
them unnoticed by the public; because the wise who are
undesirous
of reward or reputation, have nothing to reap or expect
from the public.
29. Know Ráma, that solitude, poverty and disrespect and
disregard of men, are more pleasing to the peaceful sage;
than
the most valuable gifts and honors from mankind.
30. The ineffable delight which attends on the wise man,
from his conscious knowledge of the knowable;
inexpressible
in words, and invisible to others as to its knower also.
(The
secret joy of divine knowledge and grace, is felt unseen
by the
holy sage).
31. Let men know this qualification of mine, and honour
me
for it, is the wish of the egotist, and not of that are
from their
egoistic feelings.
32. It is possible even to the ignorant, to succeed to
reap the
results of their practices, such as their rising and
moving about
in the air (and upon the surface of water); by means of
mantras,
and the power of certain drugs, that are adapted to those
ends.
33. He who can afford to take the pains to any particular
end; succeeds to accomplish the same, whether he is a
cleaver[**clever]
or ignorant man. (Success depends on action, and not on
knowledge alone).
34. Tendencies to good or evil, are implanted in the
bosom
of man, as results of the acts of their past lives; and
these come
to display themselves into action at their proper time,
as the
sandal wood emits its latent fragrance in its season all
around.
35. He who is prepossessed with the knowledge of his
egoism, coupled with his desire for enjoyment of the
visibles;
he betakes himself to the practice of khechariyoga,
whereby he
ascends in the air, and reaps the reward of his action.
36. The wise man that has nothing to desire, knows such
practices to be as false as empty air; and refrains from
playing[**displaying]
his actions, which he knows at best but cast to the
winds.
37. He derives no good from his observance of practical
yoga,
nor does he lose aught of his holiness by his
non-observance of
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them; and neither has he any thing to gain from any body,
nor
lose a mite at the loss of any thing.
38. There is nothing in earth or heaven, nor among the
gods
nor any where else: which may be desirable to the
magnanimous,
and to one who has known the supreme soul.
39. What is this world to him, who knows it to be but a
heap of dust, and deems it no better than a straw; What
then
is that thing in it, which may be desirable to him?
40. The silent sage whose soul is full of knowledge, and
whose mind is quite at rest from its fondness for human
society;
remains content in the state as he is, and quite
satisfied with
whatever occurs to him.
41. He is always cool within himself and taciturn in his
speech, and eternal truths form the ground work of his
mind;
which is as full and deep as the ocean, and whose
thoughts are
as bright as day light.
42. He is as full of cool composure in himself, as a
gladsome
lake reposing with its limpid waters; and he gladdens
also all
others about him, as the fair face of the fullmoon,
cheers the
spirits of all around.
43. The Mandara groves of Paradise, with their woodlands
strewn over with the dust of their blossoms, do not
delight the
soul so much, as the wise sayings of pandits cheer the
spirit.
44. The disc of the moon diffuses its cooling beams, and
the
vernal season scatters its fragranc[**fragrance] around;
but the pithy sayings
of the wise and great, scatter their sound wisdom all
about,
which serve to ennoble and enrich all mankind.
45. The substance of their sayings, proves the erroneous
conception of the world to be as false as a magic show;
and
inculcates the prudence of wearing out the worldly cares
day
by day.
46. The wise saint is as indifferent, to the suffering of
heat
and cold in his own person; as if they are disturbances
in the
bodies of other men. (Or that he feels the pain of others
as
his own).
47. In his virtues of compassion and charity, he
resembles
the fruitful tree, which yields its fruits, flowers, shed
and all to
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common use, and subsists itself only upon the water, it
sucks
from the ground or receives from heaven.
48. It deals out to every body, whatever it is possest of
in
its own body; and it is by virtue of its unsparing
munificince[**munificence] to
all creatures, that it lifts its lofty head above them
all; (or
stretches its roots in air).
49. One seated in the edifice of knowledge, has
thaught[**naught] of
sorrow for himself; but pities the sorrows of others, as
a man
seated on a rock, takes pity for the miserable men,
grovelling
in the earth below.
50. The wise man is tossed about like a flower, by the
rolling
waves in the eventful ocean of this world; and is set at
rest, no sooner he gets over it, and reaches the beach on
the
othe [**typo for other] side (i. e. his way to bliss).
51. He laughs with the calmness of his soul, at the same
unvaried course of the world and its people; and smiles
to
think on the persistence of men, in their habitual error
and
folly. (The laughing philosopher).
52. I am amazed to see these aberrant men, wandering in
the mazes of error; and fascinated by the false
appearances of
the phenomenal world, as if they are
spelt-bound[**spell-bound] to the visibles.
