|
|
|
HE
Supreme
Yoga is a translation by Swami Venkatesananda of
the Divine Life Society in Rishikesh, of the
well-known Vedanta treatise, the Yoga
Vasishtha.
|
|
The
Yoga Vasishtha has been a favourite book of
spiritual seekers in India these several centuries.
Its special appeal lies in its thoroughly rational
approach, and in its presentation of Vedanta as a
philosophy which dares, like the Bhagavad
Gita, to bridge the gulf between the secular and
the sacred, action and contemplation, in human
life, through a comprehensive and lofty
spirituality.
Swami Venkatesananda, who has been working
untiringly for decades to spread the life-giving
message of Yoga and Vedanta in East and West, has
done a great service to spiritual seekers far and
wide by bringing out this translation. He has
arranged the verses in such a way as to convert
them into a rosary of daily thoughts. Below are the
first 35 days.
|
|
DAY
1
SUTIKSHNA, the sage, asked the sage
Agastya:
O sage, kindly enlighten me on this problem of
liberation, which one of the two is conducive to
liberation, work or knowledge?
AGASTYA replied:
Verily, birds are able to fly with their two wings:
even so both work and knowledge together lead to
the supreme goal of liberation. Not indeed work
alone nor indeed knowledge alone can lead to
liberation: but, both of them together form the
means to liberation. Listen: I shall narrate to you
a legend in answer to your question. There once
lived a holy man by name Karunya who was the son of
Agnivesya. Having mastered the holy scriptures and
understood their purport, the young man became
apathetic to life. Seeing this, Agnivegya demanded
why Karunya had abandoned the due performance of
his daily duties. To which Karunya replied: "Do not
the scriptures declare on the one hand that one
should fulfil scriptural injunctions till the end
of one's life and on the other that immortality can
be realised only by the abandonment of all action?
Caught between these two doctrines, what shall I
do, O my Guru and father?" Having said this, the
young man remained silent.
AGNIVESYA said:
|
|
|
My son, listen: I
shall narrate to you an ancient legend. Duly
consider its moral and then do as you please. Once
upon a time, a celestial nymph named Suruci was
seated on a peak in the Himalayas when she saw a
messenger of Indra the king of gods fly past.
Questioned by her, he informed her of his mission
which was as follows: "A royal sage by name
Aristanemi entrusted his kingdom to his son and was
engaged in breath-taking austerities in
Gandhamadana hill. Seeing this, Indra asked me to
approach him with a bevy of nymphs and escort the
royal sage to heaven. The royal sage however wanted
to know the merits and the demerits of heaven. I
replied: In heaven, the best, the middling and the
least among pious mortals receive appropriate
rewards, and once the fruits of their respective
merits have been exhausted they return to the world
of mortals. The royal sage refused to accept
Indra's invitation to heaven. Indra once again sent
me to the royal sage with the request that he
should seek the counsel of the sage Valmiki before
turning the offer down. The royal sage was then
introduced to the sage Valmiki. He asked Valmiki,
"What is the best way to rid oneself of birth and
death?"
In reply, Valmiki
narrated to him the dialogue between Rama and
Vasishtha.
DAY
2
VALMIKI said:
He is qualified to study this scripture [the
dialogue between Rama and Vasishtha] who feels
"I am bound, I should be liberated", who is neither
totally ignorant nor enlightened. He who
deliberates on the means of liberation propounded
in this scripture in the form of stories surely
attains liberation from the repetitive history
[of birth and death].
I had composed the story of Rama earlier and I had
imparted it to my beloved disciple Bharadvaja. Once
when he went to the mount Meru, Bharadvaja narrated
it to Brahma, the creator. Highly pleased with
this, the latter granted a boon to Bharadvaja.
Bharadvaja sought a boon that "all human beings may
be freed from unhappiness" and begged of Brahma to
find the best way to achieve this.
Brahma said to Bharadvaja: "Go to the sage Valmiki
and pray to him to continue to narrate the noble
story of Rama in such a way that the listener may
be freed from the darkness of nescience." Not
content with that, Brahma accompanied by the sage
Bharadvaja arrived at my hermitage.
After receiving due worship at my hands Brahma said
to me: "O sage, your story of Rama shall be the
raft with which men will cross the ocean of
repetitive birth and death [samsara].
Hence, continue its narration and bring it to a
successful completion." Having said this, the
creator instantly disappeared from the scene.
As if puzzled by the abrupt command of Brahma, I
requested the sage Bharadvaja to explain to me what
Brahma had just said. Bharadvaja repeated Brahma's
words: "Brahma would like you to reveal the story
of Rama in such a manner that it would enable all
to go beyond sorrow. I, too, pray to you, O sage:
kindly tell me in detail, how Rama, Laksmana and
the other brothers freed themselves from
sorrow."
I then revealed to Bharadvaja the secret of the
liberation of Rama, Laksmana and the other
brothers, as also their parents and the members of
the royal court. And, I said to Bharadvaja: "My
son, if you, too, live like them you will also be
freed from sorrow here and now."
DAY
3
VALMIKI continued:
This world-appearance is a confusion, even as the
blueness of the sky is an optical illusion. I think
it is better not to let the mind dwell on it, but
to ignore it. Neither freedom from sorrow nor
realisation of one's real nature is possible as
long as the conviction does not arise in one that
the world-appearance is unreal. And this conviction
arises when one studies this scripture with
diligence. It is then that one arrives at the firm
conviction that the objective world is a confusion
of the real with the unreal. If one does not thus
study this scripture, true knowledge does not arise
in him even in millions of years.
Moksha or liberation is the total abandonment of
all vasana or mental conditioning, without the
least reserve. Mental conditioning is of two types
– the pure and the impure. The impure is the
cause of birth; the pure liberates one from birth.
The impure is of the nature of nescience and
ego-sense; these are the seeds, as it were, for the
tree of re-birth. On the other hand, when these
seeds are abandoned, the mental conditioning that
merely sustains the body is of a pure nature. Such
mental conditioning exists even in those who have
been liberated while living: it does not lead to
re-birth as it is sustained only by past momentum
and not by present motivation.
I shall now narrate to you how Rama lived an
enlightened life of a liberated sage: knowing this
you will be freed from all misunderstanding
concerning old age and death:
Upon his return from the hermitage of his
preceptor, Rama dwelt in his father's palace
sporting in various ways. Desirous of touring the
whole country and visiting the holy places of
pilgrimage, Rama sought the presence of his father
and asked to be permitted to undertake such a
pilgrimage. The king chose an auspicious day for
the commencement of this pilgrimage; and on that
day, after receiving the affectionate blessings of
the elders of the family, Rama departed.
Rama toured the whole country from the Himalayas
downwards, along with his brothers. He then
returned to the capital to the delight of the
people of the country.
DAY
4
VALMIKI continued:
Upon entering the palace, Rama devoutly bowed to
his father, the sage Vasishtha and other elders and
holy men. The whole of the city of Ayodhya put on a
festive appearance for eight days, to celebrate the
return of Rama from the pilgrimage.
For some time Rama lived in the palace, duly
performing his daily duties. However, very soon a
profound change came over him. He grew thin and
emaciated, pale and weak. The king Dasaratha was
worried over this sudden and unaccountable change
in his beloved son's appearance and behaviour.
Whenever he questioned Rama concerning his health,
the latter replied that there was nothing wrong.
When Dasaratha asked Rama, "Beloved son, what is
worrying you?" Rama politely replied, "Nothing,
father", and remained silent.
Inevitably Dasaratha turned to the sage Vasishtha
for the answer. The sage enigmatically answered:
"Surely, there is some reason why Rama behaves in
this manner. Even as, in this world, no great
changes take place before the coming into being of
their cause [viz. the cosmic elements],
changes like anger, despondency and joy do not
manifest in the behaviour of noble ones without
proper cause." Dasaratha did not wish to probe
further.
Soon after this the sage Visvamitra, of world
renown, arrived at the palace. When the king was
informed of the holy visit, he rushed forward to
greet him.
Dasaratha said: "Welcome, welcome, O holy sage!
Your arrival at my humble abode makes me happy. It
is as welcome to me as vision to a blind mind, rain
to parched earth, son to a barren woman,
resurrection of a dead man and recovery of lost
wealth. O sage, what may I do for you? Pray,
whatever be the wish with which you have come to
me, consider that wish already fulfilled. You are
my worshipful deity. I shall do thy bidding."
