The Yoga-Vasishtha Maharamayana of Valmiki, vol. 3 (of 4) part 2 (of 2)
出版：The Yoga-Vasishtha Maharamayana of Valmiki, vol. 3 (of 4) part 2 (of 2)
The Yoga-Vasishtha Maharamayana of Valmiki, vol. 3 (of 4) part 2 (of 2)-1
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[Pg ii]
THE
YOGA-VASISHTHA
MAHARAMAYANA
OF
VALMIKI
in 4 vols. in 7 pts.
(Bound in 4.)
Vol. 3 (In 2 pts.)
Bound in one.
Containing
Upasama Khanda and Nirvána Khanda
Translated from the original Sanskrit
By
VIHARI-LALA MITRA
[Pg iii]
[Pg iv]
CONTENTS
OF
NIRVÁNA-PRAKARANA.
BOOK VI.
(ON ULTIMATE EXTINCTION.)
PAGE.
CHAPTER I.
Description of the Evening and Breaking of the assembly
1
CHAPTER II.
On the perfect calm and composure of the mind
7
CHAPTER III.
On the unity and Universality of Brahma
15
CHAPTER IV.
Want of anxiety in the way of Salvation
18
CHAPTER V.
The narration of Ráma's perfect rest
20
CHAPTER VI.
The narration of Delirium (moha)
22
CHAPTER VII.
Magnitude or preponderance of ignorance
29
CHAPTER VIII.
Allegory of the spreading arbour of Ignorance
39
CHAPTER IX.
Ascertainment of True knowledge
44
CHAPTER X.
Removal of Ignorance
50
CHAPTER XI.
Ascertainment of Living Liberation
58
CHAPTER XII.
Reasoning on the doubts of the living liberation
69
CHAPTER XIII.
The Two Yogas of Knowledge and Reasoning
73
CHAPTER XIV.
Narration of Bhusunda and description of Mount Meru
75
CHAPTER XV.
Vasishtha's visit to Bhusunda
79
CHAPTER XVI.
Conversation of Vasishtha and Bhusunda
84
CHAPTER XVII.
Description of Bhusunda's Person
87
CHAPTER XVIII.
Manners of the Mátrika Goddesses
88
CHAPTER XIX.
Bhusunda's nativity and habitation
93
CHAPTER XX.
Explication of the mysterious character of Bhusunda
99
CHAPTER XXI.
Explanation of the cause of the crow's longevity
105
CHAPTER XXII.
Account of past ages
112
CHAPTER XXIII.
Desire of Tranquillity and Quiescence of the Mindn
119
CHAPTER XXIV.
Investigation of the Living Principle
124
CHAPTER XXV.
On Samádhi
129
CHAPTER XXVI.
Relation of the cause of Longevity
69
CHAPTER XXVII.
Conclusion of the narrative of Bhusunda
143
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Lecture on Theopathy or spiritual meditation
146
CHAPTER XXIX.
Pantheism or Description of the world as full with the Supreme Soul
158
CHAPTER XXX.
Inquiry into the nature of the Intellect
176
CHAPTER XXXI
Identity of the mind and living soul
189
CHAPTER XXXII
On the sustentation and dissolution of the body
197
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Resolution of duality into unity
204
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Sermon of Siva on the same subject
211
CHAPTER XXXV.
Adoration of the great god Mahádeva
216
CHAPTER XXXVI.
Description of the supreme Deity Parameswara
220
CHAPTER XXXVII.
The stage play and dance of destiny
223
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
On the external worship of the Deity
227
CHAPTER XXXIX.
Mode of the Internal worship of the Deity
231
CHAPTER XXXX.
Inquiry into the nature of the Deity
238
CHAPTER XXXXI.
Vanity of world and worldly things
240
CHAPTER XXXXII.
The supreme soul and its phases and names
247
CHAPTER XXXXIII.
On rest and Tranquillity
251
CHAPTER XXXXIV.
Inquiry into the essence of the mind
256
CHAPTER XXXXV.
Story of the vilva or Belfruit
261
CHAPTER XXXXVI.
Parable of the stony sheath of the soul
266
CHAPTER XXXXVII.
Lecture on the density of the Intellect
272
CHAPTER XXXXVIII.
On the Unity and Identity of Brahmá and the world
277
CHAPTER XXXXIX.
Contemplation of the course of the world
280
CHAPTER L.
