Sri Vasista
O Rama, if you reflect about Self by yourself, you can reach that supreme state without any hurdle.
Those 'sattwic - rajasicas' who are in their last (penultimate) birth get their high state in the manner of Janaka.
Till that stage, when one delights in his Self, by self effort, he will have to bring the senses under control again and again.
-5 When that all pervading lord of all gods, the supreme Self is directly seen, all perceptions of sorrow will vanish. All causes of delusion and calamities and wrong or evil perceptions will (totally) decline when the Supreme is directly seen.
O Rama, like Janaka, perceive in all your actions and in all the creation that Absolute Self with your wisdom and intelligence. Become, thus, a person of perfect (highest) prosperity and fortune.
Whoever perceives this world as unstable, (unsteady) through internal inquiry, such a person will, in course of time, delight in his Self like Janaka.
Neither money, nor providence, nor relatives, nor works can provide refuge to one who is afraid of this mutable world, the way his own effort (towards realizing self) can.
Those who depend on destiny and such distorted notions (for achieving the perfect purpose) are mere dull heads. Do not follow such destructive ways.
Depend on your intelligence and discrimination and realize the Self yourself. Increase your detachment and dispassion with your own intelligence and thus cross the ocean of 'samsara'.
O Rama, this is the essence of the story I told you. I said that delight - giving knowledge is like a fruit falling from the sky. It will shear away the tree of ignorance.
One who is wise and intelligent like Janaka, who beheld his own Self, will blossom into a divine man. He will be like a lotus blossming in the morning (with the morning light)
Like snow which melts with the touch of heat (of sun) thaughts about 'samsara' will decline with inquiry (into Self).
-15 . (With inquiry) the thought that 'I am this body' will pass away like night. And the wide, broad light of that all-immanent self-perception (realization) will prevail (come into being). The expansion of the Self into self will start.
Like Janaka, you also discard the 'ego sense' with your intelligent inquiry.
As the cloud of ego disperses, the consciousness - sky becomes clearer and clearer and the sun of self-observation acquires more and more strength and sound.
On the whole, the sense and feeling of ego is the highest and deepest darkness. When that starts declining, the light (of knowledge of Self) begins.
'I am not. The others are not. All this is not' - when one thinks thus, mind becomes quiet and does not drown itself in objects.
When such withdrawal from objects takes place mind also falls and thus all bonds. There is nothing else.
Do not worship sorrow and lowly and undesireable things. Do not get into the grip of objects Reject the perceptions of agreeable and disagreeable. Be steady in what remains and move into the state of purity.
Those in whom likes and dislikes are totally eliminated will neither want anything or reject anything.
As long as such a state is not reached, equality will not arise. It will be like moonlight shadowed by clouds.
If the mind is tossed around by feelings like 'this world is unreal; (may be) it is real', it will never achieve equilibrium. A creeper will not sprout out of the 'sakhota' tree.
How can detachment and dispassion, equality and purity dwell in a mind which indulges in the pastime of making choices between proper and improper desires and estimations of profit and loss?
Where are (considerations of) proper and improper when the the flawless Brahman - spirit is clearly visible?
How can there be gentleness and equality when likes and dislikes spring up like the fickle feet of a monkey?
-29 . Desirelessness, fearlessness, eternity, equality, knowledge orientation, lack of indulgences, desisting from works, changelessness, genetleness, courage, firmness, friendliness, contentment, pleasing speech, lack of likes and dislikes, freedom from the sense of agreeable and disagreeable - these are the characteristies of a Jnani who is free from vasanas.
One should withdraw his senses from the objects when the mind is sliding towards the lowly paths.
In such a state of withdrawal, one should engage in internal reflection while eating, walking, sitting, dreaming etc., always and in all ways.
This (fisherman's) net of vasanas is woven by the strings of griefs and sorrows. It holds the fish of desires and is shaken in the waters of 'samsara' (to shake the water off the fish).
My child, shear (the net) off with the sharp arrow of discriminatory intelligence. And then move along in the vastness of Brahman - state.
O beautiful and righteous Rama, cut asunder with courage and unrestrained intelligence, the roots of this tree of samsara, which is the very refuge of all sprouts of sins, criminalities and blemishes.
-36 . Shear away this tree with the axe of your mind with a forceful will. Attain then that perfect state of purity. Abide and be stable in that state. Wipe out even the last vestiges of mind. Shake off even the sense of 'present' and move into immutability.
When infatuation and deluge are shaken off into oblivion this mutable world will never again overwhelm you. When mind is thrown off into oblovion this mutable world will never arise.
Whether sleeping, waking, eating, running, sitting or doing anything, do not deviate from your internal firm conviction that this world is unreal.
O Rama, move around in this world doing works as they come to you, taking refuge in that equal and pure One.
Lords Vishnu and Siva wear/ bear symbols and attributes without really having none. In the same way perform works in this world without the sense of performing (without ownership).