DAY
5
VALMIKI continued:
Visvamitra was delighted to hear Dasaratha's words
and proceeded to reveal his mission. He said to the
king: O king, I need your assistance in the
fulfilment of a religious rite. Whenever I
undertake a religious rite, the demons, who are the
followers of Khara and Dhusana, invade the holy
place and desecrate it. Under the vows of the rite,
I am unable to curse them. You can help me. Your
son Rama can easily deal with these demons. In
return for this help I shall confer manifold
blessings upon him which will bring you unexcelled
glory. Do not let your attachment to your son
overpower your devotion to duty. In this world the
noble ones do not consider any gift beyond their
means. The moment you say yes, that very moment I
consider that the demons are dead, for I know who
Rama is; even so does the sage Vasishtha and the
other holy ones in this court. Let there be no
procrastination, O king. Send Rama with me without
delay".
Hearing this highly unwelcome request, the king
remained stunned and silent for a while, and then
replied: "O sage, Rama is not even sixteen years
old, and is therefore not qualified to wage a war.
He has not even seen a combat, except what goes on
in the inner apartment of the palace. Command me
and my vast army to accompany you to exterminate
the demons. But I cannot part with Rama. Is it not
natural for all living beings to love their young;
do not even wise men engage themselves in
extraordinary activities for the love of their
children; and do not people abandon their
happiness, their consorts and wealth rather than
their children? No, I cannot part with Rama.
"If it is the mighty demon Ravana who causes
disturbance to your rite, nothing can be done to
help you. Even the gods are powerless against him.
Time and again, such powerful beings are born on
this earth; and in time they leave the stage of
this world."
Visvamitra was angry. Seeing this, the sage
Vasishtha intervened and persuaded the king not to
go back on his promise, but to send Rama with
Visvamitra." O king, it is unworthy of you to go
back on your promise. A king should be an exemplar
of righteous conduct. Rama is safe in the care of
Visvamitra, who is extremely powerful and who has
numerous invincible missiles."
DAY
6
VALMIKI continued:
In obedience to the wishes of the preceptor
Vasishtha, the king Dasaratha ordered an attendant
to fetch Rama. On his return he announced that Rama
would follow, and added: "The prince seems to be
dejected, and he shuns company." Bewildered by
this, Dasaratha turned to Rama's chamberlain and
asked for the facts concerning Rama's state of mind
and health.
The chamberlain was visibly distressed. He
said:
"Lord, since his return from the pilgrimage a great
change has come over the prince. He does not seem
to be interested even in bathing and in worship of
the deity. He does not enjoy the company of the
people in the inner apartments, nor is he
interested in jewels and precious stones. Even when
offered charming and pleasing objects he looks at
them with sad eyes, uninterested. He spurns the
palace dancers, regarding them as tormentors! He
goes through the motions of eating, walking,
resting, bathing and sitting like an automaton, or
one who is deaf and dumb. Often he mutters to
himself: "What is the use of wealth and prosperity,
of adversity or of house? All this is unreal." He
is silent most of the time, and is not amused by
entertainment. He relishes only solitude. He is all
the time immersed in his own thought. We do not
know what has come over our prince, what he
contemplates in his mind, or what he is after. Day
by day he gets more and more emaciated.
"Again and again, he sings to himself: "Alas, we
are dissipating our life in various ways, instead
of striving to reach the Supreme! People wail aloud
that they are suffering and that they are
destitute, but no one sincerely turns away from the
sources of their suffering and destitution!".
Seeing all this and hearing all this, we, his
humble servants, are extremely distressed. We do
not know what to do. He is bereft of hope, he is
bereft of desire, he is attached to nothing and he
depends on nothing. He is not deluded or demented,
and he is not enlightened, either. At times
however, it looks as if he is overwhelmed by
suicidal thoughts spurred on by the feelings of
despondency: "What is the use of wealth or of
mothers and relations, what is the use of the
kingdom, and what is the use of ambition in this
world?" Lord, only you can find the appropriate
remedy for this condition of the prince."
DAY
7
VISVAMITRA said:
If that be the case, may Rama be requested to come
here. His condition is not the result of delusion,
but it is full of wisdom and dispassion and it
points to enlightenment. Bring him here; and shall
dispel his despondency.
VALMIKI said:
Thereupon, the king urged the chamberlain to invite
Rama to the court. In the meantime, Rama himself
got ready to meet his father. Even from a distance
he saw and he saluted his father and the sages; and
they saw that, though young, his face shone with
the peace of maturity. He bowed to the feet of the
king, who embraced him, lifted him up, and said to
him: "What makes you so sad, my son? Dejection is
an open invitation to a host of miseries."
RAMA said:
Holy sir, I shall duly answer your question. I grew
up happily in my father's abode; I was instructed
by worthy teachers. Recently I went on a
pilgrimage. During this period a trend of thought
has taken hold of me, robbing me of all hope in
this world. My heart begins to question: "What do
people call happiness and can it be had in the
ever-changing objects of this world?" All beings in
this world take birth but to die, and they die to
be born! I do not perceive any meaning in all these
transient phenomena which are the roots of
suffering and sin. Unrelated beings come together;
and the mind conjures up a relationship between
them. Everything in this world is dependent upon
the mind, upon one's mental attitude. On
examination, the mind itself appears to be unreal!
But we are bewitched by it. We seem to be running
after a mirage in the desert to slake our
thirst!
Sir, surely we are not bond slaves sold to a
master; yet we live a life of slavery, without any
freedom whatsoever. Ignorant of the Truth, we have
been aimlessly wandering in this dense forest
called the world. What is this world, what comes
into being, grows and dies? How does this suffering
come to an end? My heart bleeds with sorrow, though
I do not shed tears in deference to the feelings of
my friends.
DAY
8
RAMA continued:
Equally useless, O sage, is wealth which deludes
the ignorant. Unsteady and fleeting, this wealth
gives birth to numerous worries, and generates an
insatiable craving for more. Wealth is no respector
of persons; both the good and the wicked can become
wealthy. However, people are good, compassionate
and friendly only till their hearts are hardened by
the passionate pursuit of wealth. Wealth taints the
heart even of a wise scholar, a hero, a man of
gratitude, a dexterous and a spoken person. Wealth
and happiness do not dwell together. Rare is that
wealthy man who does not have rivals and enemies
who scandalise him. To the lotus of right action,
wealth is the night; to the white-lotus of sorrow,
it is the moonlight; to the lamp of clear insight,
it is the wind; to the wave of enmity, it is the
flood; to the cloud of confusion, it is the
favourable wind; to the poison of despondency, it
is the aggravating agent. It is like the serpent of
evil thoughts and it adds fear to one's distress;
it is destructive snowfall to the creeper of
dispassion; it is the night-fall to the owl of evil
desires; it is the eclipse of the moon of wisdom.
In its presence a person's good nature shrivels.
Indeed, wealth seeks him who has already been
chosen by death.
Even so is the life-span, O sage. Its duration is
like that of a water droplet on a leaf. It is
fruitful only to those who have self-knowledge. We
may encompass the wind, we may break up space, we
may string waves into a garland, but we cannot pin
our faith in the life-span. Man vainly seeks to
extend his life-span, and thereby he earns more
sorrow and extends the period of suffering. Only he
lives who strives to gain self-knowledge which
alone is worth gaining in this world, thereby
putting an end to future births; others exist here
like donkeys. To the unwise, knowledge of
scriptures is a burden; to one who is full of
desires, even wisdom is a burden; to one who is
restless, his own mind is a burden; and to one who
has no self-knowledge, the body [the
life-span] is a burden.
The rat of time gnaws at the life-span without
respite. The termite of disease eats
[destroys] the very vitals of the living
being. Just as a cat intent on catching a rat looks
at it with great alertness and readiness, death is
ever keeping a watch over this life-span.
DAY
9
RAMA continued:
Holy sir, I am
bewildered and scared when I contemplate the coming
into being of the dreadful enemy of wisdom known as
egotism. It comes into being in the darkness of
ignorance, and flourishes in ignorance. It
generates endless sinful tendencies and sinful
actions. All suffering surely revolves around
egotism [it is the 'I' who suffers]; and
egotism is the sole cause of mental distress. I
feel that egotism is my worst disease! Spreading
the net of worldly objects of pleasure, it is this
egotism that traps the living beings. Indeed, all
the terrible calamities in this world are born of
egotism. Egotism eclipses self-control, destroys
virtue and dissipates equanimity. Giving up the
egotistic notion "I am Rama" and giving up all
desires, I wish to rest in the Self [one's true
nature]. I realise that whatever I have done
with an egotistic notion is vain. Non-egotism alone
is Truth. When I am under the influence of egotism,
I am unhappy; when I am free from egotism I am
happy. Egotism promotes cravings; without it they
perish. It is this egotism alone, without rhyme or
reason, that has spread the net of family and
social relationships to catch the unwary soul. I
think I am free from egotism; yet, I am miserable.
Pray, enlighten me.
Bereft of the grace earned through the service of
the holy holes, the impure mind-stuff remains
restless as the wind. It is dissatisfied with
whatever it gets, and grows more and more restless
by the day. The sieve can never be filled with
water; nor can the mind ever reach the state of
fulfilment however much of worldly objects one
acquires. The mind flits in all directions all the
time, but is unable to find happiness anywhere.