On sensation and the objects of senses
285
CHAPTER LI.
On the perception of the sensible objects
291
CHAPTER LII.
Story of Arjuna, as the Incarnation of Nara-Naráyana
299
CHAPTER LIII.
AdmonitionofArjuna
304
CHAPTER LIV.
Admonition of Arjuna in the spiritual knowledge
313
CHAPTER LV.
Lecture on the Living soul or Jívatatwa
316
CHAPTER LVI.
Description of the mind
324
CHAPTER LVII.
On Abandonment of desire and its result of Tranquillity
329
CHAPTER LVIII.
Arjuna's satisfaction at the sermon
331
CHAPTER LIX.
Knowledge of the latent and inscrutable soul
334
CHAPTER LX.
Knowledge of the majesty and grandeur of God
340
CHAPTER LXI.
Description of the world as a passing dream
343
CHAPTER LXII.
In the narration of Jívata an example of domestic and mendicant life
344
CHAPTER LXIII.
Dream of Jívata
349
CHAPTER LXIV.
On the attainment of attendantship on the God Rudra
359
CHAPTER LXV.
Ráma's wonder at the error of men
364
CHAPTER LXVI.
The wonderings of the mendicant
367
CHAPTER LXVII.
Unity of God
371
CHAPTER LXVIII.
On the virtue of Taciturnity
376
CHAPTER LXIX.
Union of the mind with the breath of life
380
CHAPTER LXX.
Interrogatories of Vitála
388
CHAPTER LXXI.
The prince's reply to the first question of the Vitála
391
CHAPTER LXXII.
Answers to the remaining questions
394
CHAPTER LXXIII.
EndofthestoryoftheVitálaDemon
396
CHAPTER LXXIV.
Account and admonition of Bhagíratha
398
CHAPTER LXXV.
Supineness of Bhagíratha
403
CHAPTER LXXVI
The Descent of Gangá on earth
406
CHAPTER LXXVII.
Narrative of Chúdálá and Sikhidhwaja
409
CHAPTER LXXVIII.
Beautification of Chúdálá
416
CHAPTER LXXIX.
Princess coming to the sight of the supreme soul
423
CHAPTER LXXX.
Display of the quintuple Elements
427
CHAPTER LXXXI.
Inquiry into Agni, Soma or fire and moon
438
CHAPTER LXXXII.
Yoga instructions for acquirement of the supernatural powers of Animá-minuteness &c.
454
CHAPTER LXXXIII.
Story of the miserly Kiráta
455
CHAPTER LXXXIV.
Pilgrimage of prince Sikhidhwaja
463
CHAPTER LXXXV
Investigation into true happiness
471
CHAPTER LXXXVI.
The production of the Pot (or the embryonic cell)
488
CHAPTER LXXXVII.
Continuation of the same and enlightenment of Sikhidhwaja
492
CHAPTER LXXXVIII.
The tale of the Crystal gem
498
CHAPTER LXXXIX.
The Parable of an Elephant
502
CHAPTER LXXXX.
Way to obtain the Philosopher's stone
506
CHAPTER LXXXXI.
Interpretation of the parable of the Elephant
510
CHAPTER LXXXXII.
The Prince's Abjuration of his Asceticism
513
CHAPTER LXXXXIII.
Admonition of Sikhidhwaja
518
CHAPTER LXXXXIV.
Enlightenment of Sikhidhwaja
526
CHAPTER LXXXXV.
The anaesthetic Platonism of Sikhidhwaja
534
CHAPTER LXXXXVI.
Enlightenment of Sikhidhwaja
537
CHAPTER LXXXXVII.
Enlightenment of the prince in Theosophy
544
CHAPTER LXXXXVIII.
Admonition of Sikhidhwaja continued
547
CHAPTER LXXXXIX.
Remonstration of Sikhidhwaja
551
CHAPTER C.
Continuation of the same subject
555
CHAPTER CI.
AdmonitionofChúdálá
559
CHAPTER CII.
Repose of Sikhidhwaja in the divine spirit
566
CHAPTER CIII.
Return of Kumbha to the Hermitage of Sikhidhwaja
568
CHAPTER CIV.
On the conduct of living-liberated men
575
CHAPTER CV.
Metamorphoses of Kumbha to a female form
580
CHAPTER CVI.
Marriage of Chúdálá with Sikhidhwaja
586
CHAPTER CVII.
