{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_71064/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_71064","id":"gutenberg_71064","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/71064","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Hinduism -- Doctrines -- Early works to 1800","Religious life -- Hinduism -- Early works to 1800"],"text":"Transcriber\u2019s Notes\n\n\nInconsistent punctuation has been silently corrected.\n\nObvious misspellings have been silently corrected, and the following\ncorrections made to the text. Other spelling and hyphenation variations\nhave not been modified.\n\n Page 412 - and the other to that of the learned -> and the other to that\n of the unlearned\n Page 413 - in mountainous -> in the mountainous\n Page 437, section 66 - favourite females -> favourite of females\n Page 634, section 40 - full of inequity -> full of iniquity\n Page 680, section 22 - the like -> like the\n Page 715, section 53 - unvisionary -> visionary\n Page 816, section 16 - bring though -> even though\n Page 930, section 29 - very thick and lean -> very thin and lean\n\nAlso, some of the shortcomings of the LPP edition have been corrected by\nreferencing other printings:\n\n Page 434: Missing line \"remove it by your subjection to ignorance\n and idleness\" was inserted.\n\n Page 687 in the printed book is a copy of page 887 (where it belongs).\n The missing page 687 has been supplied from the Bharatiya edition. (It\n is the start of chapter LXI: On Birth, Death and Existence (verse\n 1-9)). This error has been reproduced in the Parimal ed. because this\n is based on a scanning of an edition with this error.\n\n Page 688 and 888 were switched in the printed book.\n\n Page 886: verse 17-18 were missing.\n\n Page 918: verse 8 was missing.\n\nAngle brackets: <...> have been used by the transcriber to indicate light\nediting of the text to insert missing words.\n\nThe spelling of Sanskrit words are normalized to some extent, including\ncorrect/addition of accents where necessary. Note that the author uses\n\u00e1, \u00ed, \u00fa to indicate long vowels. This notation has not been changed.\n\nThe third Devanagari character in footnote 7 is illegible in the text.\nIt has been inserted from an alternate text, although it appears that\nthe original of this text may in fact have included a typo.\n\nThe LPP edition (1999) which has been scanned for this ebook, is of\npoor quality, and in some cases text was missing. Where possible, the\nmissing/unclear text has been supplied from another edition, which has\nthe same typographical basis (both editions are photographical reprints\nof the same source, or perhaps one is a copy of the other): Bharatiya\nPublishing House, Delhi 1978.\n\nA third edition, Parimal Publications, Delhi 1998, which is based on an\nOCR scanning of the same typographical basis, has also been consulted.\n\nThe term \u201cGloss.\u201d or \u201cGlossary\u201d probably refers to the extensive classical\ncommentary to Yoga V\u00e1sishtha by Ananda Bodhendra Saraswati (only\navailable in Sanskrit).\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n THE\n\n YOGA-V\u00c1SISHTHA-MAH\u00c1R\u00c1M\u00c1YANA.\n\n VOL. II (part 2)\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n THE\n YOGA-V\u00c1SISHTHA\n MAH\u00c1R\u00c1M\u00c1YANA\n OF\n V\u00c1LM\u00cdKI\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n THE\n\n YOGA-V\u00c1SISHTHA\n MAH\u00c1R\u00c1M\u00c1YANA\n\n OF\n\n\n V\u00c1LM\u00cdKI\n\n in 4 vols. in 7 pts.\n (Bound in 4.)\n\n Vol. 2 (In 2 pts.)\n Bound in one.\n\n Containing\n Utpatti Khanda, Sthiti Prakarana and\n Upasama Khanda to Chapter LIII.\n\n _Translated from the original Sanskrit\n By_\n VIHARI-LALA MITRA\n\n\n YOGA VASISHTHA\n\n BOOK IV.\n STHITI PRAKARANA\n ON ONTOLOGY OR EXISTENCE.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n CONTENTS\n OF\n STHITI PRAKARANA.\n\n (ON ONTOLOGY OR EXISTENCE).\n\n BOOK IV.\n\n CHAPTER I.\n Janya-Jani-Nir\u00fapana 403\n\n CHAPTER II.\n The Receptacle of the Mundane Egg 408\n\n CHAPTER III.\n Eternity of the World 411\n\n CHAPTER IV.\n Treating of the Germ of Existence 414\n\n CHAPTER V.\n Story of Bh\u00e1rgava 416\n\n CHAPTER VI.\n Elysium of Bh\u00e1rgava 418\n\n CHAPTER VII.\n Re-union of the Lovers 421\n\n CHAPTER VIII.\n Transmigration of Sukra 425\n\n CHAPTER IX.\n Description of Sukra\u2019s Body 429\n\n CHAPTER X.\n Bhrigu\u2019s Conference with K\u00e1la or Death 431\n\n CHAPTER XI.\n Cause of the Production of the World 439\n\n CHAPTER XII.\n Detailed Account of the Genesis of the World 448\n\n CHAPTER XIII.\n Consolation of Bhrigu 451\n\n CHAPTER XIV.\n Sukra\u2019s Reminiscence of his Metempsychosis 454\n\n CHAPTER XV.\n Lamentation and Expostulation of Sukra 459\n\n CHAPTER XVI.\n Resuscitation of Sukra 464\n\n CHAPTER XVII.\n Attainment of the Ideal Realm 467\n\n CHAPTER XVIII.\n The Incarnation of the Living Spirit 471\n\n CHAPTER XIX.\n Investigation into the Nature of the Living Soul 480\n\n CHAPTER XX.\n Description of the Mind 484\n\n CHAPTER XXI.\n On the Philosophy of the Mind 486\n\n CHAPTER XXII.\n Resting in Supreme Felicity 493\n\n CHAPTER XXIII.\n Meditation of the Wonders in the Realm\n of the Body 498\n\n CHAPTER XXIV.\n The Non-entity of the Mind 505\n\n CHAPTER XXV.\n Narrative of D\u00e1ma, Vy\u00e1la and Kata 508\n\n CHAPTER XXVI.\n Battle of the Deities and Demons 512\n\n CHAPTER XXVII.\n Admonition of Brahm\u00e1 518\n\n CHAPTER XXVIII.\n The Renewed Battle of the Gods and Demons 523\n\n CHAPTER XXIX.\n Defeat of the Demons 527\n\n CHAPTER XXX.\n Account of the Subsequent lives of the Demons 531\n\n CHAPTER XXXI.\n Investigation of Reality and Unreality 533\n\n CHAPTER XXXII.\n On Good Conduct 539\n\n CHAPTER XXXIII.\n Consideration of Egoism 545\n\n CHAPTER XXXIV.\n End of the Story of D\u00e1ma and Vy\u00e1la 553\n\n CHAPTER XXXV.\n Description of Insouciance 558\n\n CHAPTER XXXVI.\n Description of the Intellectual Sphere 566\n\n CHAPTER XXXVII.\n Upasama. The Sameness or Quietism of the Soul 570\n\n CHAPTER XXXVIII.\n The Same Quietness or Quietude of the Spirit 572\n\n CHAPTER XXXIX.\n On the Unity of all Things 577\n\n CHAPTER XXXX.\n Brahma Identic with the World 584\n\n CHAPTER XLI.\n Description of ignorance 589\n\n CHAPTER XLII.\n Production of J\u00edva or Living Souls 593\n\n CHAPTER XLIII.\n The Repositories of Living Souls 598\n\n CHAPTER XLIV.\n The Incarnation of Human Souls in the World 605\n\n CHAPTER XLV.\n Dependence of all on God 611\n\n CHAPTER XLVI.\n Description of Living-Liberation 617\n\n CHAPTER XLVII.\n Description of the Worlds and their Demiurgi 621\n\n CHAPTER XLVIII.\n Story of D\u00e1s\u00fara 630\n\n CHAPTER XLIX.\n Description of D\u00e1s\u00fara\u2019s Kadamba Forest 635\n\n CHAPTER L.\n D\u00e1s\u00fara\u2019s Survey of the Heavens 639\n\n CHAPTER LI.\n D\u00e1s\u00fara\u2019s Begetting a Son 641\n\n CHAPTER LII.\n Grandeur of the Air-born King 645\n\n CHAPTER LIII.\n Description of the Mundane City 649\n\n CHAPTER LIV.\n Corrective of Desires 655\n\n CHAPTER LV.\n Meeting of Vasishtha and D\u00e1s\u00fara 660\n\n CHAPTER LVI.\n On the Soul and its Inertness 664\n\n CHAPTER LVII.\n Nature of Volleity and Nolleity 670\n\n CHAPTER LVIII.\n The song of Kacha 676\n\n CHAPTER LIX.\n Works of Brahm\u00e1\u2019s Creation 678\n\n CHAPTER LX.\n Production of Living Beings 684\n\n CHAPTER LXI.\n On Birth, Death and Existence 687\n\n CHAPTER LXII.\n Speech of the Divine Messenger 690\n\n\n CONTENTS\n OF\n UPASAMA KHANDA.\n\n (ON QUIETISM.)\n\n BOOK V.\n\n CHAPTER I.\n The \u00c1hnika or Daily Ritual 693\n\n CHAPTER II.\n R\u00e1ma\u2019s Recapitulation of Vasishtha\u2019s Lectures 698\n\n CHAPTER III.\n Description of the Royal Assembly 703\n\n CHAPTER IV.\n Inquiries of R\u00e1ma 706\n\n CHAPTER V.\n Lecture on Tranquility of the Soul and Mind 710\n\n CHAPTER VI.\n Lecture on the Discharge of Duty 716\n\n CHAPTER VII.\n On Attainment of Divine Knowledge 719\n\n CHAPTER VIII.\n Song of the Siddhas or Holy Adepts 720\n\n CHAPTER IX.\n Reflections of Janaka 723\n\n CHAPTER X.\n Silent and Solitary Reflections of Janaka 730\n\n CHAPTER XI.\n Subjection of the Mind 734\n\n CHAPTER XII.\n On the Greatness of the Intelligence 737\n\n CHAPTER XIII.\n Government of the Mind 741\n\n CHAPTER XIV.\n Ascertainment of the Thinking Principle 754\n\n CHAPTER XV.\n On Avarice 761\n\n CHAPTER XVI.\n Healing of Avarice 764\n\n CHAPTER XVII.\n On the Extirpation of Avarice 767\n\n CHAPTER XVIII.\n Living Liberation or True Felicity of Man\n in this Life 771\n\n CHAPTER XIX.\n On Holy Knowledge 779\n\n CHAPTER XX.\n Remonstration of P\u00e1vana 784\n\n CHAPTER XXI.\n Repression of Desires by Means of Yoga-Meditation 789\n\n CHAPTER XXII.\n Narrative of Virochana 793\n\n CHAPTER XXIII.\n Speech of Virochana on Subjection of the Mind 799\n\n CHAPTER XXIV.\n On the Healing and Improvement of the Mind 803\n\n CHAPTER XXV.\n Reflections of Bali 811\n\n CHAPTER XXVI.\n Admonition of Sukra to Bali 814\n\n CHAPTER XXVII.\n Hebetude of Bali 817\n\n CHAPTER XXVIII.\n Description of Bali\u2019s anaesthesia 821\n\n CHAPTER XXIX.\n Bali\u2019s resuscitation to sensibility 824\n\n CHAPTER XXX.\n Fall of Hiranyakasipu and Rise of Prahl\u00e1da 831\n\n CHAPTER XXXI.\n Prahl\u00e1da\u2019s Faith in Vishnu 835\n\n CHAPTER XXXII.\n The Spiritual and formal Worship of Vishnu 843\n\n CHAPTER XXXIII.\n Prahl\u00e1da\u2019s Supplication to Hari 848\n\n CHAPTER XXXIV.\n Prahl\u00e1da\u2019s Self-knowledge of Spiritualism 852\n\n CHAPTER XXXV.\n Meditation on Brahma in One\u2019s Self 865\n\n CHAPTER XXXVI.\n Hymn to the Soul 876\n\n CHAPTER XXXVII.\n Disorder and Disquiet of the Asura Realm 885\n\n CHAPTER XXXVIII.\n Scrutiny into the Nature of God 887\n\n CHAPTER XXXIX.\n Admonitions of Hari to Prahl\u00e1da 890\n\n CHAPTER XL.\n Resuscitation of Prahl\u00e1da 896\n\n CHAPTER XLI.\n Installation of Prahl\u00e1da in his Realm 900\n\n CHAPTER XLII.\n Spirituality of Prahl\u00e1da 905\n\n CHAPTER XLIII.\n Rest and Repose of Prahl\u00e1da 908\n\n CHAPTER XLIV.\n Narrative of G\u00e1dhi and his Destruction 913\n\n CHAPTER XLV.\n G\u00e1dhi is Reborn as a Chand\u00e1la, and made King\n over the Kir Tribe 918\n\n CHAPTER XLVI.\n G\u00e1dhi\u2019s Loss of his Visionary Kingdom 923\n\n CHAPTER XLVII.\n Verification of G\u00e1dhi\u2019s Vision 928\n\n CHAPTER XLVIII.\n On the Wondrous Powers of Illusion 935\n\n CHAPTER XLIX.\n G\u00e1dhi\u2019s gaining of True Knowledge 943\n\n CHAPTER L.\n Intentions of R\u00e1ma 949\n\n CHAPTER LI.\n Desire of Udd\u00e1laka 960\n\n CHAPTER LII.\n Ratiocination of Udd\u00e1laka 966\n\n CHAPTER LIII.\n The Rational Rapture of Udd\u00e1laka 974\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n YOGA VASISHTHA\n\n\n\n\n BOOK IV.\n\n STHITI PRAKARANA\n\n ON ONTOLOGY OR EXISTENCE.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER I.\n\n JANYA-JANI-NIR\u00daPANA.\n\n _On Genesis and Epigenesis._\n\n\nArgument. The variety of creation is described as the working of\nthe mind, and the existence of one Brahma only, is established in\nrefutation of the Atomic and Materialistic doctrines of Ny\u00e1ya and\nS\u00e1nkhya philosophy.\n\n\nVasishtha said:\u2014Attend now R\u00e1ma, to the subject of Existence, which\nfollows that of Production: a knowledge of this, is productive of\n_nirv\u00e1na_ or utter annihilation of the self or soul.\n\n2. Know then the phenomenal world which is existent before you, and\nyour knowledge of egoism or self-existence, to be but erroneous\nconceptions of the formless inexistence or inanity.\n\n3. You see the tints of various hues painting the vacuous sky, without\nany paint (colouring substance), or their cause (the painter). This is\nbut a conception of the mind without its visual perception, and like\nthe vision in a dream of one, who is not in a state of sound sleep.\n(The world is a dream).\n\n4. It is like an aerial city built and present in your mind; or like\nthe warming of shivering apes beside the red clay, thinking it as red\nhot fire; and as one\u2019s pursuing an unreality or (grasping a shadow).\n\n5. It is but a different aspect of the self same Brahma, like that of a\nwhirlpool in water, and as the unsubstantial sunlight, appearing as a\nreal substance in the sky.\n\n6. It is like the baseless fabric of gold of the celestials on high;\nand like the air-built castle of Gandharvas in the midway sky. (The\ngods and Gandharvas are believed to dwell in their golden abodes in\nheaven).\n\n7. It is as the false sea in the mirage, appearing true at the time;\nand like the Elysian and Utopian cities of imagination in empty air,\nand taken for truth.\n\n8. It is like the romantic realms with their picturesque scenes in the\nfancies of poets, which are no where in nature but it seems to be solid\nand thick within, without any pith or solidity in it, as thing in an\nempty dream.\n\n9. It is as the etherial sphere, full of light all around, but all\nhollow within; and like the blue autumnal sky, with its light and\nflimsy clouds without any rain-water in them.\n\n10. It is as the unsubstantial vacuum, with the cerulean blue of solid\nsapphire; and like the domes and dames appearing in dreams, fleeting as\nair and untangible to touch.\n\n11. It is as a flower garden in a picture, painted with blooming\nblossoms; and appearing as fragrant without any fragrance in them. It\nis lightsome to sight, without the inherent heat of light, and\nresembles the orb of the sun or a flaming fire represented in a picture.\n\n12. It is as an ideal domain\u2014the coinage of the brain, and an unreal\nreality or a seeming something; and likens a lotus-bed in painting,\nwithout its essence or fragrance.\n\n13. It is as the variegated sky, painted with hues which it does not\npossess; and is as unsolid as empty air, and as many-hued as the\nrain-bow without any hue of its own.\n\n14. All its various colourings of materiality, fade away under the\nright discrimination of reason; and it is found in the end to be as\nunsolid a substance as the stem of a plantain tree; (all coated without,\nand nothing solid in the inside).\n\n15. It is like the rotation of black spots, before the eyes of a\npurblind man; and as the shape of a shadowy inexistence, presented as\nsomething existent before the naked eye.\n\n16. Like the bubble of water, it seems as something substantial to\nsight; but in reality all hollow within; and though appearing as juicy,\nit is without any moisture at all.\n\n17. The bubbling worlds are as wide spread as the morning dews or\nfrost; but take them up, and you will find them as nothing, it is\nthought as gross matter by some, and as vacuum by others. It is\nbelieved as a fluctuation of thought or false vision by some, and as a\nmere compound of atoms by many. (It is the dull matter of S\u00e1nkhyas;\nmere vacuity of Ved\u00e1ntists; fluctuation of error\u2014_avidy\u00e1 spanda_ of the\nS\u00e1nkaras; empty air of M\u00e1dhyamikas; fortuitous union of atoms of\nAch\u00e1ryas; different atomisms of Sautr\u00e1ntas, and Vaibh\u00e1shikas; and so\nlikewise of Kan\u00e1da, Gotama and Arhatas; and so many more according to\nthe theories of others). (Gloss).\n\n18. I am partly of a material frame, on my body and mind, but\nspiritually I am an empty immaterial substance; and though felt by the\ntouch of the hand, I am yet as intangible as a nocturnal fiend:\u2014(an\nempty shadow only).\n\n19. R\u00e1ma said:\u2014It is said Sir, that at the end of a great Kalpa age,\nthe visible world remains in its seed; after which it developes again\nin its present form, which I require to be fully explained to me.\n\n20. Are they ignorant or knowing men, who think in these various ways?\nPlease Sir, tell me the truth for removal of my doubts, and relate to\nme the process of the development.\n\n21. Vasishtha replied:\u2014Those who say that the mundane world existed in\nthe form of a seed at the final sleep (of Brahm\u00e1), are altogether\nignorant of the truth, and talk as children and boys: (from what they\nthink themselves, or hear from others).\n\n22. Hear me tell you, how unaccordant it is to right reason and how far\nremoved from truth. It is a false supposition, and leading both the\npreacher and hearer of such a doctrine to great error and egregious\nmistake.\n\n23. Those who attempt to show the existence of the world, in the form\nof a germ in the mundane seed; maintain a very silly position, as I\nshall now explain unto you.\n\n24. A seed is in itself a visible thing, and is more an object of sense\nthan that of the mind; as the seeds of paddy and barley, are seen to\nsprout forth in their germs and leaves.\n\n25. The mind which is beyond the six organs of sense, is a very minute\nparticle; and it cannot possibly be born of itself, nor become the seed\nof the universe.\n\n26. The Supreme Spirit also, being more rarefied than the subtile\nether, and undefinable by words, cannot be of the form of a seed.\n\n27. That which is as minute as a nil and a zero, is equivalent to\nnothing; and could never be the mundane seed, without which there could\nbe no germ nor sprout.\n\n28. That which is more rare and transparent than the vacuous and clear\nfirmament; cannot possibly contain the world with all its mountains and\nseas; and the heavens with all their hosts, in its transcendent\nsubstratum.\n\n29. There is nothing, that is in any way situated as a substance, in\nthe substantiality of that Being; or if there is anything there, why is\nit not visible to us?\n\n30. There is nothing that comes of itself, and nothing material that\ncomes but of the immaterial spirit; for who can believe a hill to\nproceed from the hollowness of an earthen pot?\n\n31. How can a thing remain with another, which is opposed to it in its\nnature? How can there be any shadow where there is light, and how does\ndarkness reside in the disc of the sun, or even coldness in fire?\n\n32. How can an atom contain a hill, or anything subsist in nothing? The\nunion of a similar with its dissimilar, is as impossible as that of\nshadow with the light of the sun.\n\n33. It is reasonable to suppose that the material seeds of the fig and\npaddy, should bring forth their shoots in time; but it is unreasonable\nto believe the big material world to be contained in an immaterial atom.\n\n34. We see the same organs of sense and their sensations, in all men in\nevery country; but there is not the same uniformity in the\nunderstandings of men in every place, nor can there be any reason\nassigned to this difference.\n\n35. Those who assign a certain cause to some effect or event, betray\ntheir ignorance of the true cause; for what is it that produces the\neffect, except the very thing by some of its accessory powers. (Every\nproduction is but a transformation of itself, by some of its inherent\npowers and properties).\n\n36. Throw off at a distance, the doctrine of cause and effect invented\nby the ignorant; and know that to be true, which is without beginning\nand end, and the same appearing as the world. (An increate everlasting\nprototype in the mind of God).\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER II.\n\n THE RECEPTACLE OF THE MUNDANE EGG.\n\n\nArgument.\u2014Refutation of the doctrine of the separate Existence of the\nworld, and establishment of the tenet of the \u201cOne God as All in All.\u201d\n\n\nVasishtha said:\u2014Now R\u00e1ma! that best knowest the knowable, I will tell\nthee in disparagement of thy belief in the separate existence of the\nworld; that there is one pure and vacuous principle of the Intellect\nonly, above all the false fabrications of men.\n\n2. If it is granted, that there was the germ of the world in the\nbeginning; still it is a question, what were the accompanying causes of\nits development.\n\n3. Without co-operation of the necessary causes, there can be no\nvegetation of the seed, as no barren woman is ever known or seen to\nbring forth an offspring, notwithstanding the seed is contained in the\nwomb.\n\n4. If it was possible for the seed to grow without the aid of its\naccompanying causes, then it is useless to believe in the primary\ncause, when it is possessed of such power in its own nature.\n\n5. It is Brahm\u00e1 himself who abides in his self, in the form of creation\nat the beginning of the world. This creation is as formless as the\ncreator himself, and there is no relation of cause and effect between\nthem.\n\n6. To say the earth and other elements, to be the accompanying causes\nof production, is also wrong; since it is impossible for these elements\nto exist prior to their creation.\n\n7. To say the world remained quiescent in its own nature, together with\nthe accompanying causes, is the talk proceeding from the minds (mouths)\nof boys and not of the wise.\n\n8. Therefore R\u00e1ma! there neither is or was or ever will be a separate\nworld in existence. It is the one intelligence of the Divinity, that\ndisplays the creation in itself.\n\n9. So R\u00e1ma! there being an absolute privation of this visible world, it\nis certain that Brahma himself is All, throughout the endless space.\n\n10. The knowledge of the visible world, is destroyed by the destruction\nof all its causalities; but the causes continuing in the mind, will\ncause the visibles to appear to the view even after their outward\nextinction (like objects in the dream).\n\n11. The absolute privation of the phenomenal, is only effected by the\nprivation of its causes, (_i.e._ the suppression of our acts and\ndesires); but if they are not suppressed in the mind, how can you\neffect to suppress the sight?\n\n12. There is no other means of destroying our erroneous conception of\nthe world, except by a total extirpation of the visibles from our view.\n\n13. It is certain that the appearance of the visible world, is no more\nthan our inward conception of it, in the vacuity of the intellect; and\nthe knowledge of I, thou and he, are false impressions on our minds\nlike figures in paintings.\n\n14. As these mountains and hills, these lands and seas and these\nrevolutions of days and nights, and months and years and the knowledge\nthat this is a Kalpa age, and this is a minute and moment, and this is\nlife and this is death, are all mere conceptions of the mind.\n\n15. So is the knowledge of the duration and termination of a _Kalpa_\nand _Mah\u00e1kalpa_ (millenniums &c.) and that of the creation and its\nbeginning and end, are mere misconceptions of our minds.\n\n16. It is the mind that conceives millions of Kalpas and billions of\nworlds, most of which are gone by and many as yet to come. (Or else\nthere is but an everlasting eternity, which is self-same with the\ninfinity of the Deity).\n\n17. So the fourteen regions of the planetary spheres, and all the\ndivisions of time and place, are contained in the infinite space of the\nSupreme Intellect.\n\n18. The universe continues and displays itself as serenely in the\nDivine mind, as it did from before and throughout all eternity; and it\nshines with particles of the light of that Intellect, as the firmament\nis as full with the radiance of solar light.\n\n19. The ineffable light, which is thrown into the mind by the Divine\nIntellect, shows itself as the creation, which in reality is a baseless\nfabric by itself.\n\n20. It does not come to existence nor dissolves into nothing, nor\nappears or sets at any time; but resembles a crystal glass with certain\nmarks in it, which can never be effaced.\n\n21. The creations display of themselves in the clear Intellect of God,\nas the variegated skies form portions of the indivisible space of\nendless vacuum.\n\n22. These are but properties of the Divine Intellect, as fluidity is\nthat of water, motion of the wind, the eddies of the sea, and the\nqualities of all things. (Creation is c\u0153ternal with the Eternal Mind).\n\n23. This creation is but a compact body of Divine wisdom, and is\ncontained in the Divinity as its component part. Its rising and setting\nand continuance, are exhibited alike in the tranquil soul.\n\n24. The world is inane owing to its want of the accompaniment of\nsecondary (_i.e._ material and instrumental) causes and is selfborn:\nand to call it as born or produced, is to breathe the breath (of life)\nlike a madman (_i.e._, it is foolish to say so).\n\n25. R\u00e1ma! purify your mind from the dross of false representations, and\nrise from the bed of your doubts and desires; drive away your\nprotracted sleep of ignorance (avidy\u00e1), and be freed from the fears of\ndeath and disease with every one of your friends in this Court.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER III.\n\n ETERNITY OF THE WORLD.\n\n\nR\u00e1ma said:\u2014But it is related, that Brahm\u00e1\u2014the lord of creatures,\nsprings up by his reminiscence at the end of a kalpa, and stretches out\nthe world from his remembrance of it, in the beginning of creation.\n\n2. Vasishtha answered:\u2014So it is said, O support of Raghu\u2019s race! that\nthe lord of creatures rises at first by his predestination, after the\nuniversal dissolution, and at the commencement of a new creation.\n\n3. It is by his will, that the world is stretched out from his\nrecollection, and is manifested like an ideal city, in the presence of\nBrahm\u00e1\u2014the creative power.\n\n4. The supreme being can have no remembrance of the past at the\nbeginning of a new creation, owing to his want of a prior birth or\ndeath. Therefore this aerial arbour of reminiscence has no relation to\nBrahma. (Who being an ever living being, his cognizance of all things\nis also everlasting).\n\n5. R\u00e1ma asked:\u2014Does not the reminiscence of the past, continue in\nBrahm\u00e1 at his recreation of the world; and so the former remembrance of\nmen upon their being reborn on earth? Or are all past remembrances\neffaced from the minds of men by the delirium of death in their past\nlife?\n\n6. Vasishtha replied:\u2014All intelligent beings, including Brahm\u00e1 and all\nothers of the past age, that obtain their _nirv\u00e1na_ or extinction, are\nof course absorbed in One Brahma (and have lost their remembrance of\nevery thing concerning their past lives).\n\n7. Now tell me, my good R\u00e1ma, where do these past remembrances and\nremembrancers abide any more, when they are wholly lost, at the final\nliberation (or extinction) of the rememberers?\n\n8. It is certain that all beings are liberated, and become extinct in\nBrahma at the great dissolution; hence there cannot be remembrance of\nanything in the absence of the persons that remember the same.\n\n9. The remembrance that lives impressed of itself in the empty space of\nindividual Intellects, is verily the reservoir of the perceptible and\nimperceptible worlds. This reminiscence is eternally present before the\nsight of God, as a reflexion of his own Intellect.\n\n10. It shines with the lustre of his self-consciousness, from time\nwithout beginning and end, and is identic with this world, which is\ntherefore called to be self-born (because it is immanent in the mind of\nGod).\n\n11. The spiritual body which is the attribute of God from time without\nbeginning (that God is a spirit); is the same with Vir\u00e1ta or\nmanifestation of himself, and exhibits the form of the world or the\nmicrocosm (_i.e._ God\u2014spirit\u2014Vir\u00e1t or cosmos).\n\n12. But the world is said to be composed of atoms, which compose the\nland and woods, the clouds and the firmament. But there are no atoms to\nform time and space, actions and motions and revolutions of days and\nnights. (All which are shaped by the spirit and not by atoms).\n\n13. Again the atoms (of matter) which fill the world, have other\nincipient atoms (of spirit), which are inherent in them, and cause them\nto take and appear in the forms of mountains and the like.\n\n14. But these forms seeming to be conglomerations of atomic particles,\nand showing themselves to our vision as lightsome objects, are in\nreality no substantial things.\n\n15. Thus there is no end of the real and unreal sights of things; the\none presenting itself to the view of the learned, and the other to that\nof the unlearned. (_i.e._ All things are viewed in their spiritual\nlight by the learned, and in their material aspect by the ignorant).\n\n16. The cosmos appears as the immutable Brahma only to the intelligent,\nand as the mutable visible world to the unintelligent.\n\n17. As these bright worlds appear to roll about as eggs in their\nspheres, so there are multitudes of other orbs, shining in every atom\nin the universe.\n\n18. As we see curved pillars, consisting of figures under figures, and\nthose again under others; so is the grand pillar of the universe,\ncomposed of systems under systems to no end.\n\n19. As the sands on a rock, are separably attached to it, and are\ncountless in their number; so the orbs in the three worlds, are as\nparticles of dust in mountainous body of Brahm\u00e1.\n\n20. It may be possible to count the particles of ray scattered in the\nsun-beams; but it is impossible to number the atoms of light, which are\nemanating from the great sun of Brahm\u00e1.\n\n21. As the sun scatters the particles of his light, on the sparkling\nwaters and sands of the sea; so does the Intellect of God, disperse the\natoms of its light all over the vacuity of the universe.\n\n22. As the notion of vacuity fills the mind, with the idea of the\nvisible firmament; so the thought of creation, as self-same with Brahm\u00e1,\ngives us the notion of his intellectual sphere.\n\n23. To understand the creation as something different from Brahma,\nleads man apart from Him; but to take it as synonymous with Brahma,\nleads him to his felicity.\n\n24. The enlightened soul, freed from its knowledge of the mundane seed,\nand knowing Brahma alone as the plenum filling the vacuum of intellect;\nknows the knowable (God) in his inward understanding, as the same with\nwhat has proceeded from him.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER IV.\n\n TREATING OF THE GERM OF EXISTENCE.\n\n\nArgument. Sensations and Perceptions, as the Roots of the knowledge of\nExistence: suppression of these annuls all existence, and removes the\nvisibles from view.\n\n\nVasishtha said:\u2014It is the overthrow of the battery of the senses, that\nsupplies us with a bridge over the ocean of the world; there is no\nother act, whereby we may cross over it (to the other shore of truth).\n\n2. Acquaintance with the s\u00e1stras, association with the good and wise,\nand practice of the virtues, are the means whereby the rational and\nself-controlled man, may come to know the absolute negation of the\nvisibles.\n\n3. I have thus told you, O handsome R\u00e1ma! of the causes of the\nappearance and disappearance of the creation, resembling the heaving\nand resting of the waves of the sea of the world.\n\n4. There is no need of a long discourse to tell you that, the mind is\nthe germ of the arbour of acts, and this germ being nipped in the\nbeginning, prevents the growth of the tree, and frustrates the doing of\nacts, which are the fruits thereof.\n\n5. The mind is all (_i.e._ the agent of all actions); therefore it is,\nthat by the healing of your heart and mind, you can cure all the\ntroubles and diseases, you may incur in the world.\n\n6. The minds of men are ever troubled, with their thoughts of the world\nand bodily actions; but these being deadened and defunct, we see\nneither the body nor the outer world.\n\n7. The negation of the outer world, and the suppression of the inner\nthoughts, serve to curb the demon of the mind, by practice of\nself-abnegation for a long period of time.\n\n8. It is possible to heal the inward disease of the internal mind, by\nadministration of this best and only medicine of negation of the\nexternal world. (Ignoring the outer world, is the only way to restore\nthe peace of the mind).\n\n9. It is because of its thoughts, that the mind is subjected to the\nerrors of its birth and death; and to those of its being bound to or\nliberated from, the bonds of the body and this world.\n\n10. The mind being deluded by its thoughts, sees the worlds shining\nbefore it; as a man sees in his delusion, the imaginary city of the\nGandharvas, drawn before him in empty air.\n\n11. All these visible worlds consist in the mind, wherein they seem to\nexist as the fragrance of the air, consists in the cluster of flowers\ncontaining the essence.\n\n12. The little particle of the mind contains the world, as a small\ngrain of sesamum contains the oil, and as an attribute is contained in\nits subject, and a property abiding in the substance.\n\n13. The world abides in the mind in the same manner, as the sun-beams\nabide in the sun, and as brightness consists in the light, and as the\nheat is contained in fire.\n\n14. The mind is the reservoir of the worlds, as the snow is the\nreceptacle of coldness. It is the substratum of all existence, as the\nsky is that of emptiness, and as velocity is inherent in the wind.\n\n15. Therefore the mind is the same with the world, and the world is\nidentic with the mind; owing to their intimate and inseparable\nconnection with one another. The world however is lost by the loss of\nthe mind; but the mind is not lost by destruction of the world.\n(Because the thoughts thereof are imprinted in the mind).\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER V.\n\n STORY OF BH\u00c1RGAVA.\n\n\nArgument. Meditation of Bhrigu, Ramblings of Sukra. His sight of and\namour for an aerial nymph.\n\n\nR\u00e1ma said:\u2014Tell me sir, that knowest all truths, and art best\nacquainted with all that is past and is to come, how the form of the\nworld is so vividly existed in the mind.\n\n2. Please Sir, explain to me by some illustration, how this world,\nappears as a visible object to the inner mind.\n\n3. Vasishtha replied:\u2014The world is situated as truly in the minds of\nmen, as it appeared in its firm and compact state to the bodiless son\nof Indu (I have related long before).\n\n4. It is situated in the same manner in the minds of men, as the\nthought of king Lavana\u2019s transformation of himself to a chand\u00e1la, under\nthe influence of sorcery.\n\n5. It is in the same manner, as Bh\u00e1rgava believed himself to be\npossessed of all worldly gratifications. Because true bliss has much\nmore relation to the mind, than to earthly possessions.\n\n6. R\u00e1ma said:\u2014How is it Sir, that the son of Bhrigu came to the\nenjoyment of earthly pleasures, when he had been longing for the\nfruition of heavenly felicity.\n\n7. Vasishtha replied:\u2014Attend now R\u00e1ma, to my narration of the history\nof Bhrigu and K\u00e1la, whereby you will know how he came to the possession\nof earthly enjoyments.\n\n8. There is a table-land of the Mandara mountain, which is beset by\nrows of tam\u00e1la trees, with beautiful arbours of flowers under them.\n\n9. Here the sage Bhrigu conducted his arduous devotion in olden times\nand it was in this place, that his high-minded and valiant son Sukra,\nalso came to perform his devotion.\n\n10. Sukra was as handsome as the moon, and radiant with his brilliant\nbeams (like the sun). He took his seat in that happy grove of Bhrigu,\nfor the purpose of his devotion.\n\n11. Having long sat in that grove under the umbrage of a rock, Sukra\nremoved himself to the flowery beds and fair plains below.\n\n12. He roved freely about the bowers of Mandara in his youthful sport,\nand became revered among the wise and ignorant men of the place.\n\n13. He roved there at random like Trisanku, between the earth and sky;\nsometimes playing about as a boy, and at others sitting in fixed\nmeditation as his father.\n\n14. He remained without any anxiety in his solitude, as a king who has\nsubdued his enemy; until he happened to behold an Apsara fairy,\ntraversing in her aerial journey.\n\n15. He beheld her with the eyes of Hari, fixed upon his Lakshm\u00ed, as she\nskims over the watery plain, decked with her wreaths of Mandara\nflowers, and her tresses waving loosely with the playful air.\n\n16. Her trinkets jingling with her movements, and the fragrance of her\nperson perfuming the winds of the air; her fairy form was as beautiful\nas a creeping plant, and her eyeballs rolling as in the state of\nintoxication.\n\n17. The moon-beams of her body, shed their ambrosial dews over the\nlandscape, which bewitched the hard-heart of the young devotee, as he\nbeheld the fairy form before him.\n\n18. She also with her body shining as the fair full-moon, and shaking\nas the wave of the sea, became enamoured of Sukra as she looked at his\nface.\n\n19. Sukra then checked the impulse of his mind, which the god of love\nhad raised after her; but losing all his power over himself, he became\nabsorbed in the thought of his beloved object.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VI.\n\n ELYSIUM OF BH\u00c1RGAVA.\n\n\nArgument. Sukra\u2019s imaginary journey to heaven, and his reception by\nIndra.\n\n\nVasishtha said:\u2014Henceforth Sukra continued to think of the nymph with\nhis closed eye-lids, and indulge himself in his reverie of an imaginary\nkingdom.\n\n2. He thought that the nymph was passing in the air, to the paradise of\nIndra\u2014the god with thousand eyes; and that he followed her closely,\nto the happy regions of the celestial gods.\n\n3. He thought, he saw before him the gods, decorated with their\nchaplets of beautiful _mandara_ blossoms on their heads, and with\ngarlands of flowers pendant on their persons resplendent as liquid gold.\n\n4. He seemed to see the heavenly damsels with their eyes as\nblue-lotuses, regaling the eyes of their spectators; and others with\ntheir eyes as beautiful as those of antelopes, sporting with their\nsweet smiles all about (the garden of paradise).\n\n5. He saw also the Marutas or gods of winds, bearing the fragrance of\nflowers, and breathing their sweet scent on one another; and resembling\nthe omnipresent Viswar\u00fapa by their ubiquitous journey.\n\n6. He heard the sweet hum of bees, giddy with the perfumed ichor,\nexuding from the proboscis of Indra\u2019s elephant; and listened to the\nsweet strains, sung by the chorus of the heavenly choir.\n\n7. There were the swans and storks, gabbling in the lakes, with lotuses\nof golden hue in them; and there were the celestial gods reposing in\nthe arbours, beside the holy stream of the heavenly Gang\u00e1 (Mand\u00e1kin\u00ed).\n\n8. These were the gods Yama and Indra, and the sun and moon, and the\ndeities of fire and the winds; and there were the regents of the\nworlds, whose shining bodies shaded the lustre of vivid fire.\n\n9. On one side was the warlike elephant of Indra\u2014(Air\u00e1vata), with the\nscratches of the demoniac weapons on his face (proboscis), and tusks\ngory with the blood of the defeated hosts of demons.\n\n10. Those who were translated from earth to heaven in the form of\nluminous stars, were roving in their aerial vehicles, blazing with\naureate beams of the shining sun.\n\n11. The gods were washed by the showers, falling from the peaks of Meru\nbelow, and the waves of the Ganges, rolled on with scattered _mandara_\nflowers floating on them.\n\n12. The alleys of Indra\u2019s groves, were tinged with saffron, by heaps of\nthe dust of _mandara_ flowers; and were trodden by groups of Apsara\nlasses, sporting wantonly upon them.\n\n13. There were the gentle breezes blowing among the _p\u00e1rij\u00e1ta_ plants,\nbrightening as moon-beams in the sacred bowers; and wafting the\nfragrant honey, from the cups of _Kunda_ and _mandara_ blossoms.\n\n14. The pleasure garden of Indra, was crowded by heavenly damsels; who\nwere besmeared with the frosty farina of _k\u0113sara_ flowers, mantling\nthem like the creepers of the grove in their yellow robes.\n\n15. Here were the heavenly nymphs dancing in their gaiety, at the tune\nof the songs of their lovers; and there were heavenly musicians N\u00e1rada\nand Tamburu, joining their vocal music in unison with the melody of the\nwired instruments of the lute and lyre (Vallakik\u00e1kali).\n\n16. Holy men and the pious and virtuous, were seen to soar high in\ntheir heavenly cars, and sitting there with their decorations of\nvarious kinds.\n\n17. The amorous damsels of the gods, were clinging round their god\nIndra: as the tender creepers of the garden, twine about the trees\nbeside them.\n\n18. There were the fruit trees of _gulunchas_, studded with clusters of\ntheir ripening fruits; and resembling the gemming sapphires and rubies,\nand set as rows of ivory teeth.\n\n19. After all these sights, Sukra thought of making his obeisance to\nIndra, who was seated on his seat like another Brahm\u00e1\u2014the creator of\nthe three worlds.\n\n20. Having thought so, Sukra bowed down to Indra in his own mind, as he\nwas the second Bhrigu in heaven\u2014(_i.e._ He bowed to him with a\nveneration equal to that he paid to his father).\n\n21. Indra received him with respect, and having lifted him up with his\nhand, made him sit by himself.\n\n22. Indra addressed him saying:\u2014I am honoured, Sukra! by thy call, and\nthis heaven of mine is graced by thy presence, may thou live long to\nenjoy the pleasure of this place.\n\n23. Indra then sat in his seat with a graceful countenance, which shone\nwith the lustre of the unspotted full-moon.\n\n24. Sukra being thus seated by the side of Indra, was saluted by all\nthe assembled gods of heaven; and he continued to enjoy every felicity\nthere, by being received with paternal affection by the lord of gods\nand men.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VII.\n\n RE-UNION OF THE LOVERS.\n\n\nArgument. Sukra sees his beloved in heaven, and is joined to her at\nthat place.\n\n\nVasishtha said:\u2014Thus Sukra being got among the gods in the celestial\ncity, forgot his former nature, without his passing through the pangs\nof death.\n\n2. Having halted awhile by the side of the Sachi\u2019s consort (Indra), he\nrose up to roam about the paradise, by being charmed with all its\nvarious beauties.\n\n3. He looked with rapture on the beauty of his own person, and longed\nto see the lovely beauties of heavenly beings, as the swan is eager to\nmeet the lotuses of the lake.\n\n4. He saw his beloved one among them in the garden of Indra\u2019s Eden\n(udy\u00e1na), with her eyes like those of a young fawn; and with a stature\nas delicate as that of a tender creeper of the _Amra_ (amarynthus).\n\n5. She also beheld the son of Bhrigu, and lost her government on\nherself; and was thus observed by him also in all her indications of\namorous feelings.\n\n6. His whole frame was dissolved in affection for her, like the\nmoonstone melting under the moonbeams; so was hers likewise in\ntenderness for him.\n\n7. He like the moonstone was soothed by her cooling beauty, beaming as\nmoonlight in the sky; and she also being beheld by him, was entirely\nsubdued by her love to him.\n\n8. At night they bewailed as chakrav\u00e1kas (ruddy geese), at their\nseparation from one another, and were filled with delight on their\nmutual sight at the break of the day (which unites the Chakrav\u00e1ka pair\ntogether).\n\n9. They were both as beautiful to behold, as the sun and the opening\nblossom of the lotus at morn; and their presence added a charm to the\ngarden of paradise, which promised to confer their desired bliss.\n\n10. She committed her subdued-self to the mercy of the god of love, who\nin his turn darted his arrows relentless on her tender heart.\n\n11. She was covered all over her person with the shafts of cupid, as\nwhen the lotus blossom is hid under a swarm of fleeting bees; and\nbecame as disordered as the leaves of the lotus, are disturbed under a\nshower of rain drops.\n\n12. She fluttered at the gentle breath of the playful winds, like the\ntender filaments of flowers; and moved as graceful as the swan, with\nher eyes as bluish as those of the leaflets of blue-lotuses.\n\n13. She was deranged in her person by the god of love, as the lotus-bed\nis put into disorder by the mighty elephant; and was beheld in that\nplight by her lover (Sukra), in the flight of his fancy.\n\n14. At last the shade of night overspread the landscape of the heavenly\nparadise, as if the god of destruction (Rudra) was advancing to bury\nthe world under universal gloom.\n\n15. A deep darkness overspread the face of the earth, and covered it in\nthick gloom; like the regions of the polar mountains; where the\nhot-blazing-sun is obscured by the dark shade of perpetual night, as if\nhiding his face in shame under the dark veil of Cimmerian gloom.\n\n16. The loving pair met together in the midst of the grove, when the\nassembled crowds of the place, retired to their respective habitations\nin different directions.\n\n17. Then the love-smitten-dame approached her lover with her sidelong\nglances, as a bird of air alights from her aerial flight in the\nevening, to meet with her mate on the earth below.\n\n18. She advanced towards the son of Bhrigu, as a peahen comes out to\nmeet the rising cloud; and thought she beheld there a white washed\nedifice, with a couch placed in the midst.\n\n19. Bh\u00e1rgava entered the white hall, as when Vishnu enters into hoary\nsea, accompanied by his beloved Lakshm\u00ed; who held him by the hand with\nher down-cast countenance.\n\n20. She graced his person, as the lotus-stalk graces the bosom of the\nelephant; and then spoke to him sweetly with her words mixed with\ntender affection.\n\n21. She told him in a sweet and delightsome speech fraught with\nexpressions of endearment: Behold, O my moon-faced lover! I see the\ncurve of thy bow as a bow bent for my destruction.\n\n22. Cupid is thence darting his arrows to destroy this lovelorn maid;\ntherefore protect me from him, that am so helpless and have come under\nthy protection from his rage.\n\n23. Know my good friend, that it is the duty of good people, to relieve\nthe wretched from their distress; and those that do not look upon them\nwith a compassionate eye, are reckoned as the basest of men.\n\n24. Love is never vilified by those, who are acquainted with erotics;\nbecause the true love of faithful lovers, have endured to the last\nwithout any fear of separation.\n\n25. Know my dear, that the delightful draught of love, defies the dewy\nbeams distilled by the moon; and the sovereignty of the three worlds,\nis never so pleasing to the soul, as the love of the beloved.\n\n26. I derive the same bliss from the touch of thy feet, as it attends\non mutual lovers on their first attachment to one another.\n\n27. I live by the nectarious draught of thy touch, as the _kumuda_\nblooms by night, imbibing the ambrosial beams of the moon.\n\n28. As the fluttering Chakora, is delighted with drinking the\nmoonbeams, so is this suppliant at thy feet, blessed by the touch of\nthe leaf-like palm of thy hand.\n\n29. Embrace me now to thy bosom, which is filled with ambrosial bliss.\nSaying so, the damsel fell upon his bosom with her body soft as a\nflower, and her eyes turning as a leaflet at the gentle breeze.\n\n30. The loving pair fell into their trance of love in that happy grove,\nas a couple of playful bees creeps into the lotus cup, under the fair\nfilaments of the flower, shaking by the gentle breeze.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VIII.\n\n TRANSMIGRATIONS OF SUKRA.\n\n\nArgument. Sukra fancies his fall from heaven, and passing through many\nimaginary births.\n\n\nVasishtha related:\u2014Thus the son of Bhrigu, believed himself to be in\nthe enjoyment of heavenly pleasures, in his ideal reveries.\n\n2. He thought of enjoying the company of his beloved, bedecked with\ngarlands of _mandara_ flowers, and inebriated with the drink of\nambrosial draughts, like the full-moon accompanied by the evening star.\n\n3. He roved about the ideal lake of heaven (M\u00e1nas Sarovara), filled\nwith golden lotuses, and frequented by the giddy swans and gabbling\ngeese or hansas of heaven; and roamed beside the bank of the celestial\nriver (Mand\u00e1kin\u00ed), in company with the choristers (ch\u00e1ranas, and\nKinnaras of paradise).\n\n4. He drank the sweet nectarious juice beaming as moonbeams in company\nwith the gods; and reposed under the arbours of the groves, formed by\nthe shaking branches of _p\u00e1rij\u00e1ta_ plants.\n\n5. He amused himself with his favourite Vidy\u00e1dhar\u00eds, in swinging\nhimself in the hanging cradles, formed by the shady creepers of the\narbour, and screening him from the vernal sunbeams.\n\n6. The parterres of Nandana gardens were trodden down under the feet of\nthe fellow followers of Siva, as when the ocean was churned by the\n_Mandara_ mountain.\n\n7. The tender weeds and willows growing as golden shrubberies, and\ntangled bushes in the beach of the river, were trampled under the legs\nof heated elephants, as when they infest the lotus lakes on Meru.\n(_i.e._ Lotuses growing in the lakes of mountainous regions).\n\n8. Associated by his sweet-heart, he passed the moonlight nights in the\nforest groves of Kail\u00e1sa, attending to the songs and music of heavenly\nchoristers.\n\n9. Roaming on the table-lands of Gandham\u00e1dana mountain, he decorated\nhis beloved with lotus-garlands from her head to foot.\n\n10. He roved with her to the polar mountain which is full of wonders,\nas having darkness on one side and lighted on the other. Here they\nsported together with their tender smiles and fond caresses and embrace.\n\n11. He thought he remained in a celestial abode beside the marshy lands\nof Mandara, for a period of full sixty years; and passed his time in\nthe company of the fauna of the place.\n\n12. He believed he passed half a _yuga_ with his helpmate, on the\nborder of the milky ocean, and associated with the maritime people and\nislanders of that ocean.\n\n13. He next thought to live in a garden at the city of the Gandharvas,\nwhere he believed to have lived for an immeasurable period like the\ngenius of Time himself, who is the producer of an infinity of worlds.\n\n14. He was again translated to the celestial seat of Indra, where he\nbelieved to have resided for many cycles of the quadruple _yuga_ ages\nwith his mistress.\n\n15. It was at the end of the merit of their acts that they were doomed\nto return on earth, shorn of their heavenly beauty and the fine\nfeatures of their persons.\n\n16. Being deprived of his heavenly seat and vehicle, and bereft of his\ngodlike form and features; Sukra was overcome by deep sorrow, like a\nhero falling in the field of warfare.\n\n17. His great grief at his fall from heaven to earth, broke his frame\nas it were into a hundred fragments; like a waterfall falling on the\nstony ground, and breaking into a hundred rills below.\n\n18. They with their emaciated bodies and sorrowful minds, wandered\nabout in the air, like birds without their nest.\n\n19. Afterwards their disembodied minds entered into the net-work of\nlunar beams, and then in the form of molten frost or rain water, they\ngrew the vegetables on earth.\n\n20. Some of these vegetables were concocted, and then eaten by a\nBr\u00e1hman in the land of Das\u00e1rna or confluence of the ten streams. The\nsubstance of Sukra was changed to the semen of the Br\u00e1hman, and then\nconceived as a son by his wife.\n\n21. The boy was trained up in the society of the munis to the practice\nof rigorous austerities, and he dwelt in the forests of Meru for a\nwhole _manwantara_, observant of his holy rites.\n\n22. There he gave birth to a male child of human figure in a doe (to\nwhich his mistress was transformed in her next birth), and became\nexceedingly fond of the boy, to the neglect of his sacred duties.\n\n23. He constantly prayed for the long life, wealth and learning of his\ndarling, and thus forsook the constancy of his faith and reliance in\nProvidence. (Longevity, prosperity and capacity for learning, are the\ntriple blessings of civil life, instead of austerity, purity and\nself-resignation of painful asceticism).\n\n24. Thus his falling off from the thought of heaven, to those of the\nearthly aggrandizement of his son, made his shortened life an easy prey\nto death, as the inhaling of air by the serpent. (It is said that the\nserpent lives upon air, which it takes in freely in want of any other\nfood).\n\n25. His worldly thoughts having vitiated his understanding, caused him\nto be reborn as the son of the Madra king, and succeed to him in the\nkingdom of the Madras (Madura-Madras).\n\n26. Having long reigned in his kingdom of Madras by extirpation of all\nhis enemies, he was overtaken at last by old age, as the lotus-flower\nis stunted by the frost.\n\n27. The king of Madras, was released of his kingly person by his desire\nof asceticism; whereby he became the son of an anchorite in next-birth,\nin order to perform his austerities.\n\n28. He retired to the bank of the meandering river of the Ganges, and\nthere betook himself to his devotion; being devoid of all his worldly\nanxieties and cares.\n\n29. Thus the son of Bhrigu, having passed in various forms in his\nsuccessive births, according to the desires of his heart; remained at\nlast as a fixed arbour on the bank of a running stream.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER IX.\n\n DESCRIPTION OF SUKRA\u2019S BODY.\n\n\nArgument. The departed spirit of Sukra, remembers the state of its\nformer body.\n\n\nVasishtha related:\u2014As Sukra was indulging his reveries in this manner,\nhe passed insensibly under the flight of a series of years, which\nglided upon him in the presence of his father.\n\n2. At last his arboraceous body withered away with age, under the\ninclement sun and winds and rain; and it fell down on the ground as a\ntree torn from its roots.\n\n3. In all his former births, his mind thirsted after fresh pleasures\nand enjoyments; as a stag hunts after fresh verdure from forest to\nforest.\n\n4. He underwent repeated births and deaths, in his wanderings in the\nworld in search of its enjoyments; and seemed as some thing whirled\nabout in a turning mill or wheel; till at last he found his rest in the\ncooling beach of the rivulet.\n\n5. Now the disembodied spirit of Sukra, remained to reflect on his past\ntransmigrations, in all the real and ideal forms of his imagination.\n\n6. It thought of its former body on the Mandara mountain, and how it\nwas reduced to a skeleton of mere bones and skin by the heat of the sun\nand his austerities (_i.e._ of the five fires _pancha-tapas_ of his\npenance).\n\n7. It remembered how the wind instrument of its lungs, breathed out the\njoyous music of its exemption from the pain of action (to which all\nother men were subjected). (It refers to the breathing of _so-ham\nhamsah_ in yoga, which is the sweet music of salvation).\n\n8. Seeing how the mind is plunged in the pit of worldly cares, the body\nseems to laugh at it, by showing the white teeth of the mouth in\nderision.\n\n9. The cavity of the mouth, the sockets of the eyes, the nostrils and\near-holes in the open face, are all expressive of the hollowness of\nhuman and heavenly bodies (_i.e._ they are all hollow within, though\nthey seem to be solid without).\n\n10. The body sheds the tears of its eyes in sorrow for its past pains\nand austerities, as the sky rains after its excessive heat to cool the\nearth.\n\n11. The body was refreshed by the breeze and moon-beams, as the\nwoodlands are renovated by cooling showers in the rainy season.\n\n12. It remembered how its body was washed on the banks of mountain\nrills, by the water-falls from above, and how it was daubed by the\nflying dust and the dirt of sin.\n\n13. It was as naked as a withered tree, and rustling to the air with\nthe breeze; yet it withstood the keen blasts of winter as unshaken\ndevotion in person.\n\n14. The faded face, the withered lungs and arteries, and the skinny\nbelly, resembled those of the goddess of famine, that cried aloud in\nthe forest, in the howlings of the wild beasts.\n\n15. Yet the holy person of the hermit was unhurt by envious animals,\nowing to its freedom from passions and feelings, and its fervent\ndevotion; and was not devoured by rapacious beasts and birds.\n\n16. The body of Bhrigu\u2019s son was thus weakened by his abstinence and\nself-denial, and his mind was employed in holy devotion, as his body\nlay prostrate on the bed of stones.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER X.\n\n BHRIGU\u2019S CONFERENCE WITH K\u00c1LA OR DEATH.\n\n\nArgument. Bhrigu\u2019s grief at seeing the death-like body of his son.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014After the lapse of a thousand years, the great\nBhrigu rose from his holy trance (anaesthesia); and was disengaged in\nhis mind from its meditation of God, as in a state of suspension or\nsyncope of his holy meditations.\n\n2. He did not find his son lowly bending down his head before him, the\nson who was the leader of the army of virtues, and who was the\npersonified figure of all merits.\n\n3. He only beheld his body, lying as a skeleton before him, as it was\nwretchedness or poverty personified in that shape.\n\n4. The skin of his body was dried by the sun, and his nostrils snoring\nas a hooping bird; and the inner entrails of his belly, were sounding\nas dry leather-pipes with the croaking of frogs.\n\n5. The sockets of his eyes, were filled with new-born worms grown in\nthem; and the bones of his ribs had become as bars of a cage, with the\nthin skin over them resembling the spider\u2019s web.\n\n6. The dry and white skeleton of the body, resembled the desire of\nfruition, which bends it to the earth, to undergo all the favourable\nand unfavourable accidents of life.\n\n7. The crown of the head had become as white and smooth (by its\nbaldness or grey hairs), as the phallus of Siva anointed with camphor,\nat the _Indu-varcha_ ceremony in honor of the moon.\n\n8. The withered head erected on the bony neckbone, likened the soul\nsupported by the body:\u2014(either to lead or be led by it).\n\n9. The nose was shriveled to a dry stalk, for want of its flesh; and\nthe nose-bone stood as a post, dividing the two halves of the face.\n\n10. The face standing erect on the protruded shoulders on both sides,\nwas looking forward in the womb of the vacuous sky, whither the vital\nbreath had fled from the body.\n\n11. The two legs, thighs, knees and the two arms (forming the eight\n_angas_ or members of the body), had been doubled in their length (for\ntheir long etherial course); and lay slackened with fatigue of the long\njourney.\n\n12. The leanness of the belly like a _lath_, showed by its shriveled\nflesh and skin, the empty inside of the ignorant: (_i.e._ they may be\npuffed up with pride on the outside, but are all hollow in the inside).\n\n13. Bhrigu seeing the withered skeleton of his son, lying as the\nworn-out post (to which the elephant was tied by its feet), made his\nreflections as said before, and rose from his seat.\n\n14. He then began to dubitate in his mind, at the sight of the dead\nbody, as to whether it could be the lifeless carcass of his son or any\nother.\n\n15. Thinking it no other than the dead body of his son, he became sore\nangry upon the god of death (that had untimely taken him away).\n\n16. He was prepared to pronounce his imprecation against the god of\nfate, in vengeance of his snatching his son so prematurely from him.\n\n17. At this _Yama_\u2014the regent of death, and devourer of living beings,\nassumed his figurative form of a material body, and appeared in an\ninstant before the enraged father.\n\n18. He appeared in armour with six arms and as many faces, accompanied\nby the army of his adherents, and holding the noose and sword and other\nweapons in his hands. (The commentary ascribes a dozen of arms to\n_Yama_, by the number of the twelve months of the year, and having half\nof the number on either side, according to the six signs of the zodiac\nin either hemisphere. The six faces are representative of the six\nseasons of Hindu astronomy instead of four of other nations).\n\n19. The rays of light radiating from his body, gave it the appearance\nof a hill, filled with heaps of the crimson _kinsuka_ flowers, growing\nin mountain forests.\n\n20. The rays of the living fire flashing from his trident gave it the\nglare of golden ringlets, fastened to the ears of all the sides of the\nsky.\n\n21. The breath of his host, hurled down the ridges of mountains, which\nhung about them, like swinging cradles on earth.\n\n22. His sable sword flashing with sombre light, darkened the disk of\nthe sun; as it were by the smoke of the final conflagration of the\nearth.\n\n23. Having appeared before the great sage, who was enraged as the\nraging sea, he soothed him to calmness as after a storm, by the gentle\nbreath of his speech.\n\n24. \u201cThe sages\u201d said he, \u201care acquainted with the laws of nature, and\nknow the past and future as present before them. They are never moved\neven with a motive to anything, and are far from being moved without a\ncause.\n\n25. \u201cYou sages are observers of the multifarious rules of religions\nausterities, and we are observant of the endless and immutable laws of\ndestiny; we honour you therefore for your holiness, and not from any\nother desire (of being blessed by you or exempted from your curse).\u201d\n\n26. Do not belie your righteousness by your rage, nor think to do us\nany harm, who are spared unhurt by the flames of final dissolution, and\ncannot be consumed by your curses.\n\n27. We have destroyed the spheres of the universe and devoured legions\nof Rudras, millions of Brahm\u00e1s and myriads of Vishnus (in the repeated\nrevolutions of creation); what is it therefore that we cannot do?\n\n28. We are appointed as devourers of all beings; and you are destined\nto be devoured by us. This is ordained by destiny herself, and not by\nany act of our own will.\n\n29. It is the nature of flame to ascend upwards, and that of fluids to\nflow downward; it is destined for the food to be fed upon by its\neaters, and that creation must come under its destruction by us.\n\n30. Know this form of mine to be that of the Supreme Being, whose\nuniversal spirit acts in various forms, all over the universe.\n\n31. To the unstained (clear) sight, there is no other agent or object\nhere, except the supreme; but the stained sight (of the clear eyed),\nviews many agents and objects (beside the one in all).\n\n32. Agency and objectivity are terms, coined only by the short sighted;\nbut they disappear before the enlarged view of the wise.\n\n33. As flowers grow upon trees, so are animals born on earth; their\ngrowth and birth, as also their fall and death, are of their own\nspontaneity, and miscalled as their causality.\n\n34. As the motion of the moon is caused by no casual cause, though they\nfalsely attribute a causality to it; such is the course of death in the\nworld of its own spontaneous nature.\n\n35. The mind is falsely said to be the agent of all its enjoyments in\nlife; though it is no agent of itself. It is a misbelief like the false\nconception of a serpent in the rope, where there is no serpent at all.\n\n36. Therefore, O sage! allow not yourself to be so angry for your\nsorrow; but consider in its true light, the course of events that\nbefall on humankind.\n\n37. We were not actuated by desire of fame, nor influenced by pride or\npassion to any act; but are ourselves subject to the destiny, which\npredominates over all our actions.\n\n38. Knowing that the course of our conduct, is subject to the destiny\nappointed by the Divine will, the wise never allow themselves to be\nsubjected under the darkness of pride or passion, at our doings.\n\n39. That our duties only should be done at all times, is the rule laid\ndown by the wise creator; and you cannot attempt to remove it by your\nsubjection to ignorance and idleness.\n\n40. Where is that enlightened sight, that gravity and that patience of\nyours, that you grovel in this manner in the dark like the blind, and\nslide from the broad and beaten path laid open for every body? (This\npath is submission to what is destined by the Divine will, according to\nthe common prayer: \u201cLet not mine, but thy will be done\u201d).\n\n41. Why don\u2019t you consider your case as the sequence of your own acts,\nand why then do you, who are a wise man, falsely accuse me like the\nignorant; (as the cause of what is ordained by the Supreme cause of all!)\n\n42. You know that all living beings have two bodies here, of which one\nis known as the intellectual or spiritual body or mind.\n\n43. The other is the inert or corporeal frame, which is fragile and\nperishable. But the minute thing of the mind which lasts until its\nliberation, is what leads all to their good or evil desires.\n\n44. As the skilful charioteer guides his chariot with care, so is this\nbody conducted by the intelligent mind, with equal attention and\nfondness.\n\n45. But the ignorant mind which is prone to evil, destroys the goodly\nbody; as little children break their dolls of clay in sport.\n\n46. The mind is hence called the _purusha_ or regent of the body, and\nthe working of the mind is taken for the act of the man. It is bound to\nthe earth by its desires, and freed by its freedom from earthly\nattractions and expectations.\n\n47. That is called the mind which thinks in itself, \u201cthis is my body\nwhich is so situated here, and these are the members of my body and\nthis my head.\u201d\n\n48. The mind is called life, for its having the living principle in it;\nand the same is one and identic with the understanding. It becomes\negoism by its consciousness, and so the same mind passes under various\ndesignations, according to its different functions.\n\n49. It has the name of the heart from the affections of the body, and\nso it takes many other names at will (according to its divers\noperations). But the earthly bodies are all perishable.\n\n50. When the mind receives the light of truth, it is called the\nenlightened intellect, which being freed from its thoughts relating to\nthe body, is set to its supreme felicity.\n\n51. Thus the mind of your son, wandered from your presence, as you sat\nabsorbed in meditation, to regions far and wide in the ways of its\nvarious desires. (_i.e._ His body was before thee, but his mind was led\nafar by its inward desires).\n\n52. He having left this body of his behind him, in the mountain cave of\nMandara, fled to the celestial region, as a bird flies from his nest to\nthe open air.\n\n53. This mind got into the city of the tutelar gods, and remained in a\npart of the garden of Eden (Nandana), in the happy groves of Mandara,\nand under the bower of _p\u00e1rij\u00e1ta_ flowers.\n\n54. There he thought he passed a revolution of eight cycles of the four\n_yugas_, in company with _Visw\u00e1ch\u00ed_ a beauteous Apsara damsel, unto\nwhom he clung as the hexaped bee clings to the blooming lotus.\n\n55. But as his strong desire led him to the happy regions of his\nimagination, so he had his fall from them at the end of his desert,\nlike the nightly dew falling from heaven.\n\n56. He faded away in his body and all his limbs, like a flower attached\nto the ear or head ornament; and fell down together with his beloved\none, like the ripened fruits of trees.\n\n57. Being bereft of his aerial and celestial body, he passed through\nthe atmospheric air, and was born again on earth in a human figure.\n\n58. He had become a Br\u00e1hman in the land of Das\u00e1rn\u00e1, and then a king of\nthe city of Kosala. He became a hunter in a great forest, and then a\nswan on the bank of Ganges.\n\n59. He became a king of the solar race, and then a r\u00e1ja of the Pundras,\nand afterwards a missionary among the Sauras and S\u00e1lwas. He next became\na Vidy\u00e1dhara, and lastly the son of a sage or _muni_.\n\n60. He had become a ruler in Madras, and then the son of a devotee,\nbearing the name of V\u00e1sudeva, and living on the bank of Samang\u00e1.\n\n61. Your son has also passed many other births, which he was led to by\nhis desire; and he had likewise to undergo some _itara-janma_\nheterogeneous births in lower animals.\n\n62. He had repeatedly been a Kir\u00e1ta\u2014huntsman in the Vindhy\u00e1 hills and\nat Kaikatav. He was a chieftain in Sauv\u00edra, and had become an ass at\nTrigarta.\n\n63. He grew as a bamboo tree in the land of Keralas, and as a deer in\nthe skirts of China. He became a serpent on a palm tree, and a cock on\nthe tam\u00e1la tree.\n\n64. This son of yours had been skilled in incantations\u2014mantras, and\npropagated them in the land of Vidy\u00e1dharas. (So called from their skill\nin enchantments).\n\n65. Then he became a Vidy\u00e1dhara (Jadugar) or magician himself; and\nplied his jugglery of abstracting ornaments from the persons of females.\n\n66. He became a favourite of females, as the sun is dear to\nlotus-flowers; and being as handsome as K\u00e1ma (Cupid) in his person, he\nbecome a favourite amongst Vidy\u00e1dhara damsels in the land of Gandharvas.\n\n67. At the end of the kalpa age (of universal destruction), he beheld\nthe twelve suns of the zodiac shining at once before him, and he was\nreduced to ashes by their warmth, as a grasshopper is burnt up by its\nfalling on fire.\n\n68. Finding no other world nor body where he could enter (upon the\nextinction of the universe), his spirit roved about in the empty air,\nas a bird soars on high without its nest.\n\n69. After the lapse of a long time, as Brahm\u00e1 awoke again from his long\nnight of repose, and commenced anew his creation of the world in all\nits various forms:\u2014\n\n70. The roving spirit of your son was led by its desire, as if it was\npropelled by a gust of wind, to become a Br\u00e1hman again, and to be\nreborn as such on this earth.\n\n71. He was born as the boy of a Br\u00e1hman, under the name of V\u00e1sudeva,\nand was taught in all the Srutis, among the intelligent and learned men\nof the place.\n\n72. It is in this _kalpa_ age that he has become a Vidy\u00e1dhara again,\nand betaken himself to the performance of his devotion on the bank of\nSamang\u00e1, where he is sitting still in his yoga meditation.\n\n73. Thus his desire for the varieties of worldly appearances, has led\nhim to various births, amidst the woods and forests in the womb of this\nearth, covered with jungles of the thorny khadira, karanja and other\nbushes and brambles.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XI.\n\n CAUSE OF THE PRODUCTION OF THE WORLD.\n\n\nArgument. Yama\u2019s narration of Sukra\u2019s meditation, and his inclination\nto worldliness.\n\n\nYama continued:\u2014Your son is still engaged in his rigorous austerities\non the bank of the rivulet, rolling with its loud waves on the beach,\nand the winds blowing and howling from all sides.\n\n2. He has been sitting still in his firm devotion, with matted braids\nof hair on his head; and beads of _rudr\u00e1ksha_ seeds in his hand; and\ncontrouling the members of his body from their going astray.\n\n3. If you wish, O venerable sage! to know the reveries in his mind, you\nshall have to open your intellectual eye, in order to pry into the\nthoughts of others.\n\n4. Vasishtha said:\u2014Saying so, Yama the lord of world, who sees all at\none view, made the Muni to dive into the thoughts of his son with his\nintellectual eye.\n\n5. The sage immediately saw by his percipience, all the excogitations\nof his son\u2019s mind; as if they were reflected in the mirror of his own\nmind.\n\n6. Having seen the mind of his son in his own mind, the _muni_ returned\nfrom the bank of Samang\u00e1 to his own body on mount Mandara, where it was\nleft in its sitting posture, in the presence of Yama (during the\nwandering of his mind).\n\n7. Surprised at what he saw, the sage looked upon Yama with a smile;\nand dispassionate as he was, he spoke to the god in the following soft\nand dispassionate words.\n\n8. O god, that art the lord of the past and future! we are but ignorant\nstriplings before thee; whose brilliant insight views at once, the\nthree times presented before it.\n\n9. The knowledge of the existence of the world, whether it is a real\nentity or not, is the source of all errors of the wisest of men, by its\nvarying forms and fluctuations.\n\n10. It is thou, O potent god! that knowest what is inside this world;\nwhile to us it presents its outward figure, in the shape of a magic\nscene only.\n\n11. I knew very well, that my son is not subject to death; and\ntherefore I was struck with wonder, to behold him lying as a dead body.\n\n12. Thinking the imperishable soul of my son, to be snatched by death;\nI was led to the vile desire, of cursing thee on his untimely demise.\n\n13. For though we know the course of things in the world; yet we are\nsubjected to the impulses of joy and grief, owing to the casualties of\nprosperity and adversity.\n\n14. Moreover, to be angry with wrong doers, and to be pleased with\nthose that act rightly, have become the general rule in the course of\nthe world.\n\n15. So long do we labour under the sense of what is our duty, and what\nwe must refrain from, as we are subject to the error of the reality of\nthe world; but deliverance from this error, removes all such\nresponsibilities from us.\n\n16. When we fret at death, without understanding its intention (that it\nis intended only for our good); we are of course blamable for it.\n\n17. I am now made to be acquainted by thee, regarding the thoughts of\nmy son; and am enabled also to see the whole scene on the bank of\nSamang\u00e1 (by thy favour).\n\n18. Of the two bodies of men, the mind alone is ubiquitous, and leader\nof the outer body of animated beings. The mind therefore is the true\nbody, which reflects and makes us conscious of the existence of\nourselves, as also of the exterior world.\n\n19. Yama replied:\u2014You have rightly said, O Br\u00e1hman! that the mind is\nthe true body of man. It is the mind that moulds the body according to\nits will, as the potter makes the pot _ad libitum_ (_ex suo moto_).\n\n20. It frames a form and gives a feature to the person, that it had not\nbefore; and destroys one in existence in a moment. It is the\nimagination that gives an image to airy nothing, as children see ghosts\nbefore them in the dark. (The mind changes the features of the face and\nbody, and views things according to its own fancy).\n\n21. Its power to create apparent realities out of absolute unreality,\nis well known to every body, in his dream and delirium, in his\nmisconceptions and fallacies and all kinds of error; as the sight of\nmagic cities and talismans.\n\n22. It is from reliance in visual sight, that men consider it as the\nprincipal body, and conceive the mind as a secondary or supplementary\npart.\n\n23. It was the (Divine) mind, that formed the world from its thought;\nwherefore the phenomenal is neither a substance by itself (as it\nsubsists in the mind); nor is it nothing (being in existence in us).\nGloss. It is therefore undefinable\u2014_anirvachan\u00edya_.\n\n24. The mind is part of the body, and spreads itself in its thoughts\nand desires into many forms; as the branch of a tree shoots forth in\nits blossoms and leaves. And as we see two moons by optical deception,\nso does one mind appear as many in many individuals (and as different\nin different persons).\n\n25. It is from the variety of its desires, that the mind perceives and\nproduces varieties of things, as pots and pictures and the\nlike\u2014_ghatapat\u00e1di_. (Hence the mind is the maker of all things).\n\n26. The same mind thinks itself as many by the diversity of its\nthoughts; such as:\u2014\u201cI am weak, I am poor, I am ignorant and the like;\u201d\n(all which serve to liken the mind to the object constantly thought\nupon).\n\n27. The thought, that I am none of the fancied forms which I feign to\nmyself, but of that form from whence I am, causes the mind to be one\nwith the everlasting Brahma, by divesting it of the thoughts of all\nother things.\n\n28. All things springing from Brahma, sink at last in him; as the huge\nwaves of the wide and billowy ocean, rise but to subside in its calm\nand undisturbed waters below.\n\n29. They sink in the Supreme Spirit, resembling one vast body of pure\nand transparent, cold and sweet water; and like a vast mine of\nbrilliant gems of unfailing effulgence.\n\n30. One thinking himself as a little billow, diminishes his soul to\nlittleness. (He who bemeans himself, becomes mean).\n\n31. But one believing himself as a large wave, enlarges his spirit to\ngreatness. (Nobleness of mind, ennobles a man).\n\n32. He who thinks himself as a little being, and fallen from above to\nsuffer in the nether world; is born upon earth in the form he took for\nhis pattern.\n\n33. But he who thinks himself to be born to greatness, and rises\nbetimes by his energy; becomes as big as a hill, and shines with the\nlustre of rich gems growing upon it.\n\n34. He rests in peace, who thinks himself to be situated in the cooling\norb of the moon; otherwise the body is consumed with cares; as a tree\non the bank is burnt down by a conflagration.\n\n35. Others like forest trees are fixed and silent, and shudder for fear\nof being burnt down by the wild fire of the world; though they are\nsituated at ease, as beside the running streams of limpid water, and as\nhigh as on mountain tops of inaccessible height.\n\n36. Those who think themselves to be surrounded by worldly affairs; are\nas wide-stretching trees, awaiting their fall by impending blasts of\nwind.\n\n37. Those who wail aloud for being broken to pieces under the pressure\nof their misery; are like the noisy waves of the sea, breaking against\nthe shore and shedding their tears in the form of the watery spray.\n\n38. But the waves are not of one kind, nor are they altogether entities\nor nullities in nature; they are neither small or large nor high or\nlow, nor do these qualities abide in them.\n\n39. The waves do not abide in the sea, nor are they without the sea or\nthe sea without them: they are of the nature of desires in the soul,\nrising and setting at their own accord.\n\n40. The dead are undying, (because they die to be born again), and the\nliving are not living, (because they live but to die at last). Thus is\nthe law of their mutual succession which nothing can forefend or alter.\n\n41. As water is universally the same and transparent in its nature, so\nis the all pervading spirit of God, pure and holy in every place.\n\n42. It is this one and self-same spirit which is the body of God, that\nis called the transparent Brahma. It is omnipotent and everlasting, and\nconstitutes the whole world appearing as distinct from it.\n\n43. The many wonderful powers that it contains, are all active in their\nvarious ways. The several powers productive of several ends, are all\ncontained in that same body. All the natural and material forces, have\nthe Divine spirit for their focus.\n\n44. Brahm\u00e1 was produced in Brahma as the billow is produced in the\nwater, and the male and female are produced from the neuter Brahma,\nchanged to and forming both of them.\n\n45. That which is called the world, is only an attribute of Brahm\u00e1; and\nthere is not the slightest difference between Brahm\u00e1 and the world.\n(The one being a fac-simile of the original Mind).\n\n46. Verily this plenitude is Brahma, and the world is no other than\nBrahma himself. Think intently upon this truth and shun all other false\nbeliefs (of the creator and created, and the like).\n\n47. There is one eternal law, that presides over all things, and this\none law branches forth into many, bringing forth a hundred varieties of\neffects. The world is a congeries of laws, which are but manifestations\nof the Almighty power and omniscience. (Therefore says the psalmist:\n\u201cBlessed is he, who meditates on his laws day and night\u201d\u2014_O bhi Turat\nJehovah hefzo yomam olaila_).\n\n48. Both the inert and active (matter and life), proceed from the same;\nand the mind proceeds from the intellect\u2014chit of God. The various\ndesires are evolved by the power of the mind, from their exact\nprototypes in the Supreme soul.\n\n49. It is Brahm\u00e1 therefore, O sinless R\u00e1ma! that manifests itself in\nthe visible world; and is full with various forms, as the sea with all\nits billows and surges.\n\n50. It assumes to itself all varieties of forms by its volition of\nevolution or the will of becoming many; and it is the spirit that\ndisplays itself in itself and by itself (of its own causality); as the\nsea water displays its waves in its own water and by itself.\n\n51. As the various waves are no other than the sea water, so all these\nphenomena are not different from the essence of the lord of the world.\n\n52. As the same seed developes itself in the various forms of its\nbranches and buds, its twigs and leaves, and its fruits and flowers; so\nthe same almighty seed evolves itself in the multifarious varieties of\ncreation.\n\n53. As the strong sun light, displays itself in variegated colours in\ndifferent bodies; so does Omnipotence, display itself in various vivid\ncolours, all of which are unreal shades. (_Urdu: O leken chamakta hai\nhar rang men._\u2014It is His light, that shines in all colours).\n\n54. As the colourless cloud receives in its bosom, the variety of\ntransient hues displayed in the rainbow; so the inscrutable spirit of\nthe Almighty, reflects and refracts the various colours displayed in\ncreation. (Shines in the stars, glows in the sun &c. Pope).\n\n55. From the active agent, proceed the inert matter and inactivity\nwithout a secondary cause; as the active spider produces the passive\nthread, and the living man brings upon him, his dull torpor in sleep.\n(So the active spirit of God, brings forth _inertia_ and inactive\nmatter, out of itself into being. The laws of statics as well as\ndynamics both subsist in the energy of the spirit).\n\n56. Again the Lord makes the mind to produce matter for its own bondage\nonly; as he makes the silkworm weave its own sheathing for its\nconfinements alone. (So the mind maketh its material equipage, for its\nown imprisonment in the world).\n\n57. The mind forgets its spiritual nature of its own will; and makes\nfor itself a strong prison house (of its earthly possessions), as the\nsilkworm weaves its own coating.\n\n58. But when the mind inclines to think of its spiritual nature by its\nown free will; it gets its release from the prison-house of the body\nand bondage in the world; as a bird or beast is released from its cage,\nand the big elephant let loose from his fetters and the tying post.\n\n59. The mind gradually moulds itself into the form, which it constantly\nthinks upon in itself; and it derives from within itself, the power to\nbe what it wishes to become. (Constant thought brings about its end.\n_Y\u00e1dris\u00ed bh\u00e1van\u00e1 yasya_ &c.).\n\n60. The long sought power when acquired, becomes as familiar to the\nsoul, as the dark clouds are attendant upon the sky in the rainy-season.\n\n61. The newly obtained power is assimilated with its recipient, as the\nvirtue of every season is manifested in its effect upon the trees,\n(_i.e._ in the season fruits and flowers).\n\n62. There is no bondage nor liberation of human soul, nor of the Divine\nSpirit. We cannot account for the use of these words among mankind.\n(These terms apply to the mind which is bound and freed, and not to the\nsoul which is ever free).\n\n63. There is no liberation nor bondage of the soul, which is the same\nwith the Divine. It is this delusive world which shows the immortal\nsoul under the veil of mortality, or as eclipsed by and under the\nshadow of temporary affairs.\n\n64. It is the unsteady mind, which has enwrapped the steady soul, under\nthe sheath of error; as the coverlet of the silkworm, covers the\ndormant worm.\n\n65. All other bondages which bind the embodied soul to earth, are the\nworks of the mind, which is the root of all worldly ties and affections.\n\n66. All human affections and attachments to the visible world, are born\nin and remain in the mind; although they are as distinct from it, as\nthe waves of the sea or as the beams of the moon; are produced from and\ncontained in their receptacles.\n\n67. It is the Supreme spirit, which is stretched out as one universal\nocean, agitated into myriads of its waves and billows. The Intellect\nitself is spread out as the water of the universal ocean, containing\neverything that is aqueous and terrene in its infinite bosom.\n\n68. All those that appear as Brahm\u00e1, Vishnu and Rudras, as also they\nthat have become as gods, and those that are called men and male\ncreatures:\u2014\n\n68.\u2014(1). Are all as the waves of the sea, raised spontaneously by the\nunderlying spirit; and so are Yama, Indra, the sun, fire, Cuvera and\nthe other deities.\n\n68.\u2014(2). So too are the Gandharvas and Kinnaras, the Vidy\u00e1dharas and\nthe other gods and demigods, that rise and fall or remain for a while\nlike the breakers of the sea.\n\n68.\u2014(3). They rise and fall as waves on every side, though some\ncontinue for a longer duration, as the lotus-born Brahm\u00e1 and others.\n\n68.\u2014(4). Some are born to die in a moment, as the petty gods and men;\nand others are dead no sooner they are born as the ephemerids and some\nworms.\n\n69. Worms and insects, gnats and flies and serpents and huge snakes,\nrise in the great ocean of the Divine Spirit, like drops of water\nscattered about by waves of the sea.\n\n70. There are other moving animals as men and deer, vultures and\njackals, which are produced on land and mountains, in woods and forests\nand in marshy grounds.\n\n71. Some are long lived and others living for a short duration; some\nliving with higher aims and ambitions, and others with no other care\nthan that of their contemptible bodies, or self-preservation only.\n\n72. Some think of their stability in this world of dreams, and others\nare betrayed by their false hope of the stability of worldly affairs,\nwhich are quite unstable. (So in Persian _Dareg\u00e1 jeh\u00e1n r\u00e1 baquina\ndidam_).\n\n73. Some that are subjected to penury and poverty, have little to\neffect in their lives; and always torment themselves with the thoughts,\nthat they are poor and miserable, weak and ignorant.\n\n74. Some are born as trees, and others have become as gods and\ndemigods; and while some are furnished with moving bodies, others are\ndissolved as water in the sea.\n\n75. Some are no less durable than many _kalpas_ (as the land and sea\nand mountains &c.); and others return to the Supreme Spirit, by the\nmoonlike purity of their souls. All things have risen from the\noceanlike Spirit of Brahma, like its moving undulations. It is the\nintellectual consciousness of every body that is termed his mind.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XII.\n\n DETAILED ACCOUNT OF THE GENESIS OF THE WORLD.\n\n\nArgument. Confutation of the instance of the sea and its fluctuation,\nwith regard to the immutable spirit of God; and resolution of the\nphenomenal world, to our erroneous conception, and visual deception.\n\n\nYama said:\u2014The consciousness of gods, demigods and men as distinct\nbeings, is quite wrong, since they are no way distinct from the\ninfinite ocean of Divine Spirit, of which they are all as undulations.\n\n2. It is owing to our erroneous conceptions that we make these\ndistinctions in ourselves and the Supreme Soul. The thought of our\nbeing separate and apart from the Supreme spirit, is the cause of our\ndegradation from our pristine holiness and the image of God, in which\nman was made at first and was infused with his holy spirit.\n\n3. Remaining within the depth of the Divine Spirit, and yet thinking\nourselves to live without it, is the cause of keeping us in darkness on\nthe surface of the earth.\n\n4. Our consciousness of ourselves as Brahm\u00e1, being vitiated by the\nvarious thoughts in our minds, becomes the root of our activities;\nwhile the pure consciousness of ego sum\u2014I am, is free from all actions\nand energies.\n\n5. It is the inward desire of the heart and mind, that becomes the seed\nof earthly actions; which sprouts forth in thorny plants like the\nkaranja, a handful of which fills the ground with rankest weeds.\n\n6. Those living bodies, that lie scattered as pebbles on earth; are\nseen to roll about or lie down with their temporary joy and grief in\ncontinued succession, owing to their ignorance of themselves.\n\n7. From the highest empyrean of Brahm\u00e1, down to the lowest deep, there\nis an incessant undulation of the Divine spirit, like the oscillation\nof the wind; which keeps all beings in their successive wailing and\nrejoicing, and in their incessant births and deaths.\n\n8. There are some of pure and enlightened souls, as the gods Hari, Hara\nand others; and some of somewhat darkened understandings, as men and\nthe inferior demigods.\n\n9. Some are placed in greater darkness, as the worms and insects; and\nothers are situated in utter darkness, as the trees and vegetables.\n\n10. Some grow afar from the great ocean of the Divine Spirit; as the\ngrass and weeds of the earth, which are ever degraded, owing to their\nbeing the emblems of sin; and others are barred from elevation as dull\nstones and heinous snakes.\n\n11. Some have come to being only with their bodies, (without any share\nof understanding); and they know not that death has been undermining\nthe fabric of their bodies, as a mouse burrows a house.\n\n12. Some have gone through the ocean of Divine knowledge, and have\nbecome as divinities, in their living bodies as Brahm\u00e1, Hari, and Hara.\n(The gods like angels are embodied beings in which form, they are\nworshipped by their votaries. It is wrong therefore for the Kesavite\nBrahmos, to call the formless Brahma as Hari, who had a visible body\naccording to our text).\n\n13. Some having a little understanding, have gone down the depth of\nholy knowledge, without ever reaching the bottom, or finding its either\nshore.\n\n14. Some beings that have undergone many births, and have yet to pass\nthrough many more, have ever remained abortive and benighted without\nthe light of truth.\n\n15. Some are tossed up and down, like fruits flung from the hand: those\nflying upward have gone higher still; and those going down have fallen\nstill lower and lower. (None can know the highest pitch or lowest depth\nof existence?).\n\n16. It is forgetfulness of Supreme felicity, that causes one to rove in\nvarious births of weal or woe; but the knowledge of the Supreme, causes\nthe cessation of transmigration; as the remembrance of Garuda, destroys\nthe power of the most destructive poison.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XIII.\n\n CONSOLATION OF BHRIGU.\n\n\nArgument. Bhrigu being acquainted with the powers of the mind and\nDeath, rose to repair to the spot where the body of Sukra was lying.\n\n\nYama said:\u2014Among these various species of living creatures, which\nresemble the waves of the ocean, and are as numerous as the plants and\ncreepers of spring:\u2014\n\n2. There are some persons among the Yakshas, Gandharvas and Kinnaras,\nwho have overcome the errors of their minds, and have well considered\nevery thing before and after them; that have become perfect in their\nlives, and passing as the living liberated persons in this world.\n\n3. Others there are among the moving and unmoving, that are as\nunconscious of themselves as wood and stone; and many that are worn out\nwith error, and are incapable of judging for themselves. (Worn out with\nerror, means hardened in their ignorance).\n\n4. But those that are awakened to sense, have the rich mine of the\ns\u00e1stras, framed by the enlightened, for the guidance of their souls.\n(Hence it is for the sensible only to benefit themselves by learning).\n\n5. Those who are awakened to sense, and whose sins are washed off; have\ntheir understandings purified by the light of the s\u00e1stras. (Lit., by\ninvestigation into the s\u00e1stras).\n\n6. The study of good works, destroys the errors of the mind; as the\ncourse of the sun in the sky, destroys the darkness of the night.\n\n7. Those who have not succeeded to dispel the errors of their minds,\nhave darkened their understandings by a mist of ignorance; like the\nfrosty sky of winter, and they find the phantoms of their error,\ndancing as demons before their eyes.\n\n8. All living bodies are subject to pain and pleasure; but it is the\nmind which constitutes the body, and not the flesh (which is insensible\nof either).\n\n9. The body that is seen to be composed of flesh and bones and the five\nelemental parts, is a creation of the imagination of the mind, and has\nno substantiality in it.\n\n10. What your son had thought of in his mental body (m\u00e1nas-sar\u00edra), the\nsame he found in the same body; and was not accountable to any body for\naught or whatever passed in his mind. (We are responsible for every act\nof the body; but not so for the thoughts or reveries of the mind).\n\n11. Whatever acts a man wills to do in his own mind, the same comes to\ntake place in a short time; and there is no other (foreign) agency of\nanybody else required to bring them about.\n\n12. Whatever the mind doth in a moment and of its own accord, and\nactuated by its own will or desire, there is no body in the world, who\nhas the power to do or undo the same at any time. (The mind is master\nof the act, and not the body, nor any body besides. Or; whatever the\nmind sets about to do, it does it sooner than by the help of another).\n\n13. The suffering of hell torments and enjoyment of heavenly bliss, and\nthe thoughts of birth and death; are all fabrications of the mind;\nwhich labours under these thoughts. (It is the mind that makes a heaven\nof hell and a hell of heaven).\n\n14. What need I to tell more in the manner of verbose writers (on this\nsubject), than go together at once, to the place where your son is\nsituated.\n\n15. He (Sukra) having tasted the pleasure and pain of all these states\nat a moment\u2019s thought of his mind, is now seated as a devotee on the\nbank of Samang\u00e1, under the spreading beams of the moon. (The Gloss\nspeaks here of Sukra\u2019s passing into many births, before his betaking\nhimself to devotion).\n\n16. His vital breath having fled from his heart, became as the moonbeam\nsparkling in a dew drop, which entered the uterus in the form of _semen\nvirilis_.\n\n17. Saying so, the lord of death smiled to think of the course of\nnature, and taking hold of Bhrigu\u2019s hand in his own, they both departed\nas the sun and moon together.\n\n18. O wonderful is the law of nature! said Bhrigu slowly to himself,\nand then rose higher and higher, as the sun ascends above his rising\nmountain.\n\n19. With their luminous bodies, they arrived at the spot of Samang\u00e1,\nand shone on high above the tam\u00e1la trees below. Their simultaneous\nrising in the clear firmament, made them appear as the sun rising with\nthe full-moon over the cloudy horizon.\n\n20. V\u00e1lm\u00edki said:\u2014As the _muni_ (Vasishtha) was telling these things,\nthe sun went down his setting mountain, and the day departed to its\nevening service. The court broke with mutual salutations, to perform\ntheir evening rites and observances, after which they joined the\nassembly at the dawn of the next day.[1]\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XIV.\n\n SUKRA\u2019S REMINISCENCE OF HIS METEMPSYCHOSIS.\n\n\nArgument. Bhrigu and Yama\u2019s Expostulation with Sukra, and desiring him\nto return to his former state.\n\n\nVasishtha said:\u2014Now as Yama and Bhrigu departed from the cavern of the\nMandara mountain, and proceeded towards the bank of Samang\u00e1 river:\u2014\n\n2. They beheld upon their descending from the mountain, a great light\nbelow; proceeding from the bodies of the celestials, sleeping in the\narbours of aureate creepers.\n\n3. The birds were sporting in their sprays, formed by the cradling\ncreepers under the canopy of heaven; and the lovely antelopes looking\nface to face, with their eyes resembling the blue-lotuses.\n\n4. They beheld the Siddhas, sitting on their stony seats upon the\nelevated rocks; with their bodies full of vigour, and their eyes\nlooking on the spheres with defiance.\n\n5. They saw the lords of the elephantine tribe, with their big trunks\nas large as the palm trees, and plunging in the lakes covered with\nflowers, falling incessantly from the beachening boughs, and branches\nof flowering trees.\n\n6. They saw the mountain bulls (Bos guavus) dozing in their giddiness,\nand sitting as ebriety in person; while their bodies were reddened by\nthe red dust of flowers, and their tails flushed with the crimson\nfarina blown by the breeze.\n\n7. There were the brisk and beautiful _chowri_ deer serving as flappers\nof the mountain king, and dousing in the pools filled with falling\nflowers.\n\n8. They saw the Kinnara lads sitting on the tops of straight and\nstately date trees, and sporting with pelting the date fruits upon one\nanother, which stuck to the reeds below as their fruits.\n\n9. They beheld big monkeys, jumping about with their hideous reddish\ncheeks, and hiding themselves in the coverts of widespreading creepers.\n\n10. They saw the Siddhas, to be hit by the celestial damsels with\nblossoms of mandara flowers, and clad with vests of the tawny clouds by\nwhich they were shrouded.\n\n11. The uninhabited skirts of the mountain, were as the solitary walks\nof Buddhist vagrants; and the rivulets at its foot, were gliding with\ntheir currents covered under the _kunda_ and _mandara_ flowers, as if\nthey were running to meet the sea, mantled in their yellow vests of the\nspring season.\n\n(It is well known that the vernal vesture of damsels, is of the yellow\ncolour of the farina of flowers, and the rivulets are poetically\nfigured as females hastening towards their lord the sea\n(sarit\u00e1m-pathih)).\n\n12. The trees decorated with wreaths of flowers, and shaken by the\nbreeze, seemed as bacchanals giddy with the honey of the flowers, and\nrolling their dizzy eyes formed of the fluttering bees.\n\n13. They walked about here and there, and looked at and admired the\ngrandeur of the mountain, till at last they alighted on the nether\nearth, decorated with its cities and human habitations.\n\n14. They arrived in a moment at the bank of Samang\u00e1, flowing with the\nloosened flowers of all kinds, as if it were a bed of flowers by itself.\n\n15. Bhrigu beheld his son on one of its banks, with his body changed to\nanother form, and his features quite altered from his former state.\n\n16. His limbs were stiff, and his sense at a stand still, as he sat\nwith his mind fixed on steady meditation. He seemed to be long at rest,\nin order to get his rest from the turmoils of the world.\n\n17. He thought upon the course of the currents of the world, which are\ncontinually gliding with successive joy and sorrow to man, who gets rid\nof them after his long trial.\n\n18. He became motionless as a wheel, after its long winded motion; and\nfound his rest after his prolonged whirling, in the whirlpool of the\nocean of the world.\n\n19. He sat retired as a lover, solely reclined on the thought of his\nbeloved object in his retirement; and his mind was at rest, after its\nlong wanderings.\n\n20. He sat in a state of uniform meditation, without a shadow of\nbiplicity in it; and was smiling with a cold apathy at all the pursuits\nof mankind.\n\n21. Liberated from all concerns, and released from the enjoyments of\nlife, and disenthralled from the snare of desires and fancies, he\nrested in the supreme bliss of the soul.\n\n22. His soul was at rest, in the everlasting rest of God; as the pure\ncrystal catches the colour of the gem, which is contiguous to it.\n\n23. Bhrigu beheld his son in the calmly composed and awakened state of\nhis mind, and freed alike both from his thoughts of what was desirable,\nas also from his hatred against what was disgusting. (God is said to be\neternally at rest the six days creation, but an act of his Mind, Will,\nWord, Fiat, Logos or Brahm\u00e1).\n\n24. Yama seeing the son of Bhrigu, said to the father in a voice,\nhoarse as the sounding sea. \u2018Lo there thy son.\u2019\n\n25. \u201cAwake\u201d, said he to Bh\u00e1rgava, which startled him from his\nmeditation, as the roaring of a cloud, rouses the slumbering peacock\nfrom his summer sleep.\n\n26. Upon opening and lifting up his eyes, he beheld the god standing\nwith his father on one side, who being pleased at his sight, glowed in\ntheir countenances like the disks of the sun and moon.\n\n27. He rose from his seat of Kadamba leaves, and made his obeisance to\nthem, who appeared to have come to him like the gods Hari and Hara in\nthe disguise of a couple of Br\u00e1hmans.\n\n28. After their mutual salutations, they were seated on a slab of\nstone, and appeared as the venerable gods Vishnu and Siva, were seated\non the pinnacle of Meru.\n\n29. The Br\u00e1hman boy, having ended the muttering of his mantras on the\nbank of Samang\u00e1, accosted them with a voice distilling as the sweet\nnectarine juice of ambrosia _amrita_ or water of life (_aqua-vitae_ or\n_abi haiy\u00e1t_).\n\n30. \u201cI am emancipated, my lords, at your sight this day (from all\nearthly cares), as you have blessed me by your sights, resembling those\nof the sun and moon, appearing together to view.\u201d (Lit. as the orbs of\nthe cooling and dazzling beams. (_him\u00e1nsu and ushn\u00e1nsu_)).\n\n31. The darkness, which reigned in my mind, and which no light of the\ns\u00e1stras or spiritual or temporal knowledge, nor even my austerities\ncould remove, is dispelled today by the light of your presence.\n\n32. A kind look of the great, gives as much joy to the mind, as\ndraughts of pure ambrosia, serve to satisfy the heart.\n\n33. Tell me who are you, whose feet have sanctified this place; as the\nglorious orbs of the day and night, enlighten the firmament.\n\n34. Being addressed in this manner, Bhrigu desired him to remember his\nprior births, which he could well do, by his enlightened understanding.\n\n35. Bhrigu made him acquainted with the state of his former birth, and\nhe remembered it instantly by the clairvoyance of his inward sight.\n\n36. He was struck with wonder at the remembrance of his former state,\nand smiled with a joyous face and gladsome heart, to ponder on what he\nhad been; and then uttered as follows.\n\n37. Blessed is the law of the Supreme Being, which is without its\nbeginning or end, and is known as destiny here below; and by whose\npower the world is revolving as a curricle.\n\n38. I see my countless and unknown births, and the innumerable\naccidents to which they were subject, for the period of a whole kalpa\nor duration of the world from first to last. (The Soul being immortal,\nhas to pass into infinite births under various shapes and forms of\nbodies. If it were to lie dormant in the grave for ever what is the\ngood of its being made or created to be immortal?)\n\n39. I have undergone great hardships, and known prosperity also with\nthe toil of earning; have had my wanderings also in different lives,\nand remember to have roamed for a long time, over the mountainous\nregions of Meru.\n\n40. I drank the water reddened with the pollen of mandara flowers, and\nroved along the bank of the heavenly stream of Mand\u00e1kin\u00ed filled with\nlotuses.\n\n41. I wandered about the Mandara groves, filled with flowering creepers\nlike gold, and under the shade of the kalpa arbors of Meru, and in the\nflowery plains above and about it.\n\n42. There is naught of good or evil, which I have not tasted or felt or\ndone myself; nor is there anything, which I have not seen and felt and\nknown in my past lives.\n\n43. I have now known the knowable (that is to be known), and seen the\nimperishable one in whom I have my repose. I have now rested after my\ntoils were over, and have passed beyond the domain of error and\ndarkness.\n\n44. Now rise, O father! and let us go to see that body, lying on the\nMandara mount, and which is now dried as a withered plant.\n\n45. I have no desire to remain in this place, nor go anywhere of my own\nwill; it is only to see the works of fate, that we wander all about.\n\n46. I will follow you, with my firm belief in the one adored Deity of\nthe learned. Let that be the desirable object of my mind, and I will\nact exactly in conformity with my belief.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XV.\n\n LAMENTATION AND EXPOSTULATION OF SUKRA.\n\n\nArgument. Sukra laments on seeing his former body, and his consolation\nat its ultimate anaesthesia.\n\n\nVasishtha said:\u2014Thus contemplating on the course of nature, these\nphilomaths moved with their spiritual bodies, from the bank of Samang\u00e1\n(towards the Mandara mountain).\n\n2. They ascended to the sky, and passed through the pores of the clouds\nto the region of the Siddhas; whence they descended to the lower world,\nand arrived at the valley of Mandara.\n\n3. There Sukra saw on a cliff of that mountain, the dried body of his\nformer birth, lying covered under the dark and dewy leaves of trees.\n\n4. He said, here is that shriveled body, O father! which thou hadst\nnourished with many a dainty food before.\n\n5. There is that body of mine, which was so fondly anointed with\ncamphor, agallochum and sandal paste, by my wet-nurse before.\n\n6. This is that body of mine, which was used to repose on the cooling\nbeds, made with heaps of mandara flowers, in the airy spots of Meru.\n\n7. This is that body of mine, which was so fondly caressed by heavenly\ndames of yore, and which is now lying, to be bitten by creeping insects\nand worms, on the bare ground below.\n\n8. This is that body of mine, which was wont of yore to ramble in the\nparterres of sandalwood; now lying a dried skeleton on the naked spot.\n\n9. This is that body of mine, now lying impassive of the feelings of\ndelight in the company of heavenly nymphs, and withering away\nunconscious of the actions and passions of its mind.\n\n10. Ah my pitiable body! how dost thou rest here in peace, forgetful of\nthy former delights in the different stages of life; and insensible of\nthe thoughts of thy past enjoyments and amusements of yore.\n\n11. O my body! that hast become a dead corpse and dried by sun-beams;\nthou art now become so hideous in thy frame of the skeleton, as to\nfrighten me at this change of thy form.\n\n12. I take fright to look upon this body, in which I had taken so much\npleasure before, and which is now reduced to a skeleton.\n\n13. I see the ants now creeping over that breast of mine, which was\nformerly adorned with necklaces studded with starry gems.\n\n14. Look at the remains of my body, whose appearance of molten gold,\nattracted the hearts of beauteous dames, bearing now a load of dry\nbones only.\n\n15. Behold the stags of the forest flying with fear, at the sight of\nthe wide open jaws, and withered skin of my carcass; which with its\nhorrid mouth, frightens the timid fawns in the woods.\n\n16. I see the cavity of the belly of the withered corpse, is filled\nwith sun shine, as the mind of man is enlightened by knowledge.\n\n17. This dried body of mine, lying flat on the mountain stone,\nresembles the mind of the wise, abased at the sense of its own\nunworthiness.\n\n18. It seems to be emaciating itself like an ascetic, in his supine\nhypnotism on the mountain, dead to the perceptions of colour and sound,\nand of touch and taste, and freed from all its desires and passions.\n\n19. It is freed from the demon of the mind (mental activity), and is\nresting in its felicity without any apprehension of the vicissitudes of\nfate and fortune, or fear of fall.\n\n20. The felicity which attends on the body, upon the calmness of the\ndemon of the mind; is not to be had, from possession of the vast\ndominion of the world.\n\n21. See how happily this body is sleeping in this forest, by being\nfreed from all its doubts and desires in the world; and by its being\nliberated from the net work of its fancies.\n\n22. The body is disturbed and troubled like a tall tree, by the\nrestlessness of the apish mind; and it is hurled down by its excitation\nlike a tree uprooted from its bottom.\n\n23. This body being set free from the impulses of the mischievous mind,\nis sleeping in its highest and perfect felicity, and is quite released\nfrom the jarring broils of the world, clashing like the mingled\nroarings of lions and elephants in their mutual conflict.\n\n24. Every desire is a fever in the bosom, and the group of our errors\nis as the mist of autumn; and there is no release of mankind from\nthese, save by the impassionateness of their minds.\n\n25. They have gone over the bounds of worldly enjoyments, who have had\nthe high-mindedness, to lay hold on the tranquility of their minds.\n\n26. It is by my good fortune, that I came to find this body of mine,\nresting in these woods without its troublesome mind; and freed from all\nits tribulations and feverish anxieties.\n\n27. R\u00e1ma said:\u2014Venerable Sir, that art versed in all knowledge, you\nhave already related of Sukra\u2019s passing through many births in\ndifferent shapes; and feeling all their casualties of good and evil.\n\n28. How was it then that he regretted so much for his body begotten by\nBhrigu; in disregard of all his other bodies; and the pains and\npleasures which attended upon them?\n\n29. Vasishtha answered:\u2014R\u00e1ma! the other bodies of Sukra were merely the\ncreations of his imagination; but that of Bh\u00e1rgava or as the son of\nBhrigu, was the actual one, as produced by the merit of his pristine\nacts. (Here the gloss is too verbose on the theory of metempsychosis;\nbut the literal meaning of the couplet is what is given above).\n\n30. This was the first body with which he was born by the will of his\nMaker, being first formed in the form of subtile air, and then changed\ninto the shape of wind.\n\n31. This wind entered into heart of Bhrigu in a flux of the vital and\ncirculating breaths, and being joined in time with the semen, formed\nthe germ of Sukra\u2019s body. (So called from the seed\u2014sukra).\n\n32. The person of Sukra, received the Br\u00e1hmanical sacraments, and\nbecame an associate of the father; till at last it was reduced to the\nform of a skeleton in course of a long time.\n\n33. Because this was the first body which Sukra had obtained from\nBrahm\u00e1 the creator, it was on this account that he lamented so much for\nit. (Sukra the son of Bhrigu, was the grandson of Manu\u2014the first human\nbeing, after creation of the world called kalp\u00e1rambha).\n\n34. Though impassionate and devoid of desire as Sukra was, yet he\nsorrowed for his body, according to the nature of all being born of\nflesh (dehaja). (All flesh is subject to sorrow).\n\n35. This is the way of all flesh, whether it be the body of a wise or\nunwise man (to mourn for its loss). This is usual custom of the\nworld, whether the person was mighty or not.\n\n36. They who are acquainted with the course of nature, as also those\nthat are ignorant of it as brutes and beasts; are all subject to the\ncourse of the world, as if they are bound in the net of fate and liable\nto grief and sorrow. (It is not the greatness of a great mind, to be\ninsensible of the tender feelings of his nature, but to keep his joys\nand sorrows under proper bounds).\n\n37. The wise as well as the unwise, are on an equal footing with\nrespect to their nature and custom. It is only the difference in desire\nthat distinguishes the one from the other, as it is the privation of or\nbondage to desires, that is the cause of their liberation or\nenthralment in this world. It is also the great aim that distinguishes\nthe great, from the mean-mindedness of the base.\n\n38. As long as there is the body, so long is there the feeling of\npleasure in pleasure and that of pain in pain. But the mind which is\nunattached to and unaffected by them, feigns to itself the show of\nwisdom. (Unfeelingness is a mere show and not reality).\n\n39. Even great souls are seen to feel happy in pleasure and become\nsorrowful in matters of pain; and show themselves as the wise in their\noutward circumstances.\n\n40. The shadow of the sun, is seen to shake in the water, but not so\nthe fixed sun himself; so the wise are moved in worldly matters, though\nthey are firm in their faith in God.\n\n41. As the unmoved and fixed sun, seems to move in his shadow on the\nwave, so the wiseman who has got rid of his worldly concerns, still\nbehaves himself like the unwise in it.\n\n42. He is free who has the freedom of his mind, although his body is\nenthraled in bondage; but he labours in bondage whose mind is\nbethraled by error, though he is free in his body. (True liberty\nconsists in moral and not in bodily freedom).\n\n43. The causes of happiness and misery as also those of liberty and\nbondage, are the feelings of the mind; as the sun-beams and flame of\nfire, are the causes of light.\n\n44. Therefore conform thyself with the custom of the society in thy\noutward conduct; but remain indifferent to all worldly concerns in thy\ninward mind.\n\n45. Remain true to thyself, by giving up thy concerns in the world; but\ncontinue to discharge all thy duties in this world by the acts of thy\nbody. (Keep your soul to yourself, but devote your body to the service\nof the world).\n\n46. Take care of the inward sorrows and bodily diseases, and the\ndangerous whirlpools and pitfals in the course of thy life; and do not\nfall into the blackhole of selfishness (meitatem), which gives the\nsoul its greatest anguish.\n\n47. Mind, O lotus-eyed R\u00e1ma, that you mix with nothing, nor let\nanything to mix with you; but be of a purely enlightened nature, and\nrest content in thy inward soul.\n\n48. Think in thyself the pure and holy spirit of Brahm\u00e1, the universal\nsoul and maker of all, the tranquil and increate All, and be happy for\never.\n\n49. If you can rescue yourself from the great gloom of egotism, and\narrive at the state of pure indifference to all objects; you will\ncertainly become great in your mind and soul, and be the object of\nuniversal veneration.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XVI.\n\n RESUSCITATION OF SUKRA.\n\n\nArgument. Sukra\u2019s Revival at the word of Yama, and his becoming the\npreceptor of Daityas.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014Then the god Yama, interrupted the long\nlamentation of Sukra, and addressed him in words, sounding as deep as\nthe roaring of a cloud.\n\n2. Yama said:\u2014Now, O Sukra! cast off thy body of the Samang\u00e1 devotee,\nand enter this dead body in the manner of a prince entering his palace.\n\n3. Thou shalt perform austere devotion with this thy first born body,\nand obtain by virtue of that, the preceptorship of the Daitya tribe.\n\n4. Then at the end of the great kalpa, thou shalt have to shuffle off\nthy mortal coil for ever, as one casts off a faded flower.\n\n5. Having attained the state of living liberation, by merit of thy\nprior acts; thou shalt continue in the preceptorship of the leader of\nthe great Asuras for ever.\n\n6. Fare you well, we shall now depart to our desired habitation; know\nfor certain that there is nothing desirable to the mind, which it\ncannot accomplish (by perseverance).\n\n7. Saying so, the god vanished from before the weeping father and son,\nand moved amidst the burning sky, like the dispenser of light (sun).\n\n8. After the god had gone to the place of his destination, and gained\nhis destined state among the gods, the Bhrigus remained to ruminate on\nthe inexplicable and unalterable course of destiny (or divine\nordinance).\n\n9. Sukra entered into his withered corpse, as the season of spring\nenters into a faded plant, in order to adorn it again with its vernal\nbloom, and its re-springing blossoms.\n\n10. His Br\u00e1hmanical body fell down immediately on the ground,\nstaggering as when a tree is felled or falls down with its uprooted\ntrunk; and it became disfigured in a moment in its face and limbs.\n\n11. The old sage Bhrigu finding the revivification of the dead body of\nhis son, sanctified it with propitiatory mantras and sprinkling of\nwater, from his sacerdotal water pot (kamandalu).\n\n12. The veins and arteries and all the cells and cavities of the dead\nbody, were again supplied with their circulating blood; as the dry beds\nof rivers, are filled again with floods of water in the rainy weather.\n\n13. The body being filled with blood, gave the limbs to bloom; like the\ngrowth of lotuses in rainy lakes, and the bursting of new shoots and\nbuds in vernal plants.\n\n14. Sukra then rose up from the ground, breathing the breath of life,\nlike the cloud ascending to the sky by force of the winds.\n\n15. He bowed down to his father, standing in his holy figure before\nhim; as the rising cloud clings to, and kisses the foot of the lofty\nmountain.\n\n16. The father then embraced the revived body of his son, and shed a\nflood of his affectionate tears upon him; as the high risen cloud\nwashes the mountain top with showers.\n\n17. Bhrigu looked with affection on the new risen old body of his son;\nand smiled to see the resuscitation of the body that was begotten by\nhim.\n\n18. He was pleased to know him as the son born of himself; and to find\nhis features engrafted in him.\n\n19. Thus the son and sire graced each other by their company, as the\nsun and lotus-lake rejoice to see one another, after the shade of night.\n\n20. They rejoiced at their reunion, like the loving pair of swans at\nthe end of the night of their separation; and as the joyous couple of\npeacocks, at the approach of the rainy clouds.\n\n21. The worthy sire and son, sat awhile on the spot, to halt after all\ntheir toils and troubles were at an end, and then they rose up to\ndischarge the duties that were then at hand.\n\n22. They then set fire to the body of the Samang\u00e1 Br\u00e1hman, and reduced\nit to ashes; for who is there among the earth-born mortals, that ought\nto set at naught aught of the customary usages of his country?\n\n23. Afterwards the two devotees Bhrigu and Bh\u00e1rgava, continued to dwell\nin that forest, like the two luminaries\u2014the sun and moon, in the region\nof the sky.\n\n24. They both continued as the living liberated guides of men, by their\nknowledge of all that was to be known; and preserving the equanimity of\ntheir minds, and the steadiness of their dispositions, amidst all the\nvicissitudes of time and place (and the changes of their fortune and\ncircumstances).\n\n25. In course of time Sukra obtained the preceptorship of the demons,\nand Bhrigu remained in his patriarchal rank and authority among the\nsons of men (m\u00e1navas).\n\n26. Thus the son of Bhrigu, who was born as Sukra at first, was\ngradually led away from his holy state by his thought of the heavenly\nnymph, and subjected to various states of life to which he was prone\n(by the bent of his mind and inward proclivities).\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XVII.\n\n ATTAINMENT OF THE IDEAL REALM.\n\n\nArgument. Mutual sympathy of pure hearted souls, the reciprocities of\ntheir affections, and their union with one another.\n\n\nR\u00e1ma said:\u2014Tell me sir, why the ideal reflexion of others, is not\nattended with equal result, with that of the son of Bhrigu (though one\nis given to the like reveries as the other).\n\n2. Vasishtha replied:\u2014The reason is, that the body of Sukra issued at\nfirst from the will of Brahm\u00e1, and was born of the pure family of\nBhrigu, without being vitiated by any other birth (either prior to it\nor of a lower kind).\n\n3. The purity of mind which follows upon subsidence of desires, is\ncalled its coolness, and the same is known as the unsullied state of\nthe soul. (Nirmal\u00e1tm\u00e1).\n\n4. Whatever the man of a pure and contrite spirit, thinks in his mind,\nthe same comes to take place immediately; as the turning of the sea\nwater turns into the eddy. (Turning over in the mind, turns out into\nbeing).\n\n5. As the errors of various wanderings, occurred to the mind of Sukra;\nso it is with every body (from his observation of the world), as it is\ninstanced in the case of Bhrigu\u2019s son.\n\n6. As the serum contained in the seed, developes itself in the shoots\nand leaves; so the mind evolves in all the forms which are contained\ntherein.\n\n7. Whatever forms of things are seen to exist in this world, are all\nfalse appearances; and so are their disappearances also, (mere\ncreations of the mind).\n\n8. Nothing appears or disappears to any one in this world, but error\nand aerial phantasms; that show themselves to those that are bewitched\nby this magic scene of the world.\n\n9. As it is our notion of this part of the world, which presents its\nform to our view; so the appearance of thousands of such worlds in the\nmind, is mere ideal; and as false as the show of a magic-lantern.\n\n10. As the sights in our dream, and the images of our imagination, are\nnever apart from our minds; and as they cannot show themselves to the\nview of others; such is our erroneous conception of the world (confined\nwithin ourselves).\n\n11. So are all places and things but imaginary ideas, and show\nthemselves as real objects, to the purblind sight of the ignorant only.\n\n12. So also are the ghosts and goblins, demons and devils, but\nimaginary figures of the mind; born in the shallow brain of men, to\nterrify them with their hideous shapes.\n\n13. Thus have we all become, like the dreaming son of Bhrigu; to\nunderstand the false creations of our imagination, as sober realities.\n\n14. So the creation of the world, and all created things, are situated\n(pictured) in the mind of Brahm\u00e1; and make their repeated appearance,\nas the phantoms of a phantasmagoria before him.\n\n15. All things appearing unto us, are as false as these phantoms; and\nthey proceed from the mind of Brahm\u00e1, as the varieties of trees and\nshrubs, are produced from the same sap of the vernal season. (The one\nis the source of many).\n\n16. Considering in a philosophical light (tatwadarsana), it will be\nfound, that it is the will or desire of every body, which is productive\nof the objects of his desire. (Lit. which evolves itself in its\nproductions. And as it is with the will of the creator, so is it with\nthat of every one).\n\n17. Every body beholds everything in the world, according to the nature\nof the thoughts in his mind, and then perishes with his wrong view of\nit.\n\n18. It is in its ideality, that anything appears as existent, which in\nreality is inexistent, though it is apparent to sight. The existence of\nthe world, is as that of a lengthened dream; and the visible world is a\nwide spread snare of the mind, like fetters at the feet of an elephant.\n\n(The world is existent in the ideal, but inexistent in its apparent\nreal and visual form. It is a network of the mind, like a longspun\ndream, and binds it as fast as fetters at the feet of an elephant).\n\n19. The reality of the world depends upon the reality of mind, which\ncauses the world to appear as real. The loss of the one, destroys them\nboth; because neither of them can subsist without the other.\n\n20. The pure mind has the true notions of things, as the gem polished\nfrom its dross, receives the right reflection of every thing, (or)\nreflects the true image of every thing.\n\n21. The mind is purified by its habit of fixed attention to one\nparticular object; and it is the mind undisturbed by desires, that\nreceives the true light and reflexion of things.\n\n22. As the gilding of gold or any brilliant colour, cannot stand on\nbase metal or on a piece of dirty cloth, so it is impossible for the\nvitiated mind, to apply itself intensely to any one particular object.\n\n23. R\u00e1ma asked:\u2014Will you tell me sir, in what manner the mind of Sukra,\nreceived the reflexion of the shadowy world, and its temporaneous\nmovement in itself, and how these fluctuations rose and remained in his\nmind?\n\n24. Vasishtha said:\u2014In the same manner as Sukra was impressed with the\nthoughts of the world, from the lectures of his father; so did they\nremain in his mind, as the future peacock resides in the egg.\n\n25. It is also naturally situated in the embryo of the mind, of every\nspecies of living being, and is gradually evolved from it, in the\nmanner of the shoots and sprouts, and leaves and flowers of trees,\ngrowing out of the seed.\n\n26. Every body sees in his mind, what its heart desires to possess, as\nit is in the case of our prolonged dreams.\n\n27. Know it thus, O R\u00e1ma! that a partial view of the world, rises in\nthe mind of every body; in the same manner, as it appears in the mind\nin a dream at night.\n\n28. R\u00e1ma said:\u2014But tell me sir, whether the thought and the things\nthought of, simultaneously meet themselves in the mind of the thinker;\nor it is the mind only that thinks of the object which is never met\nwith by it.\n\n29. Vasishtha replied:\u2014But the sullied mind cannot easily unite with\nthe object of its thought, as a dirty and cold piece of iron, cannot\njoin with a pure red-hot one, unless it is heated and purified from its\ndross.\n\n30. The pure mind and its pure thoughts, are readily united with one\nanother, as the pure waters mix together into one body of the same\nkind, which the muddied water cannot do.\n\n31. Want of desire constitutes the purity of the mind, which is readily\nunited with immaterial things of the same nature like itself. The\npurity of the mind conduces to its enlightenment, and these being\nunited in one, leads it to the Supreme.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XVIII.\n\n THE INCARNATION OF THE LIVING SPIRIT\n\n\nArgument. The Impure state of the soul; and its Purity leading to the\nknowledge of the only One.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014The living souls (Jiv\u00e1tman), residing in the seeds\nof material bodies (bh\u00fata-v\u00edja) in all parts of the world, differ from\none another; and there according to the difference in their knowledge\nof themselves (_tanm\u00e1tra_), or self identity with the _Unity_.\n\n2. As long as there is no volition nor nolition, connected with the\nidentity of the living soul; so long it reposes in a state of rest, not\nunlike that of sound sleep (susupti).\n\n3. But living souls addicted to their wishes, view their identity with\nthe same; and find themselves born in their desired shapes here below.\n\n4. The _tanm\u00e1tras_ of the living soul and its proclivities, run in one\nchannel to the reservoir of life, and are thickened into one living\nbeing by their mutual coalition.\n\n5. Some of them are situated apart from one another, and are dissolved\nalso separately; and some are joined together, and are born as two\n_gunja_ fruits growing together.\n\n6. The world consisting of thousands of orbs like _gunja_ fruits,\ncontains the assemblage of atoms on atoms; and these unconnected with\none another, form the great garden of God.\n\n7. These being joined also with one another, became dense and thick;\nand remain in the same place, where it has grown.\n\n8. The different states of the mind, ensuing upon the absence of its\npresent objects under its province, brings on a change in its\nconstitution, which is called its regeneration (in a new life).\n\n(Thus the change of the mind under the change of circumstances, is\nreckoned its transformation to a different being).\n\n9. Thus every regeneration of the mind in a new life, is accompanied\nwith its concomitant desires, and their results. The new life is\nattended with its proper body, unless the mind has lost its\nreminiscence.\n\n10. As the pure Spirit taking the form of the vital breath, performs\nthe functions of the body; so the mind being reborn in a new body, is\nemployed in all the functions of the same body.\n\n11. The souls of all living beings are subject to the three states of\nwaking, dreaming, and sound sleep, which are caused by the mind and not\nby the body.\n\n12. Thus the soul passing under the triple condition in its living\nstate, does not give rise to the body, as the sea-water gives rise to\nthe waves. (The body is caused by the mind, and not by the soul which\nhas no connection with it).\n\n13. The living soul having attained its intellectual state, and the\nrest of the conditions of sound sleep (susupti), is awakened to the\nknowledge of itself, and is released from its rebirth; while the\nignorant soul is subjected to be born again.\n\n14. And though the knowing and unknowing souls attain the state of\n_susupti_, and resemble each other in kind; yet the unknowing _susupta_\nsoul, which is not awakened to the knowledge of its spirituality, is\ndoomed to be reborn in the mortal world.\n\n15. The ubiquity of the intellect, makes it pass into the mind in its\nnext birth; and exhibit itself in different forms in all its succeeding\nand subordinate regenerations (stages of life).\n\n16. Among these repeated births, the subordinate regenerations resemble\nthe many folded coatings of a plantain tree; and the spirit of Brahm\u00e1\nis contiguous to, and pervades the whole, like the lofty leaves of the\nsame tree.\n\n17. The influence of the Divine spirit, is as cool as the cooling shade\nof a plantain arbour. It is of its own nature; and is as unchangeable\nas the pith of the plantain tree, notwithstanding the changes in all\nits outer coats and coverings.\n\n18. There is no difference or diversity in the nature of Brahm\u00e1 the\ncreator, in his repeated and manifold creations of worlds; for he being\nthe seed of the world, shoots forth by his moisture into the form of\nthe expanded tree of the world, and becomes the same seed again.\n\n19. So Brahm\u00e1 taking the form of the mind, becomes the same Brahm\u00e1 by\nreminiscence of his mind; as the sap of the soil makes the seed to\nbring forth the fruit, which reproduces the like seed.\n\n20. So the productive seed proceeding from Brahm\u00e1, displays itself in\nthe form of the world. But as no body can say what is the cause of the\nsap in the seed, so no one can tell why the spirit of God, teems with\nproductive seed (of Brahm\u00e1) in it.\n\n21. So no one should inquire into the cause of Brahm\u00e1; because his\nnature being inscrutable and undefinable, it is improper to say him\nthis or the other.\n\n22. He must not attribute causality to what is not the cause, nor\nimpute the causation of material bodies to the immaterial spirit of\nGod, that is the prime and supreme cause of all (as the Prototype). We\nmust reason rightly regarding what is certain truth, and not argue\nfalsely about what transcends our knowledge.