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Title: The Yoga-Vasishtha Maharamayana of Valmiki, Vol. 2 (of 4), Part 2
(of 2)
Author: Valmiki
Translator: Vihari-Lala Mitra
Release Date: June 28, 2023 [eBook #71064]
Language: English
Credits: Mark C. Orton, Juliet Sutherland, Édith Nolot, Krista Zaleski,
windproof, readbueno and the Online Distributed Proofreading
Team at https://www.pgdp.net
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE YOGA-VASISHTHA
MAHARAMAYANA OF VALMIKI, VOL. 2 (OF 4), PART 2 (OF 2) ***
Transcriber’s Notes
Inconsistent punctuation has been silently corrected.
Obvious misspellings have been silently corrected, and the following
corrections made to the text. Other spelling and hyphenation variations
have not been modified.
Page 412 - and the other to that of the learned -> and the other to that
of the unlearned
Page 413 - in mountainous -> in the mountainous
Page 437, section 66 - favourite females -> favourite of females
Page 634, section 40 - full of inequity -> full of iniquity
Page 680, section 22 - the like -> like the
Page 715, section 53 - unvisionary -> visionary
Page 816, section 16 - bring though -> even though
Page 930, section 29 - very thick and lean -> very thin and lean
Also, some of the shortcomings of the LPP edition have been corrected by
referencing other printings:
Page 434: Missing line "remove it by your subjection to ignorance
and idleness" was inserted.
Page 687 in the printed book is a copy of page 887 (where it belongs).
The missing page 687 has been supplied from the Bharatiya edition. (It
is the start of chapter LXI: On Birth, Death and Existence (verse
1-9)). This error has been reproduced in the Parimal ed. because this
is based on a scanning of an edition with this error.
Page 688 and 888 were switched in the printed book.
Page 886: verse 17-18 were missing.
Page 918: verse 8 was missing.
Angle brackets: <...> have been used by the transcriber to indicate light
editing of the text to insert missing words.
The spelling of Sanskrit words are normalized to some extent, including
correct/addition of accents where necessary. Note that the author uses
á, í, ú to indicate long vowels. This notation has not been changed.
The third Devanagari character in footnote 7 is illegible in the text.
It has been inserted from an alternate text, although it appears that
the original of this text may in fact have included a typo.
The LPP edition (1999) which has been scanned for this ebook, is of
poor quality, and in some cases text was missing. Where possible, the
missing/unclear text has been supplied from another edition, which has
the same typographical basis (both editions are photographical reprints
of the same source, or perhaps one is a copy of the other): Bharatiya
Publishing House, Delhi 1978.
A third edition, Parimal Publications, Delhi 1998, which is based on an
OCR scanning of the same typographical basis, has also been consulted.
The term “Gloss.” or “Glossary” probably refers to the extensive classical
commentary to Yoga Vásishtha by Ananda Bodhendra Saraswati (only
available in Sanskrit).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE
YOGA-VÁSISHTHA-MAHÁRÁMÁYANA.
VOL. II (part 2)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE
YOGA-VÁSISHTHA
MAHÁRÁMÁYANA
OF
VÁLMÍKI
------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE
YOGA-VÁSISHTHA
MAHÁRÁMÁYANA
OF
VÁLMÍKI
in 4 vols. in 7 pts.
(Bound in 4.)
Vol. 2 (In 2 pts.)
Bound in one.
Containing
Utpatti Khanda, Sthiti Prakarana and
Upasama Khanda to Chapter LIII.
_Translated from the original Sanskrit
By_
VIHARI-LALA MITRA
YOGA VASISHTHA
BOOK IV.
STHITI PRAKARANA
ON ONTOLOGY OR EXISTENCE.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENTS
OF
STHITI PRAKARANA.
(ON ONTOLOGY OR EXISTENCE).
BOOK IV.
CHAPTER I.
Janya-Jani-Nirúpana 403
CHAPTER II.
The Receptacle of the Mundane Egg 408
CHAPTER III.
Eternity of the World 411
CHAPTER IV.
Treating of the Germ of Existence 414
CHAPTER V.
Story of Bhárgava 416
CHAPTER VI.
Elysium of Bhárgava 418
CHAPTER VII.
Re-union of the Lovers 421
CHAPTER VIII.
Transmigration of Sukra 425
CHAPTER IX.
Description of Sukra’s Body 429
CHAPTER X.
Bhrigu’s Conference with Kála or Death 431
CHAPTER XI.
Cause of the Production of the World 439
CHAPTER XII.
Detailed Account of the Genesis of the World 448
CHAPTER XIII.
Consolation of Bhrigu 451
CHAPTER XIV.
Sukra’s Reminiscence of his Metempsychosis 454
CHAPTER XV.
Lamentation and Expostulation of Sukra 459
CHAPTER XVI.
Resuscitation of Sukra 464
CHAPTER XVII.
Attainment of the Ideal Realm 467
CHAPTER XVIII.
The Incarnation of the Living Spirit 471
CHAPTER XIX.
Investigation into the Nature of the Living Soul 480
CHAPTER XX.
Description of the Mind 484
CHAPTER XXI.
On the Philosophy of the Mind 486
CHAPTER XXII.
Resting in Supreme Felicity 493
CHAPTER XXIII.
Meditation of the Wonders in the Realm
of the Body 498
CHAPTER XXIV.
The Non-entity of the Mind 505
CHAPTER XXV.
Narrative of Dáma, Vyála and Kata 508
CHAPTER XXVI.
Battle of the Deities and Demons 512
CHAPTER XXVII.
Admonition of Brahmá 518
CHAPTER XXVIII.
The Renewed Battle of the Gods and Demons 523
CHAPTER XXIX.
Defeat of the Demons 527
CHAPTER XXX.
Account of the Subsequent lives of the Demons 531
CHAPTER XXXI.
Investigation of Reality and Unreality 533
CHAPTER XXXII.
On Good Conduct 539
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Consideration of Egoism 545
CHAPTER XXXIV.
End of the Story of Dáma and Vyála 553
CHAPTER XXXV.
Description of Insouciance 558
CHAPTER XXXVI.
Description of the Intellectual Sphere 566
CHAPTER XXXVII.
Upasama. The Sameness or Quietism of the Soul 570
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
The Same Quietness or Quietude of the Spirit 572
CHAPTER XXXIX.
On the Unity of all Things 577
CHAPTER XXXX.
Brahma Identic with the World 584
CHAPTER XLI.
Description of ignorance 589
CHAPTER XLII.
Production of Jíva or Living Souls 593
CHAPTER XLIII.
The Repositories of Living Souls 598
CHAPTER XLIV.
The Incarnation of Human Souls in the World 605
CHAPTER XLV.
Dependence of all on God 611
CHAPTER XLVI.
Description of Living-Liberation 617
CHAPTER XLVII.
Description of the Worlds and their Demiurgi 621
CHAPTER XLVIII.
Story of Dásúra 630
CHAPTER XLIX.
Description of Dásúra’s Kadamba Forest 635
CHAPTER L.
Dásúra’s Survey of the Heavens 639
CHAPTER LI.
Dásúra’s Begetting a Son 641
CHAPTER LII.
Grandeur of the Air-born King 645
CHAPTER LIII.
Description of the Mundane City 649
CHAPTER LIV.
Corrective of Desires 655
CHAPTER LV.
Meeting of Vasishtha and Dásúra 660
CHAPTER LVI.
On the Soul and its Inertness 664
CHAPTER LVII.
Nature of Volleity and Nolleity 670
CHAPTER LVIII.
The song of Kacha 676
CHAPTER LIX.
Works of Brahmá’s Creation 678
CHAPTER LX.
Production of Living Beings 684
CHAPTER LXI.
On Birth, Death and Existence 687
CHAPTER LXII.
Speech of the Divine Messenger 690
CONTENTS
OF
UPASAMA KHANDA.
(ON QUIETISM.)
BOOK V.
CHAPTER I.
The Áhnika or Daily Ritual 693
CHAPTER II.
Ráma’s Recapitulation of Vasishtha’s Lectures 698
CHAPTER III.
Description of the Royal Assembly 703
CHAPTER IV.
Inquiries of Ráma 706
CHAPTER V.
Lecture on Tranquility of the Soul and Mind 710
CHAPTER VI.
Lecture on the Discharge of Duty 716
CHAPTER VII.
On Attainment of Divine Knowledge 719
CHAPTER VIII.
Song of the Siddhas or Holy Adepts 720
CHAPTER IX.
Reflections of Janaka 723
CHAPTER X.
Silent and Solitary Reflections of Janaka 730
CHAPTER XI.
Subjection of the Mind 734
CHAPTER XII.
On the Greatness of the Intelligence 737
CHAPTER XIII.
Government of the Mind 741
CHAPTER XIV.
Ascertainment of the Thinking Principle 754
CHAPTER XV.
On Avarice 761
CHAPTER XVI.
Healing of Avarice 764
CHAPTER XVII.
On the Extirpation of Avarice 767
CHAPTER XVIII.
Living Liberation or True Felicity of Man
in this Life 771
CHAPTER XIX.
On Holy Knowledge 779
CHAPTER XX.
Remonstration of Pávana 784
CHAPTER XXI.
Repression of Desires by Means of Yoga-Meditation 789
CHAPTER XXII.
Narrative of Virochana 793
CHAPTER XXIII.
Speech of Virochana on Subjection of the Mind 799
CHAPTER XXIV.
On the Healing and Improvement of the Mind 803
CHAPTER XXV.
Reflections of Bali 811
CHAPTER XXVI.
Admonition of Sukra to Bali 814
CHAPTER XXVII.
Hebetude of Bali 817
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Description of Bali’s anaesthesia 821
CHAPTER XXIX.
Bali’s resuscitation to sensibility 824
CHAPTER XXX.
Fall of Hiranyakasipu and Rise of Prahláda 831
CHAPTER XXXI.
Prahláda’s Faith in Vishnu 835
CHAPTER XXXII.
The Spiritual and formal Worship of Vishnu 843
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Prahláda’s Supplication to Hari 848
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Prahláda’s Self-knowledge of Spiritualism 852
CHAPTER XXXV.
Meditation on Brahma in One’s Self 865
CHAPTER XXXVI.
Hymn to the Soul 876
CHAPTER XXXVII.
Disorder and Disquiet of the Asura Realm 885
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Scrutiny into the Nature of God 887
CHAPTER XXXIX.
Admonitions of Hari to Prahláda 890
CHAPTER XL.
Resuscitation of Prahláda 896
CHAPTER XLI.
Installation of Prahláda in his Realm 900
CHAPTER XLII.
Spirituality of Prahláda 905
CHAPTER XLIII.
Rest and Repose of Prahláda 908
CHAPTER XLIV.
Narrative of Gádhi and his Destruction 913
CHAPTER XLV.
Gádhi is Reborn as a Chandála, and made King
over the Kir Tribe 918
CHAPTER XLVI.
Gádhi’s Loss of his Visionary Kingdom 923
CHAPTER XLVII.
Verification of Gádhi’s Vision 928
CHAPTER XLVIII.
On the Wondrous Powers of Illusion 935
CHAPTER XLIX.
Gádhi’s gaining of True Knowledge 943
CHAPTER L.
Intentions of Ráma 949
CHAPTER LI.
Desire of Uddálaka 960
CHAPTER LII.
Ratiocination of Uddálaka 966
CHAPTER LIII.
The Rational Rapture of Uddálaka 974
------------------------------------------------------------------------
YOGA VASISHTHA
BOOK IV.
STHITI PRAKARANA
ON ONTOLOGY OR EXISTENCE.
CHAPTER I.
JANYA-JANI-NIRÚPANA.
_On Genesis and Epigenesis._
Argument. The variety of creation is described as the working of
the mind, and the existence of one Brahma only, is established in
refutation of the Atomic and Materialistic doctrines of Nyáya and
Sánkhya philosophy.
Vasishtha said:—Attend now Ráma, to the subject of Existence, which
follows that of Production: a knowledge of this, is productive of
_nirvána_ or utter annihilation of the self or soul.
2. Know then the phenomenal world which is existent before you, and
your knowledge of egoism or self-existence, to be but erroneous
conceptions of the formless inexistence or inanity.
3. You see the tints of various hues painting the vacuous sky, without
any paint (colouring substance), or their cause (the painter). This is
but a conception of the mind without its visual perception, and like
the vision in a dream of one, who is not in a state of sound sleep.
(The world is a dream).
4. It is like an aerial city built and present in your mind; or like
the warming of shivering apes beside the red clay, thinking it as red
hot fire; and as one’s pursuing an unreality or (grasping a shadow).
5. It is but a different aspect of the self same Brahma, like that of a
whirlpool in water, and as the unsubstantial sunlight, appearing as a
real substance in the sky.
6. It is like the baseless fabric of gold of the celestials on high;
and like the air-built castle of Gandharvas in the midway sky. (The
gods and Gandharvas are believed to dwell in their golden abodes in
heaven).
7. It is as the false sea in the mirage, appearing true at the time;
and like the Elysian and Utopian cities of imagination in empty air,
and taken for truth.
8. It is like the romantic realms with their picturesque scenes in the
fancies of poets, which are no where in nature but it seems to be solid
and thick within, without any pith or solidity in it, as thing in an
empty dream.
9. It is as the etherial sphere, full of light all around, but all
hollow within; and like the blue autumnal sky, with its light and
flimsy clouds without any rain-water in them.
10. It is as the unsubstantial vacuum, with the cerulean blue of solid
sapphire; and like the domes and dames appearing in dreams, fleeting as
air and untangible to touch.
11. It is as a flower garden in a picture, painted with blooming
blossoms; and appearing as fragrant without any fragrance in them. It
is lightsome to sight, without the inherent heat of light, and
resembles the orb of the sun or a flaming fire represented in a picture.
12. It is as an ideal domain—the coinage of the brain, and an unreal
reality or a seeming something; and likens a lotus-bed in painting,
without its essence or fragrance.
13. It is as the variegated sky, painted with hues which it does not
possess; and is as unsolid as empty air, and as many-hued as the
rain-bow without any hue of its own.
14. All its various colourings of materiality, fade away under the
right discrimination of reason; and it is found in the end to be as
unsolid a substance as the stem of a plantain tree; (all coated without,
and nothing solid in the inside).
15. It is like the rotation of black spots, before the eyes of a
purblind man; and as the shape of a shadowy inexistence, presented as
something existent before the naked eye.
16. Like the bubble of water, it seems as something substantial to
sight; but in reality all hollow within; and though appearing as juicy,
it is without any moisture at all.
17. The bubbling worlds are as wide spread as the morning dews or
frost; but take them up, and you will find them as nothing, it is
thought as gross matter by some, and as vacuum by others. It is
believed as a fluctuation of thought or false vision by some, and as a
mere compound of atoms by many. (It is the dull matter of Sánkhyas;
mere vacuity of Vedántists; fluctuation of error—_avidyá spanda_ of the
Sánkaras; empty air of Mádhyamikas; fortuitous union of atoms of
Acháryas; different atomisms of Sautrántas, and Vaibháshikas; and so
likewise of Kanáda, Gotama and Arhatas; and so many more according to
the theories of others). (Gloss).
18. I am partly of a material frame, on my body and mind, but
spiritually I am an empty immaterial substance; and though felt by the
touch of the hand, I am yet as intangible as a nocturnal fiend:—(an
empty shadow only).
19. Ráma said:—It is said Sir, that at the end of a great Kalpa age,
the visible world remains in its seed; after which it developes again
in its present form, which I require to be fully explained to me.
20. Are they ignorant or knowing men, who think in these various ways?
Please Sir, tell me the truth for removal of my doubts, and relate to
me the process of the development.
21. Vasishtha replied:—Those who say that the mundane world existed in
the form of a seed at the final sleep (of Brahmá), are altogether
ignorant of the truth, and talk as children and boys: (from what they
think themselves, or hear from others).
22. Hear me tell you, how unaccordant it is to right reason and how far
removed from truth. It is a false supposition, and leading both the
preacher and hearer of such a doctrine to great error and egregious
mistake.
23. Those who attempt to show the existence of the world, in the form
of a germ in the mundane seed; maintain a very silly position, as I
shall now explain unto you.
24. A seed is in itself a visible thing, and is more an object of sense
than that of the mind; as the seeds of paddy and barley, are seen to
sprout forth in their germs and leaves.
25. The mind which is beyond the six organs of sense, is a very minute
particle; and it cannot possibly be born of itself, nor become the seed
of the universe.
26. The Supreme Spirit also, being more rarefied than the subtile
ether, and undefinable by words, cannot be of the form of a seed.
27. That which is as minute as a nil and a zero, is equivalent to
nothing; and could never be the mundane seed, without which there could
be no germ nor sprout.
28. That which is more rare and transparent than the vacuous and clear
firmament; cannot possibly contain the world with all its mountains and
seas; and the heavens with all their hosts, in its transcendent
substratum.
29. There is nothing, that is in any way situated as a substance, in
the substantiality of that Being; or if there is anything there, why is
it not visible to us?
30. There is nothing that comes of itself, and nothing material that
comes but of the immaterial spirit; for who can believe a hill to
proceed from the hollowness of an earthen pot?
31. How can a thing remain with another, which is opposed to it in its
nature? How can there be any shadow where there is light, and how does
darkness reside in the disc of the sun, or even coldness in fire?
32. How can an atom contain a hill, or anything subsist in nothing? The
union of a similar with its dissimilar, is as impossible as that of
shadow with the light of the sun.
33. It is reasonable to suppose that the material seeds of the fig and
paddy, should bring forth their shoots in time; but it is unreasonable
to believe the big material world to be contained in an immaterial atom.
34. We see the same organs of sense and their sensations, in all men in
every country; but there is not the same uniformity in the
understandings of men in every place, nor can there be any reason
assigned to this difference.
35. Those who assign a certain cause to some effect or event, betray
their ignorance of the true cause; for what is it that produces the
effect, except the very thing by some of its accessory powers. (Every
production is but a transformation of itself, by some of its inherent
powers and properties).
36. Throw off at a distance, the doctrine of cause and effect invented
by the ignorant; and know that to be true, which is without beginning
and end, and the same appearing as the world. (An increate everlasting
prototype in the mind of God).
CHAPTER II.
THE RECEPTACLE OF THE MUNDANE EGG.
Argument.—Refutation of the doctrine of the separate Existence of the
world, and establishment of the tenet of the “One God as All in All.”
Vasishtha said:—Now Ráma! that best knowest the knowable, I will tell
thee in disparagement of thy belief in the separate existence of the
world; that there is one pure and vacuous principle of the Intellect
only, above all the false fabrications of men.
2. If it is granted, that there was the germ of the world in the
beginning; still it is a question, what were the accompanying causes of
its development.
3. Without co-operation of the necessary causes, there can be no
vegetation of the seed, as no barren woman is ever known or seen to
bring forth an offspring, notwithstanding the seed is contained in the
womb.
4. If it was possible for the seed to grow without the aid of its
accompanying causes, then it is useless to believe in the primary
cause, when it is possessed of such power in its own nature.
5. It is Brahmá himself who abides in his self, in the form of creation
at the beginning of the world. This creation is as formless as the
creator himself, and there is no relation of cause and effect between
them.
6. To say the earth and other elements, to be the accompanying causes
of production, is also wrong; since it is impossible for these elements
to exist prior to their creation.
7. To say the world remained quiescent in its own nature, together with
the accompanying causes, is the talk proceeding from the minds (mouths)
of boys and not of the wise.
8. Therefore Ráma! there neither is or was or ever will be a separate
world in existence. It is the one intelligence of the Divinity, that
displays the creation in itself.
9. So Ráma! there being an absolute privation of this visible world, it
is certain that Brahma himself is All, throughout the endless space.
10. The knowledge of the visible world, is destroyed by the destruction
of all its causalities; but the causes continuing in the mind, will
cause the visibles to appear to the view even after their outward
extinction (like objects in the dream).
11. The absolute privation of the phenomenal, is only effected by the
privation of its causes, (_i.e._ the suppression of our acts and
desires); but if they are not suppressed in the mind, how can you
effect to suppress the sight?
12. There is no other means of destroying our erroneous conception of
the world, except by a total extirpation of the visibles from our view.
13. It is certain that the appearance of the visible world, is no more
than our inward conception of it, in the vacuity of the intellect; and
the knowledge of I, thou and he, are false impressions on our minds
like figures in paintings.
14. As these mountains and hills, these lands and seas and these
revolutions of days and nights, and months and years and the knowledge
that this is a Kalpa age, and this is a minute and moment, and this is
life and this is death, are all mere conceptions of the mind.
15. So is the knowledge of the duration and termination of a _Kalpa_
and _Mahákalpa_ (millenniums &c.) and that of the creation and its
beginning and end, are mere misconceptions of our minds.
16. It is the mind that conceives millions of Kalpas and billions of
worlds, most of which are gone by and many as yet to come. (Or else
there is but an everlasting eternity, which is self-same with the
infinity of the Deity).
17. So the fourteen regions of the planetary spheres, and all the
divisions of time and place, are contained in the infinite space of the
Supreme Intellect.
18. The universe continues and displays itself as serenely in the
Divine mind, as it did from before and throughout all eternity; and it
shines with particles of the light of that Intellect, as the firmament
is as full with the radiance of solar light.
19. The ineffable light, which is thrown into the mind by the Divine
Intellect, shows itself as the creation, which in reality is a baseless
fabric by itself.
20. It does not come to existence nor dissolves into nothing, nor
appears or sets at any time; but resembles a crystal glass with certain
marks in it, which can never be effaced.
21. The creations display of themselves in the clear Intellect of God,
as the variegated skies form portions of the indivisible space of
endless vacuum.
22. These are but properties of the Divine Intellect, as fluidity is
that of water, motion of the wind, the eddies of the sea, and the
qualities of all things. (Creation is cœternal with the Eternal Mind).
23. This creation is but a compact body of Divine wisdom, and is
contained in the Divinity as its component part. Its rising and setting
and continuance, are exhibited alike in the tranquil soul.
24. The world is inane owing to its want of the accompaniment of
secondary (_i.e._ material and instrumental) causes and is selfborn:
and to call it as born or produced, is to breathe the breath (of life)
like a madman (_i.e._, it is foolish to say so).
25. Ráma! purify your mind from the dross of false representations, and
rise from the bed of your doubts and desires; drive away your
protracted sleep of ignorance (avidyá), and be freed from the fears of
death and disease with every one of your friends in this Court.
CHAPTER III.
ETERNITY OF THE WORLD.
Ráma said:—But it is related, that Brahmá—the lord of creatures,
springs up by his reminiscence at the end of a kalpa, and stretches out
the world from his remembrance of it, in the beginning of creation.
2. Vasishtha answered:—So it is said, O support of Raghu’s race! that
the lord of creatures rises at first by his predestination, after the
universal dissolution, and at the commencement of a new creation.
3. It is by his will, that the world is stretched out from his
recollection, and is manifested like an ideal city, in the presence of
Brahmá—the creative power.
4. The supreme being can have no remembrance of the past at the
beginning of a new creation, owing to his want of a prior birth or
death. Therefore this aerial arbour of reminiscence has no relation to
Brahma. (Who being an ever living being, his cognizance of all things
is also everlasting).
5. Ráma asked:—Does not the reminiscence of the past, continue in
Brahmá at his recreation of the world; and so the former remembrance of
men upon their being reborn on earth? Or are all past remembrances
effaced from the minds of men by the delirium of death in their past
life?
6. Vasishtha replied:—All intelligent beings, including Brahmá and all
others of the past age, that obtain their _nirvána_ or extinction, are
of course absorbed in One Brahma (and have lost their remembrance of
every thing concerning their past lives).
7. Now tell me, my good Ráma, where do these past remembrances and
remembrancers abide any more, when they are wholly lost, at the final
liberation (or extinction) of the rememberers?
8. It is certain that all beings are liberated, and become extinct in
Brahma at the great dissolution; hence there cannot be remembrance of
anything in the absence of the persons that remember the same.
9. The remembrance that lives impressed of itself in the empty space of
individual Intellects, is verily the reservoir of the perceptible and
imperceptible worlds. This reminiscence is eternally present before the
sight of God, as a reflexion of his own Intellect.
10. It shines with the lustre of his self-consciousness, from time
without beginning and end, and is identic with this world, which is
therefore called to be self-born (because it is immanent in the mind of
God).
11. The spiritual body which is the attribute of God from time without
beginning (that God is a spirit); is the same with Viráta or
manifestation of himself, and exhibits the form of the world or the
microcosm (_i.e._ God—spirit—Virát or cosmos).
12. But the world is said to be composed of atoms, which compose the
land and woods, the clouds and the firmament. But there are no atoms to
form time and space, actions and motions and revolutions of days and
nights. (All which are shaped by the spirit and not by atoms).
13. Again the atoms (of matter) which fill the world, have other
incipient atoms (of spirit), which are inherent in them, and cause them
to take and appear in the forms of mountains and the like.
14. But these forms seeming to be conglomerations of atomic particles,
and showing themselves to our vision as lightsome objects, are in
reality no substantial things.
15. Thus there is no end of the real and unreal sights of things; the
one presenting itself to the view of the learned, and the other to that
of the unlearned. (_i.e._ All things are viewed in their spiritual
light by the learned, and in their material aspect by the ignorant).
16. The cosmos appears as the immutable Brahma only to the intelligent,
and as the mutable visible world to the unintelligent.
17. As these bright worlds appear to roll about as eggs in their
spheres, so there are multitudes of other orbs, shining in every atom
in the universe.
18. As we see curved pillars, consisting of figures under figures, and
those again under others; so is the grand pillar of the universe,
composed of systems under systems to no end.
19. As the sands on a rock, are separably attached to it, and are
countless in their number; so the orbs in the three worlds, are as
particles of dust in mountainous body of Brahmá.
20. It may be possible to count the particles of ray scattered in the
sun-beams; but it is impossible to number the atoms of light, which are
emanating from the great sun of Brahmá.
21. As the sun scatters the particles of his light, on the sparkling
waters and sands of the sea; so does the Intellect of God, disperse the
atoms of its light all over the vacuity of the universe.
22. As the notion of vacuity fills the mind, with the idea of the
visible firmament; so the thought of creation, as self-same with Brahmá,
gives us the notion of his intellectual sphere.
23. To understand the creation as something different from Brahma,
leads man apart from Him; but to take it as synonymous with Brahma,
leads him to his felicity.
24. The enlightened soul, freed from its knowledge of the mundane seed,
and knowing Brahma alone as the plenum filling the vacuum of intellect;
knows the knowable (God) in his inward understanding, as the same with
what has proceeded from him.
CHAPTER IV.
TREATING OF THE GERM OF EXISTENCE.
Argument. Sensations and Perceptions, as the Roots of the knowledge of
Existence: suppression of these annuls all existence, and removes the
visibles from view.
Vasishtha said:—It is the overthrow of the battery of the senses, that
supplies us with a bridge over the ocean of the world; there is no
other act, whereby we may cross over it (to the other shore of truth).
2. Acquaintance with the sástras, association with the good and wise,
and practice of the virtues, are the means whereby the rational and
self-controlled man, may come to know the absolute negation of the
visibles.
3. I have thus told you, O handsome Ráma! of the causes of the
appearance and disappearance of the creation, resembling the heaving
and resting of the waves of the sea of the world.
4. There is no need of a long discourse to tell you that, the mind is
the germ of the arbour of acts, and this germ being nipped in the
beginning, prevents the growth of the tree, and frustrates the doing of
acts, which are the fruits thereof.
5. The mind is all (_i.e._ the agent of all actions); therefore it is,
that by the healing of your heart and mind, you can cure all the
troubles and diseases, you may incur in the world.
6. The minds of men are ever troubled, with their thoughts of the world
and bodily actions; but these being deadened and defunct, we see
neither the body nor the outer world.
7. The negation of the outer world, and the suppression of the inner
thoughts, serve to curb the demon of the mind, by practice of
self-abnegation for a long period of time.
8. It is possible to heal the inward disease of the internal mind, by
administration of this best and only medicine of negation of the
external world. (Ignoring the outer world, is the only way to restore
the peace of the mind).
9. It is because of its thoughts, that the mind is subjected to the
errors of its birth and death; and to those of its being bound to or
liberated from, the bonds of the body and this world.
10. The mind being deluded by its thoughts, sees the worlds shining
before it; as a man sees in his delusion, the imaginary city of the
Gandharvas, drawn before him in empty air.
11. All these visible worlds consist in the mind, wherein they seem to
exist as the fragrance of the air, consists in the cluster of flowers
containing the essence.
12. The little particle of the mind contains the world, as a small
grain of sesamum contains the oil, and as an attribute is contained in
its subject, and a property abiding in the substance.
13. The world abides in the mind in the same manner, as the sun-beams
abide in the sun, and as brightness consists in the light, and as the
heat is contained in fire.
14. The mind is the reservoir of the worlds, as the snow is the
receptacle of coldness. It is the substratum of all existence, as the
sky is that of emptiness, and as velocity is inherent in the wind.
15. Therefore the mind is the same with the world, and the world is
identic with the mind; owing to their intimate and inseparable
connection with one another. The world however is lost by the loss of
the mind; but the mind is not lost by destruction of the world.
(Because the thoughts thereof are imprinted in the mind).
CHAPTER V.
STORY OF BHÁRGAVA.
Argument. Meditation of Bhrigu, Ramblings of Sukra. His sight of and
amour for an aerial nymph.
Ráma said:—Tell me sir, that knowest all truths, and art best
acquainted with all that is past and is to come, how the form of the
world is so vividly existed in the mind.
2. Please Sir, explain to me by some illustration, how this world,
appears as a visible object to the inner mind.
3. Vasishtha replied:—The world is situated as truly in the minds of
men, as it appeared in its firm and compact state to the bodiless son
of Indu (I have related long before).
4. It is situated in the same manner in the minds of men, as the
thought of king Lavana’s transformation of himself to a chandála, under
the influence of sorcery.
5. It is in the same manner, as Bhárgava believed himself to be
possessed of all worldly gratifications. Because true bliss has much
more relation to the mind, than to earthly possessions.
6. Ráma said:—How is it Sir, that the son of Bhrigu came to the
enjoyment of earthly pleasures, when he had been longing for the
fruition of heavenly felicity.
7. Vasishtha replied:—Attend now Ráma, to my narration of the history
of Bhrigu and Kála, whereby you will know how he came to the possession
of earthly enjoyments.
8. There is a table-land of the Mandara mountain, which is beset by
rows of tamála trees, with beautiful arbours of flowers under them.
9. Here the sage Bhrigu conducted his arduous devotion in olden times
and it was in this place, that his high-minded and valiant son Sukra,
also came to perform his devotion.
10. Sukra was as handsome as the moon, and radiant with his brilliant
beams (like the sun). He took his seat in that happy grove of Bhrigu,
for the purpose of his devotion.
11. Having long sat in that grove under the umbrage of a rock, Sukra
removed himself to the flowery beds and fair plains below.
12. He roved freely about the bowers of Mandara in his youthful sport,
and became revered among the wise and ignorant men of the place.
13. He roved there at random like Trisanku, between the earth and sky;
sometimes playing about as a boy, and at others sitting in fixed
meditation as his father.
14. He remained without any anxiety in his solitude, as a king who has
subdued his enemy; until he happened to behold an Apsara fairy,
traversing in her aerial journey.
15. He beheld her with the eyes of Hari, fixed upon his Lakshmí, as she
skims over the watery plain, decked with her wreaths of Mandara
flowers, and her tresses waving loosely with the playful air.
16. Her trinkets jingling with her movements, and the fragrance of her
person perfuming the winds of the air; her fairy form was as beautiful
as a creeping plant, and her eyeballs rolling as in the state of
intoxication.
17. The moon-beams of her body, shed their ambrosial dews over the
landscape, which bewitched the hard-heart of the young devotee, as he
beheld the fairy form before him.
18. She also with her body shining as the fair full-moon, and shaking
as the wave of the sea, became enamoured of Sukra as she looked at his
face.
19. Sukra then checked the impulse of his mind, which the god of love
had raised after her; but losing all his power over himself, he became
absorbed in the thought of his beloved object.
CHAPTER VI.
ELYSIUM OF BHÁRGAVA.
Argument. Sukra’s imaginary journey to heaven, and his reception by
Indra.
Vasishtha said:—Henceforth Sukra continued to think of the nymph with
his closed eye-lids, and indulge himself in his reverie of an imaginary
kingdom.
2. He thought that the nymph was passing in the air, to the paradise of
Indra—the god with thousand eyes; and that he followed her closely,
to the happy regions of the celestial gods.
3. He thought, he saw before him the gods, decorated with their
chaplets of beautiful _mandara_ blossoms on their heads, and with
garlands of flowers pendant on their persons resplendent as liquid gold.
4. He seemed to see the heavenly damsels with their eyes as
blue-lotuses, regaling the eyes of their spectators; and others with
their eyes as beautiful as those of antelopes, sporting with their
sweet smiles all about (the garden of paradise).
5. He saw also the Marutas or gods of winds, bearing the fragrance of
flowers, and breathing their sweet scent on one another; and resembling
the omnipresent Viswarúpa by their ubiquitous journey.
6. He heard the sweet hum of bees, giddy with the perfumed ichor,
exuding from the proboscis of Indra’s elephant; and listened to the
sweet strains, sung by the chorus of the heavenly choir.
7. There were the swans and storks, gabbling in the lakes, with lotuses
of golden hue in them; and there were the celestial gods reposing in
the arbours, beside the holy stream of the heavenly Gangá (Mandákiní).
8. These were the gods Yama and Indra, and the sun and moon, and the
deities of fire and the winds; and there were the regents of the
worlds, whose shining bodies shaded the lustre of vivid fire.
9. On one side was the warlike elephant of Indra—(Airávata), with the
scratches of the demoniac weapons on his face (proboscis), and tusks
gory with the blood of the defeated hosts of demons.
10. Those who were translated from earth to heaven in the form of
luminous stars, were roving in their aerial vehicles, blazing with
aureate beams of the shining sun.
11. The gods were washed by the showers, falling from the peaks of Meru
below, and the waves of the Ganges, rolled on with scattered _mandara_
flowers floating on them.
12. The alleys of Indra’s groves, were tinged with saffron, by heaps of
the dust of _mandara_ flowers; and were trodden by groups of Apsara
lasses, sporting wantonly upon them.
13. There were the gentle breezes blowing among the _párijáta_ plants,
brightening as moon-beams in the sacred bowers; and wafting the
fragrant honey, from the cups of _Kunda_ and _mandara_ blossoms.
14. The pleasure garden of Indra, was crowded by heavenly damsels; who
were besmeared with the frosty farina of _kēsara_ flowers, mantling
them like the creepers of the grove in their yellow robes.
15. Here were the heavenly nymphs dancing in their gaiety, at the tune
of the songs of their lovers; and there were heavenly musicians Nárada
and Tamburu, joining their vocal music in unison with the melody of the
wired instruments of the lute and lyre (Vallakikákali).
16. Holy men and the pious and virtuous, were seen to soar high in
their heavenly cars, and sitting there with their decorations of
various kinds.
17. The amorous damsels of the gods, were clinging round their god
Indra: as the tender creepers of the garden, twine about the trees
beside them.
18. There were the fruit trees of _gulunchas_, studded with clusters of
their ripening fruits; and resembling the gemming sapphires and rubies,
and set as rows of ivory teeth.
19. After all these sights, Sukra thought of making his obeisance to
Indra, who was seated on his seat like another Brahmá—the creator of
the three worlds.
20. Having thought so, Sukra bowed down to Indra in his own mind, as he
was the second Bhrigu in heaven—(_i.e._ He bowed to him with a
veneration equal to that he paid to his father).
21. Indra received him with respect, and having lifted him up with his
hand, made him sit by himself.
22. Indra addressed him saying:—I am honoured, Sukra! by thy call, and
this heaven of mine is graced by thy presence, may thou live long to
enjoy the pleasure of this place.
23. Indra then sat in his seat with a graceful countenance, which shone
with the lustre of the unspotted full-moon.
24. Sukra being thus seated by the side of Indra, was saluted by all
the assembled gods of heaven; and he continued to enjoy every felicity
there, by being received with paternal affection by the lord of gods
and men.
CHAPTER VII.
RE-UNION OF THE LOVERS.
Argument. Sukra sees his beloved in heaven, and is joined to her at
that place.
Vasishtha said:—Thus Sukra being got among the gods in the celestial
city, forgot his former nature, without his passing through the pangs
of death.
2. Having halted awhile by the side of the Sachi’s consort (Indra), he
rose up to roam about the paradise, by being charmed with all its
various beauties.
3. He looked with rapture on the beauty of his own person, and longed
to see the lovely beauties of heavenly beings, as the swan is eager to
meet the lotuses of the lake.
4. He saw his beloved one among them in the garden of Indra’s Eden
(udyána), with her eyes like those of a young fawn; and with a stature
as delicate as that of a tender creeper of the _Amra_ (amarynthus).
5. She also beheld the son of Bhrigu, and lost her government on
herself; and was thus observed by him also in all her indications of
amorous feelings.
6. His whole frame was dissolved in affection for her, like the
moonstone melting under the moonbeams; so was hers likewise in
tenderness for him.
7. He like the moonstone was soothed by her cooling beauty, beaming as
moonlight in the sky; and she also being beheld by him, was entirely
subdued by her love to him.
8. At night they bewailed as chakravákas (ruddy geese), at their
separation from one another, and were filled with delight on their
mutual sight at the break of the day (which unites the Chakraváka pair
together).
9. They were both as beautiful to behold, as the sun and the opening
blossom of the lotus at morn; and their presence added a charm to the
garden of paradise, which promised to confer their desired bliss.
10. She committed her subdued-self to the mercy of the god of love, who
in his turn darted his arrows relentless on her tender heart.
11. She was covered all over her person with the shafts of cupid, as
when the lotus blossom is hid under a swarm of fleeting bees; and
became as disordered as the leaves of the lotus, are disturbed under a
shower of rain drops.
12. She fluttered at the gentle breath of the playful winds, like the
tender filaments of flowers; and moved as graceful as the swan, with
her eyes as bluish as those of the leaflets of blue-lotuses.
13. She was deranged in her person by the god of love, as the lotus-bed
is put into disorder by the mighty elephant; and was beheld in that
plight by her lover (Sukra), in the flight of his fancy.
14. At last the shade of night overspread the landscape of the heavenly
paradise, as if the god of destruction (Rudra) was advancing to bury
the world under universal gloom.
15. A deep darkness overspread the face of the earth, and covered it in
thick gloom; like the regions of the polar mountains; where the
hot-blazing-sun is obscured by the dark shade of perpetual night, as if
hiding his face in shame under the dark veil of Cimmerian gloom.
16. The loving pair met together in the midst of the grove, when the
assembled crowds of the place, retired to their respective habitations
in different directions.
17. Then the love-smitten-dame approached her lover with her sidelong
glances, as a bird of air alights from her aerial flight in the
evening, to meet with her mate on the earth below.
18. She advanced towards the son of Bhrigu, as a peahen comes out to
meet the rising cloud; and thought she beheld there a white washed
edifice, with a couch placed in the midst.
19. Bhárgava entered the white hall, as when Vishnu enters into hoary
sea, accompanied by his beloved Lakshmí; who held him by the hand with
her down-cast countenance.
20. She graced his person, as the lotus-stalk graces the bosom of the
elephant; and then spoke to him sweetly with her words mixed with
tender affection.
21. She told him in a sweet and delightsome speech fraught with
expressions of endearment: Behold, O my moon-faced lover! I see the
curve of thy bow as a bow bent for my destruction.
22. Cupid is thence darting his arrows to destroy this lovelorn maid;
therefore protect me from him, that am so helpless and have come under
thy protection from his rage.
23. Know my good friend, that it is the duty of good people, to relieve
the wretched from their distress; and those that do not look upon them
with a compassionate eye, are reckoned as the basest of men.
24. Love is never vilified by those, who are acquainted with erotics;
because the true love of faithful lovers, have endured to the last
without any fear of separation.
25. Know my dear, that the delightful draught of love, defies the dewy
beams distilled by the moon; and the sovereignty of the three worlds,
is never so pleasing to the soul, as the love of the beloved.
26. I derive the same bliss from the touch of thy feet, as it attends
on mutual lovers on their first attachment to one another.
27. I live by the nectarious draught of thy touch, as the _kumuda_
blooms by night, imbibing the ambrosial beams of the moon.
28. As the fluttering Chakora, is delighted with drinking the
moonbeams, so is this suppliant at thy feet, blessed by the touch of
the leaf-like palm of thy hand.
29. Embrace me now to thy bosom, which is filled with ambrosial bliss.
Saying so, the damsel fell upon his bosom with her body soft as a
flower, and her eyes turning as a leaflet at the gentle breeze.
30. The loving pair fell into their trance of love in that happy grove,
as a couple of playful bees creeps into the lotus cup, under the fair
filaments of the flower, shaking by the gentle breeze.
CHAPTER VIII.
TRANSMIGRATIONS OF SUKRA.
Argument. Sukra fancies his fall from heaven, and passing through many
imaginary births.
Vasishtha related:—Thus the son of Bhrigu, believed himself to be in
the enjoyment of heavenly pleasures, in his ideal reveries.
2. He thought of enjoying the company of his beloved, bedecked with
garlands of _mandara_ flowers, and inebriated with the drink of
ambrosial draughts, like the full-moon accompanied by the evening star.
3. He roved about the ideal lake of heaven (Mánas Sarovara), filled
with golden lotuses, and frequented by the giddy swans and gabbling
geese or hansas of heaven; and roamed beside the bank of the celestial
river (Mandákiní), in company with the choristers (cháranas, and
Kinnaras of paradise).
4. He drank the sweet nectarious juice beaming as moonbeams in company
with the gods; and reposed under the arbours of the groves, formed by
the shaking branches of _párijáta_ plants.
5. He amused himself with his favourite Vidyádharís, in swinging
himself in the hanging cradles, formed by the shady creepers of the
arbour, and screening him from the vernal sunbeams.
6. The parterres of Nandana gardens were trodden down under the feet of
the fellow followers of Siva, as when the ocean was churned by the
_Mandara_ mountain.
7. The tender weeds and willows growing as golden shrubberies, and
tangled bushes in the beach of the river, were trampled under the legs
of heated elephants, as when they infest the lotus lakes on Meru.
(_i.e._ Lotuses growing in the lakes of mountainous regions).
8. Associated by his sweet-heart, he passed the moonlight nights in the
forest groves of Kailása, attending to the songs and music of heavenly
choristers.
9. Roaming on the table-lands of Gandhamádana mountain, he decorated
his beloved with lotus-garlands from her head to foot.
10. He roved with her to the polar mountain which is full of wonders,
as having darkness on one side and lighted on the other. Here they
sported together with their tender smiles and fond caresses and embrace.
11. He thought he remained in a celestial abode beside the marshy lands
of Mandara, for a period of full sixty years; and passed his time in
the company of the fauna of the place.
12. He believed he passed half a _yuga_ with his helpmate, on the
border of the milky ocean, and associated with the maritime people and
islanders of that ocean.
13. He next thought to live in a garden at the city of the Gandharvas,
where he believed to have lived for an immeasurable period like the
genius of Time himself, who is the producer of an infinity of worlds.
14. He was again translated to the celestial seat of Indra, where he
believed to have resided for many cycles of the quadruple _yuga_ ages
with his mistress.
15. It was at the end of the merit of their acts that they were doomed
to return on earth, shorn of their heavenly beauty and the fine
features of their persons.
16. Being deprived of his heavenly seat and vehicle, and bereft of his
godlike form and features; Sukra was overcome by deep sorrow, like a
hero falling in the field of warfare.
17. His great grief at his fall from heaven to earth, broke his frame
as it were into a hundred fragments; like a waterfall falling on the
stony ground, and breaking into a hundred rills below.
18. They with their emaciated bodies and sorrowful minds, wandered
about in the air, like birds without their nest.
19. Afterwards their disembodied minds entered into the net-work of
lunar beams, and then in the form of molten frost or rain water, they
grew the vegetables on earth.
20. Some of these vegetables were concocted, and then eaten by a
Bráhman in the land of Dasárna or confluence of the ten streams. The
substance of Sukra was changed to the semen of the Bráhman, and then
conceived as a son by his wife.
21. The boy was trained up in the society of the munis to the practice
of rigorous austerities, and he dwelt in the forests of Meru for a
whole _manwantara_, observant of his holy rites.
22. There he gave birth to a male child of human figure in a doe (to
which his mistress was transformed in her next birth), and became
exceedingly fond of the boy, to the neglect of his sacred duties.
23. He constantly prayed for the long life, wealth and learning of his
darling, and thus forsook the constancy of his faith and reliance in
Providence. (Longevity, prosperity and capacity for learning, are the
triple blessings of civil life, instead of austerity, purity and
self-resignation of painful asceticism).
24. Thus his falling off from the thought of heaven, to those of the
earthly aggrandizement of his son, made his shortened life an easy prey
to death, as the inhaling of air by the serpent. (It is said that the
serpent lives upon air, which it takes in freely in want of any other
food).
25. His worldly thoughts having vitiated his understanding, caused him
to be reborn as the son of the Madra king, and succeed to him in the
kingdom of the Madras (Madura-Madras).
26. Having long reigned in his kingdom of Madras by extirpation of all
his enemies, he was overtaken at last by old age, as the lotus-flower
is stunted by the frost.
27. The king of Madras, was released of his kingly person by his desire
of asceticism; whereby he became the son of an anchorite in next-birth,
in order to perform his austerities.
28. He retired to the bank of the meandering river of the Ganges, and
there betook himself to his devotion; being devoid of all his worldly
anxieties and cares.
29. Thus the son of Bhrigu, having passed in various forms in his
successive births, according to the desires of his heart; remained at
last as a fixed arbour on the bank of a running stream.
CHAPTER IX.
DESCRIPTION OF SUKRA’S BODY.
Argument. The departed spirit of Sukra, remembers the state of its
former body.
Vasishtha related:—As Sukra was indulging his reveries in this manner,
he passed insensibly under the flight of a series of years, which
glided upon him in the presence of his father.
2. At last his arboraceous body withered away with age, under the
inclement sun and winds and rain; and it fell down on the ground as a
tree torn from its roots.
3. In all his former births, his mind thirsted after fresh pleasures
and enjoyments; as a stag hunts after fresh verdure from forest to
forest.
4. He underwent repeated births and deaths, in his wanderings in the
world in search of its enjoyments; and seemed as some thing whirled
about in a turning mill or wheel; till at last he found his rest in the
cooling beach of the rivulet.
5. Now the disembodied spirit of Sukra, remained to reflect on his past
transmigrations, in all the real and ideal forms of his imagination.
6. It thought of its former body on the Mandara mountain, and how it
was reduced to a skeleton of mere bones and skin by the heat of the sun
and his austerities (_i.e._ of the five fires _pancha-tapas_ of his
penance).
7. It remembered how the wind instrument of its lungs, breathed out the
joyous music of its exemption from the pain of action (to which all
other men were subjected). (It refers to the breathing of _so-ham
hamsah_ in yoga, which is the sweet music of salvation).
8. Seeing how the mind is plunged in the pit of worldly cares, the body
seems to laugh at it, by showing the white teeth of the mouth in
derision.
9. The cavity of the mouth, the sockets of the eyes, the nostrils and
ear-holes in the open face, are all expressive of the hollowness of
human and heavenly bodies (_i.e._ they are all hollow within, though
they seem to be solid without).
10. The body sheds the tears of its eyes in sorrow for its past pains
and austerities, as the sky rains after its excessive heat to cool the
earth.
11. The body was refreshed by the breeze and moon-beams, as the
woodlands are renovated by cooling showers in the rainy season.
12. It remembered how its body was washed on the banks of mountain
rills, by the water-falls from above, and how it was daubed by the
flying dust and the dirt of sin.
13. It was as naked as a withered tree, and rustling to the air with
the breeze; yet it withstood the keen blasts of winter as unshaken
devotion in person.
14. The faded face, the withered lungs and arteries, and the skinny
belly, resembled those of the goddess of famine, that cried aloud in
the forest, in the howlings of the wild beasts.
15. Yet the holy person of the hermit was unhurt by envious animals,
owing to its freedom from passions and feelings, and its fervent
devotion; and was not devoured by rapacious beasts and birds.
16. The body of Bhrigu’s son was thus weakened by his abstinence and
self-denial, and his mind was employed in holy devotion, as his body
lay prostrate on the bed of stones.
CHAPTER X.
BHRIGU’S CONFERENCE WITH KÁLA OR DEATH.
Argument. Bhrigu’s grief at seeing the death-like body of his son.
Vasishtha continued:—After the lapse of a thousand years, the great
Bhrigu rose from his holy trance (anaesthesia); and was disengaged in
his mind from its meditation of God, as in a state of suspension or
syncope of his holy meditations.
2. He did not find his son lowly bending down his head before him, the
son who was the leader of the army of virtues, and who was the
personified figure of all merits.
3. He only beheld his body, lying as a skeleton before him, as it was
wretchedness or poverty personified in that shape.
4. The skin of his body was dried by the sun, and his nostrils snoring
as a hooping bird; and the inner entrails of his belly, were sounding
as dry leather-pipes with the croaking of frogs.
5. The sockets of his eyes, were filled with new-born worms grown in
them; and the bones of his ribs had become as bars of a cage, with the
thin skin over them resembling the spider’s web.
6. The dry and white skeleton of the body, resembled the desire of
fruition, which bends it to the earth, to undergo all the favourable
and unfavourable accidents of life.
7. The crown of the head had become as white and smooth (by its
baldness or grey hairs), as the phallus of Siva anointed with camphor,
at the _Indu-varcha_ ceremony in honor of the moon.
8. The withered head erected on the bony neckbone, likened the soul
supported by the body:—(either to lead or be led by it).
9. The nose was shriveled to a dry stalk, for want of its flesh; and
the nose-bone stood as a post, dividing the two halves of the face.
10. The face standing erect on the protruded shoulders on both sides,
was looking forward in the womb of the vacuous sky, whither the vital
breath had fled from the body.
11. The two legs, thighs, knees and the two arms (forming the eight
_angas_ or members of the body), had been doubled in their length (for
their long etherial course); and lay slackened with fatigue of the long
journey.
12. The leanness of the belly like a _lath_, showed by its shriveled
flesh and skin, the empty inside of the ignorant: (_i.e._ they may be
puffed up with pride on the outside, but are all hollow in the inside).
13. Bhrigu seeing the withered skeleton of his son, lying as the
worn-out post (to which the elephant was tied by its feet), made his
reflections as said before, and rose from his seat.
14. He then began to dubitate in his mind, at the sight of the dead
body, as to whether it could be the lifeless carcass of his son or any
other.
15. Thinking it no other than the dead body of his son, he became sore
angry upon the god of death (that had untimely taken him away).
16. He was prepared to pronounce his imprecation against the god of
fate, in vengeance of his snatching his son so prematurely from him.
17. At this _Yama_—the regent of death, and devourer of living beings,
assumed his figurative form of a material body, and appeared in an
instant before the enraged father.
18. He appeared in armour with six arms and as many faces, accompanied
by the army of his adherents, and holding the noose and sword and other
weapons in his hands. (The commentary ascribes a dozen of arms to
_Yama_, by the number of the twelve months of the year, and having half
of the number on either side, according to the six signs of the zodiac
in either hemisphere. The six faces are representative of the six
seasons of Hindu astronomy instead of four of other nations).
19. The rays of light radiating from his body, gave it the appearance
of a hill, filled with heaps of the crimson _kinsuka_ flowers, growing
in mountain forests.
20. The rays of the living fire flashing from his trident gave it the
glare of golden ringlets, fastened to the ears of all the sides of the
sky.
21. The breath of his host, hurled down the ridges of mountains, which
hung about them, like swinging cradles on earth.
22. His sable sword flashing with sombre light, darkened the disk of
the sun; as it were by the smoke of the final conflagration of the
earth.
23. Having appeared before the great sage, who was enraged as the
raging sea, he soothed him to calmness as after a storm, by the gentle
breath of his speech.
24. “The sages” said he, “are acquainted with the laws of nature, and
know the past and future as present before them. They are never moved
even with a motive to anything, and are far from being moved without a
cause.
25. “You sages are observers of the multifarious rules of religions
austerities, and we are observant of the endless and immutable laws of
destiny; we honour you therefore for your holiness, and not from any
other desire (of being blessed by you or exempted from your curse).”
26. Do not belie your righteousness by your rage, nor think to do us
any harm, who are spared unhurt by the flames of final dissolution, and
cannot be consumed by your curses.
27. We have destroyed the spheres of the universe and devoured legions
of Rudras, millions of Brahmás and myriads of Vishnus (in the repeated
revolutions of creation); what is it therefore that we cannot do?
28. We are appointed as devourers of all beings; and you are destined
to be devoured by us. This is ordained by destiny herself, and not by
any act of our own will.
29. It is the nature of flame to ascend upwards, and that of fluids to
flow downward; it is destined for the food to be fed upon by its
eaters, and that creation must come under its destruction by us.
30. Know this form of mine to be that of the Supreme Being, whose
universal spirit acts in various forms, all over the universe.
31. To the unstained (clear) sight, there is no other agent or object
here, except the supreme; but the stained sight (of the clear eyed),
views many agents and objects (beside the one in all).
32. Agency and objectivity are terms, coined only by the short sighted;
but they disappear before the enlarged view of the wise.
33. As flowers grow upon trees, so are animals born on earth; their
growth and birth, as also their fall and death, are of their own
spontaneity, and miscalled as their causality.
34. As the motion of the moon is caused by no casual cause, though they
falsely attribute a causality to it; such is the course of death in the
world of its own spontaneous nature.
35. The mind is falsely said to be the agent of all its enjoyments in
life; though it is no agent of itself. It is a misbelief like the false
conception of a serpent in the rope, where there is no serpent at all.
36. Therefore, O sage! allow not yourself to be so angry for your
sorrow; but consider in its true light, the course of events that
befall on humankind.
37. We were not actuated by desire of fame, nor influenced by pride or
passion to any act; but are ourselves subject to the destiny, which
predominates over all our actions.
38. Knowing that the course of our conduct, is subject to the destiny
appointed by the Divine will, the wise never allow themselves to be
subjected under the darkness of pride or passion, at our doings.
39. That our duties only should be done at all times, is the rule laid
down by the wise creator; and you cannot attempt to remove it by your
subjection to ignorance and idleness.
40. Where is that enlightened sight, that gravity and that patience of
yours, that you grovel in this manner in the dark like the blind, and
slide from the broad and beaten path laid open for every body? (This
path is submission to what is destined by the Divine will, according to
the common prayer: “Let not mine, but thy will be done”).
41. Why don’t you consider your case as the sequence of your own acts,
and why then do you, who are a wise man, falsely accuse me like the
ignorant; (as the cause of what is ordained by the Supreme cause of all!)
42. You know that all living beings have two bodies here, of which one
is known as the intellectual or spiritual body or mind.
43. The other is the inert or corporeal frame, which is fragile and
perishable. But the minute thing of the mind which lasts until its
liberation, is what leads all to their good or evil desires.
44. As the skilful charioteer guides his chariot with care, so is this
body conducted by the intelligent mind, with equal attention and
fondness.
45. But the ignorant mind which is prone to evil, destroys the goodly
body; as little children break their dolls of clay in sport.
46. The mind is hence called the _purusha_ or regent of the body, and
the working of the mind is taken for the act of the man. It is bound to
the earth by its desires, and freed by its freedom from earthly
attractions and expectations.
47. That is called the mind which thinks in itself, “this is my body
which is so situated here, and these are the members of my body and
this my head.”
48. The mind is called life, for its having the living principle in it;
and the same is one and identic with the understanding. It becomes
egoism by its consciousness, and so the same mind passes under various
designations, according to its different functions.
49. It has the name of the heart from the affections of the body, and
so it takes many other names at will (according to its divers
operations). But the earthly bodies are all perishable.
50. When the mind receives the light of truth, it is called the
enlightened intellect, which being freed from its thoughts relating to
the body, is set to its supreme felicity.
51. Thus the mind of your son, wandered from your presence, as you sat
absorbed in meditation, to regions far and wide in the ways of its
various desires. (_i.e._ His body was before thee, but his mind was led
afar by its inward desires).
52. He having left this body of his behind him, in the mountain cave of
Mandara, fled to the celestial region, as a bird flies from his nest to
the open air.
53. This mind got into the city of the tutelar gods, and remained in a
part of the garden of Eden (Nandana), in the happy groves of Mandara,
and under the bower of _párijáta_ flowers.
54. There he thought he passed a revolution of eight cycles of the four
_yugas_, in company with _Viswáchí_ a beauteous Apsara damsel, unto
whom he clung as the hexaped bee clings to the blooming lotus.
55. But as his strong desire led him to the happy regions of his
imagination, so he had his fall from them at the end of his desert,
like the nightly dew falling from heaven.
56. He faded away in his body and all his limbs, like a flower attached
to the ear or head ornament; and fell down together with his beloved
one, like the ripened fruits of trees.
57. Being bereft of his aerial and celestial body, he passed through
the atmospheric air, and was born again on earth in a human figure.
58. He had become a Bráhman in the land of Dasárná, and then a king of
the city of Kosala. He became a hunter in a great forest, and then a
swan on the bank of Ganges.
59. He became a king of the solar race, and then a rája of the Pundras,
and afterwards a missionary among the Sauras and Sálwas. He next became
a Vidyádhara, and lastly the son of a sage or _muni_.
60. He had become a ruler in Madras, and then the son of a devotee,
bearing the name of Vásudeva, and living on the bank of Samangá.
61. Your son has also passed many other births, which he was led to by
his desire; and he had likewise to undergo some _itara-janma_
heterogeneous births in lower animals.
62. He had repeatedly been a Kiráta—huntsman in the Vindhyá hills and
at Kaikatav. He was a chieftain in Sauvíra, and had become an ass at
Trigarta.
63. He grew as a bamboo tree in the land of Keralas, and as a deer in
the skirts of China. He became a serpent on a palm tree, and a cock on
the tamála tree.
64. This son of yours had been skilled in incantations—mantras, and
propagated them in the land of Vidyádharas. (So called from their skill
in enchantments).
65. Then he became a Vidyádhara (Jadugar) or magician himself; and
plied his jugglery of abstracting ornaments from the persons of females.
66. He became a favourite of females, as the sun is dear to
lotus-flowers; and being as handsome as Káma (Cupid) in his person, he
become a favourite amongst Vidyádhara damsels in the land of Gandharvas.
67. At the end of the kalpa age (of universal destruction), he beheld
the twelve suns of the zodiac shining at once before him, and he was
reduced to ashes by their warmth, as a grasshopper is burnt up by its
falling on fire.
68. Finding no other world nor body where he could enter (upon the
extinction of the universe), his spirit roved about in the empty air,
as a bird soars on high without its nest.
69. After the lapse of a long time, as Brahmá awoke again from his long
night of repose, and commenced anew his creation of the world in all
its various forms:—
70. The roving spirit of your son was led by its desire, as if it was
propelled by a gust of wind, to become a Bráhman again, and to be
reborn as such on this earth.
71. He was born as the boy of a Bráhman, under the name of Vásudeva,
and was taught in all the Srutis, among the intelligent and learned men
of the place.
72. It is in this _kalpa_ age that he has become a Vidyádhara again,
and betaken himself to the performance of his devotion on the bank of
Samangá, where he is sitting still in his yoga meditation.
73. Thus his desire for the varieties of worldly appearances, has led
him to various births, amidst the woods and forests in the womb of this
earth, covered with jungles of the thorny khadira, karanja and other
bushes and brambles.
CHAPTER XI.
CAUSE OF THE PRODUCTION OF THE WORLD.
Argument. Yama’s narration of Sukra’s meditation, and his inclination
to worldliness.
Yama continued:—Your son is still engaged in his rigorous austerities
on the bank of the rivulet, rolling with its loud waves on the beach,
and the winds blowing and howling from all sides.
2. He has been sitting still in his firm devotion, with matted braids
of hair on his head; and beads of _rudráksha_ seeds in his hand; and
controuling the members of his body from their going astray.
3. If you wish, O venerable sage! to know the reveries in his mind, you
shall have to open your intellectual eye, in order to pry into the
thoughts of others.
4. Vasishtha said:—Saying so, Yama the lord of world, who sees all at
one view, made the Muni to dive into the thoughts of his son with his
intellectual eye.
5. The sage immediately saw by his percipience, all the excogitations
of his son’s mind; as if they were reflected in the mirror of his own
mind.
6. Having seen the mind of his son in his own mind, the _muni_ returned
from the bank of Samangá to his own body on mount Mandara, where it was
left in its sitting posture, in the presence of Yama (during the
wandering of his mind).
7. Surprised at what he saw, the sage looked upon Yama with a smile;
and dispassionate as he was, he spoke to the god in the following soft
and dispassionate words.
8. O god, that art the lord of the past and future! we are but ignorant
striplings before thee; whose brilliant insight views at once, the
three times presented before it.
9. The knowledge of the existence of the world, whether it is a real
entity or not, is the source of all errors of the wisest of men, by its
varying forms and fluctuations.
10. It is thou, O potent god! that knowest what is inside this world;
while to us it presents its outward figure, in the shape of a magic
scene only.
11. I knew very well, that my son is not subject to death; and
therefore I was struck with wonder, to behold him lying as a dead body.
12. Thinking the imperishable soul of my son, to be snatched by death;
I was led to the vile desire, of cursing thee on his untimely demise.
13. For though we know the course of things in the world; yet we are
subjected to the impulses of joy and grief, owing to the casualties of
prosperity and adversity.
14. Moreover, to be angry with wrong doers, and to be pleased with
those that act rightly, have become the general rule in the course of
the world.
15. So long do we labour under the sense of what is our duty, and what
we must refrain from, as we are subject to the error of the reality of
the world; but deliverance from this error, removes all such
responsibilities from us.
16. When we fret at death, without understanding its intention (that it
is intended only for our good); we are of course blamable for it.
17. I am now made to be acquainted by thee, regarding the thoughts of
my son; and am enabled also to see the whole scene on the bank of
Samangá (by thy favour).
18. Of the two bodies of men, the mind alone is ubiquitous, and leader
of the outer body of animated beings. The mind therefore is the true
body, which reflects and makes us conscious of the existence of
ourselves, as also of the exterior world.
19. Yama replied:—You have rightly said, O Bráhman! that the mind is
the true body of man. It is the mind that moulds the body according to
its will, as the potter makes the pot _ad libitum_ (_ex suo moto_).
20. It frames a form and gives a feature to the person, that it had not
before; and destroys one in existence in a moment. It is the
imagination that gives an image to airy nothing, as children see ghosts
before them in the dark. (The mind changes the features of the face and
body, and views things according to its own fancy).
21. Its power to create apparent realities out of absolute unreality,
is well known to every body, in his dream and delirium, in his
misconceptions and fallacies and all kinds of error; as the sight of
magic cities and talismans.
22. It is from reliance in visual sight, that men consider it as the
principal body, and conceive the mind as a secondary or supplementary
part.
23. It was the (Divine) mind, that formed the world from its thought;
wherefore the phenomenal is neither a substance by itself (as it
subsists in the mind); nor is it nothing (being in existence in us).
Gloss. It is therefore undefinable—_anirvachaníya_.
24. The mind is part of the body, and spreads itself in its thoughts
and desires into many forms; as the branch of a tree shoots forth in
its blossoms and leaves. And as we see two moons by optical deception,
so does one mind appear as many in many individuals (and as different
in different persons).
25. It is from the variety of its desires, that the mind perceives and
produces varieties of things, as pots and pictures and the
like—_ghatapatádi_. (Hence the mind is the maker of all things).
26. The same mind thinks itself as many by the diversity of its
thoughts; such as:—“I am weak, I am poor, I am ignorant and the like;”
(all which serve to liken the mind to the object constantly thought
upon).
27. The thought, that I am none of the fancied forms which I feign to
myself, but of that form from whence I am, causes the mind to be one
with the everlasting Brahma, by divesting it of the thoughts of all
other things.
28. All things springing from Brahma, sink at last in him; as the huge
waves of the wide and billowy ocean, rise but to subside in its calm
and undisturbed waters below.
29. They sink in the Supreme Spirit, resembling one vast body of pure
and transparent, cold and sweet water; and like a vast mine of
brilliant gems of unfailing effulgence.
30. One thinking himself as a little billow, diminishes his soul to
littleness. (He who bemeans himself, becomes mean).
31. But one believing himself as a large wave, enlarges his spirit to
greatness. (Nobleness of mind, ennobles a man).
32. He who thinks himself as a little being, and fallen from above to
suffer in the nether world; is born upon earth in the form he took for
his pattern.
33. But he who thinks himself to be born to greatness, and rises
betimes by his energy; becomes as big as a hill, and shines with the
lustre of rich gems growing upon it.
34. He rests in peace, who thinks himself to be situated in the cooling
orb of the moon; otherwise the body is consumed with cares; as a tree
on the bank is burnt down by a conflagration.
35. Others like forest trees are fixed and silent, and shudder for fear
of being burnt down by the wild fire of the world; though they are
situated at ease, as beside the running streams of limpid water, and as
high as on mountain tops of inaccessible height.
36. Those who think themselves to be surrounded by worldly affairs; are
as wide-stretching trees, awaiting their fall by impending blasts of
wind.
37. Those who wail aloud for being broken to pieces under the pressure
of their misery; are like the noisy waves of the sea, breaking against
the shore and shedding their tears in the form of the watery spray.
38. But the waves are not of one kind, nor are they altogether entities
or nullities in nature; they are neither small or large nor high or
low, nor do these qualities abide in them.
39. The waves do not abide in the sea, nor are they without the sea or
the sea without them: they are of the nature of desires in the soul,
rising and setting at their own accord.
40. The dead are undying, (because they die to be born again), and the
living are not living, (because they live but to die at last). Thus is
the law of their mutual succession which nothing can forefend or alter.
41. As water is universally the same and transparent in its nature, so
is the all pervading spirit of God, pure and holy in every place.
42. It is this one and self-same spirit which is the body of God, that
is called the transparent Brahma. It is omnipotent and everlasting, and
constitutes the whole world appearing as distinct from it.
43. The many wonderful powers that it contains, are all active in their
various ways. The several powers productive of several ends, are all
contained in that same body. All the natural and material forces, have
the Divine spirit for their focus.
44. Brahmá was produced in Brahma as the billow is produced in the
water, and the male and female are produced from the neuter Brahma,
changed to and forming both of them.
45. That which is called the world, is only an attribute of Brahmá; and
there is not the slightest difference between Brahmá and the world.
(The one being a fac-simile of the original Mind).
46. Verily this plenitude is Brahma, and the world is no other than
Brahma himself. Think intently upon this truth and shun all other false
beliefs (of the creator and created, and the like).
47. There is one eternal law, that presides over all things, and this
one law branches forth into many, bringing forth a hundred varieties of
effects. The world is a congeries of laws, which are but manifestations
of the Almighty power and omniscience. (Therefore says the psalmist:
“Blessed is he, who meditates on his laws day and night”—_O bhi Turat
Jehovah hefzo yomam olaila_).
48. Both the inert and active (matter and life), proceed from the same;
and the mind proceeds from the intellect—chit of God. The various
desires are evolved by the power of the mind, from their exact
prototypes in the Supreme soul.
49. It is Brahmá therefore, O sinless Ráma! that manifests itself in
the visible world; and is full with various forms, as the sea with all
its billows and surges.
50. It assumes to itself all varieties of forms by its volition of
evolution or the will of becoming many; and it is the spirit that
displays itself in itself and by itself (of its own causality); as the
sea water displays its waves in its own water and by itself.
51. As the various waves are no other than the sea water, so all these
phenomena are not different from the essence of the lord of the world.
52. As the same seed developes itself in the various forms of its
branches and buds, its twigs and leaves, and its fruits and flowers; so
the same almighty seed evolves itself in the multifarious varieties of
creation.
53. As the strong sun light, displays itself in variegated colours in
different bodies; so does Omnipotence, display itself in various vivid
colours, all of which are unreal shades. (_Urdu: O leken chamakta hai
har rang men._—It is His light, that shines in all colours).
54. As the colourless cloud receives in its bosom, the variety of
transient hues displayed in the rainbow; so the inscrutable spirit of
the Almighty, reflects and refracts the various colours displayed in
creation. (Shines in the stars, glows in the sun &c. Pope).
55. From the active agent, proceed the inert matter and inactivity
without a secondary cause; as the active spider produces the passive
thread, and the living man brings upon him, his dull torpor in sleep.
(So the active spirit of God, brings forth _inertia_ and inactive
matter, out of itself into being. The laws of statics as well as
dynamics both subsist in the energy of the spirit).
56. Again the Lord makes the mind to produce matter for its own bondage
only; as he makes the silkworm weave its own sheathing for its
confinements alone. (So the mind maketh its material equipage, for its
own imprisonment in the world).
57. The mind forgets its spiritual nature of its own will; and makes
for itself a strong prison house (of its earthly possessions), as the
silkworm weaves its own coating.
58. But when the mind inclines to think of its spiritual nature by its
own free will; it gets its release from the prison-house of the body
and bondage in the world; as a bird or beast is released from its cage,
and the big elephant let loose from his fetters and the tying post.
59. The mind gradually moulds itself into the form, which it constantly
thinks upon in itself; and it derives from within itself, the power to
be what it wishes to become. (Constant thought brings about its end.
_Yádrisí bhávaná yasya_ &c.).
60. The long sought power when acquired, becomes as familiar to the
soul, as the dark clouds are attendant upon the sky in the rainy-season.
61. The newly obtained power is assimilated with its recipient, as the
virtue of every season is manifested in its effect upon the trees,
(_i.e._ in the season fruits and flowers).
62. There is no bondage nor liberation of human soul, nor of the Divine
Spirit. We cannot account for the use of these words among mankind.
(These terms apply to the mind which is bound and freed, and not to the
soul which is ever free).
63. There is no liberation nor bondage of the soul, which is the same
with the Divine. It is this delusive world which shows the immortal
soul under the veil of mortality, or as eclipsed by and under the
shadow of temporary affairs.
64. It is the unsteady mind, which has enwrapped the steady soul, under
the sheath of error; as the coverlet of the silkworm, covers the
dormant worm.
65. All other bondages which bind the embodied soul to earth, are the
works of the mind, which is the root of all worldly ties and affections.
66. All human affections and attachments to the visible world, are born
in and remain in the mind; although they are as distinct from it, as
the waves of the sea or as the beams of the moon; are produced from and
contained in their receptacles.
67. It is the Supreme spirit, which is stretched out as one universal
ocean, agitated into myriads of its waves and billows. The Intellect
itself is spread out as the water of the universal ocean, containing
everything that is aqueous and terrene in its infinite bosom.
68. All those that appear as Brahmá, Vishnu and Rudras, as also they
that have become as gods, and those that are called men and male
creatures:—
68.—(1). Are all as the waves of the sea, raised spontaneously by the
underlying spirit; and so are Yama, Indra, the sun, fire, Cuvera and
the other deities.
68.—(2). So too are the Gandharvas and Kinnaras, the Vidyádharas and
the other gods and demigods, that rise and fall or remain for a while
like the breakers of the sea.
68.—(3). They rise and fall as waves on every side, though some
continue for a longer duration, as the lotus-born Brahmá and others.
68.—(4). Some are born to die in a moment, as the petty gods and men;
and others are dead no sooner they are born as the ephemerids and some
worms.
69. Worms and insects, gnats and flies and serpents and huge snakes,
rise in the great ocean of the Divine Spirit, like drops of water
scattered about by waves of the sea.
70. There are other moving animals as men and deer, vultures and
jackals, which are produced on land and mountains, in woods and forests
and in marshy grounds.
71. Some are long lived and others living for a short duration; some
living with higher aims and ambitions, and others with no other care
than that of their contemptible bodies, or self-preservation only.
72. Some think of their stability in this world of dreams, and others
are betrayed by their false hope of the stability of worldly affairs,
which are quite unstable. (So in Persian _Daregá jehán rá baquina
didam_).
73. Some that are subjected to penury and poverty, have little to
effect in their lives; and always torment themselves with the thoughts,
that they are poor and miserable, weak and ignorant.
74. Some are born as trees, and others have become as gods and
demigods; and while some are furnished with moving bodies, others are
dissolved as water in the sea.
75. Some are no less durable than many _kalpas_ (as the land and sea
and mountains &c.); and others return to the Supreme Spirit, by the
moonlike purity of their souls. All things have risen from the
oceanlike Spirit of Brahma, like its moving undulations. It is the
intellectual consciousness of every body that is termed his mind.
CHAPTER XII.
DETAILED ACCOUNT OF THE GENESIS OF THE WORLD.
Argument. Confutation of the instance of the sea and its fluctuation,
with regard to the immutable spirit of God; and resolution of the
phenomenal world, to our erroneous conception, and visual deception.
Yama said:—The consciousness of gods, demigods and men as distinct
beings, is quite wrong, since they are no way distinct from the
infinite ocean of Divine Spirit, of which they are all as undulations.
2. It is owing to our erroneous conceptions that we make these
distinctions in ourselves and the Supreme Soul. The thought of our
being separate and apart from the Supreme spirit, is the cause of our
degradation from our pristine holiness and the image of God, in which
man was made at first and was infused with his holy spirit.
3. Remaining within the depth of the Divine Spirit, and yet thinking
ourselves to live without it, is the cause of keeping us in darkness on
the surface of the earth.
4. Our consciousness of ourselves as Brahmá, being vitiated by the
various thoughts in our minds, becomes the root of our activities;
while the pure consciousness of ego sum—I am, is free from all actions
and energies.
5. It is the inward desire of the heart and mind, that becomes the seed
of earthly actions; which sprouts forth in thorny plants like the
karanja, a handful of which fills the ground with rankest weeds.
6. Those living bodies, that lie scattered as pebbles on earth; are
seen to roll about or lie down with their temporary joy and grief in
continued succession, owing to their ignorance of themselves.
7. From the highest empyrean of Brahmá, down to the lowest deep, there
is an incessant undulation of the Divine spirit, like the oscillation
of the wind; which keeps all beings in their successive wailing and
rejoicing, and in their incessant births and deaths.
8. There are some of pure and enlightened souls, as the gods Hari, Hara
and others; and some of somewhat darkened understandings, as men and
the inferior demigods.
9. Some are placed in greater darkness, as the worms and insects; and
others are situated in utter darkness, as the trees and vegetables.
10. Some grow afar from the great ocean of the Divine Spirit; as the
grass and weeds of the earth, which are ever degraded, owing to their
being the emblems of sin; and others are barred from elevation as dull
stones and heinous snakes.
11. Some have come to being only with their bodies, (without any share
of understanding); and they know not that death has been undermining
the fabric of their bodies, as a mouse burrows a house.
12. Some have gone through the ocean of Divine knowledge, and have
become as divinities, in their living bodies as Brahmá, Hari, and Hara.
(The gods like angels are embodied beings in which form, they are
worshipped by their votaries. It is wrong therefore for the Kesavite
Brahmos, to call the formless Brahma as Hari, who had a visible body
according to our text).
13. Some having a little understanding, have gone down the depth of
holy knowledge, without ever reaching the bottom, or finding its either
shore.
14. Some beings that have undergone many births, and have yet to pass
through many more, have ever remained abortive and benighted without
the light of truth.
15. Some are tossed up and down, like fruits flung from the hand: those
flying upward have gone higher still; and those going down have fallen
still lower and lower. (None can know the highest pitch or lowest depth
of existence?).
16. It is forgetfulness of Supreme felicity, that causes one to rove in
various births of weal or woe; but the knowledge of the Supreme, causes
the cessation of transmigration; as the remembrance of Garuda, destroys
the power of the most destructive poison.
CHAPTER XIII.
CONSOLATION OF BHRIGU.
Argument. Bhrigu being acquainted with the powers of the mind and
Death, rose to repair to the spot where the body of Sukra was lying.
Yama said:—Among these various species of living creatures, which
resemble the waves of the ocean, and are as numerous as the plants and
creepers of spring:—
2. There are some persons among the Yakshas, Gandharvas and Kinnaras,
who have overcome the errors of their minds, and have well considered
every thing before and after them; that have become perfect in their
lives, and passing as the living liberated persons in this world.
3. Others there are among the moving and unmoving, that are as
unconscious of themselves as wood and stone; and many that are worn out
with error, and are incapable of judging for themselves. (Worn out with
error, means hardened in their ignorance).
4. But those that are awakened to sense, have the rich mine of the
sástras, framed by the enlightened, for the guidance of their souls.
(Hence it is for the sensible only to benefit themselves by learning).
5. Those who are awakened to sense, and whose sins are washed off; have
their understandings purified by the light of the sástras. (Lit., by
investigation into the sástras).
6. The study of good works, destroys the errors of the mind; as the
course of the sun in the sky, destroys the darkness of the night.
7. Those who have not succeeded to dispel the errors of their minds,
have darkened their understandings by a mist of ignorance; like the
frosty sky of winter, and they find the phantoms of their error,
dancing as demons before their eyes.
8. All living bodies are subject to pain and pleasure; but it is the
mind which constitutes the body, and not the flesh (which is insensible
of either).
9. The body that is seen to be composed of flesh and bones and the five
elemental parts, is a creation of the imagination of the mind, and has
no substantiality in it.
10. What your son had thought of in his mental body (mánas-saríra), the
same he found in the same body; and was not accountable to any body for
aught or whatever passed in his mind. (We are responsible for every act
of the body; but not so for the thoughts or reveries of the mind).
11. Whatever acts a man wills to do in his own mind, the same comes to
take place in a short time; and there is no other (foreign) agency of
anybody else required to bring them about.
12. Whatever the mind doth in a moment and of its own accord, and
actuated by its own will or desire, there is no body in the world, who
has the power to do or undo the same at any time. (The mind is master
of the act, and not the body, nor any body besides. Or; whatever the
mind sets about to do, it does it sooner than by the help of another).
13. The suffering of hell torments and enjoyment of heavenly bliss, and
the thoughts of birth and death; are all fabrications of the mind;
which labours under these thoughts. (It is the mind that makes a heaven
of hell and a hell of heaven).
14. What need I to tell more in the manner of verbose writers (on this
subject), than go together at once, to the place where your son is
situated.
15. He (Sukra) having tasted the pleasure and pain of all these states
at a moment’s thought of his mind, is now seated as a devotee on the
bank of Samangá, under the spreading beams of the moon. (The Gloss
speaks here of Sukra’s passing into many births, before his betaking
himself to devotion).
16. His vital breath having fled from his heart, became as the moonbeam
sparkling in a dew drop, which entered the uterus in the form of _semen
virilis_.
17. Saying so, the lord of death smiled to think of the course of
nature, and taking hold of Bhrigu’s hand in his own, they both departed
as the sun and moon together.
18. O wonderful is the law of nature! said Bhrigu slowly to himself,
and then rose higher and higher, as the sun ascends above his rising
mountain.
19. With their luminous bodies, they arrived at the spot of Samangá,
and shone on high above the tamála trees below. Their simultaneous
rising in the clear firmament, made them appear as the sun rising with
the full-moon over the cloudy horizon.
20. Válmíki said:—As the _muni_ (Vasishtha) was telling these things,
the sun went down his setting mountain, and the day departed to its
evening service. The court broke with mutual salutations, to perform
their evening rites and observances, after which they joined the
assembly at the dawn of the next day.[1]
CHAPTER XIV.
SUKRA’S REMINISCENCE OF HIS METEMPSYCHOSIS.
Argument. Bhrigu and Yama’s Expostulation with Sukra, and desiring him
to return to his former state.
Vasishtha said:—Now as Yama and Bhrigu departed from the cavern of the
Mandara mountain, and proceeded towards the bank of Samangá river:—
2. They beheld upon their descending from the mountain, a great light
below; proceeding from the bodies of the celestials, sleeping in the
arbours of aureate creepers.
3. The birds were sporting in their sprays, formed by the cradling
creepers under the canopy of heaven; and the lovely antelopes looking
face to face, with their eyes resembling the blue-lotuses.
4. They beheld the Siddhas, sitting on their stony seats upon the
elevated rocks; with their bodies full of vigour, and their eyes
looking on the spheres with defiance.
5. They saw the lords of the elephantine tribe, with their big trunks
as large as the palm trees, and plunging in the lakes covered with
flowers, falling incessantly from the beachening boughs, and branches
of flowering trees.
6. They saw the mountain bulls (Bos guavus) dozing in their giddiness,
and sitting as ebriety in person; while their bodies were reddened by
the red dust of flowers, and their tails flushed with the crimson
farina blown by the breeze.
7. There were the brisk and beautiful _chowri_ deer serving as flappers
of the mountain king, and dousing in the pools filled with falling
flowers.
8. They saw the Kinnara lads sitting on the tops of straight and
stately date trees, and sporting with pelting the date fruits upon one
another, which stuck to the reeds below as their fruits.
9. They beheld big monkeys, jumping about with their hideous reddish
cheeks, and hiding themselves in the coverts of widespreading creepers.
10. They saw the Siddhas, to be hit by the celestial damsels with
blossoms of mandara flowers, and clad with vests of the tawny clouds by
which they were shrouded.
11. The uninhabited skirts of the mountain, were as the solitary walks
of Buddhist vagrants; and the rivulets at its foot, were gliding with
their currents covered under the _kunda_ and _mandara_ flowers, as if
they were running to meet the sea, mantled in their yellow vests of the
spring season.
(It is well known that the vernal vesture of damsels, is of the yellow
colour of the farina of flowers, and the rivulets are poetically
figured as females hastening towards their lord the sea
(saritám-pathih)).
12. The trees decorated with wreaths of flowers, and shaken by the
breeze, seemed as bacchanals giddy with the honey of the flowers, and
rolling their dizzy eyes formed of the fluttering bees.
13. They walked about here and there, and looked at and admired the
grandeur of the mountain, till at last they alighted on the nether
earth, decorated with its cities and human habitations.
14. They arrived in a moment at the bank of Samangá, flowing with the
loosened flowers of all kinds, as if it were a bed of flowers by itself.
15. Bhrigu beheld his son on one of its banks, with his body changed to
another form, and his features quite altered from his former state.
16. His limbs were stiff, and his sense at a stand still, as he sat
with his mind fixed on steady meditation. He seemed to be long at rest,
in order to get his rest from the turmoils of the world.
17. He thought upon the course of the currents of the world, which are
continually gliding with successive joy and sorrow to man, who gets rid
of them after his long trial.
18. He became motionless as a wheel, after its long winded motion; and
found his rest after his prolonged whirling, in the whirlpool of the
ocean of the world.
19. He sat retired as a lover, solely reclined on the thought of his
beloved object in his retirement; and his mind was at rest, after its
long wanderings.
20. He sat in a state of uniform meditation, without a shadow of
biplicity in it; and was smiling with a cold apathy at all the pursuits
of mankind.
21. Liberated from all concerns, and released from the enjoyments of
life, and disenthralled from the snare of desires and fancies, he
rested in the supreme bliss of the soul.
22. His soul was at rest, in the everlasting rest of God; as the pure
crystal catches the colour of the gem, which is contiguous to it.
23. Bhrigu beheld his son in the calmly composed and awakened state of
his mind, and freed alike both from his thoughts of what was desirable,
as also from his hatred against what was disgusting. (God is said to be
eternally at rest the six days creation, but an act of his Mind, Will,
Word, Fiat, Logos or Brahmá).
24. Yama seeing the son of Bhrigu, said to the father in a voice,
hoarse as the sounding sea. ‘Lo there thy son.’
25. “Awake”, said he to Bhárgava, which startled him from his
meditation, as the roaring of a cloud, rouses the slumbering peacock
from his summer sleep.
26. Upon opening and lifting up his eyes, he beheld the god standing
with his father on one side, who being pleased at his sight, glowed in
their countenances like the disks of the sun and moon.
27. He rose from his seat of Kadamba leaves, and made his obeisance to
them, who appeared to have come to him like the gods Hari and Hara in
the disguise of a couple of Bráhmans.
28. After their mutual salutations, they were seated on a slab of
stone, and appeared as the venerable gods Vishnu and Siva, were seated
on the pinnacle of Meru.
29. The Bráhman boy, having ended the muttering of his mantras on the
bank of Samangá, accosted them with a voice distilling as the sweet
nectarine juice of ambrosia _amrita_ or water of life (_aqua-vitae_ or
_abi haiyát_).
30. “I am emancipated, my lords, at your sight this day (from all
earthly cares), as you have blessed me by your sights, resembling those
of the sun and moon, appearing together to view.” (Lit. as the orbs of
the cooling and dazzling beams. (_himánsu and ushnánsu_)).
31. The darkness, which reigned in my mind, and which no light of the
sástras or spiritual or temporal knowledge, nor even my austerities
could remove, is dispelled today by the light of your presence.
32. A kind look of the great, gives as much joy to the mind, as
draughts of pure ambrosia, serve to satisfy the heart.
33. Tell me who are you, whose feet have sanctified this place; as the
glorious orbs of the day and night, enlighten the firmament.
34. Being addressed in this manner, Bhrigu desired him to remember his
prior births, which he could well do, by his enlightened understanding.
35. Bhrigu made him acquainted with the state of his former birth, and
he remembered it instantly by the clairvoyance of his inward sight.
36. He was struck with wonder at the remembrance of his former state,
and smiled with a joyous face and gladsome heart, to ponder on what he
had been; and then uttered as follows.
37. Blessed is the law of the Supreme Being, which is without its
beginning or end, and is known as destiny here below; and by whose
power the world is revolving as a curricle.
38. I see my countless and unknown births, and the innumerable
accidents to which they were subject, for the period of a whole kalpa
or duration of the world from first to last. (The Soul being immortal,
has to pass into infinite births under various shapes and forms of
bodies. If it were to lie dormant in the grave for ever what is the
good of its being made or created to be immortal?)
39. I have undergone great hardships, and known prosperity also with
the toil of earning; have had my wanderings also in different lives,
and remember to have roamed for a long time, over the mountainous
regions of Meru.
40. I drank the water reddened with the pollen of mandara flowers, and
roved along the bank of the heavenly stream of Mandákiní filled with
lotuses.
41. I wandered about the Mandara groves, filled with flowering creepers
like gold, and under the shade of the kalpa arbors of Meru, and in the
flowery plains above and about it.
42. There is naught of good or evil, which I have not tasted or felt or
done myself; nor is there anything, which I have not seen and felt and
known in my past lives.
43. I have now known the knowable (that is to be known), and seen the
imperishable one in whom I have my repose. I have now rested after my
toils were over, and have passed beyond the domain of error and
darkness.
44. Now rise, O father! and let us go to see that body, lying on the
Mandara mount, and which is now dried as a withered plant.
45. I have no desire to remain in this place, nor go anywhere of my own
will; it is only to see the works of fate, that we wander all about.
46. I will follow you, with my firm belief in the one adored Deity of
the learned. Let that be the desirable object of my mind, and I will
act exactly in conformity with my belief.
CHAPTER XV.
LAMENTATION AND EXPOSTULATION OF SUKRA.
Argument. Sukra laments on seeing his former body, and his consolation
at its ultimate anaesthesia.
Vasishtha said:—Thus contemplating on the course of nature, these
philomaths moved with their spiritual bodies, from the bank of Samangá
(towards the Mandara mountain).
2. They ascended to the sky, and passed through the pores of the clouds
to the region of the Siddhas; whence they descended to the lower world,
and arrived at the valley of Mandara.
3. There Sukra saw on a cliff of that mountain, the dried body of his
former birth, lying covered under the dark and dewy leaves of trees.
4. He said, here is that shriveled body, O father! which thou hadst
nourished with many a dainty food before.
5. There is that body of mine, which was so fondly anointed with
camphor, agallochum and sandal paste, by my wet-nurse before.
6. This is that body of mine, which was used to repose on the cooling
beds, made with heaps of mandara flowers, in the airy spots of Meru.
7. This is that body of mine, which was so fondly caressed by heavenly
dames of yore, and which is now lying, to be bitten by creeping insects
and worms, on the bare ground below.
8. This is that body of mine, which was wont of yore to ramble in the
parterres of sandalwood; now lying a dried skeleton on the naked spot.
9. This is that body of mine, now lying impassive of the feelings of
delight in the company of heavenly nymphs, and withering away
unconscious of the actions and passions of its mind.
10. Ah my pitiable body! how dost thou rest here in peace, forgetful of
thy former delights in the different stages of life; and insensible of
the thoughts of thy past enjoyments and amusements of yore.
11. O my body! that hast become a dead corpse and dried by sun-beams;
thou art now become so hideous in thy frame of the skeleton, as to
frighten me at this change of thy form.
12. I take fright to look upon this body, in which I had taken so much
pleasure before, and which is now reduced to a skeleton.
13. I see the ants now creeping over that breast of mine, which was
formerly adorned with necklaces studded with starry gems.
14. Look at the remains of my body, whose appearance of molten gold,
attracted the hearts of beauteous dames, bearing now a load of dry
bones only.
15. Behold the stags of the forest flying with fear, at the sight of
the wide open jaws, and withered skin of my carcass; which with its
horrid mouth, frightens the timid fawns in the woods.
16. I see the cavity of the belly of the withered corpse, is filled
with sun shine, as the mind of man is enlightened by knowledge.
17. This dried body of mine, lying flat on the mountain stone,
resembles the mind of the wise, abased at the sense of its own
unworthiness.
18. It seems to be emaciating itself like an ascetic, in his supine
hypnotism on the mountain, dead to the perceptions of colour and sound,
and of touch and taste, and freed from all its desires and passions.
19. It is freed from the demon of the mind (mental activity), and is
resting in its felicity without any apprehension of the vicissitudes of
fate and fortune, or fear of fall.
20. The felicity which attends on the body, upon the calmness of the
demon of the mind; is not to be had, from possession of the vast
dominion of the world.
21. See how happily this body is sleeping in this forest, by being
freed from all its doubts and desires in the world; and by its being
liberated from the net work of its fancies.
22. The body is disturbed and troubled like a tall tree, by the
restlessness of the apish mind; and it is hurled down by its excitation
like a tree uprooted from its bottom.
23. This body being set free from the impulses of the mischievous mind,
is sleeping in its highest and perfect felicity, and is quite released
from the jarring broils of the world, clashing like the mingled
roarings of lions and elephants in their mutual conflict.
24. Every desire is a fever in the bosom, and the group of our errors
is as the mist of autumn; and there is no release of mankind from
these, save by the impassionateness of their minds.
25. They have gone over the bounds of worldly enjoyments, who have had
the high-mindedness, to lay hold on the tranquility of their minds.
26. It is by my good fortune, that I came to find this body of mine,
resting in these woods without its troublesome mind; and freed from all
its tribulations and feverish anxieties.
27. Ráma said:—Venerable Sir, that art versed in all knowledge, you
have already related of Sukra’s passing through many births in
different shapes; and feeling all their casualties of good and evil.
28. How was it then that he regretted so much for his body begotten by
Bhrigu; in disregard of all his other bodies; and the pains and
pleasures which attended upon them?
29. Vasishtha answered:—Ráma! the other bodies of Sukra were merely the
creations of his imagination; but that of Bhárgava or as the son of
Bhrigu, was the actual one, as produced by the merit of his pristine
acts. (Here the gloss is too verbose on the theory of metempsychosis;
but the literal meaning of the couplet is what is given above).
30. This was the first body with which he was born by the will of his
Maker, being first formed in the form of subtile air, and then changed
into the shape of wind.
31. This wind entered into heart of Bhrigu in a flux of the vital and
circulating breaths, and being joined in time with the semen, formed
the germ of Sukra’s body. (So called from the seed—sukra).
32. The person of Sukra, received the Bráhmanical sacraments, and
became an associate of the father; till at last it was reduced to the
form of a skeleton in course of a long time.
33. Because this was the first body which Sukra had obtained from
Brahmá the creator, it was on this account that he lamented so much for
it. (Sukra the son of Bhrigu, was the grandson of Manu—the first human
being, after creation of the world called kalpárambha).
34. Though impassionate and devoid of desire as Sukra was, yet he
sorrowed for his body, according to the nature of all being born of
flesh (dehaja). (All flesh is subject to sorrow).
35. This is the way of all flesh, whether it be the body of a wise or
unwise man (to mourn for its loss). This is usual custom of the
world, whether the person was mighty or not.
36. They who are acquainted with the course of nature, as also those
that are ignorant of it as brutes and beasts; are all subject to the
course of the world, as if they are bound in the net of fate and liable
to grief and sorrow. (It is not the greatness of a great mind, to be
insensible of the tender feelings of his nature, but to keep his joys
and sorrows under proper bounds).
37. The wise as well as the unwise, are on an equal footing with
respect to their nature and custom. It is only the difference in desire
that distinguishes the one from the other, as it is the privation of or
bondage to desires, that is the cause of their liberation or
enthralment in this world. It is also the great aim that distinguishes
the great, from the mean-mindedness of the base.
38. As long as there is the body, so long is there the feeling of
pleasure in pleasure and that of pain in pain. But the mind which is
unattached to and unaffected by them, feigns to itself the show of
wisdom. (Unfeelingness is a mere show and not reality).
39. Even great souls are seen to feel happy in pleasure and become
sorrowful in matters of pain; and show themselves as the wise in their
outward circumstances.
40. The shadow of the sun, is seen to shake in the water, but not so
the fixed sun himself; so the wise are moved in worldly matters, though
they are firm in their faith in God.
41. As the unmoved and fixed sun, seems to move in his shadow on the
wave, so the wiseman who has got rid of his worldly concerns, still
behaves himself like the unwise in it.
42. He is free who has the freedom of his mind, although his body is
enthraled in bondage; but he labours in bondage whose mind is
bethraled by error, though he is free in his body. (True liberty
consists in moral and not in bodily freedom).
43. The causes of happiness and misery as also those of liberty and
bondage, are the feelings of the mind; as the sun-beams and flame of
fire, are the causes of light.
44. Therefore conform thyself with the custom of the society in thy
outward conduct; but remain indifferent to all worldly concerns in thy
inward mind.
45. Remain true to thyself, by giving up thy concerns in the world; but
continue to discharge all thy duties in this world by the acts of thy
body. (Keep your soul to yourself, but devote your body to the service
of the world).
46. Take care of the inward sorrows and bodily diseases, and the
dangerous whirlpools and pitfals in the course of thy life; and do not
fall into the blackhole of selfishness (meitatem), which gives the
soul its greatest anguish.
47. Mind, O lotus-eyed Ráma, that you mix with nothing, nor let
anything to mix with you; but be of a purely enlightened nature, and
rest content in thy inward soul.
48. Think in thyself the pure and holy spirit of Brahmá, the universal
soul and maker of all, the tranquil and increate All, and be happy for
ever.
49. If you can rescue yourself from the great gloom of egotism, and
arrive at the state of pure indifference to all objects; you will
certainly become great in your mind and soul, and be the object of
universal veneration.
CHAPTER XVI.
RESUSCITATION OF SUKRA.
Argument. Sukra’s Revival at the word of Yama, and his becoming the
preceptor of Daityas.
Vasishtha continued:—Then the god Yama, interrupted the long
lamentation of Sukra, and addressed him in words, sounding as deep as
the roaring of a cloud.
2. Yama said:—Now, O Sukra! cast off thy body of the Samangá devotee,
and enter this dead body in the manner of a prince entering his palace.
3. Thou shalt perform austere devotion with this thy first born body,
and obtain by virtue of that, the preceptorship of the Daitya tribe.
4. Then at the end of the great kalpa, thou shalt have to shuffle off
thy mortal coil for ever, as one casts off a faded flower.
5. Having attained the state of living liberation, by merit of thy
prior acts; thou shalt continue in the preceptorship of the leader of
the great Asuras for ever.
6. Fare you well, we shall now depart to our desired habitation; know
for certain that there is nothing desirable to the mind, which it
cannot accomplish (by perseverance).
7. Saying so, the god vanished from before the weeping father and son,
and moved amidst the burning sky, like the dispenser of light (sun).
8. After the god had gone to the place of his destination, and gained
his destined state among the gods, the Bhrigus remained to ruminate on
the inexplicable and unalterable course of destiny (or divine
ordinance).
9. Sukra entered into his withered corpse, as the season of spring
enters into a faded plant, in order to adorn it again with its vernal
bloom, and its re-springing blossoms.
10. His Bráhmanical body fell down immediately on the ground,
staggering as when a tree is felled or falls down with its uprooted
trunk; and it became disfigured in a moment in its face and limbs.
11. The old sage Bhrigu finding the revivification of the dead body of
his son, sanctified it with propitiatory mantras and sprinkling of
water, from his sacerdotal water pot (kamandalu).
12. The veins and arteries and all the cells and cavities of the dead
body, were again supplied with their circulating blood; as the dry beds
of rivers, are filled again with floods of water in the rainy weather.
13. The body being filled with blood, gave the limbs to bloom; like the
growth of lotuses in rainy lakes, and the bursting of new shoots and
buds in vernal plants.
14. Sukra then rose up from the ground, breathing the breath of life,
like the cloud ascending to the sky by force of the winds.
15. He bowed down to his father, standing in his holy figure before
him; as the rising cloud clings to, and kisses the foot of the lofty
mountain.
16. The father then embraced the revived body of his son, and shed a
flood of his affectionate tears upon him; as the high risen cloud
washes the mountain top with showers.
17. Bhrigu looked with affection on the new risen old body of his son;
and smiled to see the resuscitation of the body that was begotten by
him.
18. He was pleased to know him as the son born of himself; and to find
his features engrafted in him.
19. Thus the son and sire graced each other by their company, as the
sun and lotus-lake rejoice to see one another, after the shade of night.
20. They rejoiced at their reunion, like the loving pair of swans at
the end of the night of their separation; and as the joyous couple of
peacocks, at the approach of the rainy clouds.
21. The worthy sire and son, sat awhile on the spot, to halt after all
their toils and troubles were at an end, and then they rose up to
discharge the duties that were then at hand.
22. They then set fire to the body of the Samangá Bráhman, and reduced
it to ashes; for who is there among the earth-born mortals, that ought
to set at naught aught of the customary usages of his country?
23. Afterwards the two devotees Bhrigu and Bhárgava, continued to dwell
in that forest, like the two luminaries—the sun and moon, in the region
of the sky.
24. They both continued as the living liberated guides of men, by their
knowledge of all that was to be known; and preserving the equanimity of
their minds, and the steadiness of their dispositions, amidst all the
vicissitudes of time and place (and the changes of their fortune and
circumstances).
25. In course of time Sukra obtained the preceptorship of the demons,
and Bhrigu remained in his patriarchal rank and authority among the
sons of men (mánavas).
26. Thus the son of Bhrigu, who was born as Sukra at first, was
gradually led away from his holy state by his thought of the heavenly
nymph, and subjected to various states of life to which he was prone
(by the bent of his mind and inward proclivities).
CHAPTER XVII.
ATTAINMENT OF THE IDEAL REALM.
Argument. Mutual sympathy of pure hearted souls, the reciprocities of
their affections, and their union with one another.
Ráma said:—Tell me sir, why the ideal reflexion of others, is not
attended with equal result, with that of the son of Bhrigu (though one
is given to the like reveries as the other).
2. Vasishtha replied:—The reason is, that the body of Sukra issued at
first from the will of Brahmá, and was born of the pure family of
Bhrigu, without being vitiated by any other birth (either prior to it
or of a lower kind).
3. The purity of mind which follows upon subsidence of desires, is
called its coolness, and the same is known as the unsullied state of
the soul. (Nirmalátmá).
4. Whatever the man of a pure and contrite spirit, thinks in his mind,
the same comes to take place immediately; as the turning of the sea
water turns into the eddy. (Turning over in the mind, turns out into
being).
5. As the errors of various wanderings, occurred to the mind of Sukra;
so it is with every body (from his observation of the world), as it is
instanced in the case of Bhrigu’s son.
6. As the serum contained in the seed, developes itself in the shoots
and leaves; so the mind evolves in all the forms which are contained
therein.
7. Whatever forms of things are seen to exist in this world, are all
false appearances; and so are their disappearances also, (mere
creations of the mind).
8. Nothing appears or disappears to any one in this world, but error
and aerial phantasms; that show themselves to those that are bewitched
by this magic scene of the world.
9. As it is our notion of this part of the world, which presents its
form to our view; so the appearance of thousands of such worlds in the
mind, is mere ideal; and as false as the show of a magic-lantern.
10. As the sights in our dream, and the images of our imagination, are
never apart from our minds; and as they cannot show themselves to the
view of others; such is our erroneous conception of the world (confined
within ourselves).
11. So are all places and things but imaginary ideas, and show
themselves as real objects, to the purblind sight of the ignorant only.
12. So also are the ghosts and goblins, demons and devils, but
imaginary figures of the mind; born in the shallow brain of men, to
terrify them with their hideous shapes.
13. Thus have we all become, like the dreaming son of Bhrigu; to
understand the false creations of our imagination, as sober realities.
14. So the creation of the world, and all created things, are situated
(pictured) in the mind of Brahmá; and make their repeated appearance,
as the phantoms of a phantasmagoria before him.
15. All things appearing unto us, are as false as these phantoms; and
they proceed from the mind of Brahmá, as the varieties of trees and
shrubs, are produced from the same sap of the vernal season. (The one
is the source of many).
16. Considering in a philosophical light (tatwadarsana), it will be
found, that it is the will or desire of every body, which is productive
of the objects of his desire. (Lit. which evolves itself in its
productions. And as it is with the will of the creator, so is it with
that of every one).
17. Every body beholds everything in the world, according to the nature
of the thoughts in his mind, and then perishes with his wrong view of
it.
18. It is in its ideality, that anything appears as existent, which in
reality is inexistent, though it is apparent to sight. The existence of
the world, is as that of a lengthened dream; and the visible world is a
wide spread snare of the mind, like fetters at the feet of an elephant.
(The world is existent in the ideal, but inexistent in its apparent
real and visual form. It is a network of the mind, like a longspun
dream, and binds it as fast as fetters at the feet of an elephant).
19. The reality of the world depends upon the reality of mind, which
causes the world to appear as real. The loss of the one, destroys them
both; because neither of them can subsist without the other.
20. The pure mind has the true notions of things, as the gem polished
from its dross, receives the right reflection of every thing, (or)
reflects the true image of every thing.
21. The mind is purified by its habit of fixed attention to one
particular object; and it is the mind undisturbed by desires, that
receives the true light and reflexion of things.
22. As the gilding of gold or any brilliant colour, cannot stand on
base metal or on a piece of dirty cloth, so it is impossible for the
vitiated mind, to apply itself intensely to any one particular object.
23. Ráma asked:—Will you tell me sir, in what manner the mind of Sukra,
received the reflexion of the shadowy world, and its temporaneous
movement in itself, and how these fluctuations rose and remained in his
mind?
24. Vasishtha said:—In the same manner as Sukra was impressed with the
thoughts of the world, from the lectures of his father; so did they
remain in his mind, as the future peacock resides in the egg.
25. It is also naturally situated in the embryo of the mind, of every
species of living being, and is gradually evolved from it, in the
manner of the shoots and sprouts, and leaves and flowers of trees,
growing out of the seed.
26. Every body sees in his mind, what its heart desires to possess, as
it is in the case of our prolonged dreams.
27. Know it thus, O Ráma! that a partial view of the world, rises in
the mind of every body; in the same manner, as it appears in the mind
in a dream at night.
28. Ráma said:—But tell me sir, whether the thought and the things
thought of, simultaneously meet themselves in the mind of the thinker;
or it is the mind only that thinks of the object which is never met
with by it.
29. Vasishtha replied:—But the sullied mind cannot easily unite with
the object of its thought, as a dirty and cold piece of iron, cannot
join with a pure red-hot one, unless it is heated and purified from its
dross.
30. The pure mind and its pure thoughts, are readily united with one
another, as the pure waters mix together into one body of the same
kind, which the muddied water cannot do.
31. Want of desire constitutes the purity of the mind, which is readily
united with immaterial things of the same nature like itself. The
purity of the mind conduces to its enlightenment, and these being
united in one, leads it to the Supreme.
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE INCARNATION OF THE LIVING SPIRIT
Argument. The Impure state of the soul; and its Purity leading to the
knowledge of the only One.
Vasishtha continued:—The living souls (Jivátman), residing in the seeds
of material bodies (bhúta-víja) in all parts of the world, differ from
one another; and there according to the difference in their knowledge
of themselves (_tanmátra_), or self identity with the _Unity_.
2. As long as there is no volition nor nolition, connected with the
identity of the living soul; so long it reposes in a state of rest, not
unlike that of sound sleep (susupti).
3. But living souls addicted to their wishes, view their identity with
the same; and find themselves born in their desired shapes here below.
4. The _tanmátras_ of the living soul and its proclivities, run in one
channel to the reservoir of life, and are thickened into one living
being by their mutual coalition.