The advent of false Indra in the cottage of the happy pair
593
CHAPTER CVIII.
Manifestation of Chúdálá in her own form
597
CHAPTER CIX.
Appearance of Chúdálá in her presence of her Lord
601
CHAPTER CX.
Final extinction of Sikhidhwaja
610
CHAPTER CXI.
Story of Kacha and his enlightment by the Brihaspati
614
CHAPTER CXII.
A fanciful Being and his occupation of air drawn and air-built abodes
619
CHAPTER CXIII.
The parable of the vain man continued
623
CHAPTER CXIV.
Sermon on Divine and Holy knowledge
626
CHAPTER CXV.
Description of the triple conduct of men
630
CHAPTER CXVI.
Melting down of the mind
636
CHAPTER CXVII.
Dialogue between Manu and Ikshaku
638
CHAPTER CXVIII.
Continuation of the same
640
CHAPTER CXIX.
The same subject continued
643
CHAPTER CXX.
Continuation of the same. On the seven stages of Edification
645
CHAPTER CXXI.
Continuationofthesame
649
CHAPTER CXXII.
The same. Manu's admonition to Ikshaku
652
CHAPTER CXXIII.
On the difference between the knowing and unknowing
655
CHAPTER CXXIV.
The story of the stag and the huntsman
656
CHAPTER CXXV.
The means of attaining the steadiness of the Turya state
661
CHAPTER CXXVI.
Description of the spiritual state
663
CHAPTER CXXVII.
Admonition to Bharadwája
676
CHAPTER CXXVIII.
Resuscitation of Ráma
683
[Pg 1]
YOGA VASISHTHA
BOOK VI.
NIRVÁNA-PRAKARANA.
ON ULTIMATE EXTINCTION.
PÚRVÁRDHA.
OR THE FORMER OR FIRST HALF.
PART I.
CHAPTER I.
Description of the evening and Breaking
of the Assembly.
Argument.—The close of the day, its announcement, the court breaks
for Evening service, and the effect of the Sage's sermon on the Audience.
VÁLMIKI says:—You have heard the relation of the subject
of Stoicism or composure of the soul; attend now to
that of Nirvána, which will teach you how to attain the final
liberation of yourselves[1].
2. As the chief of Sages was saying his magniloquent
speech in this manner, and the princes remained mute with their
intense attention to the ravishing oration of the Sage:
3. The assembled chiefs remained there as silent and motionless
portraits, and forgot their devotions and duties, by being
impressed in their minds with the sense and words of the
Sage's speech.
4. The assemblage of Saints, was reverently pondering upon
the deep sense of the words of the Sage, with their curled brows
and signs of their index fingers (indicating their wonder).
[Pg 2]
5. The ladies in the Seraglio were lost in wonder, and
turned upward their wondering eyes, resembling a cluster of
black bees, sucking intently the nectarious honey of the new
blown flowers (of the Sage's speech).
6. The glorious sun sank down in the sky, at the fourth or
last watch of the day; and was shorn of his radiant beams as he
was setting in the west (as a man becomes mild with his
knowledge, of truth at the end of his journey through life).
7. The winds blew softly at the eve of the day, as if to listen to
the sermon of the Sage, and wafted about the sweets of his moving
speech, like the fragrance of the gently shaking mandara flowers.
8. All other sounds were drowned in the deep meditation of
the audience, as when the humming of the bumble bees, is pushed
in their repose, amidst the cell of blooming flowers at night.
9. The bubbling waters of the pearly lakes, sparkled unmoved
amidst their embordered beds; as if they were intently attentive
to listen to the words of the Sage, which dropped as strings
of pearls from his flippant lips. (So the verse of Hafiz affixed to
the title page of Sir William Jones' Persian grammar: "Thou hast
spoken thy verse, and strung a string of pearls").
10. The pencil of the declining ray penetrating the windows
of the palace, bespoke the halting of the departing sun, under
the cooling shade of the royal canopy, after his weary journey
all along the livelong day.
11. The pearly rays (or bright beams) of the parting day,
being covered by the dust and mist of the dusk, it seemed to be
besmeared as the body of a dervish with dust and ashes; and
had gained its coolness after its journey under the burning sun
(The cool and dusky eve of the day is compared with the dust-sprinkled
body of the ascetic approaching to his cell).
