fluctuations, it is more transparent than the atmosphere, and it is
clear as it is nothing at all.
77. It is not always apparent, owing to its transparency; yet it is
ever existent, owing to our consciousness of it. The spirit is beyond
all things, and is perceived by our inward perception of it.
78. The mind vanishes into nothing, before our consciousness of the
Supreme Soul; just as darkness is dispelled from that place, where the
sunshine is present.
79. When the transparent and self-conscious soul, raises other figures
of its own will; then the presence of the soul is forgotten, and hid
under the grosser creations of the mind.
80. The Volitive faculty of the Supreme Spirit, is denominated the
mind; but it is unmindedness and want of volition on our part, which
produces our liberation. (_i.e._ Our submission to the Divine Will,
sets us free from all liability, as it is said in the Common prayer:
“Let thy will (and not mine) be done”).
81. Such is the origin of the mind which is the root of creation; it is
the faculty of the volition of the principle of our consciousness,
otherwise called the soul. (The mind is the volitive faculty of the
Spirit, see 80).
82. The intellectual essence being defiled by its desires, after
falling from its state of indifference; becomes the principle of
production or producing the desired objects. (This is called the mind
or the creative power, and is represented as the first male or the
agent of procreation).
83. The mind becomes extinct, by loss of the vital power; as the shadow
of a thing disappears, by removal of the substance. (This passage
establishes the extinction of the mind, with all its passions, feelings
and thoughts upon the death of a man).
84. The living body perceives in its heart, the notion of a distant
place which exists in the mind, and this proves the identity of the
vital breath and the thinking mind. (Again the communication of the
passions and feelings between the heart and mind, proves them to be the
same thing). (Hence the word _antah-karana_ or inward sense, is applied
both to the heart as well as mind).
85. It is therefore by repressing the mind, that the vital breath is
also repressed, to produce longevity and healthiness. (It is done by
the following methods, viz; by dispassionateness, suppression of
breathing, by yoga meditation, and by cessation from bodily labour in
the pursuit of worldly objects).
86. The stone has the capability of mobility, and the fuel of
inflammability; but the vital breath and mind, have not their powers of
vibration or thinking (without the force of the intellect and the
spirit).
87. The breath of life is inert by itself, and its pulsation is the
effect and composed of the surrounding air; so the action of the mind,
is owing to the force of the intellect; whose pellucidity pervades all
nature.
88. It is the union of the intellectual and vibrating powers, which is
thought to constitute the mind. Its production is as false, as the
falsity of its knowledge. (All mental phenomena are erroneous).
89. The mental power is called error and illusion also, and these in
ignorance of the Supreme Brahma, produce the knowledge of this
poisonous world (which springs from illusion of the mind).
90. The powers of the intellect and vibration, combined with those of
imagination and volition which constitute the mind, are productive of
all worldly evils, unless they are weakened and kept under restraint.
91. When the intellect thinks on or has the perception by the pulsation
caused by the air. The wind of breath gives pulsation to the intellect,
and causes its power of intellection; and this intellectual power gives
rise to all the thoughts and desires of the mind.
92. The percussive intellect which extends over the undivided sphere of
the universe, is verily the thinking power, the mind is a false
imagination like the ghost of infants.
93. The intellect is the power of intellection, which cannot be
intercepted by any thing else, like the mind any where; as there is no
power to rise in contest against the almighty Indra. (The Intellect or
_chit_ being the Divine mind).
94. Thus there being no relation between intellection and the mind, it
is wrong to attribute the mind with the power of thinking, which is not
related with it.
95. How can this union of the intellect with its vibration only, be
styled the mind with its multifarious functions. The commander alone
cannot be called an army without its component parts of horse,
elephants and others.
96. Hence there is no such thing as a good or bad mind in any of the
three worlds (when there is no mind at all). The bias of its existence
will be utterly removed by full knowledge of spirituality (tatwajnana).
(That there is but one Spirit only).
97. It is in vain and to no purpose, that they imagine the being of the
mind. It is proved to be an unreality and having no substantiality of
its own.
98. Therefore, O magnanimous Ráma! never give rise to false
imaginations of any kind, and particularly that of the mind which never
exists any where.
99. False phantasies rise as the mirage, from want of a full knowledge
of things; they spring in the heart which is as barren as a desert, for
want of the rain of full knowledge.
100. The mind is a dead thing owing to its want of a form or activity,
and yet it is a wonder as it is idolized in the circles of common
people.
101. It is a wonder that the mind, having no soul nor essence, nor a
body nor size or support of its own, should spread its net over all
ignorant minds.
102. One who falls a victim to his unarmed and impotent mind, likens a
man who says, he is hurt in his body by the falling of a lotus-flower
upon it.
103. The man that is undone by his inert, dumb and blinded mind (that
neither sees nor seizes nor talks to him); is as one who complains of
his being burnt by the cool full-moon-beams.
104. People are verily killed by an antagonist, who is present before
them; but it is a wonder that the ignorant are foiled by the inexistent
mind of their own making.
105. What is the power of that thing, which is a creation of mere
fancy, and an unreal presentation of ignorance; and which being sought
after, is no where to be found.
106. It is a great wonder, that men should be overcome by their
impotent minds, dealing in their delusions only.
107. It is ignorance that is ever exposed to dangers, and the ignorant
are always the victims of error. Know the unreal world to be the
creation of ignorance and of the ignorant only.
108. Oh! the misery of miseries, that the ignorant make of this
creation of their ignorance to themselves, and that they fabricate a
living soul for their sufferings only. (A separate living soul
_jívátmá_, is denied in Vedánta).
109. I weet this frail world to be a creation of the false imagination
of the ignorant, and this earth to be as fragile as to be broken and
borne away by the waves of the ocean.
110. It is like the dark collyrium, which is broken down by the
surrounding waters or seas, serving as its grinding mill; and yet men
are maddened with it, as those struck by moon-beams. (Moonstruck
lunatics).
111. The visible world disappears at the sight of reason, as a man
flies from the sight of his foe; and the train of imaginary creations
fly before it, like hosts of demons vanquished by the gods.
112. Thus is this world, which is a false creation of fancy, and exists
nowhere except in the idle brains of the ignorant, lost into nothing at
the sight of reason.
113. He who is not able to govern his mind, and efface the thoughts of
this false world, arising in the minds of the ignorant only; is not
worthy of being advised in the abstruse doctrines of spirituality.
114. Those who are confirmed in their belief of the visibles, and are
self-sufficient in their knowledge of these; are unable to grasp the
subtile science of abstract philosophy, and are therefore unfit to
receive spiritual instruction.
115. These men are insensible of the soft tunes of the lute who are
accustomed to the loud beatings of drum, and they are startled at
seeing the face of a sleeping friend (_i.e._ their hidden soul).
116. They who fly with fear from the loud songs (preachings) of false
preachers, cannot have the patience to listen to the silent lesson of
their inward monitor; and they who are deluded by their own minds, can
hardly be reclaimed by any other.
117. Those who are tempted to taste the gall of worldly pleasures for
sweet, are so subdued by its effects on their understandings, that they
lose the power of discerning the truth altogether; and it is therefore
useless to remonstrate with them.
CHAPTER XIV.
ASCERTAINMENT OF THE THINKING PRINCIPLE.
Argument. People unworthy of persuasion, their transmigrations, and
purification of the mind.
Vasishtha said: These multitudes of men, that are carried away by the
waves of the torrents of the sea of worldly pursuits; are deaf and dumb
to the admonitions of their spiritual instructors.
2. They are not fit to derive the benefit of the spiritual knowledge,
which I have propounded in this yogasástra by my rational discourses.
3. They who are born blind and can see nothing, are not to be presented
with the picture of a garden, portrayed with blooming blossoms and
beautiful flowers by the intelligent artist.
4. There is no such fool that would present fragrant odours to one,
whose nostrils are snorting under some nasal disease (pinasa. Polypus),
nor so great a dolt, that would consult an ignorant man on spiritual
matters.
5. What lack-wit is there, that would refer a question on law or
religious subjects, to one of ungoverned passions and organs of sense,
or whose eyeballs are rolling with the intoxication of wine.
6. Who asks of the dead the way he should go, or one in the grave about
the concourse in the city; and what witless man is there that resorts
to an idiot to clear his doubts.
7. Of what good is it to advise a witling, whose serpentine mind is
coiling and creeping in the cave of his heart; and though it lies there
in silence and sightless, is yet ungovernably wild?
8. Know there is no such a thing as a well governed mind, for though
you may fling it at a distance from you, yet it is never lost or
annihilated. (The unsubdued mind recurs to us in repeated births).
9. The simpleton who does not bear his sway over his false and delusive
mind, is tormented to death by its venomous smart, as if stung by a
deadly reptile.
10. The learned know the vital powers, and the operations of the organs
of action, to depend on the action and force of the soul; say then, O
Ráma, what is that thing which they call the mind. (The three functions
of motion, thought and organic action, being conducted by force of the
vital breath, it is in vain to suppose the existence of the mind).
11. The vital breath gives the force for bodily actions, and the soul
produces the power of knowledge; the organs act by their own force, and
the supreme spirit is the main source of all.
12. All forces are but parts of the omnipotence of the supreme Spirit;
their different appellations are but inventions of men.
13. What is it that they call the living soul, and which has
blindfolded the world; and what they term as the mind, is really an
unreality and without any power of its own.
14. Ráma! I have seen the continued misery arising from their false
conception of the unreal mind; and my pity for them has caused my
incessant sorrow.
15. But why should I sorrow for the ignorant rabble, who bring their
woe by their own error? The common herd is born to their misery like
beasts and brutes.
16. The ignorant rabble are born in their dull material bodies, for
their destruction only. They are born to die away incessantly, like the
waves of the ocean.
17. What pity shall I take for them, that are seen every day to perish
under the jaws of death, like numbers of animals immolated in the
shambles.
18. For whom shall I sorrow, when I see billions and trillions of gnats
and moths, are destroyed day by day, by gusts of wind (which is their
element and support).
19. Whom shall I sorrow for, when I observe on every side the millions
of deer and beasts of chase, that are killed every day in the hills and
forests, by their hunters and sportsmen.
20. Whom shall I feel for, when I find innumerable shoals of small
fishes, that are devoured every day in the waters, by the bigger ones!
21. I see an infinite number of animalcules, to be eaten up by flies
and fleas; which in their turn, are devoured by the voracious spiders
and scorpions.
22. The frog feeds on flies, and is on its turn devoured by snakes. The
birds of prey swallow the snake, and the weasel preys upon them.
23. The weasel is killed by the cat, which is killed again by the dog;
the bear destroys the dog, and is at last destroyed by the tiger.
