living dead among our friends; it is all magic and delusion, and
nothing is true or real herein.
15. Our minds are as wild beasts, roaming furiously in the forest of
error; which presents endless scenes of delusion to living beings at
large.
16. Reflecting on these delusions in his mind, Gádhi passed some days
at his own house amidst the woods.
17. Once on a time he happened to entertain a Bráhman at his house as
his guest, who resorted there to take his rest from his travels.
18. He was highly gratified with feasting upon fruits and syrup of
flowers, and was as refreshed supplied with sap as the tree which is
supplied by the bounteous spring, and shoots forth in its foliage and
fruitage in time.
19. They then performed their evening service, and turned their beads,
and afterwards took to their beds made of tender leaves and grass.
20. There they began to talk on divine subjects, with which they were
conversant; and the words fell from the lips, like the sweets of the
vernal season.
21. Then Gádhi asked his guest in the course of their conversation,
saying: why is it sir, that you are so thin and lean and appear to lie
so very weary.
22. The guest replied:—Hear me sir, relate to you the cause both of my
leanness and weariness, and I will tell you the true facts, and not as
a travelling teller of tales deals and lies.
23. There is on the surface of this land, and in the woody tracts of
the north, the great district of the Kir (Kirgis?), which is far
renowned for its richness. (Kir the land of the Gees in Afghanistan).
24. I lived in the city there; and was honoured by its inhabitants, and
the gust of my soul and mind were mightily pleased with the variety of
dainty food that I used to get there.
25. There it was once related to me by some one in the way of gossip,
that a chandála had once been the king of that country for the space of
eight years.
26. I inquired of the village people about the truth of this report,
and they all told me with one voice, that a chandála, had really
reigned there for full eight years.
27. But being discovered at last as such, he immolated himself on the
burning pile; which was followed by the self-immolation of hundreds of
Bráhmans on the funeral pyre.
28. Hearing this news from their mouths, I departed from that district,
intending, O Bráhman, to do my penance, by making a pilgrimage to
Prayága (Allahabad, on the doab or confluence of the two sacred streams
of Gangá and Jamuna).
29. I made my _chándráyana_ fast for three days and nights, and had to
break my fast only this day. It is for this reason, that have become so
very thin and lean, as you find me at present.
30. Vasishtha said:—Gádhi on hearing this, made a hundred inquiries of
his guest about the matter, to which he answered everything in
verification of the fact.
31. Gádhi was quite surprised at this narration, and passed the night
till sunrise in great palpitation of his heart.
32. Waking in the morning, he made his ablution and discharged his
matins; then took leave of his guest, and began to reflect in himself
with his bewildered understanding.
33. He said to himself, what I saw in my delusion, is ratified as a
fact by my Bráhman guest. I am puzzled to think, whether this be a
magic, or a fascination of the conjurer Sambara.
34. What I saw about my death amidst my relatives, was undoubtedly a
delusion of my mind; but the latter part of my vision (of becoming a
Chandála), is verified by the Bráhman’s observance of the penance
Chándráyana for his having entered the Chandála city.
35. I must therefore learn fully the particulars of the Chandála, and
proceed immediately to the Bhuta country (Bhutan?) with an undaunted
mind.
36. Thus determined, Gádhi rose to visit the distant district, as the
sun rises over the horizon to visit all the sides of Sumeru (the Altain
chain, at the bottom of which the country of the Kirgis is situated).
37. He travelled onward, and obtained at last the sight of the country
he had seen in his dream; as intelligent and wayfaring men, reach to
their desired destinations in distant regions.
38. Finding everything, however unattainable it may appear at first, to
be attained by perseverance, Gádhi was resolved to make a test of the
truth of his delusive dream.
39. He had proceeded from his home, with the swiftness of a current
rivulet in the rainy weather; and traversed through many unknown
countries, as a cloud passes over distant realms on the back of its
airy steed.
40. At last he came to the country of the Bhatas (Bhoteas), a people
following their own debased customs; and thought himself to be got
amongst a savage people, as a camel is confounded to find itself,
fallen in a karanja forest, in quest of thorny thistles. (The camels or
cramelas are called kantaka_ bhojes_, from their browsing the brambles).
41. There he saw in its vicinity a city, as what he had seen in his
delusion; and resembling in every respect the habitation of the
Gandharva race.
42. Proceeding onward, he saw at the further end, the locality of the
chandálas, resembling the hell-pit of the infernal region. (The
out-castes are always located at the filthy outskirts of towns).
43. It was as spacious a place as what he had seen in his vision, and
beheld his own likeness in the dream appearing in the figures of the
chandálas, as one sees the shape of a Gandharva or ghost, in his dream
or delirium.
44. He saw in that place the habitation of chandálas, as what he had
seen before in his delusion, and observed with grief and coldness of
his mind (the deserted abodes of his fellow Chandálas).
45. He saw his own residence flooded over by rain water grown with
sprouts of barley and brambles; his house was left roofless, and his
bedstead was almost indiscernible.
46. His hut presented the picture of poverty and wretchedness, and its
compound was a scene of ruin and desolation (as if it was laid waste by
the hand of oppression and pillage).
47. Gádhi stood long gazing upon the dry white bones of bulls and cows,
buffaloes and horses, which lay strewn over the plains round about his
hut; and which he remembered to be the remains of the beasts of his
prey and slaughter (_lit._:—the bones broken under the teeth and jaws
of men and wild beasts).
48. He saw the dry hollow skulls lying on the ground, which had served
for his eating and drinking vessels before; and which still lay unmoved
on the spot, and were filled with rain water (as if to supply him with
drink).
49. He saw strings of the dried entrails of the beasts of his victims,
lying like parched plants on the plain, and pining with thirst for the
rain-water.
50. Gádhi who was conscious of himself (as Gádhi), the Bráhman looked
long at his former house and its environs, resembling the dry and
dilapidated skeleton of a human body, lying unburied on the naked land.
51. He stood amazed at what he saw, and then withdrew himself to the
adjacent village; as when a traveller repairs to the habitation of the
Aryas, from his sojourning in the land of barbarians (Mlech’chas).
52. There he asked some one saying, sir, do you remember anything
concerning the former state of yonder village, and the lives of its
chandála inhabitants?
53. I have heard all good people say, that knowing men are conversant
with the annals of all places, as they know every spot on a globe in
their hand.
54. If you recollect aught of the good old chandála that, lived retired
at yonder spot, and if you remember his adventures, as every one does
the past accidents of his own life:—
55. If you are acquainted with the particulars thereabouts, then please
to relate them unto me; for it is said there is great spirit in
directing a stranger, and in dispelling the doubts of one hanging in
suspense.
56. The village people being one by one importuned in this manner by
the strange Bráhman; they were as much surprised at his odd request, as
physicians are concerned at the abnormal complaint of a patient.
57. The villagers said:—It is an undeniable truth, O Bráhman! as you
say, that there lived a chandála of hideous shape by name of Katanjala
at that place.
58. He was beset by a large family, consisting of his sons, grandsons,
friends and servants; and had other relatives and kinsmen besides. His
children were as many as the fruits of a mango tree.
59. But cruel fate snatched all his family in course of time, as a
conflagration burns down a mountain forest with all its fruits and
flowers at once.
60. He then deserted his native land and went over to the city of the
Kirs, of which he became the king; and reigned there for the space of
twice four years.
61. The citizens coming to know his mean birth afterwards, drove him
from there at last; as they remove a noxious and poisonous tree from
the garden.
62. Gádhi seeing the people immolating themselves on funeral piles
entered into a burning pyre, which he had prepared for himself; and was
thus purified with others by the sacred fire _pávaka_.
63. But tell us, O Bráhman, why you are so curiously inquisitive about
the chandála, and as to whether he was any friend of yours, or you had
contracted any friendship with him.
64. Being accosted in this manner, Gádhi made many more inquiries of
them concerning the chandála, and passed a whole month in their several
houses on his inquiry.
65. He also told the village people, all that he knew of the chandála
in his dream; and they heard him attentively relating the whole story
from first to last.
66. Gádhi being informed of all the particulars regarding the chandála,
both from the hearsay of the people as well as from his personal
observations; returned equally ashamed and astonished to his abode,
with the disgraceful reflection of his past vileness, which was stamped
like the black spot of the moon upon the tablet of his mind.
CHAPTER XLVIII.
ON THE WONDROUS POWER OF ILLUSION.
Argument. Devotion of Gádhi after his return, and Vishnu’s exhibition
of the extraordinary power of delusion to him
Vasishtha continued:—Gádhi was bewildered in his mind, at all that
he heard and observed about the Chandála and his residence, and felt
uneasy to learn more about them.
2. He went back to the place, and observed the abodes that lay
scattered upon the plain; as when the lotus-born Brahmá looks over the
ruins, made by the great deluge at the end of a kalpa age.
3. He said to himself, those bones lying scattered about the ruined
huts in this forest, look like little imps (pisáchas), gathered round
the trees standing on the burial ground.
4. These posts and pegs of elephant’s tusks, that are fastened to and
upon the walls of the ruined houses; look like the craigs of mount
Meru, drowned under the waters of the kalpa deluge.
5. Here the Chandála feasted on his meat food of monkey’s flesh, and
dressed with the sprouts of young bamboos; and there he caroused on his
country grog, in company with his drunken friends.
6. Here he slept in the embrace of his murky spouse, on his bed of the
lion’s skin; being drunk with the better liquor mixed with the ichor,
exuding from the frontal proboscis of the elephant.
7. There was a pack of hounds, tied to the trunk of the withered
_Bharaeda_ tree, and fed with the rotten flesh of the putrid carcasses.
8. Here I see three earthen vessels covered with the hides of
buffaloes, resembling fragments of dark clouds; and which had once
contained the precious pearls falling from the sculls of slain
elephants. (The low and poor people, use earthen pots and boiling
kettles for boxes and chests).
9. I see the site of the place which I had seen in my dream, and where
the Chandála boys played on the dust, with as much glee and gaiety, as
the cuckoos have in flitting on the tufts of mango leaves.
10. I see the place I had seen in my vision, where the boys sang
responsive to the tune of their bamboo pipes; and drank the milk of
bitches, and adorned themselves with flowers from the funeral grounds.
11. Here the families of the wedding parties, met together to celebrate
their marriage festivity; and danced and sang as loudly, as the noise
of the dashing waves of the sea.
12. There I find the bamboo cages, still suspended on high; which were
laid before, for catching the flying birds of the air; in order to be
killed for the food (of their slayers).
13. Vasishtha resumed:—Thus Gádhi remained for a long time on the spot,
observing all what he remembered to have seen in his dream; and was
lost in wonder, to think on the miraculous disclosure of these things
in his dream. (Lit.:—heart-strings palpitated with surprise &c.).
14. He then departed from that place, and travelled through many
countries beyond the boundaries of Butan, for a long time.
15. He passed over many rivers and rocks, and through many deserts and
forests; until he reached to the snowy mountain, and the habitation of
humankind beyond its borders.
