DREAM OF JÍVÁTA.
Arguments:--All living souls are occupied with the thought of their
present state, forgetful of the past, and altogether heedless of the
future.
Vasishtha continued:--This bird that sported beside the stalk of the
lotus seat of Brahmá, once went to the city of Rudra with his god on
his back, and there beheld the God Rudra face to face. (The inferior
Gods waited upon the superior deities).
2. Seeing the God Rudra he thought himself to be so, and the figure of
the God was immediately imprest upon his mind, like the reflexion of an
outward object in the mirror.
3. Being full of Rudra in himself, he quitted his body of the bird,
as the fragrance of a flower forsakes the calyx, as it mixes with the
breeze and flies in the open air.
4. He passed his time happily at that place, in the company with the
attendants and different classes of the dependant divinities of Rudra.
5. This Rudra being then full of the best knowledge of divinity and
spirituality; looked back in his understanding into the passed accounts
of his prior lives, that were almost incalculable.
6. Being then gifted with clear sightedness and clairvoyance, he was
astonished at the view of naked truths, that appeared to him as sights
in a dream, which he recounted to him as follows.
7. O! how wonderful is this over spreading illusion, which is stretched
all about us, and fascinates the world by its magic _wand_; it exhibits
the palpable untruth as positive truth, as the dreary desert presents
the appearance of limpid waters, in the sun beams spreading over its
sterile sands.
8. I well remember my primary state of the pure intellect, and its
conversion to the state of the mind; and how it was changed from its
supremacy and omniscience, to the bondage of the limited body.
9. It was by its own desire that the living soul assumed to itself a
material body, formed and fashioned agreeably to its fancy, like a
picture drawn in a painting; and became a mendicant in my person in one
of its prior births, when it was unattached to the objects exposed to
view all around.
10. The same mendicant sat in his devotion, by controlling the actions
of the members of his body, and began to reflect on outward objects,
with great pleasure in his mind.
11. He buried all his former thoughts in oblivion, and thought only of
the object that he was employed to reflect upon; and this thought so
engrossed and worked upon his mind, that it prevented the rise of any
other thought in it.
12. The phenomenon which appears in the mind, offers itself solely to
the view also (by supplanting the traces of the past); as the brownness
of fading autumn, supercedes the vernal verdure of leaves and plants,
so the man coming to his maturity, forgets the helpless state of his
boyhood, and is thoughtless of his approaching decay and decline.
13. Thus the mendicant became the Brahman Jivátá by his fallible and
fickle desire, which laid him to wander from one body to another, as
little ants enter into the holes of houses and things.
14. Being fond of Brahmahood and reverential to Bráhmans in his mind,
he became the wished for person in his own body; because the reality
and unreality have the power of mutually displacing one another,
according to the greater influence of either. (The weaker yields and
makes room to the stronger, like the survival of the fittest).
15. The Bráhman next obtained the chieftainship, from his strong
predilection for the same; just as the tree becomes fruitful by its
continuous suction of the moisture of earth. (The common mother of all).
16. Being desirous of dispensing justice, and discharging all legal
affairs, the general wished for royalty, and had his wishes fulfilled
by this becoming a prince; but as the prince was over fond of his
courtesans, he was transformed to a heavenly nymph that he prized above
all in his heart.
17. But as the celestial dame prized the tremulous eye sight of the
timorous deer, above her heavenly form and station; she was soon
metamorphosed to an antelope in the woods, and destined to graze as a
miserable beast for her foolish choice.
18. The fawn that was very fond of browzing the tender blades and
leaves, became at last the very creeping plant, that had crept into the
crevice of her lickerish mind.
19. The creeper being long accustomed to dote on the bee, that used to
be in its company; found in its consciousness to be that insect, after
the destruction of its vegetable form.
20. Though well aware of its being crushed under the elephant, together
with the lotus flower in which it dwelt, yet it was foolish to take the
form of the bee, for its pleasure of roving about the world. (So the
living soul enters into various births and bodies only to perish with
them).
21. Being thus led into a hundred different forms, said he, I
am at last become the self-same Rudra; and it is because of the
capriciousness of my erratic mind in this changeful world.