5. Some of them are situated apart from one another, and are dissolved
also separately; and some are joined together, and are born as two
_gunja_ fruits growing together.
6. The world consisting of thousands of orbs like _gunja_ fruits,
contains the assemblage of atoms on atoms; and these unconnected with
one another, form the great garden of God.
7. These being joined also with one another, became dense and thick;
and remain in the same place, where it has grown.
8. The different states of the mind, ensuing upon the absence of its
present objects under its province, brings on a change in its
constitution, which is called its regeneration (in a new life).
(Thus the change of the mind under the change of circumstances, is
reckoned its transformation to a different being).
9. Thus every regeneration of the mind in a new life, is accompanied
with its concomitant desires, and their results. The new life is
attended with its proper body, unless the mind has lost its
reminiscence.
10. As the pure Spirit taking the form of the vital breath, performs
the functions of the body; so the mind being reborn in a new body, is
employed in all the functions of the same body.
11. The souls of all living beings are subject to the three states of
waking, dreaming, and sound sleep, which are caused by the mind and not
by the body.
12. Thus the soul passing under the triple condition in its living
state, does not give rise to the body, as the sea-water gives rise to
the waves. (The body is caused by the mind, and not by the soul which
has no connection with it).
13. The living soul having attained its intellectual state, and the
rest of the conditions of sound sleep (susupti), is awakened to the
knowledge of itself, and is released from its rebirth; while the
ignorant soul is subjected to be born again.
14. And though the knowing and unknowing souls attain the state of
_susupti_, and resemble each other in kind; yet the unknowing _susupta_
soul, which is not awakened to the knowledge of its spirituality, is
doomed to be reborn in the mortal world.
15. The ubiquity of the intellect, makes it pass into the mind in its
next birth; and exhibit itself in different forms in all its succeeding
and subordinate regenerations (stages of life).
16. Among these repeated births, the subordinate regenerations resemble
the many folded coatings of a plantain tree; and the spirit of Brahmá
is contiguous to, and pervades the whole, like the lofty leaves of the
same tree.
17. The influence of the Divine spirit, is as cool as the cooling shade
of a plantain arbour. It is of its own nature; and is as unchangeable
as the pith of the plantain tree, notwithstanding the changes in all
its outer coats and coverings.
18. There is no difference or diversity in the nature of Brahmá the
creator, in his repeated and manifold creations of worlds; for he being
the seed of the world, shoots forth by his moisture into the form of
the expanded tree of the world, and becomes the same seed again.
19. So Brahmá taking the form of the mind, becomes the same Brahmá by
reminiscence of his mind; as the sap of the soil makes the seed to
bring forth the fruit, which reproduces the like seed.
20. So the productive seed proceeding from Brahmá, displays itself in
the form of the world. But as no body can say what is the cause of the
sap in the seed, so no one can tell why the spirit of God, teems with
productive seed (of Brahmá) in it.
21. So no one should inquire into the cause of Brahmá; because his
nature being inscrutable and undefinable, it is improper to say him
this or the other.
22. He must not attribute causality to what is not the cause, nor
impute the causation of material bodies to the immaterial spirit of
God, that is the prime and supreme cause of all (as the Prototype). We
must reason rightly regarding what is certain truth, and not argue
falsely about what transcends our knowledge.
23. The seed casts off its seedy form, and assumes the shape of the
fruit; but Brahmá (the seed of all) contains the fruit (of the
universe) in his bosom, without laying aside the seed.
24. The seed of the fruit bears a material form, but Brahmá—the
universal seed, has no form at all; therefore it is improper to compare
the visible seed, with the invisible Brahmá; who is beyond all
comparison.
25. Brahmá evolves himself in his creation and does not produce the
world like the fruit from the seed; therefore know the world as the
vacuous heart of Brahmá, and is neither born nor unborn of itself.
26. The viewer viewing the view, is unable to see himself (his inward
soul) because his consciousness being engrossed by external objects, is
disabled from looking into itself.
27. Of what avail is sagacity to one, whose mind labours under the
error of water in a mirage; and what power has the mirage over a mind,
which is possessed of its sagacity?
28. As the looker on the clear sky does not see every part of it, and
as the eye that looks on all others does not see itself; so we see
everything about us besides ourselves.
29. As the looker on the clear sky, does not see what is above the
skies; so we see ourselves and others as material beings; but cannot
see the inward part of the immaterial soul, as the wise men do.
30. Brahmá who is as clear as the firmament, cannot be perceived by all
our endeavours; because the sight of the sky as a visible thing, cannot
give us an insight into the invisible Brahmá; (which fills all space
with his presence).
31. Such a sight cannot present itself to us, unless we can see the
true form of God; but it is far from being visible to the beholder, as
the sight of subtilest things.
32. We see the outward sight because we cannot see the beholder of the
sight (_i.e._ God himself who beholds his works). The beholder (God) is
only the existent being, and the visibles are all nothing.
33. But the all seeing God, being permeated in the visibles; there can
be no beholding of him as a personal God, nor of them as distinct
things. Because whatever the Almighty King proposes to do, he instantly
forms their notions, and becomes the same himself.
34. As the sweet saccharine juice of the sugarcane, thickens itself
into the form of the sugarcandy; so the will of God, becomes compact in
the solid body of the universe.
35. As the moisture of the ground and of the vernal season, becomes
incorporated in vegetable life, bringing forth the fruits and flowers;
so the energy of the Divine Intellect, turns itself into the living
spirit; which shortly appears in a corporeal form (of the body and its
limbs).
36. As every thing is beheld in our sight, without being separated from
its idea in the mind; so the inward notion, shows itself in the shape
of the visible object, like the vision in a dream, which is but a
representation of the thoughts entertained in our minds. (_i.e._ The
thought is the archetype of the appearance).
37. The ideas of self and others, are as granules in the mind, and are
like the grains of salt, which are produced in the briny grounds from
moisture of the earth (_i.e._ saline particles, produced of terrene and
marine serosity). So the multitudes of thoughts in the mind, are
exactly as the globules of salt or sand on the seashore: (almost
infinite in their number).
38. As the serum of the earth appears in various shapes (of minerals
and vegetables); so the sap of the intellect, produces the infinity of
ideas and thoughts, growing as trees in the wilderness of the mind.
39. These trees again shoot forth in branches and leaves, of which
there is no end; and so is every other world like a forest, supplying
its sap to innumerable plants, like the thoughts in the mind.
40. The intellect perceives in itself the existence of everything, as
distinctly as the inherent power of the living soul exhibits itself in
creation. (The power of the soul is its reminiscence (sanskára) of the
past, which reproduces and presents the former impressions in its
subsequent states of birth).
41. Every one’s intellect, perceives the existence of the world, in the
same manner as his living soul, happens to meet with every thing, as
present before it, by virtue of its former acts, and their reminiscence
stampt in it.[2]
42. There are some living souls, which meet and join with others and
propagate their species; and then cease to exist after having lived a
long time together.
43. You must observe with your keensightedness and well discerning
mind, in order to look into the different states and thoughts of
others. (Read the minds in their outward look and indications).
44. There are thousands of worlds like atoms of earth, contained in the
mind; as in the ample space of the sky and in the particles of water;
and these reside in those atoms like oil in the mustard seeds.
45. When the mind becomes perfect, it comes to be the living being; and
the intellect being purified, becomes all pervasive. Hence is the union
of the intellect with the living spirit.
46. The self-entity of the lotus-born Brahmá and all other living
beings, is only their self-deception; and the sense of the existence of
the world, is as a protracted dream rising and setting in the mind.
47. Some beings pass into successive states of existence, as a man
passes from one dream to another; and they think themselves to be
firmly established in them, as one supposes to be settled in some
house, appearing to him in his dream.
48. Whatever the intellect dwells upon at any time or place, it
immediately sees the same appearing therein before it; as anything
which is seen in dream, appears to be true to the dreamer all that time.
49. The atom of the intellect, contains the particles of all our
notions; as the seed-vessel contains the farinaceous atoms of the
future fruits and flowers, and branches and leaves (of very large
trees).
50. I consider the atoms of the intellect and the mind, contained
within the particles, of the material body, to be both vacuous, and
joined in one without causing a duality in their nature.
51. So the intellect conceives within itself and of its own particles,
many other atomic germs, under the influence of particular times and
places and actions and circumstances; which cannot be extraneous from
itself. (_i.e._ All notions are the making of the mind, and not
impressions from without).
52. It is this particle of the intellect which displays the creation,
like the vision of a dream before it; and it is this conception, that
led the gods Brahmá and others to the idea of their visible bodies, as
it makes the little insects to think of their own bodies. (_i.e._ The
minds of all display the outer world subjectively to all beings).
53. All that is displayed in this (outer) world, is in reality nothing
at all; and yet do these living beings, though possessing the particles
of intellect in them, erroneously conceive the duality of an extraneous
existence.
54. Some intellects (of particular persons), display themselves in
their bodies, and derive the pleasure of their consciousness, through
the medium of their eyes and external organs. (_i.e._ Some men believe
their bodily senses as the intellect, and no mind besides).
55. Others look on outward objects as receptacles of the intellect,
from the belief that the all pervasive, inseparable and imperishable
intellect (soul), must abide in all and every one of them. (It is the
intellect which contains the material world, and not this the other, as
many think omnipresence to mean).
56. Some men view the whole gross world within the body, instead of the
all pervading intellect of Brahmá; as Viswarúpa, and these being
hardened by long habit of thinking so, are plunged in the gulph of
error. (These are the materialists and the Tántrika microcosmists).
57. These rove from one error to another, as a man sees one dream after
another; and roll about in the pit of their delusion, as a stone when
hurled from a hill downward.
58. Some persons rely on the union of the body and soul, and others
relying in the soul alone, are placed beyond the reach of error; while
there are many, who rely on their consciousness alone, and shine
thereby as rational beings. (_The Cartesians and conscientionalists_).
59. They that perceive in themselves the errors of other people, are to
be considered as under the influence of false dreams in their sleep
(but mind not themselves, that labour under the error as the dreamer).
60. God being the all pervading spirit of nature, is verily seen in the
spirit of every body; and as he is ubiquitous, his omnipresence is
present in every thing in all places. (This doctrine is the source of
pantheism, and gives rise to universal idolatry, which adores the
presiding spirit of the idol, and not the idol itself).
61. God that shines is the living soul of every body, resides also in
the soul of that soul, as also in all the living souls and mind which
are contained within the body of another. (Such as in living beings
born inside the body of another).
62. One living being in born in another, and that again within another,
like the coatings of plantain trees, which grow one under the other
over the inmost pith. (So God is the inmost marrow of all external
lives and souls, which are as crusts of the same).
63. By reverting the cognition of visibles, to the recognition of their
essence (tanmátra) in the invisible plenum, we get rid of our error of
the reality of the formal world, as we do of the ornament in the
material gold. (_i.e._ The substances of gold is the material cause of
the formal and changeable jewels). Gloss. The knowledge of the
consequent (parák) and antecedent (pratyak), must blend in that of the
sameness (samáni) of both (yugupat), the internal (antar) and external
(báhya) (existences).
64. He who does not inquire into the question “who he is” and “what is
the world” beside himself; is not liberated in his inward soul, and
suffers under the continuous fever of an erroneous life.
65. He is successful in his inquiry, who by his good understanding,
comes to know how to curb his worldly avarice day by day.
66. As proper regimen is the best medicine to secure the health of the
body; so is the habit of keeping the organs of sense under control, the
only means of edifying the understanding.
67. He who is discoursive in his words, and not discerning in his mind,
is like a blazing fire in a picture (which lightens no body). No one
can be wise until he gets rid of his false wit.
68. As the perception of air, comes by the feeling and not by words of
the mouth; so wisdom proceeds from the curtailing of desires (and not
by lengthy or loud vociferation).
69. As the ambrosia in the painting is no ambrosial food, nor the fire
in a picture is burning flame; so a beauty in a drawing is no beauteous
maid, and wisdom in words is want of wisdom only.
70. Wisdom serves at first to weaken our passions and enmity, and then
uproot them at once, and at last it lessens our desires and endeavours,
and gives an appearance of holiness to its possessor.
CHAPTER XIX.
INVESTIGATION INTO THE NATURE OF THE LIVING SOUL.
Argument. The quadruple conditions of the soul in its waking, dreaming,
sound sleep and its anaesthesia.
Vasishtha continued:—Brahmá is the seed of life, and remains as empty
air everywhere. Hence there are many kinds of living beings, situated
in the world within the womb of universal Life. (God is the light and
life of all we see).
2. All living beings composed of the dense intellect and soul, contain
other living animals under one another, like the manifold crusts of the
plantain tree, and the insects contained in the womb of earth. (So also
the parasite plants and worms growing upon the bodies of trees and
animals).
3. The worms and insects, that grow out of the dirt and scum of earth
and water in the hot season, and appear filthy to our sight; are
nevertheless full of the particles of intellect, becoming to them as
living beings. (Even the dirty worms, are full with the holy spirit of
god).
4. According as living beings strive for their progress, so they
prosper in their lives, agreeably to the various scope of their
thoughts and actions.
5. The worshippers of gods, get to the region of gods, and those of
Yakshas meet at the place of Yakshas, and the adorers of Brahmá ascend
to Brahmaloka. Resort therefore to what is best and the greatest refuge.
6. So the son of Bhrigu, obtained his liberation at last by the purity
of his conscience; though he was enslaved of his own nature to the
visibles, at his first sight of them (as of the Apsara and others).
7. The child that is born on earth with the purity of its soul at
first, becomes afterwards of the same nature, as the education he gets
herein, and not otherwise.
8. Ráma said:—Please sir, tell me the difference of the states of
waking and dreaming, and what are the states of waking watchfulness,
waking dream and waking delusion.
9. Vasishtha answered:—The waking state is that wherein we have a sure
reliance; and that is called dreaming, in which we place no certain
reliance and are believed to be untrue.
10. That which is seen for a moment (as true), and as it were in the
waking state, is called a dream; but if the object is seen at a
distance of time and place, it is said to be waking dream or dreaming
wakefulness.
11. The state of waking dream is again of longer or shorter duration,
in both of which the visions appear the same at all places and times.
12. Dreaming also appears as waking, as long as it lasts; but waking
seems as dreaming, when the objects of its vision are not lasting.
13. A dream which is understood as an occurrence of the waking state,
is believed as waking, (as the prolonged dream of Harish Chandra); but
the inward consciousness of dreaming makes it a dream.
14. As long as one knows anything to be lasting before him, so long he
believes himself to be waking, but no sooner is it lost to him, than he
thinks himself to have been dreaming of it.
15. Hear now how it is. There is the principle of life in the body,
which causes it to live; this vital element is an electric force, which
is termed the life.
16. When the body has its activity with the powers of the mind, speech
and the other members of action, it is to be understood, that its vital
element is put to motion by the vital breath which it breathes.
17. This breath circulating through out the whole body, gives it the
powers of sensibility and consciousness, which have their seats in the
heart and mind, wherein the erroneous conception of the world is hidden.
18. The mind circulates about the outer world, through the passages of
sight and other organs; and sees within itself the forms of many
mutable shapes and figures.
19. As long as these forms, remain permanent in the mind, it is called
the waking state. So far have I told you about the cause of waking; now
hear me expound to you the laws of sleep and dreaming.
20. When the body is weary with action of its limbs, mind or speech,
the living element then becomes still, and remains in its composure,
with the calm and quiet soul residing within the body.
21. The internal actions of the body and mind being quieted, and the
motion of the heart being at rest, the living principle becomes as
still, as the flame of a lamp unshaken by the wind.
22. The vital power ceases to exert itself in the members of the body,
and to keep the consciousness awake. The senses of sight and others do
not act upon their organs, nor receive the sensations from without.
23. Life lies latent in the inner heart, as the liquid oil resides in
the sesamum seed; it lies as dormant in the interior part, as frigidity
within the frost, and fluidity in the clarified butter.
24. The particle of intellect taking the form of life, after being
purified from its earthly impurity; mixes with the internal soul, and
attains the state of sound sleep, as if lulled to insensibility by the
cooling breeze.
25. One feeling the impassibility of his mind, and dealing
unconcernedly with every one, and reaching to the fourth stage of
consciousness, beyond the three states of waking, dreaming and
sleeping, is said to be _turíya_ or deadened in life.
26. When the vital principle comes again to action, after the enjoyment
of its sound sleep, either in this or the other world (_i.e._ when it
is restored to or reborn in life); it takes the name of the living
element or the mind or self-consciousness (in the living body).
27. This principle of life and thought, sees the multitudinous worlds
situated with all their vicissitudes within itself, as the large tree
and all its parts and productions, are observed to be contained within
the seed. (This is the picture of life in its dreaming state).
28. When the element of life is put to slight motion, by the breeze of
the vital breath, it becomes conscious of its self-existence as “I am”;
but the motion being accelerated, it finds itself to be flying in the
air.
29. When it is immerged in the water (phlegm) of the body: it gets the
feeling of humidity in itself, as a flower perceives its own fragrance.
30. When it is assailed by the internal bile, it has then the feeling
of its inward heat, and sees all outward objects with its splenetic
humour.
31. When it is full of blood, it perceives a fiery redness in itself,
like that of a rubicund rock, or as the crimson red of the setting sun
in the sky.
32. Whatever one desires to have, he sees the same in himself in his
sleep; and this is by the force of his inward wind acting upon his
mind, as upon his outward organs.
33. When the organs are not besieged by external objects, which disturb
the inward senses of the mind; it indulges itself in the reflexion of
many things, which is called its dreaming state.
34. But when the organs are besieged by outward objects, and the mind
is moved by flatulence (বাযু váyu), to their sight and
perception, it is called the state of waking.
35. Now O great-minded Ráma! you have learnt the inward process of your
mind; but there is no reality in them nor in this existent world, which
is subject to the evils of death, desire and destruction.
CHAPTER XX.
DESCRIPTION OF THE MIND.
Argument. The delusion of the world and reliance in the true Spirit,
which is the same with the heart, soul and mind.
Vasishtha said:—Now Ráma! I have told you all this, in order to explain
the nature of the mind to you, and for no other reason.
2. Whatever the mind often thinks upon with a strong conviction of its
reality, it immediately assumes that form, as the iron-ball becomes
ignited by its contact with fire.
3. Therefore the convictions of being or not being, and of receiving or
rejecting of a thing, depend upon the imagination of the mind; they are
neither true nor untrue, but are mere fluctuations of the mind.
4. The mind is the cause of error, and it is the mind which is the
framer of the world. The mind also stretches itself in the form of the
universe (Viswarúpa) in its gross state. (The first is the human mind,
second the mind of Brahmá, and the third is the mind of Virát).
5. The mind is styled the _purusha_ or regent of the body, which being
brought under subjection, and directed in the right course, is
productive of all prosperity (or supernatural powers).
6. If the body were the _purusha_, how could the highminded Sukra, pass
into various forms in his very many transmigrations (as mentioned
before)?
7. Therefore the mind (_chitta_) is the _purusha_ or regent of the
body, which is rendered sensible (chetya) by it: Whatever form the mind
assumes to itself, it undoubtedly becomes the same.
8. So inquire into what is great, devoid of attributes and error, and
which is easily attainable by every body. Be diligent in your inquiry,
and you will surely succeed to obtain the same.
9. Hence whatever is seated in the mind, the same comes to pass on the
body; but what is done by the body never affects the mind. Therefore, O
fortunate Ráma! apply your mind to truth, and shun whatever is untrue.
CHAPTER XXI.
ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE MIND.
Argument. Inquiry into the cause of the fulness of the mind.
Ráma said:—Venerable sir! that art acquainted with the mysteries of all
things, I have a great doubt swelling in my breast like a huge surge of
the sea.
2. How is it sir, that any foulness could attach to the mind, when it
is situated in the eternal purity of the infinite Spirit, which is
unbounded by time and space.
3. Again as there is nothing, nor was there ever, nor anything ever to
be at any time, or place, beside the entity of the Holy one, how and
whence could this foulness come in Him?
4. Vasishtha answered: Well said Ráma! I see your understanding
approaching to the way of your liberation, and exhaling the sweetness
of the blossoms of the garden of paradise (Nandana).
5. I see your understanding is capable of judging both _a priori_ and
_a posteriori_, and is likely to attain that _acme_ which was gained by
the gods, Sankara and others.
6. It is not now the proper time and place for you to propose this
question, it should be adduced when I would come to the conclusion of
the subject.
7. This question should be asked by you when I come to the conclusion,
and it will be demonstrated to you as clearly as the situation of a
place in a map or globe, placed in the palm of your hand (hastámalaka).
8. This question of yours will be most suitable at the end, as the
sounds of the peacock and swan, are best suited to the rainy season and
autumn.
9. The blueness of the sky, is pleasant to look upon at the end of the
rainy weather; but it is odd to speak of it during the rains. (So the
question must have its proper place and occasion).
10. It is best to investigate into the mind by the nature of its acts
and operations, which tend to be the causes of the repeated births of
mankind.
11. It is by its nature, that the mind has its power of thinking, and
leading all the organs and members to their several actions, as it is
ascertained by the seekers of salvation.
12. Men learned in the sástras and eloquent in speech, have given
various appellations to the mind, in different systems of philosophy,
according to its various perceptive faculties and different functions
and operations in the body. (Gloss. It is called the mind (_mana_) from
its power of minding (_manana_); it is termed internal sight (pasyanti)
from its seeing inwardly; it is the ear (_srotra_) from its
hearing—_sravana_ from within, and so on).
13. Whatever nature the mind assumes by the fickleness of its thoughts,
it receives the same name and nature for itself, as the same fleeting
air receives from its exhaling of different odours.
14. So the mind delights itself with the thoughts of its desired
objects, and assimilating itself into their natures.
15. It receives the same form in which it delights, and which it
assumes to itself in its imagination.
16. The body being subject to the mind, is moulded in the same form of
the mind; just as the wind is perfumed by the odour of the flowerbed,
through which it passes (and the fragrance it carries).
17. The inward senses being excited, actuate the outward organs of
sense in their own ways, as the exciting motion of the winds, drives
the dust of the earth before their course.
18. The mind exerts its powers in the action of the external organs in
the performance of their several functions; just as the flying winds
drive the dust in different directions.
19. Such are the acts of the mind which is said to be the root of
action, and these combine together as inseparably as the flower and its
fragrance.
20. Whatever nature the mind adopts to itself by its wonted habit, the
same shoots forth in the form of its two kinds of motion (the will and
action).
21. And according as the mind does its action, and brings about the
result by its assiduity, in like manner does it enjoy the fruition
thereof, and enslaves itself to the enjoyment.
22. It understands that as its right course, which agrees well with its
temperament; and knows for certain that there is no other way to its
real good (beside its wonted course).
23. Minds of different casts follow different pursuits, according to
their particular proclivities; and employ themselves in the acquisition
of wealth and virtues, desired objects and liberation according to
their best choice.
24. The mind is ascertained by the Kápila (Sánkhya) philosophers, as a
pure substance, like the immaterial intellect (under the title of
_pradhána_); and this view of it is adopted in their system or sástra
(in opposition to the doctrine of Vedánta).
25. These men relying on the error of their own hypothesis, inculcate
their supposed view of the mind to others, as the only light to guide
them in the way of their salvation.
26. But the professors of Vedánta doctrines, acknowledge the mind as
Brahmá himself; and preach peace and self-control, as the only means of
the attainment of liberation.
27. But that there is no other way to the salvation of the supposed
mind (than by these means), is an _ipse dixit_ of the Vedánta, and an
assumed dogma (_kalpitániyama_) as those of other schools.
28. The Vijnánavádi philosophers also, have ascertained and upheld
peace and self-government as the leaders to liberation, but this too is
an effusion of their erroneous understandings.
29. Thus all sects give out their own views, in the false rules they
have adopted for the salvation of their supposed minds; and assert that
there is no other way to it, beside what is laid down by them.
30. So the Arhatas (Buddhists) and the other sectarians, have proposed
a variety of fictitious methods for the liberation of the mind, of
their arbitrary will in their respective sástras.[3]
31. The arbitrary rules of the learned, and those unsupported by the
srutis, are as numerous and varying from one another, as the bubbles of
clear water (but are never lasting like the dicta of the holy writ).
32. Know mighty Ráma, the mind to be the source of all these rules and
methods, as the sea is the source of every kind of gem (lying hid in
its bosom).
33. There is no innate sweetness in the sugarcane nor bitterness in the
_nimba_, both of which are sucked by insects; nor is there any heat or
cold inherent in the sun or moon (as both of them are peopled by gods
and spirits). It is the intrinsic habit of the mind that makes the
difference.
34. Those that want to enjoy the unadulterated happiness of their
souls, should habituate their minds to assimilate themselves to that
happy state, and they are sure to have the same.
35. The mind having fled from the sphere of the phenomenal world,
becomes exempt from all its pleasure and pain, like the fledged bird
flying in the air by casting its shell and leaving its cage below.
36. O sinless Ráma! Cherish no fondness for the phenomenal world, which
is an unreal illusion, full of fear and unholiness, and is stretched
out to ensnare the mind.
37. The wise have styled our consciousness of the world as a magic
scene (máyá), an appearance of ignorance—avidyá, a mere thought
(bhávaná), and the cause and effect of our acts.
38. Know that it is the delusive mind, which stretches the visible
world before thee, rub it off therefore as dirty mud from the mind.
39. This visible appearance which naturally appears before thee in the
form of the world, is called the production of ignorance by the wise.
40. Men being deluded by it, are at a loss to know their real good, as
the blinded eye is incapable to perceive the brightness of the day.
41. It is the contemplation of objects (sankalpa), that presents the
phenomena to our view, like arbors in the empty sky; and it is their
incogitancy (asankalpana), which effaces their images from the inward
and outward sights.
42. It is the abstract meditation of the thoughtful yogi, that weakens
the outward impressions, and by dissociating the soul from all external
things, keeps it steady and sedate in itself.
43. The mind being inclined to the right view of things, by its
abstraction from the unreal sights, produces the clearness of the
understanding, and an insouciant tranquility of the soul.
44. The mind that is regardless of realities as well as of unrealities
(that is of its inward and outward reflections); and is insensible of
pleasure and plain, feels in itself the delight of its singleness or
unity.
45. Application of the mind to unworthy thoughts, and to the internal
or external sights of things, debars the soul from tasting the sweets
of its solity (apart from other considerations).
46. The mind that is subject to its endless desires, is like the clear
firmament obscured by the clouds; and ranges in the maze of doubt
between truth and untruth, as of supposing the rope for the serpent.
47. Man obstructs to himself the sight of the clear firmament of his
intellect, by the mist of his doubts; but he thinks it as unobstructed
by his error, and indulges the fancies of his imagination which tends
the more to his error.
48. He takes the true, incorruptible and supreme Brahmá in a different
light (of base and corruptible things), as one mistakes one thing for
another in the dark or in his error.
49. Having got rid of his false imagination, man comes to the knowledge
of true God and his happiness, as one freed from his false apprehension
of a tiger in a copse, is set at rest with himself.
50. The bugbear of one’s (soul’s) imprisonment in the vacuity (cavity)
of the body, is dispersed by his insight into it, as the fear of a lion
lurking in the jungle, is removed upon finding no such thing therein.
51. So on looking deeply, you will find no bondage in the world; the
notions that this is the world and this is myself, are only errors of
the mind.
52. It is flight of fancy, that fills the mind with chimeras of good
and evil; just as the shade of evening, presents spectres of _vetála_
ghosts to little children.
53. Our fancies alight on us at one time, and depart at another, and
assume different forms at will; just as our consorts act the part of
wives in our youth, and of nurses in our old age.
54. She acts the part of a house wife in her management of household
affairs, and taken as a mistress, she embraces us in her bosom (or She
hangs on us by the neck).
55. And like an actress, the mind forgets to display its parts, when it
plays another, so every body is betaken by the thoughts he has in his
head, in neglect of others which are absent.
56. The ignorant do not perceive the selfsame unity, in all things he
beholds in the world; but they view every thing in the light, as they
have its idea imprinted in their minds.
57. They meet also with the results of the forms, which they have in
view for the time; though they are not in reality what they seem to be,
nor are they entirely false (being the idealities of their mind).
58. Man views every thing in the same manner as he thinks it in
himself; as his fancy of an elephant in the sky, makes him view the
elephants in clouds.
59. He believes these elephants pursuing their mates, in his thought;
so it is the thought, that gives the outward forms of things.
60. Ráma! repel your drowsiness, and behold the supreme soul in thy
soul; and be as a bright gem by repelling the shadows of all external
things.
61. It is impossible, O Ráma, that one so enlightened as thyself, will
receive the reflexion of the world, as dull matter like others (rather
than a reflexion of the Spirit).
62. Being certain of its immateriality, never taint thy mind with its
outward colouring, or the knowledge of its reality; but know it as no
way distinct from the Supreme Spirit.
63. Mind in thyself the Being that is without beginning or end, and
meditate on the Spirit in Spirit. Do not let the reflexions of thy
mind, imbue their tinge in the pure crystal of thy soul.
64. Be on thy guard, as never to allow the reflexions of your mind, to
taint the clear crystal of thy soul; but remain unmindful of the
visibles, and regardless of all worldly desires (which are causes of
misery and repeated births and deaths).
CHAPTER XXII.
RESTING IN SUPREME FELICITY.
Argument. Remission of the sins of the enlightened, and their sight of
the pure Spirit.
Vasishtha continued:—Men of sound judgment, are freed from mental
perturbation, and are perfected in their mastery over themselves, by
restraining the flight of the mind, and fastening it to its inward
cogitation. (Gloss. The Yogi given to meditation is master of his soul
and mind).
2. They swerve from the sight of the visibles as unworthy of their
notice, and seek after the knowledge of their chief good; they behold
the all-seeing God in their mental and external sights, and have no
perception of the unintelligent perceptibles. (_i.e._ They perceive the
noumenon only in the phenomenon).
3. They are dormant amidst the thick gloom of error, overspreading the
mazy paths of life, and are awake under the transcendent light (of
divine knowledge), requiring the vigilance of the living.
4. They are utterly indifferent to the sweet pleasures of this life, as
also to the cheerless prospects of future enjoyments (in the next
world). (The Yogi is equally averse to the present and prospective
pleasures of both worlds).
5. They are mixed (like salt) with the water of spiritual (divine)
unity, and in the boundless ocean of omnipresence; and they melt away
as the ice in a river, by their rigorous austerities, resembling the
vigorous heat of the sun.
6. All their restless desires and passions are set to rest, at the
disappearance of their ignorance; as the turbulent waves of rivers
subside of themselves, in the absence of stormy clouds.
7. The net of desires, which ensnares men as birds in their traps, is
cut asunder by a spirit of dispassionateness; as the meshes of a net,
are torn into twain, by the teeth of a mouse.
8. As the seeds of _kata_ fruits, serve to purify the foul water; so
doth philosophy tend to expurgate human nature, from all its errors.
9. The mind that is freed from passions, from worldly connections and
contentions, and from dependance on any one (person or thing); is
liberated also from the bonds of ignorance and error, as a bird is set
free from its imprisoning cage. (True freedom is the freedom from all
cares, concerns and connections, which are but bondages of the soul).
10. When the disturbances of doubts are settled, and the wandering of
curiosity is over, it is then that the fullmoon of internal fulness,
sheds its lustre over the mind.
11. As the mind has its true magnanimity, after its setting from the
height of its dignity and highmindedness, so it begins to have its
equanimity in a state, resembling the calmness of the sea after the
storm.
12. As long as the shadow of solicitude, hangs over the mind, it is
darkened and stupified and broken in the heart, until the sun of
inappetency rises to dispel its gloom.
13. It is by the sunshine of the intellect, that the lotus-bed of
intelligence, shines in its pure lustre; and unfolds the foliage of its
virtues before the dawning light above it.
14. Intelligence is charmer of hearts and delighter of all in the
world; it is fostered by the quality of goodness (sattwaguna), as the
moon becomes full by her increasing digits.
15. What more shall I say on this subject, than that he who knows the
knowable (God), has his mind expanded as the sphere of heaven, which
has no beginning nor end.
16. The mind which is enlightened by reasoning, is as exalted in its
nature, as to take pity even on the great gods Hari, Hara, Brahmá, and
Indra (on account of their incessant avocations in the management of
the world).
17. They are far from tasting the happiness of the egoistic yogis, who
are continually seeking to quench their thirst (after pleasure), from
the waters appearing in the mirage, as the parching deer (running to
them by mistake).
18. It is the heart’s desire of all beings, that subjects them to
repeated births and deaths, which cause the ignorant only and not the
wise, to appear and disappear like waves of the sea.
19. The world presents no other show in its course, except that of the
appearance and disappearance of bodies, which are now seen to move
about at the sport of time, and now fall as a prey to it for ever.
20. But the spiritual body (the spirit or one knowing the spirit), is
neither born nor dies in this world; nor is it affected by the
decoration or perdition of the material body; but remains unchanged as
the vacuity of a pot, both when it is in existence or broken to pieces.
(The vacuous soul is aloof from the body).
21. As the understanding rises with its cooling moon-beams within us,
it dispels the mist of erroneous desires rising before us like the
mirage of the dreary desert.
22. So long does the pageant of the world, present its dusky appearance
to our view, as we do not deign to consider the questions “what am I,
and what are all these about me”. (That is; “whether I or these or all
other things are true or false?”)
23. He sees rightly, who sees his body as an apparition of his error,
and the abode of all evils; and that it does not serve for the
spiritual meditation of his soul and his maker.
24. He sees rightly, who sees that his body is the source of all the
pain and pleasure, which betides one at different times and places, and
that it does not answer his purpose of spiritual edification.
25. He sees rightly, who sees the Ego to pervade the infinite space and
time, and as the source of all accidents and events, which incessantly
take place in them. (The Ego is ubiquitous).
26. He knows rightly, who knows the Ego to be as minute as a millionth
or billionth part of the point of a hair, and pervading all over the
infinity of space and eternity of time.
27. He perceives rightly, who perceives the universal soul to be
permeated in all the various objects of his sight; and knows them as
sparks of the Intellectual Light.
28. He perceives rightly, who perceives within himself the omnipotence
of the infinite Spirit, to be present in all the states and conditions
of beings, and the self-same Intellect to abide in and preside over all.
29. He understands rightly, who understands by his wisdom, that he is
not his body, which is subject to diseases and dangers, to fears and
anxieties, and to the pain and pangs of old age and death.
30. He understands rightly, who understands his soul to stretch above
and below and all about him; whose magnitude has no bounds nor an equal
to it.
31. He knows, full well who kens his soul as a string (Sútrátmá), to
which all things are strung as gems in a jewel; and that it is not the
mind or heart, which is seated in the brain or bosom.
32. He kens rightly, who weens neither himself nor any thing else as
existent, except the imperishable-Brahma; and who knows himself as
living between the reality and unreality, (_i.e._ betwixt the present
and absent, and between the visible and invisible. Gloss).
33. He is right, who beholds what they call the three worlds, to be but
parts of his self, and have been rolling about him as the waves of the
sea.
34. He is wise, who looks with pity upon the frail world, and
compassionates the earth as his younger sister.
35. That great soul looks brightly upon the earth, who has withdrawn
his mind from it, by retrenching his reliance on his egoism or tuism,
(_i.e._ both on his subjectivity and objectivity).
36. He sees the truth, who finds his body and the whole world, filled
by the colossus figure of the Intellect, without the opposition of any
sensible object.
37. He that looks on the states of misery and happiness, which attend
on worldly life, to be but the fluctuating conditions of the ego, has
no cause to repine or rejoice at them.
38. He is the right-sighted man, who sees himself situated amidst the
world, which is filled with the divine spirit, (and the endless joy
emanating from it); he has nothing to desire or dislike in this (or in
his future) state of existence.
39. He is the right (discerning) man, who has weakened his estimation
and dislike of what is desirable and disgusting to him in the world,
which is full of the essence of that being, whose nature is beyond
comprehension and conception. (The world being full with the presence
of God, we have nothing to like or dislike, or to take or shun in it).
40. That great-souled man is a great god, whose soul like the
all-pervading sky extends over all, and penetrates through every state
of existence, without receiving the tincture of any. (Who is informed
with all and untinged by any).
41. I bow down to that great soul, which has passed beyond the states
of light, darkness and fancy, (_i.e._ the state of waking or life, sleep
or death, and dreaming or transmigration, and which is situated in a
state of brightness and tranquility in supreme felicity or heavenly
bliss).
42. I bow down to that Siva, of transcendental understanding; whose
faculties are wholly engrossed in the meditation of that eternal Being,
who presides over the creation, destruction and preservation of the
universe, and who is manifest in all the various wondrous and beauteous
grandeurs of nature.
CHAPTER XXIII.
MEDITATION OF THE WONDERS IN THE REALM OF THE BODY.
Argument. The dominion of the enlightened man over the realm of his
Body, and the pleasure of the government of the mind.
Vasishtha continued:—The man that is liberated in this life, and is
settled in the Supreme state of felicity, is not tarnished by his
reigning over the realm of his body, and turning about like a wheel.
2. The body of the wise man is as a princedom to him, and calculated
for his benefit and no disadvantage. It is comparable with the bower of
a holy hermit, for the consummation of his fruition and liberation.
3. Ráma said:—How do you call, O great sage! the body to be the
dominion of a man, and how the Yogi can enjoy his princely felicity in
it?
4. Vasishtha replied:—Beautiful is this city of the body, and fraught
with every good to mankind, and being enlightened by the light of the
mind, it is productive of endless blessings in both worlds.
5. The eyes are the windows of this city, letting out the light for the
sight of distant worlds, the two arms are as the two valves of this
city-gate, with the hands like latches reaching to the knees.
6. The hairs on the body are as the moss and grass on the walls, and
the porous skin resembles the netted covering of the palace; the thighs
and legs are as the columns of the edifice, and the feet with the
ancles and toes, are as pedestals of the pillars.
7. The lines marked under the soles of the feet, are as inscriptions
marked on the foundation stone, and upon those at the base of the
pedestals of the pillars; and the outer skin which covers the flesh,
marrow, veins and arteries, and the joints of the body, is as the
beautiful plaster of the building, hiding the mortar and bricks inside.
8. The middle part of the body above the two thick thighs, contains the
aqueducts, beset by the hairy bushes about them, and likening to rivers
running amidst a city, between rows of trees on both sides of the banks.
9. The face is as the royal garden beautified by the eye-brows,
forehead and the lips; the glancing of the eyes, are as the blooming
lotuses; and the cheeks are as flat planes in it.
10. The broad bosom is as a lake with the nipples like buds of lotuses;
the streaks of hairs on the breast, are as its herbage, and the
shoulders are as the projecting rocks (ghats) upon it.
11. The belly is the store-house, which is eager to receive the
delicious articles of food; and the long lungs of the throat, are blown
loudly by the internal winds.
12. The bosom is considered as the depository of jewels (from their
being worn upon it); and the nine orifices of the body, serve as so
many windows for the breathing of the citizens.
13. There is the open mouth like the open door-way, with its tooth-bones
slightly seen as its gratings; and the tongue moving in the door way
like a naked sword, is as the projecting tongue of the goddess Kálí,
when she devours her food. (The voracity of the goddess is well known
whence she is called Kálí, the consort of the all devouring Kála—death).
14. The ear-holes are covered by hairs like long grass, and the broad
back resembles a large plain, beset by rows of trees on its borders.
15. The two private passages serve as sewers and drains of the city, to
let out its dirt, and the heart is the garden-ground, where the
passions parade about as ladies. (Or, the region of the mind is the
garden-ground for the rambling thoughts as ladies).
16. Here the understanding is fast bound in chains as a prisoner, and
the organs of sense are let loose as monkies to play about. The face is
as a flower garden, the smiles whereof are its blooming blossoms.
17. The life of the man, knowing the proper use of his body and mind,
is prosperous in everything; it is attended by happiness and
advantages, and no disadvantage whatever.
18. This body is also the source of infinite troubles to the ignorant;
but it is the fountain of infinite happiness to the wise man.
19. Its loss is no loss to the wise; but its continuance is the cause
of continued happiness to the wise man.
20. The body serves as a chariot to the wise, who can traverse
everywhere by riding in it; and can produce and procure everything
conducive to his welfare and liberation.
21. The possession of the body, is of no disadvantage to the wise man;
who can obtain by it, all the objects of his hearing and seeing, of his
touch and smelling, and his friends and prosperity.
22. It is true that the body is subject to a great amount of pain and
pleasure; but the wise man can well bear with them, (knowing them to be
concomitant to human life).
23. Hence the wise man reigns over the dominion of his body, without
any pain or trouble, in the same manner as one remains the lord of his
house, without any anxiety or disturbance.
24. He is not addicted to licentiousness like a high mettled steed; nor
parts with the auspicious daughter of his prudence, from his avarice
after some poisonous plant.
25. The ignorant can see the cities of others, but not observe the gaps
and breaks of their own. It is better to root out the fears of our
worldly enemies (passions) from the heart, than live under their
subjection.
26. Beware of diving in the perilous river, which flows fast by the
dreary forest of this world, with the current of desire, whirl-pools of
avarice, and the sharks of temporal enjoyment.
27. Men often bathe their outer bodies in holy streams, without looking
to the purification of their inward souls; and they shave their persons
at the confluence of rivers with the sea, in hopes of obtaining their
object. ((Bathing in the sauger) (Sagora sangama stána), is said to
confer every object of desire).
28. All sensual people are averse to the unseen happiness of the next
world; and dwell on the pleasure of their own imagination in the inward
recesses of their minds.
29. This city of the body is pleasant to one, acquainted with his
spiritual nature; because he deems it as the paradise of Indra, which
is filled with pleasurable fruits, as well as of those of immortality
(or future life and bliss).
30. All things depend on the existence of the city of the body, yet
nothing is lost by its loss since the mind is the seat of everything.
These bodily cities which fill the earth, cannot be unpleasant to any
body.
31. The wise man loses nothing by loss of the citadel of his body; as
the vacuity in a vessel is never lost, by the breaking of the vessel.
(So the death of the body, does not destroy the vacuous soul).
32. As the air contained in a pot, is not felt by the touch like the
pot itself, so is the living soul, which resides in the city of the
body.
33. The ubiquitous soul being situated in this body, enjoys all worldly
enjoyments, until at last it comes to partake of the felicity of
liberation, which is the main object it has in view.
34. The soul doing all actions, is yet no doer of them; but remains as
witness of whatever is done by the body; and sometimes presides over
the actions actually done by it.
35. The sportive mind rides on the swifting car of the body, as one
mounts on a locomotive carriage for the place of its destination, and
passes in its unimpeded course to distant journeys. (So the body leads
one to his journey from this world to the next).
36. Seated there, it sports with its favourite and lovely objects of
desire, which are seated in the heart as its mistresses. (The embodied
mind enjoys the pleasurable desires, rising before it from the recess
of the heart).
37. These two lovers reside side by side in the same body, as the moon
and the star visákhá, remain gladly in the same lunar mansion.
38. The sage, like the sun, looks down from above the atmosphere of the
earth, on the hosts of mortals that have been hewn down by misery, like
heaps of brambles and branches scattered in the woods.
39. The sage has the full satisfaction of his desires, and full
possession of his best riches, and shines as the full-moon without the
fear of waning.
40. The worldly enjoyments of the wise, do not tend to vitiate their
nature; as the poisonous draught of Siva, was not capable of doing him
any injury. (The baneful effects of worldliness, do not affect the
wise).
41. The food which is habitual to one (as the poison of Siva) is as
gratifying to him; as a thief by long acquaintance forgets his
thievishness, and becomes friendly to his neighbours.
42. The wise man looks upon the separation of his friends and
possessions, in the light of the departures (exits), of the visitant
men and women and actors and actresses, at the end of a play from the
theatre.
43. As passengers chance to meet unexpectedly, at the exhibition of a
play on their way; so the wise people look unconcernedly, at their
meeting with and separation from the occurrences of life.
44. As our eye-sight falls indifferently on all objects about us, so
doth the wise man look unconcernedly upon all things and transactions
of life.
45. The wise man is selfsufficient in all conditions of life; he
neither rejects the earthly blessings that are presented to him; nor
longs or strives hard for what is denied to him.
46. The regret of longing after what one does not possess, as also the
fear of losing what he is in possession of, does not vacillate the mind
of the wise; as the plumes of the dancing peacock do not oscillate the
unshaking mountain.
47. The wise man reigns as a monarch, free from all fears and doubts,
and devoid of all cares and curiosity; and with a mind freed from false
fancies (of subtile and gross bodies).
48. The soul which is immeasurable in itself, is situated in the
Supreme Soul; as the boundless Milky ocean, is contained in the body of
the one universal ocean.
49. Those that are sober in their minds, and tranquil in their spirits,
laugh to scorn the vile beasts of sensuality as madmen; as also those
that have been bemeaned by the meanness of their sensual appetites to
the state of mean reptiles.
50. The sensualist eager for the gratification of his senses, are as
much ridiculed by the wise; as a man who takes to him a woman deserted
by another, is derided by his tribe.
51. The unwiseman becomes wise by relinquishing all the pleasures of
his body, and subduing the emotions of his mind by his reason; as the
rider subdues the ungovernable elephant by the goad (ankusa) in his
hand.
52. He whose mind is bent to the enjoyment of carnal pleasures, should
first of all check the inclination, as they draw out the poisonous
plants from the ground.
53. The well governed mind, being once let loose, recurs like a spoiled
boy to its former habits; as the tree withered in summer heat, grows
luxuriant at a slight rain-fall.
54. That which is full out of its time, does not become fuller in its
season; as the river which is everfull, receives no addition in the
rains over its fulness. (The full never becomes fuller).
55. The mind that is naturally greedy, wishes for more with all its
fulness; as the sea with the sufficiency of its water to overflood the
earth, receives the rain waters and the outpourings of innumerable
rivers in its insatiate womb. (The greedy mind like the insatiate sea,
is neverfull).
56. The mind that is restrained in its desires, is gladdened at its
little gains; and these being increased are reckoned as blessings by
the stinted mind.
57. A captive prince when enfranchised, is content with his morsel of
bread, who ere before had been discontented with a realm in his free
and uncaptured state.
58. With the writhing of your hands and gnashing of your teeth, and
twisting of your limbs and body, you must chastise your reprobate
members and mind. (So is Plato said to have chastised his angry self).
59. The brave and wise man, who intends to overcome his enemies; must
first of all strive to subdue the internal enemies of his own heart and
mind, and the members of his body. (Subdue yourself, ere you subdue
others).
60. Those men are reckoned the most prosperous, and best disposed in
their minds in this earth; who have the manliness to govern their
minds, instead of being governed by them.
61. I revere those pure and holy men, who have quelled the huge and
crooked serpent of their minds, lying coiling in the cave of their
hearts; and who rest in the inward tranquility and serenity of their
souls.
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE NON-ENTITY OF THE MIND.
Argument. The means of repressing the force of the senses, and of
curbing the sensual desires of men.
Vasishtha continued:—The vast domain of death, in region of hell,
is full of the furious elephants of our sins; and the ungovernable
enemies of the senses with the arrows of desires. (_i.e._ Hell is the
abode of sinners, sensualists and the greedy).
2. Our senses are our invincible enemies, being the sources of all
misdeeds and wicked actions. They are the ungrateful miscreants against
the body, in which they have found their refuge.
3. The roving senses like flying birds, have found their nest in the
body; whence with their outstretched wings of right and wrong, they
pounce on their prey like vultures.
4. He who can entrap these greedy birds of the senses, under the snare
of his right reason, is never ensnared in his person in the trap of
sin, but breaks its bonds as the elephant does his fetters.
5. He who indulges himself in sensual pleasures which are pleasant at
first, will have to be cloyed in them in process of time. (Pleasure is
followed by pain. Or: Rills of pleasure not sincere.)
6. He who is fraught with the treasure of knowledge in his frail body,
is not to be overcome by his inward enemies of sensual appetites.
7. The kings of earth are not so happy in their earthly citadels, as
the lords of the cities of the own bodies, and the masters of their own
minds. (Mastery over one’s self, is better than over a realm).
8. He who has brought the senses under his slavery, and reduced the
enemy of his mind to subjection; has the blossoms of his understanding
ever blooming within him as in the vernal meadow.
9. He who has weakened the pride of his mind, and subdued the enemies
of his senses; has his desires all shrunken as the lotuses in the cold
weather.
10. So long do the demons of our desires, infest the region of our
hearts, as we are unable to bring the mind under the subjection of our
knowledge of the True one.
11. He is the faithful servant, who acts according to the will of his
master, and he is the true minister who does good services to his
prince. He is the best general who has command over the force of his
own body, and that is the best understanding which is guided by reason.
12. The wife is loved for her endearments, and the father is revered
for his protection of the child. A friend is valued by his confidence,
and the mind for its wisdom.
13. The mind is called our father, for its enlightening our
understanding with the light of the sástras derived by itself, and for
its leading us to perfection by losing itself in the Supreme spirit.
(The mind like the father, is the instructor and bequeather of its all
to man, ere it is extinct in the universal soul).
14. The mind that has well observed and considered all things, that is
enlightened and firm in its belief, and is employed in laudable
pursuits, is verily a valuable gem within the body.
15. The mind as a counsellor of our good, teaches us how to fell down
the tree of our transmigration, and produce the arbour of our future
bliss.
16. Such is the gem of the mind, O Ráma! unless it is soiled by the
dirt and filth of sin and vice; when it requires to be washed and
cleansed with the water of reason, in order to throw its light on thee.
17. Be not dormant to cultivate reason as long as you abide in the
darksome abode of this world; nor thrust yourself to every accident,
which awaits upon the ignorant and unreasonable men.
18. Do not overlook the mist of error which overspreads this world of
illusion, abounding with multitudes of mishaps and mischiefs. (Harm
watch, harm catch. Hold arms, against harms).
19. Try to cross over the wide ocean of the world, by riding on the
strong barque of your reason, espying the right course by your
discretion, against the currents of your sensual desires.
20. Know your body to be a frail flower, and all its pleasure and pain
to be unreal; so never take them for realities, as in the instance of
the snare, snake and the matting; but remain above sorrowing for any
thing as in the instance of Bhíma and Bhása (which will be shortly
related to you).
21. Give up, O high minded Ráma! your misjudgments of the reality of
yourself, and of this and that thing; but direct your understanding to
the knowledge of the Reality which is beyond all these; and by
forsaking your belief and reliance in the mind, continue in your course
of eating and drinking as before.
CHAPTER XXV.
NARRATIVE OF DÁMA, VYÁLA AND KATA.
Argument. The demon Sambara defeated by the deities, and his production
of other demons by magic and sorcery.
Vasishtha said:—O intelligent Ráma! that dost shine as the delight of
mankind in this world, and endeavourest after the attainment of thy
chief good, by the accomplishment of thy best objects.
2. Do not let the instance of the demons Dáma and Vyála or the snare
and snake, apply to thy case; but try to extricate thyself from vain
sorrowing (at the miseries of the world), by the lesson of fortitude as
given in the story of Bhíma and Bhása.
3. Ráma asked:—What is that parable of the snare and snake, which thou
sayest must not apply to my case? Please relate it in full, to remove
the sorrows of my mind and of all mankind.
4. And how is that fortitude which thou pointest out for my imitation,
from the instance of Bhíma and Bhása, in order to get rid from all
earthly sorrow?
5. Kindly relate the whole, and enlighten me with thy purifying words,
as the roaring of the rainy clouds, serves to alleviate the summer heat
of peacocks.
6. Vasishtha replied:—Hear me Ráma! relate to you both these anecdotes,
that you may derive the benefit of aping according the same.
7. There lived one Sambara—the chief of demons, and a profound sorcerer
in a subterraneous cell, filled with enchanting wonders like a sea of
gems.
8. He constructed a magic city in the sky, with gardens and temples of
gods in it; and artificial suns and moons emblazoning its vault.
9. It was beset with rich stones, resembling the gems of the Sumeru
mountain; and the palace of the demon was full with opulence and
treasures of every kind.
10. The beauties in his seraglio, vied with the celestial dames in
their charming strains; and the arbors of his pleasure garden, were
shaded by an awning of bright moon-beams on high.
11. The blue lotuses blooming in his bed room, put to blush the blue
eyed maids of his court; and the gemming swans in the lakes, cackled
about the beds of golden lotuses in them.
12. The high branches of aureate plants, bore the blossoms of
artificial lotuses on them; and the rows of _Karanga_ arbours dropped
down showers of _mandára_ flowers on the ground.
13. His garden-house consisted both of cold and hot baths, and
refrigeratories and fire-places for the hot and cold seasons; and the
_tarku_ (?) weapons of the demons, had baffled the arms of Indra
himself.
14. The flower-gardens on all sides, had surpassed the _mandara_ groves
of paradise; and the magical skill of the demon, had set rows of sandal
trees, with their encircling snakes all around.
15. The inner compound which was strewn over with gold dust, vanquished
the glory of heaven; and the court-yard of the palace, was filled with
heaps of flowers upto the knee.
16. The earthen figure of Siva which was exposed for show, had
surpassed the image of Hari holding his discus and the mace; and the
gems sparkling as fire-flies in the inside apartment, resembled the
twinkling stars in the arena of heaven.
17. The dark night of the subterrene dwelling, was lightened by a
hundred moon-lights like the starry heaven, and he chaunted his martial
songs before his idol deity.
18. His magical elephant, drove away the Airávata of Indra; and his
inward apartment was hoarded with the precious treasures of the three
worlds.
19. All wealth and prosperity and grandeur and dignity, paid their
homage to him; and the whole host of demons, honoured him as their
commander.
20. The umbrage of his arms, gave shelter to the whole body of demons;
and he was the receptacle of all sagacity, and reservoir of every kind
of treasure.
21. This destroyer of the _devas_ (gods), had a gigantic and terrific
appearance; and commanded a large army of Asura—demons to defeat the
Sura—deities.
22. The gods also sought every opportunity of harassing the demoniac
force, whenever this exorcist demigod, went to sleep or somewhere out
of his city.
23. This enraged Sambara to a degree, that he broke the trees in his
rage, and employed his generals for protection of his legions.
24. The devas finding their fit opportunities, killed the demons one by
one; as the aerial hawks pounce upon and kill the feeble and timid
sparrows.
25. The king of the demons then appointed other generals over his army,
and they were as swift-footed and hoarse sounding as the waves of the
sea.
26. The Devas destroyed these also in a short time; when the leader of
the demon band pursued his enemies to their station above the heavens.
27. The gods fled from their heavenly abode for fear of them, as the
timorous deer fly from before the sight of Siva’s and Gaurí’s bull into
the thick thickets.
28. The gods were weakened with weeping, and the faces of Apsaras were
suffused in tears. The demon saw the heavenly abode abandoned by the
celestials, as it was the desolation of the world.
29. He wandered about in his rage, and plundered and took away all the
valuables of the place. He burnt down the cities of the regents of
heaven, and then returned to his own abode.
30. The enmity between the deities and demons, was so inveterate on
both sides, that it forced the Devas to quit their heavenly abodes, and
hide themselves in distant parts of the world.
31. But the enraged gods, succeeded at last by their perseverance, to
defeat and slay all the generals and combatants, that were set against
them by Sambara.
32. The discomfited demon, then gave vent to his fury, and began to
breathe out living fire from his nostrils like a burning mountain.
33. He after much search in the three worlds, found out the hiding
place of the gods, as a wicked man succeeds in his purpose by his best
endeavours.
34. Then he produced by his sorcery three very strong and fearful
Asuras for the protection of his army, with their hideous appearances
as that of death.
35. These horrible leaders of his army, being produced in his magic,
flew upward with their enormous bodies, resembling the flying mountains
of old.
36. They had the names of Dáma—the snare, Vyála—the snake, and Kata—the
mat given them for their entrapping, enfolding and enwrapping the
enemy, according to the demon’s wish.
37. They were preadamite beings and devoid of changing desires; and the
want of their prior acts (like those of the human kind), made them move
about as free as spiritual beings in one uniform tenor of their course.
38. These were not born as men from the seeds of their previous acts,
with solid and substantial bodies; but mere artificial forces and airy
forms, as facsimiles of the images in the demon’s mind.
CHAPTER XXVI.
BATTLE OF THE DEITIES AND DEMONS.
Argument. The war of the gods with the Demons, rising from the Rasátala
or Infernal regions.
Vasishtha continued:—So saying, the chief of the demons despatched his
generals Dáma, Vyála and Kata, to lead his armies for the destruction
of the Deities upon earth.
2. The demoniac army rose out of the foaming sea and infernal caverns,
in full armour and begirt with fiendish arms; and then bursting forth
with hideous noise, soared aloft with their huge bodies, like mountains
flying on high.
3. Their monstrous and mountainous bodies, hid the disk of the sun in
the sky; and their stretching arms smote him of his rays. They
increased also in their number and size under the leadership of Dáma,
Vyála and Kata.
(This is the war of the Gods and Titans, wherein Sambara is the Satan,
and his generals are the devils, Damon, Baal or Bel and etc.)?
4. Then the dreadful hosts of the celestials also, issued out from the
forests and caverns of the heavenly mountain—Meru, like torrents of the
great deluge.
5. The forces under the flags of the deities and demons, fought
together with such obstinacy, that it seemed to be an untimely and
deadly struggle between the gods and Titans as of the prior world.
6. The heads of the decapitated warriors, decorated with shining
earrings, fell down on the ground like the orbs of the sun and moon;
which being shorn of their beams as at the end of the world, were
rolling in the great abyss of chaos.
7. Huge hills were hurled by the heroes, with the hoarse noise of
roaring lions; and were blown up and down, by the blast of an all
destroying tornado.
8. The broken weapons of the warriors, fell on mountain tops, and
ground them to granules; that fell down as hailstones upon the lions,
that had been resting by their sides below.
9. The sparks of fire that flew about by the commingled clashing of the
weapons, were as the scattered stars of the sky, flying at random on
the last day of dissolution.
10. The ghosts of Vetálas as big as the _tálas_ or palmtrees, were
beating the _tála_ or time of their giddy dance, with the _táli_ or
clapping of their palms, over the heaps of carnage, floating on floods
of blood flowing as a sanguinary sea, on the surface of earth.
11. Showers of shedding blood, had put down the flying dust of the
battlefield; and numbers of the crowned heads separated from their
bodies, glistened amidst the clouds, like so many stars sparkling in
the sky.
12. All sides were filled by the demons, who blazed like burning suns
with their luminous bodies, and held the tall _kalpa_ branches in their
hands for striking the enemy therewith, and with which they broke down
the tops and peaks of mountains.
13. They ran about with their brandished swords in hand, and broke down
the buildings by the rapidity of their motion, like the blast of a
gale; and the rocks which they hurled at the foe, were reduced to dust,
like the ashes of a burning mountain.
14. The gods also pursued them as sacrificial horses, and drove the
weaponless Asuras, like clouds before the storm.
15. They fell upon and laid hold of them like cats pouncing upon rats,
and seizing them for their prey; while the Asuras also were seizing the
_devas_ as bears lay hold on men, mounting on high trees for fear of
them.
16. Thus the gods and demigods dashed over one another, as the forest
trees in a storm, striking each other with their branching arms, and
strewing the flowers of mutual bloodshed.
17. Their broken weapons lay scattered on all sides, like heaps of
flowers lying on the sides of a hill after a strong gale is over.
18. There was a close fight of both armies, with a confused noise
filling the vault of the sky; which like the hollow of the Udumbara
tree, resounded to the commingled hum of the gnats rumbling within it.
19. The elephants that were the regents of the different quarters of
the skies, sent their loud roars, answering the tremendous peal of the
world-destroying cloud.
20. The thickened air grew as hard as the solid earth with the
gathering clouds, and the thickened clouds that became as dense as to
be grasped in the fist, were heavy and slow in their motion.
21. The broken weapons which were repelled by the war-chariots and hit
against the hills, emitted a rattling noise from their inward
hollowness, like the cacophony of a chorus.
22. The mountain forests were set on fire by the fiery weapons, and the
burning rocks melted down their lava with as dreadful a noise, as that
of the volcanic mount of Meru with its melting gold, and blazing with
the effulgence of the twelve suns of the zodiac.
23. The clamour of the battle, was as that of the beating waves of the
boisterous ocean, filling the vast deep of the earth, and resounding
hoarsely by their concussion.
24. The huge rocks which were hurled by the demons, flew as birds in
the air with their flapping wings sounding as thunder claps; while the
hoarse noise of the rocky caverns, sounded as the deep sounding main.
25. The clamour of the warfare resembled the rumbling of the ocean, at
its churning by the Mandara mountain, and the clashing arms sounded as
the clappings of the hands of the gods, in their revelry for the
ambrosial draughts.
26. In this warfare of the two armies, the haughty demons gained the
day; and laid waste the cities and villages of the gods, together with
whole tracts of their hills and forests.
27. The mountainous bodies of the demons also, were pierced by the
great weapons of the gods; and the vault of heaven was filled with the
flying weapons, flung by the hands of both parties.
28. The bursting rockets broke the peaks and pinnacles of the rocks by
hundreds; and the flying arrows pierced the faces of both parties of
the gods and demigods.
29. The whirling disks lopped off the heads of the warriors like blades
of grass, and the clamour of the armies rolled with an uproar in the
midway sky.
30. Struck by the flying weapons, the heavenly charioteers fell upon
the ground; and their celestial cities were deluged by the hydraulic
engines of the demons.
31. Flights of swords, spears and lances were flying in the air, like
rivers running down the sides of mountains; and the vault of heaven was
filled by war-whoops and shouts of the combatants.
32. The habitation of the regnant divinities, were falling under the
blows of demons from behind; and their female apartments reechoed to
the lamentations and jingling trinkets of the goddesses.
33. The stream of the flying weapons of the demons, washed the bodies
of fighting men with blood, and made them fly off from the battle-field
with hideous cries.
34. Death was now lurking behind, and now hovering over the heads of
the gods and leaders of armies; like a black-bee now skulking in, and
then flitting over the lotuses; while the armies on both sides, were
discomfited by the blows of the gods and demigods on the battle field.
35. The demons flew in the air like winged mountains, moving around the
sky; and making a whizzing rustle that was dreadful to hear.
36. The mountainous bodies of the demons, being pierced by the weapons
of the gods, were gushing out with streams of blood; which converted
the earth below to a crimson sea, and tinged the air with purple clouds
over the mountain heights.
37. Many countries and cities, villages and forests, vales and dales
were laid waste; and innumerable demons and elephants, horses and human
beings were put to death.
38. Also numbers of elephants were pierced, with long and pointed
shafts of steel and iron; and huge Airávatas were bruised in their
bodies, by the blows of steeled fists.
39. Flights of arrows falling in showers like the diluvian rains,
crushed the tops of mountains; and the friction of thunderbolts, broke
down the bodies of the mountainous giants.
40. The furious flames of heavenly fire, burned the bodies of the
infernal hosts; who in their turn, quenched the flame with water-spouts
drawn out of the subterranean deep.
41. The enraged demons flung up and hurled, the huge hills to oppose
the falling fires of the gods; which like a wild conflagration, melted
down the hardstones to liquid water.
42. The demons spread a dark night in the sky, by the shadow of their
arms; which the gods destroyed by the artificial flame of lightenings,
blazing as so many suns in heaven.
43. The fire of the lightenings, dried up the waters of the raining
clouds; and the clashing of arms, emitted a shower of fire on all sides.
44. The shower of thunder-arms, broke down the battery of mountain
ramparts; and the Morphean weapon of slumber dispelled by that of its
counteraction.
45. Some bore the sawing weapon, while others held the Brahmástra—the
invincible weapon of warfare, that dispelled the darkness of the field
by its flashing.
46. The air was filled with shells and shots, emitted by the fire-arms;
and the machine of hurling stones, crushed the missile weapons of fire
(agneyastra).
47. The war chariots with their up-lifted flags and moon-like disks,
moved as clouds about the horizon, while their wheel rolled with loud
roaring under the vault of heaven.
48. The incessant thunders of heaven were killing the demons in
numbers, who were again restored to life by the great art of Sukra,
that gave immortality to demoniac spirits.
49. The gods that were now victorious and now flying away with loss,
were now looking to their good stars, and now to the inauspicious ones
in vain.
50. They looked upon heaven for signs of good and evil with their
uplifted heads and eyes, but the world appeared to them as a sea of
blood from the heaven above to the earth below.
51. The world seemed to them as a forest of full blown rubicund
(Kinsuka) flowers, by the rage of their obstinate enmity, and appeared
as a sea of blood filled with mountains of dead bodies in it.
52. The dead bodies hanging pendant on the branches of trees, appeared
as their fruits moving to and fro by the breath of winds.
53. The vault of the sky was filled with forests of long and large
arrows, and with mountains of headless trunks with their hundred arms
(as those of Briareus).
54. These as they leaped and jumped in the air, plucked the clouds and
stars and the heavenly cars of the celestials with their numerous arms;
and hurled their mountain like missile arms and clubs and arrows to the
heavens.
55. The sky was filled with the broken fragments of the edifices,
falling from the seven spheres of heaven, and their incessant fall
raised a noise like the roaring of the diluvian clouds.
56. These sounds were resounded by the elephants of the deep (pátála);
while the bird of heaven—_Garuda_, was snatching the gigantic demons as
his prey.
57. The dread of the demons drove the celestial deities, the Siddhas
and Sáddays and the gods of the winds, together with the Kinnaras,
Gandharvas and Cháranas, from all their different quarters to one
indistinct side. (There was no distinction of the sides in the chaotic
state).
58. Then there blew a tremendous tornado like the all-destroying Boreas
of universal desolation; laying waste the trees of the garden of
paradise, and threatening to destroy the gods; while the thunders of
heaven were splitting and breaking down the mountains flung to the face
of the sky.
CHAPTER XXVII
ADMONITION OF BRAHMÁ.
Argument. The defeated Devas have recourse to Brahmá in their danger,
who tells them the way of their averting it.
Vasishtha related:—As the war of the gods and Titans, was raging
violently on both sides, and their bodies were pierced by the weapons
of one another:—
2. Streams of blood, gushed out of their wounds like water-falls in the
basin of Ganges; and the gods caught into the snares of the demigods,
groaned and roared aloud like lions.
3. Vyála (Baal) with his stretching arms, was crushing the bodies of
the gods; and Kata was harassing them in their unequal challenge with
them.
4. The Daityas waged their battle with the rage of the mid-day sun, and
put to flight the Airávata elephant of Indra—the leader of the gods.
5. The Devas dropped down with their bodies gored with wounds, and
spouting with blood; and their armies fled on all sides, like the
currents of a river overflowing and breaking down its bank.
6. Dáma, Vyála and Kata pursued the flying and run away gods, in the
same manner as a raging fire runs after the wood for its fuel.
7. The Asuras sought and searched long after the gods in vain, for they
had disappeared like the deer and lions, among the thickets after
breaking loose of their snares.
8. Failing to find out the gods, the generals Dáma, Vyála and Kata,
repaired with cheerful hearts to their chief in his abode in the
infernal region.
9. The defeated gods after halting awhile, had then their recourse to
the almighty Brahmá, in order to consult him on the means of gaining
their victory over the demons.
10. Brahmá then appeared to the blood besmeared Devas with his purple
countenance, as the bright and cooling moonbeams appear in the evening
on the surface of the sea, tinged with the crimson hues of the setting
sun.
11. They bowed down before him, and complained of the danger that was
brought upon them by Sambara, through his generals Dáma, Vyála and
Kata, whose doings they fully related to him.
12. The judging-Brahmá having heard and considered all this, delivered
the following encouraging words to the host of gods before him.
13. Brahmá said:—“You shall have to wait a hundred thousand years more,
for the destruction of Sambara under the arms of Hari in an open
engagement.”[4]
14. You have been put to flight to-day by the demoniac Dáma, Vyála and
Kata, who have been fighting with their magical art (and deceitful
weapons).
15. They are elated with pride at their great skill in warfare, but it
will soon vanish like the shadow of a man in a mirror.
16. These demons who are led by their ambition to annoy you, will soon
be reduced under your might, like birds caught in a snare.
17. The gods being devoid of ambition, are freed from the vicissitudes
of pain and pleasure; and have become invincible by destroying the
enemy by their patience.
18. Those that are caught and bound fast in the net of their ambition,
and led away by the thread of their expectation, are surely defeated in
their aims, and are caught as birds by a string.
19. The learned that are devoid of desire, and are unattached to
anything in their minds, are truly great and invincible, as nothing can
elate or depress them at any time.
20. A man however great and experienced he may be, is easily overcome
by a boy, when he is enticed to pursue after every thing by his avarice.
21. The knowledge that, this is I and these are mine (and apart from
all others), is the bane of human life; and one with such knowledge of
his self and egoism, becomes the receptacle of evils like the sea of
briny waters.
22. He who confines his mind within a narrow limit, for want of his
great and extended views, is called dastardly and narrow-minded man
notwithstanding with all his learning and wisdom. (Why then do you
compress the unlimited soul, within the limited nut-shell of your
body?).
23. He that puts a limit to his soul or _átmá_, which is unbounded and
infinite, both surely reduce his magnanimity or _garimá_ to the
minuteness or anima by his own making.
24. If there be anything in the world beside the oneself, that may be
thine or worth thy desiring, thou mayst long to have it; but all things
being but parts of the universe, there is nothing particular for any
one to have or seek.
25. Reliance on earthly things is the source of unhappiness, while our
disinterestedness with all things, is the fountain of everlasting
felicity.
26. As long as the Asuras are independent of worldly things, they must
remain invincible; but being dependent on them, they will perish as a
swarm of gnats in the flame of wild fire.
27. It is the inward desire of man that makes him miserable in himself,
and became subdued by others; otherwise the worm-like man is as firm as
a rock. (Cringing avarice makes one a slave to others, but its want
makes a lion of a weak man).
28. Where there is any desire in the heart, it is thickened and
hardened in time; as every thing in nature increases in its bulk in
time; but not so the things that are not in existence, as the want of
desires (_i.e._ all what exists, has its increase likewise, but a
nullity can have no increase).
29. Do you, O Indra! try to foster both the egoistic selfishness, as
well as the ambition of Dáma and others for their universal dominion,
if you want to cause their destruction.
30. Know, it is avarice which is the cause of the poverty, and all
dangers to mankind; just as the _Karanja_ tree is the source of its
bitter and pernicious fruits.
31. All those men who rove about under the bondage of avarice, have bid
farewell to their happiness, by subjecting themselves to misery.
32. One may be very learned and well-informed in every thing, he may be
a noble and great man also, but he is sure to be tied down by his
avarice, as a lion is fettered by his chain.
33. Avarice is known as the snare of the mind, which is situated like a
bird in its nest of the heart, as it is within the hollow of the tree
of the body.
34. The miserable man becomes an easy prey to the clutches of death by
his avarice, as a bird is caught in the birdlime by a boy; and lies
panting on the ground owing to its greediness.
35. You gods, need not bear the burden of your weapons any more, nor
toil and moil in the field of war any longer; but try your best to
inflame the pernicious avarice of your enemies to the utmost.
36. Know, O chief of the gods, that no arm nor weapon, nor any polity
or policy, is able to defeat the enemy, until they are defeated of
themselves by their want of patience, through excess of their avarice.
37. These Dáma, Vyála and Kata, that have become elated with their
success in warfare, must now cherish their ambition and foster their
avarice to their ruin.
38. No sooner these ignorant creatures of Sambara, shall have gained
their high desires, than they are sure to be foiled by you in their
vain attempts. (The great height must have its fall).
39. Now ye gods! excite your enemies to the war by your policy, of
creating in them an ambition and intense desire for conquest, and by
this you will gain your object.
40. They being subjected by their desire, will be easily subdued by
you; for nobody that is led blindfold by his desires in this world, is
ever master of himself.
41. The path of this world, is either even or rugged, according to the
good or restless desires of our hearts. The heart is like the sea in
its calm after storm, when its waves are still as our subsided desires,
or as boisterous as the stormy sea with our increasing rapacity.
CHAPTER XXVIII
THE RENEWED BATTLE OF THE GODS AND DEMONS.
Argument. The rising Desires of the Demons, causing them to resume the
Battle.
Vasishtha continued:—Saying so, the god Brahmá vanished from the sight
of the gods, as the wave of the sea retires and mixes with its waters,
after having dashed and crashed against the shore.
2. The gods, having heard the words of Brahmá, returned to their
respective abodes; as the breeze bearing the fragrance of the lotus,
wafts it to the forests on all sides.
3. They halted in their delightsome houses for some days, as the bees
rest themselves in the cells of flowers after their wanderings.
4. Having refreshed and invigorated themselves in the course of time,
they gave the alarm of their rising, with the beating of their drums,
sounding as the peal of the last day.
5. Immediately the demons rose from the infernal regions, and met the
gods in the midway air, and commenced their dreadful onset upon them.
6. Then there was a clashing of the armours, and clattering of swords
and arrows, the flashing of lances and spears, and the crackling of
mallets and various other weapons, as battle axes and discuses,
thunderbolts, and hurling of rockstones and huge trees and the like.
7. There was also many magical instruments, which ran on all sides like
the torrents of rivers; while rocks and hills, high mountains and huge
trees, were flung and hurled from both sides, filling the earth with
confused noise and rumbling.
8. The encampment of the gods, was beset by a magical flood of the
demons, resembling the stream of the Ganges; while showers of firearms
and missiles of all sorts, were hurled upon their heads from above.
9. Many big bodies of the gods and demons, rose and fought and fell by
turns, as the elemental bodies of earth and the other elements, rise to
and disappear from view by the act of Máyá or illusion. (The enormous
bodies of the warriors, fought with one another in the same manner, as
the jarring elements clash against each other).
10. Big bombs broke the heads of mountains, and the earth became a vast
sheet of blood like a sanguine sea. The heaps of dead bodies on both
sides, rose as forests to the face of heaven.
11. Living lions with iron bodies, and rows of saw-like teeth and nails
white as Kása flowers, were let loose by the magic art to roam rampant
in the airy field; devouring the stones, flung by the gods and demons,
and bursting out into shells and shots and many other weapons.
12. The serpentine weapons flew with their mountainous shapes in the
ocean of the sky; having their eyes flashing with their venomous heat,
and burning with the fire of the twelve suns on the last day of
desolation.
13. The hydraulic engine sent forth floods of weapons, whirling as
whirlpools, and sounding loud as the rattling thunder; and sweeping the
hills and rocks in their current.
14. The stone missiles which were thrown by the Garuda engine, to the
aerial battle-field of the gods, emitted at intervals water and fire,
and sometimes shone as the sun, and at others became altogether dark.
15. The Garuda weapons flew and roared in the sky, and the fire-arms
spread a conflict of burning hills above; the burning towers of the
gods fell upon the earth and, the world became as unendurable as in its
conflagration on the last day.
16. The demons jumped up to the sky from the surface of the earth, as
birds fly to heaven from mountain tops. The gods fell violently on the
earth, as the fragment of a rock falls precipitately on the ground.
17. The long weapons sticking to the bodies of the deities and demons,
were as bushes with their burning pain; thus their big statures
appeared as rocks decorated with arbors growing upon them.
18. The gods and demons, roving with their mountainous bodies, all
streaming in blood, appeared as the evening clouds of heaven, pouring
the purple floods of celestial Gangá (Mandákiní).
19. Showers of weapons were falling as water-falls or showers of rain,
and the tide of thunders flowed as fast as the fall of meteoric fire in
promiscuous confusion.
20. Those skilled in the arts, were pouring floods of purple fluids,
mixed with the red clay of mountains, from the pipes of elephants’
trunks; as they sputter the festive water of Phagua, mixed with the red
powder (phága) through the syringe (phichkári). (The pouring, of holy
(hori) water is a sacrament of Krishnites, as well as of Christians;
but this baptismal function of Krishna among his comrades, is now
become a mockery and foolery even among the coreligionist-vaishnavites.
The text expresses it as—_punyavarsana_ or purifying sprinkling).
21. The _Devas_ and Asuras, though worried by one another, did not yet
give up their hope of victory, but hurled the weapons from their hands
for mutual annoyance; and riding on the broad backs of big elephants,
they wandered in the air, spreading their effulgence all around.
22. They then wandered in the sky like flights of inauspicious locusts,
with their bodies pierced in the heads, hands, arms, and breasts, and
filled the vault of the world like the flying clouds, obscuring the sun
and the sides of heaven, and the surface and heights of the earth.
23. The earth was battered and rent to pieces by the fragments of
broken weapons, falling from the waists of the combatants, who assailed
one another with their loud shouts.
24. The sky re-echoed to the thunder-claps of the mutual strokes of the
weapons, the clattering of the stones and trees, and the blows of the
warriors on one another, as it was the bustle of the day of universal
destruction.
25. The disordered world seemed to approach its untimely end, by the
blowing of the furious winds mixed with fire and water (as in the
chaotic state); and the many suns of the deities and demons, shining
above and below (as it is predicted of the dreaded last day).
26. All the quarters of heaven, seemed to be crying aloud, with the
sounds of the hurling weapons, rolling as mountain peaks, roaring as
lions, and borne by the blowing winds on all sides.
27. The sky appeared as an ocean of illusion, burning with the bodies
of the warriors like flaming trees, and rolling in surges of the dead
bodies of the gods and demons, floating on it like mountains; while the
skirts of the earth, seemed as forest, made by the clubs and lances and
spears, and many other weapons incessantly falling upon them.
28. The horizon was surrounded by the big and impenetrable line of
demoniac bodies, resembling the chain of Sumeru mountains girding the
earth; while the earth itself resembled the ocean filled with the
mountainous bodies of fallen warriors, and towers of the celestial
cities blown down by the winds.
29. The sky was filled with violent sounds, and the earth and its
mountains, were washed by torrents of blood; the blood-sucking goblins
danced on all sides, and filled the cavity of the world with confusion.
30. The dreadful warfare of the gods and Titans, resembled the tumults
which rage through the endless space of the world, and that rise and
fall with the vicissitudes of pleasure and pain, which it is
incessantly subject to. (_i.e._ The world is a field of continued
warfare of good and evil, like the battle-field of the gods and demons).
CHAPTER XXIX.
DEFEAT OF THE DEMONS.
Argument. The Demons elated with the pride of their bodily strength,
are at last foiled and put to flight by the gods.
Vasishtha continued:—In this manner, the energetic and murderous
Asuras, repeated their attacks and waged many wars with the gods.
2. They carried on their warfare sometimes by fraud and often by their
aggressiveness; and frequently after a truce or open war was made with
the gods. They sometimes took themselves to flight, and having
recruited their strength, they met again in the open field; and at
others they lay in ambush, and concealed themselves in their
subterranean caves.
3. Thus they waged their battle for five and thirty years against the
celestials, by repeatedly flying and withdrawing themselves from the
field, and then reappearing in it with their arms.
4. They fought again for five years, eight months and ten days, darting
their fire arms, trees and stones and thunders upon the gods.
5. Being used to warfare for so long a period, they at last grew proud
of their superior strength and repeated successes, and entertained the
desire of their final victory.
6. Their constant practice in arms made them sure of their success, as
the nearness of objects casts their reflection in the mirror. (Constant
application makes one hopeful of success).
7. But as distant objects are never reflected in the glass, so the
desire for any thing, is never successful without intense application
to it.
8. So when the desires of the demons Dáma and others, became identified
with their selves, their souls were degraded from their greatness, and
confined to the belief of the desired objects.
9. All worldly desires lead to erroneous expectations, and those that
are entangled in the snares of their expectations, are thereby reduced
to the meanness of their spirits.
10. Falling into the errors of egotism and selfishness, they were led
to the blunder of _mei tatem_ or thinking these things as mine; just as
a man mistakes a rope for a snake.
11. Being reduced to the depravity of selfishness, they began to think
their personalities to consist in their bodies, and to reflect how
their bodies from the head to foot could be safe and secure from harm.
12. They lost their patience by continually thinking on the stability
of their bodies, and their properties and pleasures of life. (_i.e._
The eager desire of worldly gain and good, grows into impatience at
last).
13. Desire of their enjoyments, diminished their strength and valour;
and their former acts of gallantry now became a dead letter to them.
14. They thought only how to become lords of the earth, and thus became
lazy and enervated, as lotus-flowers without water. (As the thought of
grandeur enervated the Romans to impotence).
15. Their pride and egoism led their inclination to the pleasures of
good eating and drinking, and to the possession of every worldly good.
(Luxury is the bane of valour).
16. They began to hesitate in joining the warfare, and became as timid
as the timorous deer, to encounter the furious elephants in their
ravages of the forest.
17. They moved slowly in despair of their victory, and for fear of
losing their lives, in their encounter with the furious elephants (of
the gods) in the field.
18. These cowards wishing to preserve their bodies from the hands of
death, became as powerless as to rest satisfied with having the feet of
their enemies set up on their heads. (_i.e._ They fell at the feet of
their foes to spare their lives; (as they say; that cowards die many
times before their death)).
19. Thus these enervated demons, were as disabled to kill the enemy
standing before them; as the fire is unable to consume the sacred
_ghee_ offering, when it is not kindled by its fuel.
20. They became as gnats before the aggressive gods, and stood with
their bruised bodies like beaten soldiers.
21. What needs saying more, than that the demons being overpowered by
the gods, fled away from the field of battle for fear of their lives.
22. When the demons Dáma, Vyála, Kata and others, who were renounced
before the gods in their prowess, fled cowardly in different ways:—
23. The force of the Daityas, fell before the deities, and fled from
the air on all sides, like the falling stars of heaven, at the end of a
kalpa age or last day (of judgment).
24. They fell upon the summits of mountains, and in the arbours of the
Sumeru range; some were enwrapt in the folds of the clouds above, and
others fell on the banks of distant seas below.
25. Many fell in the cavities of the eddies of seas, and in the abyss
of the ocean, and in the running streams; some fell into far distant
forests, and others dropped down amidst the burning woods of wild fire.
26. Some being pierced by the arrows of the celestials, fell in distant
countries, villages and cities on earth; and others were hurled in
thick jungles of wild beasts, and in sandy deserts and in wild
conflagrations. (_i.e._ The demons were hurled down by the gods from
high heaven to the earth below).
27. Many fell in the polar regions, some alighting on the mountain
tops, and others sinking in the lakes below; while several of them were
tossed over the countries of Ándhra, Dravida, Kashmir and Persia.
28. Some sank in billowy seas and in the watery maze of Ganges, and
others fell on distant islands, in different parts of the Jambudwípa,
and in the nets of fisher-men.
29. Thus the enemies of the gods, lay everywhere with their mountainous
bodies, all full of scars from head to foot; and maimed in their hands
and arms.
30. Some were hanging on the branches of trees, by their outstretched
entrails, gushing out with blood; others with their cropt off crowns
and heads, were lying on the ground with open and fiery eyes.
31. Many were lying with their broken armours and weapons, slashed by
the superior power of the adversary, and with their robes and attires
all dismantled and torn by their fall.
32. Their helmets which were terrific by their blaze, were hanging down
their necks; and the braids of their hairs woven with stones, hung
loosely about their bodies.
33. Their heads which were covered with hard brazen and pointed
coronets, were broken by slabs of stone, which were pelted upon them
from the hands of the gods.
34. In this manner the demons were destroyed on all sides, together
with all weapons at the end of the battle; which devoured them, as the
sea water dissolves the dust.
CHAPTER XXX.
ACCOUNT OF THE SUBSEQUENT LIVES OF THE DEMONS.
Argument. Account of the torments of the Demons in the regions of
Pluto, and their succeeding births.
Vasishtha continued:—Upon destruction of the demons, the gods were
exceedingly joyous; but Dáma and the other leaders of the Daityas,
became immerged in sorrow and grief.
2. Upon this Sambara was full of wrath, and his anger was kindled like
the all destroying fire against his generals, whom he called aloud by
their names and said, where are they?
3. But they fled from their abodes for fear of his ire, and hid
themselves in the seventh sphere of the infernal regions.
4. There dwelt the horrid myrmidons of death, formidable as their lord
Pluto (Yama) himself; and who were glad with their charge of guarding
the abyss of hell.
5. Dauntless warders of the hell-gate received them into their favour,
and having given them shelter in the hell-pit, gave them their three
maiden daughters in marriage.
6. They there passed in their company, a period of ten thousand years,
and gave a free vent to their evil desires up to the end of their
lives. (The evil thoughts being the progeny of hell).
7. Their time passed away in such thoughts as these, that, “this is my
consort and this my daughter, and I am their lord:” and they were bound
together in the ties of mutual affections as strong as the chain of
death.
8. It happened on one occasion that Yama—the god of retributive
justice, gave his call to that spot, in order to survey the state of
affairs in the doleful pits of hell.
9. The three Asuras, being unware of his rank and dignity, (by seeing
him unattended with his ensigns), failed to make their obeisance to the
lord of hell, by taking him to their peril as one of his servants.
10. Then a nod of his eyebrows, assigned to them a place in the burning
furnace of hell; where they were immediately cast by the stern porters
of hell gate.
11. There they lay burning with their wives and children, until they
were consumed to death, like a straw-hut and withered trees.
12. The evil desires and wicked propensities, which they contracted in
the company of the hellish train, caused their transmigration to the
forms of Kirátas, for carrying on their slaughters and atrocities like
the myrmidons of Yama.
13. Getting rid of that birth, they were next born as ravens, and then
as vultures and falcons of mountain caves (preying on the harmless
birds below).
14. They were then transformed to the forms of hogs in the land of
Trigarta, and then as mountain rams in Magadha, and afterwards of
heinous reptiles in caves and holes.
15. Thus after passing successively into a variety of other forms, they
are now lying as fishes in the wood-land lakes of Cashmir.
16. Being burnt in hell fire at first, they have now their respite in
the watery lake, and drink its filthy water, whereby they neither die
nor live to their hearts content.
17. Having thus passed over and over into various births, and being
transformed again and again to be reborn on earth, they are rolling
like waves of the sea to all eternity.
18. Thus like their endless desires, they have been eternally rolling
like weeds in the ocean of the earth; and there is no end of their
pains until the end of their desires.
CHAPTER XXXI.
INVESTIGATION OF REALITY AND UNREALITY
Argument. Egoism the cause of Poverty and Calamity, illustrated in the
instance of Dáma and others.
Vasishtha continued:—It was for your enlightenment, O high minded Ráma!
that I have related to you the instance of Dáma and Vyála, that you may
derive instruction thereby, and not let it go for nothing as a mere
idle story.
2. Following after untruth by slighting the truth, is attended with the
danger of incurring endless miseries, which the careless pursuer after
it, is little aware of.
3. Mind! how great was the leadership of Sambara’s army, (once held by
Dáma and his colleagues), and whereby they defeated the hosts of the
immortal deities, and reflect on the change of their state to
contemptible fishes in a dry and dirty quagmire.
4. Mind their former fortitude, which put to flight the legions of the
immortals; and think on their base servility as hunters, under the
chief of Kirátas afterwards.
5. See their unselfishness of mind and great patience at first, and
then see their vain desires and assumption of the vanity of egotism at
last.
6. Selfish egotism is the root of the wide extended branches of misery
in the forest of the world, which produces and bears the poisonous
blossoms of desire.
7. Therefore, O Ráma! be diligent to wipe off from thy heart the sense
of thy egoism, and try to be happy by thinking always of the nullity of
thyself.
8. The error of egoism like a dark cloud, hidst the bright disk of the
moon of truth under its gloom, and causes its cooling beams to
disappear from sight.
9. The three Daityas Dáma, Vyála and Kata, being under the demoniac
influence of Egoism, believed their nonentity as positive entity by the
excess of their illusion.
10. They are now living as fishes in the muddy pool of a lake, among
the forest lands of Kashmira, where they are content at present with
feeding with _zest_ upon the moss and weeds growing in it. (The watery
land of Kashmir is well-known to abound in fishes feeding on aquatic
herbs and moss).
11. Ráma said:—Tell me sir, how they came to existence when they were
nonexistent before; for neither can a _nil_ be an _ens_, nor an entity
become a nonentity at any time.
12. Vasishtha replied:—So it is, O strong armed Ráma! that nothing can
ever be something, or anything can ever be nothing. But it is possible
for a little thing to be great, as for a great one to be reduced to
minuteness. (As it is the case in the evolution and involutions of
beings).
13. Say what nonentity has come to being, or what entity has been
lasting for ever. All these I will explain to you by their best proofs
and examples.
14. Ráma answered:—Why sir, all that is existent is ever present before
us as our own bodies, and all things beside ourselves; but you are
speaking of Dáma and the demons, as mere nullities and yet to be in
existence.
15. Yes Ráma, it was in the same way, that the non-existent and unreal
Dáma and others seemed to be in existence by mere illusion, as the
mirage appears to us to be full of water by our optical delusion (or
deception of vision).
16. It is in like manner that ourselves, these gods and demigods, and
all things besides, are unrealities in fact, and yet we seem to turn
about and speak and act as real persons.
17. My existence is as unreal as thine, and yet it appears as real as
we dream our death in sleep. (So we dream of our existence while we are
awake).
18. As the sight of a dead friend in a dream is not a reality, so the
notion of the reality of the world, ceases upon the conviction of its
unreality, as that of the demise of the person seen in a dream.
19. But such assertions of our nihility are not acceptable to them, who
are deluded to the belief of the reality of sensible objects. It is the
habit of thinking its reality, that will not listen to its
contradiction.
20. This mistaken impression of the reality of the world, is never to
be effaced without the knowledge of its unreality, derived from the
sástras, and the assuetude of thinking it so.
21. He who preaches the unreality of the world and the reality of
Brahma, is derided by the ignorant as a mad man; (for his negation of
the seeming reality, and assertion of the unseen God).
22. The learned and the ignorant cannot agree on this subject, as the
drunken and sobermen can not meet together. It is one who has the
distinct knowledge of light and darkness, that knows the difference
between the shade and sunlight.
23. It is as impossible to turn the ignorant to truth, from their
belief in the reality of unrealities, as to make a dead body to stand
on it legs by any effort.
24. It is in vain to preach the doctrine of “_to pan_”, that “Brahma is
all” to the vulgar, who for want of their knowledge of abstract
meditation, are devoted to their sensible notions.
25. There prohibition is an admonition, giving to the ignorant, (who
are incapable of persuasions); as for the learned who know themselves
to be Brahma, it is useless to lecture them on this subject (which they
are already acquainted with).
26. The intelligent man, who believes that the supremely quiescent
spirit of Brahma, pervades the whole universe, is not to be led away by
any from his firm belief.
27. So nothing can shake the faith of that man, who knows himself as no
other, beside the Supreme Being who is all in all; and thinks himself
to be dependent on the substantiality of God, as the formal ring
depends on its substance of gold.
28. The ignorant have no notion of the spirit, beside that of matter,
which they believe as the cause and effect (Kárya Kárana) of its own
production; but the learned man sees the substantive spirit, in all
forms of creation, as he views the substance of gold in all the
ornaments made of that metal.
29. The ignorant man is composed of his egoism only, and the sage is
fraught with his spirituality alone; and neither of them is ever
thwarted from his own belief.
30. What is one’s nature or habit (of thinking), can hardly be altered
at any time; for it would be foolish in one, who has been habituated to
think himself as a man, to take himself for a pot or otherwise.
31. Hence though ourselves and others, and that Dáma and the demons are
nothing in reality; yet who can believe that we or these or those and
not what ourselves to be.
32. There is but One Being that is really existent, who is truth and
consciousness himself, and of the nature of the vacuum and pure
understanding. He is immaculate, all pervading, quiescent and without
his rise or fall.
33. Being perfect quietude and void, he seems as nothing existent; and
all these creations subsist in that vacuity as particles of its own
splendour.
34. As the stars are seen to shine resplendent in the darkness of
night, and the worms and waves are seen to float on the surface of the
waters, so do all these phenomena appear to occur in his reality.
35. Whatever that being purposes himself to be, he conceives himself to
be immediately the same: it is that vacuous Intellect only which is the
true reality, and all others are also real, as viewed in it and rising
and setting in it out of its own will (volition or bidding).
36. Therefore there is nothing real or unreal in the three worlds, but
all of or the same form as it is viewed by the Intellect, and rising
before it of its own spontaneity. (The three worlds are composed of
this earth and the worlds above and beneath it, called as swarga,
martya and pátála).
37. We have also sprung from that Will Divine as Dáma and others; hence
there is neither any reality or unreality in any of us, except at the
time (when we exist or cease to do so).
38. This infinite and formless void of the Intellect, is ubiquitous and
all pervading; and in whatever form this intellect manifests itself in
any place, it appears there just in the same figure and manner.
39. As the divine consciousness expanded itself with the images of Dáma
and others, it immediately assumed those shapes by its notions of the
same. (But here it was the consciousness of Sambara or Satan, which
manifested itself in those shapes, and implies every thing to be but a
manifestation of our notion of it).
40. So it is with every one of us, that all things are produced to our
view, according to their notions which are presented to our
consciousness. (This is the tenet of conceptualism or idealism, which
bears resemblance to the doctrine of Realism. See Cousin’s treatise “De
Intellectibus”).
41. What we call the world, is the representation of things to us as in
our dream; it is a hollow body as a bubble rising in the empty ocean of
the Intellect, and appearing as the water in the mirage.
42. The waking state of the vacuous intellect, is styled the phenomenal
world, and its state of sleep and rest, is what we call liberation,
emancipation or salvation from pain (_átyantika dukkha nivritti
moksha_).
43. But the Intellect which never sleeps, nor has to be awakened at any
time (but is ever wakeful), is the vacuity of the Divine Mind, in which
the world is ever present in its visible form (and to which nothing is
invisible).
44. There the work of creation is united with the rest of _nirvána_,
and the cessation from the act of creation, is joined with
uninterrupted quiescence; and no difference of alternate work and rest
whatever subsists in God any time. (There is no such thing as “God
rested from his works”).
45. The Divine Intellect views its own form in the world, and the world
in itself in its true sense; as the blinded eye sees the internal light
in its orbit. (?)
46. The Divine Intellect like the blinded eye, sees nothing from
without, but views every form within itself; because there is no
visible nor phenomenal world, beside what is situated within the
vacuous sphere of the intellect.
47. There are all these things every where, as we have ideas of them in
our minds; but there is never any thing any where, of which we have no
previous idea in the mind. It is the one quiet spirit of God, which
lies extended in all these forms coming to our knowledge. Therefore
knowing him as all in all, give up all your fears and sorrows and
duality, rest in peace in his unity.
48. The great intellect of God, is as solid and clear as a block of
crystal, which is both dense and transparent in the inside. They appear
to be all hollow within, but replete with the images of all things from
without.
CHAPTER XXXII.
ON GOOD CONDUCT.
Argument. Passing from the meaner to higher births, is the way to the
attainment of Liberation, and supreme felicity.
Ráma said:—Tell me sir, how Dáma, Vyála and Kata obtained their
liberation at last like all other virtuous souls, and got released from
the torments of hell, like children getting rid of the fear of Yakshas
and Pisáchas.
2. Vasishtha replied:—Hear, O thou support of Raghu’s race! what Yama
said in respect of Dáma, Vyála and their companions, when they besought
for their liberation through his attendants in hell.
3. That Dáma and others would obtain their liberation, upon their
release from their demoniac bodies by death; and upon hearing the
account of their lives and actions.
4. Ráma said:—Tell me sir, how, when and from what source, Dáma and
others, came to learn the accounts of their lives, and in what manner
they obtained their release from hell.
5. Vasishtha replied:—These demons being transformed to fishes in a
pool, by the bank of the great lotus lake in Kashmere, underwent many
miserable births, in their finny forms in the same bog.
6. Being then crushed to death in that marshy ground under the feet of
buffaloes, they were transformed afterwards to the shapes of cranes,
frequenting that lake of lotuses.
7. There they fed upon the moss and mushrooms and tender petals of
lotuses, and had to live upon the leaves of aquatic plants and
creepers, that floated on the surface of the waves.
8. They swung in cradles of flowers, and rested on beds of blue
lotuses; and dived in vortices of the waters, or flew under the cooling
showers of rainy clouds.
9. These charming cranes and herons, were at last becleansed of their
brutish foulness, by their vegetable food of sweet fruits and flowers,
and by their pure beverage of the crystal lake, the food of holy saints.
10. Having by these means obtained a clear understanding, they were
prepared for their release from the brutish state, as men when enabled
to distinguish and get hold of the qualities of _satva_ and _rajas_
(_i.e._ of goodness and virtue), from that of _tamas_ or wrong and
evil, are entitled to their liberation.
11. Now there is a city by name of Adhisthána, in the happy valley of
Kashmere, which is beset by mountains and trees on all sides, and very
romantic in its appearance.
12. There is a hill in the midst of that city known as Pradyumna
Sekhara, which bears resemblance to a pistil, rising from the pericarp
within the cell of a lotus-flower.
13. On the top of that hill, there is an edifice towering above all
other buildings; and piercing the sky with its high turrets, which
appears like pinnacles above its summit.
14. On the north-east corner of that edifice, there is a hollow at the
top of its towering head; which is overgrown with moss, and is
continually resounding to the blowing winds.
15. There the demon Vyála built his nest in the form of a sparrow, and
chirped his meaningless notes, as one repeats the Vedic hymns without
knowing their meanings. (This chanting is elsewhere compared with the
croaking of frogs).
16. There was at that time a prince in the same city, by name of
_Yasaskara_ or the renowned, who reigned there like Indra over the gods
in heaven.
17. Then the demon Dáma became a gnat and dwelt in that dwelling, and
continued to buzz his low tune in the crevice of a lofty column of that
building.
18. It then came to pass, that the citizens of Adhisthána, prepared a
play ground by name of Ratnávatí-vehara in that city.
19. There the minister of the king known as Narasinha by name, took his
residence. He understood the fates of human kind, as the astronomer
knows the stars of heaven on a small celestial globe, which he holds in
his hand.
20. It happened at that time, that the deceitful demon Kata, is as
reborn as a parrot, and became the favourite of the minister, by being
kept in a silver cage in his house.
21. It then turned out that the minister recited this poetical
narrative of the Titan war to the inmates of the house.
22. And the parrot Kata, happening to hear it, remembered his past
life, whereby he was absolved of his sins, and attained his final
liberation.
23. The sparrow dwelling on the top of the Pradyumna hill, also chanced
to hear the narration of his life in that place, and obtained his
emancipation thereby.
24. Dáma who in the form of a gnat, resided in the palace, happened
also to hear the minister’s recital of his tale, and obtained thereby
his peace and release.
25. In this manner, O Ráma! the sparrow on the Pradyumna mount, the
gnat in the palace, and the parrot on the play ground, had all their
liberation.
26. Thus I have related to you the whole of the story of the demon Dáma
and others, which will fully convince you of the vanity of the world.
27. It is the ignorant only that are tempted to vanity by their error,
as they are led to the delusion of water in a mirage; and so the great
also are liable like these demons, to fall low from their high stations
by their error.
28. Think of one of these, that reduced the high Meru and Mandara
mountains with a nod of his eyebrows, was constrained to remain as a
contemptible gnat in the chink of a pillar in the palace. (So the huge
Satan entered the body of the small and hateful serpent, and the
gigantic devils in the hateful bodies of the herd of swine).
29. Look at another who threatened to destroy the sun and moon with a
slap, living at last as a poor sparrow in a hole of the peak of the
Pradyumna mountain.
30. Look at the third who balanced the mount Meru like a flower bouquet
in his hand, lying imprisoned as a parrot in the cage at the house of
Nrisingha.
31. When the sphere of the pure intellect, is tinged with the hue of
egotism, it is debased to another form without changing its nature (by
another birth).
32. It is because of the wrong desire of a man that he takes the
untruth for truth, as if by the excessive thirst of a person, that he
mistakes the mirage for water, and thereby loses both his way and his
life.
33. Those men only can ford across the ocean of the world, who by the
natural bent of their good understanding, are inclined to the study of
the sástras, and look forward to their liberation, by rejecting
whatever is vicious and untrue.
34. Those who are prone to false reasoning and heresy, by rejecting the
revelations, are subject to various changes and miseries, and fall like
the running water into the pit, by loss of their best interests in life.
35. But those who walk by the dictates of conscience, and follow the
path pointed by the Ágama (Veda), are saved from destruction, and
attain their best state (of perfection and bliss).
36. O highminded Ráma! he whose mind always longs after having this
thing and that, loses the best gain of his manliness (parama
purushártha) by his avarice, and leaves not even ashes or traces behind.
37. The high-minded man regards the world as a straw, and shuns all its
concerns as a snake casts off its slough.
38. He whose mind is illumined by the wondrous light of truth, is
always taken under the protection of the gods, as the mundane egg is
protected by Brahmá (or rather under the wings of Brahmá’s swan,
hatching over its egg).
39. Nobody should walk in paths which are long and wearisome, crooked
and winding, and encompassed by dangers and difficulties; because
Ráhu—the ascending node, lost its life by its curvilinear course, to
drink the nectarine beams of the moon.
40. He who abides by the dictates of the true sástras, and associates
with the best of men, are never subject to the darkness of error.
41. Those who are renowned for their virtues, have the power to bring
their destiny under their command, convert all their evils to good, and
render their prosperity perpetual.
42. Those who are unsatisfied with their qualifications (but wish to
qualify themselves the more), and those who thirst after knowledge and
are seekers of truth, are truly called as human beings, all others are
but brutes.
43. Those, the lakes of whose hearts are brightened by the moonbeams of
fame (_i.e._ whose heart are desirous of fame); have the form of Hari
seated in their hearts, as in the sea of milk.
44. The repeated desire of enjoying what has been enjoyed, and of
seeing what has often been seen, is not the way to get rid of the
world; but is the cause of repeated birth, for the same enjoyments.
45. Continue to abide by the established rule of conduct, act according
to the sástras and good usages, and break off the bonds of worldly
enjoyments, which are all but vanities.
46. Let the world resound with the renown of your virtues reaching to
the skies; because thy renown will immortalize thy name, and not the
enjoyments thou hast enjoyed.
47. Those whose good deeds shine as moonbeams, and are sung by the
maidens of heaven, are said to be truly living, while all others
unknown to fame are really dead.
48. They that aspire to their utmost perfection by their unfailing
exertions, and act according to the precepts of the sástras, are surely
successful in their attempt.
49. Abiding patiently by the Sástra, without hastening for success; and
perfecting one’s self by long practice, produce the ripe fruits of
consummation.
50. Now Ráma, renounce all your sorrow and fear, your anxieties, pride
and hastiness; conduct yourself by the ordinances of law and sástras,
and immortalize your name.
51. Take care, that your sensuous soul does not perish as a prey in the
snare of your sensual appetites, nor as a blind old man by falling in
the hidden pits of this world.
52. Do not allow yourself henceforward to be degraded below the vulgar;
but consider well the sástras as the best weapons, for defeating the
dangers and difficulties of the world.
53. Why do you endanger your life in the muddy pit of this world, like
an elephant falling in a pitfall under the keen arrows of the enemy?
Avoid only to taste of its enjoyments, and you are free from all danger.
54. Of what avail is wealth without knowledge; therefore devote
yourself to learning, and consider well your riches to be but trash and
bubbles.
55. The knowledge of heretical sástras, has made beasts of men, by
making them only miserable and unhappy by their unprofitable arguments.
56. Now wake and shake off the dullness of your long, deep and
death-like sleep, like the torpor of the old tortoise lying in the bog.
57. Rise and accept an antidote to ward off your old age and death; and
it is knowledge of this prescription, that all wealth and property are
for our evils, and all pleasures and enjoyments, tend only to sicken
and enervate our frames.
58. Know your difficulty to be your prosperity, and your disrespect to
be your great gain. Conduct yourself according to the purport of the
sástras, as they are supported by good usage.
59. Acts done according to the sástras and good usage also, are
productive of the best fruits of immortality.
60. He who acts well according to good usage, and considers everything
by good reasons, and is indifferent to the pains and pleasures of the
world; such a one flourishes like an arbor in the spring, with the
fruits and flowers of long life and fame, virtues and good qualities
and prosperity.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
CONSIDERATION OF EGOISM.
Argument. Of good attempts, good company and good studies; also of
liberation by Renunciation of Egoism and Worldly Bondage.
Vasishtha continued:—Seeing the complete success of every undertaking,
depending on your own exertion at all times and places, you should
never be slack in your energy at all.
2. See how Nandi gratified the wishes of all his friends and relations
by his own exertions, and how he became victorious over death itself,
by his adoration of Mahádeva by the side of a lake.
3. See also, how the Dánavas too got the better of the gods, who were
fraught with every perfection, by their greater wealth and prowess, as
the elephants destroy a lake of lotuses.
4. See, how Marutta the King of demons, created another world like that
of Brahmá, by means of his sacrifice through the great sage Samvarta
(the law giver).
5. See, how Viswámitra (the military chief) obtained the dignity of
Bráhmanhood by his great energy and continued exertions. He obtained by
his austerities what is impossible to be gained by another.
6. See, how the poor and unfortunate Upamanyu, obtained his nectarious
food of the cake and curdled milk, by his worship of Siva, from the
milky ocean in days of yore.