16. He then arrived at the city of a great monarch, the towers of which
rose as hills upon the earth; and there stopped after his long journey,
as when Nárada rests in his heavenly dome, after the fatigue of
travelling through the numerous worlds.
17. He beheld in that city all the places answering to the romantic
thoughts in his mind, and those as he had seen and enjoyed in his
dream, and then asked the citizens in a respectful manner.
18. Good Sirs, said he, do you remember any thing regarding the
Chandála king that reigned here for sometime, which, if you do, be
pleased to relate unto me in its proper order.
19. The citizens replied:—Yes, O Bráhman, there reigned here a Chandála
king for full eight years, and he was elected to its government, by the
auspicious elephant of the realm.
20. Being at last discovered to be of so vile a race, he committed his
self-immolation on the funeral pyre; and it is now a dozen of years,
since the direful event has taken place.
21. In this manner the inquisitive Gádhi continued in his inquiry of
every man he met with, and was satisfied to learn the same information
from the mouth of every body there.
22. He then beheld the king of that city coming with his body guards
and vehicles, and whom he recognized to be no other than the god Vishnu
and his attendants as he had seen in his devotion, and were now going
out of the city.
23. He saw the sky shadowed by the cloud of dust raised by the feet of
the passing procession; and remembered with grief the like state of his
pomp under his past kingship.
24. He said to himself, here are the same Kiri damsels with their rosy
skins, resembling the petals of lotuses; and those with their bodies
blazing as liquid gold, and their cerulean eyes trembling like blue
lotuses.
25. The waving of the chouri flappers, flashes with the light of bright
moonbeams; and resembles the falling waters of a cascade, and clusters
of kása flowers.
26. Beautiful maidens, waving the snow white fans in their beauteous
hands, resembled the forest plants with pearly flower on their branches.
27. The rows of furious elephants, standing on both sides of the land,
are like thick lines of kalpa trees, growing on ridges of the Sumeru
mountains.
28. These chieftains resembling the gods Yama, Kuvera and Varuna—the
lord of waters, are like the regents of the different quarters of the
sky, accompanying Indra—the lord of heaven.
29. These long extending lines of goodly edifices, which are full of a
great variety of things, and abounding in all sorts of comforts,
resemble a grove of kalpa trees, conferring all the objects of desire.
30. In this royal city of the Kirs, and in the manners of its assembled
people, I see exactly the same customs and usages, as those of the
kingdom of my past life.
31. Truly this is but a vision in my dream, and appearing as a reality
in my waking state; I cannot understand why this delusive magic show is
spread out before me.
32. O yes, I am as fast bound by my ignorance, and captivated by my
reminiscence, as a captive bird in a net, that has lost all power over
itself.
33. O fie! that my silly mind is so deluded by its desires, that it is
always wont to mistake the shadow for the substance, of people dwelling
in their aerial castles.
34. This extraordinary magic, I ween is shown to me by Vishnu—the
holder of the discus, of whom I recollect to have asked the favour of
showing Máyá or delusion to me.
35. I will now betake myself to austere devotion in the cavern of a
hill, in order to learn the origin and subsistence of delusion (_i.e._
how the deceitful delusion sprang from the truthful God, and where in it
consists).
36. Having long thought in this manner, Gádhi went out of the city, and
came to the cavern of mountain; where he rested after all his travels
and travail of thought, like a lion tired with his roaming for forage.
37. He remained there for a whole year, living only on the water of the
cataract collected in the hollow of his palm; and devoted himself to
the worship of Vishnu, the holder of the Sáringi bow.
38. Then the lotus eyed god appeared to him in his watery form, which
was as clear and graceful to sight, as the limpid lake of autumn with
the blue lotuses full blown upon it.
39. With this form, the god approached to the hermit’s cell in the
mountain, and stood over it in the likeness of a transparent watery
cloud, resting on the humid atmosphere.
40. The lord spoke to him saying:—Gádhi thou hast fully seen the great
spell of my magic (máyá); and known the network or delusion, which is
spread by destiny over all the affairs of this world. (_i.e._ Man is
destined, and to be deluded to think the false scenes of the world as
real ones).
41. Thou hast now well understood the nature of delusion, which thou
didst desire in thy heart to know, what is it again that thou wantest
to know, by these austerities of thine in this mountain cave?
42. Vasishtha said:—Gádhi the best of Bráhmans, seeing Hari addressing
him in this manner, honoured him duly with strewing plentiful of
flowers at his divine feet.
43. After Gádhi had made his offering of flowers, with due obeisance
and turning round the deity; he addressed him with his words, sounding
as sweet as notes of the chátaka to the blooming lotus.
44. Gádhi said:—Lord! I have seen the dark delusion, that thou hast
shown me in her form of gloominess; I pray thee now to show her unto me
in her fair form, as the sun appears after the gloom of night.
45. The mind which is vitiated by the dirt of its desires, views a
great many errors, rising before it like false phantoms and visions in
a dream; but how is it my lord! that the same visions continue to be
seen in the waking state also (or as waking dreams likewise)?
46. It was for a moment only that I thought to have seen some thing as
false as a dream, when I stood amidst the waters but how was it, O thou
enlightener of the mind, that it became manifest to my outward sense
and sight?
47. Why was not the delusion of my birth and death as a Chandála, which
took place long ago, and lately verified by many visible vestiges,
confined in my memory only, as well as other idle creations of the
brain, but became palpable to my naked eyes?
48. The lord replied:—Gádhi! it is the nature of delirium as of one’s
desires, to present many false appearances to view; and to make one
believe what he has never seen before, to be present to his external
sight, which in reality is a vision of his mind only.
49. There is nothing on the outside of any body as the earth, sea,
hills and the sky; they are all contained in the mind as the fruits,
flowers and leaves of trees, are born in the seed and grow from its
germ.
50. Like fruits and flowers growing out of the seed and its sprout,
this earth and all other things are the productions of the mind alone,
and not distinct from it in their essences (_i.e._ all sensible
perceptions are not reflexions of the inborn ideas of the mind).
51. Know it for certain that this earth and all other things, are
situated in the mind and not outside of it; as the fruit, flowers and
leaves are all contained in the inside of the seed and not without it.
52. The sight of things present, and the thoughts of the absent past
and unseen future, are all but acts of the mind, as the making and
unmaking of pots, are both of them the doings of the pot maker.
53. Whatever notions there are in the minds of men from their youth to
age are alike to the phantoms of their dream or the deliriums of their
ebriety or some (mental) disease.
54. The settled desires of the mind present a thousand appearances
before its sight, as the rooted plants on earth, abound with fruits and
flowers of various kinds, on the surface of the ground.
55. But the plants being rooted out of the ground, there remains no
vestige of a fruit or flower or leaf upon earth: so the desires being
driven out of the mind, there is no more any trace of anything left
behind them; nor is there any probability of future transmigrations,
when the reminiscence of the past is utterly obliterated from the soul.
56. It is no wonder for the shifting stage of the mind, to present you
the single scene of the Chandála, when it has in store, and can with
equal ease show you an infinity of appearances at its pleasure. (The
drama of life exhibits but a partial scene at a time).
57. It was the impression (_eidolon_) in thy mind, that made thee think
thyself as the Chandála, in the manner of the many phantoms, that rise
before the mind in the delirium of a sickly person.
58. It was the same phrenzy that made thee see the advent of thy
Bráhman guest, and entertain him with board and bed; and all thy
conversation with him, was no other than the phantasies of thy mind.
59. Then the thoughts of thy departure from home, and arrival at the
district of the Bhootas, thy sight of the Bhotias and their villages
and habitations, were but aberrations of thy mind.
60. Next thy sight of the ruins of the former abode of Katanjala, and
the account that thou didst get of him from the mouths of the people,
were all the fumes of thy fancy.
61. Afterwards thy visit to the city of the Kirs, and the tale told
thee of the Chandála’s reign by the people, were the excogitations of
thy own mind.
62. Thus all that thou didst hear and see, was the net-work of thy
imagination, and what thou dost believe as true is as false as a
phantom of thy brain.
63. The mind infatuated by its hopes and desires sees everything before
it, how far soever it may be removed from it; as one dreams of objects
as present before him, which would take a whole year for him to reach
at.
64. There was neither the guest nor the city, nor were there the
Bhotias or the Kiris that thou didst see in reality. It was all a day
dream, that thou didst see with thy mind’s eye.
65. The truth is, that on thy way to the country of the Bhotias at one
time, thou didst halt in the cave of this mountain, as a stag rests
himself in a forest, after his long wandering.
66. There being tired with the fatigue of thy travel, thou didst fall
into a sound sleep; and dreamt of the Bhotia city and the Chandála, in
thy reverie without seeing anything in reality.
67. It was there and in the same state of thy mind that thou sawest the
city of the Kirs; and it was the delusion of thy mind that showed thee
those things at the time of thy devotion in the water.
68. In this manner thou dost see many other things, wherever thou goest
at any time; as a high flier sees his vagaries on all sides about him.
(All worldly sights, are but vagaries of imagination).
69. Rise therefore and remain unshaken in the discharge of thy duties,
without being misled by the vagaries of thy mind; because it is
practice of one’s profession that leads him to success, and not the
ideals or his mind. (_i.e._ Mind thyself what thou art, and not what
thou dost fancy to be).
70. Vasishtha said:—So saying the lotus-naveled Hari, who is worshipped
by the saints and sages in all places, went to his abode in the sea,
where he was received by the hands of the gods and holy sages, who led
him to his residence. (Vishnu is called lotus-naveled पद्मलाभः on account
of Brahma’s birth from it, who is thence named the lotus-born पद्मयोनी ।).
CHAPTER XLIX.
GÁDHI’S GAINING OF TRUE KNOWLEDGE.
Argument. Gádhi gains his knowledge and Liberation from Hari in his
Life-time.
Vasishtha continued:—Vishnu being gone, Gádhi began to wander again
about the Bhota country, as a cloud continues to move about in the air.
2. Having collected many informations about himself in the life of the
chandála, he betook himself again to the worship of Vishnu in the cave
of a mountain.
3. In course of a short time, Hari appeared to him again; as it is his
nature to be pleased with a little devotion, made with sincerity of
heart.
4. The god spoke to Gádhi with as much complaisance, as the watery
cloud addresses the peacock; and asked him what he wanted again by his
repeated devotion.
5. Gádhi replied:—Lord! I have again wandered about the countries of
the Bhotas and Kirs for these past six months, and found no discrepancy
in the accounts, they gave of me lately from the former ones.
6. Thou hast told me, Lord! all this to be mere delusion, (which prove
to be positive facts by the testimony of every body). I know the words
of the great, serve to dissipate and not increase the delusion (as it
is done by thy words).
7. The Lord said:—It often happens that many things are of simultaneous
occurrence at the one and same time; as the _kákatálíya sanyoga_ or the
synchronous flying of the crow and the falling of the fruit upon him.
