The Yoga-Vasishtha Maharamayana of Valmiki, Vol. 3 (of 4), Part 2 (of 2)

2. The whole audience also that was present at the place, being all quiet, calm and silent (comatose-upasánta), the sage withheld his speech for fear of disturbing their spiritu...

Vasishtha continued:--In this manner, the prince Sikhidhwaja remained in his monastery in the forest, in his state of perfect felicity; while the princess remained at home, and...

Vasishtha continued:--The seeds of these pentuples are contained in the inside of the great artery, and are expanding every moment by the vibration of the vital breath in the be...

Válmíki continued:--The yogi should be peaceful and tranquil, and exempt from all forbidden acts and those proceeding from a desire of fruition; he must avoid all sensual gratif...

The god said:--Thus the Intellect is all this plenum, it is the sole supreme soul (of all); it is Brahma the Immense and the transcendent vacuum, and it said to be the supreme god.

Vasishtha said:--I have thus far related to you, O sinless Ráma! the narrative of Bhusunda; who had passed over the perilous sea of delusion, by means of his intelligence and wi...

2. Vasishtha related:--Know Ráma, mankind to be divided into two classes of the zealous and resigned (_i.e._ the active and the inactive); the one expectant of heavenly reward,...

Vasishtha said:--I tell you again and repeatedly O pious Ráma! for your understanding, that you can never know the spirit without your constant habit, of contemplating on it in...

Vasishtha related:--Hearing these words of the beauteous lady, her husband had not the wit to dive into the meaning of what she said, or to understand what she meant by her reli...

Vasishtha continued:--This bird that sported beside the stalk of the lotus seat of Brahmá, once went to the city of Rudra with his god on his back, and there beheld the God Rudr...

Vasishtha continued. These beauties that are so decorated with precious gems and jewels, and embellished with the strings of brilliant pearls, are as the playful billows in the...

Vasishtha resumed:--Ráma, you have heard me relate unto you that, even the lotus-born Brahmá who was born long before you, had been without his organs of sense at first (_i.e._...

Vasishtha related:--Sikhidhwaja was surprised to see princess, so suddenly appearing before him; he looked upon her with his eyes staring with mute astonishment, and then broke...

The Lord said:--Arjuna, you are not the killer (of any soul), it is a false conceit of yours which you must shun; the soul is ever lasting and free from death and decay.

Vasishtha said:--Hear Ráma, when the bird had said so far, I interrupted him and said, tell me, O ancient seer, how and what is the nature of the course of vital airs.

Argument:--As the prince was going to immolate himself after this, he is recalled from his rashness by the wisdom of his young monitor, who admonishes him to the relinquishment...

Vasishtha continued:--As the disguised boy was admonishing in this manner on the relinquishment of mind (_i.e._ the mental passions and affections); the prince ruminated inwardl...

2. Though you are unlike others, in the greater enlightenment of your understanding; yet my lecture will equally edify your knowledge, as that of the less enlightened men than y...

The god continued:--When the intellect collects (takes) the vanities of the world to itself (and relies on them) and thinks to be a miserable being; it is said to have fallen in...

Ráma said:--Tell me, O chief of sages, how the Rudras came to be a hundred in their number, and whether the attendants of Rudra, are Rudras also or otherwise.

Vasishtha continued:--Therefore this world with all its moving and unmoving beings is nothing (or no being at all). There is nothing that has its real being or entity, except th...

Argument:--Relation of the Quietude of Ráma, and the Queries of Bharadwája; with further description of states of waking and others, and of the ultimate turíya condition of the...

Vasishtha related:--The prince Sikhidhwaja continued in utter darkness, without the sight of his spiritual knowledge; and groped his way amidst the gloom of the world, as a chil...

Válmíki related: Then the shade of night, with her face as dark as that of the darkened moon, began to waste and wane away; as the darkness of ignorance and the mists of human w...

The god continued:--Hear me, holy sage! now relate to you, how the active and oscillating principle of the intellect, acts on the human body and actuates it to all its actions,...

