DESIRE OF TRANQUILLITY AND QUIESCENCE OF THE MIND.
Argument.--Relation of the vices and virtues which hasten and prevent
death, and the peace and rest of the mind which is sought after by
mankind.
Vasishtha rejoined:--I then besought the chief of the crows, that was
stationed on one end of a branch of the _kalpa_ tree, to tell me how he
was not liable to fall into the hands of death, when all other animals
moving about the expanse of the world, are doomed to be crushed under
its all devouring jaws.
2. Bhusunda replied, You sir, that know all things and would yet ask me
to tell that you know full well. Such bidding of my master emboldens
your servant to speak out where he should otherwise hold his tongue.
3. Yet when you desire me to tell, I must do it as well as I can,
because it is deemed to be the duty of a dependant, to carry out the
commands of their kind masters.
4. Death will not demolish the man, who does not wear on his bosom
the pearl-necklace of his vicious desires; as a robber does not kill
a traveller that has not the pernicious chain of gold hanging on his
breast.
5. Death will not destroy the man whose heart is not broken down by
sorrows, whose breast is not sawed as a timber by the friction of his
sighs, and whose body is not worsted by toil like a tree by canker
worms.
6. Death will not overtake the man, whose body is not beset by cares
like a tree by poisonous snakes, lifting their hoods above its head;
and whose heart is not burnt by its anxieties, like a wood by its
enraging fire.
7. Death will not prey upon the person, which is not vitiated by the
poison of anger and enmity, and cavity of whose heart does not foster
the dragon of avarice in its darkness, and whose heart is not corroded
by the canker of cares.
8. He is not carried away by the cruel hand of death, whose body is not
already fried by the fire of his resentment, which like hidden heat of
the submarine fire, sucks up the waters of reason in the reservoir of
the mind.
9. Death will not kill the person whose body is not inflamed by the
fiery passion of love; which like the wild fire consumes the hoarded
corn of good sense, and as a pair of sharp scissors rives the heart
strings of reason.
10. Death doth not approach the man, that puts his trust in the one
pure and purifying spirit of God, and hath the rest of his soul in the
lap of the supreme soul.
11. Death does not lay hold on the person that is firm and sedate in
the same posture and position, and does not ramble like an ape from one
tree to another, and whose mind is a foreigner to fickleness.
12. Thus then the mind being settled in unalterable state of calm
repose in its Maker, it is no more possible for the evils and diseases
of this world, to overtake it at any time.
13. The fixed and tranquil mind, is never overtaken by the sorrows and
diseases of the world; nor it is liable to fall into the errors and
dangers, which betide the restless mob here below.
14. The well composed mind, hath neither its rising nor setting, nor
its recollection nor forgetfulness at any time or other. It has not its
sleeping or waking state, but has its heavenly revery which is quite
distinct from dreaming.
15. The vexatious thought which take their rise from vitiated desire
and feelings of resentment and other passions, and darken the region
of the heart and mind, can never disturb the serenity of those souls,
which have their repose in the Supreme Spirit.
16. He whose mind is enrapt in holy meditation, neither gives away to
nor receives anything from others, nor does he seek or forsake whatever
he has or has not at any time. He does his duties always by rote as he
ought without expectation of their reward or merit.
17. He whose mind has found its repose in holy meditation, has no cause
of his repentance, for doing any misdeed for his gain or pleasure at
any time.
18. He has enough of his gain and an excess of his delight and a good
deal of every good, whose mind has met with the grace of his God. (He
that has the grace of God, has every thing given and added to him).
19. Therefore employ your mind, to what is attended with your ultimate
good and lasting welfare; and wherein there is nothing of doubt or
difficulty, and which is exempt from false expectation.
20. Exalt your mind above the multiplicities of worldly possessions,
which the impure and unseen demon of evil presents for the allurement
of your heart, and settle it in the unity of the Divinity. (So did
Satan attempt in vain to tempt our Lord to worldly vanities and all its
possessions).
21. Set your heart to that supreme felicity which is pleasant both in
the beginning and end, and even delectable to taste; that is pleasant
to sight, sweet to relish, and is wholesome in its effect.
22. Fix your mind to what is sought by all the good and godly people,
which is the eternal truth and the best diet of the soul, from its
beginning and during its course in the middle and end and throughout
its immortality.
23. Apply your mind to what is beyond your comprehension, which is the
holy light, which is the root and source of all, and wherein consists
all our best fortune and the ambrosial food for our souls.
24. There is no other thing so very permanent or auspicious among
immortals or mortals, and among the gods and demigods, Asuras and
Gandharvas, and Kinnaras and Vidyádharas, nor among the heavenly
nymphs, as the spiritual bliss of the soul.
25. There is nothing so very graceful or lasting, to be found in cities
and mountains and in the vegetable creation, nor among mankind and
their king, nor any where in earth or heaven as this spiritual felicity.
26. There is nothing steady or graceful, among the Nága-snake or Asura
races and their females, and in the whole circles of infernal region.
27. There is nothing so lovely and lasting in the regions above and
below and all around us, and in the spheres of all other worlds, so
very graceful and durable as the lasting peace of mind.
28. There is nothing that is felicitous or persistent in this world,
amidst all its sorrows and sicknesses and troubles which encompass all
about. All our actions are for trivial matters and all our gains are
but trifles at best.
29. There is nothing of any lasting good, in all those thoughts which
employ the minds of men and gladden their hearts, and which serve at
best to delude the sapient to the fickleness of their spirits.
30. No permanent good is derived from the ever busy thoughts and
volitions and nolitions of mankind, which tend at best to trouble their
minds, as the Mandara mountain disturbed the waters of the deep, at the
time of its churning by the gods and demons.
31. No lasting good results to any body from his continuous exertions,
and various efforts about his gain and loss even at the edge of the
sword (_i.e._, even at the peril of one's life).
32. Neither is the sovereignty of the whole earth so great a boon,
nor is one's elevation to the rank of a deity in heaven so great a
blessing; nor even is the exaltation of one to the position of the
world supporting serpent so great a gain, as the sweet peace of mind of
the good.
33. It is of no good to trouble the mind, with its attention to all the
branches of learning, nor is it of any advantage to one to employ his
wits and enslave his mind to the service of another, nor of any use to
any body, to learn the histories of other people, when he is ignorant
of himself and his own welfare.
34. It is of no good to live long, under the trouble of disease and the
sorrow of life. Neither is life or death, nor learning nor ignorance,
nor heaven or hell any advantage or disadvantage to any body, until
there is an end of his desires within himself.
35. Thus these various states of the world and all worldly things, may
appear gratis to the ignorant vulgar, but they afford no pleasure to
the learned who knows their instability. (Hence longevity and stability
depend on one's reliance in the eternal God, and not on the transient
world).