\n\n23. The seed casts off its seedy form, and assumes the shape of the\nfruit; but Brahm\u00e1 (the seed of all) contains the fruit (of the\nuniverse) in his bosom, without laying aside the seed.\n\n24. The seed of the fruit bears a material form, but Brahm\u00e1\u2014the\nuniversal seed, has no form at all; therefore it is improper to compare\nthe visible seed, with the invisible Brahm\u00e1; who is beyond all\ncomparison.\n\n25. Brahm\u00e1 evolves himself in his creation and does not produce the\nworld like the fruit from the seed; therefore know the world as the\nvacuous heart of Brahm\u00e1, and is neither born nor unborn of itself.\n\n26. The viewer viewing the view, is unable to see himself (his inward\nsoul) because his consciousness being engrossed by external objects, is\ndisabled from looking into itself.\n\n27. Of what avail is sagacity to one, whose mind labours under the\nerror of water in a mirage; and what power has the mirage over a mind,\nwhich is possessed of its sagacity?\n\n28. As the looker on the clear sky does not see every part of it, and\nas the eye that looks on all others does not see itself; so we see\neverything about us besides ourselves.\n\n29. As the looker on the clear sky, does not see what is above the\nskies; so we see ourselves and others as material beings; but cannot\nsee the inward part of the immaterial soul, as the wise men do.\n\n30. Brahm\u00e1 who is as clear as the firmament, cannot be perceived by all\nour endeavours; because the sight of the sky as a visible thing, cannot\ngive us an insight into the invisible Brahm\u00e1; (which fills all space\nwith his presence).\n\n31. Such a sight cannot present itself to us, unless we can see the\ntrue form of God; but it is far from being visible to the beholder, as\nthe sight of subtilest things.\n\n32. We see the outward sight because we cannot see the beholder of the\nsight (_i.e._ God himself who beholds his works). The beholder (God) is\nonly the existent being, and the visibles are all nothing.\n\n33. But the all seeing God, being permeated in the visibles; there can\nbe no beholding of him as a personal God, nor of them as distinct\nthings. Because whatever the Almighty King proposes to do, he instantly\nforms their notions, and becomes the same himself.\n\n34. As the sweet saccharine juice of the sugarcane, thickens itself\ninto the form of the sugarcandy; so the will of God, becomes compact in\nthe solid body of the universe.\n\n35. As the moisture of the ground and of the vernal season, becomes\nincorporated in vegetable life, bringing forth the fruits and flowers;\nso the energy of the Divine Intellect, turns itself into the living\nspirit; which shortly appears in a corporeal form (of the body and its\nlimbs).\n\n36. As every thing is beheld in our sight, without being separated from\nits idea in the mind; so the inward notion, shows itself in the shape\nof the visible object, like the vision in a dream, which is but a\nrepresentation of the thoughts entertained in our minds. (_i.e._ The\nthought is the archetype of the appearance).\n\n37. The ideas of self and others, are as granules in the mind, and are\nlike the grains of salt, which are produced in the briny grounds from\nmoisture of the earth (_i.e._ saline particles, produced of terrene and\nmarine serosity). So the multitudes of thoughts in the mind, are\nexactly as the globules of salt or sand on the seashore: (almost\ninfinite in their number).\n\n38. As the serum of the earth appears in various shapes (of minerals\nand vegetables); so the sap of the intellect, produces the infinity of\nideas and thoughts, growing as trees in the wilderness of the mind.\n\n39. These trees again shoot forth in branches and leaves, of which\nthere is no end; and so is every other world like a forest, supplying\nits sap to innumerable plants, like the thoughts in the mind.\n\n40. The intellect perceives in itself the existence of everything, as\ndistinctly as the inherent power of the living soul exhibits itself in\ncreation. (The power of the soul is its reminiscence (sansk\u00e1ra) of the\npast, which reproduces and presents the former impressions in its\nsubsequent states of birth).\n\n41. Every one\u2019s intellect, perceives the existence of the world, in the\nsame manner as his living soul, happens to meet with every thing, as\npresent before it, by virtue of its former acts, and their reminiscence\nstampt in it.[2]\n\n42. There are some living souls, which meet and join with others and\npropagate their species; and then cease to exist after having lived a\nlong time together.\n\n43. You must observe with your keensightedness and well discerning\nmind, in order to look into the different states and thoughts of\nothers. (Read the minds in their outward look and indications).\n\n44. There are thousands of worlds like atoms of earth, contained in the\nmind; as in the ample space of the sky and in the particles of water;\nand these reside in those atoms like oil in the mustard seeds.\n\n45. When the mind becomes perfect, it comes to be the living being; and\nthe intellect being purified, becomes all pervasive. Hence is the union\nof the intellect with the living spirit.\n\n46. The self-entity of the lotus-born Brahm\u00e1 and all other living\nbeings, is only their self-deception; and the sense of the existence of\nthe world, is as a protracted dream rising and setting in the mind.\n\n47. Some beings pass into successive states of existence, as a man\npasses from one dream to another; and they think themselves to be\nfirmly established in them, as one supposes to be settled in some\nhouse, appearing to him in his dream.\n\n48. Whatever the intellect dwells upon at any time or place, it\nimmediately sees the same appearing therein before it; as anything\nwhich is seen in dream, appears to be true to the dreamer all that time.\n\n49. The atom of the intellect, contains the particles of all our\nnotions; as the seed-vessel contains the farinaceous atoms of the\nfuture fruits and flowers, and branches and leaves (of very large\ntrees).\n\n50. I consider the atoms of the intellect and the mind, contained\nwithin the particles, of the material body, to be both vacuous, and\njoined in one without causing a duality in their nature.\n\n51. So the intellect conceives within itself and of its own particles,\nmany other atomic germs, under the influence of particular times and\nplaces and actions and circumstances; which cannot be extraneous from\nitself. (_i.e._ All notions are the making of the mind, and not\nimpressions from without).\n\n52. It is this particle of the intellect which displays the creation,\nlike the vision of a dream before it; and it is this conception, that\nled the gods Brahm\u00e1 and others to the idea of their visible bodies, as\nit makes the little insects to think of their own bodies. (_i.e._ The\nminds of all display the outer world subjectively to all beings).\n\n53. All that is displayed in this (outer) world, is in reality nothing\nat all; and yet do these living beings, though possessing the particles\nof intellect in them, erroneously conceive the duality of an extraneous\nexistence.\n\n54. Some intellects (of particular persons), display themselves in\ntheir bodies, and derive the pleasure of their consciousness, through\nthe medium of their eyes and external organs. (_i.e._ Some men believe\ntheir bodily senses as the intellect, and no mind besides).\n\n55. Others look on outward objects as receptacles of the intellect,\nfrom the belief that the all pervasive, inseparable and imperishable\nintellect (soul), must abide in all and every one of them. (It is the\nintellect which contains the material world, and not this the other, as\nmany think omnipresence to mean).\n\n56. Some men view the whole gross world within the body, instead of the\nall pervading intellect of Brahm\u00e1; as Viswar\u00fapa, and these being\nhardened by long habit of thinking so, are plunged in the gulph of\nerror. (These are the materialists and the T\u00e1ntrika microcosmists).\n\n57. These rove from one error to another, as a man sees one dream after\nanother; and roll about in the pit of their delusion, as a stone when\nhurled from a hill downward.\n\n58. Some persons rely on the union of the body and soul, and others\nrelying in the soul alone, are placed beyond the reach of error; while\nthere are many, who rely on their consciousness alone, and shine\nthereby as rational beings. (_The Cartesians and conscientionalists_).\n\n59. They that perceive in themselves the errors of other people, are to\nbe considered as under the influence of false dreams in their sleep\n(but mind not themselves, that labour under the error as the dreamer).\n\n60. God being the all pervading spirit of nature, is verily seen in the\nspirit of every body; and as he is ubiquitous, his omnipresence is\npresent in every thing in all places. (This doctrine is the source of\npantheism, and gives rise to universal idolatry, which adores the\npresiding spirit of the idol, and not the idol itself).\n\n61. God that shines is the living soul of every body, resides also in\nthe soul of that soul, as also in all the living souls and mind which\nare contained within the body of another. (Such as in living beings\nborn inside the body of another).\n\n62. One living being in born in another, and that again within another,\nlike the coatings of plantain trees, which grow one under the other\nover the inmost pith. (So God is the inmost marrow of all external\nlives and souls, which are as crusts of the same).\n\n63. By reverting the cognition of visibles, to the recognition of their\nessence (tanm\u00e1tra) in the invisible plenum, we get rid of our error of\nthe reality of the formal world, as we do of the ornament in the\nmaterial gold. (_i.e._ The substances of gold is the material cause of\nthe formal and changeable jewels). Gloss. The knowledge of the\nconsequent (par\u00e1k) and antecedent (pratyak), must blend in that of the\nsameness (sam\u00e1ni) of both (yugupat), the internal (antar) and external\n(b\u00e1hya) (existences).\n\n64. He who does not inquire into the question \u201cwho he is\u201d and \u201cwhat is\nthe world\u201d beside himself; is not liberated in his inward soul, and\nsuffers under the continuous fever of an erroneous life.\n\n65. He is successful in his inquiry, who by his good understanding,\ncomes to know how to curb his worldly avarice day by day.\n\n66. As proper regimen is the best medicine to secure the health of the\nbody; so is the habit of keeping the organs of sense under control, the\nonly means of edifying the understanding.\n\n67. He who is discoursive in his words, and not discerning in his mind,\nis like a blazing fire in a picture (which lightens no body). No one\ncan be wise until he gets rid of his false wit.\n\n68. As the perception of air, comes by the feeling and not by words of\nthe mouth; so wisdom proceeds from the curtailing of desires (and not\nby lengthy or loud vociferation).\n\n69. As the ambrosia in the painting is no ambrosial food, nor the fire\nin a picture is burning flame; so a beauty in a drawing is no beauteous\nmaid, and wisdom in words is want of wisdom only.\n\n70. Wisdom serves at first to weaken our passions and enmity, and then\nuproot them at once, and at last it lessens our desires and endeavours,\nand gives an appearance of holiness to its possessor.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XIX.\n\n INVESTIGATION INTO THE NATURE OF THE LIVING SOUL.\n\n\nArgument. The quadruple conditions of the soul in its waking, dreaming,\nsound sleep and its anaesthesia.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014Brahm\u00e1 is the seed of life, and remains as empty\nair everywhere. Hence there are many kinds of living beings, situated\nin the world within the womb of universal Life. (God is the light and\nlife of all we see).\n\n2. All living beings composed of the dense intellect and soul, contain\nother living animals under one another, like the manifold crusts of the\nplantain tree, and the insects contained in the womb of earth. (So also\nthe parasite plants and worms growing upon the bodies of trees and\nanimals).\n\n3. The worms and insects, that grow out of the dirt and scum of earth\nand water in the hot season, and appear filthy to our sight; are\nnevertheless full of the particles of intellect, becoming to them as\nliving beings. (Even the dirty worms, are full with the holy spirit of\ngod).\n\n4. According as living beings strive for their progress, so they\nprosper in their lives, agreeably to the various scope of their\nthoughts and actions.\n\n5. The worshippers of gods, get to the region of gods, and those of\nYakshas meet at the place of Yakshas, and the adorers of Brahm\u00e1 ascend\nto Brahmaloka. Resort therefore to what is best and the greatest refuge.\n\n6. So the son of Bhrigu, obtained his liberation at last by the purity\nof his conscience; though he was enslaved of his own nature to the\nvisibles, at his first sight of them (as of the Apsara and others).\n\n7. The child that is born on earth with the purity of its soul at\nfirst, becomes afterwards of the same nature, as the education he gets\nherein, and not otherwise.\n\n8. R\u00e1ma said:\u2014Please sir, tell me the difference of the states of\nwaking and dreaming, and what are the states of waking watchfulness,\nwaking dream and waking delusion.\n\n9. Vasishtha answered:\u2014The waking state is that wherein we have a sure\nreliance; and that is called dreaming, in which we place no certain\nreliance and are believed to be untrue.\n\n10. That which is seen for a moment (as true), and as it were in the\nwaking state, is called a dream; but if the object is seen at a\ndistance of time and place, it is said to be waking dream or dreaming\nwakefulness.\n\n11. The state of waking dream is again of longer or shorter duration,\nin both of which the visions appear the same at all places and times.\n\n12. Dreaming also appears as waking, as long as it lasts; but waking\nseems as dreaming, when the objects of its vision are not lasting.\n\n13. A dream which is understood as an occurrence of the waking state,\nis believed as waking, (as the prolonged dream of Harish Chandra); but\nthe inward consciousness of dreaming makes it a dream.\n\n14. As long as one knows anything to be lasting before him, so long he\nbelieves himself to be waking, but no sooner is it lost to him, than he\nthinks himself to have been dreaming of it.\n\n15. Hear now how it is. There is the principle of life in the body,\nwhich causes it to live; this vital element is an electric force, which\nis termed the life.\n\n16. When the body has its activity with the powers of the mind, speech\nand the other members of action, it is to be understood, that its vital\nelement is put to motion by the vital breath which it breathes.\n\n17. This breath circulating through out the whole body, gives it the\npowers of sensibility and consciousness, which have their seats in the\nheart and mind, wherein the erroneous conception of the world is hidden.\n\n18. The mind circulates about the outer world, through the passages of\nsight and other organs; and sees within itself the forms of many\nmutable shapes and figures.\n\n19. As long as these forms, remain permanent in the mind, it is called\nthe waking state. So far have I told you about the cause of waking; now\nhear me expound to you the laws of sleep and dreaming.\n\n20. When the body is weary with action of its limbs, mind or speech,\nthe living element then becomes still, and remains in its composure,\nwith the calm and quiet soul residing within the body.\n\n21. The internal actions of the body and mind being quieted, and the\nmotion of the heart being at rest, the living principle becomes as\nstill, as the flame of a lamp unshaken by the wind.\n\n22. The vital power ceases to exert itself in the members of the body,\nand to keep the consciousness awake. The senses of sight and others do\nnot act upon their organs, nor receive the sensations from without.\n\n23. Life lies latent in the inner heart, as the liquid oil resides in\nthe sesamum seed; it lies as dormant in the interior part, as frigidity\nwithin the frost, and fluidity in the clarified butter.\n\n24. The particle of intellect taking the form of life, after being\npurified from its earthly impurity; mixes with the internal soul, and\nattains the state of sound sleep, as if lulled to insensibility by the\ncooling breeze.\n\n25. One feeling the impassibility of his mind, and dealing\nunconcernedly with every one, and reaching to the fourth stage of\nconsciousness, beyond the three states of waking, dreaming and\nsleeping, is said to be _tur\u00edya_ or deadened in life.\n\n26. When the vital principle comes again to action, after the enjoyment\nof its sound sleep, either in this or the other world (_i.e._ when it\nis restored to or reborn in life); it takes the name of the living\nelement or the mind or self-consciousness (in the living body).\n\n27. This principle of life and thought, sees the multitudinous worlds\nsituated with all their vicissitudes within itself, as the large tree\nand all its parts and productions, are observed to be contained within\nthe seed. (This is the picture of life in its dreaming state).\n\n28. When the element of life is put to slight motion, by the breeze of\nthe vital breath, it becomes conscious of its self-existence as \u201cI am\u201d;\nbut the motion being accelerated, it finds itself to be flying in the\nair.\n\n29. When it is immerged in the water (phlegm) of the body: it gets the\nfeeling of humidity in itself, as a flower perceives its own fragrance.\n\n30. When it is assailed by the internal bile, it has then the feeling\nof its inward heat, and sees all outward objects with its splenetic\nhumour.\n\n31. When it is full of blood, it perceives a fiery redness in itself,\nlike that of a rubicund rock, or as the crimson red of the setting sun\nin the sky.\n\n32. Whatever one desires to have, he sees the same in himself in his\nsleep; and this is by the force of his inward wind acting upon his\nmind, as upon his outward organs.\n\n33. When the organs are not besieged by external objects, which disturb\nthe inward senses of the mind; it indulges itself in the reflexion of\nmany things, which is called its dreaming state.\n\n34. But when the organs are besieged by outward objects, and the mind\nis moved by flatulence (\u09ac\u09be\u09af\u09c1 v\u00e1yu), to their sight and\nperception, it is called the state of waking.\n\n35. Now O great-minded R\u00e1ma! you have learnt the inward process of your\nmind; but there is no reality in them nor in this existent world, which\nis subject to the evils of death, desire and destruction.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XX.\n\n DESCRIPTION OF THE MIND.\n\n\nArgument. The delusion of the world and reliance in the true Spirit,\nwhich is the same with the heart, soul and mind.\n\n\nVasishtha said:\u2014Now R\u00e1ma! I have told you all this, in order to explain\nthe nature of the mind to you, and for no other reason.\n\n2. Whatever the mind often thinks upon with a strong conviction of its\nreality, it immediately assumes that form, as the iron-ball becomes\nignited by its contact with fire.\n\n3. Therefore the convictions of being or not being, and of receiving or\nrejecting of a thing, depend upon the imagination of the mind; they are\nneither true nor untrue, but are mere fluctuations of the mind.\n\n4. The mind is the cause of error, and it is the mind which is the\nframer of the world. The mind also stretches itself in the form of the\nuniverse (Viswar\u00fapa) in its gross state. (The first is the human mind,\nsecond the mind of Brahm\u00e1, and the third is the mind of Vir\u00e1t).\n\n5. The mind is styled the _purusha_ or regent of the body, which being\nbrought under subjection, and directed in the right course, is\nproductive of all prosperity (or supernatural powers).\n\n6. If the body were the _purusha_, how could the highminded Sukra, pass\ninto various forms in his very many transmigrations (as mentioned\nbefore)?\n\n7. Therefore the mind (_chitta_) is the _purusha_ or regent of the\nbody, which is rendered sensible (chetya) by it: Whatever form the mind\nassumes to itself, it undoubtedly becomes the same.\n\n8. So inquire into what is great, devoid of attributes and error, and\nwhich is easily attainable by every body. Be diligent in your inquiry,\nand you will surely succeed to obtain the same.\n\n9. Hence whatever is seated in the mind, the same comes to pass on the\nbody; but what is done by the body never affects the mind. Therefore, O\nfortunate R\u00e1ma! apply your mind to truth, and shun whatever is untrue.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXI.\n\n ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE MIND.\n\n\nArgument. Inquiry into the cause of the fulness of the mind.\n\n\nR\u00e1ma said:\u2014Venerable sir! that art acquainted with the mysteries of all\nthings, I have a great doubt swelling in my breast like a huge surge of\nthe sea.\n\n2. How is it sir, that any foulness could attach to the mind, when it\nis situated in the eternal purity of the infinite Spirit, which is\nunbounded by time and space.\n\n3. Again as there is nothing, nor was there ever, nor anything ever to\nbe at any time, or place, beside the entity of the Holy one, how and\nwhence could this foulness come in Him?\n\n4. Vasishtha answered: Well said R\u00e1ma! I see your understanding\napproaching to the way of your liberation, and exhaling the sweetness\nof the blossoms of the garden of paradise (Nandana).\n\n5. I see your understanding is capable of judging both _a priori_ and\n_a posteriori_, and is likely to attain that _acme_ which was gained by\nthe gods, Sankara and others.\n\n6. It is not now the proper time and place for you to propose this\nquestion, it should be adduced when I would come to the conclusion of\nthe subject.\n\n7. This question should be asked by you when I come to the conclusion,\nand it will be demonstrated to you as clearly as the situation of a\nplace in a map or globe, placed in the palm of your hand (hast\u00e1malaka).\n\n8. This question of yours will be most suitable at the end, as the\nsounds of the peacock and swan, are best suited to the rainy season and\nautumn.\n\n9. The blueness of the sky, is pleasant to look upon at the end of the\nrainy weather; but it is odd to speak of it during the rains. (So the\nquestion must have its proper place and occasion).\n\n10. It is best to investigate into the mind by the nature of its acts\nand operations, which tend to be the causes of the repeated births of\nmankind.\n\n11. It is by its nature, that the mind has its power of thinking, and\nleading all the organs and members to their several actions, as it is\nascertained by the seekers of salvation.\n\n12. Men learned in the s\u00e1stras and eloquent in speech, have given\nvarious appellations to the mind, in different systems of philosophy,\naccording to its various perceptive faculties and different functions\nand operations in the body. (Gloss. It is called the mind (_mana_) from\nits power of minding (_manana_); it is termed internal sight (pasyanti)\nfrom its seeing inwardly; it is the ear (_srotra_) from its\nhearing\u2014_sravana_ from within, and so on).\n\n13. Whatever nature the mind assumes by the fickleness of its thoughts,\nit receives the same name and nature for itself, as the same fleeting\nair receives from its exhaling of different odours.\n\n14. So the mind delights itself with the thoughts of its desired\nobjects, and assimilating itself into their natures.\n\n15. It receives the same form in which it delights, and which it\nassumes to itself in its imagination.\n\n16. The body being subject to the mind, is moulded in the same form of\nthe mind; just as the wind is perfumed by the odour of the flowerbed,\nthrough which it passes (and the fragrance it carries).\n\n17. The inward senses being excited, actuate the outward organs of\nsense in their own ways, as the exciting motion of the winds, drives\nthe dust of the earth before their course.\n\n18. The mind exerts its powers in the action of the external organs in\nthe performance of their several functions; just as the flying winds\ndrive the dust in different directions.\n\n19. Such are the acts of the mind which is said to be the root of\naction, and these combine together as inseparably as the flower and its\nfragrance.\n\n20. Whatever nature the mind adopts to itself by its wonted habit, the\nsame shoots forth in the form of its two kinds of motion (the will and\naction).\n\n21. And according as the mind does its action, and brings about the\nresult by its assiduity, in like manner does it enjoy the fruition\nthereof, and enslaves itself to the enjoyment.\n\n22. It understands that as its right course, which agrees well with its\ntemperament; and knows for certain that there is no other way to its\nreal good (beside its wonted course).\n\n23. Minds of different casts follow different pursuits, according to\ntheir particular proclivities; and employ themselves in the acquisition\nof wealth and virtues, desired objects and liberation according to\ntheir best choice.\n\n24. The mind is ascertained by the K\u00e1pila (S\u00e1nkhya) philosophers, as a\npure substance, like the immaterial intellect (under the title of\n_pradh\u00e1na_); and this view of it is adopted in their system or s\u00e1stra\n(in opposition to the doctrine of Ved\u00e1nta).\n\n25. These men relying on the error of their own hypothesis, inculcate\ntheir supposed view of the mind to others, as the only light to guide\nthem in the way of their salvation.\n\n26. But the professors of Ved\u00e1nta doctrines, acknowledge the mind as\nBrahm\u00e1 himself; and preach peace and self-control, as the only means of\nthe attainment of liberation.\n\n27. But that there is no other way to the salvation of the supposed\nmind (than by these means), is an _ipse dixit_ of the Ved\u00e1nta, and an\nassumed dogma (_kalpit\u00e1niyama_) as those of other schools.\n\n28. The Vijn\u00e1nav\u00e1di philosophers also, have ascertained and upheld\npeace and self-government as the leaders to liberation, but this too is\nan effusion of their erroneous understandings.\n\n29. Thus all sects give out their own views, in the false rules they\nhave adopted for the salvation of their supposed minds; and assert that\nthere is no other way to it, beside what is laid down by them.\n\n30. So the Arhatas (Buddhists) and the other sectarians, have proposed\na variety of fictitious methods for the liberation of the mind, of\ntheir arbitrary will in their respective s\u00e1stras.[3]\n\n31. The arbitrary rules of the learned, and those unsupported by the\nsrutis, are as numerous and varying from one another, as the bubbles of\nclear water (but are never lasting like the dicta of the holy writ).\n\n32. Know mighty R\u00e1ma, the mind to be the source of all these rules and\nmethods, as the sea is the source of every kind of gem (lying hid in\nits bosom).\n\n33. There is no innate sweetness in the sugarcane nor bitterness in the\n_nimba_, both of which are sucked by insects; nor is there any heat or\ncold inherent in the sun or moon (as both of them are peopled by gods\nand spirits). It is the intrinsic habit of the mind that makes the\ndifference.\n\n34. Those that want to enjoy the unadulterated happiness of their\nsouls, should habituate their minds to assimilate themselves to that\nhappy state, and they are sure to have the same.\n\n35. The mind having fled from the sphere of the phenomenal world,\nbecomes exempt from all its pleasure and pain, like the fledged bird\nflying in the air by casting its shell and leaving its cage below.\n\n36. O sinless R\u00e1ma! Cherish no fondness for the phenomenal world, which\nis an unreal illusion, full of fear and unholiness, and is stretched\nout to ensnare the mind.\n\n37. The wise have styled our consciousness of the world as a magic\nscene (m\u00e1y\u00e1), an appearance of ignorance\u2014avidy\u00e1, a mere thought\n(bh\u00e1van\u00e1), and the cause and effect of our acts.\n\n38. Know that it is the delusive mind, which stretches the visible\nworld before thee, rub it off therefore as dirty mud from the mind.\n\n39. This visible appearance which naturally appears before thee in the\nform of the world, is called the production of ignorance by the wise.\n\n40. Men being deluded by it, are at a loss to know their real good, as\nthe blinded eye is incapable to perceive the brightness of the day.\n\n41. It is the contemplation of objects (sankalpa), that presents the\nphenomena to our view, like arbors in the empty sky; and it is their\nincogitancy (asankalpana), which effaces their images from the inward\nand outward sights.\n\n42. It is the abstract meditation of the thoughtful yogi, that weakens\nthe outward impressions, and by dissociating the soul from all external\nthings, keeps it steady and sedate in itself.\n\n43. The mind being inclined to the right view of things, by its\nabstraction from the unreal sights, produces the clearness of the\nunderstanding, and an insouciant tranquility of the soul.\n\n44. The mind that is regardless of realities as well as of unrealities\n(that is of its inward and outward reflections); and is insensible of\npleasure and plain, feels in itself the delight of its singleness or\nunity.\n\n45. Application of the mind to unworthy thoughts, and to the internal\nor external sights of things, debars the soul from tasting the sweets\nof its solity (apart from other considerations).\n\n46. The mind that is subject to its endless desires, is like the clear\nfirmament obscured by the clouds; and ranges in the maze of doubt\nbetween truth and untruth, as of supposing the rope for the serpent.\n\n47. Man obstructs to himself the sight of the clear firmament of his\nintellect, by the mist of his doubts; but he thinks it as unobstructed\nby his error, and indulges the fancies of his imagination which tends\nthe more to his error.\n\n48. He takes the true, incorruptible and supreme Brahm\u00e1 in a different\nlight (of base and corruptible things), as one mistakes one thing for\nanother in the dark or in his error.\n\n49. Having got rid of his false imagination, man comes to the knowledge\nof true God and his happiness, as one freed from his false apprehension\nof a tiger in a copse, is set at rest with himself.\n\n50. The bugbear of one\u2019s (soul\u2019s) imprisonment in the vacuity (cavity)\nof the body, is dispersed by his insight into it, as the fear of a lion\nlurking in the jungle, is removed upon finding no such thing therein.\n\n51. So on looking deeply, you will find no bondage in the world; the\nnotions that this is the world and this is myself, are only errors of\nthe mind.\n\n52. It is flight of fancy, that fills the mind with chimeras of good\nand evil; just as the shade of evening, presents spectres of _vet\u00e1la_\nghosts to little children.\n\n53. Our fancies alight on us at one time, and depart at another, and\nassume different forms at will; just as our consorts act the part of\nwives in our youth, and of nurses in our old age.\n\n54. She acts the part of a house wife in her management of household\naffairs, and taken as a mistress, she embraces us in her bosom (or She\nhangs on us by the neck).\n\n55. And like an actress, the mind forgets to display its parts, when it\nplays another, so every body is betaken by the thoughts he has in his\nhead, in neglect of others which are absent.\n\n56. The ignorant do not perceive the selfsame unity, in all things he\nbeholds in the world; but they view every thing in the light, as they\nhave its idea imprinted in their minds.\n\n57. They meet also with the results of the forms, which they have in\nview for the time; though they are not in reality what they seem to be,\nnor are they entirely false (being the idealities of their mind).\n\n58. Man views every thing in the same manner as he thinks it in\nhimself; as his fancy of an elephant in the sky, makes him view the\nelephants in clouds.\n\n59. He believes these elephants pursuing their mates, in his thought;\nso it is the thought, that gives the outward forms of things.\n\n60. R\u00e1ma! repel your drowsiness, and behold the supreme soul in thy\nsoul; and be as a bright gem by repelling the shadows of all external\nthings.\n\n61. It is impossible, O R\u00e1ma, that one so enlightened as thyself, will\nreceive the reflexion of the world, as dull matter like others (rather\nthan a reflexion of the Spirit).\n\n62. Being certain of its immateriality, never taint thy mind with its\noutward colouring, or the knowledge of its reality; but know it as no\nway distinct from the Supreme Spirit.\n\n63. Mind in thyself the Being that is without beginning or end, and\nmeditate on the Spirit in Spirit. Do not let the reflexions of thy\nmind, imbue their tinge in the pure crystal of thy soul.\n\n64. Be on thy guard, as never to allow the reflexions of your mind, to\ntaint the clear crystal of thy soul; but remain unmindful of the\nvisibles, and regardless of all worldly desires (which are causes of\nmisery and repeated births and deaths).\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXII.\n\n RESTING IN SUPREME FELICITY.\n\n\nArgument. Remission of the sins of the enlightened, and their sight of\nthe pure Spirit.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014Men of sound judgment, are freed from mental\nperturbation, and are perfected in their mastery over themselves, by\nrestraining the flight of the mind, and fastening it to its inward\ncogitation. (Gloss. The Yogi given to meditation is master of his soul\nand mind).\n\n2. They swerve from the sight of the visibles as unworthy of their\nnotice, and seek after the knowledge of their chief good; they behold\nthe all-seeing God in their mental and external sights, and have no\nperception of the unintelligent perceptibles. (_i.e._ They perceive the\nnoumenon only in the phenomenon).\n\n3. They are dormant amidst the thick gloom of error, overspreading the\nmazy paths of life, and are awake under the transcendent light (of\ndivine knowledge), requiring the vigilance of the living.\n\n4. They are utterly indifferent to the sweet pleasures of this life, as\nalso to the cheerless prospects of future enjoyments (in the next\nworld). (The Yogi is equally averse to the present and prospective\npleasures of both worlds).\n\n5. They are mixed (like salt) with the water of spiritual (divine)\nunity, and in the boundless ocean of omnipresence; and they melt away\nas the ice in a river, by their rigorous austerities, resembling the\nvigorous heat of the sun.\n\n6. All their restless desires and passions are set to rest, at the\ndisappearance of their ignorance; as the turbulent waves of rivers\nsubside of themselves, in the absence of stormy clouds.\n\n7. The net of desires, which ensnares men as birds in their traps, is\ncut asunder by a spirit of dispassionateness; as the meshes of a net,\nare torn into twain, by the teeth of a mouse.\n\n8. As the seeds of _kata_ fruits, serve to purify the foul water; so\ndoth philosophy tend to expurgate human nature, from all its errors.\n\n9. The mind that is freed from passions, from worldly connections and\ncontentions, and from dependance on any one (person or thing); is\nliberated also from the bonds of ignorance and error, as a bird is set\nfree from its imprisoning cage. (True freedom is the freedom from all\ncares, concerns and connections, which are but bondages of the soul).\n\n10. When the disturbances of doubts are settled, and the wandering of\ncuriosity is over, it is then that the fullmoon of internal fulness,\nsheds its lustre over the mind.\n\n11. As the mind has its true magnanimity, after its setting from the\nheight of its dignity and highmindedness, so it begins to have its\nequanimity in a state, resembling the calmness of the sea after the\nstorm.\n\n12. As long as the shadow of solicitude, hangs over the mind, it is\ndarkened and stupified and broken in the heart, until the sun of\ninappetency rises to dispel its gloom.\n\n13. It is by the sunshine of the intellect, that the lotus-bed of\nintelligence, shines in its pure lustre; and unfolds the foliage of its\nvirtues before the dawning light above it.\n\n14. Intelligence is charmer of hearts and delighter of all in the\nworld; it is fostered by the quality of goodness (sattwaguna), as the\nmoon becomes full by her increasing digits.\n\n15. What more shall I say on this subject, than that he who knows the\nknowable (God), has his mind expanded as the sphere of heaven, which\nhas no beginning nor end.\n\n16. The mind which is enlightened by reasoning, is as exalted in its\nnature, as to take pity even on the great gods Hari, Hara, Brahm\u00e1, and\nIndra (on account of their incessant avocations in the management of\nthe world).\n\n17. They are far from tasting the happiness of the egoistic yogis, who\nare continually seeking to quench their thirst (after pleasure), from\nthe waters appearing in the mirage, as the parching deer (running to\nthem by mistake).\n\n18. It is the heart\u2019s desire of all beings, that subjects them to\nrepeated births and deaths, which cause the ignorant only and not the\nwise, to appear and disappear like waves of the sea.\n\n19. The world presents no other show in its course, except that of the\nappearance and disappearance of bodies, which are now seen to move\nabout at the sport of time, and now fall as a prey to it for ever.\n\n20. But the spiritual body (the spirit or one knowing the spirit), is\nneither born nor dies in this world; nor is it affected by the\ndecoration or perdition of the material body; but remains unchanged as\nthe vacuity of a pot, both when it is in existence or broken to pieces.\n(The vacuous soul is aloof from the body).\n\n21. As the understanding rises with its cooling moon-beams within us,\nit dispels the mist of erroneous desires rising before us like the\nmirage of the dreary desert.\n\n22. So long does the pageant of the world, present its dusky appearance\nto our view, as we do not deign to consider the questions \u201cwhat am I,\nand what are all these about me\u201d. (That is; \u201cwhether I or these or all\nother things are true or false?\u201d)\n\n23. He sees rightly, who sees his body as an apparition of his error,\nand the abode of all evils; and that it does not serve for the\nspiritual meditation of his soul and his maker.\n\n24. He sees rightly, who sees that his body is the source of all the\npain and pleasure, which betides one at different times and places, and\nthat it does not answer his purpose of spiritual edification.\n\n25. He sees rightly, who sees the Ego to pervade the infinite space and\ntime, and as the source of all accidents and events, which incessantly\ntake place in them. (The Ego is ubiquitous).\n\n26. He knows rightly, who knows the Ego to be as minute as a millionth\nor billionth part of the point of a hair, and pervading all over the\ninfinity of space and eternity of time.\n\n27. He perceives rightly, who perceives the universal soul to be\npermeated in all the various objects of his sight; and knows them as\nsparks of the Intellectual Light.\n\n28. He perceives rightly, who perceives within himself the omnipotence\nof the infinite Spirit, to be present in all the states and conditions\nof beings, and the self-same Intellect to abide in and preside over all.\n\n29. He understands rightly, who understands by his wisdom, that he is\nnot his body, which is subject to diseases and dangers, to fears and\nanxieties, and to the pain and pangs of old age and death.\n\n30. He understands rightly, who understands his soul to stretch above\nand below and all about him; whose magnitude has no bounds nor an equal\nto it.\n\n31. He knows, full well who kens his soul as a string (S\u00fatr\u00e1tm\u00e1), to\nwhich all things are strung as gems in a jewel; and that it is not the\nmind or heart, which is seated in the brain or bosom.\n\n32. He kens rightly, who weens neither himself nor any thing else as\nexistent, except the imperishable-Brahma; and who knows himself as\nliving between the reality and unreality, (_i.e._ betwixt the present\nand absent, and between the visible and invisible. Gloss).\n\n33. He is right, who beholds what they call the three worlds, to be but\nparts of his self, and have been rolling about him as the waves of the\nsea.\n\n34. He is wise, who looks with pity upon the frail world, and\ncompassionates the earth as his younger sister.\n\n35. That great soul looks brightly upon the earth, who has withdrawn\nhis mind from it, by retrenching his reliance on his egoism or tuism,\n(_i.e._ both on his subjectivity and objectivity).\n\n36. He sees the truth, who finds his body and the whole world, filled\nby the colossus figure of the Intellect, without the opposition of any\nsensible object.\n\n37. He that looks on the states of misery and happiness, which attend\non worldly life, to be but the fluctuating conditions of the ego, has\nno cause to repine or rejoice at them.\n\n38. He is the right-sighted man, who sees himself situated amidst the\nworld, which is filled with the divine spirit, (and the endless joy\nemanating from it); he has nothing to desire or dislike in this (or in\nhis future) state of existence.\n\n39. He is the right (discerning) man, who has weakened his estimation\nand dislike of what is desirable and disgusting to him in the world,\nwhich is full of the essence of that being, whose nature is beyond\ncomprehension and conception. (The world being full with the presence\nof God, we have nothing to like or dislike, or to take or shun in it).\n\n40. That great-souled man is a great god, whose soul like the\nall-pervading sky extends over all, and penetrates through every state\nof existence, without receiving the tincture of any. (Who is informed\nwith all and untinged by any).\n\n41. I bow down to that great soul, which has passed beyond the states\nof light, darkness and fancy, (_i.e._ the state of waking or life, sleep\nor death, and dreaming or transmigration, and which is situated in a\nstate of brightness and tranquility in supreme felicity or heavenly\nbliss).\n\n42. I bow down to that Siva, of transcendental understanding; whose\nfaculties are wholly engrossed in the meditation of that eternal Being,\nwho presides over the creation, destruction and preservation of the\nuniverse, and who is manifest in all the various wondrous and beauteous\ngrandeurs of nature.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXIII.\n\n MEDITATION OF THE WONDERS IN THE REALM OF THE BODY.\n\n\nArgument. The dominion of the enlightened man over the realm of his\nBody, and the pleasure of the government of the mind.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014The man that is liberated in this life, and is\nsettled in the Supreme state of felicity, is not tarnished by his\nreigning over the realm of his body, and turning about like a wheel.\n\n2. The body of the wise man is as a princedom to him, and calculated\nfor his benefit and no disadvantage. It is comparable with the bower of\na holy hermit, for the consummation of his fruition and liberation.\n\n3. R\u00e1ma said:\u2014How do you call, O great sage! the body to be the\ndominion of a man, and how the Yogi can enjoy his princely felicity in\nit?\n\n4. Vasishtha replied:\u2014Beautiful is this city of the body, and fraught\nwith every good to mankind, and being enlightened by the light of the\nmind, it is productive of endless blessings in both worlds.\n\n5. The eyes are the windows of this city, letting out the light for the\nsight of distant worlds, the two arms are as the two valves of this\ncity-gate, with the hands like latches reaching to the knees.\n\n6. The hairs on the body are as the moss and grass on the walls, and\nthe porous skin resembles the netted covering of the palace; the thighs\nand legs are as the columns of the edifice, and the feet with the\nancles and toes, are as pedestals of the pillars.\n\n7. The lines marked under the soles of the feet, are as inscriptions\nmarked on the foundation stone, and upon those at the base of the\npedestals of the pillars; and the outer skin which covers the flesh,\nmarrow, veins and arteries, and the joints of the body, is as the\nbeautiful plaster of the building, hiding the mortar and bricks inside.\n\n8. The middle part of the body above the two thick thighs, contains the\naqueducts, beset by the hairy bushes about them, and likening to rivers\nrunning amidst a city, between rows of trees on both sides of the banks.\n\n9. The face is as the royal garden beautified by the eye-brows,\nforehead and the lips; the glancing of the eyes, are as the blooming\nlotuses; and the cheeks are as flat planes in it.\n\n10. The broad bosom is as a lake with the nipples like buds of lotuses;\nthe streaks of hairs on the breast, are as its herbage, and the\nshoulders are as the projecting rocks (ghats) upon it.\n\n11. The belly is the store-house, which is eager to receive the\ndelicious articles of food; and the long lungs of the throat, are blown\nloudly by the internal winds.\n\n12. The bosom is considered as the depository of jewels (from their\nbeing worn upon it); and the nine orifices of the body, serve as so\nmany windows for the breathing of the citizens.\n\n13. There is the open mouth like the open door-way, with its tooth-bones\nslightly seen as its gratings; and the tongue moving in the door way\nlike a naked sword, is as the projecting tongue of the goddess K\u00e1l\u00ed,\nwhen she devours her food. (The voracity of the goddess is well known\nwhence she is called K\u00e1l\u00ed, the consort of the all devouring K\u00e1la\u2014death).\n\n14. The ear-holes are covered by hairs like long grass, and the broad\nback resembles a large plain, beset by rows of trees on its borders.\n\n15. The two private passages serve as sewers and drains of the city, to\nlet out its dirt, and the heart is the garden-ground, where the\npassions parade about as ladies. (Or, the region of the mind is the\ngarden-ground for the rambling thoughts as ladies).\n\n16. Here the understanding is fast bound in chains as a prisoner, and\nthe organs of sense are let loose as monkies to play about. The face is\nas a flower garden, the smiles whereof are its blooming blossoms.\n\n17. The life of the man, knowing the proper use of his body and mind,\nis prosperous in everything; it is attended by happiness and\nadvantages, and no disadvantage whatever.\n\n18. This body is also the source of infinite troubles to the ignorant;\nbut it is the fountain of infinite happiness to the wise man.\n\n19. Its loss is no loss to the wise; but its continuance is the cause\nof continued happiness to the wise man.\n\n20. The body serves as a chariot to the wise, who can traverse\neverywhere by riding in it; and can produce and procure everything\nconducive to his welfare and liberation.\n\n21. The possession of the body, is of no disadvantage to the wise man;\nwho can obtain by it, all the objects of his hearing and seeing, of his\ntouch and smelling, and his friends and prosperity.\n\n22. It is true that the body is subject to a great amount of pain and\npleasure; but the wise man can well bear with them, (knowing them to be\nconcomitant to human life).\n\n23. Hence the wise man reigns over the dominion of his body, without\nany pain or trouble, in the same manner as one remains the lord of his\nhouse, without any anxiety or disturbance.\n\n24. He is not addicted to licentiousness like a high mettled steed; nor\nparts with the auspicious daughter of his prudence, from his avarice\nafter some poisonous plant.\n\n25. The ignorant can see the cities of others, but not observe the gaps\nand breaks of their own. It is better to root out the fears of our\nworldly enemies (passions) from the heart, than live under their\nsubjection.\n\n26. Beware of diving in the perilous river, which flows fast by the\ndreary forest of this world, with the current of desire, whirl-pools of\navarice, and the sharks of temporal enjoyment.\n\n27. Men often bathe their outer bodies in holy streams, without looking\nto the purification of their inward souls; and they shave their persons\nat the confluence of rivers with the sea, in hopes of obtaining their\nobject. ((Bathing in the sauger) (Sagora sangama st\u00e1na), is said to\nconfer every object of desire).\n\n28. All sensual people are averse to the unseen happiness of the next\nworld; and dwell on the pleasure of their own imagination in the inward\nrecesses of their minds.\n\n29. This city of the body is pleasant to one, acquainted with his\nspiritual nature; because he deems it as the paradise of Indra, which\nis filled with pleasurable fruits, as well as of those of immortality\n(or future life and bliss).\n\n30. All things depend on the existence of the city of the body, yet\nnothing is lost by its loss since the mind is the seat of everything.\nThese bodily cities which fill the earth, cannot be unpleasant to any\nbody.\n\n31. The wise man loses nothing by loss of the citadel of his body; as\nthe vacuity in a vessel is never lost, by the breaking of the vessel.\n(So the death of the body, does not destroy the vacuous soul).\n\n32. As the air contained in a pot, is not felt by the touch like the\npot itself, so is the living soul, which resides in the city of the\nbody.\n\n33. The ubiquitous soul being situated in this body, enjoys all worldly\nenjoyments, until at last it comes to partake of the felicity of\nliberation, which is the main object it has in view.\n\n34. The soul doing all actions, is yet no doer of them; but remains as\nwitness of whatever is done by the body; and sometimes presides over\nthe actions actually done by it.\n\n35. The sportive mind rides on the swifting car of the body, as one\nmounts on a locomotive carriage for the place of its destination, and\npasses in its unimpeded course to distant journeys. (So the body leads\none to his journey from this world to the next).\n\n36. Seated there, it sports with its favourite and lovely objects of\ndesire, which are seated in the heart as its mistresses. (The embodied\nmind enjoys the pleasurable desires, rising before it from the recess\nof the heart).\n\n37. These two lovers reside side by side in the same body, as the moon\nand the star vis\u00e1kh\u00e1, remain gladly in the same lunar mansion.\n\n38. The sage, like the sun, looks down from above the atmosphere of the\nearth, on the hosts of mortals that have been hewn down by misery, like\nheaps of brambles and branches scattered in the woods.\n\n39. The sage has the full satisfaction of his desires, and full\npossession of his best riches, and shines as the full-moon without the\nfear of waning.\n\n40. The worldly enjoyments of the wise, do not tend to vitiate their\nnature; as the poisonous draught of Siva, was not capable of doing him\nany injury. (The baneful effects of worldliness, do not affect the\nwise).\n\n41. The food which is habitual to one (as the poison of Siva) is as\ngratifying to him; as a thief by long acquaintance forgets his\nthievishness, and becomes friendly to his neighbours.\n\n42. The wise man looks upon the separation of his friends and\npossessions, in the light of the departures (exits), of the visitant\nmen and women and actors and actresses, at the end of a play from the\ntheatre.\n\n43. As passengers chance to meet unexpectedly, at the exhibition of a\nplay on their way; so the wise people look unconcernedly, at their\nmeeting with and separation from the occurrences of life.\n\n44. As our eye-sight falls indifferently on all objects about us, so\ndoth the wise man look unconcernedly upon all things and transactions\nof life.\n\n45. The wise man is selfsufficient in all conditions of life; he\nneither rejects the earthly blessings that are presented to him; nor\nlongs or strives hard for what is denied to him.\n\n46. The regret of longing after what one does not possess, as also the\nfear of losing what he is in possession of, does not vacillate the mind\nof the wise; as the plumes of the dancing peacock do not oscillate the\nunshaking mountain.\n\n47. The wise man reigns as a monarch, free from all fears and doubts,\nand devoid of all cares and curiosity; and with a mind freed from false\nfancies (of subtile and gross bodies).\n\n48. The soul which is immeasurable in itself, is situated in the\nSupreme Soul; as the boundless Milky ocean, is contained in the body of\nthe one universal ocean.\n\n49. Those that are sober in their minds, and tranquil in their spirits,\nlaugh to scorn the vile beasts of sensuality as madmen; as also those\nthat have been bemeaned by the meanness of their sensual appetites to\nthe state of mean reptiles.\n\n50. The sensualist eager for the gratification of his senses, are as\nmuch ridiculed by the wise; as a man who takes to him a woman deserted\nby another, is derided by his tribe.\n\n51. The unwiseman becomes wise by relinquishing all the pleasures of\nhis body, and subduing the emotions of his mind by his reason; as the\nrider subdues the ungovernable elephant by the goad (ankusa) in his\nhand.\n\n52. He whose mind is bent to the enjoyment of carnal pleasures, should\nfirst of all check the inclination, as they draw out the poisonous\nplants from the ground.\n\n53. The well governed mind, being once let loose, recurs like a spoiled\nboy to its former habits; as the tree withered in summer heat, grows\nluxuriant at a slight rain-fall.\n\n54. That which is full out of its time, does not become fuller in its\nseason; as the river which is everfull, receives no addition in the\nrains over its fulness. (The full never becomes fuller).\n\n55. The mind that is naturally greedy, wishes for more with all its\nfulness; as the sea with the sufficiency of its water to overflood the\nearth, receives the rain waters and the outpourings of innumerable\nrivers in its insatiate womb. (The greedy mind like the insatiate sea,\nis neverfull).\n\n56. The mind that is restrained in its desires, is gladdened at its\nlittle gains; and these being increased are reckoned as blessings by\nthe stinted mind.\n\n57. A captive prince when enfranchised, is content with his morsel of\nbread, who ere before had been discontented with a realm in his free\nand uncaptured state.\n\n58. With the writhing of your hands and gnashing of your teeth, and\ntwisting of your limbs and body, you must chastise your reprobate\nmembers and mind. (So is Plato said to have chastised his angry self).\n\n59. The brave and wise man, who intends to overcome his enemies; must\nfirst of all strive to subdue the internal enemies of his own heart and\nmind, and the members of his body. (Subdue yourself, ere you subdue\nothers).\n\n60. Those men are reckoned the most prosperous, and best disposed in\ntheir minds in this earth; who have the manliness to govern their\nminds, instead of being governed by them.\n\n61. I revere those pure and holy men, who have quelled the huge and\ncrooked serpent of their minds, lying coiling in the cave of their\nhearts; and who rest in the inward tranquility and serenity of their\nsouls.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXIV.\n\n THE NON-ENTITY OF THE MIND.\n\n\nArgument. The means of repressing the force of the senses, and of\ncurbing the sensual desires of men.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014The vast domain of death, in region of hell,\nis full of the furious elephants of our sins; and the ungovernable\nenemies of the senses with the arrows of desires. (_i.e._ Hell is the\nabode of sinners, sensualists and the greedy).\n\n2. Our senses are our invincible enemies, being the sources of all\nmisdeeds and wicked actions. They are the ungrateful miscreants against\nthe body, in which they have found their refuge.\n\n3. The roving senses like flying birds, have found their nest in the\nbody; whence with their outstretched wings of right and wrong, they\npounce on their prey like vultures.\n\n4. He who can entrap these greedy birds of the senses, under the snare\nof his right reason, is never ensnared in his person in the trap of\nsin, but breaks its bonds as the elephant does his fetters.\n\n5. He who indulges himself in sensual pleasures which are pleasant at\nfirst, will have to be cloyed in them in process of time. (Pleasure is\nfollowed by pain. Or: Rills of pleasure not sincere.)\n\n6. He who is fraught with the treasure of knowledge in his frail body,\nis not to be overcome by his inward enemies of sensual appetites.\n\n7. The kings of earth are not so happy in their earthly citadels, as\nthe lords of the cities of the own bodies, and the masters of their own\nminds. (Mastery over one\u2019s self, is better than over a realm).\n\n8. He who has brought the senses under his slavery, and reduced the\nenemy of his mind to subjection; has the blossoms of his understanding\never blooming within him as in the vernal meadow.\n\n9. He who has weakened the pride of his mind, and subdued the enemies\nof his senses; has his desires all shrunken as the lotuses in the cold\nweather.\n\n10. So long do the demons of our desires, infest the region of our\nhearts, as we are unable to bring the mind under the subjection of our\nknowledge of the True one.\n\n11. He is the faithful servant, who acts according to the will of his\nmaster, and he is the true minister who does good services to his\nprince. He is the best general who has command over the force of his\nown body, and that is the best understanding which is guided by reason.\n\n12. The wife is loved for her endearments, and the father is revered\nfor his protection of the child. A friend is valued by his confidence,\nand the mind for its wisdom.\n\n13. The mind is called our father, for its enlightening our\nunderstanding with the light of the s\u00e1stras derived by itself, and for\nits leading us to perfection by losing itself in the Supreme spirit.\n(The mind like the father, is the instructor and bequeather of its all\nto man, ere it is extinct in the universal soul).\n\n14. The mind that has well observed and considered all things, that is\nenlightened and firm in its belief, and is employed in laudable\npursuits, is verily a valuable gem within the body.\n\n15. The mind as a counsellor of our good, teaches us how to fell down\nthe tree of our transmigration, and produce the arbour of our future\nbliss.\n\n16. Such is the gem of the mind, O R\u00e1ma! unless it is soiled by the\ndirt and filth of sin and vice; when it requires to be washed and\ncleansed with the water of reason, in order to throw its light on thee.\n\n17. Be not dormant to cultivate reason as long as you abide in the\ndarksome abode of this world; nor thrust yourself to every accident,\nwhich awaits upon the ignorant and unreasonable men.\n\n18. Do not overlook the mist of error which overspreads this world of\nillusion, abounding with multitudes of mishaps and mischiefs. (Harm\nwatch, harm catch. Hold arms, against harms).\n\n19. Try to cross over the wide ocean of the world, by riding on the\nstrong barque of your reason, espying the right course by your\ndiscretion, against the currents of your sensual desires.\n\n20. Know your body to be a frail flower, and all its pleasure and pain\nto be unreal; so never take them for realities, as in the instance of\nthe snare, snake and the matting; but remain above sorrowing for any\nthing as in the instance of Bh\u00edma and Bh\u00e1sa (which will be shortly\nrelated to you).\n\n21. Give up, O high minded R\u00e1ma! your misjudgments of the reality of\nyourself, and of this and that thing; but direct your understanding to\nthe knowledge of the Reality which is beyond all these; and by\nforsaking your belief and reliance in the mind, continue in your course\nof eating and drinking as before.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXV.\n\n NARRATIVE OF D\u00c1MA, VY\u00c1LA AND KATA.\n\n\nArgument. The demon Sambara defeated by the deities, and his production\nof other demons by magic and sorcery.\n\n\nVasishtha said:\u2014O intelligent R\u00e1ma! that dost shine as the delight of\nmankind in this world, and endeavourest after the attainment of thy\nchief good, by the accomplishment of thy best objects.\n\n2. Do not let the instance of the demons D\u00e1ma and Vy\u00e1la or the snare\nand snake, apply to thy case; but try to extricate thyself from vain\nsorrowing (at the miseries of the world), by the lesson of fortitude as\ngiven in the story of Bh\u00edma and Bh\u00e1sa.\n\n3. R\u00e1ma asked:\u2014What is that parable of the snare and snake, which thou\nsayest must not apply to my case? Please relate it in full, to remove\nthe sorrows of my mind and of all mankind.\n\n4. And how is that fortitude which thou pointest out for my imitation,\nfrom the instance of Bh\u00edma and Bh\u00e1sa, in order to get rid from all\nearthly sorrow?\n\n5. Kindly relate the whole, and enlighten me with thy purifying words,\nas the roaring of the rainy clouds, serves to alleviate the summer heat\nof peacocks.\n\n6. Vasishtha replied:\u2014Hear me R\u00e1ma! relate to you both these anecdotes,\nthat you may derive the benefit of aping according the same.\n\n7. There lived one Sambara\u2014the chief of demons, and a profound sorcerer\nin a subterraneous cell, filled with enchanting wonders like a sea of\ngems.\n\n8. He constructed a magic city in the sky, with gardens and temples of\ngods in it; and artificial suns and moons emblazoning its vault.\n\n9. It was beset with rich stones, resembling the gems of the Sumeru\nmountain; and the palace of the demon was full with opulence and\ntreasures of every kind.\n\n10. The beauties in his seraglio, vied with the celestial dames in\ntheir charming strains; and the arbors of his pleasure garden, were\nshaded by an awning of bright moon-beams on high.\n\n11. The blue lotuses blooming in his bed room, put to blush the blue\neyed maids of his court; and the gemming swans in the lakes, cackled\nabout the beds of golden lotuses in them.\n\n12. The high branches of aureate plants, bore the blossoms of\nartificial lotuses on them; and the rows of _Karanga_ arbours dropped\ndown showers of _mand\u00e1ra_ flowers on the ground.\n\n13. His garden-house consisted both of cold and hot baths, and\nrefrigeratories and fire-places for the hot and cold seasons; and the\n_tarku_ (?) weapons of the demons, had baffled the arms of Indra\nhimself.\n\n14. The flower-gardens on all sides, had surpassed the _mandara_ groves\nof paradise; and the magical skill of the demon, had set rows of sandal\ntrees, with their encircling snakes all around.\n\n15. The inner compound which was strewn over with gold dust, vanquished\nthe glory of heaven; and the court-yard of the palace, was filled with\nheaps of flowers upto the knee.\n\n16. The earthen figure of Siva which was exposed for show, had\nsurpassed the image of Hari holding his discus and the mace; and the\ngems sparkling as fire-flies in the inside apartment, resembled the\ntwinkling stars in the arena of heaven.\n\n17. The dark night of the subterrene dwelling, was lightened by a\nhundred moon-lights like the starry heaven, and he chaunted his martial\nsongs before his idol deity.\n\n18. His magical elephant, drove away the Air\u00e1vata of Indra; and his\ninward apartment was hoarded with the precious treasures of the three\nworlds.\n\n19. All wealth and prosperity and grandeur and dignity, paid their\nhomage to him; and the whole host of demons, honoured him as their\ncommander.\n\n20. The umbrage of his arms, gave shelter to the whole body of demons;\nand he was the receptacle of all sagacity, and reservoir of every kind\nof treasure.\n\n21. This destroyer of the _devas_ (gods), had a gigantic and terrific\nappearance; and commanded a large army of Asura\u2014demons to defeat the\nSura\u2014deities.\n\n22. The gods also sought every opportunity of harassing the demoniac\nforce, whenever this exorcist demigod, went to sleep or somewhere out\nof his city.\n\n23. This enraged Sambara to a degree, that he broke the trees in his\nrage, and employed his generals for protection of his legions.\n\n24. The devas finding their fit opportunities, killed the demons one by\none; as the aerial hawks pounce upon and kill the feeble and timid\nsparrows.\n\n25. The king of the demons then appointed other generals over his army,\nand they were as swift-footed and hoarse sounding as the waves of the\nsea.\n\n26. The Devas destroyed these also in a short time; when the leader of\nthe demon band pursued his enemies to their station above the heavens.\n\n27. The gods fled from their heavenly abode for fear of them, as the\ntimorous deer fly from before the sight of Siva\u2019s and Gaur\u00ed\u2019s bull into\nthe thick thickets.\n\n28. The gods were weakened with weeping, and the faces of Apsaras were\nsuffused in tears. The demon saw the heavenly abode abandoned by the\ncelestials, as it was the desolation of the world.\n\n29. He wandered about in his rage, and plundered and took away all the\nvaluables of the place. He burnt down the cities of the regents of\nheaven, and then returned to his own abode.\n\n30. The enmity between the deities and demons, was so inveterate on\nboth sides, that it forced the Devas to quit their heavenly abodes, and\nhide themselves in distant parts of the world.\n\n31. But the enraged gods, succeeded at last by their perseverance, to\ndefeat and slay all the generals and combatants, that were set against\nthem by Sambara.\n\n32. The discomfited demon, then gave vent to his fury, and began to\nbreathe out living fire from his nostrils like a burning mountain.\n\n33. He after much search in the three worlds, found out the hiding\nplace of the gods, as a wicked man succeeds in his purpose by his best\nendeavours.\n\n34. Then he produced by his sorcery three very strong and fearful\nAsuras for the protection of his army, with their hideous appearances\nas that of death.\n\n35. These horrible leaders of his army, being produced in his magic,\nflew upward with their enormous bodies, resembling the flying mountains\nof old.\n\n36. They had the names of D\u00e1ma\u2014the snare, Vy\u00e1la\u2014the snake, and Kata\u2014the\nmat given them for their entrapping, enfolding and enwrapping the\nenemy, according to the demon\u2019s wish.\n\n37. They were preadamite beings and devoid of changing desires; and the\nwant of their prior acts (like those of the human kind), made them move\nabout as free as spiritual beings in one uniform tenor of their course.\n\n38. These were not born as men from the seeds of their previous acts,\nwith solid and substantial bodies; but mere artificial forces and airy\nforms, as facsimiles of the images in the demon\u2019s mind.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXVI.\n\n BATTLE OF THE DEITIES AND DEMONS.\n\n\nArgument. The war of the gods with the Demons, rising from the Ras\u00e1tala\nor Infernal regions.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014So saying, the chief of the demons despatched his\ngenerals D\u00e1ma, Vy\u00e1la and Kata, to lead his armies for the destruction\nof the Deities upon earth.\n\n2. The demoniac army rose out of the foaming sea and infernal caverns,\nin full armour and begirt with fiendish arms; and then bursting forth\nwith hideous noise, soared aloft with their huge bodies, like mountains\nflying on high.\n\n3. Their monstrous and mountainous bodies, hid the disk of the sun in\nthe sky; and their stretching arms smote him of his rays. They\nincreased also in their number and size under the leadership of D\u00e1ma,\nVy\u00e1la and Kata.\n\n(This is the war of the Gods and Titans, wherein Sambara is the Satan,\nand his generals are the devils, Damon, Baal or Bel and etc.)?\n\n4. Then the dreadful hosts of the celestials also, issued out from the\nforests and caverns of the heavenly mountain\u2014Meru, like torrents of the\ngreat deluge.\n\n5. The forces under the flags of the deities and demons, fought\ntogether with such obstinacy, that it seemed to be an untimely and\ndeadly struggle between the gods and Titans as of the prior world.\n\n6. The heads of the decapitated warriors, decorated with shining\nearrings, fell down on the ground like the orbs of the sun and moon;\nwhich being shorn of their beams as at the end of the world, were\nrolling in the great abyss of chaos.\n\n7. Huge hills were hurled by the heroes, with the hoarse noise of\nroaring lions; and were blown up and down, by the blast of an all\ndestroying tornado.\n\n8. The broken weapons of the warriors, fell on mountain tops, and\nground them to granules; that fell down as hailstones upon the lions,\nthat had been resting by their sides below.\n\n9. The sparks of fire that flew about by the commingled clashing of the\nweapons, were as the scattered stars of the sky, flying at random on\nthe last day of dissolution.\n\n10. The ghosts of Vet\u00e1las as big as the _t\u00e1las_ or palmtrees, were\nbeating the _t\u00e1la_ or time of their giddy dance, with the _t\u00e1li_ or\nclapping of their palms, over the heaps of carnage, floating on floods\nof blood flowing as a sanguinary sea, on the surface of earth.\n\n11. Showers of shedding blood, had put down the flying dust of the\nbattlefield; and numbers of the crowned heads separated from their\nbodies, glistened amidst the clouds, like so many stars sparkling in\nthe sky.\n\n12. All sides were filled by the demons, who blazed like burning suns\nwith their luminous bodies, and held the tall _kalpa_ branches in their\nhands for striking the enemy therewith, and with which they broke down\nthe tops and peaks of mountains.\n\n13. They ran about with their brandished swords in hand, and broke down\nthe buildings by the rapidity of their motion, like the blast of a\ngale; and the rocks which they hurled at the foe, were reduced to dust,\nlike the ashes of a burning mountain.\n\n14. The gods also pursued them as sacrificial horses, and drove the\nweaponless Asuras, like clouds before the storm.\n\n15. They fell upon and laid hold of them like cats pouncing upon rats,\nand seizing them for their prey; while the Asuras also were seizing the\n_devas_ as bears lay hold on men, mounting on high trees for fear of\nthem.\n\n16. Thus the gods and demigods dashed over one another, as the forest\ntrees in a storm, striking each other with their branching arms, and\nstrewing the flowers of mutual bloodshed.\n\n17. Their broken weapons lay scattered on all sides, like heaps of\nflowers lying on the sides of a hill after a strong gale is over.\n\n18. There was a close fight of both armies, with a confused noise\nfilling the vault of the sky; which like the hollow of the Udumbara\ntree, resounded to the commingled hum of the gnats rumbling within it.\n\n19. The elephants that were the regents of the different quarters of\nthe skies, sent their loud roars, answering the tremendous peal of the\nworld-destroying cloud.\n\n20. The thickened air grew as hard as the solid earth with the\ngathering clouds, and the thickened clouds that became as dense as to\nbe grasped in the fist, were heavy and slow in their motion.\n\n21. The broken weapons which were repelled by the war-chariots and hit\nagainst the hills, emitted a rattling noise from their inward\nhollowness, like the cacophony of a chorus.\n\n22. The mountain forests were set on fire by the fiery weapons, and the\nburning rocks melted down their lava with as dreadful a noise, as that\nof the volcanic mount of Meru with its melting gold, and blazing with\nthe effulgence of the twelve suns of the zodiac.\n\n23. The clamour of the battle, was as that of the beating waves of the\nboisterous ocean, filling the vast deep of the earth, and resounding\nhoarsely by their concussion.\n\n24. The huge rocks which were hurled by the demons, flew as birds in\nthe air with their flapping wings sounding as thunder claps; while the\nhoarse noise of the rocky caverns, sounded as the deep sounding main.\n\n25. The clamour of the warfare resembled the rumbling of the ocean, at\nits churning by the Mandara mountain, and the clashing arms sounded as\nthe clappings of the hands of the gods, in their revelry for the\nambrosial draughts.\n\n26. In this warfare of the two armies, the haughty demons gained the\nday; and laid waste the cities and villages of the gods, together with\nwhole tracts of their hills and forests.\n\n27. The mountainous bodies of the demons also, were pierced by the\ngreat weapons of the gods; and the vault of heaven was filled with the\nflying weapons, flung by the hands of both parties.\n\n28. The bursting rockets broke the peaks and pinnacles of the rocks by\nhundreds; and the flying arrows pierced the faces of both parties of\nthe gods and demigods.\n\n29. The whirling disks lopped off the heads of the warriors like blades\nof grass, and the clamour of the armies rolled with an uproar in the\nmidway sky.\n\n30. Struck by the flying weapons, the heavenly charioteers fell upon\nthe ground; and their celestial cities were deluged by the hydraulic\nengines of the demons.\n\n31. Flights of swords, spears and lances were flying in the air, like\nrivers running down the sides of mountains; and the vault of heaven was\nfilled by war-whoops and shouts of the combatants.\n\n32. The habitation of the regnant divinities, were falling under the\nblows of demons from behind; and their female apartments reechoed to\nthe lamentations and jingling trinkets of the goddesses.\n\n33. The stream of the flying weapons of the demons, washed the bodies\nof fighting men with blood, and made them fly off from the battle-field\nwith hideous cries.\n\n34. Death was now lurking behind, and now hovering over the heads of\nthe gods and leaders of armies; like a black-bee now skulking in, and\nthen flitting over the lotuses; while the armies on both sides, were\ndiscomfited by the blows of the gods and demigods on the battle field.\n\n35. The demons flew in the air like winged mountains, moving around the\nsky; and making a whizzing rustle that was dreadful to hear.\n\n36. The mountainous bodies of the demons, being pierced by the weapons\nof the gods, were gushing out with streams of blood; which converted\nthe earth below to a crimson sea, and tinged the air with purple clouds\nover the mountain heights.\n\n37. Many countries and cities, villages and forests, vales and dales\nwere laid waste; and innumerable demons and elephants, horses and human\nbeings were put to death.\n\n38. Also numbers of elephants were pierced, with long and pointed\nshafts of steel and iron; and huge Air\u00e1vatas were bruised in their\nbodies, by the blows of steeled fists.\n\n39. Flights of arrows falling in showers like the diluvian rains,\ncrushed the tops of mountains; and the friction of thunderbolts, broke\ndown the bodies of the mountainous giants.\n\n40. The furious flames of heavenly fire, burned the bodies of the\ninfernal hosts; who in their turn, quenched the flame with water-spouts\ndrawn out of the subterranean deep.\n\n41. The enraged demons flung up and hurled, the huge hills to oppose\nthe falling fires of the gods; which like a wild conflagration, melted\ndown the hardstones to liquid water.\n\n42. The demons spread a dark night in the sky, by the shadow of their\narms; which the gods destroyed by the artificial flame of lightenings,\nblazing as so many suns in heaven.\n\n43. The fire of the lightenings, dried up the waters of the raining\nclouds; and the clashing of arms, emitted a shower of fire on all sides.\n\n44. The shower of thunder-arms, broke down the battery of mountain\nramparts; and the Morphean weapon of slumber dispelled by that of its\ncounteraction.\n\n45. Some bore the sawing weapon, while others held the Brahm\u00e1stra\u2014the\ninvincible weapon of warfare, that dispelled the darkness of the field\nby its flashing.\n\n46. The air was filled with shells and shots, emitted by the fire-arms;\nand the machine of hurling stones, crushed the missile weapons of fire\n(agneyastra).\n\n47. The war chariots with their up-lifted flags and moon-like disks,\nmoved as clouds about the horizon, while their wheel rolled with loud\nroaring under the vault of heaven.\n\n48. The incessant thunders of heaven were killing the demons in\nnumbers, who were again restored to life by the great art of Sukra,\nthat gave immortality to demoniac spirits.\n\n49. The gods that were now victorious and now flying away with loss,\nwere now looking to their good stars, and now to the inauspicious ones\nin vain.\n\n50. They looked upon heaven for signs of good and evil with their\nuplifted heads and eyes, but the world appeared to them as a sea of\nblood from the heaven above to the earth below.\n\n51. The world seemed to them as a forest of full blown rubicund\n(Kinsuka) flowers, by the rage of their obstinate enmity, and appeared\nas a sea of blood filled with mountains of dead bodies in it.\n\n52. The dead bodies hanging pendant on the branches of trees, appeared\nas their fruits moving to and fro by the breath of winds.\n\n53. The vault of the sky was filled with forests of long and large\narrows, and with mountains of headless trunks with their hundred arms\n(as those of Briareus).\n\n54. These as they leaped and jumped in the air, plucked the clouds and\nstars and the heavenly cars of the celestials with their numerous arms;\nand hurled their mountain like missile arms and clubs and arrows to the\nheavens.\n\n55. The sky was filled with the broken fragments of the edifices,\nfalling from the seven spheres of heaven, and their incessant fall\nraised a noise like the roaring of the diluvian clouds.\n\n56. These sounds were resounded by the elephants of the deep (p\u00e1t\u00e1la);\nwhile the bird of heaven\u2014_Garuda_, was snatching the gigantic demons as\nhis prey.\n\n57. The dread of the demons drove the celestial deities, the Siddhas\nand S\u00e1ddays and the gods of the winds, together with the Kinnaras,\nGandharvas and Ch\u00e1ranas, from all their different quarters to one\nindistinct side. (There was no distinction of the sides in the chaotic\nstate).\n\n58. Then there blew a tremendous tornado like the all-destroying Boreas\nof universal desolation; laying waste the trees of the garden of\nparadise, and threatening to destroy the gods; while the thunders of\nheaven were splitting and breaking down the mountains flung to the face\nof the sky.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXVII\n\n ADMONITION OF BRAHM\u00c1.\n\n\nArgument. The defeated Devas have recourse to Brahm\u00e1 in their danger,\nwho tells them the way of their averting it.\n\n\nVasishtha related:\u2014As the war of the gods and Titans, was raging\nviolently on both sides, and their bodies were pierced by the weapons\nof one another:\u2014\n\n2. Streams of blood, gushed out of their wounds like water-falls in the\nbasin of Ganges; and the gods caught into the snares of the demigods,\ngroaned and roared aloud like lions.\n\n3. Vy\u00e1la (Baal) with his stretching arms, was crushing the bodies of\nthe gods; and Kata was harassing them in their unequal challenge with\nthem.\n\n4. The Daityas waged their battle with the rage of the mid-day sun, and\nput to flight the Air\u00e1vata elephant of Indra\u2014the leader of the gods.\n\n5. The Devas dropped down with their bodies gored with wounds, and\nspouting with blood; and their armies fled on all sides, like the\ncurrents of a river overflowing and breaking down its bank.\n\n6. D\u00e1ma, Vy\u00e1la and Kata pursued the flying and run away gods, in the\nsame manner as a raging fire runs after the wood for its fuel.\n\n7. The Asuras sought and searched long after the gods in vain, for they\nhad disappeared like the deer and lions, among the thickets after\nbreaking loose of their snares.\n\n8. Failing to find out the gods, the generals D\u00e1ma, Vy\u00e1la and Kata,\nrepaired with cheerful hearts to their chief in his abode in the\ninfernal region.\n\n9. The defeated gods after halting awhile, had then their recourse to\nthe almighty Brahm\u00e1, in order to consult him on the means of gaining\ntheir victory over the demons.\n\n10. Brahm\u00e1 then appeared to the blood besmeared Devas with his purple\ncountenance, as the bright and cooling moonbeams appear in the evening\non the surface of the sea, tinged with the crimson hues of the setting\nsun.\n\n11. They bowed down before him, and complained of the danger that was\nbrought upon them by Sambara, through his generals D\u00e1ma, Vy\u00e1la and\nKata, whose doings they fully related to him.\n\n12. The judging-Brahm\u00e1 having heard and considered all this, delivered\nthe following encouraging words to the host of gods before him.\n\n13. Brahm\u00e1 said:\u2014\u201cYou shall have to wait a hundred thousand years more,\nfor the destruction of Sambara under the arms of Hari in an open\nengagement.\u201d[4]\n\n14. You have been put to flight to-day by the demoniac D\u00e1ma, Vy\u00e1la and\nKata, who have been fighting with their magical art (and deceitful\nweapons).\n\n15. They are elated with pride at their great skill in warfare, but it\nwill soon vanish like the shadow of a man in a mirror.\n\n16. These demons who are led by their ambition to annoy you, will soon\nbe reduced under your might, like birds caught in a snare.\n\n17. The gods being devoid of ambition, are freed from the vicissitudes\nof pain and pleasure; and have become invincible by destroying the\nenemy by their patience.\n\n18. Those that are caught and bound fast in the net of their ambition,\nand led away by the thread of their expectation, are surely defeated in\ntheir aims, and are caught as birds by a string.\n\n19. The learned that are devoid of desire, and are unattached to\nanything in their minds, are truly great and invincible, as nothing can\nelate or depress them at any time.\n\n20. A man however great and experienced he may be, is easily overcome\nby a boy, when he is enticed to pursue after every thing by his avarice.\n\n21. The knowledge that, this is I and these are mine (and apart from\nall others), is the bane of human life; and one with such knowledge of\nhis self and egoism, becomes the receptacle of evils like the sea of\nbriny waters.\n\n22. He who confines his mind within a narrow limit, for want of his\ngreat and extended views, is called dastardly and narrow-minded man\nnotwithstanding with all his learning and wisdom. (Why then do you\ncompress the unlimited soul, within the limited nut-shell of your\nbody?).\n\n23. He that puts a limit to his soul or _\u00e1tm\u00e1_, which is unbounded and\ninfinite, both surely reduce his magnanimity or _garim\u00e1_ to the\nminuteness or anima by his own making.\n\n24. If there be anything in the world beside the oneself, that may be\nthine or worth thy desiring, thou mayst long to have it; but all things\nbeing but parts of the universe, there is nothing particular for any\none to have or seek.\n\n25. Reliance on earthly things is the source of unhappiness, while our\ndisinterestedness with all things, is the fountain of everlasting\nfelicity.\n\n26. As long as the Asuras are independent of worldly things, they must\nremain invincible; but being dependent on them, they will perish as a\nswarm of gnats in the flame of wild fire.\n\n27. It is the inward desire of man that makes him miserable in himself,\nand became subdued by others; otherwise the worm-like man is as firm as\na rock. (Cringing avarice makes one a slave to others, but its want\nmakes a lion of a weak man).\n\n28. Where there is any desire in the heart, it is thickened and\nhardened in time; as every thing in nature increases in its bulk in\ntime; but not so the things that are not in existence, as the want of\ndesires (_i.e._ all what exists, has its increase likewise, but a\nnullity can have no increase).\n\n29. Do you, O Indra! try to foster both the egoistic selfishness, as\nwell as the ambition of D\u00e1ma and others for their universal dominion,\nif you want to cause their destruction.\n\n30. Know, it is avarice which is the cause of the poverty, and all\ndangers to mankind; just as the _Karanja_ tree is the source of its\nbitter and pernicious fruits.\n\n31. All those men who rove about under the bondage of avarice, have bid\nfarewell to their happiness, by subjecting themselves to misery.\n\n32. One may be very learned and well-informed in every thing, he may be\na noble and great man also, but he is sure to be tied down by his\navarice, as a lion is fettered by his chain.\n\n33. Avarice is known as the snare of the mind, which is situated like a\nbird in its nest of the heart, as it is within the hollow of the tree\nof the body.\n\n34. The miserable man becomes an easy prey to the clutches of death by\nhis avarice, as a bird is caught in the birdlime by a boy; and lies\npanting on the ground owing to its greediness.\n\n35. You gods, need not bear the burden of your weapons any more, nor\ntoil and moil in the field of war any longer; but try your best to\ninflame the pernicious avarice of your enemies to the utmost.\n\n36. Know, O chief of the gods, that no arm nor weapon, nor any polity\nor policy, is able to defeat the enemy, until they are defeated of\nthemselves by their want of patience, through excess of their avarice.\n\n37. These D\u00e1ma, Vy\u00e1la and Kata, that have become elated with their\nsuccess in warfare, must now cherish their ambition and foster their\navarice to their ruin.\n\n38. No sooner these ignorant creatures of Sambara, shall have gained\ntheir high desires, than they are sure to be foiled by you in their\nvain attempts. (The great height must have its fall).\n\n39. Now ye gods! excite your enemies to the war by your policy, of\ncreating in them an ambition and intense desire for conquest, and by\nthis you will gain your object.\n\n40. They being subjected by their desire, will be easily subdued by\nyou; for nobody that is led blindfold by his desires in this world, is\never master of himself.\n\n41. The path of this world, is either even or rugged, according to the\ngood or restless desires of our hearts. The heart is like the sea in\nits calm after storm, when its waves are still as our subsided desires,\nor as boisterous as the stormy sea with our increasing rapacity.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXVIII\n\n THE RENEWED BATTLE OF THE GODS AND DEMONS.\n\n\nArgument. The rising Desires of the Demons, causing them to resume the\nBattle.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014Saying so, the god Brahm\u00e1 vanished from the sight\nof the gods, as the wave of the sea retires and mixes with its waters,\nafter having dashed and crashed against the shore.\n\n2. The gods, having heard the words of Brahm\u00e1, returned to their\nrespective abodes; as the breeze bearing the fragrance of the lotus,\nwafts it to the forests on all sides.\n\n3. They halted in their delightsome houses for some days, as the bees\nrest themselves in the cells of flowers after their wanderings.\n\n4. Having refreshed and invigorated themselves in the course of time,\nthey gave the alarm of their rising, with the beating of their drums,\nsounding as the peal of the last day.\n\n5. Immediately the demons rose from the infernal regions, and met the\ngods in the midway air, and commenced their dreadful onset upon them.\n\n6. Then there was a clashing of the armours, and clattering of swords\nand arrows, the flashing of lances and spears, and the crackling of\nmallets and various other weapons, as battle axes and discuses,\nthunderbolts, and hurling of rockstones and huge trees and the like.\n\n7. There was also many magical instruments, which ran on all sides like\nthe torrents of rivers; while rocks and hills, high mountains and huge\ntrees, were flung and hurled from both sides, filling the earth with\nconfused noise and rumbling.\n\n8. The encampment of the gods, was beset by a magical flood of the\ndemons, resembling the stream of the Ganges; while showers of firearms\nand missiles of all sorts, were hurled upon their heads from above.\n\n9. Many big bodies of the gods and demons, rose and fought and fell by\nturns, as the elemental bodies of earth and the other elements, rise to\nand disappear from view by the act of M\u00e1y\u00e1 or illusion. (The enormous\nbodies of the warriors, fought with one another in the same manner, as\nthe jarring elements clash against each other).\n\n10. Big bombs broke the heads of mountains, and the earth became a vast\nsheet of blood like a sanguine sea. The heaps of dead bodies on both\nsides, rose as forests to the face of heaven.\n\n11. Living lions with iron bodies, and rows of saw-like teeth and nails\nwhite as K\u00e1sa flowers, were let loose by the magic art to roam rampant\nin the airy field; devouring the stones, flung by the gods and demons,\nand bursting out into shells and shots and many other weapons.\n\n12. The serpentine weapons flew with their mountainous shapes in the\nocean of the sky; having their eyes flashing with their venomous heat,\nand burning with the fire of the twelve suns on the last day of\ndesolation.\n\n13. The hydraulic engine sent forth floods of weapons, whirling as\nwhirlpools, and sounding loud as the rattling thunder; and sweeping the\nhills and rocks in their current.\n\n14. The stone missiles which were thrown by the Garuda engine, to the\naerial battle-field of the gods, emitted at intervals water and fire,\nand sometimes shone as the sun, and at others became altogether dark.\n\n15. The Garuda weapons flew and roared in the sky, and the fire-arms\nspread a conflict of burning hills above; the burning towers of the\ngods fell upon the earth and, the world became as unendurable as in its\nconflagration on the last day.\n\n16. The demons jumped up to the sky from the surface of the earth, as\nbirds fly to heaven from mountain tops. The gods fell violently on the\nearth, as the fragment of a rock falls precipitately on the ground.\n\n17. The long weapons sticking to the bodies of the deities and demons,\nwere as bushes with their burning pain; thus their big statures\nappeared as rocks decorated with arbors growing upon them.\n\n18. The gods and demons, roving with their mountainous bodies, all\nstreaming in blood, appeared as the evening clouds of heaven, pouring\nthe purple floods of celestial Gang\u00e1 (Mand\u00e1kin\u00ed).\n\n19. Showers of weapons were falling as water-falls or showers of rain,\nand the tide of thunders flowed as fast as the fall of meteoric fire in\npromiscuous confusion.\n\n20. Those skilled in the arts, were pouring floods of purple fluids,\nmixed with the red clay of mountains, from the pipes of elephants\u2019\ntrunks; as they sputter the festive water of Phagua, mixed with the red\npowder (ph\u00e1ga) through the syringe (phichk\u00e1ri). (The pouring, of holy\n(hori) water is a sacrament of Krishnites, as well as of Christians;\nbut this baptismal function of Krishna among his comrades, is now\nbecome a mockery and foolery even among the coreligionist-vaishnavites.\nThe text expresses it as\u2014_punyavarsana_ or purifying sprinkling).\n\n21. The _Devas_ and Asuras, though worried by one another, did not yet\ngive up their hope of victory, but hurled the weapons from their hands\nfor mutual annoyance; and riding on the broad backs of big elephants,\nthey wandered in the air, spreading their effulgence all around.\n\n22. They then wandered in the sky like flights of inauspicious locusts,\nwith their bodies pierced in the heads, hands, arms, and breasts, and\nfilled the vault of the world like the flying clouds, obscuring the sun\nand the sides of heaven, and the surface and heights of the earth.\n\n23. The earth was battered and rent to pieces by the fragments of\nbroken weapons, falling from the waists of the combatants, who assailed\none another with their loud shouts.\n\n24. The sky re-echoed to the thunder-claps of the mutual strokes of the\nweapons, the clattering of the stones and trees, and the blows of the\nwarriors on one another, as it was the bustle of the day of universal\ndestruction.\n\n25. The disordered world seemed to approach its untimely end, by the\nblowing of the furious winds mixed with fire and water (as in the\nchaotic state); and the many suns of the deities and demons, shining\nabove and below (as it is predicted of the dreaded last day).\n\n26. All the quarters of heaven, seemed to be crying aloud, with the\nsounds of the hurling weapons, rolling as mountain peaks, roaring as\nlions, and borne by the blowing winds on all sides.\n\n27. The sky appeared as an ocean of illusion, burning with the bodies\nof the warriors like flaming trees, and rolling in surges of the dead\nbodies of the gods and demons, floating on it like mountains; while the\nskirts of the earth, seemed as forest, made by the clubs and lances and\nspears, and many other weapons incessantly falling upon them.\n\n28. The horizon was surrounded by the big and impenetrable line of\ndemoniac bodies, resembling the chain of Sumeru mountains girding the\nearth; while the earth itself resembled the ocean filled with the\nmountainous bodies of fallen warriors, and towers of the celestial\ncities blown down by the winds.\n\n29. The sky was filled with violent sounds, and the earth and its\nmountains, were washed by torrents of blood; the blood-sucking goblins\ndanced on all sides, and filled the cavity of the world with confusion.\n\n30. The dreadful warfare of the gods and Titans, resembled the tumults\nwhich rage through the endless space of the world, and that rise and\nfall with the vicissitudes of pleasure and pain, which it is\nincessantly subject to. (_i.e._ The world is a field of continued\nwarfare of good and evil, like the battle-field of the gods and demons).\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXIX.\n\n DEFEAT OF THE DEMONS.\n\n\nArgument. The Demons elated with the pride of their bodily strength,\nare at last foiled and put to flight by the gods.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014In this manner, the energetic and murderous\nAsuras, repeated their attacks and waged many wars with the gods.\n\n2. They carried on their warfare sometimes by fraud and often by their\naggressiveness; and frequently after a truce or open war was made with\nthe gods. They sometimes took themselves to flight, and having\nrecruited their strength, they met again in the open field; and at\nothers they lay in ambush, and concealed themselves in their\nsubterranean caves.\n\n3. Thus they waged their battle for five and thirty years against the\ncelestials, by repeatedly flying and withdrawing themselves from the\nfield, and then reappearing in it with their arms.\n\n4. They fought again for five years, eight months and ten days, darting\ntheir fire arms, trees and stones and thunders upon the gods.\n\n5. Being used to warfare for so long a period, they at last grew proud\nof their superior strength and repeated successes, and entertained the\ndesire of their final victory.\n\n6. Their constant practice in arms made them sure of their success, as\nthe nearness of objects casts their reflection in the mirror. (Constant\napplication makes one hopeful of success).\n\n7. But as distant objects are never reflected in the glass, so the\ndesire for any thing, is never successful without intense application\nto it.\n\n8. So when the desires of the demons D\u00e1ma and others, became identified\nwith their selves, their souls were degraded from their greatness, and\nconfined to the belief of the desired objects.\n\n9. All worldly desires lead to erroneous expectations, and those that\nare entangled in the snares of their expectations, are thereby reduced\nto the meanness of their spirits.\n\n10. Falling into the errors of egotism and selfishness, they were led\nto the blunder of _mei tatem_ or thinking these things as mine; just as\na man mistakes a rope for a snake.\n\n11. Being reduced to the depravity of selfishness, they began to think\ntheir personalities to consist in their bodies, and to reflect how\ntheir bodies from the head to foot could be safe and secure from harm.\n\n12. They lost their patience by continually thinking on the stability\nof their bodies, and their properties and pleasures of life. (_i.e._\nThe eager desire of worldly gain and good, grows into impatience at\nlast).\n\n13. Desire of their enjoyments, diminished their strength and valour;\nand their former acts of gallantry now became a dead letter to them.\n\n14. They thought only how to become lords of the earth, and thus became\nlazy and enervated, as lotus-flowers without water. (As the thought of\ngrandeur enervated the Romans to impotence).\n\n15. Their pride and egoism led their inclination to the pleasures of\ngood eating and drinking, and to the possession of every worldly good.\n(Luxury is the bane of valour).\n\n16. They began to hesitate in joining the warfare, and became as timid\nas the timorous deer, to encounter the furious elephants in their\nravages of the forest.\n\n17. They moved slowly in despair of their victory, and for fear of\nlosing their lives, in their encounter with the furious elephants (of\nthe gods) in the field.\n\n18. These cowards wishing to preserve their bodies from the hands of\ndeath, became as powerless as to rest satisfied with having the feet of\ntheir enemies set up on their heads. (_i.e._ They fell at the feet of\ntheir foes to spare their lives; (as they say; that cowards die many\ntimes before their death)).\n\n19. Thus these enervated demons, were as disabled to kill the enemy\nstanding before them; as the fire is unable to consume the sacred\n_ghee_ offering, when it is not kindled by its fuel.\n\n20. They became as gnats before the aggressive gods, and stood with\ntheir bruised bodies like beaten soldiers.\n\n21. What needs saying more, than that the demons being overpowered by\nthe gods, fled away from the field of battle for fear of their lives.\n\n22. When the demons D\u00e1ma, Vy\u00e1la, Kata and others, who were renounced\nbefore the gods in their prowess, fled cowardly in different ways:\u2014\n\n23. The force of the Daityas, fell before the deities, and fled from\nthe air on all sides, like the falling stars of heaven, at the end of a\nkalpa age or last day (of judgment).\n\n24. They fell upon the summits of mountains, and in the arbours of the\nSumeru range; some were enwrapt in the folds of the clouds above, and\nothers fell on the banks of distant seas below.\n\n25. Many fell in the cavities of the eddies of seas, and in the abyss\nof the ocean, and in the running streams; some fell into far distant\nforests, and others dropped down amidst the burning woods of wild fire.\n\n26. Some being pierced by the arrows of the celestials, fell in distant\ncountries, villages and cities on earth; and others were hurled in\nthick jungles of wild beasts, and in sandy deserts and in wild\nconflagrations. (_i.e._ The demons were hurled down by the gods from\nhigh heaven to the earth below).\n\n27. Many fell in the polar regions, some alighting on the mountain\ntops, and others sinking in the lakes below; while several of them were\ntossed over the countries of \u00c1ndhra, Dravida, Kashmir and Persia.\n\n28. Some sank in billowy seas and in the watery maze of Ganges, and\nothers fell on distant islands, in different parts of the Jambudw\u00edpa,\nand in the nets of fisher-men.\n\n29. Thus the enemies of the gods, lay everywhere with their mountainous\nbodies, all full of scars from head to foot; and maimed in their hands\nand arms.\n\n30. Some were hanging on the branches of trees, by their outstretched\nentrails, gushing out with blood; others with their cropt off crowns\nand heads, were lying on the ground with open and fiery eyes.\n\n31. Many were lying with their broken armours and weapons, slashed by\nthe superior power of the adversary, and with their robes and attires\nall dismantled and torn by their fall.\n\n32. Their helmets which were terrific by their blaze, were hanging down\ntheir necks; and the braids of their hairs woven with stones, hung\nloosely about their bodies.\n\n33. Their heads which were covered with hard brazen and pointed\ncoronets, were broken by slabs of stone, which were pelted upon them\nfrom the hands of the gods.\n\n34. In this manner the demons were destroyed on all sides, together\nwith all weapons at the end of the battle; which devoured them, as the\nsea water dissolves the dust.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXX.\n\n ACCOUNT OF THE SUBSEQUENT LIVES OF THE DEMONS.\n\n\nArgument. Account of the torments of the Demons in the regions of\nPluto, and their succeeding births.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014Upon destruction of the demons, the gods were\nexceedingly joyous; but D\u00e1ma and the other leaders of the Daityas,\nbecame immerged in sorrow and grief.\n\n2. Upon this Sambara was full of wrath, and his anger was kindled like\nthe all destroying fire against his generals, whom he called aloud by\ntheir names and said, where are they?\n\n3. But they fled from their abodes for fear of his ire, and hid\nthemselves in the seventh sphere of the infernal regions.\n\n4. There dwelt the horrid myrmidons of death, formidable as their lord\nPluto (Yama) himself; and who were glad with their charge of guarding\nthe abyss of hell.\n\n5. Dauntless warders of the hell-gate received them into their favour,\nand having given them shelter in the hell-pit, gave them their three\nmaiden daughters in marriage.\n\n6. They there passed in their company, a period of ten thousand years,\nand gave a free vent to their evil desires up to the end of their\nlives. (The evil thoughts being the progeny of hell).\n\n7. Their time passed away in such thoughts as these, that, \u201cthis is my\nconsort and this my daughter, and I am their lord:\u201d and they were bound\ntogether in the ties of mutual affections as strong as the chain of\ndeath.\n\n8. It happened on one occasion that Yama\u2014the god of retributive\njustice, gave his call to that spot, in order to survey the state of\naffairs in the doleful pits of hell.\n\n9. The three Asuras, being unware of his rank and dignity, (by seeing\nhim unattended with his ensigns), failed to make their obeisance to the\nlord of hell, by taking him to their peril as one of his servants.\n\n10. Then a nod of his eyebrows, assigned to them a place in the burning\nfurnace of hell; where they were immediately cast by the stern porters\nof hell gate.\n\n11. There they lay burning with their wives and children, until they\nwere consumed to death, like a straw-hut and withered trees.\n\n12. The evil desires and wicked propensities, which they contracted in\nthe company of the hellish train, caused their transmigration to the\nforms of Kir\u00e1tas, for carrying on their slaughters and atrocities like\nthe myrmidons of Yama.\n\n13. Getting rid of that birth, they were next born as ravens, and then\nas vultures and falcons of mountain caves (preying on the harmless\nbirds below).\n\n14. They were then transformed to the forms of hogs in the land of\nTrigarta, and then as mountain rams in Magadha, and afterwards of\nheinous reptiles in caves and holes.\n\n15. Thus after passing successively into a variety of other forms, they\nare now lying as fishes in the wood-land lakes of Cashmir.\n\n16. Being burnt in hell fire at first, they have now their respite in\nthe watery lake, and drink its filthy water, whereby they neither die\nnor live to their hearts content.\n\n17. Having thus passed over and over into various births, and being\ntransformed again and again to be reborn on earth, they are rolling\nlike waves of the sea to all eternity.\n\n18. Thus like their endless desires, they have been eternally rolling\nlike weeds in the ocean of the earth; and there is no end of their\npains until the end of their desires.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXXI.\n\n INVESTIGATION OF REALITY AND UNREALITY\n\n\nArgument. Egoism the cause of Poverty and Calamity, illustrated in the\ninstance of D\u00e1ma and others.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014It was for your enlightenment, O high minded R\u00e1ma!\nthat I have related to you the instance of D\u00e1ma and Vy\u00e1la, that you may\nderive instruction thereby, and not let it go for nothing as a mere\nidle story.\n\n2. Following after untruth by slighting the truth, is attended with the\ndanger of incurring endless miseries, which the careless pursuer after\nit, is little aware of.\n\n3. Mind! how great was the leadership of Sambara\u2019s army, (once held by\nD\u00e1ma and his colleagues), and whereby they defeated the hosts of the\nimmortal deities, and reflect on the change of their state to\ncontemptible fishes in a dry and dirty quagmire.\n\n4. Mind their former fortitude, which put to flight the legions of the\nimmortals; and think on their base servility as hunters, under the\nchief of Kir\u00e1tas afterwards.\n\n5. See their unselfishness of mind and great patience at first, and\nthen see their vain desires and assumption of the vanity of egotism at\nlast.\n\n6. Selfish egotism is the root of the wide extended branches of misery\nin the forest of the world, which produces and bears the poisonous\nblossoms of desire.\n\n7. Therefore, O R\u00e1ma! be diligent to wipe off from thy heart the sense\nof thy egoism, and try to be happy by thinking always of the nullity of\nthyself.\n\n8. The error of egoism like a dark cloud, hidst the bright disk of the\nmoon of truth under its gloom, and causes its cooling beams to\ndisappear from sight.\n\n9. The three Daityas D\u00e1ma, Vy\u00e1la and Kata, being under the demoniac\ninfluence of Egoism, believed their nonentity as positive entity by the\nexcess of their illusion.\n\n10. They are now living as fishes in the muddy pool of a lake, among\nthe forest lands of Kashmira, where they are content at present with\nfeeding with _zest_ upon the moss and weeds growing in it. (The watery\nland of Kashmir is well-known to abound in fishes feeding on aquatic\nherbs and moss).\n\n11. R\u00e1ma said:\u2014Tell me sir, how they came to existence when they were\nnonexistent before; for neither can a _nil_ be an _ens_, nor an entity\nbecome a nonentity at any time.\n\n12. Vasishtha replied:\u2014So it is, O strong armed R\u00e1ma! that nothing can\never be something, or anything can ever be nothing. But it is possible\nfor a little thing to be great, as for a great one to be reduced to\nminuteness. (As it is the case in the evolution and involutions of\nbeings).\n\n13. Say what nonentity has come to being, or what entity has been\nlasting for ever. All these I will explain to you by their best proofs\nand examples.\n\n14. R\u00e1ma answered:\u2014Why sir, all that is existent is ever present before\nus as our own bodies, and all things beside ourselves; but you are\nspeaking of D\u00e1ma and the demons, as mere nullities and yet to be in\nexistence.\n\n15. Yes R\u00e1ma, it was in the same way, that the non-existent and unreal\nD\u00e1ma and others seemed to be in existence by mere illusion, as the\nmirage appears to us to be full of water by our optical delusion (or\ndeception of vision).\n\n16. It is in like manner that ourselves, these gods and demigods, and\nall things besides, are unrealities in fact, and yet we seem to turn\nabout and speak and act as real persons.\n\n17. My existence is as unreal as thine, and yet it appears as real as\nwe dream our death in sleep. (So we dream of our existence while we are\nawake).\n\n18. As the sight of a dead friend in a dream is not a reality, so the\nnotion of the reality of the world, ceases upon the conviction of its\nunreality, as that of the demise of the person seen in a dream.\n\n19. But such assertions of our nihility are not acceptable to them, who\nare deluded to the belief of the reality of sensible objects. It is the\nhabit of thinking its reality, that will not listen to its\ncontradiction.\n\n20. This mistaken impression of the reality of the world, is never to\nbe effaced without the knowledge of its unreality, derived from the\ns\u00e1stras, and the assuetude of thinking it so.\n\n21. He who preaches the unreality of the world and the reality of\nBrahma, is derided by the ignorant as a mad man; (for his negation of\nthe seeming reality, and assertion of the unseen God).\n\n22. The learned and the ignorant cannot agree on this subject, as the\ndrunken and sobermen can not meet together. It is one who has the\ndistinct knowledge of light and darkness, that knows the difference\nbetween the shade and sunlight.\n\n23. It is as impossible to turn the ignorant to truth, from their\nbelief in the reality of unrealities, as to make a dead body to stand\non it legs by any effort.\n\n24. It is in vain to preach the doctrine of \u201c_to pan_\u201d, that \u201cBrahma is\nall\u201d to the vulgar, who for want of their knowledge of abstract\nmeditation, are devoted to their sensible notions.\n\n25. There prohibition is an admonition, giving to the ignorant, (who\nare incapable of persuasions); as for the learned who know themselves\nto be Brahma, it is useless to lecture them on this subject (which they\nare already acquainted with).\n\n26. The intelligent man, who believes that the supremely quiescent\nspirit of Brahma, pervades the whole universe, is not to be led away by\nany from his firm belief.\n\n27. So nothing can shake the faith of that man, who knows himself as no\nother, beside the Supreme Being who is all in all; and thinks himself\nto be dependent on the substantiality of God, as the formal ring\ndepends on its substance of gold.\n\n28. The ignorant have no notion of the spirit, beside that of matter,\nwhich they believe as the cause and effect (K\u00e1rya K\u00e1rana) of its own\nproduction; but the learned man sees the substantive spirit, in all\nforms of creation, as he views the substance of gold in all the\nornaments made of that metal.\n\n29. The ignorant man is composed of his egoism only, and the sage is\nfraught with his spirituality alone; and neither of them is ever\nthwarted from his own belief.\n\n30. What is one\u2019s nature or habit (of thinking), can hardly be altered\nat any time; for it would be foolish in one, who has been habituated to\nthink himself as a man, to take himself for a pot or otherwise.\n\n31. Hence though ourselves and others, and that D\u00e1ma and the demons are\nnothing in reality; yet who can believe that we or these or those and\nnot what ourselves to be.\n\n32. There is but One Being that is really existent, who is truth and\nconsciousness himself, and of the nature of the vacuum and pure\nunderstanding. He is immaculate, all pervading, quiescent and without\nhis rise or fall.\n\n33. Being perfect quietude and void, he seems as nothing existent; and\nall these creations subsist in that vacuity as particles of its own\nsplendour.\n\n34. As the stars are seen to shine resplendent in the darkness of\nnight, and the worms and waves are seen to float on the surface of the\nwaters, so do all these phenomena appear to occur in his reality.\n\n35. Whatever that being purposes himself to be, he conceives himself to\nbe immediately the same: it is that vacuous Intellect only which is the\ntrue reality, and all others are also real, as viewed in it and rising\nand setting in it out of its own will (volition or bidding).\n\n36. Therefore there is nothing real or unreal in the three worlds, but\nall of or the same form as it is viewed by the Intellect, and rising\nbefore it of its own spontaneity. (The three worlds are composed of\nthis earth and the worlds above and beneath it, called as swarga,\nmartya and p\u00e1t\u00e1la).\n\n37. We have also sprung from that Will Divine as D\u00e1ma and others; hence\nthere is neither any reality or unreality in any of us, except at the\ntime (when we exist or cease to do so).\n\n38. This infinite and formless void of the Intellect, is ubiquitous and\nall pervading; and in whatever form this intellect manifests itself in\nany place, it appears there just in the same figure and manner.\n\n39. As the divine consciousness expanded itself with the images of D\u00e1ma\nand others, it immediately assumed those shapes by its notions of the\nsame. (But here it was the consciousness of Sambara or Satan, which\nmanifested itself in those shapes, and implies every thing to be but a\nmanifestation of our notion of it).\n\n40. So it is with every one of us, that all things are produced to our\nview, according to their notions which are presented to our\nconsciousness. (This is the tenet of conceptualism or idealism, which\nbears resemblance to the doctrine of Realism. See Cousin\u2019s treatise \u201cDe\nIntellectibus\u201d).\n\n41. What we call the world, is the representation of things to us as in\nour dream; it is a hollow body as a bubble rising in the empty ocean of\nthe Intellect, and appearing as the water in the mirage.\n\n42. The waking state of the vacuous intellect, is styled the phenomenal\nworld, and its state of sleep and rest, is what we call liberation,\nemancipation or salvation from pain (_\u00e1tyantika dukkha nivritti\nmoksha_).\n\n43. But the Intellect which never sleeps, nor has to be awakened at any\ntime (but is ever wakeful), is the vacuity of the Divine Mind, in which\nthe world is ever present in its visible form (and to which nothing is\ninvisible).\n\n44. There the work of creation is united with the rest of _nirv\u00e1na_,\nand the cessation from the act of creation, is joined with\nuninterrupted quiescence; and no difference of alternate work and rest\nwhatever subsists in God any time. (There is no such thing as \u201cGod\nrested from his works\u201d).\n\n45. The Divine Intellect views its own form in the world, and the world\nin itself in its true sense; as the blinded eye sees the internal light\nin its orbit. (?)\n\n46. The Divine Intellect like the blinded eye, sees nothing from\nwithout, but views every form within itself; because there is no\nvisible nor phenomenal world, beside what is situated within the\nvacuous sphere of the intellect.\n\n47. There are all these things every where, as we have ideas of them in\nour minds; but there is never any thing any where, of which we have no\nprevious idea in the mind. It is the one quiet spirit of God, which\nlies extended in all these forms coming to our knowledge. Therefore\nknowing him as all in all, give up all your fears and sorrows and\nduality, rest in peace in his unity.\n\n48. The great intellect of God, is as solid and clear as a block of\ncrystal, which is both dense and transparent in the inside. They appear\nto be all hollow within, but replete with the images of all things from\nwithout.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXXII.\n\n ON GOOD CONDUCT.\n\n\nArgument. Passing from the meaner to higher births, is the way to the\nattainment of Liberation, and supreme felicity.\n\n\nR\u00e1ma said:\u2014Tell me sir, how D\u00e1ma, Vy\u00e1la and Kata obtained their\nliberation at last like all other virtuous souls, and got released from\nthe torments of hell, like children getting rid of the fear of Yakshas\nand Pis\u00e1chas.\n\n2. Vasishtha replied:\u2014Hear, O thou support of Raghu\u2019s race! what Yama\nsaid in respect of D\u00e1ma, Vy\u00e1la and their companions, when they besought\nfor their liberation through his attendants in hell.\n\n3. That D\u00e1ma and others would obtain their liberation, upon their\nrelease from their demoniac bodies by death; and upon hearing the\naccount of their lives and actions.\n\n4. R\u00e1ma said:\u2014Tell me sir, how, when and from what source, D\u00e1ma and\nothers, came to learn the accounts of their lives, and in what manner\nthey obtained their release from hell.\n\n5. Vasishtha replied:\u2014These demons being transformed to fishes in a\npool, by the bank of the great lotus lake in Kashmere, underwent many\nmiserable births, in their finny forms in the same bog.\n\n6. Being then crushed to death in that marshy ground under the feet of\nbuffaloes, they were transformed afterwards to the shapes of cranes,\nfrequenting that lake of lotuses.\n\n7. There they fed upon the moss and mushrooms and tender petals of\nlotuses, and had to live upon the leaves of aquatic plants and\ncreepers, that floated on the surface of the waves.\n\n8. They swung in cradles of flowers, and rested on beds of blue\nlotuses; and dived in vortices of the waters, or flew under the cooling\nshowers of rainy clouds.\n\n9. These charming cranes and herons, were at last becleansed of their\nbrutish foulness, by their vegetable food of sweet fruits and flowers,\nand by their pure beverage of the crystal lake, the food of holy saints.\n\n10. Having by these means obtained a clear understanding, they were\nprepared for their release from the brutish state, as men when enabled\nto distinguish and get hold of the qualities of _satva_ and _rajas_\n(_i.e._ of goodness and virtue), from that of _tamas_ or wrong and\nevil, are entitled to their liberation.\n\n11. Now there is a city by name of Adhisth\u00e1na, in the happy valley of\nKashmere, which is beset by mountains and trees on all sides, and very\nromantic in its appearance.\n\n12. There is a hill in the midst of that city known as Pradyumna\nSekhara, which bears resemblance to a pistil, rising from the pericarp\nwithin the cell of a lotus-flower.\n\n13. On the top of that hill, there is an edifice towering above all\nother buildings; and piercing the sky with its high turrets, which\nappears like pinnacles above its summit.\n\n14. On the north-east corner of that edifice, there is a hollow at the\ntop of its towering head; which is overgrown with moss, and is\ncontinually resounding to the blowing winds.\n\n15. There the demon Vy\u00e1la built his nest in the form of a sparrow, and\nchirped his meaningless notes, as one repeats the Vedic hymns without\nknowing their meanings. (This chanting is elsewhere compared with the\ncroaking of frogs).\n\n16. There was at that time a prince in the same city, by name of\n_Yasaskara_ or the renowned, who reigned there like Indra over the gods\nin heaven.\n\n17. Then the demon D\u00e1ma became a gnat and dwelt in that dwelling, and\ncontinued to buzz his low tune in the crevice of a lofty column of that\nbuilding.\n\n18. It then came to pass, that the citizens of Adhisth\u00e1na, prepared a\nplay ground by name of Ratn\u00e1vat\u00ed-vehara in that city.\n\n19. There the minister of the king known as Narasinha by name, took his\nresidence. He understood the fates of human kind, as the astronomer\nknows the stars of heaven on a small celestial globe, which he holds in\nhis hand.\n\n20. It happened at that time, that the deceitful demon Kata, is as\nreborn as a parrot, and became the favourite of the minister, by being\nkept in a silver cage in his house.\n\n21. It then turned out that the minister recited this poetical\nnarrative of the Titan war to the inmates of the house.\n\n22. And the parrot Kata, happening to hear it, remembered his past\nlife, whereby he was absolved of his sins, and attained his final\nliberation.\n\n23. The sparrow dwelling on the top of the Pradyumna hill, also chanced\nto hear the narration of his life in that place, and obtained his\nemancipation thereby.\n\n24. D\u00e1ma who in the form of a gnat, resided in the palace, happened\nalso to hear the minister\u2019s recital of his tale, and obtained thereby\nhis peace and release.\n\n25. In this manner, O R\u00e1ma! the sparrow on the Pradyumna mount, the\ngnat in the palace, and the parrot on the play ground, had all their\nliberation.\n\n26. Thus I have related to you the whole of the story of the demon D\u00e1ma\nand others, which will fully convince you of the vanity of the world.\n\n27. It is the ignorant only that are tempted to vanity by their error,\nas they are led to the delusion of water in a mirage; and so the great\nalso are liable like these demons, to fall low from their high stations\nby their error.\n\n28. Think of one of these, that reduced the high Meru and Mandara\nmountains with a nod of his eyebrows, was constrained to remain as a\ncontemptible gnat in the chink of a pillar in the palace. (So the huge\nSatan entered the body of the small and hateful serpent, and the\ngigantic devils in the hateful bodies of the herd of swine).\n\n29. Look at another who threatened to destroy the sun and moon with a\nslap, living at last as a poor sparrow in a hole of the peak of the\nPradyumna mountain.\n\n30. Look at the third who balanced the mount Meru like a flower bouquet\nin his hand, lying imprisoned as a parrot in the cage at the house of\nNrisingha.\n\n31. When the sphere of the pure intellect, is tinged with the hue of\negotism, it is debased to another form without changing its nature (by\nanother birth).\n\n32. It is because of the wrong desire of a man that he takes the\nuntruth for truth, as if by the excessive thirst of a person, that he\nmistakes the mirage for water, and thereby loses both his way and his\nlife.\n\n33. Those men only can ford across the ocean of the world, who by the\nnatural bent of their good understanding, are inclined to the study of\nthe s\u00e1stras, and look forward to their liberation, by rejecting\nwhatever is vicious and untrue.\n\n34. Those who are prone to false reasoning and heresy, by rejecting the\nrevelations, are subject to various changes and miseries, and fall like\nthe running water into the pit, by loss of their best interests in life.\n\n35. But those who walk by the dictates of conscience, and follow the\npath pointed by the \u00c1gama (Veda), are saved from destruction, and\nattain their best state (of perfection and bliss).\n\n36. O highminded R\u00e1ma! he whose mind always longs after having this\nthing and that, loses the best gain of his manliness (parama\npurush\u00e1rtha) by his avarice, and leaves not even ashes or traces behind.\n\n37. The high-minded man regards the world as a straw, and shuns all its\nconcerns as a snake casts off its slough.\n\n38. He whose mind is illumined by the wondrous light of truth, is\nalways taken under the protection of the gods, as the mundane egg is\nprotected by Brahm\u00e1 (or rather under the wings of Brahm\u00e1\u2019s swan,\nhatching over its egg).\n\n39. Nobody should walk in paths which are long and wearisome, crooked\nand winding, and encompassed by dangers and difficulties; because\nR\u00e1hu\u2014the ascending node, lost its life by its curvilinear course, to\ndrink the nectarine beams of the moon.\n\n40. He who abides by the dictates of the true s\u00e1stras, and associates\nwith the best of men, are never subject to the darkness of error.\n\n41. Those who are renowned for their virtues, have the power to bring\ntheir destiny under their command, convert all their evils to good, and\nrender their prosperity perpetual.\n\n42. Those who are unsatisfied with their qualifications (but wish to\nqualify themselves the more), and those who thirst after knowledge and\nare seekers of truth, are truly called as human beings, all others are\nbut brutes.\n\n43. Those, the lakes of whose hearts are brightened by the moonbeams of\nfame (_i.e._ whose heart are desirous of fame); have the form of Hari\nseated in their hearts, as in the sea of milk.\n\n44. The repeated desire of enjoying what has been enjoyed, and of\nseeing what has often been seen, is not the way to get rid of the\nworld; but is the cause of repeated birth, for the same enjoyments.\n\n45. Continue to abide by the established rule of conduct, act according\nto the s\u00e1stras and good usages, and break off the bonds of worldly\nenjoyments, which are all but vanities.\n\n46. Let the world resound with the renown of your virtues reaching to\nthe skies; because thy renown will immortalize thy name, and not the\nenjoyments thou hast enjoyed.\n\n47. Those whose good deeds shine as moonbeams, and are sung by the\nmaidens of heaven, are said to be truly living, while all others\nunknown to fame are really dead.\n\n48. They that aspire to their utmost perfection by their unfailing\nexertions, and act according to the precepts of the s\u00e1stras, are surely\nsuccessful in their attempt.\n\n49. Abiding patiently by the S\u00e1stra, without hastening for success; and\nperfecting one\u2019s self by long practice, produce the ripe fruits of\nconsummation.\n\n50. Now R\u00e1ma, renounce all your sorrow and fear, your anxieties, pride\nand hastiness; conduct yourself by the ordinances of law and s\u00e1stras,\nand immortalize your name.\n\n51. Take care, that your sensuous soul does not perish as a prey in the\nsnare of your sensual appetites, nor as a blind old man by falling in\nthe hidden pits of this world.\n\n52. Do not allow yourself henceforward to be degraded below the vulgar;\nbut consider well the s\u00e1stras as the best weapons, for defeating the\ndangers and difficulties of the world.\n\n53. Why do you endanger your life in the muddy pit of this world, like\nan elephant falling in a pitfall under the keen arrows of the enemy?\nAvoid only to taste of its enjoyments, and you are free from all danger.\n\n54. Of what avail is wealth without knowledge; therefore devote\nyourself to learning, and consider well your riches to be but trash and\nbubbles.\n\n55. The knowledge of heretical s\u00e1stras, has made beasts of men, by\nmaking them only miserable and unhappy by their unprofitable arguments.\n\n56. Now wake and shake off the dullness of your long, deep and\ndeath-like sleep, like the torpor of the old tortoise lying in the bog.\n\n57. Rise and accept an antidote to ward off your old age and death; and\nit is knowledge of this prescription, that all wealth and property are\nfor our evils, and all pleasures and enjoyments, tend only to sicken\nand enervate our frames.\n\n58. Know your difficulty to be your prosperity, and your disrespect to\nbe your great gain. Conduct yourself according to the purport of the\ns\u00e1stras, as they are supported by good usage.\n\n59. Acts done according to the s\u00e1stras and good usage also, are\nproductive of the best fruits of immortality.\n\n60. He who acts well according to good usage, and considers everything\nby good reasons, and is indifferent to the pains and pleasures of the\nworld; such a one flourishes like an arbor in the spring, with the\nfruits and flowers of long life and fame, virtues and good qualities\nand prosperity.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXXIII.\n\n CONSIDERATION OF EGOISM.\n\n\nArgument. Of good attempts, good company and good studies; also of\nliberation by Renunciation of Egoism and Worldly Bondage.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014Seeing the complete success of every undertaking,\ndepending on your own exertion at all times and places, you should\nnever be slack in your energy at all.\n\n2. See how Nandi gratified the wishes of all his friends and relations\nby his own exertions, and how he became victorious over death itself,\nby his adoration of Mah\u00e1deva by the side of a lake.\n\n3. See also, how the D\u00e1navas too got the better of the gods, who were\nfraught with every perfection, by their greater wealth and prowess, as\nthe elephants destroy a lake of lotuses.\n\n4. See, how Marutta the King of demons, created another world like that\nof Brahm\u00e1, by means of his sacrifice through the great sage Samvarta\n(the law giver).\n\n5. See, how Visw\u00e1mitra (the military chief) obtained the dignity of\nBr\u00e1hmanhood by his great energy and continued exertions. He obtained by\nhis austerities what is impossible to be gained by another.\n\n6. See, how the poor and unfortunate Upamanyu, obtained his nectarious\nfood of the cake and curdled milk, by his worship of Siva, from the\nmilky ocean in days of yore.\n\n7. See how the god Vishnu devoured (destroyed), like a wild fire the\ndemons of the triple world, likening the tender filaments of lotuses;\nand how the sage Sweta became victorious over death by means of his\nfirm faith in Siva (as it is described in the Linga Pur\u00e1na).\n\n8. Remember, how the chaste S\u00e1vitr\u00ed, brought back her spouse Satyav\u00e1na\nfrom the realm of death, by her prevailing on stern Yama with the\nsuavity of her discourse.\n\n9. There is no great exertion of any kind that goes unrewarded in this\nworld; all impossibility is thought possible by ardent pursuit after it\n(or to the ardent pursuer, as it is said: Fortune is found by the\nswiftest pursuer).\n\n10. So men having full knowledge of the spirit, and exerting their\nutmost devotion, are enabled to root out their destiny of\ntransmigration, which is fraught with so much pain and pleasure (both\nof which are equally hurtful to the soul).\n\n11. All visible things are full of danger to the sight of the\nintelligent. There is no pleasure to be had from anything, without its\nconcomitant pain (either preceding or following it).\n\n12. Though it is difficult to know the Supreme Brahma, and facile to\nattain supreme felicity; yet should Brahma be sought at first, as the\ngiver of all felicity. (Seek happiness through its giver\u2014the Great God).\n\n13. Forsake your pride, and rely on your unalterable peace of mind;\nconsider well your worthiness in your understanding, and stick to your\nattendance on the wise and good.\n\n14. There is no other way for your salvation in this ocean of the\nworld, save by your attendance on the wise. All your pilgrimage,\nausterity and learning of the s\u00e1stras, are of no avail to your\nliberation.\n\n15. He is called the wise, whose greediness, anger and erroneous\nconceptions, are on their wane day by day; and who walks in the path of\nrectitude, as it is inculcated in the S\u00e1stra.\n\n16. The society of spiritual guides, serves to dispel the visibles from\nthe sight of the devout, as the invisibles are hidden from sight\n(_i.e._ as they are not in being).\n\n17. In the absence of all other objects, there remains the Supreme\nSpirit alone in view, and the human soul having nothing else to rest\nupon, rests at last in the Supreme Soul only.\n\n18. The visibles did not exist before, nor are they produced from\nnaught; they are not in existence though seen in our presence, nor are\nthey to exist in future. The supreme alone exist for ever without\nchange or decay.\n\n19. I have already shown you by various instances the falsehood of the\nvisibles (in the book of Genesis); I will now show you the falsity of\nexistence, as it is known to the learned.