PRINCESS COMING TO THE SIGHT OF THE SUPREME SOUL.
Argument:--The prince's wonder of the sight of the princess, and her
relation of her Abstract meditation.
Vasishtha continued:--Thus did the princess live day by day in the
rapture of her soul; and with her views concentrated within herself,
she lived as in her own and proper element.
2. She had no passion nor affection, nor any discord nor desire in her
heart; she neither coveted nor hated anything, and was indifferent to
all; but persistent in her course, and vigilant in her pursuit (after
her self perfection).
3. She had got over the wide gulf of the world, and freed herself from
the entangling snare of doubts (and the horns of dilemmas); she had
gained the great good of knowing the supreme soul, which filled her
inward soul.
4. She found her rest in God after her weariness of the world, and in
her state of perfect bliss and felicity; and her name sounded in the
lips of all men, as the model of incomparable perfection.
5. Thus this lady--the princess Chúdálá, became in a short time,
acquainted with the true God (lit. knowing the knowable one), by the
earnestness of her inquiry.
6. The errors of the world subside in the same manner, under the
knowledge of truth, as they rise in the human mind by its addictedness
to worldliness. (The world is an abode of errors and illusion. Persian
Proverb).
7. After she had found her repose in that state of perfect blessedness,
wherein the sight of all things is lost in its dazzling blaze, she
appeared as bright as a fragment of autumnal cloud, that is ever steady
in its place.
8. Apart from and irrelated with all, she continued in the meditation
of the spirit in her own spirit, as the aged bull remained careless on
the mountain top, where he happened to find a verdant meadow for his
pasture.
9. By her constant habit of loneliness, and the elevation of her soul
in her solitude, she became as fresh as the new grown plant, with her
blooming face shining as the new blown flower.
10. It happened to pass at one time, that the prince Sikhidhwaja
came in sight of the unblamable beauty, and being struck with wonder
at seeing her unusual gracefulness of her person, he addressed her
saying:--
11. How is it, my dear one, that you are again your youthful bloom like
the flowery plant of the vernal season; you appear more brilliant than
the lightsome world under the bright beams of full moon.
12. You shine more brightly, my beloved, than one drinking the ambrosia
or elixir of life, and as one obtaining the object of her desire, and
filled with perfect delight in herself.
13. You seem quite satisfied and lovely with your graceful person, and
surpass the bright moon in the beauty of thy body; methinks you are
approaching to me as when the Goddess of love or _Laxmí_ draws near her
favourite Káma.
14. I see thy mind disdaining all enjoyments and is parsimonious of its
pleasures; it is tranquil and cool, and elated with spiritual ardour,
and is as deep as it is tranquil in its nature.
15. I see thy mind spurning the three worlds as if they were straws
before it, and tasted all their sweets to its full satisfaction; it is
above the endless broils of the world, and is quite charming in itself.
16. O fortunate princess, there are no such gratifications in the
enjoyment of earthly possessions, which may equal the spiritual joy
of thy tranquil mind. The one is as dry as the dryness of the sandy
desert, compared with the refreshing water of the milky ocean.
17. Being born with thy tender limbs resembling the tendrils of young
plantains, and the soft shoots of lotus stalks, thou seemest now to
have grown strong and stout in thy frame of body and mind. (It is the
spirit and spiritual power that strengthens both the body and mind).
18. With the same features and figure of thy body as before, thou hast
became as another being, like a plant growing up to a tree, under the
influence of the revolving seasons.
19. Tell me, whether thou hast drunk the ambrosial draught of the Gods,
or obtained thy sovereignty over an empire; or whether thou hast gained
thy immorality by drinking the elixir of life, or by means of thy
practice of yoga meditation in either of its forms of _Hatha_ or _Rája
yoga_.
20. Hast thou got a Kingdom or found out the philosopher's stone (which
converts everything to gold); hast thou gained aught that is more
precious than the three worlds, or that thou hast obtained, O my blue
eyed lady! something that is not attainable to mankind.
21. Chúdálá responded:--I have not lost my former form, nor am I
changed to a new one to come before thee at present; but am as ever
thy fortunate lady and wife. (There is a far fetched meaning of this
passage given in the gloss).
22. I have forsaken all that is untrue and unreal, and have laid hold
of what is true and real; and it is thus that I remain thy fortunate
consort as ever before.
23. I have come to know whatever is something, as also all that which
is nothing at all; and how all these nothings come to appearance, and
ultimately disappear into nothing, and it is thus that I remain thy
fortunate lady as ever.
24. I am as content with my enjoyments as I am without them, as also
with those that are long past and gone away; I am never delighted nor
irritated at anything whether good or bad, but preserve my equanimity
at all events and thus I remain for ever thy fortunate consort.
25. I delight only in one vacuous entity, that has taken possession of
my heart, and I take no pleasure in the royal gardens and sports, and
thence I am thy fortunate princess as ever.
26. I rely constantly in myself (or soul) only, whether when sitting on
my seat or walking about in the royal gardens or palaces; I am not fond
of enjoyments nor ashamed at their want, and in this manner I continue
thy fortunate wife as ever.
27. I think myself as the sovereign of the world, and having no form of
my own; thus I am delighted in myself, and appear as thy fortunate and
beauteous lady.
28. I am this and not this likewise, I am the reality yet nothing real
of any kind; I am the ego and no ego myself, I am the all and nothing
in particular, and thus I remain your charming lady.
29. I neither wish for pleasure nor fear any pain, I covet no riches
nor hail poverty; I am constant with what I get (knowing my god is the
great giver of all), and hence I seem so very gladsome to thee.
30. I disport in the company of my associates, who have governed their
passions by the light of knowledge, and by the directions of the
sástras, and therefore I seem so very pleasing to thee.
31. I know, my lord, that all that I see by the light of my eyes,
or perceive by my senses, or conceive in my mind, to be nothing in
reality; I therefore see something within myself, which is beyond the
perception of the sensible organs, and the conception of the mind;
and this bright vision of the spirit, hath made me appear so very
brightsome to thy sight.