(জীবস্যজীবনাহার:—One animal is food to another.)
24. The lion overcomes the tiger, and is overcome on its turn by the
sarabha (a fabulous beast with eight feet). The sarabha is overthrown
by its fall on rocky steeps, in its attempt to jump over the gathering
clouds.
25. The clouds are worsted by tempests, and these again are obstructed
by the rising rocks and mountains. The mountains are split by thunder
claps, and the thunderbolts of heaven are broken by the thundering
Sakra (Jove).
26. This Sakra or Indra is vanquished by Upendra or Vishnu (his younger
brother), and Vishnu is made to undergo his incarnations in the shapes
of men and beasts. He is subjected to the vicissitudes of pain and
pleasure, and to the conditions of disease, decay and death. (Change is
the order of nature.)
27. Big-bodied beasts are fed upon by the leeches and fleas that stick
to their bodies to suck their blood; and men fraught with knowledge and
armed with weapons, are infested by their bloodsucking bugs and gnats.
28. Thus the whole host of living bodies, are continually exposed to
feed upon and to be fed by one another, with remorseless voracity.
29. There is an incessant growth of leaches, fleas and ants, other
small insects and worms on the one hand; and a continued dissolution of
both the big and puny bodies in every place on earth.
30. The womb of the waters, bears the breed of fishes, whales,
hippopotami and other aquatic animals; and the bowels of the earth,
produce the multitudes of worms and reptiles to infinity.
31. The air teems with the brood of birds of various kinds, and the
woods abound with wild beasts, and lions and tigers, the fleet deer and
other brutes.
32. There are inborn worms growing in the intestines, and upon the skin
of animal bodies; and parasitical insects and animalcules, feeding upon
the bark and leaves of trees.
33. Insects are seen to be born in the crusts of stones, as frogs,
vajrakítas and others; and many kinds of worms and insects, are found
to grow in and subsist upon the faeces and excrements of animals.
34. In this manner an endless number of living beings, are being born
and perishing for ever and ever; and it is of no avail to them, whether
kind hearted men are joyous or sorrowful at their births and deaths.
35. The wise can have no cause for their joy or grief, in this
continued course of incessant births and deaths of the living world.
36. Such is the nature of all the different series of animal beings,
that they incessantly grow to fall off like the leaves of trees. (These
are known as the ephemerids and the heirs and poor pensioners of a day).
37. The kind-hearted man, who wishes to remove the sorrows of the
ignorant by his advice, attempts an impossibility, as that of shrouding
the allpervasive sunshine, by means of his umbrella.
38. It is useless to give advice to the ignorant, who are no better
than beasts in their understandings; as it is fruitless to talk to a
rock or block of wood or stone in the wilderness.
39. The dull-headed ignorant, who are no better than beasts, are
dragged by their wilful minds, like the cattle by their halters.
40. It would make even the stones to melt into tears, to see the
ignorant plunged in the slough of their perverted minds, and employed
in acts and rites for their own ruin. (The ruin of their souls caused
by ritualistic observances.)
41. Men of ungoverned minds, are always exposed to dangers and
difficulties; but the expurgated minds of the wise, are free from the
evils and mishaps of life.
42. Now Ráma, consider well the miseries of ungoverned minds; and
betake yourself to the knowledge of the knowable One. (_i.e._ The One
alone that is worthy of being known).
43. Never entertain in your imagination the vain bugbear of a mind,
which has no real existence of its own; and beware of this false
belief, which may betray you like the ideal ghost of children.
44. As long as you are forgetful of the soul, you must remain in utter
ignorance; and so long will you continue to be tortured by the dragon,
residing in the recess of your heart.
45. Now you have known the whole truth, as I have expounded to you;
that it is your imagination only, that presents you with the idea of
your mind, of which you must get rid for ever.
46. If you rely in the visibles, you are subject to the delusion of
your mind; but no sooner, you shun your reliance in them, than you are
liberated from your illusion of it.
47. The visible world is a combination, of the three qualities of
_satva_, _rajas_ and _tamas_; and it is exposed before you, by your
_máyá_ or illusion only, as a snare is spread for entanglement of
beasts.
48. Think of the inexistence both of the subjective-self and the
objective world; and remain as firm as a fixed rock on earth, and
behold the Lord only, in the form of infinite space in thy heart. (This
is Vasishtha’s Vacuism).
49. Shun, Ráma, the false thoughts of thy self-existence, and that of
the visible world also; and forsake thy belief in the duality, in order
to settle thyself in the infinite unity.
50. Continue to meditate on the soul, as it is situated between the
subjective viewer, and the objective view of this world; and as it is
existent in thy vision, which lies between the two. (_i.e._ Between
yourself and the visible object, which is empty space).
51. Forsake the ideas of the subject and object of your taste (_i.e._
of the taster and tastable); and thinking on their intermediate state
of gustation or tasting, be one with the soul.
52. Ráma, place yourself in the position of your thought or power of
thinking, which lieth betwixt the thinker and thinkables; support your
soul on the supportless soul of all, and remain steady in your
meditation.
53. Forsake the cares of the world, and be exempt from the thoughts of
existence and non-existence; meditate on the universal soul and be
settled with thy soul in that soul.
54. When you have learnt to think on the thinkable one, by
relinquishing the thought of your own existence; you shall then arrive
to that state of the unconsciousness, which is free from misery (or the
state of supreme bliss).
55. Know your thoughts to be your fetters, and your self-consciousness
as your binding chain; therefore O Ráma! loosen the lion of your soul,
from the prison house of your mind.
56. By departing from the state of the Supreme Soul, and falling to the
thoughts of the mind, you will be crowded by your imaginations, and see
only the objects of your thought all about you.
57. The Knowledge, that intellection or thinking power is distinct from
the soul, introduces the existence of the unhappy mind, which must be
got rid of for the sake of true happiness. (by knowing them as the one
and same thing).
58. When you become conscious of the Supreme soul in you, and as
permeated throughout all nature, you will then find the thinker and his
thinking, the thinkables and their thoughts, vanish into nothing.
59. The thought that “I have a soul and a living soul also,” brings on
us all the miseries to which we are exposed to all eternity. (_i.e._
consciousness of a personal entity, causes the woes which personality
is ever liable to).
60. The consciousness that “I am the one soul, and not a living being
or distinct existences;” (because all things distinct from the
universal soul are nothing at all); is called the tranquility of the
spirit and its true felicity.
61. When you are certain, O Ráma! that the world is the universal soul
itself, you will find the false distinctions of your mind and living
soul, to be nothing in reality.
62. When you come to perceive that all this is your very self, your
mind will then melt away into the soul, as the darkness dissolved in
the sunlight, and the shadow disappears in the air.
63. As long as you cherish the snake of your mind within yourself, you
are in danger of catching its poison; but this being removed by your
yoga meditation, you escape the danger at once.
64. Be bold, O Ráma! to destroy the mighty demon of the deep rooted
error of your mind, by the power of incantation (_mantras_) of your
perfect knowledge.
65. Upon disappearance of the demon of the mind from the dwelling of
your body, as when a Yaksha disappears in the air, you will be free
from every disease, danger, care and fear.
66. Dispassionateness, and disinterestedness, joined with the knowledge
of unity, melt down the substance of the mind, and confer the best and
highest state of felicity and rest in the Supreme spirit; and bring on
that state of tranquility which is the main aim of every body. May all
these blessings attend upon you.
CHAPTER. XV.
ON AVARICE.
Argument. Description of avarice as the Root of all Evils.
Vasishtha continued:—The soul by following the unholy essence of the
mind, which is the source of the world, is led to fall into the snare,
which is laid by it for all living beings.
2. The soul then loses the brightness of its spiritual form, and takes
the gross shape of the senses: it waits upon the guidance of the mind,
and indulges in its impure imaginations.
3. It falls into avarice, which like a poisonous plant makes it
senseless, and spreads a fearful anesthesia over it.
4. Avarice like a dark night, hides the soul under the gloom of
oblivion, and produces endless pangs to the soul.
5. The god Siva withstood the flame of the kalpa conflagration, but no
body can withstand the fierce fire of avarice.
6. It bears a form as formidable as that of a long, sharp and sable
dagger; which is cold in appearance, but very injurious in her effects.
7. Avarice is an evergreen plant, bearing bunches of plenteous fruits
on high; which when they are obtained and tasted, prove to be bitter
and galling.
8. Avarice is a voracious wolf, prowling in the recess of the heart;
and feeding unseen on the flesh and blood and bones of its sheltering
body.
9. Avarice is as a rainy stream, full of foul and muddy water now
overflowing and breaking down its banks, and then leaving empty its
dirty bed.
10. The man stricken with avarice, remains niggardly and broken hearted
at all times; his spirits are damped, and his sordid soul is debased
before mankind. He is now dejected, and now he weeps and lays himself
down in despair.
11. He who has not this black adder of greediness, burrowing in the
recess of his heart, has the free play of his vital breath, which is
otherwise poisoned by the breath of the viper rankling in his breast.
12. The heart which is not darkened by the gloomy night of greediness,
feels the rays of humanity sparkling in it, like the glancing of the
bright moon-beams.
13. The heart that is not eaten up by the corroding cares of avarice,
is as an uncankered tree, blooming with its blossoms of piety.
14. The current of avarice, is ever running amidst the wilderness of
human desires, with ceaseless torrents and billows, and hideous
whirlpools and vortices around.
15. The thread of avarice, like the long line of a flying kite or
tossing top, whirls and furls and pulls mankind, as its toys and
playthings.
16. The rude, rough and hard-hearted avarice, breaks and cuts down the
tender roots of virtues, with the remorseless axe of its hardihood.
17. Foolishmen led by avarice, fall into the hell pit, like the
ignorant deer into the blackhole; by being enticed by the blades of
grass, scattered upon its covering top.
18. Men are not so much blinded by their aged and decayed eyesight, as
they are blinded by the invisible avarice seated in their hearts.
19. The heart which is nestled by the ominous owl of avarice, is as
bemeaned as the god Vishnu, who became a dwarf in begging a bit of
ground from Bali.
20. There is a divine power, which hath implanted this insatiable
avarice in the heart of man; which whirls him about, as if tied by a
rope, like the sun revolving round its centre in the sky.
21. Fly from this avarice, which is as heinous as the venomous snake.
It is the source of all evils, and even of death in this mortal world.
22. Avarice blows on men as the wind, and it is avarice that makes them
sit still as stones; avarice makes some as sedate as the earth, and
avarice ransacks the three worlds in its rapid course.
23. All this concourse of men, is impelled to and fro by avarice, as if
they are pulled by ropes; it is easy to break the band of ropes, but
not the bond of avarice. (There is a play of words here, as that of
band, bond and bondage).
