English
Now please hearken to the impediments in my way." " Born in the house of Dasaratha, my father, I became well versed in all departments of knowledge and conducted myself strictly according to the dictates of religion. Then I circumambulated this earth girt by ocean, bathing as I went in the many sacred waters. With my return from the pilgrimage, all my desires for this delusion of the universe have ceased. There is not even an iota of bliss in this world. Destruction (death) exists only for birth, and birth is for death again. Therefore all are illusory in this world. All worldly things are generative of pains only, fraught with all dangers, unrelated to one another, related to one another only through the Sankalpa of the mind, obdurate like an iron rod, and fruitful of great (material) wealth. Therefore of what avail are the enjoyments of objects and kingdoms ? If we set about enquiring, whence came the * I' or the body we have, we find that all those which are foreign to Atma, are nothing but unreal. All things being unreal, when I began to further enquire as to which generates which, among these things, I ceased to have any love for them, like a traveller, who, when he is convinced of the undulatory mirage in a desert not being water, never after craves for it. In trying to find out VAIRA'GGYA-PRAKARANA. 9 the path which will relieve me from the pains of the uncon querable sensual objects, I am burning within like an old tree which is consumed within, through the heat generated by it self through its old age. This unbearable dire delusion of mine is like a stone sticking in my gullets. Being afraid lest my relatives should condemn me for this grief of mine, (I tried in all manner of ways and yet) I am not able to get out of it though I cried aloud." Wealth.—" Like one's family with children, &c., that will not make happy him who is beset with the highest of dangers, wealth which only makes hosts of thoughts to whirl in the brains of men will not confer bliss. Just as a king allies himself with any person who owns his supremacy, no matter whether that person be noble-minded or base, so wealth which is attained by any person who flies to it for refuge tends, how ever serviceable it may be, to the condemnation of the spiritually wise, and hence is base. Who is there in this world whose mind does not thaw like ice at the sight of wealth or whirl in the maelstrom of wealth which embitters the happiness arising from the quintessence of the sweet discourse of the spiritually wise— through the venom of love, hatred, &c., created in such worldly men by the manifold evil effects of wealth. Like a ruby that gets blurred with a coating of dust, all persons— whether they are benefi cial to their relatives or not, whether they are intelligent or poor or warlike— succumb to this desire and are degraded. It is rare to find blameless opulent men, word-keeping warriors or kings who look equally upon all their subjects. This wealth which the mind covets and is very ephemeral in its nature is utterly useless like a flower- bud in a creeper growing in a well and encircled by a serpent." Life.—" Then Prana (Life) which is like a drop of rain water dripping from the end of a leaf turned over-head, flits out of the body, like an idiot at unseasonable times. It is only by being bitten by the serpent of the ever-waxing (desires of thej five senses that persons without true Jnana begin to droop in their minds and thus shorten their lives. I do not rejoice in this life of mine which darts like a flash of light ning in the cloud of delusion, regarding this my limited body as real. It is possible to cleave the all-pervading Akasa or io YOGA-VA'STSHTA. restrain the stormy winds or still the waves that ever and anon arise on the surface of the water hut to disappear ; but by no means is it possible to resist this desire of life which should not be considered as permanent. This life is epheme ral like autumnal clouds or a ghee-less lamp or ocean waves ; though appearing as real, it has not the least of quiescence, is steeped in boundless ignorance and is devoid of the true end of human life ; if we enquire into its fruits, we find pains only are generated like unto the pangs of delivery. That is the noblest life in which persons, 'after attaining the highest Atmic wisdom replete with bliss and free from all*pains, spend their lives in ceaseless Atmic enquiry, without wasting their time like such base things as trees, beasts or birds. The lives of those who have freed themselves from rebirths are the true ones and the noblest ; but others' lives are like those of old asses. In the case of persons without discrimi nation, learning is a burden to them ; in the case of persons without quiescence (of mind), their mind is a burden to them ; but in the case of persons having passion and other stains, Atma Jnana is a burden to them. In the case of persons who have not enjoyed the blis£ in their own Self, the beauti ful body, life, Manas, Buddhi, Ahankara, actions, &c., are intolerable burdens to them 'like those of a carrier. Life after associating itself with this body departs out of it even while young, like the wise who shun the association with the wicked. There is nothing so baneful as this life which is perishable in its nature and fleeting in the bestowal of plea sures." Ahankara. — " I am much terrified by the enemy of the illusory and harmful Ahankara (I-am-ness or egoism) which is generated through delusion and permeates me all throughout. It is only through Ahankara that all the mental cares, dangers and the ever-increasing actions of life arise. There is no enemy greater than he. Having associated with this enemy of mine for a long time, I am now in an agitated state of mind I do not taste food with water. Why need I speak about (other) enjoyments ? All our daily ceremonies, yajnas (sacrifices), the enjoyables and others associated, as they are, with Ahankara are merely unreal. Therefore the real secret lies only in the renunciation of this Ahankara. So long as VAIRA'GGYA-PRAKARANA. 1 1 this Ahankara be-clouds us, so long will the flowers of desires bloom and increase in us. Though I have given up all Karmas (actions) in order to free myself from Ahankara, yet my pains have not ceased, not having cognized my own Self. Mayest thou, Oh Rishi, be pleased to bless me in order that I may liberate myself from this cursed Ahankara which is the source of all dangers in this world, is evanescent, has its seat in the mind, and is idiotic in its nature and without due dis crimination and intelligence." Manas. — " Then my Manas (mind) is tossed about in ob jects of love and hatred, &c., like a light feather in a stormy wind. It ever whirls far and wide in vain in sensual objects away from the association with the wise like a strolling city dog ; but no results accrue therefrom. Like a flower (bamboo) case which is not able to hold the water in it, this baneful mind does not hold the joy (or enjoy the happiness) within, but whirls at the sight of its much-coveted immense wealth. This ferocious dog of mind following its mate of desires ever preys upon poor ignorant me like a carcase. Just as a straw is tossed to and fro in the air by a whirlwind, this mind of mine subjects me to all kinds of delusions and pains and tempts me far into the great void. This terrible mind which appears to be of the nature of the causeless Maya but which is otherwise through right enquiry, leads me into the many worldly actions like a lad obsessed. It will flit in a moment from earth to Patala* and thence back again to earth. This deceptive mind in seeming to lift me up to higher states hurls me to still lower ones, like a decay ed rope that is used in lifting wood out of a well. This monster of a venomous mind is more terrible than fire itself, more insurmountable than mountains and more obdurate than a huge diamond." " It is possible to drink up the contents of the ocean, era dicate (the mountain) Mahameru to its root or swallow the flaming fire ; but it is impossible to control this mind of ours. It is the one cause of the generation of all objects. This perishable universe exists only when the mind exists but disappears with the absence of the latter. Therefore the mind should be annihilated. All the host of pains and plea- * The lower world. 12 YOGA-VA'SISHTA. sures which are like mountain fastnesses arise through the mind only.