12. The chiefs of men with their heads and hands decorated
with flowers, were so regaled with the sweet speech of the Sage,
that they altogether remained enrapt in their senses and minds.
13. The ladies listening to the sage, were now roused by
the cries of their infants and the birds in their cages, to get up
from the place and to give them their suck and food. (It means that
the birds and boys, were alone insensible of the Sage's discourse).
[Pg 3]
14. Now the dust flung by the pinions of fluttering bees,
covered the petals of the night blooming kumuda flowers; and
the flapping chouries were now at rest, with the tremulous eyelids
of the princes.
15. The rays of the sun, fearing to be waylaid by the dark
night shade, which had now got loose from the dark mountain
caves, fled through the windows to the inner apartment of the
palace (which was already lighted with lamps).
16. The time watches of the royal palace, knowing it to be
passed the fourth watch of the day, sounded aloud their drums
and trumpets, mingled with the sound of conch-shells, loudly
resounding on all sides.
17. The high-sounding speech of the sage, was drowned
under the loud peal of the jarring instruments; as the sonorous
sound of the peacock, is hushed under the uproar of roaring
clouds.
18. The birds in the cages, began to quake and shake their
wings with fear; and the leaves and branches of the lofty palm
trees, shook in the gardens, as by a tremendous earthquake.
19. The babes sleeping on the breasts of their nurses, trembled
with fear at the loud uproar; and they cried as the smoking
clouds of the rainy season, resounding between the two mountain
craigs resembling the breasts. (It is common in Indian
poetry to compare the swelling breasts to rising hills, and say
Kucha giri).
20. This noise made the helmets of the chieftains, shed the
dust of their decorating flowers all about the hall; as the moving
waves of the lake, sprinkle the drops of water upon the land.[2]
[Pg 4]
21. Thus the palace of Dasharatha being full of trepidation
at the close of the day, regained its quiet at the gradual fall of
the fanfare of sounding conch shells, and the hubbub of drum
beatings at the advance of night.
22. The Sage put a stop to his present discourse, and addressed
Ráma then sitting in the midst of the assembly, in a sweet
voice and graceful language. (Mudhura-Vritti is the middle
or graceful style between the high and low).
23. Vasishtha said:—O Rághava! I have already spread
before you the long net of my verbosity; do you entrap your
flying mind in the same way, and bring it to your bosom and
under your subjection.
24. Take the purport of my discourse in such manner, as to
leave out what is unintelligible, and lay hold on its substance; as
the swan separates and sucks the milk which is mixed with water.
25. Ponder upon it repeatedly, and consider it well in thy
mind, and go on in this way to conduct yourself in life (viz by
suppression of your desires, weakening the mind, restraining the
breathing, and acquiring of knowledge).
26. By going on in this manner, you are sure to evade all
dangers; or else you must fall ere long like the heavy elephant,
in some pitfall of the Vindhya mountain. (Pitfalls are the only
means of catching elephants).
27. If you do not receive my words with attention, and act
accordingly, you are sure to fall into the pit like a blind man
left to go alone in the dark; and to be blown away like a
lighted lamp, exposed in the open air.
28. In order to derive the benefit of my lectures, you must
continue in the discharge of your usual duties with indifference,
and knowing insouciance to be the right dictum of the sástras,
be you regardless of everything besides.
29. Now I bid you, O mighty monarch, and ye, princes and
chiefs, and all ye present in this place, to get up and attend to
the evening services of your daily ritual. (Abnika).
30. Let all attend to this much at present, as the day is
drawing to its close; and we shall consider the rest, on our
meeting in the next morning.
[Pg 5]
31. Válmíki related:—After the Sage had said so far, the
assembly broke, off; and the assembled chiefs and princes rose
up, with their faces blooming as the full blown lotuses at the
end of the day.
32. The Chiefs having paid their obeisance to the monarch,
and made their salutation to Ráma, they did their reverence to
the sage, and departed to their respective abodes.
33. Vasishtha rose up from his seat with the royal sage
Viswámitra, and they were saluted on their departure by the
aerial spirits, who had attended the audience all along.
34. The Sages were followed closely, by the king and chieftains
a long way, and they parted after accosting them, according
to their rank and dignity on the way;
35. The celestials took their leave of the sage, and betook
to their heavenward journey; and the munis repaired to their
hermitages in the woods, when some of the saints turned about
the palace, like bees flying in about the lotus bush (different
directions).