7. See how the god Vishnu devoured (destroyed), like a wild fire the
demons of the triple world, likening the tender filaments of lotuses;
and how the sage Sweta became victorious over death by means of his
firm faith in Siva (as it is described in the Linga Purána).
8. Remember, how the chaste Sávitrí, brought back her spouse Satyavána
from the realm of death, by her prevailing on stern Yama with the
suavity of her discourse.
9. There is no great exertion of any kind that goes unrewarded in this
world; all impossibility is thought possible by ardent pursuit after it
(or to the ardent pursuer, as it is said: Fortune is found by the
swiftest pursuer).
10. So men having full knowledge of the spirit, and exerting their
utmost devotion, are enabled to root out their destiny of
transmigration, which is fraught with so much pain and pleasure (both
of which are equally hurtful to the soul).
11. All visible things are full of danger to the sight of the
intelligent. There is no pleasure to be had from anything, without its
concomitant pain (either preceding or following it).
12. Though it is difficult to know the Supreme Brahma, and facile to
attain supreme felicity; yet should Brahma be sought at first, as the
giver of all felicity. (Seek happiness through its giver—the Great God).
13. Forsake your pride, and rely on your unalterable peace of mind;
consider well your worthiness in your understanding, and stick to your
attendance on the wise and good.
14. There is no other way for your salvation in this ocean of the
world, save by your attendance on the wise. All your pilgrimage,
austerity and learning of the sástras, are of no avail to your
liberation.
15. He is called the wise, whose greediness, anger and erroneous
conceptions, are on their wane day by day; and who walks in the path of
rectitude, as it is inculcated in the Sástra.
16. The society of spiritual guides, serves to dispel the visibles from
the sight of the devout, as the invisibles are hidden from sight
(_i.e._ as they are not in being).
17. In the absence of all other objects, there remains the Supreme
Spirit alone in view, and the human soul having nothing else to rest
upon, rests at last in the Supreme Soul only.
18. The visibles did not exist before, nor are they produced from
naught; they are not in existence though seen in our presence, nor are
they to exist in future. The supreme alone exist for ever without
change or decay.
19. I have already shown you by various instances the falsehood of the
visibles (in the book of Genesis); I will now show you the falsity of
existence, as it is known to the learned.
20. Now that our passive consciousness of the three worlds, being the
sober truth with the wise, there can be no room for the unrealities of
matter and _máyá_—illusion, to enter into our belief. (We know nothing
of the external world, except our inward consciousness of it. Berkeley).
21. Whatever wonders are displayed by the active intellect to the
inactive soul, the same is thought to be the world. (There is no
outward world, beside the working of the intellect).
22. The notion of the sphere of the world, is derived from the rays of
the central intellect, stretching to the circumference of the
understanding, and there being no difference between the radiating
point and the radiated circle, acknowledge the identity of the
radiator, the radii and the periphery. (_i.e._ Of the intellect, its
intelligence and the world).
23. The twinklings of the intellectual eye in its acts of opening and
shutting, cause the notions of the appearance and disappearance of the
world in continued succession.
24. One unacquainted with the true sense of Ego, is blind amidst the
luminous sphere of the intellect, but he who knows its true meaning,
finds himself amidst the sphere of spiritual light (or rather loses
himself in the divine light).
25. He that understands the Divine Ego, does no more retain the notion
of his own egoism; but mixes with the Supreme soul, as a drop of water
is lost in the waters of the ocean.
26. In reality there exists no I or thou nor the visible world nor
anything else; but all these blend upon right reasoning in the One Ego,
which remains and subsists after all other existences.
27. Even clear understandings are sometimes clouded by false
apparitions, as those of ogres &c.; when there are no such things, just
as children are seized with false fear of goblins.
28. As long as the moonlight of the intellect, is obscured by the
darkness of egoism, so long the lotus lake of spirituality, will not
come to its bloom.
29. The feeling of egoism being wiped off from the mind, the sense of
self and selfish passions, will vanish of themselves from the heart;
and there will be an utter end of the fears of death and hell, as also
of the desires of heaven and liberation.
30. So long as the egoistic feelings float about, like clouds over the
sphere of the mind, there will be no end of desires, growing in the
heart like weeds in the plains.
31. As long as the cloud of egotism continue to overcast the mind and
obscure its intelligence, the humidity of dullness will fill its
sphere, and prevent the light of intellect to pierce through it.
32. Egoistic pride is unmannerly in men, and is taken in the light of
vanity, it is the cause of sorrow and not delight; and is as bug-bears
to boys.
33. The vain assumption of egoism, is productive of a great many
errors, it leads to the ambition of gaining an infinity of worlds, as
it was in the cases of the foolish demons.
34. The conceit that I am such and such (a great man), is an error than
which there is none other, nor is ever likely to be a greater error to
lead us to utter darkness.
35. Whatever joy or grief betides us at any time in this changeful
world, is all the effect of the rotatory wheels of egoism, turning up
and down at every moment.
36. He who weeds and roots out the germs of egoism from his heart, he
verily prevents the arbor of his worldliness (_Samsára Vriksha_), from
jutting out in a hundred branches.
37. Egoism is the sprout of the trees of our lives, in their
interminable revolutions through the world; and meity or the sense that
“this is mine,” is the cause that makes them expand in a thousand
branches. (I am one, but claim many things as mine).
38. Swift as the flight of birds, do our desires and desirable objects
disappear from us; and upon mature consideration, they prove to be but
bubbles, bursting on the evanescent waves of our lives.
39. It is for want of the knowledge of the one Ego, that we think
ourselves as I, thou, this or the other; and it is by shutting out our
view of the only soul, that we see the incessant revolutions of this
world and that.
40. As long as the darkness of egoism reigns over the wilderness of
human life, so long doth the goblin of selfishness infest it with its
wanton revelry.
41. The vile man that is seized by the avaricious demon of selfishness,
is at an utter loss of any moral precept, and any _mantra_ of his
religion to satisfy his wants.
42. Ráma said:—Tell me, O venerable Bráhman, how we may be enabled to
suppress our egoism or selfishness, for evading the dangers and
difficulties in our course through the world.
43. Vasishtha replied:—It is by seeking to settle mind in the
resplendent soul, as it shines in the transparent mirror of the
intellect, that it is possible for any body to suppress the
consciousness, of his self or personal existence. (_i.e._ By losing
one’s self in the self-existence of the Supreme Soul).
44. A closer investigation into human life, proves it to be a maze full
with the false shows of magic. It is not worth loving or hating, nor
capable of causing our egoism or pride.
45. He whose soul is free from egoism, and devoid of the impression of
the phenomenals; whose course of life runs in an even tenor, is the man
who can have no sense of egoism in him. (Whose life doth in one even
tenor run, and end its days as it has begun. Pope.)
46. He who knowing his internal self to be beyond the external world,
and neither desires nor dislikes anything in it, but preserves the
serenity of his temper at all times, is not susceptible of egoism.
47. Whoso thinks himself to be the inward noumena, and distinct from
the outward phenomena, and keeps the calm equanimity of his mind, is
not ruffled by the feeling of his egoism.
48. Ráma said:—Tell me, sir, what is the form of egoism, and whether it
consists in the body or mind or of both of these, and whether it is got
rid of with the riddance of the body.
49. Vasishtha replied:—There are three sorts of egoism, Ráma! in this
triple world, two of which are of superior nature, but the third is of
a vile kind and is to be abandoned by all.
50. The first is the supreme and undivided Ego, which is diffused
throughout the world; it is the Supreme soul (Paramátma), beside which
there is nothing in nature.
51. The feeling of this kind of egoism, leads to the liberation of men,
as in the state of the living-liberated; but the knowledge of the ego,
as distinct and apart from all, and thought to be as minute as the
hundredth part of a hair, is the next form of self-consciousness, which
is good also.
52. This second form of egoism, leads also to the liberation of human
souls, even in the present state of their existence, known as the state
of living-liberation (Jívan-Mukta).
53. The other kind of egoism, which is composed of the knowledge of the
body, with all its members as parts of the Ego, is the last and worst
kind of it, which takes the body for the soul or self.
54. This third and last kind, forms the popular belief of mankind, who
take their bodies as parts of themselves; it is the basest form of
egoism, and must be forsaken in the same manner, as we shun our
inveterate enemies.
55. The man that is debased by this kind of egoism, can never come to
his right sense; but becomes subject to all the evils of life, under
the thrall of the powerful enemy.
56. Possest with this wrong notion of himself, every man is incessantly
troubled in his mind by various desires, which expose him to all the
evils of life.
57. By means of the better egoisms, men transform themselves to gods;
but the common form of it, debases a man to the state of a beast and
its attendant evils.
58. That I am not the body, is the certainty arrived at by the great
and good, who believing themselves to be of the first two kinds, are
superior to the vulgar.
59. Belief in the first two kinds, raises men above the common level;
but that in the lower kind, brings every misery on mankind.
60. It was owing to their baser egoism, that the demons Dáma, Vyála and
others, were reduced to that deplorable state, as it is related in
their tale.
61. Ráma said:—Tell me, sir, the state of that man, who by discarding
the third or popular kind of egoism from his mind, attains the well
being of his soul in both the present and future worlds.
62. Vasishtha replied:—Having cast off this noxious egoism, (which is
to be got rid of by every body), a man rests in the Supreme Spirit in
the same manner, as the believers in the two other sorts of it. (_i.e._
Of the Supreme and superior sorts of spiritual egoisms, consisting in
the belief of one’s self, as the impersonal or personal soul—the
undivided or individual spirit).
63. The two former views of egoism, place the egotist in the all
pervasive or all exclusive spirit (in the Ego of the Divine Unity).
64. But all these egoisms which are in reality but different forms of
dualism, being lost in the unity, all consciousness of distinct
personality, is absorbed in the Supreme monism.
65. The good understanding should always strive to its utmost, to get
rid of its common and gross egotism, in order to feel in itself the
ineffable felicity of the unity.
66. Renunciation of the unholy belief of one’s self personality in his
material body, is the greatest good that one can attain to for his
highest state of felicity _parama padam_.
67. The man that forsakes the feeling of his egoism (or personality)
from his mind, is not debased nor goes to perdition by either his
indifference to or management of worldly affairs. (_i.e._ The doing or
refraining from bodily or worldly actions, is equally indifferent to
the philosophic mind).
68. The man who has got rid of his egoism by the subsidence of his
selfishness in himself, is indifferent to pain and pleasure, as the
satiate are to the taste of sweet or sour.
69. The man detesting the pleasures of life, has his full bliss
presented before himself; as the mind cleared of its doubts and
darkness, has nothing hidden from its sight.
70. It is by investigation into the nature of egoism, and forsaking
this gross selfishness, that a man crosses over the ocean of the world
of his own accord.
71. The man who having nothing of his own, and knowing himself as
nothing, yet has all and thinks himself as all in all, and who though
possessed of wealth and properties, has the magnanimity of his soul to
disown them to himself; he is verily situated in the Supreme soul, and
finds his rest in the state of Supreme bliss. (_i.e._ The world is the
Lord’s, and human soul as a particle of the Divine, has its share in
all and every thing).
CHAPTER XXXIV.
END OF THE STORY OF DÁMA AND VYÁLA.
Argument. The Gods annoyed by Bhíma and others apply to Hari, who
thereupon destroys them with Sambara also.
Vasishtha continued:—Now, hear me relate to you, what Sambara did after
the flight of Dáma and his train; and how he remained in his rocky
stronghold in the infernal region (Pátála).
2. After the complete overthrow of the whole army of Sambara, and their
downfall from heaven like innumerable rain drops, falling from an
over-spreading cloud, and afterwards dispersing itself and disappearing
in autumn:—
3. Sambara remained motionless for many years in his strong citadel, at
the loss of his forces defeated by the gods; and then thought within
himself, about the best means of overcoming the celestials.
4. He said, “the demons Dáma and others, that I produced by my
black-art of exorcism, are all overthrown in battle, by their
foolishness and vanity of pride and egotism.
5. “I will now produce some other demons by the power of my charm, and
endue them both with the power of reason and acquaintance with
spiritual science, in order that they may know and judge for
themselves.
6. “These then being acquainted with the true nature of things, and
devoid of false views, will not be subject to pride or vanity, but be
able to vanquish the deities in combat”.
7. Thinking so in himself, the arch-fiend produced a host of good
demons by his skill in sorcery; and these creatures of his spell filled
the space of the sky, as bubbles foam and float on the surface of the
sea.
8. They were all knowing and acquainted with the knowables; they were
all dispassionate and sinless, and solely intent on their alloted
duties, with composed minds and good dispositions.
9. They were known under the different names of Bhíma, Bhása and
Dridha; and they looked upon all earthly things as straws, by the
holiness of their hearts.
10. These infernal spirits burst out of the ether and sprang up to the
upper world, and then spread over the face of the sky as a flight of
locusts. They cracked as guns, and roared and rolled about as the
clouds of the rainy season.
11. They fought with the gods for many cycles of years, and yet they
were not elated with pride, owing to their being under the guidance of
reason and judgement.
12. For until they were to have the desire of having anything, and
thinking it as “this is my own”, so long were they insensible of their
personal existence, such as “this is I, and that one is another”; and
consequently invincible by any. (Selfishness reduces to slavery and
subjections).
13. They were fearless in fighting with the gods, from the knowledge of
their being equally mortal as themselves; and from their want of the
knowledge of any difference subsisting between one another. (_i.e._
They regarded themselves and their adversaries with an equal eye of
indifference, as all were equally doomed to death, and therefore never
feared to die).
14. They rushed out with a firm conviction that, the unsubstantial body
is nothing, and the intellect is lodged in the pure soul; and that
there is nothing which we call as I or another.
15. Then these demons who were devoid of the sense of themselves and
their fears were necessarily dauntless of the fear of their decease or
death; and were employed in their present duties, without the thoughts
of the past and future.
16. Their minds were attached to nothing, they slew their enemies
without thinking themselves as their slayers; they did their duties and
thought themselves as no doers of them; and they were utterly free from
all their desires.
17. They waged the war under the sense of doing their duty to their
master; while their own nature was entirely free from all passion and
affection, and of even tenor at all times.
18. The infernal force under the command of Bhíma, Bhása and Dridha,
bruised and burned and slew and devoured the celestial phalanx, as men
knead and fry and boil the rice and afterward eat up as their food.
19. The celestial army being harassed on all sides by Bhíma, Bhása, and
Dridha, fled precipitately from the height of heaven, as the Ganges
runs down from Himálayan height.
20. The discomfited legion of the deities, then resorted to the god
Hari, sleeping on the surface of the ocean of milk; as the bodies of
the clouds of heaven, are driven by the winds to the tops of mountains
(beyond the region of storm).
21. The god lying folded in the coils of the serpent, as a consort in
the arms of his mistress; gave the gods their hope of final success in
future. (Hari or Krishna on the serpent, is typical of Christ’s
bruising the head of the satanic serpent).
22. The gods kept themselves hid in that ocean, until it pleased the
lord Hari, to proceed out of it for the destruction of the demons.
23. Then there was a dreadful war between Vishnu and Sambara, which
broke and bore away the mountains as in an untimely great deluge of the
earth.
24. The mighty demon being at last overthrown by the might of Náráyana,
was sent to and settled in the city of Vishnu after his death. (Because
those that are either saved or slain by Vishnu, are equally entitled to
his paradise).
25. The demons of Bhíma, Bhása and Dridha, were also killed in their
unequal struggle with Vishnu, and were extinguished like lamps by the
wind.
26. They became extinct like flames of fire, and it was not known
whither their vital flame had fled. Because it is the desire of a
person that leads him to another state, but these having no wish in
them, had no other place to go.
27. Hence the wishless soul is liberated, but not the wistful mind;
therefore use your reason, O Ráma, to have a wishless mind and soul.
28. A full investigation into truth, will put down your desires at
once; and the extinction of desires, will restore your mind to rest
like an extinguished candle.
29. Consummate wisdom consists in the knowledge of there being nothing
real in this world, and that our knowledge of reality is utterly false,
and that nihility of thing, is the true reality.
30. The whole world is full with the spirit of God, whatever otherwise
one may think of it at any time; there can be no other thought of it
except that it is a nihility, and this forms our perfect knowledge of
it.
31. The two significant words of the will and mind are mere
insignificant fictions, as head and trunk of the ascending and
descending nodes of a planet; which upon their right understanding, are
lost in the Supreme Spirit. (_i.e._ It is only the divine will and
spirit that is all in all).
32. The mind being accompanied by its desires, is kept confined in this
world, but when that is released from these, it is said to have its
liberation.
33. The mind has gained its existence in the belief of men, owing to
the many ideas of pots and pictures (_ghata-patadí_); and other
things which are imprinted in it; but these thoughts being repressed,
the mind also vanishes of itself like the phantoms of goblins
(yakshas—yakkas).[5]
34. The demons Dáma, Vyála and Kata, were destroyed by reliance on
their minds (_i.e._ by thinking their bodies as their souls); but
Bhíma, Bhása and Dridha were saved by their belief in the Supreme soul,
as pervading all things. Therefore, O Ráma! reject the examples of the
former, imitate that of the latter.
35. “Be not guided by the example of Dáma, Vyála and Kata,” is the
lesson that was first delivered to me by Brahmá—the lotus-born and my
progenitor himself.
36. This lesson I repeat to you, O Ráma, as my intelligent pupil, that
you may never follow the example of the wicked demons Dáma and others;
but imitate the conduct of the good spirits, Bhíma and others in your
conduct.
37. It is incessant pain and pleasure that forms the fearful feature of
this world, and there is no other way of evading all its pangs and
pains, save by your apathetic behaviour, which must be your crowning
glory in this life.
CHAPTER XXXV.
DESCRIPTION OF INSOUCIANCE.
Argument. On the Abandonment of worldly desires, as conducive to the
composure of the Mind, and society of the good, accompanied with
rationality and spiritual knowledge, constituting the _Samádhi_ of the
soul.
Vasishtha continued:—Blessed are the virtuous, who have cleansed their
hearts from the dirt of ignorance; and victorious are those heroes, who
have conquered their insatiable and ungovernable minds.
2. It is self-control or the government of one’s own mind, that is the
only means of wading through all the troubles and distresses, and
amidst all the dangers and difficulties of this world.
3. Hear the summary of all knowledge, and retain and cultivate
constantly it in your mind; that the desire of enjoyment (avarice) is
our bondage in the world, and its abandonment is our release from it.
4. What need is there of many precepts, learn this one truth as the sum
substance of all, that all pleasures are poisonous and pernicious, and
you must fly from them as from venomous snakes and a raging fire.
5. Consider well and repeatedly in yourself, that all sensible objects
are as hydras and dragons; and their enjoyment is gall and poison.
Avoid them at a distance and pursue after your lasting good.
6. The cupidinous mind is productive of pernicious evils, as the
sterile ground is fertile only in thorns and brambles. (The vitiated
mind brings forth but vice, as the vicious heart teems with guilt).
7. The mind devoid of desire, lacks its expansion, as the heart wanting
its passions and affections, is curbed and contracted in itself.
8. The goodly disposed mind ever teems with virtues, that are opposed
to wrong acts and vice, as the ground of a good quality, grows only the
good and useful trees in spite of weeds and bushes.
9. When the mind gains its serenity by culture of good qualities, the
mist of its errors and ignorance gradually fade and fly away, like
clouds before the rising sun.
10. The good qualities coming to shine in the sphere of the mind, like
stars in the moonlight sky, gives rise to the luminary of reason to
shine over it, like the bright sun of the day.
11. And as the practice of patience grows familiar in the mind, like
the medicinal _vansa-lochana_ within the bamboo; it gives rise to the
quality of firmness in the man, as the moon brightens the vernal sky.
12. The society of the good is an arbour, affording its cooling shade
of peace, and yielding the fruit of salvation. Its effect in righteous
men, is like that of the stately _sarala_-tree, distilling the juice of
spiritual joy from the fruitage of samádhi (sang-froid).
13. Thus prepared, the mind becomes devoid of its desires and enmity,
and is freed from all troubles and anxieties. It becomes obtuse to the
feelings of grief and joy, and of pain and pleasure also, and all its
restlessness dies in itself.
14. Its doubts in the truths of the scriptures die away, as the
ephemerides and all its curiosities for novelties, are put to a stop. Its
veil of myths and fictions is unveiled, and its ointment of error is
rubbed out of it.
15. Its attempts and efforts, malice and disdain, distress and disease,
are all removed from it; and the mist of its grief and sorrow, and the
chain of affections, are all blown and torn away.
16. It discards the progeny of its doubts, repudiates the consorts of
its avarice, and breaks loose from the prison-house of its body. It
then seeks the welfare of the soul, and attains its godly state of
holiness.
17. It abandons the causes of its stoutness (_i.e._ its nourishments
and enjoyments), and relinquishes its choice of this thing and that;
and then remembering the dignity of the soul, it casts off the covering
of its body as a straw.
18. The elevation of the mind in worldly affairs, tends to its
destruction, and its depression in these leads to its spiritual
elevation. The wise always lower their minds (pride); but fools are for
elevating them (to their ruin).
19. The mind makes the world its own, and ranges all about it; it
raises the mountains and mounts over them; it is as the infinite
vacuum, and comprehends all vacuity in itself; and it makes gods of
friends and foes of others unto us.
20. The understanding being soiled by doubts, and forgetting the true
nature of the intellect, takes upon it the name of the mind, when it is
full of all its worldly desires.
21. And the intellect being perverted by its various desires, is called
the living soul; the animal soul being distinct from the rational soul.
22. The understanding which forgets its intellectuality, and falls into
the error of its own personality, is what we call the internal
principle of the mind which is all hollow within.
23. The soul is not the man of the world (_i.e._ no worldly being), nor
is it the body or its blood. All material bodies are but gross and dull
matter; but the soul in the body is empty air and intangible.
24. The body being dissected into atoms, and analysed in all its
particles, presents nothing but blood and entrails as the plantain
tree, which when cut into pieces, presents naught but its folded rinds.
25. Know the mind and living soul as making a man, and assuming his
mortal form; the mind takes its form by itself according to his own
option.
26. Man stretches his own sphere of action by his own option only to
entrap himself in it, as the silkworm weaves its cocoon for its own
imprisonment.
27. The soul lays down its error of being the body, when it has to
forsake the same at some time or other (_i.e._ sooner or later), and
assume another form as the germ sprouts forth into leaves. (_i.e._ The
body is not the soul, nor is the soul the same with the body, as the
materialist would have it; because the soul has its transmigration,
which the body has not).
28. As is the desire or thought in the mind, so is it born in its next
state of metempsychosis. Hence the new born babe is given to sleeping,
because it thinks itself to be dead, and lying in the night-time of his
death. It is also given to the dreaming of those things, which had been
the objects of its desire or thought in its previous state or birth.
(This establishes the doctrine of innate ideas in the dreaming state of
new-born babies).
29. So sour becomes sweet by mixture with sugar, and the bitter seed
produces sweet fruits by being sown with honey. So on the contrary,
sweet becomes bitter by intermixture of gall and wormwood. (This is a
fact in horticulture.—Áráma Sástra, and applies to the goodness and
badness of the human mind, according to its good and bad associations).
30. Aiming after goodness and greatness, makes a man good and great; as
one wishing to be an Indra or a lord, dreams of his lordliness in his
sleep. (The mind makes the man).
31. Inclination to meanness bemeans a man, and a tendency to vileness
vilifies his conduct in life; as one deluded by his fancy of devils,
comes to see their apparitions in his nightly visions.
32. But what is naturally foul or fair, can hardly turn otherwise at
any time; as the limpid lake never becomes muddy, nor the dirty pool
ever becomes glassy. (Nature of a thing is unchangeable).
33. The perverted mind produces the fruits of its perversion in all its
actions, while puremindedness is fraught with the effects of its purity
everywhere.
34. Good and great men never forsake their goodness and greatness, even
in their fall and decline; so the glorious sun fills the vault of
heaven with his glory, even when he is sinking below (the horizon).
35. There is no restriction or freedom of the human soul, to or from
any action or thing herein; it is a mere passive and neutral
consciousness, of all that passes before it as a magic scene.
36. The world is a magical city, and as a mirage appearing to sight; it
is of the nature of the delusive panorama, showing many moons of the
one, whose unity admits of no duality. So the one Brahma is represented
as many by delusion. (The Hindus, contrary to Europeans, have many suns
but one moon. Escas—Chandra).
37. All this is verily the essence of Brahma, and this is the sober
reality; the substantive world is an unsubstantiality, and peers out to
view as a hollow phantom. (It is a phantasmagoria of phantasms).
38. That I am not the infinite but an infinitesimal, is the misjudgment
of the ignorant; but the certitude of my infinity and supremacy, is the
means of my absorption in the Infinite and Supreme.
39. The belief of one’s individuality in his undivided, all pervasive
and transparent soul, as “I am this,” is the cause of his bondage to
his personality, and is a web spun by his erroneous dualism. (Knowledge
of a separate existence apart from solity, amounts to a dualistic
creed).
40. Want of the knowledge of one’s bondage or freedom, and of his unity
or duality, and his belief in the totality of Brahma, is the supreme
truth of true philosophy.
41. Perfect transparency of the soul, amounting to its nihility, and
its want of attachment to visible appearances, as also its
unmindfulness of all that is, are the conditions for beholding Brahma
in it. There is no other way to this.
42. The purity of the mind produced by acts of holiness, is the
condition for receiving the sight of Brahma; as it is the whiteness of
the cloth that can receive any colour upon it.
43. Think thy soul, O Ráma! as same with the souls of all other
persons, and abstain from all other thoughts, of what is desirable or
undesirable, what invigorates or enfeebles the body, and what brings
liberation after bondage, or Salvation after sinfulness. (Since none of
these states appertains to the universal soul, which is quite free from
them).
44. The mirror of the mind being cleansed by the knowledge of the
sástras, and dispassionateness of the understanding, it receives the
reflexion of Brahma, as the clear crystal reflects the images of things.
45. The sight which is conversant with visible objects and not with
images and ideas in the mind, is called false vision of what is soon
lost from view. (_i.e._ Mental sight is more lasting than that of the
visual organs).
46. When the mind is fixed upon God, by abstracting its sight from all
mental and ocular visions, it has then the view of the Supreme before
it. (This is called spiritual vision).
47. The visible sights which are obvious to view, are all but unreal
phantoms; it is the absorption of the mind in the Divine, that makes it
identical with the same and no other.
48. The visibles now present before us being absent from our view,
either before or after our sight of them, must be considered as absent
in the interim also. Therefore one unacquainted with his mind, is as
insensible as the man that knows not what he holds in his hand.
49. One having no knowledge that “the world is the same with the
Supreme spirit,” is always subject to misery; but the negation of the
visibles as distinct from God, gives us both the pleasure of our
enjoyments here, and our liberation in future.
50. It is ignorance to say the water is one thing and its wave is
another; but it shows one’s intelligence, who says they are the one and
the same thing.
51. The vanities of the world, are fraught with sorrow, therefore
discard all its appendages from thee. The abandonment of superfluity,
will conduce to thy attainment of wisdom at last.
52. The mind being composed of vain desires, is an unreality in itself;
say therefore, O Ráma! why should you sorrow for something which in
reality is nothing.
53. Do you, O Ráma! look upon all things as traps set to ensnare the
soul; and regard them with the eye of an unkind kinsman looking upon
his relatives, with an eye of apathy and unconcern.
54. As the unkind relative is unconcerned with the joys and griefs of
his relations; so shouldst thou remain aloof from all things, by
knowing the falsehood of their natures.
55. Rely on that eternal Spirit, which is infinite knowledge and
felicity, and which is between the viewer and the view (_i.e._ betwixt
the noumenon and the phenomenon). The mind being fixed to that truth,
will adhere to it as clay, after the swiftness of its flight is at an
end.
56. The airy flight of the mind being restrained, the sluggish body
must cease to run about; and the cloud of the dust of ignorance, will
no more spread over the city of the world.
57. When the rains of our desires are over, and the calmness of the
mind is restored; when the shuddering coldness of dulness has fled,
and when the mud of worldliness is dried up:—
58. When the channel of our thirst is dried up, and the drinking pots
are sucked up and emptied; when the forest of the heart is cleared, and
its brambles are rooted out, and the frost of false knowledge has
disappeared:—
59. It is then that the mist of error vanishes from view, like the
shadow of night on the approach of dawn; and the frigidity of dullness
is put to flight, like the poison of snake-bite by the potent charm of
mantras.
60. Then the rivulets of our desires, do not run down the rock of the
body; nor do the peacocks of our fleeting wishes, fly and sport on its
top.
61. The sphere of our consciousness becomes as the clear sky; and the
luminary of the living soul, shines as brightly over it as the midday
sun.
62. The cloud of error is dispelled and succeeded by the light of
reason; and the longings of the soul, being purified of their dross,
make it shine brilliantly amidst its sphere.
63. Then raptures of serene delight, shoot forth in the soul like
blooming blossoms in the open air; and a cool light is shed upon it,
like the cooling beams of the autumnal moon.
64. This ecstacy of the soul, unfolds all prosperity before it, and
fructifies with abundance the well cultivated ground of the reasoning
mind. (Truth is the fruit of holy joy in the reasonable mind).
65. It sheds its clear lustre all over the world, and shows the depths
of the hills and forests, and everything on earth in their clearest
light. (Heavenly joy unfolds all things to light).
66. It expands the mind and makes it translucent, and the heart as a
clear lake, renders blooming with blossoms of the lotus of _satva_, and
without the dust—_rajas_ of egoism. It is never infested by the
swarming passions of pride or _tamas_.
67. The mind then being purged of its selfishness, turns to universal
benevolence and philanthropy; and being quite calm in itself without
any desire of its own, it reigns as lord over the city of its body.
68. The man whose investigation has made him acquainted with all
things, whose soul is enlightened with truth; whose mind is melted down
from his highmindedness; who is calm and quiet in his understanding,
and looks at the unpleasant course of the births and deaths of men with
pity; he verily lives happily in the realm of his body, without his
feverish anxieties about anything.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INTELLECTUAL SPHERE.
Argument. The Intellect as pervading all things, and making us
acquainted with them.
Ráma said:—Tell me O Bráhman! how the mundane system subsists in the
extra mundane immaterial soul, for the sake of my advancement in
knowledge.
2. Vasishtha replied:—The worlds having no separate existence (before
or after their formation) except in the Supreme mind, they are all
situated in the Divine Intellect, like the unheaving and unseen
would be waves of the sea.
3. As the all-pervading sky is not to be seen owing to its extreme
tenuity; so the undivided nature of the all-pervasive intellect, is not
to be perceived on account of its rarity.
4. As the gem has its brilliancy in it, whether it is moved or unmoved
by any body, so the unreal world has its potential existence in the
Divine Spirit, both in its states of action and inactivity. (Hence the
eternity of the world in the Eternal Mind).
5. As the clouds abiding in the sky, do not touch the sky or have a
tangible feeling of its vacuity; so the worlds subsisting in the
receptacle of the Intellectual soul, have no contact with the
extraneous (pará) intellect, which is unconnected with its contents.
6. As the light residing in the waters of the sea or a pot of water, is
not connected either with the water or pot, nor is it felt by us but by
its reflexion; so the intangible soul abides unconnected in its
receptacle of the body, and reflects itself to our knowledge only.
7. The intellect is devoid of every desire and designation; it is the
indestructible soul, and is named by our intelligence of it as (Chetya)
intelligible; or from some one of our intelligible ideas as the living
soul &c.
8. It is clearer than the translucent air, and finer than it by a
hundred times; it is known as an undivided whole by the learned; who
view it as identic with the whole undivided world, which it comprehends
within itself.
9. As the sea water shows itself in various forms in all its waves, so
the intellect does not differ from it, in showing us its various
representations of its own motion.
10. The diversities of our subjective and objective knowledge of myself
and thyself and these (ego, tu &c.), are like the varieties of waves
and billows in the ocean of the intellect, these are but erroneous
notions, since they are representations of the same element, and the
very same intellect.
11. The various states of the intellect (Chit), intellection (Chintá),
intelligence (Chittam) and intelligibles (Chetyas), all appertain to
the main principle of the soul. They are differently conceived by the
learned and ignorant, but the difference is a mere conceit (Kalpaná).
12. The intellect presents its two different aspects to the wise and
unwise people; to the ignorant, it shows its unreal nature in the
realistic conception of the world, while to the learned it exhibits its
luminous form in the identity of all things (with God).
13. The intellect enlightens the luminous bodies of the sun and stars,
by its internal (intellectual) light; it gives a relish to things by
its internal taste; and it gives birth to all beings from its inborn
ideas of them.
14. It neither rises nor sets, nor gets up nor sits; it neither
proceeds nor recedes to or fro, it is not here nor is it no where.
(Omniscience is present everywhere and is ever the same).
15. The pure and transpicuous intellect which is situated in the soul,
displays in itself the phantasmagoria which is called the world.
16. As a heap of fire emits its flame, and a luminous body blazes with
its rays; and as the sea swells in surges and breaks in with its arms,
so the intellect bursts out in its creations. (Omniscience is the cause
and not percipience of the world—God makes all things, and does not
perceive them like us).
17. Thus the intellect which is selfmanifest and omnipresent of its
own nature, developes and envelopes the world by its own manifestation
and occultation, and by its acts of integration and segregation
(_sánhára_ and _nirhára_); or the acts of accretion and secretion.
18. It is led by its own error and of its own accord, to forget and
forsake its state of infinitude; and then by assuming its individual
personality of egoism (that I am), it is converted to an ignoramus. (So
men of contracted views turn to be dunces).
19. It falls from its knowledge of generals to that of particulars, by
its act of specialization; and comes to the discrimination of the
positive, and negative, and of inclusion and exclusion (or admission or
rejection).
20. It strives and struggles within the confines of the sensuous body
(owing to its degradation from spirituality); and it multiplies in
these bodies like the weeds sprouting out of the bosom of the earth.
(_i.e._ From its unity becomes a multiplicity in the many animal
bodies).
21. It is the intellect that stretches the spacious vacuum, to make
room for the subsistence and growth of every thing; and makes the all
and ever moving air and the liquid water, for the vitality and
nourishment of all.
22. It makes the firm earth (terrafirma) and the light-some fire and
the fixed worlds all around; and employs time by its injunctions and
prohibitions, (to do or undo any thing).
23. It gives fragrance to flowers, and grows by degrees their filaments
and pistils; and it makes the moisture of the porous ground, to grow
vegetables on earth.
24. The rooted trees fructify with fruits, by their juicy saps from
beneath; and they produce their fruitage, and display their foliage
with lineaments in them, as their veins and arteries.
25. It renovates the forest with its gifts of various hues, and dyes
them with the variety of colours in the rainbow of Indra.
26. It bids the folia, fruits and flowers to wait on the flowery season
of spring; and then brings their fruitage to perfection, under the heat
of the summer sun.
27. It makes the dark blue clouds of heaven, to wait on the approach of
the rainy weather; and causes the harvest of fields, to follow in the
train of autumn.
28. The cold season is decorated with its smiling frost, in its faces
of the ten sides of the sky; and the dewy weather is made to waft its
icicles of dew drops, on the pinions of the chilling winds of winter.
29. It makes the ever moving time, to revolve in its rotation of years
and cycles and Yuga—ages; and causes the tide of creation to roll on in
its waves of worlds, on its bosom of the ocean of eternity.
30. Its decrees remain fixed with a wonderful stability, and the earth
(terra or dhara), continues firm (dhíra or sthira), with its quality of
containing all things. (In this sloka there is both a homonym and
paronym of similar sound and sense in the word _dhará_ derived from the
root _dhri_: namely, _dhírá_, _dhará_, = _sthirá_, terra and _dharana_
and _dharini_).
31. It made the universe teem with fourteen kinds of beings in its as
many worlds of the chaturdasa-bhuvanas; and these are as different in
their modes of life as in their forms and figures. (The Atharvan or
last Veda reckons tri-sapta or thrice seven worlds).
32. These are repeatedly produced from and reduced to nothing, and move
in their wonted courses for ever, as bubbles in the waterless ocean of
eternity.
33. Here the miserable multitudes, moving mad in vain struggles after
their desired objects, and in their imbecility under the subjection of
disease and death. They are incessantly coming to life and going away
in their exits, remaining in their living states and acquiring their
ends, and for ever running to and fro, in their repeated births and
deaths in this world.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
UPASAMA. THE SAMENESS OR QUIETISM OF THE SOUL.
Argument:—The sameness of the Spirit from its want of perturbation by
worldly matters; and equanimity of the mind in all circumstances.
Vasishtha added:—In this manner are these series of worlds, revolving
in their invariable course, and repeatedly appearing and disappearing
in the substantiality of Brahma.
2. All this is derived from the one self-existence, and have become the
reciprocal causes of one another, by their mutual transformations; and
again they are destroyed of themselves by their mutual destructiveness
of one another.
3. But as the motion of the waters on the surface, does not affect the
waters in the depth of the sea; so the fluctuations of the changing
scenes of nature, make no alteration in the ever tranquil spirit of
Brahma.
4. As the desert in summer heat, presents the waters of mirage to the
clear sky, so the false world, shows its delusive appearances to the
mind.
5. As the calm soul seems to be giddy in the state of one’s
drunkenness, so the essence of the intellect which is always the same,
appears as otherwise in its ignorance.
6. The world is neither a reality nor unreality; it is situated in the
Intellect but appears to be placed without it. It is not separate from
the soul, although it seems to be different from it, as the ornament
appears to differ from its gold.
7. Ráma! that soul of yours whereby you have the perception of form and
figures and of sound and smell, is the Supreme Brahma pervading all
things.
8. The pure soul being one in many, and inherent in all external
objects, cannot be thought as distinct from those, that appear
otherwise than itself.
9. Ráma! it is the difference of human thoughts, that judges
differently of the existence and non-existence of things, and of their
good and bad natures also; it judges the existence of the world, either
as situated in or without the Divine Spirit.
10. Whereas it is impossible for any thing to exist beside the Spirit
of God, it was the Spirit that “willed to become many”. And as there
was nothing beside itself, which it could think of or find for itself,
it was necessary that it became so of itself, and without the aid of
any extraneous matter. (Prose).
11. (Prose). Therefore the will to do this or that, or try for one
thing or other, does not relate to the soul but to the mind. Thus the
optionless soul, having no will of its own, does nothing except
cogitating on what is in itself. It is no active agent, owing to the
union of all agency, instrumentality and objectivity in itself. It
abides nowhere, being both the recipient and content, or the container
and the contained of everything in itself. Neither is the will-less
soul actionless likewise, when the acts of creation are palpable in
itself (karmaprasidhi). Nor is it possible that there is any other
cause of them. (_Nanyakartá dvítiryakam. Sruti_).
12. Ráma! you must know the nature of Brahma to be no other
(_vetara—non alter_) than this; and knowing him as no agent and without
a second, be free from all anxiety.
13. I will tell you further that:—Though you may continue to do a great
many acts here, yet tell me in a word, what dost thou do that is worth
doing. Rely on the want of your own agency, and be quiet as the sapient
sage. Remain as calm and still, as the clear ocean when unshaken by the
breeze.
14. Again knowing well, that it is not possible for the swiftest
runners to reach their goal of perfection, how far so ever they may go.
You must desist in your mind from pursuing after worldly objects, and
persist to meditate on the spirituality of your inward and intellectual
soul.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
THE SAME QUIETNESS OR QUIETUDE OF THE SPIRIT.
Argument. The unconnected Soul being connected with the Mind, is
believed as the Active Spirit by the unwise. But the quiet spirit
of the wise, which is unaffected by its actions, is ever free and
emancipate from the acts.
Vasishtha resumed:—(Prose). Such being the state of the wise, the
actions they are seen to do, whether of goodness or otherwise or
pleasurable or painful, in and whatsoever they are engaged, are _nil_
and as nothing, and do not affect them as they do the other worldly
mortals. (The unconcernedness of the wise, is opposed to the great
concern of fools in their actions).
2. For what is it that is called an action, but the exertion of mental
and voluntary energies, with a fixed determination and desire of
performing some physical acts, which they call the actions of a person.
(But the apathetic minds of the wise, being insensible both of the
purposes and their ends, there is no imputation of agency which can
ever attach to them. (Gloss)).
3. The production of an act by appliance of the proper means, and the
exertion and action of the body in conformity with one’s ability, and
the completion of the effect compatible with one’s intention, together
with the enjoyment of the result of such agency, are defined and
determined as the action of the man. (It is the deliberate and
voluntary doing of an act, and not the unintentional physical action,
that constitutes human agency. Gloss).
4. (Verse). Moreover, whether a man is agent or no agent of an action,
and whether he goes to heaven or dwells in hell, his mind is subject to
the same feelings, as he has the desires in his heart. (The mind makes
a heaven of hell, and a hell of heaven by its good or bad thoughts.
Milton).
5. (Prose). Hence the agency of the ignorant, arises from their wishing
to do a thing, whether they do it or not; but not so of the wise, who
having no will, are not culpable even for their involuntary actions.
Untutored minds are full with the weeds of vice, but well cultivated
souls are quite devoid of them. Gloss. (So: “If good we plant not, vice
will fill the place: And rankest weeds the richest soils deface”).
6. He who has the knowledge of truth (tatwajnána), becomes relaxed in
his earthly desires; and though he acts his part well, he does not long
eagerly for its result as others. He acts with his body but with a
quiet unconcerned mind. When successful, he attributes the gain to the
will of God; but the worldly minded arrogate the result to themselves,
though they could not bring it about.
7. Whatever the mind intends, comes verily to pass, and nothing is
achieved without the application of the mind; whereupon the agency
belongeth to the mind and not to the body. (An involuntary action is
not a deed).
8. The world doth proceed from the Mind (Divine); it is the mind (by
being a development of it), and is situated in the (infinite and
eternal) mind; knowing all things as such manifestations of the powers
of the intellect, the wise man remains in the coolness of his desire or
luke warmness.
9. The minds of spiritualists (or those knowing the soul), come to the
state of that perfect insensibility of their desires, as when the false
watery mirage is set down by the raining clouds, and the particles of
morning dews, are dried up by the raging sun. It is then that the soul
is said to rest in its perfect bliss (The _turya—sans souci_ or
impassibility).
10. This is not the felicity of the _gusto_ of pleasure, nor the dolour
of sorrow or discontent; it consists not in the liveliness of living
beings, nor in the torpidity of stones. It is not situated in the midst
of these antitheses (_i.e._ in the _sandhisthána_ or golden medium
between these); but in the knowing mind which is _Bhumánanda_—all
rapture and ravishment. (Neither is _il allegro_ nor _il spinseroso_,
the true bliss of man).
11. But the ignorant mind (which is unacquainted with this state of
transport) is transported by its thirst after the moving waters of
earthly pleasures; as an elephant is misled to the foul pool, where he
is plunged in its mud and mire, without finding any thing that is
really good.
12. Here is another instance of it based upon a stanza in the Sruti,
which says that:—A man dreaming himself to be falling into a pit, feels
the fear of his fall in his imagination even when he has been sleeping
in his bed; but another who actually falls in a pit when he is fast
asleep, is quite insensible of his falls. Thus it is the mind which
paints its own pleasure and pains, and not the bodily action or its
inactivity.
13. Hence whether a man is the doer of an action or not, he perceives
nothing of it, when his mind is engrossed in some other thought or
action; but he views every thing within himself, who beholds them on
the abstract meditation of his mind. The thinking mind sees the outward
objects, as reflexions of his pure intellect cast without him. (The
spiritualist regards the outward as images of his inward ideas, in
opposition to the materialist, who considers the internal ideas to be
but reflexions derived from external impressions).
14. Thus the man knowing the knowable soul, knows himself as
inaccessible to the feelings of pleasure and pain. Knowing this as
certain, he finds the existence of no other thing, apart from what is
contained in the container of his soul, which is as a thousandth part
of a hair. This being ascertained, he views every thing in himself.
With this certainty of knowledge, he comes to know his self as the
reflector of all things, and present in all of them. After these
ascertainments, he comes to the conclusion that he is not subject to
pain or pleasure. Thus freed from anxieties, the mind freely exercises
its powers over all customary duties, without being concerned with them.
15. He who knows the self, remains joyous even in his calamity, and
shines as the moonlight, which enlightens the world. He knows that it
is his mind and not hisself, that is the agent of his actions although
he is the doer of them: and knowing the agency of the mind in all his
actions, he does not assume to himself the merit of the exercise of his
limbs, hands and feet, nor expects to reap the rewards of all his
assiduous labours and acts.
16. Mental actions (thoughts) being brought to practice, tend to
involve their unguarded agents of ungoverned minds, into the endurance
of its consequence. Thus the mind is the seed (root) of all efforts and
exertions, of all acts and actions, of all their results and
productions, and the source of suffering the consequences of actions.
By doing away with your mind, you make a clean sweep of all your
actions, and thereby avoid all your miseries resulting from your acts.
All these are at an end with the _anaesthesia_ of the mind. It is a
practice in _Yoga_ to allay (laisser aller), the excitement of the mind
to its ever varying purposes.
17. Behold the boy is led by his mind (fancy) to build his toy or
hobby-horse, which he dresses and daubs at his wilfull play, without
showing any concern or feeling of pleasure or pain, in its making or
breaking of it at his pleasure. So doth man build his aerial castle,
and level it without the sense of his gain or loss therein. It is by
his acting in this manner in all worldly matters, that no man is
spiritually entangled to them. (Do your duties and deal with all with a
total unconcernedness and indifference).
18. What cause can there be for your sorrow, amidst the dangers and
delights of this world, but that you have the one and not the other.
But what thing is there that is delectable and delightful to be desired
in this world, which is not evanescent and perishable at the same time,
save yourself (soul), which is neither the active nor passive agent of
your actions and enjoyments; though they attribute the actions and
their fruitions to it by their error.
19. The importance of actions and passions to living beings, is a
mistake and not veritable truth. Because by the right consideration of
things, we find no action nor passion bearing any relation to the soul.
Its attachment or aversion to the senses and sensible actions and
enjoyments, is felt only by the sensualist, and not by them that are
unconscious of sensuous affections (as the apathetic ascetics).
20. There is no liberation in this world for the worldly minded, while
it is fully felt by the liberal minded Yogi, whose mind is freed from
its attachments to the world, in its state of living liberation.
(Jívan-mukta).
21. Though the Sage is rapt in the light of his self-consciousness, yet
he does not disregard to distinguish the unity and duality, the true
entity from the non-entities, and to view the omnipotence in all
potencies or powers that are displayed in nature (for these display His
power and goodness beyond our thought).
22. (Verse). To him there is no bond or freedom, nor liberation nor
bondage whatever, and the miseries of ignorance are all lost in the
light of his enlightenment. (Bondage and freedom here refer to their
causes or acts (কর্ম্ম) by the figure of metonymy; and that
these bear no relation to the abstracted or spiritualistic Yogi).
23. It is in vain to wish for liberation, when the mind is tied down to
the earth; and so it is redundant to talk of bondage, when the mind is
already fastened to it. Shun them both by ignoring your egoism, and
remain fixed to the true Ego, and continue thus to manage yourself with
your unruffled mind on earth. (The whole of this is a lesson of the
Stoical and Platonic philosophic and unimpassioned passivity).
CHAPTER XXXIX.
ON THE UNITY OF ALL THINGS.
Argument. Explanation of Divine Omnipotence, and inability of Vasishtha
to give full exposition of it.
Ráma rejoined:—(Prose) Tell me, O high-minded sage, how could the
creation proceed from the Supreme Brahma, whom you represent to remain
as a painting in the tableau of vacuity.
2. Vasishtha replied:—O prince, such is the nature of Brahma, that all
power incessantly flows from him, wherefore every power is said to
reside in him. (It is unvedantic to say, that Brahma is omnipotent or
the reservoir of power, and not omnipotence or identic with all power
himself).
3. In him resides entity and non-entity, in him there is unity, duality
and plurality, and the beginning and end of all things. (Because
omnipotence has the power to be all things, which limited powers cannot
do).
4. This is one and no other else (_i.e._ it is all that is, and there
is none else beside it (_Id est non alter_). It is as the sea, whose
waters have endless varieties of shapes, and represent the images of
myriads of stars in its bosom; rising spontaneously of themselves).
5. The density of the Intellect makes the mind, and the mind brings
forth all the powers of thinking, willing or volition, and of acting or
action. These it produces, accumulates, contains, shows and then
absorbs in itself.
6. (Verse) Brahma is the source of all living beings, and of all things
seen all around us. His power is the cause of exhibiting all things, in
their incessant course or quiescence.
7. All things spring from the Supreme Spirit, and they reside in his
all comprehensive mind. They are of the same nature with that of their
source, as the water of the sweet and saltish lakes.
8. Ráma interrupted here and said:—Sir, your discourse is very dark,
and I cannot understand the meaning of the words of your speech.
9. There is that nature of Brahma, which you said to be beyond the
perception of the mind and senses, and what are these perishable
things, which you say to have proceeded from him. If your reasoning
comes to this end, I cannot then rely upon it.
10. Because it is the law of production, that anything that is produced
from something, is invariably of the same nature with that of its
producer.
11. As light is produced from light, corns come from corn, and man is
born of man, and all kinds come out of their own kind.
12. And so the productions of the immutable Spirit, must also be
unchangeable and spiritual too in their nature.
13. Beside this the Intellectual Spirit of God, is pure and immaculate;
while this creation is all impure and gross matter.
14. The great Sage said upon hearing these words:—Brahma is all purity
and there is no impurity in him; the waves moving on the surface of the
sea may be foul, but they do not soil the waters of the deep.
15. You cannot conceive Ráma, of there being a second person or thing
beside the One Brahma; as you can have no conception of fire beside its
heat. (Its light being adscititious).
16. Ráma rejoined:—Sir, Brahma is devoid of sorrow, while the world is
full of sorrows. I cannot therefore clearly understand your words; when
you say this to be the offspring of that. (The maculate equal to the
immaculate or the perishable to the imperishable is absurd).
17. Válmíki said to Bharadwája:—The great Sage Vasishtha remained
silent at these words of Ráma; and stopped in his lecture with the
thoughtfulness of his mind.
18. His mind lost its wonted clearness (in its confusion), and then
recovering its perspicacity, he pondered within himself in the
following manner.
19. The educated and intelligent mind, that has known the knowable One,
has of itself got to the end of the subject of liberation, by its own
reasoning and intuition as that of Ráma.
20. It is no fault of the educated to be doubtful of something, until
it is explained to them to their full satisfaction, as in the case of
Rághava. (Relating the identity of the cause and its effect).
21. But the half-educated are not fit to receive spiritual instruction,
because their view of the visibles, which dwells on obvious objects,
proves the cause of their ruin (by obstructing their sight of the
spiritual).
22. But he who has come to the sight of transcendental light, and got a
clear insight of spiritual truths, feels no desire for sensual
enjoyments; but advances in course of time to the conclusion, that
Brahma is All in all things (_to pan_).
(The transcendental philosophy of modern German schools, has arrived at
the same conclusion of Pantheism, _Ho Theos to pan_).
23. The disciple is to be prepared and purified at first, with the
precepts and practice of quietism and self-control (_Sama_ and _damá_);
and is then to be initiated in the creed that “All this is Brahma, and
that thyself art that pure Spirit.”
24. But who so teaches the faith of “all is Brahma” to the half taught
and the ignorant; verily entangles him in the strong snare of hell.
(Because they take the visible for the invisible, which leads them to
nature and idol worships which casts them to hell).
25. The well discerning Sage should tell them, that are enlightened in
their understandings, whose desire of sensual gratifications has
abated, and who are freed from their worldly desires, that they are
purged of the dirt of their ignorance, and are prepared to receive
religious and spiritual instruction.
26. The spiritual guide who instructs his pupil without weighing well
his habits and conduct, is a silly pedagogue and sinks into hell and
has to dwell there until the last day of judgment; (to answer for
misleading his disciples).
27. The venerable Vasishtha, who was the chief of sages, and like the
luminous sun on earth, having considered these things, spoke to Ráma as
follows. (The sages are said to be luminous both from the fairness of
their Aryan complexions, as also on account of their enlightened
understandings).
28. Vasishtha said:—I will tell thee Ráma at the conclusion, of this
lecture, whether the attribution of the dross of gross bodies, is
applicable to Brahma or not. (_i.e._ How a spiritual body may assume a
material form &c.).
29. Know now that Brahma is almighty, all pervading, ubiquitous and is
all himself, because of his omnipotence, which can do and become all
and every thing of itself.
30. As you see the various practices of magicians and the trickeries of
jugglers, in producing, presenting, and abstracting many things in the
sight of men, that are all but unreal shows; so doth Brahma produce,
present and retract all things from and into himself.
31. The world is filled with gardens as those in fairy lands, and the
sky is replenished with the airy castles of Gandharvas and the abodes
of gods; and men are seen to descend from the cloudless sky, to the
surface of the earth, and rise upwards to heaven (in vimánas or
balloons).
32. Fairy cities like the palaces of the Gandharvas of the etherial
regions, are shown on earth, and filled with the fairies of the Fairy
land. (_i.e._ The courts and palaces of princes, which vie with the
abodes of gods).
33. Whatever there is or has been or is to be in this world in future,
are like reflexions of the revolving sky and heavenly bodies, or a
brazen ball affixed to the top of a tower, and darting its golden light
below.
34. All these are but exhibitions of the various forms of
manifestations of the selfsame God. (“These as they change,—these are
but the varied God.” Thomson. So Wordsworth and the Persian Mystics).
35. Whatever takes place at any time or place and in any form, is but
the variety of the One Self-existent reality. Why therefore, O Ráma!
should you give vent to your sorrow or joy, or wonder at any change of
time or place or nature and form of things, which are full of the
spirit of God, and exhibit the endless aspects of the Infinitive Mood.
36. Let the intelligent preserve the sameness (_samata_) of their minds
and dispositions amidst all changes; knowing them as the varying
conditions of the same unvarying Mind.
37. He who sees his God in all, and is fraught with equanimity, has no
cause of his wonder of surprise, his grief or delight or any
fluctuation of his mind, in any change in nature or vicissitude of his
fortune (because the one Omnipresence is present in all events, and its
Omnipotence directs all potentialities).
38. The unaltered mind continues to view the varieties of the power of
his Maker, in all the variations of time and place, and of all external
circumstances.
39. The Lord proposes these plans in the formation of his creation, and
exhibits as the sea does its waves in endless varieties and successions
from the plenitude of his mind.
40. So the Lord manifests the powers situated in himself, as the sea
does its waves in itself. Or as the milk forms the butter, the earth
produces the pot (_ghata_), and the thread is woven into the cloth
(_pata_). So the _bata_ or fig tree brings forth its fruit, and all
other varied forms are contained in their sources. But these formal
changes are phenomenal not real. They are mere appearances of the
spectrum, as those of apparitions and spectres.[6]
41. There is no other agent or object, nor an actor and its act, or any
thing which is acted upon, nor is there any thing that becomes nothing
except it by but a variety of the one unity. (_In nihilo riverti
posse_).
42. The mind that witnesses the spiritual truths, and remains with its
unimpaired equanimity, and is undepressed by external accidents, comes
to see the light of truth in itself. (Truth like the sun shineth in the
inmost soul).
43. (Verse). There being the lamp, there is its light also; and the sun
shining brings the day with him. Where there is the flower, there is
its odour likewise; so where there is the living soul, there is the
light or knowledge of the world in it.
44. The world appearing all around, is as the light of the soul; it
appears as the motion of the wind, whereof we have no notion of its
reality or unreality. (So says Herbert Spencer concerning our notion of
motion. We see the wheel in motion and changing its place, but have no
idea of its motion).
45. The immaculate Soul, is the prime mobile power of the appearance
and disappearance of the myriads of gross bodies which like the
revolving stars of the sky, and the season flowers of the spring,
appear and reappear to us by turns, like the ups and downs of wheels in
motion. (We see their revolutions, but neither see their motion nor the
soul the giver of motion).
46. All things die away when our souls are without us, but how can any
thing be null when we are in possession of our souls? (Everything
exists with ourselves, but we lose all, with loss of our souls).
47. All things appear before us in the presence of our souls, and they
vanish from before us in their absence from the body. (Every thing is
existent with us with the existence of our souls, and nothing is
perceived by us without them, as when we are dead).
48. Everything is born with us with our souls, and is lost with loss of
them. (The living have all, but the dead are lost to view. And the
human soul, when in conjunction with the Divine, has a clear view of
everything).
51. The minds of men are endowed with their knowledge at their very
birth. Then growing big by degrees in course of time, they expand
themselves in the form of this spacious forest of the world.
52. The wood of the world is the fastening post of the soul, where our
blooming desires are fraught with fruits of poignant griefs. It
branches out with gratifications, blossoms with hoary age, and is
breaking its goodly post, and wandering at large of its free will.
CHAPTER XXXX.
BRAHMA IDENTIC WITH THE WORLD
or
IDENTITY OF THE WORLD WITH BRAHMA.
Argument. Production and names of the Varieties of Animal Life and
their spiritual Natures.
Ráma said:—Tell me, sir, about the production of animal beings from
Brahma, and let me know their different names and natures in full
length.
2. Vasishtha replied:—The manner in which the different species of
beings are produced from Brahma, and how they are destroyed afterwards,
as also how they obtain their liberation at last:—
3. Also the manner of their growth and sustentation, and fitness in the
world, are all what you must hear me now tell you in brief.
4. The power of the intellect of Brahma exerts of its free will, and
this omnipotence becomes whatever is thought of (chetya) in the Divine
Intellect.
5. The intellection becomes condensed to a certain subtile form, which
having the powers of conception (_sankalpa_), becomes the principle
entitled the Mind.
6. The mind then by an effort of its conception (called the Will),
expands itself to an unreal (ideal) scenery like that of the Fairyland,
by falling off from the nature of Brahmic Incogitancy.
7. The intellect when remaining in its original state, appears as a
vacuum or vacancy; but upon manifesting itself in the form of the mind,
it is seen as the visible sky by men.
8. Taking the conception of the lotus-born, it finds itself in its
conceived form of the lotus (Brahmá), and then it thinks of creation in
the form of Prajápati or lord of creatures.
9. He then formed from his thought (chitta) this creation, containing
the fourteen worlds with all the bustle of living beings in them.
10. The mind itself is a vacuity with a vacuous body; its conception is
the field of its action, and its sphere is full with the false workings
of the mind.
11. Here there are many kinds of beings, labouring under great
ignorance as the beasts and brute creatures. There are some with
enlightened minds as the sages; and others staggering in the
intermediate class, as the majority of mankind.
12. Among all living beings that are confined in this earth, it is only
the human race living in this part (India), that are capable of
receiving instruction and civilization.
13. But as most of these are subject to diseases and distress, and are
suffering under the thrall of their ignorance, enmity and fear; it is
for them that I will deliver my lecture on social and saintly
conduct—_rájatwikí níti_ (in the 42nd chapter of this book).
14. I will also treat there about the everlasting, imperishable and
omnipresent Brahma, who is without beginning and end, whose mind is
without error, and of the form of Intellectual light.
15. How endless beings are put to motion, by the momentum of a particle
of his motionless body; and resembling the rolling of boisterous waves
on the surface of the clear and tranquil ocean.
16. Ráma asked:—How sir, do you speak of a part of the infinite Spirit,
and of the momentum of the motionless God; as also of a change and
effort of it, that is altogether without them (vikárávikrama).
17. Vasishtha replied:—It is the usual and current mode of expression,
both in the sástras and language of the people to say, “all this is
made by or come from Him”, but it is not so in its real and spiritual
sense.
18. No change or partition, and no relation of space or time, bear any
reference to the Supreme, who is unchangeable, infinite and eternal;
nor is there any appearance or disappearance of Him at any time or
place, who is ever invisible every where.
19. There never was nor can there ever be any way, of representing the
incomprehensible, except by symbolical expressions; it was therefore in
accordance to common speech, that I have made use of those words.
20. Whatever words or sentences are used here as symbolical of some
sense, whether they express as “produced from it _tajja_” or as a
change of the same—“_tanmaya_”, the same should be used, in that sense
all along.
21. It is tajja, as when we say “fire proceeds from fire” (meaning, the
“mundane Brahma comes out of the spiritual Brahma.” Here fire is
symbolical of Brahma and the world). It is _tanmaya_ in the expression
“Brahma is the producer and produced” (which means the identity—and
transformation of the creator to the creation).
22. The first form is applied to the world as proceeding from Brahma:
but the other form of the producer and produced, means also the
creative power which made the world.
23. The expression _idam—anyat_ = _idem alius_ or this is one thing and
that another, is false, the difference is verbal and not real; because
there is no proof of it in the nature of God, which is one and all.
24. The mind, by reason of its birth (tajja) from Brahma, is possessed
both of the power and intelligence of his Intellect, and is enabled to
accomplish its intended purpose, by means of its intense application.
25. To say that one flame of fire, is the producer of another, is mere
logomachy, and there is no truth in this assertion. (Because it is no
other thing produced by another, but the very thing).
26. That one is the producer of another is also a paralogy; because the
one Brahma being infinite, could produce no other thing, beside
reproducing himself. (For where and whence could he get another thing
to create a thing anew beside in himself?).
27. It is the nature of disputation to contradict one another by
replies and rejoinders; but it is not right to foil the adversary by
false sophistry.
28. The learned know Brahma as the ocean rolling in its endless waves,
and as significant words and their significations, which go together as
Brahma and his creation.
29. Brahma is the Intellect—_Chit_, Brahma is the mind—_manas_, Brahma
is intelligence—_Vijnána_, and Brahma is substance—_Vasthu_; He is
Sound—_sabda_, He is understanding—_chit_, and He is in the principles
of things—_Dhátus_.
30. The whole universe is Brahma, and yet He is beyond all this. In
reality the world is a nullity, for all is Brahma alone.
31. This is one thing and that is another, and this is a part of the
great soul, are all contradictory assertions of ignorance (false
knowledge), as no words can express the true nature of the unknown.
32. The spirit rises as the flame of fire, and this flame is
significant of the mind. Its tremor signifies the fluctuation of the
mind, which in reality is not the case, there being no rise or fall of
the Divine Mind.
33. It is untruth that wavers and equivocates in _double entendres_. It
prevaricates the truth, as the defective eye views the double moon in
the sky.
34. Brahma being all (_to pan_) of himself, and all pervading and
infinite of his own nature, there can be no other thing beside himself,
and anything that is produced of him, is likewise himself.
35. Beside the truth of the existence of Brahma, there is nothing which
can be proved as absolutely certain; and it is a scriptural truth which
says, “verily all this is Brahma.”
36. This also must be the conclusion, which you will arrive at by your
reasoning, and which I will propound with many instances and tenets in
the Book of Nirvána or Extinction.
37. There are many things here in connection with this single question
of which you are ignorant, and all which you will come to know fully in
future, for dispelling your doubts on the subject.
38. The unreality having disappeared, the reality appears to view, as
the darkness of night being dispelled, the visible world comes to sight.
39. The spacious world which appears to your false sight of it, will
vanish, O Ráma! on your attaining to the state of calm quietism. The
fallacious appearances must disappear from your vision, as soon as the
light of truth comes to dawn upon your soul.
CHAPTER XLI.
DESCRIPTION OF IGNORANCE.
Argument. Delusion the cause of error.
Ráma said:—Sir, I feel your speech to be as cooling and shining as the
water of the milky sea; it is as deep and copious as the vast ocean:—
2. I am sometimes darkened and enlightened at others, by the variety of
your discourses, as a rainy day is now obscured by the cloud, and again
shines forth brightly with sunshine.
3. I understand Brahma as infinite and inconceivable, and the life and
light of all that exists. I know that light never sets; but tell me,
how they attribute many qualities that are foreign to his nature.
4. Vasishtha replied:—The wording and meaning of my lectures to you,
are all used in their right and ordinary sense, they are neither
insignificant or meaningless, equivocal or ambiguous, or contradictory
of one with another.
5. You will understand the proper import of my phraseology, when the
eyesight of your understanding becomes clearer, and when the light of
reason will rise in your mind.
6. Do not mistake the meanings of my words, or the phraseology I have
used all along, in order to explain the subject of my lectures, and
purport of the sástras, for your acquaintance with them.
7. When you will come to know the clear Truth of Brahma, you will know
more regarding the distinctions of significant words, and their
significations and significates.
8. The distinctive verbal signs are invented for the communication of
our thoughts, in conveying our instructions to others, and for our
knowledge of the purport of the sástras.
9. Words and their meanings, phrases and their constructions, are used
for the instruction of others; they are applied to the use of the
ignorant, and never apply to those who are acquainted with truth (by
their intention).
10. There is no attribute, nor imputation, that bears any relation with
the free and unsullied soul. It is the dispassionate spirit of the
supreme Brahma, and the same is the soul of the existent world.
11. This subject will again be fully discussed and dilated upon with
various arguments, on the occasion of our arriving to the conclusion of
this subject (in the book of Nirvána).
12. I have said so far about verbiology at present, because it is
impossible to penetrate into the deep darkness of ignorance, without
the means of verbiage (flux de mots).
13. As conscious ignorance offers herself a willing sacrifice to the
shrine of knowledge, she bids her adversary—the destroyer of error, to
take possession of her seat in the bosom of man. (Here is a double
entendre of the word _avidyá_, the former meaning ignorance as well as
a concubine, and the latter signifying the wife and knowledge; hence it
implies the advance of knowledge upon disappearance of her rival
ignorance).
14. As one weapon is foiled by another, and one dirt is removed by the
other (_cow dung_ and ashes), and as one poison is destroyed by
another, and also as one foe is driven out by another enemy (_similes
curantur_).
15. So Ráma, the mutual destruction of errors, brings joy to the soul.
It is hard however to detect the error; but no sooner it is found out
than it is put to destruction. It means the confutation of false
doctrines by one another.
16. Ignorance obscures our perspicacity, and presents the false and
gross world before us. We all view this wonderful universe, but know
not what and how it is.
17. Unobserved it rushes to our view, but being examined with
attention, it flies upon keen observation. We know it is a phantasm,
and yet find it appearing with its dimensions and figures before us.
18. O the wonderful enchantment, which has spread out this world, and
made the unreality to appear as a sober reality, to the knowledge of
every one of us.
19. This earth is a distinct wide extended superfices, resting on the
indistinct surface of an unknown substratum. He is the best of beings
that has stretched this enchantment.
20. When you are enlightened with the thought, that all this is
inexistent in reality; you will then become the knower of the knowable
(God), and understand the import of my lectures.
21. So long as you are not awakened to true knowledge, rely upon my
words, and know this immensity as the creature of the incorrigible and
immovable ignorance.
22. All this immensity, that appears to sight, is but the picture of
your mistaken thought; it is all unsubstantial, and a mere
manifestation of your deluded mind only.
23. He is entitled to liberation, whose mind is certain of the reality
of Brahma; and knows the moving and unmoving figures without, as the
thoughts of the mind presented to the sight.
24. The whole scale of the earth, is as a net of birds to catch the
fleeting mind; it is as false as a landscape in the dream; which
represents the unreal as real ones to the mind.
25. He who looks upon the world without his attachment to it, is never
subject to grief or sorrow on any account. And he who thinks all these
forms as formless, sees the formless spirit.
26. The forms of the formless spirit, is the formation of ignorance,
and when the blemishes of passions and mutations, do not even belong to
great souls, how can these attributes relate to the greatest God.
27. The attributes given to the Supreme Spirit, are as dust thrown upon
the surface of limpid water; it is our thoughts only that attribute
these qualities to the inconceivable One, as we attribute certain
meanings to words (that bear no relation to them).
<28.> It is usage that establishes the meanings of words, which continue
to be inseparably joined with them; and it is usage that determines
their use in the sástras.
29. As the cloth cannot be thought of without its thread, so the soul
is unintelligible without the medium of words giving its true
definition.
30. It is possible to gain the knowledge of the soul from the sástras,
without one’s self-consciousness of it; as it is possible to get over
the sea of ignorance, by means of spiritual knowledge.
31. Ráma! it is impossible to arrive at the state of what is called
imperishable life and bliss, when the soul is any how polluted by the
blemishes of ignorance.
32. The existence of the world verily depends on the existence of the
Supreme; know this, and do not question how and whence it came to exist.
33. Let it be for thee to think only how thou shalt get rid of this
unreality; for it is upon the disappearance of the unreality, that thou
canst know the real truth.
34. Leave off thinking whence is all this, how it is and how it is
destroyed at last; believe it to be really nothing, but only appearing
without being actually seen.
35. How can one know, how the unreality appears as reality by his
mistake of it, when the error of reality, in the unreal, has taken a
firm footing in his mind?
36. Try your best to destroy this prejudice of yours, and then you will
know the truth. And verily such men are the greatest heroes and most
learned in the world, who are freed from prejudices.
37. Strive to destroy your baneful ignorance, or it is sure to
overpower on thee as upon the rest of mankind.
38. Take care, lest it should enthral thee to the pain of thy repeated
transmigrations, and know ignorance to be the root of all evils and
companion of every vice. It creates a man’s interest in what proves his
peril.
39. Avoid quickly this false view, the baneful cause of your fears and
sorrows, and of your diseases and dangers; and the germ of errors in
the mind; and thereby ford over this perilous ocean of the world.
CHAPTER XLII.
PRODUCTION OF JÍVA OR LIVING SOULS.
Argument. Condensation of Desires in the Intellect. And Formation of
living souls thereby.
Vasishtha continued:—Hear now Ráma! the antidote against the wide
extended malady of Ignorance, and the raging endemic of unreality,
which vanishes from view upon your close inspection of it.
2. That which was proposed to be said (in chapter XL), concerning the
sátwika and rájasika qualities. I am now going to expound the same, on
account of investigating into the powers of the mind.
3. The same Brahma who is all-pervading, undecaying and immortal; is
known as intellectual light and without beginning and end, and free
from error.
4. The Intellect, which is body of Brahma, and has its vibration in
itself, becomes agitated and condensed at intervals, as the translucent
water of the ocean has its motion of itself, and becomes turbid and
thickened by its perturbation.
(_i.e._ The mind is possest of motion contrary to dull and motionless
matter, and it is by its moving force, that it forms the gross bodies,
as the huge surges of the sea).
5. As the water of the sea, is agitated in itself without any motion or
excitation from without; so the Almighty power exerts its force in
itself, throughout all its eternity and infinity. (The water composed
of the _gases_, is always in motion).
6. As the air stirs in its own bosom of vacuity for ever, so the power
of the Divine Spirit, exerts itself spontaneously and freely in its own
sphere of the spirit.
7. And as the flame rises high of its own accord, so the power of the
spirit, extends in itself in all directions. (It is the nature of the
flame to rise upward only, but that of the Spirit, is to move in every
way and all round the great circle of creation).
8. As the sea seems to move with its sparkling waters, reflecting the
sun and moonbeams upon its surface, so the almighty spirit appears to
shake with the fleeting reflections of creation in its bosom.
9. As the sea sparkles with the golden beams of the starry frame; so
the translucent vast soul of God, shines with the light of its own
intellectual sphere.
10. As chains of pearly rays, glitter to our sight in the empty sky; so
sundry forms of things fly about in the vast vacuity of the intellect.
(These are as bubbles in the vast expanse of the Divine Mind).
11. These intellectual images, being pushed forward by the force of
intellect, they begin to roll in its vacuous sphere like waves in the
sea. (They are the same in substance, though different in appearance).
12. These images though inseparable from the intellect of the Divine
spirit, yet they seem to be apart from it, like the light in the holes
of needles and other cavities. (The glory of God, is the light and life
of all).
13. The universal Omnipotence exhibits itself in those particular
forms, as the moon shows her various horns in her different phases.
14. Thus the intellectual power of the Supreme spirit, coming to shine
forth as light, refracts itself in various forms as the very many
semblances of that great light.
15. The Supreme spirit, though conscious of its nature of infinity and
indivisibility, yet assumes to itself the state of its individuality,
in every separate and limited form of created beings.
16. When the supreme Entity takes upon itself these several forms, it
is immediately joined by a train of qualities and properties, with
quantity, modality and the like as followers in its train.
17. The unsubstantial intellect, deeming itself as a substance by its
being separated from the supreme soul; becomes divided into infinity
like the waves of the sea water (which is one and many).
18. As there is no material difference of the armlet and bracelet, from
their matter of the same gold; so it is the intellect and the soul the one
and same thing. It is the thought that makes the difference in their
different modes.
19. As there is no difference between one lamp and the others, that are
lighted from the same light; so it is of all souls and intellects,
which are alike in their nature, but differ only in their particular
attributes—_upadhis_.
20. The Intellect, being put to action by the force of the soul on
particular occasions, pursues its desires and the objects of its fancy.
21. The same intellect also, taking its volitive and active forms at
different times and places; is styled the embodied soul or spirit, and
known as _Kshetrajna_.
22. It is so named from its familiarity with the body or _Kshetra_, and
its knowledge of the inward and outward actions of it (or from its
knowing its person and personality).
23. This being fraught with its desires, is designated as Egoism or
selfishness; and this again being soiled by its fancies, takes the name
of the understanding.
24. The understanding leaning to its wishes, is termed the mind; which
when it is compacted for action, takes the name of the senses or
sensation.
25. The senses are next furnished with their organs called the organs
of sense, which being joined with the organs of action, the hands and
feet are jointly denominated the body.
26. Thus the living soul being tied to its thoughts and desires, and
being entrapped in the net of pain and sorrow, is termed _Chitta_ or
heart.
27. Thus the gradual development of the intellect, produces its
successive results (or phases as said above); so these are the
different states or conditions of the living soul, and not so many
forms of it, but all these are the impurities of the soul.
28. The living soul becomes associated with egoism in its embodied
state, and this being polluted by its egoistic understanding, it is
entangled in the net of selfish desires, which becomes the mind.
29. The concupiscent mind becomes eager to engraft itself in its
consorts and offspring, and to secure the false possessions of the
world to itself and without a rival.
30. The tendencies of the mind, pursue their desired objects, as the
cow follows the lusty bull; and the mind runs after its objects only to
be polluted by them, as the sweet stream of the river, meets the sea to
become bitter and briny.
31. Thus the mind being polluted by its selfishness, loses the freedom
of its will; and becomes bound to its desires, as the silkworm is
enclosed in the cocoon.
32. It is the mind that exposes the body to confinement, by its pursuit
after its desires, until it comes to feel the gall of its own thraldom,
and the bitter regret of the conscious soul.
33. Knowing itself to be enslaved, it bids farewell to the freedom of
its thought and knowledge; and begets within itself the gross
ignorance, which rages and ranges free in the forest of this world,
with its horribly monstrous appearance.
34. The mind containing within it the flame of its own desires, is
consumed to death like the fettered lion in a fire.
35. It assumes to itself the agency of all its various acts, under its
subjection to a variety of desires; and thus exposes itself to the
changes of its state, in this life and all its future births.
36. It labours continually under all its octuple state of
understanding; namely that the knowledge, intelligence and activity
or active agency, and its egoism or selfishness, all of which are
causes of all its woe.
37. It is sometimes styled the _prakriti_ or character, and at others
the _máyá_ or seat of self delusion. The mind—_manas_ is often
converted to _malas_ or foulness, and very often to _karman_ or
activity.
38. It is sometimes designated as bondage, and is often synonymous with
the heart; it is called also as _avidyá_ or ignorance, and frequently
identified with the will or volition likewise.
39. Know Ráma, the heart is tied to the earth by a chain of sorrow and
misery; it is brimful of avarice and grief, and the abode of passions.
40. It is living dead with the cares of age and the fear of death, to
which the world is subject; it is troubled with desire and disgust, and
stained by its ignorance and passions.
41. It is infested by the prickly thorns of its wishes, and the
brambles of its acts; it is quite forgetful of its origin, and is beset
by the evils of its own making.
42. It is confined as the silkworm in its own cell, where it is doomed
to dwell with its sorrow and pain; and though it is but a minim in its
shape, it is the seat of endless hell-fire. (A hair as heart. Pope. The
heart is hell &c. Milton).
43. It is as minute as the soul, and yet appears as huge as the highest
hill; and this world is a forest of wild poisonous trees, branching out
with their fruits of decay and death.
44. The snare of desire is stretched over the whole world; its fruits
are as those of the Indian fig trees, which has no pith or flavour
within.
45. The mind being burnt by the flame of its sorrow, and bitten by the
dragon of its anger; and being drowned in the boisterous sea of its
desires, has entirely forgotten its Great Father.
46. It is like a lost stag straying out of its herd, and like one
demented by his sorrows; or more like a moth singed by the flame of
world affairs.
47. It is torn away as a limb from its place in the Spirit, and thrown
in an incongenial spot; it is withering away like a lotus plant plucked
from its root.
48. Being cast amidst the bustle of business, and among men who are
inimical or as dumb pictures to him, every man is groveling in this
earth amidst dangers and difficulties.
49. Man is exposed to the difficulties of this dark and dismal world,
like a bird fallen in the waters of the sea; he is entangled in the
snare of the world, like one snatched to the fairy land in the sky.
50. The mind is carried away by the current of business, like a man
borne by the waves of the sea. Lift it, O brave Ráma! from this pit, as
they do an elephant sinking in the mud.
51. Lift up thy mind by force, O Ráma! like a bullock from this
delusive puddle (_palvala_) of the world, where it is shorn of its
brightness and is weakened in its frame.
52. Ráma! the man whose mind is not troubled in this world, with
successive joy and grief, and the vicissitudes of decrepitude, disease
and death, is no human being: but resemble a monstrous Rákshasa,
although he may have the figure of a man on him. (It is not humanity to
devoid of human feeling).
CHAPTER XLIII.
THE REPOSITORIES OF LIVING SOULS.
Argument. The Transmigrations of Souls by virtue of their Acts, and the
way of their salvation.
Vasishtha continued:—Thus the living soul being derived from Brahma,
assumes to itself the form of the mind, and is tossed about with the
thoughts and cares of the world. It is then changed into thousands and
millions of forms, as it figures to itself in its imagination.
2. It has undergone many prior births, and is in the course of
migrating into many more; it will transmigrate into many more also,
which are as multitudinous as the flitting particles of a water-fall
(splitting to many atoms).
3. These atomic souls of living beings, being subjected to their
desires by the great variety of their wishes; are made to wander under
many forms, to which they are bound by their desires.
4. They rove incessantly to different directions, in distant countries
both by land and water; they live or die in those places, as the
bubbles blow out but to float and burst, and then sink in the water
below.
5. Some are produced for the first time in a new _kalpa_ age, and
others are born a hundred times in it; some have had only two or three
births, while the births of others are unnumbered (in a kalpa).
6. Some are yet unborn and are to be born yet on earth, and many others
have passed their births by attainment of their liberation at last.
Some are alive at present, and others are no more to be born.
7. Some are born again and again, for myriads of kalpas, some remaining
in one state all along, and many in various states repeatedly changing
their forms and natures.
8. Some are subjected to the great misery of hell, and some are
destined to a little joy on earth; some enjoying the great delights of
the gods in heaven, and others raised to the glory of heavenly bodies
above.
9. Some are born as Kinnaras and Gandharvas and others as Vidyádharas
and huge serpents; some appear in the forms of Sol, Indra and Varuna
(Ouranas), and others in those of the triocular Siva and the lotus-born
Brahmá.
10. Some become the Kushmánda and Vetála goblins, and others as Yaksha
and Rákshasa cannibals; some again become the Brahmánas and the ruling
class, and others become Vaisyas and Súdras. (The four tribes of
Indo-Aryans).
11. Some become Swapacha and Chandála (eaters of dog and hog-flesh),
and others as Kirátas and Puskasa (eaters of rotten bodies); some
become the grass and greens on earth, and others as the seeds of fruits
and roots of vegetables, and as moths and butterflies in the air.
12. Some are formed into varieties of herbs and creeping plants, and
others into stones and rocks; some into _Jáma_ and _Kadamba_ trees, and
others into _Sála_, _Tála_ and _Tamála_ forests.
13. There are some placed in prosperous circumstances, and become as
ministers and generals and rulers of states; while others are clad in
their rags and remain as religious recluses, munis and taciturn hermits
in the woods.
14. Some are born as snakes and hydras, worms, insects and ants; whilst
there are others in the forms of great lions, big buffaloes, stags and
goats, the bos guavas and fleet antelopes in forests.
15. Some are begotten as storks and cranes, ruddy geese and cuckoos;
and others are become their pastures in the shapes of lotuses and water
lilies, the nilumbium and other aquatic shrubs and flowers.
16. Some are brought forth as elephants and their cubs, and as wild
boars, bulls and asses; and others come into being as bees and beetles,
flies and gadflies, gnats and musquitoes.
17. Many are born to difficulties and dangers, and many to prosperity
and adversity; some are placed in hell pits and others in their
heavenly abodes.
18. Some are situated in the stars, and some in the hollows of trees;
some move upon the wings of the winds, and others rest in the still air
above or fly freely in the sky.
19. Many dwell in the sunlight of the day, and many subsist under the
moonbeams at night; while there be others subsisting upon the beverage,
which they draw from the herbaceous plants.
20. Some are liberated in their life-time, and rove about freely in
this earth; while others live in their blissful states (in holy and
lonely hermitage). Some are altogether emancipate in their reliance in
the Supreme Spirit.
21. There are some that require long periods for their blessed and
ultimate liberation; and others there are that disbelieve the
intellectuality and spirituality of mankind, and dislike their being
reduced to the solity of the soul, or to be reduced to their oneness or
unity with the Supreme soul—Kaivalya.
22. Some become regents of the skies above, and others roll down in the
form of mighty streams; some become females of beautiful appearances,
and others as ugly hermaphrodites and abnormalities.
23. Some are of enlightened understandings, and some are darkened in
their minds. Some are preachers and lecturers of knowledge, and others
in their ecstatic trance of Samádhi.
24. The living souls that are under the subjection of their desires,
are so powerless of themselves, that they have forgotten their freedom,
and are fast chained to the fetters of their wishes.
25. They rove about the world, now flying up and then falling down in
their hopes and fears; and are incessantly tossed up and down, like
playing balls flung on all sides, by the relentless hands of playful
Death.
26. Entrapped in the hundred fold snare of desire, and converted to the
various forms of their wishes, they pass from one body to another, as
the birds fly from one tree to alight on another.
27. The endless desires of the living soul, bred and led by the false
imaginations of the mind, have spread this enchanted snare of magic or
máyá, which is known by the name of the great world.
28. So long are the stupefied souls doomed to rove about in the world,
like the waters in a whirlpool; as they do not come to understand the
true nature of their selves, as selfsame with the Supreme-Self.
29. Having known and seen the true Self, by forsaking their false
knowledge of it, they come to their consciousness of themselves, as
identic with the divine Self; and having attained this in process of
time, they are released from their doom of revisiting this world of
pain and sorrow.
30. There are however some insensible beings, who notwithstanding their
attainment of this knowledge, are so perverted in their natures, that
they have to return again to this earth, after passing into a hundred
lives in it in various shapes (owing to their disbelief in the self).
31. Some there are who after having attained to higher states, fall
down again by the lowness of their spirits, and appearing in the shapes
of brute creatures, have to fall into hell at last.
32. There are some great minded souls, who having proceeded from the
state of Brahma, have to pass here a single life, after which they are
absorbed in the Supreme soul. (Such were the sage Janaka and the sagely
Seneca).
33. There are multitudes of living beings in other worlds also, some of
whom have become as the lotus-born Brahmá, and others as Hara (the
Horus of the Egyptian trinity).
34. There are others who have become as gods and brute creatures in
them, and there are snakes and other reptiles also in them as well as
in this earth. (Astronomers have descried kine in the moon, and Hindoos
have found it to abound in deer, whence the moon is called mrigánka by
them. So are the constellations in the heavens).
35. There are other worlds as obvious to view as this earth (in the
starry heavens), and there are many such worlds that have gone by, and
are yet to appear (in the immensity of space).
36. There are various other creatures of different shapes, produced by
various unknown causes in the other worlds also, which have their
growths and deaths like those of this earth.
37. Some are produced as Gandharvas, and others as Yakshas (the Yakkas
at Ceylon); and some are generated as Suras (Sorians); and some others
as Asuras (Assyrians) and Daityas (demons).
38. The manners and modes of life of the peoples in other parts of the
globe, are as those of the men living in this part of the earth.
39. All creatures move according to their own natures and mutual
relations for ever more, as the waves and currents of a river move
forward, following and followed by others in regular succession.
40. The whole creation moves onward in eternal progression, in its
course of evolution and involution, and in its motions of ascension and
descension like the waves of the ocean.
41. In this manner do the multitudes of living beings, proceed from the
Supreme Spirit, who with the consciousness of their self-existence,
rise from and fall at last into it. (The consciousness of the universal
soul, is divided into the individual souls of beings, that are derived
and detached from it).
42. All created beings are detached from their source, like the light
from the lamp and the solar rays from the sun; they are like sparks of
red hot iron, and the scintillation of fire.
43. They are as the particles (or minute moments) of time, and the
flying odours of flowers; or as the cold icicles and the minutial of
rain water, borne by breeze and cooling the air all around.
44. So the flitting particles of life, flying from one spot to another,
and filling different bodies with animation, are at last absorbed in
the main spring of vitality whence they had risen.
45. The particles of vital air, being thus spread out and scattered
over the universe, come to assume the various forms of animated beings
in all the worlds, but they are all mere creations of our ignorance,
and are in reality like the rolling waves of water in the vast ocean of
eternity.
CHAPTER XLIV.
THE INCARNATION OF HUMAN SOULS IN THE WORLD.
Argument. Discussion about incarnation of the spirit, and its
extinction by death and liberation.
Ráma asked:—I understand now how the particles of the Divine Spirit,
take the forms of the living souls; but I cannot conceive how it
assumes the corporeal body composed of bones and ribs.
2. Vasishtha replied:—Why don’t you know it Ráma, when I have explained
it to you before? Where have you lost your deductive reasoning of
arriving to the conclusion from those premises.
3. All these corporeal bodies in the world, and all these moving and
unmoving persons and things, are but false representations, rising
before us as the visions in our dreams.
4. The phenomenal world differs only in its being but a longer and more
delusive dream; it is as the sight of the double moon by optical
deception, and of a mountain in the delusion of darkness.
5. The enlightened mind which is cleared of its drowsiness of
ignorance, and is freed from the fetters of its desire, views the world
to be no more than a dream.
6. The world is a creation of the imagination, by the nature of all
living souls, and it remains therefore impressed in the soul, until it
attains its final liberation.
7. The fleeting essence of the soul, is like the eddy of waters; or
like the germ of the seed, or more like the leaflet of a sprout.
8. And as the flower is contained in the branch, and the fruit within
its flowers; so this creation of the imagination, is contained in the
receptacle of the mind.
9. As the ever-changing form of the chameleon, exhibits but a
particular hue at a time; so the ever-varying mind shows only the
figure, which is prominent in its thought for the time being (and this
inward figure is reflected by the visual organs).
10. The same thought assumes a visible form, as the clay takes the form
of a pot; and the good thoughts and actions of the prior state of life,
serve to give the soul a goodly form in its next birth on earth.
11. We see the mighty lotus-born Brahmá situated in the cell of that
flower, and find it to be the effect of the good thoughts he had in his
mind.
12. This unlimited creation is the false fabrication of imagination;
whereupon the living soul in conjunction with the mind, obtained the
state of Virinchí the Brahmá (vir inchoatious or _incipiens_ the
primary man, otherwise called _ádima-purusha_—Adam or the first male).
13. Ráma said:—I require, Sir, to be fully informed, whether all other
beings sprang from the same cause as Brahmá—the lotus-born.
14. Vasishtha answered:—Hear me tell you, O long-armed Ráma, the manner
of Brahmá’s having the body; and from his instance, you will learn
about the existence of the world.
15. The Supreme soul, which is unlimited by time or space, takes of his
own will, and by the power of his Omnipotence, the limited forms of
time and space upon himself.
16. The same becomes the living soul, and is fraught with various
desires in itself, of becoming many:—_aham bahu syáma_.
17. When this limited power which is Brahmá, thinks on the state of his
having been the Hiranyagarbha, in his former state of existence in the
prior Kalpa; he is immediately transformed to that state which is in
his mind, and which is ever busy with its thoughts and imaginations.
18. It thinks first of the clear sky, the receptacle of sound, and
which is perceptible by the auditory organs; and this thought being
condensed in the mind, makes it vibrate as by the wind of the air.
19. It thinks then on the vibrations of air, which are the objects of
feeling, through the porous skin and the mind; and is moved by the
thoughts of air and wind to assume that form, which are invisible to the
naked eye.
20. The condensation of the elements of air and wind together, produced
the idea of light which is the cause of sight, and which has the
colours and figures for its objects; and thus the mind being actuated
by its triple thoughts of air, wind and light, produced the property of
fire.
21. These joined immediately to produce the idea of coldness the
property of water; and the mind then came to form the quadruple ideas
of the four elements of air, wind, fire and water.
22. These united together produced the gross form of earth—the
receptacle of scent; and then the mind being filled with these minute
elementary particles in its thoughts of them, forsook its fine form of
the spirit for its gross body of the quintuple elements (called the
quintessence of material bodies (_panchabhautika_)).
23. It saw this body shining as a spark of fire in the sky, which
joined with its egoism and understanding, formed its personality.
24. This is called the spiritual body (lingasaríra),—the embodying
octuple, which is situated as the bee in the pericarp of the lotus like
heart, and which gives growth to the outer body by its inner working
(as the inner seed grows the outer tree).
25. It is thickened by the action of the heart of its internal process
of calefaction, like the bel fruit or woodapple. And the outer body
receives the qualities of the inner mind, as the jewel shines with the
lustre of the little particle of gold, which is infused in the melted
state of the metal in the crucible.
26. The quality of the inner soul or mind, manifests itself in the
outer body, as the quality of the seed appears in the form and taste of
its fruit. The mind then dwells upon the thoughts of its actions, which
have their display in the several organs, and members of the bodily
actions, which are produced by the motions of the inner thoughts and
acts, as the leaves and branches of trees are projected by the inner
process and operations of the seed.
27. Its thoughts of upside and below, lifts and lowers its head and
feet upward and down-ward; and its thought of both sides, extends its
two arms to the right and left.
28. Its thoughts of the backward and forward, places its back behind,
and its breast and belly before it; and the hairs on the head and
fingers of the hands, are as the filaments and twigs of trees.
29. In this manner did Brahmá, who is called a _muni_ or mental being,
from his having sprung the mind of Brahma, produced the several
parts of his body, according to his thoughts of their usefulness to it.
30. He brought the body and its limbs to compactness, as the seasons
bring their fruits and grains to perfection. Thus is every thing
perfected in time, and all beings have their beautiful bodies and
figures.
31. He, the lord Brahmá was the progenitor of all beings, and fraught
with the qualities of strength and understanding, activity, dignity and
knowledge. (The Smriti attributes the _Siddhi chatushtaya_ or quadruple
perfections to him).
32. Being begotten by the vacuous Brahma, he resides in the lap of
vacuity; and is of the form of melted gold, like every other luminous
body in the heavens.
33. Though situated in the Supreme, yet the mind of Brahmá is liable to
the mistakes of its own making; and at times it quite forgets its
having no beginning, middle nor end, like its source.
34. Sometimes the lord thinks himself, as identic with the waters which
existed before creation in his mind; and at another as the mundane egg,
which was as bright as the fire of universal destruction (see Manu I).
35. Sometimes the lord thought himself as the dark wood, which covered
the earth before creation of living animals, and them as the lotus bed
(wherein he was born). Afterwards he became of many forms at each phase
and epoch of creation. (These epochs are called _kalpas_ or periods, in
which the divine mind manifested itself according to its wish within
the different stages of creation).
36. Thus Brahmá became the preserver of many kinds of beings, which he
created of his own will from his mind at each stage or _kalpa_-period;
of which he was the first that issued from Brahma himself. (He was the
first begotten, and nothing was created but by him).
37. When Brahmá was first begotten, he remained in his happy state of
insensibility and forgetfulness (of his former existence); but being
delivered from his torpor in the womb, he came to see the light.
(_i.e._ He saw the light of heaven, after his delivery from the
darkness of the womb).
38. He took a corporeal body, with its breathings and respirations
(pránápána); it was covered with pores of hair, and furnished with gums
of two and thirty teeth. It had the three pots of the thighs, backbone,
and bones, standing on the feet below; with the five air, five
partitions, nine cavities, and a smooth skin covering all the limbs.
(The five airs are pránápána &c. The five partitions are, the head, the
legs, the breast, belly and the hands).
40. It is accompanied by twice ten fingers and their nails on them; and
with a couple of arms and palms and two or more hands and eyes (in the
cases of gods and giants).
41. The body is the nest of the bird of the mind, and it is hole of the
snake of lust; it is the cave of the goblin of greediness, and the den
of the lion of life.
42. It is a chain at the feet of the elephant of pride, and a lake of
the lotuses of our desire; The lord Brahmá looked upon his handsome
body, and saw it was good.
43. Then the lord thought in himself, from his view of the three times
of the past, present and future, and from his sight of the vault of
heaven, with a dark mist as a group of flying locusts.
44. “What is this boundless space, and what had it been before. How
came I to being?” Thus pondering in himself, he was enlightened in his
soul. (Thus did Adam inquire about his birth, and the production of the
world in Milton’s Paradise Lost).
45. He saw in his mind the different past creations, and recollected
the various religions and their various sects, which had grown upon
earth one after the other.
46. He produced the holy Vedas as the spring does its flowers; and
formed with ease all varieties of creatures from their archetypes in
his mind.
47. He set them in their various laws and customs, as he saw them in
the city of his mind, for the purpose of their temporal and spiritual
welfare.
48. He thought upon the innumerable varieties of sástras which had
existed before, and all of which came to exist on earth in their
visible forms, from their prototypes in his eternal mind; like the
flowers springing from the womb of the vernal season.
49. Thus O Ráma! did Brahmá take upon him the form of the lotus-born,
and create by his activity, all the different creatures upon their
models existent in his mind, which took their various forms in the
visible world at his will. (So the Sufi and Platonic doctrine of the
phenomenal, as a copy of the noumena, or the _suari zahiri_ as but a
shadow of the _suvari manavi_ or _catini_. See Allami).
CHAPTER XLV.
DEPENDANCE OF ALL ON GOD.
Argument. The mind being a finite production, its product of the world,
is as unreal as the thoughts of the mind.
Vasishtha continued:—The world appearing as substantial, has nothing
substantive in it; it is all a vacuity and mere representation of the
imageries and vagaries of the mind.
2. Neither is time nor space filled by any world at all, but by the
great spirit, who has no form except that of vacuum. (The spirit of God
fills the infinite vacuity from all eternity).
3. This is all imaginary, and as visionary as a city seen in a dream;
whatever is seen any where is fallacy, and existing in the infinite
vacuity. (All is void amidst the great void of Brahma’s Mind).
4. It is a painting without its base, and a vision of unrealities; it
is an uncreated creation, and a variegated picture in empty air
(without its canvas).
5. It is the imagination of the mind, that has stretched the three
worlds, and made the many bodies contained in them. Reminiscence is the
cause of these creations, as the eyesight is the cause of vision.
6. The pageantry of the world is an erroneous representation, like the
elevations and depressions in a painting; they are not distinct from
the supreme spirit, in which they are situated as buildings stand on
their foundation. (Or as statues in bas-relief).
7. The mind has made the body for its own abode, as some worms make
their cortices or coatings, and the soul also has its sheaths or koshas
(namely the _annamaya kosha &c._).
8. There is nothing which the mind can not get or build in its empty
imagination, however difficult or unattainable it may appear to be.
9. What impossibility is there of the same powers residing in
Omnipotence, which are possessed by the mind in its secluded cell? (The
spiritual powers must be greater than the mental).
10. It is not impossible, O Ráma! for any thing to be or not to be at
any time or always, when there is the omnipotent Lord, who can create
or annihilate all things at his will. (The positive and the negative
are co-eternal with the eternal Mind, though it is an impossibility in
the order of nature, as; “It is impossible for the same thing to be,
and not to be at the same time.” Locke).
11. Mind that, when the mind is empowered to make its own body, and to
form others in its imagination, how much more is the power of the
almighty to make and unmake all things at his will.
12. It is divine will that has brought the gods, the demigods and all
mankind into existence; and it is by the cessation of the (creative)
will, that they cease to exist as the lamp is extinguished for want of
its oil.
13. Behold the sky and all things under it to be displayed by the
divine will, and understand the universe as the visionary scene of thy
dream laid open to thy sight.
14. There is nothing that is born or dies here at any time, because
every thing is a nullity in its true sense.
15. There is also nothing, that becomes more or less in any wise when
there is nothing in existence; for how can that (soul) have a body when
it is bodyless, and can it be parted, when it is an undivided
whole?
16. Ráma! seeing by thy keen sightedness, that all these bodies are
bodiless (_i.e._ only imaginary beings), why shouldst thou fall into
the error (of taking them for realities?).
17. As the mirage is made to appear by the heat of the sun, so do these
false appearances seem as true to thee from the certainty of thy mind.
So also are Brahmá and others but creatures of thy fancy.
18. They are as false as the sight of two moons in the sky by thy false
imagination, it is the great fallacy of thy mind, that represents these
false forms of the world before thee.
19. As the passenger in a boat sees the fixed objects on earth to be
moving about him, so these varieties of visible objects offer
themselves to thy view.
20. Know the world as an enchanted scene, presented by the magic of thy
error (_máyá_); it is a fabrication of the working of thy mind, and is
a nullity though appearing as a reality.
21. All this world is Brahma, what else is there beside him? What other
adjunct can he have, what is that? Whence did it come, and where is it
situated?
22. That this is a mountain and that is a tree, are appendages affixed
by our error and mistake, it is the prejudgment of the mind, that makes
the unreality appear as a reality.
23. The world is the creation of error and idol of fools; shun your
fond desire and thoughts of it, Ráma, and think of thy unworldly soul.
24. It is as false as the visionary scene of a prolonged dream, and an
aerial building of the fancies of the mind.
25. Shun this grand display of the world, which is so substantial to
sight, and so inane when felt; It is the den of the dragons of desire,
foaming with the poison of their passions.
26. Knowing the world as unreal, try to regard it as nothing; because
the wise will never go after a mirage knowing it such.
27. The foolish man that runs after some imaginary object of his
heart’s desire, is surely exposed to trouble and disappointment for his
folly.
28. Whoever desires to have any thing in this world, after knowing it
as an unreality, surely perishes with his soul for his forsaking the
reality.
29. It is only that error of the mind, which makes it mistake a rope
for a snake; and it is the variety of the thoughts and pursuits of men,
that makes them roll about in the world.
30. When some vain thought labors in the mind, like the moon appearing
to move under the water; it beguiles little children only, and not the
wise as yourself.
31. He who pursues the virtues for his future happiness, surely kindles
the fire of his intelligence to destroy the frost of his ignorance.
32. All the gross bodies that are seen here in this world, are all the
creatures of the working of the mind, as the building of aerial castles
in our thought.
33. It is the heart’s desire that produces these things, as it is want
of desire that destroys them all. The unrealities appear as true as the
fairylands appearing to view. (Fairy cities like the sight of
castles in the icebergs).
34. Know Ráma, that nothing that is existent is lost on the dissolution
of the world, nor what is inexistent of its nature, can ever come into
existence.
35. Say Ráma, what things you call as entire or broken, or to be
growing or decaying, when these ideas are but the formations of your
sound or unsound mind or the working of your fancy.
36. As children make and break their toy-dolls of clay at will, so the
mind raises and erases its thoughts of all things in the world (by its
repeated recollections and oblivions of them).
37. As nothing is lost or drowned in the talismanic tank of a conjuror,
so nothing is dead or dissolved in the magical sea of this world
(samsára ságara).
38. The unrealities being all untrue, it is true that nothing is lost
by their loss. Hence there is no cause for our joy or sorrow in this
unreal world. (Why sorrow, when a fragile is broken, or a mortal is no
more).
39. If the world is altogether an unreality, I know not what may be
lost in it; and if nothing whatever is really lost in it, what reason
can there be for the wise to sorrow for it?
40. If the Deity is the only absolute existence, what else is there for
us to lose in it? The whole universe being full with Brahma, there can
be no cause of our joy or sorrow for any thing whatever.
41. If the unreality can never come to existence, it cannot have its
growth also. What cause is there of our sorrow for their want of growth
or existence?
42. Thus every thing is but unreal and mere cause of our delusion, what
is there that may be reckoned as the best boon for us, that the wiseman
can have to desire. (No real bliss is to be found on earth).
43. But all this when taken in the sense of their being full with the
Divine Spirit, what thing is there so very trifling for the wise man to
dispose or refuse to take?
44. But he who considers the world as an unreality, is never subject to
joy or sorrow at his gain or loss of any thing. It is only the ignorant
that is elated or depressed at the one or the other.
45. That which was not before nor will remain afterwards, is likewise
the same nihility at present; therefore who so desires the nullity, is
said in the Sruti to be null himself. (The Sruti says: Nothing there
was, nothing there is, and nothing will last in the end except the
being of God).
46. What was before and what will be in the end, the same is in being
(_in esse_) even at present; therefore, what is always _in esse_, it is
that entity alone that is seen everywhere and at all times.
47. There are the unreal sky and moon and stars, seen underneath the
water; it is only the deluded boys that like to look at them, but never
the wise (who look at the reality and not at its shadow).
48. Children take a liking for light, empty and gaudy baubles; which
are of no good or use to them nor any body at all, and are rather led
to sorrow at their loss, than derive any good from their gain whatever.
49. Therefore act not as a child, O lotus-eyed Ráma! but conduct
yourself as the wise, and by looking at these fleeting baubles as ever
evanescent, rely in the Everlasting alone.
50. Ráma! be not sad or sorry to learn, that all these with thyself and
myself are nothing in reality; nor be glad or joyous to know, that all
these and ourselves are real entities. But reckon alike whether these
be or not be; because it is the One Being, that becomes and unbecomes
anything, it is the only Being, and all things that becomes.
51. Válmíki said:—As the sage was saying in this manner, the day glided
away to its dusk; the sun departed to his even tide and evening service,
and with him the assembly parted to their evening ablutions and rest,
after which they assembled again to the court with the rising sun.
CHAPTER XLVI.
DESCRIPTION OF LIVING LIBERATION.
Argument. The emancipation of Living souls from the thraldom of the
World.
Vasishtha said:—No man knows sorrow as long as he is in possession of
his pleasant home, family and wealth; but why should he be sorrowful
upon their disappearance, knowing them as a short-lived enchantment and
accompaniment.
2. What pleasure or pain can one derive, either from the grandeur or
destruction of his aerial castle, and what cause of joy can he have in
his ignorant children, or of sorrow upon their death? (An ignorant son
is sorrow to his father. Solomon).
3. What joy is there in the increase of our wealth or family, seeing
them as the increasing mirage of water which can never satisfy the
thirsty. (The thirst for riches is never satisfied. Lat. _Auri sacra
fames._ Verg.).
4. There is increase of care with the increase of wealth and family;
and there is no happiness in the increase of worldly possessions and
affections. (Care follows increasing wealth. Little wealth little care).
5. The abundance of carnal enjoyments, which are delightsome to the
ignorant voluptuary, is quite distasteful and disgusting to the
abstemious, wise and learned. (Carnal pleasures are brutish, but mental
delights are relished by the wise).
6. What joy is there in the possession of temporary wealth and family
to the wise, that seek their lasting welfare, and are quite indifferent
about these?
7. Therefore, O Ráma! be truly wise in thy conduct in this world; shun
the transient as they are transitory, and lay hold on whatever offers
of itself unto thee. (Be content with what thou gettest).
8. Inappetency of what is ungotten, and enjoyment of what is in present
possession; are the true characteristic of the wise and learned.
(Contentment is abundance; and a contented mind as a continued feast).
9. Take care of this bewildering world, where thy enemies are lurking
in many a deceitful shape; and conduct thyself as the wise man, evading
the dangers that wait upon the unwise. (The enemies are of seven
shapes, viz.: a swordsman, a poisoner, an incendiary, a curser, an
exorcist, a backbiter and an adulterer).
10. They are great fools who do not look deeply into the things, and
think the world to be without any fraud or guile. (The credulous are
most imposed upon).
11. Fools are led by the deceitful speech of cheats, to fall into the
temptations of the world; but men of right understanding place no
reliance in them, nor plunge themselves into the pit of errors. (It is
cunningness to keep from the cunning).
12. He who knowing the unrealities, place no reliance in anything; is
said to have mastered all knowledge, and is never liable to error.
(Discrimination of truth and untruth, and of right and wrong,
constitute the highest wisdom of man).
13. Who so knowing himself as frail as any thing in this frail world,
has his faith in neither, is never liable to fall into the error of
taking either of them for real.