\n\n20. Now that our passive consciousness of the three worlds, being the\nsober truth with the wise, there can be no room for the unrealities of\nmatter and _m\u00e1y\u00e1_\u2014illusion, to enter into our belief. (We know nothing\nof the external world, except our inward consciousness of it. Berkeley).\n\n21. Whatever wonders are displayed by the active intellect to the\ninactive soul, the same is thought to be the world. (There is no\noutward world, beside the working of the intellect).\n\n22. The notion of the sphere of the world, is derived from the rays of\nthe central intellect, stretching to the circumference of the\nunderstanding, and there being no difference between the radiating\npoint and the radiated circle, acknowledge the identity of the\nradiator, the radii and the periphery. (_i.e._ Of the intellect, its\nintelligence and the world).\n\n23. The twinklings of the intellectual eye in its acts of opening and\nshutting, cause the notions of the appearance and disappearance of the\nworld in continued succession.\n\n24. One unacquainted with the true sense of Ego, is blind amidst the\nluminous sphere of the intellect, but he who knows its true meaning,\nfinds himself amidst the sphere of spiritual light (or rather loses\nhimself in the divine light).\n\n25. He that understands the Divine Ego, does no more retain the notion\nof his own egoism; but mixes with the Supreme soul, as a drop of water\nis lost in the waters of the ocean.\n\n26. In reality there exists no I or thou nor the visible world nor\nanything else; but all these blend upon right reasoning in the One Ego,\nwhich remains and subsists after all other existences.\n\n27. Even clear understandings are sometimes clouded by false\napparitions, as those of ogres &c.; when there are no such things, just\nas children are seized with false fear of goblins.\n\n28. As long as the moonlight of the intellect, is obscured by the\ndarkness of egoism, so long the lotus lake of spirituality, will not\ncome to its bloom.\n\n29. The feeling of egoism being wiped off from the mind, the sense of\nself and selfish passions, will vanish of themselves from the heart;\nand there will be an utter end of the fears of death and hell, as also\nof the desires of heaven and liberation.\n\n30. So long as the egoistic feelings float about, like clouds over the\nsphere of the mind, there will be no end of desires, growing in the\nheart like weeds in the plains.\n\n31. As long as the cloud of egotism continue to overcast the mind and\nobscure its intelligence, the humidity of dullness will fill its\nsphere, and prevent the light of intellect to pierce through it.\n\n32. Egoistic pride is unmannerly in men, and is taken in the light of\nvanity, it is the cause of sorrow and not delight; and is as bug-bears\nto boys.\n\n33. The vain assumption of egoism, is productive of a great many\nerrors, it leads to the ambition of gaining an infinity of worlds, as\nit was in the cases of the foolish demons.\n\n34. The conceit that I am such and such (a great man), is an error than\nwhich there is none other, nor is ever likely to be a greater error to\nlead us to utter darkness.\n\n35. Whatever joy or grief betides us at any time in this changeful\nworld, is all the effect of the rotatory wheels of egoism, turning up\nand down at every moment.\n\n36. He who weeds and roots out the germs of egoism from his heart, he\nverily prevents the arbor of his worldliness (_Sams\u00e1ra Vriksha_), from\njutting out in a hundred branches.\n\n37. Egoism is the sprout of the trees of our lives, in their\ninterminable revolutions through the world; and meity or the sense that\n\u201cthis is mine,\u201d is the cause that makes them expand in a thousand\nbranches. (I am one, but claim many things as mine).\n\n38. Swift as the flight of birds, do our desires and desirable objects\ndisappear from us; and upon mature consideration, they prove to be but\nbubbles, bursting on the evanescent waves of our lives.\n\n39. It is for want of the knowledge of the one Ego, that we think\nourselves as I, thou, this or the other; and it is by shutting out our\nview of the only soul, that we see the incessant revolutions of this\nworld and that.\n\n40. As long as the darkness of egoism reigns over the wilderness of\nhuman life, so long doth the goblin of selfishness infest it with its\nwanton revelry.\n\n41. The vile man that is seized by the avaricious demon of selfishness,\nis at an utter loss of any moral precept, and any _mantra_ of his\nreligion to satisfy his wants.\n\n42. R\u00e1ma said:\u2014Tell me, O venerable Br\u00e1hman, how we may be enabled to\nsuppress our egoism or selfishness, for evading the dangers and\ndifficulties in our course through the world.\n\n43. Vasishtha replied:\u2014It is by seeking to settle mind in the\nresplendent soul, as it shines in the transparent mirror of the\nintellect, that it is possible for any body to suppress the\nconsciousness, of his self or personal existence. (_i.e._ By losing\none\u2019s self in the self-existence of the Supreme Soul).\n\n44. A closer investigation into human life, proves it to be a maze full\nwith the false shows of magic. It is not worth loving or hating, nor\ncapable of causing our egoism or pride.\n\n45. He whose soul is free from egoism, and devoid of the impression of\nthe phenomenals; whose course of life runs in an even tenor, is the man\nwho can have no sense of egoism in him. (Whose life doth in one even\ntenor run, and end its days as it has begun. Pope.)\n\n46. He who knowing his internal self to be beyond the external world,\nand neither desires nor dislikes anything in it, but preserves the\nserenity of his temper at all times, is not susceptible of egoism.\n\n47. Whoso thinks himself to be the inward noumena, and distinct from\nthe outward phenomena, and keeps the calm equanimity of his mind, is\nnot ruffled by the feeling of his egoism.\n\n48. R\u00e1ma said:\u2014Tell me, sir, what is the form of egoism, and whether it\nconsists in the body or mind or of both of these, and whether it is got\nrid of with the riddance of the body.\n\n49. Vasishtha replied:\u2014There are three sorts of egoism, R\u00e1ma! in this\ntriple world, two of which are of superior nature, but the third is of\na vile kind and is to be abandoned by all.\n\n50. The first is the supreme and undivided Ego, which is diffused\nthroughout the world; it is the Supreme soul (Param\u00e1tma), beside which\nthere is nothing in nature.\n\n51. The feeling of this kind of egoism, leads to the liberation of men,\nas in the state of the living-liberated; but the knowledge of the ego,\nas distinct and apart from all, and thought to be as minute as the\nhundredth part of a hair, is the next form of self-consciousness, which\nis good also.\n\n52. This second form of egoism, leads also to the liberation of human\nsouls, even in the present state of their existence, known as the state\nof living-liberation (J\u00edvan-Mukta).\n\n53. The other kind of egoism, which is composed of the knowledge of the\nbody, with all its members as parts of the Ego, is the last and worst\nkind of it, which takes the body for the soul or self.\n\n54. This third and last kind, forms the popular belief of mankind, who\ntake their bodies as parts of themselves; it is the basest form of\negoism, and must be forsaken in the same manner, as we shun our\ninveterate enemies.\n\n55. The man that is debased by this kind of egoism, can never come to\nhis right sense; but becomes subject to all the evils of life, under\nthe thrall of the powerful enemy.\n\n56. Possest with this wrong notion of himself, every man is incessantly\ntroubled in his mind by various desires, which expose him to all the\nevils of life.\n\n57. By means of the better egoisms, men transform themselves to gods;\nbut the common form of it, debases a man to the state of a beast and\nits attendant evils.\n\n58. That I am not the body, is the certainty arrived at by the great\nand good, who believing themselves to be of the first two kinds, are\nsuperior to the vulgar.\n\n59. Belief in the first two kinds, raises men above the common level;\nbut that in the lower kind, brings every misery on mankind.\n\n60. It was owing to their baser egoism, that the demons D\u00e1ma, Vy\u00e1la and\nothers, were reduced to that deplorable state, as it is related in\ntheir tale.\n\n61. R\u00e1ma said:\u2014Tell me, sir, the state of that man, who by discarding\nthe third or popular kind of egoism from his mind, attains the well\nbeing of his soul in both the present and future worlds.\n\n62. Vasishtha replied:\u2014Having cast off this noxious egoism, (which is\nto be got rid of by every body), a man rests in the Supreme Spirit in\nthe same manner, as the believers in the two other sorts of it. (_i.e._\nOf the Supreme and superior sorts of spiritual egoisms, consisting in\nthe belief of one\u2019s self, as the impersonal or personal soul\u2014the\nundivided or individual spirit).\n\n63. The two former views of egoism, place the egotist in the all\npervasive or all exclusive spirit (in the Ego of the Divine Unity).\n\n64. But all these egoisms which are in reality but different forms of\ndualism, being lost in the unity, all consciousness of distinct\npersonality, is absorbed in the Supreme monism.\n\n65. The good understanding should always strive to its utmost, to get\nrid of its common and gross egotism, in order to feel in itself the\nineffable felicity of the unity.\n\n66. Renunciation of the unholy belief of one\u2019s self personality in his\nmaterial body, is the greatest good that one can attain to for his\nhighest state of felicity _parama padam_.\n\n67. The man that forsakes the feeling of his egoism (or personality)\nfrom his mind, is not debased nor goes to perdition by either his\nindifference to or management of worldly affairs. (_i.e._ The doing or\nrefraining from bodily or worldly actions, is equally indifferent to\nthe philosophic mind).\n\n68. The man who has got rid of his egoism by the subsidence of his\nselfishness in himself, is indifferent to pain and pleasure, as the\nsatiate are to the taste of sweet or sour.\n\n69. The man detesting the pleasures of life, has his full bliss\npresented before himself; as the mind cleared of its doubts and\ndarkness, has nothing hidden from its sight.\n\n70. It is by investigation into the nature of egoism, and forsaking\nthis gross selfishness, that a man crosses over the ocean of the world\nof his own accord.\n\n71. The man who having nothing of his own, and knowing himself as\nnothing, yet has all and thinks himself as all in all, and who though\npossessed of wealth and properties, has the magnanimity of his soul to\ndisown them to himself; he is verily situated in the Supreme soul, and\nfinds his rest in the state of Supreme bliss. (_i.e._ The world is the\nLord\u2019s, and human soul as a particle of the Divine, has its share in\nall and every thing).\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXXIV.\n\n END OF THE STORY OF D\u00c1MA AND VY\u00c1LA.\n\n\nArgument. The Gods annoyed by Bh\u00edma and others apply to Hari, who\nthereupon destroys them with Sambara also.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014Now, hear me relate to you, what Sambara did after\nthe flight of D\u00e1ma and his train; and how he remained in his rocky\nstronghold in the infernal region (P\u00e1t\u00e1la).\n\n2. After the complete overthrow of the whole army of Sambara, and their\ndownfall from heaven like innumerable rain drops, falling from an\nover-spreading cloud, and afterwards dispersing itself and disappearing\nin autumn:\u2014\n\n3. Sambara remained motionless for many years in his strong citadel, at\nthe loss of his forces defeated by the gods; and then thought within\nhimself, about the best means of overcoming the celestials.\n\n4. He said, \u201cthe demons D\u00e1ma and others, that I produced by my\nblack-art of exorcism, are all overthrown in battle, by their\nfoolishness and vanity of pride and egotism.\n\n5. \u201cI will now produce some other demons by the power of my charm, and\nendue them both with the power of reason and acquaintance with\nspiritual science, in order that they may know and judge for\nthemselves.\n\n6. \u201cThese then being acquainted with the true nature of things, and\ndevoid of false views, will not be subject to pride or vanity, but be\nable to vanquish the deities in combat\u201d.\n\n7. Thinking so in himself, the arch-fiend produced a host of good\ndemons by his skill in sorcery; and these creatures of his spell filled\nthe space of the sky, as bubbles foam and float on the surface of the\nsea.\n\n8. They were all knowing and acquainted with the knowables; they were\nall dispassionate and sinless, and solely intent on their alloted\nduties, with composed minds and good dispositions.\n\n9. They were known under the different names of Bh\u00edma, Bh\u00e1sa and\nDridha; and they looked upon all earthly things as straws, by the\nholiness of their hearts.\n\n10. These infernal spirits burst out of the ether and sprang up to the\nupper world, and then spread over the face of the sky as a flight of\nlocusts. They cracked as guns, and roared and rolled about as the\nclouds of the rainy season.\n\n11. They fought with the gods for many cycles of years, and yet they\nwere not elated with pride, owing to their being under the guidance of\nreason and judgement.\n\n12. For until they were to have the desire of having anything, and\nthinking it as \u201cthis is my own\u201d, so long were they insensible of their\npersonal existence, such as \u201cthis is I, and that one is another\u201d; and\nconsequently invincible by any. (Selfishness reduces to slavery and\nsubjections).\n\n13. They were fearless in fighting with the gods, from the knowledge of\ntheir being equally mortal as themselves; and from their want of the\nknowledge of any difference subsisting between one another. (_i.e._\nThey regarded themselves and their adversaries with an equal eye of\nindifference, as all were equally doomed to death, and therefore never\nfeared to die).\n\n14. They rushed out with a firm conviction that, the unsubstantial body\nis nothing, and the intellect is lodged in the pure soul; and that\nthere is nothing which we call as I or another.\n\n15. Then these demons who were devoid of the sense of themselves and\ntheir fears were necessarily dauntless of the fear of their decease or\ndeath; and were employed in their present duties, without the thoughts\nof the past and future.\n\n16. Their minds were attached to nothing, they slew their enemies\nwithout thinking themselves as their slayers; they did their duties and\nthought themselves as no doers of them; and they were utterly free from\nall their desires.\n\n17. They waged the war under the sense of doing their duty to their\nmaster; while their own nature was entirely free from all passion and\naffection, and of even tenor at all times.\n\n18. The infernal force under the command of Bh\u00edma, Bh\u00e1sa and Dridha,\nbruised and burned and slew and devoured the celestial phalanx, as men\nknead and fry and boil the rice and afterward eat up as their food.\n\n19. The celestial army being harassed on all sides by Bh\u00edma, Bh\u00e1sa, and\nDridha, fled precipitately from the height of heaven, as the Ganges\nruns down from Him\u00e1layan height.\n\n20. The discomfited legion of the deities, then resorted to the god\nHari, sleeping on the surface of the ocean of milk; as the bodies of\nthe clouds of heaven, are driven by the winds to the tops of mountains\n(beyond the region of storm).\n\n21. The god lying folded in the coils of the serpent, as a consort in\nthe arms of his mistress; gave the gods their hope of final success in\nfuture. (Hari or Krishna on the serpent, is typical of Christ\u2019s\nbruising the head of the satanic serpent).\n\n22. The gods kept themselves hid in that ocean, until it pleased the\nlord Hari, to proceed out of it for the destruction of the demons.\n\n23. Then there was a dreadful war between Vishnu and Sambara, which\nbroke and bore away the mountains as in an untimely great deluge of the\nearth.\n\n24. The mighty demon being at last overthrown by the might of N\u00e1r\u00e1yana,\nwas sent to and settled in the city of Vishnu after his death. (Because\nthose that are either saved or slain by Vishnu, are equally entitled to\nhis paradise).\n\n25. The demons of Bh\u00edma, Bh\u00e1sa and Dridha, were also killed in their\nunequal struggle with Vishnu, and were extinguished like lamps by the\nwind.\n\n26. They became extinct like flames of fire, and it was not known\nwhither their vital flame had fled. Because it is the desire of a\nperson that leads him to another state, but these having no wish in\nthem, had no other place to go.\n\n27. Hence the wishless soul is liberated, but not the wistful mind;\ntherefore use your reason, O R\u00e1ma, to have a wishless mind and soul.\n\n28. A full investigation into truth, will put down your desires at\nonce; and the extinction of desires, will restore your mind to rest\nlike an extinguished candle.\n\n29. Consummate wisdom consists in the knowledge of there being nothing\nreal in this world, and that our knowledge of reality is utterly false,\nand that nihility of thing, is the true reality.\n\n30. The whole world is full with the spirit of God, whatever otherwise\none may think of it at any time; there can be no other thought of it\nexcept that it is a nihility, and this forms our perfect knowledge of\nit.\n\n31. The two significant words of the will and mind are mere\ninsignificant fictions, as head and trunk of the ascending and\ndescending nodes of a planet; which upon their right understanding, are\nlost in the Supreme Spirit. (_i.e._ It is only the divine will and\nspirit that is all in all).\n\n32. The mind being accompanied by its desires, is kept confined in this\nworld, but when that is released from these, it is said to have its\nliberation.\n\n33. The mind has gained its existence in the belief of men, owing to\nthe many ideas of pots and pictures (_ghata-patad\u00ed_); and other\nthings which are imprinted in it; but these thoughts being repressed,\nthe mind also vanishes of itself like the phantoms of goblins\n(yakshas\u2014yakkas).[5]\n\n34. The demons D\u00e1ma, Vy\u00e1la and Kata, were destroyed by reliance on\ntheir minds (_i.e._ by thinking their bodies as their souls); but\nBh\u00edma, Bh\u00e1sa and Dridha were saved by their belief in the Supreme soul,\nas pervading all things. Therefore, O R\u00e1ma! reject the examples of the\nformer, imitate that of the latter.\n\n35. \u201cBe not guided by the example of D\u00e1ma, Vy\u00e1la and Kata,\u201d is the\nlesson that was first delivered to me by Brahm\u00e1\u2014the lotus-born and my\nprogenitor himself.\n\n36. This lesson I repeat to you, O R\u00e1ma, as my intelligent pupil, that\nyou may never follow the example of the wicked demons D\u00e1ma and others;\nbut imitate the conduct of the good spirits, Bh\u00edma and others in your\nconduct.\n\n37. It is incessant pain and pleasure that forms the fearful feature of\nthis world, and there is no other way of evading all its pangs and\npains, save by your apathetic behaviour, which must be your crowning\nglory in this life.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXXV.\n\n DESCRIPTION OF INSOUCIANCE.\n\n\nArgument. On the Abandonment of worldly desires, as conducive to the\ncomposure of the Mind, and society of the good, accompanied with\nrationality and spiritual knowledge, constituting the _Sam\u00e1dhi_ of the\nsoul.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014Blessed are the virtuous, who have cleansed their\nhearts from the dirt of ignorance; and victorious are those heroes, who\nhave conquered their insatiable and ungovernable minds.\n\n2. It is self-control or the government of one\u2019s own mind, that is the\nonly means of wading through all the troubles and distresses, and\namidst all the dangers and difficulties of this world.\n\n3. Hear the summary of all knowledge, and retain and cultivate\nconstantly it in your mind; that the desire of enjoyment (avarice) is\nour bondage in the world, and its abandonment is our release from it.\n\n4. What need is there of many precepts, learn this one truth as the sum\nsubstance of all, that all pleasures are poisonous and pernicious, and\nyou must fly from them as from venomous snakes and a raging fire.\n\n5. Consider well and repeatedly in yourself, that all sensible objects\nare as hydras and dragons; and their enjoyment is gall and poison.\nAvoid them at a distance and pursue after your lasting good.\n\n6. The cupidinous mind is productive of pernicious evils, as the\nsterile ground is fertile only in thorns and brambles. (The vitiated\nmind brings forth but vice, as the vicious heart teems with guilt).\n\n7. The mind devoid of desire, lacks its expansion, as the heart wanting\nits passions and affections, is curbed and contracted in itself.\n\n8. The goodly disposed mind ever teems with virtues, that are opposed\nto wrong acts and vice, as the ground of a good quality, grows only the\ngood and useful trees in spite of weeds and bushes.\n\n9. When the mind gains its serenity by culture of good qualities, the\nmist of its errors and ignorance gradually fade and fly away, like\nclouds before the rising sun.\n\n10. The good qualities coming to shine in the sphere of the mind, like\nstars in the moonlight sky, gives rise to the luminary of reason to\nshine over it, like the bright sun of the day.\n\n11. And as the practice of patience grows familiar in the mind, like\nthe medicinal _vansa-lochana_ within the bamboo; it gives rise to the\nquality of firmness in the man, as the moon brightens the vernal sky.\n\n12. The society of the good is an arbour, affording its cooling shade\nof peace, and yielding the fruit of salvation. Its effect in righteous\nmen, is like that of the stately _sarala_-tree, distilling the juice of\nspiritual joy from the fruitage of sam\u00e1dhi (sang-froid).\n\n13. Thus prepared, the mind becomes devoid of its desires and enmity,\nand is freed from all troubles and anxieties. It becomes obtuse to the\nfeelings of grief and joy, and of pain and pleasure also, and all its\nrestlessness dies in itself.\n\n14. Its doubts in the truths of the scriptures die away, as the\nephemerides and all its curiosities for novelties, are put to a stop. Its\nveil of myths and fictions is unveiled, and its ointment of error is\nrubbed out of it.\n\n15. Its attempts and efforts, malice and disdain, distress and disease,\nare all removed from it; and the mist of its grief and sorrow, and the\nchain of affections, are all blown and torn away.\n\n16. It discards the progeny of its doubts, repudiates the consorts of\nits avarice, and breaks loose from the prison-house of its body. It\nthen seeks the welfare of the soul, and attains its godly state of\nholiness.\n\n17. It abandons the causes of its stoutness (_i.e._ its nourishments\nand enjoyments), and relinquishes its choice of this thing and that;\nand then remembering the dignity of the soul, it casts off the covering\nof its body as a straw.\n\n18. The elevation of the mind in worldly affairs, tends to its\ndestruction, and its depression in these leads to its spiritual\nelevation. The wise always lower their minds (pride); but fools are for\nelevating them (to their ruin).\n\n19. The mind makes the world its own, and ranges all about it; it\nraises the mountains and mounts over them; it is as the infinite\nvacuum, and comprehends all vacuity in itself; and it makes gods of\nfriends and foes of others unto us.\n\n20. The understanding being soiled by doubts, and forgetting the true\nnature of the intellect, takes upon it the name of the mind, when it is\nfull of all its worldly desires.\n\n21. And the intellect being perverted by its various desires, is called\nthe living soul; the animal soul being distinct from the rational soul.\n\n22. The understanding which forgets its intellectuality, and falls into\nthe error of its own personality, is what we call the internal\nprinciple of the mind which is all hollow within.\n\n23. The soul is not the man of the world (_i.e._ no worldly being), nor\nis it the body or its blood. All material bodies are but gross and dull\nmatter; but the soul in the body is empty air and intangible.\n\n24. The body being dissected into atoms, and analysed in all its\nparticles, presents nothing but blood and entrails as the plantain\ntree, which when cut into pieces, presents naught but its folded rinds.\n\n25. Know the mind and living soul as making a man, and assuming his\nmortal form; the mind takes its form by itself according to his own\noption.\n\n26. Man stretches his own sphere of action by his own option only to\nentrap himself in it, as the silkworm weaves its cocoon for its own\nimprisonment.\n\n27. The soul lays down its error of being the body, when it has to\nforsake the same at some time or other (_i.e._ sooner or later), and\nassume another form as the germ sprouts forth into leaves. (_i.e._ The\nbody is not the soul, nor is the soul the same with the body, as the\nmaterialist would have it; because the soul has its transmigration,\nwhich the body has not).\n\n28. As is the desire or thought in the mind, so is it born in its next\nstate of metempsychosis. Hence the new born babe is given to sleeping,\nbecause it thinks itself to be dead, and lying in the night-time of his\ndeath. It is also given to the dreaming of those things, which had been\nthe objects of its desire or thought in its previous state or birth.\n(This establishes the doctrine of innate ideas in the dreaming state of\nnew-born babies).\n\n29. So sour becomes sweet by mixture with sugar, and the bitter seed\nproduces sweet fruits by being sown with honey. So on the contrary,\nsweet becomes bitter by intermixture of gall and wormwood. (This is a\nfact in horticulture.\u2014\u00c1r\u00e1ma S\u00e1stra, and applies to the goodness and\nbadness of the human mind, according to its good and bad associations).\n\n30. Aiming after goodness and greatness, makes a man good and great; as\none wishing to be an Indra or a lord, dreams of his lordliness in his\nsleep. (The mind makes the man).\n\n31. Inclination to meanness bemeans a man, and a tendency to vileness\nvilifies his conduct in life; as one deluded by his fancy of devils,\ncomes to see their apparitions in his nightly visions.\n\n32. But what is naturally foul or fair, can hardly turn otherwise at\nany time; as the limpid lake never becomes muddy, nor the dirty pool\never becomes glassy. (Nature of a thing is unchangeable).\n\n33. The perverted mind produces the fruits of its perversion in all its\nactions, while puremindedness is fraught with the effects of its purity\neverywhere.\n\n34. Good and great men never forsake their goodness and greatness, even\nin their fall and decline; so the glorious sun fills the vault of\nheaven with his glory, even when he is sinking below (the horizon).\n\n35. There is no restriction or freedom of the human soul, to or from\nany action or thing herein; it is a mere passive and neutral\nconsciousness, of all that passes before it as a magic scene.\n\n36. The world is a magical city, and as a mirage appearing to sight; it\nis of the nature of the delusive panorama, showing many moons of the\none, whose unity admits of no duality. So the one Brahma is represented\nas many by delusion. (The Hindus, contrary to Europeans, have many suns\nbut one moon. Escas\u2014Chandra).\n\n37. All this is verily the essence of Brahma, and this is the sober\nreality; the substantive world is an unsubstantiality, and peers out to\nview as a hollow phantom. (It is a phantasmagoria of phantasms).\n\n38. That I am not the infinite but an infinitesimal, is the misjudgment\nof the ignorant; but the certitude of my infinity and supremacy, is the\nmeans of my absorption in the Infinite and Supreme.\n\n39. The belief of one\u2019s individuality in his undivided, all pervasive\nand transparent soul, as \u201cI am this,\u201d is the cause of his bondage to\nhis personality, and is a web spun by his erroneous dualism. (Knowledge\nof a separate existence apart from solity, amounts to a dualistic\ncreed).\n\n40. Want of the knowledge of one\u2019s bondage or freedom, and of his unity\nor duality, and his belief in the totality of Brahma, is the supreme\ntruth of true philosophy.\n\n41. Perfect transparency of the soul, amounting to its nihility, and\nits want of attachment to visible appearances, as also its\nunmindfulness of all that is, are the conditions for beholding Brahma\nin it. There is no other way to this.\n\n42. The purity of the mind produced by acts of holiness, is the\ncondition for receiving the sight of Brahma; as it is the whiteness of\nthe cloth that can receive any colour upon it.\n\n43. Think thy soul, O R\u00e1ma! as same with the souls of all other\npersons, and abstain from all other thoughts, of what is desirable or\nundesirable, what invigorates or enfeebles the body, and what brings\nliberation after bondage, or Salvation after sinfulness. (Since none of\nthese states appertains to the universal soul, which is quite free from\nthem).\n\n44. The mirror of the mind being cleansed by the knowledge of the\ns\u00e1stras, and dispassionateness of the understanding, it receives the\nreflexion of Brahma, as the clear crystal reflects the images of things.\n\n45. The sight which is conversant with visible objects and not with\nimages and ideas in the mind, is called false vision of what is soon\nlost from view. (_i.e._ Mental sight is more lasting than that of the\nvisual organs).\n\n46. When the mind is fixed upon God, by abstracting its sight from all\nmental and ocular visions, it has then the view of the Supreme before\nit. (This is called spiritual vision).\n\n47. The visible sights which are obvious to view, are all but unreal\nphantoms; it is the absorption of the mind in the Divine, that makes it\nidentical with the same and no other.\n\n48. The visibles now present before us being absent from our view,\neither before or after our sight of them, must be considered as absent\nin the interim also. Therefore one unacquainted with his mind, is as\ninsensible as the man that knows not what he holds in his hand.\n\n49. One having no knowledge that \u201cthe world is the same with the\nSupreme spirit,\u201d is always subject to misery; but the negation of the\nvisibles as distinct from God, gives us both the pleasure of our\nenjoyments here, and our liberation in future.\n\n50. It is ignorance to say the water is one thing and its wave is\nanother; but it shows one\u2019s intelligence, who says they are the one and\nthe same thing.\n\n51. The vanities of the world, are fraught with sorrow, therefore\ndiscard all its appendages from thee. The abandonment of superfluity,\nwill conduce to thy attainment of wisdom at last.\n\n52. The mind being composed of vain desires, is an unreality in itself;\nsay therefore, O R\u00e1ma! why should you sorrow for something which in\nreality is nothing.\n\n53. Do you, O R\u00e1ma! look upon all things as traps set to ensnare the\nsoul; and regard them with the eye of an unkind kinsman looking upon\nhis relatives, with an eye of apathy and unconcern.\n\n54. As the unkind relative is unconcerned with the joys and griefs of\nhis relations; so shouldst thou remain aloof from all things, by\nknowing the falsehood of their natures.\n\n55. Rely on that eternal Spirit, which is infinite knowledge and\nfelicity, and which is between the viewer and the view (_i.e._ betwixt\nthe noumenon and the phenomenon). The mind being fixed to that truth,\nwill adhere to it as clay, after the swiftness of its flight is at an\nend.\n\n56. The airy flight of the mind being restrained, the sluggish body\nmust cease to run about; and the cloud of the dust of ignorance, will\nno more spread over the city of the world.\n\n57. When the rains of our desires are over, and the calmness of the\nmind is restored; when the shuddering coldness of dulness has fled,\nand when the mud of worldliness is dried up:\u2014\n\n58. When the channel of our thirst is dried up, and the drinking pots\nare sucked up and emptied; when the forest of the heart is cleared, and\nits brambles are rooted out, and the frost of false knowledge has\ndisappeared:\u2014\n\n59. It is then that the mist of error vanishes from view, like the\nshadow of night on the approach of dawn; and the frigidity of dullness\nis put to flight, like the poison of snake-bite by the potent charm of\nmantras.\n\n60. Then the rivulets of our desires, do not run down the rock of the\nbody; nor do the peacocks of our fleeting wishes, fly and sport on its\ntop.\n\n61. The sphere of our consciousness becomes as the clear sky; and the\nluminary of the living soul, shines as brightly over it as the midday\nsun.\n\n62. The cloud of error is dispelled and succeeded by the light of\nreason; and the longings of the soul, being purified of their dross,\nmake it shine brilliantly amidst its sphere.\n\n63. Then raptures of serene delight, shoot forth in the soul like\nblooming blossoms in the open air; and a cool light is shed upon it,\nlike the cooling beams of the autumnal moon.\n\n64. This ecstacy of the soul, unfolds all prosperity before it, and\nfructifies with abundance the well cultivated ground of the reasoning\nmind. (Truth is the fruit of holy joy in the reasonable mind).\n\n65. It sheds its clear lustre all over the world, and shows the depths\nof the hills and forests, and everything on earth in their clearest\nlight. (Heavenly joy unfolds all things to light).\n\n66. It expands the mind and makes it translucent, and the heart as a\nclear lake, renders blooming with blossoms of the lotus of _satva_, and\nwithout the dust\u2014_rajas_ of egoism. It is never infested by the\nswarming passions of pride or _tamas_.\n\n67. The mind then being purged of its selfishness, turns to universal\nbenevolence and philanthropy; and being quite calm in itself without\nany desire of its own, it reigns as lord over the city of its body.\n\n68. The man whose investigation has made him acquainted with all\nthings, whose soul is enlightened with truth; whose mind is melted down\nfrom his highmindedness; who is calm and quiet in his understanding,\nand looks at the unpleasant course of the births and deaths of men with\npity; he verily lives happily in the realm of his body, without his\nfeverish anxieties about anything.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXXVI.\n\n DESCRIPTION OF THE INTELLECTUAL SPHERE.\n\n\nArgument. The Intellect as pervading all things, and making us\nacquainted with them.\n\n\nR\u00e1ma said:\u2014Tell me O Br\u00e1hman! how the mundane system subsists in the\nextra mundane immaterial soul, for the sake of my advancement in\nknowledge.\n\n2. Vasishtha replied:\u2014The worlds having no separate existence (before\nor after their formation) except in the Supreme mind, they are all\nsituated in the Divine Intellect, like the unheaving and unseen\nwould be waves of the sea.\n\n3. As the all-pervading sky is not to be seen owing to its extreme\ntenuity; so the undivided nature of the all-pervasive intellect, is not\nto be perceived on account of its rarity.\n\n4. As the gem has its brilliancy in it, whether it is moved or unmoved\nby any body, so the unreal world has its potential existence in the\nDivine Spirit, both in its states of action and inactivity. (Hence the\neternity of the world in the Eternal Mind).\n\n5. As the clouds abiding in the sky, do not touch the sky or have a\ntangible feeling of its vacuity; so the worlds subsisting in the\nreceptacle of the Intellectual soul, have no contact with the\nextraneous (par\u00e1) intellect, which is unconnected with its contents.\n\n6. As the light residing in the waters of the sea or a pot of water, is\nnot connected either with the water or pot, nor is it felt by us but by\nits reflexion; so the intangible soul abides unconnected in its\nreceptacle of the body, and reflects itself to our knowledge only.\n\n7. The intellect is devoid of every desire and designation; it is the\nindestructible soul, and is named by our intelligence of it as (Chetya)\nintelligible; or from some one of our intelligible ideas as the living\nsoul &c.\n\n8. It is clearer than the translucent air, and finer than it by a\nhundred times; it is known as an undivided whole by the learned; who\nview it as identic with the whole undivided world, which it comprehends\nwithin itself.\n\n9. As the sea water shows itself in various forms in all its waves, so\nthe intellect does not differ from it, in showing us its various\nrepresentations of its own motion.\n\n10. The diversities of our subjective and objective knowledge of myself\nand thyself and these (ego, tu &c.), are like the varieties of waves\nand billows in the ocean of the intellect, these are but erroneous\nnotions, since they are representations of the same element, and the\nvery same intellect.\n\n11. The various states of the intellect (Chit), intellection (Chint\u00e1),\nintelligence (Chittam) and intelligibles (Chetyas), all appertain to\nthe main principle of the soul. They are differently conceived by the\nlearned and ignorant, but the difference is a mere conceit (Kalpan\u00e1).\n\n12. The intellect presents its two different aspects to the wise and\nunwise people; to the ignorant, it shows its unreal nature in the\nrealistic conception of the world, while to the learned it exhibits its\nluminous form in the identity of all things (with God).\n\n13. The intellect enlightens the luminous bodies of the sun and stars,\nby its internal (intellectual) light; it gives a relish to things by\nits internal taste; and it gives birth to all beings from its inborn\nideas of them.\n\n14. It neither rises nor sets, nor gets up nor sits; it neither\nproceeds nor recedes to or fro, it is not here nor is it no where.\n(Omniscience is present everywhere and is ever the same).\n\n15. The pure and transpicuous intellect which is situated in the soul,\ndisplays in itself the phantasmagoria which is called the world.\n\n16. As a heap of fire emits its flame, and a luminous body blazes with\nits rays; and as the sea swells in surges and breaks in with its arms,\nso the intellect bursts out in its creations. (Omniscience is the cause\nand not percipience of the world\u2014God makes all things, and does not\nperceive them like us).\n\n17. Thus the intellect which is selfmanifest and omnipresent of its\nown nature, developes and envelopes the world by its own manifestation\nand occultation, and by its acts of integration and segregation\n(_s\u00e1nh\u00e1ra_ and _nirh\u00e1ra_); or the acts of accretion and secretion.\n\n18. It is led by its own error and of its own accord, to forget and\nforsake its state of infinitude; and then by assuming its individual\npersonality of egoism (that I am), it is converted to an ignoramus. (So\nmen of contracted views turn to be dunces).\n\n19. It falls from its knowledge of generals to that of particulars, by\nits act of specialization; and comes to the discrimination of the\npositive, and negative, and of inclusion and exclusion (or admission or\nrejection).\n\n20. It strives and struggles within the confines of the sensuous body\n(owing to its degradation from spirituality); and it multiplies in\nthese bodies like the weeds sprouting out of the bosom of the earth.\n(_i.e._ From its unity becomes a multiplicity in the many animal\nbodies).\n\n21. It is the intellect that stretches the spacious vacuum, to make\nroom for the subsistence and growth of every thing; and makes the all\nand ever moving air and the liquid water, for the vitality and\nnourishment of all.\n\n22. It makes the firm earth (terrafirma) and the light-some fire and\nthe fixed worlds all around; and employs time by its injunctions and\nprohibitions, (to do or undo any thing).\n\n23. It gives fragrance to flowers, and grows by degrees their filaments\nand pistils; and it makes the moisture of the porous ground, to grow\nvegetables on earth.\n\n24. The rooted trees fructify with fruits, by their juicy saps from\nbeneath; and they produce their fruitage, and display their foliage\nwith lineaments in them, as their veins and arteries.\n\n25. It renovates the forest with its gifts of various hues, and dyes\nthem with the variety of colours in the rainbow of Indra.\n\n26. It bids the folia, fruits and flowers to wait on the flowery season\nof spring; and then brings their fruitage to perfection, under the heat\nof the summer sun.\n\n27. It makes the dark blue clouds of heaven, to wait on the approach of\nthe rainy weather; and causes the harvest of fields, to follow in the\ntrain of autumn.\n\n28. The cold season is decorated with its smiling frost, in its faces\nof the ten sides of the sky; and the dewy weather is made to waft its\nicicles of dew drops, on the pinions of the chilling winds of winter.\n\n29. It makes the ever moving time, to revolve in its rotation of years\nand cycles and Yuga\u2014ages; and causes the tide of creation to roll on in\nits waves of worlds, on its bosom of the ocean of eternity.\n\n30. Its decrees remain fixed with a wonderful stability, and the earth\n(terra or dhara), continues firm (dh\u00edra or sthira), with its quality of\ncontaining all things. (In this sloka there is both a homonym and\nparonym of similar sound and sense in the word _dhar\u00e1_ derived from the\nroot _dhri_: namely, _dh\u00edr\u00e1_, _dhar\u00e1_, = _sthir\u00e1_, terra and _dharana_\nand _dharini_).\n\n31. It made the universe teem with fourteen kinds of beings in its as\nmany worlds of the chaturdasa-bhuvanas; and these are as different in\ntheir modes of life as in their forms and figures. (The Atharvan or\nlast Veda reckons tri-sapta or thrice seven worlds).\n\n32. These are repeatedly produced from and reduced to nothing, and move\nin their wonted courses for ever, as bubbles in the waterless ocean of\neternity.\n\n33. Here the miserable multitudes, moving mad in vain struggles after\ntheir desired objects, and in their imbecility under the subjection of\ndisease and death. They are incessantly coming to life and going away\nin their exits, remaining in their living states and acquiring their\nends, and for ever running to and fro, in their repeated births and\ndeaths in this world.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXXVII.\n\n UPASAMA. THE SAMENESS OR QUIETISM OF THE SOUL.\n\n\nArgument:\u2014The sameness of the Spirit from its want of perturbation by\nworldly matters; and equanimity of the mind in all circumstances.\n\n\nVasishtha added:\u2014In this manner are these series of worlds, revolving\nin their invariable course, and repeatedly appearing and disappearing\nin the substantiality of Brahma.\n\n2. All this is derived from the one self-existence, and have become the\nreciprocal causes of one another, by their mutual transformations; and\nagain they are destroyed of themselves by their mutual destructiveness\nof one another.\n\n3. But as the motion of the waters on the surface, does not affect the\nwaters in the depth of the sea; so the fluctuations of the changing\nscenes of nature, make no alteration in the ever tranquil spirit of\nBrahma.\n\n4. As the desert in summer heat, presents the waters of mirage to the\nclear sky, so the false world, shows its delusive appearances to the\nmind.\n\n5. As the calm soul seems to be giddy in the state of one\u2019s\ndrunkenness, so the essence of the intellect which is always the same,\nappears as otherwise in its ignorance.\n\n6. The world is neither a reality nor unreality; it is situated in the\nIntellect but appears to be placed without it. It is not separate from\nthe soul, although it seems to be different from it, as the ornament\nappears to differ from its gold.\n\n7. R\u00e1ma! that soul of yours whereby you have the perception of form and\nfigures and of sound and smell, is the Supreme Brahma pervading all\nthings.\n\n8. The pure soul being one in many, and inherent in all external\nobjects, cannot be thought as distinct from those, that appear\notherwise than itself.\n\n9. R\u00e1ma! it is the difference of human thoughts, that judges\ndifferently of the existence and non-existence of things, and of their\ngood and bad natures also; it judges the existence of the world, either\nas situated in or without the Divine Spirit.\n\n10. Whereas it is impossible for any thing to exist beside the Spirit\nof God, it was the Spirit that \u201cwilled to become many\u201d. And as there\nwas nothing beside itself, which it could think of or find for itself,\nit was necessary that it became so of itself, and without the aid of\nany extraneous matter. (Prose).\n\n11. (Prose). Therefore the will to do this or that, or try for one\nthing or other, does not relate to the soul but to the mind. Thus the\noptionless soul, having no will of its own, does nothing except\ncogitating on what is in itself. It is no active agent, owing to the\nunion of all agency, instrumentality and objectivity in itself. It\nabides nowhere, being both the recipient and content, or the container\nand the contained of everything in itself. Neither is the will-less\nsoul actionless likewise, when the acts of creation are palpable in\nitself (karmaprasidhi). Nor is it possible that there is any other\ncause of them. (_Nanyakart\u00e1 dv\u00edtiryakam. Sruti_).\n\n12. R\u00e1ma! you must know the nature of Brahma to be no other\n(_vetara\u2014non alter_) than this; and knowing him as no agent and without\na second, be free from all anxiety.\n\n13. I will tell you further that:\u2014Though you may continue to do a great\nmany acts here, yet tell me in a word, what dost thou do that is worth\ndoing. Rely on the want of your own agency, and be quiet as the sapient\nsage. Remain as calm and still, as the clear ocean when unshaken by the\nbreeze.\n\n14. Again knowing well, that it is not possible for the swiftest\nrunners to reach their goal of perfection, how far so ever they may go.\nYou must desist in your mind from pursuing after worldly objects, and\npersist to meditate on the spirituality of your inward and intellectual\nsoul.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXXVIII.\n\n THE SAME QUIETNESS OR QUIETUDE OF THE SPIRIT.\n\n\nArgument. The unconnected Soul being connected with the Mind, is\nbelieved as the Active Spirit by the unwise. But the quiet spirit\nof the wise, which is unaffected by its actions, is ever free and\nemancipate from the acts.\n\n\nVasishtha resumed:\u2014(Prose). Such being the state of the wise, the\nactions they are seen to do, whether of goodness or otherwise or\npleasurable or painful, in and whatsoever they are engaged, are _nil_\nand as nothing, and do not affect them as they do the other worldly\nmortals. (The unconcernedness of the wise, is opposed to the great\nconcern of fools in their actions).\n\n2. For what is it that is called an action, but the exertion of mental\nand voluntary energies, with a fixed determination and desire of\nperforming some physical acts, which they call the actions of a person.\n(But the apathetic minds of the wise, being insensible both of the\npurposes and their ends, there is no imputation of agency which can\never attach to them. (Gloss)).\n\n3. The production of an act by appliance of the proper means, and the\nexertion and action of the body in conformity with one\u2019s ability, and\nthe completion of the effect compatible with one\u2019s intention, together\nwith the enjoyment of the result of such agency, are defined and\ndetermined as the action of the man. (It is the deliberate and\nvoluntary doing of an act, and not the unintentional physical action,\nthat constitutes human agency. Gloss).\n\n4. (Verse). Moreover, whether a man is agent or no agent of an action,\nand whether he goes to heaven or dwells in hell, his mind is subject to\nthe same feelings, as he has the desires in his heart. (The mind makes\na heaven of hell, and a hell of heaven by its good or bad thoughts.\nMilton).\n\n5. (Prose). Hence the agency of the ignorant, arises from their wishing\nto do a thing, whether they do it or not; but not so of the wise, who\nhaving no will, are not culpable even for their involuntary actions.\nUntutored minds are full with the weeds of vice, but well cultivated\nsouls are quite devoid of them. Gloss. (So: \u201cIf good we plant not, vice\nwill fill the place: And rankest weeds the richest soils deface\u201d).\n\n6. He who has the knowledge of truth (tatwajn\u00e1na), becomes relaxed in\nhis earthly desires; and though he acts his part well, he does not long\neagerly for its result as others. He acts with his body but with a\nquiet unconcerned mind. When successful, he attributes the gain to the\nwill of God; but the worldly minded arrogate the result to themselves,\nthough they could not bring it about.\n\n7. Whatever the mind intends, comes verily to pass, and nothing is\nachieved without the application of the mind; whereupon the agency\nbelongeth to the mind and not to the body. (An involuntary action is\nnot a deed).\n\n8. The world doth proceed from the Mind (Divine); it is the mind (by\nbeing a development of it), and is situated in the (infinite and\neternal) mind; knowing all things as such manifestations of the powers\nof the intellect, the wise man remains in the coolness of his desire or\nluke warmness.\n\n9. The minds of spiritualists (or those knowing the soul), come to the\nstate of that perfect insensibility of their desires, as when the false\nwatery mirage is set down by the raining clouds, and the particles of\nmorning dews, are dried up by the raging sun. It is then that the soul\nis said to rest in its perfect bliss (The _turya\u2014sans souci_ or\nimpassibility).\n\n10. This is not the felicity of the _gusto_ of pleasure, nor the dolour\nof sorrow or discontent; it consists not in the liveliness of living\nbeings, nor in the torpidity of stones. It is not situated in the midst\nof these antitheses (_i.e._ in the _sandhisth\u00e1na_ or golden medium\nbetween these); but in the knowing mind which is _Bhum\u00e1nanda_\u2014all\nrapture and ravishment. (Neither is _il allegro_ nor _il spinseroso_,\nthe true bliss of man).\n\n11. But the ignorant mind (which is unacquainted with this state of\ntransport) is transported by its thirst after the moving waters of\nearthly pleasures; as an elephant is misled to the foul pool, where he\nis plunged in its mud and mire, without finding any thing that is\nreally good.\n\n12. Here is another instance of it based upon a stanza in the Sruti,\nwhich says that:\u2014A man dreaming himself to be falling into a pit, feels\nthe fear of his fall in his imagination even when he has been sleeping\nin his bed; but another who actually falls in a pit when he is fast\nasleep, is quite insensible of his falls. Thus it is the mind which\npaints its own pleasure and pains, and not the bodily action or its\ninactivity.\n\n13. Hence whether a man is the doer of an action or not, he perceives\nnothing of it, when his mind is engrossed in some other thought or\naction; but he views every thing within himself, who beholds them on\nthe abstract meditation of his mind. The thinking mind sees the outward\nobjects, as reflexions of his pure intellect cast without him. (The\nspiritualist regards the outward as images of his inward ideas, in\nopposition to the materialist, who considers the internal ideas to be\nbut reflexions derived from external impressions).\n\n14. Thus the man knowing the knowable soul, knows himself as\ninaccessible to the feelings of pleasure and pain. Knowing this as\ncertain, he finds the existence of no other thing, apart from what is\ncontained in the container of his soul, which is as a thousandth part\nof a hair. This being ascertained, he views every thing in himself.\nWith this certainty of knowledge, he comes to know his self as the\nreflector of all things, and present in all of them. After these\nascertainments, he comes to the conclusion that he is not subject to\npain or pleasure. Thus freed from anxieties, the mind freely exercises\nits powers over all customary duties, without being concerned with them.\n\n15. He who knows the self, remains joyous even in his calamity, and\nshines as the moonlight, which enlightens the world. He knows that it\nis his mind and not hisself, that is the agent of his actions although\nhe is the doer of them: and knowing the agency of the mind in all his\nactions, he does not assume to himself the merit of the exercise of his\nlimbs, hands and feet, nor expects to reap the rewards of all his\nassiduous labours and acts.\n\n16. Mental actions (thoughts) being brought to practice, tend to\ninvolve their unguarded agents of ungoverned minds, into the endurance\nof its consequence. Thus the mind is the seed (root) of all efforts and\nexertions, of all acts and actions, of all their results and\nproductions, and the source of suffering the consequences of actions.\nBy doing away with your mind, you make a clean sweep of all your\nactions, and thereby avoid all your miseries resulting from your acts.\nAll these are at an end with the _anaesthesia_ of the mind. It is a\npractice in _Yoga_ to allay (laisser aller), the excitement of the mind\nto its ever varying purposes.\n\n17. Behold the boy is led by his mind (fancy) to build his toy or\nhobby-horse, which he dresses and daubs at his wilfull play, without\nshowing any concern or feeling of pleasure or pain, in its making or\nbreaking of it at his pleasure. So doth man build his aerial castle,\nand level it without the sense of his gain or loss therein. It is by\nhis acting in this manner in all worldly matters, that no man is\nspiritually entangled to them. (Do your duties and deal with all with a\ntotal unconcernedness and indifference).\n\n18. What cause can there be for your sorrow, amidst the dangers and\ndelights of this world, but that you have the one and not the other.\nBut what thing is there that is delectable and delightful to be desired\nin this world, which is not evanescent and perishable at the same time,\nsave yourself (soul), which is neither the active nor passive agent of\nyour actions and enjoyments; though they attribute the actions and\ntheir fruitions to it by their error.\n\n19. The importance of actions and passions to living beings, is a\nmistake and not veritable truth. Because by the right consideration of\nthings, we find no action nor passion bearing any relation to the soul.\nIts attachment or aversion to the senses and sensible actions and\nenjoyments, is felt only by the sensualist, and not by them that are\nunconscious of sensuous affections (as the apathetic ascetics).\n\n20. There is no liberation in this world for the worldly minded, while\nit is fully felt by the liberal minded Yogi, whose mind is freed from\nits attachments to the world, in its state of living liberation.\n(J\u00edvan-mukta).\n\n21. Though the Sage is rapt in the light of his self-consciousness, yet\nhe does not disregard to distinguish the unity and duality, the true\nentity from the non-entities, and to view the omnipotence in all\npotencies or powers that are displayed in nature (for these display His\npower and goodness beyond our thought).\n\n22. (Verse). To him there is no bond or freedom, nor liberation nor\nbondage whatever, and the miseries of ignorance are all lost in the\nlight of his enlightenment. (Bondage and freedom here refer to their\ncauses or acts (\u0995\u09b0\u09cd\u09ae\u09cd\u09ae) by the figure of metonymy; and that\nthese bear no relation to the abstracted or spiritualistic Yogi).\n\n23. It is in vain to wish for liberation, when the mind is tied down to\nthe earth; and so it is redundant to talk of bondage, when the mind is\nalready fastened to it. Shun them both by ignoring your egoism, and\nremain fixed to the true Ego, and continue thus to manage yourself with\nyour unruffled mind on earth. (The whole of this is a lesson of the\nStoical and Platonic philosophic and unimpassioned passivity).\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXXIX.\n\n ON THE UNITY OF ALL THINGS.\n\n\nArgument. Explanation of Divine Omnipotence, and inability of Vasishtha\nto give full exposition of it.\n\n\nR\u00e1ma rejoined:\u2014(Prose) Tell me, O high-minded sage, how could the\ncreation proceed from the Supreme Brahma, whom you represent to remain\nas a painting in the tableau of vacuity.\n\n2. Vasishtha replied:\u2014O prince, such is the nature of Brahma, that all\npower incessantly flows from him, wherefore every power is said to\nreside in him. (It is unvedantic to say, that Brahma is omnipotent or\nthe reservoir of power, and not omnipotence or identic with all power\nhimself).\n\n3. In him resides entity and non-entity, in him there is unity, duality\nand plurality, and the beginning and end of all things. (Because\nomnipotence has the power to be all things, which limited powers cannot\ndo).\n\n4. This is one and no other else (_i.e._ it is all that is, and there\nis none else beside it (_Id est non alter_). It is as the sea, whose\nwaters have endless varieties of shapes, and represent the images of\nmyriads of stars in its bosom; rising spontaneously of themselves).\n\n5. The density of the Intellect makes the mind, and the mind brings\nforth all the powers of thinking, willing or volition, and of acting or\naction. These it produces, accumulates, contains, shows and then\nabsorbs in itself.\n\n6. (Verse) Brahma is the source of all living beings, and of all things\nseen all around us. His power is the cause of exhibiting all things, in\ntheir incessant course or quiescence.\n\n7. All things spring from the Supreme Spirit, and they reside in his\nall comprehensive mind. They are of the same nature with that of their\nsource, as the water of the sweet and saltish lakes.\n\n8. R\u00e1ma interrupted here and said:\u2014Sir, your discourse is very dark,\nand I cannot understand the meaning of the words of your speech.\n\n9. There is that nature of Brahma, which you said to be beyond the\nperception of the mind and senses, and what are these perishable\nthings, which you say to have proceeded from him. If your reasoning\ncomes to this end, I cannot then rely upon it.\n\n10. Because it is the law of production, that anything that is produced\nfrom something, is invariably of the same nature with that of its\nproducer.\n\n11. As light is produced from light, corns come from corn, and man is\nborn of man, and all kinds come out of their own kind.\n\n12. And so the productions of the immutable Spirit, must also be\nunchangeable and spiritual too in their nature.\n\n13. Beside this the Intellectual Spirit of God, is pure and immaculate;\nwhile this creation is all impure and gross matter.\n\n14. The great Sage said upon hearing these words:\u2014Brahma is all purity\nand there is no impurity in him; the waves moving on the surface of the\nsea may be foul, but they do not soil the waters of the deep.\n\n15. You cannot conceive R\u00e1ma, of there being a second person or thing\nbeside the One Brahma; as you can have no conception of fire beside its\nheat. (Its light being adscititious).\n\n16. R\u00e1ma rejoined:\u2014Sir, Brahma is devoid of sorrow, while the world is\nfull of sorrows. I cannot therefore clearly understand your words; when\nyou say this to be the offspring of that. (The maculate equal to the\nimmaculate or the perishable to the imperishable is absurd).\n\n17. V\u00e1lm\u00edki said to Bharadw\u00e1ja:\u2014The great Sage Vasishtha remained\nsilent at these words of R\u00e1ma; and stopped in his lecture with the\nthoughtfulness of his mind.\n\n18. His mind lost its wonted clearness (in its confusion), and then\nrecovering its perspicacity, he pondered within himself in the\nfollowing manner.\n\n19. The educated and intelligent mind, that has known the knowable One,\nhas of itself got to the end of the subject of liberation, by its own\nreasoning and intuition as that of R\u00e1ma.\n\n20. It is no fault of the educated to be doubtful of something, until\nit is explained to them to their full satisfaction, as in the case of\nR\u00e1ghava. (Relating the identity of the cause and its effect).\n\n21. But the half-educated are not fit to receive spiritual instruction,\nbecause their view of the visibles, which dwells on obvious objects,\nproves the cause of their ruin (by obstructing their sight of the\nspiritual).\n\n22. But he who has come to the sight of transcendental light, and got a\nclear insight of spiritual truths, feels no desire for sensual\nenjoyments; but advances in course of time to the conclusion, that\nBrahma is All in all things (_to pan_).\n\n(The transcendental philosophy of modern German schools, has arrived at\nthe same conclusion of Pantheism, _Ho Theos to pan_).\n\n23. The disciple is to be prepared and purified at first, with the\nprecepts and practice of quietism and self-control (_Sama_ and _dam\u00e1_);\nand is then to be initiated in the creed that \u201cAll this is Brahma, and\nthat thyself art that pure Spirit.\u201d\n\n24. But who so teaches the faith of \u201call is Brahma\u201d to the half taught\nand the ignorant; verily entangles him in the strong snare of hell.\n(Because they take the visible for the invisible, which leads them to\nnature and idol worships which casts them to hell).\n\n25. The well discerning Sage should tell them, that are enlightened in\ntheir understandings, whose desire of sensual gratifications has\nabated, and who are freed from their worldly desires, that they are\npurged of the dirt of their ignorance, and are prepared to receive\nreligious and spiritual instruction.\n\n26. The spiritual guide who instructs his pupil without weighing well\nhis habits and conduct, is a silly pedagogue and sinks into hell and\nhas to dwell there until the last day of judgment; (to answer for\nmisleading his disciples).\n\n27. The venerable Vasishtha, who was the chief of sages, and like the\nluminous sun on earth, having considered these things, spoke to R\u00e1ma as\nfollows. (The sages are said to be luminous both from the fairness of\ntheir Aryan complexions, as also on account of their enlightened\nunderstandings).\n\n28. Vasishtha said:\u2014I will tell thee R\u00e1ma at the conclusion, of this\nlecture, whether the attribution of the dross of gross bodies, is\napplicable to Brahma or not. (_i.e._ How a spiritual body may assume a\nmaterial form &c.).\n\n29. Know now that Brahma is almighty, all pervading, ubiquitous and is\nall himself, because of his omnipotence, which can do and become all\nand every thing of itself.\n\n30. As you see the various practices of magicians and the trickeries of\njugglers, in producing, presenting, and abstracting many things in the\nsight of men, that are all but unreal shows; so doth Brahma produce,\npresent and retract all things from and into himself.\n\n31. The world is filled with gardens as those in fairy lands, and the\nsky is replenished with the airy castles of Gandharvas and the abodes\nof gods; and men are seen to descend from the cloudless sky, to the\nsurface of the earth, and rise upwards to heaven (in vim\u00e1nas or\nballoons).\n\n32. Fairy cities like the palaces of the Gandharvas of the etherial\nregions, are shown on earth, and filled with the fairies of the Fairy\nland. (_i.e._ The courts and palaces of princes, which vie with the\nabodes of gods).\n\n33. Whatever there is or has been or is to be in this world in future,\nare like reflexions of the revolving sky and heavenly bodies, or a\nbrazen ball affixed to the top of a tower, and darting its golden light\nbelow.\n\n34. All these are but exhibitions of the various forms of\nmanifestations of the selfsame God. (\u201cThese as they change,\u2014these are\nbut the varied God.\u201d Thomson. So Wordsworth and the Persian Mystics).\n\n35. Whatever takes place at any time or place and in any form, is but\nthe variety of the One Self-existent reality. Why therefore, O R\u00e1ma!\nshould you give vent to your sorrow or joy, or wonder at any change of\ntime or place or nature and form of things, which are full of the\nspirit of God, and exhibit the endless aspects of the Infinitive Mood.\n\n36. Let the intelligent preserve the sameness (_samata_) of their minds\nand dispositions amidst all changes; knowing them as the varying\nconditions of the same unvarying Mind.\n\n37. He who sees his God in all, and is fraught with equanimity, has no\ncause of his wonder of surprise, his grief or delight or any\nfluctuation of his mind, in any change in nature or vicissitude of his\nfortune (because the one Omnipresence is present in all events, and its\nOmnipotence directs all potentialities).\n\n38. The unaltered mind continues to view the varieties of the power of\nhis Maker, in all the variations of time and place, and of all external\ncircumstances.\n\n39. The Lord proposes these plans in the formation of his creation, and\nexhibits as the sea does its waves in endless varieties and successions\nfrom the plenitude of his mind.\n\n40. So the Lord manifests the powers situated in himself, as the sea\ndoes its waves in itself. Or as the milk forms the butter, the earth\nproduces the pot (_ghata_), and the thread is woven into the cloth\n(_pata_). So the _bata_ or fig tree brings forth its fruit, and all\nother varied forms are contained in their sources. But these formal\nchanges are phenomenal not real. They are mere appearances of the\nspectrum, as those of apparitions and spectres.[6]\n\n41. There is no other agent or object, nor an actor and its act, or any\nthing which is acted upon, nor is there any thing that becomes nothing\nexcept it by but a variety of the one unity. (_In nihilo riverti\nposse_).\n\n42. The mind that witnesses the spiritual truths, and remains with its\nunimpaired equanimity, and is undepressed by external accidents, comes\nto see the light of truth in itself. (Truth like the sun shineth in the\ninmost soul).\n\n43. (Verse). There being the lamp, there is its light also; and the sun\nshining brings the day with him. Where there is the flower, there is\nits odour likewise; so where there is the living soul, there is the\nlight or knowledge of the world in it.\n\n44. The world appearing all around, is as the light of the soul; it\nappears as the motion of the wind, whereof we have no notion of its\nreality or unreality. (So says Herbert Spencer concerning our notion of\nmotion. We see the wheel in motion and changing its place, but have no\nidea of its motion).\n\n45. The immaculate Soul, is the prime mobile power of the appearance\nand disappearance of the myriads of gross bodies which like the\nrevolving stars of the sky, and the season flowers of the spring,\nappear and reappear to us by turns, like the ups and downs of wheels in\nmotion. (We see their revolutions, but neither see their motion nor the\nsoul the giver of motion).\n\n46. All things die away when our souls are without us, but how can any\nthing be null when we are in possession of our souls? (Everything\nexists with ourselves, but we lose all, with loss of our souls).\n\n47. All things appear before us in the presence of our souls, and they\nvanish from before us in their absence from the body. (Every thing is\nexistent with us with the existence of our souls, and nothing is\nperceived by us without them, as when we are dead).\n\n48. Everything is born with us with our souls, and is lost with loss of\nthem. (The living have all, but the dead are lost to view. And the\nhuman soul, when in conjunction with the Divine, has a clear view of\neverything).\n\n51. The minds of men are endowed with their knowledge at their very\nbirth. Then growing big by degrees in course of time, they expand\nthemselves in the form of this spacious forest of the world.\n\n52. The wood of the world is the fastening post of the soul, where our\nblooming desires are fraught with fruits of poignant griefs. It\nbranches out with gratifications, blossoms with hoary age, and is\nbreaking its goodly post, and wandering at large of its free will.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXXX.\n\n BRAHMA IDENTIC WITH THE WORLD\n or\n IDENTITY OF THE WORLD WITH BRAHMA.\n\n\nArgument. Production and names of the Varieties of Animal Life and\ntheir spiritual Natures.\n\n\nR\u00e1ma said:\u2014Tell me, sir, about the production of animal beings from\nBrahma, and let me know their different names and natures in full\nlength.\n\n2. Vasishtha replied:\u2014The manner in which the different species of\nbeings are produced from Brahma, and how they are destroyed afterwards,\nas also how they obtain their liberation at last:\u2014\n\n3. Also the manner of their growth and sustentation, and fitness in the\nworld, are all what you must hear me now tell you in brief.\n\n4. The power of the intellect of Brahma exerts of its free will, and\nthis omnipotence becomes whatever is thought of (chetya) in the Divine\nIntellect.\n\n5. The intellection becomes condensed to a certain subtile form, which\nhaving the powers of conception (_sankalpa_), becomes the principle\nentitled the Mind.\n\n6. The mind then by an effort of its conception (called the Will),\nexpands itself to an unreal (ideal) scenery like that of the Fairyland,\nby falling off from the nature of Brahmic Incogitancy.\n\n7. The intellect when remaining in its original state, appears as a\nvacuum or vacancy; but upon manifesting itself in the form of the mind,\nit is seen as the visible sky by men.\n\n8. Taking the conception of the lotus-born, it finds itself in its\nconceived form of the lotus (Brahm\u00e1), and then it thinks of creation in\nthe form of Praj\u00e1pati or lord of creatures.\n\n9. He then formed from his thought (chitta) this creation, containing\nthe fourteen worlds with all the bustle of living beings in them.\n\n10. The mind itself is a vacuity with a vacuous body; its conception is\nthe field of its action, and its sphere is full with the false workings\nof the mind.\n\n11. Here there are many kinds of beings, labouring under great\nignorance as the beasts and brute creatures. There are some with\nenlightened minds as the sages; and others staggering in the\nintermediate class, as the majority of mankind.\n\n12. Among all living beings that are confined in this earth, it is only\nthe human race living in this part (India), that are capable of\nreceiving instruction and civilization.\n\n13. But as most of these are subject to diseases and distress, and are\nsuffering under the thrall of their ignorance, enmity and fear; it is\nfor them that I will deliver my lecture on social and saintly\nconduct\u2014_r\u00e1jatwik\u00ed n\u00edti_ (in the 42nd chapter of this book).\n\n14. I will also treat there about the everlasting, imperishable and\nomnipresent Brahma, who is without beginning and end, whose mind is\nwithout error, and of the form of Intellectual light.\n\n15. How endless beings are put to motion, by the momentum of a particle\nof his motionless body; and resembling the rolling of boisterous waves\non the surface of the clear and tranquil ocean.\n\n16. R\u00e1ma asked:\u2014How sir, do you speak of a part of the infinite Spirit,\nand of the momentum of the motionless God; as also of a change and\neffort of it, that is altogether without them (vik\u00e1r\u00e1vikrama).\n\n17. Vasishtha replied:\u2014It is the usual and current mode of expression,\nboth in the s\u00e1stras and language of the people to say, \u201call this is\nmade by or come from Him\u201d, but it is not so in its real and spiritual\nsense.\n\n18. No change or partition, and no relation of space or time, bear any\nreference to the Supreme, who is unchangeable, infinite and eternal;\nnor is there any appearance or disappearance of Him at any time or\nplace, who is ever invisible every where.\n\n19. There never was nor can there ever be any way, of representing the\nincomprehensible, except by symbolical expressions; it was therefore in\naccordance to common speech, that I have made use of those words.\n\n20. Whatever words or sentences are used here as symbolical of some\nsense, whether they express as \u201cproduced from it _tajja_\u201d or as a\nchange of the same\u2014\u201c_tanmaya_\u201d, the same should be used, in that sense\nall along.\n\n21. It is tajja, as when we say \u201cfire proceeds from fire\u201d (meaning, the\n\u201cmundane Brahma comes out of the spiritual Brahma.\u201d Here fire is\nsymbolical of Brahma and the world). It is _tanmaya_ in the expression\n\u201cBrahma is the producer and produced\u201d (which means the identity\u2014and\ntransformation of the creator to the creation).\n\n22. The first form is applied to the world as proceeding from Brahma:\nbut the other form of the producer and produced, means also the\ncreative power which made the world.\n\n23. The expression _idam\u2014anyat_ = _idem alius_ or this is one thing and\nthat another, is false, the difference is verbal and not real; because\nthere is no proof of it in the nature of God, which is one and all.\n\n24. The mind, by reason of its birth (tajja) from Brahma, is possessed\nboth of the power and intelligence of his Intellect, and is enabled to\naccomplish its intended purpose, by means of its intense application.\n\n25. To say that one flame of fire, is the producer of another, is mere\nlogomachy, and there is no truth in this assertion. (Because it is no\nother thing produced by another, but the very thing).\n\n26. That one is the producer of another is also a paralogy; because the\none Brahma being infinite, could produce no other thing, beside\nreproducing himself. (For where and whence could he get another thing\nto create a thing anew beside in himself?).\n\n27. It is the nature of disputation to contradict one another by\nreplies and rejoinders; but it is not right to foil the adversary by\nfalse sophistry.\n\n28. The learned know Brahma as the ocean rolling in its endless waves,\nand as significant words and their significations, which go together as\nBrahma and his creation.\n\n29. Brahma is the Intellect\u2014_Chit_, Brahma is the mind\u2014_manas_, Brahma\nis intelligence\u2014_Vijn\u00e1na_, and Brahma is substance\u2014_Vasthu_; He is\nSound\u2014_sabda_, He is understanding\u2014_chit_, and He is in the principles\nof things\u2014_Dh\u00e1tus_.\n\n30. The whole universe is Brahma, and yet He is beyond all this. In\nreality the world is a nullity, for all is Brahma alone.\n\n31. This is one thing and that is another, and this is a part of the\ngreat soul, are all contradictory assertions of ignorance (false\nknowledge), as no words can express the true nature of the unknown.\n\n32. The spirit rises as the flame of fire, and this flame is\nsignificant of the mind. Its tremor signifies the fluctuation of the\nmind, which in reality is not the case, there being no rise or fall of\nthe Divine Mind.\n\n33. It is untruth that wavers and equivocates in _double entendres_. It\nprevaricates the truth, as the defective eye views the double moon in\nthe sky.\n\n34. Brahma being all (_to pan_) of himself, and all pervading and\ninfinite of his own nature, there can be no other thing beside himself,\nand anything that is produced of him, is likewise himself.\n\n35. Beside the truth of the existence of Brahma, there is nothing which\ncan be proved as absolutely certain; and it is a scriptural truth which\nsays, \u201cverily all this is Brahma.\u201d\n\n36. This also must be the conclusion, which you will arrive at by your\nreasoning, and which I will propound with many instances and tenets in\nthe Book of Nirv\u00e1na or Extinction.\n\n37. There are many things here in connection with this single question\nof which you are ignorant, and all which you will come to know fully in\nfuture, for dispelling your doubts on the subject.\n\n38. The unreality having disappeared, the reality appears to view, as\nthe darkness of night being dispelled, the visible world comes to sight.\n\n39. The spacious world which appears to your false sight of it, will\nvanish, O R\u00e1ma! on your attaining to the state of calm quietism. The\nfallacious appearances must disappear from your vision, as soon as the\nlight of truth comes to dawn upon your soul.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XLI.\n\n DESCRIPTION OF IGNORANCE.\n\n\nArgument. Delusion the cause of error.\n\n\nR\u00e1ma said:\u2014Sir, I feel your speech to be as cooling and shining as the\nwater of the milky sea; it is as deep and copious as the vast ocean:\u2014\n\n2. I am sometimes darkened and enlightened at others, by the variety of\nyour discourses, as a rainy day is now obscured by the cloud, and again\nshines forth brightly with sunshine.\n\n3. I understand Brahma as infinite and inconceivable, and the life and\nlight of all that exists. I know that light never sets; but tell me,\nhow they attribute many qualities that are foreign to his nature.\n\n4. Vasishtha replied:\u2014The wording and meaning of my lectures to you,\nare all used in their right and ordinary sense, they are neither\ninsignificant or meaningless, equivocal or ambiguous, or contradictory\nof one with another.\n\n5. You will understand the proper import of my phraseology, when the\neyesight of your understanding becomes clearer, and when the light of\nreason will rise in your mind.\n\n6. Do not mistake the meanings of my words, or the phraseology I have\nused all along, in order to explain the subject of my lectures, and\npurport of the s\u00e1stras, for your acquaintance with them.\n\n7. When you will come to know the clear Truth of Brahma, you will know\nmore regarding the distinctions of significant words, and their\nsignifications and significates.\n\n8. The distinctive verbal signs are invented for the communication of\nour thoughts, in conveying our instructions to others, and for our\nknowledge of the purport of the s\u00e1stras.\n\n9. Words and their meanings, phrases and their constructions, are used\nfor the instruction of others; they are applied to the use of the\nignorant, and never apply to those who are acquainted with truth (by\ntheir intention).\n\n10. There is no attribute, nor imputation, that bears any relation with\nthe free and unsullied soul. It is the dispassionate spirit of the\nsupreme Brahma, and the same is the soul of the existent world.\n\n11. This subject will again be fully discussed and dilated upon with\nvarious arguments, on the occasion of our arriving to the conclusion of\nthis subject (in the book of Nirv\u00e1na).\n\n12. I have said so far about verbiology at present, because it is\nimpossible to penetrate into the deep darkness of ignorance, without\nthe means of verbiage (flux de mots).\n\n13. As conscious ignorance offers herself a willing sacrifice to the\nshrine of knowledge, she bids her adversary\u2014the destroyer of error, to\ntake possession of her seat in the bosom of man. (Here is a double\nentendre of the word _avidy\u00e1_, the former meaning ignorance as well as\na concubine, and the latter signifying the wife and knowledge; hence it\nimplies the advance of knowledge upon disappearance of her rival\nignorance).\n\n14. As one weapon is foiled by another, and one dirt is removed by the\nother (_cow dung_ and ashes), and as one poison is destroyed by\nanother, and also as one foe is driven out by another enemy (_similes\ncurantur_).\n\n15. So R\u00e1ma, the mutual destruction of errors, brings joy to the soul.\nIt is hard however to detect the error; but no sooner it is found out\nthan it is put to destruction. It means the confutation of false\ndoctrines by one another.\n\n16. Ignorance obscures our perspicacity, and presents the false and\ngross world before us. We all view this wonderful universe, but know\nnot what and how it is.\n\n17. Unobserved it rushes to our view, but being examined with\nattention, it flies upon keen observation. We know it is a phantasm,\nand yet find it appearing with its dimensions and figures before us.\n\n18. O the wonderful enchantment, which has spread out this world, and\nmade the unreality to appear as a sober reality, to the knowledge of\nevery one of us.\n\n19. This earth is a distinct wide extended superfices, resting on the\nindistinct surface of an unknown substratum. He is the best of beings\nthat has stretched this enchantment.\n\n20. When you are enlightened with the thought, that all this is\ninexistent in reality; you will then become the knower of the knowable\n(God), and understand the import of my lectures.\n\n21. So long as you are not awakened to true knowledge, rely upon my\nwords, and know this immensity as the creature of the incorrigible and\nimmovable ignorance.\n\n22. All this immensity, that appears to sight, is but the picture of\nyour mistaken thought; it is all unsubstantial, and a mere\nmanifestation of your deluded mind only.\n\n23. He is entitled to liberation, whose mind is certain of the reality\nof Brahma; and knows the moving and unmoving figures without, as the\nthoughts of the mind presented to the sight.\n\n24. The whole scale of the earth, is as a net of birds to catch the\nfleeting mind; it is as false as a landscape in the dream; which\nrepresents the unreal as real ones to the mind.\n\n25. He who looks upon the world without his attachment to it, is never\nsubject to grief or sorrow on any account. And he who thinks all these\nforms as formless, sees the formless spirit.\n\n26. The forms of the formless spirit, is the formation of ignorance,\nand when the blemishes of passions and mutations, do not even belong to\ngreat souls, how can these attributes relate to the greatest God.\n\n27. The attributes given to the Supreme Spirit, are as dust thrown upon\nthe surface of limpid water; it is our thoughts only that attribute\nthese qualities to the inconceivable One, as we attribute certain\nmeanings to words (that bear no relation to them).\n\n<28.> It is usage that establishes the meanings of words, which continue\nto be inseparably joined with them; and it is usage that determines\ntheir use in the s\u00e1stras.\n\n29. As the cloth cannot be thought of without its thread, so the soul\nis unintelligible without the medium of words giving its true\ndefinition.\n\n30. It is possible to gain the knowledge of the soul from the s\u00e1stras,\nwithout one\u2019s self-consciousness of it; as it is possible to get over\nthe sea of ignorance, by means of spiritual knowledge.\n\n31. R\u00e1ma! it is impossible to arrive at the state of what is called\nimperishable life and bliss, when the soul is any how polluted by the\nblemishes of ignorance.\n\n32. The existence of the world verily depends on the existence of the\nSupreme; know this, and do not question how and whence it came to exist.\n\n33. Let it be for thee to think only how thou shalt get rid of this\nunreality; for it is upon the disappearance of the unreality, that thou\ncanst know the real truth.\n\n34. Leave off thinking whence is all this, how it is and how it is\ndestroyed at last; believe it to be really nothing, but only appearing\nwithout being actually seen.\n\n35. How can one know, how the unreality appears as reality by his\nmistake of it, when the error of reality, in the unreal, has taken a\nfirm footing in his mind?\n\n36. Try your best to destroy this prejudice of yours, and then you will\nknow the truth. And verily such men are the greatest heroes and most\nlearned in the world, who are freed from prejudices.\n\n37. Strive to destroy your baneful ignorance, or it is sure to\noverpower on thee as upon the rest of mankind.\n\n38. Take care, lest it should enthral thee to the pain of thy repeated\ntransmigrations, and know ignorance to be the root of all evils and\ncompanion of every vice. It creates a man\u2019s interest in what proves his\nperil.\n\n39. Avoid quickly this false view, the baneful cause of your fears and\nsorrows, and of your diseases and dangers; and the germ of errors in\nthe mind; and thereby ford over this perilous ocean of the world.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XLII.\n\n PRODUCTION OF J\u00cdVA OR LIVING SOULS.\n\n\nArgument. Condensation of Desires in the Intellect. And Formation of\nliving souls thereby.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014Hear now R\u00e1ma! the antidote against the wide\nextended malady of Ignorance, and the raging endemic of unreality,\nwhich vanishes from view upon your close inspection of it.\n\n2. That which was proposed to be said (in chapter XL), concerning the\ns\u00e1twika and r\u00e1jasika qualities. I am now going to expound the same, on\naccount of investigating into the powers of the mind.\n\n3. The same Brahma who is all-pervading, undecaying and immortal; is\nknown as intellectual light and without beginning and end, and free\nfrom error.\n\n4. The Intellect, which is body of Brahma, and has its vibration in\nitself, becomes agitated and condensed at intervals, as the translucent\nwater of the ocean has its motion of itself, and becomes turbid and\nthickened by its perturbation.\n\n(_i.e._ The mind is possest of motion contrary to dull and motionless\nmatter, and it is by its moving force, that it forms the gross bodies,\nas the huge surges of the sea).\n\n5. As the water of the sea, is agitated in itself without any motion or\nexcitation from without; so the Almighty power exerts its force in\nitself, throughout all its eternity and infinity. (The water composed\nof the _gases_, is always in motion).\n\n6. As the air stirs in its own bosom of vacuity for ever, so the power\nof the Divine Spirit, exerts itself spontaneously and freely in its own\nsphere of the spirit.\n\n7. And as the flame rises high of its own accord, so the power of the\nspirit, extends in itself in all directions. (It is the nature of the\nflame to rise upward only, but that of the Spirit, is to move in every\nway and all round the great circle of creation).\n\n8. As the sea seems to move with its sparkling waters, reflecting the\nsun and moonbeams upon its surface, so the almighty spirit appears to\nshake with the fleeting reflections of creation in its bosom.\n\n9. As the sea sparkles with the golden beams of the starry frame; so\nthe translucent vast soul of God, shines with the light of its own\nintellectual sphere.\n\n10. As chains of pearly rays, glitter to our sight in the empty sky; so\nsundry forms of things fly about in the vast vacuity of the intellect.\n(These are as bubbles in the vast expanse of the Divine Mind).\n\n11. These intellectual images, being pushed forward by the force of\nintellect, they begin to roll in its vacuous sphere like waves in the\nsea. (They are the same in substance, though different in appearance).\n\n12. These images though inseparable from the intellect of the Divine\nspirit, yet they seem to be apart from it, like the light in the holes\nof needles and other cavities. (The glory of God, is the light and life\nof all).\n\n13. The universal Omnipotence exhibits itself in those particular\nforms, as the moon shows her various horns in her different phases.\n\n14. Thus the intellectual power of the Supreme spirit, coming to shine\nforth as light, refracts itself in various forms as the very many\nsemblances of that great light.\n\n15. The Supreme spirit, though conscious of its nature of infinity and\nindivisibility, yet assumes to itself the state of its individuality,\nin every separate and limited form of created beings.\n\n16. When the supreme Entity takes upon itself these several forms, it\nis immediately joined by a train of qualities and properties, with\nquantity, modality and the like as followers in its train.\n\n17. The unsubstantial intellect, deeming itself as a substance by its\nbeing separated from the supreme soul; becomes divided into infinity\nlike the waves of the sea water (which is one and many).\n\n18. As there is no material difference of the armlet and bracelet, from\ntheir matter of the same gold; so it is the intellect and the soul the one\nand same thing. It is the thought that makes the difference in their\ndifferent modes.\n\n19. As there is no difference between one lamp and the others, that are\nlighted from the same light; so it is of all souls and intellects,\nwhich are alike in their nature, but differ only in their particular\nattributes\u2014_upadhis_.\n\n20. The Intellect, being put to action by the force of the soul on\nparticular occasions, pursues its desires and the objects of its fancy.\n\n21. The same intellect also, taking its volitive and active forms at\ndifferent times and places; is styled the embodied soul or spirit, and\nknown as _Kshetrajna_.\n\n22. It is so named from its familiarity with the body or _Kshetra_, and\nits knowledge of the inward and outward actions of it (or from its\nknowing its person and personality).\n\n23. This being fraught with its desires, is designated as Egoism or\nselfishness; and this again being soiled by its fancies, takes the name\nof the understanding.\n\n24. The understanding leaning to its wishes, is termed the mind; which\nwhen it is compacted for action, takes the name of the senses or\nsensation.\n\n25. The senses are next furnished with their organs called the organs\nof sense, which being joined with the organs of action, the hands and\nfeet are jointly denominated the body.\n\n26. Thus the living soul being tied to its thoughts and desires, and\nbeing entrapped in the net of pain and sorrow, is termed _Chitta_ or\nheart.\n\n27. Thus the gradual development of the intellect, produces its\nsuccessive results (or phases as said above); so these are the\ndifferent states or conditions of the living soul, and not so many\nforms of it, but all these are the impurities of the soul.\n\n28. The living soul becomes associated with egoism in its embodied\nstate, and this being polluted by its egoistic understanding, it is\nentangled in the net of selfish desires, which becomes the mind.\n\n29. The concupiscent mind becomes eager to engraft itself in its\nconsorts and offspring, and to secure the false possessions of the\nworld to itself and without a rival.\n\n30. The tendencies of the mind, pursue their desired objects, as the\ncow follows the lusty bull; and the mind runs after its objects only to\nbe polluted by them, as the sweet stream of the river, meets the sea to\nbecome bitter and briny.\n\n31. Thus the mind being polluted by its selfishness, loses the freedom\nof its will; and becomes bound to its desires, as the silkworm is\nenclosed in the cocoon.\n\n32. It is the mind that exposes the body to confinement, by its pursuit\nafter its desires, until it comes to feel the gall of its own thraldom,\nand the bitter regret of the conscious soul.\n\n33. Knowing itself to be enslaved, it bids farewell to the freedom of\nits thought and knowledge; and begets within itself the gross\nignorance, which rages and ranges free in the forest of this world,\nwith its horribly monstrous appearance.\n\n34. The mind containing within it the flame of its own desires, is\nconsumed to death like the fettered lion in a fire.\n\n35. It assumes to itself the agency of all its various acts, under its\nsubjection to a variety of desires; and thus exposes itself to the\nchanges of its state, in this life and all its future births.\n\n36. It labours continually under all its octuple state of\nunderstanding; namely that the knowledge, intelligence and activity\nor active agency, and its egoism or selfishness, all of which are\ncauses of all its woe.\n\n37. It is sometimes styled the _prakriti_ or character, and at others\nthe _m\u00e1y\u00e1_ or seat of self delusion. The mind\u2014_manas_ is often\nconverted to _malas_ or foulness, and very often to _karman_ or\nactivity.\n\n38. It is sometimes designated as bondage, and is often synonymous with\nthe heart; it is called also as _avidy\u00e1_ or ignorance, and frequently\nidentified with the will or volition likewise.\n\n39. Know R\u00e1ma, the heart is tied to the earth by a chain of sorrow and\nmisery; it is brimful of avarice and grief, and the abode of passions.\n\n40. It is living dead with the cares of age and the fear of death, to\nwhich the world is subject; it is troubled with desire and disgust, and\nstained by its ignorance and passions.\n\n41. It is infested by the prickly thorns of its wishes, and the\nbrambles of its acts; it is quite forgetful of its origin, and is beset\nby the evils of its own making.\n\n42. It is confined as the silkworm in its own cell, where it is doomed\nto dwell with its sorrow and pain; and though it is but a minim in its\nshape, it is the seat of endless hell-fire. (A hair as heart. Pope. The\nheart is hell &c. Milton).\n\n43. It is as minute as the soul, and yet appears as huge as the highest\nhill; and this world is a forest of wild poisonous trees, branching out\nwith their fruits of decay and death.\n\n44. The snare of desire is stretched over the whole world; its fruits\nare as those of the Indian fig trees, which has no pith or flavour\nwithin.\n\n45. The mind being burnt by the flame of its sorrow, and bitten by the\ndragon of its anger; and being drowned in the boisterous sea of its\ndesires, has entirely forgotten its Great Father.\n\n46. It is like a lost stag straying out of its herd, and like one\ndemented by his sorrows; or more like a moth singed by the flame of\nworld affairs.\n\n47. It is torn away as a limb from its place in the Spirit, and thrown\nin an incongenial spot; it is withering away like a lotus plant plucked\nfrom its root.\n\n48. Being cast amidst the bustle of business, and among men who are\ninimical or as dumb pictures to him, every man is groveling in this\nearth amidst dangers and difficulties.\n\n49. Man is exposed to the difficulties of this dark and dismal world,\nlike a bird fallen in the waters of the sea; he is entangled in the\nsnare of the world, like one snatched to the fairy land in the sky.\n\n50. The mind is carried away by the current of business, like a man\nborne by the waves of the sea. Lift it, O brave R\u00e1ma! from this pit, as\nthey do an elephant sinking in the mud.\n\n51. Lift up thy mind by force, O R\u00e1ma! like a bullock from this\ndelusive puddle (_palvala_) of the world, where it is shorn of its\nbrightness and is weakened in its frame.\n\n52. R\u00e1ma! the man whose mind is not troubled in this world, with\nsuccessive joy and grief, and the vicissitudes of decrepitude, disease\nand death, is no human being: but resemble a monstrous R\u00e1kshasa,\nalthough he may have the figure of a man on him. (It is not humanity to\n devoid of human feeling).\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XLIII.\n\n THE REPOSITORIES OF LIVING SOULS.\n\n\nArgument. The Transmigrations of Souls by virtue of their Acts, and the\nway of their salvation.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014Thus the living soul being derived from Brahma,\nassumes to itself the form of the mind, and is tossed about with the\nthoughts and cares of the world. It is then changed into thousands and\nmillions of forms, as it figures to itself in its imagination.\n\n2. It has undergone many prior births, and is in the course of\nmigrating into many more; it will transmigrate into many more also,\nwhich are as multitudinous as the flitting particles of a water-fall\n(splitting to many atoms).\n\n3. These atomic souls of living beings, being subjected to their\ndesires by the great variety of their wishes; are made to wander under\nmany forms, to which they are bound by their desires.\n\n4. They rove incessantly to different directions, in distant countries\nboth by land and water; they live or die in those places, as the\nbubbles blow out but to float and burst, and then sink in the water\nbelow.\n\n5. Some are produced for the first time in a new _kalpa_ age, and\nothers are born a hundred times in it; some have had only two or three\nbirths, while the births of others are unnumbered (in a kalpa).\n\n6. Some are yet unborn and are to be born yet on earth, and many others\nhave passed their births by attainment of their liberation at last.\nSome are alive at present, and others are no more to be born.\n\n7. Some are born again and again, for myriads of kalpas, some remaining\nin one state all along, and many in various states repeatedly changing\ntheir forms and natures.\n\n8. Some are subjected to the great misery of hell, and some are\ndestined to a little joy on earth; some enjoying the great delights of\nthe gods in heaven, and others raised to the glory of heavenly bodies\nabove.\n\n9. Some are born as Kinnaras and Gandharvas and others as Vidy\u00e1dharas\nand huge serpents; some appear in the forms of Sol, Indra and Varuna\n(Ouranas), and others in those of the triocular Siva and the lotus-born\nBrahm\u00e1.\n\n10. Some become the Kushm\u00e1nda and Vet\u00e1la goblins, and others as Yaksha\nand R\u00e1kshasa cannibals; some again become the Brahm\u00e1nas and the ruling\nclass, and others become Vaisyas and S\u00fadras. (The four tribes of\nIndo-Aryans).\n\n11. Some become Swapacha and Chand\u00e1la (eaters of dog and hog-flesh),\nand others as Kir\u00e1tas and Puskasa (eaters of rotten bodies); some\nbecome the grass and greens on earth, and others as the seeds of fruits\nand roots of vegetables, and as moths and butterflies in the air.\n\n12. Some are formed into varieties of herbs and creeping plants, and\nothers into stones and rocks; some into _J\u00e1ma_ and _Kadamba_ trees, and\nothers into _S\u00e1la_, _T\u00e1la_ and _Tam\u00e1la_ forests.\n\n13. There are some placed in prosperous circumstances, and become as\nministers and generals and rulers of states; while others are clad in\ntheir rags and remain as religious recluses, munis and taciturn hermits\nin the woods.\n\n14. Some are born as snakes and hydras, worms, insects and ants; whilst\nthere are others in the forms of great lions, big buffaloes, stags and\ngoats, the bos guavas and fleet antelopes in forests.\n\n15. Some are begotten as storks and cranes, ruddy geese and cuckoos;\nand others are become their pastures in the shapes of lotuses and water\nlilies, the nilumbium and other aquatic shrubs and flowers.\n\n16. Some are brought forth as elephants and their cubs, and as wild\nboars, bulls and asses; and others come into being as bees and beetles,\nflies and gadflies, gnats and musquitoes.\n\n17. Many are born to difficulties and dangers, and many to prosperity\nand adversity; some are placed in hell pits and others in their\nheavenly abodes.\n\n18. Some are situated in the stars, and some in the hollows of trees;\nsome move upon the wings of the winds, and others rest in the still air\nabove or fly freely in the sky.\n\n19. Many dwell in the sunlight of the day, and many subsist under the\nmoonbeams at night; while there be others subsisting upon the beverage,\nwhich they draw from the herbaceous plants.\n\n20. Some are liberated in their life-time, and rove about freely in\nthis earth; while others live in their blissful states (in holy and\nlonely hermitage). Some are altogether emancipate in their reliance in\nthe Supreme Spirit.\n\n21. There are some that require long periods for their blessed and\nultimate liberation; and others there are that disbelieve the\nintellectuality and spirituality of mankind, and dislike their being\nreduced to the solity of the soul, or to be reduced to their oneness or\nunity with the Supreme soul\u2014Kaivalya.\n\n22. Some become regents of the skies above, and others roll down in the\nform of mighty streams; some become females of beautiful appearances,\nand others as ugly hermaphrodites and abnormalities.\n\n23. Some are of enlightened understandings, and some are darkened in\ntheir minds. Some are preachers and lecturers of knowledge, and others\nin their ecstatic trance of Sam\u00e1dhi.\n\n24. The living souls that are under the subjection of their desires,\nare so powerless of themselves, that they have forgotten their freedom,\nand are fast chained to the fetters of their wishes.\n\n25. They rove about the world, now flying up and then falling down in\ntheir hopes and fears; and are incessantly tossed up and down, like\nplaying balls flung on all sides, by the relentless hands of playful\nDeath.\n\n26. Entrapped in the hundred fold snare of desire, and converted to the\nvarious forms of their wishes, they pass from one body to another, as\nthe birds fly from one tree to alight on another.\n\n27. The endless desires of the living soul, bred and led by the false\nimaginations of the mind, have spread this enchanted snare of magic or\nm\u00e1y\u00e1, which is known by the name of the great world.\n\n28. So long are the stupefied souls doomed to rove about in the world,\nlike the waters in a whirlpool; as they do not come to understand the\ntrue nature of their selves, as selfsame with the Supreme-Self.\n\n29. Having known and seen the true Self, by forsaking their false\nknowledge of it, they come to their consciousness of themselves, as\nidentic with the divine Self; and having attained this in process of\ntime, they are released from their doom of revisiting this world of\npain and sorrow.\n\n30. There are however some insensible beings, who notwithstanding their\nattainment of this knowledge, are so perverted in their natures, that\nthey have to return again to this earth, after passing into a hundred\nlives in it in various shapes (owing to their disbelief in the self).\n\n31. Some there are who after having attained to higher states, fall\ndown again by the lowness of their spirits, and appearing in the shapes\nof brute creatures, have to fall into hell at last.\n\n32. There are some great minded souls, who having proceeded from the\nstate of Brahma, have to pass here a single life, after which they are\nabsorbed in the Supreme soul. (Such were the sage Janaka and the sagely\nSeneca).\n\n33. There are multitudes of living beings in other worlds also, some of\nwhom have become as the lotus-born Brahm\u00e1, and others as Hara (the\nHorus of the Egyptian trinity).\n\n34. There are others who have become as gods and brute creatures in\nthem, and there are snakes and other reptiles also in them as well as\nin this earth. (Astronomers have descried kine in the moon, and Hindoos\nhave found it to abound in deer, whence the moon is called mrig\u00e1nka by\nthem. So are the constellations in the heavens).\n\n35. There are other worlds as obvious to view as this earth (in the\nstarry heavens), and there are many such worlds that have gone by, and\nare yet to appear (in the immensity of space).\n\n36. There are various other creatures of different shapes, produced by\nvarious unknown causes in the other worlds also, which have their\ngrowths and deaths like those of this earth.\n\n37. Some are produced as Gandharvas, and others as Yakshas (the Yakkas\nat Ceylon); and some are generated as Suras (Sorians); and some others\nas Asuras (Assyrians) and Daityas (demons).\n\n38. The manners and modes of life of the peoples in other parts of the\nglobe, are as those of the men living in this part of the earth.\n\n39. All creatures move according to their own natures and mutual\nrelations for ever more, as the waves and currents of a river move\nforward, following and followed by others in regular succession.\n\n40. The whole creation moves onward in eternal progression, in its\ncourse of evolution and involution, and in its motions of ascension and\ndescension like the waves of the ocean.\n\n41. In this manner do the multitudes of living beings, proceed from the\nSupreme Spirit, who with the consciousness of their self-existence,\nrise from and fall at last into it. (The consciousness of the universal\nsoul, is divided into the individual souls of beings, that are derived\nand detached from it).\n\n42. All created beings are detached from their source, like the light\nfrom the lamp and the solar rays from the sun; they are like sparks of\nred hot iron, and the scintillation of fire.\n\n43. They are as the particles (or minute moments) of time, and the\nflying odours of flowers; or as the cold icicles and the minutial of\nrain water, borne by breeze and cooling the air all around.\n\n44. So the flitting particles of life, flying from one spot to another,\nand filling different bodies with animation, are at last absorbed in\nthe main spring of vitality whence they had risen.\n\n45. The particles of vital air, being thus spread out and scattered\nover the universe, come to assume the various forms of animated beings\nin all the worlds, but they are all mere creations of our ignorance,\nand are in reality like the rolling waves of water in the vast ocean of\neternity.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XLIV.\n\n THE INCARNATION OF HUMAN SOULS IN THE WORLD.\n\n\nArgument. Discussion about incarnation of the spirit, and its\nextinction by death and liberation.\n\n\nR\u00e1ma asked:\u2014I understand now how the particles of the Divine Spirit,\ntake the forms of the living souls; but I cannot conceive how it\nassumes the corporeal body composed of bones and ribs.\n\n2. Vasishtha replied:\u2014Why don\u2019t you know it R\u00e1ma, when I have explained\nit to you before? Where have you lost your deductive reasoning of\narriving to the conclusion from those premises.\n\n3. All these corporeal bodies in the world, and all these moving and\nunmoving persons and things, are but false representations, rising\nbefore us as the visions in our dreams.\n\n4. The phenomenal world differs only in its being but a longer and more\ndelusive dream; it is as the sight of the double moon by optical\ndeception, and of a mountain in the delusion of darkness.\n\n5. The enlightened mind which is cleared of its drowsiness of\nignorance, and is freed from the fetters of its desire, views the world\nto be no more than a dream.\n\n6. The world is a creation of the imagination, by the nature of all\nliving souls, and it remains therefore impressed in the soul, until it\nattains its final liberation.\n\n7. The fleeting essence of the soul, is like the eddy of waters; or\nlike the germ of the seed, or more like the leaflet of a sprout.\n\n8. And as the flower is contained in the branch, and the fruit within\nits flowers; so this creation of the imagination, is contained in the\nreceptacle of the mind.\n\n9. As the ever-changing form of the chameleon, exhibits but a\nparticular hue at a time; so the ever-varying mind shows only the\nfigure, which is prominent in its thought for the time being (and this\ninward figure is reflected by the visual organs).\n\n10. The same thought assumes a visible form, as the clay takes the form\nof a pot; and the good thoughts and actions of the prior state of life,\nserve to give the soul a goodly form in its next birth on earth.\n\n11. We see the mighty lotus-born Brahm\u00e1 situated in the cell of that\nflower, and find it to be the effect of the good thoughts he had in his\nmind.\n\n12. This unlimited creation is the false fabrication of imagination;\nwhereupon the living soul in conjunction with the mind, obtained the\nstate of Virinch\u00ed the Brahm\u00e1 (vir inchoatious or _incipiens_ the\nprimary man, otherwise called _\u00e1dima-purusha_\u2014Adam or the first male).\n\n13. R\u00e1ma said:\u2014I require, Sir, to be fully informed, whether all other\nbeings sprang from the same cause as Brahm\u00e1\u2014the lotus-born.\n\n14. Vasishtha answered:\u2014Hear me tell you, O long-armed R\u00e1ma, the manner\nof Brahm\u00e1\u2019s having the body; and from his instance, you will learn\nabout the existence of the world.\n\n15. The Supreme soul, which is unlimited by time or space, takes of his\nown will, and by the power of his Omnipotence, the limited forms of\ntime and space upon himself.\n\n16. The same becomes the living soul, and is fraught with various\ndesires in itself, of becoming many:\u2014_aham bahu sy\u00e1ma_.\n\n17. When this limited power which is Brahm\u00e1, thinks on the state of his\nhaving been the Hiranyagarbha, in his former state of existence in the\nprior Kalpa; he is immediately transformed to that state which is in\nhis mind, and which is ever busy with its thoughts and imaginations.\n\n18. It thinks first of the clear sky, the receptacle of sound, and\nwhich is perceptible by the auditory organs; and this thought being\ncondensed in the mind, makes it vibrate as by the wind of the air.\n\n19. It thinks then on the vibrations of air, which are the objects of\nfeeling, through the porous skin and the mind; and is moved by the\nthoughts of air and wind to assume that form, which are invisible to the\nnaked eye.\n\n20. The condensation of the elements of air and wind together, produced\nthe idea of light which is the cause of sight, and which has the\ncolours and figures for its objects; and thus the mind being actuated\nby its triple thoughts of air, wind and light, produced the property of\nfire.\n\n21. These joined immediately to produce the idea of coldness the\nproperty of water; and the mind then came to form the quadruple ideas\nof the four elements of air, wind, fire and water.\n\n22. These united together produced the gross form of earth\u2014the\nreceptacle of scent; and then the mind being filled with these minute\nelementary particles in its thoughts of them, forsook its fine form of\nthe spirit for its gross body of the quintuple elements (called the\nquintessence of material bodies (_panchabhautika_)).\n\n23. It saw this body shining as a spark of fire in the sky, which\njoined with its egoism and understanding, formed its personality.\n\n24. This is called the spiritual body (lingasar\u00edra),\u2014the embodying\noctuple, which is situated as the bee in the pericarp of the lotus like\nheart, and which gives growth to the outer body by its inner working\n(as the inner seed grows the outer tree).\n\n25. It is thickened by the action of the heart of its internal process\nof calefaction, like the bel fruit or woodapple. And the outer body\nreceives the qualities of the inner mind, as the jewel shines with the\nlustre of the little particle of gold, which is infused in the melted\nstate of the metal in the crucible.\n\n26. The quality of the inner soul or mind, manifests itself in the\nouter body, as the quality of the seed appears in the form and taste of\nits fruit. The mind then dwells upon the thoughts of its actions, which\nhave their display in the several organs, and members of the bodily\nactions, which are produced by the motions of the inner thoughts and\nacts, as the leaves and branches of trees are projected by the inner\nprocess and operations of the seed.\n\n27. Its thoughts of upside and below, lifts and lowers its head and\nfeet upward and down-ward; and its thought of both sides, extends its\ntwo arms to the right and left.\n\n28. Its thoughts of the backward and forward, places its back behind,\nand its breast and belly before it; and the hairs on the head and\nfingers of the hands, are as the filaments and twigs of trees.\n\n29. In this manner did Brahm\u00e1, who is called a _muni_ or mental being,\nfrom his having sprung the mind of Brahma, produced the several\nparts of his body, according to his thoughts of their usefulness to it.\n\n30. He brought the body and its limbs to compactness, as the seasons\nbring their fruits and grains to perfection. Thus is every thing\nperfected in time, and all beings have their beautiful bodies and\nfigures.\n\n31. He, the lord Brahm\u00e1 was the progenitor of all beings, and fraught\nwith the qualities of strength and understanding, activity, dignity and\nknowledge. (The Smriti attributes the _Siddhi chatushtaya_ or quadruple\nperfections to him).\n\n32. Being begotten by the vacuous Brahma, he resides in the lap of\nvacuity; and is of the form of melted gold, like every other luminous\nbody in the heavens.\n\n33. Though situated in the Supreme, yet the mind of Brahm\u00e1 is liable to\nthe mistakes of its own making; and at times it quite forgets its\nhaving no beginning, middle nor end, like its source.\n\n34. Sometimes the lord thinks himself, as identic with the waters which\nexisted before creation in his mind; and at another as the mundane egg,\nwhich was as bright as the fire of universal destruction (see Manu I).\n\n35. Sometimes the lord thought himself as the dark wood, which covered\nthe earth before creation of living animals, and them as the lotus bed\n(wherein he was born). Afterwards he became of many forms at each phase\nand epoch of creation. (These epochs are called _kalpas_ or periods, in\nwhich the divine mind manifested itself according to its wish within\nthe different stages of creation).\n\n36. Thus Brahm\u00e1 became the preserver of many kinds of beings, which he\ncreated of his own will from his mind at each stage or _kalpa_-period;\nof which he was the first that issued from Brahma himself. (He was the\nfirst begotten, and nothing was created but by him).\n\n37. When Brahm\u00e1 was first begotten, he remained in his happy state of\ninsensibility and forgetfulness (of his former existence); but being\ndelivered from his torpor in the womb, he came to see the light.\n(_i.e._ He saw the light of heaven, after his delivery from the\ndarkness of the womb).\n\n38. He took a corporeal body, with its breathings and respirations\n(pr\u00e1n\u00e1p\u00e1na); it was covered with pores of hair, and furnished with gums\nof two and thirty teeth. It had the three pots of the thighs, backbone,\nand bones, standing on the feet below; with the five air, five\npartitions, nine cavities, and a smooth skin covering all the limbs.\n(The five airs are pr\u00e1n\u00e1p\u00e1na &c. The five partitions are, the head, the\nlegs, the breast, belly and the hands).\n\n40. It is accompanied by twice ten fingers and their nails on them; and\nwith a couple of arms and palms and two or more hands and eyes (in the\ncases of gods and giants).\n\n41. The body is the nest of the bird of the mind, and it is hole of the\nsnake of lust; it is the cave of the goblin of greediness, and the den\nof the lion of life.\n\n42. It is a chain at the feet of the elephant of pride, and a lake of\nthe lotuses of our desire; The lord Brahm\u00e1 looked upon his handsome\nbody, and saw it was good.\n\n43. Then the lord thought in himself, from his view of the three times\nof the past, present and future, and from his sight of the vault of\nheaven, with a dark mist as a group of flying locusts.\n\n44. \u201cWhat is this boundless space, and what had it been before. How\ncame I to being?\u201d Thus pondering in himself, he was enlightened in his\nsoul. (Thus did Adam inquire about his birth, and the production of the\nworld in Milton\u2019s Paradise Lost).\n\n45. He saw in his mind the different past creations, and recollected\nthe various religions and their various sects, which had grown upon\nearth one after the other.\n\n46. He produced the holy Vedas as the spring does its flowers; and\nformed with ease all varieties of creatures from their archetypes in\nhis mind.\n\n47. He set them in their various laws and customs, as he saw them in\nthe city of his mind, for the purpose of their temporal and spiritual\nwelfare.\n\n48. He thought upon the innumerable varieties of s\u00e1stras which had\nexisted before, and all of which came to exist on earth in their\nvisible forms, from their prototypes in his eternal mind; like the\nflowers springing from the womb of the vernal season.\n\n49. Thus O R\u00e1ma! did Brahm\u00e1 take upon him the form of the lotus-born,\nand create by his activity, all the different creatures upon their\nmodels existent in his mind, which took their various forms in the\nvisible world at his will. (So the Sufi and Platonic doctrine of the\nphenomenal, as a copy of the noumena, or the _suari zahiri_ as but a\nshadow of the _suvari manavi_ or _catini_. See Allami).\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XLV.\n\n DEPENDANCE OF ALL ON GOD.\n\n\nArgument. The mind being a finite production, its product of the world,\nis as unreal as the thoughts of the mind.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014The world appearing as substantial, has nothing\nsubstantive in it; it is all a vacuity and mere representation of the\nimageries and vagaries of the mind.\n\n2. Neither is time nor space filled by any world at all, but by the\ngreat spirit, who has no form except that of vacuum. (The spirit of God\nfills the infinite vacuity from all eternity).\n\n3. This is all imaginary, and as visionary as a city seen in a dream;\nwhatever is seen any where is fallacy, and existing in the infinite\nvacuity. (All is void amidst the great void of Brahma\u2019s Mind).\n\n4. It is a painting without its base, and a vision of unrealities; it\nis an uncreated creation, and a variegated picture in empty air\n(without its canvas).\n\n5. It is the imagination of the mind, that has stretched the three\nworlds, and made the many bodies contained in them. Reminiscence is the\ncause of these creations, as the eyesight is the cause of vision.\n\n6. The pageantry of the world is an erroneous representation, like the\nelevations and depressions in a painting; they are not distinct from\nthe supreme spirit, in which they are situated as buildings stand on\ntheir foundation. (Or as statues in bas-relief).\n\n7. The mind has made the body for its own abode, as some worms make\ntheir cortices or coatings, and the soul also has its sheaths or koshas\n(namely the _annamaya kosha &c._).\n\n8. There is nothing which the mind can not get or build in its empty\nimagination, however difficult or unattainable it may appear to be.\n\n9. What impossibility is there of the same powers residing in\nOmnipotence, which are possessed by the mind in its secluded cell? (The\nspiritual powers must be greater than the mental).\n\n10. It is not impossible, O R\u00e1ma! for any thing to be or not to be at\nany time or always, when there is the omnipotent Lord, who can create\nor annihilate all things at his will. (The positive and the negative\nare co-eternal with the eternal Mind, though it is an impossibility in\nthe order of nature, as; \u201cIt is impossible for the same thing to be,\nand not to be at the same time.\u201d Locke).\n\n11. Mind that, when the mind is empowered to make its own body, and to\nform others in its imagination, how much more is the power of the\nalmighty to make and unmake all things at his will.\n\n12. It is divine will that has brought the gods, the demigods and all\nmankind into existence; and it is by the cessation of the (creative)\nwill, that they cease to exist as the lamp is extinguished for want of\nits oil.\n\n13. Behold the sky and all things under it to be displayed by the\ndivine will, and understand the universe as the visionary scene of thy\ndream laid open to thy sight.\n\n14. There is nothing that is born or dies here at any time, because\nevery thing is a nullity in its true sense.\n\n15. There is also nothing, that becomes more or less in any wise when\nthere is nothing in existence; for how can that (soul) have a body when\nit is bodyless, and can it be parted, when it is an undivided\nwhole?\n\n16. R\u00e1ma! seeing by thy keen sightedness, that all these bodies are\nbodiless (_i.e._ only imaginary beings), why shouldst thou fall into\nthe error (of taking them for realities?).\n\n17. As the mirage is made to appear by the heat of the sun, so do these\nfalse appearances seem as true to thee from the certainty of thy mind.\nSo also are Brahm\u00e1 and others but creatures of thy fancy.\n\n18. They are as false as the sight of two moons in the sky by thy false\nimagination, it is the great fallacy of thy mind, that represents these\nfalse forms of the world before thee.\n\n19. As the passenger in a boat sees the fixed objects on earth to be\nmoving about him, so these varieties of visible objects offer\nthemselves to thy view.\n\n20. Know the world as an enchanted scene, presented by the magic of thy\nerror (_m\u00e1y\u00e1_); it is a fabrication of the working of thy mind, and is\na nullity though appearing as a reality.\n\n21. All this world is Brahma, what else is there beside him? What other\nadjunct can he have, what is that? Whence did it come, and where is it\nsituated?\n\n22. That this is a mountain and that is a tree, are appendages affixed\nby our error and mistake, it is the prejudgment of the mind, that makes\nthe unreality appear as a reality.\n\n23. The world is the creation of error and idol of fools; shun your\nfond desire and thoughts of it, R\u00e1ma, and think of thy unworldly soul.\n\n24. It is as false as the visionary scene of a prolonged dream, and an\naerial building of the fancies of the mind.\n\n25. Shun this grand display of the world, which is so substantial to\nsight, and so inane when felt; It is the den of the dragons of desire,\nfoaming with the poison of their passions.\n\n26. Knowing the world as unreal, try to regard it as nothing; because\nthe wise will never go after a mirage knowing it such.\n\n27. The foolish man that runs after some imaginary object of his\nheart\u2019s desire, is surely exposed to trouble and disappointment for his\nfolly.\n\n28. Whoever desires to have any thing in this world, after knowing it\nas an unreality, surely perishes with his soul for his forsaking the\nreality.\n\n29. It is only that error of the mind, which makes it mistake a rope\nfor a snake; and it is the variety of the thoughts and pursuits of men,\nthat makes them roll about in the world.\n\n30. When some vain thought labors in the mind, like the moon appearing\nto move under the water; it beguiles little children only, and not the\nwise as yourself.\n\n31. He who pursues the virtues for his future happiness, surely kindles\nthe fire of his intelligence to destroy the frost of his ignorance.\n\n32. All the gross bodies that are seen here in this world, are all the\ncreatures of the working of the mind, as the building of aerial castles\nin our thought.\n\n33. It is the heart\u2019s desire that produces these things, as it is want\nof desire that destroys them all. The unrealities appear as true as the\nfairylands appearing to view. (Fairy cities like the sight of\ncastles in the icebergs).\n\n34. Know R\u00e1ma, that nothing that is existent is lost on the dissolution\nof the world, nor what is inexistent of its nature, can ever come into\nexistence.\n\n35. Say R\u00e1ma, what things you call as entire or broken, or to be\ngrowing or decaying, when these ideas are but the formations of your\nsound or unsound mind or the working of your fancy.\n\n36. As children make and break their toy-dolls of clay at will, so the\nmind raises and erases its thoughts of all things in the world (by its\nrepeated recollections and oblivions of them).\n\n37. As nothing is lost or drowned in the talismanic tank of a conjuror,\nso nothing is dead or dissolved in the magical sea of this world\n(sams\u00e1ra s\u00e1gara).\n\n38. The unrealities being all untrue, it is true that nothing is lost\nby their loss. Hence there is no cause for our joy or sorrow in this\nunreal world. (Why sorrow, when a fragile is broken, or a mortal is no\nmore).\n\n39. If the world is altogether an unreality, I know not what may be\nlost in it; and if nothing whatever is really lost in it, what reason\ncan there be for the wise to sorrow for it?\n\n40. If the Deity is the only absolute existence, what else is there for\nus to lose in it? The whole universe being full with Brahma, there can\nbe no cause of our joy or sorrow for any thing whatever.\n\n41. If the unreality can never come to existence, it cannot have its\ngrowth also. What cause is there of our sorrow for their want of growth\nor existence?\n\n42. Thus every thing is but unreal and mere cause of our delusion, what\nis there that may be reckoned as the best boon for us, that the wiseman\ncan have to desire. (No real bliss is to be found on earth).\n\n43. But all this when taken in the sense of their being full with the\nDivine Spirit, what thing is there so very trifling for the wise man to\ndispose or refuse to take?\n\n44. But he who considers the world as an unreality, is never subject to\njoy or sorrow at his gain or loss of any thing. It is only the ignorant\nthat is elated or depressed at the one or the other.\n\n45. That which was not before nor will remain afterwards, is likewise\nthe same nihility at present; therefore who so desires the nullity, is\nsaid in the Sruti to be null himself. (The Sruti says: Nothing there\nwas, nothing there is, and nothing will last in the end except the\nbeing of God).\n\n46. What was before and what will be in the end, the same is in being\n(_in esse_) even at present; therefore, what is always _in esse_, it is\nthat entity alone that is seen everywhere and at all times.\n\n47. There are the unreal sky and moon and stars, seen underneath the\nwater; it is only the deluded boys that like to look at them, but never\nthe wise (who look at the reality and not at its shadow).\n\n48. Children take a liking for light, empty and gaudy baubles; which\nare of no good or use to them nor any body at all, and are rather led\nto sorrow at their loss, than derive any good from their gain whatever.\n\n49. Therefore act not as a child, O lotus-eyed R\u00e1ma! but conduct\nyourself as the wise, and by looking at these fleeting baubles as ever\nevanescent, rely in the Everlasting alone.\n\n50. R\u00e1ma! be not sad or sorry to learn, that all these with thyself and\nmyself are nothing in reality; nor be glad or joyous to know, that all\nthese and ourselves are real entities. But reckon alike whether these\nbe or not be; because it is the One Being, that becomes and unbecomes\nanything, it is the only Being, and all things that becomes.\n\n51. V\u00e1lm\u00edki said:\u2014As the sage was saying in this manner, the day glided\naway to its dusk; the sun departed to his even tide and evening service,\nand with him the assembly parted to their evening ablutions and rest,\nafter which they assembled again to the court with the rising sun.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XLVI.\n\n DESCRIPTION OF LIVING LIBERATION.\n\n\nArgument. The emancipation of Living souls from the thraldom of the\nWorld.\n\n\nVasishtha said:\u2014No man knows sorrow as long as he is in possession of\nhis pleasant home, family and wealth; but why should he be sorrowful\nupon their disappearance, knowing them as a short-lived enchantment and\naccompaniment.\n\n2. What pleasure or pain can one derive, either from the grandeur or\ndestruction of his aerial castle, and what cause of joy can he have in\nhis ignorant children, or of sorrow upon their death? (An ignorant son\nis sorrow to his father. Solomon).\n\n3. What joy is there in the increase of our wealth or family, seeing\nthem as the increasing mirage of water which can never satisfy the\nthirsty. (The thirst for riches is never satisfied. Lat. _Auri sacra\nfames._ Verg.).\n\n4. There is increase of care with the increase of wealth and family;\nand there is no happiness in the increase of worldly possessions and\naffections. (Care follows increasing wealth. Little wealth little care).\n\n5. The abundance of carnal enjoyments, which are delightsome to the\nignorant voluptuary, is quite distasteful and disgusting to the\nabstemious, wise and learned. (Carnal pleasures are brutish, but mental\ndelights are relished by the wise).\n\n6. What joy is there in the possession of temporary wealth and family\nto the wise, that seek their lasting welfare, and are quite indifferent\nabout these?\n\n7. Therefore, O R\u00e1ma! be truly wise in thy conduct in this world; shun\nthe transient as they are transitory, and lay hold on whatever offers\nof itself unto thee. (Be content with what thou gettest).\n\n8. Inappetency of what is ungotten, and enjoyment of what is in present\npossession; are the true characteristic of the wise and learned.\n(Contentment is abundance; and a contented mind as a continued feast).\n\n9. Take care of this bewildering world, where thy enemies are lurking\nin many a deceitful shape; and conduct thyself as the wise man, evading\nthe dangers that wait upon the unwise. (The enemies are of seven\nshapes, viz.: a swordsman, a poisoner, an incendiary, a curser, an\nexorcist, a backbiter and an adulterer).\n\n10. They are great fools who do not look deeply into the things, and\nthink the world to be without any fraud or guile. (The credulous are\nmost imposed upon).\n\n11. Fools are led by the deceitful speech of cheats, to fall into the\ntemptations of the world; but men of right understanding place no\nreliance in them, nor plunge themselves into the pit of errors. (It is\ncunningness to keep from the cunning).\n\n12. He who knowing the unrealities, place no reliance in anything; is\nsaid to have mastered all knowledge, and is never liable to error.\n(Discrimination of truth and untruth, and of right and wrong,\nconstitute the highest wisdom of man).\n\n13. Who so knowing himself as frail as any thing in this frail world,\nhas his faith in neither, is never liable to fall into the error of\ntaking either of them for real.\n\n14. Placed between the unreality and reality of this and next life, you\nmust have the good sense of sticking to the Truth, and neither wholly\nreject or stick to this or the next. (The text says, stick not to the\noutward or inward alone: _i.e._ either to the outer world or \ninner spirit entirely, but attend to your interests in both of them).\n\n15. Though engaged in business, yet you must remain, O R\u00e1ma! quite\nindifferent to all things; because the apathetic and inappetent are\ntruly happy in this world.\n\n16. He who has nothing to desire or leave, but lives as he is obliged\nto live, has his intellect as unsullied as the lotus-leaf, to which the\nlaving waters never stick.\n\n17. Let thy accessory organs manage thy outward affairs or not; but\nkeep thy apathetic soul quite unconcerned with all. (_i.e._ The body\nand mind may attend to business; but the soul must remain aloof from\nall).\n\n18. Let not thy mind be plunged in and deeply engaged with the objects\nof sense, by thinking them in vain to be thy properties and\npossessions; but manage them or not with utter indifference of thy\nmind. (_i.e._ Observe a stoical indifference in all thy worldly\nconcerns).\n\n19. When thou comest to feel, R\u00e1ma! that the sensible objects have\nceased to give any relish to thy soul, then thou shalt know thyself to\nhave reached the acme of thy spiritual edification, and got over the\nboisterous sea of the world.\n\n20. The embodied or disembodied soul whether living or dead, that has\nceased to have any taste for sensuous enjoyments, has attained its\nliberation without its wishing for it.