53. Seeing the eight kinds of prosperity to be of no real
good, but rather as causes of evil to mankind, I have
learnt
to spurn them as straws; and though I am inclined to
laugh at
them, yet I forbear to do so from my habitual disposition
of tolerance
and forbearance.
54. I see some men abiding in mountain caves, and other
resorting to holy places; some living at home amidst
their
families, and others travelling as pilgrims to distant
shrines
and countries.
55. Some roving about as vagrants and mendicants, and
others remaining in their solitary hermitage; some
continuing
as silent sages, and observant of their vow of
taciturnity; and
others sitting absorbed in their meditation.
56. Some are famed for their learning, and others as
students
of law and divinity;, some are as princes and others
their
priests, while their[**there] are some as ignorant as
blocks and stones.
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57. Some are adepts in their exorcism of amulets and
collyrium,
and others skilled in their sorcery with the sword, rod
and
magic wand; some are practiced in their aerial journey,
and
others in other arts and some in nothing as the ignorant
pariahs.
58. There are many that are employed in their ceremonial
observances, and others that have abandoned their rituals
altogether;
some are as fanatics in their conduct, and others that
indulge themselves in their
perigrinations[**peregrinations] and vagrancy.
59. The soul (that you wanted to know), is not the body
nor its senses or powers; it is neither the mind nor the
mental
faculties, nor the feelings and passions of the heart.
The soul
is the Intellect which is ever awake, and never sleeps
nor dies.
60. It is never broken nor consumed, nor soiled nor dried
up, (by the death or burning of the body); it is immortal
and
omnipresent, ever steady and immovable, infinite and
eternal.
61. The man who has his soul, thus awakened and
enlightened
in himself; is never contaminated by anything (pure
or impure), in whatever state or wherever he may happen
to
remain.
62. Whether a man goes down to hell or ascend[**ascends]
to heaven,
or traverses through all the regions of air, or is
crushed to death
or pounded to dust; the immortal and undecaying Intellect
which abides in him, never dies with his body, nor
suffers any
change with its change; but remains quite as quiet as the
still
air, which is the increate Deity itself.
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CHAPTER CIII.
PROOF OF THE UNITY OF THE DEITY AMIDST THE VARIETY
OF CREATION.
Argument:--The Unity, Eternity and tranquility of the
Intellect, and
the preference of this sástra[**à-->á] to others.
Vasishtha continued:--The Intellect which is without
its beginning and end, and is the ineffable light and its
reflection, and shines for ever serenely bright, is never
destroyed
or extinguished in any wise.
2. Such is the Intellect and so too the soul, which is
indestructible
also; for [**[if]] it were destroyed at all at any time;
there
could neither be the recreation of the world (without a
cause),
not any regeneration of human souls, (if they were dead
upon
the death of the former generations of men).
3. All things are subject to change, and have many
varieties
under them; but not so the Intellect, which is ever
immutable,
and always perceived to be the same in all individuals.
4. We all feel the coldness of frost, the heat of fire,
and
sweetness of water; but we have no feeling of any kind
regarding
the Intellect, except that we know it to be quite clear
and
pellucid as open air. (The gloss explains it to mean, the
unchangeableness
of the soul in heat and cold, which affect the
bodies and minds of all).
5. If the intellectual soul is destroyed at the
destruction of
the body, say then why should you lament at its loss, and
not
rejoice at its annihilation, which release you from the
pains of
life.
6. The loss of the body entails no loss on the vacuous
intellect;
because the departed souls of mlechchha savages, are seen
to hover over the cemetry[**cemetery] by their living
friends.
7. Should the soul be synchronous with the duration of
the
body, then say, why a death body does not move about,
while
it is yet unrotten and entire.
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8. If the seeing of apparitions, be an affection con-natural
with the mind; then tell me why a man does not often see
the sight of ghosts, except on the occosion[**occasion]
of the demise of his
friends.
9. Should it be a misconception connate with the mind, to
see the apparitions of departed friends; tell me then,
why dont[**don't]
you see the ghosts of friends that are dead in a distant
country,
but of such only as die before your eyes.
10. Hence the Intellect, being the soul of all and
everywhere,
it is not confined in any place; but it is known to be of
the same nature, as every one thinks it to be.
11. It is unconfined and unrestrained any where, and is
of
the nature of one compact consciousness that is felt by
all, and
is the cause of our knowledge of all things. (It is of
what we
have a notion only).
12. There can be no other, which may be supposed as the
prime cause of all, at the begining[**beginning] of
creation. Should there
be any other that is supposed to be as such, let the
doctrinaires
now declare it before me.
13. There was nothing uncreated before creation, nor was
there anything created in the beginning; the duality that
at
present, presents itself in the form of the universe, is
but a
rechauffe or reflexion of the unity.