14. Placed between the unreality and reality of this and next life, you
must have the good sense of sticking to the Truth, and neither wholly
reject or stick to this or the next. (The text says, stick not to the
outward or inward alone: _i.e._ either to the outer world or
inner spirit entirely, but attend to your interests in both of them).
15. Though engaged in business, yet you must remain, O Ráma! quite
indifferent to all things; because the apathetic and inappetent are
truly happy in this world.
16. He who has nothing to desire or leave, but lives as he is obliged
to live, has his intellect as unsullied as the lotus-leaf, to which the
laving waters never stick.
17. Let thy accessory organs manage thy outward affairs or not; but
keep thy apathetic soul quite unconcerned with all. (_i.e._ The body
and mind may attend to business; but the soul must remain aloof from
all).
18. Let not thy mind be plunged in and deeply engaged with the objects
of sense, by thinking them in vain to be thy properties and
possessions; but manage them or not with utter indifference of thy
mind. (_i.e._ Observe a stoical indifference in all thy worldly
concerns).
19. When thou comest to feel, Ráma! that the sensible objects have
ceased to give any relish to thy soul, then thou shalt know thyself to
have reached the acme of thy spiritual edification, and got over the
boisterous sea of the world.
20. The embodied or disembodied soul whether living or dead, that has
ceased to have any taste for sensuous enjoyments, has attained its
liberation without its wishing for it.
21. Try Ráma! by your superior intelligence, to separate your mind from
its desires, as they extract the perfume from flowers.
22. They that have not been swept away by the waves of their desires,
to the midst of the ocean of this world, are said to have got over it;
but the others are no doubt drowned and lost in it. (This is the first
time that I found the word _budita_ to occur in Sanskrit in the sense
of drowned. See the vernacular Bengali _dubita_ also).
23. Sharpen your understanding to the edge of a razor, erase the weeds
of doubt therewith, and after scanning the nature of the soul, enter
into thy spiritual state of blessedness.
24. Move about as those who have attained to true knowledge, and
elevated their minds with true wisdom; and do not act as the ignorant
worldling: who is mindful of the present state, and unmindful of the
future.
25. In conducting yourself in this world, you should imitate them that
are liberated in their life time, who are great in their souls and
understandings, and who are ever satisfied with themselves, and not
follow the examples of the greedy and wicked.
26. Those having the knowledge of both worlds, neither slight nor
adhere to the customs of their country, but follow them like other
people during their life time. (_i.e._ Act in harmony and conformity
with approved custom and usage).
27. Great men knowing the truth, are never proud of their power or good
qualities, nor of their honour or prosperity like the vulgar people.
28. Great men are not depressed by adversity, nor elated by prosperity;
but remain fixed like the sun in the sky without anything to support it.
29. Great minds like warriors ride in the chariots of their bodies,
clad in the armour of their knowledge; they have no desire of their
own, but conduct themselves according to the course of the time.
30. You too Ráma! have gained your extensive learning in philosophy,
and it is by virtue of your prudence, that you can manage yourself with
ease.
31. Suppress the sight of the visibles, and avoid your pride and
enmity; then roam wherever you will, and you will meet with success.
32. Be sedate in all circumstances, unattached to the present, and
wishing to know all other things in future; have the calm composure of
your mind, and go where you will.
33. Válmíki said:—Ráma, being advised in this manner by the pure
doctrines of the sage, brightened in his countenance; and being full
within himself with the ambrosia of his knowledge; shone forth like the
ambrosial moon with her cooling beams.
CHAPTER XLVII.
DESCRIPTION OF THE WORLDS AND THEIR DEMIURGI.
Argument. Relation of many past and Future Worlds, and of the gods and
other beings contained in them.
Ráma said:—O venerable sir, that art acquainted with all religious
doctrines and versed in all branches of the Vedas, I am set at perfect
ease by thy holy preachings.
2. I am never satiate with hearing your speech, which is equally
copious, clear and elegant.
3. You have said sir, of the birth of Brahmá in course of your lecture
on the productions of the satva and rájasa qualities. I want you to
tell me more on that subject.
4. Vasishtha answered:—There have been many millions of Brahmás and
many hundreds of Sivas and Indras, together with thousands of
Náráyanas, that have gone by (in the revolution of ages).
5. There have been various kinds of beings also in many other worlds,
having their manners and customs widely differing from one another.
6. There will also be many other productions in the worlds, synchronous
with others, and many to be born at times remotely distant from one
another.
7. Among these, the births of Brahmá and the other gods in the
different worlds, are as wonderful as the productions of many things in
a magic show.
8. Some creations were made with Brahmá as the first born, others with
Vishnu and some with Siva as the next created beings. There were some
other (minor productions), having the munis for the patriarchs. (These
are the different periods of the formation of the world under the
different Demiurgi).
9. One Brahmá was lotus-born, another was produced from the water; and
a third was born of an egg, and the fourth was produced in the air.
(These are named as the Padmaja, Náráyana, Andaja and Maruta).
10. In one egg the sun was born with all his eyes, and in another
Vásava—the Indra; in some one was born the lotus-eyed Vishnu, and in
another he with his three eyes as Siva.
11. In one age was born the solid earth, having no holes for the growth
of vegetables, in another it was overgrown with verdure; it was again
filled with mountains, and at last covered by living creatures.
12. The earth was full of gold in some place, and it was hard ground at
others; it was mere mud in many places, and incrusted with copper and
other metals in some.
13. There are some wondrous worlds in the universe, and others more
wondrous still than they; some of them are luminous and bright, and
others whose light have never reached unto us.
14. There are innumerable worlds scattered in the vacuum of Brahma’s
essence, and they are all rolling up and down like waves in the ocean.
(Here the infinite vacuity, is represented as the body of Brahma, and
the sole substance of all other bodies).
15. The splendours of worlds, are seen in the SUPREME like waves in
the sea, and as the mirage in the sandy desert; they abide in Him as
flowers on the mango tree.
16. It may be possible to count the particles of the solar rays, but
not the number of worlds abounding in the Supreme Spirit.
17. These multitudes of worlds rise and fall in the Universal Spirit,
like gnats flying and following others in swarms in the rainy season.
18. It is not known since when they have been in existence, and what
numbers of them have gone by, and are remaining at the present time.
19. They have been rolling without beginning like the billows of the
sea; those that are past and gone had their previous ones, and they
their prior ones also.
20. They rise over and over, to sink lower and lower again; just as the
waves of the sea, rising aloft and falling low by turns.
21. There are series of mundane worlds like the egg of Brahmá, which
pass away by thousands like the hours in course of the year.
22. There are many such bodies revolving at present, in the spacious
mind of Brahma; beside the mundane system of Brahmá (Brahmánda).
23. There will grow many more mundane worlds in the infinity of the
divine mind, and they will also vanish away in course of time, like the
evanescent sounds in the air. (The sounds are never lost, but remain in
the air. _Sabdonityam_).
24. Other worlds will come into existence in the course of other
creations, as the pots come to be formed of clay, and the leaves grow
from germs in endless succession. (Here Brahma is made the material
cause of all).
25. So long doth the glory of the three worlds appear to the sight, as
long as it is not seen in the intellect, in the manner as it exists in
the divine mind.
26. The rising and falling of worlds are neither true nor wholly false;
they are as the _fanfaronade_ of fools, and as orchids of the air.
27. All things are of the manner of sea waves, which vanish no sooner
than they appear to view, and they are all of the nature of paintings,
which are impressed in the mind.
28. The world is a perspective, and all things are but paintings in it;
they are not without the tableau of the mind, and are represented in it
as the figures on a canvas.
29. The learned in divine knowledge, consider the creations proceeding
from the Spirit of God, as showers of rain falling from the waters
contained in the clouds.
30. The visible creation is no more distinct from God, than the sea
water exuding from the earth and the earth itself, and the leaves and
seeds of the _Simul_ tree from the tree itself.
31. All created things that you see in their gross or subtle forms,
have proceeded from the vacuity of the Divine Mind, and are strung
together, like a rosary of large and small gems and beads.
32. Sometimes the subtile air is solidified in the form of the
atmosphere, and therefrom is produced the great Brahmá, thence called
the air-born lord of creatures.
33. Sometimes the atmospheric air is condensed into a solid form, and
that gives birth to a Brahmá; under the title of the atmospheric lord
of creation.
34. At another time it is light that is thickened to a luminous body,
and thence is born another Brahmá, bearing the appellation of the
luminous lord of all creatures.
35. Again the water being condensed at another time, produced another
Brahmá designated the aqueous lord of creation.
36. Sometimes the particles of earth take a denser form, and produce a
Brahmá known as the terrene Brahmá. (Such was Adam made out of the dust
of the ground).
37. It is by extraction of the essences of these four Brahmás, that a
fifth is formed under the name of the quintuple Brahmá, who is the
creation of the present world.
38. It is sometimes by the condensation of water, air or heat, that a
being is produced in the form of a male or female.
39. It is sometimes from the speaking mouth of this being, and from his
feet and back and the eyes, that different men are produced under the
appellations of Bráhmana, Kshatriya, Vaisya and Súdras. (These
Kshatriyas are born from the arms and eyes according to Manu).
40. Sometimes the great Being causes a lotus to grow out of his navel;
in which is born the great Brahmá known as the lotus-born.
41. All these theories of creation (in the different sástras) are idle
dreams, and as false as the dreams in our sleeping state; they are the
reveries of fancy like the eddies of water.
42. Tell me what do you think of these theories in your own judgment;
do they not appear as the tales told to boys?
43. Sometimes they imagine a being produced in the pure vacuity of the
Divine mind, this they call the golden and mundane egg, which gave
birth to the egg-born Brahmá.
44. It is said also that the first and divine Male, casts his seed in
the waters, which grows up to a lotus-flower which they call the great
world.
45. This lotus is the great womb of the birth of Brahmá, and at another
time of the sun also; sometimes the gods Varuna and Vayu also are born
of it, and are thence called oviparous.
46. Thus Ráma, are the different accounts of the production of
Brahmá—the creator, so various also is the description of this unsolid
and unsubstantial creation.
47. I have related to you already about the creation of one of these
Brahmás, and mentioned about the production of others without
specifying their several works.
48. It is agreed by all, that the creation is but the development of
divine mind; although I have related for your acquaintance, the various
processes of its production.
49. The sátwika and other productions, of which I told you before, have
all come to existence, in the manner I have narrated to you.
50. Now know the endless succession of all things in the world;
creation is followed by destruction as pleasure by pain; and as
ignorance is followed by knowledge, and bondage by liberation.
51. Past creations and objects of affection being gone, others come to
rise in future, as the lamps are lighted and extinguished by turns at
home.
52. The production and destruction of all bodies, are as those of
Brahmá and the lamps, they assume their forms in their time, but become
an undistinguishable mass after death.
53. The four ages of the world, namely, the Satya, Tretá, Dwápara and
Kali Yugas, revolve in endless rotation, like the wheel of the potter
or of any other engine.
54. The Manvantaras and Kalpa cycles succeed one another, as the day
and night, the morning and evening, and the times of work follow those
of rest by turns.
55. All worlds and things are under the subjection of time. They are
subject to repeated successions, and there is nothing without its
rotation.
56. They all proceed of their nature from the vacuum of Divine
Intellect, as the sparks of fire scintillate from the red-hot iron.
57. All things once manifest, are next concealed in the divine mind;
just as the season fruits and flowers, disappear after their appearance
in season.
58. All productions are but fluctuations of the mind of the Supreme
spirit; their appearances to our view, are as the sight of two moons to
infirm eyes.
59. It is the intellect alone, which exhibits these appearances to our
view; they are always situated in the intellect, though they appear
without it like the beams in the inner disk.
60. Know Ráma, the world to be never in existence; it is a motionless
show of that power, which resides only in the Supreme spirit.
61. It is never as it appears to you, but quite a different thing from
what it seems to be; it is a show depending on the power of the
Omnipotent.
62. What the world exists since the _mahá kalpa_ or great will of God,
and there is no more any other world to come into existence in future,
is the conclusion of the learned holds good to the present time. (This
belief is based on the holy text, “_so aikshata_—God willed—‘Let there
be’, and there was all”).
63. All this is Brahma to the intelligent, and there is no such thing
as the world, which is a mere theory (upapádya) of the unintelligent.
64. The insapient consider the world as eternal, from the continued
uniformity of its course; but it is the effect of the everlasting
error, which raises the false supposition of the world.
65. It is their theory of repeated transmigrations, that they cannot
say anything otherwise; but must conclude the world as such, in order
to keep pace with their doctrine. (The doctrine of perpetual
metempsychosis of the Mímámsaka materialists, naturally makes them
suppose the eternity of the world).
66. But it is to be wondered why they do not consider the world to be
destructible, seeing the incessant perishableness of all things all
around. (They flash as momentary lightenings in their appearance, to be
extinguished into nothingness soon after).
67. So others (the Sánkhyas) seeing the continuous course of the sun
and moon, and the stability of mountains and seas all about, come to
the conclusion of the indestructibility of the world from these false
analogies.
68. There can be nothing whatever, which does not reside in the wide
expanse of the Divine mind; but as these are but the conceptions of the
mind, they can never have any visible or separate form or existence.
69. All these appear in repetition, and so repeated is the course of
our births and deaths; as those of pain and pleasure succeeding one
another, and our rest and actions, following each other for evermore.
70. This same vacuum and these quarters of the sky, with all these seas
and mountains, appear in the recurrent course of creation with their
various hues, like those of the solar rays seen through the chink of a
wall.
71. The gods and demigods appear again and again, and all people come
and depart by turns, bondage and liberation are ever recurrent, and
Indras and Somas ever reappear to view.
72. The god Náráyana and the demigods appear by turns, and the sky is
always revolving with the regents of all its sides, the sun and moon,
clouds and winds.
73. The heaven and earth appear again like the lotus-flower full open
to view, and having the mount Meru for its pericarp, and the Sahya peak
for its filament.
74. The sun resumes his course in the maze of the sky like a lion, and
destroys the thick darkness with his rays, as the lion kills the huge
elephant with his beaming nails.
75. See again the moving moon shining with her bright beams, resembling
the white filaments of flowers; and anointing the countenances of the
etherial goddesses, with sweet ambrosial light, and borne by the air
and breezes of heaven.
76. Again the holy arbour of heaven sheds its heap of flowers, on the
deserts of meritorious men, as rewards of their virtuous acts.
77. Behold again the flight of time, riding as the eagle on its two
wings of acts and actions, and passing with the noise of _pat-pat_ over
the vast maze of creation.
78. See another Indra appearing, after the by-gone lords of gods have
passed away; and taking his seat on the lotus-like throne of heaven
like a contemptible bee. (The passing lords of gods and men are as
fleeting flies on flowers).
79. Again the wicked age of Kali appears to soil the holy _satya yuga_,
as the black body of Náráyana fills the clear waters of the deep, or as
a blast of wind sweeps the dust of the earth on its pellucid surface.
80. Again doth time form the plate of the earth like a potter, and turn
his wheel incessantly, to bring on the revolutions of his creations in
successive _kalpas_.
81. Again doth the veteran time, who is skilled in the work of
renovation, wither away the freshness of creation, as the autumnal
winds blast the foliage of a forest, in order to produce them anew.
82. Again the dozen of zodiacal suns, rising at once and burning the
creation, leaves the dead bodies all around, like the white bones lying
scattered in a country.
83. Again the _pushkara_ and _ávartaka_ clouds, poured down their rain
water, deluging the tops of the boundary mountains, and filling the
face of the earth with foaming froth, swimming on the surface of one
sheet of water.
84. And after the waters had subsided and the winds had ceased to blow;
the world appeared as a vast vacuum void of all beings.
85. Again we see living beings filling the earth, and feeding for some
years upon the moisture of its verdure, leaving their decayed bodies,
and being mixed up with their souls in the universal spirit.
86. Again the Divine Mind stretches out other creations at other times,
and these are drawn like pictures of fairylands (airy castles) in the
canvas of vacuum.
87. Again the creation appears to view, and again it is submerged in
the water of deluvion, both of which follow one another like the axles of
a wheel.
88. Now consider, O Ráma! if there is any stability of any thing in
this revolutionary world, beside its being a maze of continuous
delusion.
89. The revolution of the world resembles the hallucination of Dásúra’s
mind; it is a phantasia without any solidity in it.
90. The world appearing so extensive and thickly peopled, is but a
fancied unreality like the erroneous appearance of two moons in the
sky. It is made of unreality though appearing as real, and is not worth
reliance by our ignorance of its nature.
CHAPTER XLVIII.
STORY OF DÁSÚRA.
Argument. Description of the vanity of worldly enjoyments, illustrated
in the tale of Dásúra.
Vasishtha continued:—All worldly men that are engaged in a variety of
business, and are perverted in their understandings with a desire of
opulence and enjoyments; can never learn the truth, until they get rid
of their worldliness.
2. He only who has cultivated his understanding, and subdued his
sensual organs, can perceive the errors of the world, as one knows a
_bel_ fruit held in his hand (_i.e._ as one knows the places on earth
in a small globe).
3. Any rational being, who scans well the errors of the world, forsakes
his delusion of egoism, as a snake casts off his slough.
4. Being thus paralysed (unconscious) of his selfishness, he has no
more to be born; as a fried grain can never germinate, though it is
sown in the field, and lies for ever in it.
5. How pitiable is it that ignorant men take so much pains for the
preservation of their bodies, which are ever subject to diseases and
dangers; and liable to perish to-day or to-morrow at the expense of
their souls.
6. Do not therefore, O Ráma! take so much care for the dull body like
the ignorant; but regard only for the welfare of thy soul.
7. Ráma said:—Tell me Sir, the story of Dásúra, which is illustrative
of the visionary and air-drawn form of this rotatory universe, which is
all hollow within.
8. Vasishtha replied:—Hear me rehearse to you, O Ráma! the narrative of
Dásúra, in illustration of the delusive form of the world, which is no
more than the air-built utopia of our brains.
9. There is on the surface of this land, the great and opulent province
of Magadha, which is full of flower trees of all kinds.
10. There is a forest of wide extending kadamba groves, which was the
pleasant resort of charming birds of various sorts and hues.
11. Here the wide fields were full of corns and grains, and the skirts
of the land were beset by groves and arbours; and the banks of rivulets
were fraught with the lotuses and water lilies in their bloom.
12. The groves and alcoves resounded with the melodious strains of
rustic lasses, and the plains were filled with blades of blossoms,
bedewed by the nightly frost, and appearing as arrows of the god of
love, _Káma_.
13. Here at the foot of a mountain, decked with _karnikara_ flowers,
and beset by rows of plantain plants and kadamba trees, was a secluded
spot over-grown with moss and shrubs.
14. It was sprinkled over with the reddish dust of crimson flowers
borne by the winds, and was resonant to the warblings of water fowls,
singing in unison with the melodious strains of aquatic cranes.
15. On the sacred hill overhanging that spot, there rose a kadamba
arbor, crowded by birds of various kinds; and there dwelt on it a holy
sage of great austerity.
16. He was known by the name of Dásúra, and was employed in his austere
devotion; sitting on a branch of his kadamba tree with his exalted
soul, and devoid of passions.
17. Ráma said:—I want to know Sir, whence and how that hermit came to
dwell in that forest, and why he took his seat on that high _kadamba
tree_.
18. Vasishtha replied:—He had for his father, the renowned sage
_Saraloman_, residing in the same mountain, and resembling the great
Brahmá in his abstract meditation.
19. He was the only son of that sire, like Kacha the only progeny of
Brihaspati, the preceptor of the gods, with whom he came to dwell in
the forest from his boyhood.
20. Saraloma having passed many years of his life in this manner, left
his mortal frame for his heavenly abode, as a bird quits its nest to
fly into the air.
21. Dásúra being left alone in that lonely forest, wept bitterly and
lamented over the loss of his father, with as loud wailings as the
shrieks of a heron upon separation from its mate.
22. Being bereft of both his parents, he was full of sorrow and grief
in his mind; and then he began to fade away as the lotus blossom in
winter.
23. He was observed in this sad plight by the sylvan god of that wood,
who taking compassion on the forlorn youth, and accosted him unseen in
an audible voice and said:—
24. O sagely son of the sage! why weepest thou as the ignorant, and why
art thou so disconsolate, knowing the instability of worldly things?
25. It is the state of this frail world, that everything is unstable
here; and it is the course of nature that all things are born to live
and perish afterwards into nothingness.
26. Whatever is seen here from the great Brahmá down to the meanest
object, is all doomed to perish beyond a doubt.
27. Do not therefore wail at the demise of thy father, but know like
the rising and falling sun, every thing is destined to its rise and
fall. (Here sun—the lord of the day—_ahah-pati_, is spelt _aharpati_ by
a _várttika_ of Kátyáyna).
28. Hearing this oracular voice, the youth wiped his eyes red hot with
weeping; and held his silence like the screaming peacock at the loud
sound of the clouds. (The pea-cock is said to cry at the sight, but to
be hushed at the sound of a rainy cloud).
29. He rose up and performed the funeral ceremonies of his sire, with
devoutness of his heart; and then set his mind to the success of his
steady devotion.
30. He was employed in the performance of his austerities according to
the Bráhmanic law, and engaged himself in discharging his ceremonial
rites by the Srauta ritual, for the accomplishment of his sundry vows.
31. But not knowing the knowable (Brahma), his mind could not find its
rest in his ceremonial acts, nor found its purity on the surface of the
stainless earth. (The earth appears sullied to the tainted soul, but it
is all unstained to the taintless soul, which views it full with the
holy spirit of God).
32. Not knowing the fulness of the world with divine spirit, and the
holiness of the earth in every place, he thought the ground polluted
(by the original sin), and did not find his repose any where.
33. Therefore he made a vow of his own accord, to take his seat on the
branch of a tree, which was untainted with the pollution of the earth.
(Because the Lord said, “Cursed is the ground for thy sake”; but not so
the trees growing upon it).
34. Henceforth said he, “I will perform my austerities on these
branching arbours, and repose myself like birds and sylvan spirits, on
the branches and leaves of trees.”
35. Thus sitting on high, he kindled a flaming fire beneath him, and
was going to offer oblations of living flesh on it, by paring bits of
his shoulder blade (mixed with blood).
36. When the god of fire thought in himself that, as fire is the mouth
whereby the gods receive their food, the offering of a Bráhman’s flesh
to it, would wholly burn down their faces. (Fire is the mouth of gods,
says Veda, because the gods of early Aryans were distinguished from the
savages for their taking cooked food and meat, while the latter took
them raw for want of their knowledge of kindling fire. Again all flesh
was palatable to the gods, except that of their brotherhood—Bráhmans).
37. Thinking so, the god of fire appeared before him in his full blaze,
as the luminous sun appeared before the lord of speech—Brihaspati or
Jupiter.
38. He uttered gently and said, “Accept young Bráhman your desired boon
from me, as the owner of a store, takes out his treasure from the chest
in which it is deposited”.
39. Being thus accosted by the god, the Bráhman boy saluted him with a
laudatory hymn; and after adoring him with suitable offerings of
flowers, addressed him in the following manner.
40. “Lord! I find no holy place upon earth, which is full of iniquity
and sinful beings; and therefore pray of thee to make the tops of
trees, the only places for my abode.”
41. Being thus besought by the Bráhman boy, the god pronounced “Be it
so” from his flaming mouth, and vanished from his sight.
42. As the god disappeared from before him, like the day-light from the
face of the lotus-flower; the son of the sage being fully satisfied
with his desired boon, shone forth in his face like the orb of the full
moon.
43. Conscious of the success of his desire, his gladdened countenance
brightened with his blooming smiles; just as the white lotus blushes
with its smiling petals, no sooner it perceives the smiling moonbeams
falling upon it.
CHAPTER XLIX.
DESCRIPTION OF DÁSÚRA’S KADAMBA FOREST.
Argument. Comparisons of the Kadamba tree, and its branches, leaves,
fruits and flowers and birds.
Vasishtha continued:—Thus Dásúra remained in the forest reaching to the
region of the clouds, and forming a stage for the halting of the tired
horses of the meridian sun at midday. (_i.e._ As high as to reach the
sphere of the sun at noon).
2. Its far stretching boughs spread a canopy under the vault of heaven
on all sides, and it looked to the skies all around with its full blown
blossoming eyes.
3. The gentle winds were shedding the fragrant dust from the tufts of
its hanging hairs, which studded with swarms of fluttering bees, and
its waving leaves like palms of its hands, were brushing over the face
of its fairy welkin.
4. The banks with their long shrubbery, and the crimson filaments of
their milk-white blossoms, were smiling like the fair faces of
beauties, with their teeth tinged with reddish hue of betel leaves.
5. The creeping plants were dancing with delight, and shedding the dust
from the pistils of their flowers, which were clustered in bunches and
beaming with the lustre of the full bright moon.
6. The earth with its thickening thickets, and the warbling chakoras as
amongst them, appeared as the milky path of heaven studded with stars
singing their heavenly strains.
7. Groups of peacocks sitting on the tops of branching trees, appeared
with variegated trains, like rainbows amidst the verdant foliage,
seeming as bluish clouds in the azure sky.
8. The white _chauri_ deer with half of their bodies hidden under the
coverts of the woods, and their fore parts appearing without the
thickets, appeared as so many moons with their dark and bright sides in
the sky.
9. The warbling of _chataks_, joined with the trill of _cuckoos_, and
the whistling of _chakoras_, filled the groves with a continuous
harmony.
10. Flocks of white herons sitting on their nestling boughs, seemed as
bodies of _siddha_ sylphs, sitting quietly beside their coverts in
heaven.
11. Waving creepers with their ruddy leaflets shaking with the breeze,
and their blooming blossoms beset by bees, resembled the Apsaras of
heaven, flapping their rosy palms and looking at the skies.
12. The clusters of Kumuda or blue lotuses, moving on the sky-blue
waters with their yellow filaments, and shedding their golden dust
around, appeared as the rainbow and lightings, darting their radiance
in the azure sky.
13. The forest with thousands of uplifted branches, seemed as the god
Visva-rúpa lifting his thousand arms on high, and dancing with the
breeze, with the pendant orbs of the sun and moon, suspended as the
earrings to both his ears.
14. The groups of elephants lying underneath the branches, and the
clusters of stars shining above them, gave the woodlands an appearance
of the sky, with its dark clouds moving below the blazing stars above.
15. The forest was as the store house of all sorts of fruits and
flowers, as the god Brahmá was the reservoir of all sorts of
productions.
16. The ground glistened with the falling florets and the farina of the
flowers, as the firmament glittered with the lustre of solar and
stellar light.
17. The flights of birds flying on the boughs of trees, and those
fluttering about their nests, and the flocks of fowls feeding on the
ground, made the forest appear as a city with its people above, below
and all about it.
18. Its bowers resembled the inner apartments of houses, with the
blossoms waving as flags over them, and strewn over with the white
farina of flowers, as they decorate the floors with flowers and
powders, and hung flowers over them, as upon the windows of houses.
19. There was the joint harmony of the humming bees and buzzing
beetles; the twittering of _chakoras_ and parrots, and cooing of
_cokilas_ in the deep coverts of the woods; and issuing out of their
holes like the music of songstresses, coming out in unison from the
hollows of windows.
20. Birds of various kinds hovered about the coverts of the sylvan
goddesses; as they were the only guests of their lonely retreats.
21. The bees were continually humming over the farinaceous pistils of
flowers, and sounding water-falls were incessantly exuding from the
high hills in its neighbourhood.
22. Here the gentle zephyrs were continually playing with the waving
flowers; and the hoary clouds overtopped the lofty trees, as they do
the tops of mountains.
23. The sturdy woods resembling high hills, were rubbed by the scabby
cheeks of elephants, and stood unmoved though they were incessantly
dashed by their huge legs and feet. (See kumára Sambhava).
24. Birds of variegated plumage that dwelt in the hollows of the trees,
were as the various races of beings dwelling in the person of Vishnu.
(Vishnu means the residence of beings like Viráta).
25. With the movements of their painted leaves, resembling the fingers
of their palms, the trees seemed to keep time with the dancing
creepers, and point out the modes of their oscillation.
26. They danced also with delight with their branching arms and
clasping armlets of the creepers, to think on the subsistence, that
every part of their body affords to all kinds of living beings. (The
produce of trees supplies the supportance of all living creatures).
27. And thinking how they are the support of thousands of creeping
plants, which entwine round them as their consorts, they sing their
joyous chime in the buzzing of the bees about them.
28. The flowers dropped down by the kind _siddha_ (sylphs) from the
trees, were hailed by the bees and cuckoos with their joyous notes and
tunes.
29. The _kadamba_ tree seemed by its blooming blossoms, to laugh to
derision, the five woody arbors on the skirts which do not bear their
flowers. (These are the banian, bata and ficus religiosus, the mango,
the fig tree and frondos. (_i.e._ বটাশ্বত্থ, অম্র, উডুম্বর, and পলাস called
বনস্পতি or lords of woods)).
30. With its uplifted head reaching to the sky, and the flight of birds
flying over it like the hairs on its head, it seemed to defy the
_párijata_ tree of Indra’s heaven.
31. The body of bees thronging all about its person, gave it the
appearance of the thousand eyed Indra, with whom it vied in the greater
number of its eyes.
32. It had a tuft of flowers on some part of its head, appearing as the
hood of a snake decorated with gems, and seeming as the infernal
serpent had mounted its top with his crowned head, in order to survey
the wonders of heaven.
33. Besmeared with the pollen of its flowers, it appeared as the god
Siva anointed with his powdered ashes; while its shady bowers overhung
with luscious fruits, refreshed the passing travellers with rest and
repast.
34. The _kadamba_ arbour appeared as the garden of paradise, having
alcoves under its thickening boughs, and grottos formed by the flowery
creepers below it; while the birds of heaven hovered about it as its
perpetual inhabitants.
CHAPTER L.
DÁSÚRA’S SURVEY OF THE HEAVENS.
Argument. Dásúra surveys all the sky from his seat on the Kadamba tree.
Vasishtha continued:—Dásúra remained in this flowery arbour, as if he
dwelt on a hill of flowers; and he felt in his mind the delight, which
the flowery spring and its fruitage could infuse in the heart.
2. He mounted and sat over the high and airy top of the tree, and
looked on all sides like the god Vishnu surveying the worlds.
3. There sitting on a branch which reached to the sky, he was employed
in his devotion, devoid of fear and desire.
4. From this his leafy and easy couch of repose, he cast his curious
eyes to view the wonders of nature on all sides.
5. He beheld a river at a distance glittering as a necklace of gold,
and the summits of distant hills rising as nipples on the breast of the
earth. The fair face of the sky appeared as the face of a fairy,
covered under the blue veil of a cloud.
6. The verdant leaves of trees were as the green garb of this fairy,
and the clusters of flowers were as garlands on her head; the distant
lakes appearing as water-pots, were decorated by their aquatic plants
and flowers.
7. The fragrance of the blooming lotuses, seemed as the sweet breathing
of the fairy; and the gurgling of the waterfalls, sounded as the
trinkets fastened to her feet.
8. The trees touching the skies; were as the hairs on her body, the
thick forests resembled her thighs, and the orbs of the sun and moon,
were as earrings pendant on her ears.
9. The fields of corn seemed as pots of her sandal paste, and the
rising hills were as her breasts, covered by the cloudy mantle on their
tops.
10. The seas with their lucent waters were as her mirrors, to reflect
the rays of her jewels of the starry frame. (The stars are explained in
the gloss as drops of sweat on her person).
11. The season fruits and flowers were as embroideries on her bodice,
and the rays of the sun and moon were as powders over her body, or as
the pasted sandal on her person.
12. The clouds covering the landscape were as her garment, and the
trees and plants on the borders, were as the fringes or the skirts of
her raiment. In this manner he beheld all the ten sides of heaven as
full with the form of a fairy queen.
CHAPTER LI.
DÁSÚRA’S BEGETTING A SON.
Argument:—Mental sacrifices of Dásúra, and his production and
Instruction of a son begotten by the sylvan goddess.
Vasishtha continued:—Thence forward Dásúra remained as an ascetic in his
hermitage, in that forest, and was known as the Kadamba Dásúra, and a
giant of austere devotion.
2. There sitting on the leaves of the creepers growing on the branch of
that tree, he looked up to heaven, and then placing himself in the
posture of _padmásana_, he called back his mind to himself.
3. Unacquainted with spiritual adoration, and unpracticed to the
ceremonial ritual, he commenced to perform his mental sacrifice, with a
desire of gaining its reward.
4. Sitting on the leaves of the creepers in his aerial seat, he
employed his inward spirit and mind, in discharging his sacrificial
rites, of the sacred fire and horse sacrifice.
5. He continued there for the space of full ten years, in his acts of
satisfying the gods with his mental sacrifices of the bull, horse and
human immolations, and paying their honorariums in his mind.
6. In process of time, his mind was purified and expanded, and he
gained the knowledge of the beatification of his soul. (It is believed
that ceremonial acts, lead to the knowledge productive of spiritual
bliss).
7. His ignorance being dispelled, his heart became purified of the dirt
of worldly desires; and he came to behold a sylvan goddess, standing
beside his leafy and mossy seat.
8. She was a body of light and dressed in a robe of flowers; her form
and face were beautiful to behold, and her large bright eyes turned
wistfully towards him.
9. Her body breathed the fragrance of the blue lotus, and her figure
charmed his inmost soul. He then spoke to the goddess, standing before
him with her down cast looks.
10. What art thou, O tender dame! That lookest like a creeper fraught
with flowers, and defiest the god Cupid with thy beauteous form and
eyes, resembling the petals of the lotus.
11. Why standest thou as Flora, the befriending goddess of flowering
creepers? Thus accosted, the dame with deer-like eyes and protuberant
bosom replied to him.
12. She said to the hermit with a sweet and charming voice in the
following manner:—“Mayst thou prosper in obtaining the objects of thy
wishes”:—
13. “For any thing which is desirable and difficult of attainment in
this world, is surely obtainable when sought after with proper exertion
by the great”:—
14. “I am, O Bráhman! a sylvan goddess of this forest, which is so full
of creeping plants, and decorated by the beautiful _kadamba_ trees.
15. “Here I strayed to witness the festive mirth of the sylvan
goddesses, which always takes place on this thirteenth day of the lunar
month of chaitra in this forest.
16. “I saw here my companions enjoying their festival of love, and felt
myself sorry to think of my childlessness among them.
17. “Finding thee accomplished in all qualifications, I have resorted
hither with my suit of begetting a son by thee.
18. “Please Sir, to procreate a son in me, or else I will put my person
in the flames, to get rid of my sorrow of childlessness.”
<19.> Hearing the sylvan dame speaking in this manner, the hermit smiled
at her, and spoke kindly to her with presenting her a flower with his
own hand, and said:—
20. Depart O damsel! and betake thyself to the worship of Siva for a
whole month, and then thou shalt like a tender creeper, beget a boy as
beautiful as a bud by this time of the year.
21. But that son of thine, whom thou didst desire of me at the
sacrifice of thy life, will betake himself to austerities like mine,
and become a seer like myself (because he will be born of my blessing
to thee).
22. So saying the sage dismissed the suppliant dame now gladdened in
her face, and promised to perform the necessary for her blessing’s sake.
23. The lotus-eyed dame then retired from him, and went to her abode;
and the hermit passed his months, seasons and years in his holy
meditation.
24. After a long time the lotus-eyed dame returned to the sage with her
boy, now grown up to the twelfth year of his age.
25. She made her obeisance and sat before him with her boy of the moon
bright face; and then uttered her words, sweet as the murmur of the
humble bee, to the stately Ámra tree.
26. This sir, is the would be son (bhávya) of both of us, who has been
trained up by me in all the branches of learning. (The Veda and its
branches. The future _bhávya_—would be, should be the preter
_bhávita_—was to be).
27. He is only untaught in the best knowledge, which releases the soul
from its return to this world of troubles. (By the best or _subha_
knowledge, is meant the _para_—superior or spiritual learning).
28. Do you now my lord! deign to instruct him in that knowledge, for
who is there that should like to keep his own boy in ignorance (of his
future and best welfare)?
29. Being thus besought by her, he bespoke to the tender mother, to
leave the child there and depart her own way.
30. She being gone, the boy remained submissive to his father, and
dwelt by his side as his pupil, like Aruna (Ouranus) waiting upon the
sun.
31. Inured in austerity, the boy continued to receive his best
knowledge from the various lectures of his father, and passed a long
time with him in that place, under the name of the sage’s son.
<32.> The boy was taught in various narratives and tales, and with many
examples and ocular instances; as also in historical accounts and
evidences of the Veda and Vedánta (for his best knowledge of
spirituality).
33. The boy remained attendant on the lecture of his father, without
feeling any anxiety; and formed his right notions of things by means of
their antecedents. (The antecedent or preliminary causes of right
judgements are, perceptions, inferences, comparisons and testimony or
authoritative statements of sástras. (These are originally termed as
pratyaksha, anumiti, Upamiti and Sabda or Sabda-bodha)).
34. The magnanimous father thus instilled true knowledge into the mind
of his boy, by means (of the quadruple process) of right reasoning and
correct diction, rather than regarding the elegance of expression; as
the cloud indicates the approaching rain to the peacock by its hoarse
sounds. (The quadruple process as mentioned above.)
CHAPTER LII.
GRANDEUR OF THE AIR-BORN KING.
Argument. Description of Dominions of the Air-born King, and the
Frailty of Worldly possessions.
Vasishtha continued:—It was on one occasion that I passed by that
(Dásúra’s) way in my invisible body, to bathe in the heavenly stream of
_mandákiní_ (milky way) in the etherial regions.
2. After my departure from that region by the way of the Pleiades
(saptarshi), I arrived to the spot where Dásúra dwelt on his high
Kadamba tree.
3. I came to listen to a voice proceeding from the hollow of the tree
in the forest, which was as charming as the buzzing of the bee,
fluttering about the bud of a lotus.
4. Attend my intelligent son! said he, to a narrative that I will
relate unto thee by way of a simile of worldly things, and it is
pleasant to hear.
5. There is a very powerful King renowned in all the three worlds for
his great prosperity. His name is Khottha or Air-produced, and able to
grasp the whole world. (Like the air whereof he was born. Kha, Khao and
Khavi yet un, is empty air in Sanskrit, Hebrew and Arabic, and Khali in
Persian and Urdu).
6. All the lords of the earth bend their heads lowly under his rule,
and bear the badge of their submission to him with as great an honour,
as poor men are proud to carry about a bright gem on the head.
7. He exulted in his valour and the possession of all kinds of
rarities, and there is no one in the three worlds, that is able to
bring him under his subjection.
8. His unnumbered acts and exploits, are fraught with successive pain
and pleasure; and they are as interminable as the continuous waves of
the sea.
9. No one has been able to check the prowess of that mighty brave by
force of fire or sword, as none hath ever been able to press the air or
wind in his hand.
10. Even the gods Indra, Upendra and Hara, have fallen short of
following his steps in his ambitious pursuits, and the splendid
inventions of his imagination.
11. With his triple form of the sátwika, rájasika and támasika
qualities, he encompasses the world, and is enabled to accomplish all
sorts of actions. (These are the qualities of goodness, moderation and
excess, or the three states of deficiency, mediocrity and excess of
moral acts, according to the text of Aristotelean Ethics. But I would
prefer to call them the positive, comparative and superlative virtues,
or rather the minimum, mean and maximum states of virtues).
12. He is born in the extensive vacuity (of the spirit of Brahma), with
his triple body as that of a bird (viz; the flesh and bones and the
feathers, and remains in vacuum as the air and the sound).
13. He has built a city in that unlimited space of the Universe, having
fourteen provinces (_chaturdasa Bhuvana_) (the planetary spheres), in
its triple divisions (tribhuvana) of the earth and regions above and
below it.
14. It is beautified with forests and groves and pleasure-lawns and
hills, and bounded by the seven lakes of pearly waters on all sides.
(The city signifies the earth and the lakes the seven oceans in it).
15. It is lighted by two lamps of hot and cooling light (the sun and
moon), which revolve above and below it in their diurnal and nocturnal
courses, as those of righteous and nefarious people. (The original
words, as the courses _divá_, and _nisácharas_ or the day and
nightfarers).
16. The king has peopled this great city of his with many selfmoving
bodies (animals), which move in their spheres quite ignorant of
themselves (_i.e._ of their origin, their course and their fates).
17. Some of these are appointed in higher and some in lower spheres,
and others move in their middle course; some destined to live a longer
time, and others doomed to die in a day (as the ephemerids).
18. These bodies are covered with black skins and hairs (as thatched
huts), and furnished with nine holes (as their doors or windows); which
are continually receiving in and carrying out the air to keep them
alive.
19. They are supplied with five lights of sensation and perceptions and
supported by three posts of the two legs and the back bone, and a frame
work of white bones for the beams and bamboo rafters. It is plastered
over with flesh as its moistened clay (or mud wall), and defended by
the two arms as latches on door way.
20. The Great king has placed his sentinel of the Yaksha of egoism as a
guard of this house; and this guard is as ferocious as a Bhairava in
dark (ignorance), and as timorous as a _Bhairava_ by the day (i.e.
egoism brags in ignorance, but flies before the day-light of reason).
21. The masters of these locomotive bodies, play many pranks in them,
as a bird plays its frolics in its own nest.
22. This triformed prince (the mind) is always fickle, and never steady
in any; he resides in many bodies and plays his gambles there with his
guard of egoism, and leaves one body for another at will, as a bird
alights from one branch upon another.
23. This fickle minded prince is ever changeful in his will; he resides
in one city and builds another for his future habitation.
24. Like one under the influence of a ghost, he stirs up from one place
and runs to another, as a man builds and breaks and rebuilds his aerial
castle at his hobby.
25. The Mind sometimes wishes to destroy its former frame and remove to
another, and effects its purpose at will.
26. It is produced again as the wave of the sea, after it had subsided
to rest; and it pursues slowly and gradually a different course in its
renewed course of life.
27. This prince sometimes repents of his own conduct and acts in his
new life, and then laments for his ignorance and miseries and knows not
what to do.
28. He is sometimes dejected by sorrow and at others elated by success,
like the current of a river, now going down in the hot season, and
again overflowing its banks in the rains.
29. This king is led by his hobbies like the waters of the sea by the
winds; it puffs and swells, falls and rises, runs fast and ceases to
flow at once as in a calm.
CHAPTER LIII.
DESCRIPTION OF THE MUNDANE CITY.
Argument. Interpretation of the Parable of the Air-born prince,
and exposition of the Universe as the production of our Desires.
Vasishtha continued:—The boy then asked his holy sire, who was sitting
reclined on his sacred Kadamba tree, in the midst of the forest of the
great Jambudvípa in the gloom of the night.
2. The son said:—Tell me Sir, who is this Air-born prince of
Supernatural form, about whom you related to me just now; I do not
fully comprehend its meaning, and want it to be explained to me clearly.
3. You said sir, that this prince constructs for himself a new abode,
whilst residing in his present body; and removes to the same after he
has left the old frame. This seems impossible to me, as the joining of
one tense with another, the present with the future.
4. Dásúra replied:—Hear me tell you my son, the meaning of this
parable, which will explain to you the nature of this revolutionary
world in its true light.
5. I have told you at first that a non-entity sprang in the beginning
from the entity of God, and this non-entity being stretched out
afterwards (in the form of illusion), gave rise to this illusory world
called the cosmos.
6. The vacuous spirit of the Supreme Deity, gives rise to his formless
will, which is thence called Air-born (or the mind). It is born of
itself in its formless state from the formless Spirit, and dissolves
itself into the same; as the wave rising from and falling in the bosom
of the sea. (Thus in the beginning was the Will and not the Word, and
the Will was in God, and the will was God; and it rises and sets in the
Spirit of God).
7. It is the will which produces every thing, and there is nothing
produced but by the Will. The Will is self-same with its object, which
constitutes and subsists in it; and it lives and dies also along with
its object. (The will of the willful mind, dwells on some subject or
other while it is living; but it perishes when it has no object to
think upon, and melts into insensibility; or else it continues to
transmigrate with its thoughts and wishes for ever).
8. Know the gods Brahmá, Vishnu, Indra, Siva and the Rudras, as
offspring of the willful Mind; as the branches are the offshoots of the
main tree, and the summits are projections of the principal mountain.
9. This Mind builds the city of the triple world, in the vacuum of
Brahma (like an air-drawn castle); by reason of its being endowed
with intelligence from Omniscience, in its form of Virinchi
(vir-incho-ativus).
10. This city is composed of fourteen worlds (planetary spheres)
containing all their peoples; together with chains of their hills and
forests and those of gardens and groves.
11. It is furnished with the two lights of the sun and moon, (to shine
as two fires by day and night); and adorned with many mountains for
human sports. (Hence the mountainous Gods of old, are said to be the
sportive _Devas_; _divi deváh divayanti_).
12. Here the pearly rivers are flowing in their winding courses, and
bearing their swelling waves and rippling billows, shining as chains of
pearls under the sunbeams and moonlight.
13. The seven oceans appear as so many lakes of limpid waters, and
shining with their submarine fires, resembling the lotus-beds and mines
of gems beneath the azure sky.
14. It is a distinguished place of gods, men and savages, who make
their commerce here, with commodities (of virtue and vice), leading
either to heaven above or to the hell below.
15. The self-willed King (the mind), has employed here many persons (as
dramatis personae), to act their several parts before him for his
pleasure.
16. Some are placed high above this stage to act as gods and deities,
and others are set in lower pits of this earth and infernal regions, to
act their miserable parts—as men and Nágas. (The Nágas are snakes and
snake worshippers, living in subterraneous cells like the serpentine
race of Satan. The Bara and Chhotá Naghores, and the Naga hill people
of Assam are remnants of this tribe).
17. Their bodies are made of clay, and their frame work is of white
bones; and their plastering is the flesh under the skin as a pneumatic
machine.
18. Some of these bodies have to act their parts for a long while,
while others make their exits in a short time. They are covered with
caps of black hairs, and others with those of white and grey on their
heads.
19. All these bodies are furnished with nine crevices, consisting of
the two earholes, two sockets of the eyes, and two nostrils with the
opening of the mouth, which are continually employed in inhaling and
exhaling cold and hot air by their breathings. (These airs are the
oxygen and nitrogen gases).
20. The earholes, nostrils and the palate, serve as windows to the
abode of the body; the hands and feet are the gate ways, and the five
inner organs are as lights of these abodes.
21. The mind then creates of its own will the delusion of egoism, which
like a _yaksha_ demon takes possession of the whole body, but flies
before the light of knowledge.
22. The mind accompanied by this delusive demon, takes great pleasure
in diverting itself with unrealities (until it comes to perceive their
vanity by the light of reason).
23. Egoism resides in the body like a rat in the barn-house, and as a
snake in the hollow ground. It falls down as a dew drop from the blade
of a reed, upon advance of the sunlight of reason.
24. It rises and falls like the flame of a lamp in the abode of the
body, and is as boisterous with all its desires, as the sea with its
ceaseless waves.
25. The Mind constructs a new house for its future abode, by virtue of
its interminable desires in its present habitation; and which are
expected to be realized and enjoyed in its future state.
26. But no sooner it ceases to foster its desires, than it ceases to
exist, and loses itself in that state of Supreme bliss of which there
can be no end. (Freedom from desire, is freedom from regeneration).
27. But it is born and reborn by its repeated desires, as the child
sees the ghost by its constant fear of it. (Every desire rises as a
spectre to bind).
28. It is egoism (or the belief of one’s real entity), that spreads the
view of this miserable world before him; but absence of the knowledge
of self-entity, removes the sight of all objects from view, as the veil
of thick darkness hides all things from sight. (Without the subjective
there can be no knowledge of the objective).
29. It is by one’s own attempt in this way, that he exposes himself to
the miseries of the world; and then he wails at his fate like the
foolish monkey, that brought on its own destruction, by pulling out the
peg from the chink of the timber (which smashed its testes. See
Hitopadesa).
30. The mind remains in eager expectation of the enjoyment of its
desired objects, as the stag stood with its lifted mouth, to have a
drop of honey fall into it, from a honey-comb hanging on high.
31. The wistful mind now pursues its desired objects, and now it
forsakes them in disgust; now it longs for joy, and then grows sulky at
its failure like a fretful child.
32. Now try diligently, my boy, to extricate thy mind from all outward
objects, and fix thy attention to the inward object of this meditation.
33. The willful mind takes at its will its good, bad and moderate or
sober forms; known under the names of _satva_, _rajas_ and _tamas_ (as
defined before).
34. The bad or vitiated form of the mind delights in worldliness, and
by bemeaning itself with all its greedy appetites, reduces itself to
the state of worms and insects in its future births.
35. The good disposition of the mind is inclined towards virtuous
deeds, and the acquisition of knowledge; and by these means advances
both to its soleness and self enjoyment (_i.e._ to its full liberation
and the state of the highest Brahma).
36. In its form of moderation, it is observant of the rules and laws of
society, and conducts itself in the world in the company of friends and
members of the family.
37. After relinquishment of all these three forms, and abdication of
egoism and desires, it reaches to the state of the absolute Supreme
Being.
38. Therefore shun the sight of the visibles, and repress your fleeting
mind by your sober intellect; and diminish your desires for all
internal as well as external goods. (_i.e._ Both mental qualifications
and outward possessions).
39. For though you may practice your austerities for a thousand years,
and crush your body by falling from a precipice upon stones;—
40. Or although you burn your body alive on a flaming pyre, or plunge
yourself into the submarine fire; or if you fall in a deep and dark pit
or well, or rush upon the edge of a drawn and sharp sword;—
41. Or if you have Brahmá himself or even Siva for your preceptor, or
get the very kind and tender hearted ascetic for your religious
guide;—(The _guru_ of this nature probably alludes to Buddha, or Jina
according to some, or to Dattátreya or Durvásá according to others.
Gloss).
42. Whether you are situated in heaven or on earth, or in the regions
of pátála—the antipodes below; you have no way of liberation, save by
keeping your desires under subjection.
43. Exert your manliness therefore, in domineering over your
irresistible and violent desires and passions, which will secure to you
the pure and transcendent joy of peace and holiness.
44. All things are linked together under the bandage of cupidity; and
this band being broken asunder, makes the desired objects vanish into
nothing.
45. The real is unreal and the unreal is real, as the mind may make it
appear to be; all reality and unreality consists in our conception of
them, and in nothing besides.
46. As the mind conceives a thing to be, so it perceives the same in
actuality; therefore have no conception of anything, if you want to
know the truth of it.
47. Do you act as the world goes, without your liking or disliking of
any thing; and thus the desires being at an end, the intellect will
rise to the inscrutable beyond the knowledge of the mind.
48. The mind which having sprung from the Supreme Soul in the form of
goodness, is inclined afterwards towards the unrealities of the world;
surely alienates itself from the Supreme, and exposes itself to all
sorts of misery.
49. We are born to the doom of death, but let us not die to be reborn
to the miseries of life and death again. It is for the wise and learned
to betake themselves to that state, which is free from these pains.
50. First learn the truth, and attain to the true knowledge of your
soul; and then abandon all your desire and dislike of the world. Being
thus prepared with a dead-like insensibility of your internal feelings,
you will be enabled to come to the knowledge of that transcendental
state, which is full of perfect bliss and blessedness.
CHAPTER LIV.
CORRECTIVE OF DESIRES.
Argument. The rise, progress and decline of Human Wishes.
The Son asked:—What is this desire, father? how is it produced and
grown, and how is it destroyed at last?
2. Dásúra replied:—The desire or will is situated in the mind or mental
part of the one eternal, universal and spiritual substance of God.
3. It gets the form of a monad from a formless unit, and then by its
gradual expansion extends over the whole mind, and fills it as a flimsy
cloud soon covers the sky.
4. Remaining in the divine Intellect, the mind thinks of thinkables, as
they are distinct from itself; and its longing after them is called its
desire, which springs from it as a germ from its seed.
5. The desire is produced by the desiring of something, and it
increases of itself both in its size and quantity, for our trouble
only, and to no good or happiness at all.
6. It is the accretion of our desires which forms the world, as it is
the accumulation of waters which makes the ocean; you have no trouble
without your desire, and being free from it, you are freed from the
miseries of the world (wherein one has to buffet as in the waves and
waters of the sea).
7. It is by mere chance, that we come to meet with the objects of our
desire; as it is by an act of unavoidable chance also, that we are
liable to lose them. They appear before us as secondary luminaries in
the sky, and then fly away as the mirage vanishes from view.
8. As a man who has the jaundice by eating a certain fruit, sees every
thing as yellow as gold with his jaundiced eye; so the desire in the
heart of man, pictures the unreal as a reality before him.
9. Know this truth that you are an unreality yourself, and must become
an unreality afterwards. (Because there is but one self-existent
entity, and all besides is but suppositions not entities).
10. He who has learnt to disbelieve his own existence and that of all
others, and knows the vanity of his joy and grief, is not troubled at
the gain or loss of any thing (which is but vanity of vanities, the
world is vanity).
11. Knowing yourself as nothing, why do you think of your birth and
your pleasures here? You are deluded in vain by the vanity of your
desires.
12. Do not entertain your desires, nor think of anything which is
nothing; it is by your living in this manner, that you may be wise and
happy.
13. Try to relinquish your desire, and you will evade all difficulties;
and cease to think of anything, and your desire for it will disappear
of itself.
14. Even the crushing of a flower is attended with some effort, but it
requires no effort to destroy your desire, which vanishes of itself for
want of its thought.
15. You have to expand the palm of your hand, in laying hold of a
flower; but you have nothing to do in destroying your frail and false
desire.
16. He that wants to destroy his desire, can do it in a trice, by
forgetting the thought of his desired object.
17. The thoughts being repressed from other objects, and fixed in the
Supreme Spirit, will enable one to do what is impossible for others to
effect.
18. Kill your desire by desiring nothing, and turn your mind from all
things, by fixing it in the Supreme, which you can easily do of
yourself.
19. Our desires being quieted, all worldly cares come to a stand still,
and all our troubles are put to a dead lock.
20. Our wishes constitute our minds, hearts, lives, understandings and
all our desiderative faculties; all which are but different names for
the same thing without any difference in their signification.
21. There is no other business of our lives than to desire and to be
doing, and when done to be desiring again: and as this restless craving
is rooted out of the mind, it sets it free from all anxiety.
22. The world below is as empty, as the hollow sky above us; both of
those are empty nothings, except that our minds make something or other
of them, agreeably to its desire or fancy.
23. All things are unsubstantial and unsubstantiated by the
unsubstantial mind; thus the world being but a creation of our fancy a
desideratum, there is nothing substantial for you to think about.
24. Our reliance on unrealities proving to be unreal, leaves no room
for our thinking about them; the suppression of their thoughts produces
that perfection, _insouciance_, than which there is nothing more
desirable on earth. Forget therefore all that is unreal.
25. The nice discernment of things, will preserve you from the excess
of joy and grief, and the knowledge of the Vanity of things, will keep
out your affection for or reliance on any person or thing.
26. The removal of reliance upon the world, removes our attachment to
it; and consequently prevents our joy or sorrow at the gain or loss of
any thing.
27. The mind which becomes the living principle, stretches out his city
of the world by an act of its imagination; and then turns it about as
the present, past, and future worlds, (_i.e._ the mind produces,
destroys and reproduces the world, as it builds and breaks and rebuilds
its aerial castles).
28. The mind being subject to the sensational, emotional and volitive
feelings; loses the purity of its intellectual nature, and plays many
parts by its sensuousness.
29. The living soul also forgets the nature of the universal soul from
which it is derived, and is transformed to a puny animalcule in the
heart of man, where it plays its pranks like an ape in the woods.
30. Its desires are as irrepressible, as the waves of the ocean, and
they rise and fall by turns like the waves, in expectation of having
every object of the senses.
31. Our desire like fire, is kindled by every straw; and it burns and
blows out in its invisible form within the mind.
32. Our desires are as fickle as flashes of lightning, and proceed from
the minds of the ignorant, as the lightning darts itself from the
watery clouds (জলদ); they are equally fleeting and
misguiding, and must be speedily avoided by the wise.
33. Desire is undoubtedly a curable disease, as long as it is a
transient malady of the mind; but it becomes incurable, when it takes a
deep root in it.
34. The knowledge of the unreality of the world, quickly cures the
disease of desire; but the certainty of worldly knowledge, makes it as
incurable as the impossibility, of removing the blackness of a coal.
35. What fool will attempt to wash a coal white, or convert a
materialist to a spiritualist? Or turn a raven or Negro to whiteness?
36. But the mind of a man, is as a grain of rice covered under its
husk, which is soon unhusked upon the threshing-floor.
37. The worldliness of the wise, is as soon removed as the husk of
rice, and the blackness of a cooking kettle.
38. The blemishes of a man, are blotted out by his own endeavours;
wherefore you must try to exert yourself to action at all times.
39. He who has not been able to master over his vain desires, and hobby
whims in this world, will find them vanish of themselves in course of
time, as nothing false can last for ever.
40. The light of reason removeth the false conception of the world, as
the light of the lamp dispels the darkness from the room at sight, and
night vision removes the secondary moon (of optical deception).
41. The world is not yours, nor are you of this world; there is no body
nor anything here akin to you, nor are you so to any; never think
otherwise, nor take the false for true.
42. Never foster the false idea in your mind, that you are master of
large possessions and pleasant things; for know yourself and all
pleasant things, are for the delight of the Supreme Maker and Master of
all.
CHAPTER LV.
MEETING OF VASISHTHA AND DÁSÚRA.
Argument. Dásúra’s reception of Vasishtha, their conversation and
Parting.
Vasishtha said:—Hear me, Ráma, that art the delight of Raghu’s race,
and shinest as the moon in the firmament of Raghu’s family; that after
I heard the conversation that was going on between Dásúra and his son:—
2. I alighted from the sky on the top of the Kadamba tree, which was
decorated with its verdant leaves, and beautiful fruits and flowers;
and then with my spiritual body, I sat myself slowly and silently on
the top of the tree, as a light cloud alights on the summit of a
mountain.
3. I beheld Dásúra there, sitting as a giant by subduing the organs of
his body, and shining with the lustre of his devotion, as the fire
blazing with its flame.
4. The lustre issuing from his body, had strewn his seat with purple
gold, and lighted that spot, as the sun-beams emblazon the world.
5. Seeing me presenting myself before him, Dásúra spread a leafy seat
for me to sit down, and then honoured me according to the rules of
ceremonial law.
6. Then I joined with the luminous Dásúra in continuation of his
discourse, which was meant for the edification of his son, and
salvation of mankind from the miseries of life.
7. I then with permission of Dásúra, looked into the hollow of the
tree, and the herds of stags pasturing fearlessly about it, and grazing
and gathering about it.
8. It was as delightful as a bower overhung with creepers, where the
smiling flowers were shedding their light, and breathing their
fragrance to the winds.
9. The choury deer flapped their long hairy and moon-bright tails,
against the herbaceous arbour, as the white flimsy clouds sweep over
the sky.
10. The tree was adorned with fringes of pearly dewdrops, and arrayed
all over with the flowery garb of his blossoms.
11. Smeared with the dust of its flowers, it appeared to be anointed
with sandal paste; while its blowsy bark mantled it in roseate red.
12. Decorated with flowers, the tree seemed to stand in its bridal
attire; and resembled the bridegroom in mutual embrace with the twining
brides.
13. The bowers of shrubberies all around, resembled the leafy huts of
hermits, which with their overtopping blossoms, seemed as a city,
flaring with flying flags (or banners) in festivity.
14. Shaken by the stages in the act of rubbing their bodies, the trees
darted their flowers in abundance upon the ground; and the border-lands
were as shattered, as if they were broken by the horns of fighting
bulls.
15. Peacocks daubed with dust of flowers, and flying on the top of the
adjacent hill, appeared as evening clouds gliding over it.
16. Here the goddess Flora seemed to be sporting in the lawns, with the
roseate flowers in her hands, and smiling sweetly in the blooming
blossoms; she revelled with the nectarine honey of flowers; and shed
her beauty on all sides.
17. The closing buds resembling her eyelids, were lulled to sleep by
the forest breeze, breathing incessantly with the fragrance of the
flowers. The clusters of flowers forming her breasts, were hid under
the bodice of leaves.
18. She sat at the window of her alcove, formed by the twining plants
and creepers, and was dressed in the purple garb of the flying farina
of flowers.
19. She swang in her swinging cradle of bluish blossoms, and was
adorned with various floral ornaments from her head to foot.
20. She moved about the flowers in the garb of the sylvan goddess and
looking with her cerulean eyes of fluttering blue-bees on all sides;
and sang to them in the sweet notes of the black kokila in the arbours.
21. The bees tired with their labour of love, refreshed themselves with
sipping the dew-drops trickling on the tops of the flowers, and then
making their repast on the farinaceous meal, slept together with their
mates, in the cells of the flower cups.
22. The couples of bees dwelling in the cells of flowers, and giddy
with sipping the honey of the flower cups; were humming their love
tunes to one another.
23. The sage remained attentive for a moment to the murmur, proceeding
from the village beyond the forest; and now he listened with pricked up
ears, to the busy buzz of blue-bees and flies at a distance.
24. The sages then beheld with their down cast looks on moon-beams,
which were spread like a sheet of fine linen on the blades of grass
upon the ground below.
25. They beheld the beautiful antelopes, which slept in their leafy
beds on the ground, below the stretching boughs of shady trees, as if
they were the progeny of their native forest.
26. They saw the fearless birds chirping upon the branches, and others
sleeping confident in their nests; and they beheld the ground covered
by living creatures, feasting on the ripe fruits fallen below.
27. They saw the long lines of black-bees, lying mute on the ground
like strings of beads, and blackening it with their sable bodies.
28. The forest was redolent with fragrance, and the sky was overhung by
a cloud of flowers; the dust of Kadamba blossoms tinged the ground with
ambergrees, and the Kadamba fruits covered the face of the land.
29. What need is there of saying more, than that there was no part of
the tree, which was not useful to living beings.
30. Here the deer were sleeping on the fallen leaves and there were
others resting on the barren ground; the birds sat on the banks and
beaches of the rivulets all about that lofty tree.
31. As they were viewing in this manner the beauties of the forest, the
night passed away as soon as a night of festivity.
32. The son of the hermit kept conversing with me on many subjects, and
derived many useful instructions from my teaching.
33. As we had been conversing with one another on different subjects,
the night passed away as soon as that of a conjugal pair.
34. Now it began to dawn, and the blushing flowers commenced to ope
their petals; while the host of the stars on high, disappeared from
their arena of the sky.
35. I then took my departure, and was followed by the hermit and his
son to some distance from their Kadamba tree, where I left them for my
aerial course to the heavenly stream.
36. There having performed my holy ablution, I came down under the
vault of heaven, and then entered the celestial region of the sages,
which is situated in the midway sky.
37. Now I have related to you, Ráma, this story of Dásúra, that you may
learn from his instance the unreality of the apparent world, and as it
is but a shadow of the ideal one (in the Divine mind).
38. It was for this reason, that I have given you the narrations of
Dásúra, by way of explanation of the phenomenal world, as a shadow of
the noumenal.
39. Now therefore know the Spirit like Dásúra, and imitate his example
in the magnanimity of your soul. Forsake the unreal, and pursue the
reality for your permanent delight.
40. Rub out the dirt of desire from your mind, and see the image of
truth in it as in a mirror; you will thus attain to the highest state
of knowledge, and be honoured in all worlds as a perfect being.
CHAPTER LVI.
ON THE SOUL AND ITS INERTNESS.
Argument. Consideration of the activity and inactivity of the Soul, and
the Vanity of the Visibles.
Vasishtha continued:—Knowing the world as a nihility, you must cease to
take any delight in it; for what reasonable being is there in it that
would delight in its unreality.
2. If you take the phenomenal world for a reality, you may continue to
enslave yourself to the unreal material; and lose the spiritual nature
of your soul.
3. Or if you know it to be a temporary existence, why then should you
take any interest in what is so frail and unstable, rather than care
for your immortal soul?
4. The world is no substantial existence, nor are you a being of its
unsubstantiality; it is only a clear reflection of the divine mind, and
extending over all infinity. (And which is refracted into all
individual minds as in prismatic glasses).
5. The world is neither an agent itself, nor is it the act of any agent
at all; it is simply the reflexion of the noumenal, without any agency
of its own.
6. Whether the world is with or without an agent, or has a maker or
not, yet you can not tell it as a real substance, except that it
appears so to your mind.
7. The soul is devoid of all organs of action, and with all its
activity, it remains motionless and without action, as anything that is
inactive and immovable.
8. The world is the production of a fortuitous chance (Kákatáliya
Sanyoga), and none but boys place any reliance in it. (The world here
means our existence in it, which is an act of chance).
9. The world is neither stable nor fragile, but it is mutable from one
state to another, as it is known by its repeated reproductions and
visibility to us.
10. It is neither everlasting, nor is it a momenting thing; its
constant mutability contradicts its firmness; and its nihility, (as
stated before) is opposed to its temporarity. (The dictum of the Veda
of the eternity of _asat_—nullity, nullifies its temporariness).
11. If the soul is the active power without its organs of action, it
must be unfailing and entire; because the continuance of its inorganic
operations can not weaken its powers. (_i.e._ The performance of bodily
actions debilitates the body; but the immaterial mind is not impaired
by its activity).
12. Therefore there is an irresistible destiny, which is absolutely
overruling; it is existence and inexistence itself, it is sedate and
continuous, and all visible perturbations are but false appearances.
13. The limit of a hundred years of human life, is but a very small
portion of unlimited duration; it is therefore very astonishing that
any one should be concerned with this small portion of his existence,
here (in utter disregard of his eternal life).
14. Granting the durability of worldly affairs, yet they are not
deserving of your reliance; for what faith can you rely on the union of
two such opposites as the mind and matter? (The one being sensible and
the other insensible, the one being infinite and imperishable, and the
other a finite and frail substance).
15. But if the state of worldly things be unsteady and uncertain, it
can not be deserving of your confidence. Say, can you be sorry at the
dissolving of the foam and froth of the milk or water, then why should
you lament at the loss of the perishable? (So said the Grecian
philosopher: yesterday I saw a fragile breaking, and today I saw a
mortal die).
16. Know, O strong armed Ráma! that reliance on the world, is the
fetter of the soul to it; it does not behove any body to join the
perishable and imperishable together like the water and its froth. (The
one being lasting and the other a transient thing).
17. Although the soul is the agent (or source) of all actions, yet it
remains as no agent at all; it is unconnected with its actions, as the
lamp with its light. (The mind being the doer of actions and not the
soul).
18. Doing all it does nothing, but like the sun directs the business of
the day without doing anything by itself. It moves like the sun without
moving from its place, but retains its station in its own orbit. (The
sun is the causal agent of diurnal duties, but men are the active
agents of their actions).
19. There is some other hidden cause guiding the course of the world,
beside the soul and body; as there is an unknown cause of the course of
the Aruna river, notwithstanding its being blocked by stones.
20. When you have known this for certain, O Ráma by your own
proficience, and have well ascertained this truth by its clearest
evidence:—
21. You ought no more to place any reliance on material things, which
are as false as an ambient flame, or a vision in dream, or as any
falsehood whatever.
22. As a stranger is not to be taken into your friendship, on his first
appearance; so you must never trust or rely on anything of this world
through your ignorance.
23. Never place your reliance on anything of this world, with that fond
desire, as the heated man looks to the moon, the cold stricken to the
sun, and the thirsty doth to the water in the mirage.
24. Do you look upon this ideal world (which is born of your brain), as
you view a creature of your conception, a vision in your dream, or an
apparition or the appearance of two moons in the sky, by your visual
deception.
25. Shun your reliance on the fair creation of your imagination (the
objects of sight &c.), and without minding what you are, conduct
yourself cheerfully in your sphere.
26. Shun your desires and the thought of your agency, even when you are
doing any thing at all. (The soul residing in the body, is yet aloof
from all its acts, though its presence in the body, justifies its being
accessary to if not the accomplice of them. (Gloss)).
27. It is a general law (niyati, or nature of things), that the
propinquity of the cause, causes the act, even without the will of the
actor; as the presence of the lamp, enlightens the room without the
will of the lamp. (An involuntary action is no less the act of the
actor than a voluntary one).
28. Look at the _kurchi_ tree blooming and blossoming under the
influence of heavy clouds, and not of its own accord. So it is destined
for the three worlds to appear to sight, under the influence of the
Supreme Being (though he may not will or ordain it so). (So also the
presence of matter, effects the work by material laws, without the
special behest or employment of the matter to the performance of same.
Gloss).
29. As the appearance of the sun in the sky, employs all beings to
their diurnal duties without his will or injunction, so the
omnipresence of God causes the actions of all beings of their own
spontaneity, and without his will, act or fiat. (This is called the
overruling and universal destiny).
30. And as a bright gem reflects its light, without any will on its
part; so the mere existence of the Deity, causes the existence of all
worlds (as they are in attendance upon His presence).
31. Thus are causality and its want also both situated in your soul,
which is thence called the cause of your actions, because of its
presence in the body; and as no cause likewise owing to its want of
will (which is the property of the mind; and not of the soul).
32. The entity of the soul being beyond the perception of sense, it is
neither the agent nor recipient of any action; but being confined in
the sensible body, it is thought to be both an active and passive agent.
33. Thus the properties both of causality and its want, reside in the
soul; you may take it in any light, you may choose for your purpose,
and rest content with your belief.
34. But by firmly believing yourself to be situated in the body, and
your doing of actions without thinking yourself as their author, will
save you from the culpability of all your acts.
35. The man that does not employ his mind to his actions, becomes
indifferent (virága) to the world; and he is freed from it, who is
certain of his being no agent of his actions.
36. Whether a man is fond of his enjoyments, or forsakes them in
disgust; it is all the same to him, if he but think himself to be no
actor of them. (Set not your mind to act, if you want to be set free in
fact).
37. But if you wish to remain, Ráma, with your high ambition of doing
every thing in the world, that is also good, and you may try to do the
same.
38. But if I do not fall to so great an error, as to have this high
aspiration of yours, I am never liable to the passions of anger and
enmity, and other violent emotions in this world.
39. The bodies that we bear, are nourished by some and immolated by
others: such being the state of our own being; we have no cause for our
joy or sorrow in it.
40. Knowing ourselves to be the authors of our own happiness and
misery, and as causes of the rise and dissolution of the world from our
view, we have no reason to be joyous or sorry in it.
41. Then there is an end of the joys and sorrows of our own making,
when we have that sweet composure, which is a balm to all the diseases
in our soul.
42. Fellow feeling to all living beings, makes the best state of the
mind; and the soul that is so disposed, is not subject to
transmigration.
43. Or make this the best lesson, Ráma! for your conduct in life, that
with all your activities, you continue to think yourself as no actor at
all. (Because the belief of one’s agency, leads him to the fruition of
this act in repeated births).
44. Remain quiet and steady as thou art, by resigning all things to
themselves; and never think that it is thou that dost or undoest
anything (which is destined to be so or otherwise by the Divine will).
45. But if you look to the different modes of your doing one thing or
the other, you can have no rest or quiet, but must run in the way
leading to the trap of perpetual toil and misery.
46. The belief of a man’s corporeality, that he is a destructible body,
and no spiritual being, is to him but a bed of thorns; it must
therefore be avoided by all means, in order to evade the danger of his
imminent destruction.
47. Corporeality is to be shunned as a hell-hound feeding on canine
meat; and after disappearance of the cloud of corporeity from view, the
light of spirituality will appear before the sight.
48. The pure light of spirituality; presents the appearance of the
bright moon-beams of holiness, after dispersion of clouds of corporeal
desires; and it is by the help of this light, that the spiritualist is
enabled to steer across the ocean of this world.
49. Do you, O Ráma, remain in that best and blessed state, wherein the
wisest, best and holiest of men have found their rest; and it is the
constant habit of thinking yourself as nothing nor doing anything; or
that you are all things and doing every thing; as the Supreme soul
knows itself to be; and that you are some person, having a personality
of your own, and yet no body (_i.e._ not the body in which thou dost
abide); but a spiritual and transcendent being.
CHAPTER LVII.
NATURE OF VOLLEITY AND NOLLEITY.
Argument. The bondage of volition causing our perdition, and the
freedom of Nolition as leading to salvation.
Ráma said:—Thy words, O Bráhman! are true and well spoken also. I
find the soul to be the inactive agent of actions, and the impassive
recipient of their effects, as also the spiritual cause of the
corporeal.
2. I find the soul to be the sole lord of all, and ubiquitous in its
course; it is of the nature of intelligence and of the form of
transparency. It resides in all bodies, as the five elements compose
the terraqueous bodies.
3. I now come to understand the nature of Brahma, and I am as pacified
by thy speech, as the heated mountain is cooled by rain waters.
4. From its secludedness and nolleity, it neither does nor receives any
thing; but its universal pervasion, makes it both the actor and
sufferer.
5. But sir, there is a doubt too vivid and rankling in my mind, which I
pray you to remove by your enlightened speech, as the moon-beams dispel
the darkness of the night.
6. Tell me Sir, whence proceed these dualities, as the reality of one
and the unreality of the other, and that this is I and this not myself.
And if the soul is one and indivisible, how is this one thing and that
another.
7. There being but one self-existent and self-evident soul from the
beginning, how comes it to be subjected to these oppositions, as the
bright disk of sun comes to be obscured under the clouds.
8. Vasishtha answered:—Ráma! I will give the right answer to this
question of yours, as I come to the conclusion; and then you will learn
the cause of these biplicities.
9. You will not be able, Ráma! to comprehend my answers to these
queries of yours, until you come to be acquainted with my solution of
the question of liberation.
10. As it is the adult youth only, who can appreciate the beauty of a
love-song; so it is the holy man only, who can grasp the sense of my
sayings on these abstruse subjects.
11. Sayings of such great importance, are as fruitless with ignorant
people, as a work on erotic subjects is useless to children.
12. There is a time for the seasonableness of every subject to men, as
it is the season of autumn which produces the harvest and not the
vernal spring.
13. The preaching of a sermon is selectable to old men, as fine
colourings are suitable to clean canvas; and so a spiritual discourse
of deep sense, suits one who has known the Spirit.
14. I have ere while mentioned something, which may serve to answer
your question, although you have not fully comprehended its meaning, to
remove your present doubts.
15. When you shall come to know the Spirit in your own spirit, you will
doubtlessly come to find the solution of your query by yourself.
16. I will fully expound to you the subject matter of your inquiry, at
the conclusion of my argument; when you shall have arrived to a better
knowledge of these things.
17. The spiritualist knows the spirit in his own spirit; and it is the
good grace of the Supreme spirit, to manifest itself to the spirit of
the spiritualist.
18. I have already related to you Ráma! the argument concerning the
agency and inertness of the soul, yet it is your ignorance of this
doctrine, that makes you foster your doubts.
19. The man bound to his desires is a bondsman, and one freed from them
is said to be set free from his slavery; do you but cast away your
desires, and you will have no cause to seek for your freedom (as you
are then perfectly free yourself).
20. Forsake first your foul (támasi) desires, and then be freed from
your desire of worldly possessions; foster your better wishes next, and
at last incline to your pure and holy leanings.
21. After having conducted yourself with your pure desires, get rid of
these even at the end; and then being freed from all desires, be
inclined to and united with your intellect (_i.e._ knowing all and
longing for nothing).
22. Then renounce your intellectual propensity, together with your
mental and sensible proclivities; and lastly having reached to the
state of staid tranquility, get rid of your mind also in order to set
yourself free from all other desires.
23. Be an intellectual being, and continue to breathe your vital breath
(as long as you live); but keep your imagination under controul, and
take into no account the course of time, and the revolution of days and
nights.
24. Forsake your desire for the objects of sense, and root out your
sense of egoism, which is the root of desire. Let your understanding be
calm and quiet, and you will be honoured by all.
25. Drive away all feelings and thoughts from your heart and mind; for
he that is free from anxieties, is superior to all, (who labour under
anxious thoughts and cares).
26. Let a man practice his hybernation or other sorts of intense
devotion or not, he is reckoned to have obtained his liberation, whose
elevated mind has lost its reliance on worldly things.
27. The man devoid of desires, has no need of his observance or
avoidance of pious acts; the freedom of his mind from its dependence on
anything, is sufficient for his liberation.
28. A man may have well studied the sástras, and discussed about them
in mutual conversation; yet he is far from his perfection, without his
perfect inappetency and taciturnity.
29. There are men who have examined every thing and roved in all parts
of the world; yet there are few among them that have known the truth.
30. Of all things that are observed in the world, there is nothing
among them which may be truly desirable, and is to be sought after by
the wise.
31. All this ado of the world, and all the pursuits of men, tend only
towards the supportance of the animal body; and there is nothing in it,
leading to the edification of the rational soul.
32. Search all over this earth, in heaven above and in the infernal
regions below; and you will find but few persons, who have known what
is worth knowing. (The true nature of the soul and that of God, is
unknown to all finite beings every where).
33. It is hard to have a wise man, whose mind is devoid of its firm
reliance on the vanities of the world; and freed from its desire or
disgust of something or others, as agreeable or disagreeable to its
state.
34. A man may be lord of the world, or he may pierce through the clouds
and pry in heaven (by his Yoga); yet he can not enjoy the solace of his
soul without his knowledge of it.
35. I venerate those highminded men, who have bravely subdued their
senses; it is from them that we can have the remedy to remove the curse
of our repeated births. (It is by divine knowledge alone that we can
avoid the doom of transmigration).
36. I see every place filled by the five elements, and a sixth is not
to be seen any where in the world. Such being the case every where,
what else can I expect to find in earth or heaven or in the regions
below.
37. The wise man relying on his own reason and judgment, outsteps the
abyss of this world, as easily as he leaps over a ditch; but he who has
cast aside his reason, finds it as wide as the broad ocean. (The
original word for the ditch is _gospada_—the cove of a cows hoof—a
_cul-de-sac_).
38. The man of enlightened understanding, looks upon this globe of the
earth, as the bulb of a Kadamba flower, round as an apple or a
ball—_teres atque rotundus_; he neither gives nor receives nor wants of
aught in this world.
39. Yet fie for the foolish that fight for this mite of the earth, and
wage a warfare for destruction of millions of their fellow creatures.
40. What, if any one is to live and enjoy the blessings of this world
for a whole Kalpa when, he can not escape the sorrow, consequent on the
loss of all his friends during that period.
41. He who has known the self, has no craving for heavenly bliss within
himself; because he knows his gain of all the three worlds, can never
conduce to the strengthening of his soul.
42. But the avaricious are not content with all they have, and like the
body of this earth, is not full with all its hills and mountains and
surrounding seas. (The earth is never full with all its fullness).
43. There is nothing in this earth or in the upper and lower worlds,
which is of any use to the sage acquainted with spiritual knowledge.
44. The mind of the self-knowing sage, is one vast expanse like the
spacious firmament, it is tranquil and sedate and unconscious of itself.
45. It views the body as a net work of veins and arteries, pale and
white as frost, and all cellular within.
46. It sees the mountains floating as froth, on the surface of the
pellucid ocean of Brahma; it looks upon the intellect blazing as
brightly as the sun, over the mirage of existence.
47. It finds the nature of the soul, to be as extensive as the vast
ocean, containing the creations as its billows; and it considers the
all-pervasive soul as a big cloud, raining down in showers of sástras
or knowledge.
48. The fire, moon and the sun, appear as the fuel in a furnace,
requiring to be lighted by the blaze of the intellect, as every opaque
atom in nature.
49. All embodied souls of men, gods and demigods, rove in the
wilderness of the world, for feeding upon their fodder of food, as the
deer graze in their pasturage.
50. The world is a prison house, where every one is a prisoner with his
toilsome body. The bones are the latches of this dungeon, the head is
its roof, and the skin its leather; and the blood and flesh of the
body, are as the drink and food of the imprisoned.
51. Men were as dolls covered with skin for the amusement of boys, and
they are continually roving in quest of sustenance, like the cattle
running towards their pasture grounds.
52. But the high minded man is not of this kind; he is not moved by
worldly temptations, as the mountain is not to be shaken by the gentle
breeze.
53. The truly great and wise man, rests in that highest state of
eminence; where the stations of the sun and moon, are seen as the
nether regions.
54. It is by the light of the Supreme Spirit, that all the worlds are
lighted, and the minds of all are enlighted. But the ignorant are
immerged in the ocean of ignorance, and nourish their bodies only in
disregard of their souls.
55. No worldly good can allure the heart of the wise, who have tested
the vanity of temporal things; and no earthly evil can obscure their
souls, which are as bright as the clear sky which no cloud can darken.
56. No worldly pleasure can gladden the soul of the wise man, as the
dance of monkeys can give no joy to the heart of Hara, that delights in
the dancing of Gaurí.
57. No earthly delight can have its seat in the heart of the wise, as
the sun-light is never reflected in a gem hidden under a bushel.
58. The material world appears as a solid rock to the stolid ignorant;
but it seems as the evanescent wave to the wise. The ignorant take a
great pleasure in the transitory enjoyments of the world; but the wise
take them to no account, as the swan disdains to look upon the moss of
the lake.
CHAPTER LVIII.
THE SONG OF KACHA.
Argument. The Pantheistic views of the soul as the one in all, is shown
in the song of Kacha.
Vasishtha said:—On this subject I will tell you, Ráma! the holy song
which was sung of old by Kacha, the son of Vrihaspati—the preceptor of
the gods.
2. As this son of the divine tutor, resided in a grove in some part of
the mount Meru (the Altain chain—the homestead of the gods); he found
the tranquility of his spirit in the Supreme soul; by means of his
holy devotion.
3. His mind being filled with the ambrosial draughts of divine
knowledge, he derived no satisfaction at the sight of the visible
world, composed of the five elemental bodies.
4. Being rapt in his mind with the vision of the Holy Spirit, he saw
nothing else beside him, and then fervently uttered to himself in the
following strain.
5. What is there for me to do or refuse or to receive or reject, and
what place is there for me to resort or refrain from going to, when
this whole is filled by the Divine Spirit (_to pan_), as by the water
of the great deluge.
6. I find pleasure and pain inherent in the soul, and the sky and all
its sides contained in the magnitude of the soul. Thus knowing all
things to be full of the holy spirit, I forget and sink all my pains in
my spirit.
7. The spirit is inside and outside of all bodies, it is above and
below and on all sides of all. Here, there and every where is the same
spirit, and there is no place where it is not.
8. The spirit abides every where and all things abide in the spirit;
all things are self-same with the spirit, and I am situated in the same
spirit.
9. There is nothing intelligent or insensible which is not the spirit,
all is spirit and so am I also. The spirit fills the whole space and is
situated in every place.
10. I am as full of that spirit and its ineffable bliss, as the all
encompassing water of the great deluge. In this manner was Kacha musing
in himself in the bower of the golden mountain. (The Altain chain is
called the golden mountain for its abounding in gold mines).
11. He uttered the sound Om (_on_ or amen), and it rang on all sides as
the ringing of a bell; he first uttered a part of it the vocal part—o,
and then the nasal—n, which tops it as a tuft of hair. He remained
meditating on the spirit in his mind, not as situated in or without it
(but as the all pervasive soul).
12. Thus Ráma! did Kacha continue to muse in himself and chant his holy
hymn, being freed from the foulness of flesh, and rarefied in his
spirit like the breath of the wind. His soul was as clear as the
atmosphere in autumn, after dispersion of the dark clouds of the rainy
season.
CHAPTER LIX.
WORKS OF BRAHMÁ’S CREATION.
Argument. Vanity of the World born of Brahmá’s conception. Its
Disappearance and Liberation.
Vasishtha continued:—There is nothing in this world except the
gratification of the carnal appetites, and the pleasure of eating,
drinking and concupiscence with the vulgar; but it is the lasting good
of men, which is desired by the good and great.
2. The crooked and creeping beings and things, and beasts and wicked
men and ignorant people only are gratified with carnal pleasures; they
are all fond of everything conducing to their bodily enjoyments.
3. They are human asses, who dote on the beauty of female bodies, which
are no better than lumps of flesh, blood and bones.
4. This may be desirable to dogs and devouring animals, but not to man
(who is a rational and spiritual being). All animals have their fleshy
bodies, as the trees have their trunks of wood, and the minerals their
forms of earth.
5. There is the earth below and the sky above, and nothing that is
extraordinary before us; the senses pursue the sensible objects, but
human reason finds no relish in them.
6. The consciousness (or intuition) of men, leads them only to error;
and true happiness, which is desired by all is situated beyond all
sensible objects and gratifications.
7. The end of worldly pleasure is sorrow and misery, as the product of
a flame is soot and blackness; and the functions of the mind and
senses, are all fleeting having their rise and fall by turns. All
enjoyments are short lived, owing to the fugacity of the objects, and
the decay of the powers of our enjoying.
8. Prosperity fades away as plant encircled by a poisonous viper; and
our consorts die away as soon as anything born of blood and flesh.
(Fortune is fleeting and life a passing dream).
9. The delusion of love and lust, makes one body to embrace another,
both of which are composed of impure flesh and blood. Such are the
acts, O Ráma! that delight the ignorant.
10. Wise men take no delight in this unreal and unstable world, which
is more poisonous than poison itself, by infecting them that have not
even tasted the bitter gall.
11. Forsake therefore your desire of enjoyment, and seek to be united
with your spiritual essence; because the thought of your materiality
(or being a material body), has taken possession of your mind (and
separated you from yourself and the spirit of God).
12. Whenever the thought of making the unreal world, rises in the mind
of Brahmá the creator, he takes an unreal body upon him of his own will.
13. It becomes as bright as gold by his own light, and then he is
called Virinchi (_virincipiens_) on account of his will; and Brahmá
also for his being born of Brahmá. (He is represented as of red colour,
as Adam is said to be made of red earth).
14. Ráma asked:—How does the world become a solid substance, from its
having been of a visionary form in the spirit or mind of God?
15. Vasishtha replied:—When the lotus-born male (Brahmá), rose from his
cradle of the Embryo of Brahmá, he uttered the name of Brahmá whence he
was called Brahmá. (The word Brahm answers the Hebrew Brahum—create
them, and corresponds with the Latin _ficet_—bhuya ভুযাৎ).
16. He then had the conception (Sankalpa) of the world in his own
imagination, and the same assumed a visible and solid form by the power
of his will, called the conceptional or conceived world. (Sankalpasrí).
17. He conceived at first luminous idea of light, which having assumed
a visible form spread on all sides, as a creeping plant is outstretched
all about in autumn. (Light was the first work of creation).
18. The rays of this light pierced all sides like threads of gold; they
shone and spread themselves both above and below.
19. Concealed amidst this light, the lotus-born Hiranyagarbha,
conceived in his mind a figure like his luminous form, and produced it
as the four faced Brahmá.
20. Then the sun sprung forth from that light, and shone as a globe of
gold amidst his world encircling beams.
21. He held the locks of his flaming hair on his head, which flashed as
fire all around him; and filled the sphere of heaven with heat and
light.
22. The most intelligent Brahmá, produced afterwards some other
luminous forms from portions of that light, which proceeded from it
like the waves of the ocean (and these are thence called the Maríchis or
rays, who were the first patriarchs of other created beings).
23. These most potent and competent beings, were also possessed of
their concepts and will, and they produced in a moment the figures as
they thought of and willed.
24. They conceived the forms of various other beings also, which they
produced one after the other, as they desired and willed.
25. Then did Brahmá bring to his recollection the eternal vedas and the
many ceremonial rites, which he established as laws in his house of
this world.
26. Having taken the gigantic body of Brahma, and the extensive form of
the mind—manas, he produced the visible world as his own
offspring—Santati. (Brahmá means _brihat_—great; and _santate_ derived
from the root tan. Latin—_leoreo_ means continuation of race).
27. He stretched the seas and mountains, and made the trees and upper
worlds. He raised the Meru on the surface of the earth, and all the
forests and groves upon it.
28. It was he who ordained happiness and misery, birth and death and
disease and decay; and he created the passions and feelings of living
beings, under their threefold divisions of satva, rajas and tamas.
29. Whatever has been wrought by the hands (faculties) of the mind of
Brahma before, the same continues to be still perceived by our deluded
vision.
30. He gave the mind and laws to all beings, and makes the worlds anew
as they are situated in his mind.
31. It is error, that has given rise to the erroneous conception of the
eternity of the world, whereas it is the conception of the mind alone
that creates the ideal forms. (The world is neither material nor
substantial, but a conceptual and ideal creation of the mind).
32. The acts of all things in the world, are produced by their
conception and wishes; and it is the concept or thought, that binds the
gods also to their destiny.
33. The great Brahmá that was the source of the creation of the world,
sits in the meditative mood, contemplating on all that he has made.
34. It was by a motion of the mind, that the wonderful form of the
living principle was formed; and it was this that gave rise to the
whole world, with all its changeful phenomena.
35. It made the gods Indra, Upendra and Mahendra and others, and also
the hills and seas in all the worlds above and below us, and in the ten
sides of the heaven above:—
36. Brahmá then thought in himself, “I have thus stretched out at large
the net work of my desire, I will now cease from extending the objects
of my desire any further”.
37. Being so determined, he ceased from the toil of his creation, and
reflected on the eternal spirit in his own spirit. (According to the
Sruti:—the spirit is to be reflected in the spirit).
38. By knowing the spirit, his mind was melted down by its effulgence,
and reclined on it with that ease, as one finds in his soft sleep after
long labour.
39. Being freed from his selfishness and egoism, he felt that perfect
tranquility which the soul receives by resting in itself, and which
likens the calmness of the sea by its subsidence in itself.
40. The Lord sometimes leaves off his meditation, as the reservoirs of
water sometimes overflow their banks and boundaries.
41. He beholds the world as a vale of misery, with very little of
happiness in it; and where the soul is fast bound to its alternate
passions, and led by the changes of its hopes and fears.
42. He takes pity on the miserable condition of man, and with a view of
their welfare, promulgates the sacred sástras and rites, which are full
of meaning for their guidance.
43. He propounds the Vedas and their branches—the Vedángas, which are
fraught with spiritual knowledge, and precepts of wisdom, and he
revealed the Puránas and other sástras for the salvation of mankind.
44. Again the spirit of Brahmá reclined on the supreme spirit, and was
relieved from its toil; and then remained as tranquil as the becalmed
ocean, after its churning by the Mandara.
45. Brahmá having observed the efforts of mankind on earth, and
prescribed to them the rules of their conduct, returned to himself,
where he sat reclined on his lotus seat.
46. He remains some times entirely devoid of all his desires; and at
others he takes upon him his cares for mankind from his great kindness
to them.
47. He is neither simple in his nature, nor does he assume or reject
his form in the states of his creation and cessation. He is no other
than intelligence, which is neither present in nor absent from any
place.
48. He is conversant with all states and properties of things, and is
as full as the ocean without intermixture of any crude matter in him.
49. Sometimes he is quite devoid of all attributes and desires, and is
only awakened from his inertness, by his own desire of doing good to
his creatures.
50. I have thus expounded to you concerning the existence of Brahmá
(Bráhmi Sthiti), and his real states of Sátwika, Vidhyanika and
Suranikas creation. (The first is the creation of his intellectual
nature, and the second that of his mind or will or mental form).
51. The intellectual creation is what rises of itself in the Spirit of
Brahma, and the mental is the result of his mind and will. The first is
the direct inspiration of Brahmá into the Spirit of Brahmá.
52. After creation of the material world by the _rájasika_ nature of
Brahmá, there rises the visible creation in the air by the will of the
creator. (This is called the _madhyanika_, because it is the
intermediate creation, between the elemental and animal creations).
53. In the next step of animal creation, some were born as gods
(angels) and others as Yakshas—demigods, and this is called the
_suranika_, because the suras or gods were created in it.
54. Every creature is born in the shape of its inherent nature, and
then it is either elevated or degraded, according to the nature of its
associations. It lays also the foundation of its future state of
bondage to birth or liberation, by its acts, commenced in the present
life.
55. In this manner, O Ráma! has the world come to existence. Its
creation is evidently a work of labour, as it is brought to being by
various acts of motion and exertion of the body and mind; and all these
products of the god’s will, are sustained also by continuous force and
effort on his part.
CHAPTER LX.
PRODUCTION OF LIVING BEINGS.
Argument. Production of the bodies of Living Beings, according to the
degrees of their Reason.
Vasishtha continued:—O strong armed Ráma! after the great father of
creation, he took himself to his activity, he formed and supported the
worlds by his energy and might.
2. All living and departed souls, are tied like buckets by the rope of
their desire, and made to rise and fall in this old well of the world,
by the law of their predetermined destiny (or Fate that binds Siva or
Jove himself).
3. All beings proceeding from Brahmá, and entering the prison house of
the world, have to be concentrated into the body of the air-born
Brahmá; as all the waters of the sea have to be whirled into the
whirlpool in the midst of the sea. (All things were contained in and
produced from Brahmá the Demiurge).
4. Others are continually springing from the mind of Brahmá, like
sparks of fire struck out of a red-hot iron; while many are flying to
it as their common centre.
5. Ráma! all lives are as the waves in the ocean of the everlasting
spirit of Brahma; they rise and fall in him according to his will.
6. They enter into the atmospheric air, as the smoke rises and enters
the clouds, and are at last mixed up together by the wind, in the
spirit of Brahma.
7. They are then overtaken by the elementary particles, or atoms flying
in the air, which lay hold on them in a few days; as the demons seize
the host of gods with violence. (These become the living and embodied
souls, joined with the many properties of the elements).
8. Then the air breathes the vital breath in these bodies; which
infuses life and vigour in them.
9. Thus do living beings manifest themselves on earth, while there are
other flyings in the form of smoke as living spirits. (So the
spiritualists view the spirits in the etherial clouds).
10. Some of them appear in their subtle elemental forms in their airy
cells in the sky, and shine as bright as the beams of the luminous
moon. (These are _lingadehas_ or individual spiritual bodies).
11. Then they fall upon the earth like the pale moonbeams falling upon
the milky ocean.
12. There they alight as birds in the groves and forests, and become
stiffened by sipping the juice of fruits and flowers.
13. Then losing their aerial and bright forms of the moon-beams, they
settle on those fruits and flowers: and suck their juice like infants
hanging upon the breasts of their mothers. (These are the protozoa, the
first and embryonic state of living beings).
14. The protozoa are strengthened by drinking the juice of the fruits,
which are ripened by the light and heat of the sun, and then they
remain in a state of insensibility; until they enter the animal body.
15. The animated animalcules, remain in the womb with their undeveloped
desires; in the same manner as the unopening leaves, are contained in
the seed of the _bata_ or Indian fig tree.
16. All lives are situated in the Great God, as fire is inherent in the
wood, and the pot resides in the earth; and it is after many processes
that they have their full development.
17. One that has received no bodily form, and yet moves on without
manifesting itself, is said to be a _satya_ or spiritual being, and has
a large scope of action (as the gods).
18. He is said to have a _sátvika_ birth, who gets his liberation in or
after his life-time; but whoever is obliged to be reborn by his acts,
is said to belong to the _rájas-sátvika_ class.
19. Any one of this class who is born to rule over others, becomes
giddy with pride (tamas), he is said to be of the nature of ignorance
_támasika_, and I will now speak of this class of beings.
20. Those who are born originally with their sátwika nature, are pure
in their conduct and have never to be born again.
21. Men of rája-sátwika temperament have to be reborn on earth; but
being elevated by their reasoning powers, they have no more to be born
in this nether world.
22. Those who have directly proceeded from the Supreme Spirit (without
any intermixture of these natures), are men fraught with every quality,
and are very rare on earth.
23. The various classes of _támasa_ creatures of ignorance, are both
insensible and speechless; and are of the nature of immovable
vegetables and minerals, that need no description.
24. How many among the gods and men, have been reborn to the cares of
the world, owing to the demerit of their past action; and I myself
though fraught with knowledge and reason, am obliged to lead a life of
the rájasa-sátwika kind (owing to my interference in society).
25. It is by your ignorance of the Supreme, that you behold the vast
extension of the world; but by considering it rightly you will soon
find all this to be but the One Unity.
* * * * *
NOTES ON THE SURANIKA, SÁTWIKA &C.
1. The _Vidhyanika_; is the sphere of the eternal laws of God,
presided over by Brahmá, who is thence styled the Vidhi or dispensator
of the laws of the creation of the mundane system.
2. The _Suranika_; is the sphere of the Supernatural powers or the
divine agencies, governing and regulating the management of created
nature. This is the angelic sphere of deities.
3. _Naráníka_; is the sphere of human being, consisting also of the
subordinate orders of beings, placed under the dominion of man. This is
the sublunary sphere wherewith we are concerned.
4. The Sátwika; are righteous men, endued with the quality of goodness.
5. The Rájasika; is the body politic, guided by the laws of society.
6. The Támasika; is the ignorant rabble, and infatuated people.
CHAPTER LXI.
ON BIRTH, DEATH AND EXISTENCE.
Argument. The Liberation of the Rájasa-sátwika natures, and
description of knowledge and Indifference.
Vasishtha continued:—Those that are born with the nature of
_Rájasa-sátwika_, remain highly pleased in the world, and are as
gladsome in their faces, as the face of the sky with the serene light
of the moon-beams.
2. Their faces are not darkened by melancholy, but are as bright as the
face of heaven; they are never exposed to troubles, like the lotus
flowers to the frost of night.
3. They never deviate from their even nature, but remain unmoved as the
immovable bodies; and they persist in their course of beneficence, as
the trees yield their fruits to all.
4. Ráma! the rája and sátva natured man, gets his liberation in the
same manner, as the disk of the moon receives its ambrosial beams.
5. He never forsakes his mildness, even when he is in trouble; but
remains as cool as the moon even in her eclipse. He shines with the
lovely virtue of fellow-feeling to all.
6. Blessed are the righteous, who are always even tempered, gentle and
as handsome as the forest trees, beset by creepers with clusters of
their blossoms.
7. They keep in their bounds, as the sea remains within its boundaries,
and are meek like yourself in their even tempers. Hence they never
desire nor wish for any thing in the world.
8. You must always walk in the way of the godly, and not run to the sea
of dangers; thus you should go on without pain or sorrow in your life.
9. Your soul will be as elevated as the rájasa and sátwika states, by
your avoiding the ways of the ungodly, and considering well the
teachings of the sástras.
10. Consider well in your mind the frail acts, which are attended with
various evils; and do those acts which are good for the three worlds,
both in their beginning and end, and forever to eternity.
11. The intelligent think that as dangerous to them, and not otherwise;
by reason of their being freed from narrow views, and the false
spectres—the offspring of ignorance.
12. You should always consider in yourself for the enlightenment of
your understanding, and say: O Lord! what am I, and whence is this
multiplicity of worlds?
13. By diligently considering these subjects in the society of the wise
and righteous, you must neither be engaged in your ceremonial acts, nor
continue in your unnecessary practices of the rituals.
14. You must look at the disjunction of all things in the world from
you (_i.e._ the temporaneousness of worldly things); and seek to
associate with the righteous, as the peacock yearns for the rainy
clouds.
15. Our inward egoism, outward body and the external world, are the
three seas encompassing us one after the other. It is right reasoning
only which affords the raft to cross over them, and bring us under the
light of truth.
16. By refraining to think of the beauty and firmness of your exterior
form, you will come to perceive the internal light of your intellect
hid under your egoism; as the thin and connecting thread is concealed
under a string of pearls. (The hidden thread underlying the links of
souls, is termed _Sútrátmá_.)
17. It is that eternally existent and infinitely extended blessed
thread, which connects and stretches through all beings; and as the
gems are strung to a string, so are all things linked together by the
latent spirit of God.
18. The vacuous space of the Divine Intellect, contains the whole
universe, as the vacuity of the air, contains the glorious sun; and as
the hollow of the earth, contains an emmet.
19. As it is the same air which fills the cavity of every pot on earth,
so it is the one and the same intellect and spirit of God, which fills,
enlivens and sustains all bodies in every place. (The text says, “The
Intellect knows no difference of bodies, but pervades alike in all”).
20. As the ideas of sweet and sour are the same in all men, so is the
consciousness of the Intellect alike in all mankind (_i.e._ we are all
equally conscious of our intellectuality, as we are of the sweetness
and sourness of things).
21. There being but one and only one real substance in existence, it is
a palpable error of your ignorant folks to say, “this one exists, and
the other perishes or vanishes away”. (Nothing is born or extinct, but
all exist in God. So is Malebranche’s opinion of seeing all things in
God).
22. There is no such thing, Ráma, which being once produced, is
resolved into naught at any time; all these are no realities nor
unrealities, but representations or reflexions of the Real One.
23. Whatever is visible and of temporary existence, is without any
perceptible substantiality of its own; it is only an object of our
fallacy, beyond which it has no existence. (Hence they are no more than
unrealities).
24. Why, O Ráma! should any body suffer himself to be deluded by these
unrealities? All these accompaniments here, being no better than causes
of our delusion.
25. The accompaniment of unrealities, tends only to our delusion here;
and if they are taken for realities, to what good do they tend than to
delude us the more. (It is better to let the unreal pass as unreal,
than to take them for real, and be utterly deceived at last).
CHAPTER LXII.
SPEECH OF THE DIVINE MESSENGER.
Argument. Relation of the virtues of Ráma as dictated in the sástras,
and of the advancement of others, by means of good company and
self-exertion.
The diligent and rationalistic inquirer after truth, has a natural
aptitude to resort to the society of the sapient and good natured Guru,
and discusses on matters of the sástras by the rules of the sástras he
has learnt before and not talk at random.
2. It is thus by holding his argumentation on the abstruse science of
yoga, with the good and great and unavaricious learned, that he can
attain to true wisdom.
3. The man that is thus acquainted with the true sense of the Sástra,
and qualified by his habit of dispassionateness in the society of holy
men, shines like yourself as the model of intelligence.
4. Your liberal mindedness and self-reliance, combined with your
cool-headedness and all other virtues, have set you above the reach of
misery and all mental affliction; and also freed you from future
transmigration, by your attainment of liberation in this life.
5. Verily have you become as the autumnal sky, cleared of its gloomy
clouds; you are freed from worldly cares, and fraught with the best and
highest wisdom.
6. He is truly liberated, whose mind is freed from the fluctuations of
its thoughts, and the flights and fumes of its thickening fancies, and
ever crowding particulars. (The ultimate generalization of particulars
into unity, is reckoned the highest consummation of man).
7. Henceforward will all men on earth, try to imitate the noble
disposition of the equanimity of your mind, which is devoid of its
passions of love and hatred, as also of affection and enmity.
8. Those who conform with their customs of the country, and conduct
themselves in the ordinary course of men in their outward demeanour,
and cherish their inward sentiments in the close recesses of their
bosoms, are reckoned as truly wise, and are sure to get over the ocean
of the world on the floating raft of their wisdom.
9. The meek man who has a spirit of universal toleration like thine, is
worthy of receiving the light of knowledge; and of understanding the
import of my sayings.
10. Live as long as you have to live in this frail body of yours, and
keep your passions and feelings under the sway of your reason; act
according to the rules of society, and keep your desires under
subjection.
11. Enjoy the perfect peace and tranquility of the righteous and wise,
and avoid alike both the cunning of foxes and silly freaks of boys.
12. Men who imitate the purity of the manners and conduct of those,
that are born with the property of goodness, acquire in process of time
the purity of their lives also. (Men become virtuous by imitation of
virtuous examples).
13. The man who is habituated in the practice of the manners, and the
modes of life of another person, is soon changed to that mode of life,
though it be of a different nature, or of another species of being.
(Habit is second nature).
14. The practices of past lives accompany all mankind in their
succeeding births, as their preordained destiny; and it is only by our
vigorous efforts that we are enabled to avert our fates, in the manner
of princes overcoming the hostile force, by greater might of their own.
15. It is by means of patience only, that one must redeem his good
sense; and it is by patient industry alone, that one may be advanced to
a higher birth from his low and mean condition.
16. It is by virtue of their good understanding, that the good have
attained their better births in life; therefore employ yourself, O
Ráma! to the polishing of your understanding.
17. The godfearing man is possessed of every good, and exerts his
efforts for attainment of godliness; it is by means of manly efforts
only, that men obtain the most precious blessings.
18. Those of the best kind on earth, long for their liberation in
future, which also requires the exertion of devotion and meditation for
its attainment.
19. There is nothing in this earth, below, or in the heaven of the
celestials above, which is unattainable to the man of parts, by means
of his manly efforts.
20. It is impossible for you to obtain the object of your desire,
without the exercise of your patience and dispassionateness, and the
exertion of your prowess and austerities of _Brahmacharya_. Nor is it
possible to succeed in any without the right use of reason.
21. Try to know yourself, and do good to all creatures by your
manliness; employ your good understanding to drive all your cares and
sorrows away; and you will thus be liberated from all pain and sorrow.
22. O Ráma! that art fraught with all admirable qualities, and endued
with the high power of reason; keep thyself steady in the acts of
goodness, and never may the erroneous cares of this world betake thee
in thy future life.
YOGA VÁSISHTHA.
BOOK V.