36. The king having offered handfuls of fresh flowers at the
feet of Vasishtha, entered the royal seraglio with his royal consorts.
37. But Ráma and his brother princes, kept company with
the sage to his hermitage; and having prostrated themselves at
his feet, they returned to their princely mansions.
38. The hearers of the sage having arrived at their houses
made their ablutions; then worshipped the gods, and offered
their offerings to the manes of their ancestors. They then treated
their guests and gave alms to beggars.
39. Then they took their meals with their Brahman guests,
and members of the family; and their dependants and servants
were fed one after the other, according to the rules and customs
of their order and caste.
40. After the sun had set down, with the diurnal duties of
men, there rose the bright moon on high, with impositions of
many nocturnal duties on mankind.
41. At last the great king and the princes, and chiefs of
men and the munis, together with the sages and saints, and all[Pg 6]
other terrestrial beings, betook themselves to their several beds,
with silken coverlets and bed cloths of various kinds.
42. They lay thinking intensely in themselves, on the admonitions
of the sage Vasishtha; on the mode of their passing
over the boisterous gulf of this world, by means of this spiritual
knowledge.
43. Then they slept and lay with their closed eyelids, for
one watch of the night only; and then opened their eyes, like
the opening buds of lotuses, to see the light of the day.
44. Ráma and his brother princes, passed full three watches
of the night in waking; and pondering over the deep sense of
the lectures, of their spiritual guide—Vasishtha. (The present
ritual allots three watches of the night to sleep, while formerly
they gave but one watch to it).
45. They slept only one and a half watch of the night, with
their closed eye lids; and then they shook off the dullness
of their sleep, after driving the lassitude of their bodies by a
short nap.
46. Now the minds of these, being full of good will, raised
by the rising reason in their souls, and knowledge of truth; they
felt the crescent of spiritual light lightening their dark bosoms,
as the sextant of the moon, illumes the gloom of night; which
afterwards disappeared at the approach of daylight, and the
gathering broils of daytime.
[Pg 7]
CHAPTER II.
On the Perfect Calm and Composure of the Mind.
Argument.—The sages joining the assembly the next morning, and
preaching of Divine knowledge to it.
VÁLMIKI related: Then the shade of night, with her face as
dark as that of the darkened moon, began to waste and
wane away; as the darkness of ignorance and the mists of
human wishes, vanish before the light of reason.
2. Now the rising sun showed his crown of golden rays, on
the top of the eastern mountain, by leaving his rival darkness
to take its rest, beyond the western or his setting mount of
astáchala (the two mountains mean the eastern and western
horizons).
3. Now the morning breeze began to blow, being moistened
by the moon-beams, and bearing the particles of ice, as if to
wash the face and eyes of the rising sun.
4. Now rose Ráma and Lakshmana, with their attendants
also, from their beds and couches; and after discharging their
morning services, they repaired to the holy hermitage of
Vasishtha.
5. There they saw the Sage coming out of his closet, after
discharge of his morning devotion; and worshipped his feet
with offerings of arghya (or flowers and presents worthy of
him).
6. In a moment afterwards, the hermitage of the Sage was
thronged by munis and Bráhmans, and the other princes and
chiefs, whose vehicles and cars and horses and elephants, blocked
the pathways altogether.
7. Then the Sage being accompanied by these, and attended
by their suite and armies; and followed by Ráma and his
brothers, was escorted to the palace of the Sovereign King
Dasaratha.
8. The king who had discharged his morning service, hastened[Pg 8]
to receive the Sage before hand; and walked a great way to
welcome him, and do him honour and pay his homage.
9. They entered the court hall, which was adorned with
flowers and strings of gems and pearls; and there they seated
themselves on the rich sofas and seats, which were set in rows
for their reception.
10. In a short time the whole audience of the last day, composed
both of the terrestrial men and celestial spirits, were all
assembled at the spot, and seated in their respective seats of
honor.
11. All these entered that graceful hall, and saluted one another
with respect; and then the royal court shone as brilliant
as a bed of blooming lotuses, gently moved by the fanning
breeze.
12. The mixed assemblage of the munis and rishis or the
saints and Sages, and the Vipras and Rájas or the Bráhmans and
Kshatriyas, sat in proper order, on seats appropriated for all of
them.
13. The soft sounds of their mutual greetings and welcomes,
gradually faded away; and the sweet voice of the panegyrists
and encomiasts, sitting in a corner of the hall, was all hushed
and lulled to silence.
