TOTAL STOICISM AND INSOUCIANCE.
Argument:—The tranquility arrived at by the Holy Sage, and his
relation with the world.
Vasishtha continued:—Those that are stanch in their discernment of
truth, and firm in the abandonment of their desires, are truly men of
very great souls, and conscious of their greatness in themselves.
2. The vast extent of magnanimity of noble minded men, and the
fathomless depth of their understanding, is even greater than the space
occupied by the fourteen worlds. (The unbounded mind of the divine
Newton, comprehended the boundless with all the hosts of heaven in its
fathomless depth).
3. Wise men having a firm belief in the erroneous conception of the
reality of the universe, are quite at rest from all internal and
external accidents, which overtake the unwary ignorant as sharks and
alligators. (The sea of ignorance abounding with sharks of casualties).
4. What reliance is there in our hope or desire for anything in this
world, which is as tempting and deceitful, as the appearance of two
moons in the sky, of water in the mirage, and the prospect of a fairy
city in the air. (Here the falsity applies both to worldly things as
well as our desire for them, and means the unrealizeableness of
unrealities).
5. Desires are as vain as the empty void, owing to the nullity of the
mind in which they arise; the sapient therefore are not led away by
their desires, which they know, have their origin in the unreal and
vacant mind. (The yogi who has arrived at the state of his inappetency
in the seventh stage of yoga, never falls back to his desires any more).
6. The three states of waking, dreaming and sound sleep, are common to
all living beings at large; but that state which is beyond those triple
functions, and is all seeing and all knowing, without its being seen or
known in the state or nature of the Supreme being (whose omniscience
neither wakes, nor dreams nor sleeps at any time).
7. The soul in its enraptured state sees the world as a collection of
light, issuing from gems of various kinds; and the human soul as a
reflexion of that light, and not as a solid or earthly (material)
substance.
8. The phenomenal world presenting its various appearances to the eye
sight, is no more than an empty vacuity; and the varieties of light and
lightsome bodies which appear in it, are no other than reflexions of the
rays of the vast mine of brilliant gems, which is hid under it, and
shoots forth its glare in the open air.
9. Here there is no other substance in reality, neither the vast cosmos
nor the boundless vacuity itself; all this is the glare of that greatest
of gems, whom we call the great Brahma, and whose glory shines all
around us.
10. The created and uncreated all is one Brahma alone, and neither is
there any variety or destructibility in these or in him. All these are
formless beings, and appear as substantial ones in imagination only, as
the sun beams paint the various figures in empty clouds in the air.
(Note. Whereas there is no variation in God, there is neither the
creation nor destruction of any thing at all; these are but creations of
imagination, and evolutions of the infinite mind of the eternal God).
11. Thus when the imaginary world appears to blend with the etherial
void, this solid mass of the material world, will then vanish into
nothing.
12. So the whole proving to be a perfect unsubstantiality, it is quite
impossible for it to admit any property or predicate whatever (whether
material or immaterial), which is usually attributed to it; because
there is no probability of any quality belonging to an absolute nothing,
as it is impossible for a bird of air to alight upon, or find a resting
place in an air-grown tree.
13. There is no solidity of anything, nor is there a vacuity at all; the
mind also is itself a nullity but that which remains after all these, is
the only being in reality, and which is never inexistent at any time.
14. The soul is one alone and without its variation, and has the
consciousness of all varieties in itself, and these are inherent in its
nature, as all the various forms of jewelleries are ingrained in a lump
of gold.
15. The sapient sage who remains in his own essential nature, finds his
egoism or personality, together with the consciousness of his mind and
the world besides, all dwindle into himself; it is difficult to describe
the mind of wise man, which remains identified with the nature of the
self-existent being.
16. The understanding is perplexed and confounded in itself, by
observation of the sward nature of things on all sides; and requires to
be slowly and gradually brought to the knowledge of truth, by means of
right reason and argument.
17. It is by abstracting the mind, from its dwelling or visible
nature—the production of Virát; and leading it to the contemplation of
the spiritual cause of these works (_i.e._ the sutrátma), that the true
knowledge of the author of the present, past and future worlds can be
arrived at.
18. He is known as a wise sage, whose well discerning soul has perceived
the truth in itself; and that has found his rest in the One unity, has
no perception of the visible world, and all its endless varieties (which
are attributed to Virát).
19. All the aforesaid sayings which are given here by way of advice, are
perceived by the intuition of the wise man, as the wise sayings of good
people, are self-evident of themselves.
20. The substance of all this is that, there is no bulk or magnitude of
beings in general, nor its absence either as an entire vacuum; therefore
there is neither a gross or airy mind also, but the One that exists
after all, is the true and ever existent entity.
21. This entity is Intelligence, which is conversant with all the
intelligibles in itself; its manifestation in the form of our senses is
fraught with all our woe, while its disappearance leads to our felicity.
22. Being developed, it evolves itself in the shape of outward organs,
and takes upon it the form of the gross body; as the liquid water,
consolidates by degrees to the bulky forms of islands, and huge
mountainous bodies.
23. This intelligence being engrossed by ignorance, assumes gross form
of mind to itself; and with form it binds itself fastly with the
corporeal body, as a man views his aerial dreams in their material
substance. (So the intelligent mind is transformed to a material
substance).
24. In these states of the conversion of intelligence into sensation,
perception and other faculties, the Intellect remains the same and
unchangeable though it is expressed by different words of human
invention (and which are but synonyms of the same).
25. The soul remains the same both in its conception of mental thoughts
and ideas, as well as in its perception of outward objects; and it is
not changed in either case like the mind, in its vision of the dreams
within it, and its sight of object, without itself.