14. The phenomenal is no more than a reflexion or copy of
the noumenal, and our impression of its being a visible
something,
is as erroneous as all other false sights, which are
mistaken
for the true reality. (These errors are the sights of
silver in
sands, of water in the sandy desert, and of airy castle
in the
northern skies).
15. It is a wonderful of the almighty power, exhibited in
the
sphere of the Divine Intellect; it is the wakeful
understanding
that sees these visibles, as one sees the sights in his
dream, but
never in his ignorance of sound sleep.
16. The wakefulness and insensibility of the
understanding,
both amount to the same thing; because the difference of
the
visible world is only verbal and not real; since nothing
that
is visible to the eye, is substantial in its essential
nature.
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(Hence the perception of the visibles, is alike to their
non-perception
of them).
17. Whatever was thougt[**thought] and said to be
visibles by others,
the same was the effect of their error and want of
reason;
and now if they are disproved by right season, where can
you
find the visibles any more.
18. Therefore employ your reasoning now, in the
investigation
of spiritual knowledge; because by your diligent and
persevering inquiry in this respect, you will secure to yourself
the success in both worlds. (So says the sruti.[**:]
"By thy
constant study of the subject, thou shalt see thy
god[**"]).
19. Inquiry into spiritual knowledge, will dispel thy
ignorance;
but thou wilt never be successful in it, without thy
constant
application to it.
20. Leaving aside all anxieties and their causes, and of
every
jot and moment of time in the observance of one's sacred
vows
day by day, and the study of this sacred sástra with due
attention, leads him to his welfare in both worlds.
21. Whether one is proficient or not in his spiritual
knowledge,
he may still improve in it, by his constant communication
of it and discussion on the subject with his superiors.
22. Whoso requires this precious treasure (of his
knowledge),
he must exert for its attainment at the same ratio to be
successful in it; or else he must leave off altogether,
if he tired
in his pursuit.
23. He must also keep himself from the perusal of
heretical
works, and betake himself to the study of orthodox
sástras;
and he will then gain his peace of mind by these, as one
obtains
victory in warfare: (so should one fight for the
salvation
of his soul).
24. The course of the mind, like that of a stream of
water,
runs both in the channels of wisdom as well as folly; and
forms a lake wherever it runs more rapidly, and settles
as in
its bed.
25. There was never a better sástra than this, nor is any
such extant at present, nor is likely to be in vogue in
future;
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there let the student cogitate well its doctrines, for
the edification
of his understanding.
26. Whoso heeds it well in himself, will find his mind
instantly elevated with superior knowledge; and like the
effect of a curse or blessing, which comes too late upon
its
recipient. (The efficacy of wisdom is instantaneous).
27. The knowledge of his sástra, is calculated to do you
more good, than you can derive from the tender care of a
father or mother; or the efficacy of your pious actions.
28. Know O holy man, this world is the prison-house of
thy
soul, and its cares as the cholic[**choleric] pain of thy
mind; and there
is no release nor redress from these, beside the
knowledge of
thy soul, (which is a spark of the supreme).
29. It is the dark illusion of gross ignorance, that hath
misled thee to the sense of thy egoism; and it is now by
your
reflection on the purport of the sástras only, that you
can be
freed from your deplorable state.
30. The world is a hollow cave, where the horrid hydra of
illusion lies in ambush; and feeds on the empty air of
vain
enjoyments, that appear at first pleasant to taste, but
prove to
be as fleeting as empty air at last.
31. Pity it is that thy days are flying as fleet as the
wind,
and thou art insensible of their advents and exists[**exits];
and while
thou art employed in thy dealings, thou art fostering thy
death in thy negligence.
32. We all live in death, and our lives are sustained by
alternate hopes and fears; until the few days of our
life-time
terminate in death.
33. The approach of death, is attained with extreme pain
and remorse; when the inner parts of the body are
separated
from the outer, which must be besmeared with dust as with
the
paste of sandal wood.
34. They are grossly ignorant and erroneous, who purchase
their wealth and honour at the expense of their lives;
and avoid to gain their permanent bliss by the precepts
of
the sástras.
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35. Why should he bear the feet of his vile enemies on
his
head (i. e. bow down his head before the meanly great);
when
he can attain his highest station of divine bliss in the
sphere
of his intellect, and with little or no pain.
36. Shun ye men, your vanity and ignorance; and to
persist
in the course of your baseness; and then you will gain by
the knowledge of the great soul, your redemption from the
tribulations of the world; (which is a sea of troubles).
37. Seeing me in this manner, preach to you incessantly
by
day and night, for the sake of your good only; do you
take my
advice to turn your souls to the eternal soul, by
forsaking the
knowledge of your persons for that of your souls.
38. If you neglect to make a remedy to day,
aginst[**against] the evil
of your impending death; say O silly man, what amends can
you make for the hour of death, when you are laid in your
sickbed.