Unmindful of the possibility of reaping great
suffering in hell, the mind seeks pleasure here,
but even that it does not get. Like the lion in a
cage, the mind is ever restless, having lost its
freedom yet not happy with its present state.
Alas, I am bound by the knots of craving to the net
that has been spread by the mind. Even as the
rushing waters of a river uproot the trees on its
bank, the restless mind has uprooted my whole
being. I am being wafted by the mind like a dry
leaf in the wind. It does not let me rest anywhere.
It is this mind alone which is the cause of all
objects in the world; the three worlds exist
because of the mind-stuff; when the mind vanishes,
the worlds vanish too. You should try hard to find
treatment.
DAY
10
RAMA continued:
It is really when the mind-stuff is enveloped by
craving that innumerable errors arise in the
darkness of ignorance thus caused. This craving
dries up the good and noble qualities of the mind
and heart [like sweetness and gentleness of
disposition] and makes me hard and cruel. In
that darkness, craving in its different forms
dances like a goblin.
Though I adopt various methods to restrain this
craving, it overpowers me in a moment and carries
me astray, even as a gale carries a straw away.
Craving cuts away any hope I entertain of
developing dispassion [and such other
qualities] even as a rat snaps a thread; and I
helplessly revolve, caught in the wheel of craving.
Like birds caught in a net, we are unable, though
we have the wings for it, to fly to our goal or
abode of self-knowledge. This craving can never be
appeased, even if I were to quaff nectar. The
characteristic of this craving is that it has no
direction; it drives me in one direction now and
the very next moment it takes me away in another
direction, like a mad horse. It spreads in front of
us a very wide net of son, friend, wife and other
relatives.
Though I am a hero, this craving makes me a
frightened coward; though I have eyes to see, it
makes me blind; though I am full of joy, it makes
me miserable; it is like a dreadful goblin. It is
this dreadful goblin craving that is responsible
for bondage and misfortune; it breaks the heart of
man and creates delusion in him. Caught by this
goblin, man is unable to enjoy even the pleasures
that are within his reach. Though it appears as if
the craving is for happiness, this craving leads
neither to happiness nor to fruitfulness in this
life; on the contrary, it involves vain effort and
leads to every kind of inauspiciousness. Even when
it occupies the stage called life on which several
happy and unhappy situations play, this craving,
like an aged actress, is incapable of performing
anything good and noble, and suffers defeat and
discomfiture at every turn. Yet, it does not give
up dancing on the stage!
Craving now ascends to the skies, now dives into
the depths of the nether world; it is ever restless
for it is based on the emptiness of the mind. In
the mind the light of wisdom momentarily shines,
but there is delusion the next moment. It is a
wonder that sages are able to cut this with the
sword of self-knowledge.
|
top
of the page
|
DAY
11
RAMA continued:
This pitiable body composed of veins, arteries and
nerves is also a source of pain. Inert, it appears
to be intelligent. One does not know if it is
sentient or insentient, and it engenders only
delusion. Delighted with a little gratification and
distressed by the least adversity, this body is
indeed highly despicable.
I can only compare a tree to the body; with
branches for arms, trunk for the torso, holes for
eyes, fruits for head and leaves for numerous
illnesses. It is a resting place for living beings.
Who can say that it is one's own? Hope or despair
in relation to it is futile. It is but a boat given
to one for crossing this ocean of birth-and-death;
but one should not regard it as one's Self. This
tree which is the body is born in the forest known
as samsara [repetitive existence], the
restless monkey [mind] plays on it, it is
the abode of crickets [worries], it is
constantly eaten by the insects [of endless
suffering], it shelters the venomous serpent
[of craving], and the wild crow [of
anger] dwells on it. On it are the flowers
[of laughter], its fruits are good and
evil, it appears to be animated by the wind [of
life-force], it supports the birds [of
senses], it is resorted to by the traveller
[lust or desire] for it provides the shade
of pleasure, the formidable vulture
[egotism] is seated on it, and it is hollow
and empty. It is certainly not meant to promote
happiness. Whether it lives for long or falls in a
short time, it is still useless. It is composed of
flesh and blood, it is subject to old age and
death. I am not enamoured of it. It is completely
filled with impure substances and afflicted with
ignorance. How can it fulfil my hopes?
This body is the home of illness, the field for
mental distress, changing emotions and mental
states. I am not enamoured of it. What is wealth,
what is kingdom, what is the body – all these
are mercilessly cut down by time [death].
At death this ungrateful body abandons the soul
that dwelt in it and protected it. What hope shall
I repose in it? Shamelessly it indulges again and
again in the same actions! Its only certain purpose
seems to be to burn in the end! Unmindful of old
age and death that are common to the rich and the
poor, it seeks wealth and power! Shame, shame upon
those who are bound to this body, deluded by the
wine of ignorance! Shame on those who are bound to
this world!
DAY
12
RAMA said:
Even the part of life which people ignorantly
regard as enjoyable – childhood – is full
of sorrow, O sage. Helplessness, mishaps, cravings,
inability to express oneself, utter foolishness,
playfulness, instability, weakness – all these
characterise childhood. The child is easily
offended, easily roused to anger, easily bursts
into tears. In fact, one may say boldly that the
child's anguish is more terrible than that of a
dying, an aged man, a sick man or any other adult.
For, in childhood, one's state is comparable truly
to that of an animal living at the mercy of
others.
The child is exposed to the countless happenings
around it; they puzzle and confuse the child, and
arouse in it various fantasies and fears. The child
is impressionable and is easily influenced by the
wicked. In consequence, the child is subjected to
control and punishment by its parents. Childhood
seems to be a period of nothing but subjection!
Though the child may appear to be innocent, the
truth is that all sorts of defects, sinful
tendencies and neurotic behaviour lie hidden and
dormant in it, even as an owl lies hidden in a dark
hole during the day time. O sage, I pity those
people who foolishly imagine that childhood is a
happy period.
What can be worse suffering than a restless mind?
And, the child's mind is extremely restless. Unless
the child gets something new every day, it is
unhappy. Crying and weeping seem to be the child's
foremost activity. When the child does not get what
it wants, it looks as if its heart is broken. When
the child goes to school, it receives punishment in
the hands of its teachers; and all this adds to
their unhappiness.
When the child cries, its parents, in order to
pacify it, promise to give it the world; and from
then on the child begins to value the world, to
desire the worldly objects. The parents say, "I
shall give you the moon for a toy," and the child,
believing their words, thinks that it can hold the
moon in its hands. Thus are the seeds of delusion
sown in the little heart.
Though the child feels heat and cold, it is unable
to avoid it – how is it better than a tree,
then? Like the animals and birds the child vainly
reaches out to get what it wants. And it is fearful
of every elder in the house.
DAY
13
RAMA continued:
Leaving this period of childhood behind, the human
being goes on the stage of youth – but he is
unable to leave the unhappiness behind! There he is
subjected to numerous mental modifications and he
progresses from misery to greater misery, for he
abandons wisdom and embraces the terrible goblin
known as lust that resides in his heart. His life
is full of desire and anxiety. They who have not
been robbed of their wisdom in their youth can
withstand any onslaught.
I am not enamoured of this transient youth in which
short-lived pleasure is quickly followed by
long-lasting suffering, and deluded by which man
regards the changing to be changeless. What is
worse, it is during youth that one indulges in such
actions that bring unhappiness to many others. Even
as a tree is consumed by a forest- fire, the
youth's heart is consumed by the fire of lust when
his beloved leaves him. However much he may strive
to develop purity of heart is stained with
impurity. Even when his beloved is not present near
him, he is distracted by the thoughts of her
beauty. Such a person who is full of cravings is
naturally not held in high esteem by good men.
Youth is the abode of diseases and mental distress.
It can be compared to a bird whose wings are good
and evil acts. Youth is like a sandstorm that
disperses and dissipates one's good qualities.
Youth arouses all sorts of evils in the heart and
suppresses the good qualities that may exist there;
it is thus the promoter of evil. It gives rise to
delusion and attachment. Though youthfulness
appears to be very desirable to the body, it is
destructive to the mind. In youth one is tempted by
the mirage of happiness, and in its pursuit he
falls into the well of sorrow. Hence I am not
enamoured of youth.
Alas even when youth is about to leave the body,
the passions that had been aroused by youth burn
the more fiercely and bring about one's quick
destruction. He who delights in this youth is
surely not a man, but an animal in human garb.
They are adorable, they are great souls, and they
alone are men who are not overcome by the evils of
youth and who survive that stage of life without
succumbing to its temptations. For, it is easy to
cross a great ocean; but to reach the other shore
of youth without being overcome by its likes and
dislikes is indeed difficult.