THE UPASAMA KHANDA ON QUIETISM.
CHAPTER I.
THE ÁHNIKA OR DAILY RITUAL.
Argument. The Book on calm quiet and rest, necessarily follows those of
Creation and sustentation; as the sleeping time of night succeeds the
working time of the Day, and as the rest of God followed his work of
Creation and supportance.
Vasishtha said:—Hear me, Ráma, now propose to you the subject of
quietude or rest, which follows that of Existence and sustentation of
the universe; and the knowledge of which will lead you to _nirvána_ or
final extinction (as the evening rest, leads to sound sleep at night,
and quietude is followed by quietus).
2. Válmíki says:—As Vasishtha was delivering his holy words, the
assembly of the princes remained, as still as the starry train, in the
clear sky of an autumnal night.
3. The listening princes looking in mute gaze, at the venerable sage
amidst the assembly, resembled the unmoving lotuses looking at the
luminous sun from their breathless beds.
4. The princesses in the harem forgot their joviality, at hearing the
sermon of the sage; and their minds became as cool and quiet as in the
long absence of their consorts.
5. The fanning damsels with flappers in their hands, remained as still
as a flock of flapping geese resting on a lotus-bed; and the jingling
of the gems and jewels on their arms, ceased like the chirping of birds
on the trees at night.
6. The princes that heard these doctrines, sat reflecting on their
hidden meanings, with their index fingers sticking to the tip of their
noses in thoughtfulness; and others pondered on their deep sense, by
laying the fingers on their lips.
7. The countenance of Ráma flushed like the blushing lotus in the
morning, and it brightened by casting away its melancholy, as the sun
shines by dispelling the darkness of night.
8. The king of kings—Dasaratha felt as delighted in hearing the
lectures of Vasishtha, as the peacock is gladdened at the roaring of
raining clouds.
9. Sarana the king’s minister removed his apish fickle mind from his
state affairs, and applied it intensely to attend to the teachings of
the sage.
10. Laxmana who was well versed in all learning, shone as a digit of
the bright crescent moon, with the internal light of Vasishtha’s
instructions, and the radiance of his Spiritual knowledge.
11. Satrughna the subduer of his enemies, was so full of delight in his
heart at the teaching of the sage; that his face glowed with joy, like
the full moon replete with all her digits.
12. The other good ministers, whose minds were absorbed in the cares of
state affairs; were set at ease by the friendly admonition of the sage,
and they glowed in their hearts like lotus-buds expanded by the
sunbeams.
13. All the other chiefs and sages, that were present in that assembly,
had the gems of their hearts purged of their dross by the preachings of
Vasishtha; and their minds glowed with fervour from his impressive
speech.
14. At this instant there rose the loud peal of conch shells,
resembling the full swell of the sounding main, and the deep and
deafening roar of summer clouds, filling the vault of the sky, and
announcing the time of midday service. (The _trisandhya_ services are
performed at the rising, setting and vertical sun).
15. The loud uproar of the shells, drowned the feeble voice of the
_muni_ under it, as the high sounding roar of rainy clouds, puts down
the notes of the sweet cuckoo. (It is said, the cuckoo ceases to sing
in the rains. भद्रं कृतं कृतं मैनं कोकिलेः जलदागमे ।)
16. The _muni_ stopped his breath and ceased to give utterance his
speech; because it is in vain to speak where it is not heeded or
listened to. (The wise should hold their tongue, when it has lost its
power to hold people by their ears).
17. Hearing the midday shout, the sage stopped for a moment, and then
addressed to Ráma! after the hubbub was over and said:—
18. Ráma! I have thus far delivered to you my daily lecture for this
day; I will resume it the next morning, and tell you all that I have to
say on the subject.
19. It is ordained for the twice born classes to attend to the duties
of their religion at midday; and therefore it does not behove us to
swerve from discharging our noonday services at this time.
20. Rise therefore, O fortunate Ráma! and perform your sacred ablutions
and divine services, which you are well acquainted with, and give your
alms and charities also as they are ordained by law.
21. Saying so, the sage rose from his seat with the king and his
courtiers, and resembled the sun and moon, rising from the eastern
mountain with their train of stars.
22. Their rising made the whole assembly to rise after them, as a
gentle breeze moves the bed of lotuses, with their nigrescent eyes of
the black bees sitting upon them.
23. The assembled princes rose up with their crowned heads, and they
marched with their long and massive arms like a body of big elephants
of the Vindhyan hills with their lubberly legs.
24. The jewels on their persons rubbed against each other, by their
pushing up and down in hurry, and displayed a blaze like that of the
reddened clouds at the setting sun.
25. The jingling of the gems on the coronets, resembled the humming of
bees; and the flashing rays of the crowns, spread the various colours
of the rainbow around.
26. The beauties in the court hall resembling the tender creepers, and
holding the chouri flappers like clusters of blossoms in their
leaf-like palms, formed a forest of beauties about the elephantine
forms of the brave princes. (It means the joint egress of a large
number of damsels employed to fan the princes in the Court hall).
27. The hall was emblazoned with the rays of the blazing bracelets, and
seemed as it was strewn over with the dust of _mandára_ flowers, blown
away by the winds.
28. There were crystal cisterns of pure water, mixed with ice and
pulverized camphor; and the landscape around was whitened by the _kusa_
grass and flowers of autumn.
29. The gems hanging down the head-dresses of the princes, cast a
reddish colour over the hollow vault of the hall; and appeared as the
evening twilight preceding the shade of night, which puts an end to the
daily works of men.
30. The fair faces of the fairy damsels, were like lotuses floating on
the watery lustre of the strings of pearls pendant upon them; and
resembling the lines of bees fluttering about the lotuses; while the
anklets at their feet, emitted a ringing sound as the humming of bees.
31. The large assemblage of the princes, rose up amidst the assembled
crowds of men; and presented a scene never seen before by the admiring
people.
32. The rulers of the earth bowed down lowly before their sovereign,
and departed from his presence and the royal palace in large bodies;
likening the waves of the sea, glistening as rainbows by the light of
their gemming ornaments.
33. The chief minister Sumantra and others, that were best acquainted
with royal etiquette, prostrated themselves before their king and the
holy sage, and took their way towards the holy stream; for performance
of their sacred ablutions.
34. The Rishis Vámadeva, Viswámitra and others, stood in the presence
of Vasishtha; and waited for his leave to make their departure.
35. King Dasaratha honored the sages one by one, and then left them to
attend to his own business.
36. The citizens returned to the city, and the foresters retired to
their forests, the aerials flew in the air, and all went to their
respective abodes for rejoining the assembly on the next morning.
37. The venerable Viswámitra, being besought by the king and Vasishtha,
stayed and passed the night at the abode of the latter.
38. Then Vasishtha being honoured by all the princes, sages and the
great Bráhmanas, and adored by Ráma and the other princes of king
Dasaratha’s royal race:—
39. Proceeded to his hermitage, with the obeisance of the assembled
crowd on all sides; and followed by a large train, as the god Brahmá is
accompanied by bodies of the celestials.
40. He then gave leave to Ráma and his brother-princes, and to all his
companions and followers, to return to their abodes from his hermitage
in the woods.
41. He bade adieu to the aerial, earthly and the subterraneous beings,
that kept company with him with their encomiums on his merits; and then
entering his house, he performed his Bráhmanical rites with a duteous
disposition.
CHAPTER II.
RÁMA’S RECAPITULATION OF VASISHTHA’S LECTURES.
Argument. Performance of Daily Rites, and Ráma’s Reflection of
Vasishtha’s Teaching at night.
Válmíki continued his relation to Bharadwája and said:—After the
moon-bright princes had got to their residence, they discharged their
daily services according to the diurnal ritual.
2. Even Vasishtha and the other saints, sages, and Bráhmans not
excepting the king and the princes, were all engaged in their holy
services at their own houses.
3. They bathed in the sacred streams and fountains, filled with
floating bushes of lotuses and other aquatic plants, and frequented by
the ruddy geese, cranes and storks on their border.
4. After they had performed their ablutions, they made donations of
lands and kine, of seats and beddings and of sesamum grains, with gold
and gems, and food and raiments to the holy Bráhmans.
5. They then worshipped the gods Vishnu and Siva in their temples, and
made oblations to the sun and regents of the skies in their own houses,
with offerings of gold and gems; which are sacred to particular deities
and the planets. (Particular gems and metals are sacred to their
presiding divinities).
6. After their offerings were over, they joined with their sons and
grandsons, friends, and relatives, and their guests also, in partaking
of their lawful food. (Unlawful food is hateful to the faithful).
7. Shortly after this, the daylight faded away at the eighth watch
(yamárdha) of the day; and the charming scene of the city began to
disappear from sight.
8. The people then employed themselves to their proper duties at the
decline of the day, and betook to their evening service with the
failing beams of the setting sun.
9. They recited their evening hymn (Sandhyá), repeated their
_japamantras_, and uttered their prayer for the forgiveness of sins
(_agha marshana_); they read aloud their hymns and sang their evening
song of praise.
10. Then rose the shade of night to allay the sorrow of lovelorn
damsels, as the moon arose from the milky ocean of the east, to cool
the heat of the setting sun.
11. The princes of Raghu’s race then reclined on their downy and
flowery beds, sprinkled over with handfuls of camphor powder, and
appearing as a sheet of spreading moon-light.
12. The eyes of all men were folded in sleep, and they passed the
live-long night as a short interval; but Ráma kept waking in his bed,
meditating on all things he had heard from the sage.
13. Ráma continued to reflect on the lectures of Vasishtha, which
appeared as charming to him, as the cry of the parent elephant, is
gladsome to its tender young (karabha).
14. What means this wandering of ours, said he, in this world, and why
is it that all these men and other animals, are bound to make their
entrances and exits in this evanescent theatre?
15. What is the form of our mind and how is it to be governed? What is
this illusion (Máyá) of the world, whence hath its rise and how is it
to be avoided?
16. What is the good or evil of getting rid of this illusion, and how
does it stretch over and overpower on the soul, or is made to leave it
by any means in our power?
17. What does the _muni_ say with regard to the means, and effect of
curbing the appetites of the mind? What does he say regarding the
restraining of our organs, and what about the tranquility of the soul?
18. Our hearts and minds, our living souls and their delusion, tend to
stretch out the phenomenal world before us; and our very souls make a
reality of the unreal existence.
19. All these things are linked together in our minds, and are weakened
only by the weakening of our mental appetites. But how are these to be
avoided in order to get rid of our misery.
20. The slender light of reason is over-shadowed, like a single crane
in the air, by the dark cloud of passions and appetites; how am I then
to distinguish the right from wrong, as the goose separates the milk
from the water?
21. It is as hard to shun our appetites on the one hand, as it is
impossible to avoid our troubles here, without the utter annihilation
of our appetency. Here is the difficulty in both ways.
22. Again the mind is the leader to our spiritual knowledge on the one
hand, and our seducer also to worldliness on the other. We know not
which way to be led by it. The difficulty is as great as a man’s
mounting on a mountain, or a child’s escaping from the fear of a yaksha.
23. All worldly turmoil is at an end, upon one’s attainment of true
felicity; as the anxieties of a maiden are over, after she has obtained
a husband.
24. When will my anxieties have their quietism, and when will my cares
come to an end? When will my soul have its holiness, and my mind find
its rest from acts of merit and demerit?
25. When shall I rest in that state of bliss, which is as cooling and
complete in itself; as the full-moon with all her digits, and when
shall I rove about the earth at large, free from worldly cares and ties?
26. When will my fancy stop from its flight, and concentrate into the
inward soul? When will my mind be absorbed in the Supreme soul, like
the turbulent wave subsiding in the breast of the quiet sea?
27. When shall I get over this wide ocean of the world, which is
disturbed by the turbulent waves of our desires, and is full of the
voracious crocodiles of our greedy avarice, and get rid of this
feverish passion?
28. When shall I rest in that state of complete quiescence and
unfeelingness of my mind, which is aimed at by the seekers of
liberation, and the all-tolerant and indifferent philosopher.
(It is the sullen apathy of stoicism, which constitutes the true wisdom
and happiness of asceticism also).
29. Ah! when will this continuous fever of my worldliness abate, which
has irritated my whole body by its inward heat, and deranged my humours
out of their order!
30. When will this heart of mine cease to throb from its cares, like
the light of the lamp ceasing to flutter without the wind; and when
will my understanding gain its light, after dispersion of the gloom of
my ignorance.
31. When will these organs and members of my body, have their respite
from their incessant functions; and when will this parched frame of
mine get over the sea (flame?) of avarice, like the phœnix rising from
its ashes.
32. When will the light of reason like the clear atmosphere of the
autumnal sky, dispel this dark cloud of my ignorance, that envelopes my
heavenly essence under the veil of this sorry and miserable form.
33. Our minds are filled with the weeds of the mandára plants of the
garden of paradise (_i.e._ desiring the enjoyments of heaven). But my
soul pants for its restitution in the Supreme spirit.
34. The dispassionate man is said to be set in the pure light of
reason; it is therefore that passionless state of my mind which I long
to attain.
35. But my restless mind has made me a prey to the dragon of despair,
and I cry out in my sorrow, O my father and mother! help me to get out
of this difficulty.
36. I exclaim also saying:—O my sister understanding! condescend to
comply with the request of thy poor brother; and consider well the
words of the wise sage for our deliverance from misery.
37. I call thee also, O my good sense to my aid, and beg of thee, O
progeny of thy virtuous mother! to remain firm by my side, in my
struggle of breaking the bonds of the world.
38. Let me first of all reflect on the sayings of the sage on
Resignation (Vairágya), and then on the conduct of one who longs for
his liberation, and next about the creation of the world, (in the
Srishti Prakarana).
39. Let me remember afterwards all that he has said on the Existence of
the universe (Sthiti Prakarana), together with its beautiful
illustrations; all of which are replete with sound wisdom and deep
philosophy.
40. Although a lesson may be repeated a hundred times over, it proves
to be of no effect, unless it is considered with good understanding and
right sense of its purport. Otherwise it is as the empty sound of
autumn clouds without a drop of rain.
CHAPTER III.
DESCRIPTION OF THE ROYAL ASSEMBLY.
Argument. The Meeting of the next morning, and the concourse of
attendants.
Válmíki continued:—Ráma passed in this manner the live-long night, in
his lengthened chain of reflection; and in eager expectation of dawn,
as the lotus longs for the rising sun at day break.
2. Gradually the stars faded away at the appearance of aurora in the
east, and the face of the sky was dimly pale, before it was washed over
with the white of twilight.
3. The beating of the morning and the alarm of trumpets, roused Ráma
from his reverie; and he rose with his moonlike face, blooming as the
full-blown lotus in its leafy bed.
4. He performed his morning ablution and devotion, and joined with his
brothers and a few attendants, in order to repair to the hermitage of
the sage Vasishtha.
5. Having arrived there, they found the sage entranced in his
meditation in his lonely solitude; and lowly bent down their heads
before him from a respectful distance.
6. After making their obeisance, they waited on him in the compound,
until the twilight of morning brought the day-light over the face of
the sky.
7. The princes and chiefs, the saints, sages and Bráhmans, thronged in
that hermitage, in the manner of the celestials meeting at the empyrean
of Brahmá.
8. Now the abode of Vasishtha was full of people, and the crowds of the
cars, horses and elephants waiting at the outside, made it equal to a
royal palace in its grandeur.
9. After a while the sage rose from his deep meditation, and gave
suitable receptions to the assembled throng that bowed down before him.
10. Then Vasishtha accompanied with Viswámitra, and followed by a long
train of _munis_ and other men, came out of the hermitage, and ascended
and sat in a carriage, in the manner of the lotus-born Brahmá sitting
on his lotus seat.
11. He arrived at the palace of Dasaratha, which was surrounded by a
large army on all sides, and alighted there from his car, as when
Brahmá descends from his highest heaven to the city of Indra, beset by
the whole host of the celestials.
12. He entered the grand court hall of the king, and was saluted by the
courtiers lowly bending down before him; as when the stately gander
enters a bed of lotuses, amidst a body of aquatic birds (all staring at
him).
13. The king also got up, and descended from his high throne; and then
advanced three paces on barefoot to receive the venerable sage.
14. Then there entered a large concourse of chiefs and princes, with
bodies of saints and sages and Bráhmans and hori, potri priests.
15. The minister Sumantra and others came next with the learned pandits
Saumya and others; and then Ráma and his brothers followed them with
the sons of royal ministers.
16. Next came the ministerial officers, the ministerial priests
(hotripotris), and the principle citizens, with bodies of the Málava
wrestlers and servants of all orders, and townsmen of different
professions.
17. All these took their respective seats, and sat in the proper order
of their ranks, and kept looking intently on the sage Vasishtha, with
their uplifted heads and eyes.
18. The murmur of the assembly was hushed, and the recitation of the
panegyrists was at a stop; the mutual greetings and conferences were at
an end, and there ensued a still silence in the assembly.
19. The winds wafted the sweet fragrance from the cups of full blown
lotuses; and scattered the dulcet dust of the filaments in the spacious
hall.
20. The clusters of flowers hung about the hall, diffused their odours
all around; and the whole court house seemed, as it were sprinkled over
with perfumes of all sorts.
21. The queens and princesses sat at the windows, and upon their
couches in the inner apartment, which was strewn over with flowers, and
beheld the assemblage in the outer hall.
22. They saw everything by the light of the sun, which shed upon their
open eyes through the net-work on the windows; and also by the radiance
of the gems, which sparkled on their delicate persons. The attendant
women remained silent, and without waving their fans and chouries (for
fear of the sounding bracelets on their arms).
23. The earth was sown with orient pearls by the dawning sun-beams, and
the ground was strewn over with flowers glistening at the sun-light.
The lightsome locusts did not light upon them, thinking them to be
sparks of fire, but kept hovering in the midway sky as a body of dark
and moving cloud.
24. The respectable people sat in mute wonder, to hear the holy
lectures of Vasishtha; because the agreeable advice, which is derived
from the society of the good, is beyond all estimation.
25. The Siddhas, Vidyádharas, saints, Bráhmans and respectable men,
gathered from all sides of the sky and forests, and from all cities and
towns round about Vasishtha, and saluted him in silence, because deep
veneration is naturally mute and wanting in words.
26. The sky was strewn over with the golden dust, borne by the
fluttering bees from the cups of farinaceous lotuses; wherein they were
enclosed at night; and the soft airs blew sonant with the tinkling
sounds of ringing bells, hanging in strings on the door ways of houses.
(The Gloss says: it is usual in Nepal and at Deccan, to suspend strings
of small bells over the gate ways).
27. The morning breeze was now blowing with the fragrance of various
flowers, and mixing with the perfume of the sandal paste; and making
the bees fly and flutter on all sides, with their sweet humming music.
CHAPTER IV.
INQUIRIES OF RÁMA.
Argument. Dasaratha’s Praise of Vasishtha’s speech, and Ráma’s Queries
by behest of the sage.
Válmíki continued:—Then king Dasaratha made this speech to the chief
of sages, and spoke in a voice sounding as a deep cloud, and in words
equally graceful as they were worthy of confidence.
2. Venerable sir, said he, your speech of yesterday bespeaks of your
intellectual light, and your getting over all afflictions by your
extremely emaciating austerities.
3. Your words of yesterday, have delighted us by their perspicacity and
gracefulness, as by a shower of enlivening ambrosia.
4. The pure words of the wise, are as cooling and edifying of the
inward soul; as the clear and nectarious moon-beams, serve both to cool
and dispel the gloom of the earth.
5. The good sayings of the great, afford the highest joy resulting from
their imparting a knowledge of the Supreme, and by their dispelling the
gloom of ignorance all at once.
6. The knowledge of the inestimable gem of our soul, is the best light
that we can have in this world; and the learned man is as a tree beset
by the creepers of reason and good sense.
7. The sayings of the wise serve to purge away our improper desires and
doings, as the moon-beams dispel the thick gloom of night.
8. Your sayings, O sage, serve to lessen our desires and avarice which
enchain us to this world, as the autumnal winds diminish the black
clouds in the sky.
9. Your lectures have made us perceive the pure soul in its clear
light, as the eye-salve of antimony (collyrium antigoni nigrum); makes
the born-blind man to see the pure gold with his eyes.
10. The mist of worldly desires, which has overspread the atmosphere of
our minds, is now beginning to disperse by the autumnal breeze of your
sayings.
11. Your sayings of sound wisdom, O great sage! have poured a flood of
pure delight into our souls, as the breezy waves of nectarious water,
or the breath of mandára flowers infuse into the heart.
12. O my Ráma! those days are truly lightsome, that you spend in your
attendance on the wise; otherwise the rest of the days of one’s
life time, are indeed darksome and dismal.
13. O my lotus-eyed Ráma! propose now what more you have to know about
the imperishable soul, as the sage is favourably disposed to
communicate everything to you.
14. After the king had ended his speech, the venerable and high-minded
sage Vasishtha, who was seated before Ráma, addressed him saying:—
15. Vasishtha said:—O Ráma—the moon of your race, do you remember all
that I have told you ere this, and have you reflected on the sense of
my sayings from first to the last.
16. Do you recollect, O victor of your enemies? the subject of
creation, and its division into the triple nature of goodness &c.; and
their subdivision into various kinds?
17. Do you remember what I said regarding the One in all, and not as
the all, and the One Reality ever appearing as unreality; and do you
retain in your mind the nature and form of the Supreme Spirit, that I
have expounded to you?
18. Do you, O righteous Ráma, that art deserving of every praise, bear
in your mind, how this world came to appear from the Lord God of all?
19. Do you fully retain in your memory the nature of illusion, and how
it is destroyed by the efforts of the understanding; and how the
Infinite and Eternal appears as finite and temporal as space and time?
(These though infinite appear limited to us).
20. Do you, O blessed Ráma! keep in your mind, that man is no other
than his mind, as I have explained to you by its proper definition and
arguments?
21. Have you, Ráma! considered well the meanings of my words, and did
you reflect at night the reasonings of yesterday in your mind? (As it
behoves us to reflect at night on the lessons of the day).
22. It is by repeated reflection in the mind, and having by heart what
you have learnt, that you derive the benefit of your learning, and not
by your laying aside of the same in negligence.
23. You are then only the proper receptacle of a rational discourse and
a holy sermon, when you retain them like brilliant pearls in the chest
of your capacious and reasoning breast.
24. Válmíki said:—Ráma being thus addressed by the sage—the valiant
progeny of the lotus-seated Brahmá, found his time to answer him in the
following manner. (Vasishtha’s valour is described in his services to
king Sudása).
25. Ráma replied:—You Sir, who are acquainted with all sástras and
creeds have expounded to me, the sacred truths, and I have, O noble
Sir, fully comprehended their purport.
26. I have deposited every thing verbatim that you said in the casket
of my heart, and have well considered the meaning of your words during
the stillness of my sleepless nights.
27. Your words like sun-beams dispel the darkness of the world, and
your radiant words of yesterday, delighted me like the rays of the
rising sun.
28. O great sir, I have carefully preserved the substance of all your
past lectures in my mind, as one preserves the most valuable and
brilliant gems in a casket.
29. What accomplished man is there, that will not bear on his head the
blessings of admonitions, which are so very pure and holy, and so very
charming and delightful at the same time?
30. We have shaken off the dark veil of the ignorance of this world,
and have become as enlightened by your favor, as the days in autumn
after dispersion of rainy clouds.
31. Your instructions are sweet and graceful in the first place (by the
elegance of their style); they are edifying in the midst (by their good
doctrines); and they are sacred by the holiness they confer at the end.
32. Your flowery speech is ever delightsome to us, by the quality of
its blooming and unfading beauty, and by virtue of its conferring our
lasting good to us.
33. O sir, that are learned in all sástras, that art the channel of the
holy waters of divine knowledge, that art firm in thy protracted vows
of purity, do thou expurgate us of the dross of our manifold sins by
your purifying lectures.
CHAPTER V.
LECTURE ON TRANQUILLITY OF THE SOUL AND MIND.
Argument. The existence of the world in ignorant minds, and
tranquility of the spirit.
Vasishtha said:—Now listen with attention the subject of quietism
for your own good, wherein you will find the best solutions (of many
questions adduced before).
2. Know Ráma, this world to be a continuous illusion, and to be upheld
by men of _rájasa_ and _támasa_ natures, consisting of the properties
of action and passions or ignorance, that support this illusory fabric,
as the pillars bear up a building.
3. Men born with the _sátwika_ nature of goodness like yourself, easily
lay aside this inveterate illusion, as a snake casts off its time-worn
skin (slough).
4. But wise men of good dispositions (or sátwika natures), and those of
the mixed natures of goodness and action (rájasa-sátwika), always think
about the structure of the world, and its prior and posterior states
(without being deluded by it).
5. The understandings of the sinless and which have been enlightened by
the light of the sástras, or improved in the society of men or by good
conduct, become as far sighted as the glaring light of a torch.
6. It is by one’s own ratiocination, that he should try to know the
soul in himself; and he is no way intelligent, who knows not the
knowable soul in himself.
7. The intelligent polite, wise and noble men, are said to have the
nature of rájasa-sátwika (or the mixed nature of goodness and action)
in them; and the best instance of such a nature is found, O Ráma! in
thy admirable disposition.
8. Let the intelligent look into the phenomena of the work themselves,
and by observing what is true and untrue in it, attach themselves to
the truth only.
9. That which was not before, nor will be in being at the end, is no
reality at all but what continues in being both at first and last, is
the true existence and naught besides.
10. He whose mind is attached to aught, which is unreal both at first
and at last, is either an infatuated fool or a brute animal, that can
never be brought to reason.
11. It is the mind that makes the world and stretches it as in its
imagination; but upon a comprehensive view (or closer investigation) of
it, the mind is in its nothingness.
12. Ráma said:—I am fully persuaded to believe, sir, that the mind is
the active agent in this world, and is subject to decay and death (like
the other organs of sensation).
13. But tell me sir, what are the surest means of guarding the mind
from illusion, because you only are the sun to remove the darkness of
Raghu’s race.
14. Vasishtha replied:—The best way to guard the mind from delusion, is
first of all the knowledge of the sástras, and next the exercise of
dispassionateness, and then the society of the good, which lead the
mind towards its purity.
15. The mind which is fraught with humility and holiness, should have
recourse to preceptors who are learned in philosophy.
16. The instruction of such preceptors, makes a man to practice his
rituals at first, and then it leads the mind gradually to the abstract
devotion of the Most-Holy.
17. When the mind comes to perceive by its own cogitation, the presence
of the supreme spirit in itself; it sees the universe spread before it
as the cooling moonbeams.
18. A man is led floating as a straw on the wide ocean of the world,
until it finds its rest in the still waters under the coast of reason.
19. Human understanding comes to know the truth by means of its
reasoning, when it puts down all its difficulties, as the purewater
gets over its sandy bed.
20. The reasonable man distinguishes the truth from untruth, as the
goldsmith separates the gold from ashes; but the unreasonable are as
the ignorant, incapable to distinguish the one from the other.
21. The divine Spirit is imperishable after it is once known to the
human soul; and there can be no access of error into it, as long as it
is enlightened by the light of the holy spirit.
22. The mind which is ignorant of truth, is ever liable to error, but
when it is acquainted with truth, it becomes freed from its doubts; and
is set above the reach of error.
23. O ye men! that are unacquainted with the divine spirit, you bear
your souls for misery alone; but knowing the spirit, you become
entitled to eternal happiness and tranquility.
24. How are ye lost to your souls by blending with your bodies, expand
the soul from under the earthly frame, and you will be quite at rest
with yourselves.
25. Your immortal soul has no relation to your mortal bodies, as the
pure gold bears no affinity to the earthen crucible in which it is
contained.
26. The Divine Spirit is distinct from the living soul, as the lotus
flower is separate from the water which upholds it; as a drop of water
is unattached to the lotus-leaf whereon it rests. My living soul is
crying to that Spirit with my uplifted arms, but it pays no heed to my
cries.
27. The mind which is of a gross nature, resides in the cell of the
body, like a tortoise dwelling in its hole; it is insensibly intent
upon its sensual enjoyments, and is quite neglectful about the welfare
of the soul.
28. It is so shrouded by the impervious darkness of the world, that
neither the light of reason, nor the flame of fire, nor the beams of
the moon, nor the gleams of a dozen of zodiacal suns, have the power to
penetrate into it.
29. But the mind being awakened from its dormancy, begins to reflect on
its own state; and then the mist of its ignorance flies off, like the
darkness of the night at sun-rise.
30. As the mind reclines itself constantly on the downy bed of its
meditation, for the sake of its enlightenment; it comes to perceive
this world to be but a vale of misery.
31. Know Ráma! the soul to be as unsullied by its outer covering of the
body, as the sky is unsoiled by the clouds of dust which hide its face;
and as the petals of the lotus are untainted by the dew-drops, falling
upon them at night. (No liquid is attached to the oily surface of
lotus-leaves).
32. As dirt or clay clinging to the outer side of a gold ornament,
cannot pierce into the inside; so the gross material body is attached
outside the soul, without touching its inside.
33. Men commonly attribute pleasure and pain to the soul; but they are
as separate from it, as the rain drops and the flying dust, are afar
and apart from the sky.
34. Neither the body nor the soul is subject to pain or pleasure, all
which relate to the ignorance of the mind; and this ignorance being
removed, it will be found that they appertain to neither. (The mind
alone is subject to both through its ignorance; but the philosophic
mind knows all partial evils sarvárti, to be universal good).
35. Take not to your mind O Ráma! the pain or pleasure of either; but
view them in an equal light, as you view things in the tranquility of
your soul.
36. All the outspreading phenomena of the world, which are beheld all
about us, are as the waves of the boundless ocean of the Divine Spirit;
or as the gaudy train of the peacock, displayed in the sphere of our
own souls. (So the mind displays its thoughts in a train).
37. The bright substance of our soul, presents to us the picture of
creation, as a bright gem casts its glare to no purpose; but by its own
nature. (And so the mind deals with its dreams in vain).
38. The spirit and the material world, are not the same thing; the
spirit is the true reality, and the duality of the world, is only a
representation or counterpart of the Spirit.
39. But Brahma, is the whole totality of existence, and know the
universe as the expansion of the universal soul; therefore O Ráma! give
up your error of the distinction of one thing from another (lit.: such
as I am this one, and the other is another).
40. There can be no distinction, Ráma, in the everlasting and all
extensive plenum of Brahma; as there is no difference in the whole body
of water of the wide extended ocean.
41. All things being one and alike in the self-same substratum of the
Supreme Soul, you cannot conceive of there being any other thing (a
duality) in it, as you cannot imagine a particle of frost to abide in
the fire.
42. By meditating on the Supreme Soul in yourself, and by contemplation
of the intelligent Spirit in your own intellect, you will find the
glory of the Supreme Spirit, shining brightly in your pure spirit.
43. Therefore ease your mind, O Ráma! and know that there is no mistake
nor error in your believing the all as one; and that there is no
new-birth or a new born being (in the world), but all that is or
come to existence, is ever existent in the Supreme.
44. Ease yourself, O Ráma! by knowing that there is no duality (save
the Unity of God); and that there is no contrariety of things (as that
of heat and cold), except their oneness in the Divine moniety. Then
knowing yourself as a spiritual being, and situated in the purity of
Divine essence, you shall have no need of devotion or adoration (in
order to appease or unite yourself with the Deity). And knowing also
that you are not separated from God, forsake all your sorrow (to think
of your helpless state).
45. Be tolerant, composed and even-minded; remain tranquil, taciturn
and meek in your mind; and be as a rich jewel, shining with your
internal light. Thus you will be freed from the feverish vexations of
this worldly life.
46. Be rational and dispassionate and calm in your desire; remain sober
minded and free from ardent expectations; and rest satisfied with what
you get of your own lot, in order to be freed from the feverish heat of
worldliness.
47. Be unimpassioned and unperturbed with earthly cares; be pure and
sinless, and neither be penurious nor prodigal, if you will be freed
from the fever heat of this world.
48. Be free from all anxiety, O Ráma! by your obtaining of that good
which the world cannot give, and which satisfies all our earthly wants.
Have this supermundane bliss, O Ráma, and be as full as the ocean, and
free from the feverish cares of this world.
49. Be loosened from the net of thy loose desires, and wipe off the
unguent of delusive affections from thy eyes: let thy soul rest
satisfied with thyself, and be freed from the feverish anxieties of the
world.
बिकल्पजाल निर्म्मुक्त मायाञ्जनार्ब्बर्जितः ।
आत्मनात्मनितृप्तात्मविज्वरोभबराघव ॥ ४६ ॥
50. With your spiritual body reaching beyond the unbounded space, and
rising above the height of the highest mountain, be freed from the
feverish and petty cares of life.
51. By enjoyment of what you get (as your lot), and by asking of naught
of any body anywhere; by your charity rather than your want or asking
of it, you must be free from the fever of life.
52. Enjoy the fulness of your soul in yourself like the sea, and
contain the fulness of your joy in your own soul like the full moon. Be
self-sufficient with the fulness of your knowledge and inward bliss.
53. Knowing this world as unreal as a pseudoscopic sight, no wise man
is misled to rely in its untruthful scenes. So you Ráma, that are
knowing and visionary, and are sane and sound headed, and of
enlightened understanding, must be always charming with your perfect
ease from sorrow and care.
54. Now Ráma! reign over this unrivalled sovereignty, by the direction
of your sovran Sire, and manage well everything under your own
inspection. This kingdom is fraught with every blessing, and the rulers
are all loyal to their king. Therefore you must neither leave out to do
what is your duty, nor be elated with your happy lot of royalty.
CHAPTER VI.
LECTURE ON THE DISCHARGE OF DUTY.
Argument. Effect of Acts, Transmigration of souls and their Liberation
in Life time.
Vasishtha continued:—In my opinion, a man is liberated who does his
works from a sense of his duty, and without any desire of his own or
sense of his own agency in it. (Here subjection to allotted duty, is
said to be his freedom; but that to one’s own desire or free choice, is
called to be his bondage and slavery).
2. Who so having obtained a human form, is engaged in acts out of his
own choice and with a sense of his own agency, he is subjected to his
ascension and descension to heaven and hell by turns (according to the
merit or demerit of his acts, while there is no such thing in the doing
of his duty).
3. Some persons who are inclined to unduteous (or illegal) acts, by
neglecting the performance of their destined (or legal) duties, are
doomed to descend to deeper hells, and to fall into greater fears and
torments from their former states.
4. Some men who are fast bound to the chain of their desires, and have
to feel the consequences of their acts, are made to descend to the
state of vegetables from their brutal life, or to rise from it to
animal life again.
5. Some who are blessed with the knowledge of the Spirit, from their
investigation of abstruse philosophy, rise to the state of moniety
(Kaivalya); by breaking through the fetters of desire. (_Kaivalya_ is
the supreme bliss of God in his solity, to which the divine sage
aspires to be united. Or it is the complete unity with oneself
irrespective of all connections).
6. There are some men, who after ascending gradually in the scale of
their creation in former births, have obtained their liberation in the
present life of _rájas-sátwika_ or active goodness.
7. Such men being born again on earth, assume their bright qualities
like the crescent moon, and are united with all prosperity, like the
Kurchi plant which is covered with blossoms in its flowering time of
the rainy season. (The good effects of former acts, follow a man in his
next birth).
8. The merit of prior acts follows one in his next state, and the
learning of past life meets a man in his next birth, as a pearl is born
in a reed. (A particular reed is known to bear pearly seeds within
them, well known by the name of _Vansalochana_).
9. The qualities of respectability and amiableness, of affability and
friendliness, and of compassion and intelligence, attend upon these
people like their attendants at home. (_i.e._ He becomes master of
them).
10. Happy is the man who is steady in the discharge of his duties, and
is neither overjoyed nor depressed at the fruition or failure of their
results. (Duties must be done, whether they repay or not).
11. The defects of the dutiful and their pain and pleasure, in the
performance of duties, are all lost under the sense of their
duteousness; as the darkness of night, is dispelled by the light of the
day, and the clouds of the rainy season, are dispersed in autumn.
12. The man of a submissive and sweet disposition, is liked by every
body; as the sweet music of reeds in the forest, attracts the ears of
wild antelopes. (The deer and snakes, are said to be captivated by
music of pipe).
13. The qualities of the past life, accompany a man in his next birth;
as the swallows of the rainy weather, attend on a dark cloud in the
air. (This bird is called a hansa or hernshaw by Shakespeare; as, when
it is autumn, I can distinguish a swallow from a hernshaw).
14. Being thus qualified by his prior virtues, the goodman has
recourse to an instructor for the development of his understanding, who
thereupon puts him in the way to truth.
15. The man with the qualities of reason and resignation of his mind,
beholds the Lord as one, and of the same form as the imperishable soul
within himself.
16. It is the spiritual guide, who awakens the dull and sleeping mind
by his right reasoning; and then instils into it the words of truth,
with a placid countenance and mind.
17. They are the best qualified in their subsequent births, who learn
first to awaken their worthless and dormant minds, as they rouse the
sleeping stags in the forest.
18. It is first by diligent attendance on good and meritorious guides
(or gurus), and then by cleansing the gem of their minds by the help of
reasoning that the pure hearted men come to the light of truth, and
perceive the divine light shining in their souls.
CHAPTER VII.
ON ATTAINMENT OF DIVINE KNOWLEDGE.
Argument. Attainment of knowledge by Intuition, compared to the falling
of a fruit from heaven.
Vasishtha continued:—I have told you Ráma, the usual way to knowledge
for mankind in general; I will now tell you of another method distinct
from the other.
2. Now Ráma! we have two ways which are best calculated for the
salvation of souls, born in human bodies on earth: the one is by their
attainment of heavenly bliss, and the other by that of their final
beatitude (apavarga).
3. And there are two methods of gaining these objects; the one being
the observance of the instructions of the preceptor, which gradually
leads one to his perfection in the course of one or reiterated births.
4. The second is the attainment of knowledge by intuition, or by self
culture of a partly intelligent being; and this is as the obtaining of
a fruit falling from heaven.
5. Hear now of the attainment of intuitive knowledge, as that of
getting a fruit fallen from the sky, from the old tale which I will now
recite to you.
6. Hear the happy and holy story, which removes the fetters of our good
and evil deeds, and which the last born men (now living), must taste
with a zest for their enlightenment, as others relish a fruit fallen
from heaven for their entertainment.
CHAPTER VIII.
SONG OF THE SIDDHAS OR HOLY ADEPTS.
Argument. Wandering of Janaka in a Vernal garden, and hearing the Song
of Siddhas.
Vasishtha continued:—There lives the mighty king of the Videhas
(Tirhutians) Janaka by name, who is blessed with all prosperity and
unbounded understanding.
2. He is as the ever fruitful _kalpa_ tree to the host of his suitors,
and as the vivifying sun to his lotus-like friends; he is as the genial
spring to the florets of his relatives, and as the god Cupid to females.
3. Like the dvija-rája or changeful moon, he gives delight to the
dvija—or twice born Bráhmans, as that luminary gives the lilies to
bloom; and like the luminous sun he destroys the darkness of his gloomy
enemies. He is an ocean of the gems of goodness to all, and the support
of his realm, like Vishnu the supporter of the world.
4. He chanced on a vernal eve to wander about a forest, abounding in
young creepers with bunches of crimson blossoms on them, and resonant
with the melody of mellifluous _kokilas_, warbling in their tuneful
choirs.
5. He walked amidst the flowery arbours, resembling the graceful
beauties with ornaments upon them, and sported in their bowers as the
god Vásava disports in his garden of _Nandana_. (Eden or Paradise).
6. Leaving his attendants behind him, he stepped to a grove standing on
the steppe of a hill, in the midst of that romantic forest, which was
redolent with the fragrance of flowers borne all about by the playful
winds.
7. He heard in one spot and within a bower of _támala_ trees, a mingled
voice as that of some invisible aerial spirits (siddhá), proceeding
from it.
8. I will now recite to you, O lotus-eyed Ráma! the songs of the
siddhas, residing in the retired solitudes of mountainous regions, and
dwelling in the caverns of hills, and which relate principally to their
spiritual meditations.
9. The siddhas sang:—We adore that Being which is neither the
subjective nor objective (not the viewer nor the view); and which in
our beliefs is the positive felicity, that rises in our souls, and has
no fluctuation in it.
10. Others chanted:—We adore that Being which is beyond the triple
states of the subject, its attribute and its object; (who is neither
the sight, seeing and the seer). It is the light of that soul, or
spiritual light which exists from before the light of vision, which is
derived from the light of the sun. (Sruti: The light of the Spirit
shone before the physical lights of the sun, moon, stars, lightning and
fire).
11. Others chanted:—We adore that Being, which is in the midst of all
what is and what is not (_i.e._ between existence and non-existence);
and that spiritual light, which enlightens all lightsome objects.
12. Some sang:—We adore that real existence which is all, whose are all
things, and by whom are all made, from whom have all sprung, for whom
they exist, in whom they subsist, unto whom do all return, and into
which they are all absorbed.
13. Some caroled:—We adore that Spirit, which begins with the letter
_a_ and ends in _h_ with the dot _m_ (_i.e._ _aham_ or _ego_); and
which we continually inspire and respire in our breathings. (Aham)
hansah.
14. Others said:—Those who forsake the God—Isha, that is situated
within the cavity of their hearts (hrid), and resort to others, that
are without them, are verily in search of trifles by disregarding the
gem _kaustabha_ (philosopher’s stone); which is placed in their hands.
15. Others again declared:—It is by forsaking all other desires, that
one obtains this object of his wish; and this being had, the poisonous
plants of all other desires, are entirely uprooted from the heart.
16. Some of them pronounced saying:—The foolish man who knowing the
insipidity of all worldly things, attaches his mind to earthly object,
is an ass and no human being.
17. Others said:—The sensual appetites, which incessantly rise as
snakes from the cavities of the body, are to be killed by the cudgel of
reason, as Indra broke the hills by his thunderbolts.
18. At last they said:—Let men try to secure the pure happiness of
quietism, which serves to give tranquility to the minds of the
righteous. The sober-minded that are situated in their real and natural
temperament, have their best repose in the lap of undisturbed and
everlasting tranquility.
CHAPTER IX.
REFLECTIONS OF JANAKA.
Argument. Abstraction of Janaka’s mind, from the Vanities of the World.
Vasishtha continued:—Upon hearing these sonatas of the Siddhas (holy
spirits), Janaka was dejected in his mind, like a coward at the noise
of a conflict.
2. He returned homeward, and conducted himself in silence to his
domicile, as a stream glides in its silent course under the beachening
trees, to the bed of the distant main.
3. He left behind all his domestics in their respective dwellings
below, and ascended alone to the highest balcony, as the sun mounts on
the top of a mountain.
4. Hence he saw the flights of birds, flying at random in different
directions; and reflected on the hurrying of men in the same manner,
and thus bewailed in himself on their deplorable conditions.
5. Ah me miserable! that have to move about in the pitiable state of
the restless mob, that roll about like a rolling stone (or ball),
pushed backward and forward by another.
6. I have a short span of endless duration, alloted to my share of
lifetime; and yet I am a senseless fool to rely my trust in the hope of
its durability.
7. Short is the duration of my royalty also, which is limited to the
period of my lifetime only; how is it then that I am secure of its
continuance as a thoughtless man.
8. I have an immortal soul lasting from before, and to continue even
after my present existence, the present life is a destructible One, and
yet I am a fool to rely in it, like a boy believing the painted moon as
real.
9. Ah! what sorcerer is it that hath thus bewitched me by his magic
wand, as to make me believe I am not spell-bound at all.
10. What faith can I rely in this world which has nothing substantial
nor pleasant, nor grand nor real in it; and yet I know not why my mind
is deluded by it.
11. What is far from me (_i.e._ the object of sense), appears to be
near me by my sensation of the same; and that which is nearest to me
(_i.e._ my inmost soul), appears to be farthest from me (by my want of
its perception). Knowing this I must abandon the outward (sensible
objects), in order to see the inward soul.
12. This hurry of men in their pursuits, is as impetuous and transient
as the torrent of a whirlpool. It precipitates them to the depth of
their dangers, and is not worth the pain it gives to the spirit.
13. The years, months, days and minutes, are revolving with succession
of our pains and pleasures; but these are swallowed up, by the repeated
trains of our misery (rather than that of happiness).
14. I have well considered everything, and found them all perishable
and nothing durable or lasting; there is nothing to be found here
worthy of the reliance of the wise.
15. Those standing at the head of great men to-day, are reduced low in
the course of a few days; what worth is there in giddy and thoughtless
greatness, which is deserving of our estimation.
16. I am bound to the earth without a rope, and am soiled herein
without any dirt (in my person); I am fallen though sitting in this
edifice. O my soul! how art thou destroyed while thou art living.
17. Whence has this causeless ignorance over-powered my intelligent
soul, and whence has this shadow overspread its lustre, as a dark cloud
overshades the disk of the sun?
18. Of what avail are these large possessions and numerous relations to
me, when my soul is desponding in despair, like children under the fear
of ghosts and evil spirits.
19. How shall I rest any reliance in my sensual enjoyments which are
the harbingers of death and disease, and what dependence is there on my
possessions, which are fraught only with anxieties and cares?
20. It matters not whether these friends, the feeders on my fortune,
may last or leave me at once; my prosperity is but a bubble and a false
appearance before me.
21. Men of greatest opulence and many good and great men and our best
friends and kindest relatives, that have gone by, now live in our
remembrance only.
22. Where are the riches of the monarchs of the earth, and where the
former creations of Brahmá. The past have given way to the present, and
these are to be followed by future ones; hence there is no reliance in
anything.
23. Many Indras have been swallowed up like bubbles in the ocean of
eternity; hence the like expectation of my longevity, is ridiculous to
the wise.
24. Millions of Brahmás have passed away, and their productions have
disappeared under endless successions; the kings of earth have fled
like their ashes and are reduced to dust; what is the confidence then
in my life and stability?
25. The world is but a dream by night, and the sensuous body is but a
misconception of the mind. If I rely any credence on them I am really
to be blamed.
26. My conception of myself and perception of other things, are false
imaginations of my mind. It is my egoism that has laid hold of me, as a
demon seizes an idiot.
27. Fool that I am, that seeing I do not see, how the span of my life
is measured every moment by the imperceptible instants of time, and
their leaving but a small portion behind.
28. I see the juggler of time seizing on Brahmás, Vishnus and Rudras,
and making playthings of them on his play ground of the world, and
flinging them as balls all about.
29. I see the days and nights are incessantly passing away, without
presenting me an opportunity which I can behold the true imperishable
one.
30. The objects of sensual enjoyment, are larking in the minds of men,
like cranes gabbling in the lakes, and there is no prospect of the true
and best object in the mind of any body.
31. We meet with one hardship after another, and buffet in the waves of
endless miseries in this earth; and yet are we so shameless, as not to
feel ourselves disgusted with them.
32. We see all the desirable objects to which we attach our thoughts,
to be frail and perishing; and yet we do not seek the imperishable one,
and our everlasting good in the equanimity of the Soul.
33. Whatever we see to be pleasant in the beginning (as pleasures), or
in the middle (as youth), or in the end (as virtuous deeds), and at all
times (as earthly goods), are all unholy and subject to decay.
34. Whatever objects are dear to the hearts of men, they are all found
to be subject to the changes of their rise and fall (_i.e._ their
growth and decay).
35. Ignorant people are everywhere enclined to evil acts, and they
grow day by day more hardened in their wicked practices. They repent
every day for their sins, but never reprove themselves for the better.
36. Senseless men are never the better for anything, being devoid of
sense in their boyhood, and heated by their passions in youth. In their
latter days, they are oppressed with the care of their families, and in
the end thy are overcome by sorrow and remorse.
37. Here the entrance and exit (_i.e._ the birth and death), are both
accompanied with pain and sorrow (for men come to and go away from the
world with crying). Here every state of life is contaminated by its
reverse (as health by disease, youth by age, and affluence by poverty).
Everything is unsubstantial in this seeming substantial world, and yet
the ignorant rely in its unreal substantiality.
38. The real good that is derived here by means of painful austerities,
are the arduous sacrifices of _rájasúyá asvamedha_ and others, or the
attainment of heaven; which has no reality in it, by reason of its
short duration of the small portion of a _kalpa_ compared with
eternity. (The Hindu heaven is no lasting bliss).
39. What is this heaven and where is it situated, whether below or
above us or in this nether world; and where its residents are not
overtaken by multitudes of locust-like evils? (The Sruti says: “Evil
spirits infest the heavens and they drove the gods from it.” So we read
of the Titan’s and Satan’s band invading heaven).
40. We have serpents creeping in the cells of our hearts, and have our
bodies filled with the brambles of diseases and dangers, and know not
how to destroy them.
41. I see good is intermixed with evil, and pain abiding with pleasure;
there is sorrow seated on the top (excess) of joy, so I know not
whereto I shall resort.
42. I see the earth full of common people, who are incessantly born and
dying in it in multitudes; but I find few honest and righteous men in
it.
43. These beautiful forms of women, with their eyes like lotuses, and
the gracefulness of their blandishments, and their charming smiles, are
made so soon to fade and die away.
44. Of what note am I among these mighty beings (as Brahmá and Vishnu),
who at the twinkling of their eyes, have created and destroyed the
world; and yet have succumbed to death at last. (This last passage
shows that the Hindu gods were mortal heroes of antiquity).
45. You are constantly in search of what is more pleasant and lasting
than others, but never seek after that highest prosperity, which is
beyond all your earthly cares.
46. What is this great prosperity in which you take so much delight,
but mere vexation of your spirit, which proves this vanity to be your
calamity only.
47. Again what are these adversities which you fear so much, they may
turn to your true prosperity, by setting you free from earthly broils
and leading you to your future felicity.
48. The mind is broken to pieces by its fears, like the fragments of
the moon, floating on the waves of this ocean of the world. Its
selfishness has tossed it to and fro, and this world being got rid of,
it is set at perfect ease (from all vicissitudes of fortune).
49. There is an unavoidable chance (necessity), actuating our worldly
affairs and accidents; it is impudence therefore to welcome some as
good, and to avoid others as evil.
50. We are prone to things that are pleasant to the sight, but bear a
mortal flame in them, and consume us like poor moths in the flames,
which it is bright to see but fatal to feel.
51. It is better to roll in the continual flame of hell-fire to which
one is habituated, than rise and fall repeatedly in the furnace of this
world, as from the frying pan into the fire.
52. This world is said by the wise, to be a boundless ocean of woes
(vale of tears); how then can any body who has fallen amidst it, expect
any happiness herein?
53. Those who have not fallen in the midst and been altogether drowned
in woe, think the lesser woes as light and delight, as one condemned to
be beheaded, is glad to escape with a light punishment.
54. I am grown as the vilest of the vile, and resemble a block of wood
or stone; there is no difference in me from the ignorant clown, who has
never had the thought of his eternal concerns in his head.
55. The great arbour of the world, with its very many branches and
twigs and fruits, hath sprung from the mind and is rooted in it. (The
outer world has its existence in the sensitive mind only; because the
insensible bodies of the dead and inanimate things, have no
consciousness of it).
56. It is the conception (sankalpa) of the world, in my mind, that
causes its existence and presents its appearance before me, I will now
try to efface this conception from my mind, and forget this world
altogether. (This doctrine of idealism was derived, by Janaka from his
own Intuition (Svena-Jnátena)).
57. I will no longer allow myself to be deluded like monkeys with the
forms of things, which I know are not real; mere ideal, but changeful
and evanescent. (Here also Janaka learns by intuition not to rely on
concrete forms, but to have their general and abstract ideas).
58. I have woven and stretched out the web of my desires, and collected
only my woes and sorrows; I fell into and fled from the snare of my own
making, and am now resolved to take my rest in the soul.
59. I have much wailed and bitterly wept, to think of the depravity and
loss of my soul, and will henceforth cease to lament, thinking that I
am not utterly lost.
60. I am now awakened, and am glad to find out the robber of my soul;
it is my own mind, and this I am determined to kill, as it had so long
deprived me of the inestimable treasure of my soul.
61. So long was my mind at large as a loose and unstrung pearl, now
will I pierce it with the needle of reason, and string it with the
virtues of self-controul and subjection to wisdom.
62. The cold icicle of my mind, will now be melted down by the sun-heat
of reason; and will now be confined in the interminable meditation of
its Eternal Maker (from where it cannot return. Sruti).
63. I am now awakened to my spiritual knowledge, like these holy
Siddhas, saints and sages; and will now pursue my spiritual inquiries,
to the contentment of my soul.
64. Having now found my long-lost soul, I will continue to look upon
its pure light with joy in my lonely retirement; and will remain as
quiet and still in contemplation of it, as a motionless cloud in autumn.
65. And having cast away the false belief of my corporeality (_i.e._ of
being an embodied being), and that these possessions and properties are
mine, and having subdued my force by mighty enemy of the Mind, I will
attain the tranquility of my soul by the help of my reason.
CHAPTER X.
SILENT AND SOLITARY REFLECTIONS OF JANAKA.
Argument. Janaka though employed in Ritual service, continues firm in
his meditation, and comes to the conclusion of his immortality.
Vasishtha related:—While Janaka was thus musing in his mind, there
entered the chamberlain before him, in the manner of Aruna standing
before the chariot of the sun.
2. The Chamberlain said:—O sire! thy realm is safe under thy protecting
arms; now rise to attend to the daily rites, as it becomes your majesty.
3. There the maidservants are waiting with their water pots, filled
with water perfumed with flowers, camphor and saffron for your bathing,
as the nymphs of the rivers, have presented themselves in person before
you.
4. The temples are decorated with lotuses and other flowers, with the
bees fluttering upon them; and hung over with fine muslin, as white as
the fibers of lotus stalks.
6. The altars are filled with heaps of flowers, aromatic drugs and
rice; and adorned with every decoration in the princely style.
7. The Bráhmans are waiting there for your majesty’s presence, after
making their sacred ablution and purifications, and offering their
prayers for the remission of sins; and are expecting to get their
worthy gifts from thee.
8. The hand-maids are attending to their duties, graced with flappers
(chámaras) in their hands; and the feasting ground is cleansed with
sandal paste and water.
9. Rise therefore from thy seat, and be it well with thee to perform
the prescribed duties; because it does not become the best of men, to
be belated in the discharge of their duties.
10. Though thus besought by the head chamberlain, yet the king remained
in his meditative mood, thinking on the wonderful phenomena of nature.
11. This royalty and these duties of mine, said he, are for a very
short time; I do not require these things that are so transitory in
their nature.
12. I must leave these things, that are at best but waters of the
mirage; and remain close to myself in my lonesome seclusion, like a
calm and solitary lake or sea.
13. These pleasures of the world, that are displayed around us, are
entirely useless to me; I will leave them with promptness on my part,
and remain in my happy retirement.
14. Abandon, O my heart! thy shrewdness in pursuing after the objects
of thy desire; in order to avoid the snares of disease and death (which
have been set on thy way).
15. In whatever state or condition of life, the heart is set to hanker
for its delight; it is sure to meet with some difficulty, distress or
disappointment coming out of the same.
16. Whether your heart is engaged in, or disengaged from the objects of
sense, you will never find any one of them, either in act or thought,
conducing to the true happiness of your soul.
17. Forsake therefore the thoughts of the vile pleasure of your senses,
and betake yourself to those thoughts, which are fraught with the true
happiness of the soul.
18. Thinking in this manner, Janaka remained in mute silence, and his
restless mind became as still, as it made him sit down like a picture
in painting or as a statue.
19. The chamberlain uttered not a word any more, but stood silent in
mute respect through fear of his master, from his knowledge of the
dispositions of kings.
20. Janaka in his state of silent meditation, reflected again on the
vanity of human life, with cool calmness of his mind, and said:—
21. Now must I be diligent to find out the best and most precious
treasure in the world, and know what is that imperishable thing, to
which I shall bind my soul as its surest anchor.
22. What is the good of my acts or my cessation from them, since
nothing is produced of anything, which is not perishable in its nature.
(Thence the product of acts is perishing, and its want is a lasting
good).
23. It matters not whether the body is active or inactive, since all
its actions end in utter inaction at last as all force is reduced to
rest. It is the pure intellect within me that is always the same
(_i.e._ ever active and undecaying), and which loses nothing from the
loss of the body or by want of bodily actions. (The body is a dead mass
without the active principle of the mind).
24. I do not wish to have what I have not, nor dare leave what I have
already got; I am content with myself; so let me have what is mine and
what I have. (The Yogis like Stoics, were fatalists and content with
their lot).
25. I get no real good by my acts here, nor lose anything by refraining
from them. What I get by my acts or want of action, is all _Nil and
Null_ of Vanity or Vanities, and nothing to my purpose or liking.
26. Whether I am doing or not doing, and whether my acts are proper or
improper; I have nothing to desire here, nor anything desirable that I
have to expect from them. (Hence no exertion will bring on the desired
object, unless it is given by our lot).
27. I have got what was due to my past actions, and this body is the
result of my former acts. It may be in its motion and action, or it may
be still and fade away, which is the same thing to me.
28. The mind being set at ease by want of its action or passion, the
actions of the body and its members, are alike in their effects to
those of not doing them. (Involuntary actions done without the will are
of no account).
29. The acts of men are reckoned as no acts of theirs, which happen to
take place as the results of their destiny or previous actions. (The
action or passion relates to the mind only, but the doing of destiny
being involuntary, such action of men is accounted as no action of
theirs).
30. The impression which the inward soul bears of its past actions and
passions, the same gives its colour to the nature and character of the
actions of men afterwards. Now that my soul has obtained its
imperishable state of spirituality, I am freed from the mutabilities of
the transmigrations of my body and mind.
Commentary:—Janaka arrives after all his previous reasonings and
deductions, to the conclusion of the certainty of his being an
intellectual and spiritual being, endowed with an immortal soul, and
entitled to everlasting life, after the destruction of the frail body
and the changeful mind with it.
CHAPTER XI
SUBJECTION OF THE MIND.
Argument. Janaka’s Discharge of his Daily Rites, and Admonition to his
Mind.
Vasishtha related:—Having thought so, Janaka rose up for performance of
his daily rites as usual, and without the sense of his agency in them.
He did his duty in the same manner as the sun rises every day to give
the morn, without his consciousness of it.
2. He discharged his duties as they presented themselves to him,
without any concern or expectation of their rewards. He did them
awaking as if it were in his sleep. Gloss:—He did his acts by rote, but
wot not what he did in his insensibility of them; and such acts of
insensibility are free from culpability or retribution.
3. Having discharged his duties of the day and honoured the gods and
the priests, he passed the night absorbed in his meditations.
4. His mind being set at ease, and his roving thoughts repressed from
their objects, he thus communed with his mind at the dead of night, and
said:—
5. O my mind that art roving all about with the revolving world, know
that such restlessness of thine, is not agreeable to peace of the soul;
therefore rest thou in quiet from thy wanderings abroad.
6. It is thy business to imagine many things at thy pleasure, and as
thou thinkest thou hast a world of thoughts present before thee every
moment. (For all things are but creations of the imaginative mind).
7. Thou shootest forth in innumerable woes by the desire of endless
enjoyments, as a tree shoots out into a hundred branches, by its being
watered at the roots.
8. Now as our births and lives and worldly affairs, are all productions
of our wistful thoughts, I pray thee therefore, O my mind! to rest in
quiet by abandonment of thy earthly desires.
9. O my friendly mind! weigh well this transient world in thy thoughts,
and depend upon it, shouldst thou find aught of substantiality in it.
10. Forsake thy fond reliance on these visible phenomena; leave these
things, and rove about at thy free will without caring for any thing.
11. Whether this unreal scene, may appear to or disappear from thy
sight, thou shouldst not suffer thyself to be affected by it in either
case.
12. Thou canst have no concern with the visible objects (phenomenal
world); for what concern can one have with any earthly thing which is
inexistent of itself as an unsubstantial shadow?
13. The world is an unreality like thyself, hence there can be no true
relation between two unrealities. It is but a logomachy to maintain the
relation of two negatives to one another.
14. Granting, thou art a reality and the world is unreal, still there
can be no agreement between you, as there is none between the living
and the dead, and between the positive and negative ideas.
15. Should the mind and the world be both of them realities and
co-existent for ever, then there can be no reason for the joy or sorrow
of the one at the gain or loss of the other.
16. Now therefore avoid the great malady of worldliness, and enjoy the
silent joy in thyself, like one sitting in the undisturbed depth of the
Ocean, with the rolling tide and waves above his head.
17. Do not consume like a puppet in pyrotechnics with the fiery remorse
of worldliness, nor be burnt down to the darkness of despair in this
gloomy scene of the world.
18. O wicked mind! there is nothing here so good and great, whereby
thou mayest attain thy high perfection, except by the forsaking of all
frivolities and dependance on thy entire resignation to the
unchangeable One.
CHAPTER XII.
ON THE GREATNESS OF INTELLIGENCE.
Argument. The Living Liberation of Janaka, and the pre-eminence of
reason and intelligence.
Vasishtha continued:—Janaka having expostulated in his manner with his
mind, attended to the affairs of the state without shrinking from them
by his mental abstraction.
2. He was however not gladdened by the gladsome tasks and tidings, but
was indifferent to them as in his slumber of fixed mindedness in his
maker.
3. Hence forward, he was not intently employed in his duties, nor
forsook them altogether; but attended unconcernedly to the business
which presented itself to him.
4. His constant habit of reasoning, enabled him to understand the
eternal verity; and preserved his intellect from blunders, as the sky
is untouched by the flying dust.
5. By his cultivation of reasoning, his mind was enlightened and
fraught with all knowledge.
6. Unaccustomed to duality, his mind had learnt to know the sole unity
only; and his intelligent soul shone within him, as the full bright sun
in the sky. (He felt a flood of light in himself, as the believer finds
in his inmost soul. Gloss).
7. He became acquainted with the Soul, that is inherent in all bodies,
and beheld all things abiding in the omnipotence of the Intellect, and
identic with the infinite.
8. He was never too joyous nor exceedingly sorrowful, but preserved his
equanimity amidst the conflicts of his soul and sensible objects
(between spirituality and materiality).
9. The venerable Janaka, became liberated in his living state since
that time; and is since renowned as a veteran theosophist among mankind.
10. He continues thence forward to reign over the land of the Videha
people, without being subject to the feelings of joy or sorrow for a
moment.
11. Knowing the causes of good and evil, he is neither elated nor
dejected at any favourable or unfavourable circumstances of his life,
nor does he feel glad or sad at the good or bad accident relating the
state.
12. He did his duties without setting his mind to them, which was
wholly employed in his intellectual speculations.
13. Remaining thus in his hypnotic state of sound sleep (abstraction),
his thoughts are quite abstracted from all objects about him.
14. He is unmindful of the past, and heedless about the future; and
enjoys the present moment only, with a gladsome heart and cheerful mind.
15. He obtained the obtainable what is worthy to be obtained, by his
own ratiocination (or self-reflection), and not O lotus-eyed Ráma! by
any other desire (_i.e._ by abandoning all his worldly desires).
16. Therefore we should reason (or reflect) in our minds, so long as we
succeed to arrive at the conclusion of the subject.
17. The presence of the Holy Light, is not to be had either by the
lectures of a preceptor, or the teaching of the sástras; it is not the
result of meritorious acts, nor of the company of the holy men; but the
result of your own intellection.
18. A good understanding assisted by the power of its accompanying
percipience (prajaná), leads to the knowledge of that highest state,
which the acts of your piety cannot do.
19. He who has set before his sight the keen light of the lamp of his
percipience, is enabled to see both the past and future in his
presence; and no shadow of ignorance intercepts his vision.
20. It is by means of his percipience, that one is enabled to cross
over the sea of dangers; as a passenger goes across a river in a boat
or raft.
21. The man that is devoid of his prescience, is overtaken even by
small mishaps; as a light straw is blown away by the slightest breeze.
22. One who is endued with foresight, passes over the eventful ocean of
the world, without the assistance of friends and guidance of the
sástras.
23. The man with foreknowledge, sees the result of his actions
beforehand; but one without his prevision, is at a loss to judge of the
imminent events.
24. Good company and learning, strengthen the understanding; as the
watering of a plant, tends towards its growth and fructification.
25. The infant understanding like a tender shoot, takes a deep root in
time; and having grown up like a tree, bears the sweet fruit in its
season; like the cooling moonbeams at night.
26. Whatever exertions are made by men for the acquisition of external
properties, the same should be more properly devoted for the
improvement of their understandings at first. (_i.e._ Intellectual
improvement should precede that of outward circumstances).
27. Dullness of the understanding, which is the source of all evils,
and the storehouse of misery, and the root of the arbour of
worldliness, must be destroyed first of all.
28. Great minded men get in their understandings, whatever good they
may expect to find in this earth, in heaven above and in the nether
world. (The mind is the seat of all treasures).
29. It is by means of one’s good understanding only, that he can get
over the ocean of the world; and not by his charities, pilgrimages or
religious austerities.
30. The divine blessing attending on mortal men on earth, is the sweet
fruit of the tree of knowledge. (Here is a contrast with the mortal
taste of the forbidden fruit of knowledge).
31. Wisdom nips with its sharp nails, the heads of the elephantine
(gigantic) bonds of giddiness, with as much ease as the lion kills the
deer, or as if it were destroying a strong lion by a weak jackal. (Weak
wisdom having the power of destroying the wild worldliness).
32. An ordinary man is often seen to become the ruler of men, by means
of his greater knowledge than others; and the wise and discreet are
entitled to glory in both worlds.
33. Reason overcomes all its adversaries, dealing in diverse forms of
sophistry; as a disciplined warrior, overpowers on a host of untrained
savage people.
34. Reasoning is as the philosopher’s stone, which converts the base
metals to gold; and is hidden in the casket of rational souls as the
best treasure. It yields the desired fruits of men like the kalpa plant
of Paradise at a thought.
35. The right reasoner gets across the wide ocean of the world, by
means of his reasoning, while the unreasonable rabble are born away by
its waves; as the skillful boat-man cuts across the current, while the
unskilled waterman is tossed about by the waves.
36. A well directed understanding leads to the success of an
undertaking, but the misguided intellect goes to the rack and ruin; the
one sails to the shore before the wind; but the other is tossed in his
wrecked vessel over the wide gulph of the world.
37. The keen sighted and unbiassed wise man, is never over-come by the
evils arising from his desires: as the arrows of the adversary, do not
pierce the body of a soldier in armour.
38. The sapience of a man, gives him an insight into every thing in the
world and, the all knowing man, is neither subjected to dangers nor
reverses of his fortune.
39. The dark and wide-stretching cloud of blind egoism, which
overshadows the sun-light of the Supreme Spirit within us, is driven
away by the breath of intelligence.
40. The improvement of the understanding, is the first requisite
towards the knowledge of the Supreme soul; as the cultivation of the
ground, is of primary importance to the farmer, desirous of reaping a
rich harvest.
CHAPTER XIII.
GOVERNMENT OF THE MIND.
Argument. Reasons and Rules of Restraining the Mind from the
instance of Janaka’s _insouciance_.
Vasishtha continued:—Now Ráma! Reflect on the Supreme spirit, in thy
own spirit like Janaka; and know the object of the meditation of the
wise, without any difficulty or failing.
2. The wise men of the latter genus _rájasa-sátvika_ or active
goodness, obtain their desired objects by themselves (of their own
institution), like Janaka and other holy sages.
3. As long as you continue to restrain your organs of sense from their
objects, so long will the divine soul grace your own inward soul with
its presence.
4. The Lord God and Supreme soul, being thus gracious to thee; thou
shalt see a halo of light cast over all things, and dispersing all thy
woes from thy sight.
5. The sight of the Supreme spirit, will remove the plentiful seeds of
bias from thy mind; and it will drive away the woeful sights of misery,
pouring upon thy view in copious showers.
6. Continue like Janaka in the wilful discharge of thy duties, and
prosper by placing thy intellectual sight, on the divine light shining
in thy inward spirit.
7. It was by his inward cogitations, that Janaka found the
transitoriness of the world; and by placing his faith in the
unchangeable Spirit, he found its grace in time.
8. Hence neither the pious acts of men, nor their riches nor friends,
are of any use to them for their salvation from the miseries of life,
unless it be by their own endeavor for the enlightenment of their soul.
9. They who rely their faith in the gods, and depend upon them for
fulfilment of their desires and future rewards, are perverted in their
understandings, and cannot be heirs of immortality.
10. It is by reliance in one’s reasoning and resignation, and by his
spiritual vision of the Supreme spirit, that he is saved from his
misery in this ocean of the world.
11. The attainment of this blessed knowledge of intuition, which
removeth our ignorance, is as what they call thy getting of fruit
fallen from heaven (_i.e._ a heavenly and accidental fruit).
12. The intelligence which looks into itself as Janaka’s, finds the
soul developing of itself in it, as the lotus-bud opens of itself in
the morning.
13. The firm conviction of the material world, melts into nothing under
the light of percipience; as the thick and tangible ice, dissolves into
fluidity under the heat of the sun.
14. The consciousness that this is I (_i.e._ one’s self-consciousness),
is as the shade of night, and is dispelled at the rise of the sun of
intellect, when the Omnipresent light appears vividly to sight.
15. No sooner one loses his self-consciousness that ‘this is himself,’
than the All-pervading Soul opens fully to his view.
16. As Janaka has abandoned the consciousness of his personality,
together with his desires also; so do you, O intelligent Ráma, forsake
them by your acute understanding and of the mind discernment.
17. After the cloud of egoism is dispersed, and the sphere is cleared
all around; the divine light appears to shine in it, as brightly as
another sun.
18. It is the greatest ignorance to think of one’s egoism (or
self-personality); this thought being relaxed by the sense of our
nothingness, gives room to the manifestation of holy light in the soul.
19. Neither think of the entity nor non-entity of thyself or others;
but preserve the tranquility of thy mind from both the thoughts of
positive and negative existences; in order to get rid of thy sense of
distinction between the producer and the produced (_i.e._ of the cause
and effect, the both of which are identic in Vedánta or spiritual
philosophy).
20. Again your fostering a fondness for something as good, and a hatred
to others as bad; is but a disease of your mind for your uneasiness
only. (Since all things are good in their own kinds, and nothing bad in
its nature, and in the sight of God, who pronounced all things good).
21. Be not fond of what you think to be beautiful, nor disgusted at
what appears hateful to you, get rid of these antagonist feelings, and
be even-minded by fixing it on One, before whom all things are alike
and equally good: (all partial evil is universal good. Pope.)
22. They that view the desirable and the detestable in the same light,
are neither fond of the one nor averse to the other.
23. Until the fancy of the desirableness of one thing and dislike of
the other, is effaced from the mind, it is as hard to have the good
grace of equanimity, as it is difficult for the moonlight to pierce
through the cloudy sky.
24. The mind which considers one thing as some thing à propos, and
another as nothing to the purpose (the one as desirable and the other
worthless); is deprived of the blessing of indifference, as the brier
_sákota_ is despised, not standing with all its fruits and flowers.
25. Where there is a craving for the desirable, and an aversion to what
is unseemly, and when there is a cry for gain and an outcry at one’s
loss; it is impossible for even mindedness, dispassionateness and
tranquility of the mind, to abide then and there in that state.
26. There being only the essence of one pure—Brahma diffused throughout
the universe, how very improper is it to take the one as many, and
among them something as good or bad; (when the Maker of all has made
all things good).
27. Our desires and dislike, are the two apes abiding on the tree of
our hearts; and while they continue to shake and swing it with their
jogging and jolting, there can be no rest in it.
28. Freedom from fear and desire, from exertions and action, together
with sapience and equanimity, are the inseparable accompaniments of
ease and rest.
29. The qualities of forbearance and fellow feeling, accompanied with
contentment and good understanding, and joined with a mild disposition
and gentle speech, are the indispensable companions of the wise man,
who has got rid of his desires and the feelings of his liking or
dislike.
30. The mind running to meanness, is to be repressed by restraining the
passions and appetites; as the current of water running below, is
stopped by its lock gate.
31. Shun the sight of external things, which are the roots of error and
fallacy; and consider always their internal properties both when you
are awake and asleep, and also when you are walking about or sitting
down.
32. Avaricious men are caught like greedy fishes, in the hidden net of
their insatiable desires, and which is woven with the threads of
worldly cares, and is under the waters of worldly affairs.
33. Now Ráma! cut the meshes of this net, with the knife of thy good
understanding; and disperse it in the water, as a tempest rends the
thick cloud and scatters it about the air.
34. Try O gentle Ráma! to uproot the root of worldliness, which sprouts
forth in the weeds of vice, with the hatchet of your perseverance and
the eliminating shovel of your penetration.
35. Employ your mind to hew down the cravings your mind, as they use
the axe to cut down a tree, and you will then rest in quiet as you
arrive at the state of holiness.
36. Having destroyed the former state of your mind by its present
state, try to forget them both by your heedless mind in future, and
manage yourself unmindful of the world. (There is a play of the word
mind in the original).
37. Your utter oblivion of the world, will prevent the revival of your
mind; and stop the reappearance of ignorance which is concomitant with
the mind.
38. Whether you are waking or sleeping or in any other state of your
life; you must remember the nihility of the world, and resign your
reliance in it.
39. Leave off your selfishness (mamatá or _mei tatem_), O Ráma! and
rely in the disinterestedness of your soul; lay hold on what ever
offers of itself to you and without seeking for it all about.
40. As the Lord God doth every thing, and is yet aloof from all; so
must thou do all thy acts outwardly, and without thyself mixing in any.
41. Knowing the knowable, one finds himself as the increate soul and
Great Lord of all; but being apart from that soul, he views only the
material world spread before him.
42. He who has the sight of the inner spirit, is freed from the
thoughts of the external world, and is not subjected to the joy or
grief or sorrow and other evils of his life.
43. He is called a Yogi who is free from passions and enmity, and looks
on gold and rubbish in the same light; he is joined with his Joy in his
Yoga, and disjoined from all worldly desires.
44. He enjoys the fruit of his own acts, and minds not what he wastes
or gives away; he has the evenness of his mind in every condition, and
is unaltered by pain or pleasure. (The Sanskrit _sukh-dukkha_ means
also prosperity and adversity, and good and evil of every kind).
45. He who receives what he gets, and is employed with whatever offers
of itself to him, without considering the good or evil that he is to
gain by it, is not plunged into any difficulty.
46. He who is certain of the truth of the spiritual essence of the
world, pants not for its physical enjoyments, but he is even-minded at
all times.
47. The dull mind follows the active intellect in accomplishing its
objects, as the carnivorous cat or fox follows the lion in quest of
meat.
48. As the servile band of the lion feeds on the flesh acquired by his
prowess, so the mind dwells upon the visible and sensible object, which
it perceives by power of the intellect.
49. Thus the unsubstantial mind, lives upon the outer world by the help
of the intellect; but as it comes to remember its origination from the
intellect, it recoils back to its original state.
50. The mind which is moved and lighted, by the heat and light of the
lamp of the intellect; becomes extinct without its physical force, and
grows as motionless as a dead body.
51. The nature of the intellect is known to exclude the idea of motion
or pulsation from it; and the power which has vibration in it, is
called intellection or the mind in the sástras.
52. The breathing (or vibration) of the mind, like the hissing of a
snake, is called its imagination (kalpana); but by knowing the
intellect as the Ego, it comes to the true knowledge of the inward soul.
53. The intellect which is free from thoughts (_chetyas_), is the ever
lasting Brahma; but being joined with thought, it is styled the
imaginative principle or Mind.
54. This power of imagination having assumed a definite form, is termed
the mind; which with its volition and options, is situated in the heart
of living beings.
55. With its two distinct powers of imagination and volition, it is
employed in the acts of discriminating and choosing the agreeable from
what is disagreeable to it. (_i.e._ The imagination and volitive
faculties of the mind, supply it with the power of discrimination and
option, between what is fit or unfit for or suitable to it).
56. The intellect being seated in the heart with its thoughts and
volitions, forgets its spiritual nature, and remains as a dull material
substance (_i.e._ the passivity of the heart as opposed to the activity
of the mind).
57. The intellect being thus confined in the hearts of all animals in
this world, continues in utter oblivion of its nature; until it is
awakened of itself, either by its intuition or instruction of
preceptors &c.
58. So it is to be wakened by means of instruction, derived from the
sástras and preceptors; as also by the practice of dispassionateness,
and subjection of the organs of sense and action.
59. When the minds of living beings, are roused by learning and
self-control; they tend towards the knowledge of the Great Brahma, or
else they rove at random about the wide world.
60. We must therefore awaken our minds, which are rolling in the pit of
worldliness, through the inebriety of the wine of error, and which are
dormant to divine knowledge.
61. As long as the mind is unawakened, it is insensible of every thing
(in its true light); and though it perceives the visibles, yet this
perception of them is as false as the sight of a city in our fancy.
62. But when the mind is awakened by divine knowledge, to the sight of
the supreme Being; it presents every thing in itself, as the inward
fragrance of flowers pervades the outer-petals also. (_i.e._ The inward
sight of God, comprehends the view of every thing in it).
63. Though the intellect has the quality of knowing every thing,
contained in all the three worlds; yet it has but a little knowledge of
them from the paucity of its desire of knowing them. (_i.e._ Though the
capacity of the intellect is unlimited, yet its knowledge is
proportionate to its desire of gaining it).
64. The mind without the intellect is a dull block of stone; but it is
opened by divine light, like the lotus-bud expanding under the light of
the sun.
65. The imaginative mind is as devoid of understanding, as a statue
made of marble, is unable to move about by itself.
66. How can the regiments drawn in painting, wage a war in a mutual
conflict, and how can the moon-beams, make the medicinal plants emit
their light? (_i.e._ As it is life that makes the armies fight, so it
is the intellect that actuates the mind to its operations. And as the
plants shine by night by the sun-beams, which are deposited in them
during day, so shines the mind by means of its intellectual light).
67. Who has seen dead bodies besmeared with blood to run about on the
ground, or witnessed the fragments of stones in the woods to sing in
musical strains?
68. Where does the stone idol of the sun, dispel the darkness of the
night; and where does the imaginary forest of the sky spread its shade
on the ground?
69. Of what good are the efforts of men, who are as ignorant as blocks
of stones, and are led by their error in many ways; except it be to
endanger themselves by the mirage of their minds? (The exertions of the
ignorant are as vain as the labour of a Sisyphus).
70. It is the imagination that displays the non-existent as existent in
the soul, as it is the sun-beams, which exhibit the limpid main in the
mazy sands.
71. It is the moving principle in the body, which the sophists
designate as the mind; but know it as a mere force of the winds, like
the vital breath of living beings.
72. Those whose self-consciousness is not disturbed, by the currents of
their passions and desires; have their spiritual souls like an
unperturbed stream (of psychic fluid).
73. But when this pure consciousness is befouled by the false fancies
of this and that, and that this is I and that is mine; then the soul
and the vital principle, are both taken together to form a living being.
74. The mind, the living soul and understanding, are all but fictitious
names of an unreality, according to the conceptions of false thinkers,
and not of them that know the true spirit.
75. There is no mind nor understanding, no thinking principle, nor the
body in reality; there is the only reality of the One universal spirit,
which is ever existent everywhere. (So says the Sruti:—All else are but
transitory creations of imagination, and so pass into nothing).
76. It is the soul, which is all this world, it is time and all its
fluctuations, it is more transparent than the atmosphere, and it is
clear as it is nothing at all.
77. It is not always apparent, owing to its transparency; yet it is
ever existent, owing to our consciousness of it. The spirit is beyond
all things, and is perceived by our inward perception of it.
78. The mind vanishes into nothing, before our consciousness of the
Supreme Soul; just as darkness is dispelled from that place, where the
sunshine is present.
79. When the transparent and self-conscious soul, raises other figures
of its own will; then the presence of the soul is forgotten, and hid
under the grosser creations of the mind.
80. The Volitive faculty of the Supreme Spirit, is denominated the
mind; but it is unmindedness and want of volition on our part, which
produces our liberation. (_i.e._ Our submission to the Divine Will,
sets us free from all liability, as it is said in the Common prayer:
“Let thy will (and not mine) be done”).
81. Such is the origin of the mind which is the root of creation; it is
the faculty of the volition of the principle of our consciousness,
otherwise called the soul. (The mind is the volitive faculty of the
Spirit, see 80).
82. The intellectual essence being defiled by its desires, after
falling from its state of indifference; becomes the principle of
production or producing the desired objects. (This is called the mind
or the creative power, and is represented as the first male or the
agent of procreation).
83. The mind becomes extinct, by loss of the vital power; as the shadow
of a thing disappears, by removal of the substance. (This passage
establishes the extinction of the mind, with all its passions, feelings
and thoughts upon the death of a man).
84. The living body perceives in its heart, the notion of a distant
place which exists in the mind, and this proves the identity of the
vital breath and the thinking mind. (Again the communication of the
passions and feelings between the heart and mind, proves them to be the
same thing). (Hence the word _antah-karana_ or inward sense, is applied
both to the heart as well as mind).
85. It is therefore by repressing the mind, that the vital breath is
also repressed, to produce longevity and healthiness. (It is done by
the following methods, viz; by dispassionateness, suppression of
breathing, by yoga meditation, and by cessation from bodily labour in
the pursuit of worldly objects).
86. The stone has the capability of mobility, and the fuel of
inflammability; but the vital breath and mind, have not their powers of
vibration or thinking (without the force of the intellect and the
spirit).
87. The breath of life is inert by itself, and its pulsation is the
effect and composed of the surrounding air; so the action of the mind,
is owing to the force of the intellect; whose pellucidity pervades all
nature.
88. It is the union of the intellectual and vibrating powers, which is
thought to constitute the mind. Its production is as false, as the
falsity of its knowledge. (All mental phenomena are erroneous).
89. The mental power is called error and illusion also, and these in
ignorance of the Supreme Brahma, produce the knowledge of this
poisonous world (which springs from illusion of the mind).
90. The powers of the intellect and vibration, combined with those of
imagination and volition which constitute the mind, are productive of
all worldly evils, unless they are weakened and kept under restraint.
91. When the intellect thinks on or has the perception by the pulsation
caused by the air. The wind of breath gives pulsation to the intellect,
and causes its power of intellection; and this intellectual power gives
rise to all the thoughts and desires of the mind.
92. The percussive intellect which extends over the undivided sphere of
the universe, is verily the thinking power, the mind is a false
imagination like the ghost of infants.
93. The intellect is the power of intellection, which cannot be
intercepted by any thing else, like the mind any where; as there is no
power to rise in contest against the almighty Indra. (The Intellect or
_chit_ being the Divine mind).
94. Thus there being no relation between intellection and the mind, it
is wrong to attribute the mind with the power of thinking, which is not
related with it.
95. How can this union of the intellect with its vibration only, be
styled the mind with its multifarious functions. The commander alone
cannot be called an army without its component parts of horse,
elephants and others.
96. Hence there is no such thing as a good or bad mind in any of the
three worlds (when there is no mind at all). The bias of its existence
will be utterly removed by full knowledge of spirituality (tatwajnana).
(That there is but one Spirit only).
97. It is in vain and to no purpose, that they imagine the being of the
mind. It is proved to be an unreality and having no substantiality of
its own.
98. Therefore, O magnanimous Ráma! never give rise to false
imaginations of any kind, and particularly that of the mind which never
exists any where.
99. False phantasies rise as the mirage, from want of a full knowledge
of things; they spring in the heart which is as barren as a desert, for
want of the rain of full knowledge.
100. The mind is a dead thing owing to its want of a form or activity,
and yet it is a wonder as it is idolized in the circles of common
people.
101. It is a wonder that the mind, having no soul nor essence, nor a
body nor size or support of its own, should spread its net over all
ignorant minds.
102. One who falls a victim to his unarmed and impotent mind, likens a
man who says, he is hurt in his body by the falling of a lotus-flower
upon it.
103. The man that is undone by his inert, dumb and blinded mind (that
neither sees nor seizes nor talks to him); is as one who complains of
his being burnt by the cool full-moon-beams.
104. People are verily killed by an antagonist, who is present before
them; but it is a wonder that the ignorant are foiled by the inexistent
mind of their own making.
105. What is the power of that thing, which is a creation of mere
fancy, and an unreal presentation of ignorance; and which being sought
after, is no where to be found.
106. It is a great wonder, that men should be overcome by their
impotent minds, dealing in their delusions only.
107. It is ignorance that is ever exposed to dangers, and the ignorant
are always the victims of error. Know the unreal world to be the
creation of ignorance and of the ignorant only.
108. Oh! the misery of miseries, that the ignorant make of this
creation of their ignorance to themselves, and that they fabricate a
living soul for their sufferings only. (A separate living soul
_jívátmá_, is denied in Vedánta).
109. I weet this frail world to be a creation of the false imagination
of the ignorant, and this earth to be as fragile as to be broken and
borne away by the waves of the ocean.
110. It is like the dark collyrium, which is broken down by the
surrounding waters or seas, serving as its grinding mill; and yet men
are maddened with it, as those struck by moon-beams. (Moonstruck
lunatics).
111. The visible world disappears at the sight of reason, as a man
flies from the sight of his foe; and the train of imaginary creations
fly before it, like hosts of demons vanquished by the gods.
112. Thus is this world, which is a false creation of fancy, and exists
nowhere except in the idle brains of the ignorant, lost into nothing at
the sight of reason.
113. He who is not able to govern his mind, and efface the thoughts of
this false world, arising in the minds of the ignorant only; is not
worthy of being advised in the abstruse doctrines of spirituality.
114. Those who are confirmed in their belief of the visibles, and are
self-sufficient in their knowledge of these; are unable to grasp the
subtile science of abstract philosophy, and are therefore unfit to
receive spiritual instruction.
115. These men are insensible of the soft tunes of the lute who are
accustomed to the loud beatings of drum, and they are startled at
seeing the face of a sleeping friend (_i.e._ their hidden soul).
116. They who fly with fear from the loud songs (preachings) of false
preachers, cannot have the patience to listen to the silent lesson of
their inward monitor; and they who are deluded by their own minds, can
hardly be reclaimed by any other.
117. Those who are tempted to taste the gall of worldly pleasures for
sweet, are so subdued by its effects on their understandings, that they
lose the power of discerning the truth altogether; and it is therefore
useless to remonstrate with them.
CHAPTER XIV.
ASCERTAINMENT OF THE THINKING PRINCIPLE.
Argument. People unworthy of persuasion, their transmigrations, and
purification of the mind.
Vasishtha said: These multitudes of men, that are carried away by the
waves of the torrents of the sea of worldly pursuits; are deaf and dumb
to the admonitions of their spiritual instructors.
2. They are not fit to derive the benefit of the spiritual knowledge,
which I have propounded in this yogasástra by my rational discourses.
3. They who are born blind and can see nothing, are not to be presented
with the picture of a garden, portrayed with blooming blossoms and
beautiful flowers by the intelligent artist.
4. There is no such fool that would present fragrant odours to one,
whose nostrils are snorting under some nasal disease (pinasa. Polypus),
nor so great a dolt, that would consult an ignorant man on spiritual
matters.
5. What lack-wit is there, that would refer a question on law or
religious subjects, to one of ungoverned passions and organs of sense,
or whose eyeballs are rolling with the intoxication of wine.
6. Who asks of the dead the way he should go, or one in the grave about
the concourse in the city; and what witless man is there that resorts
to an idiot to clear his doubts.
7. Of what good is it to advise a witling, whose serpentine mind is
coiling and creeping in the cave of his heart; and though it lies there
in silence and sightless, is yet ungovernably wild?
8. Know there is no such a thing as a well governed mind, for though
you may fling it at a distance from you, yet it is never lost or
annihilated. (The unsubdued mind recurs to us in repeated births).
9. The simpleton who does not bear his sway over his false and delusive
mind, is tormented to death by its venomous smart, as if stung by a
deadly reptile.
10. The learned know the vital powers, and the operations of the organs
of action, to depend on the action and force of the soul; say then, O
Ráma, what is that thing which they call the mind. (The three functions
of motion, thought and organic action, being conducted by force of the
vital breath, it is in vain to suppose the existence of the mind).
11. The vital breath gives the force for bodily actions, and the soul
produces the power of knowledge; the organs act by their own force, and
the supreme spirit is the main source of all.
12. All forces are but parts of the omnipotence of the supreme Spirit;
their different appellations are but inventions of men.
13. What is it that they call the living soul, and which has
blindfolded the world; and what they term as the mind, is really an
unreality and without any power of its own.
14. Ráma! I have seen the continued misery arising from their false
conception of the unreal mind; and my pity for them has caused my
incessant sorrow.
15. But why should I sorrow for the ignorant rabble, who bring their
woe by their own error? The common herd is born to their misery like
beasts and brutes.
16. The ignorant rabble are born in their dull material bodies, for
their destruction only. They are born to die away incessantly, like the
waves of the ocean.
17. What pity shall I take for them, that are seen every day to perish
under the jaws of death, like numbers of animals immolated in the
shambles.
18. For whom shall I sorrow, when I see billions and trillions of gnats
and moths, are destroyed day by day, by gusts of wind (which is their
element and support).
19. Whom shall I sorrow for, when I observe on every side the millions
of deer and beasts of chase, that are killed every day in the hills and
forests, by their hunters and sportsmen.
20. Whom shall I feel for, when I find innumerable shoals of small
fishes, that are devoured every day in the waters, by the bigger ones!
21. I see an infinite number of animalcules, to be eaten up by flies
and fleas; which in their turn, are devoured by the voracious spiders
and scorpions.
22. The frog feeds on flies, and is on its turn devoured by snakes. The
birds of prey swallow the snake, and the weasel preys upon them.
23. The weasel is killed by the cat, which is killed again by the dog;
the bear destroys the dog, and is at last destroyed by the tiger.
(জীবস্যজীবনাহার:—One animal is food to another.)
24. The lion overcomes the tiger, and is overcome on its turn by the
sarabha (a fabulous beast with eight feet). The sarabha is overthrown
by its fall on rocky steeps, in its attempt to jump over the gathering
clouds.
25. The clouds are worsted by tempests, and these again are obstructed
by the rising rocks and mountains. The mountains are split by thunder
claps, and the thunderbolts of heaven are broken by the thundering
Sakra (Jove).
26. This Sakra or Indra is vanquished by Upendra or Vishnu (his younger
brother), and Vishnu is made to undergo his incarnations in the shapes
of men and beasts. He is subjected to the vicissitudes of pain and
pleasure, and to the conditions of disease, decay and death. (Change is
the order of nature.)
27. Big-bodied beasts are fed upon by the leeches and fleas that stick
to their bodies to suck their blood; and men fraught with knowledge and
armed with weapons, are infested by their bloodsucking bugs and gnats.
28. Thus the whole host of living bodies, are continually exposed to
feed upon and to be fed by one another, with remorseless voracity.
29. There is an incessant growth of leaches, fleas and ants, other
small insects and worms on the one hand; and a continued dissolution of
both the big and puny bodies in every place on earth.
30. The womb of the waters, bears the breed of fishes, whales,
hippopotami and other aquatic animals; and the bowels of the earth,
produce the multitudes of worms and reptiles to infinity.
31. The air teems with the brood of birds of various kinds, and the
woods abound with wild beasts, and lions and tigers, the fleet deer and
other brutes.
32. There are inborn worms growing in the intestines, and upon the skin
of animal bodies; and parasitical insects and animalcules, feeding upon
the bark and leaves of trees.
33. Insects are seen to be born in the crusts of stones, as frogs,
vajrakítas and others; and many kinds of worms and insects, are found
to grow in and subsist upon the faeces and excrements of animals.
34. In this manner an endless number of living beings, are being born
and perishing for ever and ever; and it is of no avail to them, whether
kind hearted men are joyous or sorrowful at their births and deaths.
35. The wise can have no cause for their joy or grief, in this
continued course of incessant births and deaths of the living world.
36. Such is the nature of all the different series of animal beings,
that they incessantly grow to fall off like the leaves of trees. (These
are known as the ephemerids and the heirs and poor pensioners of a day).
37. The kind-hearted man, who wishes to remove the sorrows of the
ignorant by his advice, attempts an impossibility, as that of shrouding
the allpervasive sunshine, by means of his umbrella.
38. It is useless to give advice to the ignorant, who are no better
than beasts in their understandings; as it is fruitless to talk to a
rock or block of wood or stone in the wilderness.
39. The dull-headed ignorant, who are no better than beasts, are
dragged by their wilful minds, like the cattle by their halters.
40. It would make even the stones to melt into tears, to see the
ignorant plunged in the slough of their perverted minds, and employed
in acts and rites for their own ruin. (The ruin of their souls caused
by ritualistic observances.)
41. Men of ungoverned minds, are always exposed to dangers and
difficulties; but the expurgated minds of the wise, are free from the
evils and mishaps of life.
42. Now Ráma, consider well the miseries of ungoverned minds; and
betake yourself to the knowledge of the knowable One. (_i.e._ The One
alone that is worthy of being known).
43. Never entertain in your imagination the vain bugbear of a mind,
which has no real existence of its own; and beware of this false
belief, which may betray you like the ideal ghost of children.
44. As long as you are forgetful of the soul, you must remain in utter
ignorance; and so long will you continue to be tortured by the dragon,
residing in the recess of your heart.
45. Now you have known the whole truth, as I have expounded to you;
that it is your imagination only, that presents you with the idea of
your mind, of which you must get rid for ever.
46. If you rely in the visibles, you are subject to the delusion of
your mind; but no sooner, you shun your reliance in them, than you are
liberated from your illusion of it.
47. The visible world is a combination, of the three qualities of
_satva_, _rajas_ and _tamas_; and it is exposed before you, by your
_máyá_ or illusion only, as a snare is spread for entanglement of
beasts.
48. Think of the inexistence both of the subjective-self and the
objective world; and remain as firm as a fixed rock on earth, and
behold the Lord only, in the form of infinite space in thy heart. (This
is Vasishtha’s Vacuism).
49. Shun, Ráma, the false thoughts of thy self-existence, and that of
the visible world also; and forsake thy belief in the duality, in order
to settle thyself in the infinite unity.
50. Continue to meditate on the soul, as it is situated between the
subjective viewer, and the objective view of this world; and as it is
existent in thy vision, which lies between the two. (_i.e._ Between
yourself and the visible object, which is empty space).
51. Forsake the ideas of the subject and object of your taste (_i.e._
of the taster and tastable); and thinking on their intermediate state
of gustation or tasting, be one with the soul.
52. Ráma, place yourself in the position of your thought or power of
thinking, which lieth betwixt the thinker and thinkables; support your
soul on the supportless soul of all, and remain steady in your
meditation.
53. Forsake the cares of the world, and be exempt from the thoughts of
existence and non-existence; meditate on the universal soul and be
settled with thy soul in that soul.
54. When you have learnt to think on the thinkable one, by
relinquishing the thought of your own existence; you shall then arrive
to that state of the unconsciousness, which is free from misery (or the
state of supreme bliss).
55. Know your thoughts to be your fetters, and your self-consciousness
as your binding chain; therefore O Ráma! loosen the lion of your soul,
from the prison house of your mind.
56. By departing from the state of the Supreme Soul, and falling to the
thoughts of the mind, you will be crowded by your imaginations, and see
only the objects of your thought all about you.
57. The Knowledge, that intellection or thinking power is distinct from
the soul, introduces the existence of the unhappy mind, which must be
got rid of for the sake of true happiness. (by knowing them as the one
and same thing).
58. When you become conscious of the Supreme soul in you, and as
permeated throughout all nature, you will then find the thinker and his
thinking, the thinkables and their thoughts, vanish into nothing.
59. The thought that “I have a soul and a living soul also,” brings on
us all the miseries to which we are exposed to all eternity. (_i.e._
consciousness of a personal entity, causes the woes which personality
is ever liable to).
60. The consciousness that “I am the one soul, and not a living being
or distinct existences;” (because all things distinct from the
universal soul are nothing at all); is called the tranquility of the
spirit and its true felicity.
61. When you are certain, O Ráma! that the world is the universal soul
itself, you will find the false distinctions of your mind and living
soul, to be nothing in reality.
62. When you come to perceive that all this is your very self, your
mind will then melt away into the soul, as the darkness dissolved in
the sunlight, and the shadow disappears in the air.
63. As long as you cherish the snake of your mind within yourself, you
are in danger of catching its poison; but this being removed by your
yoga meditation, you escape the danger at once.
64. Be bold, O Ráma! to destroy the mighty demon of the deep rooted
error of your mind, by the power of incantation (_mantras_) of your
perfect knowledge.
65. Upon disappearance of the demon of the mind from the dwelling of
your body, as when a Yaksha disappears in the air, you will be free
from every disease, danger, care and fear.
66. Dispassionateness, and disinterestedness, joined with the knowledge
of unity, melt down the substance of the mind, and confer the best and
highest state of felicity and rest in the Supreme spirit; and bring on
that state of tranquility which is the main aim of every body. May all
these blessings attend upon you.
CHAPTER. XV.
ON AVARICE.
Argument. Description of avarice as the Root of all Evils.
Vasishtha continued:—The soul by following the unholy essence of the
mind, which is the source of the world, is led to fall into the snare,
which is laid by it for all living beings.
2. The soul then loses the brightness of its spiritual form, and takes
the gross shape of the senses: it waits upon the guidance of the mind,
and indulges in its impure imaginations.
3. It falls into avarice, which like a poisonous plant makes it
senseless, and spreads a fearful anesthesia over it.
4. Avarice like a dark night, hides the soul under the gloom of
oblivion, and produces endless pangs to the soul.
5. The god Siva withstood the flame of the kalpa conflagration, but no
body can withstand the fierce fire of avarice.
6. It bears a form as formidable as that of a long, sharp and sable
dagger; which is cold in appearance, but very injurious in her effects.
7. Avarice is an evergreen plant, bearing bunches of plenteous fruits
on high; which when they are obtained and tasted, prove to be bitter
and galling.
8. Avarice is a voracious wolf, prowling in the recess of the heart;
and feeding unseen on the flesh and blood and bones of its sheltering
body.
9. Avarice is as a rainy stream, full of foul and muddy water now
overflowing and breaking down its banks, and then leaving empty its
dirty bed.
10. The man stricken with avarice, remains niggardly and broken hearted
at all times; his spirits are damped, and his sordid soul is debased
before mankind. He is now dejected, and now he weeps and lays himself
down in despair.
11. He who has not this black adder of greediness, burrowing in the
recess of his heart, has the free play of his vital breath, which is
otherwise poisoned by the breath of the viper rankling in his breast.
12. The heart which is not darkened by the gloomy night of greediness,
feels the rays of humanity sparkling in it, like the glancing of the
bright moon-beams.
13. The heart that is not eaten up by the corroding cares of avarice,
is as an uncankered tree, blooming with its blossoms of piety.
14. The current of avarice, is ever running amidst the wilderness of
human desires, with ceaseless torrents and billows, and hideous
whirlpools and vortices around.
15. The thread of avarice, like the long line of a flying kite or
tossing top, whirls and furls and pulls mankind, as its toys and
playthings.
16. The rude, rough and hard-hearted avarice, breaks and cuts down the
tender roots of virtues, with the remorseless axe of its hardihood.
17. Foolishmen led by avarice, fall into the hell pit, like the
ignorant deer into the blackhole; by being enticed by the blades of
grass, scattered upon its covering top.
18. Men are not so much blinded by their aged and decayed eyesight, as
they are blinded by the invisible avarice seated in their hearts.
19. The heart which is nestled by the ominous owl of avarice, is as
bemeaned as the god Vishnu, who became a dwarf in begging a bit of
ground from Bali.
20. There is a divine power, which hath implanted this insatiable
avarice in the heart of man; which whirls him about, as if tied by a
rope, like the sun revolving round its centre in the sky.
21. Fly from this avarice, which is as heinous as the venomous snake.
It is the source of all evils, and even of death in this mortal world.
22. Avarice blows on men as the wind, and it is avarice that makes them
sit still as stones; avarice makes some as sedate as the earth, and
avarice ransacks the three worlds in its rapid course.
23. All this concourse of men, is impelled to and fro by avarice, as if
they are pulled by ropes; it is easy to break the band of ropes, but
not the bond of avarice. (There is a play of words here, as that of
band, bond and bondage).
24. Then Ráma, get rid of avarice by forsaking your desires; because it
is ascertained by the wise, that the mind dies away by want of its
desires (to dwell upon).
25. Never observe the distinctions of my, thy and his in all thy
wishes, but wish for the good of all alike; and never foster any bad
desire (which is foul in its nature).
26. The thought of self in what is not the self, is the parent of all
our woe; when you cease to think the notself as the self you are then
reckoned among the wise.
27. Cut off your egoism, O gentle Ráma! and dwell in thy unearthly self
by forgetting yourself, and by dispelling your fear from all created
being. (Here is an alliteration of the letter bh ভ in the
last line, as ভু, ভব, ভয়).
CHAPTER XVI.
HEALING OF AVARICE.
Argument. The way to forsake the desires, and become liberated in this
life and the next.
Ráma said:—It is too deep for me sir, to understand what you say to me,
for the abandonment of my egoism and avarice.
2. For how is it possible, sir, to forsake my egoism, without forsaking
this body and every thing that bears relation to it?
3. It is egoism which is the chief support of the body, as a post or
prop is the support of a thatched house.
4. The body will surely perish without its egoism, and will be cut
short of its durability, as a tree is felled by application of the saw
to its root.
5. Now tell me, O most eloquent sir, how I may live by forsaking my
egoism (which is myself); give me your answer, according to your right
judgment.
6. Vasishtha replied:—O lotus-eyed and respectful Ráma! abandonment of
desires, is said to be of two kinds by the wise, who are well
acquainted with the subject; the one is called the _jneya_ or knowable
and the other is what they style the thinkable (or dhyeya).
7. The knowledge that I am the life of my body and its powers, and
these are the supports of my life, and that I am something.
8. But this internal conviction being weighed well by the light of
reason, will prove that neither am I related with the external body,
nor does it bear any relation with my internal soul.
9. Therefore the performance of one’s duties, with calmness and
coolness of his understanding, and without any desire of fruition, is
called the abandonment of desire in thought.
10. But the understanding which views things in an equal light, and by
forsaking its desires, relinquishes the body without taking any concern
for it, and is called the knowing abandonment of desires. (_i.e._ Of
which the Yogi has full knowledge).
11. He who foregoes with ease the desires arising from his egoism, is
styled the thinking abjurer of his desires, and is liberated in his
life time.
12. He who is calm and even-minded, by his abandonment of vain and
imaginary desires; is a knowing deserter of his desires, and is
liberated also in this world.
13. Those who abandon the desires in their thought, and remain with
listless indifference to everything, are like those who are liberated
in their life time.
14. They are also called the liberated, who have had their composure
(_insouciance_) after abandonment of their desires, and who rest in the
Supreme Spirit, with their souls disentangled from their bodies. (This
is called the disembodied liberation বিদেহ মুক্তি).
15. Both these sorts of renunciation are alike entitled to liberation,
both of them are extricated from pain; and both lead the liberated
souls to the state of Brahma.
16. The mind whether engaged in acts or disengaged from them, rests in
the pure spirit of God, by forsaking its desires. (There is this
difference only between them, that the one has an active body, while
the other is without its activity).
17. The former kind of yogi is liberated in his embodied state, and
freed from pain throughout his life time; but the latter that has
obtained his liberation in his bodiless state after his demise, remains
quite unconscious of his desires. (The liberated soul is freed from
desire after death. Their desires being dead with themselves, they have
nothing to desire).
18. He who feels no joy nor sorrow at the good or evil, which befalls
to him in his life time, as it is the course of nature, is called the
living liberated man.
19. He who neither desires nor dreads the casualties of good or evil,
which are incidental to human life; but remains quiet regardless of
them as in his dead sleep, is known as the truly liberated man.
20. He whose mind is freed from the thoughts, of what is desirable or
undesirable to him, and from his differentiation of mine, thine and his
(_i.e._ of himself from others), is called the truly liberated.
21. He whose mind is not subject to the access of joy and grief, of
hope and fear, of anger, boast and niggardliness, is said to have his
liberation.
22. He whose feelings are all obtundent within himself as in his sleep,
and whose mind enjoys its felicity like the beams of the fullmoon, is
said to be the liberated man in this world.
23. Válmíki says:—After the sage had said so far, the day departed to
its evening service with the setting sun. The assembled audience
retired to their evening ablutions, and repaired again to the assembly
with the rising sun on the next day.
CHAPTER XVII.
ON THE EXTIRPATION OF AVARICE.
Argument. Liberation of Embodied or Living Beings.
Vasishtha said:—It is difficult O Ráma! to describe in words the
inexplicable nature of the liberation of disembodied souls; hear me
therefore relate to you further about the liberation of living beings.
2. The desire of doing one’s duties without expectation of their
reward, is also called the living liberation, and the doers of their
respective duties, are said to be the living liberated.
3. The dependance of beings on their desires, and their strong
attachment to external objects, are called to be their bondage and
fetters in this world, by the doctors in divinity.