14. The sun-beams appearing through the chinks in the
windows, seemed to be waiting in order to join the audience, and
to listen to the lectures of the Sage. (Another translation has it
thus:—The audience crept in the hall, no sooner the sun-beams
peeped through the windows).
15. The jingling sound of bracelets, caused by the shaking of
hands of the visitors in the hall; was likely to lull to sleep
the hearers of the sage. (It was a custom in olden times, to
make a tinkling sound to ear, in order to lull one to sleep, as by
a kind of mesmerism).
16. Then as Kumára looked reverently on the countenance
of his sire Siva, and as Kacha looked with veneration upon the
face of the preceptor of the God or Brihaspati; and as Prahlada
gazed upon the face of Shukra—the preceptor of demons, and
as Suparna viewed the visage of Krishna.
[Pg 9]
17. So did Ráma gloat upon the countenance of Vasishtha,
and his eye-balls rolled upon it, like the black bees fluttering
about a full blown lotus.
18. The sage resumed the link of his last lecture, and delivered
his eloquent speech to Ráma, who was well versed in
eloquence also.
19. Vasishtha said:—Do you remember Ráma! the lecture
that I gave yesterday, which was fraught with deep sense and
knowledge of transcendental truth?
20. I will now tell you of some other things for your instruction,
and you shall have to hear it with attention, for consummation
of your spiritual wisdom.
21. Whereas it is the habit of dispassionateness, and the
knowledge of truth; whereby we are enabled to ford over the
boisterous ocean of the world, you must learn therefore, O
Ráma! to practice and gain these betimes.
22. Your full knowledge of all truth, will drive away your
bias in untruth; and your riddance from all desire, will save you
from all sorrow. (Desire is a burning fire, but want of yearning
is want of pain and sorrowing).
23. There exists but one Brahma, unbounded by space and
time; He is never limited by either of them; and is the world
himself, though it appears to be a distinct duality beside Him.
24. Brahma abides in all infinity and eternity, and is not
limited in any thing; He is tranquil and shines with equal
effulgence on all bodies; He cannot be any particular thing,
beside his nature of universality.
25. Knowing the nature of Brahma as such, be you freed
from the knowledge of your egoism (personality); and knowing
yourself as the same with him, think yourself as bodiless and as
great as he; and thus enjoy the tranquillity and felicity of your
soul.
26. There is neither the mind nor the avidyá (or ignorance),
nor the living principle, as distinct things in reality; they are
all fictitious terms (for the one and same nameless Brahma
himself).
27. It is the self-same Brahma, that exhibits himself in the[Pg 10]
forms of our enjoyments, in the faculties of enjoying them, in
our desires and appetites for the same, and in the mind also for
their perception. The great Brahma that is without beginning
and end, underlies them all, as the great ocean surrounds the
earth (and supplies its moisture to every thing upon it).
28. The same Brahma is seen in the form of his intellect
(or wisdom) in heavens, on earth and in the infernal regions,
as also in the vegetable and animal creations; and there is
nothing else beside him.
29. The same Brahma, who has no beginning nor end,
spreads himself like the boundless and unfathomable ocean, under
all bodies and things; and in whatever we deem as favourable
and unfavourable to us, as our friends and our enemies.
30. The fiction of the mind, like that of a dragon, continues
so long, as we are subject to the error and ignorance of
taking these words for real things; and are unacquainted with
the knowledge of Brahma (as pervading all existence).
31. The error of the mind and its perceptibles, continues as
long as one believes his personality to consist in his body; and
understands the phenomenal world as a reality; and has the
selfishness to think such and such things to be his (since there
is nothing which actually belongs to any body, besides its temporary
use).
32. So long as you do not raise yourself, by the counsel and
in the society of the wise and good; and as long as you do not
get rid of your ignorance; you cannot escape from the meanness
of your belief in the mind.
33. So long as you do not get loose of your worldly
thoughts, and have the light of the universal spirit before your
view; you cannot get rid of the contracted thoughts of your
mind, yourself and the world.
34. As long as there is the blindness of ignorance, and one's
subjection to worldly desires; so long there is the delusion of
falsehood also, and the fictions of the fallacious mind.
35. As long as the exhalation of yearnings infest the forest
of the heart, the chakora or parrot of reason will never resort to
it; but fly far away from the infected air.