DAY
14
RAMA continued:
In his youth, man
is a slave of sexual attraction. In the body which
is no more than the aggregate of flesh, blood,
bone, hair and skin, he perceives beauty and charm.
Even if this 'beauty' is permanent there is some
justification to the imagination; but, alas, it
does not last very long. On the contrary, very soon
the very flesh that contributed to the
attractiveness, charm and beauty of the beloved is
transformed first into the shrivelled ugliness of
old age and later consumed by fire, or by worms or
by vultures. Yet, while it lasts this sexual
attraction consumes the heart and the wisdom of the
man. By this is the creation maintained; when this
attraction ceases, this birth-death cycle
[samsara] also ceases.
When the child is dissatisfied with its childhood,
youth takes over; when youth is plagued by
dissatisfaction and frustration, old age overpowers
it. How cruel is life. Even as wind tosses a
dew-drop from a leaf, old age destroys the body.
Even as a drop of poison when it enters the system
soon pervades it, senility soon pervades the entire
body and breaks it down, and makes it the
laughing-stock of other people.
Though the old man is unable to satisfy his desires
physically, the desires themselves flourish and
grow. He begins to ask himself, "Who am I? What
should I do?" etc. when it is too late for him to
change his life's course, alter his life-style or
make his life more meaningful. With the onset of
senility all the distressing symptoms of a physical
break-down like cough, white hairs, hard breathing,
dyspepsia and emaciation, manifest themselves.
Perhaps, the deity presiding over death sees the
white roofed head of the old man as salted melon
and rushes to take it. Senility vigorously cuts the
root of life like a flood that cuts away the roots
of trees standing on the river bank. Death follows
and carries it away. Senility is like the royal
attendants that precede the king, death.
Ah, how mysterious and how astounding it is! They
who have not been overcome by enemies and who have
taken their abode in inaccessible mountain peaks
– even they have been afflicted by the
demoness known as senility and degeneracy.
DAY
15
RAMA continued:
All enjoyment in this world are deluded, like the
lunatic's enjoyment of the taste of fruits
reflected in a mirror. All the hopes of man in this
world are consistently destroyed by Time. Time
alone, O sage, wears everything out in this world;
there is nothing in creation which is beyond its
reach. Time alone creates innumerable universes,
and in a very short time. Time destroys
everything.
Time allows a glimpse of itself through its partial
manifestation as the year, the age and the epoch;
but its essential nature is hidden. This Time
overpowers everything. Time is merciless,
inexorable, cruel, greedy and insatiable. It is the
greatest magician, full of deceptive tricks. This
Time cannot be analysed; for however much it is
divided it still survives, indestructible. It has
an insatiable appetite for everything – it
consumes the smallest insects, the biggest
mountains and even the king of heaven! Even as a
young boy plays with a ball for his pastime, Time
uses the two balls known as the sun and the moon
for its pastime. It is indeed Time alone that
appears as the destroyer of the universe
[Rudra], the creator of the world
[Brahma], the king of heaven
[Indra], the lord of wealth
[Kubera] and the nothingness of cosmic
dissolution. It is indeed this Time that
successively creates and dissolves the universe
again and again. Just as even the great and mighty
mountain is rooted on earth, this mighty Time is
also established in the absolute being
[Brahman].
Even though Time creates endless universes, it is
not wearied, nor does it rejoice; it does not come,
nor does it go; it does not rise, nor does it set.
Time the gourmet sees that the objets of this world
have been ripened by the fire of the sun, and when
he finds them fully ripe he consumes them! Each
epoch of time is decked, as it were, by the lovely
jewels of colourful beings for the pleasure of Time
that playfully wipes them all out.
To the lotus of youthfulness, Time is the
nightfall; to the elephant of life-span, Time is
the lion. In this world there is nothing, high or
low, that Time does not destroy. Even when all
these are destroyed, Time is not destroyed. Just as
a man after a day's activity rests in sleep as if
in ignorance, even so Time, after the cosmic
dissolution, sleeps or rests with the
creation-potential hidden in it. No one really
knows what this Time is.
DAY
16
RAMA continued:
Besides the Time I have just described, there is
another Time which is responsible for birth and
death; people refer to it as the deity presiding
over death. Yet again there is another aspect of
this Time, known as krtanta – the end of
action, its inevitable result or fruition. This
krtanta is like a dancer with niyati [the law
of nature] for his wife; the two together
bestow on all beings the beings the inevitable
fruit of their actions. During the course of the
existence of the universe they are indefatigable in
their labour, unwinking in their vigilance and
unflagging in their zeal. When Time thus dances in
this universe creating and destroying everything,
what hope can we entertain? Krtanta holds sway even
over those whose faith is firm, and makes them
restless. On account of this krtanta everything in
this world is constantly undergoing change; there
is no permanency here.
All beings in this world are tainted with evil, all
relationships are bondage, all enjoyments are great
diseases and desire for happiness is only a mirage.
One's own senses are one's enemies; the Reality has
become unreal [unknown]; one's own mind has
become one's worst enemy. Egotism is the foremost
cause for evil, wisdom is weak, all actions lead to
unpleasantness and pleasure is sexually oriented.
One's intelligence is governed by egotism, instead
of being the other way round. Hence there is no
peace nor happiness in one's mind. Youth is fading.
Company of holy ones is rare. There is no way out
of this suffering. The realisation of Truth is not
to be seen in anyone. No one is happy at the
prosperity and happiness of others, nor compassion
to be found in anyone's heart. People are getting
baser and baser by the day. Weakness has overcome
strength, cowardice has overpowered courage. Evil
company is easily hard, good company is hard to
come by. I wonder wither Time is driving humanity.
Holy one, this mysterious power that governs this
creation destroys even powerful demons, robs
whatever has been considered to be eternal of its
permanency, kills even the immortals – is
there then any hope for simple folk like me? This
mysterious being seems to dwell in all, and its
individualised aspect is regarded as egotism; and
there is nothing that is not destroyed by it. The
entire universe is under its control, its will
alone prevails here.
DAY
17
RAMA continued:
O sage, thus neither in childhood, youth nor old
age does one enjoy any happiness. None of the
objects in this world is meant to give happiness to
anyone. The mind vainly seeks to find such
happiness in the objects of this world. Only he is
happy who is free from egotism and who is not
swayed by craving for sense-pleasure; but such a
person is extremely rare in this world. Indeed, I
do not regard him as a hero who is able to battle
successfully against a mighty army; only him I
consider a hero who is able to cross the ocean
known as the mind and the senses.
I do not regard that as a 'gain' which is soon
lost; only that is a gain which is not lost –
and there is no such gain available to man in this
world, however hard he may struggle. On the other
hand, both fleeting gains and temporary adversities
come to a man, even without his seeking. I am
puzzled, Holy sir, that a man roams here and there
seemingly busy throughout the day, and is all the
time engaged in selfish activity; and though he
does not do one good turn during the day, he is
still able to sleep at night! Yet, even though the
busy man overcomes all his earthly enemies and
surrounds himself with wealth and luxury, and even
when he boasts that he is happy, death creeps in
upon him. How it finds him, only God knows! In
ignorance, man binds himself to wife, son and
friends; he knows not that this world is like a
large pilgrim centre where countless people come
together fortuitously – and they whom he calls
his wife, son and friends are among them.
This world is like a potter's wheel; the wheel
looks as if it stands still though it revolves at a
terrific speed – even so to the deluded person
this world appears to be stable even though in fact
it is constantly changing. This world is like a
poison free; one who comes into contact with it is
knocked unconscious and stupefied. All points of
view in this world are tainted, all countries in
the world are territories of evil, all the people
of the world are subject to death, all actions are
deceitful.
Many aeons have come and gone; they are but moments
in time – for there is essentially no
difference between an epoch and a moment, both
being measures of time. From the viewpoint of the
gods even an epoch is but a moment. Even so the
whole earth is but a modification of the
earth-element! How futile to pin our faith and our
hope on it!
DAY
18
RAMA continued:
O holy one! Whatever appears to be permanent or
transient in this world is like a dream. What is a
crater today was a mountain before, what is a
mountain today becomes a hole in the earth in a
short while, what is a dense forest today is soon
transformed into a big city, what is fertile soil
now becomes an arid desert. Similar is the change
in one's body and in one's life-style and
fortune.
This life-and death cycle appears to be a skilful
dancer whose skirt is made up of living souls; and
her dancing gestures consist of lifting the souls
up to heaven, hurling them down in hell or bringing
them back to this earth. All the mighty deeds, even
the great religious rites that people perform here
are soon consigned to one's memory. Human beings
are born as animals and vice versa; gods lose their
divinity – what is unchanging here? I see even
the creator Brahma, the protector Vishnu, the
redeemer Rudra and others inexorably going toward
destruction. In this world sense-objects appear to
be pleasant to one only the till he remembers this
inevitable destruction. Just as a child playing
with earth makes different designs with a clod, the
ordainer of the universe keeps creating new things
and destroying them soon.