39. There is no other work except this, for the true
knowledge
of the soul; and this therefore must be acceptable to you
in the same manner, as the sesame seeds are collected,
for the
sake of getting their oil.
40. This book will enlighted[** enlighten] your spiritual
knowledge, as a
lamp lightens a dark room; drink it deep and it will
enliven
your soul, keep it by your side, and it will please you
as a consort.
41. A man having his knowledge, but untaught in the
sástras, has many things unintelligible and doubtful to
him;
which he will find to be clearly expounded to him in the
sweetest language.
42. This is the best narrative among the principle works,
which are taken in the light of sástras; it is easily
intelligible
and delightful, and has nothing new in it, except what is
well
known in spiritual philosophy.
43. Let a man peruse with delight, the many narrations
that are contained herein; and he will undoubtedly find
this
book, the best of its kind; (on account of elaborate
disquisition
in this abstruce[**abstruse] subject).
44. Vhatever[**Whatever] has not yet appeared in full
light, even to
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Pandits--learned in all the sástras; the same will be
found to
appear in this book, as they find gold to appear amidst
the sand.
45. The authors of sástras are not to be despised at any
time
or in any country; but the reader should employ his
reason and
judgement, to dive into the true meaning of the writing.
46. Those who are led by their ignorance or envy, or
actuated
by their pride and delusion to disregard and slight this
sástra out of their want of judgement; are to be regarded
as
killers of their souls, and unworthy of the company of
the wise
and good.
47. I know you well Ráma and this audience of mine, as
well as your capacities to learn, and mine to instruct
you;
hence it is of my compassion to you that I like to teach
you
these things, as I am naturally communicative and kindly
disposed
to my hearers.
48. I find the development of your understandings, and
therefore take interest to communicate my knowledge to
you;
and as I am a man and not a gandharva or
ráxha[**Rákshasa], I bear a
fellow feeling towards you all.
49. I see you all as intelligent beings, and pure in your
souls
also; it is by virtue of these merits in you that I have
become
so friendly to you.
50. Now my friends, learn betimes to glean the truth of
your unfondness for or indifference to every thing you
see in
this world; (because there is nothing which is
truely[**truly] desirable
herein).
51. Whoso neglects to remedy his diseases, of death and
hell fire in this life; say what will he do to avert them
when
they are irremediable, and when he goes to a place, where
no
remedy is to be sought.
52. Until you feel a distaste for everything in this
world,
so long you cannot find any abatement of your desires in
you.
(It is better your desires to supress[**suppress], than
toil and moil along to
seek their redress).
53. There is no other means to elevate your soul, than
depressing your desires to the lowest ebb; (but the more
you
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allow your wishes to grow and flow, the more you bind the
soul
and sink below).
54. If there be anything here, you think to be good for
you;
they serve at best but to bind your soul, and then
disappear as
the horn of a hare. (All tempting good, is as fleeting as
a
dream).
55. All earthly goods seem to be good, when they are
untried
and least understood; but the seeming something proves
no such thing, or tends to your ruin at last. (All
seeming good
is positive evil).
56. All worldly existences prove to be nil, by the right
reasoning
(of Vedanta philosophy; though they are declared as real
by Kapila, Kanada and others): but how they are real and
what
they are, whether self-existent or made, or
permament[**permanent] or temporary,
(cannot rightly be known).
57. To say all worldly existences are self-existent, for
having
no prior cause assigned to them, nor being created in the
beginning,
would prove all that is existent, to be the increate and
ever lasting supreme being itself.
58. There is no causality of sensible bodies, in the
Being
that is without and beyond the senses; (the lord having
no
organ of sense, nor being peceptible[** perceptible] by
the senses as all material
objects); nor is the mind the cause of sensible objects,
(that have the six organs and are perceptible by them);
the
mind being but the sixth organ only.
59. How can the one unspeakable Lord, be the varied cause
of these varieties of things, passing under various
denominations.
How can the reality have these unrealities in itself,
and how can the Infinite Void, contain these finite solid
bodies
in it?
60. It is the nature of a plastic body to produce a thing
of
a plasmic[**plastic] from it, as the seeds of fruits
bring forth their own
kinds only; but how is it possible for an amorphous void,
to
produce solid forms from its vacuity, or the solid body
to issue
forth formless mind.
61. How can you expect to derive a solid seed from a void
nothing, and therefore it is a deception to think the
material
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world to be produced, from the immaterial and formless
void of
the vacuous intellect.
62. There are no conditions, of the creator and creation
in
the supreme being; these states are the fabrications of
verbiage,
and bespeak the ignorance of their inventors, (in the
true
knowledge of the deity).