[Pg 11]
36. The errors of thought disappear from that mind, which
is unattached to sensual enjoyments; which is cool with its
pure inappetency, and which has broken loose from its net of
avarice.
37. He who has got rid of his thirst and delusion of wealth,
and who is conscious of the inward coolness of his soul, and who
possesses the tranquillity of his mind; such a person is said to
have fled from the province of his anxious thought.
38. He who looks upon unsubstantial things, as unworthy
of his regard and reliance; and who looks upon his body as extraneous
to himself; is never misled by the thoughts of his mind.
39. He who meditates on the infinite mind, and sees all
forms of things as ectypes of the universal soul; and who views
the world absorbed in himself; is never misled by the erroneous
conception of the living principle.
40. The partial view of a distinct mind and a living principle,
serves but to mislead a man (to the knowledge of erroneous
particulars); all which vanish away, at the sight of the
rising sun of the one universal soul.
41. Want of the partial view of the mind, gives the full
view of one undivided soul; which consumes the particulars, as
the vivid fire burns away the dry leaves of trees, and as the
sacrificial fire consumes the oblations of ghee or clarified butter.
42. Those men of great souls, who have known the supreme
one, and are self-liberated in their lifetime; have their minds
without their essences, and which are therefore called asatwas
or nonentities. (These minds, says the gloss, are as the watermarks
on the sand, after a channel is dried up (or its waters have
receded); meaning that the mind remains in its print but not in
its substance).
43. The body of the living liberated man, has a mind employed
in its duties, but freed from its desires; such minds are
not chittas or active agents, but mere sattwas or passive objects.
They are no more self-volitive free agents, but are acted upon
by their paramount duties. (Free will is responsible for its acts,
but compulsion has no responsibility).
44. They that know the truth, are mindless and unmindful of[Pg 12]
everything save their duty; they rove about at pleasure and
discharge their duties by rote and practice, in order any object
to gain.
45. They are calm and cold with all their actions and in all
their dealings; they have the members of their bodies and their
senses under full control, and know no desire nor duality.
46. The saint having his sight fixed upon his inner soul,
sees the world burnt down as straws by the fire of his intellect;
and finds his erroneous conceptions of the mind, to fly far away
from it, like flitting flies from a conflagration.
47. The mind which is purified by reason, is called the sattwa
as said above, and does not give rise to error; as the fried paddy
seed, is not productive of the plant (The sattwa mind is spiritless
and dead in itself).
48. The word Sattwa means the contrary of Chitta, which
latter is used in lexicons to mean the mind, that has the quality
of being reborn on account of its actions and desires. (The
chitta is defined as the living seed of the mind, and productive
of acts and future regenerations, which the Sattwa or deadened
mind cannot do).
49. You have to attain the attainable Sattwa or torpid state
of your mind, and to have the seed of your active mind
or chitta, singed by the blaze of your spiritual mind or sattwa.
50. The minds of the learned, which are lighted by reason,
are melted down at once to liquidity; but those of the ignorant
which are hardened by their worldly desires, will not yield to
the force of fire and steel; but continue still to sprout up as the
grass, the more they are mowed and put on fire. (The over-growing
grass in the fields, though set on fire, will grow again
from their unburnt roots, and became as rank as before).
51. Brahma is vast expanse, and such being the vastness of
the universe too there is no difference between them; and the
intellect of Brahma is as full as the fulness of his essence.
52. The Divine Intellect contains the three worlds, as the
pepper has its pungency within itself. Therefore the triple
world is not a distinct thing from Brahma, and its existence and[Pg 13]
inexistence (i.e., its creation and dissolution), are mere fictions
of human mind. (It is ever existent in the eternal mind).
53. It is the use of popular language, to speak of existence
and non-existence as different things; but they are never so
in reality to the right understanding. Since whatever is or is not
in being, is ever present in the Divine Mind.
53a. This being a vacuity, contains all things in their vacuous
state (which is neither the state of sensible existence, nor
that of intellectual inexistence either). God as the Absolute,
Eternal, and Spiritual substance, is as void as Thought. (The
universe is a thought in the mind of God, and existence is
thought and activity in the Divine Mind. Aristotle).
54. If you disbelieve in the intellectual, you can have no
belief in your spirituality also; then why fear to die for fear of
future retribution, when you leave your body behind to turn to
dust. Tell me Ráma! how can you imagine the existence of the
world in absence of the intellectual principle. (There can be no
material world, without the immaterial mind; nor can you
think of it, if you have no mind in you).