Vasishtha continued:--In this manner did this happy pair, revel for many years in the pleasures of their youth, and tasted with greater zest, every new delight that came on thei...

The God resumed:--I will now relate to you, the form of the inward worship of the spirit in spirit; which is reckoned as the holy of holies, and dispeller of all darkness.

Vasishtha said:--Tell me, my lord, that bearest the crescent of the moon on thy fore-head, how the pure and simple essence of the intellect, which is an infinite unity and ever...

Vhusunda continued. This kalpa tree whereon we dwell remains firm and unshaken amidst the revolutions of ages and the blasts of all destroying cyclones and hurricanes. (Figurati...

Bhusunda continued:--Moreover I will tell you sir, many other things that I remember to have occurred in the course of the world, and under the flight of by gone times. I rememb...

Vasishtha said:--After the prince had so far attended to the lectures of Kumbha, he remained for some time in silent and deep meditation of his soul as if in a state of trance.

2. Hear me, O lotus eyed prince, she said, what I tell you in good earnest; that since I am obliged to become a woman every night, and continue to be so for ever more.

Arguments.--The unity and reality is the causal subjective, and the duality and unreality is the objective worlds; and the situation of God between the two, means his witnessing...

Vasishtha said:--Sikhidhwaja having thus found his rest in the spirit of Brahma, remained quiet for some moments, as the steady and unflagging flame of a lamp in a calm.

Vasishtha related:--Ráma! do you keep your view fixed to one object, as it was kept in the mind of Bhagíratha; and do you pursue your calling with a calm and quiet understanding...

Vasishtha continued:--Keep this lesson in view, O Ráma! and know it as the purifier of all sins; remain in your resignation of all attachments, and resign yourself to God.

3. She forsook her form of the son of the Divine sage in the empty sky, and which she had took upon her by her magic spell. The enchanted form melted away in the air, and she ap...

Ráma said:--Venerable sir, that knowest the substance of all truths; I understand the parable of bel fruit which you have just related to me to bear relation to the essence of t...

Vasishtha asked:--What is called the god Siva, and is meant by supreme Brahma; and what is the meaning of soul, and what is its difference from the supreme soul?

Ráma said, You said sir, that all formal bodies are representations of illusion or ignorance (Avidyá); but how do you account for the pure bodies of Hari, Hara and other divinit...

Bhusunda continued. This world has existed by the prior and bygone kalpa, in the very same state as it does at present, and there is no variation in the formation or location of...

Bhusunda continued. Thus while the goddesses were in the acts of their merriment, their bonny vehicles or carrier birds also caught the infection, and indulged themselves in the...

Válmíki says:--You have heard the relation of the subject of Stoicism or composure of the soul; attend now to that of Nirvána, which will teach you how to attain the final liber...

Sikhidhwaja said:--Sir, it appears to me that the hoarded merits of all my former lives, have brought you today to my presence here; as an unforeseen hurricane drives the waters...

Bhusunda continued. This is the tranquillity of the mind, which I have attained by degrees, by means of my meditation of the nature and course of the vital breath in myself.

Vasishtha said:--Take my advise, Ráma, and strive to be an example or the greatest man in thy deeds, enjoyments, and bounty; and rely in thy unshaken endurance, by bidding defia...

Sikhidhwaja said:--If such is the case, sir, that destiny over rules all events, why should you be sorry for aught that has befallen to you, knowing that you are a godson and kn...

Argument.--Description of the scenery on the top of Mount Meru. Allegory of the arbour of desire, the resort of all living beings. Description of Birds of the mountainous region...

Ráma said:--Sir, I have known whatever is to be known, and seen all that is to be seen; I am filled with the ambrosial draught of divine knowledge, which you have kindly imparte...

The Lord continued:--Now Arjuna, forsake your sympathy for your friends, by the coldheartedness that you have acquired from the abandonment of your desires and cares, and the li...