63. The want of co-ordinate causes, (such as the material
and formal causes), as co-existent with the prime and
efficent[**efficient]
cause; disproves the existence of an active agent and his
act of
creation; and this truth is evident even to boys.
64. The knowledge of god alone as the sole cause, and yet
acknowledging the causality of the earth and other
elements;
is as absurd as to say that, the sun shines and yet it is
dark.
(i. e. As light and darkness cannot reign together, so
the spirit
and matter cannot abide simultaneously from all eternity,
which
would amount to the belief of a duality).
65. To say that the world is the aggregate of atoms, of
an atomic formation, is as absurd as to call a bow made
of the
horn of a hare. (This is a refutation of the Buddhistic
doctrine
of the formation of the visible world, from the
aggregation of
of eternal invisible atoms).
66. If the concourse and collocation of the dull, inert
and
insensible material atoms would form the world; it would
of
its own accord make a mountainous heap here, and a
bottomless
deep there in the air; (and not a work of such design
which
must be the product of infinite Intelligence).
67. Again the particles of this earth, and the atoms of
air
and water, are flying every day in the forms of dust and
humidity
from house to house and from place to place, and why do
they not yet form a new hill or lake any where again?
(Why
no new world again).
68. The invisible atoms are never to be seen, nor is it
known
whence, or where and how they are; nor is it possible to
form
an idea of the formless atoms, to unite together and form
a
solid mass. (Shapeless simples are indivisible and
incohesive.
Aphorism). And again it is impossible for the dull and
insensible
atoms to form any thing.
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69. The creation of the world, is never the work of an
unintelligent
cause; nor is this frail an unreal world ever the
work of an intelligent maker also; because none but a
fool
makes any for nothing.
70. The insensible air which is composed of atoms, and
has
a motion of its own, is never actuated by reason or
sense; nor
is it possible to expect the particles of air to act
wisely, (as they
prayed in their hymns to the maruta winds).
71. (What then are these if not composed of atoms?)
We are all composed of intellectual soul, and all
individuals are
made of the vacuous selves; and they all appear to us, as
the
figures of persons appearing in our dream.
72. Therefore there is nothing that is created, nor is
this
world on[**in] existence; the whole is the clear void of
the intellect,
and shines with the glare of the Supreme soul in itself.
73. The vacuous universe rests completely in the vacuum
of the Intellect, as force (or vibration), fluidity and
vacuity, rest
respectively in the wind, water and in the open air.
74. The form of the intellectual vacuum, is as that of
the
airy mind, which passes to distant climes in a moment,
(and
yet holds its seat in the hollowness of the brain); or as
that of
consciousness which is seated in the hollow of the heart,
and is
yet conscious of every thing in itself.
75. Such is the vacuous nature of all things, as they are
perceived in their intellectual forms only in intellect,
(which
retains their vacuous ideas only on the hollow
understanding);
and so the world also is an empty idea only imprinted in
the
intellect.
76. It is the rotatory nature of the Intellect, which
exhibits
the picture of the universe on its surface; wherefore the
world
is identic [**[with]] and not otherwise than the vacuous
nature of the
intellect.
77. Therefore the world is the counter part of the
intellectual
sphere, and there is no difference in the vacuous nature,
of either of them. Thy[**They] are both the same thing
presenting
but two aspects, as the wind and its undulations are one
and
the same thing.
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78. As a wise man going from one country to another,
finds
himself to be the same person wherever he goes; and
though
he sees all the varieties around him, yet he knows
himself as
the selfsame quiet and unvaried soul every where.
79. The wise man remains in the true nature of the
elements,
hence the elements never go off from the mind of the
wise man.
80. The world is a vacuous sphere of reflections only,
resembling a concave reflector; it is a formless void in
its
nature, and is unimpaired and indestructible in its
essence.
81. There is nothing that is born or dies in it, nor any
thing which having once come to being, is annihilated
ever
afterwards any where; it is not apart from the vacuum of
the Intellect, and is as void as the inane world itself.
82. The world never is, nor was, nor shall ever be in
existence;
it is but a silent semblance of the representation
passing
in the intellectual vacuity of the supreme spirit.
83. The Divine Intellect alone shines forth in its glory,
as
the mind exhibits its images of cities &c[**.] in
dream; in the
like manner our minds represent to us the image of world,
as
day dreams in our waking state.
84. There being no being in the beginning, how could
there
be the body of anything in existence; there was therefore
no
corporeality whatever except in the dream of the Divine
mind.
85. The supreme Intellect dreams of its self-born (or
uncreated)
body at first; and we that have sprang[**sprung] from
that
body, have ever afterwards continued to see dream after
dream
to no end. (The world is a dream both in the mind of god
and
men).
86. It is impossible for us with all our efforts, to turn
our
minds to the great God; because they are not of the
nature
of the divine intellect, but born in us like carbuncles
on the
goitre, for our destruction only.
