ON GOOD CONDUCT.
Argument. Passing from the meaner to higher births, is the way to the
attainment of Liberation, and supreme felicity.
Ráma said:—Tell me sir, how Dáma, Vyála and Kata obtained their
liberation at last like all other virtuous souls, and got released from
the torments of hell, like children getting rid of the fear of Yakshas
and Pisáchas.
2. Vasishtha replied:—Hear, O thou support of Raghu’s race! what Yama
said in respect of Dáma, Vyála and their companions, when they besought
for their liberation through his attendants in hell.
3. That Dáma and others would obtain their liberation, upon their
release from their demoniac bodies by death; and upon hearing the
account of their lives and actions.
4. Ráma said:—Tell me sir, how, when and from what source, Dáma and
others, came to learn the accounts of their lives, and in what manner
they obtained their release from hell.
5. Vasishtha replied:—These demons being transformed to fishes in a
pool, by the bank of the great lotus lake in Kashmere, underwent many
miserable births, in their finny forms in the same bog.
6. Being then crushed to death in that marshy ground under the feet of
buffaloes, they were transformed afterwards to the shapes of cranes,
frequenting that lake of lotuses.
7. There they fed upon the moss and mushrooms and tender petals of
lotuses, and had to live upon the leaves of aquatic plants and
creepers, that floated on the surface of the waves.
8. They swung in cradles of flowers, and rested on beds of blue
lotuses; and dived in vortices of the waters, or flew under the cooling
showers of rainy clouds.
9. These charming cranes and herons, were at last becleansed of their
brutish foulness, by their vegetable food of sweet fruits and flowers,
and by their pure beverage of the crystal lake, the food of holy saints.
10. Having by these means obtained a clear understanding, they were
prepared for their release from the brutish state, as men when enabled
to distinguish and get hold of the qualities of _satva_ and _rajas_
(_i.e._ of goodness and virtue), from that of _tamas_ or wrong and
evil, are entitled to their liberation.
11. Now there is a city by name of Adhisthána, in the happy valley of
Kashmere, which is beset by mountains and trees on all sides, and very
romantic in its appearance.
12. There is a hill in the midst of that city known as Pradyumna
Sekhara, which bears resemblance to a pistil, rising from the pericarp
within the cell of a lotus-flower.
13. On the top of that hill, there is an edifice towering above all
other buildings; and piercing the sky with its high turrets, which
appears like pinnacles above its summit.
14. On the north-east corner of that edifice, there is a hollow at the
top of its towering head; which is overgrown with moss, and is
continually resounding to the blowing winds.
15. There the demon Vyála built his nest in the form of a sparrow, and
chirped his meaningless notes, as one repeats the Vedic hymns without
knowing their meanings. (This chanting is elsewhere compared with the
croaking of frogs).
16. There was at that time a prince in the same city, by name of
_Yasaskara_ or the renowned, who reigned there like Indra over the gods
in heaven.
17. Then the demon Dáma became a gnat and dwelt in that dwelling, and
continued to buzz his low tune in the crevice of a lofty column of that
building.
18. It then came to pass, that the citizens of Adhisthána, prepared a
play ground by name of Ratnávatí-vehara in that city.
19. There the minister of the king known as Narasinha by name, took his
residence. He understood the fates of human kind, as the astronomer
knows the stars of heaven on a small celestial globe, which he holds in
his hand.
20. It happened at that time, that the deceitful demon Kata, is as
reborn as a parrot, and became the favourite of the minister, by being
kept in a silver cage in his house.
21. It then turned out that the minister recited this poetical
narrative of the Titan war to the inmates of the house.
22. And the parrot Kata, happening to hear it, remembered his past
life, whereby he was absolved of his sins, and attained his final
liberation.
23. The sparrow dwelling on the top of the Pradyumna hill, also chanced
to hear the narration of his life in that place, and obtained his
emancipation thereby.
24. Dáma who in the form of a gnat, resided in the palace, happened
also to hear the minister’s recital of his tale, and obtained thereby
his peace and release.
25. In this manner, O Ráma! the sparrow on the Pradyumna mount, the
gnat in the palace, and the parrot on the play ground, had all their
liberation.
26. Thus I have related to you the whole of the story of the demon Dáma
and others, which will fully convince you of the vanity of the world.
27. It is the ignorant only that are tempted to vanity by their error,
as they are led to the delusion of water in a mirage; and so the great
also are liable like these demons, to fall low from their high stations
by their error.
28. Think of one of these, that reduced the high Meru and Mandara
mountains with a nod of his eyebrows, was constrained to remain as a
contemptible gnat in the chink of a pillar in the palace. (So the huge
Satan entered the body of the small and hateful serpent, and the
gigantic devils in the hateful bodies of the herd of swine).
29. Look at another who threatened to destroy the sun and moon with a
slap, living at last as a poor sparrow in a hole of the peak of the
Pradyumna mountain.