Thus it was that the idea of the Chandála was of contemporaneous growth
in the minds of all the Bhotas and Kirs as of thyself: as there are
many men that are prepossessed with the same opinion with others,
however wrong it may be.
8. It was by cause of this, that they corresponded with thy thoughts,
and related thy story as thou didst reflect it thyself: because a
cogitation or reflection of something cannot be otherwise at the same
time (but it must appear to every body alike).
9. It is true that a Chandála had erected a house at the border of the
village, which thou didst see to be now reduced to ruins; but it was an
erroneous conception of thine, to think thyself the very man, and to
have built the very house. (It was the mistake of thy personality for
another, as it often overtakes the minds of many men).
10. Sometimes the same mistake lays hold on many minds, as the
multitude is seen to be led astray, by the simultaneous current of the
same opinions in many ways.
11. In this manner many men see at once the same dream, as the giddy
heads of drunken men, fall equally into the same kind of dizziness at
the same time, of seeing the earth and skies turning and rolling round
them.
12. Many boys are seen at once to join in the same sport, and a whole
herd of stags is observed to meet together in the same verdant field.
13. Many men are seen simultaneously to pursue the same employment, for
the purpose of gaining the like object of their pursuit (as it is seen
in the flight and fighting of an army for their safety or victory).
14. It is commonly said, that time is the giver (or producer) and
obstructer of the objects of human pursuits as of all other events; but
time is as quiescent as the supreme spirit, and it is the desire and
exertion of people, that are the causes of their desired effects.
15. Time is a formless void, and is identic with the nature and form of
the increate great Lord God himself. It is neither the giver nor taker
of anything to or from any one at any time.
16. Time according to its common reckoning by years, kalpas and
yuga-ages, is classed among the categories of substance; but time far
from being a substance, is the source of all substances.
17. Men of deluded understanding are subject to the errors, arising
from the like cause of their fallacy; and it was owing to this false
conception, that the Bhota and Kiri people, fell into the very same
error. (Like cause means, the same kind of bias or prejudice &c.).
18. Therefore employ thyself to do thy duty, and try to know thy
true-self; get rid of the error of thy personality (as so and so), and
move about as freely as I do by myself (as a free aerial spirit).
19. Saying this, the lord Vishnu disappeared from his sight; and Gádhi
remained in his cave, with great perplexity of his mind.
20. He passed some months on the same hill, and then resumed his
devotion to Vishnu with redoubled fervency.
21. He saw his god appearing again to his view, when he bowed down
before him, and addressed him as follows:—
22. Gádhi said:—O Lord! I am quite bewildered with the thought of my
Chandálship, and my reflection on the delusions of this world.
23. Do thou deign to extricate me from my errors, and employ me to the
only act of adoring the Holy one.
24. The lord said:—This world, O Bráhman! is a delusion, like the
enchantment of the conjurer Sambara; all things here, are the wondrous
productions of imagination, and proceed from forgetfulness of the self.
25. It was your error that made you see many things, in your sleeping
and waking dreams.
26. The Kirs were led also to see the same things like thyself, and to
mistake those falsities as true, owing to the same error laying hold of
all of you at the same time. (As the tricks of a juggler are thought to
be true by the observers).
27. Now hear me tell you the truth as it was for your own good; and
whereby your error will fade away, like a creeping plant in the
chilling month of November.
28. The Chandála Kátanjaka, whom thou thinkest to be thyself, was a man
really existent in the same locality before.
29. Who being bereaved of his family there, went out from that place to
wander about in foreign parts; when he became king of the Kiris, and
afterwards immerged himself in the fire.
30. This state of Kátanjaka entered into thy mind, when thou hadst been
standing amidst the water in thy devotion; and the thoughts of the
whole career of the Chandála, had altogether engrossed thy mind.
31. Things which are seen or thought of once, can hardly escape from
the memory; and it sometimes happens that the mind comes to see many
things in its imagination, which it has never seen before its eyes.
32. In the manner of a man’s vision of a kingdom in his dream, and like
the delirium caused by the vitiated humours, of the body; the mind sees
many day dreams and deliriums in its waking and healthy states also.
33. The past conduct of Kátanja presented itself to your mind, as the
past and future events of the world, are present before the mental
vision of an oracle (lit.:—a seer of the three times).
34. That this is I, and these things and those friends are mine; is the
mistake of those that are devoid of their self-knowledge; (as thou
didst think that Kátanja to be thyself, and his house, goods and
relatives to be thine also).
35. But that ‘I am all in all’ is the belief of the truly wise, which
prevents them from falling into such mistakes; and keeps them from the
wrong notions of individualities and particularities, from their belief
in the generality of all persons and things.
36. This general and œcumenical view of all things, preserves people
from the mistaken notions of pleasure and pain; and makes the drowning
wretch as buoyant, as the floating gourd or bottle tied to a sinking
net.
37. But thou art entangled in the snare of thy desire, and art lost to
thy good sense; nor canst thou be at thy perfect ease, as long as thou
dost suffer under the symptoms of thy sickness.
38. It is because of thy imperfect knowledge, that thou art incapable
to ward off the errors of thy mind; just as it is impossible for a man
to protect himself from the rain, without his endeavours to raise a
shed or shelter for himself.
39. Thou art easily susceptible of every impression of thy untutored
mind, as a small tree is easily over-reached by a tall person.
40. The heart is the nave or axis of the wheel of delusion; if thou
canst stop the motion of this central power, there is nothing to
disturb thee any more. (self-regret, says the gloss, serves to stop the
motion of the heart).
41. Now rise and repair to the sacred bower on this mountain, and there
perform your austerities for full ten years with a steady mind; so that
thou mayst attain to thy perfect knowledge at the end of this period.
42. So saying, the lotus-eyed god disappeared from that place, as a
flimsy cloud or candle-light or the billow of Jamuna, is put out by a
slight gust of the wind.
43. Gádhi then gradually gained his dispassionateness, by means of his
discrimination; as the trees fade away for want of moisture, at the end
of autumn.
44. Now getting rid of the vagaries of his mind, Gádhi remained to
reflect upon and blamed himself, for his fostering the false thoughts
of the Chandála and the like.
45. He then with his heart melting in pity and sorrow for himself,
repaired to the Rishya-mukha mount, for the purpose of making his
penitence; and he sat there in the manner of a rainy cloud, stopping on
the top of a mountain.
46. He relinquished all his desires, and performed his austere devotion
(as it was his duty); and at last he attained the knowledge of his
self, after the expiration of the tenth year of his penitence.
47. Having obtained his knowledge of himself like the great-souled
Brahmá, and getting rid of his fears and sorrows in this world of
retribution; he wandered about with the joy of a living liberated
being, and with perfect tranquility of his mind, resembling the serene
lustre of the full-moon, revolving in the sphere of the sky.
CHAPTER L.
INTENTIONS OF RÁMA.
Argument. On subjection of the mind and greatness of knowledge; and
stoutness of the heart as the cause of all evil.
Vasishtha continued:—Know Ráma, this delusion to be as extensive in
its form, as it is inexplicable in its nature; it is fraught with
ignorance; it is a spiritual illusion and no sensible deception.
2. Look on the one hand at the erroneous dream of the Bráhman for a
couple of hours, and his transformation into the state of Chandála
which lasted for many years.
3. Observe how the false conception of the Bráhman, appeared as present
to his sensible perception; and see how the false thought appeared as
true to him, and his true knowledge of him-self vanishing at last into
untruth.
4. I say therefore this illusion, to be utterly inexplicable in its
nature; and how it leads the unguarded mind, to a great many errors and
difficulties and dangers at last.
5. Ráma asked:—How Sir, can we put a stop to the wheel of delusion,
which by its rapid rotation, is constantly grinding every part of our
body? (Figuratively used for every good quality of the mind. Gloss).
6. Vasishtha said:—Know Ráma, this revolving world is the wheel of
delusion, and the human heart is the nave or axis of this great wheel;
which by its continual rotation produces all this delusion within its
circle.
7. If you can by means of your manly exertion, put a stop to the motion
of your heart, as it were by fixing a peg to the loop-hole of the
wheel, you stop the rotation of the circle of delusion at once.
8. Again the mind is the nave of the wheel of ignorance; and if you can
stop its motion, by binding it fast by the rope of your good sense; you
escape the danger of falling into the vortiginous rotation of errors.
9. Ráma, you are well skilled in the art of fighting by hurling the
discus, and cannot be ignorant of preventing its motion by stopping it
at the central hole.
10. Therefore, O Ráma! be diligent to stop the nave of your mind; and
you will be enabled thereby to preserve yourself, both from the
revolution of the world and vicissitudes of time.
11. The soul that rejects this counsel, is exposed to interminable
misery; while by keeping it always before the sight of the mind, it
avoids all difficulties in this world.
12. There is no other medicine for any body, to heal the disease of his
worldliness, save by restraining the mind to its own pivot.
13. Forsake therefore, O Ráma! your acts of holy pilgrimage, and
observance of austerity and charity (which are of no avail to the peace
of the soul); but keep the mind under your control, for attainment of
your supreme felicity.
14. The world is situated in the mind, as the air is confined in a pot;
but the mind being restricted to itself, the world is lost to it; as
the pot just broken, lets out the air to mix in endless vacuity.
15. You who are for ever confined in the imaginary world of your mind,
like a gnat confined in the hollow of a pot; will get your release only
by breaking out of this confinement, like the gnat flying into the open
air.
16. The way to get rid of the delusions of the mind, is to fix your
attention only to the present moment; and not to employ your thoughts
about the past and future events. (This will keep your attention close
to yourself).
17. You will then arrive to the state of that holy unmindfulness called
_non-chalance_, when you cease to pursue at once any of the objects of
your desire or imagination.
18. The mind is obscured so long, as it has the mist of its desires and
fancies flying over it; as the sky is overcast as long as the watery
clouds overspread upon it.
19. As long as the intelligent soul is joined with the faculty of the
mind, so long it is subject to its gross desires and thickening train
of its fancies; as the sky is filled with bright moon-beams as long as
the moon shines in it. (_i.e._ As there is no moon-light without the
moon, so there is no fancy without the mind, nor is there any mind
which is devoid of its fancies).
20. When the intelligent soul is known without the medium of the mind
(_i.e._ when the soul is seen face to face) then the existence of the
world, is rooted out from the mind, like trees burnt down to their
roots.
21. Intelligence unappertaining to the mind, is called perspicacity
(pratyak chetana); which is of a nature unconnected with
intellectuality, and freed from the foulness of the fumes of fancy.
(_i.e._ quite clear of all mental thought).
22. That is verily the state of truth and of true felicity. It is the
true state of spirituality, and a manner of omniscience; having
all-sightedness of its own, and seeing all things in itself. It is
quite unconnected with any mental operation, and is enlightened by the
light of the spirit.