\n\n21. Try R\u00e1ma! by your superior intelligence, to separate your mind from\nits desires, as they extract the perfume from flowers.\n\n22. They that have not been swept away by the waves of their desires,\nto the midst of the ocean of this world, are said to have got over it;\nbut the others are no doubt drowned and lost in it. (This is the first\ntime that I found the word _budita_ to occur in Sanskrit in the sense\nof drowned. See the vernacular Bengali _dubita_ also).\n\n23. Sharpen your understanding to the edge of a razor, erase the weeds\nof doubt therewith, and after scanning the nature of the soul, enter\ninto thy spiritual state of blessedness.\n\n24. Move about as those who have attained to true knowledge, and\nelevated their minds with true wisdom; and do not act as the ignorant\nworldling: who is mindful of the present state, and unmindful of the\nfuture.\n\n25. In conducting yourself in this world, you should imitate them that\nare liberated in their life time, who are great in their souls and\nunderstandings, and who are ever satisfied with themselves, and not\nfollow the examples of the greedy and wicked.\n\n26. Those having the knowledge of both worlds, neither slight nor\nadhere to the customs of their country, but follow them like other\npeople during their life time. (_i.e._ Act in harmony and conformity\nwith approved custom and usage).\n\n27. Great men knowing the truth, are never proud of their power or good\nqualities, nor of their honour or prosperity like the vulgar people.\n\n28. Great men are not depressed by adversity, nor elated by prosperity;\nbut remain fixed like the sun in the sky without anything to support it.\n\n29. Great minds like warriors ride in the chariots of their bodies,\nclad in the armour of their knowledge; they have no desire of their\nown, but conduct themselves according to the course of the time.\n\n30. You too R\u00e1ma! have gained your extensive learning in philosophy,\nand it is by virtue of your prudence, that you can manage yourself with\nease.\n\n31. Suppress the sight of the visibles, and avoid your pride and\nenmity; then roam wherever you will, and you will meet with success.\n\n32. Be sedate in all circumstances, unattached to the present, and\nwishing to know all other things in future; have the calm composure of\nyour mind, and go where you will.\n\n33. V\u00e1lm\u00edki said:\u2014R\u00e1ma, being advised in this manner by the pure\ndoctrines of the sage, brightened in his countenance; and being full\nwithin himself with the ambrosia of his knowledge; shone forth like the\nambrosial moon with her cooling beams.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XLVII.\n\n DESCRIPTION OF THE WORLDS AND THEIR DEMIURGI.\n\n\nArgument. Relation of many past and Future Worlds, and of the gods and\nother beings contained in them.\n\n\nR\u00e1ma said:\u2014O venerable sir, that art acquainted with all religious\ndoctrines and versed in all branches of the Vedas, I am set at perfect\nease by thy holy preachings.\n\n2. I am never satiate with hearing your speech, which is equally\ncopious, clear and elegant.\n\n3. You have said sir, of the birth of Brahm\u00e1 in course of your lecture\non the productions of the satva and r\u00e1jasa qualities. I want you to\ntell me more on that subject.\n\n4. Vasishtha answered:\u2014There have been many millions of Brahm\u00e1s and\nmany hundreds of Sivas and Indras, together with thousands of\nN\u00e1r\u00e1yanas, that have gone by (in the revolution of ages).\n\n5. There have been various kinds of beings also in many other worlds,\nhaving their manners and customs widely differing from one another.\n\n6. There will also be many other productions in the worlds, synchronous\nwith others, and many to be born at times remotely distant from one\nanother.\n\n7. Among these, the births of Brahm\u00e1 and the other gods in the\ndifferent worlds, are as wonderful as the productions of many things in\na magic show.\n\n8. Some creations were made with Brahm\u00e1 as the first born, others with\nVishnu and some with Siva as the next created beings. There were some\nother (minor productions), having the munis for the patriarchs. (These\nare the different periods of the formation of the world under the\ndifferent Demiurgi).\n\n9. One Brahm\u00e1 was lotus-born, another was produced from the water; and\na third was born of an egg, and the fourth was produced in the air.\n(These are named as the Padmaja, N\u00e1r\u00e1yana, Andaja and Maruta).\n\n10. In one egg the sun was born with all his eyes, and in another\nV\u00e1sava\u2014the Indra; in some one was born the lotus-eyed Vishnu, and in\nanother he with his three eyes as Siva.\n\n11. In one age was born the solid earth, having no holes for the growth\nof vegetables, in another it was overgrown with verdure; it was again\nfilled with mountains, and at last covered by living creatures.\n\n12. The earth was full of gold in some place, and it was hard ground at\nothers; it was mere mud in many places, and incrusted with copper and\nother metals in some.\n\n13. There are some wondrous worlds in the universe, and others more\nwondrous still than they; some of them are luminous and bright, and\nothers whose light have never reached unto us.\n\n14. There are innumerable worlds scattered in the vacuum of Brahma\u2019s\nessence, and they are all rolling up and down like waves in the ocean.\n(Here the infinite vacuity, is represented as the body of Brahma, and\nthe sole substance of all other bodies).\n\n15. The splendours of worlds, are seen in the SUPREME like waves in\nthe sea, and as the mirage in the sandy desert; they abide in Him as\nflowers on the mango tree.\n\n16. It may be possible to count the particles of the solar rays, but\nnot the number of worlds abounding in the Supreme Spirit.\n\n17. These multitudes of worlds rise and fall in the Universal Spirit,\nlike gnats flying and following others in swarms in the rainy season.\n\n18. It is not known since when they have been in existence, and what\nnumbers of them have gone by, and are remaining at the present time.\n\n19. They have been rolling without beginning like the billows of the\nsea; those that are past and gone had their previous ones, and they\ntheir prior ones also.\n\n20. They rise over and over, to sink lower and lower again; just as the\nwaves of the sea, rising aloft and falling low by turns.\n\n21. There are series of mundane worlds like the egg of Brahm\u00e1, which\npass away by thousands like the hours in course of the year.\n\n22. There are many such bodies revolving at present, in the spacious\nmind of Brahma; beside the mundane system of Brahm\u00e1 (Brahm\u00e1nda).\n\n23. There will grow many more mundane worlds in the infinity of the\ndivine mind, and they will also vanish away in course of time, like the\nevanescent sounds in the air. (The sounds are never lost, but remain in\nthe air. _Sabdonityam_).\n\n24. Other worlds will come into existence in the course of other\ncreations, as the pots come to be formed of clay, and the leaves grow\nfrom germs in endless succession. (Here Brahma is made the material\ncause of all).\n\n25. So long doth the glory of the three worlds appear to the sight, as\nlong as it is not seen in the intellect, in the manner as it exists in\nthe divine mind.\n\n26. The rising and falling of worlds are neither true nor wholly false;\nthey are as the _fanfaronade_ of fools, and as orchids of the air.\n\n27. All things are of the manner of sea waves, which vanish no sooner\nthan they appear to view, and they are all of the nature of paintings,\nwhich are impressed in the mind.\n\n28. The world is a perspective, and all things are but paintings in it;\nthey are not without the tableau of the mind, and are represented in it\nas the figures on a canvas.\n\n29. The learned in divine knowledge, consider the creations proceeding\nfrom the Spirit of God, as showers of rain falling from the waters\ncontained in the clouds.\n\n30. The visible creation is no more distinct from God, than the sea\nwater exuding from the earth and the earth itself, and the leaves and\nseeds of the _Simul_ tree from the tree itself.\n\n31. All created things that you see in their gross or subtle forms,\nhave proceeded from the vacuity of the Divine Mind, and are strung\ntogether, like a rosary of large and small gems and beads.\n\n32. Sometimes the subtile air is solidified in the form of the\natmosphere, and therefrom is produced the great Brahm\u00e1, thence called\nthe air-born lord of creatures.\n\n33. Sometimes the atmospheric air is condensed into a solid form, and\nthat gives birth to a Brahm\u00e1; under the title of the atmospheric lord\nof creation.\n\n34. At another time it is light that is thickened to a luminous body,\nand thence is born another Brahm\u00e1, bearing the appellation of the\nluminous lord of all creatures.\n\n35. Again the water being condensed at another time, produced another\nBrahm\u00e1 designated the aqueous lord of creation.\n\n36. Sometimes the particles of earth take a denser form, and produce a\nBrahm\u00e1 known as the terrene Brahm\u00e1. (Such was Adam made out of the dust\nof the ground).\n\n37. It is by extraction of the essences of these four Brahm\u00e1s, that a\nfifth is formed under the name of the quintuple Brahm\u00e1, who is the\ncreation of the present world.\n\n38. It is sometimes by the condensation of water, air or heat, that a\nbeing is produced in the form of a male or female.\n\n39. It is sometimes from the speaking mouth of this being, and from his\nfeet and back and the eyes, that different men are produced under the\nappellations of Br\u00e1hmana, Kshatriya, Vaisya and S\u00fadras. (These\nKshatriyas are born from the arms and eyes according to Manu).\n\n40. Sometimes the great Being causes a lotus to grow out of his navel;\nin which is born the great Brahm\u00e1 known as the lotus-born.\n\n41. All these theories of creation (in the different s\u00e1stras) are idle\ndreams, and as false as the dreams in our sleeping state; they are the\nreveries of fancy like the eddies of water.\n\n42. Tell me what do you think of these theories in your own judgment;\ndo they not appear as the tales told to boys?\n\n43. Sometimes they imagine a being produced in the pure vacuity of the\nDivine mind, this they call the golden and mundane egg, which gave\nbirth to the egg-born Brahm\u00e1.\n\n44. It is said also that the first and divine Male, casts his seed in\nthe waters, which grows up to a lotus-flower which they call the great\nworld.\n\n45. This lotus is the great womb of the birth of Brahm\u00e1, and at another\ntime of the sun also; sometimes the gods Varuna and Vayu also are born\nof it, and are thence called oviparous.\n\n46. Thus R\u00e1ma, are the different accounts of the production of\nBrahm\u00e1\u2014the creator, so various also is the description of this unsolid\nand unsubstantial creation.\n\n47. I have related to you already about the creation of one of these\nBrahm\u00e1s, and mentioned about the production of others without\nspecifying their several works.\n\n48. It is agreed by all, that the creation is but the development of\ndivine mind; although I have related for your acquaintance, the various\nprocesses of its production.\n\n49. The s\u00e1twika and other productions, of which I told you before, have\nall come to existence, in the manner I have narrated to you.\n\n50. Now know the endless succession of all things in the world;\ncreation is followed by destruction as pleasure by pain; and as\nignorance is followed by knowledge, and bondage by liberation.\n\n51. Past creations and objects of affection being gone, others come to\nrise in future, as the lamps are lighted and extinguished by turns at\nhome.\n\n52. The production and destruction of all bodies, are as those of\nBrahm\u00e1 and the lamps, they assume their forms in their time, but become\nan undistinguishable mass after death.\n\n53. The four ages of the world, namely, the Satya, Tret\u00e1, Dw\u00e1para and\nKali Yugas, revolve in endless rotation, like the wheel of the potter\nor of any other engine.\n\n54. The Manvantaras and Kalpa cycles succeed one another, as the day\nand night, the morning and evening, and the times of work follow those\nof rest by turns.\n\n55. All worlds and things are under the subjection of time. They are\nsubject to repeated successions, and there is nothing without its\nrotation.\n\n56. They all proceed of their nature from the vacuum of Divine\nIntellect, as the sparks of fire scintillate from the red-hot iron.\n\n57. All things once manifest, are next concealed in the divine mind;\njust as the season fruits and flowers, disappear after their appearance\nin season.\n\n58. All productions are but fluctuations of the mind of the Supreme\nspirit; their appearances to our view, are as the sight of two moons to\ninfirm eyes.\n\n59. It is the intellect alone, which exhibits these appearances to our\nview; they are always situated in the intellect, though they appear\nwithout it like the beams in the inner disk.\n\n60. Know R\u00e1ma, the world to be never in existence; it is a motionless\nshow of that power, which resides only in the Supreme spirit.\n\n61. It is never as it appears to you, but quite a different thing from\nwhat it seems to be; it is a show depending on the power of the\nOmnipotent.\n\n62. What the world exists since the _mah\u00e1 kalpa_ or great will of God,\nand there is no more any other world to come into existence in future,\nis the conclusion of the learned holds good to the present time. (This\nbelief is based on the holy text, \u201c_so aikshata_\u2014God willed\u2014\u2018Let there\nbe\u2019, and there was all\u201d).\n\n63. All this is Brahma to the intelligent, and there is no such thing\nas the world, which is a mere theory (upap\u00e1dya) of the unintelligent.\n\n64. The insapient consider the world as eternal, from the continued\nuniformity of its course; but it is the effect of the everlasting\nerror, which raises the false supposition of the world.\n\n65. It is their theory of repeated transmigrations, that they cannot\nsay anything otherwise; but must conclude the world as such, in order\nto keep pace with their doctrine. (The doctrine of perpetual\nmetempsychosis of the M\u00edm\u00e1msaka materialists, naturally makes them\nsuppose the eternity of the world).\n\n66. But it is to be wondered why they do not consider the world to be\ndestructible, seeing the incessant perishableness of all things all\naround. (They flash as momentary lightenings in their appearance, to be\nextinguished into nothingness soon after).\n\n67. So others (the S\u00e1nkhyas) seeing the continuous course of the sun\nand moon, and the stability of mountains and seas all about, come to\nthe conclusion of the indestructibility of the world from these false\nanalogies.\n\n68. There can be nothing whatever, which does not reside in the wide\nexpanse of the Divine mind; but as these are but the conceptions of the\nmind, they can never have any visible or separate form or existence.\n\n69. All these appear in repetition, and so repeated is the course of\nour births and deaths; as those of pain and pleasure succeeding one\nanother, and our rest and actions, following each other for evermore.\n\n70. This same vacuum and these quarters of the sky, with all these seas\nand mountains, appear in the recurrent course of creation with their\nvarious hues, like those of the solar rays seen through the chink of a\nwall.\n\n71. The gods and demigods appear again and again, and all people come\nand depart by turns, bondage and liberation are ever recurrent, and\nIndras and Somas ever reappear to view.\n\n72. The god N\u00e1r\u00e1yana and the demigods appear by turns, and the sky is\nalways revolving with the regents of all its sides, the sun and moon,\nclouds and winds.\n\n73. The heaven and earth appear again like the lotus-flower full open\nto view, and having the mount Meru for its pericarp, and the Sahya peak\nfor its filament.\n\n74. The sun resumes his course in the maze of the sky like a lion, and\ndestroys the thick darkness with his rays, as the lion kills the huge\nelephant with his beaming nails.\n\n75. See again the moving moon shining with her bright beams, resembling\nthe white filaments of flowers; and anointing the countenances of the\netherial goddesses, with sweet ambrosial light, and borne by the air\nand breezes of heaven.\n\n76. Again the holy arbour of heaven sheds its heap of flowers, on the\ndeserts of meritorious men, as rewards of their virtuous acts.\n\n77. Behold again the flight of time, riding as the eagle on its two\nwings of acts and actions, and passing with the noise of _pat-pat_ over\nthe vast maze of creation.\n\n78. See another Indra appearing, after the by-gone lords of gods have\npassed away; and taking his seat on the lotus-like throne of heaven\nlike a contemptible bee. (The passing lords of gods and men are as\nfleeting flies on flowers).\n\n79. Again the wicked age of Kali appears to soil the holy _satya yuga_,\nas the black body of N\u00e1r\u00e1yana fills the clear waters of the deep, or as\na blast of wind sweeps the dust of the earth on its pellucid surface.\n\n80. Again doth time form the plate of the earth like a potter, and turn\nhis wheel incessantly, to bring on the revolutions of his creations in\nsuccessive _kalpas_.\n\n81. Again doth the veteran time, who is skilled in the work of\nrenovation, wither away the freshness of creation, as the autumnal\nwinds blast the foliage of a forest, in order to produce them anew.\n\n82. Again the dozen of zodiacal suns, rising at once and burning the\ncreation, leaves the dead bodies all around, like the white bones lying\nscattered in a country.\n\n83. Again the _pushkara_ and _\u00e1vartaka_ clouds, poured down their rain\nwater, deluging the tops of the boundary mountains, and filling the\nface of the earth with foaming froth, swimming on the surface of one\nsheet of water.\n\n84. And after the waters had subsided and the winds had ceased to blow;\nthe world appeared as a vast vacuum void of all beings.\n\n85. Again we see living beings filling the earth, and feeding for some\nyears upon the moisture of its verdure, leaving their decayed bodies,\nand being mixed up with their souls in the universal spirit.\n\n86. Again the Divine Mind stretches out other creations at other times,\nand these are drawn like pictures of fairylands (airy castles) in the\ncanvas of vacuum.\n\n87. Again the creation appears to view, and again it is submerged in\nthe water of deluvion, both of which follow one another like the axles of\na wheel.\n\n88. Now consider, O R\u00e1ma! if there is any stability of any thing in\nthis revolutionary world, beside its being a maze of continuous\ndelusion.\n\n89. The revolution of the world resembles the hallucination of D\u00e1s\u00fara\u2019s\nmind; it is a phantasia without any solidity in it.\n\n90. The world appearing so extensive and thickly peopled, is but a\nfancied unreality like the erroneous appearance of two moons in the\nsky. It is made of unreality though appearing as real, and is not worth\nreliance by our ignorance of its nature.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XLVIII.\n\n STORY OF D\u00c1S\u00daRA.\n\n\nArgument. Description of the vanity of worldly enjoyments, illustrated\nin the tale of D\u00e1s\u00fara.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014All worldly men that are engaged in a variety of\nbusiness, and are perverted in their understandings with a desire of\nopulence and enjoyments; can never learn the truth, until they get rid\nof their worldliness.\n\n2. He only who has cultivated his understanding, and subdued his\nsensual organs, can perceive the errors of the world, as one knows a\n_bel_ fruit held in his hand (_i.e._ as one knows the places on earth\nin a small globe).\n\n3. Any rational being, who scans well the errors of the world, forsakes\nhis delusion of egoism, as a snake casts off his slough.\n\n4. Being thus paralysed (unconscious) of his selfishness, he has no\nmore to be born; as a fried grain can never germinate, though it is\nsown in the field, and lies for ever in it.\n\n5. How pitiable is it that ignorant men take so much pains for the\npreservation of their bodies, which are ever subject to diseases and\ndangers; and liable to perish to-day or to-morrow at the expense of\ntheir souls.\n\n6. Do not therefore, O R\u00e1ma! take so much care for the dull body like\nthe ignorant; but regard only for the welfare of thy soul.\n\n7. R\u00e1ma said:\u2014Tell me Sir, the story of D\u00e1s\u00fara, which is illustrative\nof the visionary and air-drawn form of this rotatory universe, which is\nall hollow within.\n\n8. Vasishtha replied:\u2014Hear me rehearse to you, O R\u00e1ma! the narrative of\nD\u00e1s\u00fara, in illustration of the delusive form of the world, which is no\nmore than the air-built utopia of our brains.\n\n9. There is on the surface of this land, the great and opulent province\nof Magadha, which is full of flower trees of all kinds.\n\n10. There is a forest of wide extending kadamba groves, which was the\npleasant resort of charming birds of various sorts and hues.\n\n11. Here the wide fields were full of corns and grains, and the skirts\nof the land were beset by groves and arbours; and the banks of rivulets\nwere fraught with the lotuses and water lilies in their bloom.\n\n12. The groves and alcoves resounded with the melodious strains of\nrustic lasses, and the plains were filled with blades of blossoms,\nbedewed by the nightly frost, and appearing as arrows of the god of\nlove, _K\u00e1ma_.\n\n13. Here at the foot of a mountain, decked with _karnikara_ flowers,\nand beset by rows of plantain plants and kadamba trees, was a secluded\nspot over-grown with moss and shrubs.\n\n14. It was sprinkled over with the reddish dust of crimson flowers\nborne by the winds, and was resonant to the warblings of water fowls,\nsinging in unison with the melodious strains of aquatic cranes.\n\n15. On the sacred hill overhanging that spot, there rose a kadamba\narbor, crowded by birds of various kinds; and there dwelt on it a holy\nsage of great austerity.\n\n16. He was known by the name of D\u00e1s\u00fara, and was employed in his austere\ndevotion; sitting on a branch of his kadamba tree with his exalted\nsoul, and devoid of passions.\n\n17. R\u00e1ma said:\u2014I want to know Sir, whence and how that hermit came to\ndwell in that forest, and why he took his seat on that high _kadamba\ntree_.\n\n18. Vasishtha replied:\u2014He had for his father, the renowned sage\n_Saraloman_, residing in the same mountain, and resembling the great\nBrahm\u00e1 in his abstract meditation.\n\n19. He was the only son of that sire, like Kacha the only progeny of\nBrihaspati, the preceptor of the gods, with whom he came to dwell in\nthe forest from his boyhood.\n\n20. Saraloma having passed many years of his life in this manner, left\nhis mortal frame for his heavenly abode, as a bird quits its nest to\nfly into the air.\n\n21. D\u00e1s\u00fara being left alone in that lonely forest, wept bitterly and\nlamented over the loss of his father, with as loud wailings as the\nshrieks of a heron upon separation from its mate.\n\n22. Being bereft of both his parents, he was full of sorrow and grief\nin his mind; and then he began to fade away as the lotus blossom in\nwinter.\n\n23. He was observed in this sad plight by the sylvan god of that wood,\nwho taking compassion on the forlorn youth, and accosted him unseen in\nan audible voice and said:\u2014\n\n24. O sagely son of the sage! why weepest thou as the ignorant, and why\nart thou so disconsolate, knowing the instability of worldly things?\n\n25. It is the state of this frail world, that everything is unstable\nhere; and it is the course of nature that all things are born to live\nand perish afterwards into nothingness.\n\n26. Whatever is seen here from the great Brahm\u00e1 down to the meanest\nobject, is all doomed to perish beyond a doubt.\n\n27. Do not therefore wail at the demise of thy father, but know like\nthe rising and falling sun, every thing is destined to its rise and\nfall. (Here sun\u2014the lord of the day\u2014_ahah-pati_, is spelt _aharpati_ by\na _v\u00e1rttika_ of K\u00e1ty\u00e1yna).\n\n28. Hearing this oracular voice, the youth wiped his eyes red hot with\nweeping; and held his silence like the screaming peacock at the loud\nsound of the clouds. (The pea-cock is said to cry at the sight, but to\nbe hushed at the sound of a rainy cloud).\n\n29. He rose up and performed the funeral ceremonies of his sire, with\ndevoutness of his heart; and then set his mind to the success of his\nsteady devotion.\n\n30. He was employed in the performance of his austerities according to\nthe Br\u00e1hmanic law, and engaged himself in discharging his ceremonial\nrites by the Srauta ritual, for the accomplishment of his sundry vows.\n\n31. But not knowing the knowable (Brahma), his mind could not find its\nrest in his ceremonial acts, nor found its purity on the surface of the\nstainless earth. (The earth appears sullied to the tainted soul, but it\nis all unstained to the taintless soul, which views it full with the\nholy spirit of God).\n\n32. Not knowing the fulness of the world with divine spirit, and the\nholiness of the earth in every place, he thought the ground polluted\n(by the original sin), and did not find his repose any where.\n\n33. Therefore he made a vow of his own accord, to take his seat on the\nbranch of a tree, which was untainted with the pollution of the earth.\n(Because the Lord said, \u201cCursed is the ground for thy sake\u201d; but not so\nthe trees growing upon it).\n\n34. Henceforth said he, \u201cI will perform my austerities on these\nbranching arbours, and repose myself like birds and sylvan spirits, on\nthe branches and leaves of trees.\u201d\n\n35. Thus sitting on high, he kindled a flaming fire beneath him, and\nwas going to offer oblations of living flesh on it, by paring bits of\nhis shoulder blade (mixed with blood).\n\n36. When the god of fire thought in himself that, as fire is the mouth\nwhereby the gods receive their food, the offering of a Br\u00e1hman\u2019s flesh\nto it, would wholly burn down their faces. (Fire is the mouth of gods,\nsays Veda, because the gods of early Aryans were distinguished from the\nsavages for their taking cooked food and meat, while the latter took\nthem raw for want of their knowledge of kindling fire. Again all flesh\nwas palatable to the gods, except that of their brotherhood\u2014Br\u00e1hmans).\n\n37. Thinking so, the god of fire appeared before him in his full blaze,\nas the luminous sun appeared before the lord of speech\u2014Brihaspati or\nJupiter.\n\n38. He uttered gently and said, \u201cAccept young Br\u00e1hman your desired boon\nfrom me, as the owner of a store, takes out his treasure from the chest\nin which it is deposited\u201d.\n\n39. Being thus accosted by the god, the Br\u00e1hman boy saluted him with a\nlaudatory hymn; and after adoring him with suitable offerings of\nflowers, addressed him in the following manner.\n\n40. \u201cLord! I find no holy place upon earth, which is full of iniquity\nand sinful beings; and therefore pray of thee to make the tops of\ntrees, the only places for my abode.\u201d\n\n41. Being thus besought by the Br\u00e1hman boy, the god pronounced \u201cBe it\nso\u201d from his flaming mouth, and vanished from his sight.\n\n42. As the god disappeared from before him, like the day-light from the\nface of the lotus-flower; the son of the sage being fully satisfied\nwith his desired boon, shone forth in his face like the orb of the full\nmoon.\n\n43. Conscious of the success of his desire, his gladdened countenance\nbrightened with his blooming smiles; just as the white lotus blushes\nwith its smiling petals, no sooner it perceives the smiling moonbeams\nfalling upon it.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XLIX.\n\n DESCRIPTION OF D\u00c1S\u00daRA\u2019S KADAMBA FOREST.\n\n\nArgument. Comparisons of the Kadamba tree, and its branches, leaves,\nfruits and flowers and birds.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014Thus D\u00e1s\u00fara remained in the forest reaching to the\nregion of the clouds, and forming a stage for the halting of the tired\nhorses of the meridian sun at midday. (_i.e._ As high as to reach the\nsphere of the sun at noon).\n\n2. Its far stretching boughs spread a canopy under the vault of heaven\non all sides, and it looked to the skies all around with its full blown\nblossoming eyes.\n\n3. The gentle winds were shedding the fragrant dust from the tufts of\nits hanging hairs, which studded with swarms of fluttering bees, and\nits waving leaves like palms of its hands, were brushing over the face\nof its fairy welkin.\n\n4. The banks with their long shrubbery, and the crimson filaments of\ntheir milk-white blossoms, were smiling like the fair faces of\nbeauties, with their teeth tinged with reddish hue of betel leaves.\n\n5. The creeping plants were dancing with delight, and shedding the dust\nfrom the pistils of their flowers, which were clustered in bunches and\nbeaming with the lustre of the full bright moon.\n\n6. The earth with its thickening thickets, and the warbling chakoras as\namongst them, appeared as the milky path of heaven studded with stars\nsinging their heavenly strains.\n\n7. Groups of peacocks sitting on the tops of branching trees, appeared\nwith variegated trains, like rainbows amidst the verdant foliage,\nseeming as bluish clouds in the azure sky.\n\n8. The white _chauri_ deer with half of their bodies hidden under the\ncoverts of the woods, and their fore parts appearing without the\nthickets, appeared as so many moons with their dark and bright sides in\nthe sky.\n\n9. The warbling of _chataks_, joined with the trill of _cuckoos_, and\nthe whistling of _chakoras_, filled the groves with a continuous\nharmony.\n\n10. Flocks of white herons sitting on their nestling boughs, seemed as\nbodies of _siddha_ sylphs, sitting quietly beside their coverts in\nheaven.\n\n11. Waving creepers with their ruddy leaflets shaking with the breeze,\nand their blooming blossoms beset by bees, resembled the Apsaras of\nheaven, flapping their rosy palms and looking at the skies.\n\n12. The clusters of Kumuda or blue lotuses, moving on the sky-blue\nwaters with their yellow filaments, and shedding their golden dust\naround, appeared as the rainbow and lightings, darting their radiance\nin the azure sky.\n\n13. The forest with thousands of uplifted branches, seemed as the god\nVisva-r\u00fapa lifting his thousand arms on high, and dancing with the\nbreeze, with the pendant orbs of the sun and moon, suspended as the\nearrings to both his ears.\n\n14. The groups of elephants lying underneath the branches, and the\nclusters of stars shining above them, gave the woodlands an appearance\nof the sky, with its dark clouds moving below the blazing stars above.\n\n15. The forest was as the store house of all sorts of fruits and\nflowers, as the god Brahm\u00e1 was the reservoir of all sorts of\nproductions.\n\n16. The ground glistened with the falling florets and the farina of the\nflowers, as the firmament glittered with the lustre of solar and\nstellar light.\n\n17. The flights of birds flying on the boughs of trees, and those\nfluttering about their nests, and the flocks of fowls feeding on the\nground, made the forest appear as a city with its people above, below\nand all about it.\n\n18. Its bowers resembled the inner apartments of houses, with the\nblossoms waving as flags over them, and strewn over with the white\nfarina of flowers, as they decorate the floors with flowers and\npowders, and hung flowers over them, as upon the windows of houses.\n\n19. There was the joint harmony of the humming bees and buzzing\nbeetles; the twittering of _chakoras_ and parrots, and cooing of\n_cokilas_ in the deep coverts of the woods; and issuing out of their\nholes like the music of songstresses, coming out in unison from the\nhollows of windows.\n\n20. Birds of various kinds hovered about the coverts of the sylvan\ngoddesses; as they were the only guests of their lonely retreats.\n\n21. The bees were continually humming over the farinaceous pistils of\nflowers, and sounding water-falls were incessantly exuding from the\nhigh hills in its neighbourhood.\n\n22. Here the gentle zephyrs were continually playing with the waving\nflowers; and the hoary clouds overtopped the lofty trees, as they do\nthe tops of mountains.\n\n23. The sturdy woods resembling high hills, were rubbed by the scabby\ncheeks of elephants, and stood unmoved though they were incessantly\ndashed by their huge legs and feet. (See kum\u00e1ra Sambhava).\n\n24. Birds of variegated plumage that dwelt in the hollows of the trees,\nwere as the various races of beings dwelling in the person of Vishnu.\n(Vishnu means the residence of beings like Vir\u00e1ta).\n\n25. With the movements of their painted leaves, resembling the fingers\nof their palms, the trees seemed to keep time with the dancing\ncreepers, and point out the modes of their oscillation.\n\n26. They danced also with delight with their branching arms and\nclasping armlets of the creepers, to think on the subsistence, that\nevery part of their body affords to all kinds of living beings. (The\nproduce of trees supplies the supportance of all living creatures).\n\n27. And thinking how they are the support of thousands of creeping\nplants, which entwine round them as their consorts, they sing their\njoyous chime in the buzzing of the bees about them.\n\n28. The flowers dropped down by the kind _siddha_ (sylphs) from the\ntrees, were hailed by the bees and cuckoos with their joyous notes and\ntunes.\n\n29. The _kadamba_ tree seemed by its blooming blossoms, to laugh to\nderision, the five woody arbors on the skirts which do not bear their\nflowers. (These are the banian, bata and ficus religiosus, the mango,\nthe fig tree and frondos. (_i.e._ \u09ac\u099f\u09be\u09b6\u09cd\u09ac\u09a4\u09cd\u09a5, \u0985\u09ae\u09cd\u09b0, \u0989\u09a1\u09c1\u09ae\u09cd\u09ac\u09b0, and \u09aa\u09b2\u09be\u09b8 called\n\u09ac\u09a8\u09b8\u09cd\u09aa\u09a4\u09bf or lords of woods)).\n\n30. With its uplifted head reaching to the sky, and the flight of birds\nflying over it like the hairs on its head, it seemed to defy the\n_p\u00e1rijata_ tree of Indra\u2019s heaven.\n\n31. The body of bees thronging all about its person, gave it the\nappearance of the thousand eyed Indra, with whom it vied in the greater\nnumber of its eyes.\n\n32. It had a tuft of flowers on some part of its head, appearing as the\nhood of a snake decorated with gems, and seeming as the infernal\nserpent had mounted its top with his crowned head, in order to survey\nthe wonders of heaven.\n\n33. Besmeared with the pollen of its flowers, it appeared as the god\nSiva anointed with his powdered ashes; while its shady bowers overhung\nwith luscious fruits, refreshed the passing travellers with rest and\nrepast.\n\n34. The _kadamba_ arbour appeared as the garden of paradise, having\nalcoves under its thickening boughs, and grottos formed by the flowery\ncreepers below it; while the birds of heaven hovered about it as its\nperpetual inhabitants.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER L.\n\n D\u00c1S\u00daRA\u2019S SURVEY OF THE HEAVENS.\n\n\nArgument. D\u00e1s\u00fara surveys all the sky from his seat on the Kadamba tree.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014D\u00e1s\u00fara remained in this flowery arbour, as if he\ndwelt on a hill of flowers; and he felt in his mind the delight, which\nthe flowery spring and its fruitage could infuse in the heart.\n\n2. He mounted and sat over the high and airy top of the tree, and\nlooked on all sides like the god Vishnu surveying the worlds.\n\n3. There sitting on a branch which reached to the sky, he was employed\nin his devotion, devoid of fear and desire.\n\n4. From this his leafy and easy couch of repose, he cast his curious\neyes to view the wonders of nature on all sides.\n\n5. He beheld a river at a distance glittering as a necklace of gold,\nand the summits of distant hills rising as nipples on the breast of the\nearth. The fair face of the sky appeared as the face of a fairy,\ncovered under the blue veil of a cloud.\n\n6. The verdant leaves of trees were as the green garb of this fairy,\nand the clusters of flowers were as garlands on her head; the distant\nlakes appearing as water-pots, were decorated by their aquatic plants\nand flowers.\n\n7. The fragrance of the blooming lotuses, seemed as the sweet breathing\nof the fairy; and the gurgling of the waterfalls, sounded as the\ntrinkets fastened to her feet.\n\n8. The trees touching the skies; were as the hairs on her body, the\nthick forests resembled her thighs, and the orbs of the sun and moon,\nwere as earrings pendant on her ears.\n\n9. The fields of corn seemed as pots of her sandal paste, and the\nrising hills were as her breasts, covered by the cloudy mantle on their\ntops.\n\n10. The seas with their lucent waters were as her mirrors, to reflect\nthe rays of her jewels of the starry frame. (The stars are explained in\nthe gloss as drops of sweat on her person).\n\n11. The season fruits and flowers were as embroideries on her bodice,\nand the rays of the sun and moon were as powders over her body, or as\nthe pasted sandal on her person.\n\n12. The clouds covering the landscape were as her garment, and the\ntrees and plants on the borders, were as the fringes or the skirts of\nher raiment. In this manner he beheld all the ten sides of heaven as\nfull with the form of a fairy queen.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER LI.\n\n D\u00c1S\u00daRA\u2019S BEGETTING A SON.\n\n\nArgument:\u2014Mental sacrifices of D\u00e1s\u00fara, and his production and\nInstruction of a son begotten by the sylvan goddess.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014Thence forward D\u00e1s\u00fara remained as an ascetic in his\nhermitage, in that forest, and was known as the Kadamba D\u00e1s\u00fara, and a\ngiant of austere devotion.\n\n2. There sitting on the leaves of the creepers growing on the branch of\nthat tree, he looked up to heaven, and then placing himself in the\nposture of _padm\u00e1sana_, he called back his mind to himself.\n\n3. Unacquainted with spiritual adoration, and unpracticed to the\nceremonial ritual, he commenced to perform his mental sacrifice, with a\ndesire of gaining its reward.\n\n4. Sitting on the leaves of the creepers in his aerial seat, he\nemployed his inward spirit and mind, in discharging his sacrificial\nrites, of the sacred fire and horse sacrifice.\n\n5. He continued there for the space of full ten years, in his acts of\nsatisfying the gods with his mental sacrifices of the bull, horse and\nhuman immolations, and paying their honorariums in his mind.\n\n6. In process of time, his mind was purified and expanded, and he\ngained the knowledge of the beatification of his soul. (It is believed\nthat ceremonial acts, lead to the knowledge productive of spiritual\nbliss).\n\n7. His ignorance being dispelled, his heart became purified of the dirt\nof worldly desires; and he came to behold a sylvan goddess, standing\nbeside his leafy and mossy seat.\n\n8. She was a body of light and dressed in a robe of flowers; her form\nand face were beautiful to behold, and her large bright eyes turned\nwistfully towards him.\n\n9. Her body breathed the fragrance of the blue lotus, and her figure\ncharmed his inmost soul. He then spoke to the goddess, standing before\nhim with her down cast looks.\n\n10. What art thou, O tender dame! That lookest like a creeper fraught\nwith flowers, and defiest the god Cupid with thy beauteous form and\neyes, resembling the petals of the lotus.\n\n11. Why standest thou as Flora, the befriending goddess of flowering\ncreepers? Thus accosted, the dame with deer-like eyes and protuberant\nbosom replied to him.\n\n12. She said to the hermit with a sweet and charming voice in the\nfollowing manner:\u2014\u201cMayst thou prosper in obtaining the objects of thy\nwishes\u201d:\u2014\n\n13. \u201cFor any thing which is desirable and difficult of attainment in\nthis world, is surely obtainable when sought after with proper exertion\nby the great\u201d:\u2014\n\n14. \u201cI am, O Br\u00e1hman! a sylvan goddess of this forest, which is so full\nof creeping plants, and decorated by the beautiful _kadamba_ trees.\n\n15. \u201cHere I strayed to witness the festive mirth of the sylvan\ngoddesses, which always takes place on this thirteenth day of the lunar\nmonth of chaitra in this forest.\n\n16. \u201cI saw here my companions enjoying their festival of love, and felt\nmyself sorry to think of my childlessness among them.\n\n17. \u201cFinding thee accomplished in all qualifications, I have resorted\nhither with my suit of begetting a son by thee.\n\n18. \u201cPlease Sir, to procreate a son in me, or else I will put my person\nin the flames, to get rid of my sorrow of childlessness.\u201d\n\n<19.> Hearing the sylvan dame speaking in this manner, the hermit smiled\nat her, and spoke kindly to her with presenting her a flower with his\nown hand, and said:\u2014\n\n20. Depart O damsel! and betake thyself to the worship of Siva for a\nwhole month, and then thou shalt like a tender creeper, beget a boy as\nbeautiful as a bud by this time of the year.\n\n21. But that son of thine, whom thou didst desire of me at the\nsacrifice of thy life, will betake himself to austerities like mine,\nand become a seer like myself (because he will be born of my blessing\nto thee).\n\n22. So saying the sage dismissed the suppliant dame now gladdened in\nher face, and promised to perform the necessary for her blessing\u2019s sake.\n\n23. The lotus-eyed dame then retired from him, and went to her abode;\nand the hermit passed his months, seasons and years in his holy\nmeditation.\n\n24. After a long time the lotus-eyed dame returned to the sage with her\nboy, now grown up to the twelfth year of his age.\n\n25. She made her obeisance and sat before him with her boy of the moon\nbright face; and then uttered her words, sweet as the murmur of the\nhumble bee, to the stately \u00c1mra tree.\n\n26. This sir, is the would be son (bh\u00e1vya) of both of us, who has been\ntrained up by me in all the branches of learning. (The Veda and its\nbranches. The future _bh\u00e1vya_\u2014would be, should be the preter\n_bh\u00e1vita_\u2014was to be).\n\n27. He is only untaught in the best knowledge, which releases the soul\nfrom its return to this world of troubles. (By the best or _subha_\nknowledge, is meant the _para_\u2014superior or spiritual learning).\n\n28. Do you now my lord! deign to instruct him in that knowledge, for\nwho is there that should like to keep his own boy in ignorance (of his\nfuture and best welfare)?\n\n29. Being thus besought by her, he bespoke to the tender mother, to\nleave the child there and depart her own way.\n\n30. She being gone, the boy remained submissive to his father, and\ndwelt by his side as his pupil, like Aruna (Ouranus) waiting upon the\nsun.\n\n31. Inured in austerity, the boy continued to receive his best\nknowledge from the various lectures of his father, and passed a long\ntime with him in that place, under the name of the sage\u2019s son.\n\n<32.> The boy was taught in various narratives and tales, and with many\nexamples and ocular instances; as also in historical accounts and\nevidences of the Veda and Ved\u00e1nta (for his best knowledge of\nspirituality).\n\n33. The boy remained attendant on the lecture of his father, without\nfeeling any anxiety; and formed his right notions of things by means of\ntheir antecedents. (The antecedent or preliminary causes of right\njudgements are, perceptions, inferences, comparisons and testimony or\nauthoritative statements of s\u00e1stras. (These are originally termed as\npratyaksha, anumiti, Upamiti and Sabda or Sabda-bodha)).\n\n34. The magnanimous father thus instilled true knowledge into the mind\nof his boy, by means (of the quadruple process) of right reasoning and\ncorrect diction, rather than regarding the elegance of expression; as\nthe cloud indicates the approaching rain to the peacock by its hoarse\nsounds. (The quadruple process as mentioned above.)\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER LII.\n\n GRANDEUR OF THE AIR-BORN KING.\n\n\nArgument. Description of Dominions of the Air-born King, and the\nFrailty of Worldly possessions.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014It was on one occasion that I passed by that\n(D\u00e1s\u00fara\u2019s) way in my invisible body, to bathe in the heavenly stream of\n_mand\u00e1kin\u00ed_ (milky way) in the etherial regions.\n\n2. After my departure from that region by the way of the Pleiades\n(saptarshi), I arrived to the spot where D\u00e1s\u00fara dwelt on his high\nKadamba tree.\n\n3. I came to listen to a voice proceeding from the hollow of the tree\nin the forest, which was as charming as the buzzing of the bee,\nfluttering about the bud of a lotus.\n\n4. Attend my intelligent son! said he, to a narrative that I will\nrelate unto thee by way of a simile of worldly things, and it is\npleasant to hear.\n\n5. There is a very powerful King renowned in all the three worlds for\nhis great prosperity. His name is Khottha or Air-produced, and able to\ngrasp the whole world. (Like the air whereof he was born. Kha, Khao and\nKhavi yet un, is empty air in Sanskrit, Hebrew and Arabic, and Khali in\nPersian and Urdu).\n\n6. All the lords of the earth bend their heads lowly under his rule,\nand bear the badge of their submission to him with as great an honour,\nas poor men are proud to carry about a bright gem on the head.\n\n7. He exulted in his valour and the possession of all kinds of\nrarities, and there is no one in the three worlds, that is able to\nbring him under his subjection.\n\n8. His unnumbered acts and exploits, are fraught with successive pain\nand pleasure; and they are as interminable as the continuous waves of\nthe sea.\n\n9. No one has been able to check the prowess of that mighty brave by\nforce of fire or sword, as none hath ever been able to press the air or\nwind in his hand.\n\n10. Even the gods Indra, Upendra and Hara, have fallen short of\nfollowing his steps in his ambitious pursuits, and the splendid\ninventions of his imagination.\n\n11. With his triple form of the s\u00e1twika, r\u00e1jasika and t\u00e1masika\nqualities, he encompasses the world, and is enabled to accomplish all\nsorts of actions. (These are the qualities of goodness, moderation and\nexcess, or the three states of deficiency, mediocrity and excess of\nmoral acts, according to the text of Aristotelean Ethics. But I would\nprefer to call them the positive, comparative and superlative virtues,\nor rather the minimum, mean and maximum states of virtues).\n\n12. He is born in the extensive vacuity (of the spirit of Brahma), with\nhis triple body as that of a bird (viz; the flesh and bones and the\nfeathers, and remains in vacuum as the air and the sound).\n\n13. He has built a city in that unlimited space of the Universe, having\nfourteen provinces (_chaturdasa Bhuvana_) (the planetary spheres), in\nits triple divisions (tribhuvana) of the earth and regions above and\nbelow it.\n\n14. It is beautified with forests and groves and pleasure-lawns and\nhills, and bounded by the seven lakes of pearly waters on all sides.\n(The city signifies the earth and the lakes the seven oceans in it).\n\n15. It is lighted by two lamps of hot and cooling light (the sun and\nmoon), which revolve above and below it in their diurnal and nocturnal\ncourses, as those of righteous and nefarious people. (The original\nwords, as the courses _div\u00e1_, and _nis\u00e1charas_ or the day and\nnightfarers).\n\n16. The king has peopled this great city of his with many selfmoving\nbodies (animals), which move in their spheres quite ignorant of\nthemselves (_i.e._ of their origin, their course and their fates).\n\n17. Some of these are appointed in higher and some in lower spheres,\nand others move in their middle course; some destined to live a longer\ntime, and others doomed to die in a day (as the ephemerids).\n\n18. These bodies are covered with black skins and hairs (as thatched\nhuts), and furnished with nine holes (as their doors or windows); which\nare continually receiving in and carrying out the air to keep them\nalive.\n\n19. They are supplied with five lights of sensation and perceptions and\nsupported by three posts of the two legs and the back bone, and a frame\nwork of white bones for the beams and bamboo rafters. It is plastered\nover with flesh as its moistened clay (or mud wall), and defended by\nthe two arms as latches on door way.\n\n20. The Great king has placed his sentinel of the Yaksha of egoism as a\nguard of this house; and this guard is as ferocious as a Bhairava in\ndark (ignorance), and as timorous as a _Bhairava_ by the day (i.e.\negoism brags in ignorance, but flies before the day-light of reason).\n\n21. The masters of these locomotive bodies, play many pranks in them,\nas a bird plays its frolics in its own nest.\n\n22. This triformed prince (the mind) is always fickle, and never steady\nin any; he resides in many bodies and plays his gambles there with his\nguard of egoism, and leaves one body for another at will, as a bird\nalights from one branch upon another.\n\n23. This fickle minded prince is ever changeful in his will; he resides\nin one city and builds another for his future habitation.\n\n24. Like one under the influence of a ghost, he stirs up from one place\nand runs to another, as a man builds and breaks and rebuilds his aerial\ncastle at his hobby.\n\n25. The Mind sometimes wishes to destroy its former frame and remove to\nanother, and effects its purpose at will.\n\n26. It is produced again as the wave of the sea, after it had subsided\nto rest; and it pursues slowly and gradually a different course in its\nrenewed course of life.\n\n27. This prince sometimes repents of his own conduct and acts in his\nnew life, and then laments for his ignorance and miseries and knows not\nwhat to do.\n\n28. He is sometimes dejected by sorrow and at others elated by success,\nlike the current of a river, now going down in the hot season, and\nagain overflowing its banks in the rains.\n\n29. This king is led by his hobbies like the waters of the sea by the\nwinds; it puffs and swells, falls and rises, runs fast and ceases to\nflow at once as in a calm.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER LIII.\n\n DESCRIPTION OF THE MUNDANE CITY.\n\n\nArgument. Interpretation of the Parable of the Air-born prince,\nand exposition of the Universe as the production of our Desires.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014The boy then asked his holy sire, who was sitting\nreclined on his sacred Kadamba tree, in the midst of the forest of the\ngreat Jambudv\u00edpa in the gloom of the night.\n\n2. The son said:\u2014Tell me Sir, who is this Air-born prince of\nSupernatural form, about whom you related to me just now; I do not\nfully comprehend its meaning, and want it to be explained to me clearly.\n\n3. You said sir, that this prince constructs for himself a new abode,\nwhilst residing in his present body; and removes to the same after he\nhas left the old frame. This seems impossible to me, as the joining of\none tense with another, the present with the future.\n\n4. D\u00e1s\u00fara replied:\u2014Hear me tell you my son, the meaning of this\nparable, which will explain to you the nature of this revolutionary\nworld in its true light.\n\n5. I have told you at first that a non-entity sprang in the beginning\nfrom the entity of God, and this non-entity being stretched out\nafterwards (in the form of illusion), gave rise to this illusory world\ncalled the cosmos.\n\n6. The vacuous spirit of the Supreme Deity, gives rise to his formless\nwill, which is thence called Air-born (or the mind). It is born of\nitself in its formless state from the formless Spirit, and dissolves\nitself into the same; as the wave rising from and falling in the bosom\nof the sea. (Thus in the beginning was the Will and not the Word, and\nthe Will was in God, and the will was God; and it rises and sets in the\nSpirit of God).\n\n7. It is the will which produces every thing, and there is nothing\nproduced but by the Will. The Will is self-same with its object, which\nconstitutes and subsists in it; and it lives and dies also along with\nits object. (The will of the willful mind, dwells on some subject or\nother while it is living; but it perishes when it has no object to\nthink upon, and melts into insensibility; or else it continues to\ntransmigrate with its thoughts and wishes for ever).\n\n8. Know the gods Brahm\u00e1, Vishnu, Indra, Siva and the Rudras, as\noffspring of the willful Mind; as the branches are the offshoots of the\nmain tree, and the summits are projections of the principal mountain.\n\n9. This Mind builds the city of the triple world, in the vacuum of\nBrahma (like an air-drawn castle); by reason of its being endowed\nwith intelligence from Omniscience, in its form of Virinchi\n(vir-incho-ativus).\n\n10. This city is composed of fourteen worlds (planetary spheres)\ncontaining all their peoples; together with chains of their hills and\nforests and those of gardens and groves.\n\n11. It is furnished with the two lights of the sun and moon, (to shine\nas two fires by day and night); and adorned with many mountains for\nhuman sports. (Hence the mountainous Gods of old, are said to be the\nsportive _Devas_; _divi dev\u00e1h divayanti_).\n\n12. Here the pearly rivers are flowing in their winding courses, and\nbearing their swelling waves and rippling billows, shining as chains of\npearls under the sunbeams and moonlight.\n\n13. The seven oceans appear as so many lakes of limpid waters, and\nshining with their submarine fires, resembling the lotus-beds and mines\nof gems beneath the azure sky.\n\n14. It is a distinguished place of gods, men and savages, who make\ntheir commerce here, with commodities (of virtue and vice), leading\neither to heaven above or to the hell below.\n\n15. The self-willed King (the mind), has employed here many persons (as\ndramatis personae), to act their several parts before him for his\npleasure.\n\n16. Some are placed high above this stage to act as gods and deities,\nand others are set in lower pits of this earth and infernal regions, to\nact their miserable parts\u2014as men and N\u00e1gas. (The N\u00e1gas are snakes and\nsnake worshippers, living in subterraneous cells like the serpentine\nrace of Satan. The Bara and Chhot\u00e1 Naghores, and the Naga hill people\nof Assam are remnants of this tribe).\n\n17. Their bodies are made of clay, and their frame work is of white\nbones; and their plastering is the flesh under the skin as a pneumatic\nmachine.\n\n18. Some of these bodies have to act their parts for a long while,\nwhile others make their exits in a short time. They are covered with\ncaps of black hairs, and others with those of white and grey on their\nheads.\n\n19. All these bodies are furnished with nine crevices, consisting of\nthe two earholes, two sockets of the eyes, and two nostrils with the\nopening of the mouth, which are continually employed in inhaling and\nexhaling cold and hot air by their breathings. (These airs are the\noxygen and nitrogen gases).\n\n20. The earholes, nostrils and the palate, serve as windows to the\nabode of the body; the hands and feet are the gate ways, and the five\ninner organs are as lights of these abodes.\n\n21. The mind then creates of its own will the delusion of egoism, which\nlike a _yaksha_ demon takes possession of the whole body, but flies\nbefore the light of knowledge.\n\n22. The mind accompanied by this delusive demon, takes great pleasure\nin diverting itself with unrealities (until it comes to perceive their\nvanity by the light of reason).\n\n23. Egoism resides in the body like a rat in the barn-house, and as a\nsnake in the hollow ground. It falls down as a dew drop from the blade\nof a reed, upon advance of the sunlight of reason.\n\n24. It rises and falls like the flame of a lamp in the abode of the\nbody, and is as boisterous with all its desires, as the sea with its\nceaseless waves.\n\n25. The Mind constructs a new house for its future abode, by virtue of\nits interminable desires in its present habitation; and which are\nexpected to be realized and enjoyed in its future state.\n\n26. But no sooner it ceases to foster its desires, than it ceases to\nexist, and loses itself in that state of Supreme bliss of which there\ncan be no end. (Freedom from desire, is freedom from regeneration).\n\n27. But it is born and reborn by its repeated desires, as the child\nsees the ghost by its constant fear of it. (Every desire rises as a\nspectre to bind).\n\n28. It is egoism (or the belief of one\u2019s real entity), that spreads the\nview of this miserable world before him; but absence of the knowledge\nof self-entity, removes the sight of all objects from view, as the veil\nof thick darkness hides all things from sight. (Without the subjective\nthere can be no knowledge of the objective).\n\n29. It is by one\u2019s own attempt in this way, that he exposes himself to\nthe miseries of the world; and then he wails at his fate like the\nfoolish monkey, that brought on its own destruction, by pulling out the\npeg from the chink of the timber (which smashed its testes. See\nHitopadesa).\n\n30. The mind remains in eager expectation of the enjoyment of its\ndesired objects, as the stag stood with its lifted mouth, to have a\ndrop of honey fall into it, from a honey-comb hanging on high.\n\n31. The wistful mind now pursues its desired objects, and now it\nforsakes them in disgust; now it longs for joy, and then grows sulky at\nits failure like a fretful child.\n\n32. Now try diligently, my boy, to extricate thy mind from all outward\nobjects, and fix thy attention to the inward object of this meditation.\n\n33. The willful mind takes at its will its good, bad and moderate or\nsober forms; known under the names of _satva_, _rajas_ and _tamas_ (as\ndefined before).\n\n34. The bad or vitiated form of the mind delights in worldliness, and\nby bemeaning itself with all its greedy appetites, reduces itself to\nthe state of worms and insects in its future births.\n\n35. The good disposition of the mind is inclined towards virtuous\ndeeds, and the acquisition of knowledge; and by these means advances\nboth to its soleness and self enjoyment (_i.e._ to its full liberation\nand the state of the highest Brahma).\n\n36. In its form of moderation, it is observant of the rules and laws of\nsociety, and conducts itself in the world in the company of friends and\nmembers of the family.\n\n37. After relinquishment of all these three forms, and abdication of\negoism and desires, it reaches to the state of the absolute Supreme\nBeing.\n\n38. Therefore shun the sight of the visibles, and repress your fleeting\nmind by your sober intellect; and diminish your desires for all\ninternal as well as external goods. (_i.e._ Both mental qualifications\nand outward possessions).\n\n39. For though you may practice your austerities for a thousand years,\nand crush your body by falling from a precipice upon stones;\u2014\n\n40. Or although you burn your body alive on a flaming pyre, or plunge\nyourself into the submarine fire; or if you fall in a deep and dark pit\nor well, or rush upon the edge of a drawn and sharp sword;\u2014\n\n41. Or if you have Brahm\u00e1 himself or even Siva for your preceptor, or\nget the very kind and tender hearted ascetic for your religious\nguide;\u2014(The _guru_ of this nature probably alludes to Buddha, or Jina\naccording to some, or to Datt\u00e1treya or Durv\u00e1s\u00e1 according to others.\nGloss).\n\n42. Whether you are situated in heaven or on earth, or in the regions\nof p\u00e1t\u00e1la\u2014the antipodes below; you have no way of liberation, save by\nkeeping your desires under subjection.\n\n43. Exert your manliness therefore, in domineering over your\nirresistible and violent desires and passions, which will secure to you\nthe pure and transcendent joy of peace and holiness.\n\n44. All things are linked together under the bandage of cupidity; and\nthis band being broken asunder, makes the desired objects vanish into\nnothing.\n\n45. The real is unreal and the unreal is real, as the mind may make it\nappear to be; all reality and unreality consists in our conception of\nthem, and in nothing besides.\n\n46. As the mind conceives a thing to be, so it perceives the same in\nactuality; therefore have no conception of anything, if you want to\nknow the truth of it.\n\n47. Do you act as the world goes, without your liking or disliking of\nany thing; and thus the desires being at an end, the intellect will\nrise to the inscrutable beyond the knowledge of the mind.\n\n48. The mind which having sprung from the Supreme Soul in the form of\ngoodness, is inclined afterwards towards the unrealities of the world;\nsurely alienates itself from the Supreme, and exposes itself to all\nsorts of misery.\n\n49. We are born to the doom of death, but let us not die to be reborn\nto the miseries of life and death again. It is for the wise and learned\nto betake themselves to that state, which is free from these pains.\n\n50. First learn the truth, and attain to the true knowledge of your\nsoul; and then abandon all your desire and dislike of the world. Being\nthus prepared with a dead-like insensibility of your internal feelings,\nyou will be enabled to come to the knowledge of that transcendental\nstate, which is full of perfect bliss and blessedness.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER LIV.\n\n CORRECTIVE OF DESIRES.\n\n\nArgument. The rise, progress and decline of Human Wishes.\n\n\nThe Son asked:\u2014What is this desire, father? how is it produced and\ngrown, and how is it destroyed at last?\n\n2. D\u00e1s\u00fara replied:\u2014The desire or will is situated in the mind or mental\npart of the one eternal, universal and spiritual substance of God.\n\n3. It gets the form of a monad from a formless unit, and then by its\ngradual expansion extends over the whole mind, and fills it as a flimsy\ncloud soon covers the sky.\n\n4. Remaining in the divine Intellect, the mind thinks of thinkables, as\nthey are distinct from itself; and its longing after them is called its\ndesire, which springs from it as a germ from its seed.\n\n5. The desire is produced by the desiring of something, and it\nincreases of itself both in its size and quantity, for our trouble\nonly, and to no good or happiness at all.\n\n6. It is the accretion of our desires which forms the world, as it is\nthe accumulation of waters which makes the ocean; you have no trouble\nwithout your desire, and being free from it, you are freed from the\nmiseries of the world (wherein one has to buffet as in the waves and\nwaters of the sea).\n\n7. It is by mere chance, that we come to meet with the objects of our\ndesire; as it is by an act of unavoidable chance also, that we are\nliable to lose them. They appear before us as secondary luminaries in\nthe sky, and then fly away as the mirage vanishes from view.\n\n8. As a man who has the jaundice by eating a certain fruit, sees every\nthing as yellow as gold with his jaundiced eye; so the desire in the\nheart of man, pictures the unreal as a reality before him.\n\n9. Know this truth that you are an unreality yourself, and must become\nan unreality afterwards. (Because there is but one self-existent\nentity, and all besides is but suppositions not entities).\n\n10. He who has learnt to disbelieve his own existence and that of all\nothers, and knows the vanity of his joy and grief, is not troubled at\nthe gain or loss of any thing (which is but vanity of vanities, the\nworld is vanity).\n\n11. Knowing yourself as nothing, why do you think of your birth and\nyour pleasures here? You are deluded in vain by the vanity of your\ndesires.\n\n12. Do not entertain your desires, nor think of anything which is\nnothing; it is by your living in this manner, that you may be wise and\nhappy.\n\n13. Try to relinquish your desire, and you will evade all difficulties;\nand cease to think of anything, and your desire for it will disappear\nof itself.\n\n14. Even the crushing of a flower is attended with some effort, but it\nrequires no effort to destroy your desire, which vanishes of itself for\nwant of its thought.\n\n15. You have to expand the palm of your hand, in laying hold of a\nflower; but you have nothing to do in destroying your frail and false\ndesire.\n\n16. He that wants to destroy his desire, can do it in a trice, by\nforgetting the thought of his desired object.\n\n17. The thoughts being repressed from other objects, and fixed in the\nSupreme Spirit, will enable one to do what is impossible for others to\neffect.\n\n18. Kill your desire by desiring nothing, and turn your mind from all\nthings, by fixing it in the Supreme, which you can easily do of\nyourself.\n\n19. Our desires being quieted, all worldly cares come to a stand still,\nand all our troubles are put to a dead lock.\n\n20. Our wishes constitute our minds, hearts, lives, understandings and\nall our desiderative faculties; all which are but different names for\nthe same thing without any difference in their signification.\n\n21. There is no other business of our lives than to desire and to be\ndoing, and when done to be desiring again: and as this restless craving\nis rooted out of the mind, it sets it free from all anxiety.\n\n22. The world below is as empty, as the hollow sky above us; both of\nthose are empty nothings, except that our minds make something or other\nof them, agreeably to its desire or fancy.\n\n23. All things are unsubstantial and unsubstantiated by the\nunsubstantial mind; thus the world being but a creation of our fancy a\ndesideratum, there is nothing substantial for you to think about.\n\n24. Our reliance on unrealities proving to be unreal, leaves no room\nfor our thinking about them; the suppression of their thoughts produces\nthat perfection, _insouciance_, than which there is nothing more\ndesirable on earth. Forget therefore all that is unreal.\n\n25. The nice discernment of things, will preserve you from the excess\nof joy and grief, and the knowledge of the Vanity of things, will keep\nout your affection for or reliance on any person or thing.\n\n26. The removal of reliance upon the world, removes our attachment to\nit; and consequently prevents our joy or sorrow at the gain or loss of\nany thing.\n\n27. The mind which becomes the living principle, stretches out his city\nof the world by an act of its imagination; and then turns it about as\nthe present, past, and future worlds, (_i.e._ the mind produces,\ndestroys and reproduces the world, as it builds and breaks and rebuilds\nits aerial castles).\n\n28. The mind being subject to the sensational, emotional and volitive\nfeelings; loses the purity of its intellectual nature, and plays many\nparts by its sensuousness.\n\n29. The living soul also forgets the nature of the universal soul from\nwhich it is derived, and is transformed to a puny animalcule in the\nheart of man, where it plays its pranks like an ape in the woods.\n\n30. Its desires are as irrepressible, as the waves of the ocean, and\nthey rise and fall by turns like the waves, in expectation of having\nevery object of the senses.\n\n31. Our desire like fire, is kindled by every straw; and it burns and\nblows out in its invisible form within the mind.\n\n32. Our desires are as fickle as flashes of lightning, and proceed from\nthe minds of the ignorant, as the lightning darts itself from the\nwatery clouds (\u099c\u09b2\u09a6); they are equally fleeting and\nmisguiding, and must be speedily avoided by the wise.\n\n33. Desire is undoubtedly a curable disease, as long as it is a\ntransient malady of the mind; but it becomes incurable, when it takes a\ndeep root in it.\n\n34. The knowledge of the unreality of the world, quickly cures the\ndisease of desire; but the certainty of worldly knowledge, makes it as\nincurable as the impossibility, of removing the blackness of a coal.\n\n35. What fool will attempt to wash a coal white, or convert a\nmaterialist to a spiritualist? Or turn a raven or Negro to whiteness?\n\n36. But the mind of a man, is as a grain of rice covered under its\nhusk, which is soon unhusked upon the threshing-floor.\n\n37. The worldliness of the wise, is as soon removed as the husk of\nrice, and the blackness of a cooking kettle.\n\n38. The blemishes of a man, are blotted out by his own endeavours;\nwherefore you must try to exert yourself to action at all times.\n\n39. He who has not been able to master over his vain desires, and hobby\nwhims in this world, will find them vanish of themselves in course of\ntime, as nothing false can last for ever.\n\n40. The light of reason removeth the false conception of the world, as\nthe light of the lamp dispels the darkness from the room at sight, and\nnight vision removes the secondary moon (of optical deception).\n\n41. The world is not yours, nor are you of this world; there is no body\nnor anything here akin to you, nor are you so to any; never think\notherwise, nor take the false for true.\n\n42. Never foster the false idea in your mind, that you are master of\nlarge possessions and pleasant things; for know yourself and all\npleasant things, are for the delight of the Supreme Maker and Master of\nall.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER LV.\n\n MEETING OF VASISHTHA AND D\u00c1S\u00daRA.\n\n\nArgument. D\u00e1s\u00fara\u2019s reception of Vasishtha, their conversation and\nParting.\n\n\nVasishtha said:\u2014Hear me, R\u00e1ma, that art the delight of Raghu\u2019s race,\nand shinest as the moon in the firmament of Raghu\u2019s family; that after\nI heard the conversation that was going on between D\u00e1s\u00fara and his son:\u2014\n\n2. I alighted from the sky on the top of the Kadamba tree, which was\ndecorated with its verdant leaves, and beautiful fruits and flowers;\nand then with my spiritual body, I sat myself slowly and silently on\nthe top of the tree, as a light cloud alights on the summit of a\nmountain.\n\n3. I beheld D\u00e1s\u00fara there, sitting as a giant by subduing the organs of\nhis body, and shining with the lustre of his devotion, as the fire\nblazing with its flame.\n\n4. The lustre issuing from his body, had strewn his seat with purple\ngold, and lighted that spot, as the sun-beams emblazon the world.\n\n5. Seeing me presenting myself before him, D\u00e1s\u00fara spread a leafy seat\nfor me to sit down, and then honoured me according to the rules of\nceremonial law.\n\n6. Then I joined with the luminous D\u00e1s\u00fara in continuation of his\ndiscourse, which was meant for the edification of his son, and\nsalvation of mankind from the miseries of life.\n\n7. I then with permission of D\u00e1s\u00fara, looked into the hollow of the\ntree, and the herds of stags pasturing fearlessly about it, and grazing\nand gathering about it.\n\n8. It was as delightful as a bower overhung with creepers, where the\nsmiling flowers were shedding their light, and breathing their\nfragrance to the winds.\n\n9. The choury deer flapped their long hairy and moon-bright tails,\nagainst the herbaceous arbour, as the white flimsy clouds sweep over\nthe sky.\n\n10. The tree was adorned with fringes of pearly dewdrops, and arrayed\nall over with the flowery garb of his blossoms.\n\n11. Smeared with the dust of its flowers, it appeared to be anointed\nwith sandal paste; while its blowsy bark mantled it in roseate red.\n\n12. Decorated with flowers, the tree seemed to stand in its bridal\nattire; and resembled the bridegroom in mutual embrace with the twining\nbrides.\n\n13. The bowers of shrubberies all around, resembled the leafy huts of\nhermits, which with their overtopping blossoms, seemed as a city,\nflaring with flying flags (or banners) in festivity.\n\n14. Shaken by the stages in the act of rubbing their bodies, the trees\ndarted their flowers in abundance upon the ground; and the border-lands\nwere as shattered, as if they were broken by the horns of fighting\nbulls.\n\n15. Peacocks daubed with dust of flowers, and flying on the top of the\nadjacent hill, appeared as evening clouds gliding over it.\n\n16. Here the goddess Flora seemed to be sporting in the lawns, with the\nroseate flowers in her hands, and smiling sweetly in the blooming\nblossoms; she revelled with the nectarine honey of flowers; and shed\nher beauty on all sides.\n\n17. The closing buds resembling her eyelids, were lulled to sleep by\nthe forest breeze, breathing incessantly with the fragrance of the\nflowers. The clusters of flowers forming her breasts, were hid under\nthe bodice of leaves.\n\n18. She sat at the window of her alcove, formed by the twining plants\nand creepers, and was dressed in the purple garb of the flying farina\nof flowers.\n\n19. She swang in her swinging cradle of bluish blossoms, and was\nadorned with various floral ornaments from her head to foot.\n\n20. She moved about the flowers in the garb of the sylvan goddess and\nlooking with her cerulean eyes of fluttering blue-bees on all sides;\nand sang to them in the sweet notes of the black kokila in the arbours.\n\n21. The bees tired with their labour of love, refreshed themselves with\nsipping the dew-drops trickling on the tops of the flowers, and then\nmaking their repast on the farinaceous meal, slept together with their\nmates, in the cells of the flower cups.\n\n22. The couples of bees dwelling in the cells of flowers, and giddy\nwith sipping the honey of the flower cups; were humming their love\ntunes to one another.\n\n23. The sage remained attentive for a moment to the murmur, proceeding\nfrom the village beyond the forest; and now he listened with pricked up\nears, to the busy buzz of blue-bees and flies at a distance.\n\n24. The sages then beheld with their down cast looks on moon-beams,\nwhich were spread like a sheet of fine linen on the blades of grass\nupon the ground below.\n\n25. They beheld the beautiful antelopes, which slept in their leafy\nbeds on the ground, below the stretching boughs of shady trees, as if\nthey were the progeny of their native forest.\n\n26. They saw the fearless birds chirping upon the branches, and others\nsleeping confident in their nests; and they beheld the ground covered\nby living creatures, feasting on the ripe fruits fallen below.\n\n27. They saw the long lines of black-bees, lying mute on the ground\nlike strings of beads, and blackening it with their sable bodies.\n\n28. The forest was redolent with fragrance, and the sky was overhung by\na cloud of flowers; the dust of Kadamba blossoms tinged the ground with\nambergrees, and the Kadamba fruits covered the face of the land.\n\n29. What need is there of saying more, than that there was no part of\nthe tree, which was not useful to living beings.\n\n30. Here the deer were sleeping on the fallen leaves and there were\nothers resting on the barren ground; the birds sat on the banks and\nbeaches of the rivulets all about that lofty tree.\n\n31. As they were viewing in this manner the beauties of the forest, the\nnight passed away as soon as a night of festivity.\n\n32. The son of the hermit kept conversing with me on many subjects, and\nderived many useful instructions from my teaching.\n\n33. As we had been conversing with one another on different subjects,\nthe night passed away as soon as that of a conjugal pair.\n\n34. Now it began to dawn, and the blushing flowers commenced to ope\ntheir petals; while the host of the stars on high, disappeared from\ntheir arena of the sky.\n\n35. I then took my departure, and was followed by the hermit and his\nson to some distance from their Kadamba tree, where I left them for my\naerial course to the heavenly stream.\n\n36. There having performed my holy ablution, I came down under the\nvault of heaven, and then entered the celestial region of the sages,\nwhich is situated in the midway sky.\n\n37. Now I have related to you, R\u00e1ma, this story of D\u00e1s\u00fara, that you may\nlearn from his instance the unreality of the apparent world, and as it\nis but a shadow of the ideal one (in the Divine mind).\n\n38. It was for this reason, that I have given you the narrations of\nD\u00e1s\u00fara, by way of explanation of the phenomenal world, as a shadow of\nthe noumenal.\n\n39. Now therefore know the Spirit like D\u00e1s\u00fara, and imitate his example\nin the magnanimity of your soul. Forsake the unreal, and pursue the\nreality for your permanent delight.\n\n40. Rub out the dirt of desire from your mind, and see the image of\ntruth in it as in a mirror; you will thus attain to the highest state\nof knowledge, and be honoured in all worlds as a perfect being.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER LVI.\n\n ON THE SOUL AND ITS INERTNESS.\n\n\nArgument. Consideration of the activity and inactivity of the Soul, and\nthe Vanity of the Visibles.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014Knowing the world as a nihility, you must cease to\ntake any delight in it; for what reasonable being is there in it that\nwould delight in its unreality.\n\n2. If you take the phenomenal world for a reality, you may continue to\nenslave yourself to the unreal material; and lose the spiritual nature\nof your soul.\n\n3. Or if you know it to be a temporary existence, why then should you\ntake any interest in what is so frail and unstable, rather than care\nfor your immortal soul?\n\n4. The world is no substantial existence, nor are you a being of its\nunsubstantiality; it is only a clear reflection of the divine mind, and\nextending over all infinity. (And which is refracted into all\nindividual minds as in prismatic glasses).\n\n5. The world is neither an agent itself, nor is it the act of any agent\nat all; it is simply the reflexion of the noumenal, without any agency\nof its own.\n\n6. Whether the world is with or without an agent, or has a maker or\nnot, yet you can not tell it as a real substance, except that it\nappears so to your mind.\n\n7. The soul is devoid of all organs of action, and with all its\nactivity, it remains motionless and without action, as anything that is\ninactive and immovable.\n\n8. The world is the production of a fortuitous chance (K\u00e1kat\u00e1liya\nSanyoga), and none but boys place any reliance in it. (The world here\nmeans our existence in it, which is an act of chance).\n\n9. The world is neither stable nor fragile, but it is mutable from one\nstate to another, as it is known by its repeated reproductions and\nvisibility to us.\n\n10. It is neither everlasting, nor is it a momenting thing; its\nconstant mutability contradicts its firmness; and its nihility, (as\nstated before) is opposed to its temporarity. (The dictum of the Veda\nof the eternity of _asat_\u2014nullity, nullifies its temporariness).\n\n11. If the soul is the active power without its organs of action, it\nmust be unfailing and entire; because the continuance of its inorganic\noperations can not weaken its powers. (_i.e._ The performance of bodily\nactions debilitates the body; but the immaterial mind is not impaired\nby its activity).\n\n12. Therefore there is an irresistible destiny, which is absolutely\noverruling; it is existence and inexistence itself, it is sedate and\ncontinuous, and all visible perturbations are but false appearances.\n\n13. The limit of a hundred years of human life, is but a very small\nportion of unlimited duration; it is therefore very astonishing that\nany one should be concerned with this small portion of his existence,\nhere (in utter disregard of his eternal life).\n\n14. Granting the durability of worldly affairs, yet they are not\ndeserving of your reliance; for what faith can you rely on the union of\ntwo such opposites as the mind and matter? (The one being sensible and\nthe other insensible, the one being infinite and imperishable, and the\nother a finite and frail substance).\n\n15. But if the state of worldly things be unsteady and uncertain, it\ncan not be deserving of your confidence. Say, can you be sorry at the\ndissolving of the foam and froth of the milk or water, then why should\nyou lament at the loss of the perishable? (So said the Grecian\nphilosopher: yesterday I saw a fragile breaking, and today I saw a\nmortal die).\n\n16. Know, O strong armed R\u00e1ma! that reliance on the world, is the\nfetter of the soul to it; it does not behove any body to join the\nperishable and imperishable together like the water and its froth. (The\none being lasting and the other a transient thing).\n\n17. Although the soul is the agent (or source) of all actions, yet it\nremains as no agent at all; it is unconnected with its actions, as the\nlamp with its light. (The mind being the doer of actions and not the\nsoul).\n\n18. Doing all it does nothing, but like the sun directs the business of\nthe day without doing anything by itself. It moves like the sun without\nmoving from its place, but retains its station in its own orbit. (The\nsun is the causal agent of diurnal duties, but men are the active\nagents of their actions).\n\n19. There is some other hidden cause guiding the course of the world,\nbeside the soul and body; as there is an unknown cause of the course of\nthe Aruna river, notwithstanding its being blocked by stones.\n\n20. When you have known this for certain, O R\u00e1ma by your own\nproficience, and have well ascertained this truth by its clearest\nevidence:\u2014\n\n21. You ought no more to place any reliance on material things, which\nare as false as an ambient flame, or a vision in dream, or as any\nfalsehood whatever.\n\n22. As a stranger is not to be taken into your friendship, on his first\nappearance; so you must never trust or rely on anything of this world\nthrough your ignorance.\n\n23. Never place your reliance on anything of this world, with that fond\ndesire, as the heated man looks to the moon, the cold stricken to the\nsun, and the thirsty doth to the water in the mirage.\n\n24. Do you look upon this ideal world (which is born of your brain), as\nyou view a creature of your conception, a vision in your dream, or an\napparition or the appearance of two moons in the sky, by your visual\ndeception.\n\n25. Shun your reliance on the fair creation of your imagination (the\nobjects of sight &c.), and without minding what you are, conduct\nyourself cheerfully in your sphere.\n\n26. Shun your desires and the thought of your agency, even when you are\ndoing any thing at all. (The soul residing in the body, is yet aloof\nfrom all its acts, though its presence in the body, justifies its being\naccessary to if not the accomplice of them. (Gloss)).\n\n27. It is a general law (niyati, or nature of things), that the\npropinquity of the cause, causes the act, even without the will of the\nactor; as the presence of the lamp, enlightens the room without the\nwill of the lamp. (An involuntary action is no less the act of the\nactor than a voluntary one).\n\n28. Look at the _kurchi_ tree blooming and blossoming under the\ninfluence of heavy clouds, and not of its own accord. So it is destined\nfor the three worlds to appear to sight, under the influence of the\nSupreme Being (though he may not will or ordain it so). (So also the\npresence of matter, effects the work by material laws, without the\nspecial behest or employment of the matter to the performance of same.\nGloss).\n\n29. As the appearance of the sun in the sky, employs all beings to\ntheir diurnal duties without his will or injunction, so the\nomnipresence of God causes the actions of all beings of their own\nspontaneity, and without his will, act or fiat. (This is called the\noverruling and universal destiny).\n\n30. And as a bright gem reflects its light, without any will on its\npart; so the mere existence of the Deity, causes the existence of all\nworlds (as they are in attendance upon His presence).\n\n31. Thus are causality and its want also both situated in your soul,\nwhich is thence called the cause of your actions, because of its\npresence in the body; and as no cause likewise owing to its want of\nwill (which is the property of the mind; and not of the soul).\n\n32. The entity of the soul being beyond the perception of sense, it is\nneither the agent nor recipient of any action; but being confined in\nthe sensible body, it is thought to be both an active and passive agent.\n\n33. Thus the properties both of causality and its want, reside in the\nsoul; you may take it in any light, you may choose for your purpose,\nand rest content with your belief.\n\n34. But by firmly believing yourself to be situated in the body, and\nyour doing of actions without thinking yourself as their author, will\nsave you from the culpability of all your acts.\n\n35. The man that does not employ his mind to his actions, becomes\nindifferent (vir\u00e1ga) to the world; and he is freed from it, who is\ncertain of his being no agent of his actions.\n\n36. Whether a man is fond of his enjoyments, or forsakes them in\ndisgust; it is all the same to him, if he but think himself to be no\nactor of them. (Set not your mind to act, if you want to be set free in\nfact).\n\n37. But if you wish to remain, R\u00e1ma, with your high ambition of doing\nevery thing in the world, that is also good, and you may try to do the\nsame.\n\n38. But if I do not fall to so great an error, as to have this high\naspiration of yours, I am never liable to the passions of anger and\nenmity, and other violent emotions in this world.\n\n39. The bodies that we bear, are nourished by some and immolated by\nothers: such being the state of our own being; we have no cause for our\njoy or sorrow in it.\n\n40. Knowing ourselves to be the authors of our own happiness and\nmisery, and as causes of the rise and dissolution of the world from our\nview, we have no reason to be joyous or sorry in it.\n\n41. Then there is an end of the joys and sorrows of our own making,\nwhen we have that sweet composure, which is a balm to all the diseases\nin our soul.\n\n42. Fellow feeling to all living beings, makes the best state of the\nmind; and the soul that is so disposed, is not subject to\ntransmigration.\n\n43. Or make this the best lesson, R\u00e1ma! for your conduct in life, that\nwith all your activities, you continue to think yourself as no actor at\nall. (Because the belief of one\u2019s agency, leads him to the fruition of\nthis act in repeated births).\n\n44. Remain quiet and steady as thou art, by resigning all things to\nthemselves; and never think that it is thou that dost or undoest\nanything (which is destined to be so or otherwise by the Divine will).\n\n45. But if you look to the different modes of your doing one thing or\nthe other, you can have no rest or quiet, but must run in the way\nleading to the trap of perpetual toil and misery.\n\n46. The belief of a man\u2019s corporeality, that he is a destructible body,\nand no spiritual being, is to him but a bed of thorns; it must\ntherefore be avoided by all means, in order to evade the danger of his\nimminent destruction.\n\n47. Corporeality is to be shunned as a hell-hound feeding on canine\nmeat; and after disappearance of the cloud of corporeity from view, the\nlight of spirituality will appear before the sight.\n\n48. The pure light of spirituality; presents the appearance of the\nbright moon-beams of holiness, after dispersion of clouds of corporeal\ndesires; and it is by the help of this light, that the spiritualist is\nenabled to steer across the ocean of this world.\n\n49. Do you, O R\u00e1ma, remain in that best and blessed state, wherein the\nwisest, best and holiest of men have found their rest; and it is the\nconstant habit of thinking yourself as nothing nor doing anything; or\nthat you are all things and doing every thing; as the Supreme soul\nknows itself to be; and that you are some person, having a personality\nof your own, and yet no body (_i.e._ not the body in which thou dost\nabide); but a spiritual and transcendent being.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER LVII.\n\n NATURE OF VOLLEITY AND NOLLEITY.\n\n\nArgument. The bondage of volition causing our perdition, and the\nfreedom of Nolition as leading to salvation.\n\n\nR\u00e1ma said:\u2014Thy words, O Br\u00e1hman! are true and well spoken also. I\nfind the soul to be the inactive agent of actions, and the impassive\nrecipient of their effects, as also the spiritual cause of the\ncorporeal.\n\n2. I find the soul to be the sole lord of all, and ubiquitous in its\ncourse; it is of the nature of intelligence and of the form of\ntransparency. It resides in all bodies, as the five elements compose\nthe terraqueous bodies.\n\n3. I now come to understand the nature of Brahma, and I am as pacified\nby thy speech, as the heated mountain is cooled by rain waters.\n\n4. From its secludedness and nolleity, it neither does nor receives any\nthing; but its universal pervasion, makes it both the actor and\nsufferer.\n\n5. But sir, there is a doubt too vivid and rankling in my mind, which I\npray you to remove by your enlightened speech, as the moon-beams dispel\nthe darkness of the night.\n\n6. Tell me Sir, whence proceed these dualities, as the reality of one\nand the unreality of the other, and that this is I and this not myself.\nAnd if the soul is one and indivisible, how is this one thing and that\nanother.\n\n7. There being but one self-existent and self-evident soul from the\nbeginning, how comes it to be subjected to these oppositions, as the\nbright disk of sun comes to be obscured under the clouds.\n\n8. Vasishtha answered:\u2014R\u00e1ma! I will give the right answer to this\nquestion of yours, as I come to the conclusion; and then you will learn\nthe cause of these biplicities.\n\n9. You will not be able, R\u00e1ma! to comprehend my answers to these\nqueries of yours, until you come to be acquainted with my solution of\nthe question of liberation.\n\n10. As it is the adult youth only, who can appreciate the beauty of a\nlove-song; so it is the holy man only, who can grasp the sense of my\nsayings on these abstruse subjects.\n\n11. Sayings of such great importance, are as fruitless with ignorant\npeople, as a work on erotic subjects is useless to children.\n\n12. There is a time for the seasonableness of every subject to men, as\nit is the season of autumn which produces the harvest and not the\nvernal spring.\n\n13. The preaching of a sermon is selectable to old men, as fine\ncolourings are suitable to clean canvas; and so a spiritual discourse\nof deep sense, suits one who has known the Spirit.\n\n14. I have ere while mentioned something, which may serve to answer\nyour question, although you have not fully comprehended its meaning, to\nremove your present doubts.\n\n15. When you shall come to know the Spirit in your own spirit, you will\ndoubtlessly come to find the solution of your query by yourself.\n\n16. I will fully expound to you the subject matter of your inquiry, at\nthe conclusion of my argument; when you shall have arrived to a better\nknowledge of these things.\n\n17. The spiritualist knows the spirit in his own spirit; and it is the\ngood grace of the Supreme spirit, to manifest itself to the spirit of\nthe spiritualist.\n\n18. I have already related to you R\u00e1ma! the argument concerning the\nagency and inertness of the soul, yet it is your ignorance of this\ndoctrine, that makes you foster your doubts.\n\n19. The man bound to his desires is a bondsman, and one freed from them\nis said to be set free from his slavery; do you but cast away your\ndesires, and you will have no cause to seek for your freedom (as you\nare then perfectly free yourself).\n\n20. Forsake first your foul (t\u00e1masi) desires, and then be freed from\nyour desire of worldly possessions; foster your better wishes next, and\nat last incline to your pure and holy leanings.\n\n21. After having conducted yourself with your pure desires, get rid of\nthese even at the end; and then being freed from all desires, be\ninclined to and united with your intellect (_i.e._ knowing all and\nlonging for nothing).\n\n22. Then renounce your intellectual propensity, together with your\nmental and sensible proclivities; and lastly having reached to the\nstate of staid tranquility, get rid of your mind also in order to set\nyourself free from all other desires.\n\n23. Be an intellectual being, and continue to breathe your vital breath\n(as long as you live); but keep your imagination under controul, and\ntake into no account the course of time, and the revolution of days and\nnights.\n\n24. Forsake your desire for the objects of sense, and root out your\nsense of egoism, which is the root of desire. Let your understanding be\ncalm and quiet, and you will be honoured by all.\n\n25. Drive away all feelings and thoughts from your heart and mind; for\nhe that is free from anxieties, is superior to all, (who labour under\nanxious thoughts and cares).\n\n26. Let a man practice his hybernation or other sorts of intense\ndevotion or not, he is reckoned to have obtained his liberation, whose\nelevated mind has lost its reliance on worldly things.\n\n27. The man devoid of desires, has no need of his observance or\navoidance of pious acts; the freedom of his mind from its dependence on\nanything, is sufficient for his liberation.\n\n28. A man may have well studied the s\u00e1stras, and discussed about them\nin mutual conversation; yet he is far from his perfection, without his\nperfect inappetency and taciturnity.\n\n29. There are men who have examined every thing and roved in all parts\nof the world; yet there are few among them that have known the truth.\n\n30. Of all things that are observed in the world, there is nothing\namong them which may be truly desirable, and is to be sought after by\nthe wise.\n\n31. All this ado of the world, and all the pursuits of men, tend only\ntowards the supportance of the animal body; and there is nothing in it,\nleading to the edification of the rational soul.\n\n32. Search all over this earth, in heaven above and in the infernal\nregions below; and you will find but few persons, who have known what\nis worth knowing. (The true nature of the soul and that of God, is\nunknown to all finite beings every where).\n\n33. It is hard to have a wise man, whose mind is devoid of its firm\nreliance on the vanities of the world; and freed from its desire or\ndisgust of something or others, as agreeable or disagreeable to its\nstate.\n\n34. A man may be lord of the world, or he may pierce through the clouds\nand pry in heaven (by his Yoga); yet he can not enjoy the solace of his\nsoul without his knowledge of it.\n\n35. I venerate those highminded men, who have bravely subdued their\nsenses; it is from them that we can have the remedy to remove the curse\nof our repeated births. (It is by divine knowledge alone that we can\navoid the doom of transmigration).\n\n36. I see every place filled by the five elements, and a sixth is not\nto be seen any where in the world. Such being the case every where,\nwhat else can I expect to find in earth or heaven or in the regions\nbelow.\n\n37. The wise man relying on his own reason and judgment, outsteps the\nabyss of this world, as easily as he leaps over a ditch; but he who has\ncast aside his reason, finds it as wide as the broad ocean. (The\noriginal word for the ditch is _gospada_\u2014the cove of a cows hoof\u2014a\n_cul-de-sac_).\n\n38. The man of enlightened understanding, looks upon this globe of the\nearth, as the bulb of a Kadamba flower, round as an apple or a\nball\u2014_teres atque rotundus_; he neither gives nor receives nor wants of\naught in this world.\n\n39. Yet fie for the foolish that fight for this mite of the earth, and\nwage a warfare for destruction of millions of their fellow creatures.\n\n40. What, if any one is to live and enjoy the blessings of this world\nfor a whole Kalpa when, he can not escape the sorrow, consequent on the\nloss of all his friends during that period.\n\n41. He who has known the self, has no craving for heavenly bliss within\nhimself; because he knows his gain of all the three worlds, can never\nconduce to the strengthening of his soul.\n\n42. But the avaricious are not content with all they have, and like the\nbody of this earth, is not full with all its hills and mountains and\nsurrounding seas. (The earth is never full with all its fullness).\n\n43. There is nothing in this earth or in the upper and lower worlds,\nwhich is of any use to the sage acquainted with spiritual knowledge.\n\n44. The mind of the self-knowing sage, is one vast expanse like the\nspacious firmament, it is tranquil and sedate and unconscious of itself.\n\n45. It views the body as a net work of veins and arteries, pale and\nwhite as frost, and all cellular within.\n\n46. It sees the mountains floating as froth, on the surface of the\npellucid ocean of Brahma; it looks upon the intellect blazing as\nbrightly as the sun, over the mirage of existence.\n\n47. It finds the nature of the soul, to be as extensive as the vast\nocean, containing the creations as its billows; and it considers the\nall-pervasive soul as a big cloud, raining down in showers of s\u00e1stras\nor knowledge.\n\n48. The fire, moon and the sun, appear as the fuel in a furnace,\nrequiring to be lighted by the blaze of the intellect, as every opaque\natom in nature.\n\n49. All embodied souls of men, gods and demigods, rove in the\nwilderness of the world, for feeding upon their fodder of food, as the\ndeer graze in their pasturage.\n\n50. The world is a prison house, where every one is a prisoner with his\ntoilsome body. The bones are the latches of this dungeon, the head is\nits roof, and the skin its leather; and the blood and flesh of the\nbody, are as the drink and food of the imprisoned.\n\n51. Men were as dolls covered with skin for the amusement of boys, and\nthey are continually roving in quest of sustenance, like the cattle\nrunning towards their pasture grounds.\n\n52. But the high minded man is not of this kind; he is not moved by\nworldly temptations, as the mountain is not to be shaken by the gentle\nbreeze.\n\n53. The truly great and wise man, rests in that highest state of\neminence; where the stations of the sun and moon, are seen as the\nnether regions.\n\n54. It is by the light of the Supreme Spirit, that all the worlds are\nlighted, and the minds of all are enlighted. But the ignorant are\nimmerged in the ocean of ignorance, and nourish their bodies only in\ndisregard of their souls.\n\n55. No worldly good can allure the heart of the wise, who have tested\nthe vanity of temporal things; and no earthly evil can obscure their\nsouls, which are as bright as the clear sky which no cloud can darken.\n\n56. No worldly pleasure can gladden the soul of the wise man, as the\ndance of monkeys can give no joy to the heart of Hara, that delights in\nthe dancing of Gaur\u00ed.\n\n57. No earthly delight can have its seat in the heart of the wise, as\nthe sun-light is never reflected in a gem hidden under a bushel.\n\n58. The material world appears as a solid rock to the stolid ignorant;\nbut it seems as the evanescent wave to the wise. The ignorant take a\ngreat pleasure in the transitory enjoyments of the world; but the wise\ntake them to no account, as the swan disdains to look upon the moss of\nthe lake.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER LVIII.\n\n THE SONG OF KACHA.\n\n\nArgument. The Pantheistic views of the soul as the one in all, is shown\nin the song of Kacha.\n\n\nVasishtha said:\u2014On this subject I will tell you, R\u00e1ma! the holy song\nwhich was sung of old by Kacha, the son of Vrihaspati\u2014the preceptor of\nthe gods.\n\n2. As this son of the divine tutor, resided in a grove in some part of\nthe mount Meru (the Altain chain\u2014the homestead of the gods); he found\nthe tranquility of his spirit in the Supreme soul; by means of his\nholy devotion.\n\n3. His mind being filled with the ambrosial draughts of divine\nknowledge, he derived no satisfaction at the sight of the visible\nworld, composed of the five elemental bodies.\n\n4. Being rapt in his mind with the vision of the Holy Spirit, he saw\nnothing else beside him, and then fervently uttered to himself in the\nfollowing strain.\n\n5. What is there for me to do or refuse or to receive or reject, and\nwhat place is there for me to resort or refrain from going to, when\nthis whole is filled by the Divine Spirit (_to pan_), as by the water\nof the great deluge.\n\n6. I find pleasure and pain inherent in the soul, and the sky and all\nits sides contained in the magnitude of the soul. Thus knowing all\nthings to be full of the holy spirit, I forget and sink all my pains in\nmy spirit.\n\n7. The spirit is inside and outside of all bodies, it is above and\nbelow and on all sides of all. Here, there and every where is the same\nspirit, and there is no place where it is not.\n\n8. The spirit abides every where and all things abide in the spirit;\nall things are self-same with the spirit, and I am situated in the same\nspirit.\n\n9. There is nothing intelligent or insensible which is not the spirit,\nall is spirit and so am I also. The spirit fills the whole space and is\nsituated in every place.\n\n10. I am as full of that spirit and its ineffable bliss, as the all\nencompassing water of the great deluge. In this manner was Kacha musing\nin himself in the bower of the golden mountain. (The Altain chain is\ncalled the golden mountain for its abounding in gold mines).\n\n11. He uttered the sound Om (_on_ or amen), and it rang on all sides as\nthe ringing of a bell; he first uttered a part of it the vocal part\u2014o,\nand then the nasal\u2014n, which tops it as a tuft of hair. He remained\nmeditating on the spirit in his mind, not as situated in or without it\n(but as the all pervasive soul).\n\n12. Thus R\u00e1ma! did Kacha continue to muse in himself and chant his holy\nhymn, being freed from the foulness of flesh, and rarefied in his\nspirit like the breath of the wind. His soul was as clear as the\natmosphere in autumn, after dispersion of the dark clouds of the rainy\nseason.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER LIX.\n\n WORKS OF BRAHM\u00c1\u2019S CREATION.\n\n\nArgument. Vanity of the World born of Brahm\u00e1\u2019s conception. Its\nDisappearance and Liberation.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014There is nothing in this world except the\ngratification of the carnal appetites, and the pleasure of eating,\ndrinking and concupiscence with the vulgar; but it is the lasting good\nof men, which is desired by the good and great.\n\n2. The crooked and creeping beings and things, and beasts and wicked\nmen and ignorant people only are gratified with carnal pleasures; they\nare all fond of everything conducing to their bodily enjoyments.\n\n3. They are human asses, who dote on the beauty of female bodies, which\nare no better than lumps of flesh, blood and bones.\n\n4. This may be desirable to dogs and devouring animals, but not to man\n(who is a rational and spiritual being). All animals have their fleshy\nbodies, as the trees have their trunks of wood, and the minerals their\nforms of earth.\n\n5. There is the earth below and the sky above, and nothing that is\nextraordinary before us; the senses pursue the sensible objects, but\nhuman reason finds no relish in them.\n\n6. The consciousness (or intuition) of men, leads them only to error;\nand true happiness, which is desired by all is situated beyond all\nsensible objects and gratifications.\n\n7. The end of worldly pleasure is sorrow and misery, as the product of\na flame is soot and blackness; and the functions of the mind and\nsenses, are all fleeting having their rise and fall by turns. All\nenjoyments are short lived, owing to the fugacity of the objects, and\nthe decay of the powers of our enjoying.\n\n8. Prosperity fades away as plant encircled by a poisonous viper; and\nour consorts die away as soon as anything born of blood and flesh.\n(Fortune is fleeting and life a passing dream).\n\n9. The delusion of love and lust, makes one body to embrace another,\nboth of which are composed of impure flesh and blood. Such are the\nacts, O R\u00e1ma! that delight the ignorant.\n\n10. Wise men take no delight in this unreal and unstable world, which\nis more poisonous than poison itself, by infecting them that have not\neven tasted the bitter gall.\n\n11. Forsake therefore your desire of enjoyment, and seek to be united\nwith your spiritual essence; because the thought of your materiality\n(or being a material body), has taken possession of your mind (and\nseparated you from yourself and the spirit of God).\n\n12. Whenever the thought of making the unreal world, rises in the mind\nof Brahm\u00e1 the creator, he takes an unreal body upon him of his own will.\n\n13. It becomes as bright as gold by his own light, and then he is\ncalled Virinchi (_virincipiens_) on account of his will; and Brahm\u00e1\nalso for his being born of Brahm\u00e1. (He is represented as of red colour,\nas Adam is said to be made of red earth).\n\n14. R\u00e1ma asked:\u2014How does the world become a solid substance, from its\nhaving been of a visionary form in the spirit or mind of God?\n\n15. Vasishtha replied:\u2014When the lotus-born male (Brahm\u00e1), rose from his\ncradle of the Embryo of Brahm\u00e1, he uttered the name of Brahm\u00e1 whence he\nwas called Brahm\u00e1. (The word Brahm answers the Hebrew Brahum\u2014create\nthem, and corresponds with the Latin _ficet_\u2014bhuya \u09ad\u09c1\u09af\u09be\u09ce).\n\n16. He then had the conception (Sankalpa) of the world in his own\nimagination, and the same assumed a visible and solid form by the power\nof his will, called the conceptional or conceived world. (Sankalpasr\u00ed).\n\n17. He conceived at first luminous idea of light, which having assumed\na visible form spread on all sides, as a creeping plant is outstretched\nall about in autumn. (Light was the first work of creation).\n\n18. The rays of this light pierced all sides like threads of gold; they\nshone and spread themselves both above and below.\n\n19. Concealed amidst this light, the lotus-born Hiranyagarbha,\nconceived in his mind a figure like his luminous form, and produced it\nas the four faced Brahm\u00e1.\n\n20. Then the sun sprung forth from that light, and shone as a globe of\ngold amidst his world encircling beams.\n\n21. He held the locks of his flaming hair on his head, which flashed as\nfire all around him; and filled the sphere of heaven with heat and\nlight.\n\n22. The most intelligent Brahm\u00e1, produced afterwards some other\nluminous forms from portions of that light, which proceeded from it\nlike the waves of the ocean (and these are thence called the Mar\u00edchis or\nrays, who were the first patriarchs of other created beings).\n\n23. These most potent and competent beings, were also possessed of\ntheir concepts and will, and they produced in a moment the figures as\nthey thought of and willed.\n\n24. They conceived the forms of various other beings also, which they\nproduced one after the other, as they desired and willed.\n\n25. Then did Brahm\u00e1 bring to his recollection the eternal vedas and the\nmany ceremonial rites, which he established as laws in his house of\nthis world.\n\n26. Having taken the gigantic body of Brahma, and the extensive form of\nthe mind\u2014manas, he produced the visible world as his own\noffspring\u2014Santati. (Brahm\u00e1 means _brihat_\u2014great; and _santate_ derived\nfrom the root tan. Latin\u2014_leoreo_ means continuation of race).\n\n27. He stretched the seas and mountains, and made the trees and upper\nworlds. He raised the Meru on the surface of the earth, and all the\nforests and groves upon it.\n\n28. It was he who ordained happiness and misery, birth and death and\ndisease and decay; and he created the passions and feelings of living\nbeings, under their threefold divisions of satva, rajas and tamas.\n\n29. Whatever has been wrought by the hands (faculties) of the mind of\nBrahma before, the same continues to be still perceived by our deluded\nvision.\n\n30. He gave the mind and laws to all beings, and makes the worlds anew\nas they are situated in his mind.\n\n31. It is error, that has given rise to the erroneous conception of the\neternity of the world, whereas it is the conception of the mind alone\nthat creates the ideal forms. (The world is neither material nor\nsubstantial, but a conceptual and ideal creation of the mind).\n\n32. The acts of all things in the world, are produced by their\nconception and wishes; and it is the concept or thought, that binds the\ngods also to their destiny.\n\n33. The great Brahm\u00e1 that was the source of the creation of the world,\nsits in the meditative mood, contemplating on all that he has made.\n\n34. It was by a motion of the mind, that the wonderful form of the\nliving principle was formed; and it was this that gave rise to the\nwhole world, with all its changeful phenomena.\n\n35. It made the gods Indra, Upendra and Mahendra and others, and also\nthe hills and seas in all the worlds above and below us, and in the ten\nsides of the heaven above:\u2014\n\n36. Brahm\u00e1 then thought in himself, \u201cI have thus stretched out at large\nthe net work of my desire, I will now cease from extending the objects\nof my desire any further\u201d.\n\n37. Being so determined, he ceased from the toil of his creation, and\nreflected on the eternal spirit in his own spirit. (According to the\nSruti:\u2014the spirit is to be reflected in the spirit).\n\n38. By knowing the spirit, his mind was melted down by its effulgence,\nand reclined on it with that ease, as one finds in his soft sleep after\nlong labour.\n\n39. Being freed from his selfishness and egoism, he felt that perfect\ntranquility which the soul receives by resting in itself, and which\nlikens the calmness of the sea by its subsidence in itself.\n\n40. The Lord sometimes leaves off his meditation, as the reservoirs of\nwater sometimes overflow their banks and boundaries.\n\n41. He beholds the world as a vale of misery, with very little of\nhappiness in it; and where the soul is fast bound to its alternate\npassions, and led by the changes of its hopes and fears.\n\n42. He takes pity on the miserable condition of man, and with a view of\ntheir welfare, promulgates the sacred s\u00e1stras and rites, which are full\nof meaning for their guidance.\n\n43. He propounds the Vedas and their branches\u2014the Ved\u00e1ngas, which are\nfraught with spiritual knowledge, and precepts of wisdom, and he\nrevealed the Pur\u00e1nas and other s\u00e1stras for the salvation of mankind.\n\n44. Again the spirit of Brahm\u00e1 reclined on the supreme spirit, and was\nrelieved from its toil; and then remained as tranquil as the becalmed\nocean, after its churning by the Mandara.\n\n45. Brahm\u00e1 having observed the efforts of mankind on earth, and\nprescribed to them the rules of their conduct, returned to himself,\nwhere he sat reclined on his lotus seat.\n\n46. He remains some times entirely devoid of all his desires; and at\nothers he takes upon him his cares for mankind from his great kindness\nto them.\n\n47. He is neither simple in his nature, nor does he assume or reject\nhis form in the states of his creation and cessation. He is no other\nthan intelligence, which is neither present in nor absent from any\nplace.\n\n48. He is conversant with all states and properties of things, and is\nas full as the ocean without intermixture of any crude matter in him.\n\n49. Sometimes he is quite devoid of all attributes and desires, and is\nonly awakened from his inertness, by his own desire of doing good to\nhis creatures.\n\n50. I have thus expounded to you concerning the existence of Brahm\u00e1\n(Br\u00e1hmi Sthiti), and his real states of S\u00e1twika, Vidhyanika and\nSuranikas creation. (The first is the creation of his intellectual\nnature, and the second that of his mind or will or mental form).\n\n51. The intellectual creation is what rises of itself in the Spirit of\nBrahma, and the mental is the result of his mind and will. The first is\nthe direct inspiration of Brahm\u00e1 into the Spirit of Brahm\u00e1.\n\n52. After creation of the material world by the _r\u00e1jasika_ nature of\nBrahm\u00e1, there rises the visible creation in the air by the will of the\ncreator. (This is called the _madhyanika_, because it is the\nintermediate creation, between the elemental and animal creations).\n\n53. In the next step of animal creation, some were born as gods\n(angels) and others as Yakshas\u2014demigods, and this is called the\n_suranika_, because the suras or gods were created in it.\n\n54. Every creature is born in the shape of its inherent nature, and\nthen it is either elevated or degraded, according to the nature of its\nassociations. It lays also the foundation of its future state of\nbondage to birth or liberation, by its acts, commenced in the present\nlife.\n\n55. In this manner, O R\u00e1ma! has the world come to existence. Its\ncreation is evidently a work of labour, as it is brought to being by\nvarious acts of motion and exertion of the body and mind; and all these\nproducts of the god\u2019s will, are sustained also by continuous force and\neffort on his part.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER LX.\n\n PRODUCTION OF LIVING BEINGS.\n\n\nArgument. Production of the bodies of Living Beings, according to the\ndegrees of their Reason.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014O strong armed R\u00e1ma! after the great father of\ncreation, he took himself to his activity, he formed and supported the\nworlds by his energy and might.\n\n2. All living and departed souls, are tied like buckets by the rope of\ntheir desire, and made to rise and fall in this old well of the world,\nby the law of their predetermined destiny (or Fate that binds Siva or\nJove himself).\n\n3. All beings proceeding from Brahm\u00e1, and entering the prison house of\nthe world, have to be concentrated into the body of the air-born\nBrahm\u00e1; as all the waters of the sea have to be whirled into the\nwhirlpool in the midst of the sea. (All things were contained in and\nproduced from Brahm\u00e1 the Demiurge).\n\n4. Others are continually springing from the mind of Brahm\u00e1, like\nsparks of fire struck out of a red-hot iron; while many are flying to\nit as their common centre.\n\n5. R\u00e1ma! all lives are as the waves in the ocean of the everlasting\nspirit of Brahma; they rise and fall in him according to his will.\n\n6. They enter into the atmospheric air, as the smoke rises and enters\nthe clouds, and are at last mixed up together by the wind, in the\nspirit of Brahma.\n\n7. They are then overtaken by the elementary particles, or atoms flying\nin the air, which lay hold on them in a few days; as the demons seize\nthe host of gods with violence. (These become the living and embodied\nsouls, joined with the many properties of the elements).\n\n8. Then the air breathes the vital breath in these bodies; which\ninfuses life and vigour in them.\n\n9. Thus do living beings manifest themselves on earth, while there are\nother flyings in the form of smoke as living spirits. (So the\nspiritualists view the spirits in the etherial clouds).\n\n10. Some of them appear in their subtle elemental forms in their airy\ncells in the sky, and shine as bright as the beams of the luminous\nmoon. (These are _lingadehas_ or individual spiritual bodies).\n\n11. Then they fall upon the earth like the pale moonbeams falling upon\nthe milky ocean.\n\n12. There they alight as birds in the groves and forests, and become\nstiffened by sipping the juice of fruits and flowers.\n\n13. Then losing their aerial and bright forms of the moon-beams, they\nsettle on those fruits and flowers: and suck their juice like infants\nhanging upon the breasts of their mothers. (These are the protozoa, the\nfirst and embryonic state of living beings).\n\n14. The protozoa are strengthened by drinking the juice of the fruits,\nwhich are ripened by the light and heat of the sun, and then they\nremain in a state of insensibility; until they enter the animal body.\n\n15. The animated animalcules, remain in the womb with their undeveloped\ndesires; in the same manner as the unopening leaves, are contained in\nthe seed of the _bata_ or Indian fig tree.\n\n16. All lives are situated in the Great God, as fire is inherent in the\nwood, and the pot resides in the earth; and it is after many processes\nthat they have their full development.\n\n17. One that has received no bodily form, and yet moves on without\nmanifesting itself, is said to be a _satya_ or spiritual being, and has\na large scope of action (as the gods).\n\n18. He is said to have a _s\u00e1tvika_ birth, who gets his liberation in or\nafter his life-time; but whoever is obliged to be reborn by his acts,\nis said to belong to the _r\u00e1jas-s\u00e1tvika_ class.\n\n19. Any one of this class who is born to rule over others, becomes\ngiddy with pride (tamas), he is said to be of the nature of ignorance\n_t\u00e1masika_, and I will now speak of this class of beings.\n\n20. Those who are born originally with their s\u00e1twika nature, are pure\nin their conduct and have never to be born again.\n\n21. Men of r\u00e1ja-s\u00e1twika temperament have to be reborn on earth; but\nbeing elevated by their reasoning powers, they have no more to be born\nin this nether world.\n\n22. Those who have directly proceeded from the Supreme Spirit (without\nany intermixture of these natures), are men fraught with every quality,\nand are very rare on earth.\n\n23. The various classes of _t\u00e1masa_ creatures of ignorance, are both\ninsensible and speechless; and are of the nature of immovable\nvegetables and minerals, that need no description.\n\n24. How many among the gods and men, have been reborn to the cares of\nthe world, owing to the demerit of their past action; and I myself\nthough fraught with knowledge and reason, am obliged to lead a life of\nthe r\u00e1jasa-s\u00e1twika kind (owing to my interference in society).\n\n25. It is by your ignorance of the Supreme, that you behold the vast\nextension of the world; but by considering it rightly you will soon\nfind all this to be but the One Unity.\n\n * * * * *\n\nNOTES ON THE SURANIKA, S\u00c1TWIKA &C.\n\n1. The _Vidhyanika_; is the sphere of the eternal laws of God,\npresided over by Brahm\u00e1, who is thence styled the Vidhi or dispensator\nof the laws of the creation of the mundane system.\n\n2. The _Suranika_; is the sphere of the Supernatural powers or the\ndivine agencies, governing and regulating the management of created\nnature. This is the angelic sphere of deities.\n\n3. _Nar\u00e1n\u00edka_; is the sphere of human being, consisting also of the\nsubordinate orders of beings, placed under the dominion of man. This is\nthe sublunary sphere wherewith we are concerned.\n\n4. The S\u00e1twika; are righteous men, endued with the quality of goodness.\n\n5. The R\u00e1jasika; is the body politic, guided by the laws of society.\n\n6. The T\u00e1masika; is the ignorant rabble, and infatuated people.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER LXI.\n\n ON BIRTH, DEATH AND EXISTENCE.\n\n\nArgument. The Liberation of the R\u00e1jasa-s\u00e1twika natures, and\ndescription of knowledge and Indifference.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014Those that are born with the nature of\n_R\u00e1jasa-s\u00e1twika_, remain highly pleased in the world, and are as\ngladsome in their faces, as the face of the sky with the serene light\nof the moon-beams.\n\n2. Their faces are not darkened by melancholy, but are as bright as the\nface of heaven; they are never exposed to troubles, like the lotus\nflowers to the frost of night.\n\n3. They never deviate from their even nature, but remain unmoved as the\nimmovable bodies; and they persist in their course of beneficence, as\nthe trees yield their fruits to all.\n\n4. R\u00e1ma! the r\u00e1ja and s\u00e1tva natured man, gets his liberation in the\nsame manner, as the disk of the moon receives its ambrosial beams.\n\n5. He never forsakes his mildness, even when he is in trouble; but\nremains as cool as the moon even in her eclipse. He shines with the\nlovely virtue of fellow-feeling to all.\n\n6. Blessed are the righteous, who are always even tempered, gentle and\nas handsome as the forest trees, beset by creepers with clusters of\ntheir blossoms.\n\n7. They keep in their bounds, as the sea remains within its boundaries,\nand are meek like yourself in their even tempers. Hence they never\ndesire nor wish for any thing in the world.\n\n8. You must always walk in the way of the godly, and not run to the sea\nof dangers; thus you should go on without pain or sorrow in your life.\n\n9. Your soul will be as elevated as the r\u00e1jasa and s\u00e1twika states, by\nyour avoiding the ways of the ungodly, and considering well the\nteachings of the s\u00e1stras.\n\n10. Consider well in your mind the frail acts, which are attended with\nvarious evils; and do those acts which are good for the three worlds,\nboth in their beginning and end, and forever to eternity.\n\n11. The intelligent think that as dangerous to them, and not otherwise;\nby reason of their being freed from narrow views, and the false\nspectres\u2014the offspring of ignorance.\n\n12. You should always consider in yourself for the enlightenment of\nyour understanding, and say: O Lord! what am I, and whence is this\nmultiplicity of worlds?\n\n13. By diligently considering these subjects in the society of the wise\nand righteous, you must neither be engaged in your ceremonial acts, nor\ncontinue in your unnecessary practices of the rituals.\n\n14. You must look at the disjunction of all things in the world from\nyou (_i.e._ the temporaneousness of worldly things); and seek to\nassociate with the righteous, as the peacock yearns for the rainy\nclouds.\n\n15. Our inward egoism, outward body and the external world, are the\nthree seas encompassing us one after the other. It is right reasoning\nonly which affords the raft to cross over them, and bring us under the\nlight of truth.\n\n16. By refraining to think of the beauty and firmness of your exterior\nform, you will come to perceive the internal light of your intellect\nhid under your egoism; as the thin and connecting thread is concealed\nunder a string of pearls. (The hidden thread underlying the links of\nsouls, is termed _S\u00fatr\u00e1tm\u00e1_.)\n\n17. It is that eternally existent and infinitely extended blessed\nthread, which connects and stretches through all beings; and as the\ngems are strung to a string, so are all things linked together by the\nlatent spirit of God.\n\n18. The vacuous space of the Divine Intellect, contains the whole\nuniverse, as the vacuity of the air, contains the glorious sun; and as\nthe hollow of the earth, contains an emmet.\n\n19. As it is the same air which fills the cavity of every pot on earth,\nso it is the one and the same intellect and spirit of God, which fills,\nenlivens and sustains all bodies in every place. (The text says, \u201cThe\nIntellect knows no difference of bodies, but pervades alike in all\u201d).\n\n20. As the ideas of sweet and sour are the same in all men, so is the\nconsciousness of the Intellect alike in all mankind (_i.e._ we are all\nequally conscious of our intellectuality, as we are of the sweetness\nand sourness of things).\n\n21. There being but one and only one real substance in existence, it is\na palpable error of your ignorant folks to say, \u201cthis one exists, and\nthe other perishes or vanishes away\u201d. (Nothing is born or extinct, but\nall exist in God. So is Malebranche\u2019s opinion of seeing all things in\nGod).\n\n22. There is no such thing, R\u00e1ma, which being once produced, is\nresolved into naught at any time; all these are no realities nor\nunrealities, but representations or reflexions of the Real One.\n\n23. Whatever is visible and of temporary existence, is without any\nperceptible substantiality of its own; it is only an object of our\nfallacy, beyond which it has no existence. (Hence they are no more than\nunrealities).\n\n24. Why, O R\u00e1ma! should any body suffer himself to be deluded by these\nunrealities? All these accompaniments here, being no better than causes\nof our delusion.\n\n25. The accompaniment of unrealities, tends only to our delusion here;\nand if they are taken for realities, to what good do they tend than to\ndelude us the more. (It is better to let the unreal pass as unreal,\nthan to take them for real, and be utterly deceived at last).\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER LXII.\n\n SPEECH OF THE DIVINE MESSENGER.\n\n\nArgument. Relation of the virtues of R\u00e1ma as dictated in the s\u00e1stras,\nand of the advancement of others, by means of good company and\nself-exertion.\n\n\nThe diligent and rationalistic inquirer after truth, has a natural\naptitude to resort to the society of the sapient and good natured Guru,\nand discusses on matters of the s\u00e1stras by the rules of the s\u00e1stras he\nhas learnt before and not talk at random.\n\n2. It is thus by holding his argumentation on the abstruse science of\nyoga, with the good and great and unavaricious learned, that he can\nattain to true wisdom.\n\n3. The man that is thus acquainted with the true sense of the S\u00e1stra,\nand qualified by his habit of dispassionateness in the society of holy\nmen, shines like yourself as the model of intelligence.\n\n4. Your liberal mindedness and self-reliance, combined with your\ncool-headedness and all other virtues, have set you above the reach of\nmisery and all mental affliction; and also freed you from future\ntransmigration, by your attainment of liberation in this life.\n\n5. Verily have you become as the autumnal sky, cleared of its gloomy\nclouds; you are freed from worldly cares, and fraught with the best and\nhighest wisdom.\n\n6. He is truly liberated, whose mind is freed from the fluctuations of\nits thoughts, and the flights and fumes of its thickening fancies, and\never crowding particulars. (The ultimate generalization of particulars\ninto unity, is reckoned the highest consummation of man).\n\n7. Henceforward will all men on earth, try to imitate the noble\ndisposition of the equanimity of your mind, which is devoid of its\npassions of love and hatred, as also of affection and enmity.\n\n8. Those who conform with their customs of the country, and conduct\nthemselves in the ordinary course of men in their outward demeanour,\nand cherish their inward sentiments in the close recesses of their\nbosoms, are reckoned as truly wise, and are sure to get over the ocean\nof the world on the floating raft of their wisdom.\n\n9. The meek man who has a spirit of universal toleration like thine, is\nworthy of receiving the light of knowledge; and of understanding the\nimport of my sayings.\n\n10. Live as long as you have to live in this frail body of yours, and\nkeep your passions and feelings under the sway of your reason; act\naccording to the rules of society, and keep your desires under\nsubjection.\n\n11. Enjoy the perfect peace and tranquility of the righteous and wise,\nand avoid alike both the cunning of foxes and silly freaks of boys.\n\n12. Men who imitate the purity of the manners and conduct of those,\nthat are born with the property of goodness, acquire in process of time\nthe purity of their lives also. (Men become virtuous by imitation of\nvirtuous examples).\n\n13. The man who is habituated in the practice of the manners, and the\nmodes of life of another person, is soon changed to that mode of life,\nthough it be of a different nature, or of another species of being.\n(Habit is second nature).\n\n14. The practices of past lives accompany all mankind in their\nsucceeding births, as their preordained destiny; and it is only by our\nvigorous efforts that we are enabled to avert our fates, in the manner\nof princes overcoming the hostile force, by greater might of their own.\n\n15. It is by means of patience only, that one must redeem his good\nsense; and it is by patient industry alone, that one may be advanced to\na higher birth from his low and mean condition.\n\n16. It is by virtue of their good understanding, that the good have\nattained their better births in life; therefore employ yourself, O\nR\u00e1ma! to the polishing of your understanding.\n\n17. The godfearing man is possessed of every good, and exerts his\nefforts for attainment of godliness; it is by means of manly efforts\nonly, that men obtain the most precious blessings.\n\n18. Those of the best kind on earth, long for their liberation in\nfuture, which also requires the exertion of devotion and meditation for\nits attainment.\n\n19. There is nothing in this earth, below, or in the heaven of the\ncelestials above, which is unattainable to the man of parts, by means\nof his manly efforts.\n\n20. It is impossible for you to obtain the object of your desire,\nwithout the exercise of your patience and dispassionateness, and the\nexertion of your prowess and austerities of _Brahmacharya_. Nor is it\npossible to succeed in any without the right use of reason.\n\n21. Try to know yourself, and do good to all creatures by your\nmanliness; employ your good understanding to drive all your cares and\nsorrows away; and you will thus be liberated from all pain and sorrow.\n\n22. O R\u00e1ma! that art fraught with all admirable qualities, and endued\nwith the high power of reason; keep thyself steady in the acts of\ngoodness, and never may the erroneous cares of this world betake thee\nin thy future life.\n\n\n\n\n YOGA V\u00c1SISHTHA.\n\n BOOK V.\n\n THE UPASAMA KHANDA ON QUIETISM.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER I.\n\n THE \u00c1HNIKA OR DAILY RITUAL.\n\n\nArgument. The Book on calm quiet and rest, necessarily follows those of\nCreation and sustentation; as the sleeping time of night succeeds the\nworking time of the Day, and as the rest of God followed his work of\nCreation and supportance.\n\n\nVasishtha said:\u2014Hear me, R\u00e1ma, now propose to you the subject of\nquietude or rest, which follows that of Existence and sustentation of\nthe universe; and the knowledge of which will lead you to _nirv\u00e1na_ or\nfinal extinction (as the evening rest, leads to sound sleep at night,\nand quietude is followed by quietus).