You are the knower. You are that unborn. You are the self. You are the supreme Lord. You are the one manifesting this vast universe without any inconsistency and incoherence with the Self.
Whoever discards the sense and feeling of individualised finiteness and looks upon everything from the perception of Self is not touched by the blemishes of joy or sorrow.
Whoever is liberated from attachment and jealousy, for whom gold and wood are same, is called a yogi, the one who is yoked (to the Supreme), a 'yukta', with all vasanas being shaken off.
Such a person no matter what he does - whether eating, whether giving, whether killing - shall be with a sense of equality towards the consequential joys or sorrows.
He treats everything that comes to him as his duty without any likes or dislikes. He does his duty without involving himself even a bit (ie in a detached manner)
O Rama of mighty intelligence, such a yogi is firm in his mental conviction that 'all this is consciousness - existence only'. He is free of any thought of indulgence in pleasure. And so his mind is peaceful.
Mind is stupid by nature. It tries to chase and imitate some elemental mental consciousness. It is like a cat trying to chase a lion with a greed for the lion's flesh.
The cat can eat the flesh that has been obtained by the might of a lion. Similarly mind attaches itself to the phenomena manifest by the face of consciousness.
Mind is a creation of illusion and unreality. It sustains itself due to the grace of consciousness. In spite of this support from consciousness, it thinks of this universe only.
How can such a mind exist without the light of consciousness? Without that light it is like a lifeless, dead thing.
Mind is a force of resonance to the consciousness force. People with scriptural knowledge call this a fabrication of such a force.
All imaginations and fancies are the hissings of that serpent of mind. When it realizes that 'I am consciousness itself' it attains the original consciousness - nature.
When the consciousness is without objects (and phenomena) it is the eternal Brahman. When it is with objects, the same consciousness is called as 'one that is seized' (kalana), a put-on.
When Brahman wears a touch of form, that settles in mind as an image or idea or imagination. That unreality then settles forever in the heart as real.
When the consciousness gets firm in such imagination and idea as 'I am this mind - stuff ', consciousness forgets its orginal nature and settles as an inconscient and stupid (entity)
(Then) endowed with such apprehension and understanding, and guided by determinations and resolutions (by itself), mind starts making distinctions such as agrceable and disagreeable. Such an attitude becomes its nature.
Mind is consciousness alone. Even so it cannot move by its own power. Till it gets enlightened about its nature, it can not know its orginal state.
-59 . It can realize its own nature by scriptural inquiry, detachment and dispassion and control of senses. Otherwise it revolves in the delusion of this world.
One should be awakened from this sleep of Self and the fall into the chasm of senses.
The mind of ideas and imagination will not be aware of its original nature as long as it is not awakened This mental apprehension, even though clear, is still illusory and is only an imagination or an idea.
Objects (in this world) shine due to the apprehensions and understandings which abide inside as images of the Supreme perceptions.
These three worlds are the embodiments of such ideas and imaginations which itself is a reflection of a certain elementary aspect of that (consciousness) whose nature is Truth and Knowledge
This 'kalana', apprehension, which is inconsicent like a stone, is enlightened by consciousness like a lotus by sun.
Just like a girl in a sculpture who cannot dance even when driven or provoked, these understandings and ideas can never be endowed with light by an ordinary embodied being.
-69 . Can kings in a sculpture fight, making shrill noises? Can moon-beams cause blossoming of flowers like lotuses? Can blood - soaked dead warrriors thunder about? Can stones in forests sing sweet songs? Can suns carved in stones dispel darkness? Can imaginary sky gardens cause shadows? Can minds which are stone-stupid and are products of illusion and delusion and are mirage- like, be activated without the aid of consciousness?
Just like mirages which are caused by hot sun, ideas and apprehensions sparkle in the Self,
Such sparklings and vibrations have been perversely attributed and assumed to be from mind by perverse people. Know that the energy prevailing inside (a body) is that of vital body (of pranic airs)
Such resolves which are not fully endowed/seized with understanding and are with very little of 'sankalpa' are the glowings or flashes of the Supreme the flawless essence, the 'rasa'
The Self of the vital (prana) is agitated by feelings like 'I am this body; all this is mine', The, symbolic name / appelation of such pranic Self is 'Jiva'.
O Rama, wise men have named/called this unreality (falsehood) by various names like intellect (buddhi), mind, Jiva and such. In the Absolute there are no such (divisions)
For, in the Supreme there is neither body, nor mind, nor intellect. All is Self only, always and ever.
All this here is Self and self alone. Time and its course is Self. It appears to be 'not' though existing since it is subtler than the subtle space.
Because of pure transparency, the Self resembles unreality (as if not existing). However because of it being the form of truth, it is real and existing. Self is beyond everything, beyond time. It can be experienced (only) by self- eperience.
Where Self is acquired (realized), mind dissolves. Where sun is, there can be no darkness.
Where Self-knowledge goes under cover/goes into a shadow, and various thoughts, ideas and considerations arise due to will and volition (of mind), there Self is forgotten and mind comes to the fore (only those mental formations are noticed).