87. The god Brahmá is no real personage, but a fictitious
name for Heranya-garbha[**Hiranyagarbha] or totality of
souls ([Sanskrit: samasti]), but
ever since he is regarded as a personal being, the world
is
considered as body and He the soul of all.
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88. But in truth all is unreal, from the highest empyrean
to the lowest pit; and the world is as false and frail as
a
dream, which rises in vain before the mind, and vanishes
in a
minute.
89. The world rises in the vacuity of the Intellect, and
sets
therein as a dream; and when it does not rise in the
enlightened
intellect, it is as a disappearing from the waking mind,
and flying before day light.
90. Although the world is known as false, yet it is
perceived
and appears as true to us; in the same manner as the
false
appearances in our dream, appear true to our
consciousness at
the time of dreaming.
91. As the formless dream, presents many forms before the
mind; so the formless world assumes many shapes before
our
sight: and all these are perceived in our consciousness,
which is
as minute in respect of the infinite space and sky, as an
atom
of dust is too small in regard to the Meru mountain. (i.
e.
the minim of our consciousness, contained in the breast,
is an
imperceptible particle only of sand in it).
92. But how can this consciousness, which is but another
name of Brahma, be any what smaller than the sky, (when
it
contains the skies in itself); and how can the vacuous
world have
any solid form, when it has no formal cause to form it
so. (God
being a formless being, could not give a form and figure
to anything,
and which is therefore ideal only).
93. Where was there any matter or mould, where from this
material world was moulded and formed; (as we make our
houses from the pre-existing mud and clay of the earth);
whatever
we see in the sphere of waking minds in the day light, is
similar to the baseless dreams, which we see in the empty
space
of our sleeping minds, in the darkness of the night.
94. There is no difference between the waking and
sleeping
dreams, as there is none between the empty air and the
sky;
whatever is pictured in the sphere of the intellect, the
same is
represented as the aerial castle in the dream.
95. As the wind is the same with its undulation, so the
rest
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and vibration of the spirit is both alike, as the air and
vacuum
is the one and same thing.
96. Hence it is the intellectual sphere only, which
represents
the picture of the world; the whole is a void and without
any support, and splendour of the luminary of the
intellect.
97. The whole universe is in a state of perfect rest and
tranquility,
and without its rising or setting; it is as a quiet and
unwasting block of stone, and ever shining serenely
bright.
98. Say therefore whence and what are these existent
beings, and how comes this understanding of their
existence;
where is there a duality or unity, and how came these
notions
of egoism and distinct personalities.
99. Be ever prompt in your actions and dealings, with an
utter indifference to everything, and unconcern about
unity or
duality; and preserve an even and cool disposition of
your inward
mind. Remain in the state of nirvána with your
extinguished
passions and feelings, and free from disease and
anxiety. Be aloof from the visibles, and remain in the
manner
of a pure Intelligence only.
100. This chapter is a lecture on entity and non-entity;
and establishment of the spirituality of the universe.
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CHAPTER CIV.
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NON-ENTITY OF THE WORLD.
Argument:--The Notion of the Intellect, analogous to that
of the wind
and Air.
VASISHTHA continued:--The sky is the receptacle of
sound, and the air is perceptible to the feeling; their
friction produces the heat, and the subsidence or removal
of
heat, causes the cold and its medium of water.[*]
2. The earth is the union of these, and in this way do
they
combine to form the world, appearing as a dream unto us,
or
else how is it possible for a solid body, to issue forth
from the
formless vacuum.
3. If this progession[**progression] of productions,
would lead us too far
beyond our comprehension; but it being so in the
beginning,
it brings no blemish in the pure nature of the vacuous
spirit,
(for its gradual productions of air, heat, water &c).
4. Divine Intelligence also is a pure entity, which is
manifest
in the selfsame spirit; the same is said to be the world,
and this most certain truth of truths. (Because
Omiscience[**Omniscience]
includes in it the knowledge of all things; which is the
true
meaning of the text [Sanskrit: sarvam khalvidam brahma]
all this verily Brahmá or
full of the intelligence of god).
5. There are no material things, nor the five elements of
matter any where; all these are mere unrealities, and yet
they
are perceived by us, like the false appearance in our
dream.
6. As a city and its various sights, appear very clear to
the
mind in our sleeping dreams; so it is very pleasant to
see the
dream like[**dream-like?] world, shining so brightly
before our sight in our
waking hours.
ºNote.--The sky or vacuum is the tanmatra or identic with
sound or
word; and the void and its sound are both uncreated and
eternal, (sabáho
ajonitáth [Sanskrit: shabdi-yoninvát]). So it said:--In
the begining[**beginning] was the
word (sound), the word was with god (vacuity), and the
word was god
(atmá), the spirit or air.