\n\n2. V\u00e1lm\u00edki says:\u2014As Vasishtha was delivering his holy words, the\nassembly of the princes remained, as still as the starry train, in the\nclear sky of an autumnal night.\n\n3. The listening princes looking in mute gaze, at the venerable sage\namidst the assembly, resembled the unmoving lotuses looking at the\nluminous sun from their breathless beds.\n\n4. The princesses in the harem forgot their joviality, at hearing the\nsermon of the sage; and their minds became as cool and quiet as in the\nlong absence of their consorts.\n\n5. The fanning damsels with flappers in their hands, remained as still\nas a flock of flapping geese resting on a lotus-bed; and the jingling\nof the gems and jewels on their arms, ceased like the chirping of birds\non the trees at night.\n\n6. The princes that heard these doctrines, sat reflecting on their\nhidden meanings, with their index fingers sticking to the tip of their\nnoses in thoughtfulness; and others pondered on their deep sense, by\nlaying the fingers on their lips.\n\n7. The countenance of R\u00e1ma flushed like the blushing lotus in the\nmorning, and it brightened by casting away its melancholy, as the sun\nshines by dispelling the darkness of night.\n\n8. The king of kings\u2014Dasaratha felt as delighted in hearing the\nlectures of Vasishtha, as the peacock is gladdened at the roaring of\nraining clouds.\n\n9. Sarana the king\u2019s minister removed his apish fickle mind from his\nstate affairs, and applied it intensely to attend to the teachings of\nthe sage.\n\n10. Laxmana who was well versed in all learning, shone as a digit of\nthe bright crescent moon, with the internal light of Vasishtha\u2019s\ninstructions, and the radiance of his Spiritual knowledge.\n\n11. Satrughna the subduer of his enemies, was so full of delight in his\nheart at the teaching of the sage; that his face glowed with joy, like\nthe full moon replete with all her digits.\n\n12. The other good ministers, whose minds were absorbed in the cares of\nstate affairs; were set at ease by the friendly admonition of the sage,\nand they glowed in their hearts like lotus-buds expanded by the\nsunbeams.\n\n13. All the other chiefs and sages, that were present in that assembly,\nhad the gems of their hearts purged of their dross by the preachings of\nVasishtha; and their minds glowed with fervour from his impressive\nspeech.\n\n14. At this instant there rose the loud peal of conch shells,\nresembling the full swell of the sounding main, and the deep and\ndeafening roar of summer clouds, filling the vault of the sky, and\nannouncing the time of midday service. (The _trisandhya_ services are\nperformed at the rising, setting and vertical sun).\n\n15. The loud uproar of the shells, drowned the feeble voice of the\n_muni_ under it, as the high sounding roar of rainy clouds, puts down\nthe notes of the sweet cuckoo. (It is said, the cuckoo ceases to sing\nin the rains. \u092d\u0926\u094d\u0930\u0902 \u0915\u0943\u0924\u0902 \u0915\u0943\u0924\u0902 \u092e\u0948\u0928\u0902 \u0915\u094b\u0915\u093f\u0932\u0947\u0903 \u091c\u0932\u0926\u093e\u0917\u092e\u0947 \u0964)\n\n16. The _muni_ stopped his breath and ceased to give utterance his\nspeech; because it is in vain to speak where it is not heeded or\nlistened to. (The wise should hold their tongue, when it has lost its\npower to hold people by their ears).\n\n17. Hearing the midday shout, the sage stopped for a moment, and then\naddressed to R\u00e1ma! after the hubbub was over and said:\u2014\n\n18. R\u00e1ma! I have thus far delivered to you my daily lecture for this\nday; I will resume it the next morning, and tell you all that I have to\nsay on the subject.\n\n19. It is ordained for the twice born classes to attend to the duties\nof their religion at midday; and therefore it does not behove us to\nswerve from discharging our noonday services at this time.\n\n20. Rise therefore, O fortunate R\u00e1ma! and perform your sacred ablutions\nand divine services, which you are well acquainted with, and give your\nalms and charities also as they are ordained by law.\n\n21. Saying so, the sage rose from his seat with the king and his\ncourtiers, and resembled the sun and moon, rising from the eastern\nmountain with their train of stars.\n\n22. Their rising made the whole assembly to rise after them, as a\ngentle breeze moves the bed of lotuses, with their nigrescent eyes of\nthe black bees sitting upon them.\n\n23. The assembled princes rose up with their crowned heads, and they\nmarched with their long and massive arms like a body of big elephants\nof the Vindhyan hills with their lubberly legs.\n\n24. The jewels on their persons rubbed against each other, by their\npushing up and down in hurry, and displayed a blaze like that of the\nreddened clouds at the setting sun.\n\n25. The jingling of the gems on the coronets, resembled the humming of\nbees; and the flashing rays of the crowns, spread the various colours\nof the rainbow around.\n\n26. The beauties in the court hall resembling the tender creepers, and\nholding the chouri flappers like clusters of blossoms in their\nleaf-like palms, formed a forest of beauties about the elephantine\nforms of the brave princes. (It means the joint egress of a large\nnumber of damsels employed to fan the princes in the Court hall).\n\n27. The hall was emblazoned with the rays of the blazing bracelets, and\nseemed as it was strewn over with the dust of _mand\u00e1ra_ flowers, blown\naway by the winds.\n\n28. There were crystal cisterns of pure water, mixed with ice and\npulverized camphor; and the landscape around was whitened by the _kusa_\ngrass and flowers of autumn.\n\n29. The gems hanging down the head-dresses of the princes, cast a\nreddish colour over the hollow vault of the hall; and appeared as the\nevening twilight preceding the shade of night, which puts an end to the\ndaily works of men.\n\n30. The fair faces of the fairy damsels, were like lotuses floating on\nthe watery lustre of the strings of pearls pendant upon them; and\nresembling the lines of bees fluttering about the lotuses; while the\nanklets at their feet, emitted a ringing sound as the humming of bees.\n\n31. The large assemblage of the princes, rose up amidst the assembled\ncrowds of men; and presented a scene never seen before by the admiring\npeople.\n\n32. The rulers of the earth bowed down lowly before their sovereign,\nand departed from his presence and the royal palace in large bodies;\nlikening the waves of the sea, glistening as rainbows by the light of\ntheir gemming ornaments.\n\n33. The chief minister Sumantra and others, that were best acquainted\nwith royal etiquette, prostrated themselves before their king and the\nholy sage, and took their way towards the holy stream; for performance\nof their sacred ablutions.\n\n34. The Rishis V\u00e1madeva, Visw\u00e1mitra and others, stood in the presence\nof Vasishtha; and waited for his leave to make their departure.\n\n35. King Dasaratha honored the sages one by one, and then left them to\nattend to his own business.\n\n36. The citizens returned to the city, and the foresters retired to\ntheir forests, the aerials flew in the air, and all went to their\nrespective abodes for rejoining the assembly on the next morning.\n\n37. The venerable Visw\u00e1mitra, being besought by the king and Vasishtha,\nstayed and passed the night at the abode of the latter.\n\n38. Then Vasishtha being honoured by all the princes, sages and the\ngreat Br\u00e1hmanas, and adored by R\u00e1ma and the other princes of king\nDasaratha\u2019s royal race:\u2014\n\n39. Proceeded to his hermitage, with the obeisance of the assembled\ncrowd on all sides; and followed by a large train, as the god Brahm\u00e1 is\naccompanied by bodies of the celestials.\n\n40. He then gave leave to R\u00e1ma and his brother-princes, and to all his\ncompanions and followers, to return to their abodes from his hermitage\nin the woods.\n\n41. He bade adieu to the aerial, earthly and the subterraneous beings,\nthat kept company with him with their encomiums on his merits; and then\nentering his house, he performed his Br\u00e1hmanical rites with a duteous\ndisposition.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER II.\n\n R\u00c1MA\u2019S RECAPITULATION OF VASISHTHA\u2019S LECTURES.\n\n\nArgument. Performance of Daily Rites, and R\u00e1ma\u2019s Reflection of\nVasishtha\u2019s Teaching at night.\n\n\nV\u00e1lm\u00edki continued his relation to Bharadw\u00e1ja and said:\u2014After the\nmoon-bright princes had got to their residence, they discharged their\ndaily services according to the diurnal ritual.\n\n2. Even Vasishtha and the other saints, sages, and Br\u00e1hmans not\nexcepting the king and the princes, were all engaged in their holy\nservices at their own houses.\n\n3. They bathed in the sacred streams and fountains, filled with\nfloating bushes of lotuses and other aquatic plants, and frequented by\nthe ruddy geese, cranes and storks on their border.\n\n4. After they had performed their ablutions, they made donations of\nlands and kine, of seats and beddings and of sesamum grains, with gold\nand gems, and food and raiments to the holy Br\u00e1hmans.\n\n5. They then worshipped the gods Vishnu and Siva in their temples, and\nmade oblations to the sun and regents of the skies in their own houses,\nwith offerings of gold and gems; which are sacred to particular deities\nand the planets. (Particular gems and metals are sacred to their\npresiding divinities).\n\n6. After their offerings were over, they joined with their sons and\ngrandsons, friends, and relatives, and their guests also, in partaking\nof their lawful food. (Unlawful food is hateful to the faithful).\n\n7. Shortly after this, the daylight faded away at the eighth watch\n(yam\u00e1rdha) of the day; and the charming scene of the city began to\ndisappear from sight.\n\n8. The people then employed themselves to their proper duties at the\ndecline of the day, and betook to their evening service with the\nfailing beams of the setting sun.\n\n9. They recited their evening hymn (Sandhy\u00e1), repeated their\n_japamantras_, and uttered their prayer for the forgiveness of sins\n(_agha marshana_); they read aloud their hymns and sang their evening\nsong of praise.\n\n10. Then rose the shade of night to allay the sorrow of lovelorn\ndamsels, as the moon arose from the milky ocean of the east, to cool\nthe heat of the setting sun.\n\n11. The princes of Raghu\u2019s race then reclined on their downy and\nflowery beds, sprinkled over with handfuls of camphor powder, and\nappearing as a sheet of spreading moon-light.\n\n12. The eyes of all men were folded in sleep, and they passed the\nlive-long night as a short interval; but R\u00e1ma kept waking in his bed,\nmeditating on all things he had heard from the sage.\n\n13. R\u00e1ma continued to reflect on the lectures of Vasishtha, which\nappeared as charming to him, as the cry of the parent elephant, is\ngladsome to its tender young (karabha).\n\n14. What means this wandering of ours, said he, in this world, and why\nis it that all these men and other animals, are bound to make their\nentrances and exits in this evanescent theatre?\n\n15. What is the form of our mind and how is it to be governed? What is\nthis illusion (M\u00e1y\u00e1) of the world, whence hath its rise and how is it\nto be avoided?\n\n16. What is the good or evil of getting rid of this illusion, and how\ndoes it stretch over and overpower on the soul, or is made to leave it\nby any means in our power?\n\n17. What does the _muni_ say with regard to the means, and effect of\ncurbing the appetites of the mind? What does he say regarding the\nrestraining of our organs, and what about the tranquility of the soul?\n\n18. Our hearts and minds, our living souls and their delusion, tend to\nstretch out the phenomenal world before us; and our very souls make a\nreality of the unreal existence.\n\n19. All these things are linked together in our minds, and are weakened\nonly by the weakening of our mental appetites. But how are these to be\navoided in order to get rid of our misery.\n\n20. The slender light of reason is over-shadowed, like a single crane\nin the air, by the dark cloud of passions and appetites; how am I then\nto distinguish the right from wrong, as the goose separates the milk\nfrom the water?\n\n21. It is as hard to shun our appetites on the one hand, as it is\nimpossible to avoid our troubles here, without the utter annihilation\nof our appetency. Here is the difficulty in both ways.\n\n22. Again the mind is the leader to our spiritual knowledge on the one\nhand, and our seducer also to worldliness on the other. We know not\nwhich way to be led by it. The difficulty is as great as a man\u2019s\nmounting on a mountain, or a child\u2019s escaping from the fear of a yaksha.\n\n23. All worldly turmoil is at an end, upon one\u2019s attainment of true\nfelicity; as the anxieties of a maiden are over, after she has obtained\na husband.\n\n24. When will my anxieties have their quietism, and when will my cares\ncome to an end? When will my soul have its holiness, and my mind find\nits rest from acts of merit and demerit?\n\n25. When shall I rest in that state of bliss, which is as cooling and\ncomplete in itself; as the full-moon with all her digits, and when\nshall I rove about the earth at large, free from worldly cares and ties?\n\n26. When will my fancy stop from its flight, and concentrate into the\ninward soul? When will my mind be absorbed in the Supreme soul, like\nthe turbulent wave subsiding in the breast of the quiet sea?\n\n27. When shall I get over this wide ocean of the world, which is\ndisturbed by the turbulent waves of our desires, and is full of the\nvoracious crocodiles of our greedy avarice, and get rid of this\nfeverish passion?\n\n28. When shall I rest in that state of complete quiescence and\nunfeelingness of my mind, which is aimed at by the seekers of\nliberation, and the all-tolerant and indifferent philosopher.\n\n(It is the sullen apathy of stoicism, which constitutes the true wisdom\nand happiness of asceticism also).\n\n29. Ah! when will this continuous fever of my worldliness abate, which\nhas irritated my whole body by its inward heat, and deranged my humours\nout of their order!\n\n30. When will this heart of mine cease to throb from its cares, like\nthe light of the lamp ceasing to flutter without the wind; and when\nwill my understanding gain its light, after dispersion of the gloom of\nmy ignorance.\n\n31. When will these organs and members of my body, have their respite\nfrom their incessant functions; and when will this parched frame of\nmine get over the sea (flame?) of avarice, like the ph\u0153nix rising from\nits ashes.\n\n32. When will the light of reason like the clear atmosphere of the\nautumnal sky, dispel this dark cloud of my ignorance, that envelopes my\nheavenly essence under the veil of this sorry and miserable form.\n\n33. Our minds are filled with the weeds of the mand\u00e1ra plants of the\ngarden of paradise (_i.e._ desiring the enjoyments of heaven). But my\nsoul pants for its restitution in the Supreme spirit.\n\n34. The dispassionate man is said to be set in the pure light of\nreason; it is therefore that passionless state of my mind which I long\nto attain.\n\n35. But my restless mind has made me a prey to the dragon of despair,\nand I cry out in my sorrow, O my father and mother! help me to get out\nof this difficulty.\n\n36. I exclaim also saying:\u2014O my sister understanding! condescend to\ncomply with the request of thy poor brother; and consider well the\nwords of the wise sage for our deliverance from misery.\n\n37. I call thee also, O my good sense to my aid, and beg of thee, O\nprogeny of thy virtuous mother! to remain firm by my side, in my\nstruggle of breaking the bonds of the world.\n\n38. Let me first of all reflect on the sayings of the sage on\nResignation (Vair\u00e1gya), and then on the conduct of one who longs for\nhis liberation, and next about the creation of the world, (in the\nSrishti Prakarana).\n\n39. Let me remember afterwards all that he has said on the Existence of\nthe universe (Sthiti Prakarana), together with its beautiful\nillustrations; all of which are replete with sound wisdom and deep\nphilosophy.\n\n40. Although a lesson may be repeated a hundred times over, it proves\nto be of no effect, unless it is considered with good understanding and\nright sense of its purport. Otherwise it is as the empty sound of\nautumn clouds without a drop of rain.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER III.\n\n DESCRIPTION OF THE ROYAL ASSEMBLY.\n\n\nArgument. The Meeting of the next morning, and the concourse of\nattendants.\n\n\nV\u00e1lm\u00edki continued:\u2014R\u00e1ma passed in this manner the live-long night, in\nhis lengthened chain of reflection; and in eager expectation of dawn,\nas the lotus longs for the rising sun at day break.\n\n2. Gradually the stars faded away at the appearance of aurora in the\neast, and the face of the sky was dimly pale, before it was washed over\nwith the white of twilight.\n\n3. The beating of the morning and the alarm of trumpets, roused R\u00e1ma\nfrom his reverie; and he rose with his moonlike face, blooming as the\nfull-blown lotus in its leafy bed.\n\n4. He performed his morning ablution and devotion, and joined with his\nbrothers and a few attendants, in order to repair to the hermitage of\nthe sage Vasishtha.\n\n5. Having arrived there, they found the sage entranced in his\nmeditation in his lonely solitude; and lowly bent down their heads\nbefore him from a respectful distance.\n\n6. After making their obeisance, they waited on him in the compound,\nuntil the twilight of morning brought the day-light over the face of\nthe sky.\n\n7. The princes and chiefs, the saints, sages and Br\u00e1hmans, thronged in\nthat hermitage, in the manner of the celestials meeting at the empyrean\nof Brahm\u00e1.\n\n8. Now the abode of Vasishtha was full of people, and the crowds of the\ncars, horses and elephants waiting at the outside, made it equal to a\nroyal palace in its grandeur.\n\n9. After a while the sage rose from his deep meditation, and gave\nsuitable receptions to the assembled throng that bowed down before him.\n\n10. Then Vasishtha accompanied with Visw\u00e1mitra, and followed by a long\ntrain of _munis_ and other men, came out of the hermitage, and ascended\nand sat in a carriage, in the manner of the lotus-born Brahm\u00e1 sitting\non his lotus seat.\n\n11. He arrived at the palace of Dasaratha, which was surrounded by a\nlarge army on all sides, and alighted there from his car, as when\nBrahm\u00e1 descends from his highest heaven to the city of Indra, beset by\nthe whole host of the celestials.\n\n12. He entered the grand court hall of the king, and was saluted by the\ncourtiers lowly bending down before him; as when the stately gander\nenters a bed of lotuses, amidst a body of aquatic birds (all staring at\nhim).\n\n13. The king also got up, and descended from his high throne; and then\nadvanced three paces on barefoot to receive the venerable sage.\n\n14. Then there entered a large concourse of chiefs and princes, with\nbodies of saints and sages and Br\u00e1hmans and hori, potri priests.\n\n15. The minister Sumantra and others came next with the learned pandits\nSaumya and others; and then R\u00e1ma and his brothers followed them with\nthe sons of royal ministers.\n\n16. Next came the ministerial officers, the ministerial priests\n(hotripotris), and the principle citizens, with bodies of the M\u00e1lava\nwrestlers and servants of all orders, and townsmen of different\nprofessions.\n\n17. All these took their respective seats, and sat in the proper order\nof their ranks, and kept looking intently on the sage Vasishtha, with\ntheir uplifted heads and eyes.\n\n18. The murmur of the assembly was hushed, and the recitation of the\npanegyrists was at a stop; the mutual greetings and conferences were at\nan end, and there ensued a still silence in the assembly.\n\n19. The winds wafted the sweet fragrance from the cups of full blown\nlotuses; and scattered the dulcet dust of the filaments in the spacious\nhall.\n\n20. The clusters of flowers hung about the hall, diffused their odours\nall around; and the whole court house seemed, as it were sprinkled over\nwith perfumes of all sorts.\n\n21. The queens and princesses sat at the windows, and upon their\ncouches in the inner apartment, which was strewn over with flowers, and\nbeheld the assemblage in the outer hall.\n\n22. They saw everything by the light of the sun, which shed upon their\nopen eyes through the net-work on the windows; and also by the radiance\nof the gems, which sparkled on their delicate persons. The attendant\nwomen remained silent, and without waving their fans and chouries (for\nfear of the sounding bracelets on their arms).\n\n23. The earth was sown with orient pearls by the dawning sun-beams, and\nthe ground was strewn over with flowers glistening at the sun-light.\nThe lightsome locusts did not light upon them, thinking them to be\nsparks of fire, but kept hovering in the midway sky as a body of dark\nand moving cloud.\n\n24. The respectable people sat in mute wonder, to hear the holy\nlectures of Vasishtha; because the agreeable advice, which is derived\nfrom the society of the good, is beyond all estimation.\n\n25. The Siddhas, Vidy\u00e1dharas, saints, Br\u00e1hmans and respectable men,\ngathered from all sides of the sky and forests, and from all cities and\ntowns round about Vasishtha, and saluted him in silence, because deep\nveneration is naturally mute and wanting in words.\n\n26. The sky was strewn over with the golden dust, borne by the\nfluttering bees from the cups of farinaceous lotuses; wherein they were\nenclosed at night; and the soft airs blew sonant with the tinkling\nsounds of ringing bells, hanging in strings on the door ways of houses.\n(The Gloss says: it is usual in Nepal and at Deccan, to suspend strings\nof small bells over the gate ways).\n\n27. The morning breeze was now blowing with the fragrance of various\nflowers, and mixing with the perfume of the sandal paste; and making\nthe bees fly and flutter on all sides, with their sweet humming music.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER IV.\n\n INQUIRIES OF R\u00c1MA.\n\n\nArgument. Dasaratha\u2019s Praise of Vasishtha\u2019s speech, and R\u00e1ma\u2019s Queries\nby behest of the sage.\n\n\nV\u00e1lm\u00edki continued:\u2014Then king Dasaratha made this speech to the chief\nof sages, and spoke in a voice sounding as a deep cloud, and in words\nequally graceful as they were worthy of confidence.\n\n2. Venerable sir, said he, your speech of yesterday bespeaks of your\nintellectual light, and your getting over all afflictions by your\nextremely emaciating austerities.\n\n3. Your words of yesterday, have delighted us by their perspicacity and\ngracefulness, as by a shower of enlivening ambrosia.\n\n4. The pure words of the wise, are as cooling and edifying of the\ninward soul; as the clear and nectarious moon-beams, serve both to cool\nand dispel the gloom of the earth.\n\n5. The good sayings of the great, afford the highest joy resulting from\ntheir imparting a knowledge of the Supreme, and by their dispelling the\ngloom of ignorance all at once.\n\n6. The knowledge of the inestimable gem of our soul, is the best light\nthat we can have in this world; and the learned man is as a tree beset\nby the creepers of reason and good sense.\n\n7. The sayings of the wise serve to purge away our improper desires and\ndoings, as the moon-beams dispel the thick gloom of night.\n\n8. Your sayings, O sage, serve to lessen our desires and avarice which\nenchain us to this world, as the autumnal winds diminish the black\nclouds in the sky.\n\n9. Your lectures have made us perceive the pure soul in its clear\nlight, as the eye-salve of antimony (collyrium antigoni nigrum); makes\nthe born-blind man to see the pure gold with his eyes.\n\n10. The mist of worldly desires, which has overspread the atmosphere of\nour minds, is now beginning to disperse by the autumnal breeze of your\nsayings.\n\n11. Your sayings of sound wisdom, O great sage! have poured a flood of\npure delight into our souls, as the breezy waves of nectarious water,\nor the breath of mand\u00e1ra flowers infuse into the heart.\n\n12. O my R\u00e1ma! those days are truly lightsome, that you spend in your\nattendance on the wise; otherwise the rest of the days of one\u2019s\nlife time, are indeed darksome and dismal.\n\n13. O my lotus-eyed R\u00e1ma! propose now what more you have to know about\nthe imperishable soul, as the sage is favourably disposed to\ncommunicate everything to you.\n\n14. After the king had ended his speech, the venerable and high-minded\nsage Vasishtha, who was seated before R\u00e1ma, addressed him saying:\u2014\n\n15. Vasishtha said:\u2014O R\u00e1ma\u2014the moon of your race, do you remember all\nthat I have told you ere this, and have you reflected on the sense of\nmy sayings from first to the last.\n\n16. Do you recollect, O victor of your enemies? the subject of\ncreation, and its division into the triple nature of goodness &c.; and\ntheir subdivision into various kinds?\n\n17. Do you remember what I said regarding the One in all, and not as\nthe all, and the One Reality ever appearing as unreality; and do you\nretain in your mind the nature and form of the Supreme Spirit, that I\nhave expounded to you?\n\n18. Do you, O righteous R\u00e1ma, that art deserving of every praise, bear\nin your mind, how this world came to appear from the Lord God of all?\n\n19. Do you fully retain in your memory the nature of illusion, and how\nit is destroyed by the efforts of the understanding; and how the\nInfinite and Eternal appears as finite and temporal as space and time?\n(These though infinite appear limited to us).\n\n20. Do you, O blessed R\u00e1ma! keep in your mind, that man is no other\nthan his mind, as I have explained to you by its proper definition and\narguments?\n\n21. Have you, R\u00e1ma! considered well the meanings of my words, and did\nyou reflect at night the reasonings of yesterday in your mind? (As it\nbehoves us to reflect at night on the lessons of the day).\n\n22. It is by repeated reflection in the mind, and having by heart what\nyou have learnt, that you derive the benefit of your learning, and not\nby your laying aside of the same in negligence.\n\n23. You are then only the proper receptacle of a rational discourse and\na holy sermon, when you retain them like brilliant pearls in the chest\nof your capacious and reasoning breast.\n\n24. V\u00e1lm\u00edki said:\u2014R\u00e1ma being thus addressed by the sage\u2014the valiant\nprogeny of the lotus-seated Brahm\u00e1, found his time to answer him in the\nfollowing manner. (Vasishtha\u2019s valour is described in his services to\nking Sud\u00e1sa).\n\n25. R\u00e1ma replied:\u2014You Sir, who are acquainted with all s\u00e1stras and\ncreeds have expounded to me, the sacred truths, and I have, O noble\nSir, fully comprehended their purport.\n\n26. I have deposited every thing verbatim that you said in the casket\nof my heart, and have well considered the meaning of your words during\nthe stillness of my sleepless nights.\n\n27. Your words like sun-beams dispel the darkness of the world, and\nyour radiant words of yesterday, delighted me like the rays of the\nrising sun.\n\n28. O great sir, I have carefully preserved the substance of all your\npast lectures in my mind, as one preserves the most valuable and\nbrilliant gems in a casket.\n\n29. What accomplished man is there, that will not bear on his head the\nblessings of admonitions, which are so very pure and holy, and so very\ncharming and delightful at the same time?\n\n30. We have shaken off the dark veil of the ignorance of this world,\nand have become as enlightened by your favor, as the days in autumn\nafter dispersion of rainy clouds.\n\n31. Your instructions are sweet and graceful in the first place (by the\nelegance of their style); they are edifying in the midst (by their good\ndoctrines); and they are sacred by the holiness they confer at the end.\n\n32. Your flowery speech is ever delightsome to us, by the quality of\nits blooming and unfading beauty, and by virtue of its conferring our\nlasting good to us.\n\n33. O sir, that are learned in all s\u00e1stras, that art the channel of the\nholy waters of divine knowledge, that art firm in thy protracted vows\nof purity, do thou expurgate us of the dross of our manifold sins by\nyour purifying lectures.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER V.\n\n LECTURE ON TRANQUILLITY OF THE SOUL AND MIND.\n\n\nArgument. The existence of the world in ignorant minds, and\ntranquility of the spirit.\n\n\nVasishtha said:\u2014Now listen with attention the subject of quietism\nfor your own good, wherein you will find the best solutions (of many\nquestions adduced before).\n\n2. Know R\u00e1ma, this world to be a continuous illusion, and to be upheld\nby men of _r\u00e1jasa_ and _t\u00e1masa_ natures, consisting of the properties\nof action and passions or ignorance, that support this illusory fabric,\nas the pillars bear up a building.\n\n3. Men born with the _s\u00e1twika_ nature of goodness like yourself, easily\nlay aside this inveterate illusion, as a snake casts off its time-worn\nskin (slough).\n\n4. But wise men of good dispositions (or s\u00e1twika natures), and those of\nthe mixed natures of goodness and action (r\u00e1jasa-s\u00e1twika), always think\nabout the structure of the world, and its prior and posterior states\n(without being deluded by it).\n\n5. The understandings of the sinless and which have been enlightened by\nthe light of the s\u00e1stras, or improved in the society of men or by good\nconduct, become as far sighted as the glaring light of a torch.\n\n6. It is by one\u2019s own ratiocination, that he should try to know the\nsoul in himself; and he is no way intelligent, who knows not the\nknowable soul in himself.\n\n7. The intelligent polite, wise and noble men, are said to have the\nnature of r\u00e1jasa-s\u00e1twika (or the mixed nature of goodness and action)\nin them; and the best instance of such a nature is found, O R\u00e1ma! in\nthy admirable disposition.\n\n8. Let the intelligent look into the phenomena of the work themselves,\nand by observing what is true and untrue in it, attach themselves to\nthe truth only.\n\n9. That which was not before, nor will be in being at the end, is no\nreality at all but what continues in being both at first and last, is\nthe true existence and naught besides.\n\n10. He whose mind is attached to aught, which is unreal both at first\nand at last, is either an infatuated fool or a brute animal, that can\nnever be brought to reason.\n\n11. It is the mind that makes the world and stretches it as in its\nimagination; but upon a comprehensive view (or closer investigation) of\nit, the mind is in its nothingness.\n\n12. R\u00e1ma said:\u2014I am fully persuaded to believe, sir, that the mind is\nthe active agent in this world, and is subject to decay and death (like\nthe other organs of sensation).\n\n13. But tell me sir, what are the surest means of guarding the mind\nfrom illusion, because you only are the sun to remove the darkness of\nRaghu\u2019s race.\n\n14. Vasishtha replied:\u2014The best way to guard the mind from delusion, is\nfirst of all the knowledge of the s\u00e1stras, and next the exercise of\ndispassionateness, and then the society of the good, which lead the\nmind towards its purity.\n\n15. The mind which is fraught with humility and holiness, should have\nrecourse to preceptors who are learned in philosophy.\n\n16. The instruction of such preceptors, makes a man to practice his\nrituals at first, and then it leads the mind gradually to the abstract\ndevotion of the Most-Holy.\n\n17. When the mind comes to perceive by its own cogitation, the presence\nof the supreme spirit in itself; it sees the universe spread before it\nas the cooling moonbeams.\n\n18. A man is led floating as a straw on the wide ocean of the world,\nuntil it finds its rest in the still waters under the coast of reason.\n\n19. Human understanding comes to know the truth by means of its\nreasoning, when it puts down all its difficulties, as the purewater\ngets over its sandy bed.\n\n20. The reasonable man distinguishes the truth from untruth, as the\ngoldsmith separates the gold from ashes; but the unreasonable are as\nthe ignorant, incapable to distinguish the one from the other.\n\n21. The divine Spirit is imperishable after it is once known to the\nhuman soul; and there can be no access of error into it, as long as it\nis enlightened by the light of the holy spirit.\n\n22. The mind which is ignorant of truth, is ever liable to error, but\nwhen it is acquainted with truth, it becomes freed from its doubts; and\nis set above the reach of error.\n\n23. O ye men! that are unacquainted with the divine spirit, you bear\nyour souls for misery alone; but knowing the spirit, you become\nentitled to eternal happiness and tranquility.\n\n24. How are ye lost to your souls by blending with your bodies, expand\nthe soul from under the earthly frame, and you will be quite at rest\nwith yourselves.\n\n25. Your immortal soul has no relation to your mortal bodies, as the\npure gold bears no affinity to the earthen crucible in which it is\ncontained.\n\n26. The Divine Spirit is distinct from the living soul, as the lotus\nflower is separate from the water which upholds it; as a drop of water\nis unattached to the lotus-leaf whereon it rests. My living soul is\ncrying to that Spirit with my uplifted arms, but it pays no heed to my\ncries.\n\n27. The mind which is of a gross nature, resides in the cell of the\nbody, like a tortoise dwelling in its hole; it is insensibly intent\nupon its sensual enjoyments, and is quite neglectful about the welfare\nof the soul.\n\n28. It is so shrouded by the impervious darkness of the world, that\nneither the light of reason, nor the flame of fire, nor the beams of\nthe moon, nor the gleams of a dozen of zodiacal suns, have the power to\npenetrate into it.\n\n29. But the mind being awakened from its dormancy, begins to reflect on\nits own state; and then the mist of its ignorance flies off, like the\ndarkness of the night at sun-rise.\n\n30. As the mind reclines itself constantly on the downy bed of its\nmeditation, for the sake of its enlightenment; it comes to perceive\nthis world to be but a vale of misery.\n\n31. Know R\u00e1ma! the soul to be as unsullied by its outer covering of the\nbody, as the sky is unsoiled by the clouds of dust which hide its face;\nand as the petals of the lotus are untainted by the dew-drops, falling\nupon them at night. (No liquid is attached to the oily surface of\nlotus-leaves).\n\n32. As dirt or clay clinging to the outer side of a gold ornament,\ncannot pierce into the inside; so the gross material body is attached\noutside the soul, without touching its inside.\n\n33. Men commonly attribute pleasure and pain to the soul; but they are\nas separate from it, as the rain drops and the flying dust, are afar\nand apart from the sky.\n\n34. Neither the body nor the soul is subject to pain or pleasure, all\nwhich relate to the ignorance of the mind; and this ignorance being\nremoved, it will be found that they appertain to neither. (The mind\nalone is subject to both through its ignorance; but the philosophic\nmind knows all partial evils sarv\u00e1rti, to be universal good).\n\n35. Take not to your mind O R\u00e1ma! the pain or pleasure of either; but\nview them in an equal light, as you view things in the tranquility of\nyour soul.\n\n36. All the outspreading phenomena of the world, which are beheld all\nabout us, are as the waves of the boundless ocean of the Divine Spirit;\nor as the gaudy train of the peacock, displayed in the sphere of our\nown souls. (So the mind displays its thoughts in a train).\n\n37. The bright substance of our soul, presents to us the picture of\ncreation, as a bright gem casts its glare to no purpose; but by its own\nnature. (And so the mind deals with its dreams in vain).\n\n38. The spirit and the material world, are not the same thing; the\nspirit is the true reality, and the duality of the world, is only a\nrepresentation or counterpart of the Spirit.\n\n39. But Brahma, is the whole totality of existence, and know the\nuniverse as the expansion of the universal soul; therefore O R\u00e1ma! give\nup your error of the distinction of one thing from another (lit.: such\nas I am this one, and the other is another).\n\n40. There can be no distinction, R\u00e1ma, in the everlasting and all\nextensive plenum of Brahma; as there is no difference in the whole body\nof water of the wide extended ocean.\n\n41. All things being one and alike in the self-same substratum of the\nSupreme Soul, you cannot conceive of there being any other thing (a\nduality) in it, as you cannot imagine a particle of frost to abide in\nthe fire.\n\n42. By meditating on the Supreme Soul in yourself, and by contemplation\nof the intelligent Spirit in your own intellect, you will find the\nglory of the Supreme Spirit, shining brightly in your pure spirit.\n\n43. Therefore ease your mind, O R\u00e1ma! and know that there is no mistake\nnor error in your believing the all as one; and that there is no\nnew-birth or a new born being (in the world), but all that is or \ncome to existence, is ever existent in the Supreme.\n\n44. Ease yourself, O R\u00e1ma! by knowing that there is no duality (save\nthe Unity of God); and that there is no contrariety of things (as that\nof heat and cold), except their oneness in the Divine moniety. Then\nknowing yourself as a spiritual being, and situated in the purity of\nDivine essence, you shall have no need of devotion or adoration (in\norder to appease or unite yourself with the Deity). And knowing also\nthat you are not separated from God, forsake all your sorrow (to think\nof your helpless state).\n\n45. Be tolerant, composed and even-minded; remain tranquil, taciturn\nand meek in your mind; and be as a rich jewel, shining with your\ninternal light. Thus you will be freed from the feverish vexations of\nthis worldly life.\n\n46. Be rational and dispassionate and calm in your desire; remain sober\nminded and free from ardent expectations; and rest satisfied with what\nyou get of your own lot, in order to be freed from the feverish heat of\nworldliness.\n\n47. Be unimpassioned and unperturbed with earthly cares; be pure and\nsinless, and neither be penurious nor prodigal, if you will be freed\nfrom the fever heat of this world.\n\n48. Be free from all anxiety, O R\u00e1ma! by your obtaining of that good\nwhich the world cannot give, and which satisfies all our earthly wants.\nHave this supermundane bliss, O R\u00e1ma, and be as full as the ocean, and\nfree from the feverish cares of this world.\n\n49. Be loosened from the net of thy loose desires, and wipe off the\nunguent of delusive affections from thy eyes: let thy soul rest\nsatisfied with thyself, and be freed from the feverish anxieties of the\nworld.\n\n \u092c\u093f\u0915\u0932\u094d\u092a\u091c\u093e\u0932 \u0928\u093f\u0930\u094d\u092e\u094d\u092e\u0941\u0915\u094d\u0924 \u092e\u093e\u092f\u093e\u091e\u094d\u091c\u0928\u093e\u0930\u094d\u092c\u094d\u092c\u0930\u094d\u091c\u093f\u0924\u0903 \u0964\n \u0906\u0924\u094d\u092e\u0928\u093e\u0924\u094d\u092e\u0928\u093f\u0924\u0943\u092a\u094d\u0924\u093e\u0924\u094d\u092e\u0935\u093f\u091c\u094d\u0935\u0930\u094b\u092d\u092c\u0930\u093e\u0918\u0935 \u0965 \u096a\u096c \u0965\n\n50. With your spiritual body reaching beyond the unbounded space, and\nrising above the height of the highest mountain, be freed from the\nfeverish and petty cares of life.\n\n51. By enjoyment of what you get (as your lot), and by asking of naught\nof any body anywhere; by your charity rather than your want or asking\nof it, you must be free from the fever of life.\n\n52. Enjoy the fulness of your soul in yourself like the sea, and\ncontain the fulness of your joy in your own soul like the full moon. Be\nself-sufficient with the fulness of your knowledge and inward bliss.\n\n53. Knowing this world as unreal as a pseudoscopic sight, no wise man\nis misled to rely in its untruthful scenes. So you R\u00e1ma, that are\nknowing and visionary, and are sane and sound headed, and of\nenlightened understanding, must be always charming with your perfect\nease from sorrow and care.\n\n54. Now R\u00e1ma! reign over this unrivalled sovereignty, by the direction\nof your sovran Sire, and manage well everything under your own\ninspection. This kingdom is fraught with every blessing, and the rulers\nare all loyal to their king. Therefore you must neither leave out to do\nwhat is your duty, nor be elated with your happy lot of royalty.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VI.\n\n LECTURE ON THE DISCHARGE OF DUTY.\n\n\nArgument. Effect of Acts, Transmigration of souls and their Liberation\nin Life time.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014In my opinion, a man is liberated who does his\nworks from a sense of his duty, and without any desire of his own or\nsense of his own agency in it. (Here subjection to allotted duty, is\nsaid to be his freedom; but that to one\u2019s own desire or free choice, is\ncalled to be his bondage and slavery).\n\n2. Who so having obtained a human form, is engaged in acts out of his\nown choice and with a sense of his own agency, he is subjected to his\nascension and descension to heaven and hell by turns (according to the\nmerit or demerit of his acts, while there is no such thing in the doing\nof his duty).\n\n3. Some persons who are inclined to unduteous (or illegal) acts, by\nneglecting the performance of their destined (or legal) duties, are\ndoomed to descend to deeper hells, and to fall into greater fears and\ntorments from their former states.\n\n4. Some men who are fast bound to the chain of their desires, and have\nto feel the consequences of their acts, are made to descend to the\nstate of vegetables from their brutal life, or to rise from it to\nanimal life again.\n\n5. Some who are blessed with the knowledge of the Spirit, from their\ninvestigation of abstruse philosophy, rise to the state of moniety\n(Kaivalya); by breaking through the fetters of desire. (_Kaivalya_ is\nthe supreme bliss of God in his solity, to which the divine sage\naspires to be united. Or it is the complete unity with oneself\nirrespective of all connections).\n\n6. There are some men, who after ascending gradually in the scale of\ntheir creation in former births, have obtained their liberation in the\npresent life of _r\u00e1jas-s\u00e1twika_ or active goodness.\n\n7. Such men being born again on earth, assume their bright qualities\nlike the crescent moon, and are united with all prosperity, like the\nKurchi plant which is covered with blossoms in its flowering time of\nthe rainy season. (The good effects of former acts, follow a man in his\nnext birth).\n\n8. The merit of prior acts follows one in his next state, and the\nlearning of past life meets a man in his next birth, as a pearl is born\nin a reed. (A particular reed is known to bear pearly seeds within\nthem, well known by the name of _Vansalochana_).\n\n9. The qualities of respectability and amiableness, of affability and\nfriendliness, and of compassion and intelligence, attend upon these\npeople like their attendants at home. (_i.e._ He becomes master of\nthem).\n\n10. Happy is the man who is steady in the discharge of his duties, and\nis neither overjoyed nor depressed at the fruition or failure of their\nresults. (Duties must be done, whether they repay or not).\n\n11. The defects of the dutiful and their pain and pleasure, in the\nperformance of duties, are all lost under the sense of their\nduteousness; as the darkness of night, is dispelled by the light of the\nday, and the clouds of the rainy season, are dispersed in autumn.\n\n12. The man of a submissive and sweet disposition, is liked by every\nbody; as the sweet music of reeds in the forest, attracts the ears of\nwild antelopes. (The deer and snakes, are said to be captivated by\nmusic of pipe).\n\n13. The qualities of the past life, accompany a man in his next birth;\nas the swallows of the rainy weather, attend on a dark cloud in the\nair. (This bird is called a hansa or hernshaw by Shakespeare; as, when\nit is autumn, I can distinguish a swallow from a hernshaw).\n\n14. Being thus qualified by his prior virtues, the goodman has\nrecourse to an instructor for the development of his understanding, who\nthereupon puts him in the way to truth.\n\n15. The man with the qualities of reason and resignation of his mind,\nbeholds the Lord as one, and of the same form as the imperishable soul\nwithin himself.\n\n16. It is the spiritual guide, who awakens the dull and sleeping mind\nby his right reasoning; and then instils into it the words of truth,\nwith a placid countenance and mind.\n\n17. They are the best qualified in their subsequent births, who learn\nfirst to awaken their worthless and dormant minds, as they rouse the\nsleeping stags in the forest.\n\n18. It is first by diligent attendance on good and meritorious guides\n(or gurus), and then by cleansing the gem of their minds by the help of\nreasoning that the pure hearted men come to the light of truth, and\nperceive the divine light shining in their souls.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VII.\n\n ON ATTAINMENT OF DIVINE KNOWLEDGE.\n\n\nArgument. Attainment of knowledge by Intuition, compared to the falling\nof a fruit from heaven.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014I have told you R\u00e1ma, the usual way to knowledge\nfor mankind in general; I will now tell you of another method distinct\nfrom the other.\n\n2. Now R\u00e1ma! we have two ways which are best calculated for the\nsalvation of souls, born in human bodies on earth: the one is by their\nattainment of heavenly bliss, and the other by that of their final\nbeatitude (apavarga).\n\n3. And there are two methods of gaining these objects; the one being\nthe observance of the instructions of the preceptor, which gradually\nleads one to his perfection in the course of one or reiterated births.\n\n4. The second is the attainment of knowledge by intuition, or by self\nculture of a partly intelligent being; and this is as the obtaining of\na fruit falling from heaven.\n\n5. Hear now of the attainment of intuitive knowledge, as that of\ngetting a fruit fallen from the sky, from the old tale which I will now\nrecite to you.\n\n6. Hear the happy and holy story, which removes the fetters of our good\nand evil deeds, and which the last born men (now living), must taste\nwith a zest for their enlightenment, as others relish a fruit fallen\nfrom heaven for their entertainment.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VIII.\n\n SONG OF THE SIDDHAS OR HOLY ADEPTS.\n\n\nArgument. Wandering of Janaka in a Vernal garden, and hearing the Song\nof Siddhas.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014There lives the mighty king of the Videhas\n(Tirhutians) Janaka by name, who is blessed with all prosperity and\nunbounded understanding.\n\n2. He is as the ever fruitful _kalpa_ tree to the host of his suitors,\nand as the vivifying sun to his lotus-like friends; he is as the genial\nspring to the florets of his relatives, and as the god Cupid to females.\n\n3. Like the dvija-r\u00e1ja or changeful moon, he gives delight to the\ndvija\u2014or twice born Br\u00e1hmans, as that luminary gives the lilies to\nbloom; and like the luminous sun he destroys the darkness of his gloomy\nenemies. He is an ocean of the gems of goodness to all, and the support\nof his realm, like Vishnu the supporter of the world.\n\n4. He chanced on a vernal eve to wander about a forest, abounding in\nyoung creepers with bunches of crimson blossoms on them, and resonant\nwith the melody of mellifluous _kokilas_, warbling in their tuneful\nchoirs.\n\n5. He walked amidst the flowery arbours, resembling the graceful\nbeauties with ornaments upon them, and sported in their bowers as the\ngod V\u00e1sava disports in his garden of _Nandana_. (Eden or Paradise).\n\n6. Leaving his attendants behind him, he stepped to a grove standing on\nthe steppe of a hill, in the midst of that romantic forest, which was\nredolent with the fragrance of flowers borne all about by the playful\nwinds.\n\n7. He heard in one spot and within a bower of _t\u00e1mala_ trees, a mingled\nvoice as that of some invisible aerial spirits (siddh\u00e1), proceeding\nfrom it.\n\n8. I will now recite to you, O lotus-eyed R\u00e1ma! the songs of the\nsiddhas, residing in the retired solitudes of mountainous regions, and\ndwelling in the caverns of hills, and which relate principally to their\nspiritual meditations.\n\n9. The siddhas sang:\u2014We adore that Being which is neither the\nsubjective nor objective (not the viewer nor the view); and which in\nour beliefs is the positive felicity, that rises in our souls, and has\nno fluctuation in it.\n\n10. Others chanted:\u2014We adore that Being which is beyond the triple\nstates of the subject, its attribute and its object; (who is neither\nthe sight, seeing and the seer). It is the light of that soul, or\nspiritual light which exists from before the light of vision, which is\nderived from the light of the sun. (Sruti: The light of the Spirit\nshone before the physical lights of the sun, moon, stars, lightning and\nfire).\n\n11. Others chanted:\u2014We adore that Being, which is in the midst of all\nwhat is and what is not (_i.e._ between existence and non-existence);\nand that spiritual light, which enlightens all lightsome objects.\n\n12. Some sang:\u2014We adore that real existence which is all, whose are all\nthings, and by whom are all made, from whom have all sprung, for whom\nthey exist, in whom they subsist, unto whom do all return, and into\nwhich they are all absorbed.\n\n13. Some caroled:\u2014We adore that Spirit, which begins with the letter\n_a_ and ends in _h_ with the dot _m_ (_i.e._ _aham_ or _ego_); and\nwhich we continually inspire and respire in our breathings. (Aham)\nhansah.\n\n14. Others said:\u2014Those who forsake the God\u2014Isha, that is situated\nwithin the cavity of their hearts (hrid), and resort to others, that\nare without them, are verily in search of trifles by disregarding the\ngem _kaustabha_ (philosopher\u2019s stone); which is placed in their hands.\n\n15. Others again declared:\u2014It is by forsaking all other desires, that\none obtains this object of his wish; and this being had, the poisonous\nplants of all other desires, are entirely uprooted from the heart.\n\n16. Some of them pronounced saying:\u2014The foolish man who knowing the\ninsipidity of all worldly things, attaches his mind to earthly object,\nis an ass and no human being.\n\n17. Others said:\u2014The sensual appetites, which incessantly rise as\nsnakes from the cavities of the body, are to be killed by the cudgel of\nreason, as Indra broke the hills by his thunderbolts.\n\n18. At last they said:\u2014Let men try to secure the pure happiness of\nquietism, which serves to give tranquility to the minds of the\nrighteous. The sober-minded that are situated in their real and natural\ntemperament, have their best repose in the lap of undisturbed and\neverlasting tranquility.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER IX.\n\n REFLECTIONS OF JANAKA.\n\n\nArgument. Abstraction of Janaka\u2019s mind, from the Vanities of the World.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014Upon hearing these sonatas of the Siddhas (holy\nspirits), Janaka was dejected in his mind, like a coward at the noise\nof a conflict.\n\n2. He returned homeward, and conducted himself in silence to his\ndomicile, as a stream glides in its silent course under the beachening\ntrees, to the bed of the distant main.\n\n3. He left behind all his domestics in their respective dwellings\nbelow, and ascended alone to the highest balcony, as the sun mounts on\nthe top of a mountain.\n\n4. Hence he saw the flights of birds, flying at random in different\ndirections; and reflected on the hurrying of men in the same manner,\nand thus bewailed in himself on their deplorable conditions.\n\n5. Ah me miserable! that have to move about in the pitiable state of\nthe restless mob, that roll about like a rolling stone (or ball),\npushed backward and forward by another.\n\n6. I have a short span of endless duration, alloted to my share of\nlifetime; and yet I am a senseless fool to rely my trust in the hope of\nits durability.\n\n7. Short is the duration of my royalty also, which is limited to the\nperiod of my lifetime only; how is it then that I am secure of its\ncontinuance as a thoughtless man.\n\n8. I have an immortal soul lasting from before, and to continue even\nafter my present existence, the present life is a destructible One, and\nyet I am a fool to rely in it, like a boy believing the painted moon as\nreal.\n\n9. Ah! what sorcerer is it that hath thus bewitched me by his magic\nwand, as to make me believe I am not spell-bound at all.\n\n10. What faith can I rely in this world which has nothing substantial\nnor pleasant, nor grand nor real in it; and yet I know not why my mind\nis deluded by it.\n\n11. What is far from me (_i.e._ the object of sense), appears to be\nnear me by my sensation of the same; and that which is nearest to me\n(_i.e._ my inmost soul), appears to be farthest from me (by my want of\nits perception). Knowing this I must abandon the outward (sensible\nobjects), in order to see the inward soul.\n\n12. This hurry of men in their pursuits, is as impetuous and transient\nas the torrent of a whirlpool. It precipitates them to the depth of\ntheir dangers, and is not worth the pain it gives to the spirit.\n\n13. The years, months, days and minutes, are revolving with succession\nof our pains and pleasures; but these are swallowed up, by the repeated\ntrains of our misery (rather than that of happiness).\n\n14. I have well considered everything, and found them all perishable\nand nothing durable or lasting; there is nothing to be found here\nworthy of the reliance of the wise.\n\n15. Those standing at the head of great men to-day, are reduced low in\nthe course of a few days; what worth is there in giddy and thoughtless\ngreatness, which is deserving of our estimation.\n\n16. I am bound to the earth without a rope, and am soiled herein\nwithout any dirt (in my person); I am fallen though sitting in this\nedifice. O my soul! how art thou destroyed while thou art living.\n\n17. Whence has this causeless ignorance over-powered my intelligent\nsoul, and whence has this shadow overspread its lustre, as a dark cloud\novershades the disk of the sun?\n\n18. Of what avail are these large possessions and numerous relations to\nme, when my soul is desponding in despair, like children under the fear\nof ghosts and evil spirits.\n\n19. How shall I rest any reliance in my sensual enjoyments which are\nthe harbingers of death and disease, and what dependence is there on my\npossessions, which are fraught only with anxieties and cares?\n\n20. It matters not whether these friends, the feeders on my fortune,\nmay last or leave me at once; my prosperity is but a bubble and a false\nappearance before me.\n\n21. Men of greatest opulence and many good and great men and our best\nfriends and kindest relatives, that have gone by, now live in our\nremembrance only.\n\n22. Where are the riches of the monarchs of the earth, and where the\nformer creations of Brahm\u00e1. The past have given way to the present, and\nthese are to be followed by future ones; hence there is no reliance in\nanything.\n\n23. Many Indras have been swallowed up like bubbles in the ocean of\neternity; hence the like expectation of my longevity, is ridiculous to\nthe wise.\n\n24. Millions of Brahm\u00e1s have passed away, and their productions have\ndisappeared under endless successions; the kings of earth have fled\nlike their ashes and are reduced to dust; what is the confidence then\nin my life and stability?\n\n25. The world is but a dream by night, and the sensuous body is but a\nmisconception of the mind. If I rely any credence on them I am really\nto be blamed.\n\n26. My conception of myself and perception of other things, are false\nimaginations of my mind. It is my egoism that has laid hold of me, as a\ndemon seizes an idiot.\n\n27. Fool that I am, that seeing I do not see, how the span of my life\nis measured every moment by the imperceptible instants of time, and\ntheir leaving but a small portion behind.\n\n28. I see the juggler of time seizing on Brahm\u00e1s, Vishnus and Rudras,\nand making playthings of them on his play ground of the world, and\nflinging them as balls all about.\n\n29. I see the days and nights are incessantly passing away, without\npresenting me an opportunity which I can behold the true imperishable\none.\n\n30. The objects of sensual enjoyment, are larking in the minds of men,\nlike cranes gabbling in the lakes, and there is no prospect of the true\nand best object in the mind of any body.\n\n31. We meet with one hardship after another, and buffet in the waves of\nendless miseries in this earth; and yet are we so shameless, as not to\nfeel ourselves disgusted with them.\n\n32. We see all the desirable objects to which we attach our thoughts,\nto be frail and perishing; and yet we do not seek the imperishable one,\nand our everlasting good in the equanimity of the Soul.\n\n33. Whatever we see to be pleasant in the beginning (as pleasures), or\nin the middle (as youth), or in the end (as virtuous deeds), and at all\ntimes (as earthly goods), are all unholy and subject to decay.\n\n34. Whatever objects are dear to the hearts of men, they are all found\nto be subject to the changes of their rise and fall (_i.e._ their\ngrowth and decay).\n\n35. Ignorant people are everywhere enclined to evil acts, and they\ngrow day by day more hardened in their wicked practices. They repent\nevery day for their sins, but never reprove themselves for the better.\n\n36. Senseless men are never the better for anything, being devoid of\nsense in their boyhood, and heated by their passions in youth. In their\nlatter days, they are oppressed with the care of their families, and in\nthe end thy are overcome by sorrow and remorse.\n\n37. Here the entrance and exit (_i.e._ the birth and death), are both\naccompanied with pain and sorrow (for men come to and go away from the\nworld with crying). Here every state of life is contaminated by its\nreverse (as health by disease, youth by age, and affluence by poverty).\nEverything is unsubstantial in this seeming substantial world, and yet\nthe ignorant rely in its unreal substantiality.\n\n38. The real good that is derived here by means of painful austerities,\nare the arduous sacrifices of _r\u00e1jas\u00fay\u00e1 asvamedha_ and others, or the\nattainment of heaven; which has no reality in it, by reason of its\nshort duration of the small portion of a _kalpa_ compared with\neternity. (The Hindu heaven is no lasting bliss).\n\n39. What is this heaven and where is it situated, whether below or\nabove us or in this nether world; and where its residents are not\novertaken by multitudes of locust-like evils? (The Sruti says: \u201cEvil\nspirits infest the heavens and they drove the gods from it.\u201d So we read\nof the Titan\u2019s and Satan\u2019s band invading heaven).\n\n40. We have serpents creeping in the cells of our hearts, and have our\nbodies filled with the brambles of diseases and dangers, and know not\nhow to destroy them.\n\n41. I see good is intermixed with evil, and pain abiding with pleasure;\nthere is sorrow seated on the top (excess) of joy, so I know not\nwhereto I shall resort.\n\n42. I see the earth full of common people, who are incessantly born and\ndying in it in multitudes; but I find few honest and righteous men in\nit.\n\n43. These beautiful forms of women, with their eyes like lotuses, and\nthe gracefulness of their blandishments, and their charming smiles, are\nmade so soon to fade and die away.\n\n44. Of what note am I among these mighty beings (as Brahm\u00e1 and Vishnu),\nwho at the twinkling of their eyes, have created and destroyed the\nworld; and yet have succumbed to death at last. (This last passage\nshows that the Hindu gods were mortal heroes of antiquity).\n\n45. You are constantly in search of what is more pleasant and lasting\nthan others, but never seek after that highest prosperity, which is\nbeyond all your earthly cares.\n\n46. What is this great prosperity in which you take so much delight,\nbut mere vexation of your spirit, which proves this vanity to be your\ncalamity only.\n\n47. Again what are these adversities which you fear so much, they may\nturn to your true prosperity, by setting you free from earthly broils\nand leading you to your future felicity.\n\n48. The mind is broken to pieces by its fears, like the fragments of\nthe moon, floating on the waves of this ocean of the world. Its\nselfishness has tossed it to and fro, and this world being got rid of,\nit is set at perfect ease (from all vicissitudes of fortune).\n\n49. There is an unavoidable chance (necessity), actuating our worldly\naffairs and accidents; it is impudence therefore to welcome some as\ngood, and to avoid others as evil.\n\n50. We are prone to things that are pleasant to the sight, but bear a\nmortal flame in them, and consume us like poor moths in the flames,\nwhich it is bright to see but fatal to feel.\n\n51. It is better to roll in the continual flame of hell-fire to which\none is habituated, than rise and fall repeatedly in the furnace of this\nworld, as from the frying pan into the fire.\n\n52. This world is said by the wise, to be a boundless ocean of woes\n(vale of tears); how then can any body who has fallen amidst it, expect\nany happiness herein?\n\n53. Those who have not fallen in the midst and been altogether drowned\nin woe, think the lesser woes as light and delight, as one condemned to\nbe beheaded, is glad to escape with a light punishment.\n\n54. I am grown as the vilest of the vile, and resemble a block of wood\nor stone; there is no difference in me from the ignorant clown, who has\nnever had the thought of his eternal concerns in his head.\n\n55. The great arbour of the world, with its very many branches and\ntwigs and fruits, hath sprung from the mind and is rooted in it. (The\nouter world has its existence in the sensitive mind only; because the\ninsensible bodies of the dead and inanimate things, have no\nconsciousness of it).\n\n56. It is the conception (sankalpa) of the world, in my mind, that\ncauses its existence and presents its appearance before me, I will now\ntry to efface this conception from my mind, and forget this world\naltogether. (This doctrine of idealism was derived, by Janaka from his\nown Intuition (Svena-Jn\u00e1tena)).\n\n57. I will no longer allow myself to be deluded like monkeys with the\nforms of things, which I know are not real; mere ideal, but changeful\nand evanescent. (Here also Janaka learns by intuition not to rely on\nconcrete forms, but to have their general and abstract ideas).\n\n58. I have woven and stretched out the web of my desires, and collected\nonly my woes and sorrows; I fell into and fled from the snare of my own\nmaking, and am now resolved to take my rest in the soul.\n\n59. I have much wailed and bitterly wept, to think of the depravity and\nloss of my soul, and will henceforth cease to lament, thinking that I\nam not utterly lost.\n\n60. I am now awakened, and am glad to find out the robber of my soul;\nit is my own mind, and this I am determined to kill, as it had so long\ndeprived me of the inestimable treasure of my soul.\n\n61. So long was my mind at large as a loose and unstrung pearl, now\nwill I pierce it with the needle of reason, and string it with the\nvirtues of self-controul and subjection to wisdom.\n\n62. The cold icicle of my mind, will now be melted down by the sun-heat\nof reason; and will now be confined in the interminable meditation of\nits Eternal Maker (from where it cannot return. Sruti).\n\n63. I am now awakened to my spiritual knowledge, like these holy\nSiddhas, saints and sages; and will now pursue my spiritual inquiries,\nto the contentment of my soul.\n\n64. Having now found my long-lost soul, I will continue to look upon\nits pure light with joy in my lonely retirement; and will remain as\nquiet and still in contemplation of it, as a motionless cloud in autumn.\n\n65. And having cast away the false belief of my corporeality (_i.e._ of\nbeing an embodied being), and that these possessions and properties are\nmine, and having subdued my force by mighty enemy of the Mind, I will\nattain the tranquility of my soul by the help of my reason.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER X.\n\n SILENT AND SOLITARY REFLECTIONS OF JANAKA.\n\n\nArgument. Janaka though employed in Ritual service, continues firm in\nhis meditation, and comes to the conclusion of his immortality.\n\n\nVasishtha related:\u2014While Janaka was thus musing in his mind, there\nentered the chamberlain before him, in the manner of Aruna standing\nbefore the chariot of the sun.\n\n2. The Chamberlain said:\u2014O sire! thy realm is safe under thy protecting\narms; now rise to attend to the daily rites, as it becomes your majesty.\n\n3. There the maidservants are waiting with their water pots, filled\nwith water perfumed with flowers, camphor and saffron for your bathing,\nas the nymphs of the rivers, have presented themselves in person before\nyou.\n\n4. The temples are decorated with lotuses and other flowers, with the\nbees fluttering upon them; and hung over with fine muslin, as white as\nthe fibers of lotus stalks.\n\n6. The altars are filled with heaps of flowers, aromatic drugs and\nrice; and adorned with every decoration in the princely style.\n\n7. The Br\u00e1hmans are waiting there for your majesty\u2019s presence, after\nmaking their sacred ablution and purifications, and offering their\nprayers for the remission of sins; and are expecting to get their\nworthy gifts from thee.\n\n8. The hand-maids are attending to their duties, graced with flappers\n(ch\u00e1maras) in their hands; and the feasting ground is cleansed with\nsandal paste and water.\n\n9. Rise therefore from thy seat, and be it well with thee to perform\nthe prescribed duties; because it does not become the best of men, to\nbe belated in the discharge of their duties.\n\n10. Though thus besought by the head chamberlain, yet the king remained\nin his meditative mood, thinking on the wonderful phenomena of nature.\n\n11. This royalty and these duties of mine, said he, are for a very\nshort time; I do not require these things that are so transitory in\ntheir nature.\n\n12. I must leave these things, that are at best but waters of the\nmirage; and remain close to myself in my lonesome seclusion, like a\ncalm and solitary lake or sea.\n\n13. These pleasures of the world, that are displayed around us, are\nentirely useless to me; I will leave them with promptness on my part,\nand remain in my happy retirement.\n\n14. Abandon, O my heart! thy shrewdness in pursuing after the objects\nof thy desire; in order to avoid the snares of disease and death (which\nhave been set on thy way).\n\n15. In whatever state or condition of life, the heart is set to hanker\nfor its delight; it is sure to meet with some difficulty, distress or\ndisappointment coming out of the same.\n\n16. Whether your heart is engaged in, or disengaged from the objects of\nsense, you will never find any one of them, either in act or thought,\nconducing to the true happiness of your soul.\n\n17. Forsake therefore the thoughts of the vile pleasure of your senses,\nand betake yourself to those thoughts, which are fraught with the true\nhappiness of the soul.\n\n18. Thinking in this manner, Janaka remained in mute silence, and his\nrestless mind became as still, as it made him sit down like a picture\nin painting or as a statue.\n\n19. The chamberlain uttered not a word any more, but stood silent in\nmute respect through fear of his master, from his knowledge of the\ndispositions of kings.\n\n20. Janaka in his state of silent meditation, reflected again on the\nvanity of human life, with cool calmness of his mind, and said:\u2014\n\n21. Now must I be diligent to find out the best and most precious\ntreasure in the world, and know what is that imperishable thing, to\nwhich I shall bind my soul as its surest anchor.\n\n22. What is the good of my acts or my cessation from them, since\nnothing is produced of anything, which is not perishable in its nature.\n(Thence the product of acts is perishing, and its want is a lasting\ngood).\n\n23. It matters not whether the body is active or inactive, since all\nits actions end in utter inaction at last as all force is reduced to\nrest. It is the pure intellect within me that is always the same\n(_i.e._ ever active and undecaying), and which loses nothing from the\nloss of the body or by want of bodily actions. (The body is a dead mass\nwithout the active principle of the mind).\n\n24. I do not wish to have what I have not, nor dare leave what I have\nalready got; I am content with myself; so let me have what is mine and\nwhat I have. (The Yogis like Stoics, were fatalists and content with\ntheir lot).\n\n25. I get no real good by my acts here, nor lose anything by refraining\nfrom them. What I get by my acts or want of action, is all _Nil and\nNull_ of Vanity or Vanities, and nothing to my purpose or liking.\n\n26. Whether I am doing or not doing, and whether my acts are proper or\nimproper; I have nothing to desire here, nor anything desirable that I\nhave to expect from them. (Hence no exertion will bring on the desired\nobject, unless it is given by our lot).\n\n27. I have got what was due to my past actions, and this body is the\nresult of my former acts. It may be in its motion and action, or it may\nbe still and fade away, which is the same thing to me.\n\n28. The mind being set at ease by want of its action or passion, the\nactions of the body and its members, are alike in their effects to\nthose of not doing them. (Involuntary actions done without the will are\nof no account).\n\n29. The acts of men are reckoned as no acts of theirs, which happen to\ntake place as the results of their destiny or previous actions. (The\naction or passion relates to the mind only, but the doing of destiny\nbeing involuntary, such action of men is accounted as no action of\ntheirs).\n\n30. The impression which the inward soul bears of its past actions and\npassions, the same gives its colour to the nature and character of the\nactions of men afterwards. Now that my soul has obtained its\nimperishable state of spirituality, I am freed from the mutabilities of\nthe transmigrations of my body and mind.\n\nCommentary:\u2014Janaka arrives after all his previous reasonings and\ndeductions, to the conclusion of the certainty of his being an\nintellectual and spiritual being, endowed with an immortal soul, and\nentitled to everlasting life, after the destruction of the frail body\nand the changeful mind with it.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XI\n\n SUBJECTION OF THE MIND.\n\n\nArgument. Janaka\u2019s Discharge of his Daily Rites, and Admonition to his\nMind.\n\n\nVasishtha related:\u2014Having thought so, Janaka rose up for performance of\nhis daily rites as usual, and without the sense of his agency in them.\nHe did his duty in the same manner as the sun rises every day to give\nthe morn, without his consciousness of it.\n\n2. He discharged his duties as they presented themselves to him,\nwithout any concern or expectation of their rewards. He did them\nawaking as if it were in his sleep. Gloss:\u2014He did his acts by rote, but\nwot not what he did in his insensibility of them; and such acts of\ninsensibility are free from culpability or retribution.\n\n3. Having discharged his duties of the day and honoured the gods and\nthe priests, he passed the night absorbed in his meditations.\n\n4. His mind being set at ease, and his roving thoughts repressed from\ntheir objects, he thus communed with his mind at the dead of night, and\nsaid:\u2014\n\n5. O my mind that art roving all about with the revolving world, know\nthat such restlessness of thine, is not agreeable to peace of the soul;\ntherefore rest thou in quiet from thy wanderings abroad.\n\n6. It is thy business to imagine many things at thy pleasure, and as\nthou thinkest thou hast a world of thoughts present before thee every\nmoment. (For all things are but creations of the imaginative mind).\n\n7. Thou shootest forth in innumerable woes by the desire of endless\nenjoyments, as a tree shoots out into a hundred branches, by its being\nwatered at the roots.\n\n8. Now as our births and lives and worldly affairs, are all productions\nof our wistful thoughts, I pray thee therefore, O my mind! to rest in\nquiet by abandonment of thy earthly desires.\n\n9. O my friendly mind! weigh well this transient world in thy thoughts,\nand depend upon it, shouldst thou find aught of substantiality in it.\n\n10. Forsake thy fond reliance on these visible phenomena; leave these\nthings, and rove about at thy free will without caring for any thing.\n\n11. Whether this unreal scene, may appear to or disappear from thy\nsight, thou shouldst not suffer thyself to be affected by it in either\ncase.\n\n12. Thou canst have no concern with the visible objects (phenomenal\nworld); for what concern can one have with any earthly thing which is\ninexistent of itself as an unsubstantial shadow?\n\n13. The world is an unreality like thyself, hence there can be no true\nrelation between two unrealities. It is but a logomachy to maintain the\nrelation of two negatives to one another.\n\n14. Granting, thou art a reality and the world is unreal, still there\ncan be no agreement between you, as there is none between the living\nand the dead, and between the positive and negative ideas.\n\n15. Should the mind and the world be both of them realities and\nco-existent for ever, then there can be no reason for the joy or sorrow\nof the one at the gain or loss of the other.\n\n16. Now therefore avoid the great malady of worldliness, and enjoy the\nsilent joy in thyself, like one sitting in the undisturbed depth of the\nOcean, with the rolling tide and waves above his head.\n\n17. Do not consume like a puppet in pyrotechnics with the fiery remorse\nof worldliness, nor be burnt down to the darkness of despair in this\ngloomy scene of the world.\n\n18. O wicked mind! there is nothing here so good and great, whereby\nthou mayest attain thy high perfection, except by the forsaking of all\nfrivolities and dependance on thy entire resignation to the\nunchangeable One.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XII.\n\n ON THE GREATNESS OF INTELLIGENCE.\n\n\nArgument. The Living Liberation of Janaka, and the pre-eminence of\nreason and intelligence.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014Janaka having expostulated in his manner with his\nmind, attended to the affairs of the state without shrinking from them\nby his mental abstraction.\n\n2. He was however not gladdened by the gladsome tasks and tidings, but\nwas indifferent to them as in his slumber of fixed mindedness in his\nmaker.\n\n3. Hence forward, he was not intently employed in his duties, nor\nforsook them altogether; but attended unconcernedly to the business\nwhich presented itself to him.\n\n4. His constant habit of reasoning, enabled him to understand the\neternal verity; and preserved his intellect from blunders, as the sky\nis untouched by the flying dust.\n\n5. By his cultivation of reasoning, his mind was enlightened and\nfraught with all knowledge.\n\n6. Unaccustomed to duality, his mind had learnt to know the sole unity\nonly; and his intelligent soul shone within him, as the full bright sun\nin the sky. (He felt a flood of light in himself, as the believer finds\nin his inmost soul. Gloss).\n\n7. He became acquainted with the Soul, that is inherent in all bodies,\nand beheld all things abiding in the omnipotence of the Intellect, and\nidentic with the infinite.\n\n8. He was never too joyous nor exceedingly sorrowful, but preserved his\nequanimity amidst the conflicts of his soul and sensible objects\n(between spirituality and materiality).\n\n9. The venerable Janaka, became liberated in his living state since\nthat time; and is since renowned as a veteran theosophist among mankind.\n\n10. He continues thence forward to reign over the land of the Videha\npeople, without being subject to the feelings of joy or sorrow for a\nmoment.\n\n11. Knowing the causes of good and evil, he is neither elated nor\ndejected at any favourable or unfavourable circumstances of his life,\nnor does he feel glad or sad at the good or bad accident relating the\nstate.\n\n12. He did his duties without setting his mind to them, which was\nwholly employed in his intellectual speculations.\n\n13. Remaining thus in his hypnotic state of sound sleep (abstraction),\nhis thoughts are quite abstracted from all objects about him.\n\n14. He is unmindful of the past, and heedless about the future; and\nenjoys the present moment only, with a gladsome heart and cheerful mind.\n\n15. He obtained the obtainable what is worthy to be obtained, by his\nown ratiocination (or self-reflection), and not O lotus-eyed R\u00e1ma! by\nany other desire (_i.e._ by abandoning all his worldly desires).\n\n16. Therefore we should reason (or reflect) in our minds, so long as we\nsucceed to arrive at the conclusion of the subject.\n\n17. The presence of the Holy Light, is not to be had either by the\nlectures of a preceptor, or the teaching of the s\u00e1stras; it is not the\nresult of meritorious acts, nor of the company of the holy men; but the\nresult of your own intellection.\n\n18. A good understanding assisted by the power of its accompanying\npercipience (prajan\u00e1), leads to the knowledge of that highest state,\nwhich the acts of your piety cannot do.\n\n19. He who has set before his sight the keen light of the lamp of his\npercipience, is enabled to see both the past and future in his\npresence; and no shadow of ignorance intercepts his vision.\n\n20. It is by means of his percipience, that one is enabled to cross\nover the sea of dangers; as a passenger goes across a river in a boat\nor raft.\n\n21. The man that is devoid of his prescience, is overtaken even by\nsmall mishaps; as a light straw is blown away by the slightest breeze.\n\n22. One who is endued with foresight, passes over the eventful ocean of\nthe world, without the assistance of friends and guidance of the\ns\u00e1stras.\n\n23. The man with foreknowledge, sees the result of his actions\nbeforehand; but one without his prevision, is at a loss to judge of the\nimminent events.\n\n24. Good company and learning, strengthen the understanding; as the\nwatering of a plant, tends towards its growth and fructification.\n\n25. The infant understanding like a tender shoot, takes a deep root in\ntime; and having grown up like a tree, bears the sweet fruit in its\nseason; like the cooling moonbeams at night.\n\n26. Whatever exertions are made by men for the acquisition of external\nproperties, the same should be more properly devoted for the\nimprovement of their understandings at first. (_i.e._ Intellectual\nimprovement should precede that of outward circumstances).\n\n27. Dullness of the understanding, which is the source of all evils,\nand the storehouse of misery, and the root of the arbour of\nworldliness, must be destroyed first of all.\n\n28. Great minded men get in their understandings, whatever good they\nmay expect to find in this earth, in heaven above and in the nether\nworld. (The mind is the seat of all treasures).\n\n29. It is by means of one\u2019s good understanding only, that he can get\nover the ocean of the world; and not by his charities, pilgrimages or\nreligious austerities.\n\n30. The divine blessing attending on mortal men on earth, is the sweet\nfruit of the tree of knowledge. (Here is a contrast with the mortal\ntaste of the forbidden fruit of knowledge).\n\n31. Wisdom nips with its sharp nails, the heads of the elephantine\n(gigantic) bonds of giddiness, with as much ease as the lion kills the\ndeer, or as if it were destroying a strong lion by a weak jackal. (Weak\nwisdom having the power of destroying the wild worldliness).\n\n32. An ordinary man is often seen to become the ruler of men, by means\nof his greater knowledge than others; and the wise and discreet are\nentitled to glory in both worlds.\n\n33. Reason overcomes all its adversaries, dealing in diverse forms of\nsophistry; as a disciplined warrior, overpowers on a host of untrained\nsavage people.\n\n34. Reasoning is as the philosopher\u2019s stone, which converts the base\nmetals to gold; and is hidden in the casket of rational souls as the\nbest treasure. It yields the desired fruits of men like the kalpa plant\nof Paradise at a thought.\n\n35. The right reasoner gets across the wide ocean of the world, by\nmeans of his reasoning, while the unreasonable rabble are born away by\nits waves; as the skillful boat-man cuts across the current, while the\nunskilled waterman is tossed about by the waves.\n\n36. A well directed understanding leads to the success of an\nundertaking, but the misguided intellect goes to the rack and ruin; the\none sails to the shore before the wind; but the other is tossed in his\nwrecked vessel over the wide gulph of the world.\n\n37. The keen sighted and unbiassed wise man, is never over-come by the\nevils arising from his desires: as the arrows of the adversary, do not\npierce the body of a soldier in armour.\n\n38. The sapience of a man, gives him an insight into every thing in the\nworld and, the all knowing man, is neither subjected to dangers nor\nreverses of his fortune.\n\n39. The dark and wide-stretching cloud of blind egoism, which\novershadows the sun-light of the Supreme Spirit within us, is driven\naway by the breath of intelligence.\n\n40. The improvement of the understanding, is the first requisite\ntowards the knowledge of the Supreme soul; as the cultivation of the\nground, is of primary importance to the farmer, desirous of reaping a\nrich harvest.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XIII.\n\n GOVERNMENT OF THE MIND.\n\n\nArgument. Reasons and Rules of Restraining the Mind from the\ninstance of Janaka\u2019s _insouciance_.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014Now R\u00e1ma! Reflect on the Supreme spirit, in thy\nown spirit like Janaka; and know the object of the meditation of the\nwise, without any difficulty or failing.\n\n2. The wise men of the latter genus _r\u00e1jasa-s\u00e1tvika_ or active\ngoodness, obtain their desired objects by themselves (of their own\ninstitution), like Janaka and other holy sages.\n\n3. As long as you continue to restrain your organs of sense from their\nobjects, so long will the divine soul grace your own inward soul with\nits presence.\n\n4. The Lord God and Supreme soul, being thus gracious to thee; thou\nshalt see a halo of light cast over all things, and dispersing all thy\nwoes from thy sight.\n\n5. The sight of the Supreme spirit, will remove the plentiful seeds of\nbias from thy mind; and it will drive away the woeful sights of misery,\npouring upon thy view in copious showers.\n\n6. Continue like Janaka in the wilful discharge of thy duties, and\nprosper by placing thy intellectual sight, on the divine light shining\nin thy inward spirit.\n\n7. It was by his inward cogitations, that Janaka found the\ntransitoriness of the world; and by placing his faith in the\nunchangeable Spirit, he found its grace in time.\n\n8. Hence neither the pious acts of men, nor their riches nor friends,\nare of any use to them for their salvation from the miseries of life,\nunless it be by their own endeavor for the enlightenment of their soul.\n\n9. They who rely their faith in the gods, and depend upon them for\nfulfilment of their desires and future rewards, are perverted in their\nunderstandings, and cannot be heirs of immortality.\n\n10. It is by reliance in one\u2019s reasoning and resignation, and by his\nspiritual vision of the Supreme spirit, that he is saved from his\nmisery in this ocean of the world.\n\n11. The attainment of this blessed knowledge of intuition, which\nremoveth our ignorance, is as what they call thy getting of fruit\nfallen from heaven (_i.e._ a heavenly and accidental fruit).\n\n12. The intelligence which looks into itself as Janaka\u2019s, finds the\nsoul developing of itself in it, as the lotus-bud opens of itself in\nthe morning.\n\n13. The firm conviction of the material world, melts into nothing under\nthe light of percipience; as the thick and tangible ice, dissolves into\nfluidity under the heat of the sun.\n\n14. The consciousness that this is I (_i.e._ one\u2019s self-consciousness),\nis as the shade of night, and is dispelled at the rise of the sun of\nintellect, when the Omnipresent light appears vividly to sight.\n\n15. No sooner one loses his self-consciousness that \u2018this is himself,\u2019\nthan the All-pervading Soul opens fully to his view.\n\n16. As Janaka has abandoned the consciousness of his personality,\ntogether with his desires also; so do you, O intelligent R\u00e1ma, forsake\nthem by your acute understanding and of the mind discernment.\n\n17. After the cloud of egoism is dispersed, and the sphere is cleared\nall around; the divine light appears to shine in it, as brightly as\nanother sun.\n\n18. It is the greatest ignorance to think of one\u2019s egoism (or\nself-personality); this thought being relaxed by the sense of our\nnothingness, gives room to the manifestation of holy light in the soul.\n\n19. Neither think of the entity nor non-entity of thyself or others;\nbut preserve the tranquility of thy mind from both the thoughts of\npositive and negative existences; in order to get rid of thy sense of\ndistinction between the producer and the produced (_i.e._ of the cause\nand effect, the both of which are identic in Ved\u00e1nta or spiritual\nphilosophy).\n\n20. Again your fostering a fondness for something as good, and a hatred\nto others as bad; is but a disease of your mind for your uneasiness\nonly. (Since all things are good in their own kinds, and nothing bad in\nits nature, and in the sight of God, who pronounced all things good).\n\n21. Be not fond of what you think to be beautiful, nor disgusted at\nwhat appears hateful to you, get rid of these antagonist feelings, and\nbe even-minded by fixing it on One, before whom all things are alike\nand equally good: (all partial evil is universal good. Pope.)\n\n22. They that view the desirable and the detestable in the same light,\nare neither fond of the one nor averse to the other.\n\n23. Until the fancy of the desirableness of one thing and dislike of\nthe other, is effaced from the mind, it is as hard to have the good\ngrace of equanimity, as it is difficult for the moonlight to pierce\nthrough the cloudy sky.\n\n24. The mind which considers one thing as some thing \u00e0 propos, and\nanother as nothing to the purpose (the one as desirable and the other\nworthless); is deprived of the blessing of indifference, as the brier\n_s\u00e1kota_ is despised, not standing with all its fruits and flowers.\n\n25. Where there is a craving for the desirable, and an aversion to what\nis unseemly, and when there is a cry for gain and an outcry at one\u2019s\nloss; it is impossible for even mindedness, dispassionateness and\ntranquility of the mind, to abide then and there in that state.\n\n26. There being only the essence of one pure\u2014Brahma diffused throughout\nthe universe, how very improper is it to take the one as many, and\namong them something as good or bad; (when the Maker of all has made\nall things good).\n\n27. Our desires and dislike, are the two apes abiding on the tree of\nour hearts; and while they continue to shake and swing it with their\njogging and jolting, there can be no rest in it.\n\n28. Freedom from fear and desire, from exertions and action, together\nwith sapience and equanimity, are the inseparable accompaniments of\nease and rest.\n\n29. The qualities of forbearance and fellow feeling, accompanied with\ncontentment and good understanding, and joined with a mild disposition\nand gentle speech, are the indispensable companions of the wise man,\nwho has got rid of his desires and the feelings of his liking or\ndislike.\n\n30. The mind running to meanness, is to be repressed by restraining the\npassions and appetites; as the current of water running below, is\nstopped by its lock gate.\n\n31. Shun the sight of external things, which are the roots of error and\nfallacy; and consider always their internal properties both when you\nare awake and asleep, and also when you are walking about or sitting\ndown.\n\n32. Avaricious men are caught like greedy fishes, in the hidden net of\ntheir insatiable desires, and which is woven with the threads of\nworldly cares, and is under the waters of worldly affairs.\n\n33. Now R\u00e1ma! cut the meshes of this net, with the knife of thy good\nunderstanding; and disperse it in the water, as a tempest rends the\nthick cloud and scatters it about the air.\n\n34. Try O gentle R\u00e1ma! to uproot the root of worldliness, which sprouts\nforth in the weeds of vice, with the hatchet of your perseverance and\nthe eliminating shovel of your penetration.\n\n35. Employ your mind to hew down the cravings your mind, as they use\nthe axe to cut down a tree, and you will then rest in quiet as you\narrive at the state of holiness.\n\n36. Having destroyed the former state of your mind by its present\nstate, try to forget them both by your heedless mind in future, and\nmanage yourself unmindful of the world. (There is a play of the word\nmind in the original).\n\n37. Your utter oblivion of the world, will prevent the revival of your\nmind; and stop the reappearance of ignorance which is concomitant with\nthe mind.\n\n38. Whether you are waking or sleeping or in any other state of your\nlife; you must remember the nihility of the world, and resign your\nreliance in it.\n\n39. Leave off your selfishness (mamat\u00e1 or _mei tatem_), O R\u00e1ma! and\nrely in the disinterestedness of your soul; lay hold on what ever\noffers of itself to you and without seeking for it all about.\n\n40. As the Lord God doth every thing, and is yet aloof from all; so\nmust thou do all thy acts outwardly, and without thyself mixing in any.\n\n41. Knowing the knowable, one finds himself as the increate soul and\nGreat Lord of all; but being apart from that soul, he views only the\nmaterial world spread before him.\n\n42. He who has the sight of the inner spirit, is freed from the\nthoughts of the external world, and is not subjected to the joy or\ngrief or sorrow and other evils of his life.\n\n43. He is called a Yogi who is free from passions and enmity, and looks\non gold and rubbish in the same light; he is joined with his Joy in his\nYoga, and disjoined from all worldly desires.\n\n44. He enjoys the fruit of his own acts, and minds not what he wastes\nor gives away; he has the evenness of his mind in every condition, and\nis unaltered by pain or pleasure. (The Sanskrit _sukh-dukkha_ means\nalso prosperity and adversity, and good and evil of every kind).\n\n45. He who receives what he gets, and is employed with whatever offers\nof itself to him, without considering the good or evil that he is to\ngain by it, is not plunged into any difficulty.\n\n46. He who is certain of the truth of the spiritual essence of the\nworld, pants not for its physical enjoyments, but he is even-minded at\nall times.\n\n47. The dull mind follows the active intellect in accomplishing its\nobjects, as the carnivorous cat or fox follows the lion in quest of\nmeat.\n\n48. As the servile band of the lion feeds on the flesh acquired by his\nprowess, so the mind dwells upon the visible and sensible object, which\nit perceives by power of the intellect.\n\n49. Thus the unsubstantial mind, lives upon the outer world by the help\nof the intellect; but as it comes to remember its origination from the\nintellect, it recoils back to its original state.\n\n50. The mind which is moved and lighted, by the heat and light of the\nlamp of the intellect; becomes extinct without its physical force, and\ngrows as motionless as a dead body.\n\n51. The nature of the intellect is known to exclude the idea of motion\nor pulsation from it; and the power which has vibration in it, is\ncalled intellection or the mind in the s\u00e1stras.\n\n52. The breathing (or vibration) of the mind, like the hissing of a\nsnake, is called its imagination (kalpana); but by knowing the\nintellect as the Ego, it comes to the true knowledge of the inward soul.\n\n53. The intellect which is free from thoughts (_chetyas_), is the ever\nlasting Brahma; but being joined with thought, it is styled the\nimaginative principle or Mind.\n\n54. This power of imagination having assumed a definite form, is termed\nthe mind; which with its volition and options, is situated in the heart\nof living beings.\n\n55. With its two distinct powers of imagination and volition, it is\nemployed in the acts of discriminating and choosing the agreeable from\nwhat is disagreeable to it. (_i.e._ The imagination and volitive\nfaculties of the mind, supply it with the power of discrimination and\noption, between what is fit or unfit for or suitable to it).\n\n56. The intellect being seated in the heart with its thoughts and\nvolitions, forgets its spiritual nature, and remains as a dull material\nsubstance (_i.e._ the passivity of the heart as opposed to the activity\nof the mind).\n\n57. The intellect being thus confined in the hearts of all animals in\nthis world, continues in utter oblivion of its nature; until it is\nawakened of itself, either by its intuition or instruction of\npreceptors &c.\n\n58. So it is to be wakened by means of instruction, derived from the\ns\u00e1stras and preceptors; as also by the practice of dispassionateness,\nand subjection of the organs of sense and action.\n\n59. When the minds of living beings, are roused by learning and\nself-control; they tend towards the knowledge of the Great Brahma, or\nelse they rove at random about the wide world.\n\n60. We must therefore awaken our minds, which are rolling in the pit of\nworldliness, through the inebriety of the wine of error, and which are\ndormant to divine knowledge.\n\n61. As long as the mind is unawakened, it is insensible of every thing\n(in its true light); and though it perceives the visibles, yet this\nperception of them is as false as the sight of a city in our fancy.\n\n62. But when the mind is awakened by divine knowledge, to the sight of\nthe supreme Being; it presents every thing in itself, as the inward\nfragrance of flowers pervades the outer-petals also. (_i.e._ The inward\nsight of God, comprehends the view of every thing in it).\n\n63. Though the intellect has the quality of knowing every thing,\ncontained in all the three worlds; yet it has but a little knowledge of\nthem from the paucity of its desire of knowing them. (_i.e._ Though the\ncapacity of the intellect is unlimited, yet its knowledge is\nproportionate to its desire of gaining it).\n\n64. The mind without the intellect is a dull block of stone; but it is\nopened by divine light, like the lotus-bud expanding under the light of\nthe sun.\n\n65. The imaginative mind is as devoid of understanding, as a statue\nmade of marble, is unable to move about by itself.\n\n66. How can the regiments drawn in painting, wage a war in a mutual\nconflict, and how can the moon-beams, make the medicinal plants emit\ntheir light? (_i.e._ As it is life that makes the armies fight, so it\nis the intellect that actuates the mind to its operations. And as the\nplants shine by night by the sun-beams, which are deposited in them\nduring day, so shines the mind by means of its intellectual light).\n\n67. Who has seen dead bodies besmeared with blood to run about on the\nground, or witnessed the fragments of stones in the woods to sing in\nmusical strains?\n\n68. Where does the stone idol of the sun, dispel the darkness of the\nnight; and where does the imaginary forest of the sky spread its shade\non the ground?\n\n69. Of what good are the efforts of men, who are as ignorant as blocks\nof stones, and are led by their error in many ways; except it be to\nendanger themselves by the mirage of their minds? (The exertions of the\nignorant are as vain as the labour of a Sisyphus).\n\n70. It is the imagination that displays the non-existent as existent in\nthe soul, as it is the sun-beams, which exhibit the limpid main in the\nmazy sands.\n\n71. It is the moving principle in the body, which the sophists\ndesignate as the mind; but know it as a mere force of the winds, like\nthe vital breath of living beings.\n\n72. Those whose self-consciousness is not disturbed, by the currents of\ntheir passions and desires; have their spiritual souls like an\nunperturbed stream (of psychic fluid).\n\n73. But when this pure consciousness is befouled by the false fancies\nof this and that, and that this is I and that is mine; then the soul\nand the vital principle, are both taken together to form a living being.\n\n74. The mind, the living soul and understanding, are all but fictitious\nnames of an unreality, according to the conceptions of false thinkers,\nand not of them that know the true spirit.\n\n75. There is no mind nor understanding, no thinking principle, nor the\nbody in reality; there is the only reality of the One universal spirit,\nwhich is ever existent everywhere. (So says the Sruti:\u2014All else are but\ntransitory creations of imagination, and so pass into nothing).\n\n76. It is the soul, which is all this world, it is time and all its\nfluctuations, it is more transparent than the atmosphere, and it is\nclear as it is nothing at all.\n\n77. It is not always apparent, owing to its transparency; yet it is\never existent, owing to our consciousness of it. The spirit is beyond\nall things, and is perceived by our inward perception of it.\n\n78. The mind vanishes into nothing, before our consciousness of the\nSupreme Soul; just as darkness is dispelled from that place, where the\nsunshine is present.\n\n79. When the transparent and self-conscious soul, raises other figures\nof its own will; then the presence of the soul is forgotten, and hid\nunder the grosser creations of the mind.\n\n80. The Volitive faculty of the Supreme Spirit, is denominated the\nmind; but it is unmindedness and want of volition on our part, which\nproduces our liberation. (_i.e._ Our submission to the Divine Will,\nsets us free from all liability, as it is said in the Common prayer:\n\u201cLet thy will (and not mine) be done\u201d).\n\n81. Such is the origin of the mind which is the root of creation; it is\nthe faculty of the volition of the principle of our consciousness,\notherwise called the soul. (The mind is the volitive faculty of the\nSpirit, see 80).\n\n82. The intellectual essence being defiled by its desires, after\nfalling from its state of indifference; becomes the principle of\nproduction or producing the desired objects. (This is called the mind\nor the creative power, and is represented as the first male or the\nagent of procreation).\n\n83. The mind becomes extinct, by loss of the vital power; as the shadow\nof a thing disappears, by removal of the substance. (This passage\nestablishes the extinction of the mind, with all its passions, feelings\nand thoughts upon the death of a man).\n\n84. The living body perceives in its heart, the notion of a distant\nplace which exists in the mind, and this proves the identity of the\nvital breath and the thinking mind. (Again the communication of the\npassions and feelings between the heart and mind, proves them to be the\nsame thing). (Hence the word _antah-karana_ or inward sense, is applied\nboth to the heart as well as mind).\n\n85. It is therefore by repressing the mind, that the vital breath is\nalso repressed, to produce longevity and healthiness. (It is done by\nthe following methods, viz; by dispassionateness, suppression of\nbreathing, by yoga meditation, and by cessation from bodily labour in\nthe pursuit of worldly objects).\n\n86. The stone has the capability of mobility, and the fuel of\ninflammability; but the vital breath and mind, have not their powers of\nvibration or thinking (without the force of the intellect and the\nspirit).\n\n87. The breath of life is inert by itself, and its pulsation is the\neffect and composed of the surrounding air; so the action of the mind,\nis owing to the force of the intellect; whose pellucidity pervades all\nnature.\n\n88. It is the union of the intellectual and vibrating powers, which is\nthought to constitute the mind. Its production is as false, as the\nfalsity of its knowledge. (All mental phenomena are erroneous).\n\n89. The mental power is called error and illusion also, and these in\nignorance of the Supreme Brahma, produce the knowledge of this\npoisonous world (which springs from illusion of the mind).\n\n90. The powers of the intellect and vibration, combined with those of\nimagination and volition which constitute the mind, are productive of\nall worldly evils, unless they are weakened and kept under restraint.\n\n91. When the intellect thinks on or has the perception by the pulsation\ncaused by the air. The wind of breath gives pulsation to the intellect,\nand causes its power of intellection; and this intellectual power gives\nrise to all the thoughts and desires of the mind.\n\n92. The percussive intellect which extends over the undivided sphere of\nthe universe, is verily the thinking power, the mind is a false\nimagination like the ghost of infants.\n\n93. The intellect is the power of intellection, which cannot be\nintercepted by any thing else, like the mind any where; as there is no\npower to rise in contest against the almighty Indra. (The Intellect or\n_chit_ being the Divine mind).\n\n94. Thus there being no relation between intellection and the mind, it\nis wrong to attribute the mind with the power of thinking, which is not\nrelated with it.\n\n95. How can this union of the intellect with its vibration only, be\nstyled the mind with its multifarious functions. The commander alone\ncannot be called an army without its component parts of horse,\nelephants and others.\n\n96. Hence there is no such thing as a good or bad mind in any of the\nthree worlds (when there is no mind at all). The bias of its existence\nwill be utterly removed by full knowledge of spirituality (tatwajnana).\n(That there is but one Spirit only).\n\n97. It is in vain and to no purpose, that they imagine the being of the\nmind. It is proved to be an unreality and having no substantiality of\nits own.\n\n98. Therefore, O magnanimous R\u00e1ma! never give rise to false\nimaginations of any kind, and particularly that of the mind which never\nexists any where.\n\n99. False phantasies rise as the mirage, from want of a full knowledge\nof things; they spring in the heart which is as barren as a desert, for\nwant of the rain of full knowledge.\n\n100. The mind is a dead thing owing to its want of a form or activity,\nand yet it is a wonder as it is idolized in the circles of common\npeople.\n\n101. It is a wonder that the mind, having no soul nor essence, nor a\nbody nor size or support of its own, should spread its net over all\nignorant minds.\n\n102. One who falls a victim to his unarmed and impotent mind, likens a\nman who says, he is hurt in his body by the falling of a lotus-flower\nupon it.\n\n103. The man that is undone by his inert, dumb and blinded mind (that\nneither sees nor seizes nor talks to him); is as one who complains of\nhis being burnt by the cool full-moon-beams.\n\n104. People are verily killed by an antagonist, who is present before\nthem; but it is a wonder that the ignorant are foiled by the inexistent\nmind of their own making.\n\n105. What is the power of that thing, which is a creation of mere\nfancy, and an unreal presentation of ignorance; and which being sought\nafter, is no where to be found.\n\n106. It is a great wonder, that men should be overcome by their\nimpotent minds, dealing in their delusions only.\n\n107. It is ignorance that is ever exposed to dangers, and the ignorant\nare always the victims of error. Know the unreal world to be the\ncreation of ignorance and of the ignorant only.\n\n108. Oh! the misery of miseries, that the ignorant make of this\ncreation of their ignorance to themselves, and that they fabricate a\nliving soul for their sufferings only. (A separate living soul\n_j\u00edv\u00e1tm\u00e1_, is denied in Ved\u00e1nta).\n\n109. I weet this frail world to be a creation of the false imagination\nof the ignorant, and this earth to be as fragile as to be broken and\nborne away by the waves of the ocean.\n\n110. It is like the dark collyrium, which is broken down by the\nsurrounding waters or seas, serving as its grinding mill; and yet men\nare maddened with it, as those struck by moon-beams. (Moonstruck\nlunatics).\n\n111. The visible world disappears at the sight of reason, as a man\nflies from the sight of his foe; and the train of imaginary creations\nfly before it, like hosts of demons vanquished by the gods.\n\n112. Thus is this world, which is a false creation of fancy, and exists\nnowhere except in the idle brains of the ignorant, lost into nothing at\nthe sight of reason.\n\n113. He who is not able to govern his mind, and efface the thoughts of\nthis false world, arising in the minds of the ignorant only; is not\nworthy of being advised in the abstruse doctrines of spirituality.\n\n114. Those who are confirmed in their belief of the visibles, and are\nself-sufficient in their knowledge of these; are unable to grasp the\nsubtile science of abstract philosophy, and are therefore unfit to\nreceive spiritual instruction.\n\n115. These men are insensible of the soft tunes of the lute who are\naccustomed to the loud beatings of drum, and they are startled at\nseeing the face of a sleeping friend (_i.e._ their hidden soul).\n\n116. They who fly with fear from the loud songs (preachings) of false\npreachers, cannot have the patience to listen to the silent lesson of\ntheir inward monitor; and they who are deluded by their own minds, can\nhardly be reclaimed by any other.\n\n117. Those who are tempted to taste the gall of worldly pleasures for\nsweet, are so subdued by its effects on their understandings, that they\nlose the power of discerning the truth altogether; and it is therefore\nuseless to remonstrate with them.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XIV.\n\n ASCERTAINMENT OF THE THINKING PRINCIPLE.\n\n\nArgument. People unworthy of persuasion, their transmigrations, and\npurification of the mind.\n\n\nVasishtha said: These multitudes of men, that are carried away by the\nwaves of the torrents of the sea of worldly pursuits; are deaf and dumb\nto the admonitions of their spiritual instructors.\n\n2. They are not fit to derive the benefit of the spiritual knowledge,\nwhich I have propounded in this yogas\u00e1stra by my rational discourses.\n\n3. They who are born blind and can see nothing, are not to be presented\nwith the picture of a garden, portrayed with blooming blossoms and\nbeautiful flowers by the intelligent artist.\n\n4. There is no such fool that would present fragrant odours to one,\nwhose nostrils are snorting under some nasal disease (pinasa. Polypus),\nnor so great a dolt, that would consult an ignorant man on spiritual\nmatters.\n\n5. What lack-wit is there, that would refer a question on law or\nreligious subjects, to one of ungoverned passions and organs of sense,\nor whose eyeballs are rolling with the intoxication of wine.\n\n6. Who asks of the dead the way he should go, or one in the grave about\nthe concourse in the city; and what witless man is there that resorts\nto an idiot to clear his doubts.\n\n7. Of what good is it to advise a witling, whose serpentine mind is\ncoiling and creeping in the cave of his heart; and though it lies there\nin silence and sightless, is yet ungovernably wild?\n\n8. Know there is no such a thing as a well governed mind, for though\nyou may fling it at a distance from you, yet it is never lost or\nannihilated. (The unsubdued mind recurs to us in repeated births).\n\n9. The simpleton who does not bear his sway over his false and delusive\nmind, is tormented to death by its venomous smart, as if stung by a\ndeadly reptile.\n\n10. The learned know the vital powers, and the operations of the organs\nof action, to depend on the action and force of the soul; say then, O\nR\u00e1ma, what is that thing which they call the mind. (The three functions\nof motion, thought and organic action, being conducted by force of the\nvital breath, it is in vain to suppose the existence of the mind).\n\n11. The vital breath gives the force for bodily actions, and the soul\nproduces the power of knowledge; the organs act by their own force, and\nthe supreme spirit is the main source of all.\n\n12. All forces are but parts of the omnipotence of the supreme Spirit;\ntheir different appellations are but inventions of men.\n\n13. What is it that they call the living soul, and which has\nblindfolded the world; and what they term as the mind, is really an\nunreality and without any power of its own.\n\n14. R\u00e1ma! I have seen the continued misery arising from their false\nconception of the unreal mind; and my pity for them has caused my\nincessant sorrow.\n\n15. But why should I sorrow for the ignorant rabble, who bring their\nwoe by their own error? The common herd is born to their misery like\nbeasts and brutes.\n\n16. The ignorant rabble are born in their dull material bodies, for\ntheir destruction only. They are born to die away incessantly, like the\nwaves of the ocean.\n\n17. What pity shall I take for them, that are seen every day to perish\nunder the jaws of death, like numbers of animals immolated in the\nshambles.\n\n18. For whom shall I sorrow, when I see billions and trillions of gnats\nand moths, are destroyed day by day, by gusts of wind (which is their\nelement and support).\n\n19. Whom shall I sorrow for, when I observe on every side the millions\nof deer and beasts of chase, that are killed every day in the hills and\nforests, by their hunters and sportsmen.\n\n20. Whom shall I feel for, when I find innumerable shoals of small\nfishes, that are devoured every day in the waters, by the bigger ones!\n\n21. I see an infinite number of animalcules, to be eaten up by flies\nand fleas; which in their turn, are devoured by the voracious spiders\nand scorpions.\n\n22. The frog feeds on flies, and is on its turn devoured by snakes. The\nbirds of prey swallow the snake, and the weasel preys upon them.\n\n23. The weasel is killed by the cat, which is killed again by the dog;\nthe bear destroys the dog, and is at last destroyed by the tiger.\n(\u099c\u09c0\u09ac\u09b8\u09cd\u09af\u099c\u09c0\u09ac\u09a8\u09be\u09b9\u09be\u09b0:\u2014One animal is food to another.)\n\n24. The lion overcomes the tiger, and is overcome on its turn by the\nsarabha (a fabulous beast with eight feet). The sarabha is overthrown\nby its fall on rocky steeps, in its attempt to jump over the gathering\nclouds.\n\n25. The clouds are worsted by tempests, and these again are obstructed\nby the rising rocks and mountains. The mountains are split by thunder\nclaps, and the thunderbolts of heaven are broken by the thundering\nSakra (Jove).\n\n26. This Sakra or Indra is vanquished by Upendra or Vishnu (his younger\nbrother), and Vishnu is made to undergo his incarnations in the shapes\nof men and beasts. He is subjected to the vicissitudes of pain and\npleasure, and to the conditions of disease, decay and death. (Change is\nthe order of nature.)\n\n27. Big-bodied beasts are fed upon by the leeches and fleas that stick\nto their bodies to suck their blood; and men fraught with knowledge and\narmed with weapons, are infested by their bloodsucking bugs and gnats.\n\n28. Thus the whole host of living bodies, are continually exposed to\nfeed upon and to be fed by one another, with remorseless voracity.\n\n29. There is an incessant growth of leaches, fleas and ants, other\nsmall insects and worms on the one hand; and a continued dissolution of\nboth the big and puny bodies in every place on earth.\n\n30. The womb of the waters, bears the breed of fishes, whales,\nhippopotami and other aquatic animals; and the bowels of the earth,\nproduce the multitudes of worms and reptiles to infinity.\n\n31. The air teems with the brood of birds of various kinds, and the\nwoods abound with wild beasts, and lions and tigers, the fleet deer and\nother brutes.\n\n32. There are inborn worms growing in the intestines, and upon the skin\nof animal bodies; and parasitical insects and animalcules, feeding upon\nthe bark and leaves of trees.\n\n33. Insects are seen to be born in the crusts of stones, as frogs,\nvajrak\u00edtas and others; and many kinds of worms and insects, are found\nto grow in and subsist upon the faeces and excrements of animals.\n\n34. In this manner an endless number of living beings, are being born\nand perishing for ever and ever; and it is of no avail to them, whether\nkind hearted men are joyous or sorrowful at their births and deaths.\n\n35. The wise can have no cause for their joy or grief, in this\ncontinued course of incessant births and deaths of the living world.\n\n36. Such is the nature of all the different series of animal beings,\nthat they incessantly grow to fall off like the leaves of trees. (These\nare known as the ephemerids and the heirs and poor pensioners of a day).\n\n37. The kind-hearted man, who wishes to remove the sorrows of the\nignorant by his advice, attempts an impossibility, as that of shrouding\nthe allpervasive sunshine, by means of his umbrella.\n\n38. It is useless to give advice to the ignorant, who are no better\nthan beasts in their understandings; as it is fruitless to talk to a\nrock or block of wood or stone in the wilderness.\n\n39. The dull-headed ignorant, who are no better than beasts, are\ndragged by their wilful minds, like the cattle by their halters.\n\n40. It would make even the stones to melt into tears, to see the\nignorant plunged in the slough of their perverted minds, and employed\nin acts and rites for their own ruin. (The ruin of their souls caused\nby ritualistic observances.)\n\n41. Men of ungoverned minds, are always exposed to dangers and\ndifficulties; but the expurgated minds of the wise, are free from the\nevils and mishaps of life.\n\n42. Now R\u00e1ma, consider well the miseries of ungoverned minds; and\nbetake yourself to the knowledge of the knowable One. (_i.e._ The One\nalone that is worthy of being known).\n\n43. Never entertain in your imagination the vain bugbear of a mind,\nwhich has no real existence of its own; and beware of this false\nbelief, which may betray you like the ideal ghost of children.\n\n44. As long as you are forgetful of the soul, you must remain in utter\nignorance; and so long will you continue to be tortured by the dragon,\nresiding in the recess of your heart.\n\n45. Now you have known the whole truth, as I have expounded to you;\nthat it is your imagination only, that presents you with the idea of\nyour mind, of which you must get rid for ever.\n\n46. If you rely in the visibles, you are subject to the delusion of\nyour mind; but no sooner, you shun your reliance in them, than you are\nliberated from your illusion of it.\n\n47. The visible world is a combination, of the three qualities of\n_satva_, _rajas_ and _tamas_; and it is exposed before you, by your\n_m\u00e1y\u00e1_ or illusion only, as a snare is spread for entanglement of\nbeasts.\n\n48. Think of the inexistence both of the subjective-self and the\nobjective world; and remain as firm as a fixed rock on earth, and\nbehold the Lord only, in the form of infinite space in thy heart. (This\nis Vasishtha\u2019s Vacuism).\n\n49. Shun, R\u00e1ma, the false thoughts of thy self-existence, and that of\nthe visible world also; and forsake thy belief in the duality, in order\nto settle thyself in the infinite unity.\n\n50. Continue to meditate on the soul, as it is situated between the\nsubjective viewer, and the objective view of this world; and as it is\nexistent in thy vision, which lies between the two. (_i.e._ Between\nyourself and the visible object, which is empty space).\n\n51. Forsake the ideas of the subject and object of your taste (_i.e._\nof the taster and tastable); and thinking on their intermediate state\nof gustation or tasting, be one with the soul.\n\n52. R\u00e1ma, place yourself in the position of your thought or power of\nthinking, which lieth betwixt the thinker and thinkables; support your\nsoul on the supportless soul of all, and remain steady in your\nmeditation.\n\n53. Forsake the cares of the world, and be exempt from the thoughts of\nexistence and non-existence; meditate on the universal soul and be\nsettled with thy soul in that soul.\n\n54. When you have learnt to think on the thinkable one, by\nrelinquishing the thought of your own existence; you shall then arrive\nto that state of the unconsciousness, which is free from misery (or the\nstate of supreme bliss).\n\n55. Know your thoughts to be your fetters, and your self-consciousness\nas your binding chain; therefore O R\u00e1ma! loosen the lion of your soul,\nfrom the prison house of your mind.\n\n56. By departing from the state of the Supreme Soul, and falling to the\nthoughts of the mind, you will be crowded by your imaginations, and see\nonly the objects of your thought all about you.\n\n57. The Knowledge, that intellection or thinking power is distinct from\nthe soul, introduces the existence of the unhappy mind, which must be\ngot rid of for the sake of true happiness. (by knowing them as the one\nand same thing).\n\n58. When you become conscious of the Supreme soul in you, and as\npermeated throughout all nature, you will then find the thinker and his\nthinking, the thinkables and their thoughts, vanish into nothing.\n\n59. The thought that \u201cI have a soul and a living soul also,\u201d brings on\nus all the miseries to which we are exposed to all eternity. (_i.e._\nconsciousness of a personal entity, causes the woes which personality\nis ever liable to).\n\n60. The consciousness that \u201cI am the one soul, and not a living being\nor distinct existences;\u201d (because all things distinct from the\nuniversal soul are nothing at all); is called the tranquility of the\nspirit and its true felicity.\n\n61. When you are certain, O R\u00e1ma! that the world is the universal soul\nitself, you will find the false distinctions of your mind and living\nsoul, to be nothing in reality.\n\n62. When you come to perceive that all this is your very self, your\nmind will then melt away into the soul, as the darkness dissolved in\nthe sunlight, and the shadow disappears in the air.\n\n63. As long as you cherish the snake of your mind within yourself, you\nare in danger of catching its poison; but this being removed by your\nyoga meditation, you escape the danger at once.\n\n64. Be bold, O R\u00e1ma! to destroy the mighty demon of the deep rooted\nerror of your mind, by the power of incantation (_mantras_) of your\nperfect knowledge.\n\n65. Upon disappearance of the demon of the mind from the dwelling of\nyour body, as when a Yaksha disappears in the air, you will be free\nfrom every disease, danger, care and fear.\n\n66. Dispassionateness, and disinterestedness, joined with the knowledge\nof unity, melt down the substance of the mind, and confer the best and\nhighest state of felicity and rest in the Supreme spirit; and bring on\nthat state of tranquility which is the main aim of every body. May all\nthese blessings attend upon you.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER. XV.\n\n ON AVARICE.\n\n\nArgument. Description of avarice as the Root of all Evils.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014The soul by following the unholy essence of the\nmind, which is the source of the world, is led to fall into the snare,\nwhich is laid by it for all living beings.\n\n2. The soul then loses the brightness of its spiritual form, and takes\nthe gross shape of the senses: it waits upon the guidance of the mind,\nand indulges in its impure imaginations.\n\n3. It falls into avarice, which like a poisonous plant makes it\nsenseless, and spreads a fearful anesthesia over it.\n\n4. Avarice like a dark night, hides the soul under the gloom of\noblivion, and produces endless pangs to the soul.\n\n5. The god Siva withstood the flame of the kalpa conflagration, but no\nbody can withstand the fierce fire of avarice.\n\n6. It bears a form as formidable as that of a long, sharp and sable\ndagger; which is cold in appearance, but very injurious in her effects.\n\n7. Avarice is an evergreen plant, bearing bunches of plenteous fruits\non high; which when they are obtained and tasted, prove to be bitter\nand galling.\n\n8. Avarice is a voracious wolf, prowling in the recess of the heart;\nand feeding unseen on the flesh and blood and bones of its sheltering\nbody.\n\n9. Avarice is as a rainy stream, full of foul and muddy water now\noverflowing and breaking down its banks, and then leaving empty its\ndirty bed.\n\n10. The man stricken with avarice, remains niggardly and broken hearted\nat all times; his spirits are damped, and his sordid soul is debased\nbefore mankind. He is now dejected, and now he weeps and lays himself\ndown in despair.\n\n11. He who has not this black adder of greediness, burrowing in the\nrecess of his heart, has the free play of his vital breath, which is\notherwise poisoned by the breath of the viper rankling in his breast.\n\n12. The heart which is not darkened by the gloomy night of greediness,\nfeels the rays of humanity sparkling in it, like the glancing of the\nbright moon-beams.\n\n13. The heart that is not eaten up by the corroding cares of avarice,\nis as an uncankered tree, blooming with its blossoms of piety.\n\n14. The current of avarice, is ever running amidst the wilderness of\nhuman desires, with ceaseless torrents and billows, and hideous\nwhirlpools and vortices around.\n\n15. The thread of avarice, like the long line of a flying kite or\ntossing top, whirls and furls and pulls mankind, as its toys and\nplaythings.\n\n16. The rude, rough and hard-hearted avarice, breaks and cuts down the\ntender roots of virtues, with the remorseless axe of its hardihood.\n\n17. Foolishmen led by avarice, fall into the hell pit, like the\nignorant deer into the blackhole; by being enticed by the blades of\ngrass, scattered upon its covering top.\n\n18. Men are not so much blinded by their aged and decayed eyesight, as\nthey are blinded by the invisible avarice seated in their hearts.\n\n19. The heart which is nestled by the ominous owl of avarice, is as\nbemeaned as the god Vishnu, who became a dwarf in begging a bit of\nground from Bali.\n\n20. There is a divine power, which hath implanted this insatiable\navarice in the heart of man; which whirls him about, as if tied by a\nrope, like the sun revolving round its centre in the sky.\n\n21. Fly from this avarice, which is as heinous as the venomous snake.\nIt is the source of all evils, and even of death in this mortal world.\n\n22. Avarice blows on men as the wind, and it is avarice that makes them\nsit still as stones; avarice makes some as sedate as the earth, and\navarice ransacks the three worlds in its rapid course.\n\n23. All this concourse of men, is impelled to and fro by avarice, as if\nthey are pulled by ropes; it is easy to break the band of ropes, but\nnot the bond of avarice. (There is a play of words here, as that of\nband, bond and bondage).\n\n24. Then R\u00e1ma, get rid of avarice by forsaking your desires; because it\nis ascertained by the wise, that the mind dies away by want of its\ndesires (to dwell upon).\n\n25. Never observe the distinctions of my, thy and his in all thy\nwishes, but wish for the good of all alike; and never foster any bad\ndesire (which is foul in its nature).\n\n26. The thought of self in what is not the self, is the parent of all\nour woe; when you cease to think the notself as the self you are then\nreckoned among the wise.\n\n27. Cut off your egoism, O gentle R\u00e1ma! and dwell in thy unearthly self\nby forgetting yourself, and by dispelling your fear from all created\nbeing. (Here is an alliteration of the letter bh \u09ad in the\nlast line, as \u09ad\u09c1, \u09ad\u09ac, \u09ad\u09af\u09bc).\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XVI.\n\n HEALING OF AVARICE.\n\n\nArgument. The way to forsake the desires, and become liberated in this\nlife and the next.\n\n\nR\u00e1ma said:\u2014It is too deep for me sir, to understand what you say to me,\nfor the abandonment of my egoism and avarice.\n\n2. For how is it possible, sir, to forsake my egoism, without forsaking\nthis body and every thing that bears relation to it?\n\n3. It is egoism which is the chief support of the body, as a post or\nprop is the support of a thatched house.\n\n4. The body will surely perish without its egoism, and will be cut\nshort of its durability, as a tree is felled by application of the saw\nto its root.\n\n5. Now tell me, O most eloquent sir, how I may live by forsaking my\negoism (which is myself); give me your answer, according to your right\njudgment.\n\n6. Vasishtha replied:\u2014O lotus-eyed and respectful R\u00e1ma! abandonment of\ndesires, is said to be of two kinds by the wise, who are well\nacquainted with the subject; the one is called the _jneya_ or knowable\nand the other is what they style the thinkable (or dhyeya).\n\n7. The knowledge that I am the life of my body and its powers, and\nthese are the supports of my life, and that I am something.\n\n8. But this internal conviction being weighed well by the light of\nreason, will prove that neither am I related with the external body,\nnor does it bear any relation with my internal soul.\n\n9. Therefore the performance of one\u2019s duties, with calmness and\ncoolness of his understanding, and without any desire of fruition, is\ncalled the abandonment of desire in thought.\n\n10. But the understanding which views things in an equal light, and by\nforsaking its desires, relinquishes the body without taking any concern\nfor it, and is called the knowing abandonment of desires. (_i.e._ Of\nwhich the Yogi has full knowledge).\n\n11. He who foregoes with ease the desires arising from his egoism, is\nstyled the thinking abjurer of his desires, and is liberated in his\nlife time.\n\n12. He who is calm and even-minded, by his abandonment of vain and\nimaginary desires; is a knowing deserter of his desires, and is\nliberated also in this world.\n\n13. Those who abandon the desires in their thought, and remain with\nlistless indifference to everything, are like those who are liberated\nin their life time.\n\n14. They are also called the liberated, who have had their composure\n(_insouciance_) after abandonment of their desires, and who rest in the\nSupreme Spirit, with their souls disentangled from their bodies. (This\nis called the disembodied liberation \u09ac\u09bf\u09a6\u09c7\u09b9 \u09ae\u09c1\u0995\u09cd\u09a4\u09bf).\n\n15. Both these sorts of renunciation are alike entitled to liberation,\nboth of them are extricated from pain; and both lead the liberated\nsouls to the state of Brahma.\n\n16. The mind whether engaged in acts or disengaged from them, rests in\nthe pure spirit of God, by forsaking its desires. (There is this\ndifference only between them, that the one has an active body, while\nthe other is without its activity).\n\n17. The former kind of yogi is liberated in his embodied state, and\nfreed from pain throughout his life time; but the latter that has\nobtained his liberation in his bodiless state after his demise, remains\nquite unconscious of his desires. (The liberated soul is freed from\ndesire after death. Their desires being dead with themselves, they have\nnothing to desire).\n\n18. He who feels no joy nor sorrow at the good or evil, which befalls\nto him in his life time, as it is the course of nature, is called the\nliving liberated man.\n\n19. He who neither desires nor dreads the casualties of good or evil,\nwhich are incidental to human life; but remains quiet regardless of\nthem as in his dead sleep, is known as the truly liberated man.\n\n20. He whose mind is freed from the thoughts, of what is desirable or\nundesirable to him, and from his differentiation of mine, thine and his\n(_i.e._ of himself from others), is called the truly liberated.\n\n21. He whose mind is not subject to the access of joy and grief, of\nhope and fear, of anger, boast and niggardliness, is said to have his\nliberation.\n\n22. He whose feelings are all obtundent within himself as in his sleep,\nand whose mind enjoys its felicity like the beams of the fullmoon, is\nsaid to be the liberated man in this world.\n\n23. V\u00e1lm\u00edki says:\u2014After the sage had said so far, the day departed to\nits evening service with the setting sun. The assembled audience\nretired to their evening ablutions, and repaired again to the assembly\nwith the rising sun on the next day.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XVII.\n\n ON THE EXTIRPATION OF AVARICE.\n\n\nArgument. Liberation of Embodied or Living Beings.\n\n\nVasishtha said:\u2014It is difficult O R\u00e1ma! to describe in words the\ninexplicable nature of the liberation of disembodied souls; hear me\ntherefore relate to you further about the liberation of living beings.\n\n2. The desire of doing one\u2019s duties without expectation of their\nreward, is also called the living liberation, and the doers of their\nrespective duties, are said to be the living liberated.\n\n3. The dependance of beings on their desires, and their strong\nattachment to external objects, are called to be their bondage and\nfetters in this world, by the doctors in divinity.\n\n4. But the desire of conducting one\u2019s self according to the course of\nevents, and without any expectation of fruition, constitutes also the\nliberation of the living; and is concomitant with the body only\n(without vitiating the inner soul).