English
It was, as if countless moons and pure white clouds contributed their mite to increase the daz zling splendor. In the light, I observed Parameswara and Par- vati locked in each other's arms and preceded by Nandikes- wara.f Along with my disciples, I rose up and went to them with requisite materials ot worship. Standing at a distance,! eulogis ed them first ; and nearing them, I worshipped Parameswara — with prostrations, Arghya (oblations of water), sweet and cool flowers and other objects — Him whose mind is ever cool and who has a merciful eye, free from pains. Similarly did I worship * Kailasa is the hill of Siva. Parvati is the wife of Siva. f This term means the lord of Bulls ; this Bull stands for Pranava. tHE STORY OF DEVA-PUJA. 245 his consort, Parameswari and prostrate myself before her. Then I paid lovingly my due respects to Siva's and Parvati's attendants. After which the resplendent Parameswara with significant words as cool as the nectar-like moon addressed me thus — " Has thy intelligence merged itself in the Brahmic Seat and attained quiescence therein, free from all pains and full of bliss ? Hast thy Tapas being going on without any obstacles ? Hast thou attained that which should be got at ? Have all the visibles perished from thy mind ?" So said the cause of all the worlds, when I prostrated before him and submitted the following under his orders — "Oh Deva of Devas, there is nothing which is beyond the power of one who has duly obtained thy Grace. Never will fears of objects come in proximity to them. It is thy devotees that are worshipped by all in the world. Whatever place the Great Ones who have found an asylum in thee live in — that is the real body, that is the true country and that is the fine mountain for others to take their abode in. The medit ation on thec is but the result of one's past virtuous Karmas, showers Dharmas on him in his present life and is the seed of future Dharmas. It is like a Purnakumbha* for storing up Jnana nectar ; is like a moon shedding its mild light and is the path leading to Moksha. Having come into the posses sion of the Chint£mani (gem) of thy meditation, I am now trampling the heads of all unreal existences." Having thus eulogised him, I again prostrated myself at the two soft feet of Parama-Siva, the First Cause, blooming with a face of mercy and ixgain addressed him which thou shalt hear, oh Rdma.— " Oh ocean of grace living in Kailasa hills, there is yet a doubt lingering in me who has understood all through thy grace. Please favour me with truth as regards it. What is meant by Deva-Puja (or the worship of God) which is said to destroy pains and confer bliss ? And how should it be done?" To which the Lord replied— " Deva (God) is neither the solitary Vishnu nor Siva nor any other having the body of five elements. Nor is it the mind. But it is the Jnana, the Self without beginning or end. Can It be these paltry objects * Purna-kumbha is a vessel filled with water and covered up by a cocoanut, which water is consecrated by Mantras. Generally this cocoa- nut is taken as a mark of respect to receive the worthy. 246 YOGA-VA'SISHTA. such as bodies, &c. ? As Brahma-Jnana is the Jnana which is illimitable, actionless, beginningless and endless, such a Jnana alone is true and fit to be worshipped. But in the case of the ignorant devoid of Jnana (wisdom), worship of forms alone is ordained to be the best. Just as wayfarers when they are unable to travel a long distance are told that their goal of destination is but a call's distance in order not to let their spirit droop, so persons without Jnana are told to worship diverse forms at first ; but the wise say that they will not get the certitude of Jnana through such a process. It is the beginningless and endless Jnana-Akasa that pervades everywhere. As it is imperish able out-living all Kalpas, it alone is God. The pujah (or worship) of It should be conducted with the flowers of Jnana (spiritual wisdom), equality of vision and content ment. Worship of particular forms is no worship at all. Through no other path, can the partless Jnana-bliss be secured. It is only through the sprinkling of the flowers of Jnana (wis dom), &c., that the bliss will become replete. This illuminated Jnana is beyond the reach of all S'astras. It is the Satta- Samanya which is common to, and occupies, the intermediate state between Sat and Asat in all internal thoughts. God is the great Satta-Matra alone. Should this Jnana subject itself to Vikalpas, then it abandons its real form and becomes individualized and separate. The one Chit (Consciousness) contracts Sankalpa through the contemplation in regular succession upon the different states of Avidya (or matter.) Then conditioned by space, time and other powers (and having conceptions of the same), it becomes the ignorant Jiva fulfilling the functions of Buddhi, Ahankara and Manas. With this Manas (mind), it will long for birth and death and cling to them. With the thought of the en vironment of the body, it will be sunk in the mire of the great delusion. Excessive pains will make it to go lower and lower along with its endless trail. These will go on af flicting it, so long as there is Sankalpa ; otherwise not. San kalpa itself is pains ; its absence is Brahmic bliss. If through the tempestuous gate of thy discrimination, thou dispellest the cloud of Sankalpa, then there will remain the stainless one like a permanent autumnal and pure sky. Mayest thou THE STORY OF DEVA-PUJA. 247 live drowned in the ocean of Brahmic Bliss in an illuminated state, having- destroyed the stains of Sankalpas through thy stainless efforts. " Atma-Tatwa has all Saktis (or potencies) in it. These Saktis through their sportive play generate bondage and emancipation. In Atma which is equal in all and the pure Jnana and which yet generates all Vikalpas, there are num berless Saktis such as IchchA Sakti, Vyoma (Akas) Sakti, Kala (Time) Sakti, Nyati (Law) Sakti, Moha Sakti, Jnana Sakti, Krya (Doer) Sakti, Kartru (Agency) Sakti, Akartru (non-agency) Sakti and others. The sportive Sakti of Aj- nana generates births and deaths. But they are arrested through the Sakti called Nirodha (Control). The annihilation of all Bavanas ^thoughts through the different kinds of Ara- dhana (respects paid to or worship of God) constitutes the pure pujah (worship). The avoidance of identification of "I" with this body arising through Karmas is the supreme ArAdhana. Through such a contemplation should the Aradhana be made to It. It is the JnSna-Light compared to which, even millions of suns appear but as a speck. It is this Light which all should reach up to, considering their "I" as no other than this Light. To this Jnana-Purnsha, the highest Akasa is his head ; the lowest Akasa is his golden lotus feet. All the quarters are his long hands. The heterogeneous universes are his hosts. All the countless myriads of mundane eggs will be absorbed in but a corner of his heart. The resplendent Paramakas is the beginning- less and endless form of it. All lives such as Brahma, Vish nu, Rudra, Devendra and others are like so many hairs in the pores of the body of this great Principle. Ichcha and diverse other Saktis which start a creation or are the motors of al! in the mechanism of this universe rest in his body. Those who realize that such is the nature of the Supreme one are fit objects of worship by all. will be of the nature of Jnana and will enjoy themselves in Atmic Reality. They will live every where : will be courted by all : will be the source of all seats; will have Sat alone as their bodies ; will have time, which regu lates all things in the world, as the porter at their gates; and will be the immaculate Self-Light. Enjoying at ease all ob jects of enjoyment through the five organs of sense and mind 248 YOGA-VA'SISHTA. and contemplating within that all is Parameswara who is above all Sankalpas, one should pay respects to the Supreme according to the dictates of the Vedas. All the external forms of worship paid to Atma are not the proper ones. But one should through his nectary wisdom and without any pains or conception of duality pay respects to It. So long as there is the pure intelligence of wisdom within, so long will there be Dhyana and proper Aradhana.