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Upasama Prakarana

 

On the imagination of Uddalaka

Sri Vasista

  1. -5 Then Uddalaka entered that cave like a tired bee which found a lotus after long whirling. When he entered the cave with the intention of doing penance, it appeared as though Brahma entered his city in Satyaloka, being vexed with the act of creation. Uddalaka prepared his seat for penacne with tender flowers and leaves. It was like Indra gathering and arranging his cloud crowds into a formation. He spread his deer skin on it. He sat on that, gathered his mind, attempted to reduce mental movements and thus make his heart pure and clean.

  1. -7 He sat in the lotus pesture like the great enlightened souls. He pressed his toes with his heels. He sat facing the northerly direction. He then mentally prostrated to all teachers starting from Brahma. He started musing thus to restrain the wild beast of mind from running towards external objects as a first step towards attaining 'Nirvikalpa samadhi'.

  1. -14 'O foolish mind! what is the use for you with the worldly activities? Intelligent people do not pursue any activity which ends in grief. One who chases pleasures rejecting the nectar of peace is like one who goes to a poisionous forest in preference to a beautiful flower garden. Whether you go to nether worlds or Brahma world, you cannot attain nirvana without the nectar of peace and ealm. You are the cause of grief to all people due to your unfulfilled desires, which are in millions. Dsicard this condition and attain the most beautiful and auspicious supreme state. With all these multitudes of strange imaginations and feeling of having and not having you will only land in great calamities. No happiness will accrue to you. O foolish mind, why are you wasting your time with all the croaking like a frog without end? What have you gained by moving about in this world all this time like a croaking frog?

  1. -23 . 'O foolish fickle mind! Why are you not trying for something that calms you and leads you on to (undiluted) happiness? You are prone to following the lead of sound like a wild beast, which follows sound ending in death. This pursuit of sound leads to swelling of external things in you wastefully. Do not identify yourself with the skin. With that you will get bound to the external world through the sense of touch. Do not identify yourself with tongue. You will be bound to food through the sense of taste. You will then become like a fish entangled in a bait . Do not identify yourself with eyes. Through the sense of sight and form, you will be chasing all forms and will die like a beatle (in fire). Do not identify yourself with nose. The sense of smell then becomes like a bee and get bound to the world. O foolish mind, each one of these animals and insects get attached to one sense and die as a consequence. Where is happiness to an ignorant person? A silkworm secreets fluids which binds it in its own cocoon. Similarly you are binding yourself in a net of vasanas. If you can cure yourself of this great diesease, you will become victorious.

  1. -30 . O fickle mind, you know that this world is beset by birth and death. Even after knowing this, you are not rejecting it. You will be destroyed. Why am I wasting this good advice on you? This advice is good for those people who are of inquiring nature not for sinful people. So long as there is solid ignorance, there will be grand mental consciousness. When clouds are strong, fog and snow will also be great. When ignorance is thin, then mind also is thin. When rain clouds decrease,snow also becomes less. Through inquiry mind can become pure. Trying to command or order something that does not exist is like beating the air and water in the sky. And so O mind, I am casting you off. You are non-existent and is of declining nature. It is the height of foolishness to teach something which is worthy of rejection.

  1. 'I am without any modifications. I am that consciousness-light. I have no tendency for ego. you are the very seed of ego. There is no relationship between you and me'.

  1. 'I am this, I am that' - such unfortunate perceptions are purposeless. You have adopted this because of your foolish urge to destroy yourself with the poisonous fever of doubt.'

  1. "In the infinite nature and body of the Self mind can not exist. How can an elephant stay inside a (small) bilwa fruit?'

  1. 'O mind, you have taken refuge in the great charm of vasana of sorrow. Tell me, how can I follow such a one like you?'

  1. 'Why this wasteful attachment to feelings like 'I am this and I am that'? It is worthy of a noninquiring child. All this illusion is created to kill oneself.'

  1. 'I have investigated every cell of my body from head to foot. I have not got even one cell worthy of the title 'I'.'

  1. I am the one who fills all the quarters, who unites all the three worlds, who is without any division, the One that is not relative (consciousness)'

  1. 'I am that which is undifferentiated, which is without name or form, which is neither one nor many, which is neither atomic nor enormous'.

  1. 'By the knowledge generated by discrimination, the thing that is immensely responsible for grief is destroyed by me (mind is destroyed)

  1. 'This is flesh; this is blood; these are bones; these are vital airs' among these which is the 'I'?

  1. The vital airs which vibrate in the death bound body are known to be of that great consciousness. What in this is 'I'?

  1. -52 . Flesh is not I. Bones are not I. knowledge is not I. Mind is not I. Then what is I? Nose is not I. Tongue is not I. Ears are not I. Skin is not I. Then what is I? Vasana is not I. Only, that Self which is the self-luminous transcendent only is 'I'. I is everywhere; 'I' am not in the least I. This is the real perception. There is no other perception that is possible. I have been plundered by the thief of ignorance all this time, like a cowherd boy being harassed by a fox. Fortunately I have now discovered the thief. I shall not harbour him any more. I am without grief. And so I have no relationship with that 'I' which is greif bound. What relationship does a cloud have with the mountain on which it hovers? Since I have discovered Self, I will not get into that 'ego' sense. I am indeed all the senses. If they are different from me, they must be inconscient. I have no worry whether such senses stay with me or leave me. Oh! what a problem? Who is this 'I'? Whoever conceived this? How was this conceived? This is taller than a plam tree. And for a child, this world appears to be a ghoul. All these days I have fallen into the chasm and am rolling in this like a deer on bare ground.

  1. -57 . Eyes are engaged in seeing form. Then who else is the grief-ridden 'I'? Skin is engaged in looking for 'touch' sense. Then who else is this demon of I? Taste is engaged in looking for things that are relishing. Then where from did this feeling 'that I am tasting' arise? Ears are engaged in receiving sound. Then what else is 'I'? Nose is engaged in smelling. Then what else is I? I am not able to identify this thief 'I'.

  1. -68 . Thus even in the case of a body which is free from vasanas, these senses engage themselves in their special interest in the external world. So vasana is not the cause for the activities of a body. When vasana - free activities are done, there will not be any experience of sorrow or joy. So O foolish senses, give up your interests and tendencies. Then no grief will come to you. A child makes a doll and destroys it and cries. you are also like that. Shed that tendency. For a jnani all these perceptions are not different from Self. It is like waves not being different from water. O child like senses! You are like those silkworms which get caught in their own webs. Do not get destroyed by the desires. You are rolling on this thorny floor of 'Samasara'. A string is responsible for binding the pearls together. You are also thus bound by vasana. This vasana is a mere fabrication and concoction. It does not really exist. It can easily be cut by the weapon of non-willing. This vasana is like breeze which puts off a light /lamp. It is the cause of your delusion and destruction.

  1. -70 . O mind, you are the holding chest for all senses. Realise that you are the very embodiment of all non-existence. Thus become pure comprehension and understanding. Get rid of the poisonous disease of sensuousness with skill and effort. Become thus fearless and splendorous.


 

Sri Yoga Vasishtam
Translation by :
Dr. P.N. Murthy