\n\n5. The desire of enjoying the external objects, is verily the bondage\nof the soul; but its indifference to worldly enjoyments, is what\nconstitutes one\u2019s freedom in his living state.\n\n6. Want of greediness and anxiety prior to and on account of some gain,\nand absence of mirth and change in one\u2019s disposition afterwards (_i.e._\nafter the gain); is the true freedom of men.\n\n7. Know, O high-minded R\u00e1ma! that desire to be the greatest bondage of\nmen, which is in eager expectation of the possession of anything.\n(Lit.: that such things may be mine).\n\n8. He who is devoid of desire of everything, whether existent or\ninexistent in the world; is the truly great man, with the greatest\nmagnanimity of his soul.\n\n9. Therefore, R\u00e1ma! forsake the thoughts both of thy bondage and\nliberation, and also of thy happiness and misery; and by getting rid of\nthy desire of the real and unreal, remain as calm as the undisturbed\nocean.\n\n10. Think thyself, O most intelligent R\u00e1ma! to be devoid of death and\ndecay, and do not stain thy mind with the fears of thy disease or death\n(because thy soul is free from them).\n\n11. These substances are nothing, nor are you any of these things that\nyou see; there is something beyond these, and know that you are that\nvery thing (which is the soul or a spiritual being).\n\n12. The phenomenon of the world is an unreality, and every thing here\nis unreal, that appears real in thy sight; knowing then thyself to be\nbeyond all these, what earthly thing is there that thou canst crave for?\n\n13. All reasoning men, O R\u00e1ma! consider themselves in some one of these\nfour different lights in their minds, which I shall now explain to you\nin brief.\n\n14. He who considers his whole body (from his head to foot), as the\nprogeny of his parents (_i.e._ devoid of his spiritual part), is surely\nborn to the bondage of the world. (This is the first kind).\n\n15. But they who are certain of their immaterial soul, which is finer\nthan the point of a hair, are another class of men; who are called the\nwise and are born for their liberation. (This is the second).\n\n16. There is a third class of men, who consider themselves as same with\nthe universal soul of the world; such men O support of Raghu\u2019s race,\nare also entitled to their liberation. (These belong to the third kind.)\n\n17. There is again a fourth class, who consider themselves and the\nwhole world to be as inane as the empty air (or vacuum); these are\nsurely the partakers of liberation.\n\n18. Of these four kinds of beliefs, the first is the leader to bondage;\nwhile the three others growing from purity of thought, lead to the path\nof liberation.\n\n19. Among these, the first is subject to the bondage of avarice; but\nthe other three proceeding from pure desire, are crowned with\nliberation.\n\n20. Those of the third kind, who consider themselves same with the\nuniversal soul, are in my opinion never subject to sorrow or pain.\n\n21. The magnitude of the Supreme spirit, extends over and below and\nabout all existence; hence the belief of \u201call in One, or One in all\u201d\nnever holds a man in bondage.\n\n22. The fourth kind\u2014vacuists (or _s\u00fanyav\u00e1d\u00eds_), who believe in the\nvacuum, and maintain the principles of nature or illusion, are in\nignorance of divine knowledge, which represents God as Siva, Isha,\nmale, and eternal soul.\n\n23. He is all and everlasting, without a second or another like him;\nand he is pervaded by his omniscience, and not by the ignorance called\n_m\u00e1y\u00e1_ or illusion.\n\n24. The spirit of God fills the universe, as the water of the ocean\nfills the deep (p\u00e1t\u00e1la); and stretches from the highest heaven\n(empyrean), to the lowest abyss of the infernal regions.\n\n25. Hence it is his reality only which is ever existent, and no unreal\nworld exists at any time. It is the liquid water which fills the sea,\nand not the swelling wave which rises in it.\n\n26. As the bracelets and armlets are no other than gold, so the\nvarieties of trees and herbs, are not distinct from the Universal\nSpirit.\n\n27. It is the one and same omnipotence of the Supreme spirit, that\ndisplays the different forms in its works of the creation.\n\n28. Never be joyous nor sorry for anything belonging to thee or\nanother, nor feel thyself delighted or dejected at any gain or loss,\nthat thou mayest happen to incur. (For know everything to be the Lord\u2019s\nand nothing as thine own. Or: \u201cThe Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken\naway\u201d. Job).\n\n29. Be of an even disposition, and rely on thy essence as one with the\nSupreme soul. Attend to thy multifarious duties, and thus be observant\nof unity in thy spiritual concerns, and dualities in thy temporal\naffairs.\n\n30. Take care of falling into the hidden holes of this world, in your\npursuit after the varieties of objects; and be not like an elephant\nfalling into a hidden pit in the forest.\n\n31. O R\u00e1ma of great soul! There cannot be a duality, as it is thought\nin the mind; nor O R\u00e1ma of enlightened soul; can there be any unity or\nduality of the soul. The true essence is ever existent with out its\nunity or duality, and is styled the all and nothing particular, and as\nitself\u2014Svar\u00fapa or suiform. (The soul is not unity, because one is the\nprime number of all others by addition with itself; nor is it a\nduality, having no second or another like it. It is the indefinite all\nor whole: and no definite that this or so says the Sruti:\n\u0924\u0938\u094d\u092e\u093e\u0924\u094d\u0924\u0924\u094d \u0938\u0930\u094d\u092c\u094d\u092c\u092e\u092d\u0935\u0924\u094d \u0928\u0947\u0939 \u0928\u093e\u0928\u093e\u0938\u094d\u0924\u093f \u0915\u093f\u091e\u094d\u091a\u0928 \u0964)\n\n32. There is no ego or thy subjective-self, nor the objective worlds\nthat thou seest. All this is the manifestation of the eternal and\nimperishable omniscience, and know this world as neither an entity nor\nnon-entity by itself.\n\n33. Know the Supreme being to be without beginning and end, the\nenlightener of all lights, the undecaying, unborn and incomprehensible\none. He is without part, and any change in him. He is beyond\nimagination and all the imaginary objects all about us.\n\n34. Know for certain in thy mind, that the Lord is always present in\nthe full light of thy intellect. He is the root of thy consciousness,\nand is of the nature of thy inward soul. He is conceivable in the\nintellect, and is the Brahma\u2014the all and everlasting, and the\nall pervading, the subjective I, and the objective thou and this world.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XVIII.\n\n LIVING LIBERATION OR TRUE\n FELICITY OF MAN IN THIS LIFE.\n\n\nArgument. The True Enfranchisement of the Soul, in the Living state of\nman in this world.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014I will now relate to you, O R\u00e1ma! the nature of\nthose great men, who conduct themselves in this world, with their\ndesires under their subjection, and whose minds are not blemished by\nevil inclinations.\n\n2. The sage whose mind is freed in his life-time, conducts himself\nunconcerned in this world; he smiles secure at its occurrences, and is\nregardless of the first, last and middle stages of his life (namely:\nthe pains of his birth and death, and the whole course of his life).\n\n3. He is attentive to his present business, and unmindful of every\nother object about him; he is devoid of cares and desires, and his\nthought is of his internal cogitations only.\n\n4. He is free from anxiety in all places, who tolerates whatever he\nhappens to meet with; he sees the light of reason in his soul, and\nwalks in the romantic groves of his musings.\n\n5. He rests in that transcendental bliss, with prospects as bright as\nthe cooling beams of the full-moon, who is neither elated nor depressed\nin any state of his life, nor droops down under any circumstance.\n\n6. Whose generosity and manliness do not forsake him, even when he is\nbeset by his bitterest enemies; and who is observant of his duties to\nhis superiors, such a man is not crest-fallen in this world.\n\n7. Who neither rejoices nor laments at his lot, nor envies nor hankers\nafter the fortune of another; but pursues his own business in quiet\nsilence, is the man that is never down-cast in this world.\n\n8. Who, when asked, says what he is doing, but unasked remains as a\ndead block; and is freed from desire and disgust; he is never depressed\nin his heart and mind. (The Urdu poet expresses this sort of unconcern,\nmore beautifully, when he says:\u2014Should one ask you of aught, look to\nhis face and reply him not. _Koi kuch\u2019h puchhe to munh dekh kar chup\nrahjana_ &c. And who so understands the hearts of men, is never sick at\nhis heart).\n\n9. He speaks agreeably to every one, and utters gently what he is\nrequired to say; he is never put out of countenance, who understands\nthe intentions of others. (Speaking agreeably or his questioners means\nwhat pleases every body, be it good or bad for him as it is said\nin Ch\u00e1nakya\u2019s excerpta: \u0938\u0924\u094d\u092f\u0902 \u092c\u094d\u0930\u0941\u092f\u093e\u0924\u094d \u092a\u094d\u0930\u093f\u092f\u092e\u094d\u092c\u094d\u0930\u0941\u092f\u093e\u0924\u094d, \u0928 \u092c\u094d\u0930\u0941\u092f\u093e\u0924\u094d \u0938\u0924\u094d\u092f\u092e\u092a\u094d\u0930\u093f\u092f\u0902. Because says\nBh\u00e1rav\u00ed: \u2018It is rare to have a useful saying, which is delectable also\nat the same time\u2019. \u0939\u093f\u0924\u0902 \u092e\u0928\u094b\u0939\u093e\u0930\u093f\u091a\u0926\u0941\u0930\u094d\u0932\u092e\u0935\u091a\u0938).\n\n10. He sees the right and wrong dealings of men, and the acts of the\ndepraved desires of their minds; but knowing all human affairs as\nclearly as in a mirror in his hand, he holds his peace with every one.\n\n11. Standing on his firm footing (of nonchalance), and knowing the\nfrailty of worldly things, he smiles at the vicissitudes of nature with\nthe cold frigidity (sang froid) of his heart (like the laughing\nphilosopher).\n\n12. Such is the nature, R\u00e1ma, of the great souls, who have subdued\ntheir minds, and know the course of nature, as I have described to you.\n\n13. I am unable to describe to you, the fond beliefs of the minds of\nthe ignorant populace, who are plunged in the mud of their sensual\nenjoyments (like earthly worms). (Who are of ungoverned minds).\n\n14. Women, devoid of understanding, and graced with their personal\ncharms, are the idols of these people; who are fond of their golden\nforms, without knowing them to be the flames of hell fire.\n\n15. Wealth, the fond object of the foolish people, is fraught with\nevery ill and evil desire; its pleasure is poison and productive of\nmisery, and its prosperity is replete with dangers.\n\n16. Its use in the doing of meritorious deeds, and various acts of\npiety, is also fraught with a great many evils, which I have not the\npower to recount. (The works of merit being productive of pride and\npassions, and those of piety being the source of transmigration).\n\n17. Therefore R\u00e1ma! keep your sight on the full view (clairvoyance) of\nyour spirit, by retracting it from the external visibles and internal\nthoughts; and conduct yourself in this world as one liberated in his\nlife-time.\n\n18. Being free from all your inward passions and feelings of affection,\nand having given up all your desires and expectations; continue in the\nperformance of your outward duties in this world.\n\n19. Follow all your duties in life with a noble pliability of your\ndisposition; but preserve the philosophic renunciation of everything in\nyour mind, and conduct yourself accordingly in this world.\n\n20. Think well on the fleeting states of all earthly things, and fix\nyour mind in the lasting nature of your soul; and thus conduct yourself\nin this transitory stage, with the thoughts of eternity in your mind.\n\n21. Conduct yourself, R\u00e1ma, with your inward indifference and want of\nall desire: but show your outward desire for whatever is good and\ngreat. Be cold blooded within yourself but full of ardour in your\nexternal demeanour.\n\n22. Conduct yourself among men, O R\u00e1ma! with a feigned activity in your\noutward appearance, but with real inaction in your mind; show yourself\nas the doer of your deeds, but know in your mind to be no actor at all.\n\n23. Conduct yourself such, O R\u00e1ma! with your full knowledge of this\nworld, as if you are acquainted with the natures of all beings herein;\nand go wherever you please with your intimate acquaintance of\neverything there.\n\n24. Demean yourself with mankind, with a feigned appearance of joy and\ngrief, and of condolence and congratulation with others, and an assumed\nshape of activity and action among mankind.\n\n25. Manage yourself, O R\u00e1ma! with full possession of your mind, and\nuntinged by pride and vanity, as if it were as clear as the spotless\nsky.\n\n26. Go on through your life unshackled by the bonds of desire, and join\nin all the outward acts of life, with an unaltered evenness of your\nmind under every circumstance.\n\n27. Do not give room to the thoughts of your bondage or liberation in\nthis world, nor of the embodiment or release of your soul here; but\nthink the revolving worlds to be a magic scene, and preserve perfect\ntranquility of your mind.\n\n28. Know all this as an illusion, and it is ignorance only, that\npresents the false appearance of the world to sight; and yet we take\nthem for true, as you view the water in the burning beams of the sun in\na desert.\n\n29. The unobstructed, uniform and all pervading soul, can have no\nrestriction or bondage; and what is unrestricted in itself, cannot have\nits release also.\n\n30. It is want of true knowledge, that presents the false view of the\nworld before us; but the knowledge of truth disperses the view; as the\nknowledge of the rope, dispels the fallacy of the snake in it.\n\n31. You have known the true essence of your being by your right\ndiscernment (that it is He\u2014the Sat); you are thereby freed from the\nsense of your personality, and are set free as the subtile air.\n\n32. You have known the truth, and must give up your knowledge of\nuntruth, together with the thoughts of your friends and relatives, all\nwhich are unreal in their natures.\n\n33. Such being the case, you must consider yourself (your soul), as\nsomething other than those: and that you have received the same, from\nthe Supreme source of all.\n\n34. This soul bears no relation to your friends or possession, to your\ngood or evil actions, or to anything whatever in this world;\n\n35. When you are convinced that this very soul constitutes your\nessence; you have nothing to fear from the erroneous conception of the\nworld, which is no more than a misconception.\n\n36. You can have no concern, with the weal or woe of a friend or foe,\nwho is not born so to you; for every one being born for himself, you\nhave no cause of joy or grief for any body (whether he is friendly or\nnot to you).\n\n37. If thou knowest that thou hadst been before (creation), and shalt\nbe so for everafterwards (to eternity); you are truly wise.\n\n38. Shouldst thou feel so much for the friends, by whom thou art beset\nin this life; why dost thou then not mourn for them, that are dead and\ngone in thy present and past lives?\n\n39. If thou wert something otherwise than what thou art at present, and\nshalt have to be something different from what now thou art, why then\nshouldst thou sorrow for what has not its self-identity? (_i.e._ the\nbody which is changed in all its transmigrations).\n\n40. If thou art to be born no more, after thy past and present births\n(_i.e._ if there be no further transmigration of thy soul), then thou\nhast no cause for sorrow, being extinct thyself in the Supreme Spirit.\n\n41. Therefore there is no cause of sorrow, in aught that occurs\naccording to the course of nature; but rather be joyous in pursuing the\nduties of thy present life (for want of thy knowledge of thy past and\nfuture states).\n\n42. But do not indulge the excess of thy joy or grief, but preserve thy\nequanimity everywhere; by knowing the Supreme Spirit to pervade in all\nplaces.\n\n43. Know thyself to be the form of the infinite spirit, and stretching\nwide like the extended vacuum; and that thou art the pure eternal\nlight, and the focus of full effulgence.\n\n44. Know thy eternal and invisible soul, to be distinct from all\nworldly substances; and to be a particle of that universal soul, which\ndwells in and stretches through the hearts of all bodies; and is like\nthe unseen thread, running through the holes and connecting the links\nof a necklace (or like the string in the beads of a rosary). (This\nconnecting soul is denominated the S\u00fatr\u00e1tm\u00e1, which fills, bounds,\nconnects and equals all).\n\n45. That the continuation of the world, is caused by the reproduction\nof what has been before, is what you learn from the unlearned; and not\nso from the learned (who know the world to be nothing). Know this and\nnot that, and be happy in this life.\n\n46. The course of the world and this life, is ever tending to decay and\ndisease. It is ignorance that represents them to be progressing to\nperfection. But you who are intelligent, knowest their real natures (of\nfrailty and unreality).\n\n47. What else can be the nature of error but falsehood, and what may\nthe state of sleep be, but dream and drowsiness? (So is this world a\nmistaken existence, and this life a mere dream of unreal appearance,\nwhich so vividly shines before you).\n\n48. Whom do you call your good friend, and whom do you say your great\nenemy? They all belong to the Sole One, and proceed alike from the\nDivine will.\n\n49. Everything is frail and fickle, and has its rise and fall from and\ninto the Supreme Spirit; it likens the wave of the sea, rising and\nfalling from and into the same water.\n\n50. The worlds are rolling upward and going down again, like the axis\nand spokes of a wheel. (The rotations of the planets in their circuits\nabove and below the sun).\n\n51. The celestials sometimes fall into hell, and the infernals are\nsometimes raised to heaven; animals of one kind are regenerated in\nanother form, and the people of one continent and island are reborn in\nanother (as men are led from one country and climate to another, and\nsettle there).\n\n52. The opulent are reduced to indigence, and the indigent are raised\nto affluence; and all beings are seen to be rising and falling in a\nhundred ways.\n\n53. Who has seen the wheel of fortune, to move on slowly in one\nstraight forward course for ever, and not tumbling in its ups and\ndowns, nor turning to this side and that in its winding and uneven\nroute. Fixedness of fortune is a fiction, as that of finding the frost\nin fire.\n\n54. Those that are called great fortunes, and their components and\nappendages as also many good friends and relations; are all seen to fly\naway in a few days of this transient life.\n\n55. The thought of something as one\u2019s own and another\u2019s, and of this\nand that as mine, thine, his or others\u2019, are as false as the appearance\nof double suns and moons in the sky.\n\n56. That this is a friend and this other a foe, and that this is myself\nand that one is another, are all but false conceptions of your mind,\nand must be wiped off from it (since the whole is but the one Ego).\n\n57. Make it thy pleasure however to mix with the blinded populace, and\nthose that are lost to reason; and deal with them in thy usual\nunaltered way. (Mix with the thoughtless mob, but think with the\nthoughtful wise. So says Sadi: I learnt morals from the immoral,\n_adabaz bedabanamokhtam_).\n\n58. Conduct thyself in such a manner in thy journey through this world,\nthat thou mayst not sink under the burden of thy cares of it.\n\n59. When thou comest to thy reason, to lay down thy earthly cares and\ndesires; then shalt thou have that composure of thy mind, which will\nexonerate thee from all thy duties and dealings in life.\n\n60. It is the part of lowminded men, to reckon one as a friend and\nanother as no friend; but noble minded men do not observe such\ndistinctions between man and man. (Lit. Their minds are not clouded by\nthe mist of distinction).\n\n61. There is nothing wherein I am not (or where there is not the Ego);\nand nothing which is not mine (_i.e._ beyond the Ego: the learned who\nhave considered it well, make no difference of persons in their minds).\n\n62. The intellects of the wise, are as clear as the spacious firmament,\nand there is no rising nor setting of their intellectual light, which\nviews everything as serenely as in the serenity of the atmosphere and\nas plainly as the plain surface of the earth.\n\n63. Know R\u00e1ma! all created beings, are friendly and useful to you, and\nthere is no body nor any in the world, wherewith you are not related in\nsome way on your part. (No body is a unit himself, but forms a part of\nthe universal whole).\n\n64. It is erroneous to look any one as a friend or foe, among the\nvarious orders of created beings in the universe; which in reality may\nbe serviceable to you, however unfriendly they may appear at first.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XIX.\n\n ON HOLY KNOWLEDGE.\n\n\nArgument. Story of Punya and P\u00e1vana, and the instruction of the former\nto the latter.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014I will now set before you an example on the\nsubject (of the distinction of friend and foe), in the instance of two\nbrothers, who were born of a sage on the banks of Ganges, going in\nthree directions of _tripatha_ or _trisrot_ as _trivia_.\n\n2. Hear then this holy and wonderful tale of antiquity, which now\noccurs to my mind on the subject of friends and enemies, which I have\nbeen relating to you.\n\n3. There is in this continent of Jambudv\u00edpa (Asia), a mountainous\nregion beset by groves and forests, with the high mount of Mahendra\nrising above the rest.\n\n4. It touched the sky with its lofty peaks, and the arbour of its kalpa\ntrees; spread its shadow over the hermits and kinnaras that resorted\nunder its bower.\n\n5. It resounded with the carol of the sages, who chaunted the S\u00e1maveda\nhymns on it, in their passage from its caverns and peaks to the region\nof Indra (the god of the vault of heaven).\n\n6. The fleecy clouds which incessantly drizzled with rain water from\nits thousand peaks; and washed the plants and flowers below, appeared\nas tufts of hair hanging down from heaven to earth.\n\n7. The mountain re-echoed to the loud roars of the impetuous octopede\nSarabhas, with the thunder claps of kalpa clouds from the hollow mouths\nof its dark and deep clouds. (So Him\u00e1laya is said to warble to the\ntunes of Kinnaras from its cavern mounts).[7]\n\n8. The thundering noise of its cascades falling into its caverns from\nprecipice to precipice, has put to blush the loud roar of the Surges of\nthe sea.\n\n9. There on tableland upon the craggy top of the mountain, flowed the\nsacred stream of the heavenly Ganges, for the ablution and beverage of\nthe hermits.\n\n10. There on the banks of the trivious river\u2014tripatha\u2014Gang\u00e1, was a\ngemming mountain, sparkling as bright gold, and decorated with\nblossoming trees.\n\n11. There lived a sage by name of Dirghatapas, who was a\npersonification of devotion, and a man of enlightened understanding; he\nhad a noble mind, and was inured in austerities of devotion.\n\n12. This sage was blessed with two boys as beautiful as the full moon,\nand named Punya and P\u00e1vana (the meritorious and holy), who were as\nintelligent as the sons of Brihaspati, known by the names of the two\nKachas.\n\n13. He lived there on the bank of the river, and amidst a grove of\nfruit trees, with his wife and the two sons born of them.\n\n14. In course of time the two boys arrived to their age of discretion,\nand the elder of them named Punya or meritorious, was superior to the\nother in all his merits.\n\n15. The younger boy named P\u00e1vana or the holy, was half awakened in his\nintellect, like the half blown lotus at the dawn of the day; and his\nwant of intelligence kept him from the knowledge of truth, and in the\nuncertainty of his faith.\n\n16. Then in the course of the all destroying time, the sage came to\ncomplete a century of years, and his tall body and long life, were\nreduced in their strength by his age and infirmity.\n\n17. Being thus reduced by decrepitude in his vitality, he bade adieu to\nhis desires in this world, which was so frail and full of a hundred\nfearful accidents to human life (namely, the pains attending upon\nbirth, old age and death, and the fears of future transmigration and\nfalling into hell fire).\n\n18. The old devotee Dirghatapas, quitted at last his mortal frame in\nthe grotto of the mount; as a bird quits its old nest for ever, or as a\nwater-bearer lays down the log of his burthen from his shoulders.\n\n19. His spirit then fled like the fragrance of a flower to that vacuous\nspace, which is ever tranquil, free from attributes and thought, and is\nof the nature of the pure intellect.\n\n20. The wife of the sage finding his body lying lifeless on the ground,\nfell down upon it, and remained motionless like a lotus flower nipt\nfrom its stalk.\n\n21. Having been long accustomed to the practice of yoga, according to\nthe instruction of her husband; she quitted her undecayed body, as a\nbee flits from an unfaded flower to the empty air.\n\n22. Her soul followed her husband\u2019s, unseen by men, as the light of the\nstars disappears in the air at the dawn of the day.\n\n23. Seeing the demise of both parents, the elder son Punya was busily\nemployed in performing their funeral services; but the younger P\u00e1vana\nwas deeply absorbed in grief at their loss.\n\n24. Being overwhelmed by sorrow in his mind, he wandered about in the\nwoods; and not having the firmness of his elder brother, he continued\nto wail in his mourning.\n\n25. The magnanimous Punya performed the funeral ceremonies of his\nparents, and then went in search of his brother mourning in the woods.\n\n26. Punya said:\u2014Why my boy, is thy soul overcast by the cloud of thy\ngrief; and why dost thou shed the tears from thy lotus-eyes, as\nprofusely as the showers of the rain, only to render thee blind.\n\n27. Know my intelligent boy, that both thy father and mother, have gone\nto their ultimate blissful state in the Supreme Spirit, called the\nstate of salvation or liberation.\n\n28. That is the last resort of all living beings, and that is the\nblessed state of all self subdued souls; why then mourn for them, that\nhave returned to and are reunited with their own proper nature.\n\n29. Thou dost in vain indulge thyself in thy false and fruitless grief,\nand mournest for what is not to be mourned for at all: (rather rejoice\nat it owing to their ultimate liberation).\n\n30. Neither is she thy mother nor he thy father; nor art thou the only\nson of them, that have had numerous offspring in their repeated births.\n\n31. Thou hadst also thousands of fathers and mothers in thy by-gone\nbirths, in as much as there are the streams of running waters in every\nforest.\n\n32. Thou art not the only son of them, that had innumerable sons before\nthee; for the generations of men, have passed away like the currents of\na running stream.\n\n33. Our parents also had numberless offspring in their past lives, and\nthe branches of human generation are as numerous, as the innumerable\nfruits and flowers on trees.\n\n34. The numbers of our friends and relatives in our repeated lives in\nthis world, have been as great, as the innumerable fruits and flowers\nof a large tree, in all its passed seasons.\n\n35. If we are to lament over the loss of our parents and children, that\nare dead and gone; then why not lament also for those, that we have\nlost and left behind in all our past lives?\n\n36. It is all but a delusion, O my fortunate boy, that is presented\nbefore us in this illusive world; while in truth, O my sensible child,\nwe have nobody, whom we may call to be our real friends or positive\nenemies in this world.\n\n37. There is no loss of any body or thing in their true sense in the\nworld; but they appear to exist and disappear, like the appearance of\nwater in the dry desert.\n\n38. The royal dignity that thou seest here, adorned with the stately\numbrella and flapping fans; is but a dream lasting for a few days.\n\n39. Consider these phenomena in their true light, and thou wilt find my\nboy, that none of these nor ourselves nor any one of us, are to last\nfor ever: shun therefore thy error of the passing world from thy mind\nfor ever.\n\n40. That these are dead and gone, and these are existent before us, are\nbut errors of our minds, and creatures of our false notions and fond\ndesires, and without any reality in them.\n\n41. Our notions and desires, paint and present these various changes\nbefore our sight; as the solar rays represent the water in the mirage.\nSo our fancies working in the field of our ignorance, produce the\nerroneous conceptions, which roll on like currents in the eventful\nocean of the world, with the waves of favorable and unfavorable\nevents to us.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XX.\n\n REMONSTRATION OF P\u00c1VANA.\n\n\nArgument. Punya\u2019s relation of his various transmigrations and their\nwoes to P\u00e1vana.\n\n\nPunya said:\u2014Who is our father and who our mother, and who are our\nfriends and relatives, except our notion of them as such; and these\nagain are as the dust raised by the gusts of our airy fancy?\n\n2. The conceptions of friends and foes, of our sons and relations are\nthe products of our affection and hatred to them; and these being the\neffects of our ignorance, are soon made to disappear into airy nothing,\nupon enlightenment of the understanding.\n\n3. The thought of one as a friend, makes him a friend, and thinking one\nas an enemy makes him an enemy; the knowledge of a thing as honey and\nof another as poison, is owing to our opinion of it.\n\n4. There being but one universal soul equally pervading the whole,\nthere can be no reason of the conception of one as a friend and of\nanother as an enemy.\n\n5. Think my boy in thy mind what thou art, and what is that thing which\nmakes thy identity, when thy body is but a composition of bones, ribs,\nflesh and blood, and not thyself.\n\n6. Being viewed in its true light, there is nothing as myself or\nthyself; it is a fallacy of our understanding, that makes me think\nmyself as Punya and thee as P\u00e1vana.\n\n7. Who is thy father and who thy son, who thy mother and who thy\nfriend? One Supreme-self pervades all infinity, whom callest thou the\nself, and whom the not self (_i.e._ thine and not thine).\n\n8. If thou art a spiritual substance (linga sar\u00edra), and hast undergone\nmany births, then thou hadst many friends and properties in thy past\nlives, why dost not think of them also?\n\n9. Thou hadst many friends in the flowery plains, where thou hadst thy\npasture in thy former form of a stag; why thinkest not of those\ndeer, who were once thy dear companions?\n\n10. Why dost thou not lament for thy lost companions of swans, in the\npleasant pool of lotuses, where thou didst dive and swim about in the\nform of a gander?\n\n11. Why not lament for thy fellow arbors in the woodlands, where thou\nonce stoodest as a stately tree among them?\n\n12. Thou hadst thy comrades of lions on the rugged craigs of mountains,\nwhy dost not lament for them also?\n\n13. Thou hadst many of thy mates among the fishes, in the limpid lakes\ndecked with lotuses; why not lament for thy separation from them?\n\n14. Thou hadst been in the country of Das\u00e1rna (confluence of the ten\nrivers), as a monkey in the grey and green woods: a prince hadst thou\nbeen in land of frost; and a raven in the woods of Pundra.\n\n15. Thou hadst been an elephant in the land of Haihayas, and an ass in\nthat of Trigarta; thou hadst become a dog in the country of Salya, and\na bird in the wood of sarala or s\u00e1l trees.\n\n16. Thou hadst been a p\u00edpal tree on the Vindhyan mountains, and a wood\ninsect in a large oak (bata) tree; thou hadst been a cock on the\nMandara mountain, and then born as a Br\u00e1hman in one of its caverns (the\nabode of Rishis).\n\n17. Thou wast a Br\u00e1hman in Kosala, and a partridge in Bengal; a horse\nhadst thou been in the snowy land, and a beast in the sacred ground of\nBrahm\u00e1 at Pushkara (Pokhra).\n\n18. Thou hadst been an insect in the trunk of a palm tree, a gnat in a\nbig tree, and a crane in the woods of Vindhya, that art now my younger\nbrother.\n\n19. Thou hadst been an ant for six months, and lain within the thin\nbark of a _bhugpetera_ tree in a glen of the Him\u00e1layan hills, that art\nnow born as my younger brother.\n\n20. Thou hadst been a millepede in a dunghill at a distant village;\nwhere thou didst dwell for a year and half, that art now become my\nyounger brother.\n\n21. Thou wast once the youngling of a Pulinda (a hill tribe woman), and\ndidst dwell on her dugs like the honey sucking bee on the pericarp of a\nlotus. The same art thou now my younger brother.\n\n22. In this manner my boy, wast thou born in many other shapes, and\nhadst to wander all about the Jambudv\u00edpa, for myriads of years: And now\nart thou my younger brother.\n\n23. Thus I see the post states of thy existence, caused by the\nantecedent desires of thy soul; I see all this by my nice discernment,\nand my clear and all-viewing sight.\n\n24. I also remember the several births that I had to undergo in my\nstate of (spiritual) ignorance, and then as I see clearly before my\nenlightened sight.\n\n25. I also was a parrot in the land of Trigarta, and a frog at the\nbeach of a river; I became a small bird in a forest, and was then born\nin these woods.\n\n26. Having been a Pulinda huntsman in Vindhya, and then as a tree in\nBengal, and afterwards a camel in the Vindhya range, I am at last born\nin this forest.\n\n27. I who had been a ch\u00e1taka bird in the Him\u00e1layas, and a prince in the\nPaundra province; and then as a mighty tiger in the forests of the\nsahya hill, am now become your elder brother.\n\n28. He that had been a vulture for ten years, and a shark for five\nmonths and a lion for a full century; is now thy elder brother in this\nplace.\n\n29. I was a chakora wood in the village of Andhara, and a ruler in the\nsnowy regions; and then as the proud son of a priest named Sail\u00e1ch\u00e1rya\nin a hilly tract.\n\n30. I remember the various customs and pursuits of different peoples on\nearth, that I had to observe and follow in my repeated transmigrations\namong them.\n\n31. In these several migrations, I had many fathers and mothers, and\nmany more of my brothers and sisters, as also friends and relatives to\nhundreds and thousands.\n\n32. For whom shall I lament and whom forget among this number; shall I\nwail for them only that I lose in this life? But these also are to be\nburied in oblivion like the rest, and such is the course of the world.\n\n33. Numberless fathers have gone by, and unnumbered mothers also have\npassed and died away; so innumerable generations of men have perished\nand disappeared, like the falling off of withered leaves.\n\n34. There are no bounds, my boy, of our pleasures and pains in this\nsublunary world; lay them all aside, and let us remain unmindful of all\nexistence (whether past, present or future)!\n\n35. Forsake thy thoughts of false appearances, and relinquish thy firm\nconviction of thy own egoism, and look to that ultimate course which\nhas led the learned to their final beatitude.\n\n36. What is this commotion of the people for, but a struggling for\nrising or falling (to heaven or hell); strive therefore for neither,\nbut live regardless of both like indifferent philosopher (and permit\nthyself to heaven).\n\n37. Live free from thy cares of existence and inexistence, and then\nthou shalt be freed from thy fears of decay and death. Remember\nunruffled thyself alone, and be not moved by any from thy self\npossession by the accidents to life like the ignorant.\n\n38. Know thou hast no birth nor death, nor weal or woe of any kind, nor\na father or mother, nor friend nor foe anywhere. Thou art only thy pure\nspirit, and nothing of an unspiritual nature.\n\n39. The world is a stage presenting many acts and scenes; and they only\nplay their parts well, who are excited neither by its passions and\nfeelings.\n\n40. Those that are indifferent in their views, have their quietude\namidst all the occurrences of life; and those that have known the True\nOne, remain only to witness the course of nature.\n\n41. The knowers of God do their acts, without thinking themselves their\nactors; just as the lamps of night witness the objects around, without\ntheir consciousness of the same.\n\n42. The wise witness the objects as they are reflected in the mirror of\ntheir minds, just as the looking glass and gems receive the images of\nthings.\n\n43. Now my boy, rub out all thy wishes and the vestiges of thy\nremembrance from thy mind, and view the image of the serene spirit of\nGod in thy inmost soul. Learn to live like the great sages with the\nsight of thy spiritual light, and by effacing all false impressions\nfrom thy mind.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXI.\n\n REPRESSION OF DESIRES BY MEANS OF YOGA-MEDITATION.\n\n\nArgument. Desires are the shackles of the soul, and release from them\nleading to its liberation.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014P\u00e1vana being admonished by Punya in the said\nmanner, became as enlightened in his intellect, as the landscape at the\ndawn of day.\n\n2. They continued henceforward to abide in that forest, with the\nperfection of their spiritual knowledge, and they wandered about in the\nwoods to their hearts content.\n\n3. After a long time they had both their extinction, and rested in\ntheir disembodied state of _nirv\u00e1na_; as the oilless lamp wastes away\nof itself.\n\n4. Thus is the end of the great boast of men, of having large trains\nand numberless friends in their embodied states of lifetime, of which\nalas! they carry nothing with them to their afterlife, nor leave\nanything behind, which they can properly call as theirs.\n\n5. The best means of our release from the multifarious objects of our\ndesire, is the utter suppression of our appetites, rather than the\nfostering of them.\n\n6. It is the hankering after objects, that augment our appetite, as our\nthinking on something increases our thoughts about it. Just so as the\nfire is emblazoned by supply of the fuel, and extinguished by its want.\n\n7. Now rise O R\u00e1ma! and remain aloft as in thy aerial car, by getting\nloose of your worldly desires; and looking pitifully on the miseries of\ngrovelling mortals from above.\n\n8. This is the divine state known as the position of Brahma, which\nlooks from above with unconcerned serenity upon all. By gaining this\nstate, the ignorant also are freed from misery.\n\n9. One walking with reason as his companion, and having his good\nunderstanding for his consort, is not liable to fall into the dangerous\ntrap-doors, which lie hid in his way through life.\n\n10. Being bereft of all properties, and destitute of friends, one has\nno other help to lift him up in his adversity, beside his own patience\nand reliance in God.\n\n11. Let men elevate their minds with learning and dispassionateness,\nand with the virtues of self-dignity and valour, in order to rise over\nthe difficulties of the world.\n\n12. There is no greater good to be derived by any other means, than by\nthe greatness of mind. It gives a security which no wealth nor earthly\ntreasure can confer on men.\n\n13. It is only men of weak and crazy minds, that are often made to\nswing to and fro, and to rise and sink up and below, in the tempestuous\nocean of the world.\n\n14. The mind that is fraught with knowledge, and is full with the light\nof truth in it, finds the world filled with ambrosial water, and moves\nover it as easily, as a man walking on his dry shoes, or on a ground\nspread over with leather.\n\n15. It is the want of desire, that fills the mind more than the\nfulfilment of its desires; dry up the channel of desire, as the\nautumnal heat parches a pool.\n\n16. Else it empties the heart (by sucking up the heart blood), and lays\nopen its gaps to be filled by air. The hearts of the avaricious are as\ndry as the bed of the dead sea, which was sucked up (drained), by\nAgasti (son of the sage Agastya).\n\n17. The spacious garden of human heart, doth so long flourish with the\nfruits of humanity and greatness, as the restless ape of avarice does\nnot infest its fair trees. (The mental powers are the trees, and the\nvirtues are the fruits and flowers thereof).\n\n18. The mind that is devoid of avarice, views the triple world with the\ntwinkling of an eye. The comprehensive mind views all space and time as\na minim, in comparison to its conception of the infinite Brahma with\nitself.\n\n19. There is that coolness (sangfroid) in the mind of the unavaricious\nman, as is not to be found in the watery luminary of the moon; nor in\nthe icy caverns of the snow-capt Him\u00e1layas. And neither the coldness of\nthe plantain juice nor sandal paste, is comparable with the\ncool-headedness of inappetency.\n\n20. The undesirous mind shines more brightly, than the disk of the full\nmoon, and the bright countenance of the goddess of prosperity (Lakshm\u00ed).\n\n21. The urchin of appetence darkens the mind in the same manner, as a\ncloud covers the disk of the moon, and as ink-black obliterates a fair\npicture.\n\n22. The arbour of desire stretches its branches, far and wide on every\nside, and darkens the space of the mind with their gloomy shadow.\n\n23. The branching tree of desire being cut down by its root, the plant\nof patience which was stinted under it, shoots forth in a hundred\nbranches.\n\n24. When the unfading arbour of patience, takes the place of the\nuprooted desires; it produces the tree of paradise, yielding the fruits\nof immortality. (Patience reigns over the untransmuted ill).\n\n25. O well-intentioned R\u00e1ma! if you do not allow the sprouts of your\nmental desires, to germinate in your bosom, you have then nothing to\nfear in this world.\n\n26. When you become sober-minded after moderating your heart\u2019s desires,\nyou will then have the plant of liberation growing in its full\nluxuriance in your heart.\n\n27. When the rapacious owl of your desire, nestles in your mind, it is\nsure you will be invaded by every evil, which the foreboding bird\nbrings on its abode.\n\n28. Thinking is the power of the mind, and the thoughts dwell upon the\nobjects of desire; abandon therefore thy thoughts and their objects,\nand be happy with thy thoughtlessness of everything.\n\n29. Anything that depends on any faculty, is lost also upon inaction of\nthat faculty; therefore it is by suppression of your thinking (or\nthoughts), that you can put down your desires, and thereby have rest\nand peace of your mind.\n\n30. Be free minded, O R\u00e1ma! by tearing off all its worldly ties, and\nbecome a great soul by suppressing your mean desires of earthly\nfrailties: for who is there that is not set free, by being loosened\nfrom the fetters of desire, that bind his mind to this earth.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXII.\n\n NARRATIVE OF VIROCHANA.\n\n\nArgument. Account of King Bali and his Kingdom, and the Infernal\nRegions; His Resignation of the World, and Rambles over the Sumeru\nmountains.\n\n\nVasishtha said:\u2014O R\u00e1ma! that art the bright moon of Raghu\u2019s race,\nyou should also follow the example of Bali, in acquiring wisdom by\nself-discernment. (Bali the Daitya king and founder of Maha Bali Pura,\ncalled Mavalipura in Deccan, and in Southey\u2019s poem on its Ruins).\n\n2. R\u00e1ma said:\u2014Venerable Sir, that art acquainted with all natures, it\nis by thy favour that I have gained in my heart all that is worth\ngaining; and that is our final rest in the purest state of infinite\nbliss.\n\n3. O sir, it is by your favor, that my mind is freed from the great\ndelusion of my multifarious desires; as the sky is cleared of the massy\nclouds of the rainy weather in autumn.\n\n4. My soul is at rest and as cold as a stone; it is filled with the\nambrosial draught of Divine knowledge and its holy light; I find myself\nto rest in perfect bliss, and as illumined as the queen of the stars,\nrising in her full light in the evening.\n\n5. O thou dispeller of my doubts, and resemblest the clear autumnal\nsky, that clears the clouds of the rainy season! I am never full and\nsatiate with all thy holy teachings to me.\n\n6. Relate to me Sir! for the advancement of my knowledge, how Bali came\nto know the transcendental truth. Explain it fully unto me, as holy\nsaints reserve nothing from their suppliant pupils.\n\n7. Vasishtha replied:\u2014Attend R\u00e1ma! to the interesting narrative of\nBali, and your attentive hearing of it, will give you the knowledge of\nthe endless and everlasting truth and immutable verities.\n\n8. There is in the womb of this earth, and in some particular part of\nit, a place called the infernal region, which is situated below this\nearth. (The _Infra_ or P\u00e1t\u00e1la means the antipodes and is full of water).\n\n9. It is peopled by the milk white Naiades or marine goddesses, born in\nthe milky ocean-sweet water, and of the race of demons, who filled\nevery gap and chasm of it with their progeny. (The subterranean cells,\nwere peopled by the earth-born Titans).\n\n10. In some places it was peopled by huge serpents, with a hundred and\nthousand heads; which hissed loudly with their parted and forky\ntongues, and their long projected fangs.\n\n11. In other places there were the mountainous bodies of demons,\nwalking in their lofty strides, and seeming to fling above the balls of\nthe worlds as their bonbons, in order to devour them.\n\n12. In another place there were big elephants, upholding the earth on\ntheir elevated probosces, and supporting the islands upon their strong\nand projected tusks. (These elephants were of the antediluvian world,\nwhose fossiled remains are found under the ground).\n\n13. There were ghosts and devils in other places, making hideous\nshrieks and noise; and there were groups of hellish bodies, and putrid\ncarcasses of ghostly shapes.\n\n14. The depth of the nether world concealed in its darksome womb, rich\nmines of gems and metals, lying under the surface of the earth, and\nreaching to the seventh layer of _p\u00e1t\u00e1la_ or infernal regions.\n\n15. Another part of this place, was sanctified by the dust of the\nlotus-like feet of the divine Kapila (Siva or Pluto); who was adored by\nthe gods and demigods, by prostration of their exalted heads at his\nholy feet.\n\n16. Another part of it was presided by the god Siva, in his form of a\ngolden phallus (linga); which was worshipped by the ladies of the\ndemons, with abundant offerings and merry revelries. (Siva or Pluto\u2014the\ninfernal god was fond of Bacchanals and revels).\n\n17. Bali the son of Virochana, reigned in this place as the king of\ndemons, who supported the burden of his kingdom, on the pillars of\ntheir mighty arms.\n\n18. He forced the gods, Vidy\u00e1dharas, serpents, and the king of the\ngods, to serve at his feet like his vassal train, and they were glad to\nserve him as their lord.\n\n19. He was protected by Hari, who contains the gemming worlds in the\ntreasure of his bowels (brahm\u00e1nda\u2014bh\u00e1ndodara), and is the preserver of\nall embodied beings, and the support of the sovereigns of the earth.\n\n20. His name struck terror in the heart of Air\u00e1vata, and made his\ncheeks fade with fear; as the sound of a peacock petrifies the entrails\nof serpents (because the peacock is a serpivorous bird).[8]\n\n21. The intense heat of his valour, dried up the waters of the septuple\noceans of the earth; and turned them to seven dry beds, as under the\nfire of the universal Conflagration.\n\n22. But the smoke of his sacrificial fire, was an amulet to the people\nfor supply of water; and it caused the rains to fall as profusely from\nabove as the seas fallen below from the waters above. (This alludes to\nthe dynamite which was ignorantly believed to be a talisman).\n\n23. His frowning look, made the high heads of mountains stoop low to\nthe ground; and caused the lofty skies to lower with water, like the\nhigh branches of trees when overloaded with fruits. (It means, that the\nmountains and skies were obedient to his bidding).\n\n24. This mighty monarch reigned over the demons for myriads of years,\nafter he had made an easy conquest of all the treasures and luxuries of\nthe world.\n\n25. Thus he lived for many ages, which glided on like the course of a\nriver rolling about like the waters of whirlpool; and witnessed the\nincessant flux and reflux of the generations of gods, demons and men,\nof the three worlds.\n\n26. The king of the demons felt at last, a distaste to all the\nenjoyments of life, which he had tasted to surfeit; and he felt also an\nuneasiness amidst the variety of his pleasures.\n\n27. He retired to the farthest polar mount of Meru, and there sitting\nat the balcony of one of its gemming pinnacles, he reflected on the\nstate of this world and the vanity of mortal life.\n\n28. How long yet, thought he in himself, shall I have to rule over this\nworld with my indefatigable labour; and how much more must I remain to\nroam about the triple world, in my successive transmigrations?\n\n29. Of what use is it to me to have this unrivaled sovereignty, which\nis a wonder in the three worlds; and of what good is it to me, to enjoy\nthis plenteous luxury, which is so charming to the senses?\n\n30. Of what permanent delight are all these pleasures to me, which are\npleasant only for the present short time, and are sure to lose all\ntheir taste with my zest in them in the next moment?\n\n31. There is the same rotation of days and nights in unvarying\nsuccession, and the repetition of the same acts day after day. It is\nrather shameful and no way pleasant to any one, to continue in the same\nunvaried course of life for a great length of time.\n\n32. The same embraces of our beloved ones, and partaking of the same\nfood day by day, are amusements fit for playful boys only, but are\ndisgraceful and disgusting to great minds.\n\n33. What man of taste is there, that will not be disgusted to taste the\nsame sweets over and over again, which he has tasted all along, and\nwhich have become vapid and tasteless to-day; and what sensible man can\ncontinue in the same course, without the feelings of shame and remorse?\n\n34. The revolving days and nights bring the same revolution of duties,\nand I ween this repetition of the same acts\u2014_kritasya karanam_, is as\nridiculous to the wise, as the mastication of his grinded\nmeat\u2014_charbita charbana_. (Kritasya karanam n\u00e1sti, mritasya maranam\nyath\u00e1. There is no doing of an act, which has been done? Nor the dying\nof a man, that\u2019s already dead).\n\n35. The actions of men are as those of the waves, which rise to fall\nand then rise again to subside in the waters. (This rising and falling\nover and anon again, is to no purpose whatever).\n\n36. The repetition of the same act, is the employment of mad men; and\nthe wise man is laughed at, who reiterates the same chime, as the\nconjugation of a verb by boys, in all its moods, tenses and inflexions.\n\n37. What action is that which being once completed, does not recur to\nus any more, but crowns its actor with his full success all at once?\n(It is cessation from repetition of the same action, _i.e._ inaction).\n\n38. Or if this bustle of the world, were for a short duration only, yet\nwhat is the good that we can derive from our engaging in this commotion?\n\n39. The course of actions is as interminable, as the ceaseless\nrepetends of boyish sports; it is hollow harping on the same string,\nwhich the more it is played upon, the more it reverberates to its\nhollow sound. (The acts of men make a renown and vain blustering sound\nonly, and no real good to the actor).\n\n40. I see no such gain from any of our actions, which being once\ngained, may prevent our further exertions. (Action leads to action, but\nnon-action is a leader to quiescence or _naiskarma_).\n\n41. What can our actions bring forth, beside the objects of sensible\ngratification? They cannot bring about anything that is imperishable.\nSaying so, Bali fell in a trance of his profound meditation.\n\n42. Coming then to himself; he said:\u2014\u201cAh! I now come to remember, what\nI had heard from my father\u201d: so saying he stretched his eye-brows, and\ngave vent to what he thought in his mind.\n\n43. \u201cI had formerly asked my father Virochana, who was versed in\nspiritual knowledge, and acquainted with the manners of the people of\nformer and later ages\u201d.\n\n44. Saying: what is that ultimate state of being, where all our pains\nand pleasures cease to exist; and after the attainment of which, we\nhave no more to wander about the world, or pass through repeated\ntransmigrations.\n\n45. What is that final state towards which all our endeavours are\ndirected, and where our minds are freed from their error; and where we\nobtain our full rest, after all our wanderings and transmigrations?\n\n46. What is that best of gains, which gives full satisfaction to the\ncravings of the soul; and what is that glorious object, whose sight\ntranscends all other objects of vision?\n\n47. All those various luxuries and superfluities of the world, are no\nway conducive to our real happiness; in as much as they mislead the\nmind to error, and corrupt the souls of even the wisest of men.\n\n48. \u201cTherefore, O father, show me that state of imperishable felicity,\nwhereby I may attain to my everlasting repose and tranquility\u201d.\n\n49. My father having heard these words of mine, as he was then sitting\nunder the shade of the kalpa tree of paradise, whose flowers were\nfairer far than the bright beams of the nocturnal luminary, and\noverspread the ground all around; spoke to me in his sweet mellifluous\naccents the following speech, for the purpose of removing my error.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXIII.\n\n SPEECH OF VIROCHANA ON SUBJECTION OF THE MIND.\n\n\nArgument. The soul and mind personified as a monarch and his minister.\n\n\nVirochana said:\u2014There is an extensive country, my son, somewhere in\nthis universe, with a spacious concavity therein, whose ample space is\nable to hold thousands of worlds and many more spheres in it.\n\n2. It is devoid of the wide oceans and seas and high mountains, as\nthere are in this earth; and there are not such forests, rivers and\nlakes, nor holy places of pilgrimage, as you see here below.\n\n3. There is neither land nor sky, nor the heavenly orbs as on high; nor\nare there these suns and moons, nor the regents of the spheres, nor\ntheir inhabitants of gods and demons.\n\n4. There are no races of Yakshas and Rakshas, nor those tribes of\nplants and trees, woods or grass; nor the moving and immovable beings,\nas you see upon the earth.\n\n5. There is no water, no land, no fire nor air; nor are there the sides\nof the compass, nor the regions you call above and below. There is no\nlight nor shadow, nor the peoples, nor the gods Hari, Indra and Siva,\nnor any of the inferior deities or demigods there.\n\n6. There is a great sovereign of that place, who is full of ineffable\nlight. He is the creator and pervader of all, and is all in all, but\nquite quiescent in all places and things.\n\n7. He had elected a minister, who was clever in administration and\nbrought about what was impossible to be done, and prevented all mishaps\nfrom coming to pass.\n\n8. He neither ate nor drank, nor did nor knew anything, beside minding\nand doing his master\u2019s behests. In all other respects he was as\ninactive as a block of stone.\n\n9. He conducted every business for his master, who remained quite\nretired from all his business, with enjoyment of his rest and ease in\nhis seclusion, leaving all his concerns to be managed by his minister.\n\n10. Bali said:\u2014Tell me sir, what place is that which is devoid of all\npopulation, and free from all disease and difficulty; who knows that\nplace, and how can it be reached at by any body.\n\n11. Who is that sovereign of sovran power, and who that minister of so\ngreat might; and who being quite apart from the world, are inseparably\nconnected with it, and are invincible by our almighty demoniac power.\n(This monarch and master is the soul and his minister is the mind).\n\n12. Relate to me, O thou dread of the gods! this marvelous story of the\ngreat might of that minister, in order to remove the cloud of doubt\nfrom my mind, and also why he is unconquerable by us.\n\n13. Virochana replied:\u2014Know my son, this mighty minister to be\nirresistible by the gigantic force of the Asura giants, even though\nthey were aided by millions of demons fighting on their side.\n\n14. He is invincible, my son, by the god of a thousand eyes (Indra),\nand also by the gods of riches and death (Kubera and Yama), who conquer\nall, and neither the immortals nor giants, can ever overpower him by\ntheir might.\n\n15. All weapons are defeated in their attempt to hurt him, and the\nswords and mallets, spears and bolts, disks and cudgels, that are\nhurled against him, are broken to pieces as upon their striking against\na solid rock.\n\n16. He is unapproachable by missiles, and invulnerable by arms and\nweapons, and unseizable by the dexterity of warriors; and it is by his\nresistless might, that he has brought the gods and demigods under his\nsubjection.\n\n17. It was he (the proud mind) that defeated our forefathers, the\nmighty Hiranyas (Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakasipu), before they were\ndestroyed by the great Vishnu; who felled the big Asuras, as a storm\nbreaks down the sturdy and rocklike oaks.[9]\n\n18. The gods N\u00e1r\u00e1yana and others (who had been the instructors of men),\nwere all foiled by him and confined in their cells of the wombs of\ntheir mothers (by an imprecation of the sage Bhrigu, who denounced them\nto become incarnate in human forms).\n\n19. It is by his favour that K\u00e1ma (Cupid), the god with his flower bow\nand five arrows, has been enabled to subdue and overcome the three\nworlds, and boasts of being their sole emperor. (K\u00e1ma called also\nManoja, is the child of mana or mind, and Kandarpa for his boast of his\ntriumph).\n\n20. The gods and demigods, the intelligent and the foolish, the\ndeformed and the irascible, are all actuated by his influence. (Love is\nthe leader to action according to Plato).\n\n21. The repeated wars between the gods and Asuras, are the sports of\nthis minister (who deliberates in secret the destinies of all beings.\nThe restless mind is continually at warfare).\n\n22. This minister is only manageable by its lord\u2014the silent soul, or\nelse it is as dull as an immovable rock or restless as the wind.\n\n23. It is in the long run of its advancement in spiritual knowledge,\nthat the soul feels a desire in itself to subdue its minister; who is\notherwise ungovernable of its nature by lenient measures. (Govern your\nmind or it will govern you. The mind is best taught by whip).\n\n24. You are then said to be valiant, if you can conquer this greatest\nof the giants in the three worlds, who has been worrying all people out\nfor their breath. (The mind longs for occupation).\n\n25. After the rising of the intellect, the world appears as a\nflower garden, and like the lake of blooming lotuses at sunrise; and\nits setting covers the world in darkness as at sunset (_i.e._ in\nunconsciousness).\n\n26. It is only by the aid of this intellect of yours, and by removal of\nyour ignorance, that you can subdue this minister, and be famed for\nyour wisdom. (Good government of the mind, is more renowned than that\nof a realm).\n\n27. By subduing this minister, you become the subduer of the world,\nthough you are no victor of it; and by your unsubjection of this, you\ncan have no subjection over the world, though may be the master of it.\n\n28. Therefore be diligent to overcome this minister, by your best and\nmost ardent exertions, on account of effecting your perfect\nconsummation, and securing your everlasting happiness.\n\n29. It is easy for him to overcome the triple world, and keep all its\nbeings of gods and demons, and the bodies of N\u00e1gas and men, together\nwith the races of Yakshas and Rakshas, and the tribes of serpents and\nKinnaras, who has been able to subdue this minister by his superior\nmight. (Govern yourself, and you govern all besides).\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXIV.\n\n ON THE HEALING AND IMPROVEMENT OF THE MIND.\n\n\nArgument. Quelling of the misleading mind, and waiting upon the\nsovereign soul, with the perfection of Platonic Quietism.\n\n\nBali said:\u2014Tell me sir, plainly who is this minister of so great might,\nand by what expedients can so mighty a being be vanquished and brought\nunder subjection.\n\n2. Virochana replied:\u2014Though that minister, is invincible and stands\nabove all in his great might; yet I will tell you the expedients,\nwhereby he may be overcome by you or any one else.\n\n3. Son! It is by employment of proper means that he may be easily\nbrought under subjection, and by neglect of which he will have the\nupper hand of you like the snake poison, if it is not repelled in time\nby means of efficacious mantras and incantations.\n\n4. The ministerial mind being brought up like a boy in the right way he\nshould go; leads the man to the presence of the sovran soul, as the\n_r\u00e1ja yoga_ or royal service advances the servant before his king.\n\n5. The appearance of the master makes the minister disappear from\nsight; as the disappearance of the minister, brings one to the full\nview of his king.\n\n6. As long as one does not approach to the presence of his king, he\ncannot fail to serve the minister; and so long as he is employed in\nservice of the minister, he cannot come to the sight of his king.\n\n7. The king being kept out of sight, the minister is seen to exercise\nhis might; but the minister being kept out of view, the king alone\nappears in full view.\n\n8. Therefore must we begin with the practice of both these exercises at\nonce; namely, approaching by degrees to the sight of the king, and\nslighting gradually the authority of the minister.\n\n9. It must be by the exercise of your continued manly exertions and\ndiligent application, that you employ yourself in both these practices,\nin order to arrive to the state of your well being.\n\n10. When you are successful in your practice, you are sure to reach to\nthat blissful country; and though you are a prince of the demons, you\ncan have nothing to obstract your entrance into it.\n\n11. That is a place for the abode of the blessed, whose desires are at\nrest and whose doubts are dissipated, and whose hearts are filled with\nperpetual joy and calmness.\n\n12. Now hear me, explain to you, my son, what that place is which I\ncalled a country. It is the seat of liberation (moksha), and where\nthere is an end of all our pains.\n\n13. The king of that place is the soul of divine essence, which\ntranscends all other substances; and it is the mind which is appointed\nby that soul as its wise minister.\n\n14. The mind which contains the ideal world in its bosom, exhibits its\nsensible form to the senses afterwards; as the clod of clay containing\nthe mould of the pot, shows itself as the model of a pot to view; and\nthe smoke having the pattern of the cloud in its essence, represents\nits shadowy forms in the sky. (The pattern of everything is engraven in\nthe mind).\n\n15. Hence the mind being conquered, everything is subdued and brought\nunder subjection; but the mind is invincible without adoption of proper\nmeans for its subjugation.\n\n16. Bali interrogated:\u2014What are these means, sir, which we are to adopt\nfor quelling the mind; tell it plainly to me, that I may resort to the\nsame, for this conquering invincible barrier of bliss.\n\n17. Virochana answered: The means for subduing the mind, are the want\nof reliance and confidence on all external and sensible things, and\nabsence of all desire for temporal possessions.\n\n18. This is the best expedient for removal of the great delusion of\nthis world, and subduing the big elephant of the mind at once.\n\n19. This expedient is both very easy and practicable on one hand, as it\nis arduous and impracticable on the other. It is the constant habit of\nthinking so that makes it facile, but the want of such habitude renders\nit difficult.\n\n20. It is the gradual habit of renouncing our fondness for temporal\nobjects, that shows itself in time in our resignation of the world; as\ncontinuous watering at the roots of plants, makes them grow to large\ntrees afterwards.\n\n21. It is as hard to master anything even by the most cunning, without\nits proper cultivation for some time; as it is impossible to reap the\nharvest from an unsown and uncultivated field.\n\n22. So long are all embodied souls destined to rove about the\nwilderness of the world, as there is the want of resignation in their\nheart of all the sensible objects in nature.\n\n23. It is impossible without the habit of apathy, to have a distaste\nfor sensible objects, as it is no way possible for an ablebodied man,\nto travel abroad by sitting motionless at home.\n\n24. The firm determination of abandoning the stays of life, and a\nhabitual aversion to pleasures and enjoyments, make a man to advance to\npurity, as a plant grows in open air to its full height.\n\n25. There is no good to be derived on earth, without the exertion of\none\u2019s manliness, and man must give up his pleasure and the vexation of\nhis spirit, in order to reap the fruit of his actions.\n\n26. People speak of a power as destiny here, which has neither any\nshape nor form of itself. It means whatever comes to pass, and is also\ncalled our lot or fatality.\n\n27. The word destiny is used also by mankind, to mean an accident over\nwhich they have no control, and to which they submit with passive\nobedience.\n\n28. They use the word destiny for repression of our joy and grief (at\nwhat is unavoidable); but destiny however fixed as fate, is overcome\nand set aside by means of manly exertions (in many instances).\n\n29. As the delusion of the mirage, is dispelled by the light of its\ntrue nature; so it is the exertion of manliness, which upsets destiny\nby effecting whatever it wishes to bring about.\n\n30. If we should seek to know the cause for the good or bad results of\nour actions, we must learn that they turn as well as the mind wishes to\nmould them to being.\n\n31. Whatever the mind desires and decrees, the same become the\ndestiny; there is nothing destined (or distinctly to be known), as what\nwe may call to be destined or undestined.\n\n32. It is the mind that does all this, and is the employer of destiny;\nit destines the destined acts of destiny.\n\n33. Life or the living soul is spread out in the hollow sphere of the\nworld, like air in vacuum. The psychic fluid circulates through all\nspace.\n\n(The psychic fluid extending throughout the universe, according to the\ntheory of Stahl).\n\n34. Destiny is no reality, but a term invented to express the property\nof fixity, as the word rock is used to denote stability. Hence there is\nno fixed fate or destiny, as long as the mind retains its free will and\nactivity.\n\n35. After the mind is set at rest, there remains the principle of the\nliving soul (J\u00edva\u2014zoo). This is called the _purusha_ or embodied\nspirit, which is the source of the energies of the body and mind.\n\n36. Whatever the living soul intends to do by means of its spiritual\nforce, the same comes to take place and no other. (There being not even\nthe influence of the mind to retard its action. So my son, there is no\nother power in the world except that of spirit or spiritual force).\n\n37. Reliance on this spiritual power will uproot your dependance on\nbodily nutriments; and there is no hope of spiritual happiness, until\nthere is a distaste towards temporal enjoyments.\n\n38. It is hard to attain to the dignity of the all conquering\nself-sufficiency, as long as one has the dastardly spirit of his\nearthly cravings.\n\n39. As long as one is swinging in the cradle of worldly affairs, it is\nhard for him to find his rest in the bower of peaceful tranquility.\n\n40. It is hard for you to get rid of your serpentine (crooked) desires,\nwithout your continued practice of indifference to and unconcernedness\nwith worldly affairs.\n\n41. Bali rejoined:\u2014Tell me, O lord of demons! in what manner,\nindifference to worldly enjoyments, takes a deep root in the human\nheart; and produces the fruit of longevity of the embodied spirit on\nearth. (By longevity is meant the spiritual life of man, and his\nresting in the divine Spirit, by being freed from the accidents of\nmortal life).\n\n42. Virochana replied:\u2014It is the sight of the inward spirit, which is\nproductive of indifference to worldly things; as the growth of vines is\nproductive of the grapes in autumn.\n\n43. It is the sight of the inward Spirit, which produces our internal\nunconcernedness with the world; as it is the glance of the rising sun,\nwhich infuses its lustre in the cup of the lotus.\n\n44. Therefore sharpen your intellect, by the whetstone of right\nreasoning; and see the Supreme Spirit, by withdrawing your mind from\nworldly enjoyments.\n\n45. There are two modes of intellectual enjoyment, of which one\nconsists of book learning, and the other is derived from attendance on\nthe lectures of the preceptor, by those that are imperfect in their\nknowledge. (_i.e._ The one is theoretical for adepts and the other is\npractical for novices).\n\n46. Those who are a little advanced in learning, have the double\nadvantage of their mental enjoyment, namely: their reflection of book\nlearning and consultation with wise preceptors on practical points.\n(Hence the practice of Yoga requires a Yogi guide also).\n\n47. Those who are accomplished in learning, have also two parts of\ntheir duties to perform; namely, the profession of the s\u00e1stras teaching\nthem to others, and the practice of indifference for themselves. (But\nthe last and lowest kind, only have to wait on the guru and reflect on\nwhat they hear from him).\n\n48. The soul being purified, the man is fitted for Spiritual learning;\nas it is the clean linen only which is fit to receive every good\ntincture upon it.[10]\n\n49. The mind is to be trained by degrees, like a boy in the path of\nlearning; namely by means of persuasion and good lectures, and then by\nteaching of the s\u00e1stras, and lastly by discussion of their doctrines.\n\n50. After its perfection in learning and dispersion of all difficulties\nand doubts, the mind shines as a piece of pure crystal, and emits its\nlustre like the cooling moonbeams.\n\n51. It then sees by its consummate knowledge and clear understanding,\nin both the form of its God the Spirit, and the body which is the seat\nof its enjoyments on earth.\n\n52. It constantly sees the spirit before it, by means of its\nunderstanding and reason; which help it also to relinquish its desire\nfor worldly objects and enjoyments.\n\n53. The sight of the Spirit produces the want of desires, and the\nabsence of these shows the light of the spirit to its sight; therefore\nthey are related to each other like the wick and oil of the lamp, in\nproducing the light, and dispelling the darkness of the night.\n\n54. After the loss of relish in worldly enjoyments, and the sight of\nthe Supreme Spirit, the soul finds its perpetual rest in the essence of\nthe Supreme Brahma.\n\n55. The living souls that place their happiness in worldly objects, can\nnever have the taste of true felicity, unless they rely themselves\nwholly in the Supreme Spirit.\n\n56. It may be possible to derive some delight from acts of charity,\nsacrifices and holy pilgrimage; but none of these can give the\neverlasting rest of the Spirit.\n\n57. No one feels a distaste for pleasure, unless he examines its nature\nand effects in himself; and nothing can teach the way of seeing the\nsoul, unless the soul reflects on itself.\n\n58. Those things are of no good whatever, my boy, that may be had\nwithout one\u2019s own exertion in gaining it; nor is there any true\nhappiness, without the resignation of earthly enjoyments.\n\n59. The Supreme felicity of rest in the state of Brahma, is to be bad\nnowhere in this wide world, either in this mundane sphere, or anywhere\nelse beyond these spheres.\n\n60. Therefore expect always how your soul may find its rest in the\ndivine Spirit, by relying on the exertion of your manliness, and\nleaving aside your dependance on the eventualities of destiny.\n\n61. The wise man detests all worldly enjoyments as if they are the\nstrong bolts or barriers at the door of bliss; and it is the settled\naversion to earthly pleasures, that brings a man to his right reason.\n\n62. As the increasing gloominess of rainy clouds, is followed by the\nserenity of autumnal skies, so clear reasoning comes after detestation\nof enjoyments, which fly at the advance of reason.\n\n63. As the seas and the clouds of heaven, help one another by lending\ntheir waters in turn; so apathy to pleasures and right reasoning, tend\nto produce each other by turns.\n\n64. So disbelief in destiny, and engagement in manly exertion, are\nsequences of one another, as reciprocities of service are consequences\nof mutual friendship.\n\n65. It must be by the gnashing of your teeth (_i.e._ by your firm\nresolve), that you should create a distaste even of those things, which\nyou have acquired by legal means and conformably to the custom of your\ncountry.\n\n66. You must first acquire your wealth by means of your manly\nexertions, and then get good and clever men in your company by means of\nyour wealth (_i.e._ patronise the learned therewith, and improve your\nmind by their instructions).\n\n67. Association with the wise produces an aversion to the sensual\nenjoyments of life, by exciting the reasoning power, which gains for\nits reward an increase of knowledge and learning.\n\n68. These lead gradually to the acquirement of that state of\nconsummation, which is concomitant with the utter renunciation of\nworldly objects.\n\n69. It is then by means of your reasoning that you attain to that\nSupreme State of perfection, in which you obtain your perfect rest and\nthe holiness of your soul.\n\n70. You will then fall no more in the mud of your misconceptions; but\nas a pure essence, you will have no dependance on anything, but become\nas the venerable Siva yourself.\n\n71. Thus the steps of attaining consummation, are first of all the\nacquisition of wealth, according to the custom of the caste and\ncountry; and then its employment in the service of wise and learned\nmen. Next follows your abandonment of the world, which is succeeded by\nyour attainment of Spiritual knowledge, by the cultivation of your\nreasoning powers.[11]\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXV.\n\n REFLECTIONS OF BALI.\n\n\nArgument. Rise of intellectual light in Bali\u2019s mind, and his Reference\nto Sukra for Advice.\n\n\nBali said:\u2014In this manner did my sapient father advise me before on\nthis subject, which I fortunately remember at the present moment for\nthe enlightenment of my understanding.\n\n2. It is now that I feel my aversion to the enjoyments of life, and\ncome to perceive by my good luck the bliss of tranquility, to liken\nthe clear and cooling ambrosial drink of heavenly bliss.\n\n3. I am tired of all my possessions, and am weary of my continued\naccumulation of wealth, for the satisfaction of my endless desires. The\nlive-long care of the family also has grown tiresome to me.\n\n4. But how charming is this peace and tranquility of my soul, which is\nquite even and all cool within itself. Here are all our pleasures and\npains brought to meet upon the same level of equality and indifference.\n\n5. I am quite unconcerned with any thing and am highly delighted with\nmy indifference to all things; I am gladdened within myself as by the\nbeams of the full-moon, and feel the orb of the full moon rising within\nmyself.\n\n6. O! the trouble of acquiring riches, which is attended by the loud\nbustle of the world and agitation in the mind, and the heart burn and\nfatigue of the body; and is accompanied with incessant anxiety and\naffliction of the heart.\n\n7. The limbs and flesh of the body, are smashed by labour; and all\nbodily exercises that pleased me once, now appear to be the long and\nlost labours of my former ignorance.\n\n8. I have seen the sights of whatever was worth seeing, and enjoyed the\nenjoyments which knew no bounds; I have overcome all beings; but what\nis the good (that I have derived from all this)?\n\n9. There is only a reiteration of the very same things, that I had\nthere, here and elsewhere; and I found nowhere now any thing new, that\nI had not seen or known before.\n\n10. I am now sitting here in full possession of myself, by resigning\nevery thing and its thought from my mind; and thereby I find that\nnothing whatever nor even its thought forms any component-part of\nmyself.\n\n11. The best things in the heaven above, earth and in this infernal\nregion, are reckoned to be their damsels, gems and jewels; but all\nthese are destroyed and wasted sooner or later by the cruel hand of\ntime.\n\n12. I have acted foolishly all this time, by waging a continuous\nstruggle with the gods, for the sake of the trifle of worldly\npossessions. (The wars of the earth-born demons and the foreign deities\nare well known in the early history of the world).\n\n13. What is this phantom of the world, but a creation of the brain;\nwhat then is the harm of forsaking it forever in which great souls take\nno delight whatever?\n\n14. Alas! that I have spent such a large portion of my life-time, in\npursuing after trifles in the ignorant giddiness of my mind.\n\n15. My fickle and fluctuating desires, have led me to do many acts of\nfoolishness, in this world of odds and trifles, which now fill me with\nremorse and regret. (Remembrance of the past, is fraught with\nregret).\n\n16. But it is in vain to be overwhelmed with the sad thoughts of the\npast, while I should use my manly exertions to improve the present.\n(The present time is in our hand, but who the past can recall, or the\nfuture command).\n\n17. It is by reflecting on the eternal cause of the endless infinity of\nsouls in the soul, that one can attain his perfect felicity; as the\ngods got the ambrosia from the Milky ocean. (True bliss is to be\nderived from the blissful Deity).\n\n18. I most consult my preceptor Sukra, concerning the Ego and the soul\nand spiritual vision, of the soul of souls in order to expel my\nignorance in these matters.\n\n19. I must refer these questions to the most venerable Sukra, who is\nalways complacent to his favorites; and then it is possible that by\nhis advice I shall be settled in the highest perfection of seeing the\nsupreme spirit, in my spirit, because the words of the wise, are ever\nfraught with full meaning and are fruitful of the desired object.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXVI.\n\n ADMONITION OF SUKRA TO BALI.\n\n\nArgument. Sukra\u2019s appearance at the call of Bali; and his advice to him\non the attainment of divine knowledge.\n\n\nVasishtha said:\u2014So saying the mighty Bali closed his eyes, and thought\nupon the lotus-eyed Sukra, abiding in his heavenly abode. (Sukra the\nplanet Venus represented as the preceptor of demons, as Vrihaspati the\nplanet Jupiter is said to be the Spiritual guide of the deities).\n\n2. Sukra, who sat intently meditating on the all pervading spirit of\nGod, came to know in his mind, that he was remembered by his disciple\nBali in his city.\n\n3. Then Sukra the son of Bhrigu, whose soul was united with the\nall pervading infinite and omniscient spirit, descended with his\nheavenly body at the gemming window of Bali (decorated with glass\ndoors).\n\n4. Bali knew the body of his guide by its lustre, as the lotus-flower\nperceives the rising sun by his dawning beams.\n\n5. He then honoured his _guru_ or guide, by adoring his feet on a seat\ndecked with gems, and with offering of _mand\u00e1ra_ flowers upon him.\n\n6. As Sukra took his rest on the gemming seat from the labour of his\njourney, he was strewn over with offerings of gems on his body, and\nheaps of mand\u00e1ra flowers upon his head; after which Bali addressed him\nthus:\u2014\n\n7. Venerable sir, this illustrious presence of thy grace before me,\nemboldens me to address to thee, as the morning sun-beams send all\nmankind to their daily work.\n\n8. I have come to feel an aversion, Sir, to all kinds of worldly\nenjoyments, which are productive of the delusion of our souls; and want\nto know the truth relating to it, in order to dispel my ignorance of\nmyself.\n\n9. Tell me, sir, in short, what are these enjoyments good for, and how\nfar they extend; and what am I, thou or these people in reality.\n(Extent of enjoyments\u2014bhoga, means their limitation and duration).\n\n10. Sukra answered:\u2014I can not tell you in length about it, as I have\nsoon to repair to my place in the sky. Hear me O monarch of demons tell\nthis much briefly to you at present.\n\n11. There is verily but the intellect in reality, and all this\nexistence beside is verily the intellect and full of intellect: The\nmind is the intellect, and I, thou and these people are collectively\nthe very intellect. (Gloss. These sayings are based on the srutis,\nnamely: All these are but different aspects of the one intellect.\nAgain: All things depend on the _chit_. Also:\u2014This _chit_ am I, thou\nand this Brahma and Indra and all others. There is no other looker or\nthe subjective; or the hearer or objective beside the _chit_: and so\nforth).\n\n12. If you are wise, know you derive every thing from this Chit\u2014the\nuniversal Intellect; or else all gifts of fortune are as useless to you\nas the offering of butter on ashes (which cannot consume it, or make a\nburnt offering of it to the gods).\n\n13. Taking the intellect as something thinkable or object of thought,\nis the snare of the mind; but the belief of its freeness or\nincomprehensibility, is what confers liberation to the soul. The\nincomprehensible intellect is verily the universal soul, which is the\nsum of all doctrines. (All faiths and doctrines tend to the belief of\none unknowable God).\n\n14. Knowing this for certain, look on everything as such; and behold\nthe spirit in thy spirit, in order to arrive to the state of the\nInfinite spirit. (Or else the adoration of a finite object, must lead\nto a finite state).\n\n15. I have instantly to repair to the sky, where the seven munis\nare assembled (the seven planets or the seven stars of the\nPleiades\u2014saptarshi?), where I have to continue in the performance\nof my divine service.\n\n16. I tell you, O king! that you must not of yourself get rid of your\nduties, as long as you are in this body of yours, even though your mind\nmay be freed from everything. (The embodied being must continue in the\ndischarge of his bodily duty).\n\n17. So saying, Sukra flew as a bee besmeared with the farinaceous\ngold-dust of the lotus, to the aureate vault of heaven; and passed\nthrough the watery path of the waving clouds, to where the revolving\nplanets were ready to receive him.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXVII.\n\n HEBETUDE OF BALI.\n\n\nArgument. Bali attains to his state of Ecstacy, by his observance\nof Sukra\u2019s precepts.\n\n\nVasishtha said:\u2014After Sukra, the son of Bhrigu and senior in the\nassembly of gods and demigods, had made his departure, Bali the best\namong the intelligent, reflected thus in himself.\n\n2. Truly has the seer said, that the Intellect composes the three\nworlds, and that I am this Intellect, and the Intellect fills all the\nquarters, and shows itself in all our actions.\n\n3. It is the Intellect which pervades the inside and outside of every\nthing, and there is nothing anywhere which is without the Intellect.\n\n4. It is the Intellect that perceives the sunbeams and moonlight, or\nelse there would be no distinction between them and darkness, had not\nthere been this intellectual perception.\n\n5. If there were no such intellectual perception as this earth is land,\nthen there would be no distinction of earth and water, nor the word\nearth apply to land.\n\n6. If the Intellect would not understand the vast space as the quarters\nof the sky, and the mountains as vast protuberances on earth; then who\nwould call the sides and the mountains by those names?\n\n7. If the world were not known as the world and the vacuum as vacuity,\nthen who would distinguish them by the names that are in common use?\n\n8. If this big body was not perceived by the intellect, how proper\ncould the bodies of embodied beings be called by their names?\n\n9. The Intellect resides in every organ of sense, it dwells in the\nbody, mind and all its desires; the intellect is in the internal and\nexternal parts of the body, and the intellect is all that is in\nexistent and non-existent. (Because the intellect has the notions of\nall these things, which would not come to exist, if they were not in\nthe intellect).\n\n10. The Intellect forms my wholeself, by its feeling and knowing of\neverything that I feel and know; or else I can neither perceive or\nconceive nor do anything with my body alone, and without guidance of\nthe intellect.\n\n11. What avails this body of mine, which is inert and insensible as a\nblock of wood or stone; it is the intellect that makes my self, and it\nis the intelligent spirit which is the universal Soul.\n\n12. I am the intellect which resides in the sun and in the sky, and I\nam the intellect which dwells in the bodies of all beings; I am the\nsame intellect which guides the gods and demigods, and dwells alike in\nthe movables and immovable bodies.\n\n13. The intellect being the sole existence, it is in vain to suppose\naught besides; and their being naught otherwise, there can be no\ndifference of a friend or foe to us.\n\n14. What is it if I Bali, strike off the head of a person from his\nbody, I can not injure the soul which is everywhere and fills all space.\n\n15. The feelings of love and enmity are properties of the intellect\n(Soul), and are not separated from it by its separation from the body.\nHence the passions and feelings are inseparable from the Intellect or\nsoul.\n\n16. There is nothing to be thought of beside the Intellect, and nothing\nto be obtained anywhere, except from the spacious womb of the\nIntellect, which comprehends all the three worlds.\n\n17. But the passions and feelings, the mind and its powers, are mere\nattributes and not properties of the Intellect; which being altogether\na simple and pure essence, is free from every attribute.\n\n18. The Intellect\u2014_chit_ is the Ego, the omnipresent, all pervasive and\never felicitous soul; it is beyond all other attributes, and without a\nduality or parts.\n\n19. The term Intellect\u2014_chit_ which is applied to the nameless power of\nintellection\u2014_chiti_, is but a verbal symbol signifying the omniscient\nIntelligence, which is manifest in all places. (_i.e._ The Divine\nIntellect is both omniscient as well as omnipresent, while human\nunderstanding is narrow and circumscribed).\n\n20. The Ego is the Supreme Lord, that is ever awake and sees all things\nwithout manifesting any appearance of himself. He is purely transparent\nand beyond all visible appearances.\n\n21. All its attributes are lame, partial and imperfect. Even time which\nhas its phases and parts, is not a proper attribute for it. It is but a\nglimpse of its light that rises before us, but the eternal and infinite\nlight, is beyond our comprehension.\n\n22. I must think of it only in the form of light in my own self, and\nknow it apart from all other thinkables and thoughts, and quite aloof\nfrom all shades and colours.\n\n23. I salute his self-same form of Intelligence, and the power of\nIntellection, unaccompanied by the intelligible, and employed in its\nproper sphere.\n\n24. I salute that light of his in me, which represents every thing to\nme; which is beyond all thought, and is of the form of Intellect, going\neverywhere and filling all space.\n\n25. It is the quiet consciousness of all beings, the real Intellect\n(sach-chit), the Ego and the Great; the Ego which is as infinite as\nspace, and yet minuter than an atom, and spreading in all alike.\n\n26. I am not subject to the states of pleasure and pain, I am conscious\nof my self and of no other existence besides myself; and I am\nIntelligence without the intelligibles spread out before me.\n\n27. No worldly entity nor non-entity (_i.e._ neither the gain of any\nobject nor its want), can work any change in me; for the possession of\nworldly objects would destroy me at once (by their separating my soul\nfrom God).\n\n28. In my opinion there is nothing that is distinct from me, when we\nknow all things as the produce of the same source.\n\n29. What one gets or loses is no gain or loss to any (_i.e._ to the\ngainer or loser), because the same Ego always abides in all, and is the\nMaker of all and pervading everywhere.\n\n30. Whether I am any of the thinkable objects or not, it matters me\nlittle to know; since the Intellect is always a single thing, though\nits intelligibles (_i.e._ its productions or thoughts), are endless.\n\n31. I am so long in sorrow, as my soul is not united with the Holy\nspirit. So saying, the most discerning Bali fell to a deep meditation.\n\n32. He reflected on the half mantra of Om (_i.e._ the dot only); an\nemblem of the Infinite God; and sat quietly with all his desires and\nfancies lying dormant in him.\n\n33. He sat undaunted, by suppressing his thoughts and his thinking\npowers within him; and remained with his subdued desires, after having\nlost the consciousness of his meditation, and of his being the\nmeditator and also of meditated object. (_i.e._ Without knowing himself\nas the subject or object of his thoughts and acts).\n\n34. While Bali was entranced in this manner at the window which was\ndecked with gems, he became illumined in his mind as a lighted lamp\nflaming unshaken by the wind. And he remained long in his steady\nposture as a statue carved of a stone.\n\n35. He sat with his mind as clear as the autumnal sky after having cast\noff all his desires and mental anxieties, and being filled within\nhimself with his spiritual light.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXVIII.\n\n DESCRIPTION OF BALI\u2019S ANAESTHESIA.\n\n\nArgument. Anxiety of the demons at the supineness of Bali, and the\nAppearance of Sukra with them before him.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014The servile demons of Bali (being impatient at\nthis numbness of their king), ascended hastily to his high crystal\npalace, and stood at the door of his chamber.\n\n2. There were his ministers Dimbha and others among them, and his\ngenerals Kumuda and others also. There were likewise the princes Sukra\nand others in the number, and his champions Vritta and the rest.\n\n3. There were Hayagr\u00edva and the other captains of his armies, with his\nfriends Akraja and others. His associates Laduka and some more joined\nthe train, with his servants Valluka and many more.\n\n4. There were also the gods Kubera, Yama and Indra that paid him their\ntribute; and the Yakshas, Vidy\u00e1dhars and N\u00e1gas that rendered him their\nservices. (Were the Vidy\u00e1dhars the Vedias or gipsies of modern India?).\n\n5. There were the heavenly nymphs Rambh\u00e1 and Tilottam\u00e1 in the number,\nwith the fanning and flapping damsels of his court; and the deputies of\ndifferent provinces and of hilly and maritime districts, were also in\nattendance.\n\n6. These accompanied by the Siddhas inhabiting different parts of the\nthree worlds, all waited at that place to tender their services to Bali.\n\n7. They beheld Bali with reverence, with his head hanging down with the\ncrown upon it, and his arms hanging loosely with the pendant bracelets\non them.\n\n8. Seeing him thus, the great Asuras made their obeisance to him in due\nform, and were stupified with sorrow and fear, and struck with wonder\nand joy by turns at this sad plight of his.\n\n9. The ministers kept pondering about what was the case with him, and\nthe demons besought their all knowing preceptor Sukra, for his\nexplaining the case to them.\n\n10. Quick as thought they beheld the shining figure of Sukra, standing\nconfest to their sight, as if they saw the phantom of their\nimagination appearing palpable to view.\n\n11. Sukra being honoured by the demons, took his seat on a sofa; and\nsaw in his silent meditation, the state of the mind of the king of\ndemons.\n\n12. He remained for a while to behold with delight, how the mind of\nBali was freed from errors, by the exercise of its reasoning powers.\n\n13. The illustrious preceptor, the lustre of whose person put to shame\nthe brightness of the milky ocean, then said smiling to the listening\nthrong of the demons:\n\n14. Know ye demons, this Bali to have become an adept in his spiritual\nknowledge, and to have fixed his seat in holy light, by the working of\nhis intellect (_i.e._ by his intuition only).\n\n15. Let him alone, ye good demons, remain in this position, resting in\nhimself and beholding the imperishable one within himself in his\nreverie.\n\n16. Lo! here the weary pilgrim to have got his rest, and his mind is\nfreed from the errors of this false world. Disturb him not with your\nspeech, who is now as cold as ice.\n\n17. He has now received that light of knowledge amidst the gloom of\nignorance, as the waking man beholds the full blaze of the sun, after\ndispersion of the darkness of his sleep at dawn.\n\n18. He will in time wake from his trance, and rise like the germ of a\nseed, sprouting from the seed vessel in its proper season.\n\n19. Go ye leaders of the demons from here, and perform your respective\nduties assigned to you by your master; for it will take a thousand\nyears, for Bali to wake from his trance (as a moment\u2019s sleep makes a\nmyriad of years in a dream).\n\n20. After Sukra the Guru and guide of the demons, had spoken in this\nmanner, they were filled with alternate joy and grief in their hearts,\nand cast aside their anxiety about him, as a tree casts its withered\nleaves away.\n\n21. The Asuras then left their king Bali to rest in his palace in the\naforesaid manner, and returned to their respective offices, as they had\nbeen employed heretofore.\n\n22. It now became night, and all men retired to their earthly abodes,\nthe serpents entered into their holes, the stars appeared in the skies,\nand the gods reposed in their celestial domes. The regents of all sides\nand mountainous tracts, went to their own quarters, and the beasts of\nthe forest and birds of the air, fled and flew to their own coverts and\nnests.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXIX.\n\n BALI\u2019S RESUSCITATION TO SENSIBILITY.\n\n\nArgument. Self-confinement of the Living-liberated Bali in the\nInfernal Regions.\n\n\nVasishtha related:\u2014After the thousand years of the celestials, had\nrolled on in Bali\u2019s unconsciousness; he was roused to his sensibility,\nat the beating of heavenly drums by the gods above (the loud peal of\nclouds).\n\n2. Bali being awake, his city (Mavalipura) was renovated with fresh\nbeauty, as the lotus-bed is revivified by the rising sun in the eastern\nhorizon (Vairincha or Brahma-loka, placed at the sunrising points).\n\n3. Bali not finding the demons before him after he was awaked, fell to\nthe reflecting of the reveries during his state of entrancement\n(Sam\u00e1dhi).\n\n4. O how charming! said he, was that cooling rapture of spiritual\ndelight, in which my soul had been enrapt for a short time.\n\n5. O how I long to resume that state of felicity! because these outward\nenjoyments which I have relished to my fill, have ceased to please me\nany more.\n\n6. I do not find the waves of those delights even in the orb of the\nmoon, as I felt in the raptures which undulated in my soul, during the\nentranced state of my insensibility.\n\n7. Bali was again attempting to resume his state of inexcitability,\nwhen he was interrupted by the attendant demons, as the moon is\nintercepted by the surrounding clouds.\n\n8. He cast a glancing look upon them, and was going to close his eyes\nin meditation; after making his prostration on the ground; but was\ninstantly obtruded upon by their gigantic statures standing all around\nhim.\n\n9. He then reflected in himself and said: The intellect being devoid of\nits option, there is nothing for me to desire; but the mind being fond\nof pleasures vainly pursues after them: (which it cannot fully gain,\nenjoy or long retain).\n\n10. Why should I desire my emancipation, when I am not confined by or\nattached to anything here: it is but a childish freak to seek for\nliberation, when I am not bound or bound to anything below. (The soul\nis perfectly free of itself, but it is the mind that enchains it to\nearth).\n\n11. I have no desire of enfranchisement nor fear for incarceration,\nsince the disappearance of my ignorance; what need have I then of\nmeditation, and of what good is meditation to me?\n\n12. Meditation and want of meditation are both mistakes of the mind\n(there being no efficacy or inefficacy of either). We must depend on\nour manliness, and hail all that comes to pass on us without rejoicing\nor shrinking (since all good and evil proceed from God).\n\n13. I require neither thoughtfulness nor thoughtlessness, nor\nenjoyments nor their privation, but must remain unmoved and firm as one\nsane and sound.\n\n14. I have no longing for the spiritual, nor craving for temporal\nthings; I have neither to remain in the meditative mood, nor in the\nstate of giddy worldliness.\n\n15. I am not dead (because my soul is immortal); nor can I be living\n(because the soul is not connected with life). I am not a reality (as\nthe body), nor an unreality (composed of spiritual essence only); nor I\nam a material or aerial body (being neither this body nor Vital air).\nNeither am I of this world or any other, but self-same ego\u2014the Great.\n\n16. When I am in this world, I will remain here in quiet; I am not\nhere, I abide calmly in the solace of my soul.\n\n17. What shall I do with my meditation, and what with all my royalty;\nlet any thing come to pass as it may; I am nothing for this or that,\nnor is anything mine.\n\n18. Though I have nothing to do (because I am not a free agent; nor\nmaster of my actions); yet I must do the duties appertaining to my\nstation in society. (Doing the duties of one\u2019s station in life, is\nreckoned by some as the only obligation of man here below. So says the\npoet: \u201cAct well thy part, there all the honor lies.\u201d).\n\n19. After ascertaining so in his mind, Bali the wisest of the wise,\nlooked upon the demons with complacence, as the sun looketh upon the\nlotuses.\n\n20. With the nods and glancings of his eyes, he received their homages;\nas the passing winds bear the odours of the flowers along with them\n(meaning to say: His cursory glances bore their regards, as the fleet\nwinds bear the fragrance of flowers the rose).\n\n21. Then Bali ceasing to think on the object of his meditation;\naccosted them concerning their respective offices under him.\n\n22. He honoured the devas and his gurus with due respect, and saluted\nhis friends and officers with his best regards.\n\n23. He honoured with his largesse, all his servants and suitors; and he\npleased the attendant maidens with various persons.\n\n24. So he continued to prosper in every department of his government,\nuntil he made up his mind to perform a great sacrifice (yajna) at one\ntime.\n\n25. He satisfied all beings with his great gifts, and gratified the\ngreat gods and sages with due honour and veneration. He then commenced\nthe ceremony of the sacrifice under the guidance of Sukra and the chief\n_gurus_ and priests.\n\n26. Then Vishnu the lord of Lakshm\u00ed, came to know that Bali had no\ndesire of earthly fruition; and appeared at his sacrifice to crown him\nwith the success of his undertaking, and confer upon him his desired\nblessing.\n\n27. He cunningly persuaded him, to make a gift of the world to Indra\nhis elder brother, who was insatiably fond of all kinds of enjoyment.\n(Indra was elder to Vishnu, who was thence called Upendra or the junior\nIndra).\n\n28. Having deceived Bali by his artifices of dispossessing him of the\nthree worlds, he shut him in the nether world, as they confine a monkey\nin a cave under the ground. (This was by Vishnu\u2019s incarnation in the\nform of a dwarf or puny man, who considered to be the most cunning\namong men; _multum in parvo_; or a man in miniature).\n\n29. Thus Bali continues to remain in his confinement to this day, with\nhis mind fixed in meditation, for the purpose of his attainment of\nIndraship again in a future state of life.\n\n30. The living liberated Bali, being thus restrained in the infernal\ncave, looks upon his former prosperity and present adversity in the\nsame light.\n\n31. There is no rising or setting of his intelligence, in the states of\nhis pleasure or pain; but it remained one and the same in its full\nbrightness, like the disk of the sun in a painting.\n\n32. He saw the repeated flux and reflux of worldly enjoyments, and\nthence settled his mind in an utter indifference about them.\n\n33. He overcame multitudes of the vicissitudes of life for myriads of\nyears, in all his transmigrations, in the three worlds, and found at\nlast, his rest in his utter disregard of all mortal things.\n\n34. He felt thousands of comforts and disquiets, and hundreds of\npleasures and privations of life, and after his long experience of\nthese, he found his repose in his perfect quiescence.\n\n35. Bali having forsaken his desire of enjoyments, enjoyed the fulness\nof his mind in the privation of his wants; and rejoiced in\nself-sufficiency of his soul, in the loneliness of his subterranean\ncave.\n\n36. After a course of many years, Bali regained his sovereignty of the\nworld, and governed it for a long time to his heart\u2019s content.\n\n37. But he was neither elated by his elevation to the dignity of\nIndra\u2014the lord of gods; nor was he depressed at this prostration from\nprosperity.\n\n38. He was one and the same person in every state of his life, and\nenjoyed the equanimity of his soul, resembling the serenity of the\netherial sphere.\n\n39. I have related to you the whole story of Bali\u2019s attainment of true\nwisdom, and advise you now, O R\u00e1ma! to imitate his example for your\nelevation, to the same state of perfection.\n\n40. Learn as Bali did by his own discernment, to think yourself as the\nimmortal and everlasting soul; and try to reach to the state of your\noneness or solity with the Supreme Unity, by your manliness (of\nself-controul and self-resignation).\n\n41. Bali the lord of the demons, exercised full authority over the\nthree worlds, for more than a millennium; but at last he came to feel\nan utter distaste, to all the enjoyments of life.\n\n42. Therefore, O Victorious R\u00e1ma, forego the enjoyments of life, which\nare sure to be attended with a distaste and nausea at the end, and\nbetake yourself to that state or true felicity, which never grows\ninsipid at any time.\n\n43. These visible sights, O R\u00e1ma! are as multifarious as they are\ntemptations to the soul; they appear as even and charming as a distant\nmountain appears to view; but it proves to be rough and rugged as you\napproach to it. (The pleasant paths of life, cannot entice the wise;\nthey are smooth without, but rugged within).\n\n44. Restrain your mind in the cavity of your heart, from its flight in\npursuit of the perishable objects of enjoyment, either in this life, or\nin the next, which are so alluring to all men of common sense.\n\n45. Know yourself, as the self-same intellect, which shines as the sun\nthroughout the universe; and illumines every object in nature, without\nany distinction of or partiality to one or the other.\n\n46. Know yourself O mighty R\u00e1ma! to be the infinite spirit, and the\ntranscendent soul of all bodies; which has manifested itself in\nmanifold forms, that are as the bodies of the internal intellect.\n\n47. Know your soul as a thread, passing through, and interwoven with\nevery thing in existence; and like a string connecting all the links of\ncreation, as so many gems of a necklace or the beads of a rosary. (This\nhypostasis of the supreme spirit, is known as the _s\u00fatr\u00e1tm\u00e1_ or the\nall-connecting soul of the universe; as the poet expresses it.\nBreathes in our soul, informs our mortal part, as full as perfect in\na hair as heart. Pope).\n\n48. Know yourself as the unborn and embodied soul of _Vir\u00e1t_, which is\nnever born nor ever dies; and never fall into the mistake of thinking\nthe pure intellect, to be subject to birth or death. (The embodied soul\nof _Vir\u00e1t_, is the universal soul as what the poet says: \u201cWhose body\nnature is, and god the soul).\u201d\n\n49. Know your desires to be the causes of your birth, life, death and\ndiseases; therefore shun your cupidity of enjoyments, and enjoy all\nthings in the manner of the all witnessing intellect. (_i.e._ Indulge\nyourself in your intellectual and not corporeal enjoyments).\n\n50. If you remain in the everlasting light of the sun of your\nintellect, you will come to find the phenomenal world to be but a\nphantom of your dream.\n\n51. Never regret nor sorrow for any thing, nor think of your pleasures\nand pains, which do not affect your soul; you are the pure intellect\nand the all pervading soul, which manifests itself in every thing.\n\n52. Know the desirables (or worldly enjoyments) to be your evils, and\nthe undesirable (self-mortification) to be for your good. Therefore\nshun the former by your continued practice of the latter.\n\n53. By forsaking your views of the desirables and undesirables, you\nwill contract a habit of hebetude; which when it takes a deep root in\nyour heart, you have no more to be reborn in the world.\n\n54. Retract your mind from every thing, to which it runs like a boy\nafter vain baubles; and settle it in yourself for your own good.\n\n55. Thus by restraining the mind by your best exertions, as also by\nyour habit of self-control, you will subdue the rampant elephant of\nyour mind, and reach to your highest bliss afterwards.\n\n56. Do not become as one of those ignorant fools, who believe their\nbodies as their real good; and who are infatuated by sophistry and\ninfidelity, and deluded by impostors to the gratification of their\nsensual appetites.\n\n57. What man is more ignorant in this world and more subject to its\nevils, than one who derived his Spiritual knowledge from one who is a\nsmatterer in theology, and relies on the dogmas of pretenders and false\ndoctors in divinity.\n\n58. Do you dispel the cloud of false reasoning from the atmosphere of\nyour mind, by the hurricane of our right reasoning, which drives all\ndarkness before it.\n\n59. You can not be said to have your right reasoning, so long as you do\nnot come to the light and sight of the soul, both by your own exertion\nand grace of the Supreme Spirit.\n\n60. Neither the Veda nor Ved\u00e1nta, nor the science of logic or any other\ns\u00e1stras, can give you any light of the soul, unless it appears of\nitself within you.\n\n61. It is by means of your self culture, aided by my instruction and\ndivine grace, that you have gained your perfect knowledge, and appear\nto rest yourself in the Supreme Spirit.\n\n62. There are three causes of your coming to spiritual light. Firstly\nyour want of the knowledge of a duality, and then the effulgence of\nyour intellectual luminary (thy soul) by the grace of God and lastly\nthe wide extent of your knowledge derived from my instructions.\n\n63. You are now freed from your mental maladies, and have become sane\nand sound by abandonment of your desires, by removal of your doubts and\nerrors, and by forsaking the mist of your fondness for external objects.\n\n64. O R\u00e1ma! as you get rid of the faults (errors) of your\nunderstanding, so you advance by degrees in gaining your knowledge, in\ncherishing your resignation, in destroying your defects, in imbibing\nthe bliss of ecstacy, in wandering with exultation, and in elevating\nyour soul to the sixth sphere. But all this is not enough unless you\nattend to Brahmahood itself. (These are called the _Sapta bh\u00famik\u00e1_ or\nseven stages of the practice of Yoga).\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXX.\n\n FALL OF HIRANYAKASIPU AND RISE OF PRAHL\u00c1DA.\n\n\nArgument. Slaughter of Demons by Hari.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014Attend R\u00e1ma, to the instructive narrative of\nPrahl\u00e1da\u2014the lord of demons; who became an adept by his own intuition.\n\n2. There was a mighty demon in the infernal regions, Hiranyakasipu by\nname; who was as valiant as Nar\u00e1yana himself, and had expelled the gods\nand demigods from their abodes.\n\n3. He mastered all the treasures of the world, and wrested its\npossession from the hands of Hari; as the swan encroaches upon the\nright of the bee, on the large folia of the lotus.\n\n4. He vanquished the Gods and Asuras, and reigned over the whole earth,\nas the elephant masters the lotus-bed, by expulsion of the drove of\nswans from it.\n\n5. Thus the lord of the Asuras, having usurped the monarchy of the\nthree worlds, begot many sons in course of time, as the spring brings\nforth the shoots of trees.\n\n6. These boys grew up to manhood in time, with the display of their\nmanly prowess; and like so many brilliant suns, stretched their\nthousand rays on all sides of the earth and skies.\n\n7. Among them Prahl\u00e1da the eldest prince became the regent, as the\nKaustubha diamond has the pre-eminence among all other precious gems.\n(The Kaustubha gem was set in the breast-plate of Vishnu).\n\n8. The father Hiranyakasipu delighted exceedingly in his fortunate son\nPrahl\u00e1da, as the year rejoices in its flowering time of the spring\n(_i.e._ the father delights in his promising lad, as the year in its\nvernal season).\n\n9. Supported by his son on one hand, and possessed of his force and\ntreasures on the other; he became puffed up with his pride, as the\nswollen elephant emitting his froth from his triangular mouth.\n(Composed of the two sides of the tusks, and the lower part).\n\n10. Shining with his lustre and elated by his pride, he dried and drew\nup the moisture of the earth, by his unbearable taxation; as the\nall-destroying suns of universal dissolution, parch up the world by\ntheir rays. (Here is a play of the word _Kara_, in its triple sense of\nthe hand, tax and solar rays).\n\n11. His conduct annoyed the gods and the sun and moon, as the behaviour\nof a haughty boy, becomes unbearable to his fellow comrades.\n\n12. They all applied to Brahm\u00e1, for destruction of the arch demon;\nbecause the repeated misdemeanours of the wicked, are unbearable to the\ngood and great.\n\n13. It was then that the leonine Hari-Narasingha, clattered his nails\nresembling the tusks of an elephant; and thundered aloud like the\nrumbling noise of the _Dig-hastes_ (the regent elephants of all the\nquarters of heaven), that filled the concave world as on its last\ndoomsday.\n\n14. The tusk-like nails and teeth of Vishnu, glittered like flashing\nlightnings in the sky; and the radiance of his earrings filled the\nhollow sphere of heaven, with curling flames of living fire. (The word\ndwija or twice born is applied to the nails and teeth, as to the moon\nand a twiceborn Br\u00e1hman).\n\n15. The sides and caverns of mountains presented a fearful aspect; and\nthe huge trees were shaken by a tremendous tempest; that rent the skies\nand tore the vault of heaven. (This is the only place where the word\n_dodruma_ occurs for the Greek _dendron_ in Sanskrit, shortened to\n_dru_ a tree, the root of Druid a woodman).\n\n16. He emitted gusts of wind from his mouth and entrails, which drove\nthe mountains before them; and his eyeballs flashed with the living\nfire of his rage, which was about to consume the world.\n\n17. His shining mane shook with the glare of sun-beams, and the pores\nof the hairs on his body, emitted the sparks of fire like the craters\nof a volcano.\n\n18. The mountains on all sides, shook with a tremendous shaking, and\nthe whole body of Hari, shot forth a variety of arms in every direction.\n\n19. Hari in his leoantheopic form of half a man and half a lion, killed\nthe gigantic demon by goring him with his tusks, as when an elephant\nbores the body of a horse with a grating sound.\n\n20. The population of the Pandemonium, was burnt down by the gushing\nfire of his eye balls; which flamed as the all-devouring conflagration\nof the last doomsday.\n\n21. The breath of his nostrils like a hurricane; drove everything\nbefore it; and the clapping of his arms (bahwasphota), beat as loud\nsurges on the hollow shores.\n\n22. The demons fled from before him as moths from the burning fire, and\nthey became extinct as extinguished lamps, at the blazing light of the\nday.\n\n23. After the burning of the Pandemonium, and expulsion of the demons,\nthe infernal regions presented a void waste, as at the last devastation\nof the world.\n\n24. After the Lord had extirpated the demoniac race, at the end of the\nTitanic age, he disappeared from view with the grateful greetings of\nthe synod of gods.\n\n25. The surviving sons of the demon, who had fled from the burning of\ntheir city, were afterwards led back to it by Prahl\u00e1da; as the\nmigrating fowls are made to return to the dry bed of a lake by a shower\nof rains.\n\n26. There they mourned over the dead bodies of the demons, and lamented\nat the loss of their possessions, and performed at last the funeral\nceremonies of their departed friends and relatives.\n\n27. After burning the dead bodies of their friends, they invited the\nrelics of the demons; that had found their safety by flight, to return\nto their deserted habitations again.\n\n28. The Asuras and their leaders, now continued to mourn with their\ndisconsolate minds and disfigured bodies, like lotuses beaten down by\nthe frost. They remained without any effort or attempt as the figures\nin a painting; and without any hope of resuscitation, like a withered\ntree or an arbour stricken by lightning.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXXI.\n\n PRAHL\u00c1DA\u2019S FAITH IN VISHNU.\n\n\nArgument. Prahl\u00e1da\u2019s Lamentations at the slaughter of the demons, and\nhis conversion to Vishnuism.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014Prahl\u00e1da remained disconsolate in his subterranean\nregion, brooding over the melancholy thoughts of the destruction of the\nD\u00e1navas and their habitations.\n\n2. Ah! what is to become of us, said he, when this Hari is bent to\ndestroy the best amongst us, like a monkey nipping the growing shoots\nand sprouts of trees.\n\n3. I do not see the Daityas anywhere in earth or in the infernal\nregions, that are left in the enjoyment of their properties; but are\nstunted in their growth like the lotuses growing on mountain tops.\n\n4. They rise only to fall like the loud beating of a drum, and their\nrising is simultaneous with their falling as of the waves in the sea.\n(_i.e._ no sooner they rise, than they are destined to fall).\n\n5. Woe unto us! that are so miserable in both our inward and outward\ncircumstances; and happy are our enemies of light (Devas), that have\ntheir ascendency over us. O the terrors of darkness!\n\n6. But our friends of the dark infernal regions, are all darkened in\ntheir souls with dismay: also their fortune is as transitory as the\nexpansion of the lotus-leaf by day, and its contraction at night.\n\n7. We see the gods, who were mean servants at the feet of our father,\nto have usurped his kingdom; in the manner of the timid deer, usurping\nthe sovereignty of the lion in the forest. (So said the sons of Tipu\nSultan, when they saw the English polluting his library with their\nhands).\n\n8. We find our friends on the other hand, to be all disfigured and\neffortless; and sitting melancholy and dejected in their hopelessness,\nlike lotuses with their withered leaves and petals.\n\n9. We see the houses of our gigantic demons, filled with clouds of\ndusts and frost, wafted by gusts of wind by day and night; and\nresembling the fumes of fire which burnt them down.\n\n10. The inner apartments are laid open without their doors and\nenclosures, and are overgrown with the sprouts of barley, shooting out\nas blades of sapphires from underneath the ground.\n\n11. Ah! what is impossible to irresistible fate, that has so reduced\nthe mighty demons; who are while used to pluck the flowers from\nthe mountain tops of Meru like big elephants, and are now come to the\nsad plight of the wandering Devas of yore.\n\n12. Our ladies are lurking like the timorous deer, at the rustling of\nthe breeze amidst the leaves of trees, for fear of the darts of the\nenemy whistling and hurling in the open air.\n\n13. O! the gemming blossoms of the _guluncha_ arborets, with which our\nladies used to decorate their ears, are now shorn and torn and left\nforlorn (desolate) by the hands of Hari, like the lorn and lonesome\nheaths of the desert.\n\n14. They have robbed us of the all-producing kalpa-trees, and planted\nthem in their _mandana_ pleasure gardens now teeming with their\nshooting gems and verdant leaflets in the etherial sphere.\n\n15. The eyes of haughty demons, that formerly looked with pity on the\nfaces of their captured gods; are now indignantly looked upon by the\nvictorious gods, who have made captives of them.\n\n16. It is known, that the water (liquid ichor) which is poured from the\nmouths of the spouting elephants of heaven on the tops of the\nmountains, falls down in the form of cascades, and gives rise to rivers\non earth. (It means the water spouts resembling the trunks of\nelephants, which lifted the sea water to the sky, and let them fall on\nmountain tops to run as rivers below).\n\n17. But the froth exuding from the faces of our elephantic giants, is\ndried up to dust at the sights of the Devas, as a channel is sucked up\nin the dry and dreary desert of sand.\n\n18. Ah! where have those Daityas fled, whose bodies were as big as the\npeaks of mount Meru once, and were fanned by the fragrant breeze,\nbreathing with the odorous dust of Mand\u00e1ra flowers. (Mand\u00e1ra is the\nname of a flower of the garden of Paradise).\n\n19. The beauteous ladies of the gods and Gandharvas, that were once\ndetained as captives in the inner apartments of demons, are now\nsnatched from us, and placed on Meru (the seat of the gods), as if they\nare transplanted there to grow as heavenly plants.\n\n20. O how painful is it to think! that the fading graces of our\ncaptured girls, are now mocked by the heavenly nymphs, in their\ndisdainful dance over their defeat and disgrace.\n\n21. O it is painful to think! that the attending damsels, that fanned\nmy father with their _chouri_ flappers, are now waiting upon the\nthousand-eyed Indra in their servile toil.\n\n22. O! the greatest of our grief is, this sad and calamitous fall of\nours at the hands of a single Hari, who has reduced us to this state of\nhelpless impotency.\n\n23. The gods now reposing under the thick and cooling shades of trees,\nare as cool as the rocks of the icy mountain (Him\u00e1laya); and do not\nburn with rage nor repine in grief like ourselves.\n\n24. The gods protected by the power of Sauri (Hari), are raised to the\npinnacle of prosperity, have been mocking and restraining us in these\ncaves, as the apes on trees do the dogs below. (The enmity of dogs and\napes is proverbial, as obstructing one another from alighting on or\nrising above the ground).\n\n25. The faces of our fairies though decked with ornaments, are now\nbedewed with drops of their tears; like the leaves of lotuses with the\ncold dews of night.\n\n26. The old stage of this aged world, which was worsted and going to be\npulled down by our might, is now supported upon the azure arms of Hari,\nlike the vault of heaven standing upon the blue arches of the cerulean\nsky.\n\n27. That Hari has become the support of the celestial host, when it was\nabout to be hurled into the depth of perdition; in the same manner as\nthe great _tortoise_ supported the mount Mandara, as it was sinking in\nthe Milky ocean in the act of churning it. (Samudra manthana). This was\nthe act of the post-diluvians reclaiming from the sea all that had been\nswept into it at the great deluge.\n\n28. This our great father, and these mighty demons under him, have been\nlaid down to dust like the lofty hills, that were levelled with the\nground by the blasts of heaven at the end of the Kalpa.\n\n29. It is that leader of the celestial forces, the peerless destroyer\nof Madhu (Satan), that is able to destroy all and every thing by the\nfire in his hands (the flaming lightnings preceding the thunder bolts\nof Indra). (The twin gods, the thundering (vajrapani) Indra and the\nflaming (analapani) Upendra, bear great affinity to Jupiter tonitruous\nor the thundering Jove, and his younger brother the trident-bearer\nNeptune).\n\n30. His elder brother Indra baffles the battle axes in the hands of the\nmighty demons, by the force of the thunder-bolts held by his mightier\narms, as the big male monkeys kill their male offspring. (These\npassages prove the early invention of fire arms by the Aryans, to have\nbeen the cause of their victory over Daityas or the demigods).\n\n31. Though the missive weapons (lightnings), which are let fly by the\nlotus-eyed Vishnu be invincible; yet there is no weapon or instrument\nwhich can foil the force of the thunder: (lit. break the strong\nthunderbolt). (Vishnu the leader of Vishas or the first foreign\nsettlers of the land, overpowered the earth-born Daityas by his fire\nand fire arms, and dispossessed them of their soil, and reduced them to\nslavery. The descendants of the Vishas are the Vaishyas, who settled in\nIndia long before the Aryans).\n\n32. This Hari is inured in warfare, in the previous battles fought\nbetween him and our forefathers; in which they uprooted and flung great\nrocks at him, and waged many dreadful campaigns.\n\n33. It cannot be expected that he will be afraid of us, who stood\nvictorious in those continuous and most dreadful and destructive\nwarfares of yore.\n\n34. I have thought of one expedient only to oppose the rage of Hari,\nbeside which I find no other way for our safety (lit. remedy).\n\n35. Let us therefore with all possible speed, have recourse to him,\nwith full contriteness of our souls and understanding; because that god\nis the true refuge of the pious and the only resort of every body.\n\n36. There is no one greater than him in all the three worlds; for I\ncome to know, that it is Hari only, who is the sole cause of the\ncreation, sustentation and destruction or reproduction of the world.\n\n37. From this moment therefore, I will think only of that unborn\n(increate) N\u00e1r\u00e1yana for ever more; and I must rely on that N\u00e1r\u00e1yana,\nwho is present in all places, and is full in myself and filling all\nspace.\n\n38. Obeisance to N\u00e1r\u00e1yana forms my faith and profession, for my success\nin all undertakings; and may this faith of mine ever abide in my heart,\nas the wind has its place in the midst of empty air.\n\n39. Hari is to be known as filling all sides of space and vacuum, and\nevery part of this earth and all these worlds; my ego is the\nimmeasurable Spirit of Hari, and my inborn soul is full of Vishnu.\n\n40. He that is not full with Vishnu in himself, does not benefit by his\nadoration of Vishnu; but he who worships Vishnu by thinking himself as\nsuch, finds himself assimilated to his god, and becomes one with him.\n(Or rather he loses himself in his God and perceives nought besides).\n\n41. He who knows Hari to be the same with Prahl\u00e1da, and not different\nfrom him, finds Hari to fill his inward soul with his spirit. (So says\nthe Sruti:\u2014Prahl\u00e1da was the incarnate Hari himself).\n\n42. The eagle of Hari (son of Vinat\u00e1) flies through the infinite space\nof the sky as the presence of Hari fills all infinity, and his golden\nbody-light, is the seat of my Hari also. (Here the bird of heaven means\nthe sun, which is said to be the seat of Hari).\n\n43. The claws of this bird,\u2014Kara (or rays) serve for the weapons of\nVishnu; and the flash of his nails, is the flash of the Vishnu\u2019s\nweapons. (Here Garuda bird of heaven, serves for a personification of\nthe sun, and his claws and nails represent the rays of solar light).\n\n44. These are the four arms of Vishnu and their armlets, which are\nrepresented by the four gemming pinnacles of mount Mandara which were\ngrappled by the hands of Hari, at his churning of the milky ocean with\nit.\n\n45. This moonlike figure with the chouri flapper in her hand and rising\nfrom the depth of the milky ocean, is the goddess of prosperity\n(Laksmi) and associating consort of Vishnu.\n\n46. She is the brilliant glory of Hari, which was easily acquired by\nhim, and is ever attendant on his person with undiminished lustre, and\nilluminates the three worlds as a radiant medicinal tree\u2014_mahaushadhi_.\n\n47. There is the other companion of Vishnu called M\u00e1y\u00e1 or illusion,\nwhich is ever busy in the creation of worlds upon worlds, and in\nstretching a magical enchantment all about them.\n\n48. Here is the goddess Victory (Jay\u00e1), an easy earned attendant on\nVishnu, and shines as a shoot of the kalpa tree, extending to the three\nworlds as an all-pervading plant.\n\n49. These two warming and cooling luminaries of the sun and moon, which\nserve to manifest all the worlds to view, are the two eyes situated on\nthe forehead of my Vishnu.\n\n50. This azure sky is the cerulean hue of the body of my Vishnu, which\nis as dark as a mass of watery cloud; and darkens the sphere of heaven\nwith its sky blue radiance. The meaning of the word Vishnu was\nafterward changed to the residing divinity in all things from the root\nvish.\n\n51. Here is the whitish conch in the hand of my Hari, which is sonant\nwith its fivefold notes (panchajanya), and is as bright as the\nvacuum\u2014the receptacle of sound, and as white as the milky ocean of\nheavens (the milky path).\n\n52. Here I see the lotus in the hand of Vishnu, representing the lotus\nof his navel the seat of Brahm\u00e1, who rose from and sat upon it, as a\nbee to form his hive of the world.\n\n53. I see the cudgel of my Vishnu\u2019s hand (the god\u00e1) studded with gems\nabout it, in the lofty peak of the mountain of Sumeru, beset by its\ngemming stones, and hurling down the demons from its precipice.\n\n54. I see here the discus (chakra) of my Hari, in the rising luminary\nof the sun, which fills all sides of the infinite Space, with the\nradiant beams emanating from it.\n\n55. I see there in the flaming fire, the flashing sword\u2014nandaka of\nVishnu, which like an axe hath cut down the gigantic bodies of Daityas\nlike trees, while it gave great joy to the gods.\n\n56. I see also the great bow of Vishnu (S\u00e1ranga), in the variegated\nrainbow of Indra; and also the quiver of his arrows in the Pushkara and\nAvarta clouds, pouring down their rains like piercing arrows from above.\n\n57. The big belly (Jathara) of Vishnu, is seen in the vast vacuity of\nthe firmament, which contains all the worlds and all the past, present,\nand future creations in its spacious womb.\n\n58. I see the earth as the footstool of Vir\u00e1t, and the high sky as the\ncanopy on his head; his body is the stupendous fabric of the universe,\nand his sides are the sides of the compass.\n\n59. I see the great Vishnu visibly manifest to my view, as shining\nunder the cerulean vault of heaven, mounted on his eagle of mountain,\nand holding his conchshell, discus, cudgel and the lotus in his hands\n(in the manner described above).\n\n60. I see the wicked and evil minded demons, flying from me in the\nmanner of the fleeting straws, which are blown and borne away after by\nthe breath of the winds. (Lit.:\u2014as the heaps of straw or hay _tarna_).\n\n61. This sable deity with his hue of the blue sapphire and mantle\nyellow, holding the club and mounted on the eagle and accompanied by\nLakshm\u00ed; is no other than the selfsame Imperishable One. (Vishnu\nlatterly called (Krishna) is the queller of demons, like Christ in the\nbattle of the gods and Titan, and is believed to be the only begotten\nSon of God).\n\n62. What adverse Spirit can dare approach this all-devouring flame,\nwithout being burnt to death, like a flight of moths falling on a vivid\nfire?\n\n63. None of these hosts of gods or demigods that I see before me, is\nable to withstand the irresistible course of the destination of Vishnu.\nAnd all attempts to oppose it, will be as vain as for our weak-sighted\neyes to shut out the light of the sun.\n\n64. I know the gods Brahm\u00e1, Indra, Siva and Agni (Ignis\u2014the god of\nfire), praise in endless verses and many tongues, the Vishnu as\ntheir Lord.\n\n65. This Lord is ever resplendent with his dignity, and is invincible\nin his might; He is the Lord beyond all doubt, dispute and duality, and\nis joined with transcendent majesty.\n\n66. I bow down to that person, which stands as a firm rock amidst the\nforest of the world, and is a defence from all fears and dangers. It is\na stupendous body having all the worlds situated in its womb, and\nforming the essence and substance of every distinct object of vision.\n(Here Vishnu is shown in his microcosmic form of Vir\u00e1t (Virat murti)).\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXXII.\n\n THE SPIRITUAL AND FORMAL WORSHIP OF VISHNU.