23. Whenever there is the action of the mind, it is invariably
accompanied with the train of desires and the sense of pleasure and
pain; and the feelings and passions are its concomitants, as the ravens
are accompaniments of the burning ground. (The mind is the sensorium of
feelings).
24. The minds of the intelligent are not, without their action, but
they are aloof of those feelings, by their knowledge of the vanity of
earthly things. And though these feelings are contained like plants in
the seed vessel of their mind; yet they are not allowed to germinate in
its sterile soil.
25. They (the wise), have come to know the unsubstantiality and
uncertainty of all worldly things and events, both by their knowledge
of the natures of things; and by means of their acquaintance with the
sástras; as also by their association with holy men, and their habitual
observance of the practices of a pious and saintly life.
26. They have forcibly withdrawn their minds from ignorance, by their
determined exertions to gain the true knowledge of things; and have
strenuously applied them to the study of sástras, and the good conduct
of righteous people.
27. But it is the purity of the soul only, that has the sight of the
Supreme spirit; as it is the brilliancy of the gem itself, that makes
it discernable amidst the waters of the deep, and enables it to be
redeemed from darkness. (_i.e._ Human soul being a reflexion of the
Supreme, lends its light to the vision of the other).
28. As the soul naturally desires to get rid of things, which it has
come to know to be attended with pain to it; so the soul is the sole
cause of knowing the Supreme (by its discarding the knowledge of the
gross objects, which interposes between it and the Divine; and
obstructs the view of the latter).
29. Be therefore freed from your thoughts of all other things, both in
your waking and sleeping states, and when you talk to or think of any
body, give or receive anything to or from another. Rely and reflect on
your consciousness alone, and watch constantly its secret admonitions
and intuitions.
30. Whether when you are born or going to die, or do anything or live
in this world, be steadily attentive to your conscious self, and you
will perceive the clear light of the soul (and have your clairvoyance).
31. Leave off thinking that this is I and that is another, because all
are alike before the Lord of all; and give up wishing this for thyself
and that for others, for all things belong to God. Rely solely on the
one, and that is thy internal consciousness alone.
32. Be of one mind in your present and future states of life, and
continue to investigate into its various phases in your own
consciousness. (_i.e._ Know yourself in all the varying circumstances
of your life).
33. In all the changes of your life from boyhood to youth and old age,
and amidst all its changing scenes of prosperity and adversity, as also
in the states of your waking, dreaming and sound sleep, remain faithful
to your consciousness. (_i.e._ Never lose the knowledge of your
self-identity (as the one and unchanging soul)).
34. Melt down your mind as a metal, and purify it of its dross of the
knowledge or impression of external things; break off the snare of your
desires and depend on your consciousness of yourself.
35. Get rid of the disease of your desire, of whatever is marked as
good or bad for you; and turn your sight from all, which may appear as
favourable or unfavourable to you; and rely on your consciousness of
pure intelligence. (This is having perfect mastery of yourself).
36. Leave untouched whatever is tangible to the touch, and obtainable
to you by your agency or instrumentality; remain unchanged and
unsupported by any thing in the world, and depend only on your own
consciousness (as the intangible spirit).
37. Think yourself as sleeping when you are awake, and remain as calm
and quiet as you are insensible of any thing; think yourself as all and
alone, and as instinct with the Supreme Spirit.
38. Think yourself free from the changing and unchanging states of life
(_i.e._ from the states of life and death and of waking and sleep); and
though engaged in business, think yourself as disengaged from all
concerns.
39. Forsake the feelings of your egoism and nonegoism (as this is mine
and that is others); and be undivided from the rest of the world, by
thinking yourself as the macrocosm of the cosmos, and support yourself
on the adamantine rock of your consciousness, by remaining unshaken at
all events.
40. Continue to cut off the meshes of the net of your internal desires,
by the agency of your intellect and its helpmate of patience; and be of
the profession of belonging to no profession; (of any particular faith
or creed or calling).
41. The sweet taste of trusting in the true faith of consciousness,
converts even the poison of false faiths to ambrosia (_i.e._ belief in
soul is the soul of all creeds).
42. It is then only, that the great error of taking the false world for
true, prevails over the mind; when it forgets to remember the pure and
undivided self-consciousness (and takes the outward forms for true).
43. Again the progress of the great error, of the substantiality of the
world, is then put <to> an end; when the mind relies its trust, in the
immaculate and undivided consciousness or intelligence.
44. One who has passed over the great gulf of his desires, and known
the true nature of his soul; has his consciousness shining within
himself, with the full blaze of the luminous sun.
45. One who knows the nature of his soul, and is settled in the
transcendental bliss of knowing the peerless One; finds the most
nectarious food as a poison to him. (_i.e._ The taste of spiritual
bliss, is sweeter far than that of the daintiest food).
46. We revere those men, who have known the nature of the soul, and
have reached to their spiritual state; and know the rest bearing the
name of men, as no better than asses in human shape.
47. Behold the devotees going from hill to hill, and roving like
bigbodied elephants, for the performance of their devotions; but they
are far below the spiritualist, who sits as high above them as on the
top of the mountain.
48. The heavenward sight of consciousness, reaching beyond the limits
of all regions to the unseen and invisible God; derives no help from
the light of the sun and moon (which can never reach so far, as the
highest empyrean).
49. The lights of the luminaries fade away like candle lights, before
the sight of consciousness; which sees the great lights of the sun and
moon and all, within the compass of its knowledge.
50. He who has known the truth of God, stands highest above the rest of
men, by reason of his self-sacrifice, and the greatness of his soul, by
means of his practice of _yoga_; and is distinguished from others by
the brightness of his person. (The eternal light shines in the body
also).
51. Like Him whose effulgence shines forth unto us, in the lustre of
the sun, moon, stars, gems and fire, the pre-eminent among men shine
among mankind, in their knowledge of what is knowable, and worthy to be
known. (The sapient shine with their knowledge, as luminous bodies
before us).
52. Those that are ignorant of truth (or the true natures of things),
are known to be viler than the asses, and other brute creatures that
live upon the land; and are meaner than the mean insects that dwell in
the holes beneath the earth. (Knowledge of truth ennobles man-kind,
above their fellow-creatures).
53. So long is an embodied being said to be a devil of darkness, as he
is ignorant of spiritual knowledge, but no sooner is he acquainted with
his soul, and united with his self in his intellection, than he is
recognized as a spiritual being.
54. The unspiritual man is tossed about on earth as a carcass, and is
consumed with the fuel of his cares, as a dead body is burnt away by
the flames of its funeral fire; but the spiritualist knowing the nature
of his soul, is only sensible of his immortality.
55. Spiritualism flies afar from the man, whose heart is hardened in
this world; just as the glory of sunshine, is lost under the shadow of
the thickening clouds in the sky.
56. Therefore the mind is to be gradually curbed and contracted in
itself, by a dislike of all earthly enjoyments; and the knower of his
self should try by long practice of abstinence, to desiccate his spirit
of its moisture, to the dryness of a faded leaf.
57. The mind is thickened and fattened by consolidating itself with
those of others; and staining it with the affections, of wife and those
of offspring, relations and friends.
58. The passions and feelings also are often the causes, of the
solidity and stolidity of the mind; and these are its egotism and
selfishness, gaiety and impurity of thoughts, and its changing tempers
and affections. But most of all it is the sense of meity that this is
mine, that nourishes it to gross density. (The mind is puffed up with
the increase of possessions).
59. The mind is swollen on coming to prosperity, even under the deadly
pains of old age and infirmity; as also under the poisonous pangs of
penury and miserliness. (Stinginess is a painful pleasure).
60. The mind grows lusty in its expectation of some good in prospect,
even under the afflictions of disease and danger. It grows stout with
enduring what is intolerable, and doing what ought not to be done.
61. The heart too becomes stout with its affection for others, and also
with its desire and gain of riches and jewels; it becomes lusty with
its craving after women, and in having whatever is pleasant to it for
the moment.
62. The heart like a snake, is big swollen with feeding on false hopes
as air; and by breathing the empty air of passing delights and
pleasures. It is pampered by drinking the liquor of fleeting hope, and
moves about in the course of its endless expectations.
63. The heart is stanch in its enjoyment of pleasures, however
injurious they are in their nature; and though situated inside the
body, yet it is subject to pine in disease and uneasiness, under a
variety of pains and changes.
64. There grows in the heart of the body, as in the hollow of a tree, a
multitude of thoughts like a clump of orchids; and these bearing the
budding blossoms of hope and desire, hung down with the fruits and
flowers of death and disease.
65. Delay not to lop off the huge trunk of the poisonous tree of
avarice, which has risen as high as a hill in the cavity of thy heart,
with the sharp saw of thy reason; nor defer to put off the big branch
of thy hope, and prune its leaves of desires, without the least delay.
66. The elephantine heart sits with its infuriate eyes, in the solitary
recess of the body; and is equally fond of its ease as of its carnal
gratification: it longs to look at the lotus bed of the learned, as
also to meet a field of sugarcanes composed of fools and dunces.
67. Ráma! you should, like a lion, the monarch of the forest, destroy
your elephantine heart which is seated amidst the wilderness of your
body, by the sharp saws of your understanding; and break the protruding
tusks of its passions, in the same manner as they break down all big
bodies.
68. Drive away the crowlike ravenous heart, from within the nest of
your bosom. It is fond of frequenting filthy places, as the ravens
hover over funeral grounds, and crows squat in dirty spots, and fatten
their bodies by feeding on the flesh of all rotten carcasses. It is
cunning in its craft and too cruel in its acts. It uses the lips like
the bills of the crow only to hurt others, and is one eyed as the crow,
looking only to its own selfish interest; it is black all over its body
for its black purposes and deeds.
69. Drive afar your ravenlike heart, sitting heavy on the tree of your
soul, intent on its wicked purposes, and grating the ear with its
jarring sound. It flutters on all sides at the scent of putrid bodies,
to pollute its nest with foul putrescence of evil intents.
70. Again there is the pernicious hideous demon—avarice, roving at
large like a goblin, or lurking in ambush in the dark cavity of the
heart, as in a dreary desert. It assumes a hundred forms, and appears
in a hundred shapes (in repeated births), pursuing their wonted courses
in darkness (without any knowledge of themselves and their right
course).
71. Unless and until you drive away this wicked goblin of your heart,
from the abode of your intelligent soul (_i.e._ the body) by means of
your discrimination and dispassionateness, and your power of _mantras_
and _tantras_, you cannot expect to be successful (siddha) in your
endeavours. (For perfection सिद्धि Siddhi).
72. Moreover there is the serpentine mind, hid under the slough of the
body; which with its poisonous thoughts, frothing at the mouth as the
destructive venom of mankind, is continually breathing in and out as a
pair of bellows, and inhaling and exhaling the air as a snake, for the
destruction of all other persons.
73. You must subdue, O Ráma, this great serpent of the mind, lying hid
in a cell of the cellular _simal_ tree of your body, by some mantra
formula, pronounced by the Garuda of your intelligence; and thus be
free from all fear and danger for ever.