Vasishtha related:--Now I have narrated to you fully, and finished my relation of the narrative of Sikhidhwaja; and hope you will imitate his example, to set you free from all s...

Vasishtha continued. Hear me now relate to you Ráma, how this poisonous tree of ignorance has come to grow in this forest of the world, and to be situated by the side of the int...

2. She is an adept among the knowers of truth, and actually practices all what she preaches to others; her words are the dictates of truth, and deserved to be received with due...

Vasishtha said:--Know now that the Lord (Divine soul), stops to take upon itself of the nature of the living or animal soul, as a Brahman (by birth) assumes the character of a v...

Vasishtha said:--Ráma! whatever acts you do with your organs of action and without application of the mind to the work in hand, know such work to be no doing of yours. (An invol...

2. There lived a great mendicant at one time, who devoted his life to holy devotion, and passed his days in the observance of the rules of his mendicancy. (The state of mendican...

The lord continued:--Listen moreover, O mighty armed Arjuna, to the edifying speech, which I am about to deliver unto you, for the sake of your lasting good and welfare.

2. There is a big and beautiful _vilva_ or _bel_ fruit, as large as the distance of many myriads of miles, and as solid as not to ripen or rot in the course of as many many ages.

2. There is above the lotus-like diaphragm of the heart, a blazing fire emitting its sparks, like gold coloured butterflies flirting about it, and flaring as flashes of lightnin...

Ráma said:--Tell me sir, what became of the many forms, which the mendicant saw in his dream; and whether the several forms of _Jívata_, the Brahman, the gander and others retur...

Argument.--The liberation of the mendicant's soul and destruction of his body, and the application of this instance in the cases of the confinement and liberation of all souls i...

3. All his suitors received their desired boons, even without their asking; and their hearts were as gladdened at the sight of his moon-bright countenance, as were it at the sig...

Bhusunda continued:--All things being thus unstable, unprofitable and unpleasant to man, there is one reality only in the view of the wise, which is beyond all error and imperis...

Vasishtha related:--In this manner did these knowers of the knowable God, continue in their mutual conversation on spiritual matters, until the third watch of the day in that fo...

Vasishtha related:--Kacha the son of the divine preceptor Brihaspati, being thus advised by his venerable sire in the best kind of yoga meditation; began to muse in himself as o...

Bhusunda related:--There is in this world, the god of gods Hara (Horus?) by name; who is the chief among the celestials, and honoured by all the divinities of heaven.

Vasishtha continued:--The great category of the Intellect which is compared with the _bel_ fruit or wood apple, contains the universe as its own matter and marrow within itself;...

The god continued:--Such is the constitution of this world, composed of reality and unreality, and bearing the stamp of the almighty; it is composed both of unity and duality, a...

Ráma said:--Sir, if there is no change in the immutable spirit of God; say how do these various changes constantly appear to occur in the state of things in this world. (Because...

Vasishtha said:--Know Ráma, this world to be as a dream, which is common to all living beings, and is fraught with many agreeable scenes, so as to form the daily romance of thei...

Vasishtha rejoined:--I then besought the chief of the crows, that was stationed on one end of a branch of the _kalpa_ tree, to tell me how he was not liable to fall into the han...

2. When the false world appears in a false light to the fallacious understanding of man, and all proves to be but vanity of vanities, say what thing is there that may be called...

The god continued:--This god who is the supreme Lord, is the adorable one of the wise; in the form of the intellect and conscious soul, and as all pervading and support of all.

Vasishtha related:--The vast universe, O Ráma! is but an evolution of the will of the Infinite Brahmá, just as the various representations in the mirage, are but eversions of so...

Sikhidhwaja said:--I understand, that there is no such thing as the mind also; but as I have no clear and correct knowledge of this subject, I beg of you to tell me, whether it...

Vasishtha said:--The mind sprang at first from the supreme spirit of Brahma, and being possest of its power of thinking, it was situated in the Divine soul, and was styled as th...

Vasishtha said:--Tell me Lord! what is the state of the living soul, after its situation in the open air, and its observation of the vanity of the elemental and material body on...