This perception of the defects of the world has
destroyed the undesirable tendencies in my mind;
and therefore, desire for sense-pleasure does not
arise in my mind, even as a mirage does not appear
on the surface of water. This world and its
delights appear bitter to me. I am not fond of
wandering in the pleasure-gardens, I do not relish
the company of girls, I do not value the
acquisition of wealth. I wish to remain at peace
within myself. I am constantly enquiring: "How can
I wean my heart completely away from even thinking
of this ever-changing phantasm called the world?" I
do not long for death, nor do I long to live; I
remain as I am, free from the fever or lust. What
shall I do with the kingdom, pleasure or wealth,
all of which are the playthings of egotism which is
absent in me?
If I do not get established in wisdom now, when
shall another opportunity arise? For, indulgence in
sense-pleasure poisons the mind in such a way that
its effects last several life-times. Only the man
of self-knowledge is free from this. Therefore, O
sage, I pray, instruct me in such a way that I may
forever be free from anguish, fear and distress.
With the light of your instruction, destroy the
darkness of ignorance in my heart.
DAY
19
RAMA continued:
By reflecting on the pitiable fate of living beings
thus fallen into the dreadful pit of sorrow, I am
filled with grief. My mind is confused, I shudder,
and at every step I am afraid. I have given up
everything, but I have not established myself in
wisdom; hence I am partly caught and partly freed.
I am like a tree that has been cut but not severed
from its root. I wish to restrain my mind but do
not have the wisdom to do so.
Hence, pray tell me what that condition or state is
in which one does not experience any grief? How can
one, who is involved in the world and its
activities as I am, reach the supreme state of
peace and bliss? What is that attitude that enables
one not to be influenced by various kinds of
activities and experiences? Pray tell me how people
who are enlightened live in this world. How can the
mind be freed from lust and made to view the world
both as one's own Self and also as no more valuable
than a blade of grass? The biography of which great
one shall we study in order to learn the path of
wisdom? How should one live in this world?
Holy sir, instruct me in that wisdom which will
enable my otherwise restless mind to be steady like
a mountain. You are an enlightened being: instruct
me so that I may never again be sunk in grief.
Obviously this world is full of open and death; how
does it become a source of joy, without befuddling
one's heart? The mind is obviously full of
impurities. How can it be cleansed and with what
cleanser prescribed by what great sage? How should
one live here so as not to fall a victim to the
twin currents of love-and-hate? Obviously there is
a secret that enables one to remain unaffected by
the grief and suffering in this world – even
as mercury is not affected when it is thrown into
the fire: What is that secret? What is the secret
that counteracts the habit of the mind that is
spread out in the form of this universe?
Who are those heroes who have freed themselves from
delusion? And what methods did they adopt to free
themselves. If you consider that I am neither fit
nor capable of understanding this, I shall fast
unto death.
VALMIKI said:
Having said so, Rama remained silent.
DAY
20
VALMIKI said:
All those who had assembled in the court were
highly inspired by the flaming words of Rama's
wisdom that are capable of dispelling the delusion
of the mind. They felt as if they themselves had
been rid of all their doubts and deluded
misunderstanding. They drank the nectarine words of
Rama with great delight. As they sat in the court
listening to Rama's words, it appeared as though
they were no longer living beings but painted
figures – they were so still with rapt
attention.
Who listened to Rama's discourse? Sages like
Vasishtha and Visvamitra; citizens, holy one's,
servants, caged birds, animal pets, the horses of
the royal stable and the celestials –
including the perfected sages and heavenly
musicians. Surely, even the king of heaven and the
chiefs of the nether world listened to Rama.
Thrilled to hear Rama's speech, all of them
exclaimed: "Bravo, bravo" with one voice, and this
joyous sound filled the air. To felicitate Rama
there was a shower of flowers from heaven. Everyone
assembled in the court cheered him. Surely no one
but Rama, who was full of dispassion, could have
uttered the words that he gave expressions to
– not even the preceptor of the gods. We were
indeed extremely fortunate to have been able to
listen to him. While we listened it seemed as
though we were filled with the feeling, "There is
no happiness even in heaven".
THE PERFECTED SAGES in the assembly said:
Surely, the answer that the holy ones are about to
give in answer to the weighty and wise questions of
Rama are worthy of being heard by all beings in the
universe. O sages, come, come, let us all gather in
the court of king Dasaratha to listen to the answer
of the supreme sage Vasishtha.
VALMIKI said:
Hearing us, all the sages of the world hastened to
the court, where they were duly received and
honoured. They were all duly seated in the court.
Surely, if in our heart the lofty wisdom of Rama is
not reflected, we shall indeed be the losers;
whatever be our abilities and faculties, we shall
thereby prove that we have lost our
intelligence!
|
top
of the page
|
DAY
21
VISVAMITRA said:
O Rama, you are indeed the foremost among the wise,
and there is really nothing further for you to
know. However, your knowledge needs confirmation,
even as the self-knowledge of Suka needed
confirmation from Janaka before Suka could find the
peace that passeth understanding.
RAMA asked:
"Holy one! Pray tell me, how was it that Suka did
not find peace in spite of his knowledge, and how
he found it later."
VISVAMITRA said:
Listen, O Rama, I shall duty narrate to you this
soul-uplifting story of the born-sage Suka, the son
of Vedavyasa, who is now seated next to your
father. Just like you, Sika also arrived at the
truth concerning existence after deep contemplation
of the evanescence of the world. Yet, because it
was self-acquired knowledge, he could not
positively affirm to himself "this is the Truth".
He had of course arrive at the state of extreme and
supreme dispassion.
One day this Suka approached his father, Vedavyasa,
and asked him: "Sir, how did this diversity of
world-creation come into being; how will it come to
an end?" Vedavyasa gave a detailed answer to this
question, but Suka thought "All this I knew
already; what is new in this?" and was not
impressed. Vedavyasa sensed this, and hence he said
to Suka: "My son, I do not know anything more than
this, but there is the royal sage Janaka on earth
who knows more than this. Kindly approach him".
Suka thereupon came to Janaka's palace. Informed by
the palace guards of the young Suka's arrival,
Janaka ignored Suka for a week as he patiently
waited outside. The next week Janaka had Suka
brought into the palace and waited upon by dancers
and musicians. Suka was unmoved by this, too. After
this, Suka was ushered into the royal presence, and
Janaka said: "You know the Truth. What else shall I
tell you now?" Suka repeated the question he had
asked to his father, and Janaka too gave him the
answer his father had given. Suka said: "I knew
this, my father told me this, the scriptures also
affirm this, and now you declare the Truth, and
that is this diversity arises on account of mental
modifications and it will cease when they cease".
Thus, when his Self-knowledge had been confirmed,
Suka attained peace and remained in nirvikalpa
samadhi.
DAY
22
VISVAMITRA said to the assembled sages:
Like Suka, Rama, too, has gained the highest
wisdom. The surest sign of a man of the highest
wisdom is that he is unattracted by the pleasure of
the world, for in him even the subtle tendencies
have ceased. When these tendencies are strong,
there is bondage; when they have ceased, there is
liberation. He is truly a liberated sage who by
nature is not swayed by sense pleasure, without the
motivation of fame or other incentives. And, I pray
that the sage Vasishtha should so instruct Rama
that he will be confirmed in his wisdom and we,
too, may be inspired. That instruction will surely
become the greatest wisdom, the best of all
scriptures – for it is imparted by an
enlightened sage to the qualified, dispassionate
student.
VASISHTHA said: I shall surely do so. I shall now
impart to Rama the wisdom which was revealed to me
by the creator, Brahma, himself.
RAMA said: Holy sir, kindly tell me first: why was
Vedavyasa considered not liberated while his son
Suka was considered liberated?
VASISHTHA said:
O Rama, countless have been the universes that have
come into being and that have been dissolved. In
fact, even the countless universes that exist at
this moment are impossible to conceive of. All this
can immediately be realised in one's own heart, for
these universes are the creations of the desires
that arise in the heart, like castles built in the
air. The living being conjures up this world in his
heart and while he is alive he strengthens this
illusion: when he passes away, he conjures up the
world beyond and experiences it – thus these
arise worlds within worlds just as there are layers
within layers in a plantain stem. Neither the world
of matter not the modes of creation are truly real;
yet the living and the dead think and feel they are
real. Ignorance of this truth keeps up the
appearance.
O Rama, in this cosmic ocean of existence, beings
arise here and there who are equal to others, and
others who are different. This Vedavyasa is the
twenty-third in this stream of creation. He and
other sages will attain embodiment and
disembodiment again and again. In some they will be
equal to others and in others unequal. In this
embodiment Vedavyasa is indeed a liberated sage.