24. Then Ráma, get rid of avarice by forsaking your desires; because it
is ascertained by the wise, that the mind dies away by want of its
desires (to dwell upon).
25. Never observe the distinctions of my, thy and his in all thy
wishes, but wish for the good of all alike; and never foster any bad
desire (which is foul in its nature).
26. The thought of self in what is not the self, is the parent of all
our woe; when you cease to think the notself as the self you are then
reckoned among the wise.
27. Cut off your egoism, O gentle Ráma! and dwell in thy unearthly self
by forgetting yourself, and by dispelling your fear from all created
being. (Here is an alliteration of the letter bh ভ in the
last line, as ভু, ভব, ভয়).
CHAPTER XVI.
HEALING OF AVARICE.
Argument. The way to forsake the desires, and become liberated in this
life and the next.
Ráma said:—It is too deep for me sir, to understand what you say to me,
for the abandonment of my egoism and avarice.
2. For how is it possible, sir, to forsake my egoism, without forsaking
this body and every thing that bears relation to it?
3. It is egoism which is the chief support of the body, as a post or
prop is the support of a thatched house.
4. The body will surely perish without its egoism, and will be cut
short of its durability, as a tree is felled by application of the saw
to its root.
5. Now tell me, O most eloquent sir, how I may live by forsaking my
egoism (which is myself); give me your answer, according to your right
judgment.
6. Vasishtha replied:—O lotus-eyed and respectful Ráma! abandonment of
desires, is said to be of two kinds by the wise, who are well
acquainted with the subject; the one is called the _jneya_ or knowable
and the other is what they style the thinkable (or dhyeya).
7. The knowledge that I am the life of my body and its powers, and
these are the supports of my life, and that I am something.
8. But this internal conviction being weighed well by the light of
reason, will prove that neither am I related with the external body,
nor does it bear any relation with my internal soul.
9. Therefore the performance of one’s duties, with calmness and
coolness of his understanding, and without any desire of fruition, is
called the abandonment of desire in thought.
10. But the understanding which views things in an equal light, and by
forsaking its desires, relinquishes the body without taking any concern
for it, and is called the knowing abandonment of desires. (_i.e._ Of
which the Yogi has full knowledge).
11. He who foregoes with ease the desires arising from his egoism, is
styled the thinking abjurer of his desires, and is liberated in his
life time.
12. He who is calm and even-minded, by his abandonment of vain and
imaginary desires; is a knowing deserter of his desires, and is
liberated also in this world.
13. Those who abandon the desires in their thought, and remain with
listless indifference to everything, are like those who are liberated
in their life time.
14. They are also called the liberated, who have had their composure
(_insouciance_) after abandonment of their desires, and who rest in the
Supreme Spirit, with their souls disentangled from their bodies. (This
is called the disembodied liberation বিদেহ মুক্তি).
15. Both these sorts of renunciation are alike entitled to liberation,
both of them are extricated from pain; and both lead the liberated
souls to the state of Brahma.
16. The mind whether engaged in acts or disengaged from them, rests in
the pure spirit of God, by forsaking its desires. (There is this
difference only between them, that the one has an active body, while
the other is without its activity).
17. The former kind of yogi is liberated in his embodied state, and
freed from pain throughout his life time; but the latter that has
obtained his liberation in his bodiless state after his demise, remains
quite unconscious of his desires. (The liberated soul is freed from
desire after death. Their desires being dead with themselves, they have
nothing to desire).
18. He who feels no joy nor sorrow at the good or evil, which befalls
to him in his life time, as it is the course of nature, is called the
living liberated man.
19. He who neither desires nor dreads the casualties of good or evil,
which are incidental to human life; but remains quiet regardless of
them as in his dead sleep, is known as the truly liberated man.
20. He whose mind is freed from the thoughts, of what is desirable or
undesirable to him, and from his differentiation of mine, thine and his
(_i.e._ of himself from others), is called the truly liberated.
21. He whose mind is not subject to the access of joy and grief, of
hope and fear, of anger, boast and niggardliness, is said to have his
liberation.
22. He whose feelings are all obtundent within himself as in his sleep,
and whose mind enjoys its felicity like the beams of the fullmoon, is
said to be the liberated man in this world.
23. Válmíki says:—After the sage had said so far, the day departed to
its evening service with the setting sun. The assembled audience
retired to their evening ablutions, and repaired again to the assembly
with the rising sun on the next day.
CHAPTER XVII.
ON THE EXTIRPATION OF AVARICE.
Argument. Liberation of Embodied or Living Beings.
Vasishtha said:—It is difficult O Ráma! to describe in words the
inexplicable nature of the liberation of disembodied souls; hear me
therefore relate to you further about the liberation of living beings.
2. The desire of doing one’s duties without expectation of their
reward, is also called the living liberation, and the doers of their
respective duties, are said to be the living liberated.
3. The dependance of beings on their desires, and their strong
attachment to external objects, are called to be their bondage and
fetters in this world, by the doctors in divinity.
4. But the desire of conducting one’s self according to the course of
events, and without any expectation of fruition, constitutes also the
liberation of the living; and is concomitant with the body only
(without vitiating the inner soul).
5. The desire of enjoying the external objects, is verily the bondage
of the soul; but its indifference to worldly enjoyments, is what
constitutes one’s freedom in his living state.
6. Want of greediness and anxiety prior to and on account of some gain,
and absence of mirth and change in one’s disposition afterwards (_i.e._
after the gain); is the true freedom of men.
7. Know, O high-minded Ráma! that desire to be the greatest bondage of
men, which is in eager expectation of the possession of anything.
(Lit.: that such things may be mine).
8. He who is devoid of desire of everything, whether existent or
inexistent in the world; is the truly great man, with the greatest
magnanimity of his soul.
9. Therefore, Ráma! forsake the thoughts both of thy bondage and
liberation, and also of thy happiness and misery; and by getting rid of
thy desire of the real and unreal, remain as calm as the undisturbed
ocean.
10. Think thyself, O most intelligent Ráma! to be devoid of death and
decay, and do not stain thy mind with the fears of thy disease or death
(because thy soul is free from them).
11. These substances are nothing, nor are you any of these things that
you see; there is something beyond these, and know that you are that
very thing (which is the soul or a spiritual being).
12. The phenomenon of the world is an unreality, and every thing here
is unreal, that appears real in thy sight; knowing then thyself to be
beyond all these, what earthly thing is there that thou canst crave for?
13. All reasoning men, O Ráma! consider themselves in some one of these
four different lights in their minds, which I shall now explain to you
in brief.
14. He who considers his whole body (from his head to foot), as the
progeny of his parents (_i.e._ devoid of his spiritual part), is surely
born to the bondage of the world. (This is the first kind).
15. But they who are certain of their immaterial soul, which is finer
than the point of a hair, are another class of men; who are called the
wise and are born for their liberation. (This is the second).
16. There is a third class of men, who consider themselves as same with
the universal soul of the world; such men O support of Raghu’s race,
are also entitled to their liberation. (These belong to the third kind.)
17. There is again a fourth class, who consider themselves and the
whole world to be as inane as the empty air (or vacuum); these are
surely the partakers of liberation.
18. Of these four kinds of beliefs, the first is the leader to bondage;
while the three others growing from purity of thought, lead to the path
of liberation.
19. Among these, the first is subject to the bondage of avarice; but
the other three proceeding from pure desire, are crowned with
liberation.
20. Those of the third kind, who consider themselves same with the
universal soul, are in my opinion never subject to sorrow or pain.
21. The magnitude of the Supreme spirit, extends over and below and
about all existence; hence the belief of “all in One, or One in all”
never holds a man in bondage.
22. The fourth kind—vacuists (or _súnyavádís_), who believe in the
vacuum, and maintain the principles of nature or illusion, are in
ignorance of divine knowledge, which represents God as Siva, Isha,
male, and eternal soul.
23. He is all and everlasting, without a second or another like him;
and he is pervaded by his omniscience, and not by the ignorance called
_máyá_ or illusion.
24. The spirit of God fills the universe, as the water of the ocean
fills the deep (pátála); and stretches from the highest heaven
(empyrean), to the lowest abyss of the infernal regions.
25. Hence it is his reality only which is ever existent, and no unreal
world exists at any time. It is the liquid water which fills the sea,
and not the swelling wave which rises in it.
26. As the bracelets and armlets are no other than gold, so the
varieties of trees and herbs, are not distinct from the Universal
Spirit.
27. It is the one and same omnipotence of the Supreme spirit, that
displays the different forms in its works of the creation.
28. Never be joyous nor sorry for anything belonging to thee or
another, nor feel thyself delighted or dejected at any gain or loss,
that thou mayest happen to incur. (For know everything to be the Lord’s
and nothing as thine own. Or: “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken
away”. Job).
29. Be of an even disposition, and rely on thy essence as one with the
Supreme soul. Attend to thy multifarious duties, and thus be observant
of unity in thy spiritual concerns, and dualities in thy temporal
affairs.
30. Take care of falling into the hidden holes of this world, in your
pursuit after the varieties of objects; and be not like an elephant
falling into a hidden pit in the forest.
31. O Ráma of great soul! There cannot be a duality, as it is thought
in the mind; nor O Ráma of enlightened soul; can there be any unity or
duality of the soul. The true essence is ever existent with out its
unity or duality, and is styled the all and nothing particular, and as
itself—Svarúpa or suiform. (The soul is not unity, because one is the
prime number of all others by addition with itself; nor is it a
duality, having no second or another like it. It is the indefinite all
or whole: and no definite that this or so says the Sruti:
तस्मात्तत् सर्ब्बमभवत् नेह नानास्ति किञ्चन ।)
32. There is no ego or thy subjective-self, nor the objective worlds
that thou seest. All this is the manifestation of the eternal and
imperishable omniscience, and know this world as neither an entity nor
non-entity by itself.
33. Know the Supreme being to be without beginning and end, the
enlightener of all lights, the undecaying, unborn and incomprehensible
one. He is without part, and any change in him. He is beyond
imagination and all the imaginary objects all about us.
34. Know for certain in thy mind, that the Lord is always present in
the full light of thy intellect. He is the root of thy consciousness,
and is of the nature of thy inward soul. He is conceivable in the
intellect, and is the Brahma—the all and everlasting, and the
all pervading, the subjective I, and the objective thou and this world.
CHAPTER XVIII.
LIVING LIBERATION OR TRUE
FELICITY OF MAN IN THIS LIFE.
Argument. The True Enfranchisement of the Soul, in the Living state of
man in this world.
Vasishtha continued:—I will now relate to you, O Ráma! the nature of
those great men, who conduct themselves in this world, with their
desires under their subjection, and whose minds are not blemished by
evil inclinations.