4. But the desire of conducting one’s self according to the course of
events, and without any expectation of fruition, constitutes also the
liberation of the living; and is concomitant with the body only
(without vitiating the inner soul).
5. The desire of enjoying the external objects, is verily the bondage
of the soul; but its indifference to worldly enjoyments, is what
constitutes one’s freedom in his living state.
6. Want of greediness and anxiety prior to and on account of some gain,
and absence of mirth and change in one’s disposition afterwards (_i.e._
after the gain); is the true freedom of men.
7. Know, O high-minded Ráma! that desire to be the greatest bondage of
men, which is in eager expectation of the possession of anything.
(Lit.: that such things may be mine).
8. He who is devoid of desire of everything, whether existent or
inexistent in the world; is the truly great man, with the greatest
magnanimity of his soul.
9. Therefore, Ráma! forsake the thoughts both of thy bondage and
liberation, and also of thy happiness and misery; and by getting rid of
thy desire of the real and unreal, remain as calm as the undisturbed
ocean.
10. Think thyself, O most intelligent Ráma! to be devoid of death and
decay, and do not stain thy mind with the fears of thy disease or death
(because thy soul is free from them).
11. These substances are nothing, nor are you any of these things that
you see; there is something beyond these, and know that you are that
very thing (which is the soul or a spiritual being).
12. The phenomenon of the world is an unreality, and every thing here
is unreal, that appears real in thy sight; knowing then thyself to be
beyond all these, what earthly thing is there that thou canst crave for?
13. All reasoning men, O Ráma! consider themselves in some one of these
four different lights in their minds, which I shall now explain to you
in brief.
14. He who considers his whole body (from his head to foot), as the
progeny of his parents (_i.e._ devoid of his spiritual part), is surely
born to the bondage of the world. (This is the first kind).
15. But they who are certain of their immaterial soul, which is finer
than the point of a hair, are another class of men; who are called the
wise and are born for their liberation. (This is the second).
16. There is a third class of men, who consider themselves as same with
the universal soul of the world; such men O support of Raghu’s race,
are also entitled to their liberation. (These belong to the third kind.)
17. There is again a fourth class, who consider themselves and the
whole world to be as inane as the empty air (or vacuum); these are
surely the partakers of liberation.
18. Of these four kinds of beliefs, the first is the leader to bondage;
while the three others growing from purity of thought, lead to the path
of liberation.
19. Among these, the first is subject to the bondage of avarice; but
the other three proceeding from pure desire, are crowned with
liberation.
20. Those of the third kind, who consider themselves same with the
universal soul, are in my opinion never subject to sorrow or pain.
21. The magnitude of the Supreme spirit, extends over and below and
about all existence; hence the belief of “all in One, or One in all”
never holds a man in bondage.
22. The fourth kind—vacuists (or _súnyavádís_), who believe in the
vacuum, and maintain the principles of nature or illusion, are in
ignorance of divine knowledge, which represents God as Siva, Isha,
male, and eternal soul.
23. He is all and everlasting, without a second or another like him;
and he is pervaded by his omniscience, and not by the ignorance called
_máyá_ or illusion.
24. The spirit of God fills the universe, as the water of the ocean
fills the deep (pátála); and stretches from the highest heaven
(empyrean), to the lowest abyss of the infernal regions.
25. Hence it is his reality only which is ever existent, and no unreal
world exists at any time. It is the liquid water which fills the sea,
and not the swelling wave which rises in it.
26. As the bracelets and armlets are no other than gold, so the
varieties of trees and herbs, are not distinct from the Universal
Spirit.
27. It is the one and same omnipotence of the Supreme spirit, that
displays the different forms in its works of the creation.
28. Never be joyous nor sorry for anything belonging to thee or
another, nor feel thyself delighted or dejected at any gain or loss,
that thou mayest happen to incur. (For know everything to be the Lord’s
and nothing as thine own. Or: “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken
away”. Job).
29. Be of an even disposition, and rely on thy essence as one with the
Supreme soul. Attend to thy multifarious duties, and thus be observant
of unity in thy spiritual concerns, and dualities in thy temporal
affairs.
30. Take care of falling into the hidden holes of this world, in your
pursuit after the varieties of objects; and be not like an elephant
falling into a hidden pit in the forest.
31. O Ráma of great soul! There cannot be a duality, as it is thought
in the mind; nor O Ráma of enlightened soul; can there be any unity or
duality of the soul. The true essence is ever existent with out its
unity or duality, and is styled the all and nothing particular, and as
itself—Svarúpa or suiform. (The soul is not unity, because one is the
prime number of all others by addition with itself; nor is it a
duality, having no second or another like it. It is the indefinite all
or whole: and no definite that this or so says the Sruti:
तस्मात्तत् सर्ब्बमभवत् नेह नानास्ति किञ्चन ।)
32. There is no ego or thy subjective-self, nor the objective worlds
that thou seest. All this is the manifestation of the eternal and
imperishable omniscience, and know this world as neither an entity nor
non-entity by itself.
33. Know the Supreme being to be without beginning and end, the
enlightener of all lights, the undecaying, unborn and incomprehensible
one. He is without part, and any change in him. He is beyond
imagination and all the imaginary objects all about us.
34. Know for certain in thy mind, that the Lord is always present in
the full light of thy intellect. He is the root of thy consciousness,
and is of the nature of thy inward soul. He is conceivable in the
intellect, and is the Brahma—the all and everlasting, and the
all pervading, the subjective I, and the objective thou and this world.
CHAPTER XVIII.
LIVING LIBERATION OR TRUE
FELICITY OF MAN IN THIS LIFE.
Argument. The True Enfranchisement of the Soul, in the Living state of
man in this world.
Vasishtha continued:—I will now relate to you, O Ráma! the nature of
those great men, who conduct themselves in this world, with their
desires under their subjection, and whose minds are not blemished by
evil inclinations.
2. The sage whose mind is freed in his life-time, conducts himself
unconcerned in this world; he smiles secure at its occurrences, and is
regardless of the first, last and middle stages of his life (namely:
the pains of his birth and death, and the whole course of his life).
3. He is attentive to his present business, and unmindful of every
other object about him; he is devoid of cares and desires, and his
thought is of his internal cogitations only.
4. He is free from anxiety in all places, who tolerates whatever he
happens to meet with; he sees the light of reason in his soul, and
walks in the romantic groves of his musings.
5. He rests in that transcendental bliss, with prospects as bright as
the cooling beams of the full-moon, who is neither elated nor depressed
in any state of his life, nor droops down under any circumstance.
6. Whose generosity and manliness do not forsake him, even when he is
beset by his bitterest enemies; and who is observant of his duties to
his superiors, such a man is not crest-fallen in this world.
7. Who neither rejoices nor laments at his lot, nor envies nor hankers
after the fortune of another; but pursues his own business in quiet
silence, is the man that is never down-cast in this world.
8. Who, when asked, says what he is doing, but unasked remains as a
dead block; and is freed from desire and disgust; he is never depressed
in his heart and mind. (The Urdu poet expresses this sort of unconcern,
more beautifully, when he says:—Should one ask you of aught, look to
his face and reply him not. _Koi kuch’h puchhe to munh dekh kar chup
rahjana_ &c. And who so understands the hearts of men, is never sick at
his heart).
9. He speaks agreeably to every one, and utters gently what he is
required to say; he is never put out of countenance, who understands
the intentions of others. (Speaking agreeably or his questioners means
what pleases every body, be it good or bad for him as it is said
in Chánakya’s excerpta: सत्यं ब्रुयात् प्रियम्ब्रुयात्, न ब्रुयात् सत्यमप्रियं. Because says
Bháraví: ‘It is rare to have a useful saying, which is delectable also
at the same time’. हितं मनोहारिचदुर्लमवचस).
10. He sees the right and wrong dealings of men, and the acts of the
depraved desires of their minds; but knowing all human affairs as
clearly as in a mirror in his hand, he holds his peace with every one.
11. Standing on his firm footing (of nonchalance), and knowing the
frailty of worldly things, he smiles at the vicissitudes of nature with
the cold frigidity (sang froid) of his heart (like the laughing
philosopher).
12. Such is the nature, Ráma, of the great souls, who have subdued
their minds, and know the course of nature, as I have described to you.
13. I am unable to describe to you, the fond beliefs of the minds of
the ignorant populace, who are plunged in the mud of their sensual
enjoyments (like earthly worms). (Who are of ungoverned minds).
14. Women, devoid of understanding, and graced with their personal
charms, are the idols of these people; who are fond of their golden
forms, without knowing them to be the flames of hell fire.
15. Wealth, the fond object of the foolish people, is fraught with
every ill and evil desire; its pleasure is poison and productive of
misery, and its prosperity is replete with dangers.
16. Its use in the doing of meritorious deeds, and various acts of
piety, is also fraught with a great many evils, which I have not the
power to recount. (The works of merit being productive of pride and
passions, and those of piety being the source of transmigration).
17. Therefore Ráma! keep your sight on the full view (clairvoyance) of
your spirit, by retracting it from the external visibles and internal
thoughts; and conduct yourself in this world as one liberated in his
life-time.
18. Being free from all your inward passions and feelings of affection,
and having given up all your desires and expectations; continue in the
performance of your outward duties in this world.
19. Follow all your duties in life with a noble pliability of your
disposition; but preserve the philosophic renunciation of everything in
your mind, and conduct yourself accordingly in this world.
20. Think well on the fleeting states of all earthly things, and fix
your mind in the lasting nature of your soul; and thus conduct yourself
in this transitory stage, with the thoughts of eternity in your mind.
21. Conduct yourself, Ráma, with your inward indifference and want of
all desire: but show your outward desire for whatever is good and
great. Be cold blooded within yourself but full of ardour in your
external demeanour.
22. Conduct yourself among men, O Ráma! with a feigned activity in your
outward appearance, but with real inaction in your mind; show yourself
as the doer of your deeds, but know in your mind to be no actor at all.
23. Conduct yourself such, O Ráma! with your full knowledge of this
world, as if you are acquainted with the natures of all beings herein;
and go wherever you please with your intimate acquaintance of
everything there.
24. Demean yourself with mankind, with a feigned appearance of joy and
grief, and of condolence and congratulation with others, and an assumed
shape of activity and action among mankind.
25. Manage yourself, O Ráma! with full possession of your mind, and
untinged by pride and vanity, as if it were as clear as the spotless
sky.
26. Go on through your life unshackled by the bonds of desire, and join
in all the outward acts of life, with an unaltered evenness of your
mind under every circumstance.
27. Do not give room to the thoughts of your bondage or liberation in
this world, nor of the embodiment or release of your soul here; but
think the revolving worlds to be a magic scene, and preserve perfect
tranquility of your mind.
28. Know all this as an illusion, and it is ignorance only, that
presents the false appearance of the world to sight; and yet we take
them for true, as you view the water in the burning beams of the sun in
a desert.
29. The unobstructed, uniform and all pervading soul, can have no
restriction or bondage; and what is unrestricted in itself, cannot have
its release also.
30. It is want of true knowledge, that presents the false view of the
world before us; but the knowledge of truth disperses the view; as the
knowledge of the rope, dispels the fallacy of the snake in it.
31. You have known the true essence of your being by your right
discernment (that it is He—the Sat); you are thereby freed from the
sense of your personality, and are set free as the subtile air.
32. You have known the truth, and must give up your knowledge of
untruth, together with the thoughts of your friends and relatives, all
which are unreal in their natures.
33. Such being the case, you must consider yourself (your soul), as
something other than those: and that you have received the same, from
the Supreme source of all.
34. This soul bears no relation to your friends or possession, to your
good or evil actions, or to anything whatever in this world;
35. When you are convinced that this very soul constitutes your
essence; you have nothing to fear from the erroneous conception of the
world, which is no more than a misconception.
36. You can have no concern, with the weal or woe of a friend or foe,
who is not born so to you; for every one being born for himself, you
have no cause of joy or grief for any body (whether he is friendly or
not to you).
37. If thou knowest that thou hadst been before (creation), and shalt
be so for everafterwards (to eternity); you are truly wise.
38. Shouldst thou feel so much for the friends, by whom thou art beset
in this life; why dost thou then not mourn for them, that are dead and
gone in thy present and past lives?
39. If thou wert something otherwise than what thou art at present, and
shalt have to be something different from what now thou art, why then
shouldst thou sorrow for what has not its self-identity? (_i.e._ the
body which is changed in all its transmigrations).
40. If thou art to be born no more, after thy past and present births
(_i.e._ if there be no further transmigration of thy soul), then thou
hast no cause for sorrow, being extinct thyself in the Supreme Spirit.
41. Therefore there is no cause of sorrow, in aught that occurs
according to the course of nature; but rather be joyous in pursuing the
duties of thy present life (for want of thy knowledge of thy past and
future states).
42. But do not indulge the excess of thy joy or grief, but preserve thy
equanimity everywhere; by knowing the Supreme Spirit to pervade in all
places.
43. Know thyself to be the form of the infinite spirit, and stretching
wide like the extended vacuum; and that thou art the pure eternal
light, and the focus of full effulgence.
44. Know thy eternal and invisible soul, to be distinct from all
worldly substances; and to be a particle of that universal soul, which
dwells in and stretches through the hearts of all bodies; and is like
the unseen thread, running through the holes and connecting the links
of a necklace (or like the string in the beads of a rosary). (This
connecting soul is denominated the Sútrátmá, which fills, bounds,
connects and equals all).
45. That the continuation of the world, is caused by the reproduction
of what has been before, is what you learn from the unlearned; and not
so from the learned (who know the world to be nothing). Know this and
not that, and be happy in this life.
46. The course of the world and this life, is ever tending to decay and
disease. It is ignorance that represents them to be progressing to
perfection. But you who are intelligent, knowest their real natures (of
frailty and unreality).
47. What else can be the nature of error but falsehood, and what may
the state of sleep be, but dream and drowsiness? (So is this world a
mistaken existence, and this life a mere dream of unreal appearance,
which so vividly shines before you).
48. Whom do you call your good friend, and whom do you say your great
enemy? They all belong to the Sole One, and proceed alike from the
Divine will.
49. Everything is frail and fickle, and has its rise and fall from and
into the Supreme Spirit; it likens the wave of the sea, rising and
falling from and into the same water.
50. The worlds are rolling upward and going down again, like the axis
and spokes of a wheel. (The rotations of the planets in their circuits
above and below the sun).
51. The celestials sometimes fall into hell, and the infernals are
sometimes raised to heaven; animals of one kind are regenerated in
another form, and the people of one continent and island are reborn in
another (as men are led from one country and climate to another, and
settle there).
52. The opulent are reduced to indigence, and the indigent are raised
to affluence; and all beings are seen to be rising and falling in a
hundred ways.
53. Who has seen the wheel of fortune, to move on slowly in one
straight forward course for ever, and not tumbling in its ups and
downs, nor turning to this side and that in its winding and uneven
route. Fixedness of fortune is a fiction, as that of finding the frost
in fire.
54. Those that are called great fortunes, and their components and
appendages as also many good friends and relations; are all seen to fly
away in a few days of this transient life.
55. The thought of something as one’s own and another’s, and of this
and that as mine, thine, his or others’, are as false as the appearance
of double suns and moons in the sky.
56. That this is a friend and this other a foe, and that this is myself
and that one is another, are all but false conceptions of your mind,
and must be wiped off from it (since the whole is but the one Ego).
57. Make it thy pleasure however to mix with the blinded populace, and
those that are lost to reason; and deal with them in thy usual
unaltered way. (Mix with the thoughtless mob, but think with the
thoughtful wise. So says Sadi: I learnt morals from the immoral,
_adabaz bedabanamokhtam_).
58. Conduct thyself in such a manner in thy journey through this world,
that thou mayst not sink under the burden of thy cares of it.
59. When thou comest to thy reason, to lay down thy earthly cares and
desires; then shalt thou have that composure of thy mind, which will
exonerate thee from all thy duties and dealings in life.
60. It is the part of lowminded men, to reckon one as a friend and
another as no friend; but noble minded men do not observe such
distinctions between man and man. (Lit. Their minds are not clouded by
the mist of distinction).
61. There is nothing wherein I am not (or where there is not the Ego);
and nothing which is not mine (_i.e._ beyond the Ego: the learned who
have considered it well, make no difference of persons in their minds).
62. The intellects of the wise, are as clear as the spacious firmament,
and there is no rising nor setting of their intellectual light, which
views everything as serenely as in the serenity of the atmosphere and
as plainly as the plain surface of the earth.
63. Know Ráma! all created beings, are friendly and useful to you, and
there is no body nor any in the world, wherewith you are not related in
some way on your part. (No body is a unit himself, but forms a part of
the universal whole).
64. It is erroneous to look any one as a friend or foe, among the
various orders of created beings in the universe; which in reality may
be serviceable to you, however unfriendly they may appear at first.
CHAPTER XIX.
ON HOLY KNOWLEDGE.
Argument. Story of Punya and Pávana, and the instruction of the former
to the latter.
Vasishtha continued:—I will now set before you an example on the
subject (of the distinction of friend and foe), in the instance of two
brothers, who were born of a sage on the banks of Ganges, going in
three directions of _tripatha_ or _trisrot_ as _trivia_.
2. Hear then this holy and wonderful tale of antiquity, which now
occurs to my mind on the subject of friends and enemies, which I have
been relating to you.
3. There is in this continent of Jambudvípa (Asia), a mountainous
region beset by groves and forests, with the high mount of Mahendra
rising above the rest.
4. It touched the sky with its lofty peaks, and the arbour of its kalpa
trees; spread its shadow over the hermits and kinnaras that resorted
under its bower.
5. It resounded with the carol of the sages, who chaunted the Sámaveda
hymns on it, in their passage from its caverns and peaks to the region
of Indra (the god of the vault of heaven).
6. The fleecy clouds which incessantly drizzled with rain water from
its thousand peaks; and washed the plants and flowers below, appeared
as tufts of hair hanging down from heaven to earth.
7. The mountain re-echoed to the loud roars of the impetuous octopede
Sarabhas, with the thunder claps of kalpa clouds from the hollow mouths
of its dark and deep clouds. (So Himálaya is said to warble to the
tunes of Kinnaras from its cavern mounts).[7]
8. The thundering noise of its cascades falling into its caverns from
precipice to precipice, has put to blush the loud roar of the Surges of
the sea.
9. There on tableland upon the craggy top of the mountain, flowed the
sacred stream of the heavenly Ganges, for the ablution and beverage of
the hermits.
10. There on the banks of the trivious river—tripatha—Gangá, was a
gemming mountain, sparkling as bright gold, and decorated with
blossoming trees.
11. There lived a sage by name of Dirghatapas, who was a
personification of devotion, and a man of enlightened understanding; he
had a noble mind, and was inured in austerities of devotion.
12. This sage was blessed with two boys as beautiful as the full moon,
and named Punya and Pávana (the meritorious and holy), who were as
intelligent as the sons of Brihaspati, known by the names of the two
Kachas.
13. He lived there on the bank of the river, and amidst a grove of
fruit trees, with his wife and the two sons born of them.
14. In course of time the two boys arrived to their age of discretion,
and the elder of them named Punya or meritorious, was superior to the
other in all his merits.
15. The younger boy named Pávana or the holy, was half awakened in his
intellect, like the half blown lotus at the dawn of the day; and his
want of intelligence kept him from the knowledge of truth, and in the
uncertainty of his faith.
16. Then in the course of the all destroying time, the sage came to
complete a century of years, and his tall body and long life, were
reduced in their strength by his age and infirmity.
17. Being thus reduced by decrepitude in his vitality, he bade adieu to
his desires in this world, which was so frail and full of a hundred
fearful accidents to human life (namely, the pains attending upon
birth, old age and death, and the fears of future transmigration and
falling into hell fire).
18. The old devotee Dirghatapas, quitted at last his mortal frame in
the grotto of the mount; as a bird quits its old nest for ever, or as a
water-bearer lays down the log of his burthen from his shoulders.
19. His spirit then fled like the fragrance of a flower to that vacuous
space, which is ever tranquil, free from attributes and thought, and is
of the nature of the pure intellect.
20. The wife of the sage finding his body lying lifeless on the ground,
fell down upon it, and remained motionless like a lotus flower nipt
from its stalk.
21. Having been long accustomed to the practice of yoga, according to
the instruction of her husband; she quitted her undecayed body, as a
bee flits from an unfaded flower to the empty air.
22. Her soul followed her husband’s, unseen by men, as the light of the
stars disappears in the air at the dawn of the day.
23. Seeing the demise of both parents, the elder son Punya was busily
employed in performing their funeral services; but the younger Pávana
was deeply absorbed in grief at their loss.
24. Being overwhelmed by sorrow in his mind, he wandered about in the
woods; and not having the firmness of his elder brother, he continued
to wail in his mourning.
25. The magnanimous Punya performed the funeral ceremonies of his
parents, and then went in search of his brother mourning in the woods.
26. Punya said:—Why my boy, is thy soul overcast by the cloud of thy
grief; and why dost thou shed the tears from thy lotus-eyes, as
profusely as the showers of the rain, only to render thee blind.
27. Know my intelligent boy, that both thy father and mother, have gone
to their ultimate blissful state in the Supreme Spirit, called the
state of salvation or liberation.
28. That is the last resort of all living beings, and that is the
blessed state of all self subdued souls; why then mourn for them, that
have returned to and are reunited with their own proper nature.
29. Thou dost in vain indulge thyself in thy false and fruitless grief,
and mournest for what is not to be mourned for at all: (rather rejoice
at it owing to their ultimate liberation).
30. Neither is she thy mother nor he thy father; nor art thou the only
son of them, that have had numerous offspring in their repeated births.
31. Thou hadst also thousands of fathers and mothers in thy by-gone
births, in as much as there are the streams of running waters in every
forest.
32. Thou art not the only son of them, that had innumerable sons before
thee; for the generations of men, have passed away like the currents of
a running stream.
33. Our parents also had numberless offspring in their past lives, and
the branches of human generation are as numerous, as the innumerable
fruits and flowers on trees.
34. The numbers of our friends and relatives in our repeated lives in
this world, have been as great, as the innumerable fruits and flowers
of a large tree, in all its passed seasons.
35. If we are to lament over the loss of our parents and children, that
are dead and gone; then why not lament also for those, that we have
lost and left behind in all our past lives?
36. It is all but a delusion, O my fortunate boy, that is presented
before us in this illusive world; while in truth, O my sensible child,
we have nobody, whom we may call to be our real friends or positive
enemies in this world.
37. There is no loss of any body or thing in their true sense in the
world; but they appear to exist and disappear, like the appearance of
water in the dry desert.
38. The royal dignity that thou seest here, adorned with the stately
umbrella and flapping fans; is but a dream lasting for a few days.
39. Consider these phenomena in their true light, and thou wilt find my
boy, that none of these nor ourselves nor any one of us, are to last
for ever: shun therefore thy error of the passing world from thy mind
for ever.
40. That these are dead and gone, and these are existent before us, are
but errors of our minds, and creatures of our false notions and fond
desires, and without any reality in them.
41. Our notions and desires, paint and present these various changes
before our sight; as the solar rays represent the water in the mirage.
So our fancies working in the field of our ignorance, produce the
erroneous conceptions, which roll on like currents in the eventful
ocean of the world, with the waves of favorable and unfavorable
events to us.
CHAPTER XX.
REMONSTRATION OF PÁVANA.
Argument. Punya’s relation of his various transmigrations and their
woes to Pávana.
Punya said:—Who is our father and who our mother, and who are our
friends and relatives, except our notion of them as such; and these
again are as the dust raised by the gusts of our airy fancy?
2. The conceptions of friends and foes, of our sons and relations are
the products of our affection and hatred to them; and these being the
effects of our ignorance, are soon made to disappear into airy nothing,
upon enlightenment of the understanding.
3. The thought of one as a friend, makes him a friend, and thinking one
as an enemy makes him an enemy; the knowledge of a thing as honey and
of another as poison, is owing to our opinion of it.
4. There being but one universal soul equally pervading the whole,
there can be no reason of the conception of one as a friend and of
another as an enemy.
5. Think my boy in thy mind what thou art, and what is that thing which
makes thy identity, when thy body is but a composition of bones, ribs,
flesh and blood, and not thyself.
6. Being viewed in its true light, there is nothing as myself or
thyself; it is a fallacy of our understanding, that makes me think
myself as Punya and thee as Pávana.
7. Who is thy father and who thy son, who thy mother and who thy
friend? One Supreme-self pervades all infinity, whom callest thou the
self, and whom the not self (_i.e._ thine and not thine).
8. If thou art a spiritual substance (linga saríra), and hast undergone
many births, then thou hadst many friends and properties in thy past
lives, why dost not think of them also?
9. Thou hadst many friends in the flowery plains, where thou hadst thy
pasture in thy former form of a stag; why thinkest not of those
deer, who were once thy dear companions?
10. Why dost thou not lament for thy lost companions of swans, in the
pleasant pool of lotuses, where thou didst dive and swim about in the
form of a gander?
11. Why not lament for thy fellow arbors in the woodlands, where thou
once stoodest as a stately tree among them?
12. Thou hadst thy comrades of lions on the rugged craigs of mountains,
why dost not lament for them also?
13. Thou hadst many of thy mates among the fishes, in the limpid lakes
decked with lotuses; why not lament for thy separation from them?
14. Thou hadst been in the country of Dasárna (confluence of the ten
rivers), as a monkey in the grey and green woods: a prince hadst thou
been in land of frost; and a raven in the woods of Pundra.
15. Thou hadst been an elephant in the land of Haihayas, and an ass in
that of Trigarta; thou hadst become a dog in the country of Salya, and
a bird in the wood of sarala or sál trees.
16. Thou hadst been a pípal tree on the Vindhyan mountains, and a wood
insect in a large oak (bata) tree; thou hadst been a cock on the
Mandara mountain, and then born as a Bráhman in one of its caverns (the
abode of Rishis).
17. Thou wast a Bráhman in Kosala, and a partridge in Bengal; a horse
hadst thou been in the snowy land, and a beast in the sacred ground of
Brahmá at Pushkara (Pokhra).
18. Thou hadst been an insect in the trunk of a palm tree, a gnat in a
big tree, and a crane in the woods of Vindhya, that art now my younger
brother.
19. Thou hadst been an ant for six months, and lain within the thin
bark of a _bhugpetera_ tree in a glen of the Himálayan hills, that art
now born as my younger brother.
20. Thou hadst been a millepede in a dunghill at a distant village;
where thou didst dwell for a year and half, that art now become my
younger brother.
21. Thou wast once the youngling of a Pulinda (a hill tribe woman), and
didst dwell on her dugs like the honey sucking bee on the pericarp of a
lotus. The same art thou now my younger brother.
22. In this manner my boy, wast thou born in many other shapes, and
hadst to wander all about the Jambudvípa, for myriads of years: And now
art thou my younger brother.
23. Thus I see the post states of thy existence, caused by the
antecedent desires of thy soul; I see all this by my nice discernment,
and my clear and all-viewing sight.
24. I also remember the several births that I had to undergo in my
state of (spiritual) ignorance, and then as I see clearly before my
enlightened sight.
25. I also was a parrot in the land of Trigarta, and a frog at the
beach of a river; I became a small bird in a forest, and was then born
in these woods.
26. Having been a Pulinda huntsman in Vindhya, and then as a tree in
Bengal, and afterwards a camel in the Vindhya range, I am at last born
in this forest.
27. I who had been a chátaka bird in the Himálayas, and a prince in the
Paundra province; and then as a mighty tiger in the forests of the
sahya hill, am now become your elder brother.
28. He that had been a vulture for ten years, and a shark for five
months and a lion for a full century; is now thy elder brother in this
place.
29. I was a chakora wood in the village of Andhara, and a ruler in the
snowy regions; and then as the proud son of a priest named Sailáchárya
in a hilly tract.
30. I remember the various customs and pursuits of different peoples on
earth, that I had to observe and follow in my repeated transmigrations
among them.
31. In these several migrations, I had many fathers and mothers, and
many more of my brothers and sisters, as also friends and relatives to
hundreds and thousands.
32. For whom shall I lament and whom forget among this number; shall I
wail for them only that I lose in this life? But these also are to be
buried in oblivion like the rest, and such is the course of the world.
33. Numberless fathers have gone by, and unnumbered mothers also have
passed and died away; so innumerable generations of men have perished
and disappeared, like the falling off of withered leaves.
34. There are no bounds, my boy, of our pleasures and pains in this
sublunary world; lay them all aside, and let us remain unmindful of all
existence (whether past, present or future)!
35. Forsake thy thoughts of false appearances, and relinquish thy firm
conviction of thy own egoism, and look to that ultimate course which
has led the learned to their final beatitude.
36. What is this commotion of the people for, but a struggling for
rising or falling (to heaven or hell); strive therefore for neither,
but live regardless of both like indifferent philosopher (and permit
thyself to heaven).
37. Live free from thy cares of existence and inexistence, and then
thou shalt be freed from thy fears of decay and death. Remember
unruffled thyself alone, and be not moved by any from thy self
possession by the accidents to life like the ignorant.
38. Know thou hast no birth nor death, nor weal or woe of any kind, nor
a father or mother, nor friend nor foe anywhere. Thou art only thy pure
spirit, and nothing of an unspiritual nature.
39. The world is a stage presenting many acts and scenes; and they only
play their parts well, who are excited neither by its passions and
feelings.
40. Those that are indifferent in their views, have their quietude
amidst all the occurrences of life; and those that have known the True
One, remain only to witness the course of nature.
41. The knowers of God do their acts, without thinking themselves their
actors; just as the lamps of night witness the objects around, without
their consciousness of the same.
42. The wise witness the objects as they are reflected in the mirror of
their minds, just as the looking glass and gems receive the images of
things.
43. Now my boy, rub out all thy wishes and the vestiges of thy
remembrance from thy mind, and view the image of the serene spirit of
God in thy inmost soul. Learn to live like the great sages with the
sight of thy spiritual light, and by effacing all false impressions
from thy mind.
CHAPTER XXI.
REPRESSION OF DESIRES BY MEANS OF YOGA-MEDITATION.
Argument. Desires are the shackles of the soul, and release from them
leading to its liberation.
Vasishtha continued:—Pávana being admonished by Punya in the said
manner, became as enlightened in his intellect, as the landscape at the
dawn of day.
2. They continued henceforward to abide in that forest, with the
perfection of their spiritual knowledge, and they wandered about in the
woods to their hearts content.
3. After a long time they had both their extinction, and rested in
their disembodied state of _nirvána_; as the oilless lamp wastes away
of itself.
4. Thus is the end of the great boast of men, of having large trains
and numberless friends in their embodied states of lifetime, of which
alas! they carry nothing with them to their afterlife, nor leave
anything behind, which they can properly call as theirs.
5. The best means of our release from the multifarious objects of our
desire, is the utter suppression of our appetites, rather than the
fostering of them.
6. It is the hankering after objects, that augment our appetite, as our
thinking on something increases our thoughts about it. Just so as the
fire is emblazoned by supply of the fuel, and extinguished by its want.
7. Now rise O Ráma! and remain aloft as in thy aerial car, by getting
loose of your worldly desires; and looking pitifully on the miseries of
grovelling mortals from above.
8. This is the divine state known as the position of Brahma, which
looks from above with unconcerned serenity upon all. By gaining this
state, the ignorant also are freed from misery.
9. One walking with reason as his companion, and having his good
understanding for his consort, is not liable to fall into the dangerous
trap-doors, which lie hid in his way through life.
10. Being bereft of all properties, and destitute of friends, one has
no other help to lift him up in his adversity, beside his own patience
and reliance in God.
11. Let men elevate their minds with learning and dispassionateness,
and with the virtues of self-dignity and valour, in order to rise over
the difficulties of the world.
12. There is no greater good to be derived by any other means, than by
the greatness of mind. It gives a security which no wealth nor earthly
treasure can confer on men.
13. It is only men of weak and crazy minds, that are often made to
swing to and fro, and to rise and sink up and below, in the tempestuous
ocean of the world.
14. The mind that is fraught with knowledge, and is full with the light
of truth in it, finds the world filled with ambrosial water, and moves
over it as easily, as a man walking on his dry shoes, or on a ground
spread over with leather.
15. It is the want of desire, that fills the mind more than the
fulfilment of its desires; dry up the channel of desire, as the
autumnal heat parches a pool.
16. Else it empties the heart (by sucking up the heart blood), and lays
open its gaps to be filled by air. The hearts of the avaricious are as
dry as the bed of the dead sea, which was sucked up (drained), by
Agasti (son of the sage Agastya).
17. The spacious garden of human heart, doth so long flourish with the
fruits of humanity and greatness, as the restless ape of avarice does
not infest its fair trees. (The mental powers are the trees, and the
virtues are the fruits and flowers thereof).
18. The mind that is devoid of avarice, views the triple world with the
twinkling of an eye. The comprehensive mind views all space and time as
a minim, in comparison to its conception of the infinite Brahma with
itself.
19. There is that coolness (sangfroid) in the mind of the unavaricious
man, as is not to be found in the watery luminary of the moon; nor in
the icy caverns of the snow-capt Himálayas. And neither the coldness of
the plantain juice nor sandal paste, is comparable with the
cool-headedness of inappetency.
20. The undesirous mind shines more brightly, than the disk of the full
moon, and the bright countenance of the goddess of prosperity (Lakshmí).
21. The urchin of appetence darkens the mind in the same manner, as a
cloud covers the disk of the moon, and as ink-black obliterates a fair
picture.
22. The arbour of desire stretches its branches, far and wide on every
side, and darkens the space of the mind with their gloomy shadow.
23. The branching tree of desire being cut down by its root, the plant
of patience which was stinted under it, shoots forth in a hundred
branches.
24. When the unfading arbour of patience, takes the place of the
uprooted desires; it produces the tree of paradise, yielding the fruits
of immortality. (Patience reigns over the untransmuted ill).
25. O well-intentioned Ráma! if you do not allow the sprouts of your
mental desires, to germinate in your bosom, you have then nothing to
fear in this world.
26. When you become sober-minded after moderating your heart’s desires,
you will then have the plant of liberation growing in its full
luxuriance in your heart.
27. When the rapacious owl of your desire, nestles in your mind, it is
sure you will be invaded by every evil, which the foreboding bird
brings on its abode.
28. Thinking is the power of the mind, and the thoughts dwell upon the
objects of desire; abandon therefore thy thoughts and their objects,
and be happy with thy thoughtlessness of everything.
29. Anything that depends on any faculty, is lost also upon inaction of
that faculty; therefore it is by suppression of your thinking (or
thoughts), that you can put down your desires, and thereby have rest
and peace of your mind.
30. Be free minded, O Ráma! by tearing off all its worldly ties, and
become a great soul by suppressing your mean desires of earthly
frailties: for who is there that is not set free, by being loosened
from the fetters of desire, that bind his mind to this earth.
CHAPTER XXII.
NARRATIVE OF VIROCHANA.
Argument. Account of King Bali and his Kingdom, and the Infernal
Regions; His Resignation of the World, and Rambles over the Sumeru
mountains.
Vasishtha said:—O Ráma! that art the bright moon of Raghu’s race,
you should also follow the example of Bali, in acquiring wisdom by
self-discernment. (Bali the Daitya king and founder of Maha Bali Pura,
called Mavalipura in Deccan, and in Southey’s poem on its Ruins).
2. Ráma said:—Venerable Sir, that art acquainted with all natures, it
is by thy favour that I have gained in my heart all that is worth
gaining; and that is our final rest in the purest state of infinite
bliss.
3. O sir, it is by your favor, that my mind is freed from the great
delusion of my multifarious desires; as the sky is cleared of the massy
clouds of the rainy weather in autumn.
4. My soul is at rest and as cold as a stone; it is filled with the
ambrosial draught of Divine knowledge and its holy light; I find myself
to rest in perfect bliss, and as illumined as the queen of the stars,
rising in her full light in the evening.
5. O thou dispeller of my doubts, and resemblest the clear autumnal
sky, that clears the clouds of the rainy season! I am never full and
satiate with all thy holy teachings to me.
6. Relate to me Sir! for the advancement of my knowledge, how Bali came
to know the transcendental truth. Explain it fully unto me, as holy
saints reserve nothing from their suppliant pupils.
7. Vasishtha replied:—Attend Ráma! to the interesting narrative of
Bali, and your attentive hearing of it, will give you the knowledge of
the endless and everlasting truth and immutable verities.
8. There is in the womb of this earth, and in some particular part of
it, a place called the infernal region, which is situated below this
earth. (The _Infra_ or Pátála means the antipodes and is full of water).
9. It is peopled by the milk white Naiades or marine goddesses, born in
the milky ocean-sweet water, and of the race of demons, who filled
every gap and chasm of it with their progeny. (The subterranean cells,
were peopled by the earth-born Titans).
10. In some places it was peopled by huge serpents, with a hundred and
thousand heads; which hissed loudly with their parted and forky
tongues, and their long projected fangs.
11. In other places there were the mountainous bodies of demons,
walking in their lofty strides, and seeming to fling above the balls of
the worlds as their bonbons, in order to devour them.
12. In another place there were big elephants, upholding the earth on
their elevated probosces, and supporting the islands upon their strong
and projected tusks. (These elephants were of the antediluvian world,
whose fossiled remains are found under the ground).
13. There were ghosts and devils in other places, making hideous
shrieks and noise; and there were groups of hellish bodies, and putrid
carcasses of ghostly shapes.
14. The depth of the nether world concealed in its darksome womb, rich
mines of gems and metals, lying under the surface of the earth, and
reaching to the seventh layer of _pátála_ or infernal regions.
15. Another part of this place, was sanctified by the dust of the
lotus-like feet of the divine Kapila (Siva or Pluto); who was adored by
the gods and demigods, by prostration of their exalted heads at his
holy feet.
16. Another part of it was presided by the god Siva, in his form of a
golden phallus (linga); which was worshipped by the ladies of the
demons, with abundant offerings and merry revelries. (Siva or Pluto—the
infernal god was fond of Bacchanals and revels).
17. Bali the son of Virochana, reigned in this place as the king of
demons, who supported the burden of his kingdom, on the pillars of
their mighty arms.
18. He forced the gods, Vidyádharas, serpents, and the king of the
gods, to serve at his feet like his vassal train, and they were glad to
serve him as their lord.
19. He was protected by Hari, who contains the gemming worlds in the
treasure of his bowels (brahmánda—bhándodara), and is the preserver of
all embodied beings, and the support of the sovereigns of the earth.
20. His name struck terror in the heart of Airávata, and made his
cheeks fade with fear; as the sound of a peacock petrifies the entrails
of serpents (because the peacock is a serpivorous bird).[8]
21. The intense heat of his valour, dried up the waters of the septuple
oceans of the earth; and turned them to seven dry beds, as under the
fire of the universal Conflagration.
22. But the smoke of his sacrificial fire, was an amulet to the people
for supply of water; and it caused the rains to fall as profusely from
above as the seas fallen below from the waters above. (This alludes to
the dynamite which was ignorantly believed to be a talisman).
23. His frowning look, made the high heads of mountains stoop low to
the ground; and caused the lofty skies to lower with water, like the
high branches of trees when overloaded with fruits. (It means, that the
mountains and skies were obedient to his bidding).
24. This mighty monarch reigned over the demons for myriads of years,
after he had made an easy conquest of all the treasures and luxuries of
the world.
25. Thus he lived for many ages, which glided on like the course of a
river rolling about like the waters of whirlpool; and witnessed the
incessant flux and reflux of the generations of gods, demons and men,
of the three worlds.
26. The king of the demons felt at last, a distaste to all the
enjoyments of life, which he had tasted to surfeit; and he felt also an
uneasiness amidst the variety of his pleasures.
27. He retired to the farthest polar mount of Meru, and there sitting
at the balcony of one of its gemming pinnacles, he reflected on the
state of this world and the vanity of mortal life.
28. How long yet, thought he in himself, shall I have to rule over this
world with my indefatigable labour; and how much more must I remain to
roam about the triple world, in my successive transmigrations?
29. Of what use is it to me to have this unrivaled sovereignty, which
is a wonder in the three worlds; and of what good is it to me, to enjoy
this plenteous luxury, which is so charming to the senses?
30. Of what permanent delight are all these pleasures to me, which are
pleasant only for the present short time, and are sure to lose all
their taste with my zest in them in the next moment?
31. There is the same rotation of days and nights in unvarying
succession, and the repetition of the same acts day after day. It is
rather shameful and no way pleasant to any one, to continue in the same
unvaried course of life for a great length of time.
32. The same embraces of our beloved ones, and partaking of the same
food day by day, are amusements fit for playful boys only, but are
disgraceful and disgusting to great minds.
33. What man of taste is there, that will not be disgusted to taste the
same sweets over and over again, which he has tasted all along, and
which have become vapid and tasteless to-day; and what sensible man can
continue in the same course, without the feelings of shame and remorse?
34. The revolving days and nights bring the same revolution of duties,
and I ween this repetition of the same acts—_kritasya karanam_, is as
ridiculous to the wise, as the mastication of his grinded
meat—_charbita charbana_. (Kritasya karanam násti, mritasya maranam
yathá. There is no doing of an act, which has been done? Nor the dying
of a man, that’s already dead).
35. The actions of men are as those of the waves, which rise to fall
and then rise again to subside in the waters. (This rising and falling
over and anon again, is to no purpose whatever).
36. The repetition of the same act, is the employment of mad men; and
the wise man is laughed at, who reiterates the same chime, as the
conjugation of a verb by boys, in all its moods, tenses and inflexions.
37. What action is that which being once completed, does not recur to
us any more, but crowns its actor with his full success all at once?
(It is cessation from repetition of the same action, _i.e._ inaction).
38. Or if this bustle of the world, were for a short duration only, yet
what is the good that we can derive from our engaging in this commotion?
39. The course of actions is as interminable, as the ceaseless
repetends of boyish sports; it is hollow harping on the same string,
which the more it is played upon, the more it reverberates to its
hollow sound. (The acts of men make a renown and vain blustering sound
only, and no real good to the actor).
40. I see no such gain from any of our actions, which being once
gained, may prevent our further exertions. (Action leads to action, but
non-action is a leader to quiescence or _naiskarma_).
41. What can our actions bring forth, beside the objects of sensible
gratification? They cannot bring about anything that is imperishable.
Saying so, Bali fell in a trance of his profound meditation.
42. Coming then to himself; he said:—“Ah! I now come to remember, what
I had heard from my father”: so saying he stretched his eye-brows, and
gave vent to what he thought in his mind.
43. “I had formerly asked my father Virochana, who was versed in
spiritual knowledge, and acquainted with the manners of the people of
former and later ages”.
44. Saying: what is that ultimate state of being, where all our pains
and pleasures cease to exist; and after the attainment of which, we
have no more to wander about the world, or pass through repeated
transmigrations.
45. What is that final state towards which all our endeavours are
directed, and where our minds are freed from their error; and where we
obtain our full rest, after all our wanderings and transmigrations?
46. What is that best of gains, which gives full satisfaction to the
cravings of the soul; and what is that glorious object, whose sight
transcends all other objects of vision?
47. All those various luxuries and superfluities of the world, are no
way conducive to our real happiness; in as much as they mislead the
mind to error, and corrupt the souls of even the wisest of men.
48. “Therefore, O father, show me that state of imperishable felicity,
whereby I may attain to my everlasting repose and tranquility”.
49. My father having heard these words of mine, as he was then sitting
under the shade of the kalpa tree of paradise, whose flowers were
fairer far than the bright beams of the nocturnal luminary, and
overspread the ground all around; spoke to me in his sweet mellifluous
accents the following speech, for the purpose of removing my error.
CHAPTER XXIII.
SPEECH OF VIROCHANA ON SUBJECTION OF THE MIND.
Argument. The soul and mind personified as a monarch and his minister.
Virochana said:—There is an extensive country, my son, somewhere in
this universe, with a spacious concavity therein, whose ample space is
able to hold thousands of worlds and many more spheres in it.
2. It is devoid of the wide oceans and seas and high mountains, as
there are in this earth; and there are not such forests, rivers and
lakes, nor holy places of pilgrimage, as you see here below.
3. There is neither land nor sky, nor the heavenly orbs as on high; nor
are there these suns and moons, nor the regents of the spheres, nor
their inhabitants of gods and demons.
4. There are no races of Yakshas and Rakshas, nor those tribes of
plants and trees, woods or grass; nor the moving and immovable beings,
as you see upon the earth.
5. There is no water, no land, no fire nor air; nor are there the sides
of the compass, nor the regions you call above and below. There is no
light nor shadow, nor the peoples, nor the gods Hari, Indra and Siva,
nor any of the inferior deities or demigods there.
6. There is a great sovereign of that place, who is full of ineffable
light. He is the creator and pervader of all, and is all in all, but
quite quiescent in all places and things.
7. He had elected a minister, who was clever in administration and
brought about what was impossible to be done, and prevented all mishaps
from coming to pass.
8. He neither ate nor drank, nor did nor knew anything, beside minding
and doing his master’s behests. In all other respects he was as
inactive as a block of stone.
9. He conducted every business for his master, who remained quite
retired from all his business, with enjoyment of his rest and ease in
his seclusion, leaving all his concerns to be managed by his minister.
10. Bali said:—Tell me sir, what place is that which is devoid of all
population, and free from all disease and difficulty; who knows that
place, and how can it be reached at by any body.
11. Who is that sovereign of sovran power, and who that minister of so
great might; and who being quite apart from the world, are inseparably
connected with it, and are invincible by our almighty demoniac power.
(This monarch and master is the soul and his minister is the mind).
12. Relate to me, O thou dread of the gods! this marvelous story of the
great might of that minister, in order to remove the cloud of doubt
from my mind, and also why he is unconquerable by us.
13. Virochana replied:—Know my son, this mighty minister to be
irresistible by the gigantic force of the Asura giants, even though
they were aided by millions of demons fighting on their side.
14. He is invincible, my son, by the god of a thousand eyes (Indra),
and also by the gods of riches and death (Kubera and Yama), who conquer
all, and neither the immortals nor giants, can ever overpower him by
their might.
15. All weapons are defeated in their attempt to hurt him, and the
swords and mallets, spears and bolts, disks and cudgels, that are
hurled against him, are broken to pieces as upon their striking against
a solid rock.
16. He is unapproachable by missiles, and invulnerable by arms and
weapons, and unseizable by the dexterity of warriors; and it is by his
resistless might, that he has brought the gods and demigods under his
subjection.
17. It was he (the proud mind) that defeated our forefathers, the
mighty Hiranyas (Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakasipu), before they were
destroyed by the great Vishnu; who felled the big Asuras, as a storm
breaks down the sturdy and rocklike oaks.[9]
18. The gods Náráyana and others (who had been the instructors of men),
were all foiled by him and confined in their cells of the wombs of
their mothers (by an imprecation of the sage Bhrigu, who denounced them
to become incarnate in human forms).
19. It is by his favour that Káma (Cupid), the god with his flower bow
and five arrows, has been enabled to subdue and overcome the three
worlds, and boasts of being their sole emperor. (Káma called also
Manoja, is the child of mana or mind, and Kandarpa for his boast of his
triumph).
20. The gods and demigods, the intelligent and the foolish, the
deformed and the irascible, are all actuated by his influence. (Love is
the leader to action according to Plato).
21. The repeated wars between the gods and Asuras, are the sports of
this minister (who deliberates in secret the destinies of all beings.
The restless mind is continually at warfare).
22. This minister is only manageable by its lord—the silent soul, or
else it is as dull as an immovable rock or restless as the wind.
23. It is in the long run of its advancement in spiritual knowledge,
that the soul feels a desire in itself to subdue its minister; who is
otherwise ungovernable of its nature by lenient measures. (Govern your
mind or it will govern you. The mind is best taught by whip).
24. You are then said to be valiant, if you can conquer this greatest
of the giants in the three worlds, who has been worrying all people out
for their breath. (The mind longs for occupation).
25. After the rising of the intellect, the world appears as a
flower garden, and like the lake of blooming lotuses at sunrise; and
its setting covers the world in darkness as at sunset (_i.e._ in
unconsciousness).
26. It is only by the aid of this intellect of yours, and by removal of
your ignorance, that you can subdue this minister, and be famed for
your wisdom. (Good government of the mind, is more renowned than that
of a realm).
27. By subduing this minister, you become the subduer of the world,
though you are no victor of it; and by your unsubjection of this, you
can have no subjection over the world, though may be the master of it.
28. Therefore be diligent to overcome this minister, by your best and
most ardent exertions, on account of effecting your perfect
consummation, and securing your everlasting happiness.
29. It is easy for him to overcome the triple world, and keep all its
beings of gods and demons, and the bodies of Nágas and men, together
with the races of Yakshas and Rakshas, and the tribes of serpents and
Kinnaras, who has been able to subdue this minister by his superior
might. (Govern yourself, and you govern all besides).
CHAPTER XXIV.
ON THE HEALING AND IMPROVEMENT OF THE MIND.
Argument. Quelling of the misleading mind, and waiting upon the
sovereign soul, with the perfection of Platonic Quietism.
Bali said:—Tell me sir, plainly who is this minister of so great might,
and by what expedients can so mighty a being be vanquished and brought
under subjection.
2. Virochana replied:—Though that minister, is invincible and stands
above all in his great might; yet I will tell you the expedients,
whereby he may be overcome by you or any one else.
3. Son! It is by employment of proper means that he may be easily
brought under subjection, and by neglect of which he will have the
upper hand of you like the snake poison, if it is not repelled in time
by means of efficacious mantras and incantations.
4. The ministerial mind being brought up like a boy in the right way he
should go; leads the man to the presence of the sovran soul, as the
_rája yoga_ or royal service advances the servant before his king.
5. The appearance of the master makes the minister disappear from
sight; as the disappearance of the minister, brings one to the full
view of his king.
6. As long as one does not approach to the presence of his king, he
cannot fail to serve the minister; and so long as he is employed in
service of the minister, he cannot come to the sight of his king.
7. The king being kept out of sight, the minister is seen to exercise
his might; but the minister being kept out of view, the king alone
appears in full view.
8. Therefore must we begin with the practice of both these exercises at
once; namely, approaching by degrees to the sight of the king, and
slighting gradually the authority of the minister.
9. It must be by the exercise of your continued manly exertions and
diligent application, that you employ yourself in both these practices,
in order to arrive to the state of your well being.
10. When you are successful in your practice, you are sure to reach to
that blissful country; and though you are a prince of the demons, you
can have nothing to obstract your entrance into it.
11. That is a place for the abode of the blessed, whose desires are at
rest and whose doubts are dissipated, and whose hearts are filled with
perpetual joy and calmness.
12. Now hear me, explain to you, my son, what that place is which I
called a country. It is the seat of liberation (moksha), and where
there is an end of all our pains.
13. The king of that place is the soul of divine essence, which
transcends all other substances; and it is the mind which is appointed
by that soul as its wise minister.
14. The mind which contains the ideal world in its bosom, exhibits its
sensible form to the senses afterwards; as the clod of clay containing
the mould of the pot, shows itself as the model of a pot to view; and
the smoke having the pattern of the cloud in its essence, represents
its shadowy forms in the sky. (The pattern of everything is engraven in
the mind).
15. Hence the mind being conquered, everything is subdued and brought
under subjection; but the mind is invincible without adoption of proper
means for its subjugation.
16. Bali interrogated:—What are these means, sir, which we are to adopt
for quelling the mind; tell it plainly to me, that I may resort to the
same, for this conquering invincible barrier of bliss.
17. Virochana answered: The means for subduing the mind, are the want
of reliance and confidence on all external and sensible things, and
absence of all desire for temporal possessions.
18. This is the best expedient for removal of the great delusion of
this world, and subduing the big elephant of the mind at once.
19. This expedient is both very easy and practicable on one hand, as it
is arduous and impracticable on the other. It is the constant habit of
thinking so that makes it facile, but the want of such habitude renders
it difficult.
20. It is the gradual habit of renouncing our fondness for temporal
objects, that shows itself in time in our resignation of the world; as
continuous watering at the roots of plants, makes them grow to large
trees afterwards.
21. It is as hard to master anything even by the most cunning, without
its proper cultivation for some time; as it is impossible to reap the
harvest from an unsown and uncultivated field.
22. So long are all embodied souls destined to rove about the
wilderness of the world, as there is the want of resignation in their
heart of all the sensible objects in nature.
23. It is impossible without the habit of apathy, to have a distaste
for sensible objects, as it is no way possible for an ablebodied man,
to travel abroad by sitting motionless at home.
24. The firm determination of abandoning the stays of life, and a
habitual aversion to pleasures and enjoyments, make a man to advance to
purity, as a plant grows in open air to its full height.
25. There is no good to be derived on earth, without the exertion of
one’s manliness, and man must give up his pleasure and the vexation of
his spirit, in order to reap the fruit of his actions.
26. People speak of a power as destiny here, which has neither any
shape nor form of itself. It means whatever comes to pass, and is also
called our lot or fatality.
27. The word destiny is used also by mankind, to mean an accident over
which they have no control, and to which they submit with passive
obedience.
28. They use the word destiny for repression of our joy and grief (at
what is unavoidable); but destiny however fixed as fate, is overcome
and set aside by means of manly exertions (in many instances).
29. As the delusion of the mirage, is dispelled by the light of its
true nature; so it is the exertion of manliness, which upsets destiny
by effecting whatever it wishes to bring about.
30. If we should seek to know the cause for the good or bad results of
our actions, we must learn that they turn as well as the mind wishes to
mould them to being.
31. Whatever the mind desires and decrees, the same become the
destiny; there is nothing destined (or distinctly to be known), as what
we may call to be destined or undestined.
32. It is the mind that does all this, and is the employer of destiny;
it destines the destined acts of destiny.
33. Life or the living soul is spread out in the hollow sphere of the
world, like air in vacuum. The psychic fluid circulates through all
space.
(The psychic fluid extending throughout the universe, according to the
theory of Stahl).
34. Destiny is no reality, but a term invented to express the property
of fixity, as the word rock is used to denote stability. Hence there is
no fixed fate or destiny, as long as the mind retains its free will and
activity.
35. After the mind is set at rest, there remains the principle of the
living soul (Jíva—zoo). This is called the _purusha_ or embodied
spirit, which is the source of the energies of the body and mind.
36. Whatever the living soul intends to do by means of its spiritual
force, the same comes to take place and no other. (There being not even
the influence of the mind to retard its action. So my son, there is no
other power in the world except that of spirit or spiritual force).
37. Reliance on this spiritual power will uproot your dependance on
bodily nutriments; and there is no hope of spiritual happiness, until
there is a distaste towards temporal enjoyments.
38. It is hard to attain to the dignity of the all conquering
self-sufficiency, as long as one has the dastardly spirit of his
earthly cravings.
39. As long as one is swinging in the cradle of worldly affairs, it is
hard for him to find his rest in the bower of peaceful tranquility.
40. It is hard for you to get rid of your serpentine (crooked) desires,
without your continued practice of indifference to and unconcernedness
with worldly affairs.
41. Bali rejoined:—Tell me, O lord of demons! in what manner,
indifference to worldly enjoyments, takes a deep root in the human
heart; and produces the fruit of longevity of the embodied spirit on
earth. (By longevity is meant the spiritual life of man, and his
resting in the divine Spirit, by being freed from the accidents of
mortal life).
42. Virochana replied:—It is the sight of the inward spirit, which is
productive of indifference to worldly things; as the growth of vines is
productive of the grapes in autumn.
43. It is the sight of the inward Spirit, which produces our internal
unconcernedness with the world; as it is the glance of the rising sun,
which infuses its lustre in the cup of the lotus.
44. Therefore sharpen your intellect, by the whetstone of right
reasoning; and see the Supreme Spirit, by withdrawing your mind from
worldly enjoyments.
45. There are two modes of intellectual enjoyment, of which one
consists of book learning, and the other is derived from attendance on
the lectures of the preceptor, by those that are imperfect in their
knowledge. (_i.e._ The one is theoretical for adepts and the other is
practical for novices).
46. Those who are a little advanced in learning, have the double
advantage of their mental enjoyment, namely: their reflection of book
learning and consultation with wise preceptors on practical points.
(Hence the practice of Yoga requires a Yogi guide also).
47. Those who are accomplished in learning, have also two parts of
their duties to perform; namely, the profession of the sástras teaching
them to others, and the practice of indifference for themselves. (But
the last and lowest kind, only have to wait on the guru and reflect on
what they hear from him).
48. The soul being purified, the man is fitted for Spiritual learning;
as it is the clean linen only which is fit to receive every good
tincture upon it.[10]
49. The mind is to be trained by degrees, like a boy in the path of
learning; namely by means of persuasion and good lectures, and then by
teaching of the sástras, and lastly by discussion of their doctrines.
50. After its perfection in learning and dispersion of all difficulties
and doubts, the mind shines as a piece of pure crystal, and emits its
lustre like the cooling moonbeams.
51. It then sees by its consummate knowledge and clear understanding,
in both the form of its God the Spirit, and the body which is the seat
of its enjoyments on earth.
52. It constantly sees the spirit before it, by means of its
understanding and reason; which help it also to relinquish its desire
for worldly objects and enjoyments.
53. The sight of the Spirit produces the want of desires, and the
absence of these shows the light of the spirit to its sight; therefore
they are related to each other like the wick and oil of the lamp, in
producing the light, and dispelling the darkness of the night.
54. After the loss of relish in worldly enjoyments, and the sight of
the Supreme Spirit, the soul finds its perpetual rest in the essence of
the Supreme Brahma.
55. The living souls that place their happiness in worldly objects, can
never have the taste of true felicity, unless they rely themselves
wholly in the Supreme Spirit.
56. It may be possible to derive some delight from acts of charity,
sacrifices and holy pilgrimage; but none of these can give the
everlasting rest of the Spirit.
57. No one feels a distaste for pleasure, unless he examines its nature
and effects in himself; and nothing can teach the way of seeing the
soul, unless the soul reflects on itself.
58. Those things are of no good whatever, my boy, that may be had
without one’s own exertion in gaining it; nor is there any true
happiness, without the resignation of earthly enjoyments.
59. The Supreme felicity of rest in the state of Brahma, is to be bad
nowhere in this wide world, either in this mundane sphere, or anywhere
else beyond these spheres.
60. Therefore expect always how your soul may find its rest in the
divine Spirit, by relying on the exertion of your manliness, and
leaving aside your dependance on the eventualities of destiny.
61. The wise man detests all worldly enjoyments as if they are the
strong bolts or barriers at the door of bliss; and it is the settled
aversion to earthly pleasures, that brings a man to his right reason.
62. As the increasing gloominess of rainy clouds, is followed by the
serenity of autumnal skies, so clear reasoning comes after detestation
of enjoyments, which fly at the advance of reason.
63. As the seas and the clouds of heaven, help one another by lending
their waters in turn; so apathy to pleasures and right reasoning, tend
to produce each other by turns.
64. So disbelief in destiny, and engagement in manly exertion, are
sequences of one another, as reciprocities of service are consequences
of mutual friendship.
65. It must be by the gnashing of your teeth (_i.e._ by your firm
resolve), that you should create a distaste even of those things, which
you have acquired by legal means and conformably to the custom of your
country.
66. You must first acquire your wealth by means of your manly
exertions, and then get good and clever men in your company by means of
your wealth (_i.e._ patronise the learned therewith, and improve your
mind by their instructions).
67. Association with the wise produces an aversion to the sensual
enjoyments of life, by exciting the reasoning power, which gains for
its reward an increase of knowledge and learning.
68. These lead gradually to the acquirement of that state of
consummation, which is concomitant with the utter renunciation of
worldly objects.
69. It is then by means of your reasoning that you attain to that
Supreme State of perfection, in which you obtain your perfect rest and
the holiness of your soul.
70. You will then fall no more in the mud of your misconceptions; but
as a pure essence, you will have no dependance on anything, but become
as the venerable Siva yourself.
71. Thus the steps of attaining consummation, are first of all the
acquisition of wealth, according to the custom of the caste and
country; and then its employment in the service of wise and learned
men. Next follows your abandonment of the world, which is succeeded by
your attainment of Spiritual knowledge, by the cultivation of your
reasoning powers.[11]
CHAPTER XXV.
REFLECTIONS OF BALI.
Argument. Rise of intellectual light in Bali’s mind, and his Reference
to Sukra for Advice.
Bali said:—In this manner did my sapient father advise me before on
this subject, which I fortunately remember at the present moment for
the enlightenment of my understanding.
2. It is now that I feel my aversion to the enjoyments of life, and
come to perceive by my good luck the bliss of tranquility, to liken
the clear and cooling ambrosial drink of heavenly bliss.
3. I am tired of all my possessions, and am weary of my continued
accumulation of wealth, for the satisfaction of my endless desires. The
live-long care of the family also has grown tiresome to me.
4. But how charming is this peace and tranquility of my soul, which is
quite even and all cool within itself. Here are all our pleasures and
pains brought to meet upon the same level of equality and indifference.
5. I am quite unconcerned with any thing and am highly delighted with
my indifference to all things; I am gladdened within myself as by the
beams of the full-moon, and feel the orb of the full moon rising within
myself.
6. O! the trouble of acquiring riches, which is attended by the loud
bustle of the world and agitation in the mind, and the heart burn and
fatigue of the body; and is accompanied with incessant anxiety and
affliction of the heart.
7. The limbs and flesh of the body, are smashed by labour; and all
bodily exercises that pleased me once, now appear to be the long and
lost labours of my former ignorance.
8. I have seen the sights of whatever was worth seeing, and enjoyed the
enjoyments which knew no bounds; I have overcome all beings; but what
is the good (that I have derived from all this)?
9. There is only a reiteration of the very same things, that I had
there, here and elsewhere; and I found nowhere now any thing new, that
I had not seen or known before.
10. I am now sitting here in full possession of myself, by resigning
every thing and its thought from my mind; and thereby I find that
nothing whatever nor even its thought forms any component-part of
myself.
11. The best things in the heaven above, earth and in this infernal
region, are reckoned to be their damsels, gems and jewels; but all
these are destroyed and wasted sooner or later by the cruel hand of
time.
12. I have acted foolishly all this time, by waging a continuous
struggle with the gods, for the sake of the trifle of worldly
possessions. (The wars of the earth-born demons and the foreign deities
are well known in the early history of the world).
13. What is this phantom of the world, but a creation of the brain;
what then is the harm of forsaking it forever in which great souls take
no delight whatever?
14. Alas! that I have spent such a large portion of my life-time, in
pursuing after trifles in the ignorant giddiness of my mind.
15. My fickle and fluctuating desires, have led me to do many acts of
foolishness, in this world of odds and trifles, which now fill me with
remorse and regret. (Remembrance of the past, is fraught with
regret).
16. But it is in vain to be overwhelmed with the sad thoughts of the
past, while I should use my manly exertions to improve the present.
(The present time is in our hand, but who the past can recall, or the
future command).
17. It is by reflecting on the eternal cause of the endless infinity of
souls in the soul, that one can attain his perfect felicity; as the
gods got the ambrosia from the Milky ocean. (True bliss is to be
derived from the blissful Deity).
18. I most consult my preceptor Sukra, concerning the Ego and the soul
and spiritual vision, of the soul of souls in order to expel my
ignorance in these matters.
19. I must refer these questions to the most venerable Sukra, who is
always complacent to his favorites; and then it is possible that by
his advice I shall be settled in the highest perfection of seeing the
supreme spirit, in my spirit, because the words of the wise, are ever
fraught with full meaning and are fruitful of the desired object.
CHAPTER XXVI.
ADMONITION OF SUKRA TO BALI.
Argument. Sukra’s appearance at the call of Bali; and his advice to him
on the attainment of divine knowledge.
Vasishtha said:—So saying the mighty Bali closed his eyes, and thought
upon the lotus-eyed Sukra, abiding in his heavenly abode. (Sukra the
planet Venus represented as the preceptor of demons, as Vrihaspati the
planet Jupiter is said to be the Spiritual guide of the deities).
2. Sukra, who sat intently meditating on the all pervading spirit of
God, came to know in his mind, that he was remembered by his disciple
Bali in his city.
3. Then Sukra the son of Bhrigu, whose soul was united with the
all pervading infinite and omniscient spirit, descended with his
heavenly body at the gemming window of Bali (decorated with glass
doors).
4. Bali knew the body of his guide by its lustre, as the lotus-flower
perceives the rising sun by his dawning beams.
5. He then honoured his _guru_ or guide, by adoring his feet on a seat
decked with gems, and with offering of _mandára_ flowers upon him.
6. As Sukra took his rest on the gemming seat from the labour of his
journey, he was strewn over with offerings of gems on his body, and
heaps of mandára flowers upon his head; after which Bali addressed him
thus:—
7. Venerable sir, this illustrious presence of thy grace before me,
emboldens me to address to thee, as the morning sun-beams send all
mankind to their daily work.
8. I have come to feel an aversion, Sir, to all kinds of worldly
enjoyments, which are productive of the delusion of our souls; and want
to know the truth relating to it, in order to dispel my ignorance of
myself.
9. Tell me, sir, in short, what are these enjoyments good for, and how
far they extend; and what am I, thou or these people in reality.
(Extent of enjoyments—bhoga, means their limitation and duration).
10. Sukra answered:—I can not tell you in length about it, as I have
soon to repair to my place in the sky. Hear me O monarch of demons tell
this much briefly to you at present.
11. There is verily but the intellect in reality, and all this
existence beside is verily the intellect and full of intellect: The
mind is the intellect, and I, thou and these people are collectively
the very intellect. (Gloss. These sayings are based on the srutis,
namely: All these are but different aspects of the one intellect.
Again: All things depend on the _chit_. Also:—This _chit_ am I, thou
and this Brahma and Indra and all others. There is no other looker or
the subjective; or the hearer or objective beside the _chit_: and so
forth).
12. If you are wise, know you derive every thing from this Chit—the
universal Intellect; or else all gifts of fortune are as useless to you
as the offering of butter on ashes (which cannot consume it, or make a
burnt offering of it to the gods).
13. Taking the intellect as something thinkable or object of thought,
is the snare of the mind; but the belief of its freeness or
incomprehensibility, is what confers liberation to the soul. The
incomprehensible intellect is verily the universal soul, which is the
sum of all doctrines. (All faiths and doctrines tend to the belief of
one unknowable God).
14. Knowing this for certain, look on everything as such; and behold
the spirit in thy spirit, in order to arrive to the state of the
Infinite spirit. (Or else the adoration of a finite object, must lead
to a finite state).
15. I have instantly to repair to the sky, where the seven munis
are assembled (the seven planets or the seven stars of the
Pleiades—saptarshi?), where I have to continue in the performance
of my divine service.
16. I tell you, O king! that you must not of yourself get rid of your
duties, as long as you are in this body of yours, even though your mind
may be freed from everything. (The embodied being must continue in the
discharge of his bodily duty).
17. So saying, Sukra flew as a bee besmeared with the farinaceous
gold-dust of the lotus, to the aureate vault of heaven; and passed
through the watery path of the waving clouds, to where the revolving
planets were ready to receive him.
CHAPTER XXVII.
HEBETUDE OF BALI.
Argument. Bali attains to his state of Ecstacy, by his observance
of Sukra’s precepts.
Vasishtha said:—After Sukra, the son of Bhrigu and senior in the
assembly of gods and demigods, had made his departure, Bali the best
among the intelligent, reflected thus in himself.
2. Truly has the seer said, that the Intellect composes the three
worlds, and that I am this Intellect, and the Intellect fills all the
quarters, and shows itself in all our actions.
3. It is the Intellect which pervades the inside and outside of every
thing, and there is nothing anywhere which is without the Intellect.
4. It is the Intellect that perceives the sunbeams and moonlight, or
else there would be no distinction between them and darkness, had not
there been this intellectual perception.
5. If there were no such intellectual perception as this earth is land,
then there would be no distinction of earth and water, nor the word
earth apply to land.
6. If the Intellect would not understand the vast space as the quarters
of the sky, and the mountains as vast protuberances on earth; then who
would call the sides and the mountains by those names?
7. If the world were not known as the world and the vacuum as vacuity,
then who would distinguish them by the names that are in common use?
8. If this big body was not perceived by the intellect, how proper
could the bodies of embodied beings be called by their names?
9. The Intellect resides in every organ of sense, it dwells in the
body, mind and all its desires; the intellect is in the internal and
external parts of the body, and the intellect is all that is in
existent and non-existent. (Because the intellect has the notions of
all these things, which would not come to exist, if they were not in
the intellect).
10. The Intellect forms my wholeself, by its feeling and knowing of
everything that I feel and know; or else I can neither perceive or
conceive nor do anything with my body alone, and without guidance of
the intellect.
11. What avails this body of mine, which is inert and insensible as a
block of wood or stone; it is the intellect that makes my self, and it
is the intelligent spirit which is the universal Soul.
12. I am the intellect which resides in the sun and in the sky, and I
am the intellect which dwells in the bodies of all beings; I am the
same intellect which guides the gods and demigods, and dwells alike in
the movables and immovable bodies.
13. The intellect being the sole existence, it is in vain to suppose
aught besides; and their being naught otherwise, there can be no
difference of a friend or foe to us.
14. What is it if I Bali, strike off the head of a person from his
body, I can not injure the soul which is everywhere and fills all space.
15. The feelings of love and enmity are properties of the intellect
(Soul), and are not separated from it by its separation from the body.
Hence the passions and feelings are inseparable from the Intellect or
soul.
16. There is nothing to be thought of beside the Intellect, and nothing
to be obtained anywhere, except from the spacious womb of the
Intellect, which comprehends all the three worlds.
17. But the passions and feelings, the mind and its powers, are mere
attributes and not properties of the Intellect; which being altogether
a simple and pure essence, is free from every attribute.
18. The Intellect—_chit_ is the Ego, the omnipresent, all pervasive and
ever felicitous soul; it is beyond all other attributes, and without a
duality or parts.
19. The term Intellect—_chit_ which is applied to the nameless power of
intellection—_chiti_, is but a verbal symbol signifying the omniscient
Intelligence, which is manifest in all places. (_i.e._ The Divine
Intellect is both omniscient as well as omnipresent, while human
understanding is narrow and circumscribed).
20. The Ego is the Supreme Lord, that is ever awake and sees all things
without manifesting any appearance of himself. He is purely transparent
and beyond all visible appearances.
21. All its attributes are lame, partial and imperfect. Even time which
has its phases and parts, is not a proper attribute for it. It is but a
glimpse of its light that rises before us, but the eternal and infinite
light, is beyond our comprehension.
22. I must think of it only in the form of light in my own self, and
know it apart from all other thinkables and thoughts, and quite aloof
from all shades and colours.
23. I salute his self-same form of Intelligence, and the power of
Intellection, unaccompanied by the intelligible, and employed in its
proper sphere.
24. I salute that light of his in me, which represents every thing to
me; which is beyond all thought, and is of the form of Intellect, going
everywhere and filling all space.
25. It is the quiet consciousness of all beings, the real Intellect
(sach-chit), the Ego and the Great; the Ego which is as infinite as
space, and yet minuter than an atom, and spreading in all alike.
26. I am not subject to the states of pleasure and pain, I am conscious
of my self and of no other existence besides myself; and I am
Intelligence without the intelligibles spread out before me.
27. No worldly entity nor non-entity (_i.e._ neither the gain of any
object nor its want), can work any change in me; for the possession of
worldly objects would destroy me at once (by their separating my soul
from God).
28. In my opinion there is nothing that is distinct from me, when we
know all things as the produce of the same source.
29. What one gets or loses is no gain or loss to any (_i.e._ to the
gainer or loser), because the same Ego always abides in all, and is the
Maker of all and pervading everywhere.
30. Whether I am any of the thinkable objects or not, it matters me
little to know; since the Intellect is always a single thing, though
its intelligibles (_i.e._ its productions or thoughts), are endless.
31. I am so long in sorrow, as my soul is not united with the Holy
spirit. So saying, the most discerning Bali fell to a deep meditation.
32. He reflected on the half mantra of Om (_i.e._ the dot only); an
emblem of the Infinite God; and sat quietly with all his desires and
fancies lying dormant in him.
33. He sat undaunted, by suppressing his thoughts and his thinking
powers within him; and remained with his subdued desires, after having
lost the consciousness of his meditation, and of his being the
meditator and also of meditated object. (_i.e._ Without knowing himself
as the subject or object of his thoughts and acts).
34. While Bali was entranced in this manner at the window which was
decked with gems, he became illumined in his mind as a lighted lamp
flaming unshaken by the wind. And he remained long in his steady
posture as a statue carved of a stone.
35. He sat with his mind as clear as the autumnal sky after having cast
off all his desires and mental anxieties, and being filled within
himself with his spiritual light.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
DESCRIPTION OF BALI’S ANAESTHESIA.
Argument. Anxiety of the demons at the supineness of Bali, and the
Appearance of Sukra with them before him.
Vasishtha continued:—The servile demons of Bali (being impatient at
this numbness of their king), ascended hastily to his high crystal
palace, and stood at the door of his chamber.
2. There were his ministers Dimbha and others among them, and his
generals Kumuda and others also. There were likewise the princes Sukra
and others in the number, and his champions Vritta and the rest.
3. There were Hayagríva and the other captains of his armies, with his
friends Akraja and others. His associates Laduka and some more joined
the train, with his servants Valluka and many more.
4. There were also the gods Kubera, Yama and Indra that paid him their
tribute; and the Yakshas, Vidyádhars and Nágas that rendered him their
services. (Were the Vidyádhars the Vedias or gipsies of modern India?).
5. There were the heavenly nymphs Rambhá and Tilottamá in the number,
with the fanning and flapping damsels of his court; and the deputies of
different provinces and of hilly and maritime districts, were also in
attendance.
6. These accompanied by the Siddhas inhabiting different parts of the
three worlds, all waited at that place to tender their services to Bali.
7. They beheld Bali with reverence, with his head hanging down with the
crown upon it, and his arms hanging loosely with the pendant bracelets
on them.
8. Seeing him thus, the great Asuras made their obeisance to him in due
form, and were stupified with sorrow and fear, and struck with wonder
and joy by turns at this sad plight of his.
9. The ministers kept pondering about what was the case with him, and
the demons besought their all knowing preceptor Sukra, for his
explaining the case to them.
10. Quick as thought they beheld the shining figure of Sukra, standing
confest to their sight, as if they saw the phantom of their
imagination appearing palpable to view.
11. Sukra being honoured by the demons, took his seat on a sofa; and
saw in his silent meditation, the state of the mind of the king of
demons.
12. He remained for a while to behold with delight, how the mind of
Bali was freed from errors, by the exercise of its reasoning powers.
13. The illustrious preceptor, the lustre of whose person put to shame
the brightness of the milky ocean, then said smiling to the listening
throng of the demons:
14. Know ye demons, this Bali to have become an adept in his spiritual
knowledge, and to have fixed his seat in holy light, by the working of
his intellect (_i.e._ by his intuition only).
15. Let him alone, ye good demons, remain in this position, resting in
himself and beholding the imperishable one within himself in his
reverie.
16. Lo! here the weary pilgrim to have got his rest, and his mind is
freed from the errors of this false world. Disturb him not with your
speech, who is now as cold as ice.
17. He has now received that light of knowledge amidst the gloom of
ignorance, as the waking man beholds the full blaze of the sun, after
dispersion of the darkness of his sleep at dawn.
18. He will in time wake from his trance, and rise like the germ of a
seed, sprouting from the seed vessel in its proper season.
19. Go ye leaders of the demons from here, and perform your respective
duties assigned to you by your master; for it will take a thousand
years, for Bali to wake from his trance (as a moment’s sleep makes a
myriad of years in a dream).
20. After Sukra the Guru and guide of the demons, had spoken in this
manner, they were filled with alternate joy and grief in their hearts,
and cast aside their anxiety about him, as a tree casts its withered
leaves away.
21. The Asuras then left their king Bali to rest in his palace in the
aforesaid manner, and returned to their respective offices, as they had
been employed heretofore.
22. It now became night, and all men retired to their earthly abodes,
the serpents entered into their holes, the stars appeared in the skies,
and the gods reposed in their celestial domes. The regents of all sides
and mountainous tracts, went to their own quarters, and the beasts of
the forest and birds of the air, fled and flew to their own coverts and
nests.
CHAPTER XXIX.
BALI’S RESUSCITATION TO SENSIBILITY.
Argument. Self-confinement of the Living-liberated Bali in the
Infernal Regions.
Vasishtha related:—After the thousand years of the celestials, had
rolled on in Bali’s unconsciousness; he was roused to his sensibility,
at the beating of heavenly drums by the gods above (the loud peal of
clouds).
2. Bali being awake, his city (Mavalipura) was renovated with fresh
beauty, as the lotus-bed is revivified by the rising sun in the eastern
horizon (Vairincha or Brahma-loka, placed at the sunrising points).
3. Bali not finding the demons before him after he was awaked, fell to
the reflecting of the reveries during his state of entrancement
(Samádhi).
4. O how charming! said he, was that cooling rapture of spiritual
delight, in which my soul had been enrapt for a short time.
5. O how I long to resume that state of felicity! because these outward
enjoyments which I have relished to my fill, have ceased to please me
any more.
6. I do not find the waves of those delights even in the orb of the
moon, as I felt in the raptures which undulated in my soul, during the
entranced state of my insensibility.
7. Bali was again attempting to resume his state of inexcitability,
when he was interrupted by the attendant demons, as the moon is
intercepted by the surrounding clouds.
8. He cast a glancing look upon them, and was going to close his eyes
in meditation; after making his prostration on the ground; but was
instantly obtruded upon by their gigantic statures standing all around
him.
9. He then reflected in himself and said: The intellect being devoid of
its option, there is nothing for me to desire; but the mind being fond
of pleasures vainly pursues after them: (which it cannot fully gain,
enjoy or long retain).
10. Why should I desire my emancipation, when I am not confined by or
attached to anything here: it is but a childish freak to seek for
liberation, when I am not bound or bound to anything below. (The soul
is perfectly free of itself, but it is the mind that enchains it to
earth).
11. I have no desire of enfranchisement nor fear for incarceration,
since the disappearance of my ignorance; what need have I then of
meditation, and of what good is meditation to me?
12. Meditation and want of meditation are both mistakes of the mind
(there being no efficacy or inefficacy of either). We must depend on
our manliness, and hail all that comes to pass on us without rejoicing
or shrinking (since all good and evil proceed from God).
13. I require neither thoughtfulness nor thoughtlessness, nor
enjoyments nor their privation, but must remain unmoved and firm as one
sane and sound.
14. I have no longing for the spiritual, nor craving for temporal
things; I have neither to remain in the meditative mood, nor in the
state of giddy worldliness.
15. I am not dead (because my soul is immortal); nor can I be living
(because the soul is not connected with life). I am not a reality (as
the body), nor an unreality (composed of spiritual essence only); nor I
am a material or aerial body (being neither this body nor Vital air).
Neither am I of this world or any other, but self-same ego—the Great.
16. When I am in this world, I will remain here in quiet; I am not
here, I abide calmly in the solace of my soul.
17. What shall I do with my meditation, and what with all my royalty;
let any thing come to pass as it may; I am nothing for this or that,
nor is anything mine.
18. Though I have nothing to do (because I am not a free agent; nor
master of my actions); yet I must do the duties appertaining to my
station in society. (Doing the duties of one’s station in life, is
reckoned by some as the only obligation of man here below. So says the
poet: “Act well thy part, there all the honor lies.”).
19. After ascertaining so in his mind, Bali the wisest of the wise,
looked upon the demons with complacence, as the sun looketh upon the
lotuses.
20. With the nods and glancings of his eyes, he received their homages;
as the passing winds bear the odours of the flowers along with them
(meaning to say: His cursory glances bore their regards, as the fleet
winds bear the fragrance of flowers the rose).
21. Then Bali ceasing to think on the object of his meditation;
accosted them concerning their respective offices under him.
22. He honoured the devas and his gurus with due respect, and saluted
his friends and officers with his best regards.
23. He honoured with his largesse, all his servants and suitors; and he
pleased the attendant maidens with various persons.
24. So he continued to prosper in every department of his government,
until he made up his mind to perform a great sacrifice (yajna) at one
time.
25. He satisfied all beings with his great gifts, and gratified the
great gods and sages with due honour and veneration. He then commenced
the ceremony of the sacrifice under the guidance of Sukra and the chief
_gurus_ and priests.
26. Then Vishnu the lord of Lakshmí, came to know that Bali had no
desire of earthly fruition; and appeared at his sacrifice to crown him
with the success of his undertaking, and confer upon him his desired
blessing.
27. He cunningly persuaded him, to make a gift of the world to Indra
his elder brother, who was insatiably fond of all kinds of enjoyment.
(Indra was elder to Vishnu, who was thence called Upendra or the junior
Indra).
28. Having deceived Bali by his artifices of dispossessing him of the
three worlds, he shut him in the nether world, as they confine a monkey
in a cave under the ground. (This was by Vishnu’s incarnation in the
form of a dwarf or puny man, who considered to be the most cunning
among men; _multum in parvo_; or a man in miniature).
29. Thus Bali continues to remain in his confinement to this day, with
his mind fixed in meditation, for the purpose of his attainment of
Indraship again in a future state of life.
30. The living liberated Bali, being thus restrained in the infernal
cave, looks upon his former prosperity and present adversity in the
same light.
31. There is no rising or setting of his intelligence, in the states of
his pleasure or pain; but it remained one and the same in its full
brightness, like the disk of the sun in a painting.
32. He saw the repeated flux and reflux of worldly enjoyments, and
thence settled his mind in an utter indifference about them.
33. He overcame multitudes of the vicissitudes of life for myriads of
years, in all his transmigrations, in the three worlds, and found at
last, his rest in his utter disregard of all mortal things.
34. He felt thousands of comforts and disquiets, and hundreds of
pleasures and privations of life, and after his long experience of
these, he found his repose in his perfect quiescence.
35. Bali having forsaken his desire of enjoyments, enjoyed the fulness
of his mind in the privation of his wants; and rejoiced in
self-sufficiency of his soul, in the loneliness of his subterranean
cave.
36. After a course of many years, Bali regained his sovereignty of the
world, and governed it for a long time to his heart’s content.
37. But he was neither elated by his elevation to the dignity of
Indra—the lord of gods; nor was he depressed at this prostration from
prosperity.
38. He was one and the same person in every state of his life, and
enjoyed the equanimity of his soul, resembling the serenity of the
etherial sphere.
39. I have related to you the whole story of Bali’s attainment of true
wisdom, and advise you now, O Ráma! to imitate his example for your
elevation, to the same state of perfection.
40. Learn as Bali did by his own discernment, to think yourself as the
immortal and everlasting soul; and try to reach to the state of your
oneness or solity with the Supreme Unity, by your manliness (of
self-controul and self-resignation).
41. Bali the lord of the demons, exercised full authority over the
three worlds, for more than a millennium; but at last he came to feel
an utter distaste, to all the enjoyments of life.
42. Therefore, O Victorious Ráma, forego the enjoyments of life, which
are sure to be attended with a distaste and nausea at the end, and
betake yourself to that state or true felicity, which never grows
insipid at any time.
43. These visible sights, O Ráma! are as multifarious as they are
temptations to the soul; they appear as even and charming as a distant
mountain appears to view; but it proves to be rough and rugged as you
approach to it. (The pleasant paths of life, cannot entice the wise;
they are smooth without, but rugged within).
44. Restrain your mind in the cavity of your heart, from its flight in
pursuit of the perishable objects of enjoyment, either in this life, or
in the next, which are so alluring to all men of common sense.
45. Know yourself, as the self-same intellect, which shines as the sun
throughout the universe; and illumines every object in nature, without
any distinction of or partiality to one or the other.
46. Know yourself O mighty Ráma! to be the infinite spirit, and the
transcendent soul of all bodies; which has manifested itself in
manifold forms, that are as the bodies of the internal intellect.
47. Know your soul as a thread, passing through, and interwoven with
every thing in existence; and like a string connecting all the links of
creation, as so many gems of a necklace or the beads of a rosary. (This
hypostasis of the supreme spirit, is known as the _sútrátmá_ or the
all-connecting soul of the universe; as the poet expresses it.
Breathes in our soul, informs our mortal part, as full as perfect in
a hair as heart. Pope).
48. Know yourself as the unborn and embodied soul of _Virát_, which is
never born nor ever dies; and never fall into the mistake of thinking
the pure intellect, to be subject to birth or death. (The embodied soul
of _Virát_, is the universal soul as what the poet says: “Whose body
nature is, and god the soul).”
49. Know your desires to be the causes of your birth, life, death and
diseases; therefore shun your cupidity of enjoyments, and enjoy all
things in the manner of the all witnessing intellect. (_i.e._ Indulge
yourself in your intellectual and not corporeal enjoyments).
50. If you remain in the everlasting light of the sun of your
intellect, you will come to find the phenomenal world to be but a
phantom of your dream.
51. Never regret nor sorrow for any thing, nor think of your pleasures
and pains, which do not affect your soul; you are the pure intellect
and the all pervading soul, which manifests itself in every thing.
52. Know the desirables (or worldly enjoyments) to be your evils, and
the undesirable (self-mortification) to be for your good. Therefore
shun the former by your continued practice of the latter.
53. By forsaking your views of the desirables and undesirables, you
will contract a habit of hebetude; which when it takes a deep root in
your heart, you have no more to be reborn in the world.
54. Retract your mind from every thing, to which it runs like a boy
after vain baubles; and settle it in yourself for your own good.
55. Thus by restraining the mind by your best exertions, as also by
your habit of self-control, you will subdue the rampant elephant of
your mind, and reach to your highest bliss afterwards.
56. Do not become as one of those ignorant fools, who believe their
bodies as their real good; and who are infatuated by sophistry and
infidelity, and deluded by impostors to the gratification of their
sensual appetites.
57. What man is more ignorant in this world and more subject to its
evils, than one who derived his Spiritual knowledge from one who is a
smatterer in theology, and relies on the dogmas of pretenders and false
doctors in divinity.
58. Do you dispel the cloud of false reasoning from the atmosphere of
your mind, by the hurricane of our right reasoning, which drives all
darkness before it.
59. You can not be said to have your right reasoning, so long as you do
not come to the light and sight of the soul, both by your own exertion
and grace of the Supreme Spirit.
60. Neither the Veda nor Vedánta, nor the science of logic or any other
sástras, can give you any light of the soul, unless it appears of
itself within you.
61. It is by means of your self culture, aided by my instruction and
divine grace, that you have gained your perfect knowledge, and appear
to rest yourself in the Supreme Spirit.
62. There are three causes of your coming to spiritual light. Firstly
your want of the knowledge of a duality, and then the effulgence of
your intellectual luminary (thy soul) by the grace of God and lastly
the wide extent of your knowledge derived from my instructions.
63. You are now freed from your mental maladies, and have become sane
and sound by abandonment of your desires, by removal of your doubts and
errors, and by forsaking the mist of your fondness for external objects.
64. O Ráma! as you get rid of the faults (errors) of your
understanding, so you advance by degrees in gaining your knowledge, in
cherishing your resignation, in destroying your defects, in imbibing
the bliss of ecstacy, in wandering with exultation, and in elevating
your soul to the sixth sphere. But all this is not enough unless you
attend to Brahmahood itself. (These are called the _Sapta bhúmiká_ or
seven stages of the practice of Yoga).
CHAPTER XXX.
FALL OF HIRANYAKASIPU AND RISE OF PRAHLÁDA.
Argument. Slaughter of Demons by Hari.
Vasishtha continued:—Attend Ráma, to the instructive narrative of
Prahláda—the lord of demons; who became an adept by his own intuition.
2. There was a mighty demon in the infernal regions, Hiranyakasipu by
name; who was as valiant as Naráyana himself, and had expelled the gods
and demigods from their abodes.
3. He mastered all the treasures of the world, and wrested its
possession from the hands of Hari; as the swan encroaches upon the
right of the bee, on the large folia of the lotus.
4. He vanquished the Gods and Asuras, and reigned over the whole earth,
as the elephant masters the lotus-bed, by expulsion of the drove of
swans from it.
5. Thus the lord of the Asuras, having usurped the monarchy of the
three worlds, begot many sons in course of time, as the spring brings
forth the shoots of trees.
6. These boys grew up to manhood in time, with the display of their
manly prowess; and like so many brilliant suns, stretched their
thousand rays on all sides of the earth and skies.
7. Among them Prahláda the eldest prince became the regent, as the
Kaustubha diamond has the pre-eminence among all other precious gems.
(The Kaustubha gem was set in the breast-plate of Vishnu).
8. The father Hiranyakasipu delighted exceedingly in his fortunate son
Prahláda, as the year rejoices in its flowering time of the spring
(_i.e._ the father delights in his promising lad, as the year in its
vernal season).
9. Supported by his son on one hand, and possessed of his force and
treasures on the other; he became puffed up with his pride, as the
swollen elephant emitting his froth from his triangular mouth.
(Composed of the two sides of the tusks, and the lower part).
10. Shining with his lustre and elated by his pride, he dried and drew
up the moisture of the earth, by his unbearable taxation; as the
all-destroying suns of universal dissolution, parch up the world by
their rays. (Here is a play of the word _Kara_, in its triple sense of
the hand, tax and solar rays).
11. His conduct annoyed the gods and the sun and moon, as the behaviour
of a haughty boy, becomes unbearable to his fellow comrades.
12. They all applied to Brahmá, for destruction of the arch demon;
because the repeated misdemeanours of the wicked, are unbearable to the
good and great.
13. It was then that the leonine Hari-Narasingha, clattered his nails
resembling the tusks of an elephant; and thundered aloud like the
rumbling noise of the _Dig-hastes_ (the regent elephants of all the
quarters of heaven), that filled the concave world as on its last
doomsday.
14. The tusk-like nails and teeth of Vishnu, glittered like flashing
lightnings in the sky; and the radiance of his earrings filled the
hollow sphere of heaven, with curling flames of living fire. (The word
dwija or twice born is applied to the nails and teeth, as to the moon
and a twiceborn Bráhman).
15. The sides and caverns of mountains presented a fearful aspect; and
the huge trees were shaken by a tremendous tempest; that rent the skies
and tore the vault of heaven. (This is the only place where the word
_dodruma_ occurs for the Greek _dendron_ in Sanskrit, shortened to
_dru_ a tree, the root of Druid a woodman).
16. He emitted gusts of wind from his mouth and entrails, which drove
the mountains before them; and his eyeballs flashed with the living
fire of his rage, which was about to consume the world.
17. His shining mane shook with the glare of sun-beams, and the pores
of the hairs on his body, emitted the sparks of fire like the craters
of a volcano.
18. The mountains on all sides, shook with a tremendous shaking, and
the whole body of Hari, shot forth a variety of arms in every direction.
19. Hari in his leoantheopic form of half a man and half a lion, killed
the gigantic demon by goring him with his tusks, as when an elephant
bores the body of a horse with a grating sound.
20. The population of the Pandemonium, was burnt down by the gushing
fire of his eye balls; which flamed as the all-devouring conflagration
of the last doomsday.
21. The breath of his nostrils like a hurricane; drove everything
before it; and the clapping of his arms (bahwasphota), beat as loud
surges on the hollow shores.
22. The demons fled from before him as moths from the burning fire, and
they became extinct as extinguished lamps, at the blazing light of the
day.
23. After the burning of the Pandemonium, and expulsion of the demons,
the infernal regions presented a void waste, as at the last devastation
of the world.
24. After the Lord had extirpated the demoniac race, at the end of the
Titanic age, he disappeared from view with the grateful greetings of
the synod of gods.
25. The surviving sons of the demon, who had fled from the burning of
their city, were afterwards led back to it by Prahláda; as the
migrating fowls are made to return to the dry bed of a lake by a shower
of rains.
26. There they mourned over the dead bodies of the demons, and lamented
at the loss of their possessions, and performed at last the funeral
ceremonies of their departed friends and relatives.
27. After burning the dead bodies of their friends, they invited the
relics of the demons; that had found their safety by flight, to return
to their deserted habitations again.
28. The Asuras and their leaders, now continued to mourn with their
disconsolate minds and disfigured bodies, like lotuses beaten down by
the frost. They remained without any effort or attempt as the figures
in a painting; and without any hope of resuscitation, like a withered
tree or an arbour stricken by lightning.
CHAPTER XXXI.
PRAHLÁDA’S FAITH IN VISHNU.
Argument. Prahláda’s Lamentations at the slaughter of the demons, and
his conversion to Vishnuism.
Vasishtha continued:—Prahláda remained disconsolate in his subterranean
region, brooding over the melancholy thoughts of the destruction of the
Dánavas and their habitations.
2. Ah! what is to become of us, said he, when this Hari is bent to
destroy the best amongst us, like a monkey nipping the growing shoots
and sprouts of trees.
3. I do not see the Daityas anywhere in earth or in the infernal
regions, that are left in the enjoyment of their properties; but are
stunted in their growth like the lotuses growing on mountain tops.
4. They rise only to fall like the loud beating of a drum, and their
rising is simultaneous with their falling as of the waves in the sea.
(_i.e._ no sooner they rise, than they are destined to fall).
5. Woe unto us! that are so miserable in both our inward and outward
circumstances; and happy are our enemies of light (Devas), that have
their ascendency over us. O the terrors of darkness!
6. But our friends of the dark infernal regions, are all darkened in
their souls with dismay: also their fortune is as transitory as the
expansion of the lotus-leaf by day, and its contraction at night.
7. We see the gods, who were mean servants at the feet of our father,
to have usurped his kingdom; in the manner of the timid deer, usurping
the sovereignty of the lion in the forest. (So said the sons of Tipu
Sultan, when they saw the English polluting his library with their
hands).
8. We find our friends on the other hand, to be all disfigured and
effortless; and sitting melancholy and dejected in their hopelessness,
like lotuses with their withered leaves and petals.
9. We see the houses of our gigantic demons, filled with clouds of
dusts and frost, wafted by gusts of wind by day and night; and
resembling the fumes of fire which burnt them down.
10. The inner apartments are laid open without their doors and
enclosures, and are overgrown with the sprouts of barley, shooting out
as blades of sapphires from underneath the ground.
11. Ah! what is impossible to irresistible fate, that has so reduced
the mighty demons; who are while used to pluck the flowers from
the mountain tops of Meru like big elephants, and are now come to the
sad plight of the wandering Devas of yore.
12. Our ladies are lurking like the timorous deer, at the rustling of
the breeze amidst the leaves of trees, for fear of the darts of the
enemy whistling and hurling in the open air.
13. O! the gemming blossoms of the _guluncha_ arborets, with which our
ladies used to decorate their ears, are now shorn and torn and left
forlorn (desolate) by the hands of Hari, like the lorn and lonesome
heaths of the desert.
14. They have robbed us of the all-producing kalpa-trees, and planted
them in their _mandana_ pleasure gardens now teeming with their
shooting gems and verdant leaflets in the etherial sphere.
15. The eyes of haughty demons, that formerly looked with pity on the
faces of their captured gods; are now indignantly looked upon by the
victorious gods, who have made captives of them.
16. It is known, that the water (liquid ichor) which is poured from the
mouths of the spouting elephants of heaven on the tops of the
mountains, falls down in the form of cascades, and gives rise to rivers
on earth. (It means the water spouts resembling the trunks of
elephants, which lifted the sea water to the sky, and let them fall on
mountain tops to run as rivers below).
17. But the froth exuding from the faces of our elephantic giants, is
dried up to dust at the sights of the Devas, as a channel is sucked up
in the dry and dreary desert of sand.
18. Ah! where have those Daityas fled, whose bodies were as big as the
peaks of mount Meru once, and were fanned by the fragrant breeze,
breathing with the odorous dust of Mandára flowers. (Mandára is the
name of a flower of the garden of Paradise).
19. The beauteous ladies of the gods and Gandharvas, that were once
detained as captives in the inner apartments of demons, are now
snatched from us, and placed on Meru (the seat of the gods), as if they
are transplanted there to grow as heavenly plants.
20. O how painful is it to think! that the fading graces of our
captured girls, are now mocked by the heavenly nymphs, in their
disdainful dance over their defeat and disgrace.
21. O it is painful to think! that the attending damsels, that fanned
my father with their _chouri_ flappers, are now waiting upon the
thousand-eyed Indra in their servile toil.
22. O! the greatest of our grief is, this sad and calamitous fall of
ours at the hands of a single Hari, who has reduced us to this state of
helpless impotency.
23. The gods now reposing under the thick and cooling shades of trees,
are as cool as the rocks of the icy mountain (Himálaya); and do not
burn with rage nor repine in grief like ourselves.
24. The gods protected by the power of Sauri (Hari), are raised to the
pinnacle of prosperity, have been mocking and restraining us in these
caves, as the apes on trees do the dogs below. (The enmity of dogs and
apes is proverbial, as obstructing one another from alighting on or
rising above the ground).
25. The faces of our fairies though decked with ornaments, are now
bedewed with drops of their tears; like the leaves of lotuses with the
cold dews of night.
26. The old stage of this aged world, which was worsted and going to be
pulled down by our might, is now supported upon the azure arms of Hari,
like the vault of heaven standing upon the blue arches of the cerulean
sky.
27. That Hari has become the support of the celestial host, when it was
about to be hurled into the depth of perdition; in the same manner as
the great _tortoise_ supported the mount Mandara, as it was sinking in
the Milky ocean in the act of churning it. (Samudra manthana). This was
the act of the post-diluvians reclaiming from the sea all that had been
swept into it at the great deluge.
28. This our great father, and these mighty demons under him, have been
laid down to dust like the lofty hills, that were levelled with the
ground by the blasts of heaven at the end of the Kalpa.
29. It is that leader of the celestial forces, the peerless destroyer
of Madhu (Satan), that is able to destroy all and every thing by the
fire in his hands (the flaming lightnings preceding the thunder bolts
of Indra). (The twin gods, the thundering (vajrapani) Indra and the
flaming (analapani) Upendra, bear great affinity to Jupiter tonitruous
or the thundering Jove, and his younger brother the trident-bearer
Neptune).
30. His elder brother Indra baffles the battle axes in the hands of the
mighty demons, by the force of the thunder-bolts held by his mightier
arms, as the big male monkeys kill their male offspring. (These
passages prove the early invention of fire arms by the Aryans, to have
been the cause of their victory over Daityas or the demigods).
31. Though the missive weapons (lightnings), which are let fly by the
lotus-eyed Vishnu be invincible; yet there is no weapon or instrument
which can foil the force of the thunder: (lit. break the strong
thunderbolt). (Vishnu the leader of Vishas or the first foreign
settlers of the land, overpowered the earth-born Daityas by his fire
and fire arms, and dispossessed them of their soil, and reduced them to
slavery. The descendants of the Vishas are the Vaishyas, who settled in
India long before the Aryans).
32. This Hari is inured in warfare, in the previous battles fought
between him and our forefathers; in which they uprooted and flung great
rocks at him, and waged many dreadful campaigns.
33. It cannot be expected that he will be afraid of us, who stood
victorious in those continuous and most dreadful and destructive
warfares of yore.
34. I have thought of one expedient only to oppose the rage of Hari,
beside which I find no other way for our safety (lit. remedy).
35. Let us therefore with all possible speed, have recourse to him,
with full contriteness of our souls and understanding; because that god
is the true refuge of the pious and the only resort of every body.
36. There is no one greater than him in all the three worlds; for I
come to know, that it is Hari only, who is the sole cause of the
creation, sustentation and destruction or reproduction of the world.
37. From this moment therefore, I will think only of that unborn
(increate) Náráyana for ever more; and I must rely on that Náráyana,
who is present in all places, and is full in myself and filling all
space.
38. Obeisance to Náráyana forms my faith and profession, for my success
in all undertakings; and may this faith of mine ever abide in my heart,
as the wind has its place in the midst of empty air.
39. Hari is to be known as filling all sides of space and vacuum, and
every part of this earth and all these worlds; my ego is the
immeasurable Spirit of Hari, and my inborn soul is full of Vishnu.
40. He that is not full with Vishnu in himself, does not benefit by his
adoration of Vishnu; but he who worships Vishnu by thinking himself as
such, finds himself assimilated to his god, and becomes one with him.
(Or rather he loses himself in his God and perceives nought besides).
41. He who knows Hari to be the same with Prahláda, and not different
from him, finds Hari to fill his inward soul with his spirit. (So says
the Sruti:—Prahláda was the incarnate Hari himself).
42. The eagle of Hari (son of Vinatá) flies through the infinite space
of the sky as the presence of Hari fills all infinity, and his golden
body-light, is the seat of my Hari also. (Here the bird of heaven means
the sun, which is said to be the seat of Hari).
43. The claws of this bird,—Kara (or rays) serve for the weapons of
Vishnu; and the flash of his nails, is the flash of the Vishnu’s
weapons. (Here Garuda bird of heaven, serves for a personification of
the sun, and his claws and nails represent the rays of solar light).
44. These are the four arms of Vishnu and their armlets, which are
represented by the four gemming pinnacles of mount Mandara which were
grappled by the hands of Hari, at his churning of the milky ocean with
it.
45. This moonlike figure with the chouri flapper in her hand and rising
from the depth of the milky ocean, is the goddess of prosperity
(Laksmi) and associating consort of Vishnu.
46. She is the brilliant glory of Hari, which was easily acquired by
him, and is ever attendant on his person with undiminished lustre, and
illuminates the three worlds as a radiant medicinal tree—_mahaushadhi_.
47. There is the other companion of Vishnu called Máyá or illusion,
which is ever busy in the creation of worlds upon worlds, and in
stretching a magical enchantment all about them.
48. Here is the goddess Victory (Jayá), an easy earned attendant on
Vishnu, and shines as a shoot of the kalpa tree, extending to the three
worlds as an all-pervading plant.
49. These two warming and cooling luminaries of the sun and moon, which
serve to manifest all the worlds to view, are the two eyes situated on
the forehead of my Vishnu.
50. This azure sky is the cerulean hue of the body of my Vishnu, which
is as dark as a mass of watery cloud; and darkens the sphere of heaven
with its sky blue radiance. The meaning of the word Vishnu was
afterward changed to the residing divinity in all things from the root
vish.
51. Here is the whitish conch in the hand of my Hari, which is sonant
with its fivefold notes (panchajanya), and is as bright as the
vacuum—the receptacle of sound, and as white as the milky ocean of
heavens (the milky path).
52. Here I see the lotus in the hand of Vishnu, representing the lotus
of his navel the seat of Brahmá, who rose from and sat upon it, as a
bee to form his hive of the world.
53. I see the cudgel of my Vishnu’s hand (the godá) studded with gems
about it, in the lofty peak of the mountain of Sumeru, beset by its
gemming stones, and hurling down the demons from its precipice.
54. I see here the discus (chakra) of my Hari, in the rising luminary
of the sun, which fills all sides of the infinite Space, with the
radiant beams emanating from it.
55. I see there in the flaming fire, the flashing sword—nandaka of
Vishnu, which like an axe hath cut down the gigantic bodies of Daityas
like trees, while it gave great joy to the gods.
56. I see also the great bow of Vishnu (Sáranga), in the variegated
rainbow of Indra; and also the quiver of his arrows in the Pushkara and
Avarta clouds, pouring down their rains like piercing arrows from above.
57. The big belly (Jathara) of Vishnu, is seen in the vast vacuity of
the firmament, which contains all the worlds and all the past, present,
and future creations in its spacious womb.
58. I see the earth as the footstool of Virát, and the high sky as the
canopy on his head; his body is the stupendous fabric of the universe,
and his sides are the sides of the compass.
59. I see the great Vishnu visibly manifest to my view, as shining
under the cerulean vault of heaven, mounted on his eagle of mountain,
and holding his conchshell, discus, cudgel and the lotus in his hands
(in the manner described above).
60. I see the wicked and evil minded demons, flying from me in the
manner of the fleeting straws, which are blown and borne away after by
the breath of the winds. (Lit.:—as the heaps of straw or hay _tarna_).
61. This sable deity with his hue of the blue sapphire and mantle
yellow, holding the club and mounted on the eagle and accompanied by
Lakshmí; is no other than the selfsame Imperishable One. (Vishnu
latterly called (Krishna) is the queller of demons, like Christ in the
battle of the gods and Titan, and is believed to be the only begotten
Son of God).
62. What adverse Spirit can dare approach this all-devouring flame,
without being burnt to death, like a flight of moths falling on a vivid
fire?
63. None of these hosts of gods or demigods that I see before me, is
able to withstand the irresistible course of the destination of Vishnu.
And all attempts to oppose it, will be as vain as for our weak-sighted
eyes to shut out the light of the sun.
64. I know the gods Brahmá, Indra, Siva and Agni (Ignis—the god of
fire), praise in endless verses and many tongues, the Vishnu as
their Lord.
65. This Lord is ever resplendent with his dignity, and is invincible
in his might; He is the Lord beyond all doubt, dispute and duality, and
is joined with transcendent majesty.