74. Repress, O Ráma! thy vulture-like heart, that bears an ominous
figure by its insatiate greediness for dead bodies; it flies about on
all sides and being annoyed by the hungry crows and kites, it rests in
desolate cemeteries. (The greedy mind dwells on the ruin of others).
75. It ransacks all quarters in quest of its meat of living and dead
bodies, and lifts its neck to watch for its prey, when it is sitting
silently with patience. The vulturous heart flies afar from its resting
tree of the body, and requires to be restrained with diligence from its
flight.
76. Again the apish mind is wandering through the woods on all sides,
and passing fastly beyond the limits of its natal horizon in search of
fruits; it outruns the bounds of its native land and country, and thus
being bound to nowhere, he derides at the multitude, that are bound to
their homely toil, and confined in their native clime and soil.
77. The big monkey of the mind that sports on the tree of the body,
with its eyes and nose as the flowers of the tree, and having the arms
for its boughs, and the fingers for its leaves, ought to be checked for
one’s success in any thing.
78. The illusion of the mind rises like a cloud with the mists of
error, for laying waste the good harvest of spiritual knowledge. It
flashes forth lightnings from its mouth to burn down every thing and not
to give light on the way: its showers are injurious to ripened crops,
and it opens the door of desire (to plunge the boat of the body in the
whirlpool of the world).
79. Forsake to seek the objects of your desire, which are situated in
the airy region of your mind; and exert your energy to drive off the
cloud of your mind, in order to obtain the great object of your aim.
80. The mind is as a long rope, that binds mankind to their incessant
acts. It is impossible to break or burn its knots in any other way
except by means of one’s self knowledge. Its bond of transmigration is
painful to all, until they obtain their final emancipation.
81. Break boldly, O Ráma! by the instrumentality of your inappetency
the bondage of your mind, that binds fast in infinite number of bodies
to the chain of their transmigration; and enjoy your freedom without
any fear for evermore.
82. Know avarice as a venomous snake, which destroys its votaries by
the poison of its breath, and never yields to the good counsel of any
body. It is this serpent that has ruined mankind, by its deceit and by
laying in wait for its prey, it emaciates the body to a stick.
83. Avarice which is hid in the body, and lurks unseen in its cells, is
as a dark cobra or hydra in its form; it is to be burnt to death by the
fire of lukewarmness, for your safety and security from all evil.
84. Now put your heart to rest by the intelligence of your mind, and
gird yourself with the armour of purity for your defence; forsake your
fickle-mindedness for ever, and remain as a tree uninfested by the apes
of passion.
85. Purify both your body and mind with the sanctity of your soul, and
be dauntless and quiet by the aid of your intelligence and calm
composure of your intellect. Think yourself as lighter and meaner than
a straw, and thus enjoy the sweets of this world by going across it to
the state of beatitude in this life.
CHAPTER LI.
DESIRE OF UDDÁLAKA.
Argument, Uddálaka’s struggle for Liberation, amidst all his worldly
attachments.
Vasishtha said:—Rely no confidence, O Ráma! in the course of the mind,
which is sometimes continuous and sometimes momentary, now even and
flat and then sharp and acute, and often as treacherous as the edge of
a razor.
2. As it occurs in the course of a long time, that the germ of
intelligence comes to sprout forth in the field of the mind; so do you,
O Ráma! who are a moralist, grow it by sprinkling the cold water of
reason over its tender blades.
3. As long as the body of the plant does not fade away in course of
time, nor roll upon the ground as the decayed and dead body of man; so
long should you hold it up upon the prop of reason (_i.e._ cultivate
your knowledge in your youth).
4. Knowing the truth of my sayings, and pondering on the deep sense of
these sayings of mine, you will get a delight in your inmost soul, as
the serpent killing peacock, is ravished at the deep roaring of raining
clouds.
5. Do you, like the sage Uddálaka, shake off your knowledge of
quintuple materiality as the cause of all creation, and accustom
yourself to think deeper, and on the prime cause of causes by your
patient inquiry and reasoning.
6. Ráma requested:—Tell me sir, in what way the sagely Uddálaka got rid
of his thoughts of the quintessential creation, and penetrated deeper
into the original cause of all, by the force and process of his
reasoning.
7. Vasishtha replied:—Learn Ráma, how the sage Uddálaka of old, rose
higher from his investigation of quintuple matter to his inquiry into
their cause, and the manner in which that transcendent light dawned
upon his mind.
8. It was in some spacious corner of the old mansion of this world, and
on the northwest side of this land, a spot of rugged hills and
overtopping it as a shed.
9. Among these stood the high hill of Gandhamádana with a table-land on
it, which was full of camphor arbours, that shed the odours of their
flowers and pistils continually on the ground.
10. This spot was frequented by birds of variegated hues, and filled
with plants of various kinds. Its banks were beset by wild beasts, and
fraught with flowers shining smilingly over the woodland scene.
11. There were the bright swelling gems in some part of it, and the
blooming and full blown lotuses on another; some parts of it were
veiled by tufts of snow, and crystal streams gliding as glassy mirrors
on others.
12. Here on the elevated top a big cliff of this hill, which was
studded with sarala trees, and strewn over with flowers up to the
heels, and shaded by the cooling umbrage of lofty trees:—
13. There lived the silent sage by name of Uddálaka, a youth of a great
mind, and with high sense of his honour. He had not yet attained his
maturity, ere he betook himself to the course of his rigorous austerity.
14. On the first development of his intellect, he had the light of
reason dawning upon his mind; and he was awakened to noble aims and
expectations, instead of arriving at the state of rest and quietude.
15. As he went on in this manner in his course of austerities,
religious studies and observance of his holy rites and duties, the
genius of right reason appeared before him, as the new year presents
itself before the face of the world.
16. He then began to cogitate in himself in the following manner,
sitting aside as he was in his solitude, weary with thoughts and
terrified at the ever changing state of the world.
17. What is that best of gains, said he, which being once obtained,
there is nothing more to be expected to lead us to our rest, and which
being once had, we have no more to do with our transmigrations in this
world?
18. When shall I find my permanent rest in that state of holy and
transcendent thoughtlessness, and remain above all the rest, as a cloud
rests over the top of the Sumeru mountain, or as the polar star stands
above the pole without changing its pace.
19. When will my tumultuous desires of worldly aggrandizement, merge in
peaceful tranquillity; as the loose, loud and boisterous waves and
billows subside in the sea?
20. When will the placid and unstirred composure of my mind, smile in
secret within myself, to reflect on the wishes of mankind, that they
will do this thing after they have done the other, which leads them
interminably in the circuit of their misery.
21. When will my mind be loosened from its noose of desire, and when
shall I remain unattached to all, as a dew drop on the lotus-leaf? (It
is called _anasanga sango_ or intangible connection).
22. When shall I get over the boisterous sea of my fickle desires, by
means of the raft of my good understanding?
23. When shall I laugh to scorn, the foolish actions of worldly people,
as the silly play of children?
24. When will my mind get rid of its desire and dislike and cease to
swing to and fro in the cradle of its option and caprice; and return to
its steadiness, as a madman is calmed after the fit of his delirium has
passed away?
25. When shall I receive my spiritual and luminous body, and deride the
course of the world; and have my internal satisfaction within myself,
like the all knowing and all sufficient spirit of Virát?
26. With internal equanimity and serenity of the soul, and indifference
to external objects, when shall I obtain my calm quietness, like the
sea after its release from churning?
27. When shall I behold the fixed scene of the world before me, as it
is visible in my dream, and keep myself aloof from the same? (as no
part of it).
28. When shall I view the inner and outer worlds, in the light of a
fixed picture in the sight of my imagination; and when shall I meditate
on the whole in the light of an intellectual system?
29. Ah! when shall I have the calmness of my mind and soul, and become
a perfectly intellectual being myself; when shall I have that
supernatural light in me, which enlightens the internal eye of those
that are born blind?
30. When will the sunshine of my meditation, show unto me the pure
light of my intellect, whereby I may see the objects at a distance, as
I perceive the parts of time in myself.
31. When shall I be freed from my exertion and inertness, towards the
objects of my desire and dislike; and when shall I get my
self-satisfaction in my state of self-illumination.
32. When will this long and dark night of my ignorance come to its end?
It is infested by my faults fluttering as the boding birds of night,
and infected with frost withering the lotus of my heart (hrid-padma).
33. When shall I become like a cold clod of stone, in the cavern of a
mountain, and have the calm coolness of my mind by an invariable
_samádhi_—comatosity.
34. When will the elephant of my pride, which is ever giddy with its
greatness, become a prey to the lion of right understanding.
35. When will the little birds of the forest, build their nest of grass
in the braids of hair upon my head; when I remain fixed in my
unalterable meditation, in my state of silence and torpidity.
36. And when will the birds of the air rest fearlessly on my bosom, as
they do on the tops of fixed rocks, upon finding me sitting transfixed
in my meditation, and as immovable as a rock.
37. Ah! when shall I pass over this lake of the world, wherein my
desires and passions, are as the weeds and thorny brambles, and
obstructing my passage to its borders of felicity.
38. Immerged in these and the like reflections, the twice-born Uddálaka
sat in his meditation amidst the forest.
39. But as his apish ficklemindedness turned towards sensible objects
in different ways, he did not obtain the state of habitation which
could render him happy.
40. Sometimes his apish mind turned away from leaning to external
objects, and pursued with eagerness the realities of the internal world
or intellectual verities (known as sátwikas).
41. At others his fickle mind, departed from the intangible things of
the inner or intellectual world; and, returned with fondness to outer
objects, which are mixed with poison.
42. He often beheld the sunlight of spirituality rising within himself,
and as often turned away his mind from that golden prospect, to the
sight of gross objects.
43. Leaving the soul in the gloom of internal darkness, the licentious
mind flies as fast as a bird, to the objects of sense abroad.
44. Thus turning by turns from the inner to the outer world, and then
from this to that again; his mind found its rest in the intermediate
space, lying between the light of the one and darkness of the other.
(_i.e._ in the twilight of indifference to both).
45. Being thus perplexed in his mind, the meditative Bráhman remained
in his exalted cavern, like a lofty tree shaken to and fro by the
beating tempest.
46. He continued in his meditation as a man of fixed attention, at the
time of an impending danger; and his body shook to and fro, as it was
moved forward and backward by the tiny waves splashing on the bank.
47. Thus unsettled in his mind, the sage sauntered about the hill; as
the god of day makes his daily round, about the polar mountain in his
lonely course.
48. Wandering in this manner, he once observed a cavern, which was
beyond the reach of all living beings; and was as quiet and still, as
the liberated state of an anchorite.
49. It was not disturbed by the winds, nor frequented by birds and
beasts; it was unseen by the gods and Gandharvas, and was as lightsome
as the bright concave of heaven.
50. It was covered with heaps of flowers, and was spread over with a
coverlet of green and tender grass; and being overlaid by a layer of
moonstones, it seemed to have its floor of emerald.