\n\n\nArgument. Prahl\u00e1da\u2019s Worship of Vishnu both in spirit and his Image.\nWitnessed by the gods, as the Beginning of Hero and Idol Worship.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014After Prahl\u00e1da had meditated on Vishnu in the\naforesaid manner, he made an image of him as N\u00e1r\u00e1yana himself, and\nthought upon worshipping that enemy of the Asura race. (Here Vishnu\u2014the\nchief of Vishas and destroyer of Asuras, is represented as the spirit\nof N\u00e1r\u00e1yana, and worshipped in that form).\n\n2. And that this figure might not be otherwise than the form of Vishnu\nhimself, he invoked the Spirit of Vishnu to be settled in this his\nout-ward figure also. (This was done by incantation of Pranpratishth\u00e1,\nor the charm of enlivening an idol in thought).\n\n3. It was seated on the back of the heavenly bird Garuda, arrayed with\nthe quadruple attributes (of will, intelligence, action and mercy), and\narmed with the fourfold arms holding the conchshell, discus, club and a\nlotus. (This passage shows the fictitious representation of the person\nof Vishnu, with his fourfold arms of these, the two original arms with\nthe cudgel and discus were in active use, while the two fictitious and\nimmovable ones, with the conchshell and lotus, were clapped on for mere\nshow).\n\n4. His two eye-balls flashed, like the orbs of the sun and moon in their\noutstretched sockets; his palms were as red as lotuses, and his bow\n_saranga_ and the sword _nandaka_ hang on his two shoulders and sides.\n\n5. I will worship this image, said he, with all my adherents and\ndependants, with an abundance of grateful offerings agreeable to my\ntaste. Gloss. Things delectable to one\u2019s taste, are most acceptable to\nthe gods.[12]\n\n6. I will worship this great god always, with all kinds of offering of\nprecious gems and jewels, and all sorts of articles for bodily use and\nenjoyment.\n\n7. Having thus made up his mind, Prahl\u00e1da collected an abundance of\nvarious things, and made offerings of them in his mind, in his worship\nof M\u00e1dhava\u2014the lord of Lakshm\u00ed. (M\u00e1 and R\u00e1ma are titles of Lakshm\u00ed).\n\n8. He offered rich gems and jewels in plates of many kinds, and\npresented sandal pastes in several pots; he burnt incense and lighted\nlamps in rows, and placed many valuables and ornaments in sacred\nvessels.\n\n9. He presented wreaths of Mand\u00e1ra flowers, and chains of lotuses made\nof gold, together with garlands of leaves and flowers of kalpa plants,\nand bouquets and nosegays studded with gems and pearls.\n\n10. He hung hangings of leaves and leaflets of heavenly arbors, and\nchaplets and trimmings of various kinds of flowers, as _vakas_ and\n_kundas_, _kinkiratas_ and white, blue and red lotuses.\n\n11. There were wreaths of _kahlara_, _Kunda_, _K\u00e1sa_ and _Kinsuka_\nflowers; and clusters of _Asoka_, _Madana_, _Bela_ and _k\u00e1nik\u00e1ra_\nblossoms likewise.\n\n12. There were florets of the _Kadamba_, _Vakala_, _nimba_,\n_Sindhuv\u00e1ra_ and _Y\u00fathikas_ also; and likewise heaps of _p\u00e1ribhadra_,\n_gugguli_ and _Venduka_ flowers.\n\n13. There were strings of _priyangu_, _p\u00e1tala_, _p\u00e1ta_ and _p\u00e1tala_\nflowers; and also the blossoms of _\u00e1mra_, _\u00e1mrataka_ and _gavyas_; and\nthe bulbs of _haritaki_ and _vibhitaki_ myrabolans.\n\n14. The flowers of _S\u00e1la_ and _tam\u00e1la_ trees, were strung together with\ntheir leaves; and the tender buds of _Sahak\u00e1ras_, were fastened\ntogether with their farinaceous pistils.\n\n15. There were the _ketakas_ and centipetalous flowers, and the shoots\nof _ela_ cardamums; together with everything beautiful to sight and the\ntender of one\u2019s soul likewise.\n\n16. Thus did Prahl\u00e1da worship his lord Hari in the inner apartment of\nhis house, with offerings of all the richest things in the world,\njoined with true faith and earnestness of his mind and spirit.[13]\n\n17. Thus did the monarch of D\u00e1navas, worship his lord Hari externally\nin his holy temple, furnished with all kind of valuable things on\nearth. (The external worship followed that of his internal worship in\nfaith and spirit. These two are distinctly called the _m\u00e1nasa_ and\n_b\u00e1jhya pujas_ and observed one after the other by every orthodox\nHindu, except the Brahmos and ascetics who reject the latter formality).\n\n18. The D\u00e1nava sovereign became the more and more gratified in his\nspirit, in proportion as he adored his god with more and more of his\nvaluable outer offerings.\n\n19. Henceforward did Prahl\u00e1da continue, to worship his lord god day\nafter day, with earnestness of his soul, and the same sort of rich\nofferings every day.\n\n20. It came to pass that the Daityas one and all turned Vaishnavas;\nafter the example of their king; and worshipped Hari in their city and\ntemples without intermission.\n\n21. This intelligence reached to heaven and to the abode of the gods,\nthat the Daityas having renounced their enmity to Vishnu, have turned\nhis faithful believers and worshippers _in toto_.[14]\n\n22. The Devas were all astonished to learn, that the Daityas had\naccepted the Vaishnava faith; and even Indra marvelled with the body of\nRudras about him, how the Daityas came to be so at once.\n\n23. The astonished Devas then left their celestial abode, and repaired\nto the warlike Vishnu, reposing on his serpent couch in the milky ocean.\n\n24. They related to him the whole account of the Daityas, and they\nasked him as he sat down, the cause of their conversion, wherewith they\nwere so much astonished.\n\n25. The gods said:\u2014How is it Lord! that the demons who had always been\naverse to thee, have now come to embrace thy faith, which appears to us\nas an act of magic or their hypocrisy.\n\n26. How different is their present transformation to the Vaishnava\nfaith, which is acquired only after many transmigrations of the soul,\nfrom their former spirit of insurrection, in which they broke down the\nrocks and mountains.\n\n27. The rumour that a clown has become a learned man, is as gladsome as\nit is doubtful also, as the news of the budding of blossoms out of\nseason.\n\n28. Nothing is graceful without its proper place, as a rich jewel loses\nits value, when it is set with worthless pebbles. (The show of goodness\nof the vile, is a matter of suspicion).\n\n29. All animals have their dispositions conforming with their own\nnatures; how then can the pure faith of Vishnu, agree with the doggish\nnatures of the Daityas?\n\n30. It does not grieve us so much to be pierced with thorns and needles\nin our bodies, as to see things of opposite natures, to be set in\nconjunction with one another.\n\n31. Whatever is naturally adapted to its time and place, the same seems\nto suit it then and there; hence the lotus has its grace in water and\nnot upon the land.\n\n32. Where are the vile Daityas, prone to their misdeeds at all times;\nand how far is the Vaishnava faith from them that can never appreciate\nits merit?\n\n33. O lord! as we are never glad to learn a lotus-bed to be left to\nparch in the desert soil; so we can never rejoice at the thought, that\nthe race of demons will place their faith in Vishnu\u2014the lord of gods.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXXIII.\n\n PRAHL\u00c1DA\u2019S SUPPLICATION TO HARI.\n\n\nArgument. Hari\u2019s Visit to Prahl\u00e1da, and his Adoration of him.\n\n\nVasishtha said:\u2014The lord of Lakshm\u00ed, seeing the gods so clamorous in\ntheir accusation of the demons, gave his words to them in sounds as\nsonorous as those of the rainy clouds, in response to the loud noise of\nscreaming and thirst-stricken peacocks.\n\n2. The Lord Hari said:\u2014Don\u2019t you marvel ye gods! at Prahl\u00e1da\u2019s faith in\nme; as it is by virtue of the virtuous acts of his past lives, that\npious prince is entitled to his final liberation in this his present\nlife.\n\n3. He shall not have to be born again in the womb of a woman, nor to be\nreproduced in any form on earth; but must remain aloof from\nregeneration, like a fried pea which does not germinate any more.\n\n4. A virtuous man turning impious, becomes of course the source of\nevil; but an unworthy man becoming meritorious, is doubtless a step\ntowards his better being and blessedness.\n\n5. You good gods that are quite happy in your blessed seats in heaven,\nmust not let the good deserts of Prahl\u00e1da be any cause of your\nuneasiness.\n\n6. Vasishtha resumed:\u2014The Lord having thus spoken to the gods, became\ninvisible to them, like a feather floating on the surface of waves.\n\n7. The assemblage of the immortals then repaired to their heavenly\nabodes after taking their leave of the god; as the particles of sea\nwater are borne to the sky by the zephyrs, or by the agitation of the\nMandara mountain.\n\n8. The gods were henceforth pacified towards Prahl\u00e1da; because the mind\nis never suspicious of one who has the credit of his superiors.\n\n9. Prahl\u00e1da also continued in the daily adoration of his god, with the\ncontriteness of his heart, and in the formulas of his spiritual, oral\nand bodily services.\n\n10. It was in the course of his divine service in this manner, that he\nattained the felicity proceeding from his right discrimination,\nself-resignation and other virtues with which he was crowned.\n\n11. He took no delight in any object of enjoyment, nor felt any\npleasure in the society of his consorts, all which he shunned as a stag\nshuns a withered tree, and the company of human beings.\n\n12. He did not walk in the ways of the ungodly, nor spent his time in\naught but religious discourses. His mind did not dwell on visible\nobjects, as the lotus never grows on dry land.\n\n13. His mind did not delight in pleasures, which were all linked with\npain; but longed for its liberation, which is as entire of itself and\nunconnected with anything, as a single grain of unperforated pearl.\n\n14. But his mind being abstracted from his enjoyments, and not yet\nsettled in its trance of ultimate rest; had been only waving between\nthe two states, like a cradle swinging in both ways.\n\n15. The god Vishnu, who knew all things by his all-knowing\nintelligence; beheld the unsettled state of Prahl\u00e1da\u2019s mind, from his\nseat in the milky ocean.\n\n16. Pleased at Prahl\u00e1da\u2019s firm belief, he proceeded by the sub-terranean\nroute to the place of his worship, and stood confest before him at\nthe holy altar.\n\n17. Seeing his god manifest to his view, the lord of the demons\nworshipped him with two-fold veneration, and made many respectful\nofferings to his lotus-eyed deity more than his usual practice.\n\n18. He then gladly glorified his god with many swelling orisons, for\nhis deigning to appear before him in his house of worship.\n\n19. Prahl\u00e1da said:\u2014I adore thee, O my lord Hari! that art unborn and\nundecaying; that art the blessed receptacle of three worlds; that\ndispellest all darkness by the light of thy body; and art the refuge of\nthe helpless and friendless.\n\n20. I adore my Hari in his complexion of blue-lotus leaves, and of the\ncolour of the autumnal sky; I worship him whose body is of the hue of\nthe dark _bhramara_ bee; and who holds in his arms the lotus, discus,\nclub and the conch-shell.\n\n21. I worship the god that dwells in the lotus-like hearts of his\nvotaries, with his appearance of a swarm of sable bees; and holding a\nconch-shell as white as the bud of a lotus or lily, with the earrings\nringing in his ears with the music of humming bees.\n\n22. I resort to Hari\u2019s sky-blue shade, shining with the starry light of\nhis long stretching nails; his face shining as the full-moon with his\nsmiling beams, and his breast waving as the surface of Ganges, with the\nsparkling gems hanging upon it.\n\n23. I rely on that godling that slept on the leaf of the fig tree (when\nhis spirit floated on the surface of the waters); and that contains the\nuniverse in himself in his stupendous form of Vir\u00e1t; that is neither\nborn nor grown, but is always the whole by himself; and is possest of\nendless attributes of his own nature.\n\n24. I take my refuge in Hari, whose bosom is daubed with the red dust\nof the new-blown lotus, and whose left side is adorned by the blushing\nbeauty of Lakshm\u00ed; whose body is mantled by a coloured red coverlet;\nand besmeared with red sandal paste like liquid gold.\n\n25. I take my asylum under that Hari who is the destructive frost to\nthe lotus-bed of demons; and the rising sun to the opening buds of the\nlotus-bed of the deities; who is the source of the lotus-born Brahm\u00e1,\nand receptacle of the lotiform seat (cranium) of our understanding.\n\n26. My hope is in Hari\u2014the blooming lotus of the bed of the triple\nworld, and the only light amidst the darkness of the universe; who is\nthe principle of the intellect\u2014chit, amidst the gross material world\nand who is the only remedy of all the evils and troubles of this\ntransient life.\n\n27. Vasishtha continued:\u2014Hari the destroyer of demons, who is graced on\nhis side by the goddess of prosperity; being lauded with many such\ngraceful speeches of the demoniac lord, answered him as lovingly in his\nblue lotuslike form, as when the deep clouds respond to the peacocks\u2019\nscreams.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXXIV.\n\n PRAHL\u00c1DA\u2019S SELF KNOWLEDGE OF SPIRITUALISM.\n\n\nArgument. Prahl\u00e1da\u2019s meditations and attainment of spiritual knowledge\nby the blessing of Vishnu.\n\n\nThe Lord said:\u2014O thou rich jewel on the crown of the Daitya race!\nReceive thy desired boon of me for alleviation of thy worldly\nafflictions.\n\n2. Prahl\u00e1da replied:\u2014What better blessing can I ask of thee, my Lord!\nthan to instruct me in what thou thinkest thy best gift, above all\nother treasures of the world, and which is able to requite all our\nwants in this miserable life.\n\n3. The Lord answered:\u2014Mayst thou have a sinless boy! and may thy right\ndiscrimination of things, lead thee to thy rest in God, and the\nattainment of thy Supreme felicity, after dispersion of thy earthly\ncares, and the errors of this world.\n\n4. Vasishtha rejoined:\u2014Being thus bid by his god, the lord of demons\nfell into a profound meditation, with his nostrils snoring loudly like\nthe gurgling waters of the deep.\n\n5. As the lord Vishnu departed from his sight, the chief of the demons\nmade his oblations after him; consisting of handfuls of flowers and\nrich gems and jewels of various kinds.\n\n6. Then seated in his posture of _padm\u00e1sana_, with his legs folded over\none another, upon his elevated and elegant seat; and then chaunted his\nholy hymn and reflected within himself.\n\n7. My deliverer from this sinful world, has bade me to have my\ndiscrimination, therefore must I betake myself to discriminate between\nwhat is true and falsehood.\n\n8. I must know that I am in this darksome world, and must seek the\nlight of my soul as also what is that principle (Ego), that makes me\nspeak, walk and take the pains to earn myself.\n\n9. I perceive it is nothing of this external world, like any of its\nverdant trees or hills; the external bodies are all of a gross nature,\nbut my _ego_ is quite a simple and pure essence.\n\n10. I am not this insensible body, which is both dull and dumb, and is\nmade to move for a moment by means of the vital airs. It is an unreal\nappearance of a transitory existence.\n\n11. I am not the insensible sound, which is a vacuous substance and\nproduced in vacuity. It is perceptible by the ear-hole, and is as\nevanescent and inane as empty air.\n\n12. I am neither the insensible organ of touch, or the momentary\nfeeling of taction; but find myself to be an inward principle with the\nfaculty of intellection, and the capacity of knowing the nature of the\nsoul.\n\n13. I am not even my taste, which is confined to the relishing of\ncertain objects, and to the organ of the tongue; which is a trifling\nand ever restless thing, sticking to and moving in the cavity of the\nmouth.\n\n14. I am not my sight, that is employed in seeing the visibles only; it\nis weak and decaying and never lasting in its power, nor capable of\nviewing the invisible Spirit.\n\n15. I am not the power of my smelling, which appertains to my nasal\norgan only, and is conversant with odorous substances for a short\nmoment only. (Fragrance is a fleeting thing).\n\n16. I am pure intelligence, and none of the sensations of my five\nexternal organs of sense; I am neither my mental faculty, which is ever\nfrail and fruit; nor is there any thing belonging to me or\nparticipating of my true essence. I am the soul and an indivisible\nwhole.\n\n17. I am the ego or my intellect, without the objects of intellection\n(_i.e._ the thinking principle freed from its thoughts). My _ego_\npervades internally and externally over all things, and manifests them\nto the view. I am the whole without its parts, pure without foulness\nand everlasting.\n\n18. It is my intellection that manifests to me this pot and that\npainting, and brings all other objects to my knowledge by its pure\nlight; as the sun and a lamp show everything to the sight.\n\n19. Ah! I come to remember the whole truth at present, that I am the\nimmutable and all pervading Spirit, shining in the form of the\nintellect (Gloss. The internal and intellectual Soul, is the Spirit of\nGod).\n\n20. This essence evolves itself into the various faculties of sense; as\nthe inward fire unfolds itself into the forms of its flash and flame,\nand its sparks and visible light.\n\n21. It is this principle which unfolds itself, into the forms of the\ndifferent organs of sense also; as the all-diffusive heat of the hot\nseason, shows itself in the shape of mirage in sandy deserts.\n\n22. It is this element likewise which constitutes the substance of all\nobjects; as it is the light of the lamp which is the cause of the\nvarious colours of things; as the whiteness or other of a piece of\ncloth or any other thing. (The intrinsic perceptivity of the soul,\ncauses the extrinsic senses and their separate organs).\n\n23. It is the source of the perception of all living and waking beings,\nand of everything else in existence; and as a mirror is the reflector\nof all outward appearances, so is the Soul the reflective organ of all\nits internal and external phenomena.\n\n24. It is by means of this immutable intellectual light alone, that we\nperceive the heat of the sun, the coldness of the moon, solidity of the\nrock and the fluidity of water.\n\n25. This one is the prime cause of every object of our continuous\nperceptions in this world; this is the first cause of all things,\nwithout having any prior cause of its own. (The soul produces the body,\nand not the body brings forth the soul).\n\n26. It is this that produces our notions of the continuity of objects\nthat are spread all around us, and take the name of objects from their\nobjectivity of the soul; as a thing is called not from the heat which\nmakes it such.\n\n27. It is this formless cause, that is the prime cause of all plastic\nand secondary causes (such as Brahm\u00e1 the creative agent and others). It\nis from this that the world has its production, as coldness is the\nproduce of cold and the like.\n\n28. The gods Brahm\u00e1, Vishnu, Rudra and Indra, who are causes of the\nexistence of the world, all owe their origin to this prime cause, who\nhas no cause of himself.\n\n29. I hail that Supreme soul which is imprest in me, and is apart from\nevery object of thought of the intellect, and which is self-manifest in\nall things and at all times.\n\n30. All beings besides, stand in the relation of modes and modalities\nto this Supreme Being; and they immerge as properties in that\nintellectual Spirit.\n\n31. Whatever this internal and intelligent Soul wills to do, the same\nis done every where; and nothing besides that self same soul exists in\nreality any where.\n\n32. Whatever is intended to be done by this intellectual power, the\nsame receives a form of its own; and whatever is thought to be undone\nby the intellect, the same is dissolved into nought from its\nsubstantiality.\n\n33. These numberless series of worldly objects (as this pot, these\npaintings and the like), are as shades cast on the immense mirror of\nvacuum (or as air-drawn pictures represented on the canvas of empty\nSpace).\n\n34. All these objects increase and decrease in their figures under the\nlight of the soul, like the shadows of things enlarging and diminishing\nthemselves in the sun shine.\n\n35. This internal Soul is invisible to all beings, except to those\nwhose minds are melted down in piety. It is seen by the righteous in\nthe form of the clear firmament.\n\n36. This great cause like a large tree, gives rise to all these visible\nphenomena like its germ and sprouts; and the movements of living\nbeings, are as the flitterings of bees about this tree.\n\n37. It is this that gives rise to the whole creation both in its ideal\nand real and mobile or quiescent forms; as a huge rock gives growth to\na large forest with its various kinds of big trees and dwarf\nshrubberies. (To him no high, no low, no great, no small, He fills, he\nbounds, connects, and equals all. Pope).\n\n38. It is not apart from anything, existing in the womb of this triple\nworld; but is residing alike in the highest gods, as in the lowest\ngrass below; and manifests them all full to our view.\n\n39. This is one with the ego, and the all-pervading soul; and is\nsituated as the moving spirit, and unmoving dullness of the whole.\n\n40. The universal soul is beyond the distinction, of my, thy or his\nindividual spirit; and is above the limits of time, and place, of\nnumber and manner, of form or figure or shape or size.\n\n41. It is one intelligent soul, which by its own intelligence, is the\neye and witness of all visible things; and is represented as having a\nthousand eyes and hands and as many feet. (Wherewith he sees and grasps\neverything, and stands and moves in every place).\n\n42. This is that ego of my-self, that wanders about the firmament, in\nthe body of the shining sun; and wanders in other forms also, as those\nof air in the current winds. (The first person I is used for supreme\nEgo).\n\n43. The sky is the azure body of my Vishnu with its accompaniments of\nthe conchshell, discus, club and the lotus, in the clouds, all which\nare tokens of prosperity in this world by their blissful rains. (Vishnu\nis the lord of Lakshm\u00ed or prosperity, which is another name for a\nplenteous harvest. Her other name Sr\u00ed the same with Ceres\u2014the goddess\nof corn and mother of Prosperine in Grecian mythology).[15]\n\n44. I find myself as identic with this god, while I am sitting in my\nposture of padm\u00e1sana and in this state of _Sam\u00e1dhi_\u2014hypnotism, and when\nI have attained my perfection in quietism. (which is the form of Vishnu\nin the serene sky).\n\n45. I am the same with Siva\u2014the god with his three eyes, and with his\neye-balls rolling like bees, on the lotus face of Gaur\u00ed; and it is I\nthat in the form of the god, Brahm\u00e1, contain the whole creation in me,\nas a tortoise contracts its limbs in itself. (The soul in rapture,\nseems to contain the macrocosm in itself).\n\n46. I rule over the world in the form of Indra, and as a monk I command\nthe monastery which has come down to me. _i.e._ I am an Indra, when I\nreign over my domain; and a poor monk, when I dwell in my humble cell.\n\n47. I (the Ego) am both the male and female, and I am both the boy and\ngirl; I am old as regards my soul, and I am young with regard to my\nbody, which is born and ever renewed.\n\n48. The ego is the grass and all kinds of vegetables on earth; as also\nthe moisture wherewith it grows them, like its thoughts in the ground\nof the intellect; in the same manner as herbs are grown in holes and\nwells by their moisture. _i.e._ The ego or soul is the pith and marrow\nof all substance.\n\n49. It is for pleasure that this ego has stretched out the world; like\na clever boy who makes his dolls of clay in play. (God forms the world\nfor his own amusement).\n\n50. This ego is myself that gives existence to all being, and it is I\nin whom they live and move about; and being at last forsaken by me, the\nwhole existence dwindles into nothing. (The ego is the individual as\nwell the universal soul).\n\n51. Whatever image is impressed in the clear mirror or mould of my\nintellect, the same and no other is in real existence, because there is\nnothing that exists beside or apart from myself.\n\n52. I am the fragrance of flowers, and the hue of their leaves; I am\nthe figure of all forms, and the perception of perceptibles.\n\n53. Whatever movable or immovable thing is visible in this world; I am\nthe inmost heart of it, without having any of its desires in my heart.\n\n54. As the prime element of moisture, is diffused in nature in the form\nof water; so is my spirit overspread in vegetables and all things at\nlarge in the form of vacuum. (Which is in the inside and outside of\nevery thing).\n\n55. I enter in the form of consciousness, into the interior of\neverything; and extend in the manner of various sensation at my own\nwill.\n\n56. As butter is contained in milk and moisture is inherent in water;\nso is the power of the intellect spread in all beings, and so the ego\nis situated in the interior of all things.\n\n57. The world exists in the intellect, at all times of the present,\npast and future ages; and the objects of intelligence, are all inert\nand devoid of motion; like the mineral and vegetable productions of\nearth.\n\n58. I am the all-grasping and all-powerful form of Vir\u00e1t, which fills\nthe infinite space, and is free from any diminution or decrease of its\nshape and size. I am this all-pervading and all-productive power, known\nas Vir\u00e1t m\u00farti or macrocosm (in distinction from the _s\u00fakshma-deha_ or\nmicrocosm).\n\n59. I have gained my boundless empire over all worlds, without my\nseeking or asking for it; and without subduing it like Indra of old or\ncrushing the gods with my arms. (Man is the lord of the world of his\nown nature, or as the poet says:\u2014\u201cI am the Monarch of all I survey, and my\nright there is none to dispute\u201d).\n\n60. O the extensive spirit of God! I bow down to that spirit in my\nspirit; and find myself lost in it, as in the vast ocean of the\nuniversal deluge.\n\n61. I find no limit of this spirit; as long as I am seated in the\nenjoyment of my spiritual bliss; but appear to move about as a minute\nmollusk, in the fathomless expanse of the milky ocean.\n\n62. This temple of Brahm\u00e1nda or mundane world, is too small and\nstraitened for the huge body of my soul; and it is impossible for me\nto be contained in it, as it is for an elephant to enter into the hole\nof a needle.\n\n63. My body stretches beyond the region of Brahm\u00e1, and my attributes\nextend beyond the categories of the schools, and there is no definite\nlimitation given of them to this day.\n\n64. The attribute of a name and body to the unsupported soul is a\nfalsehood, and so is it to compress the unlimited soul within the\nnarrow bounds of the body.\n\n65. To say this is I, and this another, is altogether wrong; and what\nis this body or my want of it, or the state of living or death to me?\n(Since the soul is an immortal and etherial substance and my true-self\nand essence).\n\n66. How foolish and short-witted were my forefathers, who having\nforsaken this spiritual domain, have wandered as mortal beings in this\nfrail and miserable world.\n\n67. How great is this grand sight of the immensity of Brahma; and how\nmean are these creeping mortals, with their high aims and ambition, and\nall their splendours of royalty. (The glory of God, transcends the\nglory of glorious sun).\n\n68. This pure intellectual sight of mine, which is fraught with endless\njoy, accompanied by ineffable tranquility, surpasses all other sights\nin the whole world. (The rapture of heavenly peace and bliss, has no\nbounds).\n\n69. I bow down to the Ego, which is situated in all beings; which is\nthe intelligent and intellectual soul, and quite apart from whatever is\nthe object of intellection or thought (_i.e._ the unthinkable spirit).\n\n70. I who am the unborn and increate soul, reign triumphant over this\nperishing world; by my attainment to the state of the great universal\nspirit, which is the chief object of gain\u2014the _summum bonum_ of mortal\nbeings, and which I live to enjoy. (This sublimation of the human soul\nto the state of the supreme spirit, and enjoyment of spiritual\nbeatification or heavenly rapture, is the main aim and end of Yoga\nmeditation).\n\n71. I take no delight in my unpleasant earthly dominion, which is full\nof painful greatness; nor like to lose my everlasting realm of good\nunderstanding, which is free from trouble and full of perpetual delight.\n\n72. Cursed be the wicked demons that are so sadly ignorant of their\nsouls; and resort for the safety of their bodies, to their strongholds\nof woods and hills and ditches, like the insects of those places.\n\n73. Ignorance of the soul leads to the serving of the dull ignorant\nbody, with articles of food and raiment; and it was thus that our\nignorant elders pampered their bodies for no lasting good.\n\n74. What good did my father Hiranyakasipu reap, from his prosperity of\na few years in this world; and what did he acquire worthy of his\ndescent; in the line of the great sage Kasyapa?\n\n75. He who has not tasted the blissfulness of his soul, has enjoyed no\ntrue blessing, during his long reign of a hundred years in this world.\n\n76. He who has gained the ambrosial delight of his spiritual bliss, and\nnothing of the temporary blessings of life; has gained something which\nis ever full in itself, and of which there is no end to the end of the\nworld.\n\n77. It is the fool and not the wise, who forsakes this infinite joy for\nthe temporary delights of this world; and resembles the foolish camel\nwhich foregoes his fodder of soft leaves, for browzing the prickly\nthorns of the desert.\n\n78. What man of sense would turn his eyes from so romantic a sight, and\nlike to roam in a city burnt down to the ground: and what wise man is\nthere that would forsake the sweet juice of sugarcane, in order to\ntaste the bitterness of Nimba?\n\n79. I reckon all my forefathers as very great fools, for their leaving\nthis happy prospect, in order to wander in the dangerous paths of their\nearthly dominion.\n\n80. Ah! how delightful is the view of flowering gardens, and how\nunpleasant is the sight of the burning deserts of sand; how very quiet\nare these intellectual reveries, and how very boisterous are the\ncravings of our hearts!\n\n81. There is no happiness to be had in this earth, that would make us\nwish for our sovereignty in it; all happiness consists in the peace of\nthe mind, which it concerns us always to seek.\n\n82. It is the calm, quiet and unaltered state of the mind, that gives\nus true happiness in all conditions of life; and the true realm of\nthings in all places and at all times, and under every circumstance in\nlife.\n\n83. It is the virtue of sunlight to enlighten all objects, and that of\nmoonlight to fill us with its ambrosial draughts; but the light of\nBrahma transcends them both, by filling the three worlds with its\nspiritual glory; which is brighter than sun-beams, and cooler than\nmoon-light.\n\n84. The power of Siva stretches over the fulness of knowledge, and that\nof Vishnu over victory and prosperity (Jayas-Lakshm\u00ed). Fleetness is the\ncharacter of the mental powers, and force is the property of the wind.\n\n85. Inflammation is the property of fire, and moisture is that of\nwater; taciturnity is the quality of devotees for success of devotion,\nand loquacity is the qualification of learning.\n\n86. It is the nature of the aerials to move about in the air, and of\nrocks to remain fixed on the ground; the nature of water is to set deep\nand run downwards; and that of mountains to stand and rise upwards.\n\n87. Equanimity is the nature of Saugatas or Buddhists, and carousing is\nthe _penchant_ of wine-bibbers; the spring delights in its flowering,\nand the rainy season exults in the roaring of its clouds.\n\n88. The Yakshas are full of their delusiveness, and the celestials are\nfamiliar with cold and frost, and those of the torrid zone are inured\nin its heat. (This passage clearly shows the heaven of the Hindus, to\nhave been in the northern regions of cold and frost).\n\n89. Thus are many other beings suited to their respective climes and\nseasons, and are habituated to the very many modes of life and\nvarieties of habits; to which they have been accustomed in the past and\npresent times.\n\n90. It is the one Uniform and Unchanging Intellect, that ordains these\nmultiform and changing modifications of powers and things, according to\nits changeable will and velocity.\n\n91. The same unchanging Intellect presents these hundreds of changing\nscenes to us, as the same and invariable light of the sun, shows a\nthousand varying forms and colour to the sight.\n\n92. The same Intellect sees at a glance, these great multitudes of\nobjects, that fill the infinite space on all sides, in all the three\ntimes of the present, past and future.\n\n93. The selfsame pure Intellect knows at once, the various states of\nall things presented in this vast phenomenal world, in all the three\ntimes that are existent, gone by and are to come hereafter.\n\n94. This pure Intellect reflects at one and the same time, all things\nexistent in the present, past and future times; and is full with the\nforms of all things existing in the infinite space of the universe.\n\n95. Knowing the events of the three times, and seeing the endless\nphenomena of all worlds present before it, the divine intellect\ncontinues full and perfect in itself and at all times.\n\n96. The understanding ever continues the same and unaltered,\nnotwithstanding the great variety of its perceptions of innumerables of\nsense and thought: such as the different tastes of sweet and sour in\nhoney and _nimba_ fruit at the same time. (_i.e._ The varieties of\nmental perception and conception, make no change in the mind), as the\nreflexion of various figures makes no change in the reflecting glass.\n\n97. The intellect being in its state of arguteness, by abandonment of\nmental desires, and knowing the natures of all things by reducing their\ndualities into unity:\u2014\n\n98. It views them alike with an equal eye and at the same time;\nnotwithstanding the varieties of objects and their great difference\nfrom one another. (_i.e._ All the varieties blend into unity).\n\n99. By viewing all existence as non-existence, you get rid of your\nexisting pains and troubles, and by seeing all existence in the light\nof nihility, you avoid the suffering of existing evils.\n\n100. The intellect being withdrawn from its view of the events of the\nthree tenses (_i.e._ the occurrences of the past, present and future\ntimes), and being freed from the fetters of its fleeting thoughts,\nthere remains only a calm tranquility.\n\n101. The soul being inexpressible in words, proves to be a negative\nidea only; and there ensues a state of one\u2019s perpetual unconsciousness\nof his soul or self-existence. (This is the state of an\u00e6sthesia, which\nis forgetting oneself to a stock and stone).\n\n102. In this state of the soul it is equal to Brahma, which is either\nnothing at all or the All of itself; and its absorption in perfect\ntranquilness is called its liberation (moksha) or emancipation from all\nfeelings (bodhas).\n\n103. The intellect being vitiated by its volition, does not see the\nsoul in a clear light, as the hoodwinked eye has naught but a dim and\nhazy sight of the world.\n\n104. The intellect which is vitiated by the dirt of its desire and\ndislike, is impeded in its heavenly flight, like a bird caught in a\nsnare. (Nor love nor hate of aught, is the best state of thought).\n\n105. They who have fallen into the snare of delusion by their ignorant\nchoice of this or that, are as blind birds falling into the net in\nsearch of their prey.\n\n106. Entangled in the meshes of desire, and confined in the pit of\nworldliness, our fathers were debarred from this unbarred sight of\nspiritual light and endless delight.\n\n107. In vain did our forefathers flourish for a few days on the surface\nof this earth; only to be swept away like the fluttering flies and\ngnats, by a gust of wind into the ditch.\n\n108. If these foolish pursuers after the painful pleasures of the\nworld, had known the path of truth they would never fall into the dark\npit of unsubstantial pursuits.\n\n109. Foolish folks being subjected to repeated pains and pleasures by\ntheir various choice of things; follow at last the fate of ephemeral\nworms, that are born to move and die in their native ditches and bogs\n(_i.e._ as they are born of earth and dust so do they return to dust\nand earth again).\n\n110. He is said to be really alive who lives true to nature, and the\nmirage of whose desires and aversion, is suppressed like the fumes of\nhis fancy, by the rising cloud of his knowledge of truth.\n\n111. The hot and foul fumes of fancy, fly afar from the pure light of\nreason, as the hazy mist of night, is dispersed by the bright beams of\nmoon-light.\n\n112. I hail that soul which dwells as the inseparable intellect in me;\nand I come at last to know my God, that resides as a rich gem\nenlightening all the worlds in myself.\n\n113. I have long thought upon and sought after thee, and I have at last\nfound thee rising in myself; I have chosen thee from all others; and\nwhatever thou art, I hail thee, my Lord! as thou appearest in me.\n\n114. I hail thee in me, O lord of gods, in thy form of infinity within\nmyself, and in the shape of bliss within my enraptured soul; I hail\nthee, O Supreme Spirit! that art superior to and supermost of all.\n\n115. I bow down to that cloudless light, shining as the disk of the\nfull-moon in me; and to that self-same form, which is free from all\npredicates and attributes. It is the self risen light in myself, and\nthat felicitous selfsame soul, which I find in myself _alter ego_.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXXV.\n\n MEDITATION ON BRAHMA IN ONE\u2019S SELF.\n\n\nArgument. Pantheistic Adoration of the universal soul.\n\n\nPrahl\u00e1da continued:\u2014Om is the proper form of the One, and devoid of all\ndefalcation; that Om is this all, that is contained in this world. (The\nSruti says:\u2014Om is Brahma, and Om is this all, it is the first and last\n&c.).\n\n2. It is the intelligence, and devoid of flesh, fat, blood and bones;\nit abides in all things, and is the enlightener of the sun and all\nother luminous bodies.\n\n3. It warms the fire and moistens the water (_i.e._ gives heat and\nmoisture to the fire and water). It gives sensation to the senses, and\nenjoys all things in the manner of a prince. (Warms in the sun,\nrefreshes in the breeze, &c. Pope).\n\n4. It rests without sitting, it goes without walking; it is active in\nits inactivity, it acts all without coming in tact with any thing.\n\n5. It is the past and gone, and also the present and even now; it is\nboth the next moment, and remote future also; it is all that is fit and\nproper, and whatever is unfit and improper likewise. (Changed through\nall, and yet in all the same. All Discord, harmony not understood,\ntends to universal good. Pope).\n\n6. Undaunted, it produces all productions, and spreads the worlds over\none another; it continues to turn about the worlds, from the Sphere of\nBrahma to the lower grounds of grass. (So Pope:\u2014Spreads through all\nextent, spreads undivided, operates unspent).\n\n7. Though unmoving and immutable, yet it is as fleeting and changeable\nas the flying winds; it is inert as the solid rock, and more\ntransparent than the subtile ether. \u201cThese as they change, are but the\nvaried God.\u201d Thomson.\n\n8. It moves the minds of men, as the winds shake the leaves of trees;\nand it directs the organs of sense, as a charioteer manages his horses.\n\n9. The Intellect sits as the lord of this bodily mansion, which is\ncarried about as a chariot by the equestrians of the senses; and\nsitting at its own ease as sole monarch, it enjoys the fruitions of the\nbodily actions.\n\n10. It is to be diligently sought after, and meditated upon and lauded\nat all times; because it is by means of this only, that one may have\nhis salvation from the pains of his age and death, and the evils of\nignorance.\n\n11. It is easily to be found, and as easy to be familiarised as a\nfriend; it dwells as the humble bee, in the recess of the lotus-like\nheart of every body.\n\n12. Uncalled and uninvoked, it appears of itself from within the body;\nand at a slight call it appears manifest to view. (So the Sruti:\u2014The\nsoul becomes palpable to view).\n\n13. Constant service of and attendance on this all-opulent Lord, never\nmake him proud or haughty, as they do any other rich master to his\nhumble attendants.\n\n14. This Lord is as closely situated in every body, as fragrance and\nfluidity, are inherent in flowers and sesamum seeds; and as flavour is\ninseparably connected with liquid substances.\n\n15. It is by reason of our unreasonableness, that we are ignorant of\nthe Intellect, that is situated in ourselves; while our reasoning power\nserves to manifest it, as a most intimate friend to our sight.\n\n16. As we come to know this Supreme Lord, that is situated in us by our\nreasoning; we come to feel an ineffable delight in us, as at the sight\nof a beloved and loving friend.\n\n17. As this dearest friend appears to view, with his benign influence\nof shedding full bliss about us; we come to the sight of such glorious\nprospects, as to forget at once all our earthly enjoyments before them.\n\n18. All his fetters are broken loose and fall off from him, and all his\nenemies are put to an end; whose mind is not perforated by his\ncravings, like houses dug by the injurious mice.\n\n19. This one in all (_to pan_) being seen in us, the whole world is\nseen in Him; and He being heard, every thing is heard in Him: He being\nfelt, all things are felt in Him; and He being present, the whole world\nis present before us.\n\n20. He wakes over the sleeping world, and destroys the darkness of the\nignorant; He removes the dangers of the distressed, and bestows His\nblessings upon the holy. (So the sruti: _suptesuj\u00e1garti_. God never\nsleeps. Jones. The ever wakeful eyes of Jove. To wake over the sleeping\nworlds. Iliad).\n\n21. He moves about as the living soul of all, and rejoices as the\nanimal soul in all objects of enjoyment; it is He that glows in all\nvisible objects in their various hues. (Shines in the sun, and twinkles\nin the stars; blazes in the fire, and blushes in flowers. Pope).\n\n22. He sees himself in himself, and is quietly situated in all things;\nas pungency resides in peppers, and sweetness in sugar &c.\n\n23. He is situated as intelligence and sensations, in the inward and\noutward parts of living beings; and forms the essence and existence of\nall objects, in general, in the whole universe.\n\n24. He forms the vacuity of the sky, and the velocity of the winds; He\nis the light of igneous bodies, and the moisture of aqueous substances.\n\n25. He is the firmness of the earth, and the warmth of the fire; He is\nthe coldness of the moon, and the entity of every thing in the world.\n\n26. He is blackness in inky substances, and coldness in the particles\nof snow; and as fragrance resides in flowers, so is he resident in all\nbodies.\n\n27. It is his essence which fills all space, as the essence of time\nfills all duration; and it is his omnipotence that is the fountain of\nall forces, as it is his omnipresence that is the support of every\nthing in every place. (This is the pervasion, of omnipresence wrongly\ncalled as pantheism).[16]\n\n28. As the Lord unfolds everything to light, by the external organ of\nsight and the internal organ of thinking; so the Great God enlightens\nthe gods (sun, moon, Indra and others) by his own light. (The Natural\nTheism which represented the visible heavens and heavenly bodies as\ngods, maintained also the doctrine of the One Invisible God, as shining\nand supporting them all by his presence. Gloss).\n\n29. I am that I am, without the attributes (of form or figure or any\nproperty) in me; and I am as the clear air, unsullied by the particles\nof flying dust; and as the leaves of lotuses, untouched by their\nsupporting and surrounding waters.\n\n30. As a rolling stone gathers no moss, so there is nothing that\ntouches or bears any relation to my airy mind; and the pain and\npleasure which betake the body, cannot affect my form of the inner soul.\n\n31. The soul like a gourd fruit, is not injured by the shower of rain\nfalling on the outer body resembling its hard crust; and the intellect\nlike the flame of a lamp, is not to be held fast (or fastened) by a\nrope.\n\n32. So this ego of mine which transcends every thing, is not to be tied\ndown by any thing to the earth; nor does it bear any relation with the\nobjects of sense or my mental desires, or anything existent or not in\nexistence in this world.\n\n33. Who has the power to grasp the empty vacuum; or confine the mind?\nYou may cut the body to a thousand pieces, but you cannot divide the\ninvisible and the indivisible vacuous Spirit rising in me.\n\n34. As the pot being broken or bored, or removed from its place, there\nis no loss sustained by its containing or contained air; so the body\nbeing destroyed, there is no damage done to the unconnected soul; and\nthe mind is as false a name, as that of a demon or Pis\u00e1cha.\n\n35. The destruction of the gross body, does not injure the immaterial\nsoul; and what is the mind, but the perceptive power of my desires and\ngross pleasures and pains. (The organ of the mind is destroyed with the\nbody).\n\n36. I had such a percipient mind before, but now I have found my rest\nin quiescence. I find it is another thing beside myself, because it\nperceives and partakes of the enjoyments of life, and is exposed to the\ndangers that betake the body.\n\n37. There is another one in me (_i.e._ the soul or intellect), which\nbeholds the actions of the other (_i.e._ of the mind) as a theatric\nact; and witnesses the exposure of the body to peril, as its last sad\nand catastrophe.\n\n38. It is the wicked spirit, that is caught in ignorance; but the pure\nspirit has nothing to suffer: and I feel in myself neither the wish of\nmy continuing in worldly enjoyments, nor a desire of forsaking them\naltogether. (I enjoy my life while it lasts).[17]\n\n39. Let what may come to pass on me, and whatever may happen to pass\naway from me; I have neither the expectation of pleasures for me, nor\nan aversion to the suffering of pain. (in my gain or loss of any thing,\nin my resignation of myself to God).\n\n40. Let pleasure or pain betake or forsake me as it may, without my\nbeing concerned with or taking heed of either; because I know the\nfluctuating desires, to be incessantly rising and setting in the sphere\nof my mind.\n\n41. Let these desires depart from me, for I have nothing to do with\nthem, nor have they any concern with me. Alas! how have I been all this\ntime, misled to these by ignorance, which is my greatest enemy.\n\n42. It is by favour of Vishnu, and by virtue of my pure Vaishnava\nfaith, rising in me of itself, that my ignorance is now wholly\ndispelled from me, and the knowledge of the True One is revealed unto\nme.\n\n43. My knowledge of truth has now driven away my egoism (or knowledge\nof myself) from my mind; as they drive a spirit from its hiding-place\nin the hollow of a tree.\n\n44. I am now purified by admonition (mantra) of divine knowledge to me,\nand the arbour of my body is now set free from egoism, which sat as a\ndemon (Yaksha) in it.\n\n45. It is now become as a sacred arbour, blooming with heavenly\nflowers; and freed from the evils of ignorance, penury, and vain\nwishes, which infested it erewhile.\n\n46. Loaded with the treasure of sacred knowledge, I find myself sitting\nhere as one supremely-rich; and knowing all that is to be known, I see\nthe sights that are invisible to others.\n\n47. I have now got that in which nothing can be wanting, and wherein\nthere is no want besides; it is by my good fortune that I am freed from\nall evils, and the venomous serpents of worldly cares.\n\n48. My chill and frigid ignorance is melted down, by the light of\nknowledge; and the hot mirage of my desires, is now quenched and cooled\nby my quietude: I see the clear sky on all sides without any mist or\ndust and I rest under the cooling umbrage of the tranquility of my\nsoul.\n\n49. It is by my glorification of God, and my thanksgivings to Vishnu,\nmy holy rites and also by my divine knowledge and quietism; that I have\nobtained by grace of my God, a spacious room and elevated position in\nspirituality.\n\n50. I have got that god in my spirit, and have seen and known him also\nin his spiritual form. He is beyond my own ego, and I remember him\nalways in this manner.\n\n51. I remember Vishnu as the great Spirit, and eternal Brahma in his\nnature; while my egoism or selfishness is confined as a snake, in the\nholes of my organic frame, which is wholly the land of death. (The\nanimal soul is born to die with the mortal body).\n\n52. It is entangled in the bushes of its pricking desires, resembling\nthe prickly _karanja_ ferns; and amidst the tumults of raging passions,\nand a thousand other broils of this world.\n\n53. It is placed amidst the conflagration of calamities, and is\nencircled by the flames of smart pain at all times; it is subjected\nto continual ups and downs of fortune, and repeated risings and\nfallings in its journey in this world.\n\n54. It has its repeated births and deaths, owing to its interminable\ndesires; and thus I am always deceived by this great enemy\u2014my own\negoism.\n\n55. The animal soul is powerless at night, as if it were caught in the\nclutches of a demon in the forest; so I feel it now to be deprived of\nits power and action, while I am in this state of my meditation. (The\nanimal spirit is dormant in its states of physical and spiritual\ntrance).\n\n56. It is by grace of Vishnu, that the light of my understanding is\nroused; and as I see my God by means of this light, I lose the sight of\nmy demoniac egoism (_i.e._ I become unconscious of my existence at the\nsight of my Lord).\n\n57. The sight of the demoniac egoism dwelling in the cavity of my mind,\ndisappears from my view in the like manner; as the shadow of darkness\nflies from the light of a lamp, and as the shade of night is dispersed\nby day light.\n\n58. As you know not where the flame of the lighted lamp is fled, after\nit is extinguished; so we know not where our lordly egoism is hid, at\nthe sight of our God before us.\n\n59. My rich egoism flies at the approach of reason, as a heavy loaded\nrobber, flies before the advance of day light; and our false egoism\nvanishes as a demon, at the rising of the true Ego of God.\n\n60. My egoism being gone, I am set at ease like a tree, freed from a\npoisonous snake rankling in its hollow cavity. I am at rest and in my\ninsensibleness in this world, when I am awakened to my spiritual light.\n\n61. I have escaped from the hand of my captor, and gained my permanent\nascendency over others; I have got my internal coldness _sang froid_,\nand have allayed the mirage of my thirst after vain glory.\n\n62. I have bathed in the cold bath of rain water, and am pacified as a\nrock after the cooling of its conflagration; I am cleansed of my\negoism, by my knowledge of the true meaning of the term.\n\n63. What is ignorance and what are our pains and affliction? what are\nour evil desires, and what are our diseases and dangers? All these with\nthe ideas of heaven and liberation, together with the hope of heaven\nand the fear of hell, are but false conceptions proceeding from our\negoism or selfishness (or the cravings and loathings of our hearts).\n\n64. As a picture is drawn on a canvas and not in empty air, so our\nthoughts depend on our selfish principle and upon its want. And as it\nis the clear linen, that receives the yellow colour of saffron; so it\nis the pure soul that receives the image of God. It is egoism which\nvitiates the soul with the bilious passions of the heart, as a dirty\ncloth vitiates a goodly paint, with its inborn taint.\n\n65. Purity of the inward soul, is like the clearness of the autumnal\nsky; it is devoid of the cloudiness of egoism, and the drizzling drops\nof desires. (_i.e._ A pure soul is as clear as the unclouded sky).\n\n66. I bow down to thee, O my soul inmost! that art a stream of bliss to\nme, with pure limpid waters amidst, and without the dirt of egoism\nabout thee.\n\n67. I hail thee, O thou my soul! that art an ocean of joy to me,\nuninfested by the sharks of sensual appetites, and undisturbed by the\nsubmarine fire of the latent mind.\n\n68. I prostrate myself before thee, O thou quick soul of mine! that art\na mountain of delight to me, without the hovering clouds of egoistic\npassions, and the wild fires of gross appetites and desires.\n\n69. I bow to thee, O thou soul in me! that art the heavenly lake of\nManas to me, with the blooming lotuses of delight, and without the\nbillows of cares and anxieties.\n\n70. I greet thee my internal spirit! that floatest in the shape of a\nswan (hansa) in the lake of the mind (manas) of every individual, and\nresidest in the cavity of the lotiform cranium (Brahm\u00e1randhra), with\nthy outstretched wings of consciousness and standing.\n\n71. All hail to thee, O thou full and perfect spirit! that art the\nundivided and immortal soul, and appearest in thy several parts of the\nmind and senses; like the full-moon containing all its digits in its\nentire self.\n\n72. Obeisance to the sun of my intellect! which is always in its\nascendency and dispels the darkness of my heart; which pervades\neverywhere, and is yet invisible or dimly seen by us.\n\n73. I bow to my intellectual light, which is an oilless lamp of benign\neffulgence, and burns in full blaze within me and without its wick. It\nis the enlightener of nature, and quite still in its nature.\n\n74. Whenever my mind is heated by cupid\u2019s fire, I cool it by the\ncoolness of my cold and callous intellect coolness; as they temper the\nred-hot iron with a cold and hard hammer.\n\n75. I am gaining my victory over all things, by killing my egoism by\nthe Great Ego; and by making my senses and mind to destroy themselves.\n\n76. I bow to thee, O thou all subduing faith, that dost crush our\nignorant doubt by thy wisdom; dispellest the unrealities by thy\nknowledge of the reality, and removest our cravings by thy\ncontentedness.\n\n77. I subsist solely as the transparent spirit, by killing my mind by\nthe great Mind, and removing my egoism by the sole Ego, and by driving\nthe unrealities by the true Reality.\n\n78. I rely my body (_i.e._ I depend for my bodily existence), on the\nmoving principle of my soul only; without the consciousness of my\nself existence, my egoism, my mind and all its efforts and actions.\n\n79. I have obtained at last of its own accord, and by the infinite\ngrace of the Lord of all, the highest blessing of cold heartedness and\n_insouciance_ in myself.\n\n80. I am now freed from the heat of my feverish passions, by subsidence\nof the demon of my ignorance; from disappearance of the goblin of my\negoism.\n\n81. I know not where the falcon of my false egoism has fled, from the\ncage of my body, by breaking its string of desires to which it was fast\nbound in its feet.\n\n82. I do not know whither the eagle of my egotism is flown, from its\nnest in the arbor of my body, after blowing away its thick ignorance\nas dust.\n\n83. Ah! where is my egoism fled, with its body besmeared with the dust\nand dirt of worldliness, and battered by the rocks of its insatiable\ndesires? It is bitten by the deadly dragons of fears and dangers, and\npierced in its hearts by repeated disappointments and despair.\n\n84. O! I wonder to think what I had been all this time, when I was\nbound fast by my egoism in the strong chain of my personality.\n\n85. I think myself a new born being to-day, and to have become\nhighminded also, by being removed from the thick cloud of egoism, which\nhad shrouded me all this time.\n\n86. I have seen and known, and obtained this treasure of my soul, as it\nis presented to my understanding, by the verbal testimonies of the\ns\u00e1stras, and by the light of inspiration in my hour of meditation\n(sam\u00e1dhi).\n\n87. My mind is set at rest as extinguished fire, by its being released\nfrom the cares of the world; as also from all other thoughts and\ndesires and the error of egoism. I am now set free from my affections\nand passions, and all delights of the world, as also my craving after\nthem.\n\n88. I have passed over the impassable ocean of dangers and\ndifficulties, and the intolerable evils of transmigration; by the\ndisappearance of my internal darkness, and sight of the One Great God\nin my intellect.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXXVI.\n\n HYMN TO THE SOUL.\n\n\nArgument. Prahl\u00e1da getting the light of his internal soul, delights\nhimself as one in the company of his sweet-heart.\n\n\nPrahl\u00e1da continued:\u2014I thank thee, O lord and great spirit! that art\nbeyond all things, and art found in myself by my good fortune.\n\n2. I have no other friend, O my Lord, in the three worlds except thee;\nthat dost vouchsafe to embrace and look upon me, when I pray unto thee.\n\n3. It is thou that preservest and destroyest all, and givest all things\nto every body; and it is thou, that makest us move and work, and praise\nthy holy name. Now art thou found and seen by me, and now thou goest\naway from me.\n\n4. Thou fillest all being in the world with thy essence; thou art\npresent in all places, but where art thou now fled and gone from me?\n\n5. Great is the distance between us, even as the distance of the places\nof our birth, it is my good fortune of friend! that has brought thee\nnear me today, and presented thee to my sight (so fleeting is spiritual\nvision).\n\n6. I hail thee, thou felicitous one! that art my maker and preserver\nalso; I thank thee that art the stalk of this fruit of this world, and\nthat art the eternal and pure soul of all.\n\n7. I thank the holder of the lotus and discus, and thee also that\nbearest the crescent half moon on thy forehead\u2014great Siva. I thank the\nlord of gods\u2014Indra, and Brahm\u00e1 also, that is born of the lotus.\n\n8. It is a verbal usage that makes a distinction betwixt thee and\nourselves (_i.e._ between the Divine and animal souls); but this is a\nfalse impression as that of the difference between waves and their\nelemental water.\n\n9. Thou showest thyself in the shapes of the endless varieties of\nbeings, and existence and extinction are the two states of thyself from\nall eternity.\n\n10. I thank thee that art the creator and beholder of all, and the\nmanifester of innumerable forms. I thank thee that art the whole nature\nthyself.\n\n11. I have undergone many tribulations in the long course of past\nlives, and it was by thy will that I became bereft of my strength, and\nwas burnt away at last.\n\n12. I have beheld the luminous worlds, and observed many visible and\ninvisible things; but thou art not to be found in them. So I have\ngained nothing (from my observations).\n\n13. All things composed of earth, stone and wood, are formations of\nwater (the form of Vishnu), there is nothing here, that is permanent, O\ngod, beside thyself. Thou being obtained there is nothing else to\ndesire.\n\n14. I thank thee lord! that art obtained, seen and known by me this\nday; and that shalt be so preserved by me, as never to be obliterated\n(from my mind).\n\n15. Thy bright form which is interwoven by the rays of light, is\nvisible to us by inversion of the sight of the pupils of our eyes, into\nthe inmost recesses of our heart.\n\n16. As the feeling of heat and cold is perceived by touch, and as the\nfragrance of the flower is felt in the oil with which it is mixed; so I\nfeel thy presence by thy coming in contact with my heart.\n\n17. As the sound of music enters into the heart through the ears, and\nmakes the heart strings to thrill, and the hairs of the body to stand\nat an end; so is thy presence perceived in our hearts also.\n\n18. As the objects of taste are felt by the tip of the tongue, which\nconveys their relish to the mind; so is thy presence felt by my heart,\nwhen thou touchest it with thy love.\n\n19. How can one slight to look and lay hold on his inner soul which\nshoots through every sense of his body; when he takes up a sweet\nscenting flower, perceptible by the sense of smelling only, and finally\ndecorating his outer person with it.\n\n20. How can the supreme spirit, which is well known to us by means of\nthe teachings of the Vedas, Ved\u00e1nta, Sidh\u00e1ntas and the Pur\u00e1nas, as also\nby the Logic of schools and the hymns of the Vedas, be any way\nforgotten by us?\n\n21. These things which are pleasant to the bodily senses, do not\ngladden my heart, when it is filled by thy translucent presence.\n\n22. It is by thy effulgent light, that the sun shines so bright; as it\nis by thy benign lustre also, that the moon dispenses her cooling beams.\n\n23. Thou hast made these bulky rocks, and upheld the heavenly bodies;\nthou hast supported the stable earth, and lifted the spacious firmament.\n\n24. Fortunately thou hast become myself, and I have become one with\nthyself, I am identic with thee and thou with me, and there is no\ndifference between us.\n\n25. I thank the great spirit, that is expressed by turns by the words\nmyself and thyself; and mine and thine.\n\n26. I thank the infinite God, that dwells in my unegoistic mind; and I\nthank the formless Lord, that dwells in my tranquil soul.\n\n27. Thou dwellest, O Lord! in my formless, tranquil, transparent and\nconscious soul, as thou residest in thy own spirit, which is unbounded\nby the limitations of time and space.\n\n28. It is by thee that the mind has its action, and the senses have\ntheir sensations; the body has all its powers, and the vital and\nrespirative breaths have their inflations and afflations.\n\n29. The organs of the body are led by the rope of desire to their\nseveral actions, and being united with flesh, blood and bones, are\ndriven like the wheels of a car by the charioteer of the mind.\n\n30. I am the consciousness of my body, and am neither the body itself\nnor my egoism of it; let it therefore rise or fall, it is of no\nadvantage or disadvantage to me.\n\n31. I was born in the same time with my ego (as a personal, corporeal\nand sensible being); and it was long afterwards that I had the\nknowledge of my soul; I had my insensibility last of all, in the manner\nof the world approaching to its dissolution at the end.\n\n32. Long have I travelled in the long-some journey of the world; I am\nweary with fatigue and now rest in quiet, like the cooling fire of the\nlast conflagration. (_i.e._ Of the doomsday).\n\n33. I thank the Lord who is all (_to pan_), and yet without all and\neverything; and thee my soul! that art myself likewise. I thank thee\nabove those s\u00e1stras and preceptors, that teach the ego and tu (_i.e._\nthe subjective and objective).\n\n34. I hail the all witnessing power of that providential spirit, that\nhas made these ample and endless provisions for others, without\ntouching or enjoying them itself.\n\n35. Thou art the spirit that dwellest in all bodies in the form of the\nfragrance of flowers, and in the manner of breath in bellows; and as\nthe oil resides in the sesamum seeds.\n\n36. How wonderful is this magic scene of thine, that thou appearest in\neverything, and preservest and destroyest it at last, without having\nany personality of thy own.\n\n37. Thou makest my soul rejoice at one time as a lighted lamp, by\nmanifesting all things before it; and thou makest it joyous also, when\nit is extinguished as a lamp, after its enjoyment of the visibles.\n\n38. This universal frame is situated in an atom of thyself, as the big\nbanian tree is contained in the embryo of a grain of its fig.\n\n39. Thou art seen, O lord, in a thousand forms that glide under our\nsight; in the same manner as the various forms of elephants and horses,\ncars and other things are seen in the passing clouds on the sky.\n\n40. Thou art both the existence and absence of all things, that are\neither present or lost to our view; yet thou art quite apart from all\nworldly existences, and art aloof from all entities and non-entities in\nthe world.\n\n41. Forsake, O my soul! the pride and anger of thy mind, and all the\nfoulness and wiliness of thy heart; because the highminded never fall\ninto the faults and errors of the common people.\n\n42. Think over and over on the actions of thy past life, and the long\nseries of thy wicked acts; and then with a sigh blush to think upon\nwhat thou hadst been before, and cease to do such acts anymore.\n\n43. The bustle of thy life is past, and thy bad days have gone away;\nwhen thou wast wrapt in the net of thy tangled thoughts on all sides.\n\n44. Now thou art a monarch in the city of thy body, and hast the desire\nof thy mind presented before thee; thou art set beyond the reach of\npleasure and pain, and art as free as the air which nobody can grasp.\n\n45. As thou hast now subdued the untractable horses of thy bodily\norgans, and the indomitable elephant of thy mind; and as thou hast\ncrushed thy enemy of worldly enjoyment, so dost thou now reign as the\nsole sovereign, over the empire of thy body and mind.\n\n46. Thou art now become as the glorious sun, to shine within and\nwithout us day by day; and dost traverse the unlimited fields of air,\nby thy continued rising and setting at every place in our meditation of\nthee.\n\n47. Thou Lord! art ever asleep, and risest also by thy own power; and\nthen thou lookest on the luxuriant world, as a lover looks on his\nbeloved.\n\n48. These luxuries like honey, are brought from great distances by the\nbees of the bodily organs; and the spirit tastes the sweets, by looking\nupon them through the windows of its eyes. (The spirit enjoys the\nsweets of offerings, by means of its internal senses).\n\n49. The seat of the intellectual world in the cranium is always dark,\nand a path is made in it by the breathings of inspiration and\nrespiration (pr\u00e1n\u00e1p\u00e1na), which lead the soul to the sight of Brahm\u00e1\n(_lit._: to the city of Brahm\u00e1. This is done by the practice of\n_pr\u00e1n\u00e1y\u00e1ma_).\n\n50. Thou Lord! art the odor of this flower-like body of thine, and\nthou art the nectarious juice of thy moonlike frame, the moisture of\nthis bodily tree, and thou art the coolness of its cold humours: phlegm\nand cough.\n\n51. Thou art the juice, milk and butter, that support the body, and\nthou being gone (O soul!), the body is dried up and become as full to\nfeed the fire.\n\n52. Thou art the flavour of fruits, and the light of all luminous\nbodies; it is thou that perceivest and knowest all things, and givest\nlight to the visual organ of sight.\n\n53. Thou art the vibration of the wind, and the force of our\nelephantine minds; and so art thou the acuteness of the flame of our\nintelligence.\n\n54. It is thou that givest us the gift of speech, and dost stop our\nbreath, and makest it break forth again on occasions. (Speech\u2014V\u00e1ch\u2014vox\nin the feminine gender, is made V\u00e1ch\u00e1 by affix \u00e1 according to Bhaguri).\n\n55. All these various series of worldly productions, bear the same\nrelation to thee, as the varieties of jewelleries (such as the\nbracelets and wristlets); are related to the gold (of which they are\nmade).\n\n56. Thou art called by the words I, thou, he &c., and it is thyself\nthat callest thyself such as it pleaseth thee. (The impersonal God is\nrepresented in different persons).\n\n57. Thou art seen in the appearances of all the productions of nature,\nas we see the forms of men, horses and elephants in the clouds, when\nthey glide softly on the wings of the gentle winds. (But as all these\nforms are unreal, so God has no form in reality).\n\n58. Thou dost invariably show thyself in all thy creatures on earth,\nthe blazing fire presents the figures of horses and elephants in its\nlambent flames. (Neither has God nor fire any form at all).\n\n59. Thou art the unbroken thread, by which the orbs of worlds are\nstrung together as a rosary of pearls; and thou art the field that\ngrowest the harvest of creation, by the moisture of thy intellect. (The\ndivine spirit stretches through all, and contains the pith of creation).\n\n60. Things that were inexistent and unproduced before creation, have\ncome to light from their hidden state of reality by thy agency, as the\nflavour of meat-food, becomes evident by the process of cooking.[18]\n\n61. The beauties of existences are imperceptible without the soul; as\nthe graces of a beauty are not apparent to one devoid of his eyesight.\n\n62. All substances are nothing whatever without thy inherence in them;\nas the reflection of the face in the mirror (or a picture in painting),\nis to no purpose without the real face or figure of the person.\n\n63. Without thee the body is a lifeless mass, like a block of wood or\nstone; and it is imperceptible without the soul, as the shadow of a\ntree in absence of the sun.\n\n64. The succession of pain and pleasure, ceases to be felt by one who\nfeels thee within himself; as the shades of darkness, the twinkling of\nstars, and the coldness of frost, cease to exist in the bright sunlight.\n\n65. It is by a glance of thy eye, that the feelings of pain and\npleasure rise in the mind; as it is by the beams of the rising sun,\nthat the sky is tinged with its variegated hues.\n\n66. Living beings perish in a moment, at the privation of thy presence;\nas the burning lamp is extinguished to darkness, at the extinction of\nits light. (Light and life are synonymous terms, as death and darkness\nare homonyms).\n\n67. As the gloom of darkness is conspicuous at the want of light; but\ncoming in contact with light, it vanishes from view.[19]\n\n68. So the appearances of pain and pleasure, present themselves before\nthe mind, during thy absence from it; but they vanish into nothing at\nthe advance of thy light into it.\n\n69. The temporary feelings of pleasure and pain, can find no room in\nthe fulness of heavenly felicity (in the entranced mind); just as a\nminute moment of time, is of no account in the abyss of eternity.\n\n70. The thoughts of pleasure and pain, are as the short-lived fancies\nof the fairy land or castles in air; they appear by turns at thy\npleasure, but they disappear altogether no sooner thy form is seen in\nthe mind.\n\n71. It is by thy light in our visual organs, that things appear to\nsight at the moment of our waking, as they are reproduced into being;\nand it is by thy light also poured into our minds, that they are seen\nin our dream, as if they are all asleep in death.\n\n72. What good can we derive from these false and transient appearances\nin nature? No one can string together the seeming lotuses that are\nformed by the foaming froth of the waves.\n\n73. No substantial good can accrue to us from transitory mortal things;\nas no body can string together the transient flashes of lightning into\na necklace. (This is in refutation of the usefulness of temporary\nobjects maintained by the Saugatas).\n\n74. Should the rationalist take the false ideas of pain and pleasure\nfor sober realities; what distinction then can there be between them\nand the irrational realists (Buddhists).\n\n75. Should you, like the Nominalist, take everything which bears a name\nfor a real entity; I will tell you no more than that, you are too fond\nto give to imaginary things a fictitious name at your own will.\n(Gloss:\u2014according to the ideas and desires of one\u2019s own mind, or giving\na name to airy nothing).\n\n76. But the soul is indivisible and without its desire and egoism, and\nwhether it is a real substance or not we know nothing of, yet its\nagency is acknowledged on all hands in our bodily actions.\n\n77. All joy be thine! that art boundless in thy spiritual body, and\never disposed to tranquility; that art beyond the knowledge of the\nVedas, and art yet the theme of all the s\u00e1stras.\n\n78. All joy to thee! that art both born and unborn with the body, and\nart decaying undecayed in thy nature; that art the unsubstantial\nsubstance of all qualities, and art known and unknown to every body.\n\n79. I exult now and am calm again, I move and am still afterwards; I am\nvictorious and live to win my liberation by thy grace; therefore I hail\nthee that art myself.\n\n80. When thou art situated in me, my soul is freed from all troubles\nand feelings and passions; and is placed in perfect rest. There is no\nmore any fear of danger or difficulty or of life and death, nor any\ncraving for prosperity, when I am absorbed in everlasting bliss with\nthee.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXXVII.\n\n DISORDER AND DISQUIET OF THE ASURA REALM.\n\n\nArgument. As Prahl\u00e1da was absorbed in Meditation, his dominions were\ninfested by robbers for want of a Ruler, and the reign of terror.\n\n\nVasishtha said:\u2014Prahl\u00e1da the defeater of inimical hosts, was sitting in\nthe said manner in divine meditation, and was absorbed in his entranced\nrapture, and undisturbed _anaesthesia_ or insensibility for a long time.\n\n2. The soul reposing in its original state of unalterable _ecstatis_,\nmade his body as immovable as a rock in painting or a figure carved on\na stone (_in bas relief_).\n\n3. In this manner a long time passed upon his hybernation, when he was\nsitting in his house in a posture as unshaken as the firm Meru is fixed\nupon the earth.\n\n4. He was tried to be roused in vain, by the great Asuras of his\npalace; because his deadened mind remained deaf to their calls like a\nsolid rock, and was as impassive as a perched grain to the showers of\nrain.\n\n5. Thus he remained intent upon his God, with his fixed and firm gaze\nfor thousands of years; and continued as unmoved, as the carved sun\nupon a stone (or sundial).\n\n6. Having thus attained to the state of supreme bliss, the sight of\ninfelicity disappeared from his view, as it is unknown to the supremely\nfelicitous being. (So the Sruti: In Him there is all joy and no woe can\nappear before Him).\n\n7. During this time the whole circuit of his realm, was overspread by\nanarchy and oppression; as it reigns over the poor fishes.[20]\n\n8. For after Hiranyakasipu was killed and his son had betaken himself\nto asceticism, there was no body left to rule over the realms of the\nAsura race.\n\n9. And as Prahl\u00e1da was not to be roused from his slumber, by the\nsolicitations of the Daitya chiefs, or the cries of his oppressed\npeople:\u2014\n\n10. They\u2014the enemies of the gods, were as sorry not to have their\ngraceful lord among them; as the bees are aggrieved for want of the\nblooming lotus at night (when it is hid under its leafy branches).\n\n11. They found him as absorbed in his meditation, as when the world is\ndrowned in deep sleep, after departure of the sun below the horizon.\n\n12. The sorrowful Daityas departed from his presence, and went away\nwherever they liked; they roved about at random, as they do in an\nungoverned state.\n\n13. The infernal regions became in time the seat of anarchy and\noppression; and the good and honest dealings bade adieu to it all at\nonce.\n\n14. The houses of the weak were robbed by the strong, and the\nrestraints of laws were set at naught; the people oppressed one another\nand robbed the women of their robes.\n\n15. There were crying and wailing of the people on all sides, and the\nhouses were pulled down in the city; the houses and gardens were robbed\nand spoiled, and outlawry and rapacity spread all over the land.\n\n16. The Asuras were in deep sorrow, and their families were starving\nwithout food or fruits; there were disturbance and riot rising every\nwhere, and the face of the sky was darkened on all sides.\n\n17. They were derided by the younglings of the gods, and invaded by\nvile robbers and envious animals; the houses were robbed of their\nproperties, and were laid waste and void.\n\n18. The Asura realm became a scene of horror, by lawless fighting for\nthe wives and properties of others; and the wailings of those that were\nrobbed of their wealth and wives, it made the scene seem as the reign\nof the dark Kali age, when the atrocious marauders are let loose to\nspread devastation all over the earth.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXXVIII.\n\n SCRUTINY INTO THE NATURE OF GOD.\n\n\nArgument. Hari\u2019s care for preservation of the order of the world, and\nhis advice to Prahl\u00e1da.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014Now Hari who slept on his couch of the snake, in\nhis watery mansion of the Milky ocean, and whose delight it was to\npreserve the order of all the groups of worlds;\u2014\n\n2. Looked into the course of world in his own mind, after he rose from\nhis sleep at the end of the rainy season for achieving the objects of\nthe gods. (Vishnu rises after the rains on the eleventh day of moon\n\u0909\u0924\u094d\u0925\u093e\u0928\u0948\u0915\u093e\u0926\u0936\u0940 \u0964).\n\n3. He surveyed at a glance of his thought the state of the triple\nworld, composed of the heaven, the earth and the regions below; and\nthen directed his attention to the affairs of the infernal regions of\nthe demons.\n\n4. He beheld Prahl\u00e1da sitting there in his intense hypnotic meditation,\nand then looked into the increasing prosperity of Indra\u2019s palace.\n\n5. Sitting as he was on his serpentine couch in the Milky Ocean, with\nhis arms holding the conch-shell, the discus, and the club and lotus in\nhis four hands;\u2014\n\n6. He thought in his brilliant mind and in his posture of _padm\u00e1sana_,\nabout the states of the three worlds, as the fluttering bee inspects\ninto the state of the lotus.\n\n7. He saw Prahl\u00e1da immerged in his hypnotism, and the infernal regions\nleft without a leader; and beheld the world was about to be devoid of\nthe Daitya race.\n\n8. This want of the demons, thought he, was likely to cool the military\nardour of the Devas; as the want of clouds serves to dry up the waters\non earth.\n\n9. Liberation which is obtained by privation of dualism and egoism,\nbrings a man to that state of asceticism; as the want of moisture tends\nto dry up and deaden the promising plant.\n\n10. The Gods being at rest and contented in themselves, there will be\nno need of sacrifices and offerings to please and appease them; and\nthis will eventually lead to the extinction of the gods (for want of\ntheir being fed with the butter and fat of the sacrifices).\n\n11. The religious and sacrificial rites, being at an end among mankind,\nwill bring on (owing to their impiety), the destruction of human race,\nwhich will cause the desolation of the earth (by wild beasts).\n\n13. What is the good of my providence, if were I to allow this\nplenteous earth to go to ruin by my neglect? (It would amount to\nVishnu\u2019s violation of duty to preserve the world).\n\n14. What can I have to do in this empty void of the world, after the\nextinction of these created beings into nothing, than to charge my\nactive nature to a state of cold inactivity, and lose myself into the\n_anaesthesia_ of final liberation or insensibility.\n\n15. I see no good in the untimely dissolution of the order of the\nworld, and would therefore have the Daityas live to its end.\n\n16. It is owing to the struggles of the demons, that the deities are\nworshipped with sacrifices and other religious rites for their\npreservation of the earth; therefore they are necessary for the\ncontinuation of these practices in it.\n\n17. I shall have therefore to visit the nether world, and restore it to\nits right order; and appoint the lord of the demons to the observance\nof his proper duties; in the manner of the season of spring returning\nto fructify the trees.\n\n18. If I raise any other Daitya to the chieftainship of the demons, and\nleave Prahl\u00e1da in the act of his meditation; it is sure that he will\ndisturb the Devas, instead of bearing obedience to them. Because no\ndemon can get rid of his demoniac nature like Prahl\u00e1da.\n\n19. Prahl\u00e1da is to live to old age in his sacred person, and to reside\ntherein to the end of the kalpa age, with this very body of his\n(without undergoing the casualties of death and transmigration).\n\n20. So it is determined by Destiny, the divine and overruling goddess;\nthat Prahl\u00e1da will continue to reign to the end of the _kalpa_, in this\nvery body of his.\n\n21. I must therefore go, and awaken the Daitya chief from his trance,\nas the roaring cloud rouses the sleepy peacocks, on the tops of hills\nand banks of rivers.\n\n22. Let that self ridden (_swayam-mukta_) and somnolent (_sam\u00e1dhistha_)\nprince, reign unconcerned (_amanask\u00e1ra_) over the Daitya race; as the\nunconscious pearl reflects the colours of its adjacent objects.\n\n23. By this means both the gods and demigods, will be preserved on the\nface of the earth; and their mutual contention for superiority, will\nfurnish occasion for the display of my prowess.\n\n24. Though the creation and destruction of the world, be indifferent to\nme; yet its continuation in the primordial order, is of much concern to\nothers, if not to my insusceptible self.\n\n25. Whatever is alike in its existence and inexistence, is the same\nalso in both its gain and loss (to the indifferent soul). Any effort\nfor having any thing is mere foolishness; since addition and\nsubtraction presuppose one another. (Gain is the supplying of want, and\nwant is the privation of gain).\n\n26. I shall therefore hasten to the infernal region, and awaken the\nDaitya prince to the sense of his duty; and then will I resume my\ncalmness, and not play about on the stage of the world like the\nignorant. (The sapient God is silent; but foolish souls are turbulent).\n\n27. I will proceed to the city of the Asuras amidst their tumultuous\nviolence, and rouse the Daitya prince as the sunshine raises the\ndrooping lotus; and I shall bring the people to order and union, as the\nrainy season collects the fleeting clouds on the summits of mountains.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXXIX.\n\n ADMONITIONS OF HARI TO PRAHL\u00c1DA.\n\n\nArgument. Hari enters into the Daitya city, blows his conch-shell,\nand directs Prahl\u00e1da to reign and rule over his realm.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014Thinking thus within himself, Hari started from\nhis abode in the Milky Ocean with his companions, and moved like the\nimmovable Mandara mountain with all its accompaniments.\n\n2. He entered the city of Prahl\u00e1da resembling the metropolis of Indra,\nby a subterranean passage lying under the waters of the deep. (This\npassage, says the gloss, leads to the _sweta dw\u00edpa_ or white island of\nAlbion\u2014Britain; but literally it means the underground passage of\nwaters).\n\n3. He found here the prince of the Asuras, sitting under a golden dome\nin his hypnotic trance, like Brahm\u00e1 sitting in his meditative mood in a\ncavern of the Sumeru mountain. (This shows Brahm\u00e1 the progenitor of\nmankind or of the Aryan Brahmanic race, to have been a mountaineer of\nthe Altai or N. polar ranges, called Sumeru _contra_ Kumeru\u2014the S.\npole).\n\n4. There the Daityas being tinged in their bodies, by the bright rays\nof Vishnu\u2019s person, fled far away from him, like a flock of owls from\nthe bright beams of the rising sun. (The Daityas are night rovers or\n_nisa charas_, and cannot maintain their ground at sun rise).\n\n5. Hari then being accompanied by two or three Daitya chiefs entered\nthe apartment of Prahl\u00e1da, as the bright moon enters the pavilion of\nthe sky at eve, in company with two or three stars beside her. (Moon in\nSanskrit is the male consort of the stars, and called _Tar\u00e1-pati_).\n\n6. There seated on his eagle and fanned with the flapper of Lakshm\u00ed,\nand armed with his weapons, and beset by the saints hymning his praise:\u2014\n\n7. He said, O great soul! rise from thy trance; and then blew his\n_p\u00e1nchajanya_ shell, which resounded to the vault of heaven.\n\n8. The loud peal of the Conch, blown by the breath of Vishnu, roared at\nonce like the clouds of the sky, and the waves of the great deluge with\nredoubled force.\n\n9. Terrified at the sound, the Daityas fell flat and fainting on the\nground; as when the flocks of swans and geese, are stunned at the\nthundering noise of clouds.\n\n10. But the party of Vaishnavas, rejoiced at the sound without the\nleast fear; and they flushed with joy like the _Kurchi_ flowers,\nblooming at the sound of the clouds. (Kurchi buds are said to blossom\nin the rains).\n\n11. The lord of the D\u00e1navas, was slowly roused from his sleep; in the\nmanner of the kadamba flowers, opening their florets by degrees at the\nintervals of rain.\n\n12. It was by an act of the excretion of his breathing, that he brought\ndown his vital breath, which was confined in the vertical membrane of\nthe cranium; in the manner that the stream of Ganges gushes out from\nthe high-hill, and mixes and flows with the whole body of waters into\nthe ocean. (So it is with our inspiration and respiration, which carry\nup and down our vital breath, to and from the sensory of the brain).\n\n13. In a moment the vital breath circulated through the whole body of\nPrahl\u00e1da; as the solar beams spread over the whole world soon after\nthey emanate from the solar disk at sun rise.\n\n14. The vital breath, having then entered into the cells of the nine\norgans of sense; his mind became susceptible of sensations, received\nthrough the organs of the body like reflexions in a mirror.\n\n15. The intellect desiring to know the objects, and relying in the\nreflexions of the senses, takes the name of the mind; as the reflexion\nof the face in the mirror, refracts itself again to the visual organ.\n\n16. The mind having thus opened or developed itself, his eyelids were\nabout to open of themselves; like the petals of the blue lotus, opening\nby degrees in the morning.\n\n17. The breathings then, by conveying the sensations to the body,\nthrough the veins and arteries, give it the power of motion; as the\ncurrent breeze moves the lotuses.\n\n18. The same vital breath, strengthened the powers of his mind in a\nshort time; as the billows of a river, become more powerful when it is\nfull of water.\n\n19. At last his eyes being opened, his body shone forth with vivacity,\nby its mental and vital powers; as the lake blushes with blooming\nlotuses at the sun\u2019s rising above the horizon.\n\n20. At this instant, the lord bade him awake instantly at his word; and\nhe rose as the peacock is awakened, at the roar of a cloud.\n\n21. Finding his eyes shining with lustre, and his mind strong with its\npast remembrance; the lord of the three worlds, spoke to him in the\nmanner, as he had formerly addressed the lotus-born Brahm\u00e1 himself.\n\n22. O holy youth! remember your large (dominions), and bring to your\nmind your youthful form and figure; then think and ponder, why you\ncauselessly transform yourself to this torpid state.\n\n23. You who have no good to desire nor any evil to shun, and look on\nwant and plenty in the same light; you must know that what is destined\nby God, is all for your good.\n\n25. You shall have to live here, in the living liberated state of your\nmind, and in full possession of your dominions, for a kalpa period; and\nshall have to pass your time with this body of yours, and without any\nanxiety or earthly trouble whatever.\n\n26. The body being decayed by this time, you shall have still to abide\nwith your greatness of soul to the end; till the body being broken down\nlike an earthen vessel, the vital life like the contained air of the\npot, come to mix with the common air of vacuum.\n\n27. Your body which is liberated in its life time, is to endure in its\npurity to the end of the kalpa, and will witness generations passing\nbefore it without any diminution of itself.\n\n28. The end of the kalpa or dooms day, is yet too far when the twelve\nsuns will shine together; the rocks will melt away, and the world will\nbe burnt down to ashes. Why then do you waste away your body even now?\n\n29. Now the winds are not raging with fury, nor is the world grey with\nage and covered with ashes over it. The marks on the foreheads of the\nimmortals are still uneffaced, why then waste your body before its time?\n\n30. The lightnings of the deluging clouds, do not now flash nor fall\ndown like asoka flowers, why then do you vainly waste your precious\nbody so prematurely?\n\n31. The skies do not pour out their showers of rain-water on earth, so\nas to overflood the mountain tops, nor do they burst out in fire and\nburn them down to ashes; why then do you waste away your body in vain?\n\n32. The old world is not yet dissolved into vapour, nor fused to fumes\nand smoke; neither are the deities all extinct, after leaving Brahm\u00e1,\nVishnu and Siva to survive them; why then do you waste yourself in\nvain? (If they are all alive, you should learn to live also).\n\n33. The earth on all sides is yet so submerged under the water, as to\npresent the sight of the high mountains only on it, why then waste you\naway your body in vain (before the last doom and deluge of the earth?).\n\n34. The sun yet does not dart his fiery rays, with such fury in the\nsky, as to split the mountains with hideous cracks; nor do the diluvian\nclouds rattle and crackle in the midway sky; (to presage the last day,\nwhy then in vain waste you your body, that is not foreboded to die?).\n\n35. I wander everywhere on my vehicle of the eagle, and take care of\nall animal beings lest they die before their time, and do not therefore\nlike your negligence of yourself.\n\n36. Here are we and there the hills, these are other beings and that is\nyourself; this is the earth and that the sky, all these are separate\nentities and must last of themselves; why then should you neglect your\nbody, and do not live like the living?\n\n37. The man whose mind is deluded by gross ignorance, and one who is\nthe mark of afflictions, is verily led to hail his death. (So the\nSmriti says:\u2014Very sick and corpulent men have their release in death).\n\n38. Death is welcome to him, who is too weak and too poor and grossly\nignorant; and who is always troubled by such and similar thoughts in\nhis mind. (The disturbed mind is death and hell in itself).\n\n39. Death is welcomed by him, whose mind is enchained in the trap of\ngreedy desires and thrills between its hopes and fears; and who is\nhurried and carried about in quest of greed, and is always restless\nwithin himself.\n\n40. He whose heart is parched by the thirst of greed, and whose better\nthoughts are choked by it, as the sprouts of corn are destroyed by\nworms; is the person that welcomes his death at all times.\n\n41. He who lets the creeping passions of his heart, grow as big as palm\ntrees, to overshadow the forest of his mind, and bear the fruits of\ncontinued pain and pleasure, is the man who hails his death at all\ntimes.\n\n42. He whose mind is festered by the weeds of cares, growing as rank as\nhis hair on the body; and who is subject to the incessant evils of\nlife, is the man that welcomes death for his relief.\n\n43. He whose body is burning under the fire of diseases, and whose\nlimbs are slackened by age and weakness, is the man to whom death is a\nremedy, and who resorts to its aid for relief.\n\n44. He who is tormented by his ardent desires and raging anger, as by\nthe poison of snake biting, is as a withered tree, and invites instant\ndeath for his release.\n\n45. It is the soul\u2019s quitting the body that is called death; and this\nis unknown to the spiritualist, who is quite indifferent about the\nentity and nonentity of the body.\n\n46. Life is a blessing to him, whose thoughts do not rove beyond the\nconfines of himself; and to the wise man also who knows and\ninvestigates into the true nature of things.\n\n47. Life is a blessing to him also, who is not given to his egotism,\nand whose understanding is not darkened by untruth, and who preserves\nhis evenness in all conditions of life.\n\n48. His life is a blessing to him, who has the inward satisfaction and\ncoolness of his understanding, and is free from passions and enmity;\nand looks on the world as a mere witness, and having his concern with\nnothing.\n\n49. He is blest in his life, who has the knowledge of whatever is\ndesirable or detestable to him, and lives aloof from both; with all his\nthoughts and feelings confined within himself; (literally, within his\nown heart and mind).\n\n50. His life is blest, who views all gross things in the light of\nnothing, and whose heart and mind are absorbed in his silent and\nconscious soul. (_i.e._ Who witnesses and watches the emotions and\nmotions of his heart and mind).\n\n51. Blessed is his life, who having his sight represses it from viewing\nthe affairs of the world, as if they are entirely unworthy of him.\n\n52. His life is blessed, who neither rejoices nor grieves at what is\ndesirable or disadvantageous to him; but has his contentment in every\nstate of his life whether favourable or not.\n\n53. He who is pure in his life, and keeps company with pure minded men;\nwho spreads the purity of his conduct all about, and shuns the society\nof the impure; is as graceful to behold, as the hoary swan with its\nsnow white wings, in the company of the fair fowls of the silvery lake.\n\n54. Blessed is his life, whose sight and remembrance, and the mention\nof whose name, give delight to all persons.\n\n55. Know the life of that man, O lord of demons, to be truly happy,\nwhose lotus-like appearance is as delightsome to the bee-like eyes of\nmen, as the sight of the full moon is delightful to the world.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER LX.\n\n RESUSCITATION OF PRAHL\u00c1DA.\n\n\nArgument. On the necessity of the observance of duty, both in the\nsecular as well as Religious Life.\n\n\nThe Lord continued:\u2014It is the soundness of the body, which men call\nlife; and it is the quitting of the present body for a future one,\nwhich they call death. (Activity is the life of the body).\n\n2. You are released from both these states, O high minded youth! and\nhave nothing to do with your life or death any more. (Because the\nliving liberated are freed from the cares of life, and future\ntransmigrations also).\n\n3. It is for your acquaintance, that I relate to you the components of\nlife and death; by knowledge of which you will not have to live nor\ndie, like other living beings on earth (in pain and misery).\n\n4. Though situated in the body, yet you are as unembodied as the\ndisembodied spirit; and though embosomed in vacuity, yet are you as\nfree and fleet as the wind, on account of your being unattached to\nvacuum. (Unattachment of the soul to the body and vital spirit,\nconstitutes its freedom).\n\n5. Your perception of the objects of the touch, proves you to be an\nembodied being; and your soul is said to be the cause of that\nperception; as the open air is said to be the cause of the growth of\ntrees, for its putting no hindrance to their height. But neither the\nsoul is cause of perception, nor the air of the growth of trees. (It is\nthe mind which is the cause of the one, as moisture of the other).\n\n6. But the perception of outward things, is no test of their\nmateriality to the monoistic immaterialist; as the sight of things in a\ndream, is no proof of their substantiality, nor of the corporeality of\nthe percipient soul. (All external perceptions, are as those in a\ndream).\n\n7. All things are comprehended, in yourself, by the light of your\nintellect; and your knowledge of the only One in all, comprehends every\nthing in it. How then can you have a body either to take to yourself or\nreject it from you?\n\n8. Whether the season of the spring appears or not, or a hurricane\nhappens to blow or subside; it is nothing to the pure soul, which is\nclear of all connection whatever. (The soul is unconnected with all\noccurrences).\n\n9. Whether the hills fall headlong to the ground, or the flames of\ndestruction devour all things; or the rapid gales rend the skies, it is\nno matter to the soul which rests secure in itself.\n\n10. Whether the creation exists or not, and whether all things perish\nor grow; it is nothing to the soul which subsists of itself. (The\nincreate soul is self existent and ever lasting).\n\n11. The Lord of this body, does not waste by waste of its frame, nor he\nis strengthened by strength of the body; neither does it move by any\nbodily movement, nor sleep when the body and its senses are absorbed in\nsleep.\n\n12. Whence does this false thought rise in your mind, that you belong\nto the body, and are an embodied being, and that you come to take,\nretain and quit this mortal frame at different times?\n\n13. Forsake the thought, that you will do so and so after doing this\nand that; for they that know the truth, have given up such desires and\nvain expectations. (Since God is the disposer of all events).\n\n14. All waking and living persons, have something or other to do in\nthis world, and have thereby to reap the results of their actions; but\nhe that does nothing, does not take the name of an active agent, nor\nhas anything to expect (but lives resigned to the will of Providence).\n\n15. He who is no agent of an action, has nothing to do with its\nconsequence; for he who does not sow the grains, does not reap the\nharvest. (For as you sow, so you reap).\n\n16. Desinence of action and its fruition, brings on a quiescence, which\nwhen it has become habitual and firm, receives the name of liberation\n(which is nothing to have or crave, save what God gave of his own will,\nagreeably to the prayer, \u201cLet not mine, but thy will be done\u201d).\n\n17. All intellectual beings and enlightened men, and those that lead\npure and holy lives, have all things under their comprehension,\nwherefore there is nothing for them left to learn anew or reject what\nthey have learnt. (The gods and sages are all knowing, and have nothing\nto know or unknow any more).\n\n18. It is for limited understandings and limited powers of the body and\nmind, to grasp or leave out some thing; but to men of unbounded\ncapacities, there is nothing to be received or left out. (Fulness can\nneither be more full, nor wanting in any thing).\n\n19. When a man is set at ease after cessation of his relation of the\npossessor or possession of any external object, and when this sense of\nhis irrelation becomes a permanent feeling in him, he is then said to\nbe liberated in his life time. (Total unconnection is perfect freedom).\n\n20. Great men like yourself, being placed in this state of perpetual\nunconcern and rest; conduct themselves in the discharge of their\nduties, with as much ease as in their sleep. (Here is the main precept\nof the combination of internal torpitude with bodily action in the\ndischarge of duties).\n\n21. When one\u2019s desires are drowned in his reliance on God, he views the\nexisting world\u2014shining in his spiritual light.\n\n22. He takes no delight in the pleasing objects about him, nor does he\nregret at the afflictions of others; all his pleasure consisting in his\nown soul (at its total indifference).\n\n23. With his wakeful mind, he meets all the affairs of his concern with\nhis spiritual unconcern; as the mirror receives the reflexions of\nobjects, without being tainted by them.\n\n24. In his waking he reposes in himself, and in his sleep he reclines\namidst the drowsy world; in his actions he turns about as frolicsome\nboys, and his desires lie dormant in his soul.\n\n25. O thou, great soul, thus continue to enjoy thy supreme bliss, for\nthe period of a Kalpa (a day of Brahm\u00e1), by relying your mind in the\nvictorious Vishnu, and with enjoying the prosperity of thy dominions by\nexercise of your virtues and good qualities. (The ultimate lesson is,\nto be observant of the duties which are paramount on every body, with\nrelinquishment of all personal desire for oneself).\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XLI.\n\n INSTALLATION OF PRAHL\u00c1DA IN HIS REALM.\n\n\nArgument. Hari\u2019s Inauguration of Prahl\u00e1da with blessings, and\nappointment of him to the Government.\n\n\nVasishtha said:\u2014After Hari the receptacle of the three worlds, and\nobserver of everything that passes in them; had spoken in the aforesaid\nmanner in his lucid speech, shedding the coolness of moon beams:\n\n2. Prahl\u00e1da became full blown in his body, and his eyes shone forth as\nblooming lotuses; he then spoke out with full possession of his mental\npowers.\n\n3. Prahl\u00e1da said:\u2014Lord! I was much tired with very many state affairs,\nand in thinking about the weal and woe of my people. I have now found a\nlittle rest from my labour.\n\n4. It is by thy grace, my lord! that I am settled in myself; and\nwhether I am in my trance or waking state, I enjoy the tranquility of\nmy mind at all times.\n\n5. I always see thee seated in my heart, with the clear sightedness of\nmy mind; and it is by my good luck, that I have thee now in my presence\nand outside of it.\n\n6. I had been all this time, sitting without any thought in me; and was\nmixed up as air in air, in my mind\u2019s internal vision of thee.\n\n7. I was not affected by grief or dulness, nor infatuated by my zeal of\nasceticism or a wish of relinquishing my body (that I remained in my\ntorpid trance).\n\n8. The One All being present in the mind, there is no room for any\ngrief in it, at the loss of anything besides; nor can any care for the\nworld, or caution of the body or life, or any fear of any kind, abide\nin his presence.\n\n9. It is simply by pure desire of holiness, rising spontaneously of\nitself in me; that I had been situated in my saintlike and holy state.\n\n10. Yes my Lord, I am disgusted with this world, and long to resign its\ncares; together with all the mutations of joy and grief, which rise\nalternate in the minds of the unenlightened.\n\n11. I do not think that our embodied state is subject to misery, and\nthat our being freed from the bonds of the body is the cause of our\nrelease: it is worldliness that is a venomous viper in the bosom, and\ntorments the ignorant only and not the sage. (Because it is mind and\nnot the body, that is addicted to pleasure, and feels the stings of\npain).\n\n12. It is the ignorant and not the learned, whose minds fluctuate with\nthe thoughts, that this is pleasure and the other is pain, and that I\nhave this and am in want of another. (The more they have, the more they\ncrave).\n\n13. The ignorant man thinks himself, to be a person distinct from\nanother; and so all living beings devoid of the knowledge of truth,\nentertain and exult in their egoistic thoughts.\n\n14. The erroneous idea that, such things are acceptable to me, and\nothers are not so; serves only to delude the ignorant, and not the wise\n(who acquiesce to whatever occurs to them).\n\n15. All things being contained by and situated in my all-pervading\nspirit, how can we accept one and reject another thing, as distinct\nfrom and undesirable to the selfsame One? (Shall we desire only good\nfrom God, and not the evil also? Job).\n\n16. The whole universe whether real or unreal (or composed of its\nsubstantiality and vacuity), is a manifestation of Omniscience; we know\nnot what is desirable or detestable in it to be accepted or rejected by\nus. (But must submit to the wise ordinance of providence).\n\n17. It is only by discrimination of the natures of the viewer and the\nview (_i.e._ of the subjective soul, and the objective world); and by\nreflecting the Supreme Soul in one\u2019s self, that the mind receives its\nrest and tranquility.\n\n18. I was freed during my trance, of the consciousness of my being or\nnot being, and of whatever is desirable or detestable to any one; and I\ncontinue also, in the same state of my mind even after I am awakened.\n\n19. This state being familiar to me, I see every thing in the spirit\nwithin myself; and I act according as it pleaseth thee. (_i.e._ Not by\nmine but thy will).\n\n20. O lotus-eyed Hari! thou art adored in all the three worlds;\nwherefore it behoveth thee to receive my adoration also, offered in the\nproper form.\n\n21. Saying so, the lord of D\u00e1navas, presented his platter of presents\n(arghya) before the god, as the lord of hills pays his offerings to the\nfull-moon. (This hill is the mount of moon rising, which is hailed and\nwelcomed by it).\n\n22. He worshipped Hari first of all, together with his weapons and his\nVehicle Garuda; and then he adored the bands of the gods and Apsaras\nthat accompanied him and the three worlds contained in him.\n\n23. After he had done worshipping the lord of the worlds, with the\nworlds situated within and without him; the Lord of Laxm\u00ed spoke to him\nsaying:\u2014\n\n24. Rise, O lord of D\u00e1navas! and sit upon your throne, until I perform\nyour inauguration this very moment.\n\n25. Hari then blew his _p\u00e1nchajanya_ shell summoning the five races, of\nthe gods, siddhas, s\u00e1dhyas and men and Daityas, to attend at the\nceremony.\n\n26. After this the lotus-eyed god placed him on the throne which he\ndeserved, and whereon he caused him to sit as cloud rests on the summit\nof a mountain.\n\n27. Hari then caused him to make his sacred ablution, with the waters\nof the milky and other oceans; and those of the Ganges and other holy\nrivers, which were presented before him.\n\n28. All bodies of Br\u00e1hmans and Rishis, and all groups of Siddhas and\nVidy\u00e1dharas; with the Loka-p\u00e1las or regents of the quarters, attended\nand assisted at the ceremony.\n\n29. Then Hari the immeasurable Spirit, anointed the great Asura in the\nkingdom of the Daityas; and the Maruta winds lauded his praise, as they\ndo the hymns of Hari in heaven.\n\n30. Then blessed by the gods and applauded by Asuras, Prahl\u00e1da greeted\nthem all in his turn; and was thus addressed at last by the slayer of\nMadhu\u2014the demoniac Satan.\n\n31. The Lord said:\u2014Do thou reign here as sole monarch, as long as the\nmount Meru stands on the earth, and the sun and moon shine in the sky;\nand be fraught with all praiseworthy virtues of thine own.\n\n32. Govern thy realm without any interested motive of thy own, and\nwithout showing any symptom of anger or fear on your part; but preserve\nyour moderation and a tolerant spirit in all your affairs.\n\n33. May you never have any disquiet, in this realm of excellent soil\nand plenteous provisions; nor do you create any disturbance to the gods\nin heaven, or to men on earth below.\n\n34. Conduct yourself in your proper course at all events, which may\noccur to you at any time or place; and never allow yourself to be led\nastray, by the caprice of your mind or the freaks of fancy.\n\n35. Keep in mind your spiritual being, and abandon your egoism and\nselfish views altogether; and then by managing your affairs in one even\ntenor, both in your want and prosperity, you will evade all the\nvicissitudes of fortune.\n\n36. You have seen both the ways and dealings of this world, and\nmeasured also the immeasurable depth of spiritual knowledge. You know\nthe state of every thing in every place, and require no advice of any\nbody.\n\n37. As you are now perfectly devoid of your anger, passions and fears,\nthere is no more any chance of further broils between the gods and\nAsuras, under your rule over them in future.\n\n38. No more will the tears of Asura females, wash the decorations on\ntheir faces; nor will the currents of rivers rise as high as lofty\ntrees, with floods of tears from their weeping eyes.\n\n39. The cessation of hostilities between the gods and demons, will\nrender the earth as quiet from this day, as the unruffled ocean after\nits churning by the Mandara mountain.\n\n40. The wives of the gods and demigods, will no more be led away in\ncaptivity by one another; but will rest fearless under the marital\nroofs of their husbands in future.\n\n41. Let thy expectations now rise from their dormancy, of many long\nnights of dismal darkness, and be crowned with success and prosperity;\nand do thou, O progeny of Danu! enjoy thy unconquerable royal fortune,\nas in the company of thy charming consort.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XLII.\n\n SPIRITUALITY OF PRAHL\u00c1DA.\n\n\nArgument. The merit of hearing the narrative of Vishnu, and the cause\nof Prahl\u00e1da\u2019s awaking from his trance.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014The lotus-eyed Hari, having said thus much to\nPrahl\u00e1da, departed with the whole concourse of the assembled gods,\nKinnaras and men, from the abode of the Asura.\n\n2. Then did Prahl\u00e1da and his associates throw handfuls of flowers on\nthe departing god, as he was mounted on the back of the king of birds\n(Garuda\u2014the eagle or bird of heaven).\n\n3. The god crossed the heavenly Ganges and reached at the milky ocean,\nwhere he took his serpent couch as the black bee sits on the lotus-leaf.\n\n4. The God Vishnu sat on his serpent seat with as much ease, as Indra\nsits in heaven in the assembly of the gods; and as the lord of the\ndemons, was made to sit in the infernal region wholly devoid of all his\ncares.\n\n5. I have now related to you, R\u00e1ma! the whole narrative of Prahl\u00e1da\u2019s\ncoming to his sense, from the state of his insensibility; and this\naccount is as charming to the holy hearer, as the cooling moon-beams\nare refreshing to the tired traveller.\n\n6. The man that ponders in his mind, the manner of Prahl\u00e1da\u2019s\nresuscitation to life; is regenerated in that felicitous state, from\nthe sinfulness of his former condition.\n\n7. A cursory rehearsal of his narration, wipes off the sins of men;\nwhile the deep consideration of its spiritual sense, leads one to his\neternal salvation.\n\n8. The ignorant are released from their ignorance, and the deep thinker\nis released from his sins; therefore do not neglect to ponder well on\nit, for the remission of all your sins.\n\n9. The man who considers well the manner of Prahl\u00e1da\u2019s gaining his\nproficiency, gets a remission of all the sins committed by him in his\nrepeated previous states of life.\n\n10. R\u00e1ma said:\u2014Tell me sir, how the sound of the _p\u00e1nchajanya_ conch\nshell, roused the mind of the devout Prahl\u00e1da from its immersion in\nholy meditation.\n\n11. Vasishtha replied:\u2014Know R\u00e1ma, that there are two states of\nliberation attending on sinless persons, the one is the emancipation of\none in his embodied state in this life, and the other is after his\ndeparture from here.\n\n12. The embodied liberation means one\u2019s continuance in his living body,\nbut with a state of mind freed from its attachment to worldly things,\nand liberated from the desire of fruition and reward of all his\nmeritorious acts.\n\n13. The disembodied liberation is obtained after the soul is released\nfrom the body, and is settled in the Supreme Spirit. It is an\nenfranchisement from the recurrence of future life and birth in this\nmortal world.\n\n14. The living liberated man is like a fried grain, whose regerminating\npower is parched within itself, and the desire of whose heart is\npurified from every expectation of future reward or regeneration.\n\n15. He remains in the pure, holy and magnanimous state of his mind, who\nresigns himself solely to the meditation of the Great soul, and\ncontinues as if he were asleep in his living and waking states.\n\n16. Being thus entranced in his inward meditation, he continues in a\ntorpid state for a thousand years, and wakes again to his senses, if he\nis allowed to live long ever after that period.\n\n17. Prahl\u00e1da remained thus with his holy thoughts suppressed within\nhimself, until he was roused from his trance by the shrill sound of the\nconch-shell.\n\n18. Hari is the soul of all beings, and he who assimilates himself to\nthat god in his thought; becomes identified with the supreme soul,\nwhich is the cause of all.\n\n19. No sooner the god thought that Prahl\u00e1da should come to his sense,\nthan his sensation came immediately to him at the divine will.\n\n20. The world has no other cause, but the divine spirit; which with the\nassistance of the causal elements, takes different forms on itself at\nthe time of creation; and therefore it is the spirit of Hari that\nconstitutes the world.\n\n21. The worship of God in spirit, presents Hari to the spiritual sight;\nand the worship of Hari in his outward form, represents the figure to\nthe soul and the inner mind.\n\n22. Do you, O R\u00e1ma! put out the visible sights from your view, and look\nat the inmost soul within yourself; being thus accustomed to spiritual\nmeditation, you will soon have the sight of your God.\n\n23. The world presents a scene of the gloomy rainy weather, with\nshowers of woes falling on all sides; it is likely to freeze us in\nignorance, unless we look to the sun of our reason (or, unless we abide\nunder the sunshine of reason).\n\n24. It is by grace of God that we can avoid the delusions of the world,\nas we may escape from a goblin by means of a spell.\n\n25. It is at the will of the spirit, that the thick darkness of the\nmind, is dispersed and cleared off in time; the world is a net-work of\ndelusion, which is scattered like a smoke by the breeze of reason.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XLIII.\n\n REST AND REPOSE OF PRAHL\u00c1DA.\n\n\nArgument. All knowledge is derived by one\u2019s own attention and personal\nexertion, joined with his reliance on the grace of God.\n\n\nR\u00e1ma said:\u2014Sir, your knowledge of all truths, and the light of your\nholy discourses, have gratified me as much, as the cooling moon-beams\ngratify the medicinal plants (whence the moon is called _oshadh\u00edsa_ or\nlord of medicinal drugs).\n\n2. Your gentle and purifying words are as gratifying to my ears, as the\nbeautiful and sweet flowers delight the external senses (by their\ncolours and odours). (Sweet words are often compared with flowers by\nPersian and Urdu poets: as, _guleazrouzeijaved. Elahikar sakhur meriko\nup phol_.)\n\n3. Sir, if the exertions of men, as you said, be the causes of their\nsuccess, how was it that Prahl\u00e1da came to be enlightened without his\neffort or attempt? (in obtaining his divine knowledge without his\nlearning or help of a preceptor).\n\n4. Vasishtha replied:\u2014Yes R\u00e1ma, it was by his manly exertion, that the\nhighminded Prahl\u00e1da had acquired his divine knowledge; and there was no\nother cause (of his knowing and having whatever he knew and possessed).\n\n5. The soul of man is the same as the spirit of N\u00e1r\u00e1yana, (which means\nabiding in man); and there is no difference between them, as there is\nnone between the oil and the sesamum seed; and as the cloth and its\nwhiteness, and the flower and its fragrance are not distinct things.\n(Because the spirit of God was breathed into the nostrils of man.\nN\u00e1r\u00e1yana and Purusha both mean the spirit dwelling in man).\n\n6. And Vishnu is the same with his spirit or the soul of man, and the\nhuman soul is the same with Vishnu (which means the inherent spirit);\nVishnu and the soul are synonymous terms as the plant and the vegetable.\n\n7. Prahl\u00e1da came at first to know the soul by himself (of his own\nintuition), it was afterwards by means of his intellectual power, that\nhe was led to the persuasion and made many proselytes after his own\nexample.\n\n8. It was by his own desert, that Prahl\u00e1da obtained his boon from\nVishnu; and it was by the exercise of his own reasoning, that he came\nto the knowledge of the eternal Mind.\n\n9. Sometimes the soul is awakened of itself by one\u2019s own intuition, and\nat others it is roused by the grace of the personal god Vishnu, owing\nto one\u2019s faith in his person. (As it is said: \u201cThy faith will save\nthee\u201d).\n\n10. And though this god may be pleased with his prolonged service and\ndevout worship, yet he is unable to confer spiritual knowledge to one\ndevoid of his reasoning faculty. (Or to one who has no understanding.\nHence gross idolators can have no salvation, which is to be had by\nspiritual knowledge only. Blind faith is of no good, without the light\nof reason).\n\n11. Hence the primary cause of spiritual light is the intelligence of a\nman and which is gained by exertion of his mental powers only; the\nsecondary causes may be the blessing and grace of a deity, but I wish\nyou to prefer the former one for your salvation. (So it is knowledge\nand intrinsic merit which exalt a man, and not the mere favour of a\npatron, is ever able to raise the unworthy).\n\n12. Exert therefore your manliness at first, to keep the quintuple\norgans of sense under proper control; and habituate yourself with all\ndiligence to cultivate your understanding, and the power of reasoning.\n\n13. For know whatever gain any one makes at any time, it is owing to\nhis own endeavours only that he gains the same, and not by any other\nmeans whatever.\n\n14. It is only by dependence on your manly powers, that you can\nsurmount the insuperable barriers of your sensual appetites; and then\nby crossing over the ocean of this world, reach to the other shore of\nsupreme felicity.\n\n15. It requires no exertion or manly effort to see the figure of\nVishnu; but the mere sight of the image is not sufficient to save you,\nor else the birds and beasts would all be saved by looking at it.\n\n16. If it were in the power of the spiritual guide also to save his\nfoolish followers by his preachings; it would be possible also to the\nleaders of camels and kine, to save their herds in their future lives.\n(This figure is set in many temples, and in stones also).\n\n17. It is in the power of the mind only to acquire anything good for\none\u2019s self, and not the favour of Hari or that of Hara, or the\ninfluence of money, that is able to effect anything.\n\n18. It is by means of constant practice, accompanied by\nself-resignation and self-controul, that one is enabled to effect\nanything; and whatever he is unable to do by these means, is impossible\nfor him to do by any other in the three worlds.\n\n19. Look to the spirit in the spirit, and adore the spirit in your own\nsoul; behold the supreme soul in yourself, and have the universal soul\nin your own soul, and thus remain with it.\n\n20. Fools flying from attending to the s\u00e1stras, or practising their\nself-devotion and exercise of reason, have adopted to themselves the\nVaishnava faith as a path leading to their better being (or a means\ntowards the great object of final beatitude).\n\n21. Practice and diligence are said to be steps to self-edification,\nand rites and ceremonies are represented as secondary courses resorted\nto for want of the former!\n\n22. The senses being refractory what is the good of ceremonial\nobservances, and these being under control, it is useless to observe\nthe ritual. (In both ways the rituals are useless to men of virtuous\nand vicious habits; the former being in no need, of them and the latter\nnot benefiting by them).\n\n23. Without rationality and dispassionateness of his spirit, it is hard\nto have Hari (or spiritual felicity); and when there is the cool and\ncalm reasoning of the mind, it is as useless to have the idol of Hari,\nas to place a lotus in the hand of the dead and liberated.\n\n24. When you have the qualities of abstraction and composure in your\nmind, think you have every thing in yourself; for these being in your\npossession, you become an adept, or else you are an ass of the forest.\n(that is good for nothing).\n\n25. Men are eager to find favour in the sight of the gods (and great\nmen); but they do not seek the favour of their hearts and minds (which\ncan give them whatever blessing is derived from any other).\n\n26. Vishnu the indwelling spirit of the body, is situated in the inmost\nsoul of every individual; it is the ignorant fool only that forsake the\ninnermost Vishnu, and seek the outer form for its leading to the other\n(which is more closely allied to us than the latter).\n\n27. The consciousness dwelling in the cavity of the heart, is the true\nbody of the everlasting spirit; and the outward form of Vishnu, holding\nthe conchshell, cudgel, lotus and the discus, is but a false\nrepresentation of it. (A fabrication of the ignorant for the immaterial\nspirit, in a material form).\n\n28. He who forsakes the real form, and follows the fictitious one, lets\noff the ambrosia pass from his hand, in pursuit of some promised\nconfectionary.\n\n29. He who is not settled amidst the charming scenery of his spiritual\nmeditation, lets his frantic mind to rove at large, after every object\nthat presents itself before him.\n\n30. He who has not the abstract knowledge of the soul in himself, is\nunder the subjection of his infatuated mind; and worships the image\nbearing the conch, discus, club and lotus in its hands, as the supreme\nLord and God.\n\n31. It is by practice of continued austerity, and a prolonged worship\nof this deity, that the mind of the devotee becomes purified in process\nof time, and gets rid of its turbulent passions at last.\n\n32. But the daily practice of self-control and abstract meditation,\ngives the mind the same purity, and like the \u00e1mra or mango fruit, it\ngets its accompanying virtues one by one. (The virtues of the mango are\nits flavour, colour &c.).\n\n33. So the soul is said to get in itself the virtues of peace,\ncontentment and the rest, by means of the external adoration of Hari;\nand it is for this reason that the practice of idol worship is\nprescribed in the s\u00e1stras. (As a preparatory step to holiness and\nspiritual worship).\n\n34. He who obtains his boon from the all-powerful god, gets it in\nreward of his merit; as a fruit of the tree of his long practice.\n\n35. It is mental labour (lit.: painstaking), which is the foundation of\nevery improvement, and of all lasting good in life; just as the\ncultivated soil is the cause of the good condition of the harvest.\n\n36. Even the digging of the ground, and the pulling of the hill (by\nbodily labour), is productive of no good without application of the\nmind. (Gloss. The digging of the ground alludes to the mining of the\nearth by the sons of Sagara; and the pulling of the hill refers to the\nchurning of the sea with Mandara by the gods and demons. Both these\nhardy works were for the sake of obtaining the gems hid under them\nwhich required knowledge (of geology)).\n\n37. Men may undergo a thousand transmigrations, and wander about the\nearth in various births and shapes, and yet find no rest composure of\ntheir minds.\n\n38. They may worship Brahm\u00e1, Vishnu and the Rudras for ever, and gain\ntheir favour also, and yet can have no salvation owing to the perturbed\nstate of their minds.\n\n39. Leave off worshipping the visible form or image of Vishnu (or any\nother god), either internally or externally in your mind or before your\nsight; and put an end to your transmigration, by meditating on your\nconsciousness alone.\n\n40. Behold the unsullied form of One infinite God in your conscious\nself, and by forsaking all whatever it is conscious of. Relish the\nsweet essence of the one real entity, and go over the ocean of repeated\nbirths in the mortal world.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XLIV.\n\n NARRATIVE OF G\u00c1DHI AND HIS DESTRUCTION.\n\n\nArgument. Narrative of G\u00e1dhi in illustration of the Adoration of Vishnu.\n\n\nVasishtha said:\u2014R\u00e1ma; it is the government of the restless mind alone,\nthat is able to destroy the delusion, which causes the interminable\ntransmigrations in this mortal world. There is no other means to this\nend.\n\n2. Hear attentively, O sinless R\u00e1ma! this story which I am going to\nrelate to you, in order to show you the intricacy of understanding the\nnature of worldly delusions.\n\n3. There is the large district of Kosala on the surface of this land,\nwhich is full of forests and fruitful trees, forming as groves of Kalpa\narbors; and abounding with minerals like the Sumeru mountain.\n\n4. There lived a learned Br\u00e1hman, known by the name of G\u00e1dhi; who was\nintelligent and versed in the Vedas, and remained as an image of virtue.\n\n5. From his youth he continued with the calmness of his mind, and\nabstracted from and indifferent to worldly affairs; and was of\nas pure and unsullied a soul as the clear sky above.\n\n6. Then intent on some fixed purpose of his mind, he left the company\nof his friends, and went out to a forest to perform his austere\ndevotion.\n\n7. He found there a lake filled with full blown lotuses, and the moon\nshining in the sky with the scattered stars about her; and all shedding\ntheir lustre like showers of rain.\n\n8. He went down into the lake, and stood in the midst of the waters up\nto his neck; his body was below water, and his head floated over it as\na lotus; and he stood upon his devotion, intent with a view to have the\nsight of Vishnu present before him.\n\n9. He thus passed full eight months, continuing with his body immerged\nin the water of the lake; and his face was shrivelled and wan, like the\nlotuses of his lake for want of sun shine.\n\n10. When he was emaciated by his austerities, his god Hari appeared\nbefore him, in the manner of a dark cloud of the rainy weather,\nappearing over the parched earth of the hot season.\n\n11. The Lord said:\u2014Rise O Br\u00e1hman! from amidst the water, and receive\nthy desired blessing of me; because the tree of thy vow, is now\npregnant with its expected fruit.\n\n12. The Br\u00e1hman replied:\u2014I bow to thee, O my lord Vishnu! thou art the\nreceptacle of the three worlds, and the reservoir of innumerable starry\nworlds, which rise as lotuses in the lake of thy heart, and whereon\nthou sittest like the black bee (to behold their beauty).\n\n13. I want to behold my lord, the spiritual delusion which thou hast\nordained to blind fold this world, and known as Vishnu M\u00e1y\u00e1.\n\n14. Vasishtha said:\u2014To this the god replied:\u2014you shall verily behold\nthis delusion, and get rid of it afterwards, by virtue of thy devotion.\nSaying so, the god disappeared from his sight as an aerial castle.\n\n15. Vishnu being gone, the good Br\u00e1hman got up from his watery bed, in\nthe manner of the fair and humid moon, rising from amidst the cool and\nwhite milky ocean.\n\n16. He was glad in his soul at the sight of the lord of world, and his\nheart was as full blown with joy; as the Kumuda (selenian) lotuses\nunfold at the sight of the moon.\n\n17. He then passed some days in that forest, overjoyed in his mind by\nthe sight of Hari, and employed himself in discharge of his Br\u00e1hmanical\nduties.\n\n18. Once on a time as he had been bathing in the lake, overspread with\nfull-blown lotuses, he thought upon the words of Vishnu, as the great\nsages reflect in their minds the sense of texts of Vedas.\n\n19. Then in the act of his discharging his sacerdotal functions in the\nmidst of sacred water, he made his mental prayer for the expurgation of\nhis sins. (This is the ceremony agha-marshna).\n\n20. As he was performing this act in the midst of the water, he chanced\nto forget his sacred mantras (texts), and was drowned in deep water in\nthe confusion of his mind.\n\n21. He thought that his body had fallen down like a mountain tree, in\nthe dale below by a blast of wind; and that his dead corpse was taken\nup and mourned over by his friends.\n\n22. He thought that his vital breath had fled away from his being, and\nthe members of his body were as motionless as the shrubs of sugar cane;\nlaid down on the ground by a hurricane.\n\n23. He thought his countenance to have faded away, and grown as pale as\nthe withered leaf of a tree; and that his body now turned to a carcass,\nwas lying on the ground like a lotus-bud torn from its stalk.\n\n24. His eye balls were as dull and dim, as the stars of the morning are\nshorn of their beams; and the ground seemed to be as dry to him as in a\ndrought of rain water, and filled with flying dust on all sides.\n\n25. He believed his dead body was beset all about by his kind friends,\nweeping upon it with their sad and sorrowful countenances, and loudly\nlamenting and crying over it like birds upon trees.\n\n26. He thought his faithful wife sitting at his feet as handsome\nlotus flower, and weeping as profusely with a shower of tears from\nher lotus-like eyes, as the rushing of waters at the breaking of an\nembankment.\n\n27. His sorrowing mother with her loud wailing and mournful ditties,\nwas buzzing like the humming bee; and holding the chin newly over grown\nwith whiskers in her tender hand.\n\n28. His friends were sitting by his side with their dejected looks, and\nwith trickling tears dropping down their faces and cheeks; and these\nwashed his dead body, as the melting dews on withered leaves, bedew the\nparent tree.\n\n29. The members of his body now ceased to befriend him, like strangers\nwho decline to become friends for fear of future separation, or turning\nunfriendly ever afterwards in life.\n\n30. The open lips leaving the teeth bare, seemed to deride at the\nvanity of human life; as the white and bony teethed ascetics and cynics\ndo on fickleness of worldly events.\n\n31. His mouth was as speechless, as that of a devotee in his\nmeditation; and the body was as motionless, as it was made of mud and\nclay; it slept to wake no more, like a sage absorbed in his hypnotism.\n\n32. It remained quiet with its lifted ears, as if to listen to the\ncries and wailings of the mourning friends; in order to judge the\ndegrees of their affection and grief for him.\n\n33. Then the relatives raised their loud lamentations, with the sobbing\nand beating of their breasts, swooning and rising, and shedding floods\nof tears from their leaky eyes.