Such liberated sages also are embodied countless
times and they assume relations with others –
and sometimes they are equal to others and
sometimes unequal in their learning, behaviour,
etc.
DAY
23
VASISHTHA continued:
O Rama, even as, whether there are waves or no
waves, water remains water, even so whatever be the
external appearance of the liberated sage, his
wisdom remains unchanged. The difference is only in
the eyes of the ignorant spectator.
Therefore, O Rama, listen to what I am about to
say, which instruction is sure to remove the
darkness of ignorance. In this world, whatever is
gained is gained only by self-effort; where failure
is encountered it is seen that there has been
slackness in the effort. This is obvious; but, what
is called fate is fictitious and is not seen.
Self-effort, Rama, is that mental, verbal and
physical action which is in accordance with the
instructions of a holy person well versed in the
scriptures. It is only by such effort that Indra
became king of heaven, that Brahma became the
creator, and the other deities earned their
place.
Self-effort is of two categories: that of past
births and that of this birth. The latter
effectively counteracts the former. Fate is none
other than self-effort of a past incarnation. There
is constant conflict between these two in this
incarnation; and that which is more powerful
triumphs.
Self-effort which is not in accord with the
scriptures is motivated by delusion. When there is
obstruction in the fruition of self-effort one
should examine it to see if there is such deluded
action, and if there is it should be immediately
corrected. There is no power greater than right
action in the present. Hence, one should take
recourse to self-effort, grinding one's teeth, and
one should overcome evil by good and fate by
present effort. The lazy man is worse than a
donkey. One should never yield to laziness but
strive to attain liberation, seeing that life is
ebbing away every moment. One should not revel in
the fifth known as sense-pleasures, even as a worm
revels in pus.
One who says, "Fate is directing me to do this", is
brainless, and the goddess of fortune abandons him.
Hence, by self-effort acquire wisdom and then
realise that this self-effort is not without its
own end, in the direct realisation of the
Truth.
In this dreadful source of evil named laziness is
not found on earth, who will ever be illiterate and
poor? It is because laziness is found on earth that
people live the life of animals, miserable and
poverty-stricken.
VALMIKI said:
At this stage, it was time for everything prayers
and the assembly broke up for the day.
DAY
24
VASISHTHA began the second days discourse:
As is the effort so is fruit, O Rama: this is the
meaning of self-effort, and it is also known as
fate [divine will]. When afflicted by
suffering, people cry, "Alas, what tragedy" or
"Alas, look at my fate" both of which mean the same
thing. What is called fate or divine will is
nothing other than the action or self-effort of the
past. The present is infinitely more potent than
the past. They indeed are fools who are satisfied
with the fruits of their past effort [which
they regard as divine will] and do not engage
themselves in self-effort now.
If you see that the present self-effort is
sometimes thwarted by fate [or divine
will], you should understand that the present
self-effort is weak. A weak and dull-witted man
sees the hand of providence when he is confronted
by a strong and powerful adversary and succumbs to
him.
Sometimes it happens that without effort someone
makes a great gain: for example, the state elephant
chooses [in accordance with an ancient
practice] a mendicant as the ruler of a country
whose king suddenly died without leaving an heir;
this is certainly not an accident nor some kind of
divine act, but the fruit of the mendicant's
self-effort in the past birth.
Sometimes it happens that a farmer's efforts are
made fruitless by a hailstorm: surely, the
hailstorm's own power was greater than the farmer's
effort and the farmer should put forth greater
effort now. He should not grieve over the
inevitable loss. If such grief is justified, why
should he not weep daily over the inevitability of
death? The wise man should of course know what is
capable of attainment by self-effort and what is
not. It, however, ignorance to attribute all this
to an outside agency and to say that "God sends me
to heaven or to hell", or that "an outside makes me
do this or that". Such an ignorant person should be
shunned.
One should free oneself from likes and dislikes and
engage oneself in righteous self-effort and reached
the supreme Truth, knowing that self-effort alone
is another name for divine will. We only ridicule
the fatalist. That alone is self-effort which
springs from right understanding which manifests in
one's heart which has been exposed to the teachings
of the scriptures and the conduct of holy ones.
DAY
25
VASISHTHA continued:
With a body free
from illness and mind free from distress, one
should pursue self-knowledge so that one is not
born again here. Such self-effort has a threefold
root and therefore threefold fruit – an inner
awakening in the intelligence, a decision in the
mind, and the physical action.
Self-effort is based on these three –
knowledge of scriptures, instructions of the
preceptor, and one's own effort. Fate [or
divine dispensation] does not enter here. Hence
he who desires salvation should divert the impure
mind to pure endeavour by persistent effort –
this is the very essence of all scriptures.
The Holy one emphasise: persistently tread the path
that leads to the eternal good. The wise seeker
knows: the fruit of my endeavours will be
commensurate with the intensity of my self-effort
and neither fate nor a god ordain it otherwise.
Indeed, such self-effort alone is responsible for
whatever man gets here; when he is sunk in
unhappiness, to console him people suggest that it
is his fate. This is obvious: one goes abroad, one
appeases one's hunger, by undertaking a journey and
by eating food – not on account of a fate. No
one has seen such a fate, but everyone has
experienced how an action [good or evil]
leads to a result [good or evil]. Hence,
right from one's childhood, one should endeavour to
promote one's true good [salvation] by a
keen intelligent study of the scriptures, by having
the company of the holy ones and by right
self-effort.
Fate or divine dispensation is merely a convention
which has come to be regarded as truth by being
repeatedly declared to be true. If this god or fate
is truly the ordainer of everything in this world,
of what meaning is any action [even like
bathing, speaking or giving], and whom should
one teach at all? No. in this world everything,
except a corpse, is active and such activity yields
its appropriate result. No one has ever realised
the existence of a fate or divine dispensation.
People use such expressions as "I am impelled by
fate or divine dispensation to do this", for
self-satisfaction, but this is not true. For
example, if an astrologer predicts that a young man
would become a great scholar, does that young man
become a scholar without study? No. Then, why do we
believe in divine dispensation? Rama, this sage
Visvamitra became a Brahma-Rishi by self-effort;
all of us have attained self-knowledge by
self-effort alone. Hence, renounce fatalism and
apply yourself to self-effort.
[the word used for fate is 'daivaim' which
also means 'god']
DAY
26
RAMA asked:
Lord, you are indeed the knower of Truth. Pray,
tell me what do people really call god, fate or
daivam.
VASISHTHA replied:
The fruition of self-effort by which one
experiences the good and evil results of past
action is called fate or daivam by people. People
also regard that as fate or daivam which
characterises the good and evil nature of such
results. When you see that "this plant grows out of
this seed", it is regarded as an act of this
daivam. But I feel that fate is nothing but the
culmination of one's own action.
In the mind of man are numerous latent tendencies,
and these tendencies give rise to various actions
– physical, verbal and mental. Surely, one's
actions are in strict accordance with these
tendencies, it cannot be otherwise. Such is the
course of action: action is non-different from the
most potent among latent tendencies, and these
tendencies are non-different from the mind. One
cannot definitively determine whether categories
like mind, latent tendencies action and fate
[daivam] are real or unreal: hence, the men
of wisdom have alluded to them symbolically.
RAMA asked again:
Holy Sir, if the latent tendencies brought forward
from the previous birth impel me to act in the
present, where is freedom of action?
VASISHTHA said:
Rama, the tendencies brought forward from past
incarnations are of two kinds – pure and
impure. The pure ones lead you towards liberation,
and the impure ones invite trouble. You are indeed
consciousness itself, not inert physical matter.
You are not impelled to action by anything other
than yourself. Hence you are free to strengthen the
pure latent tendencies in preference to the impure
ones. The impure ones have to be abandoned
gradually and the mind turned away from them little
by little, lest there should be violent reaction.
By encouraging the good tendencies to act
repeatedly, strengthen them. The impure ones will
weaken by disuse. You will soon become absorbed in
the expression of the good tendencies, in good
actions. When thus you have overcome the force of
the evil tendencies then you will have to abandon
even the good ones. You will then experience the
supreme Truth with the intelligent that rises from
the good tendencies.
DAY
27
VASISHTHA continued:
The cosmic order that people refer to as fate,
daivam or niyati and which ensures that every
effort is blessed with appropriate fruition is
based on omnipresent and omnipotent omniscience
[known as Brahman]. By self-effort,
therefore, restrain the senses and the mind; with a
mind that is one pointed calmly listen to what I am
going to say.