2. The sage whose mind is freed in his life-time, conducts himself
unconcerned in this world; he smiles secure at its occurrences, and is
regardless of the first, last and middle stages of his life (namely:
the pains of his birth and death, and the whole course of his life).
3. He is attentive to his present business, and unmindful of every
other object about him; he is devoid of cares and desires, and his
thought is of his internal cogitations only.
4. He is free from anxiety in all places, who tolerates whatever he
happens to meet with; he sees the light of reason in his soul, and
walks in the romantic groves of his musings.
5. He rests in that transcendental bliss, with prospects as bright as
the cooling beams of the full-moon, who is neither elated nor depressed
in any state of his life, nor droops down under any circumstance.
6. Whose generosity and manliness do not forsake him, even when he is
beset by his bitterest enemies; and who is observant of his duties to
his superiors, such a man is not crest-fallen in this world.
7. Who neither rejoices nor laments at his lot, nor envies nor hankers
after the fortune of another; but pursues his own business in quiet
silence, is the man that is never down-cast in this world.
8. Who, when asked, says what he is doing, but unasked remains as a
dead block; and is freed from desire and disgust; he is never depressed
in his heart and mind. (The Urdu poet expresses this sort of unconcern,
more beautifully, when he says:—Should one ask you of aught, look to
his face and reply him not. _Koi kuch’h puchhe to munh dekh kar chup
rahjana_ &c. And who so understands the hearts of men, is never sick at
his heart).
9. He speaks agreeably to every one, and utters gently what he is
required to say; he is never put out of countenance, who understands
the intentions of others. (Speaking agreeably or his questioners means
what pleases every body, be it good or bad for him as it is said
in Chánakya’s excerpta: सत्यं ब्रुयात् प्रियम्ब्रुयात्, न ब्रुयात् सत्यमप्रियं. Because says
Bháraví: ‘It is rare to have a useful saying, which is delectable also
at the same time’. हितं मनोहारिचदुर्लमवचस).
10. He sees the right and wrong dealings of men, and the acts of the
depraved desires of their minds; but knowing all human affairs as
clearly as in a mirror in his hand, he holds his peace with every one.
11. Standing on his firm footing (of nonchalance), and knowing the
frailty of worldly things, he smiles at the vicissitudes of nature with
the cold frigidity (sang froid) of his heart (like the laughing
philosopher).
12. Such is the nature, Ráma, of the great souls, who have subdued
their minds, and know the course of nature, as I have described to you.
13. I am unable to describe to you, the fond beliefs of the minds of
the ignorant populace, who are plunged in the mud of their sensual
enjoyments (like earthly worms). (Who are of ungoverned minds).
14. Women, devoid of understanding, and graced with their personal
charms, are the idols of these people; who are fond of their golden
forms, without knowing them to be the flames of hell fire.
15. Wealth, the fond object of the foolish people, is fraught with
every ill and evil desire; its pleasure is poison and productive of
misery, and its prosperity is replete with dangers.
16. Its use in the doing of meritorious deeds, and various acts of
piety, is also fraught with a great many evils, which I have not the
power to recount. (The works of merit being productive of pride and
passions, and those of piety being the source of transmigration).
17. Therefore Ráma! keep your sight on the full view (clairvoyance) of
your spirit, by retracting it from the external visibles and internal
thoughts; and conduct yourself in this world as one liberated in his
life-time.
18. Being free from all your inward passions and feelings of affection,
and having given up all your desires and expectations; continue in the
performance of your outward duties in this world.
19. Follow all your duties in life with a noble pliability of your
disposition; but preserve the philosophic renunciation of everything in
your mind, and conduct yourself accordingly in this world.
20. Think well on the fleeting states of all earthly things, and fix
your mind in the lasting nature of your soul; and thus conduct yourself
in this transitory stage, with the thoughts of eternity in your mind.
21. Conduct yourself, Ráma, with your inward indifference and want of
all desire: but show your outward desire for whatever is good and
great. Be cold blooded within yourself but full of ardour in your
external demeanour.
22. Conduct yourself among men, O Ráma! with a feigned activity in your
outward appearance, but with real inaction in your mind; show yourself
as the doer of your deeds, but know in your mind to be no actor at all.
23. Conduct yourself such, O Ráma! with your full knowledge of this
world, as if you are acquainted with the natures of all beings herein;
and go wherever you please with your intimate acquaintance of
everything there.
24. Demean yourself with mankind, with a feigned appearance of joy and
grief, and of condolence and congratulation with others, and an assumed
shape of activity and action among mankind.
25. Manage yourself, O Ráma! with full possession of your mind, and
untinged by pride and vanity, as if it were as clear as the spotless
sky.
26. Go on through your life unshackled by the bonds of desire, and join
in all the outward acts of life, with an unaltered evenness of your
mind under every circumstance.
27. Do not give room to the thoughts of your bondage or liberation in
this world, nor of the embodiment or release of your soul here; but
think the revolving worlds to be a magic scene, and preserve perfect
tranquility of your mind.
28. Know all this as an illusion, and it is ignorance only, that
presents the false appearance of the world to sight; and yet we take
them for true, as you view the water in the burning beams of the sun in
a desert.
29. The unobstructed, uniform and all pervading soul, can have no
restriction or bondage; and what is unrestricted in itself, cannot have
its release also.
30. It is want of true knowledge, that presents the false view of the
world before us; but the knowledge of truth disperses the view; as the
knowledge of the rope, dispels the fallacy of the snake in it.
31. You have known the true essence of your being by your right
discernment (that it is He—the Sat); you are thereby freed from the
sense of your personality, and are set free as the subtile air.
32. You have known the truth, and must give up your knowledge of
untruth, together with the thoughts of your friends and relatives, all
which are unreal in their natures.
33. Such being the case, you must consider yourself (your soul), as
something other than those: and that you have received the same, from
the Supreme source of all.
34. This soul bears no relation to your friends or possession, to your
good or evil actions, or to anything whatever in this world;
35. When you are convinced that this very soul constitutes your
essence; you have nothing to fear from the erroneous conception of the
world, which is no more than a misconception.
36. You can have no concern, with the weal or woe of a friend or foe,
who is not born so to you; for every one being born for himself, you
have no cause of joy or grief for any body (whether he is friendly or
not to you).
37. If thou knowest that thou hadst been before (creation), and shalt
be so for everafterwards (to eternity); you are truly wise.
38. Shouldst thou feel so much for the friends, by whom thou art beset
in this life; why dost thou then not mourn for them, that are dead and
gone in thy present and past lives?
39. If thou wert something otherwise than what thou art at present, and
shalt have to be something different from what now thou art, why then
shouldst thou sorrow for what has not its self-identity? (_i.e._ the
body which is changed in all its transmigrations).
40. If thou art to be born no more, after thy past and present births
(_i.e._ if there be no further transmigration of thy soul), then thou
hast no cause for sorrow, being extinct thyself in the Supreme Spirit.
41. Therefore there is no cause of sorrow, in aught that occurs
according to the course of nature; but rather be joyous in pursuing the
duties of thy present life (for want of thy knowledge of thy past and
future states).
42. But do not indulge the excess of thy joy or grief, but preserve thy
equanimity everywhere; by knowing the Supreme Spirit to pervade in all
places.
43. Know thyself to be the form of the infinite spirit, and stretching
wide like the extended vacuum; and that thou art the pure eternal
light, and the focus of full effulgence.
44. Know thy eternal and invisible soul, to be distinct from all
worldly substances; and to be a particle of that universal soul, which
dwells in and stretches through the hearts of all bodies; and is like
the unseen thread, running through the holes and connecting the links
of a necklace (or like the string in the beads of a rosary). (This
connecting soul is denominated the Sútrátmá, which fills, bounds,
connects and equals all).
45. That the continuation of the world, is caused by the reproduction
of what has been before, is what you learn from the unlearned; and not
so from the learned (who know the world to be nothing). Know this and
not that, and be happy in this life.
46. The course of the world and this life, is ever tending to decay and
disease. It is ignorance that represents them to be progressing to
perfection. But you who are intelligent, knowest their real natures (of
frailty and unreality).
47. What else can be the nature of error but falsehood, and what may
the state of sleep be, but dream and drowsiness? (So is this world a
mistaken existence, and this life a mere dream of unreal appearance,
which so vividly shines before you).
48. Whom do you call your good friend, and whom do you say your great
enemy? They all belong to the Sole One, and proceed alike from the
Divine will.
49. Everything is frail and fickle, and has its rise and fall from and
into the Supreme Spirit; it likens the wave of the sea, rising and
falling from and into the same water.
50. The worlds are rolling upward and going down again, like the axis
and spokes of a wheel. (The rotations of the planets in their circuits
above and below the sun).
51. The celestials sometimes fall into hell, and the infernals are
sometimes raised to heaven; animals of one kind are regenerated in
another form, and the people of one continent and island are reborn in
another (as men are led from one country and climate to another, and
settle there).
52. The opulent are reduced to indigence, and the indigent are raised
to affluence; and all beings are seen to be rising and falling in a
hundred ways.
53. Who has seen the wheel of fortune, to move on slowly in one
straight forward course for ever, and not tumbling in its ups and
downs, nor turning to this side and that in its winding and uneven
route. Fixedness of fortune is a fiction, as that of finding the frost
in fire.
54. Those that are called great fortunes, and their components and
appendages as also many good friends and relations; are all seen to fly
away in a few days of this transient life.
55. The thought of something as one’s own and another’s, and of this
and that as mine, thine, his or others’, are as false as the appearance
of double suns and moons in the sky.
56. That this is a friend and this other a foe, and that this is myself
and that one is another, are all but false conceptions of your mind,
and must be wiped off from it (since the whole is but the one Ego).
57. Make it thy pleasure however to mix with the blinded populace, and
those that are lost to reason; and deal with them in thy usual
unaltered way. (Mix with the thoughtless mob, but think with the
thoughtful wise. So says Sadi: I learnt morals from the immoral,
_adabaz bedabanamokhtam_).
58. Conduct thyself in such a manner in thy journey through this world,
that thou mayst not sink under the burden of thy cares of it.
59. When thou comest to thy reason, to lay down thy earthly cares and
desires; then shalt thou have that composure of thy mind, which will
exonerate thee from all thy duties and dealings in life.
60. It is the part of lowminded men, to reckon one as a friend and
another as no friend; but noble minded men do not observe such
distinctions between man and man. (Lit. Their minds are not clouded by
the mist of distinction).
61. There is nothing wherein I am not (or where there is not the Ego);
and nothing which is not mine (_i.e._ beyond the Ego: the learned who
have considered it well, make no difference of persons in their minds).