The God joined:--The beauty of the words said before is palpable, and their senses all allude to the truth, that the Lord of all is the rich chest of gems of all things in exist...

Vasishtha related:--The princess retracted the enchantment by which she had presented the God Indra before the prince; and was glad to find, that he had subdued (_lit._--put to...

Vasishtha said:--Ráma! remain as taciturn as in your silent sleep, and shun at a distance the musings of your mind; get rid of the vagaries of your imagination, and remain firm...

Vasishtha continued:--Thus did the princess live day by day in the rapture of her soul; and with her views concentrated within herself, she lived as in her own and proper element.

Vasishtha continued:--Thus the royal dame was possest of the qualities of contracting and expanding herself to any form, and became so expert in these by their continued practic...

Sikhidhwaja said:--If it is so, O most intelligent sir, that the work is alike to the nature of its maker; and therefore the world resembles Brahma in every respect.

Vasishtha said:--Then Hara, who is the lake of the lotus of Gaurí (_i.e._ her husband), being desirous of my enlightenment, glanced on me for a minute, and gave utterance to his...

Vasishtha related:--Then rose the orient sun above the horizon, like a brilliant gem appearing out of its containing casket; and dispelled the darkness of the sky, as the blazin...

Chúdálá said:--Hear O holy hermit! another very interesting story of mine, which well applies to your case; as the ruler of a land and to serve to awaken your understandings: (f...

Sikhidhwaja said:--Please explain unto me, O Divine boy! the purport of the parables of the true and false gems; and the unfettered and pent up elephant, which you have spoken b...

Manu continued:--Enlightenment of the understanding by the study of the sástras and attendance on holy and wise men, is said to be the first stage of yoga by yogis. (These seven...

Sikhidhwaja said:--O sage, it is by thy good grace, that I am freed from my ignorance, and brought under the light of truth; my doubts are removed, and I am situated with my tra...

Chúdálá continues:--It is the nature of everything in the extensive world to be born in its own kind (_i.e._ the similar only springs from the similar and nothing of a dissimila...

Válmíki related:--After the sages Vasishtha and Viswámitra had taken their seats in the court hall, there met the groups of celestials and siddhas of air, and the monarch of ear...

Chúdálá related:--There lived once a rich man, combined with opposite qualities (of charity and penury) in his character; as the sea contains the water and the submarine fire in...

Vasishtha said:--Great minded men that are certain of these truths, are purified from their sins, and finding their tranquillity in the reliance on truth, enjoy the delight of t...

Argument.--Showing the identity of Brahma with the Mind, Living Soul, the body and the world and all things and extirpation of all dualisms, by the establishment of one universa...

2. She stood confest as such before her friend, sitting in the cavern of Mandara, where they lived in conjugal union together, as a pair of sylvan deities by night.

2. It is by means of the greatness of God, that all people are as gaudy as great princes in their several spheres; and are ever exulting in their power of floating and traversin...

Vasishtha Continued:--I then alighted before the veteran crow with my brilliant etherial body, as a bright meteor falling from the sky on the top of a mountain; and this my sudd...

Ráma said:--Please sir, give me the interpretation of your parable of the false man, and tell me the allusion it bears to the fanciful man, whose business it was to watch the ai...

Sikhidhwaja said:--If the view of the whole universe is but a phantom, and our knowledge of myself, thyself and of this and that, is but an error of our mind, then why is it tha...

Bhusunda added:--I have thus far related to you, O sage! what I am and how I am situated at this place. It was by your behest only, that I was lead to the arrogance of speaking...

Kumbha continued:--Know that nothing is produced from, nor destroyed by the ever tranquil spirit of God at any time; but everything appears as the panorama of the one all (_topa...

4. Owing to the omnipresence of consciousness, all beings exist as reality every where, and if she rises from unreal knowledge, she as real knowledge destroys the unreal one. (v...