22. Thus have I wandered through the variegated paths of life, in this
wilderness of the world; and I have roamed in many aerial regions, as
if I trod on solid and substantial ground.
23. In some one of my several births under the name of _Jiváta_, and
in another I became a great and respectable Bráhman, I became quite
another person again, and then found myself as a ruler and lord of the
earth. (So every man thinks and acts himself, now as one person and in
the stage of his life. Shakespeare).
24. I had been a drake in the lotus-bush; and an elephant in the vales
of Vindhya; I then became a stag in the form of my body, and fleetness
of my limbs (and in the formation of mind also).
25. After I had deviated at first from my state of godliness, I was
still settled in the state of a devotee with devotedness to divine
knowledge; and practicing the rites befitting my position (such as
listening to holy lectures, meditating on the mysteries of nature and
so forth).
26. In this state I passed very many years and ages, and many a day and
night and season and century, glided on imperceptibly in their courses
over me. (It is said that the sedate and meditative are generally long
living men, as we learn in the accounts of the ancient patriarchs, and
in those of the _yogis_ and _lamas_ in our own times).
27. But I deviated again and again from my wonted course, and was as
often subjected to new births and forms; until at last I was changed to
Brahmá's vehicles of the _hansa_--or _anser_, and this was by virtue of
my former good conduct and company.
28. The firm or wonted habit of a living being, must come out
unobstructed by any hindrance whatsoever; and though it may be retarded
in many intermediate births for even a millennium; yet it must come and
lay hold on the person some time or other. (Habit is second nature, and
is inbred in every being; and what is bred in the bone, must run in the
blood).
29. It is by accident only, that one has the blessing of some good
company in his life; and then his inborn want may be restrained for a
time, but it is sure to break out with violence in the end, in utter
defiance of every check and rule.
30. But he who betakes himself to good society only, and strives always
for his edification in what is good and great, is able to destroy the
evil propensities which are inbred in him; because the desire to be
good, is what actually makes one so. (Discipline conquers nature).
31. Whatever a man is accustomed to do or think upon constantly, in
this life or in the next state of his being; the same appears as a
reality to him in his waking state of day dream, as unreality appears
as real in the sleeping or night dream of a man. (It is the imagination
that figures unrealities in divers forms both in the day as also in the
night dreams of men).
32. Now the thoughts that employ our minds, appoint our bodies also to
do their wished for works; and as these works are attended with some
temporary good as well as evil also; it is better therefore to restrain
and repress the rise of those tumultuous thoughts, than cherish them
for our pleasure or pain.
33. It is only the thought in our minds, that makes us to take our
bodies for ourselves or souls; and that stretches wide this world of
unrealities, as the incased seed sprouts forth and spreads itself into
a bush. (The thought bears the world in it, as the will brings it to
view).
34. The world is but the thought in sight or a visible form of their
visible thought, and nothing more in reality besides this phantasm of
it, and an illusion of our sight.
35. The illusive appearance of the world, presents itself to our sight,
like the variegated hues of the sky, it is therefore by our ignoring of
it, that we may be enabled to wipe off those tinges from our minds.
36. It is an unreal appearance, displayed by the supreme Essence (of
God or His intelligence); as a real existence at his pleasure only, and
can not therefore do any harm to any body.
37. I rise now and then to look into all these varieties in nature,
for the sake of my pleasure and curiosity; but I have the true light
of reason in me, whereby I discern the one unity quite apart from all
varieties.
38. After all these recapitulations, the incarnate Rudra returned to
his former state, and reflected on this condition of the mendicant,
whose body was now lying as a dead corpse on the barren ground.
39. He awakened the mendicant and raised his prostrate body, by
infusing his intelligence into it; when the resuscitated _Bhikshu_ came
to understand, that all his wanderings were but hallucinations of his
mind.
40. The mendicant finding himself the same with Rudra standing in his
presence, as also with the bygone ones that he recollected in his
remembrance; was astonished to think how he could be one and so many,
though it is no wonder to the intelligent, who well know that one man
acts many parts in life.