\n\n34. Afterwards the sorrowful relations, removed the disgusting corpse\nwith their bitter cries for its funeral, seeing it no more in future in\nthis passing world.\n\n35. Then they bore the body to the funeral ground with its rotten flesh\nand entrails, and daubed all over with mud and dust, and placed it on\nthe ground, strewn over with unnumbered bones and skeletons, and dried\nand rotten carcasses.\n\n36. Flights of flying vultures shaded the sunbeams on high, and the\nburning piles drove the darkness below; the fearful glare of open\nmouthed jackals flashed on all sides, as they were flames of living\nfire.\n\n37. There the ravens were bathed in floods of blood, and the crows\ndipping their wings in it; ravenous birds were tearing the entrails,\nand the old vultures were entrapped in those strings.\n\n38. The friends of the dead burnt the corpse in the funeral flame and\nreduced to ashes; and the moisture of the body flew in fumes, as the\nwaters of the ocean are evaporated by the marine fire.\n\n39. The burning wood of the funeral pile, consumed the dead body with\nloud cracking noise; and the dry fuel of the pile, flashed in ambient\nflames with curling smoke over them.\n\n40. The devouring fire gnawed down the bones with crackling noise, and\nfilled the atmosphere with the filthy stink and stench. It gorged up\nall that was soft or hard, as the elephant devours the reeds with the\nmoisture contained in their cellular vessels.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XLV.\n\n G\u00c1DHI REBORN AS A CHAND\u00c1LA, AND MADE\n KING OVER THE KIR TRIBE.\n\n\nArgument. G\u00e1dhi reborn in a Chandal\u00ed, His Life and Election as King of\nKir.\n\n\nVasishtha said:\u2014Then G\u00e1dhi, standing as he was amidst the water with\nhis sorrowful heart, saw many other occurrences in the clearness of his\nmind.\n\n2. He saw a village in the vicinity of Bhuta mandala (Butan) full of\nits inhabitants, and that he was reborn there in the womb of a Chand\u00e1la\nwoman, in which he remained with great pain.\n\n3. Confined in the cavity of the womb, he felt his body pressed by the\npressure of the intestines, while his senses were sorely annoyed by\nbeing constrained to abide the stink of the ordure and filth in the\nintestinal parts of Chand\u00e1la woman.\n\n4. After the foetus was matured, he was born in proper time, with its\nblack complexion like a dark cloud of the rainy season, and soiled with\nfilth all over its body.\n\n5. It grew up to childhood and then to boyhood in the Chand\u00e1la\u2019s house,\nand moved about here and there like a pebble thrown up by the current\nof the Yamuna stream.\n\n6. It reached its twelfth and then its sixteenth year of age, and had\nits body fully developed like a rainy cloud increasing in its size.\n\n7. Then accompanied by a pack of hounds, the lad roved from one forest\nto another, and continued to hunt after and kill the wild deer, in his\noccupation of a huntsman.\n\n8. He was then joined with a Cand\u00e1li spouse, as black as the leaf of a\ntam\u00e1la plant, and who with her budding breasts, and palms, resembled\nthe newly sprouting stalks and leaves of trees.\n\n9. She was black and swarthy in her whole complexion, except her two\nrows of milk white teeth, and had all her limbs as brisk and supple as\nthe tender creepers of the forest.\n\n10. They sported together in the skirts of the forest in their youthful\ndalliance, and wandered about the flowery meadows, like a couple of\nnigrescent bees.\n\n11. When tired they took their seats on beds of leaves and creepers,\nwhich were spread over the plains, like those strewn over the skirts of\nthe Vindhya hills, by the driving winds.\n\n12. They reposed in woodland groves, and slept in the caverns of\nmountains; they sat on heaps of leaflets, and had their abode under\nshrubberies and bowers of creeping plants.\n\n13. They decorated their heads with _kinkirata_ flowers, and their\nnecks and bosoms with blossoms of various kinds. They hung _ketaka_\nflowers in their earholes, and made necklaces of _amra_ florets.\n\n14. They rolled on beds of flowers and roved about the foot of the\nmountain; they knew all the arbours where to resort, and were skilled\nin archery and hunting the deer.\n\n15. They begot many children as the offshoots of their race in the\nhilly region; and they were as rude and rough as the prickly thorns of\nthe _khadira_ plant.\n\n16. After passing their youth in family life, they came gradually to\ntheir decay and decline; till at last they were overtaken by decrepit\nold age, which was as dry of pleasure as the parched ground of the\ndesert.\n\n17. Then returning to their native village in the Bhuta or _Bhota_\ndistrict, they built for themselves a poor hut of leaves and straws,\nand there lived as recluse hermits (passing their lives in holy\ndevotion).\n\n18. G\u00e1dhi found his body worn out with age, and grown as thin and lean\nas a dry leaf, and as a withered tam\u00e1la tree growing in a mountain\ncave; which for want of moisture soon dwindles into decrepitude.\n\n19. He saw his Chand\u00e1la family increasing in its members, and himself\nbecoming cramped in his means and crabbed in his speech in his extreme\nold age.\n\n20. As G\u00e1dhi found himself to be the oldest man alive among the\nChand\u00e1las, and had his comfort in the members of his family in his\ndotage:\u2014\n\n21. He came to see at last all his family to be swept away by the cruel\nhand of death, as the rain water carries away the fallen leaves of the\nforest.\n\n22. He continued to lament over their loss, with his heart rent with\nsorrow; and his eyes were suffused in tears, like those of a stag deer\nseparated from its companions.\n\n23. Thus passing some days in that forest with his heart overflown with\ngrief, he left at last his natal land, as the aquatic fowls quit their\nnative lake, when its waters and the lotus plants are dried up.\n\n24. He travelled through many countries with his sad and sickly heart,\nwithout finding a spot of rest and repose; and was driven to and fro,\nas a cloud is carried by contrary winds.\n\n25. On one time he entered the opulent city of the Kirs, and observed\nthe birds flying over it, like so many balloons hanging in the air.\n\n26. There he saw rows of trees on both sides of the road, waving their\nvariegated leaves and clusters of flowers like enamelled cloths and\ngems; and the path strewn over with beautiful flowers of various kinds\nup to the heels.\n\n27. He then came to the royal road, resembling the milky path of\nheaven; and found it filled by soldiers and citizens, and their women\nwithout number.\n\n28. He saw there the auspicious royal elephant decorated with its\ngemming and embroidered trappings; and appearing as the golden mountain\nof the gods moving on the earth.\n\n29. He learnt it to be rambling about in search of a new king, to be\nelected in lieu of the last king who was lately dead. The royal\nelephant was employed as a jeweller to select the best gem to be placed\non the royal throne.\n\n30. The Chand\u00e1la remained to look steadfastly on the elephant with his\ncurious eye, and found it to be no other than a hill in motion.\n\n31. As he was looking on it with amazement, the elephant came to him\nand lifted him with his trunk; then setting him on his head with\nrespect, bore him as the mount Meru bears the sun on its top.\n\n32. Seeing him to be sitting on the animal\u2019s head, the people sounded\ntheir trumpets; the noise whereof was as loud as that of the resounding\nocean, to the roaring of the diluvian clouds in the sky.\n\n33. Then the acclamation of \u2018Victory to the king,\u2019 rose from the\nassembled throng and filled the air around; and seemed as it were the\nunited cry of matutinal birds over the waking (or rising) world.\n\n34. Next rose the loud voices of the panegyrists, which, moved in the\nair like the dashing waves of the sea.\n\n35. Then the matrons joined to anoint him as their king, and moved\nabout him like the waves of the sea; surrounding the Mandara mountain\nafter its labour of churning.\n\n36. The respectable ladies adorned him afterwards with many ornaments\nof various gems, as the sea laves the rock on its shore; with the many\ncoloured waves under the beams of the rising sun.\n\n37. Youthful maidens poured cooling ointments on him, as the raining\nclouds pour down their waters, on the tops of mountains.\n\n38. Other women decorated his person with wreaths of fragrant flowers,\nwith their tender hands; as the season of spring adorns the forest with\nvariety of flowers, with her hands of the tender stalks and branches.\n\n39. They put a great many paints and pastes upon his person, which\ndecorated it, as the rays of the sun, paint the mountain with the many\ncolours of its minerals.\n\n40. His body being decorated with ornaments made of gems and gold,\nattracted all hearts unto him; as the mount Meru is attractive of all\nhearts, by the variegated clouds of evening shining upon it.\n\n41. He was adorned by beauteous maids, with shoots of creeping plants;\nwhich gave him the appearance of the kalpa tree, entwined by its\ncreepers.\n\n42. Being thus anointed and decorated, he was attended to by all the\nroyal family and subjects; as a shady and flowering tree, is resorted\nto by the travellers.\n\n43. They all assembled and installed him on the throne, as the gods\njoin together, to place Indra on the throne, after he is borne on the\nback of the Air\u00e1vata elephant.\n\n44. In this manner, was the Chand\u00e1la made a king in the city of the\nKirs; and he was as much overjoyed at his unexpected good fortune, as a\nraven is delighted to find a stout dead deer in the forest.\n\n45. His feet were rubbed by the lotus-like hands of the Kiri queen, and\nhis body daubed with odorous powder of frankincense, which gave it the\nbrightening appearance of the evening with the crimson clouds.\n\n46. He flaunted in the Kir city and in the midst of their women, as a\nlion struts in the company of lionesses in the flowery forest.\n\n47. He now forgot his former pains and sorrows; and his person was as\nmuch cooled, as by wearing a necklace of pearls, dropped from the heads\nof elephants killed by lions. And he was as much delighted at the\nenjoyment of the luxuries in company with these good people, as a\nsun-burnt elephant is refreshed, in a lake full of water and forage.\n\n48. He reigned here for sometime in his self-gotten kingdom, having\nextended his power and mandates on all sides; he ruled the state\nthrough the medium of the ministers, and was himself known by the name\nof G\u00e1vala throughout his dominions.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XLVI.\n\n G\u00c1DHI\u2019S LOSS OF HIS VISIONARY KINGDOM.\n\n\nArgument. Continuation of G\u00e1dhi\u2019s Vision:\u2014\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014Thus was G\u00e1dhi surrounded by his courtiers, and\nattended by his ministers; the chiefs paid their homage to him, and the\nroyal umbrella was raised above his head and the chouri flapped about\nhim.\n\n2. He attained great dignity on seeing his mandates were carried out on\nevery side. He was delighted to learn the state affairs, and to be\ninformed that his subjects were happy and lived fearless within his\ndominion.\n\n3. The p\u00e6ans of the panegyrists, made him forget himself and his\nformer state; and the excess of his delight, made him as giddy as if by\nintoxication.\n\n4. He reigned for full eight years over the Kiri kingdom, and managed\nhimself in an honourable manner all along that time.\n\n5. He was once sitting at his pleasure and without his regal attire in\nthe open air; and was looking at the clear firmament, which was devoid\nof clouds and darkness, and without the light of the sun, moon and\nstars.\n\n6. His heart was full with the enjoyment of royal dignity, and did not\nthink much of the trinkets and ornaments, which were loaded upon him.\n\n7. He went abroad at one time in this naked state of his body, and\nbeheld the setting sun bending his course below the horizon from his\nwonted path of glory. (The setting sun refers to his present state and\nhis impending fall).\n\n8. He saw there a band of chand\u00e1las of black complexions and big\nbodies, singing like melodious cuckoos the approach of the vernal\nseason.\n\n9. They were striking the strings of their wired instruments\u2014lyre, with\nthe strokes of their trembling fingers; as the swarm of sweet sounding\nbees, shake the tremulous leaves of trees with their fluttering and\nbuzzing.\n\n10. There stood an old man among them, who seemed to be the leader of\nthe band; and appeared with his grey head and ruby eyes, like the mount\nMeru with his snow covered top and gemming caverns.\n\n11. He accosted the king saying:\u2014How is it, O K\u00e1lanjaka! that you came\nto be here, has the king of this place taken you for his associate on\naccount of your skill in music?\n\n12. Does he take a liking for sweet songsters, as they do for the\nmusical kokilas, and does he load upon them his favours, with presents\nof household cloths and seats?\n\n13. I am as much glad to see you here today (in this happy condition of\nyours), as men are pleased to see the mango tree, fraught with its\nfruits and flowers in spring.\n\n14. I am as glad in my heart as the budding lotus at the sight of the\nrising sun, and the selenian or medicinal plants at moon rise; and as\ngreat men are pleased with all their best gains, so am I pleased at\nseeing thee here, because the highest limit of joys is the sight of a\nfriend.\n\n15. As the Chand\u00e1la was addressing the king in the said manner, he\nacquainted him of the manner in which the wheel of time turned to his\nfavour. (Here is a misprint of avadh\u00edrana for avadh\u00e1rana, which would\nalter the meaning and express, that he felt ashamed at the speech).\n\n16. At this instant his consorts and servants that were standing at the\nwindow, overheard their conversation, and were in deep sorrow to learn\nthat he was a Chand\u00e1la by birth.\n\n17. They were as sick at heart as the lotus-flowers under a shower of\nfrost, and as a tract of land under a draught; and the citizens were as\ncheerless upon learning this, as upon seeing the conflagration of a\nmountain wood.\n\n18. He hurled his defiance at these words of the old Chand\u00e1la, as the\nlion lying on the ground, shows his teeth at the sneering of a cat on\nthe top of a tree.\n\n19. He fled in haste into the inner apartment, and among its sorrowful\ninmates, with as much palpitation of his heart, as the reluctant swan\nenters a lake of withering lotuses, in the dry season.\n\n20. His limbs grew stiff, and his countenance became pale with fear;\nand his knees tottered with inward rage, as the trunks of trees shake\nwith the burning fire in their hollows. (The _sami_ or _s\u00e1in_ tree is\nan instance of it. Gloss).\n\n21. He beheld all persons there sitting in a melancholy mood, with\ntheir downcast looks and drooping heads; like the bending tops of\nplants, eaten up at the root by mice and rats.\n\n22. The ministers, the ladies of the harem and all people of the city,\nrefrained from touching his person, as they avoid the touch of a dead\nbody lying in the house.\n\n23. The servants ceased to minister unto him, and the ladies with all\ntheir love and sorrow for him, loathed his company.\n\n24. They looked upon his cheerless face and dark complexion with its\ndeparted lustre, as the funeral ground which every one loathes to look\nupon.\n\n25. Though the people sorrowed for his darksome body, now smoking with\nfumes of his grief; yet they durst not approach his person, which\nappeared to burn as a volcano amidst its smoke.\n\n26. The courtiers left him with the heavings of their hearts, nor were\nhis orders obeyed any more, than those of quenching the cool ashes with\nwater.\n\n27. The people fled from him as from a heinous R\u00e1kshasa, who is the\ncause of evil and danger only.\n\n28. Thus was he shunned by all, and left lonesome amidst the populous\ncity; and became as an unbefriended traveller passing through a foreign\ncountry, without money or skill to support him.\n\n29. Though he called and accosted every body, yet he got no answer from\nany one; as the hollow sounding reed, is never returned with a reply by\nany of the passers by.\n\n30. They all said to one another, that the guilt of their long\nassociation with the Chand\u00e1la, cannot be expiated by any other penance,\nthan by the act of burning themselves alive on the funeral pile in the\nform of self-immolation.\n\n31. Being so resolved, the ministers and citizens all joined together,\nand raised for themselves piles with heaps of dry wood.\n\n32. These being lighted, blazed all about the ground like stars in the\nsky, and the city was filled with loud wailings of the people all\naround.\n\n33. The wailing wives were shedding showers of tears with their loud\nand piteous cries; and the weeping people were heaving their heavy\ngroans with their choked voices, all about the burning furnaces.\n\n34. The plaintive cries of the dependants of the self-cremating\nministers, rose as the swell of whistling winds amidst the forest trees.\n\n35. The bodies of great Br\u00e1hmans, that were burnt on the piles, sent\nforth their fatted fumes in the air; which were scattered about by the\nwinds, and overcast the landscape as with a portentous mist.\n\n36. The winds bore aloft and spread far and wide in the open sky, the\nstench of the burning fat and flesh of men; which invited flocks of the\nflying fowls of the air to the feast, and the disk of the sun was hid\nunder the wide extending shadow of the winged tribe.\n\n37. The flame of the burning pile, borne by the winds to the sky,\nburned as a conflagration on high; and the flying sparks of fire\nscattered in the air, appeared as falling meteors blazing in the\nhorizon.\n\n38. Here the helpless boys were crying for their ornaments being robbed\nby atrocious robbers, owing to their want of guardians; and there the\ncitizens were threatened with the loss both of their lives and\nproperties by the dacoits.\n\n39. On one side the people were seen to lament the loss of their\nrelatives (in the destructive fire); on the other were the bands of\nthieves, lurking and prying unobserved about the houses for plunder and\nbooty.\n\n40. As adverse fate brought on this direful change on the devoted city;\nits horrified inhabitants remained in mute amazement; as on the last\ndoom of nature.\n\n41. Gavala, the Chand\u00e1la prince, whose mind was purified and whose\nmanners were refined in the society of the great men of the palace;\nwitnessed the sad catastrophe of the state, and mourned in himself with\na pensive heart.\n\n42. It is all owing to me, said he, that all this woe has befallen on\nthis state; and that time has brought on the untimely dissolution of\nthe doomsday; both on this realm and the royal family and its\nministerial officers.\n\n43. What is the good of this miserable life of mine? My death is a\nblessing to me than living in this wretched state. It is better for the\nmean and base to die away, than live to be reviled by others.\n\n44. Thus resolved, Gavala prepared a pile for himself, and made an\noffering of his body in the burning furnace, like the poor moth\ndropping on fire, without betraying a sigh.\n\n45. As Gavala cast his body (nick named as Gavala) amidst the flame, and\nwas pulling his limbs singed by the fire; their violent motion and his\npainful emotion, roused the dreaming G\u00e1dhi from his reverie amidst the\nwater.\n\n46. V\u00e1lm\u00edki said:\u2014As the sage was saying these things, the day departed\nwith the setting sun to its evening devotion; the congregation broke\nwith mutual salutations, for the performance of their evening\nablutions, and assembled again with the rising sun after dispersion of\nthe gloom of night.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XLVII.\n\n VERIFICATION OF G\u00c1DHI\u2019S VISION.\n\n\nArgument. G\u00e1dhi learns from a guest the report of the Keri people, and\ngoes out to inquire into the fact on the spot.\n\n\nVasishtha resumed:\u2014G\u00e1dhi was soon afterwards relieved from the\nperturbation of his mind at the delusions of the world; and he was\nset at rest from his perturbed state, like the disturbed sea after\nsubsidence of its waves.\n\n2. His mind being freed from its painful thoughts, regained its repose\nafter the troublesome dream, had passed away, and he resumed his\ncalmness, as the god Brahm\u00e1 had his rest, after the labour of his\ncreation was over at the end of the kalpa (the time of his creative\nwill or the duration of creation).\n\n3. He regained his senses slowly, as a man upon waking from his sleep;\nand as one gains his sobriety after the passing off of his ebriety.\n\n4. He then said to himself, I am the same G\u00e1dhi and in the same\nfunction (of my sacred ablution in the water). All this is nothing that\nI had been seeing so long, and this I see as clearly as men see things\nafter dispersion of the shade of night.\n\n5. Remembering himself what he was (_i.e._ coming to himself), he\nlifted his feet from amidst the water (_i.e._ got out of it); as the\nlotus-bud lifts its head above the water, after the frost is over in\nspring.\n\n6. He said again, this is the same water, sky and earth (where I stood\nbefore); but what I was just seeing, is quite astonishing to me.\n\n7. What am I and what do I see now, and what was I and had been doing\nall this time? With these thoughts he remained a long time with his\nknitted brows and staring eyes.\n\n8. It was my weakness, said he, that showed me this delusion; and\nknowing it for certain, he came out of the water, as the rising sun\nappears above the horizon.\n\n9. Then rising on the bank, he said:\u2014Ah! where is that mother and wife\nof mine, who attended on me at the moment of my death.\n\n10. Or were my parents dead in the ignorant state of my boyhood, like\nthe parent plant of a young shoot, cut off by the sword of death?\n\n11. I am unmarried and know not the form of a wife, and am as ignorant\nof conjugal love, as a Br\u00e1hman is stranger to the pernicious taste of\nforbidden liquors.\n\n12. I am too far from my country and know none of my friends and\nrelatives; unto whom I shall return and there to die.\n\n13. Therefore all these scenes that I have come to see, are no more\nthan the forms of the fairy land pictured in my fancy.\n\n14. Be it as it may, all this is but delusion and dream, and we are\nliving dead among our friends; it is all magic and delusion, and\nnothing is true or real herein.\n\n15. Our minds are as wild beasts, roaming furiously in the forest of\nerror; which presents endless scenes of delusion to living beings at\nlarge.\n\n16. Reflecting on these delusions in his mind, G\u00e1dhi passed some days\nat his own house amidst the woods.\n\n17. Once on a time he happened to entertain a Br\u00e1hman at his house as\nhis guest, who resorted there to take his rest from his travels.\n\n18. He was highly gratified with feasting upon fruits and syrup of\nflowers, and was as refreshed supplied with sap as the tree which is\nsupplied by the bounteous spring, and shoots forth in its foliage and\nfruitage in time.\n\n19. They then performed their evening service, and turned their beads,\nand afterwards took to their beds made of tender leaves and grass.\n\n20. There they began to talk on divine subjects, with which they were\nconversant; and the words fell from the lips, like the sweets of the\nvernal season.\n\n21. Then G\u00e1dhi asked his guest in the course of their conversation,\nsaying: why is it sir, that you are so thin and lean and appear to lie\nso very weary.\n\n22. The guest replied:\u2014Hear me sir, relate to you the cause both of my\nleanness and weariness, and I will tell you the true facts, and not as\na travelling teller of tales deals and lies.\n\n23. There is on the surface of this land, and in the woody tracts of\nthe north, the great district of the Kir (Kirgis?), which is far\nrenowned for its richness. (Kir the land of the Gees in Afghanistan).\n\n24. I lived in the city there; and was honoured by its inhabitants, and\nthe gust of my soul and mind were mightily pleased with the variety of\ndainty food that I used to get there.\n\n25. There it was once related to me by some one in the way of gossip,\nthat a chand\u00e1la had once been the king of that country for the space of\neight years.\n\n26. I inquired of the village people about the truth of this report,\nand they all told me with one voice, that a chand\u00e1la, had really\nreigned there for full eight years.\n\n27. But being discovered at last as such, he immolated himself on the\nburning pile; which was followed by the self-immolation of hundreds of\nBr\u00e1hmans on the funeral pyre.\n\n28. Hearing this news from their mouths, I departed from that district,\nintending, O Br\u00e1hman, to do my penance, by making a pilgrimage to\nPray\u00e1ga (Allahabad, on the doab or confluence of the two sacred streams\nof Gang\u00e1 and Jamuna).\n\n29. I made my _ch\u00e1ndr\u00e1yana_ fast for three days and nights, and had to\nbreak my fast only this day. It is for this reason, that have become so\nvery thin and lean, as you find me at present.\n\n30. Vasishtha said:\u2014G\u00e1dhi on hearing this, made a hundred inquiries of\nhis guest about the matter, to which he answered everything in\nverification of the fact.\n\n31. G\u00e1dhi was quite surprised at this narration, and passed the night\ntill sunrise in great palpitation of his heart.\n\n32. Waking in the morning, he made his ablution and discharged his\nmatins; then took leave of his guest, and began to reflect in himself\nwith his bewildered understanding.\n\n33. He said to himself, what I saw in my delusion, is ratified as a\nfact by my Br\u00e1hman guest. I am puzzled to think, whether this be a\nmagic, or a fascination of the conjurer Sambara.\n\n34. What I saw about my death amidst my relatives, was undoubtedly a\ndelusion of my mind; but the latter part of my vision (of becoming a\nChand\u00e1la), is verified by the Br\u00e1hman\u2019s observance of the penance\nCh\u00e1ndr\u00e1yana for his having entered the Chand\u00e1la city.\n\n35. I must therefore learn fully the particulars of the Chand\u00e1la, and\nproceed immediately to the Bhuta country (Bhutan?) with an undaunted\nmind.\n\n36. Thus determined, G\u00e1dhi rose to visit the distant district, as the\nsun rises over the horizon to visit all the sides of Sumeru (the Altain\nchain, at the bottom of which the country of the Kirgis is situated).\n\n37. He travelled onward, and obtained at last the sight of the country\nhe had seen in his dream; as intelligent and wayfaring men, reach to\ntheir desired destinations in distant regions.\n\n38. Finding everything, however unattainable it may appear at first, to\nbe attained by perseverance, G\u00e1dhi was resolved to make a test of the\ntruth of his delusive dream.\n\n39. He had proceeded from his home, with the swiftness of a current\nrivulet in the rainy weather; and traversed through many unknown\ncountries, as a cloud passes over distant realms on the back of its\nairy steed.\n\n40. At last he came to the country of the Bhatas (Bhoteas), a people\nfollowing their own debased customs; and thought himself to be got\namongst a savage people, as a camel is confounded to find itself,\nfallen in a karanja forest, in quest of thorny thistles. (The camels or\ncramelas are called kantaka_ bhojes_, from their browsing the brambles).\n\n41. There he saw in its vicinity a city, as what he had seen in his\ndelusion; and resembling in every respect the habitation of the\nGandharva race.\n\n42. Proceeding onward, he saw at the further end, the locality of the\nchand\u00e1las, resembling the hell-pit of the infernal region. (The\nout-castes are always located at the filthy outskirts of towns).\n\n43. It was as spacious a place as what he had seen in his vision, and\nbeheld his own likeness in the dream appearing in the figures of the\nchand\u00e1las, as one sees the shape of a Gandharva or ghost, in his dream\nor delirium.\n\n44. He saw in that place the habitation of chand\u00e1las, as what he had\nseen before in his delusion, and observed with grief and coldness of\nhis mind (the deserted abodes of his fellow Chand\u00e1las).\n\n45. He saw his own residence flooded over by rain water grown with\nsprouts of barley and brambles; his house was left roofless, and his\nbedstead was almost indiscernible.\n\n46. His hut presented the picture of poverty and wretchedness, and its\ncompound was a scene of ruin and desolation (as if it was laid waste by\nthe hand of oppression and pillage).\n\n47. G\u00e1dhi stood long gazing upon the dry white bones of bulls and cows,\nbuffaloes and horses, which lay strewn over the plains round about his\nhut; and which he remembered to be the remains of the beasts of his\nprey and slaughter (_lit._:\u2014the bones broken under the teeth and jaws\nof men and wild beasts).\n\n48. He saw the dry hollow skulls lying on the ground, which had served\nfor his eating and drinking vessels before; and which still lay unmoved\non the spot, and were filled with rain water (as if to supply him with\ndrink).\n\n49. He saw strings of the dried entrails of the beasts of his victims,\nlying like parched plants on the plain, and pining with thirst for the\nrain-water.\n\n50. G\u00e1dhi who was conscious of himself (as G\u00e1dhi), the Br\u00e1hman looked\nlong at his former house and its environs, resembling the dry and\ndilapidated skeleton of a human body, lying unburied on the naked land.\n\n51. He stood amazed at what he saw, and then withdrew himself to the\nadjacent village; as when a traveller repairs to the habitation of the\nAryas, from his sojourning in the land of barbarians (Mlech\u2019chas).\n\n52. There he asked some one saying, sir, do you remember anything\nconcerning the former state of yonder village, and the lives of its\nchand\u00e1la inhabitants?\n\n53. I have heard all good people say, that knowing men are conversant\nwith the annals of all places, as they know every spot on a globe in\ntheir hand.\n\n54. If you recollect aught of the good old chand\u00e1la that, lived retired\nat yonder spot, and if you remember his adventures, as every one does\nthe past accidents of his own life:\u2014\n\n55. If you are acquainted with the particulars thereabouts, then please\nto relate them unto me; for it is said there is great spirit in\ndirecting a stranger, and in dispelling the doubts of one hanging in\nsuspense.\n\n56. The village people being one by one importuned in this manner by\nthe strange Br\u00e1hman; they were as much surprised at his odd request, as\nphysicians are concerned at the abnormal complaint of a patient.\n\n57. The villagers said:\u2014It is an undeniable truth, O Br\u00e1hman! as you\nsay, that there lived a chand\u00e1la of hideous shape by name of Katanjala\nat that place.\n\n58. He was beset by a large family, consisting of his sons, grandsons,\nfriends and servants; and had other relatives and kinsmen besides. His\nchildren were as many as the fruits of a mango tree.\n\n59. But cruel fate snatched all his family in course of time, as a\nconflagration burns down a mountain forest with all its fruits and\nflowers at once.\n\n60. He then deserted his native land and went over to the city of the\nKirs, of which he became the king; and reigned there for the space of\ntwice four years.\n\n61. The citizens coming to know his mean birth afterwards, drove him\nfrom there at last; as they remove a noxious and poisonous tree from\nthe garden.\n\n62. G\u00e1dhi seeing the people immolating themselves on funeral piles\nentered into a burning pyre, which he had prepared for himself; and was\nthus purified with others by the sacred fire _p\u00e1vaka_.\n\n63. But tell us, O Br\u00e1hman, why you are so curiously inquisitive about\nthe chand\u00e1la, and as to whether he was any friend of yours, or you had\ncontracted any friendship with him.\n\n64. Being accosted in this manner, G\u00e1dhi made many more inquiries of\nthem concerning the chand\u00e1la, and passed a whole month in their several\nhouses on his inquiry.\n\n65. He also told the village people, all that he knew of the chand\u00e1la\nin his dream; and they heard him attentively relating the whole story\nfrom first to last.\n\n66. G\u00e1dhi being informed of all the particulars regarding the chand\u00e1la,\nboth from the hearsay of the people as well as from his personal\nobservations; returned equally ashamed and astonished to his abode,\nwith the disgraceful reflection of his past vileness, which was stamped\nlike the black spot of the moon upon the tablet of his mind.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XLVIII.\n\n ON THE WONDROUS POWER OF ILLUSION.\n\n\nArgument. Devotion of G\u00e1dhi after his return, and Vishnu\u2019s exhibition\nof the extraordinary power of delusion to him\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014G\u00e1dhi was bewildered in his mind, at all that\nhe heard and observed about the Chand\u00e1la and his residence, and felt\nuneasy to learn more about them.\n\n2. He went back to the place, and observed the abodes that lay\nscattered upon the plain; as when the lotus-born Brahm\u00e1 looks over the\nruins, made by the great deluge at the end of a kalpa age.\n\n3. He said to himself, those bones lying scattered about the ruined\nhuts in this forest, look like little imps (pis\u00e1chas), gathered round\nthe trees standing on the burial ground.\n\n4. These posts and pegs of elephant\u2019s tusks, that are fastened to and\nupon the walls of the ruined houses; look like the craigs of mount\nMeru, drowned under the waters of the kalpa deluge.\n\n5. Here the Chand\u00e1la feasted on his meat food of monkey\u2019s flesh, and\ndressed with the sprouts of young bamboos; and there he caroused on his\ncountry grog, in company with his drunken friends.\n\n6. Here he slept in the embrace of his murky spouse, on his bed of the\nlion\u2019s skin; being drunk with the better liquor mixed with the ichor,\nexuding from the frontal proboscis of the elephant.\n\n7. There was a pack of hounds, tied to the trunk of the withered\n_Bharaeda_ tree, and fed with the rotten flesh of the putrid carcasses.\n\n8. Here I see three earthen vessels covered with the hides of\nbuffaloes, resembling fragments of dark clouds; and which had once\ncontained the precious pearls falling from the sculls of slain\nelephants. (The low and poor people, use earthen pots and boiling\nkettles for boxes and chests).\n\n9. I see the site of the place which I had seen in my dream, and where\nthe Chand\u00e1la boys played on the dust, with as much glee and gaiety, as\nthe cuckoos have in flitting on the tufts of mango leaves.\n\n10. I see the place I had seen in my vision, where the boys sang\nresponsive to the tune of their bamboo pipes; and drank the milk of\nbitches, and adorned themselves with flowers from the funeral grounds.\n\n11. Here the families of the wedding parties, met together to celebrate\ntheir marriage festivity; and danced and sang as loudly, as the noise\nof the dashing waves of the sea.\n\n12. There I find the bamboo cages, still suspended on high; which were\nlaid before, for catching the flying birds of the air; in order to be\nkilled for the food (of their slayers).\n\n13. Vasishtha resumed:\u2014Thus G\u00e1dhi remained for a long time on the spot,\nobserving all what he remembered to have seen in his dream; and was\nlost in wonder, to think on the miraculous disclosure of these things\nin his dream. (Lit.:\u2014heart-strings palpitated with surprise &c.).\n\n14. He then departed from that place, and travelled through many\ncountries beyond the boundaries of Butan, for a long time.\n\n15. He passed over many rivers and rocks, and through many deserts and\nforests; until he reached to the snowy mountain, and the habitation of\nhumankind beyond its borders.\n\n16. He then arrived at the city of a great monarch, the towers of which\nrose as hills upon the earth; and there stopped after his long journey,\nas when N\u00e1rada rests in his heavenly dome, after the fatigue of\ntravelling through the numerous worlds.\n\n17. He beheld in that city all the places answering to the romantic\nthoughts in his mind, and those as he had seen and enjoyed in his\ndream, and then asked the citizens in a respectful manner.\n\n18. Good Sirs, said he, do you remember any thing regarding the\nChand\u00e1la king that reigned here for sometime, which, if you do, be\npleased to relate unto me in its proper order.\n\n19. The citizens replied:\u2014Yes, O Br\u00e1hman, there reigned here a Chand\u00e1la\nking for full eight years, and he was elected to its government, by the\nauspicious elephant of the realm.\n\n20. Being at last discovered to be of so vile a race, he committed his\nself-immolation on the funeral pyre; and it is now a dozen of years,\nsince the direful event has taken place.\n\n21. In this manner the inquisitive G\u00e1dhi continued in his inquiry of\nevery man he met with, and was satisfied to learn the same information\nfrom the mouth of every body there.\n\n22. He then beheld the king of that city coming with his body guards\nand vehicles, and whom he recognized to be no other than the god Vishnu\nand his attendants as he had seen in his devotion, and were now going\nout of the city.\n\n23. He saw the sky shadowed by the cloud of dust raised by the feet of\nthe passing procession; and remembered with grief the like state of his\npomp under his past kingship.\n\n24. He said to himself, here are the same Kiri damsels with their rosy\nskins, resembling the petals of lotuses; and those with their bodies\nblazing as liquid gold, and their cerulean eyes trembling like blue\nlotuses.\n\n25. The waving of the chouri flappers, flashes with the light of bright\nmoonbeams; and resembles the falling waters of a cascade, and clusters\nof k\u00e1sa flowers.\n\n26. Beautiful maidens, waving the snow white fans in their beauteous\nhands, resembled the forest plants with pearly flower on their branches.\n\n27. The rows of furious elephants, standing on both sides of the land,\nare like thick lines of kalpa trees, growing on ridges of the Sumeru\nmountains.\n\n28. These chieftains resembling the gods Yama, Kuvera and Varuna\u2014the\nlord of waters, are like the regents of the different quarters of the\nsky, accompanying Indra\u2014the lord of heaven.\n\n29. These long extending lines of goodly edifices, which are full of a\ngreat variety of things, and abounding in all sorts of comforts,\nresemble a grove of kalpa trees, conferring all the objects of desire.\n\n30. In this royal city of the Kirs, and in the manners of its assembled\npeople, I see exactly the same customs and usages, as those of the\nkingdom of my past life.\n\n31. Truly this is but a vision in my dream, and appearing as a reality\nin my waking state; I cannot understand why this delusive magic show is\nspread out before me.\n\n32. O yes, I am as fast bound by my ignorance, and captivated by my\nreminiscence, as a captive bird in a net, that has lost all power over\nitself.\n\n33. O fie! that my silly mind is so deluded by its desires, that it is\nalways wont to mistake the shadow for the substance, of people dwelling\nin their aerial castles.\n\n34. This extraordinary magic, I ween is shown to me by Vishnu\u2014the\nholder of the discus, of whom I recollect to have asked the favour of\nshowing M\u00e1y\u00e1 or delusion to me.\n\n35. I will now betake myself to austere devotion in the cavern of a\nhill, in order to learn the origin and subsistence of delusion (_i.e._\nhow the deceitful delusion sprang from the truthful God, and where in it\nconsists).\n\n36. Having long thought in this manner, G\u00e1dhi went out of the city, and\ncame to the cavern of mountain; where he rested after all his travels\nand travail of thought, like a lion tired with his roaming for forage.\n\n37. He remained there for a whole year, living only on the water of the\ncataract collected in the hollow of his palm; and devoted himself to\nthe worship of Vishnu, the holder of the S\u00e1ringi bow.\n\n38. Then the lotus eyed god appeared to him in his watery form, which\nwas as clear and graceful to sight, as the limpid lake of autumn with\nthe blue lotuses full blown upon it.\n\n39. With this form, the god approached to the hermit\u2019s cell in the\nmountain, and stood over it in the likeness of a transparent watery\ncloud, resting on the humid atmosphere.\n\n40. The lord spoke to him saying:\u2014G\u00e1dhi thou hast fully seen the great\nspell of my magic (m\u00e1y\u00e1); and known the network or delusion, which is\nspread by destiny over all the affairs of this world. (_i.e._ Man is\ndestined, and to be deluded to think the false scenes of the world as\nreal ones).\n\n41. Thou hast now well understood the nature of delusion, which thou\ndidst desire in thy heart to know, what is it again that thou wantest\nto know, by these austerities of thine in this mountain cave?\n\n42. Vasishtha said:\u2014G\u00e1dhi the best of Br\u00e1hmans, seeing Hari addressing\nhim in this manner, honoured him duly with strewing plentiful of\nflowers at his divine feet.\n\n43. After G\u00e1dhi had made his offering of flowers, with due obeisance\nand turning round the deity; he addressed him with his words, sounding\nas sweet as notes of the ch\u00e1taka to the blooming lotus.\n\n44. G\u00e1dhi said:\u2014Lord! I have seen the dark delusion, that thou hast\nshown me in her form of gloominess; I pray thee now to show her unto me\nin her fair form, as the sun appears after the gloom of night.\n\n45. The mind which is vitiated by the dirt of its desires, views a\ngreat many errors, rising before it like false phantoms and visions in\na dream; but how is it my lord! that the same visions continue to be\nseen in the waking state also (or as waking dreams likewise)?\n\n46. It was for a moment only that I thought to have seen some thing as\nfalse as a dream, when I stood amidst the waters but how was it, O thou\nenlightener of the mind, that it became manifest to my outward sense\nand sight?\n\n47. Why was not the delusion of my birth and death as a Chand\u00e1la, which\ntook place long ago, and lately verified by many visible vestiges,\nconfined in my memory only, as well as other idle creations of the\nbrain, but became palpable to my naked eyes?\n\n48. The lord replied:\u2014G\u00e1dhi! it is the nature of delirium as of one\u2019s\ndesires, to present many false appearances to view; and to make one\nbelieve what he has never seen before, to be present to his external\nsight, which in reality is a vision of his mind only.\n\n49. There is nothing on the outside of any body as the earth, sea,\nhills and the sky; they are all contained in the mind as the fruits,\nflowers and leaves of trees, are born in the seed and grow from its\ngerm.\n\n50. Like fruits and flowers growing out of the seed and its sprout,\nthis earth and all other things are the productions of the mind alone,\nand not distinct from it in their essences (_i.e._ all sensible\nperceptions are not reflexions of the inborn ideas of the mind).\n\n51. Know it for certain that this earth and all other things, are\nsituated in the mind and not outside of it; as the fruit, flowers and\nleaves are all contained in the inside of the seed and not without it.\n\n52. The sight of things present, and the thoughts of the absent past\nand unseen future, are all but acts of the mind, as the making and\nunmaking of pots, are both of them the doings of the pot maker.\n\n53. Whatever notions there are in the minds of men from their youth to\nage are alike to the phantoms of their dream or the deliriums of their\nebriety or some (mental) disease.\n\n54. The settled desires of the mind present a thousand appearances\nbefore its sight, as the rooted plants on earth, abound with fruits and\nflowers of various kinds, on the surface of the ground.\n\n55. But the plants being rooted out of the ground, there remains no\nvestige of a fruit or flower or leaf upon earth: so the desires being\ndriven out of the mind, there is no more any trace of anything left\nbehind them; nor is there any probability of future transmigrations,\nwhen the reminiscence of the past is utterly obliterated from the soul.\n\n56. It is no wonder for the shifting stage of the mind, to present you\nthe single scene of the Chand\u00e1la, when it has in store, and can with\nequal ease show you an infinity of appearances at its pleasure. (The\ndrama of life exhibits but a partial scene at a time).\n\n57. It was the impression (_eidolon_) in thy mind, that made thee think\nthyself as the Chand\u00e1la, in the manner of the many phantoms, that rise\nbefore the mind in the delirium of a sickly person.\n\n58. It was the same phrenzy that made thee see the advent of thy\nBr\u00e1hman guest, and entertain him with board and bed; and all thy\nconversation with him, was no other than the phantasies of thy mind.\n\n59. Then the thoughts of thy departure from home, and arrival at the\ndistrict of the Bhootas, thy sight of the Bhotias and their villages\nand habitations, were but aberrations of thy mind.\n\n60. Next thy sight of the ruins of the former abode of Katanjala, and\nthe account that thou didst get of him from the mouths of the people,\nwere all the fumes of thy fancy.\n\n61. Afterwards thy visit to the city of the Kirs, and the tale told\nthee of the Chand\u00e1la\u2019s reign by the people, were the excogitations of\nthy own mind.\n\n62. Thus all that thou didst hear and see, was the net-work of thy\nimagination, and what thou dost believe as true is as false as a\nphantom of thy brain.\n\n63. The mind infatuated by its hopes and desires sees everything before\nit, how far soever it may be removed from it; as one dreams of objects\nas present before him, which would take a whole year for him to reach\nat.\n\n64. There was neither the guest nor the city, nor were there the\nBhotias or the Kiris that thou didst see in reality. It was all a day\ndream, that thou didst see with thy mind\u2019s eye.\n\n65. The truth is, that on thy way to the country of the Bhotias at one\ntime, thou didst halt in the cave of this mountain, as a stag rests\nhimself in a forest, after his long wandering.\n\n66. There being tired with the fatigue of thy travel, thou didst fall\ninto a sound sleep; and dreamt of the Bhotia city and the Chand\u00e1la, in\nthy reverie without seeing anything in reality.\n\n67. It was there and in the same state of thy mind that thou sawest the\ncity of the Kirs; and it was the delusion of thy mind that showed thee\nthose things at the time of thy devotion in the water.\n\n68. In this manner thou dost see many other things, wherever thou goest\nat any time; as a high flier sees his vagaries on all sides about him.\n(All worldly sights, are but vagaries of imagination).\n\n69. Rise therefore and remain unshaken in the discharge of thy duties,\nwithout being misled by the vagaries of thy mind; because it is\npractice of one\u2019s profession that leads him to success, and not the\nideals or his mind. (_i.e._ Mind thyself what thou art, and not what\nthou dost fancy to be).\n\n70. Vasishtha said:\u2014So saying the lotus-naveled Hari, who is worshipped\nby the saints and sages in all places, went to his abode in the sea,\nwhere he was received by the hands of the gods and holy sages, who led\nhim to his residence. (Vishnu is called lotus-naveled \u092a\u0926\u094d\u092e\u0932\u093e\u092d\u0903 on account\n of Brahma\u2019s birth from it, who is thence named the lotus-born \u092a\u0926\u094d\u092e\u092f\u094b\u0928\u0940 \u0964).\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XLIX.\n\n G\u00c1DHI\u2019S GAINING OF TRUE KNOWLEDGE.\n\n\nArgument. G\u00e1dhi gains his knowledge and Liberation from Hari in his\nLife-time.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014Vishnu being gone, G\u00e1dhi began to wander again\nabout the Bhota country, as a cloud continues to move about in the air.\n\n2. Having collected many informations about himself in the life of the\nchand\u00e1la, he betook himself again to the worship of Vishnu in the cave\nof a mountain.\n\n3. In course of a short time, Hari appeared to him again; as it is his\nnature to be pleased with a little devotion, made with sincerity of\nheart.\n\n4. The god spoke to G\u00e1dhi with as much complaisance, as the watery\ncloud addresses the peacock; and asked him what he wanted again by his\nrepeated devotion.\n\n5. G\u00e1dhi replied:\u2014Lord! I have again wandered about the countries of\nthe Bhotas and Kirs for these past six months, and found no discrepancy\nin the accounts, they gave of me lately from the former ones.\n\n6. Thou hast told me, Lord! all this to be mere delusion, (which prove\nto be positive facts by the testimony of every body). I know the words\nof the great, serve to dissipate and not increase the delusion (as it\nis done by thy words).\n\n7. The Lord said:\u2014It often happens that many things are of simultaneous\noccurrence at the one and same time; as the _k\u00e1kat\u00e1l\u00edya sanyoga_ or the\nsynchronous flying of the crow and the falling of the fruit upon him.\nThus it was that the idea of the Chand\u00e1la was of contemporaneous growth\nin the minds of all the Bhotas and Kirs as of thyself: as there are\nmany men that are prepossessed with the same opinion with others,\nhowever wrong it may be.\n\n8. It was by cause of this, that they corresponded with thy thoughts,\nand related thy story as thou didst reflect it thyself: because a\ncogitation or reflection of something cannot be otherwise at the same\ntime (but it must appear to every body alike).\n\n9. It is true that a Chand\u00e1la had erected a house at the border of the\nvillage, which thou didst see to be now reduced to ruins; but it was an\nerroneous conception of thine, to think thyself the very man, and to\nhave built the very house. (It was the mistake of thy personality for\nanother, as it often overtakes the minds of many men).\n\n10. Sometimes the same mistake lays hold on many minds, as the\nmultitude is seen to be led astray, by the simultaneous current of the\nsame opinions in many ways.\n\n11. In this manner many men see at once the same dream, as the giddy\nheads of drunken men, fall equally into the same kind of dizziness at\nthe same time, of seeing the earth and skies turning and rolling round\nthem.\n\n12. Many boys are seen at once to join in the same sport, and a whole\nherd of stags is observed to meet together in the same verdant field.\n\n13. Many men are seen simultaneously to pursue the same employment, for\nthe purpose of gaining the like object of their pursuit (as it is seen\nin the flight and fighting of an army for their safety or victory).\n\n14. It is commonly said, that time is the giver (or producer) and\nobstructer of the objects of human pursuits as of all other events; but\ntime is as quiescent as the supreme spirit, and it is the desire and\nexertion of people, that are the causes of their desired effects.\n\n15. Time is a formless void, and is identic with the nature and form of\nthe increate great Lord God himself. It is neither the giver nor taker\nof anything to or from any one at any time.\n\n16. Time according to its common reckoning by years, kalpas and\nyuga-ages, is classed among the categories of substance; but time far\nfrom being a substance, is the source of all substances.\n\n17. Men of deluded understanding are subject to the errors, arising\nfrom the like cause of their fallacy; and it was owing to this false\nconception, that the Bhota and Kiri people, fell into the very same\nerror. (Like cause means, the same kind of bias or prejudice &c.).\n\n18. Therefore employ thyself to do thy duty, and try to know thy\ntrue-self; get rid of the error of thy personality (as so and so), and\nmove about as freely as I do by myself (as a free aerial spirit).\n\n19. Saying this, the lord Vishnu disappeared from his sight; and G\u00e1dhi\nremained in his cave, with great perplexity of his mind.\n\n20. He passed some months on the same hill, and then resumed his\ndevotion to Vishnu with redoubled fervency.\n\n21. He saw his god appearing again to his view, when he bowed down\nbefore him, and addressed him as follows:\u2014\n\n22. G\u00e1dhi said:\u2014O Lord! I am quite bewildered with the thought of my\nChand\u00e1lship, and my reflection on the delusions of this world.\n\n23. Do thou deign to extricate me from my errors, and employ me to the\nonly act of adoring the Holy one.\n\n24. The lord said:\u2014This world, O Br\u00e1hman! is a delusion, like the\nenchantment of the conjurer Sambara; all things here, are the wondrous\nproductions of imagination, and proceed from forgetfulness of the self.\n\n25. It was your error that made you see many things, in your sleeping\nand waking dreams.\n\n26. The Kirs were led also to see the same things like thyself, and to\nmistake those falsities as true, owing to the same error laying hold of\nall of you at the same time. (As the tricks of a juggler are thought to\nbe true by the observers).\n\n27. Now hear me tell you the truth as it was for your own good; and\nwhereby your error will fade away, like a creeping plant in the\nchilling month of November.\n\n28. The Chand\u00e1la K\u00e1tanjaka, whom thou thinkest to be thyself, was a man\nreally existent in the same locality before.\n\n29. Who being bereaved of his family there, went out from that place to\nwander about in foreign parts; when he became king of the Kiris, and\nafterwards immerged himself in the fire.\n\n30. This state of K\u00e1tanjaka entered into thy mind, when thou hadst been\nstanding amidst the water in thy devotion; and the thoughts of the\nwhole career of the Chand\u00e1la, had altogether engrossed thy mind.\n\n31. Things which are seen or thought of once, can hardly escape from\nthe memory; and it sometimes happens that the mind comes to see many\nthings in its imagination, which it has never seen before its eyes.\n\n32. In the manner of a man\u2019s vision of a kingdom in his dream, and like\nthe delirium caused by the vitiated humours, of the body; the mind sees\nmany day dreams and deliriums in its waking and healthy states also.\n\n33. The past conduct of K\u00e1tanja presented itself to your mind, as the\npast and future events of the world, are present before the mental\nvision of an oracle (lit.:\u2014a seer of the three times).\n\n34. That this is I, and these things and those friends are mine; is the\nmistake of those that are devoid of their self-knowledge; (as thou\ndidst think that K\u00e1tanja to be thyself, and his house, goods and\nrelatives to be thine also).\n\n35. But that \u2018I am all in all\u2019 is the belief of the truly wise, which\nprevents them from falling into such mistakes; and keeps them from the\nwrong notions of individualities and particularities, from their belief\nin the generality of all persons and things.\n\n36. This general and \u0153cumenical view of all things, preserves people\nfrom the mistaken notions of pleasure and pain; and makes the drowning\nwretch as buoyant, as the floating gourd or bottle tied to a sinking\nnet.\n\n37. But thou art entangled in the snare of thy desire, and art lost to\nthy good sense; nor canst thou be at thy perfect ease, as long as thou\ndost suffer under the symptoms of thy sickness.\n\n38. It is because of thy imperfect knowledge, that thou art incapable\nto ward off the errors of thy mind; just as it is impossible for a man\nto protect himself from the rain, without his endeavours to raise a\nshed or shelter for himself.\n\n39. Thou art easily susceptible of every impression of thy untutored\nmind, as a small tree is easily over-reached by a tall person.\n\n40. The heart is the nave or axis of the wheel of delusion; if thou\ncanst stop the motion of this central power, there is nothing to\ndisturb thee any more. (self-regret, says the gloss, serves to stop the\nmotion of the heart).\n\n41. Now rise and repair to the sacred bower on this mountain, and there\nperform your austerities for full ten years with a steady mind; so that\nthou mayst attain to thy perfect knowledge at the end of this period.\n\n42. So saying, the lotus-eyed god disappeared from that place, as a\nflimsy cloud or candle-light or the billow of Jamuna, is put out by a\nslight gust of the wind.\n\n43. G\u00e1dhi then gradually gained his dispassionateness, by means of his\ndiscrimination; as the trees fade away for want of moisture, at the end\nof autumn.\n\n44. Now getting rid of the vagaries of his mind, G\u00e1dhi remained to\nreflect upon and blamed himself, for his fostering the false thoughts\nof the Chand\u00e1la and the like.\n\n45. He then with his heart melting in pity and sorrow for himself,\nrepaired to the Rishya-mukha mount, for the purpose of making his\npenitence; and he sat there in the manner of a rainy cloud, stopping on\nthe top of a mountain.\n\n46. He relinquished all his desires, and performed his austere devotion\n(as it was his duty); and at last he attained the knowledge of his\nself, after the expiration of the tenth year of his penitence.\n\n47. Having obtained his knowledge of himself like the great-souled\nBrahm\u00e1, and getting rid of his fears and sorrows in this world of\nretribution; he wandered about with the joy of a living liberated\nbeing, and with perfect tranquility of his mind, resembling the serene\nlustre of the full-moon, revolving in the sphere of the sky.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER L.\n\n INTENTIONS OF R\u00c1MA.\n\n\nArgument. On subjection of the mind and greatness of knowledge; and\nstoutness of the heart as the cause of all evil.\n\n\nVasishtha continued:\u2014Know R\u00e1ma, this delusion to be as extensive in\nits form, as it is inexplicable in its nature; it is fraught with\nignorance; it is a spiritual illusion and no sensible deception.\n\n2. Look on the one hand at the erroneous dream of the Br\u00e1hman for a\ncouple of hours, and his transformation into the state of Chand\u00e1la\nwhich lasted for many years.\n\n3. Observe how the false conception of the Br\u00e1hman, appeared as present\nto his sensible perception; and see how the false thought appeared as\ntrue to him, and his true knowledge of him-self vanishing at last into\nuntruth.\n\n4. I say therefore this illusion, to be utterly inexplicable in its\nnature; and how it leads the unguarded mind, to a great many errors and\ndifficulties and dangers at last.\n\n5. R\u00e1ma asked:\u2014How Sir, can we put a stop to the wheel of delusion,\nwhich by its rapid rotation, is constantly grinding every part of our\nbody? (Figuratively used for every good quality of the mind. Gloss).\n\n6. Vasishtha said:\u2014Know R\u00e1ma, this revolving world is the wheel of\ndelusion, and the human heart is the nave or axis of this great wheel;\nwhich by its continual rotation produces all this delusion within its\ncircle.\n\n7. If you can by means of your manly exertion, put a stop to the motion\nof your heart, as it were by fixing a peg to the loop-hole of the\nwheel, you stop the rotation of the circle of delusion at once.\n\n8. Again the mind is the nave of the wheel of ignorance; and if you can\nstop its motion, by binding it fast by the rope of your good sense; you\nescape the danger of falling into the vortiginous rotation of errors.\n\n9. R\u00e1ma, you are well skilled in the art of fighting by hurling the\ndiscus, and cannot be ignorant of preventing its motion by stopping it\nat the central hole.\n\n10. Therefore, O R\u00e1ma! be diligent to stop the nave of your mind; and\nyou will be enabled thereby to preserve yourself, both from the\nrevolution of the world and vicissitudes of time.\n\n11. The soul that rejects this counsel, is exposed to interminable\nmisery; while by keeping it always before the sight of the mind, it\navoids all difficulties in this world.\n\n12. There is no other medicine for any body, to heal the disease of his\nworldliness, save by restraining the mind to its own pivot.\n\n13. Forsake therefore, O R\u00e1ma! your acts of holy pilgrimage, and\nobservance of austerity and charity (which are of no avail to the peace\nof the soul); but keep the mind under your control, for attainment of\nyour supreme felicity.\n\n14. The world is situated in the mind, as the air is confined in a pot;\nbut the mind being restricted to itself, the world is lost to it; as\nthe pot just broken, lets out the air to mix in endless vacuity.\n\n15. You who are for ever confined in the imaginary world of your mind,\nlike a gnat confined in the hollow of a pot; will get your release only\nby breaking out of this confinement, like the gnat flying into the open\nair.\n\n16. The way to get rid of the delusions of the mind, is to fix your\nattention only to the present moment; and not to employ your thoughts\nabout the past and future events. (This will keep your attention close\nto yourself).\n\n17. You will then arrive to the state of that holy unmindfulness called\n_non-chalance_, when you cease to pursue at once any of the objects of\nyour desire or imagination.\n\n18. The mind is obscured so long, as it has the mist of its desires and\nfancies flying over it; as the sky is overcast as long as the watery\nclouds overspread upon it.\n\n19. As long as the intelligent soul is joined with the faculty of the\nmind, so long it is subject to its gross desires and thickening train\nof its fancies; as the sky is filled with bright moon-beams as long as\nthe moon shines in it. (_i.e._ As there is no moon-light without the\nmoon, so there is no fancy without the mind, nor is there any mind\nwhich is devoid of its fancies).\n\n20. When the intelligent soul is known without the medium of the mind\n(_i.e._ when the soul is seen face to face) then the existence of the\nworld, is rooted out from the mind, like trees burnt down to their\nroots.\n\n21. Intelligence unappertaining to the mind, is called perspicacity\n(pratyak chetana); which is of a nature unconnected with\nintellectuality, and freed from the foulness of the fumes of fancy.\n(_i.e._ quite clear of all mental thought).\n\n22. That is verily the state of truth and of true felicity. It is the\ntrue state of spirituality, and a manner of omniscience; having\nall-sightedness of its own, and seeing all things in itself. It is\nquite unconnected with any mental operation, and is enlightened by the\nlight of the spirit.\n\n23. Whenever there is the action of the mind, it is invariably\naccompanied with the train of desires and the sense of pleasure and\npain; and the feelings and passions are its concomitants, as the ravens\nare accompaniments of the burning ground. (The mind is the sensorium of\nfeelings).\n\n24. The minds of the intelligent are not, without their action, but\nthey are aloof of those feelings, by their knowledge of the vanity of\nearthly things. And though these feelings are contained like plants in\nthe seed vessel of their mind; yet they are not allowed to germinate in\nits sterile soil.\n\n25. They (the wise), have come to know the unsubstantiality and\nuncertainty of all worldly things and events, both by their knowledge\nof the natures of things; and by means of their acquaintance with the\ns\u00e1stras; as also by their association with holy men, and their habitual\nobservance of the practices of a pious and saintly life.\n\n26. They have forcibly withdrawn their minds from ignorance, by their\ndetermined exertions to gain the true knowledge of things; and have\nstrenuously applied them to the study of s\u00e1stras, and the good conduct\nof righteous people.\n\n27. But it is the purity of the soul only, that has the sight of the\nSupreme spirit; as it is the brilliancy of the gem itself, that makes\nit discernable amidst the waters of the deep, and enables it to be\nredeemed from darkness. (_i.e._ Human soul being a reflexion of the\nSupreme, lends its light to the vision of the other).\n\n28. As the soul naturally desires to get rid of things, which it has\ncome to know to be attended with pain to it; so the soul is the sole\ncause of knowing the Supreme (by its discarding the knowledge of the\ngross objects, which interposes between it and the Divine; and\nobstructs the view of the latter).\n\n29. Be therefore freed from your thoughts of all other things, both in\nyour waking and sleeping states, and when you talk to or think of any\nbody, give or receive anything to or from another. Rely and reflect on\nyour consciousness alone, and watch constantly its secret admonitions\nand intuitions.\n\n30. Whether when you are born or going to die, or do anything or live\nin this world, be steadily attentive to your conscious self, and you\nwill perceive the clear light of the soul (and have your clairvoyance).\n\n31. Leave off thinking that this is I and that is another, because all\nare alike before the Lord of all; and give up wishing this for thyself\nand that for others, for all things belong to God. Rely solely on the\none, and that is thy internal consciousness alone.\n\n32. Be of one mind in your present and future states of life, and\ncontinue to investigate into its various phases in your own\nconsciousness. (_i.e._ Know yourself in all the varying circumstances\nof your life).\n\n33. In all the changes of your life from boyhood to youth and old age,\nand amidst all its changing scenes of prosperity and adversity, as also\nin the states of your waking, dreaming and sound sleep, remain faithful\nto your consciousness. (_i.e._ Never lose the knowledge of your\nself-identity (as the one and unchanging soul)).\n\n34. Melt down your mind as a metal, and purify it of its dross of the\nknowledge or impression of external things; break off the snare of your\ndesires and depend on your consciousness of yourself.\n\n35. Get rid of the disease of your desire, of whatever is marked as\ngood or bad for you; and turn your sight from all, which may appear as\nfavourable or unfavourable to you; and rely on your consciousness of\npure intelligence. (This is having perfect mastery of yourself).\n\n36. Leave untouched whatever is tangible to the touch, and obtainable\nto you by your agency or instrumentality; remain unchanged and\nunsupported by any thing in the world, and depend only on your own\nconsciousness (as the intangible spirit).\n\n37. Think yourself as sleeping when you are awake, and remain as calm\nand quiet as you are insensible of any thing; think yourself as all and\nalone, and as instinct with the Supreme Spirit.\n\n38. Think yourself free from the changing and unchanging states of life\n(_i.e._ from the states of life and death and of waking and sleep); and\nthough engaged in business, think yourself as disengaged from all\nconcerns.\n\n39. Forsake the feelings of your egoism and nonegoism (as this is mine\nand that is others); and be undivided from the rest of the world, by\nthinking yourself as the macrocosm of the cosmos, and support yourself\non the adamantine rock of your consciousness, by remaining unshaken at\nall events.\n\n40. Continue to cut off the meshes of the net of your internal desires,\nby the agency of your intellect and its helpmate of patience; and be of\nthe profession of belonging to no profession; (of any particular faith\nor creed or calling).\n\n41. The sweet taste of trusting in the true faith of consciousness,\nconverts even the poison of false faiths to ambrosia (_i.e._ belief in\nsoul is the soul of all creeds).\n\n42. It is then only, that the great error of taking the false world for\ntrue, prevails over the mind; when it forgets to remember the pure and\nundivided self-consciousness (and takes the outward forms for true).\n\n43. Again the progress of the great error, of the substantiality of the\nworld, is then put an end; when the mind relies its trust, in the\nimmaculate and undivided consciousness or intelligence.\n\n44. One who has passed over the great gulf of his desires, and known\nthe true nature of his soul; has his consciousness shining within\nhimself, with the full blaze of the luminous sun.\n\n45. One who knows the nature of his soul, and is settled in the\ntranscendental bliss of knowing the peerless One; finds the most\nnectarious food as a poison to him. (_i.e._ The taste of spiritual\nbliss, is sweeter far than that of the daintiest food).\n\n46. We revere those men, who have known the nature of the soul, and\nhave reached to their spiritual state; and know the rest bearing the\nname of men, as no better than asses in human shape.\n\n47. Behold the devotees going from hill to hill, and roving like\nbigbodied elephants, for the performance of their devotions; but they\nare far below the spiritualist, who sits as high above them as on the\ntop of the mountain.\n\n48. The heavenward sight of consciousness, reaching beyond the limits\nof all regions to the unseen and invisible God; derives no help from\nthe light of the sun and moon (which can never reach so far, as the\nhighest empyrean).\n\n49. The lights of the luminaries fade away like candle lights, before\nthe sight of consciousness; which sees the great lights of the sun and\nmoon and all, within the compass of its knowledge.\n\n50. He who has known the truth of God, stands highest above the rest of\nmen, by reason of his self-sacrifice, and the greatness of his soul, by\nmeans of his practice of _yoga_; and is distinguished from others by\nthe brightness of his person. (The eternal light shines in the body\nalso).\n\n51. Like Him whose effulgence shines forth unto us, in the lustre of\nthe sun, moon, stars, gems and fire, the pre-eminent among men shine\namong mankind, in their knowledge of what is knowable, and worthy to be\nknown. (The sapient shine with their knowledge, as luminous bodies\nbefore us).\n\n52. Those that are ignorant of truth (or the true natures of things),\nare known to be viler than the asses, and other brute creatures that\nlive upon the land; and are meaner than the mean insects that dwell in\nthe holes beneath the earth. (Knowledge of truth ennobles man-kind,\nabove their fellow-creatures).\n\n53. So long is an embodied being said to be a devil of darkness, as he\nis ignorant of spiritual knowledge, but no sooner is he acquainted with\nhis soul, and united with his self in his intellection, than he is\nrecognized as a spiritual being.\n\n54. The unspiritual man is tossed about on earth as a carcass, and is\nconsumed with the fuel of his cares, as a dead body is burnt away by\nthe flames of its funeral fire; but the spiritualist knowing the nature\nof his soul, is only sensible of his immortality.\n\n55. Spiritualism flies afar from the man, whose heart is hardened in\nthis world; just as the glory of sunshine, is lost under the shadow of\nthe thickening clouds in the sky.\n\n56. Therefore the mind is to be gradually curbed and contracted in\nitself, by a dislike of all earthly enjoyments; and the knower of his\nself should try by long practice of abstinence, to desiccate his spirit\nof its moisture, to the dryness of a faded leaf.\n\n57. The mind is thickened and fattened by consolidating itself with\nthose of others; and staining it with the affections, of wife and those\nof offspring, relations and friends.\n\n58. The passions and feelings also are often the causes, of the\nsolidity and stolidity of the mind; and these are its egotism and\nselfishness, gaiety and impurity of thoughts, and its changing tempers\nand affections. But most of all it is the sense of meity that this is\nmine, that nourishes it to gross density. (The mind is puffed up with\nthe increase of possessions).\n\n59. The mind is swollen on coming to prosperity, even under the deadly\npains of old age and infirmity; as also under the poisonous pangs of\npenury and miserliness. (Stinginess is a painful pleasure).\n\n60. The mind grows lusty in its expectation of some good in prospect,\neven under the afflictions of disease and danger. It grows stout with\nenduring what is intolerable, and doing what ought not to be done.\n\n61. The heart too becomes stout with its affection for others, and also\nwith its desire and gain of riches and jewels; it becomes lusty with\nits craving after women, and in having whatever is pleasant to it for\nthe moment.\n\n62. The heart like a snake, is big swollen with feeding on false hopes\nas air; and by breathing the empty air of passing delights and\npleasures. It is pampered by drinking the liquor of fleeting hope, and\nmoves about in the course of its endless expectations.\n\n63. The heart is stanch in its enjoyment of pleasures, however\ninjurious they are in their nature; and though situated inside the\nbody, yet it is subject to pine in disease and uneasiness, under a\nvariety of pains and changes.\n\n64. There grows in the heart of the body, as in the hollow of a tree, a\nmultitude of thoughts like a clump of orchids; and these bearing the\nbudding blossoms of hope and desire, hung down with the fruits and\nflowers of death and disease.\n\n65. Delay not to lop off the huge trunk of the poisonous tree of\navarice, which has risen as high as a hill in the cavity of thy heart,\nwith the sharp saw of thy reason; nor defer to put off the big branch\nof thy hope, and prune its leaves of desires, without the least delay.\n\n66. The elephantine heart sits with its infuriate eyes, in the solitary\nrecess of the body; and is equally fond of its ease as of its carnal\ngratification: it longs to look at the lotus bed of the learned, as\nalso to meet a field of sugarcanes composed of fools and dunces.\n\n67. R\u00e1ma! you should, like a lion, the monarch of the forest, destroy\nyour elephantine heart which is seated amidst the wilderness of your\nbody, by the sharp saws of your understanding; and break the protruding\ntusks of its passions, in the same manner as they break down all big\nbodies.\n\n68. Drive away the crowlike ravenous heart, from within the nest of\nyour bosom. It is fond of frequenting filthy places, as the ravens\nhover over funeral grounds, and crows squat in dirty spots, and fatten\ntheir bodies by feeding on the flesh of all rotten carcasses. It is\ncunning in its craft and too cruel in its acts. It uses the lips like\nthe bills of the crow only to hurt others, and is one eyed as the crow,\nlooking only to its own selfish interest; it is black all over its body\nfor its black purposes and deeds.\n\n69. Drive afar your ravenlike heart, sitting heavy on the tree of your\nsoul, intent on its wicked purposes, and grating the ear with its\njarring sound. It flutters on all sides at the scent of putrid bodies,\nto pollute its nest with foul putrescence of evil intents.\n\n70. Again there is the pernicious hideous demon\u2014avarice, roving at\nlarge like a goblin, or lurking in ambush in the dark cavity of the\nheart, as in a dreary desert. It assumes a hundred forms, and appears\nin a hundred shapes (in repeated births), pursuing their wonted courses\nin darkness (without any knowledge of themselves and their right\ncourse).\n\n71. Unless and until you drive away this wicked goblin of your heart,\nfrom the abode of your intelligent soul (_i.e._ the body) by means of\nyour discrimination and dispassionateness, and your power of _mantras_\nand _tantras_, you cannot expect to be successful (siddha) in your\nendeavours. (For perfection \u0938\u093f\u0926\u094d\u0927\u093f Siddhi).\n\n72. Moreover there is the serpentine mind, hid under the slough of the\nbody; which with its poisonous thoughts, frothing at the mouth as the\ndestructive venom of mankind, is continually breathing in and out as a\npair of bellows, and inhaling and exhaling the air as a snake, for the\ndestruction of all other persons.\n\n73. You must subdue, O R\u00e1ma, this great serpent of the mind, lying hid\nin a cell of the cellular _simal_ tree of your body, by some mantra\nformula, pronounced by the Garuda of your intelligence; and thus be\nfree from all fear and danger for ever.\n\n74. Repress, O R\u00e1ma! thy vulture-like heart, that bears an ominous\nfigure by its insatiate greediness for dead bodies; it flies about on\nall sides and being annoyed by the hungry crows and kites, it rests in\ndesolate cemeteries. (The greedy mind dwells on the ruin of others).\n\n75. It ransacks all quarters in quest of its meat of living and dead\nbodies, and lifts its neck to watch for its prey, when it is sitting\nsilently with patience. The vulturous heart flies afar from its resting\ntree of the body, and requires to be restrained with diligence from its\nflight.\n\n76. Again the apish mind is wandering through the woods on all sides,\nand passing fastly beyond the limits of its natal horizon in search of\nfruits; it outruns the bounds of its native land and country, and thus\nbeing bound to nowhere, he derides at the multitude, that are bound to\ntheir homely toil, and confined in their native clime and soil.\n\n77. The big monkey of the mind that sports on the tree of the body,\nwith its eyes and nose as the flowers of the tree, and having the arms\nfor its boughs, and the fingers for its leaves, ought to be checked for\none\u2019s success in any thing.\n\n78. The illusion of the mind rises like a cloud with the mists of\nerror, for laying waste the good harvest of spiritual knowledge. It\nflashes forth lightnings from its mouth to burn down every thing and not\nto give light on the way: its showers are injurious to ripened crops,\nand it opens the door of desire (to plunge the boat of the body in the\nwhirlpool of the world).\n\n79. Forsake to seek the objects of your desire, which are situated in\nthe airy region of your mind; and exert your energy to drive off the\ncloud of your mind, in order to obtain the great object of your aim.\n\n80. The mind is as a long rope, that binds mankind to their incessant\nacts. It is impossible to break or burn its knots in any other way\nexcept by means of one\u2019s self knowledge. Its bond of transmigration is\npainful to all, until they obtain their final emancipation.\n\n81. Break boldly, O R\u00e1ma! by the instrumentality of your inappetency\nthe bondage of your mind, that binds fast in infinite number of bodies\nto the chain of their transmigration; and enjoy your freedom without\nany fear for evermore.\n\n82. Know avarice as a venomous snake, which destroys its votaries by\nthe poison of its breath, and never yields to the good counsel of any\nbody. It is this serpent that has ruined mankind, by its deceit and by\nlaying in wait for its prey, it emaciates the body to a stick.\n\n83. Avarice which is hid in the body, and lurks unseen in its cells, is\nas a dark cobra or hydra in its form; it is to be burnt to death by the\nfire of lukewarmness, for your safety and security from all evil.\n\n84. Now put your heart to rest by the intelligence of your mind, and\ngird yourself with the armour of purity for your defence; forsake your\nfickle-mindedness for ever, and remain as a tree uninfested by the apes\nof passion.\n\n85. Purify both your body and mind with the sanctity of your soul, and\nbe dauntless and quiet by the aid of your intelligence and calm\ncomposure of your intellect. Think yourself as lighter and meaner than\na straw, and thus enjoy the sweets of this world by going across it to\nthe state of beatitude in this life.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER LI.\n\n DESIRE OF UDD\u00c1LAKA.\n\n\nArgument, Udd\u00e1laka\u2019s struggle for Liberation, amidst all his worldly\nattachments.\n\n\nVasishtha said:\u2014Rely no confidence, O R\u00e1ma! in the course of the mind,\nwhich is sometimes continuous and sometimes momentary, now even and\nflat and then sharp and acute, and often as treacherous as the edge of\na razor.\n\n2. As it occurs in the course of a long time, that the germ of\nintelligence comes to sprout forth in the field of the mind; so do you,\nO R\u00e1ma! who are a moralist, grow it by sprinkling the cold water of\nreason over its tender blades.\n\n3. As long as the body of the plant does not fade away in course of\ntime, nor roll upon the ground as the decayed and dead body of man; so\nlong should you hold it up upon the prop of reason (_i.e._ cultivate\nyour knowledge in your youth).\n\n4. Knowing the truth of my sayings, and pondering on the deep sense of\nthese sayings of mine, you will get a delight in your inmost soul, as\nthe serpent killing peacock, is ravished at the deep roaring of raining\nclouds.\n\n5. Do you, like the sage Udd\u00e1laka, shake off your knowledge of\nquintuple materiality as the cause of all creation, and accustom\nyourself to think deeper, and on the prime cause of causes by your\npatient inquiry and reasoning.\n\n6. R\u00e1ma requested:\u2014Tell me sir, in what way the sagely Udd\u00e1laka got rid\nof his thoughts of the quintessential creation, and penetrated deeper\ninto the original cause of all, by the force and process of his\nreasoning.\n\n7. Vasishtha replied:\u2014Learn R\u00e1ma, how the sage Udd\u00e1laka of old, rose\nhigher from his investigation of quintuple matter to his inquiry into\ntheir cause, and the manner in which that transcendent light dawned\nupon his mind.\n\n8. It was in some spacious corner of the old mansion of this world, and\non the northwest side of this land, a spot of rugged hills and\novertopping it as a shed.\n\n9. Among these stood the high hill of Gandham\u00e1dana with a table-land on\nit, which was full of camphor arbours, that shed the odours of their\nflowers and pistils continually on the ground.\n\n10. This spot was frequented by birds of variegated hues, and filled\nwith plants of various kinds. Its banks were beset by wild beasts, and\nfraught with flowers shining smilingly over the woodland scene.\n\n11. There were the bright swelling gems in some part of it, and the\nblooming and full blown lotuses on another; some parts of it were\nveiled by tufts of snow, and crystal streams gliding as glassy mirrors\non others.\n\n12. Here on the elevated top a big cliff of this hill, which was\nstudded with sarala trees, and strewn over with flowers up to the\nheels, and shaded by the cooling umbrage of lofty trees:\u2014\n\n13. There lived the silent sage by name of Udd\u00e1laka, a youth of a great\nmind, and with high sense of his honour. He had not yet attained his\nmaturity, ere he betook himself to the course of his rigorous austerity.\n\n14. On the first development of his intellect, he had the light of\nreason dawning upon his mind; and he was awakened to noble aims and\nexpectations, instead of arriving at the state of rest and quietude.\n\n15. As he went on in this manner in his course of austerities,\nreligious studies and observance of his holy rites and duties, the\ngenius of right reason appeared before him, as the new year presents\nitself before the face of the world.\n\n16. He then began to cogitate in himself in the following manner,\nsitting aside as he was in his solitude, weary with thoughts and\nterrified at the ever changing state of the world.\n\n17. What is that best of gains, said he, which being once obtained,\nthere is nothing more to be expected to lead us to our rest, and which\nbeing once had, we have no more to do with our transmigrations in this\nworld?\n\n18. When shall I find my permanent rest in that state of holy and\ntranscendent thoughtlessness, and remain above all the rest, as a cloud\nrests over the top of the Sumeru mountain, or as the polar star stands\nabove the pole without changing its pace.\n\n19. When will my tumultuous desires of worldly aggrandizement, merge in\npeaceful tranquillity; as the loose, loud and boisterous waves and\nbillows subside in the sea?\n\n20. When will the placid and unstirred composure of my mind, smile in\nsecret within myself, to reflect on the wishes of mankind, that they\nwill do this thing after they have done the other, which leads them\ninterminably in the circuit of their misery.\n\n21. When will my mind be loosened from its noose of desire, and when\nshall I remain unattached to all, as a dew drop on the lotus-leaf? (It\nis called _anasanga sango_ or intangible connection).\n\n22. When shall I get over the boisterous sea of my fickle desires, by\nmeans of the raft of my good understanding?\n\n23. When shall I laugh to scorn, the foolish actions of worldly people,\nas the silly play of children?\n\n24. When will my mind get rid of its desire and dislike and cease to\nswing to and fro in the cradle of its option and caprice; and return to\nits steadiness, as a madman is calmed after the fit of his delirium has\npassed away?\n\n25. When shall I receive my spiritual and luminous body, and deride the\ncourse of the world; and have my internal satisfaction within myself,\nlike the all knowing and all sufficient spirit of Vir\u00e1t?\n\n26. With internal equanimity and serenity of the soul, and indifference\nto external objects, when shall I obtain my calm quietness, like the\nsea after its release from churning?\n\n27. When shall I behold the fixed scene of the world before me, as it\nis visible in my dream, and keep myself aloof from the same? (as no\npart of it).\n\n28. When shall I view the inner and outer worlds, in the light of a\nfixed picture in the sight of my imagination; and when shall I meditate\non the whole in the light of an intellectual system?\n\n29. Ah! when shall I have the calmness of my mind and soul, and become\na perfectly intellectual being myself; when shall I have that\nsupernatural light in me, which enlightens the internal eye of those\nthat are born blind?\n\n30. When will the sunshine of my meditation, show unto me the pure\nlight of my intellect, whereby I may see the objects at a distance, as\nI perceive the parts of time in myself.\n\n31. When shall I be freed from my exertion and inertness, towards the\nobjects of my desire and dislike; and when shall I get my\nself-satisfaction in my state of self-illumination.\n\n32. When will this long and dark night of my ignorance come to its end?\nIt is infested by my faults fluttering as the boding birds of night,\nand infected with frost withering the lotus of my heart (hrid-padma).\n\n33. When shall I become like a cold clod of stone, in the cavern of a\nmountain, and have the calm coolness of my mind by an invariable\n_sam\u00e1dhi_\u2014comatosity.\n\n34. When will the elephant of my pride, which is ever giddy with its\ngreatness, become a prey to the lion of right understanding.\n\n35. When will the little birds of the forest, build their nest of grass\nin the braids of hair upon my head; when I remain fixed in my\nunalterable meditation, in my state of silence and torpidity.\n\n36. And when will the birds of the air rest fearlessly on my bosom, as\nthey do on the tops of fixed rocks, upon finding me sitting transfixed\nin my meditation, and as immovable as a rock.\n\n37. Ah! when shall I pass over this lake of the world, wherein my\ndesires and passions, are as the weeds and thorny brambles, and\nobstructing my passage to its borders of felicity.\n\n38. Immerged in these and the like reflections, the twice-born Udd\u00e1laka\nsat in his meditation amidst the forest.\n\n39. But as his apish ficklemindedness turned towards sensible objects\nin different ways, he did not obtain the state of habitation which\ncould render him happy.\n\n40. Sometimes his apish mind turned away from leaning to external\nobjects, and pursued with eagerness the realities of the internal world\nor intellectual verities (known as s\u00e1twikas).\n\n41. At others his fickle mind, departed from the intangible things of\nthe inner or intellectual world; and, returned with fondness to outer\nobjects, which are mixed with poison.\n\n42. He often beheld the sunlight of spirituality rising within himself,\nand as often turned away his mind from that golden prospect, to the\nsight of gross objects.\n\n43. Leaving the soul in the gloom of internal darkness, the licentious\nmind flies as fast as a bird, to the objects of sense abroad.\n\n44. Thus turning by turns from the inner to the outer world, and then\nfrom this to that again; his mind found its rest in the intermediate\nspace, lying between the light of the one and darkness of the other.\n(_i.e._ in the twilight of indifference to both).\n\n45. Being thus perplexed in his mind, the meditative Br\u00e1hman remained\nin his exalted cavern, like a lofty tree shaken to and fro by the\nbeating tempest.\n\n46. He continued in his meditation as a man of fixed attention, at the\ntime of an impending danger; and his body shook to and fro, as it was\nmoved forward and backward by the tiny waves splashing on the bank.\n\n47. Thus unsettled in his mind, the sage sauntered about the hill; as\nthe god of day makes his daily round, about the polar mountain in his\nlonely course.\n\n48. Wandering in this manner, he once observed a cavern, which was\nbeyond the reach of all living beings; and was as quiet and still, as\nthe liberated state of an anchorite.\n\n49. It was not disturbed by the winds, nor frequented by birds and\nbeasts; it was unseen by the gods and Gandharvas, and was as lightsome\nas the bright concave of heaven.\n\n50. It was covered with heaps of flowers, and was spread over with a\ncoverlet of green and tender grass; and being overlaid by a layer of\nmoonstones, it seemed to have its floor of emerald.\n\n51. It afforded a cool and congenial shade, emblazoned by the mild\nlight of the bright gems in its bosom; and appeared to be the secret\nhaunt of woodland goddesses, that chanced to sport therein.\n\n52. The light of the gems that spread over the ground, was neither too\nhot nor too cold; but resembled the golden rays of the rising sun in\nautumn.\n\n53. This cave appeared as a new bride decked with flowers, and holding\na wreathed garland in her hand; with her countenance fading under the\nlight of the gemming lamps, and fanned by the soft whistling of winds.\n\n54. It was as the abode of tranquility, and the resting place of the\nlord of creation; it was charming by the variety of its blooming\nblossoms, and was as soft and mild as the cell of the lotus (which is\nthe abode of the lotus-born Brahm\u00e1).\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER LII.\n\n RATIOCINATION OF UDD\u00c1LAKA:\u2014\n\n\nArgument. Udd\u00e1laka\u2019s Remonstration with himself, amidst the reveries of\nhis meditation.\n\n\nVasistha resumed:\u2014The saintly Udd\u00e1laka then entered in that grotto\nof Gandham\u00e1dana mountain, as the sauntering bee enters into the\nlotus-cell, in the course of its romantic peregrination.\n\n2. It was for the purpose of his intense meditation, that he entered\nthe cave and sat therein; as when the lotus-born creator, had retired\nto and rested in his seclusion, after termination of his work of\ncreation.\n\n3. There he made a seat for himself, by spreading the unfaded leaves of\ntrees on the floor; as when the god Indra spreads his carpet of the\nmanifold layers of clouds.\n\n4. He then spread over it his carpet of deerskin, as the bedding of\nstars, is laid over the strata of the blue clouds of heaven.\n\n5. He sat upon it in his meditative mood, with the watchfulness of his\nmind; as when an empty and light cloud alights on the top of the\nRishyasringa mountain. (_i.e._ His mind was as fleet, as a fleeting\ncloud).\n\n6. He sat firmly in the posture of _padm\u00e1sana_ like Buddha, with his\nface turned upwards; his two legs and feet covered his private parts,\nand his palms and fingers counted the beads of Brahm\u00e1.\n\n7. He restrained the fleet deer of his mind, from the desires to which\nit ran by fits and starts; and then he reflected in the following\nmanner, for having the unaltered steadiness of his mind.\n\n8. O my senseless mind! said he, why is it, that thou art occupied in\nthy worldly acts to no purpose; when the sensible never engage\nthemselves, to what proves to be their bane afterwards.\n\n9. He who pursues after pleasure, by forsaking his peaceful\ntranquility; is as one who quits his grove of mand\u00e1ra flowers, and\nenters a forest of poisonous plants. (Thoughts of pleasure poisons the\nmind).\n\n10. Thou mayst hide thyself in some cave of the earth, and find a place\nin the highest abode of Brahm\u00e1, then yet thou canst not have thy quiet\nthere, without the quietism of thy spirit.\n\n11. Cease to seek thy objects of thy desire, which are beset by\ndifficulties, and are productive of thy woe and anxiety; fly from these\nto lay hold on thy chief good, which thou shalt find in thy solitary\nretirement only.\n\n12. These sundry objects of thy fancy or liking, which are so temporary\nin their nature; are all for thy misery, and of no real good at any\ntime (either when they are sought for, or enjoyed or lost to thee).\n\n13. Why followest thou like a fool, the hollow sound of some fancied\ngood, which has no substantial in it? It is as the great glee of frogs,\nat the high sounding of clouds that promise them nothing. (Hence the\nphrase \u201cmegha mandukika\u201d, that is, the frogs croaking in vain at the\nroaring of clouds; answering the English phrases \u201cfishing in the air\nand milking the ram, or pursuing a shadow &c.\u201d).\n\n14. Thou hast been roving all this time with thy froggish heart, in the\nblind pursuit after thy profit and pleasure; but tell me what great\nboon has booted thee; in all thy ramblings about the earth.\n\n15. Why dost thou not fix thy mind to that quietism, which promises to\ngive thee something as thy self-sufficiency; and wherein thou mayst\nfind thy rest as the state of thy liberation in thy life-time.\n\n16. O my foolish heart! why art thou roused at the sound of some good\nwhich reaches unto thy ears, and being led by thy deluded mind, in the\ndirection of that sound; thou fallest a victim to it, as the deer is\nentrapped in the snare, by being beguiled by the hunter\u2019s horn.\n\n17. Beware, O foolish man! to allow the carnal appetite to take\npossession of thy breast, and lead thee to thy destruction, as the male\nelephant is caught in the pit, by being beguiled by the artful _koomki_\nto fall into it. (The female elephant is called _koomki_ in\nelephant-catching).\n\n18. Do not be misled by thy appetite of taste, to cram the bitter gall\nfor sweet; or bite the fatal bait that is laid, to hook the foolish\nfish to its destruction.\n\n19. Nor let thy fondness for bright and beautiful objects, bewitch thee\nto thy ruin; as the appearance of a bright light or burning fire,\ninvites the silly moth to its consumption.\n\n20. Let not thy ardour for sweet odor, tempt thee to thy ruin; nor\nentice thee like the poor bees to the flavour of the liquor, exuding\nfrom the frontal proboscis of the elephant, only to be crushed by its\ntrunk.\n\n21. See how the deer, the bee, the moth, the elephant and the fish, are\neach of them destroyed by their addiction to the gratification of a\nsingle sense; and consider the great danger to which the foolish man,\nis exposed by his desire of satisfying all his refractory senses and\norgans.\n\n22. O my heart! it is thou thyself, that dost stretch the snare of thy\ndesires for thy own entanglement; as the silk worm weaves its own cell\n(cocoon) by its saliva, for its own imprisonment.\n\n23. Be cleansed of all thy impure desires, and become as pure and clear\nas the autumnal cloud (after it has poured out its water in the rains);\nand when thou art fully purged and are buoyed up as a cloud, you are\nthen free from all bondage.\n\n24. Knowing the course of the world, to be pregnant with the rise and\nfall of mankind, and to be productive of the pangs of disease and death\nat the end; you are still addicted to it for your destruction only.\n\n25. But why do I thus upbraid or admonish my heart in vain; it is only\nby reasoning with the mind that men are enabled to govern their hearts\n(_i.e._ to repress all their feelings and passions).\n\n26. But as long as gross ignorance continues to reign over the mind, so\nlong is the heart kept in its state of dulness; as the nether earth is\ncovered with mist and frost, as long as the upper skies are shrouded by\nthe raining clouds.\n\n27. But no sooner is the mind cleared of its ignorance, than the heart\nalso becomes lighter (and cleared of its feeling); as the disappearance\nof the rainy clouds disperses the frost covering the nether earth.\n\n28. As the heart becomes lighter and purer by means of the mind\u2019s act\nof reasoning; so I ween its desires to grow weaker and thinner, like\nthe light and fleeting clouds of autumn.\n\n29. Admonition to the unrighteous proves as fruitless, as the blowing\nof winds against the falling rain. (_i.e._ Counsel to the wicked is as\nvain, as a blast of wind to drive the pouring rain).\n\n30. I shall therefore try to rid myself of this false and vacant\nignorance; as it is the admonition of the s\u00e1stras, to get rid of\nignorance by all means.\n\n31. I find myself to be the inextinguishable lamp of intellect, and\nwithout my egoism or any desire in myself; and have no relation with\nthe false ignorance, which is the root of egoism.\n\n32. That this is I and that is another, is the false suggestion of our\ndelusive ignorance; which, like an epidemic disease, presents us with\nsuch fallacies for our destruction.\n\n33. It is impossible for the slender and finite mind to comprehend the\nnature of the infinite soul; as it is not possible for an elephant to\nbe contained in a nut shell. (Lit.: in the crust of a _bilva_ or bel\nfruit).\n\n34. I cannot follow the dictate of my heart, which is a wide and deep\ncave, containing the desires causing all our misery.\n\n35. What is this delusive ignorance, which, like the error of\ninjudicious lads, creates the blunder of viewing the self-existent one,\nin the different lights of I, thou, he and other personalities.\n\n36. I analysed my body at each atom from the head to foot, but failed\nto find what we call the \u201cI\u201d in any part of it, and what makes my\npersonality. (It is the body, mind and soul taken together, that makes\na person).\n\n37. That which is the \u201cI am\u201d fills the whole universe, and is the only\none in all the three worlds; it is the unknowable consciousness,\nomnipresent and yet apart from all.\n\n38. Its magnitude is not to be known, nor has it any appellation of its\nown; it is neither the one nor the other, nor an immensity nor\nminuteness (but is greater than the greatest, and minuter than the\nminutest).[21]\n\n39. It is unknowable by the light of the Vedas, and its ignorance which\nis the cause of misery is to be destroyed by the light of reason.\n\n40. This is the flesh of my body and this its blood! these are the\nbones and this the whole body; these are my breaths, but where is that\nI or ego situated?\n\n41. Its pulsation is the effect of the vital breath or wind, and its\nsensation is the action of the heart; there are also decay and death\nconcomitant of the body; but where is its \u201cI\u201d situated in it?\n\n42. The flesh is one thing and the blood another, and the bones are\ndifferent from them; but tell me, my heart, where is the \u201cI\u201d said to\nexist?\n\n43. These are the organs of smelling and this the tongue; this is skin\nand these my ears; these are the eyes and this the touch\u2014_twac_; but\nwhat is that called the soul and where is it situated?\n\n44. I am none of the elements of the body, nor the mind nor its desire;\nbut the pure intellectual soul, and a manifestation of the divine\nintellect.\n\n45. That I am everywhere, and yet nothing whatever that is anywhere, is\nthe only knowledge of the true reality that we can have, and there is\nno other way to it (_i.e._, of coming to know the same.)[22]\n\n46. I have been long deceived by my deceitful ignorance, and am misled\nfrom the right path; as the young of a beast is carried away by a\nfierce tiger to the woods.\n\n47. It is now by my good fortune that I have come to detect this\nthievish ignorance; nor shall I trust any more this robber of truth.\n\n48. I am above the reach of affliction, and have no concern with\nmisery, nor has it anything to do with me. This union of mine with\nthese is as temporary, as that of a cloud with a mountain.\n\n49. Being subject to my egoism, I say I speak, I know, I stay, I go,\n&c.; but on looking at the soul, I lose my egoism in the universal soul.\n\n50. I verily believe my eyes, and other parts of my body, to belong to\nmyself; but if they be as something beside myself, then let them remain\nor perish with the body, with which I have no concern.\n\n51. Fie for shame! What is this word I, and who was its first inventor?\nThis is no other than a slip slop and a namby pamby of some demoniac\nchild of earth. (_i.e._, it is an earth-born word and unknown in\nheaven).\n\n52. O! for this great length of time, that I have been groveling in\nthis dusty den; and roving at large like a stray deer, on a sterile\nrock without any grass or verdure.\n\n53. If we let our eyes to dry into the true nature of things, we are at\na loss to find the true meaning of the word I, which is the cause of\nall our woe on earth. (_i.e._, ignorance of ourselves is the cause of\nour woe, and the obliteration of our personalities obviates all our\nmiseries).\n\n54. If you want to feel your in being by the sense of touch, then tell\nme how you find what you call I, beside its being a ghost of your own\nimagination.\n\n55. You set your I on your tongue, and utter it as an object of that\norgan, while you really relish no taste whatever of that empty word,\nwhich you so often give utterance to.\n\n56. You often hear that word ringing in your ears, though you feel it\nto be an empty sound as air, and cannot account whence this rootless\nword had its rise.\n\n57. Our sense of smelling, which brings the fragrance of objects to the\ninner soul, conveys no scent of this word into our brain.\n\n58. It is as the mirage, and a false idea of something we know not\nwhat; and what can it be otherwise than an error, of which we have no\nidea or sense whatever?\n\n59. I see my will also is not always the cause of my actions, because I\nfind my eyes and the other organs of sense are employed in their\nrespective functions, without the direction of my volition.\n\n60. But the difference between our bodily and wilful acts is this, that\nthe actions of the body done without the will of the mind are\nunattended with feeling of pain or pleasure unto us. (Therefore let all\nthy actions be spontaneous and indifferent in their nature, if thou\nshalt be free from pain or pleasure).\n\n61. Hence let thy organs of sense perform their several actions,\nwithout your will of the same; and you will by this means evade all the\npleasure and pain (of your success and disappointment).\n\n62. It is in vain that you blend your will with your actions, (which\nare done of themselves by means of the body and mind); while the act of\nyour will is attended with a grief similar to that of children, upon\nthe breaking of the dolls of their handy work in play. (_i.e._, boys\nmake toys in play, but cry at last to see them broken).\n\n63. Your desires and their productions are the fac similes of your\nminds, and not different from them; just as the waves are composed of\nthe same water from which they rise. Such is the case with the acts of\nwill.\n\n64. It is your own will that guides your hand to construct a prison for\nyour confinement; as the silly silkworm is confined in the pod of its\nown making.\n\n65. It is owing to your desires that you are exposed to the perils of\ndeath and disease, as it is the dim sightedness of the traveller over\nthe mountainous spots that hurls him headlong into the deep cavern\nbelow.\n\n66. It is your desire only, that is the chief cause of your being\nattached to one another in one place; as the thread passing through the\nholes of pearls, ties them together in a long string round the neck.\n(Every desire is a connecting link between man and man).\n\n67. What is this desire, but the creation of your false imagination,\nfor whatever you think to be good for yourself; (though it may not be\nso in reality); and no sooner you cease to take a fancy for anything,\nthan your desire for it is cut off as by a knife.\n\n68. This desire\u2014the creature of your imagination\u2014is the cause of all\nyour errors and your ruin also; as the breath of air is the cause both\nof the burning and extinction of lamps and lightening the fiery\nfurnaces.\n\n69. Now therefore, O my heart! that art the source and spring of thy\nsenses, do thou join with all thy sensibility, to look into the nature\nof thy unreality, and feel in thyself the state of thy utter\nannihilation\u2014_nirv\u00e1na_ at the end.\n\n70. Give up after all thy sense of egoism with thy desire of\nworldliness, which are interminable endemics to thee in this life. Put\non the amulet of the abandonment of thy desires and earthliness, and\nresign thyself to thy God to be free from all fears on earth.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER LIII.\n\n THE RATIONAL RAPTURE OF UDD\u00c1LAKA.\n\n\nArgument. Description of the Soul unsullied by its desires and egoism,\nand the Difference subsisting between the body and mind.\n\n\nUdd\u00e1laka continued:\u2014The intellect is an unthinkable substance: it\nextends to the limits of endless space, and is minuter than the\nminutest atom. It is quite aloof of all things, and inaccessible to the\nreach of desires, &c.\n\n2. It is inaccessible by the mind, understanding, egoism and the gross\nsenses; but our empty desires are as wide extended, as the shadowy\nforms of big and formidable demons.\n\n3. From all my reasonings and repeated cogitations, I perceive an\nintelligence within myself, and I feel to be the stainless Intellect.\n\n4. This body of mine which is of this world, and is the depository of\nmy false and evil thoughts, may last or be lost without any gain or\nloss to me, since I am the untainted intellect.\n\n5. The Intellect is free from birth and death, because there is nothing\nperishable in the nature of the all pervasive intellect: what then\nmeans the death of a living being, and how and by whom can it be put to\ndeath?\n\n6. What means the life and death of the intellect, which is the soul\nand life of all existence: what else can we expect of the intellect,\nwhen it is extended through and gives life to all?\n\n7. Life and death belong to the optative and imaginative powers of the\nmind, and do not appertain to the pure soul; (which is never perturbed\nby volition or imagination).\n\n8. That which has the sense of its egoism has also the knowledge of its\nexistence and inexistence (and that is the mind); but the soul which is\ndevoid of its egoism can have no sense of its birth or death (since it\nis always existent of itself).\n\n9. Egoism is a fallacy and production of ignorance, and the mind is no\nother than a appearance as the water in a mirage; the visible objects\nare all gross bodies; what then is that thing to which the term ego is\napplied.\n\n10. The body is composed of flesh and blood, and the mind is considered\nas a nullity of itself; the heart and the members are all dull objects,\nwhat then is it that contains the ego?\n\n11. The organs of sense are all employed in their respective functions\nfor supporting the body; and all external bodies remain as mere bodies;\nwhat then is it to which you apply the term ego?\n\n12. The properties of things continue as properties, and the substances\nalways remain as substances; the entity of Brahma is quite calm and\nquiet, what then is the ego among them?\n\n13. There is only one Being which is all pervading and subsisting in\nall bodies; it exists at all times and is immensity in itself. It is\nonly the Supreme Spirit that is the intelligent soul of all.\n\n14. Now tell me which of these is the ego, what is it and what its\nform; what is its genus and what are its attributes; what is its\nappearance and of what ingredients it is composed? What am I and what\nshall I take it to be, and what reject as not itself?\n\n15. Hence there is nothing here, which may be called the ego either as\nan entity or nonentity; and there is nothing anywhere, to which the ego\nmay bear any relation or any resemblance whatever.\n\n16. Therefore egoism being a perfect non-entity, it has no relation to\nanything at all; and this irrelation of it with all things being\nproved, its fiction as a duality (beside the unity of God), goes to\nnothing whatever.\n\n17. Thus every thing in the world being full of the spirit of God, I am\nno other than that reality, and it is in vain that I think myself as\notherwise, and sorrow for it.\n\n18. All things being situated in one pure and omnipresent spirit;\nwhence is it that the meaningless word ego could take its rise?\n\n19. So there is no reality of any object whatever, except that of the\nsupreme and all-pervading spirit of God; it is therefore useless for us\nto inquire about our relation with anything which has no reality in\nitself.\n\n20. The senses are connected with the organs of sense, and the mind is\nconversant with the mental operations; but the intellect is unconnected\nwith the body, and bears no relation with any body in any manner.\n\n21. As there is no relation between stones and iron nails, so the body,\nthe senses, the mind and the intellect bear no relation with one\nanother, though they are found to reside together in the same person.\n\n22. The great error of the unreal ego having once obtained its footing\namong mankind, it has put the world to an uproar with the expressions\nof mine and thine, as that this is mine and that is thine, and that\nother is another\u2019s and the like.\n\n23. It is want of the light of reason that has given rise to the\nmeaningless and marvellous expression of egoism; which is made to\nvanish under the light of reason, as ice is dissolved under heat of\nsolar light.\n\n24. That there is nothing in existence, except the spirit of God is my\nfirm belief, and this makes me believe the whole universe, as a\nmanifestation of the great Brahm\u00e1 himself.\n\n25. The error of egoism presents itself before us in as vivid and\nvariety of colours as the various hues which tinge the face of the sky;\nit is better to obliterate it at once from the mind, than retain any\ntrace of it behind (as I am this child, youth, old man, &c.).\n\n26. I have altogether got rid of the error of my egoism, and now\nrecline with my tranquil soul in the universal spirit of God, as the\nautumnal cloud rests in the infinite vacuum of the sky.\n\n27. Our accompaniment with the idea of egoism is productive only of our\nmisconduct and misery, by producing the great variety of our acts of\nselfishness.\n\n28. Egoism hath taken a deep root in the moist soil of our hearts, and\nsprouts forth in the field of our bodies with the germs of innumerable\nevils.\n\n29. Here is death closely following the course of life, and there is a\nnew life hereafter awaiting upon our death; now there is a state of\nbeing distinct from its privation or not being, and again there is\nreverse of it in our transmigration, to our great annoyance only.\n\n30. This I have gained, and this I will gain, are the thoughts that\nconstantly employ the minds of men; and the desire of a new gain is\nincessantly kindled in the minds of the senseless, as the ceaseless\nflame of the sun-stone is increased in summer heat.\n\n31. That this I want and this must have are thoughts ever attendant on\negoism; and the dull-headed pursue dull material objects with as much\nardour, as the heavy clouds hasten to halt on high-headed hills.\n\n32. Decay of egoism withers away the tree of worldliness, which then\nceases to germinate in the manner of a plant on sterile rocks. (Or as\nseeds cast on sandy sounds).\n\n33. Your desires are as black serpents creeping in the hole of your\nheart; but skulking their heads, at the sight of the snake-eater Garuda\nof reason.\n\n34. The unreal world gives rise to the error of appearing as real; as\nthe unreal I and thou (or ego and nonego) seem to be realities, though\nthey are caused by mere pulsations of the unreal mind.\n\n35. This world rises at first without a cause and to no cause, how then\ncall it a reality which is sprung from and to no cause at all. (The\nvisible world is produced by, and continues with our error which, is no\ncause in reality).\n\n36. As a pot made of earth long before, continues in the same state at\nall times, so the body which has long ago come to existence, still\ncontinues and will continue the same. (The body being made of earth,\nremains in and returns to the earth again).\n\n37. The beginning and end of billows is mere water and moisture, and\nthe intermediate part only presents a figure to view; so the beginning\nand end of bodies is mere earth and water, and the intermediate state\nis one of bustle and commotion.\n\n38. It is the ignorant only that trust in this temporary and\nfluctuating state of the body; which, like the billow, is hastening to\nsubside, in its original liquid and quiet state.\n\n39. What reliance is there in any body, which makes a figure in the\nmiddle, and is an unreality both in its prior and latter states.\n\n40. So the heart also is as quiet as the intellect, both at first and\nin the end; and remains immerged in itself, both when it exists in the\nbody or not. What then if it heaves for a little while in the midst?\n(_i.e._, the palpitation of the heart between its prior and latter\nstates of inaction).\n\n41. As it comes to pass in our dreams, and in our deluded sights, of\nmarvellous things; and as it happens in the giddiness of ebriety, and\nin our journeying in boats:\u2014\n\n42. And as it turns out in cases of our vitiated humours, and delusion\nof senses, and also in cases of extreme joy and grief, and under some\ndefect of the mind or body:\u2014\n\n43. That some objects come to sight, and others disappear from it; and\nthat some appear to be smaller or larger than they are and others to be\nmoving; so do all these objects of our vision, appear and disappear\nfrom our sight in the course of time.\n\n44. O my heart! all thy conduct is of the same nature, at the different\ntimes, of thy joy and grief; that it makes the long of short and the\nshort of long; as the short space of a single night, becomes as tedious\nto separated lovers as an age; and an age of joyous affluence as short\nas a moment.\n\n45. Or it is my long habit of thinking that makes the untruth appear as\ntruth to me; and like the mirage of the desert, our mirage of life,\npresents its falsehoods as realities unto us.\n\n46. All things that we see in the phenomenal world are unrealities in\ntheir nature; and as the mind comes to know the nothingness of things,\nit feels in itself its nothingness also.\n\n47. As the mind becomes impressed with certainty, of the\nunsubstantiality of external objects; its desire of worldly enjoyments\nfade away, like the fading verdure of autumn.\n\n48. When the mind comes to see the pure soul by means of its\nintellectual light, it gets itself ridden of its temporal exertions;\nand being thereby freed from its passions and affections, it rests with\nits calm composure in itself.\n\n49. And the heart attains its perfect purity, when, by compressing its\nmembers of sensational organs, it casts itself into the flame of the\nsupreme soul, where all its dross is burnt away.\n\n50. As the hero boldly faces his death, with the thought of his\nascending to heaven, by fighting bravely in battle, so the mind\nconquers all impediments by casting off all its worldly desires and\nattachments.\n\n51. The mind is the enemy of the body, and so is the latter an enemy of\nthe former (because the growth of the one puts down the vigour of the\nother); but they both die away without the half of each other, and for\nwant of desire which supports them both.\n\n52. Owing to their mutual hostilities, and their passions and\naffections towards each other, it is better to eradicate and destroy\nboth of them, for our attainment of supreme bliss. (As the control of\nthe body and mind leads to temporal happiness, so the utter extinction\nof both, is the means to spiritual bliss).\n\n53. The existence of either of these (_i.e._ of the body or mind) after\ndeath is as incapable of heavenly felicity, as it is for an aerial\nfairy to fare on earth. (_i.e._, neither the body nor mind survives\none\u2019s death, as it is believed by many; and even if it does, its gross\nnature would not permit it to enjoy the pure spiritual felicity of\nheaven).\n\n54. When these things (the body and mind), that are naturally repugnant\nand opposed to one another, meet together in any place or person, there\nis a continued clashing of their mutual mischiefs, like the crashing of\nconflicting arms.\n\n55. The base man that has a liking for this world of conflicts is like\none left to burn in a conflagration of showering flames.\n\n56. The mind stout with its avaricious desires loads the body with\nlabour, and feeds upon its precious life, as a ghost-_yaksha_ preys\nupon the body of a boy.\n\n57. The body being harassed and oppressed with toil, attempts to stop\nand stay the mind; as an impious son intends to kill his father, when\nhe finds him to stand an open foe to his life. (It is lawful to kill an\nenemy of one\u2019s life for self-defence). \u091c\u0918\u093e\u0902\u0936\u0928\u094d\u0924\u0902 \u091c\u093f\u0918\u093e\u0902\u0936\u093f\u092f\u093e\u0924 \u0964\n\n58. There is no one who of his nature is a foe or friend to another;\nbut becomes a friend to one that is friendly to him, and a foe to him\nthat deals inimically unto him.\n\n \u0938\u094d\u0935\u092d\u093e\u0935\u093e\u0928\u094d\u0928\u0915\u0936\u094d\u091a\u093f\u0924\u094d\u0915\u0938\u094d\u092f\u091a\u093f\u0928\u094d\u092e\u093f\u0924\u094d\u0930\u0902 \u0928\u0915\u0936\u094d\u091a\u093f\u0924 \u0915\u0938\u094d\u092f\u091a\u093f\u0926\u094d\u0930\u093f\u092a\u0941\u0903 \u0964\n \u092c\u094d\u092f\u0935\u0939\u093e\u0930\u094b\u0923\u091c\u093e\u0928\u0928\u094d\u0924\u093f\u092e\u093f\u0924\u094d\u0930\u093e\u0923\u093f \u0930\u093f\u092a\u0935\u0938\u094d\u0924\u0925\u093e \u0965\n\n59. The body being put to pain attempts to kill the mind; and the mind\nis ever intent to make the body the receptacle of its afflictions. (The\nintimate connection of the body and mind causes them to participate in\none another\u2019s pains).\n\n60. What good then can possibly accrue to us from the union of the body\nand mind, which are repugnant to one another, and which of their own\nnature can never be reconciled together.\n\n61. The mind being weakened, the body has no pain to undergo; wherefore\nthe body is always striving to weaken the mind.\n\n62. The body, whether it is alive or dead, is subjected to all sorts of\nevils by its hostile mind, unless it is brought under the subjection of\nreason. (_i.e._ The unreasonable mind is an enemy of the body).\n\n63. When both the body and mind become stout and strong, they join\ntogether to break all bonds, as the lake and rainwater join together to\noverflow on the banks.\n\n64. Though both of them are troublesome to us in their different\nnatures, yet their union to one end is beneficial to us, as the\nco-operation of fire and water is for the purpose of cooking.\n\n65. When the weak mind is wasted and worn out, the body also becomes\nweakened and languid; but the mind being full, the body is flushed like\na flourishing arbor, shooting forth with verdure.\n\n66. The body pines away with its weakened desires, and at the weakness\nof the mind; but the mind never grows weak at the weakness of the body;\ntherefore the mind requires to be curbed and weakened by all means.\n\n67. I must therefore cut down the weed wood of my mind, with the trees\nof my desires and the plants of my thirstiness; and, having reclaimed\nthereby a large tract of land, rove about at my pleasure.\n\n68. After my egoism is lost, and the net of my desires is removed, my\nmind will regain its calm and clearness, like the sky after dispersion\nof the clouds at the end of the rainy weather.\n\n69. It is of no matter to me whether this body of mine, which is a\ncongeries of my humours, and a great enemy of mine, should waste away\nor last, after the dissolution of my mind.\n\n70. That for which this body of mine craves its enjoyments is not mine,\nnor do I belong to it; what is the good therefore of bodily pleasure to\nme? (When I have to leave this body and that pleasure also for ever).\n\n71. It is certain that I am not myself the body, nor is the body mine\nin any way; just as a corpse with all its parts entire, is no body at\nall. (The personality of man, belongs to his mind and not to his\nperson).\n\n72. Therefore I am something beside this body of mine, and that is\neverlasting and never setting in its glory; it is by means of this that\nI have that light in me, whereby I perceive the luminous sun in the sky.\n\n73. I am neither ignorant of myself, nor subject to misery, nor am I\nthe dull unintelligent body, which is subject to misery. My body may\nlast or not, I am beyond all bodily accidents.\n\n74. Where there is the soul or self, there is neither the mind, nor\nsenses nor desire of any kind; as the vile Pamaras never reside in the\ncontiguity of princes. (_Mahibhretas_ mean mountains also).\n\n75. I have attained to that state in which I have surpassed all things;\nand it is the state of my solity, my extinction, my indivisibility, and\nmy want of desires.\n\n76. I am now loosened from the bonds of my mind, body and the senses,\nas the oil which is extracted from the seeds of sesamum, and separated\nfrom the sediments.\n\n77. I walk about freely in this state of my transcendentalism, and my\nmind which is disjoined from the bonds of the body considers its\nmembers as its dependent instruments and accompaniments.\n\n78. I find myself to be now situated in a state of transparency and\nbuoyancy, of self-contentment and intelligence, and of true reality; I\nfeel my full joy and calmness, and preserve my reservedness in speech.\n\n79. I find my fulness and magnanimity, my comeliness and evenness of\ntemper; I see the unity of all things, and feel my fearlessness and\nwant of duality, choice and option.\n\n80. I find these qualities to be ever attendant on me. They are\nconstant and faithful, easy and graceful and always propitious to me;\nand my unshaken attachment to them has made them as heartily beloved\nconsorts to me.\n\n81. I find myself as all and in all, at all times and in every manner;\nand yet I am devoid of all desire for or dislike to any one, and am\nequally unconcerned with whatever is pleasant or unpleasant, agreeable\nor disagreeable to me.\n\n82. Removed from the cloud of error and melancholy, and released from\ndubitation and duplicity in my thoughts, I peregrinate myself as a\nflimsy cloud, in the cooling atmosphere of the autumnal sky.\n\nEND OF THE SECOND VOLUME.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n FOOTNOTES:\n\n\nFootnote 1:\n\n This colophon occurring at the end of many chapters, shows the\n intermediate chapters as parts of the lectures of a single day; and\n by enumeration of which, the whole space of time occupied in the\n delivery of these lectures may be fairly ascertained. This will serve\n to show that the delivery of the lectures occupied but a few months;\n and V\u00e1lm\u00edki\u2019s writing of them, if he was a shorthand writer, embraced\n also the same length of time, contrary to the common belief of this\n composition\u2019s being a work of many years.\n\nFootnote 2:\n\n (It was Plato\u2019s doctrine of the souls\u2019 _reminiscence_ of a former\n apprehension of truth awakened by the traces of ideas which sensation\n discovered in things).\n\nFootnote 3:\n\n The Arhatas have seven categories:\n\n 1. The animated and intelligent body.\n\n 2. The inanimate and insensible body as rocks &c.\n\n 3. The organs of sense.\n\n 4. Ignorance or austerities, called _\u00c1varana_.\n\n 5. Tonsure of the head called _nir\u00e1varana_.\n\n 6. Bondage to repeated births and deaths.\n\n 7. Liberation or final emancipation.\n\n They are divided into seven schisms, according to their belief or\n disbelief in this last _viz._\n\n 1. Sadv\u00e1dis or believers in liberation. 2. Asadv\u00e1dis\u2014unbelievers. 3.\n Syadv\u00e1dis\u2014Sceptics. 4. _Sada_\u2014_Sadav\u00e1dis_\u2014misbelievers. 5.\n Anirvachaneyav\u00e1dis\u2014Infidels. 6. N\u00e1stikas\u2014Atheists. 7.\n S\u00fanyav\u00e1d\u00eds\u2014Vacuists.\n\nFootnote 4:\n\n Hari in the form of _Krishna_, destroyed the demons chief Sambara or\n K\u00e1liya under his feet; as the son of God in the form of Christ,\n defeated Satan and bruised his head under his feet.\n\nFootnote 5:\n\n Ceylon is said to be first peopled by the Yakkas (yakshas) who\n followed the train of the R\u00e1kshasa R\u00e1vana to that island.\n\nFootnote 6:\n\n But these formal changes are phenomenal and not real. They are mere\n appearances. Gloss.\n\nFootnote 7:\n\n So it is represented in Kum\u00e1ra Sambhava: \u0926\u0930\u0940\u0917\u0941\u0939\u093e\u0939\u093f\u092e\u0947\u0928 \u0938\u092e\u0940\u0930\u0923\u0947\u0928, \u0909\u0926\u094d\u0917\u093e\u0938\u094d\u092f\u0924\u093e\u092e\u093f\u091a\u094d\u091b\u0924\u093f \u0915\u093f\u0928\u094d\u0928\u0930\u0940\u0923\u093e\u0902 \u0964\n\nFootnote 8:\n\n Air\u00e1vata signifies both Indra, the god of _caelum_ and the celestials,\n as also his vehicle, the elephantine clouds.\n\nFootnote 9:\n\n It is recorded, that the forefathers of Bali to the fourth ascent,\n were all destroyed by Vishnu, who took upon him the first four shapes\n of his ten incarnations, namely: those of the fish, tortoise, the\n boar and the biform man and lion, to destroy them one after another;\n till he took his fifth form of the dwarf, to kill Bali also. Hence it\n was one family of the Asuras at Mavalipura in Deccan, that called\n down Vishnu five times from his heaven for their destruction.\n\nFootnote 10:\n\n Instruction of abstruse knowledge from yoga to the impure, is pearls\n before swine; as it is said: \u092a\u0923\u094d\u0921\u093f\u0924\u093e \u090f\u092c \u0909\u092a\u0926\u0947\u0937\u094d\u091f\u092c\u094d\u092f\u093e\u0903 \u0928 \u091a \u092e\u0942\u0930\u094d\u0916\u0903 \u0915\u0926\u093e\u091a\u0928 \u0964\n\nFootnote 11:\n\n Reason is a divine attribute and given to man for his discernment of\n truth from untruth, and of true felicity of the soul, from its\n fetters of the frailties of this world.\n\nFootnote 12:\n\n The former figure of meditation was that of Vir\u00e1t, the god who with\n his thousand heads, hands and legs and feet \u201c\u0938\u0939\u0938\u094d\u0930\u0936\u0940\u0930\u094d\u0937\u0903 \u092a\u0941\u0930\u0941\u0937\u0902 \u0938\u0939\u0938\u094d\u0930 \u092c\u093e\u0939\u0941 \u0938\u0939\u0938\u094d\u0930 \u092a\u093e\u0926\u094d,\u201d\n shows the Daitya Titan Briareus with his hundred heads and hands;\n but the figure of worship in this chapter is that of Vishnu, with\n his four arms, one head and two legs only, as a more compendious\n form for common and practical worship.\n\nFootnote 13:\n\n The flowers and offerings mentioned in this place, are all of a white\n hue, and specially sacred to Vishnu, as there are others peculiar to\n other deities, whose priests and votaries must carefully distinguish\n from one another. The adoration of Vishnu consists, in the offering\n of the following articles, and observance of the rites as mentioned\n below: _viz._ Fumigation of incense and lighting of lamps,\n presentation of offerings, of food, raiment, and jewels suited to the\n adorer\u2019s taste and best means, and presents of betel leaves,\n umbrellas, mirrors and chowri flappers. Lastly, scattering of\n handfuls of flowers, turning round the idol and making obeisance &c.\n\n \u0938\u0930\u094d\u092c\u094d\u092c\u0947\u0927\u0942\u092a\u0926\u093e\u092e \u0928\u0948\u0935\u0947\u0926\u094d\u092f\u0924\u092e\u094d\u092c\u0941\u0932\u0926\u0930\u094d\u092a\u0923\u091a\u094d\u091b\u0924\u094d\u0930\u091a\u093e\u092e\u0930 \u0928\u0940\u0930\u093e\u091c\u0928 \u092a\u0941\u0937\u094d\u092a\u093e\u091e\u094d\u091c\u0932\u093f \u092a\u094d\u0930\u0926\u093e\u0915\u094d\u0937\u0923 \u0928\u092e\u0938\u094d\u0915\u093e\u0930\u093e\u0926\u093f\u0903 \u0964\n\nFootnote 14:\n\n Brahm\u00e1 was the god of Br\u00e1hmanas, and Vishnu was worshipped by\n the early Vaisya colonists of India; while Siva or Mah\u00e1deva was\n the deity of the aboriginal Daityas. These peoples after long\n contention came to be amalgamated into one great body of the\n Hindus, by their adoption of the mixed creed of the said triality\n or trinity, under the designation of the Triune duty. Still there\n are many people that have never been united under this triad, and\n maintain their several creeds with tenacity. See Wilson\u2019s Hindu\n Religion.\n\nFootnote 15:\n\n The history of Sanskrit words derives the name Lakshm\u00ed from the\n appellation of king Dilipa\u2019s queen, who was so called from her\n luckiness. Thus the words _lucky_ and _luckhy_ (valgs), are\n synonymous and same in sound and sense.\n\nFootnote 16:\n\n (This is the doctrine of the indwelling spirit pervading all nature.\n Or as the poet says:\u2014\n A motion or spirit that impels\n All thinking things, all objects of thought,\n And rolls through all things\n Wordsworth)\n\nFootnote 17:\n\n Nor love thy life nor hate, but live while thou livest; How long or\n short, permit to heaven. _Dum vivimus, vinamus_.\n\nFootnote 18:\n\n (_i.e._ As the work is known after it is worked out by the workman).\n\nFootnote 19:\n\n So there is but dead matter without the enlivening soul, and every\n thing is full of life with the soul inherent in it.\n\nFootnote 20:\n\n (The analogy of _matsya nyaya_ or piscine oppression, means the havoc\n which is committed on the race of fishes by their own kind, as also\n by all other piscivorous animals of earth and air, and tyranny of the\n strong over the weak).\n\nFootnote 21:\n\n \u0905\u0923\u094b\u0930\u0923\u0940\u092f\u093e\u0928\u094d, \u092e\u0939\u0924\u094b \u092e\u0939\u0940\u092f\u093e\u0928\u094d. Sruti.\n\nFootnote 22:\n\n \u0928\u093e\u0928\u094d\u092f\u092a\u0928\u094d\u0925\u093e \u0926\u094d\u0935\u093f\u0924\u0940\u092f\u0915\u092e\u0928\u093e\u092f. Sruti.","title":"The Yoga-Vasishtha Maharamayana of Valmiki, Vol. 2 (of 4), Part 2 (of 2)","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":180662}