66. I bow down to that person, which stands as a firm rock amidst the
forest of the world, and is a defence from all fears and dangers. It is
a stupendous body having all the worlds situated in its womb, and
forming the essence and substance of every distinct object of vision.
(Here Vishnu is shown in his microcosmic form of Virát (Virat murti)).
CHAPTER XXXII.
THE SPIRITUAL AND FORMAL WORSHIP OF VISHNU.
Argument. Prahláda’s Worship of Vishnu both in spirit and his Image.
Witnessed by the gods, as the Beginning of Hero and Idol Worship.
Vasishtha continued:—After Prahláda had meditated on Vishnu in the
aforesaid manner, he made an image of him as Náráyana himself, and
thought upon worshipping that enemy of the Asura race. (Here Vishnu—the
chief of Vishas and destroyer of Asuras, is represented as the spirit
of Náráyana, and worshipped in that form).
2. And that this figure might not be otherwise than the form of Vishnu
himself, he invoked the Spirit of Vishnu to be settled in this his
out-ward figure also. (This was done by incantation of Pranpratishthá,
or the charm of enlivening an idol in thought).
3. It was seated on the back of the heavenly bird Garuda, arrayed with
the quadruple attributes (of will, intelligence, action and mercy), and
armed with the fourfold arms holding the conchshell, discus, club and a
lotus. (This passage shows the fictitious representation of the person
of Vishnu, with his fourfold arms of these, the two original arms with
the cudgel and discus were in active use, while the two fictitious and
immovable ones, with the conchshell and lotus, were clapped on for mere
show).
4. His two eye-balls flashed, like the orbs of the sun and moon in their
outstretched sockets; his palms were as red as lotuses, and his bow
_saranga_ and the sword _nandaka_ hang on his two shoulders and sides.
5. I will worship this image, said he, with all my adherents and
dependants, with an abundance of grateful offerings agreeable to my
taste. Gloss. Things delectable to one’s taste, are most acceptable to
the gods.[12]
6. I will worship this great god always, with all kinds of offering of
precious gems and jewels, and all sorts of articles for bodily use and
enjoyment.
7. Having thus made up his mind, Prahláda collected an abundance of
various things, and made offerings of them in his mind, in his worship
of Mádhava—the lord of Lakshmí. (Má and Ráma are titles of Lakshmí).
8. He offered rich gems and jewels in plates of many kinds, and
presented sandal pastes in several pots; he burnt incense and lighted
lamps in rows, and placed many valuables and ornaments in sacred
vessels.
9. He presented wreaths of Mandára flowers, and chains of lotuses made
of gold, together with garlands of leaves and flowers of kalpa plants,
and bouquets and nosegays studded with gems and pearls.
10. He hung hangings of leaves and leaflets of heavenly arbors, and
chaplets and trimmings of various kinds of flowers, as _vakas_ and
_kundas_, _kinkiratas_ and white, blue and red lotuses.
11. There were wreaths of _kahlara_, _Kunda_, _Kása_ and _Kinsuka_
flowers; and clusters of _Asoka_, _Madana_, _Bela_ and _kánikára_
blossoms likewise.
12. There were florets of the _Kadamba_, _Vakala_, _nimba_,
_Sindhuvára_ and _Yúthikas_ also; and likewise heaps of _páribhadra_,
_gugguli_ and _Venduka_ flowers.
13. There were strings of _priyangu_, _pátala_, _páta_ and _pátala_
flowers; and also the blossoms of _ámra_, _ámrataka_ and _gavyas_; and
the bulbs of _haritaki_ and _vibhitaki_ myrabolans.
14. The flowers of _Sála_ and _tamála_ trees, were strung together with
their leaves; and the tender buds of _Sahakáras_, were fastened
together with their farinaceous pistils.
15. There were the _ketakas_ and centipetalous flowers, and the shoots
of _ela_ cardamums; together with everything beautiful to sight and the
tender of one’s soul likewise.
16. Thus did Prahláda worship his lord Hari in the inner apartment of
his house, with offerings of all the richest things in the world,
joined with true faith and earnestness of his mind and spirit.[13]
17. Thus did the monarch of Dánavas, worship his lord Hari externally
in his holy temple, furnished with all kind of valuable things on
earth. (The external worship followed that of his internal worship in
faith and spirit. These two are distinctly called the _mánasa_ and
_bájhya pujas_ and observed one after the other by every orthodox
Hindu, except the Brahmos and ascetics who reject the latter formality).
18. The Dánava sovereign became the more and more gratified in his
spirit, in proportion as he adored his god with more and more of his
valuable outer offerings.
19. Henceforward did Prahláda continue, to worship his lord god day
after day, with earnestness of his soul, and the same sort of rich
offerings every day.
20. It came to pass that the Daityas one and all turned Vaishnavas;
after the example of their king; and worshipped Hari in their city and
temples without intermission.
21. This intelligence reached to heaven and to the abode of the gods,
that the Daityas having renounced their enmity to Vishnu, have turned
his faithful believers and worshippers _in toto_.[14]
22. The Devas were all astonished to learn, that the Daityas had
accepted the Vaishnava faith; and even Indra marvelled with the body of
Rudras about him, how the Daityas came to be so at once.
23. The astonished Devas then left their celestial abode, and repaired
to the warlike Vishnu, reposing on his serpent couch in the milky ocean.
24. They related to him the whole account of the Daityas, and they
asked him as he sat down, the cause of their conversion, wherewith they
were so much astonished.
25. The gods said:—How is it Lord! that the demons who had always been
averse to thee, have now come to embrace thy faith, which appears to us
as an act of magic or their hypocrisy.
26. How different is their present transformation to the Vaishnava
faith, which is acquired only after many transmigrations of the soul,
from their former spirit of insurrection, in which they broke down the
rocks and mountains.
27. The rumour that a clown has become a learned man, is as gladsome as
it is doubtful also, as the news of the budding of blossoms out of
season.
28. Nothing is graceful without its proper place, as a rich jewel loses
its value, when it is set with worthless pebbles. (The show of goodness
of the vile, is a matter of suspicion).
29. All animals have their dispositions conforming with their own
natures; how then can the pure faith of Vishnu, agree with the doggish
natures of the Daityas?
30. It does not grieve us so much to be pierced with thorns and needles
in our bodies, as to see things of opposite natures, to be set in
conjunction with one another.
31. Whatever is naturally adapted to its time and place, the same seems
to suit it then and there; hence the lotus has its grace in water and
not upon the land.
32. Where are the vile Daityas, prone to their misdeeds at all times;
and how far is the Vaishnava faith from them that can never appreciate
its merit?
33. O lord! as we are never glad to learn a lotus-bed to be left to
parch in the desert soil; so we can never rejoice at the thought, that
the race of demons will place their faith in Vishnu—the lord of gods.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
PRAHLÁDA’S SUPPLICATION TO HARI.
Argument. Hari’s Visit to Prahláda, and his Adoration of him.
Vasishtha said:—The lord of Lakshmí, seeing the gods so clamorous in
their accusation of the demons, gave his words to them in sounds as
sonorous as those of the rainy clouds, in response to the loud noise of
screaming and thirst-stricken peacocks.
2. The Lord Hari said:—Don’t you marvel ye gods! at Prahláda’s faith in
me; as it is by virtue of the virtuous acts of his past lives, that
pious prince is entitled to his final liberation in this his present
life.
3. He shall not have to be born again in the womb of a woman, nor to be
reproduced in any form on earth; but must remain aloof from
regeneration, like a fried pea which does not germinate any more.
4. A virtuous man turning impious, becomes of course the source of
evil; but an unworthy man becoming meritorious, is doubtless a step
towards his better being and blessedness.
5. You good gods that are quite happy in your blessed seats in heaven,
must not let the good deserts of Prahláda be any cause of your
uneasiness.
6. Vasishtha resumed:—The Lord having thus spoken to the gods, became
invisible to them, like a feather floating on the surface of waves.
7. The assemblage of the immortals then repaired to their heavenly
abodes after taking their leave of the god; as the particles of sea
water are borne to the sky by the zephyrs, or by the agitation of the
Mandara mountain.
8. The gods were henceforth pacified towards Prahláda; because the mind
is never suspicious of one who has the credit of his superiors.
9. Prahláda also continued in the daily adoration of his god, with the
contriteness of his heart, and in the formulas of his spiritual, oral
and bodily services.
10. It was in the course of his divine service in this manner, that he
attained the felicity proceeding from his right discrimination,
self-resignation and other virtues with which he was crowned.
11. He took no delight in any object of enjoyment, nor felt any
pleasure in the society of his consorts, all which he shunned as a stag
shuns a withered tree, and the company of human beings.
12. He did not walk in the ways of the ungodly, nor spent his time in
aught but religious discourses. His mind did not dwell on visible
objects, as the lotus never grows on dry land.
13. His mind did not delight in pleasures, which were all linked with
pain; but longed for its liberation, which is as entire of itself and
unconnected with anything, as a single grain of unperforated pearl.
14. But his mind being abstracted from his enjoyments, and not yet
settled in its trance of ultimate rest; had been only waving between
the two states, like a cradle swinging in both ways.
15. The god Vishnu, who knew all things by his all-knowing
intelligence; beheld the unsettled state of Prahláda’s mind, from his
seat in the milky ocean.
16. Pleased at Prahláda’s firm belief, he proceeded by the sub-terranean
route to the place of his worship, and stood confest before him at
the holy altar.
17. Seeing his god manifest to his view, the lord of the demons
worshipped him with two-fold veneration, and made many respectful
offerings to his lotus-eyed deity more than his usual practice.
18. He then gladly glorified his god with many swelling orisons, for
his deigning to appear before him in his house of worship.
19. Prahláda said:—I adore thee, O my lord Hari! that art unborn and
undecaying; that art the blessed receptacle of three worlds; that
dispellest all darkness by the light of thy body; and art the refuge of
the helpless and friendless.
20. I adore my Hari in his complexion of blue-lotus leaves, and of the
colour of the autumnal sky; I worship him whose body is of the hue of
the dark _bhramara_ bee; and who holds in his arms the lotus, discus,
club and the conch-shell.
21. I worship the god that dwells in the lotus-like hearts of his
votaries, with his appearance of a swarm of sable bees; and holding a
conch-shell as white as the bud of a lotus or lily, with the earrings
ringing in his ears with the music of humming bees.
22. I resort to Hari’s sky-blue shade, shining with the starry light of
his long stretching nails; his face shining as the full-moon with his
smiling beams, and his breast waving as the surface of Ganges, with the
sparkling gems hanging upon it.
23. I rely on that godling that slept on the leaf of the fig tree (when
his spirit floated on the surface of the waters); and that contains the
universe in himself in his stupendous form of Virát; that is neither
born nor grown, but is always the whole by himself; and is possest of
endless attributes of his own nature.
24. I take my refuge in Hari, whose bosom is daubed with the red dust
of the new-blown lotus, and whose left side is adorned by the blushing
beauty of Lakshmí; whose body is mantled by a coloured red coverlet;
and besmeared with red sandal paste like liquid gold.
25. I take my asylum under that Hari who is the destructive frost to
the lotus-bed of demons; and the rising sun to the opening buds of the
lotus-bed of the deities; who is the source of the lotus-born Brahmá,
and receptacle of the lotiform seat (cranium) of our understanding.
26. My hope is in Hari—the blooming lotus of the bed of the triple
world, and the only light amidst the darkness of the universe; who is
the principle of the intellect—chit, amidst the gross material world
and who is the only remedy of all the evils and troubles of this
transient life.
27. Vasishtha continued:—Hari the destroyer of demons, who is graced on
his side by the goddess of prosperity; being lauded with many such
graceful speeches of the demoniac lord, answered him as lovingly in his
blue lotuslike form, as when the deep clouds respond to the peacocks’
screams.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
PRAHLÁDA’S SELF KNOWLEDGE OF SPIRITUALISM.
Argument. Prahláda’s meditations and attainment of spiritual knowledge
by the blessing of Vishnu.
The Lord said:—O thou rich jewel on the crown of the Daitya race!
Receive thy desired boon of me for alleviation of thy worldly
afflictions.
2. Prahláda replied:—What better blessing can I ask of thee, my Lord!
than to instruct me in what thou thinkest thy best gift, above all
other treasures of the world, and which is able to requite all our
wants in this miserable life.
3. The Lord answered:—Mayst thou have a sinless boy! and may thy right
discrimination of things, lead thee to thy rest in God, and the
attainment of thy Supreme felicity, after dispersion of thy earthly
cares, and the errors of this world.
4. Vasishtha rejoined:—Being thus bid by his god, the lord of demons
fell into a profound meditation, with his nostrils snoring loudly like
the gurgling waters of the deep.
5. As the lord Vishnu departed from his sight, the chief of the demons
made his oblations after him; consisting of handfuls of flowers and
rich gems and jewels of various kinds.
6. Then seated in his posture of _padmásana_, with his legs folded over
one another, upon his elevated and elegant seat; and then chaunted his
holy hymn and reflected within himself.
7. My deliverer from this sinful world, has bade me to have my
discrimination, therefore must I betake myself to discriminate between
what is true and falsehood.
8. I must know that I am in this darksome world, and must seek the
light of my soul as also what is that principle (Ego), that makes me
speak, walk and take the pains to earn myself.
9. I perceive it is nothing of this external world, like any of its
verdant trees or hills; the external bodies are all of a gross nature,
but my _ego_ is quite a simple and pure essence.
10. I am not this insensible body, which is both dull and dumb, and is
made to move for a moment by means of the vital airs. It is an unreal
appearance of a transitory existence.
11. I am not the insensible sound, which is a vacuous substance and
produced in vacuity. It is perceptible by the ear-hole, and is as
evanescent and inane as empty air.
12. I am neither the insensible organ of touch, or the momentary
feeling of taction; but find myself to be an inward principle with the
faculty of intellection, and the capacity of knowing the nature of the
soul.
13. I am not even my taste, which is confined to the relishing of
certain objects, and to the organ of the tongue; which is a trifling
and ever restless thing, sticking to and moving in the cavity of the
mouth.
14. I am not my sight, that is employed in seeing the visibles only; it
is weak and decaying and never lasting in its power, nor capable of
viewing the invisible Spirit.
15. I am not the power of my smelling, which appertains to my nasal
organ only, and is conversant with odorous substances for a short
moment only. (Fragrance is a fleeting thing).
16. I am pure intelligence, and none of the sensations of my five
external organs of sense; I am neither my mental faculty, which is ever
frail and fruit; nor is there any thing belonging to me or
participating of my true essence. I am the soul and an indivisible
whole.
17. I am the ego or my intellect, without the objects of intellection
(_i.e._ the thinking principle freed from its thoughts). My _ego_
pervades internally and externally over all things, and manifests them
to the view. I am the whole without its parts, pure without foulness
and everlasting.
18. It is my intellection that manifests to me this pot and that
painting, and brings all other objects to my knowledge by its pure
light; as the sun and a lamp show everything to the sight.
19. Ah! I come to remember the whole truth at present, that I am the
immutable and all pervading Spirit, shining in the form of the
intellect (Gloss. The internal and intellectual Soul, is the Spirit of
God).
20. This essence evolves itself into the various faculties of sense; as
the inward fire unfolds itself into the forms of its flash and flame,
and its sparks and visible light.
21. It is this principle which unfolds itself, into the forms of the
different organs of sense also; as the all-diffusive heat of the hot
season, shows itself in the shape of mirage in sandy deserts.
22. It is this element likewise which constitutes the substance of all
objects; as it is the light of the lamp which is the cause of the
various colours of things; as the whiteness or other of a piece of
cloth or any other thing. (The intrinsic perceptivity of the soul,
causes the extrinsic senses and their separate organs).
23. It is the source of the perception of all living and waking beings,
and of everything else in existence; and as a mirror is the reflector
of all outward appearances, so is the Soul the reflective organ of all
its internal and external phenomena.
24. It is by means of this immutable intellectual light alone, that we
perceive the heat of the sun, the coldness of the moon, solidity of the
rock and the fluidity of water.
25. This one is the prime cause of every object of our continuous
perceptions in this world; this is the first cause of all things,
without having any prior cause of its own. (The soul produces the body,
and not the body brings forth the soul).
26. It is this that produces our notions of the continuity of objects
that are spread all around us, and take the name of objects from their
objectivity of the soul; as a thing is called not from the heat which
makes it such.
27. It is this formless cause, that is the prime cause of all plastic
and secondary causes (such as Brahmá the creative agent and others). It
is from this that the world has its production, as coldness is the
produce of cold and the like.
28. The gods Brahmá, Vishnu, Rudra and Indra, who are causes of the
existence of the world, all owe their origin to this prime cause, who
has no cause of himself.
29. I hail that Supreme soul which is imprest in me, and is apart from
every object of thought of the intellect, and which is self-manifest in
all things and at all times.
30. All beings besides, stand in the relation of modes and modalities
to this Supreme Being; and they immerge as properties in that
intellectual Spirit.
31. Whatever this internal and intelligent Soul wills to do, the same
is done every where; and nothing besides that self same soul exists in
reality any where.
32. Whatever is intended to be done by this intellectual power, the
same receives a form of its own; and whatever is thought to be undone
by the intellect, the same is dissolved into nought from its
substantiality.
33. These numberless series of worldly objects (as this pot, these
paintings and the like), are as shades cast on the immense mirror of
vacuum (or as air-drawn pictures represented on the canvas of empty
Space).
34. All these objects increase and decrease in their figures under the
light of the soul, like the shadows of things enlarging and diminishing
themselves in the sun shine.
35. This internal Soul is invisible to all beings, except to those
whose minds are melted down in piety. It is seen by the righteous in
the form of the clear firmament.
36. This great cause like a large tree, gives rise to all these visible
phenomena like its germ and sprouts; and the movements of living
beings, are as the flitterings of bees about this tree.
37. It is this that gives rise to the whole creation both in its ideal
and real and mobile or quiescent forms; as a huge rock gives growth to
a large forest with its various kinds of big trees and dwarf
shrubberies. (To him no high, no low, no great, no small, He fills, he
bounds, connects, and equals all. Pope).
38. It is not apart from anything, existing in the womb of this triple
world; but is residing alike in the highest gods, as in the lowest
grass below; and manifests them all full to our view.
39. This is one with the ego, and the all-pervading soul; and is
situated as the moving spirit, and unmoving dullness of the whole.
40. The universal soul is beyond the distinction, of my, thy or his
individual spirit; and is above the limits of time, and place, of
number and manner, of form or figure or shape or size.
41. It is one intelligent soul, which by its own intelligence, is the
eye and witness of all visible things; and is represented as having a
thousand eyes and hands and as many feet. (Wherewith he sees and grasps
everything, and stands and moves in every place).
42. This is that ego of my-self, that wanders about the firmament, in
the body of the shining sun; and wanders in other forms also, as those
of air in the current winds. (The first person I is used for supreme
Ego).
43. The sky is the azure body of my Vishnu with its accompaniments of
the conchshell, discus, club and the lotus, in the clouds, all which
are tokens of prosperity in this world by their blissful rains. (Vishnu
is the lord of Lakshmí or prosperity, which is another name for a
plenteous harvest. Her other name Srí the same with Ceres—the goddess
of corn and mother of Prosperine in Grecian mythology).[15]
44. I find myself as identic with this god, while I am sitting in my
posture of padmásana and in this state of _Samádhi_—hypnotism, and when
I have attained my perfection in quietism. (which is the form of Vishnu
in the serene sky).
45. I am the same with Siva—the god with his three eyes, and with his
eye-balls rolling like bees, on the lotus face of Gaurí; and it is I
that in the form of the god, Brahmá, contain the whole creation in me,
as a tortoise contracts its limbs in itself. (The soul in rapture,
seems to contain the macrocosm in itself).
46. I rule over the world in the form of Indra, and as a monk I command
the monastery which has come down to me. _i.e._ I am an Indra, when I
reign over my domain; and a poor monk, when I dwell in my humble cell.
47. I (the Ego) am both the male and female, and I am both the boy and
girl; I am old as regards my soul, and I am young with regard to my
body, which is born and ever renewed.
48. The ego is the grass and all kinds of vegetables on earth; as also
the moisture wherewith it grows them, like its thoughts in the ground
of the intellect; in the same manner as herbs are grown in holes and
wells by their moisture. _i.e._ The ego or soul is the pith and marrow
of all substance.
49. It is for pleasure that this ego has stretched out the world; like
a clever boy who makes his dolls of clay in play. (God forms the world
for his own amusement).
50. This ego is myself that gives existence to all being, and it is I
in whom they live and move about; and being at last forsaken by me, the
whole existence dwindles into nothing. (The ego is the individual as
well the universal soul).
51. Whatever image is impressed in the clear mirror or mould of my
intellect, the same and no other is in real existence, because there is
nothing that exists beside or apart from myself.
52. I am the fragrance of flowers, and the hue of their leaves; I am
the figure of all forms, and the perception of perceptibles.
53. Whatever movable or immovable thing is visible in this world; I am
the inmost heart of it, without having any of its desires in my heart.
54. As the prime element of moisture, is diffused in nature in the form
of water; so is my spirit overspread in vegetables and all things at
large in the form of vacuum. (Which is in the inside and outside of
every thing).
55. I enter in the form of consciousness, into the interior of
everything; and extend in the manner of various sensation at my own
will.
56. As butter is contained in milk and moisture is inherent in water;
so is the power of the intellect spread in all beings, and so the ego
is situated in the interior of all things.
57. The world exists in the intellect, at all times of the present,
past and future ages; and the objects of intelligence, are all inert
and devoid of motion; like the mineral and vegetable productions of
earth.
58. I am the all-grasping and all-powerful form of Virát, which fills
the infinite space, and is free from any diminution or decrease of its
shape and size. I am this all-pervading and all-productive power, known
as Virát múrti or macrocosm (in distinction from the _súkshma-deha_ or
microcosm).
59. I have gained my boundless empire over all worlds, without my
seeking or asking for it; and without subduing it like Indra of old or
crushing the gods with my arms. (Man is the lord of the world of his
own nature, or as the poet says:—“I am the Monarch of all I survey, and my
right there is none to dispute”).
60. O the extensive spirit of God! I bow down to that spirit in my
spirit; and find myself lost in it, as in the vast ocean of the
universal deluge.
61. I find no limit of this spirit; as long as I am seated in the
enjoyment of my spiritual bliss; but appear to move about as a minute
mollusk, in the fathomless expanse of the milky ocean.
62. This temple of Brahmánda or mundane world, is too small and
straitened for the huge body of my soul; and it is impossible for me
to be contained in it, as it is for an elephant to enter into the hole
of a needle.
63. My body stretches beyond the region of Brahmá, and my attributes
extend beyond the categories of the schools, and there is no definite
limitation given of them to this day.
64. The attribute of a name and body to the unsupported soul is a
falsehood, and so is it to compress the unlimited soul within the
narrow bounds of the body.
65. To say this is I, and this another, is altogether wrong; and what
is this body or my want of it, or the state of living or death to me?
(Since the soul is an immortal and etherial substance and my true-self
and essence).
66. How foolish and short-witted were my forefathers, who having
forsaken this spiritual domain, have wandered as mortal beings in this
frail and miserable world.
67. How great is this grand sight of the immensity of Brahma; and how
mean are these creeping mortals, with their high aims and ambition, and
all their splendours of royalty. (The glory of God, transcends the
glory of glorious sun).
68. This pure intellectual sight of mine, which is fraught with endless
joy, accompanied by ineffable tranquility, surpasses all other sights
in the whole world. (The rapture of heavenly peace and bliss, has no
bounds).
69. I bow down to the Ego, which is situated in all beings; which is
the intelligent and intellectual soul, and quite apart from whatever is
the object of intellection or thought (_i.e._ the unthinkable spirit).
70. I who am the unborn and increate soul, reign triumphant over this
perishing world; by my attainment to the state of the great universal
spirit, which is the chief object of gain—the _summum bonum_ of mortal
beings, and which I live to enjoy. (This sublimation of the human soul
to the state of the supreme spirit, and enjoyment of spiritual
beatification or heavenly rapture, is the main aim and end of Yoga
meditation).
71. I take no delight in my unpleasant earthly dominion, which is full
of painful greatness; nor like to lose my everlasting realm of good
understanding, which is free from trouble and full of perpetual delight.
72. Cursed be the wicked demons that are so sadly ignorant of their
souls; and resort for the safety of their bodies, to their strongholds
of woods and hills and ditches, like the insects of those places.
73. Ignorance of the soul leads to the serving of the dull ignorant
body, with articles of food and raiment; and it was thus that our
ignorant elders pampered their bodies for no lasting good.
74. What good did my father Hiranyakasipu reap, from his prosperity of
a few years in this world; and what did he acquire worthy of his
descent; in the line of the great sage Kasyapa?
75. He who has not tasted the blissfulness of his soul, has enjoyed no
true blessing, during his long reign of a hundred years in this world.
76. He who has gained the ambrosial delight of his spiritual bliss, and
nothing of the temporary blessings of life; has gained something which
is ever full in itself, and of which there is no end to the end of the
world.
77. It is the fool and not the wise, who forsakes this infinite joy for
the temporary delights of this world; and resembles the foolish camel
which foregoes his fodder of soft leaves, for browzing the prickly
thorns of the desert.
78. What man of sense would turn his eyes from so romantic a sight, and
like to roam in a city burnt down to the ground: and what wise man is
there that would forsake the sweet juice of sugarcane, in order to
taste the bitterness of Nimba?
79. I reckon all my forefathers as very great fools, for their leaving
this happy prospect, in order to wander in the dangerous paths of their
earthly dominion.
80. Ah! how delightful is the view of flowering gardens, and how
unpleasant is the sight of the burning deserts of sand; how very quiet
are these intellectual reveries, and how very boisterous are the
cravings of our hearts!
81. There is no happiness to be had in this earth, that would make us
wish for our sovereignty in it; all happiness consists in the peace of
the mind, which it concerns us always to seek.
82. It is the calm, quiet and unaltered state of the mind, that gives
us true happiness in all conditions of life; and the true realm of
things in all places and at all times, and under every circumstance in
life.
83. It is the virtue of sunlight to enlighten all objects, and that of
moonlight to fill us with its ambrosial draughts; but the light of
Brahma transcends them both, by filling the three worlds with its
spiritual glory; which is brighter than sun-beams, and cooler than
moon-light.
84. The power of Siva stretches over the fulness of knowledge, and that
of Vishnu over victory and prosperity (Jayas-Lakshmí). Fleetness is the
character of the mental powers, and force is the property of the wind.
85. Inflammation is the property of fire, and moisture is that of
water; taciturnity is the quality of devotees for success of devotion,
and loquacity is the qualification of learning.
86. It is the nature of the aerials to move about in the air, and of
rocks to remain fixed on the ground; the nature of water is to set deep
and run downwards; and that of mountains to stand and rise upwards.
87. Equanimity is the nature of Saugatas or Buddhists, and carousing is
the _penchant_ of wine-bibbers; the spring delights in its flowering,
and the rainy season exults in the roaring of its clouds.
88. The Yakshas are full of their delusiveness, and the celestials are
familiar with cold and frost, and those of the torrid zone are inured
in its heat. (This passage clearly shows the heaven of the Hindus, to
have been in the northern regions of cold and frost).
89. Thus are many other beings suited to their respective climes and
seasons, and are habituated to the very many modes of life and
varieties of habits; to which they have been accustomed in the past and
present times.
90. It is the one Uniform and Unchanging Intellect, that ordains these
multiform and changing modifications of powers and things, according to
its changeable will and velocity.
91. The same unchanging Intellect presents these hundreds of changing
scenes to us, as the same and invariable light of the sun, shows a
thousand varying forms and colour to the sight.
92. The same Intellect sees at a glance, these great multitudes of
objects, that fill the infinite space on all sides, in all the three
times of the present, past and future.
93. The selfsame pure Intellect knows at once, the various states of
all things presented in this vast phenomenal world, in all the three
times that are existent, gone by and are to come hereafter.
94. This pure Intellect reflects at one and the same time, all things
existent in the present, past and future times; and is full with the
forms of all things existing in the infinite space of the universe.
95. Knowing the events of the three times, and seeing the endless
phenomena of all worlds present before it, the divine intellect
continues full and perfect in itself and at all times.
96. The understanding ever continues the same and unaltered,
notwithstanding the great variety of its perceptions of innumerables of
sense and thought: such as the different tastes of sweet and sour in
honey and _nimba_ fruit at the same time. (_i.e._ The varieties of
mental perception and conception, make no change in the mind), as the
reflexion of various figures makes no change in the reflecting glass.
97. The intellect being in its state of arguteness, by abandonment of
mental desires, and knowing the natures of all things by reducing their
dualities into unity:—
98. It views them alike with an equal eye and at the same time;
notwithstanding the varieties of objects and their great difference
from one another. (_i.e._ All the varieties blend into unity).
99. By viewing all existence as non-existence, you get rid of your
existing pains and troubles, and by seeing all existence in the light
of nihility, you avoid the suffering of existing evils.
100. The intellect being withdrawn from its view of the events of the
three tenses (_i.e._ the occurrences of the past, present and future
times), and being freed from the fetters of its fleeting thoughts,
there remains only a calm tranquility.
101. The soul being inexpressible in words, proves to be a negative
idea only; and there ensues a state of one’s perpetual unconsciousness
of his soul or self-existence. (This is the state of anæsthesia, which
is forgetting oneself to a stock and stone).
102. In this state of the soul it is equal to Brahma, which is either
nothing at all or the All of itself; and its absorption in perfect
tranquilness is called its liberation (moksha) or emancipation from all
feelings (bodhas).
103. The intellect being vitiated by its volition, does not see the
soul in a clear light, as the hoodwinked eye has naught but a dim and
hazy sight of the world.
104. The intellect which is vitiated by the dirt of its desire and
dislike, is impeded in its heavenly flight, like a bird caught in a
snare. (Nor love nor hate of aught, is the best state of thought).
105. They who have fallen into the snare of delusion by their ignorant
choice of this or that, are as blind birds falling into the net in
search of their prey.
106. Entangled in the meshes of desire, and confined in the pit of
worldliness, our fathers were debarred from this unbarred sight of
spiritual light and endless delight.
107. In vain did our forefathers flourish for a few days on the surface
of this earth; only to be swept away like the fluttering flies and
gnats, by a gust of wind into the ditch.
108. If these foolish pursuers after the painful pleasures of the
world, had known the path of truth they would never fall into the dark
pit of unsubstantial pursuits.
109. Foolish folks being subjected to repeated pains and pleasures by
their various choice of things; follow at last the fate of ephemeral
worms, that are born to move and die in their native ditches and bogs
(_i.e._ as they are born of earth and dust so do they return to dust
and earth again).
110. He is said to be really alive who lives true to nature, and the
mirage of whose desires and aversion, is suppressed like the fumes of
his fancy, by the rising cloud of his knowledge of truth.
111. The hot and foul fumes of fancy, fly afar from the pure light of
reason, as the hazy mist of night, is dispersed by the bright beams of
moon-light.
112. I hail that soul which dwells as the inseparable intellect in me;
and I come at last to know my God, that resides as a rich gem
enlightening all the worlds in myself.
113. I have long thought upon and sought after thee, and I have at last
found thee rising in myself; I have chosen thee from all others; and
whatever thou art, I hail thee, my Lord! as thou appearest in me.
114. I hail thee in me, O lord of gods, in thy form of infinity within
myself, and in the shape of bliss within my enraptured soul; I hail
thee, O Supreme Spirit! that art superior to and supermost of all.
115. I bow down to that cloudless light, shining as the disk of the
full-moon in me; and to that self-same form, which is free from all
predicates and attributes. It is the self risen light in myself, and
that felicitous selfsame soul, which I find in myself _alter ego_.
CHAPTER XXXV.
MEDITATION ON BRAHMA IN ONE’S SELF.
Argument. Pantheistic Adoration of the universal soul.
Prahláda continued:—Om is the proper form of the One, and devoid of all
defalcation; that Om is this all, that is contained in this world. (The
Sruti says:—Om is Brahma, and Om is this all, it is the first and last
&c.).
2. It is the intelligence, and devoid of flesh, fat, blood and bones;
it abides in all things, and is the enlightener of the sun and all
other luminous bodies.
3. It warms the fire and moistens the water (_i.e._ gives heat and
moisture to the fire and water). It gives sensation to the senses, and
enjoys all things in the manner of a prince. (Warms in the sun,
refreshes in the breeze, &c. Pope).
4. It rests without sitting, it goes without walking; it is active in
its inactivity, it acts all without coming in tact with any thing.
5. It is the past and gone, and also the present and even now; it is
both the next moment, and remote future also; it is all that is fit and
proper, and whatever is unfit and improper likewise. (Changed through
all, and yet in all the same. All Discord, harmony not understood,
tends to universal good. Pope).
6. Undaunted, it produces all productions, and spreads the worlds over
one another; it continues to turn about the worlds, from the Sphere of
Brahma to the lower grounds of grass. (So Pope:—Spreads through all
extent, spreads undivided, operates unspent).
7. Though unmoving and immutable, yet it is as fleeting and changeable
as the flying winds; it is inert as the solid rock, and more
transparent than the subtile ether. “These as they change, are but the
varied God.” Thomson.
8. It moves the minds of men, as the winds shake the leaves of trees;
and it directs the organs of sense, as a charioteer manages his horses.
9. The Intellect sits as the lord of this bodily mansion, which is
carried about as a chariot by the equestrians of the senses; and
sitting at its own ease as sole monarch, it enjoys the fruitions of the
bodily actions.
10. It is to be diligently sought after, and meditated upon and lauded
at all times; because it is by means of this only, that one may have
his salvation from the pains of his age and death, and the evils of
ignorance.
11. It is easily to be found, and as easy to be familiarised as a
friend; it dwells as the humble bee, in the recess of the lotus-like
heart of every body.
12. Uncalled and uninvoked, it appears of itself from within the body;
and at a slight call it appears manifest to view. (So the Sruti:—The
soul becomes palpable to view).
13. Constant service of and attendance on this all-opulent Lord, never
make him proud or haughty, as they do any other rich master to his
humble attendants.
14. This Lord is as closely situated in every body, as fragrance and
fluidity, are inherent in flowers and sesamum seeds; and as flavour is
inseparably connected with liquid substances.
15. It is by reason of our unreasonableness, that we are ignorant of
the Intellect, that is situated in ourselves; while our reasoning power
serves to manifest it, as a most intimate friend to our sight.
16. As we come to know this Supreme Lord, that is situated in us by our
reasoning; we come to feel an ineffable delight in us, as at the sight
of a beloved and loving friend.
17. As this dearest friend appears to view, with his benign influence
of shedding full bliss about us; we come to the sight of such glorious
prospects, as to forget at once all our earthly enjoyments before them.
18. All his fetters are broken loose and fall off from him, and all his
enemies are put to an end; whose mind is not perforated by his
cravings, like houses dug by the injurious mice.
19. This one in all (_to pan_) being seen in us, the whole world is
seen in Him; and He being heard, every thing is heard in Him: He being
felt, all things are felt in Him; and He being present, the whole world
is present before us.
20. He wakes over the sleeping world, and destroys the darkness of the
ignorant; He removes the dangers of the distressed, and bestows His
blessings upon the holy. (So the sruti: _suptesujágarti_. God never
sleeps. Jones. The ever wakeful eyes of Jove. To wake over the sleeping
worlds. Iliad).
21. He moves about as the living soul of all, and rejoices as the
animal soul in all objects of enjoyment; it is He that glows in all
visible objects in their various hues. (Shines in the sun, and twinkles
in the stars; blazes in the fire, and blushes in flowers. Pope).
22. He sees himself in himself, and is quietly situated in all things;
as pungency resides in peppers, and sweetness in sugar &c.
23. He is situated as intelligence and sensations, in the inward and
outward parts of living beings; and forms the essence and existence of
all objects, in general, in the whole universe.
24. He forms the vacuity of the sky, and the velocity of the winds; He
is the light of igneous bodies, and the moisture of aqueous substances.
25. He is the firmness of the earth, and the warmth of the fire; He is
the coldness of the moon, and the entity of every thing in the world.
26. He is blackness in inky substances, and coldness in the particles
of snow; and as fragrance resides in flowers, so is he resident in all
bodies.
27. It is his essence which fills all space, as the essence of time
fills all duration; and it is his omnipotence that is the fountain of
all forces, as it is his omnipresence that is the support of every
thing in every place. (This is the pervasion, of omnipresence wrongly
called as pantheism).[16]
28. As the Lord unfolds everything to light, by the external organ of
sight and the internal organ of thinking; so the Great God enlightens
the gods (sun, moon, Indra and others) by his own light. (The Natural
Theism which represented the visible heavens and heavenly bodies as
gods, maintained also the doctrine of the One Invisible God, as shining
and supporting them all by his presence. Gloss).
29. I am that I am, without the attributes (of form or figure or any
property) in me; and I am as the clear air, unsullied by the particles
of flying dust; and as the leaves of lotuses, untouched by their
supporting and surrounding waters.
30. As a rolling stone gathers no moss, so there is nothing that
touches or bears any relation to my airy mind; and the pain and
pleasure which betake the body, cannot affect my form of the inner soul.
31. The soul like a gourd fruit, is not injured by the shower of rain
falling on the outer body resembling its hard crust; and the intellect
like the flame of a lamp, is not to be held fast (or fastened) by a
rope.
32. So this ego of mine which transcends every thing, is not to be tied
down by any thing to the earth; nor does it bear any relation with the
objects of sense or my mental desires, or anything existent or not in
existence in this world.
33. Who has the power to grasp the empty vacuum; or confine the mind?
You may cut the body to a thousand pieces, but you cannot divide the
invisible and the indivisible vacuous Spirit rising in me.
34. As the pot being broken or bored, or removed from its place, there
is no loss sustained by its containing or contained air; so the body
being destroyed, there is no damage done to the unconnected soul; and
the mind is as false a name, as that of a demon or Pisácha.
35. The destruction of the gross body, does not injure the immaterial
soul; and what is the mind, but the perceptive power of my desires and
gross pleasures and pains. (The organ of the mind is destroyed with the
body).
36. I had such a percipient mind before, but now I have found my rest
in quiescence. I find it is another thing beside myself, because it
perceives and partakes of the enjoyments of life, and is exposed to the
dangers that betake the body.
37. There is another one in me (_i.e._ the soul or intellect), which
beholds the actions of the other (_i.e._ of the mind) as a theatric
act; and witnesses the exposure of the body to peril, as its last sad
and catastrophe.
38. It is the wicked spirit, that is caught in ignorance; but the pure
spirit has nothing to suffer: and I feel in myself neither the wish of
my continuing in worldly enjoyments, nor a desire of forsaking them
altogether. (I enjoy my life while it lasts).[17]
39. Let what may come to pass on me, and whatever may happen to pass
away from me; I have neither the expectation of pleasures for me, nor
an aversion to the suffering of pain. (in my gain or loss of any thing,
in my resignation of myself to God).
40. Let pleasure or pain betake or forsake me as it may, without my
being concerned with or taking heed of either; because I know the
fluctuating desires, to be incessantly rising and setting in the sphere
of my mind.
41. Let these desires depart from me, for I have nothing to do with
them, nor have they any concern with me. Alas! how have I been all this
time, misled to these by ignorance, which is my greatest enemy.
42. It is by favour of Vishnu, and by virtue of my pure Vaishnava
faith, rising in me of itself, that my ignorance is now wholly
dispelled from me, and the knowledge of the True One is revealed unto
me.
43. My knowledge of truth has now driven away my egoism (or knowledge
of myself) from my mind; as they drive a spirit from its hiding-place
in the hollow of a tree.
44. I am now purified by admonition (mantra) of divine knowledge to me,
and the arbour of my body is now set free from egoism, which sat as a
demon (Yaksha) in it.
45. It is now become as a sacred arbour, blooming with heavenly
flowers; and freed from the evils of ignorance, penury, and vain
wishes, which infested it erewhile.
46. Loaded with the treasure of sacred knowledge, I find myself sitting
here as one supremely-rich; and knowing all that is to be known, I see
the sights that are invisible to others.
47. I have now got that in which nothing can be wanting, and wherein
there is no want besides; it is by my good fortune that I am freed from
all evils, and the venomous serpents of worldly cares.
48. My chill and frigid ignorance is melted down, by the light of
knowledge; and the hot mirage of my desires, is now quenched and cooled
by my quietude: I see the clear sky on all sides without any mist or
dust and I rest under the cooling umbrage of the tranquility of my
soul.
49. It is by my glorification of God, and my thanksgivings to Vishnu,
my holy rites and also by my divine knowledge and quietism; that I have
obtained by grace of my God, a spacious room and elevated position in
spirituality.
50. I have got that god in my spirit, and have seen and known him also
in his spiritual form. He is beyond my own ego, and I remember him
always in this manner.
51. I remember Vishnu as the great Spirit, and eternal Brahma in his
nature; while my egoism or selfishness is confined as a snake, in the
holes of my organic frame, which is wholly the land of death. (The
animal soul is born to die with the mortal body).
52. It is entangled in the bushes of its pricking desires, resembling
the prickly _karanja_ ferns; and amidst the tumults of raging passions,
and a thousand other broils of this world.
53. It is placed amidst the conflagration of calamities, and is
encircled by the flames of smart pain at all times; it is subjected
to continual ups and downs of fortune, and repeated risings and
fallings in its journey in this world.
54. It has its repeated births and deaths, owing to its interminable
desires; and thus I am always deceived by this great enemy—my own
egoism.
55. The animal soul is powerless at night, as if it were caught in the
clutches of a demon in the forest; so I feel it now to be deprived of
its power and action, while I am in this state of my meditation. (The
animal spirit is dormant in its states of physical and spiritual
trance).
56. It is by grace of Vishnu, that the light of my understanding is
roused; and as I see my God by means of this light, I lose the sight of
my demoniac egoism (_i.e._ I become unconscious of my existence at the
sight of my Lord).
57. The sight of the demoniac egoism dwelling in the cavity of my mind,
disappears from my view in the like manner; as the shadow of darkness
flies from the light of a lamp, and as the shade of night is dispersed
by day light.
58. As you know not where the flame of the lighted lamp is fled, after
it is extinguished; so we know not where our lordly egoism is hid, at
the sight of our God before us.
59. My rich egoism flies at the approach of reason, as a heavy loaded
robber, flies before the advance of day light; and our false egoism
vanishes as a demon, at the rising of the true Ego of God.
60. My egoism being gone, I am set at ease like a tree, freed from a
poisonous snake rankling in its hollow cavity. I am at rest and in my
insensibleness in this world, when I am awakened to my spiritual light.
61. I have escaped from the hand of my captor, and gained my permanent
ascendency over others; I have got my internal coldness _sang froid_,
and have allayed the mirage of my thirst after vain glory.
62. I have bathed in the cold bath of rain water, and am pacified as a
rock after the cooling of its conflagration; I am cleansed of my
egoism, by my knowledge of the true meaning of the term.
63. What is ignorance and what are our pains and affliction? what are
our evil desires, and what are our diseases and dangers? All these with
the ideas of heaven and liberation, together with the hope of heaven
and the fear of hell, are but false conceptions proceeding from our
egoism or selfishness (or the cravings and loathings of our hearts).
64. As a picture is drawn on a canvas and not in empty air, so our
thoughts depend on our selfish principle and upon its want. And as it
is the clear linen, that receives the yellow colour of saffron; so it
is the pure soul that receives the image of God. It is egoism which
vitiates the soul with the bilious passions of the heart, as a dirty
cloth vitiates a goodly paint, with its inborn taint.
65. Purity of the inward soul, is like the clearness of the autumnal
sky; it is devoid of the cloudiness of egoism, and the drizzling drops
of desires. (_i.e._ A pure soul is as clear as the unclouded sky).
66. I bow down to thee, O my soul inmost! that art a stream of bliss to
me, with pure limpid waters amidst, and without the dirt of egoism
about thee.
67. I hail thee, O thou my soul! that art an ocean of joy to me,
uninfested by the sharks of sensual appetites, and undisturbed by the
submarine fire of the latent mind.
68. I prostrate myself before thee, O thou quick soul of mine! that art
a mountain of delight to me, without the hovering clouds of egoistic
passions, and the wild fires of gross appetites and desires.
69. I bow to thee, O thou soul in me! that art the heavenly lake of
Manas to me, with the blooming lotuses of delight, and without the
billows of cares and anxieties.
70. I greet thee my internal spirit! that floatest in the shape of a
swan (hansa) in the lake of the mind (manas) of every individual, and
residest in the cavity of the lotiform cranium (Brahmárandhra), with
thy outstretched wings of consciousness and standing.
71. All hail to thee, O thou full and perfect spirit! that art the
undivided and immortal soul, and appearest in thy several parts of the
mind and senses; like the full-moon containing all its digits in its
entire self.
72. Obeisance to the sun of my intellect! which is always in its
ascendency and dispels the darkness of my heart; which pervades
everywhere, and is yet invisible or dimly seen by us.
73. I bow to my intellectual light, which is an oilless lamp of benign
effulgence, and burns in full blaze within me and without its wick. It
is the enlightener of nature, and quite still in its nature.
74. Whenever my mind is heated by cupid’s fire, I cool it by the
coolness of my cold and callous intellect coolness; as they temper the
red-hot iron with a cold and hard hammer.
75. I am gaining my victory over all things, by killing my egoism by
the Great Ego; and by making my senses and mind to destroy themselves.
76. I bow to thee, O thou all subduing faith, that dost crush our
ignorant doubt by thy wisdom; dispellest the unrealities by thy
knowledge of the reality, and removest our cravings by thy
contentedness.
77. I subsist solely as the transparent spirit, by killing my mind by
the great Mind, and removing my egoism by the sole Ego, and by driving
the unrealities by the true Reality.
78. I rely my body (_i.e._ I depend for my bodily existence), on the
moving principle of my soul only; without the consciousness of my
self existence, my egoism, my mind and all its efforts and actions.
79. I have obtained at last of its own accord, and by the infinite
grace of the Lord of all, the highest blessing of cold heartedness and
_insouciance_ in myself.
80. I am now freed from the heat of my feverish passions, by subsidence
of the demon of my ignorance; from disappearance of the goblin of my
egoism.
81. I know not where the falcon of my false egoism has fled, from the
cage of my body, by breaking its string of desires to which it was fast
bound in its feet.
82. I do not know whither the eagle of my egotism is flown, from its
nest in the arbor of my body, after blowing away its thick ignorance
as dust.
83. Ah! where is my egoism fled, with its body besmeared with the dust
and dirt of worldliness, and battered by the rocks of its insatiable
desires? It is bitten by the deadly dragons of fears and dangers, and
pierced in its hearts by repeated disappointments and despair.
84. O! I wonder to think what I had been all this time, when I was
bound fast by my egoism in the strong chain of my personality.
85. I think myself a new born being to-day, and to have become
highminded also, by being removed from the thick cloud of egoism, which
had shrouded me all this time.
86. I have seen and known, and obtained this treasure of my soul, as it
is presented to my understanding, by the verbal testimonies of the
sástras, and by the light of inspiration in my hour of meditation
(samádhi).
87. My mind is set at rest as extinguished fire, by its being released
from the cares of the world; as also from all other thoughts and
desires and the error of egoism. I am now set free from my affections
and passions, and all delights of the world, as also my craving after
them.
88. I have passed over the impassable ocean of dangers and
difficulties, and the intolerable evils of transmigration; by the
disappearance of my internal darkness, and sight of the One Great God
in my intellect.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
HYMN TO THE SOUL.
Argument. Prahláda getting the light of his internal soul, delights
himself as one in the company of his sweet-heart.
Prahláda continued:—I thank thee, O lord and great spirit! that art
beyond all things, and art found in myself by my good fortune.
2. I have no other friend, O my Lord, in the three worlds except thee;
that dost vouchsafe to embrace and look upon me, when I pray unto thee.
3. It is thou that preservest and destroyest all, and givest all things
to every body; and it is thou, that makest us move and work, and praise
thy holy name. Now art thou found and seen by me, and now thou goest
away from me.
4. Thou fillest all being in the world with thy essence; thou art
present in all places, but where art thou now fled and gone from me?
5. Great is the distance between us, even as the distance of the places
of our birth, it is my good fortune of friend! that has brought thee
near me today, and presented thee to my sight (so fleeting is spiritual
vision).
6. I hail thee, thou felicitous one! that art my maker and preserver
also; I thank thee that art the stalk of this fruit of this world, and
that art the eternal and pure soul of all.
7. I thank the holder of the lotus and discus, and thee also that
bearest the crescent half moon on thy forehead—great Siva. I thank the
lord of gods—Indra, and Brahmá also, that is born of the lotus.
8. It is a verbal usage that makes a distinction betwixt thee and
ourselves (_i.e._ between the Divine and animal souls); but this is a
false impression as that of the difference between waves and their
elemental water.
9. Thou showest thyself in the shapes of the endless varieties of
beings, and existence and extinction are the two states of thyself from
all eternity.
10. I thank thee that art the creator and beholder of all, and the
manifester of innumerable forms. I thank thee that art the whole nature
thyself.
11. I have undergone many tribulations in the long course of past
lives, and it was by thy will that I became bereft of my strength, and
was burnt away at last.
12. I have beheld the luminous worlds, and observed many visible and
invisible things; but thou art not to be found in them. So I have
gained nothing (from my observations).
13. All things composed of earth, stone and wood, are formations of
water (the form of Vishnu), there is nothing here, that is permanent, O
god, beside thyself. Thou being obtained there is nothing else to
desire.
14. I thank thee lord! that art obtained, seen and known by me this
day; and that shalt be so preserved by me, as never to be obliterated
(from my mind).
15. Thy bright form which is interwoven by the rays of light, is
visible to us by inversion of the sight of the pupils of our eyes, into
the inmost recesses of our heart.
16. As the feeling of heat and cold is perceived by touch, and as the
fragrance of the flower is felt in the oil with which it is mixed; so I
feel thy presence by thy coming in contact with my heart.
17. As the sound of music enters into the heart through the ears, and
makes the heart strings to thrill, and the hairs of the body to stand
at an end; so is thy presence perceived in our hearts also.
18. As the objects of taste are felt by the tip of the tongue, which
conveys their relish to the mind; so is thy presence felt by my heart,
when thou touchest it with thy love.
19. How can one slight to look and lay hold on his inner soul which
shoots through every sense of his body; when he takes up a sweet
scenting flower, perceptible by the sense of smelling only, and finally
decorating his outer person with it.
20. How can the supreme spirit, which is well known to us by means of
the teachings of the Vedas, Vedánta, Sidhántas and the Puránas, as also
by the Logic of schools and the hymns of the Vedas, be any way
forgotten by us?
21. These things which are pleasant to the bodily senses, do not
gladden my heart, when it is filled by thy translucent presence.
22. It is by thy effulgent light, that the sun shines so bright; as it
is by thy benign lustre also, that the moon dispenses her cooling beams.
23. Thou hast made these bulky rocks, and upheld the heavenly bodies;
thou hast supported the stable earth, and lifted the spacious firmament.
24. Fortunately thou hast become myself, and I have become one with
thyself, I am identic with thee and thou with me, and there is no
difference between us.
25. I thank the great spirit, that is expressed by turns by the words
myself and thyself; and mine and thine.
26. I thank the infinite God, that dwells in my unegoistic mind; and I
thank the formless Lord, that dwells in my tranquil soul.
27. Thou dwellest, O Lord! in my formless, tranquil, transparent and
conscious soul, as thou residest in thy own spirit, which is unbounded
by the limitations of time and space.
28. It is by thee that the mind has its action, and the senses have
their sensations; the body has all its powers, and the vital and
respirative breaths have their inflations and afflations.
29. The organs of the body are led by the rope of desire to their
several actions, and being united with flesh, blood and bones, are
driven like the wheels of a car by the charioteer of the mind.
30. I am the consciousness of my body, and am neither the body itself
nor my egoism of it; let it therefore rise or fall, it is of no
advantage or disadvantage to me.
31. I was born in the same time with my ego (as a personal, corporeal
and sensible being); and it was long afterwards that I had the
knowledge of my soul; I had my insensibility last of all, in the manner
of the world approaching to its dissolution at the end.
32. Long have I travelled in the long-some journey of the world; I am
weary with fatigue and now rest in quiet, like the cooling fire of the
last conflagration. (_i.e._ Of the doomsday).
33. I thank the Lord who is all (_to pan_), and yet without all and
everything; and thee my soul! that art myself likewise. I thank thee
above those sástras and preceptors, that teach the ego and tu (_i.e._
the subjective and objective).
34. I hail the all witnessing power of that providential spirit, that
has made these ample and endless provisions for others, without
touching or enjoying them itself.
35. Thou art the spirit that dwellest in all bodies in the form of the
fragrance of flowers, and in the manner of breath in bellows; and as
the oil resides in the sesamum seeds.
36. How wonderful is this magic scene of thine, that thou appearest in
everything, and preservest and destroyest it at last, without having
any personality of thy own.
37. Thou makest my soul rejoice at one time as a lighted lamp, by
manifesting all things before it; and thou makest it joyous also, when
it is extinguished as a lamp, after its enjoyment of the visibles.
38. This universal frame is situated in an atom of thyself, as the big
banian tree is contained in the embryo of a grain of its fig.
39. Thou art seen, O lord, in a thousand forms that glide under our
sight; in the same manner as the various forms of elephants and horses,
cars and other things are seen in the passing clouds on the sky.
40. Thou art both the existence and absence of all things, that are
either present or lost to our view; yet thou art quite apart from all
worldly existences, and art aloof from all entities and non-entities in
the world.
41. Forsake, O my soul! the pride and anger of thy mind, and all the
foulness and wiliness of thy heart; because the highminded never fall
into the faults and errors of the common people.
42. Think over and over on the actions of thy past life, and the long
series of thy wicked acts; and then with a sigh blush to think upon
what thou hadst been before, and cease to do such acts anymore.
43. The bustle of thy life is past, and thy bad days have gone away;
when thou wast wrapt in the net of thy tangled thoughts on all sides.
44. Now thou art a monarch in the city of thy body, and hast the desire
of thy mind presented before thee; thou art set beyond the reach of
pleasure and pain, and art as free as the air which nobody can grasp.
45. As thou hast now subdued the untractable horses of thy bodily
organs, and the indomitable elephant of thy mind; and as thou hast
crushed thy enemy of worldly enjoyment, so dost thou now reign as the
sole sovereign, over the empire of thy body and mind.
46. Thou art now become as the glorious sun, to shine within and
without us day by day; and dost traverse the unlimited fields of air,
by thy continued rising and setting at every place in our meditation of
thee.
47. Thou Lord! art ever asleep, and risest also by thy own power; and
then thou lookest on the luxuriant world, as a lover looks on his
beloved.
48. These luxuries like honey, are brought from great distances by the
bees of the bodily organs; and the spirit tastes the sweets, by looking
upon them through the windows of its eyes. (The spirit enjoys the
sweets of offerings, by means of its internal senses).
49. The seat of the intellectual world in the cranium is always dark,
and a path is made in it by the breathings of inspiration and
respiration (pránápána), which lead the soul to the sight of Brahmá
(_lit._: to the city of Brahmá. This is done by the practice of
_pránáyáma_).
50. Thou Lord! art the odor of this flower-like body of thine, and
thou art the nectarious juice of thy moonlike frame, the moisture of
this bodily tree, and thou art the coolness of its cold humours: phlegm
and cough.
51. Thou art the juice, milk and butter, that support the body, and
thou being gone (O soul!), the body is dried up and become as full to
feed the fire.
52. Thou art the flavour of fruits, and the light of all luminous
bodies; it is thou that perceivest and knowest all things, and givest
light to the visual organ of sight.
53. Thou art the vibration of the wind, and the force of our
elephantine minds; and so art thou the acuteness of the flame of our
intelligence.
54. It is thou that givest us the gift of speech, and dost stop our
breath, and makest it break forth again on occasions. (Speech—Vách—vox
in the feminine gender, is made Váchá by affix á according to Bhaguri).
55. All these various series of worldly productions, bear the same
relation to thee, as the varieties of jewelleries (such as the
bracelets and wristlets); are related to the gold (of which they are
made).
56. Thou art called by the words I, thou, he &c., and it is thyself
that callest thyself such as it pleaseth thee. (The impersonal God is
represented in different persons).
57. Thou art seen in the appearances of all the productions of nature,
as we see the forms of men, horses and elephants in the clouds, when
they glide softly on the wings of the gentle winds. (But as all these
forms are unreal, so God has no form in reality).
58. Thou dost invariably show thyself in all thy creatures on earth,
the blazing fire presents the figures of horses and elephants in its
lambent flames. (Neither has God nor fire any form at all).
59. Thou art the unbroken thread, by which the orbs of worlds are
strung together as a rosary of pearls; and thou art the field that
growest the harvest of creation, by the moisture of thy intellect. (The
divine spirit stretches through all, and contains the pith of creation).
60. Things that were inexistent and unproduced before creation, have
come to light from their hidden state of reality by thy agency, as the
flavour of meat-food, becomes evident by the process of cooking.[18]
61. The beauties of existences are imperceptible without the soul; as
the graces of a beauty are not apparent to one devoid of his eyesight.
62. All substances are nothing whatever without thy inherence in them;
as the reflection of the face in the mirror (or a picture in painting),
is to no purpose without the real face or figure of the person.
63. Without thee the body is a lifeless mass, like a block of wood or
stone; and it is imperceptible without the soul, as the shadow of a
tree in absence of the sun.
64. The succession of pain and pleasure, ceases to be felt by one who
feels thee within himself; as the shades of darkness, the twinkling of
stars, and the coldness of frost, cease to exist in the bright sunlight.
65. It is by a glance of thy eye, that the feelings of pain and
pleasure rise in the mind; as it is by the beams of the rising sun,
that the sky is tinged with its variegated hues.
66. Living beings perish in a moment, at the privation of thy presence;
as the burning lamp is extinguished to darkness, at the extinction of
its light. (Light and life are synonymous terms, as death and darkness
are homonyms).
67. As the gloom of darkness is conspicuous at the want of light; but
coming in contact with light, it vanishes from view.[19]
68. So the appearances of pain and pleasure, present themselves before
the mind, during thy absence from it; but they vanish into nothing at
the advance of thy light into it.
69. The temporary feelings of pleasure and pain, can find no room in
the fulness of heavenly felicity (in the entranced mind); just as a
minute moment of time, is of no account in the abyss of eternity.
70. The thoughts of pleasure and pain, are as the short-lived fancies
of the fairy land or castles in air; they appear by turns at thy
pleasure, but they disappear altogether no sooner thy form is seen in
the mind.
71. It is by thy light in our visual organs, that things appear to
sight at the moment of our waking, as they are reproduced into being;
and it is by thy light also poured into our minds, that they are seen
in our dream, as if they are all asleep in death.
72. What good can we derive from these false and transient appearances
in nature? No one can string together the seeming lotuses that are
formed by the foaming froth of the waves.
73. No substantial good can accrue to us from transitory mortal things;
as no body can string together the transient flashes of lightning into
a necklace. (This is in refutation of the usefulness of temporary
objects maintained by the Saugatas).
74. Should the rationalist take the false ideas of pain and pleasure
for sober realities; what distinction then can there be between them
and the irrational realists (Buddhists).
75. Should you, like the Nominalist, take everything which bears a name
for a real entity; I will tell you no more than that, you are too fond
to give to imaginary things a fictitious name at your own will.
(Gloss:—according to the ideas and desires of one’s own mind, or giving
a name to airy nothing).
76. But the soul is indivisible and without its desire and egoism, and
whether it is a real substance or not we know nothing of, yet its
agency is acknowledged on all hands in our bodily actions.
77. All joy be thine! that art boundless in thy spiritual body, and
ever disposed to tranquility; that art beyond the knowledge of the
Vedas, and art yet the theme of all the sástras.
78. All joy to thee! that art both born and unborn with the body, and
art decaying undecayed in thy nature; that art the unsubstantial
substance of all qualities, and art known and unknown to every body.
79. I exult now and am calm again, I move and am still afterwards; I am
victorious and live to win my liberation by thy grace; therefore I hail
thee that art myself.
80. When thou art situated in me, my soul is freed from all troubles
and feelings and passions; and is placed in perfect rest. There is no
more any fear of danger or difficulty or of life and death, nor any
craving for prosperity, when I am absorbed in everlasting bliss with
thee.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
DISORDER AND DISQUIET OF THE ASURA REALM.
Argument. As Prahláda was absorbed in Meditation, his dominions were
infested by robbers for want of a Ruler, and the reign of terror.
Vasishtha said:—Prahláda the defeater of inimical hosts, was sitting in
the said manner in divine meditation, and was absorbed in his entranced
rapture, and undisturbed _anaesthesia_ or insensibility for a long time.
2. The soul reposing in its original state of unalterable _ecstatis_,
made his body as immovable as a rock in painting or a figure carved on
a stone (_in bas relief_).
3. In this manner a long time passed upon his hybernation, when he was
sitting in his house in a posture as unshaken as the firm Meru is fixed
upon the earth.
4. He was tried to be roused in vain, by the great Asuras of his
palace; because his deadened mind remained deaf to their calls like a
solid rock, and was as impassive as a perched grain to the showers of
rain.
5. Thus he remained intent upon his God, with his fixed and firm gaze
for thousands of years; and continued as unmoved, as the carved sun
upon a stone (or sundial).
6. Having thus attained to the state of supreme bliss, the sight of
infelicity disappeared from his view, as it is unknown to the supremely
felicitous being. (So the Sruti: In Him there is all joy and no woe can
appear before Him).
7. During this time the whole circuit of his realm, was overspread by
anarchy and oppression; as it reigns over the poor fishes.[20]
8. For after Hiranyakasipu was killed and his son had betaken himself
to asceticism, there was no body left to rule over the realms of the
Asura race.
9. And as Prahláda was not to be roused from his slumber, by the
solicitations of the Daitya chiefs, or the cries of his oppressed
people:—
10. They—the enemies of the gods, were as sorry not to have their
graceful lord among them; as the bees are aggrieved for want of the
blooming lotus at night (when it is hid under its leafy branches).
11. They found him as absorbed in his meditation, as when the world is
drowned in deep sleep, after departure of the sun below the horizon.
12. The sorrowful Daityas departed from his presence, and went away
wherever they liked; they roved about at random, as they do in an
ungoverned state.
13. The infernal regions became in time the seat of anarchy and
oppression; and the good and honest dealings bade adieu to it all at
once.
14. The houses of the weak were robbed by the strong, and the
restraints of laws were set at naught; the people oppressed one another
and robbed the women of their robes.
15. There were crying and wailing of the people on all sides, and the
houses were pulled down in the city; the houses and gardens were robbed
and spoiled, and outlawry and rapacity spread all over the land.
16. The Asuras were in deep sorrow, and their families were starving
without food or fruits; there were disturbance and riot rising every
where, and the face of the sky was darkened on all sides.
17. They were derided by the younglings of the gods, and invaded by
vile robbers and envious animals; the houses were robbed of their
properties, and were laid waste and void.
18. The Asura realm became a scene of horror, by lawless fighting for
the wives and properties of others; and the wailings of those that were
robbed of their wealth and wives, it made the scene seem as the reign
of the dark Kali age, when the atrocious marauders are let loose to
spread devastation all over the earth.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
SCRUTINY INTO THE NATURE OF GOD.
Argument. Hari’s care for preservation of the order of the world, and
his advice to Prahláda.
Vasishtha continued:—Now Hari who slept on his couch of the snake, in
his watery mansion of the Milky ocean, and whose delight it was to
preserve the order of all the groups of worlds;—
2. Looked into the course of world in his own mind, after he rose from
his sleep at the end of the rainy season for achieving the objects of
the gods. (Vishnu rises after the rains on the eleventh day of moon
उत्थानैकादशी ।).
3. He surveyed at a glance of his thought the state of the triple
world, composed of the heaven, the earth and the regions below; and
then directed his attention to the affairs of the infernal regions of
the demons.
4. He beheld Prahláda sitting there in his intense hypnotic meditation,
and then looked into the increasing prosperity of Indra’s palace.
5. Sitting as he was on his serpentine couch in the Milky Ocean, with
his arms holding the conch-shell, the discus, and the club and lotus in
his four hands;—
6. He thought in his brilliant mind and in his posture of _padmásana_,
about the states of the three worlds, as the fluttering bee inspects
into the state of the lotus.
7. He saw Prahláda immerged in his hypnotism, and the infernal regions
left without a leader; and beheld the world was about to be devoid of
the Daitya race.
8. This want of the demons, thought he, was likely to cool the military
ardour of the Devas; as the want of clouds serves to dry up the waters
on earth.
9. Liberation which is obtained by privation of dualism and egoism,
brings a man to that state of asceticism; as the want of moisture tends
to dry up and deaden the promising plant.
10. The Gods being at rest and contented in themselves, there will be
no need of sacrifices and offerings to please and appease them; and
this will eventually lead to the extinction of the gods (for want of
their being fed with the butter and fat of the sacrifices).
11. The religious and sacrificial rites, being at an end among mankind,
will bring on (owing to their impiety), the destruction of human race,
which will cause the desolation of the earth (by wild beasts).
13. What is the good of my providence, if were I to allow this
plenteous earth to go to ruin by my neglect? (It would amount to
Vishnu’s violation of duty to preserve the world).
14. What can I have to do in this empty void of the world, after the
extinction of these created beings into nothing, than to charge my
active nature to a state of cold inactivity, and lose myself into the
_anaesthesia_ of final liberation or insensibility.
15. I see no good in the untimely dissolution of the order of the
world, and would therefore have the Daityas live to its end.
16. It is owing to the struggles of the demons, that the deities are
worshipped with sacrifices and other religious rites for their
preservation of the earth; therefore they are necessary for the
continuation of these practices in it.
17. I shall have therefore to visit the nether world, and restore it to
its right order; and appoint the lord of the demons to the observance
of his proper duties; in the manner of the season of spring returning
to fructify the trees.
18. If I raise any other Daitya to the chieftainship of the demons, and
leave Prahláda in the act of his meditation; it is sure that he will
disturb the Devas, instead of bearing obedience to them. Because no
demon can get rid of his demoniac nature like Prahláda.
19. Prahláda is to live to old age in his sacred person, and to reside
therein to the end of the kalpa age, with this very body of his
(without undergoing the casualties of death and transmigration).
20. So it is determined by Destiny, the divine and overruling goddess;
that Prahláda will continue to reign to the end of the _kalpa_, in this
very body of his.
21. I must therefore go, and awaken the Daitya chief from his trance,
as the roaring cloud rouses the sleepy peacocks, on the tops of hills
and banks of rivers.
22. Let that self ridden (_swayam-mukta_) and somnolent (_samádhistha_)
prince, reign unconcerned (_amanaskára_) over the Daitya race; as the
unconscious pearl reflects the colours of its adjacent objects.
23. By this means both the gods and demigods, will be preserved on the
face of the earth; and their mutual contention for superiority, will
furnish occasion for the display of my prowess.
24. Though the creation and destruction of the world, be indifferent to
me; yet its continuation in the primordial order, is of much concern to
others, if not to my insusceptible self.
25. Whatever is alike in its existence and inexistence, is the same
also in both its gain and loss (to the indifferent soul). Any effort
for having any thing is mere foolishness; since addition and
subtraction presuppose one another. (Gain is the supplying of want, and
want is the privation of gain).
26. I shall therefore hasten to the infernal region, and awaken the
Daitya prince to the sense of his duty; and then will I resume my
calmness, and not play about on the stage of the world like the
ignorant. (The sapient God is silent; but foolish souls are turbulent).
27. I will proceed to the city of the Asuras amidst their tumultuous
violence, and rouse the Daitya prince as the sunshine raises the
drooping lotus; and I shall bring the people to order and union, as the
rainy season collects the fleeting clouds on the summits of mountains.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
ADMONITIONS OF HARI TO PRAHLÁDA.
Argument. Hari enters into the Daitya city, blows his conch-shell,
and directs Prahláda to reign and rule over his realm.
Vasishtha continued:—Thinking thus within himself, Hari started from
his abode in the Milky Ocean with his companions, and moved like the
immovable Mandara mountain with all its accompaniments.
2. He entered the city of Prahláda resembling the metropolis of Indra,
by a subterranean passage lying under the waters of the deep. (This
passage, says the gloss, leads to the _sweta dwípa_ or white island of
Albion—Britain; but literally it means the underground passage of
waters).
3. He found here the prince of the Asuras, sitting under a golden dome
in his hypnotic trance, like Brahmá sitting in his meditative mood in a
cavern of the Sumeru mountain. (This shows Brahmá the progenitor of
mankind or of the Aryan Brahmanic race, to have been a mountaineer of
the Altai or N. polar ranges, called Sumeru _contra_ Kumeru—the S.
pole).
4. There the Daityas being tinged in their bodies, by the bright rays
of Vishnu’s person, fled far away from him, like a flock of owls from
the bright beams of the rising sun. (The Daityas are night rovers or
_nisa charas_, and cannot maintain their ground at sun rise).
5. Hari then being accompanied by two or three Daitya chiefs entered
the apartment of Prahláda, as the bright moon enters the pavilion of
the sky at eve, in company with two or three stars beside her. (Moon in
Sanskrit is the male consort of the stars, and called _Tará-pati_).
6. There seated on his eagle and fanned with the flapper of Lakshmí,
and armed with his weapons, and beset by the saints hymning his praise:—
7. He said, O great soul! rise from thy trance; and then blew his
_pánchajanya_ shell, which resounded to the vault of heaven.
8. The loud peal of the Conch, blown by the breath of Vishnu, roared at
once like the clouds of the sky, and the waves of the great deluge with
redoubled force.
9. Terrified at the sound, the Daityas fell flat and fainting on the
ground; as when the flocks of swans and geese, are stunned at the
thundering noise of clouds.
10. But the party of Vaishnavas, rejoiced at the sound without the
least fear; and they flushed with joy like the _Kurchi_ flowers,
blooming at the sound of the clouds. (Kurchi buds are said to blossom
in the rains).
11. The lord of the Dánavas, was slowly roused from his sleep; in the
manner of the kadamba flowers, opening their florets by degrees at the
intervals of rain.
12. It was by an act of the excretion of his breathing, that he brought
down his vital breath, which was confined in the vertical membrane of
the cranium; in the manner that the stream of Ganges gushes out from
the high-hill, and mixes and flows with the whole body of waters into
the ocean. (So it is with our inspiration and respiration, which carry
up and down our vital breath, to and from the sensory of the brain).
13. In a moment the vital breath circulated through the whole body of
Prahláda; as the solar beams spread over the whole world soon after
they emanate from the solar disk at sun rise.
14. The vital breath, having then entered into the cells of the nine
organs of sense; his mind became susceptible of sensations, received
through the organs of the body like reflexions in a mirror.
15. The intellect desiring to know the objects, and relying in the
reflexions of the senses, takes the name of the mind; as the reflexion
of the face in the mirror, refracts itself again to the visual organ.
16. The mind having thus opened or developed itself, his eyelids were
about to open of themselves; like the petals of the blue lotus, opening
by degrees in the morning.
17. The breathings then, by conveying the sensations to the body,
through the veins and arteries, give it the power of motion; as the
current breeze moves the lotuses.
18. The same vital breath, strengthened the powers of his mind in a
short time; as the billows of a river, become more powerful when it is
full of water.
19. At last his eyes being opened, his body shone forth with vivacity,
by its mental and vital powers; as the lake blushes with blooming
lotuses at the sun’s rising above the horizon.
20. At this instant, the lord bade him awake instantly at his word; and
he rose as the peacock is awakened, at the roar of a cloud.
21. Finding his eyes shining with lustre, and his mind strong with its
past remembrance; the lord of the three worlds, spoke to him in the
manner, as he had formerly addressed the lotus-born Brahmá himself.
22. O holy youth! remember your large (dominions), and bring to your
mind your youthful form and figure; then think and ponder, why you
causelessly transform yourself to this torpid state.
23. You who have no good to desire nor any evil to shun, and look on
want and plenty in the same light; you must know that what is destined
by God, is all for your good.
25. You shall have to live here, in the living liberated state of your
mind, and in full possession of your dominions, for a kalpa period; and
shall have to pass your time with this body of yours, and without any
anxiety or earthly trouble whatever.
26. The body being decayed by this time, you shall have still to abide
with your greatness of soul to the end; till the body being broken down
like an earthen vessel, the vital life like the contained air of the
pot, come to mix with the common air of vacuum.
27. Your body which is liberated in its life time, is to endure in its
purity to the end of the kalpa, and will witness generations passing
before it without any diminution of itself.
28. The end of the kalpa or dooms day, is yet too far when the twelve
suns will shine together; the rocks will melt away, and the world will
be burnt down to ashes. Why then do you waste away your body even now?
29. Now the winds are not raging with fury, nor is the world grey with
age and covered with ashes over it. The marks on the foreheads of the
immortals are still uneffaced, why then waste your body before its time?
30. The lightnings of the deluging clouds, do not now flash nor fall
down like asoka flowers, why then do you vainly waste your precious
body so prematurely?
31. The skies do not pour out their showers of rain-water on earth, so
as to overflood the mountain tops, nor do they burst out in fire and
burn them down to ashes; why then do you waste away your body in vain?
32. The old world is not yet dissolved into vapour, nor fused to fumes
and smoke; neither are the deities all extinct, after leaving Brahmá,
Vishnu and Siva to survive them; why then do you waste yourself in
vain? (If they are all alive, you should learn to live also).
33. The earth on all sides is yet so submerged under the water, as to
present the sight of the high mountains only on it, why then waste you
away your body in vain (before the last doom and deluge of the earth?).
34. The sun yet does not dart his fiery rays, with such fury in the
sky, as to split the mountains with hideous cracks; nor do the diluvian
clouds rattle and crackle in the midway sky; (to presage the last day,
why then in vain waste you your body, that is not foreboded to die?).
35. I wander everywhere on my vehicle of the eagle, and take care of
all animal beings lest they die before their time, and do not therefore
like your negligence of yourself.
36. Here are we and there the hills, these are other beings and that is
yourself; this is the earth and that the sky, all these are separate
entities and must last of themselves; why then should you neglect your
body, and do not live like the living?
37. The man whose mind is deluded by gross ignorance, and one who is
the mark of afflictions, is verily led to hail his death. (So the
Smriti says:—Very sick and corpulent men have their release in death).
38. Death is welcome to him, who is too weak and too poor and grossly
ignorant; and who is always troubled by such and similar thoughts in
his mind. (The disturbed mind is death and hell in itself).
39. Death is welcomed by him, whose mind is enchained in the trap of
greedy desires and thrills between its hopes and fears; and who is
hurried and carried about in quest of greed, and is always restless
within himself.
40. He whose heart is parched by the thirst of greed, and whose better
thoughts are choked by it, as the sprouts of corn are destroyed by
worms; is the person that welcomes his death at all times.
41. He who lets the creeping passions of his heart, grow as big as palm
trees, to overshadow the forest of his mind, and bear the fruits of
continued pain and pleasure, is the man who hails his death at all
times.
42. He whose mind is festered by the weeds of cares, growing as rank as
his hair on the body; and who is subject to the incessant evils of
life, is the man that welcomes death for his relief.
43. He whose body is burning under the fire of diseases, and whose
limbs are slackened by age and weakness, is the man to whom death is a
remedy, and who resorts to its aid for relief.
44. He who is tormented by his ardent desires and raging anger, as by
the poison of snake biting, is as a withered tree, and invites instant
death for his release.
45. It is the soul’s quitting the body that is called death; and this
is unknown to the spiritualist, who is quite indifferent about the
entity and nonentity of the body.
46. Life is a blessing to him, whose thoughts do not rove beyond the
confines of himself; and to the wise man also who knows and
investigates into the true nature of things.
47. Life is a blessing to him also, who is not given to his egotism,
and whose understanding is not darkened by untruth, and who preserves
his evenness in all conditions of life.
48. His life is a blessing to him, who has the inward satisfaction and
coolness of his understanding, and is free from passions and enmity;
and looks on the world as a mere witness, and having his concern with
nothing.
49. He is blest in his life, who has the knowledge of whatever is
desirable or detestable to him, and lives aloof from both; with all his
thoughts and feelings confined within himself; (literally, within his
own heart and mind).
50. His life is blest, who views all gross things in the light of
nothing, and whose heart and mind are absorbed in his silent and
conscious soul. (_i.e._ Who witnesses and watches the emotions and
motions of his heart and mind).
51. Blessed is his life, who having his sight represses it from viewing
the affairs of the world, as if they are entirely unworthy of him.
52. His life is blessed, who neither rejoices nor grieves at what is
desirable or disadvantageous to him; but has his contentment in every
state of his life whether favourable or not.
53. He who is pure in his life, and keeps company with pure minded men;
who spreads the purity of his conduct all about, and shuns the society
of the impure; is as graceful to behold, as the hoary swan with its
snow white wings, in the company of the fair fowls of the silvery lake.
54. Blessed is his life, whose sight and remembrance, and the mention
of whose name, give delight to all persons.
55. Know the life of that man, O lord of demons, to be truly happy,
whose lotus-like appearance is as delightsome to the bee-like eyes of
men, as the sight of the full moon is delightful to the world.
CHAPTER LX.
RESUSCITATION OF PRAHLÁDA.
Argument. On the necessity of the observance of duty, both in the
secular as well as Religious Life.
The Lord continued:—It is the soundness of the body, which men call
life; and it is the quitting of the present body for a future one,
which they call death. (Activity is the life of the body).
2. You are released from both these states, O high minded youth! and
have nothing to do with your life or death any more. (Because the
living liberated are freed from the cares of life, and future
transmigrations also).
3. It is for your acquaintance, that I relate to you the components of
life and death; by knowledge of which you will not have to live nor
die, like other living beings on earth (in pain and misery).
4. Though situated in the body, yet you are as unembodied as the
disembodied spirit; and though embosomed in vacuity, yet are you as
free and fleet as the wind, on account of your being unattached to
vacuum. (Unattachment of the soul to the body and vital spirit,
constitutes its freedom).
5. Your perception of the objects of the touch, proves you to be an
embodied being; and your soul is said to be the cause of that
perception; as the open air is said to be the cause of the growth of
trees, for its putting no hindrance to their height. But neither the
soul is cause of perception, nor the air of the growth of trees. (It is
the mind which is the cause of the one, as moisture of the other).
6. But the perception of outward things, is no test of their
materiality to the monoistic immaterialist; as the sight of things in a
dream, is no proof of their substantiality, nor of the corporeality of
the percipient soul. (All external perceptions, are as those in a
dream).
7. All things are comprehended, in yourself, by the light of your
intellect; and your knowledge of the only One in all, comprehends every
thing in it. How then can you have a body either to take to yourself or
reject it from you?
8. Whether the season of the spring appears or not, or a hurricane
happens to blow or subside; it is nothing to the pure soul, which is
clear of all connection whatever. (The soul is unconnected with all
occurrences).
9. Whether the hills fall headlong to the ground, or the flames of
destruction devour all things; or the rapid gales rend the skies, it is
no matter to the soul which rests secure in itself.
10. Whether the creation exists or not, and whether all things perish
or grow; it is nothing to the soul which subsists of itself. (The
increate soul is self existent and ever lasting).
11. The Lord of this body, does not waste by waste of its frame, nor he
is strengthened by strength of the body; neither does it move by any
bodily movement, nor sleep when the body and its senses are absorbed in
sleep.
12. Whence does this false thought rise in your mind, that you belong
to the body, and are an embodied being, and that you come to take,
retain and quit this mortal frame at different times?
13. Forsake the thought, that you will do so and so after doing this
and that; for they that know the truth, have given up such desires and
vain expectations. (Since God is the disposer of all events).
14. All waking and living persons, have something or other to do in
this world, and have thereby to reap the results of their actions; but
he that does nothing, does not take the name of an active agent, nor
has anything to expect (but lives resigned to the will of Providence).
15. He who is no agent of an action, has nothing to do with its
consequence; for he who does not sow the grains, does not reap the
harvest. (For as you sow, so you reap).
16. Desinence of action and its fruition, brings on a quiescence, which
when it has become habitual and firm, receives the name of liberation
(which is nothing to have or crave, save what God gave of his own will,
agreeably to the prayer, “Let not mine, but thy will be done”).
17. All intellectual beings and enlightened men, and those that lead
pure and holy lives, have all things under their comprehension,
wherefore there is nothing for them left to learn anew or reject what
they have learnt. (The gods and sages are all knowing, and have nothing
to know or unknow any more).
18. It is for limited understandings and limited powers of the body and
mind, to grasp or leave out some thing; but to men of unbounded
capacities, there is nothing to be received or left out. (Fulness can
neither be more full, nor wanting in any thing).
19. When a man is set at ease after cessation of his relation of the
possessor or possession of any external object, and when this sense of
his irrelation becomes a permanent feeling in him, he is then said to
be liberated in his life time. (Total unconnection is perfect freedom).
20. Great men like yourself, being placed in this state of perpetual
unconcern and rest; conduct themselves in the discharge of their
duties, with as much ease as in their sleep. (Here is the main precept
of the combination of internal torpitude with bodily action in the
discharge of duties).
21. When one’s desires are drowned in his reliance on God, he views the
existing world—shining in his spiritual light.
22. He takes no delight in the pleasing objects about him, nor does he
regret at the afflictions of others; all his pleasure consisting in his
own soul (at its total indifference).
23. With his wakeful mind, he meets all the affairs of his concern with
his spiritual unconcern; as the mirror receives the reflexions of
objects, without being tainted by them.
24. In his waking he reposes in himself, and in his sleep he reclines
amidst the drowsy world; in his actions he turns about as frolicsome
boys, and his desires lie dormant in his soul.
25. O thou, great soul, thus continue to enjoy thy supreme bliss, for
the period of a Kalpa (a day of Brahmá), by relying your mind in the
victorious Vishnu, and with enjoying the prosperity of thy dominions by
exercise of your virtues and good qualities. (The ultimate lesson is,
to be observant of the duties which are paramount on every body, with
relinquishment of all personal desire for oneself).
CHAPTER XLI.
INSTALLATION OF PRAHLÁDA IN HIS REALM.
Argument. Hari’s Inauguration of Prahláda with blessings, and
appointment of him to the Government.
Vasishtha said:—After Hari the receptacle of the three worlds, and
observer of everything that passes in them; had spoken in the aforesaid
manner in his lucid speech, shedding the coolness of moon beams:
2. Prahláda became full blown in his body, and his eyes shone forth as
blooming lotuses; he then spoke out with full possession of his mental
powers.
3. Prahláda said:—Lord! I was much tired with very many state affairs,
and in thinking about the weal and woe of my people. I have now found a
little rest from my labour.
4. It is by thy grace, my lord! that I am settled in myself; and
whether I am in my trance or waking state, I enjoy the tranquility of
my mind at all times.
5. I always see thee seated in my heart, with the clear sightedness of
my mind; and it is by my good luck, that I have thee now in my presence
and outside of it.
6. I had been all this time, sitting without any thought in me; and was
mixed up as air in air, in my mind’s internal vision of thee.
7. I was not affected by grief or dulness, nor infatuated by my zeal of
asceticism or a wish of relinquishing my body (that I remained in my
torpid trance).
8. The One All being present in the mind, there is no room for any
grief in it, at the loss of anything besides; nor can any care for the
world, or caution of the body or life, or any fear of any kind, abide
in his presence.
9. It is simply by pure desire of holiness, rising spontaneously of
itself in me; that I had been situated in my saintlike and holy state.
10. Yes my Lord, I am disgusted with this world, and long to resign its
cares; together with all the mutations of joy and grief, which rise
alternate in the minds of the unenlightened.
11. I do not think that our embodied state is subject to misery, and
that our being freed from the bonds of the body is the cause of our
release: it is worldliness that is a venomous viper in the bosom, and
torments the ignorant only and not the sage. (Because it is mind and
not the body, that is addicted to pleasure, and feels the stings of
pain).
12. It is the ignorant and not the learned, whose minds fluctuate with
the thoughts, that this is pleasure and the other is pain, and that I
have this and am in want of another. (The more they have, the more they
crave).
13. The ignorant man thinks himself, to be a person distinct from
another; and so all living beings devoid of the knowledge of truth,
entertain and exult in their egoistic thoughts.
14. The erroneous idea that, such things are acceptable to me, and
others are not so; serves only to delude the ignorant, and not the wise
(who acquiesce to whatever occurs to them).
15. All things being contained by and situated in my all-pervading
spirit, how can we accept one and reject another thing, as distinct
from and undesirable to the selfsame One? (Shall we desire only good
from God, and not the evil also? Job).
16. The whole universe whether real or unreal (or composed of its
substantiality and vacuity), is a manifestation of Omniscience; we know
not what is desirable or detestable in it to be accepted or rejected by
us. (But must submit to the wise ordinance of providence).
17. It is only by discrimination of the natures of the viewer and the
view (_i.e._ of the subjective soul, and the objective world); and by
reflecting the Supreme Soul in one’s self, that the mind receives its
rest and tranquility.
18. I was freed during my trance, of the consciousness of my being or
not being, and of whatever is desirable or detestable to any one; and I
continue also, in the same state of my mind even after I am awakened.
19. This state being familiar to me, I see every thing in the spirit
within myself; and I act according as it pleaseth thee. (_i.e._ Not by
mine but thy will).
20. O lotus-eyed Hari! thou art adored in all the three worlds;
wherefore it behoveth thee to receive my adoration also, offered in the
proper form.
21. Saying so, the lord of Dánavas, presented his platter of presents
(arghya) before the god, as the lord of hills pays his offerings to the
full-moon. (This hill is the mount of moon rising, which is hailed and
welcomed by it).
22. He worshipped Hari first of all, together with his weapons and his
Vehicle Garuda; and then he adored the bands of the gods and Apsaras
that accompanied him and the three worlds contained in him.
23. After he had done worshipping the lord of the worlds, with the
worlds situated within and without him; the Lord of Laxmí spoke to him
saying:—
24. Rise, O lord of Dánavas! and sit upon your throne, until I perform
your inauguration this very moment.
25. Hari then blew his _pánchajanya_ shell summoning the five races, of
the gods, siddhas, sádhyas and men and Daityas, to attend at the
ceremony.
26. After this the lotus-eyed god placed him on the throne which he
deserved, and whereon he caused him to sit as cloud rests on the summit
of a mountain.
27. Hari then caused him to make his sacred ablution, with the waters
of the milky and other oceans; and those of the Ganges and other holy
rivers, which were presented before him.
28. All bodies of Bráhmans and Rishis, and all groups of Siddhas and
Vidyádharas; with the Loka-pálas or regents of the quarters, attended
and assisted at the ceremony.
29. Then Hari the immeasurable Spirit, anointed the great Asura in the
kingdom of the Daityas; and the Maruta winds lauded his praise, as they
do the hymns of Hari in heaven.
30. Then blessed by the gods and applauded by Asuras, Prahláda greeted
them all in his turn; and was thus addressed at last by the slayer of
Madhu—the demoniac Satan.
31. The Lord said:—Do thou reign here as sole monarch, as long as the
mount Meru stands on the earth, and the sun and moon shine in the sky;
and be fraught with all praiseworthy virtues of thine own.
32. Govern thy realm without any interested motive of thy own, and
without showing any symptom of anger or fear on your part; but preserve
your moderation and a tolerant spirit in all your affairs.
33. May you never have any disquiet, in this realm of excellent soil
and plenteous provisions; nor do you create any disturbance to the gods
in heaven, or to men on earth below.
34. Conduct yourself in your proper course at all events, which may
occur to you at any time or place; and never allow yourself to be led
astray, by the caprice of your mind or the freaks of fancy.
35. Keep in mind your spiritual being, and abandon your egoism and
selfish views altogether; and then by managing your affairs in one even
tenor, both in your want and prosperity, you will evade all the
vicissitudes of fortune.
36. You have seen both the ways and dealings of this world, and
measured also the immeasurable depth of spiritual knowledge. You know
the state of every thing in every place, and require no advice of any
body.
37. As you are now perfectly devoid of your anger, passions and fears,
there is no more any chance of further broils between the gods and
Asuras, under your rule over them in future.
38. No more will the tears of Asura females, wash the decorations on
their faces; nor will the currents of rivers rise as high as lofty
trees, with floods of tears from their weeping eyes.
39. The cessation of hostilities between the gods and demons, will
render the earth as quiet from this day, as the unruffled ocean after
its churning by the Mandara mountain.
40. The wives of the gods and demigods, will no more be led away in
captivity by one another; but will rest fearless under the marital
roofs of their husbands in future.
41. Let thy expectations now rise from their dormancy, of many long
nights of dismal darkness, and be crowned with success and prosperity;
and do thou, O progeny of Danu! enjoy thy unconquerable royal fortune,
as in the company of thy charming consort.
CHAPTER XLII.
SPIRITUALITY OF PRAHLÁDA.
Argument. The merit of hearing the narrative of Vishnu, and the cause
of Prahláda’s awaking from his trance.
Vasishtha continued:—The lotus-eyed Hari, having said thus much to
Prahláda, departed with the whole concourse of the assembled gods,
Kinnaras and men, from the abode of the Asura.
2. Then did Prahláda and his associates throw handfuls of flowers on
the departing god, as he was mounted on the back of the king of birds
(Garuda—the eagle or bird of heaven).
3. The god crossed the heavenly Ganges and reached at the milky ocean,
where he took his serpent couch as the black bee sits on the lotus-leaf.
4. The God Vishnu sat on his serpent seat with as much ease, as Indra
sits in heaven in the assembly of the gods; and as the lord of the
demons, was made to sit in the infernal region wholly devoid of all his
cares.
5. I have now related to you, Ráma! the whole narrative of Prahláda’s
coming to his sense, from the state of his insensibility; and this
account is as charming to the holy hearer, as the cooling moon-beams
are refreshing to the tired traveller.
6. The man that ponders in his mind, the manner of Prahláda’s
resuscitation to life; is regenerated in that felicitous state, from
the sinfulness of his former condition.
7. A cursory rehearsal of his narration, wipes off the sins of men;
while the deep consideration of its spiritual sense, leads one to his
eternal salvation.
8. The ignorant are released from their ignorance, and the deep thinker
is released from his sins; therefore do not neglect to ponder well on
it, for the remission of all your sins.
9. The man who considers well the manner of Prahláda’s gaining his
proficiency, gets a remission of all the sins committed by him in his
repeated previous states of life.
10. Ráma said:—Tell me sir, how the sound of the _pánchajanya_ conch
shell, roused the mind of the devout Prahláda from its immersion in
holy meditation.
11. Vasishtha replied:—Know Ráma, that there are two states of
liberation attending on sinless persons, the one is the emancipation of
one in his embodied state in this life, and the other is after his
departure from here.
12. The embodied liberation means one’s continuance in his living body,
but with a state of mind freed from its attachment to worldly things,
and liberated from the desire of fruition and reward of all his
meritorious acts.
13. The disembodied liberation is obtained after the soul is released
from the body, and is settled in the Supreme Spirit. It is an
enfranchisement from the recurrence of future life and birth in this
mortal world.
14. The living liberated man is like a fried grain, whose regerminating
power is parched within itself, and the desire of whose heart is
purified from every expectation of future reward or regeneration.
15. He remains in the pure, holy and magnanimous state of his mind, who
resigns himself solely to the meditation of the Great soul, and
continues as if he were asleep in his living and waking states.
16. Being thus entranced in his inward meditation, he continues in a
torpid state for a thousand years, and wakes again to his senses, if he
is allowed to live long ever after that period.
17. Prahláda remained thus with his holy thoughts suppressed within
himself, until he was roused from his trance by the shrill sound of the
conch-shell.
18. Hari is the soul of all beings, and he who assimilates himself to
that god in his thought; becomes identified with the supreme soul,
which is the cause of all.
19. No sooner the god thought that Prahláda should come to his sense,
than his sensation came immediately to him at the divine will.
20. The world has no other cause, but the divine spirit; which with the
assistance of the causal elements, takes different forms on itself at
the time of creation; and therefore it is the spirit of Hari that
constitutes the world.
21. The worship of God in spirit, presents Hari to the spiritual sight;
and the worship of Hari in his outward form, represents the figure to
the soul and the inner mind.
22. Do you, O Ráma! put out the visible sights from your view, and look
at the inmost soul within yourself; being thus accustomed to spiritual
meditation, you will soon have the sight of your God.
23. The world presents a scene of the gloomy rainy weather, with
showers of woes falling on all sides; it is likely to freeze us in
ignorance, unless we look to the sun of our reason (or, unless we abide
under the sunshine of reason).
24. It is by grace of God that we can avoid the delusions of the world,
as we may escape from a goblin by means of a spell.
25. It is at the will of the spirit, that the thick darkness of the
mind, is dispersed and cleared off in time; the world is a net-work of
delusion, which is scattered like a smoke by the breeze of reason.
CHAPTER XLIII.
REST AND REPOSE OF PRAHLÁDA.
Argument. All knowledge is derived by one’s own attention and personal
exertion, joined with his reliance on the grace of God.
Ráma said:—Sir, your knowledge of all truths, and the light of your
holy discourses, have gratified me as much, as the cooling moon-beams
gratify the medicinal plants (whence the moon is called _oshadhísa_ or
lord of medicinal drugs).
2. Your gentle and purifying words are as gratifying to my ears, as the
beautiful and sweet flowers delight the external senses (by their
colours and odours). (Sweet words are often compared with flowers by
Persian and Urdu poets: as, _guleazrouzeijaved. Elahikar sakhur meriko
up phol_.)
3. Sir, if the exertions of men, as you said, be the causes of their
success, how was it that Prahláda came to be enlightened without his
effort or attempt? (in obtaining his divine knowledge without his
learning or help of a preceptor).
4. Vasishtha replied:—Yes Ráma, it was by his manly exertion, that the
highminded Prahláda had acquired his divine knowledge; and there was no
other cause (of his knowing and having whatever he knew and possessed).
5. The soul of man is the same as the spirit of Náráyana, (which means
abiding in man); and there is no difference between them, as there is
none between the oil and the sesamum seed; and as the cloth and its
whiteness, and the flower and its fragrance are not distinct things.
(Because the spirit of God was breathed into the nostrils of man.
Náráyana and Purusha both mean the spirit dwelling in man).
6. And Vishnu is the same with his spirit or the soul of man, and the
human soul is the same with Vishnu (which means the inherent spirit);
Vishnu and the soul are synonymous terms as the plant and the vegetable.
7. Prahláda came at first to know the soul by himself (of his own
intuition), it was afterwards by means of his intellectual power, that
he was led to the persuasion and made many proselytes after his own
example.
8. It was by his own desert, that Prahláda obtained his boon from
Vishnu; and it was by the exercise of his own reasoning, that he came
to the knowledge of the eternal Mind.
9. Sometimes the soul is awakened of itself by one’s own intuition, and
at others it is roused by the grace of the personal god Vishnu, owing
to one’s faith in his person. (As it is said: “Thy faith will save
thee”).
10. And though this god may be pleased with his prolonged service and
devout worship, yet he is unable to confer spiritual knowledge to one
devoid of his reasoning faculty. (Or to one who has no understanding.
Hence gross idolators can have no salvation, which is to be had by
spiritual knowledge only. Blind faith is of no good, without the light
of reason).
11. Hence the primary cause of spiritual light is the intelligence of a
man and which is gained by exertion of his mental powers only; the
secondary causes may be the blessing and grace of a deity, but I wish
you to prefer the former one for your salvation. (So it is knowledge
and intrinsic merit which exalt a man, and not the mere favour of a
patron, is ever able to raise the unworthy).
12. Exert therefore your manliness at first, to keep the quintuple
organs of sense under proper control; and habituate yourself with all
diligence to cultivate your understanding, and the power of reasoning.
13. For know whatever gain any one makes at any time, it is owing to
his own endeavours only that he gains the same, and not by any other
means whatever.
14. It is only by dependence on your manly powers, that you can
surmount the insuperable barriers of your sensual appetites; and then
by crossing over the ocean of this world, reach to the other shore of
supreme felicity.
15. It requires no exertion or manly effort to see the figure of
Vishnu; but the mere sight of the image is not sufficient to save you,
or else the birds and beasts would all be saved by looking at it.
16. If it were in the power of the spiritual guide also to save his
foolish followers by his preachings; it would be possible also to the
leaders of camels and kine, to save their herds in their future lives.
(This figure is set in many temples, and in stones also).
17. It is in the power of the mind only to acquire anything good for
one’s self, and not the favour of Hari or that of Hara, or the
influence of money, that is able to effect anything.
18. It is by means of constant practice, accompanied by
self-resignation and self-controul, that one is enabled to effect
anything; and whatever he is unable to do by these means, is impossible
for him to do by any other in the three worlds.
19. Look to the spirit in the spirit, and adore the spirit in your own
soul; behold the supreme soul in yourself, and have the universal soul
in your own soul, and thus remain with it.
20. Fools flying from attending to the sástras, or practising their
self-devotion and exercise of reason, have adopted to themselves the
Vaishnava faith as a path leading to their better being (or a means
towards the great object of final beatitude).
21. Practice and diligence are said to be steps to self-edification,
and rites and ceremonies are represented as secondary courses resorted
to for want of the former!
22. The senses being refractory what is the good of ceremonial
observances, and these being under control, it is useless to observe
the ritual. (In both ways the rituals are useless to men of virtuous
and vicious habits; the former being in no need, of them and the latter
not benefiting by them).
23. Without rationality and dispassionateness of his spirit, it is hard
to have Hari (or spiritual felicity); and when there is the cool and
calm reasoning of the mind, it is as useless to have the idol of Hari,
as to place a lotus in the hand of the dead and liberated.
24. When you have the qualities of abstraction and composure in your
mind, think you have every thing in yourself; for these being in your
possession, you become an adept, or else you are an ass of the forest.
(that is good for nothing).
25. Men are eager to find favour in the sight of the gods (and great
men); but they do not seek the favour of their hearts and minds (which
can give them whatever blessing is derived from any other).
26. Vishnu the indwelling spirit of the body, is situated in the inmost
soul of every individual; it is the ignorant fool only that forsake the
innermost Vishnu, and seek the outer form for its leading to the other
(which is more closely allied to us than the latter).
27. The consciousness dwelling in the cavity of the heart, is the true
body of the everlasting spirit; and the outward form of Vishnu, holding
the conchshell, cudgel, lotus and the discus, is but a false
representation of it. (A fabrication of the ignorant for the immaterial
spirit, in a material form).
28. He who forsakes the real form, and follows the fictitious one, lets
off the ambrosia pass from his hand, in pursuit of some promised
confectionary.
29. He who is not settled amidst the charming scenery of his spiritual
meditation, lets his frantic mind to rove at large, after every object
that presents itself before him.
30. He who has not the abstract knowledge of the soul in himself, is
under the subjection of his infatuated mind; and worships the image
bearing the conch, discus, club and lotus in its hands, as the supreme
Lord and God.
31. It is by practice of continued austerity, and a prolonged worship
of this deity, that the mind of the devotee becomes purified in process
of time, and gets rid of its turbulent passions at last.
32. But the daily practice of self-control and abstract meditation,
gives the mind the same purity, and like the ámra or mango fruit, it
gets its accompanying virtues one by one. (The virtues of the mango are
its flavour, colour &c.).
33. So the soul is said to get in itself the virtues of peace,
contentment and the rest, by means of the external adoration of Hari;
and it is for this reason that the practice of idol worship is
prescribed in the sástras. (As a preparatory step to holiness and
spiritual worship).
34. He who obtains his boon from the all-powerful god, gets it in
reward of his merit; as a fruit of the tree of his long practice.
35. It is mental labour (lit.: painstaking), which is the foundation of
every improvement, and of all lasting good in life; just as the
cultivated soil is the cause of the good condition of the harvest.
36. Even the digging of the ground, and the pulling of the hill (by
bodily labour), is productive of no good without application of the
mind. (Gloss. The digging of the ground alludes to the mining of the
earth by the sons of Sagara; and the pulling of the hill refers to the
churning of the sea with Mandara by the gods and demons. Both these
hardy works were for the sake of obtaining the gems hid under them
which required knowledge (of geology)).
37. Men may undergo a thousand transmigrations, and wander about the
earth in various births and shapes, and yet find no rest composure of
their minds.
38. They may worship Brahmá, Vishnu and the Rudras for ever, and gain
their favour also, and yet can have no salvation owing to the perturbed
state of their minds.
39. Leave off worshipping the visible form or image of Vishnu (or any
other god), either internally or externally in your mind or before your
sight; and put an end to your transmigration, by meditating on your
consciousness alone.
40. Behold the unsullied form of One infinite God in your conscious
self, and by forsaking all whatever it is conscious of. Relish the
sweet essence of the one real entity, and go over the ocean of repeated
births in the mortal world.
CHAPTER XLIV.
NARRATIVE OF GÁDHI AND HIS DESTRUCTION.
Argument. Narrative of Gádhi in illustration of the Adoration of Vishnu.
Vasishtha said:—Ráma; it is the government of the restless mind alone,
that is able to destroy the delusion, which causes the interminable
transmigrations in this mortal world. There is no other means to this
end.
2. Hear attentively, O sinless Ráma! this story which I am going to
relate to you, in order to show you the intricacy of understanding the
nature of worldly delusions.
3. There is the large district of Kosala on the surface of this land,
which is full of forests and fruitful trees, forming as groves of Kalpa
arbors; and abounding with minerals like the Sumeru mountain.
4. There lived a learned Bráhman, known by the name of Gádhi; who was
intelligent and versed in the Vedas, and remained as an image of virtue.
5. From his youth he continued with the calmness of his mind, and
abstracted from and indifferent to worldly affairs; and was of
as pure and unsullied a soul as the clear sky above.
6. Then intent on some fixed purpose of his mind, he left the company
of his friends, and went out to a forest to perform his austere
devotion.
7. He found there a lake filled with full blown lotuses, and the moon
shining in the sky with the scattered stars about her; and all shedding
their lustre like showers of rain.
8. He went down into the lake, and stood in the midst of the waters up
to his neck; his body was below water, and his head floated over it as
a lotus; and he stood upon his devotion, intent with a view to have the
sight of Vishnu present before him.
9. He thus passed full eight months, continuing with his body immerged
in the water of the lake; and his face was shrivelled and wan, like the
lotuses of his lake for want of sun shine.
10. When he was emaciated by his austerities, his god Hari appeared
before him, in the manner of a dark cloud of the rainy weather,
appearing over the parched earth of the hot season.
11. The Lord said:—Rise O Bráhman! from amidst the water, and receive
thy desired blessing of me; because the tree of thy vow, is now
pregnant with its expected fruit.
12. The Bráhman replied:—I bow to thee, O my lord Vishnu! thou art the
receptacle of the three worlds, and the reservoir of innumerable starry
worlds, which rise as lotuses in the lake of thy heart, and whereon
thou sittest like the black bee (to behold their beauty).
13. I want to behold my lord, the spiritual delusion which thou hast
ordained to blind fold this world, and known as Vishnu Máyá.
14. Vasishtha said:—To this the god replied:—you shall verily behold
this delusion, and get rid of it afterwards, by virtue of thy devotion.
Saying so, the god disappeared from his sight as an aerial castle.
15. Vishnu being gone, the good Bráhman got up from his watery bed, in
the manner of the fair and humid moon, rising from amidst the cool and
white milky ocean.
16. He was glad in his soul at the sight of the lord of world, and his
heart was as full blown with joy; as the Kumuda (selenian) lotuses
unfold at the sight of the moon.
17. He then passed some days in that forest, overjoyed in his mind by
the sight of Hari, and employed himself in discharge of his Bráhmanical
duties.
18. Once on a time as he had been bathing in the lake, overspread with
full-blown lotuses, he thought upon the words of Vishnu, as the great
sages reflect in their minds the sense of texts of Vedas.
19. Then in the act of his discharging his sacerdotal functions in the
midst of sacred water, he made his mental prayer for the expurgation of
his sins. (This is the ceremony agha-marshna).
20. As he was performing this act in the midst of the water, he chanced
to forget his sacred mantras (texts), and was drowned in deep water in
the confusion of his mind.
21. He thought that his body had fallen down like a mountain tree, in
the dale below by a blast of wind; and that his dead corpse was taken
up and mourned over by his friends.
22. He thought that his vital breath had fled away from his being, and
the members of his body were as motionless as the shrubs of sugar cane;
laid down on the ground by a hurricane.
23. He thought his countenance to have faded away, and grown as pale as
the withered leaf of a tree; and that his body now turned to a carcass,
was lying on the ground like a lotus-bud torn from its stalk.
24. His eye balls were as dull and dim, as the stars of the morning are
shorn of their beams; and the ground seemed to be as dry to him as in a
drought of rain water, and filled with flying dust on all sides.
25. He believed his dead body was beset all about by his kind friends,
weeping upon it with their sad and sorrowful countenances, and loudly
lamenting and crying over it like birds upon trees.
