Rāma's Prayer for a Teaching

Sri Rāma

1. -3. Thus emerge thousands of perilous thoughts in the mire of mind and undesirable calamities in this world. When I think and ponder about these things in my mind, my mind becomes bewildered and my body quivers and trembles like a dry leaf on a decaying tree. The bewildered mind, unable to feel delight, courage or excitement, becomes empty and lost in this world, like a girl whose husband is of mean might.

4. -6. Driven by ambiguity, uncertainity and ignorance, the thoughs slip towards lowly things, the way a deer slips into a pit deceived by the loose cover of leaves. Depraved and fallen people, who are epitomes of ignorance, get settled in difficulties and not in good conditions. Like a distressed person drawn into a dark well, their eyes are drawn towards gold coins. Such people will neither get what they want, nor do they reach the place they desire. It is like the new bride called sorrow, who has come to live with the husband, the Jiva, in his house.

7. Courage, distressed and broken, lets go certain things like a creeper in autumn.

8. -11. Divided and cheated in all the purposes of life, my mind has become unstable. Neither taken in, nor rejected by Self, I am abiding here in this world. My mind is wavering in understanding the internal support (the Self). The tree that is deprived of its branches, etc, looks like something else other than the tree. The fickle and unsteady wavering mind wanders in all the three worlds in search of pleasures. It does not discard its anxieties like the "Devas" who do not leave their aeroplanes. O great saint, what is that state and stair which is noble, not wearisome, attributeless, and which is devoid of sorrow?

12. -14. How could king Janaka and such noble people attain highest states even though they are involved in activities and worldly initiatives? O venerable one, how can one remain unstained by the mire of samsara which touches every limb? What attitude do "Jivanmuktas" (those liberated while in life) adopt to rid of all impurities and move about in this world?

15. -17. How can the avaricious, sensuous, transient serpent of sensuous things turn auspicious and good? How can this lake of "Buddhi" become perfectly clean after being churned to muddiness by the rogue elephant of attachment and delusion? How can the multitudes of people remain unbonded, like a water drop on a lotus leaf, even when actively engaged in the world?

17. -22. Treating the world as a trifle, and looking at the world from the view of Self, how can people of the world attain the Supreme state, untouched by cupid? Which noble person, who has crossed the ocean of ignorance, should people follow to overcome sorrow? What is that auspicious and virtuous thing, that is proper to pursue? What is the appropriate conduct in this absurd world? O lord, please give me that knowledge by which I can understand the past, the present, and future states of this transient, unstable world? I shall follow that path unimpeded, which leads to Brahman, after cleansing the stain in the moon of the heart-sky.

23. -27. What, in this world is acceptable? What is to be rejected? What else is there other than these two? How can I attain steadfast repose of the wavering mind? By what sacred mantra can this poisonous, most disturbing disease of the world be overcome? How can I achieve the coolness like that of the full moon and internal joy like that of a boquet of flowers? O saint, you are a knower of Truth. Please instruct me such that once I attain that perfect state, I do not grieve again. O mahatma, without that most excellent state of repose, all activity is meaningless. It is like the lowly life of a dog wandering in a forest.