51. It afforded a cool and congenial shade, emblazoned by the mild
light of the bright gems in its bosom; and appeared to be the secret
haunt of woodland goddesses, that chanced to sport therein.
52. The light of the gems that spread over the ground, was neither too
hot nor too cold; but resembled the golden rays of the rising sun in
autumn.
53. This cave appeared as a new bride decked with flowers, and holding
a wreathed garland in her hand; with her countenance fading under the
light of the gemming lamps, and fanned by the soft whistling of winds.
54. It was as the abode of tranquility, and the resting place of the
lord of creation; it was charming by the variety of its blooming
blossoms, and was as soft and mild as the cell of the lotus (which is
the abode of the lotus-born Brahmá).
CHAPTER LII.
RATIOCINATION OF UDDÁLAKA:—
Argument. Uddálaka’s Remonstration with himself, amidst the reveries of
his meditation.
Vasistha resumed:—The saintly Uddálaka then entered in that grotto
of Gandhamádana mountain, as the sauntering bee enters into the
lotus-cell, in the course of its romantic peregrination.
2. It was for the purpose of his intense meditation, that he entered
the cave and sat therein; as when the lotus-born creator, had retired
to and rested in his seclusion, after termination of his work of
creation.
3. There he made a seat for himself, by spreading the unfaded leaves of
trees on the floor; as when the god Indra spreads his carpet of the
manifold layers of clouds.
4. He then spread over it his carpet of deerskin, as the bedding of
stars, is laid over the strata of the blue clouds of heaven.
5. He sat upon it in his meditative mood, with the watchfulness of his
mind; as when an empty and light cloud alights on the top of the
Rishyasringa mountain. (_i.e._ His mind was as fleet, as a fleeting
cloud).
6. He sat firmly in the posture of _padmásana_ like Buddha, with his
face turned upwards; his two legs and feet covered his private parts,
and his palms and fingers counted the beads of Brahmá.
7. He restrained the fleet deer of his mind, from the desires to which
it ran by fits and starts; and then he reflected in the following
manner, for having the unaltered steadiness of his mind.
8. O my senseless mind! said he, why is it, that thou art occupied in
thy worldly acts to no purpose; when the sensible never engage
themselves, to what proves to be their bane afterwards.
9. He who pursues after pleasure, by forsaking his peaceful
tranquility; is as one who quits his grove of mandára flowers, and
enters a forest of poisonous plants. (Thoughts of pleasure poisons the
mind).
10. Thou mayst hide thyself in some cave of the earth, and find a place
in the highest abode of Brahmá, then yet thou canst not have thy quiet
there, without the quietism of thy spirit.
11. Cease to seek thy objects of thy desire, which are beset by
difficulties, and are productive of thy woe and anxiety; fly from these
to lay hold on thy chief good, which thou shalt find in thy solitary
retirement only.
12. These sundry objects of thy fancy or liking, which are so temporary
in their nature; are all for thy misery, and of no real good at any
time (either when they are sought for, or enjoyed or lost to thee).
13. Why followest thou like a fool, the hollow sound of some fancied
good, which has no substantial in it? It is as the great glee of frogs,
at the high sounding of clouds that promise them nothing. (Hence the
phrase “megha mandukika”, that is, the frogs croaking in vain at the
roaring of clouds; answering the English phrases “fishing in the air
and milking the ram, or pursuing a shadow &c.”).
14. Thou hast been roving all this time with thy froggish heart, in the
blind pursuit after thy profit and pleasure; but tell me what great
boon has booted thee; in all thy ramblings about the earth.
15. Why dost thou not fix thy mind to that quietism, which promises to
give thee something as thy self-sufficiency; and wherein thou mayst
find thy rest as the state of thy liberation in thy life-time.
16. O my foolish heart! why art thou roused at the sound of some good
which reaches unto thy ears, and being led by thy deluded mind, in the
direction of that sound; thou fallest a victim to it, as the deer is
entrapped in the snare, by being beguiled by the hunter’s horn.
17. Beware, O foolish man! to allow the carnal appetite to take
possession of thy breast, and lead thee to thy destruction, as the male
elephant is caught in the pit, by being beguiled by the artful _koomki_
to fall into it. (The female elephant is called _koomki_ in
elephant-catching).
18. Do not be misled by thy appetite of taste, to cram the bitter gall
for sweet; or bite the fatal bait that is laid, to hook the foolish
fish to its destruction.
19. Nor let thy fondness for bright and beautiful objects, bewitch thee
to thy ruin; as the appearance of a bright light or burning fire,
invites the silly moth to its consumption.
20. Let not thy ardour for sweet odor, tempt thee to thy ruin; nor
entice thee like the poor bees to the flavour of the liquor, exuding
from the frontal proboscis of the elephant, only to be crushed by its
trunk.
21. See how the deer, the bee, the moth, the elephant and the fish, are
each of them destroyed by their addiction to the gratification of a
single sense; and consider the great danger to which the foolish man,
is exposed by his desire of satisfying all his refractory senses and
organs.
22. O my heart! it is thou thyself, that dost stretch the snare of thy
desires for thy own entanglement; as the silk worm weaves its own cell
(cocoon) by its saliva, for its own imprisonment.
23. Be cleansed of all thy impure desires, and become as pure and clear
as the autumnal cloud (after it has poured out its water in the rains);
and when thou art fully purged and are buoyed up as a cloud, you are
then free from all bondage.
24. Knowing the course of the world, to be pregnant with the rise and
fall of mankind, and to be productive of the pangs of disease and death
at the end; you are still addicted to it for your destruction only.
25. But why do I thus upbraid or admonish my heart in vain; it is only
by reasoning with the mind that men are enabled to govern their hearts
(_i.e._ to repress all their feelings and passions).
26. But as long as gross ignorance continues to reign over the mind, so
long is the heart kept in its state of dulness; as the nether earth is
covered with mist and frost, as long as the upper skies are shrouded by
the raining clouds.
27. But no sooner is the mind cleared of its ignorance, than the heart
also becomes lighter (and cleared of its feeling); as the disappearance
of the rainy clouds disperses the frost covering the nether earth.
28. As the heart becomes lighter and purer by means of the mind’s act
of reasoning; so I ween its desires to grow weaker and thinner, like
the light and fleeting clouds of autumn.
29. Admonition to the unrighteous proves as fruitless, as the blowing
of winds against the falling rain. (_i.e._ Counsel to the wicked is as
vain, as a blast of wind to drive the pouring rain).
30. I shall therefore try to rid myself of this false and vacant
ignorance; as it is the admonition of the sástras, to get rid of
ignorance by all means.
31. I find myself to be the inextinguishable lamp of intellect, and
without my egoism or any desire in myself; and have no relation with
the false ignorance, which is the root of egoism.
32. That this is I and that is another, is the false suggestion of our
delusive ignorance; which, like an epidemic disease, presents us with
such fallacies for our destruction.
33. It is impossible for the slender and finite mind to comprehend the
nature of the infinite soul; as it is not possible for an elephant to
be contained in a nut shell. (Lit.: in the crust of a _bilva_ or bel
fruit).
34. I cannot follow the dictate of my heart, which is a wide and deep
cave, containing the desires causing all our misery.
35. What is this delusive ignorance, which, like the error of
injudicious lads, creates the blunder of viewing the self-existent one,
in the different lights of I, thou, he and other personalities.
36. I analysed my body at each atom from the head to foot, but failed
to find what we call the “I” in any part of it, and what makes my
personality. (It is the body, mind and soul taken together, that makes
a person).
37. That which is the “I am” fills the whole universe, and is the only
one in all the three worlds; it is the unknowable consciousness,
omnipresent and yet apart from all.
38. Its magnitude is not to be known, nor has it any appellation of its
own; it is neither the one nor the other, nor an immensity nor
minuteness (but is greater than the greatest, and minuter than the
minutest).[21]
39. It is unknowable by the light of the Vedas, and its ignorance which
is the cause of misery is to be destroyed by the light of reason.
40. This is the flesh of my body and this its blood! these are the
bones and this the whole body; these are my breaths, but where is that
I or ego situated?
41. Its pulsation is the effect of the vital breath or wind, and its
sensation is the action of the heart; there are also decay and death
concomitant of the body; but where is its “I” situated in it?
42. The flesh is one thing and the blood another, and the bones are
different from them; but tell me, my heart, where is the “I” said to
exist?
43. These are the organs of smelling and this the tongue; this is skin
and these my ears; these are the eyes and this the touch—_twac_; but
what is that called the soul and where is it situated?
44. I am none of the elements of the body, nor the mind nor its desire;
but the pure intellectual soul, and a manifestation of the divine
intellect.
45. That I am everywhere, and yet nothing whatever that is anywhere, is
the only knowledge of the true reality that we can have, and there is
no other way to it (_i.e._, of coming to know the same.)[22]
46. I have been long deceived by my deceitful ignorance, and am misled
from the right path; as the young of a beast is carried away by a
fierce tiger to the woods.
47. It is now by my good fortune that I have come to detect this
thievish ignorance; nor shall I trust any more this robber of truth.
48. I am above the reach of affliction, and have no concern with
misery, nor has it anything to do with me. This union of mine with
these is as temporary, as that of a cloud with a mountain.
49. Being subject to my egoism, I say I speak, I know, I stay, I go,
&c.; but on looking at the soul, I lose my egoism in the universal soul.
50. I verily believe my eyes, and other parts of my body, to belong to
myself; but if they be as something beside myself, then let them remain
or perish with the body, with which I have no concern.
51. Fie for shame! What is this word I, and who was its first inventor?
This is no other than a slip slop and a namby pamby of some demoniac
child of earth. (_i.e._, it is an earth-born word and unknown in
heaven).
52. O! for this great length of time, that I have been groveling in
this dusty den; and roving at large like a stray deer, on a sterile
rock without any grass or verdure.
53. If we let our eyes to dry into the true nature of things, we are at
a loss to find the true meaning of the word I, which is the cause of
all our woe on earth. (_i.e._, ignorance of ourselves is the cause of
our woe, and the obliteration of our personalities obviates all our
miseries).
54. If you want to feel your in being by the sense of touch, then tell
me how you find what you call I, beside its being a ghost of your own
imagination.
55. You set your I on your tongue, and utter it as an object of that
organ, while you really relish no taste whatever of that empty word,
which you so often give utterance to.
56. You often hear that word ringing in your ears, though you feel it
to be an empty sound as air, and cannot account whence this rootless
word had its rise.
57. Our sense of smelling, which brings the fragrance of objects to the
inner soul, conveys no scent of this word into our brain.
58. It is as the mirage, and a false idea of something we know not
what; and what can it be otherwise than an error, of which we have no
idea or sense whatever?
59. I see my will also is not always the cause of my actions, because I
find my eyes and the other organs of sense are employed in their
respective functions, without the direction of my volition.
