DESCRIPTION OF THE TEMPLE OF ILLUSION.
Argument:—Destruction of the arbor of the World by the fire of
reason, and description of the fabric of the world as the mansion
of Delusion—Máyá-mandapa.
Bhusunda continued and said:—Now Vidyádhara! You have heard, how the
mundane arbor comprises the earth with her mountains and cavern abodes,
and stretches to all sides and touches the skies, bearing all living
being continually moving and living upon it (_i.e._ its produce).
2. Such is the mundane tree, growing out of the seed of egoism; but this
seed being roasted by the fire of reason, ceases to sprout forth anymore
(_i.e._ into new life in future births).
3. The visibles are not existent, nor is I or thou (_i.e._ the
subjective or objective) ever a positive reality, and this fallacy of
their positivity is wholly burnt away by the knowledge of _tajjnána_ or
their identity with God (_i.e._ in the extinction of all distinctive
knowledge in the entity of the sole unity).
4. As it is the thought of I and thou that begets the idea of egoism and
tuism, which becomes the seed of the world; so it is the thought of
_non-ego et tu_, that removes the idea of egoism and tuism, and this is
the true and best knowledge of God.
5. Think of the inexistence of the world before its creations, and say
where was then this knowledge of egoism and tuism, or this delusion of
the unity or duality.
6. Those who strive diligently to get rid of their desires altogether,
according to the instructions of their preceptors (as given before);
verily they become successful in obtaining the supreme state (of the
knowledge and presence of God).
7. As the confectioner becomes skilful in his profession, by his
learning and practice of the art of confectionary; so the inquirer after
truth becomes successful by constant application to it and by no other
means. (So also doth the yogi thrive in his yoga, by and under the
direction of his spiritual guide).
8. Know the world to be the wonderful phenomenon of the intellect, and
it does not exist in the outer space as it appears to the naked eye, but
in the inner mind (which bears the prototype of the world).
9. As a picture is the fac-simile of the pattern, which is inscribed in
the painter’s mind; so it is the twinkling of our thought only, that
unfolds or obscures the world unto us by its opening and closing.
10. This thought or fancy of the mind, portrays to sight a large edifice
supported upon big and huge columns, and studded with gems and pearls;
and gilt over with gildings of bright gold.
11. It is surrounded by a thousand pillars of precious stones, rising
high like the pinnacles of Sumeru; and emitting the various of the
rainbows, and glittering with the brightness of the evening sun on the
clouds.
12. It is furnished with many a fountain (of the seas and rivers), for
the sport of men, women, and children living under it; and amidst the
decorations of all kinds of animals in it.
13. It is full of elements, with its enemy of darkness that is light,
darkness and light are its alternate result, hence it has derived its
name—chitra picture.
14. There were lakes of lotuses with kalpa trees, beside them for the
sport of women, who plucked their flowers for their decorations of them,
and which scattered about their fragrance as plentifully; as the clouds
sprinkle their rain-waters all around.
15. Here the great _kuláchalas_ or boundary mountains, were as light as
toys in the hands of boys; and they were tossed and whirled about as
play things, by the breath of little lads. (_i.e._ Mountains are minute
things with respect to the great fabric of the universe).
16. Here the bright evening clouds were as the glittering earrings of
the ladies, and the light and fleet autumn clouds like flying fans and
flappers; the heavy clouds of the rainy season, moved as slow as the
waving fans of palm leaves; and the orb of the earth moved about as a
dice on the chess-board, under the canopy of the starry heavens.
17. Here all living creatures and the sun and moon, are moving about as
the dice and king and queen on the chess-board; and the appearance and
disappearance of the world in the arena of vacuum, are as the gain or
loss in the chess play of the gods (Brahmá and others).
18. As a thought that is long dwelt upon and brooded over in the mind,
comes to appear as really present before the sight of its entertainer
(_i.e._ as the imagination assumes the shape of an apparition to sight).
19. So is this formal world a visible representation of the thoughts or
workings of the mind, it is as an exquisite performance of the mind of
the artist, from the prototype ingrafted in the soul.
20. It is the apparition of an unreality, and is present in appearance
but absent in substance; it is verily the appearance of an unreality, by
whatever cause it may have come to appear. (The Cause is said to be the
original ignorance or delusion (_ádi-avidyá or máyá_)).
21. It is as the sight of the forms of ornaments, in the same substance
of gold; and the vault of the world, is as full of ever changing
wonders, as the changeful and wondrous thoughts of the mind. Wherefore
it is the cessation of thought, that causes the extinction of the world.
(Nothing exists to us whereof we have no thought).
22. Hence it lies entirely in your power, to have or leave the world as
you may like; either disregard your temporal enjoyments, if you have
your final liberation; or continue in your acts and rites, in order to
continue in your repeated transmigrations through endless births and
deaths.
23. I understand you have attained your state of rationality; and have
purified your soul in this your second or third stage of Yoga; I believe
you will not fall back or come down to a lower order, therefore hold
your silence and rely in the purity of the soul and shut out invisibles
from your sight.