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7. I am of the nature of my vacuous intellect, and so is
this world of the same nature also; and thus I find
myself
and this world, to be of the same nature, as a dull and
insensible
stone.
8. Hence the world appears as a shining jewel, both at
its
first creation, as well as in all its kalpánta or
subsequent
formations, (because it shines always with the
efflulgence[**effulgence] of
the Divine Intellect).
9. Whether the body be something or nothing in its
essence,
its want of pain and happiness of the mind, are form of
its state
of moksha or liberation; and its rest with a
paceful[**peaceful] mind and
pure nature, is reckoned its highest state of bliss.
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CHAPTER CV.
LIKENESS OF WAKING AND SLEEPING DREAMS.
Argument:--The Identity of the Intellect by day and
night, proves the
sameness of its day and night dreams[**.]
VASISHTHA continued.:--The Intellect conceives the form
of the world, of its own intrinsic nature; and fancies
itself in that very form, as it were in a dream. (The
subjective
Intellect, sees itself in the form of the objective
world).
2. It feigns itself as asleep while it is waking, and
views
the world either as a solid stone, or as a void as the
empty air.
3. The world is compared to a dream, exhibiting a country
embellished with a great many cities; and as is no
reality in
the objects of dream, so there is no actuality in any
thing
appearing in this world.
4. All the three worlds are as unreal, as the various
sights
in a dream; and they are but day dreams to us even when
we
are awake. (The Intelligent dream by day light, as the
ignorant
do in the shade of night).
5. Whether in waking or sleeping, there is nothing named
as the world (or the turning sphere); it is but the empty
void,
and at best but an air-drawn picture in the hollow of the
Intellects.
6. It is a wondrous display of the Intellect in its own
hollowness,
like the array of hills and mountains in the midway
firmament; the sense of the world is as a waking dream in
the
minds of the wise.
7. This world is nothing in its substance, nor is it any
thing
of the form of Intellect; it is but a reflexion of the
Intellect,
and the vacuity of the intellectual world, is but an
empty
nothing.
8. The triple world is only a reflexion, and like the
right
of something in dream, it is but an airy nothing; it is
the
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empty air which becomes thus (diversified), and is
entirely
bodiless, though seeming to be embodied in our waking
state.
9. It is inventive imagination of men, that is ever busy
even in the hours of sleep and dreaming; and presents to
us
with many creations that were never created, and many
unrealities
appearing as real ones.
10. The universe appears as an extensive substantiality,
implanted
in the bosom of endless vacuity; but this huge body,
with all its mountains and cities, is in reality no other
than
the original vacuum.
11. The howling of the sea, and clattering of clouds on
mountains, though they are so very tremendous to the
waking;
are yet unheard by the sound sleeper by his side. (So the
pomp of the world, is unseen by the blind).
12. As a widow dreams her bringing forth a son in her
sleep,
and as a man thinks to be ever living, by forgetfulness
of his
past death, and being reborn again; so are men unmindful
of
their real state.
13. The real is taken for the unreal and unreal for the
real;
as the sleeping man forgets his bed room, and thinks
himself
else where; so every thing turns to be otherwise, as the
day
turns to night and the night changes to day.
14. The unreal soon succeeds the real, as
night-the[**night--the] want
of light succeeds the light of the day; and the
impossible also
becomes possible, as when a living person sees his death,
or
thinks himself as dead in his sleep.
15. The impossible becomes possible, as the supposition
of
the world in the empty void; and the darkness appears as
light, as the night time seems to be daylight to the
sleeping
and dreaming man at night.
16. The daylight becomes the darkness of night, to one
who
sleeps and dreams in the daytime; (as it is to owls and
bats
and so to cats and rats); the solid ground seems to be
hollow,
to one who dreams of his being cast into a pit.
17. As the world appears to be a nullity in our sleep at
night, and so it is reality even in our waking state, and
there
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is no doubt of it. (It is doubtful that the world exists,
but no
doubt in its inexistence).
18. As the two suns (of yesterday and today), are the one
and same with one another, and as two men are of the same
kind; so it is doubtless that the waking and sleeping
states are
alike to another.
19. Ráma rejoined:--That of course cannot be
admissable[**admissible]
and reliable as true, which is liable to objection and
exception;
the sight of a dream is but momentary and falsified upon
our
waking; wherefore it cannot be alike to the waking state.
20. Vasishtha replied:--The disappearance of the dreamed
objects upon waking, does not prove their falsity, nor
make any
difference between the two states of dreaming and waking;
because the objects which one sees in his dream, are like
those
that a traveller sees in foreign country, which are lost
upon his
return to his own country, and the sights of this are
soon lost
upon his death. Hence both are true for the time being,
and
both proved equally false and fleeting at last.