62. The intellects of the wise, are as clear as the spacious firmament,
and there is no rising nor setting of their intellectual light, which
views everything as serenely as in the serenity of the atmosphere and
as plainly as the plain surface of the earth.
63. Know Ráma! all created beings, are friendly and useful to you, and
there is no body nor any in the world, wherewith you are not related in
some way on your part. (No body is a unit himself, but forms a part of
the universal whole).
64. It is erroneous to look <on> any one as a friend or foe, among the
various orders of created beings in the universe; which in reality may
be serviceable to you, however unfriendly they may appear at first.
CHAPTER XIX.
ON HOLY KNOWLEDGE.
Argument. Story of Punya and Pávana, and the instruction of the former
to the latter.
Vasishtha continued:—I will now set before you an example on the
subject (of the distinction of friend and foe), in the instance of two
brothers, who were born of a sage on the banks of Ganges, going in
three directions of _tripatha_ or _trisrot_ as _trivia_.
2. Hear then this holy and wonderful tale of antiquity, which now
occurs to my mind on the subject of friends and enemies, which I have
been relating to you.
3. There is in this continent of Jambudvípa (Asia), a mountainous
region beset by groves and forests, with the high mount of Mahendra
rising above the rest.
4. It touched the sky with its lofty peaks, and the arbour of its kalpa
trees; spread its shadow over the hermits and kinnaras that resorted
under its bower.
5. It resounded with the carol of the sages, who chaunted the Sámaveda
hymns on it, in their passage from its caverns and peaks to the region
of Indra (the god of the vault of heaven).
6. The fleecy clouds which incessantly drizzled with rain water from
its thousand peaks; and washed the plants and flowers below, appeared
as tufts of hair hanging down from heaven to earth.
7. The mountain re-echoed to the loud roars of the impetuous octopede
Sarabhas, with the thunder claps of kalpa clouds from the hollow mouths
of its dark and deep clouds. (So Himálaya is said to warble to the
tunes of Kinnaras from its cavern mounts).[7]
8. The thundering noise of its cascades falling into its caverns from
precipice to precipice, has put to blush the loud roar of the Surges of
the sea.
9. There on tableland upon the craggy top of the mountain, flowed the
sacred stream of the heavenly Ganges, for the ablution and beverage of
the hermits.
10. There on the banks of the trivious river—tripatha—Gangá, was a
gemming mountain, sparkling as bright gold, and decorated with
blossoming trees.
11. There lived a sage by name of Dirghatapas, who was a
personification of devotion, and a man of enlightened understanding; he
had a noble mind, and was inured in austerities of devotion.
12. This sage was blessed with two boys as beautiful as the full moon,
and named Punya and Pávana (the meritorious and holy), who were as
intelligent as the sons of Brihaspati, known by the names of the two
Kachas.
13. He lived there on the bank of the river, and amidst a grove of
fruit trees, with his wife and the two sons born of them.
14. In course of time the two boys arrived to their age of discretion,
and the elder of them named Punya or meritorious, was superior to the
other in all his merits.
15. The younger boy named Pávana or the holy, was half awakened in his
intellect, like the half blown lotus at the dawn of the day; and his
want of intelligence kept him from the knowledge of truth, and in the
uncertainty of his faith.
16. Then in the course of the all destroying time, the sage came to
complete a century of years, and his tall body and long life, were
reduced in their strength by his age and infirmity.
17. Being thus reduced by decrepitude in his vitality, he bade adieu to
his desires in this world, which was so frail and full of a hundred
fearful accidents to human life (namely, the pains attending upon
birth, old age and death, and the fears of future transmigration and
falling into hell fire).
18. The old devotee Dirghatapas, quitted at last his mortal frame in
the grotto of the mount; as a bird quits its old nest for ever, or as a
water-bearer lays down the log of his burthen from his shoulders.
19. His spirit then fled like the fragrance of a flower to that vacuous
space, which is ever tranquil, free from attributes and thought, and is
of the nature of the pure intellect.
20. The wife of the sage finding his body lying lifeless on the ground,
fell down upon it, and remained motionless like a lotus flower nipt
from its stalk.
21. Having been long accustomed to the practice of yoga, according to
the instruction of her husband; she quitted her undecayed body, as a
bee flits from an unfaded flower to the empty air.
22. Her soul followed her husband’s, unseen by men, as the light of the
stars disappears in the air at the dawn of the day.
23. Seeing the demise of both parents, the elder son Punya was busily
employed in performing their funeral services; but the younger Pávana
was deeply absorbed in grief at their loss.
24. Being overwhelmed by sorrow in his mind, he wandered about in the
woods; and not having the firmness of his elder brother, he continued
to wail in his mourning.
25. The magnanimous Punya performed the funeral ceremonies of his
parents, and then went in search of his brother mourning in the woods.
26. Punya said:—Why my boy, is thy soul overcast by the cloud of thy
grief; and why dost thou shed the tears from thy lotus-eyes, as
profusely as the showers of the rain, only to render thee blind.
27. Know my intelligent boy, that both thy father and mother, have gone
to their ultimate blissful state in the Supreme Spirit, called the
state of salvation or liberation.
28. That is the last resort of all living beings, and that is the
blessed state of all self subdued souls; why then mourn for them, that
have returned to and are reunited with their own proper nature.
29. Thou dost in vain indulge thyself in thy false and fruitless grief,
and mournest for what is not to be mourned for at all: (rather rejoice
at it owing to their ultimate liberation).
30. Neither is she thy mother nor he thy father; nor art thou the only
son of them, that have had numerous offspring in their repeated births.
31. Thou hadst also thousands of fathers and mothers in thy by-gone
births, in as much as there are the streams of running waters in every
forest.
32. Thou art not the only son of them, that had innumerable sons before
thee; for the generations of men, have passed away like the currents of
a running stream.
33. Our parents also had numberless offspring in their past lives, and
the branches of human generation are as numerous, as the innumerable
fruits and flowers on trees.
34. The numbers of our friends and relatives in our repeated lives in
this world, have been as great, as the innumerable fruits and flowers
of a large tree, in all its passed seasons.
35. If we are to lament over the loss of our parents and children, that
are dead and gone; then why not lament also for those, that we have
lost and left behind in all our past lives?
36. It is all but a delusion, O my fortunate boy, that is presented
before us in this illusive world; while in truth, O my sensible child,
we have nobody, whom we may call to be our real friends or positive
enemies in this world.
37. There is no loss of any body or thing in their true sense in the
world; but they appear to exist and disappear, like the appearance of
water in the dry desert.
38. The royal dignity that thou seest here, adorned with the stately
umbrella and flapping fans; is but a dream lasting for a few days.
39. Consider these phenomena in their true light, and thou wilt find my
boy, that none of these nor ourselves nor any one of us, are to last
for ever: shun therefore thy error of the passing world from thy mind
for ever.
40. That these are dead and gone, and these are existent before us, are
but errors of our minds, and creatures of our false notions and fond
desires, and without any reality in them.
41. Our notions and desires, paint and present these various changes
before our sight; as the solar rays represent the water in the mirage.
So our fancies working in the field of our ignorance, produce the
erroneous conceptions, which roll on like currents in the eventful
ocean of the world, with the waves of favorable and unfavorable
events to us.
CHAPTER XX.
REMONSTRATION OF PÁVANA.
Argument. Punya’s relation of his various transmigrations and their
woes to Pávana.
Punya said:—Who is our father and who our mother, and who are our
friends and relatives, except our notion of them as such; and these
again are as the dust raised by the gusts of our airy fancy?
2. The conceptions of friends and foes, of our sons and relations are
the products of our affection and hatred to them; and these being the
effects of our ignorance, are soon made to disappear into airy nothing,
upon enlightenment of the understanding.
3. The thought of one as a friend, makes him a friend, and thinking one
as an enemy makes him an enemy; the knowledge of a thing as honey and
of another as poison, is owing to our opinion of it.
4. There being but one universal soul equally pervading the whole,
there can be no reason of the conception of one as a friend and of
another as an enemy.
5. Think my boy in thy mind what thou art, and what is that thing which
makes thy identity, when thy body is but a composition of bones, ribs,
flesh and blood, and not thyself.
6. Being viewed in its true light, there is nothing as myself or
thyself; it is a fallacy of our understanding, that makes me think
myself as Punya and thee as Pávana.
7. Who is thy father and who thy son, who thy mother and who thy
friend? One Supreme-self pervades all infinity, whom callest thou the
self, and whom the not self (_i.e._ thine and not thine).
8. If thou art a spiritual substance (linga saríra), and hast undergone
many births, then thou hadst many friends and properties in thy past
lives, why dost not think of them also?
9. Thou hadst many friends in the flowery plains, where thou hadst thy
pasture in thy former form of a stag; why thinkest not of those
deer, who were once thy dear companions?
10. Why dost thou not lament for thy lost companions of swans, in the
pleasant pool of lotuses, where thou didst dive and swim about in the
form of a gander?
11. Why not lament for thy fellow arbors in the woodlands, where thou
once stoodest as a stately tree among them?
12. Thou hadst thy comrades of lions on the rugged craigs of mountains,
why dost not lament for them also?
13. Thou hadst many of thy mates among the fishes, in the limpid lakes
decked with lotuses; why not lament for thy separation from them?
14. Thou hadst been in the country of Dasárna (confluence of the ten
rivers), as a monkey in the grey and green woods: a prince hadst thou
been in land of frost; and a raven in the woods of Pundra.
15. Thou hadst been an elephant in the land of Haihayas, and an ass in
that of Trigarta; thou hadst become a dog in the country of Salya, and
a bird in the wood of sarala or sál trees.
16. Thou hadst been a pípal tree on the Vindhyan mountains, and a wood
insect in a large oak (bata) tree; thou hadst been a cock on the
Mandara mountain, and then born as a Bráhman in one of its caverns (the
abode of Rishis).
17. Thou wast a Bráhman in Kosala, and a partridge in Bengal; a horse
hadst thou been in the snowy land, and a beast in the sacred ground of
Brahmá at Pushkara (Pokhra).
18. Thou hadst been an insect in the trunk of a palm tree, a gnat in a
big tree, and a crane in the woods of Vindhya, that art now my younger
brother.
19. Thou hadst been an ant for six months, and lain within the thin
bark of a _bhugpetera_ tree in a glen of the Himálayan hills, that art
now born as my younger brother.
20. Thou hadst been a millepede in a dunghill at a distant village;
where thou didst dwell for a year and half, that art now become my
younger brother.
21. Thou wast once the youngling of a Pulinda (a hill tribe woman), and
didst dwell on her dugs like the honey sucking bee on the pericarp of a
lotus. The same art thou now my younger brother.
