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If you wish to be the Akartha (non-doer), then you should conduct yourself according to the ways of the world. * Here are disclosed the two paths where one identifies himself with all the universe as the doer and where one thinks he is not the doer. There is also the third path where he is neither of these. THE STORY OF KACHA. 139 As there is not the conception of another, there should not exist the idea of separateness in the heart. The moment the conceptions of mine, ' I,' * you' or ' I did it or not' arise in one there is sorrow engendered in him. Will persons be so foolish as to identify their self with the body ? Such a conception is tantamount to (the raising up of) 21 hells (in them). Even with the visitation of dire pains (in the body), do not confound the " I" with the body. The wise of certain knowledge will be as loth to identify their " I" with the body as flesh-eaters are unwilling to taste dog's flesh. It is only through the stain of the identification of" I" with the body that the true Jnina-vision does not arise ; but should the stain be dispelled at a distance, then the Jnana light will shine unobscured like a moon-light in the absence of the sable clouds enveloping it. Through such a vision, you will be able to land safely on the other beautiful shore of the ocean of re-births. Having contemplated upon the fact that you are not a Kartha (or doer) of any and that there are no such differences as I, thou and others, may you be the Akar- tha with your mind very firm. Then there is the other course. You may contemplate thus — " I am the Kartha of ail. All the countless hosts of objects are no other than myself." With this contemplation you should rid your mind of all fluctuation and make it im movable. If these two methods do not commend themselves to you, then you should contemplate upon yourself as being neither of these two and as being that one which is beyond speech and mind. You should rest in that seat of your own Self which is the supreme of all seats. The wise, who have cognized the non-dual supreme seat, do abide in their own Self. All the enveloping Vcasanas tend towards bondage ; but the extinction of them leads to Moksha. Having first des troyed the impure Vasanas which do cling to the mind associating with sound and other objects of the sense, you should eventually abandon even the pure Vasanas which tend to Moksha. And then you should cease to perform even those actions which tend to produce the stainless qualities of love, charity, contentment, amity with all and indifference. Having first cultivated the Vasanas tending to the incomparable Chinniatra (the absolute cons- 140 YOGA-VA'SISHTA. ciousness) through the destruction of internal actions, having gradually destroyed even the Vasanas along with the internal organs (lower mind) and having ceased to put forth the efforts required for accomplishing the above, if you are in a quiescent state as free as Akasa completely denuded of all Vasanas, mind, action, Jnana and Ajnana and free from Chidabhasa (distorted conception), the fluctuation of Prana and their causes, then you will be truly that which you are in fact. Those who are in that immovable state when they are without Vasanas and the attachment to the world, are Jivan Muktas. Such Jivan Muktas will become the Supreme Esa, (Lord). It matters not whether they are engaged or not in Karmas or Samadhi ; they yet are Jivan Muktas, having abandoned all Vdsanas. Inasmuch as there is no taint of desire in their mind, no fruit of actions arise to them through their commission or omission. The Sastric know ledge is not indispensable in the case of those whose minds have been emptied of all Vasanas, having for long periods been concentrated in one groove. There is no other bene ficial state than that Mouna (silent) state which is void of all V&sanas. Extremely meagre in number are those who — having known that which should be known, after setting their face against the worldly things in which they were whirling, — do always worship that Reality which is the goal of this archaic universe; all others do but reel in the illusions of the world. All in this world do perform actions herein through the sight of their body and not Atma. Search where we will, either in Devaloka or Bhuloka or Patala, there exist five elements onlv and not six. Those who have reached that firm state in which they are able to free themselves from delusion will never be attracted to anything. To the ignorant who have not the advantage of real experience, the cycle of re-births is like the tepid ocean at the time of deluge ; but to those who are not subject to delusion, it (re-birth) is as harmless as the footprints of a cow. The mind of the painless wise, the sensual pleasures will never affect. Of what avail to persons living in towns, are the low females living in barren tracts and incapable of yielding pleasures to any? In the spacious and pure ocean of Brahman, mountains are but THE CONCLUSION OF STHITHI PRAKARAXA. 141 foams. Before the sun of Brahman, the earth encircled by the oceans is but a false car. These knotty points were once propounded clearly by Kacha, the son obtained by Brihas- pati through a boon. Now hearken to that story. Once upon a time Kacha, after having returned from the supreme Samadhi he was in, exclaimed thus with an exhilarating heart and a voice that did not know how to find its expression through its ecstatic enjoyment. — What is it that I shall have to do ? To which quarters shall I fly, (there being none for me now) ? What shall I cease to perform or abstain from ? Like the flood of the deluge, my Self alone pervades everywhere in this world. Whether in body or out of it, in the quarters or Akasa or in the earth or any other place, my Self alone pervades. There is no object which is not found in my own Self. The Self-shin ing one is no ether than my own Self and this Sachidananda alone shines (or is). THE CONCLUSION OF STHITHI PRAKARAXA. Summary — Having shewn in the previous chapter that all shines as Brahman, the author summarizes the five previous chapters of Sthithi Prakarana. Persons born with rare Satwaguna live on earth with Brahmic effulgence like unto the moon shining in the Akasa. They will never groan under the load of pains. Will ever the golden lotus fold its petals with the approach of the n:ght ? They will concern themselves \vith nothing else but their present actions only. They will tread the path of the superb wise men of rare intelligence. With a non-fluctuating mind, their hearts \vill be full and bent upon noble thoughts. They will rejoice in the possession of amity, grace and other good •qualities. Persons of such innate good qualities will be in different to high and low stations of life. They will look with an equal eye upon all and be virtuously disposed. Like the (ordinary) ocean, they will never go beyond their bounds. They will be without delusion and like the sun will never tres pass the strict Law. 142 YOGA-VA'SISHTA. What is fit to be taken in and acted up to is the quality of the stainless ; what should be shunned is the path of the stainful. After having enquired into the nature of the uni verse, one should consider it as an object of indifference. He should thoroughly sift the nature of " I" through the aid of his Guru and his own intelligence and become clear minded. Utmost pains and efforts should be undergone in the path of knowing Atma. The mind should be perfectly controlled in the due acting out of worldly affairs. Association should be contracted with the virtuous. The object fit to be gulped out is the idea of " 1". That which should be shunned is the delusion caused by this body composed of boney, muscles, &c. But that which should be seen (and worshipped) is Para- Brahm which permeates all bodies. From the sun journeying in the car drawn by his green horses down to the vermin of the earth, Jn&na alone shines. Through our own efforts? we can acquire different births in which one of the three gfunas, Satwa, Rajas or Tamas predominates. But it is only though Satwic actions, that the Supreme Moksha is reached." Thus did Vasishta address the transcendent Ramachandra. tf. UPASANTHI PRAKARANA. THE STORY OF KING JANAKA.