21. A man being dead, he is separated from his friends,
as
from those he sees in his dream; and then the living is
said to
be awakened, as when a sleeper awakes from his slumber.
22. After seeing the delusions of the states of happiness
and
misery, and witnessing the rotations of days and nights,
and
feeling many changes, the living soul at last departs
from this
world of dreams.
23. After the long sleep of life, there comes at last an end
of it at last; when the human soul becomes assured of the
untruth
of this world, and that the past was a mere dream.
24. As the dreamer perceives his death in the land of his
dream, so the waking man sees his waking dream of this
world,
where he meets with his death, inorder[**] to be reborn
in it and
to dream again.
25. The waking beholder of the world, finds himself to
die
in the same manner in his living world; where he is
doomed to
be reborn, in order to see the same scenes and to die
again.
26. He who finds himself to die in the living world in
his
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waking state, comes to revisit this earth, in order to
see the
same dreams, which he believed to be true in his former
births.
(Hence the sleeping and waking dreams, that view the same
things over again, are both alike).
27. It is the ignorant only, that believe their waking
sights
as true; while it is the firm conviction of the
intelligent, that
all these appearances are but day dreams at best,[**.]
28. Taking the dreaming state for waking, and the waking
one for dreaming, are but verbal distinctions imply the
same
thing; as life and death are meaningless words for the
two
states of the soul, which never born nor died.
29. He who views his life and death in the light of a
dream,
is said to be truly waking; but the living soul that
considers
itself as waking and dying, is quite the contrary of it.
30. Whoso dwells upon one dream after another, or wakes
to see a waking dream; is as one who wakes after his
death,
and finds his waking also to be a dream. (All states of
sleeping
and waking, and of living and dying are mere dreams).
31. Our waking and sleeping, are both as events of
history
to us; and are comparable to the past and present
histories
of nations. (Both being equally fleeting and
fluctuating).
32. The dream-sleep seems as waking, and the waking
dream is no other than sleeping; they are both in fact
but unrealities,
and the mere rechaffe or reflexions of the intellectual
sky.
33. We find the moving and unmoving beings on earth, and
creatures unnumbered all around us; but what do they all
prove to beat last, than the representations of the
eternal ideas
in the Divine Intellect.
34. As we can have no idea of a pot, without that of the
clay which it is made of: so we can have no conception of
the
blocks of mould and stone, unless they were represented
to our
minds, from their prints in Divine Intellect.
35. All these various things, which appear unto us both
in
our waking as well as dreaming states; are no other than
the
ideas of blocks, which are represented in our dreams from
their
archetypes in the Intellect.
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36. Now say O Intelligent Ráma, what else must this
Intellect
be, than that infinite and vacuous essence which acts in
us, both in our deaming[** dreaming] and waking states.
37. Know this Intellect to be the great Brahmá, who is
everything in the world, as if it were in the divided
forms of
his essence; and who is yet of the figure of the whole
world,
as if he were the undivided whole himself, (i.e. He is
all and
everything collectively and individually).
38. As the earthen pot is not conceivable, without its
formal
substance of the earth; so the intellectual Brahma[**
Brahmá]is inconceivable,
without his essence of the Intellect.
39. Again as a stone-made jar is beyond our conception,
save by the idea of its stony substance; so the spiritual
God is
beyond our comprehension, besides our idea of the spirit.
40. As the water is a liquid substance, which cannot be
conceived without its fluidity; so is Brahma[**Brahmá]
conceived as composed
of his chit or Intellect only, without which we can have
no conception of him.
41. So also we have the conception of fire by means of
its
heat, without which we have no concept of it; such too is
our
idea of God that he is the Intellect, and beside this we
can
form no idea of him.
42. We know the wind by its obscillation[**oscillation?]
only, and by no
other means whatsoever; so is God thought as the
Intellect
or Intelligence itself; beside which we can have no
notion of
43. There is nothing, that can be conceived without its
property;
as we can never conceive vacuum to be without its
vacuity, nor have any conception of the earth without its
solidity.
44. All things are composed of the vacuous Intellect, as
the
pot or painting appearing in the mind, is compose of the
essence
of the intellect only; and so the hills
&c,[**&c.,] appearing in
dream, are representation of the Intellect alone. (All
the
material world is composed of matter, so is the
intellectual
world made of intellect only).
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45. As we are conscious of the aerial sights of the hills
and
towns, presented to our minds in the dream; so we know
all
things in our conscious in our waking state also; so
there is a
quiet calm vacuity only both in our sleep and waking,
wherein
our intellect alone is ever busy to show itself in
endless shapes
before us.
--------------------------- End of Volume 4,
part 1 ----------------------
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to Brahmasri Sreemaan Vihari Lala Mitra ji for the
collection)
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