22. In this manner my boy, wast thou born in many other shapes, and
hadst to wander all about the Jambudvípa, for myriads of years: And now
art thou my younger brother.
23. Thus I see the post states of thy existence, caused by the
antecedent desires of thy soul; I see all this by my nice discernment,
and my clear and all-viewing sight.
24. I also remember the several births that I had to undergo in my
state of (spiritual) ignorance, and then as I see clearly before my
enlightened sight.
25. I also was a parrot in the land of Trigarta, and a frog at the
beach of a river; I became a small bird in a forest, and was then born
in these woods.
26. Having been a Pulinda huntsman in Vindhya, and then as a tree in
Bengal, and afterwards a camel in the Vindhya range, I am at last born
in this forest.
27. I who had been a chátaka bird in the Himálayas, and a prince in the
Paundra province; and then as a mighty tiger in the forests of the
sahya hill, am now become your elder brother.
28. He that had been a vulture for ten years, and a shark for five
months and a lion for a full century; is now thy elder brother in this
place.
29. I was a chakora wood in the village of Andhara, and a ruler in the
snowy regions; and then as the proud son of a priest named Sailáchárya
in a hilly tract.
30. I remember the various customs and pursuits of different peoples on
earth, that I had to observe and follow in my repeated transmigrations
among them.
31. In these several migrations, I had many fathers and mothers, and
many more of my brothers and sisters, as also friends and relatives to
hundreds and thousands.
32. For whom shall I lament and whom forget among this number; shall I
wail for them only that I lose in this life? But these also are to be
buried in oblivion like the rest, and such is the course of the world.
33. Numberless fathers have gone by, and unnumbered mothers also have
passed and died away; so innumerable generations of men have perished
and disappeared, like the falling off of withered leaves.
34. There are no bounds, my boy, of our pleasures and pains in this
sublunary world; lay them all aside, and let us remain unmindful of all
existence (whether past, present or future)!
35. Forsake thy thoughts of false appearances, and relinquish thy firm
conviction of thy own egoism, and look to that ultimate course which
has led the learned to their final beatitude.
36. What is this commotion of the people for, but a struggling for
rising or falling (to heaven or hell); strive therefore for neither,
but live regardless of both like indifferent philosopher (and permit
thyself to heaven).
37. Live free from thy cares of existence and inexistence, and then
thou shalt be freed from thy fears of decay and death. Remember
unruffled thyself alone, and be not moved by any from thy self
possession by the accidents to life like the ignorant.
38. Know thou hast no birth nor death, nor weal or woe of any kind, nor
a father or mother, nor friend nor foe anywhere. Thou art only thy pure
spirit, and nothing of an unspiritual nature.
39. The world is a stage presenting many acts and scenes; and they only
play their parts well, who are excited neither by its passions and
feelings.
40. Those that are indifferent in their views, have their quietude
amidst all the occurrences of life; and those that have known the True
One, remain only to witness the course of nature.
41. The knowers of God do their acts, without thinking themselves their
actors; just as the lamps of night witness the objects around, without
their consciousness of the same.
42. The wise witness the objects as they are reflected in the mirror of
their minds, just as the looking glass and gems receive the images of
things.
43. Now my boy, rub out all thy wishes and the vestiges of thy
remembrance from thy mind, and view the image of the serene spirit of
God in thy inmost soul. Learn to live like the great sages with the
sight of thy spiritual light, and by effacing all false impressions
from thy mind.
CHAPTER XXI.
REPRESSION OF DESIRES BY MEANS OF YOGA-MEDITATION.
Argument. Desires are the shackles of the soul, and release from them
leading to its liberation.
Vasishtha continued:—Pávana being admonished by Punya in the said
manner, became as enlightened in his intellect, as the landscape at the
dawn of day.
2. They continued henceforward to abide in that forest, with the
perfection of their spiritual knowledge, and they wandered about in the
woods to their hearts content.
3. After a long time they had both their extinction, and rested in
their disembodied state of _nirvána_; as the oilless lamp wastes away
of itself.
4. Thus is the end of the great boast of men, of having large trains
and numberless friends in their embodied states of lifetime, of which
alas! they carry nothing with them to their afterlife, nor leave
anything behind, which they can properly call as theirs.
5. The best means of our release from the multifarious objects of our
desire, is the utter suppression of our appetites, rather than the
fostering of them.
6. It is the hankering after objects, that augment our appetite, as our
thinking on something increases our thoughts about it. Just so as the
fire is emblazoned by supply of the fuel, and extinguished by its want.
7. Now rise O Ráma! and remain aloft as in thy aerial car, by getting
loose of your worldly desires; and looking pitifully on the miseries of
grovelling mortals from above.
8. This is the divine state known as the position of Brahma, which
looks from above with unconcerned serenity upon all. By gaining this
state, the ignorant also are freed from misery.
9. One walking with reason as his companion, and having his good
understanding for his consort, is not liable to fall into the dangerous
trap-doors, which lie hid in his way through life.
10. Being bereft of all properties, and destitute of friends, one has
no other help to lift him up in his adversity, beside his own patience
and reliance in God.
11. Let men elevate their minds with learning and dispassionateness,
and with the virtues of self-dignity and valour, in order to rise over
the difficulties of the world.
12. There is no greater good to be derived by any other means, than by
the greatness of mind. It gives a security which no wealth nor earthly
treasure can confer on men.
13. It is only men of weak and crazy minds, that are often made to
swing to and fro, and to rise and sink up and below, in the tempestuous
ocean of the world.
14. The mind that is fraught with knowledge, and is full with the light
of truth in it, finds the world filled with ambrosial water, and moves
over it as easily, as a man walking on his dry shoes, or on a ground
spread over with leather.
15. It is the want of desire, that fills the mind more than the
fulfilment of its desires; dry up the channel of desire, as the
autumnal heat parches a pool.
16. Else it empties the heart (by sucking up the heart blood), and lays
open its gaps to be filled by air. The hearts of the avaricious are as
dry as the bed of the dead sea, which was sucked up (drained), by
Agasti (son of the sage Agastya).
17. The spacious garden of human heart, doth so long flourish with the
fruits of humanity and greatness, as the restless ape of avarice does
not infest its fair trees. (The mental powers are the trees, and the
virtues are the fruits and flowers thereof).
18. The mind that is devoid of avarice, views the triple world with the
twinkling of an eye. The comprehensive mind views all space and time as
a minim, in comparison to its conception of the infinite Brahma with
itself.
19. There is that coolness (sangfroid) in the mind of the unavaricious
man, as is not to be found in the watery luminary of the moon; nor in
the icy caverns of the snow-capt Himálayas. And neither the coldness of
the plantain juice nor sandal paste, is comparable with the
cool-headedness of inappetency.
20. The undesirous mind shines more brightly, than the disk of the full
moon, and the bright countenance of the goddess of prosperity (Lakshmí).
21. The urchin of appetence darkens the mind in the same manner, as a
cloud covers the disk of the moon, and as ink-black obliterates a fair
picture.
22. The arbour of desire stretches its branches, far and wide on every
side, and darkens the space of the mind with their gloomy shadow.
23. The branching tree of desire being cut down by its root, the plant
of patience which was stinted under it, shoots forth in a hundred
branches.
24. When the unfading arbour of patience, takes the place of the
uprooted desires; it produces the tree of paradise, yielding the fruits
of immortality. (Patience reigns over the untransmuted ill).
25. O well-intentioned Ráma! if you do not allow the sprouts of your
mental desires, to germinate in your bosom, you have then nothing to
fear in this world.
26. When you become sober-minded after moderating your heart’s desires,
you will then have the plant of liberation growing in its full
luxuriance in your heart.
27. When the rapacious owl of your desire, nestles in your mind, it is
sure you will be invaded by every evil, which the foreboding bird
brings on its abode.
28. Thinking is the power of the mind, and the thoughts dwell upon the
objects of desire; abandon therefore thy thoughts and their objects,
and be happy with thy thoughtlessness of everything.
29. Anything that depends on any faculty, is lost also upon inaction of
that faculty; therefore it is by suppression of your thinking (or
thoughts), that you can put down your desires, and thereby have rest
and peace of your mind.
30. Be free minded, O Ráma! by tearing off all its worldly ties, and
become a great soul by suppressing your mean desires of earthly
frailties: for who is there that is not set free, by being loosened
from the fetters of desire, that bind his mind to this earth.
CHAPTER XXII.
NARRATIVE OF VIROCHANA.
Argument. Account of King Bali and his Kingdom, and the Infernal
Regions; His Resignation of the World, and Rambles over the Sumeru
mountains.
Vasishtha said:—O Ráma! that art the bright moon of Raghu’s race,
you should also follow the example of Bali, in acquiring wisdom by
self-discernment. (Bali the Daitya king and founder of Maha Bali Pura,
called Mavalipura in Deccan, and in Southey’s poem on its Ruins).
2. Ráma said:—Venerable Sir, that art acquainted with all natures, it
is by thy favour that I have gained in my heart all that is worth
gaining; and that is our final rest in the purest state of infinite
bliss.
3. O sir, it is by your favor, that my mind is freed from the great
delusion of my multifarious desires; as the sky is cleared of the massy
clouds of the rainy weather in autumn.
4. My soul is at rest and as cold as a stone; it is filled with the
ambrosial draught of Divine knowledge and its holy light; I find myself
to rest in perfect bliss, and as illumined as the queen of the stars,
rising in her full light in the evening.
5. O thou dispeller of my doubts, and resemblest the clear autumnal
sky, that clears the clouds of the rainy season! I am never full and
satiate with all thy holy teachings to me.
6. Relate to me Sir! for the advancement of my knowledge, how Bali came
to know the transcendental truth. Explain it fully unto me, as holy
saints reserve nothing from their suppliant pupils.
7. Vasishtha replied:—Attend Ráma! to the interesting narrative of
Bali, and your attentive hearing of it, will give you the knowledge of
the endless and everlasting truth and immutable verities.
8. There is in the womb of this earth, and in some particular part of
it, a place called the infernal region, which is situated below this
earth. (The _Infra_ or Pátála means the antipodes and is full of water).
9. It is peopled by the milk white Naiades or marine goddesses, born in
the milky ocean-sweet water, and of the race of demons, who filled
every gap and chasm of it with their progeny. (The subterranean cells,
were peopled by the earth-born Titans).
10. In some places it was peopled by huge serpents, with a hundred and
thousand heads; which hissed loudly with their parted and forky
tongues, and their long projected fangs.
11. In other places there were the mountainous bodies of demons,
walking in their lofty strides, and seeming to fling above the balls of
the worlds as their bonbons, in order to devour them.