41. Afterwards both Rudra and the mendicant got up from their seats,
and proceeded to the abode of the _Jivátá_, situated in corner of the
intellectual sphere (_i.e._ the mundane world which lies in the divine
intellect).
42. They then passed over many Continents, Islands, provinces and
districts, until they arrived at the abode of _Jívata_, where they
found him lying down with a sword in hand.
43. They saw _Jivátá_ lying asleep and insensible as a dead body, when
_Rudra_ laid aside his bright celestial form, in order to enter into
the earthly abode of the deceased. (The Gods are said to assume human
shapes in order to mix with mankind).
44. They brought him back to life and intelligence, by imparting to
him portion of their spirit and intellect; and thus was this one soul
exhibited in the triple forms of _Rudra_, _Jivátá_ and the mendicant.
45. They with all their intelligence, remained ignorant of one another,
and they marvelled to look on each other in mute astonishment, as if
they were the figures in painting.
46. Then the three went together in their aerial course, to the air
built abode of the _Brahman_; who had erected his baseless fabric in
empty air, and which resounded with empty sounds all around. (The open
air being the receptacle of sounds, the aerial abodes of celestials are
incessantly infested by the sounds and cries of peoples rising upwards
from the nether world).
47. They passed through many aerial regions, and barren and populous
tracts of air; until they found out at last the heavenly residence of
the Brahman.
48. They saw him sleeping in his house; beset by the members of his
family about him; while his Brahmaní folded her arms about his neck, as
if unwilling to part with her deceased husband. (The Brahman in heaven,
was seen in the state of his parting life).
49. They awakened his drowsy intelligence, by means of their own
intelligence, as a waking man raises a sleeping soul, by means of his
own sensibility.
50. Thence they went on in their pleasant journey to the realms of the
chief and the prince mentioned before; and these were situated in the
bright regions of their intellectual sphere, and illumined by their
effulgence of the intellect. (It means to say, that all these journeys,
places and persons, were but reveries of the mind, and creations of
fancy).
51. Having arrived at that region and that very spot, they observed the
haughty chief lying on his lotus like bed.
52. He lay with his gold coloured body, in company with the partner of
his bed of golden hue; as the honey sucking bee lies in the lotus cell,
enfolded in the embrace of his mate.
53. He was beset by his mistresses, hanging about him, like the tender
stalks and tufts of flowers pendent upon a tree; and was encircled by
a belt of lighted lamps, as when a golden plate is studded about by
brilliant gems.
54. They awakened him shortly by infusing their own spirit and
intelligence in his body and mind, and then they sat together
marvelling at each other, as the self-same man in so many forms (or the
self-same person in so many bodies).
55. They next repaired to the palace of the prince, and after awakening
him with their intelligence, they all roamed about the different parts
of the world.
56. They came at last to the _hansa_ of Brahmá, and being all
transformed to that form in their minds (_i.e._ having come to know the
_ahamsa_ I am he or their self-identity); They all became the one Rudra
Personality in a hundred persons.
57. Thus the one intellect is represented in different forms and
shapes, according to the various inclinations of their minds, like so
many figures in a painting. Such is the unity of the deity represented
as different personalities, according to the various tendencies of
individual minds. (There is the same intellect and soul in all living
beings, that differ from one another in their minds only).
58. There a hundred Rudras, who are the forms of the uncovered
intellect (_i.e._ unclouded by mists of error); and they are acquainted
with the truths of all things in the world, and the secrets of all
hearts (_antaryámin_).
59. There are a hundred and some hundreds of Rudras, who are known
as very great beings in the world; among whom there are eleven only
(Ekádasa Rudras), that are situated in so many worlds (Ekádasa
Bhubanas). (The Vedas have thousands and thousands of Rudras in their
hymns as to them, as, [Sanskrit: sahashrena sahashrasah ye rudrá
adhibhúmyá]).
60. All living beings that are not awakened to reason, are ignorant of
the identity of one another; and view them in different and not in the
same light; they are not farsighted to see any other world. That which
is the most proximate to them.