55. But if you find by the reasoning of your mind, all
things to be mere intellections of the intellect at all times; then
say why do you rely on the substantiality of your body.
56. Remember Ráma, your pellucid intellectual and spiritual
form, which has no limit nor part of it, but is an unlimited and
undivided whole; and mistake not yourself for a limited being
by forgetting your true nature.
57. Thinking yourself as such, take all the discreet parts of
the universe as forming one concrete whole; and this is the
substantial intellect of Brahma.
58. Thou abidest in the womb of thy intellect, and art
neither this nor that nor any of the many discrete things interspersed
in the universe. Thou art as thou art and last as the
End and Nil in thy obvious and yet thy hidden appearances.
59. Thou art contained under no particular category, nor is
there any predicable which may be predicated of thee. Yet
thou art the substance of every predicament in thy form of the[Pg 14]
solid, ponderous and calm intellect; and I salute thee in that
form of thine.
60. Thou art without beginning and end, and abidest with
thy body of solid intellect, amidst the crystal sphere of thy
creation, and shining as the pure and transparent sky. Thou art
calm and quiet, and yet displayest the wondrous world, as the
seed vessel shows the wooden of vegetation.
[Pg 15]
CHAPTER III.
On the Unity and Universality of Brahma.
Argument.—Showing the identity of Brahma with the Mind, Living
Soul, the body and the world and all things and extirpation of all
dualisms, by the establishment of one universality.
VASISHTHA continued:—As the countless waves, which
are continually rising and falling in the Sea, are no other
than its water assuming temporary forms to view; so the
intellect exhibits the forms of endless worlds heaving in itself;
and know, O sinless Ráma! this intellect to be thy very self or
soul. (All personal souls are selfsame with the impersonal Self;
because it is in the power of both the finite and infinite souls to
produce and reduce the appearance of the worlds in them, which
proves them beyond any doubt as the Chidátmá or the Intellectual
soul).
2. Say thou that hast the intellectual soul, what relation
doth thy immaterial soul bear to the material world, and being
freed from thy earthly cares, how canst thou entertain any earthly
desire or affection in it. (The spiritual soul has no concern with
the material world).
3. It is the Intellect which manifests itself in the forms of
living soul or jíva, mind and its desires, and the world and all
things; say then what else can it be, to which all these properties
are to be attributed (if not to the eternal intellect).
4. The intellect of the Supreme Spirit, is as a profound sea
with its huge surges; and yet, O Ráma! it is as calm and cool as
thy soul, and as bright and clear, as the transparent firmament.
5. As the heat is not separate from fire, and the fragrance
not apart from the flower; and as blackness is inseparable from
collyrium, and whiteness from the ice; and as sweet is inborn
in the sugarcane, so is intellection inherent in, and unseparated
from the intellect.
6. As the light is nothing distinct from the sun-beams, so[Pg 16]
is intellection no other than the intellect itself; and as the
waves are no way distinct from the water; so the universe is in
no ways different or disjoined from the nature of the intellect,
which contains the universe. (The noumenon contains the
phenomenon, and become manifest as the world).
7. The ideas are not apart from the intellect, nor is the ego
distinct from the idea of it; the mind is not different from the
ego, nor is the living soul any other than the mind.
8. The senses are not separate from the mind, and the body
is not unconnected with the senses; the world is the same as the
body, and there is nothing apart from the world. (The body is
the microcosm of the cosmos [Sanskrit: shuddhabrahmánanda]).
9. Thus the great sphere of universe, is no other than the
unbounded sphere of intellect; and they are nothing now done
or made, or ever created before (for whatever there is or comes
to pass, continues forever in the presence of the intellect).
10. Our knowledge of every thing, is but our reminiscence
of the same; and this is to continue for evermore, in the
manner of all partial spaces, being contained in infinity, without
distinction of their particular localities. (All spaces of place
occupied by bodies, are contained in the infinite and unoccupied
vacuity of Mind).
11. As all spaces are contained in the endless vacuity, so
the vastness of Brahma is contained in the immensity of
Brahma; and as truth resides in verity, so in this plenum
contained, is the plenitude of Divine mind. (Here Brahma the
great means by figure of metonymy, the Brahmánda or vastness
of his creation).
