English
Now oh RSma, you should consider as fire or poison all objects which are said to be pleasant or otherwise. Repeat edly should you be enquiring into all the painful worldly enjoyments, differing in degrees ; and without letting your mind crave for them, if you enjoy them lightly, you will never be affected thereby and will find them pleasant. The concretion of the powerful mind in objects is itself the des truction of Atma ; but with the destruction of the mind, Atma begins to dawn. In the case of Brahma Jnanis, their minds are extinct ; but the stainful mind of Ajnanis proves their fetters. The higher minds of JnTinis are with neither bliss nor non-bliss, motion nor non-motion, Sat nor Asat ; nor are they in states intermediate (between these pairs). THE STORY OF DHA's'OORA. 121 Here Rama asked Vasishta to be enlightened in extenso as to how this universe is in the one Tatvva and the eternal Atma-Jnana which is above all the universes. To which Vasishta replied thus — " Like the one Akasawhich, though per meating all objects as inseparable from them, is yet through its subtle nature distinct from them, so the homogeneous one Jndna Reality, though all-full in all objects, is yet distinct from them) and never affected by the changes which such objects undergo. Atma-Jnana which is without the vain Sankalpas, name, destruction or heterogeneity is (to give a rough des cription of it) as subtle as one-hundredth part of the all- pervading Akasa. It is this which is dubbed with different beneficent appellations of Atma and others and which is the Jnana in Jnanis. It is this which though manifesting itself as Ajnitna producing Samsara is yet non-dual in its nature and is the Jnfina which makes one to know his own Self. It is this which, though it is the one Jnana having none else to compare with it, yet manifests itself as identical with this universe of the nature of Satta (Be-ness) with all its ocean of waves encircling it. To the ignorant who have not known their Atma, their ceaseless cycles of pains-producing re-births reduce them to abject slavery and suffering ; but in those who have known their true Self, the Jnana light will dawn and all objects will be known as one. And through the enjoyment of their own Self the three, actor, action and instrument will shine (as one) in their Self. All that they con template upon then, will be of that (Jndna) essence alone. Those who are in enjoyment of (this) immemorial wealth will ever be so. Jnana is that in which are not found such acts as dawning or setting, rising or standing or going to a seat or returning from it and which may be said to both exist and non-exist here at the same time. It is in this that the stainless imma culate Atma is. It is this Jnana which through its inherent all- pervading potency shines as this heterogeneous universe in the above-mentioned manner. It is this Jnana which through its power of becoming light and darkness, and one and many, abandons its real state of all-full Jnana and gradually becomes of the nature of Jiva through the heterogeneous conceptions of " I", " he," " thou," &c. Then through its conception of being 16 122 i'OGA-VA SISHTA. caught in the meshes of SamsAra, it is subject to the dualities of Sankalpas and Vikalpas, existence and non-existence, attractions and repulsions, &c. Being thus in a differentiated state, it, through its manifold Sankalpas creating this body composed of eight principles, is yet not its author. The very fluctuation (or motion) in this state produces ever the septenary graduated states of existence, locomotive and fixed. Though its incomparable Brahmic potency, it generates all and destroys them again. Therefore this universe appears to be everywhere through the Sankalpa of the mind like the mirage manifesting itself in the unreal Bhuta-Akas (or ele mental Akas). Just aa one through his excessive giddiness, thinks him self to be another, the one impartite Jnana appears to be unreal. Know, Oh Rama, that to be the above Jnana which enables one to perceive sound and other objects. Know also that this Jn&na is no other than the all-pervading Parabrahm which has manifested itself as all this universe. The pseu donym Brahman* expresses very aptly this idea. Nought else is but this one. Can the waves, &c., of an ocean be said to be other than water as mere dust ? Similarly, the incomparable Brahman alone does truly exist ; but not Akasa and other things which exist but in name. Like heat inseparable from fire and identical with it, so the universe which is of the nature of Brahman is identical with it. This identity should be taught only to those who have developed the four means of salvation and have perfected themselves in Charya (acts of service to the Lord), Krya (acts of worship towards Him) and Yoga. After having first gauged the merits and deserts of the disciple, he should be initiated into the mysteries of the identity of one's Self with Brahman. But if this be imparted to those wallowing in c'usires, it will but fling them into the tortures of Tophet, never to return. It is only to illuminated minds like yourself untinged with the desires of the ever-agitating wealth, that this, grand Truth will become self-evident. The disciple who, in order to free himself from existence, approaches, without the least doubt and under great self-sacrifice, a Guru of powerful knowledge should satisfy the above conditions. * Brahman from Fnh to Expand, THE STORY OF DHA'S'OORA. 1^3 Just as in the presence of a lamp, sun or flower, there is produced light, day or odor respectively, so in the presence of Chit, there will arise this universe. Its mere appearance will be the form of the universe ; but it really is not. At these words of Vasishta, Rama remarked thus— " All the words of your holiness which are unfathomable through their loftiness (of conception), like the milky ocean cool and im maculate, have struck surprise in my heart. Through them, my mind has sometimes been cleared of, and sometimes en veloped with, doubts, like the autumnal clouds which produce alternately heat and cold in an instant. Oh Muni of great truth, how did these actions arise in Atma-Jnana which is end less, one and manifold, of undying power, immeasurable and of noble characteristics ? To which, Vasishta replied thus — Know that 1 can prove experimentally and without the least contradiction the esoteric truths of the holy sentences in the Vedas. I have to affirm that all I have said are nothing but the emphatic truth. If the true Jnana- Vision is developed by you and (your) higher in telligence expands, then will you be able to judge for your self as to whether it is easy or difficult to realize, as in the palm of the hand, the truths of my statements. The stainless Jnana can be attained through the Supreme Avidya only after expelling its darkness which annhilates one's own self (or Reality). You should destroy Ajnana through itself alone like likes by likes, such as arrows by arrows, poison by poison, enemy by enemy, or excessive dirt by itself alone. Through patient enquiry and reflections, you will find that it will fly away and with its disappearance, Brahmic bliss will be attained. If you have Jnana and a cognition of its reality through the unification of Jiva and Eswara, then will you be able to understand the true nature of Avidya. Till the blissful Jnana dawns in you, you should hold fast to the words of mine that the terrific Maya really is not. Those who have cognized directly through themselves that all are but the immaculate Brahman, can be said to have attained Moksha. The knowledge of diversity itself constitutes Maya. At nil costs, should this Maya be overcome. The other bank of the river against which lash the waves of Maya, can never 124 YOGA-VA'SISHTA. be perceived without gaining Atma-Jnana. If that is clearly seen, then such a stainless seat is itself the imperishable Nirvana. Please do not rack your brains now as to the origin of this Mdya ; but enquire into the means of its destruction. If it is destroyed, then will you be able to know how it arose. Then will you be able to know whence it arose, what is its nature and how it perished. Therefore, Oh Rama, should the dose of medicine called Jnana be administered to you, suffering from the malady of Ajnana fruitful of all pains, then you will not be drowned in the ocean of the baneful re-births- Like Vayu which having its source in Akasa yet pervades it?