61. Wise men see the minds of others and all things to rise in their
minds, like the wave rising in the sea; but unenlightened minds remain
dormant in themselves, like the inert stones and blocks. (Another
explanation of it is, that all wise men are of the same mind as Birbal
said to Akbar:--Sao Siyane ekmatá).
62. As the waves mix with themselves, by the fluidity of their waters;
so the minds of wise unite with one another, by the solubility of
their understandings, like elastic fluids and liquids. (So says
Mrityunjaya:--the oily or serous understanding ([Sanskrit: tailavat
vunvih]) readily penetrates into the minds of others).
63. Now in all these multitudes of living beings, that are presented
to our sight in this world; We find the one invariable element of the
intellect to be diffused in all of them, and making unreal appear as
real ones to view.
64. This real but invisible entity of the Divine intellect remains
for ever, after all the unreal but visible appearances disappear into
nothing; as there remains an empty space or hollow vacuity, after the
removal of a thing from its place, and the excavation of the ground by
digging it. (This empty vacuum with the _chit_ or Intellect in it, is
the universal God of the vacuist Vasishtha).
65. As you can well conceive the idea of existence, of the quintuple
elemental principles in nature; so you can comprehend also the notion
of the Omnipresence of the Divine intellect, which is the substratum of
the elemental principles.
66. As you see various statues and images, carved in stone and woods,
and set in the hollows of rocks and trees; so should you see all these
figures in the hollow space of the universe, to be situated in the
self-same intellect of the Omnipresent Deity.
67. The knowledge of the known and the visible world, in the pure
intellect of the unknown and invisible deity, resembles the view of the
variegated skies, with their uncaused and insensible figures, in the
causeless substratum of ever lasting and all pervading vacuity.
68. The knowledge of the phenomenal is the bondage of the soul, and the
ignoring of this conduces to its liberation; do therefore as you like,
either towards this or that (_i.e._ for your liberation and bondage).
69. The cognition and nescience of the world, are the causes of the
bondage and liberation of the soul, and these again are productive of
the transmigration and final emancipation of the animal spirit. It is
by your indifference to them that you can avoid them both, do therefore
as you may best choose for yourself. (Here are three things offered to
view, namely, the desire of heaven and liberation, and the absence of
all desires. [Sanskrit: svargakáma mokshakámau nishkámashchatra yah]).
70. What is lost at its disappearance (as our friends and properties),
is neither worth seeking or searching after, nor sorrowing for when
it is lost and gone from us. That which is gained of itself in our
calm and quiet without any anxiety or assiduity on our part, is
truly reckoned to be our best gain. (so says the Moha-Mudgura:--Be
content with what offers of itself to thee. [Sanskrit: yatvabhase
nijakarnmípáttam| bittam tena vinodaya chittam|]).
71. That which is no more than our knowledge of it (as the object of
our senses and the objective world), is no right knowledge but mere
fallacy; the true knowledge is that of the subjective consciousness,
which is always to be attended to.
72. As the wave is the agitation of the water, so is this creation but
an oscillation of the divine intellect; and this is the only difference
between them, that the one is the production of the elements in nature,
and the other is that of the divine will.
73. Again the undulation of waves occurs, in conjunction with the
existing elements at certain spots and times; but the production of the
world is wholly without the junction of the elemental bodies, which
were not in existence at its creation. (It means to say, that the world
is only an ideal formation of the divine mind).
74. The shining worlds shine with the light of the divine intellect,
in which they are situated as the thoughts in its consciousness. It
transcends the power of speech to define what it is, and yet it is
expressed in the veda in the words that, "It is the supreme soul and
perfect felicity" (Siva Parátmá).
75. Thus the world is the form of its consciousness in the divine
intellect, and they are not different from one another, as words are
never separable from their senses. It is said that the world is the
undulation of the Divine spirit, and none but the ignorant inveigh
against, by saying that the wave and water are two different things.
(Kálidása in the commencement of Raghuvansa, uses the same simile of
words and their meanings, to denote the intimate union of Párvatí and
Siva, which is done to express the inseparability of the world with
its maker; corresponding with the well known line of Pope: "whose body
nature is, and God the soul").