26. He thought his faithful wife sitting at his feet as handsome
lotus flower, and weeping as profusely with a shower of tears from
her lotus-like eyes, as the rushing of waters at the breaking of an
embankment.
27. His sorrowing mother with her loud wailing and mournful ditties,
was buzzing like the humming bee; and holding the chin newly over grown
with whiskers in her tender hand.
28. His friends were sitting by his side with their dejected looks, and
with trickling tears dropping down their faces and cheeks; and these
washed his dead body, as the melting dews on withered leaves, bedew the
parent tree.
29. The members of his body now ceased to befriend him, like strangers
who decline to become friends for fear of future separation, or turning
unfriendly ever afterwards in life.
30. The open lips leaving the teeth bare, seemed to deride at the
vanity of human life; as the white and bony teethed ascetics and cynics
do on fickleness of worldly events.
31. His mouth was as speechless, as that of a devotee in his
meditation; and the body was as motionless, as it was made of mud and
clay; it slept to wake no more, like a sage absorbed in his hypnotism.
32. It remained quiet with its lifted ears, as if to listen to the
cries and wailings of the mourning friends; in order to judge the
degrees of their affection and grief for him.
33. Then the relatives raised their loud lamentations, with the sobbing
and beating of their breasts, swooning and rising, and shedding floods
of tears from their leaky eyes.
34. Afterwards the sorrowful relations, removed the disgusting corpse
with their bitter cries for its funeral, seeing it no more in future in
this passing world.
35. Then they bore the body to the funeral ground with its rotten flesh
and entrails, and daubed all over with mud and dust, and placed it on
the ground, strewn over with unnumbered bones and skeletons, and dried
and rotten carcasses.
36. Flights of flying vultures shaded the sunbeams on high, and the
burning piles drove the darkness below; the fearful glare of open
mouthed jackals flashed on all sides, as they were flames of living
fire.
37. There the ravens were bathed in floods of blood, and the crows
dipping their wings in it; ravenous birds were tearing the entrails,
and the old vultures were entrapped in those strings.
38. The friends of the dead burnt the corpse in the funeral flame and
reduced to ashes; and the moisture of the body flew in fumes, as the
waters of the ocean are evaporated by the marine fire.
39. The burning wood of the funeral pile, consumed the dead body with
loud cracking noise; and the dry fuel of the pile, flashed in ambient
flames with curling smoke over them.
40. The devouring fire gnawed down the bones with crackling noise, and
filled the atmosphere with the filthy stink and stench. It gorged up
all that was soft or hard, as the elephant devours the reeds with the
moisture contained in their cellular vessels.
CHAPTER XLV.
GÁDHI REBORN AS A CHANDÁLA, AND MADE
KING OVER THE KIR TRIBE.
Argument. Gádhi reborn in a Chandalí, His Life and Election as King of
Kir.
Vasishtha said:—Then Gádhi, standing as he was amidst the water with
his sorrowful heart, saw many other occurrences in the clearness of his
mind.
2. He saw a village in the vicinity of Bhuta mandala (Butan) full of
its inhabitants, and that he was reborn there in the womb of a Chandála
woman, in which he remained with great pain.
3. Confined in the cavity of the womb, he felt his body pressed by the
pressure of the intestines, while his senses were sorely annoyed by
being constrained to abide the stink of the ordure and filth in the
intestinal parts of Chandála woman.
4. After the foetus was matured, he was born in proper time, with its
black complexion like a dark cloud of the rainy season, and soiled with
filth all over its body.
5. It grew up to childhood and then to boyhood in the Chandála’s house,
and moved about here and there like a pebble thrown up by the current
of the Yamuna stream.
6. It reached its twelfth and then its sixteenth year of age, and had
its body fully developed like a rainy cloud increasing in its size.
7. Then accompanied by a pack of hounds, the lad roved from one forest
to another, and continued to hunt after and kill the wild deer, in his
occupation of a huntsman.
8. He was then joined with a Candáli spouse, as black as the leaf of a
tamála plant, and who with her budding breasts, and palms, resembled
the newly sprouting stalks and leaves of trees.
9. She was black and swarthy in her whole complexion, except her two
rows of milk white teeth, and had all her limbs as brisk and supple as
the tender creepers of the forest.
10. They sported together in the skirts of the forest in their youthful
dalliance, and wandered about the flowery meadows, like a couple of
nigrescent bees.
11. When tired they took their seats on beds of leaves and creepers,
which were spread over the plains, like those strewn over the skirts of
the Vindhya hills, by the driving winds.
12. They reposed in woodland groves, and slept in the caverns of
mountains; they sat on heaps of leaflets, and had their abode under
shrubberies and bowers of creeping plants.
13. They decorated their heads with _kinkirata_ flowers, and their
necks and bosoms with blossoms of various kinds. They hung _ketaka_
flowers in their earholes, and made necklaces of _amra_ florets.
14. They rolled on beds of flowers and roved about the foot of the
mountain; they knew all the arbours where to resort, and were skilled
in archery and hunting the deer.
15. They begot many children as the offshoots of their race in the
hilly region; and they were as rude and rough as the prickly thorns of
the _khadira_ plant.
16. After passing their youth in family life, they came gradually to
their decay and decline; till at last they were overtaken by decrepit
old age, which was as dry of pleasure as the parched ground of the
desert.
17. Then returning to their native village in the Bhuta or _Bhota_
district, they built for themselves a poor hut of leaves and straws,
and there lived as recluse hermits (passing their lives in holy
devotion).
18. Gádhi found his body worn out with age, and grown as thin and lean
as a dry leaf, and as a withered tamála tree growing in a mountain
cave; which for want of moisture soon dwindles into decrepitude.
19. He saw his Chandála family increasing in its members, and himself
becoming cramped in his means and crabbed in his speech in his extreme
old age.
20. As Gádhi found himself to be the oldest man alive among the
Chandálas, and had his comfort in the members of his family in his
dotage:—
21. He came to see at last all his family to be swept away by the cruel
hand of death, as the rain water carries away the fallen leaves of the
forest.
22. He continued to lament over their loss, with his heart rent with
sorrow; and his eyes were suffused in tears, like those of a stag deer
separated from its companions.
23. Thus passing some days in that forest with his heart overflown with
grief, he left at last his natal land, as the aquatic fowls quit their
native lake, when its waters and the lotus plants are dried up.
24. He travelled through many countries with his sad and sickly heart,
without finding a spot of rest and repose; and was driven to and fro,
as a cloud is carried by contrary winds.
25. On one time he entered the opulent city of the Kirs, and observed
the birds flying over it, like so many balloons hanging in the air.
26. There he saw rows of trees on both sides of the road, waving their
variegated leaves and clusters of flowers like enamelled cloths and
gems; and the path strewn over with beautiful flowers of various kinds
up to the heels.
27. He then came to the royal road, resembling the milky path of
heaven; and found it filled by soldiers and citizens, and their women
without number.
28. He saw there the auspicious royal elephant decorated with its
gemming and embroidered trappings; and appearing as the golden mountain
of the gods moving on the earth.
29. He learnt it to be rambling about in search of a new king, to be
elected in lieu of the last king who was lately dead. The royal
elephant was employed as a jeweller to select the best gem to be placed
on the royal throne.
30. The Chandála remained to look steadfastly on the elephant with his
curious eye, and found it to be no other than a hill in motion.
31. As he was looking on it with amazement, the elephant came to him
and lifted him with his trunk; then setting him on his head with
respect, bore him as the mount Meru bears the sun on its top.
32. Seeing him to be sitting on the animal’s head, the people sounded
their trumpets; the noise whereof was as loud as that of the resounding
ocean, to the roaring of the diluvian clouds in the sky.
33. Then the acclamation of ‘Victory to the king,’ rose from the
assembled throng and filled the air around; and seemed as it were the
united cry of matutinal birds over the waking (or rising) world.
34. Next rose the loud voices of the panegyrists, which, moved in the
air like the dashing waves of the sea.
35. Then the matrons joined to anoint him as their king, and moved
about him like the waves of the sea; surrounding the Mandara mountain
after its labour of churning.
36. The respectable ladies adorned him afterwards with many ornaments
of various gems, as the sea laves the rock on its shore; with the many
coloured waves under the beams of the rising sun.
37. Youthful maidens poured cooling ointments on him, as the raining
clouds pour down their waters, on the tops of mountains.
38. Other women decorated his person with wreaths of fragrant flowers,
with their tender hands; as the season of spring adorns the forest with
variety of flowers, with her hands of the tender stalks and branches.
39. They put a great many paints and pastes upon his person, which
decorated it, as the rays of the sun, paint the mountain with the many
colours of its minerals.
40. His body being decorated with ornaments made of gems and gold,
attracted all hearts unto him; as the mount Meru is attractive of all
hearts, by the variegated clouds of evening shining upon it.
41. He was adorned by beauteous maids, with shoots of creeping plants;
which gave him the appearance of the kalpa tree, entwined by its
creepers.
42. Being thus anointed and decorated, he was attended to by all the
royal family and subjects; as a shady and flowering tree, is resorted
to by the travellers.
43. They all assembled and installed him on the throne, as the gods
join together, to place Indra on the throne, after he is borne on the
back of the Airávata elephant.
44. In this manner, was the Chandála made a king in the city of the
Kirs; and he was as much overjoyed at his unexpected good fortune, as a
raven is delighted to find a stout dead deer in the forest.
45. His feet were rubbed by the lotus-like hands of the Kiri queen, and
his body daubed with odorous powder of frankincense, which gave it the
brightening appearance of the evening with the crimson clouds.
46. He flaunted in the Kir city and in the midst of their women, as a
lion struts in the company of lionesses in the flowery forest.
47. He now forgot his former pains and sorrows; and his person was as
much cooled, as by wearing a necklace of pearls, dropped from the heads
of elephants killed by lions. And he was as much delighted at the
enjoyment of the luxuries in company with these good people, as a
sun-burnt elephant is refreshed, in a lake full of water and forage.
48. He reigned here for sometime in his self-gotten kingdom, having
extended his power and mandates on all sides; he ruled the state
through the medium of the ministers, and was himself known by the name
of Gávala throughout his dominions.
CHAPTER XLVI.
GÁDHI’S LOSS OF HIS VISIONARY KINGDOM.
Argument. Continuation of Gádhi’s Vision:—
Vasishtha continued:—Thus was Gádhi surrounded by his courtiers, and
attended by his ministers; the chiefs paid their homage to him, and the
royal umbrella was raised above his head and the chouri flapped about
him.
2. He attained great dignity on seeing his mandates were carried out on
every side. He was delighted to learn the state affairs, and to be
informed that his subjects were happy and lived fearless within his
dominion.
3. The pæans of the panegyrists, made him forget himself and his
former state; and the excess of his delight, made him as giddy as if by
intoxication.
4. He reigned for full eight years over the Kiri kingdom, and managed
himself in an honourable manner all along that time.
5. He was once sitting at his pleasure and without his regal attire in
the open air; and was looking at the clear firmament, which was devoid
of clouds and darkness, and without the light of the sun, moon and
stars.
6. His heart was full with the enjoyment of royal dignity, and did not
think much of the trinkets and ornaments, which were loaded upon him.
7. He went abroad at one time in this naked state of his body, and
beheld the setting sun bending his course below the horizon from his
wonted path of glory. (The setting sun refers to his present state and
his impending fall).
8. He saw there a band of chandálas of black complexions and big
bodies, singing like melodious cuckoos the approach of the vernal
season.
9. They were striking the strings of their wired instruments—lyre, with
the strokes of their trembling fingers; as the swarm of sweet sounding
bees, shake the tremulous leaves of trees with their fluttering and
buzzing.
10. There stood an old man among them, who seemed to be the leader of
the band; and appeared with his grey head and ruby eyes, like the mount
Meru with his snow covered top and gemming caverns.
11. He accosted the king saying:—How is it, O Kálanjaka! that you came
to be here, has the king of this place taken you for his associate on
account of your skill in music?
12. Does he take a liking for sweet songsters, as they do for the
musical kokilas, and does he load upon them his favours, with presents
of household cloths and seats?
13. I am as much glad to see you here today (in this happy condition of
yours), as men are pleased to see the mango tree, fraught with its
fruits and flowers in spring.
14. I am as glad in my heart as the budding lotus at the sight of the
rising sun, and the selenian or medicinal plants at moon rise; and as
great men are pleased with all their best gains, so am I pleased at
seeing thee here, because the highest limit of joys is the sight of a
friend.
15. As the Chandála was addressing the king in the said manner, he
acquainted him of the manner in which the wheel of time turned to his
favour. (Here is a misprint of avadhírana for avadhárana, which would
alter the meaning and express, that he felt ashamed at the speech).
16. At this instant his consorts and servants that were standing at the
window, overheard their conversation, and were in deep sorrow to learn
that he was a Chandála by birth.
17. They were as sick at heart as the lotus-flowers under a shower of
frost, and as a tract of land under a draught; and the citizens were as
cheerless upon learning this, as upon seeing the conflagration of a
mountain wood.
18. He hurled his defiance at these words of the old Chandála, as the
lion lying on the ground, shows his teeth at the sneering of a cat on
the top of a tree.
19. He fled in haste into the inner apartment, and among its sorrowful
inmates, with as much palpitation of his heart, as the reluctant swan
enters a lake of withering lotuses, in the dry season.
20. His limbs grew stiff, and his countenance became pale with fear;
and his knees tottered with inward rage, as the trunks of trees shake
with the burning fire in their hollows. (The _sami_ or _sáin_ tree is
an instance of it. Gloss).
21. He beheld all persons there sitting in a melancholy mood, with
their downcast looks and drooping heads; like the bending tops of
plants, eaten up at the root by mice and rats.
22. The ministers, the ladies of the harem and all people of the city,
refrained from touching his person, as they avoid the touch of a dead
body lying in the house.
23. The servants ceased to minister unto him, and the ladies with all
their love and sorrow for him, loathed his company.
24. They looked upon his cheerless face and dark complexion with its
departed lustre, as the funeral ground which every one loathes to look
upon.
25. Though the people sorrowed for his darksome body, now smoking with
fumes of his grief; yet they durst not approach his person, which
appeared to burn as a volcano amidst its smoke.
26. The courtiers left him with the heavings of their hearts, nor were
his orders obeyed any more, than those of quenching the cool ashes with
water.
27. The people fled from him as from a heinous Rákshasa, who is the
cause of evil and danger only.
28. Thus was he shunned by all, and left lonesome amidst the populous
city; and became as an unbefriended traveller passing through a foreign
country, without money or skill to support him.
29. Though he called and accosted every body, yet he got no answer from
any one; as the hollow sounding reed, is never returned with a reply by
any of the passers by.
30. They all said to one another, that the guilt of their long
association with the Chandála, cannot be expiated by any other penance,
than by the act of burning themselves alive on the funeral pile in the
form of self-immolation.
31. Being so resolved, the ministers and citizens all joined together,
and raised for themselves piles with heaps of dry wood.
32. These being lighted, blazed all about the ground like stars in the
sky, and the city was filled with loud wailings of the people all
around.
33. The wailing wives were shedding showers of tears with their loud
and piteous cries; and the weeping people were heaving their heavy
groans with their choked voices, all about the burning furnaces.
34. The plaintive cries of the dependants of the self-cremating
ministers, rose as the swell of whistling winds amidst the forest trees.
35. The bodies of great Bráhmans, that were burnt on the piles, sent
forth their fatted fumes in the air; which were scattered about by the
winds, and overcast the landscape as with a portentous mist.
36. The winds bore aloft and spread far and wide in the open sky, the
stench of the burning fat and flesh of men; which invited flocks of the
flying fowls of the air to the feast, and the disk of the sun was hid
under the wide extending shadow of the winged tribe.
37. The flame of the burning pile, borne by the winds to the sky,
burned as a conflagration on high; and the flying sparks of fire
scattered in the air, appeared as falling meteors blazing in the
horizon.
38. Here the helpless boys were crying for their ornaments being robbed
by atrocious robbers, owing to their want of guardians; and there the
citizens were threatened with the loss both of their lives and
properties by the dacoits.
39. On one side the people were seen to lament the loss of their
relatives (in the destructive fire); on the other were the bands of
thieves, lurking and prying unobserved about the houses for plunder and
booty.
40. As adverse fate brought on this direful change on the devoted city;
its horrified inhabitants remained in mute amazement; as on the last
doom of nature.
41. Gavala, the Chandála prince, whose mind was purified and whose
manners were refined in the society of the great men of the palace;
witnessed the sad catastrophe of the state, and mourned in himself with
a pensive heart.
42. It is all owing to me, said he, that all this woe has befallen on
this state; and that time has brought on the untimely dissolution of
the doomsday; both on this realm and the royal family and its
ministerial officers.
43. What is the good of this miserable life of mine? My death is a
blessing to me than living in this wretched state. It is better for the
mean and base to die away, than live to be reviled by others.
44. Thus resolved, Gavala prepared a pile for himself, and made an
offering of his body in the burning furnace, like the poor moth
dropping on fire, without betraying a sigh.
45. As Gavala cast his body (nick named as Gavala) amidst the flame, and
was pulling his limbs singed by the fire; their violent motion and his
painful emotion, roused the dreaming Gádhi from his reverie amidst the
water.
46. Válmíki said:—As the sage was saying these things, the day departed
with the setting sun to its evening devotion; the congregation broke
with mutual salutations, for the performance of their evening
ablutions, and assembled again with the rising sun after dispersion of
the gloom of night.
CHAPTER XLVII.
VERIFICATION OF GÁDHI’S VISION.
Argument. Gádhi learns from a guest the report of the Keri people, and
goes out to inquire into the fact on the spot.
Vasishtha resumed:—Gádhi was soon afterwards relieved from the
perturbation of his mind at the delusions of the world; and he was
set at rest from his perturbed state, like the disturbed sea after
subsidence of its waves.
2. His mind being freed from its painful thoughts, regained its repose
after the troublesome dream, had passed away, and he resumed his
calmness, as the god Brahmá had his rest, after the labour of his
creation was over at the end of the kalpa (the time of his creative
will or the duration of creation).
3. He regained his senses slowly, as a man upon waking from his sleep;
and as one gains his sobriety after the passing off of his ebriety.
4. He then said to himself, I am the same Gádhi and in the same
function (of my sacred ablution in the water). All this is nothing that
I had been seeing so long, and this I see as clearly as men see things
after dispersion of the shade of night.
5. Remembering himself what he was (_i.e._ coming to himself), he
lifted his feet from amidst the water (_i.e._ got out of it); as the
lotus-bud lifts its head above the water, after the frost is over in
spring.
6. He said again, this is the same water, sky and earth (where I stood
before); but what I was just seeing, is quite astonishing to me.
7. What am I and what do I see now, and what was I and had been doing
all this time? With these thoughts he remained a long time with his
knitted brows and staring eyes.
8. It was my weakness, said he, that showed me this delusion; and
knowing it for certain, he came out of the water, as the rising sun
appears above the horizon.
9. Then rising on the bank, he said:—Ah! where is that mother and wife
of mine, who attended on me at the moment of my death.
10. Or were my parents dead in the ignorant state of my boyhood, like
the parent plant of a young shoot, cut off by the sword of death?
11. I am unmarried and know not the form of a wife, and am as ignorant
of conjugal love, as a Bráhman is stranger to the pernicious taste of
forbidden liquors.
12. I am too far from my country and know none of my friends and
relatives; unto whom I shall return and there to die.
13. Therefore all these scenes that I have come to see, are no more
than the forms of the fairy land pictured in my fancy.
14. Be it as it may, all this is but delusion and dream, and we are
living dead among our friends; it is all magic and delusion, and
nothing is true or real herein.
15. Our minds are as wild beasts, roaming furiously in the forest of
error; which presents endless scenes of delusion to living beings at
large.
16. Reflecting on these delusions in his mind, Gádhi passed some days
at his own house amidst the woods.
17. Once on a time he happened to entertain a Bráhman at his house as
his guest, who resorted there to take his rest from his travels.
18. He was highly gratified with feasting upon fruits and syrup of
flowers, and was as refreshed supplied with sap as the tree which is
supplied by the bounteous spring, and shoots forth in its foliage and
fruitage in time.
19. They then performed their evening service, and turned their beads,
and afterwards took to their beds made of tender leaves and grass.
20. There they began to talk on divine subjects, with which they were
conversant; and the words fell from the lips, like the sweets of the
vernal season.
21. Then Gádhi asked his guest in the course of their conversation,
saying: why is it sir, that you are so thin and lean and appear to lie
so very weary.
22. The guest replied:—Hear me sir, relate to you the cause both of my
leanness and weariness, and I will tell you the true facts, and not as
a travelling teller of tales deals and lies.
23. There is on the surface of this land, and in the woody tracts of
the north, the great district of the Kir (Kirgis?), which is far
renowned for its richness. (Kir the land of the Gees in Afghanistan).
24. I lived in the city there; and was honoured by its inhabitants, and
the gust of my soul and mind were mightily pleased with the variety of
dainty food that I used to get there.
25. There it was once related to me by some one in the way of gossip,
that a chandála had once been the king of that country for the space of
eight years.
26. I inquired of the village people about the truth of this report,
and they all told me with one voice, that a chandála, had really
reigned there for full eight years.
27. But being discovered at last as such, he immolated himself on the
burning pile; which was followed by the self-immolation of hundreds of
Bráhmans on the funeral pyre.
28. Hearing this news from their mouths, I departed from that district,
intending, O Bráhman, to do my penance, by making a pilgrimage to
Prayága (Allahabad, on the doab or confluence of the two sacred streams
of Gangá and Jamuna).
29. I made my _chándráyana_ fast for three days and nights, and had to
break my fast only this day. It is for this reason, that have become so
very thin and lean, as you find me at present.
30. Vasishtha said:—Gádhi on hearing this, made a hundred inquiries of
his guest about the matter, to which he answered everything in
verification of the fact.
31. Gádhi was quite surprised at this narration, and passed the night
till sunrise in great palpitation of his heart.
32. Waking in the morning, he made his ablution and discharged his
matins; then took leave of his guest, and began to reflect in himself
with his bewildered understanding.
33. He said to himself, what I saw in my delusion, is ratified as a
fact by my Bráhman guest. I am puzzled to think, whether this be a
magic, or a fascination of the conjurer Sambara.
34. What I saw about my death amidst my relatives, was undoubtedly a
delusion of my mind; but the latter part of my vision (of becoming a
Chandála), is verified by the Bráhman’s observance of the penance
Chándráyana for his having entered the Chandála city.
35. I must therefore learn fully the particulars of the Chandála, and
proceed immediately to the Bhuta country (Bhutan?) with an undaunted
mind.
36. Thus determined, Gádhi rose to visit the distant district, as the
sun rises over the horizon to visit all the sides of Sumeru (the Altain
chain, at the bottom of which the country of the Kirgis is situated).
37. He travelled onward, and obtained at last the sight of the country
he had seen in his dream; as intelligent and wayfaring men, reach to
their desired destinations in distant regions.
38. Finding everything, however unattainable it may appear at first, to
be attained by perseverance, Gádhi was resolved to make a test of the
truth of his delusive dream.
39. He had proceeded from his home, with the swiftness of a current
rivulet in the rainy weather; and traversed through many unknown
countries, as a cloud passes over distant realms on the back of its
airy steed.
40. At last he came to the country of the Bhatas (Bhoteas), a people
following their own debased customs; and thought himself to be got
amongst a savage people, as a camel is confounded to find itself,
fallen in a karanja forest, in quest of thorny thistles. (The camels or
cramelas are called kantaka_ bhojes_, from their browsing the brambles).
41. There he saw in its vicinity a city, as what he had seen in his
delusion; and resembling in every respect the habitation of the
Gandharva race.
42. Proceeding onward, he saw at the further end, the locality of the
chandálas, resembling the hell-pit of the infernal region. (The
out-castes are always located at the filthy outskirts of towns).
43. It was as spacious a place as what he had seen in his vision, and
beheld his own likeness in the dream appearing in the figures of the
chandálas, as one sees the shape of a Gandharva or ghost, in his dream
or delirium.
44. He saw in that place the habitation of chandálas, as what he had
seen before in his delusion, and observed with grief and coldness of
his mind (the deserted abodes of his fellow Chandálas).
45. He saw his own residence flooded over by rain water grown with
sprouts of barley and brambles; his house was left roofless, and his
bedstead was almost indiscernible.
46. His hut presented the picture of poverty and wretchedness, and its
compound was a scene of ruin and desolation (as if it was laid waste by
the hand of oppression and pillage).
47. Gádhi stood long gazing upon the dry white bones of bulls and cows,
buffaloes and horses, which lay strewn over the plains round about his
hut; and which he remembered to be the remains of the beasts of his
prey and slaughter (_lit._:—the bones broken under the teeth and jaws
of men and wild beasts).
48. He saw the dry hollow skulls lying on the ground, which had served
for his eating and drinking vessels before; and which still lay unmoved
on the spot, and were filled with rain water (as if to supply him with
drink).
49. He saw strings of the dried entrails of the beasts of his victims,
lying like parched plants on the plain, and pining with thirst for the
rain-water.
50. Gádhi who was conscious of himself (as Gádhi), the Bráhman looked
long at his former house and its environs, resembling the dry and
dilapidated skeleton of a human body, lying unburied on the naked land.
51. He stood amazed at what he saw, and then withdrew himself to the
adjacent village; as when a traveller repairs to the habitation of the
Aryas, from his sojourning in the land of barbarians (Mlech’chas).
52. There he asked some one saying, sir, do you remember anything
concerning the former state of yonder village, and the lives of its
chandála inhabitants?
53. I have heard all good people say, that knowing men are conversant
with the annals of all places, as they know every spot on a globe in
their hand.
54. If you recollect aught of the good old chandála that, lived retired
at yonder spot, and if you remember his adventures, as every one does
the past accidents of his own life:—
55. If you are acquainted with the particulars thereabouts, then please
to relate them unto me; for it is said there is great spirit in
directing a stranger, and in dispelling the doubts of one hanging in
suspense.
56. The village people being one by one importuned in this manner by
the strange Bráhman; they were as much surprised at his odd request, as
physicians are concerned at the abnormal complaint of a patient.
57. The villagers said:—It is an undeniable truth, O Bráhman! as you
say, that there lived a chandála of hideous shape by name of Katanjala
at that place.
58. He was beset by a large family, consisting of his sons, grandsons,
friends and servants; and had other relatives and kinsmen besides. His
children were as many as the fruits of a mango tree.
59. But cruel fate snatched all his family in course of time, as a
conflagration burns down a mountain forest with all its fruits and
flowers at once.
60. He then deserted his native land and went over to the city of the
Kirs, of which he became the king; and reigned there for the space of
twice four years.
61. The citizens coming to know his mean birth afterwards, drove him
from there at last; as they remove a noxious and poisonous tree from
the garden.
62. Gádhi seeing the people immolating themselves on funeral piles
entered into a burning pyre, which he had prepared for himself; and was
thus purified with others by the sacred fire _pávaka_.
63. But tell us, O Bráhman, why you are so curiously inquisitive about
the chandála, and as to whether he was any friend of yours, or you had
contracted any friendship with him.
64. Being accosted in this manner, Gádhi made many more inquiries of
them concerning the chandála, and passed a whole month in their several
houses on his inquiry.
65. He also told the village people, all that he knew of the chandála
in his dream; and they heard him attentively relating the whole story
from first to last.
66. Gádhi being informed of all the particulars regarding the chandála,
both from the hearsay of the people as well as from his personal
observations; returned equally ashamed and astonished to his abode,
with the disgraceful reflection of his past vileness, which was stamped
like the black spot of the moon upon the tablet of his mind.
CHAPTER XLVIII.
ON THE WONDROUS POWER OF ILLUSION.
Argument. Devotion of Gádhi after his return, and Vishnu’s exhibition
of the extraordinary power of delusion to him
Vasishtha continued:—Gádhi was bewildered in his mind, at all that
he heard and observed about the Chandála and his residence, and felt
uneasy to learn more about them.
2. He went back to the place, and observed the abodes that lay
scattered upon the plain; as when the lotus-born Brahmá looks over the
ruins, made by the great deluge at the end of a kalpa age.
3. He said to himself, those bones lying scattered about the ruined
huts in this forest, look like little imps (pisáchas), gathered round
the trees standing on the burial ground.
4. These posts and pegs of elephant’s tusks, that are fastened to and
upon the walls of the ruined houses; look like the craigs of mount
Meru, drowned under the waters of the kalpa deluge.
5. Here the Chandála feasted on his meat food of monkey’s flesh, and
dressed with the sprouts of young bamboos; and there he caroused on his
country grog, in company with his drunken friends.
6. Here he slept in the embrace of his murky spouse, on his bed of the
lion’s skin; being drunk with the better liquor mixed with the ichor,
exuding from the frontal proboscis of the elephant.
7. There was a pack of hounds, tied to the trunk of the withered
_Bharaeda_ tree, and fed with the rotten flesh of the putrid carcasses.
8. Here I see three earthen vessels covered with the hides of
buffaloes, resembling fragments of dark clouds; and which had once
contained the precious pearls falling from the sculls of slain
elephants. (The low and poor people, use earthen pots and boiling
kettles for boxes and chests).
9. I see the site of the place which I had seen in my dream, and where
the Chandála boys played on the dust, with as much glee and gaiety, as
the cuckoos have in flitting on the tufts of mango leaves.
10. I see the place I had seen in my vision, where the boys sang
responsive to the tune of their bamboo pipes; and drank the milk of
bitches, and adorned themselves with flowers from the funeral grounds.
11. Here the families of the wedding parties, met together to celebrate
their marriage festivity; and danced and sang as loudly, as the noise
of the dashing waves of the sea.
12. There I find the bamboo cages, still suspended on high; which were
laid before, for catching the flying birds of the air; in order to be
killed for the food (of their slayers).
13. Vasishtha resumed:—Thus Gádhi remained for a long time on the spot,
observing all what he remembered to have seen in his dream; and was
lost in wonder, to think on the miraculous disclosure of these things
in his dream. (Lit.:—heart-strings palpitated with surprise &c.).
14. He then departed from that place, and travelled through many
countries beyond the boundaries of Butan, for a long time.
15. He passed over many rivers and rocks, and through many deserts and
forests; until he reached to the snowy mountain, and the habitation of
humankind beyond its borders.
16. He then arrived at the city of a great monarch, the towers of which
rose as hills upon the earth; and there stopped after his long journey,
as when Nárada rests in his heavenly dome, after the fatigue of
travelling through the numerous worlds.
17. He beheld in that city all the places answering to the romantic
thoughts in his mind, and those as he had seen and enjoyed in his
dream, and then asked the citizens in a respectful manner.
18. Good Sirs, said he, do you remember any thing regarding the
Chandála king that reigned here for sometime, which, if you do, be
pleased to relate unto me in its proper order.
19. The citizens replied:—Yes, O Bráhman, there reigned here a Chandála
king for full eight years, and he was elected to its government, by the
auspicious elephant of the realm.
20. Being at last discovered to be of so vile a race, he committed his
self-immolation on the funeral pyre; and it is now a dozen of years,
since the direful event has taken place.
21. In this manner the inquisitive Gádhi continued in his inquiry of
every man he met with, and was satisfied to learn the same information
from the mouth of every body there.
22. He then beheld the king of that city coming with his body guards
and vehicles, and whom he recognized to be no other than the god Vishnu
and his attendants as he had seen in his devotion, and were now going
out of the city.
23. He saw the sky shadowed by the cloud of dust raised by the feet of
the passing procession; and remembered with grief the like state of his
pomp under his past kingship.
24. He said to himself, here are the same Kiri damsels with their rosy
skins, resembling the petals of lotuses; and those with their bodies
blazing as liquid gold, and their cerulean eyes trembling like blue
lotuses.
25. The waving of the chouri flappers, flashes with the light of bright
moonbeams; and resembles the falling waters of a cascade, and clusters
of kása flowers.
26. Beautiful maidens, waving the snow white fans in their beauteous
hands, resembled the forest plants with pearly flower on their branches.
27. The rows of furious elephants, standing on both sides of the land,
are like thick lines of kalpa trees, growing on ridges of the Sumeru
mountains.
28. These chieftains resembling the gods Yama, Kuvera and Varuna—the
lord of waters, are like the regents of the different quarters of the
sky, accompanying Indra—the lord of heaven.
29. These long extending lines of goodly edifices, which are full of a
great variety of things, and abounding in all sorts of comforts,
resemble a grove of kalpa trees, conferring all the objects of desire.
30. In this royal city of the Kirs, and in the manners of its assembled
people, I see exactly the same customs and usages, as those of the
kingdom of my past life.
31. Truly this is but a vision in my dream, and appearing as a reality
in my waking state; I cannot understand why this delusive magic show is
spread out before me.
32. O yes, I am as fast bound by my ignorance, and captivated by my
reminiscence, as a captive bird in a net, that has lost all power over
itself.
33. O fie! that my silly mind is so deluded by its desires, that it is
always wont to mistake the shadow for the substance, of people dwelling
in their aerial castles.
34. This extraordinary magic, I ween is shown to me by Vishnu—the
holder of the discus, of whom I recollect to have asked the favour of
showing Máyá or delusion to me.
35. I will now betake myself to austere devotion in the cavern of a
hill, in order to learn the origin and subsistence of delusion (_i.e._
how the deceitful delusion sprang from the truthful God, and where in it
consists).
36. Having long thought in this manner, Gádhi went out of the city, and
came to the cavern of mountain; where he rested after all his travels
and travail of thought, like a lion tired with his roaming for forage.
37. He remained there for a whole year, living only on the water of the
cataract collected in the hollow of his palm; and devoted himself to
the worship of Vishnu, the holder of the Sáringi bow.
38. Then the lotus eyed god appeared to him in his watery form, which
was as clear and graceful to sight, as the limpid lake of autumn with
the blue lotuses full blown upon it.
39. With this form, the god approached to the hermit’s cell in the
mountain, and stood over it in the likeness of a transparent watery
cloud, resting on the humid atmosphere.
40. The lord spoke to him saying:—Gádhi thou hast fully seen the great
spell of my magic (máyá); and known the network or delusion, which is
spread by destiny over all the affairs of this world. (_i.e._ Man is
destined, and to be deluded to think the false scenes of the world as
real ones).
41. Thou hast now well understood the nature of delusion, which thou
didst desire in thy heart to know, what is it again that thou wantest
to know, by these austerities of thine in this mountain cave?
42. Vasishtha said:—Gádhi the best of Bráhmans, seeing Hari addressing
him in this manner, honoured him duly with strewing plentiful of
flowers at his divine feet.
43. After Gádhi had made his offering of flowers, with due obeisance
and turning round the deity; he addressed him with his words, sounding
as sweet as notes of the chátaka to the blooming lotus.
44. Gádhi said:—Lord! I have seen the dark delusion, that thou hast
shown me in her form of gloominess; I pray thee now to show her unto me
in her fair form, as the sun appears after the gloom of night.
45. The mind which is vitiated by the dirt of its desires, views a
great many errors, rising before it like false phantoms and visions in
a dream; but how is it my lord! that the same visions continue to be
seen in the waking state also (or as waking dreams likewise)?
46. It was for a moment only that I thought to have seen some thing as
false as a dream, when I stood amidst the waters but how was it, O thou
enlightener of the mind, that it became manifest to my outward sense
and sight?
47. Why was not the delusion of my birth and death as a Chandála, which
took place long ago, and lately verified by many visible vestiges,
confined in my memory only, as well as other idle creations of the
brain, but became palpable to my naked eyes?
48. The lord replied:—Gádhi! it is the nature of delirium as of one’s
desires, to present many false appearances to view; and to make one
believe what he has never seen before, to be present to his external
sight, which in reality is a vision of his mind only.
49. There is nothing on the outside of any body as the earth, sea,
hills and the sky; they are all contained in the mind as the fruits,
flowers and leaves of trees, are born in the seed and grow from its
germ.
50. Like fruits and flowers growing out of the seed and its sprout,
this earth and all other things are the productions of the mind alone,
and not distinct from it in their essences (_i.e._ all sensible
perceptions are not reflexions of the inborn ideas of the mind).
51. Know it for certain that this earth and all other things, are
situated in the mind and not outside of it; as the fruit, flowers and
leaves are all contained in the inside of the seed and not without it.
52. The sight of things present, and the thoughts of the absent past
and unseen future, are all but acts of the mind, as the making and
unmaking of pots, are both of them the doings of the pot maker.
53. Whatever notions there are in the minds of men from their youth to
age are alike to the phantoms of their dream or the deliriums of their
ebriety or some (mental) disease.
54. The settled desires of the mind present a thousand appearances
before its sight, as the rooted plants on earth, abound with fruits and
flowers of various kinds, on the surface of the ground.
55. But the plants being rooted out of the ground, there remains no
vestige of a fruit or flower or leaf upon earth: so the desires being
driven out of the mind, there is no more any trace of anything left
behind them; nor is there any probability of future transmigrations,
when the reminiscence of the past is utterly obliterated from the soul.
56. It is no wonder for the shifting stage of the mind, to present you
the single scene of the Chandála, when it has in store, and can with
equal ease show you an infinity of appearances at its pleasure. (The
drama of life exhibits but a partial scene at a time).
57. It was the impression (_eidolon_) in thy mind, that made thee think
thyself as the Chandála, in the manner of the many phantoms, that rise
before the mind in the delirium of a sickly person.
58. It was the same phrenzy that made thee see the advent of thy
Bráhman guest, and entertain him with board and bed; and all thy
conversation with him, was no other than the phantasies of thy mind.
59. Then the thoughts of thy departure from home, and arrival at the
district of the Bhootas, thy sight of the Bhotias and their villages
and habitations, were but aberrations of thy mind.
60. Next thy sight of the ruins of the former abode of Katanjala, and
the account that thou didst get of him from the mouths of the people,
were all the fumes of thy fancy.
61. Afterwards thy visit to the city of the Kirs, and the tale told
thee of the Chandála’s reign by the people, were the excogitations of
thy own mind.
62. Thus all that thou didst hear and see, was the net-work of thy
imagination, and what thou dost believe as true is as false as a
phantom of thy brain.
63. The mind infatuated by its hopes and desires sees everything before
it, how far soever it may be removed from it; as one dreams of objects
as present before him, which would take a whole year for him to reach
at.
64. There was neither the guest nor the city, nor were there the
Bhotias or the Kiris that thou didst see in reality. It was all a day
dream, that thou didst see with thy mind’s eye.
65. The truth is, that on thy way to the country of the Bhotias at one
time, thou didst halt in the cave of this mountain, as a stag rests
himself in a forest, after his long wandering.
66. There being tired with the fatigue of thy travel, thou didst fall
into a sound sleep; and dreamt of the Bhotia city and the Chandála, in
thy reverie without seeing anything in reality.
67. It was there and in the same state of thy mind that thou sawest the
city of the Kirs; and it was the delusion of thy mind that showed thee
those things at the time of thy devotion in the water.
68. In this manner thou dost see many other things, wherever thou goest
at any time; as a high flier sees his vagaries on all sides about him.
(All worldly sights, are but vagaries of imagination).
69. Rise therefore and remain unshaken in the discharge of thy duties,
without being misled by the vagaries of thy mind; because it is
practice of one’s profession that leads him to success, and not the
ideals or his mind. (_i.e._ Mind thyself what thou art, and not what
thou dost fancy to be).
70. Vasishtha said:—So saying the lotus-naveled Hari, who is worshipped
by the saints and sages in all places, went to his abode in the sea,
where he was received by the hands of the gods and holy sages, who led
him to his residence. (Vishnu is called lotus-naveled पद्मलाभः on account
of Brahma’s birth from it, who is thence named the lotus-born पद्मयोनी ।).
CHAPTER XLIX.
GÁDHI’S GAINING OF TRUE KNOWLEDGE.
Argument. Gádhi gains his knowledge and Liberation from Hari in his
Life-time.
Vasishtha continued:—Vishnu being gone, Gádhi began to wander again
about the Bhota country, as a cloud continues to move about in the air.
2. Having collected many informations about himself in the life of the
chandála, he betook himself again to the worship of Vishnu in the cave
of a mountain.
3. In course of a short time, Hari appeared to him again; as it is his
nature to be pleased with a little devotion, made with sincerity of
heart.
4. The god spoke to Gádhi with as much complaisance, as the watery
cloud addresses the peacock; and asked him what he wanted again by his
repeated devotion.
5. Gádhi replied:—Lord! I have again wandered about the countries of
the Bhotas and Kirs for these past six months, and found no discrepancy
in the accounts, they gave of me lately from the former ones.
6. Thou hast told me, Lord! all this to be mere delusion, (which prove
to be positive facts by the testimony of every body). I know the words
of the great, serve to dissipate and not increase the delusion (as it
is done by thy words).
7. The Lord said:—It often happens that many things are of simultaneous
occurrence at the one and same time; as the _kákatálíya sanyoga_ or the
synchronous flying of the crow and the falling of the fruit upon him.
Thus it was that the idea of the Chandála was of contemporaneous growth
in the minds of all the Bhotas and Kirs as of thyself: as there are
many men that are prepossessed with the same opinion with others,
however wrong it may be.
8. It was by cause of this, that they corresponded with thy thoughts,
and related thy story as thou didst reflect it thyself: because a
cogitation or reflection of something cannot be otherwise at the same
time (but it must appear to every body alike).
9. It is true that a Chandála had erected a house at the border of the
village, which thou didst see to be now reduced to ruins; but it was an
erroneous conception of thine, to think thyself the very man, and to
have built the very house. (It was the mistake of thy personality for
another, as it often overtakes the minds of many men).
10. Sometimes the same mistake lays hold on many minds, as the
multitude is seen to be led astray, by the simultaneous current of the
same opinions in many ways.
11. In this manner many men see at once the same dream, as the giddy
heads of drunken men, fall equally into the same kind of dizziness at
the same time, of seeing the earth and skies turning and rolling round
them.
12. Many boys are seen at once to join in the same sport, and a whole
herd of stags is observed to meet together in the same verdant field.
13. Many men are seen simultaneously to pursue the same employment, for
the purpose of gaining the like object of their pursuit (as it is seen
in the flight and fighting of an army for their safety or victory).
14. It is commonly said, that time is the giver (or producer) and
obstructer of the objects of human pursuits as of all other events; but
time is as quiescent as the supreme spirit, and it is the desire and
exertion of people, that are the causes of their desired effects.
15. Time is a formless void, and is identic with the nature and form of
the increate great Lord God himself. It is neither the giver nor taker
of anything to or from any one at any time.
16. Time according to its common reckoning by years, kalpas and
yuga-ages, is classed among the categories of substance; but time far
from being a substance, is the source of all substances.
17. Men of deluded understanding are subject to the errors, arising
from the like cause of their fallacy; and it was owing to this false
conception, that the Bhota and Kiri people, fell into the very same
error. (Like cause means, the same kind of bias or prejudice &c.).
18. Therefore employ thyself to do thy duty, and try to know thy
true-self; get rid of the error of thy personality (as so and so), and
move about as freely as I do by myself (as a free aerial spirit).
19. Saying this, the lord Vishnu disappeared from his sight; and Gádhi
remained in his cave, with great perplexity of his mind.
20. He passed some months on the same hill, and then resumed his
devotion to Vishnu with redoubled fervency.
21. He saw his god appearing again to his view, when he bowed down
before him, and addressed him as follows:—
22. Gádhi said:—O Lord! I am quite bewildered with the thought of my
Chandálship, and my reflection on the delusions of this world.
23. Do thou deign to extricate me from my errors, and employ me to the
only act of adoring the Holy one.
24. The lord said:—This world, O Bráhman! is a delusion, like the
enchantment of the conjurer Sambara; all things here, are the wondrous
productions of imagination, and proceed from forgetfulness of the self.
25. It was your error that made you see many things, in your sleeping
and waking dreams.
26. The Kirs were led also to see the same things like thyself, and to
mistake those falsities as true, owing to the same error laying hold of
all of you at the same time. (As the tricks of a juggler are thought to
be true by the observers).
27. Now hear me tell you the truth as it was for your own good; and
whereby your error will fade away, like a creeping plant in the
chilling month of November.
28. The Chandála Kátanjaka, whom thou thinkest to be thyself, was a man
really existent in the same locality before.
29. Who being bereaved of his family there, went out from that place to
wander about in foreign parts; when he became king of the Kiris, and
afterwards immerged himself in the fire.
30. This state of Kátanjaka entered into thy mind, when thou hadst been
standing amidst the water in thy devotion; and the thoughts of the
whole career of the Chandála, had altogether engrossed thy mind.
31. Things which are seen or thought of once, can hardly escape from
the memory; and it sometimes happens that the mind comes to see many
things in its imagination, which it has never seen before its eyes.
32. In the manner of a man’s vision of a kingdom in his dream, and like
the delirium caused by the vitiated humours, of the body; the mind sees
many day dreams and deliriums in its waking and healthy states also.
33. The past conduct of Kátanja presented itself to your mind, as the
past and future events of the world, are present before the mental
vision of an oracle (lit.:—a seer of the three times).
34. That this is I, and these things and those friends are mine; is the
mistake of those that are devoid of their self-knowledge; (as thou
didst think that Kátanja to be thyself, and his house, goods and
relatives to be thine also).
35. But that ‘I am all in all’ is the belief of the truly wise, which
prevents them from falling into such mistakes; and keeps them from the
wrong notions of individualities and particularities, from their belief
in the generality of all persons and things.
36. This general and œcumenical view of all things, preserves people
from the mistaken notions of pleasure and pain; and makes the drowning
wretch as buoyant, as the floating gourd or bottle tied to a sinking
net.
37. But thou art entangled in the snare of thy desire, and art lost to
thy good sense; nor canst thou be at thy perfect ease, as long as thou
dost suffer under the symptoms of thy sickness.
38. It is because of thy imperfect knowledge, that thou art incapable
to ward off the errors of thy mind; just as it is impossible for a man
to protect himself from the rain, without his endeavours to raise a
shed or shelter for himself.
39. Thou art easily susceptible of every impression of thy untutored
mind, as a small tree is easily over-reached by a tall person.
40. The heart is the nave or axis of the wheel of delusion; if thou
canst stop the motion of this central power, there is nothing to
disturb thee any more. (self-regret, says the gloss, serves to stop the
motion of the heart).
41. Now rise and repair to the sacred bower on this mountain, and there
perform your austerities for full ten years with a steady mind; so that
thou mayst attain to thy perfect knowledge at the end of this period.
42. So saying, the lotus-eyed god disappeared from that place, as a
flimsy cloud or candle-light or the billow of Jamuna, is put out by a
slight gust of the wind.
43. Gádhi then gradually gained his dispassionateness, by means of his
discrimination; as the trees fade away for want of moisture, at the end
of autumn.
44. Now getting rid of the vagaries of his mind, Gádhi remained to
reflect upon and blamed himself, for his fostering the false thoughts
of the Chandála and the like.
45. He then with his heart melting in pity and sorrow for himself,
repaired to the Rishya-mukha mount, for the purpose of making his
penitence; and he sat there in the manner of a rainy cloud, stopping on
the top of a mountain.
46. He relinquished all his desires, and performed his austere devotion
(as it was his duty); and at last he attained the knowledge of his
self, after the expiration of the tenth year of his penitence.
47. Having obtained his knowledge of himself like the great-souled
Brahmá, and getting rid of his fears and sorrows in this world of
retribution; he wandered about with the joy of a living liberated
being, and with perfect tranquility of his mind, resembling the serene
lustre of the full-moon, revolving in the sphere of the sky.
CHAPTER L.
INTENTIONS OF RÁMA.
Argument. On subjection of the mind and greatness of knowledge; and
stoutness of the heart as the cause of all evil.
Vasishtha continued:—Know Ráma, this delusion to be as extensive in
its form, as it is inexplicable in its nature; it is fraught with
ignorance; it is a spiritual illusion and no sensible deception.
2. Look on the one hand at the erroneous dream of the Bráhman for a
couple of hours, and his transformation into the state of Chandála
which lasted for many years.
3. Observe how the false conception of the Bráhman, appeared as present
to his sensible perception; and see how the false thought appeared as
true to him, and his true knowledge of him-self vanishing at last into
untruth.
4. I say therefore this illusion, to be utterly inexplicable in its
nature; and how it leads the unguarded mind, to a great many errors and
difficulties and dangers at last.
5. Ráma asked:—How Sir, can we put a stop to the wheel of delusion,
which by its rapid rotation, is constantly grinding every part of our
body? (Figuratively used for every good quality of the mind. Gloss).
6. Vasishtha said:—Know Ráma, this revolving world is the wheel of
delusion, and the human heart is the nave or axis of this great wheel;
which by its continual rotation produces all this delusion within its
circle.
7. If you can by means of your manly exertion, put a stop to the motion
of your heart, as it were by fixing a peg to the loop-hole of the
wheel, you stop the rotation of the circle of delusion at once.
8. Again the mind is the nave of the wheel of ignorance; and if you can
stop its motion, by binding it fast by the rope of your good sense; you
escape the danger of falling into the vortiginous rotation of errors.
9. Ráma, you are well skilled in the art of fighting by hurling the
discus, and cannot be ignorant of preventing its motion by stopping it
at the central hole.
10. Therefore, O Ráma! be diligent to stop the nave of your mind; and
you will be enabled thereby to preserve yourself, both from the
revolution of the world and vicissitudes of time.
11. The soul that rejects this counsel, is exposed to interminable
misery; while by keeping it always before the sight of the mind, it
avoids all difficulties in this world.
12. There is no other medicine for any body, to heal the disease of his
worldliness, save by restraining the mind to its own pivot.
13. Forsake therefore, O Ráma! your acts of holy pilgrimage, and
observance of austerity and charity (which are of no avail to the peace
of the soul); but keep the mind under your control, for attainment of
your supreme felicity.
14. The world is situated in the mind, as the air is confined in a pot;
but the mind being restricted to itself, the world is lost to it; as
the pot just broken, lets out the air to mix in endless vacuity.
15. You who are for ever confined in the imaginary world of your mind,
like a gnat confined in the hollow of a pot; will get your release only
by breaking out of this confinement, like the gnat flying into the open
air.
16. The way to get rid of the delusions of the mind, is to fix your
attention only to the present moment; and not to employ your thoughts
about the past and future events. (This will keep your attention close
to yourself).
17. You will then arrive to the state of that holy unmindfulness called
_non-chalance_, when you cease to pursue at once any of the objects of
your desire or imagination.
18. The mind is obscured so long, as it has the mist of its desires and
fancies flying over it; as the sky is overcast as long as the watery
clouds overspread upon it.
19. As long as the intelligent soul is joined with the faculty of the
mind, so long it is subject to its gross desires and thickening train
of its fancies; as the sky is filled with bright moon-beams as long as
the moon shines in it. (_i.e._ As there is no moon-light without the
moon, so there is no fancy without the mind, nor is there any mind
which is devoid of its fancies).
20. When the intelligent soul is known without the medium of the mind
(_i.e._ when the soul is seen face to face) then the existence of the
world, is rooted out from the mind, like trees burnt down to their
roots.
21. Intelligence unappertaining to the mind, is called perspicacity
(pratyak chetana); which is of a nature unconnected with
intellectuality, and freed from the foulness of the fumes of fancy.
(_i.e._ quite clear of all mental thought).
22. That is verily the state of truth and of true felicity. It is the
true state of spirituality, and a manner of omniscience; having
all-sightedness of its own, and seeing all things in itself. It is
quite unconnected with any mental operation, and is enlightened by the
light of the spirit.
23. Whenever there is the action of the mind, it is invariably
accompanied with the train of desires and the sense of pleasure and
pain; and the feelings and passions are its concomitants, as the ravens
are accompaniments of the burning ground. (The mind is the sensorium of
feelings).
24. The minds of the intelligent are not, without their action, but
they are aloof of those feelings, by their knowledge of the vanity of
earthly things. And though these feelings are contained like plants in
the seed vessel of their mind; yet they are not allowed to germinate in
its sterile soil.
25. They (the wise), have come to know the unsubstantiality and
uncertainty of all worldly things and events, both by their knowledge
of the natures of things; and by means of their acquaintance with the
sástras; as also by their association with holy men, and their habitual
observance of the practices of a pious and saintly life.
26. They have forcibly withdrawn their minds from ignorance, by their
determined exertions to gain the true knowledge of things; and have
strenuously applied them to the study of sástras, and the good conduct
of righteous people.
27. But it is the purity of the soul only, that has the sight of the
Supreme spirit; as it is the brilliancy of the gem itself, that makes
it discernable amidst the waters of the deep, and enables it to be
redeemed from darkness. (_i.e._ Human soul being a reflexion of the
Supreme, lends its light to the vision of the other).
28. As the soul naturally desires to get rid of things, which it has
come to know to be attended with pain to it; so the soul is the sole
cause of knowing the Supreme (by its discarding the knowledge of the
gross objects, which interposes between it and the Divine; and
obstructs the view of the latter).
29. Be therefore freed from your thoughts of all other things, both in
your waking and sleeping states, and when you talk to or think of any
body, give or receive anything to or from another. Rely and reflect on
your consciousness alone, and watch constantly its secret admonitions
and intuitions.
30. Whether when you are born or going to die, or do anything or live
in this world, be steadily attentive to your conscious self, and you
will perceive the clear light of the soul (and have your clairvoyance).
31. Leave off thinking that this is I and that is another, because all
are alike before the Lord of all; and give up wishing this for thyself
and that for others, for all things belong to God. Rely solely on the
one, and that is thy internal consciousness alone.
32. Be of one mind in your present and future states of life, and
continue to investigate into its various phases in your own
consciousness. (_i.e._ Know yourself in all the varying circumstances
of your life).
33. In all the changes of your life from boyhood to youth and old age,
and amidst all its changing scenes of prosperity and adversity, as also
in the states of your waking, dreaming and sound sleep, remain faithful
to your consciousness. (_i.e._ Never lose the knowledge of your
self-identity (as the one and unchanging soul)).
34. Melt down your mind as a metal, and purify it of its dross of the
knowledge or impression of external things; break off the snare of your
desires and depend on your consciousness of yourself.
35. Get rid of the disease of your desire, of whatever is marked as
good or bad for you; and turn your sight from all, which may appear as
favourable or unfavourable to you; and rely on your consciousness of
pure intelligence. (This is having perfect mastery of yourself).
36. Leave untouched whatever is tangible to the touch, and obtainable
to you by your agency or instrumentality; remain unchanged and
unsupported by any thing in the world, and depend only on your own
consciousness (as the intangible spirit).
37. Think yourself as sleeping when you are awake, and remain as calm
and quiet as you are insensible of any thing; think yourself as all and
alone, and as instinct with the Supreme Spirit.
38. Think yourself free from the changing and unchanging states of life
(_i.e._ from the states of life and death and of waking and sleep); and
though engaged in business, think yourself as disengaged from all
concerns.
39. Forsake the feelings of your egoism and nonegoism (as this is mine
and that is others); and be undivided from the rest of the world, by
thinking yourself as the macrocosm of the cosmos, and support yourself
on the adamantine rock of your consciousness, by remaining unshaken at
all events.
40. Continue to cut off the meshes of the net of your internal desires,
by the agency of your intellect and its helpmate of patience; and be of
the profession of belonging to no profession; (of any particular faith
or creed or calling).
41. The sweet taste of trusting in the true faith of consciousness,
converts even the poison of false faiths to ambrosia (_i.e._ belief in
soul is the soul of all creeds).
42. It is then only, that the great error of taking the false world for
true, prevails over the mind; when it forgets to remember the pure and
undivided self-consciousness (and takes the outward forms for true).
43. Again the progress of the great error, of the substantiality of the
world, is then put an end; when the mind relies its trust, in the
immaculate and undivided consciousness or intelligence.
44. One who has passed over the great gulf of his desires, and known
the true nature of his soul; has his consciousness shining within
himself, with the full blaze of the luminous sun.
45. One who knows the nature of his soul, and is settled in the
transcendental bliss of knowing the peerless One; finds the most
nectarious food as a poison to him. (_i.e._ The taste of spiritual
bliss, is sweeter far than that of the daintiest food).
46. We revere those men, who have known the nature of the soul, and
have reached to their spiritual state; and know the rest bearing the
name of men, as no better than asses in human shape.
47. Behold the devotees going from hill to hill, and roving like
bigbodied elephants, for the performance of their devotions; but they
are far below the spiritualist, who sits as high above them as on the
top of the mountain.
48. The heavenward sight of consciousness, reaching beyond the limits
of all regions to the unseen and invisible God; derives no help from
the light of the sun and moon (which can never reach so far, as the
highest empyrean).
49. The lights of the luminaries fade away like candle lights, before
the sight of consciousness; which sees the great lights of the sun and
moon and all, within the compass of its knowledge.
50. He who has known the truth of God, stands highest above the rest of
men, by reason of his self-sacrifice, and the greatness of his soul, by
means of his practice of _yoga_; and is distinguished from others by
the brightness of his person. (The eternal light shines in the body
also).
51. Like Him whose effulgence shines forth unto us, in the lustre of
the sun, moon, stars, gems and fire, the pre-eminent among men shine
among mankind, in their knowledge of what is knowable, and worthy to be
known. (The sapient shine with their knowledge, as luminous bodies
before us).
52. Those that are ignorant of truth (or the true natures of things),
are known to be viler than the asses, and other brute creatures that
live upon the land; and are meaner than the mean insects that dwell in
the holes beneath the earth. (Knowledge of truth ennobles man-kind,
above their fellow-creatures).
53. So long is an embodied being said to be a devil of darkness, as he
is ignorant of spiritual knowledge, but no sooner is he acquainted with
his soul, and united with his self in his intellection, than he is
recognized as a spiritual being.
54. The unspiritual man is tossed about on earth as a carcass, and is
consumed with the fuel of his cares, as a dead body is burnt away by
the flames of its funeral fire; but the spiritualist knowing the nature
of his soul, is only sensible of his immortality.
55. Spiritualism flies afar from the man, whose heart is hardened in
this world; just as the glory of sunshine, is lost under the shadow of
the thickening clouds in the sky.
56. Therefore the mind is to be gradually curbed and contracted in
itself, by a dislike of all earthly enjoyments; and the knower of his
self should try by long practice of abstinence, to desiccate his spirit
of its moisture, to the dryness of a faded leaf.
57. The mind is thickened and fattened by consolidating itself with
those of others; and staining it with the affections, of wife and those
of offspring, relations and friends.
58. The passions and feelings also are often the causes, of the
solidity and stolidity of the mind; and these are its egotism and
selfishness, gaiety and impurity of thoughts, and its changing tempers
and affections. But most of all it is the sense of meity that this is
mine, that nourishes it to gross density. (The mind is puffed up with
the increase of possessions).
59. The mind is swollen on coming to prosperity, even under the deadly
pains of old age and infirmity; as also under the poisonous pangs of
penury and miserliness. (Stinginess is a painful pleasure).
60. The mind grows lusty in its expectation of some good in prospect,
even under the afflictions of disease and danger. It grows stout with
enduring what is intolerable, and doing what ought not to be done.
61. The heart too becomes stout with its affection for others, and also
with its desire and gain of riches and jewels; it becomes lusty with
its craving after women, and in having whatever is pleasant to it for
the moment.
62. The heart like a snake, is big swollen with feeding on false hopes
as air; and by breathing the empty air of passing delights and
pleasures. It is pampered by drinking the liquor of fleeting hope, and
moves about in the course of its endless expectations.
63. The heart is stanch in its enjoyment of pleasures, however
injurious they are in their nature; and though situated inside the
body, yet it is subject to pine in disease and uneasiness, under a
variety of pains and changes.
64. There grows in the heart of the body, as in the hollow of a tree, a
multitude of thoughts like a clump of orchids; and these bearing the
budding blossoms of hope and desire, hung down with the fruits and
flowers of death and disease.
65. Delay not to lop off the huge trunk of the poisonous tree of
avarice, which has risen as high as a hill in the cavity of thy heart,
with the sharp saw of thy reason; nor defer to put off the big branch
of thy hope, and prune its leaves of desires, without the least delay.
66. The elephantine heart sits with its infuriate eyes, in the solitary
recess of the body; and is equally fond of its ease as of its carnal
gratification: it longs to look at the lotus bed of the learned, as
also to meet a field of sugarcanes composed of fools and dunces.
67. Ráma! you should, like a lion, the monarch of the forest, destroy
your elephantine heart which is seated amidst the wilderness of your
body, by the sharp saws of your understanding; and break the protruding
tusks of its passions, in the same manner as they break down all big
bodies.
68. Drive away the crowlike ravenous heart, from within the nest of
your bosom. It is fond of frequenting filthy places, as the ravens
hover over funeral grounds, and crows squat in dirty spots, and fatten
their bodies by feeding on the flesh of all rotten carcasses. It is
cunning in its craft and too cruel in its acts. It uses the lips like
the bills of the crow only to hurt others, and is one eyed as the crow,
looking only to its own selfish interest; it is black all over its body
for its black purposes and deeds.
69. Drive afar your ravenlike heart, sitting heavy on the tree of your
soul, intent on its wicked purposes, and grating the ear with its
jarring sound. It flutters on all sides at the scent of putrid bodies,
to pollute its nest with foul putrescence of evil intents.
70. Again there is the pernicious hideous demon—avarice, roving at
large like a goblin, or lurking in ambush in the dark cavity of the
heart, as in a dreary desert. It assumes a hundred forms, and appears
in a hundred shapes (in repeated births), pursuing their wonted courses
in darkness (without any knowledge of themselves and their right
course).
71. Unless and until you drive away this wicked goblin of your heart,
from the abode of your intelligent soul (_i.e._ the body) by means of
your discrimination and dispassionateness, and your power of _mantras_
and _tantras_, you cannot expect to be successful (siddha) in your
endeavours. (For perfection सिद्धि Siddhi).
72. Moreover there is the serpentine mind, hid under the slough of the
body; which with its poisonous thoughts, frothing at the mouth as the
destructive venom of mankind, is continually breathing in and out as a
pair of bellows, and inhaling and exhaling the air as a snake, for the
destruction of all other persons.
73. You must subdue, O Ráma, this great serpent of the mind, lying hid
in a cell of the cellular _simal_ tree of your body, by some mantra
formula, pronounced by the Garuda of your intelligence; and thus be
free from all fear and danger for ever.
74. Repress, O Ráma! thy vulture-like heart, that bears an ominous
figure by its insatiate greediness for dead bodies; it flies about on
all sides and being annoyed by the hungry crows and kites, it rests in
desolate cemeteries. (The greedy mind dwells on the ruin of others).
75. It ransacks all quarters in quest of its meat of living and dead
bodies, and lifts its neck to watch for its prey, when it is sitting
silently with patience. The vulturous heart flies afar from its resting
tree of the body, and requires to be restrained with diligence from its
flight.
76. Again the apish mind is wandering through the woods on all sides,
and passing fastly beyond the limits of its natal horizon in search of
fruits; it outruns the bounds of its native land and country, and thus
being bound to nowhere, he derides at the multitude, that are bound to
their homely toil, and confined in their native clime and soil.
77. The big monkey of the mind that sports on the tree of the body,
with its eyes and nose as the flowers of the tree, and having the arms
for its boughs, and the fingers for its leaves, ought to be checked for
one’s success in any thing.
78. The illusion of the mind rises like a cloud with the mists of
error, for laying waste the good harvest of spiritual knowledge. It
flashes forth lightnings from its mouth to burn down every thing and not
to give light on the way: its showers are injurious to ripened crops,
and it opens the door of desire (to plunge the boat of the body in the
whirlpool of the world).
79. Forsake to seek the objects of your desire, which are situated in
the airy region of your mind; and exert your energy to drive off the
cloud of your mind, in order to obtain the great object of your aim.
80. The mind is as a long rope, that binds mankind to their incessant
acts. It is impossible to break or burn its knots in any other way
except by means of one’s self knowledge. Its bond of transmigration is
painful to all, until they obtain their final emancipation.
81. Break boldly, O Ráma! by the instrumentality of your inappetency
the bondage of your mind, that binds fast in infinite number of bodies
to the chain of their transmigration; and enjoy your freedom without
any fear for evermore.
82. Know avarice as a venomous snake, which destroys its votaries by
the poison of its breath, and never yields to the good counsel of any
body. It is this serpent that has ruined mankind, by its deceit and by
laying in wait for its prey, it emaciates the body to a stick.
83. Avarice which is hid in the body, and lurks unseen in its cells, is
as a dark cobra or hydra in its form; it is to be burnt to death by the
fire of lukewarmness, for your safety and security from all evil.
84. Now put your heart to rest by the intelligence of your mind, and
gird yourself with the armour of purity for your defence; forsake your
fickle-mindedness for ever, and remain as a tree uninfested by the apes
of passion.
85. Purify both your body and mind with the sanctity of your soul, and
be dauntless and quiet by the aid of your intelligence and calm
composure of your intellect. Think yourself as lighter and meaner than
a straw, and thus enjoy the sweets of this world by going across it to
the state of beatitude in this life.
CHAPTER LI.
DESIRE OF UDDÁLAKA.
Argument, Uddálaka’s struggle for Liberation, amidst all his worldly
attachments.
Vasishtha said:—Rely no confidence, O Ráma! in the course of the mind,
which is sometimes continuous and sometimes momentary, now even and
flat and then sharp and acute, and often as treacherous as the edge of
a razor.
2. As it occurs in the course of a long time, that the germ of
intelligence comes to sprout forth in the field of the mind; so do you,
O Ráma! who are a moralist, grow it by sprinkling the cold water of
reason over its tender blades.
3. As long as the body of the plant does not fade away in course of
time, nor roll upon the ground as the decayed and dead body of man; so
long should you hold it up upon the prop of reason (_i.e._ cultivate
your knowledge in your youth).
4. Knowing the truth of my sayings, and pondering on the deep sense of
these sayings of mine, you will get a delight in your inmost soul, as
the serpent killing peacock, is ravished at the deep roaring of raining
clouds.
5. Do you, like the sage Uddálaka, shake off your knowledge of
quintuple materiality as the cause of all creation, and accustom
yourself to think deeper, and on the prime cause of causes by your
patient inquiry and reasoning.
6. Ráma requested:—Tell me sir, in what way the sagely Uddálaka got rid
of his thoughts of the quintessential creation, and penetrated deeper
into the original cause of all, by the force and process of his
reasoning.
7. Vasishtha replied:—Learn Ráma, how the sage Uddálaka of old, rose
higher from his investigation of quintuple matter to his inquiry into
their cause, and the manner in which that transcendent light dawned
upon his mind.
8. It was in some spacious corner of the old mansion of this world, and
on the northwest side of this land, a spot of rugged hills and
overtopping it as a shed.
9. Among these stood the high hill of Gandhamádana with a table-land on
it, which was full of camphor arbours, that shed the odours of their
flowers and pistils continually on the ground.
10. This spot was frequented by birds of variegated hues, and filled
with plants of various kinds. Its banks were beset by wild beasts, and
fraught with flowers shining smilingly over the woodland scene.
11. There were the bright swelling gems in some part of it, and the
blooming and full blown lotuses on another; some parts of it were
veiled by tufts of snow, and crystal streams gliding as glassy mirrors
on others.
12. Here on the elevated top a big cliff of this hill, which was
studded with sarala trees, and strewn over with flowers up to the
heels, and shaded by the cooling umbrage of lofty trees:—
13. There lived the silent sage by name of Uddálaka, a youth of a great
mind, and with high sense of his honour. He had not yet attained his
maturity, ere he betook himself to the course of his rigorous austerity.
14. On the first development of his intellect, he had the light of
reason dawning upon his mind; and he was awakened to noble aims and
expectations, instead of arriving at the state of rest and quietude.
15. As he went on in this manner in his course of austerities,
religious studies and observance of his holy rites and duties, the
genius of right reason appeared before him, as the new year presents
itself before the face of the world.
16. He then began to cogitate in himself in the following manner,
sitting aside as he was in his solitude, weary with thoughts and
terrified at the ever changing state of the world.
17. What is that best of gains, said he, which being once obtained,
there is nothing more to be expected to lead us to our rest, and which
being once had, we have no more to do with our transmigrations in this
world?
18. When shall I find my permanent rest in that state of holy and
transcendent thoughtlessness, and remain above all the rest, as a cloud
rests over the top of the Sumeru mountain, or as the polar star stands
above the pole without changing its pace.
19. When will my tumultuous desires of worldly aggrandizement, merge in
peaceful tranquillity; as the loose, loud and boisterous waves and
billows subside in the sea?
20. When will the placid and unstirred composure of my mind, smile in
secret within myself, to reflect on the wishes of mankind, that they
will do this thing after they have done the other, which leads them
interminably in the circuit of their misery.
21. When will my mind be loosened from its noose of desire, and when
shall I remain unattached to all, as a dew drop on the lotus-leaf? (It
is called _anasanga sango_ or intangible connection).
22. When shall I get over the boisterous sea of my fickle desires, by
means of the raft of my good understanding?
23. When shall I laugh to scorn, the foolish actions of worldly people,
as the silly play of children?
24. When will my mind get rid of its desire and dislike and cease to
swing to and fro in the cradle of its option and caprice; and return to
its steadiness, as a madman is calmed after the fit of his delirium has
passed away?
25. When shall I receive my spiritual and luminous body, and deride the
course of the world; and have my internal satisfaction within myself,
like the all knowing and all sufficient spirit of Virát?
26. With internal equanimity and serenity of the soul, and indifference
to external objects, when shall I obtain my calm quietness, like the
sea after its release from churning?
27. When shall I behold the fixed scene of the world before me, as it
is visible in my dream, and keep myself aloof from the same? (as no
part of it).
28. When shall I view the inner and outer worlds, in the light of a
fixed picture in the sight of my imagination; and when shall I meditate
on the whole in the light of an intellectual system?
29. Ah! when shall I have the calmness of my mind and soul, and become
a perfectly intellectual being myself; when shall I have that
supernatural light in me, which enlightens the internal eye of those
that are born blind?
30. When will the sunshine of my meditation, show unto me the pure
light of my intellect, whereby I may see the objects at a distance, as
I perceive the parts of time in myself.
31. When shall I be freed from my exertion and inertness, towards the
objects of my desire and dislike; and when shall I get my
self-satisfaction in my state of self-illumination.
32. When will this long and dark night of my ignorance come to its end?
It is infested by my faults fluttering as the boding birds of night,
and infected with frost withering the lotus of my heart (hrid-padma).
33. When shall I become like a cold clod of stone, in the cavern of a
mountain, and have the calm coolness of my mind by an invariable
_samádhi_—comatosity.
34. When will the elephant of my pride, which is ever giddy with its
greatness, become a prey to the lion of right understanding.
35. When will the little birds of the forest, build their nest of grass
in the braids of hair upon my head; when I remain fixed in my
unalterable meditation, in my state of silence and torpidity.
36. And when will the birds of the air rest fearlessly on my bosom, as
they do on the tops of fixed rocks, upon finding me sitting transfixed
in my meditation, and as immovable as a rock.
37. Ah! when shall I pass over this lake of the world, wherein my
desires and passions, are as the weeds and thorny brambles, and
obstructing my passage to its borders of felicity.
38. Immerged in these and the like reflections, the twice-born Uddálaka
sat in his meditation amidst the forest.
39. But as his apish ficklemindedness turned towards sensible objects
in different ways, he did not obtain the state of habitation which
could render him happy.
40. Sometimes his apish mind turned away from leaning to external
objects, and pursued with eagerness the realities of the internal world
or intellectual verities (known as sátwikas).
41. At others his fickle mind, departed from the intangible things of
the inner or intellectual world; and, returned with fondness to outer
objects, which are mixed with poison.
42. He often beheld the sunlight of spirituality rising within himself,
and as often turned away his mind from that golden prospect, to the
sight of gross objects.
43. Leaving the soul in the gloom of internal darkness, the licentious
mind flies as fast as a bird, to the objects of sense abroad.
44. Thus turning by turns from the inner to the outer world, and then
from this to that again; his mind found its rest in the intermediate
space, lying between the light of the one and darkness of the other.
(_i.e._ in the twilight of indifference to both).
45. Being thus perplexed in his mind, the meditative Bráhman remained
in his exalted cavern, like a lofty tree shaken to and fro by the
beating tempest.
46. He continued in his meditation as a man of fixed attention, at the
time of an impending danger; and his body shook to and fro, as it was
moved forward and backward by the tiny waves splashing on the bank.
47. Thus unsettled in his mind, the sage sauntered about the hill; as
the god of day makes his daily round, about the polar mountain in his
lonely course.
48. Wandering in this manner, he once observed a cavern, which was
beyond the reach of all living beings; and was as quiet and still, as
the liberated state of an anchorite.
49. It was not disturbed by the winds, nor frequented by birds and
beasts; it was unseen by the gods and Gandharvas, and was as lightsome
as the bright concave of heaven.
50. It was covered with heaps of flowers, and was spread over with a
coverlet of green and tender grass; and being overlaid by a layer of
moonstones, it seemed to have its floor of emerald.
51. It afforded a cool and congenial shade, emblazoned by the mild
light of the bright gems in its bosom; and appeared to be the secret
haunt of woodland goddesses, that chanced to sport therein.
52. The light of the gems that spread over the ground, was neither too
hot nor too cold; but resembled the golden rays of the rising sun in
autumn.
53. This cave appeared as a new bride decked with flowers, and holding
a wreathed garland in her hand; with her countenance fading under the
light of the gemming lamps, and fanned by the soft whistling of winds.
54. It was as the abode of tranquility, and the resting place of the
lord of creation; it was charming by the variety of its blooming
blossoms, and was as soft and mild as the cell of the lotus (which is
the abode of the lotus-born Brahmá).
CHAPTER LII.
RATIOCINATION OF UDDÁLAKA:—
Argument. Uddálaka’s Remonstration with himself, amidst the reveries of
his meditation.
Vasistha resumed:—The saintly Uddálaka then entered in that grotto
of Gandhamádana mountain, as the sauntering bee enters into the
lotus-cell, in the course of its romantic peregrination.
2. It was for the purpose of his intense meditation, that he entered
the cave and sat therein; as when the lotus-born creator, had retired
to and rested in his seclusion, after termination of his work of
creation.
3. There he made a seat for himself, by spreading the unfaded leaves of
trees on the floor; as when the god Indra spreads his carpet of the
manifold layers of clouds.
4. He then spread over it his carpet of deerskin, as the bedding of
stars, is laid over the strata of the blue clouds of heaven.
5. He sat upon it in his meditative mood, with the watchfulness of his
mind; as when an empty and light cloud alights on the top of the
Rishyasringa mountain. (_i.e._ His mind was as fleet, as a fleeting
cloud).
6. He sat firmly in the posture of _padmásana_ like Buddha, with his
face turned upwards; his two legs and feet covered his private parts,
and his palms and fingers counted the beads of Brahmá.
7. He restrained the fleet deer of his mind, from the desires to which
it ran by fits and starts; and then he reflected in the following
manner, for having the unaltered steadiness of his mind.
8. O my senseless mind! said he, why is it, that thou art occupied in
thy worldly acts to no purpose; when the sensible never engage
themselves, to what proves to be their bane afterwards.
9. He who pursues after pleasure, by forsaking his peaceful
tranquility; is as one who quits his grove of mandára flowers, and
enters a forest of poisonous plants. (Thoughts of pleasure poisons the
mind).
10. Thou mayst hide thyself in some cave of the earth, and find a place
in the highest abode of Brahmá, then yet thou canst not have thy quiet
there, without the quietism of thy spirit.
11. Cease to seek thy objects of thy desire, which are beset by
difficulties, and are productive of thy woe and anxiety; fly from these
to lay hold on thy chief good, which thou shalt find in thy solitary
retirement only.
12. These sundry objects of thy fancy or liking, which are so temporary
in their nature; are all for thy misery, and of no real good at any
time (either when they are sought for, or enjoyed or lost to thee).
13. Why followest thou like a fool, the hollow sound of some fancied
good, which has no substantial in it? It is as the great glee of frogs,
at the high sounding of clouds that promise them nothing. (Hence the
phrase “megha mandukika”, that is, the frogs croaking in vain at the
roaring of clouds; answering the English phrases “fishing in the air
and milking the ram, or pursuing a shadow &c.”).
14. Thou hast been roving all this time with thy froggish heart, in the
blind pursuit after thy profit and pleasure; but tell me what great
boon has booted thee; in all thy ramblings about the earth.
15. Why dost thou not fix thy mind to that quietism, which promises to
give thee something as thy self-sufficiency; and wherein thou mayst
find thy rest as the state of thy liberation in thy life-time.
16. O my foolish heart! why art thou roused at the sound of some good
which reaches unto thy ears, and being led by thy deluded mind, in the
direction of that sound; thou fallest a victim to it, as the deer is
entrapped in the snare, by being beguiled by the hunter’s horn.
17. Beware, O foolish man! to allow the carnal appetite to take
possession of thy breast, and lead thee to thy destruction, as the male
elephant is caught in the pit, by being beguiled by the artful _koomki_
to fall into it. (The female elephant is called _koomki_ in
elephant-catching).
18. Do not be misled by thy appetite of taste, to cram the bitter gall
for sweet; or bite the fatal bait that is laid, to hook the foolish
fish to its destruction.
19. Nor let thy fondness for bright and beautiful objects, bewitch thee
to thy ruin; as the appearance of a bright light or burning fire,
invites the silly moth to its consumption.
20. Let not thy ardour for sweet odor, tempt thee to thy ruin; nor
entice thee like the poor bees to the flavour of the liquor, exuding
from the frontal proboscis of the elephant, only to be crushed by its
trunk.
21. See how the deer, the bee, the moth, the elephant and the fish, are
each of them destroyed by their addiction to the gratification of a
single sense; and consider the great danger to which the foolish man,
is exposed by his desire of satisfying all his refractory senses and
organs.
22. O my heart! it is thou thyself, that dost stretch the snare of thy
desires for thy own entanglement; as the silk worm weaves its own cell
(cocoon) by its saliva, for its own imprisonment.
23. Be cleansed of all thy impure desires, and become as pure and clear
as the autumnal cloud (after it has poured out its water in the rains);
and when thou art fully purged and are buoyed up as a cloud, you are
then free from all bondage.
24. Knowing the course of the world, to be pregnant with the rise and
fall of mankind, and to be productive of the pangs of disease and death
at the end; you are still addicted to it for your destruction only.
25. But why do I thus upbraid or admonish my heart in vain; it is only
by reasoning with the mind that men are enabled to govern their hearts
(_i.e._ to repress all their feelings and passions).
26. But as long as gross ignorance continues to reign over the mind, so
long is the heart kept in its state of dulness; as the nether earth is
covered with mist and frost, as long as the upper skies are shrouded by
the raining clouds.
27. But no sooner is the mind cleared of its ignorance, than the heart
also becomes lighter (and cleared of its feeling); as the disappearance
of the rainy clouds disperses the frost covering the nether earth.
28. As the heart becomes lighter and purer by means of the mind’s act
of reasoning; so I ween its desires to grow weaker and thinner, like
the light and fleeting clouds of autumn.
29. Admonition to the unrighteous proves as fruitless, as the blowing
of winds against the falling rain. (_i.e._ Counsel to the wicked is as
vain, as a blast of wind to drive the pouring rain).
30. I shall therefore try to rid myself of this false and vacant
ignorance; as it is the admonition of the sástras, to get rid of
ignorance by all means.
31. I find myself to be the inextinguishable lamp of intellect, and
without my egoism or any desire in myself; and have no relation with
the false ignorance, which is the root of egoism.
32. That this is I and that is another, is the false suggestion of our
delusive ignorance; which, like an epidemic disease, presents us with
such fallacies for our destruction.
33. It is impossible for the slender and finite mind to comprehend the
nature of the infinite soul; as it is not possible for an elephant to
be contained in a nut shell. (Lit.: in the crust of a _bilva_ or bel
fruit).
34. I cannot follow the dictate of my heart, which is a wide and deep
cave, containing the desires causing all our misery.
35. What is this delusive ignorance, which, like the error of
injudicious lads, creates the blunder of viewing the self-existent one,
in the different lights of I, thou, he and other personalities.
36. I analysed my body at each atom from the head to foot, but failed
to find what we call the “I” in any part of it, and what makes my
personality. (It is the body, mind and soul taken together, that makes
a person).
37. That which is the “I am” fills the whole universe, and is the only
one in all the three worlds; it is the unknowable consciousness,
omnipresent and yet apart from all.
38. Its magnitude is not to be known, nor has it any appellation of its
own; it is neither the one nor the other, nor an immensity nor
minuteness (but is greater than the greatest, and minuter than the
minutest).[21]
39. It is unknowable by the light of the Vedas, and its ignorance which
is the cause of misery is to be destroyed by the light of reason.
40. This is the flesh of my body and this its blood! these are the
bones and this the whole body; these are my breaths, but where is that
I or ego situated?
41. Its pulsation is the effect of the vital breath or wind, and its
sensation is the action of the heart; there are also decay and death
concomitant of the body; but where is its “I” situated in it?
42. The flesh is one thing and the blood another, and the bones are
different from them; but tell me, my heart, where is the “I” said to
exist?
43. These are the organs of smelling and this the tongue; this is skin
and these my ears; these are the eyes and this the touch—_twac_; but
what is that called the soul and where is it situated?
44. I am none of the elements of the body, nor the mind nor its desire;
but the pure intellectual soul, and a manifestation of the divine
intellect.
45. That I am everywhere, and yet nothing whatever that is anywhere, is
the only knowledge of the true reality that we can have, and there is
no other way to it (_i.e._, of coming to know the same.)[22]
46. I have been long deceived by my deceitful ignorance, and am misled
from the right path; as the young of a beast is carried away by a
fierce tiger to the woods.
47. It is now by my good fortune that I have come to detect this
thievish ignorance; nor shall I trust any more this robber of truth.
48. I am above the reach of affliction, and have no concern with
misery, nor has it anything to do with me. This union of mine with
these is as temporary, as that of a cloud with a mountain.
49. Being subject to my egoism, I say I speak, I know, I stay, I go,
&c.; but on looking at the soul, I lose my egoism in the universal soul.
50. I verily believe my eyes, and other parts of my body, to belong to
myself; but if they be as something beside myself, then let them remain
or perish with the body, with which I have no concern.
51. Fie for shame! What is this word I, and who was its first inventor?
This is no other than a slip slop and a namby pamby of some demoniac
child of earth. (_i.e._, it is an earth-born word and unknown in
heaven).
52. O! for this great length of time, that I have been groveling in
this dusty den; and roving at large like a stray deer, on a sterile
rock without any grass or verdure.
53. If we let our eyes to dry into the true nature of things, we are at
a loss to find the true meaning of the word I, which is the cause of
all our woe on earth. (_i.e._, ignorance of ourselves is the cause of
our woe, and the obliteration of our personalities obviates all our
miseries).
54. If you want to feel your in being by the sense of touch, then tell
me how you find what you call I, beside its being a ghost of your own
imagination.
55. You set your I on your tongue, and utter it as an object of that
organ, while you really relish no taste whatever of that empty word,
which you so often give utterance to.
56. You often hear that word ringing in your ears, though you feel it
to be an empty sound as air, and cannot account whence this rootless
word had its rise.
57. Our sense of smelling, which brings the fragrance of objects to the
inner soul, conveys no scent of this word into our brain.
58. It is as the mirage, and a false idea of something we know not
what; and what can it be otherwise than an error, of which we have no
idea or sense whatever?
59. I see my will also is not always the cause of my actions, because I
find my eyes and the other organs of sense are employed in their
respective functions, without the direction of my volition.
60. But the difference between our bodily and wilful acts is this, that
the actions of the body done without the will of the mind are
unattended with feeling of pain or pleasure unto us. (Therefore let all
thy actions be spontaneous and indifferent in their nature, if thou
shalt be free from pain or pleasure).
61. Hence let thy organs of sense perform their several actions,
without your will of the same; and you will by this means evade all the
pleasure and pain (of your success and disappointment).
62. It is in vain that you blend your will with your actions, (which
are done of themselves by means of the body and mind); while the act of
your will is attended with a grief similar to that of children, upon
the breaking of the dolls of their handy work in play. (_i.e._, boys
make toys in play, but cry at last to see them broken).
63. Your desires and their productions are the fac similes of your
minds, and not different from them; just as the waves are composed of
the same water from which they rise. Such is the case with the acts of
will.
64. It is your own will that guides your hand to construct a prison for
your confinement; as the silly silkworm is confined in the pod of its
own making.
65. It is owing to your desires that you are exposed to the perils of
death and disease, as it is the dim sightedness of the traveller over
the mountainous spots that hurls him headlong into the deep cavern
below.
66. It is your desire only, that is the chief cause of your being
attached to one another in one place; as the thread passing through the
holes of pearls, ties them together in a long string round the neck.
(Every desire is a connecting link between man and man).
67. What is this desire, but the creation of your false imagination,
for whatever you think to be good for yourself; (though it may not be
so in reality); and no sooner you cease to take a fancy for anything,
than your desire for it is cut off as by a knife.
68. This desire—the creature of your imagination—is the cause of all
your errors and your ruin also; as the breath of air is the cause both
of the burning and extinction of lamps and lightening the fiery
furnaces.
69. Now therefore, O my heart! that art the source and spring of thy
senses, do thou join with all thy sensibility, to look into the nature
of thy unreality, and feel in thyself the state of thy utter
annihilation—_nirvána_ at the end.
70. Give up after all thy sense of egoism with thy desire of
worldliness, which are interminable endemics to thee in this life. Put
on the amulet of the abandonment of thy desires and earthliness, and
resign thyself to thy God to be free from all fears on earth.
CHAPTER LIII.
THE RATIONAL RAPTURE OF UDDÁLAKA.
Argument. Description of the Soul unsullied by its desires and egoism,
and the Difference subsisting between the body and mind.
Uddálaka continued:—The intellect is an unthinkable substance: it
extends to the limits of endless space, and is minuter than the
minutest atom. It is quite aloof of all things, and inaccessible to the
reach of desires, &c.
2. It is inaccessible by the mind, understanding, egoism and the gross
senses; but our empty desires are as wide extended, as the shadowy
forms of big and formidable demons.
3. From all my reasonings and repeated cogitations, I perceive an
intelligence within myself, and I feel to be the stainless Intellect.
4. This body of mine which is of this world, and is the depository of
my false and evil thoughts, may last or be lost without any gain or
loss to me, since I am the untainted intellect.
5. The Intellect is free from birth and death, because there is nothing
perishable in the nature of the all pervasive intellect: what then
means the death of a living being, and how and by whom can it be put to
death?
6. What means the life and death of the intellect, which is the soul
and life of all existence: what else can we expect of the intellect,
when it is extended through and gives life to all?
7. Life and death belong to the optative and imaginative powers of the
mind, and do not appertain to the pure soul; (which is never perturbed
by volition or imagination).
8. That which has the sense of its egoism has also the knowledge of its
existence and inexistence (and that is the mind); but the soul which is
devoid of its egoism can have no sense of its birth or death (since it
is always existent of itself).
9. Egoism is a fallacy and production of ignorance, and the mind is no
other than a appearance as the water in a mirage; the visible objects
are all gross bodies; what then is that thing to which the term ego is
applied.
10. The body is composed of flesh and blood, and the mind is considered
as a nullity of itself; the heart and the members are all dull objects,
what then is it that contains the ego?
11. The organs of sense are all employed in their respective functions
for supporting the body; and all external bodies remain as mere bodies;
what then is it to which you apply the term ego?
12. The properties of things continue as properties, and the substances
always remain as substances; the entity of Brahma is quite calm and
quiet, what then is the ego among them?
13. There is only one Being which is all pervading and subsisting in
all bodies; it exists at all times and is immensity in itself. It is
only the Supreme Spirit that is the intelligent soul of all.
14. Now tell me which of these is the ego, what is it and what its
form; what is its genus and what are its attributes; what is its
appearance and of what ingredients it is composed? What am I and what
shall I take it to be, and what reject as not itself?
15. Hence there is nothing here, which may be called the ego either as
an entity or nonentity; and there is nothing anywhere, to which the ego
may bear any relation or any resemblance whatever.
16. Therefore egoism being a perfect non-entity, it has no relation to
anything at all; and this irrelation of it with all things being
proved, its fiction as a duality (beside the unity of God), goes to
nothing whatever.
17. Thus every thing in the world being full of the spirit of God, I am
no other than that reality, and it is in vain that I think myself as
otherwise, and sorrow for it.
18. All things being situated in one pure and omnipresent spirit;
whence is it that the meaningless word ego could take its rise?
19. So there is no reality of any object whatever, except that of the
supreme and all-pervading spirit of God; it is therefore useless for us
to inquire about our relation with anything which has no reality in
itself.
20. The senses are connected with the organs of sense, and the mind is
conversant with the mental operations; but the intellect is unconnected
with the body, and bears no relation with any body in any manner.
21. As there is no relation between stones and iron nails, so the body,
the senses, the mind and the intellect bear no relation with one
another, though they are found to reside together in the same person.
22. The great error of the unreal ego having once obtained its footing
among mankind, it has put the world to an uproar with the expressions
of mine and thine, as that this is mine and that is thine, and that
other is another’s and the like.
23. It is want of the light of reason that has given rise to the
meaningless and marvellous expression of egoism; which is made to
vanish under the light of reason, as ice is dissolved under heat of
solar light.
24. That there is nothing in existence, except the spirit of God is my
firm belief, and this makes me believe the whole universe, as a
manifestation of the great Brahmá himself.
25. The error of egoism presents itself before us in as vivid and
variety of colours as the various hues which tinge the face of the sky;
it is better to obliterate it at once from the mind, than retain any
trace of it behind (as I am this child, youth, old man, &c.).
26. I have altogether got rid of the error of my egoism, and now
recline with my tranquil soul in the universal spirit of God, as the
autumnal cloud rests in the infinite vacuum of the sky.
27. Our accompaniment with the idea of egoism is productive only of our
misconduct and misery, by producing the great variety of our acts of
selfishness.
28. Egoism hath taken a deep root in the moist soil of our hearts, and
sprouts forth in the field of our bodies with the germs of innumerable
evils.
29. Here is death closely following the course of life, and there is a
new life hereafter awaiting upon our death; now there is a state of
being distinct from its privation or not being, and again there is
reverse of it in our transmigration, to our great annoyance only.
30. This I have gained, and this I will gain, are the thoughts that
constantly employ the minds of men; and the desire of a new gain is
incessantly kindled in the minds of the senseless, as the ceaseless
flame of the sun-stone is increased in summer heat.
31. That this I want and this must have are thoughts ever attendant on
egoism; and the dull-headed pursue dull material objects with as much
ardour, as the heavy clouds hasten to halt on high-headed hills.
32. Decay of egoism withers away the tree of worldliness, which then
ceases to germinate in the manner of a plant on sterile rocks. (Or as
seeds cast on sandy sounds).
33. Your desires are as black serpents creeping in the hole of your
heart; but skulking their heads, at the sight of the snake-eater Garuda
of reason.
34. The unreal world gives rise to the error of appearing as real; as
the unreal I and thou (or ego and nonego) seem to be realities, though
they are caused by mere pulsations of the unreal mind.
35. This world rises at first without a cause and to no cause, how then
call it a reality which is sprung from and to no cause at all. (The
visible world is produced by, and continues with our error which, is no
cause in reality).
36. As a pot made of earth long before, continues in the same state at
all times, so the body which has long ago come to existence, still
continues and will continue the same. (The body being made of earth,
remains in and returns to the earth again).
37. The beginning and end of billows is mere water and moisture, and
the intermediate part only presents a figure to view; so the beginning
and end of bodies is mere earth and water, and the intermediate state
is one of bustle and commotion.
38. It is the ignorant only that trust in this temporary and
fluctuating state of the body; which, like the billow, is hastening to
subside, in its original liquid and quiet state.
39. What reliance is there in any body, which makes a figure in the
middle, and is an unreality both in its prior and latter states.
40. So the heart also is as quiet as the intellect, both at first and
in the end; and remains immerged in itself, both when it exists in the
body or not. What then if it heaves for a little while in the midst?
(_i.e._, the palpitation of the heart between its prior and latter
states of inaction).
41. As it comes to pass in our dreams, and in our deluded sights, of
marvellous things; and as it happens in the giddiness of ebriety, and
in our journeying in boats:—
42. And as it turns out in cases of our vitiated humours, and delusion
of senses, and also in cases of extreme joy and grief, and under some
defect of the mind or body:—
43. That some objects come to sight, and others disappear from it; and
that some appear to be smaller or larger than they are and others to be
moving; so do all these objects of our vision, appear and disappear
from our sight in the course of time.
44. O my heart! all thy conduct is of the same nature, at the different
times, of thy joy and grief; that it makes the long of short and the
short of long; as the short space of a single night, becomes as tedious
to separated lovers as an age; and an age of joyous affluence as short
as a moment.
45. Or it is my long habit of thinking that makes the untruth appear as
truth to me; and like the mirage of the desert, our mirage of life,
presents its falsehoods as realities unto us.
46. All things that we see in the phenomenal world are unrealities in
their nature; and as the mind comes to know the nothingness of things,
it feels in itself its nothingness also.
47. As the mind becomes impressed with certainty, of the
unsubstantiality of external objects; its desire of worldly enjoyments
fade away, like the fading verdure of autumn.
48. When the mind comes to see the pure soul by means of its
intellectual light, it gets itself ridden of its temporal exertions;
and being thereby freed from its passions and affections, it rests with
its calm composure in itself.
49. And the heart attains its perfect purity, when, by compressing its
members of sensational organs, it casts itself into the flame of the
supreme soul, where all its dross is burnt away.
50. As the hero boldly faces his death, with the thought of his
ascending to heaven, by fighting bravely in battle, so the mind
conquers all impediments by casting off all its worldly desires and
attachments.
51. The mind is the enemy of the body, and so is the latter an enemy of
the former (because the growth of the one puts down the vigour of the
other); but they both die away without the half of each other, and for
want of desire which supports them both.
52. Owing to their mutual hostilities, and their passions and
affections towards each other, it is better to eradicate and destroy
both of them, for our attainment of supreme bliss. (As the control of
the body and mind leads to temporal happiness, so the utter extinction
of both, is the means to spiritual bliss).
53. The existence of either of these (_i.e._ of the body or mind) after
death is as incapable of heavenly felicity, as it is for an aerial
fairy to fare on earth. (_i.e._, neither the body nor mind survives
one’s death, as it is believed by many; and even if it does, its gross
nature would not permit it to enjoy the pure spiritual felicity of
heaven).
54. When these things (the body and mind), that are naturally repugnant
and opposed to one another, meet together in any place or person, there
is a continued clashing of their mutual mischiefs, like the crashing of
conflicting arms.
55. The base man that has a liking for this world of conflicts is like
one left to burn in a conflagration of showering flames.
56. The mind stout with its avaricious desires loads the body with
labour, and feeds upon its precious life, as a ghost-_yaksha_ preys
upon the body of a boy.
57. The body being harassed and oppressed with toil, attempts to stop
and stay the mind; as an impious son intends to kill his father, when
he finds him to stand an open foe to his life. (It is lawful to kill an
enemy of one’s life for self-defence). जघांशन्तं जिघांशियात ।
58. There is no one who of his nature is a foe or friend to another;
but becomes a friend to one that is friendly to him, and a foe to him
that deals inimically unto him.
स्वभावान्नकश्चित्कस्यचिन्मित्रं नकश्चित कस्यचिद्रिपुः ।
ब्यवहारोणजानन्तिमित्राणि रिपवस्तथा ॥
59. The body being put to pain attempts to kill the mind; and the mind
is ever intent to make the body the receptacle of its afflictions. (The
intimate connection of the body and mind causes them to participate in
one another’s pains).
60. What good then can possibly accrue to us from the union of the body
and mind, which are repugnant to one another, and which of their own
nature can never be reconciled together.
61. The mind being weakened, the body has no pain to undergo; wherefore
the body is always striving to weaken the mind.
62. The body, whether it is alive or dead, is subjected to all sorts of
evils by its hostile mind, unless it is brought under the subjection of
reason. (_i.e._ The unreasonable mind is an enemy of the body).
63. When both the body and mind become stout and strong, they join
together to break all bonds, as the lake and rainwater join together to
overflow on the banks.
64. Though both of them are troublesome to us in their different
natures, yet their union to one end is beneficial to us, as the
co-operation of fire and water is for the purpose of cooking.
65. When the weak mind is wasted and worn out, the body also becomes
weakened and languid; but the mind being full, the body is flushed like
a flourishing arbor, shooting forth with verdure.
66. The body pines away with its weakened desires, and at the weakness
of the mind; but the mind never grows weak at the weakness of the body;
therefore the mind requires to be curbed and weakened by all means.
67. I must therefore cut down the weed wood of my mind, with the trees
of my desires and the plants of my thirstiness; and, having reclaimed
thereby a large tract of land, rove about at my pleasure.
68. After my egoism is lost, and the net of my desires is removed, my
mind will regain its calm and clearness, like the sky after dispersion
of the clouds at the end of the rainy weather.
69. It is of no matter to me whether this body of mine, which is a
congeries of my humours, and a great enemy of mine, should waste away
or last, after the dissolution of my mind.
70. That for which this body of mine craves its enjoyments is not mine,
nor do I belong to it; what is the good therefore of bodily pleasure to
me? (When I have to leave this body and that pleasure also for ever).
71. It is certain that I am not myself the body, nor is the body mine
in any way; just as a corpse with all its parts entire, is no body at
all. (The personality of man, belongs to his mind and not to his
person).
72. Therefore I am something beside this body of mine, and that is
everlasting and never setting in its glory; it is by means of this that
I have that light in me, whereby I perceive the luminous sun in the sky.
73. I am neither ignorant of myself, nor subject to misery, nor am I
the dull unintelligent body, which is subject to misery. My body may
last or not, I am beyond all bodily accidents.
74. Where there is the soul or self, there is neither the mind, nor
senses nor desire of any kind; as the vile Pamaras never reside in the
contiguity of princes. (_Mahibhretas_ mean mountains also).
75. I have attained to that state in which I have surpassed all things;
and it is the state of my solity, my extinction, my indivisibility, and
my want of desires.
76. I am now loosened from the bonds of my mind, body and the senses,
as the oil which is extracted from the seeds of sesamum, and separated
from the sediments.
77. I walk about freely in this state of my transcendentalism, and my
mind which is disjoined from the bonds of the body considers its
members as its dependent instruments and accompaniments.
78. I find myself to be now situated in a state of transparency and
buoyancy, of self-contentment and intelligence, and of true reality; I
feel my full joy and calmness, and preserve my reservedness in speech.
79. I find my fulness and magnanimity, my comeliness and evenness of
temper; I see the unity of all things, and feel my fearlessness and
want of duality, choice and option.
80. I find these qualities to be ever attendant on me. They are
constant and faithful, easy and graceful and always propitious to me;
and my unshaken attachment to them has made them as heartily beloved
consorts to me.
81. I find myself as all and in all, at all times and in every manner;
and yet I am devoid of all desire for or dislike to any one, and am
equally unconcerned with whatever is pleasant or unpleasant, agreeable
or disagreeable to me.
82. Removed from the cloud of error and melancholy, and released from
dubitation and duplicity in my thoughts, I peregrinate myself as a
flimsy cloud, in the cooling atmosphere of the autumnal sky.
END OF THE SECOND VOLUME.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOOTNOTES:
Footnote 1:
This colophon occurring at the end of many chapters, shows the
intermediate chapters as parts of the lectures of a single day; and
by enumeration of which, the whole space of time occupied in the
delivery of these lectures may be fairly ascertained. This will serve
to show that the delivery of the lectures occupied but a few months;
and Válmíki’s writing of them, if he was a shorthand writer, embraced
also the same length of time, contrary to the common belief of this
composition’s being a work of many years.
Footnote 2:
(It was Plato’s doctrine of the souls’ _reminiscence_ of a former
apprehension of truth awakened by the traces of ideas which sensation
discovered in things).
Footnote 3:
The Arhatas have seven categories:
1. The animated and intelligent body.
2. The inanimate and insensible body as rocks &c.
3. The organs of sense.
4. Ignorance or austerities, called _Ávarana_.
5. Tonsure of the head called _nirávarana_.
6. Bondage to repeated births and deaths.
7. Liberation or final emancipation.
They are divided into seven schisms, according to their belief or
disbelief in this last _viz._
1. Sadvádis or believers in liberation. 2. Asadvádis—unbelievers. 3.
Syadvádis—Sceptics. 4. _Sada_—_Sadavádis_—misbelievers. 5.
Anirvachaneyavádis—Infidels. 6. Nástikas—Atheists. 7.
Súnyavádís—Vacuists.
Footnote 4:
Hari in the form of _Krishna_, destroyed the demons chief Sambara or
Káliya under his feet; as the son of God in the form of Christ,
defeated Satan and bruised his head under his feet.
Footnote 5:
Ceylon is said to be first peopled by the Yakkas (yakshas) who
followed the train of the Rákshasa Rávana to that island.
Footnote 6:
But these formal changes are phenomenal and not real. They are mere
appearances. Gloss.
Footnote 7:
So it is represented in Kumára Sambhava: दरीगुहाहिमेन समीरणेन, उद्गास्यतामिच्छति किन्नरीणां ।
Footnote 8:
Airávata signifies both Indra, the god of _caelum_ and the celestials,
as also his vehicle, the elephantine clouds.
Footnote 9:
It is recorded, that the forefathers of Bali to the fourth ascent,
were all destroyed by Vishnu, who took upon him the first four shapes
of his ten incarnations, namely: those of the fish, tortoise, the
boar and the biform man and lion, to destroy them one after another;
till he took his fifth form of the dwarf, to kill Bali also. Hence it
was one family of the Asuras at Mavalipura in Deccan, that called
down Vishnu five times from his heaven for their destruction.
Footnote 10:
Instruction of abstruse knowledge from yoga to the impure, is pearls
before swine; as it is said: पण्डिता एब उपदेष्टब्याः न च मूर्खः कदाचन ।
Footnote 11:
Reason is a divine attribute and given to man for his discernment of
truth from untruth, and of true felicity of the soul, from its
fetters of the frailties of this world.
Footnote 12:
The former figure of meditation was that of Virát, the god who with
his thousand heads, hands and legs and feet “सहस्रशीर्षः पुरुषं सहस्र बाहु सहस्र पाद्,”
shows the Daitya Titan Briareus with his hundred heads and hands;
but the figure of worship in this chapter is that of Vishnu, with
his four arms, one head and two legs only, as a more compendious
form for common and practical worship.
Footnote 13:
The flowers and offerings mentioned in this place, are all of a white
hue, and specially sacred to Vishnu, as there are others peculiar to
other deities, whose priests and votaries must carefully distinguish
from one another. The adoration of Vishnu consists, in the offering
of the following articles, and observance of the rites as mentioned
below: _viz._ Fumigation of incense and lighting of lamps,
presentation of offerings, of food, raiment, and jewels suited to the
adorer’s taste and best means, and presents of betel leaves,
umbrellas, mirrors and chowri flappers. Lastly, scattering of
handfuls of flowers, turning round the idol and making obeisance &c.
सर्ब्बेधूपदाम नैवेद्यतम्बुलदर्पणच्छत्रचामर नीराजन पुष्पाञ्जलि प्रदाक्षण नमस्कारादिः ।
Footnote 14:
Brahmá was the god of Bráhmanas, and Vishnu was worshipped by
the early Vaisya colonists of India; while Siva or Mahádeva was
the deity of the aboriginal Daityas. These peoples after long
contention came to be amalgamated into one great body of the
Hindus, by their adoption of the mixed creed of the said triality
or trinity, under the designation of the Triune duty. Still there
are many people that have never been united under this triad, and
maintain their several creeds with tenacity. See Wilson’s Hindu
Religion.
Footnote 15:
The history of Sanskrit words derives the name Lakshmí from the
appellation of king Dilipa’s queen, who was so called from her
luckiness. Thus the words _lucky_ and _luckhy_ (valgs), are
synonymous and same in sound and sense.
Footnote 16:
(This is the doctrine of the indwelling spirit pervading all nature.
Or as the poet says:—
A motion or spirit that impels
All thinking things, all objects of thought,
And rolls through all things
Wordsworth)
Footnote 17:
Nor love thy life nor hate, but live while thou livest; How long or
short, permit to heaven. _Dum vivimus, vinamus_.
Footnote 18:
(_i.e._ As the work is known after it is worked out by the workman).
Footnote 19:
So there is but dead matter without the enlivening soul, and every
thing is full of life with the soul inherent in it.
Footnote 20:
(The analogy of _matsya nyaya_ or piscine oppression, means the havoc
which is committed on the race of fishes by their own kind, as also
by all other piscivorous animals of earth and air, and tyranny of the
strong over the weak).
Footnote 21:
अणोरणीयान्, महतो महीयान्. Sruti.
Footnote 22:
नान्यपन्था द्वितीयकमनाय. Sruti.
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