Mind is the Will - content of the Supreme. Lack of will and volition implies lack of mind. And from such a state of absence of mind, liberation is achieved.
Inclination towards will and volition generates relative character in the Self. This is at the root of mind and all that is the mutable world.
When the changeless Consciousness is tainted by will and volition, it is called 'kalana', a put-on of apprehensions and understandings. And through that a power of virile procreative power, that is mind, sprouts up.
O Rama, when 'pranasakti' the power of vital airs is controlled, mind dissolves. Mind is a form of the vital air (Prana). The shadow of a material object follows the object.
The experience about an object which is far away cannot be obtained without a vibration in one's heart. Such a vibration is called mind.
When vasanas dissolve through practice of detachment, inquiry into cause- effect relationships and by such strategies, the awareness of the highest spiritual truth arises. Then the vital airs will be controlled and restrained.
It is possible that a stone manifests energy and sometimes even an ability to move. But mind will not have any vitality and power when its nature of vibration is realized.
The energy of vital airs is in its vibration. In spite of such vibratory movement vital airs are inconscient. The consciousness -energy of one's self is pure. It is always so and is so in all things.
Mind invents a relationship between its vibratory power and consciousness - energy / power. This is (mere) illusion. The knowledge born out of such illusion is called false knowledge.
Such false knowledge is known as ignorance. Plainly it is 'maya' (deception). Such intense ignorance yields the poison of this mutable world.
The association of vibratory power with consciousness-power is a concoction of mental fabrication and determination. If such a concoction disappears, then with that the fears of and about this world decline and disappear.
When the vibrations of air get energised by consciousness, then that energised thing is mind (chitta). When internal will and volitions arrive into that mind, then it acquires the (full) character of mind (Cittatva)
This 'Cittatva' is, in fact, a delsuory design like the 'yaksa' of a child's imagination. However, the tremor-form as the vast seamless universe, is consciousness only.
By what and by whom can this mind stuff be crowded out? Who can battle the immense power of Indra?
When a relationship does not exist, then a relationship cannot be manifest or be visible. When relationship does not exist, how can something like mind arise?
What can be called mind, when consciousness and vibration become one? Can there be an army without elephants and horses?
And so, O Rama, there is nothing like this wily mind in all the three worlds. Such a mind will vanish by an integral understanding and knowledge about mind (cetas)
O sinless one, the concept of mind is wasteful, purposeless and calamitous. It is a product of delusion. It does not exist from the point of view of the Supreme truth.
Do not, O one of mighty intelligence, conceive this mind even a trifle at any time. Mind is full of wills and volitions, O Rama. It does not exist anywhere.
O Rama of reflecting nature, this mind is a mirage of fabrications. It is born out of incomplete and incoherent knowledge. Pacify and quieten the desert of your heart with a holistic, integrated perception.
. This mind is forever dead because of its inconscience and lack of any form and shape. This world is plagued by such a dead one. What a wonder is this world (made by) a foolish potter!
. Oh what a wonder! This world is a foolish snare and noose. This world is consumed by a thing which has neither a soul, nor a body, nor a support, nor a shape!
-103 03. This mind has no means or weapons to kill anyone. If some one is hurt or killed by such a mind, he will be decimated even by a petal of a blue lotus. He will be killed even by a moon-beam.
. Even the warrior like (people with knowledge) get defeated by the visible world. Such a situation arises out of artless simplicity about the unreal world.
. (This mind) is a concoction of delusion and abides as an illusion. It cannot be seen even on searching. How can such (a mind) be powerful?
. Oh, this is a wonder! This world is being beaten by a deceitful operator like mind!
. Foolish and stupid! when something is full of catastrophies, how can calamities desist without coming up? Look! this stupid creation is born out of ignorance only.
. Oh what a calamity! gripped by the stupidity about creation, unreal nonexistent mind is being justified by a Jiva!
. I feel that this stupid and false creation is extermely delicate and fragile and can be shred into atoms by a (sharp) stream of waves of perfume.
. It is so fragile that a machine made by bits of antimony can reduce it to powder. It can be put into a swoon by a simple and pleasant ray of moon.
. This creation is as illusory as an army of warriors mentally imagined defeating an enemy.
. Thus this world is being overwhelmed by a mind whose existence is in doubt.
. O Rama, one who cannot take hold of this stupid and inconscient creation which is an unreality born of mind, is not eligible for any instruction and teaching.
. One may be of noble birth. But if his intelligence and judgement are shapeless and dissipated, such a person is not eligible for any teaching. He may, of course, consider himself as perfect.
. Even a fine sound from veena will scare him. He will be scared by even the faces of his sleeping relatives.
. He will run away from a nonexisting loud sound. Why talk of many things! he will be in the grip of his mind.
. A simple joy will overwhelm him. Distressed by his own mind, he will not comprehend reality. He will be deluded purposelessly and wastefully.
