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Karkati replied thus — "Oh Lord that favorest those, thy devotees who con template upon and praise thec. thy servant wishes to be come a Jiva-Sfichiku." Thou shalt become Suchika having the prefix Vi attach ed to thy name and hence be called Vishiichika*. Thou shalt afflict those who feed themselves on unwholesome food, who betake themselves to vicious courses, who are * Vishuchika is the desease called cholera. The word is com pounded of Vi and Suchika. Stichika is from SCich — to make known. THE STORY OF KARKATI. 65 Ignorant or ferocious, who live in insanitary places, and who are wicked. Thou shalt commingle with Pr^na Vayu in the heart and afflicting people with the diseases Padma, Pleeha* and others shalt be (the disease) Vishuchika. Thou shall enter both Saguna and Nirgunaf people. But in the case of entry in Saguna men, to remedy the above disease, the follow ing Mantras^ will have to be uttered, viz., aft, sf. tr. ^. if. f^Rfft. 5whfwn%.ftpT!R ^ . T3T3. WTO. ^^F^q 3RR1&. fl The reciter of the above Mantra should write it on the ieft hand (with the left) and should pass it (the left hand) over the body of the diseased person. Then he should contem plate upon Karkati, who is crushed with the pestle of the Man tra and hence angry, as having departed for the Himalayas. Then he should regard the diseased person as bathing in the ambrosia of the moon and as free from diseases, mental or physical. Being pure and having duly performed Achamana (sipping water) with all his senses under perfect control, he will destroy all Vishuchikas through the due performance of the above mentioned means." So saying Brahma vanished from view, whereupon this mountain-sized personage reduced herself to the size of a Jiva-Suchika and entered into the minds of the ferocious as well as the timid in order to make them perish. Having entered in the form of V£yu within all Jivds in earth and in Akasa, she fed upon all their lives in the form ofjiva Suchika and Vayu-Suchika. Surfeited with such an enjoyment, she exclaimed — " Whirling and making me despondent, my de- * These are splenetic diseases. f Saguna men are the wise while Nirguna are the ignorant. J This is the Mantra to arrest cholera. Excluding the'Beejaksharas such as Oin, &c., the meaning of the Mantra is thus — Oh Vishnu S'akti, fit to be worshipped, prostrations to thee ; please come here, take her, take her (Vishuchika) ; burn her, burn her ; kill her, kill her ; cook her, cook her ; churn her, churn her ; destroy her, destroy her ; drive her, drive her ; Oh Vishuchika, go away to the Himalayas ; oh the essence of Jivas, you are ot'(°r g° to) the sphere of the moon," 9 66 YOGA-VA SISHTA. sires do make even the needle to wear away and making me giddy, do destroy me. Away with these desires of mine ! With a cruel heart. I have afflicted many lives in vain. Therefore, I shall divest myself of all desires and perform Tapas in the Himalayas " So saying, she gave up all fluctuation of mind, devoid of any longing- for objects. Thus a thousand years passed, purifying her of the two-fold Karmas, (virtuous and sinful). While thus, she was engaged in spiritual contemplation with an illuminated mind, free from all the pains of love and hatred and slighting this universe, the all-full Jnana dawned in her mind and therefore Brahma came voluntarily to her and imparted to her the following truths : (< Thou hast attained the Jivanmukti state. Thy mind has been quite illumined ; yet thou shalt be in thy old form of a Rakshasa lady and sup port thyself on earth in the bodies of persons without Jnana as well as the cruel and the base. Happiness thou shalt en joy thus." With these blessings, Brahma disappeared. Contemplating upon Brahman alone as the non-dual one and as the All, she rested in the actionless seat of <( That. " After remaining thus in Nirvikalpa Samadhi for a very long time, she returned to the normal state and with infinite bliss, commingled herself with her mind. Instantaneously the thoughts of her old hunger revived. And as the conception of " I" is incidental to this body so long as it exists in the universe, she resolved upon tasting flesh, the food peculiar to Rakshasas. Then exulting as nectar in the consumption of the body of the ignorant as directed by Brahma, she retired to the slopes of the Himalayas and reached the country of the hunters. While she was dwelling in the forest there, a king chanced to go to it along with his just minister. Then the night was enveloped with such an intense gloom as not to be dissipated by the light of even sun, moon and Agni (fire combined together. Fearlessly did they perambulate together on such a night, scaring away PisAchas and other mischievous imps. So soon as Karkati saw these two passing in the forest, she reckoned upon a good repast in them. At first, she thought that they were ignorant persons without true JnAna and as such were productive of pains both in this and the THE STORY OF KARKATI. 67 higher worlds as also everywhere. On further reflection, she soliloquised to herself thus — " According' to the direction of Brahma, those who are not content with any things that come in their way are of weak minds only. On the other hand, will any one be so foolish as to injure those who are of illuminated mind and good qualities? Besides, will such virtuous persons suffer thereby? Such Illuminatii will be of undying fame, long life, and impartial bliss, worthy of being venerated by all. As they are more endearing to one another in their ranks than even their own lives, they will, even at their own risk, protect another amongst themselves. They have even the power to make their devotees get into the good graces of Yama and thus overcome him. While even a Rakshasa lady like myself goes the length of worshipping the wise, who else will not do the same, like a fond dog ? Like the full moon which protects this earth (and makes it appear gay), the wise will gladden the hearts of those visiting them. Persons not associating with such wise men will de base themselves and be but as men dead ; otherwise they will attain the good effects of Moksha and others." Thus therefore she came to the conclusion of testing them as to whether they were Jnanis or not. With this purpose, she roared aloud (unperceived) in the Akasa outvieing the thunder-clap with the following words — " Oh ye who resemble the sun and the moon in the ineffable forest of Akasa, showering rain like clouds, Oh ye who are like the countless hosts of vermin writhing and perishing underneath the dark and terrible stone of Maya, have ye come here simply for the purpose of falling a prey to me this very instant ? Ye seem to me to be the wise ones, and yet it strikes me ye belong to the other class also. To which class then do ye belong r1 At which the king thus addressed her— " Oh Rakshasa lady, ever prone to injure all creatures, hear me. But where are you now ? We listened to all the sounds you uttered like the buzzing of a young bee." Thereupon the lady exclaimed " well done" and laughed aloud, standing before them. The king, observing her large form through the intense lustre of her large teeth, was not in the least appalled at the sight and said to her thus — " Do not open wide agape your capacious 68 YOGA-VA'SISHTA. mouth like the Minaka (mountain) and afflict yourself thereby. Whatever may be said by persons, who do not long after the fruits of actions, that such fruits are baneful and do not really exist, the light-minded are ever engaged in such light ones only ; but the wise of great quiescence are" bent upon the transcendant spiritual actions through their subtle intelli gence. Our valor is such as to blow away, like musquitoes, persons of vicious proclivities like yourself. Therefore abandon all your impetuous foolhardiness. Please apprise us of your real intentions. We are able to confer, even in dream, any objects begged of us through intense desire by any person approaching us then." At these words of the king, the lady came to understand that they were persons of unlimited Jnana, knowledge, power and quiescence of mind. Then in extreme marvel at their noble words and stainless truth, she muttered to herself thus — " A stainless mind can be judged through speech, face and eyes. Through those expressions, can their opinion also be well gauged.