12. In another place there were big elephants, upholding the earth on
their elevated probosces, and supporting the islands upon their strong
and projected tusks. (These elephants were of the antediluvian world,
whose fossiled remains are found under the ground).
13. There were ghosts and devils in other places, making hideous
shrieks and noise; and there were groups of hellish bodies, and putrid
carcasses of ghostly shapes.
14. The depth of the nether world concealed in its darksome womb, rich
mines of gems and metals, lying under the surface of the earth, and
reaching to the seventh layer of _pátála_ or infernal regions.
15. Another part of this place, was sanctified by the dust of the
lotus-like feet of the divine Kapila (Siva or Pluto); who was adored by
the gods and demigods, by prostration of their exalted heads at his
holy feet.
16. Another part of it was presided by the god Siva, in his form of a
golden phallus (linga); which was worshipped by the ladies of the
demons, with abundant offerings and merry revelries. (Siva or Pluto—the
infernal god was fond of Bacchanals and revels).
17. Bali the son of Virochana, reigned in this place as the king of
demons, who supported the burden of his kingdom, on the pillars of
their mighty arms.
18. He forced the gods, Vidyádharas, serpents, and the king of the
gods, to serve at his feet like his vassal train, and they were glad to
serve him as their lord.
19. He was protected by Hari, who contains the gemming worlds in the
treasure of his bowels (brahmánda—bhándodara), and is the preserver of
all embodied beings, and the support of the sovereigns of the earth.
20. His name struck terror in the heart of Airávata, and made his
cheeks fade with fear; as the sound of a peacock petrifies the entrails
of serpents (because the peacock is a serpivorous bird).[8]
21. The intense heat of his valour, dried up the waters of the septuple
oceans of the earth; and turned them to seven dry beds, as under the
fire of the universal Conflagration.
22. But the smoke of his sacrificial fire, was an amulet to the people
for supply of water; and it caused the rains to fall as profusely from
above as the seas fallen below from the waters above. (This alludes to
the dynamite which was ignorantly believed to be a talisman).
23. His frowning look, made the high heads of mountains stoop low to
the ground; and caused the lofty skies to lower with water, like the
high branches of trees when overloaded with fruits. (It means, that the
mountains and skies were obedient to his bidding).
24. This mighty monarch reigned over the demons for myriads of years,
after he had made an easy conquest of all the treasures and luxuries of
the world.
25. Thus he lived for many ages, which glided on like the course of a
river rolling about like the waters of whirlpool; and witnessed the
incessant flux and reflux of the generations of gods, demons and men,
of the three worlds.
26. The king of the demons felt at last, a distaste to all the
enjoyments of life, which he had tasted to surfeit; and he felt also an
uneasiness amidst the variety of his pleasures.
27. He retired to the farthest polar mount of Meru, and there sitting
at the balcony of one of its gemming pinnacles, he reflected on the
state of this world and the vanity of mortal life.
28. How long yet, thought he in himself, shall I have to rule over this
world with my indefatigable labour; and how much more must I remain to
roam about the triple world, in my successive transmigrations?
29. Of what use is it to me to have this unrivaled sovereignty, which
is a wonder in the three worlds; and of what good is it to me, to enjoy
this plenteous luxury, which is so charming to the senses?
30. Of what permanent delight are all these pleasures to me, which are
pleasant only for the present short time, and are sure to lose all
their taste with my zest in them in the next moment?
31. There is the same rotation of days and nights in unvarying
succession, and the repetition of the same acts day after day. It is
rather shameful and no way pleasant to any one, to continue in the same
unvaried course of life for a great length of time.
32. The same embraces of our beloved ones, and partaking of the same
food day by day, are amusements fit for playful boys only, but are
disgraceful and disgusting to great minds.
33. What man of taste is there, that will not be disgusted to taste the
same sweets over and over again, which he has tasted all along, and
which have become vapid and tasteless to-day; and what sensible man can
continue in the same course, without the feelings of shame and remorse?
34. The revolving days and nights bring the same revolution of duties,
and I ween this repetition of the same acts—_kritasya karanam_, is as
ridiculous to the wise, as the mastication of his grinded
meat—_charbita charbana_. (Kritasya karanam násti, mritasya maranam
yathá. There is no doing of an act, which has been done? Nor the dying
of a man, that’s already dead).
35. The actions of men are as those of the waves, which rise to fall
and then rise again to subside in the waters. (This rising and falling
over and anon again, is to no purpose whatever).
36. The repetition of the same act, is the employment of mad men; and
the wise man is laughed at, who reiterates the same chime, as the
conjugation of a verb by boys, in all its moods, tenses and inflexions.
37. What action is that which being once completed, does not recur to
us any more, but crowns its actor with his full success all at once?
(It is cessation from repetition of the same action, _i.e._ inaction).
38. Or if this bustle of the world, were for a short duration only, yet
what is the good that we can derive from our engaging in this commotion?
39. The course of actions is as interminable, as the ceaseless
repetends of boyish sports; it is hollow harping on the same string,
which the more it is played upon, the more it reverberates to its
hollow sound. (The acts of men make a renown and vain blustering sound
only, and no real good to the actor).
40. I see no such gain from any of our actions, which being once
gained, may prevent our further exertions. (Action leads to action, but
non-action is a leader to quiescence or _naiskarma_).
41. What can our actions bring forth, beside the objects of sensible
gratification? They cannot bring about anything that is imperishable.
Saying so, Bali fell in a trance of his profound meditation.
42. Coming then to himself; he said:—“Ah! I now come to remember, what
I had heard from my father”: so saying he stretched his eye-brows, and
gave vent to what he thought in his mind.
43. “I had formerly asked my father Virochana, who was versed in
spiritual knowledge, and acquainted with the manners of the people of
former and later ages”.
44. Saying: what is that ultimate state of being, where all our pains
and pleasures cease to exist; and after the attainment of which, we
have no more to wander about the world, or pass through repeated
transmigrations.
45. What is that final state towards which all our endeavours are
directed, and where our minds are freed from their error; and where we
obtain our full rest, after all our wanderings and transmigrations?
46. What is that best of gains, which gives full satisfaction to the
cravings of the soul; and what is that glorious object, whose sight
transcends all other objects of vision?
47. All those various luxuries and superfluities of the world, are no
way conducive to our real happiness; in as much as they mislead the
mind to error, and corrupt the souls of even the wisest of men.
48. “Therefore, O father, show me that state of imperishable felicity,
whereby I may attain to my everlasting repose and tranquility”.
49. My father having heard these words of mine, as he was then sitting
under the shade of the kalpa tree of paradise, whose flowers were
fairer far than the bright beams of the nocturnal luminary, and
overspread the ground all around; spoke to me in his sweet mellifluous
accents the following speech, for the purpose of removing my error.
CHAPTER XXIII.
SPEECH OF VIROCHANA ON SUBJECTION OF THE MIND.
Argument. The soul and mind personified as a monarch and his minister.
Virochana said:—There is an extensive country, my son, somewhere in
this universe, with a spacious concavity therein, whose ample space is
able to hold thousands of worlds and many more spheres in it.
2. It is devoid of the wide oceans and seas and high mountains, as
there are in this earth; and there are not such forests, rivers and
lakes, nor holy places of pilgrimage, as you see here below.
3. There is neither land nor sky, nor the heavenly orbs as on high; nor
are there these suns and moons, nor the regents of the spheres, nor
their inhabitants of gods and demons.
4. There are no races of Yakshas and Rakshas, nor those tribes of
plants and trees, woods or grass; nor the moving and immovable beings,
as you see upon the earth.
5. There is no water, no land, no fire nor air; nor are there the sides
of the compass, nor the regions you call above and below. There is no
light nor shadow, nor the peoples, nor the gods Hari, Indra and Siva,
nor any of the inferior deities or demigods there.
6. There is a great sovereign of that place, who is full of ineffable
light. He is the creator and pervader of all, and is all in all, but
quite quiescent in all places and things.
7. He had elected a minister, who was clever in administration and
brought about what was impossible to be done, and prevented all mishaps
from coming to pass.
8. He neither ate nor drank, nor did nor knew anything, beside minding
and doing his master’s behests. In all other respects he was as
inactive as a block of stone.
9. He conducted every business for his master, who remained quite
retired from all his business, with enjoyment of his rest and ease in
his seclusion, leaving all his concerns to be managed by his minister.
10. Bali said:—Tell me sir, what place is that which is devoid of all
population, and free from all disease and difficulty; who knows that
place, and how can it be reached at by any body.
11. Who is that sovereign of sovran power, and who that minister of so
great might; and who being quite apart from the world, are inseparably
connected with it, and are invincible by our almighty demoniac power.
(This monarch and master is the soul and his minister is the mind).
12. Relate to me, O thou dread of the gods! this marvelous story of the
great might of that minister, in order to remove the cloud of doubt
from my mind, and also why he is unconquerable by us.
13. Virochana replied:—Know my son, this mighty minister to be
irresistible by the gigantic force of the Asura giants, even though
they were aided by millions of demons fighting on their side.
14. He is invincible, my son, by the god of a thousand eyes (Indra),
and also by the gods of riches and death (Kubera and Yama), who conquer
all, and neither the immortals nor giants, can ever overpower him by
their might.
15. All weapons are defeated in their attempt to hurt him, and the
swords and mallets, spears and bolts, disks and cudgels, that are
hurled against him, are broken to pieces as upon their striking against
a solid rock.
16. He is unapproachable by missiles, and invulnerable by arms and
weapons, and unseizable by the dexterity of warriors; and it is by his
resistless might, that he has brought the gods and demigods under his
subjection.
17. It was he (the proud mind) that defeated our forefathers, the
mighty Hiranyas (Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakasipu), before they were
destroyed by the great Vishnu; who felled the big Asuras, as a storm
breaks down the sturdy and rocklike oaks.[9]
18. The gods Náráyana and others (who had been the instructors of men),
were all foiled by him and confined in their cells of the wombs of
their mothers (by an imprecation of the sage Bhrigu, who denounced them
to become incarnate in human forms).
19. It is by his favour that Káma (Cupid), the god with his flower bow
and five arrows, has been enabled to subdue and overcome the three
worlds, and boasts of being their sole emperor. (Káma called also
Manoja, is the child of mana or mind, and Kandarpa for his boast of his
triumph).
20. The gods and demigods, the intelligent and the foolish, the
deformed and the irascible, are all actuated by his influence. (Love is
the leader to action according to Plato).
21. The repeated wars between the gods and Asuras, are the sports of
this minister (who deliberates in secret the destinies of all beings.
The restless mind is continually at warfare).
22. This minister is only manageable by its lord—the silent soul, or
else it is as dull as an immovable rock or restless as the wind.
