CONSUMMATION OF SÚCHÍ’S DEVOTION.
Argument. Return of the god of winds to the Indra, and his narration of
the Devotion of Súchí and her desired Boon.
The god of the winds beheld Súchí standing erect, like a crest on the
summit of the mountain, amidst that vast tract of the desert all around.
2. She stood upon one leg fixed in her meditation and roasted by the
burning sun over her head; she was dried up to a skeleton by her
continued fasting, and her belly was contracted to the shrunken skin.
(_i.e._ She was threadbare as skin in all her body and belly).
3. Now and then, she inhaled the hot air with her open mouth, and then
breathed it out, as her heart could not contain the repeated influx of
air. (Respiration of air is practised by Yogis, to sustain their lives
therewith for want of solid food).
4. She was withered under the scorching sunbeams, and battered in her
frame by the hotter winds of the desert; yet she moved not from her
stand-point, as she was relieved every night by the cold bath of
moonbeams.
5. She was content with covering her head under the particles of dust,
and did not like to change her state for a better fortune. (_i.e._ She
preferred her poverty to high dignity).
6. She gave up the possession of her forest to other living beings, and
lived apart from all in the form of a crest of hair. Her breathings
being withdrawn to the cranium, appeared out of it as a tuft of hairs or
bushes clapped on her head. (Air confined in the cranium, is said to
keep the body alive for ages).
7. The god of air was astonished to see Súchí in this state; he bowed
down to her and was struck with terror as he beheld her more earnestly.
(The countenance of the holy is awful to the sight of the unholy).
8. He was so overawed by the blaze of her person, that he durst not ask
her anything, such as:—“O saintly Súchí! why dost thou undertake thyself
to these austerities”?
9. He only exclaimed, O holy Súchí, how wondrous is this sight of thy
devotion! Impressed with veneration for her holiness, the god made his
departure to heaven whence he came.
10. He passed the region of the clouds, and reached the sphere of the
still air (sthíra váyu); and then leaving the realm of the Siddhas
behind him, he arrived to the path of the sun—the ecliptic.
11. Then rising higher in his airy car, he got into the city of Indra,
where he was cordially embraced by the lord of gods, for the merit of
his sight of Súchí. (Visit to sacred persons and holy shrines, is
believed to impart a share of holiness to the visitant).
12. Being asked what he saw, he related all that he had seen, before the
assembled gods in the synod of Sakra or Indra.
13. Pavana said:—There is the King of mountains the high Himalaya,
situate in the midst of Jambudwípa (in Asia); who has the lord Siva,
that bears the crescent of the moon on his forehead, for his son-in-law.
14. On the north of it, is a great peak with a plain land above it,
where the holy Súchí holds her hermitage, and performs her rigorous
devotion.
15. What more shall I relate of her, than that she has abstained herself
even of her sustenance of air, and has made a mess of her entrails
coiled up together.
16. She has contracted the opening of her mouth to a needle hole, and
stopped even that with a particle of dust, in order to restrain it even
from the reception of a cold dewdrop for its food.
17. The fervour of her devotion, has made the snowy mountain to forsake
its coldness; and assume an igneous form which it is difficult to
approach. (The blaze of holiness is said to set mountains on fire, as
the presence of the Holy spirit set the sacred mount of Sinai on flame).
18. Therefore let all of us rise and repair soon to the great father of
creatures for redress; or know this fervent devotion of hers must prove
to our disadvantage in its result.
19. Hearing these words pronounced by Pavana, the lord Indra in company
with the other gods, proceeded to the abode of Brahmá, and prayed unto
him for their safety.
20. Brahmá answered:—“I am going even now to the summit of the snowy
Himalaya, to confer to Súchí her desired boon.” Upon this assurance of
Brahmá, the gods all returned to their celestial abodes.
21. During this time Súchí became perfect in her holiness, and began to
glow with the fervour of her devotion on the mountain of the immortals.
22. Súchí perceived very clearly the revolution of the time (of her
castigation), by fixing her open eyes on the sun, and by counting the
days by the rays of solar light penetrating the opening of her
mouth:—the needle hole.
23. Súchí though flexible as a bit of thread, had yet attained the
firmness of the mountain Meru, by her erect posture.
24. She beheld by the ray of sun light, which penetrated the eye of the
needle, that the shadowy attendant upon her erect posture, was the only
witness of her upright devotion.
25. The shadow of Súchí which was the only attendant on her devotion,
hid herself under her feet for fear of the midday heat, so do people in
difficulty find their best friends forsake their company in times of
adversity.
26. The union of the three persons of the iron, the ascetic and shadowy
Súchí, like the meeting of the three rivers (Asi, Varaná and Gangá from
three sides), described a triangle in the form of the sacred city of
Benares (or a delta of Gangá or the triune divinity).
27. This union of the three, like the confluence of three rivers of a
Trivení (as Ganga, Yamuna and Sarasvatí), purifies the sins of men by
the three different hues of their waters, _viz._ the blue, black and
white.
28. A person becomes acquainted with the unknown cause of all, only by
_suchana_ or reasoning in his own mind; and by means of his
selfconsciousness (of the truth or untruth of a thing). It is the
cogitation of one’s own mind that is best guide in all things or else, O
Ráma! there is no other better preceptor for men.