26. The Intellect or understanding, resembling a vacuous substance, is
as unchangeable in its nature as that of vacuity and eternity; and the
objects which present their ideas in the soul, are as dreams which
appear in the mind, and are nothing in reality.
27. The gross nature of external objects, bear no relation with the pure
internal intellect; nor can their impurity touch or pollute the purity
of the soul; therefore the intellect is not subject to the mutability of
external nature.
28. The understanding never acquires the mutable state, of the objects
it dwells upon (as the mind does); it remains always in its immutable
nature, and is never otherwise in any state or condition.
29. The yogi having attained to his extreme purity of his understanding,
in the seventh or the highest degree of his perfection; becomes
identified with intelligence, and of the meaning of its presence or
absence.
30. The minds of the passing or ordinary people, are impressed with idea
of their materiality by reason of their understanding themselves as
material bodies.
31. They falsely take their fleeting minds, which are as pure as the
clear firmament for a material object; in the same manner as the players
in a drama, take upon themselves the false guise of Pisáchas demons.
(Misrepresenting the fair as foul).
32. All error is corrected by the habit of an unerring wisdom, as the
madness of a man is cured by his thinking himself as no mad man. (That
is, the constant habit of your thinking yourself as so and so, is what
will make you really appear as such).
33. The knowledge of one’s erroneousness makes him get out of his error,
as the error of dreaming is lost, upon one’s coming to the knowledge,
that all he beheld was but a mere dream.
34. It is the extenuation of our desires, that lessens our attachment to
the world (and the vice versa); the desire is a great demon, which must
be destroyed by the wise man.
35. As the madness of men, is increased by their habitual ravings; so it
is by their constant practice of sobriety, that the giddy insanity of
man comes to be abated.
36. As the passing human body, is taken in its corporeal sense in
thought; so it is taken in a spiritual sense also by the learned, by
virtue of its understanding or intellectual powers or faculties.
37. The passing or subtile body, having taken the form of the living
soul; is capable of being converted into the state of Brahma; by the
intense culture of its understanding. (But it is argued and objected
that).
38. If anything is produced according to its substance, and if any body
thinks himself according his own understanding; how is it then possible
for a material being, to take itself in a spiritual sense.
39. Logomachy rather increases the doubts, but following one’s advice,
the error is removed off; as devil is removed off by chaunting the
mantras only, rather than knowing the meaning of them.
40. The world being thought as identic with its thought (or conception
in the mind), it is believed to be an immaterial and bodiless substance;
until at last its substantivity is lost in the vacuity of the Intellect.
(So says the sruti:—The world is the bodiless and unsullied spirit).
41. The mind being quite at rest from all its internal and external
thoughts, the real spiritual nature of the soul then appears to light;
and manifest itself in the form of the cool and clear firmament, which
must be laid hold upon for one’s rest and refuge.
42. The wise man will perform his sacrifice with knowledge, and plant
the stakes of his meditation in it; and at the conclusion of his
all-conquering sacrifice (Vishajit) offer his relinquishment of the
world (sarva tyága) as his oblation to it. (Because whoso wishes to
overcome the world, needs first to make an offering of it in his holy
sacrifice).
43. The wise man is always the same and equally firm in himself, whether
he stands under a shower of rain or falling rain or fire stones from
above, or walks in a diluvian storm; or when he is travelling all over
the earth or mounting or flying in the air.
44. No one can attain the station of the apathetic sage, whose mind is
tranquil by its want of desire, and which has obtained its enclosure
within itself; unless he is practiced to sit in his steadfast
meditation.
45. The mind can never derive that perfect peace and tranquility,
either from the study of the sástras, or attending on holy lectures and
sermons, or by the practice of austerities and self-controul; as it does
by its distaste of all external objects and enjoyments.
46. The mind like a bundle of hay is burnt away by the fire of
inappetency of all worldly objects; this fire is kindled by the breath
of abandonment of all things, and fanned by the persuasion, that all
prosperity is followed by adversity.
47. The perception of sensible objects, casts a mist of ignorance in and
all about the mind; it is one’s knowledge alone, which shines as a
brilliant gem within himself.
48. It is the Intellect alone which shines amidst this gloom, like a
luminary in the sky; and looks over all mankind, Nágas and Asuras, and
over mountains and in their caves.
49. It is by the infusion of this Intellect, that all things are moving
in the dull womb of the universe; they are whirling in the whirlpool of
the Intellect, and are deriving their freshness from the enlivening
power of that source.
50. All living beings whirling in the great whirlpool of the Intellect
(chit Vivarte), are as weak little fishes encircled by the net of
ignorance; they are swimming and skimming in the water of the vast
vacuum, and are quite forgetful of their spiritual origin.
51. It is the Divine Intellect, that shows itself in various forms
within the sphere of itself; as the air presents the variegated forms of
thickening clouds, in the wide arena of the sky.
52. All living beings are of the same nature, with their spiritual
source, when they are devoid of their desires; it is the difference of
desire that makes their different states, and causes them to fly about
like the dry leaves of trees, and rustling in the air as hollow reeds.
53. Therefore you must not remain as the ignorant, but rise above them
by raising your mind to wisdom; and this is to be done, by calling the
manly powers to your aid; and then by overcoming your dullness to
suppress the whole band of your rising desires, and next by breaking the
strong fetters and prison-house of this world, to devote your attention
to your improvement in spiritual knowledge. (These steps are described
very diffusely in the gloss for the practice of the devotee).