23. It is in the long run of its advancement in spiritual knowledge,
that the soul feels a desire in itself to subdue its minister; who is
otherwise ungovernable of its nature by lenient measures. (Govern your
mind or it will govern you. The mind is best taught by whip).
24. You are then said to be valiant, if you can conquer this greatest
of the giants in the three worlds, who has been worrying all people out
for their breath. (The mind longs for occupation).
25. After the rising of the intellect, the world appears as a
flower garden, and like the lake of blooming lotuses at sunrise; and
its setting covers the world in darkness as at sunset (_i.e._ in
unconsciousness).
26. It is only by the aid of this intellect of yours, and by removal of
your ignorance, that you can subdue this minister, and be famed for
your wisdom. (Good government of the mind, is more renowned than that
of a realm).
27. By subduing this minister, you become the subduer of the world,
though you are no victor of it; and by your unsubjection of this, you
can have no subjection over the world, though may be the master of it.
28. Therefore be diligent to overcome this minister, by your best and
most ardent exertions, on account of effecting your perfect
consummation, and securing your everlasting happiness.
29. It is easy for him to overcome the triple world, and keep all its
beings of gods and demons, and the bodies of Nágas and men, together
with the races of Yakshas and Rakshas, and the tribes of serpents and
Kinnaras, who has been able to subdue this minister by his superior
might. (Govern yourself, and you govern all besides).
CHAPTER XXIV.
ON THE HEALING AND IMPROVEMENT OF THE MIND.
Argument. Quelling of the misleading mind, and waiting upon the
sovereign soul, with the perfection of Platonic Quietism.
Bali said:—Tell me sir, plainly who is this minister of so great might,
and by what expedients can so mighty a being be vanquished and brought
under subjection.
2. Virochana replied:—Though that minister, is invincible and stands
above all in his great might; yet I will tell you the expedients,
whereby he may be overcome by you or any one else.
3. Son! It is by employment of proper means that he may be easily
brought under subjection, and by neglect of which he will have the
upper hand of you like the snake poison, if it is not repelled in time
by means of efficacious mantras and incantations.
4. The ministerial mind being brought up like a boy in the right way he
should go; leads the man to the presence of the sovran soul, as the
_rája yoga_ or royal service advances the servant before his king.
5. The appearance of the master makes the minister disappear from
sight; as the disappearance of the minister, brings one to the full
view of his king.
6. As long as one does not approach to the presence of his king, he
cannot fail to serve the minister; and so long as he is employed in
service of the minister, he cannot come to the sight of his king.
7. The king being kept out of sight, the minister is seen to exercise
his might; but the minister being kept out of view, the king alone
appears in full view.
8. Therefore must we begin with the practice of both these exercises at
once; namely, approaching by degrees to the sight of the king, and
slighting gradually the authority of the minister.
9. It must be by the exercise of your continued manly exertions and
diligent application, that you employ yourself in both these practices,
in order to arrive to the state of your well being.
10. When you are successful in your practice, you are sure to reach to
that blissful country; and though you are a prince of the demons, you
can have nothing to obstract your entrance into it.
11. That is a place for the abode of the blessed, whose desires are at
rest and whose doubts are dissipated, and whose hearts are filled with
perpetual joy and calmness.
12. Now hear me, explain to you, my son, what that place is which I
called a country. It is the seat of liberation (moksha), and where
there is an end of all our pains.
13. The king of that place is the soul of divine essence, which
transcends all other substances; and it is the mind which is appointed
by that soul as its wise minister.
14. The mind which contains the ideal world in its bosom, exhibits its
sensible form to the senses afterwards; as the clod of clay containing
the mould of the pot, shows itself as the model of a pot to view; and
the smoke having the pattern of the cloud in its essence, represents
its shadowy forms in the sky. (The pattern of everything is engraven in
the mind).
15. Hence the mind being conquered, everything is subdued and brought
under subjection; but the mind is invincible without adoption of proper
means for its subjugation.
16. Bali interrogated:—What are these means, sir, which we are to adopt
for quelling the mind; tell it plainly to me, that I may resort to the
same, for this conquering invincible barrier of bliss.
17. Virochana answered: The means for subduing the mind, are the want
of reliance and confidence on all external and sensible things, and
absence of all desire for temporal possessions.
18. This is the best expedient for removal of the great delusion of
this world, and subduing the big elephant of the mind at once.
19. This expedient is both very easy and practicable on one hand, as it
is arduous and impracticable on the other. It is the constant habit of
thinking so that makes it facile, but the want of such habitude renders
it difficult.
20. It is the gradual habit of renouncing our fondness for temporal
objects, that shows itself in time in our resignation of the world; as
continuous watering at the roots of plants, makes them grow to large
trees afterwards.
21. It is as hard to master anything even by the most cunning, without
its proper cultivation for some time; as it is impossible to reap the
harvest from an unsown and uncultivated field.
22. So long are all embodied souls destined to rove about the
wilderness of the world, as there is the want of resignation in their
heart of all the sensible objects in nature.
23. It is impossible without the habit of apathy, to have a distaste
for sensible objects, as it is no way possible for an ablebodied man,
to travel abroad by sitting motionless at home.
24. The firm determination of abandoning the stays of life, and a
habitual aversion to pleasures and enjoyments, make a man to advance to
purity, as a plant grows in open air to its full height.
25. There is no good to be derived on earth, without the exertion of
one’s manliness, and man must give up his pleasure and the vexation of
his spirit, in order to reap the fruit of his actions.
26. People speak of a power as destiny here, which has neither any
shape nor form of itself. It means whatever comes to pass, and is also
called our lot or fatality.
27. The word destiny is used also by mankind, to mean an accident over
which they have no control, and to which they submit with passive
obedience.
28. They use the word destiny for repression of our joy and grief (at
what is unavoidable); but destiny however fixed as fate, is overcome
and set aside by means of manly exertions (in many instances).
29. As the delusion of the mirage, is dispelled by the light of its
true nature; so it is the exertion of manliness, which upsets destiny
by effecting whatever it wishes to bring about.
30. If we should seek to know the cause for the good or bad results of
our actions, we must learn that they turn as well as the mind wishes to
mould them to being.
31. Whatever the mind desires and decrees, the same become the
destiny; there is nothing destined (or distinctly to be known), as what
we may call to be destined or undestined.
32. It is the mind that does all this, and is the employer of destiny;
it destines the destined acts of destiny.
33. Life or the living soul is spread out in the hollow sphere of the
world, like air in vacuum. The psychic fluid circulates through all
space.
(The psychic fluid extending throughout the universe, according to the
theory of Stahl).
34. Destiny is no reality, but a term invented to express the property
of fixity, as the word rock is used to denote stability. Hence there is
no fixed fate or destiny, as long as the mind retains its free will and
activity.
35. After the mind is set at rest, there remains the principle of the
living soul (Jíva—zoo). This is called the _purusha_ or embodied
spirit, which is the source of the energies of the body and mind.
36. Whatever the living soul intends to do by means of its spiritual
force, the same comes to take place and no other. (There being not even
the influence of the mind to retard its action. So my son, there is no
other power in the world except that of spirit or spiritual force).
37. Reliance on this spiritual power will uproot your dependance on
bodily nutriments; and there is no hope of spiritual happiness, until
there is a distaste towards temporal enjoyments.
38. It is hard to attain to the dignity of the all conquering
self-sufficiency, as long as one has the dastardly spirit of his
earthly cravings.
39. As long as one is swinging in the cradle of worldly affairs, it is
hard for him to find his rest in the bower of peaceful tranquility.
40. It is hard for you to get rid of your serpentine (crooked) desires,
without your continued practice of indifference to and unconcernedness
with worldly affairs.
41. Bali rejoined:—Tell me, O lord of demons! in what manner,
indifference to worldly enjoyments, takes a deep root in the human
heart; and produces the fruit of longevity of the embodied spirit on
earth. (By longevity is meant the spiritual life of man, and his
resting in the divine Spirit, by being freed from the accidents of
mortal life).
42. Virochana replied:—It is the sight of the inward spirit, which is
productive of indifference to worldly things; as the growth of vines is
productive of the grapes in autumn.
43. It is the sight of the inward Spirit, which produces our internal
unconcernedness with the world; as it is the glance of the rising sun,
which infuses its lustre in the cup of the lotus.
44. Therefore sharpen your intellect, by the whetstone of right
reasoning; and see the Supreme Spirit, by withdrawing your mind from
worldly enjoyments.
45. There are two modes of intellectual enjoyment, of which one
consists of book learning, and the other is derived from attendance on
the lectures of the preceptor, by those that are imperfect in their
knowledge. (_i.e._ The one is theoretical for adepts and the other is
practical for novices).
46. Those who are a little advanced in learning, have the double
advantage of their mental enjoyment, namely: their reflection of book
learning and consultation with wise preceptors on practical points.
(Hence the practice of Yoga requires a Yogi guide also).
47. Those who are accomplished in learning, have also two parts of
their duties to perform; namely, the profession of the sástras teaching
them to others, and the practice of indifference for themselves. (But
the last and lowest kind, only have to wait on the guru and reflect on
what they hear from him).
48. The soul being purified, the man is fitted for Spiritual learning;
as it is the clean linen only which is fit to receive every good
tincture upon it.[10]
49. The mind is to be trained by degrees, like a boy in the path of
learning; namely by means of persuasion and good lectures, and then by
teaching of the sástras, and lastly by discussion of their doctrines.
50. After its perfection in learning and dispersion of all difficulties
and doubts, the mind shines as a piece of pure crystal, and emits its
lustre like the cooling moonbeams.
51. It then sees by its consummate knowledge and clear understanding,
in both the form of its God the Spirit, and the body which is the seat
of its enjoyments on earth.
52. It constantly sees the spirit before it, by means of its
understanding and reason; which help it also to relinquish its desire
for worldly objects and enjoyments.
53. The sight of the Spirit produces the want of desires, and the
absence of these shows the light of the spirit to its sight; therefore
they are related to each other like the wick and oil of the lamp, in
producing the light, and dispelling the darkness of the night.
54. After the loss of relish in worldly enjoyments, and the sight of
the Supreme Spirit, the soul finds its perpetual rest in the essence of
the Supreme Brahma.
55. The living souls that place their happiness in worldly objects, can
never have the taste of true felicity, unless they rely themselves
wholly in the Supreme Spirit.
56. It may be possible to derive some delight from acts of charity,
sacrifices and holy pilgrimage; but none of these can give the
everlasting rest of the Spirit.
57. No one feels a distaste for pleasure, unless he examines its nature
and effects in himself; and nothing can teach the way of seeing the
soul, unless the soul reflects on itself.