This narrative deals with liberation; listening to
it with other wise seekers who are assembled here,
you will realise that supreme being where there is
no sorrow nor destruction. O Rama, the omnipresent
omniscience or the cosmic being shines eternally in
all beings. When a vibration arises in that cosmic
being, Lord Vishnu is born, even as a wave arises
when the surface of the ocean is agitated. From
that Vishnu, Brahma the creator was born. Brahma
began to create the countless varieties of animate
and inanimate, sentient and insentient beings in
the universe. And the universe was as it was before
the cosmic dissolution.
The creator saw that all living beings in the
universe were subject to disease, death, pain and
suffering. Compassion arose in his heart and he
sought to lay down a path that might lead beings
away from all this. He thereupon instituted noble
virtues [like austerity, charity, truthfulness
and righteous conduct] and centres of
pilgrimage. But these were inadequate; they could
bestow on people only temporary relief from
suffering and not final liberation from sorrow.
Reflecting thus, the creator brought me into being.
He drew me to himself and drew the veil of
ignorance over my heart. Instantly I forgot my
identity and my self-nature. I was miserable. I
begged of Brahma the creator, my own father, to
show me the way out of this misery. Sunk in my
misery, I was unable and unwilling to do anything,
and I remained lazy and inactive.
In response to my prayer, my father revealed to me
the true knowledge which instantly dispelled the
veil of ignorance that he himself had spread over
me. The creator then said to me: "My son, I veiled
the knowledge and revealed it to you so that you
may experience its glory; for only then will you be
able to understand the travail of ignorant beings
and to help them. O Rama, equipped with his
knowledge, I am here and I will continue to be here
till the end of creation."
DAY
28
VASISHTHA continued:
Even so in every age, the creator wills into being
several sages and myself for the spiritual
enlightenment of all. And, in order to ensure the
due performance of the secular duties by all,
Brahma also creates kings who rule justly and
wisely over parts of the earth. These kings,
however, are soon corrupted by lust for power and
pleasure; conflict of interests leads to wars among
them which in turn give rise to remorse. To remove
their ignorance, the sages used to impart spiritual
wisdom to them. In days of yore, O Rama, kings used
to receive this wisdom and cherish it; hence it was
known as Raja Vidya, Kingly Science.
The highest form of dispassion born of pure
discrimination has arisen in your heart, O Rama,
and it is superior to dispassion born of a
circumstantial cause or an utter disgust. Such
dispassion is surely due to the grace of God. This
grace meets the maturity of discrimination at the
exact moment when dispassion is generated in the
heart.
As long as the highest wisdom does not dawn in the
heart, the person revolves in this wheel of birth
and death. Pray, listen to my exposition of this
wisdom with a concentrated mind.
This wisdom destroys the forest of ignorance.
Roaming in this forest one undergoes confusion and
seemingly interminable suffering. One should
therefore approach an enlightened teacher and by
asking the right question with the right attitude,
elicit the teaching. It then becomes an integral
part of one's being. The fool asks irrelevant
questions irreverently; and the greater fool is he
who spurns the sage's wisdom. He is surely not a
sage who responds to the vain questions of a
foolish questioner.
O Rama, you are indeed the best among all seekers,
for you have duly reflected over the Truth and you
are inspired by the best form of dispassion. I am
sure that what I am going to say to you will find a
firm seat in your heart. Indeed, one should
positively strive to enthrone wisdom in one's
heart, for the mind is unsteady like a monkey. And
one should then avoid unwise company.
Rama there are four gate-keepers at the entrance to
the Realm of Freedom, moksha. They are
self-control, spirit of enquiry, contentment and
good company. The wise seeker should diligently
cultivate the friendship of these, or at least one
of them.
DAY
29
VASISHTHA continued:
With a pure heart and a receptive mind, and without
the veil of doubt and the restlessness of the mind,
listen to the exposition of the nature and the
means of liberation, O Rama. For, not until the
supreme being is realised with the dreadful
miseries of birth and death come to an end. If this
deadly serpent known as ignorant life is not
overcome here and now, it gives rise to
interminable suffering not only in this but in
countless lifetimes to come. One cannot ignore this
suffering. But one should overcome it by means of
the wisdom that I shall impart to you.
O Rama, if you thus overcome this sorrow of
samsara, you will live here on earth itself like a
god, like Brahma or Vishnu! For when delusion is
gone and the Truth is realised by means of enquiry
into self-nature, when the mind is at peace and the
heart leaps to the supreme Truth, when all the
disturbing thought-waves in the mind-stuff have
subsided and there is unbroken flow of peace and
the heart is filled with the bliss of the absolute,
when thus the Truth has been seen in the heart,
then this is very world becomes an abode of
bliss.
Such a person has nothing to acquire, nor anything
to shun. He is untainted by the defects of life,
untouched by its sorrow. He does not come into
being nor go out, though he appears to come and go
in the eyes of the beholder. Even religious duties
are found to be unnecessary. He is not affected by
the past tendencies which have lost their momentum:
his mind has given up its restlessness, he rests in
the bliss that is his essential nature. Such bliss
is possible only by self-knowledge, not by any
other means. Hence, one should apply oneself
constantly to self-knowledge – this alone is
one's duty.
He who disregards holy scriptures and holy men does
not attain self-knowledge. Such foolishness is more
harmful than all the illnesses that one is subject
to in this world. Hence, one should devoutly listen
to this scripture which leads one to
self-knowledge. He who obtains this scripture does
not again fall into the blind well of ignorance. O
Rama, if you want to free yourself from the sorrow
of samsara [repetitive story] receive the
wholesome instructions of sages like me, and be
free.
DAY
30
VASISHTHA continued:
In order to cross this formidable ocean of samsara
[repetitive history], one should resort to
that which is eternal and unchanging. He alone is
the best among men, O Rama, whose mind rests in the
eternal and is, therefore, fully self-controlled
and at peace. He sees that pleasure and pain chase
and cancel each other, and in that wisdom there is
self-control and peace. He who does not see this
sleeps in a burning house.
He who gains the wisdom of the eternal here is
freed from samsara and he is not born again in
ignorance. One may doubt that such unchanging Truth
exists! If it does not, one comes to no harm by
enquiring into the nature of life for seeking the
eternal will soften the pain caused by the changes
in life. But, if it exists, then by knowing it one
is freed.
The eternal is attained neither by rites, rituals,
pilgrimages, nor by wealth; it is to be attained
only by the conquest of one's mind, by the
cultivation of wisdom. Hence everyone – gods,
demons, demi-gods or men – should constantly
seek [whether one is walking, falling or
sitting] the conquest of the mind and
self-control which are the fruits of wisdom.
When the mind is at peace – pure, tranquil,
free from delusion or hallucination and free from
cravings – it does not long for anything nor
does it reject anything. This is self-control or
conquest of mind – one of the four
gate-keepers to liberation which I mentioned
earlier.
All that is good and auspicious flows from
self-control. All evil is dispelled by
self-control. No pleasure in this world or in
heaven is comparable to the delight of
self-control. The delight one experiences in the
presence of the self-controlled is incomparable.
Everyone spontaneously trusts him. No-one [not
even demons and goblins] hates him.
Self-control, O Rama, is the best remedy for all
physical and mental ills. When there is
self-control the food you eat tastes better. He who
wears the armour of self-control is not harmed by
sorrow.
He who even while hearing, touching, seeing,
smelling and tasting what is regarded as pleasant
and unpleasant, is neither elated nor depressed
– he is self-controlled. He who looks upon all
beings with equal vision, having brought under
control the sensations of pleasure and pain, is
self-controlled. He who, though living amongst all
is unaffected by them; who does not feel elated nor
hates – even as one is during sleep – he
is self-controlled.
DAY
31
VASISHTHA continued:
Enquiry [the second gate-keeper to
liberation] should be undertaken by an
intelligence that has been purified by a close
study of the scriptures, and this enquiry should be
unbroken. By such enquiry the intelligence becomes
keen and is able to realise the Supreme; hence
enquiry alone is the best remedy for the
long-lasting illness known as samsara.
The wise man regards strength, intellect,
efficiency and timely action as the fruits of
enquiry. Indeed, kingdom, prosperity, enjoyment as
well as final liberation, are all the fruits of
enquiry. The spirit of enquiry protects one from
the calamities that befall the unthinking fool.
When the mind has been rendered dull by the absence
of enquiry, even the cool rays of the moon turn
into deadly weapons, and the childish imagination
throws up a goblin in every dark spot. Hence, the
non-enquiring fool is really a storehouse of
sorrow. It is the absence of enquiry that gives
rise to actions that are harmful to oneself –
and to others – and to numerous psychosomatic
illnesses. Therefore, one should avoid the company
of such unthinking people. They in whom the spirit
of enquiry is ever awake illumine the world,
enlighten all who come into contact with them,
dispel the ghosts created by an ignorant mind, and
realise the falsity of sense-pleasures and their
objects. O Rama, in the light of enquiry, there is
realisation of the eternal and unchanging Reality;
this is the Supreme. With it, one does not long for
any other gain nor does one spurn anything. He is
free from delusion, attachment; he is not inactive
nor does he get downed in action; he lives and
functions in this world and at the end of a natural
life-span he reaches the blissful state of total
freedom.