60. But the difference between our bodily and wilful acts is this, that
the actions of the body done without the will of the mind are
unattended with feeling of pain or pleasure unto us. (Therefore let all
thy actions be spontaneous and indifferent in their nature, if thou
shalt be free from pain or pleasure).
61. Hence let thy organs of sense perform their several actions,
without your will of the same; and you will by this means evade all the
pleasure and pain (of your success and disappointment).
62. It is in vain that you blend your will with your actions, (which
are done of themselves by means of the body and mind); while the act of
your will is attended with a grief similar to that of children, upon
the breaking of the dolls of their handy work in play. (_i.e._, boys
make toys in play, but cry at last to see them broken).
63. Your desires and their productions are the fac similes of your
minds, and not different from them; just as the waves are composed of
the same water from which they rise. Such is the case with the acts of
will.
64. It is your own will that guides your hand to construct a prison for
your confinement; as the silly silkworm is confined in the pod of its
own making.
65. It is owing to your desires that you are exposed to the perils of
death and disease, as it is the dim sightedness of the traveller over
the mountainous spots that hurls him headlong into the deep cavern
below.
66. It is your desire only, that is the chief cause of your being
attached to one another in one place; as the thread passing through the
holes of pearls, ties them together in a long string round the neck.
(Every desire is a connecting link between man and man).
67. What is this desire, but the creation of your false imagination,
for whatever you think to be good for yourself; (though it may not be
so in reality); and no sooner you cease to take a fancy for anything,
than your desire for it is cut off as by a knife.
68. This desire—the creature of your imagination—is the cause of all
your errors and your ruin also; as the breath of air is the cause both
of the burning and extinction of lamps and lightening the fiery
furnaces.
69. Now therefore, O my heart! that art the source and spring of thy
senses, do thou join with all thy sensibility, to look into the nature
of thy unreality, and feel in thyself the state of thy utter
annihilation—_nirvána_ at the end.
70. Give up after all thy sense of egoism with thy desire of
worldliness, which are interminable endemics to thee in this life. Put
on the amulet of the abandonment of thy desires and earthliness, and
resign thyself to thy God to be free from all fears on earth.
CHAPTER LIII.
THE RATIONAL RAPTURE OF UDDÁLAKA.
Argument. Description of the Soul unsullied by its desires and egoism,
and the Difference subsisting between the body and mind.
Uddálaka continued:—The intellect is an unthinkable substance: it
extends to the limits of endless space, and is minuter than the
minutest atom. It is quite aloof of all things, and inaccessible to the
reach of desires, &c.
2. It is inaccessible by the mind, understanding, egoism and the gross
senses; but our empty desires are as wide extended, as the shadowy
forms of big and formidable demons.
3. From all my reasonings and repeated cogitations, I perceive an
intelligence within myself, and I feel to be the stainless Intellect.
4. This body of mine which is of this world, and is the depository of
my false and evil thoughts, may last or be lost without any gain or
loss to me, since I am the untainted intellect.
5. The Intellect is free from birth and death, because there is nothing
perishable in the nature of the all pervasive intellect: what then
means the death of a living being, and how and by whom can it be put to
death?
6. What means the life and death of the intellect, which is the soul
and life of all existence: what else can we expect of the intellect,
when it is extended through and gives life to all?
7. Life and death belong to the optative and imaginative powers of the
mind, and do not appertain to the pure soul; (which is never perturbed
by volition or imagination).
8. That which has the sense of its egoism has also the knowledge of its
existence and inexistence (and that is the mind); but the soul which is
devoid of its egoism can have no sense of its birth or death (since it
is always existent of itself).
9. Egoism is a fallacy and production of ignorance, and the mind is no
other than a appearance as the water in a mirage; the visible objects
are all gross bodies; what then is that thing to which the term ego is
applied.
10. The body is composed of flesh and blood, and the mind is considered
as a nullity of itself; the heart and the members are all dull objects,
what then is it that contains the ego?
11. The organs of sense are all employed in their respective functions
for supporting the body; and all external bodies remain as mere bodies;
what then is it to which you apply the term ego?
12. The properties of things continue as properties, and the substances
always remain as substances; the entity of Brahma is quite calm and
quiet, what then is the ego among them?
13. There is only one Being which is all pervading and subsisting in
all bodies; it exists at all times and is immensity in itself. It is
only the Supreme Spirit that is the intelligent soul of all.
14. Now tell me which of these is the ego, what is it and what its
form; what is its genus and what are its attributes; what is its
appearance and of what ingredients it is composed? What am I and what
shall I take it to be, and what reject as not itself?
15. Hence there is nothing here, which may be called the ego either as
an entity or nonentity; and there is nothing anywhere, to which the ego
may bear any relation or any resemblance whatever.
16. Therefore egoism being a perfect non-entity, it has no relation to
anything at all; and this irrelation of it with all things being
proved, its fiction as a duality (beside the unity of God), goes to
nothing whatever.
17. Thus every thing in the world being full of the spirit of God, I am
no other than that reality, and it is in vain that I think myself as
otherwise, and sorrow for it.
18. All things being situated in one pure and omnipresent spirit;
whence is it that the meaningless word ego could take its rise?
19. So there is no reality of any object whatever, except that of the
supreme and all-pervading spirit of God; it is therefore useless for us
to inquire about our relation with anything which has no reality in
itself.
20. The senses are connected with the organs of sense, and the mind is
conversant with the mental operations; but the intellect is unconnected
with the body, and bears no relation with any body in any manner.
21. As there is no relation between stones and iron nails, so the body,
the senses, the mind and the intellect bear no relation with one
another, though they are found to reside together in the same person.
22. The great error of the unreal ego having once obtained its footing
among mankind, it has put the world to an uproar with the expressions
of mine and thine, as that this is mine and that is thine, and that
other is another’s and the like.
23. It is want of the light of reason that has given rise to the
meaningless and marvellous expression of egoism; which is made to
vanish under the light of reason, as ice is dissolved under heat of
solar light.
24. That there is nothing in existence, except the spirit of God is my
firm belief, and this makes me believe the whole universe, as a
manifestation of the great Brahmá himself.
25. The error of egoism presents itself before us in as vivid and
variety of colours as the various hues which tinge the face of the sky;
it is better to obliterate it at once from the mind, than retain any
trace of it behind (as I am this child, youth, old man, &c.).
26. I have altogether got rid of the error of my egoism, and now
recline with my tranquil soul in the universal spirit of God, as the
autumnal cloud rests in the infinite vacuum of the sky.
27. Our accompaniment with the idea of egoism is productive only of our
misconduct and misery, by producing the great variety of our acts of
selfishness.
28. Egoism hath taken a deep root in the moist soil of our hearts, and
sprouts forth in the field of our bodies with the germs of innumerable
evils.
29. Here is death closely following the course of life, and there is a
new life hereafter awaiting upon our death; now there is a state of
being distinct from its privation or not being, and again there is
reverse of it in our transmigration, to our great annoyance only.
30. This I have gained, and this I will gain, are the thoughts that
constantly employ the minds of men; and the desire of a new gain is
incessantly kindled in the minds of the senseless, as the ceaseless
flame of the sun-stone is increased in summer heat.
31. That this I want and this must have are thoughts ever attendant on
egoism; and the dull-headed pursue dull material objects with as much
ardour, as the heavy clouds hasten to halt on high-headed hills.
32. Decay of egoism withers away the tree of worldliness, which then
ceases to germinate in the manner of a plant on sterile rocks. (Or as
seeds cast on sandy sounds).
33. Your desires are as black serpents creeping in the hole of your
heart; but skulking their heads, at the sight of the snake-eater Garuda
of reason.
34. The unreal world gives rise to the error of appearing as real; as
the unreal I and thou (or ego and nonego) seem to be realities, though
they are caused by mere pulsations of the unreal mind.
35. This world rises at first without a cause and to no cause, how then
call it a reality which is sprung from and to no cause at all. (The
visible world is produced by, and continues with our error which, is no
cause in reality).
36. As a pot made of earth long before, continues in the same state at
all times, so the body which has long ago come to existence, still
continues and will continue the same. (The body being made of earth,
remains in and returns to the earth again).
37. The beginning and end of billows is mere water and moisture, and
the intermediate part only presents a figure to view; so the beginning
and end of bodies is mere earth and water, and the intermediate state
is one of bustle and commotion.
38. It is the ignorant only that trust in this temporary and
fluctuating state of the body; which, like the billow, is hastening to
subside, in its original liquid and quiet state.
39. What reliance is there in any body, which makes a figure in the
middle, and is an unreality both in its prior and latter states.
40. So the heart also is as quiet as the intellect, both at first and
in the end; and remains immerged in itself, both when it exists in the
body or not. What then if it heaves for a little while in the midst?
(_i.e._, the palpitation of the heart between its prior and latter
states of inaction).
41. As it comes to pass in our dreams, and in our deluded sights, of
marvellous things; and as it happens in the giddiness of ebriety, and
in our journeying in boats:—
42. And as it turns out in cases of our vitiated humours, and delusion
of senses, and also in cases of extreme joy and grief, and under some
defect of the mind or body:—
43. That some objects come to sight, and others disappear from it; and
that some appear to be smaller or larger than they are and others to be
moving; so do all these objects of our vision, appear and disappear
from our sight in the course of time.
44. O my heart! all thy conduct is of the same nature, at the different
times, of thy joy and grief; that it makes the long of short and the
short of long; as the short space of a single night, becomes as tedious
to separated lovers as an age; and an age of joyous affluence as short
as a moment.
45. Or it is my long habit of thinking that makes the untruth appear as
truth to me; and like the mirage of the desert, our mirage of life,
presents its falsehoods as realities unto us.
46. All things that we see in the phenomenal world are unrealities in
their nature; and as the mind comes to know the nothingness of things,
it feels in itself its nothingness also.
47. As the mind becomes impressed with certainty, of the
unsubstantiality of external objects; its desire of worldly enjoyments
fade away, like the fading verdure of autumn.
48. When the mind comes to see the pure soul by means of its
intellectual light, it gets itself ridden of its temporal exertions;
and being thereby freed from its passions and affections, it rests with
its calm composure in itself.
49. And the heart attains its perfect purity, when, by compressing its
members of sensational organs, it casts itself into the flame of the
supreme soul, where all its dross is burnt away.
50. As the hero boldly faces his death, with the thought of his
ascending to heaven, by fighting bravely in battle, so the mind
conquers all impediments by casting off all its worldly desires and
attachments.
51. The mind is the enemy of the body, and so is the latter an enemy of
the former (because the growth of the one puts down the vigour of the
other); but they both die away without the half of each other, and for
want of desire which supports them both.
52. Owing to their mutual hostilities, and their passions and
affections towards each other, it is better to eradicate and destroy
both of them, for our attainment of supreme bliss. (As the control of
the body and mind leads to temporal happiness, so the utter extinction
of both, is the means to spiritual bliss).