Vasishtha Continued:--As the mendicant saw this transient scene of error in his mind; so it is the case with all living beings, to look on their past lives and actions apart fro...

Chúdálá continued:--Hear me, O great prince! now explain to you the meaning of the story of the Vindhyan elephant, which will be as useful as it will appear wonderful to you.

The god added:--Know now the lord god Rudra, who in the form of one self-same intellect, is situated within every form of being, as is of the nature of self-conscious (Swanubhia...

Vasishtha continued:--That which contains this wide extended universe within itself, and without manifesting its form unto us, is very like the egg of the peahen and contains al...

Vasishtha related:--Having heard these monitions from the mouth of his religious monitor, he determined in his mind what he was about to do, and set about the execution of his p...

Vasishtha related:--The Rájá smiled at hearing these questions of the Demon, and as he opened his mouth to give the reply, the lustre of his pearly teeth, shed a brightness on t...

Vasishtha continued:--It came to pass at one time as Bhagíratha was passing through a large metropolis, he beheld the ruler of that province, who was childless to be snatched aw...

Manu continued:--It is by the divine will, that the living souls of beings are evolved from the original intellect, (in which they are contained), as the waves rise from the mai...

Manu continued:--Now the living liberated yogi, in whatever manner he is clad, and however well or ill fed he may be, and wherever he may sleep or lay down his humble head, he r...

Manu continued:--The soul is originally full of bliss by its nature, but being subject to ignorance, it fosters its vain desire for temporal enjoyment, whence it has the name of...

Vasishtha resumed:--Life becomes no life (becomes immortal), and the mind turns to no mind, immerges in the soul; no sooner is the cloud of ignorance dispersed by the bright sun...

Argument.--The two yogas or Habits of restraining the Desires and Respiration herein before described, are followed by two others: viz. the Acquisition of knowledge and the Trai...

Arjuna said:--Lord! it is by thy kindness, that I am freed from my delusion, and have come to the reminiscence of myself. I am now placed above all doubts, and will act as you h...

The Rájah replied:--The essences of time, vacuum and of force, are all of intellectual origin; it is the pure intellect which is the source of all, as the air is the receptacle...

The God continued:--It is of no consequence, whether the spiritualist observe formal adoration in its proper time and manner or not; it is enough if he adore Siva in his form of...

Ráma said:--O my venerable guide! My retrospection of your sermons, has set my mind to perfect rest, and I see the traps and turmoils of this world before me, with a quite indif...

2. Having thus heard from me, and understood and reflected in yourself all what I have said; you are at liberty, O sagely prince, to repose in the supreme bliss, which you have...

Vasishtha said:--Know Ráma, that the renowned king Ikshaku was the first founder of your race; and learn O thou progeny of that monarch, the manner in which he obtained his libe...

The Lord said:--Look here, O Arjuna! The great wonder which is manifest in this subject; it is the appearance of the picture, prior to that of the plane of the plan upon which i...

Ráma said:--O all-knowing sage please to tell me, what becomes of the essence of the soul after one's egoism is lost in his mind, and both of them are dissolved into nothing.

Vasishtha continued:--Ráma! knowing your mind, understanding, egoism and all your senses, to be insensible of themselves, and deriving their sensibility from the intellect; say...

Manu resumed:--The Lord with his creative power exerts his active energy, and plays the part of a restless boy (in his formation of the worlds); and again by his power of re-abs...

Vasishtha resumed:--Know Ráma, that the conclusion which is arrived at in all works on spiritual philosophy, is the negation of every thing except the entity of the supreme soul...

Vasishtha resumed:--After hearing these words from the mouth of the prince, the vetála held his peace and quiet, and remained reflecting on them in his mind, which was capable o...

Vasishtha said:--Now Ráma, know this Bhusunda, who was of a complexion as black as that of a cloud heavy with water in the rainy season; to have a countenance which neither merr...

Ráma said:--Tell me sir, that art most learned in spiritual knowledge, whether the living liberated man of this kind (as you have described) attains to any extraordinary power;...