The eye of spiritual enquiry does not lose its
sight even in the midst of all activities; he who
does not have this eye is indeed to be pitied. It
is better to be born as a frog in the mud, a worm
in dung, a snake in a hole, than to be one without
this eye. What is enquiry? To enquire thus: "Who am
I? How has this evil of samsara [repetitive
history] come into being?" is true enquiry.
Knowledge of Truth arises from such enquiry; from
such knowledge there flows tranquillity in oneself;
and then there arises the supreme peace that
passeth understanding and the ending of all
sorrow.
[vichara or enquiry is not reasoning or
analysis; it is directly looking into
oneself]
DAY
32
VASISHTHA continued:
Contentment is another gate keeper to liberation.
He who has quaffed the nectar of contentment does
not relish craving for sense pleasures; no delight
in this world is as sweet as contentment which
destroys all sins.
What is contentment? To renounce all craving for
what is not obtained unsought and to be satisfied
with what comes unsought, without being elated or
depressed even by them – is contentment. As
long as one is not satisfied in the Self, he will
be subject to sorrow. With the rise of contentment
the purity of one's heart blooms. The contented man
who possesses nothing owns the world.
Satsang [company of wise, holy and enlightened
persons] is yet another gate keeper to
liberation. satsang enlarges one's intelligence,
destroys one's ignorance and one's psychological
distress. Whatever be the cost, however difficult
it may be, whatever obstacles may stand in its way,
satsang should never be neglected. For satsang
alone is one's light on the path of life. Satsang
is indeed superior to all other forms of religious
practices like charity, austerity, pilgrimage and
the performances of religious rites. One should by
every means in one's power adore and serve the holy
men who have realised the Truth and in whose heart
the darkness of ignorance has been dispelled. They
who, on the other hand, treat such holy men
disrespectfully surely invite great suffering.
These four – contentment, satsang [company
of wise men], the spirit of enquiry, and
self-control – are the four surest means by
which they who are drowning in the ocean of samsara
[repetitive history] can be saved.
Contentment is the supreme gain. Satsang is the
best companion to the destination. The spirit of
enquiry itself is the greatest wisdom. And,
self-control is supreme happiness. If you are
unable to resort to these four then practise one.
By the diligent practice of one of these, the
others will also be found in you. The highest
wisdom will seek you of its own accord. Until you
tame the wild elephant of your mind with the help
of these noble qualities you cannot progress
towards the Supreme, even if you become a god,
demi-god or a tree. Therefore, O Rama, strive by
all means to cultivate these noble qualities.
DAY
33
VASISHTHA said:
He who is endowed with the qualities that I have
enumerated thus far is qualified to listen to what
I am about to reveal. You are indeed such a
qualified person, O Rama. Only he would wish to
hear this who is ripe for liberation. But this
revelation is capable of leading one to liberation
even if one does not desire it, as a light is
capable of illumining the eyes of even the sleeping
person. As when the truth that a rope is a rope is
seen and the fear generated by the misunderstanding
that it is a snake disappears, the study of this
scripture frees one from sorrow born of
samsara.
This scripture consists of 32,000 couplets. The
first section known as Vairagya Prakaranam
[chapter on dispassion] imparts to one
knowledge of the true nature of life in this world.
Its careful study purifies the heart. This section
consists of 1,500 couplets.
The next section, known as Mumuksu Vyavahara
Prakaranam [concerning the behaviour of a
seeker of liberation] consists of 1,000
couplets. In this the qualifications of a seeker
are described.
After that comes the Utpatti Prakaranam
[section on creation] which consists of
7,000 couplets. In it are found many inspiring
stories which help illustrate the great Truth,
which is: on account of the interplay of the false
ideas of 'this' and 'I', the universe which has
never truly been created, appears to be.
The next is Sthiti Prakaranam [section on
existence] and it consists of 3,000 couplets.
With the help of stories again, the truth
concerning the existence of this world and its
substratum is revealed.
Then comes the Upasanti Prakaranam [section on
cessation] which consists of 5,000 couplets. By
listening to this the deluded perception of the
world comes to an end, leaving only a trace of
ignorance.
Lastly, the Nirvana Prakaranam [section on
liberation] which runs to 14,500 couplets. A
study and understanding of this section destroys
one's fundamental ignorance; and when all kinds of
delusions and hallucinations are set at rest, there
is total freedom. Though still wearing a physical
body, he lives as if he is free from it, free of
all cravings and desires, attachment and aversion.
He is free from samsara [repetitive
history]. Here and now, he is free from the
demon known as egotism. He is one with the
infinite.
DAY
34
VASISHTHA continued:
One who sows the seed of the knowledge of this
scripture soon obtains the fruit of the realisation
of the Truth. Though human in origin, an exposition
of Truth is to be accepted; otherwise even what is
regarded as divine revelation is to be rejected.
Even a young boy's words are to be accepted if they
are words of wisdom; else, reject it like straw
even if uttered by Brahma the creator.
He who listens to and reflects upon the exposition
of this scripture enjoys unfathomable wisdom, firm
conviction and unperturbable coolness of spirit.
Soon he becomes a liberated sage whose glory is
indescribable.
The sage of infinite wisdom sees countless
universes in the one undivided intelligence, for he
has realised the magic maya or cosmic illusion. He
sees the infinity of every atom, and therefore he
is unattached to the rise and fall of the ideas of
creation. Hence, he is ever contented with what
comes unsought [which he does not reject]
and he does not run after or grieve for what has
been taken away from him.
This scripture is easy of comprehension, as it is
richly embellished with a number of interesting
stories. One who studies this scripture and
contemplates its meaning has no need to undertake
austerities, meditation or repetition of a mantra;
for what is greater than liberation which is
granted by a study of this scripture?
One who studies this scripture and comprehends its
teaching is no longer deluded by world-appearance.
When one sees that the yonder deadly snake is a
life-like painting, one is no longer afraid of it.
When the world appearance is seen as an appearance
it does not produce either elation or sorrow. It is
indeed a great pity that even when such a scripture
exists, people seek sense-pleasures which lead to
great sorrow.
O Rama, when a truth that has not been personally
experienced is expounded, one does not grasp it
except with the help of an illustration. Such
illustrations have been used in this scripture with
a definite purpose and a limited intention. They
are not to be taken literally, nor is their
significance to be stretched beyond the intention.
When the scripture is thus studied, the world
appears to be a dream-vision. These indeed are the
purpose and the purport of the illustrations. Let
no one of perverted intellect misinterpret the
illustrations given in this scripture.
DAY
35
VASISHTHA continued:
Parables have only one purpose: to enable the
listener to arrive at the Truth. The realisation of
Truth is so vital that any reasonable method used
is justified, though the parables themselves may be
fictitious. The parables themselves are only partly
applicable to the Truth thus illustrated, and only
that part is to be grasped and the rest ignored.
Study and understanding of the scripture with the
help of illustrations and a qualified teacher are
necessary only till one realises the Truth.
Again, such study should continue till the Truth is
realised; one should not stop short of complete
enlightenment. A little knowledge of the scripture
results in confusion worse confounded.
Non-recognition of the existence of supreme peace
in the heart and assumption of the reality of
imaginary factors are both born of imperfect
knowledge and the consequent perverted logic.
Even as the ocean is the substratum of all the
waves, direct experience alone is the basis for all
proofs – the direct experience of Truth as It
is. That substratum is the experiencing
intelligence which itself becomes the experiencer,
the act of experiencing, and the experience. The
experiencing alone is the fact; yet, in a state of
non-understanding, this experiencing seems to have
a subject [the experiencer]. Wisdom that is
born of the spirit of enquiry dispels this
non-understanding and the undivided intelligence
shines in its own light. At that stage even the
spirit of enquiry becomes superfluous and dissolves
itself.
Even as movement is inherent in air, manifestation
[as the subtle perceiving mind and as the gross
objects it perceives] is inherent in this
experiencing intelligence. And the perceiving mind,
on account of ignorance, thinks "I am such and such
an object" and thence becomes that. The objet is
experienced only in the subject, not elsewhere!
Rama, till such time as this wisdom arises directly
in you, take recourse to the knowledge transmitted
by the great teachers. When you receive such
knowledge from the great teachers, your behaviour
will mirror theirs; and when thus you grow in their
virtuous qualities, your wisdom will unfold within
you. Wisdom and emulation of the noble behaviour of
holy ones thrive on each other!
|
top
of the page
2013
InnerQuest
|
B.P. 29 |
75860 Paris cedex 18 |
France |
tél/fax +33 (0)1 42 58 79 82
|
innerquest@free.fr