53. The existence of either of these (_i.e._ of the body or mind) after
death is as incapable of heavenly felicity, as it is for an aerial
fairy to fare on earth. (_i.e._, neither the body nor mind survives
one’s death, as it is believed by many; and even if it does, its gross
nature would not permit it to enjoy the pure spiritual felicity of
heaven).
54. When these things (the body and mind), that are naturally repugnant
and opposed to one another, meet together in any place or person, there
is a continued clashing of their mutual mischiefs, like the crashing of
conflicting arms.
55. The base man that has a liking for this world of conflicts is like
one left to burn in a conflagration of showering flames.
56. The mind stout with its avaricious desires loads the body with
labour, and feeds upon its precious life, as a ghost-_yaksha_ preys
upon the body of a boy.
57. The body being harassed and oppressed with toil, attempts to stop
and stay the mind; as an impious son intends to kill his father, when
he finds him to stand an open foe to his life. (It is lawful to kill an
enemy of one’s life for self-defence). जघांशन्तं जिघांशियात ।
58. There is no one who of his nature is a foe or friend to another;
but becomes a friend to one that is friendly to him, and a foe to him
that deals inimically unto him.
स्वभावान्नकश्चित्कस्यचिन्मित्रं नकश्चित कस्यचिद्रिपुः ।
ब्यवहारोणजानन्तिमित्राणि रिपवस्तथा ॥
59. The body being put to pain attempts to kill the mind; and the mind
is ever intent to make the body the receptacle of its afflictions. (The
intimate connection of the body and mind causes them to participate in
one another’s pains).
60. What good then can possibly accrue to us from the union of the body
and mind, which are repugnant to one another, and which of their own
nature can never be reconciled together.
61. The mind being weakened, the body has no pain to undergo; wherefore
the body is always striving to weaken the mind.
62. The body, whether it is alive or dead, is subjected to all sorts of
evils by its hostile mind, unless it is brought under the subjection of
reason. (_i.e._ The unreasonable mind is an enemy of the body).
63. When both the body and mind become stout and strong, they join
together to break all bonds, as the lake and rainwater join together to
overflow on the banks.
64. Though both of them are troublesome to us in their different
natures, yet their union to one end is beneficial to us, as the
co-operation of fire and water is for the purpose of cooking.
65. When the weak mind is wasted and worn out, the body also becomes
weakened and languid; but the mind being full, the body is flushed like
a flourishing arbor, shooting forth with verdure.
66. The body pines away with its weakened desires, and at the weakness
of the mind; but the mind never grows weak at the weakness of the body;
therefore the mind requires to be curbed and weakened by all means.
67. I must therefore cut down the weed wood of my mind, with the trees
of my desires and the plants of my thirstiness; and, having reclaimed
thereby a large tract of land, rove about at my pleasure.
68. After my egoism is lost, and the net of my desires is removed, my
mind will regain its calm and clearness, like the sky after dispersion
of the clouds at the end of the rainy weather.
69. It is of no matter to me whether this body of mine, which is a
congeries of my humours, and a great enemy of mine, should waste away
or last, after the dissolution of my mind.
70. That for which this body of mine craves its enjoyments is not mine,
nor do I belong to it; what is the good therefore of bodily pleasure to
me? (When I have to leave this body and that pleasure also for ever).
71. It is certain that I am not myself the body, nor is the body mine
in any way; just as a corpse with all its parts entire, is no body at
all. (The personality of man, belongs to his mind and not to his
person).
72. Therefore I am something beside this body of mine, and that is
everlasting and never setting in its glory; it is by means of this that
I have that light in me, whereby I perceive the luminous sun in the sky.
73. I am neither ignorant of myself, nor subject to misery, nor am I
the dull unintelligent body, which is subject to misery. My body may
last or not, I am beyond all bodily accidents.
74. Where there is the soul or self, there is neither the mind, nor
senses nor desire of any kind; as the vile Pamaras never reside in the
contiguity of princes. (_Mahibhretas_ mean mountains also).
75. I have attained to that state in which I have surpassed all things;
and it is the state of my solity, my extinction, my indivisibility, and
my want of desires.
76. I am now loosened from the bonds of my mind, body and the senses,
as the oil which is extracted from the seeds of sesamum, and separated
from the sediments.
77. I walk about freely in this state of my transcendentalism, and my
mind which is disjoined from the bonds of the body considers its
members as its dependent instruments and accompaniments.
78. I find myself to be now situated in a state of transparency and
buoyancy, of self-contentment and intelligence, and of true reality; I
feel my full joy and calmness, and preserve my reservedness in speech.
79. I find my fulness and magnanimity, my comeliness and evenness of
temper; I see the unity of all things, and feel my fearlessness and
want of duality, choice and option.
80. I find these qualities to be ever attendant on me. They are
constant and faithful, easy and graceful and always propitious to me;
and my unshaken attachment to them has made them as heartily beloved
consorts to me.
81. I find myself as all and in all, at all times and in every manner;
and yet I am devoid of all desire for or dislike to any one, and am
equally unconcerned with whatever is pleasant or unpleasant, agreeable
or disagreeable to me.
82. Removed from the cloud of error and melancholy, and released from
dubitation and duplicity in my thoughts, I peregrinate myself as a
flimsy cloud, in the cooling atmosphere of the autumnal sky.
END OF THE SECOND VOLUME.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOOTNOTES:
Footnote 1:
This colophon occurring at the end of many chapters, shows the
intermediate chapters as parts of the lectures of a single day; and
by enumeration of which, the whole space of time occupied in the
delivery of these lectures may be fairly ascertained. This will serve
to show that the delivery of the lectures occupied but a few months;
and Válmíki’s writing of them, if he was a shorthand writer, embraced
also the same length of time, contrary to the common belief of this
composition’s being a work of many years.
Footnote 2:
(It was Plato’s doctrine of the souls’ _reminiscence_ of a former
apprehension of truth awakened by the traces of ideas which sensation
discovered in things).
Footnote 3:
The Arhatas have seven categories:
1. The animated and intelligent body.
2. The inanimate and insensible body as rocks &c.
3. The organs of sense.
4. Ignorance or austerities, called _Ávarana_.
5. Tonsure of the head called _nirávarana_.
6. Bondage to repeated births and deaths.
7. Liberation or final emancipation.
They are divided into seven schisms, according to their belief or
disbelief in this last _viz._
1. Sadvádis or believers in liberation. 2. Asadvádis—unbelievers. 3.
Syadvádis—Sceptics. 4. _Sada_—_Sadavádis_—misbelievers. 5.
Anirvachaneyavádis—Infidels. 6. Nástikas—Atheists. 7.
Súnyavádís—Vacuists.
Footnote 4:
Hari in the form of _Krishna_, destroyed the demons chief Sambara or
Káliya under his feet; as the son of God in the form of Christ,
defeated Satan and bruised his head under his feet.
Footnote 5:
Ceylon is said to be first peopled by the Yakkas (yakshas) who
followed the train of the Rákshasa Rávana to that island.
Footnote 6:
But these formal changes are phenomenal and not real. They are mere
appearances. Gloss.
Footnote 7:
So it is represented in Kumára Sambhava: दरीगुहाहिमेन समीरणेन, उद्गास्यतामिच्छति किन्नरीणां ।
Footnote 8:
Airávata signifies both Indra, the god of _caelum_ and the celestials,
as also his vehicle, the elephantine clouds.
Footnote 9:
It is recorded, that the forefathers of Bali to the fourth ascent,
were all destroyed by Vishnu, who took upon him the first four shapes
of his ten incarnations, namely: those of the fish, tortoise, the
boar and the biform man and lion, to destroy them one after another;
till he took his fifth form of the dwarf, to kill Bali also. Hence it
was one family of the Asuras at Mavalipura in Deccan, that called
down Vishnu five times from his heaven for their destruction.
Footnote 10:
Instruction of abstruse knowledge from yoga to the impure, is pearls
before swine; as it is said: पण्डिता एब उपदेष्टब्याः न च मूर्खः कदाचन ।
Footnote 11:
Reason is a divine attribute and given to man for his discernment of
truth from untruth, and of true felicity of the soul, from its
fetters of the frailties of this world.
Footnote 12:
The former figure of meditation was that of Virát, the god who with
his thousand heads, hands and legs and feet “सहस्रशीर्षः पुरुषं सहस्र बाहु सहस्र पाद्,”
shows the Daitya Titan Briareus with his hundred heads and hands;
but the figure of worship in this chapter is that of Vishnu, with
his four arms, one head and two legs only, as a more compendious
form for common and practical worship.
Footnote 13:
The flowers and offerings mentioned in this place, are all of a white
hue, and specially sacred to Vishnu, as there are others peculiar to
other deities, whose priests and votaries must carefully distinguish
from one another. The adoration of Vishnu consists, in the offering
of the following articles, and observance of the rites as mentioned
below: _viz._ Fumigation of incense and lighting of lamps,
presentation of offerings, of food, raiment, and jewels suited to the
adorer’s taste and best means, and presents of betel leaves,
umbrellas, mirrors and chowri flappers. Lastly, scattering of
handfuls of flowers, turning round the idol and making obeisance &c.
सर्ब्बेधूपदाम नैवेद्यतम्बुलदर्पणच्छत्रचामर नीराजन पुष्पाञ्जलि प्रदाक्षण नमस्कारादिः ।
Footnote 14:
Brahmá was the god of Bráhmanas, and Vishnu was worshipped by
the early Vaisya colonists of India; while Siva or Mahádeva was
the deity of the aboriginal Daityas. These peoples after long
contention came to be amalgamated into one great body of the
Hindus, by their adoption of the mixed creed of the said triality
or trinity, under the designation of the Triune duty. Still there
are many people that have never been united under this triad, and
maintain their several creeds with tenacity. See Wilson’s Hindu
Religion.
Footnote 15:
The history of Sanskrit words derives the name Lakshmí from the
appellation of king Dilipa’s queen, who was so called from her
luckiness. Thus the words _lucky_ and _luckhy_ (valgs), are
synonymous and same in sound and sense.
Footnote 16:
(This is the doctrine of the indwelling spirit pervading all nature.
Or as the poet says:—
A motion or spirit that impels
All thinking things, all objects of thought,
And rolls through all things
Wordsworth)
Footnote 17:
Nor love thy life nor hate, but live while thou livest; How long or
short, permit to heaven. _Dum vivimus, vinamus_.
Footnote 18:
(_i.e._ As the work is known after it is worked out by the workman).
Footnote 19:
So there is but dead matter without the enlivening soul, and every
thing is full of life with the soul inherent in it.
Footnote 20:
(The analogy of _matsya nyaya_ or piscine oppression, means the havoc
which is committed on the race of fishes by their own kind, as also
by all other piscivorous animals of earth and air, and tyranny of the
strong over the weak).
Footnote 21:
अणोरणीयान्, महतो महीयान्. Sruti.
Footnote 22:
नान्यपन्था द्वितीयकमनाय. Sruti.