30. Look at the third who balanced the mount Meru like a flower bouquet
in his hand, lying imprisoned as a parrot in the cage at the house of
Nrisingha.
31. When the sphere of the pure intellect, is tinged with the hue of
egotism, it is debased to another form without changing its nature (by
another birth).
32. It is because of the wrong desire of a man that he takes the
untruth for truth, as if by the excessive thirst of a person, that he
mistakes the mirage for water, and thereby loses both his way and his
life.
33. Those men only can ford across the ocean of the world, who by the
natural bent of their good understanding, are inclined to the study of
the sástras, and look forward to their liberation, by rejecting
whatever is vicious and untrue.
34. Those who are prone to false reasoning and heresy, by rejecting the
revelations, are subject to various changes and miseries, and fall like
the running water into the pit, by loss of their best interests in life.
35. But those who walk by the dictates of conscience, and follow the
path pointed by the Ágama (Veda), are saved from destruction, and
attain their best state (of perfection and bliss).
36. O highminded Ráma! he whose mind always longs after having this
thing and that, loses the best gain of his manliness (parama
purushártha) by his avarice, and leaves not even ashes or traces behind.
37. The high-minded man regards the world as a straw, and shuns all its
concerns as a snake casts off its slough.
38. He whose mind is illumined by the wondrous light of truth, is
always taken under the protection of the gods, as the mundane egg is
protected by Brahmá (or rather under the wings of Brahmá’s swan,
hatching over its egg).
39. Nobody should walk in paths which are long and wearisome, crooked
and winding, and encompassed by dangers and difficulties; because
Ráhu—the ascending node, lost its life by its curvilinear course, to
drink the nectarine beams of the moon.
40. He who abides by the dictates of the true sástras, and associates
with the best of men, are never subject to the darkness of error.
41. Those who are renowned for their virtues, have the power to bring
their destiny under their command, convert all their evils to good, and
render their prosperity perpetual.
42. Those who are unsatisfied with their qualifications (but wish to
qualify themselves the more), and those who thirst after knowledge and
are seekers of truth, are truly called as human beings, all others are
but brutes.
43. Those, the lakes of whose hearts are brightened by the moonbeams of
fame (_i.e._ whose heart are desirous of fame); have the form of Hari
seated in their hearts, as in the sea of milk.
44. The repeated desire of enjoying what has been enjoyed, and of
seeing what has often been seen, is not the way to get rid of the
world; but is the cause of repeated birth, for the same enjoyments.
45. Continue to abide by the established rule of conduct, act according
to the sástras and good usages, and break off the bonds of worldly
enjoyments, which are all but vanities.
46. Let the world resound with the renown of your virtues reaching to
the skies; because thy renown will immortalize thy name, and not the
enjoyments thou hast enjoyed.
47. Those whose good deeds shine as moonbeams, and are sung by the
maidens of heaven, are said to be truly living, while all others
unknown to fame are really dead.
48. They that aspire to their utmost perfection by their unfailing
exertions, and act according to the precepts of the sástras, are surely
successful in their attempt.
49. Abiding patiently by the Sástra, without hastening for success; and
perfecting one’s self by long practice, produce the ripe fruits of
consummation.
50. Now Ráma, renounce all your sorrow and fear, your anxieties, pride
and hastiness; conduct yourself by the ordinances of law and sástras,
and immortalize your name.
51. Take care, that your sensuous soul does not perish as a prey in the
snare of your sensual appetites, nor as a blind old man by falling in
the hidden pits of this world.
52. Do not allow yourself henceforward to be degraded below the vulgar;
but consider well the sástras as the best weapons, for defeating the
dangers and difficulties of the world.
53. Why do you endanger your life in the muddy pit of this world, like
an elephant falling in a pitfall under the keen arrows of the enemy?
Avoid only to taste of its enjoyments, and you are free from all danger.
54. Of what avail is wealth without knowledge; therefore devote
yourself to learning, and consider well your riches to be but trash and
bubbles.
55. The knowledge of heretical sástras, has made beasts of men, by
making them only miserable and unhappy by their unprofitable arguments.
56. Now wake and shake off the dullness of your long, deep and
death-like sleep, like the torpor of the old tortoise lying in the bog.
57. Rise and accept an antidote to ward off your old age and death; and
it is knowledge of this prescription, that all wealth and property are
for our evils, and all pleasures and enjoyments, tend only to sicken
and enervate our frames.
58. Know your difficulty to be your prosperity, and your disrespect to
be your great gain. Conduct yourself according to the purport of the
sástras, as they are supported by good usage.
59. Acts done according to the sástras and good usage also, are
productive of the best fruits of immortality.
60. He who acts well according to good usage, and considers everything
by good reasons, and is indifferent to the pains and pleasures of the
world; such a one flourishes like an arbor in the spring, with the
fruits and flowers of long life and fame, virtues and good qualities
and prosperity.